4: MANA
The showers were empty and dark. Marinette wished she was in bed but instead she watched as the bags formed under her eyes. The Book of Creation sat on the counter spread open. Tikki floated close to Marinette's face. She encouraged her to try the spell again. Marinette ran her fingers through her bangs and huffed. Tikki patted Marinette's hand.
"I know you're tired," Tikki said, her tone gentle, "but you're made so much progress. You're almost there. I can feel it."
Marinette couldn't tell if Tikki was being honest or if she just wanted the session to be over as much as Marinette did. Marinette tried again. The language of the Fae tumbled off her tongue. Marinette growled. Tikki repeated the spell. Marinette sighed, repeating after Tikki.
A bright light flashed from the book.
When the light faded out Tikki was gone. Marinette whispered for Tikki before her reflection caught her attention. Her eyes glowed blue lighting up the red mask around her eyes. The material of her red and black gown was weightless. She wouldn't look out of place at a masquerade, except for the lack of shoes. Marinette turned a couple times. The dress and mask were covered in polka dots. Marinette's hair was darker and longer, but still in pigtails. Her body felt lighter almost weightless. Her feet didn't even touch the ground.
Marinette picked up the Book of Creation. The former illegible scribbles were now spells dancing across the page. The language of the Fae was beautiful. Her head filled with knowledge about the spells, when they were created, what they did, things Marinette wouldn't know. A warmth filled her. She felt at peace. The warm fuzziness brought Tikki to mind. Marinette looked around. Where was Tikki? Marinette didn't feel like Tkki was gone, in fact she felt closer to her than ever.
Had she merged with Tikki?
She had. Something told Marinette she had.
Satisfied with her progress, Marinette was ready to return to normal. She readied her lips for the detransformation. Panic rose in her stomach. She couldn't remember the words to undo the spell. She took a deep breath. It was a simple spell, only two words. A wave of spells rushed through her head.
What?
The wave returned. The spells clattered against each other creating a cacophony of sounds. The spell she needed was in there, but she couldn't locate it. There was too much information to sort through. The room started to shrink. Marinette flew out.
Another cold night, Alya rubbed her hands together. Autumn was around the corner. Alya picked up her camera and moved in close to Nino. She adjusted her glasses, peering out of the bushes for any sign of the allusive Black Mage. He hadn't been seen since his rendezvous with Marinette on the roof. Now more than ever, Alya needed to snap a picture of him. Max was still in the process of setting up his broadcast, they hadn't even decided on a name yet. Alya wanted the first issue of the newspaper to include something big that none of the students had seen before and the Black Mage seemed like the perfect opportunity for that.
Maybe if Marinette was with them he'd show up. It was too bad she was off studying. That still left Nino and Adrien to help Alya though. Nino's arms engulfed Alya in a cocoon of warmth and his scent. Adrien was sitting next to them. Alya looked over at him. Even wearing his jacket and gloves, Adrien was shivering.
"You can huddle with us, if you're that cold," Alya said.
"Yea," Nino said, "I can keep both your bodies warm."
Adrien looked away, his ears red. Alya held in a laugh.
"Isn't it kind of embarrassing to sit like that?" Adrien said.
"The embarrassment is part of the warmth," Alya said, "another part is combined body heat."
"And then there's attraction," Nino said, resting his chin on Alya's head.
"Shut up, Nino," Alya said. He hugged her a bit tighter.
Adrien scooted in. He didn't look directly at them. Alya opened her mouth to say something, but a movement caught her eye. She turned to see a fairy like figure draped in red. She was floating - no, flying judging by her wings. Alya jumped up, bumping her head on Nino's chin. She stumbled out of the bushes and moved towards her. The fairy stared at Alya for a moment before saying something. The language that rolled off her lips sounded a lot like the Black Mage's language. Wasn't there another mage that students claimed to see around campus? Alya thought for a second before the answer came to her. This person had to be the Red Mage. She stayed just long enough for Alya to snap a picture. She flew spun around and flew through a wall. Alya ran after, stopping just before the wall.
"Beautiful," was the only word Alya could think at the time.
Marinette hovered above the school roof. She was in the same place where she'd met the black mage two weeks prior. There was no sign of him though. Marinette frowned. She'd wanted to see him again, but he hadn't made any recent appearances. She landed on the roof, feeling oddly heavy. Marinette shook her head, there were more important matters at the moment.
