Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For the Duck/McDuck family, it often wasn't the adventures themselves that were that most anxiety inducing. 

It was the time between the adventures.

At first it's nice, a nice break from a near life threatening situation.

Then it was waiting for the next monster or villain attack.

The more time spent waiting meant the bigger the threat.

At least, that was how Louie was explaining it to May.

"I guess that makes sense." She frowned as she practiced a cross stitch. She had wanted to learn how to sew and embroider, both because it was handy in the field when you were injured, and because she wanted to make the pretty designs like those on the throw pillows.

"What's worse is that there really is nothing we can do now except wait." Louie explained as he continued the scarf he was working on. People were naturally shocked when they learned that Louie was the knitter in the family, having learned from Elvira. It wasn't something he bragged about either, only bringing it up when someone else did. But it was relaxing and allowed him to save on money for Christmas presents.

He was also really good at mending clothes, something he learned from his Uncle on the houseboat, when they were often in a financial tight spot.

On the floor, uncaring of their morbid discussion, Twyla played with a ball of yarn Louie had tossed her way, quickly spreading yarn on the floor.

"Da-Donald and Aunt Della say the voice has been quiet lately."

If Louie noticed May near slip, he gave no indication. "Of course, now that they want to hear the mysterious, etherial voice, it goes quiet. That's kind of another running theme with them."

"Are they really that unlucky?"

"Considering Uncle Donald got stranded on a desert island and Mom got lost in space for ten years, I'd say yes."

It was then that Daisy passed through, trying to call someone.

"Ugh, voicemail again." She groaned. "I've been waiting on this shipment for weeks and it's supposed to be here by tomorrow! What's going on with them?"

"That usually means they messed up badly and are trying to salvage it before facing the customer." Louie said without missing a beat.

"Ugh...I need this shipment if I want by boutique to open on time." Daisy decided to look over his work. "Wow! This is really good. I love the pattern."

"Thank you." Louie smiled, taking the praise in stride.

She then went to look over May's progress. "You've made so much progress since we started! I might even ask you to help me in the store."

"Really?" May asked hopefully. "Thanks Mo-Daisy."

Daisy looked concerned as May buried herself in her work. "Is everything alright-"

"Yup! Everything's fine! Nothing wrong here!" She moved the needle faster, not caring if it was poking her fingers.

"I think you need a thimble sweetie." Daisy grabbed some from the kit and showed her how to use them. "You place them over your fingers so the needle doesn't poke them."

"...Thanks." May continued on, not looking at the woman.

Louie watched as Daisy's form deflated a little. "Alright...you know you can talk to me about anything."

May 'hmmm hmmm'd' and Daisy left the room.

"Meow." Twyla winded, having gotten herself tangled in the remnants of her toy.

"I warned you that would happen." Louie said before eyeing May while continuing his own work. "Everything ok between you and Aunt Daisy?"

"Yes, why?" May didn't look at him.

"It's just...you've been kinda dodgy with Uncle Donald and Aunt Daisy."

"So?" She moved the needle faster.

"I mean, you tend to shy away from all of the adults. Which i totally get, I do that sometimes too, But Donald and Daisy seem to make you extra on edge."

"It's nothing. Ugh! Now the threads' tangled!"

Louie finished the line and moved onto the next one. "Y'know...you're a lot like me."

"Huh?" May looked at him in surprise.

"I don't get why this family loves me sometimes either." He continued. "I mean, I lie, I cheat, I even got them lost in time once.' He put his work down and stared at her. "They got mad at me. They were disappointed in me, but they still loved me. I didn't get it!"

May didn't look at him, but she didn't go back to work either.

"It doesn't make sense, but family, especially our family, will love us no matter what we do...at least anything short of murder...although considering what Webby's like they might make an exception."

This brought a brief smile to May's face. "Thank you."

"You should talk to them."

"Did you ever-"

"Do as I say, not as I do."

With that, he went right back to work.

Huey lay on the grass, not making a sound as he watched the subject of his study.

The bug, either unaware of him or just not caring, kept climbing up the trunk of the tree.

The hatted child wrote down everything eagerly.

All was peaceful.

Until it wasn't.

"What ch'ya doing?!"

Huey jumped and shouted in surprise, causing the bug to fly away.

"June!" He gasped when she saw the girl in question standing there innocently, hands folded together and a smile on her face. "I was doing research!"

"On what?"

"On the majestic Duckburg Bark Beatle. I'm doing a segment for my podcast-"

"What's a podcast?"

"Well, it's like a show."

"Like the kind on T.V.?" June tilted her head. "Because Louie showed us one about ottomans and Launchpad showed us one about that weird purple guy."

"It's not a show you watch. It's a radio show, one you listen to."

"Like that stuff Dewey plays on his phone?" She asked excitedly. "He told me it's called 'music' and apparently there's different kinds! Donald's even going to teach us how to make it in real life!"

"Well, you see-"

"Oh!" Her attention was immediately grabbed by something else. "Maybe you can do your show about those flying stripy things instead!" She pointed to a passing bee as it landed on a flower.

"I appreciate the advice but-no wait JUNE DON"T TOUCH IT!"

It was too late, as the girl had already wrapped her hands around the insect. A second later, she screamed and pulled her hands away.

"IT HURTS!" She began to tear up.

"Bees sting!" Huey grabbed her hands and looked them over. "C'mon, let's go get an ice pack. Webby's not allergic to bees, so hopefully you shouldn't be either." He held her unaffected hand and walked her back to the mansion.

"W-Why did it sting me?" She sniffed.

"It's a defense mechanism. They use their stingers when they feel threatened, like when you grabbed it."

"Oh..." Now she felt really guilty. "I didn't mean to scare it."

"I know that, but it didn't. You have to be careful with wild animals and insects. A lot of them are dangerous and will do worse than just sting you."

"Oh..."

They entered the kitchen and were immediately greeted by Donald.

"Hey kiddos! What do you want for lunch?" Then he noticed June's distressed state and rushed over to her. "What's wrong Junie? Did you touch the stove again? I warned you to be careful."

"She got stung by a bee." Huey informed him.

Donald nodded and got an ice pack from the freezer. "Thankfully there's plenty of these things." With quick precision, he tended the girl's sore hand. "There." He said as he pressed the ice pack to it. "It didn't look too bad, but keep it on there for twenty minutes. If it starts to swell, tell somebody right away, ok?"

"Ok." June nodded. "Thank you Donald."

He kissed her head and left.

"He's really nice." She said, staring at the ice pack. "You guys are really lucky to have him."

"Well, you have him too, so to speak."

"I know; I love being a part of this family. But..." She looked away.

"What?" Huey asked gently.

"..It's stupid."

"I doubt it. You can tell me."

"....He and Daisy are more like my and May's parents than Bradford and Heron were." She looked at him with watery eyes. "They're actually nice to us, and ask us about what we like rather than just tell us what to do and don't lock us in tubes."

Huey nodded. He and the rest of the family could only imagine the way the organization had treated the twins. The comments May and June often made certainly didn't help.

"Is that bad? That I'm replacing them? I know they were bad people but-"

"June." Huey stopped her. "It's alright. They made you. They manipulated you, but they were all you and May knew."

It was June's turn to nod.

"It's alright that you and May are moving on from them. You have a family that loves and cares for you now. And we would never lock you up or get rid of you, ok?"

He was answered by a bone crushing hug from his cousin.

"Thank you." She replied softly.

He hugged her back. "Anytime. Now, what do you want to eat?" He walked over to the counters.

Soon, he had prepared two sandwiched for them and had them cooking in the panini press.

"Ooh! What's that?"

"That's a panini press. It cooks-WAIT DON"T TOUCH THAT!"

"Everyone." Scrooge announced after Mrs. Beakley had called them for a family meeting. They were all seated in the living room, with Twyla making herself comfortable on June's lap and Daisy glancing through her phone nervously. "It had come to my attention that this family could use a little help."

"With what?" Della asked. "Lena says me and Don are really getting the hang of our magic."

"And that's good. But the help I'm talking about is a little more...emotional."

"Wait..." Louie raised an eyebrow. "Are you finally getting us therapy?"

"Yes. After long, hard thinking-"

Beakley coughed.

"-and some 'advice' from Beakley, I am getting us all help with our emotional needs."

"Finally!" Donald exclaimed, ignoring his Uncle's glare.

Huey opened up his book. "The JWG book says that therapy can improve communication, help us feel empowered and help us deal with anxiety and trauma in a healthy way. And after all we've been though-"

"Fighting a shadow army-" Webby said.

"Fighting off an epic alien invasion-" Dewey continued.

"Fighting an evil organization bent on destroying adventure-" May added.

"Fighting evil mothers!" June cheerfully said.

"And just our everyday lives-" Louie said.

"-Getting someone to talk to would really help." Huey looked at his uncle. "So is this family therapy, or just one on one? Did you find a therapist yet? What kinds of therapy are you looking into?"

"Well-" Scrooge shuffled his had. "He is licensed to perform therapy...among other things."

"So where's his office?"

"Here."

Huey looked at him curiously. "So, he does home visits."

"Well not really 'visits' per say..."

Beakley sighed. "He'll be moving in for a while. I already have a room set up for him."

Now everyone looked confused.

"Are you sure that is a wise decision?" Penumbra asked.

"We don't even know him!" Donald exclaimed.

"You've actually met him before." Scrooge explained. "He's a an old friend of mine and I've been helping him out since F.O.W.L. and this is a kind of repayment. I can assure all of you that he is very trustworthy...if a bit eccentric."

There was knock on the front door.

"I got it!" Webby jumped up and headed for the door. After a moment, she called out. "Ugh...guys? You might want to see this."

Everyone rushed over and saw the front porch stacked with trunks, books and other scientific machinery.

"Looks like he's here already." Beakley said dryly.

"But where is he?" Scrooge looked out but didn't see any car or anyone the things could belong to.

"Ah! There you all are!"

Everyone turned around, startled, to find an old duck in a suit and glasses standing impatiently behind them.

"Really, Scroogey, you should have a map set up on every floor! This is the third time I've come by the main stairs."

Scrooge sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Everyone I would like to formally introduce you to Professor Ludwig Von Drake. He's going to be staying with us for a while."

"Both as a therapist and as a researcher on the elemental spirits." Ludwig smiled. "I would have come sooner but you know how things are, the world thinks you're dead and you have to do so much paperwork to convince them you're not, visiting family let them know you're alive."

"Tell me about it." Della nodded.

"I was up in my seed repository visiting my little darlings. They even had photos of the funeral they had for me. It looked like a good time!"

"Umm..." Louie looked at the man suspiciously. "How did he get in our house?"

"Hi Mr. Ludwig!" May and June greeted cheerfully.

"Hello little darlings!" He reach into his pocket and tossed May a lollipop and June a candy bracelet. May tucked hers away for later while June carefully tested it with her tongue before eagerly digging into it.

"I'm glad you came when you did." Scrooge said. "Beakley and I need to head out tomorrow for a couple of days."

"Really?" Donald asked. "To where?"

"Classified." Beakley crossed her arms.

"Right. That's what I wanted to tell you too." Scrooge continued. "It's a last minute thing. Duckworth's also on vacation so Ludwig's in charge."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Daisy shouted at her phone.

"I knew Della might be a bit upset-"

"Oh, it's not that!" Daisy quickly assured him. "It's a delivery I'm waiting for. Apparently the pilot they hired got sick and they can't get another one, so now I have to go all the way to Cape Suzette and pick it up myself!"

"I would offer Launchpad but he's in St. Canard with his superhero friend." Scrooge said apologetically.

"I can fly you over." Della offered.

"Actually, how about we take the houseboat?" Donald said, smiling. "We can make it a trip! I know we couldn't do that worldwide one, but this is still somewhere else."

"I don't know..." Daisy said hesitantly.

"It's important to find time to relax after a stressful situation." Ludwig said in a lecturing voice. "It can also be a great bonding time for new families."

"....You know what? Sure, why not! We can even take the kids with us."

"Great!" Donald turned to the aforementioned children. "So who wants to go?"

Dewey shook his head. "Already been there, done that with Cape Suzette."

Huey and Louie caught each other's eyes, shared a knowing look, and nodded simultaneously.

"Hey, how about taking May and June with you?" Louie suggested. "Use the time to get to know each other, give them a a little culture."

"What?" May looked at Louie suspiciously.

"Yay!" June cheered, piece fo string from the bracelet hanging out of her mouth. "I love culture!...What's culture?"

Webby gasped. "You could use this as a family bonding trip!" She cheered.

"I certainly not opposed to the idea." Daisy looked at May and June expectancy.

June returned with a big grin, while May looked away.

Daisy felt her heart hurt a little.

"We can start packing tonight and leave first thing tomorrow." Donald nodded, putting a hand on Daisy's shoulder.

"Wonderful!" Ludwig clapped. "Now who's going to help me with my things?"

That night May and June lay in their bunk. June had whispered long past their bedtime about how excited she was for the trip tomorrow until May had practically begged her to go to sleep.

May finally felt herself begin to drift off when-

"Daddy?"

May's eyes quickly opened. That had sounded like June's voice but-"

"Thank you mommy, I love the shirt...."

May quickly looked over the to the top bunk and found a sleeping June, limbs spread out, and talking in her sleep.

"Daddy can we go fishing/" She murmured in whatever dream she was having.

May returned to her own bunk and wrapped herself up.

This hadn't been the first time she caught June doing this. Talking in her sleep. Usually it was nonsense and kinda funny, sometimes it was nightmares about F.O.W.L. or turning into Webby. Othertimes it would have Donald and Daisy.

But this was the first time she had addressed them as 'mom' and 'dad'.

And May knew for a fact she wasn't talking about Bradford and Heron.

Feeling stirred around inside her, and she couldn't make them out.

So she did wha she always did; push them deep down and tried to get some sleep.

The next morning, everyone went to the docks to wish the travelers farewell. Beakley and Scrooge were meeting a ferryman to (as far as the rest of the household was concerned) an unknown location.

"Have fun!" Webby gave her granny and father a farewell hug.

"Keep an eye out for the others dear." Beakley smiled.

"Aw, don't worry Mrs. B!" Della smirked. "I'll take good care go my baby cousin!"

"Of course." Beakley looked her in the eye. "But if she breaks a bone or catches lice, I'm coming for your head."

"Got it!" Della jokingly saluted.

"Don't let her burn the house down." Scrooge told Ludwig. "She's banned from the kitchen."

"Do you have everything?" Huey looked over his checklist with Donald. "Snacks? Reading material? It's gonna take a little while to get to Cape Suzette by boat."

"All checked." Donald nodded. "Are you sure you boys don't want to come?"

"We're good." Huey reassured him. "We agreed that it would be nice for May and June to get some alone time with you."

"Aww...that's sweet. Are you ready girls?"

"All packed!" Daisy exclaimed.

"Do we really have to wear these?" May complained as she and June walked up to him....both wearing life vests so big they restricted arm movement.

"Of course you do!" Donald replied. "It's basic boat safety."

"I'm sure they'll be fine once we depart." Daisy joined them.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" May asked Louie.

"Pretty sure." He shrugged. "The way these things go is that you'll get there, get wrapped up in some sort of adventure that strengthens your bonds and return home with some life lessons or something."

"If you say so..."

Soon, both boats were off as those reminding behind waved to those sailing off.

"I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU!" Dewey shouted after the houseboat.

Louie rolled his eyes. "Dude, they're leaving for a few days, not going off to war."  

"Yeah!" Della throw he hands up."We have the whole mansion to ourselves-" Ludwig coughed.

"-and that guy. So, what do ya wanna do?"

"Watch T.V. and enjoy the peace and quiet." Louie said, already heading back to the car.

"Actually, perhaps now would be a good chance for a get started on our therapy sessions." Ludwig said. 

Della winced. "Look, I know you're here to help, and I appreciate it-"

"Wonderful! We'll have our first session when we get back!" Ludwig walked on before she could reply.

"Aw phooey."

Chapter Text

May loved watching the ocean. The waves tossing over one another, the seemingly endless horizon.

There was something very peaceful about it.

Her sister didn't feel the same way.

"This is boring!" June slid to the floor. "Where are the dolphins and whales and other animals we were learning about?"

"You've gotta be patient and lucky to see them." Daisy explained.

