Chapter Three
"Marinette? Marinette!"
Marinette blinked. She refocused her attention. Mr. Rolland glared as she shrunk into her seat.
"That is the second time this week you've dozed off in my class. If this is how you are in your first class, I sympathize with your later teachers." He tapped a question on the board. "How would you answer this?"
"Um." She clutched her pencil. Squinting didn't help. "I-I don't know."
"No? Even though this is a review problem?" He frowned as she shook her head. "Well, I suggest learning the material. Otherwise, you should be very concerned about the exam in two days."
Marinette raised her blank notebook to hide her reddening cheeks as everyone shifted in their seats. Oh, they were laughing at her on the inside. At least Adrien wasn't here, not for weeks. Just like Chat Noir. Ever since her ex-partner disappeared a month ago, the stability in her life teetered. The bedrock had shifted. She'd always counted on Chat Noir to be there-no matter what.
Apparently she couldn't. Not anymore.
The attacks were cutting it close, dragging on and wearing her down. There was no way to contact him. Why hadn't they shared their identities sooner? Marinette dropped her forehead to her textbook and groaned. How much did physics really matter?
She smiled. Puns were his thing. Especially the lame ones.
"Hey," Alya whispered. Marinette glanced at her. Her brows drew further down at the bags under Marinette's eyes. "I know you won't tell me what's happened."
Mariette nodded.
"But," she continued, "at least let me help you. I'm your best friend. You're so distracted and you randomly disappear. Something is obviously going on, more than just Adrien, and-"
Mr. Rolland cleared his throat, narrowing his eyes. Alya grinned a little too wide, patting Marinette's hand.
"I'll be okay," Marinette mouthed. As she turned back to her notebook, a stone settled in her stomach. How much longer could she go on like this?
Propping her head in her hand, Mariette half listened as Mr. Rolland drilled her classmates. It was like watching mundane television, separated by a screen and outside her daily life. Her classes passed in a blur.
The final bell rang. Chairs scraped back as students rushed to freedom.
Marinette stretched and her stomach rumbled. "Alya, want to go out to that cute café? Like we used to." She glanced over at an empty seat. Oh. Alya already stood at the door with Nino. Marinette flushed and shoved her books in her backpack. "Or, uh, we could do that another time."
Alya fidgeted, drawing away from Nino. "That sounds really nice, Mari."
"Yeah, but it's Wednesday, so…" Nino scratched the back of his head.
"Oh, right. Date day with a corny movie. Sorry, I usually remember. Just, you know, the whole being distracted thing. Have a nice time." Marinette gave a weak wave. Merde, what was wrong with her?
"Are you sure?" Alya said.
"Yeah, you two go have fun. I'll study. You saw how much I sucked in physics." Alya exchanged glances with Nino. Agh, best friend or not, Alya needed to stop worrying about her. She could take care of herself. Besides… Alya had Nino now. "Really."
"How about tomorrow?" Alya asked with a growing frown. "Let's hang out then."
Marinette stood and slipped on her jacket, shifting her shoulders until it fit. "Sorry, I'll be helping out in the bakery." She slung on her bag.
"Alright… Sometime soon though. I am holding you to that." Alya waved as she and Nino headed out. "Salut, Marinette."
Marinette clenched her fists around her bag strap, pausing in the center of the empty classroom. First Adrien and Chat Noir left her, now Alya was too… She shook her head. No, it wasn't like that.
"Let's go home, Tikki. I'll sneak you a couple cookies."
A little cheer sounded from her purse.
A few leaves tumbled across the sidewalks. Brisk air swept them along. Marinette tugged her jacket tighter, fighting the wind. She yawned, rubbing at the corner of an eye. Sleep was a luxury these days.
The bakery's scent enveloped her as she entered. Sourdough rose in the oven and columns of iced cookies shaped like the eiffel tower teased from a display.
"How was your day, ma chérie?" Papa asked as he scooped some truffles for an elderly couple. The paper bag bulged. He weighted them, rounding the price down. Like always.
"Eh," she said, readjusting her bag.
"Mom wants to speak with you," Papa called after her as she bolted up the side stairs.
