Nino's concentration was interrupted by his girlfriend sighing loudly by his side. He stopped looking at the screen of his computer to see that Alya was stretching, then standing up.
''Babe?'' He asked. They had been doing their research for about an hour with no results, but the fox heroine was not known for giving up this early.
''I'm just getting some water'' She said as she left his room. Nino shrugged then continued.
When Alya came back, instead of sitting down to work again she looked over his shoulder to see his screen. Nino was looking at the myriad of links he found after starting with the Italian embassy official page (That was in italian only) one by one. He still hadn't found one with the addresses of their members or anything remotely close to a clue to where Lila might be living right now.
''I think they hid it on purpose, babe'' Commented Alya, then sipped her water. ''Or it was classified information to begin with'' She continued after he stubbornly kept trying to translate Italian to French only to find it was another web filled with advice for lost tourists.
''I still have a couple pages left to check'' He said with little hope. His girlfriend shook her head.
''Just think about it, her house got attacked and she's a politician's kid. Yeah the media is pretty convinced it was Chat Noir who did it, but the Italians are not familiar with our heroes, they probably concluded it was a terrorist attack or something'' Said the fox heroine, sounding convinced of her own hypothesis. Well, she convinced him too. He stretched.
''What do we do then? This was our task to help the team'' He asked, knowing she had an answer because she would sound a lot more depressed if she had just given up.
''Trixx!'' Alya called, and the little kwami came to her floating after a little moment. Both Trixx and Wayzz had their own little corner on Nino's room to hang out when they knew no one would suddenly come in.
''Yes?'' Asked the tiny god, and Alya smiled.
''I'm a fox, right?'' The question took both kwamis and Nino by surprise, all of them looked at the reporter rising their eyebrows in confusion.
''Ummm… I'm a fox, you are the holder of the Fox kwami'' Clarified Trixx, still not sure where Alya was going.
''Foxes have good tracking abilities, like smell and eyesight'' She continued ignoring what the Kwami just said.
''Babe, where are you going with this?'' Asked Nino chuckling, entertained with his girlfriend antics but still a bit confused.
''It's simple, I just need to bond with Trixx so I get the abilities of a fox to track Lila'' She said as if she had the best idea ever.
''Or we could ask Adrien to do that…'' Said Nino suddenly hopeful, and Alya looked at him like he just ate the last bite of cake she was saving after a long day of drooling about it.
''But-'' She was about to argue when Trixx interrupted her
''Bonding with a kwami is not that easy, or fast, or simple'' Said the tiny fox, blunt as always. ''You have great qualities for the power of illusion, Alya, but you lost some connection with me for a while and are just now getting it back. It's a slow process, the Ladybug and the Chat Noir have been heroes permanently for longer, that's why they have bonded with Tikki and Plagg'' Nino kind of expected that already, since he was not feeling any different either after spending the last couple of weeks with Wayzz. But Alya looked extremely disappointed.
''Is it because I fell for Lila's lies?'' She asked sadly. Everytime that particular topic came out, his girlfriend would get so regretful he wanted to punch Lila himself. But he felt guilty for the same reasons, so he knew words of comfort didn't do much. Only time and making up to their friends would placate their feelings.
Trixx nodded, then floated closer to the girl to pat her cheek. ''Like I said, it will take time, but this will only make you even stronger, and our bond will eventually be indestructible'' That made Alya feel better because she smiled instantly. Nino grinned too.
''What about me? Am I a good turtle or nah?'' Asked the DJ jokingly looking at Wayzz, but he was actually kind of nervous about the answer.
''You're perfect bro'' Said the turtle kwami ''Ladybug did a great job choosing you two, I don't even think we needed a new guardian'' As soon as Wayzz said that Trixx started shaking his head.
''She was bonded when she had to choose, and balance was not completely achieved yet between her and Chat Noir. You know that Wayzz'' Commented the tiny fox.
''What do you mean?'' Asked Alya.
''When Ladybug bonds with her kwami, she gets a luck boost. But that is not a good thing, since meanwhile Chat Noir suffers from bad luck. If those two remained distant and not in tune with each other, it would only get worse, they are a pair after all'' Explained Trixx, making the couple open their eyes widely at the implications.
''So, Marinette was just lucky when she choose us?'' Asked Nino.
''She's a very powerful Ladybug with a lot of potential. I believe she was probably lucky even before bonding with Tikki. That's the only explanation I have for her being surrounded by so many worthy wielders of the miraculous, including you two'' Finished the fox, and Wayzz just decided he was done with the topic because he went back to his spot. The fox saw that and followed him and Alya thought they were silently communicating that they were talking too much. The fox did have a tendency of revealing a lot. Maybe they weren't supposed to know that?
''Do you think they know this, babe? Adrien and Marinette, I mean'' Pondered Nino after a short silence. Alya shrugged.
''I don't know'' She said, still digesting the new information.
