Chapter 7: Feasts and Magical Signatures

The day had flown by, and before anyone knew it, night had descended on London like a cloak of darkness. As with all other cities, London's vibe changed as soon as the sun went down on the horizon. It had been a busy day for all of Françoise-Dupont's students, on what had been their second day in the British capital. And after dinner, most of them went to their rooms to get some rest, knowing that the next day, they would continue exploring the city. The few who did not go up to their rooms, stayed in the hotel's recreation area, chatting, watching TV, or simply making time, before going to bed.

And if someone was waiting to see something interesting happening there, then they would be waiting in the wrong place. Because the place where something interesting would happen that night, would not be in the recreation area or in the hotel's lobby, but on the roof of the same. Sheltered by the shadows of the night, the kwamis decided to give their holders a few free hours from their company, and to entertain themselves, they decided to have a little feast. Bringing things that were in their holders' rooms, or from the hotel's pantry where they sneaked into, or even robbing from one of the many vending machines spread across the different floors, each of them brought something to share. Piling them in a circular stack, they all began to share the food and the drinks they had brought, while talking about what they had done that day. Like it happened from time to time, there were a couple of squabbles between the little magical creatures, but nothing serious.

"Hey, those snacks are mine! If you want some, go steal some from one of the hotel's vending machines." -Mika told Mulan.

"You do realize that stealing those make you a criminal, right?" -Mulan asked him, with a sarcastic voice.

"No, it doesn't. According to the law, the definition of criminal doesn't apply to a kwami, because a criminal is defined as a person who has committed a crime." -Mika said. –"And because I'm not a person, I'm a kwami, I can't be considered a criminal." -he explained. –"It pays off to hear Sabrina's mom explaining these things to her, when she asks the kiddo to help her practice for interviewing witnesses in court."

"I don't care what the law says. You steal something, you're a criminal, whether you're a person or a kwami." -Mulan said.

"Guys, please, let's not fight over this." -Muria said, as he grabbed a cookie. –"Who cares if some of us went ahead and got a couple of things from the vending machines, without paying for them? Everything in them is overpriced. They won't lose any money, trust me." -he said, as he bit the cookie. –"We've got more important things to talk about."

"Muria's right. We got more important things to talk about." -Ari agreed.

"Agreed" -Imp said. –"After the day we all had, it's nice to just sit down and talk about it." -he sighed, before eating a spring roll Kim had bought him earlier. –"Mmm… these are really good. Not as good as the one's from Kim's parents' restaurant, but still very good."

"The way you're talking, it's like there was another Akuma attack that exhausted you." -Plagg said, as he nibbled on a piece of cheese.

"We've had Akuma attacks that were less exhausting than some of the things we did today." -Imp said. –"And by exhausting, I mean that I had to say "no" to Kim, more times than I can remember, who wanted me to grant him powers, so he could check out all the second-hand stores in London, in search of something cool, as he liked to say it." -he explained.

"Something cool? What is that even supposed to mean?" -Tikki asked, as she finished a cookie.

"It means that he didn't know what he was looking for, but that he would know, when he found it… he read online that you could find awesome things, quite cheap, in those shops in London, and he wanted to check all of them." -Imp said. –"I swear, I love that kid, but sometimes I think he has hit his head against the ground or the swimming pool wall, one too many times, because no one in its right mind, would use my powers to do that, in a city which he's not supposed to show up as his hero self." -he commented.

"He's a teenager. Most teenagers have stupid thoughts and ideas, and they also do stupid things, from time to time." -Trixx told him. –"I'm lucky Alya isn't like that. She's calm, pondered, and knows best not to transform into Rena Rouge, unless the situation demands it." -she said.

"Well, lucky you… because sometimes, Kim hasn't got the brightest ideas or thoughts." -Imp said.

"But did he end up looking for something cool in one of those shops, or not?" -Wayzz asked, curious.

"No. When he finally understood that I wasn't going to help him with that, he ended up visiting a couple of stores he found interesting, and then he decided that he wanted to visit that Speedy's Café, that shows up on "BBC's Sherlock", so he could try one of the café's specialties." -Imp said. –"Lovely place, and they do serve really big portions of French fries, just as advertised on the show. I ate more than my fair share, and so did Kim." -he told them.

"You say things about Kim's behaviour, but admit it, you've got a soft spot for him." -Plagg said.

