Marinette Dupain-Cheng has disappeared for good.
Chat Noir refuses to give up on finding her, even if Ladybug already has.
* * *
Started: July 27, 2017
Finished: December 17, 2018
Idea inspired by @its_nusa_obviously 's book, Stuck.
Cover drawn by...
"Is Adrien on top of a roof?!" Alya spun around from the window, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"What?" Chloe's head spun to see the window.
"Why would Adrien be on a roof?" The blogger asked Chloe, to see if she could think of a reason.
The blonde's face went pale when she realized that she couldn't explain that to Alya. Of course, Adrien must've detransformed or run out of energy when he was fighting the weird horse man akuma with Ladybug.
"Maybe... Ladybug or Chat Noir had to- uhh, put him there to... protect him from the akuma?" Chloe shrugged exaggeratedly, peeking at the window.
"The akuma could knock him off," Alya crossed her arms, "If they wanted to protect Adrien from a floating akuma, they should've placed him somewhere underground or indoors."
"Yeah... terrible idea! Why didn't they just do that? Ha! Ha..." Chloe frowned, looking at the blonde boy from a distance. She wasn't able to see the expression on his face, but he was kneeling on the rooftop. There was a red thing floating around him, but it wasn't distinguishable from their distance.
The blonde searched for Ladybug with her eyes from the window, but she didn't catch sight of her. She leaned toward the window, trying to focus on Adrien's expression.
"Chloe Bourgeois! Are you going to focus on your schoolwork or spend all of your classroom dawdling out the window?!" Mrs. Mendeliev was losing her patience, causing Chloe to jump at the sudden yell of her name.
Her heart slammed frantically against her chest for the moment, and she looked up to see the angry teacher practically growling in her face.
"S-Sorry?" Chloe responded, gulping and giving the teacher a guilty smile.
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It was safe to say that no other student looked out the window or fell off task up until the bell rang for their next class. Still, Chloe couldn't help but wonder what Ladybug and Adrien were up to.
Did they find anything? Were they any closer to finding the answer that could save Marinette's life? Maybe Adrien was falling to his knees in relief that they were able to do so.
* * *
"J-just now? It happened... just now?" Nathalie struggled to speak, completely shocked by Plagg's news.
"I don't know! It just- happened in front of Chat Noir! Tikki and Adrien are bawling their eyes out, and I don't know what to do! Help, please! I lost Felix, and now Marinette- she came to me for help, and I sent her to Master Fu! Please- with the akuma, and the tears and the Marinette..." Plagg begged the woman.
Nathalie's blue eyes fell down to her hands, and a familiar wash of disappointment in herself overcame her. She was too late, and the girl was gone.
She looked up at Plagg, hope vacant from her dull eyes. "I don't know, Plagg. I-I'll do my best to console Adrien and Tikki, but Marinette is gone... I couldn't bring back Felix, and I can't do anything about Marinette."
