Author's Note: Writing and rewriting one of the most important lessons of a writer.
I reread the chapters I wrote a while ago and I don't like them anymore, I have to rewrite and fix the plot, less Marvel elements and more Fate Stay/The Owl House.
XXX
Story title: The Miraculous House - Paris: Kwami, Heroic Spirits and Shoggoth
Synopsis: For over six months, the Association of Magicians has revealed strange anomalies in Paris.
To get answers, they decide to hire Bruce Belmont and Luz Noceda, America's best mystery solvers.
Before long, Detective Occult and the Good Witch end up uniting in the conflict between Miraculous.
God Save the Eiffel Tower and France.
Because Paris is about to learn about the dangers of the Moonlit World.
XXX
Story Arc: Welcome to Paris
Episode 1: What is a Miraculous (I)
Prologue: A job for an Occult Detective and a Good Witch
XXX
POV Narrator
On the streets of Boston walks a man in his forties, 186 centimeters tall, with long loose hair.
He wears a red cloak with gold trimmings on his shoulders, and his face has a tremendously sour expression.
This person is Waver Velvet, known throughout the Clock Tower as El-Melloi II.
Lately, the city of Boston has gained fame as the third city in America to experience an extraterrestrial attack.
But unlike the first two cases, New York and Los Angeles; Boston wasn't saved by the Avengers with the help of a group of unsung heroes.
No, Boston was saved by the mysterious local hero, Arkan Bloodedge.
Together with him, the Guardians of the Galaxy, a dysfunctional band of space heroes, made their public appearance.
'Over the past nine years, the world has gone mad. At least with all these crazy phenomena caused by Mutants or Super-heroes, hiding the magic has become easier.' Think El-Melloi II, as he continues walking towards a precise destination.
After all, El-Melloi II did not leave London to be a tourist in the city, which boasts the largest skyscraper in the world, Tower Camelot.
El-Melloi II has been sent by the Association of Wizards to speak with the Sorcerer behind the name of Arkan Bloodedge, Bruce Belmont.
Normally, such an act would have been done by an intermediary or through appropriate channels.
But finding Bruce Belmont is easier said than done, the guy has a habit of disappearing for weeks or even months, then appearing in his office as if nothing had happened.
El-Melloi II having been something of a teacher to Bruce during his introduction into the Clock Tower, for this reason he was considered the most likely to find him.
"First stopped, at his office, if I don't find him there, I have to check at the Tower Camelot or the Black Kingdom hotel." El-Melloi murmurs, knowing the three places Bruce frequents if he's in town.
XXX
In about ten minutes, El-Melloi II is in front of a terraced house, i.e. a sky-earth building type, characterized by the juxtaposition of several housing units, one next to the other.
The property of interest to the magician is a seven-story brownstone building.
The most iconic feature of the building, the facade presents a showcase together with the door, decorated with the inscription: Agenzia Investigativa B&L.
'I hope to find him at the first opportunity, I don't want to spend the whole week looking for Bruce or one of his assistants.' Think El-Melloi II, stopping in front of the door and pressing the bell.
Within seconds, someone opened the door.
El-Melloi II lowers his head to better observe the "person" in front of him.
"Good morning, what brings you to the B&L Investigation Office?" He asks the person, in a thin, childish voice as his two tails wag.
' Bruce must have come back from wherever he went. There is no other explanation as to why a Kitsune puppy opened the door to his office.' El-Melloi II thinks, looking at the positive side of his situation, his target is nearby.
If El-Melloi II wasn't a veteran wizard who has seen all kinds of gruesome stuff he would have been surprised by the look of the "person" before him.
An anthropomorphic fox who appears to be seven years old and 70 centimeters tall.
It has mainly amber fur with white fur around the muzzle with tufts on the cheeks, anterior torso with soft fur on the chest and tip of the tail.
It also has large triangular ears with white channels on top of its head, a small black nose, and three strands of hair on its forehead.
He wears white gloves with a gray band around each wrist; and red heel-to-center and white center-to-toe shoes with white cuffs and gray soles, each with a gray band around the ankle.
