THE AN LAST CHAPTER IS STILL IN PLACE! I just had this half completed anyway.

Still gonna be long pauses between chapters. Sorry for any mistakes in the chapter!

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STORYTIME!

Washing the dishes became sort of Marinette's thing to do when there was a lull in her activities. School was beginning in a few minutes, which meant that she would need to leave in five minutes at the most. Which gave her some time to think over her plan. Tom was watching the TV on the News station. It seemed like that was what everyone was doing with the mini Stonehearts on the streets.

Tom looked at her carefully. "Listen, I know this is a far cry from what you were promised, but don't worry; we've got two superheroes looking out for Paris, and the best way to help them and not reveal anything is to show them that we're not scared, because we trust them." At the end, he laid him hand on his forearm. The one with the lines of service burned in.

Marinette finished drying the last plate, then smiled at him bitterly. "What if Ladybug fails?"

Tom laughed a little and pointed to painting where behind it was a compartment where various weapons lay. They had one in each room sans the bakery. There it was hidden beneath the carpet.

"While I don't like it, that's why we have those."

Marinette smiled and cracked a weak chuckle before she realized that she needed to get going. Saying goodbye to Tom, she went and snatched her bag, double checking that the black and red box was still there. Taking a deep breath, she shadowed traveled, letting the screams and coldness embrace her for a few moments before spot to her out near the front doors.

She shook herself out of the slight daze she found herself in and quickly jogged out from the alcove near the steps. It was a very useful place, since no one could see it through the bushes.

"Alya!"

The girl turned around and beamed at her friend. When Marinette caught up to her, they entered to the courtyard and Alya shoved her phone in her face.

"The Ladyblog," she proclaimed proudly, letting Marinette take the phone, "bringing you all the latest news about the coolest superhero, Ladybug! How awesome is that?" She snatched her phone back. "Check out the number of views since I posted a video!"

"Why do you trust Ladybug that much? Marinette couldn't help but ask. "All those stone clones littering the streets. . ."

Alya shook her head as if Marinette was being stupid. "She's gonna handle them. She's a superhero!"

"Or she could fail completely and the whole of Paris can be stuck with these things until something happens and they eventually start the apocalypse."

"Girl, you'd gotta stop being negative! I know what this is about," she put a sympathetic pat on Marinettes arm. "You're scared. But don't worry! I've seen it with my own two eyes. Ladybug us a true superhero, and she'll protect all of us."

Marinette looked down and focused on the purse where she could feel Tikki's energy trying to reach her. Doing this for her own good, she reminded herself. She looked up when she realised that Alya was walking past a gaggle of students from he class. The demigod paused long enough to catch the last few parts of the conversation.

The short girl looked at Ivan closely. "You really don't remember anything?"

The goth-looking chick nodded along. "You were crazy. It was so cool. Amazing, really."

Kim scoffed and pushed the short girl away. He leaned closer, almost eagerly. "You were seriously out to crush me, dude!"

Ivan coughed. "Im sorry. . . I wasn't myself, I-"

Bourgeois cut him off and scoffed. "Oh please, once a monster, always a monster!" Ivan turned red and stormed away as Chloe taunted after him, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

Alya fumed and pointed pointed finger at the blonde. "How could you say that to Ivan? You're the real monster here, Chloe!"

Bourgeois made a noise if disgust and slapped Alya's finger away. "Oh, so I'm the one who broke Sabrina's dad's arm, am I? Just because you got that lame footage of those nerdy superheroes on TV, doesn't mean you get all high and mighty!" She blew and popped a bubble of gum to emphasis the point.

"You little. . ." Alya trailed off as she took a step forward. Marinette pursed her lips and put a hand on her arm. "Alya," she quietly warned.

Bourgeois laughed. "Look out everyone, she's angry! I bet she's gonna split her clothes and turn into a huge monster! And look, Dupain-Cheng's trying to play hero! How pathetic."

Marinette's grip tighten and her face got a dark look on it. She breathe in and out as she spotted shadows flickering in the corner of her eye. She's not worth it. She's not worth it. She's not worth it.

