"Tikki, Plagg. The world needs you."
Tikki opened her eyes.
Everything that didn't hurt felt numb. Her bones ached, but a quick check confirmed she still had both antennae, all three tails and no open wounds. Tikki held back a relieved sigh: her injuries were not as bad as they could've been, as always. Not for the first time, she was thankful for her good fortune— if it'd been Plagg in her position he would've needed splints from tail to ears.
Tikki moved to sit up, her head swimming with dizziness. How long had she been out? Startled, Tikki realised she'd no memory of what had happened to her. Last thing she remembered was seeing Marinette, flying towards her, then... boom, blank, nothing. For all she knew, she could've dreamed the whole thing.
Still groggy from sleep, she looked around, letting her eyes adjust slowly to the darkness. From what she could tell, she was perched on a thick branch, the width about twice her height, under a layered canopy of oak leaves. She'd been sat on a misshapen bed made of fabric scraps and feather down, complete with a sewn-together leaf blanket and soft dirt pillow, a Tikki-sized head dent now imprinted in it. Next to the makeshift bed was a bottle cap full of water and a blackberry resting on a piece of bark, presumably left as her breakfast, or perhaps dinner, seeing how late it was— the sky was already twinkling with stars. To her left she could see a hole in the trunk of the tree, covered by an oblong chunk of wood acting as a door. A closer look saw a bunch of little premature privet leaves pieced together neatly, linked together with grass as thread, almost like a bead curtain, hung just behind the door to keep out flies. It was meticulously made; the maker had undoubtedly put a lot of time into into it.
Tikki frowned. Clearly someone had been taking care of her, someone small. At the very least that proved Hawk Moth hadn't got to her, that much was obvious. If the careful decor and forethought around her was anything to go by, this mystery person, or persons, really made an effort in the pursuit of easy comfort, something Hawk Moth would never have offered her. He wouldn't have left her outside either. Strangely, that thought comforted her. Surely no one evil could be into eco-friendly embroidery and open-plan tree branch balconies.
As if on cue, there was a noise from inside the trunk, like a door swinging shut, and then a sudden offended shout of surprise. Tikki strained to listen.
"Oh my stars, will you watch what you're doing! You nearly knocked the trinkets down, and would you be careful! What if you woke her up?" Someone tutted and snapped. Their voice wasn't harsh, more chastising, as if they'd had similar conversations before, and frequently.
Another, more lazy voiced drawled a reply. "I thought we were trying to wake her up."
"Not like that you idiot!" Said the first voice curtly, "No one wants to wake up to doors slamming! How rude are you?"
"That's not fair. You slam things shut all the time. Besides she might already be awake, you don't know." Was the reply, voice relaxed and casual. They didn't seem intimidated by the other's outburst, if anything they were deliberately pushing the first voice's buttons, enjoying the back and forth.
"We left her alone for two minutes! There's no way she's already woken up in that time!"
"Oh yeah? Wanna bet?"
"No! We're not doing that again. One bet at a time only."
"Aww. Boo. You're no fun."
Tikki blinked. Hang on. She knew those voices. She hadn't heard them in centuries, but she definitely recognised them. Though, saying that, she couldn't pinpoint exactly who they belonged to, even if she was certain she could trust them. It had been a long time, and she'd met a lot of people.
"Hello?" She called towards the hole in the tree trunk, "Who's there?"
There was a clattering sound from deeper in the tree, like someone had fallen, followed by laughter, a sharp smacking sound and some grumbling. After a moment, Tikki could hear footsteps gradually getting louder, amongst more grumbles and irritated noises.
Suddenly, the makeshift door swung open and promptly swung off it's hinges, having been pushed too forcefully, and it slipped off the branch and fell to the ground. A moment later it's leafy undercoat fell too, though the person in the doorway didn't seem to care.
At first glance, they looked like an ordinary grey squirrel, but closer inspection revealed strangely shaped whiskers and a larger-than-average head: tell-tale characteristics of a Kwami. Their long fluffy tail took up most of the doorway and they grinned cheerfully when they saw Tikki's wide-eyed stare.
Almost immediately, the squirrel Kwami was pushed out of the way by another: the second was covered in smooth feathers, browns mixed with white and black, two long rounded feathers on the top of their head, and no visible nose— though beak may have been more appropriate. They walked onto the branch and smiled, wiping their forehead in relief.
