Sorry this chapter wasn't showing up before, it seems the website was glitching. Hopefully it shows up now though!

Tomorrow's chapter will be delayed until Monday, but next week's chapter should be up on Saturday as usual.


Thank you to Khanofallorcs for being the beta for this chapter!

And thank you for all the support you guys have given this story so far! ^^


Chapter Twelve

Lady Noire didn't waste a moment when she saw the akuma turning towards Alya, leaping down from the roofs and running on all fours towards Alya just as Speedstar lit up his hand once more. She grabbed Alya as she charged forward, throwing her over her shoulder as she bolted across the street, dropping her friend on the grass as she turned around, drawing her baton.

She barely managed to turn in time, Speedstar speeding over towards her with a snarl. She swung her staff as hard as she could, knocking him away in a single blow. He staggered backwards, before glaring up at her, and his eyes an electric yellow instead of Kim's regular gaze.

"Well you showed up quickly," he mused. "You know, I could use some of that."

She tried to shift into a defensive position, but Speedstar was already bearing down on her, far faster than he had been before. She opened up her mouth, trying to raise her staff, when a voice reached her ears and a flash of red bolted in front of her.

"Lady! Look out!"

One moment the akuma was charging at her, and the next Crimson was jumping in front of her as Speedstar bore down on them. The moment before his glowing hand came into contact with her partner a flash of white light appeared between them– a wooden staff tipped with gold flying out from it, slamming into Speedstar's chest as he was sent flying back.

A woman stepped out of the portal as it faded, opening her hand, and the staff came flying back to her. Crimson and Lady stared at her as she twirled the staff about, staring at the akuma as he rose to his feet.

She was dressed in brown, her suit highlighted with gold. A circlet of the same color rested upon her head, which sat in a mess of wild red hair. She spared them one glance, revealing a golden mask on her face, lined with tufts of bristly fur on either side. There were golden cuffs on her wrist and ankles, and around her neck was a golden usekh– her entire appearance seemingly paying homage to an ancient Egyptian style.

Speedstar let out a howl, charging at her– only for another portal to open up above him, a white figure pouncing on the akuma. They attacked Speedstar with that appeared to be a bat, but as the glowing white hand came down to suck away his energy the weapon flared open– revealing it to be an umbrella as it blocked the attack. The umbrella was mostly a soft blue, save for the image of a white crescent moon running along its edge, but it became lost in a blur as the man moved forward.

He twisted about, lashing out with his unnaturally large feet, sending Speedstar across the street. He let out a whoop, landing with ease, turning back towards them. "Whaddya know? Second time's the charm!"

The man was even stranger than his companion, tall and powerful with rippling muscles– who was dressed in a white rabbit outfit. A mask was tied about his head, the ends peering out from his black hair like rabbit ears, both tipped with blue. The boots of his outfit resembled that of large rabbit feet, which were also blue; and tied around his waist was a blue sash, supporting a small little puff like a rabbit tail on the back of his suit. He closed the umbrella, which was an Asian parasol, before placing hand on his hip.

"Who are you?" Crimson demanded, eyes flickering between the two masked newcomers.

"Damage control," the woman replied, throwing her staff up into the air. "Uproar!"

The staff glowed with a golden light, a small baseball appearing next to it as it came falling down. Lady Noire blinked at this as the woman caught them– was this some sort of Lucky Charm? She watched as the woman tossed the ball into the air a few times before she took careful aim, chucking the baseball right at Speedstar as he came running back at them, bathing him in the same golden light.

The glow in his hand faded instantly, bursting into small orbs that danced around him. He took a step back, eyes wide with confusion, and tried to summon the energy-stealing light, only for this time for it to burst into a small explosion of fireworks.

"You keep him busy, Cottontail!" The woman called out to the rabbit-costumed man. "I need to have a talk with these two."

"My pleasure," Cottontail said with a grin. "Hey! How can you call yourself Speedy when you're nothing but a slowpoke?"

"Stop calling me that!" Speedstar roared, rushing forward towards the Rabbit hero, who simply pointed his umbrella at the ground. "I'm the fastest in all of Paris!"

"Burrow," Cottontail said, summoning a portal at his feet, which he sank into. Another one reappeared behind Speedstar, the Rabbit leaning out of it. "Oh man, pathetic. You call yourself the fastest in all of Paris? You're not even the fastest on the block."

