(A/N: This is the first of many original chapters that are connected to the story happening in this crossover. In this one, it properly introduces two reoccurring characters that will play vital parts throughout the story from here on out. So keep an eye out for scenes involving these characters in later chapters.)

(Italics: Troll)

It was now the day after Nino's second appearance on 'The Challenge'; he obviously won again; and Marinette was now in her room working on her Troll. During the week since she first started learning the language, Marinette surprisingly picked it up quickly with Tikki's tutoring and the assistance Jim had given her for the cipher. Granted, she still had a long way to go in being able to hold herself in a conversation with the language, but she was getting there.

"Now repeat after me: Can you show me where the arena is?" Tikki recited in Troll, her accent perfect as she demonstrated the words for Marinette.

"Okay. Can you show me where the marinea is? " Marinette repeated for the third time that day, accidently mispronouncing one of the words...again.

"Oooh, you were so close. You only mistook 'arena' for 'marinea'. But it is a massive improvement from earlier." Tikki corrected, praising her holder for the progress she was making.

"Ugh, reading Troll is proving to be easier to do than speaking it." Marinette groaned, slamming her head against her desk out of frustration. At least the symbols were easy to remember... but the language was a pain to learn.

"Even then, let's try it one more time before calling it a day. Deal?" Tikki offered, causing Marinette to sigh and look up from her desk as she looked back at her kwami/tutor.

"Fine by me." Marinette sighed out, hoping to get it right this time so she could take a break.

"Okay, listen carefully this time. Can you show me where the arena is? " Tikki repeated, taking the time to articulate the words this time.

"Can you show me where the arena is?" Marinette recited, finally getting the sentence right.

"Excellent, Marinette! You finally got it!" Tikki praised, flipping in the air as she celebrated.

"Thanks Tikki! I'm just glad that this didn't take as many tries as 'Greetings, I am Ladybug. It is a pleasure to meet you.'." Marinette sighed out in accomplishment, leaning back in her chair as she finally relaxed for the day. "At least I unintentionally learned how to threaten a Troll when learning how to pronounce that one. It might come in handy." the designer smirked, happy to have a new verbal remark in her arsenal for the future.

"Let's hope that possibility doesn't come up too soon, though. You still have a long way to go." Tikki voiced as she watched Marinette pull out 'A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore' from the book holder next to her computer.

"You said it." Marinette agreed. "But I meant what I said before. Reading from the language is easier than speaking it." she admitted as she opened the book, which landed on depiction of the Changelings as they fought against the good Trolls.

"So these are the Changelings. The trolls that can change into humans." Marinette spoke aloud, taking the time to fully analyze the shapeshifters in the book, seeing as the only Changeling she had seen was Nomura.

"Yes. Like Blinky said, the Janus Order had done many horrific things to create the Changelings. And they've used that skill for numerous nasty deeds in Gunmar's name." Tikki elaborated as she flew over to Marinette and sat on her shoulder to look down at the pages she was looking at, her voice filled with disdain as she spoke of the Changelings. However, Marinette could feel the seething rage her kwami was burying as she kept glaring at the pictures.

"Is this bringing up bad memories?" Marinette asked her kwami, giving Tikki a worried glance as she spoke.

"Yes. Especially since it connects to... her." Tikki admitted as she looked down at the ground when mentioning... 'her'.

"I know that you don't like talking about Sphinx for what she did, but what was she like when you worked with her? She must have been nice if she held the Black Cat Miraculous, right?" Marinette questioned, wanting to know more about Sphinx before she made any decisions in regards to having a vendetta against her. Well, more of one than she already had since she hurt Tikki so much.

"She was. She and Maal were like sisters, always sticking together and having each other's backs." Tikki revealed with a fond look in her eyes as she reminisced on the past. "You want to know something... she actually had a huge sweet tooth while Maal was more inclined to fermented foods. So when it came to recharging after battles, she had the food I liked and Maal had the food Plagg liked." the black-spotted kwami gushed, a bright smile at the fun memory.

