Agiani : I'm glad you still like the story! This chapter should be less sad and make you smile a bit.
Today, I can say that I still have a lot of surprises in store for you. We finally get to the real starting of this story. I'm going to give you sad moments again, maybe even you'll have to pull your handkerchiefs out. But I also promise you fun, fluff, some smut, and many other surprises... I have begun the writing of chapter 15, so I can announce you, that you are stuck with me for a long time with this story! But I am happy to share this adventure with you my readers.
Have a good reading,
CHAPTER 5 : Night's meeting.
3 weeks after Adrien/Chat Noir disappeared... In the real world:
Rena Rouge blinked her eyes a few times, her mouth forming an "o" of astonishment.
"A kiss? A real kiss? You mean on the lips? Not a kiss on the cheek?" She asked, surprised and curious.
"Yes, Alya, on the mouth!" Answered Marinette, blushing to the roots of her hair.
Instinctively, the memory of the kiss came back to her, and she carried a finger to her lips.
"You kissed Adrien, and you hid this 'detail' from me?" She insisted by quoting with her fingers.
"I didn't kiss Adrien, well, not really. Chat Noir kissed Ladybug. Adrien kissed Ladybug." She clarified, looking down with disappointment.
"You are Ladybug, Marinette! You're this amazing, brilliant, talented girl that Adrien loves. You are his everyday Ladybug, do not forget." Answered the fox heroine with sincerity.
It was for these kinds of sentences and reactions that Marinette deeply loved Alya. Even though she might sometimes seem indiscreet or insistent, her best friend always knew where to push to get the problem out. Then, once the subject was exposed, she could find the right words to comfort and soothe the young woman's torments.
"Thank you, Alya." Marinette said softly.
Rena Rouge sketched a slight smile that quickly stretched into a much more mischievous smile. Oh yes, very much more!
"So... The cat literally got your tongue? How was that kiss? Is he a good kisser? Tell me everything!" She exclaimed, totally ecstatic.
Marinette protested vigorously. "Alya!"
And that's what made her what she was. This precious friend, who always has the right word to relax the atmosphere, to calm the situation, to bring back the smile, the good mood. Even if it meant using slightly misplaced sarcasm. It was Alya, in all her splendor.
She couldn't help but did not want to stop teasing the poor Marinette. "C'mon girl, don't be so shy! Spill."
"It was the most intense sensation I have ever felt." She replied in a voice full of nostalgia.
Marinette bit her lip slightly and closed her eyes. The memory of this kiss was painful and bitter, and at the same time pleasantly sweet and comforting.
Rena put a hand on hers, encouraging her friend to continue while taking the time necessary to do so.
"Chat Noir kissed me and I didn't even know it was Adrien, yet... I was instantly overwhelmed by a feeling of bliss, voluptuousness and love... I think I had also fallen in love with him." She said, in a hoarse voice that tried to contain a multitude of emotions.
She moved slowly, taking a picture that was on the bedside table right next to her and hugging it against her heart.
"I don't even know how or when it happened. I don't know when I fell in love with Chat Noir…"
"If you want my opinion, I think you always have been, Marinette. I've been a witness, often enough and close enough, to know how Ladybug was looking at Chat Noir. How you always looked at your partner. Just as I know perfectly well how Adrien always looked at Marinette. He lays his eyes on you with gentleness and love, just as Chat Noir does with Ladybug." She answered truthfully.
They exchanged glances, silently accepting and approving her best friend's words.
"I suppose that somehow something deep inside me knew the truth, something more powerful than miraculous magic, even if I refused to admit it to myself." She paused and caressed Chat Noir's face in the picture. "Even if we refused to admit it to ourselves. The feelings have always been present and reciprocated, with or without the mask, we are connected to each other." She said sincerely.
Marinette discarded aside the pictures she was holding against her chest in order to drop her gaze on it.
It was a photograph of Chat Noir and her bursting with laughter. Of course, he couldn't help acting like an idiot and tickling her sides just as she was taking the photo. She had wanted to protest against his lack of seriousness, then her eyes had fallen on the pictures. She was natural, overflowing with joy and she had resigned herself to reprimanding him.
She still remembered the spark of euphoria and gratitude in his cat's eyes when she transferred directly the photo to his stick.
This photograph represented everything she loved about their partnership. Complicity, spontaneity, trust, attachment and affection. It represented everything she had fallen in love with, the sweetness and sensitivity of Adrien, the humor and loyalty of Chat Noir, the courage, the altruism, the intelligence, and the kindness of this man who was her partner. It represented what she was missing now, and what she wished to find again at any cost.
Tears formed again in the young woman's eyes. She pulled them away by closing her eyes, while squeezing the photo with one hand, and Rena's fingers with the other.
"We'll find him, Marinette. I promise. I won't abandon you. I'm here to help you, even if it means I have to move heaven and earth or even the universe, I will. For you. For him. For both of you."
Marinette was eyes-widened and breathless. Her best friend was really amazing. She collapsed into her arms and muffled some teary thanks against her shoulder.
When the holder of the fox's Miraculous was certain that her friend was finally calmed, she moved away from their embrace. She gave her a determined look and cleared her throat.
