A/N: Well, hello there lads. So I've actually had this written since December and then got distracted by other WIPS and ended up neglecting this piece hahaha! It was originally meant to be a oneshot but I've written so much and was nowhere near done so I thought I might as well make it a multichapter. Otherwise, this story would never have escaped google docs.
This is something that I've always wanted to write. I love LOVE horror and the macabre and the supernatural and I don't think I've come across any Miraculous stories that are in this genre where lovesquare is still wielding a miraculous. So I decided to just make my own (again). This shouldn't be more than about three chapters hopefully (I've already written at least 1/5 of the second chapter so far) so it should be completed fairly quick. I know Blanc Noise hasn't been updated since 2020 (she's still on hiatus fellas LOL) but this one shouldn't face the same fate considering I know exactly what direction I want to go with.
I do apologise in advance for the formatting- I fucking hate writing in google docs and then copying and pasting it straight here where it messes up EVERYTHING. My usual writing site can't handle more than 10K words like a weak ass bitch.
But anyways~! Without further ado, please enjoy!
"I had been playing the tune without a doubt about the rhythm of my days
I had thought the coming of mornings is a given
The sounds I believe in even for a second, shift my scenery
Tell me the world of your own"
Tell Your World - livetune ft. Hatsune Miku
~(September onwards, 2014)~
.
.
.
"-After many Parisians were killed and brought back to life during the battles where Alix Kubdel and Aurore Beauréal were akumatised as Chronogirl and Climatika, manipulated by the persistent terrorist from France, Le Papillion, many witnesses all around the world began to experience a horrendous phenomenon that changed everything we ever knew forever-"
"¡¿Cómo quieren que la gente esté tranquila con esta situación?! ¡Hay un terrorista mágico por las calles y nuestra defensa son dos niño-!"
"-Reporting live in London, Bethelm Green at seven in the evening, where many eyewitnesses claim to have spotted the infamous Jack the Ri-"
"-ほんものだ! レヂバグとシャーノーワーは-"
"-It's all over the media, it's all over the news! It's real and I'm losing my mind over it after seeing what I just saw! There is no escaping it at all and I'm afraid it is finally time to accept that there's more to the world than science could ever prove-"
"-Mais! Ça n'a pas de sens! Et-"
"-As you can see here, this is a portrait of, formerly, Her Majesty the Queen Mary the First. A striking resemblance to the face the children these days are seeing when they chant out that ridiculous, horrible nickname in front of their school bathroom mirrors three times-"
"-Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary-"
"-Es peligroso, ¡ten cuidado-"
"Personne ne m'a crue, mais je l'ai vue! Dame Blanche-"
"あの人は僕の母じゃない...彼女...いいえ...あれは化け物だ!"
"¡No, no, no, esto es un desastre! ¡Es una locura! ¡Así no se puede vivir!"
"-Ladybug and Chat Noir have repeatedly urged that all citizens should try and avoid interacting with them if possible for the sake of not only your safety but for your loved ones too-"
"-Chat Noir! Attention! Elle est derrière toi-"
"-CATACLYSME-"
"-This is all Ladybug and Chat Noir's fault! If only they gave Le Papillion their miraculous in the first place before his akumas started to kill people during their rampages…then this nightmare would have never existed! I will never forgive them! Never-"
"-Monsieur. se Déchaîner Vengeance, je suis le Papillon et je tu écoute..."
"-No, no, no! Ladybug! Ouvre les yeux my Lady! Š'il te plait…"
"-Another well-fought battle between tonight's akuma and Ladybug and Chat Noir. However, witnesses who were present during the fight have all consistently claimed that, unlike her partner, Ladybug is in fact quite vulnerable against them and that's why she was taken out of commission for half of the fight for the first time ever-"
"- 怖い...助けて...助けて ! ! ! 誰か ！！！"
"-Ah, no. The magic and power of our miraculous do not allow the other side to tell anyone our identities or even give hints. So quit pestering them or trying to summon them so that you can breach our privacy-"
"-Oh please! Clearly, this is all just fake news and elaborate CGI and all sorts of leftist nonsense! Do they seriously think that they can fool us? The citizens of the land of the free!? Hah! These strange children from- pffft- FRANCE, claiming that they're- heheh- superheroes and that the many, many people we come across now may actually be-"
"El Fantasma!"
"幽灵"
"شَبَح"
"幽霊!"
"귀신!"
"Le fantôme!"
"A ghost."
.
~(30th November, 2014)~
"They're...they're buried here,"
Marinette Dupain-Cheng spoke carefully, not knowing whether her soft voice trembled because of the brutal, icy breeze that sank its vicious claws into her bones (despite the numerous layers of winter-suited clothing she wore) or because of the grave, relieving and absolutely bittersweet conclusion of the horrific circumstances. She purposely paid no mind to the shocked, nervous murmurs from the group of young adults and older teens behind her, the girl was more than used to ruthless, horrendous scenarios like these. And that she will continue to come across cases that will simply make the other ones in the past pale in comparison like a never-ending spiralling staircase to Hell. Her baby blues were as dreary as the drabby, dusty sky that was barely visible above, layered with one dappled cloud over the other and preparing a severe, cruel storm to pelt the entire city within a matter of minutes.
She was so exhausted.
"Erm...Mademoiselle. Dupain-Cheng...?" One of the adults (Imran, she believes he introduced himself as) placed a gloved hand on the faux-fur rim of her coat's hood and continued to watch the worn-down, antiquated wall built of crumbling stones and rocks with wary hazel eyes, his golden skin becoming more and more ashen with pure dread. The mother tree behind it loomed over the entire area like an ominous shadow. "Do you mean under the wall? Or...in between the...erm...rocks and everything? If it's the latter...then...how are...how are we even supposed to-"
The downright, dark and furious glare that Marinette directed towards him and the rest of the group sent painful shivers of fright down their quivering spines and each and every single one of them felt cold sweat pooling under their clothes like droplets of ice peeling out of their skin. For a moment there, some of them could have sworn that their lives flashed before their very eyes and others were so close to running away from her as fast as possible.
