Chapter Text
The first time he'd noticed it was 2 weeks ago.
Something was wrong.
And not the good kind of wrong.
Something was wrong with Louie, and honestly, it freaked him out.
Dewey and Louie sat together at the breakfast table, eating in uncomfortable silence. The older of the two used his fork to poke small holes in his pancakes. He sighed and briefly raised his glance to look at his younger brother, Louie hadn’t eaten anything yet either. Both ducklings simply stared at their food in silence.
Since when had it been like this? Since when did Louie talk so little? And why was he only noticing it now? The dark circles that formed over the younger’s eyes were at least a week old, and they grew darker with each passing day. Louie had gotten thinner, by how much, Dewey didn’t know. His outside looked clean and presentable though, he took regular showers and his hoodie was washed. He didn’t appear to completely ignore his health… But it was still odd. It just didn't look like Louie…
Once the silence stretched on for too long, Dewey decided to speak up with the only way he knew to start a conversation. A stupid fun fact.
“There is a sports competition called Cheese-Rolling. Someone throws a roll of cheese down a hill and you have to roll after it and catch it to win.“ He said, stabbing his fork into the pancake and raising it up slightly. It fell off seconds after. Louie stared at his older brother wordlessly, but the eye contact spoke volumes. Dewey looked to the side. It wasn’t like Louie to stare at him so intently. It usually only happened when they were on dangerous adventures and were minutes before potential death. Louie paying him 100% of his attention for a stupid fun fact wasn’t… It wasn’t Louie.
“Uh-“ Maybe he just needed to come with an even worse fact, “The process by which bread toasts is called the ‘Maillard Reaction.’ That’s pretty neat, huh?“
“Kinda.“
At least he got a verbal reaction this time. Dewey sighed and shoved his chair back. He wasn’t really hungry anyway. What he didn’t consider was how harshly he had pushed his chair back. He accidentally shoved it against the counter behind him and the force made a can of PEP! fall off. It, unfortunately, was already opened, and so the contents spilled all over the freshly cleaned floor. The worst about all this was that it wasn’t just any regular kind of PEP!. It wasn’t quite as rare as cherry PEP!, but the green-colored sweet woodruff flavored soda was definitely one of Louie’s favorites.
With an apology on the tip of his tongue, Dewey whirled around to his younger brother.
Something was definitely wrong with Louie.
This wasn’t normal anymore.
Louie had gotten off his seat and stood with a towel in hand in front of him.
No tantrum. Not even a complaint. He even offered to clean it?
“Lou, is everything alright?“
Of course, it wasn’t. Louie was acting weird. 'Weird' wasn’t even good enough to describe it!
Louie refused to answer him. The young duckling simply kneeled down and began cleaning up the mess. Dewey felt a queasy feeling rise up in his stomach and he swallowed it back down. Louie wasn’t supposed to clean up his messes. “Give me that.“ He said and snatched the rag, maybe a bit too harshly, from Louie’s hands. The younger didn’t argue.
Dewey took the towel and rubbed it over the floor, soaking up the spilled liquid. He could feel Louie’s gaze burn on his feathers. His brother didn’t leave his side, nor said a single word during the entire procedure.
…
…
…
“Have you noticed… Louie acting weird lately?“ He asked haltingly, face all pinched up like the words tasted sour.
His older brother looked over at him. Huey was seated at his desk and sewed a new badge onto his sash. “Weird how?“
“You know. Weird. Like… When was the last time he was scheming? Or talking about money or talking- talking at all, really.“
“He’s been more helpful lately.“ Huey stated and put down his sewing equipment, “He helped me with two of my badges the other day. And he even agreed to come with me to that woodchuck meetup.“
“And you don’t think that’s weird?“
“Well, no.“
Dewey blinked hesitantly. So hesitant, in fact, that his eyes felt dry by the time he got around to doing it. “What?“
Huey ditched the desk and climbed up the ladder to the middle bunk and sat down next to his brother. Dewey watched with a furrowed brow, unsure if he would like what Huey had to tell him.
“Remember when you and Louie ditched me during the Woodchuck cookout? Well, there was a new one the other day, I didn’t join because I already have the badge, but it came up in conversation. Louie and I talked about it for a while and I told him how sad I was you two weren’t there with me. I mean, Bouncer and Burger did an impressive job helping me out but… I wanted to have you there with me…
“I don’t see how this has anything to do with Louie acting weird.“
“Well, after I told him that, he was suddenly super eager to help me out with a different badge. See the one down there? It’s my botany badge, Louie helped me gather all the plants for that one. Dewey, I don’t think he’s acting weird. I think he just wants to be more helpful. Look, he even agreed to come with me to a woodchuck meetup. He offered Webby to help her craft new arrows, and I think mom had a really good time when they went to the cinema the other day. I don’t see how those things are bad. Sure, they're a bit strange for Louie, but maybe he just wants to help out?“
“Huey,“ Dewey grabbed his brother by the arms, voice edging dangerously close to hysterical territory, “Come on, don’t you see how weird any of this is?“
“I’m for one am proud Louie’s more active now. I haven’t seen him out of bed and this eager to work in a long time.“
“Yes, because that’s not usual for him! Something's wrong with him!“
“You know how Louie is, if something is truly bordering him, he would have told us already.“
Dewey let his arms drop and stared at his older brother in disbelief, “You know, if you don’t want to help me, I’ll do it myself.“
…
…
…
“Dewey! Dewey, are you even listening?“
The duckling in blue was met with an elbow to the side that ripped him right out of his daydream. He looked dumbfounded from his older brother to his uncle, who stood on a small wooden crate.
