I woke up to the sound of a phone ringing. This time, it wasn't mine. I heard Scrooge mumbling and arguing. I waited utill he hung up.
"Arguing this early?"
"My parents."
"Oh, we can't catch a break, can we?" I deflated on the pillow.
"Especially when you go on midnight time traveling rendezvous." I looked at him. How did he- "You're in different pajamas."
"You noticed what I'm wearing?" I asked.
"I always pay attention to what you're wearing." He gave me a cheeky smile. He leaned over for a kiss.
"Mm, that's good to know," I hummed. Suddenly I was very aware of the ring on my hand that hadn't been there last night.
"When did you go?" he asked.
"I didn't catch the year." He raised an eyebrow. That was clearly too cryptic. My phone buzzed. I grabbed it. As I read the text, I covered the ring in the sheets. The last thing I need was more of Bradford's opinion on my love life, seeing as how Beaks hadn't fixed the mole problem. "That's Beaks. He couldn't shut the cameras down. He also hosting a party in Rio."
"It's fine." Scrooge was already getting out of bed. "We'll head to my parents and reconnect there."
"Willingly going to your parents?" I asked.
"Father called and said Mother was worried. Besides the manor is compromised might as well check it out."
(Mama's boy. Cute.) I just smiled.
We got ready and I made us a togo breakfast. As they loaded the plane, I decided what to do with my ring. I decided to keep it in my pocket until I knew the coast was safe. I nearly dropped it, though, when Webby cleared her throat.
"What are you doing?!" she asked.
"Just mentally preparing," I lied. "You?"
She scratched the back of her head. "I wanted to apologize again for taking the Time Turner. I know it's dangerous. Here. I made you this."
It was a handmade card. I felt bad that she felt the need to apologize.
"I'm not mad at you, Webby. I promise. It's okay." I placed a hand on her head and she laughed.
She bounced back to boys, who were making a plan to snatch another Missing Mystery. A family heirloom of the McDuck's. I only half paid attention. The flight seemed to go by faster now. Webby narrated our drive through the bog.
"Deep in the heart of Scotland lies the ancestral home of Clan McDuck, a family whose name is synonymous with greatness. Magic mists keep the castle hidden out of time except for once, every five years."
"So, where are the mists?" Scrooge demand. He marched towards his father, practically jumping out of the still moving car. "Did you break it?"
"No, this magic castle is on the fritz. You gave us a lemon!" Fruges challenged.
"It's a typical homecoming, as Scrooge and his father perform a traditional Scottish greeting ritual."
"Stand back Webs." I pulled her back a little, afraid their staring match might break into a wrestling one.
"Oh, let's just be thankful for this unexpected visit. Family hug!" She pulled them into a hug, then dropped them. "Oh, Scroogie you brought ____ back!"
She walked over to me and gave me a breathtaking hug.
"Downey McDuck, the matriarch of the family and keeper of its stories," Webby said as I was crushed to death. "What secrets does she hold?"
"Well, uhh, well dearest, the castle is full of Donald? Della!" They had just parked the car.
Downy dropped me and ran to them. Della covered her face and Donald ran back to the car and pulled the locked handle in vain. Fergus touched my arm lightly.
"Glad to see Scroogie hasn't run you off," he smirked.
"Oi!" Scrooge protested as his father walked over towards the twins.
"Treasures of the past, tales of the future, and a mystery for now. What could have made Castle McDuck reappear from the mists four years early?" Webby continued until I looked at her.
She turned off the tape and dashed inside. Scrooge and I followed her. We made our way to one of the drawing rooms.
"That's strange." Scrooge ran his hand across the fireplace. "Seems like the magic has been drained somehow."
"Scrooge McDuck inspects the castle's mystical foundations," Webby said into her device.
"Please don't tell me this is a long-term thing," I asked her. She nodded, and I groaned. She gave a timid smile and stepped away.
"Got to be delicate when dealing with unpredictable druid stones."
"I've got it," Fergus kicked the rocks. "Oh! Now, you broke my castle and my foot!"
"I broke-" Scrooge took a deep breath. "If you don't like how I do things, you can call one of your other kids instead."
"Who do you think I called first?" Fergus asked.
"Hello, brother!" A woman said, sliding into the room.
