Mytho looks thoughtful, then nods.

"I want my heart to be inside me, Serafin."

"Okay. Then I hope you get it all back. I'll help if I can, but I'm not a magical ballet princess."

"Yes," says Mytho, thoughtfully. "Only Princess Tutu is. I think if I wait, she might return all of my feelings to me."

"Yeah. I think she will too."

Rue watches them converse from elsewhere on the stage. This is really getting out of control. It would be great if she could just go on the way she is, try to enjoy the life she has, but - 

If she waits any longer, she won't have a life to return to. And now - now -

"Oh, yes, that's quite a development. I wonder how you'll handle this, little Duck?"

The next day, Mytho and Rue are both absent from all of their classes. Duck looks for them - she even considers checking Rue's window as a duck, and only doesn't do that because there are a bunch of ravens congregated around it for some reason - but she can't find them anywhere on campus. 

She finds Serafin around lunchtime to ask if he's seen them anywhere.

"...nnnno," he says. "Should I be worried."

"Probably not! I'm going to but I worry about everything."

"Aww. Well, want me to help you look for him?"

"OK! I was thinking I'd ask Fakir, but Fakir is sort of terrifying, so that'll be good!"

"I can ask him, he doesn't scare me at all."

" - wow, could you? That'd be great! I can go check some other places and we can meet back up later!"

Fakir was in class this morning, but he's abandoned them to walk around campus himself, also searching for Mytho. Eventually he realizes that Rue is gone, too, and he doesn't know what to think of that. He questions the other members of the advanced class, but none of them have seen her and all of them seem to think that she's better friends with someone else, or that she keeps to herself apart from the time she spends with Mytho.

At this point he's standing outside the ballet building, taking in the crows.

"Hi!" says Serafin. "Have you seen Mytho? I think he's missing or something."

" - why are you looking for him?"

"...'cause I'm worried about him?"

"....I haven't seen him since last night."

"Well now I'm definitely worried. Thanks anyway, I guess."

"You realize that the story is continuing. That soon it'll be impossible to stop or slow the progression towards its end."

"I've been trying to understand what the stuff about the story even means and I kind of... don't. But Mytho said he wants his heart."

"Do you honestly think that that's the sort of thing that can just happen without having consequences?"

"I mean... no? But not doing it was having consequences too, somebody could have seriously died if I'd kept that anger shard much longer."

"I doubt you could have done more damage than the Raven."

"...maybe."