Chapter 25: A New Beginning; A Bitter End

"Where are we?"

"Not quite home, but I'm afraid I cannot trust what those powers have done to Nooroo…"

"Nooroo? Look can I get some answers?" Adrien was irritated and tired. His arms burned, not just from holding Marinette, but from all the fighting he'd done. More mystery was not going to help his mood.

Master Fu went down a trap door underneath a matt in the basement of the house.

"Soon child, soon."

Adrien felt Marinette's breath on his chest. He was tired. He wanted to be home…although really now he had no home did he? He didn't have any parents to go back for. He breathed a hard breath through his lungs; strained and frustrated he followed the man who called himself Master Fu.

He noticed they were in some safe house underground. Strangely it was furnished somewhat homely. You could tell Master Fu had a specific style to his décor, which no doubt had something to do with his ethnicity. Some flower emblem appeared on a few things…it had a ying-yang in the middle…it reminded him of that book he had found at his fathers place. Everything was so intertwined and yet he felt like he didn't know anything about it.

"You can rest her here. Perhaps a bath would be best for her wounds."

"She's out cold…"

"Well yes…true."

"Why are we here?" Adrien looked rather fierce at the moment. Master Fu knew not to judge the boy after what had happened.

"Mr. Adrien Agreste, please tell me you remember my face. I suppose I do not always use a cane, but surely Plagg can tell you."

"A cane?" Adrien squinted just as Plagg appeared.

"Master Fu! I'm sorry for Adrien! I totally remember you. He never questioned how I ended up in his possession…I suppose mysterious rings just end up in his home all the time." Plagg teased.

"I can't say I did as much as I should have…" Adrien said thoughtfully. "But I do remember helping you now on my first day of school…"

"Ah, it was I. You and Marinette seemed the best people to give those Miraculous to. I hadn't realized that your father had one of the Kwamis either. All the same, it seems that for giving you two the Miraculouses of yin and yang you have kept the balance of each other's powers in equilibrium. She is here because of you and vice versa."

"But…why does my father have one?"

"I cannot be certain yet…I have a suspicion but…I am afraid for the result of what his darkness has awakened…"

"What do you mean?"

"I will let you see for yourself." Master Fu sighed. He turned on a television. "Let me prepare something for you two…perhaps I can get something for those wounds."

Adrien looked at it and saw the news coverage. Hawk Moth had hit the skies near his house and made a vow to find and destroy Ladybug and CatNoir… now that he knew who they were…could they be safe? Then he left in a smoke of Akumas… probably to find a new hideaway. The point was his father was not coming back.

He noticed a strange marking on his father's chest…or rather Hawk Moth's chest just before he disappeared. The party was ruined, everyone left in a fright and it was likely people were looking for Marinette and himself.

"That was a symbol much like a Death's-head Moth. I am afraid whatever darkness he absorbed from those akumas...it has overcome him…whatever goal your father had in using the Miraculous…it is a hope he craved for more deeply than anything. It is peculiar that he believes now that you are not of any importance. Something he had told himself would only be accomplished through a great power. If you must know, I suspect you're mother was a Miraculous user as well Adrien. I did not recognize it at first…I may have been more hesitant to give you Plagg. I fear she told you're father of her secret and he stole the Kwami Nooroo as retribution. You're father may be looking to use the ultimate power for creation, but his heart is so dark only destruction will come. He perhaps once could have handled a Miraculous but now, forcing this kwami to do his bidding will not end well. It is not a partnership and so one will end up …falling out in the end. If what we have deducted is true he has lost his end goal to find his love has now twisted into a game of power and darkness. One cannot fight for purity and love if it uses dark means to get there."

"My mother has something to do with this? Then is…is my power…destruction…do you think I was fated to be the black cat?"

"I will know more when I revise and relook on the past with these new eyes. It is a guess…it may take some digging. But…your power, that destruction means starting new. You've used it to fight for Marinette and everyone; the yang or the yin can be used for either side of good or bad. Creation can create evil and destruction can start a new path. Destruction can be detrimental and creation can make up for that loss. It is a give and take, no one less good than the other. You're father is not evil, nor is his kwami, but some darkness in his heart has clouded that; his mind is weaker than that pain and now he is clinging to the identity of Hawkmoth and that power instead of the person of the father you know. Perhaps love is the greatest strength of all, but also one's greatest weakness. You two must remember you can go rogue as well…be sure that…even if something happens as it did, the other must not find darkness as a source of comfort. All things need balance, but evil does not need overcome that which is good in the face of brokenness." Master Fu left a bowl of water and rag by Marinette and walked over shutting the Television off again. "If I only could explain how long it took me to prepare this place. Getting a signal down here is…difficult."

"I don't understand it…" Adrien banged his fist against a wall learning against it. "I can't…wrap my head around all this…its just-"

Plagg looked concerned.

"I will advise you to return home when the day breaks however… Marinette will not be able to return to her parents until she is much more healed…and she cannot face him until Tikki has recuperated. Keeping the both of you safe now that you have been exposed will be much more complex." Master Fu added. "But…if there is ever a time when either of you are unsafe…find your place here. Perhaps you both must find a way to adapt yourselves back into your regular lifestyles without tempting the suspicion or lies of the public now."

