Well I never expected this to have taken so long to write up... Sorry for being absent for so long on this collection. Its been waaay busy with the holidays, not that I have had a ton of time before then either. Anyhow besides the excuses here is a new story for you guys to enjoy! I will try to update every three days like I have with the others but Will probably run late.
Guests... To all you guys thanks for reading and for the reviews! I am continuing to write but unfortunately its slow going and I hit a bit of a rough patch when it comes it inspiration. Hopefully with season two finally coming out and my job finally hiring more people I will be a bit more active!
Hawkfeather... About A Cats Shield sequel... I have an idea percolating we will see if it ever comes into the light.
spinnerofdark... Maybe if She shows up as a pup in season two I might create a story around them. Plus fox powers wouldn't have helped against an army of light sensitive skeletons.
Marinette is a clumsy witch with almost no magical power but has high hopes to one day be a certified stitch witch. Her first step towards her goal is summoning a familiar, but the real question is will she survive the test?
Witches Familiar (Part 1)
The unused back street was smoky and magic scarred. It was the site of a battle bravely fought and badly lost although, that was what tended to happen when a mere child took on a grown adult in a battle by magic. Still the end result could have been worse. Everyone had lived with only minor injuries even though the man known as Hawkmoth had managed to scurry back into the shadows. Within moments of the man's passing those same shadows parted to reveal a very odd sight. A large black cat burst from the depths green eyes taking in the damage surrounding him. Riding a top his back a small red humanoid fairy gasped releasing his fur to fly into the air.
"The children!" Tiki moaned fluttering over to the dark haired child, pressing her delicate tiny hands to the child's cheek. "We were too late, this was not supposed to happen."
Plagg in his black cat form padded up to the girl, nudging her arm and hissing as he spied the purple butterfly on her forearm just a few inches before her elbow.
"It's my fault. I should have never removed the other girls mark." Plagg answered eyeing the butterfly mark with a predatory eye. His lips peeled back as his black aura lit up his body ready to destroy the mark that clung to the child's skin.
"Don't touch it Plagg!" Tiki hummed her voice more than a little panicked.
"Why? I can remove that flutter brains mark no problem." Plagg answered his aura flickering out while his body swayed impatiently on his paws. Tiki hummed in distraction as she zipped around the girl looking for any serious injuries and as he watched, she finally fluttered down to rest beside him.
"If you remove it he will know and he will investigate. You know he didn't come here and catch them unawares by sheer accident. Hawkmoth came here knowing what he would find. I'm surprised he didn't try and reactivate the residue magic to see where the girls and your charge came from!" Tiki cried swatting at Plaggs nose as he sniffed the mark again.
"He couldn't activate the residue magic Tiki, he was probably too tired. This kit gave him a hell of a fight considering she is so young. I can smell the lightning magic she used and that's after using her protection on the kit and probably her friend. Honestly I'm surprised he even managed to lay the mark at all. He must have done something sneaky to manage it." Plagg answered not yet knowing how right he was.
"We can't be exposed yet and we certainly can't protect these children every day for the rest of their lives. If you remove this mark too he will know that it was by more than just chance." Tiki hummed, reaching out to place her own tiny hands against the mark.
It flashed a brighter purple under her touch and she gasped jerking back. It was a strong mark. One that bound the marked persons magic, rendering them practically magic less in a world filled with it. It also drained the marked person of their magic giving the person who cast the spell more power whenever they wished to call on it. Although, Tiki could feel that this mark hadn't been set properly and what had been done was sloppily placed. The child's own defensive magic was still fighting the marks anchors, since the child's magic was far stronger than it should have been in one so young. Hawkmoth had made a mistake one that would eventually give the child a chance to take her magic back.
"So we doom them to be separated the rest of their lives and doom the girl to being a glorified battery?" Plagg demanded his voice a hiss of fury.
