Mistress Mysterious: Thank you!

Silverbell2002: Thanks! I'm glad you found it!

Danielle danced around the bathroom in her towel to the song blasting on her radio, completely oblivious to the world outside her little bubble. Her hair had finally dried out, and she'd pulled it back into a half-ponytail.

"Okay..." she muttered to herself. She opened the door to her bedroom and walked up to the bed where a long, purple dress lay. She pulled the dress on, followed by a pair of black heels that tied around her ankles.

Tonight was going to be amazing, she thought. Not only was it the middle of fashion week, but she'd also get to see Chloé. They'd hardly spoken since Leda had her breakdown, and Danielle wanted to see how she was doing.

"You ready, Nooroo?" she asked.

No response.

Danielle turned to where Nooroo usually slept at her bedside, but they weren't there. Moreover, the half-brooch wasn't there. The color drained from Danielle's face, and she looked around the room. "No," she muttered. "Oh no, no, no, no, no!"

She went back over to the nightstand and opened the drawer, praying it was there. Nope. Nothing. "Nooroo, where are you?"

"Don't worry; they're safe."

Danielle let out a sigh of relief, and she turned around to see Gabriel standing in the doorway. "Oh thank God. Uncle Gabe, where did you put the miraculous?"

Gabriel sighed and shook his head. "Come on," he declared, turning and heading down the hallway. Danielle followed him up a stairwell, coming to a halt in front of a wooden door. "You should really be more careful with Nooroo. Hawk Moth could have gotten him back if it weren't for me."

"I know, I-" The color drained from her face. "I know."

The man standing in front of her sighed and grabbed her upper arm. "Alright, let's cut the crap; I can feel your fear. What gave me away?"

Danielle scoffed. "Nooroo is nonbinary," she declared. "You called them a 'him.' You're Isaiah."

"Hm. I'll remember that for the future." Isaiah tightened his grip on Danielle and pulled out a knife, lifting it to her throat before she could react. "What?" he asked. "Trying to think up a way out of this? Not happening. I have Nooroo, and soon, I'll have the ladybug and black cat miraculouses, too."

"Not gonna happen," Danielle snapped. "They were doing fine before I arrived, and they'll do fine without me, too."

Isaiah shrugged. "Maybe. But they've gotten used to fighting as a team of three, and I've gotten used to sending out more powerful akumas. It's not looking good for them." He pushed Danielle back, knocking her head into the wall and disorienting her long enough for him to open the door and throw her inside, closing and locking it behind her.

If it weren't for the sound of church bells every fifteen minutes, Danielle would have lost track of time. After two hours, she was still trapped in the attic, not even a clue of how to get out. The tips of her fingers were covered in dried blood, her nails down to jagged stubs from her attempts to claw her way out through the door.

She looked up at the window, open just enough to let light in, but closed enough that it was too high up for her to reach. Night had fallen, the moon visible in the sky. Then, a miracle happened.

A little white butterfly flew in through the window and made a few rounds through the attic before landing on a rafter. It took a couple of steps forward, and a key fell from the beam.

Danielle's eyes went wide, and she caught the key before it hit the ground. She ran up to the door, hands shaking as she tried the key. She turned it and-

Click.

A sigh of relief escaped her, and she turned back to the butterfly. "Thank you."

The butterfly swooped down and in front of Danielle, waiting for her to open the door. She did, and the butterfly took off again, down the stairs and through the hallway. Danielle turned when she got to an intersection, but the butterfly flew up right in front of her face.

"What?" she asked. "I need to get downstairs and stop Isaiah."

The butterfly jerked towards her then back, and with a reluctant sigh, Danielle turned around. The butterfly took the lead again, down the hall and to another stairwell. She followed, only stopping when the got to Uncle Gabe's office.

"Here?" Danielle asked. "There's something in here?" The butterfly didn't reply- couldn't, obviously- but Danielle went inside anyway. She walked over to his desk, eying the portrait of Aunt Adele as the butterfly landed on it.

Danielle took a step closer and felt at the edges, trying to figure out what the butterfly was telling her. On one side, hinges. On the other, a gap. She pulled, and the portrait swung open to reveal a safe. "Now what?"

The butterfly flew straight through the safe, and when it returned, the lock clicked.

