Trigger Warning: Graphic descriptions of violence, mangling and injury. (it's just one semi-long paragraph that starts after "kill kill kill" and is easily skippable)

Adrien poked the food on his plate with a fork. At first, he had sluggishly tried to eat, chewing each bite for an eternity before managing to swallow it, but giving up on it altogether was easier than using force. It was such a small and insignificant thing and being able to give up on something without letting the consequences eventually—potentially—kill someone had become a luxury.

"Come on, you need to eat something," Félix said with a worried side-glance.

It prompted Adrien to take another hesitant fork full, but once he finally swallowed the bite, he felt like throwing up. The food wasn't bad and he hadn't eaten too much of it. To the contrary, even. This reaction was…strange, but then again, what wasn't these days?

He felt a little bad for the leftovers on his plate that would be thrown away now, but overall it was a tolerable sacrifice.

Back in Félix's and his room, he lay awake in bed for hours. Sleep didn't find him easily these days, or sometimes not at all. He felt that tonight was the latter kind of night, so he silently got up, shifted and climbed out of the bathroom window.

Thinking and overthinking was the only thing he could really do, so he sat down on the roof and indulged in his worries. There were a lot of them.

Not even the chilly breeze and the smell of impending rainfall could chase him away from that spot for hours, but if his pondering gave him a useful idea, it'd be worth it. Félix would be angry with him the next morning and Marinette would notice his fatigue and worry, but those too were sacrifices he was willing to make.

"Worrying yourself to madness isn't gonna help anyone, you know?"

Adrien startled a little at the sudden voice. He was used to being alone up here.

"Plagg? Why are you awake?"

The kwami rolled his eyes and floated over to sit beside him.

"Cats are nocturnal and I happen to be a cat."

Adrien just nodded and licked his paw to groom his whiskers.

"Depends. I'm more crepuscular myself," Adrien said when he was done.

"Yet here you are. At night."

He shrugged as best as he could in his feline body. "Insomnia is a bitch."

Plagg snickered and a comfortable silence befell them. As it was with the god of destruction though, such things never lasted for very long.

"So, what where you breaking your head about this time?"

Adrien wrapped his tail around himself anxiously, almost hitting Plagg with it by accident.

"What to do if everything else fails. Call it plan Z if you want."

Instead of reprimanding him for having so little confidence in his precautions and in Tikki, like Adrien had expected, Plagg just nodded.

"Yeah, backup plans are always a good idea. What do you have so far?"

"Nothing," Adrien said quietly. "I was just thinking that…if we get to the absolute worst-case scenario and they manage to take Marinette, then I have to get her back somehow. But I can't stand up to an entire Court. And even if I manage to get her back, how will I be able to keep her safe afterwards? I'm just a halfling. There's no way I can do something they can't."

Plagg nodded. "I'd say there's no solution without a sacrifice for this. At least I can't think of one."

Adrien sighed. If even a god said that it was a lost cause then…

"Wait, sacrifices…" Adrien mumbled as an idea slowly formed in his head and he turned to Plagg. "What I need is more magic, and to get that—"

"If you want to eat souls then that's on you, but you know your brother would never forgive you for it."

Adrien vehemently shook his head. "No, Plagg. I don't mean souls. I mean your magic! You said that Cat Sidhe exist because you gave a human too much magic. Humans can't use magic, so it didn't bring him much but I can use magic, so if you—"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, kid," Plagg said and held up a paw. "My magic isn't some endless well of neutral power, like the magic around us is. It's pure destruction and I don't even want to think about what would happen if I'd give it to someone who can actually use it."

Adrien tilted his head. "But don't you do that already? I'm using your Miraculous."

Plagg sighed. "You're sleep-deprived, so I forgive you for letting it slip your mind, but the Miraculous is merely a vessel. It allows the use of controlled magic, instead of letting destruction run rogue. If I'd use a Cataclysm as myself right now, I could take down the entirety of Paris with one touch of my paw. It's an enormous power and the thought of a fae being possessed by destruction really doesn't sit well with me."

Adrien hung his head. "Well, it was an idea anyway."

