Chapter Text
All she could hear was her own panting and her feet hitting the pavement as she ran. Her cheeks were wet, her hair had fallen out of the neat pig-tails her butler put it into in the morning. Not that she cared.
That wasn’t important.
What was she even running from? It wouldn’t solve the problem.
But she just kept running, until her feet sank. Sand.
She slowly walked closer to the edge of the water and collapsed onto the ground. She tried to calm her breathing.
This was all her fault.
“Oh Marinette…” she muttered, pulling her knees in closer, blond locks of hair falling into her face. “Marinette, I’m so…so sorry…”
—
Three weeks ago Four days ago.
That was when all of this started.
“Chloé! Chloé!”
The blond 5-year-old turned around to spot her dark-haired pigtail buddy running toward her, a ball of sand in her hand.
“What’s that?” Chloé asked, tilting her head.
“There’s something shiny in here!” her friend bounced up and down. “Something hard! I can feel it!”
She sat down quickly, criss cross applesauce, and started rubbing away the sand.
“Where did you find that?” Chloé asked, kneeling down next to her.
“It fell from the sky!” she said happily. “What do you think is in it?”
“A coin?” Chloé asked, leaning in closer just as her friend brushed aside the rest of the sand.
“It’s a ring!” her friend said. “A pretty black one! But it’s all covered in sand…”
Chloé laughed.
“Well let’s go clean it off then!” Chloé said. “Come on, Marinette, the hotel is close!”
Marinette laughed and the two friends walked together back into the Grand Paris, the hotel owned by Chloé’s dad.
“Hello Chloé dear, hello Marinette,” the mayor said as the two passed.
“Hi daddy!” Chloé said, and she pulled Marinette into the elevator and the two headed up to Chloé’s room.
Marinette hurried into the bathroom, and started to run the sink.
“Chloé! Come quick!” Marinette said.
Chloé entered her bathroom, and watched as Marinette ran water over the ring.
“Look! Look! It has a paw print!” Marinette said, and she showed Chloé the ring, unintentionally flinging water onto Chloé.
“Mari!” Chloé complained, and she peered at the ring. “It’s pretty.”
“Yeah!” Marinette agreed, and she slipped it around her right middle finger.
The ring suddenly glowed, and a black orb flew out of it, the ring changing into a rosegold band with pawprints around the side.
“What the heck?” Chloé said, and she only momentarily glanced at the ring’s changed appearance before looking at the floating black orb.
The orb faded, and a small creature was in the middle of it. The creature stretched and looked around.
“Two people? Well that’s new,” it (they?) said. “What do you plan to do with-”
“Kitty!” Marinette said. “Flying kitty!”
“Mari!” Chloé scolded. “You’ll scare ‘em!”
The creature just seemed to blink, and Chloé noted its matted fur (was it fur?).
“Do you not know who I am…?” the creature asked.
“...genie in the ring?” Chloé asked.
“No,” the creature huffed. “I’m Plagg! A kwami! The kwami of the black cat!”
“Kwami?” Marinette tilted her head. “Is that a species name?”
“I… guess so,” Plagg said. “We’re the incarnations of different ideas-”
“We’re friends now,” Marinette said.
“But what if Plagg doesn’t want to be friends?” Chloé asked.
“Well I made you my friend,” Marinette said, raising an eyebrow.
“…fair enough,” Chloé said. “So… Plagg, do you need a bath?”
The next hour was spent pampering the little creature (kwami).
Plagg seemed slightly annoyed at the bath they gave him in the sink, but likely because of the whole cat and water thing, but seemed relieved to have clean fur.
Chloé did spot his thin body, and figured he must not get much to eat, so, after the two learned cheese was his favorite, she ordered a variety of cheesy snacks up to her room.
And then the three spent the rest of the day watching movies.
—
Two weeks ago Next week
“Gah! Sorry!”
Chloé stood dusted herself off and glanced at the old man who was walking away.
