A/N: Hey guys! Hope everyone's doing well! One thing I forgot to tell y'all is that the story will be told mainly from Mari's POV. There will be some other perspectives, but for most of the time it will be our precious blueberry telling the story. Enjoy!
/Flashback/
I sighed, looking down at my several unfinished projects. Once again I sighed, picking up the piece of cloth that lay on my desk and decided to work on it. It was supposed to look like a suit, but for now it was just some black cloth, lying on my desk, helpless. Plugging in my earbuds, I blasted some of Uncle Jagged's music. Oh right! I forgot to say this. As well as designing for the famous Jagged Stone, I am his honorary niece! It all started at age fourteen, back when Chloe and I weren't friends. In fact, this happened when we were still enemies.
We had gone to her father's (The mayor) hotel as a class trip. We were each assigned jobs, and Jagged was conveniently staying there at that time. I was assigned the glorious task of being the musician's gofer. He later requested that I find him glasses with the Eiffel Tower on them, but they didn't exist, so I created them. Guess what? He loved them so much that he asked me to design his album cover for him. (I know this happens later in the season, but I'm too lazy to write all that) Then, I suddenly find myself his designer and his freaking honorary niece!
Anyways. I was working on a commission for a client of mine. I had recently started my business, however someone found a picture of my handmade clothes and reposted it on every single media platform. Next thing I knew, everyone was texting me non-stop asking for commissions. I only started accepting calls recently, trying to get used to the feeling of being… famous. It honestly felt good. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but it's just new to me. I'm really nervous about not giving my clients good quality clothes. It's so hard to explain, but then maybe that's just normal. I keep repeating the mantra, 'one thing at a time' while sewing. Sighing for the third time, I sat back, dropping the needles, and wondering when my life became so busy.
Just as I was about to zone out, I heard someone shouting my name rather.. loudly. Yelping, I ripped out my earbuds to hear my mother screaming, "-inette! MARINETTE!" I jumped up, practically knocking over my chair from the force. I ran downstairs to see my parents standing, arms crossed, and looking very disappointed. Or maybe they were mad? I don't know, it doesn't really matter, either disappointed or mad, they're still downright scary. I straightened my posture, preparing myself for the lecture. Narrowing her eyes, Sabine said, more like screeched, "Why am I hearing just now from your principal that you've been hitting, bullying and threatening your classmate? Answer me!" Before I can respond, my dad remarks, "I didn't know we had such a terrible daughter. Who am I kidding, though? You've changed!" My eyes begin to water, hurt from this comment. I quietly said, "You- You guys are my parents. You should listen to my side of the story before making assumptions but who am I kidding? Your daughter is a- an awful person!" not so subtly mocking my dad. They frowned, and Tom snapped, "Get out of here! We don't know who you are anymore! You used to be so sweet, but now it's like you're a monster! If Hawkmoth wasn't defeated, I would have thought you were akumatized!" By now, I was full-on crying, so surprised that they'd side with Lila and not their own daughter. So, I packed my bags, and ran out of there, all the way to Le Grand Paris, where Chloe lived.
I entered the hotel and saw her there, on the stairs, taking selfies. "Chloe!" I cried. She looked up, her eyes widening. "Mari-bug! What are you doing here?" "My parents kicked me out," I sobbed. All emotions left Chloe's face as she said one word, "Liar?" I nodded, throat raw. I was unable to speak. Chloe's face returned to normal except she looked livid. She was silent for a moment, then shouted, "I'm going to kill them! How dare they! Jean-" "No," I interrupted, "It's not worth it." Chloe stared at me then wrapped me up in a bear hug. At the same time, she was texting Luka and Kagami. (When you guys see underlined words, that means someone is texting another person.)
?Four Crazy People?
?￢ﾭﾐQueenie?￢ﾭﾐ: yall come 2 my place rn! maribug got kicked out by her parents!
? ﾟﾐﾍGuitar Boy? ﾟﾐﾍ: WHAT?! ha good joke
?￢ﾭﾐQueenie?￢ﾭﾐ: IM NOT JOKING YOU IDIOT! SHES LITERALLY HERE HAVING A FRICKING BREAKDOWN.
? ﾟﾐﾍGuitar Boy? ﾟﾐﾍ: ….
️?Overprotective Dragon ️?: …..
?￢ﾭﾐQueenie?￢ﾭﾐ: WELL?! U GUYS BETTER B ON UR WAY HERE!
️?Overprotective Dragon ️?: THOSE GOOD FOR NOTHING PEOPLE! THEY SHALL DIE BY MY HAND!
? ﾟﾐﾍGuitar Boy? ﾟﾐﾍ: calm down kagami! chlo, were on our way.
?￢ﾭﾐQueenie?￢ﾭﾐ: well get here soon! mari needs support.
She turned off her phone, focusing on me. I just looked at her with red eyes and a tear-streaked face.
/Flashback ends, present/
Every single time I remember this, my heart breaks into pieces. Even if I don't care for my parents anymore, it still hurts that my former role models would do such a thing.
A cough broke me out of my thoughts and I turned around to see Ms. Bustier looking down at me. I was currently at school in the Akuma class, yes, the same Akuma Class. With the same pathetic people. Other than Chloe, of course, but everyone else was honestly not worth my time.
She asked, "Well, Marinette? Are you done staring at the wall?"
"Yes Miss, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"Good, now I would like to talk to you after school." That sentence made me gulp, because I knew exactly what she was going to talk about with me. I heard a snicker and looked up to see Lila smirking. I knew that look. She was about to go on her sob story about how I was planning to hurt her or something. I just sighed and hoped that it wouldn't be long. I was this close to losing my entire brain from listening to her crap for so long. My gosh, sometimes I hated having to keep a façade so no one would suspect me. Why, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you.
