Previously on Spellbound
Marinette has been kidnapped by the fair folk. In a desperate try to get her back, Adrien made a deal with Plagg that forced him to give up his ring and in turn gave him some of Plagg's destructive powers. After literally ripping the fae that hurt Marinette to shreds, he snapped out of the destructive spell enough to get Marinette back with the help of Félix. He had to fight the Court chief and to some extent even Chloé to buy his brother time to get away. In the end, he had to flee with a fractured left foreleg and the certainty that Marinette would never be able to love him again.
I live!
Phew, this was the longest hiatus I ever took from the story and I would say I'm sorry for not uploading for over 3 months, but that would be a lie. I needed that time to figure out how to put the puzzle pieces together and while I'm still not finished with the outline, I decided that the beginning of book 3 is at least solid enough to throw out this chapter for now. It's the shortest chapter of the story yet and you'll see more of those super short ones in the future, if everythign goes according to plan with the outline. It's an attempt to not write super long chapters anymore, so let's see if that works (probably not). Anyway, enjoy this short little introduction chapter to book 3 of Spellbound! ❤️✨
The song in this chapter is "Song of the Sea" by Nolwenn Leroy and if you don't want to listen to it then just keep in mind that it's a lullaby-like, slow and peaceful song. c:
Definitions
mo stoirin [Irish] = my darling
Marinette didn't know where she was. It was a dark place. Scary and painful. Was she sleeping? Was she dreaming? Fragments of conversations reached her ears but she could no more tell dream apart from reality than she could walk on water.
"…both broken…weeks…away from here."
As soon as she tried to make sense of what she heard, the words slipped away from her again. They made no sense anyway.
"…will be fine…safe."
Her mind held on to that last word. Safe. Safe was good. Safe meant she would stop hurting, right? Safe meant things would get better.
"I'm trying to save you, damn it!"
She knew that one was a dream, since it was way too clear and way too loud to be reality. The sentence pretty much echoed through her, and she still wasn't sure if she should believe it. Those words didn't fit Chloé. But she'd heard it. She had seen her tormentor speak those words with desperate eyes, sharp teeth hiding behind her lips.
Marinette was confused. Something else had happened after that. Something that had deeply unsettled her, but what…
Tikki.
She remembered now. It was like she was back in Chloé's room, tearing herself away from the blonde and running towards the terrace. All she needed was to transform and swing away from that nightmare. Tikki would…but her kwami hadn't been there. She heard herself saying her name over and over again in a desperate attempt to find her, but it was no use. A touch to her empty lobes revealed the true horror of the situation. She was defenceless.
Before she could really consider a way of escape, a new voice had spoken up behind her.
Marinette felt how she had trouble breathing as the memory replayed itself.
"How adorable."
Her first thought had been "Akuma!" but she wasn't sure anymore. Akumas were twisted but this…this creature…it was unlike anything she had ever encountered. Tikki's words had briefly flashed through her mind.
Not human.
She desperately gasped for air, but it was like everything was suddenly a void that didn't want to allow her to live. Everything was out to kill her.
The winged creature's smile made it worse.
Marinette knew what was going to happen. The moment she turned around to run back to Chloé—because if she had to decide between Chloé and this creature, the choice was obvious—there was pain unlike anything she ever felt shooting through her legs. She screamed so loud that it made her ears ring and she almost fell unconscious from the pain.
It hurt. It hurt so bad.
Hush now, mo stoirin
Close your eyes and sleep
Waltzing the waves
Diving in the deep
The voice was silent and sad and it only slowly tickled its way into her mind. It wasn't part of what had happened, which meant that this was in the past and the song was the present, right? Marinette still couldn't tell. She knew though that the voice that sang it was familiar.
Stars are shining bright
The wind is on the rise
Whispering words
Of long-lost lullabies
She trusted that voice and it brought breath back into her lungs as the nightmare slowly faded and she slipped into a realm between sleep and wakefulness. Not wanting to wake up completely, because she knew there would be pain, she decided to listen and let it lull her back to peacefulness.
Oh, won't you come with me
Where the moon is made of gold
And in the morning sun
We'll be sailing
Oh, won't you come with me
Where the ocean meets the sky
And as the clouds roll by
We'll sing the song of the sea
Pictures of gentle ocean waves, beaches and moonlight replaced her nightmare. It was like laying on the patio at night next to Adrien, listening to the sea and looking at the stars.
Adrien.
Now that she thought of him, she knew it for certain: The voice that sang her to a peaceful sleep was his. He was singing and it was beautiful. Which meant he was there with her and that she didn't need to be afraid.
I had a dream last night
And heard the sweetest sound
I saw a great white light
And dancers in the round
Castles in the sand
Cradles in the trees
Don't cry, I'll see you by and by
Oh, won't you come with me
Where the moon is made of gold
And in the morning sun
We'll be sailing
Oh, won't you come with me
Where the ocean meets the sky
And as the clouds roll by
We'll sing the song of the sea
The soft humming of a melody replaced words and Marinette felt herself drifting asleep further. When she heard the chorus again after that, sung more beautifully than all the times before, she was almost fully asleep again. If she dreamed after that, then of beaches, of stars and of beautiful, sparkling green eyes.
