Story
"Hey Tikki/Plagg?" Marinette and Adrien asked in their individual homes, taking a break from their studies and looking at their kwamis. Tikki hummed in response from where she sat on top of the bluenette's computer, eating a cookie, while Plagg just continued to eat his cheese on Adrien's bed, much to the boy's disliking.
"Since I have a Kwami, does that mean Chat does too?" Marinette asked. Tikki stared at the girl, wondering whether or not to tell the bluenette about the story from long ago.
"Yes…" Tikki says slowly.
"Why do you care, kid?" Plagg asked his chosen.
"Well, it kind of just popped into my head that she could have a kwami too," Adrien explained. "And a few other things have been running through my head too. Like…"
"Where did you guys come from? Were you born or made somehow?" Marinette asked. "Have you and Chat's kwami ever gotten along? There is just so much that I don't know about you still." Tikki and Plagg both placed their food down and thought. To tell the story of the past or not to. To tell them would lead to them find out their identities. To not, would leave the child more confused than ever.
"Would you be willing to find out your partner's identity?" Both kwamis asked. Both heroes hesitated. Adrien worried that his Lady would be mad at him for finding out behind his back while Marinette was more worried about her kitty being disappointed in her being just Marinette.
"Y-yes," Marinette answered, hesitantly. "But… Only if Chat is okay with it."
"Only if Ladybug was okay with it," Adrien said, looking down. Both teens went back to finishing their homework and going to bed for the rest of the night. The next day, Marinette barely made it to class on time. Tikki and Plagg snuck out of their chosens' bags as soon as everyone was distracted and hid under Adrien's bench as they began to talk about the events of last night. They agreed to tell them the story that started it all. They also agreed to rename everyone so that they had the names of their future reincarnations.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Tikki asked her master.
"Yes and no. I'm more nervous about Chat finding out my identity than anything else," Marinette said. Tikki had explained that the name have changed from the originals to compensate for the reincarnations and that Chat had asked the same questions she did the night before.
"She was really okay with this?" Adrien asked his kwami after returning from dinner.
"Yeah. Big deal." Plagg said. "It just means I have to tell the whole thing." The black cat stuck his tongue out. "And there's kissing in it too." Marinette and Adrien both got comfortable in their beds and waited for their kwamis to start the story.
"Long ago, back in the times of kings and queens, a time when magic was more free roaming, there was a girl. She looked like a simple country girl with short midnight hair. She always wore red and black, despite her low class. Apart from her attire, she looked like a normal farm girl. However, that was not the case. She was a powerful witch called Ladybug that brought good fortune to everyone who came to her, but you cannot have good fortune without misfortune and no witch can be without a familiar. She grew up with a black cat that she named Chat Noir when she was very young. When she came of age, many suitors began to come to her door. None she fancied and thus turned their eyes to others who they were truly meant for. More and more suitors wished to try to win over her affections because she had lived by herself for so long. Until she finally had enough of it. After closing her shop one night, she decided to perform one last spell for the day. By morning, Chat Noir had become humanized and he began to protect his lady from other males who wished to marry her. After several weeks, the males finally backed off and Chat began to help Ladybug around on the farm."
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
"Kitty! Bring in more lavender and basil!" Ladybug asked from her kitchen window. Chat, who still had his cat ears and a black tail, popped up from the garden just under the window with a small basket in his hands filled with lavender and basil and surprising Ladybug. She never called him Chat after turning him humanoid, only kitty
"As you wish, M'Lady," Chat said, handing her the basket before running off to attend another part of the farm to work. He wore a loose white shirt with black pants and dark shoes.
Kitty, bring in some corn for dinner.
Kitty, go fill these buckets with water.
Kitty, don't forget to dust the crops so that the front won't kill the plants.
For three years it went like that and for three years Ladybug heard him say the same thing over and over again.
As you wish, M'Lady.
One day Ladybug saw something in Chat's eyes that she never noticed before. Every time he said those words, she noticed a familiar feeling in his eyes. It took her three days to figure out that it was love. She had seen it before in the eyes of her suitors when they would try to woo her in the past. What surprised her was the fact that she returned his feelings.
