Archive of Our Own

"Okay, again: why do we care about this stupid treasure?" Lena pondered aloud as she kicked some rocks away underfoot, one hand shoved deep into the pockets of the coat she'd stolen from Della (what? It was a fuzzy coat, she liked it) the other firmly in Webby's grasp. "Actually, let me rephrase- I don't really care about the how's and the why's here, I'm literally just complaining about the silliness of it all. You already have a mountain of gold back home, man."

She and Webby (along with a couple others, namely the rest of the McDuck family- they weren't really important, though, Lena could care less about them) were headed along through the mists of the Dismal Downs, apparently on the route to find the Temple/Lair Treasure, or whatever the fuck Webby had said numerous times. Lena didn't really know, she zoned out whenever this specific treasure was spoken about.

Not that she'd heard about it before! Nope, she was entirely clueless about whatever the fuck adventure Webby had dragged her on, she had no idea what was happening at all. And nobody present could prove otherwise.

Anyways.

Maybe she'd decided to tag along on the adventure that Webby had invited her on, but only for two reasons: One, she'd promised it would be a more low-key adventure, seeing as how it was at Castle McDuck, so- home turf. And two, Scrooge's parents were still alive, shockingly. That, in and of itself, wasn't really important, but Lena had hope that his mother might have some embarrassing stories about the richest duck in the world for her. Never hurt to gather blackmail material, after all.

"Because it's treasure. Duh." Louie responded to Lena as they walked up the rocky road, his hands in the air. "Sometimes it seems like you don't even care about money. I worry about you." 

"Well, also it's an opportunity to see family. It's been years since I got to see Grandma Downy and Grandpa Fergus." Della added, unbothered by the fact that she was wearing just a plain blue t-shirt as they walked through the mist - maybe the scarf she wore was for more than just looks?

"Who don't give us presents, but do pinch our cheeks and tell us long-winded stories that don't go anywhere." Louie said before shaking his head. "Nuh-uh, I'm here for the chance to roll around in a pile of gold and nothing else."

"Don't be such a sourpuss. It's Castle McDuck - the halls of your storied ancestors!" Webby called out as she kicked the rock Lena had knocked down the road with perhaps too much enthusiasm given that it whizzed out of sight through the fog, leaving a ragged hole in its wake that’s slowly filled in by the mist. "And now they're also my ancestors! Oooh, this is going to be so much fun. All this history - and now I'm part of it too!"

"Webs, I'm no genius, but I'm fairly certain that you've been a part of it since you first stepped foot in those halls." Lena mentioned, swinging their hands together as they walked. "And I do care about money, Green. I'm just being smart about it." She said, tapping the side of her head knowingly.

"I know but this is my first time visiting as the heir of Scrooge McDuck." Webby repeated, her breath fogging the air lightly as she shivered - not from the cold but from the excitement.

"Yeah well we've been walking for what feels like forever." Dewey complained at the rear of the group.

"You've been walking for less than twenty minutes." The woman at the head of the group said in a Scottish brogue about as thick as Scrooge's. Which made sense since she was apparently his sister, even if the two looked pretty different (white hair and height -or lack thereof- aside).

"Which is basically forever!"

"This is nothing, in my day we had to -"

"Walk in the snow, uphill, both ways?" Louie suggested sarcastically, receiving a small swat from his mother.

"Hey. Don't cheese off the guide leading us through the mystical mists. Save that until after she's gotten us to and then back from the castle so that way she doesn't abandon us to be lost forever."

"Aunt Matilda wouldn't do that!" Dewey said, before picking up his pace, the flashlight hanging from his shoulder strap bouncing slightly. "Right Aunt Matilda? Riiiiiiiiiiight?"

"This is the reason why I never had children." The old woman said with a small shake of her head.

Lena saw Della laugh at that- but that wasn’t why she was watching Della. She was more concerned with the nervous crease to the woman’s eyebrows that’d popped up about thirty minutes ago and kept getting worse as time went on. She was probably worried about something.

Something she kept to herself as she moved up to walk side by side with her aunt. Yep, if the adults were talking privately, something was definitely wrong.

"Does it normally take this long? The time we took the jeep we got there in like, five minutes." Louie muttered, brow creased in thought.

"Yeah, and this time we're walking, Green." Lena said, though she too was looking around. Nobody else seemed to notice, but she could swear she could see shapes just out of the corner of her eye. "Surprise surprise, cars are usually faster than people. Who knew."

"I like it!" Webby declared, swinging her and Lena's hand.

"Only because you're getting to hold hands with your girlfriend." Her brother said in a slightly taunting voice and Dewey picked up on it.

"Someone’s in wuuuv ." He pronounced with sickening sweetness, causing Webby to flush bright pink.

"You guuuuuuuuys! You're being terrible siblings!"

"Actually this is pretty low on the annoyance scale." Louie added flippantly. Webby puffed her cheeks out, clearly wishing to argue but willing to acknowledge the fact that, yes, her brothers could be much more annoying than this.

"Doesn't matter how low you guys are or aren't acting right now, really." Lena mentioned, taking her hand out of her coat pocket and alighting it with purple flames, glaring back at the triplets. "I'll still smoke your asses if you try me. Or did you forget that Webby's girlfriend is both A. Magic as fuck, and B. Much less kind than her?"

"Nope, but if you two didn't want to be taunted you should have actually admitted you loved each other a long time ago. We have a lot of pent up eyerolls, heavy sighs, and embarrassment to catch up on so we've got to make up for it while we still have the chance." Louie affirmed, beak pointed upwards. "For instance - Lena, did you know that Webby had a -"

The slightly younger girl reached out with her foot and tripped Louie right into a puddle of mud.

"Seriously Webs!?"

"I draw the line at embarrassing stories. Lena can only know the ones where I'm super cool!"

"Uh huh, sure. Like I don't have enough embarrassing moments anyways," Lena teased, kissing Webby on the forehead as she let the magic fade. "For example: you thinking that this is your first time visiting Castle McDuck as the heir to it, or whatever. That's dumb, you've been the heir to all of this since like, at least the second time you visited, but probably ever since you started that family tree board." She mentioned.

"But now we all know Scrooge is my dad! And I get another grandma and a grandpa!" Webby said with excitement. "They're going to give me hardboiled sweets, and tell me I'm not eating enough, and knit me a sweater, and -" She stopped as the four ducklings ran into the adults, who had stopped abruptly.

"We're turning around, now." Matilda declared, arms out.

"...Did you seriously get us lost?" Lena frowned. "I thought you knew how to navigate this place."

"I do, and that is why we need to turn around now." Matilda said softly before a growl reverberated through the fog, two glowing red eyes glowing like coals just ahead of them.

Webby gasped excitedly. "Oh my gosh it's the -"

"Trivia later, running now!" Della said, picking Louie up and slinging him over her shoulder and starting to run as fast as she could without outpacing the other children.

"No! No! Bad dog!" Matilda shouted over her shoulder as the sound of very large nails clicking against stone added a counterpoint to the growling. "You big stupid beast, we're all part of the clan! Leave us be!"

That made Lena’s blood run cold. Did she say ‘dog?’ She’d said dog. Whatever was now chasing them was a dog. Nobody had fucking told her that there’d be a dog they’d have to worry about! Like hell she would’ve come if she’d known that.

"Are you serious!? It’s a fucking dog? What the hell!?" Lena yelled. She ran as fast as she could with the rest of the McDucks, but was very quickly reminded about just how much more athletic all of them were besides her: they were outpacing her easily. 

She could hear growling and the snapping of teeth right behind her. Nuh-uh, nope, no, not today, no thank you.

With a grunt, she focused on the shadow underneath Webby's feet, and leapt into the ground, aiming to shadowstep there-

And ended up coming out of Dewey's shadow, almost bowling the two of them over as she disorientedly tried to get her focus back.

"Agh, fucking- of course these mists fuck with magic!" She growled, flipping off the gray sky around them. Thankfully, she was still farther away from the beast. She yanked Dewey to his feet and continued to run as fast as she could.

"I thought you said this was going to be a low-key adventure!" She shouted to Webby. "That I could just hang around in a living room for most of it!"

"It normally is!" Webby shouted back while the beast continued to pick up speed - and shifted to follow Lena.

"Usually we just have some family drama!" Dewey agreed.

