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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Scrooge threw up a hand towards Magica, a silent order for her to be silent.

"Am I to understand, Mr. Mayor, that you are in possession of the only known remains of their parents?"

Scrooge's own rage was glacier cold.

"And you're looking to use them as a bargaining chip with me? Am I hearing you correctly, sir?"

Oh, Magica was done taking orders...

The mayor had least had enough sense to know he dug his own grave (but not enough to stop digging), and began backing up rapidly - it was Scrooge's job to stop the nasty darkness that roamed the earth, wasn't he going to do more to stop what was right behind him?! "Sir, sir, sir, if you could, just, see things from our point of view! H-How could we give them back, when, LOOK at them, they would have slaughtered us!"

"WHAT AN EXCELLENT IDEA." There went another two windows, with the grass decaying rapidly as Magica walked forward. "IF YOU WANT US TO BE MONSTERS SO BADLY, WHY SHOULDN'T WE GRANT YOUR WISH?"

Poe tried to grab Magica by the arms, his anger only pushed aside by his worry. "Magica! Magica, you have to stop, STOP RIGHT NOW!" He had little doubt she could wipe away the entire village without breaking a sweat - but that wasn't going to make things any better.

"Honestly, I'm tempted to let them!" Scrooge snapped.

He then turned to Magica. "Lass, rein it in. I know a brilliant way to make them suffer, one that will hurt for generations, but it won't work if you flatten the whole place."

His beak curled into a cruel smile. Making things square didn't mean playing nice.

Scrooge had saved the man's life by literal seconds - the mayor had fallen onto his backside and sat up to find Magica's clawed hand in front of his face, mere inches from his nose but still powerful enough to cause his own glasses to melt.

Still. Her currently yellow eyes slid over to Scrooge, listening but not making any promises. "SPEAK. NOW. QUICKLY."

Poe still had a grip on Magica's other arm, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold her back. While Poe was definitely the smarter of the two, there was no doubt was the one with more power.

Scrooge leaned over the mayor.

"Here is a new deal for you: You're going to give those bones back, free and clear. Because in case you've forgotten, Mr. Mayor, Italy has laws regarding the proper treatment of remains. You might or might not be the one who killed the De Spells, but you're still in violation of that law. Refuse, and I'll drag your fat arse down this mountain all the way to the next town over to deliver you to the authorities. And if you think you can claim those bones are anything but the De Spells, I assure you that McDuck Laboratories would be more than happy to expedite the paternity tests needed to prove they are who you claimed them to be."

He paused for a moment, letting that sink in.

"Once you hand over the bones, you, my accountants, and I are going to go down to the city records. And we're going to audit every single transaction this town has made going back at least thirty years to see where the taxes and everything else has been going."

His smile turned downright vicious.

"And I'm willing to bet old Number One that my company isn't the first one you approached for development projects. Only they didn't get your measure first. I wonder what happened to all that money, don't you?"

He then glanced at the De Spells before sneering at the man.

"Finally, we're going to go over the deeds to the land your little town sits on. Depending on who it actually belongs to, I might just invest in your town to let the owners earn back what you and your ilk stole from them. And if you think it's not possible to own an entire town, let me remind you, sir, that I own Duckburg. Your little town wouldn't be nearly as lucrative, I admit, but rent stacks up very quickly."

He leaned over the man, forehead pressed to forehead.

"Now then, Mr. Mayor, do you accept my terms or do I need to start walking?"

For the faintest of moments, the mayor thought Scrooge might be more terrifying than Magica - but feeling a cold rush of wind that definitely wasn't there before changed his mind. In any other circumstance, he would have argued from sunrise to sunset about all that Scrooge was so "unfairly" accusing him of, but even he knew his life was more important. "I'll do whatever you want! I promise! Just - just keep that thing away from me!"

But Magica was listening, and the words were sinking in. Was is possible that the land that mistreated them for so long didn't actually belong to any of the villagers? The shadows surrounding her began to fade before vanishing, and her eyes blinked back to their natural color. Poe exhaled deeply in relief before pulling his sister into a close hug.

"Her name is 'Magica De Spell'. In your case, she's 'Miss De Spell'. And her brother is 'Mr. De Spell'. And now that that's out of the way..."

Scrooge pulled out his cellphone and opened it up, dialing a number. He waited for a moment until someone picked up.

"I want your best at..." He gave the town name. "...within the hour. Double overtime and weekend pay. All travel, lodging, and food expenses reimbursed. I might be investing after all, but I need to know how above-board it'll all be."

He paused, listening to the response.

"Excellent. Pass on a request to Quackfaster for me if you would. Tell her I need to borrow some of her research team to look into old land records for this location over the past...oh let's say three hundred years to be safe."

He paused again, smiling.

"You're a treasure."

He snapped the phone closed and pocketed it.

"Well, Mr. Mayor, lead on. We're burning daylight, and as I said before time is money."

"Three hundred?!" The mayor gawked - but a stern look from the twins told him not to argue the point. Instead he yelped, and scrambled to his feet. "I'll get them, I'll get them!" He was so desperate to get away from the monsters he even left a shoe behind as he began to run.

Magica leaned onto her brother, letting tears of grief and relief roll down her cheeks. Poe stroked her hair, feeling much the same. He sighed, laying his head on her shoulder, though he had enough strength for a quip. "... I suspect your people will be a tad miffed to do those windows all over again."

"Windows can be replaced, lad." He paused and grimaced at the stained glass one. "Though that one...Hoo boy, not looking forward to breaking it to the lad that he'll have to redo it."

He glanced at the duo.

"I'd better hurry to catch up with him before he thinks he can use the opportunity to 'lose' anything important. I'll see you all either later tonight or at some point tomorrow."

