the death of a hero: a miraculous ladybug fanfiction

11 - the fourth reason?

The morning came almost too quickly as Marinette was awoken by her 06:30 am alarm. She rolled over in her bed to turn it off, wishing she could stay in longer. She just wanted to sleep. It was as if her energy was being drained by the hour. She had to put up a fight as to not drag her feet when she walked. She got out of bed cautious not to wake anyone as she dragged herself into the bathroom to get ready for the day at master Fu's.

Marinette closed the bathroom door behind her as she turned to face the mirror. She looked terrible. She was pale and had dark circles under her eyes and no matter how much she sleeps she just doesn't have energy... this was odd. It was quite crazy to think that she went from being this bubbly, smart, energetic girl, who was always there for others and was easy to approach to this...machine. It was such a drastic change practically overnight. She was a different person. This new Marinette scared her, she looked intimidating, not approachable at all, She hardly ever spoke to anyone nor was she on social media. She wasn't even going out as Ladybug although she knew she had to at one point. She couldn't be bothered at the moment. She just wanted to be in her kitty's arms again...hopefully soon she would be.

around 30   minutes of a warm shower later, Marinette threw on some comfortable clothes and went back to her room. Tikki watched her chosen one sit at her desk, sketching on a paper that was just laying on the desk, passing the time before walking to Master Fu's. Tikki was lonely without Plagg and since Marinette was being oddly quiet, there was no one else to talk to. Though Sabine and Tom sneak an occasional extra cookie without Marinette knowing. Overall, it wasn't too bad, but, Marinette was beginning to worry about the little red kwami. She wasn't eating properly either.

07:30 rolled around quickly and Marinette got up, grabbing her phone and keys. She picked up her filled backpack and signaled over to Tikki, who flew over and sat on her shoulder. She grabbed the box of macaroons she left on the counter the night before quietly leaving the house, making sure not to wake anyone. 

It was a short walk to Master Fu's, but Marinette enjoyed the walk through the park as the sun was rising. It was somewhat calming. The water of the fountain softly dripped as the birds took their morning bath and drank their first drinks of the day. The grass seemed to be greyer than usual, although Marinette thought it was just her eyes. Her chest clenched as she looked up at the statue of the hero team that was sculpted years ago by Theo Barbot. She stopped and looked at it as she thought about the ceremony for it and how she couldn't make it in time because she was too busy in school, deleting a voicemail from Adrien's expensive, confusing phone all because she called him "hot stuff" accidentally. She smiled at the memory and how Theo then got akumatized into copycat, having to figure out which one was the real Chat Noir because they looked identical.

Tikki watched as her chosen looked up at the statue in silent grief. She saw Marinette's energy-depleting rapidly by the day, She wasn't getting better and this did nothing but worry the little red kwami as she sulked into her chosen's shoulder. Sinking into the fabric of the hoodie she was wearing. 

Marinette took a breathe and then a step, continuing her morning walk to Fu. She finally got out of the park, practically dragging her feet. The usual 5-minute walk through the park doubled into a 15-minute walk. due to her tiredness and the pitstop, she made to admire the statue. But sure enough, Marinette finally arrived at master Fu's door.

As if he could smell her master Fu opened the door before she could even knock.

"Good morning Master" She faked a smile as she walked in and put the macaroons on his kitchen counter and taking a seat on a stool, dropping her bag next to her.

"Hello Marinette" he smiled waddling over to see what baked goods the heroine was blessing him with this morning. Excitedly, he walked over to the kettle, turning it on and preparing some nice tea for the two of them before they start their day. 

"I see you brought what I asked for?" Master Fu said, pointing at the bag she had placed down moments earlier. Marinette simply nodded in response. Placing the warm tea in front of her and taking a seat before grabbing a macaroon, Master Fu looked up at her with a comforting look in his eyes.

A comfortable silence settled around the guardian and the heroine and they sipped at their tea, chewing on their breakfast. The silence, although it wasn't awkward, was soon broken when Master Fu spoke once again.

"I did some more research...I've actually been up all night making sure that this was true." He said, pulling a large book toward him and flipping to a page.

Marinette cocked her head to the side and looked down at the two pages open in front of her. On one side, the miraculous of the black cat, on the other, the miraculous of the Ladybug. All the writing was in a sort of code that Marinette didn't know how to read. But Master Fu looked like he had it all down to the last full stop. He traced his finger down the page of the ring as if quickly reading it over, stopping at a sentence with the number four, and what seemed to look like triangular warning signs.

"See this?" He asked, pointing to the sentence. Marinette nodded before looking back down at the page. "Let me translate it for you".

If the miraculous holder flatlines and the cataclysm has been summoned but not used. The energy of destruction will automatically be replaced with the soul and life energy of the holder. Once the miraculous is removed, it must be placed inside of the mother miracle box within 24 hours of the flatline. This will ensure the energy is preserved until the awakening spell is cast.

Marinette's heart fluttered as she gazed toward the mother miracle box that was placed on the coffee table, then looked back at Master Fu with wide eyes. This was amazing news, but there was one issue...

She couldn't remember if it had been more than 24 hours before giving it back to Master Fu.