“And remember lads, while Haraldson te peaceful was renowned for his- well, peacefulness, his treasures are guarded by te most fierce and deadly traps out there.“ Scrooge ended his long-winded speech. He reached for a glass of water he had got in advance, knowing his throat would be sore after explaining an entire biography for 2 hours.
“Any questions?“
Scrooge looked at the four ducklings in front of him and even shot Della a side glance.
“Uh, uh, uh!“ Dewey raised his hand and jumped up and down.
“Yes Dewey?“
“What are we searching for again? I stopped listening somewhere around, ‘Okay lads, gather around.’“
Scrooge pinched the brink of his beak, “That was te first sentence I said.“ He sighed and turned his back to the kids, “Webby, be a dear and fill in te lad. We head out in half an hour.“
“Seriously.“ Huey tugged his notebook under his hat. He had taken notes during the entire speech, and unlike his brother in blue, actually knew what was going on, “We’ve been chasing this artifact for a month now, how can you still not know what we’re looking for?“
“I know what we’re looking for!“ Dewey puffed out his chest, “We’re looking for the crown of Gerald!“
Huey crossed his arms and raised a brow “It’s a staff.“
“And his name is Haraldson.“ Webby corrected. “Haraldson the peaceful. A Viking warlord who won all his battles without spilling an ounce of blood. Legends say, he was so charismatic, it only took one glance from him for his enemies to capitulate. He was a true hero of justice and brought peace and unity to the land.“
“Oh.“ Dewey replied, “Boring. So… Why are we looking for his crown again?“
“It’s a staff.“ Huey sighed and shook his head, “His staff is said to grand the wielder the power to raise and command an army. In the wrong hands, this could lead to impending doom.“
“Impending doom? Okay, you got my attention again. So, where do we find that thing?“
“We already have. Well, half of it. The staff was split in two a long time ago to halve the power and prevent an uprising. We found the first half in the dungeon a month ago, but the second part is still missing.“
“Okay… So why are we… here?“ Dewey pointed around him.
The kids were standing by the poolside, the screaming and laughing residence of the hotel made it so that the ducklings had to shout to be loud enough for each other to hear. A pool ball flew over their heads and almost hit them.
For a 5-star resort, the place was immensely crowded. Usually, only a few people could afford such luxuries. At least this one wasn’t led by a corrupted scheming lion.
Huey rubbed his eyes in annoyance, “We’re here, because Haraldson’s resting place is only a 30 minute trip from the hotel, and we hope we can find the staff there.“
“Wait. Why are we only going to his grave now? Shouldn’t that have been the first place we searched?“
“Urg, forget it. Where have you been the last month?“
“Uhm… Earth?“
Well, stuck in his thoughts for the most time. He’s been observing Louie ever since he started to act weird. It’s been all he could think about lately. It was weird how no one else had pointed Louie’s strange behavior out yet. For sure, the others must gave picked up on it, right? Or did they all follow Huey’s opinion and saw the changes as an improvement?
“Now come kids, no need to be grumpy.“ Della walked over to them and ruffled both of Huey’s and Dewey’s hair feathers. “We still have 30 minutes to raid the cocktail bar. Who’s with me?“
“Me! Me!“ Dewey’s excitement returned in a flash and in the same flash, he dashed away, slipping right next to the ’wet floor’ sign. “I’m okay!“ He yelled and got to his feet again, “I’m fine! You guys coming?“
Huey shook his head in disappointment, briefly wondering how they were even related. Dewey sprinted back over to them, “Come, Hue! Let’s have a drinking competition! I bet I can down more smoothies than you!“
“I’m not joining in on that.“
“Party pooper… What about you, Lou?“ He looked over to his other brother, who had been awfully quiet the entire time. Well, it was more common now. “You versus me.“
Looked at him with a blank stare and shrugged.
Dewey hid his frown.
Louie got even weirder lately.
Especially around him. Or rather, only around him.
Louie’s been trying to avoid him…
Louie hung around the others like usual. Sure, he still talked less and acted not Louie-y at all, but whenever Dewey entered the room, Louie would scramble for an excuse to leave.