The most iconic feature of this fox is its two tails.
"Hi, I'm El-Melloi II, one of the Thirteen Lords of the Clock Tower, who have come to discuss a job offer with Lord Belmont." El-Melloi II declares his rank and the purpose of his presence, not wanting to provoke the fox cub.
Knowing the type of magic that Bruce practices and the habit of collecting rare specimen, there are high chances that the fox can transform itself into an intruder-eating monster.
"El-Melloi II, I've heard of you from Bruce and Luz. You're an aspiring Magical Detective from London, considered by many to be the Clock Tower's best teacher." She said the fox cub, seeming to know El-Melloi's fame.
"Does that mean I can go inside and talk to Bruce or anyone who's inside at the moment?" El-Melloi II politely asks permission to enter.
Entering the home of a practitioner of the magical arts without the owner's approval can end very badly.
"Bruce's diary is empty for the moment, you can come in and talk to him." Said the anthropomorphic fox, inviting El-Melloi II to enter Bruce's house.
XXX
Following the fox, the long-haired wizard arrived in the living room located on the ground floor.
El-Melloi witnessed a scene that appears to be both mundane and surreal.
In the living room there is a U-shaped sofa, with two people sitting on either side of the sofa.
In front of the sofa against the wall is a large television, connected to a PS5.
To the right on the couch is a 16-year-old Dominican-American girl, with tan skin, dark brown hair, and brown eyes. Above her left eyebrow is a thin scar.
The girl is 164cm tall and her three measurements are: B79, W58, H79.
He wears a dark purple jacket, white T-shirt, jeans and running shoes.
The young woman wears a variety of accessories.
For example, the pants are held in place by a simple black belt, equipped with a card holder that looks like something out of Yu Gi Oh.
Around her neck she wears a simple gold necklace, decorated with a small wand/key amulet holding a bird's head with red eye gems, a beak, and a pair of tiny wings on the back of her neck.
On her left wrist she wears a gold bracelet, made up of small trinkets in the shape of animals, covered with arcane symbols.
On his left hand he wears three rings, each with a perfectly oval gem.
All three rings are designed to look like a specific animal: a phoenix, an owl, and a crow.
This girl is Luz Noceda, alias Good Witch, renowned in the Clock Tower for two reasons:
One, she is a first generation witch, who has managed to become one of the best users of Runes and Card Magic on the planet.
Two, she is the partner of a certain Detective Occult, regarded as one of the most dangerous and powerful sorcerers of this age.
To the left on the sofa is a 17-year-old boy, 171 centimeters tall, with big gray eyes, with a slender, even bony build.
The left eye is covered with a black bandage.
His skin is as white as milk or porcelain.
The soft and delicate features of the face make it very androgynous, even downright feminine in the right light.
Her hair is inky black, short and slicked back, letting a strand fall forward.
Instead of his usual noir detective attire, he's wearing something that looks like it's straight out of a sci-fi movie.
He wears a skintight body suit that covers up to his head; the dress itself is black with purple colored circuit lines and neon purple highlights centered around the left side.
Over the black suit, Bruce wears three accessories, a choker, a pair of bracelets and a belt.
The choker is in silver, with a coin-shaped pendant decorated with a symbol, OOO, which could mean beyond infinity.
The choker connects to two short necklaces with charms, two small swords.
On her wrist she wears futuristic silver bracelets, which seem ready to transform into something comparable to Tony Stark's creations.
The metal belt could belong to Batman in terms of functionality and weapons in the form of small gadgets.
The superhero belt carries some important items.
Two small books with an antique look, bordered by thin chains that allow you to hang them from your belt.
This teenager is Bruce Belmont, one of the Occult Detectives who is known worldwide for his quirky personality and tremendous magical abilities.
Setting aside the boy's unusual attire, at first glance they appear to be two teenagers, a boy and a girl, playing a video game.
But if you look closely you can hear and smell the abnormal, which is coming from the two teenagers, especially the boy.
"El-Melloi II, what brings you to my humble office?" Bruce asks, in an indifferent tone, without turning in the visitor's direction.
