#bbobl

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

November 18th-Frenemies

Dupain-Cheng was watching him again.

 Felix did not know what he had done to get her attention but he wanted to be rid of it. Honestly, it was probably just because he was rich and famous. That was what it tended to be.

 “She doesn’t drool over anyone else in your class,” Plagg pointed out glibly.

 Felix, who had been pretending to read as he tried to spy on her in return, flinched. “Plagg,” he warned.

 “She doesn’t! Maybe she just wants to be friends.”

 Felix scoffed. “I doubt it.” That didn’t happen.

 “Ohh Felix!” Felix shot Plagg a look as though to say ‘this is your fault’. Plagg dove into the bench. Felix looked up at the interloper and smiled like he hated her. He nearly did.

 “Rossi.”

 “I was thinking-” she ran her fingers up his chest, and he shoved them off with contempt. “-maybe we could go get ice cream after class?”

 “Not a chance,” Felix said coldly. Rossi frowned.

 “Are you sure? It could be fun! Or we could go to a museum?”

 “No.”

 “What about-”

 “I’m not going out with you, Rossi.”

 For a moment, she looked like she hated him. Then she smiled and shrugged lightly. “Alright. Let me know if you change your mind.”

 He’s not going to.

 “Girls would bug you less if you had a girlfriend,” Plagg said, poking his head out of the bench. Felix glared.

 “I am fifteen,” he snarled under his breath. “I don’t want a girlfriend.”

 “Just because you’re old-”

 “I am not old!”

 Plagg blinked at him. “Huh. I was sure fourteen was marrying age.” He shrugged and took a bite of cheese. Felix hoped he choked. “Math isn’t my thing.”

 Felix looked over at Lavillant. “Lavillant!”

 She looked up with a smile. “Yes Felix?”

 “Was there a time when people married in their teens?”

 It shouldn’t have been possible, but she lit up. Lavillant’s resting face was The World Is Lovely as an expression instead of a scent, and her smile now was something like The Joy Of Life. It was impressive. Contagious too, as Felix found himself smiling back. “Oh yes! Before medicines and vaccines and hospitals were commonplace, it was very common to marry young. Although in their cases it wasn’t really young- few people would live past their thirties. They’d lived nearly half their life without love!”

 Felix stared. “That sounds terrible.”

 “I know right!” Lavillant squeaked. “Imagine if no one fell in love before they were forty! I’d be so lonely!”

 That wasn’t the part Felix meant, but this conversation was going well so he wasn’t going to clarify.

 “Plus a lot of women died in childbirth, so sometimes men would go through four or more wives before they died,” Dupain-Cheng added.

 “And not all of the babies survived,” Couffaine pointed out quietly. “Labor had a high mortality rate.”

 “I’m so happy we have doctors,” Le Chein said. Felix jumped, having missed him coming in.

 A couple murmurs of assent passed around, and Mme. Bustier walked in.

 Perfect timing.

***

 “What did you get for seven?” Haprele asked.

 “False,” Felix said at the same time as Dupain-Cheng. He glanced at her, and she sent him a cute little smile.

 He hated it.

***

 “Dupain-Cheng, wanna show me that book you were talking about? In the library?”

 Marinette blinked at curseboy. He had never talked to her before, she didn’t think. What was he- oh. His smile was more fixed than usual, and he shot a meaningful glance to the side. Lila was storming up to them.

 “I’d love to, Felix, come on.” She held out her hand and took off, dragging him with her.

 The gloves he wore, that he’d worn the entire semester, were scratchy and worn, like they were trying to fall apart.

 Destruction magic.

***

 “Duck!”

 Dupain-Cheng tackled him. Felix tumbled to the floor under her weight. Above their heads, a beam of terrifying light slammed into the wall. He glanced from it to her face in time to see her blue eyes turn yellow, and then violet when she looked up.

 Just how many sorceressex lived in Paris?

 She climbed off him and offered him a hand up. “You okay?”

 “I’m fine,” he told her shortly. “Thank you. Yourself?”

 She smiled, eyes bleeding back into blue. “I’m fine. But I’m going to go hide now.” She pointed at the hallway. The hallway that had half a wall missing and a rampaging akuma in it. He raised an eyebrow. She flushed.

 Felix rolled his eyes. “I’ll just go hide this way then,” he said lightly. She grinned, a little guilty, but they parted ways. Her odd reaction stayed in his thoughts as he found a corner to transform in. Maybe she was trying to reclaim the akuma? Was that possible?

 “Kid,” Plagg said warningly.

 “Claws out,” Felix murmured. He needed to learn more about magic.

 Something exploded in the courtyard.

 Learning about magic could wait.

***

 “You good, Mari?” Cesaire was asking when Felix entered. He found his eyes drawn to their bench, where Dupain-Cheng was elbow deep in her backpack.

 “Yeah, I’m just trying to find my pen.”

 “Here,” Felix said, dropping one of his onto her desk. She looked up and blushed furiously.

 “Thanks, Felix,” she said. Her eyes didn’t change color.

 “You’re welcome.” Now that he knew it could happen, he was hyperaware of it, and her.

 A part of him hated it, but another part was relieved for the distraction. He was still dusting things, although it didn’t happen for a while after akuma attacks. He probably used up the energy that way- he’d have to ask someone.

***

 Marinette rolled over in her bed, restlessly flicking through her phone. It was late, but she wanted to do something. ADHD was terrible.

The Dead Fandoms Discord - Channel #Magic-Troubles

21:57

Snow Cone King: Can magic… overload?

Coracle Miracle: It can happen but doesn’t often - it’s a repression thing, I think?

 My bedroom is full of little things to transfigure because if I don’t do it on purpose I’ll do it on accident.

 Flutetastic: Blew out someone’s eardrums doing that once.

 Speedster: I crashed into a wall. A lot of walls, actually. Mom says I once broke a window. It’s how they found out I was a sorcerer

 Penny Could Kick Me: How much do you repress your magic?

 That’s terrifying!