"Of course," Poe said with a nod, still stroking his sister's hair.

Magica, through her tears, did manage to say something in her normal voice. "... Thank you." It was quiet, almost whispered, but definitely sincere and heartfelt.

"It's my pleasure, lass."

He turned and started heading down after the mayor, pausing to scoop up the discarded shoe.

Though the twins would probably notice him chucking the expensive loafer into an open hot spring somewhere farther down the mountain if they kept watching.

Poe stifled a chuckle, leading his sister back into the manor.

The mayor was forced to, quite reluctantly, keep his word. The bones had been placed in a wooden coffin-like box, and thankfully for everyone involved not a single one was broken or defaced. No doubt the idea had been tempting, but fear of retaliation from the twins or ghosts had stopped anything from happening. And as always, Scrooge was right on the money when it came to money - the mayor's family had plenty to hide when it came to illegal fixes, from shortchanging the town to embezzlement to just plain old greed instead of improving the town itself.

The biggest surprise of all was who owned the land. The mayor's family did have a legitimate claim... but only to half of it.

Scrooge had taken great pleasure in turning the man's financial world upside-down. And given all that delicious evidence, there was no need for the local police to keep the De Spell bones for further evidence.

Which meant that Scrooge had caught a ride back up the mountain with one of his workers who owned a station wagon, the box in the back. He knocked on the door of the house early Sunday morning, tired but accomplished.

His employee waited for him. After all, as strong as Scrooge was, he couldn't carry the box alone without potentially dropping the bones.

This time, Ratface didn't need to play guard and inform the twins about what was going on. They quickly came to the door, able to sense bits and pieces of their parents spirit from whatever was waiting for them outside. When it opened, Magica was on the verge of tears again, but neither one said a thing. Instead, they silently stepped aside to allow Scrooge and his employee to carry the box inside.

Even Ratface, who sat on his perch nearby, was bowing his head in respect - due to the dead, and possibly even due to newfound respect for Scrooge.

Scrooge and his man followed the twins' directions, keeping reverently silent. This was a solemn occasion, after all. The bones of the De Spells were finally being laid to rest.

He kept his senses open, allowing his medium abilities to pick up any hint of the pair's spirits that remained on the bones. He typically saw spirits as clearly as most people saw normal people, but he was afraid in this case the elder De Spells might have faded. He hoped they'd managed to cross through the Door on their own.

Now that they were home, there were faint images of the elder Spells, but only Scrooge could see them - yet they weren't malevolent or even sad. They seemed to be at ease, finally ready to pass through onto the other side now that their remains were in their rightful place - and that their children were alive and well.

The walk to the crypt in the basement remained quiet as they made their way to the final hanging portrait of their parents. Poe silently signaled for Scrooge and the employee to place the box down, and once it was, he and Magica opened it up, taking the bones bit by bit and placing them inside where they were destined to be. Once the process was finished, they pulled the top on, and lightly kissed it.

"Welcome home, mother."
"Welcome home, father."

At last, the Manor De Spell felt at ease.

Scrooge stood off to one side as the De Spells placed the bones in their final resting place. He looked to the two spirits.

He nodded respectfully to them, silent so as not to disturb the twins.

The spirits smiled at him in thanks, pleased beyond words at all he'd done for their family. Each one ran a hand through their child's hair, and then, hand-in-hand, walked off to where the spirits in peace had their rest.

After a few more minutes of quiet solitude, the twins rose up, and lead Scrooge and his employee back up the stairs. Once the doors were closed, Poe was the one to break the silence.

"Is anyone else hungry? I feel famished."
"Really, Poe? I feel like I've aged twenty years. Probably look it, too."

'It was my pleasure,' he thought in their direction, hoping they heard.

"Thank you but I need to get going," the employee said.

"Thank you, lad." He then looked to the twins, the awful box now carried on his back. "I'll be back in in a moment. I'm going to burn this thing."

"Please, allow us." Poe said, trying to take the box from Scrooge.

Ratface did a double take. Did Poe just say please to someone other than Magica?

"And we'll take care of burning it." Magica said, also trying to take the box. "You can have a seat, and once we're done, we'll make you some coffee and breakfast."

Ratface did a triple take. Who the hell was that and what had they done with Magica?!

"Well, I won't deny you the joy of burning it but I might as well carry it outside. It's not too heavy." He then gave a yawn. "And after that I'll definitely take that coffee."

"Nonsense, we won't allow it."
"You've done enough as is."
"Look at you, you're straining."
"We insist you sit, put your feet up."
"Ratface, go fetch him something sweet from the pantry."

Ratface just blinked slowly, wondering what the hell happened down in the crypt to make the twins so suddenly slavish and devoted to this old man. "Uh... okay, if you say so...?"

"If you're sure..."

He set the box down. Honestly it was a bit on the heavy side but he was used to carrying worse on his back.

Hopefully neither of the twins would break their backs doing that. Poe in particular looked like he'd snap like a twig if he tried.

Poe and Magica made identical flicking motions with their fingers, after which those fingers turned a light blue. So when they picked up the box, it was with ease - though with a closer look, it appeared the box was floating mere inches above those fingers, hence the easiness. Which is why they calmly strutted outside with ease.

Ratface watched them until they were the door, then turned to Scrooge with a befuddled expression. "... So, what do you want, new 'lord of the manor'?"

"Ha! I doubt anyone could bring those two to heel even if they wanted to. They're just being polite." He grinned at Ratface. "Awful glad they've finally warmed up to me."

He headed towards the kitchen.

"Actually, how 'bout I put the kettle on while we wait for them?"

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