Definitions:
Samhain [sow-en] = November 1st but is celebrated from sunset of October 31st to sunrise of November 2nd (days on the Celtic calendar start at sunset)
liminality = (literally, "shadowy") the thinness of the border/veil between "our world" and the Otherworld (Faerie; Tír na nÓg)
lunantishee = The fairy of the blackthorn tree, one of the trees most beloved of the fair folk. The lunantishee is especially active on the feasts that begin summer and winter, respectively, Lughnasadh and Samhain

Adrien knew better than anyone else that Misfortune and Destruction didn't need to be as bad as they were made out to be. It therefore came as no surprise that the spells Plagg taught Félix and him were actually quite helpful. Then again, not all of Plagg's magic was destructive. There was a lot of neutral ground he could cover, starting with glamours. (He didn't stop boasting about how great his glamours worked, so good that even cameras couldn't detect him.)

That, however, didn't mean that all of the spells they learned worked perfectly well when they tried them out.

Plagg had sworn that onyx was a great fit for Cat Sidhe and that they should therefore switch to them as holder stones for the glamour spell. Since Félix was still a little sceptical about the idea—apparently, he had studied gemstones recently and therefore had his doubts—Adrien was the one to try it out first. If only he had listened to his brother instead of the deity of destruction.

"It doesn't work," Adrien said disappointed and threw the onyx stone at Plagg. To his utter horror, that didn't dissolve the glamour at all. A glamour that worked perfectly except for one tiny detail: His hair was black.

"Why is it still active even though he doesn't carry the stone on him anymore?" Félix asked as if he had read his mind. "You said it would work, Plagg."

"I said that onyx is compatible. The glamour will hold for twenty-four hours even when you lose the stone. Pretty neat, huh?"

"Plagg! My hair is black!" Adrien screeched and frantically pointed at his head. "I can't go to school like this!"

Plagg didn't seem troubled. "Don't humans dye their hair all the time?"

And that was how Adrien had to awkwardly explain to his father the next evening why the tabloids were talking about him dyeing his hair. As expected, the explanation of testing out different glamours was met with a deep scowl and a few extra photoshoots on his schedule.

"You know, if you want people to stop crowding you, then you could just use a spell to redirect their attention," Adrien heard Plagg say one evening after Félix had complained about a group of excited girls in the library that had been desperate to get autographs and hold a conversation.

"Yes, I know that spell," Félix simply replied.

"I could teach you a better one."

"Fé," Adrien said in a warning tone, "please tell me you didn't try out that deviation spell."

"Just a simple one," his brother admitted with a wince when he realised that it apparently wasn't as simple as he had thought to be. Marinette had just walked past them without any sign that she saw them at all. She wasn't the only one either. No one in their class seemed to realize that they were there. Well, no human at least.

"Simple?" Adrien asked incredulously. "Simple has the effect of being easily overlooked. We are practically invisible!"

A snicker from their right drew their attention. "Unlucky day?" Alix asked.

Because no one that could find it strange noticed them anyway, Adrien hissed. That only seemed to amuse the Seelie fae further.

For the entire day, they stubbornly stayed in school even though their presence wasn't acknowledged once and they were marked absent for every single class.

Adrien should have learned from the black hair incident when it came to casting spells on a whim. Well, apparently, he hadn't.

"This time you can't blame Plagg. You brought this upon yourself," Félix said which was answered with a glare. Or at least as well as one could glare while in the middle of a coughing fit.

"Bi—cough—bite iron!" He got out just before he started coughing again and spit out a feather. It was like he had caught the fictional Hanahaki disease, just with feathers instead of flowers. And hopefully without the part where he died because his true love wouldn't return his feelings. After all, this was just a stupid curse.

"Kid, I don't think you're quite ready for curse-breaking yet," Plagg pointed out.

You don't say!

He tried to throw Plagg a look that conveyed just that.

"Can you fix this?" Félix meanwhile asked Plagg.

"Sure, but let's wait a little. I wanna see if he spits out a peacock feather eventually."

"Plagg!" Adrien yelled before coughing again. Trying to break his allergy-like curse, because of how often it annoyed him lately, had been a big mistake. He was a fifteen-year-old halfling and he has had that curse for almost ten years now. No wonder he couldn't break it. He hadn't expected to make it worse though!

