Hello everyone again! ^^

So, in appreciation for the new episodes that will air. I'm posting this chapter today! Tomorrow I think I may be too busy to post it. So I decided today would work out just as well! YAY! new eps of Ducktales! Are you all excited like me? This chapter was giving me such issues. Everything from the spell to the action was difficult to write. I had to rewrite this same scene several times before I liked it. I hope you all will love it as well. ^^ I appreciate any comments so don't feel shy! I want to see what others think of my ideas and work. It does help with my self esteem in becoming a professional writer after all. I do have a long way to go, but I love crafting stories and working on my own ideas as well.
Either way, this adventure is far from over. Poor Webby girl.
Anyway, thank you for taking time to read this regardless.
Have a wonderful Duck month!
Lore out!

Chapter 9

Huey and Louie ran to where Dewey was standing. He was staring after where he saw Webby run. He felt himself start to run before he knew it and his confused brothers followed.

"Dewey! Dewey where are you going?" Huey demanded.

"Where you guys are obviously." Dewey answered back. "You saw her eyes right?"

"No duh." Louie sped up, keeping up with his brothers for once. "Something's really wrong."

They tried her door to find it locked.

"Louie!" Huey turned to his brother.

"On it!" Louie smirked, pulling out a bobby pin.

"Where did you get that?" Dewey wondered.

"Best you not know dear Dewford." Louie commented, before nodding as he heard the click of the door being unlocked.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Dewey asked.

"Internet." Was Louie's smug answer.

All three boys slammed Webby's door open just as she was frantically drawing something on the floor of her room.

"Webs, Webs stop!" Dewey shouted, launching himself at the girl and knocking her away.

She hit her head on the floor and passed out.

"Dewey what did you do?" Huey ran over looking over Webby's head.

"I'm sorry I just…." He glanced back at the strange symbols on the floor. "What was she doing?"

"She's okay, just passed out." Huey let out a sigh of relief and picked her up. He set her gently on her bed and turned over to the markings. "I'm not sure honestly. These symbols look strange to me."

"Is that a spork?" Louie tilted his head to the side.

"I guess well ask her when she…wakes up." Dewey yawned, feeling exhaustion tugging at him. The other two nodded and together the triplets went to their room to rest.

It was a few hours later when Webby awoke. She let out a gasp and glanced around her. Realizing that no one was in the room, she frantically tried to find the paper. It had been knocked from her hand and stuck between two books at the bookcase under her bed.

Sliding down the ladder she quickly picked it up and noticed the two books. Both bringing a feeling of nostalgia. Brushing her hand against the cover "The Secret files of Webbigail Vanderquack" and then the "Grimoire de Merlouck." Looking up, she grasped the paper tighter.

"I have to do this…" She said to herself. Quickly she raced around the room to gather objects. It stated she needed several crystals. Most of which she had started to collect on adventures and feeling she would need them if she ever tried any magic. She also needed something Lena touched. Thinking deeply she glanced around her room, her eyes resting on the last piece of the shadow stone. The fragment with Magica's blood on it. The fragment Lena held in her hand.

A sudden knock made her freeze.

"Webby?" Her Granny's voice echoed.

"Yes?" Webby answered.

"Were going to eat in a few minutes." Her grandmother left no room for any argument.

"Yes I'll be right there Granny!" Webby called and quickly hid everything. She didn't want them to stop her. She had no time to drag this out. But still…..was she doing the right thing?

At the dinner table things seemed back to normal. On either side of Scrooge was Donald and Webby. Huey had opted to sit next to Donald, while Louie was sitting next to Webby. Just to be different, Dewey sat at the other end, then changed seats when he realized he was so far away and felt left out.

He sat next to Louie and together they chatted as Beakley brought out the dinner. Once it was out, she sat next to Huey and Donald, eyeing her granddaughter. She noticed Webby was picking at her food with her good arm. She stabbed the fork into the pea and absently took a bite. But her mind seemed to be elsewhere.

"Webby."

She snapped to attention instantly.

"Are you okay?" Beakley asked, generally concerned.

Webby blinked and smiled at her Granny. "Yeah, I'm okay."

The triplets now turned to Webby. Dewey's eyes narrowed. "Webs, you aren't. You were crying earlier."

Webby sighed. "Oh you saw that…"

"What's wrong Darling?"

Webby grit her teeth."What if…." She eyed Dewey a bit. "What if I found a spell that might help Lena?"