Danielle stared at the butterfly in shock. "I didn't know you could do that." Again, no response, so she opened the safe and looked inside. A book, some scrolls, a journal, a picture of Aunt Adele, a travel guide to Tibet... and a brooch.

"Is this what I think it is?"

A little voice in her head whispered back, why don't you find out?

Danielle took a deep breath and reached out, grabbing the brooch.

Sure enough, a blue ball of light flew out of it, turning into a kwami. It blinked a few times, waking up and taking stock of its surroundings. "You're not Isaiah."

Danielle shook her head. "I'm his niece," she explained. "He's using Nooroo to wreak havoc all over Paris! I accidentally broke the brooch and had half the brooch for a while, but he found me and took it. I need to stop him!"

The kwami looked her over, a frown on her face. After what felt like an eternity, she spoke. "I'm Duusu. Fill me in."

"After Aunt Adele went missing, Isaiah went nuts and tried to get Nooroo from Gabriel. They ended up fighting, and Isaiah got Nooroo while Gabriel got you. Isaiah's been making akumas for over a year now, and Ladybug and Chat Noir have been fighting him. I got here a month and a half ago, and Uncle Gabe stole the brooch from Isaiah and I found it but I accidentally broke it and stole half and Isaiah stole the other half back and Nooroo's been getting weaker and weaker but I imagine they're better now because Isaiah stole my half of the brooch back and now there's a gala for the Gabriel brand and I have no idea what he's gonna try and-"

"Okay, stop!" Duusu flew up and put her paws over Danielle's mouth. "How do you feel about a dramatic entrance?"

Danielle wasn't entirely sure how she felt standing in front of all these people, especially without Nooroo there. She tried to focus on the music in the background, but it only seemed to make her more nervous.

I do my makeup in somebody else's car...

You're doing great, Duusu's voice whispered in the back of her mind. You can do this.

Danielle nodded and walked up to the announcer, whispering her introduction in his ear. She pulled back and stood tall at the top of the stairs, ignoring the announcer's shocked eyes on her. Finally, he got his wits about him long enough to speak.

"Hera Paon of the Miraculous," the announcer said.

First, only a few people looked, then a few more, and then all eyes were on her. It felt like a scene out of a movie, and she was Cinderella herself. Wearing a blue, strapless dress with green peacock feathers at the bottom, black feathered heels, and a blue mask, she knew she fit the part. Danielle took her first step down, careful not to lose her balance in the heels.

Her eyes locked on Isaiah as he moved through the crowd towards her. She curled her fingers around her fan, the blades cutting into her skin and coming just shy of drawing blood. Her whole world moved in slow motion. Finally, she stopped at the bottom of the stairs, glaring up at her uncle.

"Give me my miraculous back," she growled in a whisper. "I'm done letting you hurt Nooroo."

Isaiah gave her a smile that could only be described as condescending. "Yes, well, you can try, but it seems you've got a bit more to deal with." His sentence was punctuated by a crash across the venue.

But I hear sounds in my mind

"You see, I had a feeling you'd find a way out, and you'd probably find a way to contact Ladybug and Chat Noir, so I made some preparations- you know how stressful these events can be," he continued. "Nooroo's exhausted, but they've got plenty of soft pretzels to keep them happy. Maybe if they recover fast enough, I can make even more akumas."

Danielle took in a shaky breath, trying to hold back the tears. "I'm going to kill you," she whispered.

"I think you have more pressing matters to attend to," Isaiah said.

I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it

Danielle didn't hesitate, swinging and punching Isaiah in the jaw.

Isaiah jerked back, holding his chin, and Danielle struck again, this time to his stomach and knocking him into a table with trays of hors d'oeuvres on it.

Isaiah growled in frustration. "Nooroo, dark wings rise!" He jumped up, cane clashing down on two of Danielle's crossed daggers.

Gasps filled the air, all eyes on the two of them as the scene unfolded.

"Seriously?" Danielle mocked. "Dark wings rise? You just had to tack on that 'dark' in order to accomplish your evil plan?" She kicked at Isaiah's stomach then advanced, trying and failing to cut him with one of her daggers. "And where is Gabriel Agreste anyway? You're a total dick, but I doubt even you would kill your own brother."

Hawk Moth shrugged and deflected attack after attack, the crowd parting for them like the Red Sea. "He's around here somewhere; it's a large enough venue that no one would question there being two of him." He went on the offensive, pulling his sword from his cane and taking a step towards Danielle.

