Chapter Text
Even though Hawk Moth had been defeated, Marinette’s work as Guardian of the Miraculous hasn’t let up. While this main goal had been accomplished, it brought upon another challenge. Upon his defeat, Gabriel admitted that Nathalie had become gravely ill, and that is why he took up her miraculous most of the time after stealing the translated grimoire. He admitted that he wanted the miraculous to fix a mistake that he made. He was referring to Emilie at first… but Ladybug and Chat Noir assumed it was about Mayura. It all began to make sense, why Mayura seemed so weak and sickly when they saw her. While it seems like her symptoms improved, damage from the broken miraculous would only continue to wear down her body and mind. If she were to fall into the same endless sleep Emilie Agreste had, then it would be too late. Thankfully though, there was still time, and hope. Further research into the grimoire proved that there is a book of cure-alls and explanations of various medical phenomenons caused by the miraculous. Alya had managed to track down a copy of the book titled “The Miraculous Book of Healing Miracles: A Reference Guide”. Once the girls had obtained it, they began to study and decipher, together. There was a whole chapter about using a broken miraculous and its consequences. Marinette thought a whole chapter dedicated to that one topic was overkill, but once they read about the various ways the damage manifests depending on several factors, she rescinded her opinion.
They had spent forever trying to decipher the cure page, which proved to be an even bigger challenge. It was divided into mild, moderate and acute. As she kept reading and looking at the translation cheat sheet, she continued to translate, while Alya wrote it down. Marinette let out a frustrated groan as her head hit her desk.
“Marinette, what’s wrong?” Alya asked.
“This is going to take forever, and we don’t even know what’s the appropriate formula strength!” Marinette complained.
“Girl, you have to chill…” She placed her hand on her shoulder. “We’re a team. We’re gonna get through it together.”
“Okay, but then how are we gonna get all the ingredients? So far everything seems so... distant.”
“I’m sure we’ll find a solution to that too. Surely, Mr. Agreste and Adrien will want to lend a helping hand.”
Marinette nodded, as they went back to work. She, Mr. Agreste, Alya and Adrien determined Nathalie’s condition to be moderate. Besides, overhealing isn’t going to hurt too much, right? As the girls translated the ancient text further, it spelled out another riddle. Of course it did, that’s just what this book was- riddle after riddle. If this was a riddle for ‘moderate’, she was afraid to see what the ‘acute’ riddle would be. After the last line was successfully translated, they observed what they had written down.
Alya began to read aloud the translation, “Ashes to ashes, the venomous bite of the animal has punctured the delicate flesh of the mortals. Mix the water, spiritually rich, with meteorite and two gold nuggets, mined from down under. Add silver, fresh from the mine, along with three leaves from any tree, fresh from the plant, a and one lava rock, from a far away island. Once mixed, add one tablespoon of fresh snow to cool. Serve within 30 minutes.”
Marinette groaned again, allowing her head to fall to the table again. “I don’t think we’re cut out to make this. How are we possibly going to get to all these places? And where are we even going to get snow from? It’s summer!”
“Did you forget Adrien’s dad has a private plane?”
“You really think he’ll help?”
“Well, duh. This is for his girlfriend, right? He’d be willing to do anything for her.”
“You’re right. Let’s go and tell him--”
“Let’s figure out where we need to go to get all this, first.” Alya suggested, as they got a piece of paper ready. Spiritually rich water threw them both off… until they realized it meant water from the River Jordan. A river known for being very spiritually rich. How could they forget that? Freshly mined gold and silver would also be hard to allocate. Given the gold mine is from “down under”, they figured Australia is where they would find their gold, and with additional research, found that they’d find their silver there too. Three leaves from any tree would be of no issue to find around Paris, however, finding lava rocks would be. The only faraway island that could possibly satisfy their requirements is Hawaii. Their last ingredient to obtain would be the fresh snow… which they could get from the Alps, just before returning to Paris. After checking their work and determining they were correct, they gathered their research and set off for the Agrestes.
As they arrived at the front gate and pressed the buzzer, the intercom activated. They were greeted with an unfamiliar voice. “Who is it?”
