AN: I wasn't going to even include this at first, but I imagine there were at least a few questions about the large Guardians meeting in Australia (as well as what the Australian Miraculous Temple-Island is like). Australia factors into a "Life and Times" one-shot as a follow-up to "It Came from Outer Space," but this seems like as good a place as any to share some of the trip itself!
If you are confused, "It Came from Outer Space" chapter 1 explained that the leaders of the four Miraculous teams all gathered at the Australian Miraculous Temple-Island for a meeting. This included the holders of the two primary miraculous in each set, as well as a Guardian. At the moment Fu is otherwise occupied, so Emilie attended to represent the Asian Guardians.
To yellow 14: That is what makes them different: one was using a miraculous for evil; the other (so far as Fu knew) was just a bunch of human beings who were (maybe) trying to acquire the miraculous.
To StarDaPanda225: Incorporating fantastical elements into real events is always a balancing act with not taking away from the real-world events and the people involved in them. For example, I'm not going to say Hitler was anything other than an evil human being – even though Night Bat was involved with the Nazis, he didn't cause the war or any of the Nazis' atrocities; he merely enhanced what was already there. On the subject of Guardianship, I definitely agree: there really shouldn't be just a single Guardian ordinarily; so much can go wrong when you're alone (as demonstrated with Fu in canon and with Emilie in this series!).
To Going strong: Here you go! I hope you enjoyed the other stuff I published between!
To Bluerose CS Fangirl: I've been trying to keep my multi-chapter stories a little less serialized – or at least understandable for someone who hasn't been following since "Milady." I may at some point write a completely standalone story, but for the moment I'm planning to continue with this AU. I'm glad you're enjoying "Fridge," though!
To Butterfly: Sometimes the questions build up to something!
Walking alongside her son and future daughter-in-law down the wide main avenue of New Atlantis, Emilie could already feel herself starting to become drained. Although she had been awake for a while now – and had been in remarkably good health before that ill-fated trip to Tibet – she had discovered that she tired much faster these days. Physical therapy had helped her rebuild the muscle mass she had lost, and meditation exercises (both on her own and with either Fu or Pedro) had helped her to rebalance her chi. But neither of those could really substitute for simple physical endurance. Were it not for the pleasant surroundings – to say nothing of the positive emotions pouring off of her companions – she would probably have stayed at the meeting hall during this midmorning break.
Of course, even at the meeting hall she might have been overwhelmed by the sheer otherness of New Atlantis. This entire trip, everything she saw and everyone she met put her even further out of the cozy, simple understanding of the miraculous that she had learned from her mother as a teenager. The previous morning, she had met with the representatives of the other Orders of Guardians – Farah from the African Order, Ramon from the American Order, and Joanna, Fu's friend who represented the Australian Order. She had been surprised to learn that, of the four of them, she was the only one who regularly held a miraculous. But the other three had accepted her readily enough, and they had spent several hours discussing how the other three groups could assist in rebuilding the Temple in Tibet. Emilie had almost been overwhelmed with gratitude to them for their offers of assistance… although she herself had little desire to see Tibet again!
For now, Emilie was simply enjoying the opportunity to see the Australian Temple-Island.
"Isn't this just amazing?" cooed Duusu, his tail feathers rustling against Emilie's back. He waved happily to a light yellow Kwami that had just flown past them. "It takes me back to Atlantis!"
"I'm not surprised," replied their guide, a young Australian holder named Dane. "The Atlantean refugees who first settled this island tried to replicate what they had lost as best they could."
Ikuu, his royal blue Kwami, swished his bulbous tail and added, "Those first years were difficult, but they persevered. Of course, having three members of the Sorcerers Guild come with them helped."
Emilie looked around at the buildings lining the road. To their left was an imposing bleached white stone structure with a row of brown columns supporting the overhanging roof. As they passed she examined the columns more closely and was surprised to see that they weren't perfectly uniform in shape: small cracks seemed to run along the columns in a crisscross pattern, meandering around little knots set at uneven intervals around the columns.
"Admiring the petrified columns of the Miraculous Temple?" asked Ikuu, fluttering over to float next to Emilie's head.
She scratched him between the tiny horns on his head and nodded. "What are they made of?"
"Stone, now," he replied, grinning. "Originally they were trees, but the Guardians stripped them of their bark and branches, placed them to support the building, and then used the combination of my Earth and Wind powers to flash-petrify them. There is little stone suitable for building material on the island, so they had to make do with what was available if any structures were to endure."
"There's such a fusion of different styles here!" Marinette observed, pointing at a building across the street with a circular roof set atop a copse of living trees.
"Webb's influence," Ikuu joked, laughing and swishing his tail.