 Coracle-Miracle: Ha

Ha

Ha

Haaaaaaaaaaa

 Have you seen Paris? They can’t decide if we’re victims or all working with Hawkmoth

 Snow Cone King: They actually think that?!

 Coracle-Miracle: It’s certainly what people are saying.

 Snow Cone King: That’s reprehensible.

 Coracle-Miracle: Thanks, King.

***

“Oh Felix, there you are!”

 Felix flinched, expecting Rossi to show up again. He’d gotten his parents involved, but she kept at it. The hand that grabbed his was smaller, though, and not followed by an octopus hug for him to shake off. “Hide me,” she hissed into his ear.

 Felix blinked at Marinette. Her eyes were a neon green that looked sickly. He wasn’t sure what that meant but he doubted it was anything good. He forced a smile. “Marinette! I was wondering when you’d get here.”

 “You didn’t say you invited a friend,” Dianora said, sounding betrayed and sad. Felix flinched.

 He knelt down. “I didn’t,” he said softly.

 Marinette let go of his hand. “He’s gone,” she said. “Thank you, Felix. Sorry about the interruption.”

 “Interruption?” Dira asked suspiciously.

 “I don’t have a buddy today,” Marinette admitted, looking straight at Dira. Grudgingly, Felix was impressed. Anyone who could accept children needed talked to as adults had some sense. “So when I noticed someone following me I looked for one instead.”

 Dira squinted, and then looked between them. “Alright. You can stay.”

 Marinette flushed, and jumped. “Oh no! Don’t worry about it, I’ll just wait another few minutes and slip away, I’ll be fine. I just needed to scare him away.”

 “But you’re one of Felix’s friends?”

 “Yes?” Felix wanted to facepalm. Marinette had no idea the trap she was walking into. 

 “So you should stay, and we’ll walk you home after!”

 “What?” Marinette squeaked. “Oh no, no! I’m fine, you obviously already have plans-” 

 Felix rolled his eyes. Could she get any more fidgety? How could anyone stand to be that nice all the time? Someone was going to walk all over her. “Accept it,” Felix said, resigned. “Do you have other plans?”

 “No, I just finished running deliveries for the bakery.”

 “You work at a bakery?”

 “My parents own it,” Marinette said proudly.

 Felix raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. They’re good at it, I assume?”

 “Yes,” Marinette said, a challenge in her gaze. Felix met it evenly.

 “So she’s staying, right?” Dira asked. She tugged on Felix’s hand, and then turned to Marinette. “You are staying?”

 “I- Felix?”

 “We’ll make sure you get home on time. We’re chasing down Andre.”

 Marinette grinned. Her eyes were blue again. “Sounds like a lot of fun. Let me tell my parents where I’ll be.”

 Dira shrieked and bounced.

***

 “Thanks for yesterday,” Marinette said, carefully setting the pen down on Felix’s desk. He looked up at her.

 “You’re welcome.” He said. She could never tell his mood from his tone, it was a bit unsettling. “Just don’t go spreading rumors about us actually dating.”

 Marinette puffed up, offended. “I would never!”

 He scrutinized her for a moment, and Marinette wasn’t sure if her internal tirade on how unjust that would be was happening aloud too. He reached out and pushed the pen back towards her. “I’ll be your distraction, or excuse, whenever you need one, if you’ll do the same.”

 Marinette drew up short. “I- uh, sure?”

 He smirked and nudged the pen in her direction again. “Take it. Then we’ll always have an excuse to talk.”

 She smiled, relaxing. “Thank you, Felix.”

 “Don’t mention it,” he said, picking up his book again. “Seriously, don’t.” He wasn’t even looking at her.

 Marinette prepared to leave, but a gasp and thud drew her attention instead. She spun, and found Felix glaring at his hands. His gloves were gone, and the edges of the book were blackened.

 Marinette reached forward before she was aware of it, changing the ash back to its previous form. “Here. I don’t-” she looked at the pile of dust that had been his gloves and grimaced. “I don’t think I can fix those, I’m sorry.”

 He was looking at her askance. Marinette grimaced, curling in on herself. He’d been cursed- it would make sense if he didn’t like or trust magic and mages. Add in that Hawkmoth showed up soon after and her magic residue was still purple…

 “Don’t worry about it,” Felix said softly, pulling another pair of gloves out of his bag. “Thank you, for the book.”

Marinette’s heart stopped. Something jolted through her, leaving a slimy coating under her skin and on her muscles and up her throat and- she took a breath, heaving air into lungs that didn’t feel right anymore.

 She scrambled to sit up, breaths coming in short gasps that went from pat-pat-pat to pat to nothing for seconds and then another set of heaving because she did need air, and forgetting to breath helped nothing.

 Marinette waited until the pattern died off, even though she still felt wrong. Violated. As her breathing slowly returned to something even, the headache stayed. Something was wrong. Marinette pushed forward, towards the ladder from her bed. In her rush, she knocked it over.

 Another deep breath. She found one of her bedposts and pushed magic to it, intending to reform it for the moment.

 Marinette didn’t get that far.

 As she tried to push magic through her hand, it started stinging heavily, like she had dipped it in a fryer with breading and now the breading was burning her skin while the oil and breading weighed her down.

 She shrieked.

 Something was wrong with her magic. That… that didn’t happen. Not without a very strong curse or-

 Oh no.

 Marinette grit her teeth, reaching in the dark for another bauble she kept near her at all times. She used her other hand to try again, just to turn the gnome into an arrow. It hurt nearly as much. Marinette dropped the object and realized she had stopped breathing again. She started the pattern, fast fast fast, normal, stop, fast fast fast, normal, stop, for the second time that night, tears streaming down her face.

 That hurt. Physically. And worse. Her skin was only getting more slimy and painful, and she hated it.

 She hadn’t done anything yesterday! Or even last week! The only way someone could have cursed her would be if they targeted her, which was a very, very scary notion.

***

Mage inc. Discord chat - Channel #General

  Rough-glamor: Any other @Changlings feeling completely whack tonight? I woke up in a cold sweat and it hurts to use my magic.

