In the central soul room Chat Noire was pacing anxiously while Ladybug watched from the bench. Mariposa's window was back to normal; indicating Peridot Turtle would be returning in a few minutes.
"What are hoping to accomplish with all this pacing?" Ladybug finally asked after watching Chat Noire complete another lap around the room. It was starting to get on her nerves.
"I'm trying to get rid of all this energy and anxiety I have!" Chat Noire snapped. She clicked her claws together before looking at the indigo glass and scales that were still slowly forming a window. "Are you not worried or anxious considering the situation?"
Ladybug looked offended upon hearing the comment. "Of course I am! I'm worried sick about what is happening to all of us. By now we can all see that whatever was wrong in Peridot Turtle's soul, is also connected to all of us. I'm worried what will happen once the splintering is fixed."
She looked down at the floor clutching her yoyo tightly. She was trying to recall a moment similar to this and nothing came to her mind. Only half of her was here so until she was whole she wouldn't be able to access all her memories.
Chat Noire stopped pacing and went over to the video connection with Adrien's souls. She watched the screen for a few minutes. It seemed Conchillian and Gui Chel were arguing about something.
Squinting her eyes she saw a half finished banner on the coffee table. Those white threads had magically sewn themselves together, but there was still no clear picture of who was on the banner or their name.
She heard, rather than saw, Teal Peacock's banner magically stitched back up, along with the sound of picture being fixed. Turning around, she saw PT Marinette jump out of Mariposa window in a flourish of purple sparkles.
"Note to self, being a Lady is a lot harder than it looks. Especially when you're living in the same place as your enemy," PT Marinette muttered. She stood up and nearly fell over. Ladybug rushed over and helped her stand up. "Thanks. I'm not as graceful as Mariposa."
Ladybug chuckled lightly. "I think she might be the only one out of the seven of us who isn't clumsy at all." Once she was sure PT Marinette was okay she let go. "Perhaps you should come with me next."
Chat Noire made a dismissive sound at that suggestions. "She should do you last Ladybug. If she comes with me she can get rid of any bad luck attached to her so she'll have all the good luck to finish undoing the splintering."
Ladybug reluctantly acknowledge she was right. Besides, of all the seven souls, she was the one who could figure out puzzles the best. It's what she did whenever her yoyo gave her a Lucky charm. "Both of you be careful. One freak out from us is enough."
Chat Noire gave Ladybug a big grin. "Don't worry, everything will be okay. Right Conchillian?"
On the video screen the red caped hero nodded his head. "I will make sure you stay on track. Shall we go?" he asked CN Adrien, who looked delighted at the prospect of understanding his partner's powers. Together they went through the banner listening to the sounds of the girls going through glass.
CN Marinette opened her eyes and leisurely stretched out. She tested the reflexes of each finger as well. The last thing she did was run her fingers through her short wavy hair. "Ah it feels so could to finally stretch!" She purred a bit as the sun warmed her up.
"I'm glad you feel better. Is this your room?" PT asked. It looked like the other girl's bedrooms except for a few differences. CN Marinette had a few posters up dedicated to different rock stars. Two huge posters of Jagged Stone took up an entire wall. There was another poster of the members of Linkin Park on the ceiling.
There were different projects on the sewing table. Half-finished leather jackets, a few destressed jeans, and a one shoulder shirt in the works. The soul room was an exact copy of CN Marinette's bedroom.
"Yep, this is my room. I went through a bad girl phase when I was a bit younger. I've calmed it down quite a bit, but I still am referred a lot to as a bad girl." CN Marinette explained as she jumped down to the floor. "I use to go around causing minor misfortunes or messing around with boys, not in a sexual manner mind you! I just was a bit more rough and tumble. With girls I was a bit more extreme and liked to push limits on what was expected of girl."
The cat girl decided to mix it up with her outfit today. She put on the normal shirt the souls usually wore, but she wore a longer jacket with studs on the back that formed a cat. She put on a pair of jeans with the edges frayed and the thighs had been filed down to give them an aged look. Finally she put on some black boots with pink soles.
