MiraculElse #8: Let's Take It From The Top

by DFC

(Timeframe: Alllll the way back at the beginning. Pre-Origins.)

Chapter 1: Setting the Stage

Adrien Agreste walked down the front steps of Françoise Dupont High School, heading for his father's car, where his bodyguard sat impatiently behind the wheel. As he was leaving, he turned and called out to some of his classmates.

"See you tomorrow!" replied Nino, with a smile. Max and Kim looked up, gave him a quick wave in return and went back to their conversation. Most of the girls seemed largely unaffected, for better or worse, though he got some casual smiles. Chloé fell all over herself to holler out a warm "Goodbye, Adrien!", naturally enough.

He hesitated, briefly, watching someone in particular. One girl with reddish-brown hair - Alya, that's what her name was - said something to her dark-haired companion, a slim girl with twin pigtails. The girl turned and looked down at Adrien, her face revealing nothing.

Adrien waved to her, with a warm smile. She paused, weighing it in her mind... then gave a half-hearted wave back, turning quickly to resume her conversation with Alya.

He sighed a little, inside. I'll keep trying, he thought, then climbed into the car and headed home.

Alya Césaire dropped her previous topic of conversation, now that something more interesting was in the air. "Did you see that?" she asked her companion. "I'm telling you, I think Adrien's kind of into you, Marinette!"

Marinette Dupain-Cheng frowned slightly. "Oh, I don't think so... And I kind of hope not."

Alya gave her a look, making Marinette reply, "What?"

"You don't think he's attractive?" Alya teased. "He IS a fashion model. And he seemed pretty nice when I talked to him."

"Oh, he's not ugly at all, obviously. He's got nice eyes, I'll give him that," shrugged Marinette. "But Chloé's pretty, too, right up to the moment where she opens her mouth or does anything at all."

"He did one thing that Chloé's never done before," prodded Alya. "Didn't you tell me that he apologized again for the gum incident?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "We talked out here on the steps yesterday after school. He swore up and down that Chloé put it there and he was trying to take it off, and I do kind of believe him, which is why I'm talking to him at all now. But I wasn't quite sure if I could take him seriously... He even tried to give me his umbrella to walk home with, and I was, like, I live right over there and it's barely raining, anyway! Nice try, honey."

"Don't rule him out yet, that's all I'm saying to you," her friend replied. "He may know Chloé, but he isn't Chloé."

"I know," said Marinette, rolling her eyes a little. "I'm not trying to dislike him, or anything, but it's just... he made the worst first impression in the world, you know? And he's not Chloé - thank God - but he is from her world. Fame and glitz and celebrity stuff. Maybe he can win me over eventually, but I'm just not into that kind of person right now."

Adrien sat in the back seat of the car, his mood somewhat mixed.

Nathalie turned to him from the passenger seat. "So... now that you've had a few days to experience it, is public school what you were hoping it would be?" she inquired.

"Mostly," he shrugged. "The classes are interesting, and it's really good to be among people my own age for a change. I've made a few friends so far, which is something I really wanted."

"Yes, I saw that... Nino, I think his name was?... came over yesterday. I'm not sure your father's crazy about him, but he seemed nice to me. Who was that dark-haired girl you were watching?" asked Nathalie.

Adrien grinned. "You don't miss a thing, do you?"

"I'm paid not to," she smiled in return. "Someone you're interested in?"

"I wouldn't go THAT far, but..." he started. "Her name's Marinette. Her family owns the bakery across the street. She seems really sweet from what I've seen of her, but Chloé pulled one of her stunts and really screwed things up for me when we first met."

"Hmmph," Nathalie smirked. "That sounds like Chloé. She's got the personality of a road accident."

"Long story short," Adrien explained, "she put gum on Marinette's seat, I went to take it off, and it looked like I was the one who put it there when Marinette walked over. I apologized and tried to explain, and I hope she believed me, but I looked like a real heel."

"Just be yourself," advised Nathalie. "You're a pleasant young man. She'll come around."

"I hope so," he said, eyes downward. "I'm not, like, crushing on her or anything... but she just seems like a completely REAL person, you know? Someone who would be an amazing friend if she gives me a chance to be one. If it doesn't work out, I just feel like it's a really big missed opportunity, somehow."

"Give it time. The school year's, what, four days old? You have plenty of time to make it up to her."

"I hope so," said Adrien, quietly.

Entering the front foyer, Nathalie ran down Adrien's schedule for the rest of the afternoon. "Piano next, Chinese at six, and you do know that you're doing reshoots for the new line on Saturday now, instead of Sunday?"

"Yeah, Dad told me about that. I'll be ready," he answered.

"Good. I have some things to take care of," she replied, as the bodyguard headed off to his quarters and she prepared to do the same. "Your father's probably up in his office."

Adrien thanked her again as he headed upstairs, hoping to catch his father in an unoccupied moment and, well, actually talk to him for a change. He approached his father's private office, stopping when he heard a conversation in progress... then heard some of it, and became even more curious.