He wanted to go hunt Hawkmoth down. The only thing stopping him was the safety of the black haired child before him, also Tiki, and the kitten he had been given to train and protect. Another hiss slipped from him, ok maybe he had a few things stopping him but if he followed the trail now before it went cold there was a good chance…
"Don't even think about it, we don't have the firepower to take him out and even if we did the magic might not dissipate if we don't do this right." Tiki snapped tapping Plagg on the nose to break him from his thoughts.
"Fine." Plagg grumbled swiping a paw over his nose. In truth he hadn't wanted to start the hunt alone anyways. Now though they had to decide what to do about the children. "You haven't answered me about the mark though. She can't break that mark on her own and the kittens power wont fully mature without her. They are already bonded and her power reflects that. They need each other."
"They do." Tiki agreed thinking hard how the marks worked. The young kitten was already bonded to the child's power and that was helping to keep the mark from setting completely. If there was a way for the girl to keep the mark without it inhibiting her powers maturation and draining her completely…
Tiki shivered an idea running through her. Slowly her aura surrounding her body began to glow as the idea began to turn into the purest form of magic. Her aura glowed a gentle red as she concentrated, feeling the flow of the spell cast in the butterfly mark. The flow told her what shape her own spell had to be to counter it and Tiki smiled as the shape took form in her mind. Wisps of light from the glow around her body began to pull away and slowly a net like structure began to form. It looked like a dream catcher more than a net and Plagg felt his own magic rise within him in answer to hers. The spell would allow the child to access her magic more freely than a bound person and his kitten would be able to work off her magic as well when needed. It restricted the butterfly however and prevented it from draining her automatically all the time. The mark would only activate when Hawkmoth called specifically on her magic.
"Oh…" Plagg answered in understanding his own black aura coming to life around him once more. Tiki reached out to him and Plagg let his magic flow freely to her as she used his destructive magic to weave a corrosion spell into her net. As she got older this would make the marks grip loosen rather than tighten and with any luck by the time Hawkmoth noticed anything amiss the children would be old enough to fight back on their own.
The red net turned spotted like a ladybug and Plagg pressed his nose to the spell as Tiki pressed a palm to it. The spell flashed once then sank into the child's arm directly over the butterfly. The purple inky creature twitched and wiggled making the girl whimper then it settled changing to a black color. To the casual observer it now looked like an odd birthmark.
Plaggs green eyes rose to Tikis blue ones.
"We will have to train them. She will have the hardest time of it especially with the way you wove the corrosion spell in." Plagg murmured
Tiki nodded fluttering back to the child's face her hands glowing as she healed the child's wounds since the mark wouldn't drain her magic any further. "She can do it. She protected her friend and her partner although they can't possibly understand the bond they already have. She has so much potential; this nasty akuma mark will actually make her a better witch in the end. Hawkmoth has no idea what he has started."
Plagg nodded then stretched his cat like form, seeming to unfold until a man stood in the cats place. "I'll take her friend home and then I have to get back to my charge. He should stay unconscious till then but with her protection spell on him I'm not sure my magic can keep him out for long."
Tiki giggled and a moment later she stood almost as tall as the man named Plagg looking down at the now tiny child at her feet. "She pushed everything she had into protecting her friends. I think she has a Grimalkin in her family tree somewhere. Your kind is always so very protective."
Plagg grinned as Tiki lifted the young girl up into her arms. "She definitely has some fairy with her small stature." Then he frowned as he tried to pick up her friend wincing at the crackle of magic that flared. Turning he eyed the small girl whose bright blue eyes were half slitted, conscious if only just barely. "I'm not going to hurt her kit, let me see her home safe."
Tiki hummed at the black haired girl in her arms and she sighed eyes slumping fully closed. The magic blew out like a candle and Plagg turned back to the darker child lifting her into his arms. "Train her well Tiki. Otherwise in a few years we will have a disaster on our hands."
"They will fix the magic Plagg, and find Nooroo. I can feel it." Tiki answered her aura shimmering into the visible spectrum once more as she wove a hiding spell.