Lena seriously considered tripping Dewey and leaving him for the dog. “Are you fucking serious?! ” She yelled instead. “You couldn’t have told me that before!?”

“What’s the matter now?”

“You’re McDucks!” Lena screamed into the wind. “Your ‘family drama’ tends to get pretty fucking deadly for most people!”

“Well I doubt that this is-” Before Dewey could finish his sentence, the dog’s growling grew louder- and also more intelligible.

"De SPELL!" It howled loudly to the wind. Its growls and snarls and the quick booming thuds of its feet all suddenly went silent.

“SEE?!” She gestured wildly behind them, skidding to a stop. “FUCKING FAMILY DRAMA!”

Magic flowed through her arms as she scanned through the mists, looking for any sign that her aunt was here and following her. She should’ve guessed. There was no way in hell that bitch would’ve ever let her go anywhere near here. But no, no, she’d been too damn wrapped up in- well, everything.

She didn’t want to show it (and was grateful that Webby wasn’t right next to her at the moment) but she was almost certainly on the verge of a panic attack right now. First there was a fucking dog , and dogs always hated her, and now her aunt was involved in this mess? Yeah, no. Honestly, if she broke down sobbing right here and now (and got devoured by the dog that was still somewhere fucking behind them ) it’d feel pretty earned.

Webby came to a stop close behind Lena, hackles raised as she also scanned the mists for her aunt. Everything in Lena’s body was telling her to run forward, to keep moving, but she couldn’t hear the dog anymore. There was just a tenseness to the air.

"For the record, any family drama that involves you assholes isn't ever something low-key!" Lena mentioned, eyes darting this way and that. "Seriously though, how could you even think that?"

“Well usually it doesn’t involve De Spells.” Dewey retorted. The group was beginning to form a circle now. Apparently they’d decided that running was stupid (which, against a dog, it really, really was) and that fighting was the best move. Classic McDuck stupidity.

Ignore the fact that she’d been the first to stop.

Dewey suddenly frowned. “Hey, wait. Are we sure the dog was talking about Magica?”

“What do you mean.” Lena demanded.

“What if it was talking about-” Before he could finish his sentence, a massive black demonic ghost dog leapt out of the fog with a bloodcurdling howl. It locked eyes with Lena, and she felt her legs turn to jelly.

Big dog.

Angry.

Run.

Run.

Run!

But she couldn’t, she couldn’t move she couldn’t breathe all she could do was stand there locked in place as the terrifying beast charged forward right at her teeth shining in the mist like moonlight trapped in physical form ready to bite her eat her kill her tear her to shreds she was going to die she was going to die if she didn’t move fucking move fucking move-

A shape leapt in front of her right before the dog could reach her. It dug its heels into the dirt and skidded to a stop, growling heavily at the person who’d stepped in between it and its prey.

"She is a guest." Matilda declared forcefully, staring up at the dog with no fear.

"She is a De Spell." The hound said back with a snarl.

"Bitch, I don't know what you're on, I'm a fucking Sabrewing." Lena retorted. She couldn’t find it in her to be ashamed of how she cowered behind Matilda, backing up to try and find Webby without taking her eyes off the giant dog. She couldn’t find her. She couldn’t find Webby she needed Webby where the hell was she?

"Lies! I smell the curse like sweat on you." The hound said, red eyes glaring. "The stink of magic! De Spell blood! The curse!"

Webby chose that moment to make herself known, launching from the mist directly towards the midnight creature. She kicked it straight in the muzzle, sending it back with a surprised whimper.

"She’s Lena Sabrewing!" She immediately attested, reaching out blindly with one hand, groping for Lena without breaking eye contact with the dog.

"Names - can be changed.” The dog spat, panting heavily. “Blood cannot. Whatever she calls herself, I will tear her to shreds and end my curse!"

"Fuck. Off!" Lena shouted back, magic arcing to the ground around her unconsciously. "That is complete bullshit, and honestly? Sounds kinda like eugenics. Do you support eugenics, you fucking monster dog?" She challenged. "'Cuz if not, your thought process still sounds pretty problematic!"

"He's from the sixteenth century.” Matilda reminded her.

“So? That’s no fucking excuse!” Was she being a little silly? Maybe. Was it a defense mechanism? Entirely. She’d gotten more worrisome confrontations than she felt were necessary to admit by simply accusing the other person of being a bigot. It even worked when they weren’t actually being bigoted- but this dog 100% was, as far as she was concerned.

“No, but he doesnae even know what those words mean."

"No sorceress - ever welcome. No magician, no witch - no De Spell." The hound continued.

"She's my girlfriend, and I'm the heir of Scrooge McDuck!" Webby attested as she grabbed Lena's hand tightly, their friendship bracelets glowing in sympathy with each other now.

"Which is why - she still lives." The hound said, turning around into the fog. "Never return - with a De Spell - never…" It disappeared into the mist, leaving only the faint smell of rotting meat and slobber on the ground in its wake.

“Go suck a dick,” Lena retorted as it left, flipping it off with a huff. “I- fuck me, that fucking- fuck that. Fuck that.”

Della appeared at Lena’s elbow almost immediately. "Are you okay?" She asked, reaching out reflexively to check Lena for scrapes or bruises.

"What was all that about?" Dewey called out between shaky breaths from somewhere nearby, obviously winded.

"The hound of Whiskerville." Webby answered seriously.

"Okay, cool, that tells us literally nothing." Louie added, directing his flashlight to keep them all in a beam of focused light.

"Tells me all I need to know," Lena claimed. She tried to catch her breath, but- fuck, no, it was too hard. She stumbled slightly and- nah, yeah, she was just gonna fall to the ground now. No more walking for her. She slowly lowered herself down to a sit on the wet and muddy ground, any semblance of adrenaline wearing off and leaving her with just panic.

"Which is fuck that. Fuck that hound, fuck dogs, fuck this stupid mist and the stupid blood feud over the stupid treasure. I fucking hate dogs." She admitted, laughing slightly. 

Della took off her scarf and wrapped it around the teenager's shoulders as she began to shake, which helped slightly. Webby squeezed her hand, letting her know she was still there for her, which helped more.

"I thought this might happen, so I tried to take us the long way round-" Matilda sighed, pressing her hand to her head.

"We'll just head back to town, wait for Uncle Scrooge, Huey and Donnie to come back from the castle there." The aviator decided with a shake of her head.

"I still don't understand, why does a giant dog hate Lena?" Dewey asked, shaking his arms and legs out to avoid getting a cramp.

"Because it's massive and a jerk." Lena said, tugging at Webby insistently to pull the smaller girl into her lap. "And it can't separate stupid blood from stupid family."

“Well I get the whole- De Spell thing.” He admitted. “Which is dumb that it targeted you for that, you’re definitely not a De Spell, not anymore. But still- what’s with all that in the first place?”

"The Hound of Whiskerville was once a man -possibly James McDuck but there aren't enough sources to confirm that- that the Cadabra De Spell cursed." Webby narrated as she slid into place. "He was set upon the clan and drove our ancestors from Dismal Downs and stopped all further attempts to reclaim it, including when Locksley McDuck attempted to return here in 1707 with the company of Rob Roy MacGregor, a famous Scottish outlaw and folk hero-"

“Pink.”

“Right, sorry, getting off track.” Webby shook her head. "Ever since the castle was rebuilt though it's supposed to protect it from thieves and intruders, even if it can be pretty dang mean and scary."

"Oh." Dewey remarked quietly, unable to really think of anything else to say.

"Eh, it was always an asshole." Della added with a shake of her head. "I wouldn't put much stock in whatever it has rattling around in its skull at this point."

"I wouldn't've put much stock in it before," Lena spat. "His actions directly caused the burnings of seven members of the De Spell coven, including a child. Not exactly a heroic individual, that."

"That's not in any of the accounts I read from that time period." Webby frowned, looking up to her girlfriend. "And I had to break into the National Archives of Scotland to get access to the more relevant texts."

"Yeah, well, history is bullshit." Lena replied, folding her arms. "The only account that ever gets put in is the account from those who knew which dicks to suck, and didn't have any pride in them. And why would anyone ever want a 'hero of the Clan McDuck' to be remembered for his problematic and horribly fucked-up calls?"

"And you know this… how?" Louie asked, surprised.

