Sorry for another late update, but it should be the last one now that finals are over and I'm back home! Please enjoy this chapter! :)
"It's a story," Marinette announced, flipping through the pages. "It's about these magicians that would eventually become miraculous holders. There's the ladybug, butterfly, fox, bee, peacock, and turtle..."
"Yes! That's right!" Tikki exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "There are other miraculouses, but they are scattered throughout the world. Paris isn't the only place confronting great evil. There might be other heroes like you out saving the day as we speak!"
Chat Noir frowned and took the book from Marinette's hands. "What about the black cat?" He asked. "Isn't there supposed to be a black cat miraculous? It doesn't say anything about that here. It only talks about these six magicians, but the cat isn't one of them."
"Read closer," Marinette said, pointing to a spot on the page. "There is a black cat in this story except he isn't a magician. He's just a normal black cat! Apparently the first Ladybug had a pet cat that she took with her everywhere. They were best friends, partners even."
"Just like us, my lady." Chat Noir blew Marinette a kiss, but she just rolled her eyes. She grabbed the book back and flipped to the next page. This story contained more than what met the eye. Something was bothering her especially about the black cat. Shouldn't he have been a magician too?
Marinette skimmed the page and summarized it. "To make a long story short, the butterfly basically took control of the entire kingdom with his magic. He used to be a friend of Ladybug until he became corrupt and went rogue. He was able to posses people's minds and control them. He was also able to lend people magical power so they could fight in his place."
"So he was an upgraded version of our Hawk Moth?"
"Pretty much," Marinette nodded. "He gained so much power that Ladybug thought he'd be impossible to defeat, so she thought instead of fighting him with magic, she tried to appeal to his heart. She traveled to his palace and tried to persuade him to step down. She didn't have the heart to hurt her friend."
"And I'm guessing that didn't go too well?" Chat Noir predicted. "I can't imagine a guy that powerful willingly backing down for the sake of friendship."
"You're right. He arrested her and threw her in prison. He cast a spell that weakened her magic, so she couldn't escape. He shut her in the darkest, deepest corner of the prison as punishment." A shiver ran down Marinette's spine as she imagined it. It was a brutal punishment in addition to the loss of a friend. She felt bad for the original Ladybug. Fighting someone you used to call a friend seemed impossible.
"So is that it?" Chat Noir asked. "Did the bad guy win or-"
"This can't be!" Marinette cried, cutting Chat Noir off. "Is this even possible?"
"Spit it out! What are you talking about?"
Marinette gripped the book's edges tightly. "Ladybug had prepared a spell in case she was captured that she needed her friends to perform, but she had to send a message to them. Her black cat ran to her side and was given the message to carry on."
"That's ridiculous," Chat Noir laughed. "Cats can't talk. I speak from personal experience. Unless one of those miraculous users had mind reading powers, that's a flawed plan."
"This is where it gets strange. Ladybug cast a spell that transferred her part of her remaining magical power to her cat so he could fight in her place and carry on her message. But magicians can only be human so the spell transformed the cat into a human boy!"
"What!?" Tikki and Chat Noir shouted in unison. They crowded around Marinette to read the page and what they saw was true. Ladybug's pet cat had been given part of his master's magic, so much that they now stood on equal footing in terms of power. She gave him her message and he went off to alert her friends.
"The original Chat Noir was a cat?" Tikki asked. "But all the Chat Noirs I've ever seen have been human. This doesn't make sense."
"Aren't black cats are naturally magic beings," Marinette continued. "While they can't practice magic themselves, they are powerful which is why magicians in the past often had them as pets. If this cat was Ladybug's pet, he was probably the most powerful black cat of them all! But in order for him to fight and use that magic, she had to give him a human form!"
"That might explain why our Chat Noir is a cat then..." Tikki mused, flying on top of Chat Noir's head. "He might have had lots of magical potential, but could never use it. That's why he was chosen to have a miraculous!"
"I'm not so sure." Marinette shook her head. "The story isn't over yet. The original Chat Noir makes it back to Ladybug's friends and tells them to help him cast her spell. The spell will seal the butterfly's powers in a sacred object but in the process, their own powers will be sealed as well."
"So they had to sacrifice their magic?" Chat Noir asked as he plucked Tikki off his head. "Why? That's not fair!" His tail thumped against the ground in frustration, nearly knocking over a stack of books. A part of him felt bad for the magicians. They were trying to save an entire kingdom and how did they get repaid? By losing their magic.