"Kitty," Ladybug called when he came in the hut to bring firewood into the house. After setting the wood down, he walked over to her until he was only a few feet away from her. "Bring me that pitcher," she told him, looking at a pitcher that was hanging near her head. He walked over so that he was only a few inches away, their eyes locked on each other as he grabs the pan and places it on the counter behind her. She could feel the warmth radiating off of him.
"As you wish, M'Lady," he whispered. Before they could move any closer, Chat left to tend the farm again. Several weeks later, Chat Noir and Ladybug got together but couldn't wed. Many of the preachers there knew that Chat was originally a cat and that Ladybug was a witch. They didn't approve the marriage and refused to marry the two. So Chat packed his few belongings and got ready to leave to search for a preacher to wed them.
"Don't go. I fear I will never see you again," Ladybug said while on the verge of tears. Chat kissed her forehead.
"Of course you will, M'Lady," Chat reassured. "Hear this now: I will always come back for you. This is true love, you think this happens every day?" With that, they kissed. A month after his departure, Ladybug got news that his ship was taken over by the Dread Pirate Roberts, a pirate that never had survivors and never took prisoner. For days, Ladybug did not eat nor sleep. She never opened her shop again and all she did was sit by the window and stare at the scenery. Promising herself to never love again. Five years passed and Prince Nathaniel found Ladybug and took her from her home to marry her. His advisor, Hawkmoth, had suggested that a powerful witch such as Ladybug would be perfect for the kingdom that was just healing from an unexpected attack from an unknown witch. In the palace courtyard, where many citizens were gathered, Prince Nathaniel stood atop one of the towers to make an announcement with Hawkmoth by his side.
"My people... a month from now, our country will have its five hundredth anniversary. On that sundown I shall marry a powerful witch as a way to make peace with many witches within this country," Nathaniel says over the crowd. "Many of you have met her before. Please welcome my fiance, Princess Ladybug." Ladybug stepped into the courtyard as everyone there begins to bow and glanced at the crowd before turning her gaze to the prince.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
"Although the law gave the prince the right to choose his bride, Ladybug did not love him," Plagg explained.
"Why didn't she just whisk herself away?" Marinette and Adrien asked their kwamisi.
"Because she was consumed by emptiness. She deeply loved Chat," Tikki explained to her chosen. "Just she did find joy. Although it may not have been one she took often, she did enjoy her horse back rides away from the castle.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
Ladybug rode her horse out to the neighboring woods. The sun was starting to set and she knew she would have to return soon.
"A word, my lady?" A voice asked, making the witch stop her horse. A blonde woman, Chloe, stood there alongside two men, Ivan and Max. "We are but poor lost circus performers," Chloe said. "Is there a village nearby?"
"There is nothing nearby; not for miles," Ladybug informed. She was about to offer directions when Chloe interrupted.
"Then there will be no one to hear you scream," Chloe said as Ivan stepped forward and pinched the back of Ladybug's neck, preventing her from screaming and knocking her unconscious in the process. Chloe ripped a piece of clothing and placed it back on the horse before making the creature leave for the palace.
"What is it that you are ripping?" Max asked.
"It's the emblem of one of the most powerful witches in the exiled land of Guilder," Chloe explained.
"Who's Guilder?" Ivan asked.
"The land across the sea, the sworn enemy of Florin. When the prince sees this on his fiancée's horse, he will go searching for her only to find her dead on Guilder's border."
"You never said anything about killing anyone," Ivan complained. They brought her to their boat and began to sail away.
"I hired you pathetic buffoons to help me start a war!" Chloe raged.
"I just don't think it's right to kill an innocent girl," Ivan countered.
"Am I going mad or did the word THINK come out of your mouth? I'm the brains here! You're just some muscle I picked up from a dying circus!"
'I agree with Ivan,' Max thought. He would have spoken it but then she would have gone on a tangent again and he didn't feel like listening to it again. When Chloe was on the other side of the boat, Max spoke up to Ivan. "That Chloe, she can fuss." Ivan looked over to his friend, a playful glimmer in his eyes as he began to think.
"Fuss… fuss… I think she likes to scream at us."
