Discordant Sonata

Chapter 12: Andante (Part 1 of 4)

Music glossary:

Andante - to go at a moderate, steady pace

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Mood Music:  La Dispute (Amelie Soundtrack)- Yann Tiersen

Marinette was upset.

Not so much upset, really. More like... confused? Frustrated? And not even at Fu, necessarily. It wasn't his fault. But Fu was the messenger, and therefore, the undeserving recipient of her current mental ire.

With the critical 48 hours of Chat Noir's healing complete, she'd gone to visit Fu to discuss some of the concerns she had about her new partnership, along with some other pressing questions. The answers were... not quite what she expected (or wanted) to hear.

No, Marinette, he'd said. You must not know Chat Noir's identity, he'd said. Yes, I know you just want to protect him as a civilian. No, don't try to figure it out yourself. If you find out too early, you'll absorb the negative effects from the misuse of his miraculous. Yes, that is always what happens with the Cat and Ladybug miraculouses. Yes, that's why wielders must not know each others' identities; not until their souls and energies are perfectly in sync with each other. No, Marinette, you are not in perfect sync with each other. Yes, I know you don't like it. But that is how it must be. Have a nice day, Marinette. No, I'm not kicking you out. I'm just... going to the spa to get rid of a sudden tension headache. Goodbye.

"Understood, Master," she'd said. And honestly, yes; she really did understand.

But she still didn't like it.

The conversation weighed heavily on her mind as she went about her daily chores, and she couldn't help but stomp around the house as she worked, a perpetual crinkle fixed between her eyebrows.

She just couldn't quite wrap her head around it. Negative effects? Truth be told, prior to this, she'd even almost suspected that Fu had exaggerated that aspect of the miraculouses, in order to keep her on the straight and narrow path and be responsible.

Such matters had been far from her mind while befriending Chat Noir. She'd never even thought to ask him about it. How long would these effects linger on, even after his change of heart and proper use of his miraculous?

More importantly, would the effects ever fully disappear? Fu said that every case was different. Sometimes the effects did fade. Other times, they did not; and in those cases, partners couldn't ever reveal their identities to each other. In rare instances, the wielders would even have to return their miraculouses to the guardians, because they would never be able to work in proper harmony with the other. Marinette shuddered. She didn't want to even consider that possibility.

In any case, Hawkmoth was suffering from such negative effects as well. What could his ailments be? Chat had mentioned that he seemed to be losing control of his akumas, and his judgment was becoming increasingly clouded. But was there more?

Frowning, she stuffed folded laundry into her dresser drawers with a bit more force than necessary. She quickly stood up when she was finished, yanking the laundry basket away with a huff as she headed towards her next task.

There was also another question, one she'd had even years ago, when she'd first become Ladybug. One she'd always been too shy to ask, always trusting in Fu's judgment, never questioning him because of his seniority and experience (respecting one's elders having been an integral part of her upbringing, particularly her mother's).