A Duck's Luck

The Glowing Feather

" This isn't right - " Huey said , " I've never heard of green fog before . " As Delilah and Huey walked farther and farther down the hill , the green fog became more prominent . " What do you think caused it ? " Delilah asked Huey . Huey reached under his hat and pulled out his guidebook , then flipped to a page . " It says in the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook that green fog , or ' pea fog ' , is usually caused by air pollution but - that's ridiculous ! Duckburg is known to be one of the cleanest places in the world ! " Huey exclaimed , rereading the pages and looking back up at the fog to make sure he was right . " Hmm ,, I guess that really doesn't make sense ,,, especially since all this fog just came by overnight ! " Delilah said almost to herself , as the two finally descended into the fog . The city was bustling just like every other day , but for some reason - as Delilah looked around , there appeared to be a lot more noise than usual . There was yelling on the streets , car accidents , a lot of very not good sounds from what Delilah could tell . She looked at Huey's face for his reaction , and he too could tell something was up .
After a little more walking , they finally reached the bank and walked in . There was a lot of arguing at the front desks , which made Delilah feel a little uneasy . " I don't see Uncle Donald anywhere ! " Huey said as he looked around . At this point , Delilah was just growing more and more worried every minute , and her anxiety worsened when Donald was , in fact , nowhere to be seen . " Don't worry , I'll go ask one of the bank tellers up there where he went , " Huey told her reassuringly . " Just stay here , okay ? " Delilah nodded in response and watched as Huey went up to the front desk to ask where her dad had gone . She looked at the ground anxiously , shuffling her feet a little and playing with her hair . As she looked around however , she saw something peculiar on the ground . As she approached it , she soon found that there was a glowing black feather on the ground . Curiously , she picked it up . It was a long , black feather with a faint golden glow to it . Despite the fact it really isn't the time for such things , she put it in her bag to keep because she found it strangely pretty . Right at that moment , Huey came back from the front desk . " Well , the guy at the front was no help . He yelled at ME , a CHILD , no less , for no reason ! " Huey said irritably . " Maybe he just had a bad day ? " Delilah responded while gently patting his shoulder . " No , something's wrong - everyone's acting so mean right now . " He said and looked around the room once more to see all the arguing . It had gotten so bad that a fight had begun to start , and Huey grabbed Delilah's wrist . " C'mon , we don't want to stay here for too long, " He told her . " But what about my dad !? " Delilah said sadly . Huey pulled her out of the bank and the two started to walk back to the manor . " Maybe he left after we got here . He could be back at the mansion right now . Don't worry , it'll be okay ! " After hearing his words Delilah began to calm down a little , clinging onto that little bit of hope she had left .
It had just passed midday and the kids finally reached the front door of the manor . As they walked in , Huey turned to Delilah . " Hey , I'm sure we'll find Uncle Donald . " He told her softly . He could very much tell that Delilah did not like all this running around . " Maybe we should tell Uncle Scrooge about it , " Delilah suggested . He was the last person to see my dad . " Huey agreed and as if right on time , Scrooge walked in from the kitchen . " Ah , Delilah , there you are ! Did you ever find Donald ? He left his laundry in my dryer again . " Behind him , Scrooge was pulling a big basket full of Donald's clothes . " No , we went to the library and he wasn't there . " Delilah responded sadly . " And I'm guessing that from your previous statement , he isn't here either , huh ? " Scrooge shook his head . " Unfortunately lass , he hasn't shown up since this morning . " Delilah closed her eyes in defeat . " Well ,,, even if the bank trip was a failure , at least I got this pretty feather , " She said , pulling out the glowing black feather from her bag . She admired its glossy shine and soft glow , trying to prevent herself from crying . Unbeknownst to her , Scrooge had adjusted his glasses and walked over to her . " You found a feather ? " Huey asked . Delilah stretched her arms out to show the two boys her the black feather she had found on the floor at the bank . " Bless me bagpipes ! That's not just any ordinary feather ! " Scrooge exclaimed . " It's not ? " Delilah asked, confused . " Well , I mean , with a glow like that - of course it's not normal ! " Huey said .
Delilah let her great uncle examine the feather . " Huey , what does that guidebook of yours say about the Greek gods ? " Scrooge asked , and Huey began to scroll through the pages in his guidebook . " It says that Zeus and Hera were the rulers of the gods and that they had multiple children . Some of them were Storkules , Selene , and Eris . " Eris ! That's it ! " Scrooge announced . With the feather tight in his hand , he led the two kids up to his office and pulled one of the books off from a shelf . " In ancient Greece , All of the gods were invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis - all of them of course , except for Eris , goddess of discord . " As he read , he began showing Huey and Delilah pictures from the old book, portraying a woman with black feathers that glowed gold . " Out of anger and betrayal , Eris claimed that one day she would reign chaos and negativity upon the world just out of spite to the gods . " After he finished , Scrooge then closed the book and put it back up on the shelf . " So that feather belongs to Eris ? " Delilah asked , pointing to the glowing feather in Scrooge's hand . " That's right ! And maybe , just maybe , we can use this feather to find out what happened to Donald , " Delilah's heart sank a little , and she asked , " Are you implying that Eris took my dad !? "
" Well , with all the stuff happening down in town it isn't that unlikely . " Huey responded . " Say , what IS happening down there anyway ? " Scrooge asked as he rummaged through a chest full of items . " Well , this weird green fog was all over the city , and everyone was acting like a jerk for no reason ! I still won't forget the guy at the bank - " Huey said . After a little bit of thought , Delilah gasped . " Do you think that green fog was making everyone act like a meanie ? " She asked . " Eris does have green magic ,,, and she is also the goddess of strife , " Huey said while scrolling through his guidebook . After a few moments , Scrooge finally found whatever he had been looking for and pulled it out of the chest . " Aha ! Here it is ! " He held his hands out to reveal a giant compass with a shiny luster . " The Golden Compass of the Gods ! " Scrooge announced , sitting it on his desk before slyly adding , " I won it in a contest I had against Zeus in the 50's ! " He opened up the compass while Huey and Delilah gathered around . " It is said that if you were to put any kind of DNA from a god or goddess into the compass , the compass's needle will point in the direction where you can find said god or goddess . " Scrooge explained to them . " So ,,, " he carefully placed Eris's feather inside the compass and clicked the lid shut , and with a small sparkle the needle in the compass rapidly turned and pointed east . " How far east is she ? " Delilah asked .
" We won't know 'till tomorrow ! " Scrooge said as he put the compass on his top shelf . " What do you mean tomorrow !? We have so much time now !! " Delilah exclaimed . She couldn't sleep without knowing her dad was safe , and now that there was a possibility her dad had been kidnapped by the literal goddess of chaos wasn't easing her worries . " I'm busy today ! And besides , Donald's terrible luck will keep him alive , so I wouldn't worry about it . " Scrooge replied . Delilah looked up at the compass on Scrooge's shelf and leaned her head down sadly . Slowly , she made her way back down the hall to tell her mom and sisters . " Don't worry Delilah , we can find him tomorrow ! " Huey said , once again trying to reassure her . " I really hope so . " Delilah said in a voice that was almost a whisper .