Ever since I got into Miraculous and ended up making a character for it, I've wanted to do some writing about her. Now, this is just an origin oneshot, but if I find some inspiration (which is like since I've dragged some friends into making Miraculous characters), it might turn into something more. But for now, ears up!
"Where should we go next?" a young girl with shoulder length black hair and amber eyes asked her parents with a smile.
"Diane, we're supposed to be on vacation!" the woman said.
"Exactly! So we need to see as much of Japan as we can before heading home! Oh, like that market over there! I wonder what sort of things they have for sale! I want to get some Japanese paints and art books before we leave so I can try some sumi-e painting! And I promised Nathanael that I'd bring him back some paints too!"
Her father chuckled as her enthusiasm and excitement. "Why don't you take a look through the market while your mother and I head back to the hotel for some rest?"
"All right, I'll be faster without you two old timers slowing me down anyway!" she smirked cheekily.
"Old timers? We're in the prime of our youth!" her father boastfully exclaimed as he flexed his arms.
"Maybe twenty years ago," Diane muttered under her breath.
"Oh hush, you," her father chuckled. "Now go on, you take your time too! Your mom and I are gonna need enough rest if we're gonna keep up with you for the rest of the trip!"
"Ok!" Diane called as she dashed towards the market. It was full of people, which would normally overwhelm her, but she was just too excited about being in another country to remember how timid and shy she usually was. She slowly strolled forward, glancing at each stall for a few seconds, trying to figure out where to start.
"Ah, such a pretty young girl," a voice greeted. Diane's head turned to the direction the voice came from and spotted an elderly woman with a small jewelry stand. She looked around, unsure who the woman was speaking to and pointed to herself as if to ask if the woman was talking to her. In response, the woman waved her hand and gestured Diane to come forward to her jewelry stand, one of many in the night market the pair stood in. "Do you see anything you like?"
"Oh, um, thank you," she whispered timidly as she browsed the jewelry on display.
After a few seconds of silence, the woman spoke, "Hm, I can see it in your eyes. Nothing here jumps out at you."
"Oh, no, no, that's not it! I'm just browsing, that's all!" she insisted, not wanting to insult the woman or her wares.
"No, no, I think I might have something here that will 'jump' out at you," she said, reaching beneath the table and pulling out a small octagonal black box with an intricate red design on the lid. "What's your name, dear?"
"Diane."
"Such a pretty name! Here," she smiled, pulling off the lid to reveal a beautiful necklace in the shape of a crescent moon made of a smooth, navy stone with five white circles along the crescent. Hanging from the tip of the crescent was a circular pearl stone.
"Wow, it's beautiful," she said in awe.
"And lucky for you, tonight I'm offering a special deal! Fifty percent off your first purchase!"
"Oh, wow! I really shouldn't… but it's really pretty. Oh, why not? My parents did give me some spending money for souvenirs."
"Wonderful!" the old woman smiled. "Now, be sure that you don't put it on until you get home and make sure you are alone in your room. Understand?"
"Why?" she asked, confused.
"Old Japanese superstition! For good luck!"
"Oh, ok. Well, thank you!" she smiled, handing the woman money in exchange for the necklace.
The elderly woman watched with a smile as the girl walked away while tucking the box into her bag. "Good luck, Llona, my friend."
When Diane and her family arrived home in Paris from their trip to Japan, she made her way up to her bedroom on their large studio apartment. Her bedroom was colorfully decorated with paintings and sketches hanging on her wall, most of them done by her hand. Her bed sat in one corner of her room enclosed in a box-like structure with a large opening for her to get in. Next to it was a large set of stairs leading to a loft on top of her bed which held her desk and computer. The stairs themselves were hollowed out and contained her clothes all neatly folded. In the adjacent corner stood an easel with a painting still in progress along with shelves and drawers filled with various art supplies. In the final corner sat a dresser and a vanity with a large ovular mirror. Diane pulled her large suitcase into her room and shut the door behind her. Rather than start unpacking right away, she pulled the small black box from her bag and sat at the vanity. She pulled off the top of the box and admired the beautiful necklace once again. Carefully, she pulled the necklace out of the box from the chain and held it out in front of her before turning it around and unclasping it. She reached her hands behind her neck and carefully clasped the necklace around her neck and let the moon shaped pendant just over her chest. She sat there and admired her reflection when all of a sudden, the necklace began shining brightly and a white light shot out from it and smacked right into the mirror. Diane gasped in shock and tumbled out of her chair.
"Diane, sweetie, are you ok?" her mother asked from downstairs.
"Uh, yeah I'm fine mom! Just knocked over some books!" Diane quickly replied. "What the heck was that?" she asked herself, standing up and setting her chair back on its feet. She examined the necklace. "What the?" Strangely, the necklace was now reversed in color! The crescent was a pearly white while the circular stone was navy. She looked back to her vanity and saw a small white furball sitting in front of the mirror. The little creature groaned and rubbed her forehead before turning to face Diane, revealing a pair of long rabbit ears and a golden crescent emblem on its forehead.
