it will never be enough
Summary: Goldie runs into Scrooge and the twins in Italy.
Word count: 4142
Warnings: None
2003; Naples
There were a few important things to remember when traveling to Italy (especially Naples):
Don’t tip the waiters
Get some gelato
Bring something that can fight against magic
Naples was well-known to be Magica De Spell’s homestead, as she’d built her house on Mount Vesuvius for whatever reason and made money by selling spells and potions and curses to the locals while continuing in her quest to destroy Scrooge. Everyone knew about this and despite her attempts to murder Scrooge and his family (and Goldie, on occasion), she’d never been caught or arrested or tried for anything. So she just kept on doing whatever she wanted.
But Naples was beautiful and nice to visit every once in a while. Goldie couldn’t let an annoying witch get in the way of her vacation plans, even if she knew she could just vacation somewhere else. But it wasn’t like there was a Casa Infante anywhere else in the world! She deserved the treats she liked, who cared if she might die while she ate them?
Her current visit to Naples was happening in late September of 2003, after a quick trip to Duckburg to grab some important gear. She could never be too careful when it came to Magica De Spell, and Scrooge always had the latest magic-fighting supplies.
But for the first time in a long time, she noticed that the locals seemed…calm. Usually they were a bit on edge, waiting for De Spell to strike or start freaking out and shooting lightning out of her head. But everyone was fine.
Goldie enjoyed her usual shopping and cuisine when the strangeness finally annoyed her enough to comment. She walked into a mostly empty book store and up to the counter, leaning on her arm in front of the cashier.
“You speak English?”
Though Goldie knew some Italian, she wasn’t conversational and didn’t feel like struggling through her sentences at the moment.
“Yes,” the young girl said with a nod, her dark brown curls bouncing all around her head. “How can I help you?”
“You can tell me why everyone’s acting different,” Goldie said quickly. She paused and realized her comment was too vague. “I mean, um…did something happen to the old witch on the volcano?”
The girl smiled brightly. “She’s gone!”
“Oh?”
“Well, we think she’s gone.” The girl pointed to a coworker of hers organizing books on the other side of the store. “Sofia thinks she’s just putting together a really elaborate scheme. But no one’s seen or heard from her in over a year.”
Goldie stood up and blinked slowly. “Oh.” She didn’t expect that. “Well that’s good.”
“It is! She’s been around my entire life and I’ve never seen my parents so relaxed.”
Goldie nodded. She had a very distinct feeling that De Spell’s disappearance had something to do with Scrooge, though she couldn’t imagine he would kill her. And getting her arrested wouldn’t really do any good, since she could easily break out or erase some cop’s memories or any sort of magical nonsense. So whatever he did, it must’ve been effective.
“Thanks,” she said with a wave, heading back out the door.
Goldie was immediately bombarded with happily screaming children running by as she left the store. They were chasing each other and laughing about something or other and one of them had short, messy blonde hair that reminded her of Dickie.
Dickie, who she’d left back in Dawson with a babysitter.
Goldie sighed and looked towards the water. She’d been trying her best to take care of the kid, but it was stressful. Dickie was a little ball of energy and she loved to talk and Goldie didn’t know what to do with all that. She didn’t hate kids, but she wasn’t good at spending a lot of time with them. She wasn’t exactly nurturing and they could tell, she knew.
And they didn’t like traveling in the ways that she did. Kids wanted to play and run and splash around, while Goldie just liked to walk slowly and eat and relax and not think about anything or anyone.
She didn’t tell the kid where she was going, just that she’d be gone for a week on business. Maybe she could try taking Dickie on a trip sometime to see how it goes. Just to Seattle or Juneau or something close by.
Goldie wandered the streets and decided to grab herself some pistachio gelato, since what else were vacations for than eating all the things she didn’t normally eat? She grabbed her treat and started walking towards the water to enjoy the beautiful view, especially since the sun was going to set soon.
She was checking something on her PDA when a loud tourist almost walked right into her - the girl was shouting something and waving her arms around and managed to smack Goldie’s gelato right out of her hands.
“Oops!”
“Hey!”
The two women looked at each other, one ready to yell and the other ready to apologize, but then they froze and stared.
“Um…”
“You need to watch where you’re walking, Dellaaaa……..oh.”
Goldie stared at the familiar twins, blinking slowly. Was this real?
They looked at her awkwardly and then turned around as an older gentleman joined them.
“What’s goin’...ah. Of course.” He rolled his eyes. “Goldie O’Gilt.”
