Chapter 14: Party at Sanctuaire de la Dame
Author's note: I was originally going to skip this because I didn't have anything planned and I want to get to my planned story threads, but then I realised that I'd built up Chloe and Marinette's mansion warming party a bit too much for me to just skip over it. So, here you go.
"A little to the left. More left. No, that's too far. Up a bit…"
"Will you make up your mind already, my arms are getting heavy!" Nathaniel demanded.
"Fine." Chloe huffed. "There is good enough."
"Thank my lady." Nathaniel sighed in relief as he stuck the end of the banner in place.
With Chloe in charge of planning everything out, he wondered why he agreed to help prepare Marinette's mansion for the party.
"Anyone need drinks?" Marinette asked as she wheeled into the main hall with a tray of drinks on her lap.
Oh, yeah, because despite not having a crush on Marinette anymore, it was still hard to say no when she asked for something.
"Thanks." Nathaniel said, taking one of the drinks.
"How's the decorating coming along?" Marinette asked.
"Sabrina and I are almost there." Nathaniel informed her. "Chloe's 'supervising'."
"Hey, it's important that the two of you know where everything needs to go and get it positioned right." Chloe defended herself.
"Chloe's already done all the planning for the party, getting everything arranged an making the invites. So, I think she's done her fair share." Marinette sided with Chloe.
"Thank you." Chloe said pointedly.
"But at the same time, don't boss Nathaniel and Sabrina around, they don't need you lording over them." Marinette told Chloe.
"I wasn't." Chloe denied.
Marinette fixed her with a look that simply said 'I know you', quickly quieting Chloe's defence.
"Okay," Alya said, walking through the mansion's doors. "My mum and Marinette's parents say that the food for the party is almost done, plenty of time before the party starts. I've recruited Kim and Ivan from our class to help with transport. I've also managed to find us a DJ, Nino."
"Thanks, Alya." Marinette said.
"It's no problem. I'm happy to help out with this party. Plus, it means I get to be here before the gates even open up to everyone else."
"First pick at the buffet table." Nathaniel agreed.
"You won't get a pick at the buffet table at all if the rest of the decorations aren't up in time." Chloe threatened.
"Okay, I'm getting to it." Nathaniel said, picking up another decoration.
"I still can't believe that you own this mansion." Alya said to Marinette as the other worked.
"Honestly, I still can't believe it either." Marinette laughed.
"At least we won't have any trouble fitting everyone in here." Alya commented. "Uh, is there anything valuable in the rooms. I mean, we've invited anyone who wants to come from the college, something's going to go missing or get vandalised if we're not careful."
"There isn't anything of worth here, and most of the doors are locked anyway, the party is going to be confined to the main hall." Marinette reassured."
"We just have to hope the party doesn't get out of hand then." Alya said.
"I do too." Marinette agreed,
Despite not caring that much about the mansion, she would be upset if something bad happened to it.
An alarm on Marinette's phone went off.
"Ah, I need to get going." Marinette suddenly said. "I'm meant to be meeting someone today."
"Make sure you're back before the party starts!" Chloe called as Marinette wheeled herself out the door.
"I will!" Marinette called back.
Marinette pushed herself through the corridors of the hospital until she reached her destination.
"Hello, Master Fu." She greeted as she pushed herself into the old man's room.
"Marinette, it is good to see you again." Fu said.
"Hello, Master." Nooroo flew out of Marinette's purse. "How are you feeling."
"Much better now. Most of my injuries have been healed and I'll be ready to be released in the next few days." Fu told the Kwami.
"That's great news." Marinette said. "I'm sure that you can't wait to get out of the hospital."
"I am." Fu hummed.
Nooroo frowned. "Master, what's wrong." He asked.
"Nothing to worry yourself about." Fu told him.
"Master Fu, if something's wrong, you need to tell us." Marinette backed her Kwami up.
Fu laughed quietly. "I guess I should know better that to hide from those who can sense emotion." He said.
He then sighed.
"I don't know if I'll be able to go home." He admitted.