Mariette sighed. And here Mom sat, sipping her cup of herbal tea. "Hi, Mom."
"How about you sit, Mariette? Want any tea?"
Mariette set her bag down, leaning it on the chair. "Fine. The usual, s'il te plaît." She shouldered off her jacket and hung it on a hook.
Mom poured from the kettle onto her teabag. Steam whirled up in thin, misty spirals. "Take off your shoes, dear."
"Oh, right." She slipped them off and sat, taking the warm mug. "Merci."
"Now, your dad and I, we've been worried about you the past couple of weeks." Mariette blew the steam onto her still pink cheeks. "We have both noticed you eat less and disappear over to Alya's an awful lot."
Mariette gazed into her tea. She blew on it again, ripples splashing the side of the mug, lapping at the rim.
"We called her parents," Mom continued, "only to find you rarely go over anymore."
Mariette set her mug on a coaster, folding her hands. Mom reached over the table, hand covering hers. "What's going on? We want to help."
She licked her lips. Lying to her parents still hadn't become easier. "I've just been staying after school."
"Why not tell us? Is it to work on your grades? We got another email from Mr. Rolland. You can't seem to pay attention in class. And you're always exhausted."
"Thanks for the observation," Mariette snapped.
"Mariette," Mom started.
"No, I don't want to hear it. Please." Marinette looked up from her hands. "I'm alright."
Mom gazed into her eyes. "Alright. But you're not allowed to go to bed before telling us something we can do to help. You don't have to go through this alone, ma bichette." She squeezed Mariette's hands.
Mariette hung her head, breathing out deeply. "I will," she whispered. "Let me go up to my room and think about it. I'll let know you if I come up with anything." She squeezed back. "I appreciate you noticing, but I really don't think there's anything you can do."
Finishing the last of the tea, Mariette climbed up the stairs to her room, bag slung over her shoulder. Tikki zipped out as soon as the latch door slammed shut.
"Mariette, you can't keep going on like this."
"I know."
"What are we going to do?" Tikki asked, hovering as Marinette flopped onto the bed.
"I don't know," Mariette said, face buried in her pillow. She turned her neck. Ah, to be able to breath again. When she closed her eyes they stung. That's how exhausted she was, all this worrying keeping her up later and later. "Everything is so messed up right now."
"We should -"
A scream echoed up from the street, cutting off abruptly.
"Tikki," Marinette snapped. She leaped up, gazing out the window. "Yes, it has to be an akuma."
Light surrounded Marinette as she shifted into Ladybug, suit tight yet flexible against her skin. "That scream wasn't far."
Flipping open her window, Ladybug extended one foot onto the ledge and peered out into the falling dusk. The days were getting shorter. It wasn't too dark yet, extending the shadows. Whipping out her yo-yo, she secured it on an outcrop inches from her windowsill. She tugged. Good enough.
The pavement rushed up to meet her as she scaled down her building. Unhooking from above, she crouched and darted across the street. The akuma was out there.
Pausing, Ladybug listened. Nothing. She creeped into an alley, spine prickling. Something was up.
Spinning, she raised her yo-yo, ready.
Nothing. Again.
"Something isn't right," she murmured, inching clockwise. The sensation of eyes boring into her continued no matter which direction she faced. There. Movement.
A shadowy hand eased off the wall. A thin, translucent outline misted in black. Ladybug peddled backwards. A bead of sweat trickled down her hairline, caught in a web of stray hairs. A shoulder then a crisp head followed the arm, like a shadow picking itself off the wall.
Ladybug tilted her head. It gradually vanished. Returning to her position, it appeared full on. "It's two-dimensional..."
The figure stood tall, only it's hand connected to the wall shrouded in shadow.
Ladybug scrutinized the figure. It was a mere outline, the sketch around a murder victim at the scene of the crime filled in and come to life. Where was the akuma-possessed item?
The figure walked along the wall, trailing its hand after it, and paused, somehow staring at her. Another shadow flashed into its place, overlapping. It flickered. Marinette blinked.
A second shadow lashed out at her, surging forward from its connection to the other. A clawed hand passed centimeters from her face. Her hair fluttered back, wind rushing by.
These things were real.
