Chapter 1
The level of criminal activity was always high since Marinette could remember. A man by the name of Hawkmoth gave powers to random civilians that reeked of negative emotion to get what he wanted. However, it is still unknown for what Hawkmoth is after exactly. On the internet and news alike they would create ridiculous theories on why Hawkmoth is behaving like this. Marinette found them quite funny and entertaining She was very pleased when Alya, her newfound best friend, agreed with her. Saying it doesn't add up or stretching a detail too far. The wannabe journalist declared her commitment to Marinette and the entire park they were hanging out in, that she will do her research and find evidence to what Hawkmoth's goal really is. (With Marinette helping out on a few details that Google couldn't provide of course.)
Marinette sighed dreamily, resting her head in her palm as she continued to doodle hearts in blood red ink on a photo from Adrien's latest photo shoot.
It has been almost a week since their moment in the rain and Marinette is positively sure that she had found her soulmate. There was an unknown force pulling her towards him that she can't explain. It was as if she had already met him somewhere and now here they are! Destined to meet and fall in love with each other all over again!
Alya took the opportunity of introducing the famous movie scene from Disney version Sleeping Beauty to her. It is now Marinette's favorite movie and she can't seem to stop singing the song for days.
However, Marinette wasn't so sure that she had met Adrien in her dreams, because… well… she found her dreams rather odd. Since she was young her dreams consisted of animals. Talking animals. Of course, there are a few that showed up more than the others. Which was a fox, a bee, a turtle, and a black cat. Marinette tended to see him the most and it not mind her one bit. There was something alluring about his wicked green eyes gave off. Yet, it was balanced out by kindness.
She can't seem to recall what the dreams were about. When she woke up, the images will blur. The conversations she had will fade. Yet, she felt like she needed to remember them. As if there was a message well hidden and she had to find it before it was too late. Leaving behind only the pair of a Black Cat's eyes engraved in her memory. Which earned him the nickname Cheshire from her childhood self.
Marinette groaned in pain and dropped her pen in order to clutch her head. For the past few days, she had been having headaches that cannot be cured by modern medicine. She tried other resources that seem to do little to no effect. She let her eyes slip close and took a deep breath.
I'm going to be okay. She reassured herself. Another deep breath in. Marinette took a peek at her computer's screen to look at the time. It's half past midnight and she has to be up in six hours so she can get ready for school.
With a painful sigh, Marinette pushes herself up and climbed the ladder that will lead to her most precious blessing that she calls a bed.
Mid-way, Marinette stopped for a few moments. The room is starting to… shake violently around her. Like the stubborn girl she was, she simply shook her head and started to push her body forward. The fashion designer placed her hands on the floor and pushed herself off of the ladder and landed on the floor with a soft thud. Marinette dared to let her eyes open a little regretting it immediately. When did it get so bright in here? There was a judge's mallet taking a beating inside her skull. She let out a hiss of pain. Her back arching off of the floor in the process.
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"M'lady." A male voice echoed in her head. What happened next could only be described as a distorted movie reel.
Marinette opened her eyes to find that she was no longer in her pink room. She was lying on something cold. Something soft. She was outside, lying on the grass. She couldn't see more than past her nose due to the thick fog. She saw something emerge from the fog.
A black cat that was bigger than her leaned in and pressed his head to hers for comfort. She slipped her eyes closed, savoring the feeling of comfort he brought her. "I promised you to keep you safe and that's what I'm planning on doing."
"C-Chat-" She croaked out. The sense of panic is slipping slowly into her system. The Black Cat shushed her gently in response. "I need you to promise me something."
"Anything." She whispered, black spots scattering across her vision. She felt very weak and knew that danger will be coming her way quickly. Her energy was being steadily drained, she felt so weak that she couldn't utter another word.
"Promise me that you will wait for me."
Marinette wanted to ask what he meant by that. Why did it feel like that her precious kitty was saying goodbye to her? Like they will never see each other for quite awhile. A pang in her gut told her that she didn't want to live without him.
