The rest of the dinner was every bit as awkward as Adrien had feared it would be. Marinette ate her food mechanically, seeming to have no idea what she was putting in her mouth beyond that it was edible. When Adrien attempted conversation, she responded with short monotone answers. In the end, he gave up and retreated back into his own thoughts.
Suppose I can't blame her, he thought. Seeing Father in his glory like that has got to be terrifying. It's a bit creepy for me, and I'm his son. She grew up afraid of him, and now she's just been reminded just how much power the man she's lived her life in terror of wields. That can't be comfortable.
And I am his son. More than that, I'm the living symbol of his power over her. She has to marry me because my father has forced her to it, and for no other reason. So I am going to have to go dance with a young lady who has just been reminded what excellent reasons she has to loathe and fear me.
Thanks a lot, Father.
Finally, the meal came to an end. Gabriel rose to his feet again, announced that dinner was over and dancing would now begin, and instructed everyone to proceed through the double doors on the far side of the dining hall.
Adrien and Marinette rose to their feet, but the press of bodies in the main hall kept them from descending from the dais just yet. Instead, there was nothing Adrien could do but stare awkwardly and Marinette and try to keep his expression polite.
Finally, the crowd emptied out. Adrien offered Marinette his hand, and she took it with a rather queasy expression. Gabriel Agreste either didn't notice or didn't care about Marinette's expression, for Adrien noticed a quiet smile of satisfaction on his father's face before he turned and headed down off the dais.
Tikki, please help tonight turn out alright.
The Agrestian ballroom, rather to Marinette's surprise, departed from the standard Agrestian design aesthetic. Instead of the harsh black-and-white styling used elsewhere in the palace, the ballroom had been paneled with rich woods and brass, and along one wall were the traditional seven massive stained-glass windows showing the Two and Five, backlit by limelights or some such.
"Mother insisted on something more vibrant for this room," explained Adrien out of the corner of his mouth.
"Ah," Marinette whispered back. "It's very nice… Is that supposed to be your father, in the Nooroo window?"
"Yes," Adrien whispered back with a wry grin. "A bit over-the-top, I suppose, but Father gets that way sometimes."
As they stepped out onto the dance floor, Marinette amused herself by picturing her own features replacing the faceless Ladybug in Tikki's window.
It would certainly look beautiful. One day, maybe…Oops, here we go.
From off to one side, the steady beat of a drum began, and other instruments came in behind them.
Marinette turned to face Adrien and took his upraised hands in her own, and let long years of practice in classical dancing kick in.
One-two-three-four, one-two-three-four, one-two-spin, one-two-spin…
Adrien had been a little worried about this part. There was a reason that dancing was one of the symbolic activities of lovers, for it required both excellent coordination and complete trust. Marinette would have to trust Adrien enough to follow his lead, and Adrien would have to trust that Marinette would follow his lead, and if either of them flinched they'd almost certainly end up crashing or tripping.
But Marinette followed his lead perfectly through three straight dances, until near the end of the third Adrien was panting slightly and beaming with genuine happiness.
"Can we sit out the next song, please?" said an equally breathless Marinette.
"Certainly, Your Highness" said Adrien with a smile. They shaped their dance towards the edge of the dance floor, and at the end of the song they spun out of the whirl of dancers. Marinette dropped into a chair, and Adrien took his seat next to her. There was a moment's pause while they both caught their breath, and Adrien was just opening his mouth to speak when two new figures slipped out of the mass of dancers. One was Alya Cesaire, clad in an elegant silk dress in white-trimmed orange with the fox rampant of Sapotis on the breast. Around her neck was a replica of the Fox Pendant. The other… if Adrien hadn't known her by sight, he'd have thought her a man. She was clad in a man's suit in yellow-edged black, and her candy-pink hair was cut short and choppy.
Alix Kubdel , thought Adrien. Plagg's black claws .
As far as Adrien could tell, the young scion of House Kubdel didn't actually share Cesaire's focused hatred of Adrien's father. Rather, Kubdel hated all men, and despised any woman who didn't share her hatred. But that didn't make her any less dangerous, and what Adrien's father had done would strike directly at the cracks in Alix Kubdel's already shaky psyche. Out of the corner of his eye, Adrien saw Juleka's hand fall to the buckle of her sash, which Adrien knew held a concealed knife.