Louie didn’t complain about chores anymore or returned the gesture when his brothers started bickering with each other. He stopped throwing tantrums over things that usually upset him, he didn't even try to grab some of the treasure when they explored the underground temple the other week- Oh hey, he remembered something he did the past month! Nice. He had to goad Huey with that info later!
Either way, the middle child dragged his siblings, brothers and sister alike, over to the smoothie bar and ordered a dozen drinks for each of them.
“Okay guys, I start! Huey, you count the drinks. Now, hold your breath and be amazed!“
“You’re going to get a stomachache. Or a brain freeze.“ His slightly older brother warned him, but Dewey was already gulping down his first drink like he’d been dehydrated for months. It soon got followed by a second one. The third one was where his brain began to itch slightly. Why were those smoothies so cold? Anyway, he reached out for the fourth one.
“You’ll regret that.“ Huey warned him once again. Dewey rolled his eyes, “I won’t. Louie will regret it once he tries to beat me-“ he looked over at his younger brother and rival in this little competition of his.
This was the moment he truly found out how dangerous Louie’s change in behavior was.
Something was wrong.
Horribly wrong.
Louie was standing stone still, not moving a muscle. He might as well have been a statue. But this wasn’t the thing that made Dewey’s heart skip a beat. Louie’s face was blue. Completely blue. Almost purple even.
Dewey spits out half his drink in shock and leaped out of his chair, rushing over to his younger brother. Huey and Webby followed suit and Della was already at the duckling’s side, trying to figure out what happened.
“Louie! Louie, look at me!“ Della ordered and shook her son slightly. Louie did as he was told, but his face grew bluer in color. He looked like he was struggling, panicking even. He brought up his hands and clawed at his own throat as if he tried to undo an invisible noose. His fingers left deep purple marks all over his neck, some of them deep enough to draw blood. Della reacted first and grabbed her son by the wrists, “Stop!“ She yelled, her voice was laced with panic.
Louie stopped his struggle, but his face remained blue. He looked close to passing out.
By now, the rest of the hotel guests notices something was wrong as well, and they gathered around in a small circle around the family. Some of them were screaming for a doctor or something alike. Others were simply watching in terror.
“Louie, darling, you need to breathe. Breathe with me.“
Louie didn’t breathe.
“Lou, please, breathe.“ Huey pleaded.
Louie still wouldn’t breathe. His face adopted a new shade of blue. His eyes darted around, looking at each family member with scared and wide pupils.
Dewey couldn’t take this anymore.
He grabbed Louie by his shoulders and shook him violently, “Lou! Breathe!“
Suddenly, Louie gasped. The green-clad duckling let out a wheeze and coughed, sucking in breath after breath of fresh air.
“Louie, what happened?!“ Webby asked worried once Louie regained his breath. His face was still purple-ish, but he at least wasn’t suffocating anymore.
“I- I don’t know.“ The duckling said, his voice was rough and he was still gasping for air every few seconds.
“Are you okay? Do you feel sick?“ Della placed her hand on Louie’s forehead, choking the temperature. He didn’t feel particularly warm. Louie simply shook his head.
“What is going on here?“
The crowd around them opened up for just a moment, and Scrooge stepped inside the circle, “What are ye lads doing on te floor? Have ye checked te clock?“
“Now hold on just a minute“ Della got up, but still held on to Louie. She was afraid that something bad would happen once she let go, “I think Louie should sit this one out. I’ll stay here with him.“
“Nonsense.“ The magnate rebutted, “The lad looks fine te me! Come over here, Louie, adventure awaits.“
Della opened her beak to protest, but Louie already walked over to Scrooge, not a single complaint or word about what just happened. The rest of the group stared at him confused, then Della and Webby followed the other two ducks. Huey was about to go after them as well, but Dewey tugged him back by the sleeve.
“Louie’s acting weird.“ He stated.
Weird was an understatement.
What just happened… This was more than weird.
And no one could argue with him on that.
Huey nodded slightly, “I don’t think we should go on this adventure while he’s sick.“
“Sick?“ Dewey echoed, “Which sickness makes you suffocate like this?“
“I-I don’t know. I’ll look up his symptoms once we’re on the jeep.“
“Huey-“ Dewey stopped him again before Huey had the chance to walk away, “This is serious! We should bring him to the hospital, not look at that stupid book!“
“The JWG has the answer to everything!“ The older brother hissed, offended by the insult.
“Huey, can you listen to me for just a second? I’ve been telling you for weeks something’s wrong with Louie! Look! At! Him! He’s quiet! He only joins in on our conversations when we directly address him, he barely sleeps or eats, he’s doing all his chores lately, he’s suddenly interested in all our activities, and he literally stopped breathing for a moment. Why aren’t you concerned? Don’t you care about him?“
“Of course I care!“ Huey made a frustrated sound, “I tried!“
“What?“ Dewey took a step back, confused.
