So, um, might be rewriting/updating this a lil... don't get your hopes up but yeah.
So, this is a story I wrote more than 7 years ago and posted to FFN before stopping a bit more than halfway through and forgetting about. Looking back on it, though, I actually really like the story idea and plot line. So, I'm going to rewrite it (because I was a preteen when I first wrote it, dear lord-) and upload it here. I have been out of the miraculous fandom since before season 2 (because I literally cannot deal with any of the shit that happens in that show-) but I do still read the occasional fanfic, so why not. That's just to say that this story is only based on season 1, I haven't watched the other seasons, I don't plan to, but why tf not. Enjoy
When You Live Forever...
Forever isn't as long
"There isn't a way things should be. There's just what happens, and what we do."
—Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
A long, long, time ago, before humans tilled the soil to plant seeds or lit fires to chase away the dark, when thunder sounded from the sky and humans would pray to the gods for safety, and when a child died from disease they would be buried in a hole among the rest. When humans still traveled from place to place, following the herds and seeking shelter in caves and cliff faces.
Long, long ago, two children lived.
The only two teenagers of their clan, the only children of their clan, in fact. It was a large clan, for the time, over a few hundred nomads following the grazing herds. They lived off them the way their parents did, the way their parents before them did and their children after them would too.
At least, they hoped so.
Disease had struck, a parasite that sucked the life out of the young. No child under a decade old survived the illness, and no child even after the illness had passed would survive either. A curse had snuck up on them, and no child born after the disease could live past the age of a toddler.
No one, besides them.
Disease never claimed them, they never even became ill. No one understood why. They were too grateful to question it, hopeing that, just maybe, the gods hadn't forsaken them after all. Maybe they were the key to breaking this curse.
(She had, many, many years later, thought back on the curse and wondered. Wondered why it had happened, what the true cause behind it could be. She knows the gods were working behind the scenes, but she never understood the reason behind the curse.
Then, she realized. The herd they were following, had followed for decades and would follow for many more, had changed their diets as the world changed around them. Things that their stomachs corroded and absorbed into their bodies easily would sometimes make the adults queasy, if they ever even noticed the feeling at all. The children, on the other hand, never stood a chance.)
Hopeing for a miracle, their people did their best to keep them alive, defending them from an invisible invader that they had no chance of understanding, or fighting. They made it to twelve, and the clan celebrated. Believing the curse to be ending, the clan started to have children again.
It hadn't ended.
But there was hope. One child, a little girl barely over two, started to wilt in face of the disease. They were fifteen at the time, watching and waiting for it to claim her too.
Late at night, they would sit under the stars and beg to anyone who may hear them, to stop the deaths. Stop the pain. Don't let them be the last ones.
And they waited for her passing. They waited for the illness to take another.
It never did. She survived.
The only one to ever survive.
It's the first time they've seen true joy on the other clan members' faces, real hope sparking in their eyes. They never had the disease, never had to survive. But this little girl did, and if she could, others could too.
After her, the children that came afterwards never caught the disease. They grew sick with common illnesses, things the clan has been treating for generations. It was like the illness had never existed in the first place.
The clan rejoiced. They thanked the gods, thanked them, and they celebrated. They celebrated and continued to protect them.
It wasn't until they turned seventeen that the clan realized something.
Marinetta, the tiny girl with a curtain of ebony hair and eyes the color of brown bark, was no longer Marinetta.
And Adren, the boy with brown trusses and murky eyes, who had an accident as a boy that left him with a permanent limp, was no longer Adren.
The clan doesn't know who realized it, at first. Who realized that they looked the same now as they did two years ago, when that little girl was about to die.
They hadn't aged. They hadn't aged at all, not since that day. As if they were timeless.
And like a seal breaking it all came out. Marinetta's hair was no longer blacker than the night, but blue, a dark blue so vibrant and deep that it was reminiscent about the ocean the elders would weave tales about. And her eyes, her eyes, bright blue like the sky above.
And how had they missed Adren?
Theyre not sure how they didn't notice it, how much he had changed. It was like they had watched it happened in front of their eyes, and yet it never computed in their minds. His limp was gone, his eyes the color of wet grass in the morning, his hair a yellow so bright it was like the sun. So abnormal that they hadn't created a word for it yet.
It did not end there.
The night after the clan discovered what had been happening all along, the children born after the disease grew. Overnight, the day after Marinetta's seventeenth birthday, the eighteen children of the clan were suddenly the same age as Marinetta and Adren. They were different too- none had the common brown eyes of the clan, but blues ranging from the bright sky to the deep night, grays that flashed and smoked like thunderclouds, greens as dark and vibrant as the trees, and even some violets, as pretty as flower fields.