She straightened and looked in the direction of the front doors as she felt an. . .odd aura. It felt almost like Chat's, but lighter. Without as much darkness. A blond boy walked through the door and Marinette took a minute to admire his clothing. It was obviously expensive and if Marinette had already looked up Paris fashion she probably could've named the brand. Her ratty jeans and plain black short sleeve felt a bit less compared to his outfit, but it was comfortable so Marinette couldn't complain.

The blond spotted their group and raised a hand in greeting. "Hey, ChloƩ!"

Bourgeois? He was greeting Bourgeois?

The brat giggled and shrieked, running towards him and throwing arms around his neck. Marinette raised an eyebrow at his clearly uncomfortable face.

"Adrikins! You came!"

Marinette had to stop herself cringing while other students crowded around Adrien Agreste. As Alya pulled her towards their next class, she took out her phone. She had reigned in her aura, something that the Big Three's children were taught after the Giant War, so it didn't interfere with monsters. It was mostly a safety precaution since Paris rarely had Greek or Roman monsters.

She searched Adrien's name and got different results, which she used the translator to turn into Greek. Adrien Agreste, thirteen, turns fourteen soon, and models for his father's brand which is one of, if not the most, popular brands in Paris. So if I'm fourteen right now, she thought, tucking her phone away, that means I'm at least a few months older than him.

She moved so Alya wasn't holding her arm anymore and told her to keep going while she checked on Ivan. When she finally got to the locker room, she hesitated then pushed in. She found Ivan sitting on the floor with a miserable expression on his face and something stirred in her. She crouched in front of him. "You should really tell her how you feel, Ivan."

"I. . .I don't know what you're talking about."

Why her? Anyone else would've have been perfect but her? And emotions? "I see the way you look at her. It'sthe same way one of my friends look at his girlfriend"-Grover and Juniper, by the way, are disgustingly adorable most of the time-"and I'm pretty sure she likes you too. Go. . .talk to her. Something. Man, my cousin would be way better at this." Jason would so know what to do.

The boy shrugged defeatedly. "Not good with words," he mumbled.

Marinette floundered for a second. It was the first time she had helped anybody outside of her family and it was just odd. With her family, she could point out one of their great deeds and say they have more than enough bravery to do this but she didn't think that Ivan would like for her to bring up Stoneheart. "Oh, who needs words! Draw her a picture. Take a picture. Send her flowers. Arrange a study date, something!"

Ivan bit his lip. "Write her a song?" he suggested timidly.

"Uh. . .great! I'm sure a lot of girls want a love song written for them. . .?" She saw Ivan's unsure look. "Go for it! If you think that's what she wants then go for it!"

Seeing that the bell was about to ring, she waved goodbye to a hopeful looking Ivan and met Alya outside Ms. Bustier's classroom. She decided to screw all tact. It was never her strong suit anyway. "Alya how'd you like to be all superhero-y and those ak- villain things?" She's pretty sure no civilian knows the term akuma.

Alya shook her head energetically. "Totally! Im not scared of anyone."

Marinette smiled but didn't say anything as she snuck the black box into her friend's bag.

As they entered the classroom, Marinette saw the blond boy from earlier crouching down near their seat. Past experiences with malicious campers set her on edge and she marched up to them. Pausing behind him, she set a hand on her hip and tapped the other on his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

Adrien turned around and stood up quickly, realizing how suspicious his position was. "I. . .I, uh. . ."

Bourgeois and her redhead laughed behind them. Marinette tensed and saw red for a few seconds. "Okay. I get it," she said shortly. "Good job, you three. Very funny. I'm rolling on the floor with laughter, really," she sneered.

Adrien shook his head and hands frantically. "No! No, no, no, you've got this all wrong! I was try in to take this off!"

"Oh, really?" Her voiced raised a little at the end in disbelief but Marinette didn't care at that moment. The two brats laughed again behind them. "You're friends with Bourgeois, aren't you?" she asked bitterly.

Adrien ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Why do people keep saying that?"

"Just go!" She sweeped a hand in the direction of his seat for emphasis. His head hung and want to his seat, staring somberly at his desk.

"Now you see what I mean about respect?" Bourgeois asked in her nasally voice.

Marinette peeled off the gum with a tissue and a look of disgust on her face. She threw it in the trash can and sat next to Alya, who shook her head. "Daddy's boy, teen model, and Chloe's buddy? Hmph. Forget it."