"Don't take this the wrong way, kid. If it really came down to it, then you'd be the most likely one I'd ever give that power to willingly. But you're a good kitten, and I don't want to risk that being rotted away. Destruction is not a joke and to subjugate it like you would any other foreign magic inside you wouldn't be a walk in the park."

Adrien was quiet for a bit. "Plagg, I don't want to be insensitive, but…what is the worst thing your magic has ever done?"

Plagg sighed. "The largest scale of destruction was probably the extinction of the dinosaurs—"

"You caused that?!"

"—but personally, the worst thing my magic has ever done was to kill loved ones." He shook his head. "Let's speak hypothetically here, kid, since I know why you're asking this:

"If I gave you some of my magic—just enough to beat a Court Chief, so just a fraction of my power—you'd have to bring destruction itself under your control. It will tell you to kill and given how emotional you tend to be, especially in situations where your girl is in danger, you'd probably be inclined to listen to that urge and give in to it. You'd have to fight it, not only to avoid becoming a killer, but also to avoid destroying what you want to protect. It might sound easy, but there's no guarantee that you can do it. Carefully think about if you want to take that high of a risk."

That really was a high gamble to take. While an inner voice told him that of course he'd do anything to keep Marinette safe, he also knew that he was subjective to magic's emotional influence. His trouble with liminality was proof of that.

"Besides, the more magic you possess, the less human you'll become. And the less human you are, the less effectively you could use my Miraculous. You'd have to give up the ring and the little bit of humanity you've achieved. Is that really worth it to you?"

Adrien nodded without hesitation. If it would be to save Marinette, he'd give up everything. He gave out a small, humourless laugh.

"It's selfish, isn't it? Paris needs Chat Noir, yet I'm willing to throw that all away in a heartbeat if it'd save her."

"Being selfish isn't always a bad thing. Besides, you wouldn't be doing it for power, but to save your lover. That's noble, not selfish, in my opinion."

Adrien smiled weakly. "Thanks, Plagg. At least you'd probably get a human chosen afterwards, so it's practically a win-win."

Plagg laughed quietly. "First impressions really aren't your strong suit, kitten, but no matter what I first thought, I'd never trade you for anyone else. Even if that'd mean that I could get a human chosen instead."

Adrien gave a quiet purr and nudged Plagg with his head as a sign of gratitude. The kwami returned the gesture and a comfortable silence settled on them once more, only interrupted by the howl of the wind and the city noise.

"Is this our backup plan then?" Adrien eventually asked while he kept staring at the city. His city.

"Do you not get the meaning of hypothetical?"

"Then give me a less risky alternative."

Plagg stayed silent.

Adrien sat at his desk, crumpled paper all around him. He knew that writing on a computer would have probably been the better choice for composing a letter that had to be perfect in every way, but he didn't trust it. What if Nathalie or his father had access to his files and read the whole thing? No, that was way too risky. Therefore, he went through several stationery sets that finally had a use and tried his best to concentrate. Félix lounged nearby, equally on edge—he kept pushing stuff off the desk with his paws—and always there to help read over a phrasing Adrien was unsure about.

After many agonising hours of trial and error, Adrien finally signed a letter—the 21st one—and leaned back with a sigh to reread it. Eventually, he nodded grimly to himself—he couldn't word it more carefully if he tried. It ended up in a nondescript white envelope and he stared at it. Such a small thing, not even magical in any way, and yet so very dangerous…

"Maybe she's still awake. If I hurry I could–" Adrien said and stood up, only to be interrupted by Plagg.

"Wait! Something's wrong," the kwami said and for the first time in a long while, looked panicked.

"What is it?" Félix asked and jumped on Adrien's shoulder from the desk.

If Plagg, the god of destruction who had supposedly seen everything already, was panicking, then something was very wrong.

"Tikki just went dormant," Plagg said. "Which only happens if she is intentionally renounced or…"

"If someone steals the Miraculous," Adrien finished quietly, his face probably back to its unnatural paleness from earlier.

It took no genius to figure out what had happened.

Without a second thought, Adrien threw the letter on the desk, shifted and was out the window. Everything was a blur and the voices of Plagg and his brother barely managed to drift into his awareness as he leapt over rooftops straight towards the bakery. He didn't care that Beltane was in twenty-four hours or that the songs already tried to tempt him. Nothing in this moment could catch his attention more than Marinette possibly being in enormous danger.