"That must have been a pain in the heat of battle." Marinette remarked, envisioning the very scenario in her minds eye and finding it tricky for Maal and Sphinx to work with.

"Believe it or not, it wasn't. They made it work. And Sphinx always had the best jelly tarts to snack on." Tikki replied, licking her lips as she remembered the taste of the treats Sphinx kept on her person.

'She said her name that time.' Marinette observed in her thoughts, taking notice of Tikki's ease at the mention. "So there was a time that you and her got along?" the designer asked, using her kwami's ease to learn a bit more about their relationship.

"There was. Which made her betrayal even more hurtful." Tikki sighed, the happy shine in her eyes dying down as she remembered that fateful day. "I didn't just lose my holder that day, I also lost two good friends." the red kwami sadly admitted, tears slipping through her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Tikki." Marinette apologized as she gently took her kwami into her hands and brought her to her cheek to hug her. With the display of affection, Tikki returned the hug as she wiped her tears away.

"I'm fine. It was a long time ago." Tikki assured her holder. "Now she's a Changeling, and our enemy. So it means that she will be shown no mercy if we ever come across her." the kwami seethed as Marinette broke the hug between them and held her to her eye level.

"If that day ever comes, I'll give her heck for what she's done." Marinette promised, now deciding to avenge her kwami as well as take out the danger to the world that Sphinx was.

"Thank you, Marinette." Tikki thanked with a smile, clearing up the last of her tears.

"But I do have one question." Marinette began, hoping to touch on one last thing before leaving well enough alone. Thankfully, Tikki seemed to be willing and nodded to her holder to continue. "I know the Changelings have used their shape shifting power for evil...but is there a way for me and Chat Noir to use the same trick to our advantage?" the designer asked, much to Tikki's surprise if her widened eyes were any indication.

"What do you mean?" Tikki questioned, a little worried about the answer.

"I mean... is there a way for us to use some type of disguise magic outside of the Miraculous to prevent Troll-Kind threats from finding us easily?" Marinette elaborated, easing Tikki's worries.

"There are actually many types of non-Changeling disguise magic that the Trolls use. From the Glamour Mask that allows the wearer to turn into whoever they choose, to just simple spells that prevent others from recognising the affected party." Tikki explained, revealing her knowledge of the numerous ways Trolls kept themselves secret. "But something tells me that you might need something more... unique?" the red kwami observed, knowing that Marinette wouldn't ask unless she already had something in mind.

"I was thinking of something that has more than one disguise at its disposal. You know, a disguise that can serve as a persona amongst the Trolls, and a second disguise that can prevent my identity from being found out." Marinette admitted, laying out her idea in hopes for Tikki to have the answer to executing it.

"I'm not sure there is such a thing, Marinette." Tikki brought up, not thinking of anything that would come close to what Marientte was describing. "But it has been a while since I was among the Trolls. It is possible for them to have discovered more ways to disguise themselves." the black spotted kwami reflected, knowing that there would always be Trolls thinking of new ways to keep themselves hidden.

"We could go down there and find out. I still have some money from the first time we went to Stone Arc." Marinette suggested as she got up from her chair and walked over to her designing nook, prompting Tikki to begin floating in the air as she watched her holder.

"It will probably cost a lot more than what you've got. Disguises are coveted amongst the Trolls since they take every precaution to keep their existence a secret." Tikki brought up as Marinette dug around to find the remaining money she had and her Horngazel, pocketing them in her purse after grabbing it.

"Well, we'll just have to hope for the best. And if it's not possible that way, I still am a Miraculous Holder, who's to say I can't get it for free?" Marinette said, much to Tikki's annoyance.

"Marinette, that is not... alright, I suppose that you're right." she grumbled.