See, what everyone thinks is that I've lived in Paris my entire life, that Sabine and Tom Dupain-Cheng are my real parents, that I'm a sweet and kind young lady who will do anything to help in any way that she can. Well, they're wrong. In fact, the whole Lila situation allowed me to alter back to my real personality and to be rid of the people who thought they were my friends. Now, I'll tell you my real backstory.
I never knew my real parents. All I know is that they abandoned me when I was less than a week old on the doorstep of some random house in… wait for it… Tibet. Turns out, this house was not a house. It was none other than the infamous League of Assassins. Ra's al Ghul took me in, and handed me over to his daughter, Talia, to take care of me. What was rather unexpected was that that man hated me. As I grew up, I could clearly see the murder in his eyes each time we'd cross paths. This also caused me to wonder why he took me in. Talia would always say each time I'd ask, "He saw the potential in you, bint.* However as you grew up and trained, he realized that you were more dangerous than he expected and quickly grew scared of this fact, causing his hate for you." These words helped me understand the truth, and eventually, I began returning the treatment. If he was going to act like I was nothing more than a pawn, I would treat him the same. For other assassins, this would be a death wish, however I knew I would be able to get away with it since I was too priceless to the League to die. I simply used that to my advantage. So, I started messing with him, playing minor pranks, none too big, just enough to make him so angry that he'd rip off the few hairs he had left on his almost bald head. That is, nonetheless, irrelevant. Anyhow, I was taught how to fight in many different forms, how to properly speak, how to disguise myself, how to kill, how to speak many different languages and so much more, all beginning at the age of two and a half years old. During my training one day, I was introduced to Damian al Ghul, grandson of Ra's al Ghul and the heir of Demon. At first glance, I could tell he was wearing a mask. His whole 'I don't like you, go away before I kill you with my katana' thing was fake. (Reading people had always been my speciality and I was commended several times for this) From the way he looked at me, he disliked me. Ra's was saying something about a union, something I'm sure they didn't expect us to understand, but we did. I knew the true reason behind this betrothal was because the old man was hoping that Damian would be able to keep me in check and I wouldn't try and overthrow Ra's. I knew this was impossible, as I had done so well in my training that they had given the responsibility of "looking after me" to Lady Shiva, one of the most feared assassins in the entire League. As you can imagine, this was not something you see every day. What surprised the other assassins and boosted their respect for me was that I withstood her beyond brutal training. Which is why it would have technically been impossible for the heir to keep me in check. He may have been trained ruthlessly, but I was trained much, much harder than that. A single, unnoticeable, slip-up results in death. This of course had never happened to Damian, considering he is the heir of Demon. Perhaps he had died max 5 times, while I had been killed over 200 times, maybe even more. I was then revived in the Lazarus Pit, a pool of sickly green water that can heal you as well as bring you back to life, just a lot more bloodthirsty. This side effect never fully leaves and haunts you for the rest of your life, as well as affecting your mental health. It was really hard to keep the bloodthirstiness under check, but after a few dips in the Pit, I got it under control. Anyways, we were forced to train with each other and become familiar with one another. We were about 5 at that time. When we both turned 6, (Damian is a few months older than her) We were betrothed through the Pit, making this bond inseparable. Meaning we were stuck with each other for the rest of our life. During our time together, we got to know each other like the back of our hands. I learned that Damian actually hated having to murder people and loved animals and painting. Spending time with him helped me realize that I love designing and baking. Whenever we were together, we showed emotions, laughed and cried, ranting to each other about our quite frequent bad days. I was Damian's safe place and he was mine. Best friends turned to more, not love, we were too young to fully understand that. I always looked forward to seeing him each day. All good things come to an end, though. Slade Wilson, who insists we call him Deathstroke, attacked along with other trained assassins. (I actually don't know when Deathstroke attacks the League, so let's just pretend this happens when the kids are nine years old) Talia told me Damian had died alongside Ra's while fighting Deathstroke, and then sent me to a couple in Paris. Talia reminded me to stay undercover and to never show my true colors, especially to my "parents."
I miss Damian so freaking much. When he died, I felt like I lost half of me. I keep on remembering the good times we had together, when we laughed and cried, when we ranted to each other. All of it just makes me want to cry again, so, so, badly.
But recently, I've been getting soft. How did I let myself develop a crush on fricking Agreste? Dupain-Cheng- I mean Mom would always tell me it's just hormones and a normal part of life, but still. I was trained to not fall into these sorts of things. How to resist someone's charm.
So, yeah, that's my story. Anywa-
"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!" I screamed, when in reality I wasn't even fazed a bit. 'Right,' I thought, 'back to dealing with these nitwits I so desperately want to torture. God, I've never wanted to be back at the League more than today.
"Marinette," my teacher started, "I have been calling your name for the past ten minutes. What could you possibly be thinking about that you didn't notice me?" "I'm sorry, Ms. Bustier, I was thinking about what to write for the essay!" I replied a little quietly. She just sighed, ran a hand over her face and walked back to the front of the classroom. "Anyways, class, make sure you all do tonight's reading and if you want to, think about what you will write for the essay that can win us a trip to Gotham! This was offered to us by Bruce Wayne himself! These essays will be submitted and he will choose a winner to go all the way to Gotham for two weeks to tour Wayne Enterprises! Class is dismissed!"
Wow. She didn't even remember that she was supposed to talk to me. Oh well, at least I didn't get a lecture.
*Daughter
Second chapter done! The word above is the translation for the Arabic word 'bint.' As always, please comment!