Miraculous: Tales of Shadowstar

Part 15: Grief

The city of Paris had an aura that radiated with sorrow. A little boy grabbed onto the coat of his mother's as they walked down the streets. The occasional breeze brought a chill that clawed at their clothes and hair. All the boy wanted to do was to go out and play with his friends at the park. Yet it felt like the whole city was grieving. Displayed on the public screens for Paris in downtown to see was the news lady Nadja. She smiled at the citizens of Paris, but the smile didn't match her eyes.

"Thanks to Ladybug and Cat Noir with the assistance of other heroes, Paris has once again been saved. The escaped criminals have been recaptured and placed behind bars. Business is booming as usual, but let us take a moment to remember the passing of Shadowstar who died in action. Mayor Bourgeois has a speech that he would like to make." So the screen panned over to the mayor who stood tall at the podium. His hands rested upon the familiar wood as he looked down at the script before him. It was something that was carefully written by his assistants of what they thought was best. Yet when he looked upon the script, Andre Bourgeois felt like it was an insult. With a deep breath as he received his queue to begin.

"Greetings, people of Paris. First, I would like to congratulate Ladybug and Cat Noir, along with the heroes who couldn't be here today. For successfully ending the chaos and restoring peace to our beloved city. Each of them have fought bravely to protect the people and to save Paris." Andre paused for a moment. His mind gathered his thoughts to produce a speech worthy of their fallen hero. "But let us not forget that in the midst of this attack. A tragedy occurred that I believe each of us have felt deep in our core. Shadowstar, one of our own heroes, sadly passed away from his injuries during the attack. My prayers go out to his family and friends. For we will always remember what he has done for us."

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The video closed out of her monitor as Marinette couldn't watch it any longer. It had been a couple of weeks since Oni had attacked Paris. Yet never before did Marinette ever felt so... broken. She had dreamt that Lucien would come up from below with a smile on his face like nothing had happened. Or wished that it was just a nightmare that she could wake from at any moment. Yet as Marinette raised her bluebell eyes to linger upon a close-up photo of Shadowstar's face pinned onto her board.

The kwamis that had been attentive to Marinette's grief kept trying different ways to comfort their Guardian. Yet nestled into Marinette's open palm was the crow kwami, Starr, who hasn't spoken a word since Marinette retrieved the Miraculous. Kwami wasn't supposed to feel love, but Starr felt like they had just lost a very good friend, and family. Tikki placed her tiny hand on Marinette's cheek. Just to assure her holder where words had failed to reach before.

The edges around Marinette's eyes were reddened as dark circles had begun to form under her eyes. Marinette found herself unable to sleep, and when she finally did, her dreams were only filled with Star's unconscious body while her hands were drenched in his blood. Sometimes, as if it was bitter sweet, there were dreams that she had when he was still alive despite everything. Yet all it did was break her heart even more when she woke up.

A knock disturbed the silence as the kwamis quickly flew to hide from view. All except Starr who remained in Marinette's palm. The crow kwami occasionally cooed as they couldn't cry anymore, and frankly Marinette started to believe that she couldn't cry anymore either. There was no answer from Marinette when the door opened, and stepping into the room was the brunette named Alya. In her hand was a red folder filled with homework that Marinette had to do.