AN: In case you haven't seen it yet, there is a prequel type one-shot called "French Ending" that I posted last Sunday. Check it out if you haven't yet!

Agiani and Kapel85, thanks for the comments!

BrokenUniverse92: somewhere around chapter 5 or so, I think?

Guest: We all need an Adrien. T-T He is just too perfect for this world.


Louis sat across from his Grandma Sabine, copying the forms and stretches that she was showing him. They were slightly different from what Master Fei had taught him, but not so different that they gave him trouble. He wasn't a novice, but he wasn't idiot enough to believe that he had nothing to learn from someone who'd been practicing martial arts for fifty years, either.

Grandmere Sabine was a straight legend, as far as Louis was concerned.

It was a good day for this sort of practice as well. Or at least, it had started out that way. The sun had been shining, accompanied by a few puffy white clouds at the beginning of their sojourn to the park. They'd done some stretches and practiced some basic tai chi before getting into the actual practice. They compared their styles and identified the similarities, differences, strengths, and weaknesses of each style while the clouds slowly began to move in. The plan was to end the practice with a light spar (Grandma Sabine's idea) and then some meditation, then head back home.

Near the end of their spar, a sudden, strong feeling distracted the dark-haired boy. It was the sudden throat-clenching sensation of another person's fear. The distraction cost him the spar as his sweet little grandmother was able to knock him off his feet with a low sweeping kick.

Absolute. Legend.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Sabine asked, helping him back to his feet.

He laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, guess I still just have a long way to go."

She hummed. "You do seem a bit distracted."

He couldn't deny that. He could still feel his pulse, and it wasn't adrenaline from the spar. If anything, that had been fun and relaxing. No, this was all his Miraculous's fault. He needed to investigate. He schooled the frown away from his face and gave his grandmother a weak smile. "I guess I am. I'm still adjusting to the new timezone, I think. Maybe I should go take a nap for a bit."

"Maybe so," she agreed with a kindly smile. "And afterward you can help me make a new batch of mini macarons. Your mother came up with the recipe, you know!"

"Sure thing, Grandma," he managed to reply, wondering how fast he could walk while still claiming exhaustion. His instincts were screaming at him, but he had to play it cool. How had his parents handled situations like these?

The older Chinese woman glanced up at the rapidly darkening skies as the clouds rolled in. "Shame about the weather, though. It was supposed to be such a nice day."

Louis took it as a sign. "Then maybe we should hurry before we get caught in it," he suggested, thankful for the excuse to be in a hurry. Regardless, by the time they finally reached the bakery, he'd felt like he'd been stewing in the emotions for ages instead of the two minutes that it had actually taken. He gave his grandmother a quick peck on the cheek and excused himself, hurrying upstairs for a "nap".

Once the apartment door shut and they were alone, Nooroo jetted out of his pocket. "Louis! Hurry and transform! It's an emergency!"

Not questioning his little friend, Louis eagerly agreed. "Okay, Nooroo, wings rise!" He didn't stop moving as the transformation overtook him. By the time he stood in his mother's room, he knew something was wrong. It didn't take much looking to see the items knocked onto the floor, including the now-empty dollhouse. The miracle box was gone. With a moment more of investigation, he saw the open skylight and leaped out of it. The moment his foot touched down on the rooftop, his multi-tool beeped.

Zhuangzi paled. It was a message, an S.O.S. from Emma, in fact. He listened to it, feeling sick to his stomach. There was no explanation. What had his sister gotten herself into this time? He opened the tracker, seeing his sister's dot rapidly fleeing away from his position. He gave chase along the rooftops, feet barely touching down.

As he ran up high, he noticed a strange phenomenon in the alleyway below. Inky shadows were receding ahead of him as if he were chasing an impossibly dense shadow of a very dark cloud. Is this what his sister was running from, and that he was now chasing? Regardless, it was moving quickly, at it was almost all he could do to keep up.

Zhuangzi arrived just in time for the portal to close and his sister's dot to vanish from his tracker. His mother, he surmised, before he had the sense to observe the remaining shadows. They coalesced and condensed around a single point in the bottom of an alleyway taking the form of a shadow cat. It prowled the alleyway while he watched hidden from a safe distance.

