As Adrien had the day off of work, the duo had time to kill. First, he called and made his excuses to D'Argentcour for the foreseeable future, knowing that showing up looking like Adrien Agreste would probably only cause them trouble. Then, while he made a run to her apartment to pick up her schoolwork and belongings, Marinette meandered down to help her parents in the bakery while she awaited his return. She let her mind wander as she frosted cupcakes, one of her favorite things to do. The little cakes were decorated with tiny flowers and chocolate ladybugs, making them look like they came from a flower garden.
As she finished her work, she held up one of the ladybugs, studying it intently. Ladybugs were supposed to represent good luck. So why didn't she feel like she ever had good luck? Especially now that her Ladybug powers were damaged somehow. She hated how it made her feel when she went out to save Paris, only to have nothing work in her favor; it made her feel broken and helpless. She had been able to stop the akumas, yes, but purely by sheer force of will. Suddenly, a thought flitted across her mind-
"Milady," Adrien's quiet voice purred behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he rested his chin on her shoulder. She blinked up at him, then grabbed his hand, pulling him back to the apartment the way he'd come. Plagg isn't going to like this, she thought."Mari, what-?" She didn't pay him any attention as she sat him down at one of the bar stools, running to the fridge to pull out some cheese before turning to him.
"Did you have any trouble? On the way there?" She asked. He looked at her in confusion, then at the cheese.
"Nooo…?" He said, raising an eyebrow, before he continued. "There was no sign of anyone with ill intent on my way, and your apartment hadn't been disturbed. Mari, what's going on?" But she only nodded, then looked around, lost in her thoughts.
"Plagg? Can I ask you something?" She called. When he didn't respond, she added in a sing-song voice, "I'll give you cheese…"
She heard a tiny hmph before Plagg answered from the depths of Adrien's hoodie pocket. "It better be Camembert." She let out a tiny giggle.
"It's Camembert. You can have what's there, and double that after if you answer my questions. How does that sound?"
Adrien laughed. "You sound like you're trying to make some kind of shady business deal."
Marinette smiled ruefully as Plagg considered this. "Make it triple and you've got a deal," he squeaked, zipping out of Adrien's pocket to devour the cheese.
Marinette nodded gratefully. "Ok. Plagg, can I ask you…about your kittens whose powers …disappeared, I guess?" Plagg stilled, staring at her with his luminous eyes narrowed.
"No," he answered. If he'd been a real cat, his hair probably would have been standing on end. Marinette looked at him pleadingly.
"Please, Plagg? I understand it's probably painful to remember, but-"
"NO, Spots, and that's final!" Plagg said angrily, abandoning his cheese and returning to Adrien's pocket. Adrien looked to where Plagg had disappeared, looking concerned, before he turned his emerald gaze on Marinette.
"There are others whose powers have been weakened before? Like yours?" he asked, studying her. She nodded as she leaned against the countertop. She felt defeated. If Plagg wouldn't explain, how were they ever supposed to be able to fix her powers?
Tikki appeared then, looking at them with concern, before turning to Adrien. "He never talks about his lost kittens. May I?" she squeaked, gesturing to the place where they knew Plagg to be. He nodded approval, and Tikki disappeared after the tiny cat kwami. Adrien returned his attention to Marinette, though he could feel as well as hear Tikki having an intense whispered conversation with Plagg inside his pocket.
"Did he tell you anything else about the weakened powers?" he asked, taking her hand and pulling her onto the barstool beside him.
She shook her head. "Not much," she admitted, turning her gaze to their intertwined fingers. She didn't really want to see his reaction. "Just that…the weakened powers eventually got the Chosens killed in the end." She didn't have to look at him to hear the sharp intake of breath at her words. He squeezed her hand.
"Mari-" he began, but he cut himself off as Tikki made a reappearance, towing a reluctant Plagg by his paw. Plagg took a breath, turning his glowing green eyes on Marinette.
"Alright," he said finally. "But this is going to cost you, Spots."
"Plagg," Adrien said in warning, but Plagg just shrugged him off, coming to rest in the palm of Marinette's hand. Tikki made herself comfortable on Adrien's shoulder as Plagg began to speak.
"One of the times a chosen of mine lost their powers, it was during the middle ages," he said. "There was a peasant girl who was chosen to wield the Cat Miraculous, along with a young knight, who was given the Ladybug. During the course of their work together, she fell in love with him, though I can't say if the feeling was mutual. The nobleman the knight served felt threatened by my poor kitten, deemed her as a danger to himself and his power. The nobleman ordered the Ladybug knight to terminate my kitten or risk consequences to his family. The knight felt he had no choice but to turn on her. She barely escaped with her life." Plagg's voice was hard and sharp.
