happilyeverbeginning | if i couldn't be strong / would you still love me the same (scrooge x magica)

"Only one." With that, she held out her hand. "We have to hang onto each other. I can't use my magic, but it still flows within me. As long as you're with me, you'll see what I see."

This felt silly, like a child's game. "So no matter what, don't let go. The creatures down there aren't used to letting anyone get out... so they'll do whatever it takes to make us stay or get us separated."

A minute ago you ignored the hand I offered you... he thought to himself. He didn't know himself why this fact upset him so much. But the idea of not letting go of her all the time made his heart beat faster.

No wonder, he tried to convince himself, I have no idea what lurks down there and if anything manages to separate me from Magica I'm lost in Hades...That's by far the craziest thing I've ever done...He liked the idea. No, he wouldn't do such an expedition with his family. Much too dangerous, but with Magica, who was as strong and clever as he himself...

With new enthusiasm he grabbed her hand. Surprised he noticed that it was warm and pleasant. He had expected them to be as cold as their hearts. His grip was firm as they walked through the gate together and finally he could feel something. But the feeling was oppressive and heavy, as if it would lie directly like a black shadow on the soul.

Welcome to the underworld...

Magica held onto his hand tightly - she wouldn't admit it, but having his grip did make her feel braver. There was no one she could trust with this sort of mission, as his wits and bravery had saved his hide a hundred times before. No doubt this would be a hundred and one.

With one step forward, the entire world around them began to change. The trees twisted and turned, forming the shape of an open cave. Lit torches hung on the wall, and the grass beneath them died, with nothing but hard rock surrounding them. Magica took a deep breath, and began walking forward, trying to keep her guard up.

"In this place, they'll either try to kill you, or lure you away. They'll appeal to your desires, so you have to keep your eyes forward and ignore everything."

He knew immediately what she meant. This place was grey and cold. But in every corner gold and treasures seemed to sparkle. Alone and without warning he would probably have been dead immediately or at least lost himself endlessly in the vastness of Hades.

Unconsciously he moved a little closer to her so that their shoulders touched. What would she see here? Or was a magical being immune from seduction?

Magica was also being tempted by piles of gold, and the good old number one dime itself. But of course Scrooge wouldn't have brought it along and let it be seen in plain sight, so it was easy enough to ignore. Bah, this was the legendary Hades? This was easy!

She scoffed, lifting her beak, her arrogance showing. "How could anyone call for these tricks? We'll grab the water and be out in no time."

If one adhered to the warning, Hades suddenly seemed no longer to be a great danger. Scrooge's facial expression quickly adapted to the arrogant one of Magica. He had already seen much worse.

He shouldn't have thought the thought in the first place.

It was only thanks to his years of experience in adventures and exploring caves that he noticed the rockfall in time. There was no time to think. "Magica, watch out!" He shouted as he pushed her away and into safety. It rumbled loudly and all the air was filled with dust and dirt so that his vision was completely blocked for a moment.

Panically he looked around, he had let go of her hand... "Magica?" He asked carefully. "MAGICA! He finally screamed loudly and a little scared when he didn't get an answer.

The rock smashing to the ground had created a lot of dust and debris in the air, making things momentarily foggy. But when the air was clear again, he finally heard a voice calling back.

"Scrooge! I told you not to let go!" Magica's voice snapped behind him.

(Strange, didn't he push her forward...?)

"I could have handled it myself. Now this time, hold on, and don't let go!"

He was shocked when the familiar voice suddenly sounded behind him. But probably he had lost his orientation because of the haze. Relieved, he grabbed the witch's hand again. Hesitantly he intertwined their fingers this time, of course only for a better hold.

"Sorry, but I couldn't only save myself. What use is it to Ratface if I bring him an antidote, if he would then have to live without you? Have you been hurt?" Absentmindly he stroked some dirt off her cheek.

Magica scoffed, tossing some hair over her shoulder. "As if something like that could hurt me. You know I'm much stronger than I look."

But... she didn't fight the touch to her cheek, and gazed at him rather intensely. Almost as if she was encouraging him to look. "So this time... don't let go." Her hand squeezed his, running a thumb over his knuckles.

"Of course I know that, but I'm still worried..." Scrooge defended himself embarrassed. A shiver ran over his back as he felt her stroking his hand and her gaze was so intensely directed at him that he felt queasy. For a moment he looked right into the endless depths of those piercing eyes. So deep black and beautiful.

Did she know how attractive she was? Or was she one of those women unable to see her own beauty? Surprised he shook his head for a moment to get clear again. Why did he think about something like that now? There were more important things to do.

"I...I think I see water flashing at the very back of the end. That could be the Styx, let's move on before the rest of the ceiling collapses." Why did his heart beat so fast? Surely it was the previous shock...

