Chapter 6: Felix

Marinette was making some notes from the copy of the translated grimoire master Fu had left her. She was investigating the possibilities that existed to save Nathalie and Gabriel from their fate. Marinette stretched out in her seat once again looking at her new notes. She remembered that time when Master Fu was still there to guide her in her task as Ladybug.

"Master, if you were here, what would you do? Am I doing the right thing?"

She was quite worried about Adrien. Although she had insisted that she could stay a little longer, Adrien preferred to return home.

And she respected his decision.

She wasn't sure how Nathalie or Gabriel would handle the situation. She knew from Adrien and from what little she had seen that they really weren't handling the situation very well at all.

Marinette paced nervously around the room. Would Adrien be okay? Does he need her help? Every time she had visited him, Adrien insisted that he was fine and that she should not worry about him.

Furthermore, she had to focus on finding a solution to help Nathalie and Gabriel, because otherwise what she did would be in vain.

And she didn't even know where to start.

Marinette was reviewing the grimoire once again in search of clues or ideas that could lead her to a definitive solution. She looked at the page that talked about the Ladybug Miraculous first. There was mentioned what she already knew. Ladybug's Miraculous was linked to life and creation.

"Tikki, do you have any ideas?"

"Not really Marinette. Curing a cataclysm is almost impossible. Do you remember the dinosaurs? Plagg caused the cataclysms by accident and did not realize the great disaster he created until it was too late. That's why they became extinct.

Marinette swallowed hard at that information. Marinette flipped through the page that talked about the cataclysm.

"And what if we can contain it? I mean I don't think it's impossible" Marinette suggested

"We could try, but how do you plan to do it Marinette? The truth is I have never seen someone contain a cataclysm."

Marinette was going to respond, but then she didn't know what to say.

"I don't know."

Then she went to look at the page that was about the cat's Miraculous, it was the Miraculous of destruction, undoubtedly a dangerous power. It could have various effects, but she had not seen the effect of the cataclysm on a person in the time she had been Ladybug.

He would probably have to ask Nathalie and Gabriel about the symptoms they were experiencing in order to create a medicine to relieve their symptoms, at least temporarily.

How do you cure a cataclysm inflicted on a person? How do you cure someone who is sick from the indiscriminate use of a damaged Miraculous? Would the guardians have the answer to that question? She had not yet been able to contact them. She assumed that they were still assessing the damage caused by Monarch and they would come looking for her soon.

She just hoped she could fix everything and prevent Adrien from ending up alone.

She only knew one thing. She couldn't hand Gabriel over to the guardians. She was sure they wouldn't be as understanding as she was. Su Han was the perfect example of that.

Marinette continued browsing the grimoire from her computer when she heard a notification on her cellphone.

Marinette checked it finding a new message.

It was a message from Kagami.

Kagami_ 2:30

Marinette, would you like to go out for ice cream with me? It will just be the two of us.

Was Kagami inviting her out to eat?

Apparently, Kagami had permission to go out that day.

Although Marinette found it a little strange that she had suddenly invited her. It was usually difficult for Kagami to ask her mother's permission to go out as well, although not as hard as Adrien.

And she even more missed that she did it in those moments. When a few days ago, she had been forcibly sent to London by her mother. It seemed that Kagami had returned to Paris much sooner than she thought.

Why would she need her?

Marinette looked again at the large amount of notes she had on her desk. She needed to take advantage of all the time she had available to find a solution to the problem she had at hand.

No doubt this would have to wait.

Marinette decided that for the moment she would heed Kagami's call. It would be nice to spend some time with her while she thought about what she should do.

She organized all of her papers meticulously and placed them in a folder where she kept all of her notes of the Miraculous. She opened the box where she hid the Miraculous box and placed them aside.

The kwamis watched as Marinette organized her things.

"You make sure nobody doesn't go through my things. And I mean anyone. Not even my parents should know what I'm doing."

"We will, Marinette." Sass said.

"I'm going out for a while, please don't do something that could get you in trouble."