Tikki gasped. "Chitters? Biirdy? Is that you?"
The squirrel grinned wider, punching the sparrow lightly on the wing. "See, see. Told you she'd remember us. O ye of little faith."
"Well, it has been a while, Chitters. There was no guarantee she'd remember who we were. Besides, it's very dark out, and she could've been concussed, or experienced memory loss, you had no way of knowing—"
"Sure, whatever you say birdbrain. I won the bet and I expect my payment right now so you don't forget, a-please and thank you."
Biirdy made an exasperated sound, but turned back to towards the tree nonetheless, "Give me a moment. Apologies, Tikki."
The sparrow Kwami quickly ducked back into the tree tunnel, emerging a second later with an acorn, which Chitters instantly shoved in his mouth, chewing loudly.
Tikki giggled at Biirdy's disgusted expression, suddenly feeling very nostalgic. She tried to get up, to greet them properly, but stumbled, tripping over her feet as a wave of nausea swept over her. Both Kwami gave her a concerned look and moved to help her up, but she waved off their help kindly, settling herself into a cross legged position instead.
She smiled wide, still a little dizzy, "H-How are you two here? I'm a little surprised to see you to be honest, I'd thought your gems were cracked during the... y'know."
Chitters shook his head. Acorn crumbs flew everywhere as he spoke, "Nah. They were fakes. We traded 'em for some regular old brown quartz when He wasn't looking. Hid our real gems in our mouths the whole time."
"It was my idea." Biirdy said smugly, ruffling his feathers so he could sit more comfortably. His expression soured a little. "We weren't going to let Him use us as weapons."
"How'd you get out of your containment boxes?"
"The girl let us out." Chitters said, picking at his teeth. "She brought us the fakes too."
"Oh."
None of them felt the need to elaborate on that. It was enough said.
"We saved a good hundred lives with that little trick. Possibly more." Biirdy continued proudly.
"Yeah, no one in our division got broke, but do I know a certain Swan Kwami who got very upset at some minor scratches on her opal. Completely ungrateful that I saved her stupid feather butt, but ain't that just typical of her."
Tikki's mouth hung open. "That's amazing! Oh my st— how did you remove the gems from the miraculous? I thought they were stuck tight?"
Chitters plopped the acorn hat on his head and smirked. "Biirdy made a solvent from the materials in His workshop, then I flew around with Babbs and we freed as many of us as we could. I dissolved, he added fresh glue, she switched the gems. Faultless teamwork. Though, truth be told, Babbsy did drop a few."
"Babbs?" Tikki sat up straighter, "Is she here too?"
The Kwami looked at each other, stricken. Biirdy sighed, turning back to Tikki with a solemn expression. "We lost her."
Tikki felt a shiver down her back. "Lost her? Lost her how?"
"Her miraculous— we don't know where it is. Last we saw her was sometime in the 1400s, if my memory holds true; a little girl in Greece grabbed her hairpin and we lost them in the crowds." He cleared his throat nervously, "I'm sorry."
Tikki sank back onto her bed. "Oh."
Chitters gave her a worried look, "We don't think she was cracked, she's a scrappy kid. No news is good news right?"
Tikki nodded sullenly, memories flitting in quick succession through her head. "I didn't apologise for what I said to her… or for what happened. I should've been watching over her."
Biirdy and Chitters exchanged another look. They mouthed words at each other quickly, agitated, before Biirdy ran a wing through his brow feathers, frustrated. He spoke in a gentle voice, no blame in his tone, "She told us what you said. Before we… before we got separated."
Tikki shrunk into her shoulders a little. "Oh. She did?" She was trying too hard to sound uninterested.
"She wasn't angry, if that's what you're thinking. Of course, she was a little upset for a while, not just with you but with herself. If anything she took it as a challenge to do better." Biirdy murmured softly, "Thought she just needed more practice. Babbs always wanted to be just like you, but then, you already knew that. She really looked up to you, Tikki."
"Yeah... I— ugh..." Tikki ran a paw down her face with a grimace, "I didn't mean what I said, I was just so... so shocked! Luck magic, purification magic, wasn't anything I thought she'd be into and yet she— she went and— it all went so wrong—"
"Yeah, we know." Chitters had decided to sit against the oak's trunk, and he spoke from a comfortable position he'd made using his tail as a lean-on pillow, "It wasn't her finest moment. But what you said stuck, I think. She didn't try anything quite that stupid again."