Plagg smiled at her not needing the spell since his inborne magic hid him naturally from prying eyes. Then voices intruded as the magical energy spent there was finally detected by others. The crappy shield Hawkmoth had placed to prevent the kids escape had fully fallen apart revealing a sudden wash of magic to the outside world.
"Times up." Tiki hummed and Plagg nodded. Together they slipped into a side street vanishing from view as witches and wizards alike rushed in to investigate.
In a world of magic people were as different as the snowflakes that could fall from the sky. Some people had enough magical power to run spells for days without tiring while others only had enough magic to see what magic was around them. Very few had no magic at all and those that didn't, often found life rather difficult. Magical aptitude wasn't the only thing that made people different from each other either. Some people were also born with odd traits. These traits often showed up as animal markings, ears, tails, or sometimes even wings and were the result of people having children with a class of creatures called familiars.
In truth, it isn't as odd as it sounds.
Creature was a loose term to describe what some familiar's true form looked like. Although just as there were different classes of power for humans, there were also different classes of power for familiars. They ranged from weak creatures that could only maintain an animal form and had no powers, to unique creatures that not only had special abilities but could also transform into humans themselves. Magical Scientists theorized that the world of familiars was actually a parallel world that humans could access due to the magic that was inherent in their universe. No matter how it was initially found the world of familiars was now closely tied to the human realm. Children were now often a mix of both and almost all families had a blood tie to some familiar heritage. Scientist believed this mixing was the reason magic hadn't yet died out in the human race which had almost happened 1000 years ago when humans in the magical government tried to ban the breeding of people with their familiars. It was only when a powerful group of seven humans emerged from a mixed parent heritage of familiars and human that the ban was lifted. These seven humans had turned the worlds whole view of Familiars on its head especially when they created the very foundations of the natural magic that everyone, even the weakest human used today. Soon after it was found that magic was once again was cropping up with more prevalence within the human race. This was the world Marinette Dupain-Cheng lived in.
Clumsy, funny, sweet, and pretty, these were all words that could be used to describe Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Powerful was not a word you would use to describe her and yet as a child she showed all aspects of being a truly powerful witch. Not that many people knew or remembered this in the first place. As a child Marinette had been far above her peers in all classes of magic. In fact most of the time she seemed to have so much magic she simply didn't know what to do with it. Then when she was eight years old she had been involved in a somewhat mysterious incident, and from that moment on her powers went from extraordinary, to average, and as she got older, fell even further into the weak category. It wasn't extraordinarily common, but sometimes things did happen like that. Some children were born with the ability to tap into all the power they could handle at a very young age and these kids showed fantastic magical potential since their powers seemed to outstrip all of their peers. Then as they got older there magical abilities seemed to fade because their magic didn't grow with them. Instead it remained the same.
Unlike most people though, a lack of power didn't bother Marinette in the least. Marinette was nervous when it came to having large amounts of power since as a very small child she'd had several incidents of it getting out of hand. After the odd incident that she didn't remember happened and her power had faded she no longer had trouble controlling the few spells she could use so she didn't mind her powers being at a mediocre level. Unlike some of her friends, she also no longer had magical accidents where her magic escaped her control. Considering her clumsy nature she was always inherently grateful for that since as a very small child she had almost feared her power. Thankfully Marinette had just enough magic to ease her way through what she really loved to do, designing. Her chosen field was that of a stitch witch, although she couldn't call herself a witch at all quite yet. Only about a quarter of the human race could claim the title of witch or wizard and depending on your class it could be a title of prestige. To claim the title of witch one had to go through more years of magic schooling on top of regular classes and pass several series of tests. The first of these tests were held at the age of fourteen and it was the test of familiars.
