A/N: This chapter ended up being a fun one to write. I don't know why but the kwami and their interactions with their holders is just an interesting topic to delve into - and that's without the events that go on in this chapter.

Honestly I haven't got much else to say. I just have a habit of having author's notes that I tend to carry across all my stuff.

Samuel Dudek - It's only the beginning of what's to come ;)

Guest - Glad you're intrigued by what's happened so far :)

Till next time,

D.L.D

Chapter Two: Failures

Returning home had never felt like such a heavy task to Chat Noir. Even when he was trapped within the oppressive walls of his father's mansion, Nathalie watching him from the right and Gorilla from the left, Adrien Agreste had never felt like returning home was such a burden. Returning home had never felt like such a reluctant task. Even back then, when home was the last place that he wanted to see, a reminder of what was once there, it had never felt so wrong. So... defeating.

Slipping in through the bedroom window was an old trick he'd perfected over the past four years - even if the location had changed. Landing on the terrace and dropping through the skylight was an effortless feat as Chat Noir. However, tonight, the hero was slower in his movement, careful not to jolt his arm too much as he extended his baton and used it to get a smoother ride down into his home.

Unusual for him - unusual for Ladybug - not everything was magically repaired after the battle had ended. Sure, the material things were all patched up, cracks sealed in paving stones and toppled buildings returned to solid structures, but only those things had been mended. Glass, brick and stone: replaceable things, meaningless things, had all been restored to their former glory. But the people of Paris themselves? No amount of Ladybug's magic could fix what had happened to them.

Death had never been a permanent thing when it came to super villains in Paris. If someone died then Ladybug could bring them back. Countless times she had brought back the dead, restored from stone to glass to grains of sand; every time Ladybug made sure that everyone came back safe and sound. At worst, there was a case of bad amnesia or a concussion that was gained from a particular nasty head injury.

But death? Death had never been a fear. Not even to Chat Noir. Because Ladybug could always bring them back, she had always brought them back.

Only, today she hadn't. Sobbing in the streets, harsh howls of anguish and pain, all sorts of people had crowded around unrecognizable scrapheaps of people. Not even their bodies had been restored, mangled messes of charred limbs and twisted body parts being spread about the area. Some people weren't even that lucky: they weren't even there anymore, declared as missing on the ever-growing list of victims affected by the attack.

In the face of it all, Ladybug looked as if she wanted to crumble. By her side, unable to shake that feeling from her, Chat Noir couldn't even bring himself to try and change her mind. Never before had they felt so hopeless. Useless. But what could they really do? Lucky Charm had always worked in the past; Lucky Charm had always been the solution. Now that it wasn't, now that it had failed, what could they do next? Did they even know what to do next?

Everything within Chat Noir screamed 'no'. Once again they were clueless, firing blind shots into the dark, hoping that it would hit something, change something, that would point them in the right direction. That entire battle with Jinx was centred around nothing but good luck. There was no skill to it; there was no trick to overpowering someone like her. Even when he'd thought they'd won, the rogue miraculous within his own hands, Jinx had proved Chat Noir wrong.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were not the most powerful holders. There were other miraculous out there, much more dangerous and much more malevolent than anything they could ever dream of. Tonight they had only gotten lucky, saved by something that none of them could decipher. Not even Tikki and Plagg.

But what would happen next time? Could they even save anyone next time?

Just thinking of the possible answer, the definite despair that could follow, Chat Noir knew that it wouldn't end well. He wasn't good enough. He wasn't strong enough. This time round the threat was too big and he was only dragging Ladybug down - his arm was proof of that.

Releasing a sigh, the hero detransformed, a flash of green light replacing Chat Noir with Adrien Agreste. A disappointed, saddened Adrien Agreste. Not to mention the limp noodle of an arm he had, hanging with a stiffness that was only slightly more bearable than the flaring agony of moving it. But that was a focus for another time.

"You really cut it close tonight," Plagg's voice emanated from beside him, a small insight into the kwami's concern. A rare feat from Plagg - a creature usually unperturbed by the fate of Adrien. As long as there was cheese, he would be fine; as long as he could continue being a glutton he didn't entirely care. But tonight, like everything else, even he had been shaken by the appearance of the Chaos kwami and its chosen holder.