Lots of the spells Plagg taught them did work out exactly like they should have. And even the ones that initially didn't were mastered in time. Like how they each had eventually found a gemstone to cast their glamour spells on that cooperated without any visible side effects. So, after about a week without anything going wrong, Adrien was quite optimistic that they were getting the hang of more advanced magic.

That was, until a perfectly working spell misfired. Félix had intended to make Chloé trip—she had been cruel to Marinette again—but his aim was off so that he hit Mlle Mendeleiev instead. And unfortunately, she did not only trip, but also scattered a stack of class tests in the process. The spectacle had been hard not to notice so Chloé had immediately turned her attention to them with a raised eyebrow. Adrien winced, as he hoped that this attempted prank wouldn't prompt any retaliation.

For the first week of Toussaint break, Félix and Adrien had photoshoots scheduled back to back. Not to mention also traveling to all sorts of locations and shooting clips for the short commercial that was supposed to air. Adrien had first been nervous about being outside of Paris for a few days in case of an Akuma attack but luckily nothing had happened.

Finally, they had an afternoon to themselves and decided to spend it with their friends. Being back in Paris was comforting. The magic in the air was unique and felt like home to Adrien. Ruled by an Unseelie Court or not, he loved the city. But as it was his birthright, luck didn't seem to be on his side on that day.

With the increasing pull of the Otherworld, he really had better things to do than be pursued by starstruck fangirls. He just wanted to eat ice cream with his brother and his friends, but it only took two minutes until they were mobbed and had to flee—before they could even order! For situations like these, silent spells were practical, but only when cast correctly. Adrien had honestly intended for the attention to be moved to a random person of the mob of fans, but instead it hit his brother. His brother, who quickly got separated from the group as the fans started chasing him with renewed vigour.

"Why are they running after Félix all of a sudden?" Alya asked. "I thought you were the one in the commercial."

Adrien winced. "Who knows…"

"Don't worry, I'll save him. You dudes better get out of here before those crazies change their mind," Nino said. The last they saw of him was how he bravely threw himself into the mass of fangirls and tried to fight his way to the front.

"Let's hide in the bakery. We probably have some ice cream in the freezer," Marinette suggested and then dragged Adrien and Alya with her.

"Sorry for ruining the day," Adrien muttered, knowing he'd have hell to pay for this accidental stunt later.

"That wasn't your fault!" Marinette insisted vehemently and only then did he notice that she still hadn't let go of his hand. Granted, she still held Alya's hand too as she dragged both of them into the direction of the bakery, but he couldn't help the warmth that shot into his face.

Okay, maybe the day isn't entirely bad.

He quickly looked away once he caught Alya's knowing smirk though.

In the evening, they saw Félix and Nino again as they stumbled into the bakery in a state of disarray that was extreme for Nino's standards and the end of the world for Félix's. And his brother was furious.

Adrien sat on the roof of the mansion and took a deep breath. Samhain was tomorrow and he could already smell the thick magic of the thinning veil in the air. Félix had not been doing well these past few days, as the approaching day gave him flashbacks of what had happened the year prior. He had done all he could when it came to comforting his brother, being there for him and grounding him. After hours of that, he had finally fallen asleep.

Now it was Adrien who couldn't sleep. He had protected Marinette that past Samhain by being there for her and she had in return been there for him. She had Tikki this time, who would no doubt be much better at keeping her safe.

He sighed in bliss as a sweet melody silently drifted over to him on the wind and he allowed himself to listen to it like a lullaby for a few seconds before tearing away.

"I hate Samhain," he cursed silently.

"You hate sewing?" A new voice suddenly piped up and Adrien turned around to see Plagg float up behind him with a piece of Camembert. "Isn't your girlfriend a seamstress?"

"Sow-en," Adrien repeated, putting emphasis on the syllables. "You know, that dreaded festival on November 1st? And Marinette isn't my girlfriend, so stop calling her that!"

Plagg snickered and sat down on the roof next to Adrien. "I know. I'm just messing with you, kid."

The Cat Sidhe sighed and licked his paw to groom his whiskers. It felt like all the magic in the air was catching in them like leaves in a stream and he didn't like it.

"It's really getting to you, huh?" Plagg suddenly asked and Adrien paused mid-lick. He had to think about the question for a few seconds before he could answer.