"What do you think? I made this outfit myself last month," CN Marinette out loud as she admired herself in her mirror. Her desire to be a rock/distressing designer was what toned her bad girl tendencies down. There was also another reason she did this, but couldn't grasp it. Being a semi-bad girl helped her for some reason. Although she had to admit Plagg brought all her old tendencies out from time to time.
Speaking of Plagg, she reached under her sewing machine and pulled out a tin. Opening it up, she was bombarded by the scent of the smelliest cheese ever. Holding the tin slightly away, she called out for her kwami. "Plagg, breakfast!"
Out of the garbage bin, a small black creature zoomed towards the girl, who tossed a slice in the air. Plagg caught it midair and gobbled it up whole. "Only one piece this morning?"
CN Marinette tossed three more pieces in the air before hiding the tin again. "Glad you enjoyed your breakfast. You're not getting any more until you help me with getting my soul whole 've been helping out in Peridot Turtle's world so you can help me too." She flashed a toothy grin eyeing him with a mischief look on her face.
Plague pouted and looked unhappy to hear that. His counterpart must be more involved than he usually was with his wielders. "How many other souls have been fixed before you?" he whined.
"Four, I'll be five. Then Ladybug is six and once that's done Peridot Turtle herself will be seven."
Plagg nodded and told her that they should try to finish this as quickly as they could. Being the fifth soul to fix meant there wasn't much time left before the splintering was irreversible.
As CN Marinette was heading to school, C Adrien was in his father's office going over the paperwork for ordering inventory while his father was doing an expense report.
"Be sure to triple check the inventory list. If we order more of what we already have, then its wasted money and could set the company back for weeks," Gabriel instructed his son, not even looking up from his report.
"Of course Father, I wouldn't want to make a mistake which could harm your company," C Adrien replied as he bent his head back down. He pulled at the collar of his business suit before checking the clock on the wall. If he was going to make it to school on time, he needed to finish the inventory soon.
"You need to restock on silk and cashmere. When did father start ordering crinoline and pongee? It doesn't seem to match his brand design at all." CN Adrien whispered from inside C Adrien soul room. Half the room resembled an office at the company and the other half was part of the boys' bedroom.
The computer monitors on the desk turned on as bits of memories played. As usual they were fragments and he wasn't sure what order they were in.
A clip showed C Adrien as a small child wearing a tailored suit sitting on a high stool so he could see what his "father" was doing. It appeared Gabriel was lecturing the boy.
Another monitor showed a clip of his "mom" taking him to the park to play. In the clip he saw his childlike wonder as he looked at a feisty bluenette dominating over a group of boys.
A few monitors were frozen on pictures of him working at the company or in the office again under guidance of his" father". There was even a frozen moment of him with Nathalie helping her adjust his schedule.
There was another clip that kept switching from entering school and then finding the earrings on his desk. It made him wonder about something.
How did this version of himself hide his Miraculous? He had seen how the others had hidden them in plain sight or had them tucked under his clothing, but how do you hide a pair of earrings on a guy who was supposed to be the perfect company heir?
C Adrien could feel his other soul's curiosity and his unanswered questions. He couldn't focus on that right now. He finished the inventory list and handed it to his father, while tapping his right foot nervously. Once again he looked at the clock, its ticking a reminder that he should have been gone by now.
Gabriel frowned at the tapping. "Never show your impatience Adrien. It's not good for business. Everything appears to be in order. You are dismissed for the school day. Remember, you represent this company every time you are in public." Gabriel went back to his work without a second thought.
C Adrien nodded his head and bent down to pick up his school bag. The top lifted a bit showing Tikki peering out with a partially eaten cookie. Giving her a tiny dip of the head, she dropped back down in the bag.
Soon C Adrien arrived at the school. Heading to the bathroom, he hid in a stall so he could answer his counterpart's questions, while Tikki took a chance to spread her wings so to speak. "Alright, first answer, about the fabrics. The Gabriel Brand has expanded its market in the last two years to increase profits and make custom pieces for celebrities or charity causes, a bonus for the PR. That's why we've been ordering unusual fabrics."