Marinette remembered Tikki telling her not to use too much magic in her new form, otherwise she'd turn back normal. Marinette flipped the book open. She scanned the pages before she started reading off spells. With each spell, Marinette could feel the magic draining from her. She could feel the transformation starting to break up. Marinette flew down and located her dorm. As the transformation ended, Marinette landed in her bed.
Marinette woke up to knocking on the door. Chloe was still asleep. It seemed Chloe could sleep through anything. Marinette answered the door. Her team was waiting for her. They were getting together for an early morning training session. Marinette ducked back to get changed. While she got dressed Marinette examined her arm. The bandages were beginning to get dingy. She unwrapped the bandages and was surprised that the pattern left by the lightning strike was still there. The marks danced up her arm like the branches of a tree. The nurse said, the marks usually only lasted a few hours to a few days. Maybe because it was magical lightning it's marks lasted longer. Well it didn't hurt, though Marinette wasn't sure if that was because it'd healed and was now a scar or because of the Black Mage's absorption of her pain, so Marinette decided she didn't need the bandages anymore. Marinette put on a sports bra, a pair of shorts, and her boots then joined her team in the hall.
"How was the stakeout?" Marinette said, "Did you see the Black Mage?"
"Nope," Alya said with a smile, "but we did see the Red Mage."
"Really?" Marinette said, "How was that?"
"Beautiful," Adrien said in a tone that made Marinette's breath catch in her throat, "she was unreal." Adrien seemed to be thinking, maybe he was remembering something. He shifted his attention back to Marinette. "She reminded me of you."
"Me?" Marinette said, wondering if she'd been busted so soon, "How so?"
"Well, because..." Adrien's face went red, "you're beautiful."
"Whoa," Alya said, "that was slick."
Nino agreed. The two began teasing him. Marinette's mind wandered to a conversation she'd had with Nino, not too long ago. Nino wanted to know what Marinette would think if one of her team mates had a crush on her. The thought of it had been stewing in the back of her mind. She ran through the scenarios over and over again in her head. For example, if Adrien had a crush on her... She didn't think he did, but if Adrien did have a crush on her then she'd be flattered and she'd think it was super cute. What if he wanted to date her though? That's where she got stuck. If he wanted to date her, she wouldn't mind dating him, but could she make him happy? She didn't have romantic feelings for Adrien he was like a kitten she wanted to take care of. There was something about him that made her want to protect him. Maybe it was the loving smile he always gave her or that overwhelming sadness in his eyes.
She came back to reality, where Nino and Alya were still teasing Adrien.
"Hey," Marinette said, "be nice."
"I'm always nice," they both said at the same time.
Marinette laughed.
She linked arms with the two and they went off to the training area.
Alya adjusted her notebook and started jotting down notes about the two mages of Sunstone Academy. She wanted to write a big exciting article about them. Besides rumors there wasn't much information about them. She now had photographic proof of the existence of one of them, but there were so many other questions. What was their purpose? Were they some kind of mystic beings or were they students? She needed to find out more information. Maybe Max knew something.
Alya looked up to see her team training. Today it seemed the focus was on fighting, they often alternated between having a body suited for magic and actually using magic. In attempt to figure out his magic style, Nino had Adrien choose an object to focus magic through. He said every battle ready mage had at least one object to they used with magic. Marinette had her endless spool of wire, Alix had her skates, and Nathaniel had his paintbrush. Alya agreed. She had three items after all. Alya didn't know Nino's object, but she assumed it had something to do with music. Adrien chose a fencing sword and had been working with it.
Marinette and Nino were on the same beat. When the two of the sparred it was more like a dance than a fight. Part of her wished the two would kiss already. Another part of her was getting a lot of joy out of watching the two. She'd never found two people fighting so attractive before. The other part of her was envious. The two of them fit so well together. She doubted she'd ever find that.
As Marinette started a sparring session with Adrien, Nino walked over for some water. Alya looked down at her notepad. There was barely anything written there.
"You should join us," Nino said.
"I would, but I'm working on an important article," Alya said.
"Yea?" Nino said looking down at the notepad, "there's barely anything written there."
