D3 Mallory, Tanya, and Nosedive
Mira found that as Grin had said, the ducks all seemed to go off by themselves during the day, but it seemed like it would be a good idea to talk to some of them all at once. Mallory, Tanya, and Nosedive were usually all together at night anyway, so surely they could all talk to her about their curses at once.
But it took some work to find and gather all of them together. She finally managed to get all of them to meet her in the space outside between the stables and the castle.
"Why are we doing this again?" Nosedive asked impatiently.
"Because not talking about it and letting the same thing happen every night is not helping," Mira said.
"Well, what do you want to know?" Mallory asked.
"I get that Grin is dangerous at night, and you all don't really have a way to defend yourselves, but how does locking the door keep you all safe? Couldn't Grin just break through the door?"
"Yeah, of course he could," Nosedive scoffed. "But there are a lot of closed doors in those hallways. Wildwing thinks it gives us a better chance of staying hidden."
"Grin's senses are heightened in his cursed form," Tanya continued. "Having the door closed helps disguise that we're there, especially me, since I make noise sometimes. I told Wildwing to lock me in a different room for their sake, but he doesn't like to do that."
"Grin usually doesn't go upstairs at night unless he's attracted by noise," Mallory said. "But with the door closed, he doesn't seem to ever hear Tanya."
"Do any of you know why you've been cursed the way that you are?" Mira asked. "I mean, why do you turn to glass, Mallory? Or Nosedive, why do you become a statue?"
"I dunno, but it's the worst," Nosedive said gloomily.
Mallory looked away uneasily.
"I don't know about them, but it's an insult to be turned into a cockatoo every night," Tanya huffed. "When I wake in the morning, I can still hear that cackling, hoarse voice repeating nonsense in my head. It's awful."
"At least you can move," Nosedive said. "And fly. You'd think we'd be able to do that as ducks, but we need the Aerowing for that."
"Nosedive, when you wake up in the morning, does anything stick with you from the night before?" Mira asked.
He looked a little uncomfortable with the question, but Mira pressed forward with it anyway.
"Come on, Dive. I need to know what you're facing if we're going to stop this curse."
"I hate the feeling of turning to stone each night," he finally said. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget what that feels like. But during the night, yeah, I'm kinda aware of some things that I remember the next day. It's like being trapped in a tight space. I can't move or make any sound. Sometimes I think I feel vibrations or hear sounds, but I'm just…stuck."
Mira nodded and then she looked at Mallory.
"It's similar for me I guess," Mallory said. "Except sometimes I do almost feel like I could move…or that the world is moving around me, but then I get this falling sensation and I see myself shattering like that statue you knocked over in the armory yesterday."
"Yeah sorry about that," Mira said. "I can see now why it bothered you."
Mallory just looked away.
"Okay, well, I'm going to go look for Wildwing," Mira said. "Now that I've forced you to talk about the most depressing topics in the world, you guys should try to find something better to talk about. Don't let this get you down. We'll figure it out."
"Let's go find something to eat," Nosedive suggested to his two teammates.
Tanya laughed.
"When are you not hungry?"
Mira smiled and walked off in search of the final duck she still needed to talk to before sunset.
(You're almost there. Move to D3 Talk to Wildwing to continue the story.)