The Forget-Me-Not Chapter 11: A Shared Illusion of Utopia

Let's dream together, and share the same dream.

This is our utopia, so let's dream together as you please.

Let this happy dream last forever, locked away like a precious treasure.

Time, I bid you to stop! I'll give you eternal beauty.

Dreaming alone is lonely, but let's dream a blissful dream together.

This world is cruel to make us live alone, so let's dream the same dream.

Nino watched Marinette and Nathanael leave the unused conference room. As soon as they were gone, he groaned and slumped on the table, and purposely banged his head on it once.

With his upper body and arms flopped onto the table, he let out an exasperated, "What am I even doing?"

What was he thinking to accomplish by telling Marinette the story? She obviously didn't believe it, and, if anything, it would make her too curious, and she'd jump the gun and someone would have to pay for it like last time.

Marinette was impulsive, as evidenced by her endless mission to find Mylene. If Nino told her any more then she'd jump to conclusions, and then that'd be it.

The end.

Fin.

Sayonara.

Nino rested his elbow on the table so he could then rest his chin in the palm of his hand, slouching and muttering, "I'm so stupid."

A calm and collected voice then floated into the room with a, "I wouldn't say that, but telling Marinette that story is going to have serious consequences."

Nino immediately straightened in his seat, letting his hand fall back on the table, and looked up towards the door in surprise. He could recognize that voice anywhere.

Felix smoothly side-stepped into view of the doorway, having been listening in from the opposite direction of where Nathanael had been, and entered the room. Felix shut the door behind him, something Nino and the others had neglected to do, before sitting himself down in a nearby folding chair. He and Nino were on opposite ends of the room.

Nino scratched the back of his head, accidentally nudging his red hat, before awkwardly saying, "Uh, hey, Felix. Didn't know you were listening in, dude." He winced, realizing that Felix was the person who would be most upset about Nino spreading around the story of the Miraculous, and added, "Uh, how much did you hear?"

Felix closed his eyes as he felt a headache coming on. The blonde brought the palms of his hands up to rub at his forehead to quell it as he muttered, "About as much as Nathanael did." He then visibly cringed in pain, planting his elbows on the table as his hands went up to massage his head in an attempt to fight off the dizzying pain.

Nino, concerned, stood up from his seat and asked, "Dude, you ok? Do you want me to run to the mess hall and get you some pain meds?"

Felix waved his hand, knowing he'd straight-up collapse if he shook his head, and said, "No, I'll be fine. It's just my anemia, I'll deal with it later."

The blonde kept his eyes closed and his hands massaging his head as he added, "More importantly, you shouldn't talk about stuff like that with Marinette, Nathanael, or anyone else. I realize you were probably panicking with how much Marinette was grilling you, but there were other ways to remove yourself from the situation without having to resort to telling that story."

Nino sat back down in his chair with a frustrated sigh as he replied, "I know that already."

And he did.

Both he and Felix knew how Marinette, and a few certain others, could get with their demands to know the truth.

They also knew how they would warp the truth once they found out, only allowing themselves to listen to and understand parts of it before they took action and destroyed everything.

The Miraculous legend itself wasn't the issue with Nino's conversation with Marinette.

The problem was that Nino had told the legend in response to Marinette's questions about Mylene.

Felix let one hand fall to the table and the other propped his head up, his face scrunched up in a weary pain. Nevertheless, he murmured to Nino, "Then you can stop being tense. If you go back to being your easy-going self, then there's a chance that Marinette will stop suspecting you."

Something told Nino that Marinette wouldn't give up so easily. Getting suspicious from how Felix worded it, he looked up and narrowed his eyes, "You aren't going to do that, are you?"

Felix shook his head, and immediately winced in pain, "No, uh, not right now. My anemia's too bad. I'll do it as a last resort. For now, just try to relax more, you'll be less angry, and Marinette will eventually move on if you keep it up. Stick with the kids, you're their favorite prefect."

Felix's hand then slipped and his head unceremoniously flopped, nearly slamming into the table. Felix instead let his head rest down on the table, his eyes closed and body slumped over as he rubbed at his head, "Then I'll just have to divert Marinette's attention away from Mylene, and also tell Rose and Juleka to increase Nathanael's dose of secondary medicine. He'll probably need it."

Nino pursed his lips. It was clear that Felix was pushing himself too far with how much his anemia was affecting him, but Nino knew that Felix was more devoted to the asylum than the rest of them.

The reserved blonde would not be easing up on his workload anytime soon.

And, while a part of Nino knew that he'd spill the beans if Marinette asked again, the larger part of him was more than willing to just kick back, jam with the kids, and remove himself from all the drama.

But, if Felix was going to run himself into the ground, he'd loose his grip on everything, and it'd all fall apart anyway.

Nino sighed, there was no easy way to remedy the situation.

