Diaries
It was a late hour, already dark in the evening. Ladybug and Chat Noir sat on a rooftop opposite the Agreste mansion. Ladybug stood on her feet, her yoyo in her hand, ready to go, but Chat Noir sat down and his tail flipped left and right nervously.
"You got us clearance to do this, I thought you wanted to go in and explore, why do you stall?" Ladybug inquired and looked at Chat Noir with worried eyes. "I can do it alone if you want."
"Nothing, it's just, we are going to show them aren't we?" He asked timidly. "We, I mean us … " He pointed his claw to his chest. "Ladybug and Chat Noir, the superheroes, we are going to show them all about the peacock miraculous and my mother."
"I don't have to show them anything if you don't want me to, besides, it is probably better for all if they don't know, we learned that in another timeline." She replied gently. "We can always say that what Hawk Moth said during the battle in the temple was his own construction."
"Actually, let's just ask them for more time to explore the mansion and whatever Emilie left behind her, then we can see for ourselves what just happened and then we decide what we can report to the authorities as well as my aunt." He shook his head.
"You are probably right." Ladybug shrugged. "Let's go." She threw her yoyo. It was getting late and they were losing precious time. This time Bunnix will not let them to catch up on their sleep, and they still had school in the morning.
Officer Roger and mayor Bourgeois were more than happy to let the two superheroes go through the vast building on their own, its vast hallways looked even more threatening in the night and with the history of its owner, nobody was thrilled to explore it.
"So, where do you want to start? Your room?" Ladybug asked quietly once they were alone in the huge house. Its interior was designed with a purpose to impress and intimidate so it was not particularly welcoming in the evening.
"No, I can do that during the day." He shook his head. "And I will get copies of all the hard drives and cloud locations where the data is stored for Markov to process."
"Okay, so Nathalie's office?" Ladybug asked tentatively.
"Okay." Chat accepted mostly to postpone the inevitable.
"I don't think there is anything in here." She noticed after only several minutes of search.
"The police had been through all this anyway." Chat shrugged.
"Gabriel's office?" Ladybug proposed next.
"Yeah. But, let's go through the living room first." He proposed.
"This is that porcelain that Amelie gushed about." She whispered and looked at the glass display.
"Yes, I don't remember we ever used it." Chat admitted.
"So, do we open it and search further or we go to the office?" She asked next.
"The office." Because honestly, Chat was scared of what he was about to find.
Once they were in front of the office door, they faced their first obstacle. It was locked. Chat smirked, spread the claws on his right hand and inhaled but Ladybug put her hand over his mouth to silence him.
"I know you'd enjoy this but don't call for your power, I'll have to fix everything back anyway." She noted. Chat deflated but relented. They both detransformed and let the kwami unlock the door.
"Files on the shelves, files in the computer, the drawers … all searched by police I guess." Marinette sighed.
"Let's look at the safe." Adrien proposed.
Plagg phased inside and the door got unlocked just like the first time.
"Well, looks like my father cleared it up before he left." Adrien noted. Even the hotel pamphlets were gone. "Looks like there is not much to find here, actually." The boy sighed with relief.
"Well, this is a large house, there are more places to look. What about your father's bedroom?" Marinette suggested. "If my parents want something hidden, they place it there."
"Like gifts for your birthdays or Christmas?" Adrien inquired with a happy smile. "As you can see, my parents had no issues in hiding stuff from me."
"Come on, have you ever sneaked up in their room and went through their things?" She inquired with a glint in her eyes.
"No, never. And you?" He asked sheepishly.
"How do you think I learned about tampons and sanitary pads?" She snickered. But then she blushed. "And my birthday present was actually hidden in one of those boxes." She had to add.
They reached the master bedroom. It was locked again, automatically, just like most of the doors in the mansion. Tikki took the honours to unlock it this time and they entered.
"I don't remember when I was here." Adrien admitted. "I know I was, but it was years ago. My mum was … still around." It was obvious the memories and feelings were crushing onto the boy and Marinette hugged him. He felt better.
"Plagg, Tikki, would you mind phasing through the bed and underneath to see if there is anything worth looking for?" Marinette asked quietly while she kept holding the boy. Tikki floated away and almost phased into the bed when she noticed that Plagg wasn't following.
"Kid, this is an awkward thing to ask, but Gabriel and Nathalie were rather close. I don't want to stumble into … something … they might have used here." Plagg spoke quietly and observed the boy carefully.
It was hard to tell who blushed more, Adrien or Marinette. They split apart and looked at the large bed as if it was threatening.
"Got you!" The tiny black cat like kwami cackled and floated over to the bed.
"Plagg!" Adrien groaned. Marinette rolled her eyes and looked away to hide her blush.
