Max had a few interesting nights, to say the least. He did not expect to see the heroes again, except if he was expected to appear at some kind of heroes party where they would celebrate the victory. But he understood that the kwami and the magic were not supposed to be used like that.
Besides, they did not ask for his help while they had to defeat all those akuma an sentimonsters in that temple in Tibet during the last two weeks, and they definitely got there somehow. Probably Chat Noir or Ladybug unified their powers with Kaalki.
The thought that the two heroes did it without him, that he wasn't really needed made him a bit melancholic, if that was indeed the feeling he had? Because he felt a bit too young to be missing the good old times, but that was exactly how he felt.
Then there was the issue that his identity was compromised by the Miracle Queen, or actually Hawk Moth who controlled Chloe's actions that day, as the girl got akumatized after she saw her parents got akumatized. He did not dwell on that too much, revealing his identity wasn't his choice.
He was just discussing the theory of relativity with Markov and how the time and the distance and the mass changed with speed, it was a fruitful discussion as the artificial intelligence algorithms he first implemented got upgraded by the robot itself during the discussion of the subject.
The heroes appeared at his window and asked for his services. Of course he said yes. He did not expect them and he did not ask about the details, and he felt like he did not need to ask, if the heroes needed him he was ready to help. But this time it was different.
It wasn't an akuma fight, it wasn't a life or death situation. They explained that they needed to retrieve several objects related to the magic of the miraculous that were currently in the possession of Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur.
That was something he accepted as a duty, it wasn't stealing, he was collecting evidence for the two superheroes, technically, he was breaking and entering, but the heroes had to do such things to fight an akuma and this was probably not much different.
Markov used his algorithms to locate the exact positions of both villains, it wasn't too hard to do when one considers all the data that the tiny robot managed to access rather easily. Once the two of them decided what was the best future position, Max, well, Peagasus had an easy task.
They located the tablet easily, Ladybug knew exactly which one to take and there was much better and more expensive device right there, in her hands, but she wanted this cheap one, almost a toy, she claimed it wasn't the tablet, it was the information stored on it.
But then there was Gabriel Agreste. The man was awake when they arrived, but Chat Noir kept him down rather efficiently. They actually needed more time to locate the book in that mess of the prison cell.
And after that night he knew there was something called the Book of Lore and that it contained some kind of a text that explained the secrets of a miraculous. He also knew that Ladybug and Chat Noir shared the duties of a guardian. Well, perhaps not in so many details on the first go.
It was what happened on the next night that blew his mind. He hardly expected to be called for action twice, in two consecutive nights, after Hawk Moth had been defeated and yet he was. But this time, it looked even simpler.
He was just giving them a ride. Well, Chat Noir explained that he wasn't going this time, that there was no need and he was just going to patrol Paris a little while and left Peagasus to wait for Ladybug on the designated meeting spot.
His passengers were Ladybug, of course, and his classmate Adrien and his aunt. And they were going to a cave near that temple … he got the location rather precisely from Ladybug, it was probably the same one she and Chat Noir used to sneak up for the previous attacks.
He did nto question the purpose too much, there was Adrien's mother involved and his classmate and the boy's aunt were both probably distressed too much to talk about it, so Peagasus, the hero that he was, kept his questions to a minimum.
He had plenty of time in that cave to feed his kwami. Ladybug took her time to observe the scenery before he finally peeked out too. They were high on a cliff and the hero told him she shouldn't go to the temple, that one should not enter the temple transformed.
Even Markov enjoyed the view, it was fantastic. He imagined Adrien and Marinette in that scenery, it was probably romantic once you ignored all the discomfort and the dangers and he was certain they had about 67 percent chance of falling in love there.
But then a woman, a Tibetan monk, ran over down that narrow ledge and greeted Ladybug as an old friend. They quickly passed intorductions, she accepted Markov far better than principal Damocles and Mme Mendeleev and they continued to talk casually.
Well as casually as one talked when he learned that to wield a miraculous one was supposed to spend about seven years in training and schooling in their temple. And he never did that. He felt under-schooled and under-trained for the task he just did.
