Thanksgiving passed with little fanfare. It wasn't like the French people celebrated it. But we invited the Dupain-Chengs over for dinner and shared the tradition with them. Then we had so many leftovers I didn't think we could ever finish them.

Marinette didn't seem too traumatized over getting kidnapped by an akuma, but I guess it might have been more awkward than anything. She told me that Nathaniel was extremely embarrassed when he found out what he did and apologized profusely. I honestly felt bad for the guy: imagine getting ousted to your crush by a supervillain.

After mid November, I was suddenly swamped with work:

All my classes decided that we weren't prepared for finals and the only way to prepare was with more homework.

Auditions were literally next week. Which meant they were basically yesterday for how prepared I felt about them.

Master Fu was scheduling lessons more often. He was normally very inconsistent with them - which Chase and I guessed was due to health concerns. He was very old, and at his age - we still haven't gotten a solid number from him - injuries and illnesses were common.

I still had to go to those patrol meetings with Ladybug and Chat Noir, which were inconvenient at best and plan ruining at worst. It was only luck that they hadn't interrupted any hangouts with Nino and Adrien.

And Hawkmoth still wouldn't go away.

"How was the akuma fight?" Chase asked from his position at his desk. He didn't even look up from his stupid textbook.

"It was literally a stupid giant baby. How do you think it went?" I grumbled. "I'm going to take a shower."

Uhg. I hated babies. Giant babies crossed the line.

"Don't forget audi-"

"Auditions. Yeah, I know." I snapped back. Rude? Probably. But it had been an awful week - no, month; I was allowed to be in a bad mood.

Chase didn't seem offended, but he did roll his eyes at me.

I practiced my song and monologue in the shower, because I apparently couldn't get a moment of peace.

. . .

Adrien and Nino watched as Keana muttered madly under her breath and pace in a small circle

"I know she's just practicing her monologue, but doesn't she look insane?" Nino whispered to Adrien.

The model nodded slowly. "I'm almost glad I can't do it. This looks stressful."

"This is why I signed up for lights and sound." Nino nodded wisely.

"That's right! I ate the divorce papers!"

Keana whirled around and began advancing on them, screeching at the top of her lungs like some sort of demented witch.

"I ATE THEM WITH KETCHUP- You sick son of a-"

Nino and Adrien exchanged a wide eyed look. "That's not in the script."

"Should we run?"

"Definitely."

. . .

Juleka signed up for the first day of auditions, and the fifth slot in line. She was worried that if she didn't commit to being one of the first ones auditioning, then she wouldn't do it at all. She wasn't about to let herself wimp out on doing something she really wanted to do just because she was nervous.

But as the audition room slowly began filling up with more and more people, as it grew louder and louder, Juleka regretted this decision. At least she had Rose for support.

The student director, Chase, clapped his hands at the front of the room. "Thank you all for coming!"

People started to quiet down.

"Well, I have a few announcements before we begin with auditions-"

Rose poked Juleka's shoulder. "Isn't he kinda cute?" she whispered.

Juleka looked back to Chase. He was pretty tall, had tan skin and fluffy dark hair. He was also her older brother's friend. "I guess."

"Aw, you're no fun." Rose pouted.

"-these are open auditions, which means you'll have an audience. Feel free to leave once you're done with your audition, but do not leave while someone else is in the middle of their audition, that's extremely rude-"

And suddenly Juleka regretted signing up early even more. All these people would be watching her?! She thought the judges, Chase and Genevieve, would take them into a different room one-by-one.

"Talking during an audition is also rude, and will get you kicked out of the room until it's your turn."

Juleka heard someone scoff and paled. Was that Chloe? Chloe was watching people audition?! Juleka slumped against Rose's shoulder, who patted her head.

"...just kill me now..."

"I'll be giving an audition example today," Chase said, "because some of you probably have never auditioned for something before, so just follow my example."

He bowed his head and waited for everyone to quiet down again. Then he looked up.

"Hello, I'm Chase Luana and I'm auditioning as a baritone. I'll be starting with my monologue."

"Feel free to start when you're ready," Genevieve said from the judges spot.

Chase nodded and suddenly the way he held himself shifted.

It very became very clear what type of scene he was performing, some sort of poison cup mystery where a particularly intelligent person puzzled over which one he should drink from.

