Chapter Three: A Miraculous Safeguard.

The magic of the Miraculous is designed to protect the identity of the wearer against discovery. Unluckily for the kwami, there are a lot more ways to discover an identity in 21st century Paris than they're used to. It's going to take a lot of magic to keep the protective enchantments in place.

Tikki was so glad that Marinette's family owned a bakery.

She adored Marinette because she was Marinette. She was sweet and kind and funny and generous and one of the most creative humans she'd ever known. Tikki could honestly say she hadn't had a Ladybug as good as Marinette in millennia, perhaps ever, and she adored their partnership.

But the bakery was definitely an added bonus.

Scratch that. The bakery was a godsend.

When the Guardian had awoken her after her long hibernation, he'd explained that things were rather different than she was used to this time around. He'd said she had a sharp learning curve ahead of her to adapt to the modern world.

Tikki hadn't believed him.

Or, rather, she had believed him, but she had underestimated the changes he was talking about.

It had seemed like he was exaggerating at first. He was old for a human and used to working alone, so Tikki assumed he wanted to micro-manage the partnership she was about to forge. She'd listened just to humour him, positive that things weren't actually that different and that she could adjust as easily as every other time she paired up with a new human after a long dormancy.

Oh how wrong she had been.

21st century Paris was vastly different to anything she had known before. It was equally exciting and terrifying. So many people, so many sights and sounds and smells, so much life and vibrancy! Everything was just so busy and fast paced.

And there were also so many ways that a secret identity could be discovered.

Tikki really, really, really wished she had paid more attention to the Guardian before he sent her to Marinette.

But no. She had assumed she knew best.

Tikki trusted the protective enchantments on the Miraculous. They had been set down when the jewels were forged, they had endured for millennia, they had protected hundreds and thousands of Chosen heroes in that long stretch of time. Why should this time be any different?

One of the reasons why the enchantment was so effective was that it was so subtle. It worked simply by confusing onlookers. The little details that normally would identify a hero slipped away and were either mis-remembered or forgotten completely.

People knew that Ladybug had black hair and blue eyes and a sweet voice, but when they looked at Marinette Dupain-Cheng they wouldn't see that.

They would swear that the length of her hair was too long, it wasn't styled quite right, and her eyes were just a shade too light, plus she had freckles and Ladybug didn't have freckles. And her voice, surely it was pitched lower than Ladybug's? That was true. There was no way that Marinette Dupain-Cheng could be Ladybug.

Those tiny nuances did more to protect a secret identity than anything big or flashy ever could. And with it being such a subtle spell, barely requiring any effort to alter a memory, the kwami didn't need to exhaust their energy to keep it up. They could conserve all of their magic for transformations and battles and not worry about accidental discoveries.

But then Tikki started learning about the modern world and quickly realised it wasn't enough.

There were so many people around, everywhere, all the time. It was practically impossible for Marinette to find somewhere safe and completely private to transform. There was always someone close by. And Ladybug had to respond to an akuma as quickly as possible so Marinette couldn't waste time by going home to transform in the privacy of her own room - it was utterly impractical for one thing, not possible when she was supposed to be in school for another, and it would also quickly draw her parent's suspicions.

So Tikki found herself adding another layer to the protection spell. Anyone within one hundred metres of Marinette at the time of transformation would have their attention diverted elsewhere. If they happened to notice Ladybug stood where a young girl had been, the confusion enchantment would kick in again. They would assume that Ladybug had sent the girl off to safety.

Tikki hoped that would be enough.

No sooner had she thought that, then Tikki learned that Marinette's best friend was a blogger devoted to discovering Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities.

Alya was too close to Marinette and too obsessed with Ladybug and far too focussed on her mission for the enchantment to confuse her for long. Since Alya knew Marinette so well, and was hyper-focused on anything to do with Ladybug, Tikki had to reinforce the confusion element of the spell. Alya couldn't be allowed to see the Ladybug in Marinette and the Marinette in Ladybug.

