Miraculous Games

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four:

The smell of bread wafted out of the bakery, tingling Marinette's nose. She took a long sniff, then sighed. It was so nice to be home. She was lounging on the couch in the front room, a game controller in her hands. In the kitchen, she could hear her mother preparing dinner while her dad finished up with the customers downstairs. Smiling to herself, Marinette let out a relaxed sigh and melted into the couch. It was smooth, almost like leather...

She blinked. Hold on, her couch wasn't made of leather. It was made of a thick, coarse fabric. And why was she slightly swaying back and forth?

"Mama?" she called. Usually, her mother would have responded almost immediately, but she didn't. Marinette looked over her shoulder into the kitchen only to find that her mother wasn't actually there. But, for some odd reason, the dishes and ingredients were flying through the air as if someone was lifting them. She watched in shock as the eggs cracked themselves into a bowl and the flour measured itself out.

Marinette closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, squeezing her hands against the side of her head. "Snap out of it, Mari. This isn't real."

She opened her eyes, but she was still in her front room. Except this time, the ingredients were gone and everything had turned an ashen gray color. Trembling, Marinette pulled her legs into her chest and pressed herself against the couch cushions. They seemed to be the only thing that was keeping her warm at the moment. The air turned chilly, cold enough that her breath turned into steam.

"It's not real, it's not real, it's not real!" she told herself over and over again, shrinking into herself. The gray cupboards, TV, game controller, carpet, and every other thing in the room slowly morphed into black. The smell of bread disappeared, replaced with the scent of something... different. Was that cologne?

Marinette began to shiver uncontrollably. All the light in the room began to slowly fade, leaving her in absolute darkness.

"Mama! Papa!" she shouted, her voice tight with fear. No one answered. She tried to call out for help again. "Fox?!"

The darkness started to seep into her chest. It was as if the blackness were weighing her down. Her ears filled with muffled noises - the sound of leaves crunching and tree branches snapping. Her head throbbed and her chest felt like it was under the weight of a truck. She felt like she was a piece of lead slowly sinking in the bottom of the ocean.

In a final urge of desperation, Marinette screamed, "CHAT?!"

The next thing she knew, her eyes flew open and she gasped for air. As she did so, she began to cough and hack, her chest pulling into itself.

"Is she awake?" a voice asked, but to Marinette, it sounded like it was coming from the end of a long tunnel.

"Yes," another voice responded. This one made Marinette's throat close up. Could it be...?

She didn't realize until then that someone was holding her in their arms. The texture of the cloth that rubbed against her arms was the exact same thing she had felt in her dream. Leather. Gazing up with tired eyes, she saw green eyes smiling down at her.

"Morning, My Lady. I hope you enjoyed your cat nap," Chat said with a cheeky grin.

"C-chat..." Ladybug choked out before going into another coughing fit. As she coughed, Chat pulled her closer to his chest. His warm was soothing against her freezing skin. It didn't help that the cold wind was turning her sweat into icicles. He rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Shh... don't push yourself too much. You're fever still hasn't broken."

Eventually, she was able to stop coughing, but she still trembled like a leaf. "I-is Fox here?"