Chapter Thirty Four: Radiant, Carefree, Dreamy
I dropped this story almost a year ago because of whatever shit was going on in my life. I couldn’t continue no matter how bad I wanted to. But I always came back to read the comments you all would leave me and every single comment I read just made me so happy I had to come back. If not for myself, but for all of you. You guys have supported me through my entire high school life, and now that I’m almost to graduation, I want to keep writing for you.
So here I am, barely remembering my own fanfiction, forgetting half my ideas, typing in my phone instead of my computer, I present to you…
Marinette forgot about the Akuma the minute she saw Chloé hiding in the supply closet looking like a wreck.
She didn’t know why and how, but she didn’t question the situation. Sometimes you just need to hide.
She offered her hand to the blonde, silently begging she would take it. Chloé did. Her hand was so soft, if it weren’t for the few calluses on her fingers, Marinette would have thought Chloé had never used her hands for anything.
A year ago, she would’ve made a sly comment about the thought in her head, but now all she could think of was how warm Chloé’s hand was. The two stared at each other, leaning closer and closer.
If someone saw them, they would think that the real Ladybug and Noir were about to kiss. They’d be half right.
Suddenly, an overwhelming urge to tell Chloé everything invaded her mind. She was the Guardian, so technically she could keep her Miraculous if someone knew, right?”
She didn’t even get to finish her sentence before an explosion of force knocked her into Chloé and into the wall of the closet.
Rubble and mops rained down around them. Marinette did what she could do to cover Chloé’s body from the rubble. She had been Ladybug so long that some of Tikki’s powers had melted into her—so she wasn’t as likely to get hurt.
Scratch that—having tons of cement and wood fall down on her back definitely bruised a few bones.
“Ladybug! Noir! I found you.”
The voice sent a shiver crawling up her skin. It felt so…slimy.
Marinette shook her head, trying to get dust and rubble off her head, and turn to look towards the voice. Chloé and her stared at the Akuma, who was only just now becoming visual.
The Akuma didn’t have an exact shape, it was a cloud of darkness with a pair of sharp red eyes in the center.
With no mouth, the Akuma’s words came from everywhere like speakers at a movie theater.
Chloé jumped to her feet, feeling a little dizzy from the body slam she received from Marinette.
“We’re not Ladybug and Noir! We’re dressed up for Halloween you stupid cloud!”
Marinette stood behind her, a bit shocked. Even in the Ladybug costume, Chloé looked so much like Noir. her mannerisms, her posture, her speech.
It all hit Marinette like a train.
“What are you talking about? I’m not blind!” The Akuma screamed. “Fury is not blind!”
Fury must be their name. Tikkis voice flooded through Marinette’s mind.
Marinette absentmindedly nodded, forgetting only she could hear the Kwami’s voice.
“To me, Fury is as blind as a bat! And we might not be Ladybug and Noir but we can still kick your ass!” Marinette stepped forward, grabbing her split staff. It might have been made of PVC pipes but she was sure it could do some damage.
She threw the sticks as hard as she could, but before it made contact Fury absorbed them and the cloud only grew larger.
Then it swallowed the two girls.
It was really dark inside the blob.
The void-like jail they were in was empty except for darkness. It was too similar to the void that crazy fan had trapped Parisians in for Marinette’s liking. she still thought about the weird and painful feeling it was to lose her hand.
She and Chloé sat side-by-side, all alone in the dark space. It was empty save for them and a dim light that made it easier to see each other.
As much as she liked being close to Chloé, they needed a way out soon so Marinette could transform.
Chloé sighed next to her. “Of course that stupid Akuma thinks we’re really the heroes. How lucky we are.”
“Don’t worry, Chloé, Noir will definitely come to save us. She’s the hero of Paris after all.” Marinette tried her best to sound upbeat, but she felt helpless. It was her job to protect Paris and its citizens, but she was so easily captured and now unable to fight for her people.
Chloé made a face, “What about Ladybug? She’s been around longer than Noir. Besides, everyone knows she’s the real hero.”
Marinette laughed nervously, trying to smile in a way that didn’t feel so much like a lie.
“Sometimes she seems more like a problem than a hero.” Marinette whispered, so quiet Chloé almost didn’t hear her.
