happilyeverbeginning | toss a coin to your witcher (dumb duck trio)

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toss a coin to your witcher (dumb duck trio)

"She used her dark magics on my husband, and now he sees her shadow in the mirror every night!"
"He killed an entire farm-hands livestock, all for his own twisted amusement."
"They have a garden full of statues that were once children, now frozen in time forever..."

As Scrooge McDuck - world's richest duck, famed adventurer, and also expert monster hunter - continued his research into the "mages of the mountain", he found each new rumor was more outlandish than the last. Sure, there were a few things that were consistent - the two were twins, beautiful in their own way, and fiercely loyal to one another - but after that, each new round of gossip could make them sound like petulant children or gods themselves. Whatever troubles the villagers were having, be it bad weather or failing crops, it was surely the fault of the De Spell family.

And yes, perhaps the manor of the twins - lofted right into the side of the highest hill, with decaying greenery entwined all around the massive stone steps - was a little something out of a gothic horror novel. Dark colors, eerie structure, and maybe a cracked gargoyle or two. The cry of a raven could be found in the distance. But if these twins were as powerful as so whispered, why couldn't they afford to fix the twisted rafters from the windows, or cover the drafts from moldy holes? The land itself was probably pricey property, and many would pay handsomely for it... if some particular vermin was exterminated.

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"Ratface." Magica commanded - the tubby bird flapped down from the rafters and landed on Magica's shoulder. After an affectionate kiss and nuzzle, she pointed away. "Lead Scrooge to the guest room.

Ratface cocked a brow at all that Scrooge was carrying. "Is he the butler now?"

Magica snickered, and Poe waved him off. Ratface shrugged, and flitted away towards the guest room. Poe sighed, and sat next to Magica, waiting for Scrooge to leave so he could tell his sister all he'd learned.

Scrooge snorted and followed the bird. Once they reached the room...

"...They weren't kidding about it not being cleaned in ages, were they?" he asked rhetorically.

He rolled up his sleeves. He'd seen worse at least. He'd have to put in some serious elbow grease on Saturday but he could at least get out some of the dust and grime. He rolled up the window to start airing the place out."

"Stand back unless you want to get caught up in this."

Ratface went to the window, taking in the air and cleaning his wings with his beak. "They don't kid." He replied, surely and plainly. "Why clean a room they had no expectations of using? The cleanest rooms are their own, the kitchen, and the library."

"Makes sense."

And with that, Scrooge went to work, starting with dusting and working his way down to sweeping. No sense in sweeping the floor only to have to re-sweep it once the dust settled.

As for the twins, Magica was in disbelief over what Poe had to say. If Scrooge was really that wealthy, what did he have to gain by throwing all this money away to help the Spells? What possible profit could he gain from it? None of this made any sense at all. It would be nice to trust his miracle man, but how could you trust what you didn't understand?

But nothing could be done about it now - they'd given their word, and he was there to stay until the Spells were up to date with 2022... which wasn't something they were entirely sure they wanted. Change was frightening. The day had been so busy, neither of them felt like they could get any sleep, once the sun had started setting.

Poe retreated to the library, rereading the same texts over and over. Magica went to the abandoned study, where an old record player skipped on the same beats as she danced with her shadows - an old exercise that stayed with her since her childhood.

Scrooge finally had finished cleaning the room to a point where he didn't feel like he'd choke on a dust bunny in his sleep. He could really go for some dinner and a bath.

He heard music and peeked into the room to see Magica dancing with her shadows. It was impressive. Very impressive.

It was one of the few things that still brought Magica joy in her sad little life. Once upon a time she danced for her family, but now it felt like she was bothering Poe too much to have him come watch. So as the music slowed and Magica opened her eyes, she certainly wasn't expecting an audience!

She froze where she was, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Wh... what do you want?!"

"Ah, sorry, lass. Didn't mean to startle you. I was looking for the kitchen to fix myself something to eat before trying to locate a bath. I heard the music and got curious," he told her.

It was somewhat awkward to say. Particularly since he was all sweaty and grimy from cleaning the guest room.

Yes, look at him, he was a disgusting mess! All sweaty and... grimy and... dirty, dirty, dirty...

Magica's hormones weren't quite as active as Poe's, but she was a young lady who hadn't had the company of a man that way in... ever. Who would have thought this old mortal would flip the switch? Suddenly she felt very exposed, despite wearing a very conservative dress, and rubbed her arms shyly. She wasn't even sure what was going on with her body right now!