"It feels like the universe is continuously trying to sing the most beautiful lullabies and they just get more beautiful and more persistent the thinner the veil gets. Resisting is very difficult sometimes. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you don't have this problem."

Plagg shrugged. "I'm immune to Faerie's magic since I don't belong to Tír na nÓg like you do. I can hear the songs but they're not pulling me anywhere."

Silence descended on them then. Well, relative silence since the universe was still performing its silent and eerie concert.

Adrien finished grooming his whiskers and noted with displeasure that it hadn't helped at all. Maybe Plagg knew a spell to help with it. He was about to ask him for one, when his kwami spoke up again, the cheese long devoured.

"You're both doing pretty well with those spells I taught you by the way. Even the occasional blunders aren't so bad."

Adrien perked his ears at that. It was rare that he got direct praise from Plagg.

"May I say 'thank you'?"

Plagg threw him an incredulous look. "Of course, you can say 'thank you'! I'm not as arrogant as your folk and think I owe you a favour for it. Or was it the other way around?"

"It's both, depending on who you ask."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "Of course, it is. Your folk is weird, kid."

Adrien winced, not liking to be thrown together with the rest of the fae, though it couldn't be helped.

There was a snort from his left. "This whole thing is quite ironic."

"How so?" Adrien asked, equally parts curious and confused.

"You know, kid, I didn't always have the best holders. The Butterfly Miraculous isn't the first to ever be misused, after all, and I might just hold the record. Not that I'm counting. Guess that just comes with the Miraculous of Destruction."

Adrien rubbed his head against his kwami with a silent purr for comfort and tried to ignore the cheese stench. Plagg, not being the affectionate type, just batted him away though.

"That explains why you didn't like me much at first. When humans already let you down then there's not much to expect from a Cat Sidhe," Adrien said as he straightened up again and flattened his ears. He had to think of Plagg's first reaction to him and also Tikki's first reaction. Come to think of it, Marinette had also not had the best first—second?—impression of him when he had first introduced himself to her. Who knows what Nino's reaction would have been if Marinette hadn't told him about him in the first place? And then there had been the misunderstanding with Alya. Maybe it was just in his nature to be hated at first sight by the people who really mattered.

Plagg nudged him. "You didn't turn out to be so bad," he said and then gave a wry chuckle. "Though that's exactly the ironic part, since it's because of one of those bad past holders of mine that Cat Sidhe exist at all."

Adrien froze.

"Remember how I said that I was responsible for Cat Sidhe? Well, there's a story to it."

"Can you tell me? Please?" He was anxious as the origins of a creature of misfortune couldn't be good. Especially not if it involved someone who had misused the Miraculous of Destruction.

"Guess there's no harm in telling you," Plagg said and looked out to the Parisian skyline.

"It wasn't long after the faeries came into existence, only about one or two hundred years later. There was a war and my chosen was killed. The one who killed him took my ring and misused it to win the war. He killed many people.

"There is a way for a kwami to get rid of a Miraculous user though, which is to make the Miraculous unusable for them. And I don't mean cutting off fingers to not be able to wear my ring, or anything ridiculous like that."

Adrien swallowed. "It's the magic you told me about, right? The one that gets transferred to a human when they're transformed for too long after using their power?"

Plagg nodded. "That is one way, even though it's slow. The more magic there is in a person, the less human they are and the less a Miraculous works for them. So, in order to abruptly get rid of someone who misuses my Miraculous, I give them what they most desire: power. In turn they'll have to give up my ring. They're usually too blinded by the prospect of magic to ask questions."

Adrien frowned. "But that much magic would transform them into something inhuman. Human bodies can't take that much magic."

"Exactly. And since it's my magic they'll get, the magic chooses the form it's most familiar with: a black cat. I had no regrets when he yelled at me that I tricked him and called me a faerie. He fully deserved what he got after all. He was chased out of his village by the people that had once adored him. They thought he was a faerie and I guess that's what he became.

"When I was in Ireland again a century later, there suddenly were a lot of black faerie cats. Bastard must have mated with the fair folk."

Adrien threw Plagg a small grin.

"You're right, that really makes our situation very ironic. You made him a cat to be rid of him and now a descendant of him is your chosen."

"Kid, do me a favour and don't associate yourself with your origins. You don't choose what you're born as and from what I've seen so far, you would have been a darn good human if you'd have been born as one."

