FW09: All right! So, we're onto the next chapter, and I want to say thank you to everyone who left a review! It's always encouraging to read positive reviews, and I haven't seen any negative feedback, so it looks like I'm doing pretty okay, heh!

That being said, please enjoy this new chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous: the Adventures of Ladybug and Chat Noir. All characters, unless specified as OCs, are not mine.

Bedtime Stories - Tikki and Plagg

Chapter 2: Adrien's Bedroom and the City of Ur

"So, how did you two first meet?" Adrien turned off all the lights except for the one near his bed, attached to the skateboard ramp. No one was really going to check if he'd gone to bed - Nathalie had left for the night already, and all the night staff had gone save for the outside security guards who dared not peek inside the house. As for Adrien's father...well, he worked late at his office on the other end of the house, far from Adrien's room. For the most part, Adrien had to learn to be responsible and take care of himself, and that included tucking himself in. However, this time, he dragged his pillows to the foot of his bed and rearranged the sheets so he could lay down on his stomach, facing the windows. It provided the perfect backing for Plagg to tell his story.

"Mmmm...it was before we were Kwami," as soon as Adrien had settled down, Plagg tried to tug the Camembert out of Adrien's hand once more, but the teenager was stronger than he looked.

"Before you were Kwami?" Adrien asked, puzzled, "Hold on, are you telling me...you guys used to be human?" Despite the smell of the Camembert getting all over his hand, there was no way he was letting it go for Plagg to run away.

"Pfff, as if," the cat Kwami laughed, amused by the unbelievable thought, "Me? A 'dorky human' like you? Bwahahahaha!"

"Well, if you weren't human, or Kwami, what were you?" Adrien frowned at the 'dorky' comment, and let the Camembert go. Plagg tumbled backwards by the sudden release of the cheese, but he recovered from the fall with nothing more than cheeks full of stinky dairy product and a grin.

"I was a God!" Plagg proclaimed proudly, shoving his tiny chest forward. Adrien said nothing at first, staring down at his diminutive companion before sharing a laugh of his own. Grunting with annoyance, the little Kwami swallowed his meal and then glided up towards Adrien's face, blowing a noxious cloud of cheesy breath directly at him.

"Guh! Awww, sick!" The disgusting smell of fancy, but nose-rotting cheese hit Adrien like a sack of bricks, and he reeled backwards under his covers while trying to wave away the smell.

"Plenty more where that came from!" Plagg laughed in triumph, but he composed himself to continue his story, "Anyway, yeah, I was a God! I was big, and scary, and strong, too! People would worship at my feet, and offer me their cheese!"

"Ughhh...right, and I'm Hawkmoth," Adrien flapped the sheets to rid them of the smell and glowered.

"It's true!" Plagg reminisced on those days fondly, "Man, sometimes there'd be so much cheese, I'd get stomach aches!" The raised eyebrow and skeptical frown told the little black furball that his partner wasn't buying it.

"All right, what?"

"I just can't believe you're a God."

"Was a God," Plagg corrected, licking at his arms to snag any residual pieces of the delicious cheese, "And yeah, dude, believe it. Anyway, back to when I first met Tikki - there I was, a lone Cat God facing down an army of -"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Adrien held up his hands, stopping Plagg from going downhill into a babble, "You're not gonna start the story in the middle of a battle, are you? I mean, who were you even battling?"

"I was just about to tell you."

"No, I think you need to start at the beginning. Like, the actual beginning?"

"Ugh, can't I just skip to the good parts where I looked super cool and awesome?" Plagg put his arms over his mouth as soon as he said the words, but it was too late by then. Adrien's green eyes were wide with revelation before squinting, his mouth split into two with glee.

"So...there were parts where you weren't super cool and awesome?"

"Ughhhh..." the cat Kwami put his head in his arms, sighing, "You really want me to start from the beginning?"

"Yup," Adrien propped the pillow under his chin, smirking in anticipation, "And you better be telling the truth, Death-Breath, or it'll be no Camembert instead of extra. For a whole week." Plagg shuddered at the thought of not having his favorite cheese for an entire week, and sighed reluctantly.

"Understood, Monsieur Cheese-Monger..." Plagg settled down and sat on a corner of the bed, crossing his arms.

"Hmph...now where should I start...?"

I guess I should explain that "Gods" weren't what you thought they were. Sure, we were pretty awesome, and we had lots of powers that you humans didn't, but it wasn't like we were some immortal beings sent from the heavens or anything like that. A lot of us were just ordinary animals or plants, maybe even a few spirits who grew up in a naturally magical environment. From there, we absorbed the energy from the Earth, the Sky, and even you humans - which gave us supernatural abilities. Whether they were bad or good all depended on how the humans looked at us.

