Scars DISCONTINUED.

16

Marinette is doodling again. The doodles that don't make complete sense to anyone who looks at them. There's doodles of memories, doodles of whispers they tell her. Doodles of flowers and moths and jewelry. Tikki rests comfortably in Marinette's purse, she hadn't left her side in a while, instead filling in the spot that Chat hadn't been in. He hadn't visited Marinette since their fight two weeks ago and Marinette hasn't given him the chance to either.

She's kept her skylight locked, her curtains drawn, and her cards close to her chest.

What are you thinking about?

Tikki is taking me to see the master.

Oh?
An amused chuckle fills her head

I thought he was meant to be kept secret

Marinette hums to herself.

He is supposed to be. You're supposed to be secret too.

And I am a secret, aren't I? Or have you been whispering while I'm not listening?

You always listen. You never stop listening. If you were to stop listening we'd have to enact the plan early.

Good, I'd be disappointed if my most loyal subject betrayed me. Go on now to lunch little seamstress, and remember, no one must know.

Marinette closes her sketchbook with a smile and stands up, slipping it into her bag as she walks with Alya to the lunchroom. Adrian and Nino walk with them, the blond watching her carefully. He's been doing that a lot more recently, and while Marinette does not acknowledge it, she is aware. "So girl, you got any plans this afternoon?" Alya asks and Marinette smiles. "I'm going to visit my grandfather," the lie comes so easily, slips past her lips like second nature.

My name is Marinette.

I̸̞̩̔̽̽̒̀̅̀͗͛͒͝͝͠͠ ̵̨̞̝͇̥̘͈̙̫͂͂̓ų̵̰͎̜̜̲͖͖̫̦͚̗̞́͌̂̄̀̋̆̕͜͝͝ͅs̷̜̪͈̊̐̿͘ẻ̸̢̧̡̖̺̳̞́͐̔́͗̃̀̃͝d̵̨̛̺̽͗̔̀͑ ̵͚̲̠̯̩̓͗̃͜ͅţ̷͎͙̼̖̱̙̠̰͉͕̭́̅̒̅̓̐̓̓͒͌͝ơ̶̧̨͙̮͉͎̝͚̹̘͍͚̺̒̋̎̓͌̇͒͐ ̶̳̪͙͓̖̭̠̱̳̻̑̐̍̽͠b̶̡̧̛͇͚͖̦̮̙̲̼̘̲̝̳̯̊̈̐̅̉̐͑͂̚ę̴͖͚͉̍̏̇̇̈́̍͛̋̕͘͝͝ ̵̙͇̥̻̈̇̒̃̽̓̀̉̔̾̉͝L̶̮̥̳̮͈̙͊̓̉̋̑͋̈́͆́̓̐̈́̌a̸̢͍͖̯̯͖͚̮̻̳̞̩͙̮̦͛̍̒͌̽̚d̴̢̡͉̤̞̠̃̔̿̊̐̄̑͐͐̊̽͆͝ͅͅy̶̧̥͔͎̗̞͔̩͌̃ͅb̷̡̰͕͛̐͘ͅu̶̦͉̘̦̻̝̔̍͊̅̌̀͛̆̀͛̇̄̚͝͝ģ̷͙͋̑͋̈́̾͂̔͋͋̆̎̾͛̚͝.̴̧̢̪̜͎̜͉͙̫̝͇̘͊́͘͝ͅ

I am nineteen years old.
I̶ ̶a̶m̶ ̶o̶k̶a̶y̶.
I am a liar.

Alya bumps her shoulder into Marinette's with a smile. "That sounds like fun girl, what're you going to do?" Marinette shrugs. "Grandpa likes to give me history lessons on our ancestors." True or false? It feels true, but Marinette has no memories of this man. She doesn't know who he is, doesn't know what he looks like, doesn't even know if he is actually Marinette's grandfather.

They all sit down at a table, pulling out lunches and setting down their trays.

"That sounds really cool Marinette, what's your favorite story?" She ask and Marinette pauses to think. "This one about a brave woman who only wore red and refused to marry." She decides, the vaguest imprint of a red ball gown and disappointed suitors coming to mind. "Hell yeah, girl knew her worth. Don't nobody need a man to be a boss," Alya says and Marinette giggles, "Yeah she was pretty cool. What are you guys doing today?" Marinette asks and Nino leans into Alya's shoulder, sneakily trying to steal the cookie off her plate while she talks.

