Chapter Text
Hi, my name is Miguel Carvalho, and you may not know me yet, but I am the world’s biggest detective! Well… I am actually not there yet. Currently, I am just an amateur, but I plan on getting there someday.
My father, on the other hand, was an actual detective. His services were requested all around the globe. He and my mom had many travels… until the day he disappeared on a mission.
You see, my dad has always been my biggest inspiration, and my dream is to follow in his footsteps and one day find him. I was even known as the ‘child detective’ back in my old school.
If you had a missing pet, a lost backpack, or you suspected one of your parents was cheating, I would be the one they would call!
Due to that… my mom has always been a bit worried she might lose me someday, especially after what happened recently.
My cousin Mallory, who lived in Paris, had mysteriously disappeared, and my aunt isn’t doing very well.
That’s why my mom decided to sell our house and move to France.
The thing is… a bunch of supernatural things have been surrounding Paris for a while, and, as a detective, of course, I have to investigate.
And here is where my story starts…
Miguel and his mother, Adella, were in their seats on their plane. The flight attendant had just warned them that they would soon be arriving at their destination.
“Yawn, took less than I expected,” Adella commented as she removed her eye mask and stretched her body. Her son, however, was too focused on his journal.
“Sorry for taking you away from our town, sweetie. You know we wouldn’t be going if it wasn’t important,” Adella apologized, caressing her son’s face.
“Don’t worry mom, I get that Aunt Perla isn’t doing well. Besides, this is a great opportunity for me!” Miguel exclaimed.
“Have you ever heard of how many mysterious occurrences and supernatural events have been happening in Paris in recent years? People found unconscious in alleys covered in fluorescent green veins, the conspiracies about the Bleu Enterprise, the…” The curious boy stopped once he noticed his mother’s concerned look.
“Sigh, I PROMISE you I won’t be involving myself in something overly dangerous,” Miguel stated to calm her down.
“Good, because if you do, I will be grounding you until you are 18,” Adella warned.
The curious boy knew she wasn’t being entirely literal, but he knew that he would have to be careful if he didn’t want to get his mother worried.
He leafed through his journal of mysteries until he landed at the ‘green veins mysteries’, where he had photos of many adults covered by this mysterious fluorescent energy.
In a room in Paris, an elderly man watched the news on his vintage TV. A woman with magenta hair was announcing another victim of the green veins.
“The police have found another one of the missing victims. As they had suspected, it seems like this case was tied to the green veins’ criminal. It’s already the fifth victim this month, and still no sign of answers,” the woman stated.
“This was Nadja Chamack with today’s news,” The elderly man turned off the TV as soon as he finished hearing the news.
He gave a deep breath and put his hands on his face. Then, a small green creature that looked like a turtle floated in his direction.
“Oh, Master. Whoever has managed to apprehend Toxxi’s miraculous has been causing a lot of tragedies,” the creature lamented.
“I know Wayzz. And I fear that they might have more miraculous under his possession,” the elder man affirmed, getting up from his chair.
He started pacing his living room floor, trying to think of a solution that didn’t involve… that.
“Master, I know you are afraid of handing out a miraculous… but don’t think it’s about time? We both know Paris doesn’t have superheroes to counter this kind of threat.”
“Sigh, I know, Wayzz. I know it better than anyone,” the elder man agreed as he walked towards an old instrument. He pressed the buttons in a specific order, and from a hidden compartment, two boxes were inside.
“Have you already thought of who the best choice is, Master?” Wayzz, the kwami of protection, asked.
“Considering we need someone to solve these mysteries… I think Dexx is our best choice,” Fu, the guardian of the miraculi replied, opening one of the two boxes.
He carefully grabbed a belt’s buckle from it. Suddenly, a small light came out of the jewelry, and it took the form of another kwami as it flew around the place.
“It has been a long time… hasn’t it, Fu?” Dexx, the kwami of curiosity, who looked like a raccoon, said.
“It sure has, Dexx,” Master Fu greeted his old friend.
“If you have gotten me out of the box, it means that you need my help, am I right?” the kwami of curiosity asked with a smirk.
“Precisely. Wayzz and I suspect that there might be a group of evil miraculous holders behind the weird occurrences in Paris lately, and I think you are the best choice to help us,” the elder man replied.
“Well, I am definitely the kwami for the job,” the raccoon kwami admitted.
