Chapter 36: The Dragon: Awakened

(Marinette's pov)

So... after exiting the Metaverse, we found ourselves near the Shibuya crosswalk. I looked around to make sure all of my friends were okay.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked. My friends answered that they were. I did a headcount and realized someone was missing.

"Wait... where is Morgana?" I said, looking around. I spotted him lying on the crosswalk with his head underneath a golden briefcase. I let out a weird noise and rushed over to my feline friend. I picked him and the suitcase up and ran back to my friends.

"Mari-san! That was dangerous! You are lucky the light was red!" Makoto scolded.

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to make sure Morgana was out of harm's way!" I said, giving the briefcase to Ryuji. As we walked to a more safe location, Akira was by my side.

"Seriously, never do that again..." Akira whispered loud enough for only me to hear. I blushed slightly and continued to pet the unconscious Morgana, who was still in my arms.

"I can't make any promises... I would do anything for the safety of my friends... But, I will promise to keep my safety in mind..." I whispered back. Akira smiled, looking satisfied with my answer. We then reached a good place to talk and stopped.

"Where should we open it?" Makoto asked, eyeing the briefcase in Ryuji's hand.

"How about at karaoke?" Ann suggested.

"We'd have security cameras to worry about there," Makoto responded.

"How about LeBlanc?" I suggested.

"That's what I was thinkin'!" Ryuji said.

"I was just in the mood for some coffee..." Yusuke said.

"Yeah! But, first, we need to fix Morgana..." Ann said, poking the cat in my arms. Morgana woke up and purred groggily.

"So... warm..." He said, nuzzling into my chest. I let out a sigh and followed my friends to LeBlanc.

(at LeBlanc)

We were in Akira's room, recovering from Kaneshiro's palace. Akira and Yusuke were trying to unlock the briefcase while Makoto was looking around. I was holding Morgana while Ann was treating any head injury he might have gotten. Ryuji was reading a book at Akira's desk.

"This place is oddly calming," Makoto said, surveying the room.

"Have you learned anything new?" She continued, turning to Yusuke, who was examining the briefcase.

"It's sealed by a rotary lock. We'll need the combination to open it." Yusuke said. Morgana then let out a shriek of agony that made Ann jump back and nearly made me drop him.

"A rotary lock, hm?" Makoto mused as I regained my hold on Morgana. Makoto walked over to the briefcase and messed with the lock for a moment. The briefcase unlocked as soon as Makoto pulled away.

"... I knew it..." Makoto muttered.

"How did you get that?" Yusuke asked, looking amazed.

"I simply memorized the combination! I saw him open and close it so many times, after all." Makoto answered.

"Wow! That's amazing, Makoto!" I said, stars in my eyes.

"Urghh... that burns... Hey, hurry up and open it." Morgana moaned. Makoto did just that and what was inside was amazing.

"Woah..." I breathed. There were stacks of cash all lines up neatly in the briefcase.

"I believe one stack is one million yen..." Yusuke said. Ann counted the stacks and said there were thirty million yen in total. As the other got excited, I thought something was off about the money and took a closer look.

"Before you guys figure out how to split this evenly, you might want to take a closer look!" I told my friends. They did and...

"Children's bank?!" Ann exclaimed after taking a closer look.

"For real?!" Ryuji cried.

"I guess this represents... how everything he did was an act to make himself seem tough?" Makoto suggested.

"That... would make sense..." I muttered.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Ryuji wailed. I rubbed his back to comfort him.

"Look on the bright side; We defeated another palace and changed a bad man's heart! Ryuji, if you are sad about the money, we can just sell this!" I said to my friend.

"Mari is right! We totes busted this case!" Ann said.

"Is busting the case good or bad?" Makoto asked.

"Both!" Ann answered cheerfully. I sighed and got ready to scold Ann for not making any sense, but Makoto started to laugh.

"To think the reward for the Phantom Thieves is feeling they "Totes busted" the case... ahhh... how funny!" Makoto sighed. We all silently giggle to ourselves. I sighed and looked at my friends. Despite everything we do and what we have done... at the end of the day... we're still just kids... having a laugh, making memories, being dumb and free... I love that feeling...

"Mari-san is right, though." Yusuke started.

"While the contents are nothing more than trash, the case itself is quite lovely." He continued.

"Alright! Let's sell it! Glad we got that sorted!" Ryuji said quickly. I sigh again at my friend's antics...

(Time skip! Brought to you by Author-chan actually scheduling her time correctly!)

"Congratulations, master!" The Kwamis cheered. I was sitting at my Kotatsu with the Kwamis (the ones who were not with my friends), eating dinner and telling them about the day.

"I'm happy that we did it! Now, Kaneshiro won't hurt anyone ever again!" I said.

"By the way, Makoto will be getting her Miraculous tomorrow!" I told the Kwamis.

"Really?" Duusu asked.

"Really!" I answered.

"I wonder who she'll get?" Sass said.

"We can only guess!" I say. We continued to eat and talk. When we finished, the Kwamis (except for Tikki) went back into the Miracle box, and I got ready for bed. As I lay down in my bed, I replay the events of the day in my head. I went to sleep, excited for the next day.

~*~

I was once again in a black void. I could move a little, but not that much. Why was I here? What is this place? I could barely open my eyes. Suddenly, a faint, rosy pink light entered my vision, and a soft and semi-familiar voice called out.