"Don't worry, Marinette, I'll keep an eye on them." Barkk turned to the other kwamis and made them enter the box again. Marinette headed out of her room and gave some last recommendations to the kwamis.

"I have food on the desk in case you are hungry. And don't go down to the kitchen, understand? Bye."

"We understand, Marinette." all the kwamis responded in unison.

Marinette walked to the Paris lock bridge to meet Kagami; Andre was there again selling her ice cream.

Kagami was already waiting for her there. She was dressed differently. She wasn't wearing her usual school uniform, she assumed that she had already gone on vacation so she was already allowed to dress in a more casual manner.

When Kagami saw her, she smiled and went to greet her.

"Hello Marinette" Kagami went to give her two kisses on her cheeks. "How are you?"

"I'm fine Kagami." Marinette separated from her "Your mom gave you permission to go out, right?"

"Yes." Kagami confirmed "Now let's go, André is close, we must not lose sight of him."

"Come on." Marinette tried to say happily, although the situation she found herself in didn't make her happy at all.

To Marinette's surprise, Kagami took her by the hand and led her to the last place where André the ice cream man had been seen just a few moments ago.

Marinette finally got to see the ice cream man. André greeted them both, recognizing them.

"Ah, it's you." André opened his ice cream cart to give each one an ice cream.

While André served Kagami's ice cream, Marinette couldn't help but notice that her ice cream looked a lot like someone in particular.

Felix.

She wondered how the Peacock Miraculous and Duusu were doing. Although she had given Felix the benefit of the doubt, she couldn't help but wonder if the Miraculous was okay in his hands.

After receiving their ice cream Marinette and Kagami sat down to chat. Kagami just let Marinette talk while she listened. After sitting for a while, they began to walk around the area, enjoying the calm atmosphere.

"Come on, there's a place I want to show you." Kagami took her hand again to make her follow her. Marinette let herself be guided by Kagami, innocently thinking that she was just going to take her to one of her favorite places. After passing a few blocks, Marinette began to worry.

"Where are we going Kagami?" Marinette looked around.

"It's… a surprise." Kagami continued walking as if she had no defined destination.

They turned down an alley that Marinette knew very well. It was one of the alleys that she used to detransform.

Marinette realized that Kagami was taking her somewhere further away from her.

"Kagami?" Marinette followed her to an empty, narrow alley.

Kagami turned around, looking very sure of herself.

"I know you're Ladybug, Marinette." Kagami said casually.

Marinette's expression changed from happy to completely horrified.

"That? "I don't know what you're talking about." Marinette laughed nervously.

"It's serious, Marinette," Kagami insisted, taking her by both hands. "I already know your secret..."

Kagami walked over to hug Marinette.

"Did you know? Did you know that I was Ladybug? But how? When?"

"Some time ago. Do you remember when I was akumatized? The day I went to look for you and you were talking to Alya, I managed to hear that you were Ladybug."

Marinette bit her lip. She shouldn't have mentioned anything about Ladybug when she was at Luka's house.

"And that's when I understood many things about you, Marinette. It was then I went to Felix to tell him what I had heard and to warn you about Gabriel."

"Warn me?"

Then Marinette remembered that day at the end of school year when Adrien had told her that his father was sending him to London.

When she was completely devastated that Adrien was no longer going to be in Paris, she went back to school so that no one would bother her. Then a series of events in which she had some visions in which she found out the history of Gabriel, rather the history of the Agreste family. Many of the things Gabriel had told him matched what Kagami and Felix had tried to tell. It was clear Gabriel didn't lie to her about his story.

"So, the vision that time was not a nightmare. It was real?" Marinette hadn't realized that all of that was 100% real. When she was told that Gabriel Agreste was Monarch, she was somewhat… skeptical.

Kagami nodded. Apparently, Marinette hadn't gotten the idea until she checked it out herself.

"I think we should have been more direct with you," Kagami smiled at her. "You're a little… dumb.

"Hey." Marinette pushed Kagami's shoulder gently and he laughed.

