D3 Ask Tanya
There something about the way this curse was written that bothered her. She reviewed the end of that one line …considering what you lack. Yes, something was missing. As she looked at the next lines, she realized they didn't have any corresponding rhymes. All of the other words had corresponding rhymes.
"Youth and bondage, don't rhyme," she said aloud to herself.
"What did you say?" the sorceress asked sharply.
"Youth…uh, truth!" Mira said happily. "considering what you lack… so I need truth and… wait, does anything actually rhyme with bondage?"
"Stop these games at once!" the sorceress said angrily.
But Mira leaned closer to cockatoo beside her.
"Tanya, I know you're afraid of being trapped in this stupid form where all you can do is copy others. But the truth is, you're still smart, and I can prove it. You just need two things to beat this curse. I've already given you the first one, truth, which is that you're still you. Now tell me, what's the other thing you need?"
The bird kept looking sideways at her, but it didn't speak. And the sorceress laughed.
"Do you really think these fools can save themselves? My curse is too powerful. Their doom is sealed."
Mira just kept looking at Tanya.
"Don't listen to her. You can do this."
The cockatoo squawked and flapped its wings with sudden energy.
"Courage, courage!" it proclaimed.
The red light in the room was suddenly sapped away as the sorceress disappeared, and when Mira opened her eyes, she saw Tanya, in her right form as a duck, struggling to regain her balance.
"Whoa, what happened!?" she exclaimed. "Is the sun up?"
"No, you broke the curse!" Mira said excitedly, but then she looked and saw Mallory and Nosedive still in their cursed forms. "Oh, well, your curse, anyway."
Tanya looked around the room.
"I think they need help as I did," she said. "We're all afraid of different things, and those fears have to be dealt with in their own way."
"Well, at least you're here to help me," Mira said with some relief.
Tanya smiled, but suddenly a strange glow surrounded her and she started to fade. Mira reached for her, but her hands went right through Tanya.
"No! What's happening?"
"It's not the sorceress," Tanya said. "I don't know how I know, but I can tell this feels safe and good. Someone's trying to help me escape this place now that the curse is broken. I'm sorry! They're pulling me away!"
And then Tanya was gone, and Mira's shoulders fell in dismay.
"You're the one who sent me here, aren't you!" she called out. "Who are you?"
No answer.
"Hey, I could use a little more help here!" Mira shouted.
Before she stopped to consider the loudness of her voice, Mira heard the roar of Grin's cursed form out in the garden. He would come to the dining hall, and the other ducks were exposed to his rage.
"I guess I need to figure this out now, huh?" Mira said softly to herself.
With a sense of dread building in her heart, Mira pushed herself to walk quickly out into the garden. She was about to do the one thing everyone had always told her not to do. Their warnings echoed in her thoughts, but it couldn't be helped this time.
Only seconds after she stepped outside, Mira heard Grin coming towards her, and finally his massive form appeared in the light of the moon as he burst through the vegetation.
It was Grin, and yet, very much not him at the same time. He seemed to have grown larger, and his figure was hunched over as if burdened by the weight of his own brutish form. His misshapen beak seemed crooked, and in the gleam of the moonlight, Mira swore she could see fangs sticking out.
His eyes looked as if he had been blinded or covered by white lenses. And the way this monster moved, he seemed to be smelling and listening to the world, rather than seeing it. Mira began to feel that it would be impossible to reach the real Grin behind this creature. But as he began to stalk towards her, Mira knew that she had only seconds to make a choice.
If you believe the danger is too great to face, select D3 Run.
If you believe Mira must try to speak to Grin, select D3 Don't Run.