Hello dear miraculous friends. I'm back as promised for the May 8 prompt. Tomorrow it will be Malauu-LadyNoir's story. We will meet again on May 11th. I wish you a good reading. Miraculous kisses

PROMPT N°8 : PRINCESS AND KNIGHT AU/ANA

THE KWAMIS RETURNS

(part 2)

Marinette opened her eyes again and was daz11led by the light around. She closed them again by weighing in on herself for not thinking about closing the curtain on her room. She began to open her eyes again, but more gradually, to allow her sight to adapt to the brightness. When she finally found out where she was, she pushed an exclamation of surprise.

She was clearly in what was meant to be a room and she slept in what was meant to be a bed, but she was unfamiliar with anything around her. The 'room' was large and the 'walls' were made of soft light. She lay on nothing more and nothing less than a cloud that had a compact shape. She still had to dream, it wasn't possible otherwise.

"You're awake, Miss," asked a small voice on her right.

Marinette turned in this direction and let out another cry of surprise and mixed terror: a human-sized mouse stood in front of her. The latter seemed to panic at her reaction.

"Don't be afraid, Miss: You are in the kingdom of the Kwamis," she said, trying to calm her down.

But instead of appeasing the girl, the words of the mouse made her panic even more. The Kingdom of the Kwamis? What was she doing there? Why was she here? She'd been kidnapped... Then suddenly the events of the last few days came back to her memory and she calmed down a little.

'Calm down Marinette,' she told herself. 'If you are here, it is that Chat Noir has failed to prevent your kidnapping. You must calm down. You must have a clear mind to be able to find a solution to get out of here.'

The girl took two deep breaths and felt the panic going away gradually, brightening her thoughts. She wasn't in danger. These creatures didn't seem to be evil, and it was a very positive thing: the situation could have been worse.

She looked at the mouse and smiled at her, finding her a little less frightening now. In fact, she could even say that she was pretty cute. Marinette's change of behavior also calmed the creature, who stopped waving in all directions because she didn't know what to do.

"I'm sorry to have afraid you," Marinette sincerely apologized. "I was anxious when I woke up not being in my room."

The mouse smiled at her and Marinette realized that she'd never seen anything so strange in her entire life.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Mullo, Marinette had learned that the mouse was called like this, informed her that they would prepare her for the banquet. Marinette, surprised by the use of the pronoun 'they', wondered if other mice would come to help Mullo when a dozen silhouettes entered the room. The newcomers looked like humans, but they wore gray and pink suits as well as topknot in the shape of mouse's ear on top of their head.

Soon, the young girl guessed that they had suffered the same fate as Chat Noir and that they had been affected by the Mouse power. Apparently, it happened more often than she thought... Marinette shuddered, slightly worried that it happened to her too, hoping it wasn't too late...

The mice dressed her in a sumptuous princess dress of red color. Two transparent sails of the same color, with black dots, were placed on it, as if they were wings. They were starting to hairdo Marinette when Queen Pollen entered the room.

She approached the girl and smiled at her.

"You're beautiful in this outfit, Marinette, I'm sure that Plagg will find you to his taste."

The young woman was eyes-widened, feeling her heart accelerating. No, no, no, that wasn't good news!

"Your Majesty," she began with the most diplomatic tone possible. "I'm very honored by your offer but I can't marry Prince Plagg."

Marinette twisted her hands with anguish: she was afraid that her refusal would be considered like an affront or an act of war and that she would end up in a dark and dismal dungeon.

"Why?" astonishingly asked Queen Pollen. "Don't you find Prince Plagg to your taste?"

The girl wanted to dig a deep hole and jump into it.

"No, that's not it, Your Goddess," she said. "Prince Plagg is a kwami and I'm a human. I can't marry him."

Queen Pollen smiled more, giving Marinette a chill of anguish.

"Oh but it's not a problem," she said with a reassuring voice.

Marinette was about to tell her that the Prince would certainly have a say on the matter when she discovered the state of her hands. They were now covered by a red and black fabric that stuck to her skin. It stopped up to her elbows, like gloves. Gloves she'd never put on.

She tried to shoot the cloth to remove it, but nothing was done about it. It was then that she took consciousness of what was happening and Queen Pollen's words: like Chat Noir and the mice, she'd been touched by the power of the Kwamis and slowly turned into a hybrid...

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Marinette couldn't move her eyes from her hands. She was in shock since her discovery and was no longer paying attention to what was happening around her. She was vaguely aware that she'd been taken to another room and helped to sit down. However, she couldn't have described where she was, or even what was happening there.

