Unknown Time (Somewhere)
My head hurt. That was the first feeling that percolated into my consciousness.
The second was that I appeared to be face down on very rough surface. And it smelled musty, enough that I felt my nose crinkling automatically in distaste.
The third thought had me flinging my eyes open, despite the pain; immediately, my masked face frowned. Despite the world being ninety degrees wrong, my night vision clearly saw I was back in the barn at Mount Vernon, half a world away from the Eiffel Tower.
We found all the keys!I thought frantically. What did we do wrong?
Every muscle ached and protested as I pushed myself up into a sitting position. I half-heartedly scanned the space, and then sat up a bit straighter when I realized it was exactlyas I had seen it less than twelve hours ago. Given how much time had passed, it had to have finally been daytime in the United States – or at least, early morning. But it wasn't. The barn was as pitch black as it had been the first time (well, green-grey for me).
And where was Marinette?
I flipped into my pounce crouch and started to circle. This time, Marinette was not lying anywhere on the barn floor; I was completely alone. If the portal had done this, I appeared to be completely on my own. Still crouched, I slid out my baton and popped it into phone mode. It chirped at me, indicating there was no viable cell signal; given how easily I'd been able to call Master Fu on my first visit, that was surprising. More concerning, though, was the chronometer: it read four dashes.
Clicking the phone closed but keeping the baton in my paw, I stalked to the door, and slid it open. It was the same moonless night as before, and I stood and started down the ramp toward the farmyard… and immediately found myself standing outside of Mount Vernon itself.
I blinked.
Slowly, I turned around, and the wide expanse of the green in front of the mansion was behind me, not the barn I'd just exited. This was starting to feel like some sort of dream, making me wonder if the concussion I'd taken originally hadn't completely healed. The logical part of my brain started to stitch together the pieces, but I needed one further data point to confirm my suspicion.
I grasped the baton and rode it up to the cupola as before; the window we'd used earlier was conveniently open, and I slid through it easily… and landed in the wide, grassy field just outside the Statue of Liberty.
That made me nod. This wasthe portal, then. Though I wasn't yet sure why we were going on this nostalgic tour of the Key locations, I had a sense I was playing out the endgame of the puzzle. As if it sensed my understanding, the world shifted again between blinks and I was inside the base of the Statue.
My shock, though, was more for the stunning woman standing before me in a long, white dress and holding a parasol. Just as she had in the movie. A gauzy glow wreathed her form, and she was smiling gently at me. "Chat," she said warmly. "You've done well."
"Mom…?" I said, choking slightly. She'd disappeared when I was twelve and no amount of fruitless searching by Father had turned up any trace of her whereabouts. Intuitively, I knew it wasn'tmy mother, but seeing a physical manifestation of her hit me with a powerful emotional blow. "How…?"
"I've taken a form you'll recognize so we can communicate," she said as she stepped toward me. "I lifted this from your memories as it seemed the most appropriate."
"So you're not really here, then?" I said, suddenly overwhelmed with sadness. "It's not really my mother."
"No, Chat," she said, placing a hand on my costumed shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"Well," I said, "it was a nice thought." I smiled weakly. "Any chance you care to explain why I'm hereand not back in Paris?"
"Oh, you're still in Paris, Chat," she smiled. "At least, physically."
"Why does that worry me?" I replied, eyes widening.
"Don't be," she smiled again. "To your friends, you appear to have passed out. But you are perfectly fine, for now."
"For now?" My masked face frowned.
"You have some decisions to make, Chat," she continued as we started to walk around the railing of the museum's upper level. "Your pathway from here will be determined by your actions."
What else is new?I thought. "Pathway from here… to where?"
The apparition smiled at me and the scene shifted to the Animation Courtyard at the Walt Disney Studios. "That is entirely up to you," she answered enigmatically. "Are you ready?"
I swallowed hard. "Yes."
"Good." We shifted to Walt Disney's office. "You now possess all of the Keys to Paris. Do you understand what that means?"
"I do."
She nodded, smiling. "It has been a millennium since the box was hidden. Many have sought it, but you are the first holder of the Cat Miraculous to ever be summonsed to defend it."
"Didn't know that," I said.
"Do you wish to open the box?"
"What?" I spluttered. "Openit? Absolutely not!"
"Even if I told you it held the solution to defeating Hawkmoth?" she asked, circling me. I blinked and we were in Napoléon's drawing room on St. Helena. "Not only that, but you could be reunited with your family. Made whole once more."
