What Nathanael first noticed, when he woke up, were five pairs of eyes looking down at him worriedly.
"Wh-" He was quickly pulled into a hug by his two best friends, whose hold were that of iron.
"You scared us you jerk!" Juleka scolded.
"Don't do that ever again!" Rose added.
Nathanael just blushed and nodded, before a yelp escaped him when they tightened their hold on him. 'guuuuuuys' Nathanael whined internally.
Ladybug and Alya just smiled at the touching moment.
"How are you feeling young man?" An aged voice male voice made Nathanael look over his best friends shoulder, only to see an elderly man in a red and white Hawaiian shirt.
Juleka and Rose released him from the hug.
"Kinda...weird? I don't know, like I felt weak, then I felt normal?" Nathanael stumbled on his words.
"Any pain?" The elder inquired gently.
Nathanael just shook his head, only for a barrage of pain to go through his head. He let out a small groan. "N-nevermind...headache."
"Your gonna need to get some ice then, hopefully that will help." Lady suggested gently. "What you did was brave-"
"-stupid-" Rose cut in.
"-and reckless." Juleka added.
Ladybug just nodded in agreement at their added words. "But you did help us defeat The Master, so I just want to say thank you." Ladybug shot him a smile.
Nathanael just blushed. "Um your welcome? I guess? I'm sure anybody would help."
"Perhaps, but you did help today."
"Yeah but-"
"-oh quit being modest Nath." Juleka threw him a look. Thankfully not the look.
"Um, no problem." Nathanael gave a nervous grin.
Ladybug let out a small giggle before a few beeps made themselves heard. "I gotta go. I hope you feel better!"
Ladybug made her way back to Chat Noir, who was helping the recently akumatized person stand up.
------------------
The blonde man groaned. The Master was no more, and the clothes the man wore was simply work trousers, a loose white shirt, and a pair of worn black boots on his feet.
Chat Noir looked at him warily. The dark clad hero kneeled next to him, poking the man in the cheek.
"Hey, can you hear me?" Chat Noir asked, ears perks up.
The man exhaled, his left eye opening slightly, revealing a shade of green. "Wha?" He sat up abruptly, making Chat Noir quickly grab a hold of his shoulders.
"Hey! Calm down! You're alright! You're fine." Chat Noir's words made the man look at him.
"Where, uh, am I?" The man had an accent Chat Noir wasn't familiar with, but the panic in the man's eye was clear.
"You're in the park." Chat Noir said calmly. "What's your name?"
"My name is not, um, important! Please tell me the time?!" The man asked hurriedly.
"It's six in the afternoon." Chat Noir said after checking the phone within his staff.
"Not good, not good!" The man said in panic, before realizing his patch wasn't on him. "My patch!"
"Oh right your eye patch. Here." Chat Noir handed the man the leather eye patch.
The man bowed his head slightly. "T-Thank you." Then he quickly tied it around his head, covering his right eye.
"What's your name?" Chat Noir asked again.
The man looked at the hero, a hesitant look in his eye. "C-Cipher." He answered after a while.
"That's a cool name!" Chat Noir said, grinning widely.
"Thank you." Cipher said, bowing his head slightly.
"Here, let me help you up." Chat extended a hand, helping the man stand up, just as Ladybug was getting close to them.
Cipher allowed himself to be pulled up, stumbling slightly when he was on his feet.
"Are you alright?" Ladybug asked, full of worry.
"Uh, yes yes! I'm fine Miss." Cipher stuttered nervously.
"Great." Ladybug turned her attention to Chat Noir. "Chat I have to go."
Understanding what she meant, Chat Noir said, "Alright, I'll handle things here."
Ladybug shot him a thankful look, before taking off with her yo-yo. "Bug out!"
"Chat?" Cipher muttered curiously, making the hero look at him. "I, did something terrible, um, yes?"
The adult was certain of it. Something simply screamed that he caused trouble. The fact that Chat Noir and Ladybug were here when he woke up, and while he was usually kept in the dark about certain things, he knew about the heroes of Paris. And about how people were turned evil by some butterfly.
Chat Noir grimaced. "Yes, but it wasn't your fault. You weren't in control of your actions."
"...It was still me however." Cipher muttered, his voice holding shame.
"No. It wasn't you." Chat Noir stated seriously, eyes narrowed.
Cipher just wrapped his arms around himself.
Chat Noir sighed. "Look, you are not to blame, Hawkmoth is. Please don't blame yourself."
Cipher just gave him a sad look.
Chat Noir's eyes widened when he spotted a black limo. 'Did we spend that much time fighting?!'