"Sometimes magic requires you to pay the ultimate price," Tikki sighed. "Spells aren't always straightforward. When you use a magical item, you can guarantee the same result everytime. Spells, however, are more complex. They can be unpredictable and require an incredible amount of power to keep them stable. Sometimes they have a backlash."
"And that's what happened," Marinette read on. "They were able to recite the spell and their magic took the form of some kind of item. For Chat Noir, it was a ring like we know. For Ladybug, who even in prison was affected by the spell, it was these earrings. And it says for Hawk Moth... it was a brooch shaped like a butterfly!"
"Now we're talking!" Chat Noir howled in joy. "That brooch must be the source of our Hawk Moth's powers. All we gotta do is snatch it back and problem solved!"
"We have to find him first," Marinette muttered under her breath. Chat Noir was jumping ahead. "Anyways, this spell did more than just seal their magic. These magicians were some of the most powerful in history, so they couldn't let their magic lie around unprotected. They wanted it to be used for good so for each item, a magical spirit was born to protect it and pass the power on to future successors. That spirit... is that a kwami?"
Chat Noir and Marinette looked at Tikki. The small creature smiled nervously and nodded. "That's me!" she explained. "I was born to protect those earrings, but I was never told anything before that. I got to meet the original Ladybug only once and that was to receive my orders to protect the miraculous."
"You met her?" Marinette gasped, nearly dropping the book on the floor. "What was she like?" A secret part of Marinette wondered about her predecessor. What was she like? Was she beautiful and kind? Was she just as clumsy as Marinette or was she graceful like a swan? Considering she was one of the greatest magicians in history, she had to be incredible.
"She reminds me of you," Tikki giggled. "She wasn't much older than you are now and had a bright smile even during tough times. That unrelenting kindness must be a trait she passed on to future Ladybugs."
"What about the original Chat Noir?" Chat Noir asked, his ears perking up. "I know he was a cat and all, but he was probably a handsome devil."
"You'd have to ask Plagg," Tikki smiled. "He's in charge of protecting Chat Noir's miraculous and I'm sure he'd have a thousand things to say though not all of them might be flattering. I wish I could introduce the two of you. I think you'd get along since you both have so much in common like an obsession with gross cheese!" Tikki pretended to gag and then broke into laughter.
"Is that the end of the story then?" Marinette wondered as she neared the end of the page. "Ladybug and the other magicians were able to seal the original Hawk Moth's magic away in that brooch and the day was saved. But that can't be all... just look at the size of this book!"
Marinette flipped through a few more pages and to her surprise found that the story continued. "Wait!" she exclaimed, pushing the book over towards Chat Noir and Tikki. "This book doesn't only have the story of the first Ladybug and Chat Noir. It has the story of all of them! See! Look at this!"
She pointed at an illustration of a woman wearing exotic clothing with a Ladybug pattern. "This Ladybug is different than the first one," Marinette explained. "She was the daughter of the head of an eastern tribe and in her time, someone stole the fox miraculous and used it to manipulate reality and fool people. And on the next page is her Chat Noir! It says he was the son of an enemy tribe, but they came together to fight evil and save everyone!"
"So Ladybug and Chat Noir change depending on the time and place?" Chat Noir asked, still a bit confused. "And each time, there's a different problem. It's not always about the butterfly miraculous. Someone else can stir up trouble too."
"That's right," Tikki nodded. "All it takes is one person with malicious intent to turn a miraculous evil. Ladybug and Chat Noir have to be ready to fight anything! I've been with every single Ladybug, so I know all these girls. I didn't know about this book though. Perhaps another miraculous user created it. It documents every Ladybug and Chat Noir and I'd bet that if we had a different miraculous user here, we'd learn about their history too."
"Does that mean we're in here?" Marinette asked. She turned to the back of the book since she and Chat Noir would be the most recent entry. She turned through the pages until...
"Here we go! Look! There's a picture of me and everything. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, daughter of a Parisian baker. And it explains a little bit about Hawk Moth creating akumas, but nothing we don't already know. Strange..."
"Is there anything about me?" Chat Noir exclaimed, quickly stealing the book from Marinette. "This might have information about my identity," he thought. "This could be what I've been waiting for!"
Chat Noir opened to the page on him. There was a large illustration of his human form. Where his name should have been, there was a nothing, just blank space. All the information Marinette had was missing for him.
