Chapter 8: Looking for help

A girl was pacing around her room, messing it up, while she thought about what to do. After having solved Felix's problem, Marinette was looking for a possible solution to the problem at hand. But no matter how hard she searched, she always came to a dead end.

What do I do now?

Marinette knew she needed help. The situation she found herself in now was something she couldn't solve alone, even though she herself had told Gabriel that she and him were going to work together.

But who could help her?

The first-person Marinette thought of was Alya. But after what happened the whole time they faced Shadow Moth maybe it wasn't a good idea to tell her something so big and delicate with the situation she found herself in with the Agrestes. Besides, she didn't know how Alya could be useful in this very specific situation. Neither of them knew much about the Miraculous or the guardians to look for a solution.

She then thought of the person who was as her second choice.

Luka.

Luka was her other option. He had proven to be trustworthy by keeping the secret of their true identities. And he proved to be useful in situations of vital importance and especially when they were in serious trouble.

That's it!

He was training with the guardians. If Luka was gaining knowledge from the people who guarded the Miraculouses for hundreds of centuries, it might be possible they had the answer to the dilemma she was now trapped in. Luka also had access to Guardian material that she didn't have.

It is perfect!

Now she just had to wait if Luka would be willing to help her.

Oh.

Marinette was a little nervous about that question. She definitely wasn't sure if Luka would agree to save the person who was the cause of him having to flee Paris.

But she had no options at the time. And she was completely sure that the guardians would refuse to help her if she asked them directly. She didn't think they would be willing to help whoever was misusing the Butterfly Miraculous.

For now, she would only call Luka to speak with him. Marinette asked the kwamis to please be quiet so she could concentrate. I dial the number a little nervous.

When he was about to reach the tone, Luka answered his call.

"Hello Marinette, how are you?" Luka sounded a little worried. He had been worried about her and Chat Noir since the worldwide attack that Monarch orchestrated because he hadn't heard from them in all that time.

"Hello, Luka, I'm fine." Marinette answered "Luka, would it be okay if I came to your house to spend some time?"

"Yes Marinette. You know you're always welcome in my house." Luka rearranged his guitar on his lap to talk more comfortably.

"But I need to talk to you about something that's quite serious." Marinette sat in her swivel chair.

"It's about that, isn't it, Marinette?" Luka was referring to Ladybug.

"Yes Luka, I can't talk about it on the phone, it would be better if we met to talk about it, without putting ourselves in danger." Marinette was very afraid that someone else might hear about the secrets she was keeping like last time.

"My mother is going out sometime in the next few days, and I think it would be the right time for you to come. I'm going to confirm the day so you can come without worries, are you okay with that Marinette?"

"Yes Luka. It would be fine for me."

Marinette left on her scooter towards Luka's house. Although using her scooter it shouldn't have taken long, without a doubt the trip felt an eternity.

Marinette arrived at Luka's house.

Marinette knew that Anarka would be out that same day accompanying Rose and Juleka as they would go shopping. That was the perfect opportunity to talk to Luka. She couldn't risk other people overhearing like last time. Luka confirmed with his mother that day that she and his sister would not be home and he would be in charge of taking care of the boat while they were gone.

Luka was already waiting for her.

Marinette parked her scooter on the side of the boat, leaving her helmet on top of the seat. She went up the small bridge that led to Luka's home. She made a misstep when she attempted to go down to the deck of the ship.

Luka reacted quickly and cushioned her fall. Marinette was surprised by how good Luka's reflexes were.

It must be from the training with the guardians.

"Welcome Marinette, make yourself comfortable."

Luka told Marinette to enter the ship so she could explain the reason why she summoned him.

Marinette sat in one of the seats while Luka tuned his guitar.

"Thank you for having me in, Luka." Marinette put her hands together nervously.

"Why did you need to talk to me?" Luka adjusted one of the strings on his guitar.

Marinette decided to get to the point.

"Luka, please, I need your help," the girl moved her foot nervously in her seat "It's a serious issue and I honestly don't know what to do anymore, and I know that you could help me."

Luka put her guitar aside before answering.

"It has to do with your task as Ladybug, right?"

