This is maybe the easiest chapter I've written for this story so far.

Chapter 38: Fateful Meetings

Alya bumped Marinette's shoulder with her elbow to let her know she was teasing.

It was a beautiful day, and the two girls were walking back to Marinette's place after getting ice cream at Andre's. Alya had teased Marinette that her ice cream hadn't changed even with all the time she was spending with Luka.

"Luka's nice," Marinette admitted. "But it feels like a one-way relationship. He helps me so much, but I don't feel like I help him."

"Unlike a certain someone," Alya teased. "Just being around you makes Adrien feel better."

"You think so?" Marinette asked.

"Uh huh."

Alya's focus drifted past Marinette and to a crowded cafe on the other side of the street. Marinette glanced at it, but didn't see anything interesting.

"Hey, I'll meet you later, okay?" Alya asked. "I have to go."

"Okay," Marinette said. She watched Alya hurry to the cafe, but could not figure out what she was after.

Oh well. Alya just did that sometimes.

Marinette continued back to her place, crossing in front of an ice cream parlor with outdoor seating, empty except for one customer.

"Ladybug."

Marinette startled, and turned to that one customer. She was watching her from behind sunglasses, and quirked an eyebrow when Marinette didn't move.

She approached the woman warily. The stranger watched her, and when Marinette got to the table she gestured for her to take a seat.

The woman took off her sunglasses, revealing stormy gray eyes. "Seems you need some advice, Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Fu was sitting in the corner of the loud and crowded cafe, looking completely occupied with a book. Alya knew heavy readers hated being interrupted when they were reading, but she needed to know something.

There was a chance Fu wouldn't recognize her, but Alya figured she could brush that off easily.

Alya approached the table, clearing her throat. Fu glanced up from the book, smiling when he saw her.

"Ms Cesaire," he greeted. "Surprised to see you here."

"I was surprised to see you too," Alya said, sitting in the chair opposite of him. "But I was hoping I could ask you a few questions?"

"I don't see why not," Fu said. "The noise should hide our conversation satisfactorily. What do you want to know about?"

"A while ago, I had a weird dream," Alya said. "When I talked to Trixx, they agreed that it could be a memory of one of the previous fox heroes - the one before me."

Alya couldn't name what shifted in Fu's expression, but he definitely reacted.

"You want to know about her?" Fu asked. "She was - interesting, to say the least.

"Her name was Kesiah, and she was a natural choice for the fox miraculous. She was born a shapeshifter, but never used it for bad or even selfish reasons. She was dedicated to helping others, though there wasn't much she could do at her hometown at her age. Kes was born to be a hero. Or at least that's what I thought.

"Not everyone agreed. Most shapeshifters gain their abilities genetically, and often from less-than-ideal sources. Kes was a demigod - a daughter of Loki. Some of the guardians judged her for that, said that she was a liar like her father. Plus, she was the niece of the current ladybug holder, so a lot of people believed that to be the only reason she was given a miraculous. Despite that, she did her best. For a while.

"Something must have happened, because when the temple was attacked, I learned Kes had sided with the intruders. One of the other guardians managed to retrieve the fox miraculous and passed the miracle box to me to protect. As far as I know, I was the only survivor. Kes must have died, and probably on the wrong side."

"I don't think so," Alya said. "The dream I had - I think Kes realized her mistakes. She died trying to retrieve the miraculous from whoever you were fighting against."

Fu was quiet for a moment before speaking. "I wouldn't be surprised. Realizing you're wrong about something, and fixing it, it takes a lot of strength - but Kes was strong. The two of you would have gotten along well."

Alya nodded. "I wish I could've met her. It's a shame she died so young."

"It is," Fu agreed. "What happened then was... it was a tragedy. One I hoped to avoid by not bringing out the miraculouses again. But the fail-safes that the ladybug and black cat miraculouses have are necessary for battling Hawkmoth. Looking back, I have to wonder if I should have been more willing to hand out the miraculous."

"Who were the invaders?" Alya asked. "That destroyed the temple?

"They called themselves The Circle," Fu said. "They believed that the process for choosing miraculous users was unfair. Which it was, in a way. There was never a time in history where the guardians could fairly appraise every person on the planet within the acceptable age and decide who was the best fit. If we knew someone who fit, that's who received the miraculous. But they didn't like that.

"They managed to get a member, Agnes, into the temple. She convinced other members to join her side, and murdered several miraculous holders. She also died in the invasion, and her miraculous - the tiger - was recovered.

"Only a few miraculouses were recovered - most of the boxes were scattered, the butterfly lost, and the peacock was successfully taken by The Circle, but not before being damaged. Ladybug suspects that this damage is why we see so few sentimonsters compared to akumas."

