Chapter Text
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Chapter 7: The Seven Kwamis
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A group of birds fled from the safety of the trees after hearing a thundering noise come from the ground below them. The cause was a lone pair standing outside the city borders. They had remained in a fit of anger and frustration for some time now. One was a woman that let her prey slip away from her. The other was a man writhing in exaggerated agony, which was only causing further agitation to the woman.
Lila was taking slow, deep breaths to try and calm down. She had just finished yelling into the woods where Marinette ran off. Now she was kicking herself for letting the tailor get that far. Things would only stay challenging the longer that girl stayed alive.
"What are you waiting for, Sheriff!? GO AFTER HER!!!" she ordered the man that was still crouching on the ground holding his bleeding face.
"Can you not see I am wounded?! That girl deliberately tried to Kill Me! I'm going to be blinded for life!!" he took his hand away to reveal the damage.
Lila resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It actually wasn't that bad. Yes, there was a cut from his nose to his right ear that had a slight angle and it was bleeding pretty bad, but it wasn't too deep. And it wasn't even close to his eye, so he was in no danger of losing his sight. Yet he continued to complain like a toddler.
So, just to shut him up, she touched the gem on her amulet until some purple magic covered her hand like a glove. Then she brought the hand to his cheek and rubbed over the cut. Relief hit the man instantly, and not a blemish remained when she removed her hand.
"There, happy now!?" the lady smiled at the sheriff, and when he nodded in astonishment, her smile dropped. "Then Get Your Act Together, Be a Real Man, and Go After That Whore!"
Sheriff Adolphe shook himself out of his stupor, looked in the direction Marinette went, and scowled back at Lila as if appalled by the order. "Are you out of your mind!? I'm not going into that filthy forest by myself! I won't survive in a place filled with dangerous animals! What if I get attacked? What if there are highwaymen waiting to rob me? And I've heard the rumors about the haunted marsh..."
"Perhaps you have forgotten the seriousness of your situation, Sheriff Adolphe..." Lila interrupted his panic. "I recruited you and the Viscount de Roth for the sole purpose of getting that girl away from the palace and get rid of her without any witnesses. Now I can't remove the spell while she's still alive!"
"So?"
"So, if I can't remove one spell, then I can't do my original one to make the prince fall in love with me. Which means we will have to keep up the charade of a betrothal, and if that fails, none of us will get our wishes granted. No throne for me, no endless riches for the viscount, and no fame as the kingdom's greatest sheriff for you. And if we happen to lose such an opportunity, then I promise that you both will suffer greatly for your ineptitude! Are we understood?" she dug her pointed finger into his chest to get her point across.
"I-I-I-If you're so powerful, then why didn't you just use your witchcraft to take over the kingdom, or kill the girl yourself?" The sheriff didn't want to give her the satisfaction that she frightened him, so he held himself straight.
"History likes it better when it thinks these things happen naturally. And I was more than prepared to kill Marinette last night if the prince hadn't been in love with her so much." Lila answered rolling her eyes.
"Well, I'm still not going into the woods. I have no way to track her." he crossed his arms. "Besides, she'll probably die out there one way or another."
"I can't afford to wait..." Taking hold of her amulet once more, she activated some magic to make a creature appear before her.
At first it seemed like nothing more than a little cloud of purple smoke. In a few moments, the smoke reformed itself into the shape of a large wolf. The smoke condensed to the creature's body until it was a more solid mass. When it was done, the hound opened its eyes to reveal a pale blue nothingness and its mouth was oozing out smoke between it long fangs instead of saliva. It snarled at everything around it, looking for something to hunt. Sheriff Adolphe cowered away behind a tree, while Lila picked up a piece of Marinette's dress and presented it to the beast. The hound sniffed at the fabric, and growled deeply at the scent.
"Find the owner of this scent, and kill them. Don't let anyone or anything get in your way." Lila commanded the beast and watched it take off into the woods.
.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Marinette didn't know how long it had been, but ever since she escaped Lila and Sheriff Adolphe, she never stopped moving. Even when she couldn't run at full speed anymore, she kept a steady pace through the trees. She didn't know which directions she was going, or if there was a chance she could find somewhere safe in these woods, but it was certainly better than what awaited her in Papillon.
