Where is she?
"Get her away." Tenzin ordered and Dorje carried Emilie away from the large room in the temple. Few of those present even noticed her there among the commotion. It was the general assumption that the attack was finished and they were to resume a 'normal' life. The room turned into the usual relaxed chaos of students. They chatted about what happened, the government guide tried to organize them and to resume normal daily activities. There was breakfast to prepare and eat, they have not even done their morning washing and all they wanted was to chat about what just happened or post and share photos they made during the attack.
Hawk Moth stormed into the large room with Mayura on his tail. The wave of silence spread through the large room like a flood, interrupted only with a few 'oh no'. He first stood at the wide entrance to the large room, he stiffened his back and towered tall. Mayura was at his side in a flash, her eyes scanned the surroundings.
"Where is she?" Hawk Moth demanded while he looked around frantically. He was searching for a sarcophagus that held his wife. There was no such item on display in the large room. Although it was big, he knew very well what he was looking for and it was not there. Once his eyes set on the old monk he power walked over while Mayura kept checking the surrounding students and held her fan threatening anyone who would dare to get closer.
Students stopped their activities as one. Few of them raised their phones with cameras on. More of them sighed in resignation something like 'Not again'. The government guide was furious. This was clashing with her plans, and she had plans and she had orders and she had deadlines and who were those two oddly dressed characters? I mean, the woman had heels and long skirt? How unpractical was that? How did she get there? She did not walk in those heels from the military base, that was sure. And the man, in his elegant shoes, there were no scrapes, his elegant trousers should have been torn. Sure, the cane can be a very useful tool when one is walking in the mountains. But, a fan that the woman was holding? This was a bad example. She was having none of that. She stared at both villains disapprovingly.
"Where have you taken her?" Hawk Moth insisted as he walked determinedly towards Tenzin. He towered over the old monk who was alone this time. But, the old monk simply looked up, towards the face of the villain and stroked his beard. There might have been even a twitch of a smile on the old man's face. The villain stared down at the old and slim man half his height.
"Her?" the old monk asked and stroked his beard again. Oh, there was mischief in those eyes for sure, and a glint of victory. But Tenzin quickly schooled his face and his body language. He was facing the wielder of the butterfly miraculous, he enjoyed powers that Nooroo gave him, and one of those powers was to sense what others were feeling.
"My wife, where is she?" Hawk Moth demanded. He knew she was there. He saw her in that room. He saw her through many pairs of eyes, from all angles, because he was able to see whatever sentimonsters saw. He kept them there, around her and the sarcophagus, the sentimonsters were supposed to protect her while the old man did his magic. But the sentimonsters, his wife and the sarcophagus were gone and all he was left with was this old man.
Tenzin shrugged back. He really could not say where her body was taken. He gave the order, but the rest was upon the monk who took her. They did not have an action plan for occasions as this one, how often did he get an opportunity to kidnap the lifeless body of the wife of the resident villain (or not so resident in this case).
"Where is the sarcophagus?" Hawk Moth shouted. He was getting tired of this game and he sensed quite clearly that the old monk was playing him. There was no mistake in the first impression he got from the old man face to face. This old monk looked fragile, but he was a force to be reckoned with. Neither Hawk Moth nor Gabriel Agreste underestimated their opponents (except he did).
"You know, when Ladybug releases her miraculous cure, everything goes back as it was." Tenzin radiated wisdom and mischief again but his voice spoke in calm tone and slowly as if he was teaching a group of students (who also needed their dear time to comprehend anything). The old monk waited for the information to settle into the villains brain. He did not need to wait long, in fact it was surprisingly short.
Hawk Moth released a cry of anger into the air above him. It was unnaturally loud and it resonated in the acoustics of the large room. Many students covered their ears. Few of them even looked around for the next item that would shatter due to the sound effect. Mayura watched around carefully. She laid her eyes on Pema. She was a monk and she was there, and the two studied each other intently.
"You said you could help her." Hawk Moth pressed further. He got his hopes up, he was wrong, he was disappointed. Because this old man did not deliver. And his wife was not there, she disappeared. Well at least she was safely back in the mansion, in his lair, in the place he made for her.
"I said I have to examine her first." Tenzin stroked his beard again. He clearly enjoyed this game of cat and mouse (where Hawk Moth thought that the old monk was just the mouse teasing the cat, while the other thought it was the other way around).
"But if you did examine her, if she was here, then you could get her back?" Hawk Moth was almost hopeful, while he was mostly stern and overbearing, there was hope in his voice, there was something that made it sound almost like a plea from a man who did not know how to speak but to give orders.
Pema made a show while she walked around as if she wanted to be seen, she walked around and turned around a few times.
"That woman, that monk over there." Mayura nudged Hawk Moth to look at her.
"She is the one who escaped the monsters, follow her. She knows where the miraculous stones are." Hawk Moth issued his orders and turned back to Tenzin.
Pema made one more twirl before she left the large room as she disappeared behind one of the tapestries. Tenzin followed with his narrowed eyes only for a brief moment before he turned his attention back to the villain before him. He saw that the other villain followed Pema.
"The healing is going to take a long time." Tenzin warned keeping the attention of Hawk Moth on himself. The old monk assumed what Pema was doing. She was meddling. As usual.
Hawk Moth released an impatient huff. He was a patient man, he spent more than a year trying to bring back his wife. But he was not known for patience he had given to anyone he considered his inferior (and that was practically everyone).
"We are talking at least days." the old monk added after a short pause. He was about to make Hawk Moth change his mind. Because he knew rather well that if they go back to that lair, they with find the sarcophagus, but empty.
Hawk Moth glared at the old man. Although the students got up to leave the large room and produced some noise, it seemed as if the air between the two was standing still.