"So would the peacock holder be a member of The Circle?" Alya questioned.

Fu shook his head. "The Circle no longer exists. But she might be a descendant of a member. However, there are no records of who was a member, so we can't trace her that way."

That had been exactly what Alya was thinking, and she couldn't help but deflate.

"Do you have any idea on how to trace Mayura or Hawkmoth?" Alya asked.

"If I did, I would have told Ladybug," Fu answered. "She informed me of her plan, and it is solid. But there's not much I can do to help."

"There has to be a way to figure out their identities," Alya said. "We'll find a way, I'm sure of it."

Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse and bowed her head. "Lady Athena."

The woman - Athena - inclined her head in response. "Tikki. It has been a while since you've been active. You found yourself an impressive Ladybug."

Marinette blushed.

"I have," Tikki affirmed. "She's intelligent, creative, everything I could ask for."

"I agree." It didn't sound like a compliment, just a fact. "Marinette, do you know who I am?"

"You're Athena," Marinette answered. "Goddess of wisdom."

"Greek goddess of wisdom," Athena corrected. " I am also the goddess of strategic warfare, weaving, courage, and mathematics, but I'm here now to discuss strategy."

"Do you know how to figure out Hawkmoth's identity?" Marinette asked. "Or who he is?"

"Yes," Athena agreed. "I'm not going to just tell you, but I can help your thought process along. Tell me, what do you know about him?"

"Not much," Marinette admitted. "He managed to find the butterfly miraculous, which was believed to have been lost over a century ago. He misuses it to create akumas, and his goal is to retrieve the ladybug and black cat miraculouses, presumably to make a wish. He only appears in public on occasion, and he has an ally in Mayura, who might have inherited the peacock miraculous, but we have no way of knowing that for sure, or knowing who might have had the peacock miraculous before her. Most of what we know we've gained from the akuma attacks, or his few appearances in public."

"Where do you think your most substantial amount of data comes from?" Athena asked. "Data, of course, not necessarily meaning knowledge, just instances you can study."

"From the akumas themselves," Marinette answered.

"And is there a pattern in the akumas?" Athena questioned.

"There is," Marinette said. "Miraculous magic attracts miraculous magic, so the akumas and the butterfly miraculous itself are naturally attracted to my school, and my class specifically."

"And is this a big enough pattern that Hawkmoth should recognize it?" Athena questioned.

"I - would think so," Marinette said. "However, nothing he's done seems to imply that he suspects a miraculous at my school."

"Is the miraculous the only potential reason the akumas could be attracted to a specific area?"

"No," Marinette replied. "The butterfly miraculous interacts with its holder's emotions, so those close to Hawkmoth or his family would attract the akumas. But there's no other cluster of akumas to signal who that would be."

"So there's a cluster of akumas," Athena said. "You believe it's caused by the miraculous present at your school. He presumably doesn't. Is there another explanation he might believe?"

Marinette frowned. "I guess - if he has family at the school, then he would just think that that's the reason. And since there's not a class that attracts akumas like mine, that would suggest that he's related to someone in my class!"

"It would," Athena agreed.

"So that narrows the suspects incredibly," Marinette said. "Especially once we remove those who have been akumatized-"

"Why?" Athena asked.

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked.

"Is there absolutely no chance that Hawkmoth akumatized himself?" Athena questioned.

"The butterfly miraculous is not supposed to work that way," Marinette said. "But there is probably a loophole. Especially if Hawkmoth was worried about his identity - he might especially have been akumatized early on, or after Heroes Day - or there was one suspect that was akumatized as soon as we had reason to suspect him. So no, I shouldn't cross out the relatives that have been akumatized. But we do know that Hawkmoth has a range, so I can cross out suspects that were definitively out of town when an akuma attack happened. But I still have no way to narrow it down to only one person."

"You do not," Athena agreed. "What about your allies?"

"Alya and Alix have tried," Marinette said. "I don't think anyone can do a better job than them at research."

"Maybe look beyond simple research?" Athena suggested.

"You're right," Marinette said. "If there was some magic that could help - wait, Lacy is really good with reading expressions and voice, and since everyone's voice and expressions are slightly different, maybe if we narrow it down enough, it could be enough."

"No," Athena said. "By herself, Lacy Hatzi is not powerful to recognize someone by voice or expressions alone, especially through the magical protections."

Marinette slumped. "Then wha - wait, by herself?"

"That's what I said," Athena agreed.

"Are you implying that there's some kind of boost she could use?" Marinette asked.

"Am I?" Athena replied. "Do you have a power booster?"

"No, only the butterfly miraculous can - oh. I know what to do."

I did the math, and I think this story will be completely posted by the end of the month. Hard to believe.