When he arrived at the balcony, his claws skidding on the ground for purchase, he found an open skylight and an empty bed.

He swore heavily and immediately leapt back up to the roof and into a different direction: Le Grand Paris Hotel. Whoever had taken her had tried to mask her scent, but Adrien would have found her even if there was no trace at all. Especially on days with heavy liminality, like right now, he felt pulled towards her. She was his anchor after all, forever and always and he would not lose her.

"Kid!"

Whatever Plagg did, it efficiently stopped Adrien from making another leap. His fur bristled angrily.

Félix hissed at him. "You can't just storm in there like this! They'll make mincemeat out of you!" He declared, though Adrien could clearly see that he had to hold himself back from storming ahead as well.

"He's right. You're too weak to fight against a Court full of fae, kid," Plagg added.

Adrien hissed in frustration. He couldn't go in there as Chat Noir either because Chat Noir was an impartial party and an act like that could expose his identity. And then all of them would die. Except for Plagg; he'd be enslaved.

Adrien paced back and forth on the roof, his eyes fixated on the hotel that shone brightly only a city block away. He was only a young Cat Sidhe, just a halfling at that! His chances of success in a fight were terribly slim and he didn't have time to come up with some sort of brilliant plan either!

A plan…

He suddenly stopped and whipped his head around to look at Plagg.

"Plan Z it is then."

"Kid, no! I never agreed to this madness!"

"You never disagreed either!" Adrien argued. There wasn't any time for this!

"I have no idea what this is about, but it sounds like something stupid," Félix said warily and looked at Plagg.

"I can give him the magic he needs to get past even a Court chief if he has to, but that much magic is dangerous, especially when it comes from me. It can take control of your mind and trust me, kitten, you don't want destruction to dictate your thoughts."

"There has to be another way! Making foreign magic yours is hell. And what if you won't really need it? What if the situation is better than we expect?" Félix threw in.

Adrien didn't care.

"Even if, then what about afterwards? Do you think the Court will leave us alone?! I can't continue like this, Fé! I hate feeling helpless and having to endure fate."

He shifted back to his human form and looked at the silver ring on his finger one last time. His hands were shaking. It has been one year, seven months and twenty-nine days since he first put on the Miraculous and he has worn it almost continuously ever since. Not only had he become friends with Plagg, but he had also learned to love being himself while people could see him and not having to hide his otherness. The Miraculous had given him this more than unique opportunity and he would forever be thankful for it.

"It's been a fun ride, Plagg," he said and tried his best not to cry. While he was more than willing to do this for Marinette, it didn't mean that it was any less of a sacrifice. And sacrifices hurt. Carefully he took the ring off, noting how odd the now empty space on his ring finger felt, and handed it to the kwami. "I hope you'll find someone more worthy than me."

Plagg surged forward to nuzzle his cheek. "You're the best, worthiest kitten I ever had. Don't you forget it!"

When he floated back to look at Adrien again, his expression was serious.

"I don't know how this will affect you, kid, but I do know that your cat form stems from my magic and is therefore a better vessel, so go ahead and shift. That way you'll still have your human form intact and might be able to return to it eventually."

Might?

Adrien nodded and, taking a second to memorize in detail how his human features felt, shifted back into a cat. Depending on how things went, this could very well have been his last moment as a human-like creature. But if it was for Marinette, then he'd even give up his so dearly treasured and painstakingly achieved humanity.

"Don't let destruction define you, kid. It'll tell you to kill, but what you want to do is to protect, so cling to that thought."

He nodded again.

Plagg floated closer and put his small paws on Adrien's forehead.

"Go save your girl, Adrien."

The world exploded into of darkness that was filled with a myriad of swirling galaxies and stardust. It also turned cold, but at the same time he could feel the flickering lightning-like energy he was already familiar with from the Miraculous. Instinctively he recognised them as death and destruction, combining together as twin forces when something needed to come to an end. They were beautiful and terrifying at the same time, wondrous but not to be longed for. To see a cosmic power this clearly though was beyond anything Adrien had ever experienced, and as a halfling he has seen a lot. He knew that this wasn't something he should desire and that this much power wasn't meant for him.

