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It was over.
Finally.
Finally, it was over.
After more than a year and half of fighting and protecting the city of Paris, the two heroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir had defeated Hawkmoth. The battle, to the astonishment of every parisian, took place at Agreste Manor. it was later revealed by Ladybug that Hawkmoth (as well as his alias, Shadowmoth) had been Gabriel Agreste, the world famous fashion designer, all along.
Neither the criminal or the heroes answered the famous question: why? Why this man, who could have had everything, terrorized Paris for almost two years?
That question shall remain unanswered as long as Gabriel himself didn't talk, Ladybug and Chat Noir respecting this only wish.
His son had been caught later, walking out of school, shaken and almost unresponsive. He told the police that Chat Noir warned him of his father a few minutes before the blonde model was taken into custody.
Speaking of the black cat hero, he wasn't seen for sometime after the fight. Even his partner didn't know what became of him.
As the police interrogated the two Agreste, Ladybug had another matter to take care of. The Butterfly and the Peacock miraculous were destroyed in the battle. Call it Fate, call it bad luck but they had been broken into pieces by rocks and rumbles after the fight was over.
Not just damaged, they were
broken.
At the same time, Nooroo and Duusu vanished.
Ladybug managed to find master Su-han, hoping he knew how to either fix the jewels or make new ones. They went back to Marinette's bedroom where she announced the tragic news.
"I'm sorry Marinette but the knowledge to create new miraculous was lost when the magician who made them died," said the stern man with a saddened face.
"It can't be! There has to be a way! Nooroo and Duusu are gone too!"
The bluenette almost broke down in tears. She had failed in her task as Guardian, and now, Tikki had lost two of her friends/siblings!
The kwamis were crying too, mourning the loss of two of their kin.
"How could things have gone so wrong?" moaned in despair Marinette, sliding down a wall and sitting, her face hiding behind her legs.
"Don't say that, young Guardian," soothed Su-han, "You and your partner defeated a great evil. True, the loss of two miraculous is regrettable but better this than between the wrong hands."
Marinette knew the man was right, in a way, but she still felt horrible.
"Speaking of Chat Noir, where is he?"
"We… We separated after we brought Gabriel to the police. I don't know where he went."
The man wanted to tell her to call him immediately but even he could see how affected she was by the fight and the loss of the two sought miraculous.
"Very well. I suggest you rest for now. The next few days will probably be erratic, with the defeat of Hawkmoth, the entire city will probably party."
Marinette chuckled, "Well, I think they deserve it. The man's been a pain in the ass for almost two years, they'll want justice… and to go crazy a little."
"And that's why I'm worried. People might go overboard with their celebration."
"MARINETTE!?" suddenly yelled a voice.
Plagg phased through the wall and came to a stop between Su-han and Marinette.
"Nooroo! Duusu!" he exclaimed, totally panicked.
"They… They're gone Plagg," answered Marinette, a few tears running down her cheeks.
"It can't be…" whined the black kwami, slowly lowering down on the floor.
The room was quiet for a moment before Tikki floated toward her holder.
"Maybe… Maybe there's a way to bring them back…" she said in a voice so soft they barely heard her.
"WHAT??" yelled everybody in the room.
Except the Celestial Guardian. He still had a surprised expression on his face… for a couple of seconds.
"There is… one way… I can think of…" Tikki's voice was louder now but she was clearly hesitating to say what she wanted to say.
"Sugarcube, what are you talking about?" asked Plagg.
"Maybe…
He
could help…?"
"He?" Plagg looked perplexe for a moment before his eyes widened in shock and understanding, "Tikki, you don't mean-"
"You know what I mean, Stinky Sock!" suddenly yelled the creation kwami.
"But you don't even like him!"
"I know but he's our only chance!"
The other kwamis joined the discussion, their voices mixing into a a cacophony of unintelligible voices.
The bickering was suddenly stopped when Su-han cleared his throat louder than necessary.
"Mind explaining yourself ?"
The kwamis looked at each other, not daring to speak up. Surprisingly, it was Plagg who spoke first.
"Tikki and I noticed a powerful presence in this city when Master Fu moved in. We thought of warning him but even after a whole week, that person hadn't moved to try anything so we didn't. It's a presence we already felt a few times over the last century, starting with the… Temple Accident," he finished the sentence watching Su-han.
