Miraculous Ladybug: Reality

Ch 26: Tower Of Oblivion

Note: I've really enjoyed writing this. This story gets my creative juices flowing. Enjoy!

Marinette led her team into the tower, the main gate closing behind them. The inside was a forboding environment. It was dark, with the only thing giving light being the red torches on the wall.

"What is this place...?" Marinette wondered.

"It's the Tower of Oblivion. This is a domain Aatrox built when we first stopped him. In other words, this is like his home." Wayzz explained.

"You seem to know a lot about it." Alya noted.

"We've been inside here before. The Tower of Oblivion is where hope goes to die. This place is filled with illusions, but those illusions only bring your worst nightmares to life..." Tikki shook.

"And worse, Aatrox is at the top, so we have a long way to go. So, don't get cocky." Plagg warned.

"We've dealt with personal nightmares before. Remember Sand Boy?" Adrien noted.

"That was different. Sand Boy was bringing illusions to spread fear among the people. But here? An illusion can kill you, even if it is a fake." Wayzz said.

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked.

"We'd... Rather not go into detail on what these illusions can do to you..." Tikki muttered.

"How many floors does this thing have?" Adrien asked.

"Like I said, this place is full of illusions. It could take you a few minutes to reach the top, or a few hours, or even weeks."

"Then I suppose there is no time for talking. We best be on our guard." Gabriel noted.

The team nodded in agreement and continued moving. Something in Marinette's head was bothering her, however.

"Hey, Tikki?"

"Yeah?"

"When we were in that library, that kwami said that Aatrox only became evil due to outside influence. What did he mean?"

"That's... Too complicated to explain, Marinette. But Aatrox chose this path on his own. No one else had anything to do with it..." Tikki replied.

"Like delicious cheese. You let it stay too long, it becomes bad and distasteful." Plagg informed.

"Of course you still think about cheese..." Adrien groaned.

"I can't see a dang thing. It's too dark." Alya complained.

"The more time we waste on talking, the longer it will take us to get to the top." Gabriel said with a little annoyance in his voice.

"I wouldn't advise being quiet, Gabriel. One of the things this place will make you believe is that you are alone. So talking amongst yourselves ensures you won't get pulled into your nightmare." Nooroo informed.

"So, just chit chat and we will be okay?" Nino asked.

"It's not illusionproof, but yes." Wayzz said.

The problem they all faced was that there was no real conversation to be had at that moment. The only thing on their minds was the terrible things happening around them and the eerie vibe the tower gave off.

Learning about their enemy would not be a bad idea, however. They still didn't know what happened to Reality. Was he the villain? Or was it Aatrox now? It had to be Aatrox. From what they observed, he took over. But how?

"What happened back there anyway?" Marinette asked.

"What do you mean?" Tikki inquired.

"With Reality. He glitched out and seemed to be resisting something. Is that some miraculous side effect or just unique to his?"