56 Wake up
"Where are you going?" Tikki demanded with all the authority of a kwami of creation. She floated after Plagg who all but disappeared in the darkness. All she was able to see were his green eyes, clearly visible in the dark, so she did her best to keep pace and not lose him in the dark.
"Looking for more cheese." Plagg replied quickly and phased into a leather bag. He appeared back almost in the same moment he phased into the bag. "This smells even worse than the most aged cheese in France." He used his paw to cover his nose.
"Now I wonder … " Tikki chirped in teasingly. "What could that possibly be that it smells bad even for you." She floated side by side to the black kwami who slowly and reluctantly proceeded to look for more cheese between the different items scattered among sleeping guards.
"Why don't you go inside and look for yourself?" Plagg shot back with his nose firmly pinched. But Tikki did not move a muscle to do that. "I forgot how they kept meat to rot underneath the saddle on their horses." The black kwami explained.
"Disgusting." Tikki agreed. But soon her face shifted into mischief. "Well I'm glad there is something that even you find disgusting." She teased and floated by his side. "Now, can we go back? We should not get too far from our chosen?"
"You heard them!" Plagg brushed her off. "We are not supposed to know what they are doing. It is some kind of a guardian secret." He stressed the last two words mockingly. "They sent us away, so we can do whatever we want and that includes looking for cheese."
"I'm sure they did not imply that we are free to look for anything suitable for you to devour." She piped in but her face was stern. "And remember, we are on a mission, this is not a vacation, where are you going? Plagg?" She observed Plagg phase into another bag.
"I think this was an early version of what they call beer in our days." Plagg shook himself as if he intended to shake some drops off, but he wasn't wet, he phased through the liquid. "And judging from the state of these guards, I'm surprised there is any of that stuff left."
"We are not supposed to be looking for the food on our own! Remember when it got us into trouble? Do you want us to get into trouble again?" Tikki whispered while Plagg was searching for any cheese around the sleeping guard.
"They are busy with the guardian stuff!" Plagg retorted. "They don't need us and … where is that business class cheese when you need it?" He muttered the last sentence. "Besides, there is something else I find disgusting, and that is sugar."
"You shared a macaron with me, more than once!" Tikki was exasperated. "And stop snooping around, you will get us into trouble." She continued to scold. "Where are you going? We got too far from our chosen! You will get us into trouble again just like with that chemistry teacher!"
"To the palace! I'm sure the mighty Khan has a cheese stash somewhere." Plagg replied and floated away quickly, Tikki was barely able to keep pace while she glared at him with her narrowed blue eyes. "Now where would I keep a stash of cheese if I was a Khan and I had a palace."
"We can't go to the palace Plagg, that is too far!" Tikki protested. "Our chosen will need us and we will not be there to respond. We can't just leave them like this, Plagg?" She continued her ramble but Plagg pretended he wasn't affected by her words although he glanced back from time to time.
"Nah, if they are already finished with that guardian thing, they are probably cuddled together and doing that love stuff. I don't want to be there. Cheese is much better! Let's look for cheese." The small black cat floated away into the darkness.
"Plagg, we got too far, we won't be able to hear them if they call us!" Tikki warned again and dashed forward to be by his side. She put her hands on her tiny hips. "We are not supposed to abandon our chosen like this!"
"We are not supposed to hear them! Or did you forget why they sent us away?" Plagg retorted dryly and put his tiny hands on his hips. "And I am the kwami that gives his chosen enhanced senses such as much more sensitive hearing, therefore I have to go far, really far."
"Well, if your senses are so good, so enhanced as you like to brag, I'm surprised it is taking you so long to find any cheese." Tikki teased, but she was becoming increasingly nervous. Because she did not really see where they were going, she was only able to see Plagg, particularly his eyes.
"You're right." Plagg surprised Tikki with his answer as he sniffled the air and concentrated. "I should have smelled cheese if we ever passed by any. I guess these guards were given only as much as they were able to eat for dinner. But there must be a stash somewhere."
"Plagg, stop! Right now!" Tikki dashed after him into the darkness. "You are being impossible, why can't you do the right thing for once. Listen to me, we have to go back, I'm sure your chosen has plenty of cheese, you ate enough ..."
Tikki continued her rant and followed Plagg, particularly his eyes, and at one point the tiny floating black cat disappeared, or better, phased through a wall, while Tikki slammed straight into it in the the wall that was hidden by the darkness.
"Oh right." Tikki shook her head, dusted herself off, then shrugged, sighed and phased through the wall. The first thing that hit her on the other side was smell, unbearable heavy smell that filled her nose and throat and she felt like she inhaled liquid, not air.