It took all the falling down and scratching from the trees and bushes to let her know that maybe she'd gotten far enough away. Every muscle in her legs were aching and her lungs felt like they were filled with thorns. She leaned against a tree trunk and rubbed off the sweat from her brow as she took a look around. The forest was thick, and she didn't see a road, which told her she was probably a good distance from the city. She heard some running water and located a small stream; the perfect place for her to collapse. She set everything in her arms aside to dip her hands into the cool water. The stream was clean enough, so she took the chance to have a drink and catch her breath.
She turned her attention back her belongings and picked up her once beautiful ballgown. Now it was ruined. One side of the skirt was completely gone, and some of the seams to the bodice were unraveled. She felt horrible for letting this happen to a gift from Adrien, and one that once belonged to his mother. It wasn't beyond repair, she could easily fix this in her shop. But that thought brought up the realization that she could never go back to her shop. She couldn't go back to her parents' bakery. She might never see her maman and papa again.
Everything she had been holding in came rushing out of her faster than the running stream. Her breathing went ridged at the memory of Lila with the dagger, ready to kill her. Anxiety built up in her heart, making it feel like it was freezing and burning at the same time. She hugged the dress close to her chest as the sobs waved through her whole body. Her tears were absorbed into the fabric, and Marinette just doubled over to scream at nothing. When she felt a pigtail cascade over her shoulder, she remembered the other half of her hair that was sheared off, and only cried harder.
She didn't know how long she cried for, only that she didn't stop until there just weren't any tears left. Then she looked around the forest she ended up in, thinking about everything. The poor seamstress was distressed with the questions that kept repeating in her head. How could this have happened? Is any of this really happening? When is she going to wake up from this nightmare? But her surroundings were answers enough that this was no dream. Everything that happened was real. In the space of under twelve hours, she went from feeling like the happiest woman in the kingdom, to becoming a fugitive running away in exile from all she knew and loved. If Lila's words were true, then not even her parents would recognize her. She was nothing but a little nobody now.
Then there was her sweet Adrien. Once Lila got what she wanted and had control of the kingdom, his life would be in danger. She could try to warn him, maybe send a secret message about the witch's spell. But again, she was nothing to him now, so why would he pay her any mind? Part of her felt like a failure. She wasn't even given the real title of princess yet, and had already lost the kingdom. Adrien would be so disappointed in her. Surely, he would refuse to marry her if he could see her now. Filthy, exiled, useless...
"No, Stop it!" she scolded herself and felt for the pearl earrings still attached to her ears. It was the one thing Lila failed to ruin. She still had her engagement ring as well, but now she felt sick looking at it with that future feeling as far away as the moon.
Her mind did go back to Adrien. Her precious prince that wouldn't speak a negative word about anyone that didn't truly deserve it. She wouldn't need her whole hand to count how many times he lost his temper with a person. And he was smart, he would do everything possible for his subjects. He was prepared to help her even when she was being declared as a thief. If not for that spell, she was sure he would have believed her. "That's right. I know Adrien, and I know how much he loves me. Nothing will ever make me think otherwise."
Feeling a new strength, Marinette splashed some water to her face trying to get her thoughts together. She couldn't give up and leave Papillon in the clutches of someone like Lila de Rossi. She had to find a way to stop her. If she couldn't turn to anybody in the city, then maybe there was someone on the outside that would listen. Maybe a traveling knight or lord wasn't affected by the spell, and they could save the king and prince.
Thinking this would be the best plan for the time being, Marinette turned back to the direction she came from. "Adrien, I promise to come back to you somehow. Please, don't forget about me. I love you, my prince."
Then she gathered her things and took off up the stream, determined to find a way to break this curse. She could do this, she will do this, whatever it takes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Two Hours Later
Marinette slumped against a tree trunk, utterly spent and completely lost. Her earlier statement had been easy enough to say, but the truth was she had no idea which direction she should go. Apparently, her desperate attempt at fleeing from those horrible people had turned her around more than she assumed. She figured following the stream would put her back on the road where a bridge connected the two, but she must have followed a different branch of the stream. Now she ended up somewhere near the Fool-Eating Marsh.
It was a very dangerous area, filled with legends of the earth opening up and swallowing people into the muddy water. Some say the water holds a monster that hides grass over itself to deceive travelers to walk right over it and drown them. Of course, the king ordered some investigating a while back and determined the soil was just very loose after the heavy rain season, and the grass acted more like a large lily pad over the mud. Still, he declared it was too dangerous for travelers, and only the current main route to Papillon was used. On the one hand, Marinette dreaded being in a place like this. But on the other hand, it most likely means no one will come here to look for her. As long as she watched her step, she should be fine.
