「CHAPTER 14」

It had passed a week, and still, Adrien was thinking about his father's offer. He felt awful not telling Marinette that he had encountered his father that day, but he didn't want to worry her and… He didn't want to tell her that he was seriously thinking about it. After all, his father was right about one thing: He didn't know Ladybug as well as his mother… At least, that's what he thought that day, but the more he thought about it, the more he wasn't that sure about it. Sure, his mother had always been the gentlest of the two… But, if his memory worked well, she was also the one that had insisted on him studying home and sometimes, her mother would have that strange smile that didn't reach her eyes… As if she was hiding things. Still, that was unimportant. Besides, with his mother back… Maybe his father would really stop his actions. But who assured him of that?

He sighed, noticing a petit hand patting his leg under the Gryffindor table. He turned to Marinette, who smiled lightly. He returned it, if only slightly, when suddenly, some owls enter the Great Hall and a little one crossed their entire table until it landed in front of Adrien.

"Hey there, little one" he said, fondly, and look at the legs, which were carrying a letter and opened his eyes, in surprise "It's from our master!"

"What?!" Marinette almost shouted.

Without knowing it, she had called everyone's attention at the table and their classmates looked at them, realizing what Adrien had in his hands.

"Oy, Agreste" Kim suddenly commented, making Marinette and Adrien to bolt from their seats "Who is writing to you?"

"Ehm… My father! He maybe wants to know how I'm doing…" he said, embarrassingly and got up "Excuse me!"

He got out of the Great Hall and Marinette followed him. They directed themselves towards the yard and once they were out and making sure no one was around, they opened the letter.

"Gosh… I'm starting to reconsider taking Chinese classes" Marinette groaned "Well, if you could translate it to me…"

Adrien smirked, his eyes went towards the paper in his hands and he cleared his throat.

Dear Adrien,

I hope this arrives early because your last letter set me on edge.

The people at your school know about the attack in London and they are suspicious that your class was not kidnapped, as they had thought. This is not good for all of you, because you will be questioned when you arrive. You'll need a plan for that, as I can't say for how long they will stay this calm.

In any case, although I don't like that some identities have been revealed, I do understand that the situation was too serious and it seems that these dark wizards are very powerful. Please, you must be incredibly careful. You do not know for sure if they don't know who you all are. This reveal could work in our favor though: You will work better if the trust is good between you two.

About the book… I can't say that I like that so much information about us is in the hands of wizards. All I can tell you is that you mustn't allow anyone to obtain the miraculous, especially the ones your partner and you are carrying.

I can't give you advice with wizards, but there must be at least one that you can probably trust. Choose well and maybe you will be able to make it out of the magic world.

Last… I am sorry to hear about your father, but you mustn't get swayed by him. Even though he's your family, even though he has figured you out (I won't ask how, but you should have been careful)… It doesn't change that he has been terrorizing Paris for too long. The dark wizards are the priority for both of you, as they are stronger and a bigger threat, but if you can defeat Hawkmoth without risking yourselves too much, do it. The miraculous are meant to be used for good, not evil, no matter the circumstances.

As always, a pleasure. Please, take care of one another,

Master Fu.

P.S.: About your mother… Without knowing what caused the magic coma, I can't say if there is another way of recovering her. It depends on what caused it. If there is a time limit though, I can't say if I would be in time. But, remember my words, Adrien, you're not alone. You can overcome this. Have faith. Have courage. You can keep going on.

"That is just great…" Adrien huffed "Instead of solutions, he gives us more problems to solve and some advice"

"Calm, Adrien" Marinette laid a firm hand on his shoulder "We can't expect him to be an encyclopedia and, in any case… We can't say if the wizards know about us in some way, we also know that there is at least a wizard who wants to help thanks to Alya's discovery and about your mum… If we know what caused the coma, we might be able to help her, Adrien. Let's take it easy, okay?"

Adrien took a deep breath and let his head fall to her shoulder "I don't know what I would do without you, Marinette. Thank you" She gave a small pat to his head "We should follow his advice on looking for help… And I know just the wizard" he smirked and she raised an eyebrow "Come on, Marinette, how many wizards in this school with a gargoyle as 'protection' have you seen in the castle?" she opened her eyes in surprise and he smiled "Exactly, my lady. Come on"

There were practically no wizards around the big manor except that wizard named Voldemort, himself and his kwami. This one was silently eating his raisins, sending him a few worried looks. Gabriel shook his head at him, knowing what his kwami was thinking, but being perfectly aware of the dark wizard in the room. One wrong move and he would be the one that would have to worry.