"And why do you think this person might be able to help us?" asked the man.
"Because," began Tikki, "In all the time we've been on Earth, we never felt the same kind of energy. By comparison, the magician who made the miraculous was just a little lightened match against a raging bonfire."
"The important fact is, he may know how to create a miraculous… but he'll probably ask for payment."
"What kind of payment?" asked the Celestial Guardian.
All kwamis shrugged.
The man frowned. Even he had never heard of such a character but it wasn't like they had any choice.
"Very well. Take us to this person," ordered the bald man, "The faster we fix this situation, the better."
"We wait for my holder," said Plagg, his little arms crossed.
"Plagg!" exclaimed Tikki, "Duusu and Nooroo are gone! We must-
"WE WAIT FOR HIM!! "exploded Plagg, dark energy surrounding him.
A deadly silence fell in the room, everyone either surprised by the outburst or scarred by the destruction energy around the kwami.
Said kwami took several deep breaths, expiring for several seconds each time.
"My holder is having a really, really rough time right now. He needs me and I'm here instead. He's also been kept in the dark since pigtails here became the guardian. So we are waiting for him."
Plagg's glare was surprisingly terrifying. Even Tikki would later admit she never saw him like this.
"Alright, Plagg. We'll wait," decided Marinette, hoping to calm him down, "How long do you think it will take for your holder to… be well enough to join us?"
"Give him a week. It's a pretty bad moment and even a week won't be enough to get through it completely but he should be good enough to go see that guy."
"Alright. We'll go the weekend of next week then, so we won't have problems with school or possible other duties."
Plagg snorted mentally. If only she knew.
One week later, Ladybug, Chat Noir and Su-han met in their usual spot. The two guardians saw right away that the black cat hero wasn't doing all well. They didn't know why but they hoped he'd get better soon.
"So… Tikki gave me the address of the person we're supposed to see for the miraculous… And, just in case, I brought the broken pieces with me," said Ladybug, trying to cheer up the mood.
It wasn't a big success though. Her partner barely nodded and the Celestian Guardian didn't even blink.
With a quiet sigh, Ladybug swung her yoyo, leading them quickly to their destination.
It barely took them ten minutes to get there.
Hurray for roof travel!
The shop looked like an antique store and not a very busy one.
Even Chat Noir was surprised by the place, which Ladybug figured it was a good thing that he was out of his depressif state.
"You sure it's here, Milady?" he asked.
Ladybug checked the address again before nodding.
The sign on the door was saying 'open' but they couldn't see anybody inside.
"Well… might as well knock?" she proposed.
When neither her partner nor Master Su-han moved, she sighed and stepped forward.
Knockknockknock
Her knocking was quick and pretty light but she didn't dare doing it harder.
At first, nothing happened. But when the red and black heroine went to knock again, the door opened on its own, a little bell ringing as it did.
The three looked at each other before entering with caution. Once inside, the door closed quietly, the bell ringing once again.
The place was quiet, a little dusty but given it was an antiques shop, it wasn't that surprising.
"Err… Hello?" called out Ladybug.
"The customer service is cat-astrophic my lady," tried to joke Chat Noir.
Su-han said nothing, all his senses in high alert.
That's when the black cat noticed a little bell on the desk, beside the vintage looking cash register.
Moved by a strange instinct, he pushed the button on it.
Ding!
"Welcome," said suddenly a voice in front of him.
All three jumped high in the air, startled by the newcomer. It was an old man, warped into a dirty, gray-ish cloak. His long, white hair were tied into a long ponytail going down to the middle of his back
"You scared the sh-" began Chat Noir.
"Chat!" cut him Ladybug.
"What!? He did!"
"It's not a reason to be so rude!"
They would have kept biquering if Su-han hadn't cleared his voice loudly.
"Children. Now it's not the time," he looked calm and composed but inside, he was surprised he didn't sense the old man coming.
This alone was ringing alarm bells in his head.
"The famous Ladybug and Chat Noir," said the old man, "I was waiting for you."
"You were?" asked the blond surprised.
"Of course. Although I was expecting you a week earlier."
He stared into each one's eyes for a few seconds before shrugging.
"But no matter, how about you drop your transformations? I'm sire Tikki and Plagg would be happy to speak as well."