Marinette calmed down and set out her things, clicking on a pen while bouncing her leg. Ms. Bustier walked to the front of the room and started attendance. "Agreste, Adrien?"

Marinette saw Nino whisper something something Adrien and then the blond Jim up with a hand in the air, saying, "Here!"

The class laughed and Marinette snickered, ducking her head. She missed the fistbump that was between the boys and the glance a certain blond gave her.

"Bourgeois, Chloe?"

"Present!"

"Bruel, Ivan?" No one answered. Ms. Bustier repeated her question. "Bruel, Ivan? Has anyone seen Iv-"

"PRESENT! Mylene!" Stoneheart bursted through the wall and grabbed Mylene for her seat. Mylene squirmed then cried out, "Ivan! Please, put me down?"

"I'm not Ivan anymore. I'm Stoneheart." The shadows flickered dangerously but Marinette couldn't stop them.

"Why are you doing this?" Mylene asked.

"So you and I can be together. Forever." That. . .does not sound like a healthy relationship.

Chloe started to loudly talk to her phone. "Daddy, the monster is back!" she whined. Stoneheart grabbed her and then absolutely wrecked the wall to the outside. He jumped outside and carried his hostages away.

Marinette jump as she felt Alya put a hand on her arm. "Come on!" she said. "Let's follow him!"

"Uh. . .no. You go. I'm heading to the bakery and making sure everyone's safe."

Alya shook her head. "You're going to miss Ladybug in action!"

Marinette gave a helpless shrug and shoved Alya's bag towards her. "You and Ladybug will both be better off without me." She kept clicking her pen. Click. Click. Click.

"If you say so." The blogger ran out the room and Marinette ran a hand over her face, dragging it. She said a nasty curse in Greek and looked at the bag. She grabbed it and ran out the door, looking left ajd right for Alya before one of those mini stones came to life and roared at her.

Greek, Latin, and Italian curses are very helpful, she found.

She ran the block tryjng to get rid of it when she saw Alya almost get crushed by a car. Her eyes widened and shadows slowed it down, not enough to be noticeable but enough for a black leather clad figure to save the young blogger. Alya got trapped while Chat Noir became enclosed by a giant fist.

"Let me go, you rockhead!"

"HELP!"

Marinette cursed for yet another time and looked around frantically. She concentrated on the shadows and made them morph into a hoodie around her, the hood shadowing her face. Once it was in set, she ran to Alya and helped her, shoving her in the direction of the school.

"GO!" She yelled, voice distorted by shadows. It felt quite relaxing actually, to use this much of her powers. Alya stared at her with a slightly opened mouth. Just a moment later, she had her phone out and was recording Marinette.

"Who are you? What's your purpose? Are you a new superhero?" she fired off rapidly.

Marinette felt her eye twitch. "I'm gonna be your murderer soon, if you don't head to the school and get away from the danger." Shadows flickered ominously as a point and Alya saw that.

"Are shadows your superpower? Man, that is so cool! He-"

The next part was cut off as Marinette forcefully grabbed and pushed her in the direction of the school, shadow traveling when Alya's head was turned.

She ended up in an alley way a couple blocks from where Alya was. She still had the bag. The realization made her drop it as she began panicking. Did Alya recognize it? Did she know who she was?

Before she knew it, she was in a fetal position against the brick wall, with shadows comfortingly clinging to her. The bag. What was in the bag? She calmed down enough to think about it.

...

...

TIKKI!

Marinette practically ripped open the bag and dumped the box into her hand, cradling it gently. She opened it and put on the silver earrings quickly and Tikki appeared in a sphere of pink light. Always pink, Marinette absently noted. Tikki raised her little arms. "Mmmm!"

Marinette smiled, despite the situation at hand. "I think Paris needs Ladybug right now."

Tikki smiled and flew up to her face. "I knew you'd come around!"

"Oh, I'm still definitely not up to the task and will most likely fail, but people are in danger and I know that my family wouldn't like it if I left them to die. So, Tikki? Spots on!"

