Chapter Text
“You aren’t seriously considering putting them through the Guardian’s trial?” Wayzz questioned, watching Fu’s flowing script fill the width of a small scrap of paper.
The old man sighed. “We do not have the luxury of time, my friend. Hawkmoth is closing in on the miracle box. You know that.”
“They’re too young,” Wayzz objected.
“I was younger,” Fu countered.
“You never actually completed the Guardian’s trial,” Wayzz said.
Fu’s dark eyes swiveled towards his ever present companion in exasperation. “You know that wasn’t by choice.”
Wayzz ducked down in the air. “I meant no disrespect, master. But if she isn’t ready and she fails the trial, what will you do?”
Fu sighed, his eyes sweeping over the two notes.
“If she fails the trial, she was never meant to be the Guardian and we will have to start anew.”
Wayzz was kind enough to refrain from pointing out they likely didn’t have time for that either.
Fu had put all his eggs in this one basket. Marinette and Adrien could not fail.
…
It had seemed like any other morning. The alarm went off, a sleepy Marinette cracked one eye open at the evil device, silenced it with practiced ease, and rolled over to go back to sleep. Tikki whispered and nudged her ears, but Marinette did not budge.
Then her mother came in.
“Marinette!” she sing-songed. “You need to get up before you’re late!”
Marinette groaned in response.
Her mother snatched her blankets away. Marinette swiped for them but she missed. Finally, she sat up, rubbing at her eyes cursing that school started so early in the morning.
“That’s a pretty jewelry box,” her mother commented. “Where’d you get it?”
“Jewelry box?” Marinette repeated, following her mother’s gaze.
A black octagonal box with a familiar red spiraling design sat on her desk. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, sleep suddenly the last thing on her mind.
“Oh! I don’t know. It was a gift from a friend,” she said. It wasn’t a complete lie. And she needed her mother out of her room.
“They have good taste,” her mother commented. “Breakfast is ready if you have time to eat it.”
Marinette made herself smile. “Thanks maman!”
The second the trapdoor closed, Marinette practically threw herself at the unexpected miraculous, tearing open the envelope that sat under the black box.
You will have to choose a new Black Cat. Remember what I have taught you.
My condolences for your loss.
Her heart roared in her ears, her throat lodged itself closed, and her eyes burned.
No no no no.
This couldn’t be happening. Her brain refused to accept the note’s implications. She tore open the box, praying that it would hold any miraculous except the ring of destruction.
The ring sat cradled in velvet.
Whatever thread was left of her composure crumpled in that moment. She fell to her knees as wracking sobs overtook her.
She clutched the ring in her fist - now the only token she had left of her partner.
She didn’t even know his name. Didn’t know who to grieve. And that felt so wrong when he literally had thrown himself in front of death time and again to protect her.
In a flash of green light, Plagg manifested.
“Plagg,” she sobbed. “Tell me what happened! What happened to Chat Noir?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but only bubbles emerged. He tried again, and he seemed to choke mid air. He let out a hiss like the displeased cat he resembled.
“I apparently can’t tell you. I’m sorry, kid,” he said sadly, wilting in the air in front of her.
She cradled him in both of her hands, and pulled him to her chest. He started purring and she let the tears overtake her again.
She didn’t know how to face the world without her partner.
…
Adrien woke up all at once, unexplained anxiety coursing through his veins. Something was wrong. He checked his phone for an akuma alert, but there was nothing.
If anything, it was too quiet.
“Plagg?” he called out. There was no response.
Adrien jumped to his feet, his heart leaping up to his throat.
“Plagg,” he called again. He traced his ring finger absently, only to realize the ring wasn’t there.
He stared at his naked finger in horror.
He had lost his miraculous? Ladybug was going to kill him! He turned towards his bed, hoping it had simply slipped off sometime during the night.
His tore off the comforter and pillows, stripped the mattress bare, but nothing. He crawled along the floors, looking everywhere.
The ring wasn’t in his room.
He sucked in a breath, but it didn’t help the clawing sensation that took over his chest, the feeling that he had failed in the worst way possible layered on top of the fact that he was trapped in his room with no way out.
“Adrien?” Nathalie greeted from the doorway. “What did you do to your bed?”
It took Adrien a full ten seconds to find words. “I… uh… I lost something.”
“Do you want me to send a team of cleaners up here to scrounge for it?”
He offered her a fake smile. “No, it’s okay. It’s just a charm. A friend made it for me. I’ll… umm… just ask her to make me a new one.”
“You should get dressed. Breakfast is in ten.”
He hooded his head robotically, never turning to look at her. “I’ll be right down. Thank you, Nathalie.”
She left, and he dropped like a stone into his desk chair.
What was he going to do?
How was he going to tell Ladybug without giving away his identity?
Would she ever trust him again knowing he had lost a miraculous? And not just any miraculous, but one of the two most crucial ones?
He let his head think down onto his desk, and only then did he notice the envelope with his name on it. A letter that definitely hadn’t been there the night before. And he doubted Nathalie had left it for him without saying anything.
With shaking hands, he opened it.
For the greater good, a new black cat must be chosen. Do not contact me. Do not contact your former partner.
I’m sorry.
Adrien crumpled the note, tears falling.
What had he done wrong?