Another message, this time from his mother, telling him to ignore Emma's message and stay at home. He quietly shook his head kept his eyes on the shadow cat. Fat chance of that. Something was going on, and he was going to find out what. It was clear the miracle box had been taken. He didn't know if it was by Emma, or by the Shadow, but either way, he was going to find out where the Shadow was going.

The shadow cat ran away and he chased after it. Its path was not straight, but not entirely erratic either, as if it had a pattern that it needed to follow. It would stop every now and then, pausing for a moment or two before running off again. It led him to a tall privacy fence of white concrete, where he watched the shadow creature vanish into a crack in the stucco.

"Damn," the dark-haired hero cursed in a near whisper. He took in his surroundings, getting a better feel for where the shadow had led him. Then fence belonged to the backside of one of the nicest houses he'd ever seen. He hopped up and stood on the fence, looking for evidence of the shadow. When it was not spotted, he took note of his location. The house bordered the Place du Châtelet and offered a good view of the Eiffel Tower and the Grand Paris Hotel. It was an impressive mansion.

In the courtyard below him, the roses were in full bloom from what he could see. And he was not alone. Curiosity overcame the boy. He dropped to sit cross-legged on the wide top of the concrete fence post and regarded the old man looking up at him with curiosity. He was a tall silvered gentleman, dressed in fine clothing. He looked too fancy to be standing outside for no reason. Was this man connected with the shadow creature?

"Who are you and why are you on my privacy wall?" The old man demanded in a cold, commanding voice.

It rubbed Zhuangzi the wrong way. He almost opened his mouth to retort in French, but then remembered he had an alias to upkeep. "I'm sorry, sir, but I do not speak French," he answered with a shrug, fighting not to grin over the pleasure of one-upping 'the man'.

Instead of angrily shooing him and walking away as Zhuangzi expected, the man waved a hand dismissively in the air, replying likewise. "That is fine. I am not so limited. Who are you?"

The butterfly hero blinked. He had not expected that. His mouth opened and closed as he found his words. This encounter was going to be more interesting than he thought. "I am Zhuangzi," he introduced himself, trying to get a feel for the man. He was… carefully blank. Controlled to a shockingly impressive degree. Who was this guy?

"Ah, the philosopher who dreams of being a butterfly," the silver-haired man answered. "How quaint. Do you play chess?"


Marinette sat on Adrien's couch, feeling like an over-dressed intruder. Back when she'd thought all she'd be doing today was representing her brand, the Asian-inspired pantsuit had sounded like a good idea. The blouse and pants were both a sensible solid black, the mid-line cut by a white belt. The jacket itself was white with a red inner lining, decorated by a sparse pattern of red spider lilies.

If she died of mortification and shame, at least her corpse would look good. The spider lily pattern would even be mildly appropriate for the occasion.

So much was going wrong. She stared at the compass rose on her watch, watching the needle spin erratically while trying not to hear Adrien and Plagg in the kitchen. The Kwami of Destruction was incensed. Oh, yes, he'd been angry five years ago when she'd brought Tikki and Plagg out for a chat. Furious even. Tikki had calmed him a little down by explaining that their Guardian was just following The Rules(TM), but no one can hold a grudge better than a millennium old black cat, and Plagg had been very attached to Adrien. It was probably only Tikki's presence, both in the Miracle box and in her bedroom those five years ago, that had prevented a "natural disaster".

So she'd apologized profusely, plied him with expensive cheese, and gained a small measure of his forgiveness.

But now she'd lost Tikki and the rest of the miracle box. All bets were off.

Adrien was attempting to calm Plagg down, and it was working, but Marinette knew that she deserved all the insults thrown her way. She'd caused so much trouble, made so many mistakes, hurt people she loved all in the name of protecting the Miracle box. And after all of that, she had still failed to protect it. Even worse, she'd failed to protect her own children. There was a new villain out there. Someone like Kage, or possibly even worse, and Paris knew about Zhuangzi and the villain had gone directly after Juno.

Did the new shadow master know who she was? Who her kids were? Was he after Juno specifically or only the box? If they knew who she was…

Adrien knew who she was. Bright side. Look on the bright side. He had figured it out somehow? Had she been that obvious? Is that why everything was falling apart because she'd been too obvious?

Everything was starting to feel small and hot and hard to breathe.