"Ugh."

Daisy looked over at Donald, who was manning the steering wheel, and they nodded.

"Well, if you're so bored, perhaps now is as good as time as any to show you the surprise we've been working on."

That caught the girl's attention. "A surprise?" She jumped to her feet and even May looked over.

"C'mon." She led them below deck to the bedroom door.

The twins knew it had been the triplets bedroom when they were living on the houseboat, but Donald and Daisy had been adamant about keeping them out that past week, with the explanation that they were doing some redecorating.

"Close your eyes." Daisy said and the girls complied. They felt the woman lead them into the room.

"Surprise!"

"What is it!? What is it!?" The girls chanted, keeping their eyes closed.

"You can open your eyes now."

"Oh..."

They opened them and quickly saw what Daisy had meant.

On one side of the room was a familiar set of triple bunks, just like the one in the boy's room at the mansion. But across from that was another triple bunk bed, with a pink cover at the top, a yellow one in the middle, and a light blue one at the bottom.

June gasped in excitement while May just stared at it.

"We set it up for when we take the houseboat as a family." Daisy explained. "There's another dresser for your clothes and you can decorate your bunks however you want!"

"Yay!" June cheered as she gave Daisy a tight hug. "Thank you Daisy! I love it!"

"I'm glad you like it." Daisy looked over at May, who continued to stare at the bunk. "May?"

May snapped back into reality. "Oh! I-I love it too!"

June quickly let go and hopped onto her bunk. "It's so comfy! And look at the colors! You're right above me and Webby can be right above you."

"I can see that." May said curtly.

"May, you don't have to be rude." Daisy gently scolded.

"...Sorry." Then before either could stop her, she left the room.

Daisy sighed before addressing the younger twin, who was looking at where her sister went sadly. "June...do you know what's going on with May? Is something bothering her?"

She slowly shook her head. "No....she didn't tell me." She began to play with her pigtail nervously. "She's always talked to me before. This....this is new. And I don't like it."

"I'm sure it'll be fine Junebug." Daisy sat beside her and put a hand on her back. "She probably just needs time to work on what she wants to say."

"But she's never done that before!" June looked at her with watery eyes.

"This is new for her too." Daisy held her close. "When you grow up, feelings start to become....complicated."

"That sounds awful."

"It can be. So sometimes we need time to sort out those feelings before we try to communicate them. Do you understand?"

"I guess so. May's going to be alright...won't she?"

"I know she will. " A smile tugged on her face. "In fact, she reminds me of Donald. He has a lot of complicated feelings too, but he's also loving and protective of his family."

"Just like May!" June brightened.

"Exactly!" Daisy giggled. "I know she seems distant, but I also know she loves..." She hesitated. Did she say 'us' or just specifically June? "...her family. Whatever she's going through, we'll be right there when she's ready, ok?"

"Ok." June gave Daisy another hug, which the woman quickly returned.

"Now then..." Ludwig got out a notepad and pen. "Why don't you tell me where it all started?"

Della gave him a deadpan stare. "Well, it all started when you dragged me here against my will."

They were in the office Beakley set up. It had the typical desk and books on psychology, but also books on a variety of other subjects. Even though he had only moved in last night, the room was already a mess, with papers and books scattered around and was that a lab coat in the ceiling fan?

Currently, the two ducks were facing each other in, surprisingly comfy, chairs.

"You know you're free to leave whenever you want." Ludwig offered. "Therapy is here to help you, but you must make the choice of whether to take it or not."

Della grit her teeth. Darn this guy for reminding her she had options!

As much as her pride wanted her to march out that door right that second, the part of her that had nearly broken her coffee mug because she saw her reflection in it kept her seated.

"Since I'm already here I might as well give this a try."

"Wonderful!"

"Besides, even my kids think therapy's a good idea. And when it's your own kids that suggest it, you might want to listen."

"Excellent point." Ludwig nodded.

There was a meow and Twyla hopped up onto Della's lap.

"What a lovely little feline!" Ludwig adjusted his glasses as Della began to pet the dark creature.

"This is Twyla. She was originally our Grandma Elvira's cat but she decided to come see the magic stuff." She frowned down at the purring feline. "Y'know...I think this cat's older than I am."

"Fascinating...I shall have too study her another time. Anyway, animal-assisted therapy has been shown to have great benefits, so let's just continue, yes?"

Della simply nodded.

"Good. Now...you spent ten years on the moon, correct?"

"Wow. How'd you know that?" Della said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ludwig merely raised an eyebrow.

Della sighed. "Yes. I'm sorry...it just....therapy's supposed to be for sick people!"

"Therapy is for people who need help." Ludwig corrected. "And everybody needs help from time to time."

"I guess..."

"Do you have a problem with asking for help?"

"Yes-no-I don't know!" She groaned. "I've survived on the freaking moon for a decade! I should be able to handle anything!"

"Who do you want to know you can handle everything?"

"Uncle Scrooge. I mean...the man's a living legend! He's circumnavigated the globe more times than I can count! He's brought myths into reality!"

"I see..." Ludwig began scribbling something down. "You admire Scrooge a lot."

"Duh! Not to mention he raised me and Don and let me tell you; we were not easy kids to handle!"

"So he took on the role as a sort of father-figure?"

Della blinked. "I-yeah. We-we didn't remember too much of our own dad before...things happened."

"Scrooge informed me. We can talk about that at a later time. Now, I understand that you would want Scrooge to be proud of ya."

"Hey! He loves me!"

"That's not what I asked."

Della slumped in her seat. "Yes. I want him to be proud of me ok?"

"Now what do you think makes him proud of you?"

"Adventures! Finding lost treasures. Being tougher than the toughies, smarter than the smarties and sharper than the sharpies."

"That's quite a high platform you're reaching for.I'm not even sure Scrooge himself can reach it all the time."

"W-well...no, I guess. But I can reach it! I just have to keep climbing! Nothing can stop Della Duck!"

Ludwig merely took down more notes and Della felt her heart beat faster.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all....

Donald quickly noticed May wasn't in the best mood when she returned to the upper deck. 

Thankfully he had a trick whenever the boys were like this.

"Hey Mayflower! Wanna help me steer the ship?"

She looked at him in surprise, hesitated, then nodded as she joined him at the wheel.

"You gotta keep a firm grip on it ok?" He instructed, setting up a stool for her to stand on.

She nodded and took hold of it.

"Wanna try turning it a little? Gently now..."

She gently turned the wheel to the right, and seemed amazed when he boat followed.

"Wow....Is this like flying a plane? Because Don Karnage never let us near the wheel."

"Sorry, that's a whole different school. I'm sure Della can show you if you want."

Just anyone besides Launchpad. He added mentally. He liked the guy just fine, but Donald felt like he was having a heart attack every time the man crashed.

She gently turned the wheel left, and the boat obeyed.

"This is kinda fun!" May smiled.

"I can teach ya more if you want."

May looked ready to agree, only to pause and frown the ocean in front of her.

"...Hey, is something wrong kiddo?"

She reminded silent, though her frown deepened.

"...Nothing."

"You know you can talk to us, right?" He asked hopefully

"Why does everyone keep telling me that!?" May hissed as she turned the wheel hardly, causing the boat to lurch.

"May!" Donald scolded, taking back control of the ship.

May didn't look at him as she ran out of the room, causing Donald to sigh.

This was going to be a long trip....

While Della was in her therapy session, it was Penumbra's duty to keep an eye on the children. The make sure, in Della's words, 'Make sure they don't get the house sucked into a black hole'.

Unfortunately, Penumbra didn't have much experience in looking after children.

Sure, the Pink and Blue children had taken her to the pier, but she had the feeling they were looking after her more than them.

Her confidence was even more shaken by the fact they just...sat there, looking at her in the living room.

She needed to think of something. Della was counting on her. "So, small Dellas-"

"I have a few questions about moon culture." Huey piped up.

"I know I didn't get to ask this before, but what kinds of monsters did you fight on the moon!?" Dewey asked, jumping up and down.

"Is it true that even your beds were made of gold?" Louie's eyes were wide with both wonder and greed.

"Can you show me some of your battle techniques?" Webby smiled.

Penumbra took a deep breath to give herself time to process all of those questions.

"Well, I would be happy to answer-"

"How has earth's gravity affected your biology?"

"Do they have theatre up on the moon?"

"When are you going to ask out mom?"

The went silent as everyone stared at the green triplet.

"What?" He shrugged. "We were all thinking it. We've all seen the way they look at each other."

Penumbra felt her face heating up. "I-I do not know what you mean."

"I told you! You and Della would make the perfect adventuring couple!" Webby gushed.

"Wait..." Dewey furrowed his brow and appeared deep in thought. "If you married mom-"

"M-Married!?"

"Then I would have two moon moms!" He cheered. 

"Now hold on a second-"

"I need to create the perfect first date!" Huey charged out of the room. "C'mon everyone; romance awaits!"

Soon Penumbra sat alone, trying to understand what had just happened.

She sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought...

May was still glaring out at the sea when June approached.

"May-"

"If you're going to ask if I'm alright, then just leave." May snapped.

June sniffed, and May realized what she had done.

"June! Wait...I'm sorry. I'm just not in a good mood."

"Why?" Her twin asked gently. "You don't talk to me anymore. And you've been kinda mean to Donald and Daisy..."

"I know. It's just....I can't stop thinking about Mo-Heron."

June looked at her feet sadly.

"....You know she wasn't our mom, right? She was really mean."

"I know" May gripped the railing. "And, I know she probably didn't love us, that we were just failed experiments to her! But she made us! She taught us! Am I supposed to just forget about all that and move on."

"Huey and Daisy say it's ok if we still have some confusing feelings about her. But we have a family now! A real family who loves us, even if we're just failed experiments."

"Maybe-"

"Look!" June excitedly pointed to something.

It was a pair of tall cliffs, with what looked like cannons perched at the top.

"Those are the Cape Suzette Cannons." Daisy approached with a smile. "Welcome to Cape Suzette girls."

Donald continued to navigate though the cliffs and into a wide open bay. Brightly colored buildings seemed to greet them from the shore. 

Soon they came upon the ducks where ships and sea planes filled nearly every port. Thankfully they managed to find an empty one.

June felt ready to jump off the ship and run around the bay as Donald and Daisy talked to the Dock Master.

Even May was eager to start walking around.

"We're good!" Donald cheered as she signaled for the twins to join them on the docks. June did so with a double flip before landing while May just used the plank.

"I just need to talk to the warehouse owner about my supplies, then we can walk round for a bit, ok?" Daisy asked to which the girls eagerly nodded.

The good news is that they were quickly pointed to the warehouse.

The bad news...

"What do you mean it won't be ready until tomorrow!?" Daisy demanded.

"I-I'm so sorry miss!" The manager stammered, slowly backing away from the angry duck. "But we'll have it ready to be picked up by tomorrow afternoon! I swear!"

Donald put a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon Dais. At least we get to enjoy Cape Suzette for a few days."

That seemed to calm Daisy down a little.

The manager glanced at something in the far corner. "I have just the thing!" He ran off and returned with a crate labeled 'Never Picked Up'.

"There are a few items here that people ordered and never paid for or never claimed and they wind up just sitting around here. As a show of gratitude on behalf of the company, why don't you pick out something? There are quite a few valuable pieces here."

The four looked in and were quite impressed with the collection they saw. Spices, jewelry, trinkets from all over the world.

"Why would anybody just leave these here?" Daisy asked.

"Beats me." The Manager shrugged.

May was eyeing some silk ribbons when June let out an excited squeak.

"Look at this!" She picked up a black box wherein lay a ring with a light blue gem. "It's so pretty!" Her eyes sparkled.

"Lovely choice miss!"

"I don't know..." Daisy took it an examined the ring. "The engravings are intricate but old. It's definitely an aquamarine. Why would anyone leave this behind?"

The manager shrugged. "Perhaps they couldn't afford to pay? Or they died while it was on the way? I'lll have to look into our records."

Daisy turned back to June. "Are you sure you want this? It's very old and it looks valuable. You'll have to be very careful with it."

"I will! I promise!" Her eyes were wide and pleading.

Daisy looked at Donald, and they both looked at May. She realized they were looking for her input.

"If she wants it, she can have it." She shrugged.

"Yay!" June gave her sister a tight hug. "Thank you May!"

"Hang on." Donald reached into his pocked and pulled out some string. He tied it around the ring, turning it into a sort of necklace, and put it over June's head. "There! Now you won't lose it."

"Have a good day!" The manager waved to them as they left.

"What a weird guy..." Donald murmured.

"I thought he was nice." June said.

Right before popping the ring in her mouth.

Both Donald and Daisy gave a cry of alarm.

"June!" Daisy shouted.

June made a face and spat it back out.

"Ick. It doesn't taste anything like what Mr. Ludwig gave me."

Donald sighed. "Not all jewelry is made of candy Junie. I'll get you a real candy ring later on."

"Thank you."

May was really happy for her sister easily sliding into the role of the doted daughter, she really was.

But why couldn't she do it too?

She eyed the ring and blinked when, for a brief moment, the stone seemed to go dark, only to return to it's original color.

She shook her head. It was probably just a trick of the light.

Chapter Text

By the time the designated hour was up, Ludwig had a pile of notes stacked next to his chair.

This did nothing to relieve Della's nerves

"I believe today was very productive." Ludwig nodded. "Shall we try this again tomorrow?"

"I'll....think about it." Della hopped out of her chair and left the room as quickly as possible.

She found Penumbra in the living room and gave a sigh of relieve. "Hey Penny. How were the kids?"

The moonlander didn't give a response, only continuing to stare into space.

"Penny?" Della waved a hand in front of her friend's face, causing the woman to jolt back into reality.

"Oh! Della! Are you done already?"

"Yeah, and I think he's one session away from sending me to a psychiatric hospital. Anyway, how were the kids? Did you get any bonding done?"

Penumbra looked away. "I...do not think we did. They are very...loud."

"I figured. Should have warned you about that." Della took a seat. "Don't worry, the bombardment of questions means they like you. I tried taking them all on at once when I first got back, not my best idea. What you need to do is try to get some one on one time. Less overwhelming for you and they're less likely to hide behind the others."

"Thank you. That is good advice..." Penumbra continued to avoid her gaze and Della noticed that her friend appeared to be...blushing? Were moonlanders even capable of blushing?

"You ok Pen?"

"...Y-Yes!" Penumbra stood up quickly. "Nothing wrong here! Nothing at all! I-I have to go!"

"Go where?"

"To clean...my spear!"

Before Della could question further, the woman was out the door.

"Huh, that was odd..."

That was when she heard the padding of small feet, and a duckling in pink ran by the door.

"Hey Webby!"

"No time to talk! We need to look at flowers!"

"Ok..."

The duckling then paused and walked back to Della.

"Actually, can Lena and Violet sleep over? We need their advice for...something."

"For what?"

"Not secrets!" Webby blushed. "Violet also wants to test out Lena's dream-walking abilities more and it's easier when we're sleeping right next to each other."

"Sounds fun! Invite them over."

"Thanks! One more question; what kinds of flowers do you like?"

"Blue anemones. Why?"

"No reason!" Webby quickly ran off.

"...Strange kid."

Donald, Daisy, May and June walked along the street, looking into the windows of the various shops to see if there was anything interesting.

"C'mon." Donald pulled them in a typical tourist shop. "Let's see if we can at least find any cheap souvenirs."

T-shits with the Cape Suzette logo hung from racks, along with small seaplane models, mugs and other ornaments.

Daisy was picking through the clothing, wincing at the tackiness of the tourist attire but finding some decent dresses.

Donald was looking through postcards to send home.

May was looking over the smaller trinkets, ceramic boats, glass sea animals, and paperweights she thought looked pretty. She turned, ready to look at the next aisle-

*Crash*

She jumped as the sound of glass breaking echoed in the store. She turned back around and saw that, right where she had been standing, a glass plane had smashed to pieces.

Immediately the adults came running over.

"May, are you ok!?" Daisy said, looking the girl over.

"No cuts? No embedded glass?" Donald quickly began to check for signs of blood.

"Hey! Somebody's gotta pay for this." The owner said, pointing to the smashed trinket.

May looked at the glass pieces. "But I didn't-"

"May!" June run up form somewhere behind May. "Are you ok? Your ponytail knocked over that glass thingy."