The rest of the clan, knowing a god's hands were at work, worshipped the children. The clan grew to new heights. They settled and created the first city, the oldest city. Called Paris, after their lead goddess. With the children helping, Paris thrived. On top of their colorful looks and sudden growth, the children also had immense powers.
The two originals had the most.
With just a thought, Marinetta could create whatever her mind came up with. She would walk through Paris, helping bakers and merchants set up shops and creating buildings and farms and canals as she went. She invented most of the ancient jobs known today, such as bakers and tailors and warriors. No one could beat her in combat, her only equivalent being Adren. She designed shops and stores and could build them with the snap of her fingers. That was her power - creation.
Adren was the lead warrior, a tactician that no one could beat. He could build, yes, create if he wanted to, but that wasn't his specialty, no.
He loved to destroy.
With a snap, he could destroy an entire mountain if wanted. Walls crumbled when his army attacked, no one could defeat them. They were never the cause of a war, nor did they ever start one. They only ever finished them.
Over hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, they and the eighteen others became gods in the mortals' eyes.
Then, one of them died.
It was a normal day. Adren and Marinetta were walking through Paris, the latter explaining what she was calling 'the shower'. She was quite mad when the Romans stole her idea of a heated bath. Not only had they stolen it, they had made several assassination attempts on their group of twenty, and tried to invade a number of times. They were starting to annoy her.
"Mistress! Mister!" A girl of around ten ran up to them, heaving, her brown hair clinging in tangles around her wet eyes. She looked exactly like her grandfather, the immortal Cheche. Both immortals felt a sense of dread. "Mistress Anay, she- she's-" She started to cry.
Marinetta wrapped her arms around the girl. "It's okay, little one. Show us the way."
The girl tore down the street. The two ran after.
They met at a pavilion, pushing through the crowd of people circling something they couldn't see. The moment they're noticed the crowd parts, and they're able to make their way forward.
For a single second, nothing makes sense.
"Who did this?!" Adren shouts, rage contorting his features. The mortals take a step back at his voice, instinctively scared. Marinetta runs forward, falling to the ground next to Anay.
Her blue eyes were dull, lifeless, her skin splattered with blood. A large, crooked spear sat embedded in her stomach, rivulets of dark purple blood leaking onto the ground in puddles. The other immortals stood around her, eyes wide with horror, frozen like statues.
"The spear won't come out." Cheche said, gray eyes wide, fearful. So unlike his normal self, so different from what they know. They hate the fear they see in them, now. The little girl runs to his side, hugs his leg.
The two nod, standing around Anay's body. As one, they grasp the spear, prepared to pull it out themselves.
(They haven't met anyone or anything that was stronger then they were together.)
Anay's body jerks. Her violet blood seems to spark.
They cry out in pain.
Both let go, crumbling to the floor as the immortals rushed to them. The spear flashes red and green, red and green. When Marinetta looks down at her hands, they glow red as well, burning as if they had grabbed hot pokers from a fire. She feels dizzy, not enough strength in her body to even stand.
Then, as suddenly as it started, the glowing stopped. Marinetta looked at her hands, expectant.
There was a flash of blinding light.
Immortals started to scream.
She cannot describe it, the feeling of your soul being cut in two. One moment she was whole and then the next she was missing a part of herself, a piece of her very being suddenly ripped away. Without knowing how she fought desperately to keep it, held on to herself and yet whatever was happening, whatever was being done…
It slipped through her fingers, leaving her empty and drained.
That's when they first appeared.
Tiny things, smaller than newborn puppies. They reminded her of fairies, almost, little animal spirits depicted in stories all over the world. The little things didn't move though, seemingly unconscious, exhausted like the immortals were.
Adren was the one who noticed first. He was still reaching for the missing peice of his soul, desperately searching for it, only to find a trail leading towards one of the little spirits in front of him. Picking up the tiny thing, a kitten almost, he felt a strong sense of self. Of himself.
And with this little kitten firmly tucked into his chest, he could finally sense the destruction.
The entire square, save for the little girl and the other immortals, was empty. All the mortals that had been watching were gone. Vaporized. He's not sure how, must of had to do with that bright light, but all that was left of them were ghost shadows, laid out where people used to be.
"Finally!"
The voice was deep and familiar, but it still made Adren shiver. He felt strangely vulnerable. Violet eyes seem to see straight through him, and the last immortal stepped out into the square. One of the immortals that looked much older than the rest of them, worry lines and eye bags and things that pointed to stress just as much as age.
Cheche growled, curling an arm around the little cheetah on the floor. The other immortals, exhausted and wary, each went for one of the tiny spirits. "Gabriel! What is thi-urk!"