A part of the energy thickened and formed into a feline body of dark smoke. Unlike Adrien, it looked huge and powerful and had, even as merely a fraction of this cosmic power, enough strength to invoke fear upon many—most especially him. The shadowy being crouched down in front of Adrien while the cosmos was still swirling behind it in millions of stars and black holes. Only one word came to mind to describe it: mighty.

"Remember this sight, Adrien," the being of smoke said with Plagg's voice. "This is what the power of a real god looks like, so teach those faerie chiefs and queens a lesson in humility for me by showing them that they cannot just take everything they please. Least of all Creation's Chosen."

The last part was said with a growl and a flash of huge teeth from the shadowy cat's mouth.

Any reply Adrien could have given to that was cut off by the beast of death and destruction. While its main body still swirled all around him, stretching farther than he could see, the part that had separated itself from the cloud and materialized into an almost solid form jumped towards him. In one moment Adrien had ducked from the attack and in the next he felt the shadow seeping into him. It was like taking a long breath that never wanted to end and he felt stronger with every passing second.

The crackling lightning-like quality it had was something he had already been familiar with, but that's where all familiarity ended. The rest of it was terrifyingly new and felt…very dangerous. Death, loss, cold and the wish to destroy. The urge to kill.

There was a snap of magic when the connection to Plagg suddenly broke and it felt like Adrien was falling. The stars and swirling galaxies were gone, now replaced by the City of Lights in its night-time glory. He stumbled slightly and then shook himself, disoriented. He was still standing on four paws, had a tail and ears atop his head, but he felt bigger, stronger and scarier. When he looked around, the night-time world looked even brighter and more saturated than it had been before, similar to how it was when he had been Chat Noir.

And not just his eyesight had improved. All his senses were sharper now, including eerie sixth and seventh senses that he didn't yet know the use for. For example, the air wasn't just chilly and fresh anymore, but now held a myriad of different sensations to it. Emotions, he realised. Not that the wind itself had any feelings, but those it passed by had. Simple impressions being carried away by it and supplied to those like him who could read them.

Hundreds of those scents, feelings and noises reached him at once and he shook his head to tune out the unimportant ones until only the one most connected and therefore clearest to him stood out.

Fear and a scream.

Adrien crouched for a jump and realised that it hadn't been just his imagination and that he really was bigger. As big as the shadowy cat he had seen in this other place—another realm? A dream? A grin stretched across his face, exposing the dagger-like fangs he had already seen a glimpse at earlier, just that they were now his. He'd show these monsters what a real monster looked like!

He bounded forwards into the direction his anchor pulled him. One leap without a running start and he was already on the roof of the building across the street. With every leap he built up momentum, testing these new strengths in him and urging them to get him to his destination even faster. All his senses were zeroed in on one single thought and nothing else mattered. Not the shouts behind him from familiar voices, nor the mad cackles he heard nearby. Only Marinette and her sounds of distress!

They'd pay for what they had done. How dare they take what was his and only his! No one else was allowed to touch her or get near her!

Mine, mine, MINE, MINE!

Her anchoring pull might have played a big part in directing him over the rooftops, but that wasn't all. He heard her. Not the sweet melody of her voice, but another bloodcurdling scream that made his teeth ache with the desire to dig into whoever was responsible.

It had come from Chloé's balcony.

He landed on the tiles with such force that they cracked underneath his paws and he growled. Marinette wasn't there though and neither was Chloé. Instead he found the spriggan from the previous night and right until the moment he had landed, she had been grinning devilishly at whoever was in the room.

"No escaping when you can't run, little mortal," she giggled with mad glee.

She did it, Adrien realised. Whatever had made Marinette scream and now cry—she was in the room; he could hear her—the fae would pay bitterly for it!

You've just made the gravest mistake of your life.

Adrien growled viciously. Before the fae could even fully turn around to him, he had leapt and buried his teeth in her arm, ripping it clean off. The scream he earned from her as a result was like music to his ears.

Kill, kill, kill!

Yes, make her suffer a million times more than Marinette had!