"But I didn't feel it..."

"It's ok sweetie." Daisy put a hand on her shoulder. "Accidents happen. We'll just be more careful from now on, ok?"

May looked at her feet. "...Alright."

Donald quickly payed the man and hurried them out of the store.

"I know I didn't touch that glass boat!" May whispered to June. "It was too far behind me when I turned around."

Her sister shrugged, hand on her new ring. "Maybe you just put it back wrong? It's not that big a deal May."

"I guess not..." But no matter she did, she couldn't shake the feeling something wasn't right.

"Focus..."

Della grit her teeth and tried to listen to Lena's teachings.

She was in a mediation sit while a ball of moonlight formed between her hands. Della had to keep the orb's power steady without letting any of it escape.

Easier said than done.

She felt her fingers cramping as tendrils shot out for the orb, whacking her fingers and leaving small patches of ice on the ground.

"How much longer do i have to do this!?" She demanded.

"Lunar and ice magic require patience." Violet advised, writing down notes. "You need to focus your power and, when the time is right, to strike your opponent."

"Tell that to my ADHD!" Della grumbled, as the orb began to flicker.

"You magic is tied to your emotions." Lena cautioned. "If your feelings are in crisis, the magic echos that."

"I'm working on that!" She struggled to keep the orb in her hands. "I've got a therapist now!"

"You've had one session." Lena folded her arms. "That's not enough to sort out years of mental trauma."

"Ah!" Della, frusted with everything, thew the ball at a nearby tree, causing it explode in a shower of wood pieces and ice.

"...I think that's enough training for today." Lena concluded.

"I'm sorry." Della sighed. "I'm still on edge after that therapy session."

"Therapy isn't supposed to make you feel on edge."

"Yeah, but I survived a decade on the moon and the revelation that my mother was evil. I'm fine!"

"Are you?" Lena and Violet looked at her skeptically.

Della averted her gaze.

Lena sighed. "Look. I know trauma. I had to live with Magica in my shadow and be stuck in the shadow realm for months."

"...You didn't deserve any of that."

"And you didn't deserve what happened to you. I get it. Talking to other people stinks because you don't want to trouble them. Bring them into your freaky magic problems. But the more you hold it in, the worse it'll get."

"...I'm done here." Della quickly ran back into the house before either girl could stop her.

Later on she lay in her bead staring at the ceiling. She had learned how to get her sleeping schedule back in order but right now her mind was a mess. Between telling Ludwig some things she would've rather not and Lena trying to pick her apart she was...exhausted.

"Stupid Ludwig telling me I have daddy/uncle issues. Stupid Lena trying to open me up." She tossed and turned before finally finding a position she was comfortable in.

I should apologize to her...She thought as her eyes slowly closed. But that's tomorrow's problem.

She was ready to embrace the sweet nothingness of sleep.

Until she opened her eyes and found herself in a whole new world.

They managed to find a small seafood restaurant by the bay.

The four quickly chowed down and May decided she liked crab.

When they were nearly done, Donald and Daisy went up to pay, leaving the girls to finish their meals.

May, feeling full, looked out the window and watched as the ships and seaplanes arrived and departed.

It was ruined with an angry shout of 'HEY!".

May turned and saw an angry pig walking up to them, a splotch of food dripping down his face and another on the back of his shoulder.

"Alright, which one of you was it!?" He demanded.

"What's going on here?" Daisy hurried over, followed by Donald and the manager.

"One of these two flicked food at me!" He yelled, pointing to the aforementioned food splotches. 

"Our girls wouldn't do that!" Daisy insisted, glaring at the man.

"Oh yeah? I'm at the table right there. Nobody else could have done that shot." He tasted the food on his face. "Which one of them had the crab?"

Everyone looked at June's nearly done plate of fish and chips.

Then the May's plate, which still had a bit of crab on it.

May felt herself growing cold. "I-I didn't do it!"

"May?" June looked at her with wide eyes. "I told you that was mean!"

"June!" May gasped.

"I told you you were going to get caught."

"That's not true!"

"May..." The girl looked up and saw Donald and Daisy looking at her sternly.

"B-But I-"

Donald sighed. "May...just apologize to the man ok?"

"But I didn't-"

"Just do it." June pleaded. "I wanna go home."

May was ready to argue further but upon seeing the disapproving looks on Donald's and Daisy's faces just sighed and stood up.

"I'm really sorry sir. I shouldn't have done that."

The man huffed. "About time." He grumbled as he went back to his seat.

"We're so sorry." Daisy apologized to the manager. "They're usually much more well behaved."

With that, they quickly packed up their things and headed home.

"May." Daisy said when they returned to the houseboat. "I'm very disappointed in how you behaved tonight. You're too old for that."

"But I didn't do it!" May stomped her foot. 

"But I saw you do it!" June argued, gripping her ring.

"Why are you lying!?"

"Enough!" Donald pulled them away from each other in a move that broke up many a squabble before. "We're not in a good mental state to discuss this right now. You girls go to bed and we'll talk in the morning once we've calmed down."

"But-"

"May." Donald gave her a disappointing look crafted to perfection years ago. "Please."

The girl looked away and marched with her sister to their bedroom.

"Why did you lie!?" May demanded as they prepared for bed.

"Because you did it." June shrugged.

"No I didn't!"

"But I saw you. Don't you remember?"

"No-"

"You've been acting weird May." June folded her arms. "First you stop talking to me, and now you don't remember the restaurant? What gives?"

"I-I..." The yellow girl couldn't think of a response.

"May, do you really think I would lie about that?" June pleaded. "You're my sister. I'm-I'm really worried about you..."

May couldn't stand the sight of her sister tearing up. "I'm sorry." She gave her a hug. "I just...my head's been funny lately."

"Okay. As long as you're fine."

A few minutes later, both girls were curled up in their bunks, but May couldn't sleep. She stared at the wall, thinking.

Did she really throw food at the restaurant? She didn't remember.....but June says she did. Even she wasn't sure now!

Why was it so dark in here? May didn't like the dark, and Webby had given her some of her glowey stars at home to help with that. But she didn't have any here.

She almost didn't register the door creaking open.

"May?" Donald's voice called gently. "You awake?"

May curled in closer to herself.

She felt the man's hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what happened today, but I wish you'll tell me."

May wished she knew too.

A soft yellow glow from behind her caused her to turn around.

Donald held a small glowing ball of light. "Like it? Lena taught it to me. Here." He placed it above May and it remained her, floating in the air. "I know you're not a big fan of the dark, so I thought this would help. You can change the color too, just touch it."

May did and was awed when it changed from yellow to orange to green. She kept doing so until it cam back to a soft yellow.

"Thank you." She said softly.

Donald kissed her head. "Just talk to us tomorrow ok? We want to be there for you, but you need to let us in first."

The girls nodded and Donald left the room.

Feeling safe under the soft glow of her new nightlight, she felt her body relax as she closed her eyes.

Maybe tomorrow would be better...

Della looked around. She was in the remains of her ship. On the moon.

She groaned. "This nightmare again? Really?....Wait...." She realized she was fully aware of where she was, and that none of it was real. "I'm dreaming..."

"Correct."

Della turned and saw a familiar blue feathered duck with starry hair. This time she was wearing a silver dress but in the Moonlanders style.

"You!" Della gasped and pointed to the woman.

"Me." She nodded.

"I know who you are. You're-"

"The Goddess of your Grandmother and her people." She glided towards the smaller duck. "I was the midwife for your mother's and grandmother's births. I was the midwife at your birth." She towered above Della. "I am the maiden, the mother and the crone all in one. I am that Goddess."

Della gulped, finally realizing what, or who she was dealing with. "I-I know I didn't recognize you last time, and I'm sorry about that! Do I have to do some kind of prayer or-"

The Goddess's serious face quickly turned into an amused smile.

"Relax! I'm not here to hurt you."

Della quickly released her breath. "Okay, that's good! Beakley said you might be upset about the whole moonstone thing."

The Goddess waved a hand. "Such things happen. What matters most is how we move forward and rebuild. That's why I'm here, in fact."

"Huh."

"I'm going to teach you something very interesting about your magic." She pointed to the cockpit door. "You see that? Go up to it, grab the handle, but don't open it."

Confused, Della still did exactly as the goddess said.

"Good. Now imagine it's a door out of here. Not just out of the rocket, but out of this dream. Out of your mind."

"To...where exactly?"

"You'll see."

The mortal just shrugged. It certainly beat staying here. 

So she focused on the door as a literal exit out of her mind and turned the handle.

Before she could clearly make out what was beyond it, she felt something push her through it.

"Woah!"

She felt a tug trying to keep her back in the dream, but it quickly faded as she landed on her feet. She blinked a few times before she could make out the world around her.

Once she did, she gasped.

The world appeared to be an etherial, ever-shifting landscape of stars, rivers of rainbows and sheep prancing on air, just to name a few of the nonsensical things she saw.

That's when she noticed the doors.

Door of all shapes and sizes floated around, some just barely managing not to bump into one another.

"What is this place?" She whispered.

"This is the dreamscape." The Goddess explained, now standing next to her.

"Lady, you've gotta stop doing that." Della said as she tried to calm her heart.

"Funny, 'Lady' is one of my titles, but onto business. This is one of the realms of the astral plane; namely, the place people's consciousness goes once they go to sleep. As you wield the moonstone's power, you have the power of dreams."

"Awesome!" Della cheered. "...What does that mean?"

"It means you have the power to enter and manipulate yours and others dreams. Look behind you."

She did and saw the door to the Spear of Selene, now with the words 'Della Thelma Duck' written on it in light blue ink.

The moon guardian scrunched her face. "Ew. Does it have to be my full name?"

"Just to help distinguish people." The Goddess shrugged. "Now, this is the doorway to your dream, but you have the ability to summon the doorways of anyone else and enter their dreams."

"Really?"

"Give it a shot. Think of someone who's dream you'd like to see. Keep in mind, you'll have trouble if the person has magical barriers in place and you can only do it to people who are asleep. Comas are a different department."

Della thought about for a moment. Who did she want to test this out on first?

She grinned as she thought of them. She held out her hand as it glowed blue.

The door to her dream was quickly replaced by a door covered by gears and tech.

The name 'Gyro Ratchet Gearloose' was read on the display screen.

"Good." The Goddess nodded. "Now open it."

Della grabbed the handle and pulled until the door was wide open, allowed her to see what was going on.

It was Duckburg, but different. It was is it was pulled from one of those classic 'robot takes over the world' dystopian movies. One the robots were clearly defined by their lightbulb heads as they whipped the human populace into submission.

And the man running it all?

He sat atop of mechanical throne, high above everyone else, laughing like a maniac.

"Go my robot minions!" Gyro laughed as his robot army obeyed him command. "Do the bidding of your master!"

"...Yeah, this is Gyro's dream alright."

"You have the ability to make your dream, or anybody else's, into anything you want. Follow me." The Lady led her through the doorway and she found herself behind a metal of scrap.

"See that robot?" The Lady pointed to one of the bulb-bots. "Try making it do something else."

Della grinned and pointed at it, and a small blue light left her finger and hit the bot.

It paused, then began doing an irish step dance.

"Very good. Now try turning it into something else."

Della repeated the motions, and the bulb-bot turned into a wooden table."

"Well done."

"Hey." Gyro's voice called out. "Where did that table come from!?"

"Best to let him have a good nights sleep." The Goddess said as she led them back through the door. "Now be sure to close it tightly whenever you enter or leave. We don't want something from the dream slipping out and infecting someone else's dream. Especially if it's a nightmare."

"Got it!" Della pushed the door until it was tightly sealed.

"It looks like you've got the basics down. Why don't you wander around for a while? Don't worry, once you wake up your consciousness automatically returns to your body."

"Thanks Lady-" Della turned, only to find an empty space where the Goddess had stood.

"...She really needs to stop doing that. Okay, now who do I want to visit?" Della looked around at the various doors floating around. Were they all in Duckburg? Was there some kind of filing system to this? "Wait...Webby said she and the kids were going to practice this! Wait till they see what I can do!"

Gyro's door flew away and was replaced by a gothic door where the name 'Lena Sabrewing' was written in magical purple ink.

She opened the door and saw all the kids in what looked like Lena's dream room (literally), gothic/punk furniture, posters of what looked like to be her favorite bands, and all the kids in the manor hanging around and watching as she made things appear out of thin air.

Della chuckled. "Wait till they see what I can come up with." She stepped through.

She didn't notice the smokey figure sneak in right behind her.

Chapter Text

Lena was practicing creating dream weapons, at Webby's request, when Della decided to make herself known.

"Hey kiddos!" She stripped in. "What ch'y dreamin' about?"

Everyone looked at her in confusion.

"Dewey." Lena sighed. "I know you have mom issues but this isn't helpful."

"Mom issues?" Della tilted her head. "What mom issues?"

"Wait..." Lena went up to Della and poked her face, before turning to Violet. "I honestly have no idea to tell what's real and what's a dream."

"It's me! In the...well not flesh obviously, but in full consciousness!"

"...How!?" Louie asked, shocked.

"The magic Goddess Lady taught me how." The mother replied with a cheerful smile.

"What?" Lena blinked at her.

"Apparently the power of the moon is to enter and manipulate dreams and stuff. Let me show you!" Della closed her as her hands glowed with magic, and a blue wave spread throughout the room, changing the gothic stuff into the hanger at the mansion.

"Wow...." Dewey stared in awe.

"Does this mean you can visit our other dreams!?" Huey asked eagerly.

"You bet I can! I just got back from Gyro's. Crazy stuff goin' on there."

"Huh." Lena hummed. "The first time I did it it was an accident."

"And both times you could only pull in people sleeping in the same room as you." Violet elaborated. 

"Well, your mama can go into any dream she wants!" Della smirked. 

"Let's go to my dream!" Webby bounced. "It's an island adventure!" Before Della could do anything, Webby ran up to the door of the dream-cloudslayer and grabbed it. It glowed pink as she opened it. "Come on!"

True to her word, Webby's dream was a pink colored island adventure complete with death traps, talking unicorns and them flying around with wings.

Non of them noticed the blue smoke swirling in the background, changing a palm tree into a dead one you'd find in a scary movie.

"This is amazing!" Della cheered as she flew around. "But..." She gestured to Webby, who's hair was styled on Scrooge's along with glasses and top hat. "Is that necessary? I mean, you're literally his daughter now."

Webby blushed and the Scrooge features faded. "Y-Yeah. It's been my dream for so long...I wonder if a part of me always knew we were connected somehow."

"Leave the philosophy for Professor Von Drake." Della patter her shoulder. "Alright, who's dream is next!?"

"Me! Me!" Dewey raised his hand high.

"Perfect! Now let's do it my way." Della landed on the ground and summoned the door and opened it. "This is how I was taught. Follow me!" She led the children out of the pink island.

Nobody saw the blue smoke following them.

"Welcome to the dreamscape!" Della spread her hands as the kids looked around with gasps of shock and awe.

"Incredible." Violet whispered in clear awestruck. "It's like a central point where all subconscious dreams come together."

"So we can use this to travel to different dream realms?" Huey wondered.

"Cool huh?" Della pointed to the door behind them, which was bright pink and had 'Webbigail Kate McDuck' written in pink sparkle glitter.

"Your middle name's Kate?" Dewey asked.

Della quickly summoned a new door; a blue pilot's door with the name 'Dewford Dingus Duck' engraved on it.

Dewey scrunched his face. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I'm still working on the name thing." Della shrugged and opened the door.

"Okay, I'll admit, I'm impressed." Lena smiled as she stepped through.

As Della closed the door behind them, the blue smoke snuck in too.

"Gotta make sure this is shut tight." Della explained. 

"Of course." Violet nodded. "We wouldn't want any cross-dream contamination."

"Or a visit from a dream demon!" Webby said, sounding way too excited about the prospect.

"Huh..." Della looked around at the blue school. "Okay, I'll admit it, Dewey's the last person I would've thought would dream about school of all things."

"Wait for it..." Louie said ominously.

It was then Dewey burst through the doors in sunglasses and jock gear.

"Who's ready to rock!?"

"Of course." Della nodded as she watched her son's school musical.

Dewey happily gave his mother the tour of his dream.