"Woah, there, Guardian. Breathe," said a taciturn little voice. She looked wide-eyed at Plagg, who had spoken, flanked by Kaalki and Duusu, each who looked at her worriedly. She hadn't noticed them come back in. Plagg had little arms crossed. "Adrien went to check on the kitten. He bribed me into telling you he'll be right back." He gave her a one-eyed glare. "So don't you dare go anywhere."

She nodded, then swallowed, addressing all three kwamis. "All of you, I'm so sor…"

Duusu burst into tears, flying inches from Marinette's face. "I'm so sorry, Master!" the peacock wailed. "If Emma and I hadn't gone after Plagg… But it was just too sad, and Adrien missed Plagg and Plagg missed Adrien and it was supposed to bring the two of you together again and make things right, but… it's our fault!" The words became increasingly incomprehensible after that, but Marinette did catch mention of the shadows and the miracle box, as well as a few of the other kwamis' names.

Marinette was barely able to keep up with the torrent of words and tears and sobs coming out of the histrionic little kwami, but she cradled the sobbing peacock in her hands and tried to make sense of it all while the other two exchanged glances. She shushed Duusu and rubbed a finger on his head in a soothing gesture, comforting him with, "It will be okay, Duusu. We'll get them back. We won't give up." She said it for her benefit as much as the kwamis'.

Plagg made a "tch" sound and grumbled something like, "Damn right, we will."

Kaalki nodded in agreement with Plagg and joined Duusu in Marinette's hands. "Our Guardian is intelligent and resourceful. We will all be together again soon." The little horse kwami then shuffled her foot also looking a bit remorseful. "Besides, you aren't the only one at fault in this situation." She looked Marinette in the eye. "I'm sorry, my Guardian, but I've been keeping secrets from you. The twins have been exchanging messages through cellular devices. I should have realized what Emma was planning through the context of her most recent exchange and informed you. Please forgive me."

"Wait," Plagg spoke up, regarding both of his siblings with an air of superiority. "You mean to tell me that in all this I am the good one?" He burst into laughter. "Man, I can't wait to share this with Tikki…"

And instantly, everyone sobered again, human and kwami alike.

Adrien entered the living room quietly and took his seat on the couch next to Marinette. She stiffened up at the proximity momentarily before forcing herself to relax. She sneaked a glance a the tall blond man sitting inches away from her while he took a drink from his mug. He looked in the cup as he lowered it, his brow slightly furrowed, the look transferring to her as his gaze fell in her direction. She quickly looked away, pretending she hadn't just been staring at him as if his face held the mysteries of the universe.

She heard a deep sigh to her left as all three kwamis looked back and forth between the two grown-ass adults. "Alright, that's it. I'm not doing this anymore." Adrien placed his coffee mug down resolutely with a chink on the table before leaning back. "If there is anything I've learned through all my years of therapy, it's that keeping things in is not healthy or good." He turned in the seat to face her directly, one arm resting on the back of the couch. "Let's go ahead and get everything out in the open. What do we do from here?"

She remained facing forward, posture tight while Duusu and Kaalki offered comfort from her palms. "Well, the miracle box…" she began before Adrien cut her off. Plagg had flown over to perch behind Adrien's shoulder to watch the exchange.

"No, I mean us." Adrien pointed between the two of them. "Where do we stand now?" Marinette looked at him, lips parted as she inhaled. She didn't know. She didn't know how to answer.

Kaalki looked back and forth between the Guardian and the old Cat Miraculous holder and made an executive decision. She tapped Duusu meaningfully on the shoulder, drawing his attention, and motioned with his head towards Plagg. Together, the two waylaid their sibling and dragged him away from the room. "Excuse us. We have catching up to do," Kaalki explained before the trio phased into the next room and out of sight.

Marinette appreciated the gesture. She had turned in her seat to watch them leave, putting her facing Adrien now. Her left knee bumped his right and she clenched her fists in her lap. She could do this. She could face him. She was an adult, damn it. "You want to do this now?" She confirmed, not at all sounding sure of herself. "Don't we have more important…"

"Not to me," Adrien cut in again with enough surety for the both of them. "Before we can move forward and work together I need to know where we stand."

That made sense. She swallowed before licking her dry lips. She couldn't look him in the eye and hold back the crimson flush that she knew was threatening to break out on her face. Instead, she stared at her white knuckles. This was not how she had expected this conversation to go. She was not expecting to be sitting here as a complete failure, after having just proven just how unworthy she actually was. "Well… you found me… so what… what do you…" She was ready for it. Ready for him to say 'never mind'. At this point, it wouldn't even matter. She knew the children would be taken care of after she surrendered the Miracle box, either way.

