Back at school Alya was proudly fielding questions about her latest update concerning the recent Globe Trekking activities of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Her laptop was open in front of her, and the crowd of her classmates buzzed with excitement. Her newest theory was that Ladybug and Chat Noir had been hot on the heels of the mysterious new Hawkmoth that was trying to discover new sources of miraculous power around the world.

"Unlikely," Lila mumbled from the back of the room.

Alya sent a glare back at her. "...based on what?" Alya challenged.

Lila sniffed indignantly, "oh I don't know, maybe the fact that they are so unpredictably sporadic...plus as her best friend, Ladybug would've told me."

Alya rolled her eyes, and returned back to her article. "Look at this!" a guy sent this photo of them in South Africa!"

Kim's voice piped up, leaning over Alya's shoulder. "Hey Lila isn't that your mom!"

Everyone craned their necks and squinted their eyes to see the woman over Chat Noir's shoulder in the photo. It did look like the diplomat, in the midst of a discussion with other important looking men in suits.

"Is that your mom?" Alya spun back around her her chair to ask Lila.

"Oh it's her alright!" Kim interrupted enthusiastically. "As far as hot moms go, Mrs. Rossi is the hottest!"

The classes attention switched to Kim looking at him in shock.

"What?!" Kim defended. "She is hot!"

Alex shook her head, and leaned over the table to look back at Lila. "So your mom must've seen Ladybug and Chat Noir while she was in South Africa doing diplimatty-type stuff huh! Did she say anything to you?"

"Yes, of course she told me all about it. Actually they had set up a meeting to meet her to discuss important matters about international security," Lila lied. "I would've mentioned it earlier, but I didn't want to brag after all the work Alya has done trying to figure out what the hero's are up to."

"In the picture they don't even seem to notice each other," Alya narrowed her eyes at Lila.

"When it's a matter of international security you don't think they'd allow photos to compromise the confidential nature of their meeting do you," Lila batted her eyes at the audience before her.

"But it makes sense for her daughter to blab about it in front of everyone weeks later?!" Alya dug deeper.

"Oh, but I can trust all of you can't I?!" Lila looked taken aback. "After all, you're my very dearest friends!"

"Were you there too? Did you see Ladybug and Chat Noir in South Africa too?" Rose asked excitedly.

"No, I was back at the hotel," Lila's tone turned spiteful, but she quickly caught herself and brightened right back up with a beaming smile at Rose. "The Prince and I were coordinating an extension of our charity work. We have been working hard to inspire even the most destitute to make the world a better place. My mom begs me to attend all the grandest socials with her, but I just can neglect my charity like that!"

"That is so sweet of you," Rose commended.

"Oh it's nothing," drawled Lila, tossing her hair proudly over her shoulder. "I just like to actually make meaningful changes in the world, rather than just gossip about others that do."

"My article is not gossip!" Alya growled.

"Oh no, of course not," Lila smiled pointedly at Alya. "I'm sure you know exactly who you're dealing with!"

It might have been very likely that Alya would have been caught pommeling Lila with Lila's own knockoff purse if Marinette, Adrien, and Chloe hadn't walked into class right then. Suddenly the attention (to Lila's disgust) was turned to their arrival back to Paris after the absolutely fabulous Fiji photo shoot.

Other than that the day was fairly uneventful, and everyone just counted down the minutes till geography class was over. "Don't forget to review for your test next week!" their teacher called after them, as they sprung for the door as soon as the bell rang.

Adrien was putting his books away in his locker, when he spotted Komar chatting with Lila. Their heads were bent towards each other, and they seemed to be having some kind of hushed argument. Chloe swung the door open, and both Lila and Komar stepped back and stiffened at her arrival. Lila's face remained unchanged, but Komar pasted on a toothy smile and caught Chloe as she launched herself at him.

"Komar! Where have you been! When you said you'd pick me up from school, I thought I'd be able to show you off to everyone!" Chloe whined.

"Of course Honeybee!" Komar laughed. "I was just telling this friend of yours all about our amazing Fiji getaway!"

"We," Chloe clarified, "are not friends." Chloe put up her nose without even glancing Lila's way, and wound her bracelet clad arm over Komar's muscular one. "Come on Komar, you simply must show everyone the present you got me!"

Lila's eyes flashed briefly to the pearl bracelet Chloe flashed on her wrist, and then she opened her locker ignoring the couple as they swept out the room.

Adrien quietly went back to his own locker. He wondered what had been going on between Lila and Chloe's boyfriend. Even though Chloe had never introduced them, it almost seemed like they knew each other. He hoped that Komar wasn't cheating on Choe, but the way Komar acted around other women he wouldn't put it past him...and he certainly wouldn't put it past Lila. Chloe had always been there for him like a sister and he certainly wasn't about to sit by and let someone hurt her. For now he would just have to keep an eye on them.

Suddenly Adrien felt someone poke him from behind, and he jumped about a foot up into the air. (Man, he missed his super Chat-sense when he wasn't transformed!)

He swung around to face a very gleeful Marinette. "Someone once told me it was rude to spy on people!" she grinned. "What are you up to that is making you so jumpy?"

