The New Scheme

Chapter 4

"Adrien, we need to see Nathalie." Marinette said as she stepped off of the dock.

"Why?"

"It's something Luka said—"

Adrien sighed as they both got in the car, "Marinette, you can't actually start thinking what Luka said was true. You know that there is nothing you could do for Lydia."

"Let me finish, Adrien," Marinette said, "I probably won't be able to do anything for Lydia, but I can do something for your mother."

"I don't get it. My mother is gone."

Marinette shook her head, "no, she's in a miraculous-induced sleep. We can't bury her as if she's dead, because she is not. I can wake her up."

"Marinette, you can't combine the ladybug and cat miraculous! You of all people should be aware that it comes with—"

"A price, I know, Adrien. What if we don't combine the ladybug and cat miraculous?"

"You're not making any sense."

"I'll explain it to you along with Nathalie. I need her too to make sure this works."

Adrien took Marinette's hand, "Marinette, please don't convince yourself you can save everybody. You can't."

"Lydia could, Adrien. It's time for me to do my job instead of being an emotional teenager. Paris doesn't need a teenager. It needs a hero."

Adrien kissed Marinette's hand, "and I need my Marinette. You'll only stress yourself by trying to do things you can't accomplish."

"I can accomplish this, Adrien! Why won't you believe in me?" Marinette's face was full of anguish and determination. 

"She's dead, Marinette, you can't fix that!" Adrien said, his voice barely below a shout. 

"She's not dead; she's in a miraculous-induced coma which I can reverse!"

"What are you two doing?" Nathalie asked as Adrien's bodyguard stood outside of the car with the door open. "He just told me you've been arguing the whole way here. By the looks of it, you were so busy shouting at each other that you didn't even realize that this door has been open for the past two minutes."

"Nathalie," Marinette sighed in relief, "I can bring Mrs. Agreste back."

"Don't listen to her, Nathalie, she just let someone else's words get into her head." Adrien intervened. 

"This has nothing to do with Luka!" Marinette said, as they got out of the car. 

"This has everything to do with Luka!"

Nathalie sighed in frustration, "can you both stop? I haven't had my coffee and you're both giving me a headache."

"Sorry, Nathalie," Marinette said. 

"Why don't we go inside, make ourselves some coffee, and talk about this calmly?" Nathalie suggested.

Marinette nodded, "I'd like that."

* * *

"What's your idea, Marinette?" Nathalie asked as they all sat down at the dining table. 

"Combining the cat miraculous and ladybug miraculous creates a wish. This wish always comes with a cost. We cannot afford that cost under any circumstances, but what if we can bring her back without those two miraculouses? We know that the miraculouses' abilities cannot be restricted. The holder is the one who restricts them. Both of your deepest desire is to bring Emilie back. What if we use the pig miraculous to discover that desire, then use the ladybug miraculous to bring that desire to life? In other words, we are creating the desire and making it come true." Marinette said, fully confident in her words.

Nathalie thought for a second, "is there anything in the grimoire that suggests anything against this?"

"I've read the grimoire a many times. I tried finding a cure for Lydia and Emilie. There is nothing that involves using the pig miraculous for situations like this."

"What if we test this on Lydia first?" Adrien asked. "Brenda's deepest desire is to make her better. It would be a nice first step before we try to resurrect someone."

"I don't think we should experiment on that poor family. They've already been through enough because of us." Marinette said.

"We're not experimenting on them; we're providing an opportunity that we failed to provide ever since Lydia got hurt." Adrien replied.

"You mean an opportunity that I failed to provide."

"I never said that; Luka did. Don't put words into my mouth, Marinette."

"Could both of you stop squabbling for a second?" Nathalie interjected, massaging her forehead. "We can't use this on Lydia. The dolphin miraculous is messing with her head; it's too risky since the miraculous doesn't belong to our miraculous box. We can use it on Emilie. The pig miraculous should not affect the universe, and both of our desires combined should be strong enough."

"Then we can do it, right?" Marinette asked eagerly.

"We're going to try."