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sassyduckqueen · 2 years

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The Fox and The Fae 2

Just to warn you, this does get a bit dark as a curse occurs. I won't say what it is because spoilers but you'll know what I mean when you read so just be aware. Also this is a lot of Alya Salt and she is not a good person in this so if you don't like, don't read. You have been warned.

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Chapter Two: Alya Césaire

"Lila, you have a visitor," The guard stated, making the ex model look at him with disgust. Since the Gala, her life had changed dramatically. Thanks to that fae bastard, she couldn't tell a single lie and as if that was bad enough, she was compelled to tell it too, meaning she confessed to everything she had ever lied about or even been slightly dishonest about. It had landed her in some serious jail time as she had ripped off, threatened and harmed a lot of people. What she had thought was a curse had turned out to be much more. Apparently, Luka decided a simple curse wasn't good enough and when with a blessing instead which had royally screwed her over. A curse of truth would have been easily broken but a blessing of truth can't. Because of their nature of been 'good', blessings couldn't be broken. The only person who could remove it was in fact Luka himself as blessings can only be altered and removed by the original caster. In other words, she was stuck with it for good. "Be nice now,"

She glared at the guard as her lackey Alya walked in. Of course, she would come visit her. Alya had in her head that Lila was innocent and simply a victim of Marinette's curses. She had been her lackey since Lila took over Marinette's class in high school and had been Lila's 'bestie' ever since. The thing was Lila did not see Alya as her bestie let alone her friend. She saw her a ticket to fame and a way of spoiling Marinette's name. Alya had wanted to be a reporter and had a blog where she posted her reports and stories. Lila had seen it as a way to fame and decided to befriend her. Not long after Alya's blog when from been reasonable ok to nothing more then a tabloid and shrine to Lila. Years later, Alya still believed Lila and continued to 'film' her story. She had it in her head that Lila would bring her fame and technically Lila did. She name-dropped Alya as a great reporter and had given her a couple of exclusive interviews which had done wonders to Alya's career. She had gained popularity as a renowned journalist and had landed herself her dream job as the face of TVi studios but Lila only did it to keep up appearance. Having her as the main subject of Alya's blog would make her more well known and getting Alya a good job would make Alya more famous which in turn would allow Lila more views. Of course, that is all over now. Not that Alya knew that.

"Lila, are you ok?" She asked, concern on her face. Lila glared at her.

"Well, if it isn't the Tabloid," She hissed in a nasty voice, surprising Alya. "Heard your career is over. Honestly, I'm surprised it took them this long,"

"Lila, I know you don't mean it," She replied, making Lila sneer. "Clearly, Marinette has cursed you again,"

"Are you seriously that dumb?!" Lila gasped, though on the inside she was a little happy. Alya was still blaming Marinette. She might not be able to claim Marinette did this to her but she wouldn't need to. Alya would. "Marinette never cursed me. I made that up to make her look bad,"

"You're just saying that as part of her curse," Alya replied, making Lila roll her eyes. She might be glad but seriously how hasn't Alya realized yet. Her denial is insane. "Don't worry. I'll find a way to break it then we can finally prove how evil Marinette really is,"

"You're pathetic,"

~A Few Days Later~

"Alya, are you sure this is a good idea?" Nino asked as the two of them looked at the boathouse that floated on the seine with frowns on their faces. Alya really didn't want to be here. She hated the faes but she wasn't faced with much choice right now. Ever since she had visited Lila in prison, she was determined to break the curse she believed she was under. She claimed it was because Lila was her friend but deep down, that wasn't the reason. The true reason was because she herself was losing everything in her life. She had based her full career on Lila and had been riding off her success since she got. Thanks to the name dropping, she had gotten her dream job and was ranking it in. She decided to rent an apartment nearby but since the fashion gala, everything had gone down the drain. Lila had revealed the 'truth' at the gala, stating a number of so called truths but Alya didn't believe a word of it. It was a curse to ruin Lila and it had been done by Marinette as she was the only person who would do that. She had cursed Lila before and Lila had gotten help with breaking that one so of course, she gotten annoyed and cursed Lila again. That had to be it because if Lila really was telling the truth then it really was over for Alya. She had made it her mission the last couple of years to destroy Marinette's name and this latest development had been part of it. When Alya found out about the Gala, she had been called into the office of the CEO of the TVi studios and had been told they couldn't have her as the face of their company due to her connection with Lila Rossi. Apparently, there were a lot of people who wanted to see her burn just because she had been friends with Lila. Her bosses couldn't fire her without good reason but since she was friends with Lila, there were a lot of people who would boycott their studios if they kept her as the face of the brand so they would move her to a job in editing. Alya had accepted it but deep down, she blamed Marinette. She continued to insist that Marinette was the cause of this and tried to get a number of the other reporters to reveal her 'true' colors, even going as far as to demand that they 'expose' her as a fraud. All it ended in was her getting warnings from her bosses. Apparently Marinette was friends with a number of the reporters and people who worked there so Alya had no real power in the studios. Her bosses warned her to drop it or they would drop her. This made her more furious when she got home so she took to her old blog and wrote an article that dragged Marinette's name through the mud. She accused her of previously cursing Lila to stop her from been famous and having her blacklisted from any decent work. She wrote that Marinette had cursed Lila at the Gala, due to her jealousy and annoyance that Lila had her previous curse broken. She slated her company, calling them cheap and claiming that Marinette treated her workers like slaves and never actually made her own charms but instead stole from other people. She revealed that Marinette had a crush on the Seelie prince Adrien and that she cursed any girl who got in her way of been with him, including Lila, a shapeshifter called Kagami and even Chloe Bourgeois, claiming that she had gone as far as to curse the full family and caused their fall from glory. Even though it was common knowledge that the Unseelie prince known as Viperion was the one who cursed them. She ripped into Marinette, her company and her parents' bakery, calling them all kind of nasty things and reporting that the bakery had rats and roaches. Once she was done, she posted it and felt that she had righted a wrong. Of course it did not work out for her at all. Due to the slander. the reputation of her old blog and her breaking her contract, she ended up losing her job. As if that wasn't bad enough, Marinette and her parents were suing her for defamation and slander and she was trending on social media in a bad way, which is what lead her and her boyfriend Nino here. This Fae had broken the curse on Lila, he could do it again and fix her career in one go even if he was a fae. "This place gives me the creeps,"

"We don't have a choice," She gasped, looking at him. "This guy can break Lila's curse and restore my career then finally I can expose Marinette for the fraud she is,"

"But he's a fae," Nino whispered as they came close. Alya ignored his comment and frowned as the gate leading to the gangplank was closed. However, she shrugged and opened it regardless before heading towards the deck. Once on there, she looked around and saw a closed door. "Babe, I don't think this fae is open for business,"

"Well, he should be," Alya gasped before trying the door. It was unsurprisingly locked but this did not stop Alya. She reached into her purse and took out something, making Nino give her a look. "Don't worry. I'm just using a little bit of Alya magic,"

She moved into front of the lock and proceed to pick the lock, opening the door. Nino gave her a worried look but followed her inside. The two of them glanced around, seeing nothing darkness. Alya took out her torch and switched it on, moving the beam around before screaming and dropping it as she saw tanks that had snakes in them. It wasn't one or two either. The place had at least 20 different tanks. All with snakes snoozing in them.

"T-That's a lot of snakes," Nino gasped as Alya calmed herself and began to snoop around. "Alya? What are you doing?"

"Trying to find his spell book," She replied before freezing as she felt something slither over her feet. Nino's eyes went wide as a large snake rose it's body in front of her and began hissing. Alya shook as she stared at it in the eye but that didn't seem to make the situation better. The snake's tail began to rattle and it made itself look bigger, beginning to get ready to strike. Alya screamed as it lunged at her but before it could bite her, someone grabbed it and wrapped it around their neck as she fell on her butt.

"William, that's not very nice," A calming voice stated as the snake hissed lightly in reply. Alya stared at the fae in front of her as he traced his fingers down William's scales, calming down the snake though it continued to glare daggers at Alya as it hissed in reply. "I know you're just defending our home and they have broken the rules of hospitality but biting people isn't very nice and your fangs are venomous. Besides, I've dumped enough bodies in the Seine,"

The snake hissed in reply as Alya looked shocked and pale at the fae's comment before he turned his eyes to her.

"You better have a good reason for breaking into my home and disturbing the date I was on," He stated with a slight hissing in his own voice. Alya couldn't find her voice as she took him in. She had to admit he was extremely attractive but part of her was repulsive as he was a fae and it was extremely obvious. His ears were pointed, he had teal green scales that traveled around his neck and onto his arms and his eyes were snakelike and bright blue. "Snake got your tongue?"

"N-No," She gasped, finding her bearings and quickly getting to her feet. "I need your help,"

"Come back when I'm open," He replied, turning to one of the tanks and placing William in it. William hissed lightly and the fae replied, sticking out his tongue which to Alya's shock was forked. He scratched William's scales before turning back to them. "Why are you still here?"

"Because I need your help and I am not coming back when you're 'open'," Alya replied with an annoyed tone. The fae rolled his eyes and moved over to one of the other cases. "I know you can do magic and deals because I helped track you down for a friend of mine and you broke the curse on her!"

"A friend of yours?" He asked, thinking. The only person he had dealt with recently was Lila but she definitely wasn't cursed. However, he wasn't surprised that this girl thought she was. Clearly, Lila lied to her too. "Ah, you must mean Liar Rossi? Yes, I had a contract with her but I wouldn't say I broke her 'curse'. That suggests she was cursed in the first place,"

"What do you mean?!" Alya declared angrily. "Of course, she was cursed! That stupid cow Marinette cursed out of her jealous and then cursed her again when she discovered you had removed at the Gala,"

"The Gala?" He questioned before bursting out laughing. "Oh so you're the source of that rumor? I can assure you that Marinette did not curse Rossi either times,"

"What?!" Alya gasped, annoyed. "But she had to! That's the only reason why Lila's personality changed so much!"

The fae continued to laugh, causing Alya to glare at him as Nino looked on nervously. Unlike Alya, he didn't hate the fae. Prince Adrien was his best friend after all but that didn't mean he trusted them. Adrien was a different case as they were friends and he was a Seelie, who Nino considered the good faes. While they had the power to meddle and grant wishes, they rarely did. They usually did nice wishes too but this fae was definitely not a seelie. Nino knew he was an Unseelie and that meant he was evil. The proof was there as he laughed at the situation. He may have broken Lila's curse but he clearly enjoyed that she had been cursed in the first place. He slowly calmed down and wiped his eyes but he still had a smirk on his face. Alya gritted her teeth as she glared at him.

"What the hell is so funny?!"

"The fact that you still think that Lila is the victim in all of this," He replied, making her glare at him. Nino frowned though. Of course, Lila was the victim. She had to be... because if she wasn't then not only did Alya throw away her career and her friend but he had cast his friend aside too and he wasn't sure how to deal with that fact or even how to fit it if it was true. So many years had passed and Marinette wouldn't probably never forgive them. The fae glanced at her, getting both of their attention as he slowly tilted his head to the side a little. "You don't know much about magic do you?"

"Well, I'm not a witch!" She gasped in annoyance.

"Noted," He replied, making her frown. "There is a difference between a curse and a blessing. If Lila was cursed, there would be a mark and she would be able to break it but this isn't a curse. It's a blessing. It can't be broken and can only be removed by the caster. It's a blessing of truth as well, meaning she has be honest in whatever way she can. That also means confessing to all of her lies and fraud and that's what has landed her in trouble. Honestly though, it was deserving. All the bad things she's done.. well, Karma was going to come by and collect it's debt at some point. I just merely gave it a helping hand. That's one of the reason why I picked that particular blessing... of course, I also love the irony factor,"

"Wait what do you mean by that?!" Alya gasped, having not realized yet. "Marinette was the one who cursed her,"

"As I can said, I can guarantee that Marinette did not," He replied, his eyes shifting to a greener color. "I know this for certain because it was me who placed the blessing on Rossi,"

"Y-You?" Alya gasped as Nino looked at him in shock. "B-But why would you curse her again after you broke her curse?"

