Mine, His

Marinette peered at the stream. Even the way water moved in the Miraculous world was unique, the texture and composition even seemed to be something other than two hydrogen's and an oxide. The air felt smoother, and not surprisingly, the wind felt 'cleaner'.

"Clear, isn't it?" A calm voice spoke. Marinette blinked away her daze and craned her neck to look at the young-looking man approaching. His smile was gentle as he dropped into a cross-legged position next to her.

"Yeah… I was just thinking about how everything here is so different from where I'm from." She said.

The man nodded his head, cerulean locks moving as he did so. "The worlds are very different." He said, eyeing the water with blue eyes almost as crystal clear as the water itself. "That's what makes it enticing doesn't it?" He said. Marinette remained silent, and the man smiled a little.

"Elijah is actually a really great man. He has the best sense of humor. He's very intelligent, very curious, maybe a little naïve, and he has great empathy too." He said, before looking at her. "But your world is as dangerously addictive as this world is a facet of una.d.u.l.terated purity.

"Sometimes, you get caught between wanting what you can't have, and remembering why you were put on this side of the plane."

Marinette furrowed her brows.

"Is that a poem?" She asked.

He smiled. "Truth can sound like a poem." He looked over his shoulder then back at her perplexed face.

"Don't worry, Marinette. They're not going to erase your memories or anything. They're just strategizing on what to do." He said. "Don't sit alone, worrying. Everything will be okay."

"Is Fu in a lot of trouble? Is it because of me?" Marinette asked him. He hummed. "Yes, but not completely for bringing you here. He's been making many mistakes in the last few decades, in their eyes it's unacceptable. He's only human though, and humans are allowed to make mistakes." The man turned. "By the way, I'm Luka."

Marinette smiled politely, "Nice to meet you , Luka."

"Nice to finally meet you too." Luka said. Marinette tilted her head as she looked at him.

"Finally? Have you heard about me before?" She asked, looking more curious by the second.

"Who here hasn't heard of you Marinette?" He laughed. "News passes relatively quickly among the Kwami, and more often than not, very loudly, which irritates many of the monks here, a whole lot." He said, opening his eyes a little wider from their relaxed state for emphasis.

"Are kwami people? Tikki turned into a person sort of thing…So I was curious." Marinette said.

Luka lay back on the grass and crossed his arms behind his head.

"Not everyone can do what Tikki and Plagg can do. In fact, not many have been lucky enough to see what those two can really do. But to answer your question, Kwami aren't people. Nobody here is actually a 'person'." He said after a while. Marinette tilted her head. "What are you then?"

"Me?" Luka asked, raising a brow. Marinette nodded.

"Hmm. I'd think I'm more of some sort of living entity or being." He said. Marinette huffed in response. "That sounds like a person."

"But if I were a person that would mean that everyone here would be people, and if we were people, we'd be human." Luka laughed as he spoke.

"But what if you all are actually human people in a different realm, except with different abilities than the human people of the human realm?" Marinette said.

"Maybe, maybe not. I think it's enough that everyone here is happy, safe and alive, no matter what we are. But I don't think anyone here considers  themselves a human." Luka said.

Marinette sighed and looked back at the water. Luka sat up and looked at her.

"You seem troubled." He said. "You can speak to me if something is bothering you. Perhaps I could help."

Marinette sighed yet again. "I feel very anxious here, doing nothing." She plucked a handful of grass and began to rip it up, too pensive to notice how the ripped pieces sparkled and disintegrated into nothing. Luka watched her expressions quietly.

"Chat Noir… No, Adrien is out there. You may say Elijah is kind, but right now, he really has it out for us, I don't know why, and I don't know what he wants. Adrien is alone out there with someone who genuinely wants to hurt him, and I can do absolutely nothing about it." She said.

Luka nodded slowly.

"What does he want from us?"

Luka glanced at the earrings on her ears.

"It's a long story." He said after a while. Marinette looked over at him. "I'm stuck here, you might as well tell me."

Luka bit his lip. "You see those earrings you're wearing? They're Miraculous jewels, and there are more of them. Each belongs to a different kwami, and each kwami has a different power. Tikki and Plagg are very special, and that makes you and Adrien very important to Elijah. If Elijah gets those, he's going to do something very bad."