Plagg gave his paw a pat. "You're doing great, Adrien."

His name! Plagg had said his name! So far it had always been "kid" or "kitten", but he couldn't recall that the kwami had ever called him by name. That must be a good sign.

"Thanks, Plagg," Adrien said and couldn't keep back a content purr.

It was raining and it didn't look like it was about to stop any time soon. Thick raindrops splashed against the windows and trailed down in tiny rivers. It was comforting to watch, but comfort could only go so far in Chloé's room. Mental comfort that was, because it in no way lacked in physical comfort at all. Sofas, chairs and Chloé's bed all had fluffy pillows placed on them.

The hotel staff had even carried in an additional double bed for Adrien and Félix and placed it at the other end of the room. There were also dozens of rose bouquets in the room. Adrien couldn't tell if their scent was meant for grounding, or if they were just present because roses were Chloé's favourite flowers.

The sun hadn't even set yet, but the pull from Faerie got more obvious by every passing hour. He could see how Félix and Sabrina grew marginally more restless the closer it got to sunset. Chloé, on the other hand, was applying nail polish seemingly without a care in the world. The alcoholic smell of the paints made Adrien wrinkle his nose in distaste, but he didn't want to say anything. This was Chloé's room, after all, and if she wanted to paint her nails then she could very well do so.

"Can you stop prowling around like a feral cat already? You're making me nervous," she suddenly sneered at Félix with a glare.

"We're all a little on edge here, Chloé," Adrien said before his brother had the opportunity to throw various faerie profanities at her.

"How about some chocolate?" Sabrina piped up with a nervous smile and picked up the tray with pralines from the coffee table. Adrien was marginally grateful for her presence, since that brought the number of people who were not out for conflict up to two.

Chloé sighed in annoyance. "Later! It's there to help with this annoying liminality," she said and then gave Sabrina a pointed look. The redhead winced and sat the tray back down, but not before Adrien had snatched a piece. Chloé might not want to eat sweets now with her still wet nails, but that didn't mean that he had to wait. Besides, the liminality she mentioned—the thinness of the veil between reality and the Otherworld—was already getting on his nerves.

"H-how about talking about the losses of the year?" Sabrina suggested next, while shifting from foot to foot nervously.

"I don't see how a Samhain ritual is supposed to help with distracting us," Félix huffed and let himself fall on a chair with a frown. Adrien didn't blame him from being snappy and a little rude. After all, it hid all the anxiety and utter terror his brother felt ever since the day began.

"Sorry Sabrina, Félix doesn't mean it like that. It's just that—" Adrien started, but Chloé interrupted him.

"So, you're avoiding it then?"

The question, voiced in a serious tone that had become almost unnatural to Chloé, was not directed at him.

"Not your business," Félix hissed from behind gritted teeth. It would have probably been a snarl if an especially sweet song wouldn't have drifted in from outside at that moment. An unnatural and highly unwelcome calm overcame them and Adrien shook his head as if that could disperse the otherworldly voices.

"You're right," Chloé said after about a minute. "It's not my business, but that doesn't mean I can't meddle."

"Chloé", Adrien said in a warning tone. The last thing they needed now was for Félix to viciously use Chloé as a scratching pole. Even though that would be a sufficient distraction.

"Shush, Adrikins," she said with a dismissive wave in his direction. "You've never been in a sídhe so stay out of this."

He blinked as his song-muddled brain slowly drew a horrifying conclusion out of that statement. His brother was faster in voicing it.

"You've been in a sídhe before?"

Chloé nodded and even set her nail polish aside. Like this, without a cruel snarl or an egocentric haughtiness on her face, she almost looked like the Chloé he had once known. The one he had been good friends with.

"I learned a lot from it. Namely that humans are not worth it. They're incredibly weak and won't ever measure up to us. Trying to indulge them, like you and Adrien do right now, is a waste of time. They'll be dead in a few decades anyway. Better end that nonsense before you become too attached."

And there she was again, the haughty Chloé who had transformed into the ideal picture of an Unseelie fae over the last couple of years. Adrien frowned at her, though that did nothing.

"Just because you've never tried having human friends before doesn't mean you can give us shit about it," he heard himself say and internally cursed himself for being rude. This wouldn't do. "I mean—", he tried to correct himself, but Chloé once again didn't let him finish.

