Sailor With a Heart of Fire || A DuckTales Story

The Choice is Made

Elliot snuck through the starry night around the side of the mansion to the front door. He reached out and gently turned the knob, only finding it to be locked. He scowled at himself for thinking it would be open. He continued to the other side of the mansion and looked up at the windows. He found one, much to his surprise, to be open. That was Webby's. He wondered if it was worth the risk to climb through it, for she would ask what he was doing and he was never good at lying. Not that it would hide the truth from Webby, who had learned a lot about liars from Mrs. Beakley.

"Might be my only option though," Elliot muttered to himself.

Assuming he had no other choice, he pulled out the rope he had packed. It had a grappling hook tied at its end, and he felt like he was climbing the Duckburg Dam a second time. He readied the rope, spinning it, and throwing it up to the windowsill. It latched onto it successfully, and Elliot began to climb. Now he really felt like he was climbing the dam again, for his face clumsily slammed against the wall like it had before, but he didn't lose his grip.

"Nobody saw that," he quickly hissed to himself.

Elliot proceeded to climb up the rope to Webby's window, and hopefully slip through unnoticed. He was just about to reach the top, when he saw that the lights in her room were on too. That could only mean she was still awake. He peeked into the room to see if she was down in this part of the room. No Webby. Elliot thought it might be safe to sneak in now. However, as he climbed over the windowsill, he tripped and rolled onto the floor. He cringed, knowing for sure she would see him now. As he hastily stood up, he saw Webby sliding down the ladder that went to the attic.

"Elliot?" she said, clearly puzzled. "What are you doing here? And this late at night?"

Elliot stood on the spot, his knees gave way and started to feel weak. He had to lie, but he couldn't, not to Webby, and not to himself. His words came out faster than he had anticipated.

"I...'m-gonna-sneak-into-Uncle-Scrooge's-office-to-get-his-magical-compass-so-I-can-find-a-magical-power-source-that'll-save-our-boat."

He finished embarrassedly, but, to his surprise, Webby accepted his story without question. In fact, she grinned. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bobby pin.

"Here," she said, handing it to him. "You'll need this to unlock the door."

Elliot took it, and smiled. He looked back at Webby, who smiled back, and hugged her.

"Thanks Webs," he said.

"And I'll keep the rope so you can get back to the boat," she added as she hugged him back.

"Thanks again," Elliot said as they parted.

Then he snuck out of her room and through the dark halls of the mansion at night.

The darkness ever so slightly scared Elliot, but he was determined to get through the halls to Scrooge's office and retrieve that compass to save his family's boat. The zeal fueled him, and made him sneak faster at a light-footed jog. As he turned the corner, he saw a faint, light blue glow. That could only mean one thing, Scrooge's ghost butler: Duckworth. Elliot hid behind a suit of armor that stood against the wall, and carefully watched as Duckworth's translucent form slowly drifted through the hall away from him. He let out a sigh of relief and continued down the hall to Scrooge's office. He got to the door and pulled out the bobby pin to unlock it.

"Thank you Webby," he whispered as he inserted the pin into the lock.

He fumbled with the pin and the lock until he heard a click. He slowly pulled the pin out of the lock, and gently turned the doorknob, which turned all the way. He slowly opened the door of his Uncle's office and crept in. He saw the compass on its shelf, too high up for him to reach alone. He stood on Scrooge's desk chair to gain some height, and moved it over to the shelf. His fingertips just reached the compass, and as he stood on his toes, it successfully came to his grasp.