"Why not?" Marinette asked in concern.
"While I may have healed from the fight, some permanent damage has been done." Fu said sadly. "I'll need a cane to walk around for one thing, perhaps even someone to help me with household chores, so I've been told."
"That doesn't sound too bad." Marinette said.
"It's not just that though. I am very old, I would have needed these things with time anyway. But in my current situation I am vulnerable. With the Ladybug earrings still out there somewhere, the person who attacked me may return to find out if I know, the only reason I haven't been attacked now is because this is a public place. But if I return home, I will not be able to protect myself." Fu continued.
"That's not good." Marinette agreed. "I'm guessing a care home isn't an option."
"Absolutely out of the question." Fu crossed his arms. "The person could infiltrate the staff more easily there and put everyone in danger to get to me. Plus, there's no way I'm letting myself get put in a care home."
"Do you have any safehouses or allies nearby that you can hide out with?" Nooroo asked.
Fu shook his head.
"I have no safe houses and right now, my only allies are the two of you." He said.
"Only us?" Marinette hummed. She then gasped. "That's it!" She slammed a fist into her opposite hand as she came up with an idea. "Move into my mansion."
"You have a mansion?" Fu questioned.
"It's a long story, the basics is that I inherited it off the previous owner after finding the Butterfly Miraculous." Marinette waved off. "But I don't currently have any use for it. I mean, we're having a party with the entire college invited tonight, but after that there isn't going to be any use for it. So, you could move in there, that way the person who attacked you won't know where you are and you can be safe."
Fu stroked his beard in thought.
"It is a good idea." He agreed. "But also dangerous. If the thief manages to track me down again, they could work out your identity through association."
"Then we'll just have to be careful." Marinette said. "Until we can find another place for you to hide out at, the mansion is the best place for you to stay."
"The mansion also has plenty of protection enchantments." Nooroo chimed in.
"It does?" Both Marinette and Fu asked.
Nooroo nodded. "The mansion was originally built by a powerful magic user, who placed it on a lay line and added enchantments as it was built. And my previous master added his own protections to the property when he owned it. Most of them are dormant now, but if activated, they can turn Sanctuaire de la Dame into a fortress." He explained, using the name of the mansion. "Within the boundaries, the thief wouldn't be able to track you using any spells and would have an extremely hard time just getting past the gate if they did find you."
"Why didn't you tell me about these protections earlier?" Marinette asked her Kwami.
"Sorry." Nooroo apologised. "But the enchantments would be hard for you to activate if you're not sufficiently knowledgeable in the uses of symbols and magic, and you already don't use the mansion, so I didn't think to mention it."
"I guess it's okay." Marinette accepted.
"If Marinette doesn't know about symbols and other magic, then I'll just have to teach her." Fu said. "Until then, I can activate those protections myself. It would be an honour to stay in your mansion."
Marinette smiled. "I'm just happy I finally have a proper use for it." The then frowned slightly. "Though, I wonder how I'm going to explain you moving in to my parents. And if then there's the matter of you moving in, we'll have to get all the stuff from your old house, stock up on food, I can't remember if the place has a fridge or freezer-"
"We'll take it one step at a time." Fu interrupted Marinette. "First, clear it with your parents. I don't want them visiting the mansion and wondering why I'm there. Once that's done, I'll deal with the rest myself."
"Breath, Marinette." Nooroo put a tiny hand on Marinette's head.
Marinette took a deep breath and let it out. "You're right, I'm getting myself worked up." She said. "My parents know I've been visiting you, so hopefully it won't be too hard to convince them that something happened with your house and allow you to move in. My parents are kind and charitable, so hopefully they'll say yes."
"I'll make sure to pay rent if they say yes." Fu said.
"Oh, no. It's not any trouble, I don't mind you staying for free." Marinette denied.
"It wouldn't feel right just living in your property without giving you something in return, I don't want to be a freeloader." Fu said stubbornly.
"I guess I can see your point." Marinette acquiesced. "Tell you what, you can pay me in those lessons you were talking about." She came up with.
