The man and woman were standing in a garden courtyard. It was dark, with a slight breeze cooling the warm summer night.
"It's good to see you, after so long," the man said.
"I wish I could say likewise, old friend." She put her hands on his face and smiled. "Still the same person, I can tell. I trust your visit here is a business trip?"
"Business and pleasure, this time. Everything is in place, and soon honor will be restored to our house. Here, I have something for you." He took her left hand and clasped a bracelet on her wrist. A bright yellow light appeared, and a small figure materialized in the air. It was about four inches tall, with a red bulbous head, scaled body, black eyes, and a yellow chest that extended down the inside of its legs. A red scorpion tail with a sharp stinger trailed behind the being.
"I am Namma," the newcomer introduced himself. "I am the kwami of Vengeance."
"Hello, Namma." The woman reached out and the kwami alighted in her hand. "I feel that we are going to work very well together." Her smile widened and she addressed her visitor. "What is your plan?"
Marinette crept out from the alley where she had de-transformed and made her way up to Master Fu's massage parlor. She knocked three times at the door and waited. I wonder what was so important that I had to come over. Usually I only visit Master Fu when the Lucky Charm tells me to.
Master Fu opened the door. "Come in, Marinette. Thank you for coming on relatively short notice. Please, have a seat."
"Of course, Master. What can I do for you? Are you ill again?"
"No, Marinette, nothing so serious as that," the Guardian chuckled. "But it does have something to do with your last visit. Please, sit down." He motioned to the mat on the floor, where Marinette sat down cross-legged. Fu sat down across from her.
"Marinette, do you remember what I said when you were over here last?"
"Yes, you wanted me to take care of the Miracle Box if anything happened to you. Is… something happening to you, Master?"
"I am almost two hundred years old, Marinette. Part of the magic of the Miraculous is that the Miracle Box will protect and prolong the life of the current Guardian. I've been very lucky; since I am the last of the Order of the Guardians, the Miracle Box has helped sustain me. But that magic was never meant to last this long. Usually, Guardians are only in service for no more than fifty years. One is then chosen from the rising class of students, and the magic transfers to him or her as soon as they are identified.
"Marinette, when I told you to take care of the Miracle Box, it recognized me as choosing you to be the new Guardian. I can already feel the magic beginning to leave my body and protecting you now. But this means that I have to train you very quickly in what it means to be a member of the Order of the Guardians. Usually this is something learned over years of study. I may not have years to teach you. I may not have months, or even weeks. It's vital for me to instruct you as much as possible, beginning tonight."
"Master - are you... are you dying?" Marinette gasped, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm not sure I can be Ladybug without your guidance! What will we do?"
"Do not cry, Marinette. This is a part of the natural cycle of life. You are still young and have much to learn in that regard. As for your abilities as Ladybug, you are easily the most talented host for Tikki that I have ever known. I am not worried. Part of the things I will teach you will be how to read the grimoire that you found, so you can learn as much about the Miraculous as possible. Between that and the oral history that must be passed down to you, you should do very well until it's time to pass the legacy to the next Guardian."
Tikki and Wayzz flew over and alighted on Marinette's shaking shoulders. Tikki reassured her, "Marinette, Master Fu is the seventy-eighth Guardian of the Miraculous. He will be special to you because he was the Guardian who introduced you to the secrets of the Miraculous, but in the end he will be only one in a long line of Guardians… as you will be. The concepts behind the Miraculous are eternal, and have been known on Earth for over 5,000 years. It will be your job to ensure that those concepts, knowledge, and traditions are not lost."
"H-H-How much time do we have, Master?" Marinette hiccuped through her tears.
"We will start tonight, Marinette. I won't be able to teach you the full curriculum of the Order, but I will begin by filling you in on some of the basics. We will meet here three nights a week. Now, it is urgent that you pay attention. Would you like some tea?" He offered her a mug of steaming liquid.
Marinette dried her eyes, took the mug, and sipped its contents. I wonder if one of the things I'll be learning is what's in this tea. I feel better already. "Thanks, Master. Let's get started."
Adrien yawned and stretched in his hotel room. Plagg was resting on his pillow, eating cheese. "A vacation should do you good! You rarely get to go other places, so why don't you spend some time relaxing? I think that trip to London was the first time you've been out of Paris in years!"