The heroes and Su-han took fighting stances.
"How do you know about them?!" yelled the brunette.
The old man waved his hand, dismissing the fact like it wasn't important, "We go waaaaay back. Now put your weapons away and lose those costumes. And no, I'm not interested in obtaining them."
His voice was calm but also seemed bored. Like if the two heroes Paris and a master of mira-kungfu weren't a threat.
"And how is the temple going after… 200 years, is it?" asked the shop owner at Su-han.
The bald man glared, "How do you know about the temple?"
"I happened to be around when it happened. Nasty thing that creature really. Glad the two youngsters got rid of it."
"What do you mean you were around?" asked Chat Noir, his staff lowering from incomprehension.
"I meant what I said."
Ladybug looked at him for a moment, the wheels in her head going overdrive.
"How old are you?" she asked softly, her guard lowering as well.
The man smirked, "Much, much, much older than you think. Although, the kwami are older than me."
No surprise about that but how could anyone be older than… than how human could grow old?
"Never mind my age. Now, drop those transformations and let's chat. I know you're not here to buy my stuff."
"But… our identities-" began Chat Noir.
"I already know who you are," cut the old man, waving his hand again.
The teens gasped. How could that be? They never met or even saw this weird old man! How could he know what they worked so hard to keep secret?
"If you really want to keep your identities from each other…"
He tapped his chin a few times, his eyes wandering around the shop.
They finally stopped on the large wall shelf behind him. The thing was basically made of drawers. At the extremity, a rolling ladder was waiting to be used.
He made to go for it but froze and snickered.
"I suppose I don't need to hide too much from you three. You already know about such things anyway."
And he snapped his fingers.
A drawer a little on his left and three feet higher opened suddenly and two masks flew out of it, landing in front of him.
The three guests were gobsmacked.
"Now, put them on. They will protect your identities," he instructed.
Neither Ladybug or Chat Noir moved, still under shock.
Too much was going on right now. First this guy knew about kwami, then he knew their secret identities and now he did some… magic that summoned two old looking masks by snapping his fingers.
They were old, wore-many-times medieval masks. One golden and one silver.
"Chop chop now. We have more to discuss and I want your kwami to partecipate," exclaimed the shop owner clapping his hand.
Like if a spell was lifted, Ladybug, Chat Noir and Su-han unfroze. They looked at each other, doubtful on what to do.
"Dibs on the gold!" exclaimed Chat Noir.
He reached and grabbed the golden mask before Ladybug could react before putting it on.
"Claws in."
"Chat, no!" shooted the polka dotted heroine before turning away and closing her eyes.
"Wow!" said a voice Ladybug knew to be Plagg's, "Even I barely recognize you!"
Su-han, unaware of Chat Noir's real identity, couldn't pronounce himself on the matter but he was more concerned about having Plagg free like that.
"Hello Plagg," greeted the old man, "It's been a while."
The kwami of destruction float closer to him, "If you say so. I don't remember ever meeting you though…"
"I wasn't close when you happened to… let loose but I observed your handiwork."
Plagg snickered, "Now, important question: go any nice cheese? I'm staaarving."
"Plaaagg," moaned the masked Chat Noir in embarrassment.
"I got some century old cheese I think you'll like. We're just waiting for your other half," answered the old man, look back at Ladybug, who was still covering her eyes.
"My lady," began the blonde.
"No! We can't know each other's identities because-" she yelled.
"He's gone now," interrupted Chat Noir.
The young girl froze. He was gone now. They could reveal themselves to each other. It was safe now.
But…
"I… I just want to reveal ourselves in private. Not now, not here," she whispered.
The blonde smiled, "Alright."
He handed her the silver mask, which she shyly accepted and put it on.
"Tikki, spots off."
In a flash, her costume vanished, revealing…
"Mmmh… I don't recognize you…" said her blonde partner.
He was looking at her, scrutinizing her but he didn't seem to know who she was.
Now that she was thinking about it, she couldn't tell who he was either. And yet she was sure she knew those clothes!
Meanwhile, unseen to nall, the old man's eyes had widened a little when each teen hand undone the transformation.
My my. This is rather interesting…
"Looks like the masks work perfectly," said Tikki, floating near her holder.
She then moved over the blonde holder, "Hello Chat Noir, it's been some time.
