Despite the countless groups of pirates ambling about, Adrien found it fairly simple to sneak through the shadows of the dark fort, taking advantage of his mask's night vision to navigate areas that normal men couldn't see into. Flickering torches dotted the crude dirt paths here and there, but most of the natural cliffside leading down to the concealed cove remained hidden to normal human eyes. With the stealth of his alter-ego, despite the occasionally inebriated pirate stumbling past his carefully chosen hiding spots, he easily navigated the uneven terrain, confident he could discern Marinette's location before Nino had the chance to initiate a distraction.
Unfortunately, he'd wasted some time climbing down to the docks early on, where a small armada of rowboats and large dinghies bobbed and swayed in the gentle tide. He'd been searching for a submerged net or anything that hinted at holding a captured mermaid. When he found no sign of her or any guards, he realized with a shock that they were most likely keeping her inside the fort, a place that wasn't ideal for a lady with scales and fins. He could only imagine the misery Marinette was suffering at their hands.
If they've hurt her in any way… Adrien fumed to himself as he slunk past a pair of drunken men rambling by a campfire.
"Oy, Ivan!" Adrien quickly ducked further into the shadow of a stack of crates containing some very strong smelling spices, freezing in place before carefully peeking around the edge. "Whatcha doing with that fish?" one of the pirates asked with a mocking tone to his voice.
Adrien watched as a large man lumbered closer to the orange light of the fire, holding the aforementioned bass skewered on a stick. The other men found it hilarious, for some reason, when he lifted it for all of them to see.
"Gonna feed it to the monster?" another pirate taunted.
Adrien bristled at the poor choice of words obviously directed at Marinette, but he remained silent. No need to give himself away and ruin the entire rescue just to defend his lady's beauty and grace, not to mention her—
Stop that, he inwardly chided himself. Now was not the time to get distracted when Marinette was still in danger.
Maybe it had been the longing, or his growing feelings at her disappearance. Did absence really make the heart grow fonder? In his case, one thousand times yes. And then to have her ripped away right after he'd found her? Adrien wouldn't hesitate to slice up a few pirates if he could get his claws on them.
"What're you louts on about?" A bearded thug lounging on a grungy old pile of netting swung an empty beer mug at them. "I've seen her with me own eyes, and that mermaid ain't monstrous." The man took a swig of his drink, holding it over his head to lick up a single remaining drop. "She's actually a pretty little thing," he lightly added.
"Oh? What's she look like then?" One of the other men leaned forward eagerly. Maybe it was a trick of the fire light, but there was an uncomfortable gleam in the ruffian's eye that caused Adrien to grit his teeth, sharp glare boring a hole into the man so keen on discussing Marinette's looks. "They really got two tails on 'em like the stories say?" the slimy brute asked with a smirk.
"Eh… She got scales from the waist down, but it's just one long tail of 'em." The man shrugged at his own description before his brow furrowed and his expression took on a distant gaze. "But she is an easy sight on the eyes. Dark, wavy hair, eyes as deep as the sea..." He then slid his hands through the air in a parallel wave motion. "And she's got some curves on her, even if the bottom half is wrong." The man winked with a dirty, rotten-toothed grin.
"And the captain's got her locked in the underground cells," the youngest man whined before giving a sudden look to the others, and Adrien's grip on the boxes he hid behind tightened at the disgusting exchange, his claw-tipped gloves gouging a small groove in the wood. "Buuut, no one be guarding her or nothing," the man added.
"Oy, oy... Whatever ideas you got, best forget them," the older man warned with a narrow look. "Captain don't want none of us goin' near her. You either, Ivan, just keep that meal for yerself." He tossed a thumb over his shoulder, and Adrien's gaze followed. A set of carved steps led up to the stone walls of the fort's entrance, while another path veered off toward a small hill where he could see a door set inside a stone archway surrounded by dirt and gravel. "Anyone found in there will get skewered by the captain herself."
Underground, Adrien repeated to himself as he prowled off in the direction of the doorway and slipped up to it easily enough. It was partially buried beneath the ground, cool and damp even through his gloves as he managed to pry open the unlocked door and slide inside without any trouble. As the men had said, there was not a soul guarding in the chamber beyond, and his senses couldn't pick up any signs further down.
So he made his way deeper into the tunnels, the cool chill in the air piercing through his dark suit. The tunnels were pitch black and almost felt abandoned with its dusty layer of grime, only disturbed by recent footprints in the muck. Despite the lack of light, he had no trouble finding his way as he came to a room with several doorways spaced along an open chamber.
He quickly swept his gaze along the ground, following a trail marring the dust that led toward the last door on the left. He crept closer and gently tapped against the wood, then pressed his ear against it to listen. There was a soft shift of movement from the other side, so Adrien chanced it by calling out softly. "Marinette?"
"Luka?" It was undoubtedly a beautiful sound, hearing Marinette's voice whisper back in response, but he balked in confusion at the unfamiliar name she had spoken in his stead.