"Firstly, it's not a curse as I've already said. It's a blessing," He corrected, looking at his nails. "Secondly, she was never cursed in the first place. She came to me to make a deal for fame and fortune and to ruin Marinette and finally, I did it because I don't take kindly to be insulted or been called something degrading,"

"Prove it!" Alya demanded, making the fae sigh but he humored her. He clicked his fingers and a scroll appeared in a flash of green light before he handed it to Alya. She snatched it out of his hand and opened, reading it. Her eyes went wide as she did. Nino leaned over and read it as well, causing his own eyes to go wide. It was a clear contract for fame and vengeance and was sighed by Lila. There was no doubt about it. It was definitely her signature. The contract disappeared in a green light, causing both of them to jump back slightly but apparently it wasn't enough for Alya. "But... but Lila wouldn't!"

"She did," The fae replied, rolling his eyes before pointing. "The way out is that. Bye now!"

"Wait!" Alya gasped, pushing the boundaries. "You have to undo it!"

"I don't have to do anything," He replied, making Alya look at him with shock. "Now leave. I am bored and done with this conversation,"

"Wait!" Alya gasped, making him look at her. "I want to make a deal with you,"

"You want to make a deal with me?" He asked, slightly amused before he walked over to her. "What could you possibly give me? I have paid off my rent and I have food in my cupboards. My snakes are fed well and happy and I have no need for anything else right now,"

"I can give you money and do a report on you!" She gasped, making him raise an eyebrow. "You'll get much better business! Please, just undo what you did to Lila and make our lives perfect again!"

"No," He replied coldly. "Now leave. You've outstayed our welcome,"

"You can't reject a deal!" She declared with determination. "I know the laws of the fae and you can't reject it so you better do it or else,"

"You know the faes' law huh?" He asked, stepping over as his eyes turned fully green. He was extremely pissed. Nino tried to get Alya's attention but she ignored him and tried to make herself look like she was bigger then she was. She clearly didn't realize the danger they were in. "I call Bullshit,"

"Babe, we need to go-"

"Shut up, Nino," She hissed before turning back to the fae. "Oh yeah?!"

"You only know some of our laws and they only apply to the Seelie," He growled as the atmosphere changed. Nino attempted to get Alya's attention again but once again, she ignored him. "I am not a seelie therefore their rules do not apply to me! I am under no obligation to accept a deal and right now I have no interest in accepting one so shallow,"

"Excuse me but my deal is not shallow!" Alya argued back. "I am doing this for Lila,"

"Oh don't make me laugh!" The fae hissed, clearly more annoyed. "The only reason you even want to make a deal with me is fix your life. Not Lila's. You don't give a shit about her! You only care about the so called fame she can bring you. Under normal circumstance, I would actually consider helping you but I am not going to neither am I compelled to. Now get out the fuck out of my home!"

"Oh and why won't you help me?!"

"Because you broke into my home!" He growled, looking more snakelike. His teeth were actually turning into fangs at this point. "By the laws of hospitality, I should kill you and I should have killed your friend too after she insulted me but I prefer to punish people in better ways but if you don't leave now, you'll see the bottom of the Seine,"

Finally realizing he was serious, Alya finally turned on her heel and began to leave but she was about to make her biggest mistake.

"Stupid puck," She muttered under her breathe as she left, thinking he didn't hear her but he did. He narrowed his eyes and made up his mind. Alya Césaire needed to be punished.

~One Week Later~

Alya hummed to herself as she dug into an ice cream while she watched a movie. Her life wasn't any better but she was working on tracking down a way to improve it. Her plan was to make a deal with another fae. Not the one she met. Personally, she hoped never to meet him again. After her and Nino had left, she did some digging into him. She knew a little bit about him as she had tracked him down for Lila but not enough so she searched into him. Apparently, he had ties to the unseelie prince Viperion and was considered extremely dangerous to most of the supernatural community. However, she found that hard to believe. He had yet to make a move against her and honestly she thought he wasn't going to. She was convinced that if he was going to attack, he would have done so already. After all it had been a week but she didn't realize that like the snakes he took after, he often laid in the grass, waiting for the right time to strike and unfortunately for her, that was now. She jumped as she heard the door bell ring, making her frown but she got up and walked over to the door, glancing through the spy hole. Seeing it was just a delivery guy, she frowned but opened the door.

"Pizza for Miss Césaire," He stated in an almost hiss, making her frown but she generally didn't think anything of it.

"Um no, I didn't order a pizza," She grumbled, going to slam the door but to her surprise, the delivery person put his foot in the door and stopped it, freaking her out. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"Pizza for Miss Césaire," He repeated, freaking her out even more because this time he drew out her name in a hiss, just like a snake and then pushed his way into the house, closing the door behind him. "It's not very nice when someone comes into your house without your permission, is it?"

"W-What?" She gasped, stepping back. "I h-haven't done anything like that,"

"Liar," He snarled, taking off his cap and revealing the fae who she had gone to. "You broke into my home so I'm just returning the favor,"

"Y-You!" She gasped as he glanced around. "You need to leave before I call the police, you freak!"

He turned to her and placed his finger against his lips with a smirk.

"Shh," He replied, causing her to look at him with a confused look before going to tell him to leave again but found her voice was gone. "That's better. You know you have an extremely annoying voice. It's so obnoxious and filled with hatred,"

"Give me my voice back!" She tried to say but nothing came out. He glanced around, taking in the room.

"Nino not home?" He asked, making her look at him with fear. "Oh don't be surprised. You put everything on the internet, Alya. It wasn't hard to track down your boyfriend's name. Shame, I was hoping to punish him for his lack of spine as well but I guess I'll get him later. Is this your laptop?"

He walked over to it and picked it up, causing her to try and rush over to get it off him but he flickered his fingers, causing the dining room chair fly over before it grabbed her and restrained her arms as he sat on the table.

"I saw your most recent article about me," He replied, glancing at her. "I mean I know I've never had the best rep but murderous, half breed bastard... what a description? Firstly, I have actual never murdered anyone. As I stated before, I prefer to punish people in a better way. Usually with a curse and a lesson so they can learn to better themselves. I'm morally gray, not evil and secondly, I'm not a half breed. I'm a full fae. My sister is a half fae, half human.. hmm maybe that's why I have a bit of soft spot for humans but then again, you already knew that didn't you?"

She gave him a puzzled look but he ignored it.

"Anyway, I intended to punish you for your ignorance and attitude towards me and my kind because frankly your attitude stinks," He explained. "So I was going to completely destroy your career beyond what you've already done to it and have your work in a cafe where you'd face... I think the word is Karens? But then I mentioned you offhandedly to my sister and her girlfriend and low and behold, it turned out that you have done a lot more to my family then I realized. You remember Juleka and Rose right?"

Alya's eyes went wide. Oh she remembered alright. They use to be friends back before Lila. Juleka was shy and pretty and Rose was hyper and bubbly but that friendship was gone. Rose and Juleka had kept their heritage a secret as they just wanted to fit in and well, Alya had made it clear that she hated fae so the two girls decided to keep it a secret. They loved having the girl squad as their friends and didn't want to lose them. Rose even went as far as to use a special potion, provided by Luka, to hide her ears so no one knew she was unseelie and Juleka just said she was human, often denying her fae side. Of course, Luka tried to encourage both of them not to hide but he also respected that it was easier. Unfortunately, Lila found out about them and since they were siding with Marinette at the time, she let it slip to Alya that Rose was a seelie and Juleka was a half breed. Well, Alya did not take it well. Not only did she scream at them for lying but she called them several slurs and completely broke off their friendship, going as far as they refuse to even acknowledge them and pretending that they were invisible. She would also try and get her friends to do the same. It resulted in her losing everyone but Lila but as far as she was concerned, she was in the right. Alix and Mylene thought she was awful about it and realized that Lila had set it up. They had actually gone on to apology to Marinette, Rose and Juleka but their friendship was never quite the same.

"So I've decided to really punish you," He stated, making her look at him. "I thought about several ways. Karma, a blessing but really none of them seem right for you. I think a curse of clarity could be good but will it really teach you your lesson? Or will you just continue to excuse your own behavior. That's when it came to me,"

He paused for dramatic effect, making her nervous.

"You refuse to see the truth and that. You can't admit you're wrong, your writing is tabloid trash and you can't even fact check," He continued, making her glare at him. "So I was thinking since you seem to blind to the truth then blind is what you should be,"

Alya's eyes widen in surprise at his words. He smirked at her before glancing at his laptop.

"I guess you're not going to need this though," He dropped it onto the floor, smashing it before standing up and walking over to her. She tried to get away from him but he roughly grabbed her chin and placed his free hand over her eyes and muttered under his breathe before moving away. Her eyes glossed over in pink before it shattered, causing her eyes to go extremely blurry to the extend where she couldn't see even with her glasses on. Fear took over her as she began to cry. He really had cursed her. "Now I haven't give you complete blindness but your vision is extremely impaired right now and will remain so until you break your curse. Now unlike Lila though, I am going to give you a chance at redemption. Realize what you have done and make things right. Do this and your sight will restored. You can have your voice back now,"

"I'm sorry!" She screamed, making him sigh. She was only sorry because he had cursed her.

"False apologies will simply make things worst," He replied, making her gasp as her sight got worst. "The more false apologies you give, the more of your sight you will lose. Only when you truly admit to yourself what you have done and try to make up for it will your sight come back. Have fun now,"

"W-Wait!" She called as he got up and headed towards the door. "D-Don't leave me! Please!!"

"I am under no obligation to help you," He stated, opening the door. "Have a good night now,"

"W-Wait!" She called out again. "I c-can tell you who else hurt Juleka and Rose! A-Adrien did and C-Chloe!"

"Chloe, I already dealt with her," He replied, making her gasp as she realized just who she had pissed off. This fae wasn't in association with Viperion. He was Viperion. "But Adrien is seelie and not my problem,"

"B-But he knew Lila was lying too!" She called out. Luka stood still for a moment but sighed and left the house. Adrien was still a fool then. Oh, well he wasn't his problem. Besides, he had a feeling that he would see Adrien soon. Especially when he finds that he's cursed Alya... and Nino when he finds him. He knew full well that Nino is friends with the seelie prince and he knows that cursing these two will get his attention. However, he'll deal with that when it happens. Right now, he just wanted to go home and relax. He needed to recharge his magic. Cursing people uses a lot of it.

Meanwhile, Alya jumped as she heard the door slam.

"Viperion?! Wait! Please!! I'm sorry!" She cried out before screaming again as her eyesight got darker. She wasn't truly sorry. Not yet but she would be soon.

~Two Weeks Later~

Marinette hummed to herself as she put some of her charms on displace. She had heard that Alya had gone quiet with her blog and Luka had told her that he had cursed her but she couldn't bring herself care. If it had been anyone else, she would have told him off but Alya had hurt her so badly over the years that she just didn't care. Frankly, she was just glad for a break from the constant slander that Alya threw at her. It was a shame because they had once been so close but Alya dug her grave when she choose Lila's side. As far as Marinette was concerned, Alya probably deserved whatever curse Luka had given her. He had been fuming after her visit and even more so when he found out how she had treated Rose and Juleka. They had kept it from him because they knew he would want to curse her but after finding that she had broken into his home, they decided it was time to let him deal with her and he had. Marinette didn't actually know the details of the curse but she was aware that he had only cursed her. She was asked him why and he answered that no matter how bad the crime or act, he believed in giving people a second chance. That's why he gave Lila a blessing. Sure, it messed up her lie but he hoped that been forced to tell the truth would humble her and she might change her ways. Sure, she would probably be angry with him for a good number of years to come and there was always a chance that it won't work but he can hope. With Alya, he had to take a different route. A blessing wouldn't benefit her in that way so a curse it was. If she truly came to realize her faults and tried to generally make up for the bad she had done then the curse would be broken but as it is with Lila, there is a chance that Alya will never learn. In which case, her curse will never be broken. The door bell rang, getting her attention.

