Please read this author's note if you're sensitive to graphic implications of medieval aged treatments to mental health.:
Hey, there is a brief implication of bad medieval cures for mental illness, it's in the first five or so paragraphs and then it's gone, just cause it has t do with mental health rather than a superhero battle I feel like I should give you all forewarning. It's not too graphic but still, I feel like implications can be worse. Anyways I'm rambling but I hope this message came across right.
The next two years were almost painful for Tikki; the young girl used ladybugs power for the collection of jewels and then watched the girl in the day use the money treat her mother but… well treating her mother wasn't the problem. No, the problem was that Tikki knew it wasn't going to help…
It started well enough the girl used the money to treat her normally, having doctors show up to give her medicine. But then, then things went wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong, they started suggesting, other treatments. Treatments that no sane person should ever consider.
"Mother I need to go," The girl whispered to a frail woman lying in bed blankets draped across her form.
The woman didn't respond she looked away in the distance and muttered deliriously sweat labored on her brow as she flicked her eyes around looking, looking for something just out of reach. Her eyes kept just looping around and around and around as she looked away from reality. There were bandages wrapped tightly around her skull and Tikki was nauseated to know why.
To know that the fragile organ that kept humans sane, the center of their being was mined for as recklessly as it could possibly be simply because she sometimes fainted. The doctors insisted that it was necessary and the young girl had believed them, because that what people did, who were they to argue, it's not like they were aware of what the human body was, or how it worked.
"Goodbye mother," the girl kissed her mother's hand.
Tikki floated a short distance away the old woman was so far gone that she wasn't able to react to a flying mythical being. Still, Tikki made sure to float a respectful distance away regardless of her feelings on the girl who stole her away she respected her relationship with her mother.
"Let's go Tikki," the girl sneered at the kwami," spots on"
That night she ran faster and harder looking for more and more through the streets and on the roofs looking for any glimmer of jewels while she headed over to her mark. Tikki tried to extend a message out to protest to argue anything but it was no use she was heading towards that cargo ship regardless of what Tikki said… or tried to say.
Tikki stopped talking at that moment. She tugged her antennae as she looked up at Adrien who was staring at her. "Well this is where the story b-becomes a little m-more-" she looked down, "distressing. See I wasn't there for most of the rest of this so this is mainly what I've been able to weasel out of Plagg … and well Duusu was able to tell me what she could but even then…" she trailed off letting the implication hang in the air.
Adrien wanted to ask who Duusu was but there was something in the Kwami's face that he couldn't place a fear or maybe a hesitation that he didn't want to test so he remained silent.
Plagg was on the other side of the city talking with the scientist but in a moment he was perked up," she transformed," he growled out angered at the misuse of his other halves powers.
"Plagg Claws out!" the boy called out. He ran where the tugging sensation that Plagg shared with him to where he knew the ladybug welder would be.
("I thought that's what that was!" Adrien thought to himself.)
In no time they were on a cargo crate hidden in the night only the glow of the Māo's eyes-
"Māo?" Adrien asked despite himself.
"It's Chinese," Tikki stated.
"I know that," Adrien said," but Chinese for cat? Isn't that a little on the nose?"
"Isn't Chat Noir?" Tikki reasoned," does that not just mean black cat?
"Fair," Adrien shrugged and Tikki smiled before she continued her story.
In no time they were on a cargo crate hidden in the night only the glow of the Māo's eyes in the night illuminated the darkness. There was silence and no movement when suddenly Māo's night vision picked up a rustle. His heart raced and he went to move closer, but it was just a deckhand, settling, some crate somewhere. Then he saw it. The young deckhand knocked over the crate. And then tumbling out of it was a box. And as the box rolled and opened with a chink there was a small pendant that bounced out.
It was small and shaped like a set of peacock feathers made into a fan there were jewels set into its surface and the young deckhand that the young Māo noticed was a young girl with short boyish hair and the Māo despite himself was struck by her beauty, as cliché as it sounds he was frozen.
He watched as she picked up the broach with an awed expression she rubbed her thumb against the surface. She seemed to be mesmerized, her billowing shirt fluttering in the wind.
Then there was a rustling and then suddenly the girl using the ladybugs power was there and she was swiping the broach from the deck-hand girl's hand. But the girl wasn't going down without a fight.
In seconds her arm moved in a quick succession of movement, she also kicked upwards at the same and the ladybug dropped the broach in shock slightly winded. But then her face split into a sinister grin and she cracked her neck.
"Goodie a challenge!" she said her tone almost musical in her excitement, as the deckhand grabbed up the broach and put her fists up in the universal sign of 'come at me.'