The immortal now showing himself, Gabriel, threw a spear faster than sight could see, catching Cheche right in the chest.
Cheche choked. Blood slipped past his lips. Red blood. Mortal blood.
The little girl screamed.
Cheche collapsed. As he fell, the little cheetah on the floor dissolved into dust. A gray wisp circled into the air, weaving around Gabriel before disappearing into the brooch on his chest.
"There's too many fake gods running around, Cheche." Gabriel tsked, violet eyes glistening. A purple moth sat on his shoulder, looking scared, but not at them, nor at Gabriel. "There can only be one."
Adren let out a noise akin to a growl, snapping his fingers together. His rage fueled him, and the immortals all braced, ready for the absolute destruction his power was about to wrot.
Nothing happened.
Marinetta could almost smell the palpable fear in the air. "What did you do?!"
"You're not the only one who can create, Netta." Gabriel's eyes were alight in something not quite right. Marinetta had always thought he was a little strange, keeping to himself and the potions he made, but she never thought… "With enough knowledge, enough resources, anything is possible. Splitting an immortal's soul, placing their power into a kwami, it's just the beginning."
Kwami? Marinetta looked at the dead immortals. The little girl, Cheche's granddaughter, sobbed, holding Cheche's limp hand. She held the little ladybug spirit, kwami, closer. "Why do this, Gabriel? You lost your power as well!"
"I've lost nothing." Gabriel counters. "As I can still access my power. All I've done is cut my connection to you and Adren. I am free."
He didn't sound free. In fact, he sounded possessed.
It was crazy, it was dangerous. The immortals have long thought that their powers, their immortality, came from Marinetta and Adren, either from them or through them, like a conduit of a blessing. Cutting that connection, though… and getting rid of their power…
Gabriel truly wants them dead.
Without wasting another second, Adren whipped his head around. "Go! Run!"
Several followed directions, terrified in a way they've never been before. Mairenn takes a step towards them, teeth grinding together, but then she sees the little girl. There's conflict in her eyes for a moment, before she runs towards her, scooping her up and taking her away.
Five immortals stay behind. They all held their kwami, and Marinetta couldn't help but look. Bear, turtle, ferret, bat, and whale. She didn't understand. "And what? Leave you to die?!"
Gabriel scoffed. "You'll only die with them." His kwami disappeared, and his hair was suddenly hidden by something akin to a helmet, a suit formed around him. He brought out a long sword.
Marinetta couldn't even stand to confront him.
Too stubborn to not try, she cautiously got her feet back under her. Using Adren's support, they both brought themselves back to standing. Barely. Whatever Gabriel had done, it had weakened them much more than it had the others.
"Go. We'll get him." The one with the bear, Jani, snarled, her green eyes gleaming with tears and anger. Marinetta realized her boyfriend had been in the crowd, so was her fifty year old adopted son.
The immortals dated like they were humans, and had (as well as adopted) kids every now and then, it wasn't abnormal. All had dated, even married, besides Marinetta and Adren. Some hadn't had children, like Anay, Mairenn, Gabriel, and Gero.
(It was a surprise that no immortals ever got together, after all this time. They had wondered what the child of that reunion would be like, immortal or not, but it just never happened.)
"No!" Marinetta shouted, stubborn. "We're not leaving you!"
"Gabriel!" Adren continued. "We gave you this power, and now you betray us? For what? To rule? You know you can never rule, especially now that you can be killed."
"I don't need to rule." Gabriel said, and he twitched, and something was wrong. "I'm already a prosperous man, but I must be the only."
Marinetta tilted her head, because that wasn't right. "How do you know that killing us won't make you mortal?"
Gabriel huffed. "I know… it was figured out."
The one with the turtle kwami, Wu, glanced back, wise eyes smothered in serenity. "Leave now. We'll be fine."
"Go ahead and try. I do so love a good chase!" Gabriel cackled with laughter as he brought out another sword. Jani picked up a pole, roared, and ran forward.
"We have to help." Adren mumbled, just as stubborn as Marinetta. He made a move to go forward, but with a yelp stumbled and hit the ground.
"Get them out of here!" Jani had seen him fall. She yelled to the one with the whale kwami, Esward. He nodded, running to help Adren up. He was the burly one of the immortals, gray eyes and gray hair. On his other side, he easily picked Marinetta up. His strength was still there. It really only was them, this weakness was special to them.
Against their will, they were moved away from the fight. Someone called his name, and Esward rumbled down an alley and into a building. Inside, another immortal was crouching down, a bow and arrow in hand, a quiver on her back.
"I thought you left…" Marinetta mumbled as she slumped down next to Adren. Their kwami were still asleep, it seemed. The immortal girl huffed, blowing a strand of her brown hair away, sky blue eyes cloudy in anger. The little girl was nowhere to be seen.
