Researching and learning magic was a much more tedious task than Félix had expected it to be. Even as a halfling with intricate knowledge of the subject it was hard to find tomes that were in any way useful to him. Yes, Mélusine's book helped and so did the ones his mother had left behind, but he needed more. Plagg, as helpful as he was when it came to magic knowledge, always had to stay at Adrien's side in case Chat Noir was needed. And since his brother wasn't home most of the time to go on dates or other outings, Plagg was out of the house too. That left Félix with only his books as a resource.
There was only so much he could learn from re-reading those for the fifth time though, so he had set out to find more books. Unfortunately, the libraries of Paris were…barely accommodating to his subject of research. There was no hope to find anything in the newer ones and the older ones were mostly filled with rotting books rather than anything else.
It was somewhat humiliating to have to go around on the search for more magic as a proud Cat Sidhe and a member of the Unseelie Court. The last thing he wanted to do though, was to ask someone of the fair folk, as their advice wouldn't come without a price. He also didn't trust Mélusine to be very obliging, at least not without a thorough explanation.
His research became even more difficult once school recommenced. Félix started getting up much earlier than needed to spend the time before class in the school's library. It was mostly deserted at that hour, so it gave him the opportunity to read in peace.
On Wednesday of that same first week, Adrien had an early morning fencing class which made him accompany Félix. His brother yawned as the two of them descended the stairs to the entrance hall. Neither Nathalie nor their bodyguard were there yet, which left them with two options: Either they walked to school and risked reprimands for it later or they waited until they were driven. It was too early in the morning for a spiteful rebellion, so Félix decided to just sit down and wait. Adrien, probably having come to the same conclusion, sat down on the stairs next to him.
From the office, they could hear their father ranting on the phone about an unmatching sample garment. Félix rolled his eyes. Of course, their father would already be awake and yell at people at six in the morning. Who even had the nerve to call him this early? This poor person had brought this upon themselves.
Félix then watched with a raised eyebrow as Adrien suddenly stood up and walked over to the office's door. With a lack of something better to do for the moment, Félix sighed silently and followed him.
And so, the two of them watched with interest as their father put a heavy, leather-bound tome into a safe behind the painting of their mother. Félix stared in disbelief for a second, as that had certainly not looked like a book about fashion. Adrien suddenly pulled him away from the door and behind one of the pillars just in time to be hidden when their father exited his office.
"He hides stuff behind the painting of Mom?" Adrien asked quietly while Plagg zipped out of the bag to hover over his shoulder.
"Uh, dirty secrets!" The kwami exclaimed in glee and flew ahead.
Félix followed them into the office and to the painting. Behind it was a safe and one touch painfully informed him that it was made out of iron. He hissed quietly in displeasure.
"Just let me handle it," Plagg said as he phased through the door and started making impressed noises from inside the safe. Only a moment later, the metal swung open, revealing several things that Félix at first couldn't make much sense from. A picture of their mother for example, a book on Tibet, or a brooch that resembled a fan.
Plagg rambled about the uselessness of all the items before throwing the red book at Adrien who just barely caught it. Félix, meanwhile, focused on the scrolls and the much more plain-looking book in the lower shelf of the safe. Neither of those looked like anything his father should be involved in, as all of it looked and felt magical. He silently growled. The last thing they needed was for their father to get a hold of magic items.
Forget it being too early for a spiteful rebellion. This was personal now!
With a simple wave of his hand, Félix shoved all the items of the safe into a pocket dimension, just as he always did with his clothes whenever he shifted. He would look through them later. For now, it would be enough to have robbed their father of his magical goods.
"I've seen this book somewhere before," Plagg suddenly said from behind them, which made Félix tense. If Plagg had seen it, then it meant that it definitely was magical as well. And a book about magic was just what he needed!
When he looked over at the page Adrien had flipped to, he froze. The page depicted the Black Cat Miraculous and what must have been one of its past chosen.
"Why does he keep this locked in a safe?" Adrien asked while flipping through more pages.
"Why does he have it at all should be the question," Félix muttered.
Just then, there were distant footsteps that were steadily approaching. Félix quickly shut the safe's door with his elbow and put the painting back into place while Adrien stuffed the book into his bag. They just made it to the office's door when Nathalie and their bodyguard both stepped out from the hallway on the other side of the entrance hall. That had been a close one.
Félix had felt the dread deep in his bones already when Adrien and him had exited the car and walked up the stairs to the school. Something had been off and now he knew what it had been.
"It's just, I have missed the last two days, so could you help me catch up? I'm especially having trouble with history," a girl said and dragged Adrien into the library. To Félix, her voice was like nails on chalkboard and he could tell by Adrien's stiff posture that it was pretty much the same for him.
Something with this girl rubbed him the completely wrong way. Not only because she was invading his brother's personal space, but also because she just seemed fake. Both of them had experience when it came to people who sought their association for personal gain. This level of selfishness wasn't something his fae side could just ignore easily. His mind automatically quoted one of the books he had read so very often in the last few weeks about the nature and cultures of the fair folk:
The Good People dislike boasters, braggarts, and babblers. Meanness, rudeness, dishonesty, and selfishness are unpopular with them, as is slovenliness, sluttishness, ill-temper, and bad manners. Gloominess is shunned, and to thank them for a gift is a breach of etiquette. However, the worst crime of all is to infringe on their privacy. They hate anyone who betrays their secrets, and they also hate inquisitive people who spy on them.
Yes, that pretty much hit the nail on the head. He could tell with just a glance that this girl was several of these things. Adrien was just too polite to say 'no'.
Félix decided to watch them closely from behind a bookshelf to see if he needed to step in. However, he turned his head when the door opened. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Marinette. She had probably seen Adrien getting dragged into the library against his will and was here so save him. He silently waved her over to him.
"Where is she?" She silently asked him. Félix pointed in the direction of some other shelves. Marinette seemed torn on whether to walk up to Adrien or not.
"Here to intervene and save him?" Félix asked and Marinette nodded. From his vantage point, he kept watching how his brother got increasingly jumpy. He knew that Adrien could hear them and he knew that he was pretending that he couldn't.