"There's plenty," Alya said, "besides I'd have more if you weren't so distracting."
"I'm distracting?" Nino said rubbing the back of his neck.
"And annoying," Alya said.
Nino smiled before heading back over to the others. What was he so happy about?
Alya went back to working on her notes. There was so much she didn't know. Maybe Max could giver her some information on those two.
"You should join us," Marinette said sitting down next to Alya.
"I would but-"
"You're working on an article?" Marinette said.
"Yea," Alya said.
"Did Nino put you in a bad mood again?" Marinette said.
"No," Alya said, "my thoughts don't revolve around Nino. I'm just focusing hard."
"But he's distracting you?" Marinette said. Alya denied Nino distracting her. Marinette laughed. "You two should kiss already."
"You're the ones who should kiss," Alya said turning toward Marinette. Marinette was closer than Alya had realized. Alya could feel Marinette's breath on her face. They were close enough to...
Alya turned away. Marinette's hand flew to her mouth.
"Sorry," Marinette said. Before Alya could respond Marinette was running back to Adrien and Nino.
When they finished sparring, they all came to sit by Alya. Today they were going against SMACK for the class tournament. Alya was ready, she was super excited for a good fight. Nino said they needed to be careful if they wanted to win. They had more power, more team mates, and they had both Max and Sabrina for planning. Alya didn't care if they lost or won, she just wanted a good fight. Nino seemed amused by that. Either way, they'd spent a lot of time analyzing SMACK, so if they lost they'd done their best.
The pancakes were extra fluffy. Marinette wondered if she'd be able to finish them, they were thicker than usual. Alya didn't bother getting a plate, she just ate off Marinette's. Alya was bouncing with excitement. She was so cute. Her excitement was contagious. Marinette wondered if they could win. She'd just lost to Chloe not even a full month ago. They'd probably lose, not just because of Chloe though. SMACK was just a powerful combination. Still Marinette was excited.
She peeked up at Adrien. He and Nino were talking. Marinette smiled. Those two got along so well. Chloe walked up, Sabrina trailing behind her, and sat down next to Adrien. Of course Chloe and Sabrina were sitting with them again. Chloe just needed to be by Adrien all the time and Sabrina needed to cling to Chloe. There was very little time in the day when Marinette didn't have to see Chloe. That time was supposed to include meals. Alya patted Marinette on the head. Marinette smiled.
"Ugh," Chloe said, "weakness like that is the reason I'm going to destroy your entire team."
Alya groaned at the same time as Marinette. Adrien sighed. Nino rolled his eyes. Marinette could see Alya was about to say something, but Max approached the before she could get the words out. He adjusted his glasses before speaking.
"Chloe, Sabrina," he said, "we're talking strategy over there. It would be nice if you two joined us."
Sabrina started to get up, but sat back down when Chloe began to speak. Marinette wondered if anyone else had noticed her.
"Strategy?" Chloe said, "Why would we need a strategy? The only threat on MANA is Nino and I've thoroughly thrashed him more than once."
Marinette looked over at Nino. He didn't even look annoyed. He just shook his head and continued to eat. Max sighed and returned to his table. As they ate, Sabrina kept looking over at their team. Sometimes she opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then she'd close her mouth and stab at her pancakes.
With breakfast over, they left for class. As they exited the lobby, a ladybug flew past Marinette's nose. She stopped. There were flowers and ladybugs everywhere. The flowers were scattered across the ground forming large piles while petals danced through the air. Alya got out her camera and started taking pictures. Their class started looking around and exploring. Marinette stared at the results of her spells. A ladybug landed on her nose.
Adrien walked up to Marinette and held up a bunch of flowers. Marinette stared at the flowers. They were vivid with bright colors. The ladybug flew off of her nose and onto the flowers. Adrien smiled. Ladybugs began to gather on his flowers then landed all over him. Marinette laughed. She reached out to pick a ladybug off him. They all flew to Marinette. Adrien laughed.
Marinette crouched down and directed the ladybugs to a pile of flowers. They flew to the flowers.
"Bye bye, little ladybugs," Marinette said as they left her.
Marinette offered to show Adrien the process of making flower crowns. They sat down together. Marinette showed Adrien how to weave the flower stems together. Alya and Nino joined them. Alya bent her flowers too hard and too quickly breaking them and having to start from the beginning. Nino watched her as he braided his flowers, offering help which she rejected every time. Adrien was the first to finish his. He placed the finished crown on Marinette's head. Marinette thanked him.
