Huey

The rest of the school week passed by in somewhat of a blur for Huey. The anticipation and excitement grew the closer it came to the weekend, the fantasy of adventure becoming more and more real. He actually forgot to take notes in a couple of classes, too busy fantasising about the trip. He found himself revising everything he knew about Phoenicia, its history, religion, technology, everything. He admittedly couldn't find a whole lot about the ancient civilisation, which made him a little bit nervous, but the prospect of going on another adventure was enough to assuage his worries.

He had tried to keep the details to himself, not quite knowing how to explain the whole 'adventuring' thing to his small circle of friends. He didn't expect it to last, though. Dewey was nothing if not a drama queen, and Huey very much expected the gossip to be spreading through the school like wildfire by the end of the week.

So, when the end of the week came around and no rumours were to be heard, Huey was pleasantly surprised.

The adults of the house were busy the whole week organizing thing for the trip. Between Della, Donald and Scrooge, the Sunchaser had been thoroughly packed with crates of supplies and equipment. Climbing kits, parachutes, flashlights, rations, first aid kits… it seemed that they were deliberately overpreparing for this trip, and Huey couldn't be gladder.

Huey had expected Webby to be the most excited for the adventure, and he was indeed proven right. His pink-sporting cousin had been filled with a fervour that he hadn't seen from her in years. She was jumping from room to room, sliding down the handrails down the main stairs, and excitedly asking family members things about the trip – what monsters they could fight, what kind of treasures they'd score, what kind of traps the place would have, and so on. Her enthusiasm spread across the mansion, and everyone found themselves smiling a lot more.

But probably the most dramatic change was found in Louie. The youngest triplet had gone from dour and withdrawn to bright and happy within the span of a day. He was hanging around with the family more, he hadn't skipped class since the announcement, he wasn't even complaining about his medication or Donald's tuna sandwiches. It very much seemed like Louie was… happy.

Still… something about it seemed off to Huey. The change… it was too swift, too dramatic. Something about it didn't add up to him.

It was on Thursday evening that Huey caught Louie doing something unusual – reading. He saw him as he was passing by the manor library, sitting in a leather armchair in the corner. A large book rested open in his lap, and a look of disinterest was upon his face.

"…Hey." Huey greeted him confusedly.

Louie looked up in surprise. "Oh, hey!" He leant back in the chair and swept his hand around the room, chuckling incredulously. "We have a library!"

"…I know."

"I didn't." Louie laughed. "We've lived in this house for, like, almost eight years, and I haven't even seen half the rooms in this place."

"It is a big house." Huey remarked, entering the room. The library was nowhere near as extensive as the archives at the Money Bin, consisting of only a few bookshelves and a small desk, but it had a decent selection regardless. Huey approached his brother curiously. "What're you reading?"

"Uh…" Louie closed the book and looked at the cover. "Ancient Civilisations of the Mediterranean. I was hoping to learn more about the place we're going… Phoenixia?"

"Phoenicia."

"Right, that one. It's not a great read, though." Louie put the book on a nearby side table. "I've been sitting here for, like, an hour just trying to decipher it."

"You're, uh… really getting into this." Huey said hesitantly.

"Yeah, man, I…" Louie shook his head, still smiling. "…I've got a good feeling about this. Like, usually I just assume things will suck, but… I feel like this is gonna be really good. No idea why, but I do."

"…Huh." Huey said.

Louie looked at him, his eyebrow slowly raising as Huey stood there. "…You good?"

Huey clasped his hands together nervously. "Louie… I know that you want me to stop worrying over you so much…"

"And now would be a great time to start doing that." Louie said in a low voice.

"Yeah, I just…" Huey sighed and looked at him in the eye. "I just want to know that you're sure that this is what you want. I don't want you to do this just because we want to."

Louie glared at him for a moment, then chuckled humourlessly. "'Are you sure?'" Louie parroted ruefully. He dropped the smile and looked away into the middle distance. "Dude, if I don't do this, I'm going to be hearing those words for the rest of my life."

Louie stood up from the chair, putting his hands in his hoodie pockets and looking at Huey expressionlessly. Huey said nothing.

"I don't want to be babied anymore, Huey." He said simply. "I want to have the room to take care of myself. And to do that, I need you to stop worrying and just… enjoy the adventure. Like we used to."