The two teens went through the drawers.
"There is nothing in here." Adrien noticed. Spare reading glasses, a book, pens and paper, a phone charger …
"Gabriel is booooring." Plagg whined while he floated around in circles. "Even his stuff is arranged according to his impeccable taste."
"It looks like the things here are laid as your mother left them." Marinette noted as she went through the drawer. She turned around a few things, including feminine hygiene products and then stumbled on an item that Alya sometimes mentioned, and blushed.
"Oops, looks like pigtails had better luck." Plagg teased.
"Leave them alone Plagg!" Tikki groaned.
Marinette quickly shut the drawer and hid her red face. There was no need for Adrien to see that. She did not need to see that. Nobody needed to see that.
"Leave them alone, okay, I'm going to search for any cheese remains then." Plagg teased and floated away.
"No, come back Plagg." Adrien called. "We still need you to open up anything that's locked."
"Come on, you have Tikki for that." He whined.
"No Plagg, you are going to help just like the rest of us." Adrien frowned.
Marinette bravely opened the door that lead to a huge bathroom, not much larger than Adrien's, but everything looked even more luxurious. She opened a few cabinets, there were towels, plenty of skin and haircare products.
"This is a man's bathroom, they removed her things from here." She noticed.
Adrien walked inside while Marinette got back to the master bedroom to try another door. This lead to another bathroom, but there she noticed hair brushes and make up and a chair and a vanity and whatever she could imagine being used.
"Your parents had separate bathrooms?" Marinette inquired.
"Oh, I think they did, my mother mentioned that sometimes, maybe?" He shrugged.
"Where does this door lead to?" Marinette stood in front of a shiny surface that might be a door and might be a piece of decoration.
"I think that is just a piece of decoration." Adrien shrugged. "Come on, let's check the wardrobe.
Unsurprisingly, they found two walk in closets, one for Gabriel and another for Emilie.
"Considering the size and the amount of stuff they have in here, they might have had four wardrobes. This is bigger than my room." Marinette exclaimed and expected to hear an echo.
Gabriel's wardrobe was surprisingly dull. Lines after lines of suits with barely noticeable differences between them. The lines of shoes that looked so similar that it took Marinette's trained eyes to notice differences in designs and then there were vests and shirts, all alike.
"No wonder Gabriel always looked the same." Plagg noted.
"I did not expect his wardrobe to be so … dull? Monotonous?" Marinette frowned. This was suspiciously without any variety. "I mean, all this pieces are elegant, but still … "
"I'm certain my father used to wear clothes that were different than this, but … I don't remember, I'll have to look for the old family photos." He glanced around.
"Yes, that's what's missing. The old family albums, my parents keep some of them in a wardrobe in their bedroom." She noted.
"Everyone in films keep them in their bedroom." Adrien snickered. "But not my parents, these albums are locked up somewhere in the living room. They showed them to the guests to impress them."
And then they stumbled upon a safe, somewhat hidden behind a layer of suits.
"Tikki, would you do the honours?" Marinette asked with a smile.
"Yes, Marinette." Tikki phased into the safe and it was open in an instant.
"This is a collection of father's watches, pins and cufflinks." Adrien noted. He stared at the boxes with neatly arranged items that were elegant and very similar in shape and size.
Marinette looked at the items and admired their design and making.
"I guess he was wearing only one pin lately." Adrien chuckled nervously and pushed the boxes back inside.
Marinette pushed them back out. It was a tray with black velvet and rows upon rows of cufflinks and tie needles and matching pins. She passed her hand over them as if she expected to feel something, but then she frowned. She took another tray, this one was with watches.
"What are you looking for?" Adrien inquired.
"I don't know, I just have this strange feeling … " She trailed off.
"I also had a strange feeling, it makes me want to shove it back inside, close it, lock it up and walk away." He replied quietly.
Something rattled in the tray and Marinette looked again.
"There are several rings in this box." She noted.
"These look exactly like the wedding rings my parents were wearing." He noted.
"But … is this what Amelie was looking for?" Marinette asked quietly.
"Let's return them back in the safe, she can have them." Adrien shook his head. "Wait … Hawk Moth mentioned … that my mother used a ring to create Felix?"
They both felt cold shivers go down their spines.
"Okay, maybe, but which one?" Marinette wondered. "There are two."
"We could take both and then see?" Adrien proposed.
"We need Duusu for that. I would have to transform, I think." She was reluctant.
Adrien simply snatched the rings and put them into his pocket.
"We are keeping them safe until we find out what they are." He explained.
"And what do we want to do with them if one of them indeed hosts the amok that helped create your cousin." Marinette smiled gently.
