#seasofsilver writes

[seas-of-silver]

For the ask game: "Stop with these ridiculous lies Dupain-Cheng, I saw you detransform!"

‘Stop with these ridiculous lies, Dupain-Cheng, I saw you detransform!’

Chloé smirked when the girl finally stopped avoiding her.

‘I saw your kwami and I know you’re Ladybug, and there’s nothing-’

Her heart jumped to her throat when Dupain-Cheng whirled around and pinned her to the wall with a hand covering her mouth, no doubt smudging her designer lipstick. She would’ve complained about the outrageous offence if it wasn’t for the intense glare that struck her like lightning.

‘Can you just stop yelling that for one second?’ Dupain-Cheng hissed quietly, her voice filled with a ferocity Chloé couldn’t help but comply with. The baker girl scanned the space around her before saying, ‘Come with me.’

Chloé scoffed. ‘As if. You-’

‘Now.’

The order sent a zing up Chloé’s spine. The person in front of her wasn’t some inferior unimportant insect of a school girl, but a general, a fearless leader born by trials of fire and hardened by fighting on the frontline of countless battlefields. Chloé followed silently.

They walked out of the school and into a secluded alley where Dupain-Cheng became Ladybug before her very eyes, wrapped an arm around her and zipped her way across the city. They landed somewhere entirely unfamiliar to Chloé, some weird disgusting abandoned warehouse or something, and Chloé only had enough time to register Ladybug sending some sort of message on her Bug Phone before her back slammed into something metal.

‘Ow! What the hell, Dupain-Cheng?’ Chloe cried out, feeling the magical yo-yo wrapping around her, securing her to a metal post.

‘Do not call me that when I’m suited up, you know the rules, Chloé,’ Ladybug commanded, catching the end of her yo-yo in her free hand. Her glare hardened. ‘Though, you don’t really care for the rules, do you?’

Chloé seethed at the slight.

‘How dare you! I did care!’ Chloé bit back, pulling at the unrelenting restraints. ‘When I found Pollen, I kept her safe and tried to learn from her so I could help you! And when Hawk Moth came after me, I fought back!’

‘You sold out our entire team to Hawk Moth!’ Ladybug retorted.

‘YOU ABANDONED ME!’ Chloé screamed, hot tears streaming down her face. ‘You knew Hawk Moth was targeting me relentlessly! Day and night for weeks on end! I couldn’t let my guard down for even one second, otherwise I would be under his spell! It was like he knew me, Ladybug - like actually knew me! He targeted every weak spot he could find; it was only a matter of time before I would break! I’m only human, Ladybug!’

‘Oh? And what about after Miracle Queen?’ Ladybug asked evenly, not much more than a red blob through her tears. ‘You weren’t being attacked then.’

‘I was hurt. I was angry. How could I not be?’ Her voice warbled as she sobbed. ‘I followed you, believed in you, and you left me high and dry. I had akumas tracking my every move and attempting to possess me - I even had one latch onto me, but instead of submitting, I threw it off!’

Chloé could’ve sworn Ladybug looked shocked at that. She hoped she was.

‘I thought that after everything I did for you, that I would have proved myself worthy to you, that you could believe in me too,’ she continued, ‘but no. You dismissed me at every turn and kept telling me I would never be Queen Bee again. The least you could do was tell me why! But you didn’t! My own parents were akumatised, and you wouldn’t even let me save them! How could I be loyal to you any longer when you couldn’t even let me do that much?’

‘M’lady! I got your emergency message- uh… why is Chloé tied up and why are you both crying?’

Chloé tried to blink her tears away, to see if the newly-arrived Chat Noir was telling the truth.

‘I’m fine,’ Ladybug obviously lied, her face suspiciously wet, ‘but we have a problem. Chloé knows who I am now.’

‘What?’ Chat Noir asked, shocked. ‘How?’

‘Remember when I had to go recharge mid-fight earlier today?’ Ladybug asked and Chat Noir nodded. ‘Chloé, for some godforsaken reason-’

‘Oi!’

‘-had decided to hide in the very alley I was recharging in,’ Ladybug continued, as if she hadn’t heard Chloé. ‘I thought the alley was clear, but apparently not. Once the battle was over, Chloé hounded me about knowing my identity, and when I denied it or ignored her, she got louder to try and draw my attention, and I was concerned she was going to grab other people’s attention too, so I brought her here.’

‘Okay, but why the yo-yo?’ Chat Noir asked, and Ladybug scoffed.

‘Have you forgotten that she betrayed us and our team to Hawk Moth?’ she asked hotly. ‘Or that she’s been behind many of the recent akumatisations and attacks recently?’