"That sounds great." Scrooge boasted with a smile. "What kind of a spell?"

Webby shook her head. "Uncle Scrooge I haven't found one. But if I did…and it had a price. Would you let me cast it?"

"What kind of price? Those things are always quite cryptic." Scrooge rubbed his chin between his fingers.

"It doesn't say, but I'm the only one who could pay it." Webby continued.

"No." Beakley said firmly. Huey nodded.

"What? Why?" Webby demanded.

"Nothing is worth risking your life." Beakley said firmly.

"What if someone else's life is on the line?" Webby countered.

"Lass, if there's one thing I've learned while adventuring there's always another way around the problem. You need to look and find all the angles. All the different ways a scenario can go." Scrooge stood up and planted a hand upon his niece's good shoulder.

Webby seemed to be thinking hard, eyes trained on the glass of water in front of her. Finally she closed her eyes and sighed.

Dewey eyed her, tensing a little and ready to interrupt if necessary.

But Webby gave them all a bright smile. "Thanks everyone! Really, it's helped me make a decision." She nodded to Dewey who instantly seemed to relax.

Huey and Louie eyed one another and then looked at Dewey, confused. Dewey chuckled, rubbing his neck and shrugging. He eyed Webby as she was talking to Uncle Scrooge about something random then. He felt relieved, Webby seemed to be keeping their promise.

Still, he felt something within him shift.

His stomach still hurt even after the meal was over.

The rest of the day seemed almost boringly normal. Webby and triplets played outside for a while. Although with Webby's injury it seemed less lethal than normal. Much to Webby's dismay Beakley might add. Still, watching her granddaughter happy again seemed to greatly relieve the older woman.

And as nightfall came once more, everyone was settling in to sleep.

All except one.

Spread before her was an intricate design of a magical circle. Drawn out in purple market on her bedroom floor. The outer two rings comprised of glyphs and runes. Within it was a star and several other symbols in the empty space. Each point had a crystal symbolizing each of the elements.

Quartz for air, Aquamarine for water, jade for earth, and Ruby for fire. Finally, at the last point was opal for spirit.

The fragment of the Shadow Stone she had gotten from Lena was resting within the middle. Around the almost black room were several red candles casting ominous shadows around her. But none were Lena. She stared hard at the piece of paper she held in her hand with exhausted eyes. She had spent close to five hours working on this and it was now way past midnight. After the day everyone had she was sure that the boys and Scrooge were all asleep. She wouldn't have to worry about anyone barging in the middle of her casting the spell.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she had no hesitation. But still Dewey's and Scrooge's words echoed within her head. This had to work. This hadto. They were out of options and time. She still couldn't help but feel guilty that she was doing this without anyones consent. But she had no more options left to her. Glancing up once more, the time was slowly ticking by. It would be 3 a.m. soon. The witching hour. If she was going to do this. She had to do it now.

Standing before the circle she pulled out the spell and memorized the lines.

"Within the Shadow Realm my friend I seek

Tear her from the situation bleak

These crystals, this sacrifice I willingly give

For the chance…"

Webby started to choke up.

"For the chance my best friend can live.

Now, gods I call upon you"

Closing her eyes, her hair began to rise and sparks of energy fizzled around her.

"Bestow the miracle that is due.

Let the inferno rage

The rain of shadows rampage

Shatter the wall between the veil

Force the soul through a roaring gale

I will not move until the trade"

Webby's tears began to fall.

"To free this soul from the world of shade."

She continued the mantra of the spell. Repeating it over and over she began to hear a slight breeze. It brushed past a few feathers on her cheek. Then all was still.

A painfully silent moment passed.

Then a spiral of wind erupted within the room.

Centering around the circle, Webby felt herself trying desperately to stay standing but she dropped to her hands and knees, continuing to yell the spell. Not even realizing that now everyone in the mansion was awake as the walls were shaking around them.

Dewey awoke with a start as their bed was violently shaking. Huey and Louie also were awake. Quickly jumping from said bed, all three ran out to try to figure out what was going on. But it seemed as if the entire house was shaking and a loud noise erupted somewhere deep within the mansions' halls.

"What is going on?!" Louie's head snapped frantically around.

"I don't know!" Huey grit his bill and quickly grabbed his book, looking quickly through the options. "Earthquake?!"