"So, tell me, why did you bring me here tonight? You said you needed Rena Rouge, how can I help you?" She asked.
"That's right, I need Rena Rouge tonight. For two important missions." Announced Marinette.
"I'm listening."
"First, we're going to take a little walk. It's necessary that citizens see Chat Noir, and not only Ladybug who patrols and searches for clues. That's where you come in. I need you to create an illusion. Just for a few jumps over the Parisian rooftops."
She nodded in understanding and approval, while waiting to receive instructions for her second mission.
"Second, I have to leave tonight. I need you to take care of Plagg because I don't want to take unnecessary risks by making him travel with me. And he doesn't want to be locked up with the other kwamis, he needs to be free." She declared, the face implacably serious.
"Plagg?" Reply Rena Rouge, raising an eyebrow.
"Adrien's kwami."
Immediately, the little black Kwami came out of his hiding place and flew to her.
"Plagg, the God of Destruction and the mighty plague of the last centuries, at your service." He said, adding a wink. Then he gave her a perfect bow, in a Chat Noirish style worthy of his holder.
"I now understand where the hero of Paris learned his behavior as a seductive gentleman," said Rena Rouge.
"And it is nothing compared to my destructive charm," added Plagg with a half-charming, half-evil smile.
Marinette rolled her eyes and sighed. "Don't listen to him. He is not that bad. Just give him some cheese and he'll be the sweetest kitten in the world."
Plagg stiffened suddenly and lost his charming smirk. He turned his back from Rena Rouge and, indignant, he flew right under Marinette's nose with an outrageous gaze.
"Cheese? CHEESE? NO! Not just cheese! Marvelous camembert! Camembert is the love of my life, without camembert, my life has no meaning and is not worth living." He protested strongly.
The fox heroine turned to both of them, hunkered and sorry. "I think we only have Swiss emmental at home."
Plagg suddenly felt nauseous at the mere thought of having to eat such an unrefined cheese.
The indignation in his eyes quickly turned to terror.
"Please, Guardian, do not abandon me to her." He implored in a pleading voice.
Rena Rouge took offense to the behavior of the little Kwami cat and let out a deep sigh of exasperation.
Marinette rolled her eyes again, ignoring the ungrateful begging of Plagg. She absented herself for a minute in the bathroom and came back with a bag which she handed to her friend.
"If he is really unpleasant, that nothing works to placate him and that he threatens to use its cataclysm. Give him this. It will calm him down. But only as a last resort."
Perplexed, Rena and Plagg raised an eyebrow. He cleared his throat and crossed his paws on his chest.
"There is nothing in there that I would want except Camembert," he said, frowning.
Alya took the bag that Marinette was holding to her and she approached her ear to whisper something that only her best friend could hear.
"These are Adrien's socks. Since he disappeared, Plagg spends most of his time in the dirty laundry basket. Always stuffed well in the warmth of a stinky sock."
Rena Rouge could not hold back the impromptu but sincere laughter that escaped from her lips.
Plagg, deeply offended by the girl's laughter, growled before going into his hiding place again.
"Okay, enough joking. Let's talk about serious things now." Marinette said firmly.
"You're right. So, you have to leave? Where are you going?"
Marinette turned away from the fox heroine, heading for Adrien's grand piano while continuing to talk with her.
"Tibet," she replied, naturally, as if it were a no-brainer.
"Tibet?" Repeated Alya, stunned and disconcerted.
In front of the piano, Marinette opened the upper compartment and leaned over to grab a red sphere with black polka dots. Then she opened it by placing her fingers simultaneously on three black circles but, not just any, three very specific circles.
The sphere then opened and revealed various jewels. She grabbed a pair of glasses and simply closed the sphere, tidying it up again.
"I have to go to the Temple of the Guardians. Maybe they can provide me with valuable information about the Miraculous Peacock and its powers."
Rena Rouge's face showed the most complete misunderstanding. Marinette noticed it and took a moment to explain more to her best friend.
"Do you remember that Monastery that mysteriously reappeared in Tibet about four years ago?" She asked.
"Of course I remember, the media only talked about it for two weeks in a row," exclaimed Alya.
"That's it. The Temple had disappeared because of a Sentimonster. When Chat Noir and I defeated him, the miraculous ladybugs restored the Monastery, as if it had always existed and had not disappeared. This is where the Order of the Guardians resides, those who, like me, protect a Miracle Box, the Miraculous they contain, and their holders, " she explained.
"Are you a Guardian? That's why you have a... Miracle Box? The glasses you hold, it's a Miraculous? Isn't it?" Asked Rena Rouge curiously.
Marinette nodded and smiled at her friend. The latter could be very perceptive.
"I have been the Guardian of this Miracle Box since the previous Guardian tutored me."
Her heart tightened in her chest to the memory of Master Fu and she did her best to hide her despair from her best friend. It was another story, for another time. She'd tell her about it one day, but not tonight. She cleared her throat and quickly continued her explanations.