"What?" Adrien wrinkled his nose before grasping the heavy lock in his hands. Simple bearings and weights. It would be child's play to pick it. "I don't know of any 'Luka,'" he grumbled quietly as he slipped the lockpicking tools out of his coat and set them into the keyhole.
"Adrien?" Her voice came out a little more surprised as he fiddled with the clasp's mechanisms.
"Actually, it's Chat Noir. At your service, milady," he sang as the latch in his hands clicked, and he placed it carefully on the ground before pushing the door open. When he entered, his sharp vision picked up Marinette's form huddled in a dreary corner, a thin blanket draped over her shoulders as she shivered from either cold, anxiety, fear… Or all of the above. He crossed the dark room in two quick strides and knelt down in front of her. "And I'm going to get you out of here," he added, an edge to his tone reserved for the monsters that dared to throw her in here.
"You came for me?" Marinette breathed softly, lifting a hand to his mask and reverently touching his face.
"Always, Marinette." He cupped her hand against his cheek and turned his head to lay a gentle kiss on her wrist. "We may have to wait a bit for our distraction though…" He pulled out the pocket watch in his dark coat and checked the time. About ten minutes before Nino would initiate their plan.
Adrien's heart jolted when he caught the sound of footsteps treading in the corridor, the flickering light of a candle shifting through the crack beneath the door. "Shit." He turned and crouched protectively in front of Marinette, pulling out a knife from his belt and brandishing it in front of him. "I thought they weren't allowed to come down here?"
"Wait, Chat—" Marinette hissed as she grabbed his coat, but the door swung open in that same instant. Without hesitating, Adrien pounced, knocking the candle to the ground as he swung his leg out. The man somehow avoided his kick, but quickly doubled over from Adrien's sudden fist to his gut, as he likely couldn't see it coming in the complete darkness. While he was stunned, Adrien whipped around and caught the man's neck in a head-hold, only vaguely aware of a strained string of notes popping out from the lute hanging from his back.
"Yield!" The man choked out a gasp, holding his arms up. "I yield!"
"Chat Noir, stop!" Marinette called out to him, making him pause. "Luka's been helping me!"
"Luka?" Adrien tasted the name as if it were something sour, giving a scrutinizing glare to the man in his grip. Luka simply stared out into the darkness, the candle he had brought snuffed out from its fall. "Marinette, he's a member of Hardrock's crew!"
"He's not like the others," Marinette explained, and Adrien turned to see her fearful gaze directed at him. He relaxed his hold, but only a little. The man named Luka choked out a few ragged breaths, but didn't make any further moves to fight back, keeping his hands in the air. Despite this obvious sign of surrender, Adrien felt his agitation growing. 'Luka,' had been the name Marinette called out when Adrien arrived.
"Chat Noir?" Marinette's voice seemed to tremble, and Adrien felt his heart stutter at the guilt of most likely being the reason for her fear. "Can you let him go? Please?" she pleaded.
With an aggravated sigh, Adrien finally released his grip, and Luka collapsed to the floor in a fit of coughing and slight twinge of sour notes when the instrument he carried banged against the stones. "Don't try anything." Adrien tapped the edge of his knife against Luka's jacket. "I'll stop you before you can pull a weapon," he threatened.
"Not that I can see anything anyway, but I don't even have a weapon," Luka's voice rasped out as he rubbed at his neck. Adrien prowled back to Marinette's side, watching the man fumble along the floor for the dropped candle.
"And how exactly is he helping you?" Adrien asked Marinette, turning back to her. He lifted one of her hands in his, feeling the chill about her despite his gloves. With his night vision, he could see the grime and dust caking the chamber, and dark splotches of dirt marred Marinette's pale skin from her time locked inside. "I wouldn't call these appropriate accommodations," he muttered.
"I brought her food and drink," Luka answered, finally grasping the candle on the floor, bringing it up and striking a new match. The flare of light cast an eerie, flickering glow along the stone walls. "The captain planned on starving her for information."
"So some food and drink earns your trust?" Adrien arched a curious eyebrow, irritation growing within him at the way Captain Hardrock had been treating the girl he loved. Marinette anxiously fluttered her hands in front of her.
"No! He's—" She rubbed her forehead and groaned. "Look, he's as much a prisoner here as I am."
Adrien tilted his head as he glanced at Luka. The man smartly stayed where he'd originally been ambushed by the door. "That so?"
Luka held up his hands. "I've got no qualms against you, Chat Noir. I don't even want to be a pirate."
"So why join her crew?" he growled, suspicion thick in his words.
"Some men don't choose their job," Luka muttered as he stood up and dusted his pants off. "Hardrock earns loyalty through fear, and some of her men are simply recruited when they pillage innocent traders. You either join her, or you're cut down right then and there."
Adrien's mouth formed a straight line, still annoyed, but knowing this to be true. Some pirates were known for their cruel and extreme ways of recruiting new men. They didn't take prisoners, they took crew members or tossed the useless ones into the sea as dead weight.
He looked back to Marinette. "What information did she want from you?" Adrien asked.