"Well, obviously, the kitchen wasn't going to have music coming out of it..." She mumbled. "... But I guess since you're staying here, you were bound to hear it sooner or later."

Honestly, were anybody's hormones as active as Poe's?

He chuckled. "Aye, lass, you've got a point. I poked my beak where I shouldn't have. Though I have to say you dance very well."

"You don't have to butter me up with false flattery, you already more than have your foot in our door." Magica mumbled, not believing her skills could be any good when she'd only practiced with the darkness.

Scrooge clicked his tongue. "Like you said, what advantage would I have to flatter you at this point?

"I meant what I said. I've seen a lot of people dancing by now. Would I offer you a contract to go professional? No, but that doesn't mean you don't dance well at all."

"Who said I'd want to go professional?" Magica snapped back on pure instinct. Hearing someone compliment her that wasn't Poe was... weird. New. She felt dizzy.

"It just... makes me feel good. That's all. Poe doesn't let me do much else."

"I can tell. You looked happy when you were dancing."

Professional dancers always looked so serious and focused to Scrooge.

However..."What do you mean he doesn't let you do much else?"

He hadn't gotten the idea that she was cooped up here by her brother.

Magica grumbled, heading over to stop the record player from playing the final notes. "In case you hadn't noticed, Poe does everything around here. He cooks, he cleans, he goes out to shop... I had to beg him just to work in the gardens when I want. If it were up to him, he'd draw my baths and carry me everywhere I went."

Perhaps it was just Poe who was averse to "closing up shop".

"Some days he makes me feel more like a doll than a person."

Now Scrooge had younger sisters and did baby them to a certain extent but certainly not to that extreme. (He would've been smothered in his sleep years ago.)

"And he won't hear anything of it if you offer to do any of that, I take it?"

"Of course." Magica slid the record off the player, inserting it back into the paper folder to join its brethren. "I'm the delicate baby sister after all." A click of her tongue before she glanced back at Scrooge.

"I'm sure he didn't tell you he's only older by five minutes."

"Given you're twins, I didn't imagine the gap was all that big," Scrooge said with dry amusement. "Though I must say I haven't taken either of you as a delicate flower."

"Damn right." Finally, someone else could say it! Maybe he could be more useful than she first thought. "But I doubt you'll ever convince Poe of that. He had half a mind to put a hex on any of your male employees that looked at me for more than three seconds."

She talked him out of that, thankfully.

"Honestly, the only one he'd really need to worry about is Turi, but he's so focused on his glasswork that I'm not sure he'd notice you if you strutted in front of him naked," Scrooge dryly.

Even with that, Magica glanced behind Scrooge to make sure Poe hadn't heard that. Nope, Turi's life was safe for another day.

"What about you?" Magica suddenly asked, wanting the subject to change. "You're... not young, but there's no wedding ring on your finger." Which was a little odd. He had looks and charms, surely he had suitors of his own a mile long.

Scrooge actually laughed. "'Not young' is a bit of an understatement, lass! I'm about halfway through my second century and not looking to slow down any time soon!" He smirked. "At this point, dating anyone my age is a rather tiny pool and anyone else is practically cradle-robbing."

Hm. Here she thought he'd be insulted. He continues to surprise. Although it didn't like he'd be opposed...

Gah! Stop that. Magica found herself blushing even harder! She cleared her throat, hoping he wasn't noticing. "Given that Poe isn't breathing down our necks right now, he at least trusts you with me. It's a start."

After the first century and most of the people you'd grown up around or were famous when you were young were long-buried, you let the age comments go. After all, they were accurate.

"Or he hasn't figured out I'm alone with you yet," Scrooge said with amusement. He half-turned towards the door. "Do you mind showing me where the kitchen is? I'm famished."

"I could use something to nibble." Magica admitted, walking out with Scrooge.

The kitchen was clean, but that didn't mean it was perfectly polished. Like the rest of the mansion, there were plenty of broken and missing pieces, left the way it was due to lack of supplies or lack of care. Their refrigerator was an actual ice box, but at least it was well stocked with fresh vegetables and gutted fish. The pantry had about two loaves of bread, various jams and jellies, and a small box of sweet pastries for special occasions - and despite it not being one, Magica was choosing that for her meal.

It appeared that the twins being this thin wasn't a family trait, but what happened under the cruel circumstances.

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