My name is Marionette. I am writing everything down so that one day, should all fail, or should my magical earrings belong to another, that I might remember.
I am a Princess. I have been bestowed magical earrings that give me the power to fight evil and defend those who cannot defend themselves. I am at war with a specific evil now - his name is Hawkmoth, and he is a scourge in my time. He has declared war on all that is sacred and good, and must be stopped.
Adrien's eyes skimmed the pages. He didn't know how long Marionette had before the curse was permanent, and this book had many, many chapters. Already he could hear her voice as he read, and he imagined her, sitting at a desk as she devotedly wrote out her tale.
He was sitting outside in the snow covered garden. With a coat that had been gifted to him by the servants, and with the permission of the beast, he now sat outside on a cold bench, reading contentedly alone and trying to learn more about this girl.
Chapter 1 was nice. Specific and detailed, describing an event where Hawkmoth managed to take control over a young man and gave him the power to retaliate against his enemies, but always with the condition: taking the miraculous.
Marionette never specified what were "miraculous". Even in Chapters 25 and 26, when one "akumatized victim" as she called them, nearly got it.
However, Adrien felt like he was falling in love with her more and more. The people of France had called her "Ladybug". Her powers brought luck and healed and restored. She had been so beloved, wearing the bright red gown and shimmering cape, always hiding her true identity with a mask.
"But what happened to you?" he asked himself. Oh how he wanted to just skip to the end! But for fear of missing something important, he didn't dare. And so Adrien became utterly absorbed in the little book, beginning to know the very thoughts of the girl he was falling in love with.
As he sat on the bench, golden head bent over the dusty pages, he was far away from the castle and the stone steps that led back inside. He was far away from the beast and her odd gaze, from the servants and their constant whispering, and never once did he think of his father.
He was transported away. Back in time, before the palace was cursed.
"Felix!" he could practically hear the cry of Ladybug, as she dodged the magic blast from the akuma victim "The Horrificator". "Help!"
There was Chat Noir, her faithful friend. A prince with the opposite powers - to destroy. He was always at her side. How Adrien envied him! Now Chat Noir, dressed all in black with a black cloak would rush to Ladybug's aid, shielding his precious Lady from all harm. It sounded like a fairy tail. Their bond was so strong, and their trust so honored and sacred. And yet Adrien's heart broke as he remembered what Alya had said - "in the middle of a very dangerous battle, and in her greatest hour of need, Prince Felix betrayed Princess Marionette, and joined Hawkmoth."
"What a dirty, rotten, good-for-nothing.." muttered Adrien. How he wished he could have been part of the story. He read rapidly on, as if reading faster would save Marionette. He had to hurry - if Marionette was indeed the beast, trapped in the curse, then he was the only one who could save her.
—
The beast was silent at dinner. Adrien had not grown up in palaces, or eating with other people, and so he regularly brought that stupid book with him everywhere he went. Even to the dinner table. The grandeur of the palace seemed to have already gotten old for Adrien, for no longer did he gawk at the real maple wood of the table, or the expensive gold and red rug that lay beneath it. The chandeliers seemed to have lost their sparkle in his eyes, for the only thing he bestowed his attention was that fat brown book.
To the beast's great disliking, he often times muttered along with reading. Adding commentary such as "That's my girl!" or "Confounded Felix how I wish I was there to PULL YOUR HAIR OUT!"
More than anything, the beast was growing annoyed in general. She hated Marionette, and the mere knowledge that her only guest was enamored by this phantom caused her jealousy.
As she gazed at Adrien at the other end of the table, she thought on these things.
Why am I jealous? She wondered. She sipped her tea and munched thoughtfully on the bread that accompanied her soup. Perhaps it would be best to try to make some conversation.
"How is your stew?" she asked, laying her spoon on the table.
Adrien did not respond, being totally lost in the world of Marionette.
"Adrien?" asked the beast, bright blue eyes sparking with frustration.
No answer.
"Put down the book!" She roared, slamming her paw on the table, making the stew leap from Adrien's dish and slop onto the table.
Adrien startled violently, staring with utter shock at the beast for a solid minute, then said, "I…I beg your pardon?"
"Adrien, I think we shall have a new rule," said the beast calmly, her wrath having subsided. "No reading at the dinner table."
Adrien looked at the book, then back up at the beast. "Oh."
He blushed slightly and placing his bookmark carefully in Chapter 78, laid the precious item on the tabletop gently, as if it was Marionette herself.
"How is your stew?" asked the beast again.
Adrien nodded. "It is very nice," he said. "Very good."
