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The room of blinding light threatened to drive him crazy with every second he spent in it.
A… portal?
And then another room of white.
"Bunnyx?" Adrien called out. He could only hope fervently it was her and not some akuma who decided the best way to prank him was by transferring him from one prison to another.
His eyes didn't take much to recover, a few weeks worth of solitary confinement in that damn room had made him get used to bright LED light surrounding him from every corner.
The dozens of multicolored blurry windows covering every part of the ceiling made him breathe in relief. Both since it was everything he needed to confirm he was safe in the Burrow, and because it meant he was outside of that damn chamber.
However, when Bunnyx called, it usually meant there was something wrong.
"Plagg, claws out!"
Just as he finished transforming, another portal opened from the ceiling, landing a blonde boy in front of him.
Based on the glimpse at his stature Chat managed to get while he fell, he assumed they were around the same age.
He was wearing some sort of long, heavy-looking white cloak, and a golden mask with a tiny slit for the eyes. How did he even manage to see in it? At least Plagg had been kind enough to give him a mask with decent space for the eyes.
He appeared slightly confused, either from the place he was in or the blow from falling. Maybe both.
As soon as he could stand up, he adopted a fight stance, wielding some sort of staff in front of him defensively. It appeared to be retractile, just like Chat's, but with a… bird?
Based on his posture, Chat could tell this boy knew how to fight. Somehow, despite the fact he very clearly knew more about what he was doing than the first time Chat transformed, he had managed to miss the tiny detail that Chat was behind him. Wow, that mask really impaired his vision, huh?
Unsure of how to approach him, he went ahead and tapped the boy on the shoulder lightly.
"Bonjou-"
Bad idea.
The boy could teleport? In a flash of light faster than Chat could react, he was already behind him, striking him with the staff. While Chat’s first guess was an akuma with the transferred powers of the Horse, he wasn’t sure he had ever seen the portals be replaced with teleporting in flashes of light. Plus, the outfit’s design was odd, even for an akuma.
"Who are you?" he asked once Chat was on the floor.
Okay, this boy spoke English. His accent was weird, American with very slight traces of the British pronunciation Chat had grown up hearing. It was a bit of a relief, though. There had only ever been two akumas that spoke American English, and Monarch had not traveled to the USA in the past few days if the constant akuma alerts were any indicator. There was also the fact that if he were in fact akuma, Monarch would have most likely been smart enough to pick someone who maybe knew about Chat’s existence.
Still, that did not give many clues about who the boy was.
Chat summoned his slowly rusting English, but with a pinch of luck, it would only have a hint of an accent.
“Better question, who are you?”
The boy gasped in disbelief, dropping the fight stance for a grandiose pose.
“Excuse me? I am the Golden Guard, recently ascended to Head of the Emperor’s Coven and the Emperor’s right-hand man! You must be a wild demon, with that tail. Most wild witches and demons know who I am, though,” he finished with a trace of confusion.
Golden Guard? Okay, the boy was definitely an akuma.
“What was your name before the akuma?” Chat asked tentatively, hoping it would help him break out of it. Or at least, tried to ask.
Suddenly, Bunnyx stepped out of a portal. What was her obsession with making people land from the ceiling when they had proved they were very capable of making normal portals?
“Chat, this is Hunter. Hunter, this is Adrien. No, he’s not a wild demon, a wild witch, he doesn’t even have a palisman. Just human, from our equivalent of the Human Realm. Now, stop trying to attack him with that bird of yours and let him get up! I knew I was forgetting something.
“Did you just tell him my secret identity?” Chat asked incredulously, just as the Hunter boy said something similar in protest while he ripped his mask off in frustration, revealing a slight pout that made him resemble a cat almost as much as Chat did.
“If he took his mask off then I think there’s not much of a point for me to stay transformed,” Adrien sighed as he dropped his transformation, Plagg hurrying to hide in his pocket.
“Yeah, I completely forgot I had to tell you two why you’re here,” Bunnyx said, mainly facing Chat. “So, the other day I was very tired and decided to visit one of my favorite timeless spots in an alternate timeline, the Realm In-between. I saw an old friend of mine there and he mentioned how this kid right here was a bad but sad boy -his words, not mine-” she clarified at Hunter’s frown.