Out of all the tests it was probably the simplest. All you had to do was summon a familiar to your side. This familiar was then bound to you, most of the time for life, although there were rare cases where one person could have upwards of two or three familiars. One odd crazy little man had a reported ten familiars but they were all of a basic non magical beast type that he used to steal baubles from unsuspecting strangers. He was called the Pigeon man and although police desperately tried to catch him, so far they hadn't had any luck. For the most part though people had one familiar and summoning one especially the first time, took quite a bit of magic.
"Tiki I'm never going to be able to do this!" Marinette moaned hands in her hair as she freaked out about the coming test.
Bottles and spools of thread spun slowly through the air as the red fairy Tiki fluttered over to where Marinette was having a meltdown.
"Of course you will Marinette! You have plenty of magic to be able to do this and if you feel that nervous you can overlay the design with your special thread! Believe me you will be able to summon a familiar!" Tiki said dodging a bobbin to settle in Marinette's hair.
What she didn't tell her was that technically she already had a familiar and that the spell she would be casting in a week would simply be announcing that fact properly to her peers and teachers. The kitten Plagg was keeping track of had become a handful in the last few months wanting to come to Marinette's side his own way rather than the proper way. Thankfully cooler heads had prevailed so far without magical restriction and once Marinette laid the circle, the magic that connected the two of them practically guaranteed a successful summoning.
Unable to hear Tikis thoughts Marinette simply gave another moan and all at once the floating items clattered to the floor. Tiki patted her head a wane smile on her lips. She had been with Marinette for six years now happily training and watching Marinette grow as Plagg did the same for his kitten. At first it had been hard. Tiki had to remain a secret and trying to convince an eight year old that no one could know of her presence without scaring her had been a true challenge. For a while her parents were convinced that their daughter had an imaginary friend and Marinette, once Tiki had finally convinced her simply rolled with it. Keeping herself a secret from Alya had been far more difficult, sometimes requiring a spell or two of hiding or forgetfulness but overall Marinette had done well. Thankfully Marinette didn't consciously remember what happened all those years ago in that back alley. Tiki knew she had nightmares sometimes although as she got older the nightmares had faded but Marinette had suffered magically because of Hawkmoth. The binding of her magic meant her power levels had never regained their proper strength which had caused a stir with both her parents and her teachers. Also because most spells were taught through active magic first, Marinette's measured aptitude for any magic in general had drastically dropped. Tiki had to help her find other ways to access her now blocked magic passively and although it made Marinette a better more creative witch now, it had damaged her self-confidence badly. It hadn't helped that at first Tiki had to be extra careful not to catch Hawkmoths eye since initially he had watched the child closely. After all not many children could hold off an adult magician and he seemed to realize that his mark hadn't been properly placed. Fortunately he could never get close to her and Tiki made sure Marinette was never alone without some kind of protection over her. As time passed though Hawkmoth became bored with the girl. Her powers hadn't panned out as he had hoped and these days he rarely even looked in on her once every few months.
Tiki sighed, one thing she hadn't yet been able to fix was Marinette's ability to completely freak out over the silliest things. This was a habit Tiki had noticed from day one when she had revealed her presence.
"Marinette…" Tiki tried again as one of her proximity spells chirped at her. "Someone's coming." She murmured darting off to hide.
Marinette remained where she was slumped over her futon refusing to move and see who was invading her space.
"Girl. You are not throwing another tantrum are you?" Alyas voice demanded as she climbed into Marinette's room and saw the mess of items across the floor.
"It's not a tantrum Alya I'm just freaking out like a lot!" Marinette answered, keeping her face pressed into the fabric. "I cant believe I let you talk me into taking this stupid test!"