"She was looking for you, and wanted to know what I was doing on the shore," Marinette responded. "But I didn't tell her anything." She grasped nervously at his coat, and Adrien cradled an arm around her shoulders when he felt her shaking. "Chat, she knows about mermaids, we need to warn Tikki!"
"I think Tikki knows." Adrien gently slipped his other arm beneath her tail. "I'm going to lift you, alright?" he announced before carefully picking her up at her affirming nod. "Captain Hardrock has been chasing after Chat Noir for years. I'm not surprised Tikki appears to know her."
"Do you have a plan to escape?" Luka asked.
Adrien eyed him suspiciously. "I don't know if I can trust you with that information."
"Well, you can trust that I didn't tell anyone about your crewmate out there."
"What?" Adrien straightened up with a jolt.
Adrien tensed once again while Luka dug around in a pocket before brandishing a small slip of paper. "My sister spotted your crewmate in the woods, but she wants to help, so she didn't raise the alarm. There's another friend of ours, Ivan. He's a good guy, and none of us want to stay."
"Well, that's a decent start." Adrien rolled his shoulders as he relaxed a hair, shifting Marinette's weight more comfortably against him as he recalled hearing someone call to an 'Ivan' before. Wasn't that the man who'd tried bringing a fish to Marinette? Maybe they really weren't as bad as the others. "I can't say no to a good mutiny, especially if it riles up old Rock-face."
In the muted silence of the chamber, a muffled racket penetrated the soil, vibrations rolling through the stones and causing pebbles and dust to sprinkle down from the ceiling as an alarm set the men above rushing about.
"Sounds like Nino's set off the distraction. Hold tight, my lady." At his words, Marinette hesitantly moved her arms up, eventually draping them over his shoulders to clasp behind his neck. He couldn't help his grin at picking out the light splash of color tinting her cheeks from the close contact they were sharing. "Time for us to make our getaway," he added once she was secure.
"Wait!" Luka held out a hand to stop him when he'd only taken a single step. "There's a staircase down the cliff that leads to the docks," Luka quickly explained. "With the alarm raised, everyone will mostly be on the fort-side." He motioned toward Marinette. "If you can make it to the water fast enough, she can swim away."
"Leaving me to flounder in the ocean?" Adrien added dryly, a hint of renewed suspicion narrowing his gaze. It wasn't as if he couldn't swim, but he doubted he could out-maneuver a boat in the water.
"I can pull you," Marinette supplied, her grip tightening against him with her determination. "I'm strong enough to swim against currents, pulling you with me will be nothing."
"I never doubted you for a second, Marinette." Adrien fought off the urge to kiss her forehead, as her blush from earlier suggested she might not have been comfortable enough to accept his more personal flirtations. He simply nodded as he made to move through the doorway and back down the tunnel. "What about you and your companions?" he asked Luka.
"We'll help with the distraction." Luka smiled, following after him down the dreary tunnel. "If we can't convince your crewmate that we're helping, swing around to port and we'll meet you where The Cataclysm is docked."
"Will we need to worry about being surrounded?" Adrien asked as they quickly reached the entrance. Outside the door, men shouted urgently, and he could hear the thundering of many heavy boots stomping about.
"Captain Hardrock may not suspect that you're here for Marinette," Luka answered. "So my mother won't see any reason to check on her during the commotion."
"Right." Adrien nodded before skidding to a sudden halt and spinning to face him, only careful not to jostle Marinette too roughly in his shock. "Wait… Your Mother!?" he yelped.
"Err… Did I not mention that?" Luka smiled sheepishly, as if he'd simply forgotten to mention that he'd misplaced some change in his pocket.
Before Adrien could tackle that particular reveal, the heavy door flew open, and a burly pirate brandishing a wicked cutlass stomped inside. Adrien only had time to dance out of the way while Luka darted forward and swung his instrument, knocking the man square in the head and slamming him into the nearby stone wall. The giant instantly slumped to the floor and didn't move.
"I'll deal with you later," Adrien growled at Luka before sprinting out the doorway, only pausing for a beat as he surveyed his surroundings. He could hear shouts in the distance, and the high-pitched clang of a bell, but most of the noise was faint, indicating just as Luka had mentioned that most of Hardrock's crew would be headed toward Nino's distraction fort-side. He simply made sure his path was clear before peeling off down the walkway toward the cliffs. The stairs carved directly into the stone of the mountain, dipping over the edge of land that led to a sandy cove below.
"Did you know he was Hardrock's son?" Adrien grumbled out to Marinette while he jogged carefully down the steep steps.
"He was honest about it when he told me," Marinette answered, a concerned look on her face that Adrien couldn't quite interpret. "He didn't try to hide it."
"Yeah, well, I can't help but notice he didn't offer it up sooner," Adrien growled.
"And would that have changed anything?" Marinette stared defiantly back at him. "He helped me against her wishes, and only wants to be free. Doesn't he deserve that chance?"
Not if he turns and gets us killed , Adrien kept to himself. Out loud, he didn't respond, as he had spotted the dark silhouettes of men gathered on the sand ahead of them. A wooden dock stretched out along the calm water, covered by a circle of pock-marked cliffs of grit and stone. He could see a glimmer of moonlight shining on the ocean beyond breaks in the natural rock formations.
Ducking behind a pile of tightly packed barrels before they were spotted, he felt Marinette's grip tighten nervously.
"I may need to put you down for a minute," he warned her as he carefully set her against the sandy ground. Cautiously peeking from around their hiding place, he took note of the three men milling about near the docks despite the alarm that had sent most of the others into a flurry of action. This group must have been tasked with standing guard at the water regardless of what was happening fort-side.
If he wanted to get Marinette close to the ocean, he'd have to sneak her past them, which didn't seem feasible with all three men keeping a constant eye out.
He turned back to Marinette and fished a small knife from his belt before holding it out to her. "Have you ever held one of these before?" he asked.
"What?" Marinette's alarm was apparent, her eyes nervously shooting down before returning to his face.
He tapped a claw against the blade, unable to help the smirk that pulled at his lips. "If anyone comes near you, just stick them with the pointy end," he teased.
"I know what a knife is," Marinette quietly snapped, though when she took it from him, her gaze nervously flitted to the weapon again.
"Hopefully you won't have to use it," he said gently before slinking off to creep around the barrels, careful not to catch his claws on the rope that bound them to the pallet.
"Wait! Chat Noir!" Marinette's voice hissed softly after him, but he ignored her and focused on his task.
The three men stood on the docks close to the water, but unfortunately, not close enough to knock them in. Two of the rough looking thugs faced the fort, while a third, stumpy brute, kept glancing out toward the ocean. Adrien kept to the shadows, having plenty of cargo to shift between, taking note of the guards' occasional fidgeting. Regardless of their loyalty to their captain, staring out at a point in the darkness with only sparse torches dotting the landscape couldn't have been easy on the eyes—especially without an enchanted night-vision mask. He patiently waited, like a cat pausing to strike, for the perfect opportunity.
His patience was rewarded when one of the thugs stretched his arms over his head in a dramatic yawn. With the man's eyes closed in that split second, Adrien darted out from behind a crate and struck, slamming his fist right into the guy's stomach. The startled pirate collapsed with a pained grunt, the other two instantly alert and spinning to face him.
Unsheathing the slim, intricate rapier from his belt, Adrien blocked a swing from the stumpy man, attempting a parry to push the guy closer to the nearby waters, but as he shifted his weight, his thuggish friend came up on Adrien's side brandishing a curved blade.
"Woah! Not very honorable, are you?" He grinned cheekily as he managed to step aside, dancing out of both of their ranges. While he was dealing with the two still conscious, all too quickly, he heard the first one groan and began to stir. Adrien shifted his attention with irritation, keeping his sword up in defense while he tried to determine the best course of action. All the while he could hear distant shouting up the cliff, certain it was drawing nearer due to the commotion.
Both men now had their swords drawn, the metal sparking and ringing sharply when he caught one of their forward slashes with his hilt. The second thug charged forward with a shout, and Adrien had to fling the first pirate's sword to throw him off balance in order to dodge out of the way. The charging scum fell on top of his downed companion when he tripped over Adrien's boot.
Unfortunately, that only seemed to wake the stunned man, as he shoved his friend off of him and growled, "Get off me, you oaf!"
The two on the ground eventually regained their footing and carefully stood to face him. All the while, the third pirate drew a second sword and shot Adrien a toothy grin as he demonstrated his swordsmanship in a flurry of whirling blades before stopping to pose with both swords pointed his way.
"Well," Adrien huffed irritably, pointing his rapier between the three men. "Three on one doesn't really seem fair does it?" With a flourish, Adrien tossed his sword over from his right hand to catch it in his left. "There, now I'm using my non-dominant hand, so this is more of an equal fight!"
"Pompous little wretch!" the stumpy pirate in the middle spat before charging at him carelessly, just as Adrien had counted on. He effortlessly side-stepped the man, spinning around to slash at his backside. He howled with pain, definitely drawing attention from above. Without giving the man a second to recover, Adrien then stomped on his back, kicking him and slamming his face into the sandy ground.
One down, Adrien counted to himself, turning back to face the remaining pair. Two to go.
The other two pirates obviously had a bit more patience and skill with the blade, charging him together and managing to parry a few of his strikes when he attempted to slash at them. Amidst the sharp clang of metal and lighting fast sweeps, Adrien took note of the growing shouts of alarm coming from the top of the cliff.
Adrien clenched his sword tighter in frustration. Maybe if he were on his own, he wouldn't care much for the encroaching pirates, but at the moment, he was hyper aware of the fact that Marinette was hidden away nearby. He wouldn't be able to fight off an entire hoard while keeping her safe!
Just as he was trying to come up with a strategy, Adrien's heart froze when he heard Marinette shout, "Chat Noir!" He jabbed at the men, getting them to back off for a split second when her voice rose again. "There are more pirates coming!"
