Marinette's POV

The first x on the map led me to The Louvre. I was so confused by now with all the strange riddles, notes, and plastic letters I'd been getting... not to mention the 'treasure map', and honestly, I had no idea what I was doing anymore. Tikki was just as confused as I was when we entered the museum.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Tikki asked once we were inside.

I shrugged my shoulders as people were walking by and Tikki had to keep herself well hidden in my purse. "I have no idea, Tikki."

I continued to walk around as I looked at all the paintings that hung on the walls. What was I looking for? I had no clue...

The x marks the spot? What x? I didn't see any x anywhere. How was I supposed to find one x in an art museum? For all I know, there could be Xs in all the paintings!

"Marinette...?" Tikki whispered up to me while I was examining one of the paintings.

"Yes Tikki?" I answered in a low whisper and tried to make sure no one could hear or see the kwami.

"Maybe we should just give up and go home..." It was the first time Marinette had ever heard Tikki not be positive about something. "We don't even know what we're looking for and we're just wasting a lot of time."

I sighed as I continued walking down the museum, glancing at every other painting I passed by. "I always thought you saw the positive side of things, Tikki. What's with the negativity?"

"You don't have a funny feeling about this?" Tikki asked, "I don't know about you, but I feel as if your just being played with... again."

"Why would you think that, Tikki?" I glanced down at her with a concerned look before I quickly glanced back up and kept walking. "Because of the whole Chat/Adrien issue?"

"No, it's just... all these clues, stopping at almost all of your friends' houses, receiving strange notes and clues, looking for a random X in the middle of an art museum, don't you see where I'm going with this?" Tikki rambled as she marked off every supious thing that had happened to me today. She had a point though, I had no idea who was writing all these odd letters and giving me strange gifts.

"I guess you have a point there, Tikki." I sighed, "But, I don't know, maybe it's not as bad as you think."

"I hope so..." Tikki whispered back, "I don't want another guy hurting you the way Adrien did."

I ignored that last comment and continued my search; I was not about to give up and go home. I had been at this already for too long, and if I was this far... might as well find out what all this means, right?

So far, I had 4 letters: S, M, R, and I and I had no idea what they were supposed to spell. I supposed they were meant to spell something, I mean, why else would their be random plastic letters in the envelopes I was receiving? Four letters weren't enough to unravel what word was trying to be spelled, however, and I had no idea what to guess either.

I passed a lot of paintings that all seemed to not have any trace of an X as I made my glances between them all.

It wasn't until I saw an unusual painting that caught my eye. A painting that I hadn't noticed, or I guess hadn't seen before. I walked up to it and stared at it in awe, and Tikki poked her head out to see what I was so mesmerized with.

It was a painting of me; well... not me, but as Ladybug... and Chat Noir. It was not very old from my understanding since it was a painting of us on the Eiffel Tower during our last night patrol, which had been a couple of nights before I had confessed to Adrien (when I actually would show up on patrols.)

The last night I ever went on patrol was the night I stormed out on Chat when he confessed his love for me. I hadn't been in the mood that night for sure, and him mentioning the word 'love' really pushed my buttons.

It was then when I realized the painting of us superheroines had a X painted in the locks of Chat Noir's hair. It was barely visible; and only if you were searching for a X would you notice it. A smile creeped on my face as I ran my fingers over the painted X.

"Is that the X we've been searching for...?" Tikki spoke softly as people were walking by, and I did my best to respond to her without any unwanted attention.

"I think so," I murmured back as I kept my eyes fixed on the spot and my fingers traced over it. "But, what do I do now if I find it?"

Tikki shrugged her tiny shoulders when I looked down at her. She was just as confused as me. I found the X... but now what?

It wasn't until Tikki zoomed out of my purse and in front of my vision did my eyes widen in realization that she could be seen by the people walking around us.

"Maybe the clue is behind the painting... no?" And before I could even respond to the small kwami, Tikki had already zipped through the painting and had disappeared behind it.

I quickly made my glances around to make sure no one was staring at me before my eyes made their way back to where Tikki had disappeared. It only took a matter of seconds before Tikki squeezed out the back of the painting with an envelope in her clutches.

I took it from her before it could pull her to the ground, and she quickly made her way back to my purse as I began to open the envelope for the next clue.

When I opened it, it had another note and the letter Y. I sighed before reading the note...

Clue #6 was quite tricky
How did you know to look behind?
It seems you had no trouble what to find...
With a friend by your side, it was as easy as pie.

"How did this person know you had a friend with you?" Tikki questioned worriedly, as her eyes also scanned writing on the paper.

I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "Relax Tikki. I'm sure whoever is pulling this scheme doesn't know my 'friend' is a kwami."

When the worried kwami didn't respond, I moved on to the riddle.

The Louvre you started but you're not quite done.
The second X you must follow to find out the one.
The one who writes this.....the one who speaks....
Cannot wait till you break this mysterious case.

"I hate how mysterious this person is." I whined and Tikki just giggled, washing her worried look away.

"Well, if you don't want to quit, then we better get a move on if we want to find out who's behind all this."

_______________________________

Satisfied with the length of this chapter.

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