Masked Permanently

Facing Absence

Although Ladybug couldn't see like she used to, she visualized mornings where her mother would pull her old pink curtains open to let in the beautiful, warm sunlight that would cover her civilian face and arms like a hug. Her eyes continued to squeeze shut, but she noticed that the light seemed to falter after the curtains closed.

One thing worried her. In this little flashback of hers, which helped her visualize most things she used to have, such as her room, and her bed, as well as her windows, but her mother's face was a blank slate.

Every time she tried to piece together a face, it came out distorted and disfigured. Something was always just... off.

In this figment of her imagination, her mother walked closer to her, and Marinette couldn't move. Petrified by the blank slate that used to contain something she knew so well, her heart rate began to quicken. Why couldn't she open her eyes?

Suddenly her own body, or at least Marinette's, started to move, but it was under a different control. She felt as if she were living through the eyes of something else, and it was through the protagonist of a horror film.

An overwhelming desire to remember what a face looked like overcame her, but when Marinette turned to face the mirror, a horrifying reflection of a blank face stared back at her.

No eyes, no mouth. Just the smooth empty skin on her face, completely unmasked and completely empty, framed by the dark bangs that fell above the area where her eyes would've been. A few strands of her old hair rested against her barren face, falling out of the pigtails that had been tied aside.

Ladybug's eyes shot open, and she sat up quickly to recover from the dreadful and intense excuse for a nightmare she had.

"Ladybug, are you okay?!" Chat Noir asked, grabbing her arm reassuringly.

Her heart rate was still frantic, and she realized she had broken into a cold sweat.

She tried to look at her partner, but was frustrated by her lack of ability to make out his facial features. Only the blurry, unintelligible outline of his hair and face shape came into view.

"I can't remember faces anymore..."

Nathalie wanted to reassure her that Felix had a similar issue, however instead it was color he had forgotten, but it was only just a matter of time before he was turned to nothing. Her memories were falling apart, and her brain was losing its ability to piece together logical, everyday things that used to be visual.

"You've been unable to see properly for a long time... It's probably just part of the messy development," Chat reasoned.

"Spots off! Detransform me!" Ladybug sat up, feeling her ears, but nothing was there. Just the soft flaps of her earlobes remained, likely still molded with the earrings that seemed to sink into them.

Acceptance was an important part of staying positive.

Just as Chat Noir was about to speak, nearby screams erupted from the city.

"There's not enough time to sleep on the job!" Ladybug threw the blanket off of her and let her wings uncoil.

"We'll be back, Nathalie!" Chat Noir told his father's assistant before following his partner out the window. He closely followed behind her, ensuring she wouldn't fall.

"What kind of akuma do you think it is?" The heroine asked as Chat struggles to keep up with her wings by using his staff.

"Based... on what... I can see, it looks like the villain is... a dark cloud man?" The hero huffed exhaustedly. He brought his hand up to his forehead, slapping it before letting it drop to his side once again. "For crying out cloud!"

Ladybug sighed, turning to face her partner. "You're making a pun... right now?"

"Right meow, actually. I mean, I prefur cat puns, but I won't let him steal my thunder," Chat clicked his tongue, forcing a smile.

If Ladybug was going to disappear soon, she might as well get to have a few more laughs.

"Pre-fur? Thunder? Your puns really blow," Ladybug groaned, but caught what she had just said, "Are you kidding me? Did I just use 'blow' in a conversation where you're making weather puns?"

"You almost mist the winding opportunity, my Lady!" Chat Noir chuckled, his smile dropping after. He wished with everything in him that he knew how to save his partner.

"I bet you have a really big ol' grin on your face right about now. I can't see it, but I know you well enough," Ladybug giggled, but rolled her eyes.

Not well enough... to know how much I care about you.

Probably not well enough to know that I'm worried sick about losing my best friend to her own powers.

"You got me, my Lady!" Chat Noir laughed, pushing a lighthearted tone to it.

Ladybug smiled back at him, and pulled out her yoyo. "Ready to get this cloudy guy?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Although there were many physical and mental changes that the heroine went through, she never stopped being the silly, yet amazingly courageous girl he was tied up with a yoyo string on the first day they met.

"As always, by your side!"

A/N: I just realized I'm probably going to have to extend the book by (probably) one more chapter.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! There will likely be three more! (For real this time! 😂)