Work Text:
Every so often, Luka’s world hiccoughs.
That isn’t exactly right, but there’s not an easy way to describe the sensation. If pressed, he might say it’s the same feeling as tripping in a dream and startling awake, or the way your heart skips when you miss a step coming down the stairs, but even those descriptions paled in comparison to reality. One moment, he’d hear the harmony of the world, an orchestra of the hearts around him, and the next, he knew that something had changed; that someone’s melody was a half-beat ahead of the rest of the world; that in that space between seconds, something monumental had occurred and he was not privy to it.
The first time it happens, Luka is torn between seeking out the source of the skip and staying as far away as possible. The knee-jerk instinct of fear of the unknown nearly paralyzes him, the disturbing misstep of the otherwise unflappable symphony that had accompanied him his entire life sending him down into a spiral of unanswerable questions about his gift. On the flip side of the record, curiosity tries to drive him into action—what could have caused it? Knowing would help him avoid it happening again, or at least better prepare for the next time.
Carapace shows up the next day. Luka goes searching.
A chance encounter at Juleka’s school after an akuma attack moves him one step closer to an answer. Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s song is unlike anything he has heard before. Everything around her bends to her melody and Luka is no exception. He sets up outside the Dupain-Cheng patisserie every afternoon to play. He strikes up a friendship with Marinette, who is kind enough to deliver pastries to him as the bakery closes for the day.
The second hiccough comes the day prior to Rena Rouge’s arrival. Marinette’s song has changed after, as has the song of the Ladyblogger who goes to school with her. Marinette introduces Luka to Alya, and he is convinced that he has met the fox hero herself.
The third precedes Queen Bee, and like before, Marinette’s song has changed. Chloé Bourgeois has changed as well, according to Juleka. She can’t hear the song in Chloé’s heart like Luka can, but he would be surprised if she has learned to harmonize with Marinette’s song the same way Alya (Rena Rouge) has.
Hawkmoth is defeated, and Luka meets Nino and Adrien. He has not heard their songs before, and despite that, he identifies them immediately as Carapace and Chat Noir. Their songs, too, bend to Marinette’s melody, and Marinette’s beats in time with Adrien’s. He can’t focus when Adrien and Marinette are together, lost immediately in the harmony their souls sing together.
Paris thrives in her short period of normalcy. Luka continues to play outside the Dupain-Cheng patisserie, Marinette continues to bring him pastries, and their friendship grows. There is another attack—something different this time, according to Chat Noir. Luka already knew—the akumas had always had the same song, Hawkmoth’s heart pouring through whatever connection he had to them, but the amoks sing of raw emotion, the drum beat of someone’s anger removed from the context of the rest of their being.
The fourth hiccough, Luka is present for. He is playing outside the bakery when he loses control of the guitar. It takes a beat longer for him to realize that everything is frozen—his fingers, his breathing, his heartbeat. Around him, the song of the world is stuck, a single chord sustained far beyond what he has ever experienced.
The source of his suspension becomes obvious a moment later when Chat Noir appears beside a woman dressed in a robe of sunlight.
This is the closest Luka has ever been to any of the magical heroes of Paris, at least while they are in costume. Chat Noir’s song is muffled by whatever magic gives him his superpowers, but it is undeniably the song of Adrien Agreste. The woman he is with does not have any song. The magic that is protecting Chat Noir’s identity seems to be perfected in the cloak of sunlight, and it is the most uncomfortable Luka has ever felt.
Another song joins them a moment later as a woman in front of the bakery is unfrozen. Luka watches in what feels to him like blatant interest, but no one could possibly notice, frozen as he is. He can only make out portions of their conversation—a council of witches, unregistered spellcasting, a guardian. Chat Noir and the cloaked woman vanish as suddenly as they appeared and suddenly the world spins again, the song around him ever so different than it was before.
It isn’t until that night that Luka realizes that Chat Noir’s song bent toward the cloaked woman the same way Adrien’s bends to Marinette’s.
He is certain he’s never seen the box before. Luka considers the polished wood, which is singing softly as it sits on his desk.
This is unusual, but not unheard of. Some objects, he has experienced, pick up the songs of their owners. His own instruments sing far more than most anything else he’s come across, but he’s felt it from a beloved teddy bear, wedding bands, a hand-made quilt. This box sings like it once was the most important thing in the world and has not been in hands of the person who cherished it in a very long time.
As he considers this new development, his hands move of their own accord. The box is open and there is something in front of him, a little being that sings with an ancient melody, a sibilant chorus of interwoven chords, looping endlessly inward and downward, the song consuming itself even as it creates itself. Luka’s eyes fuzz and the snake-like creature in front of him is a towering shadow of power. Reality reasserts itself and the song is spinning backwards.
“You are acceptable,” the being says, hissing ever so slightly on the last word.
“I’m Luka.”
“I am aware. You may call me Sass.” Luka nods slowly, and Sass continues. “Take up the ouroboros, my Champion. You have been chosen by the Guardian to wield the Miraculous of the Snake.”
Everything falls into place for Luka. “Marinette chose me?”
Sass grins, his mouth opening wider than is comfortable for Luka to watch. “Yes, I think you will do quite well as my Snake. Tell me, how did you identify her?”
Luka explains: a moment frozen in time, a hiccough in his world, a private moment that he was somehow included in.
Sass floats silently for the explanation, his song spinning faster as his excitement builds. “As the wielder of my Miraculous, you are granted the power of Intuition. Sometimes, with certain powers, things…bleed through. The Rabbit, the Snake, our Champions are born to their roles in a way the others are not. The Butterfly and I have discussed this before, whether your destiny to wield the jewels transmits our power to you, or whether your natural ability is what draws us to you.” Sass considers Luka for a moment. “Regardless, the fact remains that you are one of mine. I will grant you my lyre, and you will present yourself to Ladybug and Chat Noir.”
“Why would Ladybug and Chat Noir need another superhero?”
Sass moves toward the porthole that is softly allowing light into Luka’s bedroom. “Listen to the rhythm of the world, Luka. Beyond the songs of the people, listen to the soul of the city itself.”
Luka listens. He joins Sass at the window and closes his eyes, allows himself to be immersed in the song the people of Paris sing. Sass’s song fades into the background, underlying everything he hears. He can pick out his mother and his sister, and then they, too, fade into the greater orchestra. He digs deeper, and there, at the bottom of it all, flowing beneath everything, is a growing anticipation, a chord that sits just below the audible spectrum. It sets him on edge and he opens his eyes.
“You felt it.” It is not a question.
“Chat Noir said there weren’t any more missing Miraculous.”
“Not all threats wield a Miraculous, my Champion.” Sass floats away from the window and makes himself comfortable on Luka’s desk. “You have a fundamental understanding of the world that many lack, so you will understand when I tell you that there are magical laws that govern these things.”
Luka knows what Sass means before the snake-thing can say it. “A triplet.”
“The Law of Threes,” Sass agrees. “A Law that predates even the Miraculous. The Guardian has chosen you because your Intuition will be needed in the coming war. We ask much of you, my Champion. Will you accept the call to take up the Miraculous of the Snake and join the Heroes of Paris in the coming conflict?”
Luka is not one to jump into decisions. He is slow, measured, deliberate. He considers what Sass has told him, the way an hour with the little creature bound to the snake bracelet has already deepened his understanding of the world and his place in it. He makes his decision.
“Do I need to tell Marinette that I know she’s the Guardian?”