You Broke My Heart | ✓

37 | clue #6

Marinette's POV

The first x on the map led me to The Louvre. I was so confused by now with all the strange riddles, notes, and plastic letters I'd been getting... not to mention the 'treasure map', and honestly, I had no idea what I was doing anymore. Tikki was just as confused as I was when we entered the museum.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Tikki asked once we were inside.

I shrugged my shoulders as people were walking by and Tikki had to keep herself well hidden in my purse. "I have no idea, Tikki."

I continued to walk around as I looked at all the paintings that hung on the walls. What was I looking for? I had no clue...

The x marks the spot? What x? I didn't see any x anywhere. How was I supposed to find one x in an art museum? For all I know, there could be Xs in all the paintings!

"Marinette...?" Tikki whispered up to me while I was examining one of the paintings.

"Yes Tikki?" I answered in a low whisper and tried to make sure no one could hear or see the kwami.

"Maybe we should just give up and go home..." It was the first time Marinette had ever heard Tikki not be positive about something. "We don't even know what we're looking for and we're just wasting a lot of time."

I sighed as I continued walking down the museum, glancing at every other painting I passed by. "I always thought you saw the positive side of things, Tikki. What's with the negativity?"

"You don't have a funny feeling about this?" Tikki asked, "I don't know about you, but I feel as if your just being played with... again."

"Why would you think that, Tikki?" I glanced down at her with a concerned look before I quickly glanced back up and kept walking. "Because of the whole Chat/Adrien issue?"

"No, it's just... all these clues, stopping at almost all of your friends' houses, receiving strange notes and clues, looking for a random X in the middle of an art museum, don't you see where I'm going with this?" Tikki rambled as she marked off every supious thing that had happened to me today. She had a point though, I had no idea who was writing all these odd letters and giving me strange gifts.

"I guess you have a point there, Tikki." I sighed, "But, I don't know, maybe it's not as bad as you think."

"I hope so..." Tikki whispered back, "I don't want another guy hurting you the way Adrien did."

I ignored that last comment and continued my search; I was not about to give up and go home. I had been at this already for too long, and if I was this far... might as well find out what all this means, right?

So far, I had 4 letters: S, M, R, and I and I had no idea what they were supposed to spell. I supposed they were meant to spell something, I mean, why else would their be random plastic letters in the envelopes I was receiving? Four letters weren't enough to unravel what word was trying to be spelled, however, and I had no idea what to guess either.

I passed a lot of paintings that all seemed to not have any trace of an X as I made my glances between them all.

It wasn't until I saw an unusual painting that caught my eye. A painting that I hadn't noticed, or I guess hadn't seen before. I walked up to it and stared at it in awe, and Tikki poked her head out to see what I was so mesmerized with.

It was a painting of me; well... not me, but as Ladybug... and Chat Noir. It was not very old from my understanding since it was a painting of us on the Eiffel Tower during our last night patrol, which had been a couple of nights before I had confessed to Adrien (when I actually would show up on patrols.)