If we gave them good weather for crops, or kept them free from sickness and disease, we were welcomed - the smaller ones were even made into pets. If we caused fires in their fields, or were seen feeding off their livestock, they considered us evil and corrupt. For humans, Gods were only one of the two - and they graded on a strict curve. You could've dedicated your entire life as a God serving humans, but you do one bad thing, and you're Evil.

My very first memories were in a place somewhere between Europe and Africa, called the Middle East. Sumer, I think. It was made up cities that were built around lots of oasis, and access to what humans now call the Persian Gulf. And back then, us Cat Gods, and cats in general, were pretty well-liked. We cleaned the streets of rodents, kept away snakes from homes, thought to guard against disease, and even brought good luck.

I was the last of a litter of thirteen magical kittens, born halfway on a camel caravan journeying constantly to several other northern Sumerian cities, the next stop being the City of Ur. My mother, a cherished Cat God named Nua, was the guardian of the caravan. She wasn't exceedingly powerful, but her ability to safeguard the caravan from poisonous creatures like scorpions and snakes was highly valued on her owners' travels. And my twelve brothers and sisters would eventually grow into their abilities, just like my mother.

Me, on the other hand...well...

It all started on the morning after my mother gave birth, inside the small cat carrier on the first camel of the caravan. The merchant who owned the caravan, named Ba'al, discovered us and told his wife the news. She, Cybele, was a large dark-skinned woman, who wore white robes and gold bangles that dangled heavily from her thick wrists. There was a lot of fussing noises when she found my mother, exhausted from the ordeal.

"Oh, look at our Nua," Cybele cooed from the front of the camel that was carrying us, and pet my mother's head lovingly, "She must be so proud! And her kittens are just adorable!"

Too weak to protest, my mother watched as the human took her children one by one into her embrace. When I opened my eyes* for the first time, I remember seeing her round, glowing face, overly caked in rouge and makeup, and her murky brown eyes. There was a brief pause before she started pressing kisses over our noses and mouths, and I'm pretty sure all of us turned red from her painted lips at one point or another.

"Yes, they'll make fine gifts for the noble families in the future," Ba'al turned towards his wife, holding the reins of the camel tight as he walked in front of it, "However, we'll most likely need to make a few sacrifices..."

"What? What are you talking about?"

I gasped in relief when Cybele stopped kissing me on my muzzle, and savored the fresh air. She was relentless, and my siblings and I mewled loudly to show our protest at Cybele's refusal to release us back to our mother.

"We are already deep into the desert, my love," he grimaced as he looked at my mother, "And Nua is weak."

"I still don't understand," Cybele kept us clutched to her bosom, the lurching of the camel over the sand dunes making her body sway in time to the motion of the beast.

"Cybele..." her husband sighed and gripped the reins of the camel harder, "We only prepared for a few kittens. But we have thirteen newborn magical beasts. Thirteen! That means thirteen more mouths to feed, and they won't stay small for very long." The merchant's wife stared down uneasily at us, then at Nua who called to us tiredly and worriedly.

"If anything unfortunate were to happen, it is even possible that we may not have enough to feed Nua, let alone our own troupe."

"Oh Ba'al...but we can't," she shook her head, smearing her rouge on her white kufiya**, "Nua has been so good to us. And if we killed her children? What if she turns into an Evil God?" Dark eyes went from Cybele, to Nua, then to the us.

"Good Gods don't turn evil," he scoffed lightly, then reached a hand up to scratch behind the ear of one of my brothers, "But you are right, my love. Nua has served us well. We cannot pay such service with disservice." Relieved, Cybele gave our heads a quick peck before releasing my siblings and I back into our mother's care.

"Such a pretty one, you are," she whispered to me, and stroked my head before I could crawl away, "I will name you Dak'n***, and dress you in gold!"

Heh. Looking back on it at that moment, my future didn't look too shabby. Despite Cybele being so grabby and clingy all the time, I was guaranteed a home, humans who would feed and care for me, and a long life of worship and adoration ahead of me. And in return, I would give my owners protection and blessings. At least, that's what the humans assumed. However, they never stopped to wonder why - out of all of my siblings, who were orange tabbies or white like my mother - I was the only one who was born with black fur.

During the next few days that followed, strange things started happening on the caravan. Rope bindings on one of the camels came undone, causing the loss of several supplies and goods for trade. When inspected, it was found that the rope had rotted, despite being brand new. And when the merchant's wife lost her favorite pair of gold bangles, it was found tarnished and broken in two, hidden away in the satchel on the rear camel. The bodyguards and workers started to suspect that an Evil God had descended upon them, and had cursed the caravan. Ba'al, on the other hand, had his suspicions when he found me rummaging through one of the head camel's bags...