"Oh, Matilda!" He ran over to hug her. He pulled away, beaming. "I thought you were off selling goat yogurt?"
"It was goat-gurt and, unfortunately, that business went sour."
"What?!" - L "What is happening?!" - D "Scrooge's youngest sister, Matilda!" - W
The kids were confused. Well, except Webby.
"A McDuck I've never met?!" She jumped.
"You haven't met anyone outside of the immediate family. Right?" I asked her.
"It's an extensive immediate family," she nodded. "And still the coolest! Stay professional, Webby." She calmed herself and repeated into her Walkman. "This is the coolest."
"Hey, did you ever try to slap your sibling so hard that your other sibling felt it?" Dewey slapped Huey out of a chair and knocked Louie to the floor as well in the process. "And then they did?"
"Dewey, please. They're better than that. They're McDucks!" Webby beamed.
"I don't think that's how that works, Webby," I whispered.
"Yes. Your sister is back at home." Fergus wasn't happy about that statement.
"Just until I get my next big idea on its feet." She rolled her eyes. "Oh - and you are?"
"Hi, I'm Webby, I-just-met-you but-I-idolize-you!" Webby said, getting way too close.
"Got good taste, this one. Well, you may be interested to learn about my egg-citing new business!"
"A businesswoman, just like her brother!" Webby gasped, stepping closer.
"Webs!" I pulled her back. "Sorry, she has little to no self-control or notion of personal boundaries."
"It's alright! I like her spirit! And who might you be?" Matilda asked, laughing.
"Meet ____, Scrooge's fiancé," Fergus introduced us. I nearly jumped out of my skin. She shook my hand despite me not offering it.
"What?!" Donald said in the background.
I heard Louie carting him away, explaining what had happened the last time we were here. I relaxed because even I had forgotten.
"No way! Why am shaking your hand? Ya're basically family." She wrapped me in a hug. "Hurt him and you'll wake up dead."
I wheezed as she let go.
"You said you had a new project?" Webby thankfully butted in between us.
"It's an emu farm!" She exclaimed. Downy shooed the emu away, that had appeared on cue. "Why have a bunch of noisy chickens cluckin' about, laying lots of puny eggs when you could have one bird that lays a giant egg? I'll be rollin' in emu-lah! Eh? Ehh?"
"Ah! Well, let me be the first to invest." Scrooge offered her a hundred dollars bill.
"Ach, I don't need to start my business with family money."
"I'm gonna go ice my foot. You two got a handle on this." Fergus excused himself.
"We'll get on it, da. As soon as Scroogie gets out of this headlock." She grabbed Scrooge. "So ____, tell me more about yourself."
I suddenly forgot everything interesting I had ever done. I flounder and came out with. "I like to cook."
"Aye. An easy way to my brother's heart has always been his stomach." She nodded.
"Oi!" He struggled and flipped her to the floor. He crawled away.
She walked over to me. "Your turn."
I hit the floor before she could lock her arms around me.
"Take it easy on her, Matilda. This is why you two have never met before," Scrooge said, using the wall to pop his back.
She tried again, and I dodged down the hall. I bumped into Della.
"Have you seen," I cut her off.
"Yep. Stand right here," I said and took off. I ran to the next corner and nearly flattened Downy.
"You'll pay, ____!"
"Left her with Matilda?" She raised an eyebrow. I nodded. She laughed and picked me up. "Come with me. I want to show you something, dear."
She led me down the whinnying halls full of images and statues of McDuck.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything, dear."
"Is Hortense the only one of your children that had kids?"
"That I'm aware of, dear. But they don't tell their mother anything anymore." She sighed.
"I'm sure they're just busy." I patted her arm.
"What's with the interested in children, dear?" She hummed, like the nosey old woman she was. The implication was steady in her voice.
"I'm just curious about the family tree, is all." She narrowed her eyes. "Also, Webby's been acting strange. She thinks I'm mad at her and I would be if it was her fault but it's not, but she keeps apologizing. I don't know how to convince her otherwise."
I handed her the childish apology card, and she beamed.
"Aye, I remember one time Scroogie and Gideon did this. They tried to make a mud pie in my kitchen. They were more upset than me." She smiled in memory. "If she truly done nothing wrong, then just give her some time. She will take note ya aren't mad."
"If you say so," I mumbled.