Following that, Marinette changed from her pajamas and into her casual clothes, putting on her purse to finish off the look. Once she was ready, Marientte climbed up to her balcony and shouted..."Tikki, spots on!" The shower of sparkles soon covered her body and transformed her into Ladybug.

Now in her spotted uniform, Ladybug threw her yo-yo out towards Notre Dame, where it hooked onto one of the numerous gargoyle statues carved into the cathedral. Once it locked onto the statue, Ladybug gave her yo-yo string a hard tug and soon flew over the Seine to land in the vicinity of the entrance to Stone Arc. Touching down, Ladybug retracted her weapon and opened it up to get her Horngazel out of it before placing it back on her waist as she walked over to the alcove that contained the hidden entrance. With a swift stab of the crystal into the alcove wall, the spotted heroine drew the doorway outline with practiced ease and activated the magic to allow her entrance into the stairway.

Once the entrance closed up behind Ladybug after she put her Horngazel away, the cavern was plunged into darkness before the red crystals surrounding the space lit up and guided her to the stairs leading to the Trollmarket. As she descended the cavernous stairway once more, Ladybug couldn't help being left in awe that she was climbing down a crystal staircase down into the hidden city of Stone Arc. Granted it wasn't the first time, but every time felt like it to her. Soon enough, she made it to the bottom and walked out to the observation area of the staircase entrance to gaze out at the wondrous city of Trolls below her.

"Okay, here goes nothing. Let's find a disguise!" Ladybug announced before heading over to the next set of stairs that led to the actual market, hoping to find what she was looking for.

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(Earlier that morning)

On the other side of the Seine and across from the cathedral, a young girl had just jumped down a fire escape on an apartment building, pale orange headphones blaring music as she landed on the ground.

She was around eight to nine years of age, with thick and very curly snow white hair kept in a high ponytail to her shoulders. Her skin was the tone of a warm chestnut that paired well with her round amber brown eyes and heart shaped face, which made her look like an innocent angel to the untrained eye. The girl's body type was slightly stocky, but mostly skinny with toned arms and legs as she stood a strong 1.2 meters/3.9 feet high. To top it all off, her attire was a simple light orange short sleeved t-shirt, paired with dark gray jeans with rips at the knee. The look was finished off with light orange sneakers, and a white backpack painted to look like a Japanese sunset adorning her back.

"Good job, Rayla. You've broken your record." the girl, now revealed to be Rayla, muttered to herself as she pulled out her phone and stopped her running timer. With her feet on the ground, Rayla looked around to make sure she wasn't seen and pushed the ladder she climbed down to lock back into place to get rid of any evidence of her escape.

"Now all that's left is to make it to Stone Arc." The white-haired girl spoke out loud as she gripped her bag straps and began walking towards Notre-Dame. As she walked, Rayla began to reminisce on the events that lead to her current expedition.

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(Flashback)

The day before Rayla's escape, in a highrise apartment near the Seine, two females of different ages were in the master bedroom of the living space.

The room was of decent size, with bare eggshell painted walls paired off with dark oak wood floors, and a deep emerald green accent panel wall behind a charcoal coloured fabric bed frame. One of the walls, however, was a wall of black tinted windows that allowed natural light to stream into the room, with dark emerald green curtains pulled back to let the light come in undisturbed. A duvet cover and throw pillows of the same color as the accent wall decorated the bed, while sheets alongside pillows and a thick blanket of cream white added a bit of contrast to the dark colors. Across from the bed was a fireplace with a darkstone hearth and a pile of firewood in a small golden cradle next to it, while two dark oak nightstands flanked the bed.

On either side of the fireplace were two doors. The one closest to the windows led to a walk-in-closet, while the one closest to the room exit was the master bathroom. A gold framed mirror sat next to the closet door, with two dark wood lamps with cream-white lampshades sat on top of the nightstands to provide light when night fell. To finish the room off, there were dark oak beams in the vaulted ceiling of the bedroom, a cream-white faux fur rug in the space between the fireplace, and a dark emerald green ottoman in front of the bed. All in all, the room was very homey and warm to be in. The first and youngest of the two in the room was Rayla, who was watching the older female and her caretaker, Artemis, as she prepared to go on a trip. But Rayla was not very happy as she watched Artemis work.

