There was a polite knock on the door and Ladybug entered, clutching a bag in one hand.

"Master Fu! I got the ingredients you asked for!" She said breathlessly. She dropped an envelope on the counter as well. "I also was doing some research on Agent Sphinx. There doesn't appear to be any official pictures of her, but there have been a few sightings of her –mostly in America- fighting crime that are almost two years old!"

"That matches with the trip [Y/N]'s father took to Egypt." Chat said, trying to peek into the bag Ladybug was holding. "What are these ingredients? They smell funny." He complained, wrinkling his nose and sneezing.

"Back off, Kitty," Ladybug laughed, pushing him away. "Didn't you know curiosity killed the cat?"

"Satisfaction brought him back, bugaboo." Chat said with a wink. He tried to snatch the bag from Ladybug but she held it out of reach.

"Don't make me get the spray bottle," Ladybug scolded.

"I'll take my chances," Chat Noir purred, trying to reach around Ladybug. "Besides, this cat doesn't mind a little water."

"Enough playing, young ones, we have work to do." Master Fu intercepted the bag before Chat could steal it and began laying the items out on the counter.

He put a pot on a small stove and turned on the heat. Taking out the worn, leather book Adrian had brought him, Master Fu began adding ingredients to the pot, consulting the pages every now and then.

"Dream walking?" Chat queried, catching sight of the title at the top of the page. "I didn't know that was possible."

"The Egyptians had a belief that a person's spirit, was divided into three parts. The Ka, Ba, and Akh." Master Fu explained. "The life force that was separated from the body after death was the 'Ka,' while the 'Ba' was the part of the soul that could travel between the worlds of life and death. This spell here," he said tapping the book, "will be able to briefly release your 'Ka' in order to merge with the body of Agent Sphinx. If this works, you will be able to enter her subconscious and defeat the Sphinx trying to control [Y/N] from the inside."

The concoction Master Fu was creating began to simmer in the heat and emit interesting smells that made Chat feel sleepy.

"But what about our kawamis?" Ladybug asked, looking nervous. "If we take the potion, will they be left behind?"

She's worried that her secret identity will be revealed in dream world, Chat thought, somewhat resentfully, seeing her twist her gloved fingers anxiously. It irritated him that regardless of the multiple life and death situations they had come out of, his partner still didn't trust him enough to share all of herself to him. Like he had done numerous times before, he looked at her face, trying to imagine what his Ladybug looked like without her mask. She reminded him of someone, but the confidence, the assertiveness and ability to accomplish whatever she set her mind to...he was sure had never met anyone like that ever.

"Your kwamis are linked to your mind and body," Master Fu said, calmly shaking the last of the ingredients into the pot. "However since you will only be linked by your mind in the dream world, you must focus on remaining calm and focused, no matter the situation. If you become disconnected from your kwami, it might be difficult to meld back together again."

"That doesn't seem so bad," Chat said confidently. "I can be one cool cat under pressure."

"Do not forget that Sphinx will try to fight you the second she senses your presence, so you must do your best to remain calm."

Chat gulped.

"I'd forgotten about that."

He felt a warm pressure on his shoulder and turned slightly. Ladybug had placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, immediately calming his nerves.

"We'll do our best, Master Fu!" She said, looking determined. "I'm sure as long as we work as a team, Chat and I will be able to save our friend, [Y/N]."

"I like your paw-sitive attitude, M'lady." Chat smiled, putting his hand on top of hers. She immediately jerked her hand away, her cheeks pinking slightly.

"Uh-so how exactly do we defeat Sphinx, Master Fu?"

Master Fu handed the wooden stirring spoon to Wayzz and turned a page in the book Adrian had brought.

"I have only theories, of course, however there is mention of the danger that will occur if the amulet is broken."

"Sure, I remember seeing that." Chat nodded.

"I believe it is possible that the Sphinx's Ka was bound to the amulet and she had no free will until it was broken. Therefore the only way she can be truly free is to break the bond between her "Ka" and the amulet. Though how you will achieve that is a mystery." Master Fu said, looking baffled as he flipped through more pages. He looked up, adjusting his glasses on his nose. "Obviously her spirit can no longer inhabit her old body, which is why she fights for this one. You must protect [Y/N] as well and keep her from losing the battle, or all will be lost."