"Oh nothing," Adrien brushed his suspicions aside, and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. "I'm just glad it's the end of the day, and we've got the whole night together!"

"Well, yeah, but you still have to share me with the rest of Paris tonight. Remember we've got patrol!" Marinette playfully booped his nose.

"Ohh so you'll be wearing your tight red..." Adrien nuzzled his face against her neck.

"...and then there is Rena Rouge, and Carapace, and Queen Bee," Marinette went on with an apologetic lift to her voice.

"What?!" Adrien exclaimed. "I thought it was just us!"

"I thought you liked hanging out with the rest of the team," Marinette responded.

"Well sure," Adrien shrugged, "it's just that with everyone there we have to still pretend that we're just partners...and that has been getting more and more hard to do!"

"Doesn't it make it all the more exciting?" Marinette teased, brushing a kiss just under his ear.

"Bwah! You know how I hate keeping secrets!" Adrien whined.

"I know," Marinette hugged him tightly around his waist, so his head rested on top of her head. "But at least there's no secrets between us any more!"

"That certainly makes everything better," Adrien sighed happily.

Ooo

Later that night the team met up on the Eiffel Tower of Paris. They were just catching the other three up to speed on what they had discovered so far about the new Hawkmoth, when someone they didn't expect showed up...

...Lady Justice!

"Justice!" Chat Noir and Ladybug greeted her in surprise. "You're in Paris!"

"I had to try to find you as quickly as possible!" Lady Justice said, loosing no time in approaching them, using her staff to guide her.

"Who is that?" Carapace whispered to Rena Rouge.

"The mosquito kwami you met in Egypt has gone missing! Horus suspects he is up to his old tricks!" she said with concern lining her face. Her unseeing eyes looked off in the distance. "We think he might try to get close to you to try to take your miraculous' again."

"But that means..." said Chat Noir with his eyes widening.

"That's right he could be anyone!" Lady Justice tone turned ominous. "We need your help to track him down before he stirs up irreparable trouble."

"So it's a mosquito?! How hard is it to squash one little bug?" Queen Bee flipped her ponytail over her shoulder.

"I don't know Bumble Bee, how hard is it to find an immortal magical being who can float, phase through material, and take any human form imaginable in an instant?" Lady Justice's voice turned sarcastic amidst her stress.

"How do we know it isn't you?" Rena Rouge scrutinized. "I mean no offence," she added, "but you said yourself it could be anyone."

"Very true," Lady Justice nodded in approval. "I'm not surprised the Fox of deception considered that. Good. Keep that precaution, and we might all make it through all this alive."

"You still didn't deny it," Chat Noir pointed out.

"Maat, Scales Balanced," Lady Justice said, dropping her transformation. The bright youthful woman before then shrivelled into a old blind woman, and her ostritch kwami floated up over her shoulder. "Are you satisfied?" she asked.

Ladybug gave a single nod at Maat. "I suppose he can't take another Kwami's form or split himself for that matter," she reasoned.

"Or transform using a miraculous," acknowledge the aged woman. "Here, Ladybug, you will require this for what needs to be done next," she reached to her back and produced a heavy broad sword in a sheath.

"Well I'm not going to kill him!" Ladybug stepped back from the blade.

The sword bearer shook her head, "you can't kill him. He's a kwami remember. No, no, Excalibur is a key. Sure a sword, a weapon, a tool, a symbol...but in this case...a key."

"A key to what?" Chat Noir asked, his ears perking at the name Excalibur.

"To who," she corrected. "A key to release someone I have long kept imprisoned. I'm hesitant to risk it now, but he might be the only one who knows how to truly defeat the mosquito kwami of chaos."

"Why would this...he...know?" Queen Bee asked.

"Because he defeated him, and prevented the last attempt the accuser made at absolute anarchy and the destruction of the world," Justice said passing over the sword to Ladybug with both hands.

Hesitantly Ladybug accepted it. "Where are we headed?" She asked with determination.

"Wales," piped up Ember who poked out from behind Ladybug.

Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee jumped backward, tripping over their own feet at the sudden appearance of the phoenix.

"Ember!" Ladybug scolded. "What are you doing?!"

"It is about time I made myself known to the weilders that will be travelling with us for the next trial," Ember flared.

"Wait! What kind of kwami is that?! And we're going where?!" Queen pointed at the phoenix.

"What does he mean by trials?" Rena Rouge asked curiously.

"Well I guess this is one more secret out," Chat Noir nudged Ladybug with a smile.

Oooooo

It has been a while, but check back to the Egypt chapter if you don't remember the first encounter with the mosquito kwami...he is going to be tormenting our heroes all too soon!

Wales is such a cool place! You might be interested to know it is considered to hold many secrets to the legend of King Arthur! Wink wink...spoiler alert for next chapters;)

A special thanks to readers for suggesting Wales as a location, and requesting that some of the other weilders join Ladybug and Chat Noir on one of their trials:) Thank you to all those who send me such enthusiastic reviews! Reading these make me so excited to keep writing!

Don't forget to follow/favourite or leave a review if you've been enjoying the story. Thank you again for being such amazing and loyal readers!