Chapter 3

Across Paris, Nana Sophaline sat on her balcony tending to her garden and waving passerby that walked beneath her. Everyone seemed happy this evening, even as the darkness of the night engulfed this side of the city. It was almost as if the incident from earlier didn't happen, but she knew it did. It still pained her to remember it, causing her to wonder if what that young girl said was true. She didn't remember ever reading to her, and it was obvious that she was a socialite, but pretty much everything she said was true. Perhaps it was for the best that she quit reading to the children at the library.

She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't hear nor see the darkened butterfly approach her and land in her glasses that were perched at the tip of her nose. "Ah, Fairy Godmother. I am Hawk Moth, and I disagree with the young Bourgeois girl. Your stories need to be shared to Paris, to around all of France, perhaps even the world."

"Yes, everyone deserves a good story."

"Perhaps that is key to this whole situation. People don't need to just hear the stories, but to feel it, to live it. I give you powers to choose characters and place anyone as your desired actor, even giving them powers like in your fairy tales. In return, I want the miraculous' of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes, Hawk Moth, as long as I can make everyone have an ending that they deserve." With that last statement, a dark concoction engulfed her and disappeared into a cloud of glitter.


The bright sunlight shone in through Marinette's window, causing momentary blindness to Marinette. When she opened her eyes, she realized that the sun was positioned just as it would be around the time classes would start. With a yelp, she quickly sprung from her bed, only to fall flat on her face on her bedroom floor. "Marinette, are you okay?" she heard her mother ask.

"Yes, maman, I'm fi-" she cut herself off when she noticed the garbs that her mom was wearing. "Uhm, what's with the costume, maman? Is there an event today?"

Her mother sighed as she pulled herself fully into her daughter's room. "It seems that an akuma struck sometime in the night. It changed everything into a sort of medieval time. Your father and I woke up hours ago to try to bake everything traditionally. It was difficult at first, but we quickly got used to it. As for you, you only have a few minutes to get ready for school before class starts."

With another yelp, she gets off the ground, noting that her pajamas that once consisted of shorts and a T-shirt now consisted of underwear of that time period, and made her way to her closet. All of the dresses were of the normal style of the time, which was a little better than a servants' gown due to the wealth the bakery would've brought in back then. Quickly slipping on a beige and pink dress, one that was very flattering on her, she put on similar flats to her own and made her way to class. Her normal purse wasn't around, but a small satchel was perfect enough for Tikki and some cookies. The dress she chose seemed like it had the least amount of fabric, but it still was heavy as she made her way to the school. Many of the buildings even looked different, with no cars and many of the buildings were reduced to simple single-story buildings. They were closer together, but still organized in a way where it wouldn't be hard to navigate. Luckily, the school was still across the street from the bakery. Strangely enough, she made it to school a few minutes before she would normally make it. Perhaps something was strange with the akuma, many things were changed. She would have to ask Tikki what all has changed and how this will affect her powers.

Mlle Bustier wasn't even there yet, so when Marinette walked in Alya was surprised to say the least, and the boys were happy to see her early. Marinette was happy too, but stunned over what her friends were wearing. Alya was wearing an outfit similar to her own, but a dark brown with orange shading. Nino wore an outfit one would expect to see on a young musician, yet still looking slightly like them too. But Adrien, he looked like a prince. Literally, he wore expensive looking getup with ribbons and jewelry adorning his chest. His boots were polished to shine like a diamond in the sun. However, as much as she adored his outfit, she could tell that he felt uncomfortable. Looking around, Marinette noticed that everyone looked almost like a servant like herself, but Adrien looked like a prince. She wondered if their social backgrounds played a part in what they were in this life. Oh no, that could only mean that Chloe is-

"Adrikins!" a banshee screeched behind her and pushed her to the ground as she rushed to Adrien. Directing a glare to Chloe, she truly wished she hadn't. Her dress was a bright yellow color, obviously Chloe's favorite color, and it was adorned with diamonds and topaz gems all over her overly puffy dress. It made Marinette cringe with how much weight it must hold, and how Chloe could survive this long with it on. Then again, Chloe would proudly wear something as ludicrous as that to flaunt her wealth, especially in this world. And to answer her earlier question, she probably can only fit through doorways if she was the only one to go through it, and the thought made her giggle lightly.

"Girl, are you okay?" Alya asked as she moved to help her up.

"I'm fun, just a little dazed over this whole thing."

"I know, right? There's no technology, and I can't survive without my baby!" she jokingly lamented, making Marinette giggle again.

"You think that's bad, I can't listen to my tunes, dude!" Nino piped up, making them laugh again.