Tikki stifled an unexpected laugh. It was nice be among people who understood for once. It was rare she saw Kwami outside her brood and she missed the simple ease of familiar conversation. "Now that I don't believe. Remember the time she bet she could jump over that tree stump, back home, but she caught a branch mid-air and ended up headfirst in Lunaa's living room? She sulked for days because the bandages made her ears itch, but it didn't stop her from trying again!"
Chitters laughed, leaning back on his tail, "Oh yeah! I'd almost forgotten that! She was trying to beat Kaanga at no-flight-bouncin', right? Ha! That day was such a riot! Gosh, I miss that girl's unique kind of stupid. No one else can match her."
"She also thought she could chug an entire barrel of assorted berry juice in one go without throwing up." Biirdy half covered his smile with a wing, "She was wrong. It was gross, but it was also very funny."
"I miss her." Tikki blurted, and though the admission wasn't unexpected, it brought a jarring stop to conversation. "I miss her a lot. There's so much I need to say to her, aside from an apology and— and you can never tell her I said this or her ego will inflate larger than Plagg's— but she had a real talent for luck magic. She just needed guidance and a little bit of patience and she could've been magical. She was just using the energy the wrong way. If only she slowed down enough to listen she'd be… well… I guess it doesn't matter now."
"Well, patience has never been her strength, but you should know she did practice. After we were separated from your brood, Babbs, she really did make an effort. She was really getting good too." Biirdy laughed, waggling a feather. "She said 'next time I see Tikki, I'm gunna make her so proud', and, oh my, you would be, I can tell you that!"
"Oh, I've no doubt about that, I'm always proud of her." Tikki murmured, sinking into a fond smile. "She never fails to surprise me, that one. She and her sisters were ever eventful. Oh, that reminds me, I haven't asked, how are your broods? Have you seen any of them since?"
Biirdy hummed, thinking, "If memory serves, my brood's all over. Simbaa's in a zoo somewhere in Europe, last I knew of. His holder was a zoo keeper last I knew, and I believe she lets him stay around his patrons, which is quite lovely really. I've no idea where Coo is I'm afraid, likely London what with how many pigeons have gathered there, but Flutter and Kaanga are both somewhere in Oceania according to Lunaa, who's in hiding now by the way, terrible business with the unicorns— hunted for their horns. She's… she was very upset." Biirdy murmured. "Y'know, that's made me quite melancholy actually, I think— I think I'll just step out for a cup of seed puree, please do excuse me, Tikki, terribly sorry. Must compose myself."
Biirdy rose, hiding his face with a wing. As he shuffled down the stairs, Chitters turned to Tikki with an apologetic shrug. "Sorry, Tik-Tik, don't take that personally, he's been pretty emotional lately. Something about the pollen count. I can tell you about my lot if you want?"
She nodded, worry apparent on her face. "Of course, I'd love to hear about them, but are you sure he's okay? I didn't mean make him upset."
"Yeah, he'll alright, he's just sad. Misses his big sister mostly, you know how it is, absence and that."
She did, too well, but she didn't need to give him an answer for him to know that. They were all missing people.
"So then, uhh, lemme think." Chitters said, scrunching up his face comically, "Chardonnay's in England, living it up with the Queen's swans. I think the Queen herself might have her miraculous actually, it was tiara or something like that if I remember rightly. Greenie is somewhere in the Amazon last I heard, something about getting back to his roots, whatever that means. Squeeak and Squawwk live with some old lady in Ireland, and uhhhh, Miitzii is in Sri Lanka. No idea why, they don't even have Sugar Gliders in Sri Lanka, but eh whatever, it's her life. No idea about Chatters, but that slick bastard's probably around somewhere, he's too much of an arse to die. Seen Plagg's young wielder out and about a lot too, you guys met up yet?"
Tikki grinned brightly, her mood perking back up. "Yeah! We caught up recently actually! He's as greedy for cheese as ever!"
Chitters laughed, "I know that feeling, I couldn't go a day without a nice crunchy nut. Glad Plagg's found a good one after all this time, makes a nice change of pace."