"Probably she means no harm."
"She's really very short on charm."
"Oh, you've got a great gift for rhyme," Max praises, not noticing that either of them had slowly gotten louder or that Chloe was now closer to them.
"Yes," Ivan agreed. "Some of the time."
"Enough of that!" Chloe shrieks as the two try to muffle their laughter.
"Ivan," Max called as he walks to the back of the boat to steer. "Are there rocks ahead?"
"If there are, we'll all be dead!" Ivan answered.
"No more rhymes, I mean it!" Chloe shouts, becoming more frustrated.
"Anybody want a peanut?" Ivan asked. Chloe's screams echoed for miles as the boys held in their laughter. They sail for hours on end and even during the night. Ivan was guarding the princess's body, Max was at the helm, and Chloe sat motionless as she calculated the events to come in her head. No one seemed to notice the twitch of Ladybug's eye as she began to slowly wake up.
"We'll reach the cliffs by dawn," Chloe tells Max. The boy turns to look behind them. Again. Chloe had noticed him doing that every now and then for a while now. "Why are you doing that?"
"Just making sure no one is following us," Max said.
"That would be inconceivable," Chloe said, waving her hand at the notion.
"Despite what you think, you will be caught. And when you are, the prince will see to it that you all are jailed," Ladybug said, finally announcing her alertness.
"Would should be more worried about your own neck, princess," Chloe sneers. The blond notices Max turning again. "Stop doing that," Chloe says with annoyance. "We can all relax, it's almost over-"
"You're sure nobody's following us?" Max asks.
"I've already told you, it would be absolutely, totally, and in all ways, inconceivable. No one in Guilder knows what we've done and no one in Florin could have gotten here so fast." Chloe begins to laugh but stops as another thought crosses her mind. "Out of curiosity, why do you ask?"
"No reason really," Max said with a shrug. "It's just, I happened to look behind us and saw something there." The three thieves rush to the back of the boat to see, leaving the princess unguarded. At first they don't see anything but then the moon slowly comes out and the three can see a boat in the distance. It was still a good ways off but it was rapidly approaching.
"Must be some idiot fisherman on a night cruise in eel infested waters," Chloe said, mostly to reassure herself. They suddenly hear a splash near their boat and turn to see that Ladybug had dived into the water as an attempt to get away from her captors. Chloe ordered the two men to go after her but Max didn't know how to swim and Ivan only knew how to dog paddle. So she ordered them to get the boat closer to Ladybug. The young witch suddenly stops her swimming when she begins to hear a high pitch shrieking sound that was much higher than Chloe's shrieks. "Do you know what that sound is, highness? Those are the Shrieking Eels- if you doubt me, just wait. They always grow louder when they're about to feed on human flesh." The shrieking was growing louder and she would have used her magic to defend herself but she had learned soon after Chat Noir left that her magic wasn't as strong without him and since she hadn't practiced her magic for so long, her powers were almost nonexistent. "If you swim back now, I promise, no harm will come to you. I doubt you'd get such an offer from the eels." The young witch didn't give a reply as fear began to set in as the eels grew ever so closer. The eels come closer to her, one with it's mouth wide open.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
"Chill out, kid. The eels don't get her," Plagg says, interrupting the story. Adrien gave him a confused look. "The eels don't get her. I'm explaining to you because you look nervous." Adrien then noticed that he was gripping his computer chair's arm rests a little too tightly. "I think this is a good place to-"
"Don't stop!" Adrien complains, he wanted to find out who his lady was.
"Okay, okay. Relax kid," Plagg says with amusement before thinking about where he left off.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
The young witch didn't give a reply as fear began to set in as the eels grew ever so closer. The eels come closer to her, one with it's mouth wide open. Suddenly, a strong arm comes down to knock the eel unconscious and grab the princess from the water. It was Ivan.
"Put her down already," Chloe complained as she grabbed rope to tie Ladybug's hands. Max looks behind them again.
"I think he's getting closer," Max states.
"He's no concern of ours, sail on," Chloe ordered, now grumpy. "I suppose you think you're so much more brave just because you tried to rescue yourself, huh?" She grumbles to Ladybug.