Yet, Imran tried to stubbornly persist despite the warning glances he received from his peers. His face was full of desperate plead and apprehension, clearly getting increasingly uncomfortable the longer they stayed in the dark, silent forest with not even a peep of the wild animals or the creatures to keep them company. As if the entire settlement was an abandoned graveyard. "Mademoiselle...it's four in the morning and we're deep in the middle of forêt de Fontainebleau and I'm just worried about our health and safety. Especially yours since you're so young-"
"I thought you were all well equipped and trained for this." Her patience was barely a meagre thread that was only a second away from snapping, fatigued eyes a blazing hellfire and bony knuckles whitening from tight fists under her gloves. "If the idea of trying to find every single fragment of the three children that were hacked to pieces centuries ago, and hidden secretly within this makeshift wall is too much for you, then go home! Go away and never come back! I'll do it all by myself as I have done so in the past and make sure that they all finally, finally get the proper burial they deserve just so that they'll leave me alone!"
BAAAAAANG!
And in a flash of lightning and dousing rain...
In an instance...
In a split second...
They all saw the ungodly, hideous, abominating wraith that towered over Marinette right behind her.
.
Its arms were grotesque and inhumanly long, every joint and bone piercing out of its pale skin and flesh as if it was made of paper and its lengthy, rotting nailed fingers kept their threatening grip around Marinette's slender neck, digging in harder, and harder, and harder. Monstrously twisted and scarred legs remained its iron, vice grip around her steeled torso and its blood was a miasma of ink seeping from every unimaginable wound all over its indescribably nightmarish, ghoulish body. What kept the gaping rain-soaked Parisians rooted on the spot with unadulterated fear however was the creature's void-like face that silently peered above Marinette's head like an innocent, curious child. Its skull was warped and disfigured and yet shapeless at the same time, its features were barely definable from how the thick, throat-clogging, black smoke that surrounded it only intensified and spread across the area like a formidable fog.
And then it opened its eyes.
"Ici...Ici..." It rasped croakily in a harmony of three, painfully anguished voices, both inaudible and yet the equivalent of rugged knives shooting through everyone's eardrums without mercy. Its wide, blindingly white and soulless eyes stared into the decaying wall and for a moment, something relatively human and mortal was visible on its terrifying face. "C'est ici...mon corps...c'est ici...ici...laissez le sortir..." It clenched itself around Marinette even tighter, almost cutting off her precious air circulation much to the horrors of everyone else in the vicinity and before they could even do as much as react or do something to protect her, she placed a gentle, mittened hand upon the wraith's own with a sweet tenderness that softened the immortal being up, making it relax its gruesome cage around her. The girl seemingly remained calm and collected and even offered a tentative smile with her exhausted features.
"We will dig all three of you out. Je te le promets. I will need you all to let me go so that I can help... bien? " She continued to gaze at the soulless wraith, not even batting an eyelash when it twisted its grotesque head towards her own face like a broken doll and just stared into her baby blues mutely. Imran and his co-workers continued to watch the scene before them with a mixture of awe and fright, stuck between staying rooted on the spot or trying to tackle the malicious-looking wraith that could easily annihilate them and deliver the most brutal deaths ever known to mankind. Thankfully, their sanity got to stay relatively intact as the creature finally slipped its bone-crushing grip off Marinette and landed in a heap on the ground (the group weren't blind to the quiet gasp the petite girl let out as soon as possible, inhaling in the very much needed oxygen greedily). The miasma and mist that surrounded everyone instantly rushed back into the creature as if it was being sucked in and within a blink of an eye, the wraith transformed into three, individual, pure-looking children.
The older people in the area felt as if all the air was knocked out of their lungs and yet they still refused to take a breath as they continued to observe the ethereal, almost magical scene before them.
"Mademoiselle, can I have some pensée fleurs on my grave? Please? I want it to look pretty and smell good," The child in the middle of the trio, a sweet little girl decked in humble clothing (that was probably in fashion hundreds and hundreds of years ago), timidly requested in a soft, whispery voice. Marinette's demeanour mellowed even further as she bent down to their levels, her heart simultaneously shattering and crashing anew because mon Dieu, these children were just so small and so young and they went through one of the most horrific experiences that no one should ever have to go through. She couldn't really blame them at all for turning into such a vengeful amalgamation of sorrow and woe that clung onto her back, begging for her to find their bodies so that they could taste one last act of human kindness again. She even felt a bloom of guilt within her chest for feeling so frustrated with the children and for having the audacity to harbour a smidge of hatred against them too in the first place when they were simply just stuck in desperation beyond comprehension.
What was even her pain compared to the torture they suffered? Along with the misery and torment they endured being stuck in this world without being given a chance to ascend?
'I was so selfish...the beings from the other side can't kill me so easily and here I was, adamant to get rid of these children quickly because I was uncomfortable and couldn't tolerate a little bit of pain...'
"Pensée fleurs, hmm?" Marinette sighed almost painfully, her peripheral vision noting the abundance of violets, yellows and reds that grew around them and her cold nose picking up their delicate aromas amongst the damp grass and leaves which were quite perfumic and syrupy. The little ghost girl skipped towards the area of pansies that smelt the sweetest, delicately picking up one that wore fuchsia-tinted petals and giving it an innocent smell (but Marinette noted that her eyes sparkled with both unadulterated joy and severe loneliness, knowing that this would probably be the last time she'll ever get to enjoy such a luxury). Her two companions followed suit merrily and the three began to play amongst the flowers and splash the growing puddles without a care, leaving the rest of the group to start digging into the wall under the thunderstorm and filling the previously haunting silence with relieved gasps and curious, quiet chatter. For a split second then, Marinette almost forgot that the young, joyful trio were once an unforgiving apparition that was more than capable of wreaking fatal damage to everyone and everything around them. That they wore an appearance that would undoubtedly haunt everyone's dreams for months to come after just one glance and it will certainly haunt hers for the many, many years to come.