"That's my mascot....a poster of me...."

Then they passed by a hole in the wall showing Dewey weeping on a crescent moon made of his tears.

"I've been having that dream a lot." Dewey shrugged. "No idea what that's about."

Della winced. "I can think of a few things."

Maybe it really was a good thing Von Drake had moved in...

"Hopefully there won't be any nightmare invading sorceresses." Louie said.

"Huh?"

Lena rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah...really gotta catch you up to speed on that later."

"Can I show you my dream next?" Huey asked with pleading eyes.

"Of course honey."

"Wait..." Dewey backed away slowly. "You don't mean..."

"Great! C'mon!" Huey and the rest of the kids rushed ahead, dragging Dewey along despite his protests, to find a locker or door to use.

Della was about to race after them when she noticed something odd.

A water fountain appeared to have been completely frozen solid.

"That's weird..."

"Mom?" Huey called out.

"Coming!" She ran up to them, deciding that the fountain wasn't important enough to warrant any worry.

She entered a glowing locker and found herself...in her son's room?

"What?" She quickly saw Dewey in a fetal position. "What's wrong honey?"

He pointed to something. "I-It's him!"

"Hi mom!"

She looked and...tilted her head up.

Huey walked confidently over to them with his extended legs.

"What do you think of your mature, oldest son?" He asked with a smirk.

"It's hideous!" Dewey exclaimed.

Della swallowed her bile. "That's....that's great sweetie!" She chocked out with a forced smile. "You....you live your dream!" 

"Sure. C'mon." Louie grabbed her hand and dragged her to the door. 

She soon found herself in a green coated version of the living room. Something on the couch caught her eye and she quickly realized it was-

"Louie?"

"...Yes?" Her cat-son answered with a purr.

"...Y'know, this is actually fitting for you." She quickly started petting him. "Awww!"

"It's lazy is what it is!" Huey argued as the kids entered. "I know I'm not good at imagination stuff, but is this the best you can come up with?"

But Della didn't acknowledge the question. "Uhh....Lena?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you a wolf?"

"Because she's a pack animal!" Webby explained as she hugged her wolf-friend. "And we're her pack!"

"Also because she scares Louie." Dewey shrugged.

"Hey!"

"Would you like to see my dream?" Violet asked.

"Spoiler alert: it's a library." Louie yawned.

"And I'm sure it's a wonderful library!" Della smiled. "Well, I certainly had a good time dream hopping with you guys. I certainly learned a few...interesting things about you all. But i'm gonna solo dream hop some more before my alarm goes off. Have fun at your dream party."

"Aww...." Webby sighed. "But we didn't even get to do a montage."

"Maybe next time." As much as Della wanted to stay and keep her kids company, being around so many of them at once was starting to overwhelm her. Besides, she didn't want to ruin the kid's dream party. What kind of trouble could happen in a dream?

Della began to head towards a door when Lena blocked her path.

"Hold on. Don't you want to practice a little more with us?"

"I think I'm good for now. Maybe next time."

But Lena didn't budge. "Look, messing with dreams can be tricky. Especially when you're dealing with nightmares-"

"I'm fine!" Della stomped her foot, causing the other kids to look at each other with worry.

The wold didn't look impressed. "Alright. How about showing us your dream?"

"M-My dream?"

"Yes. Your dream." The wolf narrowed her eyes. "Unless there's something you don't want us seeing?"

"There's nothing to see!" Della stomped around the teen wolf to the door.

"Look, I get it! Nightmares suck-"

"I don't have nightmares!"

"-And I didn't want to talk about them either-"

"Look, I understand you're trying to help, but I'm fine!" Della opened the door and slammed it before her kids could protest.

There was a minute of silence.

"Oh she is definitely not fine." Louie said.

Huey looked at Lena. "Is mom going to be ok?"

Lena sighed. "I hope so. Have you noticed any odd patterns in her sleeping schedule."

"Before or after the whole moonstone thing?" Dewey asked.

"Before."

The manor kids looked at each other.

"Yes." They replied simultaneously.

"Impressive coordination." Violet noted.

"I once met her in the kitchen at three in the morning drinking coffee." Louie explained.

"I heard something from her bedroom just after midnight and saw her working on modifications for her leg." Huey added.

"I saw her just....looking at the moon for over an hour or so." Dewey responded. 

"I tried to watch her sleep once and I think she only really slept for like an hour or two."

Huey leveled his gaze at his cousin. "Wait...you tried to watch mom sleep?"

"Of course. I've watched everyone in the mansion sleep."

Before anyone could get into the less than pleasant implications of that statement, they noticed something moving in the hallway.

"Louie..." Huey looked at his brother. "What's that?"

"Uh....I actually have no idea."

Then a large, inky black claw reach out and grabbed the doorframe hard enough to leave cracks.

"Yeah...this is not me doing this."

"Stupid Lena with her stupid empathy..." Della grumbled as she looked at Louie's door; a bright green with gold dollar signs with the name 'Llewellyn Quackmore Duck' written on a gold plate.

Her face softened a little. "Oh Donald...why'd you have to pick out such weird first names?"

She took a deep breath. "Okay...calm down Della. You can work it out tomorrow! You've still got some time...hopefully. Might as well see what other people dream about."

A blue door with a life ring appeared next. Della opened it and saw her brother napping on the houseboat.

"Really Don? This is where Louie gets it from."

Launchpad's dream involved Darkwing Duck and him chasing bad guys with him crashing to into buildings.

"Wow. That guy really is living his dream."

Della didn't feel like interfering with either of their dreams, so she let them be.

Finally an office door with the name Ludwig Von Drake  floated down.

Della chuckled. "Might as well have a little fun after yesterday. Show him I can psycho-analyze people too!"

She opened the door and saw him...sitting in his office?

"Seriously dude? At least Launchpad's had action."

"Well some people get enough action in their waking life."

"Huh?"

Ludwig looked up from the book he was reading and looked at her. "Well? Come on in! I'm not one to leave a guest out in the cold."

Slack-jawed, Della walked through the door into his dream-office.

"Have a seat. I've been expectin' ya." he gestured to the seat in front of him.

"Are you kidding me!?" Della exclaimed.

"You sound like you've got a lot on your mind."

"First Lena and now you!? What's with everyone trying to dissect me!?"

"Well I am your therapist."

"I. Don't. Need. One. I did just fine on the moon and I'm doing just fine now!" 

She ducked as a few books came flying off the shelves. The Professor didn't bat an eye.

"Then why did you smash the mirror in your bathroom?"

"Huh?"

"Why did Scrooge and 22 tell me they found you up nearly every night, even before the moonstone?"

Della rubbed the back of her head. "W-Well, I-"

"Why are you avoiding your own dream?"

She couldn't respond.

"People can only be strong for a while before it becomes too much to bear." He explained gently. "The more you deny the problem, the greater it'll grow, and before you know it, you'll be letting it hurt your family without you even realizing it."

"I-I'm not hurting my family! I mean...I did once already, but this is my problem!"

"And they love you, so they'll make it their problem as well."

"Why-"

"If one of your boys were having nightmares and not going to sleep, would you just leave them to it?"

She looked away.

Ludwig sighed. "Well, I'm afraid we're going have to leave the rest for later. It's time to wake up."

"What-"

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

Della's eyes shot open and she found herself looking into dark blue ones.  

"Meow" Twyla greeted from her spot on Della's chest. On the nightstand, her phone alarm rang out. She groaned and quickly shut it off.

"Can't have one normal night's sleep around here..."

The cat simply licked her bill.

Once she was dressed and bathed, she headed downstairs to find the Professor and Penumbra already at the dinging table, breakfast stuff spread out.

Della wasn't even surprised anymore.

"Good morning." Ludwig greeted her with a smile. "Do you wish to continue our conversation from the dream realm?"

She gave him a deadpan look. "You try to talk psychology to me before I've had coffee and you'll need a therapist for yourself."

"Fair enough."

Penumbra looked at them, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I'll explain after coffee Pen..."

Soon the kids came in. Something was odd though...

"Yikes." Della took in their disheveled appearances. "You kids party a little too hard after I left?"

Lena leveled her gaze. "No. In fact we were quite busy with nightmares after you left."

"What?"

Webby nodded. "Yeah. It was horrible!"

"And we couldn't escape them by going to another dream." Huey yawned.

"All our dreams had nightmares!" Louie stretched.

"And nothing we did seemed to stop it." Violet rubbed her eyes. "Even Lena's magic couldn't do much."

"Again." Penumbra reiterated. "I would like context for what is happening."

Ludwig clapped his hands. "How about we all fill our bellies with a nutritious breakfast, then we can talk about last night."

As they ate, Della could feel that something was wrong, but what?

May awoke to being violently shaken.

"May!" Her sister's voice sounded. "May wake up!"

"Nah...what is it?"

"I need to tell you something! Something bad!"

"What is it?" She looked and saw June near tears.

"I-I overheard Donald and Daisy talking and-and..."

"What?" May's full attention was on her now. "What did they say?"

"They...they said they weren't sure anymore about keeping both of us!"

May felt her blood run cold.

"W-Wha-"

"They were talking about how m-maybe taking on t-two kids was too m-much..." June sniffed. "They...they were talking about s-sending one of us away!"

May felt her face heating up. "That's not going to happen."

"It's not...?"

"No." May hopped down from her bunk. Her late night conversation playing in her head only served as fuel for the flame. "I promise; nobody is ever going to separate us; not even those two liars."

"A-Are you-"

"June; I swear that no force of this earth is ever going to tear us apart. Not if I have anything to say about it."

Chapter Text

May barely looked at them over breakfast. And when she did, it was just to glare at them.

Donald and Daisy looked at each other.

"May...Do you want to talk about last night?" Daisy asked gently.

"What about last night?" May said curtly.

"Do you want to tell us what happened?" Donald asked.

"What's it to you?"

"May!" Both adults scolded.

"May we just want to help." Daisy offered, reaching over to her.

May jolted away. "Yeah right!"

"May we just want-" Donald started.

"I'm not hungry." May pushed out of her seat and stormed to the upper deck.

Daisy felt exasperated. What was going on with that girl? Was it something Daisy herself did?

That's when she noticed June calmly eating her breakfast, not seeming to care about what had just happened.

Donald noticed as well. "Junie?"

"Yes Donald?" She asked calmly.

"Do you know what's going on with May?"

The girl in blue shrugged. "I don't know...she seemed to feel better last night. I just want her to be happy."

The adults looked at each other again with the same thought;

May wasn't the only one acting oddly.

That's when Daisy noticed the girl rubbing the strange ring while she talked.

Sneakily, she took a picture of it with her phone, clear enough for the engravings to show.

Her boyfriend gave a subtle nod as she hit send.

Della paced back and forth in the living room. "But this doesn't make sense! Everything was fine when I left."

"Actually, it was just after you left that the nightmares began." Violet said.

"And nothing we did to our dream could stop it!" Huey continued.

Lena narrowed her eyes at Della. "Even my magic didn't do much. So I'm going to guess that something snuck in when you did."

Della shook her head. "I always closed the door! I didn't see any-"

Then she remembered the frozen fountain.

"But I didn't see anything come in with mom either!" Louie noted.

"But we didn't notice her right away." Huey rubbed his chin. 

Webby's eyes widened. "Ooh! Maybe it's a dream demon! Able to camouflage with its surroundings before turning into your greatest fears! Sent by the Lord of Nightmares to capture our souls and keep us trapped in our nightmares for all eternity!"

"Why do you sound excited about that?!" Louie asked.

Penny stood up straight. "If a demon is indeed attacking the small Dellas dreams, then it is my duty to destroy it!....Where do I find it?"

"In our dreams." Violet replied dryly.

"Unusual but not impossible."

"Precisely!" Ludwig grinned. "And I believe I have an idea to track it down and contain it."

"Hey now!" Della held her hands up. "Are you kids sure it wasn't your usual, run of the mill nightmare?" 

"We're sure." Lena looked at her harder.

"It followed us whenever we tried to escape to each other's minds." Violet explained. "It appeared intent on hunting us down. Thankfully we woke up before it could do anything too harmful." 

"Are you ok mom?" Dewey asked, finally noticing his mother's odd behavior.

"What? No!" Della laughed nervously. "Everything's fine!"

"Della..." Ludwig looked at her.

Before she could come up with a response, her phone vibrated.

"Hey! Look! A text! Better check it out!"

"Della, now is not the time for distractions." Penumbra folded her arms.

The pilot frowned at her phone. "No. I've really got a message. From Daisy. Let me read it:

'Hey, can you guys look up this weird ring for us? There's something odd about it.'"

Then she showed everyone the photo attached; showing an old ring attached to a string.

"It's so pretty!" Webby gasped.

"And it looks quite old..." Violet looked at the picture closely. "I believe those are Norman engravings. It was likely made in England a while ago."

"Yup." Louie nodded, snapping his fingers. "They found a cursed object that's starting to cause trouble. Figured something like that would happen."

"Well, guess the whole dream thing will have to wait! Better help Daisy with this right away!" Della tried to not let the relief show in her voice.

Ludwig snatched the phone out of her hands. "Oh, I should have this covered in a little bit. You all try to relax while I sort this out. But I wouldn't recommend going back to sleep just yet."

"Never thought I'd say this, but there is no way I'm taking a nap by myself." Louie said.

'Are you girls sure you'll be find on your own?" Daisy asked, glancing at the clock. The manager from the warehouse had finally called a few minutes ago to say that were order was ready.

"Good thing he called when he did." Donald looked at the sky. "I don't like the look of those clouds. Gonna be quite the storm this afternoon. The houseboat should be fine though."

"Hopefully we can make it back before it starts raining."

"Don't worry." June smiled sweetly. "We'll be fine, right May?"

May continued to look out the window in silence.

Daisy took a deep breath. "Alright, we have our phones, call us if you need anything."

Reluctantly, the two adults left the houseboat.

"How can they act like nothing is wrong!?" May fumed. "As if they aren't planning on getting rid of us!"

"One of us." June said in a calm voice.

"Exactly! How can they do that!? I thought they would be different from FOWL!"

June didn't respond.

May's shoulder's slumped. "June...do you think..it's because of me?"

More silence.

"I...I guess I haven't really given them a chance. I'm just, scared that they're going to give up on us. Do you think that's stupid?"

No answer.

"June...?"

Suddenly, she felt a presence right behind her.

Her head hurt.

Everything went dark.

"Donald I'm so worried about them." Daisy said as they walked to the warehouse.

"Me too Dais."

"They've just been acting so strange since we got here. Do you...do you think it's because of me?"

Donald looked at her surprised. "What!? Of course not!"

"Maybe..." She sighed. "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this. I mean, I can't even-" She clamped her mouth shut, and realized there was something she should have told him sooner.

"Daisy, look." Donald met her eyes. "I never thought I'd be a parent either. I didn't know anything about being one. But then Della....suddenly I had to learn on the fly. Let me tell you; I made nearly every mistake imaginable. But I learned. I loved the boys so I kept trying. It wasn't easy. Far from it! I mean, have you ever had to change three diapers all at once?"

Daisy cringed.

"Exactly. But we made it through all right. I'm proud of the boys, of who they are and who they're becoming. I want to do the same for the girls. I know I kinda sprung them on ya but-"

"Donald." Daisy took his hands and smiled at him. "I want to do this. With you. I never thought I'd be a mother either, but here we are. And we're going to make the most of it!"

They pulled each other into a kiss.

The sound of thunder brought them back.

"Let's hurry." Daisy pulled him along. "I don't want to leave the girls alone in this storm."

The manager met them and happily handed them the crate full of supplies.

"Hope you enjoy your visit!" He smiled and started to walk away.

"Excuse me?" Daisy stopped him. "I just wanted to ask about that ring one of our girls picked out yesterday."

"Oh?"

"What do you know about it? Can you send me the records? I just want to know about where that design came from."

"England, I think." The Manager looked ready to leave. "But other than that I can't help you."

"Well why not?" Daisy put her hands on her hips. 

"I'm afraid the records for that particular item have been lost. These things do happen from time to time. Now if you'll excuse me."

He hurried away before Daisy could question him further.

"Something's not right about him." Daisy murmured as she and Donald handled the wheeled crate. "First the shipment gets rerouted, forcing us to come here, and now the girls are acting out."

