NegaTales || Season 1 ||

The Eclipse War Pt 1

"Lena DeSpell! Let me go this instant!" Magica trend to pull away but Lena's ever-growing magic kept her there.

"Can't let you stop me, aunt Magica. You know why I'm doing this." Lena pushed herself to her feet, stringy shadow still clinging to her face.

"This won't end well. Listen to me."

Lena took a deep breath, absorbed the shadow back inside. There. No more interruptions. Looking up, Lena found she was just across the street from the gates of the used-to-be McDuck Manor. Perfect.

Straightening, Lena made her way across the road, swinging her arms confidently. Just out the gate was speaker. She hesitated before pressing the button. What would she say? Maybe some sort of lie how she wanted to hang out with Webby. Maybe their toaster got out, she had found it, so she stopped by to return it. Eh, the first one would do just fine.

Pressing down the switch, she opened her mouth with a deep breath. "Hi, this is Lena, and I-"

The gate parted open almost immediately. The sound nearly made her jump. Well, that was easier than expected. The teen duck marched on.

"This is it, Lena." She talked herself up as she went. "You'll get that penny, make sure Fethry gets his just deserts, then after that, get my revenge on Scrooge, then live happily ever in some cute little cottage." She rubbed her hands together, making her way on the steps. "And everyone in the Duck family will fear the name Lena DeSpell!" She spread her arms dramatically, getting worked up. Oh yeah, today was going to be a great day. If it wasn't, well, she still had a few back up cards to play.

She hadn't even knocked when the door opened. Her eyes widened at the sight. Fethry stood in the doorway, dressed in his crimson bathrobe, hair a disheveled mess and bags under his eyes.

"Fethry...?"

"Lena! Hi! Come inside!" He grinned, welcoming her in. Was he onto her? Was this some sort of trap? Why was he so eager to see her?

The inside of the mansion made her even more confused. Pizza boxes were scattered about, and it definitely smelt like something died.  She scrunched her beak in disgust, stiffening. "What happened here?"

"Well, my family recently moved out, so I've had a lot of free time." He glanced around at the trash, as if he didn't want to acknowledge it. "They found out I convinced their mother to run away and never come back, so now I'm horribly alone." Waving off the comment like it was nothing, he continued, "But hey, who needs family, am I right? I spent over a decade without 'em so I'm sure this is no different." He went quiet, staring at the ground, clearly not convinced of his own statement.

Hearing all this, Lena almost felt bad for trying to ruin his life even further. Almost. Now to ask about the penny. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a penny, would you? I need it for... stuff." At least it wasn't lying. She taped her pointer fingers together awkwardly. She'd never enacted an evil scheme before.

Shrugging, Fethry moved to sit on the stairs. "Eh, I used to have one, but then there was a ghost in it so we threw it out."

Lena blinked. "You threw it out?"

"Yeah, it was this whole thing on my birthday." He smiled fondly. "Huey threw the party for me, and Dewey got his head stuck in a helmet, and I was locked in a closet. That was a fun day." He expression shifted to hurt. "But they're gone now, so..."

"You just threw it out?" Lena was trying hard to swallow her emotion. She had been working desperately to get that coin, and they got rid of it like it was nothing more than a piece of lint on a sweater. "Ugh! I needed that gho-" She drew out the word when Fethry looked at her confused. "Oooo to the bathroom. I need to go to the bathroom? Where would that be?" Good save.