"This is heaven." Plagg announced, his tail swished left and right, his eyes were wider and wider as he glanced from one direction to another, his grin only grew, his tiny fangs were more and more visible and he was drooling.
Tikki pinched her nose and looked around. There was a candle in the corner. The room was filled with shelves and there were lumps of different sizes stored on those shelves and covered in cloths, and it smelled, it smelled awfully.
"This is one day old cheese, you can say it is fresh." Plagg explained in a tone of a proud museum curator who was bragging about the exhibition he just set up. He patted one lump that was covered with a cloth. Tikki rolled her eyes and tried to breathe on her mouth.
"Ummm" Plagg sighed as he inhaled deeply. "This is goat cheese." He stated knowingly and then dashed to another shelf. "And this is sheep cheese." He nodded with a huge self satisfied grin on his face. He made a full circle around the lump and inhaled deeply.
"We are not supposed to just take it on our own!" Tikki warned. She scrunched her nose and pinched it again. "This smell is unbearable." She muttered and floated after Plagg to another shelf where more cheese was laid to rest.
"Oh, this one has aged … look … it even has mould on it." He grinned as he uncovered a piece of cheese on the shelf. He pulled the cloth to the side and there was a number of lumps of cheese on it in various states of ageing. Tikki rolled her eyes and kept quiet, not to inhale more smelly air.
"This one is too hard." Plagg stated as he bounced off the first lump. "This one is softer but not just ready yet." He bounced off the next one. He continued to bounce off each lump of cheese and commented on its state until he landed on one that did not let him bounce.
"oooh." Plagg released a satisfied moan. "This one is totally soft inside, just the way I like it." He rolled over the lump of cheese just like it was bed, and the size of it was just right, for a king size bed for a kwami. "Come on Sugarcube, it is so nice and soft."
"Don't call me that." She retorted back, but then she pinched her nose with both of her small hands and rolled her eyes. If she wanted to talk, she had to breathe more, this way she avoided to sense the smell that simply overwhelmed her.
"This cheese is calling my name, I can feel it, it wants me to make it mine, all mine." Plagg moaned as he rolled over the chunk of cheese and started to lick it. Tikki wasn't sure if she wanted to cover her nose, her eyes or her ears, then she given up on any, she was just too annoyed.
"It must be your enhanced hearing because I can't hear a thing." Tikki replied flatly. "And I doubt that the mould started to talk yet, as much as this cheese has aged." She floated away slightly as she searched for a breath of air that was slightly less smelly.
"You know, if the smell is bothering you so much, I know the way to fix it." Plagg teased and then started to eat the cheese. Tikki found a spot on an empty shelf and watched helplessly. There was no point in her protests, Plagg wasn't the one to listen, not with cheese around anyway.
Neither Tikki nor Plagg knew how much time had passed since they left their chosen, nor when they were needed to be back, the black kwami finished the chunk of cheese and laid himself on the empty spot on the shelf to rest.
Tikki nervously observed their surroundings, and slowly settled down, she got used to the smell, now that they were not moving from one smelly piece of cheese to another, it was easier to handle because her nose wasn't hit with a new intense smell each second.
Adrien and Marinette were transformed for so long, the two kwami needed some rest, Tikki had just eaten her macaron but she did not mind getting some peace and quiet, maybe Plagg was right, she settled down, someone had to stay and watch over the kwami of destruction.
Marinette was tired. She fell asleep on Adrien's shoulder as soon as she closed her eyes. Adrien held her close and allowed his eyes to close too. It was surprisingly warm summer night. He put his head on top of hers and inhaled deeply. He was tired, he needed sleep too.
The two teenagers drifted into a deep sleep, they were hidden from the guards and their rest was much needed. It was dark, but soon the sky started to turn slightly brighter, the dawn was approaching and the guards started to wake up.
Marinette stirred in her sleep. Adrien just pulled her closer. None of them opened their eyes. There was some noise, some commotion going on, people were arguing, in a foreign language, but they both wanted just a few minutes, their sleep was so short. Too short.
People were arguing slightly louder, Marinette felt Adrien moved slightly, but he was warm, and she appreciated his warmth. But then she remembered that they were not back in the temple, there was no sleeping bag, they were in fact again in China, but at a different time.
Adrien slowly opened one eye slightly and became aware that it was dawn, the sun was not up yet, but it wasn't dark any more. They were hiding underneath a short tree and the branches and leaves hid them from their surroundings, and the surroundings from them.
"We are detransformed." Marinette whispered lightly. "What if anyone sees us?" Her biggest worry was to keep their identities a secret, even then, although the only two persons who actually knew them were Alix and Max.