  Goldie The Queen Of France: Nope, but my brother is. He’s also had his trail change colors, did that happen to you too?

  Rough-glamor: Lemme check

 Yep.

 WTC?

  Flutetastic: That’s really weird.

 Sometimes it can act up if our physical states need help (I once had such severe sleep deprivation that the ringing in my ears became audible to everyone in the vicinity. Not fun to explain) but it’s p weird to see it happen in multiple cases at once.

  Le Chien adores la chatte: Um, it’s kinda viral? Here in America anyway. People are collapsing and at least one exploded. The entire street turned into a victorian-era clothing store. I don’t know if they’ll play this off, or leave it like they do Pride.

Flutetastic: That’s… not a coincidence.

  Rough-glamor: ‘bout to sound rlly crazy here, but like… does anyone know the state of our heart? I heard that Destruction mages had a really bad week in 2009, and then there was that one guy claiming he’d stolen the heart and cursed it.

  Goldie The Queen Of France: Oh I really hope not. Corrupted hearts have really, really bad side-effects.

***

 Gabriel watched the gem flicker, changing colors. The kwami that came with it was shaking like a leaf, but he didn’t care.

 He finally had a way. He just needed to get enough attention.

 Starting tomorrow, Emilie would be well on her way to healing.

***

 Felix was not normally one to poke things he shouldn't. But while chasing through the catacombs, he tripped. His hand brushed something cold and round, but he disregarded it, more focused on finding Caseario.

 Why were little boys so easily provoked?

 “Rio!” Felix yelled, scrambling to his feet. “Caseario Aurva Prolux!” his voice echoed through the cold caverns, making Felix flinch. “Caseario get back here!”

 Felix stumbled again, and cursed his poor vision. He should have grabbed a flashlight. He should have stopped Rio from even considering actually doing this, but he hadn’t been paying enough attention. Felix knew that, more than anything else, was why Rio had done this. If it were Mom, or Dad, or even Emilia, they would have noticed sooner, and nipped it in the bud.

 Why did Felix have to be the odd one out? Why did they leave him in charge of a stock of nine year olds? Why wasn’t he paying more attention?

 He stopped to listen, trying to slow his breathing enough to actually hear footsteps. It proved unneeded a moment later, when a scream rang out.

 “Caseario!” Felix yelled, scrambling to start moving.

 He nearly ran into two walls, and tripped into a corner, before he turned into the final hallway at last. "Rio!"

 "Felix!" Caseario screamed, and Felix heard movement just to his side.

 "Rio!" Felix waved about, trying to find him. His hand felt something alive, and it latched onto him suddenly. "What were you thinking?! Are you okay?"

 Caseario shook, gripping Felix's arm like a lifeline. "I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry Félix!"

 Felix sighed, hugged his brother to his chest. "Come on, let's get out of here. Do you have a flashlight?"

 "I did," Rio said. "I dropped it though, when I saw the skeleton over there."

 Felix couldn't see where Rio was pointing, but he didn't want to see anyway. Shivers ran up his spine, and he took a deep breath to steel himself. Get Rio out first.

 "Do you think you can find it?"

 "Yes."

 They both knelt, and despite the apprehension lacing their every move, the brothers felt around until they found the flashlight. Rio pointed it in the direction opposite of where he believed the body to be, and with a thin stream of light, they made their way back around the corners.

 Everything was fine, aside from the chill creeping into their bones, until not far from the exit.

 Something rustled, and someone gasped. Felix lost his footing in his attempt to find the source and protect his brother. He hit the ground hard, and inhaled sharply at the stabbing sensations from across his body.

 "Felix!" Rio cried, the flashlight beam landing beside him. "Felix?"

 "I'm okay," Felix breathed, pushing himself up. There was a rock in his left palm, and he closed his fingers around it. It was small, but hopefully it would still hurt an attacker.

 Felix had just started to stand when someone yelled, Rio screamed, and pain shot from his hand into his arm and through the rest of his body.

 You know when you stick a 9 volt battery on your tongue to check the charge? Imagine that, but stronger, and spiking.

 That's what Felix felt, along with panic, in his last moments of consciousness.

***

 Marinette froze at the entryway to the catacombs, listening to the shuffling of unsure feet.

 Her teacher patted her arm, and they started forward.

 Marinette did not like the catacombs. They were a reminder of everything wrong with the world. A labyrinth of mass graves, full of long-rotted bodies from wars a century ago. If that wasn't bad enough, there were worse things hiding down there now.

 Caches of unused magic, severed curses, objects covered in remnants of spells, even some cursed objects that were down there for the sake of it. Marinette couldn't understand how some people could be that sick, that they would lay curses just for the fun of it, and leave them for unsuspecting innocents.

 But, despite all the bad, the catacombs were also home to some ingredients that weren't easily accessible elsewhere.

 Like the death flower that Master Fu said they needed for this location spell.

 Master Fu pushed forward as Marinette tried to pin down the source of the sound. A flashlight beam came into view, reflecting off the rocks. Marinette tried to see through the flashlight to the person on the other side - the very short person on the other side, - but stepped on a tilted jutting stone. She stumbled into the wall, barely catching herself before she hit her head. Thank goodness for gloves, those rocks felt sharp.

 Something else shifted quickly, and then there was a thump. "Felix!" The flashlight beam moved, and she caught sight of a black vest and blond hair. "Felix?"

 "I'm okay," the person on the floor said, starting to push themselves up.

 They were halfway back up when Marinette felt the shock of magic. "Drop it!" she warned, starting forward.

 The smaller of the two screamed, probably started, while the probably-teenager seized up.

 "Stop screaming!" she snapped, reaching them. She started to feel the older's fingers, trying to pry them open, but he collapsed as she let go of his right hand.

 "Felix!"

 Marinette moved, either to catch him or check the younger one, but Master Fu held her back, and stepped forward instead. “Fu!” She began, but he held out his hand and with a flash of green, Felix stopped writhing. Marinette brushed past Fu to the other child. “Hi. My name’s Marinette.”

 “What is he doing to Felix?” The kid asked, voice high with panic.

