AN: The idea for this was inspired by bryguy2324, who noted that the first time Emilie transforms is bound to be nerve-wracking since the miraculous was previously broken (and it hurt Nathalie every time she used it, and Sabrina passed out the one time she unified it with the Butterfly!). Considering what happens in the next chapter, this really needed to happen first!
To yellow 14: It's the tarantula venom they use in it. I'm pretty sure they're going to bring some Tarantula Cheese back to Paris that Adrien and Plagg can pull out as their "secret weapon" in emergencies!
To Butterfly: Longg is the Dragon and Rexx is the Dinosaur, and both of them still exist despite their respective animals going extinct.
The morning after returning from Australia, Emilie met Sabrina in the Mansion's entrance hall, a cup of strong tea in her hand to help combat the "portal lag" and Duusu resting comfortably on her shoulder. She found Sabrina admiring a tapestry showing blue and violet lines descending out of a confusion of black, green, brown, and white. The lines interweaved together through layer after layer of different colors, always running parallel, until the blue line disappeared into a black dot and the violet turned to indigo. Something about the coloration had drawn Emilie's attention the moment she had first laid eyes on it; it wasn't until last night that Adrien had finally explained the symbolism Marinette had worked into all the tapestry designs, and specifically this one.
She sincerely hoped the next tapestry Marinette designed would show her family legacy after Hawk Moth…
"Good morning Mme Agreste!" Sabrina called cheerfully.
"'Emilie' is fine, dear," she replied, pulling the girl into a brief hug and smiling. "Though perhaps 'Teacher' or 'Master' is more appropriate at the moment!" She led the way up the stairs to the office, where they rode the elevator down to the Heroes' Headquarters together. In the weeks since she had woken up from her coma, Emilie had only been down a handful of times, preferring the natural sunlight available upstairs to the artificial lights keeping the plants alive.
"No one has been able to give me a good answer yet: has this always been here?" Sabrina asked as the elevator descended below the cave ceiling and Hawk Moth's repurposed lair came into view.
Emilie nodded. "We found the cave while we were building the mansion," she explained, "but it looked nothing like this. After we shored up the foundation so it wouldn't collapse into here, I had thought about doing something with the cave, but we never got around to it. Gabriel must have built it up after my accident."
Sabrina stepped off the elevator plate and sighed in contentment, plucking a flower from the butterfly garden and holding it up for Nooroo to smell. "I enjoy coming down here," she confided. "It's so peaceful – especially by comparison with the upstairs, with so many others staying at the mansion currently."
Nooroo fluttered his wings and took off from Sabrina's shoulder, spinning around in a back-flip. "I used to hate this place," he admitted softly, his antennae drooping. "It was a prison. But, then, everywhere was a prison with Master Gabriel."
"I'm sorry," Sabrina apologized. She held out a hand for the Kwami to land on, where Duusu presently joined Nooroo. "I should have realized. But why didn't you say something?"
Nooroo gave her a surprised look. "My Master never gave me a choice in where I went." He laughed gently. "Since he left, it has lost much of its gloom. Your emotions here are normally far brighter than his ever were."
Sabrina smiled, and Emilie felt the glow of her pride and gratitude. From the far side of the cave she could also feel two sets of positive emotions in the lab. "I suppose I know another reason you enjoy spending time down here…" she teased, smiling impishly when Sabina's cheeks reddened.
"Miss Sabrina is so amazing, I just love feeling the emotions when she and Max are working together!" Duusu enthused, giggling shrilly.
Sabrina coughed into her hand in embarrassment and led the way to the grotto, where Emilie could just barely see the remains of drag marks in the dirt. "I started using this more regularly when I realized just how much it amplifies empathic abilities," Sabrina explained. "Since Taureau Dechaine moved the cryo chamber out, there's so much more space!"
Emilie looked closer at the grotto walls, running a finger along a fine crystalline rod barely visible under the plaster, and nodded. "The Grimoire describes how specific structures, imbued with chi, can enhance the empathic range of our miraculous," she told her. "My grandfather had a trio of stones in his study which performed a similar function, allowing him to direct events throughout the French countryside during the War." She closed her eyes to tap into the rods lining the walls. "Gabriel didn't imbue these rods at all; what you have experienced before now has just been the natural enhancement of the structure. If we do imbue it with chi together, the effect will be far stronger!"
