Chapter Seventeen

"How did it go, Nathalie?" Gabriel asked.

"Uneventful," Nathalie replied as she entered the office, tablet in hand. "I visited all the homes of those who were akumatized by 'Papillon', but found nothing out of the ordinary." She flicked through her tablet. "We have a meeting we need to be at in about an hour, sir, and all preparations for the upcoming show are going smoothly."

Gabriel turned away. "Tch. Figures we would find ourselves at another dead end. Another Miraculous comes out, and it's the Fox. The Fox gets lost, and it's the Bee that crawls out of the woodwork." He pushed himself to his feet. "And this new Fox has proven to be nothing but a pest."

He looked up at the painting of his wife, clenching his fists.

"Do you have any ideas for how to handle this 'Silver Paw', sir?" Nathalie asked.

"...For now, we observe. He's an annoyance, but he's useful in making sure Adrien isn't tailed. Especially with his symptoms of a broken Miraculous beginning to show."

"It took much longer for him to be affected than Emilie," Nathalie said. "Just as I predicted. His age gives him some form of protection, and he should last longer than her, while at the same time creating a stronger link between them."

"Longer, but we are now running on more limited time than ever," Gabriel replied. "We need to get our hands on the Ladybug and Black Cat before he fully succumbs, or else we'll find ourselves right back at square one."

"Don't worry, sir, we'll bring Emilie home no matter what," Nathalie took a step forward. "If you want my suggestion, I think we should limit the amount of free reign we give Adrien with the avatars he creates. If we have him summon a specific avatar that meshes well with your akuma, it will make both of them more effective."

"True," Gabriel said with a hum. "That will be something to consider." He reached up, pressing a hand against the painting of Emilie. "Don't worry, my dear, we will bring you home soon, my love."

With that he turned, heading out of the office, leaving Nathalie alone. She closed her tablet, sighing, before looking up at Emilie, her gaze softening. She took a step forward, standing right where Gabriel had been.

"I will bring you home," Nathalie whispered to the painting. "And I will do anything to do so."

"Ooo, it's all dark," Duusu said, hovering right in front of the computer screen.

"Heh, it sure is," Adrien said, carefully nudging the kwami aside. He hesitated for a moment, before typing into the search bar: Dizzy spells when standing up.

A list of search results popped up, but Adrien didn't go to any of them, pulling up another tab, and opening up his history. His eyes flickered back and forth between the two browsers– but just like Nino had promised his most recent search didn't show up in his history. He clicked on the first link, and refreshed his history– but still nothing.

"He was right..." Adrien said softly, before sitting up slightly. His fingers hovered above the keyboard, realizing that for the first time in his life the entire internet was open to him.

But he had no idea where to begin.

Duusu lost interest with nothing new happening on the screen– so the kwami drifted off to another part of the room to entertain herself, leaving Adrien alone. He hesitated for a moment, before typing in one of the websites that Nino had recommended to him. He was met by a blinding onslaught of colors– rainbows and other colors patterned together– the stark difference from the dark screen before made him blink a few times, before he began searching through the website.

Once again, Nino was right– there was a lot more than just gay and straight, and since the LGBTQ+ acronym included a 'plus' it seemed that this just barely scratched the surface. Adrien hesitated, before clicking on the first link.

Information was what he wanted– and information was what he got. Definition, history, a flag, symbols, and so many terms he wasn't familiar with– most of which were thankfully links that lead to other pages with further explanation. It was a rabbit hole he wasn't expecting to go down, but one he was taking in as he read.

He hadn't realized just how expansive the community was– before now all he had heard about were people who were gay, in a relationship with the same gender, and something his father spoke of with distaste. Never publicly though, because from what Adrien overheard his father tended to work with many people in the fashion world that identified as such.

But as Adrien read he was beginning to doubt that all the people his father spoke of all fell into the category of 'gay', because as Nino had said there were many different orientations and identities out there, some of which Adrien wasn't sure he fully understood. But Nino had told him about several websites to look at, so he was sure those would have more information that would help him.

"Ooo! Ooo! That one is me!" Duusu said excitedly, causing Adrien to jump slightly– having not realized that the kwami had returned.

