Chapter 3:

Master Furiel was quite kind to Marinette, not like she didn't know that before, though. She was just surprised by how open he was with her. He cooked her dinner, baked butterscotch pie, and gave her one of the spare rooms in the house to sleep in. She would never have expected to be treated like family, but after everything he had done for her, she couldn't help but feel grateful.

Sitting on the edge of the bed in the spare room, Marinette pondered what she could do for the old man (goat?) in return. She leaned back on her hands and scanned the room for ideas. On the walls, hand drawn pictures of purple butterflies hung by thumbtacks, though they seemed to have been drawn by a child. She could draw, but not that good, so art was out of the question.

Marinette glanced at the box at the end of her bed. She had peaked in there earlier and found that it was full of toys. Though toys didn't seem to be like the right gift. He had years on him, and she doubted he played with toys. Besides, all the toys in the box had been covered in dust. He definitely hadn't been playing with them in his free time, that was for sure.

Her gaze glossed over a shelf of books, not only because she knew she couldn't write a book to save her life, but because she had seen the giant bookcases full of books in the main living room. She had a sneaking suspicion that, not only did Master Furiel like to read, but that he had read almost every book in the house. So books were out.

Then, Marinette eyed the closet. Furrowing her brow, an idea popped into her mind. Maybe, if it had the right fabric...

Getting up from the bed, she walked over to the closet and opened it up. Inside, black and green striped shirts hung next to red and striped shirts on a coat rack. Marinette glanced down at her red and black polka dotted shirt, debating whether she should change or not, but she shook the thought away. She pulled down one of the black and green shirts, rubbing the material between her hands.

This would do perfectly.

After testing one of the red shirts, she pulled one of those from its hanger as well and laid the two shirts on the ground. Then, after looting the room for supplies, she tossed a pair of scissors, a couple of safety pins, a bundle of thread, and a needle into the pile. Marinette took a step back to examine her supplies. She twisted her lips as she thought, folding her arms and tapping a finger against her arm.

The idea struck her.

She got down on her knees and got to work. She kept her ears on high alert so she would be ready to hide the gift if Master Furiel ever walked into the room. Sitting criss-cross on the ground, she cut the fabric the way she wanted and sewed the pieces together. Black, red, and green came together like family on Christmas.

As she worked, Marinette finally let herself relax. Having fallen down into a monster-infested world had proven to be a challenge, and she was afraid that if she had let her guard down, she would end up getting hurt. But now, with the house quiet and a needle and thread in her hand, she felt right at home. She could get used to living here.

Then again...

Her mind drifted to her family's bakery. The sensational smells, the colorful walls, and her parents. Oh, they must have been so worried about her. Who knows how they were at this exact moment. Marinette could imagine her mother asking her father where she was just before they started eating dinner. Her mind wandered into a thousand different places, each one creating a scenario where her parents found out that she had disappeared. Her mother crying, the police getting informed, her parents, friends, and peers forming a search party to find her...

Though it pained her, there wasn't anything she could do. She was stuck down here. She had even asked Master Furiel if there was a way out of the Underground. His face had fallen, like he was remembering a sour memory.

"If there was, we monsters wouldn't be trapped down here, now would we?"

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut and shivered. That was a thought she was having a hard time coming to terms with. Imagining such scary and crazy monsters invading her hometown - her home - was setting her on edge.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette set down her stitching and tried to calm herself. She was fine. Her parents would be fine. She would find a way out of here, even if it meant bringing monsters into the world above. They hadn't been too bad so far.

Then again, she had only met Master Furiel.

Just as she was about to pick up her stitching, she heard the floorboards creak outside her door. She froze, not even breathing as she listened for any sound that was out of place. Was Master Furiel just outside her door?

As she cautiously got to her feet, she could hear muffled voices coming from the main room. Marinette's blood ran cold. Were she and Master Furiel not alone in the house? Clutching her stitching with both hands, she made her way to the door and pressed her ear up against it.

"-everything all set," she heard someone say. Their voice was a high pitch, like they were excited about something. "Nothing's going to sneak past us!"

"Calm down," said someone else. This one was much deeper, as if they had heard the other person's spiel a thousand times. "Whatever happened to patience with you?"

"Oh, stop being such a downer," the higher voice replied.

"It's my job."

"That's enough, you two. There shouldn't be a need to quarrel with one another." Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. That was Master Furiel. What was going on?

The voices seemed to fade away, like they were walking out of the hallway. Moving her project into one hand, Marinette cracked open the door and cautiously peeked out. After glancing up and down the hallway, and not seeing anyone, she silently stepped outside of her room. She closed the door quietly behind her before creeping her way down the hallway toward the main room. The voices got louder.

"-don't understand why you haven't given up," the deep voice was saying. "Humans don't even come down here anymore. It's like we've finally been removed from their hunting list."

"You never know!" the high voice responded. It sounded very feminine compared to the other voice. "They could come down here and try to kill us all again!"

Marinette snuck further down the hallway, her curiosity peaking. What were they talking about?

"My dear, that happened many years ago." Master Furiel's tone was leveled, like one a teacher would have once a student had pushed them to their limit. "And though I appreciate the caution-"

"It might happen again!" the higher voice rebutted. "Besides, we just finished setting up some more human traps in the woods. They're ready to catch any human who dares try to hurt the village."

Marinette peeked around the corner. She sucked in a breath, then covered her mouth. Her eyes were as wide as saucers. She couldn't believe what she was looking at.

Two... things... were in the front room. Master Furiel was seated in his big chair by the fireplace, taking in whatever information the two figures were giving him, as if this was a normal occurrence. One of the figures stood near the bookshelf while the other was slumped down in a chair at the dining table.

