My Imaginary Friend \|/ Adrienette/Marichat AU

Chapter Seventeen

I have never been to Paris, but I have been researching it a bit lately. Some of the locations from here on out in the fanfic are real and some are imaginary.

Marinette tried desperately to shimmy around the corner like a ninja. The building all around her seemed dangerous, ready to fall at any moment, but not quite as dangerous as what might be deep within it. Groans coming from the walls caused Mari to shiver before placing the phone back up to her ear.

"It's all clear so far," she whispered, hoping that Nino could hear her regardless. She didn't want any noise to trigger a collapse. It sure felt like the walls were that fragile, though she tried to tell herself that she was exaggerating.

"Cool. If you see an akuma just hang up. We'll get the message and come to help."

Mari nodded before realizing that her friends couldn't see her. "Okay. Um, I mean, roger that."

Nino laughed before telling her to get her butt into the depths of the building. Mari grimaced to herself before replying and scurrying down what had once been a hallway.

She was in a long abandoned building that had been in an article that Alya had found earlier. Apparently people went inside it sometimes for dares or just to see what it was like. Rumor had it that there were secret tunnels woven underneath it that the owner had made to store illegal stuff. Alya wouldn't specify what the stuff was, and no one really wanted to know anyway.

But if there truly were tunnels it would be the perfect place to hide akumas. Sure, people came inside it sometimes but they had never found tunnels. It was merely a rumor. But Marinette was sure that Hawkmoth would hide his entrance cleverly, so the building wasn't off of the list just yet.

Oh yes, the list. For the past few days Marinette had been searching random abandoned or hidden sites in Paris. Though Paris was a famous city there was still ugliness in it, just like everywhere on Earth. Mari had made a point to find this ugliness. And it was exhausting.

So far the list only had a few locations left. Alya hadn't made a very long list to begin with, and many of the locations were easily marked out. For instance a few 'abandoned' buildings that Nino had gone to didn't exist anymore, so he just inspected the ground before alerting his friends that it was another dead end.

And with every minute that passed Marinette grew more anxious. She missed Adrien all the time and her heart seemed to beat out of her chest when she thought of what Hawkmoth might have done to him. It was all entirely unfair. She had gone for almost ten years without seeing him and then she had only been with him for a few days before he had been snatched away once again.

"How's it going dude?"

The words that came from her phone snapped Mari out of her thoughts and she looked around. The building had no ceiling, so the sky above seemed closer than ever. She glanced at the crumbling walls around her before answering Nino.

"It's going alright. I haven't spotted anything worthwhile yet. I'll tell you if I do."

Nino mumbled something that Mari couldn't catch, and she suddenly felt quite alone. Phone still clutched in her hand, she wrapped her arms around herself and she drug her feet through the grime and ruins.

This would be another long day.

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Chat felt a sense of foreboding as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop. His nails clinked every time he landed, and it was to this background music that he mused over his latest mission.

He had been instructed to find an abandoned I.F. and to bring it to Hawkmoth. After the last incident with Luka and his sister, Chat shuddered to think of ever doing that sort of mission again.

But he couldn't refuse when Master told him to do something. So he just bowed and let himself get led out of the hideout, not daring to question why he was even allowed to see where the exit was this time around. The last time he had been let out of those stuffy tunnels Hawkmoth had blindfolded him and made him spin around tons of times. It felt childish and Chat hated it. After all, he had seen the way in already on that fateful night...

The thought of the night when he first woke reminded him of the I.F. girl. Yes, that girl hadn't come to mind too often lately, but when she did he felt uneasy, like he was doing her a disservice by existing. She had seemed so horrified to see him. And she had called him... She had called him...

Adrien.

The name felt like a chain that wrapped itself around Chat's neck and pulled him toward the ground, forcing him to choke and struggle. It was a weight on his soul, and Chat almost slipped when he landed on the next rooftop.

He had traveled all the way to the poorer part of Paris. It wasn't very large, but what was there was still a sad sight. While most places weren't too bad, there were certain places that you could just tell were neglected, like with all cities. Chat knew there would be rouge I.F.s in the area, so he kept his ears perked, ready to hear and see any sign of one of those poor souls.

The wind whipped through his hair, tangling it and turning him into quite the mess. But Chat didn't mind. He was drunk on the fleeting freedom he always felt when bounding through the sky. He could almost imagine that he was free. That he hadn't been manipulated.

After a while he approached an abandoned building that was crumbling in on itself. Most of the roof was caved in and it seemed rather dangerous. The pale walls had graffiti caked over it in layers and layers until the akuma was sure that the same person used that one wall as a canvas every day. Chat was ready to pass it when he heard a voice from behind the colorful wall.

"It's going alright. I haven't spotted anything worthwhile yet. I'll tell you if I do."

I'm sorry this chapter isn't very long! I'm feeling really bad and can't get much done. I'll be heavily editing it in the near future.

How do you think Chat's meeting with Marinette will go down?