"The Temple is the oldest structure on the island; everything else that's still standing was built later," explained Dane. "When the Atlanteans started to dwindle, they had to begin recruiting from the indigenous peoples, all of whom brought their own unique culture to the island." He pointed off to a hill north of the city with two towers on top and a smaller hall at the base of the hill. "That's Dingo Hill. Pupp, the Dingo Kwami, visits there a lot; his first indigenous holder fought off a raiding party from one of the other tribes living in the islands on top of that hill before the Guardians established the wards which surround the entire island, and today her descendents live in one of the towers."
"It kind of looks like a dingo's head," Adrien commented.
"It's a trick of the architecture: giving significance to geographic formations," Dane replied. He led them past more buildings with that same fusion design, pointing out the headquarters for their small Sorcerers' Guild, the library, and even a pair of workshops for producing textiles. Finally they arrived in front of the central meeting hall, a two-story circular building with a round slanted roof set atop a circle of petrified columns. The rest of New Atlantis spread out from here along streets which had been laid in a spoke pattern extending from the square surrounding this building as the hub of a wheel.
They were just about to walk inside when a young woman with dark skin approached from one of the other streets, waving to them. A bright yellow Kwami with an orange mane floated next to her head. "You wouldn't believe what you can find in the outdoor market!" Mihaela told them, grinning in exhilaration. "There are all kinds of rock paintings and hand-painted textiles to see."
"Ooh!" Marinette cooed eagerly. "I have to see the textiles!" She looked at her watch and frowned. "But we don't have time now."
Mihaela shrugged. "Perhaps after dinner."
"Where are the others?" asked Adrien, looking around at the otherwise deserted court.
"Farah went to look for food, and I think Ramon was going to join him," replied Mihaela.
"Keppi was curious about the farm just outside of the city," supplied Kibbu, the Lion Kwami. She laughed. "Leave it to a bug to go rooting around in the dirt!"
Duusu giggled shrilly. Emilie felt a twinge of annoyance from Marinette and stifled her own amusement.
At that moment a small group of Kwamis flew up from the far side of the meeting hall – Tikki, Atsaa, and Mettli were supporting Plagg between them, with Hopp, the Kangaroo Kwami, bringing up the rear. For his part, Plagg was moaning, his ears drooping. Emilie frowned on seeing the unusual sight, but relaxed when she sensed more amusement than concern from Tikki.
"What happened to him?" asked Adrien, holding out a hand to catch his Kwami. Plagg curled up in a tiny ball on his palm, his paws resting on his stomach
Tikki stifled a giggle. "He decided to try every single type of cheese on the island," she reported.
"He was fine for the first dozen," Atsaa added, smacking Plagg on the back. Plagg let out a belch and glared at the Eagle Kwami.
"I would have been fine if it weren't for that Tarantula Cheese," Plagg retorted, rubbing his stomach. "That had more kick to it than anything I've had before!"
"What were you expecting?" Mettli demanded incredulously. "It was kangaroo milk curdled with actual tarantula venom!"
"So was it good?" Adrien asked, laughing.
"It's considered a delicacy," Hopp replied. She giggled shrilly. "Although most people only take a taste, not the whole wheel…"
Plagg groaned. "Let's just say that if you need to transform any time soon, your Cataclysm might have a little extra bite to it!"
The Australian Guardian Joanna, a kindly woman with grey hair who was old enough to be Emilie's mother, emerged from the entrance to the meeting all and walked over to their group. Emilie gave her a warm smile in greeting. "Did you enjoy your walk?" Joanna asked, holding a hand out for Emilie to lean on.
Emilie gratefully took her arm, smiled back, and chuckled. "This entire island is one of the most incredible places I have ever seen!" she replied as they led the way into the meeting hall. "So much of my life I thought I was alone, that my two were the only surviving miraculous. But now…" She spread her arm to encompass the island. "There is so much more to this than I could ever have imagined!"
AN: This chapter almost ended up in "The Life and Times of the Heroes of Europe" since it strays so far afield from the more intimate feel of "The Woman out of the Fridge." The reason I decided to keep it here is because this is a good next step for Emilie to take after she and Fu agreed in the last chapter to work together in rebuilding the Asian Order of the Guardians: part of that entails expanding her world to see just how much more there is to the miraculous. That does mean there are a lot of cameos in this chapter. New/returning characters:
Ikuu is the Anklyosaur Kwami.
Mihaela is the Lion Miraculous holder (Kibbu is the Lion Kwami); Keppi is the Scarab Kwami (his holder's name is Yousef, who appeared in both "Subjecting a God" and "The Battle for the Seine"). They are the two primary miraculous holders in the African Miraculous Set.
Mettli and Atsaa are the Wolf and Eagle Kwamis, and their holders are Julia and Pablo (Marco's parents). Theirs are the primary miraculous in the American Miraculous Set.
The Kangaroo Miraculous (Hopp) is the primary miraculous in the Australian Miraculous Set.
Joanna is the granddaughter of Fu's first Australian contact, the one mentioned in "A Miraculous Adventure in Tibet" who helped him discover how to revive Emilie.