He then vanished back into his Burrow as Speedstar came charging once more, but before Lady Noire and Crimson could watch anymore the woman approached the, grabbing each of them by the shoulder and dragging them away with an unnatural strength, which they knew Miraculouses could grant, though if she had one, Lady wasn't sure what it was.

"Hey!" Crimson growled, pulling himself out of the grasp. "What's your deal?"

She sighed, hand pressed against her forehead. "We don't have time for this–"

Another 'Burrow' appeared between them all, causing them all to jump back as Cottontail stuck his head through, grinning. "Actually we have plenty of time. In fact, you could say time is on our side–"

"Go and deal with the akuma!" The woman screamed at him, and Cottontail vanished once more. "That stupid monkey brain buffoon..."

"You're the Monkey!" Cottontail called over from somewhere near Speedstar, still darting in and out of his Burrows.

"Look, I'm Apex," the woman said as she turned back towards him. "Wielder of the Monkey Miraculous. That idiot over there is Cottontail, Rabbit Miraculous, his powers deal with time travel. We're from the future and we're here to help."

"Future?"

"Time travel?"

Apex shrugged, like these facts were completely normal. "Long story short, you two would have lost this fight if we weren't interfering, we already had to reset the timeline once– because someone decided to be an idiot."

"Me?" Crimson said as Apex glared at him.

"Yes, you– what were you thinking, jumping in front of Lady Noire like that?"

"She was going to get hit–" Crimson began, but he was cut off as Apex took a step towards him, jabbing a gloved finger into his chest.

"That's. Her. Job. She's the protector of your duo– her job is to protect you and your allies, and your job is to see things through to the end," Apex growled. "In the timeline that you 'saved' her? Guess what– you were gone forever, because even if she did defeat the akuma she doesn't have restoration powers, so there's no bringing you back."

"I just–"

"Nope. No 'justs', no 'buts', nothing." Apex's tone then softened ever so slightly. "I don't mean to be harsh, Baby Beetle, but you need to understand how your powers work together. You can save and protect her when all of this is over– when you call for your Cure. If anyone is to take hits for another I'm afraid it's Kitty Noire that needs to do so. Without either of you this city won't make it– and part of that is making sure you make it through the end of the fight."

Crimson said nothing.

"Don't worry, Boss," she said. "You two are just starting out, mistakes are bound to be made– but don't let them hold you back." She patted Crimson on the back, before pushing him back towards the fight. "Now why don't you go help Cotton for a bit, while me and Kitty have a talk. Don't worry about the akuma's powers– they're next to useless as long as my Uproar is active."

Crimson looked between them, hesitating, then focused his gaze on Lady. "Call me if you need help."

"Of course," she replied. These people may be helping them, but they didn't truly know who they were. Plagg had mentioned there were Miraculouses associated with time... but actual time travel? That felt like it should be impossible, despite what she had seen.

Crimson leapt towards where Cottontail and Speedstar were battling, drawing his yoyo. It felt wrong not to be charging out there with him, but Apex laid a hand on her shoulder and led her away from the fight. The woman let out a long sigh as they came to a stop, running a hand through her hair, looking out at the city for a moment. She had claimed to be using the Monkey Miraculous, but her appearance definitely didn't seem to be based around the classic little tree-dwelling primates. The woman's canine teeth were much sharper than any human's, and Lady couldn't help but run a tongue over her own pointed canines. That and the fur around her mask... baboon maybe? Her name suggested 'ape' though, and her costume also didn't have anything that resembled a tail, but that wouldn't be a monkey then–

Apex grinned at her. "Don't try too hard to look through the glamour, it'll give you a headache." Her expression turned serious. "Look, Kitty, we need to talk."

She threw a glance over her shoulder, watching as Cottontail and Crimson tried to corner Speedstar. But even with his powers disabled he still had the speed he had gained, and it was only thanks to the time traveling portals that Cottontail was able to keep pace. Crimson tried several times to use his yoyo to catch the akuma, but it only managed to land where Speedstar had been moments before.

"You're a good hero, Kitty Noire," Apex said, and by her tone Lady knew that this compliment was only meant to serve as a buffer. "But you aren't handling this right."

She had known something along these lines were coming, but still her heart lurched at these words. She touched her ring, wondering why she even cared what some stranger had to say. "What do you–?"