Marinette furrowed her brows.

"Like what?"

Luka fiddled with his white robes, uncharacteristic of his normally quiet and calm demeanor. "It's something he really shouldn't do."

"Then why does he want to do it? You said he was a good guy."

Luka shook his head.

"Let's say Elijah is a normal person. Sometimes good people do bad things. That doesn't make them a bad person."

"But he's not exactly a person, you said so."

Luka nodded.

"He's not a person, and that's exactly the problem."

Marinette frowned. "I don't understand."

Luka stayed quiet for a moment, studying her expression. Eventually, he sighed and looked around.

"Elijah is from here, he shouldn't be in your world, but he is. He did something awful to get there. And by staying there, he complicated it further by falling in love with a human."

Marinette raised her brows. "Is that bad?"

"For the beings over here, that is a taboo that is so unthinkable that if you even think about it, you need to go for ceremonial cleansing. One must never fall in love with a human. Never, ever, ever. Death would be easier. But, Elijah didn't listen. Now everything is out of balance, and many people have gotten hurt. Badly. Very, very badly."

"So he's staying because of love?"

Luka nodded. "It gets worse. The woman he fell in love with passed away. So he needs two special Miraculous to do something about it, and he needs to use them on your side of the realm. What he doesn't realise is the cost of what he does doubles on that side of the realm. So he would be adding two awful things onto his list of wrongs. And the trick is that if it happens on that side, the costs fall onto the owners of the Miraculous. That, would be you and your friend Adrien."

Marinette's eyes widened. "Then… The awful thing that he did before. Did that fall onto someone?"

Luka nodded. "Do you know who?" She asked him. "It's a bit complicated… Let's say what he did made the person very nasty, but there are too many nasty people in the world to make a concise guess. He doesn't even know that he hurt someone."

"But this Adrien…Who has Plagg as a kwami…He's the one who was… hurt by someone?" Luka trailed off. Marinette nodded. "How is he now?" Luka asked. "He's getting better, slowly. I need to fix some things. That's for sure, but I know he's going to be okay. I'm just worried about him, being all alone after what just happened. Everything happened so suddenly. Marcus, and then me and my sharp tongue, the kidnapping, him thinking I died, him trying to die, Plagg almost dying, Tikki showing up, getting kidnapped by Elijah, being stuck as a rabbit, escaping as a rabbit, getting all the Miraculous, coming here, and all through that, Adrien was so Alone. I can't help him at all. I can't do anything at all." Marinette said, looking down.

Luka exhaled through his nose very gently. "From what I know, he is also a pure-hearted person underneath all the hatred everyone is focussing on. He's kind, and he loves you very much. I think that he'd rather have you safe than hurt by Elijah or anyone else. In fact, your friend is probably out there doing whatever he can to make sure he can protect you if you face Elijah."

"Then who protects him?" Marinette turned to him.

Luka smiled kindly. "Don't doubt your bespectacled friends or that camembert fiend. They won't let you down, and you'll be out soon too."

"How soon?"

"Very soon. Until then, I can teach you a few things about using your Miraculous, if you and Tikki feel up to it. That way, when you get back, you can protect Adrien too."

"I'm up for it!" Tikki said, flying onto Marinette's shoulder. "The meeting is over, Fu isn't in too much trouble, they're going to have another meeting in an hour to discuss what they have to do about Elijah."

Luka stood up. "Well, that's that. Are you up for some training Marinette?" He said, offering her his hand. Marinette nodded and took it.

MHMHMHMHMHMH

"I was NOT told that I would be doing this!" Nino squealed as Alya pushing him lower onto the ground.

"You need to be able to do a splits. It comes with the job description." Plagg said as he flew around.

Nino breathed heavily.

"What happened to training Alya???"He huffed.

Alya rolled her eyes. "I was a cheerleader, my reflexes are still brilliant." She said, standing up to do a spinning air-kick

Nino looked at Adrien, fanning himself with an oriental Chinese fan as he lounged across a yoga mat in the studio with a slight pout on his face after being scolded several times for doing extreme exercise techniques.

