I own nothing.
The darkest hour of the night loomed down upon Paris. The streets were illuminated slightly by glowing street-lights lining them, but not quite bright enough to see by. The rest of the streets were lit by the soft light of the full moon.
In the top floor of a small bakery, a girl slept soundly. This girl was known as Marinette, a clumsy but pleasant person to her friends, and Ladybug to the whole of Paris. Tiki, her Kwami, was resting idly on her bedside table next to her. Kwamis were not organic beings, their bodies being made of light, so they had no biological need to sleep, though they could if they chose to. Tiki had opted not to this night; she just had... a feeling. And whenever she got a feeling, something was bound to happen.
Her feeling was justified when she spotted an unusually bright flash of light in the sky outside Marinette's window. Curious, and knowing it was probably something unusual, she floated up to investigate. In the sky, the distinct silver streak of a shooting star painted the dark backdrop; but this shooting star was obviously not a star. It was flying much too low to the ground, and it was quite large... her eyes widened as she realised just how low this streak of a star was flying. It would surely land somewhere in the city. By the looks of it, not far from here, either.
Deciding the best course of action to take would be to get Ladybug on the case, she flew over to Marinette and softly shook her shoulder. All that achieved was some vague mumbling and Marinette turning over in her sleep. Rolling her eyes, Tiki shook harder.
This time, Marinette's eyes opened into a squint, quite bleary. Rubbing them with a weak fist, she looked over to her alarm clock.
"Tikki? Ugh, what time is it..." She said quietly. Upon glancing at the time, she turned her gaze onto the Kwami and glared as much as she was able to with sleep encrusted eyes. "This had better be good," she said, quite irritable.
Tiki nodded frantically. "There's a star, I think it was going to crash-"
But, as it happened, she was interrupted by quite a loud crash coming from what sounded to be a street away at most. Marinette's eyes widened, and she immediately rushed to her balcony, seeing if she could spot it. Somewhat to her surprise, she could see something right out the front of her school; it looked as if a small crater had formed there. Out of it, there emitted a bit of a white glow, though that quickly died down as she watched it. Not wasting another moment, she called very softly out for Tiki to transform her.
Ladybug stood where Marinette had been standing not a moment before, looking confident and not tired at all. She leaped gracefully down from her balcony, and in a few quick strides was on the tiles out the front of her school. The air was distinctly warmer here, she could tell. Heat from the star? Almost definitely. She briefly contemplated calling Chat Noir, but quickly decided against it. He was asleep, and she would only ruin that if this thing proved to be a threat.
With that in mind, she very cautiously approached the small crater. It had made cracks appear all over her school's front court. She began to swing her yoyo as silently as possible, the pink glow emitting from it letting her get a better look at the area.
Peering into the small crater, bathed with the pink glow from her yoyo, she braced herself.
When nothing jumped out at her, she took it as a good sign, and looked in further. The crater wasn't very deep but was quite wide, the stone tiles of the school's front absorbing a lot of the shock needed to go deeper.
At the bottom of the steaming crater, there was a distinct, white, mass.
She jumped back, expecting the thing to move out at her or something. But instead, all she heard was a soft groan emitting from the depths of the crater.
Her mind flew into panic mode. Was this an alien invasion? She unconsciously began swinging her yoyo less carefully and more powerfully.
But her mind nearly shut down completely when the thing stood up in the crater, clear to her. She leapt back a few times, further than she had meant to, surprisingly finding herself on top of a nearby rooftop.
It was a boy. He looked quite young from what she could see of his stature, probably younger than her, the same age as her at most. He was facing the school, his back to her. He had on very white clothes, so white they nearly seemed to glow.
But his clothes were nowhere near as white as the pure, shining white of the pair of wings resting on his back.
Marinette felt herself freeze, and her jaw drop. She absentmindedly noted that her yoyo had stopped spinning, the string hanging limply from her fingers.
The boy... the angel, shook himself. Some dust and rocks fell from his hair, and his wings stretched out. They were reasonably large, and glowed with an otherworldly brilliance in the moonlight.