What the hell, Marinette!? Adrien's attention instantly focused on the man with two swords as he sneered and made a mad dash around his left. Releasing an animalistic sounding growl from his throat, Adrien shot out in a desperate move to foil him, but his second opponent lunged, suddenly grabbing a hold of his shirt and using the force of their spin to toss Adrien back toward the docks. "Marinette!" Adrien fearfully yelled as he stumbled to his feet, only to stop in his tracks when he had to parry another attack.
The man wielding dual blades crept up beside the precariously stacked pile of barrels, letting out a haughty sounding laugh while Adrien could only glare. But before the pirate could move any closer, a rope holding the drums in place suddenly snapped, and the heap began to collapse, bouncing and rolling right for the pirate. He had no time to react before he disappeared beneath a massive wave of containers most likely filled with extremely heavy rum.
Adrien's opponent snapped his gaze toward the cacophony, and with that distraction, he took the opportunity to shove him right into the path of a rolling barrel. It slammed against the back of his knees, Adrien simultaneously stabbing him in his chest and causing the man to topple, easily cracking his head against another cask before laying still in the sand.
Adrien let out a heavy breath, then sprinted over to where Marinette sat, her hiding space exposed without the stack of barrels to hide behind. She held the frayed end of a rope in one hand, along with the knife he'd left with her in the other. "Told you I knew what a knife is," she laughed at him.
"You're absolutely crazy!" Adrien yelped as he stowed his sword, then quickly and unceremoniously scooped her up in his arms, turning on a dime and rushing toward the dock. The clamor of men thundering down the cliffside after them continued to grow louder.
Then a gunshot echoed like thunder along the cliff faces, and the sand near his boots exploded in a rain of dust.
"Chat Noir!" Captain Hardrock's voice furiously screeched over the distance.
"Shit!" He sprinted faster despite the slippery sand shifting beneath each pounding step. He hugged Marinette closer and tucked her head protectively against his chest. "I won't let her take you again!" he growled out through grit teeth.
The water was so, so close. If he could just make it over the docks, where the beginnings of the deep ocean taunted him with freedom, then at least Marinette could jump in and swim away. After that, nothing else mattered, because she would be safe at last.
His boots stomped heavily over the solid, wooden boards, finally making it to the beginning of the docks. Right as he passed the threshold, a plank beside him burst in a rain of splinters as another shot hit only centimeters away. Adrien didn't bother checking over his shoulder. He spotted a space between a pair of rowboats and leapt into the water with Marinette still in his arms, the explosion of gunfire and shouts of men suddenly muffled beneath a cascade of bubbles and roiling water surrounding him.
Adrien panicked for a second, with his eyes closed against the sting of salt, when he felt Marinette's form slip from his grasp, until he realized that she was moving of her own accord. Her tail slid carefully alongside his chest, and his eyes blinked open to peer through the deep shadows. Thanks to his mask, he could clearly see Marinette maneuvering in the water in front of him, her lithe form elegant and beautiful as she turned and reached out for him, taking his hand in hers.
He felt, more than heard, the dull thump of whizzing bullets hitting the water's surface uselessly above them, unable to penetrate deep enough beneath the tide. With the danger above, muted beneath a thick layer of ocean, Marinette carefully began to tug him forward, her powerful tail swishing through the water beside him and eventually pulling him out into the open sea beyond the docks.
Adrien chanced a glance back, as Marinette seemed more than capable of propelling them both. Not that he hadn't already tried to help, but his floundering kicks didn't appear to add anything to his lady's speed and grace beneath the waves. The shadow of smaller boats sped after them up top, and he could see the ripples and foaming bubbles from the musket fire still peppering the surface. Deep beneath the surf, the quiet and calm pressure of the water was a safe haven from the horrors above.
He felt a growing sense of victory, up until his lungs started to burn with the need for air. But above, danger and gunfire chased them, while below safety and tranquility protected them. Despite how agile Marinette was in the water, they still weren't out of the bay or far enough from Hardrock's men. If he surfaced then, they would surely shoot him dead.
Adrien tried to hold on just a bit more, but he unintentionally tightened his grip as he raised his other hand to pinch his nose, a flurry of air bubbles escaping in the process. Obviously feeling something was off, Marinette turned her head to face him and paused before her expression suddenly widened. He could see her lips moving, the unintelligible sound of her voice completely muffled by the water as his vision began to cloud.
Her gaze moved up to the surface before returning to him, her mouth set into a stern frown. Marinette's fingers delicately grazed his cheek as she lifted her hands to cup his face and pulled him gently toward her. The hazy fog that had been descending over his mind instantly lifted, and Adrien's heart skipped a beat when her delicate lips pressed against his, her soft contact burning in contrast to the cold of their surroundings. He stilled, not really knowing why she was… Was this appropriate? But as a warm tingling sensation flooded in through his nerves, he eventually closed his eyes and leaned into her, lifting his hands to caress the back of her head. Gently, minding the claws of his gloves, his fingers wove into the soft strands of her loose hair.