 She glanced back. Marinette wasn’t sure, actually, but saying that outright would not end well, so she settled with “He’s helping him. Can you tell me your name?”

 “No.”

 Not what Marinette had hoped for, but not altogether unexpected. “That’s okay. Do you know what Felix grabbed a minute ago?”

 “No.”

 “That’s okay, it’s dark.” Which, actually, was something Marinette could fix. She slipped her glove off and reached for the woven square in her pocket. She pulled it out, starting the process of changing it into a crystal. The child gasped as glowing pink bubbles started from Marinette’s fingers and continued outwards until there was a soft, solid glow coming from the newly formed stone. “There, that’s better.” For now. It would be best to not be detectable at all to anything living down here, but Marinette would take her chances in the interest of making it less traumatizing for the kid.

 “How did you do that?”

  With the lighting as more than just a small flashlight beam, Marinette could take in the kid’s features. Dusty blond hair, grey-blue eyes, white skin, and overalls with a green shirt underneath. She smiled, trying for reassuring, and willed her eyes to go blue enough to match. “Magic.”

 “Whoah.” 

 Marinette grinned a bit more authentically at that.

 “Marinette.”

 She turned quickly to look back at Fu, questioning. He was done with whatever spells he had been working with. “Yes, Master Fu?”

 Fu picked up Felix’s hand, showing a sickly glistening band of black around one of his fingers. It was oozing out of his skin. Marinette shuddered. “It’s a curse. Powerful, coded to be malevolent.”

 “How do we break it?”

 “I don’t know.”

 Her heart stuttered. Fu almost never said that. For him to not know, things were very bad.

 Beside her, she heard the kid take a breath too. “Felix got cursed? By who?”

 “I don’t know that either, I’m afraid.”

 “Will it hurt him?”

 Fu looked back down and shook his head. “Not anymore. I suppressed the worst bits, but it will take time to find a full remedy. In the meantime, you both should go home.”

 “Is that safe?” Marinette burst out. It couldn’t be! People not used to magic couldn’t safely just have it appear in their lives!

 “It will be for now.”

 “How did he get cursed?”

 Marinette glanced over at the kid, who had moved from her side to the side of the cursed boy. She sighed and sat down to explain, ignoring Fu’s raised eyebrows. “The catacombs are full of magic, some benevolent and some malevolent. He probably just activated a curse that’s been laying around like a trap.”

 “Oh.”

 She swallowed. “Yeah. Master Fu can get you home now, is that okay?”

 He nodded. Fu waved his hand, and a green bubble built around the two boys. The bubble flew away, leaving Marinette and Master Fu alone in the brightly lit tunnel. Marinette sent another pulse of magic to return the glowing crystal to it’s original state.

"They'll be fine. I sent them home, and the younger will only remember getting lost and being found." Fu promised.

 Marinette bit her lip, looking at the vacated spot as it became dark again. "Okay."

 "We were looking for something, weren't we?"

***

 Felix came back to feeling weirdly. He started to register the sounds from the room adjacent to his own, excited chatter from the twins. Then came feeling, and spatial awareness. And then pain.

 A thousand ants running up and down his left arm, biting every two steps. And on his finger, a band of hot metal cinched tightly, digging into the skin as it burned.

 Felix tried to gasp, but his lungs refused to move. He tried to pry his eyes open and sit up, pushing at his chest with his right hand, but he couldn't. His body was refusing to listen!

 Something else slammed into his chest, a fist-sized ball of force that restarted him.

 He shot upwards with a gasp, pressing against his chest as hard as he could with his moveable arm, forcing his restarted lungs to keep moving.

 Slowly, the pain in his limp arm faded, as did his panic. The burning on his finger stayed though. Once he was sure he could breathe, Felix looked to the cause.

 There was a silver ring on his finger, smooth except for the decorative cat face with ruby eyes.

 "You good?"

 Felix yelped, and turned to see who had said that. And then he froze again. There was a black… bobblehead cat..?. floating at eye level.

 "Sshhhh!" it hissed, flying towards him. "Look I'm sure this is scary, you don't know what's going on and neither really do I, which is way worse, but it'll be even worse if someone other than you sees me!"

 "What are you?" Felix asked, forcing himself to breathe.

 "I, good sir, am a Kwami. Plagg, nice to meet you, except we aren't supposed to have met.” Plagg did a flip in midair. “Maybe. Definitely not like this!"

 "And what," Felix took a shaky breath. "Would a Kwami happen to be?"

 “Conceptual Magic in the form of a being.”

 Felix took a deep breath, and pressed his back into the sheets. “You are talking a code I am not understanding, and I think I’m overloading anyway.”

 The ‘Kwami’ sighed. “I can’t blame you. Ask more questions when you’re ready for more information. But I need to eat before anything else.”

 “Eat?” Felix asked.

 “Yep. Cheese in particular.”

***

 About six hours later, Felix and Plagg could be found at Felix’s desk, trying to pry the ring off of Felix’s finger.

 There had been no luck.

 Plagg groaned, and dive-bombed the desk. “This makes no sense!” he howled. “This isn’t even the self-defense mechanism!”

 “What is the self-defense mechanism supposed to be?” Felix asked, leaning back against his chair.

 “If or when I need to, I can tie the wearer’s soul to the ring, and transfer large amounts of bad luck to them. It lasts until someone with Creation and Purity magic frees them, after they prove themselves.”

 “And you’re sure this isn’t that?”

 “I’m pretty sure. If it is, it’s an edited version.”

 Felix sighed. "So we have an unknown curse on a ring that's magic on its own, and you don't know any, sorcerers, you said?" Plagg nodded. "That could help us fix it. That's about the situation, correct?"

 Plagg nodded again. "Just about everything, yep!"

 Felix sighed again. "So I might be stuck like this?"

 “Yep.” 

 “For how long?”

 “Oh my gosh, Fe, are you okay?”

 Felix looked up at Allegra’s worried face. Her eyes were blue as ever. “I’m fine,” he sighed, reaching up. He'd hit the ground for the second time only moments ago, and it was undoubtedly because of the curse. Felix Prolux is not clumsy. She took his hand and shifted her weight until he was back on his feet. “Thanks.”