That they seriously hurt her over and over and over again despite her agonising cries and that her body is now splattered with numerous wounds and injuries that will take a long while to heal if left to their own devices-
'Don't be so dramatic, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. This is nothing. All of this is nothing compared to what they've been through. Stop thinking about yourself for once-'
"How ironic indeed...these flowers mean 'remembrance' and 'thoughts', don't they? It's as if the little girl asked for pensée fleurs in particular because she and her companions never want to be forgotten again." A sudden, calm voice violently snapped Marinette out of her deep thoughts and mental conflicts and the girl quickly turned around, only to see a familiar, comforting face watching her with kind, loving honey-brown eyes and radiating a pearl of wisdom and power that went beyond mortal words and understanding. Her fight-or-flight mode dissipated in an instant, thankfully, and her heart ceased its reckless, painful pounding within her chest. She was wonderfully embraced with a wave of comfort and safety thanks to his calming presence.
"Maître Fu...? What are you doing here?" She hissed quietly and ducked under his umbrella, not wanting the others to overhear the conversation (and certainly not the three little ghost children who have tormented her and everyone else enough). She was met with another mysterious smile from the old guardian and he proceeded to dig into the satchel that hung from his shoulder, fishing out a seemingly normal-looking bottle of water. The understanding that settled within Marinette's eyes said otherwise about its significance and she took the bottle he offered very carefully as if it was made of delicate porcelain and fragile glass. "Oh, blessed water? Did you get Wayzz to perform the blessing this time, Maître ?" The longer the bottle remained in her hands, the more alleviated and relaxed she felt as if all her burdens were melting off one at a time. Even with the roar of thunder plaguing the skies in the background and the harsh shower of rain soaking everyone and everything to the bone.
"That's right. In fact, it's thanks to Chat Noir that Wayzz and I managed to get some water blessed in time. He has a very sharp gut instinct and realised that you've run into some trouble with the other side, again. Hence why he requested for me to make some for you when he dropped by at midnight." Fu's expression then turned grim, eyeing Marinette's neck with pain on her behalf and full of self-loathing for not having any power of his own sans the miraculous he's guarding to protect her from the cruelty of the dead and the supernatural. The heroine didn't even bat an eye as she quickly buttoned up her coat properly so that her disturbing injuries were hidden away from anyone's view (though, it was very likely that everyone got a generous glimpse when the wraith tried to snap her neck in half with its relentless grip). "Please, go to your partner soon so that he can apply the blessed water on your injuries and help them get better. Seeing you like this...in so much pain...it breaks all of our hearts. I was so, so tempted to tell him your civilian identity right there and then just so you can stay by each other's side at all times and protect one another."
Only the plunging sound of rain went by between the old mentor and the tired student, the duo observing the group of volunteers continue to dig and carefully tear apart the dripping wall to find broken pieces of skeletal structures belonging to the chattering trio of children who roamed in the patches of pansies and played around the trees (not even blinking when they got a glance of what was left of their corpses being reassembled on the ground nearby). Some of the volunteers often looked back to see what Marinette was up to, full of curiosity about what her business was with the senior by her side but then ultimately returning back to work. A mutual peace between the living and dead in the vicinity was established and for the first time in a while, it was a little easier to breathe.
And then, the rain turned to snow.
"The stakes must be pretty high right now if you, the one who constantly insisted that we keep our identities from each other a secret with the threat of taking away our miraculous, is the one who now wants us to finally reveal ourselves." Though her face remained neutral, Marinette's tone was clipped and wasn't without a frosty bite, making the man recoil back with sharp guilt laced with shame. "Don't worry...I don't hold a grudge against you for it. You've lived through a lot, you've seen a lot and most of the mistakes you have made in your life have stemmed from fear and your attempts to do the right thing...but never have you done anything out of malice or anger. You're a good person, Maître." She then faced her meek master, a small but genuine smile playing on her rosy lips whilst the old man watched her with melancholy. "If things were a little simpler...if Chat Noir and I were just heroes of Paris with our only foes being Le Papillon and Mayura and any other potentially rogue miraculous holders, then sharing our identities wouldn't have been much of a problem. In fact, I would love to have him present in my life at all times. It's something I've always wanted."
The snowfall lightened up to a delicate, beautiful flurry in the air, its crystals looking like exquisite, priceless diamonds within the strands of Marinette's dark, midnight hair and clinging to her thick lashes and damp rosy cheeks and taking its sweet time to melt away. If an ordinary human being were to look at her, they would swear that they were before an ancient, immortal being right now right that second with how otherworldly and magical she looked. Like the spirit of Winter.
"However...that's not the case, Maître Fu. Le Papillion has disrupted the boundary between the living and the dead by allowing his Akumas to rampage and kill innocent civilians, whom I brought back to life time and time again with my cure and now almost everyone in the entire world can see what they shouldn't be seeing. Those who have had their own dying experiences or have lost a loved one to death can interact and communicate with what they shouldn't be talking to. As for me and Chat Noir?" She clutched her scarf, fist trembling with intensity, her baby blues full of nothing but misery and all that her mentor could do was silently weep at the unfortunate sight of his poor student. "Because we wield the miraculous of creation and destruction, we have become living reapers. As if trying to purify akumas and sentimonstres isn't bad enough, our civilian lives are bombarded with having to help the troublesome spirits ascend because if we don't, they turn into these horrifying monsters that can kill living people and devour their souls. It's only thanks to Tikki's and Plagg's influence and protection that they aren't able to kill us at all!"
Salty, stinging tears started to pool in the heroine's eyes, her pale complexion pinkening and her chapped, bottom lip trembling. Her Maître dropped his umbrella in his rush to clasp her mittened hands with his own, hoping that he was able to give her some semblance of comfort at the very least since he was so powerless and so weak to do anything else to help her. Almost two centuries of trying to survive in this barbarous, wretched (and yet, beautiful) world should have given him at least the perfect insight or the foolproof mindset and intelligence that could benefit his students so that he was more use to them other than conjuring spells and potions and assisting Wayzz with blessing water. But he didn't possess even a quarter of any of those things and the tired old man felt like the most incompetent person that has ever walked on this Earth.
