Later that evening, Dalia was laying in bed, thinking back to what occurred earlier that day. She and Luka had shared an ice-cream together and it was a combo of their fav flavours. Plus he sort of confessed to her even though it was might as a joke.
"Are you done daydreaming?", Aargus asked playfully.
"Aargus! You're back! Umm, yes I am. It's nothing. Hehe", Dalia scrambled as she composed herself on her bed.
"I have news as well but you go first", the kwami said.
"Well....Luka confessed to me! Actually not really, it turned out to be a coincidence that we had our favourite ice-cream flavours and he didn't really confess", she answered.
"It's ok Dali, one day he'll come to his senses and he'll be yours", Aargus replied as well as giving her a hug. "Well my news is what I gathered from Marinette."
Dalia's ears perked up about this. "Go on, is she the guardian?"
"Yes...she is. I saw everything and they referred to her as their guardian when Fu renounced his guardianship", Aargus said.
"Well, well looks like I'll have to keep a closer eye on her as Ladybug that way I'll know who her allies are or I could make myself a promising ally to her", the girl concluded.
"The last option sounds better. Infiltrate from the inside", the kwami suggested.
"Perfect."
...
"Luka, who do you think we should do this project on?", Dalia asked him. The couple were sitting inside the willow tree's leaf dome and collaborating on Dalia's project.
"Well...since you called yourself a lone wolf on this, we could do Huntress", he suggested. "Or we could do Viperion."
"Hmmm, how about both? You can do Huntress and I'll do Viperion", the girl replied. "That's the snake hero right?"
"Yep but that means we'll probably have to get interviews right? I mean, we're doing research in a way on them", Luka wondered out loud.
"Well, we'll have to wait for Viperion to show since I've only ever since him in battle", Dalia said sighing. She laid on her back and thought about how she would get questions out of the snake hero. Huntress was easy since, duh, she's Huntress.
"Maybe if there's an akuma attack and they need him, then we'll get to ask him questions", Luka answered. "But we wouldn't want that to happen, so we could just do Huntress."
"I guess so."
"How do we get Huntress?", the guy questioned.
"Well...I know she goes on midnight patrols. Maybe we could catch her then", Dalia replied.
"How do you know that?", Luka asked her.
"Ummmm, I see her at times, leaping on rooftops when I can't sleep at night", she rambled off, thinking of a good way to not reveal herself.
"Cool, so I'll try to get her interviewed for you then."
Soon his phone rang. It was his sister, Juleka, who needed his assistance at home. He gave Dalia a quick peck on the lips and left.
"Alright Aargus, it's time to track a certain black cat..."
...
At the Agreste Manor, Adrien wasn't a 100% and soon Nathalie noticed. She took care of him and even had a doctor come to give him a check-up. The doctor didn't know what was the cause of his declining energy, fever outbreaks and headaches. Mr. Agreste was informed about his son's health and for once, acted like a real father to the boy. He paid a bit more attention to him and even came every now and then, to check on his progress.
Plagg was also not doing so good. He looked weak and refused cheese, even at the sight of it. It wasn't a pretty sight to see them in the bed looking helpless. Fortunately there wasn't any recent akumas (Gabriel has put them on hold to supposedly care for his son or is occupied with work), so they got to rest. Tikki came to check on them and reported their progress to Marinette (Ladybug), which was a definite concern to her.
That day, Nathalie left Adrien's room so he could sleep soundly. The sound of a window creaking can be heard. Soft steps were made, heading towards the bed where the boy laid. It caused him to stir and soon woke up. A look of horror came on his face. There was a dark figure, looming its shadow on him. The boy wanted to scream for help but was too weak to do so. He was starting to lose consciousness but got a good look at the intruder's face.
She wanted him to remember that.
"I never thought it'd be the Agreste. Had my suspicions but weren't strong enough....Well, I think my tracker has worked to its extent", Huntress sneered softly in his ear. "The cocky cat has lost its tongue....who knew..."
She used her psychic energy to remove the tracker but it left a tuft of grey hair on his head which showed he was marked by her. It was bit noticeable....eh she didn't care. Adrien was passed out in his bed and didn't realize his ring and the girl was gone.