"Hi, welcome- Oh... it's you," Marinette stated in a flat voice as she glanced over at Alya. She wore sunglasses and was holding onto Nino's arm. "What do you want?"

"Marinette?" She asked, making the girl frown as Nino helped her over. "It's been a while, girl,"

"You don't get to call me that,"

"R-Right," Alya replied, frowning. "Look, can I just have five minutes of your time? I get it if you say no but I just want to talk,"

"...Fine," She stated, crossing her arms. Alya nervously licked her lips. "Well?"

"I just want to say I'm sorry," She replied, surprising Marinette. "What I did was unforgivable and I understand that my apology will never make up for what I did to you. I shouldn't have taken Lila's side, I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. I shouldn't have bullied you or shoved you down the corridor and... there's so much I am sorry about. I'm sorry that I wrote all those awful articles on you and slandered your parents' bakery. I'm sorry for all the names I called you and all the horrible situations I put you in. I have nothing to give you but my words so from the bottom of my heart, I really am sorry,"

"Thank you for apologizing," Marinette stated. "But you hurt me so much that I can't accept it. Now please leave,"

Nino carefully moved his hand and gently tapped Alya's shoulder, making Marinette raise an eyebrow.

"Nino also says that he's sorry too," She stated, making Marinette frown. "He said he should have trusted you in the first place and should have spoken up and stood up for you instead of following me and the crowd... but we get it. We don't expect you to accept your apologies but thank you for letting us speak... good luck with the future, Marinette. I really hope you do well,"

With that, Alya and Nino turned to leave the shop. They walked out, just as Luka walked in, causing Nino to look down like he was afraid. Luka smirked a little before moving over to Marinette.

"How's my favorite witch?"

"You cursed Nino didn't you?" She asked with her arms crossed and an amused smile. "What did you do to him?"

"I took his voice since he had no need for it," He replied, shrugging a little as Marinette gave him his look. "And his hearing since he refused to listen to reason,"

"You're terrible," She grinned, moving over to him. "But thank you,"

"Hmm, do I get a reward for avenging you?" He asked, making her giggle as she wrapped her arms around and pressed her lips to his. He moved his arm around her waist, pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss before they pulled away. "I should curse your old school bullies more often,"

"You don't need to do that to get my kisses," She replied, kissing him again. He grinned and kissed back.

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casadefreewill · 2 years

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Fic Rec

Functionally Immortal by @miranda-gilastorm

You are Functionally Immortal, however, your life force is connected to a cat that can die to anything but old age. You must protect the cat to stay alive. Having lived alongside the cat for centuries, one day it disappears.

Hell yeah! Literal actual cat (cursed) Adrien! Guardian/witch Marinette! I wish there was more of this fic

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Paws Fur Coffee by Zaphirite

He was so sure that Ladybug would already push him off a rooftop if she knew his civilian identity worked at a café called “Paws Fur Coffee” of all names (the owner is a dog person, but he’ll take it), but his flub on the chalkboard menu just topped it all off.

His neat handwriting read back to him: “Chai Noir”.

(In which Adrien Agreste has some really cool ideas about the special drink of the week and gets to know a regular customer.)

Lol, this is cute ☕️ 🍵 ☕️🧋☕️ 🍵 🧋 ☕️

#ml #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #chat noir #cat!adrien #cursed!adrien #guardian!marinette #witch!marinette #immortal au #Functionally Immortal #miranda-gilastorm #ladynoir #coffee shop au #Paws Fur Coffee #Zaphirite #fic rec

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part-time-pixie · 11 months

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Miraculous - Winx AU 🦋✨

Imagine all the cute pixie designs for the kwamis, fairy outfits and the ROMANCE 🥺

I’m so dedicated to work on this more once I finished a few of my WIPs!!

#no bc julerose fairy witch relationship was the reason I thought of this #au: winx #ml winx au #miraculous ladybug au #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #miraculous fanart #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ladybug #chat noir #tikki #plagg #nino lahiffe #luka couffaine #kagami tsurugi #alix kubdel #le chien kim #🌸

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bunnybugblog · 7 months

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#miraculous au #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #miraculous fanart #ladynoir #bunny bug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #october art challenge #halloween art challenge #witch

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sidedoodlez · 1 year

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As I wrap up my final commissions of 2022 I’d like to show what the amazing @peakwonderfulness wanted to see! A witch Marinette having a moonlit stroll, thank you for your fantastic ideas and thank you to all who commissioned me this last year I appreciate every one of you❤️

#miraculous ladybug #chat the cat #ml au #ladynoir #marichat #chat noir #ladybug #miraculous #adrien agreste #marinette #witches #witchcore #illustration #my art

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asti-doodles · 9 months

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Yes. It's witch AU again. No I'm not gonna stop. Go bother @valiantlyjollynightmare for more info.

#miraculous ladybug #mlb #miraculous #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #luka couffaine #chloe burgeois #lukloe #felix fathom #felix graham de vanily #felix agreste #witch AU

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taldigi · 5 months

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Witches Brew AU: where Felix is a potions' master, but his potions are coffee.

need help relaxing, or sleeping? He's got a latte for that. he reads coffee grounds like tea leaves, and does latte art (but it's sigils)

#Witches Brew AU #digit's art tag #digit's miraculous tag #felix sphinx #marinette cheng #Alina LeRoux

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mc-lukanette · 6 months

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Marinette hummed to herself, mulling over the various fabrics laid out in front of her. Her witch's hat tipped down a little whenever she lowered her head and she made a mental note to have her first fashion line be "alternate witch headwear" no matter the cost.

The cafe was a great place to get ideas and have the usual silence of her room replaced with the idle chatter of everyone else. It being all-inclusive was just a bonus that allowed her to look around and imagine what the various other species of people would look like in the clothes she designed.

The scent of coffee and pastries wafted through the area, her own sweetened coffee at her side while she worked.

Silk is too smooth. Cervitaurs like a bit more texture in their clothes, she thought, staring down at her fabrics on the table. She felt the corner of one, then moved on to the next, dissatisfied with how each rubbed against her. But elves have sensitive skin, so they might find wool too itchy and uncomfortable.

She tapped mindlessly on the table, the enlarged sewing needle in her hand acting as her wand as she pointed it to the textiles on the table. The tip of the needle glowed, Marinette flicking her wand and watching the fabric move around at her will. She redid her sorting for the tenth time that session, or maybe it was the fourteenth? She'd lost count and the sweetened coffee at her side was probably getting cold by now.

With a defeated sigh, Marinette slammed her wand down and collapsed onto the table, lamenting, Maybe there is no "one fabric" for everyone after all. Would I have to invent a new one instead?

She supposed the other problem could be the background music. She loved Jagged Stone's music, but it wasn't good for productivity and the only change the cafe made was that she couldn't hear the lyrics. If it was a knock-off so they didn't have to pay for Jagged's actual music, it was a good one.

She looked over, curious for the source of the song if only to distract herself. She spotted a naga lounging in the corner with black hair and blue highlights, playing on his guitar like imitating someone else's music was no big deal to him. It was impressive to her how his fingers strummed without hesitation or thought, his face not showing even an ounce of stress despite the attention on him from onlookers.

Although, when she really looked at him, he didn't seem invested in what he was playing at all, which was a stark contrast to Jagged's upbeat style coming from his fingertips. Marinette surveyed the room, wondering if he actually worked there to provide music for everyone, because she couldn't imagine why else he'd be there if he didn't enjoy what he was doing. The easiest way to find out was to simply ask, but she couldn't just go up to a stranger and start pestering him with personal questions, even if she wanted to know... right?

Staring down at her fabrics again, the complete lack of ideas practically staring back at her, she groaned and pulled her bag out to shove all of her supplies inside. Whatever. I'm not getting anything done anyway.

——

Marinette shifted in her seat as she waited for the mystery naga boy to be free. Even after the song had finished, he got approached by an employee and she couldn't make out what they were saying. She did catch him rubbing his arm though, making her wonder if it was from nerves or if the room was a little too chilly.

Finally, the employee stepped aside, allowing her to stand up from her table and try to approach as casually as possible. The boy's eyes met hers, probably sensing her presence, but he didn't move or show any sign of discomfort.

"You're really good," she complimented, prioritizing praise over his abilities above all else. "You've been playing Jagged Stone, right?"

He smiled, nodding at her. "Yeah, that's right."

There was a casualness to him of not minding being spoken to, but she could see the look in his eyes of someone who's used to having this exact conversation with other people. That was fine with her, as it wasn't her intended topic of discussion anyway.

She played with a strand of her hair, unsure of how to broach the subject. "Was... that because they asked you to play it?"

His back straightened in surprise. He looked down at his guitar and furrowed his brows, running his hand idly along the neck. "What made you think that?"

Marinette realized only now how awkward the conversation was about to become if she was wrong. She swallowed nervously, deciding to commit regardless. "You didn't seem interested in playing, even though you look so comfortable with your guitar."

She meant it. When she'd watched his body language, he seemed as if he'd been playing since he was really young. She could relate with her own interest in fashion, so she knew what it was like.

The naga eyed her, then searched the room cautiously like he was afraid of being caught. When he looked back at her, he set his guitar down and slowly pushed himself up, Marinette letting out a squeak when he leaned in close.

"You hit the note perfectly," he told her in a whisper, "but I'm not allowed to say that."

She gasped, covering her nose and mouth with both hands. It muffled her voice, but her reply came out clear enough: "And I asked you in front of everyone!"

He shook his head. "You're fine. I don't think anyone heard, and I can only get in trouble for answering."

She brought her hands down, feeling sympathetic to him. While he didn't say it, if he had such restrictions placed on him that he didn't like, then it must've been one of the few jobs he could get. He was still young - certainly not that much older than her - so finding a place where people would take him seriously must've been hard.

"It seems like such a shame." She frowned, keeping her voice low to maintain their secret conversation. "You're so talented, but you have to play other people's songs."

He shrugged, sad but giving her a reassuring, grateful smile. "Maybe someday. For now, they only want me to play what's popular, so I can't try my own music."

"Your own music?" she repeated, almost breaking the 'safe' volume between them with her intrigue. She'd suspected that he wrote music himself, so it was nice having it confirmed. "Could I hear it sometime? I'm sure it's amazing."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really!" It wasn't out of pity for him, but a genuine longing for the passion of another creative mind.

Before he could respond, an annoyed voice called from afar, "Couffaine! No flirting on the job!"

Marinette blushed. She supposed there were only so many ways their current situation could be interpreted, and if the place was already judging him based on his age, there was only one.

The naga, unphased, turned towards the voice and smirked. "I'm going on break." He reached for his guitar, holding it against himself and softening his expression when he met her gaze again. "Do you want to come with me?"

"What?" Her brain clicked, remembering what they'd been talking about. She was surprised that it'd be so soon - so immediate - but she wouldn't complain. "O-oh! Yeah, let's go!"

They went for the door together, her holding it open for him and hearing a hushed, "It's Luka, by the way," as he slithered past.

"Ma—Marinette!" she exclaimed in return, following after him.

——

The two of them wound up settling down in a park with a fountain, Marinette sitting down on the fountain's stone wall while Luka was content lounging on the ground. She expected him to start playing right away, but he put his guitar off to the side instead.

At her confused look, he asked, "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"We only talked about me," he explained. "You had some things on your table and you were moving them around, so I thought..."

He SAW that?! She was absolutely mortified. The fact that he was watching her too made her feel less weird about her initial motivation in approaching him, yet she hadn't wanted his impression of her to be her succeeding in a whole lot of nothing.

Luka, probably reading her expression, put his arms up next to her on the stone and assured, "I don't think there's anything wrong with needing time to make a song work, but you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I was just curious."