''It might be a good thing. If they don't know, I mean'' Commented Nino. ''I know Adrien wouldn't like that he being with Marinette takes away her extreme good luck. He can be such a martyr sometimes, he might become very conflicted if he knew this''
Alya looked conflicted herself, too, Nino noticed.
''Babe, I know truth is your thing and all, but don't tell them this. At least not yet'' He suggested. He hated hiding stuff from their friends but he was certain that Adrien and Marinette's relationship was not ready for this.
Chat Noir followed his lady after leaving the two agents behind. He snapped out of his shock after hearing Plagg's name being brought up by a complete stranger, and noticed the direction they were going to.
They both landed beside a specific window on the Couffaine boat-house. The light was still on despite being almost 1AM on a school day. Was no one on their little team actually sleeping? Thought the cat absently as Ladybug called for Luka.
''Come in'' Said the older boy as soon as he saw who was outside his room. Chat Noir noticed he looked like a mix between someone that drank a lot of coffee but it didn't do anything for them. There was something familiar about how fidgety he was and how low energy he was acting at the same time, but he couldn't place it.
Then they saw the papers on the floor, a bunch of eggs bundled on a corner and in the middle of the room, the grimoire. Oh.
''You have been using the snake miraculous'' Pointed out the cat hero, pretty sure of his conclusion. His lady still didn't understand what was going on, looking between both boys with confusion. Luka nodded.
''How much?'' Asked Chat, and finally Ladybug seemed to pick up on the situation.
''You've been using the snake miraculous to... '' She didn't finish, distracted by all the notes on the floor. She picked one of the papers and Luka made a face that indicated he didn't like that at all, but decided to not complain. Chat Noir smirked.
''He's been studying for the equivalent of months, now'' Commented Sass, not sounding particularly phased or worried for his holder. Ladybug gaped.
''Luka!'' She scolded him, and Chat enjoyed every second of it. He never thought he'd see the usually chill and calm guitarist look like a little child who just got caught stealing candy.
''I'm fine I swear! I can take it'' He raised both arms defensively, then collected himself ''I checked with Sass first, turns out this way of using the snake miraculous is not that unorthodox'' He said, smiling proudly.
Ladybug sighed, then sat down, doing her best to avoid crumbling any of the notes on the floor. Chat did the same, he might not have spent virtually months studying an ancient language that night, but he was still tired.
''What have you discovered?'' Asked the red heroine, apparently accepting that there was no way of convincing Luka that what he did was wrong. The blond didn't think it was, he might have a newfound admiration for the guitarist, in fact.
''Oh, well… Not as much as I'd like to, yet. But I know that this book is composed of a bunch of stories, of that I'm sure'' He said, lifting the grimoire and opening one of the pages to show it to the heroes. It had drawings of all the jewels on it. ''Each of these stories teach a lesson about the jewels, the kwamis, the box or the heroes of the past that wielded them. The one I'm working on first is this one'' He pointed at one of the pages he had the book open on. ''And if I understood correctly, it talks about a sort of glamour that protects our identities when we are transformed'' As soon as he said that last part, both heroes opened their eyes and leaned in, interested.
''The way it works, is that only people that know the user very well or is very close to you can pick up who you are behind the mask. But they need some good clues too, it's not easy. For the rest, the story has a quote that, badly translated, says something like: ´´Only when the butterfly leaves the cocoon, the ants can see its shadow´´'' Explained the guitarist, doing his best to remember that last part. Chat was confused.
''Butterfly? Is it talking about Hawkmoth?'' He asked, and Ladybug and Luka simultaneously shook their heads.
''No Kitty, it's a metaphor, right?'' She said, and Luka nodded a bit too fast.
''Yes! This whole book is filled with them, on top of translating I need to solve riddles to understand what it's trying to say'' He closed the book ''But I think that one means that you need really hard evidence to tell who a hero is if you don't know them personally outside the mask. Or maybe I'm reaching and I need to sleep'' He finished, and Chat couldn't tell if he was joking or if he really was that unsure of his conclusion. This guy was genius, in his opinion.
''No, it makes a lot of sense, actually. I only guessed Chat Noir's identity when.. when I connected his sadness and what he was going through with Adriens situation.. Before that we were friends, but I don't think I understood him that well yet…'' She said, and it was Chat's turn to be surprised.
''And I was too blindsided by my love for Ladybug to pay enough attention to ´´my great friend Marinette´´. It's like we kept our distances on purpose'' He commented. Ladybug chuckled.
''To be fair, I had a hard time even talking to you until recently'' She said smiling.
''And I never let my civilian self act as over the top as Chat Noir'' He countered. He sure was glad they were over that.
''Well, imagine that but needed an even bigger amount of evidence. If Lila knows who you are, she probably just saw you transform or something similar. Maybe she followed you to Master Fu's place and when she saw the box, everything clicked for her. But for what you guys have told me, she should have known a lot sooner'' Luka commented, and the cat remembered that moment when he just met Lila as Adrien. Ladybug just showed up and said she was a liar, just like Marinette would do every time after that. Only magic explained how no one could put two and two together before.
