They emerged into a snow-swept landscape. It wasn't their front yard. There were no trees or other houses to be seen. It was all light, fluffy whiteness. The moon shown on the falling flakes, giving them the appearance of glitter falling to the ground. The entire world sparkled like diamonds.
“Master Luke!” Rey got quite a surprise when a group of beautiful women emerged from the snow. They wore white gowns with short, fluffy skirts that shimmered like the snow around them. Gossamer wings almost seemed to float on their backs. One had two golden buns on her head and a silver crown trimmed with white crystal between them. “It's so nice to see you again!”
“Lady Kaydel!” Luke gave her a hug. “It's good to be back. How's this year's snow fall coming?”
“Very well, Master Luke.” Her big grin was familiar. “We just finished Munich. We're going up north to Scandinavia. Helsinki and Stockholm always make huge orders at this time of year.”
Rey exchanged surprised looks with the Nutcracker. “Orders?”
Poe laughed. “Oh, this is Lady Kaydel, the head of the Snowflake Fairies. She and her girls are in charge of keeping the world white in the winter.”
“It's nice to meet you.” Lady Kaydel bobbed, her wings a blur. “Queen Leia asked me to bring you to Ribbon Candy Village. The mice have invaded Gingerbread Castle. They drove the Queen and the Candy Army to the edge of the Mint Sugar Forest.”
“Our poor queen!” Poe turned to her. “We must go there at once! We have much news to tell her.”
Chewbacca growled. Kaydel's eyes widened. “Oh no! Chewbacca, they've taken the Cavalier?” The more upset she became, the more snow seemed to blow behind her. “Is this true, Master Luke?”
“I'm afraid so.” Luke put his arms around Rey and the Nutcracker. “But we'll have help rescuing him. I did what I promised my sister. I brought reinforcements.”
Kaydel took Rey's hand. “Some of the other girls told me what you did. You, and your wooden friend. You were both very brave.”
Rey shrugged. “I only did what I had to.”
“No, you were real heroes. They might have taken even more prisoners if you hadn't stopped Ren.” The little snow fairy shuddered. “Ren is a terrible warrior, the Mouse King's favorite. No one knows who he is, or where he came from, only that he serves the Land of the First Order. He hates fairies, too. He's destroyed whole fairy towns and keeps the wings from the ones he kills as trophies.”
The Nucracker's painted eyes gleamed. “That's horrible! I'd heard in the Mouse Army that he was doing awful things, but nothing like that!”
Even as they spoke, another white shape emerged from the blizzard. Rey had never seen such a lovely sleigh. It looked like it was made of snow, or perhaps molded sugar. The gold rails were foil-covered chocolate. Two large, furry reindeer pranced through the cold fluff.
Kaydel took the reigns herself. “All aboard for the Mint Sugar Forest and Ribbon Candy Village!”
As soon as everyone managed to squeeze into the sleigh, it rose into the air, flying over the pale moonlit fields. The blizzard gave way to a warm, sweet-smelling twilight. Rey'd never seen anything like the Land of Sweets. Trees were chocolate bark dripping with green mint sugar leaves. Houses were made of gingerbread, cake, and hard candy. Bridges were toffee trimmed with icing. Swan boats floated lazily in a bubbling strawberry soda river. Flowers in tulle gowns danced in bright-colored valleys.
Beyond the looming Dark Chocolate Mountain, Rey could see a dark, forbidding castle on the horizon. “What's that there? That gloomy world over the valley?”
Kaydel looked frightened. “That's the Land of the First Order, where the mice live. King Snoke likes to keep it as miserable and gray as he is. They say nothing grows there, and no one is allowed to play games or laugh or joke or have any kind of fun. He rules from Starkiller Fortress.”
Rey made a face. “Sounds wonderful. I'll bet my brother and our tutor would fit right in.”
The sleigh landed in a small village on the edge of the Mint Sugar Tree Forest. So many different kinds of candy came to greet them! She couldn't keep track of them all. There were Spanish chocolate girls in red ruffled dresses and Chinese tea soldiers in silk wrap pantsuits. Candy cane sailors sported red and white striped uniforms. Girls in fluffy pastel gowns made of pastry helped Rey and the Nutcracker out of the sleigh.