Ladybug did her best to put on a confident front, to hide her fears, insecurities, and doubts, thus the magic ensured that people thought of Ladybug as supremely confident. As bold and outgoing as Marinette could be, she also didn't feel the need to hide anything from her friends and loved ones. They saw her doubt herself, they saw her hesitate, they saw her freak out, in fact her catastrophising rambles were looked upon with an amused fondness by all, and so they obviously knew that Marinette Dupain-Cheng couldn't be Ladybug.

It was the same for her clumsiness too. The magical supersuit improved her balance and coordination, though it couldn't completely conceal her clumsiness, and so Ladybug was perceived as amazingly graceful while Marinette wasn't.

Tikki couldn't help but feel a bit guilty as she wove that new spell, even if it was only for a direct comparison between Marinette and Ladybug. It wouldn't actually make people think any less of Marinette. People would still know just how wonderful Marinette was, but Tikki still couldn't help but feel guilty even though it was only to protect Marinette.

Once that was done, Tikki thought they were finally safe…

… until she learned that cameras were everywhere in modern day life.

In shops, on the street, on traffic lights, in the metro tunnels, around the main entrances and exits of the school and the Hotel Grande Paris, even in Marinette's family bakery, they were everywhere.

There was no way that Marinette had completely avoided being caught transforming on camera. That worried Tikki since the best way to get around the protective enchantments was to witness a transformation. Anyone looking at the live feed or the recordings would know who Ladybug was.

So she had to adjust the spell again.

Whenever Marinette transformed, the cameras would either pan away and miss everything or they would fritz out or turn off temporarily. Anyone who happened to catch the odd behaviour of the camera would merely think it was interference or a power surge and dismiss it.

After a few weeks of nerve-wracking tension Tikki began to relax. Everything was finally going to plan and Marinette's identity was safe.

But then Nathanaël got akumatised.

Tikki couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him - Marinette hadn't even realised he liked her because she was so caught up in Adrien - but when the tiny goddess noticed his sketchbook she panicked. Before his akumatisation it had been full of Marinette, everything from quick sketches to detailed drawings, in a variety of styles, and she had featured heavily in his comics. But after his akumatisation he had switched to drawing Ladybug almost exclusively.

If he ever compared the drawings side by side he would know!

Tikki had to create another layer to the protective enchantment then. Anyone who drew a mask on a picture of Marinette, or erased Ladybug's mask, would be unable to connect the two girls. Marinette would look like Marinette with a mask and Ladybug would look like a stranger.

She had never been happier to have made that adjustment when a new selfie filter came out.

It put the Ladybug and Chat Noir masks on anyone in the photo. The new addition to the enchantment would make sure that no one realised Marinette was Ladybug, but just to be on the safe side Tikki tweaked it a little to ensure Marinette always got the Chat Noir mask. Then she tweaked the confusion spell again to make it so that Alya wouldn't notice that fact.

And that was why the bakery was a godsend.

Tikki had to make so many adjustments, to create brand new levels of protection, to funnel so much energy into confusing and misdirecting people, that she needed a lot of fuel herself. Every single time the spell needed more she had to increase her cookie intake.

She was now eating a plateful of cookies a day, more if they were transforming, and even more if Alya or Marinette's parents were getting suspicious.

Thank goodness that Marinette had access to a steady supply. But if things carried on a this rate she'd be doing a midnight raid on the bakery and eating unbaked cookie dough to stay energised!

Some days it really felt like she could never eat enough. She always needed more energy to funnel into the confusion layer, or the misdirection layer, or the camera evasion layer. It was just so exhausting.

Honestly, she was starting to get worried that one of these days she would pour the energy into the wrong layer and someone would realise that Marinette was Ladybug. Or, worse, she would put so much effort into fuelling the protective magic that she would mess up on the transformation magic and Ladybug would appear without a yoyo! Or worse, without a mask!