"I know," Adrien admitted, his mind flashing back to that moment. Fear, pure and powerful and all-consuming in his veins, making him twitchy as he prayed that he could deactivate his suit in time. That moment, although brief, had felt so much greater than a mere second. Even when the blonde tried to brush it off with a small, humourless remark, "An arm's a small price to pay though."

"Still doesn't make it hurt any less," Plagg rebutted, already stuffing his face in Camembert. Nothing new; who would even rely on Plagg to change at the end of the world? Cheese would forever be his true love; cheese would always come first. "Maybe you should ask Ladybug to try and patch that up for you."

"I don't want to trouble her, Plagg," Adrien shook his head. There was a lot he didn't want to do around her - especially because he knew Ladybug was going through it right now. After seeing all those people, suffering in agony even though she had tried to fix everything, there was no doubt that Ladybug was a mess. Why would he add to that? Why should he add to that because of a stupid, broken arm?

"She's got enough on her mind as it is."

"Her or you?" Plagg quipped, swallowing a rather large hunk of cheese. Immediately after he let out an obnoxious belch.

"Both of us," Adrien answered, a stiff thing that matched his wrinkled nose. Almost a decade spent with Plagg and the creature couldn't even attempt to pick up manners. Then again, Plagg was never the sort for formalities. Everything was straight to the point with him - even when it came to serious, life-changing matters like tonight. Plagg wasn't the sort for heart-to-hearts; Plagg was never the type to be cuddly and warm. Frigid, pessimistic and selfish, he was a source of little optimism.

Over the years, Adrien had learned to stop looking for guidance from Plagg. There was no point, too little point, in mining for something that clearly wasn't there. Even when the silences felt a little too strong between them, like a silent argument of wills, he didn't dare to break them. There was no point. Especially not after tonight.

Optimism was simply a fool's name for idiocy. Only a fool would think that there was any true hope left after tonight, both Ladybug and Chat Noir driven into a corner by one rogue miraculous holder. None of the akumas had ever made them feel so useless. Not even Hawkmoth had made them feel so hopeless. But Jinx, her arrival and reveal of her own miraculous, had definitely brought those two emotions up front.

Careful not to move his arm too much, Adrien headed over to his closet. If he was going to get this patched up, then he needed to do it tonight. With the influx of victims from the attack, he'd slip under the radar. Plus the hustle and bustle of the hospital might get him to calm down. Being around that many people, so many eyes on him and yet also not on him, tended to have that effect. Oddly, doing normal things in open, public spaces made him feel more at ease.

Gritting his teeth, Adrien tried to withhold the wince that shuddered through his system as he half-shrugged on his jacket. Throbbing, spasming, the painful sensation within his arm just wouldn't go down. If anything it was getting worse, spreading up his shoulder and straining his entire right hand side.

Maybe it had been a bad idea to lose the suit. Overall, it had been a bad to idea to try and charge at the villain like that. Maybe Adrien should learn from his past mistakes.

"Tonight wasn't your fault," Plagg spoke out, almost as if he was reading Adrien's mind. Again, concern pinched at his feline features as he glanced at his holder, his jade eyes glowing brightly in the gloom of the room.

"I never said it was," Adrien responded lightly, brushing the topic aside as best as he could. Blaming himself for their failures was a terrible habit of his. Whenever Ladybug looked upset, ready to throw in the towel, his immediate response was to always blame himself. It was his job to help her. If she felt helpless, then it had to be his own fault because his job was helping to lighten her load. Chat Noir's purpose was to support Ladybug.

"You're implying it, kid," Plagg corrected, his tone surprisingly firm as he drifted closer to Adrien. Even the cheese had been ditched, left wherever Plagg had been hoarding his stash.

"I'm really not," Adrien insisted, again trying to push the topic back to where it came from. It didn't matter. Not now. All of the damage had already been done. "I just feel like shit and need a break, ok? My arm needs to be fixed and now I've gotta wait in what's probably a day-long queue."

"Adrien..."

"What Plagg?"

"You did a good job today," Plagg smiled, a wane and solemn thing as he pat Adrien gently on the cheek. "Even if you don't feel like you did."