Ladybug whirled and sprinted into the sunny boulevard, avoiding the shadows. Cars stalled along the road. Empty. Where was everyone? More shadows rose up, slipping closer.
Ladybug stepped back, yo-yo in hand. "Where even is the blasted akuma?" she muttered. Securing a tether to a building, she surged to the rooftops.
Planting herself away from the shadows, Ladybug squinted at the figures below her. The falling sun only extended them. Ladybug's skin prickled. Silence smothered the street even though it was rush hour, the only sounds echoing from blocks away. "Merde, I need to finish this fast."
A chill wrapped around Ladybug's ankle. Glancing down, she only had time to extend her hands as the inky hands tugged her down. Wincing at the impact, Ladybug snapped her yo-yo through the shadow's wrist. Severed from the arm, the hand dissipated into a foggy smoke, tendrils rising as if from birthday candles.
Surging to her feet, another hand grasped Ladybug's shin. More hands reached up even as Ladybug sliced her yo-yo about, its whirling the only noise accompanying her hurried breathing.
"Ah, Ladybug."
Ladybug's head snapped up, the angled sunlight forcing her to squint. A figure stood emblazoned before the sun, yet still embodied in shadow. A dark cloak whipped around them, fading away at the extremities. Luminescent porcelain skin framed freezing black eyes that bored into Ladybug, shredding her to pieces. She flinched. Crimson lips curved.
More hands reached for Ladybug, forcing her to a knee.
"Strong, aren't they?" The akuma paced closer. "Everyone seems to forget about the potential of shadows. Whether to tell a story or hide within, they can be our greatest ally. But no matter. I believe you have something for me?"
Ladybug slashed through the last of the shadows clawing at her and bounded to safer ground on the roof. "You'll have nothing from me."
The akuma gave a hollow laugh. "So confident. And strong. Good. A woman needs to be in this world." Her hands toyed with a small embroidered paper man. A tear slashed through its shoulder. "I'm Shadow Bearer. A guide between the light and dark."
"Now," she began, extending her arm. Shadows shot out from the dark outline of her arm. "Be a good little girl and allow the performance to continue."
Ladybug dashed off the building, securing her yoyo midair as hands grasped after her. Sailing along, Ladybug landed blocks away at the lip of a shop and crouched down, pausing above a police wall directing civilians to evacuate the area.
A little boy holding tight to his mom's hand spotted her, waving with a cry of delight up at her. Ladybug beamed down and returned the wave before turning back the way she came. Why didn't Shadow Bearer follow her?
A wave of darkness rushed along the street, catching hold of a few policemen and nearby civilians, fully enveloping them. Ladybug's horror grew as she watched the people's silent pleas as they fought the inky blankness that dissolved them to the ground. Shadow Bearer coalesced from the smoky cloud as it shrunk back, shadows rising up in the people's place. Her dead eyes met Ladybug's, lips twisting into a crooked smile.
Ladybug leapt at her with a yell, slamming the akuma with her yo-yo multiple times before catching it on a building to ease her landing. Settling into a ready stance, she took in the field. The closest shadows were meters away.
A smaller shadow rose up next to Shadow Bearer. She patted its head. "Why can't you just be like this good little boy and appreciate the shadows? Then maybe he would have watched the performance instead of joining it. Afterall," she refocused on Ladybug, "he was such a big fan of yours."
Ladybug growled, spiraling her yo-yo back at the akuma. A longer arm reached up from the boy and caught the yo-yo midair. Shadow Bearer watched her.
Tugging, Ladybug tried to free her yo-yo. Patches of shadows were inching closer to her from all around, edging into striking distance.
Ladybug's pulse picked up and she pulled harder on her captured yo-yo. Launching upwards, she reeled herself to her weapon, the surrounding shadows shifting to follow their prey.
Her feet smashed into the shadow's head, tipping it backwards and releasing its grip. Ladybug let her yo-yo fly, securing to a lamppost, and immediately began swinging to safety. An inky mass encircled her waist, abruptly halting her escape and holding her fast.
Ladybug cried out. The black coldness spread, anchoring to her legs as well. Her yo-yo released, crashing her to the ground.
Rolling over, Ladybug thrust up her yo-yo with a yell. "Lucky charm!"