Along the wall Emilie noticed a small pile of reed mats next to a coffeemaker and the small wooden table on which the mostly-empty Miracle Box sat. Sabrina selected two of the mats. "Set them opposite each other in the center of the grotto," Emilie instructed her, pointing. She sat down on one of the mats and assumed the lotus position; opposite her, Sabrina copied the posture. Nooroo and Duusu dropped to sit back-to-back between them in the newly-planted grass, facing their respective holders. Emilie fixed Sabrina with a calm look and held her hands out, palms facing up. "Today we will practice techniques for recognizing and understanding the emotions that you sense. Your miraculous can act as an antenna, passively receiving the emotions in the atmosphere; you can also sift through those emotions to feel what the people around you are feeling. However, this can become very overwhelming."
Sabrina nodded seriously. "The one time I unified the Butterfly and Peacock, I got completely lost in the emotions I was sensing!"
"The techniques I teach you will help you sift through those emotions better," Emilie explained. She chuckled. "Hopefully next time you are called upon to unify the miraculous, you won't get lost in the subconscious of the first person you sense!" She took a slow deep breath and closed her eyes. A twinge of anxiety passed through her. This grotto was where she had spent the last four years, suspended in time in a coma. She inhaled again, deeply, and held her breath for several long moments before releasing it through her nose. The anxiety remained, but had lessened. She could feel Sabrina's excitement, mingled with calm and contentedness, and allowed herself to become caught up in the excitement of her student. Although she had spent long years asleep in this very place, she was now awake and aware and could leave at any time. With another calming breath, Emilie released the rest of her anxiety into the atmosphere.
"As you breathe, slowly and deeply," Emilie said, "focus on your chi – that's the energy within every living creature. Your chi is affected by your physical, mental, and emotional state, and it will both strengthen you and allow you to affect those around you. It is through your chi that you access your miraculous' full potential. Your chi is a vast ocean, waiting just below the surface for you to use it." As she spoke, Emilie reached her hand into the ocean of pale yellow chi before her and sighed as it diffused throughout her body, relieving some of the strain still remaining from her years in the coma – her chi had been so bright before Tibet, and it saddened her to see its pallor. And yet it had begun to brighten since she started meditating with Fu and Pedro on a regular basis; already it had gained more of a glow. Across from her, she felt Sabrina shiver. She smiled warmly. "It's a funny feeling the first time you tune in to it, isn't it?"
Sabrina nodded, humming quietly.
"Now focus on your own emotional state," Emilie instructed. "Your own emotions – positive and negative – can distract you from those around you. Allow whatever you are feeling to dissipate into the atmosphere. Your emotions are still there, but muted so you can sense those around you." She released a breath and expanded her senses outward. Across from her, she could feel Sabrina's excitement easing. "Now expand your senses outward. Feel my emotions, then Max and Victor in the lab, and then spread from there to feel everyone else who is in the mansion with us right now."
"I can sense Max's eagerness," Sabrina reported. "Marco is excited; Lise is amused."
"Good!" Emilie praised, allowing a touch of pride into her emotions and feeling an answering surge of gratitude from Sabrina. "Now it is time to transform." As Sabrina obediently whispered her transformation phrase – "Nooroo, Bright wings rise" – Emilie paused. The last time she had transformed, she had done so to save Duusu from being swallowed by that black monster – she now knew it was called "the Maw" – and that had ended in utter disaster. Her miraculous had been damaged in the fight, and she had lost the last four years of her life. And the two people who had used the miraculous since then had both suffered their own negative consequences. According to the kids, Nathalie's health had deteriorated due to her time as Mayura – had they not stopped her, she would eventually have ended in the same magical coma Emilie had experienced. And Sabrina had passed out after transforming once.
What if the miraculous were still damaged? Intellectually she knew the question to be moot – Fu had described the process in excruciating detail during one of their sessions – but it still persisted. Duusu flew up to nuzzle against her cheek, giving her his own reassurance – he could sense that his miraculous was whole again. Emilie felt a surge of emotion from Sabrina and whispered, "Duusu, Spread my feathers." As the familiar blue light engulfed her, she opened her eyes. Sabrina – Impératrice Pourpre – sat across from her in her simple knee-length dress of light purple over silver leggings. Her own somewhat more elegant miraculous suit had taken much the same form as last time: a sky-blue ankle-length gown with pink shoulder-sleeves and a train of peacock feathers, her miraculous pinned in the center of her chest. Over the top half of her face she could feel the same pink masquerade mask she remembered, clasped in the back with a bunch of peacock feathers woven into her hair. She found her fan at her side and opened it, reveling in the familiar feeling. She let out a relieved breath and smiled.
La Paonne was back!