One Way or Another

A Work Assignment, A Joke and A Bottle of Pills

"It's no problem at all. Is this another work assignment?"

"Yeah, they're sending me to Portugal again," she explained as the two women stood up and started making their way to the door.

"Again?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah, I went there a few months ago. This is a follow up to that story."

"Anything interesting?"

Alya snorted. "If you consider mega-old towers that are cracking to be 'interesting,' then yes."

"Oh right," she said slowly. "The tower. You mentioned that before."

"Belém Tower in Lisbon. It's a famous landmark that was damaged in an earthquake and repaired hundreds of years ago. It's been in perfect condition up until recently when it started cracking. And it keeps getting worse. But no one can figure out why."

Marinette scrunched up her face. "That's really strange."

"Yeah it is. That's why it's making the news. And that's why they're sending me there to report on it."

"Why don't they just do the same thing they did before to fix it?"

"I'm sure they would, but no one knows how they did it. It must have been magic," Alya joked. They reached the door. "Well it was great seeing you. Give my best to Adrien. And congrats again!" she said, giving her another hug.

"Thanks Alya," Marinette responded before leaving the apartment. Then she started down the hall, but stopped as the words that Alya said suddenly echoed in her head. "Magic," she repeated quietly.

Lost in thought, she continued on her way home. She went down the elevator, walked outside, and took the train back to her place. Once she was inside her apartment, she placed her keys down on the table and just stood there.

Tikki popped out of her purse and started flying off.

"Tikki," Marinette said, stopping the kwami. "Were you listening to the conversation that Alya and I had at her place?"

"Of course," Tikki replied.

"So you heard about the tower?"

"Yes. It's amazing that her job is flying her all the way to Portugal to do her report. She must be doing really well there."

"Yeah, but didn't you think the part about the tower was strange?"

Tikki looked at her sideways. "Not really."

"But didn't you hear what Alya said? About how they fixed it with magic?"

"I'm pretty sure that Alya was joking..."

"Oh it was definitely a joke," Marinette interrupted. "But... I think that maybe she's right. I think maybe they did fix it with magic. That's why it's been in perfect condition ever since."

Tikki shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

Suddenly she had a hard time breathing. "I... I think maybe they used the Starfish Miraculous to restore it. I mean, the tower is in Portugal, and that's where we found the bangle after it went missing."

A pause.

"But you heard Alya," Tikki said. "The tower is breaking."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Because the effects of the magic are wearing off."

The kwami flew up closer. "Wearing off?"

"That would explain it."

"That would explain... what?" the kwami asked in confusion.