“Dexx, you always could locate potential holders. Could you tell us if there is anyone in the city who might be worthy of wielding you?” Wayzz asked.
Dexx got pensative for a while, flying around the room as he tried to think of something. Then, he had his own ‘eureka’ moment.
“I think I found the right person, Master,” the kwami of curiosity announced.
Meanwhile, back at Miguel and his mother, the two had just left the airport with their bags.
“Honey, do you mind waiting here for a Taxi while I give your aunt a call?” Adella requested.
“No prob, mom,” the curious boy replied. His mother walked away to a quieter corner while Miguel started searching for a taxi on the street.
Since he was thirsty, he grabbed his water bottle from his backpack, but he was interrupted by a noise. When he checked for the source of the sound, he found an elderly man sitting on the ground panting.
“Sir… is everything alright?” Miguel asked him. The elderly man coughed.
“Water…” the elder requested. The curious boy quickly opened his water bottle and gave it to the man.
The elder gulped it all very quickly.
“Thank you, young man,” the elderly man said.
“Don’t worry. You definitely needed it more than me,” Miguel stated. He then helped the man get up.
“Do you need anything else, sir?” the curious boy asked.
“No, no. I am fine now. I just need to rest a bit,” the elder replied.
“If you say so. If you don’t mind, I REALLY need to search for a taxi now,” Miguel explained.
“It’s fine, young man, you seem to be in quite a hurry,” the elderly man tranquilized him.
Miguel waved him goodbye and quickly went back to his search for a taxi, not suspecting he had just been tested.
“It seems your intuition was right again, Dexx,” Master Fu whispered as he looked at a miniature version of the boxes at his house.
After arriving at their new home, the first thing Miguel did was arrive at his room. It had a bed, a corner table, a wardrobe, and a desk with drawers.
It still needed some personalization, like a rug, some books, and maybe some comics, but he was satisfied with it.
“So, what do you think of your new room?” Adella asked.
“I liked it! Just need a few tweaks,” the curious boy answered.
“Your aunt has invited me for coffee. Would you like to go with me or stay here?” his mother puzzled.
“I think I would rather stay here, unpack my stuff, and check out the new place. Who knows what this place might be hiding?” Miguel commented, intrigued by his new house.
His mother playfully rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek.
“Call me if you end up needing anything. Te amo!” Adella said, leaving the room.
The curious boy immediately began his ‘investigative work’. First, he took his journal and his laptop out of his backpack and put them on the desk.
Then, he took a look at his wardrobe. He expected it to be a bit dusty, but it was surprisingly clean, and he didn’t take much time to unpack his clothes.
Next, he decided to check if there was anything on his bed. There might be cockroaches or even hidden cameras. But he was glad to find nothing.
And last, he decided to investigate the drawers at his desk. Most of them were empty, but he was surprised to find a peculiar small box at the bottom of one.
“What’s this doing here?” Miguel asked as he grabbed the small box. He didn't open it right away, first checking for any possible answers on the outside, but all he could find were drawings that he didn’t recognize.
So, even though he knew it was against common sense, he decided to open it since his curiosity spoke way louder.
Once he did it, though, a bright light left the box, and it slowly shaped itself into a small humanoid raccoon.
“MAS QUE DIACHOS É VOCÊ?!” Miguel exclaimed, worried about what he was seeing.
“Huh, a Brazilian holder. Haven’t had one of these in a while,” Dexx commented.
The curious boy immediately grabbed his journal so he could squash that creature in front of him, but was quickly interrupted.
“Woah, calm down, Miguel, I am not here to hurt you,” the kwami assured. Miguel was taken aback by that.
“Wait… you know my name?” the curious boy asked. However, he got no answers, since the small raccoon was more focused on studying his room than responding to him.
And so, Miguel decided it was time for deductions.
“Okay, so you are a magical creature that just left an object, which could mean that you are a genie. But you are not big enough for that,” the curious boy started.
“A part of me wants to guess that you are a fairy, but you are not humanoid enough for that, and neither have wings…” Miguel continued, putting his hand on his chin.
“You are right. I am neither of those. I am Dexx, a kwami” Dexx finally answered. The curious boy furrowed his eyebrow.
“A… ‘kwami’?” Miguel puzzled. The kwami of curiosity sighed.
“You'd better sit down, kid… cause the best way for you to understand is a small history lesson,” Dexx suggested.
The curious boy then sat down on his bed to listen attentively to the magical creature.