She watched, not being able to bring herself to do anything more, as he turned his head to the sky.
"I'm fine," he said, a smile in his voice. "Did you see that, Lady Palutena?! I flew on my own!" He pumped his fist in the air excitedly.
Silence for a few seconds. "Haha, yeah," He began, lowering his head and fist a bit to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I need to work on landing..."
Marinette had no idea what to think. This couldn't possibly be an attack...
Before she could dwell on it any longer, to her shock, the angel, who had been silent for a few seconds, turned his head. His gaze met hers, and even from a distance, his eyes took her breath away. They were the exact colour of the sky.
There's no way this was real. He was gorgeous, strikingly so. Not in a way that struck her like Adrien did, but in more of an objective way. Nobody could look at this boy and not instantly think of him as beautiful. It was a divine beauty, one that gave his face a sharp look while it also remained soft and flawless, one that made his smooth skin shine in the moonlight at the most striking angle, one that gave his eyes a childlike shine to them but made it apparent they did not belong to a child.
He was certainly an angel. He couldn't possibly be anything else. No monster could ever possess such an otherworldly beauty. Despite this train of thought, her guard remained up. If this was an Akuma, it was possibly the most clever one yet.
She heard him gasp with excitement. "A human!" He exclaimed, his eyes glinting with eagerness. She barley had time to take a step back before he gave his wings an experimental flap, then leaped up to join her on the roof.
She could do nothing but stare as he examined her thoroughly. Up close, his divine brilliance was even more apparent, radiating off him, every single part of him perfect, unnaturally so. His hair was a glorious shade of brown, rich in colour and windswept in a way that suited his face. A laurel made of golden leaves rested within it, complimenting the gold that lined the rest of his outfit and the ruby pin on his shoulder. It got a bit too much when he grabbed her face, staring at the mask with such curious wonder that she nearly felt bad when she took hold of his hands and lowered them down.
"Haha, that's enough..." She said awkwardly. She noticed his hands and upper arm were covered in large golden bangles. She had no doubt they were real gold.
He laughed. It sounded like music.
"I love human's fashion choices!" He said in delight. She stared at him, baffled. He once again turned his flawless eyes to hers. "Okay, don't tell anyone I was here, alright?" He looked down to the side awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head again. It seemed angels were prone to nervous habits as much as humans were. "Um... angels aren't supposed to be on earth unless the underworld army attacks, and that hasn't happened for hundreds of years, so..." He looked back up at her and she noticed his laurel crown glint in the moonlight. "Don't spread rumours, okay?"
She found herself nodding. "Okay..." she said. Another question popped into her head. "Wait, so, I heard you talking before... why are you here, then, if you're not supposed to be?"
She wasn't sure what she expected from his reaction, but clear excitement wasn't it. "Oh, that!" He said eagerly, bouncing on the spot. "I was practicing flying! You see, last time the underworld army attacked, I had to get help to fly. But that was hundreds of years ago, as I said, so now my wings have grown out enough for me to try flying on my own!" He finished the revelation with an eager victory fist-pump, his wings flaring to their full, large proportions behind him. She nodded, despite still being confused.
"I'm just not very good at landing yet, so..." he laughed awkwardly. "Sorry about your tiled courtyard. I'll get Lady Palutena to fix it!" There were a few seconds of silence. But then, something off to the side caught her attention. She managed to get her eyes to leave his for a second, long enough to see the small crater he had created fix itself. It was as if the damage was just being reversed. She decided not to question it.
She turned her eyes back to his. He was closer in now, staring eagerly at her.
"Lady Palutena's about to pull me back up, but it was nice meeting you!" He said. "Make sure you don't tell anyone about me, okay?"
She found herself nodding, still not having registered exactly what was happening. She supposed she would wake up and think it was all some weird fever dream.
All of a sudden, she felt this urge, and then the most random question she could have ever thought to ask came spilling out of her mouth.
"Is your name Icarus?" She spluttered, immediately slapping her hand over her mouth when she realised what she had just said. What? What on earth did that mean?!