"You're right." Donald frowned. Why hadn't he noticed something earlier?

"And then he gives us that weird ring....which he then claimed that nobody picked up and that they lost the records for it? Why not get it valued and auction it? Why keep it lying around? Something's not right..."

"I'm sure Della will call us back soon about it." He huffed as he pushed. "Let's just hope they figure stout before something drastic happens."

They reached the houseboat just as the first raindrops began to fall.

Donald grabbed Daisy's shoulder. "Wait..." She scanned the deck. "It's quiet...too quiet."

They looked at each other as the same thought crossed their minds.

The girls!

Setting the crate aside, they quickly unlocked the door and rushed downstairs.

What they saw made their jaws drop.

Ludwig frowned at his computer as he copied the information down.

He didn't like what he had found about the ring one bit.

There was a knock and a familiar purple skinned alien entered.

"Professor?" Penumbra handed him an apple. "Red Della said I should bring you this 'brain food' as he called it."

"Ah. Thank you Penny." He took the apple and set it aside as he looked her over. "Y'know I have always been fascinated about potential alien life forms. You'll have to tell me all about the moon when this is over!"

"I will happily oblige. But right now Della needs my help."

"You're very loyal to your friend."

She looked at him curiously. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'm saying Della appears to be someone very special to ya." He raised his eyebrows playfully. "You're one of the first to volunteer if she needs something and you even refer to the children as 'small Dellas', even if they're not technically hers."

Penumbra tried, and failed, to keep from blushing. "She is my best friend. She helped me realize what Lunaris was really up to. She...is the first person to try to get to know me for a long time."

"Sounds like you want to be something closer."

"She does not need that right now." She tried to not let the hurt slip into her voice.

"Or maybe it is what she needs right now."

Penumbra didn't look at him. "If you say so."

"We can have our own session after we help her."

"I do not believe I need it."

"Ah! You two really do deserve each other."

Penumbra took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"There's nothing wrong with being afraid."

"I am not afraid!" She glared.

"I'm just saying, you trusted someone once and were betrayed. It's alright that you'd be hesitant to trust someone like that again. Especially with you heart."

Penumbra nearly broke the doorknob with how hard she was gripping it.

"I'm starting to see why we did not have this 'therapy' on the moon."

"It's quite helpful once you give it a chance."

The door nearly broke with how hard it slammed when she left.

Ludwig sighed and continued his research.

He had an important call to make soon.

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?" Daisy yelled as soon as she saw the inside of the boat.

Black paint spattered al over the walls and and floor. It looked like someone had taken a paintbrush, dipped it, before waving it around wildly. Dark handprints coated the fringe handle and the couch.

And right there, fast asleep with her hands coated in the dark substance, was May.

Donald marched over and shook her awake. "May? MAY!"

She slowly blinked her eyes open. "Huh? What's going on?"

"What were you thinking!?" Daisy demanded, gesturing to the mess.

May was about to rub her head when she noticed the paint coated on her hands.

Then she looked around.

Her eyes were practically coming out of their sockets.

"Wha!? I-I didn't-"

"May." Donald crossed his arms. "We want to hear the truth, right now young lady!"

"I didn't do this! I swear!"

"Wait..." Daisy looked around, realizing something was missing. "Where's June!?"

Sobbing could be heard from the bathroom.

"June!?" Donald looked and saw a chair propped up under the door handle, preventing anyone inside from escaping. He quickly removed it and found June sobbing in the bathtub.

May rushed towards her sister. "June wha-"

"Stay back!" June sobbed. "Please don't hurt me!"

May recoiled, as if struck. "Why-"

"Y-You were making a mess with the paint! I t-tried to stop you! B-But you got mad and locked me in here!"

The girl in yellow shook her head. "I-I didn't! I wouldn't!"

"May what has gotten into you!?" Daisy exclaimed as Donald comforted the sobbing girl.

May felt her own tears coming. "I didn't do this! And why would you care if I did anyway!?"

"Because we love you! But-"

"No you don't!" The girl screamed now, tears streaming down her face. "You haven't listened to me once this whole time! And why would you!? YOU'RE NOT MY MOM!"

She then turned and ran to her bedroom, slamming the door shut.

Daisy used every once of her strength to remain standing.

Because that had hurt.

A lot.

She took some meditative breathing exercises as Donald continued consoling the girl in blue while shooting her worried looks.

"Oh what am I-"

"Go talk to her."

Daisy looked at her boyfriend like he had grown another head. "Wha-"

"She's upset and alone." He explained, rubbing June's back. "She needs someone to be with her. To listen to her. Be patient, she just wants to be heard." 

Daisy nodded and headed to the bedroom, where she found May crying into June's pillow.

"May?"

"Go away!"

Daisy took another deep breath. "May, I just want to listen."

"What?"

"I want you to tell me what's upsetting you, and I'm not going to interrupt." To make her point clearly, she took a seat on the bed.

The next few minutes were silent, as May composed herself.

Daisy waited patiently.

"I didn't do it."

"What?"

May looked at her through tear soaked eyes. "I didn't mess up the living room, or throw the food last night, or break that glass thingy in the store yesterday. But you didn't believe me."

Daisy looked at her, trying to find any hint of deceit or lie.

But all she saw was open, vulnerable honesty.

"...You really didn't do it."

"I didn't. Or at least, I don't remember doing all of that."

"The living room?"

"I-I don't know." May wiped her eyes. "All I remember was that you two left, my head hurt, and I woke up covered in paint."

"But June said-"

"She also said you and Donald were planning on getting rid of one of us!"

Daisy recoiled. "What!?"

"She said she heard you two talking a-about how k-keeping both of us was a mistake a-and about s-seperating us!" She sniffed and wiped her eyes again. "I know it's going to be me. So...just take care of June, ok?"

Daisy felt her jaw drop. She felt like she had just been dropped into the middle of the ocean with no lifeboat or life vest.

So she did the only thing she could think of.

She pulled May into a tight hug.

"May....we are not getting rid of you."

"Huh?"

"We're not sending away either one of you. We love both of you girls and we want to keep raising the both of you, if you'll let us."

The girl went rigid, before tightly returning the hug. Daisy didn't even care about the paint staining her coat.

"Y-You mean it?"

"Of course."

"How's it going?" Donald poked his head in. "I put June down for a nap on the couch."

"May thought we wanted to get rid of her."

"What!? That's crazy!" Donald took a seat on May's free side. "Who told you that?"

A pause. "...June."

Donald frowned. "But why would she tell you that?"

Daisy's mind began to race. "You know...it was June who said that May knocked over the glass yesterday."

"...And that she tossed that food!"

"And that she wrecked the boat."

Daisy could feel the pieces coming together.

She could picture it now: June knocking over the glass before sneaking away.

Her flinging the food while May was distracted.

And knocking out her sister while she made the mess herself.

"I don't understand why she said that." May gripped Daisy tighter. "Aside from Webby, she's never lied like that before. I don't know why's she's doing this!"

They jumped when lightning flashed, thunder boomed...

...and Daisy's cell phone went off at the same time.

Ignoring her heart trying to escape her chest, she quickly answered it. "Hello?"

"Ms. Duck?"

"Professor Von Drake?"

"Glad I caught you. You see, I looked up that ring you found....and it's not good."

Chapter Text

Daisy looked at Donald and May as she answered. " Hang on I'm going to put you on speaker. What do you mean?"

"I put in the image you sent us and searched through a few online resources." Von Drake's voice announced to the three ducks.

"I found the ring in a painting of the Crowley Family." 

"Who?" Donald asked.

"The Crowley's were a rich, old family from over a hundred years ago. Their ancestors had come over from England during colonial days, the ring being one of the few possessions they brought over. They struck it rich, and became one of the most prominent families on the east coast.

The line of the Crowleys' ended with the father, mother and their twin girls."

Donald and Daisy looked at each other.

They both took one of May's hands and squeezed.

"What happened?" Daisy asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Well Ellen was the oldest, so she was set to  inherit the family fortune, the house and all the heirlooms and whatnot, but in particular, the family ring. All attention was on her, and her twin sister Edith, often faded into the background.

Until one day, the found Ellen dead at the bottom of the stairs."

Daisy could feel May gripping onto her hand like it was a lifeline.

She squeezed back.

"They were prepared to write it off as an accident, a missed step...until they noticed the family ring was missing. The ring was quickly found...in Edith's pocket.

After some investigating, Edith confessed to murdering her sister, so that she would become the only child, the one their family and everyone else was focused on."

Daisy felt her blood run cold.

"Her parent's were devastated of course, and died from grief soon after Edith was executed. The land and family heirlooms were sold off.

But that ring...

I found reports of families where, seemingly out of nowhere, one of their children would brutally kill their siblings.

Each one of them had that ring in their possession.

My friends...I'm afraid you have quite the angry ghost on your hands."

There was silence.

Donald ran up to the phone and shook it, as though it would spill the solution he needed. "WELL WHAT DO WE DO!?"

A sound of thunder, and a blinding flash of lightning...

The houseboat went dark.

May screamed and dug into Daisy's side while Donald yelled into the phone.

"Hello? Von Drake!?"

No reply.

Donald looked the phone over before groaning. "The wi-fi's down! The storm must've hit a cell tower or something!"

"What are supposed to do now!?" Daisy asked, arms around May.

A bump from the kitchen made them freeze.

They looked at each other.

"You two stay here." Donald whispered as he slowly approached the door. "I'll take care of it."

"Not alone you're not." Daisy quickly jojned his side.

The pattering of small feet caught both of their attentions.

"May-" They both began to protest.

"She's my sister." May looked at them with full determination. "And nobody is taking her away from me."

The adults looked at each other and sighed.

They fully knew what their girl was capable of.

Slowly, quietly, they opened the door and took a few steps out.

There, sitting upright on the couch, glaring at them with an unearthly hatred, was a small girl in blue.

But it wasn't June.

Not their June, at least.

"Well," The girl said evenly, the ring on her neck now pitch black. "I suppose there's no use hiding it now, is there?"

Ludwig gathered them all in the living room.

"Alright, so I made my call to Donald and Daisy and told them what I found. Unfortunately, the call got cut off before I could tell them how to fix it."

"So what do we do!?" Huey asked anxiously.

"I'm sure they'll be fine!" Ludwig waved it off. "They've faced worse. And besides, we have our own problem to deal with." He looked at Della. "Thankfully, I have a plan."

"Which is?" Dewey asked.

"We all go to sleep."

Louie just looked at him. "Seriously?"

"If this...whatever it is...is going to keep haunting your dreams, then we have to hunt it down first." Ludwig explained. 

"But we don't even know what it is!" Webby pointed out.

"We've developed a list of potential monsters and spells to banish them." Violet explained. "All that remains now is tracking it down, identifying it, and performing the correct exorcism."

"I also wish to join in on the demon hunting." Penumbra declared. "I refuse to let anything, in the physical realm or not, harm this family."

"And I will be coming too, of course." Ludwig nodded.

Lena fidgeted. "Um...ok, but I've never pulled this many people into my dream before..."

"And we weren't even aware we were dreaming at first." Huey pointed out. "Besides, what if they escape our dreams and come back later, or infect the dreams of everyone in Duckburg? We'd never find it!"

"Ok, no I cannot combine the whole city's dreams into mine."

"What if we didn't have to?" Violet looked at Della. "If Della and Lena meet up in the dreamscape and collected us. It's a little out of the way, but it would allow us more freedom if the nightmare goes rogue. It may even help us track down where it came from."

"Alright." Della sighed.

For my family. 

"Good." Lena nodded. "If we combine our magic, we should be able to pull ourselves straight into the dreamscape."

"Wait!" Dewey jumped. "There's one problem."

"What?"

"It's daytime! Louie can sleep whenever he wants, but I can't! Daytimes when I dew things! I can't just go back to sleep."

"I have sleeping potions right here." Violet handed out bottles with glowing liquid inside.

"Is this safe?" Huey asked.

"There hasn't been a negative reaction so far."

"Meaning?"

"This is the first time I've made it, so no negative reactions yet."

"All right everyone." Ludwig clapped his hands. "Find a comfortable spot and drink up! Hopefully we can catch this phantom by surprise!"

 "Come sit in front of me and hold my hands." Lena instructed the older woman as everyone else quickly fell asleep around them.

"Good. Now relax your body, and focus on going to the dreamscape."

Della groaned. "More meditation?"

Twyla rubbed up against their joined hands, forcing Lena to push her away.

"Look, I know it's not easy, but just focus on helping your family."

Della took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Do you feel my magic?"

Della did. It was dark, but not in a menacing or corrupting way Magica's had been. It was calm, shy, but welcoming.

She reached out with her own magic.

"I feel you. Now just think about the dreamscape."

In the physical world, their bodies were glowing, but their eyes remained firmly shut.

Let me help my kids. Take me to the dreamscape. Please take me there.

It felt like she was flying. She felt the familiar tug of her physical body, but it loosened enough to let her go.

Her muscles relaxed, and it felt something drape over her eyes.

When she opened them, she and Lena were in the nonsensical world from last night.

"Wow." The teen looked around. "I was worried that we were gonna end up in limbo or something."

"Alright." Della summoned the first door. "Let's do this."

Daisy was the first to speak. "You're Edith Crowley."

"Of course I am." The spirit using June's body rolled their eyes. "You think this little brat could have done all those thing on her own? I could feel her whining and crying in the back of my head."

"All those things. The glass, the food, the paint..."

"All me."

"But why?" Donald asked.

The figure looked confused. "What did he say? You!" She pointed to Daisy. "You talk, I haven't been able to understand one word this idiot has been saying the whole time."

"Why are you doing this?" Daisy demanded.

"Are you really that oblivious?" Edith snarled and pointed at May. "I was trying to get rid of her!"

May grabbed Daisy's hand.

"I even tried to do it nice and quiet this time. Make her out to be the brat she is so you would send her away and keep me. Wasn't too hard, with her attitude."

"Why?" Daisy was shaking now. "Why her? Why all those other children? Why Ellen?"

"You know that thing where parents say they 'don't have favorites' and they 'love all their children equally'? Yeah, that's a load of crap."

Donald quickly covered May's ears.

"Here's the thing; I don't like sharing." Edith shrugged. "Not with toys, attention, and certainly not love. I want to be the favorite, the beloved only child; the only heir." She got up and walked to all the pictures on the wall. "Unfortunately...This family's a little bigger than I expected."

Daisy looked at the photos. Photos of Donald tasing the boys, photos of Scrooge, Webby and Beakley.

Along with a few of May and June.

"Can't do much without being noticed this time; so I'll cut you a deal. Get rid of her." She pointed at May again, who glared daggers at the thing possessing her sister. "Dump her in an orphanage or foster home or whatever, and I'll be the dutiful, delightful daughter." She batted her eyelashes in a show of innocence. "I won't even touch the others. So what do you say? We're already twins, so it's not like you're missing out on much."

Donald and Daisy didn't even hesitate.

"No." They replied in sync.

"What!?"

"We're keeping both of our daughters." Daisy glared. "Our real daughters."

The figure's eyes glowed with cold fury, and Daisy realized that the ring was pitch black.

"Well then." Edith clenched her fists. "Now we have a problem."

Della and Lena entered Huey's dream first.

"Huey? Honey?"

A scream caught their attention as Huey entered the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

"It's after me!"

Something began to bang furiously on the door as Huey struggled to keep it closed.

"We got this!" Lena shouted, readying her magic. "Let it in!"

Huey looked at them in surprise. "Lena? Mom? Oh right-"

"Now!" Della shouted.

The door flew open, launching Huey into his mother's arms.

There stood a large dark blue furred creature with horns and glowing eyes that bore into them.

Della gasped. "A wendigo!? But they don't haunt dreams!"

Lena sent a blast that hit it. The creature roared in pain as its arm wobbled before forming back together.

"It's taken on the form of a wendigo!" Lena shouted.

The wendigo roared and charged at them.

Della quickly ducked out of the way and created ice slabs all around it in a sort of cage.

...A cage that it was quickly breaking through as cracks formed and grew.

"C'mon! We have to get the others!" Della opened the door and ushered them out just as the wendigo broke free of its prison. It charged and Della shut the door just in time to hear a loud bang.