"So, basically, you caused trouble even when you were a kitten?" Adrien interrupted with a smirk. Plagg was starting to look tired, as if drained from remembering his history and beginnings. Crossing his arms and sighing, the cat Kwami rolled his eyes at his human partner.

"Hey, a desert caravan is boring, OK?" He floated up towards the blonde, pointing a finger at the boy's nose, "You try being cooped up on the back of a camel for days on end, then you can talk."

"I'm just saying, it sounds like you caused a lot of trouble."

"Well...it wasn't my fault, not really anyway," Plagg shrugged, circling Adrien's head once before settling on a corner of the pillow, "Magical beasts have a hard time controlling their powers when they're born. They're not like spirits, who get to practice and grow their powers safely before getting a physical form." Again, Tikki sprung to his mind, remembering when they had shared their origin stories together.

"I guess," Adrien followed suit and shrugged under the sheets, "But it also doesn't sound like you were being that secretive about it."

"Well, duh!" Plagg gave an exaggerated sigh, "I was a newborn! How was I supposed to know that my Destruction abilities were 'evil'?! And like I said, the humans back then had a strict grading curve!"

"All right, all right, I get it," Adrien cringed at Plagg's outburst, actually worried that someone might hear, "You were really young and didn't know what you were doing. I get that. Please...continue." The blonde model hadn't realized how sensitive a topic this was for the little cat creature, and shelved the teasing for another day/night.

"Hmph," Plagg breathed, regaining his composure, "Right, so where was I..."

Ba'al had been keeping a close eye on us, since he was afraid that the Evil God might've been targeting my mother and my siblings. It wasn't too unusual in those days. Magical beasts were like any other animal - and everybody's gotta eat. The source of all the commotion, though, was me.

My Destruction abilities were stronger than that of my siblings, and I wasn't even aware that I was using them half the time. Nearly everything that I played with started to rot or corrode, and my mother was at her wit's end trying to cover for my messes and confine me to the head camel's carrier. It didn't stop me from escaping every now and again, though. And every time I did, more things were found broken or decayed.

Little did I know that Ba'al had figured me out, and had a plan already in place.

On the day we entered the City of Ur, the entire caravan sighed with relief. Though several of their goods were lost or destroyed during the trip, the majority of the cargo was safe, and the workers busied themselves with setting up the booths. No one wanted to take chances with the bad luck they'd been experiencing, and Ba'al instructed Cybele to begin infiltrating the market and popular trading areas. A master of gathering information, spreading gossip, and analyzing trends, the merchant's wife was happy to get to work.

"Oh, let me take my Dak'n," she cooed as her husband took the cat carrier off of the head camel, "I want to buy him some gold accessories - with that beautiful black fur, he'll be the talk of the entire bazaar!" I shuddered inside and buried myself in my mother's fur. She had tried to put several of her own pieces of jewelry on me before, resulting in their mysterious "disappearance".

"No, it'd be too dangerous," the dark-skinned merchant waved his free hand at her, "We still don't know if that Evil God is following us and the kittens. If it finds you alone with one of them..." He didn't have to say anymore as Cybele stiffened, though her face was still dismayed by the missed opportunity.

"I understand," she gathered her robe in her hands, lifting them to avoid dirtying them on the sandy floor of the bazaar, "But make sure you keep all of them safe, my love. There's been reports of thieves in Ur." He nodded to her, and watched as she permeated the bustling crowd, waiting until she was out of sight. Then, he turned to my mother, eyes dark and mouth set in a grim line.

"I am sorry, Nua," he stroked my mother's head, and she licked his hand lovingly in response, "So...so sorry." She gave a confused meow before pulling me out of the carrier, and locking my mother and siblings inside. I could see the panic in her eyes, the realization, and she started scratching at the door furiously. The bazaar drowned her pained yowls as Ba'al took me away, and started towards one of the wells at the edge of the city. Me, on the other hand, I was excited. I'd never been in the city, and all the new smells were tantalizing.

"Dak'n," the merchant spoke my name apologetically, and I looked up at him, "I am sorry, little one. You are so powerful, even now. And I can't risk the well-being of my family and business."

"What do you mean, Ba'al?"

The merchant stopped in his tracks and looked at me in surprise. He was right - I was powerful, and growing stronger each day. I had already surpassed my mother, who never had the power to speak to humans in their tongue, and could even understand his words.

"...You're Evil, Dak'n," he continued in a shaken manner, "An Evil God. Or at least, will be one day. You cannot be allowed to live."

