previously: mari and kagami became wanted criminals, more of kagami's backstory was revealed, and mari learned about demons and panya.

this is the last chapter of it only being the trio travelling! i hope it wasn't too tedious to read? let's be serious, if this was all a one-shot, this wouldn't have been any shorter.

the original plot line, that had juleka as mari's knight, had the demon they met up and travelled with as chloé! she's wasn't going to be a cat and i hadn't figured out how to include her. that was all before before i became galaxy brain and realised i could have kagami with a sword and have luka as mari's close friend.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Chat Noir © Thomas Astruc

They stayed in the city for a few days.

There was no desperate need to travel the country any more. Marinette and Kagami had since accepted that there was no turning back and returning to the castle, and Luka seemed fine to take their journey slow as long as they stayed somewhere safe in the meantime.

Marinette felt like a kid as she dragged them around the city, experiencing new things for the first time.

Cafés weren't that different from back at home. The selection of food and drinks were different, of course, but there was something so startlingly familiar about the smells and atmosphere that she'd felt choked up from stepping inside at first.

Along with the vendors on the streets, there was a puppet show. Marinette had stood there and watched it for longer than others did, finding comfort in that small activity to pass the time. Without phones and the internet, entertainment was hard to come by.

It was much better than being locked up in her room with only fairy-tale books to read, though.

They stocked up on goods.

While she could shrink food and keep it from rotting, coldness and heat disappeared until it was the temperature of her pouch while it was condensed. So, she insisted that they had to eat everything they wanted from a bakery when they stumbled across one.

Her stomach hurt afterwards. "I ate too much."

Kagami was entirely unimpressed.

It was worth it to experience food that they hadn't had to improvise on the road. And while Kagami continued to say that she wasn't a fan of sweet foods, she didn't reject eating anything that was put in front of her.

All Marinette had to do was nudge food her way or put it on her plate when Kagami wasn't looking for it to be eaten.

It was a wonder that Kagami's complexion looked better when she had dirt smeared on her skin than from staying in the castle.

Marinette condensed new clothing for each of them, squishing them down to marbles and placing them in separate little bags in her pouch so they wouldn't get confused. And along with that, Luka used his money to let her pick whichever books she wanted to buy from the store, allowing her to splurge and buy a novel that wasn't helpful to them in the slightest.

Kagami stiffly rejected buying anything for herself.

It was normal for them all to stay in the same room by that point—having a room in itself was a luxury that she'd missed from being outside for so long.

Winter was starting to get harsher.

Luka assured her that it wouldn't snow until they were further north.

It didn't make her feel any better when her ears hurt from staying outside in the cold for too long.

Marinette didn't bring up her selfish request to stay in the city until it was spring.

Luka had abandoned his duties to be by her side, and although he was fulfilling the request and taking her across multiple countries to see his superior, he'd been cut off from all others to protect her.

She couldn't ask him to stay detached for much longer because she was cold.

When they left the city with replenished supplies, Marinette was given permission to ride on a horse with Luka instead.

She stared at Kagami, wide-eyed. "What's gotten into you?"

Kagami breathed out audibly. "He can be trusted."

It was as good as saying that she liked him, wasn't it?

Marinette flew at her, pulling her into a hug.

Kagami stood there stiffly, not wrapping her arms around in return or doing anything other than staying still. It was one of their awkwardest hugs yet, prompting Marinette to squeeze tightly until she got a reaction.

It was Kagami stomping on her foot.

She laughed loudly.

Riding with Luka wasn't any better.

"My thighs," she complained, leaning back and resting against Luka's chest. Unlike with Kagami, the height difference made it so she didn't keep hitting her in the face when she shifted to try and get comfortable for the journey. "How do you deal with this?"

"You're acting like a princess," Luka said, amused.

She huffed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should braid your hair," he suggested. "The look would suit you, too."

Marinette touched her ponytail. "You think?"

Other than the dress she sometimes wore, she didn't do anything fancy for her appearance. At the castle she'd had more of a chance to wear it down since she didn't do much with her time, while on the road it was practical to keep it off of her face.

