"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, Mahad." Atem promised, rubbing his neck and mad at himself for getting caught. "I'm sore, but it's nothing the Ladybugs won't clear up."

His best friend let out an irritated huff, "You nearly died."

"I didn't though." Atem's shrug only deepened Mahad's frustration, but he did not get to say more before the Pharaoh reached them. He paused and stared for just a moment, taking in the finger shaped marks around Atem's throat before wrapping his son up in a hug.

Atem could feel him trembling as he wrapped his arms around his father, feeling safe within Akhenemkhanon's grasp.

"I'm okay." Atem mumbled, anger turning to guilt as he realised just how worried his father had been. "Thanks to you."

"And Kheper." The Pharaoh's voice shook as badly as his physical form. "He helped save you. If he hadn't…"

The prince tightened his grasp. "Is… Is it over?"

"Unfortunately, no, but…" The Pharaoh paused and pulled away as footsteps approached. "Ah brother, good."

Atem shifted behind his father, recognising that Akhenaden being here meant that their location might not be secure. The Bearer of the Millennium Eye tried to peer around his brother to get a good look, but the Pharaoh put a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave him alone brother." As his father pushed his uncle to one side to talk, Atem was grateful for the distraction, not wanting to strain his throat by talking to his uncle and needing to find a way to get away from the group so he could transform.

Glancing around the room allowed him to spot green eyes staring at him from underneath the nearest bench. When they glanced to Atem's left, the prince turned that way, allowing him to spot an exit.

The prince was tempted. He could slip away and become Kem Mau. Then, if Deben showed up again, he would be ready.

But if he vanished, his father would demand to know where he had gone afterwards. If he was angry or worried enough, he could have Atem swear on the Scales that he had not put himself in danger later and the Cat Bearer would not be able to lie. That would lead to a reveal that was safe for no one.

He would just have to find a way to escape his father's sight legitimately first.

At Atem's subtle head shake, the Kwami of Destruction paused, waited for a moment when no one else was looking, then darted over to Atem.

The Prince scooped him up and had just enough time to hide him in his hair before a bunch of beaten and battered looking guards arrived, lead by a VERY unhappy Djau whose hesitated for a moment when he spotted Atem, only to get a look that was a weird mix of relief and concern, before heading over to the Pharaoh.

"Report." The Pharaoh's tone was sharp enough to make the newly arrived group wince.

When the man wearing the rope braid symbolising he had the highest rank refused to speak to the Pharaoh, Djau kicked him in the shin and stepped forward and kneeled respectfully. "Djau reporting, my Pharaoh. I found these men in and around Lord Khufu's chambers. They were meant to be arresting him on charges of theft and tax evasion, but he was turned into one of those creatures and…"

"We were overwhelmed, my Pharaoh." The one of rank, broke in.

"Under whose orders and with what evidence were you arresting him?" The Pharaoh growled out, gesturing for Djau to step aside. The Greek teen did not hesitate, not wanting to get in trouble for something that was not his fault.

"Mine, brother." Akhenaden stepped in with a slight grimace, "Your nephew noted inconsistencies in Khufu's tax amounts during the last audit and I was having Khufu brought in so I could question him about it."

The Pharaoh let out a huff, "Our nephew, Akhenaden. And you could have invited Khufu to your study, brother, rather than making a scene of it."

The Bearer of the Millennium Eye had to resist rolling his good eye. There was the diplomacy that his brother tried to encourage in his son and his court. "I could, but considering recent events, I thought it better to have a possible threat arrested than risk him being Farasha."

The Pharaoh nodded, clearly thinking, then turned to Mahad and Djau, before gesturing to Atem, "Get Heba somewhere safe."

"I…" Confusion flickered across both the faces of both young men, and Mahad glanced at Atem who nodded subtly. Then he straightened and nodded, "Yes, my Pharaoh."

"That's…?" Akhenaden tried, again, to get a good look at Atem but Kheper arrived, distracting everyone else. That allowed Djau to move into Akhenaden's line of sight, blocking the prince from sight, and herd Atem from the room.

There were a corridor and a half away when Djau wheeled on the prince and watched him carefully as he asked, "They thought you were Heba?"

"I pretended to be Heba to lure him away from your brother and well…" Atem tapped his throat, trying to work out whether Djau had seen through him or whether he knew where the real Heba was, "Father did not ask who I was, so I thought he knew but either he took Deben's bellowing for fact, or he's lying for some reason. Is Heba okay?"

"Heba's hurt, but he's somewhere safe." Djau huffed, his shoulders sinking a little, "I can put you with him."

"Not a good idea." Atem shook his head, not wanting to be where someone else was when he would need to leave again to be Kem Mau, "If we're in the same place and Deben breaks in, we would both be hurt since my sword won't do anything and…"

"Heba is great but not a fighter." Djau nodded, understanding.

"I have a safe room in my suite, if you'll escort me there, it'll be okay."

"You sure?"

"Deben can't get to me if I'm in a magically sealed chamber."

Djau, who had been taught about magic by his adoptive father, but had never really paid that much attention since he had little of his own, just accepted the prince's word on the matter and headed for Atem's suite. After all, Atem had much more experience than he did and would know the limits of the protections better than Djau did.