"Compared to some," Ladybug retorts back, adding some sass to her voice. Nothing eventful happened for the rest of the night and the boat made it to the cliffs by dawn. Max was finally able to properly see the boat following them and the man steering it. The boat was black and seemed to be flying across the water while the man steering the boat seemed to match the color scheme of his boat.
"Look!" Max says, bringing their attention to the boat behind them. "He's right on top of us. I wonder if her is using the same wind we are."
"He is no longer our concern," Chloe says dismissively. "See? The Cliffs of Insanity!" When they finally stepped off the ship, Chloe tied herself and Ladybug onto Ivan while Max held onto his back while the giant climbed the rope up the cliff. "Aren't I brilliant? Only Ivan, here, has the strength to climb the mountain like this! He'll have to sail for hours to try and find a way up," Chloe says proudly. By the time the man in black reaches the rope, Chloe and her group are already far ahead. However, this doesn't seem to stop the man in black as he practically races up the rope after them, only Max seems to notice.
"He's climbing the rope," Max deadpans. "And he's gaining on us."
"What?!" Chloe shrieks. The blonde starts beating beating Ivan's chest and he quickens his pace. After quite some time, Max notices that the man in black has cut a chunk out of Ivan's lead. "FASTER!" Chloe shouts.
"I thought I was going faster?" Ivan grumbles.
"Well he's gaining on us!" Chloe growls out.
"Well I'm carrying three people and he's only got himself." Chloe begins to beat Ivan's chest again, even though it really isn't doing much but hurt her own hand.
"No excuses! I'll just have to find myself a new giant after this," Chloe scolds.
"Don't say that, please," Ivan says, hurt at having to leave Max with the blonde monster alone. Getting tired, Ivan begins to slow down as the man in black seems to speed up. They were almost to the top, maybe a hundred or so feet left.
"Did I mention that your job is on the line?!" Chloe complains again. As soon as the four reach the top, Chloe hops off to begin to cut the rope. Max helps the princess to her feet while Ivan stands around, not knowing what to do. As soon as the rope was cut, it slithered over the edge, never to be seen again. Ivan, Max, and Ladybug all look over the edge and sees the man in black hanging onto the rocks of the cliff.
"He has very good arms," Ivan complements. Chloe joins them and looks over the edge and sees the man as well.
"He didn't fall? Impossible!" Chloe says, stomping her foot. Max gave her a skeptical look before returning his gaze to the man hanging and gasps.
"He's climbing!" Max shouts. The man was climbing up the rocks ever so slowly as to insure he had a good grip.
"Whoever he is, he's obviously seen up with the princess, and must therefore die," Chloe growls out. She then whirls on Ivan. "You, carry her." She then turns to Max. "We'll head straight for the Guilder frontier. Catch up when he's dead. If he falls, fine. If not, the sword." Chloe had pointed to the sword around his hip that he carried constantly. At her command, Max nods.
"I want to use my left hand," Max said.
"You know what a hurry we're in!" Chloe whine.
"If I use my right, it'll be over too quickly." Chloe just rolled her eyes and stormed off. Ivan made his way over to Max.
"You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted," Ivan warned and Max nodded.
"I'm waiting!" Chloe shouts. Ivan quickly picks up Ladybug and follows Chloe. Max watches them leave before returning his gaze back to the man in black. He then backs away from the edge and begins to practice with his left hand until he becomes bored and checks on the man again. Out of boredom, Max begins to talk to the man.
"Hello there!" The man grunts after glancing up at him. "Slow going?"
"Look," the man said, irritated because Max was distracting him. "I don't mean to be rude, but this is not as easy as it looks. So I'd ap-purr-eciate it if you wouldn't distract me."
"Sorry."
"Thank you." Max steps away and begins to practice again. When he grew tired once more, he looked back over the edge.
"I do not suppose you could speed things up?"
"If you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope, or a tree branch, or find something useful to do," the man in black was tired and was growing more and more frustrated.
"There is some rope up here that I could send down but I do not think you will accept my help since I am only waiting around to kill you," Max explained.
"That does put a damper on our relationship," the man said as he climbs another inch.
