D2 Go Upstairs
I barely know what I'm doing. I'm not ready to face Grin yet, Mira thought. But I could try to go find Wildwing and the others.
"All right, I'll go upstairs," she whispered to Duke. "But only to look for more answers."
His shadow watched and waited as she walked back into the hall. Mira turned and began climbing the stairs to the west wing. It looked like Wildwing and the other ducks had headed to the third level, so hopefully she would find them there.
When she reached the third level corridor, Mira found that it seemed rather empty and quiet. Most of the doors were shut, but as she reached the middle of the hall, she saw that one door was slightly open.
Pushing it open farther, she saw Wildwing lying upon a bed. Mira tried to wake him, but he seemed immersed in some kind of dream. Her thoughts drifted back to the dark expression on Wildwing's face before sunset. She could only guess that here he faced some kind of dreadful nightmare at the end of each day.
Since it seemed impossible to wake him, Mira started to leave, but then she noticed a set of keys in Wildwing's hand. Mira pulled them out of his grasp, and he stirred uneasily in his sleep.
She backed out of the room still holding them and turned to see a set of double doors on the opposite side of the hall. Judging from their resistance, she supposed they were locked, so she tried the keys until she found one that worked.
The lock clicked, and Mira was able to push open the doors. Entering, she half closed the doors behind her, but she was quickly stopped by what she saw.
"It can't be," she said in a tone of disbelief.
On the bed, where Mallory had lay down, was a glass figure and the perfect copy of Mallory's face, form, clothes, and armor. But it was motionless as if she was frozen and yet only made of glass. And in the moonlight, she appeared so fragile that Mira dare not touch her. She feared that if she breathed too heavily that this glass figurine would break.
On the other side of the room, Mira turned and saw Nosedive, standing exactly as he had been except that his head hung lower. But it was not Nosedive – or at least not as he should have been, for here was a statue, a stone figure unable to move or speak.
A noise from the part of the room closer to the door caused Mira to turn again. And she saw a yellow bird with purple wings sitting in a cage with the door open. It looked like some kind of cockatoo with a tuft of yellow feathers on its head, but Mira quickly realized it was Tanya.
"Help…help," the bird said plainly, and Mira walked towards it with a sad gaze.
"Oh, Tanya. Can you hear me?"
The bird turned its head, but it's blank gaze seemed devoid of all understanding and intelligence.
"Can you hear me?" the bird repeated. "Can you hear me?"
"Tell me how to help you," Mira asked.
"Help you, help you!" the bird chanted.
"You're cursed to only repeat what's said to you. Is there nothing you can say on your own?"
The bird turned its head and looked at her again.
"Help…help," it said with its rough and cackling voice.
Mira sighed, and not knowing what else to do, she turned away to leave and lock the doors again. As she turned her back on the room, she heard a fluttering sound and suddenly something yellow flew past her into the hall.
"No, Tanya!" Mira called as she started to rush after the cockatoo.
As she ran out into the corridor, she saw the bird fly towards the stairs, but Mira glanced back at the doors that stood open upon Mallory and Nosedive.
If Mira should stop and consider the situation, select D2 Lock the Door.
If she should run after Tanya, select D2 Run to the Stairs.