"Of course, dear. I raised five of my own. I know a thing a two about wee ones," she chuckled. We made a turn, and she opened a spare bedroom door. "Here we are."
It was elegantly decorated, but nothing really stood out as special. I hummed and nodded to be nice, though. She knelt by the vest at the end of the bed and pulled out a clothing bag.
"Speaking of, I know ya might have yar eye set on something modern, but I saved it in case any of my lassies wanted to wear it. Sadly, I don't think that will ever be the case." She laid the bag on the bed and pulled it off, revealing an old wedding dress. It was breathtaking. Long sleeve with a built-in corset and the bottom was lace. Her eyes filled with tears. "I remember the day I wore this. We would have to make some alterations, of course. That's if ya like it. No pressure, dear."
I didn't know how to tell her. I don't think Scrooge ever planned on having a real wedding, but I couldn't turn her down.
"It's gorgeous."
"I'm surprised you and Scroogie still haven't had a ceremony," she mumbled to herself.
"We've been busy." I turned from the dress to face her.
"A wedding is important. It doesn't just couple two people but two families, two cultures."
"So Scrooge got his love of the classics from you?"
"Love?" She laughed and waved her hand. "He used to pitch a fit when it was time to do his readings. He was a stubborn one."
"Still is. I don't know how you got him to do anything," I agreed.
"Oh, he knew when I wasn't to be trifled with and would hide. Sometimes I would only catch glimpses of him for a week after he got in trouble." She lit up at a memory. "Oh, he also would convince his sister of fantastic adventures he'd gone on. Like when he told them he had seen the willow-da-whisps or heard the Cù Sìth howl. He's always had an adventurous spirit that one."
She was lost in memory and I wasn't going to stop her. Unfortunately, her children didn't give her the same citrusy. They screamed for her. "I'll be right back."
"Can I try it on?" I asked as she headed for the door.
"Of course, dear," she beamed.
She shut the door behind her and I slipped the dress on. It was big around the waist. I walked back over to the box. A suit sat in the bottom. I guessed it was Fergus. I picked up and looked at each piece. I pulled the sash off and tied it around my waist and walked back to the mirror.
"You look just lovely as my dear Downy." Fergus smiled in the reflection. "'pologies for not knockin'. Downy told me to fetch ya. I didn't know you had changed."
"You're fine and thank you. You're probably the only person going to see me in it, anyway." I spun for him.
"He's a bampot! You look beautiful, and I'm going to demand that you two have a traditional wedding. None of this modern eloping that Hortense thinks she got away with. If I ever get my hands on that Las." He marched for the door, still rambling.
"It's fine. Really." I grabbed his hand to stop him.
"No, it's not. One of my children denied me the right to humiliate them on their wedding day. I will not be cheated twice." He looked at my hand and noticed. "Where's your ring, las?"
"Precaution. I don't want the wrong people finding out." He gave me a hard look. I thought he might scold me and give me a history lesson on tradition and meaning.
"You're not telling people?" He figured out last time we weren't engaged so his lack of shock wasn't unbelievable. "He told me last time it was complicated with ya two."
"That's an understatement."
"But you still love him," he said. It wasn't a question, but I answered anyway.
"More. If it's possible."
"It is," he hummed in thought. "I donnea know what spot the two of ya're in but I know he has stood on as much tradition he could. Ya two won't have any more pressure from me, las."
He walked to the door.
"Dinner's ready when ya are. Though I won't fault ya if you run a minute late."
I got redressed and made my way to the dining room. I shouldn't have. The tension was already thick as I walked in. Dewey was waving me down from the opposite side as I entered. Della, Scrooge, Downy sat on one side. Donald, Matilda, and Fergus sat on the other. I sat beside Downy.
"Da, pass the neeps and tatties," Matilda said as I sat down.
"Tatties are for children who follow the rules," Downy said, scooping them up. "____, would you care for some, deary?"
I didn't want to be here.
"Oi! Why does she get any? She wasn't even helping with the magic problem." Matilda pouted like a child.
"She was with me being unproblematic," Downy said, giving me a scoop of mashed potatoes.
"Ya mean she was being an ars," Fergus cut her off.
"No cursing in front of the bairns."
"Hey!" the twins yelled in sync.