Marinette drummed her fingers on her lap, shy. She'd shown interest in him but hadn't expected the same in return.

"You stuck your tongue out to the side when you were focused," he continued, voice gentler than before. "My sister tells me that I do something like that: the end of my tail flicks back and forth when I'm 'focusing too much.'"

He was relating to her to help her relax, even though he'd already given her an out. The worst part was that it was working, and she managed to answer, "I-I specialize in fashion, so I was looking at some fabric."

"What kind of fashion do you make?"

"All kinds, even accessories. Like..." She sat her bag on her lap and opened it, but couldn't find anything she could use inside. Pouting, but refusing to give up when she wanted to impress him, she asked hopefully, "Do you have anything small on you? Something that you're not that attached to?"

Luka looked towards the bag he was wearing around his waist, unzipping one of the pockets and fishing inside for an object that matched her description. When he held one up to her, triangular and round at the edges, she figured that it must've been a spare guitar pick of his.

"I-is that really okay?" She took it, turning it in her hands. "What if something happens to the one you have now?"

"Don't worry. I've got plenty," he assured, zipping his bag back up and patting it for emphasis.

She wasn't sure if she could believe him, but didn't see any reason to make a fuss about it. Retrieving her wand from her bag, she held the guitar pick close to her chest and shut one eye for precision. The tip of her wand made contact with the tip of the guitar pick and she used a touch of magic to form a hole in it. She then took a thick piece of string from her bag, threading it through the hole and pinching both ends together. Rubbing them between her thumb and index finger, she whispered soft words to bind them, leaving the string forming a complete circle when she let go.

It was still a bit plain, but that was inevitable since she was just improvising. Pressing the blunt end of the wand to her cheek in contemplation, she wondered aloud, "Do you mind if I touch your tail?"

He didn't ask why, shifting his tail about so that he could raise it up to her. Marinette offered him a smile in thanks, then began to draw magic on her palm with her wand. She was tempted to comment on the adorable way Luka tried to lean in to watch, but didn't.

As she finished off the pattern she'd drawn, it glowed blue along with her eyes. Turning her attention to Luka, she placed her hand on his tail and began to run it across. He shuddered at the sensation, though it didn't affect her work.

"Sorry," she said, "I've never done this on anyone, so I didn't know that'd happen."

"It's okay." Then, more curiously, "Done what?"

When she took her hand off, she showed him: the color, pattern, and texture of his tail had been replicated directly onto it. Luka's eyes were wide with awe and she felt a burst of pride in her chest.

Closing her fist around the string with her tail-patterned hand, she pulled and pulled at the string with her other one. With each pull, the part of the string that went through her closed fist came out with the exact same pattern as Luka's tail, until finally it matched it entirely. Satisfied, Marinette shook her magic-imbued hand in the air, the pattern coming off like wind blowing dust away.

The most important part came last. She clutched the guitar pick, bringing it to her lips in thought while she considered what to do. Her personal opinion was that a witch who worked in fashion should never do so without a spell attached, but she wasn't sure which to pick. Luka didn't come off as someone reckless, so making it more durable seemed like a waste. Luck, meanwhile, was such a cliche spell to cast on anyone, not like she believed in such a thing in the first place.

She eyed him for ideas, from his highlights to his eyes and then to his body. As her gaze skimmed past his arm, the faint memory of him rubbing it earlier struck, and she almost felt stupid for not thinking of it before.

Giving the guitar pick a soft kiss, it lit up along the edges. While it was pure black before, her magic changed its border to a bright crimson, confirming that her spell had gone off without a hitch. She turned to tell Luka that it was a success, though she paused when she noticed that the tip of his tail was flicking back and forth.

I thought he said that it only did that when he was really focused on something? she wondered, but didn't catch onto the implications.

After looking over the enchanted accessory one last time, she offered it to him with a smile. "Here! Just like that!"

Luka took a moment to reply, as if her magic had rubbed off on him and put him in a trance. Snapping back to focus, he tore his gaze from her to stare at the necklace. "That—that was incredible, Marinette!"

"Y-you really think so?"

"Yeah. You even copied my tail onto the string; I still have no idea how you did it or what spell that was. I felt inspired just watching you work."

She blushed at the heavy praise, replying defensively, "You haven't even tried it on yet!"

"Oh, then please..." he said easily, not wasting another second.

She thought he would just take it from her, but he leaned closer and bent his head down patiently. Whether it was a naga thing or he somehow felt wrong touching it himself, she wasn't sure, but she went along with it anyway. It almost felt like she was bestowing a medal of honor when she draped it over his head and let it drop.

Immediately, she saw Luka's body language change and asked, "How's it feel?"

"...Warm." He hesitated, putting a hand to his chest. He raised a brow in confusion, trying to find the right words. "I feel warm?"

"Yup! It's a spell for keeping you warm." She poked the guitar pick for emphasis. "I thought you looked a little cold earlier, so it seemed right."

He gaped at her, stunned. "You did that in just a few minutes? I have a couple of naga friends who hate being even a little cold. If you want any business, I'll put in a word for you."

She started to feel shy again. "I-it's not that big of a deal?" She waved him off. "It's more like a prototype. It won't protect you from being too hot, a-and it doesn't last forever."

She felt bitter at having to say it. Temperature-controlling charms had been one of her goals as a fashion-inclined witch, yet she still hadn't figured out a perfect solution to its limited nature.

"I don't think anyone would expect that," he argued, almost sounding offended on her behalf. "Even if it doesn't last, people could only wear it when they know they'll need it. That's not much different from wearing something until it's too worn out."

That's... not a bad point, she conceded, though not enough to verbalize it. She'd just never thought about it that way.

Luka held the guitar pick part of the necklace, bringing it closer to his face to admire it. "Why aren't things like this being sold everywhere?"

Marinette shrugged. "I mean, I did come up with some of those spells myself, but maybe witches just aren't interested in using their talents for fashion? It's not exactly as flashy as making things disappear or lighting things on fire with the flick of a wrist. "

He shook his head, adamant in his position. "I couldn't take my eyes off you."

His gaze was a little intense; he meant it. She tipped her head purposefully to have an excuse to adjust her hat, not sure how to handle compliments from someone who - as she was quickly noticing - was quite handsome.

"...O-oh! Um—" She fumbled to shift the conversation away from her. Pointing hurriedly at the necklace, she explained, "A-about the spell: I said it doesn't last forever, but it doesn't need recast or anything. The enchantment on it will stay, but once it runs out of power you'll need to get someone else with magic to recharge it." Then, she blurted out thoughtlessly, "Or I could?"

She managed to suppress the scream she nearly let out, leaving it to bounce and echo in her mind while Luka could only stare in silence. She'd never cast a curse in her life - only considered it in a few dark fantasies involving people who'd bullied her - but she might've cast a curse to remove her voice if she could go back to a few seconds ago. She'd just met this boy, and she was talking as if they were ever going to see each other again.

...Well, in retrospect it wasn't impossible; actually, it was very likely. If he continued working at the cafe and she continued to visit, they would inevitably continue seeing each other. One could even make the argument that she'd become the most convenient person to recharge the enchantment then.

It didn't make her any less embarrassed though.

Looking for a diversion (a successful one this time), Marinette turned her attention to his guitar. Gesturing wildly at it, she clarified, "B-but only if you play for me! You said you would!"

He didn't say explicitly that he would, but she hoped he wouldn't remember that detail.

"...Alright," Luka replied, as if everything she'd just said and done wasn't entirely ridiculous. He even grinned wider and repeated it. "Alright. I'll play for you whenever you want."

"Oka—whenever I want?" She blinked at him, thinking that he might've slipped up as well, but he was already focusing on getting his guitar in place.

No more words were spoken as he began to play, Marinette's thoughts of how fast she'd have to be to outrun a naga left behind to listen to him. As she'd imagined, he was really good, his music feeling like it was coming straight from his heart and into hers.

Now that she'd calmed down from her little outburst, she found her fingers twitching, either to adjust one of her spells or simply to start drawing new designs. She'd stumbled her way into agreeing to meet with him again, and even if her way of going about it wasn't ideal, she'd wanted it.

As she continued to listen, his words echoed in her head, "I felt inspired just watching you work," and she pondered if this was the result of his inspiration. Thinking about it, she'd never got to make anything in front of someone before, nor come up with something new on the spot.

Perhaps they'd inspired each other then, even without meaning to, and she silently hoped that they could continue to do so.

#queuekanette #lukaneventte: No Context November #Flower Arrangement Shipping #Pro LukaMari #Lukanette #Witch Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Naga Luka Couffaine

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carebooks · 24 days

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i know the whole reason for Chloe (in the show) to not have any real good!aligned character growth was because the creators said that not every person you meet will become a better person or grow to be a better person, and that’s part of reality, Chloe will always be a villain.

and yeah, ok, true, some people just never change, for better or worse,

but this is also a kid’s show, and while it’s good to show kids “hey, this person won’t change, but you dont have to be like them.” why not show them the person changing for the better? actually developing? is doesn’t have to be a full Amity from TOH development, where she went from mean girl to good person aligned with our heroes to one of the heroes. And it also doesn’t have to end the same way it did with Amity, it could end with Chloe just being a better person to only those she cares about, she could still despise Marinette and Alya but be nicer to Sabrina or Zoe in her own weird Chloe-way.

Maddie from Every Witch Way started out in a very Chloe way, but she wasn’t the main villain, ever, just for a few episodes in the first season because she was also a bully to the main character. After that however, she was still shown to be spoiled, vain, material-obsessed, and driven by popularity. But that didn’t stop her from caring about her friends, from only helping the mains bc her friends were in trouble. She got a boyfriend in s2 (a very nice one at that) and he helped her develop into a better person as well. Maddie wasn’t about to start doing things for the goodness of her heart or other people, she did good things for people she cared about which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If anything she was more like an anti-hero.

This show wasn’t even a huge hitter on Nickelodeon (though we did get it to four seasons). So, why can’t they just do a similar thing to Chloe rather than keep her at this cartoon-level villain? I know it’s a cartoon but that’s never stopped ATLA, TLOK, SVFOE, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, or The Owl House to have nuanced, genuine, developed characters that don’t all have to be 100% aligned with good or start out that way.

#tales of ladybug and cat noir #miraculous ladybug #ladybug and chat noir #chloe bourgeois #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #every witch way #maddie van pelt

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lineith · 2 years

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I read that persimmon is a symbol of good luck in Chinese culture, so here's Marinette from “Taking Shape”, my lukanette witch AU, in more seasonal colors now that it's Fall up in the northern hemisphere~

I'm back from my long break 🍊

#Miraculous Ladybug #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #ML Taking Shape AU #witch #Art of Lineith

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verfound · 1 year

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Six Some Sentences Sunday: 01.15.23

I was really hoping I'd get this finished today, but maybe tomorrow...?

“…he said you’re gonna eat me,” she mumbled when he pulled away. A strange sound, somewhere between a hiss and a laugh and something choked, escaped him, and she rolled her eyes as she shoved at him and flopped onto the cushions of their nest. “See? Stupid.”

“Why would he….?” Luka started, but then his eyebrows rose even higher as he blinked at her. “You ssssaid village gosssssip. Do they…do they all think you’re in danger here?”

She looked away from him, but there was no denying the flush on her cheeks, even in the dark.

“…maybe,” she mumbled. “They…they all implied that the Snakefolk eat people, so…so obviously you’re going to eat me. Ridiculous, right? The Snakefolk don’t eat…Luka, stop laughing!”

“Apologies, love,” he said, shaking his head. “It’sss jussst…you’re right. He’s an idiot.”

#six sentence sunday #some sentence sunday #miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #winters verse #naga!luka #witch!marinette #dumbass!kim

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rosie-b · 5 months

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I Can Hear the Bells (you didn't hear the chimes)

2 chapters, completed (9806 words)

“So, you had a dream about Marinette. Was it a good dream?”