“Luke!” A beautiful older woman literally flew out of the largest of the ribbon candy houses. She was petite, even for a fairy, with large dark eyes and a wide, gentle pink mouth. Purple and pink wings matched her lavender gown with its deep purple bodice. Gray braids were topped with a large glittering tiara, trimmed with crystal plum blossoms. Her purple wand had an amethyst plum blossom on the end.
Rey's eyes widened. “Mother?” It certainly looked like Mother, much like the Cavalier had resembled her father. Come to think of it, Kylo Ren's voice was known to her, too...
The fairy went right to Luke first, giving him a hug. “Hello, my brother. I'm so glad you were able to come back at last.” Her dark eyes became downcast. “I only wish...Han...”
Luke returned her hug fiercely. “Don't worry, sister. We'll rescue him. I don't think Snoke will do anything to him right away. He's bait to trap us.” He turned to Rey and the Nutcracker. “I told you I'd bring help. This is Rey and the Nutcracker, from the Mortal Realm.”
Leia took Rey's hand. “That was a very brave thing you did, my dear, standing up to Kylo Ren.” She reached for the Nutcracker with her other hand. “Both of you. We're in your debt.” She curtsied. “I am Queen Leia, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and until we can find Prince Finnegan, the ruler of the Land of Sweets.”
“Hello, Your Majesty. My name is Clara Stahlbaum, but my family calls me Rey.” Rey tried curtsying, but she almost ended up on the ground. “Uh, I'm sorry, Your Majesty.” Leia helped her to her feet. “I've never met royalty before!”
“Leia is fine.” The older fairy put her arms around the wooden toy and the girl. “Let me get you two settled and find Rey a change of clothes before we figure out what to do next.”
Jessika, the Candied Ginger Soldier, helped her change into a ruffly white blouse and a pale blue skirt not unlike her gold one. “There.” She smiled, her almond-shaped eyes crinkling at the sides. “Now you look like a Candy Soldier.”
“Jess,” Rey began, “who is Kylo Ren? Why does he hate Han...and candy...and everyone?” Rey buttoned the top of the skirt. “Han called him his son.”
The candied ginger girl nodded. “It's rumored he's Queen Leia and Cavalier Han's son Prince Ben. They sent him to Sir Luke Drosselmeyer's school, where Ben was to learn to be a good fairy, after they became regents. Snoke was one of the teachers. I heard he put a spell on him that made him turn against his parents.”
“He didn't seem like he was under a spell to me.” Rey pulled her shoulder-length brown waves into three buns behind her head. “There. I'm ready.”
“You'll need one more thing.” She handed Rey a sword made of white rock crystal. “If we're going to go up against the mouse army, you'll need to defend yourself.”
Rey clutched her sword. “We're going after Han, right?'
“And all the others Ren's taking to the salt and pepper mines.” Jessika lead her across the Ribbon Candy Village square to the largest house in town. “Snoke and Ren have enslaved many toys and human citizens of the Land of Sweets. They work in their salt and pepper mines day after day, until they're worn down or die.”
Queen Leia and the rest of the Candy Army stood in what appeared to have once been a parlor room. Maps made of waxed paper and candy buttons were spread out across the peppermint bark tables. “Good,” the older woman said as the girls arrived, “we're all here.”
One of the Toy Soldiers was glaring at the Nutcracker. “Can we trust him?” He poked his finger at the wooden man's painted chest. “I recognize him. He was a soldier in the Mouse King's Army! I saw him at the siege of Gingerbread City.”
“We can trust him, Statura.” Poe put his arms around the toy. “He save our lives in the Mortal Realm and tried to save Cavalier Han.”
Queen Leia took the Nutcracker's black-painted hands. “You once worked for King Snoke and the Mouse Army. You know the Land of the First Order better than any of us. If you have any information that will allow us to get into his castle...”
The Nutcracker bobbed, the closest thing he could to a nod. “I'll do what I can to help, Your M...Miss Leia. The Mouse Army doesn't mess around! They could be coming for us at any minute!”
Rey pointed to one of the largest candy buttons on the edge of the map. “What's Mother Maz's Castle?”
“Mother Maz runs a home for gingerbread children and others who have no place to go.” Leia saw where her finger was. “It's in the district of Takodana, near where the salt and pepper mines are.”