Twin gasps from Félix and Tikki—though he hoped the goddess would stay hidden in the purse—occurred when Adrien suddenly pulled out the leather-bound book he had shoved into his bag earlier. Had his brother lost his mind?! He couldn't just pull out a magic book while he was aware that Marinette was close and while this other girl was bound to return soon. Félix was about to walk over and tear that book away from him, but exactly at this moment, the other girl returned. Adrien's only way of hiding it quickly meanwhile was to just shove his history book on top of it.
Félix ran a hand down his face in exasperation. There was the catastrophe he had felt coming. Just their luck.
"Now we can get going on my history homework. It's so much more fun doing it together, don't you think?"
He could see Marinette's hands grab the side of the shelf tighter so that her knuckles turned white.
"Either you save him from this vixen or I will," Félix muttered and he instantly saw the glint of determination in her eyes.
"What's that?" The girl asked and dragged the magic book towards herself. Félix wasn't sure if he should freeze on the spot and panic or if he should just curse her for this invasion of privacy and total lack of manners. It was rare that a simple human could seriously get on his nerves. Especially this much, this quickly.
"Nothing. Just stories about…superheroes," Adrien said and for some reason didn't take the book back. Félix could just look on helplessly as this girl flipped over another page. Sure, he could intervene, but that would just bring unnecessary emphasis to the book. And to have both the girl's and Marinette's attention—and that in a suspicious sense—on a book about magic, and about Miraculous of all things, wouldn't be good at all.
Why wasn't Adrien taking the book back from her?!
Marinette, meanwhile, made use of the book cart next to them to sneak around the shelf and closer to the table Adrien and the girl were sitting at.
"Ladybug?" The girl suddenly exclaimed and Félix tensed. Adrien tried to play it off.
"Yes, it's an…alternative costume idea. I mean, not that her current one isn't good already. Ladybug is amazing as she is!"
Félix almost facepalmed.
"A girl doesn't need to wear a costume to be amazing, you know?" The girl said and meanwhile took her chair to sit much too close to Adrien. Félix wasn't so sure anymore if his brother was still set on not cursing anyone, considering how he tried desperately to get his personal space back by scooting to the furthest end of his chair and leaning away.
"Uh…I don't know. I mean, I—," he stammered, his thoughts obviously racing.
"So, you've got a soft spot for the bug, huh?"
"Me? Oh, no, not at all."
"You know, I happen to be close friends with Ladybug."
And there went yet another catastrophe. Telling lies to impress Adrien? Félix was quite sure that at this point, his brother was at least considering to curse that girl.
"Oh?" Adrien said, obviously searching for an excuse in his head to leave the situation completely or to call her out on the lie.
"We can chat about it if you want. Not here though. Why don't you meet me at the park after school and I'll tell you everything?"
It was in this moment that the book cart raced across the aisle and hit the far wall with a resounding crash, making Adrien jump up and look for the cause of the commotion. Félix, from his vantage point, could see that Marinette had managed to hide under the table just in the nick of time and therefore stayed hidden.
The universe seemed to mean it well with them after all, as Adrien's phone vibrated with an alarm in just this moment.
"I gotta go. I have fencing class in fifty-eight seconds," he said, shoving both the leather-bound book and the history book into his bag.
"So," the girl said, being much closer than his brother probably expected as he startled and let his bag fall to the ground. "The park?"
Félix watched with seething anger as she shoved the magic book aside with her foot. Marinette, from her position under the table, probably saw it too.
"Uh, sure," Adrien said as she handed him his bag and then he bolted.
It was when the girl picked up the book that Félix has had enough. Trying to seduce his brother was already deserving of a curse in his eyes, and theft on top of it was something he would under no circumstances tolerate.
"A vixen superheroine?" He heard her mutter but was quick to interrupt.
"That isn't yours," he said coldly as he stepped out from behind the bookshelf. The girl seemed startled for a moment, but then adapted a smile so sweet that it sickened him how obviously fake it was.
"Oh, I was just picking it up since it had fallen down. I wanted to return it to Adrien."
"Likely story," Félix said, sarcasm thick in his voice. He stretched out his hand, palm up, in a demanding gesture. "Give it to me, I'll return it to him."
The girl's eyes narrowed. "Everyone can just claim that."
"True, yet you claim the same. Even though you've spoken to my brother just this once, attempting to woo him and now have one of his personal possessions. That seems even more suspicious if you ask me." Félix said and roughly tore the book out of the girl's hands before putting it into his own bag.
"Y-your brother?" The girl seemed startled but then her eyes took on a glimmer of faked excitement. "Then you must be Félix Agreste! It's so rare to see pictures of you in magazines!" She walked over to him and looked like she was attempting to grab his arm. He almost hissed at her. Instead, he decided to take a step back and fix her with the coldest glare he could muster so that even the densest person in existence would get the hint.
Félix huffed. "Don't even try this false flattery on me. It's revolting. And your attempted theft will have consequences."
The girl's smile fell in an instant and her entire posture changed. Suddenly she didn't look fake anymore but rather like a poisonous snake ready to strike. A very naïve poisonous snake that had set her eyes on a kill much too challenging for her.
"Well, then maybe you'd rather want the class to know that you threatened me," the girl said, all pretence of friendliness gone.
"Your lies will be your downfall. Better stop now while you still can."
"We'll see," the girl said and sauntered past him. "I have my ways." She sounded confident of victory already, which irked Félix even more.
He frowned after her. In a regular school with regular students, that might work for her, but in a school that was attended by several fae who hated liars with every fibre of their being, she would crash and burn. In that case, it was just a matter of being patient and waiting for the inevitable. Once she pulled anything of this sort on Chloé, she'd be done for and he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty. If not, then…well, there were a few curses he has been dying to try out on someone deserving of them for a while now.
"I'm glad you stayed hidden," Félix said once the girl had left the library and Marinette climbed out from under the table.
"Oh, trust me, I was this close to ripping her head off but Ti—uh, I mean, I thought it'd be better not to get involved. And explaining why I hid under the table in the first place would be…uh…awkward."