Getting such words from Plagg was a rare occurrence. Seeing so much pride, an almost palatable sense of sympathy from him, was even rarer.

Despite the blazing pain in his arm, along with the tangled dread within his gut, Adrien felt himself return Plagg's grin, "I know, Plagg. I really did try."

For days Marinette had not emerged from her apartment. Nestled within a plush cocoon of blankets and pillows and fluffy pajamas, she had tried everything she could to try and ease her mind. Cups of tea scented with cinnamon, exotic fruits or simple peppermint; cookies delivered by her worried mother after she had failed to turn up at the bakery one morning; even a season of some generic comedy on Netflix had been tried to distract herself, but nothing worked.

Too much sat within Marinette's mind. After the attack, after seeing so many people lose their lives before her very eyes, something within her had changed. Oh so cliche, it was. Seeing actual death, knowing that there truly was something the Lucky Charm couldn't fix, had added a heavy sense of permanence that Marinette had never felt before.

With Hawkmoth it was almost like a game. Looking back to those days, thirteen and swinging through the city with her goofy partner, Marinette could say that being Ladybug was like playing a game. Akumas couldn't kill anyone; Hawkmoth couldn't truly break anything beyond repair. Even during that final battle, suitless and stiff from being batted aside, Marinette had never felt like her life was in true danger. Tikki had never failed her at that point. What was there to fear?

Now, in the future, the fear was everywhere she went. Every time she blinked, flashing across her eyelids, she would see the charred remains. Hands clawing at thin air for help, blackened skin that had melted in places, revealing clumps of pinked tissue and grayed bone. So many people had suffered. So many people had died. And Marinette could do nothing about it. Ladybug could do nothing about it. Lucky Charm had failed.

Again, before her, Marinette could see them. One thousand grasping hands. One million groans of agony. Like a sea they came in waves, trudging through the streets on shaky legs or crawling with buckling arms. None of them looked human, none of them even resembled corpses. Mixed and mashed body parts, a jumble of pieces that just didn't click, they all looked broken, unmended, neglected. Almost like a garden left to rot in its own growth.

Spinning her yo-yo, because apparently she was Ladybug now, Marinette felt herself tense up. So many people. So much agony. But she couldn't help them. No matter how much they clawed and scraped at her legs, yanked at her hair and stroked at her face. Blistering fingers, flaking with peeled flesh and prodding with bone, felt rough on her own skin. Putrid moans, released from hanging lips and incomplete jaws, felt rancid in the air.

"I can't help you," Marinette - no, Ladybug admitted - still spinning her yo-yo as she tried to hold the sea of dead back. "I can't bring you back."

More moans filled the air, joined by screams and screeches emerging from the swelling crowd. None of them liked the sound of that. None of them wanted to hear that. More powerful, more vigourous, the limbs yanked at her yo-yo, pulling Ladybug down as they clamoured to touch her, see her, speak to her.

"Help us!" They cried, a cacophony of agony and broken voice boxes. "Help us!"

But there was nothing she could do. Tears pouring from her eyes, slipping down her masked cheeks, Marinette couldn't do anything. Instead she let the dead pull her down, suffocate her lungs in the crushing weight of their bodies and let herself drift in their sea of agony. This was her fault. This was her mess. Now she'd have to live with it, carry it, everywhere she went - even if it meant she'd never sleep again.

"Marinette," Tikki's voice urged the young woman awake, bolting upright and out of her nest of blankets and various other bedding items.

Sweating, her heart racing, Marinette knew that her nerves were on edge. Three days had passed, three days of bad dreams and visions that just wouldn't leave her alone. There was barely any blood to them. There was barely any visible, fixable injury. Instead it was all rotting, wounds that meant that death was certain. Flesh that couldn't be replaced, fractures that couldn't be sealed: every body within her dreams had been a certain death. Certain torment.

Staring ahead, at the blank space that had once housed a proud collection of happy pictures, Marinette tried to focus, move on. But, every blink, she could still see the desperate plea of an unknown face, their jaw hanging open like a broken door hinge.

"Marinette you had a bad dream," Again Tikki was the grounding voice, placing a tiny hand on Marinette's forehead to gain her attention. Immediately, the young woman blinked, shaking her head as she focused on the kwami's concerned features. "That's the third time today."