The boy's face turned from eager to flabbergasted in an instant, him staring at her in a mixture of confusion and shock.
"Wh-what?" He asked, obviously taken aback. "How do you... I'm pretty sure not even Lady Palutena knows that name-!"
He was cut off when he began to levitate off the ground slightly, golden rays of light visible above his head.
"NO-!" He began thrashing, feathers fluttering through the air from his wings.. "LADY PALUTENA, WAIT-"
But the light levitated him higher, and both him and his cries dissolved into nothingness. The light closed as if it were a curtain.
Marinette remained staring at the feathers spinning through the air for another good minute, before she sighed and decided to make her way back home, this time walking slowly. If she moved too fast, she was sure she would either pass out or throw up.
As soon as she was safe again in her room, she let her transformation go and collapsed onto her bed, clutching at her head. She could feel the tendrils of a headache begin to gnaw at her brain. She just wanted to go to sleep, but she had something to ask Tiki first.
"Tiki," She whisper-shouted, not wanting to alert her parents to her being awake. "Did you make me ask that? What did it mean? Was that even real?"
Tiki sighed, having expected these questions. "Yes," She began, floating down so she faced Marinette dead on. "That was real. He was an angel,"
Marinette sighed. "At least it wasn't an attack..." She muttered, still slightly in shock. "Wait, so... You made me ask that, didn't you? What was that about?"
Tiki looked at her dead in the eyes, unusually serious. Marinette suddenly felt intimidated, and subconsciously sat up straighter.
"I think..." Tiki began, but quickly became at a loss for words. "I think..."
Marinette finished for her. "You thought his name was Icarus?"
Tiki nodded thoughtfully. "He reminded me... of someone. And judging by his reaction..." She sighed. "I think it was him. Though he probably hasn't been called Icarus in millennia. Angels always get given a new name when they're recruited..." She trailed off.
"Wait, recruited?" Asked Marinette. Tiki nodded.
"Yes," She said. "Angels are created from departed souls to serve in Palutena's army, the Goddess of light. I happen to be a minor form of God myself, so me and her are somewhat acquainted," She finished. Marinette was unfazed. She already knew Kwamis were powerful, so this wasn't exactly news to her. Tiki continued on.
"Though angels are usually created as commanders or tacticians, not soldiers. They're much too precious to expend on the role of a soldier. Soldiers are usually made of light and given a form called a 'centurion', so Palutena must have thought he was worthy of such a role in life," she said proudly. "It's an honour to meet an angel. You're meeting somebody who's saved the earth from the underworld countless times... and, well... it's an honour to have known him before he was an angel, too," She sighed sadly. Marinette stayed silent at first, but a single question ate at her.
"Uhm..." She began, and Tiki looked up at her. "Erm, uh, how... uh, how old is he?" She asked, remembering how young he had looked. Tiki laughed quietly.
"Well," She said, "He would be around 2,000 years old if you wanted to be exact, but his appearance is around 14-15, I forget..." She finished thoughtfully. That surprised Marinette a little bit. She thought he had looked younger, but she was still right when she had guessed her age at the most.
"I suppose I should start at the beginning..." Tiki muttered. Marinette nodded eagerly. This whole situation was making her quite curious. Tiki started speaking.
"The Miraculous are jewels that have been around since the beginning of the universe, as you know," Tiki said. Marinette nodded. "They started with just the Ladybug and Black Cat jewels, but once those proved to be useful, the Fox, Bee, Peacock, Turtle and Moth miraculous were created. Then, once those proved useful, many others were born. Currently, there are around 19 in total, and only 3 are active, 3 being a surprisingly large number considering the most important ones are both within that 3," She sighed. "However... there was once a time where many more than that were active. A total of 7, to be exact. Not the most that have ever been active at one time, but quite close to it." She blinked slowly up at Marinette, who nodded to show she was following.
"You have to understand;" began Tiki, "That 7 being out is quite rare. Only in extreme circumstances are more than 2 or 3 ever put out at once, because the more there are out the more likely they are to get stolen or harmed. This time... the threat was one of the worst it had ever been. Not a miraculous weirder, thankfully, but instead a beast by the name of a Minotaur," Tiki shuddered as she remembered it.