Tikki nodded and smiled. She was practically preening over her wielder. "My wielder has been taught from a young age how to run every inch of the business. He contributes creative ideas from time to time and is extremely kind and helpful to interns. He's a very kind hearted young man." She kissed C Adrien's cheek causing him to blush furiously.
The little ladybug kwami zipped down the front of C Adrien's suit and brought out the earrings that had been specially attached to the lining. "Whenever we transform, we simply pull out the Miraculous and put them in."
"Yeah, but it's a lot of hassle to hide my pierced ears everyday with layers of foundation. Father would freak if he found out I got my ears pierced just to wear the Miraculous."
C Adrien shuddered at how that conversation would go. That would be after his father lectured him on bringing chocolate and cookies into the house via hollowed out books. A perfect businessman did not eat sweets, especially if he was running a fashion label. He couldn't risk ruining his clothes.
The warning bell rang and Tikki went back to hiding. After making sure his appearance was impeccable he entered the classroom. Of course the minute he was inside he was attacked. He suddenly remembered he had an assigned girlfriend, Chloe. The blond brat forced a kiss on his lips, which he didn't like at all. He gently pushed her off of him. "Chloe, you know I don't like public displays of affection. So why do you continue to kiss me every day?"
Chloe scoffed at him and flicked her ponytail over her shoulder. "Adrikins darling, I love you so much. You shouldn't be so prude about showering me with affections." Again she leaned in to kiss him, but he side stepped her.
She started to pout. "Really Adrien, why are you being so troublesome today? We need to flaunt our romance to keep these commoners in line," she said waving her hand at the rest of the class. She ignored their angry expressions. If she felt the death glare coming from Marinette she didn't show it.
Grabbing Adrien again, she pulled him close to her and whispered. "You love me, not that ratty bad girl Marinette. I don't know what she's blackmailing you with, but get out of her clutches. She'll ruin your reputation."
Letting him go, she sauntered to her seat and sat down, giving him a pointed look. C Adrien frowned and sat down next to Nino, who squeezed his hand in comfort. Behind them, they could hear CN Marinette making hissing sounds, not liking it at all when Chloe pushed herself on her soulmate.
"I've read in Plagg's journal that he had the power to create curses, but hasn't since the Great Plague of London between 1665-1666. Please tell me he hasn't taught you how to do them," PT Marinette asked tightly. She knew from her reading that some of Plagg's kittens could be a bit aggressive at times when someone threatened something that the wielder concerned theirs alone.
As she was discovering, the Kwamiis were nearly identical to each other, but they also had slight differences that made each version of life interesting.
The TV screen flickered and a scrambled memory seem to come together for both of them to witness. CN Marinette was in the bakery chasing Plagg, demanding he stop stealing the cheese danishes.
"No these are the most delicious things in the world. I love them so much! You are to give me them every day or I'll put a curse on you," the kwami told her smugly.
CN Marinette grinned and snapped her fingers. A large pan fell off the wall and crashed on top of the little cat dragging him to the floor making a racket.
A disoriented Plagg phased up through the pot holding his head in his little hands. "I never should have taught you to use misfortune. Alright, no more stealing from the bakery," he grumbled.
CN Marinette went stiff for a minute as she recalled that memory. Had she used her special ability for selfish purposes like that before? She played with her ring as she listened to the lecture. Was she really a very bad person? Sure she liked to be noticed or sometimes messed with people's heads, but she was sure she didn't go out of her way to cause harm to anyone.
When class ended and everyone was heading for gym Alya sided up next to CN Marinette with a concern look on her face. Without her full memories and just a few instincts, was she reacting normally or not?
"What's the matter? You seem very quiet today. If you hadn't hissed at Chloe I think you were someone else. Though I don't know anyone who would dress in your signature style."
Looking back at Chloe CN Marinette did a double take. She rubbed her eyes and then looked at all her classmates and finally took in that they were all styled differently, well as far as PT Marinette was concerned. To CN Marinette seeing the different styles was making her calm down. Take her best friend for example.
Alya was not in flannel, but was wearing a more preppy look. A white collared shirt with a short tie on it, an A line orange skirt with white knee socks and tiny heeled orange shoes. Her glasses were white and round. The biggest difference is she wore her hair in a ponytail.