"I'm sorry, you're my favorite fool and that's why I love you as my friend," Kagami returned to her serious gesture. "But Marinette, Felix is not happy at all. He hoped you would stop Gabriel."

"And I did Kagami," Marinette's voice was shaking "But now, I have a big problem."

"There's a lot more behind it, isn't it, Marinette?"

"Yes, Kagami, it's not that simple" Marinette swung what was left of her ice cream that was about to fall "But I can't tell you more at the moment."

"Don't worry, Marinette." Kagami helped her hold her ice cream "I'm sure you'll explain it to me another time. But Felix is coming to get you. He wants to speak with you."

"Why does he want to speak with me?" Marinette was confused.

"He wants to know what you did."

"What did I do? What are you talking about?" Marinette was very confused

"About Monarch." Kagami explained.

"Oh, that." Marinette finally understood what she meant exactly. "But Kagami, did you tell him I am Ladybug?"

"Yes, Marinette. I'm very sorry, I understand that it is a very important secret, but the information that Felix had was extremely important and I couldn't tell you personally because I knew you wouldn't listen to it." Kagami took his hand.

Although Marinette was a little disappointed in her, she knew that at least she did it with the intention of helping.

"Have you told anyone else?" she asked.

"No Marinette, I haven't told anyone else. "I would never think of doing something like that." Kagami said.

Seeing Kagami's serious expression, she realized that it was not a bad intention to reveal her secret. Although it was partly her fault for not having been more discreet that day on Luka's boat.

"Don't blame yourself Kagami. I shouldn't have been so careless when I left with Alya inside the ship. I didn't think anyone else was listening to us." Marinette smiled at her "But at least I know I can trust you; you kept the secret as much as you could, thank you Kagami."

Kagami smiled back, relieved that Marinette wasn't mad at her for what she had done.

Marinette still had one last question.

"So, when does Felix want to see me?"

"Tonight. He asked me to take you near the meeting point." That seemed reasonable to Marinette. Maybe she would bring Chat Noir with her…

"And he asked me to tell you something else. You have to come alone." Kagami mentioned the condition that Felix gave her.

"What?! Why?!" Marinette had no desire to go alone. If things went wrong at least she would have someone else's support.

"Felix didn't tell me why, but she really needs to talk to you. It's very important."

Marinette sighed. She now didn't need any more problems than she already had.

"But are you sure Felix isn't up to something bad?"

"I'm sure," Kagami tried to reassure Marinette. "If he's up to something, I'll take care of kicking his ass myself later."

Kagami was a very trustworthy friend.

"Thank you, Kagami." Marinette knew she could count on Kagami.

"In the meantime, Marinette, there is a place I would like to take you..."

They stayed for a while, chatting at Kagami's favorite cafe. Kagami bought her a drink and they both chose a milkshake. They hung out before the time Felix called them arrived.

At dusk, Kagami took Marinette to the meeting point. It was night and she couldn't waste much time. Marinette had to call her parents to let them know that she would be late.

"Remember Marinette, Felix is waiting for you up there. His personality is a little… explosive sometimes, are you sure you can handle it on your own? I don't mind going you..."

"Don't worry, Kagami. I can take care of it myself." Marinette gave Kagami a sympathetic look.

"If you need help Marinette, just tell me and I'll speak with Felix."

Marinette said goodbye to Kagami and went into the alleyway to transform. She got out and jumped up, pushing herself off the walls. Ladybug somersaulted, landing on the nearest roof.

She saw a figure in the dead of night, dimly lit by the city lights. The figure was looking towards the city, specifically towards the Eiffel tower.

"I was waiting for you. You're late." Argos said upon sensing the heroine's presence.

Ladybug walked closer to where Argos was waiting for her slowly.

"Argos." Ladybug greeted seriously.

"Ladybug." Argos responded coldly.

"Tell me Ladybug, why haven't you done anything about Gabriel Agreste? We gave you clues about his true identity, but I haven't seen you do anything about it."

"And I did, although at first I thought it was all my imagination," Ladybug confessed "But as Ladybug I have the duty to save everyone and that includes my enemies."

