If they had look back again, they would have notice their uncle burst out into tears. The trillionaire had never felt more despair and loneliness than now: he realised that family wasn't trouble to him, he was the trouble to his own family. There would be no such problems with his family if he made amends to all his past mistakes - but he didn't. Instead he tried to shelter everyone from his business dealings and long-term nemesis in hopes of none of them reaching his household ever again.

How wrong was that? Very.

"Hey, Webby." Della reached to Webby, comforting her. "It's alright. Scrooge was just not in his right mind today - he actually loves you more than you know."

Webby was still sobbing, still felt heartbroken after that visible expression of Scrooge McDuck, the obvious denial from the truth.

"Webby, no other family will treat you as a part of this family more than us do." Donald stepped forward, and hugged Webby. "You'll always have us, no matter what. And if that rich uncle doesn't recognise you, I'll make sure to eat the rich uncle!"

Webby chuckled a bit. She clearly knew Donald was terrible at making jokes, but this one was just too funny to be left off.

"It's very late now, Webby, so we'll bring you back to bed." Della said. "We promise you that we'll talk this out with Uncle Scrooge, alright? Sleep tight with the boys and Lena and Violet."

"Good night, Webby." Donald added before leaving the bedroom.

That night, Webby couldn't sleep. Even with Lena's presence, she was still struggling to even close her eyes. That was way too much for her to experience, especially when the whole ordeals surrounding F.O.W.L. had been bad enough for herself. She brought all her determination and proceeded to not think about it much more...

oOo

"Uncle Scrooge is gone."

Four words were proclaimed by Donald the next day. The day before was bad enough, but Scrooge disappearing right on their eyes the next day? Definitely a bad sign to everyone in the houseboat.

"We need to look for him. Now." Della declared impulsively.

"See here, Della," Beakley began, "we can't just look for him blindly. This isn't our reality! Think of the consequences we could face if we mess with this reality for the sake of finding our Scrooge McDuck!"

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT IF WE'RE GOING TO TORN THIS DUMP TO HELL OR NOT! HE'S FAMILY!"

"Hey, guys..." Lena interrupted. "I found this piece of paper."

The paper was filled with Morse code. It wrote:

-.. - / -. - - / -.-. - - . / ..-. .. -. -.. / - . / .- - / .- -. -.- / -.-. .. .-. -.-. ..- - ... - .- -. -.-. . ... .-.-.- / .. / -.. - -. .-. - / -. . . -.. / .- -. -.- - -. . / - - / -. . - / .. -. - - / - - .-. . / .. -. .- ..- .-. .. . ... / .. -. / .-.. .. ..-. . / - ... .- -. / .. / -.. - .-.-.- / - ... .. ... / .. ... / - -.- / -.-. ... - .. -.-. . -..- / .- -. -.. / -. - / - -. . / ... ... .- .-.. .-.. / .-. . ...- . .-. ... . / .. - .-.-.-

"It looks like this is Mr. McDuck's writing." Violet commented. "I'll see if I can decode his message."

After a while, Violet approached back to the kitchen, and read the translated message.

"Do not come find me at any circumstances. I don't need anyone to get into more injuries in life than I do. This is my choice, and no one shall reverse it."

Violet passed the paper to Donald, unable to hold it any longer. "So... he chose to leave instead of facing it." Donald grumbled.

"Uncle Donald, he could have his own reason on it-" Dewey began.

"No, Dewey! You don't understand! This is his biological daughter we're talking about! He can't just go and tell us to 'Screw off, I'm leaving, take care of my child that I clearly declined!', that's not how it works!"

"What are you talking about, Uncle Donald- oh no, no, no. For real?" Louie whimpered as he heard this news.

Donald nodded sadly. The triplet immediately went for Webby and hugged her.

"As long as you're here with us, we're family. There's no doubt about that." Huey proclaimed.

Webby wanted to say 'thank you' but she was getting too emotional that she just whimpered the words and started crying.

"Della, Mrs. B. A word with both of you please." Donald said.

They went out of the kitchen, and soon out of sight from the kids.

"How's the process for the Ramrod?" Donald calmly asked.

"There's still some missing components, and since this is way back before the whole explosion, it will take a long time before we can go back." Mrs. Beakley informed.

Donald nodded. "Anything else we need to know about what's going to happen in this weird reality?"

"Give me a moment." Della said, then went back to the kitchen. A few moments later, she pulled out Louie's cellphone. "So, this place is two years from now... what's the date today? Alright, let's see..."

"Hey, Mrs. B, is this right date? It said here they were going to Monacrow."

"Yes- oh no. Oh no. This is bad."

Donald just nodded, once again. Della was extremely confused - she had been going to Monacrow with Donald and Uncle Scrooge before. What could possibly go wrong this time?

"Hey, I don't quite understand... what's going on? Don, we've been to Monacrow with Uncle Scrooge before!"

"No, Della, this is different." Donald replied. "That's when the kids figured out... what the Spear of Selene is, and why me and Scrooge have been separated for almost twenty years before we reconcile. Dewey was the most emotional out of all of them, he blamed entirely on Scrooge for what happened-"

There was a noise, and Mrs. Beakley just realised that the noise was Della slapping Donald.