But apparently, he did it well, the woman called Pema told him, she praised the fact that he made a teleportation portal about half the world (a quarter, he corrected) so precisely. Only the true wielders were able to do that and she promised to recommend him to the teacher.
He and Pema talked unusually well when he considered her history that she briefly elaborated, because it turned out she was born more than two centuries ago, although the woman did not exist for most of that time so she was effectively slightly more than twenty.
They returned in the middle of the night, well it was about one in the morning when he excitedly got himself into his bed but wasn't able to fall asleep from all the ideas that swarmed his mind and all the concerns that came with each of them.
Because there was something like training for a miraculous wielder and it usually took seven years but because he was already in school and already knew how to use his, it could last much shorter and if Ladybug needed him more, maybe he should engage in that training.
But his life, his school and his friends were in Pairs. But then, he was allowed to take Markov with him. Maybe he was supposed to wait until he was adult, like his mother waited to become an astronaut? Or maybe it was better if he joined now.
Ladybug did not mention him going to Tibet to a temple for seven years but she discussed a need to form a team that was expected to fight any villain that appeared (in the future or in the past, that part was slightly confusing and he hardly followed).
Markov was perhaps more excited than Max about the prospect of going to a temple and learn about ancient scripts that described magic that defied the laws of nature. The boy was far more concerned while he contemplated his options and what to do next.
"I was 98.2 percent certain that the teachers in my school were not ready for the advancement in evolution you represent and I was sorry that I was right, but then we visited that temple and a monk there was more ready to accept you than my science teacher." Max spoke to his robot.
"If the monks in that temple are teaching the magic of the miraculous and they live in an enchanted temple that protects from magic and they just skipped about 174 years nine months five days twelve hours and 55.2 seconds then I would assume … " Markov elaborated.
"But they skipped all the technology evolution, all the changes in the society that happened during all those years and we have taken for granted. I told that monk that my mother is studying to become an astronaut and she did not even blink." The boy cut in.
"As I was saying, they have skipped a lot of time during which the mankind had passed through many stages of what is generally considered as progress and now they faced it all within those few months since their temple reappeared." The tiny robot recited.
"Which means that about 99.8 percent of the population would have experienced extreme stress levels in their position, not to mention they are adults and that there are monks in that temple that are centuries old … " The boy trailed off.
"Technically, they are all centuries old in that temple, but they haven't aged that much." Markov corrected. "The monks there have been trained to recognize and accept the existence of magical creatures and trained to engage in battles with them whenever necessary."
"So you think they see you as another form of magic? But they know I made you … " The boy trailed off. He was tired and it was time to sleep, Markov let him slowly drift into sleep and wished the boy sweet dreams while the little AI processed the information his own way.
Max was never good with poetry, nor literature. If it was a straightforward assignment to analyse a piece of text, the boy stood a chance, but with hidden messages between the verses of a poem he was just as lost as the next boy, perhaps even more.
The idea that the class would go to Liberty and hang out together to work (or at least pretend to work) on their homework was a welcome distraction that could only help him find at least a poem to analyse.
But once the subject was brought up, someone had wisely concluded that no work was going to be done if the girls and the boys aren't separated for at least quarter of an hour to make up their mind what to chose and make a few notes on why.
"There is 89 percent chance that the first quarter of an hour shall be spent in useless dwelling about this and that crush." Max concluded while he helplessly flipped through pages of poetry, the message was supposed to be hidden.
"Perhaps I could help you with chosing the poem for your homework." Markov dutifully offered to his creator. " I do have access to millions of poems. What do you need?" And the screen on Markov demonstrated the abundance by scrolling through titles really quickly.
"I have only about a hundred poems here and I can't pick one, what would I do with a million." Max muttered. "Perhaps you could pick one for me? We are looking for a poem with a hidden message, like it looks like it is about nature but it is actually about love."
"Right." The robot floated around and the screen demonstrated how many songs and poems it scanned through it's memory. "I have narrowed down the choice to about ten thousand, would you prefer some classic, popular or … "
"Something classic, but less popular, something nobody else from the class would chose." Max looked around and tried to sneak a peek into what his classmates were doing, but it wasn't very useful. Finally he settled to sit by the steps that led to the cabin below deck.