He rose to his feet. "Princess Dupain-Cheng, may I present…"
"Alya and I are already acquainted," said Marinette, blushing prettily. "I don't know her… partner, though."
"In that case," said Cesaire, "allow me to make the introductions. Alix, this is Princess Marinette Dupain-Cheng of Boulangerie. Marinette, this is Lady Alix Kubdel."
Marinette's face went as red as her dress. "Lady Alix Kubdel?" she squeaked, before dropping her gaze to her lap. Adrien was a little surprised at the extent of her reaction. People usually didn't find just being in the presence of a honeylove that embarrassing. Had Kubdel made advances on her earlier? Or maybe Cesaire?
"Ah, Agreste," said Cesaire with a smirk, "Do you think you could let us have a little privacy? Go dance with one of your courtly puffs?"
"No!" squeaked Marinette. "I mean," she continued in a more regular tone of voice, "I don't think that will be necessary, Adrien. I don't have anything to say at the moment that I would mind you knowing about."
"Hey, no need to freak out, girl," said Cesaire, plopping into the seat on Marinette's other side. "I don't bite." A disturbingly vulpine grin flashed across her face. "Unless you ask me to, of course."
Marinette buried her face in her hands and made a squeaking noise.
Cesaire, surprisingly, blushed. "Sorry, Marinette," she said in a lower tone. "Look, I didn't mean to come on too hard. I promise, I'll behave in the future."
Marinette raised her head, the blush fading a bit from her cheeks. "T-thanks," she stuttered.
As if on cue, Chloe came striding towards them, Le Chien hanging on her arm.
"Well, well," said Chloe, smirking, "I should have known I'd find Dupain-Cheng and Cesaire together. Adrikins, did I tell you earlier about how I caught these two in the bath together?"
"Hey, I didn't ask her to climb in with me!" blurted out Marinette, before turning bright red again and burying her face in her hands.
Before either Cesaire or Chloe could say anything, Adrien rose to his feet and turned to address Marinette. "Marinette, do you feel up to dancing another round? There's a new song starting."
"Yes, please!" squeaked Marinette, and practically dragged him out onto the dance floor.
It wasn't until halfway through the dance, when she'd had a moment to cool down, that Marinette began to regret her actions. Judging by the looks, there was no love lost between Kubdel and Agreste, and she might have just missed a chance to recruit a valuable ally. Not to mention the hurt she might have done to her fledgling friendship with Cesaire.
Still, she could always make up for that later. Time was something she had in abundance just now, and neither she nor Cesaire nor Kubdel was going anywhere. No, what really galled her at the moment was that she'd ended up in the arms of Adrien Agreste again.
I need to get out of here, she thought. Just for a few minutes, just long enough to catch my breath away from Agreste. If I don't, I am going to do something that I will seriously regret later.
"A-Adrien," she said, remembering at the last moment not to call him "Agreste" to his face, "Is there anywhere I could take a breather after this dance? I think I need to cool down a bit."
"The garden's through those doors," said Agreste, nodding his head towards a set of doors that flanked the massive stained-glass windows. "Can't guarantee it'll be private, though. I've seen more than one couple slip out there already."
"Thank you," said Marinette, trying to keep from betraying the artificiality of her smile. "I just need a moment to catch my breath, and I'm sure you have other people to talk to tonight."
Agreste nodded slightly. "As you wish, Your Highness," he said.
And indeed, when that song came to an end, Agreste spun her off the dance floor right next to the doors to the garden.
"There are one or two young ladies of the court whom I wish to claim for a dance," said Agreste with a smirk, "But after that I believe I shall talk to my father for a time." He jerked his head towards where Gabriel Agreste sat off to one side, surrounded by his henchmen and sycophants. "You'll find me there when you've finished catching your breath." He bowed over her hand and turned away.
Adrien made his way around the edge of the ballroom, looking for Rose. He made it a point of policy to dance with Rose precisely once at each of these events. Two or more dances in a single evening would be an inappropriate amount of attention, as he was betrothed to another. But one dance at every ball would simply mark Rose as having the Crown Prince's favor, and that was an asset she could make good use of. Not to mention that in the event of Marinette being assassinated or running off or cuckolding him (or his father having a spontaneous attack of compassion and cancelling the forced marriage), this would lay the groundwork for him to take Rose as his Empress.