“They said they wished there was a way to help, since her power wasn’t enough for something like this. Apparently, Hunter might be some sort of variant of yours, in a timeline where for short the world we know split into two realms, the Human and the Demon ones. I’m probably not supposed to do this, but I measured the risks and I figured letting you two meet wouldn’t hurt either timeline too much, other than having you get some sort of therapy a little earlier than you would in the original ones. So, here you are. I’m pretty sure I got you both at a moment where nothing you say will tell the other something he shouldn’t know yet, or at least I hope so.”
Both boys looked at each other.
“I hope so?”
“See, that’s exactly what I mean! You even had the same reaction! Now, the thing goes like this, you stay for a while here, talk a little, get everything you wouldn’t be able to somewhere else out, and I’ll come when your time is up.”
“How long will that be?” Hunter asked.
“You’ll know,” Bunnyx replied as they made another portal and stepped through. “‘K, have fun, bye!”
“That’s usually my catchphrase,” Hunter sighed. “The- the bye part! Not the have fun one!” he corrected himself quickly. “Is she always that cryptic?” he asked Adrien.
“They actually explained things this time,” Adrien replied as he reached for something in his pocket. “You’re not scared of animals, right?”
“Me? The Golden Guard? Scared of animals? I have survived a slitherbeast, graduated from the scout program with honors. For the Titan’s sake, I’m the youngest ever Golden Guard! Of course I’m not scared of animals.”
Adrien had to refrain from rolling his eyes at his bragging. Was he really a variant of his?
“Okay, opinions on cheese? Do you mind the stinky ones?”
“Cheese? We only have scream cheese in the Isles.”
Adrien laughed. “You’re going to want to prepare for it then.”
“Weird, Luz never mentioned human cheese was dangerous.”
“Trust me, unless you’re Plagg, this can be dangerous for anybody.” He reached inside his pocket, urging Plagg to come out.
“Plagg, this is Hunter. Be nice and don’t bite him or I’ll switch you to lactose-free cheese for a week.” Looking at Hunter, he apologized. “Sorry, he can be a little bit of a gremlin. He doesn’t get to meet a lot of new people, he has to be hidden most of the time. Remember I was transformed before? He gives me powers, lets me turn into a hero.”
Hunter was confused. “He doesn’t look at all like the gremlins in the Isles.”
“I’m not sure how those look. Do you want to feed him? Maybe he will be nicer, all it takes to bribe him is cheese.”
“Rude!” Plagg protested. “But if you have cheese, offer it to me! The god of destruction appreciates offerings.”
Hunter chuckled. The way the creature spoke reminded him of the Owl Lady’s… dog? …Rat? Whatever King was. It also made him feel weirdly comfortable. Somehow, he knew anything he said wouldn’t leave the room, whether that be out of simply allowing himself to trust or the knowledge his companion came from another timeline.
Adrien handed Hunter a piece of Camembert, slightly runny from the warmth of his pocket.
“Here, this is Camembert. It smells disgusting, tastes disgusting, but somehow it’s Plagg’s favorite.”
As soon as the cheese came in contact with his glove, Hunter squirmed. Even through the relatively thick leather, he could tell the thing was slimy based on how hard it was starting to turn holding it.
The issue, though, came when the smell truly hit.
“Ew, gross! How do you even hold it with your hands? It’s even worse than the selkidomus’ cave! Is this supposed to be human food?”
Plagg’s mouth gaped open in outrage, and the tiny creature zoomed to retrieve the cheese before hiding again in Adrien’s pocket.
“Yep, and it costs a fortune.”
“So it’s like a goreberry? Edible, expensive, and disgusting, that only your palisman-that-is-not-a-palisman likes.”
“Kwami, and I’m not sure what a goreberry is,” Adrien responded.
“Didn’t you guys have berries in the Human Realm? Willow told me once Luz asked her to try to grow something called strawberries.” For about a week, Willow had spammed him with every new plant Luz suggested. Strawberries sounded tasty, though.
“I don’t think they’re the same type of berries. I mean, I know strawberries, but I’ve never heard of a goreberry before. Also, what is a palisman?”
“It’s like your Kwami, I think? Magical creature that gives you powers. Look,” Hunter said as he lowered his staff. With a flash of gold the same color of his teleportation from before, the staff turned into a red bird. More precisely, a cardinal.
