Sixty-Nine: Transitions

Checking in with Master Fu, Chat and Ladybug discover just how dangerous the mysterious Miraculous Box is they found, forcing the Guardian to make a difficult decision.


Just to be on the safe side, I topped Plagg off with several additional slices of cheese from the plate I'd ignored; as I transformed, it wasn't lost on me that my kwami had been worried enough about his inability to roust me, he'd ignored the cornucopia I'd brought back into the trailer. As I launched myself through the skylight behind Ladybug, my stomach let out a massive rumble, a not-very-subtle reminder that it had been a long, long time since I'd recharged myself. My fiancé paused on the roof of the makeup trailer, a half-smile upon her lips.

"That brings me back," she laughed. "Back to a time when a certain feline ate me out of house and home on his nightly visits to the bakery."

I smiled back. "It was part of my devious plan to have you fall for me, Milady," I replied as we vaulted side-by-side up to the fencepost surrounding the park; I hit it with my boots and somersaulted into the air beside Ladybug, who had easily snagged a lamp with her yo-yo to elegantly loop higher into the night.

"Is that what it was?" she joshed as we landed together but on opposite rooftops, and began running toward Master Fu's new apartment.

"Yep."

Rolling her eyes, we crossed over an alleyway that allowed us to sync up on the same rooftop. "How long have you been having those dreams about the field?" she asked, sobering, and changing the subject.

"Since visiting Master Fu," I replied. "Off and on. Only the last few have seemed less like dreams and more like a strange reality."

"You're not getting any rest either, are you?"

"No."

Leaping over a wide avenue, I could see Ladybug shaking her head. "That Box has been bad news since Manon stumbled upon it."

"Maybe," I agreed. "I'm more than a little annoyed with Plagg – and to a lesser extent, Tikki. Clearly, they'd had a major run it with it once before, and they could have clued us in a bit."

"I've found over the years that our kwami are often reluctant to provide more information than is absolutely necessary for us to deal with the threat at hand," Ladybug said. "They truly want their holders to make decisions based on their own experiences – not theirs. Especially given how long-lived they are."

"Maybe," I frowned, thinking about the veritable fount of information Plagg could have been when I'd still been in school. About the only time I managed to draw anything out of him had been when I was writing a paper on Ancient Greece, and he'd waxed poetic about the cheese Aristotle served during his famed tutoring sessions. "I don't know about you, but I plan on having a long chat with my kwami when this is over."

"I might join you," Ladybug surprised me by saying as we landed on the final rooftop close to Master Fu's latest apartment.

"I know a great place where the food is good, the wine is free, and you get all of the feline attention you can handle," I waggled my masked eyebrows at here.

"Only if you are making maman's lasagna recipe."

"I'll get takeout from Phillipe's," I chuckled, "for I don't dare mess with perfection."

"Wise, kitty," she replied as he leaned her head into my shoulder. "Come on."

Effortlessly tossing her yo-yo, Ladybug snagged an aerial above the outdoor laboratory of Master Fu and reeled herself in; I leapt upward and helicoptered the short distance to the shade roof over the workbench where the Guardian tended to concoct his brews. As I landed in a cat crouch on the tiles, I noted the bench seemed to once again have some experiment in progress, with his iPad unlocked and open to another page of the Grimoire. Gripping the edge of the roof, I pulled myself over and dropped with a rubber thump into a crouch beside Ladybug.

"Master?" Ladybug called out as she rewound the yo-yo and placed it at her hip. The door to his living area was slid open, and she took a step toward it. "Master Fu?"

My feline ears perked up as she took another step, straining to hear the steps of our wizened mentor. "Ladybug," I said softly. "I don't hear him in there."

"He can't be far," she replied, using a gloved finger to point to the small teacup on the bench; the steam was still coming off the surface.

I stood and moved to the bench; much as my last visit, the strong smell of ginseng wafted from the liquid as sniffed, the particular notes telling me it was his personal blend. Glancing to the iPad, my masked eyes widened. "This page… Ladybug, come take a look at this."

With a whisper of fabric, Ladybug was immediately beside me; leaning over, her masked eyes narrowed as she followed where my claw tip was pointing. "How close is that to your dream?" she asked softly.

My feline eyes moved back to the image displayed on the tablet, for though it was a medieval like rendering, there was no question the depiction was of a wide, grassy field littered with colorful flowers and bathed in hazy sunshine. "Spot on," I confirmed as I traced my claw around the strange symbols that comprised the text of the book. "Do you think he translated this?"