Her best friend in the world was Alya, a dark skinned girl with fox ears instead of human ones and eyes that glowed amber when excited or mad. Her hair was mostly dark although the ends naturally faded to a reddish orange color. Marinette suspected that when she summoned a familiar it would probably be of the lupine class and Alya was also the reason that Marinette even considered taking the familiars test. Alya had encouraged her and helped her for years now and in truth the only reason Marinette was giving it a shot was she didn't want to be separated from Alya yet. After this year anyone who didn't summon a familiar were separated into their own classes and taught different studies. There were the rare few who's power bloomed late and were given a second try but those were extraordinarily rare and those people also had to go through other rigorous tests. Very few people refused to try to summon and those that did usually had no power to speak of. Even though Marinette was convinced she was one of those people, Alya was convinced Marinette would be able to summon a familiar. They had been friends for a very long time now and she had been with Marinette in the odd incident where Marinette seemed to lose touch with her magical power. Alya on the other hand seemed to find it. These days Alya was the one who showed the greatest magical potential and could handle powerful magical spells although she had no patience for memorizing them.
With a roll of her eyes Alya sent her magic out passively, lifting the items from the floor to send them to their appropriate locations. Since they had been friends since they were practically babies, sometimes Alyas patience for Marinette's spazz attacks was more of a reflex than actual patience. "I don't know why you are spazzing so bad. They measured all of our magic weeks ago and you have plenty to summon a familiar!"
At her words Marinette finally looked up. "Barely! I barely have enough magic to summon one and you and I both know how my power fluctuates! If it was using passive magic I would be fine but this is active and what if on that day I don't have the power! I'll fail and people will laugh and oh gods its going to be horrible and I'll have to leave and live like the pigeon man and…"
Alya grabbed Marinette cutting off her rambling and making her squeak as she pulled her into a hug. "Girl you will be fine. You are the best witch in our class regardless of power. You have spells memorized that I don't think I will ever master! Just use your thread and everything will work out fine. At worst I can let you borrow some of my power."
Marinette shook her head as she pulled out of Alya's death grip. "I can't borrow your power Alya, not for this at least. You know that summoning a familiar has to only use the owner's power and if you try to use multiple bad things happen."
Alya rolled her eyes "Yeah that's the ghost story that they have told us all for years! You know Chloes going to try it anyways since her power, regardless of what she claims, is absolute crap. I say you give it a go first. Besides with the way you can manipulate magic you don't have to put my power into the spell just use it to feed your power."
What Alya was talking about was a very rare skill that Marinette had developed. Most people could borrow power from another or in rare cases steal it. However that borrowed magical energy still contained the essence of the original user. Most spells had to be balanced when adding multiple peoples power to the mix and delicate spells often went wrong when someone borrowed power but didn't balance for the extra persons essence. Marinette however could borrow power but instead of having to blend the power into her own and contaminating her essence she could incorporate it the same way a fire incorporated a new log thrown onto it. So far Marinette was the only person Alya knew that could do that effectively and it was a skill Marinette had been trying to teach her for a while now.
Again Marinette shook her head. "I need to stand on my own Alya. If I can't do this on my own I really won't be able to anything further either even if I manage to summon a familiar. Plus if I summon one too strong with excess magic it can suck me dry."
Alya opened her mouth but Marinette put her finger to her lips to prevent her from speaking. "You can't support two people all the time and you can't hamper yourself for my sake. Once you get your familiar you will have to support them with your magic. We knew this day would come Alya."
Alya scoffed pulling Marinette's hand down but at the mention of support her gaze softened. "You have always supported me Mari. I don't think I would have made it this far without you. I just want to help."
Marinette patted her friend on the back. They had been best friends since age five when the first met on the playground. Back them Marinette had been the stronger of the two and when she had found the other kids picking on Alya she had stopped them by hanging the bullies in the air. The bullies had been stuck like that till their parents had come to their aid and they had been friends ever since. Marinette had continued being the stronger of the two until they were eight when it all changed, though neither Marinette nor Alya could quite remember what happened. The adults believed they attempted a spell neither could handle and Marinette had basically shorted out her power to pull them out of the spell. The weird thing was no one could figure out what kind of spell they had attempted and since the girls couldn't remember everyone was at a loss. The only lead they had was the fact that two odd individuals had brought the girls home before vanishing without a trace. Thinking about the past made the birthmark on her arm burn slightly and Marinette rubbed at it absently. Regardless of what happened Alya had since then been the stronger caster, although Marinette was better at defense and powering things for long periods of time. The balance worked out well for the two of them and for joint projects they always made sure to be placed together.