"Yes, I very much agree. It also would be bad if she'd suspect you to be Adrien's girlfriend if she herself is interested in him. From my experience with his fangirls it would end…ferociously." And not to mention the absolute hell Adrien would break loose if someone would try to make him break up with Marinette. As human as he had become in the past two years, there was still a lot of impulsive fae nature inside of him. Félix knew that he'd rate any danger to Marinette as a personal attack. It would be like a hound being let loose to chase after its prey and tear it to bloody shreds and he really wasn't sure how much that metaphor really was just a metaphor. After all, he knew that restraint could be difficult when blinded by emotions and the emotions of a fae could be...intense.
Marinette winced. "Yeah, not really wanna find out how that could end," she admitted. Then her gaze cooled significantly. "But I won't just let Lila treat Adrien that way either."
"Lila? So, you know her?"
Marinette shrugged and sat down at the table. "Knowing is an exaggeration here," she said while Félix sat down next to her. "The moment I stepped into school earlier, Alya started talking about a girl named Lila who had done this and that and apparently was a personal friend of Ladybug." Marinette frowned deeply.
Now Félix understood why Marinette was profoundly out for blood. She hated liars and not only had this Lila girl spread around various grand lies, but she had also caused Alya to post misinformation on her blog, which could potentially damage her journalistic career. Taken, that was entirely Alya's fault for not fact-checking, but it still wasn't something Marinette would just easily drop. And then, of course, she had seen how Adrien had been dragged somewhere against his will.
The quote 'Beware the anger of a patient man' flitted through his head. Adrien was certainly not the only one who became fierce when provoked. That was something Marinette and his brother had in common.
"I see," Félix said.
"And I just had a bad feeling about all of this. So, when I saw her drag Adrien into the library even though he should already be at fencing, I knew something was up. And here we are." She shrugged again.
"Well, disproving the lies to the others shouldn't be so hard. At least when it comes to Nino and Alya," Félix said, already thinking up several different ways in which he could approach the topic without angering the Ladyblogger.
"Anyway, what was that about Ladybug in a book?" Marinette asked and Félix tensed slightly. Yes, she was Ladybug, but that still didn't mean that he could show her the book. Not without the permission of Tikki or the guardian. In fact, he had already planned to bring the book to the old man later after school to let him have a look at it and prove its validity.
"Long story short: Adrien accidentally stole it from father." There had been nothing accidental about the action but a little white lie wouldn't hurt in this case. "I suppose he was trying out designs based on the heroes but as it always is with his future lines, those things are top secret. So, you probably understand why I can't show the book around."
Marinette nodded in complete understanding. "Got it."
Both of their phones chimed at the same time and Marinette was the first to get hers out. The smirk that grew on her face made him curious and he also went to read the message.
Adrien: Lila Rossi just made a grave mistake
"In any case, I suppose we now have somewhere to be after school, don't we?" Félix said. "Do you happen to have popcorn at home that we could get beforehand?"
A smile stretched across Marinette's face. "I'll have a look."
Marinette and Félix sat on a bench on the far end of the park, armed with the zoom of Marinette's phone serving as makeshift binoculars and an open call on Félix's phone towards Adrien that would tell them everything that was said. Additionally, Sabine had urged them to take some slices of her freshly baked quiche instead of making microwave popcorn. Well, food was food.
"I'm almost there," Adrien said through the phone just when they saw him enter through the park's gate and wander towards where Lila already sat. Félix had seen her take out a necklace identical to the one in the book out of a boutique bag. A Gabriel boutique bag. It was like she was begging for a massive failure to occur.
They watched how Adrien approached Lila with a friendly wave, to which the girl jumped up and dragged him to sit down next to her on the bench. Félix noticed how Marinette's hands clenched around her phone and her eyes narrowed into a glare.
"So, you know Ladybug then?" They heard Adrien say through the other phone, his voice muffled a bit as his phone was hidden in the breast pocket of his shirt.
"Not only did Ladybug save my life, we've become close friends as well! We've something in common, you see. It's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm the descendant of a vixen superheroine. Volpina."
Félix tapped Marinette on the shoulder, indicating her to relax. "No worries, she's just digging her own grave," he said.
"Volpina?" Adrien said. "I think I've read about her in my book."
"Of course she's in it! She's one of the most important superheroes, and more powerful than Ladybug. Ladybug doesn't even make the top ten."
Very well, it was official then: Lila Rossi was going to go down, in one way or another.
"My grandma gave me this necklace."
That was when Félix could see, even from this distance and without the zoom of a phone's camera as aid, how his brother reached the end of his patience. It was obvious in the way his posture stiffened and his shoulders drew back. And even though it was just minuscule, the way his head lowered somewhat dangerously—even though they were hidden with a glamour, Félix could imagine the flattened ears only too well—was also a dead-giveaway.
"Really?" Adrien asked, his voice dripping with scepticism as he took the necklace out of Lila's hands and turned it around before his eyes. "Yeah, no. This is a necklace from my father's brand and it only looks like the one in the book because the book belongs to my father and he used it as inspiration. In fact, this one is missing the divided sections that the one in the book had, making it nothing more than a pretty accessory." He threw the necklace back at Lila who fumbled to catch it.
Félix looked at Marinette, whose tense posture had relaxed and who was now wearing a sneaky grin.
"If you wanted to impress me, then you should have shown up as your superhero self rather than trying to spin a fantastical story of grandeur without any proof."
Then Félix watched how his brother's sweet smile morphed into a grin not unlike a predator that was preparing for the killing strike. It was a very fey grin that, Félix noted with rising horror, Marinette had seen before on Chat Noir. He was now considering taking the phone away from Marinette so that she'd stop watching. Then again, her camera's focus wasn't the best on the closest zoom point and Félix might have only recognized it because he could predict his brother's moods better than anyone else.
"And, if you were planning to get into my good graces, then that chance was gone the moment you started insulting Ladybug. Your supposed best friend."