"It sure has. It's nice to see you again Tikki," he said smiling.
Such a smile… I know this smile!
Marinette was losing her head over this. She wanted to know but also not!
"Now," interrupted the old shop owner, "Let's move to a better place."
He walked past a door behind him, making sign to follow him.
They did so in silence, Tikki and Plagg floating around chattering, sometimes speaking to the old man who'd answer any question or add his to cent into their discussion.
After going up the circling stairs, they entered a large room with two chairs, a sofa and a small table in the center. There were also several shelves of various forms and colors but all looked to be made of wood.
The old man took the first chair, a comfy, large leather armchair with a couple of pillows in it. Su-han took the smaller one, sitting rigidly in it. This left the sofa for the two teenagers; they sat in it but were careful to be at the ends.
"Now, I'll began by presenting myself: my name is a little complicated for people to say, so call me Kuhun. And I believe I promised Plagg some cheese," said the old man.
The little kwami nodded his head quickly, while Tikki simply sighed.
"You should find some on the shelf over there," he indicated with a finger a shelf behind the teens, "I had to put it under a bell-glass because the smell was getting too strong."
Plagg never flew so fast before. Once gone, the serious talk began.
"So, I suppose you need my help with a miraculous," began the old man, "I felt a magical disturbance when the fight with Hawkmoth happened."
"Yes," answered Marinette, her voice having a sad tone, "During the fight, the butterfly and the peacock miraculous were destroyed."
"And Nooroo and Duusu vanished too…" added Tikki, mourning clear on her face.
"Don't worry about them," said Kuhun, "They're not dead."
They all looked at him.
"But the miraculous are gone!" object Adrien, "So the kwami is gone too, right?"
"Kwami are the embodiments of pure concepts," explained Kuhun, "If Nooroo and Duusu were gone, it would mean the very ideas of what they represent are gone as well. If I'm not wrong, Dussu is the kwami of emotion; if he was gone, we couldn't feel anything anymore."
"You mean, no joy, no anger, no guilt…" listed Marinette.
"We'd basically be robots made of flesh," affirmed Kuhun.
Su-han nodded quietly. It made sense but neither he or the other masters had realized this simple fact.
"So they still exist," he said, "How can we bring them back?"
"Simple: remaking their miraculous."
"How!? The only one who knew how to create a miraculous was a magician who lived more than 5000 years ago!" exclaimed the Celestian Guardian, "Are you telling me you could do it?!"
The white haired man smirked and leaned forward a bit, "And from whom do you think he learned magic in the first place?"
Su-han blinked once. Twice. Three times before exploding.
"No one can leave that long! Even a guardian with the blessing of Kwami cannot live more than 200 years! Who are-"
Snap
And the bald man froze in the middle of his rant.
"Now," began anew Kuhun, his eyes staring into Marinette's and Adrien's, "To make two new miraculous, I'll need to examine one to know what enchantments are applied. And I'll need to know if it should look like something in particular."
They discussed it for sometime. Marinette berard herself for not bringing the grimoire with them but Su-han had said it would be too dangerous.
Kuhun sighed, eyeing Su-han, "That brat really."
He looked on the side before sighing again, "Well, I don't want to waste time so I'll cheat a little."
He drew a vertical circle in the air in front of him, his finger leaving an actual line of light midair. Adrien and Marinette were gobsmacked.
Once the circle was completed, it turned pitch black.
"What the-" began Adrien.
"Sshhh. Normally, it's a fairly easy thing to do but this application of the spell requires much more precision."
He plunged his arm in the circle and seemed to go through various stuff.
"Girl, where did you leave the book?"
"Uh? It's… it's hidden in a drawer but-"
"Alright. Let's see… not here… here neither… still nothing… AH!"
And he pulled away from the black vortex, an old book in his hand.
Useless to say, both teens were flagbasted.
Tikki and Plagg however were pensive.
It took some time for Kuhun to calm down the teens after he pulled out the book and a bunch of viennoiseries from his magic portal.
When Marinette ate one, she recognized immediately the taste of her dad's croissants and shot an accusing glare at the old man. He merely laughed and tossed her a gold coin.
"It's pure gold gold, girl. I think you won't have to complain about fairness here."
She didn't have anything to say when Tikki confirmed it was a genuine coin from an old era that valued well above the amount of
viennoiseries
taken (never mind the red kwami was munching on a
pain au chocolat
making happy noises).