The one by the shelf was dressed in what appeared to be a red superhero suit, black underwear, and armor. Pink boots came up past their mid calves and a pink scarf was wrapped around their neck, accenting the outfit. She couldn't see the front of the figure, but she could definitely see the pair of wings that stuck out red wings that stuck out of its back and the two antennae on the top of its head. By its movements, Marinette could guess that the figure was pretty enthusiastic.

The other thing was almost the exact opposite. The dark purple, almost black hoodie with a green paw print, gray shorts, and green slippers radiated laziness. Two cat-like ears stuck out like no other and a tail was swishing back and forth behind it. Unlike the other figure, Marinette could see its face. It was slightly humanoid, with two big green eyes and a pointed nose, but its face was almost a midnight black. Judging by its facial expression, the figure looked bored.

"Though I understand where you're coming from, I think that it would be best if we lower the defenses," Master Furiel said, not noticing that Marinette's spying.

"But King Agreste is saying otherwise," the pink-booted figure said, their wings fluttering. "He wants us to set up more traps. He has ordered that all guards be on high alert but isn't telling us why. I have a feeling something is wrong, but I don't know what."

The black cat-like figure snorted. "Not like it's gonna do any good since we've got a human on our presence." It jabbed a thumb toward Marinette. Both Master Furiel and the red figure turned to look at her.

Marinette froze, her sewing project slipping out of her hands and falling to the floor. Swallowing nervously, she took a step back.

"Oh, Marinette," Master Fu said kindly, "it's so nice to see you out of your room." Marinette took another step backward, wilting under the gaze of the two monsters who were staring her down. Master Furiel realized this, then said, "Don't be afraid, my dear. These are friends of mine." He gestured to the red figure. "This is Tikki and that-" he motioned to the black one "-is Plagg. They're kwami monsters, and are quite friendly. They won't hurt you, my dear."

Tikki turned back to Master Furiel. "You found another human?"

He nodded. "She fell down one of the many holes that lead to to the surface. I found her just as Billy was about to hurt her."

The black figure, Plagg, scoffed. "That doesn't surprise me. He's always looking for easy bait."

"Wait," Marinette said, stepping into the room, "you know who Billy is?"

Tikki chuckled. "Of course we do. Everyone knows the trouble making butterfly. He appeared one day, caused havoc, and everyone has disliked him since."

"Master Furiel has been keeping an eye on him," Plagg said, kicking his green slippered feet up onto the dining table. "Making sure he doesn't cause too much trouble."

Marinette bent down and picked up her project, cautiously pushing the conversation a little bit more. "What did you guys mean by a king asking for guards to be on alert?"

Tikki, Plagg and Master Furiel all exchanged wary looks.

"How much did you hear, child?" Master Furiel questioned.

She shrugged. "Enough to be curious."

Plagg chuckled and stuffed his hands into his hoodie's kangaroo pocket. "I like this kid - right to the point and with no nonsense."

Tikki rolled her stunningly blue eyes then looked back at Marinette. "I'm sorry if he grates on your nerves. He's a sarcastic twit most of the time."

"Don't you mean all of the time?" Plagg corrected. That only caused Tikki to roll her eyes again.

"To answer your question, my dear, I will need to explain the Underground in much greater detail, which will take some time," Master Furiel said, pulling himself up from his comfortable chair.

"I have time," Marinette insisted.

The old goat man chuckled, walking toward the hallway. "I know, child. I just don't find it wise to tell everything to you now. I'll be able to explain in the morning, once we all have received some much-needed rest."

"But-"

"Don't bother," Plagg interrupted, causing Marinette to look at him. "He's not going to answer you."

She frowned and turned back to look at Master Fu, but he had disappeared. Furrowing her eyebrows, Marinette scanned the hallway. It was like he had turned to dust.

"He does that all the time, don't worry," Tikki said. She walked up to Marinette and gave her a sweet smile. It wasn't until Tikki had stepped closer could Marinette see the small red freckles that were splashed across her small nose and cheeks.

"So I'm starting to learn," Marinette muttered.

Tikki giggled, then put a hand on her shoulder. "I think you should do as he says. A good dash of rest should help us all." She turned to look at Plagg. "You two, grumpy cat."

Plagg smirked, his eyes half closed as he leaned back in the chair so it was teetering on two legs. "You don't need to tell me to go to sleep twice."

Tikki scoffed and shook her head, appearing exasperated with him, before looking back at the only human in the room. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Marinette."

She smiled. "The pleasure is all mine, thank you."

The two shared one more smile before Tikki walked off down the hallway.

Marinette was about to follow when she heard Plagg say, "Don't trust everything you see, human." Confused, she looked back at him. He had one of his green eyes open, looking at her with the intensity of a tiger. "There's a lot that you don't know about the Underground, and if I were you, I wouldn't get too cocky."

For a split second, the green in his eye flashed a light purple. A cold chill ran down her back and Marinette straightened. Before she could debate whether or not the purple had been a figment of her imagination, she turned on her heel and went back to her room.

Plagg had been right not to trust anyone, and she especially didn't trust him. 

---

Man, I can't believe I found the gumption to update! Thanks to JSama49 and her sweet comment (and for calling me out on my crap), I was able to update!

I have so much going on this week, such as two golf tournaments and my friend's college graduation, so I don't think I'll be able to update again. But next week will probably when I update again!

Favorite Comment: 

By: JSama49

When chu gonna update! :3 I love this story so far! *heart* *heart*

(and we all know why I chose this one, haha)

Well, I think that's everything! Let me know if you guys have any question!

And, as always, Stay Determined!