"You're going to be gone for long?" Rayla questioned her caretaker, sitting on the older female's bed while Artemis rummaged through her closet.

"I'll only be gone for three days, Rayla. It's not even one of my longest trips." Artemis replied as she kept looking for things she needed in her less than organized closet.

"I know. But you could take me with you this time. Save you the trouble of having to hire a babysitter that won't last the whole three days." Rayla offered with a smirk on her lips, wearing a white T-shirt under a gray jacket with orange pajama bottoms as her comfy clothes.

"How many times do I have to tell you: 'Stop tormenting your babysitters'!"Artemis scolded her as she walked out of the closet. "I'm running low on options when you're constantly doing that." the older female reminded with a scowl as she exited her closet.

Once Artemis was out of the closet, Rayla could clearly see her caretaker in her full glory. Her thick graying mahogany brown hair was kept in a simple braid behind her back, the length going to her thighs when braided. With her hair pulled back from her diamond shaped face, it allowed Artemis's almond shaped sea green eyes to sparkle in the midday light, and illuminate the small scar on the corner of her left eye. Her skin tone was that of a tanned peach, with small scars scattered along her muscled hourglass shaped figure and long legs, which make her stand at 2 meters/6.5 feet in height. Her current attire only consisted of a baggy knitted teal sweater, and black leggings, keeping it cozy and simple as she prepared her bag for her trip.

"I'll stop if you take me with you." Rayla reiterated, rearranging herself to lay on her stomach on the soft bed, lifting her legs to coyly sway them side-to-side.

"I'm going to Bavaria, Rayla. You hate going there." Artemis pointed out, an accusatory eyebrow raised at her ward as she placed her toiletry case into her travel bag.

"Yeah, but anything is better than being cooped up in this house all the time!" Rayla groaned, flopping over to lay on her back and spreading herself out like a starfish as she looked up at the ceiling. "It's not fair that you get to go to so many cool places, while I have to stay here with babysitters that bore me to death." the eight-year-old complained, not seeing the point in her needing to stay home when it was a simple trip that Artemis was taking.

"It's for your own safety. You know full well that who I'm meeting with is not someone to be trifled with." Artemis berated Rayla, standing in front of the child with her hands on her hips and a stoney expression on her face. "I can't risk your safety. You're still just a child." the older female said, reaffirming to Rayla her decision on the matter.

"I'm eight years old!" Rayla exclaimed, rising up from the bed and turning to face Artemis as she tried to convince her to change her mind.

"That's the age of a child, Rayla. And I'm not going to risk your safety just so you can be entertained." Artemis repeated, not backing down in her decision.

"You taught me how to defend myself! What would be the point if I never get to use those skills?" Rayla angrily questioned her caretaker, crossing her arms in front of her chest and hunching in on herself as she looked away from Artemis in her tantrum. At the sight of her ward's anger, Artemis sighed and sat down on the ottoman in front of her bed, placing a comforting hand on Rayla's bicep.

"An adult could still knock you out if you're not careful, and just because you can somewhat fight, doesn't mean you need to Rayla." Artemis reminded her ward, causing the eight-year-old to look back over at her and forget her anger for a moment. "Please understand that this is the only way I can assure your safety. If it were anywhere else or any of my other least dangerous contacts, I'd take you with me." the older woman said as Rayla's angry posture started to soften at her words.

"Yeah, I know." Rayla replied, a tone of resignation in her voice as she uncrossed her arms and allowed Artemis to pull her in for a hug.

"You are staying here, with a sitter, and that's final. But once I get back, we can talk about you getting out of the house more often." Artemis offered, hoping that it would appease Rayla's impatience a little longer.