Huey looked at his brother up and down, reading the quiet desperation on his face. He sighed, then he smiled at him. "…Alright."

Louie smiled back gratefully. "Thanks man… I really-"

"Hey, guys!"

The two brothers turned around to see Dewey standing in the doorway, grinning at the two of them and holding a large plastic object in his hands.

"Me and Webby just came back from the mall, gettin' new duds for the adventure!" He said eagerly, holding up the object. "How do guys picture me in this?"

Huey's smile flickered. Dewey was holding a plastic bag containing what looked to be clothes. Within the bag was a piece of cardboard, displaying some duck wearing a khaki shirt, a fake leather jacket, a satchel, and some kind of brown hat. Above the picture, written in stylised red text, were the words 'Fortune Seeker'.

Below that was a price tag that read '$49'.

"…Okay." Louie said wryly. "Now, I'm having second thoughts."

The weekend came all too soon.

The Cloudslayer rested in front of the hangar, its faded red paint gleaming in the morning sun. The cargo door was open, Launchpad and Della busy loading the last of the supply crates into the cargo hold as the rest of the family loitered outside the door. The triplets and Webby, each carrying a heavy rucksack, stood waiting for Scrooge to finish getting ready and come out. Before them was Donald, fretting over the three of them, and Daisy, standing behind in her pink dress and black bowtie.

"Now, Huey, you have to keep an eye for traps in that place, you hear me?" Donald fussed as they waited. "Remember TRAP: Tripwires, runes-"

"Arrowheads and pressure plates." Huey finished calmly. "I know, Uncle Donald."

Donald turned to Louie, who was beside him. "Louie, do not try any of your schemes while you're in Byblos. You're in a different country, with different laws-"

"I know, Uncle Donald." Louie said exasperatedly.

Donald turned to the last triplet in line. "Dewey… are you sure you want to wear that?"

Dewey was wearing the costume he'd bought the other day, the 'leather' jacket worn over one of his blue shirts and the hat sitting upon his head. A satchel hung around his shoulder, and tied to his belt was a clearly fake bullwhip.

"…Yeah." He replied blankly. "Why wouldn't I?"

"…No reason." Donald said uncertainly.

"Don't be too overbearing, Donald." Daisy told him gently. "They're almost men now, after all."

"I know." Donald sighed. "I just worry a lot."

"We'll be fine, Uncle Donald." Huey said assuredly. "Trust me."

Beside Huey, Mrs Beakley had knelt down before Webby, looking at her sternly. "Now, the practice training we did over the week was helpful, but you're still out of practice. You have to be careful in the ruins, understand?"

"Yep!" Webby replied quickly.

"Remember to keep your eyes on the boys, make sure they don't do anything foolish."

"Got it!"

Beakley looked at her with a serious, pointed expression. Webby's smile flickered, then she nodded and added earnestly, "I'll keep them safe."

Beakley looked at her up and down, then smiled at her. "Good."

Approaching from behind Beakley were two young ducks around about Webby's age. One was wearing a sun-yellow blouse, a knee-length white skirt and an accompanying yellow ribbon that tied her headfeathers back into a ponytail. She stood smirking at Webby with her arms folded across her chest, standing next to her sister, who wore dark blue overalls over a light blue shirt. Like her sister, a large, light-blue ribbon was tied around her head, and her headfeathers were tied into two short pigtails. Her hands were clasped behind her back.

Webby walked up to them, a nervous smile on her face. "Hey, uh… I'm sorry you guys can't go…"

The yellow one, May, held up her hand to stop her. "Sis, it's fine. Enjoy yourself out there, and don't worry about us."

June moved up and gave her pink-sporting sibling a brief, but tight hug. "We'll be there in spirit, Webby." She told her. "Take care of yourself."

"Aw…" Webby smiled at them. "Thanks, girls. Hey, there'll totally be adventures after this one, so maybe you can come next time!"

"No, they won't!" Daisy trilled from the side.

"Or… maybe not." Webby said awkwardly, the two twins shooting annoyed glances at their adoptive mother.

Finally, Scrooge arrived, dressed in his red coat and top hat, his cane in his hand, and a look of daring excitement upon his face. He stepped out and called, "Kids! It's time!"

Huey looked over to his uncle, anticipation building in his heart. From his right, he could see Webby bobbing up and down in place, buzzing with energy.