Following his intuition, Félix accidentally hit the button on his phone that would end the call. "Ah, sorry," he said and it sounded honest at least to his ears.
It turned out to be a saving grace because in the next moment he could hear Adrien chuckle eerily—bless and curse his good hearing.
"Most wouldn't be as gracious as to give you a warning. But I will do just that, your first and last one. Tell another lie or try to invade someone's personal space without their consent again and you'll regret it for life. Did I make myself clear?" Adrien's tone had taken on a purr, weaved through with the tendrils of sadistic joy about seeing someone he despised in distress. Félix knew from own experience that this was the equivalent of verbal hissing and clawing and considering the circumstances—Ladybug and Marinette being insulted, his personal pace being invaded, being maliciously lied to—he really shouldn't be surprised. It was just that Adrien hadn't reacted to anything like this without being heavily influenced by magic since Chloé cut off Marinette's hair. It wasn't quite as extreme as he had been during Dark Cupid, his voice still more human than taking on the unsettling otherworldliness of a fae, but the intention, spurred by fae thoughts, was the very same.
Speaking of Marinette, Félix chanced a glance at her beside him, but without the phone's help of carrying over his brother's and Lila's voice, she was blissfully ignorant of what was really going on at the other side of the park. She kept intently staring at her phone, squinting her eyes as if that would let the camera focus better.
"Are you threatening me too?" Lila said, her voice suddenly cold. "Because you'll regret that, Agreste. Both of you will."
She jumped up from the park bench, her fists clenched beside her, but Adrien's voice stopped her once more.
"I warned you. Just remember that whatever follows are the consequences of your own foul decisions. One last chance to heed my warning or ignore it."
It wasn't very clear through the phone's zoomed-in camera, but it looked like Lila snarled at him before stalking off.
"Alright, it seems like the show is over," Félix said and salvaged the last bite of his quiche that he had saved up for exactly this moment. He then pocketed his phone and shouldered his bag when he saw that Adrien made his way over to them. "Now, I suppose I'll leave you two to your study time, or however you want to call it today."
The cover names for their dates or just comfortable one-on-one hangouts were starting to lose their creativity so that everyone who was in the know about their relationship was able to guess the true meaning almost instantly. And despite them being a couple for two months already at this point, they still always flushed like they had been caught doing something extremely inappropriate when it was mentioned. Even now, Marinette instantly became beet-red.
"Oh my god, just go," she said, voice high with embarrassment and gave him a light shove.
Félix's bag hit his thigh as he stood up, reminding him of the bulky book inside. "I still have something to do anyways. See you later or tomorrow."
"I'll let Adrien take the rest of the quiche with him so you two can share it," Marinette said and then gave a small wave as Félix nodded in gratitude and went to walk away. "See you!"
Neither Plagg nor Tikki had been consulted before Félix had made his decision, but he supposed that wasn't necessary anyway. The book was magic—he could feel it—and it contained pictures of Miraculous holders. If it belonged anywhere, then in the guardian's hands.
When he rounded the corner, he was greeted with the unpleasant sight of Lila Rossi.
"My chances with Adrien, gone!" She ranted, practically fuming with anger. For some reason, she said it to a poster of Ladybug, as if the heroine would be responsible for that train wreck of a failure.
"You didn't have a chance to begin with," Félix almost automatically said, making Lila turn around and focus her glare on him.
"You said something to him, didn't you?" She hissed furiously, her voice dripping with poison.
"It doesn't matter if I did. Adrien pointed out your lies to you all by himself, didn't he? A little common sense is all that was needed for that. Now, if you excuse me, I don't want people to think I am associated with you."
With that, he turned around and decided to take a different route. Lila could count herself lucky that Adrien was not maliciously inclined, otherwise she would be thoroughly cursed now.
The sound of screams a few minutes later drew his attention skywards. Was that a meteor? He was quite sure that if a catastrophic event like this was happening, ESA would have informed the public about it. No, this was certainly Akuma-related. Upon closer inspection he noticed what was off about it: there was no heat, no pressure, nothing. His instincts—that in an event of apocalyptic catastrophe would have no doubt rang alarm—told him that there was nothing to worry about. Even a magically conjured meteor would have triggered some kind of reaction. Yet, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
With cold indifference Félix narrowed his eyes as this reasoning left him with only a couple of options. One of those options—that the meteor was a projection of the past, like the ghostly apparitions he saw when liminality was making his life a living hell—was already disproven. If it was a fey apparition, then he would have felt an eerie tingle and no human around him would have seen it.
That left him with only one option: an illusion.
"It's a comet!" Some idiot nearby shouted. Félix could only roll his eyes at the asininity. A comet was made out of ice and dust, while this was clearly a flaming rock. Or it at least looked like one. He had half a mind to point that out aloud, but then thought better of it. He had more important things to do than to educate people that were fearing impending doom.
Félix was about to resume walking, when suddenly gasps and then cheers erupted from the crowd. He glanced back up to see a small orange speck that had stopped the meteor and then threw it back into the sky.
First off, that was not how deflecting a meteor worked, even with supposed superpowers—the gravity would just eventually pull it back to earth. Secondly, he was very sure Plagg would have said something if there was a third Miraculous holder to show up. Eliminating the option of a fae—no one was stupid enough to be this public, not even with an illusion—it only left the conclusion of an Akuma.
"I am Volpina! The only superhero Paris needs!"
For a moment, Félix just looked up at the building Volpina perched on in speechless silence.
"You've got to be kidding me," he then muttered and hurried on his way. Why was it that he only went to visit the old man when there was an Akuma attack going on?
Well, to be fair, he had been on his way before this one had started, but still.
As urgent as this matter was, Félix decided that he deserved a coffee the moment a Starbucks came into view.
"Welcome back Félix. I expected you."
"Really? Because I surely didn't expect this to be a reoccurrence. I was actually hoping not to return for quite a while," Félix said as he sat down across from Monsieur Chan.
"Don't miss opportunities: time doesn't come round again."
Ah, there we went again with his Chinese proverbs. Félix suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and instead took the book out of his bag. In contrary to Plagg's quizzical 'I've seen this book before', M. Chan actually gasped and carefully reached his hands out for it. Félix gave it to him.