Plagg grew quiet, recalling this particular moment of history, and Adrien clutched his pillow against his chest uncomfortably. Once more, the grandfather clock ticked away, its pendulum creaking in the dead silence of the house.

"He was going to kill you," the blonde boy spoke finally, looking away from Plagg. Adrien knew what it was like to be judged by everyone, but it had always been from the positive end of things. He was 'Adrien Agreste', famous Parisian teenage model and son of fashion-powerhouse Gabriel Agreste, who becomes the beloved Chat Noir to fight Akumas in a crime-fighting duo with Ladybug when available. He couldn't imagine the feelings of someone who was declared 'evil' from birth, just by being who he was.

"That's how it was back in the day," the cat Kwami replied blankly, "If Ba'al let me live, his own head would've been on the chopping block." Adrien looked back at the cat creature, eyes wide.

"Evil Gods were greatly feared, Adrien," Plagg sighed, rubbing his cheek with the back of his arm, "If you were caught hiding one, or even worse protecting one, you were considered a criminal."

"But you weren't evil," the boy protested, his breathing getting heated.

"Not in the way you're thinking, no," Plagg nodded and poked Adrien in the cheek to calm him, "But my powers weren't exactly innocent either. And Ba'al had a difficult choice, too."

"He didn't have to kill you," the teenager muffled his words into his pillow, "He could've just let you go."

"Hmmm," the cat creature chuckled, and crossed his arms with a lazy, knowing smirk, "Exactly."

"...Wait, what?" Adrien blinked at Plagg, "No...did he...?" Miniature, pointed teeth flashed at the boy as Plagg held up an paw, floating over to the bedroom light to turn it off.

"Sorry, but that's all I have for tonight," the teasing tone in the Kwami's voice didn't do anything to ease the unsatisfied feeling in Adrien's chest, "Besides: it's late, I'm tired, and I can tell by the lack of that delicious smell that you don't have anymore Camembert." Once off, Adrien could feel his eyelids start to droop, experiencing the exhaustion fully without light or story to distract him.

"Continue tomorrow?" he grumbled tiredly, and Plagg nodded, "Good..." With a long yawn, Adrien nestled into his pillow as the cat Kwami hid himself in one of Adrien's drawers. Comforted by the silk clothes that Adrien rarely used, he started to close the drawer for some privacy before he felt something prick his consciousness. It wasn't unpleasant, by any means, and he purred into the sensation - like something smoothing the fur along his head, rubbing at his ears and whiskers. Green eyes closed softly before springing open, and he nudged the drawer so that it was open just a crack - big enough for him to stare in the direction of the feeling.

"...Missed me, huh?" he whispered with a cocky grin, tail curling beside him, "Night, Spot."

...

...

...

Goodnight, Furball.

FW09: All right, finally finished! This chapter actually took a while because I had started off really dark - darker than even this one. However, I felt like Plagg's character in the show really didn't reflect any TREMENDOUS tragedy in his life, so I scrapped it. Then I started on this version and felt like it fit a bit better. His backstory is definitely darker than Tikki's, just because - hey, bad luck and destruction ain't exactly "Good God" material, ya know? But don't worry, there's still some good moments to be had moving forward from here.

To address some of the starred moments here that I felt might need explanation:

1) When I opened my eyes* for the first time, I remember seeing her round, glowing face, overly caked in rouge and makeup, and her murky brown eyes.

- Since Plagg and his siblings were 'magical creatures', their growth rate is a bit more accelerated than a normal cats. Thus, their eyes can open shortly after birth, even though a normal kitten's eyes should be closed up to seven to ten days.

2) "Oh Ba'al...but we can't," she shook her head, smearing her rouge on her white kufiya**, "Nua has been so good to us. And if we killed her children? What if she turns into an Evil God?"

- "Kufiya" is a Middle-Eastern headdress that consists of a scarf or piece of cloth that is wrapped around the head for protection against the sun. Having you guys Googling it would've been just as easy, but eh - I can make that little bit of extra effort once in a while, right? XD

3) "I will name you Dak'n***, and dress you in gold!"

- There was literally no name that resembled "Plagg" in the Arabic or Sumerian dictionary. Or, at least the extent of Google. So, I found "Dakin", which can be pronounced more like "Dagg" in one translation, which means "dark" or "black" in Arabic. I might have people correcting me on this, but for the time being, Plagg's ancient name is "Dak'n".

Phew! So, as always, be sure to leave me a review to let me know if this series is doing good or not, and if you have any questions! I didn't have any questions from my first chapter, so I didn't have any to answer this time. But, if you guys leave a question for this chapter, I'll be sure to answer it in the next one. See you next time!