"My... boss," Luka awkwardly started, choosing to adopt that title for the Demon King that time. "He will provide everything you need when we get there."

She smiled. "I'm not doubting that."

"He will look after your friend," he said.

"That would be nice," she agreed, shifting and almost losing her balance. Luka caught her and corrected her posture so she was sitting upright. "The offer's still going to be extended to my other friends, right?"

"Yes," Luka assured. "The hard part will be getting to them first."

"I'll just get really good at my shield and barge my way in there," Marinette joked. "It'll be foolproof. If they can't hit me, how are they going to restrain me?"

He mused, "That would be tiring."

"Were you tired when you saved Kagami?" she asked. "I've never seen you do so much magic before."

"A bit," he admitted. "It's... not often that that happens."

"What? You killing people?" she quipped.

His voice was quiet. "You don't seem upset."

"I deal with my problems through humour," she said with a laugh that wasn't entirely sincere. It wasn't a secret that he'd heard her crying late at night and hadn't commented on it. "I'm terrible at funerals. You wouldn't believe all the dirty looks the rest of my family gave me because of it."

"Funerals are not common for us," Luka revealed. "I have never been to one in my lifetime. If we—if we decide to die, the good-byes are already said."

"Suicide?" Marinette asked before wincing, realising how callous she'd sounded. "I mean, if you can't age—"

"We can still get illnesses," he pointed out. "But sometimes, yes."

Her throat felt tight at the mention of that. "And that's—that's fine? Accepted?"

"It's cruel to make someone live for too long," Luka softly told her, adjusting his hold on the reins around her. "And add to that how rare it is to conceive, there's nothing left to live for when you have experienced almost everything you can."

She didn't know what to say to that.

So, she didn't say anything for a while. Marinette used her hand to try and block the sun from getting in her eyes, squinting up at the sky and trying to determine how long until they'd be under shade for a break.

It was a whisper when she asked, "Would you—would I be expected to use my powers? To resurrect, like I did with you?"

Luka's response was, "You're not the only one that can resurrect."

"Oh, does your king run around reanimating everyone?" she questioned, mostly as a joke. "That sounds tiring."

"He revives all that he can," he replied.

"All?" Marinette said, looking up to try and see his expression, only to bump her forehead into his chin. She sat upright after that. "That's—that's not optimal at all."

Luka quietly told her, "That is another why the human king despises us. He doesn't like that he's not in control of such a power."

"What? He wants your boss to just revive everyone?" she asked, bewildered. "Or just those he deems important? It would become corrupt quickly. People would bribe their way to the top and demand their family be healed first."

"That is exactly what happened," he confirmed. "Humans—everyone is greedy. It's a different kind when they're so weak compared to us."

"You could kill them all in an instant," Marinette pointed out. "Don't they realise that?"

He sighed. "They are stubborn."

"I can see why mages died out if they were treated like property," she muttered.

"That's why I was sent to offer you freedom," Luka replied, slipping an arm around her waist to adjust her posture once more. "The last hero stayed with us until she left."

"She, is it?"

"I—that wasn't mine to tell," he stuttered out, clamming up.

"Just like you're not supposed to tell me about saying your name," Marinette said, singing the last few syllables. "You can trust me, you know? If we run into your friends, I'm not going to blurt out all of your secrets."

He adjusted his hold on the reins. "I will have to say what you did for me."

"Yeah, but that's kind of a big deal," she teased, reaching up and running her fingers through her ponytail. "You spilling a few secrets is nothing in comparison to resurrection."

He agreed quickly, "You're right."

"Do you know anything else about her?" Marinette asked. "The hero."

It was curiosity that had her talking. The limited information she had was adding up with each day; and while her knowledge of the world had expanded, along with knowing more about the other beings that were supposedly the enemies of humans, the previous person that had been summoned was still shrouded in mystery.

"It was before my time," Luka admitted. "I've heard rumours, but I don't know how much truth there is to them."

"The castle couldn't even tell me a gender, so you're already ahead," she replied with a laugh. "Is information really that hard to come by?"

