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She was the Destroyer and he the Creator, but maybe they got it wrong all along.

It turns out that sometimes everything needs to burn down before it can grow, and even the most beautiful life can quickly turn on itself.


Inferno Oeuvre

by thepeacockandthebutterfly

Okay...it was a little bit creepy to be standing in the corner of the dark classroom and watching Marinette do something with her hands, Adrien understood. But it had been a whole month since the quiet girl had arrived and he still hadn't seen her use her magic (aside from the sparks on that very first day).

"Dude, you don't want to spook her," Nino whispered. He had a warm look in his eyes when he looked at Marinette, something flickering in his tawny eyes that made Adrien's chest screw up. "She gets scared easily...especially of herself."

Adrien nodded. "I don't think she likes her power."

"Her power is destruction on par with Plagg's, who would want that kind of burden?" Nino sighed before walking over to Marinette. The two had become friends, to Adrien's dismay seeing as he still couldn't bring himself to approach the girl. Nino sat down next to the bluenette, lowering his face and smiling at whatever she cupped in her palms.

Adrien clenched his teeth, before going to find Alya.


Marinette was incredibly appreciative of Nino. He was quiet around her, careful to not scare her or put her into an uncomfortable position, especially after his initial impression.

The only problem was that she could tell that Nino was becoming attached to her. And she knew that Alya had been interested in Nino for the longest time, and Alya was her only female friend at this school so she didn't want that to be ruined.

She sighed, taking the wooden board that Plagg had handed her and getting back to work. Marinette loved designing things and so she had had the idea of burning the wood into shapes or burning designs into the surface. Focusing her magic carefully into her palms, Marinette spun the board and began to light it up.

Within seconds, the board was reduced to ash.

Maybe this would work better with stone...

Marinette clambered to her feet and walked over to ask Plagg. "Teacher, do you think it might be easier to shape stone with my fire? The wood just burns too quickly."

"First of all, I told you to call me Plagg. Secondly, it might be because of the concentration of the heat and the speed of which you allow the heat to leave your hands. It would take stone longer to react, but it would melt, which might be more difficult to control and potentially more dangerous," he paused, "have you tested your resistance to heat?"

"I know I am completely resistant to flames, but I've never tried touching a molten object. Oh, I can also touch basic burning objects or heavily heated objects. I can pull baking sheets out of the oven bare-handed without pain."

"Maybe you should try just so you know your limits for the future," Plagg suggested.

Marinette shrugged, not exactly excited at the prospect of possibly injuring herself. "I guess Tikki can always patch me up if necessary."

Plagg walked over to his materials closet and dug through it for a moment before pulling out a rather large rock. He handed it to Marinette, who stumbled under its weight for a moment before adjusting to the heaviness. She set it down on the floor and flopped down next to it. Being in the middle of the classroom with Plagg, Marinette's classmates had noticed that something was about to happen. Although a lot of them had witnessed the fiasco in Tikki's class a month ago, they had yet to truly see what Marinette could do.

Every eye trained on her, Marinette got to work. She formed her flames first, letting them dance between her slim fingers, and establishing firm control over the miniature blazes. With a curl of her right hand the flames wrapped around the rock and squeezed. The stone appeared to shudder for a moment before giving way, rivulets of molten rock dripping down onto the floor. Marinette narrowed her eyes, focusing on the shape of the rock, reaching to touch the stone with her hands.

The class held their breath in unison, suddenly fearful for the girl.

The rock glowed underneath Marinette's fingers. She pressed down harder, squeezing and shaping the rock, molding it into what she wanted. Marinette pulled upwards, stretching the rock deftly and then backing away to allow it to cool.

A stone blossom hung heavy from a slender stone stalk when Marinette stepped away at last. She wiped away the sweat that had gathered on her forehead at her close proximity to the intense heat. She touched the flower tentatively, fingers cool. It did not move at her touch.

"Good job," Plagg breathed, finally allowing himself to speak again. The tense silence that had fallen over the room as Marinette worked dissipated quickly.

"I guess I can touch melted rock?" Marinette joked.

"Apparently."

Marinette got to her feet, carefully picking up the sculpture and carrying it over to Adrien. "You've been watching me."

It wasn't a question, but a statement.

Adrien gulped. "I-I'm sorry, I just-"

Marinette cut him off, "No, it's fine, I guessed you were curious." With a smile, she thrust the sculpted flower into his hands before turning and walking away.

Looking after her for a moment, Adrien then turned his vision to the stone plant he held. Instinctively he reached into the plant's form, searching for a seed of life. As he suspected, he didn't find a spark of life in the inanimate rock. However, there was something that he could reach out and touch. He tugged at it with his power experimentally, stunned when the rock shattered in his palms.

Marinette turned at the loud sound, as did everyone else. All they could see was Adrien, shell-shocked, holding a broken thing in his hands. They were beginning to bleed now, shards of stone cutting his skin.

No one moved to help him, still stunned by what had just happened. The boy with the power of creation had just caused destruction.

Every head turned to Marinette, wondering if she had been the cause.

She was staring at Adrien, corner of her mouth titled up ever so slightly. "Interesting," she whispered under her breath, mind whirring as she tried to guess at what this meant.

"Every power has the potential for creation and destruction," spoke a calm voice, "there is no need to ogle Mr. Agreste as if he is some wild animal," Tikki admonished them lightly.

Plagg smiled at the sight of her. "What brings you down to the dungeons, Tikki?"

"Creation and destruction have found each other again."


Hey, sorry it's taken me two weeks to get this next chapter up!

Reviews:

Uselesswerewolf21: I'm glad you didn't give up on me :)