"These classic poems are rather popular, it is my estimate that this particular one would be chosen by about 30 percent of the pupils." Markov proudly recited a poem. Max was devastated, he found it in his book, it was indeed a good poem for homework, but he wanted something more original.
"I cant believe Markov found a love poem faster than me." Alix snickered from below. "I guess I suck at that too. Just don't tell Kim that I said that. Anyway, Max if you are not using that one, can I take it?" She climbed up a few steps and sat next to the boy.
"We are not supposed to use same poems, so it was a good idea for us all to do it together but … " Max trailed off. He wasn't ready to admit that he did not know how to do that and depended on someone else's help.
"But we are still doing it on our own." Alix smirked. "Yeah, I was kind of hoping for some helpt from all those romantic souls down there … " She motioned towards the girls. "But they are so busy gushing about their own choices that I have no idea what to do."
"Yeah, I guess it is the same with me." Max adjusted his glasses and tapped his finger nervously on his tablet. He looked at Markov who was suspiciously silent. His screen flashed the text of another poem with a hidden message of love.
"Hey Markov, did you find one more poem?" Alix turned towards the tiny robot. "What is that poem? Are you sure it is about love because I don't see it … " She trailed off. She never saw much meaning in Marinette's quest for Adrien really, and all their schemes but she always helped out.
"Yeah, me neither." Max focused on the text on the screen and blinked rather confused. "These words hold a meaning but I don't get a hidden love message." He shrugged. Then he looked at Alix and similarly confused face. They both shrugged in unison.
"Most of the poetry was written about love and feelings." Markov started to recite the poem.
"Can you tell us where?" Alix frowned.
"Nope, this is your homework, I picked you two poems, now you have to get it." Markov teased and started to sing 'Computer love' (there are several really old ones with the same name in English, the author prefers one that is not in English).
The two teens huddled together on the same step and read a poem word for word until they started to make theories whatever they thought might be romantic hidden behind the beautiful soft meadows and strong tall cliffs.
"I can't believe you brought this old book, it was really brave of you, I would never hope I was going to be able to find anything in it." Alix pointed to the book that was in Max's hands just below the tablet where he at least typed the title and the name of the author.
"Yeah, I can't believe it either, Adrien advised me to take this, but I work much better with modern technologies." He adjusted his glasses and intently focused on the text of the poem.
"Well I got this old thing from my father for my fifteenth birthday and I thought it was cool, it was supposed to be centuries old but what it did, it looked rather modern technology to me." She smirked and took out her pocket watch, she already showed it to her class on her birthday.
Max looked at the pocket watch, it was a cool thing, he opened it and closed it and turned around a few times, then he recited some statistical data about pocket watches and complications that the most distinguished specimens hosted.
"Hey Alix, sorry, I promised to help … " Marinette approached from the bottom of the steps.
"Max you mentioned you could use some help." Adrien approached from above.
Alix closed her pocket watch and put it away in her backpack.
All three kids followed the pocket watch with their eyes exactly to the point where it got stored in the backpack. Then Both Adrien and Marinette stared at each other then they both looked at Alix.
"Um ..." Marinette began.
"Alix?" Adrien called.
"Your pocket watch?" Marinette stammered and run the tip of her shoe into the floor.
"Did it ever behave some strange way?" Adrien asked tentatively.
"It runs perfectly. It got fixed by the miraculous cure after I got akumatized." She shrugged.
Marinette stared at Adrien, that pocket watch wasn't the only thing that got fixed, she also brought him back, because Timebreaker made him disappear.
"Okay, I'm sure Ladybug would be glad to know that your birthday present works perfectly." Adrien spoke but he looked at Marinette. He knew what what going on through her mind, Alix made him disappear and she watched it, but he saw her disappear thousands of times.
"Oh, I didn't know you were so interested in it." She was reaching for the watch in her backpack.
"Poems … " Marinette shot back. "I mean poems we analyse to meant … I mean we are meant to analyse poems."
"Right" Alix rolled her eyes, it was far better if she dragged that girl away and use her for a minute, if there was a hidden romantic message in this piece of text she was reading, that girl was the one who was going to find it.