Unfortunately, darkness whisked her away before she can seal his last wish.
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Marinette's eyes snapped open followed by a few panic breaths. Her body jolted upright and that's when she discovered her body was covered in a thin sheet of cold sweats. It was countered by a delicious burn coursing under her skin.
Marinette's frantic eyes scanned the room for her phone. Finding it charging next to her bed. With a few imprecise movements and maybe a collapse or two she turned her phone on. Seeing that the time was a quarter to five.
She swallowed loudly to soothe her dry throat. She had been in that dream for almost five hours and it only felt like minutes.
Just what was that!
What happened next, made the fashion designer drop her phone and almost scream.
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For fourteen years she had been watching over the girl named Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
It took decades to find her, she went through dozens of girls that were similar to her mistaken to be the Spirit of Fortune. Tikki, the small but powerful kwami, is now positively sure that she found the former guardian.
Before Fortune was lost, Tikki was put into two categories. Her best friend and her apprentice. She was there to help make all the decisions. She was there when Fortune was going through rock bottom. She was there to help put a smile on Ladybug's face when Black Cat couldn't. On the night Fortune needed her the most, Tikki couldn't be there. The Guardians that were above the fourteen called all apprentices to their realm. If you were summoned by the higher guardians, you cannot refuse. Considering they were the creators of the universe. They're the ones who put everything in order and is up to those that were in the lower levels to follow through.
When Tikki came back to find her best friend gone she was devastated. Along with the other five. (Nurru—Change's apprentice— took the blame upon himself for not being able to stop Change's corruption and asked to be left alone for several days.) Tikki and the other apprentices were supposed to fill in the former Guardians' roles. However, they couldn't do it.
That's where Tikki suggested an idea to Leadership. This idea went against the rules of the higher guardians, but it was their best shot for the former guardians to have a chance against Change. They were in the Mundane Realm, where no magic existed and where Change is bound to bring the world to its knees if he achieved his goal.
Earth needed protectors.
Leadership agreed to the idea without a doubt and the six apprentices were sent after the lost Guardians.
The idea? For all the apprentices to go down to Earth, each with a special mission in mind.
Tikki's mission? No other than to bring The Spirit of Fortune back to her former glory. Once Fortune is awakened, the rest will too eventually and the six of them will put the Spirit of Change in his place.
Tikki peeked out from her hiding spot from under the bed to see Marinette collapse onto the floor. The apprentice is sure that Marinette is remembering her last few moments before her abduction according to the awakening of Master Fu. The elder guardian described his experience as truly horrific and painful. Tikki felt terrible that she had to suffer alone and that she couldn't do anything to help. She can only sit back and wait patiently for the newly awoken Guardian to well, wake up.
It took a few agonizingly long hours of seeing Fortune twisting and turning before she finally sat upright, panting heavily. Fear and confusion were shining brightly in Marinette's eyes as she took greedy gulps of air. When she stood up to fetch her phone Tikki decided that it was time to finally come out of the shadows and formally introduced herself.
Uneasiness settled into Tikki's stomach as she slowly approaches the bluenette. She waited forever to see her best friend again and she wasn't so sure how Marinette will react to her in this form. She didn't even know if Marinette remembered her. Master Fu explained the memories of their past lives can take a while to resurface. There was the possibility that the memory of Tikki wouldn't be amongst the first few. She was fine with that, as long as there will be a chance for Fortune to remember their friendship.
Marinette looked up to see a two-inch tall creature floating at her height. The creature was a nice bright red with a black spot at the center of her head that was slightly bigger than her body. She had two red antennas on the top of her head. A strikingly similar shade of bluebell eyes stared right back at her. She dropped her phone and open her mouth to scream, Tikki quietly shushed Marinette.
"Marinette, please don't scream," Tikki said quietly, not wanting to any alarm. Marinette staggered backward with a few crashing noises in the result, she slapped her hand over her mouth as her eyes widen. Great! She was now seeing things and that THING is now speaking! If her parents found out about her hallucinations she will get thrown into a mental hospital. If she is in a hospital, how can she see her beloved Adrien! If she can't see Adrien, how are they supposed to get married and have children! She will die unloved! This will be the death of her!