"They can't see us, we are hidden." Adrien replied sleepily and patted her back to calm her down. He knew the identity of the guardian when Fu was one, but only after the old master was persuaded by Ladybug to reveal himself, so he did not push to reveal himself to the other wielders.
"Peagasus and Bunnix can't see us, they would recognize us instantly." She warned. Because it was still important to keep their identities a secret from anyone and everyone, except those monks in the temple who recognized them anyway.
"I don't see them anywhere. Besides, I'm more worried about Khan's guards." Adrien replied and tried to catch a glimpse of the guards through the leaves and the branches that were hiding them from the rest of the world.
"They are not much of the guards." Marinette noted. "Have you seen them last night?" She rolled her eyes and tried to sneak a peek through the branches too.
"I guess their alert level isn't very high." Adrien chuckled.
"Or nobody is guarding the park, the guards are probably active only on the walls that surround it and this is a place for them to rest." She concluded.
"Right as always, my Lady." He smiled gently.
"What are they arguing about? Are they looking for us?" Marinette mumbled. "I keep hearing about two intruders … did they catch Bunnix and Tuzi? Or Peagasus?" She opened her eyes fully and looked around but there wasn't much to see.
"Nope, they did not catch anybody, they want to search … for us I think." He explained. They quietly unwrapped themselves from each other and shuddered lightly in the cold morning air. Then they crawled to the hole between the branches to peek through.
"They keep mentioning Khan." Marinette whispered.
"Yeah, I think they are waiting for him to decide on what to do." He whispered.
They observed a large figure dressed in full armour and decorated in shiny fabrics that flowed all the way to the ground. The man walked over to the group of people who were arguing by the fire that was now extinguished.
"The watch" Marinette whispered quietly. "We left the watch in the fire."
"The miraculous should not be damaged by the fire." Adrien whispered. "And we were supposed to leave it."
"Until the light fades out." She quoted the instructions. "We were supposed to keep it in the light until the light faded out."
The man arguing by the fire were now standing straight up, stiff and alert as they watched their mighty Khan, and they were quiet, there was no argument no more, as if everything was clear the moment their Khan appeared.
"What was it that I heard?" Khan demanded as he walked from one of his men to another. "That you saw two intruders?" He stopped by one man who was only half dressed and looked at him up and down. "That two imposters have passed my guards on the walls?"
There was an answer from the guards, but all of them started answering at the same time, using different words, to confirm how they saw two unknown persons by the fire, just moments ago, or some time during the night, there was a disagreement on that.
"Are you sure that was what you saw? And not the insides of your beer bag?" Khan demanded and kicked one item that was laid on the ground. All present guards flinched at the sight of their beloved sack getting a kick.
"We all saw it." A man by Khan replied. "We all saw the same, two persons, here by the fire." He pointed at the spot on the ground where Marinette and Adrien probably stood at some point during the night when they were trying to fix the broken miraculous.
"It was two of those four that you have given a task last night." One man said.
"No, it was two different people, I remember how those from yesterday looked like." Another man countered.
"They produced flashes of light." Another added.
"And they spoke in a strange language."
"They did some strange things I can tell you."
"And they threw something in the fire and there was a huge column of smoke."
"Witchcraft!" Several men shot at once.
The mighty Khan listened to everything that was said, he walked over to the remains of the fire from last night, bent over and reached for the shiny object in the ashes.
Marinette's breath hitched. She covered her mouth with her hand.
"Oh no." Adrien muttered.
"This is a disaster, total and ultimate disaster." Marinette muttered.
"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien called. But nothing happened. He looked around in panic.
"Tikki spots on." Marinette said almost simultaneously. But nothing happened either.
"They … didn't return yet?" Adrien whispered.
"What if they got lost?" Marinette shot back. "What if they got caught or … "
"Don't panic, I'm sure Plagg is devouring cheese somewhere." Adrien pretended he wasn't panicking.
"But what if they fell ill or something?" She protested.
"Wait, maybe nothing will happen." He nudged her to calm her down.
"You're right, maybe it is still just a watch." She added.
"We can find Plagg and Tikki and collect it later … somehow." He whispered.
"Yeah, when we get our powers back … it will be easier." She replied hopefully.
The man reached for the watch and wrapped his fingers around it. Then he slowly started to straightened up. Adrien and Marinette were petrified. They watched as if it all unfolded in slow motion, frame by frame.
Fluff popped out from the watch and stared at Khan.
"Hello master." The tiny rabbit greeted politely.
"Well, hello, what kind of witchcraft are you?" Khan spoke in gentle voice.
"I am a kwami, my name is Fluff." The tiny rabbit replied.