None of them had the determination to face Felix as a sentimonster let alone to destroy him.
"You know, I think we should keep him." She spoke quietly after they locked up the safe. "If we destroy him and I run the Ladybug magic, I might change too many things."
Adrien just looked at her carefully.
"You're right, we have to be careful. Besides, he is rather awake, he is not dormant like that piece of stone in the Louvre." Adrien teased. "And aunt Amelie sees him as her own child." Not to mention that he still saw Felix as his cousin.
"Yeah, but I don't know how the sentimonster from the Louvre became dormant. Was it because the amok was discarded … wait … it ate the item." She shrugged.
They walked into Amelie's wardrobe, there were rows of dresses and skirts and blouses and shoes and suits and jackets and coats and Marinette forgot how to breathe.
"I think these are collections that are kept for safe keeping not just their private wardrobes." Adrien shrugged. "At least they removed clothes that were too small for me from my wardrobe."
Marinette stood in Emilie's wardrobe and admired, the fashion designer in her was on cloud nine.
"I could move in here and never get out, just look at all this stuff." She admired and took a step forward.
"I don't remember my mother ever wore any of this." Adrien admitted.
"I'm scared to go further, what if I find Narnia in the back?" She teased.
"I will protect you." He snickered. "Let's go!"
The excitement of going through all those clothes kept them busy for quite some time until Adrien stumbled upon a safe.
"Of course, your mother probably kept her jewellery there." Marinette shrugged. "Look, there is that same decorative panel. I'm sure it is the door that leads here."
"It makes sense." Adrien noted and motioned for Plagg to open. And indeed, they could enter the bathroom they assumed belonged to Emilie.
"Look, there are stairs, there is a gallery!" Marinette exclaimed. And indeed there was a set of winding stairs and when they climbed they found more clothes. And behind them there were some boxes, a bookshelf, a writing table.
Marinette opened drawers in the writing table. There were pens and paper, envelopes, cards and other items. She took out one drawer completely and sneaked her hand in the hole. And then she found a set of small keys.
"I bet these open up something interesting." She smiled.
Adrien positively beamed.
"Did your mother have a diary?" She smiled and looked at the keys. "Or plenty of them." She counted them with her fingers.
"I hope so." He grinned. "Reading her diaries would bring me closer to her, and get to know her better and perhaps I would understand why … she did any of the things she did."
"Well then. let's try and find what these keys unlock." She put the keys in her clutch bag and they faced the boxes. They opened the first one.
"These are definitely diaries, but really old ones." Marinette noted. "Look, this one is from someone named Oliver Graham and it is dated from two centuries ago."
"This one is from Therese de Vanily." Adrien pointed to another.
"Looks like the two got married, see?" Marinette opened the next fancy notebook and pointed to the name. It was Therese Graham de Vanily.
"So that is how they started, two families into one." Adrien noted.
They looked at the numerous old notebooks in the box.
"I want to read these. This is my family history." Adrien spoke quietly.
Marinette opened another box and there were just some random items.
Then they opened another and there were some really old clothes.
She returned to the box with the diaries.
"These belong to different people, but they span through more than a century." Adrien smiled. He found several old photographs and albums.
"Perhaps not all family albums are stored in your living room?" Marinette teased.
"No, just the nuclear family. Apparently these belong to my ancestors. Well, my mother's ancestors." Adrien corrected himself.
"No wonder Amelie wants them." Marinette smiled. "It feels unfair to just take them."
"Wait, there is a device in Nathalie's office that scans books, perhaps we could use it?" Adrien proposed.
"Good, we could do that." Marinette nodded and yawned. They took the diaries and the photo albums, apparently Nathalie was well equipped and they progressed rather quickly. The documents were scanned, copied and stored back where they found them.
"Perhaps we should go home, it is almost midnight." Adrien looked at his girlfriend. "We do have school in the morning and Ladybug and Chat Noir can return and investigate further whenever they want." He winked.
They covered the box beneath other boxes and decided to return the next evening. Marinette circled the small writing table. She felt its sides and the bottom. It hosted two thin drawers that they searched and she did find those keys once she pulled one drawer out.
"Maybe … " She took out the set of keys and looked at a small hole, she tried several keys until one of them turned and she could slide the bottom to the side. Three fancy diaries fell out from the hidden compartment as she removed the bottom that held them in place.
"You found them." Adrien was on his knees and collected the diaries. There was nothing written on them but he somehow knew. He held them closer to his chest and inhaled. And then he sneezed because of the dust. But he was holding his mother's diaries.
"We are taking these with us." Marinette stated.
Then they both transformed and found a window that they left unlocked and memorized where to enter the next time they needed.