—
(MANY HOURS EARLIER)
Scrooge held his hands up in the air and used his cane to point directly ahead of them. “There it is, kids! The Aragonese Castle!”
“Yeah, we could see it from the other side of the bridge, Uncle Scrooge,” Della said. “It’s huge!”
“Let me guess. We have to climb all the way up to the very top to find whatever it is you’re looking for, am I right?” Donald added.
“Correct!” Scrooge shouted excitedly. He started to march forward, headed right towards the nearest set of stairs. “We’re looking for a place of worship built in the early 1700’s. So keep your eyes peeled!”
Della let out a loud whoop and started up the stairs while Donald sighed and slowly climbed, one foot at a time. “Sure. I’ll just watch out for signs that say ‘this room was built in 1704’.”
“You say that like it’s not a real possibility!”
Donald scowled at his sister and rolled his eyes. He didn’t particularly like adventuring, but it was even worse when Scrooge didn’t tell them any good details about what they were after. At least if the prize was cool he’d have some motivation. As they were currently, he just wanted to go back to sleep. Or look at the castle like a museum, instead of as a hiding spot for a mysterious artifact.
Della danced around the rooms, having gone far ahead of the two men thanks to her youth and vigor. She loved when Uncle Scrooge kept information from them, giving them an opportunity to figure out the mystery for themselves. It added another layer of excitement to what was already a fun adventure. There was certainly something nice about being able to travel halfway across the world on a whim.
With Della in front and Donald far behind, Scrooge took his time checking out every part of the castle he could sneak his way into. There were areas cut off - probably considered unsafe for visitors - but at his age he could pretend he got lost or didn’t see the sign and wandered in the wrong direction. Sometimes it was nice being old.
After a few hours of searching, he came across a room that resembled the inside of a church. There were crosses on the walls and remnants of stone that could’ve once been used as pews. He walked into the room slowly - this was an area of the castle that was marked with ‘DO NOT ENTER’ signs - and ran his hand on top of some of the stone. It was very, very dusty.
“Hmm…” Scrooge hummed, looking all around the room. There weren’t any tables or desks or drawers. But that didn’t mean he’d hit a dead end.
He walked over to the wall and started pressing against each stone gently. There was no guarantee that he was looking in the right place, but he had a gut feeling, and Scrooge McDuck knew to never ignore his gut.
Donald managed to catch up and join him after about fifteen minutes of Scrooge checking out stones. Coincidentally, as soon as Della entered the room, Donald smacked his foot into something and screeched out in pain.
Scrooge and Della rushed over at the sound of Donald’s scream, but while Della tended to her brother, Scrooge was immediately distracted.
“Donald! Ye did it!” he shouted happily, reaching down to the stone his nephew had hit.
It was loose and sticking out, which explained Donald’s mishap, but Scrooge could see a distinctly shiny object inside that was beckoning to him. Asking to be taken! He knew he was destined to be the new owner of such an artifact - and it was nice that they found it without having to fight any demons or Catholic ghosts or whatever.
“Lucky me!” Donald said sarcastically, leaning against the wall and holding his aching foot.
Della gave his shoulder an awkward pat, but the three of them were all caught off-guard by the sound of moving and cracking stone. Donald stood up and backed away from the wall, but it was too late - the spot he’d leaned against had set something loose that should not have been set loose.
“Alright you two, we need to get out of here now!” Scrooge shouted and pointed at the door.
“Right!” Della grabbed Donald’s arm and dragged him out. “Don’t get stuck, Uncle Scrooge!”
The trillionaire rolled up his sleeves and smiled, placing the treasure into his pocket. “No need to worry about me - I’m-!”
—
(THE PRESENT)
“Scrooge McDuck. Funny running into you here.”
“Is it?” Della asked suspiciously. “Or did you hear about our amazing adventure and came to steal the prize?!”
Donald smacked himself in the forehead at his sister’s outburst, but Goldie just raised an eyebrow. “What prize is that?”
Scrooge smacked Della on the arm and stepped between them and Goldie. “As if ye dinnae already know!”
“I promise I wasn’t stalking you, Scroogey, I’m just as surprised to see you as you are me!”
He glared. “If only your promises werenae worth squat!”
Goldie rolled her eyes and poked him in the chest. “Get off my back, you annoying old man! I’m just here enjoying the food and taking a break! Or, well. I was.” She pointed at her gelato melting on the ground and then crossed her arms over her chest.
Scrooge stared at her for a few seconds, clearly trying to decide if she was lying or not. Then he looked back at Della, who quipped out a quiet “sorry!” about the ruined treat. “I…I can buy ye a new one.”