Chloe draped herself over Adrien's shoulders. As Chloe snuggled the back of Adrien's head, Marinette noticed a lack of Sabrina. Chloe lifted her finger. The crown floated off Marinette's head and landed on Chloe's. Chloe started talking to Adrien. Marinette huffed. Adrien gave her an apologetic look.
Marinette placed her flower crown on Alya's head. Alya took a picture of herself with the crown on then hugged Marinette. Alya was soft, warm, and had a forest like aroma. Marinette wondered if spending all night in bushes and trees had left the aroma in her hair. Alya laid down in Marinette's lap as she started another flower crown. With her constant late night team crush scenarios, Marinette had found she also wouldn't mind if Alya had romantic feelings for her. It would actually be kind of nice to date Alya. She was fun, smart, filled with determination. Her Alya scenarios had much less going wrong, until she factored in the Book of Creation stuff. There was no way Marinette could keep the Book of Creation from Alya, she was too sharp. She was worried that Alya might find out now, if they were dating the lies could tear their relationship to pieces. The class bell rung. Marinette brought herself back to reality.
Alya probably didn't see Marinette like that. She had a rather obvious crush on Nino and Nino had an equally obvious crush on Alya. Marinette wondered how long it would be before those two started dating.
The anticipation for the battle built up as the teacher took attendance. She went over the rules and mechanics. Each team member had an energy gauge. With each hit a person took or spell they used the gauge would decrease. When a person's energy gauge went empty they were out. If all the members of a team lost all their energy they lost. If both teams were still standing at the end of the fifteen minutes, then the team with the most energy left would win.
She called the two teams up. She cast a spell causing the gauges to appear as the teams faced each other. SMACK gave off an aura of confidence. Alya examined each of them, wondering what they could be planning. Alix and Kim stretched as if they were getting ready to run a marathon. Max and Sabrina were talking in voices too low to hear. Chloe filed her nails. All of them were still covered in flowers. The teacher cast a spell turning the classroom into an arena. She told them to have fun. The teacher rang a bell, beginning the battle.
Alix vanished. She reappeared by Max. Alya reached for her cards. She couldn't find them. She knew she'd had them before. Her eyes darted to Alix and her smug grin. Her gauge was down a bit. The first move was made without anyone seeing it. MANA was on the defensive.
Marinette grabbed Alya, pulling her away from the front line. Adrien took her place, putting up a shield. She told Alya her wire was gone. Alya told Marinette about the missing cards. Marinette nodded and said they needed to find an alternative way of battling until they could get their things back. Alya's fingers twitched. Was it time to summon her other object?
Kim broke through Adrien's barrier with a magic infused fist. Alix jumped through over him and clashed with Nino. Marinette frowned.
"Alya give me your flower crown," Marinette said.
Alya handed the crown to Marinette. She began to take it apart.
"Alix, Kim, Max, Sabrina, Chloe," Marinette said as she dismantled the crown, "if we can get them out in that order we might stand a chance. Cover me for a bit."
Alya stood up and looked to Adrien and Nino. They were back to back dodging and countering Alix and Kim. Alix's gauge wasn't decreasing nearly as much as the other three. Alya figured two things. Alix hadn't taken a hit and she didn't use much magic with her speed. It likely had something to do with her skates.
Marinette darted past Alya holding a short rope of flowers. Alya noticed the magic swirling around the flowers.
As Marinette approached, Kim separated Adrien from Nino. Nino looked back just long enough for Alix to knock him off balance. Marinette put the flowers in her belt. She mumbled a spell, hoping she'd remembered it correctly. When ice began to spread across her palms, she knew she'd done it right. Marinette crouched down as she ran, dragging her fingers across the floor to create a thin layer of ice. She needed to slow Alix down. If she could just land a hit on her the ice would slow her down miraculously.
The plan was the easy part. Actually touching Alix was a problem. As many hits as they threw, neither Marinette or Nino could touch her. The ice on the ground seemed to slow her down, but not enough for a clear shot. She'd need to be standing still. Their gauges were depleting to quickly, it was time to change tactics. Marinette looked around. Adrien was encased in a cocoon of sand and his gauge was already halfway down. He was taking too much damage. Marinette apologized to Nino before running off.