"Fine. I'll stay put." Rayla grumbled, still feeling the need to act a little stroppy with Artemis, but only hugged her tighter. It wasn't much... but it was a start.

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(Flashback ended)

Rayla smiled to herself as she made it to the bridge linking Notre Dame to the bank of the Seine, passing by her second favorite cafe that her and Artemis usually dined in on occasion. After she went in to buy a pastry and hot chocolate for breakfast, Rayla crossed the bridge, and was soon greeted by a buzzing noise from her bag. Slipping her arms out of the straps, she opened her front pocket and found her phone was the source of the noise as it buzzed with an unknown number on her screen.

"Looks like the babysitter finally noticed I wasn't in my room anymore. Took her long enough." Rayla thought as she declined the call, allowing the alert to disappear and reveal her lock screen photo. It was of Artemis and Rayla as they leaned into each other so they could fit into the frame of the photo, big smiles as they were sitting in a cafe booth.

"I did say I'd stay put, Artemis... but I didn't say for how long." the eight-year-old muttered to herself, smirking at the photo before she put her phone back into the bag and zipped it back up to continue making her way to Stone Arc.

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(Flashback)

Despite her promise, Rayla was already bored out of her mind. Artemis had already left that morning before and had left her in her newest babysitter's care. Her babysitter, Elana Ferndale, was a highschool senior who was not bad in terms of taking care of her, but didn't have much imagination for activities that could keep an eight-year-old like Rayla occupied. They did connect a bit when Elana discovered Rayla's talent for art when she was working on a very realistic portrait of Artemis practicing her bo-staff fighting. Seeing the painting in progress, Elana found her work quite beautiful, praising Rayla that her skills were amazing. Fortunately for Elana, she had taken a few art classes and was able to give Rayla a few tips on her line work. However, it still didn't convince Rayla to not cause any trouble.

The reason why Rayla went through so many babysitters was that she purposely made their lives a living Hell when they were taking care of her. From pulling pranks on them, to running off to who knows where whenever she felt like it, Rayla had gained a reputation among Paris's babysitter community as a bit of a demon child. Thankfully for Artemis, Elana hadn't heard of the misdeeds Rayla had done, which was a saving grace for the eight-year-old's caretaker. But after being on her best behavior for a day, Rayla was itching to break away from her somewhat entertaining babysitter. However, she decided to wait until the next day before doing so, wanting to enjoy the remaining time with her sitter out of respect.

So it led to them occupying the kitchen of the apartment as they ate the diner Elana had prepared for them. The space itself followed the theme of rustic modern, with dark oak floors and white granite countertops placed onto black wood cupboards in both the island and the ones along the wall. A black metal, eight burner oven was set in the middle of the cupboards along the wall, while above the cupboards on the wall were free floating cabinets of the same color as the ones below. The waterfall countertop island in the middle of the kitchen was fitted with a farmhouse sink, and had enough space to sit six people, while a black metal oven hood rested above the oven.

A fridge of the same metal as the oven sat at the end of the cupboards closest to the apartment door, with a fully stocked pantry on the other side of them. Hanging from the ceiling above the island, were brown tinted glass pendant lights with warm tube light bulbs. Off to the side of the pantry, was a dining area with a round table made of dark oak with chairs of the same wood and white upholstery surrounding it. Meanwhile, a larger version of the pendant lights above the kitchen island was hung above the table to add more light to the corner of the area. To finish off the kitchen, six high-legged versions of the dining table's chairs were placed on the side of the island facing the living room.

"So, do you want to watch a movie?" Elana asked Rayla after they cleaned up the dishes used for their dinner.

"I'm actually pretty beat. I'm going to head to bed." Rayla yawned out, stretching her arms above her head to get rid of any stiffness in her back.

"Oh, okay. Do you want me to read you a story?" Elana questioned as she put the last of the dishes away.

