Illustrious Beta-Reader: ShadowofDarkness2004
Nooroo watched his Miraculous holder from the small table on the balcony, a strawberry in between his paws.
Marinette stood a few feet away from him, tending to her flowers while simultaneously humming a soft tune. The white butterflies that gathered around the young girl all fluttered in anxiousness.
"Are you sure about this, Marinette?" Nooroo asked. "It's not too late to revoke your decision. There's still time." He watched the way his holder tensed as he attempted to persuade her to change her mind, and he knew that she really wanted to listen to his advice but would ultimately stand by her decision.
"I'm sorry, Nooroo, but we really don't have any more time. It's now or never." Marinette placed her watering can down and turned to her disappointed Kwami.
They both knew this day would come – they've known ever since they made their first decision together almost seven years ago – but to act on it now, after living in peace for so long, was a difficult pill to swallow.
She walked towards her Kwami and carefully picked him up, bringing him closer to her so that she could give him a reassuring kiss on the head; which he returned with a head rub against her cheek.
The pale butterflies all rose from their positions and flew towards the brooch that was pinned to the top of Marinette's blouse, disappearing in a flash of purple light. Marinette placed Nooroo back down on the table and took a seat on the nearby chair.
"I know the butterfly holder can make… Champions, but how are the Champions made?"
"Champions are made from the combination of my magic, your will, and the Champion's desires. The butterflies act as a link between you and the Champions, the magic is flowing through them," Nooroo explained while taking small bites of the berry in front of him.
"Does that mean I have to remain transformed the entire time my Champions are active?" Marinette watched the way Nooroo narrowed his eyes at her in disapproval before staring down at the strawberry in front of him.
"… No, but I highly advise against you detransforming when there is an active Champion, Marinette, especially with your health. My magic becomes your magic when you transform, which means the butterfly is able to link magic to the Champion and keep them active. If you detransform, that supply of magic from me is cut off, and the Champion would have to rely on you as the sole source of his powers… It could really hurt you, Marinette. "
"I know, Nooroo, but I have to do whatever I can to keep the suspicion off me if anyone gets a little too curious about Gabriel Agreste's fashion prodigy."
Nooroo looked up at her with sad eyes, understanding that what she said was a reasonable concern but hating how that left her in far greater danger than any of his previous holders. Waiting for any further questions from Marinette and hearing none, Nooroo continued on to give her the generic information that he has repeated for many millennia.
"Champions are defeated when the object that contains the butterfly is destroyed. The holder of the butterfly Miraculous is generally a noncombatant but in the case of an altercation, they do have their cane, which hides a rapier. The costume changes from wielder to wielder, but in the event that you get wings, you have to be very careful with them, Marinette. A butterfly's greatest weakness is their wings and you will feel them if they're even slightly folded or have tiny tears. It might even prevent you from transforming for a while."
Marinette remained silent for a few moments, silently soaking in everything her Kwami was telling her, before releasing a tired sigh and giving him a sincere smile. "Thank you, Nooroo." Although fear, anxiety, and disappointment raged on inside her, Marinette couldn't help but feel the relief and gratitude she felt towards her Kwami for standing by her side willingly.
Nooroo ate the remainder of the strawberry before smiling up at the girl. "You're welcome, Marinette."
Adrien nervously stood outside his father's doors, silently debating with himself if he should just await his father's decision or try to persuade his father even further about letting him attend public school. His parents had talked about him and Marinette possibly attending a public school before, but after what had happened in the past year… the topic about public school had simply been placed in the back burner.
He remembered that his father had been extremely reluctant about public school and even made several points about how weak the school education was, claiming that they, his parents, could provide better education for him and Marinette safely at home. Marinette never voiced her opinion on the matter regarding her education, at least not to Adrien's knowledge, but she did occasionally show her displeasure about being holed up on the mansion ground all the time, especially after his pére got more controlling after his mother's disappearance.
"Adrien?" The blond boy turned to the person who called his name and froze at the sight of Marinette; her bluebell eyes cautiously watching him.