She scoffed. “Rude.”
Chloé went to move forward, and her foot hit something.
“Huh?” Chloé looked down an spotted an octagonal box. “Shoot…”
She picked it up, and started in the direction the old man went.
“Hey! Wait! You dropped something!”
He was gone.
“Chloé?”
“Coming daddy!” Chloé said. Tucking the box into her bag and running down to get in the car.
Five minutes later, she was dropped off at Marinette’s.
“Hi!” Chloé said entering the bakery.
“Hey, Chloé,” Sabine said. “Want to take a batch of macarons up? They’re strawberry.”
“Sure!” Chloé said, and she was handed a box.
More careful now that she had sweets on the line, Chloé headed up the stairs and ladder and into Marinette’s room.
“Hey, Mari!” Chloé said, pushing the trapdoor open.
“Chloé!” Marinette ran forward and squeezed her friend. “Oh! Maman gave you macarons!”
“Strawberry,” Chloé said. “And I’m assuming you got the cheese?”
“Yup!” Marinette said.
Chloé climbed in all the way and shut the trapdoor.
“Plagg! Chloé’s here!” Marinette said, and she walked over to her dollhouse.
“Rich girl?” Chloé heard the faint voice of the kwami.
“Yes, Chloé,” Marinette said. Chloé spotted the kwami’s head through the top of the dollhouse.
Like, through the solid material.
Right, he could do that.
“Hi, Plagg,” Chloé said with a wave and a grin.
“Did you bring food?” Plagg asked, floating toward her.
“Uh… you want a macaron?” Chloé asked, holding up the box.
“...are they cheese?”
“No.”
“Then no.”
“We’ve got other cheese foods,” Marinette said, lifting up a tray with an impressive range of cheese based delictibles.
Plagg dug into the cheese, while Chloé headed over to the floor by Marientte’s small TV. She dug through her bag, pulled out a movie, and spotted the box.
“Did you bring it?” Marinette asked plopping down next to Chloé.
“Yeah,” Chloé said, and she showed Marinette the movie.
“Yes!”
It was Star Wars IV, Return of the Jedi.
Marinette hadn’t watched the movies yet, and Chloé considered that utterly unacceptable.
“Also, I bumped into an old man,” Chloé said. “He dropped this.”
Chloé showed Marinette the box. Now that she was looking at it, it had a weird red symbol on the top.
“Huh,” Marinette tilted her head. “Open it!”
Chloé popped open the box, and a bright light shown.
“Wha-?” she heard Marinette mutter.
A red blob flew out and turned into a small creature that was red with a black spot.
Wait-
“A kwami,” Chloé said immediatly.
Said kwami blinked.
“You’re not the guardian,” the kwami said, and they looked around. “Where am I?”
“You’re in my room,” Marinette said.
“How do you know what I am?” the kwami asked, and then their eyes narrowed on the ring Marinette wore. “Wait…”
“You’re like Plagg, aren’t you?” Marinette asked.
Chloé saw the kwami’s eyes go wide. In fear? Surprise? Hard to tell.
“Oh… shoot,” she heard Plagg say.
“Plagg!” the kwami yelled, and they flew toward him. “What’re you doing?!”
“Stop it!” Chloé yelled.
The kwami fell silent.
Chloé looked down at the box.
“Earrings…” Chloé said.
“Earrings?” Marinette asked, and she glanced over. “Ooo! Put them in!”
“They aren’t mine,” Chloé said, but relented. She didn’t have any in at the moment anyway.
“Ooo… yours changes form too!” Marinette said.
Chloé grabbed a mirror out of her bag.
The bright red earrings with the black spots had turned into black diamond earrings.
“Huh,” Chloé muttered, then looked up at the red kwami. “What’s your name?”
The kwami blinked, before responding, “Tikki.”
“Well, Tikki, want to watch a movie with us?” Marinette asked with a grin.
“A… movie?” Tikki asked.