After she had put on the suit (which still made her uncomfortable. Note to self, spend more time getting used to it.) she noted that her hair was put into ponytails with red ribbon due in the transformation. Neat, she thought as she pulled out her yoyo and ran out to where Chat was taken away by a mini stone. She spotted a silver baton lying on the ground and grabbed it, throwing it to her partner. Chat Noir caught it and jumped, with the yoyo wrapping around and flipping him upside down.

He grinned at her. "M'lady, have I ever told you, you make my world turn?"

"Quite the joker, aren't you?" Notcing the mini stones closing in, she rushed out the next part: "But it needs a better timing. Er, work. No, wait. Your joking time-no. Hang on, your comedic timing needs sime work. Yeah, that works."

Chat Noir seemed to take pity and ignored her stumble of words. "Shouldn't we take care of them?"

Marinette tracked one with her gaze. "No," she murmured. "If we wanna sve them all, we go to the source. That one!"

Thyer an after the mini stone and ended up at the Eiffel Tower, where the mayor and police cars littered in front of. Marinette recognized a blonde sailin through the air as Bourgeois, who was. . .praying? She ran forward to catch her from splattering on the pavement and all the brat had to say was, "I didn't promise!"

"What?" she answered blankly.

But Bourgeois was already wriggling out of her arms and hugging her dad, who turned around to the police officer. Marinette let out a tiny oof of sympathy when she noted the casted arm. Broken arm. Whichever.

The mayor gave a nod and the police man waved at the cars. "We're clear to attack!"

Which was. . .not okay.

"No!" she yelped. "Don't! You know it'll only make it worse you amnesiac loser!" Okay, so maybe spending those recovery days in the infirmary rubbed off on her.

The man waved her words aside. "Unlike you, I have a plan! Move aside and let the pros do their work, you've already failed once."

Marinette slumped next to Chat Noir, all the fight leaving her. Her partner couldn't help but marvel at the fact that even though she was insulted, she still looked like she had a wall of determination to her.

"He's right. Should've captured the akuma." Her throat feel like it was closing up and her breathing became irregular. Chat Noir put a hand on her shoulder. "No. He's wrong, because without you, she'd no longer be here. And because without us, they won't make it, and we'll prove that to 'em. Trust me on this. Okay? Just breathe."

She nodded, still unable to speak. Up on the Eiffel Tower, Stoneheart went into a fit, coughing up swarm of akumas that formed into a masked face.

The fluttering mouth moved. "People of Paris, listen to me. I am Hawk Moth."

Hawk Moth?

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, give me the ladybug and cat miraculous now. You have inflicted enough damage to these poor innocent people!"

Whispering started behind her as Marinette's lips tighten and she straightened up. She just got here. She will not have it ruined by this fashion disaster of a villain! She walked up to the structure, channeling the diplomatic part of her that was so handy when she was active as an ambassador of Pluto. She looked like authority and everyone around seemed to remember just who was in control of one of the most powerful miraculous.

"Nice try, Butterfly." He snarled at the insult. "But we all know who the real villain is. Let's not reverse the roles, shall we? Without you, none of these people would be transformed into stones. No matter what it takes, we will find you. And you will be the one handing over your miraculous!"

She was acting purely on instinct when she opened the yoyo to reveal a glowing pink light from it. She swung it, capturing all of the dark butterflies and then releasing pure white ones. They scattered in the air while Marinette (she should really think of herself as Ladybug, shouldn't she?) turned around to address the awed audience behind her. "Let me say this to you all. Chat Noir and I will be here to do our best to help the citizens of Paris!"

Stoneheart roared, getting Ladybug's attention. She ran to the Eiffel Tower and used her momentum to run up the metal to where the akuma was. She heard stones crunching and realized that all the mini stones were moving once more and that Chat Noir and her better hurry up.

As if summoned, Chat landed next to her and crouched down. They were positioned so they could see Stoneheart, but not vice versa. "Why aren't you using your yoyo to swing up here?"

"I'm not very fond of being in the air. Or heights."

"You're on the Eiffel. You do realise this, right?" he pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Ladybug chanced a look down, then immediately looked up again, tensing up. "I was trying not to think about it!"

Chat Noir winced and quickly changed the topic. "We're surrounded. This is not good. The only thing we know is what the akuma is."

"In his clenched fist," Ladybug answered. "The one he's holding Mylene with. So. . .?"