"You meant exactly what you said," she stated, the gaze of her blue eyes cold. "And I was only giving you advice so that you don't come to me whining afterwards."

"I wouldn't have anyway," Adrien replied and tried to sound equally icy.

If the entirety of Samhain was going to be like this, then it would be a very long night and following day.

"I heard there's a lunantishee in the hotel right now. Maybe she expected a feast or something, which is ridiculous since mother is at a revel in a sídhe and it's not like I am going to provide anything."

Several hours later they had all settled for a truce. No talking about human friends or faerie mannerisms…which frankly didn't leave much to be discussed.

"Are there even any blackthorn trees in Paris?" Adrien asked to which his brother just gave a shrug and Chloé a disinterested snort.

"There must be, right? Lunantishee live in them after all," Sabrina said meekly.

"As long as she doesn't bother us, I'm fine with it. I'm sure our chefs can prepare food for her if she orders something," Chloé said and flipped the page of her fashion magazine.

"Maybe she's trying to wish us a happy season," Félix said with an eye roll.

"Woohoo for winter," Adrien said sarcastically and let himself fall back on the sofa with a bored sigh. "Can't we talk about anything else?"

"Like what?" Chloé snipped.

"Oh, how about we talk about Ladybug and Chat Noir!" Sabrina enthusiastically piped up which made Adrien sit up abruptly. He could feel Plagg shifting in his shirt pocket and dig his small claws through the fabric. A clear sign to change the topic.

"I owe Ladybug a favour because she saved me," Chloé said in annoyance. "I bet she's Seelie with that goody-two-shoes attitude of hers."

Not quite, but close.

"I think she's amazing," Adrien automatically defended his lady, which earned him another painful poke of tiny but effective claws from Plagg.

Chloé snorted. "Of course you'd think that."

"What about Chat Noir? Do you think he's an Unseelie? With his magic it would fit," Sabrina continued and alarm bells started ringing in Adrien's head. Dangerous topic!

"Do high gods even belong to the Courts? I mean, Ladybug clearly is Danu. There is no fae or other god who would be able to do what her magic does," Félix very helpfully cut in and threw Adrien a look.

Chloé hummed but otherwise didn't say anything, while Sabrina seemed thrilled. "Oh, that'd be amazing! Our gods are fighting to protect us from the magic attacks!"

"Hopefully they'll disappear once this is all over. The less the humans see of magic, the better," Chloé said in annoyance and reached out to for another chocolate, through the tray was empty. She stared at it darkly.

"Sabrina, get us more chocolate and something salty too."

"Can't you just order room service or something?" Adrien asked, not liking how Sabrina was pushed around by his former friend. Chloé raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yes, that will go over fantastically with us looking like this," she said sarcastically and motioned to the three of them. Neither of them wore glamour, which was more obvious in Adrien's and Félix's case and less obvious but still noticeable in Chloé's. With her hair in a ponytail, her pointy ear tips weren't hidden at all and she only needed to open her mouth for the shark-like pointy teeth to be visible. In that sense Chloé was right; The only one of them who looked like a human at the moment was Sabrina.

"It's okay, Adrien. I know my way around the hotel," she assured, though he could still make out a nervous tremble in her voice.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, she's sure! Now stop making us wait and go!"

Sabrina didn't waste any more time after that and hurried away. The second the door fell shut; Félix sent a glare Chloé's way.

"Give her her coat back."

Adrien was glad that there weren't any chocolates left, because he would have surely choked on one upon that demand.

"Fé," he hissed. "You can't just say that!"

"I can't," Chloé simply said without looking up from her magazine.

"Like hell you—"

"Mother locked it away so I don't know where it is. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to get it back."

"You're not even trying!"

"Why would I? I don't have a death wish."

"Guys, stop it!" Adrien yelled, which immediately put a stop to the arguing. The glares his brother and Chloé threw each other could probably kill a small rodent though. "Chloé, maybe you can consider it again and Fé, please don't be so pushy. It's a delicate topic after all," he said and threw the door an anxious look even though it would still be a few minutes until Sabrina would return.

"Delicate indeed. Try to lecture me about it again when you have learned more about Court etiquette," Chloé sneered and picked her magazine back up.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Félix hissed which made her roll her eyes.

