I remember sitting in that alleyway for a long time, trying my absolute damndest to stop myself from hyperventilating. I had been sitting in their house for hours slowly leeching off them without them even knowing it, too wrapped up in pretending to be normal to realize I was slowly killing them. Either I needed to live the rest of my life as a leaper avoiding even the shortest visit with my friends, or I needed to stop my magic from hurting anyone again.

The only real question remaining was to figure out how to strip it from my body and hopefully survive in the process. Unfortunately, there was really only one place that had it, Mrs. Beakley had said that Scrooge tended to research magical enemies in his office so it stood to reason that he would have something about me, or at least wants to get rid of magic. Of course, this also meant that I was now going to have to try and sneak into one of the most fortified locations in the world, McDuck manor, thought that would probably be considerably easier since Scrooge had granted me access.

Walking back to the manor took a long time and more than once I had to hide to avoid being spotted by Violet's dad who was clearly searching for me by driving up and down the streets of Duckberg. A part of me was feeling guilty about how I had left them, and it was somewhat comforting to see that they would at least pretend to search for me to appease Violet. I hoped that I hadn't hurt her when I shoved her away, though I suppose if she'd convinced her dads to search for me it must have been minor. Unless it wasn't and they were searching for me for revenge, however, the slow methodical driving did seem to make that second option unlikely.

Thankfully the gates of the Manor did open for me without even a pause and I was able to quickly make my way up the driveway. I frowned as I pulled out the Sumerian talisman once again, I really didn't want to use a whole lot of ill-gained magic to deceive the McDucks again, but I knew that if I was caught then all of my efforts would be for nothing. If Webby saw me then she would guilt trip me into not doing this, and it was already hard enough to push ahead with this. Magic was who I was, but I knew I had to get rid of it to keep them safe. So it was with no small amount of trepidation that I channelled energy through the stone and used it to attune myself to the world around me.

I cast out my magic, searching the non-astral plane for anything alive in and around the manor. To my disappointment, it was clear that most of the Pukwedg-whatever had been dealt with and now they were just cleaning up a few stragglers, so my window of opportunity was significantly smaller than I wanted. I didn't exactly flourish under time pressure, but I didn't really have much of an option. If Violet's folks contacted Scrooge then it would only be a matter of time before he found me, he was annoyingly good at figuring people out.

Thankfully their efforts were mostly centred around the lower level of the house, so I knew that with only a small amount of luck I could make it to Scrooge's office without being noticed. So I quickly entered the main hallway, my head on a swivel as I made sure that I wasn't about to be spotted by anyone else, my ears straining for even the slightest of noise.

I had barely started my way up the stairs to the second level when I heard the approaching sound of someone. It was a good thing I was keeping such an intense focus on my surroundings. I quickly dove behind a decorative curtain and did my best to keep my breaths slow and quiet as Huey and Dewey practically skipped into the room.

"I swear I heard the front door open," Dewey claimed as the two stared at the door as if hoping that it would reveal what it had witnessed. Thankfully the two of them seemed to barely bother giving the room much more than a cursory glance before getting bored and heading back into the apparent affray that was happening elsewhere. As soon as they were gone I resumed my journey, hoping that my luck lasted a little longer.

To my absolute surprise, it actually did and I reached the door to Scrooge's office without an incident, and even more surprising no actual issues were getting past it either. Once inside, my luck seemed to at least somewhat hanging around as I quickly realized that Scrooge was surprisingly organised. Admittedly it wasn't that unexpected as he did tend to plan a fair amount of things out, still to find that he had an actual handwritten index sitting on his desk of what section focused on what information was amazing.

My luck did slightly falter when I noticed that one of those sections was simply named magic, which was in no way a useful amount of information. Still with only a few shelves to look at I knew that it was going to be enough for me to figure things out, but first I needed to make sure I wasn't disturbed. I knew that Scrooge would not be happy about this if he ever found out, but I quickly channelled yet more energy through the air and wrapped a proper incantation around the door handle. It wasn't really that much of a spell, more just being a wedge of magic wrapping the door handle to keep it in place and difficult to open. It wouldn't really stop him if he was determined to open it, but still, it would hopefully be enough to at least buy me time to escape unseen.

With that level of protection in place, and a quick magical cast showing me that the McDuck family was still dealing with magical problems, I started on the first book on the shelf. It lasted barely more than a few pages before I dropped it to the floor and moved onto the next one, why he had a book on literal party tricks in a 'magic' section was not a promising start. The next book was promising, and Scrooge had clearly read all the way through it judging by the numerous annotations and corrections that littered the pages. It turned out to be a book primarily focusing on common magical creatures and their various abilities and behaviours.