"He is correct. I can activate the wards easily." Mahad added to Djau's acceptance, "And help you stand guard."

As Atem followed the pair quickly, hoping Mahad had forgotten about the emergency exit from the safe room, he both felt bad for planning his escape and hoped Kheper could hold on until he got back.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Akhenaden demanded of the welp known as Kheper.

"I need to talk to his son." Kheper explained again, trying to keep the fear out of his voice as his uncle's ice cold tone reminded him that he was in a debate with two of the most powerful men in the country. Or rather one powerful man and one demi-god. "The butterfly normally goes into something important to the victim, but I don't know Khufu well enough to be able to guess where it is. If I can't find it, I can't purify him and heal..."

"Heba, my nephew." Kheper paused at the Pharaoh's words, then nodded like he was memorising the name.

"Second-nephew. Not closely related." Akhenaden huffed, annoyed that Kheper's Miraculous kept the Item holders from using their powers on him. While it was good to rule out that Heba and Kheper could not be the same person, since they had been seen in the same place, it meant he had absolutely no idea who was under the mask.

"Family is family." The Pharoah waved it off, "The Gods know, we have little enough of it left."

When his brother grudgingly nodded the Pharaoh turned to the guards, hesitated and then grimaced. "Who amongst you can I trust to bring Khafra here? Peacefully?"

"I can go." Kheper offered when the guards hesitated, "Do you know where he would be?"

"Right now?" Akhenaden paused to think, seeing this as a chance to lure Kheper into Deben's clutches without any guilt being thrown his way. "I would think he would be in his father's suite. The nobility was supposed to be told to head for their rooms when the bells rang, after all."

"And that would be?" The teen beneath the mask knew perfectly well where the suites belonging to the nobility rested, but in order to maintain cover, Kheper feigned ignorance.

"Up the main staircase, to the next floor, take a right and then it's the third suite on the left." The Bearer of the Millennium Eye huffed before turning to his brother, "Though I still think we should send a guard rather than someone we don't know."

"Kheper has proved his loyalty to Egypt. I have no concerns." The Pharaoh overruled him, just as Akhenaden had expected him to. "Once you have the information, let me know, Kheper."

"My Pharaoh…" Kheper hesitated, realising what he was about to say was possibly rude and not wanting to lose his head.

"As one avatar of the Gods to another, speak freely. We do not have time for mincing words." Akhenamkhanen's words made Kheper's eyes widen, caused Akhenaden to scowl and forced the guards to straighten slightly. It was one thing for Kheper to be a protector like those who served as defence for the palace, but for the Pharaoh to declare him an avatar of the Gods spoke of rank that only Pharoah himself could beat.

"Then with every respect due your station, my Pharaoh," Kheper nodded, emboldened by the respect shown, "Please allow me and Kem Mau to handle this. I would not want to risk losing your royal self, or your son when we can clean this mess up."

"And just where is Kem Mau?" Akhenaden sneered, unhappy with the way things were working out.

"Here." Kem Mau emerged from the nearest door, probably having come through the window in the room within, "Sorry I'm late. Deben caused a huge mess that I had to get around to find you."

"You're forgiven, Bast's Avatar," The Pharaoh's words made the Black Cat hero pause, "As long as you assist the Avatar of Ra in ending this akuma threat quickly."

Kem Mau glanced at Kheper who shrugged, unsure where this had come from, then nodded, "Of course my Pharaoh. Kheper, do you know where his butterfly is?"

"I know where I can find out."

"Then, with your leave?" At the Pharoah's nod, they both took off, Kem Mau following his partner's lead.

Behind them Akhenaden turned to his brother, "You're giving them divine status? With all DUE respect brother, are you certain that is wise?"

"Without Kheper, we would be down a member of our family." The Pharaoh shuddered, "And we need the people to respond to them as if they were one of the High Court."

"But to proclaim them avatars! That's giving them status akin to yours."

"Avatars, not Living Gods." Akhenamkhanen's tone brooked no argument, "I am the Living Horus, or did you forget, dear brother?"

Noting the stress on 'dear', a sure sign that he was pushing his brother's patience too far, Akhenaden quickly bowed, "Of course not, my Pharaoh. I was merely concerned for the safety of Egypt."

"They answer to me and have proved their loyalty and worth." Akhenamkhanen replied, his ire eased as he came to believe that his brother was just thinking of the country's safety, "Believe me, if they become a true threat, I will not hesitate to react. For now though I just want my family safe."

The Pharaoh's voice shifted from sharp anger to frustrated concern as he spoke and told Akhenaden quite clearly that if Deben did not deal with Kheper and Kem Mau for him, it would be best for him to focus on akumatising people further from the palace. Else the Pharaoh would have the whole palace in uproar until Farasha was found.

"I did not realise you cared so deeply for your nephew." The Bearer of the Eye wished he dared dive into his brother's mind but could not with the man's temper so close to the surface. "You've seemed inclined to leave him to rot amongst the commoners until now."

