Definitions
Cú Sidhe = It's said to be the size of a young bull with the appearance of a dog. Its fur is shaggy, and usually cited as being dark green though sometimes white. The Cú Sidhe was feared as a harbinger of death and would appear to bear away the soul of a person to the afterlife, similar to the manner of the Grim Reaper.
padfoot = This strange donkey-sized creature appeared as an omen of death; it looked like an amorphous shaggy ball with eyes or a woolly white dog
fuath = A fuath or vough (phonetic transcription), designates a class of water fae, inhabiting the sea, rivers, fresh water, or sea lochs.


In a way, Félix had known that disaster would strike even before the Akuma butterfly had spread its wings and fluttered out from wherever Hawkmoth's lair was. It was in the same way he knew if clouds would bring rain or even a storm, or that the silence of birds was not to be trusted. One could call it a favour of the universe, or just a way in which it worked, announcing bad karma that was connected to him in some way, so that he could prepare retaliation ahead of time. It's what was expected of him—as retaliation was as deep-rooted a trait of the fae as hunting was for a cat—but only in the fewest and most harmless of cases did he actually act on that secret desire and satisfy the universe's whispers. It was, he supposed, like lighting a fuse only to have the connected explosive not go off. Nothing completely unheard of, but distressing in how unexpected it was and how unpredictable it had become. Maybe distress was what the universe felt about him—if it felt anything at all—and it could feel that way about his unnaturalness all day long for all he cared.

Today was not one of those days.

Bad luck, as he knew only too well, was a snake that often bit its own tail. Félix had to curse random people to keep it away from himself, but with the universe's warnings and his unfortunate pick of a fellow model as a target, this particular case of bad luck truly had come back to bite him in the ass. It was bizarre, when he thought about how it had all started with a misogynist comment from René—something very crude and objectifying regarding Anaïs, his current model partner, which she honestly didn't deserve at all—and had eventually ended in his demise. Félix had expected him to stumble, to sneeze mid-picture or something similarly inconveniencing since that was what a small case of bad luck usually did. He should have taken more time to consider what else could be regarded as a small case of bad luck. After all, being in the wrong place at the wrong time could technically be called that too. How wicked fate was, probably considering this a just punishment to him for ignoring his purpose and the guiding whispers that led to only malevolence.

Knowing that disaster would strike and knowing what exact disaster it would be were two completely different concepts though. In his situation, it really could have been anything. That it had turned out to be a murder was gruesome, but he couldn't help the small sliver of relief at knowing that the victim hadn't been anyone he cared about. That it had been a distant acquaintance, however, complicated the situation. Was this a coincidence? Unlikely. Was it an act of retaliation? Most likely. Against himself since he knew the victim and had recently cursed him, or perhaps against Chat Noir and Ladybug since it had happened during an Akuma attack? Might it even be retaliation against all of them in one? Questions over questions and not a single clear answer to be had.

Félix leaned against a tree, watching the sun set by the Eiffel Tower, tinging the sky in a deep pink that could as well be mistaken for red—a sight fitting the occasion. As picturesque as the view was, the police investigating the crime scene nearby ruined whatever last speck of peacefulness he might have been able to draw from it in its blood-red glory. It was furthermore tainted and twisted into something ominous by the fae dog nearby that grinned at him. A woolly white specimen with black eyes that rarely left Félix while it wound its way through the officers swarming the place, noticed by no one. Félix hadn't seen a fae like it before, but if he'd had to guess, then he'd say that it was either an oddly-bright-coated Cú Sidhe—they were rare but they did exist—or a padfoot. Whichever it was, the canine was an omen of death either way. He decided to ignore it.

When the Akuma had attacked earlier, Félix had been at the Trocadéro as a replacement model for Adrien for a photoshoot, and the now dead model had been on the set as well. After being questioned thoroughly, he had been ordered by his father to stay there and manage things for the company, with Nathalie's help. Technically that wasn't a problem, as Félix was a natural at acting professional, though it still didn't mean that he enjoyed this pastime. His eyes trailed towards Nathalie just as she wrapped up a tense-looking conversation with a police officer.