The other girls' styles were also different. Rose was no longer cute, but vintage. Juleka was more artsy while Mylene had gone from slight bohemian to completely casual. Alix no longer looked punk, but was a more of a subtle tomboy now. Sabrina had swapped her scholarly look to more chic, however Chloe was nearly breaking the school dress code, with her sexy look.
The boys were also different. Nino had ditched his funky DJ style for an adventurer look complete with an Indiana Jones style jacket. Ivan was no longer grunge, but more of a sophisticated look. While Max, Kim, and Nathanial had swapped styles with each other. Now Nathanial was a bit high class/nerdy, Kim was laid back, and Max was an athlete.
It was interesting to see and was giving both souls ideas for future designs. These slight changes also helped remind the heroine that her friends were slightly different than the people PT Marinette knew. Memories, feelings, habits, they all started coming back to the cat girl. She was slowly being healed.
"Marinette, Marinette? MARINETTE!" Alya yelled at her best friend. The rocker girl actually tripped and fell to the ground because of the shouting. She banged her head against the rail. Alya rushed down horrified by what she had done. "I'm sorry Mari!"
"Its fine, my head will stop ringing soon enough," CN Marinette tried to laugh it off. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Adrien look at her in concern and she gave him a little wave. "Sorry Alya, I just don't feel like myself today. I have a lot of stuff going on."
Alya laughed knowing what she meant. "Well, Chloe has been on a rampage since she discovered Adrien was "two timing" her with you. It was worth it seeing her making a fool of herself and having to serve detention."
C Adrien was changing into his gym clothes, happy to finally get out of his suit. It could be really uncomfortable, especially during the days the sun was blazing through the windows.
He was carefully putting his suit jacket away when Nino started to laugh near him. Leaning against the lockers he gave his best friend lopsided grin. "Rich Boy you really need to get your dad to relax already. The suit is fine for the big boys at work, but school should be fun and exciting."
"Well unlike you Adventure Boy, my father actually enforces his dress code." As they were heading for the courtyard, what felt like an earthquake, hit the school. Everyone was screaming as the windows broke apart. Desks were overturned and pieces of the building started to fall off.
Outside the school, there was a male Akuma who looked like a bunch of natural disasters hit all at once and took over different parts of his body. "We can't be unprepared anymore! Landslides are real!" the guy shouted. He slid his gloved hand down his left arm. All of the sudden rocks and mud were pouring down the street in all directions. "I am Disaster Zone and the government will listen to me!"
CN Marinette held back a hiss. She needed to get away to transform, but she couldn't leave anyone behind with the rising mud and rocks. Pulling Alya with her, she got her to the third floor. "Stay here!" she ordered while tossing Alya her jacket. She jumped on the rail and slid down back in the muck.
Swimming through the mud, she found Rose and took her vintage belt and wrapped it around her arm. She did a one handed stroke towards the stairs. Near the stairs, they saw Juleka's dress and Myleene's pant leg was stuck.
"Excuse me, I'll need those!" CN Marinette informed the girls as she tore their snagged clothes off as she made a rope. With help from the others, they got Alix, Sabrina, and Chloe to safety, though their clothing did take a bit of damage.
"I'm going to sue you Dupain-Cheng for damages! That was a one of a kind piece," Chloe yelled as they climbed the stairs trying avoid the rising level of mud. In a fit of jealous rage, she pushed CN Marinette over the railing and into the slurry.
CN Marinette was being dragged down to the bottom when a yo-yo wrapped around her arms and she was pulled out of the slurry and to the rooftop. Conchillian wrapped the girl in his cloak and shouted he was going take her to the hospital for a checkup before swinging away with her. "How many lives did you lose back their kitty?"
"None, although you owe me a scented bath for your fake girlfriend pushing me into that muck," she replied in a clipped voice before they came to a stop on a flat roof. "Now it is time fix up the Disaster Zone. Claws Out!"
PT Marinette had seen Adrien transform before so she thought it would be the same transformation. That was not the case as she watched the black and neon green magic take over.