"I never said I didn't." -Imp said. –"I just wished he was a bit more responsible sometimes, that's all." -he said. –"He's got his heart in the right place. But his mind… I think that one is sometimes in Neptune or Pluto."

Whenever the kwamis gathered like that, they were just like their holders. They liked to talk about everything, and on that night, the conversational theme was what they had done that day. Before gathering in front of the Tower of London, the whole class split up, and each of them went to a different place.

"Did you really eat all the acorns Sabrina bought for the squirrels?" -Trixx asked the wolf kwami.

"Not all of them… I've left them a couple of them." -Mika told her. –"I mean, they're wild animals. They can forage for food." -he said. –"Besides, Sabrina knows quite well that if she gets anything that's edible, I'm entitled to a share of it."

"You're worse than Plagg is, sometimes." -Pollen sighed. –"It's a good thing that Sabrina doesn't hold grudges, at least, not for too long." -she said. –"Otherwise…"

"Otherwise, she would've told me something I didn't like, I know." -Mika rolled his eyes. –"Look, what matters is that I didn't eat all the acorns,

"Okay… now that that we know that, allow me to tell you that Mylene had a blast visiting that small theatre museum, she read about yesterday, after exiting the British museum." -Pin said, trying to steer the conversation into a different path. –"But what she really enjoyed, was those street performers near West End. She clapped so hard and so fast when their performance was over, I thought she was going to lose her hands in the process." -she confessed.

"I thought the same thing. And I bet Ivan also did." -Muria said.

"Well, while they did that, Nathaniel spent his morning visiting the National Gallery. But he wasn't alone. Monsieur Labisse and some of his students also tagged along." -Mulan said. –"Oh, and Marc was also there… Nathaniel spent most of his time talking with him." -he added. –"Whenever those two get together, they talk for hours."

"They're like Marinette and Adrien." -Tikki giggled. –"Sometimes I wonder how they never seem to run out of things to talk about." -she said.

Eventually, their conversation stirred towards what happened at the Tower of London. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, when they visited it, but they still got some pretty good opinions to share between them.

"I liked to see the Beefeaters… but I kept asking myself, why they are called that? I even asked Rose, and she told me she had no idea at all." -Flint said. –"And then, it hit me… maybe it's because they eat nothing but beef! Can you imagine the butcher's tab at the end of the month?" -he joked.

"Did she laugh about it?" -Ari asked him.

"She chuckled. If she chuckles, I know that she liked it. She didn't love it, but she still liked it." -Flint answered him.

"I enjoyed visiting the armoury. It was fascinating to see all those ancient weapons and suits of armour." -Wayzz confessed. –"I'm not a very big fan of weapons, but from a historical point of view, it was a fascinating collection." -he said.

"Well, I preferred when we had the opportunity to see the ravens in the courtyard. It's nice to see such intelligent animals in charge of keeping traditions alive." -Tamara said, before biting a piece of liquorice.

"Yes. But from all the things we did and saw, nothing beats the Crown Jewels". -Pin declared.

"On that, I agree." -Daria said. –"Don't know what was more impressive. The jewels or the safe where they are kept." -he said.

"They were all quite pretty." -Pollen said. –"Chloe kept saying that one of these days she was going to have her dad buy her a tiara, like the one that belonged to Princess Diana." -she said, as she bit a piece of salt-water taffy.

"She's got good taste." -Trixx said. –"I'm not a very big fan of jewellery myself, but I'd be lying, if I said I didn't find those jewels pretty." -she said. –"Some of them looked like they were taken straight out of a fairy tale."

"It's just too bad the queen or the other members of the Royal Family don't get to wear them every day." –Flint said.

"Why do you say that?" -Pollen asked him.

"Because it would be hilarious to see them wearing them, anywhere they went." -Flint answered her. –"Imagine going to a restaurant and the waiter asks the Queen, if he can take her coat, along with her crown and her staff?" -he joked. –"It would be hilarious."

"Well, I for one, was happy to see the Crown Jewells again… it's been a long time since I laid my eyes on the crown worn by Prince John." -Pin chuckled. –"The last time I saw it, I had Robin Hood as the holder of my miraculous." -she commented.

"I remember that. Little John was the holder of my miraculous." -Muria said, as he bit the sandwich, he had brought with him. –"Those were the days… days where we stole from the rich, and gave to the poor. And when we had feasts organized in our honour, and which lasted from early in the evening, until dawn the following day." -he said, as he remembered them. –"Those Merry Men sure knew how to party and how to roast a delicious wild boar."