He couldn't stop thinking about what the wizard had said. If he spoke the truth, it meant that the five heroes were inside the castle… And though Voldemort didn't seem to know about their identities, Gabriel was quite sure that he could figure them out. He wouldn't, though. Not at the moment. If Voldemort could read his thoughts in any giving minute, he was sure that he could reach to that too and, at that moment, Gabriel just was on the side of the dark wizards… If only to survive.

"I'm actually curious about one thing" Voldemort suddenly commented, making both almost jump "For someone who is a god, I can't understand why you are putting up with the slavery. As much as I can see, you don't agree with him"

If Gabriel hadn't been sure with who he was talking, now he was. Suddenly, Voldemort got up of his seat, getting closed to them.

"You are quite powerful" he commented at Nooroo "I may not like your powers, as they are related to understand people and help them, but I know that they are powerful enough to engage in a battle with the prime gods"

"... He is my master" Nooroo replied easily, and colder than Gabriel expected "And, in any case, you have no business in what we decide to do"

"Quite the tongue you have…" Voldemort smirked evilly "It may not be my business, but I'm sure you'll like your master more after today…" he got up and looked to Gabriel "Get up and come with me. We must prepare everything for their arrival at Hogsmeade."

Nooroo only gulped at his side.

Marinette couldn't tell if she was more nervous about seeing the headmaster, or about telling him this. She knew that the choices that they had were close to none, but this… She noticed Adrien's hand grabbing hers and she took a deep breath before knocking at the door.

"Come in" Both of them entered the room and walked towards the headmaster. "Ah, you have finally come to see me, both of you" the headmaster told them with a smile, once they were in "Please, have a seat"

"So… You know?" Adrien asked, arching an eyebrow.

"That all of you are muggle-borns?" he said "Yes. And that five of you, including you two, possess the magical jewels known as miraculous? Also, yes"

"But… How?" Marinette couldn't help asking.

"First, a group of muggle students had disappeared out of thin air the same day we had taken you… Second, you only would perform magic during classes and it seemed weaker than the rest of the students… Third, the attack Hawkmoth did in London and that you two with three of your classmates appeared on McGonagall's office" he looked at them from above his glasses "After that, it was just a matter of making conclusions"

"I… I apologize" Marinette mentioned "We should have told someone from the beginning, but our kwamis…"

"Were probably against it and I can't blame them for that" he interrupted, with a kind smile "I can't say we have had a good past relationship with that and I'm saddened by the fact that you couldn't trust me because of it… But, this has changed."

"Yes" Adrien quickly mentioned "I think there's a group of dark wizards that want to have our jewels. We managed to keep our identities secret from them, we think, but… We are not powerful enough to confront them and if we keep going like this, the world could be in danger." he cleared his throat "We think we have a way of going back using Diagon Alley, but… it seems that it has a password"

"Yes, and with the password, you would be back to your world, but do you think that would stop the dark wizards, as you have mentioned?" Dumbledore replied easily and shook his head "Even if you went back, you wouldn't be safe from them. No, we need to confront them and make them and the students at my school to forget about your visit. And most possibly, you'll need to do the same with your classmates, for their safety. I won't ask you or your teammates to do the same, as I know you won't comment nothing of this magical world, but we cannot say for sure the same about the rest, can we?" Marinette lowered her head, feeling a bit guilty of doing that, but the headmaster was right about that, so she nodded in agreement "Good. About confronting the wizards… There might be a way, but it's up to your kwamis and you two to agree on that. Ask them about merging together and with that, you may stand a chance. If not, I will step in"

"Thank you" Marinette appreciated "We will and talk to you as soon as possible"

"Enjoy your Halloween at Hogsmeade" the headmaster replied easily.

Both Marinette and Adrien got out of the office and went towards their common room, which in that moment it was empty.

"I can't believe we are so lucky having this headmaster" Adrien smiled "But merging together with them? What does that mean?"

"It means…" Plagg stated, coming out of his jacket "That I would merge with you" both teenagers raised an eyebrow at that, and Tikki giggled. Plagg only sighed "It's… not a normal practice. We don't usually do it. We would need to have extreme trust in you and you two in us respectively."

"But, what does this merge do?" Marinette asked.

"You both would have in your hands the powers of creation and destruction in its whole" Tikki answered "And the time limit would lengthen as you would be using our powers as gods. In exchange, though, we would have the ability to swap with you. We would have the ability to control your body, your actions… That's why complete trust is necessary for that."

Marinette gulped at that information "Okay, so… Maybe we all have to really think about this. Let's take this day as a break and go have fun now that is Halloween"

Adrien couldn't really disagree with her, as he also need to think about it, so they both got dressed and went down to meet with the rest of the class and the students of Hogwarts in the hall.

The journey to the village passed faster, and there were a lot of things to see in the village. Some wanted to look at the shops, others at the cursed house, and a few wanted to drink something to get warmer, so they decided to divide into groups and meet later in the center of the village.