 “Really though?” Allegra pressed. They started walking again. “You’ve been off, Fe. Did something happen?”

 Felix scoffed. Understatement of the year. At Allegra’s worried look, he schooled some of the derision out of his expression. “Really, Legs. I’m okay. There was some personal crap, but I’ll get through it.”

 “Okay,” she accepted. “Okay. Let me know if I can help at all. I’ll be happy to.”

 He smiled. “I know. Thank you.”

 Her phone buzzed, and she stopped to check it. When Allegra looked up, she was grinning.Felix felt a sudden rush happy dread as he recognized the expression. “Claude says they’re almost there. Wanna bet we can beat them?”

 Felix smirked back, allowing himself to be swept up in the happy competition. “It’s worth a try. And even if we can’t beat them, I can probably beat you.”

 Allegra whooped and took off running. “Keep up, pretty boy!”

 Felix laughed and took off after her. Allegra took a harsh left, taking a shortcut Felix didn’t know. Felix slipped as he tried to follow her, ending up on the ground, again. He silently cursed the band on his finger.

 He rolled to his hands and knees, wincing. That hurt. He took a few breaths, waiting until he felt ready to stand again. He stood up and started back towards the alleyway. He could probably play it off. Hopefully.

“Fe?”

 Not.

 “Legs.”

 She looked really worried. Plagg’s weight in his pocket reminded him that he couldn’t tell her anything. He smirked, the smarmy, annoying one that drove peasants up the wall. Allegra opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. “I know I backed off earlier, but this isn’t like you.”

 Felix patted her shoulder. “No, not really.” And then he started running. “But this is!”

 Allegra let out an indignant huff, and when Felix turned so he was running backwards, she was chasing him. Felix spun back to running normal, which was much safer. He cackled.

***

 Allegra shrieked happily as she hit the wall of the theater. “I win!”

 Felix laughed, sidling up and leaning against it beside her. “Yeah, you did.” He sounded out of breath. Allegra was winded too. She grinned anyway, looking over happily at her friend. His hair was floppy and she could see sweat at the roots.

 Allegra reached over and ruffled it. Felix sputtered, pulling away to run his hands through it in an attempt to make it look styled. It wasn’t going to work.

 “Hey guys!”

 Allegra looked up, catching Claude’s energetic waves. She waved back, and he and Allan started over.

 “Morning.” Allan hugged them each in turn, and then let Claude do the same. There was the unmistakable sound of coins hitting the ground as Claude pulled back from Felix's hug. He looked down and made a face.

 “What even?” Allegra asked, ducking down to pick them up. Claude joined her.

 “I don’t know.” He flipped his hand quietly, showing her black dust smeared across it. “It was fine thismorning.” The remains of his coin purse.

 Allegra pursed her lips. Something was up. She looked around the area, but nothing stood out as out of place. They finished cleaning up the coins and stood up. She pasted on a smile she didn’t feel. “Come on, the sooner we get in and get seats, the better.”

 Allan laughed. “You just don’t want to deal with the lines.”

 “Of course I don’t,” Allegra scoffed. She made a shooing motion, and Allan bowed and started towards the inside of the building. Claude walked a little slower, keeping up with Allegra and Felix for almost a minute, before rolling his eyes and taking off.

 “I thought you wanted to be in there early!”

 She rolled her eyes indulgently, and sped up a tad. She was still keeping an eye out. It was doubtful negative talismans would be hanging in the open, but caution was never an error.

 “What happened with Claude?” Felix asked quietly.

 Allegra looked back to him. Felix was glaring resolutely ahead, lips pinched and eyebrows furrowed. Yeah, something was up. “Just a little bad luck,” Allegra lied softly. They kept going, getting their tickets and snacks, and then following the other boys into the actual theater room.

 On the way down, Felix slipped again, dumping his soda all over his vest. After it was cleaned up, Allegra checked the floor. There was no reason for him to have slipped.

 She hummed as the previews started.

November 10th- Marinette protection squad

 Let’s make one thing clear. Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Felix Prolux are not friends.

 When Lila came to class on Wednesday and laid out her suspicions that Marinette was working with Hawkmoth, Felix was vindicated for a hot minute.

 And then he remembered that made no sense, because Marinette herself was Transmission, and he highly doubted anyone would help corrupt their own magic. From what Allegra and his other magic friends had said, magic was more intrinsic and perceivable than even a heartbeat. Felix had enough trouble when his curse acted up; imagining what it must feel like to have such a personal part of being violated, especially to someone who had grown up with it as a comfort, was bad enough. And Dupain-Cheng may be creepy, with her staring and odd habit of knowing everyone’s schedules, but she wasn’t evil.

 Probably.

 “What would make you think that?” Felix asked. He still had the back bench, a wonderful perch to glare down from.

 “I saw her,” Rossi hissed, in what was probably meant to be a compelling pseudo-fear. “She changed what her hairclip looked like, and when she did…” The students present this early in the morning leant forward. “It looked like akuma bubbles!”

 Felix, had he been anyone else, would have facepalmed, or possibly slammed his head into his desk. As it was, he watched chaos begin- some of them were shouting, Cesaire had whirled on Rossi and was convincing her to show proof, which meant Lila was using her own magic to pull up an illusion - something Felix found wonderfully hypocritical. Rossi was Illusion, and had never been shy about showing it.

 Ugh.

 Felix didn’t join in aside from turning to Bruel and Haprele. “You realise this is a load of BS, yes?”

 “Of course it is!” Haprele said. Her voice was quivering, but Felix had rarely heard it not so he figured it was just a speech impediment. “Marinette would never do something so despicable.”

 Bruel nodded along. “She was trying to stop me from being re-akumatized, not trying to speed it up. I’ve seen her trying to be cruel.”

 “Yeah!”

 Felix nodded and turned back to his book. “Good.” He ignored the rest of the class - he may not be her enemy, but this was a battle she could probably fight herself. She’d grown up as one, right?