Adrien practically melted. “It was amazing, Plagg,” he said with a wistful sigh. “We were lying on a beach together, and she kissed me and—”

“Ugh, I get it! So, it was a love spell. No real danger, problem solved. Thank cheese.”

“A love spell? Wait, but Plagg, couldn’t that mean that Marinette got affected, too? What if— oh, no,” Adrien gasped. “What if I made her fall in love with me?”

You can read the rest on AO3; chapter one is just below!

Adrien was becoming a rather decent witch.

He wasn’t the best one in the world, but he’d gained a mastery of 23 complex spells and 74 simple ones over the past three months since his eighteenth birthday. That meant he had to be doing well, right?

Even so, the near-constant pressure to study magic he got from Plagg, his familiar and instructor in all things magical, was taking its toll. What Adrien needed, as Plagg had conceded after his pupil had nearly fainted after a simple tea leaves reading, was a solid few days spent off. A break, during which Adrien could relax and recharge by taking advantage of others’ magic abilities, instead of relying on his own.

“What you need,” Plagg had said, lazily floating in front of Adrien with an unbothered expression on his face, “Is a good relaxation spell. And your specialty is destructive magic, so you can’t make one for yourself.”

Adrien had sighed and waved Plagg’s stinky breath away with one hand. “And where would I find one, then? Magic is still new to me, after all; I don’t know any other witches I could ask to give me one.”

“And that’s entirely your parents’ fault,” Plagg had sniffed. “In the old days, no witch worth their salt would have died without leaving a secret book of instructions for their kid. But no, they had to leave the dirty work to your poor, abused familiar!”

The kwami was fond of lamenting in this way to Adrien, who’d gotten used to it by then.

“Plagg, we’ve been over this. Just get to the point, please!”

Plagg had scowled at Adrien for a moment and then given up the act.

“There are plenty of other witches in Paris. The reason that you haven’t met them is because they only go out without being disguised as normal mortals at night, and then only on certain days of the moon cycle. On those nights, they hold a magic fair, a collection of witches’ shops. And we’re in luck, because there’s a fair tonight!”

Adrien had brightened up immediately. “Really? Where is it?”

Plagg had waved one tiny paw dismissively. “If you go out past sundown and keep yourself open to magic, you’ll be able to sense where to find it; it’s easy. Once you get there, pick up a spelled object; it’ll be a toiletry item, a bath bomb or whatever those creative witches are putting their spells into these days. Whatever it is, it’ll probably have lavender in it, like most relaxation spells do.”

“Lavender bath bomb, Paris witch shop, nighttime. Got it. Thanks, Plagg!”

And so, taking his familiar’s advice, Adrien was going to visit a magic fair. He’d taken Plagg with him, although the little kwami had protested that he was losing quality napping time. But for all his protests and prickly personality, Adrien knew that Plagg cared about him deep down.

Adrien left his apartment fifteen minutes after the last rays of sun had disappeared from the sky. As soon as he stepped outside, he felt a tugging sensation in his chest.

“To the left,” he muttered, because that’s where the sensation seemed to be leading him.

“To the left, to the left, to the left,” Plagg repeated in a nasal voice. “Now kick, now kick, now kick—”

“Oh come on, Plagg!” Adrien cried in exasperation.

The kwami only giggled and flew out ahead of Adrien. “You come on,” he smirked.

Adrien rolled his eyes, but stepped forward, slowly following the magic map with only a few wrong turns, eventually ending up at Place des Vosges.

There, lined up around the perimeter of the park, with some shops in the center by the fountain, was a collection of twenty or so little tents made of colorful, embroidered cloth. This is it, the magic seemed to say. This is what you’re looking for.

Around the outside of the park, there was a glowing teal line. Adrien paused before it, deciding whether he should cross it, or if some warning system would be triggered if he did.

“What is that?” he asked Plagg.

Plagg twitched his tail. “It’s a time spell. Once you enter the park, you can spend as long as you need inside, but once you exit, it will be like only a few minutes passed. That way everyone can get their shopping done and still get enough sleep tonight.”

“Oh,” Adrien hummed. “That’s really smart!”

And he stepped over the line into the park, with Plagg just behind him.

Wooden signs outside the tents announced what was sold in each, from charms to potions. There was even a tent selling ‘illusive’ hats, whatever that meant.

“The tents are a temporary thing,” Plagg continued. “They use a different spell, an illusion, to let the witches set them all up before sundown. That way, the boring normal Parisians don’t suspect a thing, and the ancient tradition of— oh camembert! A cheese tent! Adrien, I have to go. I will meet you when you leave the circle! Good luck and goodbye!”

Before Adrien could get in a single question, his familiar was zipping off to a small tent near the edge of the park. Shrugging, he kept walking along, knowing that Plagg would show up eventually—once he’d eaten half the poor cheese seller’s stock, probably.

There were a lot of witches gathered in the park, most of them with a kwami floating nearby. Some of them were even wearing pointed hats, which Adrien thought was rather strange. He’d assumed, after Plagg had suddenly appeared and announced magic’s existence to him on his eighteenth birthday, that pointy hats were just a made-up stereotype, not a fact of witches’ society!

Adrien passed seven tents that didn’t seem to carry the right kind of spelled items before he found a medium-sized red tent that advertised a variety of healing and creative spells. That sounded a lot like what Plagg had described earlier, so he headed inside the tent, whose sign read “Ladybug’s Boutique.”

There was no chime like he’d expect at a normal store as he stepped inside, but he only had a moment to glance around before the handful of people inside the tent fell quiet, staring at him like they’d never seen a blond boy in Paris before.

“Rena, I’ll call you back,” the witch sitting at the tiny checkout desk said, and pressed the earring in her left ear. “Fly, helcome, er, welcome! What brings a person like you here?”

Adrien blinked at the witch, who didn’t have a kwami near her, but was wearing a red hat with black spots on it. She must be Ladybug. Somehow, she looked familiar, but Adrien was positive he’d never met her before.

“Uh, I’m just here to look around, I guess. I wanted to get a bath bomb, but I haven’t found any so far.”

Ladybug’s smile twitched. “I see. Well, luckily for you, I do sell bath bombs—totally normal bath bombs! So normal, like, you wouldn’t believe.” She gestured vaguely to a basket of bath bombs sitting to the left of the desk, half-hidden by a rack of scarves.

Adrien wasn’t sure why normalcy would be a selling point for a witch’s bath bombs. Maybe she just meant they didn’t work any differently from non-magic bath bombs?

Around Adrien, the other witches turned back to what they’d been doing before. The ones who’d brought their kwamis subtly ushered them into purses or pockets — their hiding spots, in other words.

Adrien wondered if the other witches thought he wanted to steal their kwamis. Not that a teacher more open with their information than Plagg wouldn’t be nice, but he had no intention of taking one, and besides, he was somehow growing fond of the stinky cat.

Adrien didn’t say anything, because he didn’t want to be rude. Instead, he kept addressing Ladybug, who seemed like the only one to be okay with his presence, even if she was still a bit jumpy.

“Oh, thanks! I guess I’ll just take a look through them, then,” he said. He walked over to the basket and began sorting through.

Just before he reached the basket, he’d caught a mumbled whisper from one of the guests. Adrien wasn’t positive what it had been, but he was pretty sure it was a spell.

And considering how blank the bath bombs’ wrappers now were, he was pretty sure it had somehow erased the labels from each one of them.

Adrien scowled. Okay, that was just rude!

He shot a frown at the man who’d cast the spell, but there was no sense in starting a fight over it, so he kept sorting through and did his best to guess at what each bath bomb’s spell was. There were a few purple ones, and Plagg had said the spell would be lavender, so it had to be one of those ones.

Eventually, Adrien grabbed a bath bomb that was light purple on top, with a pale white lower half. Most of the bath bombs seemed to be of that kind, which meant that Ladybug made a surplus of relaxing spells on purpose. She probably cared deeply about helping other witches stay relaxed in their crazy lives! That was so nice of her.

Adrien walked over to the desk to check out. It took him all of two steps, and Ladybug was already ready to scan his purchase when he arrived.

She stared at the bath bomb for a moment when Adrien handed it to her.

“This doesn’t have a label,” she said, staring up at him like he’d peeled it off himself.

“None of them do anymore. I’m not really sure why,” Adrien sighed, because he really wasn’t sure why the other witch would be so petty as to ruin all the hard work of whoever had prepared the bath bombs for selling, likely Ladybug herself.

“I see,” Ladybug said, shooting a glare at someone behind Adrien. A chime sounded as whoever it had been stepped out of the tent. “I don’t even know what sp— what type this is anymore. I make so many of these,” she fussed as she lifted the bath bomb and sniffed it. “I don’t know. I mean, I think I know? And it shouldn’t matter anyway, right? But I could be wrong, and if I’m wrong, then! Then!”

Ladybug clutched at her hair, clearly about to fly into a panic.

Adrien smiled reassuringly. “This is the one I want. Don’t worry,” he said, keeping a calming smile on his face. “If you’re wrong, I will only blame myself, I promise.”

“And Claude,” Ladybug muttered under her breath. Then, with a smile, she continued, “I’m so sorry about the mixup. How about you just take it for free as an apology, okay?”

Adrien shook his head. “That’s awfully generous of you, but you don’t need to apologize. I’m sure it wasn’t your fault. Let me give you something to cover it, at least. How much would it usually cost?”

Ladybug tapped her fingers on the desk, which did not, Adrien noticed, have a cash register on it.

“There’s no label, is there, which means no price, which means you don’t have to pay. I insist,” she said with a blinding smile when Adrien opened his mouth to protest. “Please. Just take it.”

Adrien closed his mouth with a click. “Okay,” he said reluctantly. “I’ll take it. But then you have to take this,” he said.

And slamming down a ten on the desk, Adrien darted out of the shop before Ladybug could catch on to what he’d done and forcibly give the money back. He’d learned from experience that nice people like her did not take kindly to people paying them when they thought they were owed nothing. But Adrien knew that he had to pay something for the bath bomb, though how much, he had no idea.

He hoped ten euros had been enough. But maybe it was too much?

Oh, well. If it was, then it was just extra payment for the kerfuffle he’d caused. He knew that there had been fewer witches when he left than when he’d entered, and he hated the thought that he could’ve cost her business with his inexperienced, somehow repulsive witch’s air.

“Plagg!” he called when he reached the edge of the park. “Plagg! Over here!”

A few seconds later, a small black cat, noticeably rotund, slowly flew over to Adrien.

“Did you have any luck?” Plagg asked with a burp.

Adrien wrinkled his nose. “Yes, actually, though not in making any witchy friends. Come on, we need to leave, I’m like cyanide to businesses here!”

Plagg frowned as they left the park’s protective circle. “Yeesh, I didn’t think you would be that bad at blending in. You’re all witches,” he said, pondering the matter.

“Yeah, but I guess learning about magic eighteen years later than normal marks me as different somehow. I don’t blame them, it seems like a close-knit community and seeing someone new intrude on it must have been weird. Maybe next time will go smoother.”

“Maybe,” Plagg agreed. “I’ll have plenty of time to whip you into shape by then. We’ve got a whole fortnight,” he informed Adrien.

“That’s good,” Adrien said. “As long as your teaching doesn’t involve any camembert, I think we’ll be ready for a second shot by then.”

__*__*__*__*__

Adrien almost turned the key the wrong way in the lock when he got back to his apartment.

He was still getting used to the place. It was smaller than the suite he’d grown up in at Le Grand Paris, but he didn’t mind. He tried not be resentful of the Bourgeois family—they’d been so kind to take him in after his parents died, after all—but they were very different from him. A little too different, perhaps. He’d already been planning on moving out after his eighteenth birthday; Plagg’s sudden arrival in his life, like some small, smelly godfairy, had just sped things up.