With a final sigh Marinette climbed to her feet seeing how her floor was neat once more. "Thanks for putting everything away Alya." She murmured feeling a touch embarrassed at how she had made a mess.
Alya waved her off. "You're lucky I remember where you like everything placed. Now that you are better shall we head back to school? Lunch break is ending soon and we get our summoning schedule today!"
Marinette cringed at Alyas words but nodded with a hesitant smile. Today was the last possible day to back out of a summoning and Marinette knew Alya was going to be watching her like a hawk so she couldn't sneak off to retract her name. Once you were given your summoning time you were stuck giving it a try.
"Come on girl! Lets go!" Alya huffed seeing the slightly panicked look in her eyes and dragged Marinette from her room. They were out the door in seconds and back at school faster than Marinette thought possible. It was like time had sped up since it sensed her reluctance to return. They arrived back into class as the warning bell began to ring and they took their seats as the teacher walked back in.
"Alright everyone! In your seats please! Now as you all know summoning's start tomorrow. I have the schedule here and please keep in mind that you will still have class and homework to attend to despite the half day status. Now I will call your name and when I do your time and day of summoning will appear on the board behind me. When I am done calling everyone you will be allowed to collect your time stamps." Their teacher called and after a moment of silence she began calling names.
Marinette watched as the board filled up flinching slightly when her name was called. After all the names were called their teacher moved aside, giving silent permission for 30 people to crowd around the board in search of their names. Some people didn't bother to get up simply levitating their papers to themselves. Others like Chloe had someone else get their slip. Marinette went to stand to go get hers when she saw the slip peel itself from the board and fly into her hands.
"Thanks Alya." Marinette said with a smile, happy that she wouldn't have to brave the crush of bodies at the board.
Alya waved her thanks off and flipped her paper open fairly squealing in excitement when she saw her time. "Mari! I'm one of the first! I'm going to get my familiar tomorrow!"
Marinette grinned happy for her and with a deep breath opened her paper to see her own time. A knot formed in her gut when she read the words and time on the paper. Her summoning was on the last day at the earliest possible time slot. Fear swept through her as her mind demanded a second look just to be sure. To the city of Paris the week of summoning's was a significant and exciting event. At the beginning of the week it was usually quiet since many people were still working and few students summoned since Classes were weaning down their times to fit in with the students schedules. The crowds picked up rapidly towards the third day of the week though, especially since the days became shorter and more students summoned. People showed up from all over the city to watch and by the time the last days of the summoning's hit the stands were usually packed. With her being one of the last people to summon she would probably have nearly the whole cities eyes on her. Seeing Marinette go ashen Alya moved to ask what was wrong when a squall of rage filled the air.
"I cannot believe where I have been put! This time is far too soon and I refuse to not have an audience!" Chloe squalled
Sabrina flinched next to her. "Chloe it's a lovely time a-and not having a lot of people means you can concentrate better. Its also the day right after me! We can celebrate together when you finish your summoning."
"No I demand a better time!" Chloe snapped and their teacher flinched as Chloe pinned her with a glare. Their teacher was a nervous creature and Chloe had intimidated her from day one. Their teachers mouth opened clearly ready to say it was impossible to change when Marinette found herself speaking.
"I'll switch with you." She said and Chloe spun around pinning a disgusted haughty glare on her.
"You?! I highly doubt you have any time worthy of me." Chloe sneered flipping her hair over her shoulder as her nose aimed itself at the ceiling.
Marinette felt a tendril of irritation run through her and for a moment she almost retracted her statement, but then the eyes of her classmates reminded her of how much worse it would be in front of hundreds of strangers.
