AN: This is HIGHLY self-indulgent fanfiction, I just wanna write about mysteries and adventures so if you like what I put out definitely tell me what you think! If you have thoughts or ways to improve my writing just let me know!
The early morning sun rose above the horizon as the sound of birds chirping in the distance welcomed the members of the McDuck manor household. The Manor glimmered like gold in the sun as Scrooge unveiled the curtains to gaze at the manor as he did every morning with a smile tugging at the end of his beak as the chaos resounded in the background. The whole house was alive and the chaos was, in an odd way, comforting to few and he was in that few.
As he wrapped his robe around himself and took the iconic cane into his hands, Scrooge walked through the halls before getting called into his office by his housekeeper, Mrs. Beakley. Through the look on her face with a slight wrinkle underneath her eye, it looked to be more serious than it appeared.
"Sir… there's a call for you."
Scrooge looked over with a curious gaze before speaking up, walking over to her, and the phone in her hands.
"What is it?"
"It's the Saveurs." Her voice sounded cold and grim, Scrooge did not like this but held out for the best, as he reached over the triplets peered around the corner with Webby leading the charge. They looked to her for answers and she raised her hand as if to say not now.
"Ah! Old Chili Saveur! How is the old man, he hasn't been getting on too old has he?" He says with a cheer in his voice as he sits down, Webby on the other hand nearly squeals in excitement as the triplets figure out it's someone important but not who or how important just yet. Louie hums, it's most possibly treasure while the two older brothers are simply reveling in the mere idea of an adventure with someone who might be some famous explorer or scientist they haven't heard of yet.
The children scuttle away, to hear the explanation Webby is going to give them, saving them the time of figuring it all out later, taking them to her room. Her room, as you would expect, was filled to the brim with papers, red string connecting pictures pinned to a corkboard. The little duckling cleared her throat as she slapped her hand on the board, gathering all attention towards her.
"The Saveur Family are old friends of Scrooge in the early days, Chili Saveur often helped Scrooge out on treasure hunts around here. He was often alone despite his large amount of family members, like, there were a lot. Chili had two daughters and six grandchildren, as well as a brother and- well, the point is, he was most active here." As she spoke she circled her hand around a world map haphazardly taped onto the board.
"The Pacific Ring of Fire?" Huey spoke up with a questioning tone, pulling out his Junior Woodchuck Handbook to read it out. "It's a bunch of islands around the Pacific that is made up of thousands of Volcanoes."
"Exactly, and I'm thinking maybe Chili Saveur wants to go through an expedition to find some sort of ancient treasure or something!" Webby says, bouncing up and down before making her way out with the triplets in tow, hoping not to miss out on any details whatsoever.
Scrooge went silent, nodding his head as he listened to the speaker on the phone, his face was screwed into an expression mixed of forlorn and almost regret. The kids didn't miss a beat, seeing his face and the way he had slumped over in his chair, it was not something good. They looked to one another with a twinge of guilt and a load of concern.
"Of course, yes… I'm sorry, I'll be there soon." Scrooge says softly. "Your family will always be welcome in Duckburg."
Scrooge puts down the phone and sighs as he looks to Mrs. Beakley with uncharacteristic downhearted nature that was foreign for the McDuck. "Tell Launchpad to ready the Airship, we leave later today."
Mrs. Beakley nods, an "Of course." leaving her as she leaves to prepare, passing the children on the way out. She gives them a sad glance before she leaves, leaving Webby to think.
"This… uh… it appears that Sir Chili is in grave danger and maybe we're going off to rescue him!" She attempted, raising her finger as she declared her hypothesis but the triplets had a feeling it wasn't the case. Dewey placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head before Louie spoke up to break the silence that had settled.
"I think he's dead."
"But Scrooge did say that Duckburg was welcome to them…" Huey mused silently, but loud enough for them to hear him. "You think someone's coming to live in Duckburg?"
They could only shrug in reply.
As the sun began to settle down back to the horizon, falling below the land and letting the night enter the sky, the plane was getting loaded up, the Duck family all in black as heavy hearts were laid out with Donald, Scrooge, and Mrs. Beakley bearing it most.
The red metal death trap's engine roared to life as Launchpad started the plane up, taking the steering wheel and pulling it towards him as a few buttons and switches were pressed and flipped. The Sunchaser's propellers whizzed as it took off into the air, heading into Cape Suzette.
The white walls and marble floors felt almost surreal to the family, with a young finch girl standing at the back as people came to mourn, she was awkward at most social situations and had the most trouble reading the room. She nervously played and plucked at her hair that was kept in a bun. She had black hair that faded to pink at the ends, being a black rosy finch that was normal coloration.
"Marie." A voice called, and she turned to see a finch, purely white but they looked surprisingly similar. "Stop staying behind like some weirdo and mingle."
The finch speaking adjusted the black button-up shirt around his neck, it was the only thing distinguishing him from the floor and walls, without it he might just disappear. He noticed Marie staring at the floor, spaced out as she stimmed, slowly rocking herself back and forth on her heels.
"Doulce I don't know…"
"I… Marie, just look at how well Lemon is doing," He says, gesturing to their older brother as he tries his absolute best attempting to talk to some older gentlemen the two had never met. "If he can do it so can you."
As if on cue, a knock on the door came through, everyone's gaze turning to see who it was. Doulce elbowed his sister, nudging her towards the door but it wasn't quite getting into her system and in turn, he ended up pushing her towards the door. It took a good second before Marie reached out her hand and pulled the door open, revealing the Duck family themselves.