A sturdy flashlight landed in her outstretched hand. Finally one that makes sense! Flicking it on, she shone the light at her capture, catching it on Shadow Bearer as well. The shadow fizzled back as Shadow Bearer screeched.
Bounding upright, Ladybug hastened away and once again escaped to the top of a building. Glancing at the horizon, her stomach clenched. The sun slipped further and further down, half of it pooling on the edge.
Shadow Bearer screeched again. Shadows surged underneath her, raising her above the ground and rushing her towards Ladybug.
Shit! Ladybug bounded away from the akuma once again, straining to keep ahead of the raging woman.
"Interrupting someone else's performance-! How dare you!" Shadow Bearer screamed from behind.
Ladybug's breath came ragged from her lungs. A break! I can't keep only reacting. I need to go after- The footing below her crumbed with a bang. Stumbling past it, Ladybug glanced behind her and barely ducked the column of shadows that stabbed at her head.
She pushed harder, sprinting and bounding along the Parisian rooftops while avoiding the oncoming attacks. Darkness further fell.
Ladybug swung past le Louvre, barely rising above the huge shadow that slammed into the museum behind her, severing the building in two.
"Sorry, Lisa!" she called as she rushed along.
Ladybug stumbled on a loose roof tile, her flashlight clattering to the ground below. Sliding down the roof, she twisted. A shot slammed into her right shoulder.
Shadow Bearer rose up before her. "Enough playing, buggy. Hand over the miraculous."
Ladybug grimaced, ignoring the pain blossoming in her shoulder. Her miraculous beeped. She paled further. How long had it been since she used lucky charm?
Another shadow lashed for her. Dodging it, Ladybug found herself at the roof's edge, the rain gutter digging into her back.
A crack then she dipped, head tumbling backwards. Her hands flew behind her to find only air.
Ladybug turned and frantically latched her yo-yo to the building before she hit the ground. The yo-yo ran taught, slowing her. Her back slammed into the pavement. She cracked open her eyes, limbs tingling. Her legs wouldn't move.
Her miraculous beeped again, shrill in the settling evening. Shadows curled around her, latching her to the chilly sidewalks. Her wrists and ankles were pinned like a frog for dissection.
Shadow Bearer lowered to the ground, a smirk gracing her delicate but cold features. "Quite an impressive run, Ladybug. I commend you for that, but alas you are no match for the shadow." She glided closer, silent.
Ladybug tugged at her immobilized arms and legs, eyes growing wider as Shadow Bearer crept closer. She squirmed. Her short gasps weren't enough to get air into her lungs, restricted by the shadows.
The inky arms squeezed tighter and she heaved.
A reflection caught her eye. Oh man, there was Alya a short ways away, phone trained on the scene before her. Livestreaming.
"No!" Ladybug turned back to Shadow Bearer, choking on a sob. "I- No! You won't have my miraculous!" Ladybug struggled and managed to raise her torso slightly off the ground. A shadow quickly jerked her back down, digging her shoulder into the pavement and twisting it. Ladybug gritted her teeth.
"Chat!" Ladybug raised her head. "Chat Noir. Help me, I need you! Please… Chat Noir!"
A shadowed arm rose up and hooked its elbow around her throat, slamming her head down and cutting her off.
Shadow Bearer tsked. "I thought you were stronger than this, Ladybug." The akuma crouched down and fingered Ladybug's earlobes. Cold shadows swirled around their master. "No matter."
Ladybug's earring clicked.
Bugs were scuttling underneath her skin, biting to the surface. She was sure if it. Sweat broke out of her forehead. A breaking sensation tore through her, a part of her lacerated off.
Tikki... She screamed.
Notes:
Wow this took us awhile to get out. Oops. At least we're off hiatus now! I promise not to leave you hanging here though; the next chapter is nearly done plus I'm not that cruel. The next chapter will be out soon. Plus now you have a better idea of where this fic is heading. Fun, right?
French:
Salut - Hi/Bye
Ma chérie - My darling/dear
S'il te plaît - Please (informal singular)
Merci - Thank you
Ma bichette - My little doe (term of endearment)
Merde - shoot/shit