"You need to use your Cataclysm in these fights."

She felt her panic surging at these words, looking up into the burning blue gaze of Apex. She clutched her ringed hand to her chest, struggling to search for words. "But I– we fine– doing it without– " she stammered. "W-we're winning battles, it don't need–"

"You didn't win today's fight, not in the other timeline," Apex said.

"–And the city– they powers don't my like, it scares them and so better it's just way this–"

"Marinette, look at me," Apex said, and Lady Noire was startled as she heard her real name. She jerked her head up, blue eyes wide, while Apex's gaze was soft. "You and Crimson wield Miraculouses known as an Alpha Pairing– powerful Miraculouses who are both opposites and equals. In every Alpha Pairing there is one Miraculous of positive energy, and one of negative energy, of purity and corruption, light and darkness– whatever you wish to call it. One thing they do not represent though is good and evil."

"Others don't seem to think that," Lady Noire whispered.

"I am not telling you that this is going to be easy, Paris does not know what to make of your Destruction, and that will not change overnight– the future is full of hard times ahead. But it is also filled with many good things as well. I don't need you to focus on what this city thinks, just on what you and Crimson must do. Can you handle that?"

"...Yes."

"Perfect," Apex said, before jerking her head towards the boys. "Now, I need you to look at this fight now– and imagine if Speedstar's powers were still intact and if me and Cottontail hadn't shown up– how would you destroy the boots?"

"I would... um... Crimson would have to tie him up, and maybe the Lucky Charm could give us–"

"What if the Lucky Charm doesn't give you something that would help with that plan? What if Speedstar gathered too much energy so he was too fast to be caught? Then what?"

"We... we would have to lure him somewhere," Lady said, mind racing as she watched Cottontail and Crimson practically play tag with the akuma– even without his powers his strength had been enhanced, and he had still gathered a good amount of speed from those he had already drained that he managed to slip through their attempts to pin him, a mere blur as he moved– slamming into Crimson and sending him flying back. "Then we would need to... to..."

"I think you get the picture I'm trying to paint," Apex said. "There would be no simple way to get a hold of this particular akumatized object as he would be too dangerous to try to approach or restrain– in other words the most effective manner would be to use your Cataclysm to destroy them in a passing charge. Get in close and then as far away as you can– that way you don't have to remove the item, or find a way to break it– just a touch and it's over, neutralize his abilities before he can harm you. You can't withhold your powers anymore– you need to use them, because there will be situations where you need it."

"I don't know how to control it!" She cried, tears pricking her eyes. "It– it just flares out, destroying everything–"

"The Destruction you summon is just a mere sliver of the power of what truly lies in your ring," Apex said. "Do you know why kwamis work with humans? It isn't to amplify their power, but rather to restrict it. On their own... they represent the raw elements of this universe unhindered, on a scale we can't even imagine. But with a human acting as a vessel for them, a host, an avatar– there comes a means of control to the power they hold, a way to inhibit infinity."

Lady's thoughts turned back to Plagg's words, how he had called himself a god, how he had seen her Cataclysms as small. Her mouth was dry, the ring feeling heavy.

"Your problem does not come from a lack of control, but a lack of understanding. When you have called for your power you are summoning as much as you can, exerting as much force as your form could carry. You act like you must draw upon something and force it out, when it is truly the opposite.," Apex took her ringed hand. "You aren't a well, trying to pull up what you can, you must act more as a... faucet, controlling how much energy you let out."

She couldn't help but snort at this comparison, and Apex gave a small smile.

"I know, not the most glamourous idea– but that is how it is. You need to choose how much to open up your connection with Destruction, and oftentimes you want as little as you can manage. A mere drop compared to what you could truly unlock. It is critical that you learn to master this level of control now, while your body is young and the amount of power you can handle is limited. As you two grow older you your ability to wield magic will become more stable– and one day you will find yourself neither on a timer nor limited to how often you can call upon your powers."

She felt slightly dizzy at this, but before she could reply another Burrow opened up between them, Cottontail sticking his head out. "Yo. We're about ready for you two, done with your pep talk?"

"Should be," Apex said, and they turned around to see Speedstar tangled in Crimson's yoyo, still trying to summon his draining light– which just turned into a mass of confetti. "Ah, perfect. You remember where the akuma is? Go destroy it."

Her eyes drifted to Speedstar's boots. "But..."