Suspecting what he did about Hawkmoth's identity, this Akuma attack just solidified it further. Akumatising a baby, probably by accident, and then just rolling with it out of sheer stubbornness was exactly something his father would do. It would have been his 'I can do no wrong'-attitude in full play, even when staring his mistakes in the face. Félix allowed himself a small grin when he remembered how unfocused the baby had been and how much frustration Hawkmoth—whether he turned out to be his father or not—must have felt during the fight. It was just small karma, but it was satisfying nonetheless.

His eyes then narrowed on Nathalie. If he was right, then how much did she know? Was she collecting information under the pretence of damage control in a similar fashion as he was right now, or was she oblivious to it all? He made a point of averting his gaze and staring back towards the sunset when she approached.

"It wasn't the Akuma," he said quietly enough to not let the police hear, but loud enough for Nathalie to understand.

Félix felt how cold fear overtook her in an instant, though she didn't make as much as a sound. He wasn't the only one to notice it either, as he also felt the eyes of the fae dog on them. Fortunately, a deep growl from Félix was enough to halt its approach. Cú Sidhe, padfoot or whatever, even scorned as he was, Félix was still part of the Unseelie Court and outranked it through his mother's close connection to Audrey. The canine seemed to take the hint and with a growl of its own turned around to disappear into the direction where the body had been found.

"How are you sure?" Nathalie asked in the neutral tone she had perfected over the years, though it wasn't enough to fool him into thinking she was unbothered.

"Karma. I knew something would happen, but it's not like I can see the future. Let's just hope that this specific incident was retaliation aimed at Ladybug and Chat Noir, rather than at Adrien and me."

He chanced a glance at her and now saw Nathalie look at him with wide eyes.

"Retaliation? What did you two do?!"

He had filled her in on the necessities that had come with delivering the news of Adrien's sudden disappearance, but that hadn't gone beyond saying that it was fae matters and that his brother would be back in a month or two. Even now, he wasn't in a mood for story-telling.

"Pissed off the Court chief."

Nathalie blanched.

"For your own safety, I suggest you don't leave the mansion in the near future unless absolutely necessary. Pack a few bags, get your hands on as much iron as possible and take a guest room, no matter what father says. I'll prepare one on the second floor for you just in case he tries to sabotage this."

The thin line of her mouth and the flicker of anxiety in her eyes were the only things that gave away her real feelings towards the matter. That, and the fact that Félix could read her like an open book. Eventually, she nodded.

"Now, let us attempt to discourage the police from further investigating here today. Lingering in the park at and after dusk just encourages disaster, especially when an omen of death is skulking around the premises. And then, hopefully, we can go back to the mansion and get some rest."

Even though he muttered the last part, something in Nathalie's posture told him that she very much agreed with the sentiment. His father must be working her to the bone if she was as desperate for some rest as he was. A determined glint replaced the anxiety in Nathalie's eyes.

"I'll see what I can do."


Guilt gnawed at Félix, making it hard for him to find sleep that night. Not that his other nights were anything close to restful, but at least then he had been able to strategize. This night, all he could think about was that a death had occurred during an Akuma attack for the very first time and that it was very likely that the Court was involved. And if they were, it was most likely even his fault that they had taken notice of René in the first place, freshly fae-marked as he had been.

All these years, Félix had fought in the shadows, using his high position in the Court and the fair folk's general wariness, if not even fear, of Cat Sidhe to dissuade them from mischief. He had stopped counting how many fey kidnappings, violent acts or even murders he had prevented that way. Adrien had called him the unsung hero behind the scenes and while it sounded noble, Félix felt little pride in it. It had meant getting back down to a fae's level of thinking, sometimes even unrooting himself for it, and that was generally an unpleasant experience. He was glad that he could finally stop being the unsung hero and be a real hero instead, but the drawback was that there was no one to take his previous place in the shadows.