As Scrooge turned to walk, Magica walked with him - but now she was holding his arm, almost pressing her chest into it, leaning in much, much closer than she needed to.

"I think we'll be safe now." She spoke calmly, without a trace of worry or concern in her voice. "After all... I've got you with me."

His cheeks inevitably turned red as he felt her soft breasts pressing onto his arm. What was wrong with her now? She must have gotten a bigger shock than she wanted to admit when she came so close to him. But she managed to make her voice sound so calm. With Magica you always had to expect the unexpected.

Angrily he found out that her closeness was getting more to him than he wanted. His heart continued to beat much too fast. Pull yourself together Scrooge, you are here to help her, yes to protect her, don't behave like a schoolboy. He swallowed hard once. With his free hand he patted hers reassuringly.

"Of course". He murmured sheepishly, "Don't worry, we'll manage." When this adventure was over he definitely had a new problem in front of the bow. Namely the fact that he liked her closeness. Very even. Curse me kilts...

Now you could see better that they were approaching a river. And wasn't there a boat on the shore together with a dark figure?

But Magica wasn't paying attention to the hooded figure up ahead, as her eyes stayed on Scrooge.

"Actually, there's something we should discuss first." She slowed down her walk to a halt. "We never did decide how I'm going to repay you for your kindness. You and I both know I don't have a penny to my name. But..." She tugged on his arm, pulling him even closer towards him. "There are other ways I could compensate..."

Heat inevitably shot him in the face. WHAT? What, did she suggest here? Scrooge would have been the first to admit he didn't have any experience in flirting but...Her look, her voice the whole way she approached him, offered herself to him...Did she want to kiss him? Did she even want...more?

Surely Magica had always used love potions against him and was also quick to give him pet names. But THIS here was clearly new and much more brash.

And for all the treasures of this earth, he liked it...He noticed how he felt attracted to her. Her warm body so close to his, her gaze lowered, their lips slowly moved towards each other.

At the same time she smelled so good. Of herbs and incense. His own eyelids sank slowly, his heart beating up to his neck. He wanted it, wanted it so much...

But suddenly it became clear to him. Something was wrong. Even if the real Magica was attracted to him like that. NOW wouldn't be the time to show it. Not as long as Ratface was in mortal danger, this was NOT Magica. With a firm grip he held her back, his voice sounded...sad...

"You're just an illusion..." In the same moment where he uttered these words the woman in his arms went up in smoke. Left nothing behind but a feeling of unfulfilled desire.

She had warned him that Hades would use his weaknesses and desires against him. But he had not expected that.

With his head hanging he stood there and hated the world in general and himself in particular.

As the fake woman disappeared, so did the fog around him. After a moment, a familiar voice screeched - "Scrooge, you wretched miser, where did you go?!"

Well, that's one way to tell which Magica was which.

Several feet away, Magica - the real - stumbled forward, looking flustered and haggard. After looking every which way, she spotted Scrooge, and headed towards him, ranting and raving. "I take my eyes off you for one second, and you..." She then stopped, hesitating, her cheeks reddening.

Maybe Scrooge wasn't the only one who was tricked.

"... You are the real Scrooge, aren't you?"

This time Scrooge was sure to have the real Magica in front of him. He had to smile when he heard her scold that even Hades himself would be blushing.

Still, his heart was heavy, he never thought that this adventure would confront him with such problems.

The thought shot through his mind that he should have let the illusion of Magica kiss him. Otherwise this would never happen at all...

When he looked her in the face, he noticed that her cheeks were also reddened. Had she been set up the same way? He felt a touch of jealousy towards the person who might have appeared to her.

"I cannot prove to you that I am real. But I made you a promise to help you and Ratface." He reached out his hand to her again. "This time, we really shouldn't let go..." he looked at her.

"You seem distorted, did something happen when we were separated? What exactly would happen if one succumbed to temptation?" He was curious, what was the price for the illusion of her lips on his?

Magica mentally debated a moment more before taking Scrooge's hand, not meeting his eyes. "I suppose you might be the real Scrooge... only he would keep asking me such foolish questions!" Someone was on the defensive! With a huff, she stuck her beak up, and forced him to walk ahead -

Until he asked what happened to her. She froze, choking, and then shook her head. "Nothing! Nothing happened!" She denied a little too quickly, before realizing she was trying to hard to sell her case. After a moment of embarrassment, she twirled her hair around her finger. "... I... might have seen something... I-it was... the dime! Yes, you were offering me your number one dime. But!" She straightened her back, haughty again. "Of course, I saw right through it! I wasn't fooled for a second!"

Then, slightly more serious, "If I had been tricked for too long... well, this place is only meant for spirits. We would have been trapped here until our bodies wasted away to nothing."

Skeptically he looked at her "I don't understand why you're so red in the face then and so agitated? I thought that scene was almost all you saw here."