"A dead end after all..." Chat Noir sighed, handing the book back to Marinette. "If this magic book has nothing about me, I should give up. Maybe I never had an identity to begin with. Can cats even have amnesia? At the end of the day, that's all I really am. Just a stupid cat..."
"Why doesn't it have anything about Chat Noir?" Marinette frowned. "I had so much written, but he has almost nothing. There's no other entry in the book like it."
"It might have something to do with him being a cat," Tikki mused, thinking to herself. "He is the odd one out. All the other Chat Noirs were definitely human, but this one isn't. Even so, he should at least have a name and explanation of that unless none of it is true..."
Marinette raised an eyebrow and looked up a Chat Noir who had a guilty expression. She leaned closer to him and asked, "Is there something you haven't been telling us? I can tell by the look on your face that something isn't right. You don't have to keep anything a secret, you know. We're partners and best friends." She gave him a hopeful smile, praying he would open up to her.
"It looks like I've been busted," Chat Noir thought. "The cat's out of the bag, but maybe this is a good thing. I don't know how much longer I could've kept this a secret."
"The truth is..." Chat Noir began hesitantly. "I don't really know who or what I am. I came up with the name Chat Noir on my own because I have no memory of anything beyond a year ago. My identity is a mystery even to me. The only thing I seemed to remember was the name "Ladybug" so when I met you I thought I finally found my answers. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything and this book doesn't even have anything about me. I'm starting to think that my identity might be meaningless anyways. What does it matter if a cat has memories?"
"Don't say that!" Marinette grabbed Chat Noir's shoulders and pulled him in for a hug, causing him to blush. "Everything about you is important! If you want to have your memories back, we'll find a way! That's what friends are for. I wish you'd told us sooner though. We might have been able to figure something out earlier. But I'm just glad you told us. I bet this secret has been burdening you for a long time."
"She can see right through me," Chat Noir chuckled, returning the hug. "I should've known better. Marinette really is something special..." He let her warm arms take him in. He rest his head against her shoulder. His tail went lax. Marinette's presence calmed him. All his worries went away as his mind focused solely on her. He had no doubts that he loved this girl.
Tikki's eyes narrowed as she watched Marinette and Chat Noir hug. "This has gotten even stranger," she frowned. "He's the only Chat Noir who isn't human and he doesn't have any memories either. On top of that, Plagg is still missing. There's definitely something more going on, but I don't think Chat Noir is lying to us either."
After realizing she had been hugging Chat for an unusually long amount of time, Marinette broke the hug and let out an embarrassed laugh. "I-I guess that's that..." she stammered, closing the book. "I'll put the book back and then we can leave. I'm starting to get hungry, so maybe we can go get lunch."
Marinette walked away to reshelve the book and thought, "Why did I get so embarrassed? Chat Noir and I are friends. Hugging shouldn't be weird. I must be a little tense with all this Ladybug stuff, that's all. Not to mention, I'm worried about him. I didn't realize he was suffering from amnesia. It must be awful to not remember anything about the past. I wonder how that could have happened."
As Marinette walked away, Chat Noir let out a deep sigh filled with longing. "That hug was too much for my heart," he thought as he touched his chest. "She doesn't even notice how much she affects me. I'm not hoping for anything since I'm just a cat, but I wish she'd at least notice me a little bit. When she leans in close like that I think I might explode!"
"I put it back along with all the other books we took out," Marinette said as she came back. "We can leave now. Chat, make sure your cloak is back on. Your ears are sticking out." She pointed to his head and he quickly put his hood back up with a wink. Tikki flew back into Marinette's pocket and the trio headed out.
As they exited the library, they passed by the librarian's desk. She held up her hand and stopped them. "Did you find everything you were looking for?" she asked sweetly. Chat Noir turned his head as the librarian looked at him. He didn't want anyone watching him for too long or they might find him suspicious.
"We did," Marinette smiled. "Thank you for the help. This is a really great library. I didn't expect to find so many books of magic especially considering its reputation."
"That's partially my doing," the librarian laughed. "My grandfather was a magician. He was an honest and kind man, but still received hatred from the public because of his power. Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be a magician too, but I didn't have the talent for it. So instead I collected my grandfather's magic books and when he passed away, I donated them here."
"I'm sorry about your grandfather..."
"It's nothing, dear. Though I wish he was here to see those new heroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir. I'm sure he'd be happy to see magicians doing good and changing people's opinion. Up until his death, he worked hard to serve Paris. It's good to see people continue his work. Oh my! Look at me rambling on. I just get so excited talking about grandfather and so few people are interested. The last person I told was actually Prince Adrien, if you can believe it."