"It's the Miraculous of the Horse," she said, pointing to the glasses. "This Miraculous allows you to teleport from one place to another through a portal. This will allow me to go to Tibet tonight, in less time than it takes to say: Ladybug."
"Have you ever made this journey?" She asked her, worried.
"Yes, sometimes. Shortly after I became a Guardian, one of them came here. He even stole the Miracle Box, but it's a long story and it all ended well. After that, I had to go to Tibet to meet the Grand Gardien. He wanted to assess my skills as a Guardian. Since then, we have kept in touch in a cordial relationship."
She listened attentively and with admiration to her best friend's words. She now felt a little more reassured by this trip.
"I have no reason to worry then?"
"None! Everything's going to be fine, Alya. I'm only away for a few hours. I have to leave in the middle of the night because of the jet lag and I think I'll be back in the morning. Now let's do this little patrol. Parisians will be relieved to see that their heroes are active and are still watching over them." Marinette replied, carefully dislodging Tikki from the pillow where she had fallen asleep.
"Tikki, duty awaits us. Spots on!"
The Miraculous Magic instantly enveloped Marinette under her best friend's amazed eyes.
"I'll have to get used to it," she said to Ladybug.
Ladybug quickly explained to Rena Rouge exactly what she expected of her for this illusion. The heroine then launched her yo-yo over the rooftops of Paris. She stopped on a roof not far from the Manor and the fox heroine knew that was her signal. She took the flute that was tied to her back in her hands and carried it to her mouth in order to blow into it. "Mirage!"
The next moment, a perfect copy of Chat Noir used his stick to propel himself from one roof to another and join Ladybug where she was waiting for him.
The feline's illusion stopped in front of Ladybug and made her a gracious bow to greet her.
Instantaneously a feeling of intense sadness invades the heroine. It was hard to talk about her partner, but it was even harder to face him and his handsome face. A face whose every line and expression were perfectly identical. Even his gallant behavior had been carefully reproduced by Rena Rouge.
She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, calming the fast and painful beats of her heart. Then she went towards the Eiffel Tower, followed by the illusion of Chat Noir.
Thirty minutes later, after making sure they had been photographed by passers-by and filmed by a television camera, Ladybug took off in the direction of the Agreste Manor. She doubled over with caution so as not to be followed, or be seen by Adrien's bodyguard, and then entered through the bedroom window.
As soon as she entered the room, Rena made the illusion of Chat Noir disappear. "Reality!" She exclaimed, as the illusion dissipated in a thick cloud of orange smoke.
Ladybug thanked the fox heroine with a forced smile on her lips. She had just spent thirty minutes absolutely abominable, trying not to break down in tears while she was looking at the face of the one she loves. Even if this one wasn't real. The grief and suffering she had felt were.
The lighting gate closed behind the silhouette of LadyPegasus.
She looked up at the walls that stood in front of her, surrounding and protecting the Guardian's Temple.
The Monument was located in the center of the Tibetan mountains. More precisely, at the top of Mount Gephel that overlooks the small town of Lhassa.
It was about midnight in Paris, but here in Lhassa, the sun was just rising and its first rays just kissed the horizon. The landscape was dazzling and she took a moment to admire it, as every time she had a chance to come here.
After a few minutes, she walked to the immense arcade, made of hand-carved white stones, which dominated the entrance of the fortification. In front of it stood two dob-dob, Tibetan's monks-warriors, who guarded the main gate.
Lady Pegasus greeted them, and in a few words, asked to see the Master of the place. She was proud to have decided to improve her Chinese in recent years in order to reconnect with her origins: Thanks Uncle Cheng Shifu.
The guards let her enter the enclosure and she took a few minutes to enjoy the vision offered to her. It was as if she had been sent in an old film 'Wu xia pian', a cinematic genre of Chinese cinema, in which you can see Saber fighting in Chinese cities or temples led by monks, like this one. This surreal landscape really immersed her in the setting of a film from another culture, and from a whole different era.
The temple was built according to Tibetan art standards, respecting traditional rules in terms of architecture and ornamentation. The monument was composed of several buildings, including two large pagodas that harmoniously dominated the whole place. One of the pagodas was further behind the buildings and also higher than its almost twin, which was located in the center of the monastery. This pagoda was the central building where the council of the Order of Guardians and the Grand Gardien lived.
She climbed the stairs leading to this monument and was directly welcomed by the Grand Gardien himself, who was waiting for her in front of the entrance door. The man was a bald old man, small and thin, dressed in orange linen pants on which fell a red tunic that stopped at his knees. His tunic was loosely reminiscent of the traditional Kesas worn by Buddhist monks. On his shoulder was sitting a little black and white creature, a kwami.
"Good morning, Ladybug, I was waiting for you," said the Great Master in perfect French.
To be continued...
In the next Chapter (6), Revelations :
"It's none of your business, Adrien! Get out of this room! Nathalie needs calm and rest!"
"Something serious happened, great Shifu,"
"You... you... you mean she could... die?"
Thank you all for your reading, remember that your opinions and comments are important and motivate the author. So I invite you to take a minute to tell me what you thought of this chapter.
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I wish you a good viewing of the Special this weekend! Miraculous kisses to all