"And don't call ____ names! I'm sure she was helping Ma with something you were too busy playing emu shh... fur to do!" He changed words mid-sentence. Fergus grabbed a dish, eyeing him. There was a small stare-down between the boys before Scrooge started up again. "Mama, ask da to stop hogging the black pudding."
"This is for whiskers. He's had a hard day." Fergus stuck a fork full of pudding into the clump of hair and me and Donald gaged.
"No animals at my table!" Downy yelled. She grabbed the edge of the table and started pushing. I scooted away. "Scroogie, flip over this table you bought me for emphasis."
"What?!" I don't know what was confusing: the proposal or that he bought the table.
"You don't get to flip the table! I flip the table!" Fergus tried to pick up the table. "Matilda!"
The twins growled and were on the verge of a food fight themselves. The only thing stopping them was the thought if they did they would be grounded for it. I don't know what happened, but I clearly missed something important. It wouldn't take much for the whole family to delve into a full screaming match, then a fistfight. I wasn't dying to be in the middle of that and I really need an ex-Machina, which is why one should always carry a spare Webby. She jumped on the table.
"Everyone! Come quick! Dewey's hurt!"
"Oh, dear!" Downy was the first one up.
Della was close behind her. I followed the pack, keeping as much distance as possible. I didn't need this to blow up in my face.
"In there!" she pointed.
"Webby, you're not intervening are you?" I asked.
"Noo," she blew it off then immediately backpedaled. "Yes. I upset them but I can fix it! It'll be okay watch."
"Webs," I went to tell her she didn't need to but she ran into the room.
I walked into the huge room full of twenty-foot-tall statues. The room buzzed with magic, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from.
"Oh! My blood! Put it back in, put it back in!! Ugh!" Blue yelled as we ran in. I had to tell myself not to laugh. "Oh, the pain! It hurts so bad!"
"Boy! Lad, what happened?" Scrooge asked and Della fell to his side.
"He was worried about you fighting," Webby said. "He tried to make you both a statue. But he fell off and here, under the eyes of the greatest members of Clan McDuck, your bickering has led to disaster! Why did Dewey have to suffer for, Ah!"
She gasped as Della dropped her dying child.
"Why does Dewey's blood taste like ketchup?" Della asked.
Scrooge spoke over Della. "Look what your pettiness has done to my favorite great-nephew!"
"Of course. Nothing is ever precious Scroogie's fault!" Matilda yelled. "Maybe your nephew was hurt by your own negligence!"
"I'm your favorite?" Della growled. Dewey chuckled nervously.
"Aye, just like his negligence hurt poor whiskers!" Fergus agreed.
"No, it's getting worse!" Webby's eyes darted between everyone.
"Webby, let's just see our way out of this," I said. I tried to move her not wanting to be caught in the middle but she didn't budge.
"Hey! That rune matches one from the book!" Huey's voice echoed into the chamber.
"Forget that. What's happening here?" Lou asked. I shook my head, but Dewey jumped up.
"Uncle Scrooge says I'm his favorite!"
"What?!" they gasped.
"That's when you were dead," I clarified to no one because that's who was listening to me.
I sidestepped Downy and Donald and pulled Webby with me. She wasn't escalating it anymore on my watch. It didn't matter their attention was on Dewey. They all started yelling.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa, so, your favorite, Dewey here, is gonna get all the inheritance after I waste my time on Huey's dumb quest?" Louie demand of Scrooge.
"Dumb quest? Dumb quest?!" Huey was about to lose it.
"Don't worry, I just said that to make Matilda feel bad," Scrooge laughed. The comment didn't help the situation.
"Well, maybe they wouldn't pull dumb pranks like this if," Donald's voice was cut off as Della pushed him to the ground.
"What?! I'm the best one!" Dewey stormed off.
"Does anyone else care about the missing mystery?" Huey asked. "Because it's somewhere in here!"
"Actually," I went to say but immediately stop myself.
He had a point. That was probably causing the magic to be on the fritz, but I wasn't going to jump in. No one was angry at me and I was keeping it that way. I would look for it myself. What was it? Something Scottish. A kilt? No.
"Bless me Bagpipes!" Someone yelled. I couldn't tell who over there overlapping voices. My eyes snapped to the stone bagpipes.
"It can't be that simple." A duck in a yellow hazmat suit was climbing a Lady McDuck statue, who was holding the instrument. "Um, guys?"