Tikki nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "He seems very happy with him too! I haven't seen him smile like that in a long while!"
Chitters lent back on his elbows, smiling lazily, "That's great, Tikki. I'm happy for the old tomcat, he really deserves a big dose of that good good sunshine happy. Have you met his charge then? Seems a sweet kid."
"Yeah, I did. He's an honest boy, he won't do Plagg wrong."
"Good, good." Chitters nodded, gently closing his eyes, "Hey Tikki, been meaning to ask, those rules of yours, you still following them? Biirdy still insists we do, but forgive me if I'm a little lax. They don't all apply to little ol' me, and I've got no human to speak of, I'm afraid. My bad."
Tikki waved a hand, "That's alright, I don't expect you to follow them to the letter."
Chitters raised a paw, "Ah! But you expect Plagg to, don't you? Pollen, Duusu and Trixx too I bet." He chuckled, "Your big brothers probably helped you write 'em out, I expected them to be big fans, y'know. Wayzz for sure seemed the type, haha."
Tikki smirked, "I only ask them to because they've got to set an example! If not, us Kwami would be in all kinds of trouble." Her cheeky expression flickered a little, "I know the last one is a little... controversial though. I don't blame you for wanting to do your own thing."
"Which one is that? The loyalty thing? Aww now, Tik-Tik, chill, it's all good. Biirdy and me both know you only made those rules to keep us all as safe as possible. It'll start to suck for us something shit if we got on the bad side of our holders, we get it, don't you worry. Self-preservation and all that." Chitters leant over to pat her on the head, earning him an exasperated eye roll, "Don't feel guilty for doing what you had to at the time. Besides, nothing's stopping you from a little update if you feel the need for it! You wrote the book sweetheart, it's yours to edit."
"Thanks Chitters. That makes me feel a lot better." Tikki smiles fondly, "I've really missed you and Biirdy. More than a lot."
"Aww, Tikki!" Chitters held a paw to his cheek, waving the other one at her coyly, "You stop that! You'll make an old squirrel blush!"
"You're not that old, no older I am anyway." Tikki mumbled jovially, reaching for the bottle cap of water. She stopped suddenly, the cap millimetres from her lips. "Oh my stars, I just realised I didn't even ask, how are you? Where are your miraculous?"
"Eh, we're alright. Biirdy's always cranky though, going stir crazy with nothing to do. We can only go out at certain times during the day, when there's only a few people, you know how it is, and it's making him a little cuckoo. It's pretty easy to blend in, there's sparrows and grey squirrels all over this place, but it's not always worth the risk. We only ever leave to get Biirdy's seeds most of the time anyway. As for the gems, they got reset in new mediums recently. They're downstairs somewhere, in one of the cupboards, I'm not sure which. Biirdy organises everything, and as always, I'm not allowed to touch 'important things like our immortal souls', so, y'know. Not much change there. In fact, there's a whole room I'm not allowed to touch—"
"Chitters? Where's my door?" Biirdy called from the trunk, audibly making his way back up the stairs. "Where's my leaf curtain?"
"Ah. I better go get those off the ground, sorry Tik-Tik. Enjoy your berry in the meantime, it is the sugariest thing we had. Thanks for the chat, was good to catch up a little." Chitters leapt up, stretching until his back cracked. "Laters." He then dropped like a stone off the side of the branch, cheering at the sudden rush.
Biirdy stuck his head round the tree hole, holding a bottle cap of pureed birdseed between his wings, "Has he gone to go get them?" When Tikki nodded, he moved over to sit opposite her. "Good, that should give us a moment to talk without him."
"Oh?" Tikki tilted her head in surprise. "There's something you can't say in front of him?"
Biirdy shuffled uncomfortably. "More that I don't want to worry him with my suspicions. I'm assuming that the villain currently terrorising you and Plagg has Nooroo captive? Judging by the quality of that magic, those Akumas, it couldn't be anyone else's work."
Tikki stared at the bottle cap in her lap, humming a reply. It was too difficult to try to hide the sadness in her voice.
"I see, condolences." He patted her knee with a wing, feeling awkward, 'Well, from that, what I wanted to ask about was Duusu. Seeing as so many of your brood are already in the area, its a safe enough assumption that the rest may be drawn here subconsciously, you agree?"