“Oh, you don’t know what it is either,” Marinette said. “C’mon! Now we have to watch it!”
—
Four days ago In three weeks
When it all went wrong.
“Plagg!” Tikki scolded. “You shouldn’t have told them!”
“It’s not like any wish they try will work,” Plagg huffed. “I haven’t explained that little bit yet!”
“Oh, but you were planning to?” Tikki asked.
“Only if I had to!” Plagg complained. “C’mon, Tikki! This is the first decent holder I’ve had… ever!”
“Yeah, because you keep corrupting them!”
The two girls ignored the kwamis bickering. Chloé was twisting the ring on her finger. It had been rose gold on Marinette, but on her hand it was gold, with black diamonds embedded into it.
She was only wearing it because Marinette couldn’t wear the earrings (she didn’t have pierced ears).
“So, what do you want to wish for?” Chloé asked.
At the word wish, she felt the jewelry grow warm for a moment.
“Hm… we could wish for… a puppy! Or a pony! Or… or a trip to New York!” Marinette said.
“Mari, I can already get all those things,” Chloé said with a laugh.
“Hm…” Marinete stuck her tongue out as she thought. “We could wish for a unicorn! Or superpowers!”
Chloé snorted.
“What if I wished you disappeared?” Chloé joked.
Six words.
And it all went wrong.
Both the jewels suddenly switched back to their original forms.
“No! You said it wouldn’t work!” Plagg screamed.
“It shouldn’t!” Tikki yelled.
“What’s happening?” Marinette asked, and she screamed as wind picked up. “Chloé!”
“The wish is activating!” Tikki yelled. “It’s not supposed to work! It-”
“Marinette!” Chloé screamed, and she grabbed her friend. “No! I take it back! I take it back!”
“It’s too late…” Plagg said, his voice dark.
White began to spread, starting from Chloé.
“Why is this happening?” Plagg asked.
“They’re children…” Tikki muttered. “They must’ve-”
Chloé couldn’t tell what Tikki was saying anymore.
“What’re you wearing…?” Marinette asked.
Chloé glanced down, but only spotted some red and black before she felt a tug as Marinette was pulled.
“NO!” Chloé screamed, and she pulled Marinette tighter. “NO! I DIDN’T MEAN FOR THIS! YOU AREN’T DISAPPEARING ON ME!!”
“Chloé!” Marinette cried.
The world went white, and Chloé felt Marinette get tugged from her just as Marinette’s body faded from view.
“ NO! ” Chloé screamed. “ MARINETTE! ”
“ Marinette !” Chloé screamed and she sat up.
Wait… what?
Chloé tried to calm her shaky breathing as she looked around.
She was in her room.
A nightmare?
No…
No, that was too vivid.
Chloé touched her earlobes, but the earrings she’d worn all week were gone.
“Shoot, no… Tikki?” Chloé muttered.
Chloé heard footsteps, and her door slammed open.
“Chloé, are you okay? I heard screaming.”
Her father.
“It- a nightmare…” Chloé muttered, “Where… Marinette disappeared…”
“It was just a dream,” her father said, sitting down on her bed. “You’ll see Marinette today during school.”
Chloé nodded, and leaned against her father, closing her eyes.
Something was wrong.
A couple of hours later, she was realizing what it was.
This wasn’t the outfit she had picked for today.
No, this is what she’d been wearing three weeks ago.
The day after Marinette found Plagg.
Chloé didn’t say anything about the clothes, but asked for the date.
She’d been sent back in time three weeks.
Chloé sat down at her table at school, and watched the door.
Waiting.
Waiting for Marinette to come in, a bounce in her step, ever visible in her pigtails.
But Marinette didn’t come in.
And everyone noticed.
Nino, Marinette’s other best friend.
Kim and Ivan, the two best buds that adored her.
Mylene, Rose, Nathaniel, Max.
Everyone loved Marinette.
Marinette was supposed to be in class today!