The bird chirped as it landed on Hunter’s head, making him blush slightly in embarrassment as the bird made a nest with his hair.
“Do you want to sit down so he won’t fall down?” Adrien suggested.
Hunter was about to nod when he remembered and simply sat down while Adrien did the same. “This is Flapjack, he’s my palisman. Sorry if he nests, like your Kwami he doesn’t get many opportunities to be outside of my cloak. At least not in the castle,” he added with a slightly sad tone. “He likes it when we go outside, though, he can stretch his wings and everything. He had so much fun a few weeks ago at the Flyer Derby match!”
Suddenly, he noticed Adrien’s expression. Weirded out? Confused?
“Sorry, I’m oversharing.”
“No, no, it’s okay, go ahead! I’m just confused, we don’t really have Flyer Derby in my timeline? Realm? And you said castle, right?”
“Yeah, I live there.”
“Didn’t you say earlier you were the right-hand man to an Emperor?” As he backtracked, Adrien began questioning himself more and more. Sure, it was a timeline far away enough that there was a Demon Realm, but his variant, serving an Emperor? One thing was being the son of the head of a tech-fashion empire and a British socialité, but-
Well, maybe it wasn’t that far-fetched.
He had to ask.
“Do you happen to be related to him by any means?”
“He’s kind of my uncle.”
Oh.
“So I’m his right hand, and well, what can I say? He brought peace to the Boiling Isles! Some time ago, he discovered that wild magic was dangerous and that the Titan was angry at the people of the Isles for using it wildly, impurely. So, he worked very hard to create the Coven system to help everyone stay pure, and obey the will of the Titan. I am the face of the Emperor’s Coven.”
“Hey, what a coincidence! I’m the face of my father’s brand too! He owns a clothing brand, and I don’t really like modeling, but at least it makes him happy.”
“To be honest, I think I can relate to that. I know wild magic is dangerous, but if only we could study it a little more- Look at Flapjack, is he dangerous? Being a Coven Head can get tiring on top of being the Golden Guard, but it’s the will of the Titan and it makes Uncle happy. If I work hard enough, even his curse stops flaring for a while!”
“Curse?” Adrien asked.
“A long while ago, wild magic hurt our family. It killed my parents, and cursed Uncle. It also made me be born magicless.”
“I’m sorry,” was all Adrien could think to say. “I… I understand. My mother died of an illness, and Father says she disappeared, but I remember how it went. Father’s secretary might have caught something similar too, and she’s…”
He couldn’t continue.
“You care for her, I can tell. Is she close?”
“Almost like a mother. She was Father’s assistant, and then kind of mine, but as of lately she kind of cares a lot for me. I love Father, but he can be a little cold sometimes. Ever since Mom- She just knows what to do, she’s nice to me, helps out with Father… I’d like to think she loves me too.”
“So kind of like Darius?” Flapjack stirred awake at the name. “He was one of the other Coven Heads, well, he still is. Abominations Coven. He used to be a little cold, but- Remember the Flyer Derby thing I mentioned? He told me to find new recruits for the covens, and somehow I tried to recruit the team but it was his day off, and I had my cloak- Well, he helped. With my cloak. He has been giving me some sewing lessons, and just like your Nathalie, he… he cares. Uncle’s curse has been flaring up a lot more recently, and just spending time at his quarters makes it feel easier, you know?”
His tone dropped. “I can’t imagine what it would be like if- If anything happened to Darius.”
He started imagining what a life like that would be, a hundred scenarios racing in his mind, before Flapjack pecked lightly the top of his head, snapping him out of it.
After a few seconds of gloomy, sad silence, he spoke. “Anyways!”
“Is it lonely at the castle?” Adrien asked. While he could tell how Hunter wanted to change the topic, maybe it could help if he spoke about it.
A little part of his brain, though, also insisted that he might have something that could help him with well, everything.
“Well, I train a lot. I study a lot, but most of it has to be in secret. Wild magic is oddly interesting! Being the Golden Guard is rewarding, but it’s also really tiring. Until a few months ago, even Darius and Eberwolf -the Beastkeeping Coven Head- ignored me, if I’m honest. Nobody really likes it when someone about a decade younger than them has a much higher rank, especially if it’s known you are related to the Emperor. Although I get to go outside on the weekends! Mainly for missions, but getting out is getting out.”
