My Boss is Felix: Alternative Miraculous Ladybug Tale

Ch48: Identity

The voice of the Eel was very distinct - I recognized its sound - the way it rattled in my head as if scrambling my brain - the strange horror that spread through my body like the plague. But why was I hearing it now? It usually only spoke to me unless I was close or touching it. Unless...unless Chat ...that rotten, no good stray!

Remain silent. Remain silent. Remain silent. It hissed.

As if I was programmed to obey, the words froze in my throat and I couldn't find it in me to confront Chat on his thievery. Oh, but I would. Once my body would allow.

Chat carried me back to my prison - that disgusting apartment room. He set me down on the edge of the bathroom's bath tub and rolled up my sweat pant leg to reveal freshly cut skin oozing with blood.

"Be careful. I'd hate for you to get blood on your precious leather. Since it's hard to wash out," I seethed.

"Tsk," he said.

I winced as he pulled down the shower head and began running cold water over my wound. It hurt so much! I bit my lower lip to keep from screaming. The blood washed off and swirled in the drain like a red tornado. The color almost matched the red ring circling the tub as if someone had once taken a bath in blood.

After my wound had been cleaned, Chat laid me on the bed and covered the gash with ointment and bandages as he sat on the edge.

"This is going to leave a permanent scar," Chat said, his gaze fixed on my wrapped leg.

"A scar that would never be there if you didn't take me to such a shady place," I said, crossing my arms.

"Or if you would have trusted me and stayed in this room like I asked," he said.

"Why here? Of all places?" I said, gesturing to our surroundings.

"No one will suspect us. Anywhere else and my fath...people could have tracked us."

"Father? Is that what you were going to say?"

He ignored me, as he grabbed my ankles, tugged off my socks, and examined my bare feet.

"You have glass in your feet," he said, frowning.

I had indeed stepped on a lot of glass in the hallway lined with broken windows. It appeared that my socks had offered me no protection.

"Perhaps I should leave it in there. To disincentivize your escape efforts," he said, those green eyes looking mischievous.

"Are you seriously that cruel?" I exclaimed.

"If only. I'm rather weak," he said, plucking out a piece of glass from the sole of my foot. I yelped in pain.

"Weak because you're doing the compassionate thing?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"What is compassion?" He said, "If I remove this glass, you will inevitably run away, and could die. How is that compassion? I enabled your death. I killed you. It's my fault. My weakness."

"What happens to me is a result of my actions, not yours," I said, clenching my fist to endure the pain of his glass retrieval efforts.

"That's only true if both parties are unaware of the future," he said.

Perfect opportunity. But would it work? Would the Eel allow me to ask?

"The future? Who showed you the future? The Eel Miraculous that you stole from my room?" I scoffed, surprised I was even able to say it.

It was probably because I was far enough away for the Eel to affect me - which was proof that Chat was keeping it somewhere around his neck tucked into his suit - perhaps he turned the ring into a necklace?