"Where did you get this?" He asked, voice thick with awe and wonder.
Félix was torn. On the one hand, he really didn't like his father and had no trouble spilling his secrets. On the other hand, this old man, while a confidante of the kwamis, was someone he had met only once before. He knew neither of his motivations, nor if he could really trust him. And, horrible father and all be damned, he just wasn't the type of person to freely divulge family secrets to strangers.
"Let's just say that I have my secrets and you have yours and leave it at that. Plagg recognized the book so I thought you should have a look at it."
He watched as M. Chan flipped through a few pages thoughtfully.
"This is a very old spell book," he eventually said. "I had thought it to be lost, but if the Butterfly Miraculous made it to Paris, then it makes sense that this would have as well. I'm glad you brought it to me, as it could be very dangerous in the wrong hands."
Félix had no doubt about that.
"Since it's a spell book, does it have anything in it that can help my brother and Marinette to find and defeat Hawkmoth?"
M. Chan seemed thoughtful. "Perhaps. I myself have never been allowed to study it, but I will be able to decipher the code with time."
Félix nodded. "That's at least something. So, once you know what it says, those spells will be able to help them, yes?"
"It is not the knowing that is difficult, but the doing," M. Chan eventually said, reciting yet another proverb.
"That's quite common with spells," Félix said, his mind involuntarily flashing through the many failed attempts and misfires he had done in just the past year.
"I would imagine so, yes."
The old man was obviously already engrossed in the book, only paying half attention to what Félix said.
"In any case, I have somewhere to be. There is an Akuma out there right now and she specializes in illusions and deceit. That is bound to draw out some of the folk."
Félix sighed. This would be quite a tiresome afternoon.
"This was half a disaster!" Adrien ranted while pacing back and forth in the room. Félix had only just arrived back and had not caught a break since. His brother regarded it as a thing of utmost importance to retell the battle in every detail he could remember. Several Times.
"So, Ladybug and I were both sceptical. One because we had both seen what has happened and it fit too perfectly not to be Lila. Two, because I just blurted out that the meteor was an illusion and then had to somehow explain to Ladybug how I knew that for sure." Adrien retold while dramatically waving his arms around like a madman.
"I couldn't just describe to her how I can tell if something is an illusion or not because that ties into fae things again. So, I told her that it was a cat thing but she didn't accept that. Then I had to explain to her how glamours work. Glamours, Fé!"
"You didn't tell her how to see through them though, did you?" Félix asked. He had followed Plagg's example and facepalmed. For the entirety of the rant. It was like listening to the retelling of a car crash, just a particularly stupid one that could have been avoided.
"Are you kidding, I don't have a death wish! No, I didn't tell her about four-leafed clovers, adder stones, thyme and enchanted glamour-breakers, if that's what you meant. She just thinks I was talking about Miraculous glamour…I hope."
"Yeah, keep hoping, kid. At this rate your girlfriend will figure you both out by the end of the year," Plagg threw in. Adrien ignored him.
"Anyway," he said, "Ladybug and I pretended to go along with her plan but actually planned to ambush her. That didn't really work since Volpina changed tactics and wanted to kidnap me. Well, Adrien. That didn't work for obvious reasons, but she made an illusion of me. Ladybug totally freaked out then and I couldn't convince her that Adrien was fine. I actually had to throw my baton at my doppelgänger. Do you know how weird that is? To just see yourself disappear into thin air?"
"Adrien, if there's anyone who should be used to seeing themselves, then it would be you."
His brother rolled his eyes. "We eventually defeated her and Ladybug cleansed the Akuma. Then she was adamant about making sure Adrien was safe and I swear that was the closest call yet. I had to manage to get into her room through a side window and detransform while she went in from downstairs one second after I arrived."
"Then explain why you're here now and not at her place?"
Adrien shrugged. "Nathalie called. Something about an emergency, but I'm yet to hear about what exactly that is."
As if summoned by her name, there was a knock on the door and only a second later, Nathalie entered the room, followed by their father. Plagg quickly phased through the cat playground on the ceiling.
"You stole from me," their father said coldly. Félix could see Adrien tense, but he himself remained as cold as his father.
"That is incredibly specific," he said.
Instead of an answer, he just motioned to Nathalie, who turned her tablet around and flipped through several pictures of the security cameras that showed how Félix and Adrien opened the safe—Plagg didn't show up on camera for some reason—and took out the book. From the angle it wasn't visible how Félix also took the rest of the safe's contents.
"And?" Adrien asked defiantly, fear and frustration manifesting in a fae-like behaviour just like earlier, judging by his slight grin. "Don't tell me you forgot again."
Gabriel Agreste didn't get angry. Instead, he only got frostier and frostier. His current icy stare could easily rival a freezer.
"Forgot what?" He asked in an equally cold tone.
"Fae can take whatever they want," Félix supplied. "The magic book in your hidden safe intrigued us, so we took it. That's all there is to it."
"Stop that nonsense. You will return the book to me and until you do, you will not be allowed to go back to school."
Adrien's grin disappeared from his face and an expression of unease settled there instead.
"You're threatening us? Really?" Félix gave a cold laugh. "If that's how you wanna play, then how about this: We'll tell the Court that you have been committing several crimes against us in the last two years. In their eyes, this house belongs to us, not to you. In human law we can't kick you out, but fae laws are different. I suppose you wouldn't enjoy the end result."
Their father scoffed. "Then who would take care of this house, the finances, the company and anything else? It would all fall apart around you and you'd lose everything."
"We have Nathalie," Adrien cut in and Félix nodded in agreement.
"It doesn't have to escalate like this. If you take back your threat, we take back ours. As easy as that."
Gabriel visibly ground his teeth in frustration and glared at Adrien and him. It seemed they had arrived at a stalemate.
"Fine," he eventually ground out through clenched teeth and shortly after marched out of the room, followed closely by Nathalie. She sent them a worried look before disappearing into the hallway as well.