Marinette nodded.

"Then let's go to a quieter place." Luka took her hand. He led her to where the boat's engine was so that no one could hear them.

"Marinette, what's the problem?" Luka asked calmly so as not to make Marinette nervous.

"It has to do with Monarch," Marinette's heart was going to jump out of her chest "You see, I had to face him alone recently."

Luka's expression changed to one of surprise.

"Did you face him alone? In person? And how did it go?" Luka looked genuinely worried. Monarch had proven to be a real threat that day

Marinette felt a little overwhelmed with Luka's questions.

"You can answer the questions in your time, Marinette, don't worry."

"I wasn't planning on facing him so soon, but everything was so unexpected. I went to look for Adrien's father, Gabriel Agreste, so I could defend Adrien against his decisions. I don't know if you know, Luka, but Mr. Agreste took Adrien to London on the night of our school final course party."

"I did find out, Marinette." Luka remembered hearing Adrien mention it on the news, but he never knew much about it because they were trying to keep a low profile.

"That night I found out some things and one thing led to another and well with everything I ended up facing Monarch alone."

"But where was Chat Noir? Couldn't he assist you in those moments?" Luka asked, although he was sure of the answer with the information he knew about Adrien, but he wanted to hear the answer from Marinette.

"No, he, he was..."

"He wasn't available because he had gone somewhere else, right?" Luka deduced, knowing Chat Noir's true identity.

"Yes, Luka. You knew all this time that Adrien was Chat Noir, right?" Marinette was deducing the answer Luka would give her.

"Yes, I knew it. When we faced Wishmaker I discovered his identity accidentally and you know that the snake Miraculous doesn't fix the user's memory." Luka changed his look to a more serious one. "Even knowing that, I didn't think Adrien's father would take him away."

Luka was surprised at how much had happened while he was gone.

"Me neither. Plagg told me that he couldn't come help me because he was afraid that he would end up turning into the akumatized version of himself caused by the nightmares."

That explained why he wasn't present.

Luka was doubtful whether he would help Marinette or not. The guardians would not be happy about this.

Marinette could see Luka's indecision in her eyes.

"What do you think Luka?" Marinette hoped that she would help her because she didn't feel like she could do it herself.

"I don't know Marinette, it's very risky." Luka was thinking about everything that involved helping Marinette. If the guardians discovered them, they would not hesitate to punish them. He had already seen what Su Han was like to know that they were not entirely understanding and not very patient with those who joined their ranks.

Marinette bit her lip.

"Then, if not for me, for Adrien."

"For Adrien? What happened to Adrien?" Luka already suspected that someone in Adrien's life was causing his negativity to be transferred to him. And he was very sure that it was his father, Gabriel Agreste.

"When there was Hawkmoth's global attack and I faced him, discovering his true identity and it turns out that, that..."

Marinette wasn't sure if this was a good idea.

"Don't worry, Marinette, you can tell me."

Marinette took his hands.

"Just don't let the guardians or tell him about it to anyone else, Luka, I beg you. It's something very, very important and the truth is I'm a bit tied with this."

"Marinette calm down, you can tell me. Trust me."

Marinette took a deep breath at the revelation she was about to reveal to Luka.

"Monarch is Gabriel Agreste, Luka."

Luka was very surprised. That explained a lot of what Adrien was going through. That his melody sounded like someone else was playing a sad melody for him and overshadowed his happy melody.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to be what my parents wanted me to be.

"Luka, please don't tell anyone, not even the guardians. Chat Noir cataclysmed him a few months ago by accident; and Gabriel asked me to help him and Nathalie when I found out who he was, and now I don't know what to do... I..."

Luka felt bad seeing Marinette so desperate.

He slowly hugged her to calm her down.

"I'll help you, Marinette. I know it won't be easy, but I can help you find a solution for Adrien. We are not going to leave him alone in this."

Marinette clung to him.

"Thank you, Luka."

They both separated.

"I'll go to the mansion tomorrow. Does Mr. Agreste know about this?" Luka needed to ask that important question. He needed to prevent how Mr. Agreste was going to react to his presence once he was there.

"Not yet. I told him I needed to talk to him about something important, but I didn't mention you Luka." Marinette hugged herself.

"OK. I'll be there when I finish my training tomorrow. We'll both go together."

"Okay, we'll meet tomorrow at Trocadero and we'll leave from there for the Agreste mansion. Don't be late." Marinette picked up her things to leave.

Luka laughed.

"I could say the same to you, Marinette." Luka smiled, knowing well, being punctual wasn't one of Marinette's characteristics.

Oh right, of course Marinette remembered that she was the one who was always late everywhere she went.

Luka realized what a bad situation his two friends were in, especially Adrien.

He didn't hear Chat Noir cataclysmed Monarch.

He heard: Adrien cataclysm to his own father.

Luka couldn't imagine how bad Adrien must be feeling right now.

I just couldn't turn my back on him now that I knew all that. And for Marinette for having to be the person who has to deal with the main problem.

This was a real emergency.

Luka was sitting meditating next to Su Han near his school. Han summoned him very early to tell him something very important about his duties as a guardian.

"You better be prepared Luka; the other guardians will soon call us all to a meeting and report the situation after all that fuss that was created a few days ago."

Luka wanted to take the opportunity to try to find out some clues on how to help Marinette find a solution.

"Master, can I ask you a question?" Luka asked.

Su Han stopped his meditation once Luka asked that question.

"Yes, Luka?"

"When can I study the tasks of the guardian more thoroughly?"

"In a few days I will be able to speak with the guardians. We are still planning what we are going to do. This way we can have access to the guardian's files and some books that we use for the new members. And we'll probably have to talk to the new keeper of the main box. You already know who it is, don't you?"

"Yes." Luka nodded. He knew from Su Han that Marinette had become a guardian on the orders of the previous guardian.

"Then I'll tell you her address tomorrow. I need you to go before me and tell the guardian that we are going to need the horse Miraculous to travel to the Miraculous temple. Now you can go."

"Would that be all, master?" Luka didn't expect the meeting to end so soon.

"Yes, that would be all for today. Today I decided that there will be no training so you can rest. You can go now Luka, see you later."

"See you tomorrow, master." Luka jumped from the ceiling to the ground and went directly to his house to change into his daily clothes and wait for Marinette at the place where they had agreed to meet.

Marinette was running breathless straight to Trocadero. She left her scooter at her house since Luka told her that she would take her bike to take them both to the Agreste mansion. But like always, she was already late.

As she approached the Trocadero's exit, she realized that Luka was already there waiting for her.

Luka was dressed in his usual clothes. And he was waiting for her on his bicycle. The one he always used to make deliveries on his work. When he saw her approaching, Luka smiled at him.

"Hello Marinette."

"I'm late?" Marinette stopped to catch her breath.

"No, you're just in time." Luka looked at the time on her cell phone. Marinette had arrived five minutes late, but it wasn't anything serious.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then put the helmet on." Luka offered Marinette the extra helmet he always brought with his bike.

Marinette adjusted her helmet before getting on the bike with Luka. Luka left on his way to the Agreste mansion.

The truth is that Marinette wasn't ready. Her heart was pounding in her chest in anticipation.

She was very nervous about how Mr. Agreste was going to react once he knew that someone else knew about her secret.

Marinette held on to Luka as she led them to the Agreste mansion.

In a few minutes, Luka arrived at her destination, the Agreste mansion.

Marinette rang the bell to let them in.

The camera came out of the wall to verify who it was.

"Marinette!" It was Adrien's voice "And… Luka?"

Luka waved at the camera.

"I'll open it for you." Adrien ran to the place where Nathalie had shown him the button to open the door.

The door opened and Luka entered with his bike and Marinette went ahead of him. Adrien opened the door for them both to enter.

"Hello, Adrien, are you okay?" Marinette knew what Adrien was going through because Nathalie told her on the phone when she contacted Gabriel to talk.

"I think so," Adrien said timidly. Then he looked at Luka.

"Luka, it's nice to see you, but what are you doing here?" Adrien was very confused.

"I'm here to talk to your father and Nathalie."

"He came to help, Adrien," Marinette explained, "Do you know if your father is available?"