"There." Della huffed. "Let's keep it here for now while we grab-"

But then a blue smokey substance seeped from under the door.

"Aw come on!"

"We may have just made a mistake..." Lena began backing away as the smoke creature shot towards them.

Della created a wall of ice to block it and summoned Dewey's door.

"Dewey!" Della shouted as she, Lena and Huey held the door closed as the monster banged against it.

Dewey, looking ready to perform a musical number, looked confused. "Wait, what are you-oh!"

"No time!" Huey shouted.

Then the for blew open, and the smoke entered. Once it hit the blue tiled floor, it formed into a a slightly smaller version of-

"The Gilded Man of El Dorado!?" Della gasped.

The Gilded threw a fist down on them, thought they thankfully managed to dodge out of the way.

"We have to go!" Della grabbed her sons while Lena kept the beast busy before jumping out herself.

The pattern for this continued with the other kids:

Louie's dream got the dragon she fought when she was stuck in the middle ages.

Webby's was a giant spider which freaked out both Della and Huey.

Violet's dream had it transform into Captain Peghook.

"Okay." Della breathed heavily, exhausted from running from the monster while gathering her kids. "It can shapeshift, traverse dreams, and it seems to be chasing us down. You got anything?"

Violet frowned. "I'm sorry, but I've never heard of anything like that before. I need to do closer examination. It could be some kind of nightmare force-"

"Not the time for guessing!" Louie shouted as the smoke started to escape Violet's door.

"Got it!" Della summoned Ludwig's door and opened it.

"There you are!" He said as they looked in through the door. "I was wondering what was taking you lot so long."

Lena frowned. "Wait. How can he-"

Without hesitating, he stepped out through the door without anyone else having to step inside.

"Okay, seriously." Louie looked at him. "What are you?"

"I'm a Professor."

"Just one to go!" Della managed to summon the energy to summon a solid gold door with the name 'Penumbra' engraved on it.

"Do moonlanders not have last names?" Huey wondered.

The smokey figure quickly approached them.

"Hurry!" Dewey shouted as Della threw open the door, not bothering to look inside, and everyone rushed in.

"Get out of my sister!" May screamed as she launched a flying kick.

Edith merely held out her hand, and May paused mid air.

"Huh?"

"I'm a ghost, dummy." Edith scoffed as she tossed May aside. "I've picked up a few tricks in the last century."

Lighting flashed.

Donald's face went red.

"WAAK!" He jumped and and down and lunged for the girl, who flipped out of the way.

"Can't catch me! Can't catch me!" She taunted.

He face then met with Daisy's purse.

"You get your cold, noncorporeal hands off of my daughter!" Daisy roared, preparing another strike.

"You really think I'm gonna leave her body just like that?" The spirit taunted. "Have you ever fought a ghost before? I doubt it."

She was then caught in a golden glow.

"She hasn't." Donald smirked. "But I have!"

He struggled as Edith fought to escape his hold.

"May!" He shouted. "Get the salt!"

"Ok?" May didn't understand bud grabbed the salt shaker from the table.

"The bag of salt! It's up in the cabinet!"

She quickly retrieved the correct bag.

"Good! Now pour it in a circle around her!"

"What are you doing!?" Edith demanded as May poured a circle of salt around the ghost.

Once she was done, Donald released his hold.

Edith tried to run at them, but found herself stopped by an invisible force.

"Huh!?"

"We need to think of something!" Donald said. "That salt ring won't hold forever."

May looked back into the bedroom. "I think I've got something!"

Daisy and Donald followed her as she reached under June's pillow, pulling out the book Elvira had given her.

"C'mon...there has to be something...how to keep evil spirits out...how to drive them away!"

"But does that work on ghosts?" Daisy wondered.

"June got a kit with most of the supplies needed."

"Della, Scrooge and I have done a few exorcisms." Donald said.

Daisy and May looked at him.

"We've come across more haunted houses and cursed items than I care to talk about. Now, the key to getting rid of her is that ring. It's what binds her spirit to this realm, so we'll need it for the ritual."

"How? Ask her politely?" May snarked.

"You and Daisy take care of the binding circle. I'll keep Edith distracted." His gaze was fierce and his voice filled with paternal devotion. "One way or another, we're getting our girl back."

Chapter Text

Donald slowly opened the door and looked around.

The salt circle was now empty, some of the salt having been wiped away.

She's stronger than I thought,

"Edith?" He called out, ready to put up a fight. 

A force launching him towards the stairs told him immediately where the spirit had gone.

"Ready for another round old man?" Edit cracked her knuckles.

Now I know how Uncle Scrooge feels when we call him that.

Donald stood at the ready as Edith launched a flying chair his way. He grabbed it and threw it aside.

He needed her to come to him.

"Y'know...I'm starting to see why everyone liked Ellen more."

Edith's eyes glowed with fury.

"Ellen was a spoiled brat!" Edith hissed. 

"Says the girl who kills just to get all the attention. If you had to do that to be noticed while dead, I pity who you were while you were alive."

That did the trick, as Edith screamed with rage as she leaped and pinned him to the stairs.

Ignoring the pain, he lifted his legs and kicked the girl up the stairs.

While she was dazed, he rushed up and grabbed her before throwing her onto the deck and into the pouring rain. He barely took three steps out himself before he felt his shirt being soaked.

Edith growled as she returned to her feet.

Donald took steady breaths while channeling his magic to his fingertips.

He was more than ready to fight a ghost to save his family.

Della looked around. They were at the pier, with the ocean and the game stalls set up.

The only things of note were that it was nighttime...and the fact that the pier was swarming with eggheads.

"Penny?" Della called out.

"Over there!" Louie pointed to where the eggheads had gathered...and were being thrown from.

"I'll get us a closer look." Lena carried them all in her magic and lifted them high in the air so they could see what was happening.

There, in the center of the action, fighting eggheads with nothing more than a spear and a smile on her face, was none other than the moonlander herself.

Of Course. Della smiled to herself, before realizing that her friend wasn't fighting alone.

As an egghead tried to sneak up on the alien woman, another figure tackled them and threw them out of the ring.

"Mom is that...you!?" Dewey gasped.

"Penumbra's dream version of her, at least." Violet clarified.

"Well done best friend!" Penny cheered as she punched an egghead upside the head.

"Not doing so bad yourself Lieutenant!" Dream Della smirked.

"Aww..." Webby smiled. "She even dreams about you!"

"Fighting evil henchmen." Louie said.

"It's so romantic!"

Della tried to hide her blushing face.

"As sweet as this is, I'm afraid we're on a time limit." Ludwig pointed out.

"Oh! Right!" Della coughed.

"No wait!" Webby gasped. "Look at what they're doing!"

Indeed, Penumbra had grabbed onto dream Della, swinging her around so she could kick a whole circle of eggheads. Then Penny held her in a dip.

Their heads moved closer...

"Okay! That's enough of that!" Della, face as read as Huey's shirt, clapped her hands, and the eggheads all vanished in a puff of smoke.

Startled, Penny dropped her dream companion before noticing the group floating down towards her. "What the moon devil!?"

"Hey Penny!" Della said in a forcefully cheerful tone. "Remember that dream monster we're hunting? Right now? In this dream?"

Penny's eye widened as blood rushed to her face. "AH...I...remember now..."

Dream Della rubbed her head. "What happened babe? I thought-"

Penny quickly waved her hands, and Dream Della disappeared. 

"So..." Penny fiddled with her spear. "How much of that did you see?"

"You mean before you were about to kiss-"

"OKAY!" Della shouted, interrupting Huey's response. "Dream monster! Remember! Let's focus on that!"

"I AGREE!" Penny shouted.

Before anyone could make any further comments, a roar was heard.

"There it is!" Lena looked down the dock. "It's a shapeshifter! It changes form whenever we enter a new dream!"

A giant, dark blue creature approached, it's large eyes glared at them.

"A moonmite!?" Penny gasped.

"So cool!" Webby gasped.

The moonlit roared again and charged at them.

"Well we're all here now!" Della charged up her magic. "Let's see what this big beast's all about!"

While Donald kept Edith busy, May and Daisy set up the living room. It wasn't easy, as the storm made the water choppy, and choppy waters lead to a constantly shifting houseboat.

"Does Donald know what he's doing?" May asked as she shew drew the pentagram out in chalk.

"Donald's seen a lot in his life." Daisy replied as she set up the candles. "He knows how to handle this."

The two worked in silence for a moment, trying not to rush up and help when they heard the fighting going on above them.

Donald's got this. He's handled ghosts before...

"...I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Daisy almost didn't catch May's words.

The girl paused her drawing and looked at her. "I'm sorry, for how I've been acting. For yelling at you, Donald and June. For...saying you're not my mom."

"Oh Sweetie..." Daisy pulled the girl into a hug. "I know you didn't mean it, but when this is over we have to talk about what's going on, ok?"

May stayed silent.

Daisy sighed. "I know it's hard, but I'm not a mind reader. I want to help you sort out whatever you're feeling, but you need to talk to me."

The girl nodded. "Alright."

"Good."

A loud bang from upstairs caused the em jerk their heads up.

"We have to hurry!" Daisy and May quickly got back to work.

The beast proved to be much tougher than they had anticipated. No matter how hard, or how many times it hit, it always fought back just as fierce.

"Not even the ones on the moon could go for this long!" Penny grumbled as she swung at it.

"There has to be a pattern to its movements." Violet mumbled, looking through her dream notebook. "Something that can tell us where it came from and what it wants."

"It can shapeshift?" Louie offered as he hit it with his khopesh. 

"Lots of demons can shapeshift!" Lena shouted as she blasted the beast, before dodging it's venom spit.

"Okay, think!" Violet said. "What did it shapeshift into?"

"First it was a wendigo!" Della shouted. "I fought one when I was a kid!"

"I know!" Dewey shouted, launching a basketball. "I was there too!"

Della paused, eyes wide. "That explains so much..."

"Focus!" Violet urged. "What was next?"

"Oh!" Dewey dodged the beasts claws. "My dream had it turn into the Gilded Man of El Dorado!"

"Which I beat twice!" Della shouted as she made the beast slip on ice.

"Mine had a dragon!" Louie screamed as he just barely dodged more acid.

Ludwig frowned from his place next too Violet. "That Della fought?"

"Yeah!" Della struggled as the beast beast against her magic shield. "A little more help would be great!"

"I'm a scholar! Not a fighter!" Ludwig replied. "What else?"

"A giant spider!" Webby cheered, landing a kick on one of the beasts eyes. "I mean...I never read anything about giant spiders but-"

"Did one of your adventures have spiders in it?"

"Yeah! We saw lots of spiders while we were looking for Cornelius Coots' Golden Armory!"

"And Mom fought that Captain Peghook guy!" Louie gasped. "We saw it in that painting!"

"Good times!" Della froze a shot of acid. "But what's it supposed to mean?"

"It means that creature is transforming into monsters, enemies or creatures you have faced!" Violet explained.

The beast roared again and charged.

Webby stood her ground. Louie...hid his face and said his prayers.

The beast knocked them both to the ground, but ignored them and swung at Della again.

"It's just as I thought..." Ludwig nodded.

"What?" Della punched the thing in one of its eyes. "That it wants to take me on a trip down memory lane?"

"No!" Violet shouted. "It mean's it's connected to you!"

"WHAT!?"

Louie's jaw hit the floor. "It wasn't after us...it was after mom!"

The mite roared and managed to get a hold of Della's (non-metal) leg.

"Hey!"

Without bothering with the others, the mite ran straight towards the still-open door, dragging a screaming Della behind it.

"MOM!" The boys screamed as they and everyone else quickly followed the two out of the dream.

Donald hit the deck with a loud thud.

"You're surprising stubborn for a living person." Edith snorted, levitating a barrel.

He breathed through his teeth as he stood. He needed to give May and Daisy as much time as he could.

"You're surprisingly begrudging for someone whose dead." He shot a blast of light at the barrel as the girl floated next to him. He turned to strike-

-but he couldn't. All he saw was his little girl's innocent face and terrified eyes.

His little girl who was still in there, who was nothing but a victim in all of this, and would seriously get hurt if he attacked Edith too recklessly.

The little girl grinned wickedly and kicked him in the face.

"Aww...what's the matter?" She asked mockingly. "Scared to hurt you pwecious wittle baby? Guess you figured it out: if I go down, she's coming with me."

Donald growled as he rubbed his beak.

He needed to banish Edith without hurting June.

"Honestly, I don't get why you're fighting this hard." Edith cocked her eyebrow. "From what I figured, she's not even your real kid, she's adopted."

"She's my kid." He clenched his fists. "Blood or no, she's my family, and I don't give up on family!"

Edith just shrugged. "Whatever. She is cute, so once I'm done here, I can try again on some other sucker family." Her eyes gleamed with malice. "Once I take you out, I'll kill that other girl next, that way you can have one of us in the afterlife. Then I'll send your girlfriend. One big, happy, dead family."

Donald roared as she shot blast after blast at the girl, who just dodged or redirected most of them.

A large wave splashed the whole deck as he clung to the railing, sliding to the back of the boat while Edith was distracted. He could hide out here for a little bit until-

That's when he saw him.

A familiar figure with horns made of branches, wearing sailor clothes standing next to the wall, smiling, as though expecting him.

Last time they had met, Donald had been confused, but he knew who the person was now.

"You!" He gasped. "You're-"

"The Horned God of Your Grandmother and her people. The Hunter, The Holy King and The Oak King." He announced as he towered over the small duck.

Donald gulped.

Then the God smiled mischievously. "Don't worry, I'm here to help again."

"Really?"

"Yup. Watch."

Lightning struck the water right next to them, forcing Donald to cover his eyes. When he opened them, he saw that the God had a bit of lightning in his hands.

"I'm gonna help you get that ghost out of that little girl's body." He said as he shifted the lightning back and forth, as if it were just a toy.

"I've helped with exorcisms before-"

"For cursed objects alone, or when the possessed was an adult, not a young girl being cursed by a murderous spirit. In order for this to work you're going to have to get the ring and the spirit out of June's body first-"

"WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Donald shivered as Edith's voice roared over the wind.

"Alright, looks like we're on a time limit here. Normally it takes hours of meditation and practice, but I'm just gonna open your third eye all the way here."

"My what-"

"Third eye? Allows more awareness and allows you to sense spirits and all that? Thankfully yours is already halfway open, so this shouldn't hurt too much!"

"Wait wha-"

The God quickly reached out and grabbed Donald's head, with his thumb firmly in the center of his forehead. He muttered an incantation as his hand glowed.

You know that feeling when you're fast asleep and someone rudely wakes you up by opening a window, letting in a burst of light that quickly filled the room?

Yeah, that's what Donald's head felt like.

He gasped as all the sights and sounds of the world; the light from the dock lamps, the sound of waves crashing, became intense and nearly overwhelming.

"Deep breaths." The God rubbed his back. "Sorry about that, normally we would ease you into this, but y'know..."

Donald managed to pull himself together as his senses readjusted.

But something felt...different.

Why couldn't he place it?

"So now your third eye's wide open." The Horned God nodded. "Now when the exorcism's underway, you'll know what to do. Should only take them another minute to finish."

"H-How..." But when Donald turned around, the God had vanished as though he were never there.

"Ah phooey."

"There you are!"

Donald lost his breath as his gut hit the railing. He gasped for air as he turned to face Edith.

But something had changed.

Or maybe...he was just seeing something he couldn't before?

A ghostly blue aura surrounded the girl, he could now feel and smell the aura of cold and death that permeated from her. 

Gathering his rage, he shot a small bolt of lighting her way, not enough to seriously hurt June, but enough to knock her to her feet. He reached out and grabbed his shoulder-

And then the world vanished.

Chapter Text

He was in the early 20th century, growing up with his twin sister at their family's estate.

How he hated her.

The pride and joy of their parents, the belle of every ball. Ellen was everything he was not.

No, not him.

Edith.

He felt Edith's envy and disdain from an early age from the nursery, to school, to society.

Edith had never loved her sister, not truly, at least.

What made it worse was apparently Ellen had tried. Ellen had loved her sister, tried to guide her, to share the spotlight with her. 

But Edith didn't want to share.

She wanted everything, the money, the spotlight, and her parents affection, for herself.

He felt her smile as she snuck up behind her sister, grabbed the ring from her finger, and pushed her down those stairs.