At this point Māo jumped down flipping," now missy, why don't you fight someone your own league?" he asked a cocky smirk playing on his lips the fangs from his transformation biting into his bottom lip while they glinted in the moonlight with an energy of practiced ease.
Unfortunately, the young girl caught in the middle of this misunderstood the situation and kicked Māo in his round-tables," Back off," she spat out in a stilted accent making it clear that she was from somewhere else.
Māo groaned out," I was going to fight her," he pointed weakly to the spotted thief now making her way towards the box as he fell over with a thud
The deckhand muttered something in a language that Māo couldn't understand and then ran the short distance to the thief and threw a fist at her. The thief, however, saw this coming and used her forearm to block the punch, she then grabbed the deckhands arm and threw her over her head behind her.
The deckhand skidded to the ground before she rolled around and scampered to her feet and ran close to the ground back to the thief who was holding the octagonal box in her arms cradling it like a precious possession. Māo no having recovered ran towards the thief as well.
She saw this coming and threw her yo-yo into the air and propelled herself upwards and the two ran into each other. They collided with a meaty thunk as skulls made painful contact; the thief giggled and ran off stuffing the box into her bag.
"Ow you moron!" the deckhand complained.
"Put on the broach," Māo called out as he stumbled upwards to go towards her.
"What?" she asked.
"Just do it," he smirked and then used his staff to fling himself upwards; with a flip, mind you like the slightest bit of the show off that he was he was gone.
The deckhand did put on the broach and there was a flash of green and blue light radiating from her. And soon she was a peacock themed hero and chasing the ladybug thief with Māo.
"Hey Boy!" she shouted towards him," What's going on?"
"I'll explain later!" he shouted at her," trust me I know it's strange just get the box and her earrings!"
And thus the multi-hour chase commenced. They kept losing her for the briefest of moments before finding her again. Then the girl had an idea as she saw the thief run into the alley below them.
"Māo," she said looking at him and somehow the boy understood, and she grappled his shoulders and jumped over him like one would in a children's game before he snagged her feet with his pole and extended it high in the air throwing her with accelerated force toward the thief, she kept her fan folded by her side until she was right in front of the thief and used it to slow her descent.
The thief backed up and turned to run the other way when Māo was right there standing with his staff used as a barrier. In another tale perhaps this wouldn't look good, in another tale or another telling perhaps it would look like the girl was being attacked but it wasn't another tale, it was clear were the right and wrong lay in this tale.
She went to extend her yo-yo again and propel herself upwards but the duo had learned from their mistakes at this point and was not fooled. Māo held onto one end of his staff and extended the other so that it knocked the trajectory of the whizzing red and black object down.
In a downwards swoop he also knocked the bag and snagged the box as it fell out of the bag. She growled angrily in the response and then started to dart forward to attack, but the girl behind her used her fan to snag her from behind and all that the ladybug thief was able to do was fling her yo-yo and hit Māo so hard in the head he passed out.
The peacock girl tried to attack her but now that she wasn't able to keep her pinned in one place and her only weapon was a fan that she'd never used before, and as a result, it was relatively easy for the thief to run up to the roof and try to escape.
The deckhand having literally been thrown into this jumped up to the roof using the fan to propel herself upwards and lunged at the thief. The thief punched her in the face and they started to brawl back and forth for a few moments before the thief's foot slipped and they fell to the roof to start rolling back and forth on the roof.
At one point the thief was on the top and punching the other girl until her nose bled but then the deckhand managed to get the upper-hand and punch her in the face using the momentum of that action to roll on the top. Suddenly though they were both aware of how close they were to the edge.
In a moment of quick thinking, the thief rolled closer and tried to fling the other girl over the edge. but the deckhand managed to grasp onto a tile and hoist herself up and then flip upwards and land on her feet. The thief at the same time stumbled upwards and snatched the broach on the girl's shirt, and in return, the deckhand snatched the earrings and in a quick succession of events, there was a tearing of flesh and cloth.
There was screaming and shouting but at the end of it all they each had jewels grasped in their hands and the thief who's ears were bleeding decided to run and get out of the situation. The deckhand was unable to move because she was finally stumbling in shock and unable to process what was going on.
And then over the course of the next few months, the pair started to work together, they stopped the thief countless times from stealing things and researched the miraculous' when they had time. The girl was having trouble escaping her father and his business on the boat to help but slowly yet surely they fell into a rhythm.
And then the rhythm faltered, only to become stronger. The beating of two hearts that sang out in a lonely night slowly fell together into synchronization, a song, the beat of two drums beating out and together. The falter was nothing more than a transition period a pause where they realized that something more was there and then the beat was stronger faster better.
