soheartless | Third Shard [Action]

Once upon a time...

There was a prince who was locked in a tower. His kingdom had been conquered by a dark king who was known for his ravenous greed, and he sealed off the prince from his people whom he loved. Alone and desperate, the prince was overwhelmed by sorrow until a miracle appeared. A swan had come to his window, and her feathers concealed letters from the people he missed so dearly. Day after day, the swan returned, bringing him more words of hope and well wishes from his people. These letters helped to rebuild the prince's heart, and he started to have hope again. One day, the swan decided to fulfill that hope. She lent him her wings, and with them he soared to freedom. The wings wore down as he reached land, and the prince was free to lead his people again. It was only then that he realized that by giving up her wings, the swan had trapped herself in his place. She was never seen again, and with that, all of the happiness that the prince had found began to crumble away.

In fact, it is said that this prince never smiled again...

[Action]

[Today, Mytho's wandering around town has something closer resembling meaning to it. Sure, he doesn't live near enough Duck to immediately notice her absence - nor does he come across her path on a daily basis. But he's still searching for her, without stopping. He goes around various locales around the town such as the library, the bakery, the fountain and most places around the plaza. And throughout his search, he specifically looks sad. He had felt that heart shard return to him the previous night, and that emotion - the emotion of sorrow - has been weighing on him ever since.

He will often stop passerby to ask them:]

Excuse me. Have you... seen Duck?

[Or, he may instead ask.]

Do you know... where Tutu is?

[Everyone knows Duck and Tutu, right? But all along, in a way, he knows. They're both gone. He's been able to feel it, ever since he woke up. He's not sure why both Duck and Tutu are associated with his feeling... He just knows that it feels like a piece of his heart is gone.

The search is over when night falls. He sits at the edge of the fountain, wallowing in this sorrow. And wishing he had the strength to try to dance.]

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I'd like to find her.

[He glances down, as if expecting to confirm that his journal is on his person, but it's not.]

[Duck isn't like Mytho. She's about as airheaded, but she has the frustrating tendency to turn up right when and where she's needed.]

We can certainly try. What did you do with your book?

I don't know.

[She ought to have known better than to ask that question in the first place.]

Fine. You can use mine just as well. [It's in her case and it's no real effort to get it out and open it for him.]

[It's a common occurrence. At least it usually turns up again eventually.]

Thank you. [He says quietly as he looks into the journal. And isn't quite sure how to do anything. But he leans towards the page and weakly tries talking into it.]

Duck...

[That isn't how you do it, dear prince.

Rue hasn't spent her weeks learning nothing, and she takes the book from him gently. Someone taught her how to send a message to one specific person, so she tries. And nothing happens. Her brows draw together as she tries again, and a third time.]

...Duck?

[And he looks on blankly, assuming it must be working.]

What is Duck saying?

Nothing, she's not saying anything. [If Rue sounds shocked, that's because she is.] She is no longer here to answer me.

Where... where is she?

[He says weakly, as he bows his head.]

I don't know.

[Well now who does she sound like?]

Just...not here.

[He goes on slowly - his voice sounding dull but in a defeated way.]

And... Tutu as well.

Naturally.

[He looks so lost and hopeless about it. It's odd to see him looking anything other than devoted/regretful/afraid, actually.]

You feel something about her.

Right now... All that I'm feeling...

[His knees are weak. His eyes are heavy.]

...is sorrow.

Sorrow? Since when?

[She takes his shoulders, though her intention isn't to support him even if it seems that way.]

Since... last night.

I felt... my heart. The feeling of sorrow... was returned.

But if that happened, then D- [Her eyes widen, then narrow.] Then Tutu must have been here.

Yes.

I don't know where she went.

Did she go back? Back to the Academy?

I don't know. I didn't talk to her. I only... felt this feeling return yesterday.

And today... It's felt like she's gone. [Like a piece of his heart is gone.]

She is gone, Mytho. Tutu has...perhaps, returned to the story where she belongs. To find her ending.

Tutu's ending.... [He shudders suddenly, his eyes starting to glimmer.

A memory is triggered - Fakir reading him that story. That part of the story he liked to hear over and over again... about Princess Tutu.]

She's - she's going to disappear. No... Tutu... [He moans, near a fainting point.]

Mytho, stop! [Either she holds him up or she makes him sit down, if there's a chair handy.] Didn't she tell you? She's going back to a happy ending.

[He manages to get seated in a chair, his hands lifelessly resting on his knees]

I don't remember. She never said... such a thing.

Such an ending...?

She told me. She said the story has a happy ending. And she wouldn't lie. [Rue thought her incapable of falsehood, at least in front of herself or Mytho. She tried, of course, but with such an inept hand that only Mytho's emptiness kept him from realizing.

Rue moves to the side of his chair, so she can wrap her arms around him and draw him close, his head against her chest.]

It does? Tutu said that?

[He looks up towards her. He can't feel that hope right now. And the sorrow still feels like a well within him. Then he goes into her hold, his head rested on his chest, while tears shimmer in his eyes.]

Tutu... is trusted.

[Just like Duck.]

[action]

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