"My... boss destroyed a lot of it," he whispered.

She blinked. "Oh."

"It was to protect her," Luka quietly elaborated, leaning closer so she could feel his breath on her ear. "He hoped to stop another summoning. I—he was angry when he found out you and your friends were dragged into this."

That was somewhat comforting to hear.

With a smile, she replied, "He sounds like a good guy."

"He is," he whispered. "He's not... he's not the monster they make him out to be. None of us are."

She didn't need to be told that any more.

-x-

Marinette broke her leg.

She slipped and fell back down the hill, ending up on the rocks with her leg bent awkwardly. The first hit had consumed her shield. Kagami had been the one to shove a pill into her mouth as she sobbed, while Luka apologised for not reacting fast enough to stop her.

"That's the biggest injury I've gotten since I've been here!" Marinette exclaimed, expecting some praise.

"The others are from me," Kagami replied.

"Well, some were from Luka tripping me," she grumbled. "Besides, if I die, drag my corpse to the Demon King and ask for me to be revived. It'll be easy."

Kagami stared.

"What?" Marinette questioned, turning to look at Luka. "Am I wrong? Would he ignore me?"

"If your body is healable and he knows you consent to it, he would revive you," he said, giving her that same strange look that Kagami was. "You joke about the strangest things."

She threw her hands up. "I told you, it's how I cope."

"You've been asking me to kill you almost weekly," Kagami pointed out.

"And I meant it."

Kagami responded, "No."

"For real, kill me. It'll be quicker if you lug my corpse across the country instead of trying to protect me the whole time," she lamented. "I'll be the Snow White to the Demon King's—I don't know what the guy's called. He'll kiss me, then us and you two dwarves will live happily ever after."

Luka was amused. "You are so strange."

"You're missing out on a lot of films," she replied. "Moving pictures tell stories so much better than books when you hate reading."

"There's theatre," Kagami pointed out.

"Oh, are you going to take me to a show?" Marinette questioned. "I'll be your date."

"I have never been."

"I have," Luka spoke up. "They're usually in the cities. Between work, my superior enjoys funding them. There is a chance that we could run into her."

Kagami tried to talk sense into him. "We do not have time for that."

"I missed my check-in when I bumped into you two," he pointed out, crossing his arms and trying to keep warm in addition to the fire in front of them. "If we're lucky, it will reduce our journey and save us suffering through the cold for months more."

Marinette had to ask, "Would that include sneaking into a city or will it be demon friendly—"

"It is safe," was Luka's way of saying that the king had no authority there.

Kagami was against the idea all the way until she caught a cold from getting drenched in the rain.

They stopped off at a safe village at first. There was only one inn, the standard of room threadbare and dusty, but none of them complained.

Kagami refused to use a health potion to recover.

Marinette crushed up one of the pills and slipped it into her food instead.

And when morning came and she'd recovered, Kagami didn't brag that her body was strong or even mention it. Instead, she packed their belongings and ushered them out while there was still sunlight, being the one to suggest that they head to the nearest city.

Luka informed her that it was one of the safest ones.

The horses were sold for extra money when they arrived. It wasn't the best price that they would've received, but the animals weren't being well-cared for when they were outside; Marinette would rather see them go to someone that genuinely wanted them than wait out until they could be overpaid.

"I've never even had a pet before," she complained, patting the horse one last time before leaving it. "But this feels like I'm being stabbed in the heart every time."

Kagami pointed out, "You had a cat once."

Luka laughed.

The city was as impressive as the last one they'd stayed at.

There wasn't any charm lost from the rough week of travelling; the streets were clean, vendors were outside on the roads a good distance away from where horse-drawn carriages went down allotted paths, and hedges and plants were spread throughout, adding a pleasant touch to the area.

It was winter so the flower garden that the city was famous for wasn't open.

She didn't say that she wanted to come back in the summer for it.

As with other demon-ran areas that had been taken over for a good period of time, humans didn't give them distrustful looks. As long as they had money, they were welcomed into an inn, pubs served them, and merchants were polite even before they noticed that Kagami was the only human amongst them.