Should he fall back into the background and hope Marinette didn't confront him again?

Should he actually start collaborating with Rose, Juleka, and Felix, even if he didn't totally agree with their methods?

Should he reveal the truth to Marinette?

Nino could either help perpetuate the utopia or help break it.

Nino idly scratched his head and decided that he was thinking way too much. He looked over at Felix, watching how the stress and his condition tore him apart. Just watching him was giving Nino a headache of his own.

But ever since Nino found out, he'd been going along with it all in fear of what would happen if the truth was revealed. And it wasn't paranoia. He, Felix, Rose, and Juleka all knew exactly what would happen if the truth was revealed.

But, would all their efforts be in vain?

Nino, instead of responding to Felix's plan, asked a question that he already knew the answer to, "What'll happen to all of us?"

Felix didn't answer, simply remaining slumped over on the table. Nino almost thought that the blonde had fallen asleep, but then Felix asked, dodging Nino's question, "Are you scared?"

Nino frowned, disgruntled. Well if Felix was going to be like that, then two could play at that game.

The blue-skinned prefect deadpanned, being mostly sarcastic, "Of you, maybe."

Felix chuckled, but it was hollow, "Well, that's not good."

Nino wasn't deterred by the fake laugh. He, Rose, and Juleka were well aware of how time had emptied Felix of everything except for pain.

Today the blonde's façade was just off. That was all.

Felix added, his voice entirely serious yet muffled by the table, "What I want the most is for all of you to be happy. The asylum, above all, is for you guys. If it were up to me, we'd all be here forever, but..."

Felix finally lifted himself off of the table, but kept his head bowed and hands rested on the table as he added, his face pained, "I just have to know if-" He cut himself off, sounding insecure. He wasn't able to be weak like this around anyone else besides Nino, Rose, and Juleka.

While most wouldn't have known what Felix was talking about, Nino knew just what Felix was referring to, and knew it had to do with him. Nino frowned, it also had to do with the very thing that he was against Rose, Juleka, and Felix doing. Nino asked cautiously, "You aren't going to try it on me, are you?"

Felix hastily shook his head, his eyes screwed shut against the pain, and replied, being entirely genuine, "No, of course not. While you're the one most likely to have it, I can't risk losing you, too." He added under his breath, "We've lost too many."

Nino didn't need to even look at Felix's face to know that the blonde was conflicted, and remarked, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, "But you're still curious."

Felix let out another short, hollow laugh as he said in distress, "How could I not be? I'll never know for sure unless I try, but if I do, and it fails, you'll be-" Felix cut himself off, and balled his hands up as he added, "I can't risk it."

Nino asked skeptically, knowing Felix was genuinely pained but not sure if it was enough to stop him, "Would Rose and Juleka be willing to risk it?"

Felix shook his head, "No. Juleka's almost at the end of her rope, and I don't know if she can handle much more." He chuckled bitterly, "She's almost as defeated as I was." There was a pause before he added, "Rose can't take much more either, but she won't topple over like Juleka."

Nino nodded knowingly as he said, "Rose is more outgoing with emotions and stuff, so she'd just fly off the handle and get violent."

While others would think Juleka would be more likely to get violent when things got bad because of the whip she carried around, the truth was that she was introverted and reserved. She couldn't express her emotions as well as Rose could, who was more assertive despite being more feminine.

The two worked in tandem, supported each other in their weak spots. Juleka took care of punishments because she could hold herself back. Rose took the lead during lessons because she had the courage to do so.

When things went wrong and Juleka couldn't keep her emotions bottled up anymore, Rose would shove her own aside and unleash her wrath.

They were opposites, but they complemented each other.

Felix and Nino were well aware of how their dynamic worked.

Felix nodded in agreement with what Nino said, and let out a long sigh as he said, "They've both sacrificed too much for me."

All Felix had wanted was for everyone at the asylum to live in harmony for as long as possible. But it wasn't as easy as it sounded. There were too many things that he was unsure of, and too many hardships that he had to go through for reassurance. Just thinking about it made a few tears leak from Felix's eyes. He couldn't be more grateful for how much the other prefects had helped him out when he struggled.

His greatest fear was being left alone to deal with his pain.

The two sat in silence.

The blonde prefect was tired, so tired, but also grieving and terrified of what would occur if things went wrong. But it was for these very reasons that he, Rose, and Juleka were so dedicated to the asylum, even if some of their methods were questionable.

Nino understood them better than anyone else.

But Marinette wouldn't understand. She wouldn't even think to understand. People like her were impulsive. They'd make their own judgements without really knowing what people like Felix had to go through.

They had to protect the asylum, under all costs.

Felix let his head rest in his hand as he said, "I have to make sure that this lasts, I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't."

Nino sighed, and conceded, "I won't stop you."

He won't

He didn't want to think of what would happen if he did.