"Save them?" Argos scoffed "Not everyone deserves to be saved."

"I know." Ladybug said "But, that would go against what I believe and what the Miraculous of creation represents."

Ladybug had many doubts. How did Felix knew of Monarch's true identity?

"Since when do you know that Gabriel Agreste is Monarch?" Ladybug questioned him.

"I suspected it since my visit to Adrien after my father died a few months ago. I took advantage of the occasion to recover the ring that was part of my family and that my aunt Emilie took with them with her when she escaped from her house and decided to go with my useless uncle."

"So, you stole it," Ladybug declared.

"Yes, but I did it for a good cause," Argos approached her threateningly "I used that ring to try to free Adrien. At the time I took it I didn't know that the ring was so important, sometime after I started to analyze the situation, I realized its importance."

Ladybug understood Felix's intentions. But the way he executed it not.

"Your good cause caused unnecessary suffering to Adrien, Argos. And if I decided to save Gabriel Agreste, that's my problem."

Argos realized that Ladybug was not planning to do anything concrete against Gabriel Agreste.

Therefore, there was only one solution…

"Then I'll do it myself."

Ladybug's heart raced when she saw how Argos immediately turned around and ran in another direction.

It was the place where the Agreste mansion was located.

Oh no!

"Argos No!"

Ladybug ran after him. It was surprising how fast Argos was despite not having been using the Miraculous for long. Ladybug ran without being able to catch up with him. If he got to the mansion there would be trouble.

Ladybug took out his yoyo to reach him before he did whatever he was thinking of doing.

"Argos!" Ladybug shouted.

They ran faster and faster, noticing that they were close to the Agreste mansion.

Ladybug held out her yoyo. She had to stop Felix no matter what.

She launched her yo-yo successfully entangling it in Argos body. She pulled quickly, causing Argos to fall and thus preventing him from reaching the mansion before her.

"I got you."

Ladybug pulled until she lifted Argos to the roof of the Agreste mansion. She hoped the commotion hadn't alerted Nathalie or Gabriel.

Ladybug kept him tied up.

"You promise me you're not going to do anything to them," Ladybug dragged him close to her "If you do, I'll let you go."

Felix shook to try to get out of the yo-yo's grip. But the rope on this one was too hard. Felix stopped moving, seeing that there was no point.

"Alright."

Ladybug released the yoyo string and untangled it from his body. Felix stood up.

"Why did you do it Ladybug? I believed that with the information I gave you, you would be in charge of stopping Monarch once and for all."

"And I did it. I'm sorry it didn't go the way you expected, Felix." Ladybug answered him.

"And why do you protect Gabriel Agreste?" Argos was feeling a little indignant about that.

"I did it for Adrien," Ladybug placed a hand on her heart "I wasn't going to allow him to become an orphan."

"But condemn him to stay with the person who has been making his life impossible. I don't see your logic here, Ladybug."

"You don't know the whole context, so you wouldn't understand it." Ladybug crossed her arms.

"Context? Is there anything else?" Argos questioned.

"I cannot say it. At least not yet. I made a promise to one person that I wouldn't do it."

Felix frowned.

"And who is that person? Is that person more important than Adrien?"

Ladybug preferred not to answer that question. If she did, she would be breaking the promise she made to Adrien.

"And since when did you know that Gabriel Agreste was Monarch, Felix?" Ladybug counterattacked with another question.

"I knew it for months. After my father passed away, my mother told me the story of the twin rings, how my Aunt Emilie took them and when she married Gabriel, she used them as wedding rings. And that's when I started to deduce a lot of things. It wasn't until he went to the mansion to visit that I found out it was true."

"And if you knew for months, why didn't you act sooner, Felix?" Ladybug was getting a little impatient with what Felix was telling her.

"I was waiting for the right moment."

"And that's why you had to trick me and give the Miraculouses to Shadow Moth's hands?" Ladybug now understood that the source of her problems was Felix.

"It was the only way to recover the Peacock Miraculous."

