Cat's Eye (Lukadrien)

Volume 2, Chapter 8

Gabriel has been busy today.

Well, Gabriel has not been immensely busy. He rarely is. All Gabriel really needs to do most of the time is to be an artist. Which, admittedly, is a lot easier said than done, but he does currently have quite a lot going on in his life to draw inspiration from. Well not necessarily Gabriel's life, but the details of origin aren't terribly important. That duty is fulfilled, and he can go on to do other things.

Even in her less than prime state, Nathalie is a tremendously competent worker. Her ability to organise is unparalleled, and without her the Agreste brand would simply crumble to dust. In all truth, she does far more for the company in a day than Gabriel does.

That isn't to say his time isn't being put to use, however.

Shadowmoth has a lot on his plate.

Pathokinesis. Butterfly and Peacock, representing Transmission and Emotion. The maths is simple really. Together, their joint power allows the wielder to transmit emotions, amongst other things.

He'd known that the moment he'd donned the hat. Bridging the gap of understanding the full power set, and being able to apply it as he wished, had taken practise. Even with all the intellect in the world, nobody can be perfect first try.

As much as he used to loathe returning to being Gabriel from Hawk Moth, he's come to find relinquishing Shadowmoth, and everything that comes with it, far more torturous.

You see, the first thing Gabriel did with the newly healed Peacock miraculous was create the Shadow Hat. He'd planned the concept for a while, and if he does say so himself the silhouette is absolutely gorgeous. Not that anyone sees it other than himself, and occasionally Nathalie, but that's not the point. A garment should have flair in its form, regardless of function or who may or may not get to see it. Gabriel has always taken that little bit of extra time when designing his villains to make sure everything is just so.

But of course, it's function is for Gabriel's mind, or Shadowmoth's more specifically. That thousand-fold magnification of cunning and thinking speed enabled him to create plans far greater in scale. Taking that hat off each time he detransformed, felt like his mind was dying every time. Not to mention, having its abilities as Gabriel would be incredibly beneficial to his versatility as a player on the battlefield.

He's only waited so long to upgrade this innovation for Nathalie's sake. For this part of the plan, he needs a willing healthy accomplice. One of the final points on today's agenda was Nathalie's latest visit to the doctor, where they were finally able to confirm that the progression of her condition has ceased. Now that the Peacock miraculous was fixed, no longer would its scars become her own.

So today, Nathalie took up the Peacock miraculous for the last time. Just like before, she dutifully and caringly crafted the Shadow Hat. Except, this time she gave it an extra power.

Much like the Miraculous, the Shadow Hat now has the ability to camouflage and change shape.

Two birds killed with a single stone. Now Gabriel has access to his full intellect at all times, and is able to craft sentimonsters too. That's the clever thing about the miraculous' restrictions. They're arbitrary. For the peacock, a wielder can only have a single amok of their own creation active at a given time. Of course, that means now that the Shadow Hat counts as Nathalie's creation, Gabriel is free to create sentimonsters whilst still having the Shadow Hat.

So, he strolls into dinner, for once only a mere 7 minutes late. Adrien will be pleased, to have his company again.

Adrien does not look pleased.