 Mhm, then again… Felix had grown up in the real world too, and not known about magic until just before school started. Perhaps not. He glared over the top of his book. If this escalated he would step in.

 Cesaire was obviously not in the know, as odd as that was considering her constant conspiracy theories, and she instead tried to convince Rossi that Marinette must be being blackmailed into it.

 Maybe Felix should just step in, as the only one with any obvious common sense. But how to do so without outing Marinette any more than she had been… he was relatively sure that was plain rude.

 “Shut up!” It was Couffaine who spoke up instead. Surprising, she usually spoke in whispers, but Felix wasn’t going to judge. “You’re just being racist, Lila. Marinette would never.”

 Rossi barely had a chance to formulate a response around the influx of jeering, before the girl of the hour skidded into the room like a cartoon character. “I’m here!” Marinette called, deftly maneuvering around Rossi and Cesaire’s roadblock at the bottom of the stairs. She slipped into her seat and then looked around. With a roil of disgust, Felix realized they were all staring at her. “Why is everyone so quiet?” Marinette asked, voice rising a little at the end.

 Felix moved his glare (because he hadn’t stopped glaring, and he should probably apologize to Marinette later, she did not deserve the full force of it) to the bumblers in front of him.

 "Marinette isn't working with Hawkmoth!" Le Chien yelled. That was one way to enter the conversation, Felix supposed. The cacophony returned, worse than before.

 Accusation, accusation, defense, accusation, three more defenses, another accusation, and- Marinette slammed her bag onto the table, the ensuing bang and echo louder than it had any right to be.

 "Enough!" She took a deep breath, scanning the room until she stopped facing forward, presumably looking at Lila. "I am not working with Hawkmoth, nor would I ever. What started this conversation?"

 "Don't lie!" Lika snarled. Felix had to hand it to her, she managed to look hysteric very fast. "I saw you! You had the same smokey bubbles as he uses! You're an accessory to terrorism!" Most of the class recoiled, Marinette included. Felix stood up, preparing to eviscerate Rossi. That was not an accusation you threw around.

 “I am not,” Marinette said, voice rough. A breath. “Hawkmoth stole our heart, Lila, I know you know what that means. We’re not on his side just because he decided our sect was powerful enough to corrupt.” Felix noticed her arms were discoloring. He really hoped that was healthy and not an explosion - he was active on the threads. Corrupted magic hurt, and it’s not like Marinette was obvious about hers. “He’s not my friend. He dragged us out of hiding and set bigots on hundreds of people, without even touching on the fact that- oh yeah, he’s a terrorist!” Marinette was breathing heavily. “If I get the chance I might kill him.”

 He voice cracked, and Cesaire abandoned her post arguing with Rossi to hug her. Good.

 The classroom was silent. Felix found himself nervous, suddenly. This could make or break their dynamics, this passing of judgement. It could set a precedent among the school - high class school, popular students.

 "So you’re not evil, just a freak?” Chloe sneered, tone as vicious as ever.

 “Marinette is not a freak!” Alya shouted, whirling on the blonde; putting herself between Marinette and everyone else in the room.

 Cacophany and chaos reigned. Felix finally moved forward, slipping in Rossi and Bruel’’s row and behind Marinette and Cesaire. He picked up her bag, which was light but still impossible to ignore when he dropped it. “Marinette is not a freak,” he said sharply. The class was quiet again, whether from the novelty of him speaking up or just because they didn’t have anything to say, Felix couldn’t tell. “Magic is real, magic is natural, as you especially should know, Chloe-” he sneered her name, feeling no remorse as her expression became more and more offended. “-since you adore Ladybug so much.

 “If Marinette is magic, as it would seem she is, then she has probably been a sorceress all her life, and knowing because Lila jumped to conclusions shouldn’t change anything.”

 He didn’t know why he spoke up. Marinette had been doing great, and- well. It’s not like he had much more experience with magic than any of the others in here.

  “Hear hear!” Kim shouted from his side of the room.

 “Hear hear!” Rose agreed.

 Felix looked around, a little sickened. Marinette had defended herself, and they hadn’t cared much. He said less, and they were cheering?

 “Thank you, for speaking up,” Couffaine said suddenly. Her hand and glove were enveloped in black and purple, and when it faded the black glove was blood red. “If anyone else says something against Marinette, you’ll meet me in a dark corner.”

 “Aw,” Lavillant cooed.

 Felix did not understand his classmates, but you know what? Whatever. At least Rossi was off her high horse.

 “Petition to steal the Butterfly Miraculous from Hawkmoth and give it to Marinette or Juleka?” Kubdel asked, successfully distracting the rest of the class from what was probably a serious threat.

 “Signed! I’ll even steal it from him!” Le Chien jumped up, probably only needing a target.

 Felix rolled his eyes. Here they go again. A hand landed on his arm, but was pulled away as quickly as it was set there. He looked down.

 “Thank you,” Marinette said. Felix nodded stiffly, and started back up the aisle to his seat. Couffaine took his place within the time it took for him to actually sit down, and Felix watched as Couffaine and Marinette fell into a quick, quiet discussion to the background of ‘Project Steal Hawkmoth’s Miraculous.’

 Huh.

***

 “Hey.”

 Felix and Allegra both looked up at Alya, who was backpackless as she stood over their table. “What do you need?” Felix asked.

 Alya grinned partially. “I wanted to say thank you for defending Marinette earlier. Everybody knows her defense squad needs as many people as we can get.”

 Felix bristled. “I’m not going to join her ‘defense squad’. I was being a decent person and restoring order.”

 Alya shrugged, and then smirked. “Just you wait, we’ll get you eventually.”

 “Oh really?” Felix snarked. “Is Couffaine on board yet?”

 Alya snorted. “I got here this summer, Prolux. Who do you think ran it before me?” She winked and left, nearly skipping.

 Felix followed her back to her seat with a glare, before turning back to his notebook angrily. He was making a point. He wasn’t friends with Marinette! He didn’t even quite like her. Since when does doing the right thing mean you’re part of a club? He rolled his eyes. Whatever. He and Marinette were excuse buddies, nothing else.

