"Are you ready mademoiselle?" Jean whatever-his-name asked cautiously.

Chloé rolled her eyes.

She hated the way everyone looked at her now.

Fear.

Anger.

Disappointment.

It really made her blood boil.

Everyone should be bowing to her - giving in to her every whim!

Not running away! Not looking at her like she betrayed everyone! Not looking at her like they expected better from her!

Why they had expected anything different from Chloé was beyond her.

Groveling.

They should all be bowing at her feet!

But that stupid bug just had to interfere!

Took what should be Chloé's!

"Mademoiselle?"

"Whatever," She muttered, rolling her eyes again.

Still, she got up from her chair and walked over to the door.

Ever since she was Miracle Queen she wasn't allowed to leave her room in the Grand Paris hotel.

She was under constant supervision, in case she became an akuma again.

Not that Hawkmoth had been particularly active these past few weeks...

Chloé briefly wondered what the villain could be up to - but she promptly dismissed the thought.

It didn't matter now.
The loser was probably hiding after his latest failed attempt.

It was ridiculous.

Utterly ridiculous.

At least her trial was soon.

Then her daddy could fix everything.

... she hoped.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"An appeal," Marinette muttered to herself, pacing back and forth in her room, "I should've seen that one coming."

Chloé's trial had just concluded a little under an hour ago - and nothing changed.

Chloé was still allowed to go to school.

Still allowed to just-

Just wander around like nothing happened!

The only thing the judge ordered in between trials was that Chloé would be heavily monitored by the police.

And the staff of the Grand Paris hotel.

But Marinette could already tell they would be a little more lenient thanks to the mayor.

This wasn't good enough.
Chloé was working with Hawkmoth!

A terrorist!

There was video evidence of Chloé accepting the akuma - and the bee miraculous - from Hawkmoth.

And yet...

And yet they just decided to let Chloé demand an appeal?!
"Marinette," Tikki interrupted her thoughts, "You need to calm down."

Right...

She didn't want to attract any akumas...

"Chloé ssstill hassss another trial in the future," Sass agreed, "Ssshhe'll have to face her consequences then."

Marinette forced herself to nod.

But deep down she knew...

Chloé probably wouldn't.

Not with the mayor doing everything in his power to prevent Chloé from being punished.

The room fell into silence as Pollen flew forward to snuggle into Marinette's cheek in comfort.

"It's time for your guardian training," Tikki spoke up eventually.

She glanced at the time, mentally cursing.

"Right... what's the plan for today?"

A distraction would be nice...

The kwami all looked at each other before Sass flew forward.

"Now that you're comfortable with your role as guardian, we've deemed you ready to move forward with your training," He explained.

"Really?" Marinette's eyes sparkled, "What do I get to learn?"

Don't get her wrong, she was grateful for the basics she was already learning.
Things like how to make the potions, or casting simple spells from the grimoire.

But she had to do things like that on her own; since the kwami weren't allowed to know.

She was excited to see what the kwami would teach her!
"Trixx and I will help you with combat training," Wayzz explained with a giggle, "Both in and out of the suit, in case you ever find yourself facing an akuma in civilian form."
Alright, that was definitely useful to know.

"Alongside that, each kwami will give you lessons on how to use their miraculous," Longg added, "Your goal is to master every one of them."

Marinette nodded excitedly.

Not only would that come in handy if there was ever an emergency, but it would also give her time to form a bond with them.

Marinette was certainly looking forward to it!

"We'll be starting with the Ladybug," Tikki told her.

Marinette shot her kwami a smile, "When do we start?"

"Right now," Tikki giggled.

Marinette chuckled as her kwami led her up to the balcony; so there were no distractions from the other kwami.

"I need your full concentration for this," Tikki warned from her side as soon as she shut the trapdoor.

"For what?"

"We're going to attune you to your miraculous," Tikki explained.

Marinette must've looked as confused as she felt, because Tikki started talking again.

"Attunement is what separates the inexperienced from the experienced - you have to have a strong and close bond with your kwami for them to perform the ritual, although most don't offer it unless you've held onto it for over a year," Tikki began explaining.

"What exactly does it do?"

"Under the right conditions, attunement can allow you to not only access the other powers of the miraculous; but also allow you to bypass your timer in a way," Tikki continued.

"Wait - seriously??"

Tikki giggled, "Yes, seriously - this ceremony will be the start of your official ladybug training."

Marinette was buzzing with questions.

What were the other powers?
How many were there?
But one in particular stood out.