"I'm good, but thanks." Rayla assured as she made her way to her room, looking forward to a good night's rest before the next day. "Goodnight, Elana." the eight-year-old said after she reached her door and turned to face her babysitter.

"Goodnight, Rayla." Elana replied, watching Rayla enter her room. Once the door was closed, Rayla sighed to herself in exhaustion as she leaned against the door and took in her room.

It was just across the hall from Artemis's room, and had a similar color scheme to it, swapping out the dark emerald for dark teal. The layout in terms of furniture, ceiling beams, the closet, bathroom and fireplace were the same, save for the room being smaller than the master bedroom and the windows being on the left side of the bed. But it differed more from Artemis's room with the loft area above Rayla's bed where her painting area resided, a staircase being the only normal way up to it. The accent wall behind her bed was of a mural of a beautiful tree with hanging gold lanterns, instead of the panel wall Artemis had.

Her bed's color scheme was, however, a swapped version of Artemis', leading to the duvet and throw pillows to be cream white, while the sheets with pillows and thick blanket were a dark teal. To finish her room off, she also had a potted tree next to the nightstand on the left side of her bed, and a book reading nook next to her bed under the loft area, with a dark oak indoor hanging chair in the center. But Rayla was more concerned with her growing boredom as she trudged over to her bed.

"Ugh, I need to get out of here!" Rayla groaned before flopping face-first onto her bed, only moving after she found it difficult to breathe. "First thing tomorrow, I'm heading to Stone Arc." the eight-year-old decided, now having a plan in mind to cure her boredom as quickly as possible.

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(Flashback ended)

Which is exactly what she did the next morning. And soon after getting her breakfast, Rayla made it to the secret entrance to Stone Arc. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her bright orange Horngazel and used it to summon the pathway into the cavern where the stairs led into the secret city. Once the opening in the wall disappeared, allowing the cavern to be bathed in the red glow of the crystals, Rayla placed her bag onto the ground after approaching the edge of the stairwell.

"Now for the fun to begin!" Rayla cheered before she pulled out a gold necklace from underneath her shirt. Upon closer inspection, the only decoration on the necklace was two tear-shaped runestones; one dark orange and the other pale orange with a soft glow around it, fused together with gold plating. Once the necklace was out from under her shirt, Rayla clasped it in her hand, closed her eyes and began concentrating.

As she did, the magic in the rune charm took effect; shifting the soft glow from the pale orange rune to the dark orange rune, and her apprentice began to change. Her once snow-white hair turned coal black, retaining its thick and wavy texture as the style changed from a high ponytail, and into a low ponytail tied up with a white bandana. Round amber eyes changed into vivid green. Her face became an elongated heart shape while her body type and height remained the same, with her skin color darkening into a fiery red and turned into hard stone. Two lower jaw fangs grew from either side of her mouth and poked out past her lips, while two small, gray horns poked out from her hair, and a slightly large pale red nose that went up to her forehead appeared on her face. To finish her transformation, her attire changed as well. A light brown top tucked into dark gray pants to her calves replaced her orange T-shirt and gray jeans while her shoes completely disappeared, leaving them bare. And wrapped around her waist was a dark brown leather belt that held a small knife to defend herself with and a small pouch for personal storage.

When her transformation was done, Rayla turned off her music, took off her headphones and put them in her bag, only to pull out her phone and wallet to place them into her belt's storage pouch. After that, she zipped her bag up and hid it in a crack in the cavern wall. Once she was sure no one would find it, the child shapeshifter turned around to walk over to the red crystal staircase.

"See you later, Rayla. Time for Maray to shine!" the eight-year-old, now in her Maray alias, exclaimed before she began her descent into Stone Arc, eager to have some fun now that she was there.