Félix only allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief after the door audibly closed. "That was a close one."
"I'm sure he can find loopholes if he just thinks about it long enough," Adrien worried.
"Or he doesn't and we're safe."
"That was quite a serious threat, kittens. You basically said you'd get him killed if he wouldn't agree," Plagg said as he floated back down to them.
Félix shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?"
"Hey, why didn't you show up on the camera footage, Plagg?" Adrien suddenly asked.
Plagg puffed out his chest proudly. "My glamour is just that good."
"Can you teach me how to do that?"
"Nah, it's a high-ranking glamour spell. I suppose you could do it if you'd have more magic like a full fae, but…"
Plagg trailed off and threw Félix a brief look.
"Okay, I get it," Adrien said with a disappointed sigh. "Would have been super cool though. Imagine the pranks I could pull on people!"
"That would be a reckless endeavour and you know it," Félix said.
"Now, let's talk about your behaviour from earlier, kitten," Plagg said and fixed Adrien with a disapproving stare. "You can't just act like that in front of humans, no matter how infuriating they are."
"Hey, I just gave her a warning!"
"And she got akumatised for it, well done." The sarcasm was thick in the kwami's voice.
Suddenly there was a commotion from...out in the hallway? No, in another room. That was odd. Usually the only disruptions of the deafening silence were caused by them or Plagg.
Growing curious, Félix followed Adrien on his venture to the door. There was nothing in the hallway and when they got downstairs into the entrance hall, Nathalie stood in front of the door to their father's office. The commotion came from inside. She held a hand out to stop them from venturing further.
"Your father is very busy," she said.
"Doing what? Throwing a tantrum?" Félix asked.
"Adrien, shouldn't you be practicing piano right now?"
Félix knew a desperate excuse when he heard one, but since it was Nathalie, he decided not to dwell too much on it. And if their very adult father wanted to behave like a child that had been denied a trip to Disneyland, then that wasn't their problem either.
The two of them went to the music room where the piano stood. After their mother's disappearance, there had been a debate about moving the piano to the twins' room to use the music room's space for something else. They had disputed that the acoustics were much better in this room than in theirs and after a lot of arguing, their father had eventually decided that it was less of a hassle to keep things as they were. It was one of the only arguments they have ever won against him.
While both of them knew how to play the piano, it was only Adrien who still practiced it regularly. Félix, meanwhile, was content just playing the occasional piece once in a while when he felt like it.
"You think he'll be fine?"
"You are worrying about him?" Félix asked incredulously as he sat down on the cushioned window sill. It had once been his favourite place to sit and read, but the memories he connected with the place—this mother reading to him and Adrien while they sat in her lap, or them just sitting there and listening to her play the piano—kept him from visiting the room too often. And while some peaceful time alone would be exactly what he needed at the moment, he didn't want to risk leaving Adrien alone. Not that he was worried that his brother would take drastic actions or anything or the sort, no, he was merely worried about what their father would do.
Well, he was also worried about Adrien. His brother was still clearly irritated and to provoke an irritated cat was never a good idea. Better to be there and prevent the worst if one of the household members was moronic enough to enter the room.
"A little. I mean, he must have kept that book for a reason, right? And now it's gone. By the way, what did you do with it?"
Félix shrugged. "I brought it to someone to who it can be of use," he said. Adrien narrowed his eyes at first, but then let the topic drop as he started playing a few notes. The melody seemed familiar, but Félix couldn't immediately place it. Probably a soundtrack from one of the many shows or movies he had seen.
It was much more comfortable to sprawl on the window sill as a cat, so Félix decided to shift and to just take a well-deserved nap in the afternoon sunlight while his brother practiced.
"So, do you think we're grounded?" Adrien asked at the end of the first song while he automatically started the next one. This one was an upbeat piece that sounded like it could be from a musical.
"Not if father practices some common sense for once," Félix replied with a yawn and stretched. His claws briefly caught in the pillows before he retracted them again. "Though that really can't be guaranteed."
Another crash, this time louder, made Adrien pause in his playing. The lingering notes echoed through the room while a cluttering, hurried footsteps and distressed noises could be heard from beyond the closed door. Félix, now officially concerned about the extent this was taking, jumped down from the sill and prodded over to the door. He didn't need to put an ear to it like a human would have to do, to be able to hear exactly what was going on outside. Simply standing close to it was enough.
"I am, the Collector!" he heard his father say which...was easily the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard the man say. A distressed scream from Nathalie that was suddenly cut off prevented him from wondering further.
"Iron bells!" he cursed and dashed to the windows. Adrien, having heard the same thing he did, was already in the process of opening one, but jumped back with a hiss.
"Since when is the handle made out of iron?!"
"I got this," Plagg said and for the second time that day phased through an iron object that would have otherwise been a dead end for them.
Félix jumped outside the second the window opened, closely followed by Adrien who had also shifted. Not a second too soon, as the door to the music room splintered open and a voice that sounded like their father let out an irritated growl upon finding an empty room.
Smelt it! One look outside and he'd see them. Invisibility would really be useful now but he hadn't mastered such an advanced glamour yet. There was only one thing he could do.
With carefully practiced precision, Félix drew on his magic to cast a familiar spell. A spell that had gone horribly wrong a couple of times, yes, but now he needed it in its full intensity. They didn't need to be invisible. They just needed to appear invisible.
He froze the second the Akuma looked out the window. It didn't look anything like their father anymore, but rather like a character from Star Trek mixed with badly done hot couture.
They weren't noticed.
The spell was as strong as the spell he had accidentally cast on them on that one fateful school day where everyone had overlooked them. He would later on reverse it, but for now it was crucial for getting as far away from their father as possible. There was no doubt in Félix's mind that he was after them first and foremost after all.
"Good one, kitten," Plagg praised him once they were far enough away. The kwami had hidden in the long fur of Félix's tail and now hovered in front of the two brothers. Adrien's fur stood on end and his pupils were thin in clear irritation.
"We haven't had two Akumas on one day since Princess Fragrance!" he hissed and, after a thorough look around to check if the coast was clear, shifted. "Plagg, Claws Out."