"Maître, one of the main reasons why I always have the most dangerous beings from the other side come after me is because my miraculous and my powers attract them. It's constantly thrumming with life and energy and I'm capable of doing so much just as a civilian alone. Some spirits come to me because they need me to help them ascend; others attack me because they believe stealing the miraculous will grant them a mortal body or bring them back to life or whatever they dream of having. The only reason this doesn't happen to Chat Noir is because he is capable of wiping them away from existence in a snap of a finger and it makes the other side fear him. Even without the help of his little kwami." Her whole body shook, her eyes blazing as she continued. "But, that is only if I'm a good distance away. The second he finds out for sure who I am outside of the mask, he will stop at nothing... nothing to protect me at all times...and I refuse to give the other side a chance to hurt my partner."
.
What else could Fu do other than remain stunned at his student's declaration to protect her loved one? And her precious partner being his other beloved student nonetheless? She reminded him so much of himself back when he was fighting against power-hungry and atrocious Nazis during the second world war in England and the trials and tribulations he faced alongside his cher Marianne, especially when he made painful decisions in order to protect the woman he loved more than anything else in the world. Those decisions have haunted him for decades and decades, his brain always looming his sanity about whether he made the right choice or not to leave his lover for the sake of their safety without a means to contact each other. The last thing that Marinette needed was to go through a similar situation, especially since he knew just how agonisingly painful and excruciating the whole experience is. So he tightened his grip on her hands, wiped away her tears and prayed to everything that he ever believed in, hoping that his heart will go through to her.
"It is admirable and brave that you're willing to go this far to protect Chat Noir, Marinette. You are one of the most strongest wielders that history has ever had the pleasure of having. But if you push yourself too far and continue to distance yourself away from him, all that will result for the both of you is solitude and sadness." He smiled once more, his eyes still holding that twinkle of fondness and respect for the young girl and the snowflakes settled gently on the whiskers of his moustache and the fabric of his coat that protected his delicate shoulders. "Have trust in him to protect himself, as well as protect you. He is just as strong as you. Wearing yourself out thin like the way you are going now will only upset your partner dearly...you know that he treasures you and adores you, right? That he is more than happy to stand by your side and help you carry this huge burden I've placed on you both?" He didn't miss the way the apples of her cheeks flushed sweetly from the thoughts of her Chat Noir, baby blues stubbornly averting their gaze from her mentor as the sparkles within his dark, chocolatey eyes turned mischievous for a split second. Like a doting grandparent teasing their cherished grandchild about a potential romance.
"Ouais, Maître - I'll try or something like that..." She murmured grumpily, her pout now more prominent than ever and the sight alleviated Fu's heart by a little bit. It was nice to see her acting her age for once rather than forcing herself to become someone so stoic and so mature just to protect her loved ones and the entire city. She deserved to live a fulfilling and carefree life and Fu would stop at nothing to ensure that she got every single crumb that he could collect of it no matter the obstacles that come their way. "Don't worry about me, Maître Fu. I know my limits and I do try my best to be as careful as possible. Tikki is always making sure that I'm looking after myself too and spends as much of her energy as possible to protect me. In fact, you should be telling off that silly cat for always being so stupidly reckless in battles! Ooh- the amount of times he got so hurt trying to protect me from an akuma or sentimonstre is ridiculous! The next time he does that again, tell him I won't talk to him for a whole day - wait, a whole half a day! Or maybe about six hours- or four…hmmm…"
Wang Fu continued to beam at his little Ladybug, the girl babbling about her partner with a mixture of scolding and unconditional love for her other half and seemingly forgetting about the downsides of her life for a little moment. As if she's just an ordinary, teenage girl with ordinary problems. A life that he has robbed from her by gifting her the power of Creation and the power of reaping souls. He will never, ever forgive himself for being so vulnerable and so frail that he had no choice but to dish out the responsibilities to the two most wonderful, amazing children he's ever met.
'Please, to every kind God that can hear me, please let these two have the happiness and peace they deserve. I will do anything just to see them smile. Anything!' And Fu was even more than willing to give up seeing his Marianne again for the sake of both his students' health and prosperity.
.
Meanwhile, the miraculous holders never noticed the sudden weary and distressed expressions that Imran and his team wore with hunched shoulders and the suffocating cloak of silence threaded through their necks mercilessly. After unearthing every single bone fragment they could find inside the wall, the trio of children suddenly watched them like predatory vultures and all of their humanity seemed to have seeped out of their dead pores. Their neutral expressions slowly, slowly, oh so slowly, curving up into a wicked grin and then they simultaneously faced the chattering wielders of Creation and Protection. Even with their limited abilities, the volunteers were more than able to pick up the indescribable malevolence that radiated from the three, supposedly guiltless souls. The team were all paralysed with utmost fear and their hearts pounding with panic.
.
Fu shouldn't have prayed in that forest.
~(1st December, 2014)~
Ladybug didn't get a chance to blink as she was suddenly tackled by a tornado of blond and black, her tiny frame encased by his larger one and his arms crushing her body against his chest tight. All the tension and anxiety that remained stubbornly rooted within her heart immediately dissipated for an instant and all she could do by instinct was embrace her partner back with as much gusto and strength as possible. There wasn't anything she could do to hide the sakura hue that bloomed in her cheeks other than crushing her face against the crook of his neck and swallowing the delightful shivers that ran down her spine from the way his strong hands gripped her so firmly and just so protectively as if she's his everything. Ladybug felt weightless and it was as if her Chaton was her safety net, her beautiful, wonderful light in this dark, cruel world filled with unimaginable horrors that she would do almost anything to forget about just for one night. But her resolve to protect him and her loved ones from this unforgiving darkness is even stronger.
"Did you bring the water with you?" Chat Noir muttered quietly into her hair, his muffled voice was low and gravelly and full of so much concern for her health and wellbeing. He moved away ever so slightly (much to her intently silent dismay) just so he could get a better look at her with his earnest emerald greens. She noticed that the area beneath his eyes looked more hollow and sunken despite the boy wearing his domino mask, realising that he lost a lot of sleep recently. His complexion also didn't have its usual golden, healthy glow and looked almost quite sickly to the eye. He didn't seem to have been eating well either, his collarbones a little more prominent below his neck and she felt some of his lower ribs digging into her own bony chest during their embrace. Knowing him, it was most likely from fretting over her and from feeling powerless in this grim situation. Oh, her pauvre Chaton...