She pulled out the flowers and tossed them at Kim. They wrapped around his feet and tightened knocking him down. The sand fell to the ground, freeing Adrien. Marinette retrieved Adrien's sword and placed it in his hands. Adrien thanked her.
"Alright," Marinette said, "Kim, Alix, Max, Sabrina, Chloe, we'll try that order."
Marinette's departure distracted Nino long enough for Alix to knock him down. Before Nino could sit up, Alix stepped on his chest. Small sparks of electricity pulsated from her skate. Nino filched as his gauge burned down past the half-way point. He was done for if he didn't figure a way out of this situation.
A thin blue blur zipped pass Alix. She fell back.
"Crap," Alya said.
Nino turned to see Alya sliding across the ice. She was standing, but her shoes didn't grip the ground. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and goggles replaced her glasses. The metallic bracers drew attention even from a distance. She didn't appear to have a quiver for her bow. In all their time training Alya had never mentioned any archery skills.
Alix sped towards Alya. She only missed because Alya slipped. As she hit the ground, Alya shot her bow. The blue beam hit Alix in chest. As the ice spread across her chest, her gauge dropped from to green to yellow to red and was empty in seconds. Alix poofed away. Alya's gauge dropped from blue to green.
The beeping of a red gauge brought his attention to Marinette and Adrien. The flowers were scattered across the ground. Though Kim had petals sticking all over him. Marinette dashed towards him with a magic infused punch. It was amusing. Kim was the one who taught Marinette the technique of infusing magic into basic attacks and that was going to be his downfall. Her fist hit a bubble. The bubble shattered and Kim was back with his team.
Marinette smiled.
The only person on team SMACK that didn't take any damage from the explosion was Sabrina who was behind Max at the time. Kim poofed away. Chloe dropped to the green and Max dropped to the yellow. Adrien looked over at Marinette she was in the yellow. Moments ago she'd been low green. Had she planned that whole thing out? Maybe she improvised. Either way she was amazing. She was saying something.
"...Max," Marinette said, Adrien didn't hear what she said before that. "Adrien!"
Marinette tackled him to the ground as a green orb exploded overhead. Her gauge dropped. Marinette frowned down at him.
"I just said to be careful," Marinette said, "You can't space out during a battle."
Adrien apologized.
A series of explosion dragged his attention to Alya and Nino. A chain of green orbs where chasing after them exploding seconds behind them. Nino was dragging Alya across the ice. She was holding onto his arm. Their gauges were dropping from the recoil.
Marinette jumped up. She grabbed Adrien and darted off.
"This is a gamble," Marinette said, "No, that's not like Max. He can't do this for much longer. He'll burn up his gauge."
She was right. Max poofed away.
Marinette tried to catch her breath. She wasn't sure she could last much longer. Her gauge was in the red. She had no wire and she didn't have enough energy to mess with the flowers again. Adrien and Nino were in similar conditions. Alya had the most energy left, but even she was in the yellow.
Chloe and Sabrina were still full of energy. Chloe was in the green and Sabrina was still full and blue. How could that be? Sabrina hadn't taken any damage or used any magic?
Chloe vanished.
Marinette tumbled back from a swift kick. Her gauge started beeping. All it would take was one more hit and Marinette was out. The ground encased her arms and legs as Chloe levitated above Marinette. Chloe smiled. Lightning sparked in her palm. Her gauge was down to yellow.
"Game over," Chloe said before chucking the lightning.
Marinette flinched.
The impact never came. She heard another gauge beeping. Marinette opened her eyes. Adrien was standing over her. He'd caught the lighting with his sword. He shot it back at Chloe, knocking her out of the sky. Adrien poofed away.
Chloe stood up. Her was gauge beeping. She looked pissed. She marched over to Marinette. An arrow of light hit in the chest. The shock on Chloe's face before she poofed away would forever be burned into Marinette's memory.
"I've wanted to do that since we met," Alya said as she approached.
The ground loosened around Marinette. Nino and Alya helped her up. Marinette's eyes darted to Sabrina. She was still standing there, but her gauge was dropping faster than Marinette could keep track of. Sabrina looked at them and smiled. The ground beneath them exploded. Marinette poofed away, followed by Nino, then Alya. Sabrina was the last one standing in the arena.