“You’re right, he’s acting weird! I tried to talk to him the other day, and he freaked out! I found him curled up in one of the guest rooms, but when I approached him, he ran away. I’m not sure what I’ve done but-“
“Huey, I understand! He’s doing the same with me.“ He sighed and grabbed his brother’s by the shoulders, “We need to do something.“
“Do what?“ Huey shot back, “He won’t talk about it with us!“
“Then we’ll force the truth out of him! He’s our little brother, we need to help him!“
“KIDS!
Both ducklings flinched and looked to the entrance. Della ran over to them, “We called you 5 times, are you coming?“
The brothers nodded and caught up to the rest of their family.
“Let's keep an eye on him.“ Huey whispered to his brother and Dewey nodded firmly.
They rented a jeep for the road because the Sunchaser couldn’t land near the temple where the grave was. They had half an hour before they would arrive, and Louie had nowhere to run if they confronted him about it now.
Dewey shot his brother a questioning glance as if to ask if this was a good time. Launchpad was driving, while everyone else sat in the backseats. If they brought the issue up now, everyone else was there to join in as well. Huey shook his head slightly. This was something they needed to talk about in private first. Just the three of them.
Although reluctantly, Dewey agreed.
The drive to the memorial was mostly silent. Every once in a while someone shot Louie a worried glance, checking if he was still breathing alright.
Dewey fiddled with his thumbs. The drive felt like it was taking forever.
“Are we there yet?“
“It’s been 5 minutes. No.“
“How about now?“
“No.“
“Now?“
“No.“
The jeep eventually came to a stop and everyone got. Everyone but the triplets.
“Lou, wait a moment.“
The youngest of the trio stopped dead in his tracks, he only moved his head slightly to his side to face his brothers.
“We need to talk.“ Dewey said. He saw how his brother’s eyes went wide, and when Louie was about to flee the scene, Huey reached out, “Please, Louie. Something is wrong with you, and you’re not leaving until you told us what it is!“
Louie’s eyes darted from Huey to Dewey and back franticly until he let his shoulders fall and took a seat.
“Kids! Are you coming?“
“A moment, mom! You can go ahead, we’ll be with you in a second!“ Huey called out the window.
“Are you sure?“
“Yeah! We’ll follow shortly!“
After some more back and forth, the adults plus Webby left, leaving the triplets alone for their talk.
Louie looked extremely uncomfortable with what was about to happen, so did his brothers.
“Okay, Lou,“ Dewey took a deep breath, “Something’s wrong with you and we’re extremely worried! Did anything happen?“
Louie grabbed the front of his hoodie and pulled it up to cover his beak. “Yes.“ He mumbled into the fabric.
“What happened?“ Huey asked, his voice was a lot more sincere than Dewey’s.
“N-No.“ Louie reached back and pulled his hood over his head. He tugged at the strings so that the hood tightened around his face.
“No?“ Dewey echoed.
“No.“ Louie replied with a whimper.
“Lou…“ Huey’s expression turned soft, “Whatever is bordering you, you can talk with us. We’ll help you. Please, tell us what’s wrong.“
“I-I can’t.“
“Why not, Louie? Is someone threatening you? Are you being blackmailed?“ Dewey’s voice took on a more urgent tone. Louie shook his head again, “N-No.“
“Then why can’t you tell us?“
“I can’t. P-Please, I can’t.“ Louie began to tremble, Dewey could see tears gather in the corners of his brother’s eyes.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Okay Louie, calm down, deep breaths.“ Huey reached out to comfort his brother, but Louie flinched away, slowly curling up on his seat.
“Can’t-“
“It’s alright, you don’t have to tell us.“ Huey decided. Forcing the information out wasn’t working, “Just tell us how we can help.“
The trembling duckling sobbed quietly, “I don’t know.“
“Then what do you know?“ Dewey cut in, “Just give us anything to work with.“
Louie put his hands over his head and curled up more.
“Louie-!“
“Dewey!“ Huey pulled his slightly younger brother back harshly, “You’re going too far.“
“Look at him!“ Dewey gestured at the trembling and crying Louie, “We can’t ignore this!“
“And we won’t. But you’re scaring him!“
“Scaring him? I’m not scaring him! Louie, tell Huey that I’m not scaring you.“
“Dewey isn’t scaring me.“
The reply sent both older brothers in a temporary silence.
Dewey honestly didn’t expect that to work… At all…
He felt nauseous. A terrible, awful, idea began to settle in his mind.
“Louie… uncurl yourself.“ He said slowly.
Louie did as he was told.
“Louie, raise your right hand.“
“Dewey, what-“ Huey began to chastise, but his sentence got stopped abruptly as Louie raised his right hand without a word.
Dewey swallowed. He and Huey shared a glance, both coming to the same conclusion.