Turning to Cipher, he said hurriedly, "I have to go as well. The police will be here soon. Don't worry, they won't arrest you or anything. They'll just check up on you, see if you are okay."
Cipher nodded in understanding, face still downcast.
Shooting the adult a sad look, Chat Noir jumped into the trees, looking for a place to change back.
Cipher shifted uneasily when he spotted the orange haired artist on the dirt floor, noticing the girl with purple highlights glaring at him.
The adult gulped before heading over to him. 'I did something to him. I have to apologize.'
As he walked, he noticed the people in the park glancing his way, a sad look in their eyes as well. Some held fear however.
When he walked closer, the conversation between the teens and the elderly man ceased.
"Um hello, I'm Cipher." Cipher muttered, his blonde bangs covering his green eye.
The elderly man gave a gentle smile in his direction, rising up from his kneeling position slowly. "Hello there young man."
Cipher shot the elderly man a small hesitate smile, before turning in the direction of the orange haired teen.
The teens gave each other a look.
Nathanael gave Cipher a sympathetic look, understanding the look of shame on his face and lack of eye contact.
"I, don't know what I did exactly, but still, I am so sorry!" Cipher bowed his head towards the artist.
Nathanael tried to stand up, nearly fell over, only to be helped up by Juleka and Rose. Nathanael gave them a smile before turning to Cipher. "It's okay, I don't blame you, you weren't in control."
Cipher stuttered. "B-but it was still me."
"And I still don't blame you, I-I understand what you're feeling. I've been in your position before." Nathanael looked down for a moment.
Juleka and Rose shared a worried look.
Alya and Master Fu just watched on, not wanting to intervene.
"But don't blame yourself, please." Nathanael extended his hand, thinking, 'I wish I still didn't blame myself, but I can't forget.'
Cipher rose from his bow, looking at the artist's extended hand, before extending his own and shaking it. "I-I'll try.
Master Fu looked on, a proud look in his eyes. 'You are definitely the one to wield Nikk, Nathanael.'
Police sirens were heard.
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Nathanael made his way to his room, his head still pounding slightly.
Juleka and Rose had led him to his house, worried about him. It warmed his heart that they didn't care that he ignored them for days, they still cared about him.
He had to apologize to them. Soon.
Alya had left them, in search of Marinette, who had been, supposedly, hiding in the trees.
The elderly man had left as well, after he stumbled into the artist accidentally.
As for Cipher, he was looked after by the police.
Nathanael fell onto his bed, sighing as his head hit his pillows.
His headache seemed to lessen even more.
'I want to forget...but I can't.' Nathanael thought depressingly.
The teen began to change into his sleeping nightwear. But when he went to hang his sweater on one of the racks on his door, he noticed an unusual amount of weight.
He reached into the pockets, the left one, than the other, where he pulled out a hexagonal box, which was black and red dragon designs coated it.
He hung the sweater before turning his attention to the box. 'Where did this come from?'
He opened the box, seeing a rather expensive looking fox tailed necklace.
A bright flash of light caused Nathanael to shield his eyes with his hands, dropping the dragon themed box and fox tailed necklace.
Once the light was gone, he hesitantly lowered his hands.
His aquamarine eyes caught something small floating in the center of his room. It had a long tail, pointed ears, orange, white and brown fur. And aquamarine eyes...which were looking directly into his own.
Silence seemed to last for hours.
The tiny fox creature seemed to look into his soul, a soft look in its eyes, before smirking. "It seems Master Fu chose correctly. "
"W-wha-"
The creature just floated over to him, looking him over.
"Name's Nikk, I'm a kwami." Nikk's smirk turned into a smile, his small sharp teeth visible, his tail started to wag slightly.
"Uh, I'm N-Nathanael." Nathanael stuttered, still trying to process what was happening.
"Pleasure to meet you!" Nikk saluted, his paw over his eyes.
"So um, what are you, no, uh what's going on?" Nathanael asked hesitantly, plopping himself down on the edge of his bed, fearing he might faint.
"In one sentence? You were chosen to be a hero, and my wielder." Nikk floated near Nathanael's face, whose eyes widened in shock.
"H-hero?!"
"Certainly small tomato child." Nikk said teasingly.
Nathanael just gaped.
Seeing the humans shock, Nikk spoke, "You certainly meet my requirements. An artist, by the numerous paintings you have in your room. And by the large amount of sketchbooks you have there on your desk, a very creative person."
Nathanael said nothing.
"You even have orange hair! That gives ya bonus points!" Nikk grinned.
Nathanael just kept looking at him.
"Still in shock?"