"Sorry, Tikki," Marinette let out a flowing sigh, trying to refocus her brain. Terribly, she failed, the echo of a scream ringing through her ears. "I just..."

"I know," Tikki assured, nodding solemnly as she rested her tiny forehead against Marinette's.

Together they shared a joint sigh, both of their eyes falling shut for a second. Only for Marinette to immediately flinch, her eyes flying wide open as her entire body was consumed with pure adrenaline once more. Never before had she been like this - not over the near-decade that Tikki had been with her holder. Nightmares, although quite common, had never evolved into night terrors, ruling over day and night.

Now, though, Marinette seemed to be plagued by her own dreams and memories. For days she had been shuffling about the apartment, trying everything and anything to distract herself and coming to no avail. Working at the bakery in the mornings had been put on hold; designing for her company had also been reduced to a standstill; and everything else had been pushed to the side. Even talking to Chat Noir.

In all her years spent helping humans, Tikki had never seen anything like it. There had never been a challenge so great that it affected Ladybug's ability to face Chat Noir.

"The other kwami and I were talking," Tikki sighed, almost regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth. Such an idea was risky, especially since the Chaos kwami had been used for evil, but perhaps it would help bring Marinette closure. Seeing her like this, a shaky shell of the wonderful woman she once was, was worrying. "And we all agreed that you should try to talk to Abyss."

"Abyss?" Immediately, Marinette's attention was bought, the young woman turning to face Tikki.

"Yes," Tikki nodded, already zipping away to fetch the rogue miraculous. Mere seconds later she returned, placing the item into Marinette's palm with a gentleness that could rival a mother cradling a newborn baby. "Like all of us kwami, Abyss has their own story to tell. We haven't seen them in years so it would lovely catch up and know what has happened since we were separated in Tibet."

As if on cue, the other kwami from the box also appeared, nodding vigourously as they flocked around Marinette and Tikki. Sly, they certainly were a bunch of sly, scheming creatures that knew how to tug at a poor girl's heartstrings. Even without the puppy eyes, the palpable hope within their eyes said it all: they wanted to reunite with their lost kin. All of the kwami had always said that they were like a family - even if one of them seemed to have switched sides.

Swallowing thickly, Marinette eyed the jewel within her hands, "I see..."

Really, she should have known better than to test out such a dangerous item. Su-Han himself had said that she should attempt to contact him if she were to find a missing miraculous from another set. However, faced with the pressure of the many kwami giving her puppy eyes and pleading expressions, Marinette couldn't bring herself to let them down. One quick conversation wouldn't hurt, right? Plus she was capable of handling herself.

Taking in a deep breath, the young woman pinned the silver miraculous onto her shirt. Almost instantly it glowed with energy, a bright sparking thing that sent flashes of light into the air, almost like a firework. Wait... a firework?

Frowning, Marinette could sense the rising heat against her skin. This wasn't normal. Even when she'd first received Tikki, all those years ago, there hadn't been a rise a temperature. Sure, the light was blinding and Marinette was half-frightened to death by a strange 'bug-mouse' creature, but there wasn't any heat to it. No, her skin had never felt like it was on fire and her shirt definitely didn't cling to her body as she sweated out half a kilo of her body weight. Something was wrong.

"Ouch!" More confusion framed Marinette's face as she went to touch the miraculous, her finger coming back red and sporting a fresh burn. Definitely not normal.

Alarm was growing in her system. Way too much for her liking. Faster and faster, the miraculous was growing heat and all the other kwami seemed to be eyeing it with awe and wonder instead of helping a rather panicked Marinette to get it off. Then, in a sudden flash of red-hot light, the pin popped off her shirt, flying across the room and landing right on Marinette's wooden floorboards, scorching them with an ugly skidmark.

Frowning even more deeply now, Marinette got up from the comfy cocoon of her bedding and approached the discarded miraculous. Almost instantly, it glowed once more, mysterious smoke spewing from the silvery jewelry as it hissed like a boiling kettle. Electrical sparks began to dance from it, cresting a huge dome that exploded across the room, causing Marinette to squeak as she jumped back from it.