Fu sighed. "Fine." He agreed.
Marinette smiled in victory.
"But what about your parents?" Nooroo asked. "They're kind and giving, but they will wonder about Master Fu staying for free."
"I'll tell them that Master Fu is giving me Chinese lessons as payment, they should accept it." Marinette said.
"I can give you Chinese lessons on top of your magic lessons." Fu offered. "It will be useful for you to know the language when it comes to some enchantments and symbols."
"Really? That's great." Marinette smiled.
Hopefully, with a proper tutor, she'd finally be able to grasp her mother's language.
"So, any luck in finding the other Miraculous?" Fu asked.
"Unfortunately, no." Marinette shook her head. "I have my butterflies spread all throughout the city, but they haven't found anything yet."
"That's okay." Fu assured. "It is still early days yet."
Marinette sighed. "Will my Champions be able to defeat Catastrophe without the Ladybug Miraculous?" She asked.
"I am unsure." Fu answered honestly. "Catastrophe is obviously new to his powers, so he shouldn't have the destructive capabilities of an experienced wielder, but with his corruption, his capabilities are unpredictable, especially if the one who controls him knows how to make him stronger than he should be. And while the Miraculous battle is currently one on one, the thief could easily corrupt another Miraculous to turn the odds in their favour."
"Right." Marinette understood. "Why didn't this person just corrupt all of the Miraculous and send them out all at once?" She then asked.
"They can't." Fu answered. "The Miraculous are powerful and ancient objects, it would take a lot of magic to corrupt just one, and the power of more than one person to keep that corruption going for any sufficient length of time."
"Wait." Marinette said. "The corruption can wear off?"
"It can." Fu affirmed.
"They maybe all I need to do is keep fighting until the corruption wears off and then I can help the guy behind the Catastrophe mask." Marinette wondered.
Unfortunately, Fu shook his head.
"The person who corrupted the Cat Miraculous no doubt knows that their corruption won't stick and will reapply it when they see it weakening." He told her.
"And even if that wasn't the case, the fights between Catastrophe and your Champions still leave behind damage, and without the Ladybug Miraculous, that damage is permanent. Waiting until the corruption wears off could have devastating effects on Paris." Nooroo added.
Marinette hung her head. "You're right, waiting would just be too dangerous." She agreed.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll create the Champion that'll be able to take down Catastrophe soon." Nooroo landed on Marinette's head and patted her hair.
"I hope so, I don't want the fighting or destruction to go on any longer." Marinette said.
"The only way that can happen is to reclaim the Miraculous and to not give up." Fu told her.
"I'd never give up." Marinette declared. "And I'll recover all of the Miraculous."
"I know you will." Fu smiled. "Now, if you excuse me, my medicine has left me very tired."
"Alright, I'll see you when we have your accommodation sorted out." Marinette said, waving as she wheeled out of the room, Nooroo hiding in her purse.
"I'm afraid that you can't go, Adrien." Natalie informed her charge.
"But Natalie, everyone else will be there." Adrien protested. "And Chloe's the one running it."
"It's just not possible, Adrien." Natalie shut him down. "Your father isn't happy with your current behaviour and feels that you are falling behind in your studies."
"Maybe if he allowed me to have a normal life once in a while, I wouldn't be acting like this." Adrien shot back.
"Adrien, please, don't be difficult." Natalie pleaded.
"You think I'm being difficult, because I want to be a normal kid and go to a party?" Adrien laughed. "I'll show you difficult!"
Adrien stormed to his room, slamming the door loudly.
Natalie pinched her eyes, at a loss of what to do.
As soon as Adrien's door shut, he ran over to his window and threw it open.
"I'm going to that party whether they like it or not." He growled. "Claws Out!"
"Wow, this place looks great." Marinette said as she pushed herself into Sanctuaire de la Dame.
"Thanks, we just got done not that long ago." Nathaniel said from his place on one of the beanbags that had been brought in for the party.
"Nino's here and setting up his equipment." Alya reported.