Stepping into the bathroom, Adrien shut the door behind him and stood with his hands on his hips, pondering the empty tub. He’d used plenty of bath bombs before (being Chloe’s only friend and pseudo-brother guaranteed that), but he’d never used a magic one, and the label for this one had been conveniently destroyed. He should have asked Ladybug for the instructions while he could; then again, it had been a strange shopping experience, so he didn’t really blame himself for forgetting to.

But hopefully, he knew someone else who could help.

“Plagg?” Adrien called, knowing he could hear him wherever he was in the small apartment.

“I thought you told me that you weren’t comfortable with me being in the bathroom when the door is shut,” Plagg called back.

Adrien groaned. “I’m not naked, Plagg.”

A moment later, the kwami was hovering in front of Adrien’s face.

“So, what is it? I assume you badly need my help with some very big problem, or you wouldn’t have interrupted my nap.”

“Nope, nothing big, sorry. Do you know how to use a magic bath bomb?” Adrien held it out in front of Plagg, who sniffed it once and shrugged.

“Not my area of expertise, kid. I’m a kwami of destruction, remember?”

“But you know about other kinds of magic, too.”

“Eh, little bits here and there, yeah. This particular object smells like creation magic, which theoretically I know the most about, but bath bombs are new to me. The last time I was a familiar was a few centuries ago, and they weren’t really common then.”

So much for that idea, then.

“Well, do you have any guesses, at least?”

Plagg’s ear twitched. “If it’s like the other spelled objects I know, you just use it like you usually would. But first, activate the spell; that’s something you have to do to get rid of the safety lock most witches put on their spelled objects so that pesky regular humans can’t use them for themselves. This object smells like creation magic, so the right words should be ‘spots on.’ And that’s all there is to it, unless bath bombs are special.”

Adrien pinched his nose. “Really, Plagg? You could have led with that instead of saying you couldn’t help.”

“Well, if that’s how you’re going to react to me graciously choosing to share my illustrious wisdom, see if I help you again,” Plagg said with a sniff.

Adrien reached out and cupped the kwami in his free hand. “Sorry, Plagg. I am grateful for your help, you know. It’s just been a rough night.”

“It’s been a rough three months, more like,” Plagg corrected, letting out a reluctant purr when Adrien scratched behind his ears. A moment later, he flew up and over to the door. “Okay, time for you to take that relaxing bath of yours. I’ll be napping, so don’t call again unless you really need me!”

Adrien smiled. “Bye, Plagg,” he said. The kwami phased through the door, and then he was gone.

So, Adrien plugged the tub’s drain, turned on the hot water, and pulled up a playlist Nino had made for him as a graduation present to listen to while the tub filled and he got undressed.

Adrien hummed along to the songs, thinking of how lucky he was to be part of a friend group that hadn’t fallen apart after they moved on to university. Alya, Nino, Marinette, and he still met up almost every week, and Nino and he even went to the same university, though for very different majors. Adrien was studying to be a pediatric nurse; Nino was a film production major. They would never share a class again.

The tub had filled up enough, so Adrien unwrapped the bath bomb and plopped it in the tub, whispering “spots on” as he did. The bath bomb immediately started fizzling, but that was what they all did. It smelled nice, too, but so did most of them. It really seemed like a normal bath bomb, Adrien mused as he slid himself into the tub.

The rest of the bath was relaxing, but not any more relaxing than other baths Adrien had taken in the past. There wasn’t anything to mark this as a magic occurrence, and he was tempted to conclude that Ladybug’s spell simply hadn’t worked, but he decided to hold off on judgment yet. Maybe the effects took a while to kick in, or maybe they would show themselves in more subtle ways. Maybe Adrien would finally wake up feeling refreshed, instead of still tired and dreading the long day ahead.

Besides, Adrien did feel more relaxed now than he had before the bath. And it was finally the weekend, and Plagg had promised to give him a break from constantly testing him on his magic skills for a few days. That was good enough for him, Adrien thought as he dried off and wrapped a fluffy robe around himself.

__*__*__*__*__

That night, Adrien dreamed of Marinette.

It wasn’t that surprising to him; he’d been dreaming of her ever since eighth grade, when he’d fallen in love with her. But although he’d had hundreds of dreams about her, something about this one was different.

For one thing, Marinette was an adult in it. More of an adult, anyway; she was easily in her mid-twenties (and still just as gorgeous as ever). So was Adrien, and they’d been resting on an island together, lying on the beach without a care in the world. It was the most blissful feeling Adrien had ever experienced; and then Marinette had rolled over and kissed him and it had gotten even better.

“I’m so glad you convinced me to come here, mon amour,” she whispered, laying her head on his chest and looking up at him with eyes as dazzlingly blue as the sea.

Adrien’s heart had been close to bursting, but in the dream he’d still managed to stroke her hair and whisper back that he was glad she’d agreed to come.

“You were right, after all,” Marinette had continued. “This is the perfect place for our honeymoon.”

Adrien could feel his eyes growing wider, but his dream self had gone on like nothing was out of the ordinary. Well, almost.

“Mm-hmm. I told you it would be a dream, milady.”

Marinette had laughed, pushing herself off his chest to hover over him, staring right in his eyes and making Adrien’s heart flutter wildly.

“You and your puns,” she’d laughed. “I hope you’re enjoying this, Adrien.”

“How could I not? You’re finally with me,” he’d purred.

“Now and forever,” she’d agreed, and leaned in for another kiss.

Adrien had woken up in a sweat.

It was still the middle of the night.

“That was so not relaxing,” he’d groaned, and had tossed and turned for the rest of the unrestful night.

At breakfast, he stared at his burnt toast without taking a bite.

Plagg flew in, holding a sock from the bottom of the laundry hamper.

“Hi, Adrien,” he said cheerfully. “Feeling any better?”

Adrien’s eye twitched as he kept staring at the toast.

Plagg cleared his throat. “You have lunch with Nino and the girls at noon, and you asked me to remind you, so I reminded you, and you have to remember now and thank me profusely for my service. A little bonus camembert wouldn’t hurt, either.”

Adrien thought he could make out Marinette’s face in the ridges of the burnt toast, but then his eyes unfocused, and he couldn’t make out anything.

Plagg’s tail twitched. “Hello?”

If Adrien drank twelve cups of coffee, he might feel awake enough to respond.

“Hello?” Plagg was getting impatient. “Adrien, wake up! You’re not supposed to be this relaxed!”

He flew over Adrien’s head and draped the sock he’d been carrying over his hair. Then he dove down to the plate and scarfed the burnt toast down without hesitation.

Finally, Adrien moved.

“Hey, you ate Marinette!” he complained. He crossed his arms, and the sock fell off his head and onto the table.

“Good morning to you, too,” Plagg said. “Listen, Adrien, are you okay? You’re acting weirder than usual.”

Adrien sighed and pushed the chair back from the table. “I don’t think that was a relaxation spell, Plagg,” he said. “If anything, it was a drain-your-energy-overnight-spell. Or maybe it wasn’t magic, at all! Because I do not feel rested, Plagg. And I had a weird dream about Marinette.”

Plagg groaned. “Whatever it was, do not tell me about it. You wax poetic about her around me too much anyways. It’s disgusting! You humans and your lovelorn, sappy sighs and faces. It’s enough to turn me off cheese! Cheddar, anyway. Not camembert. I don’t understand why you won’t just confess to her!”

“You don’t understand, Plagg! We’ve been friends since we were kids. If I confess to her and she doesn’t feel the same way—”

“It could ruin your friendship forever and blah blah blah. I get it,” Plagg said, rubbing his forehead and swishing his tail. “I still think you should tell her. So, the bath bomb didn’t work? Which witch did you buy it from, anyway?”

“I think she was called Ladybug,” Adrien said thoughtfully, staring off in the distance. “She was wearing a polka-dotted hat. I thought those were just in fairy tales.”

“Ladybug? But then why—? Adrien, you activated the spell, right?”

Adrien nodded. “Yep.” He frowned at the spot on his plate where his toast had been, which was currently being occupied by a week-old stinky sock. “Ugh, really?”

Plagg shrugged. “You’re welcome. Anway, did, uh, Ladybug recognize you?”

Adrien tilted his head. “I don’t think so. But nobody there seemed happy to see me. One of the witches in her tent spelled the labels off all the bath bombs.”

“What? Then you made sure to double check which type it was, right?”

“Even Ladybug didn’t know what it was. She sniffed it and said she thought she knew what it was, but maybe she didn’t, and also said it shouldn’t matter, and I told her it’d be my fault if I picked the wrong one to get her to stop worrying. She nearly didn’t let me pay, either,” he huffed.

“What, but why wouldn’t she check first? She could check! What kind of witch is she? I thought Tikki would teach M— would teach her better than this!”

Adrien blinked. “What do you mean, she could check? She tried to check, remember? It’s not her fault,” he sighed, leaning over the table and resting his chin on his hand.

Suddenly, Plagg looked very grim. “Adrien,” he said seriously, which was nearly enough to make Adrien’s heart stop pumping, “You did tell her that you were a witch, right?”

Adrien blinked. “No, why would I? It’s a magic fair, right? The only people there were witches.”

Plagg covered his eyes and wailed. “That’s not a given! People take their families to those shops even if they’re too young to have a familiar! They even take their friends sometimes, boring ones, with no magic at all! And worse, sometimes the illusion spell breaks, and normal humans who aren’t supposed to know about magic wander in, and then the witches have to hide what they’re really doing there! Please tell me, did you at least hear a chime as you walked into Ladybug’s tent?”

Adrien tried to remember. “I don’t think so. Why?”

Plagg looked up at him wearily. “Then she didn’t know you were a witch. Oh, this one’s my fault, kid. I should have warned you, but I couldn’t help it! I can’t resist my gooey camembert!”

Adrien raised an eyebrow. “Plagg, what are you saying?”

“There are two easy ways to identify a witch, kid. One of them is their kwami; you saw a lot of witches at the fair with one on their shoulder, didn’t you? The chime would have gone off if I’d been with you, but you were alone. Second way to identify witches; a magic hat. That’s the more secretive option; they hide your true identity from everyone you meet, even other witches. It’s the perfect option for witches who are uncomfortable with anyone knowing who they are, though us kwamis can see right through the illusion. If you’d had a hat last night, you could’ve gone incognito and the chime would have rung for you. But you didn’t have me, and you weren’t wearing a hat, so the chime didn’t ring and Ladybug thought you were just a regular old human who snuck into the fair!”

“She didn’t check what the bath bomb’s spell was because she thought I wouldn’t be able to activate it,” Adrien gasped. “Plagg! This explains so much!”

“I’m going to go hide in a cave for the next thousand years,” Plagg moaned. “I can’t believe it. I’m failing my job as a familiar! Tikki is never going to let me live this down!”

Adrien was too floored by their discovery to ask who Tikki was or what living in a cave would accomplish.

“The other witches thought I was just a regular human, too! And that rude guy, he was just trying to help by hiding the labels with the spells on them! But I didn’t notice and I just stood there and bought the wrong spell, like an idiot!”

Plagg flew to Adrien and grabbed his nightshirt’s lapels with both paws, shaking them furiously as he spoke. “We have to find out what kind of spell you used, Adrien! Do you hear me? This is very dangerous, and while I normally like that, I don’t want you to get hurt!”

Adrien stopped panicking and blinked down at Plagg as a grin spread across his face. “Aww, Plagg! You do care!”

“Of course I care, I chose you to be my witch! I’m supposed to take care of you and make sure you don’t accidentally blow up the world because you don’t understand your magic! And instead I fell victim to the seductive evils of camembert! I’m a failure!”

Adrien laughed. “Don’t worry, Plagg, I’ll forgive you. But first, you have to help me figure out what kind of spell it actually was that I activated. I think it’s related to the dream I had.”

Plagg groaned and flew over to the sock lying on the table. “Not the dream!” He draped the sock around himself and inhaled deeply. “You’re probably right,” he mused after a moment. “So, you had a dream about Marinette. Was it a good dream?”