His grin grew as his claws—now longer and sharper—tore into her flesh, as did his teeth. Her wings were the next to go. Black feathers in his face threatened to make him sneeze, but his teeth connected with the bone below the flesh with a satisfying crack, biting through it. He tore at it, having to turn his head away to sneeze briefly and then clamped down on it again to tear once more until it would separate itself from the wicked creature's back. Meanwhile, he held her down with his paws, claws digging into her flesh to discourage any flailing movements. She was probably in too much pain to move anyway.

Not everything in him was good, that was a simple fact of nature. With the addition of pure destructive magic, that was truer than ever. Not addressing the urge to bite, tear, mangle and kill would be a grave mistake; Adrien knew that almost instinctively. Indulging it just a little, however, took the edge off it and made it bearable instead of overwhelming. Besides, the spriggan had it coming anyway.

A fearful whimper made him raise his head and forcefully tore him out of the rush he only now realised he had fallen into. His eyes searched for the source of the frightened and very familiar noise and then met hers. It was thoroughly grounding in the most horrible of ways.

There was Marinette and she looked at him like…like he was about to eat her, or at the very least hurt her. He would never, so why–

Oh, right.

He had forgotten.

Adrien took a step back from the bleeding spriggan. She was alive—fae were not so easily slain—but badly hurt. After this, she'd recover and someday inflict retaliation of some sort.

Just kill her. It'll be one worry less.

He caught himself just in time to forcefully set his paw—extended sharp claws and all—back on the ground.

Why had he–

You know why.

He brought more distance between himself and the bleeding fae to avoid tempting this new foreign thing in him. Yes, he might be a monster, but if there was one thing he'd never be, then it was a killer. Destruction and temptation be damned. Ha! He had lived his entire life with the sweetest temptations right under his nose. If he hadn't given in to them, then he wouldn't give in to something that was so contradictory to what he wanted.

If only it was that easy. Logic was no way to approach fey things though, not even magic. If he wanted to win this battle—both internal and external—then he had to stop rationalising and start feeling. He had an anchor, so all he needed to do was to concentrate on Marinette in order to keep his sanity.

Anger and thirst for revenge both still plucked at his heartstrings that had so far played a sad and hopeless song. It was so easy for anger to override other, quieter feelings the same way that timpani overshadowed a quiet flute.

Adrien allowed the growl to run up his throat and down his tongue, tasting the sound. Clicking noises echoed around the space and the wide open room in front of him when he stepped forward with his claws hitting the balcony tiles and soon the wooden floor of Chloé's room. There the halfling stood and held Marinette in a bridal style. How dare she! His head lowered dangerously and he willed his eyes into a murderous expression. He would make her suffer for taking Marinette away from him and causing her to be in horrible pain.

Once again it was a single glance from Marinette that calmed the raging storm inside of him. And just like before, it broke his heart. She shouldn't look at him this way. He wanted it to stop!

The symphony inside him was a confused mess of disharmonies. He was trying to get a hold of this jumbled composition of his and force it to behave. Only then did he realise that it wasn't just one, but rather two orchestras that were playing. His own and a foreign one, and that it was just a matter of staying on top of each other. All he had to do was to be louder.

"What did you do?" Chloé asked, her voice horrified.

Adrien growled again. With the power Plagg had given him, it would be easy for him to make her regret everything she had done. Destruction was easy, he knew that. But just as other easy things, the price he'd have to pay for it would be too high. Everything inside him—foreign and familiar alike—rebelled against a peaceful route though, so he eventually decided on the in-between.

While he was trying to decide whether biting one of Chloé's legs would endanger Marinette, he noticed that her eyes, still fixed on him in fear, slowly fluttered shut. Not just that, but her complexion was pale. She was hurt, but where? A quick panicked glance over her entire form quickly answered that question. It also answered the question why Chloé was carrying her in the first place.

Both of Marinette's legs bent unnaturally below the knees and in places they shouldn't be able to bend at all. They were broken. Adrien suspected the spriggan, but since he had already dealt with her, something else needed to be the subject of his anger. He chose the nearby sofa and gave it a mighty swipe with his claws—they went through the fabric and the stuffing like a hot knife through butter.

