A Miraculous Story Book 2: Iceolator

• Alone •

Picture from cover: A nix from Albibis

This book is coming to a close, but I have SO much more planned for this series. I'm really excited to share it all. There'll be new superheroes almost every chapter, new villains, more complication in the love and friendship of the love hexagon, and possibly even a couple reveals? 0.ô

Marinette fell onto her bed, dressed in her pajamas, ready for sleep. She groaned with her hands over her face as she rubbed her eyes.

"You okay, Marinette?" Tikki inquired, in her usual cheery voice.

Marinette sighed and opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling.
"I'm fine, just... really stressed," she replied. "I'm the new Guardian of not one, but now two Miracle Boxes. Two Miraculous from each of the boxes are missing, all in the wrong hands, according to Qi. It's just so much responsibility, I don't know if I can handle it all," Marinette's throat went dry. "I just feel so alone, having to deal with all of this on my own, and I really just wish Master Fu was still here..." She felt her eyes watering.

Tikki listened faithfully, fully understanding how she felt. She gave her a moment before replying. "Marinette, you're amazing. You've done so much for Paris, defeating akuma after akuma without fail," she encouraged.

Marinette sat up, not bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes. "But I did fail, Tikki! I messed up so bad!" Her voice came in sobs. "If it wasn't for me, Master Fu would still be here! If it wasn't for me, Hawk Moth wouldn't have been able to invade the Temple of the Guardians with the Peacock Miraculous! If it wasn't for me, there wouldn't be four Miraculous being used for evil!" She grabbed at her damp hair, having just showered earlier. She lay back down on her pillow and cried into her hands. The more she thought about Master Fu, the more she hated herself. He was such a sweet man, so helpful and wise, and because of her mistakes, he was gone. Without him, she felt like a part of her was missing. She still wasn't over it yet.

Tikki gave her another moment.
"Marinette, you need to calm down, get a hold of your emotions." Her voice was soft. "Hawk Moth is probably looking for another victim, you cannot get akumatized." she said.

Marinette nodded and wiped her tears, taking a few deep breaths. Tikki was right.

"You've only failed once," Tikki said. "Perhaps that was meant to be, and plus, Paris is still safe for now." Marinette sniffed. "I tell you what: Let's focus on finding the two new Miraculous, it's too dangerous having so many Miraculous in one place. We can go off what Cat Noir told us about Albibis and use the book Qi gave you on the new Miraculous."

Marinette nodded and got out of bed. Crying wasn't going to get her anywhere. Sure, she needed some relief, but now she needs to get to work. She walked over to her dresser and pressed the series of secret buttons on the side of the mirror's frame that caused the mirror to slide away. The two Miracle Boxes were still inside. Marinette reached underneath them and felt around until her hands came across a book. She took it out carefully and went over to her desk where she sat, placing the book in front of her computer.
"Qi said that the two Miraculous stolen were the Panda and the Snowy Owl. If Cat Noir saw feathers and wings, then Albibis must have been using the Snowy Owl Miraculous," Marinette concluded. She flipped through the book until she got to a page that had "SNOWY OWL" printed in large letters along the top. She read aloud to herself and Tikki.
"'The Snowy Owl Miraculous represents Empathy and allows the user to control the emotions of another.'"

"Emotions are very powerful," Tikki commented.

Marinette continued, "'They do this by infecting a snowflake into a nix. The nix will enter an object and nixumize the holder of the object, allowing the snowy owl to communicate with the nixumized person. The snowy owl will have control over the emotions of the nixumized person.'" Marinette flipped the page. '"The emotions can easily be manipulated within reason. Someone can be de-nixumized if the item containing the nix is broken or if the snowy owl recalls it. An extremely strong-willed person could also potentially resist the nix, forcing it to leave. The wearer of the Snowy Owl Miraculous can also feel emotions of others, whether the Miraculous is active or inactive.' And... that's all." Marinette finished and leaned back in her chair, thinking.
"It all makes sense," she said. "That explains why Iceolator was so angry today, and why her eyes were red! Albibis was manipulating her emotions."