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Chapter Text

Everyone returned tired of the "adventure" that had ended in disaster. No one had said a single word since Dewey fell off the plane while trying to find out more about his mother.

The atmosphere was heavy, Scrooge had a lost look and with the naked eye you could see his eyes turned into glass. It was obvious that he had cried.

The children couldn't believe it, they had lost their brother.Louie was crying and Huey was comforting him, Webby was hugging them both. She was devastated too, after all, she had been part of that investigation.

They had arrived at McDuck Manor. The triplets went to the ship where Donald was putting the finishing touches on the ship.

- Kids! - The adult said happily as he turned to see them but his expression changed when he noticed the absence of one of his nephews - Where is Dewey? -.

Tears began to come out of Louie's eyes, Huey looked at the ground, he was fighting back the urge to cry. Donald began to worry.The children said nothing, the silence had spoken for itself.

Suddenly Donald lost the balance of his legs and fell to his knees on the ground as he began to cry. 

A while ago he had promised himself that he would take care of them and protect them with all his soul, now he felt that he had failed in his promise, in the promise he had made to his sister... Della...

"The day I fail, promise me you will take care of my kids."

Chapter Text

Night had already fallen, everything was silent in the mansion. Donald had stayed on the ship, in fact, he had not left there since he found out about the loss of the middle triplet. No one had left them rooms, the family was now devastated.Beakley had to do something, she felt the same as the others, after all the others considered her part of the family and she was also fond of that stubborn and sassy triplet, she was not going to see the others separated while it lasted so long. . time. It had already happened years ago. So he decided to try to do the normal routine, he knew it would be painful for the others to be with his family remembering that one of them is missing, but he would make them talk and eventually they would get over it. Of course, this would not turn out as expected.Beakley prepared dinner and served it on the table. Everyone went down to the dining room but none of them spoke to each other.Two long minutes passed, the only sound that could be heard was that of the cutlery colliding with the Chinese porcelain plates trying to put a piece of food in the mouth.The silence couldn't even be considered uncomfortable, it was painful.

Those few minutes where the family was eating dinner didn't last long, Scrooge quickly got up from the table, everyone turned to look at him.

- Uncle..? - Huey asked about his unexpected action.

- .. Don't bother me.. I'm in my room. - and without further ado he left the dining room, leaving his family.

Scrooge went up the stairs to his room, he did not make a single sound, but his eyes expressed sadness. He had lost another loved one because of him.He sat on the edge of his bed and stood there staring into space as he remembered the moment he lost his nephew for not telling him or his brothers the truth.

- Dewey, our family is amazing! We're enough. Let it go! - Huey said worried about the woky toky.

Dewey didn't pay attention to him, he threw the device away so he couldn't hear his brother anymore.

Dewey kept getting closer to where the piece of paper was and this caused the cargo plane to sway, causing Dewey and Scrooge to slip and the aforementioned almost falling.

Scrooge tried to approach his nephew in blue and held out his hand to hold him so he could return to the interior of the plane.

- Please I... I can't keep you safe, all right? - The old adult admitted - How can I get you to listen to me? - He yelled at the little boy who was trying to reach for the paper.

Dewey turned to look at him and grabbed the paper with both hands, opening it and starting to look at it as his eyes crystalized.

- Tell me about the Spear of Selene! - He shouted showing the paper to his uncle.

Scrooge looked at him for a moment, understanding what he meant, and attended with tears in his eyes as a sign that he was determined to tell him the whole truth.The minor finally decided to reach out to grab his uncle, but this caused him to lose his balance and fall from the plane.

-Dewey!! - Scrooge watched him fall as his nephew disappeared from sight.

Scrooge began to cry, every time he remembered that recent event it made it worse and worse, he felt very guilty for not being able to save him.

-If it weren't for me, he would still be here... - he said in an almost inaudible whisper.

