"So, you are really Prince Adrien," asked Alya. The small group sat in the bar around one of the tables as their wandering tavern traversed the countryside searching for its new location. Nino took the emptied dinner plates to the sink and sat back down beside Alya.
"Yes, and Hawkmoth has returned to Pari and has taken over. He's imprisoned everyone. My father. My fiancee."
"Oooo, Fiancee, I see why you want to save her then," Alya cooed, eager for more information.
"Yeah," Adrien blushed.
"But how did you escape," asked Nino, leaning forward in his seat, just as curious as Alya for the prince's tale.
"It was while they were arresting other members of the royal family I managed to hide, taking one of the armor sets, I was disguised as a knight and able to leave. I thought looking like Chat Noir would help me find the Miraculous Knights. Looks like it did, sort of." Master Fu chuckled at the man's statement.
"Yes you found them. Ladybug you met." Master Fu gestured to Marinette who blushed and gave a small wave.
"Alya here is Volpina."
"Hey," Alya waved and offered one of her winning smiles.
"And Nino is Jade Turtle."
"Hey," Nino extended his hand for a handshake, which the prince accepted.
"But how is it you are all here? I thought you would have disbanded after the attack," asked Adrien.
"After the attack, they could not return to their families so I took them in. Even prior to the attack I was their mentor. We created this tavern to help keep ourselves hidden, as the disguise of an elderly gentleman who took in three orphans after the attack."
"Question," asked Alya, "why do you believe in the Miraculous Knights so much? I mean we are held responsible for the attack, including killing your mother, the Queen?"
"Mom use to tell me stories about the Miraculous Knights, at least from what I can remember. You guys were heroes. I knew if anyone had a chance to stop Hawkmoth, it would be the Miraculous Knights. I honestly don't think you killed my mother. If anyone did, it would have been Hawkmoth." Marinette receded further into her seat.
"Can you help me," pleaded Adrien?
"I say it's time we finally took down Hawkmoth and those akuma knights," answered Alya.
"I agree, we've been training years for this. What do you think Grandpa," Nino agreed, all faces turning towards Marinette and Master Fu.
"Now may not be the best time for such an endeavor as this. Last time we were fully unprepared. We need to think through this more carefully," responded the old man.
"Plus Hawkmoth still has Queen Bee at his command, maybe he even has someone to replace Le Paon," answered Marinette.
"Who is Queen Bee and Le Paon? I mean, I know who Le Paon is, but what happened to her?" asked Adrien. The four opposite of his shifted nervously until Master Fu spoke up.
"Queen Bee was the Miraculous Knight Honey Bee, until she betrayed us and joined Hawkmoth. Le Paon, she… she died during the battle."
"I'm sorry."
"It is fine. She would have been proud to see how far these kids have come along in their studies," Master Fu smiled at his charges.
"What about Chat Noir?"
"Hmm?"
"Chat Noir, you haven't mentioned him. Is he here or is he back in Pari?"
"Chat Noir, also betrayed the team, joining Hawkmoth's side. We do know that Chat Noir has no longer in his possession the cat miraculous, but he may still be equally dangerous as an akuma knight." Adrien nodded and noticed Marinette look away while Alya rubbed her shoulder.
"So what are we going to do?" Asked Nino, seeing as how Marinette and Master disagreed while Alya and Nino voted to save the kingdom.
"I say we sleep on this for the night. It has been a long day and no good decisions were made rashly. Nino, Adrien will join you in your room."
Nino nodded and stood up.
"I'll clean the dishes Nino," Marinette offered as she stood up too.
"Thanks, come on, I'll show you to our room, although you were in there before."
Adrien nodded as he stood.
"Good night…"
"Fu, Master Fu."
"Good night Master Fu. Good night Alya." Alya stood up as well.
"Good night Adrien," she retreated to the upstairs.
"Good night Marinette." Marinette only turned her head and nodded, then resumed washing the dishes.
Adrien followed Nino upstairs.
"Well, this is our room. Bathroom is down the hall and the girls' room is across."
"Where does Master Fu sleep?"
"He sleeps below the tavern." Nino pulled out some clothes from his drawer.
"Try these, they should fit you."
"Thanks," Adrien headed out the door and found the bathroom. He looked in the mirror, his face dirty and hair out of place. Bare traces of stubble were beginning to show across his chin and upper lip.
"Looks like I have some cleaning up too do."
Adrien exited the bathroom to find most of the lights out. He entered his and Nino's room to find Nino already asleep. Adrien laid down on the space beside him and tried to close his eyes to find sleep wouldn't come. He couldn't tell if it was from the excitement of the day or the rocking of the wandering tavern. He sat up and walked towards the window to see the hilly landscape before him, passing by ignorant farmers asleep in their beds. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a small light. He looked up to find Master Fu standing on the balcony, smoking an old wooden pipe.
Adrien retreated from the window and left the room. He made his way to the balcony where Master Fu stood watching the horizon.
"Couldn't sleep your highness?"
"No, I should be sleeping fine after all that walking, but for some reason, I can't."
"A lot has happened today. You met the heroes of your mother's stories." Adrien smiled.
"True, I honestly thought they would be older, not people my age."
"They were young when they joined, but because of that, their abilities are stronger than many of the royal knights."
"Even the akuma knights, Ladybug tossed that akuma knight as if it was nothing."
"And that was at half her strength."
"Half her strength," Adrien turned to Master Fu, who sighed.
"The black cat and the ladybug miraculous are partners, and they make each other stronger. Without Chat Noir, Ladybug is only at half her strength."
"So they were close?"
"Very. Le Paon and I picked out both personally. They practiced together and were practically inseparable during training, even though they didn't know who each other truly was."
"How come?"
"The Miraculous Knights had other lives outside being knights. Le Paon and I decided it would be best if we kept those lives as separate as possible so no one would think less or more of the other. Apparently, it wasn't enough the keep Chat Noir and Honey Bee from joining Hawkmoth."
"Are Honey Bee and Chat Noir still alive."
"Honey Bee yes, but as Queen Bee, the second in command to Hawkmoth. Chat Noir I would like to hope so, for Marinette's sake. She was the last person who saw him before we left Pari. I will never forget what she told us."
"What did she tell you?"
"The last time she saw Chat Noir, she saw a boy who looked like he realized he just lost his world." Adrien sighed and stared out into the horizon, stars gradually appearing in the night sky.
"Tikki, are you sure," Marinette whispered so as not to disturb Alya as she slept.
"I'm positive Marinette, the ring glowed when the prince was in here" beside Marinette sat a small little pixie looking creature, a kwami to be precise.
Marinette looked over at a small box that sat on her dresser. She slowly scooted out of bed and opened the box, revealing the Cat Miraculous. She picked up the ring and held it close. Even though she had kept the whereabouts of the cat miraculous a secret from Alya and Nino, the comfort of having and possibly him close, gave her hope.
Maybe her kitty had returned home.
_
So I will be uploading new chapters weekly on Thursdays, unless I say otherwise.
Something fun someone brought up to me is who is who in regards to the Seven Deadly Sins. So for fun, let's try and figure it out. I'll give two hints to those I know who is who.
Options: Ladybug, Chat Noir, Volipna, Jade Turtle, Honey Bee/Queen Bee, Le Paon, Master Fu or Hawkmoth.
Meliodas: Chat Noir
Diane: Honey Bee/ Queen Bee
King:
Ban:
Gowther:
Merlin:
Escanor: