My Boss is Felix: Alternative Miraculous Ladybug Tale

Ch52: R.I.P.

What did I do to deserve this?

All I wanted was love, but instead I got kidnapped first by my psychotic ex-unofficial-boyfriend and second by a woman I admired and regarded as a mentor - as the only person who could ever understand my one-sided feelings. How could Natalie do this to me? I was freezing and had a fever - yet she locked me in this stone prison - the only bed being a stained red blanket that was wadded up in the spider infested corner.

Natalie wasn't who she seemed. Nor was Felix. Nor the Eel. Nor my life and the way I understood it. How could I have been so blind to the truth? It was all insane - Natalie trying to trick Felix to take the Eel and Cat Miraculous. Was she the one who sent the Silver Akuma in the first place - the akuma that had targeted Felix in the closet of Agreste Inc.? Probably. And if Natalie was actually 'evil,' what if Mr. Agreste was Hawk Moth? I chuckled. Seriously? All this time - hidden in plain sight. But it made perfect sense. I wasn't sure what Mr. Agreste's motivations were, but still...

"Felix has a messed up life," I thought.

I curled into a ball and rested the side of my head against the wall. Even though this atrium was humid, I was still freezing. My fever was only getting worse.

"Then again, so do I," I said, rubbing my shivering hands against my sweat pants to generate warmth. This NASA T-shirt Natalie had given me offered me next to no warmth. If only I had opted for a sweater.

My throat burned with each swallow and my mouth felt like a cracked desert - I needed water to ease my misery. But the worst part about fevers was how every muscle in my body radiated - my back, neck, arms, and legs. Couldn't Natalie have at least given me a warmer blanket, a blow up mattress, and bottles of water? For heaven's sake, I was on the verge of hospitalization.

For the next hours, my mind was empty. I tried to concentrate on peaceful thoughts like ocean waves, chirping birds, forest rivers, and sunsets - anything to pull my attention away from this agony. I needed to be strong, and once I got a little bit better, I could come up with an escape plan.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay," I said through gritted teeth when my muscle pain flared up. It happened once every half hour.

I wasn't sure what time it was - probably around midnight since the atrium dome had turned to stars and moon - clearly the dome was electronic - much like an observatory at a museum. Even though it was fake, the golden moonlight filtering through the oval barred window brought me comfort. I found myself wishing on those animated stars - I wished I was held captive by Felix. At least I would have had a bed.

No. Felix shouldn't come to save me. He needed to stay far away. He had the Eel, Cat, and Ladybug Miraculous. There was nothing I had that he needed or wanted. I was useless to him now. Unless our life force was somehow connected as he had previously implied. But that was only a theory.

I was just plain, naive Marinette now. Foolish, dumb Marinette.

"I'm such an idiot," I muttered, "It seems I'm cursed with blindness." 

Those were my last words before surrendering to my fatigue.

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ 　　.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

Velvet dripped through my fingers.