Hopefully she'd catch a break before the next inevitable issue arose. Tikki really didn't want to start eating like Plagg!

Plagg was so very glad that this time around he had got himself a rich little kitten.

In his opinion, he was long overdue for a luxurious life. He hadn't had such a good time since pharaonic Egypt. Now those people knew how to treat a cat kwami.

Life with Adrien might not be exactly like the worship of Ancient Egypt but it was damned close. He had it all. Space to run around in, a warm sunlight patch just purr-fect for napping, soft fabrics to lounge about on or to tear up, and a never-ending supply of the finest cheeses in the world.

He was so happy he could cry.

This was heaven!

Still, as much as he loved living a decadent, there was a small part of him that was too concerned with secret identities to relax. Not Adrien's identity. No, Plagg had that securely locked up. He knew that nothing short of seeing Adrien transform would give it away and the kid was too careful for that.

No. Plagg was worried about Ladybug's identity, whoever she may be. He could sense Tikki scrambling to add more layers to the protective enchantments and he hoped she was getting enough food. Not everyone could get a rich kitten with unlimited cheese-access like he did.

Yet as much as he worried, there was a bigger part of him that couldn't wait for the 'I told you so' moment when he met Tikki again.

Plagg had been telling Tikki for centuries that she needed to beef up her protective enchantments and she had always dismissed him as a worrier. She trusted the enchantments to protect her bugs. But Tikki was the kwami of creation and good fortune. As much as she trusted the enchantments she also relied heavily on her good luck to protect her bugs.

Plagg didn't have that advantage.

He was the kwami of destruction and misfortune. He had learned long ago that simple confusion wasn't enough to keep his kittens safe.

He had hundreds of additional layers, added gradually over the millennia, to protect his kittens. They prevented family and friends from seeing the truth, prevented people from adding a mask and realising his kitten's identity, prevented familiar voices or actions from giving it away. Plagg had learned the hard way that mere misdirection was never enough.

So when he had got paired with Adrien, and realised just how famous and well-known his kid was, he hadn't panicked.

Instead he had just sat back and requested copious amounts of cheese from his all-too-willing human.

Someone put a Gabriel brand billboard next to a poster of the heroes? That'll be a kilo of gruyere please.

Someone is photoshopping Chat Noir's outfit over a photo of Adrien? Five wheels of brie is all it takes.

People are starting to say Chat Noir walks like a model? Better have three blocks of cheddar - no, wait, make it four.

Adrien made a pun that was a bit too Chat Noir in front of his school friends? Two more wheels of camembert for supper.

In fact, the only area of protection that Plagg didn't have to regularly reinforce was parental recognition. Adrien's father and the assistant just didn't pay enough attention to him for that. As outraged for Adrien as he was Plagg couldn't ignore the fact that it worked highly in their favour.

All of the protective spells around Adrien were doing their job and all Plagg had to do was to ensure he ate enough cheese to fuel them - which was absolutely fine with him.

So Plagg just sat back and let himself enjoy the lap of luxury for as long as it lasted.

Nooroo stared down at the small pile of hazelnuts in front of him. He gave a soundless sigh and reluctantly began to eat.

Sometimes, he really wished he could go on a hunger strike.

It wasn't possible though. He had to eat to power the magic of the Miraculous. He couldn't just stop no matter how much he wanted to.

And he really wanted to.

He knew that someone was looking for Hawkmoth. Not just in the general sense of Parisians wondering who the Supervillain was or the police trying to figure it out. No, someone was hunting Hawkmoth and they were getting close.

Nooroo wished he could help this hunter. He wished he could go on a hunger strike and not fuel the protective magic that kept Gabriel's identity a secret. Maybe then whoever this person was could find him and rescue him from another life of captivity.

Nooroo longed for that day of freedom.

He had no doubts that if this hunter was a good person, then he would hand Nooroo and the Miraculous over to Ladybug and Chat Noir. He didn't know what would happen to Gabriel at that point - would the hunter deal with him? Ladybug and Chat Noir? The Guardians? The police? He didn't really care about Gabriel's ultimate fate though. All he wanted was to return to the Guardians, to his kwami family, and to finally be free.