“How could you say that! Ladybug is Paris’s hero! We need her! When has she ever run from a fight, even when the odds are stacked against her!”
“The media paints her as an anti-hero, and what happened to Aurora…!”
Marinette hadn’t spoken about it out loud. She had been so afraid to admit that she had killed someone, her friend!
“Hey,” Chloé placed her hand on Marinette’s. She didn’t ask why Marinette was taking what happened so personally. “What happened was unprecedented, no one knew what would happen.”
“They could’ve saved her. They should have saved her. Ladybug is supposed to fix things, but lately all she’s doing is messing everything up.”
“Sometimes it feels like everything is messed up, but blame gets us nowhere. Believe me, I’ve spent most of my life blaming others for my mistakes. You, Ladybug, my dad, the class. But I only ever had myself to blame. Take it in, and let it go. We have to look forward to move on.” Chloé gave her an odd smile. “Besides, what happened to Aurore was definitely not your fault. Even if you’re an Everyday Ladybug you couldn’t have done anything.”
“You’re right,” Marinette felt exhausted all of a sudden. “But sometimes it feels like I can’t move forward. Like I’m just messing up over and over again. I’m stuck.”
Marinette didn’t even realize she stopped saying “Ladybug.”
Their Akuma prison shook suddenly, like something outside was attacking. Suddenly, the void exploded and the girls fell.
Marinette didn’t scream, but Chloé did. The blonde was screaming like a banshee, arms waving wildly and eyes shut tight. Marinette struggled in the air, trying to think of a solution that would get them both out alive.
She was a little above Chloé, all the blonde’s struggling made her fall faster. She couldn’t transform unless she wanted to reveal her identity—but she would if it meant saving Chloé.
All of Paris would know her secret, but all that really mattered to her was that Chloé was safe.
The decision only took a moment of her time. But really, there was never another answer. Only this. Only her.
“Tikki!“ Marinette called out. “Spots—“
“Marinette! My princess!”
Arms grabbed her before she hit the ground, holding her painfully tight.
She wasn’t scared plummeting from the sky, but the sickly sweet smell of Adrien Agreste perfume made her heart tighten in her chest.
Marinette vividly recalled how she would spray the perfume all over her, uncaring that it stank and felt so sticky on her skin. She had wanted to smell like the person she thought she loved. But it was just an obsession she had fought hard to get over.
Smelling the scent, she would’ve rather become a pancake on the sidewalk.
“I’m saving you!” He looked down at the damsel in his arms, how scared she must have been without him.
The look on her face was one of pure terror she was sure. Marinette needed to scream, needed to let the painful hurt out of her throat. But when she opened her mouth, no sound came out.
She’d had so many n dreams about Adrien whisking her away smelling of boy sweat and air freshener, but recently those dreams turned to nightmares.
Adrien smiled at his catch of the day, landing carefully on the closest roof. But he didn’t make any move to drop Marinette.
“Now that I’ve got you, I have to say I’m digging the costume. It’s nice to know I’m appreciated even if I don’t have my Miraculous!”
Marinette finally managed to push herself out of her arms and stumbled away from the person she once thought she would spend her life with.
She wanted to respond with a snide comment about how she was dressed as the real hero, but her mouth wouldn’t open. She was utterly and completely mute just seeing him.
Adrien was dressed in head to toe black, an almost exact copy of his suit as Chat Noir. The only difference was the absence of power one could feel simply by being close to a wielded.
Once upon a time she would have smiled and giggled and stuttered over her words. He had always had this power over her. Even before she was afraid of his every movement.
She still vividly remembered the day she found out he knew about Lila’s bullshit. She hated the sick feeling that overcame her as he told her to stay quiet about the girl’s bullying, as she nodded obediently to him. She hated the relief that had flooded through her system when he smiled at her, teeth sharp and white.
Now in front of him again, face to face for the first time in a long time, she still couldn't express herself.
Noir would have smacked him upside the head.
Chloé would have flipped her hair and insulted him until he cried.
Even Ladybug would’ve been able to do something.
Terrified and cowardly, Marinette shrank in on herself as his eyes roamed her body.
She shrank and shrank until she felt outside of her body, but she was yanked violently back in when she heard the horrible sound of bones breaking.
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