‘No, I just thought it was a bit of overkill,’ that stupid cat said placatingly, which only riled Ladybug up further.

‘Overkill?’ she echoed venomously. ‘Our biggest betrayer now knows my identity! I’m compromised and she’s a massive liability! She’s been my own personal tormentor for years, and now she holds the key to our demise if she hands that information over to the magical terrorist she’s now buddy-buddies with!’

‘She bullied you too?’ Chat Noir asked, surprised, before shaking his head at Chloé with disapproval. ‘Oh, Chloé.’

Chloé hated how Chat Noir said that, especially because of how his disappointment hit her. Somehow, it felt almost as effective as Adrien talking to her like that.

‘As I said, I would never have joined Hawk Moth if you had just trusted me,’ Chloé retorted angrily.

‘Trusted you? Trusted you?’ Ladybug’s eyes were flaming with fury, her voice and posture ablaze with rage - Chloé would’ve taken cover if she could’ve. ‘Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to trust you? You, who had tormented me for years. You, who has orchestrated the traumas that have and will haunt me for the rest of my life. You, who has blatantly, unashamedly and relentlessly targeted me, my friends and my family just for your own personal satisfaction. Hell! I can’t even ask out the guy I like because of what you did to me with the last guy I liked! And you wanted me to trust you more than I already did?’

Well, when she worded it like that, Chloé found it hard to find a rebuttal.

‘You should be grateful that I even gave you the chance to be Queen Bee,’ Ladybug spat, ‘let alone trusted you enough for you to hold that title more than once. Did you know your biggest champions were Chat Noir and Adrien?’

Chat Noir looked a little abashed at the sudden mention of him, and confused by the mention of Adrien.

‘Whenever my belief that you were changing for the better was starting to wane, those two held strong in their belief in you, and helped me believe in you, too,’ Ladybug continued. ‘I even convinced the Guardian before me that you deserved another chance. It was near impossible for me to trust you, but I was getting there, slowly but surely. I’ll admit I made mistakes, some cost me and the team dearly, but even when I fail, I will continue to fight because it’s the right thing to do, and I would rather die than let Shadow Moth win.’

Chat Noir nodded solemnly in agreement, which made Chloé wonder if she was missing some understanding about the gravity of this magical war, or if these two were just wayyyy too intense about being superheroes.

‘Surely it’s not that dire, seriou-‘

‘Chlo, Shadow Moth winning means he could wipe out our current reality and rewrite it entirely,’ Chat Noir said, no trace of his trademark humour to be found (effectively cutting off her objection to him using Adrien’s nickname for her). ‘Life as we know it could cease to exist - we could cease to exist…permanently.’

Chloé gulped nervously. Were the stakes always that high?

‘This is not a game, it never has been,’ Ladybug said darkly. ‘So the question is: now that you know who I am, what do we do with you?’

[seas-of-silver]

"Alya, we've talked about this hundreds of times - in all our lives we and our friends have never met someone called Marinette Dupain - Cheng - she is just a figment of your twisted imagination!"

‘Alya, we've talked about this hundreds of times - in all our lives we and our friends have never met someone called Marinette Dupain-Cheng - she is just a figment of your twisted imagination!’

Alya barely suppressed a growl as she glared at Nathaniel. ‘“Twisted imagination?” Seriously?’

Chloé scoffed. ‘Yeah, twisted. I mean, honestly - super-powered villains? Magical terrorists and superheroes? Who, by the way, are all animal themed and get their powers from tiny gods in jewellery? Alternate universes and time travel? Ugh! And the bit you’re flipping out about is some chick that supposedly meant to be in this class? Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.’

‘Alya, we’re worried about you,’ Rose said, her wide blue eyes swimming in genuine concern. ‘You’ve been so different this past week; you look and sound and behave like our Alya, but what you’ve been saying is just so unlike yourself!’

‘It’s kinda like you’re living a nightmare in real time, or something,’ Juleka muttered, and the whole class nodded in agreement.

The whole class bar Adrien and Marinette.

Alya was smart. She had figured out something was seriously wrong when she woke up last week and found herself in her room instead of Marinette’s, where she had been sleeping over. It became even more concerning when she arrived at school and Marinette was nowhere in sight. Then she had started to panic when the seating arrangement was different, Adrien wasn’t at school either, and worst of all - Nino barely knew her.

She spent the first class trying to casually enquire about Adrien and Marinette, which led to confused responses and almost getting reprimanded by Ms Bustier, who was still their teacher and had apparently never had a child, and Chloé’s father was still Mayor of Paris.