But she never came in.
The overall class mood was down for the day.
Halfway through, when they were coming in from recess, Chloé spotted the teacher on the phone, but didn’t catch anything being said.
—
Marinette didn’t come in the next day.
Or the next.
Or the next.
Chloé sat in class, four days after Marinette had shown her the ring.
And also three weeks after.
The teacher got a phone call as the class headed out to recess, and Chloé stayed behind.
“Hello? Oh, madmoiselle Cheng, do you have any news? …I see… I’ll keep my eye out… yes… alright, I will, bye.”
The teacher hung up and sank into the chair at her desk.
“...where’s Marinette?”
The teacher jumped.
“Chloé, why aren’t you at recess?” the teacher asked.
“Where’s Marinette?” Chloé asked again.
The teacher looked away.
Chloé already knew what answer was coming.
“She’s missing.”
And she knew it was pointless to look.
This was all her fault.
—
Marinette didn’t blame Chloé.
She couldn’t, not really.
She knew Chloé hadn’t meant it, would never mean it.
Why had they thought making a wish was a good idea?
Marinette let out a sigh, and sat curled up on the beach.
She remembered the world going white, and then waking up, but she wasn’t in her bedroom. Marinette recognized the alley well enough, it was close to the bakery, but she couldn’t figure out why she was there of all places.
Seeing as she had woken up outside, Marinette had immediately checked her surroundings.
She seemed safe for the time being. For some reason her ring was back, and Plagg woke up next to her, just as confused. She was wearing a black jumpsuit with pockets on the sides of her legs. The jumpsuit seemed to be one piece, from turtle neck, to long sleeves, to boots.
And there seemed to be no way to take it off.
Marinette had started to walk back to the bakery.
And then she realized how wrong everything was.
1) The bakery was closed.
It wasn’t supposed to be.
2) the date was wrong. This was three weeks ago.
3) No one could see her.
That one hadn’t been that hard to figure out.
People rammed into her and didn’t know what they hit, no one glanced at her, not even her parents, who were desperately looking for something…
Or some one .
And Marinette realized what happened.
“The wish…” Marinette muttered, moving away from the busy street. “Chloé wished for me to disappear…”
“The wish wasn’t supposed to activate…” Plagg muttered.
“Then why did it?” Marinette asked, not questioning the details of how the wish was supposed to activate.
“Tikki guessed it had something to do with you being children…” Plagg said. “Kids, especially your age, are filled to the brim with magical potential. Normal rules stood by, or forced themselves to be active despite you not activating them…”
“But I’m still here…” Marinette muttered. “The wish was for me to disappear, not turn invisible… and why did we go back three weeks?”
“...take off my ring,” Plagg said.
“What, why?” Marinette asked.
“Just do it,” Plagg said. “I want to try something.”
Marinette frowned, but tugged at the rose gold band, the only pop of color.
And she frowned more.
“It’s… it’s not coming off…” Marinette muttered.
Plagg groaned.
“Great…” Plagg muttered. “I curse all my holders.”
“Curse?” Marinette asked.
“Corrupt, however you want to spin that dice,” Plagg said. “Most users wind up… antagonistic. You wound up with a binding curse.”
“Huh?”
“You can’t remove the ring,” Plagg said. “And the ring is keeping you from the visible spectrum.”
“Visible what now?”
“It’s keeping you invisible,” Plagg said. “I can still see you, and the other kwami probably can, but humans can’t.”
“...Oh…” Marinette stared at the ring.
Marinette spent the next couple days trying to figure out how to survive.
She quickly learned that bathroom needs were non-existant. All food and drink were converted directly to energy, just like in the kwamis. Which also meant she could just sleep and regain the exact same energy as eating.
She also learned that she was visible in mirrors, but strangely, only mirrors. Reflective windows didn’t count, nor did any other reflective surface.
Probably for the best, she didn’t want to freak anyone out.