 “What was that about?” Allegra asked, also watching Cesaire.

 Felix turned to her, settling in his chair. “So you know the Illusion in my class? You won’t believe how low this sucker stooped.”

***

 "So you made the news again, Feli dear," Aurora opened, spearing a piece of asparagus before languidly looking up to meet his eyes.

 "What did you do?" Emi snorted, piling mashed potatoes onto her plate.

 Felix shrugged. "I'm not sure.” It was true. The most noteworthy thing he’d done in weeks was when he and Dira had gone after Andre with Marinette. “What did I do, Mom?" Well, that and Miraculous matters, but Felix would not be in the news then.

 Aurora was quiet for a moment, finishing chewing. "You should read the article yourself, so we know we're on the same page."

 Felix sighed and pulled out his phone to look himself up. “Rio, how did the presentation go?”

 “Calli got stage fright so I did it on my own, but since Calli did a lot of the work I talked to M. Hunt to make sure she’d get credit too.” Caseario explained around his food. Felix didn’t remember what the project was- Hunt… was that the art or history teacher?

 He found the article as his parents congratulated Rio.

 ‘ Prolux heir quoted as supportive of magicians-

 Today those scanning the social media section were in for a surprise. One schoolgirl, picture absent, posted an enlightening text post about her school life.

  ‘Craziest thing happened today guys. One of my classmates came in thinking that another one of my classmates was working with Hawkmoth (which is a very serious allegation, do not make it lightly, nor take it lightly) because she saw them use modification magic. Obviously this started a flame war in class, between evidence and defending the accused. Well, then this classmate came in. Whole room went silent, I’m not kidding. Obvi they were confused, and asked questions. Another classmates yelled ‘(Name) would never work with HM!’ and the debate was back on. Anyway, talking, fighting, etc, until they silence the room and with the most murderous stare ever, said they’d never work with him and that if Hawkmoth ever sent her a butterfly they’d turn it on him. Metal, I tell you. Well, once it was figured out they were a sorcerex (I checked with my friend for the gender-neutral term), our class bully then tried to call them a freak, and everyone was yelling again until @FelixPro comes down from his perch to get after everyone and lecture us on how just because we don’t know crap about it. Magic is totally natural and completely okay. It was so weird? I think that’s the first time he’s come down to talk with us of his own volition? But he made really good points. #petitiontostealthebutterflymiraculoustogiveittotransmissionsorcerexs #theydeserveitmore’

  This raised a lot of questions, but of course, no one else has commented. Is it an unpopular opinion in the family? Is it a fake quote? What sort of drama will this pull up?’

 The article continued, probably speculating at whether or not his family had Sorcerers in it (and how dare they call them magicians, that made them sound like stage artists) but Felix stopped reading, put his phone away, and continued eating. Honestly. Reporters were at the point of stalking children’s blogs? Just how desperate were they?

 “What’s the article about?” Dira asked, moving onto her knees and reaching over the table to steal Emilia’s drink.

 “Sorcerers and Sorceresses.” Felix caught the cup on its way back to Emi and took a drink of his own. He wrinkled his nose and looked accusingly down at the pink liquid. “How much powder did you put in that?”

 “Too much,” Rio answered for her. Emi wrinkled her nose and glared. Felix gave back the cup,  which Rio then stole.

 “Is it true, Felix?” Bryan took it out of his youngest’s hand and split half of the overly-sugary concoction into his own cup, then watered down what he left in Emi’s cup.

 Felix took a deep breath. If he were anyone else, he would have avoided their gazes. But he was Felix Prolux. He was an heir, he was cold, in control of his emotions, and never one to shy away from confrontation. Didn’t mean he had to like confronting his parents. He met Aurora’s eyes first, and then turned to the head of the table to meet his dad’s. “Yes.”

 “So you really know a witch like Ladybug?” Dira asked, bouncing in her seat.

 “Sorceress, not a witch, but yes. I have one in my class, and I know a few others from various places.” He was not going to tell her that she knew Marinette too. Or Allegra. Or Allan. Or Claude. Or- wait. Were all of his friends magical?

 “That’s so cool!”

 “It’s not much different than normal. I’ll bet you have one too, they’re just scared to tell anyone.”

 Aurore smiled. “I think that’s wonderful, Felix. All of the magical community deserves support, being shoved under a spotlight like this so suddenly.”

July 3rd-Boredom

So the whole discord chat idea? Magic was the less fun part. Felix should have let Allegra add him ages ago.

The Dead Fandoms Discord - Channel #Go-Go-Gadget-Chatroom

21:25

Snow Cone King: I’m just saying, Ics, that if we have to petition Walmart, we should at least do it with a lot of people.

Flutetastic: ...Almost everyone on this server and probably half of tumblr and a corner of twitter and a few people from school and my entire family

Considering my family includes you and all the cousins on your half too, that’s a lot of people.

Snow Cone King: Amb. Ics, ics you know what this means?

Speedster: Y’all, I think we should just use the online petition thingy. Get millions of email subscribers from all over the world.

Snow Cone King: My dad probably would totally sign a petition to get Inspector Gadget merch back in stores and then actually make it happen

Flutetastic: It’s sm fun to see you have one of those My Dad Is A Millionaire epiphanies.

Flutetastic: Als, why do you save your logic for the middle of our discussions?

Speedster: Gotta take the time to come up with my genius.

Snow Cone King: Show off.

Penny Could Kick Me: I find it very amusing to watch you guys casually say things like ‘one of those My Dad Is A Millionaire epiphanies’.

Snow Cone King: :Squinty eyes: i can’t tell if that’s an insult

Penny Could Kick Me: Is me laughing out loud at you insulting?

Flutetastic: Say no

Snow Cone King: I haven’t decided.

Fluteastic: FE AMB! Q ARE YOU LIKE THIS?

Snow Cone King: I think so?

Penny Could Kick Me: I love you guys.

Snow Cone King: That’s def. A compliment. Thank you.