Unexpectedly, Adrien felt Marinette stiffen beneath his touch, but before he could pull away and think that he'd done something wrong, she'd already slid her hands down to his shoulders, her tight grip telling him to stay.
A sudden, slightly painful pinch of what felt like electricity sparked between them, and Marinette jerked away, her eyes wide and mouth slightly parted. "C-Chat Noir?"
"Oh," he gasped softly, taking in a deep, grateful breath somehow. It was an odd sensation, to have the water pressing around him yet also not feel as if he were suffocating. And their voices? He grinned in delight when he heard the wonderful sound of her voice despite being fully submerged. "I can breathe?"
"I… It's the magic…" Her voice sounded flustered, and her face appeared flushed as she lowered her hands to his wrist and tugged him gently through the water. "Tikki once mentioned that mermaids often save drowning sailors..."
"Oh…" he softly responded, disappointment lowering over him like a fog. "So that wasn't…?"
"Wasn't… What?" Marinette tilted her head innocently.
"Nevermind…" he muttered, quickly falling silent as he allowed her to pull him along. Though she'd paused to save his life, the boats carrying Hardrock's men eventually lost them over the distance, and she led him further and further into the endless abyss. The deep blues extended out into blackness in all directions, a quiet following alongside them in the serenity of the sea.
"Marinette!" Adrien heard the cry clearly through the darkness before three shapes formed out of the shadows far ahead of them. When Tikki swam close enough, Marinette released his hand as the older mermaid swept her up in a spinning embrace, bubbles foaming around them at their spritely greeting. "I was so worried about you! I can't even—" Tikki held her out at arm's length, gaze darting over her. "Are you hurt?" she urgently demanded.
While Tikki was busy appraising Marinette's condition, with Marinette reassuring her matriarch that she was fine, Adrien suddenly found himself surrounded by an extremely curious Alya and Rose. The pair of mermaids darted and wove energetic circles around him, their faces dominated by inquisitive and calculating gazes.
"I thought humans drowned?" Alya eventually came to a stop with her hands on her hips, her narrowed gaze analyzing what she was looking at. Before Adrien could get a chance to explain, Alya suddenly gasped, spinning to Marinette with her hands clasped together, her expression a mix of shock and delight. "You. Did. Not!" she shouted.
"I—I…" Marinette's face turned a distinct shade of red that almost matched her scales. "He can't breathe underwater, Alya! I was saving him!" she tried protesting.
"By kissing him!" Rose squealed with delight while Alya crossed her arms and smirked almost triumphantly.
"That's how the magic works!" Marinette's voice pitched up in tone before hiding her face beneath her hands and curling her tail in front of her, though Adrien could still see the embarrassment burning on her exposed skin.
"Uhm… We should probably be getting back to the ship," Adrien hesitantly began. He glanced over his shoulder, back in the direction of the cove. Or so he thought. With water surrounding them on all sides, everything looked the same to him. He wasn't quite certain where they were, or where they had come from. "Captain Hardrock will be gunning to beat us to it," he finished.
"He's right." Tikki pointed to Alya and Rose. "You two make sure Hardrock and her crew don't make it out of the port. Marinette and I will take Adrien back to The Cataclysm."
Rose saluted before swimming off after Alya, the pair not hesitating to do as they were told despite the chaos of only a moment ago. Marinette, however, received a few gentle, hushed words of encouragement from Tikki before she was willing to move. Her face still appeared flushed when she reached out for Adrien's hand, but Tikki swam between them and took his arm instead, shaking her head. "You've been through enough, Marinette. I'll take him the rest of the way."
Marinette didn't argue, she simply nodded wearily and followed after Tikki as she swam out into the endless abyss, guiding Adrien along beside her. He was impressed, to say the least, about mermaids' ability to navigate the seas, because apart from knowing where the surface was, he had no idea which direction was where.
Along the way, Adrien continued to steal small glances at Marinette the whole time. As Tikki had observed, she'd had a rough time dealing with Hardrock. Her eyelids drooped, and she didn't seem to be fully paying attention, seemingly following Tikki through the water on instinct alone.
Soon enough, Adrien spotted the dark shape of The Cataclysm's bow floating in the water and couldn't help his wide grin. While Tikki pulled him ahead, he noticed when Marinette suddenly fell behind.
"Marinette?" Adrien called back to her, and Tikki paused to turn as well. Marinette had stopped, her eyes closed and hands pressed against her forehead.
"I just… feel dizzy…" Marinette managed to mumble before her head lolled to the side and her body went limp right there in the water.
Tikki instantly released him and darted to Marinette's side, catching her by the shoulders and shaking her gently. "Marinette? Marinette! What's wrong?" Tikki cried out in a panic.
Adrien's heart jolted with worry as he paddled up next to her. "Is this happening because she saved me?" he asked.