"Well, I would have liked to make a more elegant entrance," she remarked with a smile. "So you're the one she's chosen, huh? Ah!" the little rabbit exclaimed loudly as Diane reached down and seized her.
"I don't remember buying anything like this. Is this some kind of tamagotchi? Where are the batteries supposed to go?" Diane asked, fiddling around with the creature.
"Hey! Hands off!" the creature exclaimed, phasing through Diane's hands and floating in front of her. "My name is Llona and I'm a kwami, the spirit that resides within that necklace," she explained, pointing to the necklace around Diane's neck.
"Wait, so you're not some super advanced Japanese toy?" Diane asked.
"Nope!" Diane's expression suddenly fell as she backed up until she reached the wall before sliding down and sitting there in shock. "Um, hello?" Llona asked, hovering in front of Diane's face, but Diane's eyes appeared unfocused like she was in a trance. "Well, she is taking it better than the last one." Llona looked around the room and flew over to a bottle of water placed on Diane's desk over her bed. She unscrewed the cap and carried the bottle over to Diane and poured a bit of water over the girl's head.
"Ah!" The cold water shocked Diane out of her trance as she quickly stood up. She wiped the dripping water off her face and looked at Llona once more. "So, what are you?"
"Like I said before, I'm a kwami, kind of like a fairy, and I'm bonded with that necklace."
"This thing?" Diane asked, holding the necklace in her fingertips.
"Yes. It's called a Miraculous!"
"Miraculous?" she asked.
"A Miraculous is a magical piece of jewelry that contains a kwami spirit like myself. When someone, such as yourself, wears the Miraculous and the kwami spirit bound to it enters it, you transform into a superhero!"
"Wait, like Ladybug and Cat Noir?"
"Exactly! They hold the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses."
"So, am I supposed to be a superhero or something?"
"Yes, you have been chosen!" Llona beamed.
"But I can't be a superhero! I'm just a middle school student! You've picked the wrong girl!"
"Please just hear me out! You'll never be more than what you are if you only do what you can do."
Diane looked at Llona, unsure and completely overwhelmed by what was happening. "I… I guess it won't hurt to hear you out, but I'm not promising anything!"
"Just keep an open mind. Miraculouses and kwamis have existed since the dawn of time. Each Miraculous is unique in their power, the power of creation, destruction, the power to grant desires."
"What's this one's power?" Diane asked, holding up the necklace.
"The power of time! And each Miraculous has a unique ability. Yours is Time Stop. You can stop time entirely but after using your special power, you'll only have five minutes before your transformation wears off. And for every minute you stop time, that takes off another minute before you turn back to normal. You also have a special weapon: the Mochi Mallet. Not only is it super strong and powerful, but it can create glowing energy crescents that destroy everything in their path. They won't harm living things though. And when you're under the light of the moon, you're even more powerful! You don't have to agree to all of this right away, but why not try it out and see if you like it? You must be at least curious, right?"
"Well…"
"All you have to do to transform is call out my name and say 'Ears up!'. When you want to change back on your own, call out my name once more and say 'Ears down!'. When you transform, I'll fly into the necklace, but I won't be able to communicate with you at all. Give it a try!"
"Um, ok. Llona, ears up?" Diane called out with some uncertainty. All of a sudden, she felt a surge of power surround her as Llona whizzed towards her and into the necklace. In a flash of light, Diane was suddenly clothed head to toe in a white and lilac bodysuit. On her torso, she wore a long-sleeved tunic that ended with cuffed gloves and a skirt below, leggings of the same color and heeled ankle boots. She had two lilac ribbons hanging from either side of her waist, a matching mask over her eyes, a fluffy rabbit tail and a hairband on her head with two long rabbit ears on top. "Whoa…" she said in awe, admiring her appearance in the vanity mirror. She couldn't believe how different she looked. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn she was looking at a completely different person in the mirror! Just then, she noticed something large and red attached to her back. She reached behind her and pulled out a large red, cylindrical object. Just as she touched it with her other hand, the object folded open into a large, long headed hammer with a thin handle. "Ok, so this must be the Mochi Mallet." Diane made her way over to the window as nighttime approached. Before she stepped outside, she turned her music on. Her parents knew that when she had her music playing, it meant she was in a painting groove and didn't want to be disturbed. Hopefully, that would keep them from coming into her room and noticing her gone.
She stepped to the far side of her room opposite to the window, took a running start and leapt off the edge. "Whooooooaaaa!" she cried as her jump catapulted her high into the air. She flailed her arms and legs trying to regain her balance as she began falling to the ground below. She landed on a rooftop and quickly leapt off into the air once more. Once her initial fear and apprehension disappeared, she began feeling so liberated. The wind blowing through her thick black locks as she leapt across the city of Paris effortlessly felt so incredible that she couldn't even begin to describe how she was feeling.