"Yes, he is in the atelier." Adrien pointed in the direction his father was.

"Then let's go Luka." Marinette and Luka headed there, to tell Gabriel what they had planned.

Gabriel was trying to finish one of the designs he left pending the previous week, but a stabbing pain in his arm stopped him.

He heard the knock on the door. Gabriel tried to regain his composure.

"Who is it?" Gabriel thought it was still too early for visitors.

"Mr. Agreste? I'm Marinette." Gabriel recognized Marinette's voice behind the door.

"Come in, Marinette."

Gabriel saw Marinette entering the atelier.

"Mr. Agreste. I brought someone with me. He is someone who I think would be a great help."

Gabriel was already getting worried.

Could it be one of the guardians?

"Who is it?" Gabriel asked wanting to get to the point.

"Luka, you can you come in." Marinette turned to look at the door.

Luka entered the room. Gabriel recognized him instantly. He was the boy who knew of Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities.

"What is he doing here?" Gabriel pointed it out. Luka did not seem at all intimidated by his action, but on the contrary, he took a step forward.

Marinette stepped between them.

"Mr. Agreste. Before you unleash your fury, let me explain. Luka was recruited by the Miraculous guardians a while ago. The guardians, they are training him and teaching him some things. But I think he can be a great help to our cause."

"I thought that no one else should know about this, that you were not going to tell anyone." Gabriel highlighted that last part.

"Luka is not anyone, he is our connection to the other guardians. Besides, he has agreed to help us." Marinette replied angrily.

Gabriel wasn't so convinced.

"An extra help would be very helpful, Mr. Agreste."

"Do you trust him? "Gabriel asked due to the uncertainty of whether that boy was trustworthy.

She looked at Luka with confidence.

"A lot. I would even trust him with my own life."

"I trust him too, father."

Adrien entered the room to intervene. He heard the entire conversation from the door. Gabriel looked from him to Adrien.

"He gave me good advice and I… he is my friend. Please trust him father" Adrien pleaded.

Gabriel then looked at Luka. Even though Gabriel was intimidating in that position, Luka seemed not to be intimidated at all.

In fact, it was strange how calm he was.

Gabriel turned his gaze from him to Adrien who was waiting for a response. If he wanted Adrien back, he would have to listen. Gabriel sighed in defeat.

"Alright. If Mr. Couffaine keeps this a secret I will.

"You have my word, Mr. Agreste, I will not say a word to the guardians. But please I need everyone's cooperation. I'll probably need some materials or ingredients while I figure out a cure for you and Nathalie. Marinette, do you have a copy of the grimoire, right? I don't have direct access to it."

"Yes Luka." She gave him a USB in which she stored a copy of the grimoire the day before. "This way they won't be able to follow our trail."

"Excellent. Now can you take me to where Nathalie is?"

The four of them went up to Nathalie's room. She was going through one of the books in her collection again. She heard footsteps and she saw the three teenagers enter with Gabriel in front of them.

"What's going on?" Nathalie put the book aside.

"I brought him to help us, Nathalie." Marinette explained.

"What do you need me to do?" Nathalie wasn't expecting something like that.

"Just stay there, miss Sancoeur. For now, I'll do an aura reading to see what I can find." Luka approached the bed and positioned himself so that he could do what Su Han had taught him recently.

Luka positioned his hands, placing his palms facing Nathalie. Gabriel crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame while he waited.

After a few minutes Adrien became a little impatient.

"What do you see, Luka?"

"It's as if the Miraculous was absorbing energy from her instead of giving it to her." Luka left the position he was in.

"It's just like the grimoire said," Gabriel said. "That was something I never had a doubt about while we tried to find a solution. "The wounds from the Miraculous were becoming her wounds every time she used it".

Luka then approached Gabriel.

"Can you show me the mark of the cataclysm, please?" Luka held out his hand, waiting for Gabriel to trust him.

Gabriel held his arm, as if he were protecting it.

"Gabriel, show him the wound." Nathalie insisted.

Gabriel glanced at Nathalie out of the corner of his eye. He let go of his arm and unbuttoned the sleeve of his left arm, showing Luka where the cataclysm mark was.