Félix could feel in his gut that this death was just the first of many and that the Parisian streets were about to become more of a warzone during Akuma attacks than ever before. Because now, it was personal and if the fae could do one thing with unmatched determination, then it was following through on grudges and vendettas. The Court chief was pissed off, so the entire Court was pissed off and trying to pin blame on all culprits possible. Unfortunately, that meant him twice over, both as Félix Agreste and as Chat Noir.

"Stop thinking so loudly! I can't sleep," Plagg complained, one eye a slit open and focused on Félix with the kind of glare only a feline could manage.

"Oh, so you can read minds now," he said sarcastically while focusing his view back on the ceiling.

Plagg yawned. "I could, but I'm not interested."

There was some silence in which Félix tried not to make any more disruptive humming noises while thinking. Plagg, however, hadn't gone back to sleep in the first place.

"Paris is becoming more dangerous by the minute. You feel it too, don't you, kitten?" Plagg said.

"Hard not to feel it. I hate forebodings."

"They're useful though."

"For retaliation maybe. There's no way to prepare for every single catastrophe."

"Sheesh, I forgot what a pessimist you are sometimes," Plagg said and even without looking Félix could tell that he was rolling his eyes. "We'll go to the Guardian tomorrow and talk to him about what to do. Seeing how things are, it might be at the time to bring out more Miraculouses. After all, exactly this is what they were used for in the past."

"Which makes it even more ironic for me to have a Miraculous in the first place."

Plagg huffed. "You're part of the solution, not the problem, kitten. The Court and their attempts of retaliation are the ones to look out for."

"Still, I don't think any new Miraculous holders would be able to deal with this. They'll need experience with the fae to do that."

The kwami yawned once more. "Well, you'll have plenty of time to talk to the Guardian about that tomorrow. But let it be a worry for tomorrow, kitten. You need sleep and if you don't get it before visiting Marinette and Adrien, they'll both tear you a new one again, you know."

Félix chuckled humourlessly. "Oh, trust me, I know."


Despite every intention to sleep, Félix had only managed a few measly hours of actual rest before his alarm had woken him back up. He was impatient to talk to the Guardian and would have done it before class, if he hadn't been so tired that he was afraid to topple over. His early trip through Paris therefore didn't include the old man's massage parlour but rather a Starbucks and two cups of the strongest coffee he dared to order.

The fact that he didn't get any odd looks about it at school whatsoever should probably concern him more than it did. After all, having two coffees entirely to himself wasn't the norm for most people, but with how endlessly tired he had been lately, it had become the norm for him.

He sat down in the back of the classroom instead of taking Adrien's seat at the front and took a well-deserved sip of his already half-empty cup. Only then did he dare to turn towards the occupant of the window-side bench: Juleka. Apart from her, only Alix was already in class, which worked to his advantage. No humans yet.

"Do you, perchance, know anything I don't know about the occurrence yesterday afternoon, Juleka?" He asked as casually as he could.

The fuath ducked and then spoke so quietly that even with his exceptionally good hearing Félix had trouble making out the words.

"Depends on what you know."

"Ah, I see. We're playing that game now," he muttered with a clearly annoyed undertone.

Alix snickered. "Just be more specific," she advised. "Like this: Hey Jules, do you know who killed that man yesterday? See? Easy."

Félix glared at her.

"I am not sure who it was," Juleka eventually mumbled. "None of the fuath for sure, I would have known then."

"Then let me phrase it like this: Is the Court holding enough of a grudge against me to kill someone I cursed recently?"

Juleka shook her head. "My standing in the Court isn't high enough to know those things."

"They're always making things complicated, aren't they?" Alix said and leaned her head on her hand to look back at them. "Retaliation this, Court ranks that. Don't you Unseelies just let loose once in a while and do things for fun?"

"Trust me when I say that you do not want to see an Unseelie let loose," Félix said, shuddering at the thought.

"I second that!" A voice from the front of the classroom suddenly piped up. Bri had arrived.