They all yelled louder. The duck in yellow smashed the statue and grabbed a bag out of the crushed rock. I looked around. I was the only one to notice. She fell, and I gasped.
"Seilbh," I screamed.
The bag snapped out of their hands and into mine. It landed so hard that it flung me backward into a stone column. A breath of music escaped the bag as I squeezed it. A single note escaped in a wheeze and blasted the statues. They started moving, like sleeping giants awakening. I had everyone's attention now. Scrooge ran to my side.
"Are you okay?"
"Scroogie, what did you do?" Fergus gasped.
"What? We were all standing right there?" He whined. I rubbed my head.
"He right, it was ____ fault." Matilda pointed at me.
"Don't blame her!" he snapped.
"The Blessed Bagpipes bring life to that which has not." Huey pointed at where the yellow duck had fallen. Phantom Blot was helping them stand. "FOWL is after it!"
"Not for long! For now, this fine family's greatest members have awakened! And we will all come together to defend their home as a unified Clan McDuck!" Webby speechified.
"Oi, who took my bagpipe?!" was the first thing the giant lady said.
Webby stared in horror as the statues broke into a fight. The old sibling rivalry hadn't died with them. I don't think Pink got the concept of family. Especially this one.
The emu ran by and stole the bagpipes from me. The kids ran by me after the giant bird.
"Hey!" I took off.
Everyone was fighting. I focused on getting the bagpipes. The emu dropped them on the floor on the other side of a giant stone foot. A piece of the ceiling nearly crushed me as I dashed for it. I screamed and slid across the floor. I wrapped my arms around the bagpipes but they were ripped from me as the duck in yellow ran by.
"Oh, great, now the castle's coming down! Let's go! Boys! Webbigail! ____!" Scrooge called.
I looked up. I didn't know a spell to fix the ceiling. I was good at breaking things. I didn't fix them. The battle had gone quiet as Webby's words echoed.
"The McDucks meant everything to me. Not just because of their great name, but because they were a great family. One I thought I could be a part of. But now, it's gone. Guess the name McDuck didn't mean much after all."
"For Clan McDuck!" Scrooge cried.
"But I thought you were Clan McScrooge now," Webby said. I had missed something.
"It's not the McDuck name that makes our family great," Scrooge explained.
"It's the people in it." Matilda looked at me.
A chunk of ceiling fell. We jumped into action. They pulled Webby and the boys towards the emu and separated the fighting twins. I remember a spell and threw my arms in the air.
"Reparare fractum."
The cracks in the ceiling started fixing themselves. The statues surrounded them but Pepper, the FOWL agent, froze them using the bagpipes. I got blasted in the side and slung to the ground. A loud crack echoed throughout the room as my spell unwove itself. Phantom Blot pointed up his gauntlet at me. It felt extra powerful this time around, but I couldn't tell why. I scrambled backward as he marched closer.
"Get away from my aunt!" Webby threw a rock at Blot and he spun towards her.
He aimed the gauntlet at her. The boys copied her rock-throwing and name-calling tactic but were unable to get his attention. Webby gasped and stumbled backward, falling off the piece of ceiling she was standing on. Blot shot at her. I ran blocking her as it hit. It stung like needles piercing my skin. Scrooge and Matilda charged him.
"Get out of my house!" Downy yelled and the echo caused another piece of debris to dislodge.
It fell between us and he was gone when the dust cleared. I collapse onto Webby. Donald was the closest to me and help me stand.
"____! Are you alright?!" Webby asked. I took the remaining amount of my energy to nod. "You're not mad at me anymore?"
I knelt down much to Donald's protest.
"I was never mad at you, Pink. And I never could be so mad that I would let someone blast you." She hugged me and I wheezed. She looked at the damage over my shoulder.
"It's all destroyed." Webby was on the verge of tears.
"It's not your fault, lassie. Sometimes families fight," Scrooge said. "But the mark of a great family is one who can work through their petty differences to be closer than ever. But next time, we won't try to put ourselves on a pedestal."
I held in a chuckle. Laughing hurt.
"You all realize that that's literally what we're doing right now, right?" Louie asked.
