Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, nor do I claim to. Miraculous is owned by GLOOB and several others I have no connection to. This fanfiction is made for fans by fans for entertainment purposes, and no money is being made from it.
"Why do you lie, Lila?" demanded Marinette. "Why do you feel the need to do all of this?"
Marinette threw her arms in the air in exasperation. Her bluebelle eyes narrowed at Lila.
The brown-haired girl had approached Marinette, and once again offered to let her join her side, instead of having her life ruined. It was one of the odd days where Lila felt charitable, and a little guilty. However, her offer was rejected by Marinette. The other girl was too much of a goody-two shoes to help Lila with her lies.
Lila chuckled to herself, and responded, "Why? Why do I do this? That's a long story, Marinette Dupain-Cheng One you wouldn't bother to hear."
A wistful look appeared in Lila's green eyes, and she casually leaned against the wall of the bathroom. There was no way Marinette really wanted to know Lila's story. That would mean she cared for Lila somehow, and no one cared for Lila without her lies.
"Tell me," demanded Marinette, as she stepped forwards determinedly and narrowed her eyes further.
Since Lila had not lost her charitable feeling, she cautiously began her tale.
My dad was never around much. He spent most of his time out with friends, spending money. This was never too big of a deal, since my dad was actually rich, and I still had my mom.
Well, when I was four, my dad decided to leave my mom and I completely. With my dad being the main provider of money for my family, my mom had to get a second job, meaning I rarely ever got to see her.
While my mom was at work, I stayed with my Uncle, Ferrando Ambigou. Once I started to go to school, he dropped me off and picked me up every day.
School was where it all started to go wrong. Since I didn't have a daddy like the other kids, I was constantly mocked. My mother being gone all the time never helped matters. One day, the taunts caused me to burst into tears, and my uncle saw me crying when he came to pick me up.
"What is wrong, nipote?" Uncle Ferrando had asked me. His eyes, which were the same green as mine, looked at me with love and concern.
I told him everything that day. I told him of the mockery, and how I missed my papa. By the time I was done speaking, tears filled my eyes. They rolled down my face, and I wondered how it was possible to shed so many tears.
Not that you care.
My uncle gave me advice that I treasure to this day. He told me, "Lila, darling, do not pay any mind to these children. They only make fun of you because they are told children should have a mommy and daddy. Maybe you should tell them something else."
Maybe he did not mean for me to lie, but it was what I thought he meant. Even though I was told to never lie by Mamma, I did it anyways, since Uncle Ferrando told me to. To my surprise, it did help.
I told all the kids that the reason I did not have a pappa was because he was a famous singer, who was on tour. The kids, being gullible brats, believed me and started clambering for my attention. It was amazing.
However, after a few months, one kid's brother called me out on the lie, and I was shunned more than ever. I had only been six. The devastation led to fury, and I vowed to never let someone ruin my lies again.
During summer break, Uncle Ferrando had to move for work, so Mamma and I moved in with my Nonna. We had luckily moved far enough away for me to go to a new school. There, I came up with a smarter lie about my Pappa. I told everyone he had died protecting me from a criminal. Then, I expanded upon that saying my dad was a police officer, and he had protected tons of famous people. Some of those famous people contacted me because I was his daughter.
Two years of glory were gained from that lie. However, after two years, a new girl named Milly transferred to our school. She was from America, and she was filthy rich. So, when I spoke about knowing a celebrity, she chewed me out for it because she didn't want me getting more attention than her.
So, I did the only thing I could. I threatened her, but offered to leave her alone if she sided with me. To my shock, Milly accepted my offer. We ruled the school together, Milly and I. Only, she was not as clever as I was. Milly blundered, and we were both outed for lying.
I only had to deal with a few more months of that before my mom and I moved to an apartment that was barely inside the lines of a new school. By that time, no one really minded that I did not have a dad, so I told lies about something else, to get friends. I explained that I was distantly related to the Queen of England, and that I had helped a famous pop singer come up with a tune for her latest song. Royalty and pop stars were the favorites of most eight-year-old girls.
It was only a few weeks before trouble arose there. In my new apartment, we had many really loud neighbors who kept me up all night and distracted me while I did my homework. My grades started to fall, and I knew I could not let that happen. So, I pretended to be sick or hurt to get people to help with my homework.
One of the boys had parents who were doctors, and he commented on my lies. People started to believe him, just because of who his parents were. There was only one thing I could do. I threatened him, the same way I had threatened Milly. The boy tattled on me, of course, so I pretended to cry. I accused him of making it up, and my teacher did not know who to believe. The idiot woman just told us both to apologize, and never bothered to punish either of us,
The kids, however, all believed me when I cried about how mean the boy was. It was like stealing candy from a baby! That's proof of how easy it would be for me to destroy you, Marinette!
I moved to a new school once again, but this time it was not because I relocated. My new school was a lower secondary school, which I had to attend since I was eleven.
The teachers expected great things from me, with my distinto grades, and I was put in advanced courses. The advanced students weren't quite as gullible as the others, but they were far more ambitious. I got enemies and allies to start a war.
My allies and I were powerful, obviously. Students were vying for my attention, and begging to see me outside of school hours. They greedily demanded favors and connections. My enemies used this to their advantage, by saying how I would never do any of the things I promised since I was a liar.
My skills, tears and research were not enough to keep me afloat. So, I fled whenever I could. I faked vacations, and used them to send a flow of constant propaganda for myself, while my lack of presence prevented any new rumors from starting.
That's what it took for me to become like this, Marinette. Everyone hated me until I started lying. Threats and more lies are needed to keep me loved."
Marinette blinked in shock after the reveal. Lila had told Marinette far more than she thought she would, and Lila actually did have a good reason to start her tales. The sickening part was that she had started them so young.
"I'm very sorry that happened to you, Lila," whispered Marinette in that thoughtful voice that Lila despised so much. It radiated positivity, and was the perfect example that other could be liked without the sheer amount of effort Lila used.
Lila scowled in frustration and growled, "No you don't, Marinette! No one cares about me, they only care about how I can benefit them. You can't be any different. And even if you were, you being sorry doesn't change anything! My mom still spends all her time working and sleeping. She spends so little time with me that she forgets my own name! My Nonna still hates me, my dad still hasn't contacted me, and my uncle is still dead!"
From the pained, sympathetic expression on Marinette's face, Lila could tell she did care. Marinette cared about her after everything Lila had done. It should have made her feel better, but instead it made her feel sick. She was nothing, nothing compared to people like Marinette! There was a reason why people did not like her.
The brown girl leaned forwards, and genuine tears started to fall from her green eyes. Then, Marinette leaned forwards and hugged her.
Surprisingly, Lila leaned into the hug, and sobbed into her enemy's shoulder. It was strange that the only one she could trust was part of her opposition. Yet, it did not matter because Lila finally had someone.
Even though neither girl spoke of the incident ever again, Lila knew she could if she needed to. She finally had a reason why she could be honest. Maybe she would not give up her lies completely, but she would stop her attempts at ruining Marinette's life.