Adrien practically melted. “It was amazing, Plagg,” he said with a wistful sigh. “We were lying on a beach together, and she kissed me and—”

“Ugh, I get it! So, it was a love spell. No real danger, problem solved. Thank cheese.”

“A love spell? Wait, but Plagg, couldn’t that mean that Marinette got affected, too? What if— oh, no,” Adrien gasped. “What if I made her fall in love with me?”

Plagg snorted. “Unlikely. But you know what, if you want to check, your chance is coming up soon. You have lunch with her in just over an hour.”

Adrien shot up from the table. “What!? But I told you to remind me earlier than this! What if I’m late?”

“I did warn you earlier than this,” Plagg huffed. “But you were busy making googly eyes at a piece of toast. Which you then called Marinette when you yelled at me for eating it, for some reason.”

Adrien’s face flushed red. “Plagg! Just help me get ready on time, will you?”

Plagg sighed. “My troubles never end,” he whined. “This is the last time I sign up to be a familiar.”

(tumblr link for chapter 2)

#rosie-b writing #ml fanfic #love square #ml au #adrien and marinette are witches but neither of them knows the other is #miraculous ladybug #adrinette #some ladrien too

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pertsovvka · 6 months

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Happy Halloween

#ladybug #miraculous ladybug #mlb #miraculous #ml #halloween #ghost #witch #marinette dupen chang #chat noir

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fabseg-reader · 5 months

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I have some Cerisette sketches. This time, happens in a fairy tale AU.

From left to right: Marinette (Knight), Cerise (Witch/Deviless/Demon Queen) and Adrien ("Princess"*)

*he's a boy

This is the "confrontation" scene.

The Knight Marinette is come to the castle for free the Princess Adrien but she must face Cerise the Witch Deviless and newly owner of the castle (the previous was the "Witch" Gabriel but he's dead (see at the bottom of the post)).

Princess Adrien is the witness/spectator of the battle (In VIP position).

Marinette is planifying her 131st raid/attempt (all the previouses had failed).

The strong fact: Cerise has never tried to eliminate Marinette unlike to the other knights who terribly failed their raids. She has just repelled her. It's because Marinette has managed to dodge all the traps in the castle.

This time, the Knight and the Witch Deviless make a Tie. The two opponents have their weapons (Marinette: Sword and Shield; Cerise: Magical Scepter) both destroyed.

In next moment, Cerise congratulates Marinette and declares Adrien is released from his captivity. The Princess Boy is surprised he can leave the castle (despite the fact Marinette haven't entered to the Adrien's tower room yet).

Cerise doesn't seem interested about continue to fight Marinette. The Deviless comes closer to the Knight and pins her to the wall with a flirtatous tone. First time, Marinette doesn't understand the Cerise's behavior.

Suddenly, Cerise offers a request to Marinette: To accept her wedding confession/to marry her.

During the battles moments in the past, the Deviless Cerise had developped a little crush on the Knight Marinette.

Bonus:

This is the first meeting between Marinette/Knight and Cerise/Witch Deviless.

Cerise hasn't just overthrown Gabriel the Witch (and Adrien's gaoler). She has killed him. When Marinette the Knight has finally entered to the throne room, she is confused and shortly horrified to see the recently murdered Gabriel's bloody corpse who is empaled on many objects. Cerise and Gabriel had previously a fight against each other and Cerise had won.

Marinette had worked her Knight's skills during her trainings. She became the champion of the Kingdom after winning the tournament. She prepared herself to defeat the Witch Gabriel and to rescue Adrien. And now, a new Witch (a Demon girl) she had never seen yet is standing up in front of her.

But Cerise turns her interest about the new "visitor". She sits down on the Gabriel's throne, poses like a Femme Fatale (Basic Instinct vibes) and invites Marinette to come closer to her with a finger gesture (the Deviless Cerise's hands are like Dragon claws and her fingers are claws).

Marinette/Knight: Who are you ? 🤨

Cerise/Witch Deviless: I am the Demon Queen Cerise. The witch Deviless. But you can name me Cerise. 😉😘

Concerning the Adrien's fate:

Marinette/Knight: What happens with the Princess Adrien ? Do you free him from the Witch ? 🤨

Cerise/Witch Deviless: I wouldn't say "free", more like, under new management. 😉😈

I let you find some ideas for how can be happened in the next moment.

I just taken the idea from the Gabriel Agreste episode (4.09). The illustrations of Marc and Nathaniel have been used as models for this sketches.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous au #fairy tale au #fairy tale universe #sketch #marinette dupain cheng #cerise #lila rossi/cerise #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #cerisette #lilanette #my art #knight marinette #princess adrien #witch gabriel #witch deviless cerise #devil cerise #megamind reference

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goggles-mcgee · 4 months

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Ashes of Rage: Act 1 - It Would Take A Miracle

Chapter 4 of the story for @miner249er

AO3 Last Chapter

Summary: Luka's heart had never felt so broken, his world so dark and his music so static. He hasn't had any motivation to do anything besides stay in bed. It would take a miracle to make him do so...or a sympathetic and determined kwami.

It Would Take A Miracle:

Static.

All he could hear was static.

There were no melodies, there were no solos, there were no symphonies. All it was was disheartening static and Luka didn’t know what to do. His life three days ago had been so loud and comforting but now it was silent, muddled and so dark. He felt listless and refused to get out of bed. It was a good thing that he and Juleka got their own rooms finally, it had taken a lot of convincing for his mom to let them clean out one of the storage rooms and turn it into his new bedroom. It had actually been Marinette who had convinced his stubborn mom and it had made Marinette all the more wonderful. She was always incredible, but seeing her out stubborn the most stubborn person in Luka’s life had only made him love and value her more. A fresh wave of tears washed over the forlorn teen at the thought of his crush and friend. His heart twinged with a twisted pain he was slowly getting used to. Pain. He was in so much pain. He wanted it gone. He wanted her back. But like every time before, his pleas and wishes were ignored and just led to more heartbreak.

His appetite was all but gone and he barely ate what his mom made or bought him, he still drank though and maybe that was why she wasn’t pushing. He hadn’t showered in three days but with the way he was feeling he knew it would be longer. It was hard to get out of bed even if it was to use the restroom, taking a shower just felt like too much work. He would see the shower and a barrage of thoughts would crash into him, reminding him all he would have to do to feel clean again and it was like he was tranquilized or something because he would just feel this bone-deep tiredness that wouldn’t go away no matter what he did so it would just lead to him laying in his bed and starting the twisted routine all over again. It was like he was in one of those groundhog day movies or like his own power Second Chance, was glitching and not letting him out of the situation.

Luka’s emotions felt too big for his body, his skin itched with his frustration and the days passed without a shower, his teeth ached in his longing, his muscles screamed in his sadness, his heart clenched in its breaking and his lungs drowned in his guilt. As much as he craved to do something, anything he also couldn’t help the thoughts of ‘why?’ Why do anything at all when his world had crashed and burned around him? Why plead for things to be different when his prayers fell on deaf ears? Why get up when nothing he did would bring back Marinette? It was a lot and there was never a break form the never-ending torture. Not even his dreams were safe. Dreaming of Marinette led to more heartache even if the dream was normal to past ones he had had that had previously brought him endless joy. The nightmares were the worst but he would take them over the bittersweet ones that just made his longing deeper and his hope stronger. But reality would hit him once his eyes opened and he would cry for many minutes, maybe even hours. Time didn’t register to him really.

The only reason he knew how long it had been since he had showered was because of his mom and Juleka. He knew they were trying to help but he had been angrier than he honestly expected after Paris learned of Team Miraculous’ Finale Fight, he hated it but that was what everyone had now dubbed it. It hadn’t been a fight, at least not from his and the rest of the team’s point of view. No one knew what exactly happened in the underground chamber since the only ones who could tell them were two comatose Kwamis and three villains who would probably twist the events. It was hard to come to the realization that Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste, even for Luka who had the unique skill of ‘reading someone’s heart.’ That’s what others referred to it as but according to his long talks with Sass, Luka seemed to be someone who could read a person’s aura which mixed with his Synesthesia. He had Chromesthesia, specifically, but his was more along the lines of seeing color and the color had a sound. He saw colors in a lot of things but it was constantly people, their auras and tones of voice would bring color and the color would bring the music.

It did get overwhelming sometimes and it had been a big factor in him doing his schooling online for a while which turned into permanently. He just enjoyed it more than when he did go to school and his former teachers told him they saw remarkable improvement in his grades. He still met up with his friends, they still hung out and had study sessions, so he was still a social teen but he didn’t have to worry about migraines or coming across weird to other people who weren’t his friends. His former bandmates in Kitty Section had also been really understanding and never treated him differently and helped him when some days were just too much. But they changed, their music’s changed and it had been jarring, when he eventually left the band he knew it had been inevitable. There was no doubt in Luka’s mind that if he hadn’t quit he would have been ‘politely’ fired and he had strong feelings about that. The one constant had been Marinette, when the others changed she didn’t. She remained strong and melodious.

Even if she was going through something her melody was still recognizable. He was still coming to terms with the fact he would never hear her song any time soon or ever. She had been there when he left the band, she had been there when he begun fighting with Juleka more than normal and she had been there when he decided to get to know his dad more. She had been such a strong light guiding him through some of the roughest seas he had ever experienced. Kagami had also been a constant presence before everything happened. She was a calming presence and often kept him and Marinette from getting lost in their projects. Both he and Marinette tended to get distracted easily and they both fed off each other’s energy and Kagami would be the one to keep them grounded and focused. Kagami’s music was a new sound he had gotten used to hearing and it was easily in his list of top ten songs from people he heard. When Marinette, Kagami and he would get together he would hear such wonderful melodies.

Marinette had often joked that they were the Three Musketeers with how often they would hang out together when they could. Without Marinette it felt like a knife to the heart to use the group chat between the three that was titled as such so he and Kagami never touched it when they spoke. Phone calls were still too much for Luka at the moment so the two just texted each other but it still brought him comfort all the same. That was probably another reason why his mother wasn’t pushing too much, it probably would have been a different story if he had cut off all his friends but especially Kagami since his mom knew how close they along with Marinette were. But he still overheard his mom talking on the phone over how worried she was and how she didn’t know what to do. Luka always felt like telling her she was doing all she could and just comfort her but he didn’t have the energy. He suspected she was talking to his dad or Penny, most likely both. He knew from the sounds of it his dad wasn’t doing so well either with the news.

“Snakelet…”

The voice of his Kwami cut through the current haze Luka found himself in but he couldn’t bring himself to look at his friend but he did manage to hum as a response.

“I have thought about what I could say that would make you feel better for ages. I came to the conclusion that no words I could offer would make you happy. Nor satisfied. But I don’t want to leave you with no words from me. I…I am lost. I have been through this situation more times than I’d like to admit and yet all those instances have left me with no answers.” Sass admitted in his soft voice as he flew to sit in front of Luka’s face on his pillow. Luka couldn’t look away, he wouldn’t look away, he knew it would hurt his small friend if he did so.

“Though there are few words I can give you that express my condolences and support, I simply will say, I am here for you.” Sass said and did his best to give Luka a hug, though it was more like he laid himself on Luka’s nose. “I am here for you and I will continue to be here if ever you need me.”

Luka felt himself begin to cry again, which astounded him as he felt like he was all out of tears. “Sass…” He choked out, he tried his best not to sound like he was going to sob but he knew he failed when he felt Sass try to hug him harder.

“What do I do?” He asked in a small voice once his small cry ended. Sass was no longer on his nose but instead sat in his hands as he finally sat up after what felt like ages.

“ We do our best to move forward.”

“We?”

“I did say I will be with you. I mean it, every step of the way, I will be here.” Sass didn’t say he promised but Luka could hear it in his tone of voice. It was a promise but it felt like more. It felt like a lifeline.