“Um.. it’s me, Marinette, and Alya’s here too. We need to speak to Mr. Agreste, please.” Marinette explained, while Alya shyly waved at the camera watching them.
The gates slowly opened up. “Ah, of course. Miss Dupain-Cheng and Miss Cesaire, welcome.” The voice greeted them, as the girls walked up to the front door, which opened for them as they reached the top step. When they entered the foyer, Gabriel Agreste had been waiting there, looking down at them with his ice cold gaze, and hands behind his back.
“Hi Mister Agreste… Alya and I have some great news.” Marinette smiled up at him, as she fished the papers from her purse.
His cold expression softened, a smile across his lips. “You do? Excellent. Follow me…” He motioned for them to follow him. The three of them walked right into the atelier. Once they were inside, Alya closed the door behind them. He turned to them. “Now, what were you saying?”
“We found the cure! We have the recipe right here.” Marinette told him with a hint of excitement. Relief and a bigger smile came across Gabriel’s face.
“That’s excellent, Miss Dupain-Cheng. Thank you both for your hard work… Nathalie will also be excited to hear this. I suppose we should go and tell her too, yes?”
They nodded. Gabriel escorted them out of the atelier and up the stairs, to Nathalie’s bedroom. He knocked on the door, and she responded with permission to let them in. The three of them entered the bedroom. Nathalie was sitting up in her bed, still dressed in her pajamas. She seemed to be having a good day today. “Oh, hello Marinette, hello Alya. It’s nice to see you two.” She smiled softly, but before beginning to cough violently.
“Hello Miss Nathalie. We have good news for you. We found a cure for your sickness.” Marinette smiled.
Nathalie’s brows raised, eyes widened. “Really? And I’ll be normal again?”
“Really. It’ll make you feel all better. No more dizzy spells, no more migraines…” Marinette explained, as she held the formula in her hand.
“That’s great news.”
Alya cleared her throat, and then looked around, “But, there’s just one catch… finding all these ingredients will not be easy. See… the requirements are very specific. We have to travel to get these ingredients.”
Gabriel and Nathalie looked at each other. “Where to, exactly?”
“Well, the recipe calls for water, from the Jordan River. It also needs freshly mined gold and silver, which is from Australia. Oh, and we also need a lava rock from a faraway island, which means we need to go to Hawaii… And would you happen to have any spare meteorite dust lying around?” Alya and Marinette frowned. There was no way they couldn’t afford all those plane rides themselves. They’re just two teenage girls, and using miraculous magic to complete the task would be highly unfair to the kwamis, and a danger to their identities.
He had to think for a moment, but then, he realized something. “Actually, I do happen to have that. As for the rest of your list… You two and Adrien will use my private plane. This is a very important cause, and we certainly can’t waste much time. Of course, that’s if your parents don’t mind.”
“Oh, thank you so much, Mister Agreste! I’m sure they’ll be perfectly okay with it, with a bit of convincing.” Marinette was extremely grateful, as was Alya. That was the biggest burden lifted. They shook his hand. “Is it okay if we fill Adrien in?”
Gabriel nodded. “Yes, of course. He should be in his room right now.” He sat down at the edge of Nathalie’s bed. As the girls exited the bedroom and closed the door, he turned to Nathalie. “Can you believe it? They’ve finally found a way to make you well again. I’m so relieved.”
“Yes, that’s wonderful…” Though, the tone of her voice didn’t seem to match her sentiment. As a matter of fact, she sounded a tad disappointed.
Gabriel was slightly concerned at the lack of enthusiasm. “Nathalie, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing…” She lied. She felt kind of silly about why she felt dismayed at such good news. Some things are best kept to themselves.
He reached over, and placed a hand on top of hers. “You’re lying to me. Please tell me what’s wrong.”
She sighed. He’d just keep pestering her if she didn’t tell him. “The truth is Gabriel, I’m worried that you will suddenly care less about me now, and you’ll forget about me… that our relationship will change.”
His eyes widened. That wasn’t the answer he was expecting by any means. He gave her hand a squeeze. “I would never do such a thing. I will always care for you. I can never forget you and how selfless you are.” He pulled her in for a hug, clutching her tightly. “You mean everything to me, and to Adrien.”