"You're right, Plagg." Adrien flopped backward on his bed. "I know I'm here for work, but who says I can't make the most of it?"
"That's the spirit! Now just lay back, relax, watch some TV, and let everybody else take care of any problems!" He popped another wedge of cheese in his mouth.
Adrien closed his eyes and settled into a pillow. I can't shake this feeling that I forgot something. He gradually relaxed, letting the knots in his muscles slowly work themselves out. As he drifted off to sleep, a bolt of lightning struck in his mind. He sat up abruptly, knocking his kwami over the side of the bed.
"Hey!" Plagg protested, floating lazily back to the pillow. "What was that for?"
"I never told Ladybug I wasn't going to be in town! She's going to kill me! Can you get a message to her, Plagg?"
"Only if she's transformed, kid. Kwamis don't come with voicemail, I'm afraid."
"Crap-crap-CRAP! CLAWS OU-!"
"WAIT! If you send her a message now, she'll be able to figure out where you are, and that could turn into a major secret identity breach." Especially since she knows you outside the mask, and knows where your secret identity is going to be. "Just say you were sick or something and couldn't transform. It's too late to do anything now, and you'll be back in a couple of days anyway. Just relax, things will work out."
"I don't like it, Plagg. It doesn't seem very responsible," sulked Adrien.
"I tell you, everything is going to be fine. Besides, the last time you went away for a bit, there weren't any akumas!"
"...After we left the train station, Plagg."
"Right! So, you've left the train station, there won't be any akumas! C'mon now, go back to sleep. You're such a cat sometimes. Something startles you, and you get your hackles up over nothing."
"Takes one to know one," Adrien mumbled without humor. Nevertheless, he laid back down and let sleep overtake him.
"Each kwami represents an abstract concept, Marinette. Creation, Destruction, Subjection, Deception, Protection, Generosity, Passion, and so on. Tikki is of course the kwami of Creation, and Chat Noir's kwami is the kwami of Destruction. Wayzz is the kwami of Protection."
"So there are a bunch of kwamis out there floating around? How come we can't see them?"
"The Miraculous acts as a link between kwamis and the physical world. Each kwami is bound to their Miraculous."
"So without a Miraculous, we can't interact with kwamis, then. Right?"
"You are catching on quickly, Marinette," Master Fu said with a gleam in his eye.
"But there aren't just -" Marinette did some quick mental math "- nineteen abstract concepts in the world. Where are the other kwamis?"
"There are more kwamis, but the secrets of the mage who created the Miraculous have been lost to the ages. It's extremely unlikely that we will meet more kwamis. Guardians aren't well-versed in mage lore, unfortunately. When candidates for Guardians are chosen, they are educated in one of two areas: Scholar, or Warrior. Each learn the general secrets of the Miraculous, but Warriors study fighting disciplines while Scholars learn academic pursuits. Each learns a little of the other, but your main focus is determined very early in your time at the temple."
"Which one were you, Master?"
Master Fu smiled and held up his wrist, showcasing the Turtle Miraculous. "Guardians who were Scholars were generally given more defensive Miraculous, as that suited their personalities more. I've been with Wayzz ever since I was forced to flee Tibet after the destruction of the Temple."
"Tell me more about that, Master," Marinette prompted.
The old man looked at the ground. "That's… not part of what I need to teach you. Maybe some other time." A pregnant pause fell in the room. "We are going to teach you out of the grimoire you recovered a few months ago. You will learn how to decipher it and tap its secrets. You will learn the history of the Miraculous. You will learn how to make the potions that will power up the kwamis." He scrolled to a page on his tablet. "You know what? Let's get you started there, since you'll probably need to make more after your recent adventures."
The woman ran her fingers over the bracelet. "Tell me how it works."
"The invocation for your kwami's power is stinger up."
"Very well, then. Namma, stinger up!"
A yellow light enveloped the woman as Namma was absorbed into the bracelet. When the light faded, there stood a female figure dressed in a scarlet bodysuit, with a yellow patch on her chest that extended down the inside of her thighs to her feet. Her head, except for her nose and mouth, were covered in a full scarlet mask, with sleek yellow goggles over her eyes. A black hood and floor-length cape completed the costume. In her right hand, she held a three-foot-long was sceptre, with a forked bottom and a snake's head on the top.
The man admired his creation. "Very nice, if I do say so myself. How do you feel?"