"Kitten blamed herself for the Ladybug knight's betrayal, though her reasoning never made any sense to me." Plagg scowled at the thought. "Her powers waned. When the Ladybug knight finally caught up with my kitten, she fought him and…and when she tried to use her Cataclysm to save herself from his falling sword…nothing happened." Marinette felt tears prickling the corners of her eyes as Plagg's voice broke. "Next thing I knew…she was gone."
There was silence for a moment as everyone digested Plagg's words. Adrien was the first to speak.
"You said there were others?" he asked softly, pulling Marinette into his lap, leaning her head back against his chest and stroking her hair. Plagg nodded.
"Only one other," he amended. "A boy, a few years younger than you kids. He lived in Rome during the fall of the Roman empire. His Ladybug was a young lady even younger than he, but nobody but my young kitten knew that she was a woman. Her suit obscured her age and build for her. She was a leading general in Romulus Augustulus's army, a tactical genius, and the kitten her right hand man, her protector and best friend. The Germanic forces invaded, leading to many sore battles. During one skirmish…the young Ladybug was killed." Plagg sighed.
"My kitten had tried to save the girl, but had arrived just seconds too late. He was heartbroken. He continued to fight, but his heart wasn't in it. After the battle, his powers became less effective, but he took care to keep his superiors from noticing. Then the kid was assigned to a covert sabotage mission to take out a Germanic fort. As he attempted to carry out his mission, he was caught and later executed, unable to escape without his Cataclysm."
Marinette sat solemnly, pondering the information she'd received. She was calmed slightly by Adrien's hands in her hair, but these stories were troubling. She didn't like the idea that her powers might continue to disappear until they no longer worked at all. Tikki spoke up near her ear from her place on Adrien's shoulder.
"I see some similarities between all of these circumstances," she said thoughtfully, floating down to the countertop beside Plagg, who had disengaged from the conversation to inhale his stash of cheese. "First, I think it's important to note that each of you had lost your partner in some form or another. The peasant girl lost her Ladybug to betrayal, the Roman boy lost his to death, and you, Marinette, lost your Chat to death, or so you thought at the time.
"The next correlation between Marinette and Plagg's kittens is that- and correct me if I'm wrong, Plagg- but each of you lost the one you loved." Plagg nodded his head.
"That is true," he added around a mouthful of cheese. "Both my kittens were head over heels for their Ladybugs." Tikki saw Marinette and Adrien's confused looks and hurried to explain.
"Ladybug and Chat Noir are soulmates, two halves of a whole. Opposites, if you will. Opposites don't work unless the other is present; there's no light without darkness, no sense of joy if there's no pain, no creation without destruction." Tikki paused, watching their young charges as they considered her words. "It's possible that when Chat Noir lost his Miraculous and Marinette presumed her love was dead, her powers were thrown out of balance. Without your opposite, your powers do not react the way they normally would."
"But…" Marinette interjected, "If that were the case, how come…" she trailed off, though Adrien seemed to follow her train of thought.
"Have you used your powers at all since you found out I was…well, me?" he asked, shifting to look down at her. She thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"No akumas since I found out you were you, remember? Hawkmoth's been awfully quiet lately."
Adrien frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe you'd better test it out. To see if it's come back since now that you know I'm not dead," he suggested. Marinette looked at him doubtfully.
"What would I even use it for though?" she asked. "It's not like I can purify things other than evil Miraculous-related items. Miraculous Ladybug only works for Miraculous magic things, too, I think. And as for the Lucky Charm…"
"You should be able to test it with Lucky Charm, Marinette," Tikki said brightly. "We'll just wait until we need a little luck for something, and then see what happens."
"I sure hope it works," Marinette sighed. "It would be nice to not have to worry about whether my powers are going to disappear anymore."
Adrien squeezed her gently. "Don't worry Milady. We'll sort this out. You'll be back to normal in no time."
Marinette stood up to pace the room. She was mulling over Plagg's stories for yet another time. She still felt there was a connection they were missing, but she wasn't able to put her finger on it. She shrugged helplessly, then turned back to Tikki.