His energy grew increasingly more manic, as he pointed accusingly at where his invisible opponent stood.

He pretended to spot something and quickly mimed switching a pair of goblets. He rubbed his hands in apparent glee.

Until the climax of the scene:

"You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny!" Chase cackled, perfectly in character, "I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha, you fool!"

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders." He explained. "The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia; and only slightly less well known is this: Never go in against a Sicilian, when death is on the line!"

Chase burst into hysterical laughter, only to cut himself off.

Some people began to clap, only to get interrupted by Chase dropping dead on the spot.

"Thank you, Chase." Gen remarked after the applause died down. "You can start the song whenever you're ready."

Chase nodded his head at Luka, who had volunteered to be the accompanist for the song auditions.

The introduction of the song began playing. It was the chorus of "Be Our Guest," the portion where the ensemble would sing.

Chase began singing, and his tone was clear and powerful. He didn't stay with the melody- instead he sang the baritone harmony. Juleka wasn't especially familiar with the baritone part, but he didn't appear to miss a single note.

The song audition portion was only around a page and a half of music, but it allowed Chase to show off his range and technique very well. Before long he hit the last note and the song ended.

People began clapping, Juleka even heard a few whistles as people cheered.

Chase bowed.

"Any questions? No? Good. First up, we have Chloe... Bourgeois?" Chase paused. "Did I say that right?" Then he shrugged.

Chloe strutted to the front of the room.

Juleka withheld a sigh. Of course Chloe signed up first. Hopefully that meant she was leaving first.

Chloe strutted to the front. "I'm Chloe Bourgeois, but you all already know that. I'm a soprano and I'm starting with my monologue."

Start she did.

And it sounded awfully familiar.

It was about the woes of a girl who was attempting to babysit a menace of a puppy. Chloe's performance of it was undeniably... Chloe. It had an underlying feeling of disgust and snobbishness. Juleka briefly wondered if the rich girl was even acting.

The feeling of dread came to a peak around half a sentence into the monologue.

Chloe chose the exact same monologue as Juleka.

Juleka was doomed.

"I came home to pee! In the cupboards! How does a puppy even jump that high-!"

"Cut" Chase said.

Chloe's mouth snapped shut. "Excuse me?"

"I've heard enough," Chase explained. "We don't have time to listen to the full length of everyone's monologues. I'm going to cut off most everyone, unless they have a shorter monologue. It's not an insult and it doesn't indicate how well you do."

"Of course it doesn't," Chloe snapped. "I'm amazing!"

"you're certainly something." Juleka didn't need to turn around to see it- she could feel Chase's raised eyebrow. "Feel free to start your song when you're ready."

"I'm ready," Chloe snapped her fingers at Luka. Juleka saw him roll his eyes, but he started playing.

Chloe started singing, the same song that Chase had sung, except this time it was the melody. And, seeing how it was the melody of a popular Disney song, she didn't miss a note. However, she was following her own tempo, holding out notes longer than they needed to be. And her tone was... bright.

And the song ended as quickly as it began.

People clapped, but it wasn't even half the noise that Chase got. Juleka thought it had more to do with people not liking Chloe than not liking her performance. This became especially apparent with the next few auditions.

The monologues seemed toneless, robotic and stifled. The songs were... fine, but there were a few that made Juleka cringe from all the wrong notes. Some people had to restart from the beginning of the song, which Chase allowed.

Then suddenly it was Juleka's turn.

And all the nerves hit her at once.

Her stomach twisted itself into knots and she struggled to stand. Her whole body was shaking, she felt like she was going to collapse.

Miraculously, she managed to make it to the front of the room.

"H-hello, My n-name is J-juleka Couffaine, I-I'm auditioning as an alto and I'll be s-starting with my m-monologue."

Juleka saw Chase write something on a piece of paper and he smiled at her warmly. "Start whenever you're ready."

Juleka took a few breaths, hoping that it would help her keep her voice steady. She was so shaky, she was stuttering.

Then she started.

She was quiet at first, but she got louder at the times she practiced. And when her character started to have a mental breakdown, the stress became too much. Juleka's eyes started to tear up.

"He tore up my couch when I came home from work. My couch, the one that I just recently purchased from Levitz, great deal by the way, is destroyed-!"