''There is more to all this, of course, I still don't finish with this story. But It made me feel a bit safer knowing only people that knows us as civilian can even begin to guess our identities without us ´´getting out of the cocoon´´ in front of them'' Said the guitarist. The heroes nodded, sharing the relief this new information gave them.
''Anyways, that's all I have for now'' Luka said as he slumped on his bed. Maybe he was being a mad genius, but Ladybug was right on one thing: What Luka was doing was not without consequences. Chat remembered how foggy his mind was for days after he abused the snake miraculous himself. ''What did you guys come here for? Did we have a reunion and I forgot?'' He got up suddenly after saying that, light panic in his eyes. Yep, he needed some rest.
''No no, It's just… '' Ladybug hesitated a bit. Oh, Chat thought. Right, the Agents. They told the guardian everything, including the story about the peacock miraculous. Luka agreed with them that it was probably what explained Lila's actions so far. And about the agents, well…
''At least we know they can't discover our identities unless we reveal them'' Commented the guitarist, after they all shared how delicate the situation became. Them knowing about Plagg and probably more about the miraculous was the most worrisome thing.
''Lila knows…'' Whispered Ladybug. And Chat suddenly got a lot more worried.
''Damn… If she has contact with them…'' Said Luka, not so chill anymore. He even cursed, the cat hero noted despite his own concern rising.
''They might not like her that much, though. She is exactly what they seem to be against. A rogue magic user'' Said Ladybug, finding something positive, relaxing Chat a bit. ''One of them looked like he hated us just by existing''
''Agent T. '' Said Chat, nodding. He saw that too. He didn't speak much, but his gaze was fixated on both of them, full of rage.
''Still… this is bad, Lila's plan seems to be to make sure the heroes look like ´´rogue magic users´´ and untrustworthy. And she has the tool to work with'' Luka said, thoughtful. ''Maybe we can pin them against each other somehow… But we need to know more about them first''
''I'll tell Alya so she can investigate, she's good at that'' Said Ladybug, and then they were all too tired and on their own thoughts to keep talking. This hole they were in was just getting deeper and deeper, and Chat Noir knew he was guilty for it. He lost control, he destroyed Lila's house, he was the real ´´rogue magic user´´ here.
Ladybug noticed his distress, apparently, because she put a hand on his shoulders and whispered. ''It's not your fault. Lila started all of this, please remember that Kitty. I won't let her get inside your head again'' Then she hugged him, which he reciprocated with passion.
He was so grateful for her. Even when they didn't know who each other was, or were in a romantic relationship, Chat Noir was grateful for how easy it was for them to share moments like these. Just supporting each other.
Their moment got interrupted by a soft snort. Luka was on his bed completely knocked out. Both heroes started moving towards the window, avoiding all the stuff on the floor and trying to not laugh too loudly. Sass waved them goodbye before turning the light off on his holders room.
After the hilarity of the moment passed and they were on the crossroad where they usually splet to go to their respective homes, Ladybug grabbed his hand before he could go on his way. She looked at him with those two beautiful blue eyes of her, that under the moonlight seemed to shine even brighter. He smiled at her, then kissed her.
After that, no goodbyes or words were needed, they told each other with their expressions everything that was needed to know for the night, then parted ways.
The next morning started pretty good, in Marinette's opinion. She entered the classroom and noticed Lila was not there. The liar was usually early, so the aspiring designer concluded she would not show up today. Good. Marinette was too distracted by her sleepiness and her memories of last nights kiss under the moonlight to deal with her enemies. Lila could be dead from the curse for all she cared.
She sat down on her desk and Alya immediately slided her a note. Marinette read it then shrugged. So they couldn't find Lila's address, at least not with Alyas resources. Marinette was still too happy from last night to be bothered by that, besides she wasn't expecting Nino and Alya to succeed, if she was being honest. It was worth a try.
Adrien came porting a look similar to hers: Sleepy but drunk with happiness. His face brightened when he saw her. They waved each other and Marinette could feel Alyas smirk by her side. Nino greeted his best friend and they started chatting. Marinette heard her boyfriend tell the DJ about Luka's discovery of last night, using the smallest amount of revealing words possible, just in case.
''He's done so much with his...jewel, I'm kind of feeling behind. But I'm inspired, you know? I'll do my best to learn how to use my uh, black thing, outside of the...outfit, and control it better'' It was kind of funny to listen to him try his best to avoid key words like that,Marinette imagined how confusing that conversation must be for anyone else hearing it.
But then she her mind woke up a little and his words hit her hard: He was able to use his powers without being transformed and he could control Destructions pure form. What has she learned recently? Nothing, she just stopped being the guardian and produced a pink light when they hugged, but that was not a power up, right?. Adrien said he was feeling behind compared to Luka, but then what was left for her?.
Marinette was fretting about her newfound insecurities when a familiar sound that she never thought she would hear ever again filled the room.
The Akuma attack alarm.
Marinette being clumsy? Just a character trait, nothing to do with luck in this fic, nope :P
Thank you for reading!