"That you're naïve when you think that getting Sabrina's coat back without it being noticed is that easy. She'll just have to make do without it."

Adrien sighed, eventually realizing that if the two wanted to argue about it, then there'd be nothing he could do to stop them. He walked to the other room to get a small break from the seemingly constant tension. When he was sure to be out of earshot of especially Chloé he peeked into his inner shirt pocket where Plagg had curled up in.

"Psst, Plagg," he whispered, making the sleeping kwami stir. An annoyed eye slid open.

"What?"

"Can you do me a favour?"

"You mean a regular favour or the fae kind?"

"Regular…I think. I need to go outside for a bit but with how much I have to concentrate on grounding, I don't know if I can make a convincing enough glamour."

Plagg yawned. "Easy peasy. But don't make it too long, yeah? I want to keep napping."

Adrien grinned. "You know, I was going to follow Sabrina to the kitchen to get snacks, so maybe I can find some cheese."

As expected, that got Plagg's attention. "Why didn't you say so?! Let's go!"

It was amusing how quickly he could change his mind when cheese was involved. So, with a glamour spell cast and with Chloé and Félix still fighting, Adrien slipped out of the room.

Much like Sabrina, he knew his way around the hotel from various visits, even though most of those lay years back. It was therefore no problem to find the kitchen.

The bustling and organised chaos of the people preparing meals was such a stark contrast to the atmosphere up in Chloé's room that Adrien froze for a few seconds to adjust himself to the new situation. In the inevitable confusion, he heard strings of songs float through the air, so perfectly attuned to the chaos that he only noticed their fae nature when he was snapped out of his stupor by a voice.

"Can I help you?" A woman asked him and Adrien flinched.

Damn it, stupid Faerie songs!

"Uhm, y-yeah. I'm looking…Madame Césaire?" He fully blamed the general distraction for not recognizing immediately who he was talking to. After all, he had met Alya's mother when he had been invited to her place two weeks prior.

"Oh, Adrien!" She said with a smile, apparently just recognizing him as well. "It's nice to see you again, though why are you in my kitchen?"

He immediately saw where Alya got her attitude from. The amused twinkle in Marlena Césaire's eyes was almost identical to that of her daughter when she sassed him.

"I'm looking for my friend Sabrina. She wanted to get us snacks from the kitchen," he stammered and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"Hmm, the name rings a bell. What does she look like?"

"She has red hair and wears glasses. Oh, and she is usually with Chloé!"

"Ah, yes, I remember her. I'm sorry, but she hasn't been here since this afternoon."

Adrien blinked as he took in that piece of information. Then he blinked again because it didn't make sense. Chloé had ordered Sabrina to get snacks and Sabrina inevitably always did what Chloé said. And she had been gone longer than Adrien had, so there was no way that she got stuck on the way or something.

Panic started to rise in him.

"Oh, okay. Guess I'll have to look somewhere else then. Thank you," he said while his body felt like hundreds of bugs were crawling around inside it. A fae going lost on Samhain was never a good sign!

"Good luck," Madame Césaire said and then got back to work.

Adrien just remembered to pick up a piece of cheese for Plagg—which would probably be devoured instantly—before he left the kitchen in a hurry. Where would a selkie without her coat go on Samhain? To the water most likely.

"Iron bells," he cursed under his breath as he sprinted to the elevator. There was a likely chance she was on the roof where the pool was. At least he hoped so, because the alternative was that she was outside in the rain, possibly inclined to jump into the Seine. He just hoped for the lesser evil.

"Kid, you know when you go outside now, the liminality will hit you like a speeding train, right?" Plagg said as they were alone in the elevator and Adrien nervously paced up and down the small space.

"I survived being outside on Midsummer, so I can survive being outside on Samhain," he growled in irritation. It would just be for a few minutes anyway!

He felt sick when thinking about how he had been up in Chloé's room just a few minutes ago, blissfully ignorant of the danger his friend was in. It took a lot of effort to keep his breathing to a normal rhythm while he desperately begged the elevator to go faster.

Please don't let me be too late! He begged towards any divinity that would listen to him. Besides Plagg that was.