"How ironic! The kids were mad at Scrooge for a problem only I was responsible for, and no one else! You also got mad at Scrooge, didn't you? Twenty years of separation, bringing them back to the Manor, and then they just get mad at the old man for the same thing! What kind of uncle are you?"

"Della, this story is from the past, please be aware-" Mrs. Beakley interrupted, clearly wanting this argument to end.

"No, Mrs. B. It doesn't matter if it's from the past or not, I still need him to face the truth!" Della immediately argued back. "Over the course of twenty years, he finally managed to reconcile, so that later on the kids after receiving this information got mad at him as well! That's not how family works!"

Donald didn't speak, or rather, he couldn't speak. As he was about to do so, the kids showed up. Huey, Dewey and Louie were all feeling ashamed, while Violet, Lena and Webby chose to stay out of this conversation, as they already agreed that it would be rude to intervene.

"We're sorry, Mum. We shouldn't have done so two years ago." The triplet all chanted. "We know what we did was wrong."

"Kids." Della reminded. "Just remember, that it has always been my fault, and I was the only person that made the decision. If something ever happens again do not always blame Uncle Scrooge, you hear me?"

The triplet nodded.

"Don, I know you're a very responsible uncle, and I thank you for that, but you should know that there is no good as to keep blaming one another. Uncle Scrooge just left and we can't always blame on him again. Can you do that?"

"I'll see what I can do." Donald replied.

"Lunch is here." Mrs. Beakley said from the kitchen.

"Let's go, Don, kids."

oOo

Lena told herself a lot of times that it wasn't her fault. Donald's therapy session taught her so. But even then, the current situation she was in now and how the Shadow War would be unfolded once more couldn't back it up. She knew that in one way or another, she caused this.

She was now in the attic, sitting there, trying to think about her future. She had been adopted, she finally got free from her so-called Aunt Magica, but even then, her past had never been something to turn down easily. Banished from the Shadow Realm, she was casted as Magica's puppet in order to fulfill the 'destiny' that apparently she had to do to achieve her freedom.

Freedom?

Lena sighed. She knew this wasn't the right time to ask this. The current condition couldn't let her do this just yet.

She went for the doorknob and froze.

The door was locked.

"Stupid doorknob!" Lena grunted. "Already having fun with the attic door!"

She kept trying to nudge the doorknob, but it strangely won't budge at all. Lena panicked.

"Is anyone here? I need help!" She yelled out. "Anyone?"

The voice echoed.

"Something is definitely wrong." Lena thought.

"You figured. For that I have to congratulate you."

Lena couldn't move. She couldn't believe that it was that voice. A voice that was familiar, way too familiar. She slowly turned.

It was her, and herself.

"Lena De Spell. Though I supposed you knew. You're me, after all."

"My name is Lena Sabrewing. And we're nothing alike!" Lena angrily replied.

'Lena' just laughed. "Oh, you think changing your name will remove that legacy? It's amusing and pathetic how you would go all the way to do so."

"Why am I here?"

"Because I figured out." 'Lena' casually replied. "And before you ask more questions, your family is safe from the Shadow War. For now."

"Oh, how exciting it was to figure out there is another me in this universe!"

Lena took a defence stance and transformed. Her eyes were fixated on her counterpart, challenging and compelling.

"You really are something." 'Lena' was taken aback a little. Her amulet started glowing.

"Enough of the trouble. Now that I exactly know where you and your little friends came from, I will take down all of you, one by one, and there is nothing you can do about it." A maniacal laugh followed as she continued. "No, Lena, you couldn't win. I am you."

The room went pitch black, and the last thing Lena remembered was being knocked out.

oOo

"Lena?"

Lena grunted. She felt like something was squeezing her.

"Lena!" Webby called out.

"Hey Pink." Lena replied weakly. "Where exactly am I?"

"Donald's room. He saw you fainted at the attic when he busted the door open. He wants to speak with you later on. For now, rest."

"No, Webby, I can't." Lena suddenly realised. "I can't do that, everyone is in danger. She knew."

"Who knew?"

Donald suddenly came in.

"Webby, I need you to leave for now." Donald said. "I'll take it from here."

Webby left the room, quite worried as to what she had heard.

"Lena, self-harm isn't good for your health, you know?" Donald carefully talked. "You have to know that it isn't your fault-"

"No, Donald, you're misunderstanding." Lena interrupted. "Everyone is in danger now."

"What do you mean?"

"She knew." Lena answered. She stopped for a moment, then continued. "Scrooge already told me that something was wrong with her, and not long ago I faced her."

It took Donald a moment to understand the ambiguity Lena intentionally made. He nodded, and reassured her that she would be protected no matter what. For a moment Lena started to believe nothing would go wrong again.

Then that moment faded.

Lena quickly glanced at the window of the houseboat and saw the sky was getting dark.

The Shadow War had begun... but something odd was about to come. At the top right corner was a note. Lena took it down.

Two choices. Choose one only. You know what I meant.
- Lena De Spell


This is a filler chapter - sorry for the lack of attention on some part. Chapter 5 will definitely be more detailed, and I'm glad that it will come soon as I already have an idea on it. A review on this chapter with constructive criticism will mean the world to me.