"Well, I wasn't there, when you had those feasts in your honour. So, I can't say I miss them." -Imp said. –"I was stuck inside my miraculous, waiting for my next holder to be appointed by the Book of Prophecies." -he said.

"We all had feasts in our honour, at one point or another of our lives." -Plagg declared, as he gulped a large piece of Camembert. –"But that's in the past. This is the present, and I can say that these little feasts of ours are just as good as those… especially when I'm besides you, sugar cube." -he declared, while winking at Tikki.

"I told you, to not call me sugar cube, Plagg!" -Tikki told him. –"I hate it when you do it. And you spent a good chunk of time, whispering that to me, while Marinette and Adrien were having lunch with his aunt, today." -she said. –"We were lucky she didn't hear you flirting with me!"

"She was so focused on Adrien and Marinette telling her what they were going to do after lunch, the odds of her even hearing me compliment you, were as low as finding water on the Sun, sugar cube." -Plagg said, once again calling the ladybug kwami by the nickname she hated.

"You call me that one more time, and I'll call you cheese breath." -Tikki shot at the black cat kwami. –"Don't think I won't, because I will, Plagg." -she threatened him.

"Go ahead! Call me! Anything that comes out of that beautiful mouth of yours, is music to my ears, sugar cube." -Plagg smirked at her.

"You're impossible!" –Tikki sighed, while rolling her eyes.

"Tell us something we don't know already." -Mika said, before biting a piece of ham.

"You're one to talk." -Pin said.

"Please, everyone, calm down." -Wayzz told them, as he ate a baby carrot. –"May I remind you why we decided to have this little night feast?" -he asked his fellow kwamis.

"To talk about what we all did today." -Trixx answered.

"And to give our holders some alone time." -Daria added.

"It's true. Tamara and myself, did promise Rose and Juleka that we wouldn't go back to the room, until it was 2 in the morning." -Flint declared, as he grabbed another cookie. –"Those two wanted to be alone." -he said. –"And I for one, didn't want to see them kissing and smooching."

"The way you say it, it's like they're doing something disgusting." -Tamara said. –"There's nothing disgusting in the two of them expressing their love physically." -she told him.

"Don't put words on my mouth, Tamara." -Flint told her. –"I never said it was disgusting. I only said that I didn't want to see it. It's different." -he said.

"They're lucky. Alya and Marinette are stuck in their room, and I know for a fact that Alya wished she could spend the night, cuddling against Nino." -Trixx declared. –"And Marinette would like to do the same thing with Adrien." -she laughed.

"Well, it's too bad that boys and girls can't share rooms." -Tikki said. –"But they'll survive, and make up for lost opportunities, when they get back to Paris." -she said.

"Or, they will date through their cell phones." -Daria suggested. –"Far are the times, when we didn't have cell phones with cameras. Or just plain cell phones." -he chuckled.

"But let's get back to what we were doing." -Ari begged them. –"I want to tell you all, what Daria and I saw at the Natural History Museum." -he said.

"Before you do it, let me remind you all that tomorrow we'll have to be on our best behaviour." -Pollen said. –"Chloe got tickets to watch the Lion King. I know you all know this, but we must do our best to behave and not raise suspicions of our presence, when at the theatre." -she reminded them.

"It'll be business as usual." -Plagg said. –"It's not like we don't spend our lives hiding and pretending that we don't exist." -he commented. –"We always do that, when we go to the movies. The theatre is just like the movies. The difference is that in that in the theatre is a live show."

As the kwamis continued their small feast, enjoying themselves, at the British Museum, someone was not enjoying itself. Most of the people who worked at the museum had already left, and gone home. But for the cleaning crew, the work had just begun. Just like any other place that was open to the public, once closed, it was time for the cleaning crew to come in and do their job. For most of those who belonged to it, the British Museum was just another place that had to be vacuumed and cleaned, before opening the following day; while for a small part they considered themselves lucky to be able to see all those artefacts, while they were working. Among those who saw the museum only as their place work, there was Stacy Garvey. She had started at that job a month before, and she was not happy about it. Because of her temper, she had had five jobs in last two years, and one would wonder how long it would take, until she was fired from that one.