"I-" Lena seemed to realize where she was at that moment, looking up around her at the curious faces. Right. Loved them, but they were still McDucks.

"...Don't know. Just kind of assumed." She stood up suddenly, dragging Webby along as she started marching back the way they'd came. "Forget it, forget what I was talking about, let's just- go, please? Before that bastard comes back? I'm already going to have nightmares about that, I'd prefer not to have some physical scars to go along with 'em."

"Okay, let's go." Webby agreed with a bob of her head.

"Yeah I've got enough out of walking around in the fog anyway." Louie agreed. "Maybe we can videochat grandpa Fergus and granny Downy." He suggested.

"Huey knows how to use a phone at least." Dewey agreed.

"Technology and magic don't play nice with each other." Matilda mentioned with a grimace. "But I don't know - maybe it'll work this time round, yeah?"

"Yeah I sort of need to get a sweater or something anyway - have you guys noticed how cold it is?" Della asked, and her smile seemed to indicate that she thought that this was a hilarious joke.

Lena just wordlessly threw her coat back, clutching her shoulders as she stalked away. She stopped for a moment and then looked back to Matilda. "Hey, McDuck. You're our guide, is this the right way back?" She asked, jabbing her thumb in the direction she'd been walking.

"Mhm. Opposite the way we came." The older woman declared, despite the fact that in the featureless gray fog they could have been one step away from plunging into a chasm.

“Good.” Lena stalked forward. She was utterly done with today. Fuck this place. ‘The highlands were really pretty this time of year!’ Scotland could suck her tenebrous dick.

Despite the fact that it took them a solid half hour or so of walking one way, it only took about five minutes of walking the other before they emerged from the mist into real daylight again. They stood in front of a stone castle that looked like father time and the elements had taken turns beating it with a bat.

"Home again home again, jiggity jog." Matilda said quietly under her breath.

"Oh god, was the sun always this bright?" Louie swore, immediately pulling his hoodie down over his face as the rest of the Ducks turned off their various lanterns and flashlights.

"Huh, what's that really dingy castle? It sort of looks like a rundown version of Castle McDuck." Dewey asked, tilting his head back.

"It is castle McDuck. One half of it anyway." Matilda answered with a tired sigh. "It's magic - donnae try and make sense of how there can be two castles in the same place at the same time."

"Of course it's magic," Lena grumbled, glaring at the rotting bricks like they'd personally offended her. "McDucks hate everything that has to do with 'magic' until they do it themselves. Fucking hypocrites." She huffed under her breath. Okay, maybe she wasn’t as ready to let this go as she’d thought. In her defense though, she’d just been attacked by a McDuck, so she felt like she’d earned this.

Matilda frowned, sucking in her breath through her teeth, but apparently decided that she hadn't heard any of that.

"I live here most of the year - believe me it looks a bit better on the inside. Why don't you all come in and sit a sp- a while? I'll put a kettle on. Just don't mind the emu."

Lena blinked, looking up at Matilda in confusion. "...What do you mean, the emu?"

"Emutilda! Oh I missed her!" Webby said, excited again. "Come on, come on, you've got to meet Emutilda, she's the best!"

"You named an emu Emutilda?" Lena asked the caretaker as Webby dragged her along. "I- that is literally just your name, but mashed with the word Emu. What the fuck, are all members of the McDuck clan shitty at naming things?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Unfortunately."

Llewellyn, Dewford, and Dumbella chorused together, while Webby shook her head in protest.

"I like their names!" 

The trip into this castle McDuck was much quicker - they crossed a drawbridge that looks like it had been recently repaired, and entered a large courtyard dominated by a verdigris statue of a Duck in armor extending a sword out. Matilda reached out with her hand as she passed by, rubbing the bill in a specific spot that had been kept shiny by frequent contact. Webby mirrored her, having to jump up to do so. 

The castle interior was less depressing than the exterior - someone actually lived here, it was evident based on the small homey touches that have been added incongruously to a medieval great hall. The most incongruous addition being, of course, the massive flightless bird currently curled up in front of the fireplace, head tucked underneath their wing.

Matilda whistled a call as Della kicked off her boot, letting out a soft sigh as she flexed her webbed foot.

"Emutilda, here girl!" The undomesticated creature unfolded itself like a lawn chair and clacked over on surprisingly large clawed feet before lowering its head downward and letting out a small 'qourk'. "No, no treats. Say hello to our guests."

Lena immediately claimed one of the couches, curling up into a small ball of grumpiness and gray sweater. She glared at the emu, studying it for a moment.

The emu studied her back, turning its head this way and that while it stared with unblinking eyes.

 "...Better than a dog." She decided after a moment.

Emutilda seemed to agree, folding back up in front of the fire so that she looked like a fuzzy feathered boulder instead of a big flightless bird. (Which was just kind of silly to Lena- if a bird couldn’t fly, then why even call it a bird in the first place? That was like- what birds did. )

"I'm going to make tea." Matilda declared.

"Lemme help, it'll be nice to have something other than tea flavored water or coffee flavored tar for once." Della said as she followed, shedding her coat near the fire and causing it to steam. "You kids shout if you need anything!"

The two adults disappeared round the corner, and Louie immediately sat himself down next to Lena, arms folded over his chest.

"Okay. Spill."

"...Sure," Lena replied. She held out her hand, and a glass of water zipped over from the kitchen and dangled right over Louie's head precariously. "I'll 'spill,' if you want. Or, since I'm feeling nice today, you get one chance to either rephrase that request, or change the subject entirely. Choose wisely."

Louie shook his hands.

"Alright, alright, alright! What I meant to ask is - what's bothering you? I know getting chased by a demonic ghost dog isn't fun, but you look like me on my period."

"Yeah. Is this because the hound kept calling you a De Spell?" Dewey chimed in, settling himself into the overstuffed armchair near the fire. Webby remained silent, stroking Emutilda's head.

Lena snorted derisively, though she did lower the glass of water from Louie's head. "I really hope I don't look that bad." She mentioned with a huff. 

“Nah, you look worse.” Louie said. Lena decided to be kind to him -for once- and ignore it.

"It's- yeah, sure, that's a big part of it. I just hate that practically everything that's made of magic or deals with magic just- looks at me, sees a De Spell, and then just doesn't listen when I try to explain that I'm not. ...That and I fucking hate dogs."

"But what about that other stuff you were talking about that you told me to forget but I didn't because it seems like it's important?" Webby asked, sitting upright.

Lena pursed her lips, looking annoyed that Webby remembered that. "Do we have to talk about that? I get it, it's history that you don't know, but like- I don't like dogs, man!" She tried, though she already knew she was resigned to her fate. "Everyone likes dogs! Can't you just, I don't know, focus on that instead? Like, how dare I not like dogs, they're so... cute." She said, grimacing as the last word left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Eeeeh, that's kind of low as far as dark secrets go." Dewey decided, waggling his open hand up and down. "Better than Huey's though."

“Yeah, lots of people don’t like dogs.” Louie agreed. “Especially if they’ve had bad experiences with them in the past.”

Webby pursed her bill, thinking for a moment.

"If - if you don't want to talk about it, it's okay." She finally said, trying to keep her face from showing that she really really wanted to know.

Lena looked at Webby and sighed, long and hard, shoving her face into her hands. "I hate you so much sometimes, Pink," She whined, rubbing her bill exasperatedly. 

Webby immediately brightened. “Does that mean you’ll tell me?”

“Maybe.” The answer was an unequivocal yes, but Lena didn’t have to be happy about it. Or let her know that it was that easy for Webby to get her to do anything she wanted. "Okay, so. Maybe I already know about this whole 'Templar Treasure.' Because Magica had a problem with Scrooge, and apparently it goes back farther than them. The McDucks and De Spells have fought for generations, and -unfortunately- Magica knew a whole host of knowledge about it. And, even more unfortunately, that bitch likes the sound of her own voice, so now I know way too much about the whole kit and caboodle."

"Really?" Her girlfriend asked, shooting up immediately, only barely stopping herself from getting her notepad and pen out from her backpack. "I mean - I've done a lot of research into the McDuck family history but I never really got to the bottom of why the De Spells hate us so much."

"I thought it was just like a Hatfield and McCoy's situation." Louie said, shucking off his wet jacket and laying it out in front of the fire. "No real reason, we just hate each other because that's what we've always done."