Tikki floated closer to Marinette with caution while she spoke. "Marinette, it's me Tikki."
A chord was struck in Marinette at the name. It sounded awfully familiar to her, Marinette's ragged breathing slowed as she lowered her hand. She tilted her head slightly in curiosity. "What and who are you?" Marinette asked, not completely trusting the creature, but trusting her enough that she was deemed harmless.
"I'm what people on earth called a Kwami. Which is not true, but that's a conversation for another day. My name is Tikki and I was sent from another realm to aid you."
"Aid me? In what?"
"For many reasons, we'll focus on the main two since they're the most important in this situation. Do you want to know why you've been dreaming differently from everybody else? Do you also want to know why you're feeling burning under your skin right now? Why you've been having headaches that won't go away lately?"
Marinette nodded slowly.
"You've been having headaches because your soul is slowly waking up. Those dreams are memories of a past life that was supposed to be your only life. You were not meant to be here in this realm. You were captured and were brought here against your own will. In result, you were stripped away your title, your powers. The burning sensation you're feeling is your magic coming back to you."
"Woah, woah, woah," Marinette did a stopping motion with both of her hands. This was so much to absorb and she felt the air became just a tad heavier. "What title? What powers? I can't be the person you're looking for! I'm clumsy! I'm always late for everything! I mess up so many times and I jump to conclusions all the time!" Marinette stood up and began to pace across the floor, fisting her hands in her hair as she stared at the ground. This can't be happening to her! "Alya." She whispered under her breath, raising her head to look at the Kwami before her. "You must be mistaken me for Alya! She's the girl you're looking for! I can tell you her address if you like!" Marinette laughed nervously, desperately hoping that Tikki will realize her mistake.
Tikki sighed heavily and shook her head. Master Fu warned her about the denial Marinette will face. It was up to Tikki to bring acceptance to the newly awoken guardian. She will never give up on her friend and she's determined to bring her friend back no matter how long it takes. "It's not a mistake Marinette. You are the Spirit of Fortune, a guardian of the fourteen in the second tier that is running this universe. I've watched you all of your life and I say you're wrong. You're sweet, kind, caring, creative, and intelligent. You can be and will be more than that if you accept this is real. Tell you what, I'll wage a bargain with you. Due to the circumstances that you have to build your magic stability from scratch, you can't do some of your basic magic. That's where I come in, I'm here to give you a hand until you can manage by yourself. Put on the earrings that are located beside your computer downstairs and transform. Go outside and ran across the rooftops for an hour or so. If you don't feel right about it, I'll disappear and you'll never see me again. If you do, you'll have to accept this responsibility and I'll go into detail of what your role in this world will be. Deal?"
Marinette agreed in seconds.
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I'm back baby! Did you guys enjoy the latest installment? I hope you did!
My goal is to have a little over a 2K words for every chapter. I'll do my best not to overwhelm you guys with the almost 4K word count like the Prologue. And because of it, I have to stop myself from writing more. Well, for this chapter. *squeals* I can't wait to write the next chapter. Don't you worry, our famous Chat Noir will make his debut appearance soon. For now, I'm focusing on Ladybug.
I like to thank the following artists for being the source of inspiration for this chapter: Taylor Swift and her album Reputation and AmaLee with her Hourglass album.
I would also like to thank my lovely beta reader and editor, TrialyThrone. You're awesome!
I'm aiming to update this story on early Saturday mornings, at the latest, Saturday afternoons.
Follow me on Tumblr! My name is WittyWitchKitty-99! For the latest updates on chapters and if you guys have any questions or simply want to drop a quick hello, you are more than welcome to!
Please follow and favorite! Maybe leave a review as well!
Now, if you please excuse me, this girl has got to go and stretch because I've been sitting on a high chair with my legs criss-cross applesauce for over an hour and I can't feel my legs!
Thanks for your time!
Signing off,
WWKitty-17 and TriallyThrone.