Two hours later, Nathalie came to check him. Nothing was out of place. The windows were shut and Adrien was in his bed. She did a temperature check and it was normal and found it fast for the fever to stop. The boy soon woke up and saw Nathalie sitting beside him. She inquired if he had any headaches and the response was negative. Surprised at the results, the secretary called the doctor to explain it.
While she went out of the room, Adrien was looking around for Plagg and he wasn't anywhere to be found. He felt a whole lot better and figured Plagg must be fine too. As he continued his search, his left hand touched the right hand. The boy froze, something that belonged on his hand was missing....his miraculous.
...
Plagg was in Dalia's room at the time. He appeared when the girl placed the ring on her finger. The kwami was surprised and shocked to see Dalia instead of Adrien. He got back all his energy and was 100% again. As he was about to say something...
"I expect you want to know why your owner isn't here and I'm in his place....Well it's simple, I'm your new owner", Dalia said smugly.
"Who are you?! And where is *gurgles bubbles*!", Plagg exclaimed.
"Oh too bad, you can't tell me your previous owner but I can tell you", the girl said leaning towards the kwami. "He is....or should I say was...Adrien Agreste."
The black cat kwami fumed at the girl's sneering face and was about to cataclysm her when another kwami stopped him.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you Plagg", Aargus said blocking him.
"A-Aargus? That means your Huntress!", he said as it finally dawned on him.
"Now you understand and since you're in my clutches, I'll be your new owner. Don't worry I'm not cruel so you won't be tortured and I made a note to supply you with cheese", Dalia replied.
"You're not going to hurt me?"
"Nope and I forbid you from seeing your "Sugarcube" as well as you have to be within one foot distance from me. Do you understand?", she said sternly to him.
The girl walked over to the closed window in her room and opened it. She stepped through the window to a small balcony that overlooked a small part of Paris. Dalia sighed whilst gazing at the city. It wasn't much of a view but she made the most of it. The black cat kwami noticed her expression and asked Aargus what was wrong.
"It's nothing that really concerns you...but I'll tell you. That girl there...is slightly similar to your previous owner, Adrien", she answered.
"So she-"
"...lost her mother as well, yeah. She took it hard and shut everyone out except her sister. The girl had a burning desire to get her mother back when she learned of what resided here in Paris. She's righting the wrong, Plagg. Just like her ancestor did all those years ago. I'm only giving her the tools to do so", the wolf kwami replied.
"But you're hurting people in the process", Plagg said, reeling in what she said.
"Who are we hurting? You and your human components are the ones who don't realize that other people are getting hurt. You always rely on Tikki's power of creation to restore everything. But what happens if she isn't there to fix it? People would die or get hurt. That's my sole purpose and what my first owner sought to do....but you incompetent kwamis and guardians are blinded and tried to stop us", Aargus said fiercely with anger in her eyes.
Plagg stayed quiet whilst Dalia came back inside. Footsteps were heard coming towards her door so she told the two kwamis to hide. Her father came to inquire of the voices he heard upstairs.
"There's no one here father, just me. Is there anything else you need?", Dalia answered.
"No Dalia except that your friend, Luka, is here to see you", her father replied.
Luka?
"Oh ok, let him come in", she said. Her father retrieved him from downstairs and left the two to talk.
"Hey Luka, what brings you here at this time of evening?", Dalia asked.
"Well, I came to see if you wanted to scope out for Huntress tonight for your project and to check on you", he replied.
"Umm sure but where do you want to catch Huntress tonight?"
"Maybe here?", Luka said with a smile.
"O-Oh...cool!", she stammered. Soon she collected a blow. "Hey! I wasn't prepared!"
Next thing they knew, a pillow fight broke out and it was brutal. Footsteps were heard coming and the fight died down. The girl unlocked the door for her father.
"Is everything alright in here?", he asked.
"Yep, we're just hanging out and chatting", Dalia answered.
"Fine, I came to ask as well if Luka would like to join us for dinner tonight?"
"Yes I would like to join you guys for dinner", Luka said appearing behind the girl.
"Alright, dinner's at 6:30pm so be downstairs in an hour, please", Mr. Rodriguez replied leaving the room.
When he was gone, a cheeky look was shared amongst the couple.
#Lukalia
That ship name kinda sucks so if you guys have better ship names, comment down below and hopefully you're enjoying this story. Next Chapter - Step 2: Hunt.