"But I promise I will not kill you until you reach the top."
"That's very comforting," the man in black says sarcastically. "But I'm afraid you'll just have to wait."
"I hate waiting. I could give you my word as a fencer."
"No good. I've known too many fencers, despite myself being one." The man in black just hangs there for a moment to gather his energy.
"You don't know any way you'll trust me?"
"Nothing comes to mind."
"I swear on the soul of my father, Domingo Kante, you will reach the top alive." The man in black stops and stares up at Max for a few seconds.
"Throw me the rope." Max does so and the man in black climbs up quickly. "Thank you." Max gives him a few minute to rest from the climb and dump out the rocks from his shoes. Max notices that the man wore a lot of leather on his outfit and a soundless bell around his neck.
"I do not mean to pry, but you don't by chance happen to have a purple butterfly brooch, do you?" Max asked. The man in black gave him a questioning look.
"Do you always begin your conversations this way?" The man in black asked. Max shook his head and began to explain.
"My father was killed by a man with a purple butterfly brooch. My father was a great swordmaker and when the man with the purple butterfly brooch appeared and requested a special sword, my father took the job. He constantly worked on it for a year until he was done," Max said, handing his sword to the man in black for inspection. The man in black was impressed. "The man with the purple butterfly brooch returned and demanded it, but at one tenth his promised price. Father refused and lost his life to the man with the purple butterfly brooch. I loved my father and so, out of anger, I challenged him to a duel. I was young at the time, only eleven, and failed. He left me with the sword and my father's corpse. When I became strong enough, I began to learn fencing. So the next time we meet, I will not fail. I will go up to him, raise my sword, and say: 'Hello, my name is Max Kante. You killed my father. Prepare to die.'"
"You've done nothing but study swordplay?"
"More pursuit than study, lately," Max informed, shrugging. "I haven't found him and it's been twenty years now. I'm losing confidence and I need to pay the bills. That's why I am working for Chloe. You'd be surprised at how little money vengeance can make." The man in black returned Max's sword and stands. Max noticed that the man in black carried a staff where a sword might hang and had a black tail swinging behind him. "You have a tail?" Max asked, skeptically. The man in black turned to look at his tail.
"Why does everyone ask about the tail?" The man in black mumbled. "I was born with it. Most don't usually notice it," the man in black said. "I was born with it. I was originally a cat, you know. But that was before M'Lady changed me."
"So you work for a witch?" Max questioned.
"No, I am in love with my witch. I was her familiar before she changed me. I left her in order to find a preacher to wed us." The man in black's wistful face turns into confusion and anger as he continues. "However, she now seems to be marrying another and I do not understand why." Chat then stretches and pulls out his staff.
"Are you ready, then?" Max asked, referring to the battle ahead.
"Whether I am or not, you've been more than fair."
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die." And so the battle began. The two fought, the man in black using his staff as a sword, all across the ruins. It started off as a tease but quickly grew to an actual battle. The two bantered, talking about different techniques, and the man in black was using his left hand to fight. The two seem to fly across the ruins as the battle raged on, bantering here and there. The battle continued and the two eventually switched the hands their weapons were in before the battle intensifies.
"Who are you?"
"Just a familiar wanting to return to his witch."
"I must know my opponent's name," Max insisted.
"Get used to disappointment."
"Okay." The war between the two rages on until the man in black finally knocks the sword out of Max's hand, making him fall to his knees with exhaustion.
"I won't kill you," the man in black says. "I believe you'll find your murder one day. However, I can't have you following me either." With that, the man in black knocked Max out with his staff. "Please understand, I hold you in the highest respect." He then ran after Ivan, Chloe, and Ladybug.
"Impossible!" Chloe shrieks. "Give her to me." Ivan gently places Ladybug down and Chloe grabs her tied wrists. "Catch up with us quickly."
"What am I supposed to do?" Ivan asked.
"Finish him your way," Chloe hisses.
"Oh, good, my way. What's my way?"
"I don't know! Throw a rock at his head, tear apart his limbs, wrestle him. I don't care! Just fine a way to get rid of him!" Chloe then hurries away, dragging Ladybug along.