Clean-up lasted until dinner, even with me and Webby in a magic mood. I collapse on the bed in another guest room. They told me to get some rest before we ate. The room was a near match for the one I had been in earlier. There was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in." Scrooge opened it. I smiled but everything hurt so I didn't move. "I can't believe they put us in separate rooms."
"They're very traditional. Almost too much." He collapsed on the bed beside me.
"And you're not?" I leaned on my side to look at him.
"Aye in some things." He turned up to match me. "I suppose we could be a tad more traditional if you wanted Love."
"Do you want that?" I had thought he didn't.
He had seemed so calculated before. Signing the papers no mess of a family gathering. That seemed like him but maybe I was wrong. His father had implied that he would want all the bells and whistles.
"Maybe," he sounded uncertain. "If you do as well."
He took my hand like he had hundred times, only this time I knew he was looking to see if I was wearing the ring.
"Well, you're mother offered me her dress. Don't know how much more traditional it gets." He looked taken aback.
"I don't know how much hounding I cannea take. We need to come clean or leave." I looked at him. His jaw was locked. Maybe he had changed his mind. It had been years for him after all. "She'll have a whole wedding planned if we don't."
"Wasn't just her," I laughed. He raised an eyebrow. "You're father was rather mad at the idea of not getting invited."
He groaned and the door slammed open.
"____! We need to talk!" Matilda busted in. "Ooh, wait until I tell mummy and da!"
She ran out of the room. I laughed as Scrooge ran after her yelling 'he wasn't a boy anymore'. I made my way to the dining not long afterwards. Scrooge had gotten roped into setting the table. I took some plates from him.
"Hey not to start any more petty fights, but I think you deserve a statue," I whispered.
"I wouldn't let anyone hear you say that," he chuckled.
"Never."
"Say what?" Della asked, walking in.
"I'll tell you when you're older," I mocked. She growled.
Donald walked in with a red mark on his face and carrying Dewey by the back of his shirt. Downy and Matilda put the food down and Fergus joined us. We made our plates in silence. Once we were eating, Scrooge spoke up.
"We need to take the offensive. FOWL infiltrated our home one too many times!"
"No battle strategy at the supper table." Fergus struck the table.
"We have been attacked. In our homes no less. We need a strategy!" Scrooge countered. I beg Fergus with my eyes. We all knew this would devolve into an episode of wedding planers if he didn't continue.
"Okay, but just this once," he grunted.
"My original plan was for Della and the kids to go after the Fountain of the Foreverglades. Beakley's team was to find the Stone of What Was. My team would go after The Lost Harp of Mervana. I think we should keep similar teams but different targets to throw FOWL off our tracks."
"I'll go after the stone! That's on Monster island, right? Who wants to come with?" Della cheered.
"Oh, oh! Me! Me!" Dewey shook his hand in the air.
"Yeah, I want to go not there. What about the Mervana place? It sounds kinda chill. At least some until some deep dark mystery that tries killing us is revealed." Louie shrugged, looking at his phone under the table.
"Awww. Don't be like that. I'm sure it's rainbows and sunshine like all the time!" Webby beamed.
"You two can be on Beakley's team, then. That leaves us, Love."
"And me!" Donald said. Scrooge held in a groan.
"And you. We'll be going after the Fountain of the Foreverglades."
"How are you going to capture a fountain?" Louie asked.
"That's part of the fun, lad. I'll call Beakley when we're done. We need to all meet back at a central location afterward."
"You could come back here?" Matilda smiled. "I would love to get to know my new sister-in-"
Scrooge cut her off. "The Bin will be a secure meeting point afterward."
Matilda crossed her arms.
"What about Finch?" I asked.
"She has her own mission." He didn't go into detail.
The rest of the dinner was quiet, with the odd "pass this" or a groan leaving someone's lips. I excused myself and made my way back to my room. That blast had drained me. I was about to fall asleep when my phone rang. I answered without checking.
"Ugh," I groaned. A chuckle pulled me out of my half-asleep state.
"Sorry to hear about your family spat. You think a self-proclaimed family man wouldn't let his family be his undoing?"
"You must have the wrong number." I went to hang up when he said my name.
"You'll see. In the end, he only cares about one thing." I didn't respond, but I practically see Bradford's smile. "Himself."
I hung up. I needed sleep and to kick some more FOWL ass.
Word Count: 5097
Scottish:
Bampot - mad idiot
Bairns - children
search - possession