Her transformation started with her holding her hand upright palm facing towards her. As soon as Plagg was inside she pulled her ears up and flicked her mask on the opposite way that Adrien did it. Her costume started appearing feet first as it covered her body. Her kitty tail wrapped around herself as she finished in the same pose as Adrien.
The two started moving towards the Akuma. Chat Noire running and then launching herself off roofs and using her baton to make her jump further. Beside her, Conchillian flew through the air with his yo-yo, his wing like cape fluttering behind him, made him look super sexy.
Within a few minutes the duo had caught up with Disaster Zone. He was currently make the Seine overflow flooding the area, using the excess water as a spout, to oversee his handy work. "Run away! It won't do you any good. You'll drown in your own mistakes." The Akuma laughed diabolically.
Conchillian sliced through the water with his yo-yo gaining the attention of the Akuma. He certainly didn't look like he was happy to see the hero of Paris. "For someone who wants to prevent natural disasters, you seem to enjoy causing them."
The Akuma looked at the duo as a butterfly mask appeared over his eyes. Hawkmoth was giving him instructions on what to do. "Conchillian, Chat Noire, you will give me your Miraculouses or I will lay waste to all of Paris!"
Conchillian responded. "You already are laying waste to the city. Giving you our Miraculouses won't stop that." He casually zipped out his yo-yo pointing to different areas of destruction.
Chat Noire had her hands on her hip as she leaned on her partner's shoulder. "Trust me when I say what you're doing isn't the cat's pajamas." She let out a little giggle as her tail swished in delight.
Disaster Zone took a deep breath and blew out a cyclone as the two separated. Heroine towards the ground while the hero stayed in the air. Conchillian directly attacked the Akuma with kick to the stomach. Disaster Zone laughed instead of crying out with pain.
Confused, his eyes widened in disbelief as ice and snow started to travel up his leg and over his costume. He was getting heavy and struggling to stay up in the air.
Chat Noire landed on the grounded and extended her baton upward shattering the ice. The hero dropped to the ground which began to shake. Both flipped and ran alongside buildings trying to figure out how to survive.
"Run all you want! I have the power of any natural disaster that's ever happened in France at my fingertips!" Out of his stomach poured ice and snow creating a humongous avalanche. People were getting trapped as the avalanche flowed through the streets.
"Earthquakes, followed by landslides and floods. Then cyclones and an avalanche. The only natural disaster he hasn't created yet is a raging wildfire!" CN Adrien warned his other self.
Conchillian ran through his options. If the next attack was a wildfire it would melt the avalanche, but then more flooding would happen and people would be danger of drowning and burning to death. They needed a big open space without any people to stop this Akuma.
"Chat Noire, did you notice he can only use one natural disaster at a time? I don't think he can use two at the same time without running out of energy."
Chat Noire grinned as a delightful idea came to her mind. "I have an idea of how to distract him. I'm going to direct him towards the Eiffel Tower with a few idioms and mischief behavior. Is that a big enough space for you to work in?"
Conchillian nodded, "I already have an idea of how to trap him and cut off his power. Just be you and he'll walk right into it. You find his item so I can get creative with the Lucky Charm I summon."
On impulse she kissed her partner's cheek and he blushed. Wishing her luck the spotted male flew away as she got ready for her catfight. "Hey Disaster Zone! Did you know cats can sense danger before humans? You can't surprise me!"
Chat Noire landed on the snow and shook her tail at the Akuma. She stuck out her tongue and pulled down her eyes taunting him. Angered, the Akuma kicked his legs sending huge fireballs at her.
Timing it just right, she did a snow dive and avoided the fire. She popped up in a different spot and teased him. Chat Noire did this a few more times until the snow turned to water around her ankles.
"Give me your Miraculous or I'll drown you!"
"Don't you know that it's a myth that cat's hate water. We love to splash in it!" Using her baton, she sent a small wave of water Disaster Zone's way, causing him to sputtered and choke on water. She waved at him. "Don't you think I'm the cat's meow?"
This led to a merry chase through the city. Chat Noire wasn't a punner like her male counterpart, but she really loved making cat references any chance she got. PT Marinette had to endure her other soul calling Disaster Zone a bag of cats, that he was allowing Hawkmoth to put a cat's foot on him, or and the weirdest one was that the Akuma wasn't going to place a bell on this cat. (Which was weird because she already a bell on her).