They'd be safe, with her or without her, and that was all that mattered.

His hand laid over her fists, gently. "You know what I want, Marinette. It's the same thing I wanted twelve years ago."

She looked up, finally meeting his earnest green eyes, searching them for any sign that this wasn't real. Any sign that this was all a lie or smoke and mirrors. "Even now that you know…?" Her voice sounded like a croak, but she managed to say something at least.

He quirked one of those perfect eyebrows and smirked at her. "Know what? That you're Marinette? Just makes me want you more." He reached his other hand down and took her hands in his, rubbing his thumbs against their backs soothingly. "Knowing that you had my children and didn't tell me because you have a self-sacrificing hero complex?" He shrugged dismissively, not stopping the motion of his thumbs. "Trust me when I say I've been giving that a lot of thought, and I've still come to the conclusion that it doesn't change the fact. The past is in the past, M'lady." He kissed the knuckles of her left hand, "And it can hurt," he kissed the knuckles of her right, then winked at her. She hadn't pulled away at all. "But you either run from it or learn from it."

She blinked at him, then felt her skin heat like an inferno, knowing darn well that she was probably blushing to her toes, and at the same time… "Did… did you just quote Rafiki at me?" That darn cat! It wasn't fair! He wasn't supposed to make her flustered like this with… with… it was worse than puns!

And his smile. It was too brilliant. How was she supposed to function like this? "Paraphrased, really. But see? You getting my old Disney movie references makes me want you in my life even more." He held her hands to his chest and leaned forward, pleading. "Damn it, Mari, just say you will marry me already so I can start doing my damn job properly."

She didn't stand a chance. She wanted to explode, but she didn't know how. She wasn't sure if she'd be crying from happiness or just frustration from the sheer injustice of it all. She wanted to say yes but, it wasn't fair! None of this was fair. So she latched on to the last thing he said, seeking some type of resolution to her torrid thought. "Your job?"

"Yes," he nodded, "My job. The same one it's been since the day I met you, only now it's bigger. More rewarding. Loving and protecting my family in all things mundane and miraculous."

She threw her arms around his neck, nearly tackling him backward on the couch, but he held her, supported her as she began to cry. She felt his hands tentatively reach around her before settling for a resolute hug as he rubbed her back and let her cry. She shook her head into his shoulder, knowing she was soaking. "I… may not be the guardian after this, though. If we retrieve the miracle box, I think I'm going to need to name a new guardian. I won't remember any of this."

He went still at her words, then squeezed her tightly, whispering in her ear. "Then I'll remind you. I'll make you fall in love with me as many times as it takes."

She laughed and cried harder in equal measure. He was impossibly perfect and way too kind, and just… "I don't deserve you," she admitted, sitting back and accepting the tissue that he'd turned around and fetched off of the side table.

"I'm pretty sure that if everyone got what they deserved, no one would be happy," he quirked his head to the side and looked at her lovingly while she cleaned her face of the salt and snot as well as she could.

She shook her head in a disagreement. "You do. You deserve the world, Chaton."

"I don't want the world," he replied, placing a kiss on her forehead. "I want you. Say yes."

"Yes." She said it without thinking.

"Yes?" he echoed, anticipation and excitement reverberating through him as he sat up a little bit straighter.

This time she did hesitate, but then nodded. "If that's alright."

He smiled brightly in pure elation before deeply exhaling in relief with a joyous laugh. "Finally!" He rose from the couch, pulling her with him before he lifted her into a tight hug and spun her around. She laughed with him, hugging him tightly while she fought to make her face stop leaking. He set her back down again and lifted her chin with one hand while his other remained wrapped around the small of her back. "I'm going to kiss you now."

"I'd be insulted if you didn't," she laugh-sobbed. Stupid tears! Why did she have to be so… wet?

If she expected a gentle kiss, that is not what she got. He kissed her greedily and hungrily, and she returned it in kind. It was as if they each had tried to wash away years of pent-up frustration with that kiss alone. It wasn't going to cut it, to be honest. Somewhere along the way, she lost her jacket and her shoes. Both of their hair was well and truly mussed from wandering fingers, and she wasn't the only one sporting a nice red tint to her skin anymore by the time they finally managed to peel away from each other.