Della and Launchpad walked up to the group, Della dusting off her hands as she did. "Hey, good timing! We just finished loading, so we're good to go!"

"Man, I can't believe you guys are going on adventures again!" Launchpad said cheerfully. "It's just like when they cancelled Darkwing Duck, and then they tried to make that movie and they didn't… but then it happened in real life!"

"…Yeah… like that." Dewey said uncertainly. "You coming with?"

"Nah, I'm gonna be hanging out with Darkwing- I mean, my good buddy Drake Mallard all weekend."

He looked away, muttering, "Heh, nice save, LP. They'll never suspect a thing."

He turned back to them brightly. "Speaking of Darkwing Duck, though, have you guys heard of how he recently defeated NegaDuck in an epic battle on top-!"

"On a schedule, Launchpad!" Scrooge told him as he started to usher the party towards the plane.

"Oh, right. Happy adventuring, you guys!"

The five adventurers made their way onto the Cloudslayer, Della following closely behind. As the cargo doors closed, they turned and waved to the family, bidding farewell, as everyone waved back. The plane's engines started to whir, then the blades began to spin, and the plane slowly moved forward, and began to take off.

The plane trip was slow, steady. Huey sat in one of the seats on the left side of the plane, taking deep, deliberate breaths in the hope of calming his nerves.

"…Phoenicia was a thalassocratic civilisation that existed in the twelfth century BC." He murmured quietly to himself.

On the other side of the plane sat Webby and Louie. Webby was almost vibrating with excitement in her seat, while Louie was staring off into the distance, nervously tapping his leg.

"…consisted of numerous allied city-states, chiefly Tyre, Bidon and Byblos." Huey said under his breath.

Scrooge and Della sat up in the cockpit, talking between themselves. Dewey sat beside Huey, his arms crossed and his expression pensive. If it wasn't for the ridiculous costume he was wearing, Huey might've thought he looked serious.

"…conquered by Pompey the Great in sixty-four BC…"

"You good, man?" Louie said across the other side of the plane. Huey glanced up, seeing that he was looking at Dewey.

The blue triplet blinked. "Me?"

"You're not as crazy-energised as I thought you'd be about this."

"Well…" Dewey scratched his head. "…I dunno. I guess it's only just hitting me now that we're doing this. Like, this is actually happening."

"…Kay." Louie shrugged. "I hear you."

"It's been the opposite for me." Huey muttered, shaking his head. "It's been all too real. I've been focusing so much on this, that I haven't been paying enough attention to school." He sat up and groaned. "I really hope I'm going to have enough time to finish my physics homework…"

Louie slowly turned his head to give Huey a flat, emotionless look.

"Tell me that isn't your biggest priority right now." He said to him.

"We get tested on it every Tuesday!" Huey cried.

"So?" Dewey shrugged. "Isn't it only, like, ten questions?"

"You don't understand, Mr Baxter doesn't give us any room for error!" Huey snapped. "I'm not taking any chances!"

Louie snorted with amusement. Then, he looked to Webby, who sat with a fixed, intensely happy expression on her face, staring off into the middle distance.

Gently, Louie poked her on the shoulder. "Uh… are you-?"

"I'm so excited for this adventure!" She shouted as she leapt out of her seat, prompting Louie to jump in alarm. "I've spent all week practicing martial arts with Granny, in case we fight any monsters in the ruins, I've been practicing my parkour by jumping across the school rooftops, even though Mrs Brookfeather keeps telling me not to, and- and-"

She reached into her rucksack and pulled out a notebook. "I got all these notes on Early Linear which was, like, the script that the ancient Phoenicians used, so I can translate any writing that we find in there!" She paused a bit, then added abashedly, "Er, well… almost any writing."

Louie looked up at her, then he chuckled. "Heh… I think I missed Excited Webby."

"That's… really impressive." Huey said in surprise.

"Aw… thanks." Webby said, looking away with a smile.

"That's really cool." Dewey agreed. "How'd you balance that with studying for our gen-maths test?"

Webby blinked. "Our what?"

"Alright, kids!" Scrooge's voice hollered from the cockpit. "We're almost there!"

The conversation was immediately forgotten. The triplets got up out of their seats to go take a look, and Webby virtually vanished in a puff of smoke as she darted up to the front of the plane. They looked out the window in awe as the city of Byblos – and their new adventure – came close and closer upon the horizon.