“Tell me you full name.“
“Llewellyn Duck.“ The youngest obeyed. The way he said the words sounded almost relieved. The tone was all wrong. Not just that, but Louie would never ever say those words out loud if there was avoiding it.
Dewey tried to think back, but he couldn’t recall the last time Louie disobeyed anything they said. How long has this been going on-?
Huey gasped in shock, his hands flying to his beak.
Both brothers looked at their youngest in horror, Louie simply stared back, his hand still raised.
“You can put that down now.“ Dewey offered and Louie’s arm fell limply to his side.
“Louie, who did this to you?“ Huey asked, his tone reaching a new level of worry.
“I-I don’t k-know.“ Louie stuttered, still trembling.
Dewey ran a hand through his hair, stopping right in the middle of his hand and he tugged. A few feathers came loose, but it did nothing to help him calm down.
How long had this been going on? How long had Louie suffered like this? What even caused it? He looked over at Huey for guidance. Dewey's brain stopped, it just went blank. But Huey didn't look like his usual level-headed self either, his jaw was tight and his eyes hard. He looked like he was trying to keep his composure, but his entire body was shaking.
“We have to tell the others. Mom and uncle Scrooge will know what to do.“ He said.
“Wait.“ Dewey interrupted. Louie had stood the moment the order left Huey’s beak but paused at Dewey’s words. Dewey anxiously reached out to snag Louie’s wrist, “Lou? Are you okay with this? How do you feel?“ He asked softly.
“Scared.“ The answer came too fast. Dewey inwardly recoiled. How hadn’t he heard the underlining distress in his brother’s voice before? How could it take him so long to hear how much Louie was suffering?
Suddenly, one of the jeep’s doors swung open and Webby popped in her head, “Are you guys coming? Everyone’s waiting.“
“Y-Yeah.“ Huey said nervously, wringing his hands, “Gather everyone up, we have to talk about something.“
Webby looked at the older triplet in confusion, then her gaze jumped over to Louie, who had opened the door on his side of the jeep and exited. Huey flinched and grabbed his brother by the wrist, “I didn’t mean you, Lou.“
Louie returned to his starting position.
Moments later, the four ducklings exited the jeep and made their way over to the three adults waiting for them. Only Launchpad seemed to be in a cheery mood, the other two ducks showed signs of either being annoyed or worried. Louie was led to them holding the hand of a brother on each side. Webby followed with a concerned frown on her face.
“What took you lads so long? You’re usually more excited than this.“
“We have to go back to the mansion.“ Huey said, not letting go of Louie as he took another step forward, “Something’s wrong with Louie.“
“Oh, not you too, lad.“ Scrooge sighed. Della on the other hand showed a bit more concern, “Did something happen?“ She asked worried and bent down to be on eye level with her sons.
“Yes.“ Louie replied, but didn’t elaborate. Huey decided it was best to skip the back and forth and cut straight to the problem, “He does whatever we say. It’s like someone took his free will!“
“Okay, that’s it.“ Scrooge took a step forward, “Louie, lad, if you didnea want ta come ta this adventure ye should’ve said so back at te resort. We won't turn around now. Drop te act and get going.“
Louie obeyed immediately. He disengage from his brothers’ hold and walked over to Scrooge, not a single word was said. Huey and Dewey followed suit, but they weren’t about to let the issue go. “Louie, stop!“ Dewey called out. Weirdly enough, Louie didn’t stop. He followed Scrooge up the first couple of stairs of the grave-temple.
It was a rather plain-looking temple. Years of abandonment caused nature to grow ragingly, consuming every structure in the way. Moss and mold covered the long stairway to the top of the temple, where the stone outline of a stature was resting. The temple looked almost unfinished, but maybe it was only the structure falling apart after centuries of neglect. The forest growing around them did an excellent job in hiding the big temple, if it wasn’t for their research and outside clues, they might have never even found it.
“Louie! Stop!“ Dewey tried again. And again, Louie didn’t stop.
Huey tried a few times as well, and even Della called out once, though she still seemed confused about everything. Louie didn’t react to any of them.
It was only when Scrooge got fed up with everyone’s yelling that the trillionaire, and consequently Louie, stopped. “What in te blazes are ye screaming about?“
“Just- Just listen!“ Dewey caught up to them, “Louie can’t disobey!“
“So ye saying he is possessed?“ Scrooge asked, clearly not taking the warning seriously.
“Not possessed but-“
“He’s like a slave right now!“ Huey stepped forward, “We’re forcing him to do things he doesn’t want to do!“
But Scrooge still dismissed their concerns, “Nonsense,“ he said and waved his hand as if to tell them that the conversation was finished.
Dewey growled lowly.
No one was taking them seriously! Couldn’t they see Louie’s distress?
Well, he shouldn’t be too judgmental. It took him way too long to find out himself… he should have noticed sooner. But that wasn’t important now, he had to focus on convincing the rest. So what would be a thing Louie would never ever do out of his free will?