"No… " Tikki's voice trembled slightly as she shook her head. "No. Sharing her magic with you shouldn't have done this," she explained before her determined gaze shot up to meet his. "Master Fu… Get her on board to Master Fu!"
Adrien nodded, carefully grabbing Marinette's other arm to try and help as Tikki pulled her to the surface. As soon as he hit the air, Adrien waved his arm above his head and shouted, "Oy!" They must have been waiting for him, because Nino and Max immediately appeared over the railing like prairie dogs popping out from their holes. "Quick! Throw down a line!" Adien yelled up to them. "Something's wrong with Marinette!"
They wasted no time getting a rope tossed over the rail, and Adrien hurriedly stuck his boot in the loop they'd tied at the end. With Tikki's help, he got Marinette safely situated, holding tightly around her waist while wrapping the rope around his other arm and giving the signal for his friends to pull them up. Once they were close enough to the railing he immediately shouted, "Where's Master Fu!?"
"Here!" Someone must have run to tell the master, because the old man was already shuffling toward them while his friends helped Adrien lift Marinette onto the deck. "What has happened?" Fu hurriedly asked.
"It's Marinette!" Adrien gently picked her up again, gaze nervously darting over her. Nothing seemed physically wrong but… Her eyes were still closed, and her breathing sounded irregular. "She fainted in the water—"
Adrien's words cut out in a cold fear when Marinette suddenly screamed, her body convulsing and hands swiping up to claw at his drenched coat.
"Get her to a bed!" Master Fu shouted over her cry before spinning around and sprinting toward the cabins faster than he'd ever seen the man go. "Quickly!" he urged, not needing to tell Adrien twice as he jumped up, clutching Marinette to his chest while she squirmed and fought him. Her eyes were still shut tight, seemingly unaware of the world around her.
As he jogged through the hallway toward the cabins, Marinette's nails painfully dug into his chest, but he refused to release her, determined to get her to a safe spot where Master Fu could help her. It was a bit difficult, however, as her tail jerked about and flailed in sudden spasms, as if she were in immense pain.
Adrien managed to get her into one of the vacant rooms, laying her as gently as he could on top of the pale sheets. "What's happening to her?" Adrien breathed fearfully.
"I'm not sure." Master Fu pulled at his beard, concern etched in his furrowed brow. "If you could explain what brought this about—" The old man suddenly froze, then jumped up without explanation and grabbed the bed sheets in a motion that was shockingly agile for his age. Before Adrien could comprehend what was going on, Master Fu had ripped the sheets away and tossed them back over Marinette.
Letting out a sharp, gasping cry, Marinette curled up onto her side, knuckles white as she tightly gripped the cover Master Fu had thrown over her. Adrien watched in horror… then in wonder… as her exposed tail fin pulsed with a soft red glow. Her pained spasms turned to shivering, and her breathing hitched as the fin began to morph and shrink into a smaller shape.
"She's changing back…" Adrien breathed in awe. While he was concerned about the pain she was clearly suffering, he couldn't help but feel relief at what he was witnessing.
Master Fu clapped his hands together before moving them slowly over her, a deep, wordless chant rumbling in his throat. Whether from the sound or the motion, Marinette eventually quieted down, the glow of magic beneath the sheets fading, and her expression relaxing into one of peace. "Strange," Master Fu observed quietly as he moved to the foot of the bed and tugged at a corner of the blankets. He pulled it away only enough to reveal Marinette's fully-formed, very much human legs beneath the covers. "She has somehow lost her fins."
"She's human again…" Adrien marveled, stepping closer and holding his hand protectively over Marinette's head without touching her. A mix of sweat and lingering saltwater beaded her skin, and her quiet breathing sounded ragged to Adrien's ears. "Marinette?" he softly whispered to her, but she didn't show any signs of response.
"Do we know how she came to be like this?" Master Fu calmly turned to him.
Adrien knelt down by the bedside and gently brushed aside Marinette's wet bangs, jerking his hand back when she physically flinched away from his touch, though she still did not wake. "Tikki… Tikki said that someone might have used the earrings to do this to her." Adrien clenched his fist against the pillow, but did not move to touch her again. "But we don't know who or why."
"Hmmm…" Master Fu moved over to the small dresser in the room and grabbed a bowl of water that Adrien hadn't noticed before. The older man dunked a square of cloth into the bowl before wringing it out. "Anything is plausible when magic is involved." He moved to stand next to Adrien and offered him the rag. Adrien didn't take it until Master Fu shook it more urgently at him, his eyes darting to the cloth, then back up. "The pain she is experiencing will fade with care. The worst of it may remain in her legs, where she once had a fin."
Adrien hesitated only a moment more before accepting the damp cloth, Master Fu giving him an encouraging smile as Adrien tried once more, carefully dabbing at the sweat on Marinette's brow. She shifted in whatever sleep she was stuck in, but did not pull away from him again.
"How long has she been like this?" Master Fu quietly asked in the solemn peace that settled over them after Marinette's harrowing distress.