"And the food is on its way." Sabrina added.
"Meaning that this party is almost ready to go." Chloe finished.
"Which is a good thing considering we've got a little over half an hour until the party starts." Sabrina checked her watch.
"Oh!" Chloe grabbed Sabrina's wrist to look at her friend's watch. "That's not much time at all. I need to touch up before I can consider myself presentable, all this work has messed up my hair."
Chloe hurried off to the closest bathroom in the mansion, Sabrina quickly following behind her.
"She hardly did anything." Nathaniel complained again.
"Just let it go." Alya said, sitting on another beanbag.
Marinette smiled and wheeled over to where Nino was setting up his turntables.
"How everything going?" She asked the DJ.
"Almost set." Nino said. "Just plugging some things in and deciding which tracks to start with."
"That's good." Marinette said. "Thanks for doing this."
"No probs." Nino waved off. "Playing for such a big party will hopefully get me some more gigs."
"It's only everyone from college." Marinette said.
"Yeah, hosted at the mysterious mansion that's been part of Paris yet been abandoned since before any of us were born. It's bound to give me some cred if I'm able to say I performed here." Nino said.
"If you say so." Marinette said.
Was Nino over-estimating what performing at Sanctuaire de la Dame would do for him, or did the property really come with that much fame. If it was the latter option, Marinette wondered if having the mansion-warming party was really that good of an idea after all.
'Oh, well. Too late now.' Marinette decided.
There was a knock at the front door and Alya opened it to reveal Marinette's parents, accompanied by Kim and Ivan, carrying the food for the party.
"Hi, honey!" Tom called over to his daughter. "Where do we put all this?"
"The tables over there!" Marinette called back, pointing to a line of covered tables to the side.
She pushed her way over to them as her parents and classmates unloaded the food onto the tables.
"Thanks for your help." Marinette said to Kim and Ivan.
"No problem." Kim and Ivan responded.
"So, do we get to explore the mansion?" Kim asked eagerly?
"Anywhere that isn't locked." Marinette confirmed. "Though there isn't much to see outside of the main hall."
"That's alright, I just want to look around." Kim said. "I'll be back before the party starts."
Kim then ran off to check out the mansion.
"Hey, we still have food to bring in." Ivan complained.
"It's alright." Tom patted the boy's shoulder. "It's only a few more plates, we won't need him."
"He should still help out." Ivan grumbled as he and Marinette's parents left for the rest of the food.
"Yay, pain au chocolat." Nathaniel smiled, picking up one of the pastries. "All the work has made me hungry."
"I think that you're going to need to eat more than that." Alya teased as she took a pastry for herself.
"What are you implying?" Nathaniel asked suspiciously.
"That you need to eat more." Alya pointed at him.
"I eat fine." Nathaniel defended himself.
"Dude, you're a walking twig." Nino joined in the teasing as he grabbed himself a plate and began filling it up to take back to his DJ booth with him.
"I am not, it's just genetics." Nathaniel's face was beginning to match his hair.
"Oh, are we teasing Nathaniel about his scrawniness?" Chloe asked as she and Sabrina returned.
"I am not scrawny, I am svelte." Nathaniel crossed his arms, getting pastry crumbs on himself in the process.
"Isn't that a common defence used by scrawny people?" Sabrina chipped in.
"Marinette, your friends are bullying me." Nathaniel moaned.
"Come on guys, that's enough." Marinette said, despite the fact that she was laughing at the teasing too. "Nathaniel, why don't you go check outside to make sure all the decorations in the garden are still up."
"Alright." Nathaniel sighed. "At least there the butterflies won't tease me."
With the joke over, Nino went back to his turntables while Alya helped Ivan and Marinette's parents set out the rest of the food.
Soon, everything was set up and the party was ready to begin.
"Come on in." Marinette invited, sitting by the open door as the crowd of people funnelled in.
Nino began playing music, inviting the party guests to start dancing with each other, while others went over to the food table or just chatted with each other.