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(Back to the present)

As Ladybug arrived in Stone Arc, Maray had already been there for quite some time. But after spending a few hours amongst the shop owners of the Trollmarket, Ladybug had come up empty for a means of disguise that fit her requirements. Everytime she went to a stall, it was the same routine: Greeted warmly by the shopkeeper, questioning if they had any disguises that would come close to what she had in mind, only to be directed to the next one in the chain. It was fine for a while, but after three hours it grew tiresome. However, by some miracle her wondering had thankfully led her to a familiar stall and its shopkeeper.

"Hello again, Nox." Ladybug greeted as she walked up to the stall, causing the large dark blue troll and the troll he was talking with to turn and look at her.

"Ah, Mistress Ladybug! So good to see you again!" Nox replied with gusto as Ladybug reached the stall, standing next to the second troll with them. "What brings you back to Stone Arc?" the shopkeeper asked with a smile.

"I came down here to try and find a disguise." Ladybug explained. "Well, at least a magical one I can use outside of my transformations." the spotted heroine elaborated, offering Nox a clearer picture to what she was hoping to find.

"I see. How has it been going?" Nox questioned, hoping that she had some form of luck like her namesake was alleged to have.

"Not very good. I've been looking for three hours and haven't found anything close to what I'm looking for." Ladybug admitted with a sigh of defeat, slumping over a bit as she spoke. "I don't suppose you have anything that might be of use?" the spotted heroine asked Nox, a hopeful spark in her eye.

"I'm afraid not. I don't sell disguises." Nox replied. "My wares consist of the ingredients for spells and potions. Not the actual magic us Trolls frequently use." the dark blue troll elaborated, revealing what he was known for in Stone Arc.

"Oh." Ladybug muttered in disappointment. At the sight of the heroine being upset at the turn of events, Nox knew he needed to offer her some form of help.

"But she knows someone who might have what you're looking for." Nox said as he pointed to the second troll with them, causing Ladybug to turn to her right and see them. Once she did, she was greeted by a starstruck Maray as the young Troll tried and failed to hold in a squeal at the sight of the spotted heroine.

"And who is this?" Ladybug questioned Nox as she bent down to Maray's level, a warm smile on her face.

"I'm Maray! It's so awesome to meet you, Mistress Ladybug!" Maray gushed, reaching her hand out to Ladybug with vivid enthusiasm.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, little one." Ladybug greeted the Troll child, shaking Maray's tiny hand with her own. "Is she your daughter?" the spotted heroine asked Nox, looking back up at him as she rose back to her feet.

"Oh, no, she's not! She's Styx's ward." Nox exclaimed, immediately clearing up that misunderstanding... which only caused more questions to rise in Ladybug's mind in return.

"Styx? As in 'The person one goes to for anything' Styx?" Ladybug asked, making sure she heard right.

"The very same." Nox confirmed with a firm nod. "I've been friends with her for 18 years now, and Maray has been under her care since she was a newborn." the shopkeeper revealed, surprising Ladybug with his confession.

"Wow. So where is she now?" Ladybug wondered aloud, taking notice that the Troll in question wasn't there with them.

"Out of town for a meeting with one of her contacts." Maray explained.

"Yes. And she left Maray with a sitter... which I'm sure she has run away from again." Nox observed as he turned to give Maray a pointed glare with a raised eyebrow at her, causing the eight-year-old to raise her hand up in surrender.

"What can I say? I don't like being left at home when Styx goes out of town." Maray remarked, a smirk on her face as she spoke and lowered her hands.

"How old are you, exactly?" Ladybug asked Maray, a little concerned that she was a minor running around with no supervision.

"She's eight. But she is quite smart for her age, and a right little imp if you ask anyone here." Nox responded with a fond chuckle, knowing full well how much of a handful Maray was when she wanted to be.

"To each their own, Uncle Nox" Maray snarked, causing Nox to roll his eyes at her attitude.

"You'll be singing a different tune when Styx is contacted by your sitter and she comes running back to find you." Nox pointed out to Maray, making her lose her cockiness very quickly. "You know how protective she is of you." the dark blue Troll reminded the eight-year-old.

