Tiki just shook her head with a roll of her eyes as they walked through Kaalki's portal onto the streets of Quebec City, Canada. Plagg had finally convinced them to make a stop for brunch. He was already salvavating at the thought of creamy white cheddar cheese curds on thick fries, smothered in a rich gravy; poutine!
While Plagg rattled on and on about the "epic 15 pound poutine of legend...known only as The Heart attack of Poutineville," the others were busy taking in their surroundings.
The oldest sections of the city were bordered by fortifications dating to the 17th century. These ramparts had protected the city for over a 4 hundred years, and yet they still stood proudly. On the summit of Cape Diamond the formidable star-shaped Citadelle rose up from the streets below. They walked by stone churches, Place Royale square, and charming boutiques on Rue du Petit Champlain. Even though they were far across the Atlantic from Paris a strong influence from France was engrained into the very core of the city.
While walking down Rue Saint-Paul, Marinette caught sight of something very surprising in the window of one of the many jumbled antique shops. She grabbed Adrien by the shirtsleeve, nearly dragging him off his feet, she was so urgent to duck in to investigate.
"I take it we're not just window shopping after all?" Adrien laughed as he allowed her to haul him across the threshold of the little wood-framed shop.
"Shh...let's not draw too much attention to ourselves...I just need to check..." Marinette whispered, as she weaved her way through the over-crowded aisles to make her way to the window display. Among the oil lanterns, chipped chairs, limp porcelain dolls, and faded posters lay a carved wooden box with the unmistakable miraculous symbol engraved on the top.
"No...that...it couldn't be...could it?!" gasped Adrien beside her.
Marinette leaned over, carefully dislodging the polished box out from under a yellowed lace table cloth, and a violin that was missing a couple strings. Dusting off a thick layer of dust that had built up on the lid, she traced the symbols with her index finger.
She and Adrien leaned over the box together with expectation and building suspense...but when Marinette tried to open it, she found that the lid was jammed.
"Let's go see the owner," Adrien suggested, "maybe they have a key!"
They climbed over a rusty bicycle and a coffee table that only stood on three claw foot legs, gradually making it deeper into the cluttered shop. As they went Adrien haphazardly grabbed items off the shelves and piled them into Marinette's arms. First a pink teacup with red rosebuds, a green knitted scarf, a scratched Jagged Stone record from the 80's, a copy of a second edition of a tattered Majestia comic, and then tossed a tie dyed t-shirt with a dabbing kitten on top.
"Ahh...getting some souvenirs or something?" Marinette raised an eyebrow at the beady-eyes painted pigeon carving that Adrien had just plunked on top of the pile that was staring right at her.
"My mom was a great art collector," Adrien smiled at the memory. "She took me to a couple antique shops when I was little. She used to say if it comes to haggling over prices, you never want to come across too eggar for any one item...you never let on how badly you want something."
Marinette looked down at the box that was cleverly hidden by the odd assortment of clutter. "That is...really smart!" Marinette nodded. "Did it always work?"
Then Adrien chuckled to himself, "not for me! I never could hold back my excitement when I saw something I really wanted."
Adrien and Marinettes eyes met, and both blushed a bit. They both knew Chat Noir had never been one to hold his hand (er...paw) when it came to Ladybug.
"Bonjour!" came a muffled voice from behind a tower of steam train trunks. "Can I help you?"
"Bonjour! C'est combien?" Marinette asked, ducking around a glass display case of crystal figureens to finally spilling the contents of her arms onto the counter in front of a little man with a weathered face and a violet cap perched on his head.
"Hmmm...pondered the elder shrudly, poking through the items, and flipping over a few price tags mumbling while adding up the total out loud. Then he paused. "Now where did this come from?" The shop keeper scratched the stray hairs on his head. "Where'd you kids find this ol' thing?"
"Ah...just up near the window sir...my girlfriend thought it might make a cute jewelry box if you had a key," Adrien tried to comment nonchalantly.
Marinette beamed. "Adrien Agreste just called me his girlfriend!" the little hamster in her head screamed.
The man jiggled the box, and poked at it with a screwdriver, before shrugging and sighing, "Well sorry kids, I can't say I've got a key and I'm afraid the only way into this box might be to break it...and it was so nicely carved. It would be a shame..."
"No, no, don't break it. Uh...maybe we can bring it to a locksmith or something," Adrien interrupted.
