School's back in. Which means no free time for me. Yay!(sarcasm intended.)

The fox had brought him a plastic cup full of water and a tray of food. It sat in the same spot- on the ground inches away from his feet- as it did when she had brought it. He refused to touch a drop. Plague kept his head down and his arm chained above his head. His wrists were becoming itchy though; now he thinks maybe he shouldn't have closed the cuffs so tight.

He was well aware of the turtle who was guarding him. His eyes were burning a hole through his forehead. This boy was either too eager to please or had a question he was dying to ask but was too scared to ask. It was starting to get annoying. He felt like the main attraction at a museum exhibit.

"Staring is rude, you know." His voice was hoarse and his throat was drier than the Sahara Desert. Maybe he did need a drink of water.

"Are you a masochist or something?" Plague didn't expect him to respond. Ever since he came to the dungeons and sat in that chair in front of him he hasn't said a word around him. At first glance, many would think that he wasn't that much of a talker.

"I'm just asking. I've seen the other prisoners wear their chains less than you do. Your wrists look like they are about to fall off too."

His arms were so stiff that he couldn't tell. They just feel itchy. He hasn't moved his arms or hands in awhile. He prefered to just let them and the rest of him hang.

"You look like death dude."

That sparked a chortle. It hurt his throat. He feels light-headed.

"When is the last time you've eaten?" His voice was heavily muffled like he was talking underwater, but he understood enough to mutter something back. If it was coherent he did not know.

"Hey! Can you hear…."

After The Plague passed out, Carapace called Master Fu, Wyazz, Rena Rouge, and Ladybug. Master Fu walked inside the cell and unlocked his cuffs. The sight made Ladybug and Rena gasp and Carapace almost puke.

The skin on his wrist was peeling and the flesh underneath was pink and swollen, crusted over with dried up blood that had turned black.

Wayzz pressed two fingers to the side of his neck to check his pulse. "He's breathing, but his pulse is very low."

"He hasn't eaten or drunk anything for a week. It's a miracle he's alive."

"Maybe this is his repent for all the people he's killed." Rena hypothesized.

"Or maybe the Gods have damned him for the rest of eternity." Carapace suggested. Rena and Carapace started bouncing ideas off of each other as Wayzz hovered his hand over Plague's chest. A warm green glow emitted from his palm. Soon Chat's breathing returned to normal and his skin regained it's healthy color.

"His vitals haven't been completely restored yet, but they are better. Carapace. Rena. Can you go to the Cafeteria and gather some leftovers from yesterday. Ladybug stay here." Rena and Carapace nodded then walked out of the dungeon to the cafeteria. Their conversation continued as they walked down the hall.

"Come Ladybug." She was cautious as she walked over then kneeled beside Master Fu and Wayzz at the unconscious Plague's side. A small washcloth materialized in his hand. It emptied a green glow too.

"Press this against both of his wrist 30 minutes each. It should heal the damaged skin." Fu said then passed the cloth to her hands.

"Yes Master." Him and Wayzz then stood up and walked out of the cell and the dungeon.

"Master Fu, wait!"

"What is the matter, Wayzz?"

"When I was inspecting his body, master, I felt something. It's like there's a war between two entities inside of him and he's been caught in the middle. Master, the boy is slowly dying."

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." When he opened his eyes he awakened to a fox-like mask and sneaky green eyes.

"Volpina," Plague sneered.

"Hello kitty," she smiled.

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that." He was unsteady when he stood up. They were standing in the mindspace, a place of endless creativity. Whatever you could imagine or wish for could happen in the mindspace. The one they were in was pitch black. Volpina entered his mindspace. So he was unconscious.

"Exactly forty-nine times, but every time you tell me not to makes calling you that even sweeter." She was wearing her Volpina suit, a darker version of Rena's own.

"What do you want, Volpina?" He was getting tired of her and his inflamed limbs didn't make listening to her honeyed voice any better.

"Hawkmoth can sense any pain you cause to yourself. He says to stop.

"Why does he care? I can't die anyway."

"Though you can't die, you can still get injured and your body can still get broken. Hawkmoth needs you at your best." She had stepped closer to him in her explanation. She clutched his arm in her crushing grip, digging her long fingernails into the thin layer of skin of his arm. "He also knows about that girl."

"What… girl?" He grunted out as he tried to pry her fingernails out of his arm.

"Ladybug, that girl who they have taking care of you right now." Beside them a live video of Ladybug draining a washcloth then folding it in half and pressing it to his wrist. So that explains why his wrists felt so heavy. "Hawkmoth remembering her and he knows you do too."

"She has nothing to do with this." He cried out when Volpina dug her nails deeper.

"She will be if you get her involved. Just remember why you're there and she won't get hurt. Crystal?" A purple outline of a butterfly framed her mask and her voice was joined by another more masculine one. Hawkmoth had joined in the chat.

"Crystal." Volpina smiled and ripped her nails from his arm then kicked him to the ground. Plague gritted his teeth and clutched his arm as Volpina stared down at him smirking, "Good."

Plague opened his eyes back to the drab concrete ceiling of his cell. He could still feel the moist washcloth and the slight pressure of Ladybug's hand holding the cloth to his wrist. He could hear her shuffling as she got up to change wrist. The water in the bucket made a quiet splashing noise then the water dribbled back into the bucket. A cooling sensation enveloped his wrist. He noticed another tray of food beside his stomach. There was a block of cheese on it. He could feel Plagg starting to stir in his pocket.

"You should try to take better care of yourself." She wouldn't look at him but there wasn't anyone else in the room so she was definitely talking to him. Her eyes remained on the enchanted healing washcloth.

"Where's the turtle?"

"Gone."

"With the fox?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't. It just seems like there was something more there than friendship." Especially with how whenever they thought that he was asleep, the fox would bring a basket of food and drinks and they would eat lunch or just sit and talk about whatever came to mind while he had to listen to Plagg telepathically gripe about how disgusting they are.

"And what if they are? What would you do?"

"Nothing. Is there something that I need to do?"

"No."

"Then I won't do anything."

"Good."

"There was a gap of silence between them. After 5 minutes she removed the cloth from his wrist. The dried blood was gone and the swelling had gone down. The skin had healed nicely.

"Thank you."

"Just take better care of yourself. It's getting annoying trying to revive a living corpse." He winced at that. If Ladybug saw, she didn't care. The bucket and cloth dispersed into tiny specks of glitter before disappearing and she didn't look back as she walked out of the cell, locked the door, then completely out of the dungeon.

Plagg launched out of his pocket to the tray of food with the block of cheese. "Man! That girl really does hate you. But she is right, you do need to take better care of yourself." he said with a mouth full of cheese.

"Sorry Plagg. I'll do better."

"Good. Now maybe you could talk to me." Plague and Plagg both looked up. Master Fu was standing in front of his cell with Wayzz in his kwami form. "Hello Adrien. We have much to talk about."