"I did," came a voice from behind us.

Startled, both Ladybug and I flipped and landed in our fighting stances facing an impassive Master Fu. My feline ears shot straight up at the shock of seeing him there. "How on earth are you able to sneak up on me like that?" I asked as I slowly spun down my baton and stood.

"Years of practice," he smiled slightly, "though there was one holder of the Cat Miraculous that seemed to have eyes and ears everywhere." Walking to the workbench, he put a small paper sack on the table before turning back toward us. "My apologies. As with Chat's earlier unexpected visit, I was out getting supplies; this time, from the corner pharmacy."

Leaning sideways, I hooked a claw on the opening and peered in. "Indeed," I replied as my masked eyes landed upon two boxes of black licorice and one bag of gummy bears. "Do I want to know what sort of potion these are going into?" I asked, unable to contain the smirk as I turned back toward him.

"Ancient family recipe," Master Fu deadpanned. "I assume you are here about the Box," he said nodding toward the iPad.

"Yes," Ladybug replied. "Chat has been having some very unusual dreams, which is concerning both of us. More so when Plagg confirmed that he'd had some sort of… experience… with this particular Miracle Box."

Fu nodded. Moving to the table, Fu tapped on the screen and turned it toward us. "There were tales at the monastery of enchanted boxes; I thought they were apocryphal fables until this one appeared. It has taken me days to get through these few pages, but I've confirmed it wasn't a myth."

"Enchanted?" I asked.

Master Fu tapped the screen again. "My Miraculous Box is not the only one in the world," he started. "I've told you before that the Miraculous go where they are needed the most; I am here in Paris because that is where my Box is most urgently required. This box – I think I heard you call it a 'magpie box' earlier, Chat – seems to have made use of a spell in the Grimoire that is designed to attract kwami otherwise attached to another box, and then tether them to this new one permanently."

My masked eyes widened. "That seems like a spectacularly dangerous spell to have out there."

"It is," Fu nodded, "but the original intent was to make it easier for a Guardian to corral kwamis that had become lost or somehow disassociated from their original box. There was a time when Guardians such as myself roamed the planet looking for such kwami; this spell made it easier and, frankly, more attractive to the tiny gods to relocate."

"Disassociated?" Ladybug asked, shooting a glance at me. "I thought they were tied to a jewel that was in turn tied to a specific box."

"Or some mystical object," Fu corrected. "But there are plenty of occasions when that connection can be severed. You did it yourself most recently with that young woman, Manon."

I nodded. "When I used my Cataclysm on the jewels."

"Exactly. And now those two kwami reside in my box. Quite happily, I might add," he smiled slightly again. "They have also been rather valuable in understanding the box they were in. Or, at least, how they came to be in it." Looking at the tablet again, he sighed. "From what they've told me, and my translation of this section of the book, I believe now that the guardian who had this 'magpie box' had augmented the spell in an attempt to gather as many kwami as possible, and to put them under their control." The Guardian looked up at me, and for once, I could see some pain in his eyes. "You can feel the siren call of the box especially, can't you?"

"Yeah," I said slowly. "Plagg did something after I transformed to try and tamp it down, but there is still an undercurrent of strange desire running through me. It has gotten progressively worse the longer I am here." I paused. "The box is here, isn't it?"

"But well hidden. For the moment," Fu acknowledged. "Once captured, I've discovered it is very hard for a kwami not to be enraptured by the box. You are doing well to resist."

"It's not all me," I said, though I could feel some part of me slipping as I spoke. "It's mostly Plagg. But I don't think I should stay much longer."

"Which brings me to a delicate issue," Fu said. "As you may have surmised, having this other Miracle Box around is unwise; it must be removed from Paris. Immediately."

"All right," Ladybug replied. "Where do you want us to take it?"

Master Fu shook his head. "Sadly, this is something only I can take care of. The two of you will need to remain here, in Paris."

"Master, if you leave… who will guard your box?" I asked slowly, though somehow, I already knew the answer.

Master Fu saw the insight in my feline eyes and smiled. "I think you know the answer to that, Chat," he replied as he turned to Ladybug. "I've watched the two of you grow into your roles as the Heroes of Paris for many years now; I think, Ladybug, you are ready for the next step."

My mane snapped around to look at Ladybug. "Milady?" I asked softly, reaching a supportive paw out to my fiancé.

The shock was evident in her masked eyes and the slight frown at her lips. "Holy Hell."