"What about him? He wasn't a cheerleader." Nino grumbled. Adrien rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"I am a child prodigy in classical ballet and figure skating." He said snootily before standing, lifting his leg up into an air splits, then turning so that his torso was perpendicular to the ground and lifting his leg backward.

"I was also a prodigy in Taekwondo, Karate, Jujitsu, Fencing, MMA,  Acrobatics and I have been Chat Noir since I was 14. I am the embodiment of flexible." He humphed and picked up his fan.

"Hey, flexible, I told you to stay still on the mat. If you keep pushing yourself that hard you'll get a cramp." Plagg rolled his eyes at him and crossed his arms. Adrien huffed and looked away. "Marinette must be pushing herself too, so I need to as well." He muttered.

"That's a nice fan," Alya said to Adrien.

"Thank you, Marinette gifted it to me," Adrien said proudly, his eyes instantly brightening..

"Totally her style." Alya nodded. "Mhm, she's so stylish. She made me this headpiece to match this, the kind the emperors wear, in case I ever decide to grow my hair and look like a character from Hwarang. I should grow my hair out." Adrien said, a doting smile overtaking his beautiful face.

"Ooooh, that would look good, she'd love that! Nino won't even try, he doesn't even think Conditioner is a necessity."

"I know, he tried to make me use shower gel as shampoo."

"He used to think a hairbrush was 'optional'," Alya said eyeing Nino.

Nino rolled his eyes. "Plagg, is Trixx done? I feel like my girlfriend and my best friend who is the boyfriend of my girlfriend's best friend and sister are mocking me. But I'm not sure if my girlfriend and my best friend became best friends by mocking me." He pouted.

Plagg tsked. "Be grateful they're getting along."

Nino crossed his arms. "It's not fair, they're both good at everything. When is Marinette getting back? I need a fellow klutz."

Plagg flew in front of him. "It's been almost a full day now." Nino nodded and got up to get a bottle of water. "You know, I don't see why you call this place a horror house. It's actually very nice. It's a bit dusty and dirty here and there, but as you said, nobody has lived in it so that's to be expected." He said, opening his water.

"Oh, trust me, you'll see." Plagg said, suddenly looking around cautiously.

Nino looked around too. "Is there something I should know?" He asked in a whisper. Plagg looked back at him. "Just…Watch your head."

"I'm done!" Trixx yelled, flying through the mirror into the studio. "The forest of this manor is enormous. I set up two obstacle courses, one for Adrien and Alya, and a slightly less scary one for Nino so that he doesn't die, seeing as he doesn't have his Miraculous yet." He said.

Adrien cricked his neck. "Well then, let's go."

"Waaaait, wait, hold up. If Trixx makes illusions, wouldn't the obstacle course be an illusion?" Nino asked, looking around confused.

Trixx grinned. "Why don't you not dodge, and find out for yourself?"

Alya blinked. "Is this like… Wipe out?"

Trixx crossed his arms. "Let's just say this will be a highly intensive part of your training."

Nino sighed. "Alright, let's get it then." He gave a tied fist pump as he followed the others out of the room and down into the forest.

"Adrien, by the way, who built this place?" Alya asked as they got further from the mansion. "It's very well hidden."

Adrien furrowed his brows in thought. "It's actually been here since the French revolution. I just refurbished the furniture and customized a few rooms."

"Ah, no wonder most of it seemed so antique." Nino said.

Plagg shivered.

"Trust me, that's the problem." He whispered. Adrien rolled his eyes and kept walking.

MHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMH

Chloe tapped her lip as she replayed Chat Noir's broadcast. Lila yawned from the chaise she was lounging on and looked at Chloe.

After a while, Chloe paused the video and looked at Lila.

"So, all my sources have confirmed that Miss goody-goody is nowhere in Britain, and she's not in Paris either." She said, frowning deeply.

"But we need to catch her if we want to manipulate Chat Noir. As it stands, he will expose me soon if we don't get the upper hand."

Lila raised a brow. "But where else could she have gone if not Paris? She has to be there, and Chat Noir must know where she is. He knows you aren't in Paris, and with the traveling ban, you can't get in. I think he did that because she most definitely is within Paris, somewhere."

Chloe nodded to herself. "There are plenty of ways to get in, but that would put me in Chat Noirs proximity." Lila shrugged.

