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“I’ve gathered you all here because I have something important to announce,” Ladybug says, looking around at the circle of holders. “I’m going away for the summer. Actually…”
“We both are.” Chat Noir stands up. “We’re going away to the Guardian Temple, in Tibet.”
“A representative from the Temple visited a few months ago,” she continues. “He tracked down the box and demanded that I give it up. I proved myself, and now he trusts me, but he’s been insisting that Chat Noir and I train. We agreed…on the condition that we can take a few holders with us. And…that we leave behind the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, so that Paris may be defended.”
“Bunnyx, Viperion, and Rena Rouge are coming with us.” Ladybug crosses her arms. “And we’re entrusting the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous to Carapace and Vesperia. Tikki, Kaalki, Unify.”
“Plagg, Pollen, Unify.” Chat Noir sighs. “Plagg, claws in.”
“Tikki, spots off.”
Marinette passes her earrings to Zoe, conscious of the fact that this could easily doom Paris. But…they’ll be okay. They’ll have support from the rest of the team. She trusts the choices made.
“Kaalki, Voyage!” Marinette declares.
To the temple they go.
She has to trust that the city will be okay.
“I see you’ve made it,” Su-Han says, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed.
She and Chat Noir (well, Apis, as he clarified) look at each other. They’re both tempted to respond to Su-Han with rage frequently, and she’s certain it wouldn’t work out if either of them were to hurt him.
“We have,” she says.
“Welcome to the Temple of the Miraculous. Might I ask your names?” Su-Han asks, addressing Luka, Alya, and Alix.
“Luka Couffaine. Holder of the Snake Miraculous,” Luka says.
“Alya Cesaire, holder of the Fox Miraculous.” Alya reaches for her pocket to take some pictures of the temple, and then puts it back. She probably thought that was a bad idea.
“Alix Kubdel. Rabbit Miraculous Holder.” Alix blows a tuft of hair out of her face. She was the most reluctant to come. Marinette understands. This isn’t an ideal place for skating — or for queer people, Marinette can imagine. Alix is one of the loudest about it, and she doesn’t like being condescended to.
This is going to be an…interesting three months. But it’s just for the summer, at least.
“We’ve never had women at this temple before,” Su-Han admits. “We’ve set up a separate room for the three of you. The men can go with Xionglu.”
Luka and Chat look at each other and follow the man who is most likely Xionglu.
“These guys haven’t been really alive since the 1800s,” Alix grouses. “What do they really think they can do? They haven’t adapted to the modern world.”
“You have no idea how much I’ve suffered trying to educate Su-Han about what life is like now,” Marinette says, her head in her hands. She’s not transformed anymore — Alya and Alix both already know or are set to know her identity. “I had to teach him how to play Candy Crush.”
“That is a disturbing mental image,” Alya says.
“I dunno,” Alix says. “As the one who time travels, I imagine I’ll have to know a bunch of different cultures. It’s not that out of the norm. They’re trying to get in touch with us. At least…he is. I don’t know about the rest of this temple.” She sighs. “How much are they going to be able to teach us that we don’t already know?”
“I don’t know,” Marinette answers. “It’s a concession I have to make. I don’t want to stop being Ladybug. Shadow Moth needs to be defeated, and that’s something Su-Han and I both agree on.”
“I think that’s something everyone agrees on,” Alya says.
“And then I’m going to be the Guardian for the rest of my life, probably,” Marinette continues. “I’ll make sure nothing like what happened with Shadow Moth ever happens again. Even if the training sucks.”
“Nothing like this happening again would be nice,” Alix says. “But…there’s a Butterfly holder in the future, isn’t there?”
“There was, according to Timetagger.” Marinette clenches a fist. She doesn’t want to think about how she’s predestined to fail. “The time when your future self came back here to fight.” It’s not the only time…but no one else knows that.
“Hmm. Yeah. Okay,” Alix says.
“But like Chat Noir said back then, the future isn’t set in stone.” Marinette lays back. “I want to prevent that. I really do. But I don’t think this program is necessary to do that.”
“Summer camp program, yay.” Alya’s tone is the opposite of “yay”. “You’re going to be okay, Marinette. Do you trust the new holders?”
“Of course I do!” Marinette retorts. “I trust Chat Noir with my life. Of course I’d trust the person he’d pick as his successor. And if you can't be my replacement, I can choose someone that I like, at least. I think Zoe suits the Ladybug Miraculous well.”
“You…would’ve asked me to be Scarabella again?” Alya asks.
“I would’ve, if I didn’t think you needed to come here with me.”
“Wait. Hold on.” Alix crosses her arms. “Why’d you invite Luka and me along anyways?”
“The Snake and Rabbit Miraculous are both very dangerous and very powerful.” Marinette sighs. “I think the training is more necessary for you than any other holders. Alya's here because…she’s my emergency backup, if I ever need to be replaced.”