Tikki's head shot up so fast she thought it would detach from her neck. "I do, but Duusu? Why Duusu?"
"Well, before you and Plagg re-emerged, Duusu had a holder. Here, in Paris."
"What?" Tikki's mouth was agape. "When? How? Surely Wayzz would've mentioned that to Plagg and I before we left Fu?"
Biirdy's eyebrows lifted. "Wayzz is here too?"
"Yes, his holder is the Guardian, they're running a massage salon left way of the Eiffel Tower, but that's not what we should be focusing on right now, Biirdy! I'll fill you in on that another time!"
"Right, sorry." He shook his head apologetically, "Please do, but if anything it gives more credit to my theory. I'll admit, I don't know much of this holder, as she wasn't as obvious as yours or Plagg's is in her method of heroism. She was more of a night-time vigilante, you see. I believe she was called Paonne, thought it might have been Peahen, it was a while ago, I do think I had it written down somewhere—"
"Biirdy, focus."
"Apologies, the little details frustrate me. Well, again, I don't know much of her personality or life outside of her moonlight street fighting, but she was tall, blonde, bright eyed, lithe, very much the image of a youthful hero. Her costume was beautiful, as while I am myself partial to the more natural marron hue, her ombre of green and blue down that gorgeous cape was certainly enchanting. Chitters and I would often watch her battles from our tree, cheering her on in silence. Most of her activity took place about fourteen to fifteen years prior to today; stopping robberies, dropping crooks at the station and hand to hand combat predominantly. I rarely saw her use Duusu's power. She really seemed to really, genuinely love her escapades, and she was good at them too."
He sipped at the smoothie in his bootle cap, as if needing a short reprieve from his thoughts. "Until there was… an accident, about six months after she first appeared. Well, not an accident exactly, but enough of an event for her to never be seen again. I don't know all of what happened or who started it, but I caught flashes of it in the chaos. She was attacked. I don't know by who, but they had a Miraculous— who's jewel, I do not know, I didn't get a good enough look, but it was dark. An onyx perhaps, or maybe a smoky quartz of some kind. I saw from this tree the commotion and flew over hoping to lend a wing, completely forgetting to wake Chitters in the process, and I witnessed much of their fight. The perpetrator attacked her with a knife and it clipped Duusu's brooch before her holder could defend herself."
Tikki gasped. "But the gem was unharmed?"
"I can't be sure. Then, I noticed the bag on the attacker's back, as they pulled it round to rummage through it, mid-battle. It wasn't part of the Miraculous suit, definitively human made, nothing magicked. They'd planned enough to have transformed without it, highly suspect don't you agree? They pulled from this bag a book, a book that was our size."
Tikki jolted, "What did it look like?"
"Well it had—"
"A red cover? Gold trimmings? Drawings on the f-f-front?"
Biirdy looked at her surprised, "Why, yes! It was horrifying. My goodness, have you seen the awful thing?"
Tikki's heart fell to her feet. "C-Continue first, then I'll explain."
"Of course. The attacker read from the book, in our language, with such a horrible accent that I couldn't make out the words, and something in Duusu's brooch— it changed." Biirdy closed his eyes as if reeling from the memory alone. "The scream from her holder… I'd be thankful to never hear that sound again. She glowed all over for a moment, bright white, as if burning from the inside out, then collapsed. The attacker started to write something down in a notebook, so I took the opportunity to check the bag for any other weapons. Aside from that horrible little book, they had the Book of Miraculous, amongst several other dangerous objects, and I couldn't just leave those precious artefacts there, not with some woman-attacking vagrant. So I called my sparrows and, in the ensuing panic, we rushed the bag out of there. Someone else removed Duusu's girl, I didn't see who, but it definitely wasn't the attacker. I saw them flee. They searched around for the bag first, which was by now hidden in my tree, before running at the sound of sirens. I can only assume a human had also witnessed the crime from a window and had called the authorities."
Biirdy twisted the cap in his lap, "In my haste, however, I lost the books, tipped out in the rush. I have all the other artefacts safe, however. Importantly as well, the books weren't recovered by the perpetrator, or else why would they have looked for the bag? I believe they were taken by whoever rescued that girl. You said you've seen the smaller book?"
Tikki sat back on her haunches, dumbstruck. "You said Paonne was blonde. Tall. Green eyed."