"This is amazing!" she exclaimed, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with spins and flips. Suddenly, Diane noticed some commotion in the distance and jumped across rooftops to discover the source. Down in the plaza below was a large blob of water with a person inside while Ladybug and Cat Noir stood opposite to it brandishing their weapons. "Whoa, Ladybug and Cat Noir!" she whispered in awe. The person inside the water waved their arms, controlling the large water tentacles that quickly wrapped around Ladybug and Cat Noir. "Oh no! They need help!" She nearly jumped down from the roof to enter the fray but stopped herself at the last minute. She wasn't cut out for fighting supervillains! She wasn't a superhero… was she? She had seen enough fights between supervillains and the superhero duo to know how it worked. Something called an akuma infects a person via an important object and destroying that object frees them from the evil influence. "Let's see, Llona said the Crescent Cleave won't harm living beings… I wonder what'll do instead." Diane turned and raised her hammer over her head. "Crescent Cleave!" she called out. Bright blue light suddenly gathered around the mallet's head, forming a sleek crescent shaped blade along the top section of the head. Diane swung her mallet with all her might, sending the crescent flying from the mallet head towards the aquatic supervillain. The blade cut through the water and slammed into the villain, knocking them into a nearby lamppost. The crescent blade then wrapped around the villain and the lamppost, binding them securely. Diane watched from her place on the rooftop as Ladybug destroyed an object she pulled off the villain and captured the black butterfly that emerged from within it.
"Wow," she whispered in awe, looking at the mallet in her hands. She could hardly believe that she did that! Quiet, reserved Diane just helped Ladybug and Cat Noir save the day! Maybe this hero business wouldn't be so bad after all. She looked back up with a smile on her face as she beamed with confidence until she noticed the famous superhero pair below looking up towards her from the street below. "Uh oh," she muttered before quickly jumping away. She quickly ducked behind a chimney stack and placed the collapsed mallet in the holster on the back of her waist. She looked up quickly and noticed her rabbit ears poking out from behind her cover and quickly held them down against her head. Before she could peek out to see if she had lost them, she suddenly heard voice directly behind her, prompting her to shrink and grab her rabbit ears.
"Oh no, we lost her," Ladybug said in a huff.
"Who do you think that was, my lady?" Cat Noir asked. "Another akuma victim?"
"I don't think so," Ladybug replied. "If it was, they'd be coming after us for our Miraculouses, right? And they did help us just now…"
"So, another Miraculous holder then?" Cat Noir suggested.
"It's possible, but it could just be another Volpina. We need to be sure that this person really has a Miraculous before we decide how to approach them."
"Well, wherever she went, she's long gone now. If we're lucky, she might show up again." Suddenly, she heard a rapid beeping. "Uh oh, I better go. My transformation is about to wear off."
Then, there was another beep. "Same here," Ladybug replied. At that, Diane poked her head out from behind her hiding place only to gasp in shock at the sight of Ladybug and Cat Noir standing several rooftops away! But when she heard their voices, it sounded like they were standing directly behind her, and yet they were at least five blocks away!
At fast as she could, she jumped from rooftop to rooftop and made it back to her bedroom window. "Llona, ears down," she said, as the transformation wore off and Llona was ejected from the necklace, which returned to its dormant state.
"Wow! Not bad for your first time! What did you think?" Llona asked, eagerly waiting to hear Diane's thoughts.
"It was… it was…" Diane began, struggling to find the words to explain the sheer rush of adrenaline she felt. "It was exhilarating! Oh, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, it was just… I can't think of any other way to describe it!"
Llona giggled, "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. So, do you want to be my partner?" she asked, extending out her tiny hand.
Diane thought in silence for a moment, eyes lingering on the little rabbit sprite's giant eyes. She held up the necklace between his thumb and index finger. Fate was knocking on her door and now she had to decide whether or not to answer that call. All her life, she had hid behind others more outgoing and brave, satisfied with being nothing more than invisible. But for the first time in her life, she embraced such freedom and found it nothing less than liberating. Then, Llona's words echoed in her mind. How could she be more than she was if she only ever did what she knew? With a sigh, she placed the necklace back gently over her chest and locked eyes with Llona.
"Llona, you've got yourself a partner!" Diane smiled, taking the kwami's tiny hand between her thumb and finger and lightly shaking it.
"Great! You won't regret it! Now, do you have anything to eat? I'm starving!"
For more information on Diane and Llona, visit my deviantART or wiki! Hope you enjoyed the oneshot and if you have any ideas for potential future chapters, don't hesitate to tell me! My buddies and I might be working on a big Miraculous team ensemble. I won't say too much, but aside from a rabbit, there's a bat, snake and a dolphin ;)