Masked Permanently

Forced Adjustment

"What are you doing in my room? Was there an update on Marinette? Cool hair by the way! Love all the red! Tell me, did you find anything on my best friend?" Alya rambled, becoming excited with her idol in her room.

"Update- on Marinette? I— uh actually- sorta..." Ladybug let her eyelids flutter shut, "-don't have any new updates on her."

Alya's excitement faded slowly, and the heroine's heart crumpled in pain as she saw the smile fade from Marinette's best friend's face.

"I just wanted... to check in on her closest friends and family to see how they're doing," Ladybug's voice nearly came out as a choked whisper.

"I'm... doing alright. She's still alive, right?" Alya asked, chuckling heavy hearted, "There's no reason to be worried."

Of course Ladybug could tell she didn't mean what she said. "Of course. She's alive, and just fine. Marinette misses you so much, and I promise you, she would do absolutely anything to come back and live her normal life."

"How would you know? Maybe I just didn't notice that there was something she was going through, and there was a problem I should've been there to help her with! A-And I'm probably the worst friend ever!" Alya's voice grew weaker as she continued to go on.

"She said so in her video! Marinette didn't blame you for anything and she thinks you're the best friend she could've ever had. Everything that happened was not your fault, nor was it anyone else's. Marinette solely blames herself for it, and she... probably shouldn't because there wasn't anything she could've done to prevent it," the heroine replied, feeling increasingly worse, "If anything, it was my fault. I'm her hero, and I should've been there to protect her! She's a civilian, and I'm the heroine. I should've been there to separate her problems and fix the issue, but I can't because I still can't figure it out!"

Ladybug wasn't lying when she said any of that. She was speaking from the heart, and knew she felt solely responsible for the entire problem. If it wasn't for her- Ladybug, she wouldn't have invaded Marinette's, her civilian self's, life and ruined it. Because of it, she was dividing herself into two: Ladybug and Marinette, but she was losing the sole part of herself. Without her, how would she maintain her life, her relationships, her family, all the things that made her human?

What would happen if Marinette was lost completely? Would she be gone forever? Would it be reversible or would it be completely impossible to have her old life back? Would Marinette be considered truly and officially dead, her civilian self's soul being sucked into an eternal black hole forever?

"She never came to any of us, Ladybug! It's not your fault, and you shouldn't feel responsible," Alya tried to assure Ladybug, and herself as well, but it was hard to see her hero fall.

The heroine couldn't crumple in front of someone who depended on her for her braveness and courage. She was her role model, and she had to stay strong. She had to find her own answers.

"Neither should you, Alya. There's got to be a way to bring her back," Ladybug realized.

If she could find the past Ladybug, maybe she'd be able to help her solve this whole fiasco. She'd have to do it before it was too late.

* * *

Of course, being that it had been a few weeks since Ladybug had visited Master Fu about the whole situation, there had been additional changes. For one, her entire hair was highlighted with red now and her original hair was darkened. She'd even learned to use her flying powers more cautiously, and figured out how to make the wings disappear when they weren't in use. Her blue irises now had specks of red in them, giving her less sharp eyesight. However, her sense of smell was improving largely.