"You've given me a lot to think about, Nooroo," his father said. "I'm not sure that I see completely eye-to-eye with you regarding the potential... opportunities that you present, but with what's at stake I do not wish to act hastily."

Nooroo? Who the heck is Nooroo? thought Adrien. An odd name. Maybe someone from one of our Asian or Indian clients?

He heard a strange, tiny voice that he didn't recognize. "I am very glad that you're willing to listen, Master," it began.

MASTER?

What in the WORLD?

"These powers do have unlimited potential... both for good and for evil. If you were to simply use them for your own personal ends, the repercussions could be severe, both for yourself and for those whom you care about. I just want you to hear me out and consider all sides of this," the tiny voice continued.

"I will. We will discuss this again later; I have some business to attend to at the moment. Thank you, Nooroo," he replied.

Adrien heard Gabriel stand up after finishing that sentence, and ducked back to the hallway, peering around the corner. I don't like to snoop, but now I'm really curious what THAT was all about! he thought to himself.

Gabriel stepped out into the room, moved a picture out of the way to reveal a safe, and opened it quickly. Adrien saw him place something shiny inside, close everything up, and close the door behind him after returning to his office.

Dad hides stuff behind a portrait of Mom? Adrien wondered. I don't want to go through his private stuff... but what the heck would he keep in there?

He crept forward quietly, making sure no one was there to see him, and moved the portrait aside to see the safe behind it. Dad may be a brilliant businessman... but he's always been hopeless with codes and passwords, Adrien grinned. He tried a couple of familiar combinations, and on the third try the safe opened.

Adrien looked inside, his eyes wide. A picture of his mother leaped out at him at first glance. There was an incredibly old book, well-preserved, with intricate designs on its cover. A flyer from a hotel in Tibet, some old junk, a black ring with a circular design... That's an odd thing for him to keep, not really his style at all... and a oval brooch, in purple, that he remembered seeing his father wearing recently.

The book in particular made him curious, but his better instincts reasserted themselves and he closed up the safe without touching anything in it, restoring the portrait over it. If I took that book and messed it up somehow, Dad would murder me. That looks like something that'd be REALLY hard to replace. But what does what was in there have to do with... whoever he was talking with a moment ago?

Shrugging, Adrien went back to his room, readying for another battle with his piano and the works of Rachmaninoff. So far, the score was something like Rachmaninoff 12, Adrien 3, but there was plenty of time for a comeback.

The next day at school, Adrien did his best to pay attention to his teachers... but his mind kept drifting back to the strange conversation he'd overheard the day before, and what he'd found afterwards. A mysterious compartment, an ancient book, something to do with Tibet, he pondered. Dad's acted a little strangely ever since that trip he took there. The weird jewelry, especially the brooch... and someone in the room with him, calling him 'Master,' then whoever that was disappeared? Did Dad find Aladdin's magic lamp or something?

I'm just POSITIVE that there was a time when some of my life made sense, Adrien thought.

He forced his mind back to his schoolwork, reluctantly. Dwelling on this wasn't going to do him any good right now.

Adrien peeked to his right, where Marinette was in her usual (and thankfully gum-free) seat across the aisle, the row where Chloé and Sabrina had banished her and Alya. As if sensing his gaze, Marinette paused in her writing and looked his way, inquisitively.

Caught looking, Adrien blushed a little, and looked away. Marinette stared at him for a moment, half-smiling to herself, then returned to what she'd been working on. Okay, I'll admit it, he IS cute... she thought to herself, but a little strange.

Marinette stayed a short while late after school, helping Rose out with an art project she was having trouble with. Afterwards, she walked home as usual, entering through the front door of her parents' bakery.

"Hello, dear. How was your day?" her mother asked, cheerfully.

"Pretty good. The usual," replied Marinette. "How was business today?"

"Not bad! We had a bit of a rush in the morning, which was nice. Those eclairs your father made flew off the rack," said Sabine. "Oh, and someone was asking for you this afternoon..."

"They were? Who was it?" asked Marinette, surprised.

"A blonde boy, your age, I hadn't seen him before. Very cute," her mother grinned. "He said he'd heard we had the best pastries in Paris, and I told him he heard correctly. He bought some things and asked me to tell you he'd said hello. Someone from your school?"

"Oh... HIM," said Marinette, with a curious expression on her face that Sabine couldn't quite read. A little happy about it... but not entirely, her mother thought. Not quite what I expected.

"Not a friend?" asked Sabine, concerned.

"He... could be, maybe," her daughter explained. "That's Adrien Agreste. He's new in our school this year; he's the son of Gabriel Agreste, the big fashion designer. Rumor has it he wanted to try the other side of life this year, so he's in public school now. I've only talked to him a couple of times. Once not so pleasantly, but he's improved since then." She added, with a grin, "He could have at least arranged to send Chloé to a private school in his place."

"Oh, be nice. Chloé teaches everyone around her many valuable things! Character, restraint, how to hold back and not to get locked up for assault and battery..." her mother laughed.

"She exhales carbon dioxide, which is good for plants. That's about all the benefit of the doubt I'll ever give her," groaned Marinette. "That's... all Adrien said?"