Luka made out the mark on Chat Noir's hand. He assumed it was expanding because the shape of the hand was barely distinguishable.

"Are you experiencing any kind of pain?" Luka examined the black mark of the cataclysm on Gabriel's arm.

"Sometimes, they are very painful stabs." Gabriel mentioned while Luka finished checking his arm.

"And how long did it take for the cataclysm to cover your body?" Luka was very curious about the effects of cataclysm on a person.

"A few months. But I accelerated the result by the excessive use of the Miraculous, especially the snake Miraculous." Gabriel assumed that the effects of the snake Miraculous would return eventually.

"His heart is touched, Mr. Couffaine," Nathalie mentioned. "He used the power of the second chance of the snake Miraculous many times, which made his wound grow much faster than normal. And as for me, I used the Peacock Miraculous since Heroes Day about four or five times when it was damaged. This causes me to lose my breath from time to time and give me a very dry cough."

"I understand." Luka took out a notebook where he made some notes. "I think that with that information I can now make some estimates." With some notes that he had in the back of his notebook Luka made some calculations.

"Well, Luka, how much time do we have?" Marinette stood next to him.

"I'm not an expert, but I would say between 4 and 5 months before the effect of using the Creation and Destruction Miraculouses wears off." Luka said with a look of surprise.

That was a problem.

Marinette didn't know what to do. They were clearly against the clock. And they didn't just have to save Nathalie. Gabriel was also at risk. But with Luka's calculations, they would probably only have time to save one of them.

She needed to talk to Luka alone.

"Luka, can I talk to you for a moment, please?"

Luka and Marinette went to a more secluded place,

"Luka What do we do now? For the moment. We can only save one." Marinette whispered.

Luka knew that was a difficult choice.

They wanted to help them both, but what decision to make?

Gabriel had managed to hear what they were referring to. If there wasn't enough time to save them both, there was one person who could be saved. One person who loved Adrien more than him, and that was Nathalie. So, Adrien wouldn't be left alone.

"Help her first, please."

Gabriel said sadly.

"But what about you, father. Don't you want to get saved?" Adrien asked. From his tone, it sounded to Gabriel that he was truly worried.

"I can wait. I have more time than her."

Nathalie couldn't believe Gabriel was making that decision, he perfectly could have asked to be saved first. Maybe he wasn't as selfish as she thought.

Adrien looked worried. Even though he was still very angry with his father, he definitely didn't want him to die.

Luka noticed Adrien's worried expression immediately.

"We will try to find a solution to delay your father's problem" Luka said to reassure Adrien. "I have been asking Su Han and I know that there are the many books and grimoires that the order has to investigate and we could work on something. But for now, our priority will be to relieve Nathalie.

Luka was making some extra notes in his old notebook that he brought about the symptoms that each of them presented. He made a small outline to summarize his notes.

"I think I already have all the notes I needed." Luka closed his notebook and put it in his suitcase. "I think that with the information they provided us we can find a solution for both of you. But I still can't assure you when I can have it."

"As soon as we have it, I'll let you know myself." Marinette intervened.

Luka checked the time on his phone, it was time for him to get back to the ship or his mother would start asking questions.

"I have to go. I have to get back to my house before my mother wonders where I am."

"Come on Luka, I'll walk you back." Marinette offered. She also had to go to get some rest.

Luka prepared to leave. Marinette followed him along with Gabriel. He led both teens towards the exit.

"I will be investigating in all the free time I can get. I'll figure it out."

"I will help Luka in whatever way I can." Marinette said. "I know it won't be easy, but we will try."

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Gabriel remembered the equipment he had specifically for making potions. "I have some equipment for making potions stored here in the mansion, it could be useful."

Both teenagers looked at each other.

"We will borrow it from you in the next few days. The only thing you can do at the moment is monitor yours and Miss Sancoeur's symptoms to see if there are any obvious changes. Remember to contact us in case of any problem or emergency."

"I will." Gabriel nodded.

Gabriel was not at all happy with the uncertainty that arose from seeing that someone close to the guardians was now involved in this situation.

Luka to the rescue!