A sudden noise behind him from the balcony alerted him to another possible threat so he growled out a warning. Whoever was approaching should better beware. Chloé might be his main target, but he wouldn't forgive anyone for coming too close to Marinette.

"Chloé, better do the smart thing," a familiar voice said and some of the tension left Adrien's body.

Just Félix. No danger.

"I was trying t—," Chloé said but it quickly turned into a pained scream.

Adrien's teeth sank deep into one of her legs with every intention to hurt her. Now that Félix was here, he could just take Marinette and bring her to safety while he was dealing with retaliation.

"Damn it, you stupid cat!" Chloé hissed at him while Félix tore a by now unconscious Marinette from her arms. Adrien let go and positioned himself between Félix who was now holding Marinette and Chloé, who had crumbled to the ground and was holding her bleeding leg while muttering curses.

He was considering whether to let that be enough for now and to follow Félix who was already hurrying back outside to bring Marinette to safety. As always, though, fate despised him.

The door opened and in strode none other than Audrey Bourgeois. Adrien immediately slipped into an aggressive posture once more and growled. Both wisdoms from karate lessons and an ancient instinct told him that he should leave Chloé be and attack her mother instead. Neutralising the most dangerous threat was crucial after all. On any other day he would have hesitated to go through with such a reckless impulse, but he had some of Plagg's power now, enough to beat a Court chief. If he couldn't show her that he wasn't to be messed with, then the Court would never leave him and Marinette alone. Besides, he needed to buy Félix some time to get away.

There stood Audrey, in a black Beltane gown with white flowers. The fabrics shimmered in a way no fabric should be allowed to shine, which meant they weren't from this world.

Everything told him to fight, but a small voice in him still said that it would be unwise to anger the Court chief.

"Chloé, my darling, what have you done now?" Audrey said, sounding both annoyed and threatening.

Rip her to shreds for the audacity of not acknowledging your presence!

Adrien had already leapt forward when he realised that this thought, while similar, wasn't his own. He stopped abruptly, less than a meter away from Audrey, a vicious growl still twisting his face into a grimace he hoped to be threatening and straightened himself up to his full height. Never before had he been able to look someone in the eye while he was a cat.

At least now, with his teeth in clear biting distance of her neck, he had Audrey's undivided attention.

And that's when the sheer wrongness of the situation dawned on him. Showing aggression and threats towards the Court chief? Was he insane?! Protectiveness was a powerful emotion, but fear was as well. Adrien had been afraid from the start, but if there was one thing he has always been afraid of, for as long as he could remember, then it was crossing Audrey.

Out of pure habit and instinct, he took a step back, immediately feeling the roaring appalment of the destructive magic inside him. He was Chat Noir, bringer of destruction and saviour of people. Someone like him shouldn't back down, yet that's exactly what he did. At first. Then he came to his senses.

He had a Court chief to fight. Ha! What a ridiculous thought that was for a halfling like him. Did he have a death wish?! But no, he was stronger now. He could do this.

Adrien adjusted his posture to look even taller and more dangerous as he stared at Audrey in challenge. Despite his magic, he was at a great disadvantage with his barely sixteen and a half years of age. There was no telling how old Audrey was, but he was sure that it was at least a three-digit number. He might be more powerful, but she had experience on her side.

Audrey made the first step forward and Adrien immediately snapped at her. He couldn't allow her to advance any further!

A spell was thrown at him that would have otherwise probably made him writhe in agony. Instead, it was like an unpleasant itch as the destructive magic ate away at it rapidly, making it void. He didn't dare to unleash this enormous power just yet, so instead he went on the physical offensive. Plagg hadn't just given him magic but also enhanced his natural weapons. Adrien had never been very good at spells to begin with, that was Félix's forte, but if there was something he was confident in, then it was his ability to slash at something with his claws and rip flesh with his teeth.

He sliced and tore, while enduring every spell Audrey threw at him. While one spell hadn't made much of an impact, several spells were starting to have some effect. It hurt, he was disorientated and his movements momentarily grew sluggish.

"Chloé! Get this beast off me!" Audrey yelled, her tone something he had never heard from her before—screechy and in pain.

So what he did had some impact after all!

Thank you Plagg.

Adrien chanced a short glance back to the balcony doors, seeing that Chloé was stumbling in his direction.