While Adrien would concede that he wasn't likely to find another woman who would be as valuable an Empress as Marinette, Rose would come a very close second. She was already of appropriate rank and social status, he and his father trusted her loyalty just about absolutely, and not only she was far smarter than she cared to appear, her skills and abilities would complement his excellently. He would play the straightforward ruler, blunt and stoical and unsophisticated. And Rose in turn would play the sparkly courtly puff, the fluffy consort who cared for nothing but parties and entertainment and gossip and hadn't a true thought in her head, while in truth her first-class wits would be analyzing, catalouging, and manipulating everything. It would be a good combination.
As for the more … personal aspect, Rose had certainly expressed interest in the idea when Adrien had hinted at the possibility, and Adrien didn't think he was likely to find someone he'd prefer to Rose among the pool of potential brides. Adrien and Rose weren't in love, not the way Mylene and Ivan loved each other, or the way Adrien's mother and father had been in love, but they did like each other. And, course, Adrien was a tolerably normal teenage male, and Rose was quite pretty. Not as curvy as, say, Mylene, but Adrien was finding that he preferred the slender type anyway. Lust and friendship might not be love, but they'd make a decent enough substitute.
Abruptly, Adrien heard a distinctive squee of joy cut through the background chatter. He cut through the crowd, arriving just in time to see Rose release Kagami Tsirugi from a rib-creaking hug.
"Well, well," said Adrien with a smile. "Hello, Kagami. Good news?"
Kagami turned to face Adrien, and gave him a quick bow. "Very much so, Your Highness," she said.
"Marquis Darkblade just agreed to take Kagami on as his squire!" squealed Rose, throwing up her hands and scattering gleams of light everywhere from her bangle-encrusted wrists.
"Congratulations, Kagami," said Adrien, permitting himself a genuine smile. This was what Kagami had been dreaming of for years. Not only was Marquis Darkblade one of the Empire's foremost nobles, he was also one of its greatest heroes. He had been one of the founding members of the Moth Guard, and had served as one of Gabriel Agreste's greatest generals for over a decade, leading conquest after conquest. To serve as his squire was a mark of high distinction indeed.
"Thank you," said Kagami, running one hand over the hilt of the katana she carried at her side. Such weapons were a rarity here in Paree, but Kazeofuku was an heirloom, the one treasure Kagami's grandfather had been able to bring with him when he landed on the shores of Papillion.
That memory sparked a sudden chain of thought in Adrien's mind. "You know, Kagami," he said, shifting his smile from "friendly" to "fierce", "I've been thinking. Father gathered the legions around the capitol as a precaution, in case the Dupain-Chengs decided to go to war rather than sending Princess Marinette. But they won't go to war now, not with Marinette here , in New Astruc. And I don't think Father will be sending Marquis Darkblade out against Volpinium any time soon. The Rossis are consummate survivors. They'll bend the knee, save what they can of their power. So who will Father be sending the legions and that shiny new fleet he's building against?"
Kagami's smile shifted into a grin as narrow and sharp as the edge of her ancestral blade. While Kagami herself, and even her father, had been born in Papillion, Kagami still saw herself as a child of fallen Tertullian. Ever since she was a girl, Kagami had dreamed of sailing east beneath the moth banner, as part of an Imperial army sent to drive back the Achu tribes and reclaim the lands of the Turtle Kingdom. And now that moment was almost at hand. Sapotis was fallen, Boulangerie quiescent for the moment, Volpinium would soon bow the knee, and none of the remaining edge kingdoms were worth the tenth part of the forces Gabriel Agreste was mustering. Only the Achu remained to secure the Empire's immediate borders.
And if the legions sailed east, Kagami would now sail with them. For who better than Marquis Darkblade to command such an expedition? And as the Marquis's squire, Kagami would go where he went.
Off to one side, the musicians struck up another song. Adrien turned to Rose and bowed deeply. "May I have this dance?" he asked.
"I would be delighted, Your Grace," replied Rose, dropping into a curtsey.
From his chair, Gabriel Agreste saw Adrien step out onto the dance floor with Lavillant. He sighed slightly. While it wasn't technically inappropriate for Adrien to dance a single dance with someone other than his betrothed, it was still something of a slight against Dupain-Cheng. Or more likely, a way for Adrien to protest the forced betrothal.
Gabriel wished he could explain his actions to Adrien, but that would ruin years of careful maneuvering. His own reputation was tarnished beyond repair, and would have been even if he had done nothing more than reunite Papillion and Pavonia under his banner, even if he had not bullied Boulangerie into signing that treaty and conquered Sapotis. That was the double-edged sword of politics. Only a tyrant could have done what needed to be done to reunite the realms, but that same tyranny would deny his rule legitimacy.
But Adrien… Adrien's genuine (and increasingly open) disapproval of his father's methods would insulate both his honor and his reputation from Gabriel's cruelties and tyrannies. By the time Adrien took the throne, the years would have made Gabriel's actions impossible to undo. Adrien would reap what he had not sown: An Empire united under one banner and one law, a marriage and children with the Dupain girl, the madness of Downfall finally healed. And Adrien in turn would give the Empire the one thing Gabriel would never be able to: legitimacy. An Emperor who ruled not first and foremost by the power of the sword, but by the weight of law and the silent accumulation of tradition.
But for this to work, Adrien had to remain ignorant of what Gabriel was trying to do. Only that ignorance could permit Adrien to maintain that genuine distaste for his father's methods that would be so crucial to establishing his own legitimacy without driving him to the point where he made an open and formal break with his father and forswore his rank. If Adrien consciously realized what Gabriel was trying to do for him, he would either have to accept his father's methods, even if only in his own mind, or else he would have to make a stand and refuse to reap the benefits of his father's sins.
It seems that Adrien and Dupain-Cheng are well in hand for the nonce, he thought. Perhaps now I can spare some time to make Chloe into something a little more worthy of her mother's blood.
Marinette sighed as she rested her arms on the stone railing of the little patio, gazing out into the darkness. The brilliant white blaze of the limelights reflected off the walls behind her to illuminate the spreading gardens, casting long shadows out over the lawn. She could see a few couples roaming the moonlight gardens, enjoying the cool night air. Gradually, her nerves and frustration drained away, replaced by calm acceptance.
This is my life now, she thought. Might as well get used to it.
"Princess Dupain-Cheng?"
Marinette glanced up to see a slender blonde girl in a pale blue dress standing just behind and to her left.
"Yes?" she replied.
"Aurore Beaureal, heir to the County Beaureal," said the girl.
House Beaureal: Marinette's memory prompted. One of the smallest of Papillion's Counties by land, but extremely wealthy. Silver mines, extensive artisan guilds almost untouched by the war, central position controlling several valuable trade routes. Current Head of House is the Comtesse Audrey Beaureal. One of the first to swear to Agreste, major player in Imperial politics.
"I just wanted to introduce myself, and… well, I have an… alliance, of sorts, to discuss with you."
"What do you mean?" asked Marinette.
"Well," said Aurore, "It's not exactly a secret that you and your parents are, shall we say, less than happy with your betrothal to Prince Agreste." She blushed slightly, "I, on the other hand, would very much like to be the Princess Agreste. So I want to seduce Adrien, and you presumably want Adrien to be seduced. I was hoping we could work together."
Marinette sighed and smiled ruefully up at Aurore. "I actually do appreciate the offer," she said, "but I'm afraid it wouldn't help. I've looked over the treaty, and it doesn't contain any provisions for annulling or cancelling the marriage."
"That's peculiar," said Aurore. "You mean that even if Adrien's caught in bed with another woman you still have to marry him?"
"Pretty much, yeah," said Marinette. "It's not exactly fair, but I suspect you already knew that."
She laughed, surprising even herself. "Still, feel free to try and seduce young Agreste. Maybe if you can get him to fall in love with you, he'll let me go and remarry to you once his father dies."
Or maybe, by the time the marriage comes round, Tikki and I will be strong enough to make conquering Boulangerie more trouble than it's worth, thought Marinette. And in that case, Adrien getting caught in some other woman's bed might be just the excuse we need to break the treaty.
"Now might be a good time to make your move, actually," she remarked. "I think I'm going to be out here another round or two, and Adrien mentioned he was looking for partners to fill the gap."