But Dewey had an uneasy feeling within his gut. Glancing down the hallway he started to walk. "I don't think so." Usually most earthquakes didn't last this long. This one was now going on for minutes. And visions of seeing Webby crying running past them flashed through his mind.

Something was very wrong. He had to find Webby. Felling his webbed feet start to run, he ignored the startled yells of his brothers as he raced down the hallways. His mind solely on reaching Webby's room. But as he was getting closer, the trembling was getting worse. He stumbled a bit before reaching her room. His brothers were right behind him.

A dark inky energy was squirming from behind the door. Little tendrils of energy were leaking from cracks around the door, pushing against it with such force all three boys were sure that it would tear it apart in front of them. Almost on instinct, Huey stood before them, arms spread out to protect his brothers as all three stared open mouthed. A scream echoed from behind the door and Dewey was the first to snap out of his trance.

"Webby!"

Pushing from behind his brother, Dewey ran towards the door and reached to open the door.

"Dewey wait!" Huey yelled.

"We can't just blindly opening the door without a plan!" Louie echoed although he too was running after his brother.

Once Dewey's hand touched the doorknob, he cried out and pulled away, his feathers burned and skin raw and red. Louie supported him from behind, grasping his brothers shoulders as Dewey looked at his hand with horror.

Huey ran and glared at the door. "What is going on?!" The door was breathing, the intense pressure behind it like popping a cork from a bottle.

Another scream vibrated the air around them and all three winced. "We have to get in there! Webby's in trouble!" Dewey said frantically.

Huey's mind ran a mile a minute trying to find a way inside.

"What in Dismal Downs is going on here?!" All three turned to see Donald, Beakley, Scrooge and Duckworth behind the triplets.

Instantly Beakley's eyes widened. "Where's Webby?"

All three boys nervously looked at each other, then their eyes flashed to the door. All of the adult's faces turned grave at this point. The shaking was growing louder, soon they would have to yell to hear each other.

"Webbigail!"

The only sound that answered him was the creaking and groaning as wood was breaking apart around them from the force of the winds.

Gritting his bill more, Scrooge forced his way towards the door, reaching out, Dewey let out a loud "NO!" which turned his attention to the triplets.

"The doors too hot!" Louie yelled, holding up Dewey's hand as evidence and Scrooge's eyes briefly flashed to the door knob once more. Eyes scanned around and then he glanced at Duckworth.

"Duckworth! Go inside and see what's going on!"

Nodding, Duckworth phased through the wall. After a few breathless moments he was knocked back out into the hallway. Landing on the ground and halfway phasing through the floor he grunted and glared.

"Well, I never have been so insulted!"

Beakley crossed her arms. "I highly doubt that."

Shooting her a look, Duckworth composed himself and looked to Scrooge. "It appears as if dark forces are at work. Possibly by the young miss' own hand." He said grimly.

Instantly Dewey looked angry and glared at the door. "She promised she wouldn't do it!"

"Do what?" Beakley looked livid.

Swallowing, Dewey glanced at his brothers, then the door. "She found a spell…a way to bring Lena back…but.."

"Let me guess." Scrooge said darkly. "There are strings attached." Scrooge cursed himself, now realizing what Webby meant to tell them earlier.

"We have to get inside there now!" Beakley launched herself at the door, using the force of her shoulder she slammed it hard against the already cracking wood.

That final force shattered the door into pieces. Everyone tried to avoid the flying projectiles but poor Donald was hit in the head with the doorknob, knocking him out.

"Uncle Donald!" The triplets yelled, then turned as a flood of wind crashed through the hallway.

Yelping, the triplets were flung into the wall.

Everyone else was struggling to keep their ground. Even as the wind began to lessen, and what they all saw behind the door shocked everyone.

In the middle of a destroyed room was a magic circle, blazing with a purple light. Webby was in the middle, hands spread out on the circle, head looking up with tears streaking her face. Her eyes were completely black and they could see black veins pulsing on her arms. Behind her, her shadow was twisting and churning against the back wall. Her mouth was speaking words but none of them made any sense. It was as if she was speaking gibberish at a rapid rate.

"Webby!" Beakley reached out, pushing past the pressure of the room towards her granddaughter. Dewey clenched his fists and ran, racing past an alarmed Scrooge towards the doorway. Beakley had almost reached her granddaughter. Her fingers brushed the air around the outside circle and lightning tore through her body. Letting out a shuddering breath, that was all it took before a burst of wind knocked Beakley out the doorway. Dewey narrowly avoided her body and hit the floor, glaring at Webby.