"It pretty much is." Lena huffed. "Basically, the McDuck's accused the De Spells of witchcraft and had them burned, and the De Spells retaliated, and that just fell out into a long-ass line of petty slapfights between the two sides. It's stupid."

"...But the De Spells are witches?" Webby pointed out.

"Question: does this mean De Spells will hate me too or do I get a pass since my last name is different?" Dewey asked, raising his hand.

"Why the fuck would I know that, Dewford?" Lena asked, bundling up further and glaring at him. "It's not like I'm actually a De Spell, so I wouldn't really know. Right?"

“Right, yes, of course.” Dewey nodded immediately.

"And it doesn't matter if they are witches, what matters is that it hurt. Obviously." She responded to Webby. "People died, and they didn't like that."

"Right, right." Webby agreed, bobbing her head up and down. "...But the De Spells were evil, right?" She asked, her tone hard to place.

"Why the fuck are you asking me?" Lena repeated, voice growing louder as she grew more and more done with everything. "Yes, the De Spells were evil! So was everyone else involved! It was stupid, and dumb, and not something that a child who'd only been alive for ten damn years really needed to know!"

"I just don't understand why you're so upset about this though." Webby said, brow wrinkling. "You're a Sabrewing. You're good and even if a dumb ghost dog thought you were a De Spell you never will be."

"'Cuz I didn't want to fucking talk about this!" Lena replied. "I've had to deal with this stupid blood feud between two stupid and evil families my entire life, I hate it! And it doesn't matter if I know that I'm a Sabrewing, and you know I'm a Sabrewing, not when every. Other. Fucking. Creature in the god damn universe sees me as a fucking De Spell!"

"Uh, can't help but notice how you said our family is also stupid and evil." Louie pointed out.

"She didn't mean that." Webby immediately interjected.

"They murdered. Children." Lena responded, the fire responding to her tone and flaring up behind her. "Tortured them and burned them alive. Does that sound like a logical and good thing to do to you?"

"That was hundreds of years ago!" Webby answered, shaking her head. "The middle ages were brutal, but that's just how stuff worked back then!"

Lena scoffed. "That's not a good enough excuse and you know it. You're never going to hear me cry out in defense of the De Spells, but the McDucks have been just as bad at many times, if not worse. Greed and stupidity runs rampant in both families."

"The McDucks are not as bad as a group of literal evil witches." The other girl contested, her tone rising. "I don't know what happened for sure but whatever Magica told you was probably just her version of events to make her look good."

"Oh, and whatever the hell you've found isn't the damn same?" Lena argued back, focusing her glare on Webby. "Fun fact, no history book that gets sold anywhere in America or England these days paints the McDucks -or any of their actions- in a bad light. You're a genius, Webs, and damned good study, why do you think that is, hmm? I'm sure you've looked into the people who wrote those books, or took those accounts, and figured out what they could stand to gain by twisting the view."

"I do not get my information from second hand sources." Webby snapped, Emutilda perking up behind her as she stamped her foot. "My dad did not rewrite history to make his family look good! Why would he even care? He doesn't even talk to most of them!"

"Who the hell did you get your sources from, then?" Lena asked angrily. "An 'unbiased' first hand source? News flash, nobody’s unbiased, and first hand sources are just as bad about that. And of course Scrooge would do that! I mean- Louie." She called, pointing to the other teen. "You know all his fucking sins, does that not sound like just the type of thing that man would do?"

Webby turned to him as well. “No, that sounds exactly like what he wouldn’t do, right?”

"I am not getting involved in this." Louie decided instead of answering.

"What? Louie!" Webby gasped, surprised.

"Look, the man hates public attention, he’d probably think it was a waste of money. Would it stop people who want to try and suck up to him from doing it? No, not in the slightest." The tallest of the triplets explained. "At the same time, this is becoming something else entirely and I do not want to be caught between either of you two when you're pissed off so - yeah, I'm checking out here." Louie decided, dropping to his feet from the couch.

"What's that even supposed to mean?" His sister shouted after him with a strangled voice.

"It means that history always has its biases," Lena decided. "And when asked to pick which side is 'right,' they're going to pick the side that walks like them, talks like them, looks like them and acts like them. And they will then do everything in their power to make those people look like fucking paragons and saints, all while demonizing whichever group they've decided to hate."

"This is Magica! She almost killed you! She tried to kill me and Dewey and everyone else in our family!" Webby attested. "What could possibly make us as bad as her?!"

Louie winced - just a little, rubbing the back of his neck and letting out a soft hiss.

"She had her reasons." Lena spat. She hissed a desperate laugh, her shoulders shaking with rage. "Fucking hell, I can't believe you're making me defend her. Her . But she had her reasons and fuck was I forced to listen to them. And guess what? I didn't disagree with them." She admitted, her voice watery by now. She hated that she always had to cry whenever she got really angry, why the fuck did that have to be a thing? It made her look weak, and stupid, and useless. "God, before you came along, Webs? I was happy to steal that dime from him, and I never believed her for a second when she promised my freedom."

"Hey, are you two -" Dewey began before Webby interrupted him.

"She abused you into doing anything she wanted! She hurt you, and tore you down, and controlled your life! Why would you ever believe anything she would have to say?"

"Lena, Webs - you guys shouldn't be fighting!" The blue coded triplet said, putting himself between the two of them. "You're - you're Lena and Webby!"

"Because I didn't have a fucking choice!" Lena shouted, her voice cracking as she stood up, ignoring Dewey entirely. "I had to listen to her voice as it played in my head, like a knife stabbing through my mind over and over and over , every single day! Do you honestly think that I can just- write off everything she said?!" She asked. "Because believe me Webby, I would love that. So much more than you would. I don't like thinking these things, I don't enjoy believing that the family I've allied myself to is shit! But I can't stop, because I've seen the shit she's told me the truth about. Scrooge is a bastard, the McDucks have made some fucked up calls, and they've done just as much harm as the De Spells have."

Webby blinked, like Lena had just slapped her with that admission. "I - I don't know how to respond to this." She finally said, turning away.

"Just- I- oh, fuck it all." Lena replied, wiping her eyes as she sidestepped around Dewey, heading away from the group. "I'm done with this. I don't care. Let the McDucks be heroes and De Spells be villains, it doesn't matter to me. After all, that’s how I’m supposed to view things, right?" She asked, attempting to keep her voice steady as she left the living room in search of a quieter room. She could already tell she was not doing well, any more noise and she'd probably have a breakdown. She'd go into the Shadow Realm, but that was difficult when she wasn't in a place that hated De Spells, and thusly probably shadow magic. Fun.

"...I don't understand." Webby repeated softly under her breath, looking to her brothers.

"Hey, she's your girlfriend." Louie immediately reminded her.

"Should I go and talk to her?" The smaller Duckling asked hesitantly.

"Give her some space. She's - feeling a lot of stuff right now." Dewey confided to his sister. "If I was her I'd be looking for a little privacy so I could dance through my emotions."

"B-but. She's my girlfriend - "

"And she's also Lena." Louie added. "She needs space, like Dewey said. If she needs you, she'll find you. She always does."

Unfortunately, even though the living room was nice, it was still a crumbling and decrepit castle. Most of the rooms were cold, and damp, and just otherwise shitty, so Lena didn't really have many places to go after storming off like that.

She did take a few minutes for herself in a cold and wet bedroom (She should've stayed there. 'She deserved it, yelling at Webby like that' her self-sabotaging asshole of a brain supplied. She ignored it.) to gather her strength again -and put up a quick sound barrier so that she could scream her head off for a moment, of course. 

But, after only five minutes of wallowing in her own self-pity, Lena quickly got bored and headed out.

She couldn't exactly go back to the living room, though. That would just be awkward, and plus- even after calming down a little, she wasn't sure if she wanted to continue that talk. Unfortunately, the only other warm and cozy place seemed to be...

...The kitchen. Where the adults were. Lovely.

Well, it'd be better than the rest of the shitty castle. Lena tried to make herself as small and silent as she could without magic as she slunk into the kitchen, immediately feeling better as the warmth in the room began to heat her up, just a touch.

As she walked, Lena noticed Della was in the process of picking up a tea tray. She looked to Matilda, who was sitting at the table, peeling an apple, before raising her hand.

"Hey Lena. Tea?" She asked, before her aunt spoke up, the apple peel sliding off the fruit in a single continuous ribbon.