Also, her pockets seemed to be infinite.
Everything that had been in her backpack was now in her pockets, which included her Nintendo DS, an emergency alarm (the kind with the pin), and a couple of notebooks filled with drawings of dresses. Pencils, gum, and other miscellaneous objects were also contained, but those didn’t matter as much.
Marinette had gone to the beach to see if she could play in the water normally.
She could, but it would probably freak others out, and she didn’t have a towel, so she had only gotten her feet wet.
The towel thing didn’t seem to matter much, the sand didn’t even stick to her feet.
Marinette curled up tighter and tried to hold back the hot tears threatening to spill at any moment.
She heard some movement behind her, and looked over her shoulder.
Chloé was crying, and sat down on the beach a few feet away from her. Chloé’s pigtails, normally perfect, had mostly fallen out and were in her face, and Chloé didn’t seem to care about the sand getting all over her.
“Oh Marinette…” she heard Chloé mutter. “Marinette, I’m so… so sorry…”
Marinette’s jaw tightened as tears spilled.
Her friend… broken.
“We should go…” she heard Plagg whisper. “People will probably come looking for her.”
Marinette nodded, and turned away.
—
“Plagg… isn’t there anything I can do?” Marinette asked her kwami. “I want to talk to people… to talk to them without freaking them out… and I miss eating…”
She couldn’t find food worth eating, so she’d been sleeping.
And sleeping in alleys just hurt.
Plagg sighed.
“Do you remember what Chloé looked like just before you woke up?” Plagg asked.
Marinette nodded.
Chloé had been surrounded by light, and then was wearing a superhero-esc outfit. Red with black spots, a black mask, and her hair up in two pointy buns like cat ears.
“Well, most of the time to make a wish… you need to be transformed,” Plagg said. “Kwamis can inhabit their miraculous, and grant the wielders super human abilities.”
“Transform… like into a superhero?” Marinette asked.
“Sorta, yeah,” Plagg said. “I think if you transform, you might be able to be seen. Marinette is who doesn’t exist, but whatever identity you take on with the miraculous does, and so they’re visible, got it?”
“I think so…” Marinette muttered. “What should I know about this transformation?”
“There’s an activation and deactivation phrase,” Plagg said. “For me, you say claws out to transform, and claws in to detransform. You also get a weapon! My cats get batons that can change in size, although I’ve seen other miraculous weilders change the form of their weapons under extreme circ*mstances.”
“What’s a baton?” Marinette asked.
“It’s like a staff,” Plagg said. “It’s very versatile. You can use it as an offensive weapon, a defensive one, and as a transportation method.”
“Offensive… defensive…?” Marinette looked at the kwami confused.
“Uh…” Plagg looked down. “Offensive is like… striking your opponent, and defensive is protecting yourself.”
“Oh!” Marinette grinned. “Okay! So, can I transform?”
Plagg blinked.
“Sure..?”
Marinette clapped.
“Plagg, claws out!” Marinette said.
She saw Plagg get pulled into her ring, and a dark blue light surrounded her. Marientte shut her eyes, then blinked them open.
“Plagg?” she looked around. “I guess I can’t talk to you…”
She exited the alleyway, and walked past a closed store. She paused.
“My reflection…” she muttered.
She could see it.
And she could see what she was wearing.
She was in varying shades of black to dark gray. Her chinese inspired top with the high collar that folded partially over was black (and didn’t seem to be connected to the sleeves), her gloves were black (she had claws!) and leggings were black. Somehow, her boots (they had little cat toes on the front!) were a bit darker, and the form fitting material around her arms was more of a dark gray (a blue gray). She had a belt wrapped around her waist that seemed to twitch like it was a real tail. The tail belt was also black. She spotted her silver baton on her back.
Her head was what drew her attention.
Her black hair was pulled back in a braid, and her hair was very fluffy. She had on a black mask that went to the tip of her nose, and her eyes were solid blue. Like, what was normally white was a light blue, her iris a darker shade of blue (and she had cat pupils!). When she smiled, she spotted fangs.