"Summon your Cataclysm and break the akuma. Now."

"But Kim's under there!" She protested.

Apex rolled her eyes. "He'll be fine, trust me. Come on, Kitty Noire, just like I told you. I wouldn't let you do this if it would put someone in danger."

Lady slowly approached Crimson, who was grinning as he held the akuma bound. "Well, this most certainly wraps things up, don't you think?"

"Heh," was all she could really muster as a reply, kneeling down in front of Speedstar, who was lashing against the yoyo's wire.

"You can't keep me contained!" He roared, and her gaze turned towards his boots.

She closed her eyes, flexing her fingers, trying to think on Apex's words. She remembered the first time she summoned her power, the wave of energy that had come from it– the same force she had called upon each time. She didn't need a roaring fire though, just a mere flicker of a flame. An ember. These just weren't words she spoke, there was a power behind them, one she knew– but had never tried to guide.

With her eyes closed she could feel it more than ever, pulsing in another realm like a heartbeat surrounding her. Raw and uncontained, waiting for her to tap into it. She could feel more as well– she could sense the energy surrounding Crimson off to her left– powerful and in every way different from what she sensed– so warm and welcoming. She could feel the energy within Kim, or rather the akuma inhabiting him, which felt somewhat similar to her energy. She remembered the times Crimson had cleansed the akuma, feeling that energy shifting from the wild chaos like that was around her to the melodic peace he drew from– which was then released across the city with his Cure.

Her voice was a whisper as she spoke. "Cataclysm."

She opened her eyes to see the darkness bubbling across her hand, small and slow compared to the churning pulses she was used to summoning. She turned her hand over, letting the energy dance across it, watching as one of the glowing paw pads on her ring flickered. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she looked up at Crimson, who gave her a nod. Hesitantly she reached forward, brushing her claws against Speedstar's boots, silently urging the energy to go no further.

They turned an ashy gray upon contact, crumbling to dust in seconds. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until she let out a shaky sigh, the dark energy having not surged out as it had done the past times she had called on it, merely fizzling away as the boots became ash. A black butterfly appeared from the remains, the energy of the akumatization bubbling away from Speedstar as it flew up, leaving Kim in its wake, and Crimson loosened his yoyo from around him.

"H-huh?" Kim muttered, looking about in confusion. "Where did Alix go...?"

"Woo!" She heard a loud cheer, and she turned in time to see Cottontail pouncing on her, the large Rabbit-hero scooping her up into his arms with ease, engulfing her in a crushing hug. "That was awesome, Boss!"

"Put her down, you're suffocating her!" Apex snarled. "Crimson, catch the akuma."

"Already on it," Crimson replied, his yoyo zipping out towards the escaping butterfly.

Kim was looking around at the four heroes, looking very confused. "Wait, why are you guys here? And since when were there more of you?"

"There won't be for some time, I'm afraid," Apex replied, strolling forward and steadying Lady as Cottontail finally set her down. He may have had the Rabbit Miraculous, but he had the grip of a gorilla. "It's time for us to head back home."

"Just like that?" Crimson asked. "Appear out of nowhere, lecture us, then whisk off without any answers?"

Kim stared up at Cottontail. "You look ridiculous."

Cottontail huffed. "Excuse me? I am the strongest of all of Team Miraculous, thank you very much!"

"You're dressed like a bunny!"

"And I have the speed of one as well, I can get from here to the Eiffel Tower in less than a second!"

"No way!"

"Don't believe me? Just let me summon up a Burr–"

"Uproar," Apex muttered, holding her staff out above her partner, causing the forming rubber duck to fall on his head, a golden light surrounding him as he tried to summon his Burrow– which instead summoned a pile of dirt instead of the portal.

"Did you just disable my Burrow?" Cottontail snapped, rounding on Apex.

"You don't get to use your powers to show off."

"You do realize that's our only way home, right?"

"Nah, Crimson will restore it as soon as he summons his little bug army," she said, leaning back on her staff. She looked over towards Kim. "You should get back to your friends, I know they're worried about you– but you're not allowed to tell anyone about us, got it?"

He scanned her. "And what exactly are you supposed to be? Something cooler than a bunny?"

"Monkey Miraculous," she said dismissively. "Now why are you still here? Shoo. Or else I'll disable your ability to swim!"

