Master Fu (potion)

Inspired by Master Fu's Maids

Master Fu was an old man way past his prime, he would admit that fully, approaching two centuries in age he was currently the oldest human on earth, however he needed a warrior, he could sense that, unfortunately he could no longer be that warrior. Even more worrisome is that he needed an heir, he still had a decade or two left in him but he had no one he could possibly pass the guardianship onto. If he perished now by some car accident for example it was likely the miraculous would be sold at some auction and scattered to the winds.

He needed an heir but its not like he can rock up to some random person and say I am the sole survivor of a magical cult would you like to join? No he needed to observe them, see if they were of the right character, they needed to be young enough that they can be indoctrinated and a dozen other criteria's that they needed to fit, then they still had the option to say no. He also needed to worry that after he passes his heir doesn't interfere in major human affairs, more than one miraculous wielder sought to found their own nation or dynasty in the past which always led to vast amounts of bloodshed and great instability in that area that could last for decades. It wasn't like there are other members of the Order that could stop them if they suddenly decided they wanted to be ruler of the world or whatever.

His ideal candidate was a young French/Chinese teen named Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a hard working enthusiastic intelligent girl, that took her responsibilities seriously, along with being young enough to easily impress, most importantly he could sense she was a natural fit for the ladybug miraculous. The only real downside was a lack of combat training and experience. She had a few other issues such as her confidence but that could be worked on in training, overall she was a good candidate. Her mother Sabine on the other hand was a trained fighter and much more confident and self assured than her daughter but she was too old to have a hope of indoctrination and she was more of a cat than ladybug.

Or at least traditional indoctrination wouldn't work on Sabine, the thing about knowing magic is real and spending two hundred years looking for the missing miraculous meant that along the way he found many other magical items and knowledge. Including a special potion book from China from the Xia Dynasty, back when magic, real magic was a lot more public and prevalent in every day life.

With one of these potion he could mould the minds of anyone he wished, why search for an ideal candidate when all he had to do was make sure they were a natural for a miraculous and then mould all the other desired traits and remove undesirable ones into the drinker. Such as Marinette's confidence or Sabine's unwillingness to "buy into" the Order.

It also had another advantage, Fu was rich, one does not live for so long and travel the entire world a dozen times over while visiting some of the most ancient and remote spots on the planet looking for magic without a great deal of wealth. He was a secret millionaire, his wealth hidden and divided under numerous identities and banks across the world but he lacked servants. He had earned the right to live comfortably after two centuries of continuous work and hardships and having servants that could take care of all his needs as well as keep his bed warm at night would be killing two birds with one stone.

So, as a "thank you" for Marinette helping him earlier he had come to the bakery, revealing that he owned a local tea house and offered the family a "special" tea as thanks. They initially refused but I insisted and offered to share it with them so they accepted. Suspecting nothing all three drank the "tea", becoming pretty much brain dead, blank faced. Tom was easy to deal with. he was pretty much a worker drone, running the bakery while surrendering the ownership to me, effectively becoming another source of income.

That left the mother and daughter pair as future order members and personal servants there programming would have to be a lot more precise and leave some room for independent thought so when he finally passed on they could actually lead the Order.