The urge in him to get out of this fight and follow Félix and Marinette grew and he swiped a paw at Chloé when she drew too close. He only saw four bleeding rips on her side before something immensely painful hit his left front leg. He growled viciously at Audrey who had hit him with a nearby piece of furniture. Spells? No problem. A piece of interior décor? A huge problem apparently.

Destruction was destruction, just as it always had been. Healing was the opposite of its properties and it also didn't do anything to eat away the pain that shot through him. Was his leg broken? Maybe. With how much it hurt, it might as well be.

"You'll regret this night," Adrien growled and knew that he meant every word of it.

Without any warning he used Audrey's momentary distraction to give her some ugly scratches across the face with his still fully functional right paw. Then he turned tail. Not only had he been injured, but the magic inside him was also too dangerous to keep this up. Already it was urging him to keep going and to kill both Court chief and princess. It wasn't what he wanted though. He'd get this under control and then come back someday and make his point.

The only thing that mattered now was Marinette and her safety, not the feral magic that had grown more vicious the more he had been injured and pushed into a corner. He couldn't risk it getting out of hand and instead hoped that it had been enough.

Fair folk followed him as he jumped over Parisian rooftops, but none of them made any move to attack. They were simply curious to see an interesting story in action and wanted to know how it continued. He growled at them. Somehow, he had to get to Mélusine's undetected, but with his size, he couldn't just hide in alleyways and pretend to be a regular cat. The fair folk would know anyway. If only there was a way for him to be invisible…

Adrien let out a short laugh when he realised that there was. He was powerful right now. He could do this, even though it was rather Félix's specialty.

He concentrated on his own magic instead of the raging maelstrom of destruction inside him, but realised that it wasn't enough. He needed more magic, but couldn't risk using this untamed power. Slowly chipping away at a fraction of the foreignness, he made small parts of it his, taming destruction to follow his lead with the promise of protection. It was similar to the sensation of Cataclysm; albeit also in a much smaller scale.

Like a hesitantly half-tamed wild animal, he used the small bit of Plagg's magic to strengthen his own. It didn't want to mingle perfectly well with it yet, but that was alright. All he needed was to make it behave while he mentally crafted the spell, rune for rune, feeling for feeling, circle for circle.

When he saw the fae stop their pursuit and look around in confusion, he knew he had succeeded. The thrill of fooling even the fair folk and not just humans, as it had been the case before, didn't last for long. A jolt of pain ran through his left leg when he miscalculated a jump and had to use both of his forelegs to not stumble and fall—he was much stronger and bigger than he had ever been before and still needed to adjust to it.

The pain was a good wakeup call.

Serves me right, he thought.

After all, Marinette had both of her legs broken. If only he had been more careful. If only he had been able to open his mouth earlier, words on a golden scale be damned! If she had known, then she could have protected herself from exactly this!

But he had been a coward and procrastinated. Now he saw what hesitating had brought him. It had taken everything from him, just like he had always feared it would. Not for the first time he desperately wished to wake up from this terrifying nightmare, but the pain in his leg and the feeling of shingles beneath his paws eliminated that small hope. This was as real as it was going to get. No illusions, apparitions or Beltane-induced fever dreams. Reality was so very cruel, just like it always had been.

I lost her, his thoughts reminded him. No matter what happens now, she will never look at me the same. She'll hate me.

Adrien shook his head and tried to ignore the stinging of his eyes. He couldn't think about that now. Not when he didn't know if she was even safe. Not when he didn't know if she'd get better. Marinette had been hurt very badly tonight, not only physically. Would she be able to heal?

Well, he sure as hell wouldn't be able to improve the situation. Even Audrey, the Court chief and therefore a horror among horrors had called him a beast. A monster. If he was terrifying even to other monsters, then there was no chance that Marinette wouldn't be scared of him.

She would heal and be safe, he just had to believe in that. But there was one thing he was absolutely sure about:

He had lost her for good.

She wouldn't be coming back to him.

The letter he had written just an hour before had been a naïve dream. A small hope that she could still love him. At this point, it would be his final farewell.

Your Chaton, your kitty and your love all have let you down. I'm sorry my lady, my Princess, my everything.