Adrien looked to see the kwami hovering over his shoulder, she was looking at the screen, pointing eagerly.

"Panromantic?" Adrien said as he looked back at the screen.

"Yes!" Duusu said happily, zipping forward. "'Being romantically attracted to a person regardless of gender', that's exactly how I am! I didn't know there was a word for it!" She began spinning about. "Panromantic, panromantic, panromantic~"

Adrien's eyes turned back to the screen, looking at panromantic, before clicking on a link to 'pansexual'. He flicked back and forth between the two for a moment, before leaning back. "...Huh. I didn't know there was a difference."

"Well of course there is!" Duusu said with a giggle. "Like we kwamis– we aren't built like you humans, so for us attraction would only be a romantic attraction." She paused, thinking. "Well, not the only one, I know some kwamis that don't feel romantic attraction with anyone. I haven't been able to talk to them in a long time though. A long long time, actually. Hey! Do you think I could go see Trixx? We know where they are!"

"Um," Adrien glanced at Duusu, who was looking at him hopefully. "I mean, yes, but... but if Father realized you were gone..." Adrien shuddered. "We need to be ready to transform when he needs us."

"Then next time you go see Nino you can just detransform!" Duusu chirped.

Adrien's eyes widened. "You know we can't do that– Nino would know who Father is that way."

"So?"

"If Father knew we revealed any identity..." He shook his head. "We can't do that, Duusu, I'm sorry. But you can go talk to Nooroo if you need to."

Duusu puffed up her feathers. "But Nooroo is always by Gabby! And he can't leave! Then Gabriel will snap at us to be quiet, and then we can't talk!"

"...I'm sorry, Duusu," Adrien whispered quietly, still flicking between the panromantic and pansexual page. After a moment he settled on the panromantic page, staring. He... he didn't feel like this described him, but it felt... nice. Knowing that attraction could be one or the other.

There was a soft knock on the door. Adrien jumped, quickly closing out the tabs as he spun around, heart pounding. He stared at the door waiting for it to open, but there was only silence, before another knock echoed out.

"...Hello?" Adrien said uncertainly– and he heard a grunt from behind the door. His shoulders relaxed slightly, letting out a shaky sigh. "O-oh, Ezra– you can come in."

The door was pushed open, Duusu zipping away, and his bodyguard carefully slid into the room. The man was a giant, a mountain of muscle, and the tablet in his hand looked like it could almost be a phone as he held it. There was a neutral expression on his face, and he carefully closed the door behind him. Adrien frowned, as usually his bodyguard just stood outside the door, or came to get him on the few occasions he was leaving the house.

"Is everything okay?" Adrien asked, but 'the Gorilla' just watched him with a heavy expression, after a moment he strolled towards Adrien, showing him his tablet.

He took in a sharp breath as he saw the picture of his mother on screen, the same one he used as a background. Usually the sight of his mother was something calming, but his mind couldn't help but think back to her motionless body in the basement– which his father had forced him to look at for two hours for abandoning the last akuma fight early.

Adrien swallowed, looking up at Ezra. "...Yes?"

Ezra carefully leaned over towards Adrien's computer, shifting the mouse. There was a flicker of movement on the tablet, and as Ezra opened up a new tab on Adrien's computer the same thing appeared on the tablet. Adrien's eyes flickered back and forth between the two of them– before his eyes widened in realization– Ezra's tablet was monitoring his computer in real time.

"I–" Adrien stammered. "I, um–"

Ezra's hand began signing, the letters flowing swiftly. Adrien fell quiet, watching closely. Adrien didn't know LSF beyond a few signs and the alphabet, but when Ezra needed to talk directly to him, spelling out words was usually enough.

"Gabriel and Nathalie can do the same," Ezra said, eyes watching Adrien. "Be careful what you look up, because they can see it too."

Adrien's mouth was dry. "I... I didn't know–"

"It is the same for your phone," Ezra said, and Adrien's heart felt heavy. "They are both in a meeting, so you should be fine right now. Be careful in the future."