Unable to give her one of his model smiles, Adrien nervously rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say in this situation.
"Are you busy with M. Agreste?" Marinette asked, unconsciously moving the portfolio in her hands towards her chest.
"No! I mean, no. I was just going to ask pére if maybe he made his decision," Adrien quickly answered while silently berating himself for spooking Marinette when he raised his voice too loudly at the beginning.
"Oh? About what?" Marinette had a feeling that she already knew what Adrien's request was, but she still wanted to hear it from him; especially due to the fact that they don't have many conversations, and what few conversations they did had were oftentimes short.
"Oh, um, public school actually. I asked pére about possibly going to the same school as Chloe this year," Adrien replied, carefully watching the noirette to gauge her reaction on the topic.
Marinette nodded her head in understanding, smiling slightly for guessing correctly, before looking at the doors that lead to M. Agreste's office. "It's probably best if you don't go in and rush him to make a decision, especially if you mentioned it to him already. The deadline for the Autumn Collection is also closing in and that might make him less incline to agree to your request if you interrupt his concentration when he's busy."
"Right, thanks for the advice, Marinette. Are those some designs for the collection by any chance?" Adrien gestured to the portfolio the girl was holding, and smiled when she nodded her head.
Checking his watch for the time, Adrien cursed when he noticed that his piano lesson was about to start in five minutes. "I'm sorry Marinette, but I got to go. Piano is going to start soon and I don't want Nathalie and the Instructor to come looking for me." With a sheepish smile, Adrien waved at Marinette before turning around and heading towards his piano lessons.
Once Adrien could no longer be seen, Nooroo got out from his hiding spot in Marinette's jacket and looked up at his holder. A wistful expression settled on Marinette's face and due to his title as the Kwami of change, Nooroo was able to sense Marinette's feelings of nostalgia; rubbing his head against her cheek, Nooroo comforted Marinette before silently bidding her to resume her objective.
After making sure that Nooroo was properly hidden away, Marinette knocked on M. Agreste's office doors and waited until he called her in. Once inside the office, Marinette walked towards Gabriel Agreste, whom was sitting behind his desk, and sat down on one of the chairs there.
The room was silent except for the sound of typing and the occasional flip of paper as Gabriel Agreste continued his work in a systematic manner, unwilling to waste time due to poor working ethics. Once he deemed that he had completed enough work to give Marinette some of his time, Gabriel looked up from the computer screen and turned to the young fashion designer, whom had already opened up the portfolio and was pulling out some pieces.
Together, they looked through the designs that the young girl had created as well as some designs from other interns and workers at the company that showed some promise. Occasionally, some of the designs would be accepted without any changes while the vast majority were either thrown away or had subtle alterations to it.
"M. Agreste?" Marinette carefully placed all the rejected designs back into her portfolio, so that she could return them to their rightful owners later, while waiting for her guardian to acknowledge her.
A grunt of acknowledgement was all she got from him, and looking up from the portfolio, Marinette saw that M. Agreste was once again looking at his computer screen with a very displeased expression. Feeling slightly nervous about what she was about to mention, Marinette's grip on the portfolio tightened before she relaxed her hold.
"It's about Adrien's request to go to school, sir."
The clicking of the keyboard suddenly halted and Marinette mentally winced, but remained composed in the face of M. Agreste; whom had turned his displeasure from the computer screen towards her.
"The education that Nathalie offers to you and Adrien is far superior here, at home, then it is in public school. Your safety and Adrien's safety is also more secure here, under my control, than it is outside where I won't always be able to protect you two." Gabriel Agreste stared down at his young charge, daring her to challenge his claims.
A tense silence fell between the two before Marinette got up from her seat and made a show of looking around the room. Once she was done with her inspection, Marinette returned to her seat while calmly placing the portfolio on her lap.
"It's cold," she said.