"So…we figure out if the powers all healed themselves with Chat's return…and then what?" she asked. "If it works, will we be able to fix all those people who are stuck with a partially evilized akuma?" Her eyes became large as dinner plates as she turned to Adrien. "And if it doesn't work…what do we do then? Just…wait until my powers disappear completely? Have Tikki find a new Chosen before someone gets hurt for real?"
Adrien watched his partner in concern. She was starting to become hysterical. "Mari, you need to calm down, love," he soothed. "Everything will be alright. Why don't we just take it one thing at a time? We can test out your powers when the situation arises, and then figure out what to do from there. Alright?"
Marinette nodded shakily. Adrien narrowed his eyes; he could see she was still lost in her own head somewhere. "Mari." She didn't meet his eyes. "Mari," he said again, standing and placing his hands on her shoulders, trying to catch her gaze with his own. She finally made eye contact, and he could see her fear and anxiety shining in her sky blue depths. "You know that I will be here for you, right? No matter what." She looked at him doubtfully. "I'm serious. I don't care if you have powers or not. It's you I love, not the superpowers. I'm not going to abandon you."
He pulled her in and held her tightly to his chest. She clung to him, wishing she could believe all the things that he'd said to her. Her life would be so much easier, so much better and happier, even, if she could just believe Adrien implicitly. But her mind refused to accept his words as fact. Why, she wasn't sure. But no matter how much she wanted those things he said to be real to her, she couldn't seem to stop her mind from screaming the what-ifs.
What if he was ashamed of her screw ups? What if something happened to him because her powers were lost? What if she replaced herself as Ladybug and he preferred the new one to her? And…and what if she was just too broken to love? For Adrien to love her; or for her to truly love him in return the way he deserved? She said nothing for a moment, then forcefully shook herself out of her thoughts and turned to Plagg.
"I'm sorry, Plagg," she said softly. "That was probably really hard for you to relive those moments. Thank you for sharing them." She crossed to the fridge and pulled out a whole wheel of Camembert, placing it on the plate on the counter in front of the tiny kwami, who waved her off half-heartedly.
"You needed to know," he said fairly. "And I'm getting paid handsomely for it, so I'm not going to complain too much."
Adrien chuckled at Plagg's antics before taking his Lady's hand.
"Come on. I'll show you what I brought back from your apartment."
Adrien had done his best to pick up everything Marinette had requested from her place, but there were just some things better done yourself, she decided. The poor man, as talented as he was in the kitchen, had no concept of fabric, she thought wryly as she looked through the box of sewing supplies he'd brought. Instead of the large piece of midnight blue satin she needed, he'd grabbed taffeta in the same shade. Instead of the tulle she'd asked him for, he'd brought back chiffon in that exact color.
She sighed, turning to her partner, who was watching her in confusion.
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, peeking at her through his sunshine hair. He studied her face from behind his oval-shaped glasses. She put her hands on her hips, with her weight shifted onto one foot and her head cocked to the side, thinking
"No, it's just…I'm going to need to go shopping if I can't go back to my apartment." She saw him open his mouth to protest but she continued hurriedly. "I'm sorry, Kitty, but it's obvious that you don't know the first thing about fabric."
"I brought back all the wrong ones, didn't I?" he said ruefully. He sighed when she nodded. "I don't really want you going out right now," he admitted. "It isn't safe."
"Then come with me," she parried. "You can keep an eye on me and I can get what I need. It's a win-win."
Adrien narrowed his eyes, preparing to argue, but she added, "I can't stay locked up in my parent's house all the time, Chaton. If I stop living my life, whoever is behind all this wins, remember?"
Adrien pouted at having his words thrown back at him. While he did believe that, he was having a hard time with the idea of intentionally putting his Bugaboo in danger. It was then that
Tikki spoke up from her place beside Plagg.
"I might have an idea."
Chat Noir shifted unhappily from his perch on top of the roof, keeping a careful eye on his Lady as she made her way through the crowded streets as her civilian self. He had to be doubly cautious not to be seen, as it was daylight, but that was not what worried him.
Tikki had suggested he let Marinette go shop for her fabric, and that he follow as Chat Noir from above. The quicker they caught the stalker, the quicker Marinette could go back to her normal life without fear, Tikki reasoned. They could let Marinette use herself as bait, then have Chat take the person or people down; or at least, try to uncover more information.
Adrien thought this was a terrible plan; he hated the idea of using Marinette as bait. But Marinette readily agreed, and even Plagg grudgingly agreed it was a good idea even though it meant he'd have to help Adrien suit up, so Adrien allowed them to give it a try.