“What if we went as slaves?” Rey looked at the surprised faced around her. “We could blend in with the real slaves and get into the castle before we free them.”
“I don't think I could get away with that. I'm too well-known.” Leia smiled. “But with costumes borrowed from Mother Maz, it might work.”
Chewbacca shook his head. “I know, Chewie.” Leia patted his paw. “Many of your fellow stuffed animals were taken to the salt and pepper mines. We're going to need you elsewhere, though. Some of us are going to go into the castle to stop their new weapon and find my husband.”
The Nutcracker looked away from Rey. “I don't know if this is a good idea. You don't know what you're up against. The Mouse Army is brutal. They'll tear anything they get their paws on apart or turn them into wood.”
Rey frowned. “We'll work together and keep you safe. The Mouse Army won't get you again.” She turned to her uncle. “What about you? I imagine the Mouse King knows you very well by now.”
Luke gave them his sunny grin. “You don't have to worry about me.” He flourished his cloak...and literally vanished into a corner. “My cloak allows me to blend into the shadows, and there's many shadows in the Starkiller Fortress.”
“There is another way in.” The Nutcracker smoothed out what looked like a huge castle outlined with black jelly beans. He tapped the bottom of the castle. “There's an opening in the mountain under the Fortress that's used by servants and incoming and outgoing troops. You'll have to get past Captain Phasma, though.” He shivered. “She's the biggest, strongest mouse who ever lived! She's twice as tall as a regular mouse, with teeth that are far sharper. She'll have no trouble killing all of us the moment she sees us.”
“If we attacked her with one or two people, there might be trouble.” Leia traced a line into the castle with gold magic. “But I don't think even she could handle a crowd...or a very angry stuffed bear. Chewbacca, you'll lead Rey, Luke, the Nutcracker, and I into the castle to deal with this Captain and rescue my husband.” She turned to Poe. “You'll take the group going into the mines to rescue the slaves, including Jessika and Snap. The Mouse Army isn't as familiar with you.”
Poe bowed with a flourish. “You can count on me, La Reina Leia.”
“Good.” Leia gathered the map. “I'll see you all tomorrow morning. We'll be leaving at the first light of dawn for Mother Maz's house.”
“Nutcracker?” Rey went to him as the others split to their own living quarters.
He actually seemed to blush, or at least his wood turned a little red where his cheeks were supposed to be. “Yes? Rey, do you mind that...that I'm a traitor? Or some people think I am. I really couldn't stay in the Land of the First Order anymore. I just couldn't hurt anyone, and that's what they want.”
“No, it's not that. We'll, it's sort of that, but not just that.” She felt herself turning red, too. What was it about the Nutcracker that made her feel all mushy inside? “It's just...I've never fought anything worse than a car engine before. How can I stop a whole army of mice? I'm not a soldier, like you and Poe and Jessika, or a fairy like Queen Leia, or a magician like Uncle Luke. I'm no one.”
“You'll be fine, Rey.” His big toothy smile managed to look sweet rather than scary. “You're a lot more than you believe you are. I think you're the strongest person in this world or the Mortal Realm. You stood up to Kylo Ren, and that takes courage.”
She smiled at him. “You think so?”
“Yeah.” He took her hand. “Do you mind if...if I walk you to the sleigh?”
She squeezed his wooden hand. “Not at all.”
Uncle Luke flew the molded sugar sleigh over the multi-colored landscape. As they moved further inland, the scenery gradually became less bright. The green cotton candy grass, lollipop flowers, and mint sugar trees were replaced by brittle brown plants and black hulks of trees that were sadly bent and misshapen. The Dark Chocolate Mountains loomed ever-closer. The black rock crystal of Starkiller Fortress, with its needle-like spires stabbing the clouds, dominated the skyline of the Land of the First Order.
They arrived in a spot that was still green at the southern base of the Dark Chocolate Mountains. A cottage made of gingerbread and candy canes was nestled in the mint sugar trees. Gingerbread and candy cane children chased each other around the yard, laughing and playing and tossing a ball made of peppermint puffs.