Adrien looked to her. To think…after all this time… a girl in his class he'd come to have feelings for was Ladybug…and his father was Hawkmoth. What he'd called home had been lost; perhaps in the end Marinette was all he would have. She's the only person now he could confide in completely.

"Do you know then…where the other Miraculous are? My father said he wanted all of them. Not just ours anymore."

"Because he has found a way to take their energy…and…" Master Fu saw Wayzz out of the corner of his eye by the doorway. "I had yours and hers. I had been entitled to keep them after the last set of Miraculous holders moved on. I have been akin to their secrets and felt nobody better but you two to have them. I do not know where the others are however... on the other hand, I will leave you two to rest."

"You must know more?"

"When it is the right time. Just take care of your friend and your own wounds first. Remember, you cannot just care for another; you must care for yourself as well. A relationship where one cares more for the other and neglects their self, only pains the other because they see that neglect. Think of her and remember wallowing in her pain or wallowing in just your own will hurt one or the both of you."

Master Fu left the room into another.

"Why didn't you tell them?" Wayzz asked.

"Adrien is broken from his father's involvement. I have a great suspicion that his mother was the Miraculous holder of Duusu back in the day… I also suspect that is why his father is in possession of Nooroo… but if it came down to it… if perhaps Marinette found herself at the mercy of his father again…or perhaps his father got to him… I cannot trust he would not give into revealing this place. He is a strong boy with a good moral compass but it will be tempted to face away from the North during this time. I can only hope their relationship with each other will keep them on track."

"Are you sure this is the right thing?"

"I cannot be sure. But I know for a fact…this will be a trying time ahead. I cannot risk putting others, even if the Kwami could partner with them, in the position of new superheroes. They would not be able to navigate the power like those two. I am afraid Nooroo might sense them. For now it is up to them."

He looked at the cot. Her dress was mangled.

At least he wasn't as badly torn up. She had nothing to else to wear. Her face was strewn with little cuts.

Why would he just leave them here like this? Should she have some water to drink or something? He sighed. He was irritable.

He spotted the cloth and bowl.

He was going to have to look after wasn't he?

"She doesn't deserve those scars." He muttered. He knew he was being cynical; which wasn't him normally. But Marinette looked so…beaten. He began to wash off her wounds a bit, as Plagg was rather quiet watching. Even Plagg knew now was not the time for teasing.

As a Kwami … this meant there were dark times ahead. He knew that he could not sense Tikki because he was her opposite; they were partners but they also had a fault. It was much harder to attune to the other's energy. He should have tried harder…

"But she does deserve a boy who would protect her from his own blood does she not? Sometimes blood is not thicker than the love we share with the people whom take the time to understand us."

Master Fu appeared again. Adrien nearly knocked over the bowl of warm water.

Adrien took his jacket off and put it over her shoulders like a blanket. At least when she got up she'd have something to keep her warm and cover herself with; the dress did not intend to protect nor cover her wounded shoulders.

"I don't see how we can return. Hawk Moth knows our faces."

"He will not appear in obvious forms…but he will not strike you directly. If he is clever he will know making your identity public will only make it harder for him to get to the pair of you. The public would protect; his threats will only mean the most when whatever new powers he has attained force the public against you."

"I never thought that this would get so-"

"Mpmmh…"

Adrien heard it. "Marinette?"

She pushed herself up, and the jacket fell onto her lap. She winced and looked around. Where was she?

"Hey, it's okay now."

"I'm so sorry Adrien… it's all my fault…"

"I don't get it, how is it your fault?"

"I … I made you walk into this… I couldn't protect Tikki…it's not me…I-"

"My father's decision was his own not yours. In fact it's my fault for not being there. I should have stayed with you when Nathalie came. Showing face publically was my father's job. Not mine. You're as you are because of me."

"No. I'm not. I chose to protect you. Even if I lost Tikki I'm not going to stop fighting. I can't now. You need to get your father back. I'll find a way to heal all of the Akumas."

"He's not my father anymore. It just doesn't feel like it." Adrien looked off to the side. She glanced his eyes and saw their cloudy haze.

"Adrien…" Marinette reached off the cot to grab his hand. "Please…"

His eyes widened at her grasp.

"I want to do everything I can to help. Anything…"

"I-" Adrien began when he took a step back and happened to put his foot on the remote for the television set.

After a small bit of fuzz the news came back on.

"…with no sign of Gabriel Agreste and Adrien Agreste anywhere, suspicions are flying around the area…where they involved with the masked menace Hawk Moth? Where are Cat Noir and Ladybug and what has this blatent vendetta mean for Paris? And with the police's findings of tanks which supposedly held the missing water from the city…things are not looking good."

"Adrien no!" Marinette felt his hand escape from her grasp as he ran quickly out of the room, just as Master Fu was entering.

"He's leaving the safe house?!" Master Fu looked wide eyed.

Marinette knew that if he tried to return home…it was too much pressure for him to put on himself all at once. She still had many questions but for now…she had to do something to help.

Adrien would not end up being the stand in for his father's actions...and those accusations were too hard for him to take on alone...

She just had to do something.