The twins looked at each other for a second, right before Marie could even speak, an older woman bustled through, the same black coat as Marie but grey streaks lined her hair. She tried her best not to break as she greeted the guests.
"Scrooge, Betina, Donald… I… thank you for coming." She ushers them in, towards the casket, and as they talked the younger ones were left. The twins flabbergasted as they looked over wide-eyed and speechless. Huey and Dewey looked to each other while Louie wasn't too keen on being here but Webby was in a world of her own, seeing seasoned explorers left and right was a dream come true and once she pushed her way to the front she gave her sweet smile and laugh as she reached her hand out.
"Hi! I'm Webby."
Marie nodded, staring at the hand then to Scrooge, then to the triplets, then back to Scrooge. "Oh… my god… they're real." She whispered before getting elbowed by her brother a little too hard.
"O-oh! Um! Yes! I'm Marie Saveur and um… I'm…" She began to trail off, still trying to get into gripes with the situation.
"You're one of the six grandchildren of Chili Saveur! Twin sister of Doulce Saveur, youngest in the set of twins, born to Ophelia and Helios Saveur! Tell me everything about what it's like to live with your Grandfather." Webby finished for her, much to Doulce's snark snort.
"Wow, she knows more about you than… you." He shakes the hand of Webby that had still been outstretched. "And I'm guessing you four are related to Scrooge, who we thought was just some story we were told by our gramps but well… looks like the old man wasn't a liar."
"A liar? Liar? Are you kidding me?! Your grandfather was one of the greatest, most daring allies that Scrooge had! Have you been living under a rock?!" Webby exclaimed, grabbing some unwanted attention.
"Quiet down, firecracker, but what would I know? Magic is real? Only my sister believes in that."
"Well…" Webby trails off as the two begin conversing, moving away from the group as they indulged in old stories of Chili Saveur that Doulce once thought was fiction.
Marie sighs nervously, leaning against the wall. It was one thing to see Scrooge McDuck, but it was another to learn about your family being some swash-buckling, danger-seeking, treasure-hunting… thing. She looked to the three ducks and she fidgeted nervously, her little voice breaking a bit.
"I… I'm Marie! What're your names?"
"I'm Huey, this is Dewey and Louie. You don't have to be so nervous, we won't bite."
"Right! Right…" Marie says, doing a little finger-gun thing but silently cursing her inability to hold a decent conversation with someone, hell, she couldn't even keep eye-contact as she stared at the floor and her own feet instead of them, only catching glimpses. The awkward silence was setting in and she had to think of something to say. "So… um… Scrooge… does he really have a money pit? Like— he swims in money?"
The triplets nodded, a mix of "Oh yeah."s and "He does." Escaping from them as the finch is stunned for a moment. "Huh… and the adventures? They're… well— I know they're real now but does he take you along?"
Dewey was more or less eager to answer her seeing as he loved mysteries and adventures the most out of the three, dying to prove himself more and more. "Yeah! It's the best. There's always danger right around the corner and treasure!"
Marie's face lit up as she bounced slightly in place, eyes wide with wonder as her hands clasped each other, they could definitely see how excited she was but it was odd, it was like she never went.
"Haven't you ever gone? With your grandfather I mean." Louie asks her to which the brothers nod.
"Well…" she pulls up a chair and sits down, her elbows propped up on her knees as she rests her head in her hands.
"First of all we didn't think it was real and… after Doulce and I hatched her kinda retired? Cinnamon, who's my older sister and the one in the biker get-up over there." She points to a tall, dark finch with red feathers and a half-shaved head was talking to Webby and Doulce. She was a bit on the bigger side and was intimidating in a cool punk way. "She went with him but we just thought she was humoring gramps… so I've never been on one and I've always dreamed of it but c'est la vie, that's life… but maybe one day I'll get to go on one! Find treasure, learn secrets of the past and— I… I'm rambling! Sorry! You probably wanna talk about something else!"
Marie quickly covered her mouth with her hands. She had gotten a little carried away with her desire for adventure, she was honestly a little scared she might have scared them away but the triplets were accustomed to much more and they waved her off, as to say it was fine.
"Why not come with Scrooge, I bet he wouldn't even mind you tagging along." Louie shrugs with a nonchalant smile, one Marie returns though it's not as cool as she lets out a signature little nervous chortle.
"Thanks… I mean, maybe! Since my family's moving to Duckburg and all, I think I might be seeing some adventures."
"But don't you live here? In cape Suzette, Webby mentioned your Grandpa was an adventurer, he must have been rich like Scrooge."
"Oh, he was loaded." Doulce cuts in, Webby nodding next to him. "His Manor? … Mansion? Ever since he kicked it, our folks have been dyi— ah— scrambling to get out. It's kind of insane, I've never seen them so scared over something before."
"Sounds like a grade A mystery," Huey says to Dewey, who nods in return.
"What? No! No, our house can't be haunted, it's just… I mean, it's only been there for who knows how long and… sure, gramps may have lived there alone for years before we moved in but…" Marie trails off. "Oh God it's possibly haunted… but that's another day's problem!"
"What?! But I thought you wanted an adventure, Marie! This is your chance!"
"I— I didn't say I wouldn't! Just not now." Doulce gives Marie a look before shaking his head.
Scrooge soon walks by as the sky grows dark, it's time for them to leave. He turns to Doulce and Marie and gives them a forlorn, regretful look.
"My condolences, children."
The twins nod to Scrooge as he leaves before waving to the triplets and Webby a goodbye as the Duck family leaves.
"I… think things are about to get a little more interesting." Doulce almost groans as he stretches.
"It's not bad though."
"No, it's not…"