"I got hot chocolate, but it's the shite kind that comes in a bag, so I don't know if you'd like it any better." Matilda added, absorbed in her task.

"Better than tea." Lena said, immediately beginning to look around in the cupboards for something to do. "Tea is just hot and bitter leaf water. It sucks."

"Yeah but it has caffeine, which is nice." Della said before rising with the tray. "I'll be back in a hot second. You two don't have too much fun without me!" She said as she left, leaving behind a mug that presumably had hot cocoa in it. Matilda sighed as her pantry was poked at, and then put the peeler aside.

"If you want something to do you could help me with these apples. I'm going to make a crumble."

"I'm good with just getting hot cocoa." Lena said, taking the mug and sitting on the counter, sipping gently from it. She really hoped her eyes weren't red anymore.

"Fine, suit yourself." Matilda said as she picked up the denuded apple and started to cut it into small chunks. She seemed perfectly content to remain focused on her task of cooking, barely even looking at Lena - usually only to make sure that she didn't accidentally elbow her as she moved around the cramped old kitchen.

Lena tried to be content in the silence as well, but she drained her cup a bit too quickly, which left her with nothing but an empty mug to roll around in her hands.

"...So." She began hesitantly. "Uh. This kitchen is... nice. Seems... far enough away from the living room that you wouldn't necessarily hear somebody shouting, yeah?"

"Unfortunately no, but you're not the first pair of teenagers to get into a screaming match around me, so no harm done." She paused, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Come to think of it, you remind me of someone..." The older Duck mentioned before shrugging. "Not important either way of course."

"Fuck." Lena winced, rubbing her shoulder. She looked into her mug before sighing. "I... I can go. If you want me to. Just- kinda gotta wait for the others, not gonna leave without my ride." She didn't say sorry, though.

"Why would I ask you to leave?" Matilda asked, looking up for the first time directly towards Lena.

"Did you not hear what I was talking about?" Lena raised an eyebrow. "Can't imagine I was too welcome here before that screaming match anyways."

"Please, in comparison to me and Scroogie's fights that was nothing." The older woman declared. "He went so far as to renounce the name McDuck a few years ago."

Lena snorted. "I can't imagine it was for any reason that one might actually renounce that name."

"No, of course not. But even if it was only for five minutes, I will never let him forget the time he declared himself Scrooge McScrooge."

"Oh thank fuck, blackmail material." Lena sighed. "At least something good came from this whole shitshow."

"Now if it's blackmail you want on my dear brother, I can help you there. Has Webby ever told you about our pet Whiskers?"

"Not much. I think I remember her saying something about a hairball?"

"Whiskers was more than just that - even if they were just a clump of hair.  T’was still our first pet. Couldn't afford to feed an extra mouth, even if it was pet-sized you know. And Scrooge went everywhere with Whiskers - to the park, to church, to the loo. Inseparable."

Lena let out a laugh at that. "Really? Oh my gosh, that's amazing!” And honestly really sad but she decided not to think about that. “Oh, I could totally bribe him to buy me a... well, probably not a car, but maybe a new phone."

"Believe me, I know my brother, and how much of a fuckup he really is. Titan of industry and commerce aside, he was still a knock-kneed, snot-nosed little twerp in Glasgow, like the rest of us." She huffed softly. "Not that he was any better after that, mind you. It's just that after he left I didn't get to see him fuck up in person as much."

"Yeah, well. Good for you, 'cuz some of us are only alive because he fucked up." Lena mentioned, looking down into her cup. She winced and held up her hand. "Uh- sorry. That's kinda... morbid, I guess."

"How so?" She asked, leaning against the counter. "...My god, did my brother and a De Spell knock boots and make you?"

"Wh- no! Fucking gross, dude! I'm literally dating his daughter!" Lena proclaimed, shuddering violently at the thought of having Scrooge as her dad. Horrible. "No, fuck no, not at all. No, he just- did his thing, and got Magica all pissed." She explained. "First by kinda being responsible for her brother's 'death' -though I'll be honest, she's kind of a bit more responsible- then he fought her for years before sealing her in his dime on Mount Vesuvius, and -unfortunately- she used the last of her power to pull together a freak of nature, also known as moi."

"Well. At least some good has finally come out of it in the end then." Matilda decided with a nod of her head. "Seems like Scrooge's enemies just keep giving him more family these days."

Lena snorted, rolling her eyes and looking away. "Yeah, sure, that's just wonderful. Totally loved being stuck with Magica in my shadow for fifteen years, that was great. And I'm not his kid." She mentioned. "I'm a Sabrewing. Not a De Spell, not a McDuck. A Sabrewing."

"Good, because Webby should really be dating someone from outside our family tree." She said as she filled the pan with sugar, flour, spices and other things that presumably went into making a crumble. "We're better than the fucking Windsors."

"Yeah, it's confusing enough, let's not add any bushes into the mix." Lena agreed, rubbing her wrist absentmindedly. "...Have you ever- dated anyone?" She asked, apropos of nothing. "Or have you been stuck in this dismal shithole -uh, sorry- lovely castle, all your life? Except for the time you spent in Glasgow, of course."

"I've had my fair share of beaus over the years. Unfortunately, being over a hundred years old means that I've had to let go of a number of them as well." Matilda answered candidly. "And yes, before you ask - they were all women."

"...Genuinely, the thought of asking that didn't even cross my mind." Lena admitted. "I'd just immediately assumed, I mean like-" She motioned to the older woman. "You have the look of someone who definitely isn't straight, but thinks that she hides it well."

"I'll tell you you wouldn't be the first teenager to think that just because I'm old I can't enjoy poetry." She frowned. "... you really do remind me of someone. Tip of my tongue."

"Well, I have no idea who it could be." Lena mentioned. "But yeah, if you've had a bunch of girlfriends, have you ever... fought, with any of them?" She asked, before sighing and smacking her head. "I mean, of fucking course you've fought with them if you've been with a bunch, but like- have you ever fought about something that you just- you don't care about? Or, you don't want to care about it, but other shit is kinda forcing you to?" She frowned. "...Sorry, I know that's not really helpful."

Matilda needed a few moments to answer, slipping the crumble into the oven and watching through the tiny glass slit for a few moments before turning back to Lena.

"I think I know what you're talking about. I fell in love with a McWhisker - of which you probably know nothing, so I'll save you a long winded explanation. McWhiskers and McDucks hate each other, but not over anything as exciting as witchcraft. Much more boring. Sheep pastures."

"Wow, it's almost like the McDucks just kinda get people to hate them. Wonder why that happens." Lena winced again. "Sorry. Couldn't help myself."

"We're Scottish, it's just what we do." The older Duck explained with a shrug. "Anyways- yes. I fell in love with Emma McWhisker back in the, oh… late sixties, early seventies. We lived together- she was a painter. We were forced to part ways, however. We got into arguments over what we would do for the future. She wanted to live in the now, I needed to plan ahead."

"Cool, okay, awesome," Lena sucked in a breath and clapped her hands together. "I'm kinda more interested in hearing about like, times that you had a fight, but stayed with the person afterwards? 'Cuz like, telling me a story about how you broke up with someone after a disagreement really isn't helping any nerves right now, Emu."

“‘Emu?’”

“You named an emu Emutilda, I’m naming you Emu.” Lena said. “Now- something where you didn’t disagree once and end everything?”

"We didn't break up because of the disagreement," Matilda tried to explain to her guest. "We fought more than a bit, and not just about the fact that I'm quasi-immortal and the rest of her family thought it was a personal affront to god that I existed and was dating Emma."

She looked down. "In the end, we couldn't stay together. Not because we didn’t love each other -we did- but she wanted to live in the world, and I... couldn't. Not completely. We didn't part on bad terms, it just became apparent that she was outgrowing me and needed someone who could walk with her where I couldn't."

Lena nodded. "Okay, that's... not helpful. Considering that either Webby or I may very well be quasi-immortal, and if one of us is the other most likely won't be, considering our luck."

"I'm sorry - I don't have many happy endings to tell you about." Matilda sighed quietly. "Almost all the women I've loved are dead - or are so far gone that they aren't themselves anymore."

"Wow, okay, I'm not as sorry about getting morbid a bit ago," Lena said, rubbing her shoulders. "That's kinda fucking dark, Emu. Almost as dark as Della can get."