"High Priest Shimun asked me to let Heba find his own way, since he was so far from the throne. That did not mean I did not consider him family." With a sigh the Pharaoh turned in the direction the heroes had gone. "Now, shall we make ourselves useful?"

"What do you have in mind?" Akhenaden's hand brushed the hidden Butterfly Miraculous, realising that by coming out of hiding, he may have lost his ability to control the situation.

"We might not be able to strike Deben, but we should be able to trap him. If we can pin him in one set of rooms, then when Kheper and Kem Mau have the information they need, they can easily find him and end this."

"A wise move." If he could not transform again, he could not contact Deben, but that was fine. Being seen while an akuma was active would give him a rather secure cover story. "Then shall we call up the others and see what chaos we can contain?"

"Indeed."

As the Pharaoh headed out, Akhenaden turned to the guards, becoming pleased when he remembered that these were the same men he had sent out earlier, meaning they were primarily loyal to him, "See if you can find Heba. If you do, take him to my rooms for his own protection and make sure he stays there."

"Yes, Lord Akhenaden."

As the guards filed off, giving him one last chance to get the information he wanted from Heba before the Pharaoh did something stupid, like place the teen under armed guard, the Bearer of the Eye felt much better about the situation getting out of his control.

The suite belonging to Lord Khufu was an absolute mess when Kheper and Kem Mau reached it, which made sense considering that it was where Deben had started. While Kheper knew that everything would be fixed once the ladybugs did their thing, he could not help but wince as he beheld the broken furniture, tattered tapestries and the hole in one of the walls.

"Khafra?!" Kem Mau's voice was strained and crackled slightly making Kheper pause to consider his partner. While the disguise spells protected them from their own allies being able to hold onto identifying details, the beetle hero could not miss the deep purple and blue colouring around Kem Mau's neck that suggested Kheper was not the only one who had already gone a round with the akuma.

"Mau? Are you…" He did not get to finish before a noise from one of the side rooms distracted them both.

Kheper darted forward, certain he was less injured than his partner, and opened the door, only to have to duck under a sword swipe at head height. "Whoa! We're not here to hurt you."

Khafra did a double take as he looked at them both, then stepped warily out of the bathroom. "What do you want with me?"

"Your father was akumatised. Just like you were last night." Kheper explained, stepping back out of Khafra's range in case the teen lashed out at him, "We need to know if he carries anything of particular importance to him. An amulet or a ring. We can't fix him and everything he's broken unless we know."

Khafra leaned back against the doorway, taking in the gesture to the mess as he tried to think.

"I know father carries both an armlet that mother gave him before she…" Khafra swallowed hard, "And a bracer that I presented him at year's end. Either could be the object in question."

"Thank you."

As the pair turned to go, Khafra dared to ask, "Why did father fall to Farasha?"

"He was arrested for theft and tax evasion, but he claims he's innocent." Kem Mau turned back, only to see that Khafra had gone very pale. "You know something."

It was a statement, rather than a question and Khafra's hands balled into fists.

"It's…" The young man hesitated. If he admitted his crimes now, it would not help fix his father and would end with him in jail. However, if he did not, his entire family would lose their land and freedom for stealing from the state. They would be forced to live the life of a commoner and he knew it would destroy his father…

"Khafra, if you know something, please tell us." Kheper asked softly, "He nearly killed someone innocent because of those charges. Help us protect people. Help us stop your father ending up charged with murder."

The young noble's head sank and his shoulders slumped, not wanting to lose the man who had raised him, even if they did not see eye to eye. "He didn't skim the taxes. I did."

Kem Mau let out a sharp hiss, but Kheper did not react, simply tilted his head curiously, encouraging Khafra to continue.

"I… I have a gambling problem." Khafra trembled as he admitted it, "And there were collectors threatening my little brother so I…"

"You took the tax money."

"I didn't think anyone would notice." Khafra grimaced, "Not if I waited until after father had done the final count and sent the money on its way. So, I stopped the delivery, told them there had been a miscalculation and took some. I was only trying to protect my brother, I promise! What does the palace even need that money for?!"

"The taxes the Lords pay for their lands goes back into the temples and farmlands, allowing those who need it to seek shelter and work." Kem Mau's tail twitched violently, his feline ears flattening on his head, "The money helps the people."

"I'm people too." Khafra hissed back, angry at being judged.

"We know." Kheper cut in, not wanting Khafra to be akumatised too. "But you asked and we answered. Would you be willing to testify about what you've told us and clear your father?"

"I…" Khafra trembled at the thought. If he did that, he would, most likely, be up on the same charges. "I can't."

"Even if I promise to speak for you?" Kem Mau stared at his partner, who was offering the teen his hand.

"You'd… why?"

"Because you did a bad thing, yes, but for a good reason." The ladybug hero smiled sadly, "The Pharaoh isn't unreasonable. He understands protecting family."

"And you were trying to protect your brother." The feline hero admitted begrudgingly. "If you come tell the truth, we might be able to calm your father and end this without anymore blood shed."

"I…" Khafra shook slightly as he looked from Kem Mau to Kheper and then took the hand offered to him. "I… will try."

"Thank you." Kheper grinned as he headed for the door.

"Now," Kem Mau chuckled, "To find and heal the akuma."