"Here we go again," Félix said with a sigh. "I'll keep the deviation spell on for now and see if any fae are out to approach. It's already late afternoon, so I wouldn't be surprised if some are awake already."
Chat Noir nodded. "You do that and I'll try to wrap this up quickly."
It turned out that the fair folk was not amused by this particular Akuma attack. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that it was the second one of the day, but rather with the Akuma's powers. The ability to collect different things, national treasures and even people displeased them immensely. None of them could claim the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, or other similarly important places, but they were still locations where the fae liked to gather. Mostly because it was humans who gathered there.
Either way, having important landmarks removed from their city and being claimed by someone else infuriated them. It didn't matter that the perpetrator was a possessed human. It didn't even matter who the real perpetrator was. All that mattered was that the fae were furious and that they let out their anger on anyone and anything that happened to cross their path.
Félix had already dispelled endless many prank loops—paths that made the one trapped in them to go in circles and never find the exit—and was currently in an argument with a Korrigan, who had stolen the child of a young mother just because she could.
"This is not your business, Cat Sidhe," she insisted, her large black eyes narrowed into a disapproving frown and her sharp teeth showing in a snarl.
"Maybe not, but it will be the Court's business once the attack ends and this child isn't returned safe and sound. Even if your actions coincide with the Akuma's powers, you can't take it permanently without it being noticed."
The child in question was, meanwhile, screaming for its mother, though the Korrigan didn't seem to care in the slightest. Her frown just deepened.
"I will keep it for that long then. Children are such droll creatures," she eventually said, glee shining in her eyes.
Félix sighed. That was all he could do.
The Akumas that had similar powers to the fair folk's common practices were the most annoying ones for him to deal with. And this was the second time that day he had to deal with it. He was almost envious of his past-self from a few hours ago where all he had to do had been to dispel illusions. Actually interacting with the folk and arguing with them even, was on a whole other level. It was risky, yes, but if he didn't do it, then no one would.
Félix climbed on a nearby tree to have a better lookout for more fae-related trouble he needed to attend to. The saving grace came in the form of a swarm of ladybugs that restored the Eiffel Tower close to them and most certainly also the rest of the city and its people that had previously disappeared.
"Finally," he whispered to himself and climbed down the tree. His first impulse was to go home, but when he thought about what would await him there, he shuddered and stayed where he was. No, he certainly didn't want to face his father's anger right now. Again. Not after having to put up with several fae and their peculiar concepts of right and wrong.
Fae are twilight creatures, his mind supplied when he looked to the sunset sky. And cats are crepuscular, he silently added.
He supposed he could allow himself to indulge in his nature for one evening and take an extensive walk through Paris. Just to get a bit of a break.
Félix took in the colours of the sky, ignored the songs, and simply climbed, prowled and jumped through the city as he pleased. No one noticed him—the deviation spell was still in place—and even if they did, no one would pay much mind to a cat.
It was something he hadn't been aware he had been missing. Perhaps he should wander around the roofs at night more often and not just when there was an Akuma attack. Yes, that idea sparked joy inside him. It would certainly fulfil this strange longing and might even make him less irritated. He just needed to be careful not to go out on a night where Ladybug was patrolling. Running into her would be a disaster beyond comparison.
Félix eventually ended up at the same park close to the Eiffel Tower he had been at earlier before his stroll. The fair folk gathered there, some playing small pranks on humans, others just talking and planning future mischief. They were where people didn't look and what they didn't notice: a dragonfly by the pond, sitting on the empty park benches no one even glanced at, the young tree—a glamour that hid yet another of the folk—and so on.
He has had enough of them for that day, so he considered finally going home. An unnaturally insouciant voice stopped him dead in his tracks though and made him turn around. There was a clearing and in the middle of it stood Lila Rossi as well as the owner of the voice Félix had heard. Chat Noir leaned against a tree arching an eyebrow and was clearly not impressed with the extensive story the liar was spinning in front of him.
At the same time, unnoticed by the duplicitous human girl, the clearing was surrounded by all kinds of fae. And the more she talked, the more indignant their expressions became.
"You see, Adrien must have told Ladybug all these mean things about me and she believed him!"
Now Félix understood why his brother was so uncharacteristically expressionless. Just one wrong twitch would give him away. It wasn't just Lila who was surrounded, it was also him. And even though the fae had their sights on Lila, they were also closely watching Chat Noir. Very closely.
They didn't practice propensity like humans might have done when faced with what they believed to be a deity. Instead, they looked for weaknesses. The Courts were especially one thing: a play for power. Everyone wanted power and they were even willing to attempt deceit towards a Court chief or another kind of fae ruler with a tricky bargain or a curse in order to get it. It was no different here. The fair folk looked for weaknesses to exploit, to gain power over a god.
Félix wanted to do nothing more than to grab his brother and drag him out of there. He couldn't do that though. Instead, he stayed on his tree branch and simply watched how the disaster would unfold.
"Is that so?" Chat Noir asked, his voice cold and foreign. It was the voice of a fae in all its otherworldly glory. Félix himself had a voice like it, a fae voice. It wasn't the kind of voice used to charm people, but the kind that would frighten them. After all, the scariest thing of all wasn't the obvious kind of monster, but the kind that cloaked itself with human looks but was just…wrong. At least that's what he had always heard.
Lila, however, didn't seem to have the self-preservation instincts needed for this kind of situation.
"Yes! You see, he confessed his love to me but I had to reject him. He was very angry at me and called me a lot of horrible things. It's why I got akumatised," Lila said with a fake sob.
None of the listeners were convinced. Fae couldn't lie and they didn't always notice lies when they were told to them by humans. But Lila's lies weren't good enough to deceive these silver-tongued creatures. A few hisses and sneers could be heard from all around when they heard what this human girl was saying about not only their goddess Danu but also about a royal fae of their Court. It was no secret that Adrien and Félix were both well-known, in the Court and to humans. Cat Sidhe were rarities and fae liked to keep track of such valuables.
