"Okay, keep moving," Keefe said. "And make sure those two don't trigger anything."
"But we still have to move fast," Dex said. "Sophie and I know firsthand what happens during a Neverseen interrogation."
Okay, so... out of habit... Marinette and Adrien may have transformed into their superhero alter-egos. And since they were running out of time, they didn't really have a chance to transform back. Besides, having a lucky charm and cataclysm power could come in handy.
However, Marinette felt the most worried. As far as she knew, her best friend had been gagged, knocked out, and was probably who knows where. And Dex and Sophie kept saying that they had gone through the experience, and they never liked talking about it, so it was clearly bad.
"Best bet is that they took her to the hideout underneath here," Biana guessed. "Tam, check the shadow footprint."
Marinette was confused, but she stood and watched as Tam swirled shadows around the area.
"It's there," he said, pointing to the square in front of the Eiffel Tower. "The hideout is just under there."
"But isn't the hideout destroyed?" Fitz pointed out.
"Yeah, but it's called reusing," Sophie replied bitterly. Marinette had noticed that Sophie tended to be a lot more annoyed with Fitz, despite Biana saying that Sophie used to crush on him.
What exactly did she miss?
She was just lucky that no one was awake.
"Hurry," Sophie said. "They may have burned her or have already started making the poison that they were planning for Dex and I."
Marinette ran even faster.
They wouldn't kill Alya...
Would they?
"It's the Neverseen," Sophie said, her voice hollow as the teens arrived at the area. "They'll do anything to get what they want."
Marinette felt her body begin to shut down already. She may not have been able to be physically around Alya anymore, but she couldn't fathom her best friend...
She couldn't even think it.
"Alright," Marella said, kneeling down. "This isn't gonna open itself."
"But how?" Adrien asked, kicking a stone. "It's all stuck together."
Marella responded by sending a blast of fire at the bricks, causing the cement to melt, bricks falling down and revealing a small chute.
"This will lead us down to the hideout, I presume," she said, sliding inside.
Marinette didn't move as all but her and Keefe had slid down the chute.
"Hey, your friend's gonna be okay," Keefe said, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "So let's go rescue her."
Marinette took in a last breath of courage before she slid down the metal tube, the rush of air stealing away her screams as she tumbled into a dark and dusty space, Marella holding out a small ball of fire in her hand to try and light up the area.
"Strange," she said. "Why wouldn't they have any balestones?"
"What are those?" Marinette asked as Keefe crashed into the area.
"Special crystals that have small blue flames in them," Sophie said. "They're uncontrollable if they're released from the crystals."
"Is everything around here dangerous?" Marinette groaned before Linh covered her mouth.
"Quiet," Linh whispered. "They might hear us."
"Gee, this reminds me of the Nightfall Keefe's mom made," Biana whispered. "It's all dark, abandoned, and creepy."
"At least we're not dealing with gorgodons or having to wear Everblaze ash," Sophie said. "That stuff was disgusting."
"You can say that again," Marella agreed.
But Marinette couldn't help but gasp as she peered around a corner, noticing the glass wall.
It wasn't pretty.
Alya was bound to a chair, gagged and blindfolded, her glasses having been struck against a wall and broken into several pieces. Her phone had been confiscated, and Lady Gisela was going through it. Fintan and some other Neverseen member were trying to keep down the thrashing Alya, and Marinette could see burns on Alya's forehead and arms. Her clothes were torn, her hair was ragged...
And Hawkmoth was holding a familiar orange necklace.
"We'll save it for the time being," he said, dropping it into a small crystal chest.
Marinette took every ounce of energy to keep from screaming, but she felt her legs go weak as she fell to the ground.
"Oh darn," Fitz said. "How can she help us if she can't even watch?"
Sophie gave Fitz a hard and long glare before leaning down towards the trembling bluenette.
"I... I c-ca-can't d-d-d-do-d-do t-th-th-t-this..." Marinette stammered. "She-sh-she-she's in tr-tr-tr-tou-b-b-le a...a-a-a-and–"
"And we're going to get her away from the Neverseen," Sophie reassured. "I mean, Dex and I might have problems considering post-traumatic stress disorder attacks and all that but... you get it; we're gonna save Alya, we're gonna get her Miraculous back, and we're going to make sure that the Neverseen don't attack Paris ever again."
"But... but..."
But Marinette couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
Adrien looked pretty pale as well, his cat ears having stuck up the moment he looked through the glass.
"Hawkmoth's working with them," he said, shaking a little in his hands. "He... he's gonna do something for them... I can feel it."
Marinette wasn't sure why, but she suddenly felt scared for Sophie and Adrien.
She knew those two, being the moonlarks, would end up suffering some terrible fate if the Neverseen got a hold of them.
"Hey, breathe," Keefe said, sitting down next to her as well. "You're freezing the floor again."
Marinette peeked her large eyes from her knees to see a small layer of ice snaking to the glass wall.