"Ever saw that, changeling?" Alix asked her, sounding intrigued.

Bri nodded as she set down her bag.

"Too many times to count. Redcaps in wars mostly. Again: not recommendable. Involves a lot of death, gore and nastiness."

"You know, your masquerade is losing its believability when you're on time too often," Félix said as he definitely did not want to hear details about fae wars.

"Oh shut it, you grumpy cat. Why are you hiding in the back anyway? Afraid of me?" She grinned.

"No, I'm simply deserving of a break from the constant chattering that is usually going on in the front. For today at least."

"You know what? Fair point."

Any retort he might have had to that was cut off by Nathaniel's arrival. He shyly greeted everyone, gave Alix a fist bump and then sat down in the seat next to Félix.

"You're back here for today?" He asked after greeting him.

Félix nodded. "I suspect the front to be nearby unbearable today, so I'm trying to keep a little bit of a distance to Alya."

Nathaniel nodded, fully understanding that sentiment—it was only half a lie as well.


Somehow, Félix managed to get through the school day alright, even sneaking in a nap at his house during lunch break. After school, however, when he had expected to go to the Guardian, Alya had delayed those plans with the sudden proposition to go eat ice cream. And…well, it would've been odd for him to say 'no' to one of their nowadays rare outings, so he tagged along.

"You know, it's kinda weird for Nette to ditch us like that," Nino remarked as they sat down in the corner booth and each took a menu.

"She didn't ditch us, she just said she's busy studying for exams," Félix remarked while not taking his eyes off the extensive selection of sundaes. It might as well be a truth as a lie. With Bri, he could never be sure, especially since she was still trying to talk to Chloé about the murder.

"Poor girl. She probably fell behind because she's still heartbroken about the thing with Adrien. You should have seen her on Friday, you two. She failed at Mario Kart worse than Félix does! It's like she has been replaced by a clone or something."

"Adrien isn't doing so well either," Félix said in an attempt to veer the conversation away from the dangerous topic Alya's joking remark could spiral into.

"You actually heard from him, dude?" Nino asked eagerly.

Félix nodded. "On the one hand, being out of Paris is good for him because he doesn't have to anticipate Akuma attacks at all times. On the other hand, it's stressing him out to know we are in danger. When he doesn't stress himself out over that, he beats himself up about the thing with Marinette. He didn't know that he'd be leaving when he was either, so he feels horrible for having left things with her like he did. Originally, he thought they could be just friends for a while and he never meant to create a physical separation," he lied fluently, trying to sneak in as much of the truth as he possibly could.

Both his friends nodded understandingly.

"I swear, one day I'll punch your dad in the face for this!" Alya voiced one of her favourite threats to which Félix could only sigh.

"This and many other things. Trust me, if problems would be resolved that easily, I would have done it myself a long time ago."

A short silence fell over the table when the three of them skimmed through the ice cream menus. It ended abruptly when Alya, apparently having made her choice, noisily slammed her menu down on the table, startling not only Félix and Nino, but also some other patrons.

"Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room: yesterday."

Félix unwisely avoided her gaze, afraid she'd see the guilt in his eyes that might clue her in to his indirect involvement in the matter.

"Alya, I don't think this is the right–" Nino started, only to be interrupted by his girlfriend.

"Everyone is talking about it and I'm running the Ladyblog, so I need to say something sooner or later! Please just help me work through it, okay? I don't want to spread panic or anything."

Félix sighed heavily. "As noble as that is of you, I don't think trying to follow up on a murder is such a good idea."

Now he looked at her again, trying his best to relay a message he had already impaired on her half a year ago, hoping against hope that she'd remember. She threw him a look back that he could only describe as stubborn defiance.

"People are going to address it in the comments of my blog anyway, so it's better to make an official statement, if only a short one."

Félix let out another heavy sigh.

"Look, Alya, the situation is–"

He had been about to say something along the lines of 'complicated' when the waiter interrupted him, though probably not on purpose.