“Louie, slap Huey.“ He said. His decision was closely followed by regret. He should have thought his command through more…
The slab echoed loudly, loud enough to scare a couple of birds in a nearby tree. Huey’s head flung to the side, red marks forming on his cheek. Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes, either because of shock or pain. Huey slowly brought his hand up to the wounded cheek, flinching once he made contact. The handprint was clearly outlined by now.
Everyone gasped.
“Llewellyn Duck!“ Della shouted, cutting through everyone else’s exclamations of shock like a hot knife through butter, “Apologize to your brother this instant.“
“I’m sorry, Huey.“ Louie said, not a hint of emotion in his voice, but tears were running down his cheeks.
“Lou...“ Huey, still holding his aching cheek, reached out for his brother, but the touch didn't connect.
Everyone stopped for a moment to stare and process the information.
“Louie…“ Webby waddled to the trembling duckling, her movement fueled with concern, “This is awful!“
“H-How long?“ Della asked and kneeled down next to her son, everything slowly clicking in her head.
“A Month.“ Came the tear-filled response.
The shattered expressions on everyone’s faces were hard for Dewey to look at. Heck, he himself wasn’t looking any better.
A Month?
A MONTH!?
Louie had been forced to listen to their every command, said purposefully and or in the heat of the moment, for a month?! Dewey tried to think back to every word he had said to his brother in this period of time.
Wait-
‘Okay guys, I start! Huey, you count the drinks. Now, hold your breath and be amazed!’
Oh god.
‘Now, hold your breath and be amazed!’
That…
’Hold your breath.’
He did that.
’Lou! Breathe!’
And that was just an hour ago!
What else had he done to his little brother?
Dewey felt truly sick.
This was horrible.
How many times did he force Louie to do something without realizing it?
Everyone must have come to the same shocking revelation, because they all gathered around Louie, bombarding him with questions and apologizing.
“What caused this?“
“I-I don’t know.“
“How can we stop it?“
“I don’t know.“
“Is there anything we can do?“
“I-I don’t k-know.“
“How do you feel?“
“I-I’m s-scared.“
“Does it hurt?“
“Y-Yes.“
“What hurts?“
“C-Commands.“
“What commands?“
“Y-Y-Yours.“
Dewey could tell from the looks on everyone’s faces that Louie’s answer had cut them down to the quick just as much as it had him. The questions stopped and everyone took a moment to breathe and assess the situation.
Watching Louie tremble and sob helplessly was one of the worst things he had to witness in his life, and he’d been through a lot already so that was saying something.
Della slowly reached out for Louie and brushed his hair feathers to the side. The younger flinched but couldn’t move away from the touch. He let Della pat his head and envelop him in a hug, “I’m so sorry, Louie. We’re going to fix this, I promise.“ She vowed.
Louie nodded slowly.
Scrooge, now finally able to believe the gravity of the situation, kneeled down next to the rest, “Okay lad, I need you to listen closely.“ He was immediately greeted with Louie’s intense gaze. Dewey cringed, feeling the sick rise in his chest again. Louie literally couldn’t look away.
Scrooge sighed sadly and worriedly, “Can you tell us everything you know? The more information we have, the faster we can help you.“
Louie nodded again. “I-I can’t c-control it.“ He stuttered, trembling increasingly getting worse, “I-If someone s-says some-something- m-my body j-just- moves o-on its- its own. I- I can’t stop. I- I can’t- can’t lie- a-a-a-and can o-only talk w-when y-you t-talk to m-me f-fist.“
Obey any order. Only speak the truth. Only talk when spoken to.
How did it take them a month to notice?
Louie wasn’t done yet. “Y-Y-You c-can’t c-cancel someone e-else’s c-command- L-like- w-when uncle S-S-Scrooge s-said t-t-to f-follow h-him. T-The others s-said s-stop b-but since y-you gave the c-command- o-only you can u-undo i-it. T-The orders d-don’t have to-to be direct- I-indirect w-works t-t-too-“
“What do you mean with indirect orders?“ Huey asked before he had the chance to stop himself. Louie shot him a heartbroken stare and opened his beak to explain, “I-indirect o-o-orders.“ He looked over at Scrooge, “L-like when y-you said I-I sleep t-too much… t-the order w-was to s-s-s-sleep l-less- or-“ He looked back at Huey, “Or w-with t-the b-b-b-badges. Y-You said y-you said y-you w-wished we w-were there f-for y-you- s- so the c-command was- to b-be there for-for all f-future-“
“No.“ Huey interrupted a second time, but this one was out of shock. More accurately, horror.
“Y-Y-You c-can t-take c-commands b-b-back.“
“Then I take it back! I take all commands back!“
“Yeah, me too!“ Dewey agreed, “Everything I said to you in the past month, I take it back!“
“Me too! I take my orders back!“
“Forget everything I said in the past 4 weeks!“
“I take back all my orders!“
The others echoed those words.