"It's the strangest thing...I know every inch of this ol' place and my Grand Papa's Papa has been buying and selling out of this shop...but I don't have the slightest recollection where this thing came from," the old man twisted his lips in puzzlement. Then he glanced up at the two customers, and chuckled, "guess the ol' bean isn't what it used to be!"
Marinette smiled kindly, and said, "I'm 17 and I'm constantly loosing everything! Maybe this little box will be lucky and help me find the things I've been looking for!"
"Haha, I think we are all a great deal luckier that we realize," the man laughed again. "I'll tell you what...how about I sell you all this for $50 and I'll toss in your "lucky" box for free?!"
"Well...I..." Marinette started to say, but Adrien scooped up the items quickly, laid down the money, and said a quick 'Merci,' and 'Au revoir!" before steering Marinette out the door.
"But Adrien, don't you think $50 was a little on the high side for all that old junk?" Marinette asked as they closed the door behind them.
"Mari, that man may have just sold us a actual box of miraculous' for less than I paid for this hoodie! Taking the offer before he started wondering why we were really interested or asking too many questions is worth the extra few bucks...plus...it isn't all junk...haven't you always wanted your very own creepy carved pigeon stature?!," Adrien reasoned, taking her hand with a grin and hoisting their 'treasures' in his other hand.
"Well, I do know someone who might appreciate that particular souvenir," Marinette leaned her head on Adrien's shoulder as they strode down the cobblestone streets.
"Oh yes...our dear Mr. Ramier. I have almost missed our weekly ice cream dates with Mr. Pigeon these past few months," Adrien smiled.
After Plagg was supplied with a truly heart stopping quantity of the best poutine in the city he was much easier to deal with. The others had had their fill of sandwiches on fresh homemade bread, followed by a maple flavoured tarte au sucre.
Before going further, Marinette was eggar to take another try at opening their newly acquired miracle box. They found a more secluded spot in Battlefields Park, and perched on the edge of their seats. After prying at the edge of the box and poking at the lock with one of Marinette's hair pins Plagg spoke up.
"Oh yeah, that looks like a kwami lock."
Adrien glared at Plagg, and groaned "Are you telling me you've known how to open this thing the whole time and you didn't say anything?!"
"I just did," Plagg crossed his paws smugly.
Tiki poked her head out of Marinette's purse, and chirped happily, "I can't believe you found one of the lost miracle boxes! We'll finally be reunited with more of our lost friends!"
"Maybe they will even help us defeat the new Hawkmoth, Falfalla,once and for all!" Marinette smiled at Tiki.
"Well...?" Adrien urged Plagg impatiently.
Plagg stuck out his tongue at Adrien and phased through the lid of the box, unlocking it from the inside and zipped back out again.
"Well, I've got good news and bad news," Plagg announced.
"What is the good news?" Marinette asked.
"I was able to get the box unlocked!" Plagg responded proudly.
"And the bad news?" Adrien asked as he opened up the top of the discovered miracle box.
"The box is empty," Plagg's whiskers drooped.
Adrien and Marinette leaned over the box, scanning each segregated section and it seemed that Plagg was right. The inner symbols proved without a shadow of a doubt that this box had at one point contained Miraculous jewels...but they were long gone. Likely still lost and scattered across the world.
"I guess it was too good to be true," Marinette traced the symbols in the velvet lining the chest.
"Maybe one day we will find them," Adrien said encouragingly. "For now we can summon Ember and Kaalki to finish off our Peace trials!"
The phoenix and the horse kwami were rallied, and listened with interest as Tiki summarized their discovery. Adrien prepped for the teleportation jump by calling "Claws out," and taking on his transformation.
"Are you ready Mi'Lady?" Chat Noir turned to find Marinette still sitting on a park bench, turning the box over in her hands.
Suddenly, she stopped and held the box up to the light. There was a hair-line crack running from the opened lock to the bottom. There was a hidden latch that her nimble figures found up under a groove in the diamond crest. When she pressed it a drawer at the base slid out. The drawer was split into two sections. The first was also empty with a embossed symbol, but the second had a fine white gold headband with a circular cream jewel at the centre.