"At first, only 6 Miraculous were put into circulation in an attempt to stop it. In their efforts, they had managed to get it trapped in an intricate labyrinth designed by a man named Daedalus. It required plenty of inside help and manipulation, but eventually the ruler of the kingdom deemed the beast dangerous and got it sealed away. Two of the wielders who helped were the Ladybug and Black Cat, of course. At that time, my chosen was a girl named Ariadne, who was the daughter of the king, and her partner was a young man named Theseus..." she sighed wistfully.
"Theseus was probably the most brash and hasty out of all the Black Cat wielders, wanting to go in and destroy the Minotaur himself. Ariadne, obviously, would not have that, so they devised a plan together..." She trailed off and took a breath.
"Every 7 years, 14 sacrifices were sent from the city to try and keep the beast at bay. Theseus would lead himself and the other wielders into the labyrinth as sacrifices, then when they encountered it, they would slay it all together. However, 6 Miraculous weren't quite enough, especially with some being support and defence oriented, plus the fact that Ariadne herself was unable to be there. Ariadne and Theseus decided they needed extra help. So they visited their Guardian,"
Tiki took a deep breath, and let it out shakily. Marinette sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the little bug in wonder. If she had faced a beast that required 7 miraculous out at once and said that wasn't even the most that had ever been out, what on earth could she have faced in her lifetime? Quite a bit, she supposed. After all, she had been around since the beginning of the universe.
Tiki continued.
"Their Guardian had put out all the miraculous he had been in possession of already, so he couldn't help them by giving them more allys. Well..." She trailed off. "He had put all of them out except for one. The single remaining miraculous he had left was none other than the Moth miraculous, able to grant somebody else amazing abilities and make them a devoted follower," she finished.
Marinette frowned. "Isn't the Moth miraculous evil?" She asked, looking at Tiki in confusion and curiosity. Tiki shook her head vigorously.
"No!" She exclaimed. "Hawk Moth is using it for evil, but the miraculous itself is certainly not evil," She took a breath. "This isn't the first time a miraculous has been used for evil, but it's the first time the Moth one has been. The miraculous were designed to stop evil, not be used for it! The Guardian who protects them while they have no wielder decides the wielder, but it's ultimately up to the chosen person on how they use it. Thankfully, the Guardians are almost always right when they choose wielders. Hawkmoth is a strange case. The Moth miraculous had been missing for some time..." She finished thoughtfully, beginning to think. "Hawkmoth was not given the miraculous. My understanding of it was is that he somehow found it, then found out about what would happen if the Ladybug and Black cat miraculous are combined... but that's another story. My point is, none of the miraculous are evil, or designed to be used for evil. Hawkmoth is breaking it's purpose," Tiki finished, huffing. Marinette nodded in understanding. Truthfully, she hadn't suspected any of the miraculous to be evil. She just needed to be sure.
"Anyway," Tiki continued, "The Guardian had the Hawk miraculous left to distribute, not being able to find a suitable wielder. So, he gave it to Ariadne and Theseus in hopes they would be able to find somebody to help them. And they did," She said, her tone turning serious again.
"The boy they chose to help them was none other than the son of the labyrinth designer, Icarus," Marinette's eyes widened. She prepared to speak, but Tiki stopped her.
"Let me finish," She said. Marinette was a bit disappointed, but admitted she had probably acted brashly. She stayed silent and Tiki continued.