She lied, that was clear. So she had really seen something too personal to share with her arch enemy. The thought made him angry and then the fact that he got angry made him even angrier. A vicious circle...

But her last words worried him, he had really been close to forever rotting in the depths of the underworld. No, for an illusion this price was too high for the reality on the other hand...

Well, he was already standing next to her in Hades, that was probably proof enough of how far he would go for her... just so that she could fantasize about another...

But what did he expect? He was an old, stingy douchebag that denied her the only thing she wanted. Why would she ever?...

"Enough!"

Scrooge shouted it out loud, the thoughts in his head made him insane and it was absolutely not the right time. He shook his head to get clear and turn his anger into power for their cause. "Come on, let's see if we can... borrow the boat..."

Magica raised an eyebrow. What was that all about? If he had been fooled by an illusion, it was just money and treasure, wasn't it? As if he'd want anything else. She rolled her eyes, trying to focus on their original reason to be here.

"The Guardian will never let us 'borrow' it. His duty is to ferry the dead. So we'll have to distract him to steal the boat."

And if you thought she wasn't serious, she cracked her knuckles. "I vote we push him into the river."

Maybe he should concentrate on this Magica that did evil without hesitation to distract himself.

However, he knew this side of her well enough and that hadn't stopped him from...

Woah woah woah, stop! Scrooge, scolded his own mind. Physical attraction, sure, only someone blind could blame him for that. Everything else was sheer madness!

"Maybe we can approach the matter with a little more finesse. I don't think Hades will let us walk out of here again if we sink his most loyal servant into the Styx forever..."

At that time he outtalked the upper witches so dreaded by Magica. Maybe he could convince the ferryman as well... .

Magica scoffed, turning to face him, arms crossed. "You really think you can bargain with the Guardian? This isn't some business transaction! I don't have a doubt in my mind he'll rat us out and make sure we pay for trespassing."

Then again, if anyone was a master of bargaining, it would be Scrooge McDuck. Hadn't it been his adventurous spirit that made Magica want to bring him along in the first place? She was being awfully combative. Perhaps it was because of what happened during their time apart... which she still refused to speak of.

He resolutely stepped up to the ferryman with all the confidence of a steam engine. He pulled Magica resolutely behind him. Under no circumstances would he let go of her hand while they were in Hades again.

"To a word, good man, Charon I presume? My name is Scrooge McDuck." He began confident and with verve in his voice. The figure made no effort to speak, but held out its hand as if waiting for something. Of course, payment.

"Aye, as you can see, neither my companion nor I are dead on the way to the afterlife. No, rather we are travelers, explorers if you will. We do not intend to reach the other shore. But we would like to venture to the middle of it."

He spoke so firmly and fast that he did not admit any objections, should there be any. "Of course I realize that such excursions are not part of your work, nor do I want to burden you. Since we intend to return to this shore, it would also be pointless to waste your valuable time riding us."

His grip on Magica's hand became stronger. As always, he took an enormous risk. But where would he be today if it weren't in his nature? "I myself am a very capable bootsman, so a suggestion for goodness. We manoeuvre the boat ourselves and at the moment you can treat yourself to a well-deserved break. As a token of my appreciation, I would also like to present you with this coin. You will not be able to find such a coin in all of Hades."

He pulled a single lousy penny out of his pocket. But still he was right, there was no American money in Hades. Charon looked at the money offered for a time, still wordless.

Edited 2018-12-29 10:57 (UTC)

Magica held her breath as she watched Scrooge work. While she she was confident in Scrooge's skills - he wasn't the world's richest duck by sheer luck - this was a dangerous situation. One wrong move or word, and maybe they'd have to deal with the Lord of Death himself. Even a powerful sorceress like her didn't want to face that.

... A penny? Scrooge was betting everything on a penny?! This was either genius or insanity! Or both!

Magica almost yelled at him before realizing that would give the game away. If this was going to work, she'd better play along. After clearing her throat...

"Oh, wow! What a bargain! I can't believe you'd let him have something so valuable!"

Playfully indignant, he looked around at her. "I pray you, my dearest, consider the inconvenience we are causing the good lord here. I can not splash out!"

Smiling, he turned back to the ferryman. "Please excuse my companion, greed is really not a good quality..." Mischievous sideways glance at Magica.

"Be that as it may, it is my fortune and if I wish to pass it on to you for research purposes. That is my decision alone".

Confidently he looked the figure firmly in the face. "Come on, no false shyness. With all the work you are doing, you deserve this gift!"

Couldn't resist the dig at her, could he? ... Then again, if their positions were reversed, she would have done the same thing. As a result, she found herself smirking right back.

"If you say so, Scrooge, but you better not wind up complaining later!" Might as well sell it a little more.

There was nothing but silence in the caverns... and then...

Charon, very, slowly... held out his hand for the penny.

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