Master Fu reached out and grasped Ladybug and Chat Noir's hands, looking between the two of them solemnly. "I know you both will be careful, but I must impress upon you to be extra vigilant while you are in spirit form. This is not some akumatized victim who can be defeated with your usual means, and she has more at stake to lose."

"We'll be careful, Master Fu." Ladybug promised.

"I hope so, Ladybug. This spell will leave you more vulnerable than you have ever been. If your "Ka" is corrupted while you are outside your body or worse, you may be stuck as a spirit forever."

**

Darkness, light, the burning streets of Paris; my world was a constantly shifting kaleidoscope of memories. Good, bad, fake, real, they were all the same to me, just a part of the fight for dominance over my body.

"Why do you continue to oppose me?" Sphinx's voice hissed from the darkness. "I will keep you happy in a dream of your fondest desires, all you have to do is submit!"

Familiar hands touched my back, and began to gently massage my tired, stressed muscles. I turned slightly to see fake Adrian, wearing only a towel behind me. He smiled, his gold cat eyes glittering and spoke with Sphinx's voice.

"You can't tell me you don't want this, I could make your pleasure last for years."

"Sphinxy, you have no idea how creepy that is, even if you do give a decent massage," I retorted, pushing fake Adrian away. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

"[Y/N], listen to her, we can be together, forever." He murmured, running a hand down my back.

"You don't get it, do you?" I shouted, pushing fake Adrian away again. "It doesn't matter what you do, or what fantasies you create, it's all fake! This isn't my real friend, he would never act this way in real life!"

Sphinx chuckled.

"Are you sure he's your friend?"

And suddenly I was in Adrian's bedroom.

The place looked pretty much the same, a skateboard ramp-cum-rock wall on one side, fooseball table, couches and TV taking up the middle of the room and bookshelves on the second floor.

The TV blared, showing a popular romantic movie, and the smell of popcorn and hot dogs scented the air.

Adrian and Marinette sprawled on the sofa, their legs tangled together, Marinette's head resting on Adrian's chest.

"So what happened to that [Y/N] girl?" Marinette asked, taking another handful of popcorn.

"Who knows?" Adrian replied, playing absently with one of Marinette's pigtails. "She didn't really make much of an impression, one day she was there, the next she was gone." He tugged gently at Marinette's hair and she slapped him lightly.

"Hey, stop that," she laughed. Adrian grabbed her hand, their fingers tangling together as he kissed her palm.

"Adrian! That tickles!" Marinette giggled. She tried to push him away with her other hand but Adrian snagged it as well.

"Mmm, your fingers are so tasty M'lady," Adrian murmured, licking the butter and salt off her fingers.

"Adrian!" Marinette gasped, her voice trembling slightly as Adrian began slowly sucking her fingers one by one, starting at the index and working his way down.

I'd had enough of the show. I turned away, trying to ignore the squeals from the fake Marinette as fake Adrian started kissing her neck.

"Look, Sphinx, I know this is fake, you can't mess with me using these visions anymore. Besides, what's with all these intimate fantasies? It's like you're a severely repressed author who reads too much fanfiction."

"Who says it couldn't be true?" Sphinx countered, materializing in front of me. "After all, you were only there for a few days. Were you really their friend? Or was it just a fantasy in your head?"

"Don't listen to her [Y/N], Adrian always thought of you as his friend!"

I blinked in surprise as Chat Noir seemed to step out of the wall, twirling his staff in front of him. He caught sight of the fake Adrian and Marinette making out on the couch and almost dropped his staff, turning bright pink.

"Wait, I'm confused, you made a fake Adrian and a fake Chat Noir?" I asked Sphinx, confused.

"Hey! No, I'm real!" Chat protested, and I caught sight of glass green eyes as he tried to avoid looking back in the direction of the TV. "Though I'm pretty sure the real Adrian would think that um-that is a little weird."

"Don't blame me, she's the sicko who put that thing together," I said, indicating Sphinx next to me.

