Here's Your Fate
The tree claimed her dreams. She stood in the chamber, unable to escape from the pulsing beat. It tattooed itself to her bones, to her soul. On the dais in the middle, the cocoon throbbed like some glutted thing—a monster that glowed with life, waiting to be set free.
She gritted her teeth. "No."
Carmine emerged in trails of smoke, but this time when she took shape, she wasn't so transparent. The glassy quality of her body was gone. She looked more human. More natural. It was easy to see that her hair was black and her eyes blue, though she still shone with the pinkish-red hues of sunrise.
"Figured it out, did you?" Carmine said calmly.
Marinette clenched her hands so tightly that crescent wounds dug into her palms. "You tried to trick me."
"I did no such thing."
"You told me to keep healing the tree! You knew I—"
"I told you it was your destiny." She stepped closer, thrumming with power. "And I only spoke the truth."
"I refuse to accept that."
Carmine raised one thin eyebrow. "You are a human. I am a goddess. Out of the two of us, who do you think deserves to be the true wielder of creation?"
Marinette's teeth grinded against each other.
"Face it," Carmine said in that voice of honey and silk, though now it felt like gouging razors. "You were born to free me. You exist to serve me. That is the fate written in your stars."
"Then I reject that fate."
A spine-shivering laugh. "Oh? And how do you plan to stop it?
"I won't heal the tree anymore."
She'd fight Hawkmoth if she had to. Fight his champions. It was what she had trained to do anyway, and—
"Oh, child." Carmine reached out and cupped her cheek, her touch surprisingly warm. "Don't you see it's too late?"
Marinette's heart lurched for her throat. "What?"
"The process has already begun." Her lips curved, no longer a glassy slit but sweet and natural. "Soon, I will awaken, and then I will take what I need from you whether you like it or not."
Marinette wrenched her face back and put more space between them. "Just try it!"
Carmine laughed. "Such boldness, but all the boldness in the world cannot change what was and what will be." She began to fade into smoke. "You'll see, child. You cannot escape your fate. No one can."
oOo
The process had indeed begun. There were buds on the tree's branches, small and green like pebbles of jade. Life had taken root. Leaves would soon unfurl in a heralding shroud. No more healing magic was required—only the final piece.
"I won't let you have me," Marinette hissed.
Human or not, she was more than just a remnant of shattered magic. She was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She was a woman in her own right. A princess who had sacrificed herself to save her kingdom. She had come to love Adrien, had fought a goddess to be reunited with him, and she refused to believe that all of those choices, all of those experiences, amounted to nothing.
She refused to believe that her life was destined to end like this.
Her eyes narrowed and she forged a two-handed axe out of magic, gripping it tight. Life had taken root in this tree, but that didn't mean she couldn't destroy it.
She marched forward and took a vicious swing at the trunk.
Thunk!
It was like hitting a stone wall. The haft juddered. Her arms juddered. Then the axe blade shattered like a web splintering, and the whole weapon was wrenched out of her hand by an invisible force, sending her flying along with it. Her back hit the ground. She groaned, rolling onto her knees, and stared up at the tree. Her eyes widened and her heart battered itself against her ribs.
There wasn't any damage. Not even a little chip.
"No way," she breathed.
She could almost hear Carmine's laughter, silky sweet yet gouging. It seemed that the tree could not be felled so easily, nor her so-called destiny stopped.
"Marinette?"
Adrien rushed over, helping her to her feet.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "What were you—"
"It's the tree." She pointed to the clawing thing and all its budding leaves. "It's healed."
His face went chalky white. "Then it's really happening."
She gripped his hand, both for comfort and to offer it. No plans. No time. It all seemed so hopeless.
"You could still run," he said softly.
"No."
That was the one thing she wouldn't do. Running had never achieved anything. Hawkmoth, Carmine, or even Mayura would catch up with her eventually. Besides, she didn't want to leave Adrien.
She looked up at him. "I can't back down from this. I won't."
"My father still controls me," he warned. "He could make me … I mean we might have to …"
Fight.
It was an unspoken possibility. A part of her had even realised that was why he had given her his armour and weapon in the first place. He'd not been training her to fight his father. He'd been training her to fight him. Neither of them had just wanted to admit it.
She cupped his face, looking into his summer-green eyes. "Adrien, I …"
Then she froze, her eyes widening.
"What?" he said.
Her hands slid to his shoulders, gripping tight. "Your name! I know your name!"
"Yes, I know."
"What if I can counter your father's orders?"
His brow creased. "What do you mean?"
"I just thought of it then. If he knows your name and I know your name, maybe the magic will cancel each other out."
"And then I can act how I want," he said, catching on.
She nodded.
He bit his lip. "It sounds logical, but I've never heard of anyone being able to break a true name binding."
"But that's the thing." Her lips curved with a hint of her old mischief. "I'm not trying to break anything. I'm just going to give orders that go against what your father wants." She squeezed his shoulders. "Only if you'll let me, of course."
"Of course. I trust you. I already said that."
"Then you're willing to try?"
He nodded and pulled her closer, pressing his forehead to hers. "I want to fight at your side, Marinette. I want to be there for you. I'm more than willing to try your plan if it means I can do that."
She smiled and relaxed into the hug. "Thank you."