D2 Morning in Bed

The bedroom was filled with the light of morning when Mira awoke. It took her a few moments to realize where she was, and then the strange events of the previous night returned to her. I must have been more tired than I thought to have fallen asleep so quickly, she thought.

And then she remembered that she was staying in a castle with the Mighty Ducks, and the thought that she might be able to see them again and get some answers spurred her to climb out of the bed. Mira combed her fingers through her hair as she walked quickly out into the hall and hurried down the steps.

The sound of voices could be heard in the direction of the dining hall, so Mira directed herself back towards that room. As she passed through the door, she saw all of the ducks seated at the long table with an assortment of fruit and bread laid out for breakfast.

"Look who overslept," Nosedive said as he pointed a half-eaten banana at her.

"Help yourself to breakfast," Mallory said as she stood up from the table. "It's on us."

Mira glanced at the food.

"Is there a grocery store around here?"

"That's not what she meant," Tanya said. "There is a price that we pay to be here. The food is just part of that arrangement."

"But it's not for you to worry about," Wildwing interjected quickly.

Mira sat down in one of the empty chairs and grabbed an apple.

"So what was making those awful noises last night?"

She took a bite and waited for an answer, but none of the ducks met her gaze. Nosedive continued eating, and the others poked at their food as if they hadn't slept well.

"You can't pretend you didn't hear it," Mira protested. "And if I'm going to be trapped here, you could at least give me some answers."

"Are you sure you're trapped?" Mallory asked, walking closer to her. "Have you tried to leave?"

"Well, no, but I thought there wasn't a way out. I mean, you can't leave, can you?"

"Our situation may be different from yours," Wildwing sighed. "Why don't finish your breakfast and then try getting out of here? I'm sure you have a home that you want to return to."

Mira stared at him in surprise. His tone did not sound unkind, but the fact that they would encourage her to leave when they seemed to resigned to being stuck felt odd.

"I'm not even sure how I got here," Mira said, hesitantly. "I can't say that I know how to even try to leave."

"There's a gate on the other side of the garden," Duke said. "You can try getting out there."

"Is it unlocked? I mean, have you tried it?"

"It's not locked," Tanya said with a strange certainty.

"Then you've opened it before?"

Nosedive swallowed a beak full of his breakfast, and then said,

"We're not allowed."

Mira noticed that some of the other ducks shot him warning looks, but Nosedive didn't seem to notice as he chugged a glass of milk.

"What do you mean?" Mira scoffed. "Who would stop you?"

"That's not for you to worry about," Wildwing said dismissively. "Just go out and see the gate for yourself. It's best if you don't spend another night here."

Several of the ducks rose from the table at that moment and began to leave the room, leaving no room for further conversation.

"There's a door just beyond that one that will take you out to the garden," Wildwing said as he gestured to the other door leading out of the dining hall.

When they had all left, Mira picked up her apple and walked out. She found the door to the garden without too much trouble and tossed her apple core out into some weeds when she stepped outside.

The garden might have been beautiful once, but that beauty must have been lost ages ago judging from the tangle of overgrown vines and shrubs. And there was rubble all over the place as if statues had been thrown down and crushed by some terrible force. Mira would have never found her way to the gate except that there was one stone path still visible which led from the castle to far edge of the garden.

As she drew near to some stone walls that were still standing around the garden, Mira saw an iron gate formed from two doors of rusted bars. These were connected by with a single latch, which Mira found surprisingly easy to undo despite how old the gate appeared. The doors swung open with a long creaking groan.

Mira looked out expecting to see a road or some of the landscape beyond it, but instead she saw only a mist. Glancing up at the sun, Mira wondered at the thickness of the mist for the day was clear and warm already at this point in the morning. And she began to suspect that Tanya and Wildwing had been right to say that this was indeed an exit.

"Last night was kind of intense," she told herself. "And I could go home. It's not like I actually belong here."

Mira stared at the gateway. It would be easy to close her eyes and walk through it, but something held her back.

"They can't even answer my questions. How am I supposed to help them?" she said, thinking out loud again. "But they do need help, don't they?"

So what should Mira do?

If you want her to walk through the gate, then select D2 Choose to Leave.

If you want her to go back to the castle and try to solve the mystery, then select D2 Choose to Stay.