Chat did his best to stay out of sight as he followed Marinette from a distance. He noted the streets and sidewalks were scattered with frozen akuma victims, which made it difficult to spot anyone trying to be sneaky in pursuit of his Lady. They were all brightly colored, as usual, but notably not moving a muscle.
He tailed Marinette until she reached her destination, then found an out-of-the-way spot where he could watch for her return without being spotted. His eyes focused on the akuma victim nearest the store, though this quickly turned into staring without really seeing as he turned his focus inward to his thoughts. Those poor people. They were stranded for months, their families devastated, not knowing if they'd ever get their loved ones back. All because Hawkmoth didn't have the common decency to stop his little power trip.
It was then he realized that the person he'd been looking at was…moving? The victim lost their funny-looking costume elements, changing back into a normal-looking man, probably mid-thirties, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. But even from this distance, Chat Noir could see the purple outline of a mask on the man's face. That wasn't good. Hurriedly pulling out his baton, he dialed Marinette's number. He was relieved when she answered her video call.
"Hello, Chaton," she said brightly. He smiled fondly at the sight of her, despite the situation. She seemed to be trying to balance her phone on top of a pile of something as she walked. Bolts of fabric, no doubt, he thought as he caught sight of the row of colors and textures behind her. "What's up?"
"I, uh…I saw something just now I'd like your opinion on," he said cryptically in case there were others listening on her end, shooting her a meaningful look. He saw her face change and her senses go on high alert.
"Where?" she asked sharply, glancing around.
"Right outside," he replied. "It doesn't seem to be going anywhere at the moment. Do you want me to take it down?"
She thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Just keep an eye on it for now," she answered. "I want to see what it does. It might help us understand better what its objective is. If it becomes a…problem, then you can take it down." He nodded, looking vaguely unhappy. While he knew she would probably say that, he could help but wish she would let him remove the threat. "Maybe I'll just get the very basic things instead of getting all this right now. It might help…" She trailed off, looking like she was talking more to herself than him, before turning back to Chat. "Anything else I should know?"
Chat nodded again, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "It's related to the butterfly somehow, but stay alert. It…looks normal." At her look of confusion, he shook his head. "I'll explain more when we get home. Be careful," he begged.
She smiled softly. "Always am," she said with a wink ending the call.
Chat sighed, turning his full attention to the man he'd seen earlier. Instead of standing frozen in the middle of the sidewalk, the man was leaning casually against the side of the building Marinette had disappeared into. There was not one shred of evidence from just looking at him that the man was akumatized; he looked for all the world like a regular guy just waiting around for a friend. He decided to shoot Marinette a text in warning.
Chat: Man, mid-thirties. Tall, brunette, wearing jeans and a gray sweatshirt. Near the door on your right as you exit.
A minute later, she replied.
Marinette: Thanks kitty. Just finishing up. Be out in a sec.
A couple minutes later, he caught sight of her. She had two bolts of fabric in her arms, plus a sack that was probably full to the brim with ribbons, buttons, and other odds and ends, judging by the state of it. He noticed the akumatized man's eyes flicker to her, then away casually, as though he were not paying her any mind, but Chat could see how his muscles tensed as if for a fight.
Marinette, for her part, pretended not to have noticed the man, though Chat Noir could also detect a slight tensing of her shoulders. She continued on her way, and when she'd made it a few dozen feet, the man casually pushed away from the building, following her from a distance. Chat tailed the both of them, keeping a wary eye out in case something happened.
They'd gone only a couple of blocks when the man in the gray sweatshirt suddenly stopped. His mask appeared again momentarily, then he turned and walked back the way he'd come. That's odd, Chat thought, frowning. Why would he give up all of a sudden? He carefully scanned the area, and another flash of purple caught his attention. Another victim, a woman this time with blond curly hair, started down the sidewalk, continuing gray-sweater-man's path behind Marinette. Chat's eyes widened. This could be a lot more complicated than he'd thought.
Several minutes later, Marinette sprinted up the stairs into her parents' apartment, slamming the door quickly behind her. Her heart was racing. She knew she'd been followed the entire way home, making her anxious and jittery. No one had tried to grab her or do anything to her outright, but that didn't mean it wasn't still scary as hell to have someone spy on you. Hearing a faint THUMP from upstairs, she tore off towards Adrien's room, closing the trap door behind her before she launched herself into her partner's arms before he'd even had the chance to de-transform.