Chat Noir picked up the conversation quickly, seeming very excited. "We know that he likes her, so we don't separate them: we bring them closer!"

"What? Not really following you. But, okay. I dont have any better ideas so, okay. Uh, I guess we should work on semi. . .trusting each other. Something tells this is how it's gonna be from here on out. And how do you know this anyway?"

"I saw it in a show once." Then he was out, jumping to a few beams higher then Stoneheart.

A show.

They're trusting a show.

Ladybug shook her head as she scaled the metal beams, getting just close enough so she could hear Mylene admit her fear of heights. "Everuthings going to be alright!" she yelled back.

"How are we going to get them closer than they already are?"

"Didn't you come up with the plan?"

"The basis? Yes. Steps? Not really."

"What about our powers? Lucky Charm!" Her yoyo flew into the air as a burst of light fell from it. The light manifested as a parachute that Ladybug caught. "A parachute? What? Does this have a purpose? I'm confused, hold up."

The mini stones had already began climbing and was about to reach their position as Ladybug started turning the parachute over in her hands, as if she had all the time in the world. One of them reached the duo and grabbed Chat Noir, throwing him in the air. It was by luck that he was able to land on Stoneheart's shoulder. "You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Uh. . .not really, but worth a shot, right?"

"Thats not nearly as comforting as it should be."

Ladybug ignored her partner in favor of wrapping the yoyo around Stoneheart's hand, pulling it-and by extension, Mylene-closer to her. She kept pulling until Mylene kissed Stoneheart, who, in turn, dropped her. It was lucky that Mylene was able to grab a hold on Stoneheart's thumb. Good girl, Ladybug thought.

Chat ran towards the opened hand and grabbed the piece of paper, batting it with his baton to Ladybug. She caught it and ripped it, making a dark butterfly fly from the remains. "Home run, darling!" She captured it with her yoyo and released when it was purified.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Stoneheart transform back to Ivan, causing both him and Mylene to fall from the Tower. She ran towards them, chouting over her shoulder. "Chat Noir, get Ivan! I got Mylene."

"Cataclysm!" Part of the Tower fell, helping Ladybug and Chat Noir get closer to the other teens. Chat caught Ivan while Ladybug helped Mylene until all of them were at the bottom of the Tower.

"Gotcha! Miraculous Ladybug!" After setting Mylene down, she threw the parachute up into the air, making it disperse back into pink energy with ladybugs. They traveled around fix in all the damage the akuma made.

Chat landed beside her. "Whoa, you see in what I'm seeing?"

"Yeah, it's. . .something." Truth be told, it made her slightly uncomfortable. It was just all the positive energy surrounding her. She suppressed a shudder of discomfort.

"One could it's even. . .miraculous."

"I'm disowning you."

Ignoring her partner's protests, she jogged up to where Ivan and Mylene were sitting awkwardly next to each other on the ground. "Hey," she said, crouching in front of Mylene. "Maybe it would be better if you read what Ivan actually wrote for the lyrics. I actually feel a but flattered on your behalf!"

After giving the paper to Mylene, she walked back to where Chat Noir was watching them. She stopped next to them and watched the other two teens talk. "They like each other. Cute."

Chat Noir spared her a glance. "You really seen good with these type of things, are you? Emotions?"

"Not really," she sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I could teach you." Chat Noir winked. His ring beeped and a pawprint disappeared.

"Time to go, kitty. See you soon!" she said.

"Can't wait, M'Lady."


It was very peaceful without the akuma. Everyone was still wary over th akuma, but mostly, people carried on with their lives. Marinette was struck by the normal-ness that was presented the next day. Oh, sure, back at camp it was like this. New camper potentially brings monsters to the border, monster and-slash-or camper(s) die. Everything goes back to normal.

She just wasn't expecting mortals to be so adaptive. Baffling, really.

Alya met her on the front steps to school. Taking her arm, she dragged her down to sit next to. "So," Alya started, "by the time I went to the Eiffel Tower, it was all over. I'm way bummed."

Marinette let out a light laugh. "Don't worry, you'll get your scoop eventually."