He got up from where he was sitting and decided to get ready for bed, maybe then he could get rid of the guilt.

Dinner had been a failure, no one had spoken and everything was silent. It would take a while for everyone to get over Dewey's death.

The now twins headed to their room to get ready for bed but when they arrived Huey couldn't take it anymore and fell to his knees as tears began to come out of his eyes.Louie was surprised at first by the sudden action, but he quickly realized why and didn't hesitate to hug his older brother, who was also devastated but had been strong all day.

- It's our fault, right? .. - Huey said between sobs - .. Is it our fault he's gone? .. -Louie looked at him surprised but then hugged him tighter and said in a whisper.

- It's not... It's not anyone's fault, okay? - he said and also started to sob. They lasted like this for a few minutes, until Huey got tired and they both decided it would be better to sleep.

They both wished this whole day had been a nightmare.

Chapter Text

Dewey's Pov.

My eyelids slowly separated and the first thing I felt was a great pain in my head and body. When I looked around I realized that I was in a not very large cave that was decorated and lit, someone lived there.
I sat on the bed I was in and looked more at the place, it seemed like it had everything necessary for anyone to survive. Next to me there was a type of shelf with a lot of half-worn or dirty things, like things that you can collect in a garbage can. On the left side there was a curtain and I assumed it was some kind of bathroom, in front there was a circular table with a somewhat torn tablecloth and in front of it was a cauldron and some small tables where there were kitchen utensils, a few plates and the occasional pot and pan. There I could see a girl cooking something.
Had he been kidnapped? No, if that were the case I would be tied up or something like that.
I came out of my thoughts when a black cat jumped onto the bed and I jumped a little because of the small scare that the sudden appearance of the animal caused me. The girl who was cooking turned to look at me and approached with a happy smile.

─ You're awake! ─ she announced happily. ─ I was very worried! You seemed half dead, she said, imitating a strange voice at the end. 

 ─ Huh? ─ I made a sound in confusion - Who are you and where am I!? - I yelled scared and tried to get up to defend myself but I felt a sharp pain in my back and quickly let out a moan of pain.

─ Where am I? ─ I asked a little appeased.

─ and.. Why am I here? ─ I sounded quite rude when saying this, because I made a tone with obviousness and sarcasm.

─ I found you in the middle of nowhere unconscious, I assumed you had passed out from the heat or something like that - she laughed a little ─ So I brought you here until you woke up! And here you are- she smiled kindly.

─ By the way! I forgot to introduce myself, i'm Aura ─  she smiled ─  And you? ─

she gave a small laugh but then her voice became more serious.

─ but no one can know. understood?

I nodded, maybe I should.

 but I decided I was tired enough to keep thinking.

I settled into bed and closed my eyes to try to sleep again.

Omniscient Pov.

Scrooge had not appeared in front of the family since the previous night, but after thinking about Dewey and all the recent events, he decided that it would be best to discuss the matter, regardless of the fact that he had told the children the truth besides the recent loss of their brother, the children hated him, and the last thing the ducklings wanted was to see him; But he still gathered everyone in the dining room.

The children arrive at the room where the adult, their uncle Donald and Webby were.

Chapter Text

Dewey's Pov.

A week passed since Aura received me in her small home that was strangely quite cozy, when I began to improve and be able to move better, Aura made me a small cane like hers so that I could start walking and moving without the pain being there, present all the time. I was really wondering how I had survived such a fall, but I was very grateful that Aura would help me get better. And it was working! Even without medical help, it was incredible.

