Apologize again for a late chapter. I'm helping my best friend on something important and it's taking up a lot of my time. Hopefully, it won't take much longer.
The sun was rising over the city of Paris. The rays of sunlight spilled over Ning, who was meditating on the roof of the building. Her father had come to her last night and explained what he believed happened during her acupuncture session.
"I soul-swapped with another wielder of Duusu's. How can that be though? Until Mayura showed up there was no sign of the peacock Miraculous at all."
"But my experience shows there was another wielder before Mayura and after the time the Miraculous became lost. That wielder has to have some connection with Monarch."
The young woman slowly took a few deep breaths. She imagined the air going to the bottom of her toes and then back out. Pinching Duusu's kwami charm between her fingers, Ning reached out again.
"Duusu, if you can hear me, answer me. Duusu, are you there? Duusu!"
She felt the same tugging sensation as before in her mind. Focusing her attention tug, she allowed her soul to be pulled away. Once more she caught a glimpse of a blond hair blob rushing past her.
Ning opened her eyes and saw she was no longer outside. She was in a large room with fancy furniture. There were a few pieces of art on the walls, mostly small landscapes.
She could feel the sun on her back, so she turned around. There was a large window with its delicate curtains pushed aside. She walked over to the window to see what was outside.
When she was about a foot away from the window she ran into an invisible wall. Confused, she tried again and still couldn't take a step forward. She placed a white hand against the invisible barrier.
She pulled it away a few seconds later. "A dream barrier. I'm in someone's dream. But Nooroo is the only Kwami I know who can allow someone to slip into another's dream via a ritual."
Stepping back, she took a look at her hands. Her skin was perfect, the fingers were long and delicate. The fingernails were painted a light pink.
Glancing down, she saw a slender and well-fitted female body. She was wearing some kind of pantsuit. She ran a hand through her hair, determining it was glossy, soft, and held in a low ponytail.
Looking at the strand caught in her fingers, she determined her hair was a sunny blond. She looked around the room for something reflective. There were no mirrors or shiny surfaces anywhere.
"I can't see my face? Why can't I see my face?" she pondered out loud. Seeing the doorway, she walked towards that hoping to get out of the room.
Only she ran into the same problem. She couldn't get out of the room at all. This was disconcerting. Adrien had been able to move around Marinette's dream so why couldn't she?
Thinking the situation over, Adrien had been able to get into Marinette's dream because he knew her, and she was already dreaming about him. Whoever she had replaced didn't know her so she wasn't part of the dream.
She wanted to remove the pantsuit jacket to get a look at her arms, but couldn't manage it. The same thing with the pants. There was no way to get a good look at the covered parts of the body.
She felt the tugging sensation getting stronger. Knowing what that meant, she ran her hands over her face. Seconds later she felt her soul going back to her body.
Ning opened her eyes and grabbed her water bottle. Pouring a little on the roof, she looked at her reflection. Yes, she was back in her own body.
She rolled up the mat and snagged her minicomputer from its hiding place. Knowing there might be a chance she would soul swap, Ning had set it up to record what was going on with her body.
Her parents were still asleep as she quietly slipped back into her room. Making sure to keep the volume low, she watched the recording.
She watched as her body stilled right as the soul-swapping was happening. Whoever was in her body, opened their eyes and sprang backward. Being on the rooftop had frightened the soul inside her body.
The soul in her body looked around frantically. The audio picked up the person saying, "No, this can't be right. I was at home in bed! Where am I?"
Ning's body crept closer to the edge of the roof. Moving her head around, the soul inhabiting her body appeared to settle a little. "I'm still Paris. Why am I on the wrong side of the river then?"
Ning's body started to sway. The person inside returned to the mat and went into a meditative trance. Seconds later, Ning woke up in her own body.
This video, plus her vast work experience, gave her a lot of intel. First, she confirmed that the soul she swapped with was a woman. Second, this wielder was living in Paris on the opposite side of the Seine.
Thirdly, the person she swapped with had no idea that this was happening to her. Knowing that she had been in someone's dream and they were unaware it was a dream, the woman was likely to be in a coma. Lastly, this person had to be in very close physical contact with Monarch.
There was no other way to explain how Nooroo's magic had constructed this realistic dream. In normal dreams, there was always some imperfection that was a clue that a person was dreaming. For a dream to be that realistically detailed meant magic was involved.
"This woman must be the main motivation behind Monarch's terrorist attacks. I'm sure the desire to have power must have grown over time since he's failed to get the Miraculouses he wants."
"Oh my God, that's why he wants them! We knew he was after the wish-granting power, but we didn't know why! Now we do and he makes that wish someone of equal value to him will end up in a coma!"
Ning felt sick to her stomach. Most people knew that using magic always came with a price. What most people didn't understand is that magical wishes had the highest price.
Making the impossible possible meant there would be an enormous blowback for the wisher. Especially when it came to matters of life and death. The blowback could be so great that entire cities could suffer from it.
This couldn't be allowed to happen. Ning rushed out of her room and into her parents' bedroom. "Wake up! Wake up! Mother, Father! I just learned something terrible!"
Back in her dream world, Emilie was very shaken by what she had just experienced. She didn't understand how she had ended up outside on the opposite side of the city when she woke up.
Nor did she understand how she snapped back to her room with her clothes wrinkled a bit. When had she gotten dressed? She couldn't remember putting on her clothes.
She needed to speak to Gabriel. Perhaps he knew what was going on. She hurried downstairs and went into the kitchen. She expected to find all the members of the household at the table.
No one was in the kitchen to her shock. Trying to remain calm, she left the kitchen and started searching for her husband and son. She checked all the rooms on their first floor and nobody was there.
She quickly checked the second floor and it was empty as well. Her heart pounded as she checked the rooms on the third floor. They were all empty!
That left only the old conservatory and the attic. She recalled her husband spending hours in the old conservatory. He had told her he was working on a secret project in there.
The only way up to the fourth floor was a narrow staircase situated behind a door at the end of the hallway. She tried to turn the doorknob but found it locked. That perplexed her.
When Adrien was a little kid, they kept the door locked so he wouldn't hurt himself. But they hadn't locked the door in three years. What was going on?
Emilie knew the key was kept in a small security box next to the door. She punched the code in and tried to detach the upper section. It didn't budge, not even when she entered the code again.
"When did Gabriel change the code? Why didn't he tell me?" Emilie asked herself out loud. She was starting to get panicky.
She headed back to her bedroom and started searching the room for her phone. She needed to talk to her sister. Amelia would know what to do.
The problem was she couldn't find her phone. She knew she placed it on the nightstand before she went to bed the night before. It was gone and she couldn't find it at all.
In frustration, she kicked the bed. Instead of feeling pain, she gawked as her foot went right through it! "What in the world?!" she screeched.
The door to the bedroom flung open. Gabriel rushed inside with a worried expression on his face. "Emilie! Are you okay?! I heard you scream."
In Emilie's confusion, she forced Gabriel away. He looked flabbergasted. "Emilie, what's wrong?"
"Where were you?" she demanded.
He looked at her in confusion. "I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast."
"No, you weren't. I checked the kitchen and you weren't there. Nobody was in this house when I woke up this morning!"
Gabriel reached for her, but she smacked his hand away. "Why did I wake up on the rooftop of a strange building? Why did you lock the door to the fourth floor and hide the key from me? Why did my foot just go straight through the bed?"
"Emilie, what is all this nonsense? Whatever you think you experienced sounds like a dream. I think you've been working too hard."
"I know it wasn't a dream! Something is going on here, and I will get to the bottom of it. Now leave, I want to be alone!" she snapped at him.
Sighing, Gabriel did as she asked and left the room. Emilie sunk to the floor and curled her knees to her chest. She started sobbing, wondering how her life had come to this.
That night, Tikki and Plagg once again snuck out to visit their family. This time though, they were bringing an item with them. It was a used phone.
The other Kwamiis were confused by the gift until Tikki explained why they had brought it. "This phone is connected to all the Miraculous wielders' phones. Barkk's wielder tweaked it a little so you can get a live feed from any wielder's phone."
"But only for about two hours. You'll also have to tap a different number for each wielder you want to observe," Plagg added hurriedly.
"What a fantastic idea," Vollo remarked. "How are we supposed to charge it without a charger?"
"I bet I can do it!" Howller called out.
Wayzz asked everyone to settle down. Once everyone was quiet, he asked his "siblings" why they thought the phone was necessary.
Plagg stated that he and Tikki couldn't keep sneaking out when the situation with Monarch was reaching its endgame. "We thought with this it might help you with coming up with a solution for Nooroo and Duusu."
"We've made a little bit of progress on that front," Socco told them. The Kwami of Determination explained that they had been discussing ways to restore balance to the unbalanced magic.
He gestured over to Rexx, who appeared a mix between excitement and caution. Rolly floated over and let Rexx squeeze him so the kwami would be less tense.
Rexx cleared his throat and started speaking. "As the Kwami of History, I decided to research our own history. I know our memories get fuzzier the further back we look, so I started writing things down a few centuries ago."
"Remember, how we saved Duusu when she nearly died? We saved her by giving her a little of our power. We were able to stabilize her body."
"That made me think about how we might be able to use that method to prevent Nooroo and Duusu's death. But I ran into a problem," Rex admitted.
Scorppio started speaking. "Saving one kwami whose energy was unstable is much easier than trying to save two Kwamiis and not lose our "cousins" magic."
"We needed to find a way to balance our energies between two Kwamiis by stabilizing the unstable magic."
"Simultaneously, we also needed a way to restore the stolen magic to our family without it being lost while attempting to help Nooroo and Duusu," Phill added helpfully.
"That's when we got the idea perhaps some of us could get the kwami rings from Monarch while some of us remain here to channel our magic to keep our friends from perishing," Flammer spoke up from the back of the crowd.
Tikki admitted it was a good plan. Plagg looked skeptical as he reminded his counterpart that during a fight with Monarch, their magic might become unstable, which would affect how much energy their friends had to give to the two missing Kwamiis.
"Paris already has enough problems with the unstable magic happening throughout the city. Do we really want to cause more problems?"
"Would it help if restored balance in those areas?" Yipper questioned. Everyone looked at him. "What? I'm the Kwami of Sharing! If a majority of us can restore the city's magic to normal, then there is less than chance of a backlash," he added.
"Yipper's has the right idea. It's got me also thinking," Mullo spoke up. "Too many Kwamiis in one place would make it harder to help our "cousins" from a distance. Our kind doesn't have to be the ones retrieving the magic."
"Our wielders! They can get the kwami rings from Monarch while Ladybug and Chat Noir distract him. Once they have the kwami rings, they can give them to the Celestial Guardian to restore us to full power," Pollen exclaimed.
"To pull this off, every kwami is going to need a wielder to enhance our magic. Do we have time to do that?" Gigi probed.
"We're going to make the time. Plagg, Tikki, keep your eyes out for possible wielders for the rest of us. We'll talk to Ning about getting more information for us to make our final decisions quickly," Orikko informed the duo.
It was a good thing that Marinette and Adrien had been working on their list of possible future wielders for a while now. Everyone on that list could find a perfect match among the candidates. Hopefully, before time ran out for everyone.
The next day at school, the students were surprised when the school nurse came to speak to them in class. Ms. Bustier explained that the nurse was there to help give them advice on how to keep the stress from getting to them.
The nurse smiled at all of the students. This was the most important lecture she gave every year, except for last year when the brevet students had been shipped out of the city to take the test.
"Good morning, students. I can only imagine the amount of stress and pressure you are feeling with the brevet exams nearly upon us. Right now, you must take care of both your physical and mental health."
The students glanced at one another wondering what the nurse was talking about.
The lady turned on the class projector and a list of tips popped up on the screen. With a soft click, the nurse brought up the first tip.
The slide had pictures of people exercising. Underneath each picture was a short caption explaining why students should do this before an exam.
"One of the most significant things you can do is take care of your body. Doing physical activity, such as walking and stretching, helps relieve the stress in your body."
The next slide showed a picture of someone underneath a tree while the sun was shining on them.
"It's very important to get enough sunlight to keep your serotonin, a neurotransmitter in your brain, at high levels. This will make it easier for your body to function properly."
The next slide showed a picture of people napping. The nurse explained how important it was to get good sleep. That meant no electronics in the room at night and going to be on time.
The next slide talked about deep breathing exercises. It also explained why doing leisurely things helped a person to let go of the stress they had been experiencing. One of the best leisure activities was to get a massage.
The last slide talked about how important it was to eat and drink healthy food. Especially foods with lots of vitamins in them. The uptake of vitamins releases cortisol and relieves stress.
The nurse turned off the projector. "Now that we've covered the physical side of relieving stress, it's time to review the mental ones. Can anyone here tell me what a few of them are?"
Rose raised her hand. "Saying positive affirmations to yourself."
The nurse nodded and then pointed to Ivan. The gentle giant said that he practices mindfulness to help him when he was frustrated.
"That's a good idea. Can someone name one more?" she asked. She was surprised when Ali raised his hand. "Yes?"
"I often use meditation to help me. It's very simple to do."
"You're right Prince Ali. Meditation is very simple because you can do it anywhere. Just find a relaxing position and then close your eyes."
"What do we do after that?" Kim asked curiously.
The nurse smiled and replied nothing. "You don't have to do anything once you start. Meditating is relaxing your mind and letting it wander. If you do it often, you'll find peace with yourself."
The nurse went on to explain that a person didn't need to meditate for very long. Some people meditated for a few minutes, and others, for a few hours. The goal was to relax your mind.
"I hope each of you takes advantage of these tips. Following them will help you be ready on test day and keep calm afterward. Thank you for listening to my lecture."
The Gorilla glanced at the clock in his room. He had two hours before he was supposed to bring Adrien home for lunch. That was enough time to confront Nathalie.
Depending on what she had to say, would determine his next course of action. He hoped she would cooperate with him. He didn't enjoy the thought of pummeling the woman before dragging her to the police.
He knocked on Nathalie's door knowing the woman was working from her bed today. She called for him to enter and he walked inside. She smiled weakly at the man as he entered.
Nathalie sensed the change in her colleague. He handed her his notepad. What little color she had left in her cheeks disappeared.
The page had a drawing of a purple butterfly next to Gabriel. Right below was a drawing of her with a little peacock. Underneath that, the Gorilla had written in big letters why.
"Have you shown this to anyone else?" she croaked. Her colleague shook his head. He made the sign for talking and then pointed at her.
"He's doing this to bring Emilie out of her magical coma. The Peacock Miraculous is based on the abstract of healing. She used a peacock feather to heal her infertility."
Nathalie began coughing heavily. The Gorilla poured her a glass of water from the pitcher on her nightstand. She took a huge gulp and her coughing subsided. She thanked him for helping her.
"The Peacock Miraculous was broken when she used it. The feather didn't work properly. It fixed her infertility, but started zapping away her life force."
"When Gabriel learned she was dying, he was determined to save her no matter the consequences. She's being kept in a special cryopod nearby. He became a supervillain to get the Miraculouses he needed to make a wish to save her."
The Gorilla gestured for his notepad back. She handed it back along with a pencil. He scribbled some questions on the pad before placing it in the woman's hands.
Nathalie looked at the first question and nodded. "Yes, I chose to help him in the beginning. I cared deeply about Gabriel and I wanted him and Adrien to be happy. I knew what would happen if I used the Peacock, but I thought it would be worth it if Emilie returned."
"A few months ago, I started having a change of heart. Gabriel's obsession with his wife was pushing Adrien and him further apart. The company was starting to lose revenue."
She coughed a few times and took another sip of water. "It was only after seeing how much pain I caused coupled with the fact I was dying did I realized how wrong I was for going along with this."
She tapped the next question and admitted she had tried to get Gabriel to stop his terrorist activities. Nooroo, the little creature he had seen, had tried to stop him with no success.
"If it wasn't for Adrien, I would have turned myself in. I've been trying to find a way to protect him from the fallout when the truth comes to light. I barely managed to talk his father into making sure Adrien would be provided for when he dies."
Looking at the last question, she told him that she had arranged a meeting with the heroes in a few days. She was going to surrender her Miraculous in exchange for being healed.
The trick would be finding a way to leave without drawing suspicion. With their deaths looming, Gabriel had been keeping the peacock with him more often. He also was watching her closer than ever.
The Gorilla reached out for the notepad. Once he had it again, he drew a picture of the limo with her and Adrien in the back. There was an arrow pointing towards the end of the page.
"We can't risk it. I don't know for sure, but I'm positive that Gabriel is going to use Adrien in his endgame plans. If we take Adrien away, you and I would end up dead quickly."
The Gorilla growled at the thought of his employer using his son for his terrorist activities. It was clear they needed to act now before the monster of a father used Adrien to hurt more people.
Nathalie managed to reach out and place a hand on the man's wrist. "Gabriel won't akumatize him, because of his oath. The last time was an accident because Adrien got in the way of the intended target."
Gorilla held his hands out like he had claws while his facial expression mimicked a cat snarling. He wanted to explain further about Adrien's cursed form.
She explained why Adrien had been cursed and also the consequences should it happen again. It was another reason she was trying to get Gabriel to stop before Adrien ended up cursed forever.
The Gorilla did an impression of Marinette wanting to know more about her akumanzation. Nathalie admitted that Gabriel had been experimenting and used the teenager as one of his test subjects.
Considering Marinette nearly died, the Gorilla was convinced that Gabriel Agreste was a lost cause. He hazily remembered the time that Villainess Queen had nearly taken the man's life.
Why hadn't that been enough to stop him from continuing with this madness? There was no way he was bringing Adrien back here for lunch. He wouldn't let his surrogate son be harmed any further.
Nathalie knew what he was about to do. "Please, for Adrien's sake, don't confront Gabriel. He has both the Butterfly and the Peacock Miraculous. He's also stored the stolen magic in the Alliance prototype rings."
"I know how strong you are, but with that much magic at his fingertips, he's too powerful for you. My meeting is only a few days away. Wait until then to make a move."
He ripped out the pages he used to talk with Nathalie and hid them underneath the box spring of her bed. He signed to her to protect Adrien. Too frail to get out of bed, Nathalie watched as her colleague left to confront their boss.
Gabriel was in the atrium busy logging in customers' information. It would be easier to control people with the smart fabric outfits with the data. He was about to enter another name when the doors were flung open.
A rush of fury flooded him. "Nathalie, I told you not to disturb me!" It was only when he turned his gaze towards the door that he realized the person standing there was not Nathalie. It was the Gorilla.
"You better have a good reason for bothering me. Can't you see that I'm busy with work?"
The Gorilla ignored him and cracked his knuckles. He took a menacing step towards the man. Gabriel actually flinched in fear.
Embarrassed, he took a step closer to the Gorilla. "I asked you a question. Why did you disturb me?"
He wasn't actually expecting a verbal response, so it shocked him when the man replied, "To stop you…from hurting…anyone else, Monarch."
The man was in a state of shock. How did this simpleton figure it out?
"How dare you say that to me! I'm not Monarch!"
The Gorilla advanced again towards the man. He wasn't going to be deterred. "Don't lie! I saw the…butterfly being. I won't let you…hurt anyone else. Especially not…Adrien."
That's when the man threw his first punch, striking Gabriel in the jaw. The designer stumbled backward. Before he could recover, the bodyguard punched the man in the stomach.
"Nooroo! Duusu! Unify!" Instantly, he transformed into Monarch. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out all the Kwamii rings.
The Gorilla lunged for the rings, hoping to grab a few of them. Monarch blew him away with his wings. He then slipped them on and activated the dragon ring.
"Blaze!"
The golden beam narrowly missed the Gorilla, who had managed to dodge at the last second. The beam followed the bodyguard as he ducked down and ran towards Nathalie's desk.
Monarch kept firing not caring about the destruction he was causing. He was steadily walking towards the bodyguard who had leaped behind the desk. Then the villain stumbled somewhat as he lost his balance.
The Gorilla grabbed a letter opener off the desk. He expertly threw the item, aiming for the man's right shoulder. Monarch scarcely managed to deflect the item with his cane.
Monarch activated a different ring, "Rhy…oof!" He was tackled to the ground before he could finish. He was forced to use his hands instead to prevent the man from grabbing the Butterfly Miraculous.
Mustering all his strength, Monarch managed to kick the Gorilla off him. The bodyguard lunged at him again. Frantically, the villain called out another power, "Shell-Guard!"
The Gorilla was determined to stop his boss, as he started to pound on the protective barrier. Due to Monarch's weakened state, the barrier was starting to break. The villain knew he could only use one last attack before his dwindling strength was gone.
As the barrier broke, the Gorilla reached out to take the Miraculous. Suddenly a sharp pain started spreading all over his body. He looked down and saw the tip of the cane sword embedded in his abdomen.
Monarch jerked it out causing the wound to bleed heavily. The Gorilla was on his knees, putting pressure on the wound.
Struggling to stand, Monarch could already hear Nooroo's voice in his head screaming. Then Duusu's voice joined her "brother's" as she demanded that Monarch, save the man's life.
He could feel the Kwamiis trying to break out of their Miraculouses without permission. He sheathed the cane-sword and pointed the pommel at the bleeding man.
"Chrysalis!" The threads of the cocoon wrapped tightly around the wound keeping it from bleeding further. He then used his power again to wrap up his attacker.
Monarch needed to figure out quickly what to do with the bodyguard. He couldn't allow the man to leave the mansion and alert the police. Neither could he kill him without Adrien getting suspicious enough to report the man missing.
He then recalled there was a hidden safe room on the third floor in the library. Because it was so cliché Emilie had suggested it was the perfect place for it.
After all, if someone was dumb enough to rob them then they would dismiss the library, believing the rich wouldn't use an obvious cliché. It was the perfect place to lock the Gorilla in. The room was even soundproof with a six-inch steel door.
Monarch hobbled over to his computer. He used the override code Tomoe gave him to request a few security bots to come to his home. The older models could handle the job for him.
Until the job was done, he couldn't permit Adrien to return home. Undoing his transformation, Gabriel used his Alliance Ring to leave a message for his son.
"Adrien, I know I promised to have lunch with you. Regrettably, an emergency meeting has come up. You can have lunch with your friends and join their study group for the night."
"Ask for a ride home from one of your classmates' parents. Your bodyguard has a family emergency and won't be able to pick you up. Remember, I love you, Adrien. Goodbye."
Ending the call, Gabriel sat down on the floor. He could feel the destructive magic spreading further across his body. "I just need to hold out a little longer. Then everything will be fine."