Suddenly, Alya let a out a big "Oh!" in realisation. "Gurl, I forgot to tell you! Aside from Ladybug and Chat Noir, there's another vigilante in Paris! And they control shadows!"

Marinette froze. She had hoped that Alya forgot that particular encounter. Good thing, Marinette had deception lessons from the Stolls. "Oh?"

Alya nodded excitedly, pulling out her phone. She put I in front of her and Marinette. "Watch this!"

She pressed the play button and Marinette watched the video buffer for a second, before playing.

The video showed a person in a dark hoodie. If one looked closely, they could see a darkness surrounding the person. Alya's voice came from behind the camera. "Who are you? What's your purpose? Are you a new superhero?"

The figure tilted their head. A distorted voice came from the hood. "I'm gonna be your murderer soon, if you don't head back to the school and get away from the danger." Behind them, shadows could be observed as flickering and moving closer to them, as if responding to something. The camera zoomed in on them for a moment, thenzoomed out and focused on the figure again.

"Are shadows your superpower? Man, that is so cool! He-" The last part was cut off when the person grabbed Alya's shoulders then turned her around so she was facing the direction of the school. "Hey!"

The camera turned back to where the dark figure once stood, only to only met by emptiness. "Where'd they go?"

Alya took away the phone and leaned closer to Marinette. "There's another one out there!"

Marinette made a noise in the back of her throat. "Shouldn't we be getting to class soon?"

Alya perked up and Marinette wondered for a moment if Alya was the one with ADHD in their friendship.


"Wait, hold it. I mean, hold up." Marinette gestured for Alya to follow her as she sat in the seats behind Nino. The two girls shared smiles as Bourgeois stomped up to them. "Excuse me, you're in the wrong seat."

Marinette rolls her eyes. "Listen, I may be new here, but I am not putting up with your trash. And neither should anyone else here, so beat it! And make sure to task your attitude with you!" The students behind them laughed and Bourgeois angrily took Marinette's previous seat.

Alya high-fived Marinette. "Good job!"

Just then, Adrien walked in the classroom with a bright smile on his face. Marinette turned away sharply and began pulling out supplies, ignoring the two boys whispering to each other in front of her.


She watched the rain pour down from her cover. Percy would have loved this, she thought. Someone stopped right beside her. She turned her head to look at them, only to discover it was Adrien.

"Hey," he started. "I just wanted you to know that I was only trying to take the chewing gum off your seat. I swear. I've never been to school before. I've never had friends. It's all sort of new to me."

"Could've fooled me with Bourgeois."

He looked away. Good. "Chloe is different. She was the first person to hang out with me." He opened his umbrella and put it above Marinette. She tilted her head up to look at his actions. A clap of thunder made her startle. Holy Zeus!

She hesitantly we her fingers around the handle of the umbrella, looking dubiously at Adrien. "My ride's already here. I don't need it. You can give it back after school tomorrow."

"This doesnt make us besties."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Marinette just nodded and tightened her grip. She was him go to his car and wave at her, which she hesitantly copied in response.


That night had Marinette shadow travelling to New Rome. When it was time to leave, she had taken off her earrings, ignoring Tikki's questions. She left the earrings in the box and shoved it back in her drawer.

She landed in an alleyway between the coffee shop and tattoo place. Walking out, she shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight. Oh yeah, jet lag's gonna be a pain. She was out in the open for just a few moments before a dark blur slammed into her.

They both would've fallen to the pavement if not for the shadows that rushed to catch them. The shadows punch them back upright and retreated. Marinette sent a silent thank you after them, be for the bleu steched themself to reveal Hazel.

"Marinette! I didn't think you'd visit this early. In fact, actually, your timing is perfect! C'mon!" She dragged her half-sister towards Pluto's altar. Pushing Marinette inside, she closed the door behind her.

"Mari?"

"Nico?"

Nico tackled her in a hug, burying his face in her neck. Her hands came up to pull him closer. "Missed you."

"How's doing jobs for dad doing?"

He huffed a laugh and pulled away, still keeping an arm around her waist. "Awful, baby face."

Marinette scoffed and stomped on his foot, making him yelp. "Just cause your face is more angular, does not mean I have a baby face!"