"Who cares about your stupid 'tunes,' Adrien and I are prince and princess! Isn't that great, Adrikins!"

"Yeah, fantastic," he mumbled, and the three almost failed in stifling their laughs behind Chloe as she engulfed Adrien in a hug, almost making him disappear into her overly fluffed skirt. Chloe's statement did give Marinette pause though, what kind of akuma would cause people to turn into either peasants or royalty? She had to transform into Ladybug and search for Chat Noir, hopefully they can solve this mystery. Before she could do much else, though, Mlle Bustier walking through the door and asked everyone to sit down so the lesson could begin.

At lunchtime, Marinette decided to head home like normal to see if her parents needed her help. When she got there, she almost wished she hadn't. The line stretched outside and around the store. Luckily people weren't irritated for the wait yet. It seemed that they were understanding because of this strange akuma, but either way, Marinette needed to get in there and help her parents. Going in the back door, she went to grab an apron and realized for the first time that they were slightly longer than normal, most likely because of the current fashion. She forgot that she didn't have hair ties anymore, so she improvised and tied her hair in a knot on the top of her head. She didn't normally do her hair like this, seeing how it could tangle easily if done incorrectly. "Maman! I'm here to help!"

Sabine sighed in relief when she saw her daughter, happy that it wasn't just Tom and her anymore. "Thank goodness. Would you please help your father in the back? He's working on the croissants, why don't you work on the cookies?"

"On it, maman!" and with a twist of her heel, she went to the kitchen. She wouldn't be able to go back to school until right before the bell. It was so busy that it didn't slow down enough for her to grab something until she had no choice but to run to school. With the line considerably shorter, she placed her apron back on the hook, grabbed a fresh croissant, and ran to school. She almost tripped a few times trying to eat and hold her skirts up, but she finished her croissant and made it to school right before the bell. She sighed in relief with a small smile as she felt a tap on her shoulder. Marinette looked to Alya with a pained smile, reluctant to sit up.

"Girl, you look terrible."

"Gee, thanks Al. That's what every girl wants to hear."

"Did you day or something?"

"Or something, but almost. It was really busy at the bakery today. I hardly had enough time to eat something before coming in."

"That's pretty obvious, you didn't even have time to clean your face," Alya teased while she snickered. Marinette sat up quickly and placed her hands over her rapidly heating cheeks.

"A-Alya!" she whined. Marinette began to place her face in her arms, but Alya stopped her when she handed over a handkerchief. Marinette smiled gratefully and began rubbing her face, admittingly making her face even more red. When she emerged, she found the boys looking at her, Nino with a lopsided grin on his face, and Adrien… she wasn't sure what his reaction was. Surprise? Shock? Why was that? And more importantly, why was Nino smiling so wide?

"Yo, Marinette! What's with your hair, dude?"

"My, hair?" she questioned aloud as she reached a hand to her bun on top of her head. She blushed again as she felt some of the tendrils begin to fall out. Did she look a mess? She found herself pouting again when Nino laughed even harder. "Shut up, Nino! I hardly had time to eat, let alone look in the mirror." She began trying to take her bun out due to irritation, but surprisingly, Adrien reached a hand out to stop her.

"No, don't take your hair out. It looks quite nice! Nino is just being a jerk."

"Dude! That hurts!" Nino play-complained.

"I'm sure you're just jealous that you don't have enough hair," Alya accused.

"I admit, it might be cool with long hair, but I've been around enough girls to know that more often than not it sucks to have long hair. I'm good." The group laughed together while they waited for Mlle Bustier to show up. Marinette didn't know how to feel about Adrien's comment, nor why he keeps staring at her, or more accurately her bun. It wasn't a big deal, was it? I suppose it was different, seeing how she either has her hair in pig tails or in braids. She thought back to this morning when she didn't have her hair done in either hairstyle, and she could've sworn that then, too, he was looking at her more than normal. Her cheeks flushed once more, just thinking that after all this time, all it took was for her to change her hairstyle for him to notice her. Well, that sucks.

She sighed once more to herself, this time more dejectedly, as she rested her chin on her right hand as it sat on her desk. Nino was talking away to the group, not noticing anything because he was talking about his music. Adrien looked at her confused, most likely wondering why she sighed so deeply. From the corner of her eye, she could see Alya giving her a consoling look, most likely already drawing the same conclusion as her. Marinette herself sent the other two a soft smile as if to say "I'm okay" and hoped that they could drop the subject. Marinette belatedly realized that Adrien changed into more casual clothes, so he still was dressed nice but more so like a noble in disguise. Her hope was answered when Mlle Bustier walked into the room. The rest of the day continued on as normal.