"Webby! What are you doing?! You hurt your grandmother! Stop this!" He nervously looked at the black veins crawling up her arms. This wasn't good. If he didn't stop her now….

At hearing Dewey's voice, Webby's eyes flashed back for a second. "Dew…y…" her raw voice whispered before the spell quickly overtook her again. Slowly her head moved towards the duckling who was struggling to crawl towards his best friend.

"Webs…..C'mon! You promised me! You told me you would never do something like this again!" he was crying now. "Why? Why are you doing this?!"

Black tears slid down her face at this, her beak opened softly, but nothing came out. The pain was so evident on her face that Dewey paused. He had seen that expression as she ran to her room.

Something was very wrong. "Webby? What happened?!"

Another scream ripped through the room. But it wasn't Webby this time. Her eyes darted to behind where everyone can vaguely see the silhouette of Lena's body on the wall being surrounded by a mass of black and purple energy. It seemed to be surrounding her in a whirlpool, almost choking her.

"Lena.." Webby breathed.

"Webs you can't do this!" Lena's voice echoed within the room. "You have to let me go!"

Beak trembling, Webby shook her head. "I can't! I can't let you!"

"But if you do this…" Lena was fighting with all her strength. "Dewey stop her!"

Turning back to the circle, Webby slammed her hands down once more upon it. "Bring my friend back to me! BRING HER BACK NOW!"

"No!" Dewey launched himself at the circle but a blast of pure energy erupted within it. All the crystals shattered. Dewey was sent flying back into a wall of the room. It was chaos, everyone was yelling. Lena was screaming, her echoed voice chilling them to their bones.

But by far the loudest was Webby. "BRING HER BACK! DON'T LET HER DIE!"

Black tears dripped onto the circle. The magic suddenly stopped, the air was sucked from the room and for a moment all the lights turned on, illuminating everyone and everything.

It was also deathly silent as Dewey looked unbelieving at Webby's crumpled form.

Louie had his hands over his beak, shaking his head.

"Die?" Huey whispered, looking up at Lena's shadow.

Beakley was giving her granddaughter a sympathetic expression.

Scrooge took a couple steps forward. "Oh lass.." He glanced up at Lena's shadow who was glancing away from them all.

A sudden explosion sent the group to the ground. It came from outside the room and even Webby seemed a little in shock from what was happening.

Her shadow snapped to one side, her eyes narrowing. "Magica.."

A sudden burst of loud maniacal laughter echoed throughout the mansion and another explosion rocked the building on its foundation.

Before the group could move again a burst of energy destroyed the wall behind Webby's magic circle. As the wall crumbled behind her, Webby's black eyes widened and slowly she turned to see a very gleeful Magica floating ominously towards the young duckling. The crumbling wall behind her shifted and for a second, even Scrooge was thinking the entire room could come down.

The green aura that surrounded Magica made everyone's jaws drop.

"Oh boy…" Louie mumbled.

"She's back?!" Beakley added, then her eyes were on her granddaughter as a cry tore through the young girls throat. The energy pulsing from the circle was becoming unstable. It bubbled up in bursts of purple around the circle. Webby couldn't safely remove herself from it.

Scrooge grit his beak and started foreword, towards the witch hovering over Webby who was still on her hands and knees, struggling to keep the magic from going out of control.

Scrooge went to grasp Webby, but a blast of green energy stopped his advancement. A smoking black smudge on the floor where he was just about to take a step. Glaring at the smirking sorceress, it seemed he had no more options. "Boys!" He said gruffly, not once looking away from Magica's crazed expression.

All three stood up.

"Get Webby out of here." Not only was Magica after him, but Webby as well and she was in a compromised state at the moment. Scrooge couldn't risk her life. "I'll handle this maniacal medusa."

"You mean we will." Beakley was by his side.

Duckworth nodded at his other side.

Donald was now up as well and nodded to Beakley's right. The four adults stood before the witch.

"Oh please." Magica rolled her eyes. "An old crusty ghost, a out of practice spy, a sailor boy and a trillionaire old man is the best you got to stop me?" Her eyes briefly flashed to where Webby and the boys were. Then back to the group of adults before her.

"This ought to be fun." Scepter in one hand, a blast of green energy in another, she attacked.

As all four scattered, Scrooge jumped over to Donald. "Aye need ye to do something for me lad.." He whispered something in his nephews ear and nodded to him. At first Donald looked shocked, then nodded with a determined expression.