The beast glanced at Adrien over a spoonful. He was eating, but in silence, his left hand resting on the book as if frightened that it would fly away.
"Have you found anything interesting about Marionette?" asked the beast, trying to connect with him, even though just saying the name made her stomach turn.
"Yes," said Adrien excitedly. "Do you remember anything about Felix?"
She blinked. "Who?"
"Felix," repeated Adrien. He waited, not wanting her to just agree with something he might reveal about this loathsome man. "Anything at all?"
"I have no idea," she said, studying him. "Is he a person who can break the spell?"
"N…no," said Adrien softly, smiling at her innocence. "Nevermind. What I have found is that Marionette is a most wonderful person. I can't wait to get to know her."
Alya, who happened to be pouring the tea, choked, then said softly, "My lad, you have no chance to."
"I have reason to suspect that Marionette is not dead, but very much alive," said Adrien. He glanced at the beast pointedly, green eyes practically glowing with intensity. "Perhaps in this very room."
"Goodnight, Adrien," said the beast, standing up abruptly. "I shall see you tomorrow." And with that, she whirled and walked away.
Adrien watched her as she left, then suddenly remembered that Ladybug also had a cape. A shimmering red one. Perhaps under all the years of solitude, that black cape was really red?
I have to keep reading, thought Adrien. It's her only hope.
—
Chloe and Sabrina followed Gabriel Agreste and Kim along the dark forest pathway. Their company of village ruffians and farmers made up a group of about 20, and all were mounted on ponies. They made their way along the silent forest path, doing their best to keep their voices down.
Sabrina shivered, looked to Chloe for comfort, then shivered again. In the moonlight, Chloe's cold blue eyes seemed to glow with a blue fire that came from deep within her soul. She suddenly seemed wilder than before - and suddenly Sabrina had the thought that she had the look of hunger in her eyes. A ravenous, unmerciful hunger.
"It was down this way, I'm sure of it," said Gabriel. His vapory breath shown in the cool moonlight, and his desperate face reflected his inner emotions of hope, fear, and regret.
"You said that on the last corner," huffed Kim, whose enthusiasm had completely deserted him.
"According to my calculations," Said Max from his pony a little ways behind them, "We have made 8 wrong turns and are only getting deeper into the woods."
"He's gone mad," cried a voice, and a few others grumbled in agreement.
"My goodness, " said Chloe quickly, gloved hand brushing her dark red lips dramatically. "What an accusation!"
"I'm surprised we didn't see it before," said Kim. "Did anyone check the Agreste home? Someone owes me a drink if Adrien is snuggly tucked in bed at his house!"
"I am not mad!" shouted Gabriel, horse starting a little at his barking tone.
"Of course you aren't," said Chloe. She urged her pony closer and said to Gabriel, "But Monsieur Agreste, you must understand that now it's the middle of the night and there is little hope of finding him in this darkness. Let us come back when - "
"No!" cried Gabriel. "We must find him before it eats him!"
Suddenly Chloe gave a shriek and fell from her horse. Kim yelled in surprise and leaped from his own steed and cried out "Did you all see that? He struck her! He's mad!"
"I did NOT -" began Gabriel, but suddenly a chorus of voices began shouting, "He struck the lass! Someone grab him! He's mad!"
Sabrina watched in horror as the villagers mobbed Gabriel and bound him, and turned the ponies in the direction of the village. Amidst Gabriel's cries of protest, Kim had set Chloe upon her pony, and began to lead her gently along.
"Chloe," said Sabrina in a hushed tone, reigning her pony in closer to Chloe. "Are you alright? Did he really hit you?"
"Ha!" laughed her friend, face merry. "Him, hit me? He couldn't knock me off my horse even if he wanted to. Puny arms."
"Then what…?" Sabrina trailed off, then gasped. "You paid Kim to set up the conversation, then paid the villagers to follow your lead! Then you play acted getting hit so that they'd take him! But why - "
"Why'd I do it?" laughed Chloe. "Because with no father in the way, there is no one to protect precious Adrien from me. I am going to arrange the search party to go out tomorrow and look for Adrien. If we find any clues, we will find him, and he will marry me."
Kim looked away. Sabrina noticed, but said nothing. Sometimes she was really disgusted with Chloe, but other times she was just fascinated by her. In a horror story kind of way.
"And if he won't accept you?" asked Sabrina.
"Then I'll kill him," said Chloe, so quickly and so darkly that both Sabrina and Kim were shocked into timid silence.
—
"Adrien!" cried a voice. Adrien sat up. Again he was in the garden of his dreams, but this time he knew something was terribly wrong.
