The Missing Purrincess

Chapter 3: The Black Butterfly in The Jar

For one scary moment, she was tempted to open the jar and let the darkness overtake her.

---Adrien's POV---

"Ran away?" My voice has hoarse and worried.

"I I found these on the floor by her bed. Her diary and sketchbook are missing and. . ."

Alya looked upset. That's when I noticed it. A tiny black wing trapped in between the books Alya was carrying. Nino seemed to notice it as well.

"Dude what is that?" Nino reached toward the butterfly.

I slapped his hand away.

"Alya, put those down very slowly."

She did what she was told. I looked around for a jar or something and slowly moved one of the books on top of the pile. 

"AAH" Alya jumped back in a panic. Nino looked absolutely shell shocked. There was an akuma flying around our heads as if it was trying to decide on a prey.

"Gotcha!" I jumped and put it in the jar and closed the lid tightly. Then i threw the jar onto Marinette's desk so I was in as little contact with it as possible.

"Oh." Alya sighed into her boyfriends arms as we watched the butterfly try to escape.

"Do you think it was trying to get Marinette?" Nino cradled his girlfriends head while she cried. 

"That's my best guess." I had dealt with more akumas than they could believe. I knew by now the type of negative emotion these things were most drawn to, and whatever Marinette was feeling was very strong I'm sure.

"This is my fault." Alya whispered, her eyes never leaving the butterfly. "I should have believed her! What kind of best friend am I?"

A new wave of sobs came out of the girl. Realization and grief washing over her all at once. I wasn't the most perceptive of people, but even I could see the way she was taking this. 

---Alya's POV---

It was my fault. I had seen the way she looked at me, silently pleading with me to believe her, but all I did was scream at my best friend. Wasn't I supposed to be by her side no matter what? No exceptions, no secrets?

I had known Marinette a lot longer than I had known Lila. What was wrong with me?! I used to be the new girl. Marinette was in the same position she was when Lila joined, only I was in Lila's shoes. How could I believe she would ever treat anyone like that?

And now she was missing. Sweet Marinette was missing. The most talented designer in Paris has disappeared. The class rep, the video game tournament winner, the goofball, the favorite of Gabriel Agreste, the ONLY one of us to see who Lila really was, had run away. She left, and left us with nothing but a stupid black butterfly in a jar.

For one scary moment, I was tempted to open the jar and let it overtake me. I had been akumatized multiple times before, so I knew the rush of power that comes with the new look. LadyWiFi, Oblivio (with Nino), Rena Rage (Nobody actually knows about that one), LadyWiFi again with Puppeteer.  I wanted to take that stupid butterfly and find Marinette.

But that wasn't the only thing that came with the powers. Darkness, loss of freedom, A strange voice in your head constantly telling you what to do. Not to mention fighting Cat Noir and Ladybug. I've played both sides of that fight and can confidently  say that I rather being Rena Rouge than any of those.

Not to mention the nightmares. Constant nightly terrors that haunt your every dream for weeks after. Reminding you of what you did and what would have happened if you weren't stopped. The destruction, the harm to your loved ones, seeing the pain on the faces of the ones you were akumatized trying to protect. You never quite get over them.

Marinette was one of the few people in all of Paris who had avoided such a fate. A world with no terrors at night and no reminders during the day. I couldn't make eye contact with the principal for a week after the LadyWiFi incident. Marinette and Adrien were the only two in our class who never went through that.

"What should we do?" Nino coughed out. He was clearly trying to be strong. I snapped out of my train of thought and back into the situation.

 I looked around Marinette's room slowly. Apart from a few necessities, the majority of her stuff was still there. Even the shrine to Adrien. How oblivious that guy was to be in her room and not notice I couldn't begin to describe. 

Adrien got closer to the akuma. I was worried that he had the same thought process as me, but before I could stop him he started poking at the jar.

"What are you doing?! Get away from that thing!" I screamed at him. I knew he wasn't the smartest boy but come on.

"It's not even trying to escape anymore." Adrien slowly found some gloves that Marinette was working on and put them on. Then he picked up the jar slowly and carefully.

"What do we do with that thing?" I heard Nino ask

"The only thing we can do." Adrien answered.

"Call Ladybug."