The classroom returned and so did all the members of SMACK and MANA. The teacher put a tally under SMACK on the board. SMACK minus Chloe cheered. Alix, Max, and Kim surrounded Sabrina giving her pats on the back, compliments, and Kim even lifted her over his shoulders.
Marinette rubbed her arms. Her whole body was sore. She looked over at her team. They were all quiet. Were they as disappointed as she was. Marinette wanted to say something to cheer everyone up, but everything she thought of seemed empty.
SMACK minus Chloe approached them.
"Good game," Max said with a smile. He offered Marinette his hand. Marinette took his hand.
"Yea," she said, "you out planned us."
"And you pushed us to our last resort," Max said.
"You've gotten faster, Marinette," Alix said handing Marinette her wire, "I'm impressed."
Marinette thanked Alix. Alix turned her attention to Alya.
"Archery, huh?" Alix said, handing Alya the cards.
"We didn't expect that," Max said.
Alya laughed.
"Well, I didn't expect it either," Alya said, "I prefer not to use it if it can be helped."
"You should teach me how to use a bow," Kim said.
Alya smiled and said she'd think about it.
As the two teams started talking about the battle, MANA's mood perked up. It had been a lot of fun.
Chloe left without a word to anyone.
Alya could hear the commotion of the dining hall. Another flaw of their clubroom's location, she noted. There were many flaws. The floors creaked, the door locked from the outside, there was only one light, there were tons of cobwebs, and the biggest flaw was the room was just a larger than average janitor's closet. Alya, Nino, and Max could all fit inside. They'd even managed to set up a studio office, but if they ever got anymore members- and Alya planned to get more members- there was no room for any of them. Max told Alya not to complain. They could print in the print lab and they didn't have to write in or broadcast from the room. Alya told him that wasn't the point, but Max insisted he was happy with their current set up.
It was quiet.
Dinner must have ended.
Alya stopped typing up ideas and article fragments. If it was getting late then she needed to go find the Black Mage. None of the others would be able to join her today, everyone was too tired from the battle. She rubbed her eyes, they were starting to feel heavy. She shook her head. She opened her pictures. She'd taken so many. She smiled as she scrolled through them making mental notes of the ones she'd pint and the ones she'd send home. She had a lot of Nino and Marinette, both separate and together. It was embarrassing. She'd have to take less or someone would take notice.
When she got to her picture of the Red Mage, she gasped. The Picture came out exceptionally well. It looked like and actual photograph especially compared to her usual snap shots. The glow from her eyes obscured her face more than it had in person, but her gown was vibrant against the dark background.
Alya collected her stuff together then headed to the print lab.
Marinette looked into Mama Boar's tank. She was asleep. Marinette frowned. This seemed cruel. She understood the necessity of trapping the rampant boar, but as far as Marinette could tell no one was trying to fix the situation. Even if she was the only one who could undo the spell, they didn't know that.
Marinette put her hand through the tank. It was so easy. Her second time transforming had gone so smoothly. She picked up Mama Boar and flew towards the roof.
"Hello, fair lady."
Marinette's heart jumped. She knew it was his voice before she turned to see him standing on a higher roof. The moon formed a backdrop to his silhouette. He jumped down landing in front of her. She scanned her partner. His messy hair, his graceful posture, his mischievous grin, they made her feel... She couldn't pinpoint the feeling.
"What brings you here on this purr-fect night?" He asked.
"I'm doing my job," Marinette said, "and you?"
"I wanted to meet my partner," he said. He picked up her hand and kissed it.
It felt so familiar.
Marinette sat Mama Boar on the roof. She recited the purification spell she'd been practicing with Tikki. The mark cleared off the boar. Marinette smiled. She picked her up and flew off to return her home. The Black Mage wasn't far behind her. After the boar's safe return home, she and the Black Mage talked for a while. Sitting in the moonlight talking to him it felt natural as if she done it thousands of times before. There was something about the way they talked to each other that was flirtatious. Marinette wasn't one to flirt, but it all came without even thinking about it. It was nice and she liked it.
This took much longer to write than I anticipated.
Edit: Please review, I'd love to know what you think so far