"Hey, Marinette." Adrien said as he walked through the door after most of the guest had already arrived.
"Adrien, glad you could make it." Marinette said.
"Considering that you invited me personally, nothing could stop me from coming." Adrien winked.
Marinette was stunned for a second before rolling her eyes, deciding that Adrien was joking around.
"Well, considering that you're here because of me, you won't mind taking me onto the dance floor." Marinette said.
"Uh…" Adrien trailed off, not wanting to accidently offend Marinette again by bringing attention to the fact that she was in a wheelchair.
Marinette laughed at his reaction, causing Adrien's cheeks to heat up.
"What, you think I'm expecting you to pick me up and swing me around." She giggled.
Considering what happened the last time Adrien had offered to pick Marinette up, he could safely say that he knew Marinette wouldn't want that.
"I may not be able to dance in the traditional sense, but I can still have some fun being spun around on my wheelchair." Marinette said. "Come on."
Marinette turned and pushed herself towards the dance floor, Adrien following behind.
Watching them, Chloe pouted while Sabrina patted her back.
"Are you sure this is okay." Adrien checked as he grabbed the handlebars of Marinette's wheelchair.
"Yeah it's fine." Marinette said. "Just don't send me flying out my chair."
"I'll try not to." Adrien promised.
With that, he began pushing and pulling Marinette's wheelchair around the dance floor, popping it onto its back legs and spinning around in circles, taking care not to hit the other dancers around them or fling Marinette out of her chair. The two of them laughed at their antics until Adrien became too tired to push Marinette around anymore and they made their way off the dance floor.
"I never realised how heavy wheelchairs are." Adrien said, rolling his arms as they made their way to the buffet table.
"I know." Marinette laughed. "It was a challenge for me when I first started out. But now I've grown stronger and gotten used to pushing myself around. I bet I could lift you above my head it I tried." She added jokingly.
"That might not be as big of an accomplishment as you might think, I'm lighter than most other boys my age." Adrien joined in the joke.
Adrien looked over the food spread, wondering what to have first.
"Grab yourself a plate and go sit down." Marinette told him, indicating to the area of the room filled with beanbags. "I'll join to soon."
"Don't need to tell me twice." Adrien said.
He began to fill up his plate with at least one of each piece of food before picking up the plate and moving towards the seating area, looking almost comical with how much food he had piled on his plate.
"I wonder if he's one of those skinny types who can actually pack away a load of food." Alya said as she joined Marinette at the table, watching Adrien go.
Marinette shrugged.
Adrien sighed as he sat down on a beanbag, carefully placing his food on the floor next to him and taking some of the food off the top to snack on.
"Hungry?"
Adrien looked to his side, having not realised Nathaniel had been in the beanbag next to him when he sat down.
"Oh. A bit." Adrien answered awkwardly. "Nathaniel, right?"
The red-head nodded.
"I don't need to guess your name." He said.
The two sat in awkward silence. Well, it was more awkward for Adrien, considering what he tried to do as Catastrophe.
"So, how's things with Marinette working out?" Adrien brought up.
"What? Why do you ask?" Nathaniel looked at Adrien quizzically.
"Well, you did blurt out your confession in the middle of class. I was curious." Adrien justified.
"Oh god, don't remind me." Nathaniel groaned, burring his head in his hands.
"Well," He eventually showed his face again. "We didn't end up together, we just weren't meant to be."
"Really?" Adrien asked excitedly.
Nathaniel scowled. "You don't have to sound so happy about it."
"Sorry." Adrien said bashfully. "I'm sorry things didn't work out." He added.
"It's alright." Nathaniel waved off. "We both agreed after the date that we just didn't have romantic feelings towards each other and agreed to be friends."
"I'm glad you could work things out then." Adrien smiled.
On the inside, he felt so light. And Nathaniel didn't seem nearly as annoying as he had before, Adrien guessed he'd just got a bad first impression.
Back with the girls, Chloe joined them at the table, though she didn't take any food like Marinette and Alya had done.
"So, you were having fun." Chloe said none-to-subtly.