At least she wasn't leaking from her face anymore.

She watched Adrien's Adam's apple bob while he swallowed heavily. "Well, good." He said breathlessly, voice a bit higher-pitched than usual. He cleared his throat and chuckled, taking a step back, just far enough to give an exaggerated bow, and motioned back towards the couch. "Now we can get down to business. Get me up to speed."

She shook her head at his antics and steadied her breath. This was it. The moment of truth. She wasn't going to keep any secrets from him this time. Not a single one. "What do you want to know?" Besides, when she relinquished control of the miracle box, it would be best for at least one of them to remember everything.

In fact, "Everything, if that's not too much to ask," he answered.

She smiled. She hadn't felt this free in fifteen years.


Plagg and Kaalki both took the effort to keep Duusu's notoriously large mouth quiet while the peacock shed presumably happy tears from the safety of the top of the living room bookshelf.

"Bout time Pigtails got something right," the black cat kwami groused quietly to himself. He'd understood his siblings' reasons for pulling him away, but there was no way he was going to let this moment go by unwitnessed. He could have done without the gratuitous snogging, but finally, his boy could be happy.

"You know she hasn't worn pigtails outside of a costume in twelve years," Kaalki corrected him.

"Semantics," he waved the comment off. "She better not mess this up."

With Marinette now filling Adrien in on things past, Kaalki took the moment to pull Plagg and Duusu back into the next room, where they could talk more freely. Once clear in the next room, they released Duusu, who happily cried, "It was so romantic! Everything I dreamed it would be! I can't wait to tell Emma… Oh, no! They missed it! Emma and Louis missed it!"

Before the peacock could fly off, both Kaalki and Plagg tackled him. "Cool your jets, there, Duusu. Don't wake the sleeping kitten."

"Indeed. The twins will indubitably figure out their parent's betrothal soon enough." She then turned her attention to the black cat. "And Plagg. I know you have your disagreements with Marinette, but what of our Guardians have you not disagreed with? She is quite adept at the job, all things considered, and we have not had a better one in literal ages."

"Yeah, so? I've heard all this from Tikki already. And everyone else, for that matter."

Duusu sniffled. "We all like her," he chimed up. "We don't want her to give up being the Guardian. It would just be too sad."

"What, and you think I'd purposefully tried to make her quit?" He placed a paw over his heart, feigning indignity.

Both Duusu and Kaalki just stared at him.

He met their stares with impunity. For a solid minute. Then he sighed. "Yeah, okay. I'll lay off Pigtails." He pouted. "It would just hurt the kid more at this point, anyway."

"Good. I'm glad we understand each other," Kaalki replied happily with just a small bit of iron behind her smile.


Against his better judgment, Zhuangzi found himself sitting across from the old man at an outdoor chess table under a covered patio. The rain hit in earnest while they sat under it. Wordlessly, the man set up the table, placing the white pieces in front of the young hero, while giving himself the black set.

The boy picked up the queen, examining it before placing the piece where it belonged. Marble. The whole set. Fancy. Once they had fully placed the pieces and taken their seats, the old man gestured towards him signaling for him to start. White traditionally goes first.

Zhuangzi contemplated it for a moment before making his first move; the king's pawn forwards two spaces. The old man followed by moving the queenside bishop pawn forward two spaces.

It was an aggressive opening defense for black. The boy in the purple mask bit his thumbnail and focused on the task at hand. The old man was proving to be a challenging chess opponent.

The older man moved his knight to capture one of the white pawns, then asked. "Do you fence?"

"No. I'm a martial artist," he answered truthfully, focused on the game, moving his own knight in defense.

"I see," he mobilized his second knight, setting up a new gambit that had the boy searching his mind for defenses. "I had wondered. I am a fencer myself."

Zhuangzi replied with a noncommittal hum, opting to move a new pawn into a defensive position.

"Your power set does not lend itself innately to direct combat, though, does it." He took the white knight, removing it from the board, leaving his own black knight in its place.

The dark-haired boy took the bait and captured the black knight. "And how would you know of my power set, sir? I've hardly been in Paris for that long. I am not even a public figure in China yet."

"Ah, an oversight on my part. Forgive me. My name is Gabriel Agreste." He moved a new pawn forward.