The old man read through the back in silence, Tikki adding a comment on several occasions. Even Plagg added his two cents a couple of times but he was rather busy worshiping the shelf full of smelly cheeses.
"Alright. I know all I need to know," confirmed Kuhun, "Now, two things. First: I have all the necessary ingredients to make two new miraculous exactly like originals."
At this, Adrien, Marinette, Tikki and Plagg cheered.
"And second thing: I do not work for free."
Despair suddenly filled Marinette. This man just casually gave her a coin valued so highly. How could she even pay for the creation of two miraculous, which were priceless jewels?
Kuhun clearly saw her body language, even with the mask covering her face and laughed.
"Don't worry missy. I don't want your money."
She released a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"What I do want is the permission to examine this miracle box… and maybe the two of you?"
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Tikki suddenly, "What do you mean by 'examine'?"
"Just doing some research on them. I never came across the bow before so this is a wonderful opportunity. From what you said, it's like a pocket dimension, right? I want to see how it's created, how it works, the connection between reality and this dimension…"
"But what about our holders?" asked Plagg, frowning.
Apparently, he was done with the cheeses (for now).
"You're not gonna harm then, are you?"
"Harm them? Why would I?"
"You say 'examine'..." added Tikki.
"I mean their soul!"
"Their soul?!"
"... You don't know…?" realized Kuhun after a moment of silence.
"Know what?" asked Tikki.
"They're both fated."
A weird silence fell on the room, Tikki's and Plagg's eyes wide open.
"Fated? Are you sure? This happened only…" began the ladybug kwami.
"Only once since the miraculous were made," finished the black kwami
Marinette and Adrien looked at each other, confused.
"Errr… Plagg? What does he mean with 'fated'?" asked the blonde boy.
"It's… complicated," answered the kwami.
"Basically, you were destined to wear the ladybug and black cat miraculous," explained Tikki.
"Didn't Master Fu choose us?" wondered Marinette.
"Doesn't matter," interrupted Kuhun, "As 'fated', even if that Fu guy hadn't given you the miraculous, you would have become Ladybug and Chat Noir eventually."
"What do you mean ?" pushed Adrien, "If Fu had the miraculous, we couldn't have got them, since we didn't even know they existed."
The old man tapped a finger on the table, thinking of how to explain it to the youngsters.
"To make it as simple as possible, had you been 'chosen', you could have refused to be heroes. Maybe there's an alternate universe where Chat Noir is a hero but Ladybug isn't, or vice versa, or neither of you are heroes. The point is you'd have a choice.
But as fated, you do not have that choice. One way or another, you would have become the duo Ladybug and Chat Noir."
"Even… even if I had tossed the earrings away?" asked the bluenette.
"They would have made their way back to you somehow. You were both
destined
to become holders, you were literally born for it."
Adrien and Marinette were quiet again, the weight of this revelation hitting them pretty hard. They never had a choice? How twisted was that?
"Now, don't make those faces. It all turned out for the better: you're both better people thanks to those experiences, no matter how good or bad they were. Now that your fight is over, you can move on," praised Kuhun.
"And we can start by making Nooros and Duusu's new miraculous !" cheered Tikki.
The two teens looked at each other for a moment before going back to the matter at end. The unsaid message was clear between them: after this, they'll need to have a long, deep talk.
It took the old man just a matter of hours to reproduce the miraculous, complete with the associated tool. They looked exactly like the originals. And once they were complete, Duusu and Nooroo appeared again, getting bear hugs from Tikki and Marinette, a greeting Adrien and even Plagg gave his kins a small hug.
After that, it was a matter of 'paying' the old man. Marinette promised him she'd bring the miracle-box to him next weekend. The old man accepted the offer; he knew by now the girl's and boy's personality so he had no doubt she'd keep her promise.
"Now, it's for all of you to go back home. There's still stuff to do as Ladybug and Chat Noir and you both have your civilian lives to take care of. I have no doubt Adrien Agreste will need the support of both Paris' heroes."
Next thing they knew, they were out of the shop, in front of the door, master Su-han with them. He looked confused, like he had forgotten what they were here for.
As they went on their separate ways, Chat Noir and Ladybug knew the old man was right: things weren't finished yet.