Her stomach took that moment to let her know it was still there and very empty. That's right, she had skipped breakfast and was meant to have lunch with Adrien earlier. Plus all that crying she did made her head ache above her busted body. Maybe after resting a little bit, she could look around for some berries or something. It would be more helpful if she was near a town. Reaching into her bag, she found she still had her payment for Lila's dress. She hated herself for keeping it, but she also knew it was more sensible to have it for the future.
She wanted to get moving again, but her feet were protesting against it. She's definitely not wearing the right shoes for all this hiking. She wasn't wearing anything good for traveling. Her clothes were all muddy from when she kept stumbling and her skin felt sticky in this humid marsh. More than being clean or fed, she wished she could sleep. At least it was peaceful here, not a soul in sight.
The insect noises were a little annoying, but she wouldn't let that be what bothered her above everything. It was a strange sound, though. Not the consistent buzzing most insects gave off. This was muffled and random, almost like a humming. She didn't know what kind of bug that was, but it didn't sound like any kind of bird either. It seemed like there was more than one, too.
Then Marinette sat up in her reclined position when those noises had words in them.
"Nnnnhm uuumnn....... sure....... gghmmm.... right way....."
"Hmmm.... -lling you.... mmhmmmm.... -mi this way....."
There were people here! Marinette gathered up everything as fast as she could and listened closely to try and locate them. If they were travelers, then maybe she could pay them for a ride out of the marsh.
"Hello!" she called, letting them know she was there. She could still hear the voices, though it didn't sound like they were responding to her.
"Hello! Anybody out there!? Please Help Me." she tried again.
"Hello?" she heard a small, high pitched voice answer her back. Was that a child? Oh no, what if it was a bunch of kids lost out here like she was!
"Just stay where you are and let me come to you! Please keep talking!" Marinette told them.
"This way! We're over Here!!" She was hearing a whole group of voices this time, all sounding like small children.
Being careful where she stepped, Marinette made it through the trees and back out into the sunlight, only to have something small and black come flying right into her face.
"Ahh-Hah! Finally Found You!" the creature spoke.
Marinette screamed and swatted whatever this thing was away, flinging it into a bush. "What was that!?"
"Plagg was right, there was a presence in this marsh." Another strange animal showed up this time and flew close to Marinette as well. This one was red with black spots and antennae.
"Ahhhhhh, Giant Bug..... Mouse!?..... Giant Bug Mouse!!" she panicked, waving her hands to helplessly shoo it away.
"How rude!" the red being huffed.
Marinette was able to get a better look at it this time, but she still didn't know what it was. She backed away and lost her footing, falling to the ground. Then the black one came out of the bush, and more of them joined the red one, all different colors.
"I told you I would find it!" the black creature addressed the others then started circling Marinette. "Gimmi! Gimmi!"
"What do you want from me?" Marinette cried out in desperation. What did he want her to give him?
"Don't try to hide it! Gimmi!" he shouted again.
"What are you!?"
"Heh, don't go thinking you can fool us, especially me!" One of the other creatures came up to her face this time. It was orange with big, pointed ears and a long furry tail, like a fox. "I'm the Master of Deception!"
"Gimmi!" the black one shouted some more, which Marinette realized looked like a cat.
"I'm not trying to fool anybody, and I don't know what you're talking about!" she cried out again.
"Haha, tell that to the magic you have oozing off of you." the black cat hissed this time, making Marinette try to crawl back away from them.
"Plagg, perhaps we are going about this the wrong way." a green one with a turtle shell on his back said.
"Oh don't even start, Wayzz!" the cat, Plagg apparently, brushed off the turtle.
Then two more of the strange beings floated toward Plagg with concerning looks on their faces. One was a light lilac purple with small wings on it's back like a butterfly. The other, a deep royal blue with bright red dots on a group of tail feathers. It reminded Marinette of a peacock, which brought her back to the dress that started this whole nightmare she fell into.
"Wayzz is right, Duusu and I can sense the pain in this woman's heart." the moth one said timidly.
"Such sadness, and heartbreak. But also anger and fear." Duusu looked like he might cry.