However they weren't the only ones to realize the feelings, the thief noticed as well and she tried to use it against them a jab there an insult here. She poked and prodded and jeered finding the smallest insecurities to tear open like a wound.
"We need to find a way to stop her," The girl stated," she's already trying to take our miraculous. And Tikki said we can't let that happen.
The scientist looked up from his leather-bound book that he'd been writing in," I know that's why I'm putting all our research into this," he gestured to the book and then flipped through the pages revealing drawings of them in their costumes.
"I know but we need something to-to stop her from ever using another miraculous something that forces her to never be able to make a wish."
"It's hardly like we can blame her," he paused," she lost her mother, it's reasonable for her to want her back," he stopped his hand that had continued moving and writing finally faltered.
"I'm sorry," she said looking down.
He looked back up eyes rimmed red," no it's fine, we need to stop her she's going too far."
"Well, there is one thing we can do," Plagg stated.
"Wait Plagg offered help?" Adrien looked at Tikki in shock.
Tikki offered a weak smile," he wasn't always so cynical you know. He used to care about his chosen and help them, but then the curse happened."
"They curse?" Adrien asked.
Tikki heaved," I'm getting there."
Over the next three months they frantically prepare, they frantically researched and they frantically perfected their solution, and finally, on the night of the blood moon, everything was ready. The pair were on top of a building waiting, waiting in silence knowing that the girl had been casing the place they were watching for months.
Māo suddenly took his lady's hand, she turned to say something but his expression explained perfectly what it was. He was scared but they needed to do this, and he was ready to do this with her. She smiled softly the scarf made mask to her costume fluttering in the wind.
He pecked her on the cheek and for a brief tender moment there was nothing to worry about the two were content and the silence enveloped them in a hug. Then there was a crash.
Their heads snapped and looked at the storefront it was hemorrhaging smoke and the glass pooling in the front shattered everywhere like a blood spatter. But there was no one in sight. The girl wasn't anywhere to be seen the pair met each other's gaze bewildered.
Māo's ears flicked and he turned quickly before shouting out and pushing ladybug out of the way. He cried out with a screech of pain and agony.
"Māo!" Ladybug cried out in shock it didn't take long for her to realize what must've happened and whirled around to face the thief that she knew would be behind her.
She had her fan folded and a blade popped out of the side held upwards in aggression. "you," she snarled," will pay." She said briefly placing a hand on her ripped earlobe.
Ladybug began to spin her yo-yo around in just enough time to rebut a strike from the thief. She flipped backward and tried to distract her from Māo, but the thief knew what she was doing and did not budge, she stabbed her fan downwards," your payment starts here," she said twisting.
"Ahg," Māo called out, he coughed and blood came out.
"Noooooo!" Ladybug ran at her throwing her yo-yo," it's me you want, stop-"
Tikki cut herself off," eventually ladybug had the thief cornered and she had to perform the spell herself, Māo was unable to do so because of his wound. But unfortunately, ladybug didn't know the spell as well as him and at a crucial moment she messed up, as a result, she was trapped in the peacock miraculous."
"Well, that's great!" Adrien chimed, then he caught a glance at her expression," right?"
Tikki sadly shook her head," unfortunately she as she slowly crumbled to black churning dust that swirled into the miraculous she chanted out a curse on the miraculous wielders of creation and destruction and it has continued to affect them ever since."
Adrien licked his lips nervously suddenly aware of how dry his mouth was.
"What was the curse?" Adrien asked.
"The Black Cat always dies in defense of their Ladybug."
Adrien stared stunned, his heart shattered," no," he managed to mutter, he was destined to die from the moment he got the miraculous. He was a dead man walking it was just a matter of time really and it was a miracle that he hadn't died already.
"Māo died in his Lady's arms shortly after that succumbing to his wound, she buried him and then was forced to live the rest of her life without him, She collected his book and finished it and started an order of heroes to protect the miraculous so that this wouldn't happen again."
He felt his gut churn," a-are there any exceptions? Anyone that survived?" he asked a small glimmer of naive hope still shining.
Tikki looked at him sadly," only one but that's because he died of an illness before he could."
Adrien felt nauseous, he ran to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet. As he heaved he began to hyperventilate and cry. It was too much it was wholly and entirely overwhelming, it didn't matter what he did it was destined to happen.
"Adrien!" Tikki cried out in shock," Adrien breath."
But Adrien couldn't breathe he felt betrayed he felt lied to, there was no clue Plagg didn't know but how would he be able to do this to him if he knew.