She stayed that way for a long time, prostrated on herself, without anyone succeeding in getting her out of this state. No one until she hears a warm and slightly amused voice speaking to her.

"Miss Marinette, would you give me this dance?"

This voice, which seemed familiar to her, gave her hope and the young woman finally looked up.

A human-looking being had bowed to her, gently reaching out his hand gloved with black. He was wearing a black three piece suit but his jacket and the lining of his tail jacket were green. An elegant black cape draped his shoulders and was tied to his neck by a golden bell. He wore a hat, similar to those of the Musketeers, which concealed his features.

Marinette crossed the vibrating green feline gaze for a few seconds. A gaze full of promise, a gaze sparkling with fun, a gaze that seemed familiar to her but whose reason she couldn't longer remember. The hybrid, she knew he was one, gave her a wink and Marinette decided to put her hand in his: her heart told her that she could trust him and she decided to listen to it.

The next moment, he dragged her into a dance, making her forget all her problems and causing butterflies in the hollow of her stomach. After a while, he leaned over her ear and whispered a few words.

"I told you I would help you, meowtiful purrincess. This black leather knight always keeps his purromises."

The heart of Marinette was pounding fast. Chat Noir! It was Chat Noir ! And he came to save her! So he hadn't abandoned her to her fate...

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Marinette and Chat Noir discussed their options and tried to find an escape plan throughout the dance. Many solutions were possible, but all were based on the same starting point: they needed a diversion.

The music ended and Marinette had to let Chat Noir move away from her, with many regrets. She frowned when she felt him pushing her gently toward the door, before moving forward with a determined step in the opposite direction. He wasn't going to play the diversion himself and sacrifice himself for her? Right?

Marinette stretched out her arm in his direction, before beginning to walk to catch him, but before she could call or reach him, a ladybug stopped the feline. A ladybug Kwami to be more exact. Marinette reached their height in a few strides and heard the end of the sentence that this one pronounced.

"...help you," she said in a voice that Marinette recognized: It was this voice that led her to Chat Noir.

The girl plunged her azure gaze into that of the indigo of the Kwami and her dream came to her mind: she was the ladybug she'd saved when she was a child.

The ladybug gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Marinette. it should never have happened," she apologized, pointing to her hand with a small movement of her head. "Transformation is only happening in our world."

Marinette put her hand on the arm of her interlocutor and gave her a soft smile.

"I don't regret having saved you..." she began.

"Tikki," clarified the ladybug

Marinette's smile gets bigger.

"I don't regret having saved you, Tikki," she repeated. "And, despite all this, I also don't regret saving Prince Plagg."

Marinette felt an intense gaze upon her and crossed Chat Noir's eyes, which shone with a strange glow that warmed her heart.

"If you can get out of our world before being completely transformed, there is still hope to reverse the situation."

The words of the ladybug broke the charm that connected Marinette to the feline. With her cheeks blushing, the young woman turned again to Tikki. She handed her a black dot red lucky charm.

"When you're out of here, throw it in the air and say "Miraculous Ladybug". It should make you look human again," she explained to Marinette.

The girl took the object and thanked the ladybug warmly. All they'd to do was to get out of there...

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

They'd received unexpected help from another Kwami, who looked like a fox: Trixx, Tikki's best friend. She used her power to create an illusion that offered the perfect diversion needed by Marinette and Chat Noir.

Unfortunately, they'd barely reached the door of the banquet hall and the illusion was already dispelling: one of the guests had inadvertently brushed it. Chat Noir reacted quickly: He swept Marinette's legs with one arm to lift her in bridal style and began running while holding her safely against him.

Marinette could smell his sweet perfume. She resisted the urge to put her head against his shoulder and bury her nose into his neck: it was neither the place nor the time to follow the impulses of her heart.

They were able to cross a long hallway at full speed before the guards began to chase them. The guards were also hybrids. Hybrids dressed with the colors of the Queen.

Chat Noir withdrew at the last minute into a corridor that opened on his right, which allowed them to gain some extra minutes on their pursuers who had gone straight ahead.

But luck wasn't on their side: a portal similar to the one that had taken Marinette away opened before them to let other soldiers pass through. The feline tried to turn around, but those they'd sown earlier were already blocking their way. They'd no choice: to escape, they were going to have to fight.

"Hold on to me, Marinette," he whispered to her before firming his grip on her.

The young woman put her arms around his neck and, when he was certain that she wouldn't fall, the feline grabbed his baton with one hand and began to confront their enemies.