Because she did not get along with anyone, and because her supervisor, who was a friend of her mother, who had asked her for the favor of getting her that job, knew she tended to get on people's nerves with her attitude, Stacy worked alone. She was usually in charge of cleaning the third-floor restrooms, but that night she was told to clean the offices of the department of Medieval History.

"Clean the offices of the department of Medieval History… as if that was any different than cleaning up the toilets!" -Stacy said, as she pushed her cleaning cart down the hall. –"The only difference is that instead of bleach, I'll use dusting spray." -she said, rolling her eyes. –"To think that someone with my intelligence, is stuck here, scrubbing toilets and such… what a waste of my time, my patience and my talent. Five years of college, to end up in a dead-end job like this one…"

Arriving at the department in question. Stacy entered the first of six offices. Looking at the name on the door, it read "Professor Lilith Morris". Turning the door knob, she entered it. Being the first time she was there, she looked around to see the size of the office. This was one was medium size. Lining the walls were several shelves filled with books. Some old, some newer. An impressive library. On the desk were numerous objects, including open books. Hanging from the ceiling was an old chandelier. The carpeted floor muffled the footsteps of everyone entering the office. Knowing it would take her about three-quarters of an hour to clean the office, Stacy cursed her luck and took the vacuum out of the cart and plugged it in.

"Better get started. This place isn't going to clean itself up." -Stacy sighed.

The sound of the vacuum cleaner filled the air, as the young woman hurried to vacuum the floor. Knowing she still had five more offices to clean, she had no intentions of lingering there for too long. Once she finished vacuuming, she grabbed a cloth and a can of dusting spray, so she could clean up the bookshelves. One by one, she rushed to dust off each of them. When she finished, she decided to take care of the desk.

"Be careful with what's on top of the desks. Don't touch it, and if you do, remember to put it back the way it was… what does she think I am? An idiot, or a 5-year-old?" –Stacy thought to herself, as she remembered the words her supervisor had told her earlier.

Carefully removing the books that were open from the desk, she placed them on one of the two nearby chairs. She was about to grab the pile of books that was next to the desk lamp, when she noticed a particular object on the desk, which caught her eye.

"What's this?" -Stacy asked, as she saw the peacock miraculous. –"It's pretty… not exactly my style, but it's still pretty." -she said, while looking at it.

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. To try the pendant. She knew she should not, but who would ever know she had used it for a couple of seconds? She just had to put it on for a moment, maybe take a picture with her cell phone and put it back in the box where she had taken it from. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like doing it; until she decided to do so. Placing the cloth and the dusting spray on the table, she did not hesitate and grabbed the pendant. But in doing so, something unexpected happened. A jolt of lightning shot from the pendant and struck Stacy, making her yell. As the lightning coursed through her body, this one began to levitate a couple of centimeters from the ground, as her eyes began to glow blue. A couple of seconds after, she came down.

"M-Must… f-focus…" -Stacy said, with a voice which was not hers. –"S-Still, too weak…" -she said, turning her head left and right, as if trying to figure out its surroundings. –"W-What is this… place? It feels…. strange…"

The one speaking was not Stacy. Instead, it was the holder of the peacock miraculous… La Paon. Unknown to the world, the holder of the peacock miraculous ended up trapped inside it. Looking through Stacy's eyes, La Paon tried to make sense of what was going on, and more importantly, where she was.

"I-Is this some kind of… l-library? Doesn't l-look like any library I-I've been before…"

While looking around, she saw something that caught her attention… a calendar. A small calendar, next to the computer screen. Looking at the year-number, she could hardly believe what she was seeing. It read 2019.

"2019? I've b-been t-trapped for m-more than nine centuries?! Trapped f-for nine c-centuries. N-Nearly a millennium…"

La Paon tried to retain control of Stacy's body, but it was no use. She was too weak to retain control of Stacy's body and mind; and as fast as she was able to possess her, she lost control over her. As for Stacy, when she came to her senses, she felt like she had been on drugs, with her head spinning around, while simultaneously feeling like someone had plucked from her memory, what had happened after she touched the pendant. Feeling dizzy, she sat on the desk chair, hoping that by doing it, her head stopped spinning. Because she could not remember what happened a few seconds prior, she wondered why she was feeling like that.

"W-Why am I feeling like my head is about split into two?" -Stacy thought to herself. –"One moment I'm fine, the next it's like someone drugged me… what was I doing, before this happened? I can't seem to remember…" -she thought, when she heard her name being called.