Alya nods. “That’s right. And I need to know as much about being the Guardian as Marinette does, just in case something goes wrong. There’s always the possibility that Marinette gets hurt or her identity gets exposed or a million other things that would lead to me becoming the Guardian. Something where she’d need to let go of her memory.”
All her memories.
“I wonder if there’s a way to prevent that,” Marinette says. “A way where Fu could have kept his memories. A way to pass the box down peacefully. I can’t imagine that every Guardian forgets, especially if all the Boxes are meant to be contained inside the Temple.”
“You have a point,” Alya says. “You should ask them about that tomorrow, if you get the chance.
“Yeah.” It’s late at night, and none of them are even tired. Yay for jetlag and timezones.
“We should try to get some sleep,” Marinette says, rolling over. “We’re probably going to have a long day tomorrow. Who knows what they’re going to try and inflict on us.”
Alix snorts. “Good night, Marinette.”
“Night.”
Marinette wakes up with the sunrise, which isn't something she usually does. The light is excruciating — then again, she is facing the window.
The other two are still asleep. She rises slowly to her feet and grabs her toothbrush. She needs to feel like a person, which involves brushing her teeth and washing her face. Everything else is secondary. There are some monks prattling about — of course, they were probably awake even earlier — but she doesn't see any of the others there with them.
She goes back to her room. Su-Han is there already, waking up Alix and Alya.
“Ah, good morning, Marinette,” he says. “I see you’re already awake.”
“I have been awake for a bit,” Marinette responds, “but not for very long.” She yawns, as if to prove her point. “Are we having breakfast first, or are we going straight into the training?”
“It is important to learn your body's limits,” Su-Han says. “But...we have at least attempted to learn a lesson from the last time. We do not starve acolytes to test them. We would not want a repeat of the previous incident — or something more catastrophic than that destruction was. Be in the central courtyard in twenty minutes, you three. Transformed.”
He leaves with no room for argument.
“Why did he clarify ‘transformed’?” Alix asks.
“Because we're probably going to have to train for our breakfast. And it hides our identities. Chat Noir and I...someone is supposed to know. It’s not supposed to be me, even if I wanted it.”
Maybe if he felt comfortable detransforming in front of Luka...it wouldn’t be a bad thing for Chat to have a confidant. Someone like Alya is to her, someone who can help negotiate the balance between civilian and superhero life.
The Horse Miraculous isn’t Marinette’s favorite, but she’s always been able to acknowledge its utility. Kaalki’s attitude can sometimes be grating, but…well, the power of teleportation is good for a lot of different plans.
The five of them reunite in the center courtyard.
“Good morning,” Su-Han says. “Today, the five of you will work on conditioning your strength. The Miraculous may augment your abilities, but having a base for your strength will be a good thing.”
She meets Chat Noir’s eyes. She wants to say she’s sorry for dragging him along, for getting him wrapped up in this whole Guardian business.
She should have been the only one here. He insisted on coming, and he negotiated the terms.
Chat Noir has an unpredictable life. Marinette knows this. She doesn’t know how he got away for a whole summer.
Trust is key to good teamwork.
Luka tells her about Wishmaker. Alya tells her about Rena Furtive and what happened after Rocketeer was deakumatized. Chat Noir tells her that he snuck out, and there’s a high probability that they’re searching for his civilian self right now.
She tells them secrets, in return. She tells Luka about Adrien — she’s not sure that truly counts as a secret, but she’s never really told him. She tells Alya about why she wanted to be over Adrien, and why she’s been trying to give up on the whole romance thing.
She tells Chat about Chat Blanc. And about the plan that never was. And what Luka told her about Wishmaker (though, as it turns out, Luka already told Chat about that).
The Miraculous relies on a good bond with your kwami. Be friendly, but also be aware that while you have power over them, they have more power than you ever will. You are the vessel, and they are the source.
She and Kaalki have a spa day together. It’s nice, all things considered, and good bonding.
The partnership and bond between the Ladybug and the Black Cat is most important.
She and Chat Noir spend a day locked in a room together. It’s probably a little mean, but they do get a food ration at the beginning that’s meant to last the whole day. They spend some of it napping, some of it talking, and some of it playing tic tac toe on the dirt.
With two weeks left until the beginning of the next school year, they return to Paris. Enough time to recover, to explain, and to prepare for what the next school year will bring.
“How did it go?” she asks Zoe and Nino when they return the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses to her and Chat Noir.
“Oh, uh…” Zoe laughs nervously. The two glance at each other. “It was fine!”
“Yeah, dude,” Nino says. “Totally fine!”
Chat Noir shoots a skeptical look at her.
Their summer may have come to an end, but the lessons she’s learned will last.