The Algorithm

Chapter seventeen - The Noir Twins

Marinette tossed and turned in her bed, the mattress hard and firm under her weight. She had been sleeping on a small stiff cot while in the refuge and could fall asleep on anything soft and light. The feeling of sinking into a mattress made her uneasy as if the blanket and sheet were trying to swallow her whole, so she settled for the inflexible bed. After a long night of restlessness, she finally drifted off.

A dream began to set in, she was walking through the pile of rubble that once trapped Alya and Luka underneath it. She staggered over to the blue tarp, the man who had helped her thought the forest was to her side but eventually split off from her path. Her surroundings here were the same as the day her friends had died and so far the events seemed to be in unison with what had happened that dreadful afternoon.

The sun was on the edge of the horizon when she finally stepped into the blue plastic tarp that had three ivory sheets covering the lifeless bodies. There was one major difference that stood out in her dream. On that day she had avoided the sheet to the far left that was draped over Chloe's lifeless body. She had steered clear of her because she could not bring herself to look into her eyes again. The eyes seemed to still be flooded with life and feeling while her face was permanently stuck in a terror-filled position. But in this dream, she fell to the ground next to the first sheet and removed the covering.

Underneath the thin white blanket, Marinette was met with a pair of eyes staring back at her. But the eyes were not Chloe's usual icy blue, but a piercing green.

Adrien laid still and lifeless, his face covered in ash and matted blood. Then he started to speak.

"Why didn't you save me?"

Marinette shook herself from the dream. A feeling of guilt, fear, and disgust washed over her. Cold sweat dampened her skin. The thought of Adrien, someone she was training, someone she considered a good friend, dying as the others have sickened her. She sprang out of the stiff bed, throwing the blankets to the side, and retreating to the usual place she fled to in order to escape the night terrors. The small bar where GUARD soldiers would drink, laugh, and occasionally fight when things got out of hand, was her domain.

It was a small, open area that anyone could walk into at any time, but that was never a concern of Marinette's, the bar was the last place anyone would look for her. It was near the earth's surface and had shelves of liquor stacked behind the bar counter. A warm fireplace with logs of oak resting next to it and a soft couch facing it along with some leather chairs. The plain tan couch was decorated with blankets and patterned pillows that gave it a comfortable feel and the leather chairs had carved wooden armrests and legs.

Marinette sat at the bar counter with a glass in hand. She was above the legal drinking age and had tried alcohol before but never found it all that good. Instead, she stuck to water and tea, she had seen the way liquor had changed people. Once good and tactical troops had been thrown from the force because of drinking. They craved the buzz of the drink, the numbing buzz that diminished the pain of losing brothers and sisters while fighting against Akuma. Marinette knew better than to follow in their footsteps, although she must admit the thought that alcohol might dull the grief she felt was appealing. but whenever she had these thoughts Chloe's voice came to her.

Chloe, being the anxious and protective person she was, constantly kept Marinette, Alya, and Luka from drinking too much whenever they did indulge in the substance. The blonde girl had watched alongside Marinette and Alya as Luka fought off addiction, comforting him through relapses of his drug of choice. Marinette knew that if Chloe were alive she would never allow her to become a drunk, not after watching Luka struggle, and the thought of disappointing her, even after death, was too much to bear. And Marinette knew Luka would hate to see her fall into a similar cycle he had. So she only ever visited the bar because of the warm welcoming feeling the dim lights give off, never to drink away her sorrows.