"Hey, I think I've got an idea," she said, feeling her fingers tingle a little. "If I could just freeze the floor in there, maybe I could distract them. Then we can break in and then get Alya and the Miraculous."
"Sounds like an idea," Keefe said. "We just need to find an opening."
Slowly, Marinette and Keefe crawled to the bottom corner of the glass, noticing Fintan pressing his hands against Alya's arms, the gag having been taken off.
"For the last time, you're going to tell me all you know about the Black Swan," he said.
"I'm telling you," Alya gasped. "I... I don't know anything!"
"Liar," Fintan hissed, pressing his hand against Alya's cheek.
"No!" she cried. "Please... stop!"
Marinette could only imagine it feeling a lot worse, considering the poor girl couldn't see anything.
"I'm not going to stop until you tell me the information you're hiding!" Fintan yelled. "Gethen, probe her mind."
Alya screamed as Fintan pressed a red-hot pin against the middle of her forehead, a mysterious blond Neverseen member–Gethen, Marinette assumed–gently press his fingertips against Alya's head.
"She's figured out how to shield," Gethen said. "I can't fight past it."
"But how?" Fintan roared. "She's human!"
"She's not just a regular girl," Hawkmoth pointed out. "She's been trying to figure out many different masked identities, mine included. Not to mention she's a superheroine herself."
"Gag her again," Lady Gisela ordered. "We'll interrogate her more about what she knows soon."
Marinette could only hear her friend's whimpers grow softer and softer as Alya was dragged to unconsciousness again.
"Hey, I think I see a weak spot," Keefe whispered, but Marinette couldn't move.
"They just... they just tortured her," she said, feeling the words come true. "Keefe, we have to save her."
"And fast," Keefe said, pointing to a couple masked Neverseen members, and Marinette could see a gooey black liquid forming in a vial.
Marinette only took one guess, and Keefe confirmed it.
"No... they'll kill her!" she gasped, and Keefe covered her mouth before the Neverseen could hear her.
"Look, I know they're making poison, but we need to break in there," Keefe said, and she turned to see him scraping away at a moldy set of bricks, revealing the corner of the glass. "Just freeze the floor in there."
Marinette took a deep breath, feeling enough rage energizing her power.
It only took a slight touch with her finger to make the entire floor in the room freeze over. Everyone inside started slipping and falling, and Marinette, for some reason, relished in their suffering.
This was a small price for them when she considered what they had been doing to Alya.
"Now!" she ordered, and Adrien threw his hand against the glass, cayaclysming the barrier.
Hawkmoth was the first to get up.
"Ah, if it isn't Ladybug and Cat Noir," he sneered. "And you've brought friends."
Marinette could only glare at him, unaware that he remembered the superhero duo.
"We're ending this now," she growled. "Release Alya and nothing will happen."
"Funny," Lady Gisela said. "Now, which one of you did the ice show."
Marinette responded by pinning Keefe's mother against the far wall, spikes of ice nearly puncturing her.
"She has magic!" a member observed. "Someone stop her!"
"You defend; we'll get your friend and the necklace," Tam shadow-whispered.
Marinette didn't care that she was stuck defending her friends.
As long as she got revenge against the Neverseen.
"Ah, the little bettle's growing fangs," Hawkmoth said, taking a step closer, brandishing his cane.
One swish of her hand, and his cane was knocked out of his hand.
"Why did you join the Neverseen?" she hissed, stalking closer. "Tell me why!"
Hawkmoth said nothing, a smirk on his face.
"Tell me or I'll make sure you never hurt anyone again!" she said, her hands ready.
"Ah, so someone's got a new ability," Hawkmoth said, kneeling down. "Almost like a banished person I know about."
Marinette took a step back.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, feeling her voice shake a little.
"Nothing of your concern right now," Hawkmoth shrugged. "Someone take care of her."
Marinette felt two pairs of hands seize her arms.
"Hey!" she protested, thrashing in their grip. "Let go of me!"
"Goodbye, Ladybug," Hawkmoth waved a little as he summoned his cane, using it to send her into the broken glass.
"Marinette, wake up."
Marinette slowly peeled her eyes open to see Adrien hanging over her.
"Where am I?" she asked, feeling her skin sting.
"We had to bring you here," Sophie said, and Marinette looked around to see everyone in the Healing Center. Since she hadn't called any lucky charms, she was still in her Ladybug suit, only it was badly gashed from the glass, small globs of a bright yellow serum were where blood was supposed to be.
And in the far corner...
"Alya?" Marinette gasped, but her voice was heavily rusty and barely audible.
"Careful," Elwin said. "You were hit pretty badly."
Marinette was too afraid to admit what had taken her down.
"We had to bring her here for now," Elwin explained when he saw her staring at Alya. "We're going to try and move her to a human hospital soon, so that no one knows that she was ever here."
