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

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.

"If I feel bad about it later, you'll find a way to make me feel better my love." Slide out before he could think about the meaning of his words.

But then his attention was drawn to the ferryman, who slowly and carefully accepted the offered Penny as if it were the greatest treasure on earth. He himself was surprised that his plan had worked.

"But this will have to wait, we have an agreement as it looks." He bowed slightly to Charon and helped Magica gallantly into the boat. "Don't worry good man, we won't need long. Thank you very much, you' re doing a great service to research."

Before the ferryman could change his mind, they left. Scrooge steered the boat with the long stick unerringly into the middle of the river. But Magica has to take the lead here. He didn't know exactly what they needed to help Ratface.

Magica would've raised an eyebrow about that little pet-name, but - of course, it was part of the ruse, wasn't it? It's not like he meant it.

She breathed a sigh of relief once they were inside the boat. Their journey was going smoothly! She peered over the edge of the boat, at the murky water underneath them. She glanced back, making sure they were far enough from Charon and his post, before she spoke.

"We need to find the clearest section of the lake. That will be the best water for Ratface's recovery."

Clear water in this soup... he looked around intently. Then a few meters further he saw a faint glow from the depth. "Do you mean this spot there?" With his free hand he pointed to the light.

The other one was still firmly intertwined with Magica's hand. First, he wasn't sure if there was any danger on the lake anymore and second... he just didn't want to let go.

Magica's eyes glittered, trying to move slowly across the boat so they wouldn't rock or tip over. "Yes, perfect! One scoop of that, and he's as good as cured!"

Now confident that nothing could ruin this trip, Magica plopped back in her seat, her ego rising. "To think it's done that simply! I knew it was the right choice asking you to come along."

Did she notice in her joy that she was just praising him? But for now, Scrooge didn't care. He smiled warmly at her and raised her hand to his lips to kiss it carefully. "And I am glad that I was able to experience this adventure with you and help Ratface with it.

He looked deep into her eyes. Who knew when he would get the chance again? He sighed deeply, there was still this problem that he had become aware of here in the underworld. One day he would probably have to talk to her about it. That would only be fair, she should know she caused in him...

But for the time being Ratface was still in first place. He took the ampoule from Magica's hand with which she wanted to scoop the water. "Give it to me, I'll do it." He dipped the glass into the water and wanted to pull the jar out again.

At that moment a musty hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him down. He let go of Magica's hand in the presence of his mind in order not to pull her with him.

Magica could feel her cheeks reddening upon that small gesture of affection. She shyly tucked some hair behind her shoulder, averting her eyes. "I... suppose I should be grateful." A little mumble.

She easily handled over the ampoule, but - what was happening now?! Magica yelped, and than threw her arms around his chest, yanking him back as hard as she could. "Scrooge!"

At that moment he really thought that was the end of him and the only thing that went through his mind was... Magica...

Would she make it safely out of Hades if he died now? His head was already dipping into the icy water as he suddenly felt arms wrapping around him and dragging him back into the boat.
The grip around his wrist was released by the jerk and he landed blindly on his savior.

The ampoule still clasped tightly and filled with the precious liquid.

The shock had gone deep into his limbs and he breathed heavily. Finally he stood up on his elbows so as not to crush Magica. They were still so close that he could feel her warmth.

"Thank you..." he brought out japsing. Water dripped from his head onto her face. So it almost seemed as if she had tears in her eyes.

Magica's head spun, trying to understand what had just happened. She shook her head, sitting up. "Are you all right? That... thing nearly killed you!" The river was full of lost souls, and no doubt it wasn't capable of handling a living being. If it had even been a few seconds longer...

Swallowing, she glanced over the sides. "They must know we don't belong here... we've got to get out of here, before they try and take you away again!"

...Before they try to take you away again... It almost sounded like she really cared. "Yes.... I think I'm ok... it was just a shock. But...

" He triumphantly held up the filled bottle. "I have the cure!" Before something could be spilled he corked up the bottle and Magica put it back.

Then he grabbed her hand again and this time he really wouldn't let go until they were back on the surface. He pressed her hand firmly to his heart as he held it.

"Really... thank you for saving me. Only this brief dip into the water felt as if all my strength was being stolen. Let's get out of here!"

"You, stay back." After what he'd been through, he was in no condition to do anymore strenuous work - or at least she thought so. "I'll handle the rowing."

She'd come this close to losing Ratface, she was not going to lose anyone else, and if she saw that hand again, she was going to take that rowing paddle and beat it to smithereens! "What are you always like this? This is MY quest, so you shouldn't be putting yourself into danger all the time! The illusions, Charon, and now this... just... shut up, and let me do everything!" He was always like this! She couldn't stand it - especially since, obviously, it was her fault.

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