"It could be weeks." Tenzin added one more weight to the scale. He waited for it to tip. He wanted Hawk Moth to reconsider the option. The old monk knew what he sensed so far, and that was an empty shell. Therefore, the solution was not simple, and probably involved the destruction of the sentimonster.
Well, Hawk Moth did spend years fighting he just might accept this. He just might accept that he will spend months in Tibet nursing his wife. But what bothered him was that he was not in control. There was no electricity in the temple to power the device he had to store the body of his wife.
Mayura chased after Pema. The young monk was apparently busy fixing some tapestry in a dark and narrow corridor. Mayura swiftly moved the tapestry away only to find a storage room full of different items. She stormed inside because the villain thought the magical gems were hidden in the storage. But apparently, there was only food.
"What are you going to do once he gets his wife back?" Pema inquired. She was familiar with the feelings she was facing.
"He is my boss, he appreciates what I do for him. Besides, I would do anything for him, anything to make him happy." Mayura cut off the monk.
"But she will have him and wield the peacock miraculous then?" Pema pushed further as if she was driven by mere curiosity.
Mayura did not answer. Theoretically, they would also have the miraculous from Chat Noir and Ladybug, so she hoped to keep the peacock one. Pema noticed her hesitation.
"And will he need you once he gets her back?" the young monk knew she was striking a chord with that one.
"He wants her back for his son. His son needs his mother back." Mayura insisted. "Please help us, because that boy is missing his mother." The villain pleaded. She knew she reached the dead end, she was not about to find the hidden miraculous in that tiny storage room.
Mayura returned without finding anything because she was diverted by Pema. The young monk simply wandered the dark and narrow corridors in circles before she returned to the large room.
"I think they do not have the Ladybug and Chat Noir miraculous here, sir. They would have used them against us already." She was not certain about that, but it was a logical conclusion from everything they saw so far. Ladybug and Chat Noir never entered the temple, they 'teleported' over and operated somewhere around. But she was akumatized during the attacks and she did not remember the details, only what Gabriel told her.
"You are right, if they had the stones here, we would be facing those two pests already." Hawk Moth agreed with Mayura on that one. They would have been wielded by different persons, his logic told him. It was time to stop the search of the temple.
"I would assume the only miraculous stones of Chat Noir and Ladybug are those carried by the current wielders, who are in Paris right now." Mayura continued quietly the conversation as it was not for everyone's ears.
"On one side, we could create the teleportation sentimonster again." Hawk Moth pondered while looking at Mayura. "With your help of course."
Mayura was excited to help him, she needed to be needed. On the other hand, she was facing another attempt of something they tried and failed.
Tenzin listened carefully, that option was not good news for him.
"But the treatment is not secure, this man does not guarantee success." Mayura countered Hawk Moth. She knew one thing, if they healed Emilie that way, they would not have more miraculous stones after they finished, and she wanted to hold onto the peacock one.
"Indeed, but it took us ages to fight Chat Noir and Ladybug and we are close, but we do not know how many attempts it will take us before we finally succeed." he argued.
Tenzin tried to concentrate and listen, he wanted to suggest a solution that would keep the villains at bay, no more attacks for a while, but Hawk Moth and Mayura radiated so much negative energy that he could not find his inner peace of mind that usually lead him to find a solution.
"The treatment the old monk offered, how long it would take?" Mayura inquired.
"He said it could take months." Hawk Moth whispered and did not hide his disappointment.
"Months?" Mayura screamed.
"Yes, months, that is what I said." Hawk Moth glared at her.
"That is a long time." she confirmed and looked away. That was also a long time with Gabriel, in Tibet, and maybe, just maybe she still had her chance to prove how worthy of his love she was.
"It is, but we already spent more time fighting Ladybug and Chat Noir." he argued more.
"We can continue to fight them here." she had a twitch of a smile on her face, that was going to keep them together like this, he would be focused on the fights and on her and not on the body of his wife. Because, they have not seen her in more than a week and he used to spend hours by the sarcophagus. And bringing his wife to the temple probably meant he was to spend his days staring at the sarcophagus again.
"That is indeed true." Hawk Moth confirmed with one firm nod, he observed the large room again. This place was a mess, a chaos filled with sleeping bags and backpacks, with students dressed in anything that provided comfort and thermal insulation. He did not want to spend his days in the temple hoping beyond hope that his wife will be revived by some endless magical ceremony that he had no clue of and had no control.
The old monk decided it was time to intervene. He was not sure how much time would Adrien and Marinette need to return, but they could be back soon. And the old monk estimated that the two kids had better chances if they fought outside and transformed into superheroes.
Tenzin made a show of getting attention from one of the students who took the photos of the monk with the two villains.
"They are already posting pictures of us in the temple on the social media, sir." Mayura warned.
"That means those two pests will soon know we are here." he spat the words.
"They should be back at any moment." Mayura whispered.
"We should get ready for them." he raised his chin.
"Sir, perhaps we should look for the superheroes outside." she proposed.
"Why outside?" he inquired. The place was a mess already. He had hostages to take here.
"You do not want to face them here, don't you?" She motioned with her arms to encircle the whole space around her.
"We have civilians, you know, hostages here." Hawk Moth glared at Mayura and motioned with his hands all around the room.
"Sir, please." she whispered. "We can get help too."
Hawk Moth finally understood. He had a few butterflies left in the container. But she could create monsters even there. Finally he decided it was time to leave.
"Come on, bring those phones, aim them at me." Hawk Moth demanded attention from the present students.
Mayura sighed with relief.
Tenzin started to think this was not the best idea.
"Tell those two pests that we are waiting for them, outside." Hawk Moth announced to the students who were filming the two villains. And with those words, Hawk Moth and Mayura power walked out from the large room.