Donald took off into the manor looking for something.

Beakley launched herself at Magica, punching the sorceress in the jaw and twisting in midair to kick her in the shin. Magica countered her kick with her staff, blasting green energy and knocking Scrooge in mid air from attacking. He hit the wall and slid down gritting his teeth.

But standing right back up he adjusted his top hat and ran back into the fray.

Meanwhile, Webby was still struggling to hold onto the magic circle, whose energy was fading now that the crystals were gone.

Webby shook her head her narrowed eyes once more becoming pitch black before returning to normal.

"NO! Nonononono!" Everything around her became unstable, the winds crashing against each other and the circle starting to short circuit from the power. Slamming her fists onto the smeared circle she let out the most agonized cry any of them heard her make.

"You can't do this! Don't take Lena away from me too!"

No one could move, watching Webby completely unravel was so shocking to all of them. "Please! Please work!" she sobbed, slamming her fists into the ground.

"Webby!" Dewey yelled, getting closer to Webby as the winds were beginning to pick up around her again.

Looking up, her tear stained eyes met with Dewey's worried ones. He reached out towards his friend.

"Webby take my hand."

"But….I…"

"This isn't the way." Dewey's eyes drifted towards Lena who was still glued to the wall. She was looking down sadly at her friend.

But Webby was shaking her head frantically. "Dewey you don't understand…" As her energy heightened, so did the magic around her. The burst of energy caused her hands to turn pitch black as the dark magic infected her further.

"I can't let her die!" Webby's magic spiraled out of control. Columns of violet and black light erupted from around her.

The triplets looked on in horror and awe as a twister of magic formed within the room. It went wild, knocking into Scrooge and Magica. Everyone was thrown to the floor.

Magica, enraged stood up and focused her blast of sickly green energy on Webby and her circle.

"Silly brat messing with things you don't know!" She flew towards them.

The boys dodged the attacks as best they could. Webby grit her beak and bared the brunt of them. Glaring up at Magica she growled. "This is YOUR fault!" Another burst of dark magic collided with Magica's blast of green energy and exploded.

"Webby!" Beakley yelled and struggled to stand, a piece of concrete sliding off her back as she stood.

Magica had been knocked to her knees.

Huey, Dewey and Louie got to their feet as well from their random locations near Webby. All three formed a circle around her and glared harshly at Magica.

"You are not touching our friend!" Dewey stated.

Magica's eyes narrowed. "So says you blue boy."

Swinging her staff, she sent a blast of magic towards Dewey.

Dewey, in shock only could grit his teeth and close his eyes.

Webby's eyes darted towards her friend. "DEWEY!" she reached out. As she did her hand brushed the edge of the circle.

"WEBBY!" Lena's scream echoed throughout the room.

Everything seemed to short circuit. Webby cried out as the wall of energy around her evaporated and a burst of air knocked the three boys away from her. The blast Magica originally aimed at Dewey hit her and sent her flying from the circle into Louie's frantic arms. Upon impact Webby fell unconscious and quickly the boys scrambled to their feet, giving Magica a wide berth as Scrooge, Beakley and Duckworth once more launched themselves at the temporarily stunned Magica.

Together the three sent a flurry of attacks upon the witch as she had to dodge and block with her staff. They weren't giving her time to recover however, Scrooge in particular was fighting with a vengeance.

In part he did blame himself for the situation with Webby. Curse it all, he should have seen the signs, should have known something like this was going to happen. He kept telling himself he wouldn't make the same mistakes. And here they were again.

His family was in danger.

Secrets were being kept.

And a child was hurt.

Magica hit the back wall and wiped some blood from her beak, noticing Scrooge's unstable form. She sneered.

"What's wrong McBucks? Just now realizing how pathetic you are?"

Scrooge clenched his cane tighter.

"No." He said lowly, eyes darting up and towards the figure of Magica who was slowly powering up another spell. He glanced towards the kids, who was looking on in shock. Huey was frantically looking around, his eyes on where Lena once was and with sickening realization that she was no longer upon the wall. Nor within Webby's shadow.

"Louie!" Scrooge yelled. Louie clutched Webby to him tighter. "Dewey! Huey!" He turned to them. "Get Webbigail someplace safe, NOW!"

With a jolt the three boys quickly ran out of the room, Louie still holding onto Webby tightly.