We started to form a little routine since I started being able to walk with the cane, it was quite simple but it changed sometimes, since we didn't always do the same thing every day. Our routine consisted of, while I slept, Aura would wake up a little earlier than me and prepare some type of breakfast. When I woke up I helped a little with cleaning the small cave until breakfast was ready. During breakfast we would talk about any topic and when we finished I would help pick up the dirty dishes and leave them outside so that later Aura could wash them outside with the water we collected every 2 days. Sometimes Aura would go out to look for fruits in the forest so she could use them for food during the days, I would stay at home resting or finish cleaning the house. When I didn't feel so tired of my body, I would go with Aura to look for the fruits, although sometimes I had to stay far away, since from time to time we would find people camping in the forest. When that happened, Michelle would distract the campers while Aura took as much food as she could, I just watched, since if I participated, it would be difficult to escape running and being in pain.

It was great to at least have a small place to sleep; Without Aura, I would probably be in the forest sleeping under a tree. But, what about my family? When I fell from the plane they must have thought I had died... But they hadn't they searched for my body? Obviously I couldn't go out to look for help in the condition I was in due to the fall, but... What if I didn't see my family again?... I was quite worried about that. Have they already forgotten about me?

A new week began, and I was already improving more. Aura, Michelle and I went to a small, recently abandoned house that we found near a road. We wanted to look for things that could be useful for the cave, as well as, look for a place where I could sleep so that Aura could return to her bed. which was where I slept, instead of sleeping in that sleeping bag that I had used since my arrival.

 ─Mmm.. I think there is nothing useful anymore. ─ Aura spoke holding a shopping cart that was beginning to rust from the front and that contained things that we had found during the time we had been there.

Michelle meowed ─ "you're right."

─ Guys! Check this out! ─ I shouted excitedly from a place a little far from where Aura and Michelle were.I approached quickly with the help of the cane and showed what seemed to be a map.─  See! We could go find what the map points to! ─ I said excitedly, showing my passion for adventures.─ Ehh... I don't think so...  ─  she said with a distrustful and insecure tone.─  And why not? ─ we could find a lot of things! , maybe something that will be useful for the cave! ─ You could see the excitement in my voice, the truth is that I had gone several days without any adventure or exciting event, and although I couldn't participate in it since I was hurt, I really missed the adventures, the mysteries, solving riddles with my brothers. I missed my family... 

─ Uhm... It sounds dangerous... ─ Aura said with her eyes down, but it didn't seem important to me. ─ I prefer to stay safe in the cave... Who knows what dangers we may encounter looking for that "treasure" - she made some signs with his hands for the quotation marks of what was just said. It seemed strange to me... Since I met Aura I could tell that she was someone very optimistic, she always smiled and seemed happy, even in situations where she didn't need it, like when we couldn't collect any fruit when we went out look for them. And when I showed her the map, his tone of voice changed drastically and her smile diminished. ─ Come on! It will be fun! ─ apparently now I was the optimist.

[... ] Aura was silent for a moment, when I was going to start talking again, she looked at me and spoke before me.

─  .. Okay.. But if there is something that endangers us, we will leave quickly! Okay?! ─ She smiled again and said in a half-bossy tone. ─ Haha, okay ─ I laughed a little and went back to look for things.

I was with the map in my hands while I followed the path to look for what would be the treasure, Aura was behind me following me with Michelle. A long time passed where we took breaks and then continued walking in the direction indicated on the old sheet of paper.

When we finally arrived I was a little disappointed, the only thing there was was a type of cottage in ashes, all destroyed and mistreated, but despite the disappointment for the place that I thought would be different, I decided to look among the rubble for wooden planks and burned, etc.The truth was there was nothing interesting, but Aura had been silent the entire little trip. Maybe she really didn't want an adventure that put her in danger.

While I was searching, Aura saw a thick and quite dirty book. When I turned around, I could see that it was like a family album. ─ What is that? What did you find? ─ I said curious.

─ M-My family... ─ She finished the sentence. Surprised by that revelation, I asked again, worried. ─ And... what happened to them? ─ Aura sighed and remained silent for a few seconds to avoid her tears coming back, and then she spoke again.

─ When I was 10 years old...