However the really important thing was a bookmark sitting in the book, and I opened the book onto a page about magically conjured creatures. It was at this point that I realized that Scrooge had been doing more than just researching a few magical creatures, he had been researching me. I frowned as I trailed my eyes over the notes that dotted nearly every spare space on the page, it was clear that this was not a recent bit of research. I read through some of the notes and didn't like what I saw.

Was she a shadow of Magica, or a shadow created by Magica?

I shuddered at the words, unable to really decide which option I liked less.

Webbigail's shadow seems to not react to multiple light sources correctly, there always seems to be a dominant shadow, is it a remnant of the shadow war or something else.

Is she being controlled? No, the shadow seems to have no effect on her.

I frowned as I read through those last two notes, I had not been really fully aware of my effects on Webby when I was in the shadow hell, so to find out that it was started to affect her before I even managed to return to the same realm as her was not a promising sign.

Scrooge had gotten worryingly close to the truth of what I was, a truth that I honestly didn't know, and I was not exactly enjoying reading the notes of someone trying to deconstruct me down to a single magical spell. However, I knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth and kept reading through the notes in the hope that someone as paranoid as Scrooge would know how to strip my magic away.

"Lena?" Scrooge's voice shocked me out of my focus and I almost yelped when I saw him standing in the doorway, an almost unreadable expression on his face. "I thought you were staying over at that Violet girl's house tonight. Did something happen?"

I was rather annoyed that he would come in here and try to play the 'concern' card to my face, I was holding his research into getting rid of me and he wanted to pretend that we were friends. The sheer audacity he had annoyed me to a level I didn't realize I could ever ignore.

"When were you going to tell me about this?" I growled at him, the talisman around my neck glowing unnaturally as I struggled to keep my magic in check. I was annoyed, sure, but I didn't want to kill him. He was right, after all, it wasn't exactly a bad idea to get rid of the unstable magical user and researching how to take me down was a smart move. But for all that logical reasoning, I was just still angry with him. Once again I was demonstrating that magical users weren't exactly the most stable mentally. "Or were you just going to pretend that everything is fine?"

"What do you mean?" His confusion turned into a frown as he spotted the papers in my hand. "Ah, how far did you get through that?"

"I got far enough, and I can't even disagree with you." I groaned as I shoved it into his hands and slumped over in his office chair. "Magic is dangerous and is not really good for anything. As someone who is basically nothing but magic I can make that connection. Even though I've never been to school, even I can put two and two together and realize that I am a problem that you need to deal with."

"Lena, this is all of the research that I did sin-"

"Since I got blasted by Magica, yeah I know." I rolled my eyes but couldn't bring myself to look in his direction. "You wanted to make sure that if I ever came back you would be able to stop me, well guess what I want to make sure you can stop me. I also want to get rid of this stupid magic, even if there isn't much left afterwards."

"I wasn't trying to work out to defeat you" Scrooge forced me to turn and look at him, concern plastered across his aged face. "I was trying to work out how to get you back."

"No!" I impulsively pushed him away, but my magic took the opportunity to shove him across the room until he hit the bookcase with a rather audible thump. Judging by how quickly he got back to his feet and how much he was rubbing the back of his head, he didn't seem to be overly injured. "Stop lying to me. I know that you hate magic, that you hate what I am, and I agree." I pulled off my talisman and tossed it to him, ignoring the magical feedback as it bounced off the floor at his feet. I am not that great at throwing things accurately. "So you're going to show me how we get it out of me, or I'm going to force you to show me. I need to get this stupid magic out of me one way or another, and you will help me"

I tried to give my command a little bit of magical punctuation, to make it clear that I was a danger that he could not just turn and ignore. Of course, I was not exactly thinking that clearly and instead kind of just made the talisman awkwardly flip over. Magic and I really were not friends.

"Lena, I am not about to kill you," Scrooge looked rather horrified about the prospect of my demand. I couldn't help rolling my eyes at the realization that I was going to have to be the one to convince him to do it.

"You have to, or your family will die!" I shot back. "I'm losing control of this stupid stuff and I am already stealing energy from all of your family. If this keeps up, I will take their lives so I can cast a few pointless sparkles."

"No, you're not." Scrooge dismissed with a raised eyebrow before shaking his head with a chuckle. "This might surprise you, but I do actually know what I am talking about. I don't particularly like magic, but I am not stupid enough to not find out everything I could about it. Knowledge is something that I truly value, so believe when I say that I know that you are not a threat to the rest of the family."