The black-haired boy keeps his gaze fixed on the screen and keeps pressing the joystick buttons, treating El-Melloi as if he were a fly.
Luckily for everyone who seeks the services of this detective agency, there is someone outgoing with a decent personality.
"Tails, take my place, today it's my turn to discuss with customers." Declares Luz, getting up from the sofa and handing the joystick to the little anthropomorphic fox.
By executing this swap, Luz placed herself in front of El-Melloi II.
" Hi, Professor, how long has it been since we've seen each other face to face? Four months ?" Luz said, in a friendly tone, as she tries to remember her last encounter with El-Melloi II.
"It's nice to see you, Miss Noceda. I hope I haven't interrupted anything important." El-Melloi said, in a warm and gentle voice, treating the dialogue as a professional event.
"You didn't spoil anything important, Bruce and I were playing the new Mecha War X expansion and exchanging little jokes." Luz said, not seeming bothered by El-Melloi II's presence.
'Well, the two of them seem to be in a good mood, it makes my job easier than expected.' El-Melloi II thinks, feeling lucky, something that rarely happens in his life.
"If you speak as if you were a high-ranking member of the Wizards Association, it means you are not here for a pleasure visit." Luz said, sensing the real reason for El-Melloi II's presence.
' People often underestimated Luz, considering her as a mere assistant, or at best, the witch who holds Bruce's leash.
In fact, she is just as perceptive and intelligent as her partner.' El-Melloi II thinks, expecting the reason for her visit to be discovered in an instant by Luz or Bruce.
I'll get straight to the point, the Clock Tower has tracked down an anomaly in France, but we're having trouble investigating.
So they want to hire the full services of this detective agency." El-Melloi II said, taking out a letter explaining the whole matter in detail and handing it to Luz.
"I'd love to accept the deal, but I don't think it's possible." Luz said, refusing to take the letter and read its contents.
El-Melloi II blinks, confused by what has just happened. Turning down a job without even reading the contract or asking questions is something very unusual for the two of them.
" Can I know why ?" El-Melloi II asks, trying to understand this abnormal response from the two adolescents.
" Talk to my Kitsune and my Emperor." Bruce declares, tilting his head to the left, indicating the part of the living room connected to the kitchen.
Seconds later, two women came out of the kitchen.
The first woman is Caster alias Tamamo-no-Mae, a young woman of 19 years old, 160cm tall, weight 49kg, her three dimensions are: B86/W57/H84.
Caster is dressed in what can only be described as a Japanese-style ero-kimono as colorful as the raging ocean behind her, with loose sleeves that covered most of her arms, leaving her porcelain white shoulders bare.
Black geta shoes served to slightly increase her height, while her slender legs were covered in matching indigo stockings.
Yet the most curious part of her that immediately grabs anyone's attention were a pair of orange ears peeking out of a mass of pink hair and three similarly colored fox tails in the folds of her clothes.
The second person is Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus alias Red Saber, she is a young girl, 150cm tall, her three sizes are: B83/W56/H82
Red Saber is a buxom blonde-haired beauty with pale skin, yellowish-blonde hair with sockets, and bright lime green eyes.
She wears a revealing red and white dress with long puffed sleeves, a sheer front, bodysuit, and knee-high gold armored boots.
Nero ties her long, flowing hair into an intricate chignon. She bears a great resemblance to another Saber, King Arthur, although there is no blood relationship between them.
Tamamo-no-Mae is carrying a tray full of food, while Nero is carrying a bucket full of ice with sodas in it.
As soon as the two women saw El-Melloi II in the living room, a subtle murderous intent filled the room.
At that moment, the words: Game Over appeared on the TV screen.
' This is a bad sign.' Thinks Bruce, putting down the joystick and turning to see what Caster and Red Saber will do with El-Melloi II.
Luz knowing full well what these two girls can do when they're angry, decides to take two steps back for her own safety.
Tamamo-no-Mae, first of all, has placed the tray of food on a small table, then casts a death stare at El-Melloi II.
"Wizard, I don't know why you are here, but the answer is no to any of your requests." He declares Tamamo-no-Mae, invoking near him a magic mirror that allows him to perform magic on a large scale.