"Cut," Chase called out. "Thank you, you may start your song whenever."

"Th-thank you," Juleka mumbled. She stood there, trying to calm down once again for what felt like ages under the stares of the audience. She glanced over at Luka, and he smiled encouragingly.

She nodded.

The piano started once again and Juleka had no choice but to start singing.

She was singing the alto part, not the melody, but she practiced enough that she wasn't sure if she could sing the melody even if she wanted to. So she got the notes right, but her voice was so shaky. And it cracked embarrassingly when she switched from chest to head voice.

She was relieved when the song ended, and she all but collapsed back into her seat. She couldn't even pay attention to the applause she got.

"You did great!" Rose cheered.

"Thanks..." Juleka didn't believe her.

"Hey," Rose pouted, "I bet you're gonna get a speaking role!"

"No way."

. . .

I stood nervously in front of the unassuming massage parlor.

It was for good reason; last time I was there I had my legs swept out from underneath me no less than fifteen times. For an ancient man of unknown age, Master Fu was incredibly spry.

Chase glanced over at me with a raised eyebrow. "What, you scared?"

"No," I glared at him. "And you're not any better."

He chuckled, unaffected by my proverbial jab. So I literally jabbed him in the side.

"Hey, go easy on me," Chase protested. "I don't have super durability."

"Neither do I," I pouted. "Unfortunately."

"I'm glad you've realized that," Chase agreed. "Since you're the one who wrestled a thirty foot-"

"Would you drop that already!?" I threw my arms up.

He chuckled again, and I glared. The expression didn't stick on my face.

The door to the massage parlor, and our dojo, opened. Master Fu stood hunched over on the other side. He was using the handle for support and I narrowed my eyes. He probably didn't even need to do that. He really enjoyed playing up his age.

"Oh, who's at my door?" He squinted his eyes at us. "A tall, handsome young man and a little, angry young woman. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He was pretending to have dementia again.

I raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down. "You're really making a joke about my height?"

"I am pretty handsome," Chase mused. I punched him in the side.

"And tall. You hallucinating from a lack of air, up there?"

Chase rubbed his side. "You just killed me."

Master Fu chuckled. "Come in, come in."

The sparsely decorated home of Master Fu was familiar by now. I didn't have to follow him like a duckling to the training room, I knew the layout of the small house. And I didn't feel awkward sitting on his furniture anymore. I've gotten used to his strange quirks - he was sort of like a grandpa now. I felt comfortable teasing him, with hugs. It helped that he was a bit of a goofball.

"Start your stretches," Master Fu instructed. "Keana, I believe you'll be able to touch your toes today!"

I had never been able to touch my toes in my life. My achilles tendon was always too tight and my torso was practically non-existent. In elementary school, gym class, I remember seeing other kids touch their toes with little effort, while I couldn't even reach my ankles.

Master Fu knew this - I complained a few too many times about it - and decided that the accursed toe touch would be my flexibility goal. Like the absolute troll he was.

(At one point, I got so irritated by the exercise that when I got home, I transformed into Ghost. And then I learned I did not have the same limitation in that form. I felt both betrayed and vindicated. And then I tried the splits and found similar success, and the betrayal faded into excitement.)

The stretches were helping, though. And Master Fu's prediction was somehow correct.

"Master Fu is right again, I see," Chase said, after witnessing the momentous occasion that was me touching my toes.

"I don't know how he does it," I muttered, scrutinizing the old man as he innocently sips his tea.

"If you two are done stretching, we can move onto the lesson." Master Fu set down his tea cup and hobbled to the front of the room.

"I know you have both been busy, so instead of having the normal combat lesson, I will be guiding you through meditation."

"What for?" I questioned. Did he schedule the lesson just so we could relax? That didn't make any sense, we could have relaxed at home.

"Meditation is a tool used to clear the mind. It brings focus and clarity to your spirit. It isn't just an excuse to take a nap," Master Fu's eyes twinkled. "Though I have found sleeping after meditation brings more rest than not."

Chase snorted and I rolled my eyes.

"I will guide you through this meditation. Please take the time to put aside external concerns and focus on sorting through internal issues."

This was probably stuff he told to people visiting his massage parlor.