"Of course," She had to create even more of a distance between them both just so she could reach for her magical yoyo and slip the bottle of blessed water out of the device and then place it in her partner's hands. "I'm just surprised that you didn't grab it as soon as Maître finished getting it blessed by Wayzz. Did you get distracted by a silly mouse nearby? Or get lured away with a can of stinky tuna from that strange old cat lady, again?" She attempted to tease him to lighten the situation for his sake (and maybe, for her own too), however, all she got as a response was a face full of heartache and a tender, gentle hand cradling her jaw. Unshed tears glittered in his weary eyes and the golden lights of Paris made his exhausted features more prominent than ever. For a split second there, she almost forgot that her partner was only fourteen. That he was most likely in the same school year as her ("Hmmph! How very rude of you, My Lady! Just because you were born the year after me doesn't mean I should be treated like an old hag! Jokes on you anyways- you KISSED this supposed old fart just to 'break me out of a spell'! And so eagerly too~").
The deep maturity and soft wisdom that kept itself sewn within his appearance said otherwise and it highlighted the tantalising mysteries and the forbidden secrets that lay inside the boy behind the mask. But she can't afford to allow her curiosity and self-indulgent thinking to be fed even a morsel for the sake of his precious life.
"I wish it was that simple," He settled them both down on the lone rooftop, savouring the rare, serene moment that they shared without the unwanting eyes of the living or the dead following their frames. Their only company was the cool, crisp breeze that combed through their hair and the remnants of glistening snow from the storm that occurred twenty hours prior, melting away on the surfaces. The heroes faced one another, sitting on their knees but the intensity of each others' gaze and the condensation of their breaths provided enough warmth for the wintery night. "The...the people that were hurting you...they were three little children, weren't they?" All that Ladybug could do was gape in shock, her brain sprinting inside her head in all sorts of directions wondering how the fuck he managed to figure it out just like that. Heck, not even their master was aware of who was haunting her until they met up in the morning at la forêt de Fontainebleau as she and the volunteers located and dug out the corpses. Thankfully, her partner didn't waste any more time and continued before she combusted on the spot, trying to connect the dots. "The reason that I was preoccupied and wasn't able to get the water to you myself is because I was approached by their killer. "
A heavy, suffocating silence settled between them and even the wind suddenly became inaudible. The seemingly light coolness of the air transformed into a blistering frost that practically seeped through their super suits and settled into their bones like knives. Ladybug remained frozen in her seat, not even twitching a muscle when her Chaton palmed the side of her battered throat and narrowed his eyes dangerously at the violently dark, bloodied bruise that peaked above her suit, under her jaw. The frigid, seething spark of fury on her behalf immediately transformed into a purgatory of endless rage and bloodlust yet all that Chat Noir could do was grit his teeth and try everything to keep his hands as steady as possible as he carefully sliced through her suit with his claws on the neck area. His Lady quickly placed her hands on his knees, pleading with her eyes alone for him to calm down and not do something that he'd regret (such as leaping to the forest himself and burning the whole place down as if to dare the dead to ever touch his Ladybug again). It proved to have very little effect the second he got a proper glimpse of her entire neck, all the blood abandoning his face and leaving behind an ashen tinge. Ladybug prayed, prayed to every single omnipotent being she could think of that Le Papillon wouldn't dare to send a treacherous akuma butterfly right now because the last thing that anyone needed was an extremely super-powered host of destruction with nothing but murder on his mind.
The results would be absolutely devastating and she would rather destroy the world herself than let her beloved partner ever go through that agonising hell.
"Chat Noir! You need to calm down- look! What you're seeing right now only looks worse than it actually is and the quicker you get the healing ritual done, the quicker my injuries will go away! Take a deep breath and-" Though she was the one cupping his face with her desperate hands, his sharp gaze made her feel like she was fixed on the spot, silencing her in an instant. He didn't hesitate to open up the bottle, his eyes still holding that intoxicating blaze of sheer loathing and resentment against the children that hurt her in the first place and the beings who did so before them. With a gentleness and precision that vastly juxtaposed his ire, Chat Noir poured some of the water all over her lacerated neck and Ladybug couldn't keep down the pained hisses and whimpers that left her mouth. She kept her eyes closed tight, not wanting to see the burning guilt that was surely present on his face, the heroine knowing for definite that her partner was blaming himself all over again for not being able to protect her from this agony in the first place (something she's mentioned time and time again that it was inevitable because of their secret identities and because of the role of her miraculous but the selfless, sweet boy never accepted her reasonings).
"Do you know what the killer told me?" He began almost monotonously, slipping the black glove off his left hand and revealing his bare, golden, unblemished skin. His searing fingers traced the vivid, monstrous handprint of deep black and sombre blue that was dreadfully ingrained onto her usually milky white hue, the tips of his digits feathering upon the bloodied marks, indicating that clawed fingers ruthlessly dug themselves in until she was gasping for a breath. His brows furrowed, realising that the naked touch of his own hands with the blessed water won't be enough for the healing ceremony... again. "He told me that these three children were devout servants of evil. A false God." He leaned in, taking her hands off his face and placing them carefully on his lap before nestling the back of her damp neck with his disrobed hand. His blunt, mindful nails were so unlike the wraith's daggers for fingers, instantly relaxing her under his protective grasp and her Chat Noir leaned in even closer until personal space was essentially non-existent, his sharper nose grazing her softer one. "Do you know what those three would do every day, according to that old man?" The only answer he received was her baby blues beckoning for him to carry on and her pretty pink lips pursed with utmost intrigue (so pretty, he used up all the restraints in his entire being to not capture them with his own).