"Hello, may I take your order?"

Well, first things first: "Can you make the iced coffee a triple espresso?"

Félix was glad that, even in a crisis, he managed to keep his priorities straight. No serious conversations that toed on the line of fae business without caffeine in his system! The two coffees from that morning had, to his great dismay, lost their effectiveness hours ago.

"Certainly!" The waiter said with a grin, which Félix answered with a polite nod.

After Nino and Alya had also ordered, Félix fixed the latter with a contemplative stare. She, already used to this from him, raised her eyebrows in a silent question.

"Wait, dude, you just said murder. Wasn't it an accident?"

Shit. That's exactly why I need more coffee!

"Let's just say that it would be easy to hit someone in the head with a heavy object directly after an Akuma attack and then pretend it was the Akuma who caused the casualty. As far as I recall, René wasn't the most…innocent of people. He certainly had dirt on him, including enemies. I'm not supposed to say much about it—badmouthing the company and all that, you know—but drugs aren't exactly rare in the modelling business."

Alya and Nino stared at him as if he had just opened an entirely new door for them and they didn't like what they saw beyond. They probably had envisioned modeling as a more innocent profession, based on him and Adrien.

"Dude," Nino said, otherwise speechless.

"But then why didn't the Cure heal him?" Alya threw in.

Félix shrugged. "Probably because it happened after the Cure was cast, as we know from extensive records that it usually heals basically everything. Now, this is my personal opinion and not a definite statement, but I think that with the death happening so close to an Akuma attack, it's a murder someone wants to pin on the Akuma to get away with it scot-free. So, you see, this is not a matter for the Ladyblog, Alya, but rather one for the police. I don't think further public investigation would help, since it could hinder them to catch the real culprit."

Alya nodded grimly.

"You could," Félix said hesitantly after contemplating it, "perhaps write an obituary for René—even though he doesn't deserve it." He tried to muffle the latter comment with a cough, but it seemed like it was still audible enough, at least judging by the weird and even disapproving looks Alya and Nino threw him. "I didn't know him well, but since he worked as a model for my father, I could perhaps take you to the next photoshoot with me. Then you can go around and discreetly and empathetically ask people for their input."

Alya's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea! And don't you empathise the word empathy to me, Monsieur 'he doesn't deserve an obituary'!"

Félix averted his eyes once more and tried to stomach the blow. He knew fully well that he wasn't as empathetic as a human should be—mainly because he wasn't human. To have it rubbed in his face like that though felt…somewhat hurtful. Especially at a time like this where staying on top of anything proved to be a struggle. Well, maybe he should just stop bad-mouthing dead or missing people in Alya's presence, as she seemed consistently horrified by that behaviour.

"Anyway," he said, trying to change the topic. "Before we can say for certain that it wasn't murder, I'd feel uneasy with you near Akuma attacks, Alya."

To his surprise, she sighed heavily in defeat.

"Did you all plan to guilt trip me or something? Mari said something like that last Friday as well, that she's afraid I could get killed. Permanently."

"She's right, you know," Nino said with a worried glance. "I love how passionate you are about your blog, babe, but it's scaring the shit out of me to see you in the line of fire."

Félix had to grudgingly resign himself to thanking Bri for whatever she had done. One and a half years of constant arguments about the topic with Alya had led nowhere, but apparently a single conversation with the changeling had broken through Alya's stubborn façade. He was somewhat impressed.

"Maybe invest in a drone if you're that dead-set on filming," Félix suggested.

Alya perked up. "That's a great idea! I'd have to look into laws because I know there are places where they're forbidden, but it still could work. I mean, they have news helicopters taking footage too during attacks, so I don't think it would be much of a problem, right? Though I'd have to see if there are special regulations or if I need a license or–"

And then she was off, rambling about possibilities to side-step laws she was looking up on her phone in record-speed while Nino gave his input. Félix, meanwhile, used this moment to lean back into the slightly sticky fake-leather couch of the booth and think over how to proceed from here. Illusions were a good start, but seeing how the attack from the previous day went, it wasn't enough by a long shot.