"I saw the magical connection between Webby and Violet" I was incensed that Scrooge would just dismiss my worries with such little concern. These were the lives of his family and friends that he had just handwaved away. "I saw the energy flow on the link."

"Of course you did, but if you bothered to get a proper eating habit even that wouldn't happen. You're not stealing life energy or whatever, you're a magical sponge living off ambience." He picked up the talisman and stepped closer to me, holding it out to me. "How about before you become completely fatalistic, we work out what is actually happening and see if there is even an issue? Worth a try, I'd say."

I swallowed nervously and eyed the now brightly shining talisman in his hand, but I made no move to actually take it. "My magic only hurts those around me, I don't care what guilt complex is making you pretend. I'm not a 'sponge' or whatever, I saw real power flow from Webby to me. The energy that had to come from somewhere"

"What was the focus of the pathway?" Scrooge asked with a sigh as he kneeled down beside me, resting his hand on the back of mine while still holding the talisman in front of me. "How did it flow?"

"The focus?" I blinked before mentally recalling it. "It was Webby's friendship bracelet, but that's only from Webby. Violet's was more her general form without any real form."

"In magic, the focus is one of the most pivotal parts of a spell. It sets the tone and form of the spell, even for those generated from pure emotive needs such as what you have unknowingly created here." He told me as he placed the talisman in my other hand and reached past me to pull another book from the sheft, opening it awkwardly with one hand. "I know that Magica was a lot of things, but it's rather clear that basic magical theory was not something she bothered to provide. You see a string connecting yourself to Webby's bracelet, but for the others you see that it splinters out into a vague pathway, correct?"

I just dumbly nodded as I looked at the page he had opened before me. Magical focus and spellwork covered the page, but the first section spelled out the types of casts and how they linked individuals. "That still doesn't mean that I am not "

"It does. You're not dragging energy out of them, you're pulling energy that they are already giving you just by knowing you." Scrooge was smiling warmly as he held the book out to me, but I didn't bother taking it, I knew he wasn't wrong.

"Please don't say it" I buried my face in my hands, of all the stupid things that could have powered me, why did it have to be this. Webby was going to love rubbing it in that she was right that friendship was magic thanks to her stupid emotive magical focus.

"I know it's a little cheesy, but it works out nicely for you," Scrooge told me with a smile as I just groaned and refused to even look at him. "Sorry Lena, but it turns out your magic is sourced voluntarily by those who want to connect to you. Nothing was stolen, and what is given freely with those you make a positive emotive bond merely requires that they focus on you."

"This is Webby's fault," I complained, feeling mortified. "Only she could literally make friendship into a magic power source."

Scrooge just chuckled as he put an arm around me, letting me sink down into the embrace. We sat there in silence as I felt the day's adrenaline slowly seep out of me, but the silence couldn't last.

"So, no foolish ideas of self-sacrifice I hope?" Scrooge's voice had taken on a rather serious tone and he had leaned in close to me. I felt the guilt rise up within me and just nodded meekly. "I need you to say it kiddo. If you ever see that as your best option, you need to tell me so we can work it out."

"I promise," I responded weakly. "I just wish I could be normal like the others."

"Normal, hmm." Scrooge sighs and stands up, offering me a hand. "Normal is an interesting target to aim for, and not one that I had ever wanted to be. Now different, I think different to themselves is something that everyone wants to be. Some want to model themselves off someone else, others want to become something that no one else is. I don't think that you want to be normal, I think you just don't want your magic to be the only thing anyone sees when they look at you."

"Magic is what I am" I pointed out with a huff.

"A feathered duck is what I physically am, but I am much more than just a duck. I call myself the richest duck in the world, but the duck part isn't really what people see when they look at me." Scrooge explained with a sigh as he led me out of his office, closing it tightly behind us before ruffling my head feathers. "I think you would agree that a conceited, self-aggrandizing, selfish jerk is probably the most common view others have of me."

"I plead the fifth" I responded with a smirk, not even realizing at first that I was leaning against him as we stood there. I didn't pull away. "Webby says a lot more positive things, but I get what you mean. Magic may be a part of me, but it isn't the only thing I am."

I frowned as I recalled Scrooge's view of magic. "Are you sure you're okay with all of this magic nonsense?"

"Why would I not be?"

"You have a rational hatred of all magic and proclaim that is cheating and good for nothing."