A second later Ladybug appeared at Chat's side, twirling her yo-yo. And almost whacked herself in the head when she saw fake Adrian on the sofa, starting to take off his shirt.

"Ah!" She yelped, covering sky-blue eyes and turning as red as her suit. "What's going on here?"

"Okay, unless you suddenly decided to start making identical copies, these two are probably real," I said to Sphinx, who was looking decidedly peeved.

"We are real! Can you please turn that off?" Chat pleaded, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"I am the one in control here!" Sphinx said haughtily, looking down her nose at Chat. "And you are not welcome."

"It's her head too!" Ladybug pointed out, her cheeks still pink. "She should have just as much control as you do!"

"A mortal like her is too weak to have the mental power to be equal to me." Sphinx sneered. That was the last straw.

"I am so sick of you looking down at me!" I yelled. "I wish that all your crazy fantasies would just go away!"

Instantly, the whole bedroom disappeared, leaving us both in semi-darkness.

"Impossible, you shouldn't be able to do that!" Sphinx growled. I was feeling bolder now.

"And I wish that something would cover your mouth in tape so you would shut up!"

A huge piece of tape materialized from the ether and wrapped itself around Sphinx's mouth, cutting off the sound.

"Wow, that was easier than I thought," I said out loud as Sphinx fought to pull the duct tape off her mouth, "I wish I had known about this weeks ago."

"You've only been unconscious for eight hours," Ladybug informed me.

"Really? Well, I guess time goes more slowly when you're NOT having fun." I was suddenly feeling tired. This wish thing seemed to take a lot of energy.

"Rowr! That's it!" Sphinx snarled, tearing the tape off her mouth. "It doesn't matter if you can fight back, or how many allies you have, I will defeat you and take this body for myself!"

She cracked her tail like a whip and suddenly we were standing on the sandy plains of what looked like Egypt. Another crack and a hoard of Egyptian warriors, armed with swords and spears faced us.

"Soldiers, protect your queen!" Sphinx commanded, and with a roar the Egyptian hoard surged toward us, weapons raised.

Hi everyone, it's your friendly authoress Cantrella here, I hope you like the newest chapter in this epic! (Seriously, I did not expect to be still churning out chapters but every time I think I'm ready to finish, the muse grabs my pen and says "nope.") The other thing that keeps me going is petty, but I'm sure you guys can relate - Spirit of the Sphinx is the only work that gets attention when I make updates, so seeing comments and votes feeds my fragile self-esteem and makes me believe I actually am a decent writer. 

So this week thank you to @ValerySantos6for your comments and votes, @WritterForFun, @Art_Chaik, this chapter is for you!

I had to post this picture, courtesy of Eden Daphne, because who doesn't love her awesome work? I'd say she's one of the top Miraculous artists out there, which is great for me when I'm looking for pictures of the hanky-panky going on in Dreamworld ;)

Random fun story: I finally saw Boss Baby for the first time and now I can't stop trying to say "Chiweenie" without smiling. IT'S STILL NOT POSSIBLE!

I also saw Crazy Rich Asians with my roommate and MY GOODNESS THAT IS AN AMAZING MOVIE. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET, YOU REALLY NEED TO GO, THERE ARE VERY FEW AMAZING MOVIES IN THE THEATER THAT ARE WELL WRITTEN, CAST, SHOT, DESIGNED, BUT THAT MOVIE GOES TO THE TOP OF MY LIST FOR THIS YEAR. IT'S ALSO INSANELY FUNNY AND SWEET AND ROMANTIC AND JUST GRABS YOUR HEARTSTRINGS ALL THE WAY THROUGH.

I'm also thinking of doing a different fanfiction as soon as this one is done. So how about some votes? Who would prefer:

 A. A sequel to Spirit of the Sphinx where [Y/N] is part of team Defeat Hawkmoth

 B. A fanfiction with Star Vs the Forces of Evil 

 C. A Star Trek fanfiction in the Mirror Universe 

Please vote, comment, praise or critique depending on how you liked the chapter! And go see Crazy Rich Asians!

Alright, guys, until next time!