Then a strange thing happened—a child shouted Luka's name.

Luka waved, his smile showing his teeth.

"I was here a few years ago for the restoration," he explained when the child left, a bit embarrassed as he ran a hand through his hair, cat ears twitching from the contact. "My powers were too temperamental for me to help. I was assigned to talk with the locals instead."

"How trusted are you?" she asked.

"My... guardian is high," he replied. "He wanted me to prove myself."

Amused, Marinette questioned, "By sneaking into the castle where the princess is allergic to fur?"

He mumbled, "That was not common knowledge."

She laughed.

It was a few days until there was a theatre show.

They stayed in one room in an inn. Though they were friendly, Kagami and Luka refused to sleep at the same time and trust her to keep guard. It didn't matter that they were within a safe city; Marinette found that they were equally as stubborn when they decided on something.

She preferred sleeping with Luka since Kagami would kick her if she got too close in the night.

When the day came, she felt sick.

Luka had said that there was only a chance that his superior was there. And that even if they failed to meet them, if they managed to bump into another demon that could verify that he was alive and well was enough.

It had been the three of them for so long that she didn't want to change that so suddenly. Although she's had days to come to terms with the possibility of it ending, it was only really hitting her as they crossed the street and approached the theatre.

She would've preferred to watch the puppets again.

So, she tried to get rid of her nerves in a different way.

"I just want to hug," she lamented, leaning on Kagami as they waited in line to get in. "I show my love through touching."

Kagami kicked her shin.

It was clear that money had gone into the building. The lighting was controlled by magic rather than candles, the stage was large and had a curtain across it, and there was enough space to fit what she estimated to be close to a hundred people. It was grand in a way that she hadn't expected from a place where she'd been riding a horse for travelling.

"Wait," Luka said, stopping them from going to their seats before they'd even found them. "We have somewhere to check first."

It showed his trust in them as he led the way, not looking over his shoulder to check that they were following.

With every step, her stomach twisted uncomfortably.

He approached a door near the back, knocking twice before waiting for someone to open it. Luka smiled and leaned in to whisper to the human that had answered before they stepped aside to let them through.

Marinette curiously wandered after him, Kagami taking her position at the back.

The end of the hallway turned out to be a dressing room.

When someone answered his knock, he was greeted with smiles.

As she looked around nervously, she noted that everyone that she could see was a human; the ones getting into their costumes and the staff flittering around making sure that everything was prepared. It was a shock, almost reminding her of the clumsy school plays that she experienced, but the quality was so much better.

Luka crossed the room confidently, coming to stand beside a woman that was putting make-up on an actress.

"Chloé," he called out. "I hoped you would be here."

Marinette paused, feeling entirely overwhelmed.

There was a dynamic between the three of them—a safety blanket that she'd built up and come to accept. When she had barely anything to her name after being thrust into a different world, she'd wanted to keep the comfortable things selfishly to herself.

But as she saw Luka's smile reaching his eyes, it made her realise how horrible she'd been for thinking that she wanted to keep him with her. He had people that loved him, a job that allowed him to interact with humans and built up trust ever since he'd been granted permission to do so—

And she'd unintentionally dragged him away from that.

Her eyes felt hot.

Kagami came to stand beside her, their shoulders brushing from the close distance that reminded her that she wasn't alone.

It didn't do anything to soothe her emotions.

"Fuck off, I'm busy," was Chloé's response, not looking up from where she was correcting the make-up on the actress. "You know not to bother me before a show."

Luka laughed. "I have someone to introduce you to."

They had a good relationship.

While Luka had said that she was his superior, a glance at their banter had Marinette feeling nauseated.

"I do not care," Chloé snapped, shooting him a glare. "You're supposed to be missing, not turning up here to ruin my work."

Marinette fiddled with her belt from not knowing what to do with her hands.

"This is Chloé, one of my superiors," Luka happily announced, turning to them with a smile while he put his hand on Chloé's shoulder only for it to be slapped away. "She's also the only one that can teleport accurately."

It felt daunting.

Marinette swallowed. "Hi."