"I didn't mean to make you feel I was talking about you, Lena." It was Scrooge's turn to look suitably chastised. "Magic and I have not seen eye to eye for a long time, but I think I can mostly blame Magica for that. She has abused magic and perverted it into a tool to attack those that she disagrees with little concern for what happens to them after. I will admit that I have frequently pushed all magic into the same category without really caring about it, and I recognise that it is unfair for me to do so."

"So you're not okay with this?" I replied bitterly with my arms crossed as I turned away from him. "I can leave if it's really such a problem."

"My issues with magic are not something you need to care about." Scrooge sighed as he again wrapped an arm around me and pulled me back against him. It felt nice. "I am not comfortable with magic, but I do want you here with us. Magic and all. My discomfort with it is my problem to deal with, not yours. You deserve a place in this family, and my unfounded paranoia shouldn't take that away from you."

I didn't know if I should shove him away, or lean closer and enjoy the warmth. Look, no one ever really gave me a hug apart from Webby and I wanted to enjoy it for a bit. "I failed to protect your family from Magica, you don't have to uphold a deal if I failed my side of the bargain."

"Lena, ignoring the fact that you did protect them, I didn't make that offer because I wanted to get leverage over Magica," Scrooge told me gently, as I pretty much let myself rest against him. "I offered it because I saw someone who needed a family and I believed that you deserved to have the opportunity to join mine."

I didn't know how to respond. How do you even say anything back to someone saying that they just wanted to help because they could? Do you say thanks? Do you offer them some sort of compensation? Do you try to politely decline it even though all you want to do is grab the opportunity with both hands and refuse to let go? I didn't know what to say so I just let myself fall deeper into the one-armed hug from Scrooge. I'd already found out that I was powered by the most saccharine thing to ever exist, so it's not like I am any more embarrassed.

"Lena, I spent months researching Sumerian rituals to try and find the missing puzzle piece to bring you back. I wasn't just merely bartering good will when I offered you a place in my family. No matter what you choose to do with your life I promise that there will be a place for you here." Scrooge paused as if considering something. "However I don't want you to feel that you are required to be a part of the family, or that you need to choose between a part of it or not. This isn't an offer for you to accept, I just want you to know that if you need a place to stay then there will be one. Even if you, say, got adopted by another family and lived there, you should feel free to be wherever you want to be."

"Why do I feel you're not entirely talking hypothetically?" I asked cautiously. "Did Violet's dads say something?"

"Mostly because I am not," Scrooge admitted. "As soon as I found out that you were here I called them to find out what happened? They were quite worried when you ran off like that after all."

"Great, someone else I need to apologise to." This night was just going to be continual embarrassment it seemed. "I'm guessing they aren't that eager to invite me back?"

"They demanded that I make sure you spend a few nights there." Scrooge chuckled. "I assume that you already knew that their daughter Violet was a foster kid as well. They saw a lot of the same signs in Violet when they first had her that they saw repeating in you, and wanted to help. I may have let slip a little too much of the whole magical background of you, sorry about that."

I wasn't really in a place to complain about others actually caring about me, so I just gave a noncommittal shrug. Besides, the ship had set sail on trying to pretend I wasn't a magical construct.

"They want to give you the opportunity to spend some time in a more stable environment. I will be the first to admit that this manor faces an absurd amount of issues daily, and they believed that a more typical environment might be a better fit for you." Scrooge frowned a bit as he finished. "I don't entirely agree as I think it would be annoyingly boring for you so I instead suggested that you get to simply choose whichever takes your fancy each evening."

"I assume that went well?" I asked, feeling weirdly floaty at the prospect of having two families fighting over who got to keep me.

"Not entirely, but that's my argument to have with them. Not yours." Scrooge gestured down the stairs. "We should probably head downstairs soon, most of the Pukwedgies should be gone and Webby will no doubt be here soon."

"Webby's dealing with the last one now," I shrugged.

"Are you sure?" There was more than a small amount of curiosity in his voice, so I decided to be as truthful as I could be.

"I know you said that magic is cheating, but I can kind of just feel magic usage," I admitted with a bit of a blush, hoping that I hadn't overstepped. However, Scrooge just laughed.

"Ah, maybe there is something to be said about cheating a little here or there?"

The two of us made our way downstairs before I was hit by another odd thought. "If you talked to Violet's parents after finding out I was here, how did you already know?"

"I have a ghost butler who likes things to be clean and you have managed to shove half a bookcase of literature onto the floor." He sighed as we made our way downstairs, past a collapsed suit of armour and a newly torn tapestry. "Duckworth went to clean up this mess, found you here, and then simply told me. No spying on my part."

"I forgot how bizarre this family can be," I muttered.

"And you were worried about not being normal enough?"

"Touché"