"I needed a weapon." She said, blending into the shadows. Whatever had happened to them, it seems that she still kept some of her seemingly mystical powers. "I have an idea. Esward, keep them in here, and keep them quiet. After a few minutes, leave them here. They're safer without the extra attention."
"No-" Adren rasped weakly, but was ignored.
"Tell everyone to split up and hide. Pairs of two or three, go to different kingdoms, go away and don't look back." The female immortal said. Marinetta couldn't see her kwami over her hunting clothes. "After we're gone, wait a day in here to get your strength back. Go to Rome. I'll find you there."
Marinetta, half blinded by pain and weakness, only managed a groan.
"What about you?" Esward said. "I know you're… but Gabriel-"
The girl sighed. "He's gone mad. We should've paid more attention, should've noticed something was going on. That responsibility falls on them, and as their third it falls on me." Her knuckles turned white around the grip on her bow. "It's always been my job to protect everyone, and besides those two…"
Her job. She was their third, the first of the children to be born and survive the disease that wracked their clan. The oldest, after them. The hunter. The protector.
The girl made her way to a window when Esward spoke again. "Mairenn… please don't die."
She grinned, almost hidden by shadows. "I'm third in command, Es. Wolves are hunters." Her grin turned deadly, sharp. "I won't let myself die until this bastard goes as well."
From Adren's perch, he could see the fight going on, a bit far away and below. Two more immortals were dead. Monety and Ashi, ferret and bat. Mairenn jumped out the window. She hit a roof and rolled, almost disappearing before showing up behind Gabriel, across the way. She notched two arrows, and fired.
Gabriel spun, hitting one away while the other caught his cheek.
"Everyone go, now!" Mairenn yelled, causing Wu and Jani to run. Gabe cursed and looked up at the girl. Suddenly, a sword was flying for her, but she flipped, hand hitting the pavement before pushing herself farther away from another sword.
"I thought you went chicken and abandoned everyone." Gabriel taunted. Mairenn laughed, casually drawing another arrow.
"A hunter knows how to be patient." She growled, letting the arrow fly. It snagged his leg, and Mairenn wasted no time, firing again. Gabriel, with another sword that seemed to appear from nowhere, hit it away and threw the sword. "I'm not that easy to kill Gabriel!"
Gabriel growled, "I expect no less from you."
A sword and an arrow fly at the same time. The arrow caught Gabriel in his left palm, the sword cutting against Mairenn's side. Mairenn hisses but stays standing, glaring. Gabriel smirks.
A rock thumps into the side of his head.
The Immortal curses, stumbling. There's a mean spirited snicker from across the way. Mairenn visibly perks up, before she pales in abject horror. "No." She whispers. "Leave!"
"No, she says." A voice echoes, both airy and offended. Another, similar voice follows. "Leave her behind, she means." "Does she think she's a sacrificial lamb?" "That would follow her track record."
Mairenn looks more worried than she had before, and Adren knows why. Now, she had something to lose. "Both of you, go!"
"And abandon you?" "Never."
Gabriel throws his swords into the darkness. There's a yelp, but no sound of pain. Mairenn grits her teeth and pulls back another arrow, firing through the pain in her side. Adren catches sight of dyed hair, black as tar, before it dances out of view.
The twin immortals. They were never ones to face a problem head on, but Adren would be stupid to think that they would leave without checking on Mairenn first.
Gabriel clenches his fists, frustrated. One of the twins laugh, a haunting voice that echoes throughout the square. Then they're quiet, and it's almost like they were never there to begin with.
Mairenn narrowed her eyes, then smiles, taking a step back. "I'll be watching you Gabriel, keeping tabs. You'll never know where I'll be. Sleep with an eye open." Her face morphed, even as she backed away. "I'll slit your throat if you don't."
Gabriel yelled and threw another sword, but Mairenn just laughed and jumped back, off the back side of the building. Without Gabriel knowing it, she just gave Jani and Wu time to get away.
Adren didn't see what happened next.
He didn't see much of anything.
The pain and exhaustion finally took him.
Heh if you somehow happen to find the old ffn posting all I can say is *hair tuck behind ear* girl look at dat IMPROVEMENT-
Will the twin immortals have a lifetime where they are called Fred and George, and will be dropping HP references and acting like Fred and George because of that? Yes, I find that fucking hilarious. I did that in the original too because it's funny to me. This is not a crossover, I just find it funny. That'll be the names I use for them half the time too, cause why tf not?
Also sorry if any of the formatting is weird, I've been on AO3 for the past half decade I forgot how to use this site.