"They would lure unsuspecting people to the dangerous forest every night, slaughter them, carve their hearts out and leave it for the deity as an offering." He didn't give her a chance to properly comprehend the brutal information as his silky lips promptly made contact with her throat, firm and determined against her hot, hot flesh. "They would etch out the eyes out of every victim...feed them to flocks of murderous crows and circle the birds whilst singing a song in an ancient tongue," His mouth was insistent and Ladybug could not tell whether the pleasurable heat on her neck was from her wounds starting to heal from the magical touch or from his devoting, worshipping kisses. "The villagers would always wake up to the sounds of one of their own children crying so painfully, only to find out it's because their ears and fingers and nose were missing, replaced with so much blood spilling all over the place," His mouth was fire and she was burning in the best way possible. She thanked the heavens over and over again, grateful that she and her partner held such an unfathomably strong bond, making them capable of healing each other's wounds that were inflicted by the supernatural with their bare touch alone and some water blessed by the kwamis. Yet at the same time, she couldn't ignore the deep pool of looming dread that began to form in the pits of her stomach the more Chat Noir narrated the killer's story.
"No matter what other Gods they prayed to, no matter how hard they tried to appease and persuade the three children to leave them alone, the torture of the villagers continued and got worse and worse..." His plush lips slowed their movements against her jugular, the sharp of his fangs grazing the sensitive pulse, the scrape of the tip of his tongue brushing her flesh and his low voice vibrating against the skin. Her nails were digging into his strong thighs and her entire face virtually blended in with her red suit meticulously. Chat Noir pulled away (and her stupid, treacherous, two-timing heart wailed from the loss of contact), the boy satisfied with the now flawless neck and how there wasn't even a single scratch or discolouration left behind barring the blooming redness (thanks to his kisses) that was sure to disappear overnight at most. If they remained for a longer period of time, however, the feline inside him would be more than delighted at that prospect. He innocently pressed a chaste, sweet peck below her jaw, but Ladybug knew way better than to let her guard down just like that. And she braced herself for what he was to say next. "The old man woke up after a fitful night of sleep and he realised that it was quiet that morning. Very, very quiet." Chat Noir's eyes glowed almost demonically like his namesake and Ladybug could only watch him with bated breath as his hand moved from its position on the base of her skull and nestled her face anew. As if he was an inhuman being declaring his undying love and reverence for her.
"When he stepped outside of his house, he noticed that there wasn't even one person around in the village. Not a single soul. Something was very, very wrong and his gut instincts told him one thing...begged for him to do one thing. To stay away from the dangerous forest. And what did he do? He went there immediately ." His face darkened and her partner was all undiluted destruction right there and then. "In the middle of the forest, where the largest and oldest tree resided, all the surviving villagers were hanging from the branches by the neck, dead."
.
.
.
"...Dead? " The alarm that previously itched the inside of her stomach suddenly surged through her veins in an explosion of horror and pure fear and the nagging feeling of something persistent and something important clawed her mind harder than the ghost that latched onto her ever did. The sheet-white tone of her skin must have startled her Chat Noir, evident in the way his apathetic demeanour and sharpened features softened quickly and the way he rested his forehead on hers with an intimacy that went beyond mortal understanding. He watched her carefully with his beautiful emerald greens, peering under his dishevelled golden hair, trying to convey that he was more than happy to leave the story right there and then and to carry on tending to the rest of her aching wounds on her body. Much to his silent awe and adoration, his heroine pushed through her unease and allowed her determination and bravery to shine through like the selfless, amazing girl she has always been. "Chat Noir...what happened to the three children afterwards? And...and..."
"And who killed all those villagers?" He fiddled with the torn material of her magic suit on the neck, eyeing the way the sinews and muscles of her throat moved with every careful breath she took and he unconsciously licked his lips. Chat Noir then flickered his fatigued gaze back to hers, tenderly smoothing the worried, overworked furrows between her brows with his bare fingers before deciding to rest his hands on her hips. "It was the three children." And just like that, the sweet, virtuous image of the children's true appearances was shattered into a million pieces within her disorderly mind and all that she could do was sink into herself and fall limp against his solid chest, her experience with all the horrendous abuse and appalling violence she encountered from the little demons felt like a whole new level of violation altogether. She clutched her Chaton close, practically straddling his lap as he held her even closer so that he could shield her tiny frame with his own body. Creation and Destruction wishing to be one.
"How...? How did they manage to do that!?" She whimpered bitterly into the comfort of his broad chest, her throat raspy and her trembling fingers digging into his back whilst her body shuddered from fighting down the sobs that were dying to escape. "They're so small, so tiny ...how were they physically able to manage all of that!? The killer has to be lying! He has to! He must have made all of this up just to get away with…with murdering them and doing all those horrible things with their bodies! Chat Noir, please! That old man is definitely lying, right!?" Though she tried her best to protect her sanity with a wall of denial, a barrier of rejection and illusion, the feel of her partner's body sagging with sorrow and heartache was enough to shatter them all in a snap of a finger. The world has always been vicious and the wicked do not discriminate with who they pollute their vindictiveness and antagonism.
A stone cold fact that was drilled into their heads when the dead became more prominent in their lives after the rise of Le Papillion and Mayura.
"They became the very...the very thing they worshipped, Ladybug. They became the cruel deity itself. A large, slender figure that's whiter than the moon...with a hollow, indistinguishable face and sharp blades for fingers. It's unlike anything the old man claimed to have ever seen and-" Chat Noir stopped talking abruptly the second Ladybug gaped wordlessly and she stared off into the distance with a growing hysteria. "Ladybug? What's wrong?" She snapped her gaze back towards him and grabbed his shoulders with a vice-like grip, baby blues now spheres of solid, blistering ice. Chat Noir has never seen his Lady look so, so distraught in his lifetime, ever.
'In the middle of the forest, where the largest and oldest tree resided, all the surviving villagers were hanging from the branches by the neck, dead.'
"Chat Noir...please tell me that the villagers were hanged in one forest and that the children were buried in another. Please, please, tell me that they were in separate places!" The raw insanity on her face shook her partner to the core and for a second, he can only stare back mutely as all the worst kinds of connections and scenarios started to piece together within his incredibly smart mind. In an instant, his entire frame felt like it was plunged into the arctic waters and that all the bones in his body were replaced with brisk icicles and his blood transformed into the glacial water of the river Styx. His whole world practically came crashing down.