This was playing out like one of those movies where the hero is tempted to renounce their quest for the promise of ultimate power. I had to admit, in all of the time I'd been Chat Noir, I'd never once thought I'd be placed into that sort of position. After all, my usual brief was running around handling the akumas Hawkmoth threw at us; I was a superhero, to be sure, but not on the order of the mythic ones I'd read in my comics.
But in that moment, I knew why it was such an elegant plot device. For I could feel the pull of the attraction to end Hawkmoth's reign in Paris; her hint that it might restore my Father to me – and, perhaps, even my mother – was compelling. Just the fact that I was even thinkingabout it made me upset. That wasn't the person I was – the heroI knew I could be.
Clearly, though, whatever entity she represented could sense those thoughts from me, for she sweetened the deal. "You could even have Ladybug by your side. Forever."
I smiled at that. "She's already by my side," I said with a Chat smile and a trace of snark. "Or I suppose, technically, I'm the one by her side," I shrugged. "But either way."
"This would guarantee you'd be together. Forever."
I looked at the vision of my mother as the scene shifted to Scotland and the eighteenth hole at St. Andrews. Had it really been her, I knew exactly what she would say to trading away your morality for a chance at happiness. "Nothing lasts forever," I said quietly. "Nor should it. I am content to enjoy what short amount of time I am granted to have with my Princess. I neither ask nor expect anything more."
The apparition nodded as we found ourselves striding across the volcanic rock in Hawaii. "And if you could do everything I've described so far, andhave your mother returned to you?" She paused. "Would you then open the box."
There it was: the ultimate offer of power. But I had already made a promise, so the decision was easy. "No."
Without a hint of irony, the scene shifted to Father's atelier. "Are you absolutely sure?" she asked me.
"I do not wish to open the box. Ever," I said firmly.
I found myself whipping through final locations in a blur, and in a matter of heartbeats, appeared in that strange chamber once more, ringed by the obsidian pedestals displaying each of the keys. My guide had disappeared, but I still heard her voice in my head as if she were standing next to me.
"Excellent," she said. "Master Fu made an inspired choice when he selected you for Plagg."
"Thank you?" I said tentatively. "Does that mean I passed?"
"Nearly," she laughed. "You have one task left to you."
"All right," I said. "And that is?"
"You'll know when the time is right," she replied, laughing. "We have also granted you the ability to use that last Cataclysm at any time once you return to the present."
"Last?" I asked, a bit stymied. "I used all twelve already–"
"You forget what Master Fu told you," she reminded me gently. Then, as if to push her point, a small holographic-like replay of my phone conversation with Master Fu appeared in front of me.
"How do I remove it? Ah, Cataclysm or Ladybug Magic?"
"Both work hand in hand, Chat, as they normally would – but there are some differences. In this case, only Cataclysm will work to remove the bewitched item – and, Chat, this is very important: for the next thirteen hours, you've gained the ability to use your super power once per hour with no need to drop your transformation. In fact, if you do de-transform, you will lose the path to the next key."
"Thirteen hours? That seems like a particularly specific number."
"It is. Ladybug's Lucky Charm has the power to disable all of the keys, but she can only use it once. If we do not disable all twelve keys by the final minute of the final hour, the puzzle resets, and we start over. The cycle will run endlessly until it concludes or the box is located."
"From your memory," she said as the image winked out.
"Why can't I do that with exam material?" I lamented. "Got it. Any other tidbits I should know?"
"Trust your heart, Chat. And trust Ladybug. And know that Hawkmoth, or others like him, will always seek out the Box or items like it."
I nodded. "Sound advice." I paused. "What is the cost for what you are selling?" I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. "For opening the box?"
"More than anyone should ever have to pay," she said, and my world went completely white.
Authors Note:
Chat Noir: You're really stretching this out, Ep. Look, I like you - a lot - but aren't there other stories you have waiting for me? Let's wrap this up, huh?
Ep: (frantically typing) What? Did you say something, Chat?
CN: =sighs= Yes - I asked you if there were others stories coming. And why I'm still here in Keys.
Ep: Oh - right. Well, yes - we have a few more chapters left and then I think I've booked you for the next sequel of Elegy. Then there's the LadyNoirJuly project I'm, doing with ChubbyUnicornMama, DearestMrIcarus and LyraMae -
CN: LadyNoir? (ears perk up) Really! At last-! (bounds out of room) LadyNoir! LadyNoir!
Ep: Chat...?