"Understood," said Aurore with a wink. She spun on her heel and disappeared back into the ballroom. Marinette turned back to the gardens. For a moment, she entertained the fantasy of transforming into Ladybug and running off into the darkness, but she knew that she couldn't take that risk. Even if nobody spotted her transforming, she would be missed from the party. She could stay out here another few minutes, but any longer than that would be an insult.
Ugh, thought Marinette much later that night, after the dancing was over and she was back in her room. This has been the most stressful day ever . I seriously need some time to blow off steam.
Thank Tikki my quarters have a balcony. She suppressed the temptation to giggle at the idea of Ladybug thinking what she'd just thought, and then carefully scanned the courtyard.
Ok, there are Moth Guards on the walls, but not too many of them. And if I remember my lessons correctly, they don't get any major sensory boosts. I should be able to get up onto the roof without too much trouble, and once I'm up there it should be easy enough to get over the walls.
She ducked back into her room, glanced around once more to make sure nobody was watching, and whispered, "Tikki, spots on." The world vanished in a shower of pink sparkles, and she felt the clear, cool energy of the Ladybug magic flow into her. She slipped out onto her balcony, crouched low to the ground, and tossed her yo-yo up. It wrapped around a protrusion and pulled her up onto the roof. She dashed across the roof, feeling the rough stone through the thin fabric of her suit's feet, came to the edge of the palace, and leapt. She went flying through the air, shooting over the palace courtyard and wall. As she plummeted toward the street on the other side, her yo-yo lashed out, snagging on a balcony to turn her plummet into an arc that sent her back into the air. And then she was off, leaping from roof to roof and occasionally swinging on her yo-yo.
It was a clear night, and between the stars and a half moon she had plenty of light to see where she was going. Not that she had anywhere in specific she wanted to go. She barely knew New Astruc, and there was certainly nobody in the city that she could trust with the news that the Ladybug Earrings had been found once more. Not even Alya, not yet. No, tonight was simply about freedom, about dancing under Moon and feeling the Ladybug magic flowing through her, reminding herself of who and what she now was.
Oh Tikki, I needed this, she thought. I'm going to need this more than I ever realized before tonight. By day, I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng, hostage and bedwarmer-to-be. But by night, I can – WAAUGGH!
Even by the light of Moon and stars, she hadn't spotted the black-clad figure until about half a second before she collided with him. A couple of very confusing seconds later, she was dangling upside down, wrapped up in her own yo-yo cord.
Well, she thought, this is embarrassing. Actually, strike that, this is really embarrassing. Not only did I run into whoever this is like a clumsy fool, but now I'm pressed up against a strange man while clad only in a very thin, skintight suit…
At that moment, her thoughts ground to a halt as she finally took note of the eyes staring into her own. Those were not human eyes. Even in this half-light, she could see that they were solid green, with broadly slitted pupils. She had seen those eyes a hundred times in pictures and paintings and had never expected to see them in the flesh.
"Well hey there," said Cat Noir with a broad smile, "Nice of you to drop in."
"I-I'm sorry," said Marinette. "I didn't do it on purpose."
"Ladybug, right?" said Cat Noir, wriggling against her in a most distracting manner.
"Right!" blurted out Marinette, trying to ignore the fact that Cat Noir was rubbing his leather-clad body against her. "And, uh, you must be Cat Noir!"
"Indeed I am," he replied. At that moment, her yo-yo came loose from whatever it had caught on, dropping the both of them on their heads. Marinette's yo-yo retracted, zipping over and under her until it finally smacked into her palm. She rolled away from Cat Noir and sprang to her feet, trying to keep from visibly blushing.
"So," she said, "I hadn't heard that the Ring had been found again. How long have you had it?"
"Just a few days, actually," said Cat Noir with a smile. "You?"
"Not much longer," admitted Marinette. "Only a few weeks."
"I see," said Cat Noir. "So why did you keep it secret? If you'd revealed that you had rediscovered the Earrings of the Ladybug, you would have instantly had fame and fortune for the rest of your life."
"No doubt," replied Marinette, "but do you think for one instant I'd have been allowed to keep them? No amount of fame or fortune could make up for losing Tikki. And Gabriel Agreste has done enough damage with just the Moth Brooch. I shudder to think what he might do if he had the Earrings as well."