Danielle held up her nine daggers, fanning them out to make a shield. When she looked up to retaliate, Hawk Moth vanished in a flash of purple. "Are you kidding me?" she snapped.

Upon hearing another explosion from the far end of the venue, Danielle realized she didn't have time to worry about it. She took off running, skidding to a stop next to Chat Noir. "What's the scoop?" she asked.

"One fire akuma, one water akuma, one air akuma, and one earth akuma," Chat said quickly. "If we're lucky, Aang will show up and save us all." He glanced at Danielle and did a double take. "Wait, who are you?"

Danielle clipped him on the back of the head. "It's me, dumbass!" she snapped. "Hawk Moth stole my half of the brooch back, and he just transformed in front of a bunch of people!"

Chat Noir's mouth formed a small 'o' as he nodded. Then, he sighed. "Look, Leeds, Plagg read me the riot act after what happened, and-"

"Whatever," Danielle cut in. "I get that Un- that he is more important to you than I am. He's your dad, after all, and-"

"I was still wrong," Chat Noir insisted. "I should've listened to you, and I didn't. I'm sorry."

Danielle stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Apology accepted."

Ladybug dropped down next to them, panting heavily. "Are you two just going to stand there talking all night?" she asked. "I need help!"

"Right!" Danielle and Chat chorused, jumping into action.

For the next half hour, the fight went nowhere. It was four against three, and every now and then, Hawk Moth would join in to try to steal the miraculouses himself, only to vanish the second he lost the advantage.

"Lucky charm!" A large metal plate fell into Ladybug's hands. "Ooookay then." She looked around, eyes lighting up when she saw her solution. She took off running and stopped a few feet in front of the fire akuma. "Hey!" she yelled.

The akuma turned, and sure enough, it shot a stream of light and fire at her. Ladybug held up the plate, and the fire hit, deflecting up into the chandelier suspended above the courtyard. The prisms split it in three directions. The first went into the water akuma, evaporating it and burning its talisman. The second went to Chat, who batted it into the earth akuma and turned it to clay, allowing him to hit it with his baton and destroy its talisman. Finally, the third went to Danielle, who reflected it off her fan and into the air akuma, blasting through it and giving her enough time to throw a dagger, breaking the talisman.

Finally, Ladybug threw the platter, severing the akuma's head and destroying its talisman. She shot her yoyo out in a circle, catching all four akumas. "Gotcha!" she cheered. She opened her yoyo again, and four white butterflies flew out. "Bye-bye, little butterflies." She sighed. "Hopefully for the last time." She looked to Chat, then Danielle, who gave her a nod.

Danielle walked through the crowd, and Ladybug moved to follow, but Chat caught up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I know we've been doing this for a while, but Leda needs this. For Nooroo."

Ladybug took a step back and nodded, keeping a careful eye on Danielle as she approached what appeared to be the gala's organizer. She held out her hand, palm-up.

"Hand it over, Isaiah," Danielle ordered. "You aren't fooling anyone anymore."

The man raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," he declared. "I am Gabriel Agreste."

"Really?"

Danielle whipped her head around to see Gabriel walk through the crowd and into the ring spectators had formed. As she turned back, searing pain burned through her abdomen.

A short breath of air left her lungs, and she looked down to see one of her own knives embedded in her stomach. A choking sound escaped her, and she stumbled back. She would have fallen to the ground if Chat Noir hadn't caught her.

"A-Ad-"

"Shh, shh," Chat Noir whispered. "Save your energy, okay? Just focus on staying awake." He glanced up and gave a nod to someone Danielle couldn't see before returning his attention to her. "Keep breathing. Just keep breathing. We're gonna get you to the hospital."

Danielle nodded mutely, her eyelids drooping.

"No, no, no! Stay awake! Come on, stay awake!"

She couldn't fight it anymore. Danielle took another shallow breath, and her eyes fell shut.

Song Mentioned: "Green Light" by Lorde, which also happens to be the theme song of this fic

Oh my God I can't believe we've made it this far. I started this fic well over a year ago, and when I finally posted it, I was terrified of how it would be received. I know OC fics aren't the most popular out there, so I wasn't very optimistic, but seeing the support I've gotten, I can only say thank you so much for letting me share Danielle with you all.