"Only Camille Bissett has access to my miraculous," Abyss, the apparent Chaos kwami, hissed as it formed from the cloud of misty smoke and electrical discharge. Unlike most kwami, this one appeared to be a mixture of multiple creatures, almost like a chimera. Three heads protruded from its tiny body, one with twisting horns, another with alert ears and fangs and the third almost serpentine with its features. Curling around its body was a long tail, twisting and sporting what looked like a stinger.

"Only Camille Bissett?" Blinking, Marinette tried to regather her senses as she stared at the strange kwami. "Do you mean Jinx?"

Immediately, the creature graced Marinette with a curt nod, the central head serving as its main head. Behind her, the other kwami were brimming with excitement, yet seemed to also be wary as they eyed the miraculous cooling on Marinette's now blackened flooring.

"That's strange. I've never heard of a kwami capable of choosing its holder," Marinette hummed idly, still trying to get used to the idea of a kwami that did not follow the same rules that she had learned by heart from the book. Even Su-Han and Master Fu had not told her about this - and they were meant to know more or less everything about the kwami. "Usually a guardian can access all of the miraculous, regardless of which power it holds."

"Yes, that was part of the binding spell," Tikki agreed, almost as if reciting a well-known rule. Beside her the other kwami nodded, all voicing their affirmations. "Back in ancient China we had to agree to it. Did you manage to break the spell, Abyss?"

Nothing leaves the kwami's mouth for a second. Instead they seemed to be somewhere far off, drifting within whatever thoughts occupied its heads. Almost as if Tikki and the other kwami were not worth sacrificing thoughts for.

"Even if you are a guardian, you cannot rule over us kwami without our consent," Abyss finally spoke, the venomous hiss in their voice evident as its other heads glared at Marinette. "You may hold Tikki and Plagg - the two fools who chose to simper to humanity's whims - but you cannot hold myself and the kwami of Reality as well. The four of us must choose our holders ourselves, which is why Chat Noir has independent access to Plagg. You should remember that yourself, Tikki."

"But why would Tikki choose me?" Marinette frowned, even more confused by Abyss' words. Someone like her was bound to fail at being a good Ladybug. Not to mention Camille - Jinx - who had tried to raze half the city in a night. Turning to Abyss, Marinette raised a brow, "And why would you choose Camille?"

"I am under no obligation to explain my choices to you," Abyss sneered, floating toward a nearby window. If they truly wanted to, they could phase through the glass and disappear entirely. However, other ideas seemed to play on its mind as they glowered at Marinette. "You are naive to the true state of the world, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You are a fool created from the lies of humanity itself. In your eyes, tainted by biased laws and philosophies, Camille is a killer. In reality she was simply carrying out her true purpose, one which seems to have been forgotten by Tikki and Plagg ever since we were separated in Tibet. But I'll show them to you now. You deserve to see the truth."

Immediately, the other kwami sprung into action, rushing forward to protect Marinette. Dozens of protesting shouts left their tiny bodies, adorable faces pinched into disapproving scowls as they glanced at Abyss.

However they were no match for Abyss.

In an instant the tiny chimera of a creature was replaced with a towering, foreboding beast. Three heads peered down at Marinette, one with sharpened fangs that glinted in the late morning sunlight; another with gnarled horns that twisted and looped with dangerous, jutting angles; and a third with forked tongue, its dark eyes pitch black and soulless, like a deep, dark abyss or perhaps even a black hole. Jagged, a pair of wings spread behind the creature and its hands and legs now sported sharp claws, capable of rivaling the most deadly of swords.

"Abyss- "

One click of the kwami's clawed hand was all it took to stop the entire herd of kwami. Frozen in time, their adorable faces squished with panic and anxiety, they all floated there, reaching out for Marinette and the rogue Chaos kwami. In the face of it all, Abyss simply hummed, triumphant as a satisfied grin spread on their terrifying features.

Expecting the outside world to crumble once more, Marinette immediately peered outside of her bedroom window. Surprisingly, all was still the same. Morning sunlight bled in through her blinds and the sounds of birdsong faintly carried through the air. It seemed everything was safe for now.