Goldie raised an eyebrow - now she was suspicious. “Yeah, I’d hope so.”
She directed them to the shop she’d just come from and made sure to get an extra scoop this time. It wasn’t going to bankrupt Scrooge and he owed her for being so rude before (not that he didn’t have reason to suspect her all the time, but come on. Sometimes coincidences really do happen).
The four sat at the little outdoor tables and enjoyed their desserts - Donald and Della at one table, Scrooge and Goldie at the other.
“Let me try some of yours,” Goldie said with her spoon in her mouth.
He pouted. “Only if I can have some of yours.”
Slowly, Goldie scooped a bit of her gelato (pistachio again, since she was enjoying it last time) and held it up to Scrooge’s beak. “Open wide, sourdough.”
Scrooge blushed deeply but did as she said, enjoying the flavor on his tongue. Then Goldie took the spoon back and licked the excess gelato off of it, making Scrooge blush even harder. Why did she have to be so…like that?
She leaned forward and smirked at him, prompting Scrooge to copy her and scoop a bit of his coffee-flavored gelato. Once again, he was the one blushing as she took his spoon into her mouth.
“Mmm…not bad. Mine’s better, though,” Goldie said with a knowing smile.
Scrooge sighed and hoped he didn’t look as embarrassed as he felt. “If ye say so.”
“So what treasure did you come here for? Scarlino’s Gold Coins? The Affable’s Arrows? Something underwater?”
He shook his head, happy the conversation was shifting to something he was better equipped to handle. “No, no, none of those.” He hesitated for a second before taking off his hat and reaching into it, slowly pulling out a small black cylinder covered in intricate carvings.
Goldie stared at it for a second and then snapped her fingers in realization. “Is that the Cappadocian Cylinder?”
Scrooge smirked and held it up between them so the setting sun would shine on all the different grooves and lines. “It sure is.”
“Did you see if it works yet?”
He shook his head and leaned down, talking quietly. “I didnae tell the kids about that. Yet.”
Goldie chuckled. “You don’t think teenagers would be responsible with time travel? Shocking.”
Scrooge held the cylinder in his hand, rubbing the carvings gently with his fingers. “You’re not any more responsible, O’Gilt,” he said quickly, but his heart wasn’t in it. “I just keep thinkin’ about…what I could do with this.”
“Maybe it’s more appropriate to say…what you’ve already done, right?” Goldie said, poking the top of the cylinder. “I’ve definitely seen two of you in the same place before.”
“Yes, well…” Scrooge breathed out a laugh. “I’ve run into myself once or twice. So I suppose you’re right.”
“Any immediate plans?”
Scrooge was staring at the artifact, unable to tear his eyes away. “Just one. Somethin’ I know I’ve done so I’ve got to make it to do it.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Just need to take care of some things that I missed out on in 1915 or so.”
Goldie’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected him to bring that up ever again, but immediately she was struck by a memory of something one of the orphans told her when she’d left the ice. It had something to do with Scrooge and some sort of…goat farm. She finally understood what happened there. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
“And we already know what your plans are,” Scrooge said with an annoyed frown.
“What do you mean?”
“Ye dinnae remember? Cambodia?” he asked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Your hair’s the right color and I know ye stole from me last week.”
Goldie hummed. “You can’t blame me for forgetting about something from fifty years ago, Scrooge.”
“Yes, well…” He huffed and looked back and forth between Goldie and the cylinder. “Either I’m goin’ to let ye borrow this or you’re goin’ to steal it from me.”
She ate more of her gelato. “There’s no fun in you just handing it to me.”
Scrooge looked up at her and they locked eyes for a moment - both wondering what the next move in their endless game of chess was going to be. But then someone else decided for them.
“Uncle Scrooge!” Della said as she and Donald came over to their table. “Are you two done flirting yet? We wanna go to the pier!”
Scrooge glared, blushing a bit. “We werenae-! Argh, yes, fine, let’s go. Come on, Goldie.”
Della and Donald rushed ahead, while Scrooge held out his hand to help Goldie out of her chair. She stared at his hand like it was something foreign, despite the fact that they were in the middle of the conversation so why wouldn’t she go with? But it still felt weird. It always felt weird to be with Scrooge and his family.
She took his hand and they followed the twins, fingers entwined just the slightest bit as they walked.
Goldie was about to continue their conversation when Della suddenly rushed ahead and into the arms of a handsome young man - and then Donald started yelling at her and running after them. She tilted her head to the side, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
“So I guess she’s at that age, huh?”