Marinette couldn't bring herself to speak, her throat still sore from when she had just tried to speak a minute ago.
"Now, it seems like you'll be fine for now," Elwin said, taking a warm towel and cleaning off the serum, revealing fresh skin, like she'd never cut herself. "Just try and take it easy, okay?"
The best she could muster was a smile and a thumbs-up.
"Woah, someone's extra clumsy," Dex laughed as Marinette struggled to keep standing as he led her down the Foxfire hallways.
She grunted a little.
"You know, I was thinking about how Adrien de-transformed only minutes after destroying the glass," Dex said. "He said that with the way the Miraculous worked, you transformed back after using your power. Anyways, so Biana and I were talking about it while Elwin was healing you, and we were thinking that the two of us could help with that."
Marinette squared her shoulders, as if to ask, What do you mean?
"What I'm saying," Dex said. "Is that I think it's time to give Ladybug an upgrade."
"Ooh, we did good," Biana said, high-fiving Dex. Marinette could totally see those two getting together sometime in the future; they had such an easy banter and worked together so well.
Although, Biana was right; they did do good. They had managed to alter the suit to make sure that she could call multiple lucky charms if needed, and would only need to transform back if she called it. Biana even added her own flair by altering the costume a little herself. While it still looked more like the original one, this time it had a swan neckline with a small red and black spotted pin on the neck. The back, waist, hips, underneath the forearms, palms, fingers, and soles were inverted, black with red spots instead. She had finally outgrown the pigtails, her hair now in a wavy ponytail with red ribbons running through it. Even the yo-yo had changed a little, now with the black dots outlined in a thin line of gold.
"See? I knew you would like it," Biana said as Marinette stared at herself in the mirror.
"And works just like the old one, only this time, you won't have to worry about transforming back almost immediately," Dex said, scooting closer to the girls. "The fabric's also impenetrable; won't get cut up or slashed."
"It's called choosing the right fabric," Biana bragged. "One of my many talents."
Marinette wished her throat wasn't so sore so she could thank them. She settled for a group hug instead.
"Aw, you're welcome!" Biana said, getting the message. "I told you that you would be my new blank canvas!"
Okay, so Marinette still wasn't 100% comfortable with hearing that all the time.
It was probably partially why she was slowly developing a small fear of fancy events.
Finally, she was alone.
Free to read that strange book her history Mentor had given her.
Quietly, Marinette wiped the dust off the cover.
"'The History of Frosters,'" she whispered, her voice having slowly come back.
She slowly cracked open the first page.
Please keep in mind that information is still one of the most dangerous things an elf can possess. Beware of the stories, facts, and information in this book, as it could be used against you, or you could use it against the Lost Cities. Proceed with caution.
For some reason, knowing that people were disapproving of this book made Marinette more curious to read what was inside.
She flipped to the next page.
Chapter 1: The Ability Itself
Frosting is one of the elemental abilities, giving an elf the power to manipulate ice particles in the air. Therefore, if it's too warm, they won't be able to use their ability.
Marinette flicked her wrist a couple times, noticing how snowflakes formed in the air.
Strange.
It was actually pretty warm in her room right now.
"Woah," Tikki said, on a different page.
"Careful," Marinette whispered, gently flipping through the yellowed pages. "We don't want to ruin this."
"But this is interesting," Tikki whispered back.
There have been accounts of an unregistered Froster, despite not being an elf at all. They possess the ability, only they can create it out of nothing.
Weird.
Marinette peered closer, noticing a folded piece of paper.
I can't tell them anything. I don't care if they order a memory break. I don't care if they lock me in Exile. I just can't tell them that I didn't know I hurt them.
A memory break? Exile?
Marinette quickly shuffled over to her bag, pulling out one of her books.
In rare occasions, the Council will order a memory break on a convicted criminal, forcing any hidden memories to be brought to their attention before being destroyed forever. This is often done after they lock the prisoner in Exile, a hidden prison in the center of the Earth where the worst criminals are locked away, many fated to live in madness until their deaths.
Marinette covered her mouth to keep from gasping, turning back to the folded paper, noticing an earlier date.
I... I don't think they understand. What do they mean, that I nearly destroyed their world?
Marinette kept flipping through the book, trying to find more answers, only everything seemed to blur together.
No one knows who they are... the reason our world suffered... escaped their memory break...
But one sentence stuck out.
They were banished from the Lost Cities for good.
Banished...
Nothing made sense anymore.
Between the moonlarks, Hawkmoth with the Neverseen, whatever Lady Gisela did to Keefe, the connections between the moonlarks and Keefe, and this...
Okay, so they weren't getting out of this problem any time soon.
okay, so yes... things are getting weird. and yeah, mari now has her ladybug power-up suit that's been around during season 4... only it's introduced this way because remember, this fic is before marinette gets the miracle box.
and yet another conspiracy! what, should i rename this to "the conspiracies" instead of "the second moonlark?"