"Hah. Well, it's not all bad when things end." She said, smiling. "Emma is still very dear to me, and me to her." She paused and reached into a cookie a jar that had a small  ‘Do Not Eat’ label taped to it.

She removed a cookie and broke it in half, offering one side to Lena. "Don't pay the sign any mind, that's just to keep Emutilda out. And I'm ninety percent sure that I didn't use any weed butter to make these."

"Well, here's hoping for that ten percent." Lena said as she took the cookie and shoved it in her mouth. It tasted nice, at least. "And -call me crazy, here- but I don't exactly want things to end, man." She mentioned. "Like I know, I know, ‘one fight won't end a relationship’ and all that, but when that fight kind of goes into 'that one thing that you've loved all your life is more problematic than you thought,' well... it's a little difficult to remember that."

"If Webby is anything like her father, ultimately she'll prefer the truth to a comforting lie. It might just take her a bit to get used to the taste." Matilda said, nibbling on her half more slowly. "Besides, it's not like you and her would be the first De Spell and McDuck to shack up together."

"Please stop, no, no, please." Lena immediately held her hands up. "I already know, I already know, we do not need to get into it.”

“You do?” Matilda blinked, surprised.

She nodded. “I know full well that Della’s kind of a freak, and my aunt wasn’t always as much of a piece of shit as she is now, but like- still. Not fun to think about.”

"What, no! Not her, me." Matilda said, shaking her head. “Wait, Della dated Magica?”

“Yeah. Well- I dunno if they were ‘dating’ more than ‘occasionally hooking up’ but same fucking difference.” Lena claimed. “I’m sorry, are you saying that she was cheating on you with Della? She was dating two McDucks at the same time?”

“No! Well- maybe, I never understood her and Scrooge’s-”

“Oh my god.”

“The point is, no.” Matilda said. “I may have dated a De Spell, but it wasnae Magica. Thank god.”

"Oh, okay, that's more bearable, thank fuck." Lena exhaled, clutching her chest. She suddenly frowned and looked up at Matilda. "Wait- I thought you said that all your past lovers were women." The only other De Spell -at least, of an age that’d make sense to date Matilda- would’ve been Poe.

"Yes. It may shock you to know this but there are nearly as many De Spell relations as there are McDuck." She reached into her pocket and retrieved a battered leather wallet. "Look, here. Her name is Adelia."

The older woman turned the wallet around to display a small photograph carefully tucked away in one of the recesses, laminated but still yellowed with age. It looked like it had originally been cut to fit into a locket given that it was heart shaped, but just big enough to display a smiling, willowy woman who might’ve had blonde hair? It was hard to tell with black and white photos sometimes.

"...Did she have green skin and black hair?" Lena asked, frowning at the photograph. "'Cuz it really doesn't look like it from this picture."

"No, but she did have yellow eyes." The larger woman said, pointing to her own. "Eyes more like a cat, yeah? To be fair though, she was only half De Spell. Well, more so than the children of others who married into the magic, presumably. Her mother was a witch who had a fling with a fairy."

"Ah. Sounds like she would be... lovely."

"She was, actually. The sweetest woman you'd ever hope to meet." Matilda said, her tone just a little bit bittersweet. "Something of a black sheep to the other members of her family. Spent her time helping people with her powers, being a fairy godmother."

"Yeah, you'll have to excuse me if I don't exactly believe that a De Spell could be helpful." Lena said, flicking her wrist and pulling another cookie out of the jar via magic.

"She was. What do you think Della is short for?" Matilda challenged with a very smug smirk.

"Genetics?"

"...Okay, I'll give you that one.” Matilda said. “But no, Della was named after Adelia. She was her godmother. And Adelia had a daughter that she named Tilly. Three guesses on what that's short for."

"Tilman?" Lena suggested. "Nah, I'm fucking with you I get that you mean Matilda. ...I thought Della's full name was Dumbella?"

"Well, that's actually a bit of a complicated story that's not really relevant." The older Duck explained with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, yes. Adelia was Good, with a capital G. I wouldn't have loved her otherwise. We were a bit like you and Webbigail - she pulled me out of the way of a carriage being driven by some English jackass that would have smushed me flat when we were not much older than you two were." She closed the wallet and slipped it back into her pocket. "... we donnae talk to each other anymore, though."

"Well, that sounds like it'd be a lovely story, filled with no heartbreak whatsoever and the end message totally not being that a McDuck and a De Spell can never get along forever," Lena said sarcastically, shoving the cookie in her mouth and hopping down from the counter. Why did everything have to end in heartbreak? "Unfortunately, doesn't exactly sound like something that would help me. Do you have any idea when the other three might coming back from the actual castle?"

"Could be anywhere between a day or a week. Time dilation between Here and There can vary a bit." Matilda informed her. "And we didn't leave each other because of that. She loved me to the very end. Still does - in her own way. But she sacrificed a big part of herself to save me, and I'll not have you talk shit about her. Talk shit about me, I'm the idiot who got trapped in Faerie."

"Yeah, I don't talk shit about people who get trapped in other dimensions or places, sorry." Lena mentioned, not really sorry. "Personal rule of mine, considering that's the only way my therapist and I have found works to keep me from being a self-depreciating asshole. ...Most of the time, at least."

"Ah. Arcadia?" Matilda guessed with a small bob of her head. The timer beside her rang loudly and she knocked it over without looking at it so it'd ring a little bit more muffled against a tea towel. "Or one of the underworlds?"

"Shadow Realm." Lena answered. She pressed her hand up against her shadow on the wall and let it sink a little ways in for a second, before pulling it back out. "I was literally made from a shadow, after all. That's technically my home plane, so any types of banishment or 'killing' spells usually send me there."

"Ah. Rough one that." Matilda mentioned with a small frown. Della reappeared with a tray with now empty mugs on it.

"Lena, Aunt Matilda didn't talk you to sleep!" She said, surprised. Matilda turned round now, silencing the timer properly now and picked up the tea towel she had used to muffle it to open up the oven, increasing the amount of heat in the room considerably.

"I mean, she tried." Lena responded, shrugging. "Hey, uh... when you went out to the others, was Webby... well, what was the mood, exactly?" She asked, trying to sound uninterested and failing miserably.

"Oh man, I dunno..." Della said, pulling out a kitchen chair and seating herself. "Nobody was bleeding at least!"

Lena raised an eyebrow. “...You don’t know?”

“Yeah, no, I don’t really pay attention to that sorta thing. They seemed fine, though.”

“You don’t pay attention to how your kids are feeling? You?” She snorted. "Liar. Fine, that's- whatever, anyways. You were named after De Spell?"

"Yeah! I named myself after Aunt Adelia." Della said proudly. "... Donnie's the one who saddled me with my full name." She grumbled with much less enthusiasm.

"Oh right, Webby did say something about your name getting stolen by the Fae," Lena recalled. "...Why would you name yourself after a half-fae, then?"

"'Cause she was awesome." The aviator answered, as though that was all the answer she needed to supply. "She picked up a sword three times her size one time and beat a skeleton to death with it."

"Well, beat a skeleton back to death with it." Matilda corrected as she set the crumble down on the corner to cool.

"And it wasn't just any skeleton, it was the skeleton of Balor the one eyed!"

“‘Beat’ a skeleton?” Lena asked. “With a sword?”

“Yeah, three times her size.” Della said. “Once you get to a certain point, swords become crushing weapons instead of slashing ones.”

"True. And that does sound pretty badass," Lena agreed, though her mind was mainly conjuring up the image of Webby in that position. She was the only woman that Lena could ever imagine wielding a sword three times her size, so sue her (Beakley maybe, but Lena had trouble imagining any sword that was much bigger than her). "So what, you just couldn't get your old name back or something? I mean, I guess renaming yourself could work to weaken a Fae's hold on you, so there's that." She mentioned.

"Yeah nah, my old name sucked. I didn't like it." Della insisted, leaning back on her chair and tilting it onto two legs. "Della is way more awesome than whatever I had before."

"I mean, I couldn't imagine you with any other name, so that sounds about right." Lena said, folding her arms together so she could stuff her hands in her sleeves. She really needed a jacket to keep around. "Like... Dorthy. You are not a fucking Dorthy, at all. I don't know if Adelia suits you either, but at least it got you to Della."