"That doesn't sound very sportsman like," Ivan mumbles before grabbing a rock and hiding behind a bolder. He waited until he could see the man in black coming near. Ivan threw the boulder and hit another boulder mere inches from the man in black's head. Ivan comes out of hiding with another rock in his hand. "I did that on purpose. I don't have to miss."
"I believe you. So what happens now?" The man in black asks.
"We face each other sportsmanlike. No tricks, no weapons, skill against skill alone."
"You mean, you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my staff and we'll wrestle?"
"I could kill you now," Ivan suggested, raising the rock up. The man in black places his staff down and Ivan does the same with his rock before he noticed the tail swishing behind the man in black. "You have a tail?" The man in black looked annoyed but continues on.
"Yes. I was born with it. Frankly, I think the odds are slightly in your favor," the man in black says.
"Not my fault, I don't exercise and I still look this way." The man in black tries several times to tackle the giant but fails. After his fifth attempt, he speaks.
"Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what?"
"I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed." This time, Ivan was the one charge. The man in black crouches and jumps over Ivan with ease before easily landing on his feet. "You're quick."
"And a good thing too," the man in black laughs.
"Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid or something?"
"Oh no. It's just that they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future," he jokes as he dodges the giant once more. Only, instead of fully dodging, the man in black jumps and clings onto Ivan's back. The man in black had his arms wrapped around Ivan's throat, cutting off some of the oxygen. The man in black held on, waiting for the giant to collapse while Ivan continuously squashed him with the giant boulders. The man in black decides to get the giant talking until he passed out. After a long conversation, Ivan finally fell unconscious. The man in black checked his pulse and found that Ivan was still alive. "I don't envy you. The headache you will have when you wake. But, in the meantime, rest well… and dream of large women." With that, he grabbed his staff and ran for Chloe and Ladybug once more. Meanwhile, Prince Nathaniel and Hawkmoth were slowly catching up. They were currently investigating the ruins where the battle took place earlier that morning. However, Max was now missing, having run away after he woke up from the defeat. Hawkmoth was busy tracking the battle, trying to figure out which way the victor went.
"There was a mighty duel- it ranged all over. They were both masters," Hawkmoth informed. "THe loser ran off alone while the winner followed the footprints towards Guilder."
"Shall we track both?" Nathaniel asked.
"The loser is nothing, your highness. Only the princess matter." Hawkmoth returns to the his horse before addressing the soldiers. "Clearly this was all planned by warriors of Guilder. We must be ready for whatever lies ahead."
"Could this be a trap?" The prince asked worriedly.
"I always think it's a trap. That's how I've stayed alive." Hawkmoth vaulted onto his horse and they took off to follow the footsteps. The man in black finally caught up to Chloe but had to stop when the blond pressed a knife to Ladybug's neck. The man in black notice that the young witch was blindfolded, which confused him.
"So, now it's down to you and me," Chloe hummed. The man in black nods and takes a step close but stopped when Chloe pressed the knife closer to Ladybug's bare neck. "If you wish her dead, by all means keep moving forward."
"Let me explain-"
"There's nothing to explain. You're trying to kidnap what I've rightfully stolen."
"Purrhaps an arrangement could be made?"
"There will be no arrangement!" Chloe humphs. The man in black began to think quickly before he smirked with an idea. He leaned against his staff nonchalantly.
"How about a battle of wits?" The man in black suggested. Chloe arched an eyebrow at him.
"For the princess?" He nods at her and Chloe puts away her knife. The man in black comes over to sit in front of the two ladies.
"Good. Now pour the grape juice." The man in black pulled out a small vial with clear liquid inside from his near invisible pocket. "Inhale but do not touch," the man in black instructed as he took off the top of the vial. Chloe sniffed and gave a confused look to him. "What you do not smell is the nectar of a wild black rose that can only be found in the deepest, darkest jungles on the other side of the ocean. It will not harm you but it will knock you out for at least a day. It will blend into any liquid and is tasteless." The man in black took the two goblets and hid them from Chloe's view in order to hide the sleeping poison. When done, he placed the two goblets back at the table. "The battle of wits have begun. Where is the poison? It ends when you decide and we both drink." Chloe decided to start rambling, hoping to get an answer to slip from him. All it did was make him dizzy. When that fail, she began to stall until she could think of another plan which tricked him to look behind him. She quietly switched the glasses but he could still hear the goblets settling back down on the rock table. He turned back to her and saw her chuckling. "What's so funny?"
