5. Taking care of Business

Origins

Wayzz, the turtle Kwami, is asleep in his matchbox bed. Suddenly, he gasps and springs awake upright. He senses that something is terribly wrong.

"Master!" He interrupts Master Fu's session. The customer looks up in alarm having heard a strange voice.

Master Fu improvises by pretending to speak to spirits. "My master, my master! Spiritual chant, it's part of the session. My master, my master! Thank you for coming, we'll meet again next week." He hastily pushes the customer out the door.

"Master, the butterfly's miraculous, I sensed its aura." Wayzz urgently explains.

"I believed it lost forever," Master Fu said contemplatively rubbing his chin.

"Master, its aura, it's negative," Ways said with concern, "I'm afraid it fell into the wrong hands."

"Then we absolutely must find Nooroo. If his Miraculous was used poorly, who knows what kind of misfortunes would descend upon the world." Master Fu walks the middle of the room. He lifts his arm up high showing a Miraculous bracelet. "It's time to step in. Wayzz-" He does a few fight poses, getting a sharp pain in his back before falling forward on his face.

"Please Master, be reasonable," Wayzz flies to his side in worry,"you're-"

"Still Young. I'm only one-hundred and eighty-six." Master Fu manages to stand back up, "but you're right Wayzz. I won't be able to do it alone anymore." He looks at the phonograph on his table. "We need new heroes." He presses two button simultaneously to reveal a secret compartment.

Gustav's Eiffel Apartment

Adrien and Marinette had settled themselves on the couch to watch the show. To Marinette's delight, Adrien in an attempt to comfort her, held her hand and stroked his thumb in circles on her palm. She suspected that he didn't know the affect such a thing had on her brain. But it worked to keep her from freaking out. There was a comfort in being close to Adrien that wasn't there before. Most likely a product of knowing he was her silly kitty too. And she loved it.

Marinette leaned her head on his shoulder as she sometimes did on her tired night patrols with Chat. He slipped his hand out of hers only to wrap his arm around her shoulder and pull her close.

The show was interesting nonetheless. Both of them had always been curious of how it came about that they were chosen. And now they were going to have their answer, just not in the way they wanted.

"I wonder who that old guy is," Adrien said, as he saw all the different kinds of Miraculous with a look of interest, "I've seen pictures of some of those Miraculous in the book I lost."

Marinette cringed, yeah, right, the book. The one that she stole.

Interestingly enough the screen paused. It must sense when they needed to talk. "Adrien?"

"Yes bugaboo?" He smiled down at her.

"I sort of have a confession to make." She looked away guiltily and rubbed her two index fingers together.

"What is it?"

"I'm sort of the one who took your book." she said quickly, still not looking at him. When he didn't reply, she peaked up at him through her lashes to gauge his reaction. He looked confused mostly but not angry. Which must be a good thing she decided.

"Why would you take my book?"

"Well, when I saw Lila throw it away-"

He cut her off, "wow, back up, Lila threw my book away?" Adrien couldn't help but feel miffed by that.

"Yes. When I saw that, I went to take it out of the trash. My Kwami told me that the book was important and that I needed to take it to the guardian. Which is that old guy we just saw on screen."

"Oh."

Marinette still didn't look at him and started to finger the ends of her cardigan.

"Hey Marinette it's okay. I'm not mad at you. What did the guardian have to say about my book?"

She relaxed against him, "he said that he thought the book was lost a long time ago. He thinks that whoever must have owned the book has to be Papillon..." Her words died as another thought struck them both.

The book belonged to Adrien's father.

And Papillon had a photo of Emilie Agreste.

They looked at each other as realization dawned. Oh no.

Alterna

Alterna guessed that there was one thing that she could thank Papillon for, and that was her enhanced future sight. Without it, she didn't know if she would have been able to take care of Ladybug and Chat Noir as well she had. Being able to predict their every move had almost assured her victory.

There was one gamble though. By nature, Alterna could not predict the Kwami of creation at all.

Lady Creation had the power to create new paths in life that normally would have helped the superheroes to succeed had they been dealing with an akumatized human. Fae like Alterna were tricky though. Fae were able to intuitively sense such things and act accordingly to their own benefit.

However, Alterna could see Marinette's future clear as day. Ladybug made her vision somewhat skewed during the battle, but her akumatized power-up and experience in battle enabled Alterna powerful enough to incapacitate them.

Alterna pressed her thumb between her brows, sighing as she massaged the pressure point there. An increasing pressure had been trying to push for her attention for the last few minutes non-stop and it was starting to give her a headache. Papillon had been trying to probe her mind again, but she had successfully blocked him. That didn't stop him from pushing on her mental barriers uselessly. She'll give him points for trying so hard though.

She would be taking care of him too when the reveal was done. Until then, she hoped he kept his Akuma within her.

She flew over the city and wrinkled her nose in distaste. Normal people weren't able to pick it up, but with her supernatural senses, the air was thick with pollution. Why did humans always have to mess with nature? In her land, nature was respected. Everything that grew there was lush, pure and troublesome things like disease is a rarity. Life was balanced.

Alterna landed outside the Massage parlor owned by Master Fu. She opened the door which was left unlocked and stepped inside. She was expected of course. She ignored the Chinese decor and walked to the back room used for treatments.

"Has my time come?" Master Fu asked. He sat on a cushion at the center of the room. The Miraculous jewelry box in front of him. Alterna titled her head to the side as she observed him. Knowing the future and experiencing it were two very different things it appears. She didn't know how the old man could be so calm and accepting of his fate. Anyone else would be ready to fight, however fruitless their efforts would be.

"Wang Fu. As an officer of the Klashausu, I speak on behalf of the celestial court, you will be sent to Pu'a Solektra's highlands to trial for the sins of Miracle Shrine. You will surrender your Miraculous and any other Miraculous in your possession to the rightful guardians of Pu'a Solektra. The King has decided that your knowledge of the Kwami is too dangerous. Your life on Earth will be erased from it's records. That includes all ancient text pertaining to Kwami. Your fate will be decided after the trial. Should you be allowed to live, your sentence shall be served within Fae lands. Come quietly or I will be forced to physically remove you." Alterna spoke with a firm voice and eyes sharper than blades. Her body stood straight and commanding. All trace of the playful fae she portrayed minutes ago gone. She was a soldier and slipped into her role effortlessly.

Master Fu was silent for a moment before he answered, "Very well. I will comply. What do you plan to do to the young ones. I'm afraid that the burden you've given them is too much."

Alterna smiled tightly, "That is no longer your concern. Come, the court awaits."

A.N

Vulcan translation:

Klashausu = Guard

Pu'a Solektra = Fairy Land

Some feedback would be great. I like that some of you are getting excited of where this story is headed. I'm excited too. I've already planned the whole thing.

The next chapter will deal with Paris's reaction to their heroes being teenagers.