A Caoineag in the nearby pond had noticed Félix and now grinned in his direction. Perhaps she was curious about his reaction, so he also adopted an expressionless face. The water spirit let out a wail that made his fur stand on end, but he tried to ignore it. He knew what it meant and Adrien knew it too. As a Cat Sidhe, he didn't need a Caoineag's wail to foretell a disaster though. He could feel it in a sensation similar to a persistent and annoying itch. And in this situation, a disaster was more than obvious.
"His love confession?" Chat Noir repeated, a coldness creeping into his gaze and his voice. The fae around them grinned, hoping that the god of destruction would strike down the lying girl. In other words, they hoped for entertainment.
"Yes he—" Lila started, but Chat Noir cut her off with a hiss that even chilled Félix.
"I've heard quite enough from you," he said and pushed himself off the tree to prowl closer to her. His gaze was murderous, not unlike it had been earlier when he had warned her as Adrien. This time he also had to put on an act for the Court though, so he couldn't allow himself to hesitate. He couldn't offer mercy or a simple warning like he had last time.
Félix knew what was going to happen. Letting the folk question Chat Noir or find a possible weakness by having him act un-fae-like was a risk he couldn't allow himself to take. They had both known that this would be a risky game. What they never had considered were the sacrifices they would have to make on the way. And they would do everything to keep their loved ones safe.
"Your castle falls when you build it on sand, Lila Rossi," Chat Noir said, purposefully using her full name. It drew a few excited cheers from the surrounding folk. He had moved to stand between Lila and most of the vindictive fae.
The wind suddenly seemed to pick up, a few yellow leaves floating down from the trees. All sounds apart from the whispering of the foliage around them seemed to be drowned. It was eerie, chilling and too natural. A single dead leaf brushed Félix's fur across the side of his face. A brief touch that reminded him that this specific horror was real and that it was happening right in the heart of Paris. He was aware. His brother was aware. Neither of them could prevent it. It was even questionable if they cared. As much as they were human, they were also fae. And on this evening, surrounded by the folk and caught in a scene like from out of the stories humans liked to tell to scare small children, they couldn't help but feel like they belonged to the non-human side of the story.
"Your lies are your downfall. Even I can't help you anymore," Chat Noir said before his expression morphed into the most mischievous grin Félix had ever seen on him. "Too bad no one warned you. Otherwise you might have had a chance."
Félix wasn't sure what he knew for certain anymore. Just this morning he would have sworn up and down that his brother would never purposefully doom a human. Or at least, he would have sworn that his brother would never enjoy something of this sort. But then again, Adrien hadn't seen the horrors of a sídhe and heard the desperate screams. He had never seen a human die and he had never been faced with the fair folk's games. He only knew from his tellings what cruelties the fair folk was capable of. Stories of yore told the same thing.
The fae thought themselves facetious. Other's suffering and humiliation was the greatest entertainment for them. So, when one of their gods offered a human girl to them on a silver platter, then who were they to hold back with their fun?
Félix absconded the park, not willing to see what would become of Lila Rossi. Not even the sounds of what was happening to her carried over to his ears. Like she just disappeared.
Félix had seen Plagg in various moods before. Suspicious, impatient, bored, overjoyed, angry, mischievous and on rare occasions even proud. Never had the kwami been disappointed in his and Adrien's presence. Until now.
"This is exactly why I never had a fae as a chosen before. That, and because of the problem with magic. Your kind enjoys the concept of doom way too much. And I am the bringer of doom! If I'm saying that it means something!"
Adrien looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole and also Félix was appropriately ashamed.
"You just left a girl to whatever fate these monsters saw fit for her and didn't do anything!"
Your kind. Monsters. Plagg really was trying his utmost best to make them feel horrible.
"You know, in the past there were chosen who specifically fought this and you. Just. Let. It. Happen!"
Now Plagg wasn't just disappointed. He was angry as well.
"Be glad that Tikki doesn't know about it and she won't hear as much as a peep from me either. If word travels and reaches her though, then you're on your own."
After a long silence, it was Félix who spoke up first.
"We can't always act human, especially not when surrounded by other fae."
Plagg narrowed his eyes. "I accept a lot of non-human weirdness from you two. I get that you have to shift and run around as cats. I also get that you sometimes can't sympathize with human ways of thinking. But I cannot and won't accept that you would let a human, no matter how infuriating and insulting they have been to you, get taken without batting an eye!"
Félix shrunk back and so did Adrien.
Plagg sighed. "I agree that in this situation she really had it coming and yes, you did warn her. But heck, kittens, humans don't know the kind of lethal danger they can find themselves in." He looked at Adrien specifically then. "And as a Miraculous holder it's your responsibility to protect everyone from that kind of fate. This one goes fully on you, kid."
Adrien curled his tail around himself in shame. "I'm sorry," he said silently and didn't manage to look Plagg in the eyes.
"I'm sorry too," Félix said. "But the same would have happened if we hadn't been there. Lila would have lied about Ladybug and the fae would have been insulted."
"You were there though. If anything, you could have attempted to reach a different outcome. Especially Monsieur "too bad no one warned you" here."
Adrien shrunk back even more. "D-do you...want me to give you the Miraculous back?"
Plagg let out a heavy sigh. "No, kid. I'm just trying to hammer it in that you just can't act like this ever again. Next time you find yourself in such a situation: intervene. As Danu's other half, they're bound to listen to you. Especially after this stunt today. I hate to say it, but faeries enjoy twisted irony like that."
Another heavy silence fell upon the room for a few minutes. A time in which neither of them moved from their positions. Adrien, curled into a ball of black fur, cowered on the floor by their bed. Félix, beside him, had merely lowered his head to the floor, tail wrapped around him and ears pinned flat to his head. Plagg hovered above them, a dark deity blacker than the night sky with piercing green eyes that were fixed on the two of them.
"Seriously, kittens. I get that everyone learns from their mistakes, but do you always have to make such titanic ones?!"
He floated down and petted their heads. Plagg hadn't forgiven them. He probably would never forgive them for this, but it seemed like he was ready to help them move forward from the disaster.