Why is there sand everywhere? And why does my head hurt so much? I try to sit up, but fall over when the world spins.

"Mom!"

For a moment, I don't register the name as mine. I'm not a mom yet, that's still months away. Then someone wearing blue comes into my vision and helps me into a sitting position, and my mind is snapped to the present.

"Mom, are you okay?" Dewey asks, concern written all over his face.

"Yeah," I wince and bring a hand to my head, "This isn't the first time a crash has knocked me out."

Relieved, Dewey helps me to my feet. I look around, slow enough to not get dizzy again. I landed in a crater of sand too familiar to the moon crater I lived in for ten years. Or maybe the crater was created from the plane crash?

"Where's everyone else?" I look back at my son.

"They went ahead to the library," he points up and out of the crater in the direction of the plane crash, "They wanted to find Huey as fast as possible. I volunteered to stay and watch you. Are you able to adventure right now?"

I stretch, testing my balance. It's already improved, and I test turning my head, then walking. When no more dizzy spells hit me, I nod.

"I can at least get to the library," I smile at Dewey, "I'm a Duck. We're tough."

I hear the echo of my memory as I assure him. Unlike Eddy, Dewey seems comforted by it and nods with a small smirk of his own.

"Then let's go get our family," he clenches his fists near his chest like a declaration.

Side by side, we head towards the strewn remains of the Cloudslayer. Beyond that, about a mile away, I see the top of the tower of the Library of Alexandria. Maybe it's just the distance, but it seems smaller than I remember. I catch my breath anyway, eyes drifting to the top of the central platform where the Selego Circuit still sits. The jagged rim of the otherwise bowl-like portal cuts into the blue sky. Mrs. Beakley, Donald, and I were held captive there. Donald was almost erased from existence. Black Heron and Bradford's clones were- I saw it happen in front of me.

I'm pulled back to the present by Dewey slipping his hand into mine. I look down to see my middle son looking at me with a cautious concern.

"It's okay," he motions to the library, "We got out before, we'll get out again."

I start to nod, then catch the uncertainty in his voice. Now it's my turn to be concerned. I let go of my own struggles to focus on his.

"Dewey, honey, are you okay?" I tilt my head.

Dewey gives me an embarrassed but incredulous look.

"Why are you asking me?" he asks, "You're the one who's been off your rocker all day."

Ouch. I glare at him, then turn to look at the library. The library repels my gaze, so I turn it to the airplane. A submerged thought surfaces, and I turn back to Dewey.

"Dewey, you don't think Huey staged this whole thing too, do you?" the challenge in my voice is hard, and Dewey flinches.

But he doesn't deny it. He pulls out Eddy's journal- why was he carrying that around? And starts thumbing through it.

"Huey left notes all through the journal and files." he stops on a page with a sticky note on it, "Like this one, on an entry about how nervous Eddy was about Bradford's excitement about you having us. Huey said, 'He'- Eddy- 'is juggling two juggernauts that are at odds with each other. No wonder he didn't choose the Ducks and stick with them. Bradford would destroy him, then the family, without the Ducks ever seeing it coming.'"

Dewey looks up with pain in his eyes.

"Huey's so much like Eddy. Even their handwriting is similar." he holds the journal tightly in both hands, which are starting to tremble, "I get why you didn't tell us, but nobody told us Huey was as similar to Eddy as I am to you. They didn't even tell us Eddy's name! Why did they leave us to figure all this out ourselves? Why didn't they at least warn Huey that his quirks and pride are all from the man who abandoned us? Now all I can think of is that he's going to abandon us."

Dewey's voice breaks, and he falls silent. I want to comfort him, to wipe the tears away and assure him that everything will be okay. But he just voiced my deepest fear. The one that was buried under stress and change for twelve to thirteen years. What if one of my sons becomes my husband? So I say nothing, hot tears threatening to spill from my own eyes. I rip the journal from Dewey's hands and throw it as hard as I can towards the Library. Dewey yelps, reaching out after it, and I realize too late that it'd been a liferaft, not a millstone, to him.

"Dewey, honey, I'm sorry, I-" I look down, wanting to kick myself. Nothing can fix it.

"Mom?"

I ignore him, not wanting to see the further pain I caused my son.

"Mom?" he's more intent this time.

I look at him out of the corner of my eye, then pause. Is Dewey- scared? He sees that I'm looking at him, then points towards the Library.

"The Circuit's on again."

No. No. No, no, no! I sprint towards the library, Dewey matching each stride. Panic fuels my sore and bruised muscles, pushing me to run harder, harder. The crater walls are just a small obstacle, we clamber up them easily. I'm not losing family today. Not Huey, not anyone else.

I enter the front doors, and Dewey's words begin to echo in my mind:

Why didn't they tell us?

I pause for a moment, looking for a trail of bested traps to guide me. Dewey points to the left hall, where arrows are lodged in the wall, ceiling, and arches. We race through as a powerful tremor shakes the building. Arrows start to fall from where they'd stuck, and I feel a sharp pain against my right arm. An arrow grazes the side of Dewey's head, but he's just as determined as I am.

We reach a stairwell blocked off by toppled bookshelves. We scramble over them.

Huey's quirks and pride all come from the man who abandoned us.

Dewey summits the bookcase first, reaching down to pull me up. I only take a moment to catch my breath before pressing forward. Another tremor knocks us to the ground, but we're Ducks. We don't back down.

Huey's quirks and pride all come from the man who abandoned us.

No. The similarities don't go that far. Huey's proven himself completely loyal over and over. Sure, all the evidence points to him setting this up, but he's his own person. Why would he turn away, it's not like he's his-

Wait. Wait.

I freeze in my tracks. Dewey notices several strides later, then jumps down to me.

"What?" he demands.

Another tremor hits, and this time I stay down.

"I've been ignoring him."

"What?" Dewey crouches next to me, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me up, "Mom, now isn't the time, we need to go!"

"I know why Huey's doing this." my voice sounds dead, and I'm sure my eyes look the same as I look at my panicked child. "I've been trying to ignore his similarities to Eddy. But that means I've been ignoring him."

I shake my head to clear it.

"We need to get up there." I stand, not looking at Dewey. "I need to fix this before anything happens."

I don't know if Dewey's following me up the stairs. The only thing I'm focused on is reaching Huey and righting my wrong. As much as neglect can be righted.