“So, ever since the Big Bang, abstract concepts have been created one after another. And, every time one starts to exist, a kwami is born to represent it. Like me, the kwami of curiosity,” the raccoon kwami explained.
“For years, we were unable to interact with the physical plane… until a powerful and wise wizard in ancient China created magical jewels called the miraculous,” Dexx continued.
“Like the buckle in that box,” Miguel noted.
“Exactly. Ever since then, we have been helping humans all through history by lending them part of our powers, since they are too unstable when we use them on our own. Some of the miraculous have been lost and fallen into the wrong hands, but we have mostly been used by superheroes,” the kwami of curiosity continued.
“Like in a magical girl show?” the curious boy asked.
“Honestly… that’s an accurate comparison. All you need to do is say some specific words, and you will transform into someone new as soon as I enter that buckle,” Dexx replied.
Miguel put his hand on his chin again, analyzing the situation further.
“I guess this means I am the one who has been chosen to wield you now,” the curious boy guessed.
“Bingo! You, my friend, are the most recent holder of the raccoon miraculous!” the kwami of curiosity responded.
Miguel then glanced at his notebook.
“And I suppose I have been chosen due to the mysterious occurrences that have been plaguing Paris for years, correct?”
“Right again. I knew I was going to like you. A lot of weird things have been happening in Paris for years now… things that are certainly caused by evil miraculous holders. You have been entrusted with the mission of finding the cause of all these tragedies,” the raccoon kwami responded.
“I see… You said that once you enter that buckle, you can give me powers. What kind of powers?” Miguel inquired, still eager to learn more.
“Well, there are the basics, like enhanced strength, speed and durability. Then, there are some more specific ones, like night vision. Each miraculous holder also has a weapon of their own, and you are no different,” Dexx explained.
“Now I will have to thank my mom for all the defense classes she put me in. What is my weapon?” the curious boy puzzled.
“It’s a magnifying glass.”
Miguel just stared blankly at the kwami.
“Uhm… no offense, but how am I supposed to defend myself with a magnifying glass?” the curious boy questioned.
“There is a button at the bottom. If you press it, the handle will extend itself, and you will be able to use it as a scepter/staff. You can also press a button underneath to summon a screen that you can use as a cellphone. And last, but not least, when looking through the glass, you can see if the person is under the influence of magic… like hypnosis, for example” the raccoon kwami replied.
“Okay, I think I can defend myself with that,” Miguel stated.
“And now, the main thing: your special power. With your magnifying glass, you can verbally activate the power ‘lenses of truth’. You can create a beam of light with it and, whoever is being targeted by said beam is forced to answer truthfully to one of your questions,” Dexx revealed.
“Why only one?” Miguel questioned.
“You see, that’s the thing. Since you are still not a fully grown adult, there are limitations to your powers. You can only use your special power once, and after that, you have a five-minute timer to transform back to your normal self. Then, there are two ways to recharge it,” the raccoon kwami commented.
“You can either wait for the timer to wear off to detransform, then recharge me by feeding me… or eating something yourself so you can recharge while transformed.”
“I think I can deal with that,” Miguel stated.
“And you are lucky cause I am the kind of kwami who loves all kinds of food,” Dexx added.
“For now, I can say I have no more questions,” Miguel assured.
“Since you are new to this, why don’t you test your powers out?” the raccoon kwami suggested.
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” the curious boy agreed, grabbing the buckle from the small box and putting it on his pants. He was surprised to see it magically turning into a regular belt as a way to camouflage.
“So, what are the magic words?” Miguel questioned.
“It’s ‘Unveil’ to transform and ‘Cover up’ to detransform,” the kwami of curiosity answered.
“Dexx, Unveil!” Miguel exclaimed. Just like he was told, the curious boy was covered by a bright light as soon as the kwami entered the jewel. He could feel the power fusing with himself.
Once the transformation was over, he went to his room’s bathroom so he could check how he looked.
“Hm… I have to admit, I liked it,” the curious boy stated. He then went back to his room and opened his window.
“Well… it’s now or never!” the stripped hero exclaimed, as he jumped from the window into the city.
After jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he decided to take a break to catch his breath.
“Wow… I can definitely feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins,” he commented as he could feel his heart beating fast.
After this small break, he put his hands on his hips and started to look at his surroundings.
“I feel like I should test my other powers but… it feels kind of a waste with no problem to solve” the stripped hero commented.