"Did Plagg know?" he asked.
Tikki hesitated.
"Did he!" he demanded his voice cracking. He needed to know he needed to.
Tikki nodded.
"You mean he knew that I'd get killed and- and he did that, he let me be Chat anyways?!"
"No Adrien don't you see," Tikki cried," he doesn't want to, he's sick of seeing them die, and he doesn't want you to die either, hasn't he ever tried to convince you to not be in love with Ladybug or tried to convince you to not be Chat Noir?"
Adrien paused before he nodded.
Tikki smiled," he doesn't want you to die, and for good reason."
Adrien smiled at the kwami wishing he'd gotten her rather than Plagg and not because the whole dying thing but because she was a whole lot nicer than Plagg. Then he froze and remembered why Plagg wasn't there with him at that moment. "Oh no Marinette."
Tikki drained of color," she'll probably be fine, after all, it's not the original miraculous so she's probably protected from that. And who knows maybe this will break the curse?" it was weak and they both knew it but it was a hope none the less that they decided to desperately cling to.
Adrien nodded, his heart still hammering, he now knew that his brush with death was much closer than he'd assumed, and despite that he couldn't find it in himself to be scared for himself anymore he was instead terrified for Marinette. It was like as quickly as his fear was there it was gone.
"So," Adrien said," what's the thief's name?"
Tikki took a pause and then seemed to quietly push the syllables out of her mouth.
There as a hanging silence in the air as some part of his brain felt like he was incredibly close to something. Something involving that name and the broach, he felt like he could imagine the pendant with perfect detail and that was the scary part some part of him knew it was shaped like fan with a blue peacock in the bottom center and it had nine feather shaped sections of a greenish blue look but then Tikki was calling for his attention and asking if he had any more questions.
"Uh, what do I want to know?" Adrien scratched his temple with his pointer finger," honestly I don't know. I'm so used to Plagg being a pain and not telling me anything that I'm not sure what I want to know…"
Tikki laughed but there was a tenor to it that was tense and unsure," Plagg is not the most helpful. Even on the best of day, it takes a lot to bribe him."
"I don't know really, I just really don't want to think about this anymore but I don't know what to ask otherwise."
Tikki nodded," that's understandable, from what Marinette has told me you already have a large lack of control in your life."
"Yeah it sucks," he said bluntly.
"Well in the morning," Tikki said," we can go to master Fu's and devise a concise plan to swap back properly and then try to fix the curse."
"Why didn't you try before?" Adrien asked.
"We did, but we did not realize at first what was happening and once we did we told the Chats and tried to break the curse but it was no use it didn't help that the Chats just fell more in love with their ladybugs once they knew their identities… so we tried to keep it a secret from them. Or rather I did and I tried to stop the others from telling each other that they were but it never works and Plagg disagreed."
"That explains him always trying to convince me to find out who she was."
Tikki nodded," he thought that telling everyone would be better, and I think part of it is he didn't want to hear the doting words from the Chats about the other but I think he was also right, I forced him to make a pact to never interfere with their decision but I think he was right. We should've been more forthright."
"Does that mean he'll tell Marinette all this?" Adrien asked.
Tikki shook her head," No, in fact, he's going to make things worse."
"Why?"
"Plagg already has… well let's call them destructive tendencies, and he does try to keep it contained but now that he's had all this power and the swap well he's going to be a little off and much more destructive than normal.
Adrien groaned," well let's hope this, uh, Master Fu?" he paused, Tikki nodded," can help."
"We'll go see him in the morning, but right now you need to go to bed," Tikki smiled kindly.
Adrien didn't argue, he was too tired to do so. But there was something that was bothering him. Something in the back of his mind that wasn't quite right. There was this strange sense that he was on the precipice of figuring something out, he really felt like he'd seen that broach somewhere the problem was where? Trying to settle on his large fluffy bed pillows constantly being moved around Adrien let a single word float in his mind. The name of the thief, and the unshakable sense that he'd heard it before.
And that single name floated despite his need for sleep the equations of what was going on floated in front of his face, and he tried to calculate where he'd heard that name before or seen the fan. At some point, he begrudgingly decided that he'd seen the fan in his father's book, but that name. He had this unshakable feeling that the name meant something.
It was as long-lost as an old childhood friend who names you hardly remembered. Eyes finally shuttering closed thoughts swirling and questions tumbling in his mind he fell off into a dreamless sleep the word, the name flitting through his mind one last time…
Jacqueline.
Reviews, please? Also happy early Birthday to Thomas Astruc!