"Eight months?" Adrien answered. "If it happened around the time she went missing…"
"That is quite a while. Why has she only turned back now?" Master Fu mused, carefully fixing the sheets over Marinette's legs and straightening the covers. "Did you find a way to break the magic affecting her?"
"Not on purpose…" Adrien mumbled absentmindedly, folding the cloth and laying it gently over Marinette's forehead. Her face looked more serene, as if in sleep, and as she mumbled unintelligible words, his eyes trailed down to her lips… Adrien's cheeks flushed at the memory. "We… kissed." He lifted his gaze to Master Fu. "Could that have done it?"
Master Fu let out a quiet chuckle. "Like a fairy tale?" He patted Adrien's arm. "You have a romantic imagination, but if the spell cast on Marinette is due to Tikki's earrings, then I think your mask has more to do with this." He then poked the Chat Noir mask still over Adrien's eyes. "It is an item brought to life by Chat Noir's ring. More likely, the inherent magic disrupted her curse," he explained.
"So she's human again?" Adrien excitedly asked, hopeful that it could be true.
Master Fu shook his head, and Adrien's shoulders slumped. "I'm not sure. It might only be temporary. We won't know unless we watch her to make certain." He then tugged at Adrien's sleeve to pull him from his seat, leading him over to the door. "Now shoo! She needs rest. I will see to it that she recovers." With that, Master Fu pushed him into the hall with a sudden, unexpected strength and quietly closed the door behind him. Dumbfounded at how quickly he'd been thrown out, Adrien turned to the hallway, startled to find Alix and Max standing in front of him.
"Well?" Alix asked expectantly. "Is Marinette alright?"
Adrien patted the air with his hands. "She's okay." His friends visibly relaxed, both of them releasing matching sighs of obvious relief. "Master Fu thinks the spell turning her into a mermaid was… disrupted."
"Disrupted how?" Max asked.
"I don't know! Magical mumbo-jumbo?" Adrien waved his hands in exasperation, not in the mood to go into detail. He could feel the heat rising to his face at the memory of their kiss. "Where's Nino and Kim?" he quickly asked, eager to change the subject.
"Guarding the boat from some potential turncoats," Alix answered with a wave of her hand. "You know anyone from Hardrock's crew?"
Adrien followed them out to the deck, where they found Nino and Kim leaning over the port side. He stepped up beside his friends, following their watchful gazes to discover Luka floating on a dinghy in the waters with two other people. A young woman with long, dark hair partially covering her face sat close to him, while a vaguely familiar, large, burly man had a hold of the oars. His eyes darted over the water warily as the obscured forms of Tikki, Rose and Alya circled their boat just below the surface, the waves seeming to magically swirl around them and prevent them from moving.
"Know these folks, captain?" Nino waved his arm out at the waters below as he leaned over the railing. "That musician looking one claims he helped you rescue your lady love." Nino's gaze was sharp, but his expression gave way to a playful smirk at his choice of words.
"Oh, I know him. " Adrien nodded as he joined Nino at the railing and called down, "Tikki! It's alright, you can let them go. I've got a bit of a story, but Marinette's sleeping now. Master Fu is taking care of her."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Rose was the first to veer away and break the surface of the water, surprising Luka's two companions as the trio of mermaids splashed up beside their boat.
"Thank you, Chat Noir." Tikki's warm expression was filled with genuine gratitude. "I knew she would be well protected in your care."
"Yes… well…" Adrien scratched at his nose absentmindedly, his gaze awkwardly veering away from what he felt was undeserved praise. "I'd have more confidence in that if I had actually done my job to prevent all this."
Tikki chuckled at that. "Marinette would be in far worse circumstances if you hadn't been here at all." She then turned, affectionately patting her two charges on their shoulders. "We will return once you sail further out to sea." She paused before a very uncharacteristic smirk pulled at her expression. "And don't worry about Hardrock catching up, Alya made sure you would have a generous head-start."
"Can't sail a ship with a shark-sized hole in it! HAH!" Alya crowed with triumph before diving beneath the waves.
"I feel a little sorry for the shark though…" Rose pouted, shortly before following after her friend and matriarch.
"Uh…" Luka raised both his hands into the air above his head, eyes warily glancing between The Cataclysm and the spot where the mermaids had disappeared. "Permission to come aboard, captain?"
"Got a reason you wanna join our crew?" Alix leaned over the rail, singling them out with a suspicious narrowing of her gaze.
"We really just don't want to be murdered by Captain Hardrock," Ivan grunted, his expression emotionless.
"Ivan…" Luka sighed and slapped his own forehead.
"It's true…" the woman beside Luka muttered, almost inaudibly, though Adrien had no trouble picking it up.
"It appears we have a common goal," Adrien confidently announced with a wide grin.
"If it helps any," Nino interjected. "The big guy there took out a good amount of Hardrock's men as they were chasing me. So they've got a few fifty points in their favor."
Adrien nodded. "Well then, my first-mate has spoken." He grabbed a hold of the coil of rope Kim handed to him and tossed it over the side. "Welcome aboard, friends."