"My senses have all been augmented, even more so than usual. The power is coursing through my veins! Namma is the kwami of Vengeance, he said? I feel it - this rage - it's an undercurrent through all my emotions, driving me forward and pushing me… I feel like I can take on the world, and easily win!" As if to demonstrate, she walked over to the flowerbed, picked up a stone, and crushed it in her hand.
"That is impressive. Let us not let your power go to waste just yet. There is much to do before we begin our final campaign. The detransformation phrase is stinger down."
The woman smiled dangerously. "Who says I want to detransform?"
"Ahh, yes, you are letting the feelings of vengeance take over. Patience, old friend. The world will see you very soon."
The woman smirked.
"Master! Master!" Wayzz zoomed into the kitchen, where Master Fu and Marinette were gathering ingredients.
Fu closed his tablet and turned his body to shield the contents of his cupboard from the kwami's view. "Wayzz! How many times have I told you that you cannot know the recipes from the grimoire?!"
"I know, Master. I'm sorry. But - it is urgent that we speak now. I felt an aura, similar to what I felt when the Butterfly Miraculous was activated."
Master Fu slammed his cupboard door shut and ran to the old gramophone on his credenza. Pressing the buttons to unlock it, he retrieved the Miracle Box and set it on the ground, flipping it open to examine its contents. "Hmm… all of the Miraculous that are supposed to be here are here, and the box does not appear to be compromised in any way." He picked up each Miraculous and studied them in turn. "These are all authentic. Wayzz, are you certain of your feeling?"
"Yes, Master. It was brief - maybe a few minutes at most. But I could certainly tell that it was a Miraculous being activated."
"And not the Butterfly Miraculous?" Fu demanded.
"No, I'm attuned to how that feels. This was definitely not the Butterfly," Wayzz answered.
"I see. This is a very curious development. Marinette, what do you think of this?"
"Master, you are far more experienced than me when it comes to these sorts of things. I'm not sure I can offer -"
"Marinette. You have been chosen to be the next Guardian. Your opinion is very valuable, whether you realize it or not. Now, please answer my question," Master Fu admonished.
"The Peacock Miraculous is missing... could it have been that, Wayzz?"
"I'm afraid not, Marinette. Duusu and I have developed an affinity over the centuries of our existence. I would have recognized her immediately."
"Hmm... Master Fu, you saw all the Miraculous there, but we can't see the kwamis because they're in the Miracle Box. I remember that from Sandboy, the nightmare akuma. Is there a way someone could have created a second Miraculous for one of the kwamis in there?"
"That's a very good question, Marinette. Kwamis can only be bound to one Miraculous, and the bond can only be severed if the original Miraculous is destroyed."
"So that means we don't have to sit here and try on each Miraculous in order to summon its kwami, then," Marinette reflected, picking up the Tiger Miraculous and holding it up to the light.
"That time will come, Marinette. You'll need to be familiar with each kwami's personality and powers. As I'm sure you're aware, not every kwami is like Tikki. Some kwamis are more suited for certain people than others. Can you imagine if the avatar of Passion was guiding you through your teen years?"
Marinette shuddered. Tikki gave a derisive snort. As if anyone other than *me* could do a better job!
"Please, continue with your analysis of the situation at hand," Master Fu smiled.
"Well, if kwamis can only be with one Miraculous, and all the Miraculous are here, and Wayzz felt an aura of a Miraculous… then it must mean that a new Miraculous has been created!"
"I wouldn't use the word must without being absolutely sure, Marinette, but at this point it does seem like a possibility. Another possibility is that Wayzz was mistaken - and I'm not saying that he was, only that it was a possibility. We need to examine all possibilities and tread very carefully in order to not jump to conclusions."
"Will Wayzz be able to sense the aura if the Miraculous is activated again?"
"Yes, he will. He won't be able to pinpoint the location, but I think it's safe to say that it's reasonably close, since kwamis can generally only sense things nearby. Say, within Paris or the surrounding area."
"We'll have to keep our eyes out and be careful, Master."
"Indeed, Marinette. Now, let us get back to the potion. I believe you have used your water and ice forms the most, so let's start with those." He replaced the Miracle Box in the phonograph and the pair walked back to the kitchen.
(h/t to dfcfanfics' "Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright" which inspired which Miraculous Marinette examines over at Master Fu's and the ensuing dialogue)