A silence had laid over the three people and no one knew how to react to each other. No one moved and no one said a word. Spark had opened his eyes but his head still rested on the shoulder of the woman. He watched the scene peacefully, he didn't see any reason to be alerted.
"I… I don't know…", Marinette gave in and sighed heavily. She looked to the ground and suddenly her socks seemed to be really interesting. She felt a hand on her shoulder and Alya looked at her empathetic. "But you will get them back. "You're so close.", she said encouragingly and smiled at Marinette, like she really believed what she said. "Yeah… we're close.", Marinette echoed her words and looked at the woman again.
The black haired woman hadn't moved a centimeter. Her eyes fixed on the scene in front of her. She watched the girls, her eyes cold and calculating. "I saw how close you were and yet how you haven't moved a single inch forward, instead you threw yourself a hundred yards backwards.", the woman finally moved. She got up from the chair and put the box down carefully, certain not to damage anything. She turned back to the girls and continued speaking coldly. "You lost all the Miraculous. It's bad enough that two were missing when you got the box but now they're all gone and you have no chance to get even close to the Kwamis to save them. I'm sorry Guardian, but you failed this mission.", she said simply, while Marinette had tears in her eyes. She held back her sobs but it was obvious how broken she was from that. She stared at the woman but didn't dare to say a word. Her hands were trembling and it was obvious how distressed she was by that.
"She tried, okay? And why are you here at all? If it's so important to you, where the Miraculous are, why didn't you come here immediately?", the other girl suddenly spoke nearly harshly to the woman who still didn't move a muscle in her face. She began the sentence: "Cause I Am-", when suddenly a little voice interrupted her. "Lydia!", Tikki flew past the girls and straight up to the woman against who's cheek she cuddled herself. "Tikki!", the woman exclaimed happily and a hand immediately held the Kwami dearly in her hand. The girls stared at the scene before them. Tikki flying to this stranger and embracing her like that.
"Tikki?", Marinette asked confused after some time. The two parted and the Kwami looked at the girl and smiled. "Master Fu didn't tell you, did he?", Tikki asked softly and flew back to Marinette to talk with her in a more comfortable manner. "I… what should he have told me?", Marinette was obviously confused. She began moving her hands around confused and underlined every word she said with a movement of her hand. The Kwami stopped and looked at the woman, before moving her hand like she expected her to say something.
Another silence followed, which Marinette felt like, there were way too many of those in the last few minutes. It took some time but after Tikki raised her eye even higher, the woman gave in and sighed heavily. She offered the girls to sit wherever they felt comfortable. And they did. They both sat down on the little couch Marinette had in her room and they were ready to listen to all her explanations. The girls looked at her with big eyes, they're hands clenched together on their lap.
"Okay so, Marinette you're a Guardian, so was Fu and so is Su-Han. Your job is to keep the miraculous and their powers safe. You make sure that the powers are used for the greater good.", the woman began to explain and pointed at the box on the chair. Tikki had sat down on Marinette's lap and Spark listened to her closely. "Your job is to keep the people safe, right?", the black haired woman had realized that being unempathetic to the girls was no use, they're just children and she wanted them to understand, because her reasoning wouldn't become any easier. Marinette nodded and answered simply: "That's what Fu told me."
A sigh escaped the lips of the older one. "What he didn't tell you is that you're not the only one who keeps them safe. But my job is… different.", she explained in order to prove her point, she took off the headpiece of golden leaves in her hair, and even when it changed its color to a beautiful black hairpiece, the Kwami didn't disappear. "My job is to keep the Kwamis safe. I am the beginning and the end of every Kwami. Whenever one of them is in physical or emotional pain, I can feel it. I'm not reacting immediately, far from that.", she sighed and moved the hairpiece between her fingers, the small leaves reflecting the moonlight. "I am not supposed to interfere with humanity, but it's time to do it now. My Kwamis are in distress and I need to get them back to the place where they are safe. With you Marinette.", the woman looked up but the girls looked at her, like they hadn't understood one word she just told them.
"Your Kwamis? But… you're human too.", the other girl suddenly said and she sounded genuinely confused. She got up from the couch "and when you're so worried about them, why didn't you just stop Hawkmoth right at the beginning?", she continued her questions, but the woman interrupted her, before more questions would follow. "I am the Supreme. I created every Miraculous in every universe. I'm not stopping any human from using them.", she explained simply. But the girls didn't seem satisfied. It was easy an reasoning for her, that's how she lived for thousands of years. But the girls just looked at her with absolute confusion. "But he is hurting people with them…", Marinette said with a small voice.
"People hurt each other, Marinette. It's human to do so. I am not interfering with your use of the miraculous, as long as no Kwami is damaged while it's used. I know it's not easy to understand but humanity is not my place to judge. I am no Goddess. I am not the judge of your existence. If I did so, I'd be no better than the humans who misused their power. But that's why holders and Guardians like you exist. I chose humans who are wiser than the rest, who I trust to make the right decisions.", she tried to sound soft and she really wasn't here to take the status away from the girl. "I am just here to get my Kwamis back in their safe home and then I'll leave again."
"You could have stopped Hawkmoth? You could have… stopped all the pain? All the worries he brought over Paris?"Marinette looked up at her in utter disbelief. Like she just explained the most stupid thing to her. "Hypothetically yes. Practically have I created a balance with my Miraculous. Every part has its own counterpart.", the older one sighed and stroked back her hair.
"Listen. I know it's not easy to understand. I know it doesn't seem fair to you that I never stopped him. But if I'd interfered with every timeline and dimension where people misused power, just because I say they do, I'd be no different from humans. It isn't fair to you and I know it. You lived through horrors that no teenager should ever have to witness and I'm deeply sorry for that. Fu made a mistake by giving you the box. I'm not saying you did a bad job, but you're too young for this. You're a child. No burden like this and especially not the hypothetical power of destroying the world, should be yours to bear."
Marinette looked up at her. Tears in her eyes. She couldn't tell why she was crying but it hurt to hear these words. To hear such an apology. She sniffed and brushed away the tears fast. "Will you take Tikki from me?", she whispered. The woman immediately shook her head. "I can't. As long as no Kwami was harmed I can't break my own bound. As long as you don't release the box or the miraculous of your behold, I can't do a thing about it. That's why I said. I'm no Goddess. My powers are limited to my own words and spells."