"Stacy, do you copy?! I repeat, Stacy, do you copy?!"

It was her supervisor on the walkie-talkie, and she sounded upset. Getting up from the desk chair, she almost fell on her knees, while making her way to the cleaning cart, where the walkie-talkie was. Grabbing it, she talked back.

"Y-Yeah… what is it?" -Stacy asked, trying to ignore what was happening with her.

"I've told you a thousand times, already. When I call you, you pick up, the following moment."

"I-I'm sorry… I w-was using the vacuum cleaner." -Stacy lied. –"W-What's the matter?" -she asked.

"Drop what you're doing, grab your cart and head to the ladies' restroom next to the Ancient Egyptian department, on the first floor. There's some problem with one of the pipes and until we can get the maintenance to come and see what's going on, someone has to keep guard on the water that's coming from the toilets."

"Understood… I'm on my way." -Stacy said, while turning off the walkie-talkie. –"Just my luck… it's bad enough I'm feeling like crap, and I don't know why, but now I've got to go and clean up toilets." -she sighed, frustrated. –"Someone up there, must have a really sick sense of humour, when planning what happens in my life… please, just kill me…"

Grabbing her stuff and putting them in her cleaning cart, Stacy hurried to get out of there, knowing that if she took too long, her supervisor would make sure to yell at her. Turning off the office's lights, she closed the door behind her. But had she stayed behind, she would have seen something unique. Reacting as if it had a life of its own, which was no lie, the peacock miraculous began to glow, illuminating the office as if it were a beacon in the middle of the night. And as it did this, two words came out of it, which were repeated three times, before the miraculous stopped glowing; and those words were:

"Hawk Moth… Hawk Moth… Hawk Moth…"

Back in Paris, in Hawk Moth's hideout, the villain felt the magical signature of La Paon, when Stacy touched the peacock miraculous, as he meditated. He felt it for a mere second, but he felt it. Since he had come back to life, this was the first time he felt a magical signature that was different from the ones he had already felt, which belonged to the miraculous heroes. Opening his eyes, he wondered if he had felt it, or if he had imagined things.

"That energy… I must have imagined it. It couldn't have been her." -Hawk Moth thought to himself. –"She is but a ghost of the distant past. A past that I've put behind me. Instead of thinking about the past, I must focus on the present." -he mused, as he closed his eyes and continued to meditate. –"Those infernal heroes continue to be a thorn on my side, and that has to end. I must devise a plan to get rid of them, once and for all. As long as their miraculouses exist, I will not be able to rule this world… they must be destroyed."

Heatwave... Heatwave... Heatwave... I can't take it any longer! I'm practically melting here... But seriously, it's quite hot around here. After nearly 6 months of cool weather, where the temperatures never went pass 25º Celcius (that's 77º Fahrenheit for you people living in the US), we get bombarded with ths heatwave that is anything but goos (I mean, I like warm weather in the Summer, but this is too much... and then people still say that Global Warming is a myth. Myth my aunt Fanny. It's real and we're experiencing t, right now).

But enough about the weather (I'm not David Lynch, who loves to report the weather, every Friday, xD), and let's focus on what we saw in this chapter. This one was mostly focused on the kwamis, who I think deserved to be in the spotlight for a little bit. And it also gave me the opportunity to adda little bit of lore to my AU, because I decided to reveal two previous miraculous holders, one from Pinn and other from Muuria... Robin Hood and Little John. I figured the two of them would perfect matches for the deer and the bear miraculouses, given how the stories about Robin Hood and his Merry Men usually depicts them.

But for me, what was funny to write was having La Paon in this chapter... sure, we still need to see her physically, but we're getting there. And the question remains: what is her story with Hawk Moth? s she friend or foe? More on that, during the next episodes.

I also want to apologize to you all for taking so long to update. Work has been taking a lot of me, along with this heatwave, and it's hard for me to thinlk about what to write. Anyways, as always, feel free to comment, fav and leave your suggestions to improve this fic or future sequels. :)

PS: Aside from working with LiehL-Lyn on the "Second Gear" outfits for the whole team, I recently decided to also commission another artist, NicoAlecsovich, some illustrations of the whole team, as if they were American superheroes. I don't know if something will come out of it, but who knows? I liked his style and figured it would be interesting to see how Ladybug and the others would look if they belonged to the Marvel universe or the DC universe. Be sure to check out his page, okay?