"Are you angry at me, angry at Adrien or angry at yourself?" Marinette asked perceptively.
Chloe slumped.
"I don't know." She answered honestly.
She looked over at Adrien, pouting again.
"You know, he's not going to forgive you unless you make the effort to be forgiven." Marinette offered her advice.
"I know." Chloe said. "I just don't know how he'll react."
"Well, you'll never know unless you go over there and talk to him." Alya added.
"Maybe I'm more comfortable not knowing." Chloe said hesitantly.
"Chloe." Marinette said sternly.
"Alright, fine." Chloe relented.
Chloe took a deep breath and let it out, beginning to walk stiffly over to where Adrien was talking to Nathaniel.
But before she could even make it a quarter of the way there, the door to the mansion slammed open to reveal a large and grumpy looking man followed by a stern and smartly dressed woman.
"Uh, call me crazy but I don't think they were invited to the party." Alya said.
The woman walked over to where Adrien was seated, followed by the large man.
"Adrien, please come home." Natalie said to her young charge.
"No." Adrien resisted. "I'm having fun here and making friends."
Natalie sighed.
"I know you are, Adrien, but your father is furious that you snuck out and wants you home immediately." She said.
"Well then," Adrien stood up to stare Natalie in the face. "He can just stay furious then. Because I'm not going."
"Adrien please, just come home, we can't leave without you." Natalie tried to appeal.
"Why don't you enjoy the party until I'm ready to go then?" Adrien offered. "You could use some loosening up, father works you too hard."
"Flattery isn't going to work." Natalie told him. "If you come home now, I'll do my best to convince your father to keep your punishment to a minimum."
"And bribery isn't going to work on me." Adrien shot back.
"If you're not going to come willingly, then you leave us not choice." Natalie said reluctantly.
Adrien yelled in protest as his bodyguard walked over to him and picked him up, throwing the struggling boy over his shoulder.
"Hang on, you can't do that to him." Nathaniel was surprised as he found himself standing up to defend Adrien.
"I'm afraid we can." Natalie corrected him. "We are employees of Mr Agreste, Adrien's father, and have been charged with bringing him home."
"Please, can't you let him stay." Marinette begged as she pushed herself over. "I swear nothing bad is going to happen at this party."
"I have no issue believing that Adrien would be fine here if he was allowed to stay, but his father has ordered for his immediate return." Natalie told her. "Now, if you excuse us."
Natalie and the bodyguard left, taking a struggling Adrien with them.
They left a silent party in their wake.
'I didn't get a chance to talk to him.' Chloe lamented to herself.
"I'm going to go to the garden for a bit." Marinette said. "I don't feel much like partying anymore."
"I'll join you." Alya said, agreeing with the sentiment.
Others also began to leave, though they headed for the front gate instead of the garden, the mood of the party thoroughly ruined for them by what had happened.
Meanwhile, Adrien struggled all the way back to the limo until he was forced inside.
On his finger, the Cat Miraculous pulsed stronger than it had before, and Adrien promised that he would not take his treatment lying down.
Author's note: Please comment
How is it that the chapters I intend to be short end up longer than planned, while the chapters I intend to be long to cover an important plot point end up being shorter than planned? It's a mystery.
I realised that calling Marinette's place 'the mansion' was getting a bit old, so I decided to give it a proper name like old buildings tend to have. Sanctuaire de la Dame translates out to 'sanctuary of the lady' in French, it was the best name I could think of as any time I tried to include butterfly in the name it didn't sound right. The 'lady' part has nothing to do with Nymph in story and is just meant to be a fun little coincidence.
Also, I thought it'd be fun if all the former Champions start using phrases pertaining to Nymph in everyday life, such as 'thank my lady' instead of 'thank god'. Tell me if you think it's a nice or bad idea and you can even offer your own phrases pertaining to Nymph to replace other regular phrases if you want.
And I've done some more drawing since last time, you can now find an updated and fully drawn version of Champion Lady Wi-Fi on my DeviantART.