"Prince Adrien!" Marinette exclaimed, her heart stopping. "P-prince Adrien was here?" Chat Noir gave her a curious glance. He hadn't heard about this Prince Adrien before, but Marinette certainly seemed to react to his name.
"Why yes! Coincidentally, he came in and asked about the magic section just like you did. I gladly showed him though I didn't think the young prince had an interest in magic. I suppose a prince is expected to be educated in all areas though. And if I remember correctly he visited about a week before his passing, bless his soul."
"Really?"
"I talked to him for a while about magic and such. He was intrigued by my grandfather or maybe that was him being polite. He asked me about a certain type of magic, but I can't recall the name... I hadn't heard of anything like it before."
"Prince Adrien was here," Marinette thought with a sad smile. "And he was interested in magic. I'm sure he'd be a big fan of Ladybug if he was still alive." Marinette felt a lump form in her throat. "I'm getting emotional again... I really have to stop thinking of him. The pain never really goes away."
"Thank you for your help again," Marinette said, ending the conversation. "Hopefully we can see you again soon." Marinette waved to the librarian and then walked out with Chat Noir. There was a vacant look in her eyes that was bothering Chat Noir. He knew something was wrong.
"Are you okay?" He asked, stopping her by putting his paw on her shoulder. "You look like you're about to cry. Did the librarian say something to upset you? You've been acting funny ever since she mentioned that Adrien guy." At the mention of the name, Chat Noir felt Marinette's shoulder tense. He had struck something.
"It's nothing..." Marinette mumbled as she stared down at her feet. She wasn't in the mood to talk about it. She wanted to keep her unrequited feelings a secret. The only one she had ever told was Alya. It wasn't something Chat Noir needed to know now. He had his own problems and Marinette didn't want to burden him with hers.
"It's not nothing!" Chat Noir protested. "This guy is obviously making you sad! What did he do to you? I can fix it! Just tell me what to do and-"
"Knock it off, Chat!" Marinette snapped as she knocked Chat Noir's hand away. He took a step back in shock, surprised by Marinette's reaction. She hung her head and sighed, "I'm sorry. I'm not feeling well all of a sudden. It's really no big deal. He's nobody so you can relax." She reached out and touched Chat Noir's cheek, causing his face to go red.
"Don't give me that look," she smiled though Chat Noir could tell it was forced. "I don't want you to be sad either. We have bigger problems than that like getting your memory back and defeating Hawk Moth. Maybe I'll tell you once everything is all over, but it's really not important."
"Marinette, are you lying to me?" Chat Noir frowned. He took Marinette's hand gently and squeezed it. He wanted her to know that he was there for her.
"Of course not, kitty."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Chat Noir looked into Marinette's eyes. Instead of their usual boldness, they were murky and distant. "She is lying," Chat Noir thought as he let go of Marinette's hand. "But I can't pressure her into telling the truth. It's her secret to keep. I'm sure she'll tell me when she's ready."
"I wish I knew more about this prince though. The name sounds strangely familiar, but I don't remember hearing anyone talk about him before. The librarian mentioned he passed away, but I don't think that's the only thing making Marinette sad. If he was a prince, they probably wouldn't even know each other. So why is she so sad?"
Chat Noir lightly slapped his cheek and shook his head. "Stop that!" he scolded himself. "It's Marinette's business, not yours! Don't barge in where you don't belong. Just trust her..."
"Why are you just standing there?" Marinette asked, stealing Chat Noir from his thoughts. "I said let's go get some food. Aren't you hungry? If you really want, I guess I can leave you at the library." She giggled at her joke, a slight rosiness returning to her cheeks.
Chat Noir smiled back. Marinette was already feeling better. "Don't leave me behind!" he protested, throwing himself on Marinette's back playfully. "This kitty's got an appetite! I'm starving! Can we stop by the cheese store we passed on the way here?"
Marinette rolled her eyes and laughed. "Okay, but only because you asked nicely. We'll have to stop by a real shop though so I can eat real food! I still don't understand how you can eat such smelly cheese."
"It's an acquired taste. I'm sure you'd love it if you'd only try it, my lady."
"Yuck! No thanks!" Marinette stuck her tongue out. Her stomach let out a loud rumble and both she and Chat Noir erupted into laughter.
"Enough jokes," Marinette said, patting her stomach. "Let's go get something to eat!"