Cat Noir visibly winced. "I wish I could argue with that, but I don't think I can," he admitted. "Gabriel Agreste is a great man, and I owe him quite literally everything, but unfortunately a great man is not necessarily the same thing as a good one. It's the same reason I kept the Ring a secret when I found it."
"Someone's coming, Milady," he said, and leapt up onto a nearby rooftop. She followed, and they both lay there, crouched flat. A few moments later, she heard distinctly off-tune singing in the distance, and shortly after that she saw a trio of figures, slightly wobbly in the knees, come down the street and turn in a couple of houses up from the one where they lay crouched.
"So," asked Cat Noir in a whisper, once one of the trio had disappeared into the house and the other two had rounded the corner, "What brings you to New Astruc?"
Marinette smiled despite herself. "Let's just say… I was given an offer I couldn't refuse," she said. "What about you?"
"My father… works here," said Cat Noir slowly. "I wasn't born here, but we moved to the city not long after it was refounded."
Marinette suppressed a giggle at the odd dance of words between the two of them. Understandably, neither wanted to test the limits of the glamour that guarded their identities by saying anything too specific. But though the reticence was understandable, it did make it hard to get to know this Cat Noir.
And she did want to get to know him. She hadn't quite realized until tonight how important being able to become Ladybug, to be free even for a few hours of all the fears and responsibilities and constraints of her position, was going to be to her now. And she certainly hadn't realized how much she would want someone whom she could share that other life with, someone who could know her and be known by her as Ladybug.
"So," she asked, "do you have any siblings?"
Cat Noir turned away. "One," he said to empty space, "A sister. We used to be great friends when we were younger, but she's grown into… well, a brat. Our father spoils and neglects her at the same time, and our mother is… not around anymore."
Marinette winced. "I'm sorry," she said, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder.
"It's not your fault," said Cat Noir. "What about you? What's your family like?"
"Well…" said Marinette slowly. How was she supposed to describe her family without giving away who she truly was?
"I don't have any siblings," she said after a moment's pause. "Just me and my parents. My mom's very… elegant. She loves me and cares for me, but there's always a certain dignity about her. My father's the funny one, the one who does shadow puppets on the wall or dumps flour all over himself when he's trying to teach me baking."
"It was always the other way around for me and my sister," said Cat Noir, still not looking at her. "My father was always busy with his work, barely had time for us. It was my mother who cared for us, raised us, loved us…" He trailed off.
Marinette managed to avoid flinching at the pain in his voice, but it was a near thing. There were no words that could help here. Not even her Miracle would heal that wound. All she could do was simply be there, and wait for him to recover on his own.
For a long moment, she simply lay there, one hand resting on his shoulder. And then the night was rent by the sound of alarm bells, coming from the direction.
She sprang to her feet, yo-yo already spinning. "Well," she said hastily, "I'd better be going."
"Likewise," said Cat Noir. "See you later, Milady."
And he dashed off into the night.
"MASTER! MASTER!"
Gabriel Agreste was jolted out of a deep sleep by the sound of his kwami screaming in his ear. He rolled over, and adrenaline jolted his brain into action. Nooroo was hovering by his bedside, bobbing frantically up and down in midair and with the spiral on his forehead blazing with purple-white light. One of Agreste's Endowed needed to speak to him urgently . And coupled with the alarm bells that had just started sounding, he knew that something had just gone spectacularly wrong.
"Nooroo!" he barked. "Bright wings rise!"
The transformation cleared his mind the rest of the way, and the countless connections the Moth Brooch offered spread out before his mind's eye. One of those links was lit up like a bonfire, and Gabriel plunged into it.
-the blow struck him in the breastplate like a battering ram, halting him in mid-charge and knocking him back off his feet. The attacker stared down at him, his face inscrutable behind that featureless silver mask. He scrabbled backwards on all fours, trying to get out of touching range. His gauntleted hand struck the shaft of his dropped halberd, and he grabbed the weapon and staggered to his feet. Behind him he heard the tramp of armored feet as Moth Guards and other soldiers rushed along the wall and across the courtyard, and the clangor of the alarm bells.
The attacker paused, that featureless silver mask regarding wall and gate. Then he turned and leapt backwards like a gigantic cricket, vanishing into the darkness just as the postern flew open and a score or so of Moth Guards poured out.