"That's it," Sabine confirmed. "No secret love notes, no serenading you on your balcony, just hello."

"That's nice enough, then," mused Marinette. "Weird that it happened, though. Okay if I head up and relax until dinner?"

"Sure, go ahead," said Sabine. "I'll call you down when it's ready."

Going up the stairs, Marinette pondered the situation. Maybe I am being a little harsh on him, she considered, and he's just trying to make up for that.

Or... maybe Alya is right, and he's got a schoolboy crush on me already. The notion amused her; THAT would be a first for anyone, to her knowledge.

If he does... what the heck am I going to do about THAT?

Adrien was finishing up his homework in his room that evening, when his father entered. "Hello, Son," Gabriel greeted him. "You're sure you don't want to go with me to the art show down by the Louvre tonight?"

"Not really. I have a few things here I need to catch up on," Adrien replied. "Though I do appreciate the invitation."

"It's nothing. Honestly, I think it'll be a dreary little affair, but I didn't want to leave you out if you were interested. I should be back here around ten; Nathalie will be downstairs if you need anything," Gabriel added.

"Got it. Have fun there, if you can," smiled his son.

About half an hour later, making sure that his father wasn't going to have forgotten something and returned unexpectedly, Adrien put his book down and went on the prowl. I'm still going to leave that book alone, he thought, but maybe Dad has something on his computer about it? If I was him, I'd have scanned as much of it as I could to keep the original intact.

He snuck upstairs into his father's office and turned on his computer. The password stopped him at first, which made him hesitate about continuing, but his knowledge of his father's habits rewarded him again and he gained access. Dad changed his password from "solitude" to "S0litude." I guess Nathalie's lectures about good password habits only sunk in so far, he grinned.

Once again, he tried not to leave any traces or probe TOO deeply... but after a few minutes, he found precisely what he was looking for, in the form of digital scans of the pages of the book in the safe. The cover scan matched what he'd seen there exactly, so he dove in.

The page scans had digital notes all over them. Some looked like his father's handiwork, while some were more cryptic. Adrien could read a couple of words here and there on the pages themselves - I guess those Chinese lessons really are paying off, he laughed - but far more of the text was in a different language. Possibly in code, too, Adrien reasoned.

The artwork needed no translation, however; it was fantastic! Adrien's eyes widened looking at drawings of figures from all over history, wearing a wide variety of costumes themed after animals. They look like... superheroes, almost! thought Adrien, amazed. But since when were there superheroes back in the Han Dynasty? Or medieval England, judging from that one's outfit? Or... in Tibet?

Much of the focus seemed to be on two central figures; one with red-and-black spots, reminiscent of a beetle's shell, and one feline figure in black. Their pages were covered in handwritten notes, cryptic references, digital comments, theory fragments... Adrien couldn't make heads or tails of most of it. One broken phrase kept recurring:

Invoke / two / Cast your wish.

Wishes, huh? Dad's a little old for fairy tales.

He paged through the book some more, and gasped. On a page featuring some kind of butterfly or moth designs... he saw the exact brooch he'd seen in the safe downstairs, hand-drawn but a perfect match! Quickly, he scanned through the rest and found another perfect match, featuring a black ring that also looked extremely familiar.

Quickly, he restored the computer to its original state, went back to his room and laid on his bed, his head spinning.

This is ridiculous. This HAS to be research for some new fantasy-inspired clothing line Dad's working on... some weird new set of designs, right? This is the real world. There's no such thing as magic, or wishes, or superheroes...

But who WAS this 'Nooroo' that Dad was talking to, then? And why are the book and the jewelry locked away in the safe?

Adrien wrestled with his emotions for a few more minutes, then sat up abruptly.

I HAVE to know what's going on here.

One quick stroll, one moved portrait and one entered code later, Adrien was face-to-face with his father's hidden cache of objects once again.

So... now what?

He reached for the brooch... then pulled his hand back, thinking better of it, and reached for the ring instead. For some reason, this just feels more... right. Maybe because I don't usually wear brooches. Plus, if Dad has been wearing this, he'd notice it missing first. Not that I'm going to be keeping this ring, am I? Ah, I don't know what I'm really doing right now...

Adrien held up the ring, examining it from all angles. It looked solidly made, clearly of clever and quality workmanship, but didn't leap out at him otherwise.

He held it aloft, jokingly wondering what would activate the genie or whatever lurked within. "In brightest day, in darkest night?" he called out, quietly. "A la peanut butter sandwiches? Thing Ring, do your thing?"

Nothing happened.

"Heh," Adrien chuckled to himself. "What did I really think would happen?" He slipped the ring onto his index finger. "At least it's my size, and-"

A bright white flash canceled that particular thought.

Next time:

* Adrien, meet Plagg. Plagg, this is Adrien.

* Chat Noir, meet Nooroo. Nooroo, why do you look so alarmed?

* Nathalie, meet... wait, who IS that, anyway?

* Master Fu and Wayzz... meet one of your nightmares.

* Paris... hope you're ready for this!