Chat Noir dodged their attacks, then mowed the guards' legs with his baton, jumped into the air to avoid being hit by their enemies. But each opponent who fell was immediately replaced by another…

He made a circular movement with his baton that made all the guards fall at once, then he took advantage of the few minutes he'd just won. The feline put Marinette on the floor in front of the wall and whispered. "Cataclysm."

Marinette gasped when she saw the feline's hand loading with dark energy. She saw her companion put his hand on the wall that collapsed instantly, offering her an exit door.

The guards were already getting up and Chat Noir pushed her into the opening.

"Go away. Run to the tower and climb to the top: it's the way out. I'll hold them to give you time."

But Marinette shook her head with determination. "No! I wouldn't leave without you!"

The feline's eyes shone with surprise and he was about to protest when a voice rose in the hallway.

"What's going on here?"

All eyes turned in this direction, and Marinette immediately recognized the cat she'd saved the day before: Prince Plagg had arrived.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

They were all in the banquet hall again, but this time, Prince Plagg had interposed between Marinette, Chat Noir and the rest of the guests. Queen Pollen seemed delighted to see him.

"Plagg"! she exclaimed. "What a nice surprise! I didn't expect you to join us so early."

The feline explained to her that Tikki had come to pick him up and that she had told him everything that was happening in the palace. So he came as quickly as possible.

"Besides, It interrupted my second nap," he concluded.

Marinette bit her lip so as not to laugh. All her panic had gone away because, on her way back to the banquet hall, she'd crossed Tikki's reassuring gaze. She then smiled at her to indicate that everything was going to be fine and Marinette believed her.

The young woman heard the ensuing exchanges between Prince Plagg and Queen Pollen with a distracted ear, her eyes having crossed again with Chat Noir's gaze

"I would not marry this lady," said the cat, both categorical and bored. "There is only one I want to marry…"

Marinette's attention focused again on Prince Plagg as he headed for a stunned Tikki. He handed her the package that Marinette had seen him carry the day before, when she'd saved him.

"Sugarcube, here is a little present as a token of my affection," he declared in a soft tone.

The ladybug opened the package and a smell of camembert floated through the air, making Marinette's nose fray. Tikki looked at the package with a surprise.

"If you don't want it, I will eat it," said Prince Plagg after a while.

The ladybug-kwami shook her head quickly.

"Did you do that for me?" she asked him incredulously, showing the piece of camembert that contained inserts of fruit pasta and dried fruit.

"No, I just wanted to try a new way to eat camembert and it made me think of you," replied Prince Plagg in a raucous tone.

Marinette smiled: she suspected that it was not entirely the truth but that the cat would never admit it. A huge smile stretched the lips of the ladybug, who must have thought the same thing as the young woman, then she bent down to kiss the Prince's cheek.

"Thank you, Plagg." She then added, in a slightly lower tone. "I love you, too."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Chat Noir had accompanied Marinette to her home and was now preparing to say her goodbye.

"Don't forget to use Tikki's gift," he reminded her with a smile.

He pulled out his baton, jumped on the handrail from the girl's balcony and was about to leave when she held it.

"Wait Chat Noir!" she cried.

Surprises, the feline turned around to stare at the girl.

"I... I... I wanted you... uh.. I wanted to thank you for what… what you did for me," she stammered, avoiding his gaze.

A soft, tender smile stretched the lips of Chat Noir and he came down from his perch.

"It was a pleasure, Purrincess," he said sincerely. "And I'd still be here if you needed me."

He saw the girl's cheeks blushing and felt his heart beating faster in his chest.

"I think I fell in love with you, Chat Noir," he heard her say so low that he doubted whether he'd actually heard it.

Then Marinette surprised him by suddenly raising her head to dive her gaze into his. She'd a determined look, the same as when they first met.

"I think I fell in love with you, Chat Noir," she repeated distinctly.

The feline had also fallen in love with her. So much so that he wouldn't want to offer her the miserable life she could live with him because he was a hybrid. He slowly closed his eyes, pain tightening his heart.

"You shouldn't: I'm not…" he began before being interrupted by the gentle and warm contact of her lips on his own.

He opened his eyes, his heart beating so fast, and she broke the kiss.

"I want you, whether you wear a mask or not." she said.

The feline then saw her take the lucky charm out of her pocket and throw it in the air, just above them, then whispered the magic formula given by Tikki before kissing him again.

Chat Noir felt magic running into his body and when Marinette once again moved away from him, out of breath, she smiled at him and delicately put her fingers where his mask was. Chat Noir felt it dissolve slowly under her touch.

Finally, love was perhaps the most powerful cure...

End

May 9 : The heart has its reasons that the reason ignores (part 2) by Malauu-Ladynoir

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