"I– I will," Adrien said swiftly, and Ezra turned to leave. Adrien pushed himself to his feet. "You– you won't tell them, right? Father, he, he doesn't like– and if he knew I–"

Ezra smiled at him– a rare sight from the man. He held up his hand, where a jet black ring rested on his middle finger. He tapped it once, as if telling him a secret, before turning and leaving the room. Adrien wasn't quite sure what the ring meant, but from the man's expression Adrien knew that he wouldn't say anything.

Adrien turned back to his computer, feeling on edge. Ezra said they were in a meeting, he should be fine to look for just a bit longer. He carefully pulled up the incognito window again, and after a moment of hesitation he returned to the website, and continued his search once more.

He soon found himself on the page about asexuality, and when he saw the paragraph about a black ring, he realized what Ezra had been trying to tell him.

"'Ace'..." Adrien said quietly, carefully reading over the article, feeling warm.

Nino wondered what his mother would think if she knew just who he was with when he went to 'go hang out with a friend'.

It was no secret in the house that Nino didn't have any close friendships. He and his classmates got along just fine, but they rarely met up outside of class-based activities. So when Nino had started requesting time to be with his friend, Lucie had been more than happy to let him dart out the door with a few snacks in hand, even when homework and chores had yet to be done.

He really hoped that his mom wouldn't ask to meet his new friend anytime soon.

Silver Paw glanced over at Blue Wing, who was sitting on the edge of the room, humming quietly as he ate a sandwich his mother had packed for him to share. His wings hung loosely at his side, gleaming in the sunlight, ruffling every now and then. Silver wondered what it would be like to have such limbs, how did he learn to control them? Gather the courage to take to the skies? Did it all come naturally like their magic?

"I feel like I'm in a movie," Blue Wing said with a grin, breaking the silence.

Silver smiled. "Magic and the costumes and wings and all?"

"Huh?" Blue blinked at him, wings folding as if in reply. "Oh, um, I guess? But I mean the food." He held up the sandwich with a grin, taking a bite. "I've never had one, and it tastes as good as it looks."

"You've... you've never had a sandwich before?"

"Not peanut butter," Blue said cheerfully. "Or a bag of chips and a little juice box." He held up the drink with a grin. "It's so tiny and adorable."

"My brother loves them," Silver said after a moment. "Um, is someone allergic to peanuts at your house?"

"Nah, only allergies are with me and my feathers," he fluttered his wings teasingly, before letting them fold against his back once more. "Tell your mom thank you for the food, though."

"I will," Silver said softly. "Um... how have your allergies been, lately?"

He shrugged. "I still have coughing fits every now and then, so I upped the dosage of my medicine a bit. But I think that's been making me a bit dizzy because sometimes when I stand up the entire room spins, but I haven't gone over the maximum dosage so I should be okay." He frowned. "The dizzy spells might be just genetics though? My mom used to get them..."

Blue trailed off, before looking down at his sandwich with a far off gaze.

"Used to?" Silver prompted quietly, even though he already was pretty sure what the answer was.

"She's... she's not with us anymore," Blue Wing looked up at the sky. "But if everything goes how Father wants, then maybe..."

Silver Paw felt a rush of panic rush through him– one that wasn't his own. Trixx seemed to writhe in his mind, his emotions far stronger than what Nino could usually sense from him. He had to grip the edge of the roof and control his breathing, trying to get his racing heart to calm down.

Blue smiled at him, and Silver smiled in return so he wouldn't notice the kwami's panic. "So, um, I looked at the websites you told me about."

"Did they answer your questions?"

"I... I think so?" Blue Wing hesitated. "I just wanted to tell you, bi the way, that I think they helped me with my confusion, and, um, with how I feel. I'm still a bit new to it all, though."

"You are who you are," Silver said, smiling. "And nobody can decide that but you. Do... do you feel comfortable with sharing?"

"...Prob-bi-ly."

"You don't have to if you don't want–" He began, but when he saw the grin spreading across Blue's face he realized the pun. "...I should have seen that coming, shouldn't I?"

"I do have a bias towards puns."

"So, you're bisexual then?"

