𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐹𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝓁𝒹𝓈 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒰𝓈 *Slow Updates*

Chapter Eleven

A/N: I'm so very sorry this is late!!! I'm also sorry because I got a little bored in this chapter! I've got a cold, so I'm not really focusing like I normally would. But anyway, please enjoy!

Saturday night was...well--Marinette hadn't expected anything to go south so quickly. There was a bright side to the reoccurring event, though! Luka was safe and Chat Noir save him. Alya got some feed for her Ladyblog, even if it weren't much to write about Ladybug.

The security guard let them off with a warning, but Marinette felt it was at the man's rope end.

Marinette shakes her head, fixating her sights on her math homework. The paper itself having little scribbles and a doodle here and there displayed on the front.

It's been perhaps a day or two since Luka fell and was saved by Chat Noir. Time flew by almost too swiftly. Marinette, for the time being, was unable to comprehend the clockwork ticking forward. By the time she came home, it had already been way past midnight. Her body near exhausted and worn from the anxiety and fear that had overwhelmed her hours earlier.

She was glad that Chat Noir offered to take them home, and he didn't even tell her parents...which she was extremely grateful for. She most likely would've been grounded until well...a long time, that's how long.

Alya, however, is a different story.

Her mother had just gotten home from working late at the studio and so happened to witness her eldest child escorted by Chat Noir, followed by two other teens. The least anyone can say is she was not happy. There was no telling how long she'd be grounded for.

Marinette remembers as Alya's mother pinched Alya's ear and dragged her inside their apartment building. She didn't want to imagine what would've happened if that cop refused Chat Noir's offer.

Luka was luckier than both of them combined, his mother gave him a good scolding and a swat to the arm, saying it was wrong to trespass and whatnot.

But, at least the Ladyblog fiasco is over with, along with the danger.

Man, she really had thought Luka was going to die. Marinette's heart did a shimmy within her chest and the heat came rolling throughout her eyeballs. She felt scared, and not like scared, but scared-terrified, scared-petrified, scared. Considering her being Ladybug, who is always thrown into various dangerous situations, that's saying something. For the first time, in like, a very long while, Marinette felt absolutely terrified.

Snap.

The pencil in Marinette's fingers briefly jolts, bringing her from the depth of her thoughts. Her bluebell eyes flicker downward.

"What the..." The teen murmurs when realizing her writing utensil was broken. Sighing, she pulls out her pencil sharpener. "Stupid thing..."

A few good spins and the pencil lead was sharper than Alya's quick tongue. The pointed lead is once again jotting down equations and numbers.

It wasn't until Marinette slumps in her chair that pencil is dropped on the desk surface. She was tired. Exhausted. Drained of energy and life, it felt.

Tikki's small body rests near the decorated pencil cup. Just snoozing away carefreely, like the cute Kwami she is.

Hm. Kwami.

Pulling away from the desk, Marinette steadies her sight on her bed, or more like underneath her bed. The Kwami box sits in the shadows of the bed, awaiting for temptation from someone--anyone.

I wonder, Marinette slips from her chair and glides to her bed. Lowering to her knees, Marinette folds her body and reaches under the bed to grab the Miracle Box. Once the ancient relic is in front of her, the teenager slides her fingers across the carved lid.

The Master is gone, living peacefully with his lost love, the rest of their days filled with sweet memories. Sometimes, despite loving being Ladybug, wished he hadn't given her the amazing opportunity. If he hadn't, she wouldn't have to lie to her loved ones to keep them safe from Hawk Moth and Mayura.

The other Kwamis are locked up, unable to be free or have a person to be with.

It had crossed Marinette's mind quite a few times after given the responsibility of the Miracle Box's safe-keeping. Remembering when she lent a few of her most trusted classmates Kwamis to aid her in a most difficult fight. She knew they were crestfallen when they had to give their Miraculouses back.

Kim did pretty well, so did Max. They enjoyed being superheroes for a day. Most likely, if it were up to them, they would've kept their Kwamis.

The lid creaked as Marinette somberly lifted it.

Tikki and Plagg's Miraculous' reserved, but empty slots are the first thing she sees. And even though a certain blonde is a pain...Chloe did all right.

Though, she wouldn't appreciate any compliment Marinette has to offer.

Twisting a special, and hidden knob, a few compartments open up, revealing other Miraculouses. The bee miraculous, the fox miraculous, the mouse miraculous, the monkey miraculous, the dragon, miraculous the turtle miraculous, the snake miraculous.

It had always occurred to her she and Chat Noir needed a third super around, because trying to juggle real life and super life was beginning to be bit of a pain, near difficult.

It's a delicate decision, she knew, and she couldn't pick just anyone, nor could she choose a random Miraculous.

Perhaps she could make Rena Rogue permanent? Or Queen Bee? King Monkey? Pegasus? Carapace or even Viperion?

She loved her friends, truly she does. By choosing one, would that mean she's favoring them over the others?

"Marinette, what are you doing?" 

"EEK!" The bluenette squeaks loudly, her body jolting toward the tiny voice.

Tikki hovered just a few feet away, inches above the floor. Her eyes strained on her Holder. Her invisible lips form a thin line as she watches Marinette.

"A-ah, T-Tikki! I'm just...I..." Marinette tries to think up a reason as to why she has the Miracle Box out and opened. "I'm only thinking."

"What does that have to do with the Miracle Box?" Tikki questions.

"Well...we could always use the help?" Marinette tried, but her shoulders slump down. "I just...I mean, I know Chat and I can handle Hawk Moth and Mayura."

"But?" 

"But, I think we need some help."

Tikki becomes silent for a moment, averting her eyes somewhere to the side. The Kwami appears to go into deep thought.

"Who would you choose, then?"

Peering down at the Miraculouses, Marinette ponders.

"Well..."

BAM.

I hope this satisfies you for now. I'm sorry, it should have been longer, edgier, and more well, INTERESTING. I got bored, as I said before, not meaning to.  So, this chapter doesn't have much action. 

I panicked, okay? I'm not thinking straight at all!!!! 

Anyway, I hope you liked.

Who will Marinette pick to be the third hero of Paris?

As you ponder about who, drop a comment, vote, and enjoy the evening!

~Brittany