Camp Cheng (CONTINUED)

~CHAPTER 32~

"True enough." Nino smiled. "Okay, I propose a plan. As soon as Lila's asleep, we can sneak out with our miraculouses- she left you with the Box, right Adrien?"

I nodded.

"Right," she continued, "we sneak out, and check out that palace you went to. See if we could find any clues as to where she might have gone."

"Yes... sounds good." Kagami replied, catching on. "We should bring our things too, just in case. I get the feeling that we won't be coming back here for a long time."

"Then it's agreed." I grinned. "We're getting Marinette back."

~

After coming out of the kitchen and 'reassuring' Lila that the medicine was just really, really, hard to reach, I soon realised that there was a flaw in our plan.
"Guys..." I frowned, "...I left the miracle box in our room. Y'know, the one which Lila took over and is now sleeping in? Do you not see this massive problem? How are we going to get your miraculouses?"

Plagg flew up from my pocket. He'd been so quiet I'd almost forgot he was there in the first place.
"Plagg, what are you doing?"
"Well..." He cleared his throat. "I thought this may be a good time to introduce myself, say a couple things-"

"There's cheese in the fridge, if that's what you- oh, okay, nevermind, not anymore."

I didn't get a response as he'd already phased through to his beloved food. I could hear some very nice compliments aimed at the aged cheese I'd left in there before Plagg began devouring it.

I laughed at his antics. "Well, uh, that's Plagg. My kwami. He's obsessed with cheese, especially camanbert, and he's louder than a foghorn. Plagg, say hi!"

"Mm, hey friends of Adrien, and woah this cheese is good..."

"Yep, that's Plagg for you. Anyway, back to the Miracle Box-"

"Okay," Nino spoke excitedly, "I was thinking we drill a huge hole in the ceiling, then I lower myself down using- Luka, what are you doing?"

Luka had been fiddling around with the dining table, running his hands along the inside until he pressed on something. Out popped the Miracle Box.

"Are you freaking kidding me-"

"I- oh c'mon-"

"How'd you do that?"

Luka smirked. "Just a little something to keep the Miracle Box secure. I always sit in that seat, so..."

"You smart little-"

"Well. No time to waste, let's go find Marinette! Again!"

We all quickly tiptoed out of the cabin, careful not to make a lot of noise (Nino had a lot of trouble with this- Alya had to carry him out). Quickly transforming, one by one, we leapt away in the direction of the Broken Kingdom.

I'm going to find you, Marinette, if it's the last thing I do.

~

A while later, we arrived at the palace. Unfortunately, the ball seemed to still be going on, something none of us had accounted for.
Stupid brain.

"Damn it." Kagami cursed. "How are we supposed to look for clues in this crowd?"

"Okay," I muttered, "she disappeared from the balcony. I'll go check there, can you guys scout around the palace? If you find something, just signal, and we'll regroup. Sound good?"
They nodded in confirmation and scattered. I took a deep breath, then went to check the roof.

As I landed on the rooftop, my eyes darted from corner to corner, searching for a sign of... anything, really. Despite my heightened cat-like senses, it was a full minute before I noticed the sliver of red fabric peeking out from behind a wall. I hastily grabbed it, and it trailed to...
Ladybug's dress, now tattered and dirty.
Goddamit, she took off the dress? I was hoping that she wouldn't be able to move very quickly in that monstrosity (a beautiful dress, though still s monstrosity), so she wouldn't have gotten that far. She could be halfway across the world by now, for all I knew!