The grass was black. The trees were leafless, and the sky was dark.
"Where are you?!" he cried, rushing to his feet, only to step on a page from a book. Adrien stared at the ground around his feet - it was covered with pages. He looked up and saw the journal of Marionette lying on the ground, and pages were flying this way and that in the breeze, tearing from the binding and blowing away forever.
Like flower petals, he thought. "NO!" he gasped, trying to grab them all in his hands.
"Adrien!" came the voice, this time in a desperate shriek.
Forget the pages, thought Adrien, running towards the sound. It was coming from behind the palace. He raced past the blackened walls of the castle and rounded the corner just in time to see something he had only imagined.
Ladybug and Chat Noir, turned against each other and battling to the death.
Chat Noir, or Felix, was dressed in complete black as the journal had described. However something it had left out was his cruel eyes. He was staring at Ladybug as they battled, and Adrien could feel the deep disdain and hate that poured from them.
"Stop!" he cried. "No - stop it!"
Ladybug looked stunning, even as she struggled. Her red gown did not impede her as she twirled and defected Chat Noir's staff, and her cries of defiance and confidence gave even Adrien a bit of courage as he watched, unsure of what to do.
"Felix, leave her alone!" screamed Adrien, and decided to intervene. He ran forward in order to throw himself into the fray when a magic blast from his right knocked him off his feet and onto the ground. Stunned and breathless, he looked up to see who had hit him.
Hawkmoth was standing there, purple robes and magic surrounding him. His eyes gleamed with pleasure as Chat Noir gave Ladybug a final blow.
Adrien stared in horror as Chat Noir's hand became suddenly wreathed in a black flame of sorts. It was a power of destruction, and it sparked with dark and devilish energy. Chat Noir spun and dealt Ladybug an attacking blow with his staff, and as she lifted her yoyo to defend herself, the claws of death struck her abdomen in a fatal blow.
Adrien screamed with her. She recoiled and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Adrien scrambled to his feet and ran to her side.
"Ladybug!" He cried. He took her in his arms, cradling her head in his hands as if she was a newborn child.
"A…Adrien," she whispered, eyes filling with tears as she trembled and twitched. She reached up and touched his face tenderly. "You…must…save…me…" She mumbled, and her eyes rolled back into her head. Her hand fell limp onto the blackened grass beside them, and her breathing stopped.
Adrien took a deep breath, and then screamed.
—
Adrien's own scream woke him up. He sat up straight as a pole and had to grasp the bedsheets in his hands before he could really wake and remember that Ladybug wasn't dead.
"Adrien?" asked Alya as she peeked in the bedroom. "What happened, lad? Are you alright?"
"We heard you yell," said Nino, pushing open the door.
"Ha! I think that the poor people in China heard you yell," snorted Damecles, entering. "Poor things - you know they are sleeping when we awake. You probably just gave them a terrible fright."
"Oh hush," said Alya, and poured Adrien a cup of soothing tea. "What happened?"
"It was just a nightmare," said Adrien, not wanting to mention the horrible scene aloud. It seemed to have no power if he said nothing at all. Besides - they would just say that he'd seen Ladybug's real death.
"Fell asleep reading?" asked Nino, glancing at the book that was open next to Adrien's pillow, and happened to have a drool stain on the page marked "Chapter 156".
"My, how you have progressed," said Damecles, who admired this young scholar greatly.
"I must reach the end," said Adrien. "If I don't then perhaps it will be too late to save all of you."
They grew quiet. He glanced at them, surprised. He'd thought that his sentence was gentle enough not to raise another discussion about the beast.
"My good lad," said Damecles softly, "if it's all the same to you, keep your hopes to yourself. There's no more time for us to hope."
Adrien stared at him for a moment, then puffed his cheeks full of air and seized the book. "Then I'd better start reading again," he said, face growing hot with anger.
Alya opened her mouth to say something, then shut it in a tight line. "Come on, gentlemen," she said. "Time to get breakfast for the beast ready."
As they left, Alya turned to look at Adrien. He looked at her expectantly, wondering what she was going to say.
Her eyes were haunting as she softly said, "You mustn't blame them for losing hope, love. When she was taken, she was all we ever had."
And with that she closed the door.
Adrien sighed, being left in the silence. He set the book on the end of the bed and got up to get dressed when suddenly the book slid and fell to the floor with a thud.
Clink!
Adrien's head snapped quickly to look at the book. What?
And there, laying on the ground next to the book, sparkling in the sunlight, lay a silver ring.
WOW! That chapter was long. NOTE: Every MLB fan will know that this ring is special…=)