"Now if only my kids had gotten the chance to have names as cool as mine." She sighed, the legs of her chair dropping back down. 

"There there dear." The older woman consoled her niece, patting her shoulder from behind before shaking her head at Lena and pulling a face.

Lena stuck her tongue out back. "You know, they could change their names too." She mentioned. "Like, you don't have to be trans or have your name get yoinked to have the chance to pick a new one."

"Hm. Did Magica name you?" Della asked, a little curious. "Or did you come up with Lena for yourself?"

"Fuck no, she didn't name me!" Lena laughed. "As far as she was concerned, I didn't need one. She only conceded that I might after schools kept asking for my name, but even then she just tried to name me Magica the Second." She shuddered. "Eugh. No, I came up with Lena. Technically Lena Le Strange, actually."

Well, no. That wasn’t entirely true. She could remember her first thoughts, when she was alone in a large, empty castle, the full moon -and more knowledge than she should’ve had- her only friend.

A slight redness came to her cheeks. "Uh. Well, actually, I guess technically- technically, that's not my full name either? It would actually be Selene Le Strange." She admitted, looking down embarrassedly. "'Cuz- y'know, she's a moon goddess. My entire life was built around an eclipse happening eventually. And Selene shortened to Lena, sort of, so I felt it fit."

Della immediately let out a small happy noise and suddenly Lena was getting squished in a constricting embrace. So that was where Webby got it.

"Oh my god, can I convince you to come live with me?" She asked, picking the teenager up like she was a bundle of twigs. "I mean I know the Sabrewings called dibs but I was on the moon."

"Uf- Yeah, knew you were going to react like this when you learned my full name. See, here's the other thing," Lena posited breathlessly. Boy Della was stronger than she looked. "I don't like dying? And the Sabrewings are pretty good at keeping that from even starting to happen, so yeah. Could you put me down, now?" She coughed. "You're kinda crushing me."

"Oh, sorry." Della eased up, letting Lena wiggle away from her, however only reluctantly. She laughed, slapping her knee. "Selene the Estranged, oh my god, Lena."

"Look, I literally came into existence as a fifteen year old, yeah?" Lena explained. "I was practically born to be an edgy little shit, and I refuse to take any guff about it." She pointed an accusing finger at Della. "That being said, I invoke the whole 'trauma talk' rule and forbid you to say a word about this to my sister. She would never let me live that down."

"Can I at least tell my girlfriends about this?" Della asked, pleadingly. "Selene would make you her new favorite mortal."

"That is the other reason for the trauma talk rule. I wholeheartedly believe you that she would, and I do not want that.”

“What? Why?”

“I already have enough going on with my life, a goddess -even one as lovely as I’m sure Selene is- who has a vested interest in me would only make that worse. Guarantee it."

"Fine, but just know I love and cherish you even more now." Della said with a wide grin. "Trauma buddies and moon buddies!"

Lena rolled her eyes, though she wasn't able to keep the smirk from her face. "Yeah yeah, trauma buddies and moon buddies. Both for different, yet similar, reasons." She said, giving the aviator a fist bump.

"Pchooow!" Della whispered as their knuckles bounced together, unable to resist from blowing it up.

"Oh dear lord, you're worse than when you were a child." Matilda chastised her niece.

"Nah I was waaaay more annoying back then. Remember that time -"

"You set fire to the great hall, yes, I remember."

"...You know, I really kinda wish that was a surprising statement." Lena mentioned. "But it's not. I can fully imagine Della as an arson child when she was younger. ...I can see her as an arson child now, just- bigger, and in the body of an adult."

"Hey, those fireworks were rad. So what if I left a few scorch marks setting them off?"

Matilda rolled her eyes but smiled. "You want, I could turn down a bed in a room that's heated. A nap can help make facing things better in my experience."

"That- might be nice." Lena agreed, rubbing her shoulder, suddenly self-conscious. "I, uh. I mean, I know that like, you're not supposed to go to bed mad or whatever, but I don't want to face Webby right now." She admitted quietly. "I don't know. I don't know if I can apologize, but- I mean, I just yelled in her face, I don't want to go back in there and act like nothing happened."

"Don't apologize if you don't mean it." Della advised. "That's an important thing when it comes to apologies."

"You don't have to act like nothing happened, girl, just make sure that what happened doesn't change how you feel for each other. If the answer to that is no, then you're in the clear." Matilda added. "If you do go check in on the other children, let them know I made dessert for lunch?"

"Yeah. You're right, I should probably go do that." Lena nodded. She gave the two adults a salute before heading out of the kitchen to... well, not talk with them, probably (Her brain still couldn't help but run in self-deprecating circles telling her that'd be a bad idea) but at the very least, let them know that food was ready

" -No grandma Downy, this isn't a TV show." Lena could hear a very patient Huey trying to explain.

"But that was Della just now?"

"Yes."

"The actual Della?"

"Yes."

"Well why didn't she come and say hello then!" The voice of an irritable elderly man with a thick Scottish brogue who wasn't Scrooge McDuck. "All these years, gallivanting god knows where."

"Because she doesn't like you, obviously." Lena announced her presence, standing uncomfortably at the edge of the room. "...Matilda made a crumble." She mentioned lamely to the other kids, motioning back to the kitchen.

"What? Who's this now?" The old man asked.

"Oh, it's just Lena-" Webby said, attempting to rush through her sentence before Dewey pulled the phone over to face him.

"Webby's girlfriend."

"Shuuuutup shut up shut up!" His sister hissed, resisting the urge to slap him on the shoulder because previous experience had taught her Dewey bruised easily.

"Oh, you have a jo!" Downy said happily.

"Jo means sweetheart or beloved, it's a contraction for joy." Huey explained on the other end. "Hey Lena. Sorry you couldn't make it to the castle."

"No, don't be, it was fun." Lena said in a monotone, dry voice. "I absolutely love getting chased around in the mist by gigantic demon dogs that hate my guts specifically. Really just makes my day that much better."

"Really? That sounds like it would actually be kind of stressful-" Huey began before Louie made a cut off motion with his hand. "But we'll talk about it later!"

"Yeah, we gotta go - food is gonna get cold." Webby agreed, picking up the phone.

"Bye grandma Downy, bye grandpa Fergus!" Dewey called out over her shoulder.

"Yes, goodbye dear!"

"So is this a TV program or -" The rest of the question is lost as Webby swiped her finger across the screen to end the call.

Louie hopped down from the couch, hands in his pockets. "Right, food, finally. And not mutton and potatoes or liver or bleh."

"Yeah, uh. You guys go ahead. I was hoping maybe you and me could talk, Lena?" Webby asked hesitantly, sitting back down in her seat. "If you want to!"

"I mean, I was planning on just going to bed instead of eating, but- fine." Lena agreed, sliding down the wall to a sitting position. "Let's... talk."

Louie patted Lena on the hip as he passed by her, giving her a small shrug that said 'well, what are you going to do?'. Dewey meanwhile seemed to still be happy to talk.

"You know, for a pair of people who grew up in the Victorian era, they were figuring out how to use video chat really well. Neither of them thought the phone was possessed or trying to steal their souls!" He nattered happily to his brother as they turned the corner, leaving Webby and Lena alone - well, alone with an audience of one emu.

"...So, do you think there's any way to get the emu to leave?" Lena asked after a moment. "I'm worried that it's going to just- start shrieking or something for no reason."

"Oh, Emutilda is actually pretty well behaved. She let me ride around on her back." Webby volunteered with a small smile. "Uh. Anyway." She began, the smile faltering as she petered off. "I'm - do you - would it be okay if we talked more about that... stuff? From before?"

"I mean, I'd assume that's why you wanted to talk privately." Lena said, voice still dry and unapproachable. She sighed. "Sorry about this whole... not-into-this persona I've got going on right now, kiiinda had a rough day so far."

"No, no, no, it's fine!" The smaller teenager tried to assure her, waggling her head and arms back and forth in the air as she spoke. "This - hit a lot of sensitive spots for you, I know. Your aunt, the blood feud, the hound..." Webby placed her hands more tightly by her side as she paused. "I'm sorry. This was my fault."

Lena exhaled. She hadn't wanted to apologize going into this, but now she felt kinda guilty (Well- a lot guilty, but honestly she always felt guilty over something, so most of it didn't count). "Yeah, well... I mean, you weren't the person who summoned a bastard dog from the mists, so..." She shrugged.