Finally they reached the Eiffel Tower and Conchillian had weaved his yo-yo string to form the biggest cat cradle ever. With a spring in her step, Chat Noire headed to the cat cradle, only to have Disaster Zone stop following her.
"I'm going to skin you and pluck your boy's spots, but I will not let you take away my powers by having me flayed by a cat o nine tails." Disaster Zone kicked out his legs, but this time the fire barely spread.
He opened his mouth, but the cyclone only pushed Chat Noire across the street. As the Akuma started to cough and gasp for air, she saw it. A lanyard was hanging from his neck.
Conchillian also spotted it and undid his yo-yo line. He whipped his yo-yo around and around cracking the air. He kept it up as Disaster Zone tried to concentrate on his powers, but the noise kept startling him, so ended up not using his abilities.
With a snap of the wrist Conchillian summoned called out, "Lucky Charm!"
"I have always wanted to say that! Okay what did you get? A little flag?! How are you going to use that to save the day?"
"Watch and learn," Conchillian commanded. He scanned the area as his vision flashed. First on the akuma, then the yo-yo, the Eiffel Tower followed by the flag the lanyard and his partner. "Of course. Time to get creative."
Conchillian waved his cape like a matador to gain the guy's attention. "Everything you destroy I can recreate. After all every time something destroyed people recreated it better than before."
Chat Noire leaped out of the way as the Akuma zoomed past her on a path of ice. Disaster Zone tried summoning another landslide only when the ice stopped rolling down towards the tower in a covered in rock and mud. He came to rest dead center in front of the tower.
On the other side of the tower, Conchillian was using his yoyo string to pull the monument backwards causing it to moan and bend. In a brazen grin he let go. The tower snapped forward under the strain. The tip smashing into the ground and sending the rolled up Akuma through the air. He started screaming and thrashing about.
With a quick dash and a brilliant twist he threw the little flag like a dart. It hit the lanyard clasp undoing it and as it started heading back to the ground, the item got tangled up in the flag.
"Okay our turn! Show me the power of the black cat!" PT Marinette fangirled inside. She had always wanted to know what Adrien's power felt like.
"Cataclysm!" Chat Noire purred, the destructive force crackling on her fingertips. Leaping into the air she caught the lanyard and destroyed it. The akuma started to fly away, but Conchillian was ready for it, snapping it up and purifying it in seconds.
As the Miraculous Cleanse spread across the city Conchillian wrapped his cape around his true love. She leaned in and they shared a passionate kiss for another successful mission. Hearing the beeping they had to run.
Back in PT Marinette's life she had decided to invite the girls over to see if they could help her figure out a solution, not to the splintering, but what might be hiding inside her and how to deal with it.
As soon as everyone from her class was seated, (except for Lila because she didn't know her that well), Alya demanded to know what was going on. "Marinette, as long as I've known you've never lost your temper that badly in front of everyone. So why did you do that to me?"
"Well, you have been a bit pushy lately," Rose reminded Alya who rolled her eyes at that.
"What's with the gloves and going out of your way to avoid physical contact?" Alix wanted to know. "Should we be worried about catching some weird disease or are you trying to make a statement?" She used finger quotes to emphasize her sarcasm.
Sabrina tilted her glasses forward and asked Marinette what was with her reaction whenever Lila was around? Juleka seconded that question as Myleene played with her hair nervously wondering if the stress of Marinette's life was causing her to have a midlife crises so to speak.
PT Marinette let out an exasperated sigh and hugged herself. Her head was still pounding and she was trying to find the words to explain her problem. A wave of confidence and love straight from the central soul room eased her pounding head. Ladybug was helping her.
Straightening up, Marinette started to explain her problem. "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting recently. Being a business woman and a student is difficult. There a lot of responsibilities and things I have to do that you might not understand.
Last week, everything overwhelmed me. I broke down completely and just fell unconscious." The other's gasped at hearing that and started to ask if she was okay, when PT Marinette held up a hand to stop them. She needed to get this off her chest.