"If you don't mind, I will be playing some soothing music to help clear your minds to go along with my ramblings."

Master Fu shuffled into a different room, leaving Chase and I to sit in silence. I plop onto the ground and get into a comfortable position. The lotus position was uncomfy to me, I didn't like the feeling of my ankle felt against the hard ground. So I ended up kneeling. Chase had zero problems doing criss-cross-applesauce.

A minute or two later, Master Fu came back in, a heavy looking gramophone in his arms.

"Do you need help? I can carry that for you," Chase offered.

Fu shook his head and just about dropped the thing on his toe. "I may be old, but I can still carry this around."

He set it down on a small coffee table at the head of the room and I got a chance to observe how intricate it was. It was clearly an antique, a well loved one with how good it looked. It was covered in eastern dragon motifs, etched in what looked like real gold. The horn of the music device had beautiful patterns and was well polished.

I'm surprised Master Fu risked even taking it from wherever he normally kept it, especially with his declining strength. It looked like it belonged in a museum.

"It's gorgeous," I find myself saying. The coffee table it sat on didn't do it justice. "Where did you get it?"

"Oh, an old friend of mine gave it to me a long, long time ago." Master Fu got a far away look in his eye. "I hardly remember their face."

We stayed silent, even when he started bustling about, in search of a specific record that he wanted to play. He eventually found it, and carefully set it into the phonograph.

It started spinning after a burst of static. It was a recording of chimes, the kind that when played seemed to resonate with my bones. The phonograph had a sort of resonance to it that my phone or a bluetooth speaker would never be able to perfectly replicate. It made me feel as though I was listening to it as it was first played, the occasional burst of static notwithstanding.

I closed my eyes and found it wasn't difficult at all to clear my mind of any troubles I had. Which was strange, considering my thoughts always seemed loud and impossible to silence.

I was tempted to fall asleep, and whatever calming nonsense Master Fu was muttering wasn't...

helping... my...

...case...

. . .

Master Fu gazed upon his sleeping students with a small smile. He ignored his own drooping eyelids.

"That took more out of me than I expected..." He mused.

Wayzz floated out from his hiding place. "Master, was this really necessary?"

"Keana's magical resistance is extremely high for someone who hasn't trained it. I know two sleeping spells might seem," Master Fu paused. "...Overkill but she wouldn't have fallen asleep otherwise."

"I understand, Master, but why is it necessary to put her asleep at all? We know by now that she isn't a threat to the Miraculous in your possession, she would have done something by now..."

"I'm not worried about Keana, or Chase for that matter, doing anything of harm to my charges. I'm worried that something is wrong with Keana." He stroked his beard. "Her lack of essence, or my inability to sense her essence is troubling, at the very least."

"I can't sense her either." Wayzz agreed. "I am not naturally gifted in sensing essence, that goes to Duusuu, but my experience makes up for it in most cases."

"Most cases," Master Fu nodded with his eyes closed. "However, I brought the other kwami here to act as another input."

The aged chinese man, and final Guardian, carefully pressed the correct buttons on his phonograph and he whispered a word. Runes lit up on the phonograph and a hole magically opened up where a disc would normally sit. A hexagonal box rose from the center of the phonograph and unfurled itself, revealing the Miraculous that were Master Fu's duty to guard.

Streaks of light burst from the box as each kwami manifested itself:

Kwami of Leadership, Pollen, and the Kwami of Illusions, Trixx.

And, finally, Wayzz, the Kwami of Protection.

It was a meager collection, but after the Incident that destroyed the Order, all the known kwami had been sealed and separated for the good of the world. As far as he knew, he was the last remaining member of a long dead organization.

But now was not the time to dwell on things of the past.

Trixx yawned impossibly wide, showing off their impressive fangs. "It's been ages since I've been out of that dumb box!"

Pollen shivered, eyes darting around. "Is... is it safe?"

"There is no danger here," Wayzz comforted.

Trixx drifted over to the sleeping children. "Oooh, they're new." She sniffed the air. "And they smell weird. Well-"

They drifted closer to Keana. "She smells weird. The boy just smells like teenager."

Pollen's antenna twitched and she shied away. "...I don't like it. It's not natural."

"She's asleep, harmless," Trixx continued to get closer to Keana, so that he was nearly touching her.