Almost as if on cue, he heard a woman shouting nearby. He immediately got his magnifying glass to find the source of the sound.
He ended up finding an elderly lady being threatened by a masked thief with a gun. The curious boy immediately jumped in the middle of the two.
“Listen here, man, you'd better put that gun away if you don’t want to face the consequences,” the stripped hero warned.
He then heard a sound of a gunshot from his right side, but he was surprised to only feel a small tingle.
The curious boy then turned around and saw another masked thief who seemed to be trembling with fear. The stripped hero looked down and saw the bullet that hit him. It was deformed on the ground.
“It seems like the miraculous magic really keeps me safe from regular damage,” the curious boy whispered to himself. He then grabbed his magnifying glass and launched it at the thief, who shot it like a boomerang, leaving him unconscious in the process.
The striped hero then turned around and saw that the other thief was running away, but he wasn’t going to let him escape without some answers first.
So, he jumped on him and pressed him to the ground with his feet. The first thing the curious boy did was remove the criminal's mask. It was a man he never seen before. He had blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Time for you to tell me your secrets. Lens of Truth!” the stripped hero activated his power, aiming the light coming out of his lenses at the criminal’s face.
“Who are you and who are you working for?” the curious boy asked.
“Look, man, I really don’t know. I just needed some easy money and came up with this shitty scheme. I swear!” the criminal exclaimed in fear.
The stripped hero let him go and walked away. He then decided to test the phone functions of his weapon to call the police.
He didn’t give them a lot of details because he knew that the police usually didn’t like it when masked vigilantes with animal theming got themselves involved in this kind of business.
Last, but not least, he decided to check on the elderly lady’s state.
“Is everything fine, Ma’am?” the stripped hero asked.
“Yes, dearie, all thanks to you. Can I do anything to thank you for your services? I think I have a few coins in my purse,” the woman offered, going through her bag in search of said coins, but she was quickly interrupted.
“No need for that, Ma’am. I was only doing my job,” the curious boy tranquilized her. He then heard his belt’s buckle beeping.
“Well, I have to go now. But don’t worry, the police are on their way,” the stripped hero said, jumping away.
After the curious boy was sure that he was at a discreet place, he decided to check one of the recharge methods.
And so, he grabbed a cereal bar from his pocket to eat it. And, like how the kwami told him, his miraculous had been recharged.
“I guess that’s how my career as a serious detective officially starts,” the stripped hero commented.
He then sat down and decided to relax a bit and watch the sunset. But this moment of tranquility wasn’t long, because the curious boy knew that Paris still needed more help.
"I should probably come up with a name for my 'hero-self'," he commented to himself.
"I mean... since I am a Brazilian, maybe my name could be Guaxinim? Or just Xinim?"
"No... that's silly and borderline cringy... what about..." he stood up, finally coming up with a name he was satisfied with.
"Detective Sprites!" he exclaimed epically as he looked at the horizon.
“Well, it's still early dusk, Mom will probably stay with Aunt Perla until late evening. I think I still have some time to solve some problems,” the stripped hero stated, ready for his next task.
Adella came back to her new home EXHAUSTED from her sister’s house.
It’s not like she found it unpleasant to be around her sister (despite her perfectionist nature), but she could feel the heavy atmosphere of the flower shop with Mallory missing.
And she didn’t blame Perla one bit for that. She remembered how hard the first days without Carlos were… and how things still felt tragic despite him being long gone.
If losing a spouse was that hard, losing a child must be way more painful.
And speaking of the child, Adella wanted to check out how her son was doing. Despite his enthusiasm, she knew that moving away was hard for everybody.
“Querido, I am home!” the mother announced her arrival. However, she received no reply.
“Filho, I am here!” Adella repeated, hoping that this time she would get an answer.
But again, only silence. She started to worry, fearing her son might have jumped into an investigation already. And so, she ran to his room to see if she could find any hint of where he was.
“Miguel!” she exclaimed as she opened the door of his room. For her relief, Miguel was there… just deeply sleeping on his comfy pajamas.
“Sigh, you are still going to kill me one day, menino,” Adella replied, tucking him in and giving a kiss on his forehead.
“Sweet dreams, querido,” the mother said, slowly closing the door of her son’s room.
The Carvalho Family’s arrival in Paris was going to change many things. Both for themselves and for their surroundings.
There are many mysteries, stories, and secrets on the streets, in schools, and in houses.
But those are stories for another day…