Ellen's horrified and heartbroken face didn't even faze Edith.

He felt her anger grow as she was caught, as she was detained....as she was hung.

But anger like that doesn't fade so easily.

She clung to what she believed to be hers.

She tried again, several times over the years, to get that spotlight for herself, to be the only heir on the parents' mind. She didn't love them anymore than she loved her own parents or sister.

But she never succeeded.

Donald gasped as he returned to the real world. Edith recoiled.

"What was that!?" She demanded, clearly just as confused as he was. "You saw it all, didn't you!?"

"...She was your sister." He murmured. "She loved you. Your parents loved you. They were heartbroken after what happened."

"I don't care about love!" Edith shouted, eyes glowing with fury. "I wanted to be the only heir! Was that too much to ask!? If my parents really loved me, they would have just kept me and tossed Ellen in the river!"

"More family doesn't mean less for you." Donald stated as he stood. "It means more love for everybody. And I'm going to get rid of you so I can give my girls all the love they deserve."

Edith shrieked as she lunged for him again.

Della shrieked as the smoke monster dragged her out of Penumbra's dream and through the dreamscape.

"Let go of me ya big palooka!" She struggled, but the monster's grip held. "Where are you taking me!?"

"Mom!" The boys shouted as they raced after them, Huey jumping over a sheep and Penny ducking to avoid a mini helicopter.

"Kids!"

Lena frowned as she saw where the monster was taking Della. It was heading towards a door that had landed itself on a small snowy hill. It looked like the door to the Sunchaser...

She gasped when she saw the name.

"It's your door!"

Della paled when she realized where the thing was taking her and began to struggle even harder.

"Let go! There's nothing in there!"

"It wants to mess up mom's dream too!?" Dewey asked.

"Of course!" Ludwig adjusted his glasses as he ran.

"'Of course' what!? You guys need to start explaining this stuff!"

"I formed a theory when you first told me of this being." He looked as the smoke being opened the door and began to slip inside. "It became stronger when I saw the creature shapeshift, but now I know for certain."

"What!?" Della exclaimed as she clutched the ground.

"This is no demon. It's a manifestation of one's personal nightmares." He looked straight at Della. "Your nightmares, to be exact."

Della didn't say anything as she clawed the ground.

"It must have slipped out the first time she left her dream." Violet concluded. "By why is this happening?"

"Wait..." Louie frowned. "You knew, didn't you? That's why you didn't want to come back here."

Della averted her gaze as her nightmares slowly dragged her along.

"Are you kidding me!?" Penny stomped her foot. "Why didn't you say anything!?"

"I-I didn't know they got out!" Della exclaimed. "Lena said she could get rid of it!"

"If I knew what it was!" Lena argued. "Did you know the whole time?"

"I-I saw it mess up Dewey's dream a little....but I didn't realize until we started talking about it!"

"So you just let it infect our dreams!?"

"I didn't mean for that to happen!" Della blinked away tears. "I never even returned to my own dream after the Goddess showed up. Can't you just magic it away like you were planning to!?"

Ludwig shook his head before Lena could respond. "Nightmares do not work like that. They are manifestations of our subconscious, so they always return later. The only way is to confront and understand them."

"Not happening!" Della screamed as she clutched the door frame.

"It's scary, believe me!" Lena gave her a sympathetic look. "I told you; I know that better than anyone. But the more you ignore this, the worse it's going to get. You can't run from your problems."

"I can run as long as I want to!"

Louie straightened up. "Like when you ran away to the moon?"

There was silence.

"Well this is awkward..." Ludwig said.

"I-I..." Della blinked away more tears.

"Louie!" Huey scolded.

"You don't have to face this alone." Penumbra stepped forward. "Let us help you conquer your dream demons."

"I-I can't..."

'Please." Penny's face softened. "Please let us help you. We do not want you to suffer alone."

Della closed her eyes and nodded just as she lost her grip.

Following her screams, the rest of the family dove right on in

Daisy looked out the door and saw Donald dodging a series of kicks by Edith.

"Donald!" She shouted over the wind. "It's done!"

Her boyfriend nodded at her before facing Edith again.

"You know..." Edith growled. "I was planning on doing away with the other one last night. Make it look like a tragic accident. But then you came in with your little ball of light that wouldn't let me near her until morning!"

Donald grit his teeth.

Deep breaths. You can't afford to let your anger out of control right now.

"Y'know...your really bad at your job."

"Huh?"

"You failed the first time and hung for it." He smirked. "I saw it all. All your failures. Every time you got close, someone always figured it out, or got rid of you without even realizing. No matter what you did, you couldn't stop being the angry ghost brat!"

Edith's eyes glowed and she looked ready to tear his eyes out.

"You could've had a good life with your sister, but you threw it all away. You had the chance for love, for a family so many times but you threw it all away just because you didn't want to share! You were a failure in life and a failure in death!"

Edith let out a near deafening scream as she launched herself at him, knocking them both back...and down the hatch into the living area.

A large area had been cleared on the floor and there was a pentagram circle drawn in chalk, with different colored candles lit up at each of the points. With the lights still out, it all felt very ominous.

But 'ominous' worked in Donald's favor as he caught the small girl in his magic and rushed them over to the ritual circle.

"What is this!? What are you doing!?" Edith demanded, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"NOW!" He shouted as May immediately went about making a new salt circle around them. 

"By the forces of nature, I command you to leave us be." Donald began the incarnation as his body and the pentagram began to glow.

Daisy and May, standing at a safe distance, looked on in awe.

Donald could see it, Edith's spirit invading June's body. Hands glowing brightly, he put one on the fighting girl's head and one around the ring.

"I command you, leave this innocent's soul alone!" He began to pull Edith's spirit out of June's body.

Edith let out an otherworldly scream as she fought against him and clung to June. 

"Let me say it again: GET OUT OF MY DAUGHTER!" He his took on an echo as the ring's color returned to it as Donald pulled out an Aquamarine mist out of the girl. Fighting to keep his grip, he quickly tossed an unconscious June to Daisy who held her tightly.

The mist took the form of a young woman in turn of the century clothing. Her face was contorted into what seemed to be a permanent scowl.

"YOU!" She screamed as he glared back while still holding onto the ring. "YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

Now here comes the easy part.

He closed his eyes. "Spirit, you have no place on this earthly realm."

She screeched and tried to grab the ring, but he swatted her back. The flames from the candled shot up.

"By the power of the sun, I banish you!" He opened his eyes, and Daisy and May gasped when they only saw two glowing orbs with no irises. 

Edith's human form as quickly fading into a skeleton as she lunged at him one more time. Donald didn't move an inch and held the brightly glowing ring out.

"BY THE POWER OF THE HORNED GOD, I BANISH YOU INTO THE PITS OF THE NETHERWORLD! NEVER TO RETURN AGAIN!" He threw the ring on the floor and a bright light flooded the houseboat. Daisy turned around and clung May and June to her as they closed their eyes.

When they got up the nerve to open them again, the houseboat was dark again, with only the light from the reemerging sun shining through the windows allowing them to see what was in front of them. They quickly located Donald, laying face down in the center of the pentagram. The candles had been blown out.

"Donald!" Daisy, keeping a firm grasp on her girls, ran over to check on him.

At the sound of her voice, he groaned and rubbed his head. "Oh..."

May's foot his something and she saw it was the ring, now broken, the jewel completely shattered.

"Is...is she.." She asked hesitantly as she helped him to his feet.

Donald nodded. "She's gone."

"How?"

He frowned. "Huh...I actually don't remember much. Was there light?"

Another moaning came from the figure in Daisy's arms.

"June!" May ran over to her sister.

Slowly, June blinked up at everyone. "...My head hurts."

Daisy held back her tears as she hugged the small girl. "Hey Junie. How are you feeling?"

June held her tight. "There was this lady...she was mean. She said that she could get you to love me but then..."

"Ssh." Daisy gently hushed. "It's alright, it's over now."

"What happened?"

"Dad banished her!" May exclaimed, eager to tell her sister everything. "It was amazing! And mom and I set up the circle from your book and-"

The words she had just used seemed to finally click as she paused and covered her beak with her hands. Donald and Daisy looked at her with open mouths.

"May?" Daisy asked softly.

Realizing everyone had heard her, May didn't spare another glance as she bolted back to the bedroom, slamming the door shut.

Poor June looked so confused as Daisy and Donald looked at each.

"I'll explain everything to you Junebug." Donald took the girl into his own arms.

"I'm gonna go check on her." Daisy left them alone as Donald began to tell her what had happened.

Della found herself back in the Spear of Selene.

"Ugh...great..."

"Mom?"

"Kids!" Della turned and quickly gathered her boys in a group hug. "Oh thank goodness!"

"Why did you abandon us?" Huey asked.

"Huh?" She let go and realized they were giving her cold stares.

"You just went up in this rocket and left us!" Louie exclaimed. "We weren't even hatched yet!"

"I-I..." Della's breaths became quicker.

"Was it something we did?" Dewey asked, tears in his eyes. "Were we not good enough for you?"

"Of course you're good enough!" Della felt tears gathering behind her eyes. "That had nothing to do with you!"

"Scrooge only built the rocket because we were on the way." Huey retorted. "You were the one who wanted to give us the stars. Yet you took it for a joyride before we even hatched."

"I'm so sorry! I never meant-"

"How can you be our mom if you didn't even want us!?" Dewey exclaimed.

"How can you expect us to love you if you didn't love us enough to stay?" Louie asked.

"How could you have torn apart Uncle Scrooge and Uncle Donald for a decade?" Huey inquired. "They stopped being a family because of you!"

Della felt like her heart was physically breaking.

"I-"

"Well look at what you've done."

Della turned around and found a floor length mirror.

But the reflection was different.

It was her....but it was her as she was on the moon; long hair and torn clothes.

The reflection looked at her with contempt. "Look at all the damage you've done with your reckless decision."

"I 'm...aware of that." Della tried to keep her cool, but could feel her emotions building up.

"You don't understand!" The reflection shouted. "You tore your family apart! Uncle Scrooge nearly bankrupted himself and gave up adventuring! Your brother had to raise your kids because you couldn't be bothered to put them first! Do you have any idea of the emotional stress that put him under!? He's a better parent to them than you'll ever be! Your kids grew up without a mother because you abandoned them! Just like what your mother did!"

"I'm not like her!" A few tears had escaped and tricked down her beak.

"Really? Because you continued to reck their lives even after you came back? The gilded man? Those scary stories? Never thinking about the danger you're putting them through on your adventures? You don't love them! They're just playthings for you! You're as selfish as she is!"

"I'm...I'm not..."

"Even before the Spear, all you thought about was the next adventure! The next treasure to find! The next monster to fight! But no matter what you did, you never good enough. Uncle Scrooge didn't love you! He pitied you! Donald just tolerated you just because you were his sister! Even Grandma only put up with you because she had no other choice!"

"Stop it!"

"You Della Duck, are nothing but trouble." The reflection's glare was cold and hard. "NOTHING! BUT! TROUBLE!"

"So tell me!" Della begged. "Tell me how to fix all of this! How do I fix myself!?"

"This." The reflection reached through and grabbed Della by the shoulders before pulling her in. She was vaguely aware of someone people shouting as she went through the glass.

She landed on hard ground and when she saw where she was, her heart nearly stopped.

She was at the top of a mountain, and in the pit was a swirling red vortex of destruction.

It was the same place F.O.W.L. had nearly beaten them. Where Donald had nearly-

She felt something grab the back of her jacket and pick her up.

"The only way to help your family now," The reflection said as she dragged Della towards the swirling vortex. "Is to erase yourself from reality."

She tried to toss Della in, but Della, out of sheer survival instant, grabbed the ledge. The vortex pulled at her feet, but she hung on.

The reflection snorted. "Why are you trying to survive? Let's face it; your family is better off without you."

She raised her leg and Della braced herself for the blow.

But it never came.

"Get away from my mom!" 

"Dewey!?" Della looked and saw Dewey tackle the reflection to the ground.

"Mom!" Della looked over and saw her other sons, along everyone else, step out of the mirror.

Louie winced when he realized where they were. "Okay. Definitely nightmare material here. I can't balme you for running."

"It's you right?" Della asked. "Real you?"

"Yeah!" Lena shouted as she blasted the reflection with her magic. Webby happily joined in the fight while Dewey, Louie and Penny ran to Della.

"We saw what that...other Della said." Penny said, reaching out her hand. "Do you really believe all of that?"

Della hesitantly accepted the hand and sighed. "Can't deny what's right in front of me."

"Mom..." Louie's look was soft as Della climbed over the edge.

"I messed up so badly. Taking the spear, abandoning you kids. You didn't even get my messages!"

"Messages?" Huey wondered.

"Everyday I sent video calls to you, talking to you, giving you advice, celebrating your birthdays." Della slumped down. "But you didn't get any of them. Everyone thought I was dead and it tore them apart! You kids spent ten years without a mom all because I was terrified about being a mom! I was so scared I took a rocket ship to escape my responsibilities and look at what happened!"

"It sounds like you are very aware of the consequences." Ludwig observed. "And you take full responsibility for what you did. That's what your nightmares are about, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Even before Merlock and....well, I guess where I get the 'terrible mother' trait now. I'm no better than she is."

She was cut off by Huey and Louie wrapping her in tight hugs.

"We love you mom." Huey smiled up at her. "And we wouldn't trade you for any other mom in existence."

"But I Ieft-"

"And you came back." Louie met her gaze. "Penny told us that all you ever talked about on the moon was coming back to us. Of how you wanted to be our mom. I know I'm not the best son-"

"Stop it." Della interrupted. "You are all wonderful kids and I love each of you. I just wish I was here for you growing up."

"But you're here now."

"Yeah!" Dewey shouted as he quickly joined the hug pile. "I-I always wondered what you were like. I always asked Uncle Donald about you, and Webby helped me learn what happened to you. I-I was scared. Scared that you were a bad person-"

"Oh honey..."

"But you're amazing! You're fun, and listen to us and sing really nice. You...you're perfect for us."

Della shook her head. "I'm not perfect."

"No." Penny kneeled down. "You are a flawed person. An annoying, hyperactive person who took on a moonlit for ten years just to get home to your family. Who kept trying to befriend me no matter how rude I was, who encouraged me to give earth a chance, who welcomed me into her family without question."

Della gave her friend a smile, which was returned.

"By denying your fears, by trying to keep up the facade of the 'perfect', strong, adventurer and mother, your powers infested your nightmares, allowing them to leave your dream and become this powerful." Ludwig explained.

She closed her eyes. "...I really did hurt you guys didn't I?"

"You didn't mean to!" Huey stood up.

"We can help you take care of them now." Louie offered.

"It's not your-"

"You're our mom!" Dewey argued. "If it's bothering you, then it's our problem too!"

"Della, we want to help you through this." Penny put her hands on her hips.

Della took a deep breath and stood up. "You're right. I've been ignoring this for too long. I'm broken...but I want to start putting myself together. To start working on myself."

It was then that Reflection Della morphed into smoke and teleported back in front of Della.

"What are you doing!?" She demanded. "You heard her say it herself! She's broken! She doesn't fit into this family!"

"Believe me." Lena floated down in front of her. "They don't care if your perfect, cracked or shattered. They'll make you part of their family. Even..." She looked at Webby. "Even if you don't think you deserve it. They'll take you in by force if they have to."

The reflection turned to the triplets. "C'mon, don't you boys want a new mom? A better mom? A perfect mom?"

"We don't want a perfect mom!" Louie shouted. "We want her!"

Della wiped her eyes as a smile spread on her face.

 "You are nothing but a manifestation of her self loathing and insecurities." Violet stated. "You do not know what's best for her family."

The reflection rolled her eyes. "Oh please." She turned back to Della. "Alright, into the vortex with you-"

She stopped at Della's outstretched hand. "No."

"No!?"

"No. I'm far from perfect. I made terrible decisions and still make mistakes. But I'm not just going to ignore it or run away from it anymore. And I'm definitely not gonna lie down and let it consume me. I'm going work hard to make it up to everyone; to make up for the years I've missed. I can't change the past, but I can control what happens now. And right now I'm sick of your attitude. Go away."

