Chapter Four

Nino glanced down for the bazillionth time at the jade bracelet encircling his left wrist as he walked home, huddled in his raincoat with his cap pulled low over his eyes. He knew that he should be freaking out more, and it really was a lot to take in: Marinette was Ladybug, Adrien - his best bro - was Chat Noir, there was something called a Guardian that handed out the Miraculouses when necessary, and he, Nino Lahiffe, was somehow, inexplicably, now the proper holder of the Turtle Miraculous. It felt like some crazy dream. Or, under the circumstances, a crazy nightmare.

Yet, it all felt so right at the same time. Somehow, everything about this made sense. Marinette's and Adrien's horrible attendance records, the way Ladybug and Chat Noir interacted with the students in their class, how one or the other of them always seemed to show up seconds after someone at the school had been akumatized, and even the weird chemistry that had always existed between Marinette and Adrien, even at Marinette's most flustered and Adrien's most clueless. They'd been closer than best friends for years and they hadn't even known it.

And of course, it also explained all of the strangeness surrounding Adrien himself: his insanely busy schedule, his nervous tick of playing with his silver ring, his blush every time he was around Ladybug. And of course, his sheer desperation to escape his father. To experience freedom. If Chat Noir was just a buried part of his pre-existing personality, then of course he had fought so desperately to attend public school and live his own life.

And now, he was probably trapped behind bars - figurative or literal - once again.

He was distracted from such thoughts when he felt Wayzz shift in the small hollow between his headphones and his neck; it was the best hiding spot he had until he snagged his school bag from back home. The kwami had seemed a little reluctant to leave the Master Fu dude, but Nino didn't hold it against him. After all, one hundred and seventy years was a long time to spend with one person. It would take some time to adjust.

"So tell me little dude," Nino began, cupping a hand around his headphones to hide the kwami from view, "do you think it's time for me to send the message?"

"I'm not sure, young master. Miss Bourgeois sent her message at Master Fu's home, and we don't want to look too much like we're working in tandem," Wayzz replied slowly.

"Just call me Nino, man. I don't think I could get used to somebody calling me master," Nino grinned, glancing down at the kwami's huge eyes. Wayzz blinked up at him, then smiled.

"Very well, Nino. But forgive me if I use the title by force of habit."

"No worries," the DJ shrugged, glancing up towards his apartment building and reaching in his pocket for his keys. "Best lay low, little dude. Don't want my fam to catch sight of you."

"Of course."

"Mom, I'm home!" he called as he stepped through the door, kicking off his shoes.

"Hey, honey!" her voice replied from the depths of the apartment. "How was your visit with your friends?"

"Fine, Mom! But I've gotta go do homework!"

"Okay!"

Nino paused, thinking for a few moments before calling again. "Hey, would it be alright if I invite Adrien for dinner?"

"Sure! The more the merrier!"

"Thanks! I'll let you know what he says!"

"Okay!"

Nino headed straight back to his room, pulling out his phone and sending out a quick text as he went. Once the door was closed, Wayzz began to explore his new home, floating around the DJ's recording station with interest, then his computer and the shelf lining the wall close to the ceiling, reading the titles of his books. "You have a lot of classic fiction here," Wayzz called with interest.

"Yeah, I've been thinking that I should get some more nonfiction stuff-"

"No, this is wonderful!"

"It is?"

"Of course! Where do you think stories such as Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland draw their inspiration from? Most of the authors naturally had contact with kwamis and other magical folk."

"Hang on, Alice in Wonderland was based on kwamis?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Trixx sure had fun with that one," Wayzz sighed, rolling his eyes slightly as he pulled The Lord of the Rings off the shelf and opened it to the first page, his huge yellow eyes practically drinking in the words on the yellowed paper. NIno blinked at him a couple of times, then grinned broadly.

"Well tell you what, that makes me feel a whole lot better about my fantasy addiction."

Wayzz chuckled softly. "You're not the first of my Chosens to say something of that nature."

"What does that mean?"

"What does what mean?"

"When you call me your 'Chosen'? What is that?"

"Hm. Well I suppose that it refers to the bond we kwami form with those chosen to wear our Miraculouses."

"You mean those chosen by the Guardians?"

"Well yes, but it goes deeper than that. Anyone can use a Miraculous if they manage to find it, such as when Hawkmoth found the Moth Miraculous without the aid of a Guardian, and what he's trying to accomplish by getting his hands on the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses. However, it is up to us kwami to truly accept them. Only if we do that can the person fully release the power of the Miraculous and become 'Chosen'. Does that make sense?"

"I think so. Has it ever happened where someone picked by the Guardian wasn't Chosen?"