"No way...no fucking way...where did you go?" His hands were quick to clasp her shoulders this time around, his feline pupils constricting into barely visible daggers in its pool of acid green and all he could make out was the sound of his hysterical heart roaring alarmingly in his eardrums.
"Chat Noir-"
"You didn't go to Foret de Fontainebleau, did you!?" His eyes were frenzied as he stood them both up, his chest heaving with trepidation over his partner's behalf and cold sweat running down his face. "That forest is the same one that the children would lure people in and sacrifice to the deity! The same one where all the villagers were hung and where the children were killed- it's- it's dangerous! Tell me you didn't go there, Ladybug! Please!"
"I didn't go alone...I had a group of people with me too and they dug out the children's scattered bones instead of me and- oh no- they're in danger, Chat Noir! I have to go back to the forest now and check-"
"Are you insane!? You think I'll let you go like that!? On your own!?" He wrapped her in his arms in an instant, shaking his head frantically and the way his entire body trembled against hers had Ladybug take a moment of her own to breathe and try to calm herself down. "Those monsters hurt you...they hurt you so badly! I refuse to let you go near that place ever again! I don't care about anyone else! I don't care about them at all! Please, don't go!" His voice died down to pleading, cracking whispers, the boy hiding his face in the crook of her neck despite having to bend down so low and yet his vulnerabilities and anxieties were on full display without a shred of a veil. "If anything else happens to you...I don't think I'll be able to hold on anymore..." It took Ladybug everything to keep her own tears at bay and her hands made themselves home on his back, letting herself indulge in his unconditional warmth (and trying not to grimace at the way she could feel every groove of his spine, cementing in her head that he has been driving himself to the brink of pure exhaustion and worry just like she has been doing so).
"Have trust in him to protect himself, as well as protect you. He is just as strong as you. Wearing yourself out thin like the way you are going now will only upset your partner dearly."
She thought back to Maître Fu's advice, his words sounding wiser and wiser the more she replayed it in her head. If she were to swing away right now right this second towards the infamous forest, her partner would undoubtedly follow like a persistent shadow and attempt to hold her back as if his life depended on it. The last thing she wanted was to have a fight or argument with Chat Noir and there was nothing she hated more than making him upset. And who knows how many times she has made him cry in secret because of the decisions she made or the actions she took just to protect him? So, Ladybug took a leap of faith and lightly pushed his shoulders back so that she could get a better look at his face. His emerald greens were wet and his complexion had a hint of rose, indicating that the warm moisture pooling on her suit was his tears. Maybe, he hasn't been crying in secret at all. Maybe, he has been bottling it up all this time and it bubbled up to the point of him losing composure in the comforts of her warm body pressed against his.
She cradled his face with one hand and offered a soft, tentative smile.
"Then...let's go check it out together, Chat Noir. Please?" She continued to talk even when she noted the hesitance within his fierce eyes and the way he was ready to protest. "Remember, this is our job. To protect Paris. No matter what happens, we should do everything in our power to protect the city." Tiptoeing, she pressed her forehead against his and entwined their hands together, squeezing her fingers against his longer ones and continuing to smile brilliantly. "Just a quick look in the area and we'll leave immediately, okay?" Her heart let out a dance of victory and joy within her chest when he sighed in defeat and averted eye contact. His shoulders relaxed a little, alleviated by some of the burdens melting away and he peered back to her sky blues.
"Fine. But we're only going to look around for no more than two minutes. And I'm not letting go of your hand. The second you or I feel that something is off, we're getting out of there immediately. I'm not going to compromise." She could have kissed him right there and then-
"Got it." She wished that he didn't pick up the way her voice rose in pitch, her mind already throttling her stupid heart for the inappropriate thinking and she blamed it all on the aftermath of his previous kisses from tonight's cleansing magic and the ones prior to that too. "No more than two minutes. Thank you for being understanding, Chat Noir."
He answered with an earnest, benevolent kiss on the top of her head.
.
~(x)~
.
Ladybug never knew that the silence could be so loud, so deafening, so...so...
So terrifying.
.
Both she and her partner eyed the area warily, hands clasped tight as they stood side by side with faux confidence and then ultimately faced the ominous tree whilst the newly buried corpses remained at the feet of the wood, covered with fragments of melting snow and fallen branches. The only colour that stood out were the vivid purple-pink reddish pansies that were placed on the grave in respect to one of the children's wishes. Slowly (carefully), the duo lifted their necks and used their supernaturally enhanced vision to their advantage, scouring through the mother tree's thousands and thousands of bare, brisk branches for anything strange or anything dangerous. However, all that they were met with was absolute darkness and that dreadful absence of any sounds at all which had the baby hairs sticking up on the base of their skulls. As if they were surrounded and suffocated by a sinister aura.
"Has it always been this quiet?" Chat Noir was the first to break, unconsciously bringing his partner closer to him and his faux ears and tail on high alert for anything suspicious in the vicinity. Though, he kept his eyes on her.
"Yeah. Other than the ghost children, it was just myself, the volunteers and maître. I made sure that Tikki was sound asleep in my coat at the time too because she was super exhausted from the akuma battle we fought a few hours before I left for the forest. There were no other dead souls or entities nearby and...I don't think I was able to hear any animals, bugs or even insects." Her answer had her Chaton widen his eyes in alarm and he had her in his arms protectively again as he looked around apprehensively, daring for anything to come close if they were around. "Is that really a bad thing? It is Winter and many of our favourite spots in the city are also deserted or scarce of anyone from the other side."
"That's because Plagg and I scare away all the harmful entities and we're simultaneously given extra protection by the kind ones who don't mind looking out for us." His gleaming emeralds went from darting around from tree to tree to landing on her face once more. His pupils were knife-like slits anew and his senses were on high alert. The quakes that Ladybug felt gnaw inside her body returned and immense fear on behalf of the volunteers that worked together to help bring peace to the dead children grew to the point where she couldn't even breathe. "Some areas that are devoid of the dead can mean one thing." His eyes were neon green and his tone grave.