He didn't dwell on what would happen to him if the person who found Hawkmoth wasn't good. He'd suffered through too many similar scenarios before. He knew what his fate would be if another villain found him.

The Butterfly Miraculous had been sought many times over the millennia by the worst of humanity. It had the potential to create an army completely beholden to the wearer's will. Those who craved power wanted The Butterfly Miraculous to aid them in their goals of conquest and dominion. The fact that evil people couldn't tap into the full power of Nooroo's Miraculous had done nothing to stop them seeking it out over the years.

Yes, Nooroo was far too used to enslavement. He was the only kwami who had been used by more bad people than good.

It was why he wished he could go on a hunger strike. It was why he refused to add more protective spells onto his miraculous even though he knew how.

Generally speaking, the Butterfly Miraculous needed no extra protection. It worked most effectively at a distance and so there were very few times that anyone came close enough to discover the truth. In all of Nooroo's millennia of partnering with humans there had been only two accidental discoveries.

And so he refused to add extra protection to his Miraculous. The good humans he had known didn't require it, and the bad ones he had been forced to serve didn't deserve it.

Nooroo, unlike any other kwami, wanted his master to be found.

Here he was again, trapped as a servant to a bad master, and desperately hoping that the person hunting Hawkmoth could discover him and save him. He wished them all of Tikki's luck in that endeavour.

He could sense them searching right now, in fact. And they were close.

Thanks to the protective enchantments, Nooroo knew how they were searching. He could tell they had a list of Hawkmoth's traits and they were considering if Gabriel fit them. The magic was fighting them but this person was strong.

A few minutes more, a little bit more information, if they could just gather their focus enough to ignore the confusion, it wouldn't take much to overpower the confusion and misdirection spell - it couldn't hold up to such a sustained and directed assault for long - the person searching was almost there…

"Nooroo!"

Gabriel called for him, speaking the transformation phrase, and Nooroo sighed. He dropped the hazelnut he had been eating and let himself be pulled into the Miraculous. Hopefully the akuma attack wouldn't distract Hawkmoth's seeker from the truth he had so very nearly uncovered.

Nooroo's last conscious thought before merging with the Miraculous and transforming Gabriel was that, if he couldn't be free, at least he could give Gabriel conniptions when he saw how hideous and unfashionable his akumas were. It was a small victory but it gave Nooroo such joy to see Gabriel's eye twitching at the garish designs.

Author's note: this is just my personal headcanon about the miraculous. I have not yet seen all of season 2 and none of season 3 so if canon disagrees with my story then please consider this an AU. I was always surprised that no one could connect the dots between Marinette and Ladybug and Adrien and Chat Noir - they look and sound and act the same, Alya literally photoshopped a cat suit onto a photo of Adrien, they're not exactly careful about transforming, and given how obsessed Marinette is with Adrien and Chat Noir is with Ladybug you'd think those two at least would notice something - and this is my headcanon as to why that is. Magic. Basically, if you're looking for their identity you won't find it, but you can accidentally discover it.

Also, I'm sorry for the delay. This chapter was supposed to be up last weekend but the mother-in-law invited herself around to see the sproglet and have a Sunday Roast with us and that took up all of my free time. Yay. However, in happier news, I passed my driving theory test this week and I have my practical booked for 17th February. Whoop! If I pass then that means no more lengthy bus trips with the sproglet to get him to school and a lot more writing time. Wish me luck - I'm going to need it. If it wasn't for the sproglet I wouldn't be taking lessons at all, I'm perfectly content with busses.

Between now and the 17th Feb, I'm going to be focussing all my effort on the practical test and on my Valentine's story. I'm going to do the Miraculous Valentine's Prompts from Tumblr #mlvalentines2k20 and it is already looking like it will be a sequel to All I Want For Christmas.