Omniscient Pov:

─ Stay here and do not enter to the cabin!─ he shouted to the kid before entering completely into the burning place. Aura watched her father disappear into the flames, she was scared and small tears began to form in her eyes. But she was still there, obeying her father, but 3 long minutes passed and nothing happened. The cabin was still on fire and her family was inside.

The girl began to get scared when she saw that no one was coming out of the house, then; remembering the spell books her parents had taught her, she got closer to the cabin and when she was close enough, feeling the flames closer to her body almost burning her; with her eyes closed, she began to mutter something unintelligible and from her hands, a bright orange aura began to form and as quickly as it was thrown at the cabin, the fire was put out. The kid opened her eyes and realized that her spell had worked. Quickly, the girl ran inside the house to look for her family. When she saw something in her little sister's room, she ran there but when she reached the door frame she began to walk slowly while analyzing everything that was happening in the room. There, she found her family unconscious, or so she wanted to think; her mother on the floor while hugging her sister and her father close to them but with the same fate.

Aura felt a lump forming in her throat while tears began to slide down her face. She threw herself to the ground and approached her parents, hugging them while crying inconsolably.

When she calmed down, Aura searched through the now ash-covered house for anything that wasn't yet destroyed or burned that she might need now that she was homeless. When she had enough, she returned to where her parents and sister were, and saw that her father's cane was right next to his body on the ground. 

She took it carefully and then turned to see her mother and took a necklace that belonged to her while sobbing she said goodbye to them.

Aura walked aimlessly through the forest with a lost look. She was too affected by everything that had happened, she had lost her family in a matter of seconds and she couldn't do anything. When Aura came out of the little trance, she turned her head to the right and left side, observing that she was now in an unknown part of the forest... Or at least she didn't know it. Aura sighed and with her eyes downcast, continued walking; until she found a small cave in which the interior was completely dark. But she had nowhere to sleep, so any small comfortable space could be of help to her.  Inside she heard a noise, and instinctively, she used the cane as a sword to defend herself, but she only saw a small injured cat. Her expression softened when she saw that injured animal.

─  How did this happen to you? Are you okay? ─ she asked the cat and the latter meowed as if it were an answer.

Chapter Text

The search for Dewey's body had begun a week ago, but there were no answers, nothing was found, not even a single remains. Scrooge felt that history was somehow repeating itself. He was afraid that his great-nephew would end up like his niece Della, who could never be found.

“We found the paper, the one your nephew was holding, and the one containing the supposed ‘information about Della.’” The chicken paused briefly as he read the search report. “We also found what could be a feather in your nephew’s head and a piece of his shirt. The investigation team ordered a DNA test to confirm that the feather belongs to Dewey. To do that, we need a feather from you, your nephew Donald, or one of your great-nephew’s siblings. That way, we can check the compatibility and find out if the feather really belongs to Dewey, since it’s very likely just a strange feather from someone else.” Scrooge was silent for a moment, and then there was a sigh.

“Do whatever tests you need... Just find my nephew,” he said seriously, in a low tone, and hung up.

There may be a small chance, a very small one, less than 15% that your nephew is still alive. Everyone fell silent. The children, Donald, Scrooge, the entire family, were trying to come to terms with what had happened. Scrooge, who managed to emerge from his trance more quickly than the others, quickly spoke.

"But if it exists. If that's true..." he said, his eyes slightly teary. "We must find him." His voice sounded determined.

Chapter Text

Donald's POV.

After Gyro explained the possibility of Dewey being alive, I was stunned by such a hypothesis. How could anyone survive a fall of more than 10 meters? It was impossible. Unless there was ground near where he fell that would make the impact less painful. No, that would still end up killing him. So how could he survive such an impact? ...

Wait... Where did Dewey supposedly fall?

That thought started to gnaw at my head, so I went to my boat and pulled out a map. I looked for the spot where my nephew had fallen and...
"Witches Valley Forest."

