Chapter Eight:

Marinette's heart pounded against her chest as she, and the rest of the Charms, advanced toward the training room. Chloe was blabbing her mouth off with her friend Sabrina and any of the other Charms who could stand to listen to her. It did little to help her growing anxiety.

Nathanael squeezed her hand. They had started to hold hands as soon as they had left their designated floor in the building and still had not let go. She glanced over at him and saw understanding in his eyes. He knew what she was feeling, probably because he was having the same reaction. They were about to enter the snake pit of death.

Guards opened the doors at the end of the hallway. The Charms filed inside, and once Marinette was beyond the threshold, she was engulfed by the room's vast space.

Above her, monkey bars and a ropes course hung from the ceiling. The sight of it terrified her a little bit, but everything else in the room really pushed her fear to the next level. To the left along the wall, stations had been set up. One had multiple fire pits, another had a climbing wall, and so on and so forth of other training activities down the line. To the right of the room, however, was completely different. Along the bottom, there were all kinds of weapons stacked on racks -- swords, bow and arrows, spears, pretty much anything a murderer could ask for.

If that wasn't nerve-wracking enough, above the weapons, a balcony looked out over the whole room. On that balcony stood the one and only Adrien Agreste himself. Even under his obviously reserved gaze, Marinette was mentally screaming.

No, no, no! Adrien could not see her fail!

She searched the box for President Gabriel Agreste. She didn't see him standing anywhere, but she did notice a tablet in Adrien's arms. That must have been him.

The Charms all stopped in front of a wrestling mat that was laid out in the center of the training room. On the mat, an old Chinese man sat in a yoga position. He had on a red Hawaiian shirt and tan cargo pants. His shoes were simple enough, just plain brown sandals. His hair, mustache, and goatee were the things that kinda pushed that 'chinese' aspect of him over the top. Marinette did notice a turtle bracelet on his right wrist.

Scoffing, Chloe put her hands on her hips as she looked the man up and down. "Who are you?"

He didn't say anything. He continued to sit motionless.

"Yoo hoo? Old man?" She called, waving her hand in front of his fast. Still, no response.

"Is he dead?" One Charm asked. Kim, the one who had been represented by an eagle.

Sabrina circled the chinese man cautiously. "Seems like it."

"He can't be dead," Nathanael insisted. Chloe turned to rebuke him, but then saw him and Marinette's intertwined hands. She raised an eyebrow. Before she could make a comment, Marinette pulled her hand away.

"I agree with Nathan. He's probably just asleep." Making her way to the front of the group, she knelt down in front the man and put a hand on his shoulder. "Excuse me? Sir?"

The man opened his eyes and gave her a proud grin.

"Bonjour, Ladybug."

Marinette was taken aback. "H-how did you-"

"I know each of you." He scanned the charms, his brown and wrinkled eyes watching each of them closely. "Hello Eagle, Snake, Fox, Humming bird, and," he looked directly at Chloe, "Queen Bee."

Chloe flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Finally, someone who sees me as a queen."

"Who would?" Marinette muttered under her breath.

The old man smiled at her then got to his feet, using a cane to help him.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he said. "My name is Master Fu."

The Charms were silent, until -- no surprise -- Chloe spoke up.

"You're our trainer?"

He eyed her. "Yes, Queen Bee."

"Do you have a problem with that?" Nathan asked. Chloe rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.

Master Fu scanned the group of 24 Charms as if picking out the weaklings. Under his gaze, Marinette felt a little squeamish. What was he planning to do with them?

"So far, only two of you have passed the first test," he stated simply.

Whispers spread through the group. Test? What test? Ironically, one of the girls from the back had asked that same question.

Master Fu smiled, he knew something the others didn't.

"You will all figure it out soon enough. Now, let's begin." Pointing at each Charm in turn, he assigned them to different stations. Marinette and Nathanael were the last ones to be assigned. Master Fu smiled at the two of them.

"You two get a very special opportunity." He gestured with his cane to the rack of weapons. "Choose your weapon, and choose wisely. It will be the thing that will protect you the most."

Marinette blinked. "But we were told that nobody would die this year."

Master Fu's expression changed into something that Marinette couldn't read very well. Was it shock? Pride? Unsurety?

"That is up to you. Until then, prepare yourself. You never know what you will face in the Arena."

Marinette, out of the corner of her eye, saw Nathanael swallow nervously. That wasn't a good sign. If Nathanael was scared, there was a good reason for it.

Master Fu gestured to the racks once more. "You may be scared," he said quietly. "It's not against the rules to be, but don't let it take over you. Strive with an open heart and mind and you will succeed. Push through your fear and embrace the opportunity."

Setting her jaw, Marinette stood up straighter. She held out her hand, extending it to Nathan. Without question, he took it.

Marinette's strength was renewed. If she had someone by her side, she could so anything -- anything and everything.

* * *

For the next few days, Adrien watched the Charms train. His father had ordered that he should do so, and there was no escaping that, so Adrien embraced it.

At first, it had felt like a punishment, but the more he stayed, the more he began to enjoy rooting for the Charms. Besides, it was always interesting to watch "Queen Bee" Chloe get beat up by "Eagle" Kim or "Snake" Ivan. It was cool to watch the Charms wrestle, make fires, scramble up the climbing wall, even spider crawl through the ropes course.

Their trainer, Master Fu, was an interesting character to watch as well. Though he seemed old and couldn't move very well, he was surprisingly agile. He could catch Charms as they fell from the monkey bars. He would sprint, catch them, then set them on their feet and walk away like it was no big deal. Adrien had always found those times entertaining.

He did have his eye most repeatedly on one person, though. Sure, the other Charms were awesome, but none compared to "Ladybug" Marinette.

In the beginning, she had been falling left and right. She couldn't shoot a bow, climb a tree, or even tie a knot. As the days passed, however, she had become remarkably good at all fo the above.

He also noticed that she was incredibly close to the "Fox" Charm. What was his name? Daniel? Nathan? Nathanael, that was it. Marinette seemed to be friends with him, but he sensed that maybe Nathanael wanted it to be something more. Did Adrien even stand a chance?

His favorite thing to watch Marinette do was combat fight and wrestle. With any weapon, she could take someone down on the wrestling mat. Day one, she got bruises, but by day four, she was giving them. She was so amazing that-

"Adrien." Natalie had walked out onto the balcony without him noticing. "Your father is here to speak with you."

That made him quickly get to his feet and straighten his posture. President Agreste stepped out onto the luxury balcony, looking around the training room, then at his son.

"How long have you been sitting here?" He asked sharply.

Adrien lowered his head. "About an hour and a half."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. He walked to the edge of the balcony, resting one hand on the railing. He studied the Charms with a harsh gaze.

"You're not picking favorites, are you?"

Adrien swallowed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "No, why do you ask?"

President Agreste looked over at his son suspiciously. "Obviously, one does not come to watch Charms train for hours on end if that certain person does not have any interest in someone. I may require you to watch the Charms train, but not for hours."

"Yes, Father..." he eventually replied, trying to not to sound aggravated or disappointed.

"I want you out in public in one hour, do you understand?" His father asked seriously.

Bowing his head, Adrien responded: "Yes."

"Good." President Agreste was about to leave, but he turned back. "And Adrien, no picking favorites."

Then, he was gone.

Adrien looked out at Marinette taking down the "Eagle" Charm on the mat. If he couldn't choose favorites, Chat Noir would.