Heart's Desire, Heart's Pain {LouWebena}

Good Riddance

"Louie!" Scrooge snapped his fingers in front of the boys glazed eyes, scowling when the boy made no reaction. He looked down at the green gem clasped in the boy's hands. "The jewel must've trapped'im in a trance."

Donald paced across the room, fists clenching and unclenching at his side. He wanted to punch something, someone, his uncle, but he had the anger buried underneath his worry.

They were in the manor's library where Louie had been safely transported after being found frozen in the garage. No one knew what happened between breakfast and the moment Huey and Dewey realized Louie was missing.

Speaking of them... Donald stopped where he was and turned to look at the four children sitting in chairs with grim expressions on their faces. As much as Donald wanted to yell and blame his uncle, he knew his kids needed him right then.

Dewey looked up from his hands when his uncle walked over, revealing a light trail of tears falling down his cheeks. "Unca Donald? Does unca Scrooge know how to fix Louie?"

Donald's heart broke hearing Dewey revert back to his child-like way of saying uncle. He hesitated to reply when three more pairs of eyes were on him. "I... I don't know..." when the kids' faces fell, he sighed. "I'm sorry kids..."

Huey reached over to squeeze Dewey's hand, looking worse for wear himself. Donald could tell he was beating himself up about Louie's... condition. He was the oldest triplet, after all. He was expected to look after his brothers, even if he has to overlook his feelings to do it.

Donald pulled a chair up in front of him, and tried to look strong for him -and them. "Huey," he said, tone soft and exhausted. "I need you to tell me what happened when you last saw Louie. Was he acting different, funny?"

Huey tried to think back to earlier that day, looking for anything abnormal. He shook his head. "Nothing, uncle Donald."

Out of the corner of his eye, Donald saw Webby suddenly go pale. He turned to look at her, brows creasing in confusion at her guilty expression. "Webby?" she startled at his voice and looked akin to a deer caught in the headlights. "Do you know something?"

Webby nodded, eyes glazing over with fresh tears. "I didn't mean to..."

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After leaving Huey and Dewey to their own devices in their shared room, Louie walked down the hall to Webby's room. He found her sitting on her bed writing in her notebook. He climbed up the ladder to her and wrapped an arm around her.

"What's up, Webs?"

Webby leaned against him, smiling widely, and moved to show him her journal. On it was a doodle of a chest full of jewels. "I'm cataloging everything in the garage for Mr. McDuck! He didn't really ask me to, but I think he will be really happy that I did!"

Louie studied the drawing with interest. "There has been a chest of jewels in the garage this whole time?"

Webby shook her head, confusion settling on her features. "It just appeared a few days ago. I wonder if it's from a time that hasn't happened yet or another dimension!" by then she was bouncing in her seat, unknowingly knocking Louie's arm off.

Louie wasn't paying attention to it, too caught up in the thought of jewels and gold even his uncle didn't know about. Maybe he could keep some then show them to his uncle. Scrooge wouldn't know, and it couldn't cause any harm, right?

Mind made up, Louie pecked Webby's cheek and moved to get back on the ladder. "I'm gonna go check it out."

Webby's hand shot out, grabbing his arm before he could move an inch. He turned to look at her, confused and worried. "The chest could be cursed... or you could unleash a world-destroying demon." she sighed. "Louie... just be careful, okay?"