“Hello there!” Rey had never seen such a small woman perched on such a huge dress. Mother Maz's billowing gown seemed to dominate everything. It looked like a giant Christmas cake, with gay orange and yellow stripes and blue and green ribbons and ruffles. She could barely catch a glimpse of the beaming elderly brown-skinned woman peeking out of the giant lace collar. Her eyes were hidden by thick rock candy spectacles. “So glad you've finally arrived! I'll get my children to serve you peppermint tea and spice cookies.”
“That won't be necessary, Mother Maz.” Poe helped Leia out of the sleigh. She flew up to the old woman's head. “We're just here to get some supplies and get organized before we start into Starkiller Fortress.”
“Oh no.” Maz literally pushed Leia along with her little fingers. “First, you eat. Your army can't run if it has no food in its belly. Besides, your beloved Cavalier is unharmed for the moment. Weak, but unharmed.” She frowned. “Snoke dumped him in the Pit of Nightmares in the mountain under Starkiller Fortress. No fairy has ever managed to escape from there, not even your wily spouse.”
Rey didn't like the sound of that. “What's the Pit of Nightmares?”
“Only the darkest, deepest, most dismal spot in the entire Land of the First Order.” The Nutcracker's gentle voice crackled with horror. “Fairies live on light. They can't survive without it. Snoke imprisons the fairies he captures in the Pit of Nightmares to weaken them before he and Kylo Ren hack their wings off or turn them into wood.”
Poe saw Leia's face fall. “Maybe he does not wish to do that to Han. He want him alive.”
“Yes.” The small older fairy's voiced cracked. “Because Han and the captured toys are bait to trap the rest of us.”
Mother Maz's home was just as eccentric as she was. It was all made of sponge cake, with icing trim, bonbon knobs, and spun sugar glass windows and mirrors. Toys made of candy canes and chocolate truffles lay scattered around. The elderly woman commanded the gingerbread children to pick up their mess before shooing them upstairs. A cook made of gumdrops brought them their tea and cookies, along with marzipan fruit and candied pear bread.
Rey had just finished her bread, with it's sweet hazelnut spread, when she heard what she thought was a voice...and it was calling her name. It was faint, but there. Rey, it whispered, come to us...
Who here knew her name, besides the toys, her uncle and the Nutcracker? She followed the voice to a door. It swung open the moment she touched the gumdrop knob.
Her feet made hollow sounds on the rickety almond bark steps. The room she found herself in was presumably a basement. Other than the gingerbread walls, it could have been the basement at home. It was filled with jars of jams and chutneys, dried herbs, and piles of boxes and old, musty trunks. One solitary sugar glass window let in the watery light from the forest.
She knelt before one long, dusty old trunk. The lid creaked open as soon as her fingers brushed it. A blue sword, made of heavy old rock candy, rested in a bed of spun sugar. She lifted into her hands. It felt heavy, hard.
Suddenly, her world changed. She was standing in a black corridor, a gleaming obsidian hall in an otherwise white candy city. She saw the green glow, heard the sound of a raspy squeak. Two figures were locked in combat, their blades flying. One knocked the other, a small man with golden hair, out a sugar candy window. When he turned to her, she thought she saw a mouse mask, not unlike Kylo Ren's, but more...mechanical. More terrifying. It came near her, holding out its...hand? Paw?
Come with me, it rasped. It reached for her...and suddenly, she saw long, sharp claws on those hands...or paws. It might have been Kylo Ren. It was certainly tall enough to pass. But there was a darkness to his voice, a deep-seated evil. It repulsed her.
When she looked closer...it was Kylo Ren. She thought she saw her uncle fleeing from his red blade, something small and gaily painted in his arms. She heard “I won't let you hurt him anymore!” before he hurried into the snow.
“You, girl,” the figure hissed, “come with me...”
“No!” She screamed, shutting the lid hard. “No, I won't!”
“Rey!” Mother Maz somehow managed to get her entire dress down the splintered staircase. “What are you doing down here?”
“He...that...” She pulled away. “What is that?”
“That, was the sword of Anakin of the Skywalker Fairies.” One of the gingerbread children rushed over and opened it again. “He was one of the great magicians of the Land of Sweets...before the previous Mouse King corrupted his powers and turned him into a half-mouse, half-machine.”
“He fought...” Rey's eyes widened. “With Uncle Luke. That looked a little like Uncle Luke I saw fly through the window!”