“Huh, kind of like when I transform. Most of the time I spend outside is fighting akumas, but at least I get to see my hero partner. Her name is Ladybug, and she is absolutely amazing!”
“Do you have ladybugs in your Realm too? Gus said once the Captain is afraid of them.”
“I’m not sure how yours are, but at least the bugs are tiny. Ladybug, on the other hand, she’s really great! I used to have a crush on her, but we’re just really good friends now. It’s always nice to see her, especially lately.” His voice turned somber all of a sudden. “I haven’t been outside much for a while now.”
“Can’t your Kwami help with that? Flapjack helped me get out one time I was locked in my room after failing a mission.”
“You get locked in too? And I thought Bunnyx was just joking-” he said with a mixture of amusement and awe. “He used to, but long story short, I… I got punished. Went out when I shouldn’t have, and I got caught. Father has had me in this room with no windows, nothing but a football table and a bed, and I haven’t transformed just in case there are cameras around. Couldn’t risk it. I’ve been locked in for longer, in my room to be fair but same thing, but if he discovered Plagg because I was too reckless and took him away… He’s my friend, and I don’t want to think what Monarch would do if he found out Father knew.”
“What is
?” Hunter asked, completely confused.
“You don’t have it? Football is a sport, played in teams. Basically, there is a ball, and each team tries to score goals against the other team.”
“Interesting, so not unlike Grudgby but with no fire and no Smidge. About your room though, at least you get some light! When I was locked in a dungeon it was so dark it took me about a day to see properly again.”
“Have you been in a room with absolutely no shadow? And there is always a faint buzz from the electricity until the lights are turned off for what I assume is the night. I see faint spots for a while even when I close my eyes out of how bright everything is!”
“At least it helps you better, though.”
“I know, and it’s technically my fault I’m in there, my fault I was sent to London. But, you know, it’s… weird.”
“Uncle always says that without punishment there is no way for one to remember to be better, but sometimes it can feel a little too much. Or well, people find it too much. When I first met my friends, even the basic scout trials terrified them! The one time I let slip something about the times I’ve been locked up everyone was so upset for no reason. Even Darius has some opinions about it, and he went through both basic and Coven Head training.”
“My friend Nino always gets upset when I say something about Father. He even got akumatized over it!” At the sight of Hunter’s confused head tilt, he explained. “An akuma is the things Ladybug and I fight, supervillains created by a magical butterfly that uses their negative emotions against them. Monarch controls them.”
“As I was saying, my friend even got akumatized over it a few times! Nino, Nathalie, it’s weird. I know they think it’s not okay, or that it’s too much, but in the end it’s only to help me. Father knows what is best for me, even if sometimes it feels wrong or I wish he would be different, it’s just-”
Adrien stopped mid-sentence, unsure of how to continue. However. the silence both him and Hunter shared said way more than any of them could express with words.
“Hey, I’m su- i hope one day they will understand. Even if it feels too much, as long as we rememer it’s for our own good it’s alright, right? You’re a model, I’m the Golden Guard, they don’t see everything we have to do as we do.”
“Right…”
A bright flash of light that gre into a portal appeared so suddenly it made Hunter jump to his feet, making Flapjack fall off his head chirping.
“Hey boys, how is it going?” Bunnyx asked cheerfully. “Ready to go back to your dimensions?”
“I thought they were timelines?” Hunter asked, puzzled.
“Dimensions, realms, timelines, all the same to me to be honest. Did you like the idea?”
“Is there any way we can do this again? I- I could use the break outside of that room.”
“When Time comes, you will,” Bunnyx said, trying their best at a mysterious voice. “Now say bye to your new friend!”
Before she could beat him to it this time, Hunter rushed to say his signature “Bye!”
“Calm down, I wasn’t going to do it this time,” Bunnyx joked as they opened a portal for Hunter, this time taking the decency to make it at a level where he would be able to actually step through it instead of falling. “Ready to go?”
Adrien stopped the two as they were about to leave, rushing forward and pulling Hunter into a hug.
“Take care.”
“See you!”