"Trixx, may I ask why you need to re-enchant the stones after less than a week?" Félix asked, as this had puzzled him on the entire way to the Guardian.

If kwamis were gods, and even Nooroo surpassed Adrien's current powers by far, then why would glamour-holding stones need re-enchantment after merely five days when the stone holding his own glamour needed it only every two or three weeks? Félix doubted that Trixx was in any way short on power to make the enchantment last longer.

"Ah, an interesting question, kitten," the fox said with a grin once they were done with re-enchanting the fire agate.

"I somehow doubt you lack the magic power to make the enchantment last longer," Félix eventually voiced his thought.

"You doubt correctly. This is not a question of power, but one of recognizing the nature of what my magic does. Glamours and illusions share the flaw of being deceptions and lies. Lots of people like to believe what they see, but a fair few aren't that easily convinced. It takes just one single person to see past a glamour to let it break for them entirely. But glamour spells are plentiful with practically endless many variations, so I'm going to enchant those gems anew after every time you needed to use my glamours, be it in an Akuma attack or another emergency."

"So, it's a safety measure then," Félix concluded.

"Precisely."

"I didn't really use them much in the last fight though. For the most part I distracted the Akuma and tried to lead it away from civilians."

"We thought it would be wise to do so now," Monsieur Chan said from where he sat at the other side of the table with his obligatory cup of oolong tea. "Especially considering the most recent events, it would be unwise to take any risks."

Félix nodded at that. Risks and uncertainty were luxuries of the past.

"Speaking of risks, Plagg mentioned that you might choose new Miraculous holders in this situation."

The Guardian sighed deeply in a similarly defeated way as Alya had earlier.

"Under different circumstances, I would. With the Court focused on Miraculous users at the moment, it would put that new wielder into lethal danger though, especially since they'd have to learn about the fae to begin with."

"If only Marinette could come back and we could let Bri deal with the fae," Félix mumbled.

It was frustrating to have the seemingly perfect solution just out of reach.

"You could try to let the fights end quicker," Trixx proposed. "That would give the fae less of an opportunity to blame casualties on the Akumas. And, mad or not, they still wouldn't do anything that would draw attention to themselves on a big scale, so they most likely wouldn't act outside of Akuma attacks."

"If ending the fights quicker would be that easy, I would've done it by now. But I don't have the experience to make that happen," Félix said.

"You need someone experienced with Akuma fights to teach you," Plagg pointed out. "Lucky for you, there already are two benched heroes that are more than happy to give you advice."

"I'd need advice during an Akuma attack and it's not like they can call me during one and advise me via phone."

Monsieur Chan suddenly stood up. "I think you're onto something there," he said, making Félix turn around to him again.

"I am?"

The Guardian nodded and walked over to the gramophone he had taken the Fox necklace out of just minutes ago.

"The Miraculouses are adapting to the holders' needs and thus to modern technology. In the past, the weapons were just that, weapons. With recent technological developments and changing life standards, however, they have changed to serve as communication tools as well that allow you to stay in contact with other Miraculous holders."

"That might be true, but I'll need my baton to fight."

"Ever heard of a Bluetooth earpiece, kitten? I gave your brother a tracker once, so I could easily provide you with an earpiece too," Plagg said with a satisfied grin.

Félix needed a moment to catch up to the others' train of thought and then it suddenly clicked.

"Wait, please correct me if I'm wrong, but you want to give Marinette a new Miraculous?! Not for fighting but to let her and Adrien communicate with me, and maybe even Bri, during Akuma attacks and advise us?"

That wasn't a bad idea at all. More than that, it could actually work! The Guardian nodded and returned with an octagonal box, one that looked identical to the one Adrien had found Plagg's ring in.

"It's our best plan for now," Monsieur Chan said and gave Félix the small box. "And I think this one will not only let them help you, but will help Marinette and your brother as well."