At the recognition of that name, Zhuangzi met the older man's gaze, hoping that his expression did not betray the reason for his shock, awe, and a small bit of fear. He plastered on a surprised smile, then turned his attention back to the board, moving his bishop two spaces. "A pleasure, sir."

Gabriel nodded. "You know who I am." It was not a question, but a statement. He moved his own bishop one space.

Zhuangzi swallowed, recognizing the danger he was in. His eyes darted across the board, reasoning out plays in advance before finally settling on castling his king. "The Gabriel brand is popular, even in China."

The old man chuckles. "A correction then. You know who I was." Gabriel castled his own king in response. The boy raised an eyebrow under his purple mask. What was Gabriel's game? It hadn't escaped his notice that many of Gabriel's plays mirrored his own in some way.

He contemplated his play. He knew. And Gabriel knew that he knew. There was no point in denying it, really. "The previous holder of the Butterfly Miraculous. Hawkmoth." He ushered forth his initial pawn to meet the black battlefront.

"Indeed." He shifted his rook closer to his queen. "Fear not, boy. I am reformed." He stated with an enigmatic smirk.

"Is that so." Zhuangzi moved his own queen into play. Gabriel answered by moving a pawn forward one space, and the battle was on again.

Within seven moves, Gabriel had Zhuangzi in check. "I would like you to tell your master about this meeting. I assume that she is here with you in Paris."

The masked boy could not hide his surprise at the correct pronoun usage fast enough. It left him wondering. How much did Gabriel Agreste know? He used his King-in-Check to capture the invading queen. Probably more than is safe.

"Alright, but I make no promises." In fact, he had been planning on telling his mother about this encounter anyway. The box goes missing and he follows the shadow thief to the old Moth's doorstep? Coincidence? Not Likely.

"I mean no harm." He shifted a bishop. "In fact, I'd like to teach you a few things if you feel so inclined."

Zhuangzi considered it. He moved rook to defend against it, then paused, realizing the situation he'd just landed in. He'd forgotten about the black knight and on the next turn…

Gabriel moved his own rook forward, and with the black knight cutting off the escape route, declared "Checkmate." Zhuangzi stared pensively at the board and his fallen kingdom. He hadn't lost a game of chess in over a year, and that was to his old chess master. Gabriel Agreste was not an easy opponent. "For one so young, you play quite well."

He opened his mouth to answer and bid his leave. The rain had let up considerably, and he had a lot to consider. It was unlikely that he was going to be able to trick Gabriel Agreste into giving away information, anyway. Before he could bid adieu, a feeling tickles his senses; Surprise, a hint of fight-or-flight, and oddly glee? Excitement? It was approaching them.

Gabriel looked behind him, the small amount of warmth in his face draining away. The change was surprising, as Zhuangzi hadn't noticed the kinder expression until it was gone. "Felix," he addressed the newcomer. "I trust you are settled in well."

Zhuangzi stood and faced the man approaching them, almost shocked into thinking it was his father, but then remembered. This must be Felix, his father's doppelganger cousin. "Indeed, Uncle. The renovations are quite nice, though I'm surprised with how little Adrien's old room has changed." He turned his attention to the butterfly hero pointedly noticing him. "And who is this?"

Louis wasn't sure if he liked the man or not. His sister had spent nearly a week with him and hadn't complained about him at all, though it also sounded as if she'd spent more time with great aunt Amelie than anything else.

Gabriel turned back to Zhuangzi. "Go. And remember what I told you."

Interesting. Why did Gabriel not wanting him socializing with Felix? He was getting strange vibes from the situation. Regardless, Zhuangzi gave a formal bow in Gabriel's direction, as if to an opponent. "Until next time, Grandfather." And then he leaped away.

Gabriel returned his attention to Felix, who in turn was also watching the boy leave with a contemplative expression. "No one that you need concern yourself with."

Felix shrugged. "If you say so, Uncle. Aunt Emilie told me to fetch you, by the way."

He nodded and led the way back into the house, not really caring whether Felix followed or not. That didn't stop a small chuckle from escaping his lips. Grandfather, hm? He thought, debating the odds of the youth he'd just met being the same one he'd held nearly ten years ago. If he was correct, Epona was indeed the new official guardian. Hopefully, that would make the business he had with her go that much smoother.


Meanwhile, from his window at the nearby Grand Paris Hotel, Huang Lei Zhang also contemplated as he watched the figure of Zhuangzi bound away.