The Dead Fandoms Discord - Channel #By-The-Power-Of-Greyskull

7:45

The Orange Death: Y’all I just found an article saying Damian Wayne and Adam are friends and someone needs to explain to me how that happened and if that means I missed a He-Man reboot

If so, Imma cri

Snow Cone King: Wait who has the rights to He-Man?

The Orange Death: Honestly I figured it was netflix ‘cause they just did that she-ra reboot but like

Apparently not?

Snow Cone King: I’m looking this up amb

Useless Ace: I thought the last reboot was in 2010?

Snow Cone King: I am apparently a very uninformed fan

There was a life action movie in 1987

The Orange Death: What

Snow Cone King: My to watch list is much bigger

I thought there were only the two versions? I don’t even know which versions they were now?

Useless Ace: Welcome to the world of fandom my friend. Experts are few, far-inbetween, and deserve mad respect bc I could care less to follow every bit of canon ever

Snow Cone King: Mood

Snow Cone King: As of dec 18, 2019, Netflix wants to do a CGI reboot

Useless Ace: Oh thank goodness. My biggest beef with the She-ra reboot was the lost potential for Adam/Adora shenanigans.

Snow Cone King: Have you watched it?

 Useless Ace: See above

Snow Cone King: :facepalm:

Actually I can’t judge, it’s still collecting dust on my to-watch list

Whatever

Snow Cone King: Reading more and Mark Hamill? Will be Skeletor?? That sounds like it'll go really well

The Orange Death: Y’all I have no idea but now I’m excited

About time He-Man came back

Snow Cone King: Fr tho, I can’t find anything about ties to dc or where he’d have met Damian

Flutetastic: Whack

The Orange Death: You’re telling me

Snow Cone King: You’re telling me.

Snow Cone King: I’m giving up. Some fandom guru who actually knows stuff can figure this out

The Orange Death: Valid

8:58

Snow Cone King: I lied and looked further and apparently not only are there multiple comicverse crossovers (Injustice vs the masters of the universe)(DC Universe vs Masters of the Universe)(he Man and the Masters of the Multiverse(I’m guessing is a crossover too)), but there’s a THUNDERCATS one too!

 My childhood will be complete as soon as I read that

Useless Ace: Dude that’s amazing

That’s going top of my to-read list

Snow Cone King: Mood

Gerald: Mood

The Orange Death: King, you really are a king, thank you so much!!!

Useless Ace: I rlly hope they give Adam a better costume like they did w/ Adora in the new reboot

The Orange Death: It’s a bit overdue

The Dead Fandoms Discord - Channel #Magic-Troubles

14:19

Snow Cone King: amb there’s a illusion lady in my lit class and normally Idc but she’s being so annoying and she keeps illustrating the whack tales she’s telling and the teach could care less but she’s directly in my line of sight and I wanna learn

Is there a nice way to ask her to stop?

Goldie Queen Of France: Tell her she’s making it hard to see. Rlly, just bc we’re magic doesn’t mean we have the right to be a jerk

Snow Cone King: I’m a jerk by nature

Just wanted to make sure

Flutetastic: King, you’re not magic

The Dead Fandoms Discord chat - Channel #Less-than-dead-corner

23:39

Killjoy: I’m just saying! Thanos’ plan was dumb!

Jackie of Jackaland: You didn’t even watch the movie

Killjoy: I don’t have to watch a movie to know that it’s dumb to kill people for resource management when another option is literally just to make more resources

Jackie of Jackaland: Valid point op but pls start watching movies and reading comics before you rant about them based off of someone else’s tumblr rant

Killjoy: That’s less fun

Jackie of Jackaland: You mean less headache inducing

Goldie Queen of France: @Killjoy @Jackie of Jackaland polite, remember? If you’re gonna throw hands, do it in the dms.

Killjoy: Right, sorry

Jackie of Jackaland: Sry

The Dead Fandoms Discord chat - Channel #Magic-troubles

20:13

Snow Cone King: Wait are trails colored different by sect or by person?

Coracle-Miracle: Supposed to be by person, but mine turned a purple/black after whatever happened with the heart

Snow Cone King: Ouch

Coracle-Miracle: It hurts less to use magic the more I use it, although Idk what that means. We’re just powering through

The Dead Fandoms Discord Chat - Channel #MURDOCH

4:30

Snow Cone King: If I ever leave Paris, I want to go to Canada

Mapleblood: Dude that is my entire life motto

‘Cept I’m Brazilian

Point stands

Speedster: Valid x100

The Dead Fandoms Discord Chat - Channel #Less-than-dead-corner

17:20

Flutetastic: Salut, t’all, should I watch Gravity Falls?

Pigtails ftw: I say yeah

It gets weird later on, so I never finished, but I liked what I saw in the beginning

Flutetastic: Awesome. I wanna see if it beats Paris rn

Pigtails ftw: What even is Paris rn?

Flutetastic: Mood

Pigtails ftw: No but like, legit. What’s going on over there?

Flutetastic: #That-Real-Life

The Dead Fandoms Discord Chat - Channel #That-Real-Life

17:23

Flutetastic: @Pigtails ftw so yaknow about the magic hearts thing?

Pigtails ftw: didn’t know they were real

Flutetastic: Common response

@Snow Cone King @Coracle Miracle @Rough-Glamor @Goldie Queen Of France come help me out

So the heart/miraculous of Modification got corrupted by somebody, so far no one knows if they’re a strong sorcerer or a lucky human, but it happened and is messing with all change mages.

Snow Cone King: And he uses the extra power to possess civilians and turn them into rampaging monsters who are supposed to hold the city hostage for the hearts of Destruction and Restoration

Coracle-Miracle: which are, btw, also the hearts of purity and chaos

Snow Cone King: How does that work?

Coracle-Miracle: Those two hearts are the strongest and have multiple tie-in clauses, like luck, but that translates to really dangerous and often selfish sorcerers so instead they split into sections within theirs. It’s really interesting actually! Jaclynn O’Conner wrote a really cool book on it, I suggest you read that.

Pigtails ftw: That sounds demonic