Adrien awoke to find himself in his bed, Nino gone, but Marinette sitting in a chair, using the bedside as a headrest as she slept. He reached out his hand and touched her arm.
"Marinette," Marinette stirred in her sleep. He tried again, successfully waking her up.
"Morning sleepy." Marinette smiled as she sat up and stretched.
"How are you feeling," she asked.
"Alright, I guess. What happened."
"I'm not really sure. When we were about to resume training you looked at me strange and then passed out. Do you remember what happened?" Adrien searched his head for what happened, blushing when he did.
Marinette had called him Kitty? Was that really him, or was it someone else?
"You sure you're alright," Marinette lifted a hand to his forehead.
"You're not warm, but still. I'll go get Grandpa to check up on you." Marinette stood and left as Adrien sunk lower on the pillow, trying to decipher the vision. As far as he knew, he had never met Marinette before, and he never left the castle unless on royal duties. So how had he imagined practicing the quarterstaff with her before. Unless those were the memories of someone else? Or was it even a memory at all?
"Good Morning your highness," Master Fu hobbled into the room and sat in the chair Marinette had once occupied.
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine." Master Fu gave Adrien a look that seemed to penetrate Adrien's thoughts.
"Care to explain what happened last night?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself. One minute I was training with Marinette, the next thing I knew is it was daylight, and Marinette was fifteen and training with me with the quarterstaff."
"Anything else?"
Adrien hesitated, figuring it would be better to tell the old man, "She … she called me kitty?"
Master Fu leaned back in the chair, pondering Adrien's explanation, "We are close." Master Fu stood up and left.
"Close? Close to what?" Adrien shot out of bed and followed Master Fu down the stairs, but when he reached the bar, only Nino, Alya, and Marinette were there eating breakfast.
"Did you see Master Fu?"
"No, I thought he was upstairs with you," answered Marinette.
"He was, then he came downstairs."
"He does that sometimes, adds mystery to his druid self," answered Alya.
"He's a druid?" Adrien grabbed a plate and took the remaining food left out and sat between Marinette and Nino.
"Yeah, that's how you were able to recover after your travels so quickly. If he hadn't healed you, you would probably still be passed out for a couple days."
"Talk about a convenient infirmary." Adrien began to eat, noticing that at this point he was the only one eating and all eyes were glued on him.
"What?"
"So, ready to train bro?" Nino asked with a smile. Adrien looked to see three faces smiling deviously at him.
"After I eat," Adrien took a bite out of his food as Alya slammed her head on the desk.
"We are going to be waiting here for years for him to finish." Marinette patted Alya's back.
"Come one Alya, there are worse things to wait for." Marinette gave Adrien a smile, which sent a tinge of blush to his cheeks. He scarfed down the rest of his breakfast."
"Now we're good."
The wandering tavern stopped a safe distance from Papillion's Tower. Below them was a forest that would cover their entrance and escape.
"That's Papillion's Tower?" Adrien asked in amazement."
"I thought we destroyed it," asked Nino.
"No, we removed 10 floors," answered Alya.
"Ten Floors!"
"Well, mostly Chat Noir and Volpina removed the floors," answered Marinette, "But Jade Turtle, Ladybug, and Le Paon took care of a good amount of akuma knights and Honey Bee destroyed most of his research."
"That was a very good day," Nino chuckled at the memory.
"So, are we going to head over there?" asked Adrien.
"We three are, you are staying here," answered Marinette firmly.
"Why? I've been training for this. Even Master Fu said I would be an asset if I continued to train, and we have been training non-stop since we left the last village."
"I know, but even a few days worth of training is not equal to the amount of training needed to fight an akuma knight. They are dangerous and more powerful than you realize. It may look easy, but without our miraculous, we would barely stand a chance against them. I'm sorry, but you have to stay," Marinette refused to look at Adrien's pleading eyes. Adrien turned to Nino and Alya, both who could barely meet his gaze and refused to say anything.
"So much for getting the chance to prove myself." Adrien hissed at Marinette, making her wince as he threw her words back at him, before storming away from the balcony, leaving the knights and Master Fu.
"You three must get ready, the road ahead is dangerous, and from this point forward, there is no chance for us to hide."
"Understood." Marinette walked back inside with Alya and Nino following. Master Fu took one last look at the tower before following them in.
"I can't believe her! All encouraging one minute and shoots you down the next." Adrien angry paced the room he and Nino shared while Nino pulled out a few extra weapons for the journey.
"I'm sorry man, you know she is only wants you to stay for your protection. You've seen those akuma knights. We need you to stay safe because you're the prince."
"Isn't though the job of the prince and future king to help his country in anyway possible, including fighting against enemies?"
"Sometimes the best for the country is for the future king to stay alive. If anything went wrong here bro, you would be our last hope. I believe in you, and I know Marinette does to."
"As do I, which is why you should go," Master Fu snuck into the room, careful to quietly close the door.
"Grandpa, why? You heard Marinette, and Ladybug is our leader."
"A leader, no matter how old, must turn to the elders for advice to avoid mistakes of the past. Marinette may want to keep you safe, but it is important that you go to the tower."
"Why?" Asked Adrien.
"Your visions are more clear now, are they not," Master Fu and Nino turned to look at Adrien, who nodded. During his sleep as they travelled, he had trained and fought akuma knights with the rest of the miraculous team, the battles becoming more real as the nights went on."
"I believe Le Paon's miraculous may be a key to unlocking why you are receiving these visions, but we can't be sure unless you are with the miraculous, even for a moment."
"But what are we going to do about Marinette, she said no," asked Adrien.
"Nino will take you in his shell shield, which doubles as a storage device." Adrien turned to Nino who confirmed with a nod.
"The way back will be difficult if your visions persist while being in contact with the miraculous, but hopefully a weapon will help."
Master Fu tossed Adrien a quarterstaff, which he easily caught.
"Better suit up your highness, we have a miraculous to find." Master Fu left the room.
Ladybug, Volpina, and Jade Turtle stood at the edge of the balcony, ready to jump into the sea of trees below.
"Remember, our aim is the miraculous, we will avoid the akuma knights as best as possible. Jade Turtle and Volpina nodded, Jade shifting his shield on his back where inside sat a cramped Adrien in some free-moving armor with his quarterstaff and several other weapons handy in case Jade Turtle should need it.
"Be safe," Master Fu stood beside them, nervous as always about sending his beloved charges into the heat of battle. The three knights nodded, then Ladybug jumped into the forest below, Volpina and Jade Turtle quick to follow.
"Please."
"Move it people, we need to be ready in case the Miraculous Knights arrive!" Queen Bee yelled at the soldiers who set up at the entrance of the tower, ready for an attack. An akuma knight exited the tower, bowing before Queen Bee.
"Your grace, we have run into a situation, the 37th floor has been barricaded from the previous time the Miraculous Knights attacked. Reaching the miraculous is impossible unless one can fly to the top floor."
"Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous," Queen Bee yelled, threatening to cut off a soldier's head with her secondary weapon, the Honeycomb Rapier.
"Fine, if we can't get the miraculous, then we'll just have the Miraculous Knights do the dirty work for us. Establish a guard around the entire perimeter of the tower." The soldiers immediately set to work as Queen Bee looked to the forest in earnest.
"Come on Ladybug, show yourself."