“The Marionette Kingdom,” I read the sign ahead which was deeply engraved in the snow.  

This kingdom was something else as surprisingly... there were people in this one? Normally, we'd go to the kingdoms and see it either abandoned or left with rotting corpses with citizens, but this kingdom had people walking store to store. In a way, it was little Italy with many stores comprising of baked goods from that area in Europe or even toys from that specific area.

This felt weird, in a supernatural way. Boy, I should stop reading those magazines about the paranormal. The last one I read was of a girl who somehow inherited powers and her mother abused her, thinking the devil had her soul.

"We should ask someone where the silver key piece is." Saragona suggested as he strutted on over to a woman that had her head down at the INFO booth. He laid his elbow to rest and smirked, "Excuse me lady, would you happen to tell me whe-" just when he said that, the woman lifted her head to see that she was nothing but a smiling marionette.

Saragona and I screamed as we backed away a bit. There was total fear in my eyes as all I could see was the blank smiling expression on her smiling face. I mean, I knew that’s what marionettes were supposed to be but I didn’t think it’d be terrifying to THIS EXTENT!

The marionette then spoke in a creepy woman voice with an italian accent, "Why, hello! Welcome to the Marionette Kingdom! Home to the greatest ruler you'd see in a fantastic italian-like kingdom in the Land Of Dolls! King Enzo Esposito! What would you need to know about this fine kingdom?"

Me and Saragona stared at each other for a while; I gave him the look that meant to ask her as he then just sighed, approaching the marionette once again.

He breathed in heavily as he said, "We are looking for the Silver Key Piece so we can break my curse and get Ms. Stahlbaum back home in time for her party AND save the Land of Dolls from The Mouse King!"

The Marionette Woman stared at Saragona with an uncomfortable gaze that just made it deeply unsettling to see. I just averted my gaze away for a short while to see that almost every citizen in that kingdom was some deranged marionette, being forced to smile. Even the children weren’t safe, as many held their smile for what seemed like eons. Looking back at the lady, I just waited for her to say something and stop acting like a clown in the three-ring circus. She laughed as she spun her head 360 degrees before she stopped and sat down; like someone was watching her.

We shrugged before moving along with seeing the different sights of this creepy version of Little Italy. We just saw the different window displays in each of the shop; one displaying a pizza oven while another showed all of the toys they were selling like a rubber baby doll or a creepy looking jack-in-the-box. That seemed to send a cold shiver down my spine, but as I backed up, I tripped and fell on the rock solid path tiles, bonking my head again as I groan in disbelief.

Saragona helped me up to check on my head, ending with him sighing of relief. “At least it isn’t as bad as back at the living room–”

SLAP!!!

“S-Shut up!” I exclaim as he laughed, remembering it. His laughter soon simmered down before we continued walking around, asking people about the key piece.

“Excuse me, you know where the silver key piece is?”

“Yeah we’re looking for a small thing made of silver.”

And the answer would either be uncomfortable laughter from the marionettes or something along the lines of: “I wouldn’t possibly see how a thing that small could reside here in our kingdom!” Meeting up at the town square, I sighed before looking at Saragona: “Well, now what?” His expression mirrored my confusion, both of us taken aback by the unexpected turn of events.

Just before he could answer, we heard the blowing of trumpets as the clock at the top of the castle tower rang vociferously. The sound reverberated through the square, startling the marionette citizens who seemed unperturbed by the loud chimes.

It felt eerily familiar, reminiscent of the grandfather clock back home but amplified to an almost deafening level. Suddenly, without warning, a giant red carpet unfurled itself in front of us, the vibrant color standing out against the gray cobblestones.

The guards swiftly encircled the sides of the carpet, their presence both imposing and intriguing. Among them, one guard's voice rose above the clamor, his words booming through the square, "MAKE WAY FOR HIS ROYAL MAJESTY: ENZO!!" The air crackled with anticipation as we exchanged puzzled looks, unsure of what awaited us at the end of that majestic carpet.

We turned back just in time to see the Marionette King, who I immediately thought was Enzo. An uneasiness spread through me as his icy stare flickered over Saragona and then to me. His eyes were curious and mocking at the same time, as though they were looking for something in particular.

Not only was he short in stature, almost matching Saragona's dream state form from when I was a child, but he held himself with a splendor that belied his little. I was taken aback by the way his formal wear glistened in the dim light. It appeared as though he was covered with a dazzling assortment of sparkles, which contrasted significantly with his regal bearing.

His hair, cut into a traditional Italian bob, framed his young face, and the silver crown that sat atop his head seemed almost too large for him, hanging down just enough to highlight how young he looked. Despite his seeming youth, he was portrayed in gossip as a monarch much beyond his years. He was supposedly in his teens. What was already intriguing about the Marionette King was made more so by the contrast between his age and his regal manner.

He approached me as he pulled me towards his face, looking at me from my head to my slippers. He laughed happily, though I was confused as to why he was laughing. He then exclaimed, "I have found my bride!"

I stood there in shock when I heard the word "bride", I quickly yanked my hand out of his grasp before looking at him with anger in my eyes, "Look man, I'm 18! I'm too young to get married and I haven’t even known you long enough to have a connection!" He yanked my arm towards him again as he held out a creepy smile.

"Oh, trust me, you'll love being my wife!" He laughs like a diluted maniac. Soon enough, Saragona steps in between the both of us and says, "We aren't here for weddings, we're here for the 3rd silver key piece to unlock the cave in the volcano Mt. Fanta!"

But Enzo, he didn't care as he held my arm in captivity, pulling me towards the chapel so that we could be married, even though I wasn't attracted to him. I quickly escaped his grasp as I ran back to Saragona.

"What are we going to do? I don't wanna marry this guy!" I exclaimed.

"Marie," Saragona said, "I have a sneaking suspicion that this king might have the key."

"Huh?"

"Do you see that thing around his neck?" He pointed at Enzo's neck and there I saw, he was wearing a necklace with the 3rd piece of the silver key! I had to think of a way to get the key, so I loaded up my pistol.

I aimed carefully at where the string would pierce and snap, then with one shot... BANG!!! The key piece fell off and Enzo panicked.

Saragona ran, grabbed the key piece and held my hand... but not before, he was locked in a cage.

Before he was locked in the cage, he threw the key piece to me in hopes that I'd go and get the last piece, but instead I was captured. Hiding the piece in my pocket, I saw Enzo approach me as he grinned, "I'll make you a deal, brat! You can have the piece... if you marry me! If you refuse, then you and your disgusting toy boyfriend will be sent to the deep burning pits composed and made by SATAN himself!!!"

That deal was so ludicrous that if I married him (which I don’t) I’d get the key, but if I don’t marry him… well, me and Saragona are supposedly dead. This was the stupidest deal that I’ve ever heard in my entire life, and for anything stupid… there is usually an easy and quick answer. But, what was the answer supposedly to be?

I thought for a brief while before I came up with a solid answer. The wheels in my head were turning for a while, but I couldn’t think of anything.

Suddenly, at the side of my vision, I saw a yellow glowing light where Saragona was; in the cage. I then saw him, with what seemed to be stars forming in his pupils. “LET HER GO!!!”

The next thing I knew, the bars broken and disintegrated like dust in his hands. A shimmering aura surrounds his body, tears flowing from his eyes as his pupils shifted side-by-side, from the stars to the moon and back. The pupils shifted one too many times, but Enzo faced me away from him. He chuckles as he growls with anger, "WELL?"

I stood there as my heart sank to my stomach, feeling the sorrow of the decisions of what I was about to make. I could hear the banging of the bars as Saragona screamed like a monster, trying to get out of the cage. My heart ached and trembled inside, urging me to save him, even though I had a sneaking suspicion that I would perish if I did. Tears streamed down my face.

But as he got closer to me, I held my gun close in case he intended to indulge in a liaison with me. The gun was locked and loaded, and as he did, a metal bar struck him back with a loud clang.

"STAY AWAY FROM MS. STAHLBAUM!!!" The voice rang throughout the town as I turned my head rapidly; seeing the illuminated figure with stars surrounding his body and within his glowing pupils.

He had the sword by his side but he dared only to use his fists as anger grew highly in an agitated state; in another moment, dashing like a shooting star he went as Enzo was brutally beaten by Saragona. I could see oil and wood chunks fly from his body as with each hit, the anger grew.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a really loud scream that nearly pierced the hearing out of my ears as a glowing star covered his hand, punching Enzo so hard in the face that he landed in the fountain. Enzo stood up, eyeing Saragona who breathed heavily as more of his energy rose but fell. He stared at me with a softened gaze, embracing me.

My body trembled as then I couldn't do anything but embrace him back; tears flowing down my face to where he could sorta feel it. He patted my back gently, before he then rubbed it gently. But just as we thought the worse was over, Enzo's wood cracked as each of the strings snapped.

His eyes were painted with red blood; without another moment, I had a front-row seat to a brutal beatdown as Saragona threw punches at Enzo after he was tackled down by him. All I could remember seeing were the flames that sparked out of his eye sockets, flowing down like tears.

BANG!!!

Saragona stood there as Enzo touched his chest, seeing a hole next to his heart. The smoke that rose out of the pistol made me cough but I held on as I stared down at Enzo landing on his knees, collapsing before going into what I assumed to be a coma.

My face stood frozen in a state of trauma as the oil puddle grew larger; my thought right now was, "Oh my goodness... I just killed a king!" Saragona averted my eyes away from the corpse... at least, I thought it was a corpse. Wait, why was I panicking? I killed Sally back at Snowside so why am I feeling bad for a youthful monarch who wanted to marry me?

I stared down back at my pocket, feeling the key piece with my hand. Sighing of relief, we held hands; walking far away from the kingdom while the citizens of that... crazy kingdom. We continued farther and farther away from that crazy hellhole only to find ourselves in another snowy forest. I look at Saragona before asking him, “What the hell happened?”

Saragona looked at me and then back at his hand, seeing glowing stars being summoned out of a snap of his fingers. He chuckled a bit before playing around with his new profound power, a ring of stars surrounded us as then they dispersed all around us. I smiled as most of the stars surrounded me.

I twirled around happily before bumping into Saragona. Soon, lights aroused the forest as then the same fairies were back but this time, they were illuminating some beautiful light to see what we were doing. I look back at Saragona to see him holding a fairy child on his finger. The fairy blew him a small kiss before flying off. He then looks at me. His smile softens as he holds out his hand, “May I have this dance?”

“I–” I paused before answering. Looking around to see if anyone was around us, and luckily there was no one in the forest except me, the fairies and the pink haired nutcracker asking for a dance. I held his hand gently before saying, “Yes you may.”

Soon, music started playing as with each musical note, it sounded like an enchanting melody that I’ve heard back home. Swaying side by side, soon we started to dance around the forest as the fairies followed us, sprinkling some magic dust as the background seemed to change into a beautiful night sky with nothing but glistening stars.

It was indeed beautiful and I never felt so enchanted in all of my life. Saragona held my waist as we continued to waltz, hopping from star to star as he smiles happily. Each moment passing by felt like a dream… this whole dance felt like a wonderful dream, I never wanted it to end. But soon, the music slowly faded away and then, I yawned.

We slowly halted dancing as Saragona held me in his arms. He hops down star to star I close my eyes, smiling happily at the wonderful dance we’ve had. Tomorrow, we’re finding that last key piece..

Three Down…

One more to go.