When a liar gets you left behind

Chapter Forty-Four: The Cuteness of Children

Marinette only had a few minutes before her next class was supposed to start. Which, despite the fact that she had been arriving on time in this school, she sometimes she got to her classes a bit later than others.

She knew, however, that depending on what the Akuma's powers were, and whether or not it was a new one, she could arrive to class thirty minutes into the lesson, or be back long after it was over.

She knew she could not effect the time frame it took to defeat the Akuma, as acting in anger would only make it take longer. She needed to be level-headed during an attack.

She quickly found a proper place to transform in, keeping in mind the fact that no one could see her transform, else she want to let herself drown in yet another problem.

As she did so, her mind was on the fact that she had to get there quickly, Hawkmoth would be getting suspicious of her late arrivals and catch on quickly if she was not careful.

Shoving the Horse Miraculous on, Marinette quickly unified, creating the portal to Paris as swiftly as she could manage.

As soon as she arrived, Paris was quiet, the loud noises that were normally associated with an attack totally blown from the picture. The usual chatter of Paris totally missing, making Marinette feel out of place.

She felt no wind blow against her skin as as she warily stepped out of the portal, her ears sharpening on the slightest bit of noise that they could catch; the shuffling of her own feet, the sound of her own breathing.

It was unsettling, the outstretching and ever going silence starting to make her uneasy, despite the fact that it was as simply just that; silence.

Still, the longer that it went on, the more she was reminded of something that she often tried to leave in the past, no matter how often it managed to flash against her eyelids as she tried to sleep.

The quiet streets of Paris were nostalgically like those in an attack that she—and she only, besides Bunnix could remember, one that was absolutely set on causing the Earth's destruction.

But no, that was louder. She had been chased during that experience, followed till she finally answered Chat Blanc's questions, till he grew angry enough to hurt her. All that made sound in Paris now was the whispering wind, which bangled against the debris on the ground.

One of the struggles she experienced when she figured out just who Chat Noir was, was realizing that it was Adrien who she had been following her, someone who had gone insane somewhere down the line.

Marinette looked up curiously, her eyes narrowing at the odd piece of paper which had yet to fall down to the ground, instead it continued to stay still right in the air, which made no sense logically.

So the Akuma could freeze time, at least, that's what it seemed was happening. It would explain the lack of movement around her, she supposed. But it did not explain the lack of other human beings.

She felt slightly unnerved by all of this, the silence, the paper, the random lack of life. All of it bothered her.

Having still not found any of her teammates, she started to call Chat Noir, the calm ringing sound comforting her slightly.

"Ladybug, where are you?" his voice filtered through the speaker after the fifth ring.

"I'm close to the Eiffel Tower," she responded quickly, her voice firm and business-like.

"Ladybug! That's right near them, get away from there!" he yelled through fiercely, his voice urgent and concerning.

—a small, contagious giggle suddenly sounded from behind Marinette, making her automatically turn, just barely catching a flash of their figure as they passed by, making her stomach drop.