Scrooge shook his head. “Della’s been at that age for a while now. You just havenae been around to see it.”
With that little comment, Goldie pulled her hand away and shoved her hands in her pockets. She wanted to fight him about that - why should she have been around to see it? She wasn’t her mother or her aunt or her anything - but it wasn’t worth the effort or the distraction.
“Did you hear about De Spell?” she asked instead.
Scrooge smirked. “What about her?”
“That she’s…gone, or something. You know what that’s about, sourdough?”
“Let’s just say…Magica De Spell is not somethin’ we’ll have to worry about ever again.” He placed a hand against his chest and patted it a few times before letting it fall to his side. “She’d been especially awful towards me and my family the past few years so it was nice to get rid of her.”
Goldie stared at him, surprised. “Did you…kill her?”
“Wha-?! No, of course not!” Scrooge looked offended, though he and Goldie were both aware that he’d taken a life in self-defense before. “I…banished her from this realm, you could say.”
“Ah,” Goldie answered quietly, though she still had a suspicious look on her face. Something told her that Scrooge wasn’t sharing the whole truth, though she didn’t have any guesses about it. She supposed it was something that she’d probably learn eventually.
They walked silently for a minute, taking in the night air, and as soon as Goldie realized they were near the water, she also noticed the kids were gone. “Where’d they-?”
“They’re around,” Scrooge said with a shrug. “They know where to find us.”
Well, if he wasn’t concerned then she wouldn’t be either. Goldie tried not to be charmed by Scrooge’s outstretched hand as they made their way down the pier (was this a privately-owned pier? Eh, it was late, who would notice?) and sat on the end.
Both ducks tried their best to ignore the creaks of old bones as they crouched down, but a particularly loud crack from Scrooge’s spine caught them off guard. They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before bursting into laughter. They didn’t have a lot of opportunities to just sit and laugh together, but it always felt nice.
And they did sit and laugh for a bit - for a few hours, in fact, while staring out at the water and enjoying the reflection of the moon and the streetlights from a distance away. They talked about each other’s lives and work and families. Goldie asked him about S.H.U.S.H., about Matilda and Hortense, about Duckworth, about his parents. He asked her how she felt about the new CEO of the Blackjack Hotels, a woman she had mixed feelings about. And then, to Goldie’s complete surprise, he asked her about the Dawson orphans. She wouldn’t tell him everything, of course, but she told him more than before. They could’ve talked forever and a day if Goldie hadn’t decided to look at her PDA.
“How are you not tired, old man?” Goldie said as she checked the time for the first time in several hours. “It’s- oh my God, it’s after three, and you’re still wide awake!”
“Jet lag, I suppose.” Scrooge shrugged again. He started to stand up and reached a hand out to Goldie once more, ignoring the creak of his back. “We just arrived in Italy this mornin’.”
Goldie yawned as quietly as she could, taking his hand and allowing him to help her up. “Makes sense. And how long are you staying in Italy?”
Their hands stayed intertwined as Scrooge considered the actual meaning behind her question - the ‘do you have a hotel?’, the ‘where are you staying tonight?’, the ‘do you want to spend the night with me?’-type questions that often came with her words. He opened his mouth to answer, but their moment was interrupted.
“Uncle Scrooge!”
The old ducks turned their heads to see Donald Duck rushing towards them, waving his hands around frantically. Goldie pulled her hands out of Scrooge’s, but he didn’t seem to notice. “What’s wrong, Donald?”
He was leaning against his knees and breathing hard. Either he was in bad shape or he’d been running for way too long. “It’s…” He spoke between pants. “...Della! She…ugh. She went into…some club…can’t…get in…”
Goldie raised an eyebrow. “Why can’t you get in?”
Donald lifted his head and glared, his cheeks bright red. “The bouncer said…” He turned his head away and glared in another direction. “...he said I look too lame to get in!”
After taking a second to register his words, Goldie snickered into her hand while Scrooge crossed his arms over his chest. “How am I supposed to help with that? Della’s a smart lass, she willnae get into any trouble.”
“Ugh!” Donald threw his hands up into the air. “I need money! Money will get me in!”
Scrooge was obviously very offended by the suggestion, and Goldie stayed back as the two men got into an argument. There was nothing that could make someone feel like more of an outsider than watching two family members fight. She felt very out of place suddenly, which was especially sad considering how nice her evening had been going. Hours and hours of sitting and chatting with Scrooge, which is something she’d been wanting to do with him for years, and now it was soured.