When the elevator slowed to a halt, Adrien almost jumped out of the doors, only to realize that he wasn't on the roof yet and that another person was just entering to go up as well. A person he almost ran into and who seemed to favour a perfume whose smell made him feel sick. The next few minutes were torture. Everything seemed to go in slow motion when yet another person entered! He had half a mind to claw at the walls in frustration or hiss, but that wasn't possible as long as other people were around. It was like the room in the elevator seemed to shrink, even when the other passengers left.

It therefore felt like he was thrown into a wide plain once the elevator doors opened and the rain hit his face. It was usual rain, he was sure of it, but to him it looked like falling crystals. Horribly painful with how cold it was but still breathtakingly beautiful. Then he heard the horns of the Wild Hunt and everything got worse. Sweet songs and laughter intertwined themselves into the noise of the downpour, making the two almost indistinguishable. All of it seemed to fall with the rain, being part of it, so not even the cold wetness was grounding.

Then he saw Sabrina. She had pulled back the protective cover of the pool and looked like she was about to jump in. That managed to ground him enough to move.

"Sabrina, don't!" He yelled as he moved over to her. He wanted to run, but his movements were sluggish and shivery, like in a nightmare.

She either did not hear him over the roaring noise of everything around them, or she was too enthralled by the water. Adrien reached out grasping for her.

His hand grabbed air at the same time as there was a loud splash.

He didn't waste a second and jumped after her.

The bite of the icy water and the sudden and disturbing silence enveloped him immediately. Everything was blurry, cold and dark. Well, not fully dark. Adrien had never been more glad for his night vision as he spotted Sabrina underwater.

He could hear the voices that tempted him to stay in the water, but he wasn't unrooted enough that he would even consider listening to them. Instead, he firmly grabbed Sabrina's arm and pulled her to the surface. The sound of the rain hitting the pool's cover and the roof was deafening when he resurfaced, but all of it was nothing in comparison to Sabrina's screams.

"No, let me be! It's so beautiful!" She yelled as he dragged her out of the water.

"I-I k-know, I know. B-b-but t-t-this-s is r-really not t-t-the t-time f-f-for a swim," he said through chattering teeth. He saw Plagg floating next to him in the darkness, out of sight of Sabrina. Good, he seemed to have flown out of his pocket before he jumped into the pool.

"L-let's g-g-go inside a-and g-get w-w-warmed u-up."

"But the water!" Sabrina argued, clearly very out of it.

"S-sorry Sabrina. N-not w-without your c-c-coat and not on S-s-samhain," Adrien gritted out as he pulled a thrashing Sabrina away from the pool and towards the elevator. Gods, it was so cold! At least now it managed to ground him somewhat.

Sabrina sniffed. "But I want to swim!"

Pandemonium broke loose when he arrived back at Chloé's room with a struggling and crying Sabrina. Félix immediately went and got towels and dry clothes for them while Chloé screeched about them getting water everywhere. As soon as Adrien was relatively dry and dressed, he went downstairs despite his brother's protests to get the snacks they very desperately needed. While it had been quite a scare, they really needed something salty now to ground them. Madame Césaire, upon seeing him with wet hair and changed clothes, immediately went into what he could best describe as mum-mode. Only minutes later he was back upstairs with enough sandwiches to feed an army and with a can of hot chocolate—he had already been forced to drink a mug full of it back in the kitchen.

"One day," Félix said with a heavy sigh as they ate the sandwiches. "I'm just asking for one day where I don't have to fear a cardiac arrest!"

Chloé laughed, obviously thinking it to be a joke. "Try decaf if you're worried about a heart attack."

"Not funny," Adrien grumbled as he took a bite of his third sandwich. He looked over to a shivering Sabrina who was cradling a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. She had calmed down again and had since been very quiet. He threw her a sympathetic look. Not having her coat was like not shifting for him. And the thinner the veil, the bigger the temptation was. What had just happened to her must have been exactly what had happened to him on Midsummer over a year ago.

"You and Fé were in a sídhe and Sabrina and I almost fell into Faerie. Are you happy now?" Adrien asked Chloé, his tone as cold as the water of the pool. All humour immediately disappeared from her face.

For the rest of the night and the following day, Chloé was uncharacteristically quiet. Before they went home the following evening, she grabbed Adrien's arm though.

"Stop being so reckless. You're putting us all in danger."

He didn't have time to ask what exactly she meant with that, as she promptly let go of his arm and pushed him out of her room. The door slammed shut behind him.