Gabriel raised an unimpressed brow at Marinette but remained quiet, waiting to see if she had anything else to say. "When I first came here, seven years ago, I remember that the house was big and scary. I was afraid of you and… Mme. Agreste, but I was too numb to acknowledge anything. Then a little boy came into the room and I was suddenly able to feel everything again; the shock, the pain, sadness, everything. I was overwhelmed." Releasing a shaky breath, Marinette continued, "Ever since I met Adrien, he's always been this bright ball of sunshine and happiness and Mme. Agreste was always there to nurture that warmth. But she isn't here right now, and eventually Adrien's warmth will be snuffed out if he remains here without someone to talk to."
"Get out."
Deciding that the best course of action was to obey his orders instead of arguing further, Marinette rose from her seat and bid her guardian goodbye before heading towards the doors. "Just, please consider what I've just said," Marinette softly pleaded before leaving the office.
Giving Adrien a silent apology for what she was about to do next, Marinette headed down the stairs and towards the front of the house, seeking out the Gorilla to drop her off at her old home. Hopefully, M. Agreste wouldn't take the upcoming events into consideration when he decides to let Adrien go to public school or not.
In a small massage shop in Paris, an elderly man sat in the center of the business, seemingly in deep meditation. A gramophone sat on one of the tables in the back and from that gramophone flew out a green, turtle Kwami. The Kwami seemed to be in a state of panic as he repeatedly called out to the elderly man, "Master! Master!"
Surprised by the sudden noise, Master Fu opened his eyes to look at his Kwami. "What is it, Wayzz? What is wrong?"
"It's the moth- I mean butterfly Miraculous, Master. Nooroo's Miraculous is finally active! But I don't- I can't sense his holder's intentions, Master." Weary that his Kwami couldn't decide if the Miraculous was being used for good or evil, Master Fu couldn't help but feel anxious about this sudden revelation.
They had both been aware that Nooroo was awakened roughly six to seven years ago, but had not once been used to transform. Now, out of nowhere, Nooroo's holder suddenly decides to transform when there was no need for a superhero?
"What of the Miraculous itself? Is it still a butterfly or did it change into a moth?" Master Fu asked.
"The Miraculous is still a butterfly right now, but I can't tell if it will change into the moth Miraculous later," Wayzz answered, clearly concerned for the other Kwami.
Nooroo was the Kwami of change, which meant that his Miraculous was slightly different than the other kwamis; the core representation of his Miraculous could change depending on his wielder's intentions. It was a defense mechanism put in place by Nooroo to warn the other Kwamis in the event that his Miraculous jewel fell into the wrong hands; if his wielder was using the Miraculous for ill intent then the Miraculous jewel would omit black magic and the once pure butterflies that were associated with Nooroo would become black moths of the darkest color.
"Then we are in quite the predicament. On one hand, this wielder might not be evil, but on the other hand they might have ill intent after all and attack the city." Feeling unsure about what to do, Master Fu got up from his position on the floor and headed towards the gramophone.
The rest of the Miraculous jewels were hidden away in the old record player, but he was unsure if they were needed for this situation or not. "Master, perhaps it is best if we look for potential wielders in the event that this new entity is proven to be a villain." Turning to Wayzz, Master Fu acknowledged the wisdom of his Kwami's words before grabbing his cane and taking all the remaining jewels with him. Hopefully, this unknown wielder would prove themselves to be a hero instead of a villain.
So I want to give special thanks to my new Beta-Reader: ShadowofDarkness2004. She is awesome and she helped me make this chapter flow a lot smoother and easier to read. Thanks Shadow! I really appreciate your help! :)
I would also like to thank zeynel for informing me on the difference between 'mon' and 'ma' for the first chapter. As you can tell I don't actually know french but I do try to incorporate it into the story as best as I can with 'maman', 'pére', etc.
Once again, thank you so much for commenting and/or favoriting the story. I hope you guys like this chapter because the next chapter is going to be a doozy.
(Posted: 10/28/17) Okay, so life decided to be a jerk and now I'm not too sure if I'm able to produce a chapter this coming week. I'm so sorry if you guys were looking forward to the next chapter, but I need to fix some things right now. Hopefully the 5th chapter will come out the following week.