"No, but - I'm the one who basically said 'all De Spells are evil'." Lena could see her girlfriend wince slightly at the admission. "I just - you know how much I hate Magica." She continued, looking directly at Lena. "And - I guess that made me... be less than objective in evaluating my own family history. I didn't want to think that anyone could go from - good to as bad as she is."

"You are preaching to the choir here, Webs," Lena said with a snort. "I hate that bitch as much, if not more, than you do. And I'm not arguing with you on that, I think that all the De Spells are evil too." She frowned. "Well, I guess not all of them, considering Della's named after one apparently, but like- you know what I mean."

“Della’s named after a- mmmph, no, that’s not important right now.” Webby clamped her beak shut, visibly shutting that question away for a later time. "Yeah, no. Just because they did bad stuff doesn't mean my family didn't do equally bad, if not worse, stuff as well.” 

Lena blinked, shocked. Webby just stopped herself from talking about the McDucks, and then admitted they might’ve been bad too?

That… wow. She was genuinely impressed with her.

“It just.... made me feel weird. Thinking that Magica, as terrible as she is, might have an actual reason to hate my dad and my family besides just wanting to steal his number one dime." She frowned, rubbing her head. "Lena - what if the McDucks are the bad guys in this story? Even if it was hundreds of years ago, I don't want to just ignore what my ancestors did."

"It's not entirely them, it's..." Lena sighed. "Way back when, around the time after the first crusades -I'm not going to go into those, because I'm ninety-nine percent certain that you know more about them than me- the Knights Templar were created, and both of our families were part of it: the McDucks, as the treasurers, and the De Spells, as more of the crusader types. There were obviously others, but they were the big ones. You know how the Knights Templar were disbanded, right?"

"Jacques de Molay, grandmaster of the Temple, was accused of witchcraft, devil worship, and being gay." Webby narrated. "That was just an excuse by the King of France to seize the Templar's holdings for his own purposes though."

"Yeah, I mean- there are a few untruths in that, actually." Lena admitted, folding her hands together as she recounted the stories that her aunt had told her. "You're right, it was only to seize the Templar's holdings, but there's a bit more. As the treasurers of the Knights Templar, the McDucks realized that the De Spells were embezzling funds for buying magic artifacts and witchcraft and whatnot. Now, as Magica made it out to sound, they went off and told the King of France, then the King cracked down on the Templars, and that's what started the blood feud.

"...I don't think that's really what happened, though." She said, scratching her arm. "Because before that, the McDucks hadn't really… done anything about it. Like, yeah, they disapproved, and they wanted the De Spells to stop, but they didn't actually send the, uh- the hounds after them.”

“Boo.” Webby called out.

“What? It’s my traumatic story, I’m allowed to joke when I need to.” Lena defended lightheartedly. “But- yeah, They just felt that that wouldn't be very helpful. So for a while there, it was… tense, but nobody was doing anything. The McDucks didn't care so long as the records were straight, and the De Spells weren't going to complain- and then suddenly the King of France accused their leader of witchcraft." She explained. "Which was entirely a separate thing, considering that Jacques de Molay wasn't associated with the De Spells. At least- not openly, though he was apparently dating Percival De Spell.”

“Oh my gosh he was gay?”

 “Apparently. Anyways, the De Spells thought the McDucks had ratted them out, the McDucks thought that the De Spells had practiced too openly, so someone cursed someone, someone else was burned at the stake, and boom! Instant blood feud, and you can blame the King of France for it."

"And the last of the Templars entrusted my family with their most precious treasures. And we hid it somewhere in Castle McDuck." Webby continued. "... I don’t think I want that treasure anymore."

"You don't need it anyways," Lena offered. "You could just go up to Scrooge with your puppy eyes, and ask 'Papa, could I have some money, please?' And he'd immediately give you his entire Money Bin. Easy as that." She said, snapping her fingers.

Webby snorted at that. "...Do you want the treasure?" She asked after a moment of consideration, hesitant.

"Nah." Lena shrugged. "I mean, if I got it I wouldn't complain, but it's not exactly something I'm looking for, y'know?" She said. With a sigh, she got to her feet and moved over to Webby, ruffling her hair. "And you don't have to feel bad about your family now, Pink. As far as everyone oughta be concerned, it was greed -and also the King of France- that caused all the shit between the McDucks and the De Spells. It doesn't matter who made the first move, because either one would’ve."

"It still doesn't change the fact that it was wrong though." The younger teenager insisted firmly. "Someone has to make it right."

"No they don't." Lena contested. "The crusades were bullshit, and everything that came from them is bullshit, so the whole blood feud is bullshit. And we can't make that right, because there’s no ‘right’ to get to. Everyone was in the wrong. And hell, I doubt any of this is about that any longer. It's just a bunch of crusty old fuckwits and a couple ghosts having a pissing contest. It always was."

"My family was built on money that they got by sending other people to get burned at the stake." Webby said. "This castle is like - a giant physical symbol for this entire thing!"

"I mean, a fair few of them did deserve it," Lena reminded her. "Like, she always spoke about it like it was a good thing, but Aunt Magica told me a fair few stories where the De Spells would kill the McDucks in really fucked up ways. Like, there was this one person, Calypso De Spell, who forced a mother to slaughter her own kid by making her think that he was a monster that'd invaded her home. They weren't innocent people, Webs!"

The smaller girl huffed. "I just don't like it Lena." She finally concluded. "But - well. You know I don't think of you as anything other than my girlfriend and Violet's big sister, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Lena nodded, kissing Webby on the top of the head. "I'm not a De Spell, and I know that . And I know that you, and everyone else who matters, knows that. It just kinda sucks that practically everything magical -also known as everything that you and I fuck with- sees me as nothing more than my blood. That's not what makes a family."

"Do you even have blood?"

"...I mean, I think I do," Lena mentioned, looking at her arms quizzically. "Now, at least. I mean, I'm like- a real-ish person now, instead of solely a shadow construct. Like, I age, so I probably also have blood, right?"

"We could always make a bloodpact and find out!"

"Or, counteroffer, we could just let this mystery remain unsolved, and let my Schrödinger’s blood stay in my veins and organs unperturbed." Lena proposed, hugging Webby to her chest. "Because -fun fact- most people think that bleeding hurts! And I happen to be one of those people."

Webby blushed hot as she was hugged, and kissed her girlfriend on the neck in response.

"... Lena. Do you think we're gonna be together when we're grown up?"

"I really hope so," Lena admitted, rocking softly with her. "I can't really imagine wanting to spend my life with anyone different."

"Me neither." The smaller girl agreed, pressing her head to Lena's chest. "We're gonna have more fights if that happens though. We won't agree about everything."

"I know," Lena sighed, rubbing her back. "But- hey, it's better than not talking to each other."

"So. Uh, since we're going to be here for a while - do you want to visit the dungeon or the oubliette?" Webby asked, looking up hopefully at her girlfriend. "There might be rusty shackles and bones!"

"...Webs, why would I be interested in either of those things?"

"Because it's metal!" The smaller teenager said. "Come on, don't tell me it wouldn't make for a good album cover if we find a skull down there!"

"...I will admit, stealing a skull from a probably-McDuck skeleton does sound kinda fun," Lena admitted. She frowned. "Della will save us some food if we don't show up, right?"

"Yes, but not any ice cream." Webby said, rocking backwards and tugging Lena with her. "Buuuut I'm not interested in ice cream. I am interested in crawling around a dungeon with my girlfriend." She let out a happy little squeal as she said the word girlfriend, hands flapping at her sides.

Lena snorted, rolling her eyes. "You know, the fact that you still get so excited about saying that word is probably why Huey, Dewey, and Louie are pleased as punch to keep teasing you about it."

"Oh phooey on them! I have the best girlfriend in the entire world, I have every right to be excited!"

"You don't have the best girlfriend in the world," Lena protested with a scoff. She waved her hand and glowing blue magic surrounded Webby, picking her off the ground and bringing her eye-level with Lena. "I do."

That made Webby blush so hard her entire face turned red and removed the ability for her to speak coherently. Instead she giggled and stuttered something that could be the start of "I love you" before kissing Lena on her bill.

Lena grinned as they parted. "Love you too, sweetie. Now let's go steal someone's bones!"