Marinette waved a little goodbye to Adrien and went towards her best friend, Mylène and Ivan, and Nathaniel who all want to go shopping. Chloé had also wanted to go, but wanted to keep an eye on Lila too, so she had gone in her group who had decided to have a drink. Part of Marinette smiled, knowing that the blonde was so stubborn on protecting her and thanked her internally. She didn't think something too bad could happen in any case. There were too many people outside due to being Halloween. So, it was okay.

Lila wasn't even worried that Chloé and Sabrina had decided on following her. They could only reach that far and she, knowing that she had the class in her hands… Getting separated from them was easy enough. A few words to Kim and Rose, and she was able to slip away through a dark alley. After all, she had received a note of Hawkmoth needing her there for the miraculous and that was all she needed.

When she heard some movement behind, she turned on her heels, completely enthusiastic about working again as an akuma. However, the shadow that appeared wasn't Hawkmoth, but a man in dark clothes she didn't recognize that sent her a dark smirk.

"Nice to meet you, Lila Rossi" his voice felt as if a bucket of cold water had hit her. She saw him raised his wand and she backed away to the wall, nowhere else to run. She gulped knowing that, right now, she had lost "You are going to help me"

Tikki was very happy on hearing her owner laughing and having fun. Despite the stress, Marinette was being able to being an actual teenager and pass her time with her best friend and classmates, looking at the magical things with wonder. It felt good.

They had entered half an hour later inside a shop with sweets and were comparing them to the ones that they had in France when, suddenly, the door opened. The few people inside screamed in an instant and some tried to run, but a flick of a wand and they were on the ground. They were dressed in black clothes, all in a group. With them, though reluctant, was Gabriel Agreste. At his side, with a blank and weird look, was Lila Rossi. Tikki heard the gasp of surprise coming from her owner, and she seemed to try for a way out to get dressed, but it was impossible.

"You better get on your knees" one said, with a cackle "Unless you all want to die"

"It won't have to happen, of course" another one said, calmer and who seemed to be the boss "We just know that some heroes carrying powerful powers are between the French students. If you give them up, no one will die today. If not, you'll meet your destiny."

Trembling slightly, Ivan commented "They are not here"

"Maybe, but they will come" he smirked and turned to Gabriel "Transform" Gabriel seemed to click his tongue, annoyed, but a look at his jacket and he obeyed, transforming himself in Hawkmoth. Except for Alya and Marinette, the rest just looked at him in shock "Good, come here. I am going to tell you the power you are going to give her"

And though it was obvious that Hawkmoth was disagreeing, he approached him and let him whisper in his ear. Seconds later, Hawkmoth let out a dark butterfly into Lila's earrings. A second passed and Lila was turned into an akuma. Her design was different than any other, the dress assimilated the form of a flame and Tikki was able to prove her feeling on what her powers were when she formed a fireball in her hands and throw it to a nearby shop, which started to be consumed by the fire.

Tikki gulped. Marinette, along with the rest of her classmates, was terrified in a corner. The phones didn't work in that world either. All of them were just… trapped. When someone out would realize about it and go there… They could be all gone.

Tikki bit her lip. She knew their rules by memory; she was the one that imposed them, but it was in these moments that she wished she hadn't. She knew, when Voldemort approached Lila again and started whispering in her ear that, if she did nothing, all of them, including her owner, would die. However, the rules explicitly said that she was not to interfere in human affairs. She just had to let them die because their power as gods were usually too powerful for the human world.

Tikki trembled close to Marinette's side. She just had to lose another Ladybug, but they were supposed to restore order, so… Tikki knew. She absolutely knew. But when she saw Lila charging fire in her hands, big enough to burn the entire shop… She knew she had to do something. And against her own judgment and rules, Tikki flew far from Marinette quickly, before her own owner had time to catch her or ordered around and just when the fire was let out, Tikki transformed little enough to not disturb the planet, but big enough also to stop the large fire.

The earth shook at her feet and the fire hit the wall of water she had created quickly, but the fire didn't hurt anyone and though the entire shop had trembled at her wave of power, it didn't move. Just when the smoke finally disappeared, all the wizards, Hawkmoth and the six students present (including Marinette and Lila) were able to see the goddess of all creation. Her image was enough to make most of them back away, with the exception of the one in charge, who seemed to smirk.

"Goddess of creation, I presume" he said to her with a glint in his eyes.

If Tikki looked bothered before; in that moment, her eyes flashed and they were only able to see fury. This time, the earth shook more and the students gulped at her sight and the magic that was coming from her body.