"I'll tell you in a bit," Chloe said, waving her hand. "First, lets drink!" Chloe chugged her's down while the man in black took a slow drink from his.
"You guessed wrong," the man in black said, smirking.
"You only think i guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned, you fool!" Chloe began to laugh like a maniac before she toppled over as sleep took over her. The man in black stepped over the unconscious Chloe and removed the blindfold from Ladybug's eyes before going to her bindings.
"Who are you?" Ladybug asks.
"I am no one to be trifled with, that is all you ever need to know," the man in black said to her before making her stand up and run with him.
"To think, all this time the poison was in your glass."
"They were both poisoned. I just spent the last few years working up an immunity to it." By this point, Prince Nathaniel and Hawkmoth had reached the area where the man in black and Ivan fought. The man in black reached a rocky area of a large hill before letting go of Ladybug so she could sit on a rock and rest.
"Catch your breath," the man in black ordered.
"You'll get whatever you ask for ransom if you let me go," Ladybug tried to reason, tired of getting kidnapped.
"And what is that worth, the promise of a woman? You're very funny, highness."
"I was giving you a chance!" Ladybug snapped. "Hawkmoth is a great hunter. He will find you."
"You think your dearest love's advisor will save you?"
"I never said he was my dearest love. And yes, he will save me if I don't free myself with my own magic."
"You do not love your fiancé?" He asked, wanting some information.
"He knows I do not love him," Ladybug said confidently.
"'Are not capable of love' you mean," the man in black corrected.
"I have loved more deeply and more furiously than a killer like yourself ever could!" Ladybug yelled. The man in black raised his hand, ready to slap her when he stopped. She didn't move, not even a flinch, and he could see the look of honesty and truth in her eyes. Yet he knew she was wrong because he still felt that love she spoke of.
"That is a warning, highness. Do not lie to me again, there are penalties where I come from." All she did was roll her eyes. Then she noticed his tail.
"You have a tail?" Ladybug could hear a growl come from him as said tail bag an to swish violently.
"I was born with it," he growled out before grabbing her again and running off. Meanwhile, Hawkmoth was at the sleeping body of Chloe and was trying to figure out what kind of poison was used. After running for a while longer, the man in black allowed Ladybug to rest again.
"I know who you are," Ladybug announces. "Your cruelty reveals everything, Dread Pirate Roberts!" He bows to her dramatically.
"With pride. What can I do for you, princess?"
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
"That was the first time he called you princess," Tikki explained.
"Really?" Marinette asks and her Kwami nods. The bluenette smiled before a thought that confused her occurred. "Tikki, this story takes place during the reign of kings and queens. How is it that you were around during ancient Egypt?"
"Actually, this was just before our time in Ancient Egypt," Tikki explained before continuing the story.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
"With pride. What can I do for you, princess?"
"You can die slowly or be cut up into a thousand pieces," she orders with a glare. The man in black raised an eyebrow at her order.
"Why throw your venom at me, princess?"
"You killed my love. A simple farm boy, my familiar that I turned human. His hair shined like the sun and his eyes were lucky green. We did everything together." A small smile began to spread across her face for the first time since she lost Chat before it turned into a frown. "You killed him when he left to try to find a preacher to wed us. Dread Pirate Roberts never takes prisoners." The man in black just stared at her for a while before he began to talk.
"I can't afford to make exceptions. One word leaks out that a pirate has gone soft and it's nothing but constant work afterwards."
"You mock my pain!" She shouts, furious. Ladybug could feel some of her power returning to her but not enough to do much with it.
"Life is pain, princess. Anyone who tells differently is selling something! I remember your farm cat, I think. This would be, what? Five years ago?" She nods at him. "Black cat ears?"
"The softest that there ever was," she whispers.
"Does it bother you?"
"Nothing you say can bother me."