"I said she was bright eyed. I don't know what colour her real eyes were, Duusu changed their shade." Biirdy peered at Tikki's expression. "I also said I don't know for sure if her name was Paonne or if it was Peahen— Tikki, are you sure you're alright?"
"How long ago was this again?" Tikki managed, "Fourteen to fifteen years ago?"
"Yes? Tikki, my dear you're starting to worry me."
"That's the same age as Plagg's holder. Oh my stars, I've never felt more stupid in my life." Tikki pulled an antennae through her paws. "I'm so stupid. All the clues were right there."
"Tikki, please, fill me in on your thoughts!" Biirdy cried, a little distraught. "And, my goodness, he's that young? That's a child fighting a criminal, Tikki! Your girl is surely older?"
"Not now." Tikki locked eyes with Biirdy. "These words do not leave this branch." She took a deep breath. "I'm about to break a rule."
Biirdy inhaled sharply and sat taken aback. "Oh my stars and comets."
Tikki nodded, the movement as severe as her tone. "Duusu is currently in the Agreste mansion under some kind of spell. Her eyes are black, she's practically unresponsive and as stoic as a statue." Biirdy's surprised and horrified gasp didn't come as a shock. "I found her in a vault behind a painting of Gabriel Agreste's absentee wife."
Her words got quicker. "His wife who was blonde, tall, bright-green eyed and has a fourteen-to-fifteen year old son who barely knew his mother is the face of that vault. Aside from a very sick Duusu, I found… that book, as well as the Book of Miraculous, in there. Why would Gabriel Agreste, of all people, be keeping a miraculous and multiple books of Kwami knowledge in a secret vault, unless it had something to do with his missing wife?"
Her voice took on a shaky inflection as she struggled to repress her nervous stammer, "I got a closer look at the thing Biirdy and it's bad. That little book is evil. I don't know who wrote, or why they'd ever want to— I don't even want to think about it. The front cover alone depicts The Tragedy in gruesome realism, and though Plagg and I opened it we didn't get further than the introductory page. All I caught a glimpse before we shut it. It said: 'He never released His grip.'"
Both Kwami shook involuntarily.
"What I mean to say is, this can't be coincidental. Gabriel had both books and Duusu. His son wields another Kwami from our brood. Mrs Agreste's photo is not only on the vault, but in the vault. Is that not suspicious, or at the very least too convenient? If whatever that attacker did to Paonne was a slow moving ailment, something that builds with time, then that would fit with the timeline of her disappearance too. So, ultimately what I'm saying is, Mrs Agreste fits Paonne's profile completely. Gabriel must have been the one to rescue her, he had everything that had been on her during the attack stashed away, but… wait."
Tikki stopped, rubbing her temples. "Wait, wait… no. The little book was locked when we found it, with a powerful Quantum Lock too. No human can seal with something like that, or open it for that matter. You said the perp opened the book to chant from it?"
Biirdy nodded. "Yes, they flicked it open and hummed from somewhere mid-way through, if memory proves correct. If there'd been a lock on it, it was already open."
"Then who would've relocked it? Who could've? Duusu couldn't have, she's not strong enough on her own, especially if she's been ill and for so long. Maybe the attacker could have, if he'd had a powerful enough Kwami alongside him, but there's no way he could've gotten to the book if it was locked in a hidden safe no one else knew about so… how then? I mean, if Nooroo was here they'd be able to tell me who locked it, no one has a better way with magic than them, other than me perhaps, and I mean, saying that, they're practically as powerful as I am and all they'd need—"
Tikki's anntenae shot up straight. "Oh my stars. Oh my stars, meteors, comets and dustclouds. I hope I'm wrong. My goodness, I hope that I'm wrong."
"What? Tikki, what, what is it?" Biirdy called, leaning towards her, panicked. "What?"
Chitters, rather unceremoniously, chose that moment to appear by the side of the branch. "Hey, uhh, got your door for you birdbrain, but the leaf thingy's a little busted, it got torn on the way back up, my bad, total whoopsy on my part, and hey, I'll admit to it, but— uhh, guys, why's the vibe up here so tense? You two okay?"
Tikki lifted her eyes. Both Kwami looked back her with a mix of trepidation and confusion. She took a deep, deep breath.
"I know who Hawk Moth is."