"If he has no idea you're there, it shouldn't be a problem. You just need to stay in one place." Lila said.

"I have a plan. A plan that I like quite a bit. It involves making an alliance." Chloe said, the corners of her mouth still tilting upward.

Lila raised a brow.

"With who?"

Chloe kept smiling.

"A man that Chat Noir calls-"

MHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMH

"-Elijah."

Fu bit his lip.

"Do you think he can handle going there without being tempted?" He asked.

The monks around the table were quiet for a moment.

"He may be, after all, if someone as pure as Elijah was tempted, he could be as well. They were very close." A purple-eyed man said.

"He's selfless. Amongst all of us here, he has very high amounts of energy too, so he could manage a maximum of six days, any longer would hurt him and further disrupt the balance, he's very calm so he should handle going out there and blending in for a bit." A shorter man said, stroking his beard.

"This is true, this means we would have to use our power to help Fu open a bigger gate so he can go through as well." The purple-eyed man said.

Everyone nodded.

"I do believe if anyone can speak some sense into that boy, it would be him." Fu said after a while.

"Are we all in agreement?"

A loud bang followed by many squeaks disrupted them.

"What was that?" Someone asked.

"Come to think of it, I have been hearing strange screams and such for the past hour." The purple-eyed man said. The inhabitants of the room looked at each other with wide eyes, jumped up and raced to the front of the temple.

They all stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at the scene happening across the lake.

Ladybug was hanging upside down from a tree branch, tangled in yoyo thread. Around that tree, it seemed the other trees had been completely obliterated. Several unconscious kwami and monks lay scattered about and a few others wobbled around. Luka was up in the tree, in a daze with soot marks all over him.

Fu blinked and looked at younger monks running towards the scene worriedly.

"What happened here?" He asked one.

A young lady looked at Fu, stopping mid-run.

"Master Fu, Lady Marinette has been training, so the kwami, monks and Young Master Luka have been helping her, but she has somehow broken Draco's snout with her yoyo which made him sneeze and destroy a portion of the forest, she's also broken eight, then, ten, then two, then six of Young Master Luka's ribs which we repaired consecutively, but she accidentally broke them each time we healed them. Thirteen monks are in the recovery spring for broken bones. Two of the temples have been destroyed and as of now twenty of the kwami are unconscious."

The snake kwami in the distance wobbled a bit before falling face down.

"Twenty-one…"The lady said, glancing at the scene.

Luka slowly shook his head, looked over at Ladybug and then moved to try and untangle the yoyo string.

The monks all looked at Fu.

"Fu… Listen… We know guardians can't be wrong but-" One started as they stared in horror at the mess.

At that moment, Ladybug wriggled in the wrong way, causing the tree trunk to slice all the way through, sending Luka who was still in the branches of its upper portion into the lake with the said top half of the tree.

"Lukaaaaaa!" The kwami all started to scream and crawl towards the lake despite having no feeling in their limbs. The cerulean eyed young man burst through the water half a minute later, breathing deeply and looking quickly at the distressed kwami.

"I'm alright, completely alright. Don't worry everyone. "He said, pulling himself onto the bank of the lake.

"I'm sososososoosoooosoo sorry Luka!" Marinette started.

Luka rotated his left shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, I was feeling a little hot anyway."

The monks looked at Fu desperately.

"Fu are you absolutely, completely, positively, unprecedentedly, irrevocably, unmistakably sure that this kid and that other kid are the wielders of the ladybug and black cat miraculous?" A monk with a long red beard asked, the others nodding helplessly with worried expressions.

"Of course, sure, she's just a little rough around the edges, but it's them, and their Kwamis have already checked their bonds too." Fu said happily.

A loud screech hit the air.

"MY LEEEEEEGGGG!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ladybug wailed, lifting her foot off the kwami she'd stepped on.

Everyone sighed.

"Does anyone have any objection to sending Luka into the Human Realm to fight Elijah?" The purple-eyed monk asked. Everyone shook their heads. He sighed as they watched Marinette step backward onto Luka's foot very hard. The young man held in the scream that was about to pass his lips and instead smiled a very pained, reassuring smile as Marinette detransformed and apologized profusely.

"Good, because I think this child would accidentally kill Elijah." He said, running a hand down his face.