A black blur darted from within Keana's bag and stopped within centimeters of hitting the fox kwami.

Trixx screamed and flew back, hiding behind Wayzz. Pollen joined them with a shriek.

Floating a few inches in front of Keana was a completely black... Kwami(?). It looked like a kwami, but it didn't have a mouth and it's eyes were just pools of white light.

They didn't move. They didn't speak. They didn't even breathe.

Master Fu stood, speechless. This was not a kwami he recognized. It looked like one but it seemed... incredibly wrong. Fu could not sense anything where its essence should be. It was like he was staring at a black hole, but his eyes did not deceive him.

Light did not bounce off of the creature, and so he was left staring at a voided space of a being that broke all the laws Guardian Wang Fu thought he knew.

It did not seem pleased to see them.

. . .

D҈o̸ n̸o̷t̸ t̸o҉u̶c҉h̵

҈S̵h̴e҈ i̴s̵ M̵i҉n̸e̶

. . .

I woke up feeling the best I have felt in months.

"I gotta listen to Fu more often, that was the best sleep ever."

"Speak for yourself..." Chase groaned and rubbed his eyes. "I feel like I'm still asleep."

. . .

I did my auditions the next day. I signed up in the middle of the pack because I knew I would be too nervous to go first, so I needed some time to calm down. But I also knew that the longer I waited the more nervous I would become, so middle was the best choice.

As my nerves built up, I gaslighted myself into thinking it was actually excitement, which worked well enough. It didn't stop my legs from shaking or prevent my heart from beating like I was running a marathon, but it did give me a better outlook.

Chase left Genevieve to judge me by herself, so he could remain impartial.

I thought I did well enough, but it was impossible to tell until the cast list came out on Friday.

Some people had good singing voices, but couldn't act to save their lives, other people were the reverse. There were a few people who knocked it out of the park in every way, and I took one look at them and figured they'd get main roles.

It was a pity that Chase wouldn't get a role in the musical. I knew he loves acting and he's pretty good at singing. But, alas, his position as Student Director meant he just didn't have time to memorize lines, blocking, choreography and songs.

He would have made a great Gaston.

. . .

Chloe inspected herself in the mirror in her locker door. Her lipstick was fading, but she put enough on this morning so it still looked fabulous. Her nail polish was flawless; it hadn't chipped and the acrylics were shaped perfectly. Her yellow cardigan was freshly ironed- her butler did that every morning. And after brushing her hair again, she looked spectacular.

Chloe was spectacular.

Nothing was wrong. She wasn't wrong. Ever.

And she certainly didn't get nervous.

Sabrina poked her shoulder - a signal to attack.

Chloe closed her locker with just enough force to startle an unsuspecting person and turned around just in time to see Keana involuntarily jump at the noise.

The american turned around with her normal dead facial expression. It was the eyebrows, Chloe decided. They were too sharp, dark and didn't move much when she emoted.

"Your sense of fashion is utterly ridiculous and your obliviousness will one day be your downfall." Chloe began. "Luckily for you, you seem to have at least a little bit of common sense. And, because I'm so outstanding, that's all I need to make something of worth out of you."

Chloe turned with a flip of her ponytail, leaving behind a bewildered Keana.

"What just happened?"

. . .

Nino and Adrien were waiting for me outside the locker room.

"You took a while in there, dude. You good?"

"I think I just got jumped by Chloe."

. . .

The cast list came out on Friday, and was accompanied by nearly everyone in the school crowding the entrance to the band room, where two pieces of paper were taped to the wall.

People were pressing forward through the crowd, each person vying for a spot at the front, where they might see their name on a list. And the people at the front were struggling to escape.

"Get out of my way!" Chloe demanded. She didn't even hold an ounce of polite demeanor as she pushed her way through, Sabrina right next to her. People shouted protests as they got shoved away.

Eventually she made it to the front and her eyes scanned down the list.

"What!? How am I not Belle!?"

Chloe ignored the outrage, and continued searching for her name.

It was listed next to 'Silly Girl.'

"Silly Girl?!" She seethed. "This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"

Then she noticed Keana's name listed right next to her's. And she regretted giving the american even a crumb of acknowledgement, because this was disrespectful.

She left the same way she came, with brute force, and fury radiating off of her.