"I'm one of the last." Marinette snapped instead hearing several gasps echo around her. Having a spot on the last day was a fairly coveted spot, one that many people wanted and would often do favors to get.
Chloes eyes went bright, the greed in them more than apparent but she flipped her hand in the air to peer at her nails feinting disinterest.
"You're not really allowed to switch…" Their teacher called weakly although no one heard her. Instead Marinette was suddenly surrounded with other students all wanting to know if she would switch with them.
"SABRINA!" Chloe snarled from behind the sudden crush of bodies and all at once several people found themselves shoved magically aside. Chloe strode through the vacant space and plucked Marinette slip of paper from her hands.
"Here is your new and useless time." Chloe hummed tossing the paper at Marinette before striding away.
The crush of bodies followed her clearly still eager for another shot at having Marinette's time slot. With a slightly shaking hand Marinette opened the paper and let a thankful rush of air flee from her lungs. Chloes time was on the second day in the second time slot, practically right after class had let out. It meant she had time enough to gather her supplies and it also meant that other than curious classmates, family, and a few diehards there would probably be very few people in the stands.
Alya wrinkled her nose. "You sure that was a good idea?"
Marinette shrugged "I definitely didn't want to go last and if I fail there won't be as many people here to see with this time. Oh I'm sorry I should have asked if you wanted it first!"
"Not to worry Marinette I want my familiar sooner rather than later and besides you are not going to fail but when Chloe fails the whole city will see!" Alya whispered excitedly. "We have to go watch."
Marinette chuckled weakly but nodded unable to resist Alyas excitement. At least as few people as possible would see her fail if she did and that was enough for Marinette.
The rest of the day passed thankfully quick and Marinette rushed home to inform her parents of the change in times between her and Chloe. On the main board at school her name would still read as being last since the teachers never bothered to keep track of all the time switches made between students. It was frowned upon to switch your time but some people didn't have a choice and their teachers truly didn't care as long as someone showed up in the available time slot. Her parents were excited for the switch since they knew Marinette had been extremely nervous of the upcoming summoning. With it so close at hand she wouldn't have as much time to stress herself out. Now all she had to do was prepare her materials although the school provided most of the items that would be needed.
Alya called her later in the evening asking if Marinette would help her carry some summoning supplies with her in the morning. Marinette was happy to agree and after calming her overexcited friend down she hung up to get to work on the bit of homework she had yet to complete. The moment she settled down Tiki came out to join her.
"I'm happy you were able to switch with someone." Tiki said fluttering down next to Marinette's hand.
Marinette leaned back in her chair the relief coming from her practically palpable. "Me too Tiki, even if it was Chloe I switched with. I couldn't imagine having to go out there and summon on the last day. Even if I am as capable as you say I really don't think I would have survived the pressure."
Tiki hummed her agreement even though that wasn't why she was glad Marinette had switched. She and Plagg had been keeping a closer eye on Marinette since she had mentioned a week ago that her arm was burning where the birthmark was. Tiki had immediately studied Marinette's power and came to realize that Hawkmoth, was trying to siphon power off her from where ever he was, quite possibly to prevent her from summoning a familiar. Marinette's magic was matured now though and it had built up a tolerance to being siphoned off. Basically it was fighting the pull and now that her kitten was older he was using his magic to help her fight as well. Do to that Marinette's magic had been far more sporadic than usual which, was another reason that she was so nervous about the summoning. Tiki and Plagg had taken turns watching over her and even though Marinette had seen Plagg once she hadn't suspected anything being amiss. No one odd had approached her thankfully and with her switching her time with another Tiki was confident that Marinette's summoning would go off without a hitch. Hawkmoth wouldn't know about the switched times if he were planning some sort of sabotage and even if he wanted to try he wouldn't know when her new time was. Completely clueless to Tikis thoughts Marinette finished her homework and went to bed early knowing her phone would be ringing off the hook soon enough.