D2 Morning in the Cellar

When Mira awoke, the first thing she noticed was the painful sensation shooting through every sore muscle in her body. And next, she was hit by a strong musty smell that filled the dank cellar. She pulled herself up against the ladder leading up from the cellar and tried to massage her stiff limbs.

A bit of light streamed through tiny cracks around the cellar door, so Mira could now see the contents of the cellar. There were a bunch of old crates and sacks covering a dirt floor. Everything looked like it hadn't been touched in hundreds of years, but there was one item that looked very much out of place.

It was a comic book with the title Zontar and a colorful hero on the cover. Mira picked it up and flipped it open. As she did so, a scrap of paper fell out, and Mira caught it.

(You've just found part of a code that will allow to unlock a certain ending later in the story. Please record the letter Z somewhere. If you have already collected another letter, then add this to it. This is how you'll know which option to select near the end of the story.)

Suddenly, she heard footsteps moving around on the floor above the cellar, and Mira tensed remembering the awful sounds from the night before. She tucked the paper into one of her pockets and set the comic book down on the ladder as she looked for something to defend herself with.

The trap door was pulled open form above, and the light blinded Mira as she raised her arms in front of her defensively.

"Are you all right?" Wildwing's voice asked as he stretched hand down to help her out.

"Yeah," Mira said, but her voice sounded a bit hoarse, and she coughed before trying again. "I'm okay."

She took his hand and picked up the comic book as Wildwing helped draw her out. Tanya walked up and handed her a cup of water, which Mira quickly accepted. When her throat felt better, she spoke again.

"There was something tearing through the castle last night. What was it?"

Tanya turned her gaze away, and Wildwing sighed.

"I know you must have a lot of questions, but there are conditions here you don't know about. And unfortunately, we can't explain them to you."

That statement only raised more questions for Mira, but then she remembered the shadow on the walls last night, and she walked past Wildwing and Tanya until she was standing in the middle of the dining hall. Her eyes scanned the walls, but she didn't see the shadow.

Nosedive was the only other one in the room with him, and he had been standing off to the side, eating a banana.

"Hey, you hungry?" he asked. "That's the only good thing about this place is there's always food at mealtimes."

Mira turned and noticed that the long table was almost covered with fruit and bread.

"Where did this come from?" she asked.

Nosedive stuffed his beak with the last of his banana and shrugged.

"The food appears on the table three times a day," Wildwing said. "And that's all we can say."

"I don't understand," Mira sighed. "You can't tell me because you don't know… or you don't want to… or because it's impossible for you to tell me?"

Nosedive swallowed and asked,

"Wait, what was the second option?"

"It's the last one," Tanya cut in. "We literally cannot tell you."

Okay, Mira thought to herself. That doesn't make a lot of sense, but fine, if that's the rule.

She looked down and saw the comic book rolled up in one of her hands, so she walked up to Nosedive and held it out.

"I'm guessing this yours?"

Nosedive's face lit up.

"Awesome! I thought I lost it after our first night here. Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem. I found it in the cellar while I was hiding from whatever it is we can't talk about."

Nosedive's expression grew more serious.

"I'm gonna go catch up on my reading," he said as he walked out.

"So it must be fun not being able to talk about anything that really matters," she said, turning back to Wildwing and Tanya.

"We're getting used to it, but you being here isn't helping," Wildwing said. "I think it's time for you leave."

"But I don't even know how I got here."

"There's a gate on the eastern edge of the garden. I'm pretty sure you can get out that way," Tanya said.

"But I could be miles from Anaheim. And I don't even know what country I'm in," Mira protested.

"I doubt we're in any place you've ever heard of," Wildwing said. "To be honest, we don't even know where we are. But as Tanya said, we're pretty sure there's a way out through that gate."

"So why don't you leave? I mean, I guessing you're not on vacation here, right?"

"It's not that simple for us," Wildwing said with a tone of strange finality.

Mira looked at both of them with some hesitation.

"Do you really want to spend another night here?" Tanya asked.

"You can't give me any answers?" Mira pressed one more time.

"No," Wildwing said firmly. "Now go before you lose your chance."

The solemn expressions on their faces finally left Mira feeling as if she had no other choice, and she let them show her to a door in the rear of the castle that led out to the garden.

"Goodbye, I guess," she said with some reluctance, but they were already turning away and leaving.

The garden might have been beautiful once, but that beauty must have been lost ages ago judging from the tangle of overgrown weeds 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 awful," 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.

As a further note, don't be alarmed if you do not collect many code letters in the rest of the story. These were only necessary for the beginning of the story, and they will be referenced later in the story to help you see where your choices lead Mira and the ducks.

But remember to hold onto the letter (or letters) you have collected!