A/N: I'm just going to mention again, just in case, that the Volpina-Collector storyline does not exist in this AU.
I started this story months before season two was released. Yes, Lila was Volpina, but I didn't know what was going to occur when Marinette went to Master Fu's.
In this case, we are just going to keep the fact that Gabriel still owns the book, and Marinette returned it to Adrien instead, meaning Master Fu never got ahold of it. Keep this information in mind for the chapter ahead.
Please enjoy! 😁❤️
* * *
A new holder already?! Was Nathalie insane? It was hard enough to even walk to class without seeing Marinette as if she'd never left.
At least his own father didn't go replacing his mother two seconds after she left, or even at all. Sometimes, Adrien wondered if Nathalie even had a human heart, or was just a robot. Of course, he'd seen her emotions firsthand. She did obviously feel bad when she did things or when Adrien hurt her with his own words.
He was so not ready for a new partner just yet. If anything, he preferred having his caretaker as his partner for the time being, but she had to go and give away the miraculous to someone who now knew his secret identity.
He was so dead.
"I can't believe you exposed yourself! Normally I wouldn't give a single crap about any of this, but Hawkmoth is on your butt about finding out who you are! He's probably now looking to trick the new Ladybug holder into giving him the miraculous since the last one was too smart!" Plagg ranted.
"I know, I'm so lame... It was because of that akuma, Marinette's dad. He trapped me and nearly completely detransformed my partner, but she escaped in time," Adrien slumped down on his bed, his shoulders falling forward as he threw his face into his arms. "I'm just not as on my game as I used to be. Plagg, I miss her."
"Adrien, have you seen Kagami?" Nathalie asked him after a short knock.
"No, why?" Adrien asked, a bit confused as to why he would see the girl who fenced at his school one time.
"She was your partner today. I asked her to return the earrings when she finished up so then Tikki and I could decide whether or not they were compatible as a team or now, but it looks like the attack is over and she hasn't been out," Nathalie explained, looking a bit frantic.
"Oh, that was Kagami? I thought she seemed a bit familiar. And by the way, how in the world did you get around to replacing Ladybug so quickly? I thought you would've filled in until we figured something out," Adrien replied, feeling slightly grumpy.
"Tikki told me that Marinette actually wanted Kagami to be your partner because she thought she'd protect you with her defense skills," Nathalie pointed out.
"Ladybug made me promise to give you the earrings when she disappeared," Adrien argued.
"Probably so I could pawn them off to the next person she trusted to be a good enough partner for you, otherwise I'm sure Tikki wouldn't have mentioned it," she reasoned, "Marinette just wanted you safe, Adrien."
The blonde boy went silent, unsure what else to say. The love of his life wanted him to replace her, a trustworthy friend and partner, right after she'd die.
"Let me know if you see Kagami. I'll be working on your father's paperwork in his office," Nathalie decided to leave him time to think and take it in.
He nodded in response, turning back around to think some more.
* * *
Gabriel stood in his office, staring at the box in disbelief. The earrings were now in his possession.
How could they come to him so easily? The miraculous that was most difficult to obtain was now in his possession. Taking the other miraculous would be a piece of cake.
Without Ladybug, Chat Noir was nearly defenseless, Gabriel thought. All he had to do was akumatized someone to impersonate the old Ladybug, then send her to persuade Chat Noir to give up his miraculous.
He knew just the person he could trust, but first he had to upset her.
"Sir?" Nathalie knocked at his office door. Gabriel quickly shoved the miraculous into a drawer.
"Come in," he spoke seriously.
The woman opened the door, and stepped in before closing it. "I'm going to return to my paperwork," she informed him, "It's nearly finished."
Gabriel held his hands behind his back and let out a scowl. "Nathalie, why weren't you working on it when I came in here? I didn't hire you to take breaks whenever you want."
"I was just checking up on Adrien," she informed him, trying not to appear irritated.
"I did not hire you to babysit my teenage son either, so I do not expect you to skip out on your paperwork," Gabriel said seriously, pushing a neatly stacked pile of papers on the floor as he walked by.
She took a deep breath in through her nose and closed her eyes before nodding. "Yes, Sir," she spoke through gritted teeth. He was really grating down on her patience, and she was doing her best not to summon in her old Lady Luck to flip him over a table, mostly for Adrien's sake.
"I don't want to have to fire you, but it may come to that if you keep messing around," he told her, not even making eye contact.
Gabriel sternly walked out, a small smirk on his face as he had grabbed the earrings.
She knew she could leave this job, then find a better position like hers easily, but she didn't want to abandon a child with that robotic excuse for a father. He really knew how to stir those unpleasant emotions out of her, and he sure did a great job of it, the woman thought.
It wasn't long until Nathalie noticed the dark butterfly flapping toward her.
'An akuma?! Oh no, I'm not dealing with that today! I know way too much about identities to get akumatized!' Nathalie thought as she kicked the door open and ran out into the hall.
She had to lead the akuma away from Adrien, as he was emotionally vulnerable at the moment about his partner. At the same time, she didn't want him to have to fight her.
How could she make the akuma go away?! Well, they were sent after strong negative emotions, so all she had to do was calm down.
Okay, so Gabriel threatened to fire her, but she had to forgive the jerk, she thought to herself. Maybe he's just concerned about his work getting done quickly and he's stressed. Maybe he wanted Adrien to develop independently, or he was just in a bad mood himself. It likely wasn't her fault he got mad at her.
She had to do more important things anyways. Maybe she could work on finding Kagami and taking back the miraculous to talk to Tikki about whether or not she was capable of being a holder, but first she had to get back to working on her paperwork.