"Normally, I love to watch jesters, but today I don't want to see shows. Would-be jester, get out of my building or I'll kill you." He declares Nero, summoning in his hand a great fiery red sword.
"Caster, Red Saber, you can lower the murderous intent. The Professor is a reasonable person and understands the word no for an answer." Luz said, trying to help El-Melloi not get killed by one of the two magical women.
" As you can see two women in my life don't feel like new adventures, you will have better luck next time." Bruce comments, in an apathetic tone, seeming indifferent to the fact that Tamamo-no-Mae and Nero can break all of El-Melloi II's bones.
"The last sixteen days have been particularly busy for us, we deserve a break." Tamamo-no-Mae said, looking in Bruce's direction, wanting a classic vacation with him.
"For once in my life, I agree with the fox. It's summer, we should go have fun and spoil ourselves on a tropical island or visit a beautiful city like Rome." Nero suggests some destinations for an unforgettable summer vacation.
"Honestly, a little trip to a nice little place wouldn't be a bad thing. Being a simple tourist and not getting involved in a magical problem would be a dream." Luz murmurs, dreamily.
The Good Witch currently wishes to spend the summer holidays with her girlfriend Amity in any exotic location on Earth.
"As you can see, all the women on my team want a nice summer experience and none of the dangerous jobs of the moonlit world." Bruce said, turning back to the TV and grabbing the joystick.
" Waver Velvet, be careful when you return to London, the roads are so messed up lately that they seem to be the Orient Express." Apparently Bruce wishes El-Melloi II good luck in his journey and nothing else.
"I'm not stupid enough to resist the will of three women who can bring down a building with a few words and a wave of their hand.
I'll let the Clock Tower know that your group is out of service for the whole summer." El-Melloi said, in an apologetic tone, seeming to have given up on his assignment.
Without saying anything else, El-Melloi II exited the building.
XXX
Once outside, a faint smile appeared on El-Melloi's lips.
' You are a devious boy. You call me by my real name first, something you never do, to get my attention.
Then finish the discussion with a reference to Murder on the Orient Express.' Think El-Melloi II, aware that Bruce has sent him a message that only he can understand, being an avid reader of mystery novels.
In the novel, Murder on the Orient Express, the protagonist wishes to rest in Istanbul, but is unexpectedly called back to London for another case.
With this context, El-Melloi understands that Bruce is interested in the job offer, but cannot accept it in front of girls who are not in the right mood.
'But how do I transmit the job information?' Think El-Melloi II, not knowing how to talk to Bruce without being intercepted by one of the girls.
El-Melloi II's response appeared when a blue-eyed female crow descended from the sky and landed on his shoulder.
"Carmen, Bruce's favorite Familiar, I felt strange not seeing you around." Comments El-Melloi II, while he walks away from the investigative office, not to get caught.
A well known fact about Bruce Belmont, no matter where he goes, he will always be accompanied by his "pet" a mysterious black crow named, Carmen.
Even if in the last seven months a small chimera has been added to the category of Bruce Belmont's "little animals" who accompany him to every corner of the world.
" I'm sure your master is sharing senses with you to hear my words and see me." Said El-Melloi II, used to people speaking through an animal or a puppet.
"I'll tell you the main facts." El-Melloi II said, preparing to report dozens of meetings and discussions.
"Nine months ago, during the beginning of the school year, several Wizards living in France revealed a strong magical impulse in the country, as if someone had initiated a great ritual or awakened something ancient and powerful." El-Melloi II said, trying not to think about the War of the Holy Grall or anything equally dangerous.
"As the months went by, a slow but steady change appeared in the Leylines of France.
Three months ago, all the leylines of the country gathered in Paris, as if it were the epicenter of the anomaly." El-Melloi II paused for a second, to allow the information to enter his listener's head.
A change, so radical in such a short time and on a national scale, something like this has never happened.
"The Clock Tower sent an elite team to investigate the incident, but to no avail. The entire city is surrounded by a barrier which makes it impossible to carry out an investigation." El-Melloi said, in a dark tone, he seems ready to curse that barrier.