"Of course she's scared and angry, Nooroo!" Plagg said annoyed. "She took something that didn't belong to her, meddled with powers she has no real control over. And now we can finally take it back. GIMMI!" he turned back at Marinette, shouting louder.
"Check all her pockets, maybe it's in there." the fox suggested.
"Hold on, Trixx." the red one with black spots stopped the fox.
"Ugh, not you too, Tikki." Plagg sighed, but all the creatures turned their attention to Tikki.
"Ummm, guys...." a yellow one tried to say.
"Not now, Pollen." the black cat waved her off, then went back to Tikki. "Come on, Sugarcube. You can't tell me you don't sense the magic from her."
"Of course I do, same as you." Tikki huffed in annoyance.
"That's proof enough that she's the culprit."
"Guys...." Pollen tried again.
"Not Now, Pollen!"
"Plagg, it doesn't prove anything." Tikki argued. "She could have something that belonged to the real thief, and that's what we're sensing."
"Well, that's why we need to search through her stuff, and I'll bet you we'll find....."
"GUYS!!"
"WHAT POLLEN!?" both finally turned to the bee.
"She ran away." Pollen answered, pointed to the spot Marinette had been sitting. She had, indeed, slipped away while the creatures were arguing.
"WHAT!? Why didn't anyone stop her?" Plagg looked to each of his companions.
"We were waiting for you and Tikki to settle things." Wayzz answered.
"I can still sense her confusion and distress." Nooroo said and showed the direction the woman took.
"Well, what are we waiting for? After Her!" Plagg flew on in the right direction, with all the different colored creatures behind him.
.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Come on, Marinette, wake up. You can do it, just Wake UP!!!" Marinette told herself for the dozenth time as she walked through the marsh again, trying to get away from the flying bug-animals that appeared before her.
Having such an unusual encounter led her to believe that the only explanation for all of this was that she was dreaming. Yeah, that's right, she was still asleep in the guest chamber of the palace, and any minute now to was going to wake up and go have lunch with her dear prince that will one day be her husband. She would tell Adrien all about her dream while they ate. He would listen, and while he would probably find the story of her dream interesting, he would also take the time to reassure her that this would never happen in real life. Now if only she would just wake up. Repeatedly pinching her arms didn't seem to be working so far.
"It's okay. This is all just a bad dream." she continued talking to herself, but was believing it less and less. "Maybe if I sleep too long, Adrien will come into the room and wake me up. I mean, come on. Why else would I be in a situation where everyone I care about doesn't remember me, I get chased out of my home, and then get cornered by strange talking bug-mice things. Yep, absolutely a dream!"
She stopped her rant to get a better look at her surroundings. All the sweat, dirt, and hunger she was feeling in the bug ridden, humid, lonely swamp was finally letting her admit that it was too real to be a dream. So, Marinette went back to trying to survive. She was still somewhere in the marsh, but she wasn't too sure which direction she took. The ground felt looser, so she was careful about where she stepped. Looking ahead, she could see some wreckage half submerged in the muck. No doubt some poor travelers that never made it out of the swamp. There were bits of the carriage and some sort of cased goods under a moss filled tarp. Marinette took a better look at the wreckage, careful not to fall in herself. If there was any food in the cargo, it wouldn't be of any help to her now. But maybe she could use some of the wood and the tarp to make a temporary shelter for the night.
The seamstress took a strong, long tree limb to reach for the tarp and pull it toward her. She really hoped there weren't any snakes and things hiding in this somewhere, that would just be the salt in the wounds that has been her day. When she was finally able to reach the tarp, she ended up pulling it too hard and half of it tore off. Being outside in the elements for too long made the material brittle and unusable, and was only able to get about a yard worth away from the wreckage.
Marinette sighed and let her shoulders slack at her bad luck. Then it only got worse when she heard some familiar voices coming her way.
"THERE SHE IS! GET HER!!" Plagg called out, and all the creatures flew in her direction.
Marinette dreaded having to run away again. There was hardly any energy left in her system to do this one more time. But she also had no idea what these creatures were capable of, and she wasn't going to wait around to find out. She tried to keep to where there was a larger cluster of trees since that had to mean the soil was firmer and she had less of a chance of falling in mud.
Weaving left and right between the trees, she hoped that maybe they would lose track of her. But the creatures followed her every move, separating when the trees got too thick and then regrouping to continue their pursuit.
