Act 2: The Golden Light

	The next morning, Rue awoke to find Mytho had already left to 
begin his duties for the day. A prince’s life meant he rarely got the 
chance to sleep in, so it was not an uncommon occurrence. Yawning, Rue 
got out of bed and dressed before heading downstairs to the dining room 
for breakfast.

	“Good morning, Princess Rue,” a young maid named Clara said, 
bringing out a tray of pancakes, fresh fruit, and orange juice, which she 
set in front of Rue. “Did you sleep well?”

	“Yes, fine, thank you,” Rue lied as usual whenever somebody asked 
that question. “Is Myt-- I mean, Prince Siegfried already at the monthly 
meeting with his knights?”

	The maid gave her a strange look. “The prince has cancelled all 
his appointments for today.”

	“What?”

	“You didn’t know?” When Rue shook her head, the maid continued, 
“Prince Siegfried has been cooped up in his private library ever since 
five o’clock this morning. He’s even skipped his morning barre 
exercises.”  

	That certainly was unusual for Mytho. He loved ballet and still 
faithfully practiced for an hour every day, no matter how busy he was. 
“Did he happen to give a reason for the cancellations?” Rue asked.

	“He will only say he is doing some sort of research.”

	“Thank you, Clara. You are dismissed.”

	After breakfast, Rue went to Mytho’s private library and knocked 
on the door. “Mytho, it’s me,” she said when he didn’t answer. “May I 
come in?”

	A few moments later, the door cracked open, just far enough so 
that Rue could see her husband's face. “Rue, what are you doing here?” 
Mytho asked.

	“I should ask you the same thing. Clara told me you cancelled all 
your appointments for today. Is that true?”

	Sighing, Mytho opened the door all the way and allowed her in. 
The normally pristine library was a mess, with several hundred books 
stacked in piles around the room and a dozen or so more open on his desk. 
Rue stepped over one such stack as she came inside, wondering what in the 
world had happened.

	“What is this, Mytho?” Rue demanded to know.

	“I’ve been doing research,” Mytho answered, “into possible ways 
to find your parents.”

	Garnet eyes widened. “What? Mytho, I thought I told you to forget 
about that.”

	“I can’t, Rue. Even if you’re fine with the idea of never seeing 
your real parents again -- which I know you aren’t -- I’m sure your 
family would be happy to know that you are still alive. It must have been 
terrible for them to lose their daughter in such a way.”

	“But how…?”

	“It turns out that Drosselmeyer was quite the egotist. He wrote 
me having a library full of every story he ever wrote,” Mytho explained, 
indicating the hundreds of books he had pulled from the shelves with a 
sweep of his arm. Only then did Rue realize that most of the spines read 
“By D.D. Drosselmeyer”. “Unfortunately, the one book I’m missing is 'The 
Prince and the Raven.' I suppose it wouldn‘t have made much sense for me 
to have a copy of the book when I was supposed to *live* the storyline of 
the book.”

	“Then it is hopeless, just like I told you,” Rue said, unable to 
hide her disappointment. For the briefest of moments, she had allowed 
herself to think it might be possible, spurned on by Mytho’s heartfelt 
commitment to finding her real parents, but she should have known better 
to raise up her hopes. “We’d have to go back to Kinkan in order to find a 
copy of 'The Prince and the Raven,' and that isn‘t possible.”

	Unable to look Rue in the eye, Mytho reluctantly nodded. “It 
appears that way,” he admitted. He looked so defeated that Rue couldn‘t 
help but give him a hug.

	“It’s okay, Mytho,” she whispered, holding him tight. She didn’t 
trust her voice, knowing it would tremble from the tears she was trying 
valiantly to hold back. “You tried your best, and I really appreciate it. 
It just wasn’t meant to be, that’s all.”

	“Rue, I’m so sor--”

	Before Mytho could finish his apology, however, they were 
suddenly enveloped by a bright, golden light, and the two of them 
disappeared.


DISCLAIMER: "Princess Tutu" doesn't belong to me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Any comments or criticisms can be sent to me at 
ElysionDream@aol.com.