Calming down in an instant, El-Melloi II begins to explain the properties of this barrier.
The barrier looks like a large-scale Bounded Fields with three layers and reinforced to absurd levels via the huge concentration of Leylines.
The barrier does not prevent normal people or inanimate objects from coming and going as they please.
Instead, it prevents any practitioner of the mystical arts from crossing it, except where the individual possesses monstrous magical strength or inhuman ancestry, he can enter Paris without issue."
In short, the mysterious barrier that surrounds the capital of France has no effect on three categories of people: Muggles, practitioners of Magic who are in the Top 100 most powerful in the world, and those with non-human blood flowing in their veins.
" If it were only this characteristic, we could have sent a member of the association with the right qualifications.
But the barrier has even more annoying effects: mental interference, erasure of evidence and unusually from the outside world." El-Melloi II declares, holding up three fingers.
"The barrier seems to affect people's minds, if you can enter Paris and discover something, when you get out, you will end up forgetting everything.
We questioned more than a hundred ordinary people and ten wizards, each with clear effects of selective memory loss when dealing with the city's archaic oddities.
Attempting to write information to the card, record video, or communicate with a person indoors does not work.
The barrier acts like a giant information filter, whoever created the barrier doesn't want to let anyone find out what's going on inside Paris." El-Melloi said, ending the presentation of the problem to be solved.
"If you accept this assignment, you must go to Paris and solve the problem as you see fit.
As usual, you will receive substantial pay of the kind you like best: confiscated Mystic Eyes, Magic Crests, or parts of the research of the missing mage houses." El-Melloi II said, pulling out the letter and handing it to the crow.
The document contains the contract to be signed and the more sensitive details of the job that cannot be transmitted verbally.
Carmen the Crow without hesitation grabs the letter with its beak and flies away.
'Well, I managed to convince the world's most dangerous sorcerer, armed with Noble Phantasm and accompanied by Servants, which are living weapons of mass destruction, to go to a city isolated from the outside world, rich in magical energy, where it is happening something worrying.' Think El-Melloi II, with a worried expression.
"I still don't understand how the Wizards' Association decided to hire Bruce and Luz, wherever in vain disaster happens. Maybe it was Zelretch who proposed this option." El-Melloi II mutters, starting to walk towards the nearest airport, not wanting to get further involved in the affairs of this Investigative team.
XXX
Several hours later, inside the B&L detective agency.
Altera, Nero, Tamamo-no-Mae, talking about holidays, why don't we go to Paris?
I've always wanted to see the Land of my ancestors, where the First Belmont was born." Bruce offers, in an apathetic tone, as he gets up from his chair, having finished playing.
" I would have preferred Rome, but no problem, an Emperor like me is capable of transforming any province into a worthy place." declares Nero, imagining using his many talents to build his dream palace. In the small fantasy of Red Saber, Bruce stands to his right in the role of adviser and lover.
"Goshujin-sama, finally, we're about to have our honeymoon!" Tamamo-no-Mae declares with great joy, hugging Bruce tightly.
"Treacherous fox, take your hands off my Praetor!" Nero yells, as he grabs Tamamo-no-Mae's tail, then pulls it hard, all to pull her away from Bruce.
"I have to call my amazing girlfriend, Amity, and tell her to pack her bags." Luz mutters, ignoring the little fight between a Kitsune and an Emperor.
The Good Witch takes out her phone to announce this particular event to her fiancée.
'Here is my future plan, by day I take care of the girls, by night it brought out the worst in me, so I will solve the problem in a few days. Then I'll enjoy Paris with the girls.' Bruce thinks, as he rolls up the machines, having to deal with separating Caster and Red Saber.
XXX
At that precise moment, in Paris.
The local super-hero couple, Ladybug and Chat Noir, suddenly felt a very nasty shiver going through their entire body.
Even Papion and a good part of the students and teachers of a certain high school had a similar premonition.
One thing is sure, in the coming days, Paris and its inhabitants are about to understand that the world is much bigger and more dangerous than they thought.
Continues ...