Though usually Plagg would be sleeping while Adrien was with his friends, after everything that had happened he couldn't help being hyper-alert. Maybe it was because he knew the father of the boy worked around the village or maybe because of the threat of the wizards… But in any case, Plagg was very aware of everything. He was almost thankful that he was going with the group that wanted to visit a house called the Shrieking Shack as the place was far from the center of the village.

The group of Adrien's classmates were still walking in an almost empty street to their destination when, suddenly, a powerful wave shook all the ground below. For a second, Plagg thought it had been an earthquake, but felt seconds later the energy that was coming from the ground and gulped when he recognized the magic.

'Damn it' it was all he could think about and try to poke at Adrien to warn him.

It took almost fifteen minutes, but Adrien opened his shirt and Plagg came out, noticing in a second that they were in a bathroom.

"Plagg, what do you…?" Adrien asked.

However, Plagg interrupted him, impatient "We don't have time. I have to go to where that energy has come from"

"The earthquake?"

"Not a normal earthquake, kid. That was Tikki's power" he replied, fast.

"Tikki?" he arched an eyebrow "But what does that mean?"

"It means that our girls are in trouble, boy. And that I must go now there before my sugarcube does something that will regret later" he sent him a serious look.

Adrien was shaken, but nodded at him "You guide, I'll be outside to help if needed"

"Thanks, kid" Plagg allowed himself to smile.

Nooroo trembled inside. There were only three things that could send him into a nervous fearful state. One was his current master. The other two were the kwamis of creation and destruction. And that was how he was now. Not scared, not fearful… He was actually terrified. Tikki usually never got mad and he knew from experience that it was a terrible idea if she was, more if she had surpassed her own rules.

He could feel Gabriel sensing his hesitance and attitude, and though he didn't mention it, he was questioning him silently, so Nooroo answered him.

'Having the goddess of creation as such is bad for all of us, including you'

'Yes, well…' Gabriel trailed off, his eyes falling to Voldemort, who was in front of him 'I would love to, but that is going to be impossible'

"It's terrible" he heard Voldemort saying "to see a goddess bowing herself to humans and, worse, to those without magic"

"Who I serve is not your business, dark wizard" they heard her retort.

"Except that your owner must be here, is she not?" he pointed out and he saw through the connection how he rounded Lila with his free arm "It's a pity she will die with the rest of this shop, but you can save them if you give all your jewels to me"

"Keep wishing" she replied, easily.

"That's bad because you can hide one saving saying it was a reaction, but I know you are forbidden to interfere" Voldemort smirked.

Her eyes narrowed at him, but Nooroo could see her thoughtful look. A second later, she seemed to smirk. "True" she conceded "But, the other kwamis cannot surpass me, and the master is not here. I can ignore my rules for today"

The ground below grunted when her energy was released again, all the fearful faces coming once more, and Nooroo panicked.

'Please, master, you have to detransform. Lila will keep her powers until you take them away, I promise… But please, listen to me' he spoke for what it look like the first time 'If we don't do something right now, no one at this side will survive'

'And what in the name of hell can you do against her' his master thought, dryly.

'... Not much' he admitted 'But enough to give Plagg some time to appear. He will come because of her, but until then…'

His master seemed to ponder about it, but he let his transformation drop. Nooroo trembled a little at his side before taking one of his butterflies, turning it black, and directed to Tikki who didn't see it until the last moment. It was late, though, and the butterfly had gone into her body. She turned to him, furious, and Nooroo was hardly able to minimize the damage her waves were creating.

"Nooroo" she huffed, a warning "Take out your butterfly from my body"

"You need to calm yourself, Tikki…" he tried to say.

"These wizards are disrupting the balance" she said, venomous.

"I understand that, but this is not the way and you know it"

Even though he was sure he wasn't convincing her a lot, he was making her think, which was good enough for him to keep her occupied. On the other side, the dark wizards had taken some step backs and seemed that they were considering a new plan, the dark lord obviously analyzing how powerful Tikki could be or if she would seriously would carry with her waves.

When the wizards seemed to have made up their minds, a black blur suddenly phased through the door and went towards Tikki. Nooroo only sighed when seeing him, thanking their luck, which was funny to think about, as this was Plagg he was talking about.

"I hope you all haven't started the party without me" he seemed to grin.

&&& I know, I know... I've been so busy and watching a lot of TV shows and I had to study for my exams... ETC.

Anyway, I know it's a bit late but here it is ^^"

Things sure have escalated quickly, right? There are a lot of things that I'm thinking of adding, but all with time as the POVs of the characters have started to align in some parts.

I'm not sure when I will be able to publish another chapter, but I'll try to do it as soon as I can.

Lots of love everyone and, as always, thank you, everyone, for the votes, kudos, stars, reviews, follows and etc :) You help a lot! &&&