Gabriel pushed the link further, going from observation to communication. "Report, Sir Thornton," he said. "What has happened? And where is your partner?"
Sir Thornton took a deep breath. Gabriel could feel his horror and confusion secondhand. Whatever was going on here had been quite a shock. Around him, the Guards' questions had been cut off when they saw the Pink Moth sigil appear in front of their comrade's faceplate.
"Your Majesty," said Sir Thornton aloud. "Everyone. Moments ago, an unknown person approached this gate. On being challenged, he refused to provide his name or purpose. Instead, he attacked and killed Louis." Another deep breath. "With a Cataclysm."
Plagg's black claws, thought Gabriel. He had to stifle a morbid laugh at the irony of his own instinctive response. Sir Thornton wordlessly offered his memories of the event for Gabriel's inspection, and Gabriel sent him a brief flash of gratitude. He didn't doubt his Guard's veracity or sanity, but listening to someone else describe their experience could never be quite compare to reviewing the experience himself. He braced himself, and dived into the memories.
He was gazing out into the darkness with half his attention. He didn't really expect anything to happen, but someone had to take the night watch, and it was his and Louis's turn.
"… so yeah, she's doing really well for herself," he was saying to Louis. "Handmaid to a Marchioness, spending half her time rubbing shoulders with nobility… who knows, maybe one day she'll catch the eye of…"
He stopped as he spotted a flash of light on metal at the edge of the torch's light. He grabbed his halberd from where it leaned against the wall and snapped to attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Louis doing the same. "Who goes there?" he barked.
From the darkness, a figure emerged. The figure was tall and broad of shoulder, a man's build. He was clad from head to toe in a suit of leather, either black or dark red, it was impossible to tell which in this light. The only exceptions were the featureless silver mask, without eyes or mouth, that flashed from under that hood and the weapon in his hand, a pair of gleaming metal batons linked by a short length of chain.
The figure said nothing in response to his challenge, simply striding forward.
"Halt!" said Louis, stepping forward with one hand extended, almost touching the intruder's leather-clad chest. "State your name and business here."
The intruder stopped. His head tilted slightly as though he were contemplating Louis's extended hand, and then he spoke for the first time. His voice echoed oddly, as though multiple people were speaking in not-quite-perfect synchronization, but the word was still terrifyingly clear.
"Cataclysm!"
The stranger's hand flashed forward like lightning to slap against Louis's breastplate, and corruption flashed out like fire burning through paper. Metal rusted away to nothingness, and below that flesh withered to dust. For a fraction of a second Louis's skeleton stood there, suspended in midair where his body had been just before. And then the bones fell to the ground, exploding into powder as they hit the stones.
"ATTACK!" bellowed Hugo. He dropped his halberd, he was already too close to use it effectively. Instead he whipped out his sword and swung at the attacker's head with all his Brooch-granted strength. "HELP! HELP! ATTACK!" he yelled as he swung. The stranger ducked under the blow and then swiped with his own weapon. The chain elongated impossibly, new links appearing out of nowhere to allow the chain to wrap around his sword repeatedly. With a surge of strength as far beyond Hugo's as Hugo was beyond an unenhanced human, the intruder ripped the sword out of Hugo's hand and flung it away into the darkness.
The intruder's weapon shifted back to its original proportions, links of chain disappearing back to wherever they'd come from in the first place. In the distance, Roger could hear the crash of the alarm bells and the shouts as others took up the cry of "ATTACK!". He lunged forward, gauntleted fist raised to smash in the intruder's masked face. That weapon swung and-
Gabriel pulled back out of the memories, recognizing the moment when he'd linked in.
Tikki and Plagg, that was Cat Noir, he thought. How in Plagg's whiskers did someone find the Ring of the Black Cat after all these years? And why did he decide to announce himself by killing one of my guards? If he hated me that much, surely the logical thing to do would be to sneak past the Guards and go after me or my…
Another link lit up, requesting his attention. With horror, he recognized the link.
…son… he finished the thought, as he dived into the link to his son's bodyguard. Through the bodyguard's eyes, he saw what he had half expected, and desperately hoped not to see.
His son's room was empty. Adrien was nowhere to be seen.