"Yeah, I know." Maray said, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked to her left, slumping over a bit in her sudden stroppy mood. "And she'll be back soon. The sitter has most likely found out that I snuck out." the Troll child admitted, knowing the routine by heart by now. Seeing how upset Maray was, Ladybug knew she couldn't leave things well enough alone now that she's met the little Troll, and got an idea.

"You know, I could take you back to Styx's stall." Ladybug offered, pulling the two Troll's attention back to her. "That way you won't be in as much trouble as you would be if she went hunting for you." the spotted heroine elaborated, seeming to catch Maray's attention the most if her widening smile was anything to go off of.

"Well, we do have some time before that happens. Why don't I show you around Stone Arc before we head over to Styx's shop?" Maray asked, making an offer of her own so she could spend more time in Ladybug's presence.

"That's sweet of you, Maray. But I've already been given a tour of Stone Arc by Tarnite." Ladybug replied, once again kneeling down to her level as she spoke.

"That's just the standard tour. I'm talking about the caverns on the outskirts of the city, and the hidden gem locations that not many residents know about, Tarnite included." Maray explained, using her hands to add emphasis to her words as she painted the picture in Ladybug's mind.

"I wasn't aware that Stone Arc had such places." Ladybug said, an expression of impressiveness filling her facial features as she imagined the places Maray described.

"Exactly what I'm saying." Maray exclaimed. "So, interested?" the red Troll child asked Ladybug, a questioning eyebrow raised up in the heroine's direction. At the question, Ladybug smiled and nodded her head in response.

"Alright, I'm game. Lead the way." Ladybug told Maray as she rose back up to her full height, making Maray start jumping up and down at her answer. However, Nox was less than entertained by the idea.

"Oh, no you don't!" Nox exclaimed, knowing what Maray was really up to. "You are just trying to stall the inevitable, Maray." the shopkeeper stated to the Troll child, causing her to look back up at Nox.

"Can you blame me, Uncle Nox?" Maray slyly questioned Nox, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

"No." Nox replied, seeing why she would be trying to stall. "But Styx will absolutely murder me if I let you go to the outskirts on your own." the dark blue Troll pointed out to Maray, knowing full well that she was playing with fire with her suggested tour of the city limits.

"But I won't be alone. Ladybug will be with me." Maray rebutted, pointing to the heroine in question.

"Even then, I can't let you go." Nox argued, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned over his stall's front table so his menacing stare was at her eye level.

"Please!" Maray begged, giving the older troll a pleading look.

"Oh boy! Don't you dare give me those eyes!" Nox yelped, backing away as fast as he could when he saw Maray using her go-to move to get him to agree with whatever she wanted to do. And just like every time before, Nox was powerless to it. "Fine, you can go." the shopkeeper relented with a sigh, slumping over in defeat.

"YES! Thank you, Uncle Nox!" Maray cheered, jumping up to give him a great big hug. At the young Troll's bear hug, Nox smiled and returned it, not being able to stay mad at Maray for very long.

"Just make sure you get back safe, okay?" Nox reminded Maray as they broke their hug, hoping that she would stay safe.

"I promise." Maray replied, landing back on her feet after pulling away from the hug completely and grabbed Ladybug's hand. "See you later, Uncle Nox." the red Troll child called out as she pulled Ladybug down the path towards the outskirts of Stone Arc.

"Thanks for your help, Nox!" Ladybug managed to shout out as Maray walked down the path, her following behind once she redirected her gaze to look at the path ahead.

"Now, our tour will begin with the Waterfall Oasis on the west side of Stone Arc. Carved into the rock by the ever flowing waters of the falls." Maray regaled, explaining their first stop while Nox watched them leave with a fond smile.

"That little imp will be the death of me someday." Nox sighed out before he went about restocking his wares, knowing that Maray would be in good hands until Styx found out she had snuck out again. For his and Ladybug's sake, he hoped it was soon.