I sat down at the banquet table across from Rue and Mytho. The banquet hall was like all the other rooms, beautiful but eerie. I could hardly look at Rue, she seemed like she would fall apart at any instant. Rue was supposed to be the beautiful princess, far above what I could be. I had always wanted to be as perfect as her. Now she looked just like the world around us, beauty with an echo of despair. I finally had to turn away towards Mytho because I couldn't stand it anymore. "What happened here? I thought the story was supposed to be the perfect fairytale."
Mytho smiled at me sadly "Most fairy tales aren't happy Duck. It is like a movie set, it only needs to look pretty from the outside." His voice started to turn bitter, "I guess we forgot that while we were in the real world." Rue turned to look at him and I could see the despair in both of their eyes.
"Why did you stay here then? You could have returned to the real world." If they had maybe Fakir and I could have--
"Our son, made everything good again." Rue's voice sounded faint from misuse. She had to clear her throat to continue,"Adelberto helped us to see the beauty here. We were almost happy! But Drosselmeyer, wasn't content with that. He needed us to be reminded that our story is not a happy one." Tears carved their way down her face. "He had just turned sixteen and we planned to take him to a neighboring kingdom to meet a possible wife and...." She stopped suddenly and balled her hands up into fists. "He took him. We were in the carriage and suddenly it stopped. We heard his laugh and I tried to keep him from leaving but he went out. He was always too brave for his own sake."
"I went after him, but it was too late. Drosselmeyer had already taken him." Mytho sounded like he was stuck in that moment. He suddenly came back to the present and looked at me. "Duck, you have to get our son back. You have too."
"Of course I will!" I looked at Mytho and tried to lighten the moment, "I've always been good at saving people haven't I?" He smiled at me and the despair in his eyes cracked a little. I could see Fakir telling me to save them, just like he would have. That was when we all it : Drosselmeyer's laugh in the distance.