"No," Blue Wing said, shifting. "Biromantic, actually. I, um... have an ace up my sleeve?" He frowned. "No, that doesn't work. Um, aside from bi, there was only one other that aced with describing me. I hope that is ace-ceptable?"

Silver grinned. "You'll always be ace-cepted with me, my dude. Puns and all."

"Don't act like it's a punishment," Blue grinned, using the tip of a wing to nudge him. "I mean, would you rather talk about the feather?"

He burst out laughing. "That last one didn't work at all, dude!"

"I think it did," Blue replied. "It's pretty clear you found it funny."

"I'm laughing at how bad it is!"

A wing flared out, wrapping around Silver Paw like an arm had been thrown over his shoulder. Blue Wing pointed out at the city, as if about to share a dramatic revelation. "And that is how puns should be– the worst, the better!"

"I guess that's a paw-sibility."

"Paw-si-bi-lity."

"...And we're reaching once more."

"Reaching for the sky," Blue Wing replied smugly, stretching his wings out. He was glad to see that he was in a happy mood though, so Silver simply smiled. There was something about when Blue Wing smiled that just felt nice. Perhaps it was because it was something he didn't get to see much, or maybe it was just nice knowing that he was happy.

However that feeling didn't last for long, a sense of urgency running through him. Silver Paw shifted, the emotions not his own, but yet he was feeling them vividly. Trixx seemed to be twisting in his mind, as if trying to tell him something– but words couldn't be formed in this state.

"Is it okay if I detransform for a moment?" Silver Paw asked. "I think Trixx wants to say something."

Blue Wing blinked at him, then nodded.

"Let's rest," he said softly, and with a burst of golden light his transformation fell away. Trixx came flying out of the pendant– before flying straight over towards Blue Wing. He pulled back slightly in surprise, glancing at Nino.

"I need to talk to Duusu," Trixx said, eyes focused right on the Peacock.

Blue's hand fell over his brooch. "I, um, I... I can't. I can't show you guys my identity, Father, he would–"

"It doesn't have to be now," Trixx said, and his ears went back slightly. "I... I could meet up with Duusu somewhere with no hint as to who you are. Please... I miss seeing other kwamis, and I just can't go over to anyone right now without risking Nino." He drifted up, eyes big and pleading. "Please? I miss her so much, it's been nearly two hundred years since I've last seen her."

Nino watched the exchange in silence– because he knew this couldn't have been what Trixx had wanted to say– he did want to see Duusu, but there was no way that was the source of the sudden desperation that had come from nowhere. Trixx looked completely genuine, and while Nino didn't doubt that he wanted to see his fellow kwami... he wouldn't be surprised if the kwami of Deception had other ideas as well.

Blue Wing's gaze flickered about. "Um... it would probably have to be pretty late, if Father knew Duusu was wandering, he wouldn't be happy." He swallowed. "Um, two o'clock tonight, maybe? On top of the Eiffel Tower?"

Trixx sprang forward, nuzzling Blue Wing under the chin. "Thank you! Tell Duusu I'll be there!"

Blue Wing smiled, stroking the kwami, who looked back towards Nino with bright blue eyes– and he knew that Trixx didn't intend for this to be a casual visit. The kwami wanted information, and while it seemed slightly underhand with sneaking to get it, Nino didn't say a word.

Trixx wanted to help Blue Wing, and they couldn't do that if they were left in the dark.

Trixx flew across Paris, eyes scanning the Eiffel Tower as he approached. The city was truly beautiful at night, living up to its name of the City of Lights. The kwami didn't have time to admire it in any form though– because he had much more on his mind.

For the first time in nearly two hundred years, he was going to be in contact with one of their missing brethren.

Information. Direct information that wasn't filtered by any other source. He would be able to hear directly from Duusu herself about how she and Nooroo were. Hopefully learn something that could help them.

Trixx drifted about the Eiffel Tower, which was lit up in the night, wondering where Duusu was lurking. He was sure the kwami was urgently waiting for his arrival– probably far more desperate to see him than he was her. He knew himself what it was like to be in unsavory hands, but for it to be kwamis as young as Nooroo and emotional as Duusu... he knew their journey had not been easy.