Luka couldn’t really think of an appropriate response without risk of crying again and he already had a cry-headache settling in. “What…What do we do?”

“We need to go to…Ladybug’s house, her room specifically.” Luka was about to protest that suggestion, because he was absolutely not ready to do that. He didn’t think he would ever be ready. “I know that is probably the last thing you want to do Snakelet, but I can’t communicate with the other Kwami to see if one of their holders can do it. The Miracle Box is sitting in…Ladybug’s room unknown and unprotected. If someone with ill intentions were to find it there would be great difficulties and more tragedy.”

“More?” Luka felt his anger rise at an alarming speed. “Hasn’t there been enough?”

“Luka…I understand you are in pain and worried. I…I am also going through the same. My friends are unconscious and unresponsive…I…I can barely feel them even if they are in the same room.” At Sass’s words Luka’s anger all but left him in an instant. “Besides obtaining the Miracle Box and keeping it safe, I feel something telling me that Tikki and Plagg need the Miracle Box. I can’t explain and I know you are hurting, but-”

“Okay.”

“-it is…Wait. Okay? You…You will do it?” Sass asked and the wide-eyed hopeful look on his face broke Luka’s heart a little bit more. Sometimes it was hard to remember that he wasn’t the only one hurting even if it felt like it at times.

“You and me, Sass, you…you said you were here for me and I’ll be here for you. We’re friends.” Luka said softly as he brought the Kwami to his chest in the best hug he could give, it was somewhat like the hug Sass gave Luka earlier. He wanted to make Sass feel as safe and loved as the Kwami had made him feel despite their size difference. After their hug Luka forced himself to get out of bed and ignored how weak his legs felt and softly said his transformation phrase. It felt weird being Viperion even though it really hadn’t been that long since he had last transformed but there was this odd feeling like being in his hero form was wrong without…Ladybug there to lead. Ladybug, it was easier to think of her as Ladybug, it didn’t lessen the pain but it made it just a bit more bearable. But now he was going to her house, to her room and he knew what it looked like, smelled like and there would be no way to think of her as Ladybug when he was in there.

He had to do this though. For Sass and for Ladybug, he would rather die than let the rest of the Miraculi fall into the wrong hands. He'd be damned if he didn’t protect the city that Ladybug loved with her whole heart and soul. So he made his way to her home, to her tower. He and Kagami often joked about Marinette being the princess in the tower and Mari-Ladybug only laughed. She loved her tower. Kagami once joked when it was the two of them that Kagami was M-Ladybug’s knight while he was her minstrel. He had laughed and agreed but later he would think about it and decided he would be a knight if she needed him to be. Though she had needed him and he hadn’t been there. Nope! No! He would not fall down that line of thinking as he was jumping across rooftops and using his lyre to help him along the way. It was a weird day when they found out his lyre could turn into a crossbow, the end of his “arrows” could also change into a grappling gun.

Apparently he and Sass had been bonding pretty well and slowly harmonizing which is why his lyre upgraded to one of its forms. The arrows of the crossbow themselves were weird as he didn’t carry a quiver or anything but an arrow would be equipped if he needed it. Some had no arrowheads, some had normal arrowheads, others had barbed arrowheads, and sometimes the arrows had string attached to them. Whatever kind of arrow he needed, it would show up on the crossbow already loaded. Sass had told him that that showed just how in tune the two were becoming and that soon they would probably be able to communicate with one another while Luka was transformed. It was something he had been looking forward to. He was sure it would come in handy and besides, he already talked out loud when transformed, it may have looked weird but he had been talking to his kwami even if he didn’t think he could hear him at the time. He hadn’t but now he would, hopefully soon.

Finally, Luka touched down on the roof of Ma-Ladybug’s tower and looked around in sadness as he noticed the plants up there had wilted. Before he could talk himself out of it he opened the hatch of the roof and jumped through and onto the floor of the bedroom. Some dust had begun to settle and it broke Luka’s heart more but he willed himself to take deep breaths before he dropped his transformation. He and Sass needed to be able to talk and they weren’t quite at that stage of being able to communicate with one another. As the transformation dropped he looked down at the dirty pink bag that he had taken to looking after and opened it to look at the kwamis who slept inside. Tikki and Plagg, as he had learned from Sass, were normally darker in their colors but looking at them they seemed shades or tones paler, well according to Sass.

“So what are we looking for?” Luka asked as he refused to look anywhere else but his kwami.

Sass had opened his mouth, probably to respond but both of them froze when they heard thumps coming from the roof and the unmistakable murmur of voices. Luka scooped his kwami out of the air and quickly hid behind M- Ladybug’s .( Ladybug. Goddammit .) chaise. The light in the room was off and he himself had been wearing some of his darker clothes…er well, pajamas. Both kwami and teen held their breath as the hatch to the roof was opened and down came two? No, three, actually make it four, people. It took a minute for Luka to recognize them as his teammates. He didn’t know whether or not to greet them but that choice disappeared when a purple kwami and blue kwami flew out from somewhere and floated in the middle of the room.

“Please don’t be scared!” The purple one pleaded. “I am Nooroo and this is Duusuu. I am the kwami of the Butterfly Miraculous while Duusuu is the kwami for the Peacock. I know that alarms you but please listen. I called my friends here and they probably don’t know why or just had a feeling they had to come here so you followed.”

Barely after speaking, the kwami - Nooroo, was sped into by Sass who flew so fast the two kwami shot off into the air. Luka figured there was no point in hiding anymore and stepped out from his hiding place and awkwardly waved at his teammates. They seemed to be in shock before Noc-Turtle mumbled something and their transformation dropped revealing Marc Anciel. Fox-Tail’s jaw dropped before he hastily said his detransformation phrase and there stood Nathaniel Kurtzberg who hurried over Marc and hugged him. Donryu had been looking at Luka the whole time and quietly made her way over to him, once she was in front of him she too dropped her transformation and there was Kagami. It shouldn’t have shocked him as much as it did but the two just stood there staring at each other before they heard an odd wheeze come from Bee-Witch who was staring at everyone with wide eyes. She too dropped her transformation and only to the shock of Marc and Nathaniel, she turned out to be Chloe Bourgeois.

“I don’t know how to handle all these revelations at the moment but I can work through them later with my cat.” Marc said, clearly still in some shock. “Er-Nooroo right? Can you explain more?”

Nooroo who was in the middle of a kwami group hug along with Duusuu nodded and reluctantly left the hug. “Like I said, I was able to call you all here to meet, I had to borrow power from the other kwami in the Miracle Box though. I’m not at full power and even then my messages would have been more feeling than anything. Sorry, I’m rambling. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to talk so freely.”

“You are fine, Our Friend.” Pollen reassured while glaring at everyone else like she was daring them to argue.

“Take your time.” Sass murmured from his spot next to his friend. Luka wanted to comfort the little kwami but he didn’t think it would help given how Luka could imagine he was treated by his former user. If Luka were him, he would be wary of humans no matter how well intentioned.

Nooroo took a deep breath and nodded. “I…I don’t really know where to start. What I have to say is…shocking to say the least. I know all of us here have been through a lot…have lost a lot…but I felt like if I stayed quiet I would be betraying Ladybug just…just like Chat Noir did.”

It was quiet. So quiet. Until Nathaniel choked out a small, “What?”

Duusuu merely nodded in response along with Nooroo. “It was awful. Chat Noir and his father planned the entire thing. Chat Noir planned to be suspicious of Gabriel Agreste once more and had you guys purposefully find out he was guilty of being Hawkmoth. Ladybug was the big target and you guys would have been just…collateral. So when Ladybug proposed the ambush…”

“Uncle Gabe already knew.” Chloe stated in a voice full of disgust even if her eyes were filled with tears.

“He did.” Nooroo confirmed. “Chat Noir played his role well and the ambush was happening so fast. Ladybug could barely try and fight back before she was secured to the chair. She was so angry…so heartbroken…she did all she could to fight against Gabriel and his son…”

There were some gasps among the humans at the information but Luka merely took a much needed breath in. He had guessed as much since the only ones in the house after the explosion had been Adrien, Gabriel, Nathalie and the body of Emilie Agreste. It just clicked. Sure Chat Noir could have disappeared like Marin-Ladybug did but that didn’t feel right. Chat had already been acting off before the ambush and confirming he was in fact Adrien was like the final nail in the coffin. Luka had had suspicions of who the Chat was and just whose side he was on but after everything, the confirmation was bitter. According to Sass, Luka had known who he and Ladybug were but the memories of their identities faded as a safety measure to keep the team’s identities safe. Luka would only have kept the memories if both heroes had accepted he knew and trusted him. It was weird but Luka just chalked it up to Miraculous Magic.

He wished he had been able to remember, if he had then maybe all of this wouldn’t have happened. He wouldn’t be standing in M-Lady…no. He had to stop. It didn't matter how much he told himself, Ladybug was Marinette. Marinette was Ladybug. They were one and the same and denying it to himself was more likely to hurt him than bring him healing. He couldn’t delude himself anymore. It hurt, it hurt so much, but he had to acknowledge the truth because that was the only way he’d be able to move forward and help protect the city that Marinette adored. He missed her. He missed her so much, but he had to do the healthy thing and not try and separate her from herself. It would be like he wasn’t giving her, her due credit and Marinette deserved so much credit. “If Adrien and his dad got the earrings…then why did the mansion explode like it did?” Luka asked so they could continue. They could all mourn and scream and cry after, but right now they needed information.

“I’m not sure.” Nooroo admitted. “Everything was happening so fast. Gabriel was so close to making his wish and magic was everywhere in preparation. But I felt it, it was this enormous feeling of betrayal and anger that washed over all of us. Tikki looked so scared and worried and Plagg looked shocked. I had turned to where I felt the emotions and it was no surprise they were coming from Ladybug…but just as I looked at her, there was this awful cracking and whistling. Like something was breaking through the roof and flooring at high speed. I panicked as did the other kwami but Tikki looked…she looked like she recognized what was happening.”

“She looked like her heart broke.” Duusuu mumbled, their voice was soft and scratchy. They seemed to be in pain.

“The room filled with this bright, bright red light and then next thing I know…the mansion exploded. Ladybug was nowhere to be seen.” Nooroo flew over to Luka and pointed at the open pink bag in his hands. “Tikki and Plagg know what happened, but because of all the ambient magic, plus the overwhelming emotions swirling in the air, and their own merging being interrupted, they were hurt.”

“Something like this hasn’t happened in a long time.” Wayzz admitted.

“So there is a way to help them?” Kagami asked.

Wayzz nodded. “Yes. But it will take time…a lot of time. I’ve never seen them so bad. The best we can do is return them to the Miracle Box. It will heal them, but the damage is great and as I said, it will take time. Nooroo, I imagine you called us here, not only to tell us the truth but also because of the Miracle Box.”

“That’s right. The Miracle Box will be vulnerable if there is no one to watch over it as it heals our friends. I sensed the box here and that’s only because Duusuu and I are both still being affected by the interrupted magic. We’re more sensitive right now.”

“One of our holders will definitely protect the box.” Pollen declared. “They are all brave heroes.”

All the humans looked at one another in disbelief. Marinette had been guarding this box all while being Ladybug? They knew she was amazing but this was something else entirely. Luka sadly guessed that this is why she was always so stressed. If they had to watch this box and protect it then so be it. He’d do it for Marinette, no matter the cost. Now all that they needed to decide was who to send the box with.

Next Chapter

#mldc #mldc crossover #ml x dc #mldccrossover #ml red lantern au #red lantern marinette #mldccrossover Luka Couffaine | Viperion #mldccrossover Kagami Tsurugi | Donryu #ml salt fic #chat noir salt #adrien agreste salt #mldccrossover Marc Anciel | Noc-Turtle #mldccrossover Nathaniel Kurtzberg | Fox-Tail #mldccrossover Chloe Bourgeois | Bee-Witch #mldccrossover kwamis

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