At that moment, I questioned what I was looking for. It didn't make sense at all, but I kept looking. "W-Witches Valley Forest," I whispered as I typed into the computer's search engine.

18790 results to your search.

I clicked on a page that showed a newspaper article about the place.

"Explorers claim that Witches Valley Forest is home to a wealth of magic of all kinds, as well as witches."

As I read, my interest grew, and suddenly something occurred to me.

It's pretty silly. I didn't pay attention to it, but the idea started to make sense based on what the articles said. But it occurred to me to check for myself if what they said online about the forest was true. But how would I know? Right now, the last thing anyone in the family wants is an adventure, because it would remind them of Dewey. But I needed to know; at least I needed to clear up the doubt.

So I took the things I had been using while investigating, and headed inside the mansion, to my Uncle Scrooge's office.

I knocked on the door and heard a "come in" coming from inside the room. So I opened the door and entered. I noticed everything was in disarray. There were papers about various things scattered everywhere, a torn map, and pieces of it scattered all over the room. But I decided to ignore this and went to stand in front of my uncle's desk. He looked tired, his pens in disarray.

It may sound crazy, but I think there might be a way for Dewey to survive... If he's even alive... - Hearing this, it seems like her disinterest disappears and a bit of emotion can be noticed in his eyes, then i continue - Look for the location where Dewey is supposed to have fallen- I put the map I had been using while investigating on the desk and with my finger I point at the location.

"Witches Valley Forest?" he asked, confused. "What's your point?" he said, trying to understand what I meant. 

- According to reports, they say that this forest has large amounts of magic and... Witches. - I explained trying to make him understand what I meant. - m-maybe there is a possibility that Dewey survived because of... The magic of the... Forest or a witch... found him-.. That sounded better in my head - I realized how silly it sounded and Scrooge just looked at me incredulously and laughed softly at such speculation but then he looked me in the eyes.

"Donald, I know you're sad about losing Dewey, and I am too... We all are; but I'm doing everything I can to find him. " He explains with a little sadness in his eyes. " I know it hurts, and that it's been very difficult to get over this. But I know we're going to be okay. " Scrooge gets up from his desk and approaches me, puts his hand on my shoulder with a worried and sad face.

- No! You're looking for him, I know, but I also want to do something! I don't want to stay locked up here remembering how he- he left. - He raised his voice and small tears began to form in my eyes. - If Gyro thinks there might be a chance that he's alive, why not find out!? Why not try to find him for ourselves!? The people who are looking for Dewey don't know him like we do! They don't know how he thinks or acts! - My uncle Scrooge looks at me surprised by my reaction and tries to speak but I interrupt him.

"Yes! Maybe my 'theory'"—I make quotation marks with my hands—"is stupid and doesn't make a bit of sense. But at least I need to know that some of Dewey's still here!" I breathe, exhausted after shouting and speaking so quickly.

Uncle Scrooge just stares at me with tears in his eyes. I realize I was too direct. He takes his hand off my shoulder and is now staring at the floor. "Uncle Scrooge..." He turns away so I can't see him and remains silent for a few seconds. 

"A-and then... What are you planning to do?" he said, his voice cracking and almost inaudible. "I don't think anyone in this family would want to go on a 'search' with everything that's going on right now." He turns to look at me again, and I can see tears falling from his cheeks.

The next day, we gathered the family and explained the "plan." Everyone had a different reaction. Huey and Louie were surprised. Louie got angry because he thought we were just going on an adventure, but Huey explained. Now he thinks my theory is really bad and silly, but he's still not opposed to the search.

Huey was stunned at first, he too thought the theory made no sense, but he didn't oppose the plan either.

Chapter Text

Dewey's POV.