"But you put us in danger Argos." Ladybug argued "The Miraculous gave Shadow Moth more power, and it's what made him become Monarch."

"If it was to save Adrien, of course it's justifiable..."

"Felix? Is everything you said true?"

Felix turned around, immediately recognizing the voice of the person who had just addressed him.

"Adrien," Felix did not expect Adrien's presence here "What are you doing here?"

A shadow moved from a dark place next to him. Adrien left the place where he was hiding. He was waiting for the right moment to leave after listening to everything Felix had to say.

"Ladybug brought me." Adrien said, coming out of the shadows. He was dressed in his pajamas.

For Adrien, everything he heard only meant one thing.

His father wasn't the only one hiding things from him.

"Felix, you knew and still you didn't tell me anything!?" Adrien demanded angrily, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"It wasn't my place to tell you, Adrien," Argos responded, becoming defensive. His cousin was really scary when he got angry.

"But I could have helped Ladybug." Adrien was angry. The fact that there were more people hiding things from him long before Ladybug did made his blood boil.

"You couldn't have done anything for her. You don't have a Miraculous."

Oh, if only he knew. Adrien thought.

"You couldn't defend yourself against your father, no one else would." Argos mentioned.

"Marinette told me the truth, Nathalie too, even my father deigned to tell me the truth first. But it seems like you didn't bother to tell me what you knew when you had the chance. Everyone thinks what is best for me. But nobody asks my opinion about the decisions they make for me."

Adrien left, turning around very angry.

"Adrien…" Argos realized that he had once again earned the anger of his cousin.

"I don't want to see you now, Felix!" Adrien gave him a look of fury before continuing on his way.

Felix looked angrily at Ladybug.

"Adrien didn't have to know about this, Ladybug."

Ladybug turned to Felix again.

"Adrien deserves to know the truth, that's why I brought him. And I'm sorry Felix, but I will never forgive you for what you did to me the day I lost the Miraculous. That day was one of the worst in my life because I felt like I had completely failed at my task. Giving the Miraculouses directly to Shadow Moth was a very dangerous idea.

Argos squeezed his fan hard. Then he opened it to hide his Ladybug expression.

"Okay, I'm not going to do anything. But don't expect Ladybug to help you" Argos said behind the fan.

"I don't expect it, Argos. I never thought about asking for your help, I already have someone else in mind to help me." Ladybug told him firmly.

"I'm not going to intervene. But if Adrien gets hurt again. I won't hesitate to do it." Argos extended the fan and pointed to its feathers. Ladybug understood what he meant.

"I understand. I'm not going to let Adrien get hurt anymore. You have my word." Ladybug raised her hand, making a gesture to indicate her promise.

"Um." Argos turned in another direction to leave.

Before Felix left, Ladybug addressed him once more.

"Wait Argos" Ladybug stopped him "I'm only going to ask you one thing. Please take good care of Duusu. Don't let something bad happen to him or neglected him."

"I will, Ladybug." With that, Argos bowed and left the place, jumping across the roofs of Paris until he was lost in the distance.

Ladybug waited until he was gone to turn around and look for Adrien. She didn't find him there so she assumed he went back to his room, so he went to check there first. She saw Adrien's bedroom window open so she went down with the help of her yo-yo to get downstairs.

She looked around Adrien's room until she found Adrien's silhouette next to his bed chair, sitting on the floor. She approached only to find a downcast Adrien.

"Are you okay, Adrien?" Ladybug saw how tears gathered in Adrien's eyes as he avoided looking into her eyes.

"Calm down, Adrien. Breathe." Adrien knelt on the ground; Ladybug rested one of her hands on his back "Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

"Why everyone hides things from me," Adrien's voice sounded broken. "Don't I have the right to know the truth?"

"Yes, Adrien, you have every right to know everything. I'm so sorry for hiding so many things from you." Ladybug hugged him. "I'm going to fix everything, you'll see. We will find a solution to our problems."

I wasn't expecting to publish this on Christmas, so Merry Christmas!