She hugged him back, burying her face into his shoulder. “Thank you, Gabriel. I know it’s silly to be concerned like that, but I couldn’t help it, I suppose.”
“Well, just know that you are needed, wanted and loved by Adrien and myself.” He responded, as he kissed her forehead.
After filling in Adrien, Alya and Marinette parted ways after they exited the Agreste mansion. They returned home to fulfil another obstacle- getting parental permission to actually do this. It would be extremely difficult, knowing they couldn’t say why. The truth of ‘we’re going to be doing some potentially illegal things to get stuff to make a magical cure for an ex-supervillain and we’re the only ones who can do this’ would not go over well. So, they made an excuse saying that Adrien invited them on a vacation, with the permission of his dad. They’d be taking a private plane and always together in one group. Understandably, they were hesitant, especially Tom and Sabine. They heard all about how their daughter got lost, and were afraid it would happen again. With more begging and pleading, they agreed, but on the condition they would call or text them at least once a day with updates, and even a picture. And of course, they wanted souvenirs. The girls agreed on the conditions, and then informed Adrien of the good news.
A delighted Adrien informed his father, who was equally as pleased. Then, they decided to take on the unfun task of making the itinerary. This was normally a job for Nathalie, but they figured that they should let her take a rest from planning schedules and give it a shot themselves. They soon discovered that they were not cut out to do this. Father and son fought about their travel path… but eventually they compromised and came up with the best route. First, to Israel to collect the water from the Jordan River, then to Australia for the silver and gold. Next stop would be Hawaii for the required lava rock, and then to the Alps, to obtain the fresh snow. Calculating all the necessary stops and breaks to refuel and make sure the plane was still in good flying condition, the trip could take anywhere from seven to fourteen days. They had three days to pack and get their ducks in a row before take off. Adrien informed his friends of the plan. It sounded good for them, because the sooner they get this cure in Nathalie, the better. With each passing day, she could take a nosedive for the worst and render their efforts useless.
Marinette placed her phone on the desk, as she headed to her closet to retrieve her suitcase. She placed the pink and white polka dotted suitcase on the ground and opened it. It was never too early to start packing. Tikki flew up next to her head. “Aren’t you nervous about going on a vacation with Adrien? Just you and him and Alya?”
“Normally I would be a little nervous, Tikki, but this is different. This is a really important mission… I don’t have time to romance him. Miss Nathalie needs Ladybug, Chat Noir and Rena Rouge to be on their best behavior.” Marinette explained, as she began to pack some clothes. She wasn’t entirely sure what to pack, so she packed her swimsuit, a few sets of her normal clothes, some more summery outfits and a winter jacket. She was sure she was missing something. Oh, right. How could she forget all the vessels needed to collect her ingredients?
“Come on, Marinette… you need to have some fun. It’s a mission, but who says you can’t have a little fun?” Tikki asked, as she sat on her holder’s shoulder. Marinette sighed.
“Maybe you’re right… Besides, collecting these ingredients certainly can’t take up an entire day, right?”
“Exactly!”
Marinette smiled. Tikki hid as they exited the bedroom. When Marinette entered the bathroom, she began to dig up travel bottles. She’d be needing plenty of these. Who knows if liquid restrictions applied to private jets, but why take the risk? After collecting the plastic bottles, she grabbed her toiletry bag. Thankfully, most of her stuff was still in there from her last travels, so she didn’t have to worry about that. She packed the bottles into her toiletry bag, and brought it to her room. At least most of the hard part was done. She flopped down into her chair, leaning her head back and exhaling.
“Marinette, don’t worry. It’s going to be okay. It’ll all work perfectly.” Tikki said, sensing her holder’s anxiety. She nuzzled her cheek.
“Thanks, Tikki. I hope you’re right. I can’t let Mr. Agreste or Miss Nathalie down.”
“And you won’t. You’ll have Adrien and Alya to help you, after all. Three heads are stronger than one.”
Marinette smiled, comforted that she would have her best friend and her crush and crime-fighting partner by her side. There was hardly a chance of her failing with their help. She felt much more confident with her plan and was ready to take on the task, head on.