It had been a month since I "got lost" in this forest when I fell from my uncle's plane, and... Today was my birthday and my brothers' birthdays... I woke up like any normal morning, all I wanted was to occupy my mind doing my chores to distract myself from not being able to celebrate my birthday with my brothers and my family, but even though I would have wanted to hide the "special" day that today was, Aura already knew and when I woke up this morning she gave me a small cake that honestly didn't taste bad and congratulated me, although I didn't want to remember my birthday, I couldn't help but feel happy because at least I had a friend who congratulated me. 

After everything that happened in her past, her family, and all that, we both started to get a lot closer, so she already knew how I got here. At first, she was surprised and scolded me, saying I had to go back, but we were practically in another state, a little far from Duckburg, so it wouldn't be easy to get there, especially with the "super-advanced technology" this forest has. She also already knew my birthday and some things about my personal life, like the names of my siblings and my family.

When we finished our little routine, I was changing to go look for fruit, because besides, I was already healed and Aura made me a few clothes with clothes I no longer used so that I could wear something other than my dirty, dirt-covered blue t-shirt.

When I was leaving the cave, already prepared with my basket and some other things that we used, Aura gave me a little scare and then took my basket away from me.

"Wait. There's a town!?" I broke away from her and stood in front of her. "Why didn't you tell me?!" I was surprised because Aura hadn't mentioned anything about that town, and that might have made some of our tasks easier. "Well... I didn't tell you because it wasn't necessary, haha. Well, sort of. You see, here in the forest there aren't many ways to earn money, and I've saved the little I have. But," she smiled. "Since today is a special day, take some of the money to buy whatever you want." Aura took some coins out of a small bag while smiling. "You shouldn't spend your money on me if it's so hard to get. Besides, there's no need to celebrate my birthday."

"Come on! It'll be fun to break away from the same old routine!" she said, smiling at me with "doggie eyes." "Using my techniques, then? Okay, and besides, I'd love to see that town," I said, placing the basket on the curtain that served as the cave door. "Yeah! It's going to be great!" she said, starting to walk away as I followed her.

We walked around the place and it looked quite lively. There were food and clothing stalls, there was food that looked quite appetizing but Aura told me there was something she wanted me to try and to wait a little longer.

At the clothing stalls, there were garments of all styles. As I watched, I saw Aura take a skirt she'd made out and give it to the stall owner, giving her some money. This made me curious, so I approached her to ask. "Why did you give her your skirt? It took you so long to sew it." At this, Aura laughed a little. "I sell some of the clothes and then buy more fabric. It's a small business, and that's how she makes money." She smiled. "Come on, there's a dish you have to try." She went to a small restaurant, and we sat down at a table. "They sell Mexican food here. In fact, the owner is from Mexico, and the food is varied, not just tacos... Hello!"

 Is that you?!

Louie's POV.

I was already tired, and it wasn't because I was lazy and didn't want to walk anymore, but I knew we weren't going to find anything about Dewey, and I knew that would make the family feel worse than we already were. I turned around to look at the other stands while my Uncle Donald asked the stand manager where we were. Up ahead, I could see a gun game stand, and there was a very familiar duck there. I made my way through the crowd as the duck began to walk away.

I felt tears form in my eyes and slowly fall down my cheeks as I watched people walk by, as if the duck that looked like Dewey was going to appear. I ran the sleeves of my hoodie over my eyes to try and wipe my tears away, but they wouldn't stop.

Then I heard my Uncle Donald and Huey approaching, but I didn't hear them, I didn't understand them. It was as if they were far away or underwater, and I couldn't respond. I started breathing faster and faster, and my knees dropped to the floor as I tried to stop crying. All I could feel was my Uncle Donald and my brother trying to calm me down. Suddenly, I was surrounded by people watching the scene, now I felt watched, as if my suffering for Dewey's absence was just a spectacle, so I sat down and covered my face with my legs while I began to calm down, when I managed to, I saw that my uncle Scrooge had quickly arrived and asked me worriedly.  "Boy, are you okay? What happened?"

- I-I... - my voice broke and I felt the urge to cry return. - I-I thought I saw... D-Dewey... -