"Marinette? Can you hear us?" A female voice that sounded like someone who was barely older than me. I strained my ears to hear the voice better and nodded my head to the best of my abilities.

"Good... can you see us?" A male voice this time, accompanied by a faint blue light. I shook my head to the best of my abilities.

"Can you speak?" A deeper male voice asked; this time, yellow light appeared. I shook my head again.

"Shoot! Looks like we'll have to wait again!" A new voice said. It sounded like it belonged to a mature woman. A deeper shade of pink light appeared.

"I'm getting anxious from all of this waiting..." A male voice, different from the others. An orangeish-red-colored light appeared.

"Have patience, my fellows. We have time..." Another male voice said this one was quieter than the others but somehow most commanding. His voice was accompanied by a purple light.

"Alright, Guardian... we'll see you after the next palace... good luck..." The voice of the purple light said. Then the light faded...

~*~

I woke up with a start. I sat up in my bed, looking around in a panic. Tikki was by my side, staring at me.

"Marinette, are you okay?" The Kwami asked.

"I... yeah... ugh... bad dream..." I muttered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tikki asked. I shook my head and looked at the clock on my bedside. It was six-thirty.

"I should get ready! I have an exciting day ahead of me!" I say, getting out of bed. I couldn't wait to introduce Makoto to the Kwamis!

(Time skip! Brought to you by P.M Seymour's Cyana!)

"So, this is the "rite of passage" for a new Phantom Thief?" Makoto asked, looking around my apartment. After school, my friends and I brought Makoto to my apartment to show her the Miraculous.

"Not really... take a seat," I said, gesturing to my Kotatsu.

"You have a Kotatsu?" Makoto asked, taking a seat.

"Yes. What of it?" I responded, pulling out the Miracle box.

"It's the middle of summer, and... what is that?" Makoto asked, pointing at the Miracle box in my hands. I smiled and placed it on the table and taking a seat myself. Everyone in the room, except Makoto, exchanged a smile before I released the Kwamis. Fourteen comets of light shot out of the box and flew around the room. Eventually, they settled around me. Makoto looked at them with a shocked expression.

"W-w-what a-are..." She started.

"Relax, Makoto... they mean you no harm..." I said. My friends and I explained what the Kwamis were and what they could do. Makoto seemed to be calmed down by that.

"So... What you're saying..." Makoto started.

"Is that Mari-san is the Guardian of these creatures known as Kwamis. She protects them from evil people who would abuse their abilities. Am I missing anything?" Makoto asked.

"Well... that's it in a nutshell..." Ann said, feeding Pollen some honey.

"We use 'em in the Metaverse too. Having a Miraculous is really handy for Phantom Thief stuff!" Ryuji said, playing with Xuppu.

"Indeed... I might add that having a Kwami is an excellent source of companionship." Yusuke said, patting Trixx, who was dozing on his shoulder. Akira smiled and nodded while feeding Plagg some cheese.

"Well, Makoto... What do you say?" I ask, giving Tikki a cookie.

"I... I don't know... This has got to be your most important secret. Are you sure you want me to know about it?" Makoto asked.

"Makoto... I was hurt in the past... I was used and abused by people who I thought were friends... I ran away from that life and settled here... This is my sign of trust to you... We have seen many battles together... I have trust in you, my friend..." I said. Makoto looked at the Kwamis and smiled at me.

"I can't say no after that! Which one should I choose?" Makoto asked.

"Oh! You don't choose the Miraculous! The Kwami chooses you!" I said.

"Wait, what?" Makoto asked.

"This won't hurt... don't worry..." I said.

"Just stay calm..." I told Makoto. She took a deep breath in and out, then nodded. I gave the Kwamis, who did not have a holder, the signal. They began to circle Makoto, who looked slightly scared. A minute later, all but one Kwami returned to the Miracle box.

"What is your name?" Longg asked Makoto.

"I am Makoto Nijima," Makoto said. I nodded my head.

"I had a feeling it would be the dragon..." I muttered, reaching into the Miracle box and pulling out the Dragon Miraculous and the Horse Miraculous.

"Makoto Nijima, my friend and ally, you have been chosen by the Dragon Kwami, Longg, to be the holder of the Dragon Miraculous. This Miraculous is very special. It allows its holder to transform into water, wind, or lightning." I told Makoto.

"Woah! Makoto got lucky!" Ryuji commented.

"The trigger words for your transformation are: "Longg, Bring the storm!" and "Long, Open sky!" the first one is for transformation, and the second one is detransformation," I said, handing the Dragon Miraculous to Makoto.

"Okay..." Makoto said, putting the choker on.

"Alright! To the island!" Akira said as I put the horse Miraculous on.

"You go to an island to train?" Makoto asked.

"The horse Miraculous gives its holder the ability to teleport!" I explained.

"huh..." Makoto said.

(Time skip! Brought to you by Bridgette's somehow Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English accent!)

I have to say... Makoto is good. She wields the Dragon as well as Kagami did. She had some trouble with her sword at first, but she got the hang of it. She got used to the transformations fast (it was hard to chase her in her wind form). I'm happy with how things are going!

(A/N: Another chapter down! Also, the art of the day: Kiyohime!)

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