“Fine! Then…well, hey, Goldie!” Donald turned towards her. “Can I borrow a few hundred dollars?”
Goldie didn’t even have a chance to respond (with a ‘no’, obviously) before Scrooge’s cane smacked against Donald’s hands. “Absolutely not! No nephew of mine will go around beggin’ strangers for money!”
She made a face, though Scrooge didn’t see it. Strangers?
“She’s not a stranger, she’s practically family!” Donald said with a scowl.
“She’s not family,” Scrooge responded without a second of hesitation. “So dinnae treat her like someone ye can mooch off of!”
Though it was clearly not his intention to offend her, Goldie felt her heart sink. She knew she wasn’t family. How could she not be aware of that, from the little quips and comments and side glances? From the way that Donald and Della seemed permanently uncomfortable around her, to the way that Scrooge made it clear he thought she’d hurt them the same way she so often hurt him.
Her chest was hot and hurting and she needed a distraction. She needed an excuse to leave. She could just go, really, but being on the end of a long pier made it a bit difficult.
Then…it happened.
“What the-?!”
All the lights went out. Every single light in the city was suddenly black and the three ducks standing out in the middle of the water couldn’t have felt more uneasy. It was pitch black and the only sounds were coming from the gulf.
Goldie realized this was her opportunity. She took a deep breath and ran back towards the city, confident that she was going in the right direction. She knew which way to go, though she didn’t know what was going on with the power. She certainly didn’t do that with her mind. But one of the rules she’d been living by all her life was to take every opportunity that came her way.
Scrooge and Donald yipped at the sound of footsteps, followed immediately by Scrooge’s familiar shout of, “Goldie?!”
“I-I think she left, Uncle Scrooge.”
“Why would she-?” Scrooge patted around his jacket and pockets. “Oh, you’ve got to be-...do ye have a flashlight on ye?”
Donald shuffled around in his backpack for a minute before pulling out a small flashlight; it was working well enough for him to shine light all around them. “...sorry. It looked like you were having a nice time.”
Scrooge grabbed the flashlight out of his nephew’s hand and started shining into his own pockets. He stopped and sighed, then started walking back towards the city and waved for Donald to follow. “It’s fine. I knew it would happen eventually.”
“...did she take the Cylinder?”
“Yes, Donald, she took the Cylinder.”
“Della’s gonna be so mad.”
“Yes, probably. But let’s just go find her and then figure out what’s going on here, alright?”
Donald couldn’t see his uncle’s face, but he had a feeling he was sadder than he was letting on. Goldie had a certain impact on his mood, even though he tried to pretend otherwise. “Yeah, okay.”
REAL HISTORY FACTS:
- Casa Infante is where my Neopolitan friend took me for gelato when I visited her in 2019 lol their gelato is a million times better than anything I had in Rome
- The Aragonese Castle! It's a medievel castle near the island of Ischia. It's been occupied by many different people over the centuries.
- Cappadocian Cylinder is my own creation lol Let's connect it to the castle! The Aragonese Castle was once home to an abbey of Basilian monks. Basilian monks follow the rule of Basil the Great. Basil the Great, with his brother and friend, are known as the Cappadocian Fathers. What do they have to do with time travel, you may ask? Absolutely nothing. The Cappadocian Fathers believed that all people come in threes - like the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost - and that each individual shares a common humanity with two other individuals. If I understood what I read correctly anyway lol So idk. A common humanity between three separate beings...maybe those beings don't need to exist all at once. The Cylinder uses the linked spirits of two beings to allow someone to travel space and time like they're on a zipline. This makes sense. I didn't feel the need to explain any other mystical artifacts I made up but for some reason I wanted to do it here.
- Yeah there was a huge blackout in Italy (and some other countries in Europe) on September 28, 2003. A lot of people had to sleep on the streets that night apparently 'cause it was the same night as a big art festival called White Night that I would love to go to someday
DUCK FRANCHISE REFERENCES:
- Magica does live in Naples and sell spells and potions n stuff to the locals in the comics. Well the selling spells part depends on the author but that seems to be the most consistent.
- Obviously Magica being gone is a reference to Scrooge defeating her and she got trapped in the dime, you remember
- Scrooge now has access to time travel! He's gonna go back and meet Magica for the first time lol and then take people-goats and make a farm for them and make some money
- Initially I was gonna have a sex scene in this chapter so I could make a joke about Magica trapped in the coin and able to see and hear everything but I decided Magica doesn't deserve that punishment lol