But what really drew her attention were her ears.
Her normally human ears had turned into cat ears.
There were cat ears on the side of her head.
And they were reacting to her emotions just like her tail belt was.
“This is so cool…” she muttered.
She tested out her baton a few times, before using it to launch herself to the rooftops.
From there, running came naturally.
She laughed.
This was so fun!
She ran around for probably an hour, just burning energy. She practiced more and more with her staff, getting used to how it felt, and how to extend it.
Then she heard the scream.
Her ears pricked, and she turned.
It sounded like a kid.
Probably around her age.
Without hesitation, she ran across the rooftops, occasionally using her staff for the longer jumps.
She came to a rest above an alleyway.
There at the bottom was a small kid, female. Brown hair with pink hair chalk in it. From the way she moved, she was likely on some kind of roller shoes.
And the men coming near the kid did not seem friendly.
She dropped silently into the alleyway, hidden in the shadows.
“Leave her alone,” she said.
The men glanced back.
“What are you? Some kind of catgirl?” one of the men asked. He was taller, thinner, but obviously the leader.
“I said leave her alone,” she repeated.
“Oh yeah? What’re you gonna do about it?” the shorter man asked. He had more muscle on him.
But also a knife.
“Just leave her alone!” she repeated, stomping her foot.
“Show ‘er a lesson,” the tall man said.
The shorter man walked toward her.
She quickly pressed the button on her staff and extended it, knocking him backward.
“HOLY [redacted]!” the short man said. “What the [redacted]?!”
“Stay out of this, punk,” the tall man said, grabbing the knife.
She shortened the baton, then lengthened it next to him and pushed him away.
Hard.
He fell to the ground.
“[redacted]!” the tall man barked. “Let’s just go. No kid’s worth this trouble.”
The two men left.
“...that was so cool! ” the girl said, rushing forward. “How does your stick do that? How long can it extend?”
She blinked.
“Uh, there’s a button…” she muttered. “I… don’t know how long it can extend.”
“Woah…” the girl said. “I’m Alix. What’s your name?”
“I’m-” she tried to say her name, but nothing came out, and she coughed.
“Wait, you have to be a superhero,” Alix said. “You can’t tell me your real name! What’s your superhero name?”
She blinked.
Black cat.
Cat.
Māo.
Motif.
“Maotif,” she said.
“Maotif?” Alix asked.
“It’s a bit of a pun,” Maotif said.
“Cool!” Alix said. “I like your black cat theme, how’d you do the ears?”
Maotif shrugged.
“I didn’t,” she admitted. “What are you doing out so late?”
“I got new roller skates for my birthday,” Alix said. “I think I got lost. I just moved here, my dad’s working at the Louvre. Lost track of time…”
“I know where the Louvre is,” Maotif said. “I can take you if you want.”
“Sweet!” Alix said.
“I’ll have to hold onto you…”
“That’s fine,” Alix said.
Maotif grabbed Alix with one hand, and used the other on her baton, extending it, sending the two across Paris.
Finally, the Louvre came into view, and Maotif descended.
“That was so cool!” Alix said once they landed.
“Alix!”
An older man ran forward and hugged her.
“Oh thank goodness… your brother and I were just about to go looking for you.”
“I’m fine, dad,” Alix said. “I got a bit lost, new city and all, and got cornered in an alley, but Maotif helped me out!”
“Mao…tif?”
Her dad turned around, and Maotif waved when he spotted her.
“Hi!” Maotif said.
“...thank you for finding my daughter, young lady,” Alix’s dad said. “Aren’t you a little young…?”
“It was no problamo!” Maotif said. “Just don’t tell anyone ‘bout me, okay? Okay. Anyway, this cat’s gotta pounce. I need a cat nap. Bye!”
“Bye!” Alix said as Maotif vaulted away.
-