"Icarus was perfect for the job for a few reasons. Firstly, he had studied the design of the labyrinth while his father was designing and building it, so he knew many of the challenges present within it. The Hawk miraculous was made to be wielded by a spectator guiding somebody else, and he knew the layout well enough to lead the group from afar away from any hazards and straight to the centre where the Minotaur was. He and his father lived close to it as well, so he would be keeping an eye on it physically while the fight was going on. Since the Moth miraculous is typically not used on the scene, rather from afar, Icarus would be able to stay in his home and not leave as a sacrifice with the others to avoid suspicion. The plan was that Icarus would use the Moth miraculous to grant one of the non-wielder sacrifices power that allowed for an army, like Stoneheart or the Dark Night, and instruct them to recruit the remaining sacrifices. Together, the 14 of them would overpower the Minotaur. Icarus was completely perfect for the job in all the important ways, and it went flawlessly. Led by Theseus, he managed to grant the 9 children powers, and with Icarus commanding and guiding them, the Minotaur was defeated," Tiki finished. Marinette knew however, that she was far from finished.
"But," Tiki continued, "Their previous effort in getting the King paranoid enough to seal away the beast in the first place backfired on them. When he saw that the sacrifices had made it out unharmed by what appeared to be a golden thread, he blamed Daedalus for helping them and felt betrayed. In actuality, that string was part of the powers from one of Icarus' followers. But obviously, that wasn't to be revealed, so Ariadne could not convince her father to spare either of them, and they were imprisoned in a very tall tower, before Icarus could return the Moth miraculous," She sighed.
"I wasn't there for the next bit, obviously, but it got recounted to me afterwards by somebody who spoke to Daedalus. Extremely long story short, Icarus and Daedalus tried to escape the tower using wings stuck together with wax, but Icarus flew too high and landed in the ocean, drowning. He took the Moth miraculous with him, and that was the first time one had been officially lost to something unrelated to battle," She shuddered. "It was tragic. The first time a miraculous had been lost without intervention, as well as the wielder dying with it still being active. It was unheard of."
Marinette cast her eyes down. "Oh.." she said quietly. It sounded like a story to her, not the important event that it was. "So..." she continued softly. "Since he had commanded others with the Moth miraculous, he was made an angel?" Tiki nodded. "He would make an excellent army commander or tactician, just as he was back then. Im glad he was chosen," She finished proudly, her eyes shining. "...It's a pity he was so young, though..." she continued as an afterthought.
Marinette nodded grimly. "Yeah..." she said. "I bet he would have been useful on other missions, too..."
Tiki smiled sadly. "No, he was more of a Rena Rouge sort of deal. One shot, to be returned straight after,"
"Oh, hmm.." said Marinette thoughtfully. "I actually have one more question. If he's been an angel for 2,000 years, why was he only learning to fly just now? That seems strange to me,"
Tiki laughed. "Yeah, that's understandable," She giggled. "Angels tend to be created with the appearance of their previous bodies, but their wings start from scratch, as if they were a baby. He would have had tinny little duckling wings when he was first made~" She finished, now giggling harder. "Though 2,000 years is quite a long time to grow out, I wonder why it took that long..." she finished thoughtfully.
Marinette shrugged, having no idea what to say. She turned to face her window, the night sky dotted with stars like splatters of ink on a canvas. No shooting star was to be found. She sat in silence while Tiki murmured quietly.
"Do you think Hawkmoth's Kwami remembers him?" She asked suddenly. Tiki lifted her head.
"Oh yes, definitely," She said. "Us Kwamis never, ever forget a wielder," She sighed. "I wonder how he's doing... It's been a while since he was used, and now it's for evil. How terrible," She shook her head.
Marinette sat in respectful silence for a moment, before having to stifle a yawn. "Uhmn... Tiki, I'm so tired, but I don't know if I can sleep after all that..."
Tiki looked over her sympathetically. "You'll be fine, Marinette," She said. "Just go to sleep, don't worry about me or him or anyone. Icarus is an army commander now, he's important and doesn't need the worry of someone he's trying to protect," she smiled.
Marinette didn't have the strength to nod anymore, so she just softly laid her head on her pillow and let her eyes close heavily. She was asleep almost immediately.
Tiki stared at her for a moment, before floating over to the window. She stared at the sky solemnly.
"Thank you..." she sighed, before drifting back over to Marinette's bedside table to try and get some rest, despite no physical need to.
Telling that story had drained her.
Hahah, sorry... I have a headcanon that the characters in Kid Icarus are unconditionally beautiful. Feedback is appreciated.