"How dare-"

"I said go away!" Della blasted the reflection, turning her into an ice statue which quickly shattered into pieces.

"Kind of morbid if you ask me." Louie stated, kicking one of the larger pieces.

"I take this as a sign you want to give therapy another chance?" Ludwig inquired.

"Yeah. I don't care if it make me look weak. I want to be better for my family."

"We don't see you as weak." Huey took her hand. "Taking therapy is a huge step towards self improvement. It's a strength."

"We still think you're the best mom ever!" Dewey hugged her.

Louie didn't say anything, just joined Dewey in the hug.

"Okay, sappiness time over." Lena said with a playful smile. "We can start the self improvement when we wake up. Ready?" She held out her hand.

Della took it. "Ready."

She closed her eyes, felt air rushing around her, and when opened them, she was back in the waking world still holding hands with Lena.

"We did it!" She cheered as everyone began waking up.

"You did it." Lena smiled. "It's not easy going up against your inner demons, but you knew you needed help and chose to accept it rather than hide from your problems."

Della smiled gratefully at the compliment, before frowning.

'Hey...does anybody hear that?"

The sound of a cat hissing and meowing could be heard from upstairs.

"It sounds like Twyla!" Webby jumped to her feet.

Della quickly headed for the door. "Something's wrong!"

Everyone hurriedly followed after her.

Daisy gently opened the door and now found May wrapped up in June's blanket.

"May?"

The girl remained silent as Daisy sat on the bed.

"May, I told you we needed to talk, but you have to tell me what's going on."

"...Why do you want me?"

"What?"

May sat up looking at Daisy with watery, terrified eyes. "Why do you want me to be your daughter? Why do you love me? I've been nothing but rude this whole trip. I yelled at you earlier! If I had done that to Bradford or Heron, I'd be in the incinerator by now!"

"May, this isn't F.O.W.L. We're not Bradford and Heron. We're Daisy and Donald Duck and we want you and June to be our family, no matter how many times you might be rude or yell at us, we'll love you, always."

"Why!?" She pleaded. "I-I'm nothing more than a clone! A failed experiment! I couldn't get the papyrus! I lied to everyone in the manor! I was a bad guy!"

"You were lied to and manipulated by people you thought you could trust." Daisy put a firm hand on the girl's shoulder. "That was not your fault. And May; you and June are so much more than just clones of Webby."

"R-Really?"

"The girls I've gotten to know these past few weeks are brilliant, unique, compassionate young kids that I'm more than happy to help grow into incredible young women."

"But I messed up so much! I wasn't perfect!"

Daisy blinked. "...May do you think we won't love you if you're not perfect?"

After a moment, she nodded.

"Come here..." Daisy gently took the girl into her arms. "Want to know something?"

"What?"

"Nobody's perfect."

"Huh?"

"Perfection doesn't exist. We all have flaws and weaknesses. Donald and I both have bad tempers, and I definitely get upset when I try too hard to make everything perfect too. But we don't care if you're not perfect and make mistakes. Our love isn't conditional."

May held onto her tighter.

"...June's already been calling you 'mom' and  'dad' in her sleep."

"She has?" Daisy asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I think the only reason she wasn't doing that already was because of me. She took to having a new family so easily I..."

"You've been through a lot. It can be overwhelming."

"...I wanted a family too. But then I found out I was made to get a dumb piece of paper! Who would want to be my family after that? Heron didn't want me and you two are so much better than her!"

"We want you."

"Why? It doesn't make sense."

"Love doesn't always make sense. Believe me, I know. We want to be your family. Now the question is...do you want to be our family?"

May was silent for a moment before answering;

"...Can I call you 'mom'?"

Daisy didn't stop her tears this time as she held her daughter even closer. "Of course you can."

"And you can call me 'dad'...if you want to that is." Donald shield as he carried in June.

"Okay...dad."

Donald didn't bother wiping the tears from his own eyes as he set June down next to May.

June wrapped her arms tightly around her twin. "May! Are you ok!? I'm so sorry I couldn't stop her! I tried to fight-"

"It's ok June." May quickly reassured her sister.

"We'll give you girls some privacy." Daisy took Donald's hand and left the room.

June sniffed. "She-she was so scary! And evil! It-it was like..."

"Like Heron?"

"Yes!" June wiped her tears. "She didn't care about anyone. And she...she wanted to..."

"To kill me? Yeah, I know. I'm alright now. It wasn't your fault."

June continued to hold onto her sister for a few more minutes.

"...Did you mean it?" June asked softly.

'Mean what?"

"When you called them 'mom' and 'dad'?"

May nodded. "Yeah. They're way better parents then Bradford and Heron were. They...they love us. They don't care if we're failed experiments. They worked so hard to save you and to help me. I want them to be our family. i'm going to try harder this time to actually be a part of our family. I'll try not to push you all away again."

"Really?"

"Really?"

"Then...can I start calling them 'mommy' and 'daddy' too?" June looked at her sister hopefully.

This cause May to laugh. "Of course you can! They want to be both our parents! We're part of a real family now!"

June's next hug knocked her on her back.

Back in the living room, the two adults began clean up.

"Thank you." Daisy said as she wiped the paint off the walls.

"Huh?" Donald looked at her as he put the furniture back.

"I could never do this parent thing without you."

Donald went over and put his arms around her waist and gazed lovingly into her eyes. "I didn't know what I was doing either, while I was raising the boys. I don't want to do this without you either. Thank you."

They shared a deep, passionate kiss before Daisy pulled out and looked away.

"...I can't have kids."

"What?"

"I know I should've told you this earlier, but it never came up, and things just kept happening...but I can't have natural kids. Some sort of medical condition. It never really bothered me before because I was so focused on my career, but then I met you and you're such a family man and-"

Donald interrupted her with another kiss.

"Daisy, it's fine." He smiled. "I don't care."

"You don't?"

He shrugged. "Never really planned on having kids myself either. But then the boys came and now we have the girls...I think we have enough for now."

Daisy giggled. "From what Della tells me, you seem to adopt kids left and right. Blood related or not."

Donald laughed too. "I think she's exaggerating...but yeah, I don't need bio kids with all the ones I have now. Besides, can you imagine if any of them got my voice?"

"Then they would sound absolutely perfect to me."

"You're too good for me."

"You're too good for me. I was so nervous about this because, well, I thought if you couldn't have kids then that meant the universe just didn't want you to be a parent."

"Phooey. You don't need working reproductive organs to be a parent. Besides, there's plenty of people who can have kids but shouldn't. Biology doesn't care about who deserves kids or not.

Besides...you've met my mother."

"Donald..."

"You're right. Let's not think about her."

Daisy hugged him...before frowning in thought.

"Y'know...something keeps bugging me."

"Me too."

"It seemed awfully convenient that all of this happened just because my shipment got redirected."

"And it's weird how such an old, haunted ring was sitting right there, waiting for us to take it."

"And how the manager claimed that the files for that were 'lost'. Why not get a consultant, or auction off all that junk they had?"

"I think we need to talk to that guy again."

Daisy nodded and went to get the girl. "You're right. Time to get some answers."

Chapter Text

Della raced ahead, chasing the sound of Twyla's howls and hisses.

She turned a corner and quickly realized where they were coming from.

Webby's bedroom?

The cat hissed again, and the sound of drawers opening and closing could be heard.

Della looked at Webby, who herself looked ready to tear the intruder apart.

Gently pushing her back, Della, with all the flamboyance inherent in the McDuck line, kicked the door open.

"Hold it right there....Magica!?"

The witch in question had numerous scratches, clearly having not won the fight. Despite that, she still grinned when she saw everyone walk in. "Oh hello there.  Finally sorted out whatever dream issues you were having? Well done unlocking that power by the way."

Lena paled. "How did you-"

"Oh don't wind yourself up." Magica waved her off. "That wasn't me this time. That was all her." She pointed to Della. "I just so happened to notice and used the opportunity to my advantage."

"What do you mean!?" Webby demanded. "And what are you doing in my room!?"

"Just picking up a little light reading." Magica held up a book triumphantly.

Everyone who wasn't Webby or Lena just looked at the dark sorceress like she had just announced she was opening a children's hospital.

"'So you love Ponies?'" Louie read the cover. "Is that like, some childhood fantasy you never got or...?"

"No you brat!" Magica shook the book, revealing it be a false cover for a very different book.

""The Grimoiur Du Merlock'!?" Huey gasped.

Twyla hissed from the tea table.

"Webby!" Dewey turned to his cousin.

"I can explain!"

"Thanks again. I'm sure Merlock will appreciate you keeping it nice for him. Ta ta!" With a puff of smoke, the sorceress vanished.

Lena kicked the wall in frustration. "AAAAAGH! I can't believe she just got one over us!"

"In a surprisingly clever way too." Violet added.

"I'm sorry, but can someone just explain to me what just happened!?" Della stomped her foot.

Webby, who was tending to Twyla, looked nervous. "I can..."

Donald, Daisy, May and June approached the warehouse, not caring how close it was to closing time.

Donald was about to pound on the door when May grabbed his hand and shook her head, putting a finger to her beak.

Slowly, she and June led the adults into sneaking around the back.

"That should be his office." May pointed to a slightly opened window near the fire escape. Following the girls leads, they snuck up the ladder and  up to the window, where they heard people talking.

"I don't understand. That spirit should've done her job by now."

Donald was confused. It didn't sound like the manger, this person had a British accent. Was he talking to someone?

"All ah certainly hope so! Considerin' all the time we went into tracking that ring down."

Donald felt all the blood drain from his face.

Because that voice he definitely recognized...

Daisy took his hand and squeezed.

"Either way, more of his power will be unlocked. He will grow stronger just as we hoped, and things can get moving."

Donald couldn't hold back anymore. They were talking about him, he knew it. Letting go of Daisy's hand, he smashed right through the window and onto his feet.

The two people looked at him, shocked.

The first one he recognized immediately.

"Hortense." He growled.

The woman looked offended at the name.

"That is no way to address yer mother."

He looked at the other person, who had gathered himself and looked at them with mild interest.

"Okay, I give. I don't know who you are."

"He looks like Magica..." May muttered and she, June and Daisy climbed in, carefully avoiding the broken glass.

"Well, no point in hiding it now." The Stranger got up and gave a slight bow. Indeed, he reminded Donald a lot of Magica; same sickly green skin, scaley yellow eyes, dark hair with a streak of purple in it. He wore black and purple waistcoat and vest combination with an amulet that looked very familiar. "My name is Poe De Spell. I believe you've met my sister?"

"You're Poe!?" Daisy gasped.

"Yes, and considering the fact that both girls are present and accounted for, I assume you already took care of Edith?" He observed calmly. "And to answer any potential questions you may have; yes, we did mess with your shipment to bring you here. Yes, I did disguise myself as the manager, and yes, I did deliberately give you that cursed ring."

"Do ye really have to tell them everything?" Hortense asked in annoyance.

"They were going to figure it out anyway, might as well simplify things. Again, he took care of the ghost, so mission accomplished."

'Wait, what?" Donald looked between them. "What was all that about!? What was the point in all that!?"

Hortense smiled at him. "The point, my son, was to make your powers stronger." She reached out an took his hands before he could step away. "Ah knew you would figure something was goin' on and use more of yer magic."

He tried to pull away, but the woman's grip was ironclad. "Wha-"

"Don't you feel it? Yer third eye's open. Yer unlocking more of yer abilities just like yer sister. Yer taking another step towards what you were destined to do! Yes, getting rid of the two little knockoffs and the diva would have been nice-"

"Hey!" May and June exclaimed.

"Diva!?" Daisy gasped.

"-but I'll take what I can get. Now, I know this is a lot to take in, so I'll just take my leave." She finally let go of his hands and Donald immediately noticed the red marks. "We can talk more next time."

May tried to stop her with a flying kick when a purple blast knocked her into some shelves.

"MAY!" The family huddled around the small girl.

"See you all next time." Poe said as he grabbed Hortense's shoulder before a puff od dark green smoke appeared.

June let out an enraged cry launched herself at them...but only met with open air.

"Where'd they-"

"Ow..." May felt her hurting arm and when she pulled away, saw too much blood on it for her liking.

"Let me see." Donald took her arm and pressed his hand on the cut to slow the bleeding. "Daisy get me some paper towels and-"

He paused when his hand started glowing. He could feel the magic slipping out of it.

"Huh?" He pulled away and-

"You fixed her arm!" June gasped. Sure enough, May's arm was now cut-free. She even felt the bruising fade away.

Donald looked down at his hands as his mother's words played over in his head.

"Donald?" Daisy put a hand on his shoulder.

"...We need to go home. Now. We need to tell the others about this."

The sun had already set by the time Donald, Daisy and the twins entered the manor.

"We're back!" Daisy called out, both as a greeting and assuring the more violent-prone members of the family that there was no need to get the crossbows.

"You're back!" Della greeted them as she and the remaining manor residents rushed to the main foyer. Della immediately grabbed her brother in a bone crushing hug, lifting him up off the ground.

"What happened? We weren't expecting you until tomorrow!"

"Well, because-"

"Nevermind! I've got something more important to tell you!'

"No I've got something to tell you!"

"Whatever it is, ah want to hear it myself."

Everyone turned and saw Scrooge and Beakley standing at the doorway, looking a little worse for wear. Soon everyone began shouting everything that had happened to them all at once, making it impossible to listen coherently.

"All right! All right!" Beakley stepped forward. "Everyone in the living room, you can tell us what happened there one group at a time!"

"What do ye mean Hortense, Poe and Magica all got one over us!?" Scrooge exclaimed.

"Technically...they got two over up." Violet correct.

Lena elbowed her sister. "Not the time Vi."

"Apparently, they wanted Donald and Della to explore more of their abilities." Penny had a comforting arm around Della.

"But why?" Dewey asked. "Why would Merlock want them to be even more powerful?"

"To fulfill some vague prophesy or destiny thing that none of us have any idea about but they do." Louie concluded.

"Not just that, but he's got his old spell book back too." Scrooge leveled a disapproving gaze at his daughter, who looked aside guiltily. "Even though I specifically forbid spell books in the house?"

"Well...it was before you started talking to me...I was just curious!"

"So Della now has dream walking abilities..." Lena started.

"And Donald has ghost powers and healing magic?" Daisy wondered.

"What does it all mean!?" Huey asked dramatically.

Aaaaaahhhhaaaa

Donald and Della both jumped and looked at each other.

'You hear it?" Donald asked.

"Loud and clear." Della nodded.

May looked at them curiously. "You mean...?"

"Whatever it means, we don't have time to discuss it now." Beakley spoke. "On our trip, we started receiving reports of fire spirit sightings."

"Fire spirit!?" Huey gasped.

"Actually, that might be what it means." Webby said.

"Truly meaningful timing." Ludwig nodded.

"What does anything mean anymore!?" Dewey exclaimed.

"My head hurts." June responded.

"Focus!" Scrooge caught everyone's attention. "Everyone either pack your bags or keep them packed. We're going to pick up Elvira and then we're heading straight to Australia!"

Merlock grinned as Magica handed him his old spell book. "Well, looks like this weekend was certainly productive." He flipped through the pages. "At least the child took good care of my book."

"That's all fine." Magica folded her arms. "But I still don't see why we didn't take the opportunity to capture them? We had them right there!"

"Because that solution doesn't work long term." Poe gently explained. "If we captured them now, then what? Have them tame the spirits for us while giving them every chance to escape or have their family rescue them?"

Magica sighed. "Poe, I've missed you, but why do you still have to be so practical?"

"Do we really have to work with them?" Hortense whispered to Merlock. "I know she was a huge threat to Scrooge, and Poe's smart enough, but together they're making me ready to tear my hair out. Besides, their whole demeanor together unsettles me."

"What they do behind closed doors is their business." Merlock replied. "We need their aid if we wish to even the playing ground. Especially since it's now time for our next move."

He walked over to where a crystal ball stood, waving his hand over it, the image of a moving flame hopping from tree to tree could be seen.

"What do you mean?" Magica and Poe had ceased their bantering and were now focused on Merlock.

"The Fire Spirit is now out and about."

"Which means the Scrooge will go straight for it."

"Along with Donald and Della."

"And the rest of their family." Poe noted.

"Of course." Merlock nodded with a satisfied smile. "Now rest while you can. We're going to Australia."