Taking a deep breath, she allowed herself to smile naturally as she thought about her memories as Lady Luck alongside her own Chat Noir. Maybe she could find a way to bring back the both of them.
Once she stopped running away, she snuck a glance behind her, realizing the akuma had gotten away.
This should've been a good thing, but there was Chloe who was sad, and Adrien who was completely heartbroken. Not to mention, he had never been akumatized, so he could easily be the next target.
Running back, she skidded through the clear hallways on her flats once she reached the mansion. She caught sight of the akuma growing closer to Adrien's room, and she bolted forward past the akuma. Kicking open the door, she grabbed Adrien's arm.
"We have to go, now!" She demanded to the boy.
"What?" He asked, and Plagg's eyes grew wide with terror.
"Go! Go, Adrien and Nathalie!!" The kwami shouted, yanking his charge's hair to turn him toward the sight.
"Oh my goodness!! Let's go!!" Adrien followed Nathalie after quickly snatching up his kwami.
She led him to the other exit, then pushed him ahead of her, allowing him to run more quickly. They were all panicking about the akuma, which made their negative emotions possible to get possessed by the butterfly. She knew this wasn't good, but she had to get Adrien out of the danger.
"Okay, listen to me!" She told him as they ran out of the mansion, "Don't panic about the butterfly! Whatever you do, just find something positive to focus on, and don't allow yourself to get scared or upset!"
"I-I want to," He panted as he ran, "but I c-cant stop thinking about her! I saw her die in front of me! She disappeared into nothing like she'd never even existed!"
As Nathalie saw the tears welling back up in his eyes, she quickly said, "We will get her back!! I promise you, we'll get both Marinette and Felix back! It won't be easy, but we can do it!"
At least that's how she convinced herself not to break into tears herself.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Adrien asked, frowning with glassy eyes.
"We will talk to the Guardian again, we'll do more research! I won't stop until I find a way to get them back," she reassured him while running.
Although it seemed like a long-shot, Adrien looked as if he felt slightly more hopeful than he had earlier. Nathalie smiled in relief, then turned back around to see if the butterfly was still following.
She noticed it was flying away, back into the sky. If she had the powers, she would've purified it there, but Kagami probably still had the powers.
At least it might fly back to wherever Hawkmoth was. Nathalie just hoped that no one was in danger of becoming the next target.
* * *
Marinette traced her finger into the blue platform, pretending as if she could sketch her idea down somewhere. It was such a shame having to be so bored. She couldn't even imagine how Felix kept his sanity after being locked in a blue area of nothing with no one to talk to and nothing to do.
"Did you get in touch with Master Fu yet?" The girl asked Felix, who was just sitting to the side, thinking.
"I haven't yet. Don't worry though, he's probably just not asleep yet," he reassured her quickly. Although he knew this was a strong possibility, another was that he wasn't close enough with Master Fu for him to get in touch.
Maybe Marinette had a better connection with him. Of course, Nathalie was a good option, but he felt as if the dream visits were torture. The person on the other end was always so emotional, and he'd get emotional. Overall, he knew bothering Nathalie would ruin her day, and he didn't want her to be sad. If someone could reach the guardian, maybe they could figure something out.
He turned around, facing the bored young girl, who was randomly tracing her finger as if she were drawing something. "Marinette, did you get to know Master Fu very well?" Felix asked her, causing her to look back up at him.
"Uh... I mean, I did get to meet him, and he gave me instructions. Does that count?" Marinette replied, furrowing her eyebrows.
"I think that's good enough. I didn't get to really meet the guardian after he tested me for the miraculous. In order to reach him, we need a good connection, and I can't even remember what he looks like. Would you be able to give it a try?" He asked the girl.
Give it a try and maybe finally be able to get back to everyone she loves?! Of course! "Definitely!" She exclaimed.
Once she made contact, she glanced at Felix. "Uh... Master Fu? Is that you?" She asked aloud, but a bit shyly.
"Y-s -inette," she heard parts of his answer.
"Oh no, Felix... I can't hear him too well!" She turned back to him in a panic.
"Don't worry, just try and see what you can comprehend," Felix reassured her.
Nodding, she turned back around. "Master Fu, I've got Felix with me. I don't know if you can see him, but I have Lady Luck's old partner here. Is there any way we can both get out of here?" She asked.
An echoing hum was heard from the other side. "There's — book- wouldn't under-nd all of—."
"A book? And you wouldn't be able to understand it? Is there any way you can get in contact with someone who could?" Marinette pieced it together and tried to offer a solution.
"P—bly.... someone— there still.... assist."
"Probably someone out there can still assist... I think that's what he was trying to tell me," Marinette mentioned to Felix.
"That's awesome! If he and that person can work together and find that spellbook, then maybe there's more information on how we can get out of here!" Felix explained to her.
"Do you know where the spellbook is?" Marinette asked both Master Fu and Felix.
"I never found out," Felix sighed.
"N-t exactly," Master Fu's voice seemed to say in a whisper of wind. He tried to explain how it was lost, but the wind seemed to break up his words into harsher fragments, completely incomprehensible.
She twitched her eye nervously as she assumed she was missing vital information with this faltering connection.
"I'm so sorry, Master Fu. Because of where we are, I can't hear you very well. I think our connection is dying," she told him, seeing the colors around them changing back rapidly.
This was their last second to get something in.
"Please, if you can, help get us out of here," she begged quickly before everything around her changed back to blue.
He was gone.
Now, all they could do is hope that Master Fu could find that spellbook and figure out if there's any information that could help release them from the prison of energy so they could be with their loved ones again.