D3 Duke

When Mira stepped outside the castle, she found Duke walking along the outer wall.

"You humans can be pretty stubborn sometimes, ya know?" he said with a slight smile when she joined him.

Mira shrugged with a faint smile of her own.

"So I'm just going to come right out and ask…do you know why you turn into a shadow each night?"

Duke gave a half-hearted laugh, but behind that, Mira could tell that there was something that was really troubling him.

"I guess it's another cruel trick of hers," he finally said. "You see when everyone else wakes up in the morning, they only remember bits and pieces from that night. But me? I get to see the whole awful thing. I haven't slept in… well, however long we've been here."

"At all? Like not even during the day?"

Duke shook his head.

"My body doesn't feel tired, but the rest of me feels kinda drained."

"Is it the same every night?" Mira asked.

"The curse is the same, but some nights are worse than others. Before we knew how to be careful, we had some close calls. There were some nights I tried to distract Grin to keep him from hurting the others. See, I'm the only one he can't harm."

"Do you always stay in the dining hall?"

Duke paused and leaned up against the wall.

"I tried to leave that room once. But shadows are only visible in light. Whenever I get close to the dark spaces at night, it feels like I might disappear and never show up again."

"Is that why the fire is always built up so big in the hearth at sunset?"

"Yeah, as long as I stay in the dining hall, I'll be able to be me the next morning. But if I was swallowed up in the dark, I'm not sure I would ever come back."

"Have you ever seen anything at night that might indicate how we can break the curse?"

"No, I wish had some kinda solution for you, but I've seen enough to know that the best thing is to stay out of Grin's way."

Mira considered that in silence before speaking again.

"I know this curse has been hard on all of you, but Grin's having a really tough time dealing with this. Have you spoken to him at all about it?"

"And say what exactly?" Duke asked. "Good luck tonight, buddy. Try not to kill anyone?"

Mira shot him a cold look.

"Yeah, that's going a bit far," Duke admitted. "I know it's not his fault. But don't forget that I'm the one who sees what he does each night. I'm the one who's had to try to get him to chase me, because he's been that close to attacking one of our teammates."

Shaking her head, Mira said,

"If you've accepted that he's always going to become that monster, then it's no wonder he's given up too. I'm not sure how to break this curse, but blaming Grin is surely part the problem…not the answer."

Duke had dropped his gaze and grown quiet, but his expression softened when he looked up and looked in her eyes.

"You have a point there," he said. "The truth is we've not really been the Mighty Ducks since we got here. Some of it's the curse, but some of it is on us too."

"The sorceress has made you forget who you are," Mira agreed. "But you don't have to let her do this to you."

"Thanks," Duke said as he put his hand on her arm. "I'll go talk to Grin now."

Mira smiled as she watched him go. Surely this was a step in the right direction.

(There are more choices coming up, but for now you need to move to D3 Mallory, Tanya, Nosedive to continue the story.)