"While you believe that Camille holds ill-intent within her heart, you couldn't be farther from the truth Marinette," Abyss spoke, its voice a low rumble that traveled through her floorboards and up into her very soul. Still curious and yet also full of trepidation, Marinette regarded the kwami with a questioning expression. "The end goal she has is noble. That night she was simply trying to make the world a better place."

"That's not true!" Marinette immediately sprung into action, shaking her head profusely. Killing innocent people was not how you saved the world! Destroying almost half of the city was not how someone made the world a better place! Destroying things made people villains. Killing innocent people was what made people evil. "She killed innocent people."

"So have you!" Abyss bellowed, another low and rumbling sound that echoed within Marinette's very bones. Above her, the beams supporting her roof creaked, suggesting that they could very well fall on her if the kwami wished them to. "On a cosmic scale you are a murderer."

"Y-you're lying!" Marinette shook her head, unable to grasp the idea of it all as well as unwilling to even consider the idea of it all. Everything she did was to protect innocent people. Being Ladybug was about saving the world, not cutting down its population. Clearly Abyss had been brainwashed; clearly this kwami had been through something even worse than Nooroo to believe and spread such lies. "I don't want to hear anymore."

That wasn't what Abyss wanted to hear. Not at all. Grasping onto Marinette's shoulder with its sharp claws, the kwami held the young woman in place. Behind its body, its wings tensed, betraying its agitation as its tail rattled with a warning signal. Even though all three of Abyss' heads appeared to be calm, sporting matching expressions of indifference, Marinette could sense its growing agitation. This kwami was not a force to be reckoned with.

"You made a mistake by keeping those earrings," Abyss spoke, its voice calm and yet laced with a dangerous edge.

Before her very eyes, the world as Marinette knew it imploded. Everything, from her bedroom walls to the golden sun outside, completely crumpled in on itself. Thousands of screams and millions of distant cries filled the smokey air. Fires bloomed on every patch of earth and rivers and lakes and oceans were all reduced to dried pits of brine, salt and cracked earth. In the end, there was no human life left; in the end there wasn't any life left.

All that remained was black - deep black - dotted with the outlines of what was once a billion burning stars.

"You doomed the world by not destroying those earrings," Abyss' voice was hiss now, snaking around the empty chamber of the blacked-out universe. Only he and Marinette remained, two figures lost in a sea of perpetual nothingness. "You are the reason why people can still wish, why Gimmi continues to have a way out. You failed in your job as a guardian to protect us all."

Slowly, it all came back, brick by tiny brick. Stars lit back up, flicking on fairy lights on a Christmas tree, and then the planets were gluing themselves back together. Brightness filled the sky once more, empty pits of cracked earth being flooded with beautiful blue waters as trees tipped themselves upright. Screams and cries were replaced with laughter and chatter, people walking about streets and using their phones as if nothing had ever happened. Even Marinette was back in her room, right where she was before anything had happened.

But she remembered everything that'd she'd seen. Every single bit.

"Don't spread such lies, Abyss!" Immediately, Tikki was on the scene, ramming herself right into the Chaos kwami and knocking them loose from Marinette. All of the other kwami had retreated back to the box, knowing it was a debate between two of the elder four. "Everything worked out fine. We're all alive and well because of the earrings, and because Marinette is an excellent guardian. She is why the universe is still intact."

"You've listened to too many lies, Tikki," Abyss argued, frowning as it poofed back into its smaller and more manageable form. "You can't even see the truth anymore."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tikki raised a brow, placing both hands on her tiny hips.

She couldn't take it any more - couldn't hear any more. Head filled with nausea, senses spinning with what she had just learned, Marinette staggered to her feet as she dashed toward her bathroom, praying that she didn't ruin her already charred floorboards.

As Marinette went to empty her stomach, Tikki released a sigh, "I'm waiting for my answer."

But the Chaos kwami did not respond. Instead, gazing beyond the moon and stars, far across the distant galaxy, Abyss sunk into his thoughts. There will come a time when he would return to his mistress, ready to carry out his final good act for humanity. There will come a time where Marinette will see, absorb the awful truth of the miraculous and their truth purpose. All too soon Gimmi would return. All too soon the world would end.

There was nothing anyone could do to stop it.