The Goddess and the Tree

A torch was lit. Elongated shadows flickered over the courtyard like eerie guardians, but Marinette just stared at the dead tree in the centre. All those times she'd wondered why it was there. All those times she'd wondered why Cat had been drawn to it.

Had he always known?

She glanced at Cat, who trailed his father with slumped shoulders and downcast eyes. The guilt coming off him was like a thick haze. She wished she could go to him, wished she could comfort him. Something whispered it wouldn't do to reveal just how deeply she cared, though. Not in front of his father.

"I just heal this tree?" she asked.

Cat's father—or Hawkmoth, as she had taken to calling him in her head—nodded. "You could say that this tree is like a prison for the goddess of creation. If you bring it back to life, she will be freed."

"That's it?"

"That's it," he confirmed.

She frowned and approached the tree. The bark was cold against her palm. It didn't feel like anything special. No pulsing thrum of magic, no spark of life. She didn't even know how she was supposed to fix it.

"What are you waiting for?" Hawkmoth asked.

Frustration itched at her tongue, making her want to snap. It was fear that held her back: fear for Cat, and fear for her own safety. Hawkmoth was a powerful god. He had already threatened them both. It would not do to get on his bad side.

"I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this," she said. "I've only healed once before, and that was a person."

Hawkmoth waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "You've already proven you have the ability. The principle is the same."

Her frown deepened. He seemed to know a lot about creation magic. A part of her wanted to ask how he had learnt about all of this—the goddess, the tree, the fact that she seemed to be the only one who could create life with the magic. But his expression said, Hurry up or else.

Her heart thumped faster. She turned back to the tree and placed both hands against the trunk. A fresh lump of unease got lodged in her throat. What if this was too much for her? Cat certainly looked at her with wide, panicked eyes. If he were not being restrained by his father, she was sure he would have blocked her from even touching the tree.

But he could not do anything.

She closed her eyes and called upon the magic. It filled her like a warm breeze, spiralling up and up until it started to crackle with energy through her veins. The energy flowed through her palms and seeped into the tree. A pinkish glow illuminated the courtyard.

"Yes," Hawkmoth hissed.

Marinette gritted her teeth. This was nothing like healing Lila. This was like being connected to a stone wall, and she somehow had to fill it with life. Tremors crept into her hands, her limbs. Sweat beaded her forehead. The more that she clung on, the more her body protested. Her heart stuttered and fluttered in sickening rolls. Her vision turned to starburst, smears of black, but even then she could tell that the tree had barely changed. She'd used all that magic and it still looked as dead as ever.

"Father!" The word burst from Cat like water gushing from a broken dam. "Please! It's too much for her!"

"Silence!"

"Please, just let her have a break! The tree will still be here if …"

The voices grew dim and fuzzy, swallowed up in a high-pitched ringing. Everything began to tilt and cloud, as if the courtyard were just a scene in a snow globe and had been tipped upside down. Then hands grabbed her arms, snapping her back into awareness.

Cat looked anxiously down at her. "It's okay," he whispered. "I've got you."

oOo

She woke once more in her bed to warmth and purring, though this time the purr kept stuttering to a stop as if it was a struggle to maintain the sound.

"Cat?"

He mumbled an apology and started to pull away, but she grabbed his arms and kept them around her waist.

"Don't," she said softly. "Just stay with me like this."

"You … really want me to?"

His voice sounded small. Fragile.

She held his hands against her stomach, running her thumb up and down his skin in a gentle caress. "Yeah."

His breath fanned the exposed skin on the back of her neck. "I thought you'd hate me."

"I could never hate you."

"Not even after everything that's happened?"

She leaned back more into his chest, still tracing an aimless pattern on his hand. "It wasn't your fault. He knows your true name, doesn't he?"

Cat stiffened before he seemed to just slump like some defeated thing. "Yes," he whispered.

"I'm sorry."

His arms tightened around her. "I'm the one who should be saying sorry. None of this would have happened if I hadn't been so foolish."

She slipped her hand in his and intertwined their fingers. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's a lot."

She squeezed his hand. "I don't mind."

He returned the gentle squeeze and then, in a halting voice, told her of how he had ended up under Hawkmoth's control. Gods were all born knowing their names, but they could not share them until they were at least fourteen years old. It was a blessing of protection built into the magic. A child's brain just wasn't developed enough to understand the significance of keeping their true name a secret.

But Cat's mother had vanished when he was four. A few days later, he'd accidentally killed the leader of the gods. So he'd been locked away—no mother, not even a father half the time. He'd been kept under strict guard by a mute god until he was thirteen, and then even that god had been taken from him.

"I was lonely and terrified," Cat said. "My power was only growing with every year that passed, and I was sure I was going to lose control again. All it would take was one mistake. So when my father said he'd help me, I … I wanted to believe him. He said if he knew my true name, he would be able to stop me from hurting those I wasn't supposed to. He said he could protect me and everyone else."

Marinette's grip tightened on his hand. "But he controlled you instead?"

"Not in such an obvious way at first, but yes. I soon realised my mistake."

She rolled over to face him. "I'm sorry, Cat. I'm sorry your father did this to you." She wrapped her arms around him, wishing that doing so would let her take all of his pain into herself. "You've already been through so much."

He returned the hug, burrowing his face into the nook created by her shoulder and neck. There were many other things she wanted to say—how Hawkmoth was a terrible father; how fathers were supposed to love and protect their children, not use them like chess pawns. But none of those words would change anything. None of them could fix this mess.

"What does he even want with the goddess of creation?" she murmured. "Why do any of this?"

"I don't know …"

Her brow furrowed. "Why do I get the feeling you actually do?"

He sighed, shuffling against her. "Let me put it this way. I can talk about the control my father has over me now because you already know about it."

She stilled. "You mean he's given you orders not to speak of his plan."

"Yes."

That meant she'd have to figure things out on her own.

He pulled back enough to meet her gaze. "I'm sorry—for this and everything else. The truth is, I didn't know what he was planning for you until after you created that rosebush. I'd hoped if you didn't show more of your magic, he wouldn't be able to tell that you were the one he wanted, but …"

"The wounded champion, Lila. He set it up as a test for me."

"I think so."

Marinette had to repress a shiver. Lila could have bled to death had she not been healed. It said a lot about Hawkmoth and his champion that they had been willing to take such a risk.

She nestled closer to Cat, both for comfort and to give him comfort. "Where is your father now anyway?"

"He left, but he'll be back once you've recovered so you can try again."

The creases returned to her brow. "You were ordered not to interfere with the tree healing, right?"

"Yes …"

"But you did anyway. You spoke up for me."

He bit his lip. "Sometimes I can resist him. Not enough to really go against his orders, but enough to express how I feel."

Her expression softened and she leaned on her elbow so she could look down at his face. "Thank you for helping me. I know that can't have been easy."

"I would do anything to keep you safe, Marinette."

The words were said so simply, just a statement of fact. Her heart fumbled on its rhythm and she found herself lost in the green of his eyes. It was instinct that guided her into lowering her lips to his. They kissed, chaste but lingering.

"We'll figure this out," she whispered. "Somehow, we'll find a way to free you from your father and end all of this. I promise."