"While I was unconscious something deep inside me seem get released. A hidden part of my soul so to speak. I don't know what it is, but its haunting me and causing my problems." She looked at them helplessly begging them to understand
Sabrina blinked in uncertainty, not really understanding what Marinette meant. Alya had raised her eyebrows at her best friend's words. Alix rolled her eyes not really into the spiritual stuff, but Myleene, Juleka, and Rose seemed to understand the spiritual problem.
"I understand what you mean. Something's changed inside, you don't know what it is, but you don't feel like the same person. With changes in life, the soul can change as well," Juleka spoke up clearly surprising everyone. They had never seen or heard Juleka speak so philosophically.
The goth girl touched her heart as if she was in a deep thought. She clenched her fist for a moment, her hand mirror sparkled due to the light. "After my Akumanzation, for a few days I still felt different. That jealousy, the anger, and the desire to be recognized, it was still part of me." Closing her eyes she thought back to what she felt. It had been as if her personality was splitting in two.
"It was hard and at times I thought, what's wrong with feeling this way? In the end, I held on to the desire to be recognized, but let go of the anger and jealousy. I didn't need that."
Myleene described a similar situation when she was akumatized. That causing terror had made her question her own fears. It was a personal journey questioning, was she scared about everything, because of what she do if she stood up more often? She was still asking herself those question every day.
Rose described the dreams she experienced during her time at the hospital when she was sick. How she saw her akumatized self, what she would have been if she hadn't been sick. She admitted that what she saw scared her so much she had been afraid to talk about it for a long time. Rose took PT Marinette's hand. "Something spiritual is happening to you. We don't know why now or when it will be over. All you can do is try to understand what i means to you. When you were unconscious, what did you see? What did you feel?"
PT Marinette paused for a few minutes, conferring with her other soul on what she should reveal. "It was indigo colored, flash of scales, and all I felt was a burst of rage." Thinking about the growing stain glass inside her central soul room, she shut her eyes tightly very afraid of what it meant.
The others were surprised by this. They didn't think PT Marinette had ever experienced the emotion of rage. Indigo, the color of power and spirits, scales protection from danger. Rage made no sense to any of them.
"You know you could be just developing an edge, you know for business. It could be that what you're feeling is pressure and you're figuring out a way to handle it," Alix pointed out gruffly.
PT Marinette thought that might be the case, but her gut was telling it was something bigger than that. As the others gave her advice and promised to help her through this difficult time, whatever was hidden inside seem to get a tiny bit smaller.
At the Caquet home Celeste-Xun was sitting next to her sister's bed. When Mireille had been returned to them by Chat Noir, he explained he found her after the attack and didn't know why she was unconscious. Her adoptive parents took her to the hospital, but everything was fine except she wasn't waking up. Seeing as how she could sleep just as easily at home as she could in the hospital, the Caquets' brought her home, just waiting until she woke up.
The little girl placed her hand over her sister's. "You're going to be okay Mireille. You'll see, you'll wake up and everything will be alright." Her mixed colored eyes seem to glitter in the light. She saw past her sister's physical form and saw the soul within. It was smaller and a little lost, but it was still there holding on.
She leaned in and whispered in her sister's ear. "You soul is still there, it maybe dark now, but look for black, green, and red. They'll lead you home." Leaving Mireille's room she head to hers and shut the door tightly.
"You can come out. I locked the door so we wouldn't be disturbed. I also got the earrings."
A tired and still bruised Tikki flew haphazardly from a pile of stuff toys and into Celeste-Xun hands. Tikki's eyes were a bit glazed over, but she still felt her Miraculous next to her. "Good job CX. They need to be kept safe until your sister can use them again.
"All Miraculous must be under the protection of the Guardian and/or the wielder at all times," she replied automatically. For a second she stood still frowning. "I'm surprised that I recalled that."
Tikki shrugged and reminded her old memories of her past life would surface from time to time. It was how the little kwami knew she'd be safe with Celeste-Xun until Mireille was better.
Tikki hugged the little girl's fingers tightly. "Miracles can happen. You just need to believe in them. I don't know what part your play in all this, but I know that you will be needed by the end of this."