Marinette breathed out a sigh of awe at the exquisite piece, causing Ember to glance over. Marinette's hand moved forward to pick up the abandoned miraculous. Just as her fingertips were about to brush its surface Ember caught a glimpse of it and shot forward, screaming "don't touch it!," and flicked the compartment closed so quickly that it pinched Marinetttes finger.
"Ouch!" She yelped, and popped her finger into her mouth.
"What'd you do that for?!" Chat Noir rushed to Marinette's side and glared at the offending phoenix.
"What is it Ember?" Tiki asked, and she and Kaalki looked warily at the box that had been knocked from Marinettes hands and was now lying unassumingly in the soft green grass.
"Oubliee is dormant in there," Ember said ominously over his shoulder to his fellow kwami, and they drifted back further from the box without a word. Then the kwami of wisdom turned back to Marinette and Chat Noir. "If I had known this was one of the second generation miraculous boxes, I would have warned more caution from the beginning," Ember stared at the box. "I mentioned to you before in Germany that some miraculous are better off lost."
"What is wrong with it?" Marinette asked shaken.
"Nothing is wrong with it," Ember corrected. "It is powerful...but at a cost."
The look of confusion on the young weilders faces made him go on. "The first generation of miraculous' were created and watched over by Tiki and Plagg's first weilders to maintain peace in the world. The second generation was made after their time. It was the purpose of these kwami to empower their weilders to protect the miraculous' from falling into the wrong hands or stripping unworthy weilders of their power."
"So what does that one do?" Chat Noir asked hesitantly, and glancing over at the box.
"She...she is the kwami of forgetfulness," Ember revealed with a tremor in his voice.
"That doesn't seem so bad," Chat Noir replied.
"I am sure there are those who would wish for her influence...but imagine each experience, each moment of your life, every ounce of knowledge about your loved ones being stripped from you!"
"She is the Oblivio of the Kwami world!" Chat Noir 's eyes went wide.
"Where do you think Hawkmoth got the idea for Oblivio? In the miraculous book he had there was a page that was blank except for the warning about this particular power," Tiki pointed out solemnly.
"Ember," Marinette suddenly gasped, "Master Fu! Did he..."
Their phoenix guide nodded gravely. "The guardians felt the secret of the miraculous' and the identity of their weilders would be safest if the guardian was purged of all memories connected with them when they passed on their role. This kwami's magic was laid on each of the miracle boxes as a precaution."
"Does that mean when Marinette is no longer guardian that she will forget everything too?" Chat Noir asked in horror.
Ember looked sadly at Chat Noir and nodded.
"There has to be another way! If she forgets everything she will be stripped of years of her life, the incredible things she has been able to accomplish as a hero! Our travels all over the world...and...and..."Then Chat Noir turned to Marinette and whispered, "you'll forget me."
Chat Noir's shoulders dropped, and Marinette put her arm around him. "We will always find our way back to each other Kitty!" she encouraged. "I still don't know what exactly happened during Oblivio, but I know somehow it led to this." Then Marinette pulled out her phone and opened up her photo, holding up the kiss that they had shared.
"I always wondered how an obliviated Chat Noir had somehow made you fall in love with him so quickly," Chat Noir looked at the photo he had spent months pouring over after the event. "I was always a little jealous of him."
"You were jealous of yourself?" Marinette's eyes twinkled with laughter.
"That was the second kiss I had experienced with the girl of my dreams, and I didn't remember either!" Chat Noir defended.
"That is true. I guess all we can do it make up for lost time," Marinette said grabbing Chat Noir firmly by his bell, and tugging him down for a kiss.
"I just can't lose you," Chat Noir, held her tight as she released his lips. He pressed his forehead to hers.
"I know you won't ever lose me," Marinette traced the angle of the cat ears poking out of his sunny hair.
"How can you be so sure?" Chat looked at her searchingly.
"Because you will always be there to find me again," she smiled brightly.
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Thank you for taking the time to get into my story! If you've made it this far that is awesome! A special thanks to everyone who has been leaving such uplifting and encouraging comments. It means so much to me as I go forward into future chapters for this story.
I can't believe it has been about a year ago that I just stepped out on a ledge and put this story out there to you all...yay! One year anniversary! You are wonderful reader for sticking with me through this crazy year we never could have predicted. I hope you'll "follow" along in this journey with our two heros as things continue to heat up! The loose threads to the story our Kitty has been playing with are starting to come together...but he might get a bit tangled up in them along the way;)