It looked like a thousand burdens left Louie’s shoulders. His eyelids fluttered as if he was snapping out of a daydream, and he took a rattling breath in. His exhale came out as a guttural sob that Louie seemed to choke on and slumped to the ground in a weird sense of relief. Free from his invisible restraints, Louie curled up on the stair, he didn’t care how dusty it was, or that everyone was watching him. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him, or if anyone would ridicule him. His feathers were all fluffed up, stood on edge, and quivered from how hard Louie was trembling. The previous sobs turned to wails, nothing could slow the flow of tears now.
No one dared to speak up while Louie was crying his heart out. How long had he been holding it all in? Dewey didn’t want to imagine what other restrictions he had given his brother without knowing the catastrophic implications of them. Every single word he had said to his brother over the past month potentially hurt him. Dewey wished he could go back in time and punch his past self in the face for every order he'd spoken.
Dewey refocused his attention on Louie, who had started to hyperventilate. He gasped for breath, tears pouring down his cheeks as his eyes darted around, dazed and afraid, seemingly unable to focus on anything. Louie had brought his hands to his head, grabbing his feathers tightly and ripping them out one hand-full at a time. If he continued like that, he’d be bald in a minute. Not to mention that the force Louie was using definitely wasn't painless.
“No, stop! You’re hurting yourself!” cried Dewey. Louie stopped immediately, hand freezing on his head, but what followed was almost worse than watching Louie tear at himself in anguish. The look he gave Dewey with those big wet eyes, pained and betrayed, made Dewey feel like a monster.
“I take it back! I take it back!“ He blurted, and Louie exhaled sharply as if Dewey’s words had released him from a chokehold. Louie went right back to plugging his feathers and Dewey felt useless, powerless. His own eyes welled up with sympathetic tears, and he caught Louie’s flailing hands with his own, opting to physically restrain him rather than telling him to stop again.
Louie struggled, but Dewey easily managed to overpower him.
Louie swallowed back the rest of his sobs, but he couldn’t hold back his whimpers, and it was the worst sound that Dewey had ever heard. It made his heart feel like it was being put through a shredder. The triplet in green eventually calmed down enough to breathe normally again.
“H-hey, you’re alright,“ Dewey stammered, his own voice beginning to crack now. He desperately wanted to do something to make it better but he had no idea what he could do. It was taking every bit of self-control he possessed not to break down crying too. Louie shook his head weakly, “I-I-I’m not.“ He choked out between those heart-wrenching little whimpers.
Dewey felt like an idiot. Of course Louie was not. They still didn’t know the entirety of what was going on, and Louie was still hurting. They were far from alright. What a stupid thing for him to have said. “What can we do to help you feel safer?“ Yeah, that was the better thing to say.
They all waited in tense silence for the answer.
“M-make it stop.“ Louie mumbled, he hadn’t stopped trembling yet, Dewey could feel it since he was still holding on to Louie’s wrists.
“Louie…“ croaked Huey, blinking furiously as his eyes became glassy. The others weren’t fairing much better. Everyone but Scrooge and Huey were doing some form of crying. Some, like Webby and Launchpad, weren’t holding back at all, others, like Della and Dewey, wiped their tears away frequently and tried to appear strong. Huey seemed on the verge of having a breakdown, once he would start crying, it would be all over for him. Dewey didn’t want to imagine Donald’s reaction if his uncle had decided to accompany them on their adventure. This was horrifying.
“Lad…“ Scrooge began. His fists were clenched by his sides, and he looked one small step from snarling at someone, but for Louie, his voice was soft and soothing. “I’m so sorry for not noticing it sooner. Can you… Can you forgive me?“
“Yes.“ Louie replied immediately. His voice was oddly placid. Too placid, like he wasn’t really sure of it but wasn’t allowed to say no.
“We'll find out what caused this.“ Della spoke up, “And we’ll fix it, I promise, Louie.“ The young duckling only nodded with a sob.
“So, what are we going to do now?“ Webby asked and looked at each of the three adults for a moment before resting her gaze back on Louie.
Della, who was still kneeling next to her youngest son, cupped Louie’s cheek gently in her hands, “Do you want to go back home?“ She asked softly. Louie shook his head, surprising everyone. In any other case, being out in the wild was the last place Louie would willingly be.
“Then where do ye want ta go?“ Scrooge questioned, slowly strengthening himself up and stretching his legs. Louie lifted an arm and pointed at the temple on top of the staircase.
“You want to go on the adventure?“
Louie shook his head, “I-It hurts. W-When we t-talk about him, it hurts.“
“About who? Haraldson te peaceful?“
Louie nodded, “I-It hurts.“
Everyone shared a worried look. For a few seconds, all their minds were in sync, coming to the same conclusion.