"Yes," Wayzz replied gravely, sadly. "How do you think we lost Nooroo and Duusu to begin with?"

"I'm sorry, who now?"

"The Moth and the Peafowl Miraculouses, of course. The kwamis bound to them are Nooroo and Duusu."

"So wait, what happened to them?"

"The Guardian selected someone unworthy of the power of the Peafowl, I'm afraid. Duusu rebelled against her master, and the wielder of the Moth Miraculous jumped in to control the resulting chaos. In the process, both the Miraculouses and their wielders were, we had believed, forever lost."

"They might have been, if Adrien's old man hadn't found them," Nino mused quietly.

"Pardon, young master?"

"I mean, I'm just saying, even though he's done some pretty horrible stuff, without Adrien's pops, would we have ever found them?"

Wayzz blinked at him with those huge eyes, and then the faintest of smiles touched his mouth. "I knew I chose well," he murmured, and turned back to his book.

Nino felt a blush rise to his cheeks, but before he could think of a way to respond his phone buzzed in his hand. His nerves instantly resurfaced as he saw that it was from Adrien.

Sorry Nino, but something's come up. I can't come.

Nino felt his heart sink, but it wasn't like he'd expected anything different. It's cool, we'll try another day. What's going on?

Last minute photo shoot for father's fall line.

Gotcha. Well maybe I can meet you there and we can go out for coffee after?

It'll probably go too late for that.

Okay. I'll see you in school tomorrow then.

I won't make it tomorrow. Father wants to take me on a business trip with him.

For how long?

I don't know. I'll let you know when I get back.

Okay.

"Well?" Wayzz prompted as Nino set the phone aside.

"I couldn't tell you for sure if it was actually Adrien responding to my messages or not, but he definitely dodged dinner and says his dad is taking him on a business trip indefinitely."

"A convenient way to disappear for awhile," Wayzz mused.

"For sure," Nino agreed, opening his phone as it buzzed again, this time with a message from Chloe.

Did you get that crap about Adrikins going out of town, too?

Yeah, just now. A business trip with his dad.

It's all bologna. I already checked with the local airlines about their first class customers to Italy.

So what's that mean?

Ugh. It means Adrien's dad wants an excuse to disappear for a few days when he's actually still at the mansion.

You think he has something planned?

Obviously. Tell Marinette to go on to Phase Two.

Sure. Thanks Chloe.

Duh.

Nino couldn't help but smile as he typed out the new message. Having Chloe contact Adrien first really was a genius idea. She had obviously managed to get a lot more fake details out of whomever was controlling Adrien's messages than he had, and he was willing to guess that she'd done so with extraordinarily little effort. Having him as the verifying witness was all they needed to force them into the lie and catch them in their tracks.

Marinette's text came quickly: Alya and Trixx are on the move.

Nino responded with a quick acknowledgement, then tucked his phone away. "So what now?" he wondered out loud.

"Now, unfortunately, we wait," Wayzz sighed. "After 10,000 years, you would think I'd get used to such tedium."

"Dude, how long do kwamis usually live?"

"Frankly, I haven't the foggiest idea. The oldest among us is Tikki, Ladybug's kwami, and Plagg isn't much younger. The two of them have been in existence since before the Earth itself; about five billion years, give or take. The rest of us appeared slowly, with the evolution of man and civilization."

"Wow. So like, how are you born?"

"Hm. I believe that the best way to describe it would be that we are the living embodiments of the forces of humanity. Tikki and Plagg represent creation and destruction, respectively, and as such they were the first to appear. The Peacock, representing emotion, appeared with the humans about six million years ago, shortly followed by the Moth, representing manipulation. The Fox was next, embodying mystery and illusion. I represent civilization, so I appeared about when the hunter-gatherers began to settle down and build their own societies. Then the Bee represents rebellion, which must of necessity appear after the founding of civilization."

"Okay, I think that makes sense…" Nino said slowly, considering this new knowledge. "But that can't be all, can it? Aren't there other abstract concepts or whatever that embody humanity? Like… I don't know… music, or the internet?"

Wayzz chuckled. "Of course. And there are kwamis to represent each of them."

"So, there are more kwamis than just you five? Seven, counting the ones Hawkmoth has?"

"Yes, but they are too young, to inexperienced, to help us now. I'm afraid that we only have the first seven, the oldest, to rely upon."

Nino glanced towards his desk, at a class photo he had framed and placed next to his computer, and beside it, a picture of him, Alya, Adrien and Marinette. He and Alya had their arms around one another, while Adrien stood beside him, and Marinette beside his girlfriend. They were all grinning up at the camera except for Marinette, whose eyes were drifting towards a certain beaming blonde. "I guess all we can do is hope that'll be enough," he murmured.