In Chat Noire's world C Adrien and CN Marinette were watching the sunset from her balcony. CN Marinette was painting her nails as C Adrien went over some business reports he'd been assigned. The Kwamiis sitting on a small stool just relaxing and nibbling on a snack.
"Don't you ever get tired of it?" the teen girl asked out loud. She stopped painting her nails and got up to lean against the railing. "I know I am tired of it."
"Tired of what? Your life, your boyfriend, what is it that your tired of?" PT Marinette asked her other soul self. Getting no response she asked again, but CN Marinette wasn't responding.
C Adrien looked up and put the reports down, placing a pot on them so they didn't blow away. He also leaned against the railing. The brilliant colors of the sunset made the city look as if it the city was in the mist of change, with new possibilities even as the old faded. "Yes, I get tired of it sometimes."
"Are you going to keep us in the dark or are you going to tell us what you mean? If it will help us finish fixing you two then let us in on the secret."
Both teenagers looked at each other, unsure of what to say or how to explain what they were feeling. Both of them looked at their respected kwami asking for help in finding the words to say.
"Humans, ugh why can't you talk about normal topics, like which cheese taste the best or who's the best cat in the world?" Plagg muttered under his breath. Tikki smacked him lightly. "What? I'm just being honest."
Tikki shook her head. "Oh you're honest, in your own twisted away. Why do you have such a complex, when it comes to emotions and expressing them, in a loving manner?"
Plagg rolled his eyes and retorted, "Yeah and you don't have issues when it comes to letting people choosing to make mistakes and learn from them. If one of your wielders stepped a toe out of line, you would cry all night."
"Enough quibbling already!"
"Will you just tell us what's up?"
CN Marinette ran her hands through her hair and sighed. "Destruction, misfortune, even being rebellious. It's part of cycle that never breaks."
C Adrien ran his hand through his hair and slouched a bit. "Creation, luck, and being obedient. It's also a cycle that never breaks. Together they make an infinity symbol. It can be draining on you always following the same path with no way to change it up."
"So you want to find a way to break the cycle? But if that's how the cycle of life and death is, then how do you expect it to change?" CN Adrien questioned. He understood being part of the cycle, his power balanced Ladybeetle's. Trying to change the cycle would be like asking death to happen first then life.
Inside CN Marinette's soul room, she was also confused. Looking at the TV she hoped it would play some memories. Something to help her understand her other soul now.
There was a flicker on the screen, she saw a rough and tumble girl with long hair turn as her eyes caught the sight of little blond hair boy and his mother.
A clip of her crying and kicking the baking pans as she looked at cookies and tarts on the floor.
An image of meeting Plagg as he explained her powers. There was joy in her eyes, but her smile seemed forced.
The answer was clear as day. CN Marinette, for all her attitude and crazy behavior, just once in her life wanted to create something that would last.
CN Adrien realized that for all the success and praise, for being groomed for a role that came naturally to him, just once C Adrien wanted to know what it felt like to fail, to destroy something for good.
"To fail and fall down like the sun does to give way to night, would be a new experience in my current cycle. I can't even fail at being Conchillian because we can't let akumas win. Always being the creative one with all the good luck in the world on my side," C Adrien stated out loud. Sitting back down looking at the papers on the table he sighed. Looking up at now twinkling stars, he wished a black hole would swallow him up.
"To succeed just once at making something without having to ruin it in the first place, would give me some joy. Then I won't feel so trapped," CN Marinette stated softly. Picking up the nail polish bottle, she wondered how long until it broke and splattered her clothes. She had become a designer to try to create something new, but it never lasted. So she just kept doing what she had always done, make the mistakes work for her.
"Then maybe the two of us should collaborate together to make a garment piece to satisfy CN Marinette and help C Adrien learn something about failure." C Adrien clapped his hands over his mouth. He couldn't believe that CN Adrien had taken over his voice.
"You know something tells me that CN Marinette and you C Adrien, have been waiting for an opportunity like this for a while." The duo and their tagalongs all nodded as they started to work together.
As the Kwamiis watched them, they could feel the optimism growing inside their wielders as the final pieces of their souls came back together. One and half souls left to fix.