"If you can only access the other powers from attunement," Marinette started, "Then how come I can cast Miraculous Ladybug? And why doesn't it have a timer?"

She never actually cast Miraculous Ladybug first, now that she thought about it.

Maybe if she did it would cause her countdown to start...

She'd have to test that later.

"I'm... not sure, Marinette," Tikki admitted, "The Miraculous Cure is the spell of the heart; you need to have a big heart in order to cast it."

Marinette frowned a bit, "You need to have a big heart?"
"To be kind," Tikki explained, "Each spell of the yin and yang is connected to a different aspect; heart, mind, body, soul and energy."

Did that mean the other miraculous worked differently?

Marinette would have to ask the other kwami later.

"I'm guessing Lucky Charm is connected to the mind," Marinette noted, "Is that the default spell?"
Tikki shook her head, "Plagg and I can choose which spell to unlock for our users, depending on the circumstance."

"So cataclysm is...?"
"The spell of energy," Tikki finished with a nod.
Marinette nodded back, a short silence falling over them.

"I have another question," Marinette piped up before Tikki could say anything, "Does... this mean Hawkmoth was attuned to his miraculous from the beginning?"

Tikki nodded sadly, "I'm sure he forced Nooroo to attune him - Mayura too - doing that only allows access to bypassing the timer, but there's a heavy price for forcing it."

Marinette was almost scared to ask, "Like what, Tikki...?"

"It's how the miraculous get broken; anyone who wears it deals with the consequences - but those consequences depend on the miraculous you're wearing. The Bee has you lose energy, your life force. The Turtle has you lose your sense of security, making you paranoid to the point of insanity. The Fox has you lose touch with reality; essentially becoming a ghost - a walking illusion. The Peacock slowly separates your body and soul. For the Butterfly, it's a loss of feeling; making you numb to the world around you."
Well... that certainly explained why Hawkmoth was slowly becoming worse with his akuma...

And why Mayura appeared so exhausted the longer she was transformed.

She was literally dying...

"What about the Ladybug and the Black Cat?" Marinette whispered.

"For the Black Cat, you're cursed with bad luck for as long as you wear the ring. But you can't take it off without help from a guardian. For the Ladybug... everything around you ends up broken - no matter what you create, it will end up shattered; not only physical things, but also the bonds you form with others," Tikki explained quietly.

"Is there any way to reverse the effects...?"

Once Hawkmoth and Mayura were stopped, maybe she could reverse it?

"You can slow the process down by taking it off, but it doesn't stop completely; it's always there, slowly eating away at your conscience. The only way you can try to stop it is to go to a guardian, but even then..." Tikki answered, voice trailing off.

It might still be there, it will probably never truly go away.

Marinette deflated at that, "You don't happen to know what the guardian does to reverse it, do you?"

If Tikki knew, then she could teach her.

Tikki shook her head, much to Marinette's disappointment, "I'm sure it's in the grimoire somewhere though - you haven't even gone through half of it yet - or maybe Su-Han could teach you?"

"Hopefully I won't have to go to Su-Han, but I suppose that's a good back-up plan..."

There was a moment of silence, with Tikki pressing herself against Marinette's cheek.

She cupped her hands around the small kwami, soaking in the tiny hug.

"Well then, with that lesson out of the way; shall we start the ceremony?" Tikki asked, flying back in front of her.

"Ready as I'll ever be!"

Tikki flew back with a firm nod.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I - Tikki, kwami of the ladybug - deem you worthy to unlock the secrets of your miraculous."

Marinette watched in wonder as her kwami's eyes began to glow a pale blue, not daring to say a word.

Tikki needed full concentration for this.

Marinette felt her earrings grow warm with energy as Tikki chanted in a language she didn't understand.

The process only took five minutes, much to Marinette's relief; because the longer Tikki chanted, the hotter the miraculous became.

"So... will I not have a timer now?" Marinette asked.

Tikki shook her head, "No, you still will - you have to work hard to unlock it, along with your other powers. With each power you learn, your timer will extend until you learn them all."

"Okay, that makes sense... I already know Lucky Charm and Miraculous Ladybug though - how many are there?"

"Only five in total; each power mastered will grant you one extra minute; when you've mastered them all your miraculous will work differently - one spot will go down when you use the corresponding power," Tikki answered easily.

So she had seven minutes now... sweet.

"I deeply apologize for interrupting, young master, but an akuma alert went off," Longg informed them, his head popping out of the trapdoor.

Marinette sighed.

Now?

Really?

Marinette shared a look with Tikki, whose eyes shimmered with determination.

"Tikki, Spots on!"