"You can't get away from us!" the little black cat called after her.
Marinette believed he was telling the truth, and she couldn't run forever. Picking up speed as best she could, she got a good enough distance away from the creatures and ducked behind a large rock to come up with a plan. She still had the piece of tarp in her hands, and looked ahead to spot some sturdy looking branches.
An idea struck her, and she leaped up the nearest branch to snap it off the tree. This one had a good split at the end, so it worked well when she tied the tarp to the ends to make a net.
"Now where'd she go?" she heard one of the creatures say, and got her makeshift net ready.
"I can still sense her emotions this way."
"Hurry, we can't let her escape!" Marinette heard whom she assumed was the one named Plagg.
She peeked from behind the rock and saw them coming toward her. When they were close enough, she swung the branch around to trap them in the tarp. She didn't stop swinging the net so the momentum would keep them inside. She wasn't sure if she got them all, but she wasn't going to look inside to find out.
Finally, Marinette brought the net down to the ground and tied it closed with a lone string from her bag.
"What tha-.... Let Us Out!!" Marinette could hear he voices within the bag.
"I'm sorry to have to do this, but you gave me no choice." she took the rope around the tarp and hooked it to a lone branch on a tree. She was going to walk away from them when something started pulling on her remaining pigtail. "Ouch!"
"Let my friends go now." she heard a voice and her hair was being pulled on once more.
It seems that she had missed one of the creatures, the red one with the black spots. Marinette tried to get it off of her, but the bug was persistent.
"Is that you, Tikki!? STOP HER AND GET GIMMI!!!" Plagg yelled through the bag.
"Oww, Let Go of My HAIR!!" Marinette cried out as Tikki continued to tug at the strands.
"NO!" Tikki held on tightly, even as Marinette tried running away from the others and shake her off. They made a good distance away from her group, and Tikki still held strong.
"I Said Let Me Go!" the seamstress had had enough and took the hold of Tikki into her fist, pulling it from her hair, and tossing her into a thorn bush. "Now all of you weird little bug things just leave me alone!"
Tikki tried to get back up, but was too tangled up in the thorns. She still wasn't going to let that stop her. "I won't give up until you return what was stolen from us!" she cried out to the woman.
"I haven't stolen anything!" Marinette finally lost her temper about the whole day. "I've already had the worst goddamn day of my life! I've lost everything I ever cared about! And now I'm stuck out in the middle of nowhere with some creepy little bug animals chasing me around and wanting something I DON'T HAVE! I'M DONE, GODDAMMIT!!!"
Marinette marched away in a huff, when a scream from the one named Tikki stopped her again. "Oh, don't even start..... I'm not going to...." She turned around to say more, but was halted by the sight before her.
Tikki was still trapped in the thorns. She was struggling to get away, and at the same time was frozen in terror at the snake that was slowly slithering toward the red being. No doubt the animal was confusing her with a small rodent, and meant to make a meal of her. Tikki was trembling in knowing that the snake had seen her and she couldn't break away from the thorns.
"PLAGG, WAYZZ, SOMEBODY HELP ME!!" she cried out as the snake rose up and opened its mouth ready to strike. Tikki could only close her eyes waiting for the inevitable.
After a moment, rather than feeling the sting of the snake's fangs, Tikki heard a subtle stomping sound in front of her and looked to find the snake was pinned down by a long branch. Its head was trapped under the wood, so it couldn't reach to bite its assailant. Tikki looked up to find it was the girl that held the branch. She had saved her.
Marinette took caution in making sure the snake wouldn't have a chance to strike her or the red bug. Moving to hold a knee on one side of the branch, she used her free hand to grab the snake by the head and keep its mouth shut. Then with her other hand she held the tail end of the animal and lifted it up away from Tikki and tossed it away into the woods. That danger out of the way, she went back to the spotted creature that was still trapped in the thorns.
"Alright, now I'm going to help untangle you if you promise to stop attacking me. Do we have a deal?" she crossed her arms.
Tikki was still shocked that she wasn't snake food already, and the fact that this girl had helped her at all. She gave Marinette a subtle nod. "I promise."
The seamstress took care in breaking away the thorns one by one to give Tikki enough space to pull away from them without being scratched. When she was free, Tikki floated up to face Marinette and just look her over more closely.
"Thank you for saving me." Tikki said while still studying the girl.