She didn't notice Juleka's name right after Keana's.

. . .

The Cast Party was the week before Finals, which meant one less afternoon of studying. I didn't expect to get a good grade on finals, especially not French - even if I had been getting better at the spoken language.

The Cast Party was where the entire cast would get together for a script reading. Ensemble members would get assigned random one off lines, while named and minor roles would read all of their lines. We would pause at the right times in order to listen to the Broadway recording of the music. The lead vocalists were encouraged to sing along with their parts in order to get used to them.

I didn't know the names of most of the people who got the lead roles, so I mostly referred to them by their role.

Belle was a senior with a very clear soprano voice. She had a beautiful voice, but she seemed shocked that she got the main role.

Gaston was a Junior who had a lower range. He couldn't belt out the top notes and his voice didn't have the mature resonance that an adult did, but his acting was extremely in character, even when he was just doing a voice.

The Beast had the best male voice in the cast. It fitted his character perfectly, with his great range and rich tone.

It gave me hope for the show's quality.

But the stress of Finals was making my eye twitch, had been making my eye twitch for the past two weeks, non-stop.

I can't wait till break

. . .

Adrien was bored over Winter break.

With his modeling job he has to do Christmas advertisements. Most of his lessons are canceled over break, and even the increase of photoshoots just didn't burn away the time left in the void of school and his activities.

He didn't have a good excuse to hang out with his friends, not one Father would accept, anyway.

Adrien spent most of his time practicing the piano, keeping up with his English and Chinese lessons, and fencing an imaginary opponent. Unfortunately, those activities only took up a few hours a day before he inevitably grew bored again.

He couldn't watch anything his father didn't approve of.

And, while Father definitely didn't approve of Naruto, the DVD he had of it only had the same five episodes on it. And he only had the DVD because one of his tutors smuggled it to him when he was thirteen. The idea that cartoons could have violence and death in them blew his mind. He watched it at every chance he got, and now he could recite every scene on that disc from heart.

Unfortunately, Father found the tutor unsatisfactory and that was the end of Adrien's pirating.

Even after befriending Nino and Keana, who both actively encouraged his illegal content consumption, he still couldn't shake the feeling of danger whenever 'anime' was brought up in a conversation - like Father is just around the corner and he needed to whisper so he didn't get caught.

So now he's left by himself, without anything to distract him from his thoughts.

And Christmas is slowly edging closer, bringing the bittersweet taste of nostalgia and the creeping feeling of pointless hope.

Father's been too busy to celebrate it with him. He hasn't been around on Christmas for ages, since he's always busy with his fashion business. Even if he wasn't running a whole company, he probably would find some excuse to avoid the day.

The last time he remembered having a joyful holiday was seven years ago. Before Mom died. Or disappeared, as Father insisted.

Adrien shook his head. It didn't matter what Father said. It meant the same thing to Adrien, either way. She was gone, and she took all the warmth and love in the house with her.

Adrien hardly even remembered what she was like. She died when he was seven, and his memory of that age was fuzzy. Adrien didn't miss her, not really. But he missed what she represented - a home full of love and comfort.

'Home' wasn't a mansion with cold walls and an absent father.

Still, Adrien couldn't stop the budding hope in his chest that maybe, just maybe, this year would be different.

His phone buzzed.

It was an akuma notification. He grinned.

Maybe Adrien couldn't leave the house, but Chat Noir definitely could.

(Christmas was better this year. Just not for the reason he hoped for)

In a strange twist of fate I wrote this in under a month. Somehow, becoming more busy has made me more productive.

Chase's monologue was a reference to The Princess Bride. It's an amazing movie, I'd recommend watching it if you haven't already. Chloe and Juleka both did 'Dog Anxiety' by Joseph Arnone. Keana did 'I ate the Divorce Papers' by Gabriel Davis. They're both great comedic monologues, and pretty popular.

This is a bit of a filler chapter, but it goes over a few important things.

In around 5 chapters, things are going to start ramping up, tensions will increase. More Hollow Knight inspirations will be included. Lore will be dropped.

If you have any questions at all -what Master Fu up to, how did he make Keana and Chase pass out, maybe you need more information about how high school musicals work- just ask and I'll answer them down in the comments!

The inner machinations of Chloe's mind are an enigma