Nathanael's nod was barely noticeable.
"Eh, take your time, I know it takes a while to sink in." Nikk said, plopping himself on Nathanael's head.
Nathanael's mind was racing. 'Hero!?! Me? No, this is a mistake!'
"I don't understand, why me?" Nathanael asked softly.
"You were chosen." Nikk said simply.
"...But I'm not worthy." Nathanael's eyes lowered to the ground.
Nikk's eyes softened, an idea of what his new wielder went through. It wouldn't be surprising, considering it has happened before. His past wielders had all been through tough times before they became a hero.
"You were akumatized and you remember everything...Correct?" Nikk asked gently, making Nathanael nod, slightly eyes watering slightly.
Nikk floated down in front of Nathanael's face, moving Nathanael's bangs away from his eyes. Nikk's paws took hold of the artist's nose, looking directing his eyes. "There's no need to be ashamed, Nath. We tend to lose control of our emotions, and some take advantage of it. And some tend to betray us, and we lose control of ourselves due to it." Nikk's eyes flashed with anger for a moment before disappearing.
The tiny fox continued, "It actually helps us gain some sort of experience. Helps make us somewhat wiser."
"But even still I'm not worthy-"
"-Do you regret what you did when you were akumatized?"
Chat Noir and Marinette potentially drowning flashed through Nathanael's mind. Nathanael nodded solemnly.
"Then maybe becoming my wielder will be your way of healing, by helping people, you'll redeem yourself." Nikk said gently, eyes full of understanding.
"A-alright." Nathanael stuttered. 'I want to help, I want to forget that night. I want the nightmares to go away.'
Nikk floated down and grabbed the fox tail necklace from the ground, the gold chain in his paws. "Once you put it on, it's official."
Nathanael exhaled shakily, grabbing the necklace.
"But what if I mess up?" Nathanael asked nervously.
"You'll have help, I can sense the others." Nikk said, nearly letting out a small growl when a certain cat came to his mind.
"Others?"
"U-huh, I can sense Tikki, so Ladybug exists." Nikk stated, and continued once Nathanael nodded, "Wayzz is here as well. Nooroo, who is the reason Hawkmoth has the power that he does."
"But why does Nooroo help Hawkmoth?"
"Sometimes, our partner isn't chosen by the Great Guardian." Nick said sadly. "There have been times when us kwamis have been used for evil. And there were times when us kwamis use our partner for our own purposes. Like the Bee Kwami, whose name I have sworn to not say. Much like there are good and bad people, there are good and bad Kwami's."
Nikk took a deep breath to control his rage as he spoke again, "And there's Plagg, or uh, Chat Noir. None of the others are released, from what I'm sensing."
Nathanael nodded, absorbing all the information. The orange haired teen looked at the necklace one last time, before placing it over his neck.
Nikk's tail swung back and forth happily. "And now it's official!!!" The tiny fox cheered, waving his paws.
Nathanael felt strange the moment he placed the necklace over his neck, as if he just woke up after a good nights rest.
"Woah." Nikk's eyes widened when he felt something flow through him, the fur on his tail puffing out slightly.
They both blinked.
"That was new." Nikk muttered, patting down his fur.
"Is it a bad thing?" Nathanael asked, tilting his head.
"No, it was like a rush of power." Nikk said cautiously. "But this means you were definitely meant to be my wielder."
Nathanael smiled happily.
"Now, I have been meaning to ask a very, very important question." Nikk suddenly turned serious, making Nathanael nervous.
"Uh o-okay." Nathanael stuttered.
The silence lasted for a while.
"....May I see your artwork?" Nikk dropped his serious face and grinned at a gaping Nathanael.
Nathanael then laughed loudly. Usually he was very secretive with his art, but now, he just wanted to share them with his new friend. "Sure!"
The teen grabbed several of his sketchbooks, and sat on his bed.
Nikk perched himself on Nathanael's shoulder, ears perked up.
Nathanael opened one of the sketchbooks.
"Hey, you have a fox as your first drawing! We were meant to be Nath!" Nikk teased, making Nathanael chuckle.
This was certainly the start of a wonderful friendship.
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I FINALLY UPDATED THIS!! I'M SO HAPPY! :D
So yeah, my own character, Cipher, has been introduced. He has no relation to Bill Cipher. Just Google Cipher's definition, a hint of what is to come will present it self.
And Nikk has also been introduced! I hope I made him likable.
As to how Master Fu got into the park, what can I say? He's a ninja!
The next chapter may focus more on Nathanael and Nikk, but then again...
Anyway, I hope ya liked this chapter!
Until the next update!
-Rinku