"You're welcome. Now does this mean that you will leave me alone now?" Marinette asked in equal suspicion.
"I wish I could, but you still have something that doesn't belong to you."
"Then do you mind telling me what it is you want? That black cat one just kept saying 'give me, give me,' as if I was supposed to know what it was." she sighed, wishing today would end already.
Tikki held back a giggle at the misunderstanding. "He wasn't saying 'give me.' He was talking about Gimmi, the Kwami of Reality."
"The who of the what?" Marinette was completely lost at her answer.
Tikki you see no hint of recognition in her eyes either. "You really have no idea, do you?"
Plagg and the others came stumbling out of the remains of the tarp bag, which was now crumbling away into dust somehow. The black cat was the first to come up to Tikki and look her over. "Are you okay, Sugarcube? Why did you scream like that!?"
"There was a snake...." Tikki tried to answer softly, but it only made Plagg panic more.
"A SNAKE!!....." Plagg looked around for the offending viper. "Great Gouda in the Morning! I knew I should've held off using my power!"
"Plagg, calm down." Tikki tried to ease her friend.
But the little black cat wasn't listening, and instead flew up into Marinette's face, who could only stand there wide eyed. "YOU!! Do you have any idea how long it takes to gather up what little magic we have in this state! It took me Seven Years just to have enough energy to make that little hole in the bag!!"
Marinette frowned at the cat and shouted right back. "No I don't know, and I don't want to Know! I've had more than enough of my share of magic for one Lifetime!"
"Then return Gimmi to us, if you're so sick of it!" he screamed.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT A GIMMI IS!!!"
Tikki took that moment to intervene. "Plagg, she's telling the truth."
"It's true, I sense no deception in her heart." Nooroo added.
"Then what about the magic....." Plagg tried again, only to find Marinette throwing her hands up in defeat.
"Magic, magic, magic! I'm sick and tired of all this magic that just decided to spring into my life over night! First some creepy magic makes my loved ones forget me. Then some crazy bitch with powers tries to kill me by making a knife appear out of nowhere and tried to stab me in the heart with it! Now here I am running for my life with some creepy bug birds chasing after me for something that, for the final time, I DON'T HAVE!!!"
"Wait, go back to that part about a bitch with a knife." Plagg said ignoring the rest of her rant.
"Ugh, this crazy woman named Lila, some daughter of a duke, she said she cast a spell over the city to make everyone forget me and then she tried to kill me with this dagger that appeared out of her locket with some strange purple smoke." Marinette explained tiredly.
Her answer made all the creatures look at each other. It seemed like they were having a silent conversation until the turtle looking one, Wayzz, finally said. "We have finally located her."
Then Tikki was the one that addressed Marinette again. "Can you please tell us more about this woman that used magic? What was the magic like?"
"I don't know, like I said it was some weird purple smoke." Marinette tried to describe it. "It all happened so fast."
"Where is this Lila at now?' Trixx asked.
"She's probably back at the castle by now. Lord knows what she's going to do to the kingdom, and my poor Adrien." Marinette answered, fighting off crying in front of them.
All the creatures observed her for a moment, and then Tikki spoke up again. "We need to take her to Master Fu."
"Are you sure, Sugarcube?" Plagg asked skeptically.
"For the first time in decades, we have a real lead to finding Gimmi, and I believe that this girl is the key to finally setting us all free." she responded hopefully.
"Plus, this girl has been through so much. It wouldn't be right to leave her out here all alone." Duusu said empathically.
"All those in favor." Pollen raised her little hand, and the other six soon followed. "Good, come with us, miss, and we'll take you to the master."
"The Master?" Marinette asked.
"Yes, he's the only one that can help you right now. And maybe if we're lucky, we'll all be able to help each other." Tikki said as she floated to a direction that she wanted the girl to follow.
Marinette wasn't sure if she could trust them or not. They were just accusing her of thievery and chasing after her not ten minutes ago. Now, all the sudden they want to help her? Could she really believe them? On the other hand, she didn't really have much of a choice. She was still stuck in the middle of the Fool-Eating Marsh with no food or supplies, and was still a wanted fugitive from her own kingdom. If there was someone out there that could give her sanctuary, it would be crazy of her to turn it down. Making up her mind, she followed the seven strange beings through the marsh and into whatever lies before her.
.~*~*~*~*~*~