As soon as he heard the alarms go off, Adrien knew he was going to get caught out of bed. The Gorilla would proceed to his bedroom, find him not there, and promptly alert his father. But if he hurried, he might yet be able to at least keep his status as Cat Noir hidden. From the rooftop, it was only a short dash to a certain spot he'd discovered weeks before, where one of the Undercity tunnels let out onto the Nikeldan not far downstream from the palace complex. Between his now-boosted speed and reflexes, and his new night-vision, he made his way through the tunnels in a fraction of the time he'd ever taken before. Soon he was crouched just behind a grating that would let out into the palace's wine cellar.
"Plagg," he whispered, "claws in." The fiery energies of the transformation drained away, and a veil of blackness fell over his sight. He felt rather than saw the cat-kwami burrow into his vest pocket and unwrap the wax-coated cheese wheel Adrien had stashed there earlier. A few moments later, Plagg ceased his gyrations, having presumably acquired his prize and settled down to rest.
Here goes nothing, Adrien thought, and pushed out the grating. He wriggled out into the narrow gap behind one of the massive tuns, and from there crawled out into more open space. He took a moment to catch his breath and get into the right headspace, then made a dash for the barely-visible stairs near the end of the cellar. He scrambled up the stairs into the great kitchen, and dashed out into the courtyard.
It was a scene of controlled chaos. The alarms were still chiming, and Moth Guards and other soldiers were darting this way and that. The Pink Moth flashed in and out of existence in front of various faces.
Adrien ran up to a nearby Moth Guard and carefully tapped him on the couter.
"Excuse me, Sir," he said, "But what's going on?"
The Guard jumped. "Your Highness!" he exclaimed. "Does your father know… No, of course not. Just a moment." A second later, the Pink Moth lit up in the air in front of his faceplate.
"Your Majesty, I've found your son," he said. "He doesn't seem to be hurt. We're right by the entrance to the kitchens." The Pink Moth winked out, and the Guard looked down at Adrien.
"Well, Your Highness," he said, "You gave your father quite a fright. I think he's going to be torn about whether to be relieved that you're unharmed, or angry at you for disappearing like that."
"I didn't mean to…" Adrien began to say, but he was interrupted by a shout of "Adrien!"
Adrien turned around just in time for his father, clad in the mask and robes of a Hawkmoth, to sweep him into the tightest hug he could remember getting in many years.
"Oh Adrien, thank Tikki you're alive," murmured Gabriel Agreste into his son's hair. Then he grabbed Adrien by the shoulders, pushed him out to arm's length, and glared down at him. "But what were you thinking , running off like that? You know that when an alarm sounds, you're supposed to stay in your room and wait for your bodyguard unless you're in immediate danger. You're not supposed to go running off on your own, especially when you have no idea what's going on."
"I wasn't in my room when the alarm was sounded," retorted Adrien. "I couldn't sleep, so I snuck down into the Undercity. It's a good place to think, and I thought doing some exploring might burn off my nerves. As soon as I heard the alarm bells, I got back to the surface as fast as I could manage."
For a long moment, green eyes met and held purple-tinted gray. Then Gabriel Agreste looked away, sighed, and let go of Adrien's shoulders.
"You're right," he said. "You couldn't have known this would happen. Tikki and Plagg, I can barely believe it did happen…" He shook his head. "Sir Mûre, could you please escort my son back up to his rooms?"
"Yessir," said the Moth Guard. "If you would follow me, Your Highness?" he added to Adrien.
Adrien nodded and followed the Guard across the courtyard.
"So," he asked as they passed into the Palace complex, "What did happen?"
"Plagg only knows," said Sir Mûre. "All I've been told is that someone attacked and killed one of us on watch duty. And that whoever it is has the Black Cat's Ring."
" What? " Adrien blurted out.
"I know, I can hardly believe it myself. But one of the gate guards survived, and he saw Cat Noir use Cataclysm on his partner with his own eyes."
Adrien called on every ounce of his deportment training to keep his expression under control. He knew that he hadn't totally succeeded, but some level of reaction to such a surprise was understandable. Inside, however, his mind was racing.
What in Plagg's black claws happened tonight? I know I didn't kill that man, so who did? And how? And more than that, how am I supposed to prove it wasn't me? My secret's safe for now, but I'm going to have to be insanely careful until I find out who really killed that man, and figure out how to prove it.
Plagg and I are going to have a very long talk once the alarms die down a bit…