She held out her staff towards him, and Kim's eyes widened in reply. He turned and headed away from the heroes, not quite running, but his steps just quick enough to show that he did not want Apex to make good on her threat. The Monkey hero chuckled at this, hooking her staff to her back.

"Can you really do that?" Lady asked.

"Nah," Apex said. "My powers only work on other magical forces, I'm afraid. But the threat usually works well enough."

"Do you really think he's going to keep quiet? Kim's a bit of a talker–"

"Don't worry," Cottontail said. "He won't say a word about nothing."

"Now we're alone, we can talk," Apex said. "I know you guys have questions, but please remember that me and Cottontail can't tell you about the future, I'm afraid. And please hold back on casting your Miraculous Ladybug, Crim– that will bring everyone back and whatever we tell you is for you to hear alone."

"How many Miraculouses are out there?" Lady asked. "I know Plagg mentioned there were others. If you're from the future does that mean we'll have allies in the future?"

"You will have both new allies and new enemies," Apex replied, and her tone made it clear that she would not say any more.

"Why didn't you show up sooner?" There was a hint of frustration in Lady's voice. "Like to our very first fight? We could have used some help back then, even just some answers to what was happening."

"If you have time travel powers why not make it so Monarch never gets her Miraculous?" Crimson added, hand tightening on his yoyo. "That would save a lot of people time and pain."

"That is not the duty of the Rabbit Miraculous," Cottontail said– and for once he actually looked serious. "My job is to protect the timeline."

"And I'm here to make sure he doesn't mess it all up," Apex said. "When he says 'the timeline' he is referring to the timeline his kwami has deemed best for existence. It does not mean creating a perfect realm, or fixing every little mistake, and it does not mean making sure all is well for every person. He wields the Miraculous of Evolution– and his job is to make sure that existence will always continue on the best path for this world. Sometimes it means alternating little things, other times it means erasing months or even years– and sometimes it means doing nothing."

Lady Noire's gaze shifted between them, and their eyes looked far older than those who were in front of them.

Crimson swallowed. "How do you...? How does that even...?"

Apex waved her hand. "It's confusing. It's hard. It gives me a headache. We have seen things I'd rather not say." She closed her eyes. "There was a reason why Cottontail here was chosen. He's brave, he's strong–"

"Ahh, you're too sweet," Cottontail said, leaning towards her with a smile, and she opened her eyes, glaring at him.

"–and he doesn't ask Fluff too many questions, also he's too much of an idiot to be confused with the infinite lack of logic that comes with time travel."

"Hey!"

"That sounds like a lot of responsibility," Crimson muttered. "Even more than protecting a city..."

"Don't let it fool ya," Cottontail said. "You two are still the bosses."

"Lady, I don't want you faltering when it comes to using your Cataclysm again. Not needing it is one thing– but if the moment is there then take it," Apex said. "You and Crimson Beetle are part of a very delicate balance. Creation and Destruction– and limiting your destructive powers can throw off that balance. Too much of either is never a good thing."

"How could too much Creation be a bad thing?" Lady asked, and Apex and Cottontail looked at each other.

"There needs to be a balance to all things," Apex finally said. "Life and Death, Order and Chaos, Space and Void, Creation and Destruction– and upsetting that is never good. This city needs both of you, Creation and Destruction."

"Well, really it just needs Monarch to stop sending out akumas," Cottontail said with a shrug, spinning his umbrella about.

Lady Noire jumped as her ring beeped, reminding her that she only had a few minutes left– something she was not used to. Apex nodded as if this answered some unspoken question, looking at Crimson.

"Send out your Cure," she said.

Crimson Beetle nodded, before pausing. "Um... I didn't summon a Charm for this fight?"

"It's bound to happen sometimes," Apex said with a shrug.

"No, I mean..." He hesitated. "Can I even summon up a Cure without a Charm?"

"Your Miraculous Ladybugs need a source of energy to function– and the source you have always used in the corrupted energy you claim from the akuma butterfly. You don't need a Lucky Charm, and your yoyo should suffice as a release source when you don't have a Charm with you."

He nodded, throwing his yoyo up into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The yoyo opened up, releasing the white butterfly within– along with the wave of pink energy radiating out from it, sweeping out across the square to heal the energy that had been done.

"Burrow," Cottontail said, not wasting a moment as soon as the light touched him– he and Apex jumping within the portal and vanishing without so much as a goodbye. The Burrow winked out of existence just as those who had been absorbed by Speedstar reappeared, rubbing their heads and looking about in confusion.

