Chapter 53
The next day after school, Marinette and Adrien were walking through the park hand-in-hand. Marinette was feeling upset, seeing as Lila wasn't present for school that day. Adrien thought it'd be nice just to walk with Marinette to try and cheer her up but unfortunately, bringing her to the park only made her feel worse.
"I hope she's alright." Marinette said to Adrien as she looked at the bench where everything took place.
"I'm sure she's-" Adrien cut himself off mid-sentence as he began to sense something, something rather unpleasant. He put his arm in front of Marinette and began looking around, trying to find the source of the disturbance.
"Adrien, what's wrong?"
Adrien didn't respond, as he was trying to focus. He searched all around the park but couldn't find anything. He knew his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, the feeling was too strong to just be a figment of his imagination.
"Adrien, you're scaring me." Marinette said, as she tried to lower Adrien's arm.
"Oh trust me, you'll be feeling more than just fear very soon." a voice spoke, sounding like it was coming from all around them. It was familiar to the two; a voice that they haven't known for long but was unforgettable.
Suddenly, the both of them spotted Lila on the bench in front of them, waving at them. However, a few seconds later, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Adrien began gritting his teeth, knowing exactly what was going on.
"Behind you two." Lila spoke again. They turned around and spotted her sitting on top of the water fountain. Before they could say anything, she was gone again in a cloud of smoke. They heard footsteps come from behind them once more and saw Lila was approaching them. However, this time, she didn't poof away as soon as she was spotted.
"Lila, what's going on?" Marinette asked, being genuinely confused.
"Oh, so now you care about me? Cute, but too late." Lila narrowed her eyes and raised her hand. Adrien began bracing himself for what was going to happen next. Lila snapped her fingers which caused her body to become consumed by shadows. After a few seconds, the shadows faded away and left Lila with a completely different appearance. She wore an orange bodysuit with white features across the front and black features for the arms and legs. There was a matching mask across her eyes and her lips were stained orange. A tail that resembled that of a fox's was swishing behind her and there was a pair of ears atop of her head that only added to the fox resemblance. Finally, a flute was now firmly in her hands.
After Marinette and Adrien took a good look at her appearance, she decided to take it one step further. Her eyes suddenly began glowing red and horns began sprouting from her head as well, just in front of the fox ears. It was apparent now to Marinette what she was: a demon.
"What happened to you Lila?" Adrien asked, his concern quickly growing. "What happened?"
Lila pointed at Marinette. "She is what happened to me. She made me into this."
"Lila… I-" Marinette started to speak, unable to believe the sight before her. "I didn't want this!"
"I'm afraid Lila's dead." the demon said as she chuckled. "Standing before you now is the demon Volpina!"
"Adrien, run." Marinette said as she grabbed ahold of Adrien's arm. "It's me she wants. I know this is confusing but I can explain later. Just run and save yourself."
"Oh not at all." Volpina taunted, tapping her flute against her back. "In fact, it's both of you I want. Let's play a little game shall we?"
Volpina began blowing into her flute, which caused roots to come up from the ground beneath the two. They wrapped themselves around Marinette's wrists and ankles and held her up in the air.
"Marinette!" Adrien called out.
Marinette struggled to break free but she couldn't make the roots budge, even in the slightest. The roots had a firm grasp on her and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Now then, the name of the game is 'Expose The Liar'. Of course, Marinette already exposed me but there's another liar amongst us. Let's see how long they can go without telling the truth. And the time limit is however long Marinette's body can last."
As if on cue, the roots began pulling Marinette's body slightly from her limbs. She was becoming uncomfortable already, with her skin stretching past its limit.
Adrien quickly clicked his fingers, intending to make the roots disappear and set Marinette free, but nothing was happening. He tried clicking them more and more times but they still remained in place, slowly pulling Marinette's body apart. Adrien began growling, realizing what it meant.
"Lila! I'm sorry for everything! Truly!" Marinette called out as she tried to suppress the pain she was experiencing. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like I did! You didn't deserve it! I'm sorry, but please don't do this!"
Volpina didn't respond to Marinette apology. Instead, she blew into her flute some more which made the roots to pull even harder.
"Let go of her now!" Adrien barked at the demon.
"Not until the liar comes clean." she responded, then blew into her flute once again. This time, causing Marinette to let out a scream of pain.
"Alright! Alright!" Marinette cried out, being the first to break. She looked down at Adrien and smiled at him awkwardly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, because I didn't think you'd believe me, but one of my best friends is a demon from Hell. And right now, he's the only one that can get us out of this situation."
Marinette looked up at the sky and began calling out. "CHAT! CHAT NOIR! PLEASE! WE NEED YOUR HELP!"
Adrien began clenching his fists. The situation was becoming even more dire and he was unsure what to do. Marinette was up there, crying out for Chat Noir, and his magic was ineffective. He doubted as well that Volpina would let Adrien walk away freely. He had to come up with an idea and fast.
"Awe, how touching." Volpina said. She clicked her fingers which made the roots speed up with their pulling and started making Marinette continually crying out in agony. "But you weren't the liar I was talking about!"
Adrien snapped his fingers, which caused a Chat Noir illusion to appear on top of the roots. The fake Chat greeted Marinette and smiled at her. "Heard your calls m'lady. Hope I'm not too late."
"Not at all! In fact, you're just in-"
At that moment, much to Marinette's surprise, a root stabbed itself through Chat's chest. Marinette felt horrified for a moment but the fake Chat Noir disappeared in a poof of smoke.
"Nice try," Volpina taunted. "But I won't let silly illusions like that ruin our game."
Volpina turned her attention to Adrien and smiled. "If you really and truly want to save Marinette, all you need to do is reveal your secret Adrien."
Volpina began blowing into her flute once again, which caused the roots to pull even harder, which began testing the limits of Marinette's body. Adrien began gritting his teeth, being conflicted on what to do.
"Come on Adrien, reveal your secret!"
"Don't!" Marinette protested as she tried to fight against the roots. "Don't give in to her demands Adrien!"
"Reveal your secret!" Volpina repeated and blew into her flute again.
Marinette began screaming even more, and louder this time.
"Reveal your secret Adrien!" Volpina repeated again.
"DON'T DO IT!" Marinette repeated again before she let out the loudest scream she's made yet. "CHAT NOIR WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Adrien sighed. It looked like Marinette's body was starting to reach her limits. She was already screaming as loud as she could and was already panting from the pain. He knew she wouldn't last any longer if he dragged it along any further. There was only one thing he could do to save her, it was the only way. "I'm sorry Princess, I didn't want you to find out this way."
Adrien held his hand up and snapped his fingers, which caused shadows to form on his body. Marinette looked down in astonishment at what she was beholding. Within seconds, the boy's form had changed into the last thing Marinette would suspect. He looked up at Marinette with a concerned look and said to her, "Marinette, I am Chat Noir. I have been all this time. Adrien Agreste is really me, Chat Noir."
Author's Note: Surpriseeeeee~ This is how I always intended the reveal to happen in this fic, ever since Day 1 |D Volpina forcing Adrien to reveal his secret in order to save Marinette~