He died well, that should please you. No bribe attempts or blubbering. He simply said 'Please. Please I need to live.' It was the please that caught my memory. I asked him what was so important to him. 'True love,' he told me. And then he began to speak of a young witch with immense power, beauty, and faithfulness. I can only assume he was talking about you. You should bless me for destroying him before he found out what you really are."
"And what am I?"
"Faithfulness he talked of, princess. Your enduring faithfulness. Now tell me, princess. When you found out he was gone, did you get married to your prince that same hour or did you wait a week out of respect for the dead?!" Ladybug became angry at his assumptions. The memory of that day slowly becoming fresh in her mind as more of her power returned to her.
"You mocked me once! Never do it again- I died that day," she shouted back. The man in black was about to answer but heard hoof steps in the distance. Ladybug stood and moved so she was in front of him and the steep ravine was behind him. "You can die too, for all I care!" With that, Ladybug used her slowly growing powers to push the man in black down the ravine.
"...As … You… Wish…." He calls as he rolls down, down, down. The words jerked Ladybug's memories of her kitty and gasped when she saw the mask fly off. Blond hair and black ears caught her eyes.
"Chat!" She called before racing down after him, tripping in the process and rolling down as well. She stopped near the bottom, only feet away from her familiar. Both were bruised and sore from the fall. After a few minutes, Chat forced himself to crawl next to his witch, their faces close together.
"Can you move?" He asked, caressing her face lovingly as she began to cry with joy.
"Move? You're alive, I could fly without my broom!" She pulled him down to kiss him, overjoyed to see him again. This kiss was passionate, desperate, and filled with joy.
"I told you, 'I will always come back for you.' Why didn't you wait for me?" He asked after the kiss was broken.
"I thought you were dead-" Chat interrupted her.
"Death cannot stop true love, only delay it."
"I will never doubt love again." He touched his forehead with her's.
"There will never be a need to." They kiss again, this one sweet, chaste, and not as desperate as the last one.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
"So Chat and I were really that much in love?" Marinette asked her Kwami, now questioning her feelings for Adrien. Tikki nodded at her charge's question. "Why do you keep encouraging me to be with Adrien then?"
"You'll see," Tikki says with a giggle.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
Ladybug and Chat Noir raced along the ravine floor towards the Fire Swamp. They stopped just a ways away from the entrance and turned to see horses on the top of the ravine.
"I think they're just horsing around. They'll never reach us before we reach the Fire Swamp!" Chat said with a laugh.
"FIRE SWAMP!" Ladybug squeals as she is dragged towards the swamp.
"You're only acting like that because no one has ever survived before," Chat said with a laugh.
MLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLML
"Hold up!" Adrien interrupted. "Were are all my puns?" Adrien asked.
"This was before you started getting interested in puns, kid. You still said some from time to time but it wasn't something you did all the time back then," Plagg explained. "This was the first time in all of your rebirths that you called Ladybug your princess." Adrien got confused. He only called Marinette that.
"Plagg, I only call Marinette my princess," Adrien told him, hoping for more of an answer from his Kwami.
"You humans all look the same to me," Plagg said with a shrug, not wanting to explain if he didn't get it with such a big hint.
I AM SUPER SUPER SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING THIS ONE! I didn't have any wifi this week! Plus I haven't finished writing this chapter, as you can see. Yes this is a Princess Bride AU. Anyways, as an apology for lack of update, I have made this chapter (and probably the next half of this) twice as long as my longer chapters. Hopefully I will get the second part done now that I have settled into a rhythm sort of. I did recently get hired at my very first job (I now work at Panera in case you were wondering) and I'm still trying to settle into the rhythm a little more. I'm hoping to update my other Miraculous fandoms soon too.
I need to to check who it was but I did get a request to do a reveal where Nino finds out their identities by accident and tries to get the two together while Alya is away. I will definitely be doing that one as soon at I finish the Princess Bride AU. I love the idea.
Okay. I think that's everything. I'll try to update soon. Oh! I think I'll leave a question at the bottom of every chapter from now on just to see people's answers to it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you think in the reviews.
Question: What is your favorite corner on the Love Square?