"It's alright," he said softly, running his claws gently through her hair. They stood together for a moment, then Marinette pulled back to study him.
"What did you learn?" she asked, hoping he had some piece of information they could use.
"Hold on," he said. Chat released his transformation, and Adrien and Plagg appeared in his place. Tikki appeared on Marinette's shoulder as the four of them settled onto the chaise with Marinette and Adrien facing each other. Adrien took a deep breath before recounting his tale. He explained about how he'd seen the partial victim change into themself, Hawkmoth making contact, then about how the victims had basically done some sort of relay in order to keep her in sight. His audience's concern was nearly palpable. Marinette stared at him unhappily.
"That means that I can be followed just about anywhere in Paris," she said, rubbing at her forehead against the headache that was coming on. "And it also means that it's likely that Hawkmoth suspects me of being Ladybug." Adrien took her hand and squeezed it, silent in his reassurance that he was there for her. Tikki chimed in.
"What I don't understand, is why Hawkmoth waited this long to take control of the victims? If he'd wanted to follow you, or have his akumas beat you up, why now? Those partial victims have been frozen in the streets for months, some of them! What makes now different?" Nobody had an answer to that.
"Maybe there's more to this than we thought," Adrien said darkly, taking Marinette's other hand. "It almost seems like Hawkmoth's game has changed. His attempts to take us down used to be overt, flashy, ostentatious even. I'd have bet almost anything on Hawkmoth being a drama-queen-type. But this…this seems…sneaky, more underhanded. Whatever is going on now seems designed to keep Hawkmoth out of the spotlight. It doesn't fit with everything we know about him."
Marinette's eyes widened. "Do you think…do you think someone else could have gotten a hold of the Butterfly?"
Adrien shook his head. "There's almost no way to know. Not unless Hawkmoth comes forward and announces it, like last time. But I think we should be prepared for anything." Silence reigned for a moment, before Marinette threw out another thought.
"How was he able to take control of the victims? When we fought Stoneheart and I forgot to purify the akuma, the statues were able to be controlled later, but not by Hawkmoth. They were Stoneheart's army. They were only able to unfreeze when Stoneheart became akumatized again." Again, nobody had an answer.
"Maybe he's gotten stronger?" Adrien threw out hesitantly. "I don't know. Are there, like, level-ups for Miraculous'?"
"Sort of," Tikki said. "There are some extra powers specific for certain situations, like water powers, or ice, or fire. But the instructions on how to get those have been lost to us for centuries."
"Yeah," Plagg chimed in. "They're in an old spell book that looks just like that one Adrien found in his dad's hidden safe years ago."
The other three stared at him. Adrien was the first to find his voice. "A-a spell book?" But his thought was cut off as there was a squeaky shriek as Tikki launched herself at Plagg, who zipped off as fast as he could to escape the angry Ladybug. Adrien and Marinette looked at each other, then shrugged.
"You…you…stinky…ridiculous…idiotic…cheese brain!" Tikki screeched, attempting to pin Plagg down so she could unleash her fury upon him. "You found the grimoire and you didn't think to say anything!?" The red kwami was furious. Plagg had the decency to look slightly abashed, still trying to stay far away from the Ladybug's reach.
"I'm sorry, Tikki!" he wailed in panic. "I didn't think it was important!"
"No, because only cheese is important," Tikki huffed sarcastically, crossing her tiny paws. "My Chosen hasn't had her powers working properly in months and you only think of this NOW!?" She turned to Adrien. "What did you do to get…" she trailed off as she realized something. "Oh, yeah. You probably don't remember. Right. Sorry," she apologized as he raised an eyebrow at her. She turned back to Plagg. "You. You'd better remember what you did to get into that safe," she growled threateningly. Plagg gulped. Being on the receiving end of the Ladybug's wrath was a terrifying place to be.
"I…I phased through the lock," he said quickly. "It popped open and Adrien was able to grab the book easily from the safe."
"Do you remember anything else that was in there? And when was this?"
Plagg thought. "Um…about nine years ago now. And no, there wasn't really time for sightseeing," he snarked. "We were about to get caught. We just grabbed the book and hightailed it out of there."
Tikki turned back to the nonplussed young adults, still watching the kwamis' exchange. "We need to get our hands on that book," Tikki said determinedly. "There might be a way to find out how much Hawkmoth knows about his powers, as well as clues on how to restore Marinette's."
Marinette nodded. "Ok. What do we need to do?"