“You said this started a month ago?“ Della asked carefully, and Louie nodded.
A month ago was when they found the first piece of the staff.
A month ago was when Louie started to act weird.
“You think those two are connected?“ Dewey asked, needing 100% confirmation before he could go further. Louie nodded quivering, “I tried to tell you- but- but I couldn’t- I-it didn’t let me before.“
“Maybe now that we know something’s wrong, you don’t feel obligated to hide it anymore.“ It was a good thought, but there was no way to validate that information right now.
Webby jumped up a few stairs, “So the faster we solve this adventure, the faster we can help Louie?"
“It’s worth a shot.“ Della stood up now as well. The rest followed her example.
“You’re okay with this, Louie?“
Louie nodded.
In a flash, they hurried up the stairs. It wasn’t even a walking pace. Every single one of them was determined to get to the bottom of this as fast as possible. They have given Louie over to Launchpad so that the older duck could carry the younger up the couple hundred stairs.
Dewey and Huey occasionally shot worried glances over at their youngest brother, and then guilt looks at each other.
“I should have noticed it sooner.“ Huey hissed under his breath, only loud enough for Dewey to hear.
“No, I noticed it 2 weeks ago… If only I spoke up about it…“ Dewey countered. He felt like he’d been doused with icy water. The more he thought about it, the worse it got. Even if Louie forgave him, he could never forgive himself.
Louie’s been suffering for a month, and even though he knew there was something wrong, he hadn't done anything to change it. If he had just spoken up about it after that one breakfast- if he had just been a bit more forceful when talking with Huey about his suspicions... Maybe he could have saved Louie from all the pain.
They arrived on top of the stairs. The air got a bit thinner, but maybe it was due to how fast they had run up. Scrooge and Della immediately jumped into action, observing the entrance and looking for hidden passages. Anything that could help them.
Huey inspected some of the symbols engraved in the front door, while Webby translated a sign written in some kind of outdated language.
“Chambers of Haraldson the Peaceful.“ The female duckling read out loud, “The greatest warlord to ever live.“
Dewey frowned at that description.
If this guy had anything to do with Louie’s condition, then he was everything but peaceful. That guy should be glad he was already dead because if Dewey gets his hands on him-
He took a deep breath to calm himself down. He should help the others instead of standing around uselessly.
Launchpad stayed out of the investigation, opting to make Louie as comfortable as possible He stood to the side, and Launchpad was skillfully avoiding words to make his sentences sound like commands. If anyone but Louie had noticed, they would have been impressed. But Louie was unable to show his gratitude over the mindfulness.
Even when Louie was forced to answer Launchpad’s question, he looked less uncomfortable about it than he did before.
“Do you want some water?“ The older duck asked nicely and Louie nodded. They had their backpacks with provisions set aside and he rummaged through them. A small water bottle soon appeared and Launchpad handed it over to the duckling. Louie stared at the bottle for a second, then tilted his head to the side questioningly, but his expression remained impassive.
“You’re allowed to drink.“ Launchpad confirmed, and Louie opened the bottle and took a few sips. This little exchange of words didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group.
Dewey tried to swallow the guilt down with little success.
He remembered how Louie hadn’t taken a bite out of breakfast the other day. He remembered how Louie only drank and ate if someone else did too, and he always waited till the other took the first bite. He remembered how Louie lost his appetite the second the others finished with their meals.
He noticed how thin Louie had gotten…
Hidden by his hoodie was his emaciated body, ribs pressed against the thin layer of skin and feathers. Louie had mentioned before how one of the commands forced him to sleep less. The dark circles under his eyes had become mundane to the point where Dewey failed to notice they were even there.
Dewey averted his eyes from his younger brother and looked at his older one instead. Huey had managed to open the temple door and took a tentative step inside. It was pitch black, and he decided to not go further without proper preparations.
Everyone gathered in from of the entrance.
“It looks safe enough.“ Della mumbled, having lit a torch and illuminating the path before them, “I see no tripwire.“
“We got enough provisions for at least 3 days, all our devices are fully charged.“ Huey said and went over each item in their bags.
Dewey walked over to Launchpad, who still cradled Louie in his arms, “Do you want to come inside with us or would you rather wait out here?“ He asked softly. He hated how fast the answer came.
“I-I don’t know. I-I’m scared.“
Dewey almost sagged where he stood, guilt robbing him of the strength to stand.
“It’s okay, Lou,“ He said and hoped it would calm Louie a bit,“ We can go inside and Launchpad will stay here with you. We’ll be back soon, I promise.“
Before he turned around and left, he hesitated for a second and asked, “Are you okay with that?“
Louie nodded slowly.
“Okay then,“ Della announced, “We’ll go in. This hopefully shouldn’t take too long.“
And they all vanished inside the temple. Dewey briefly glanced back, one last time at Louie, before walking inside.