"I gotta go," Lady Noire said, her ring beeping faster. "Pound it?"

"Pound it," Crimson said with a fist bump, before giving her a bow. "See you soon, My Lady."


"Gah!"

"Plagg?" Marinette said, jerking her thoughts away from her homework as she heard the kwami's cry. "Is everything okay?"

"I hate her!" Plagg shouted, sitting up on her bed, phone in hand. Marinette frowned in confusion, and made her way up towards the little kwami, who was shaking with anger, green eyes flashing. His voice as a hiss as he glowered up towards his holder. "I hate her."

She carefully took her phone from Plagg, and found herself looking at the BeetleBlog, and she felt her stomach sinking. She carefully scrolled up towards the top, not sure if she wanted to see what article had been written this time.

Lady Noire uses her Cataclysm on Akumatized Victim.

"That's how she chooses to word it?" The kwami snarled. "Well if she wants to know what a Cataclysm looks like I'll gladly show her–"

He fell silent as Marinette slid a cheese cracker into his mouth, laying down on her bed as she scanned the article. "I'm sure she just wanted something that could get more views, that's all... See? Right here, she mentions that only the object was destroyed and that Kim was fine, and goes on to explain there was no widespread destruction..."

"She used his name?!"

"No, she didn't, you know that she knows better than that," Marinette said as Plagg bolted to look over her shoulder. "I... I don't understand though– she didn't mention anything about Apex and Cottontail?" She exited the article, scrolling through the blog posts– but saw nothing. "I thought she'd be all over two new heroes– I know she was watching the fight."

"They probably didn't want themselves to be seen," Plagg said dismissively. "Remember, they told Kim to stay quiet."

"But Alya has a picture of me using my Cataclysm!" She protested. "Sure it looks like she was hiding going off of the angle, but there's no way she wouldn't have seen them... Why wouldn't she say anything?"

"Meh, there could be several reasons," Plagg muttered, still sounding upset. "The Rabbit could have shown up and told her not to post anything, but I doubt they would do that or that she would listen."

"That's my friend you're talking about, Plagg."

"Option number two was they could have kept time traveling over and over until they got a fight where they weren't noticed, but the chances of that happening are next to nothing. Option number three would be the possibility that they are in contact with present-Citrine."

"Who?"

Plagg waved a paw. "Future stuff ain't yours to focus on, kid. Just worry about now."

"Okay...?" She said, slipping out from her loft to go and continue her homework, but the word 'Citrine' lingered in her mind, seeming strangely familiar. She couldn't place it though, the thought taunting her as she tried to finish her work.

It wasn't until the middle of the night she remembered where she might have heard it before– and she found herself sitting up in bed, scrolling through news reports of the akumas until she found the one she wanted– Cameraman's attack. She skipped through the video, searching for the part she wanted, when Monarch was giving her speech to Paris.

"I saw what you did yesterday– impressive power, though it makes me wonder why Citrine would pick a Black Cat that can't even control their Destruction."

"Jokes on you, Monarch," she muttered. "I can control it."

She did it today, she could do it again... she hoped.

She laid back down, considering the words... Citrine, Citrine... A google search yielded nothing more than it being a type of quartz, which didn't answer her question. She replayed Monarch's words several more times, considering what she did know.

Citrine must be a person by the way it was worded, and they seemed to be one who was the reason why she had the Black Cat ring. That in itself raised several more questions, but there were several important facts standing out to her: Plagg knew of this Citrine, Monarch knew of Citrine, and it was possible the heroes from the future knew of Citrine.

Plagg was an ally, Monarch was an enemy, and the other heroes clearly did seem to be allies– so then what was Citrine? Someone trustworthy? Clearly so, if they had a hand in her involvement in getting the ring to protect the city– but how much did they know? Who were they? Where were they now? Were she and Crimson not as alone in all this as they thought?

She let out a sigh, laying back down in bed, rolling over onto her side to look at Plagg. The kwami was fast asleep, snoring. She had so many questions, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't answer any of them. She reached out, scratching him on the side of the head, causing him to press against her finger in his sleep, muttering something in a language she did not understand.

She smiled softly. She and Crimson weren't alone, no matter who this Citrine character was. They had their kwamis after all.