"That's exactly what a baby face would say." He smirked at her teasingly. He coughed and his face grew more serious. "Why are you here? Not that I'm not happy about, but is it something serious or are we just hanging out? I'd love for it to be the latter, bu your face said something different."

Marinette smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "It's not serious. It can wait. Is anyone else here and free?"

"Call it something," Hazel said behind them, "but all the children of the Big Three, excluding Thalia, are here."

Marinette grinned and beckoned her closer. She reached an arm around her and pulled her closer, pressing up against her front in a hug. "Great." She kissed her forehead. "I can hang out with my family."


Finding Percy and Jason was easy.

They practically lit up when they saw Marinette. After another group hug, Percy greeted her with, "Hey, Shortie."

"I'm not short," she scowled.

Jason laughed as they walked along the sidewalk. "Aside from Hazel, you're the shortest. And you're only taller than Hazel by, like, an inch and a half."

"Yeah, well I'm twenty percent water, eighty percent awesomeness, and one hundred percent badass."

Percy gave her a look of confusion. "That's two hundred percent."

"I'm twice the person you'll ever be."


After getting drinks at the coffee shop, they stopped by the park. Nico nudged her and gave a pointed look in her direction. "What?"

"Tell us."

"Tell us what?" Jason asked.

Marinette put her drink down. "Well, there was a reason I came here instead of staying at Paris. And spending time with you all isn't it." At their expectant faces, she explained all that happened since she came to Paris. She talked about becoming Ladybug, her partner Chat Noir, Tikki, and she put emphasis on her shadow encounter with Alya and the video. She chose not to tell them about the nightmare, not wanting them to freak out.

"Wait,"Jason said. "Wouldn't the Mist cover those up?"

Hazel shook her head and made a negative sound. "The Mist is more of a godly thing."

"But isn't Tikki and the others gods?" Percy questioned.

"Let me rephrase it," Hazel thought for a while until getting an adequate answer. "The Mist covers North America. Originally, it's created by Hecate, so it belongs to the Greeks. But since there are other gods sharing the same land, they also get the benefits of the Mist. The Mist also lingers at the Greek and Roman roots, but not, say, Egyptian roots. Egyptian gods and goddesses use their own protection for those. Also for most of their places here. The Mist for them is just if they have a public fight in front of mortals. So, godly deities that don't inhabit North America dont have the assurance of Mist."

"Plus, Tikki doesn't seem to like the other gods," Marinette hummed.

"I think kwamis' are just territorial."

A look of understanding passes throughout group. Nico broke in with, "But, shouldn't Marinette be covered in Paris?"

Hazel shook her head again. "The Mist doesn't exist in Paris. It's not Greek nor Roman. That's also the reason there's norm monsters there."

Percy shook his head. "Then, the only only you can do, Marinette, is just wait it out."

Marinette took a sip of her drink. "Does that mean I shouldnt do my powers anymore?"

Nico shook his head before she even finished the sentence. "No. Suppressing your powers is bad. Very bad. Especially when this is the stage where all of our powers grow even more. Percy, Jason, Hazel, and I? We're planning to have sparring matches where all and any powers goes. If you stop by every weekend then we can have you in it. But, the difference is, that all of us spends our powers gradually throughout the week. So, it actually would be better for you to use your powers daily at Paris."

Hazel chimed with her own two cents. "If superheroes and villains are running around Paris, then people will just think you're another one! Well, you are one, but I mean when you're doing your powers! Using! Using your powers!"

Jason cut in. "And since you're traveling Paris and back, that should make you tired from the use of your powers already!"

Marinette sheepishly scratched her head. "Well, not exactly. I wasn't tired. At all." Blank looks responded to her answer.

Nico shook it off first. "Well, that just means yours are growing now. Man, these next few years at gonna suck. It's like power puberty, on top of physical puberty!"

All of them groaned at the reminder.

Marinette shook her head. "Nice meeting with y'all again. I'll come back next weekend to beat y'all up."

"Uh, no I am way stronger!"

"Better watch your mouth, Di Angelo!"

"Shut up, Mari."

Marinette cackled as she shadow travelled back to her room at the bakery. As soon as the shadows dispersed, she collapsed on her bed, not bothering to turn off the lights or change into pajamas. Maybe going back and forth will tire her out, after all.