"And then, facing the end of magicka de spell's staff, she forced herself from her evil aunt's shadow, protected her best friend, saving my life in return for being blasted herself…"
"Well… she sounds awesome." Eldridge had already made himself comfy. "I only have one question."
"I'm definitely not looking how to bring her back through the dark arts of the shadow realm!" Webby replied, panicked.
"Ok… I was gonna ask, where's my friendship bracelet?"
"Yyyesss!" Before he could blink, a multicolored braided bracelet was already on his arm.
"…You work fast."
"Oh-h this?" She rubbed her foot along the floor nervously. "I definitely didn't have this already made in case I brought Lena back…"
"I… will you excuse me for a minute?" Eldridge quickly shuffled to the door as he excused himself.
"Bathrooms on the left!" Webby shouted after him. Which he was minorly thankful as he closed the door behind him and leaned over the sink.
"Alright, alright, calm down… Feathers!" He pounded the sink, ignoring the green glow that caused a large crack to form in the porcelain.
"Why did Lena have to sound so cool! I promised! But…" With a scream of frustration, he grabbed his hair.
"Wait…" The flash of green exited his vision as he looked back in the mirror. His aunt would definitely hate how messed up he looked, but he didn't care. A Rebellious smirk was climbing his chin even now.
He had only promised to keep her out of the dangerous magics. While Scrooge might think all magic was trouble, that didn't mean all magic was dangerous. And if he needed to get a bit… dangerous? Well, he'd just use the magic himself.
"Sorry, but after what I heard, I can't NOT help her get Lena back…"
"You will!" The scream of Webby's made him startle in surprise, fully breaking the sink as she jumped from the vent in the ceiling and hugged him.
"Oh, uh… Webby… Why were you in the vent?"
"Well, after Lena, I thought I'd see if my second friend was also a spy for some evil magical aunt with a grudge against Scrooge!"
"Okay… But what if I was actually using the bathroom?"
She paused in surprised, and Eldridge had to prevent himself from facepalming as it looked like she had never even considered that possibility.
"Oh-h, right… uh… probably… look away?"
"Probably?" He had to ask with a raised eyebrow. He didn't doubt her, he just wanted to tease her wording.
She at least had the good sense to blush before shaking it off and sweeping them back to her bedroom, this time up into a trapdoor into the attic.
"Right, so I checked out Shadows and Light, How They Twirl, that was a long shot. The terror of Magicka De Spell, and Shadow Realm, a primer."
"Okay, first of all, even I could tell you that John De Rockerduck was a rich quack who bought the ownership of any book as long as it sounded pretty, so the first ones obviously useless." He said as he threw the book to the side.
"The second one also is a terrible choice- half way through reading it?" At her slow nod, he winced. "Sorry Webby, but it was written by one of her victims, who you can guess weren't keen on knowing too much of the truth about her…"
To the rejected pile that went.
"This one, however, you should have started with, though it's a little b- uh, light-looking, at least the name is someone credible. As a primer, it should also give other books as a reference."
With a quick flick, he opened the book, expecting the normal gobbledygook of old dead languages he usually dealt with and couldn't read. However, he was surprised to find that the book was in perfect English.
After turning the page in interest that surprised even himself, Webby squealed in happiness. "A friend who also knows Latin! This is the best day ever!"
"What?" When he looked up at her and she looked back, confused, he gestured to the page. "Webby, this is clearly English."
"Clear… as English? You mean?"
"No, clearly- wait, you're sure this is Latin?"
At her shaking her head in confirmation he groaned into his hands.
"Webby, I can't read Latin, or Sumerian, or Norse, or old Scandinavian, or whatever, never have been."
She looked confused at that. "But you were reading just fine."
"Yeah, that's weird for me as well…" He scratched his head. "Man… well, no use in keeping it a secret anymore…"
"Your name's not really Eldridge and you're wanted in seventeen nations, but you needed to become my friend so you could get close to Uncle Scrooge because you've actually been framed by your secret evil brother and need his help on a globe-spanning quest to regain your name and fortune!?"
Eldridge couldn't help but reboot for a moment. His hands splayed wide open in shock.
"…No! I- Honestly, I'm not that cool, Webby." He took a deep breath.
"I'm… I-" He couldn't think of how to explain it, so all he could settle with making his hand glow a dim emerald-green, which shone in the dim attic like a beacon in the night, and sent a shiver crawling up his spine.
"Radioactive?"
"Magic!" Eldridge finally blurted out in frustration.
"Well, thanks for telling me, but I already knew."
"What?" Eldridge swore he was getting emotional whiplash.
"Well, duh. You used it back in the temple of Anubis, you think I really wouldn't notice?" She crossed her arms and stared down at him.
"Most don't…" he pouted, but then, after thinking a bit, he started chuckling. "But you, Webby, are not most."
"Alright, so why do you trust me? The last sorcerer brought all the city's shadows to life, attacked your family, manipulated and attacked your best friend, and put Scrooge in his own dime."
"But you haven't."
Eldridge put up a finger; he had a million arguments against that, least of which he could be, the best one being that he technically was manipulating her…
All he could do, however, in the face of her big, bright eyes, was put his finger down. "Alright, what do you want to know?"
That seemed to light the powder keg that was Webby.
"How does magic work? Are you born with your powers, or is there some shadow council that chooses? Have you ever blown anything up? With. Your. Mind?"
"Uh… no idea, I'm still technically an apprentice… and I'm bad at magic. Born with it, and no."
"Bad at magic?"
Eldridge blew a raspberry into the air as he leaned back. "Yeah, I've been learning for years, but I can only do two spells. Not to mention, most spell books are in languages other than English… mostly dead languages, and I've never been good at learning new languages."
Webby kneeled down and picked up the primer, gently handing it to him. "But that's just the thing, you can now read it, right?"
He gently took it, opening up a random page. "Yeah…"
He slammed the book shut, frustrated. "But that's the thing, I shouldn't be able to!"
"Well, you said yourself you don't know how magic works." With a gasp, Webby suddenly pounced on him, shaking his shoulders. "Second mystery! Webby and Eldridge now not only need to find a way to bring their friend back, but also learn the mysteries of magic themselves! Ooooh, I'm so excited!"
"Yeah… yeah!" Eldridge suddenly perked up. "Alright, magic friends?"
"A group name?! Yes!"
"Alright, first, we better start with the primer and branch out."
With that, they settled in. The book lay out in front of them as they read through it, making notes whenever a book was mentioned that may help them.
If this were normal kids' stuff… Eldridge didn't hate it.