"The land has been cursed."
Ladybug wanted to throw up right there and then, every single unimaginably horrible feeling crawled under her skin like relentless parasites and she couldn't stop the way she hopelessly clawed at her partner's chest. Not even his sympathetic embrace and soft murmurs of her name were enough to soothe her whilst regret spread across her veins without mercy, the more unforgiving and heartless part of her mind shrieking at her for not asking her partner for help. For being too naive and too kind to a merciless deity who plagued and tormented her over and over again and could potentially be doing the same right now to the people who decided to use their precious free time to help her out of goodwill despite their obvious unease when all along...Chat Noir could have gotten rid of it in a single snap.
"It must have been cursed after all those villagers were hung or when those children were killed after they turned into that monster-" She halted midway as the realisation settled on her features and she was quick to lift her gaze from the floor to her other half. "Chat Noir. How did that old man kill the children? And where is he now?" The suffocating silence came rushing back like a stubborn itch that stemmed from the inside and once again, all the emotions and warmth turned ice cold on her partner's features and his arms around her body grew limp and fell. His fingers were barely wrapped around hers but it felt like there was an immeasurable distance between them both. She knew instantly that what he was going to say next will change everything.
.
"He coaxed the deity out of the children's souls by offering a contract. He gave it permission to possess his own body and..." His eyes burned so bright, his entire figure looked like a shadow of pure gloom, making him look more inhuman than ever. "He tore them apart into pieces in the most painful ways possible, ate their flesh and created a wall with the bones. I killed him right after he told me his story." She couldn't tell whether she was awake right now or if she was stuck in some ruthless nightmare. Half of her wanted to beg for him to stop talking, to be allowed to live in some semblance of ignorance and innocence. However, the other half was more persistent and rooted to the core of reality, keeping her body and features stoic so that her partner would keep going.
"He told you all of this? With so much detail?" Her throat was dry and her voice sounded defeated. A slither of reluctance flickered in Chat Noir's eyes for a moment but then he ultimately decided to not let his faith in her strength waiver and continued.
"As we get stronger and become more attuned with our miraculous, our connection with the other side grows too. Especially with more and more people dying and being brought back to life after every akuma attack. Ladybug...I...now I can sometimes get a glimpse or two of their memories right after I destroy someone from that side." Indescribable pain glimmered within his eyes and it was right there and then that the heroine got the full picture of the misery that entailed when the wielder of Destruction reaped and eradicated the souls of the dead. "He didn't fully tell me about what he did to the children himself. I killed him because when he started to talk about the contract he made, he looked so, so evil. I've never seen anyone look like that, ever. And after that...well, I saw everything myself." His eyes turned to steel then. "I don't know if that deity or monster or whatever it is living in that forest at the time is what caused all of this- but from what I saw in the old man's memories, everyone in that village was so wicked. So vile. So disgustingly evil."
His grip turned to iron on her hands but she couldn't feel anything.
"Ladybug, there was no saving anyone from that village. If it were the children that were sacrificed or killed beforehand, then it could have been the old man who haunted you. If not, then it could have been the other children who lost their fingers or the passerby who was sacrificed in the forest or whoever. The curse on this land runs deeper and harsher because the people who resided on it in the past were so, so messed up. All probably thanks to some of the monster's influence because I've never seen such a large group of people just so...so..."
.
Oh.
"Anyone who that monster has set its eyes on is doomed from the start..." She was snapped out of desolate thoughts when Chat Noir squeezed her shoulders and shook his head.
"Not really. You have to be either very weak-minded or be harbouring something nasty and horrible within yourself for that thing to influence you in the beginning. Those villagers dug their own graves from the start and they would have killed each other off even without that monster lurking around. It was a different time back then and people living in one small area often believed in the same things or had similar mentalities, getting rid of anyone who opposed their shared views. Even if it were to be their own kin. This is all just a series of unfortunate events and it's beyond anyone's control."
"This just means that it's not just solely the evil deity we have to look out for...but also those three children and the rest of the dead villagers if they're still lurking around." She added tiredly, not even bothering to straighten herself up when he glanced at her dejectedly. "And I got all those people involved too, stupidly putting faith into this new system where normal, kind citizens want to help the dead ascend...oh, Chat Noir. What do I do?" Ladybug buried her face into her trembling hands, fingers digging into her head and her chest just so tight. Guilt piled upon guilt and it was destroying her from the inside out; her partner couldn't bare to see the love of his life in so much agony.
"Bug, you've already done what you needed to do. You've accomplished what the children forced you to do so hopefully that should have helped them ascend already. If not, I'll take care of them. I'll take care of everyone connected to this. And I'll ask Maître Fu to check on the volunteers that helped out with your mission. Remember, none of this is our fault. We're doing what we can without half-assing it."
He really was too good for her.
And she hoped, hoped that she could give back at least double the effort he put into looking out for her because dammit, he deserved the entire world and the moons and the stars and the universe.
"You really know what to say...heh." She placed a hand on his face, breathing just a little better when he melted into her delightful touch. "I'm here for you too, Chat Noir. Don't burden yourself either. And...thank you for telling me all of this. For not sugar-coating anything and for everything. I couldn't have done any of this without you." A shimmer of joy twinkled in his sweet eyes and she felt her heart naturally skip a few dozen beats or so. "Don't overwork yourself anymore. Let's try and rely on each other more often, okay?"
"I'll try my best, My Lady. Now, let's leave this nasty place. We still need to tend to the rest of your wounds. You can treat me to some of your delicious cooking when we next meet up."
"You glutton,"
She was more than happy to reward him with whatever his heart desired.
.
.
.
~(x)~
A/N: So, what did you guys think? Let me know in the comment section! I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings! Remember, the more kudos and comments you give me, the more motivation I have to finish this faster hahahaa! See you next time!
(And for those reading on FF, just a comment would be lovely! I know many people don't use this site anymore but if you still are, I'd love to hear from you regardless! You could even PM me if you want to discuss about the story too or if you just wanna talk about what you like so far of this story hahah!)