He hoped that he could provide them some form of comfort. He too had his Miraculous misused before, but in the end he had managed to come home to the Miracle Box.

The longer Trixx searched, the more worried he got. He had no doubt in his mind that Duusu would have rushed to him immediately– so what was keeping her? Had Blue Wing changed his mind about letting her come? Had Hawk Moth somehow found out? Was there some lingering order that prevented them from meeting? Was she okay, what about–?

"Oooo, it's so pretty up here!"

Relief rushed through Trixx at the sound of the familiar voice, and he turned, seeing a speck of blue in the night. Duusu was swaying through the air, staring down at Paris, sweeping her tail from side to side. She seemed much more relaxed than Trixx had expected, and he slowly floated up towards her.

"...Duusu?" He asked softly.

The kwami paused, before turning and looking at him. Magenta eyes lit up, and she let out a squeal of excitement. "Trixxy!"

Then suddenly Duusu was rushing at him, tackling him midair with a hug. He returned it with no hesitation, paws running through feathers as he pulled her close, feeling her energy pulse against his. A shaky sigh of relief ran through him as he held her, things feeling right with her here. It had been frustrating, her energy so close for so long, but out of reach.

"You're okay, Duusu," Trixx said softly. "Thank the Guardian, you're okay."

"Of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?" Duusu asked in a curious tone, and Trixx froze up.

He carefully pulled back from the embrace, and found Duusu looking at him, as if waiting for an answer. Her expression was pleasant, and as Trixx pulled farther back she let go of him, before zipping in circles around him, letting out excited giggles.

"It's so great to see you, Trixxy! I've been so lonely. Master won't let me play with Nooroo, and I try to play with– play with–" She tried to speak, but magic bubbled up from her throat instead, and she scowled. "I try to play with my holder too, but he's been really sad lately. I try to make him happy though, and he has shown me how to play video games, they're really fun. Holder is better at the games though, but that's okay. Hey, Trixxy, are you okay? You're quiet– don't tell me you're sad too! I really wanted to play with you!"

Trixx swallowed. "I'm– I'm just thinking, Duusu. I... I have some questions about your holders, is that okay?"

Duusu giggled. "Master and Holder want me to keep a lot of secrets, silly."

Trixx swished his tail, drifting closer. "Can we talk about things that aren't a secret then?"

"Yes!" Duusu cheered, spinning about in the air. "I love talking, I hafta be quiet a lot and I don't like it!"

Trixx's heart was heavy, very heavy– but this explained so much of the confusion he had. Why Blue Wing was so sure that Duusu was happy at home...

"Blue Wing's mother," Trixx said slowly. "They... they want Tikki and Plagg's magic to help bring her back, right? That's what they're after, isn't it?"

Blue Wing's comment earlier seemed to be the answer to what wish Hawk Moth was after– and why Blue Wing was willing to help in that goal. It wasn't some quest for conquering or power, there was a personal reason to it all.

"Yep! She's sleeping right now," Duusu said. "Sometimes we get to go visit her, but Holder is having a hard time doing that, he gets really sad seeing her sleeping."

Sleeping? Not dead? Not gone?

"...Duusu, did you have a holder before Blue Wing?"

"Uh-huh," she bobbed her head. "It was actually Holder's mother– but like I said she's sleeping right now."

Trixx felt sick. There was no way this was a mere accident, not with Nooroo with them and whole. Hawk Moth had to know what a broken Miraculous meant, what it could do, what it had done. There was no way that he wouldn't know.

But Blue Wing had been handed the Peacock Miraculous regardless.

"Trixxy?" Duusu asked, blinking. "Why are you sad? You don't have to cry– we're going to wake her up soon. Please don't be sad."

Trixx wiped away his forming tears. "...Could I have a hug, Duusu?"

"Of course!" She beamed, before rushing forward and wrapping her arms tightly around him. "Here's the biggest hug ever, Trixx! This is going to help you feel better, right? I want you to be happy. I want to play with you."

"Of course we can play," Trixx said quietly, but that didn't lessen the heaviness in his heart.

It was a horrible fate for a kwami, for their Miraculous to be broken.

And it was even worse for all of those who wielded that Miraculous.