“Rey.” Luke followed them downstairs. “That's why I brought you here. You're destined. I've always known you had the gift. My father, your grandfather, passed it to me...and now I'll pass it to you.”
“Oh Uncle, no!” Rey skittered as far from the box as she could. “I don't want to have anything to do with that again! Ever!”
“Wait, Rey!” But Luke couldn't stop her from darting up the stairs and back into the main house.
The Nutcracker saw her hurrying for the front door. “What are you doing? Are you ok?”
She shook her head. “I'm sorry, but I can't stay here. I don't belong here. I'm not a mouse, a toy, a fairy, or a piece of candy! I'm a normal, ordinary human being! I have to get home. Bee Bee needs me, and I can only imagine what my parents will say when they find out I've been gone all night.”
“But Rey...” The Nutcracker began. She pushed his hand away as she hurried out the door and into the woods.
She had to find her way back. She shouldn't have come. She was crazy to think she could handle magic. She wasn't a magician. She was a child. Her abilities were mechanical, not magical.
Still, she thought, there was the Nutcracker. She was nearly very certain that he wasn't who he claimed he was. She felt like she knew him. In fact, she felt like she knew everyone. Queen Leia, the Nutcracker, the soldiers, Chewbacca...everyone was familiar. How could she let them down?
She finally stopped by a mint sugar tree, out of breath. One of the gingerbread children tugged at her. It had followed her all the way from Maz's. “I'm sorry,” she puffed, “but I don't know if I'm coming back. I'm just...not a fairy or a magician. What can I do?”
That was when she finally listened. There was someone else in the woods. Footsteps crackled over dried sugar leaves. Raspy breathing echoed off the dark chocolate trunks. She was about to follow the gingerbread child back to Mother Maz's when she saw the mice. They shot hard cheese balls from their muskets, but she managed to dodge them. She and the gingerbread child threw pine cones and small rocks at them. She always did have good aim. She managed to knock down several.
“Little gingerbread girl,” Rey started, “we have to get back to Mother Maz and Uncle Luke. You lead. I don't know my way around.” She remembered the military talk Hux and Ben used when they played with their toy soldiers. “I'll cover for you.”
The child squeaked and hurried along as she threw everything she could get her hands on – rocks, sticks, acorns, nuts, pieces of rock candy crystal, pine cones made from mint chocolate patties. She was about to go after it when a figure stepped into her view. A tall, dark figure wearing a metal mask with mouse ears.
“Kylo Ren!” She threw rocks and pine cones at him as hard as she could. He just sliced them in half with his red rock candy crystal sword. “Come out! I'm not afraid of you! Who are you?”
“I'm no one you need to know about.” He finally stepped out of the afternoon shadows, his long black robes trailing behind him. “What I want to know is,” he put out his sword against her throat, “who are you, girl?”
“I'm...I'm Rey. Clara Stahlbaum, but my family calls me Rey.” He raised his hand over her forehead, prodding it. “What are you doing? Taking my temperature? Other than I don't like you holding that giant crystal lollipop of yours so close to me, I feel fine, thank you!”
“No,” he hissed. “I'm reading your mind.” She winced as he poked around her head, her eyes starting to flutter. “You're the girl from the Mortal Realm. Drosselmeyer brought you here to defeat my master. You and that useless wooden traitor.”
“He's not a traitor.” Rey glared at him as best she could. “And he's not useless! He's strong and brave!”
“His jaw is broken.” Ren's voice was a sneer. “He's not fit to crack nuts for my mouse army.”
Rey made a face. “Now you sound like my brother.”
He ran his gloved fingers across her forehead, whispering into her ear. “You have a very interesting mind. You're far stronger than you know. I think I'll take that mind.” He stroked her forehead. “Come with me, my little one. Come with me to the Starkiller Fortress. We'll have a longer discussion there.” He lifted his head, enough for her to see the very human skin on his neck under the mask. “You'll even get to see your precious Fairy Cavalier, if you're a very good girl.”
“I will?” She'd never been so tired. She was barely standing.
“Yes.” He finally ran his hand over her face. A red light bathed her cheeks and forehead. “You will sleep, my little Rey. Sleep deeply. Sleep now.”
His words were the last things she remembered before her eyes closed, and she fell asleep, unable to resist his powers anymore.
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