"Other than homework," Alya says, Nino's hand almost reaching the delicious chocolate chips, "and keeping my boyfriend from eating my food," Alya brings a hand down onto Nino's and playfully elbows him in the chest before breaking off a piece of her cookie and sharing it with him. "I'm hanging out with my sister, she's gonna help me search around the city for any signs of Ladybug." She says and Adrien stiffens. "How long has she been gone for again?" Marinette asks and Alya sighs. "A couple of months now, and what's even stranger is that there hasn't been an akuma since she disappeared."

Akumas? That's weird, Marinette wonders where they've all gone. "In fact, no one has seen an akuma since you befriended that one." Alya says and Marinette furrows her brow in confusion. "I befriended an akuma?" She asks and this time Adrien speaks up. "Yeah Marinette, don't you remember? It would follow you everywhere." There's a double meaning behind his words and Marinette would try to solve them if another headache hadn't started flaring up.

She pulls some Tylenol out of her purse and takes some to help soothe the oncoming migraine. "I don't know," she says and Alya and Nino share a look. "You don't know because you don't want to or because you can't remember?" Adrian asks and Alya hits his shoulder, "Hey, don't be so harsh," she whispers. Marinette shrugs.

"I think I would remember if there was an akuma following me around everywhere," she says with a laugh, "I mean come on, I'm pretty much of of the only people who have never been akumatized. Even Chat Noir has been akumatized, Hawkmoth regularly akumatized a baby." Adrian frowns. "Marinette we have pictures of you with the akuma." He says and Nino sheepishly tells him to stop, that it's okay and it doesn't matter, but Adrian is already pulling out his phone.

He pulls out his photos and scrolls through them, showing each picture of Marinette and the akuma together to her. She watches with mild interest, although her attention looks like it's being split between Adrian and something else.

It makes him angry, why didn't she care? Why wasn't she remembering? Is it because it was a Ladybug thing? If Tikki and Plagg couldn't jog her memory then surely akumas could have? But no, of course not. Adrian started thinking that maybe Marinette didn't want to remember.

Meanwhile Marinette was curious. It was weird, wasn't it? That she was one of the only people who had never been akumatized. There were plenty of opportunities, some near almost complete disasters. Disasters? Why would they be disasters? Sure it would suck, Marinette thought to herself, and she wouldn't know what she had done when it was all over, but it wouldn't be a disaster. No one could save her, what with her having Tikki, Chat having the miraculous, and ladybug being MIA. But that would be fine, she supposed.

What really rings with her is that she has Tikki. Chat Noir still has the earrings, and the ring. She needed to talk with him later, she was still mad don't get her wrong, he had no reason to treat Tikki the way he did. But he had the miraculouses.

"Adrian, dude chill it's fine," Nino says and Adrian shakes his head. "No, no look at her. She's been doing this since she came back," he says with grief in his voice. "Any time you talk about akumas, or- or Ladybug she just zones out! It's like she's filtering information out and only hanging onto bits and pieces! I don't care if she's not paying attention, I just want to know how to help!" He brings a fist down on the table and Marinette comes out of her thoughts with a flash as her arms rise up in a guarded stance and a little leap to hop onto her seat.

Adrian watches her with wide eyes and goes to speak but Alya puts a hand over his mouth. They're all surprised, but it isn't the first time Marinette has had a defensive reaction to loud noises and sudden movements. It's concerning. "Marinette, you wanna come back down here?" She says softly and Marinette looks sheepish but sits down. "Sorry, reflex." She says and Alya gives a suspicious look at Adrian. Reflex to Adrian slamming his fist down?"Reflex?" She repeats and Marinette nods. "I used to take MMA classes, they would hit the wall whenever a match started." She lies through her teeth but Alya smiles. "That's cool. Do you still do it?" She asks and Marinette shakes her head no.

"Nah the place closed down, not like I needed the skills anyways." She laughs a little and while the discomfort from the previous conversation does not dissipate, it's inhabitants choose to ignore it.

—————

"Are you sure this is the right address Tikki?" Marinette asked in an alley, peeking around the corner and watching the front door of some kind of massage parlor. "Yup! Don't worry, you'll love the master. He's very excited to see you." Tikki says excitedly, practically beaming as she peeks out of Marinette's purse."If you're so sure, I guess it couldn't hurt."

I am going to see the master.

Good.

Do you want me to begin the plan?

No, not yet. You don't have everything you need just yet. Enjoy yourself, and ask for him to make you a cup of tea.

And remember. I always listen.

Words: 1394