One reassuring discovery Alya had made before lunchtime was that Adrien Agreste still existed in this weird world, but had apparently never been to their school. She also discovered that Lila Rossi had also never been to their school, but that good news was quickly soured when she found out that Lila now has strong ties to the Agreste family, and was frequently seen with them. But that didn’t stop Alya from trying to contact Adrien, though she had no success.

Alya had then started to research, and kept researching throughout the week. This weird world had no mention of recent Miraculous use; no Hawk Moth, Mayura, Ladybug or Chat Noir, and nothing of note in Shanghai or New York. Her Ladyblog was also non-existent, which was discomforting in and of itself. And there was no Marinette.

That was the part Alya was struggling to grasp. No Marinette? A world without Miraculouses was something Alya could wrap her head around, as was a reality where Adrien never went to their school, but no Marinette? So she had researched that too. Everything Alya had expected to exist were also missing - the sunglasses and album cover (and subsequent magazine article) Marinette made for Jagged Stone; Marinette’s winning submission in the derby hat competition held by Gabriel Agreste and the runway show it was displayed in; her fashion photoshoot she did with Adrien and Juleka… none of it could be found.

Alya knew this was no dream that she had found herself in - this felt more like some sort of akuma attack-related displacement… but Alya couldn’t remember there being an akuma attack while she was in Marinette’s room. The last thing Alya had remembered before waking up in this weird world was setting up for a girl’s night in while Marinette went on patrol with Chat Noir, as the new Butterfly villain, Malachite, had been annoyingly active as of recent. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

And now all her friends and classmates were looking at her like she was the weird one. Perhaps she was, at least to them.

‘You’re right, Juleka,’ Alya said sombrely, ‘this is a nightmare. Either I’ve somehow ended up in an alternate universe, or something god-awful must’ve happened for the whole world to forget about the Miraculouses in Paris, for Adrien to never have come to school here, for my own boyfriend to barely know me apart from just being one of his classmates, and for my best friend - a girl who meant so much to nearly everyone in this room - to completely vanish off the face of the earth!’

Everyone flinched at her raised voice, but she didn’t care. She was too angry, too confused, and too hurt to care about something as minor as that.

‘I- ugh! I feel like I’m going insane!’ Alya cried out, her eyes starting to sting. ‘I know what has happened here - I’ve lived it! I was a part of it! You all were part of it! But why don’t you remember? Why does no one remember? Ugh, it’s like, I don’t know, like someone’s messed with reality and gotten rid of any trace of Marinette and the Mira…cu…lou…ses…’

Alya felt violently ill. How could she have not thought of that? It all made perfect sense. But if that was really true, then Malachite must have…

‘Oh, God,’ Alya whimpered, sinking to the ground unsteadily.

The class bin suddenly appeared in front of her, just in the nick of time, and a kind, familiar hand held her hair back.

‘Can someone get the nurse or Ms Bustier?’ Nino’s voice came from right beside her. ‘She’s not doing good.’

People moved around her, but Alya could barely take it in. Her mind was overloaded with fear and horror. She needed to prove this horrific theory wrong.

‘Shh,’ came Nino’s voice again, his other hand starting to rub soothing circles on her back. ‘You’re not well, dude, and you’re shaking.’

She couldn’t dwell on that for long, as a loud commotion was happening outside and getting closer. Fear spiking within her, Alya forced herself to stand and get into a fighting position, ignoring Nino’s protests. She wasn’t going to lose anyone else, not without a fight.

The door slammed open, and Alya hesitated.

‘Alya? Thank goodness!’ Adrien cried, looking disheveled and winded. ‘I got your letters - you remember too?’

Her hands wavered. ‘Yeah. What do you remember?’

‘Oh, finally!’ Adrien exclaimed, relieved. ‘I thought I was going insane when I woke up to find Mother and Father alive and Lila-‘ he growled out, as if saying the name was like ash on his tongue, ‘-of all people was now a long-time family friend, which is revolting. But no one knows about the Miraculouses or Ladybug and Chat Noir or Hawk Moth or Malachite or akumas or anything!’ 

Alya wanted to cry - out of relief or grief, she wasn’t sure.

‘And you!’ Adrien said, pointing at Nino. ‘You hung up on me!’

Nino blinked. ‘So… that wasn’t a prank call?’

Adrien looked mortified. ‘You’ve… you’ve forgotten me? For real?’

Nino opened and closed his mouth, looking entirely uncertain about anything that was going on.

‘I was sure that you would remember me,’ Adrien continued, shaken, before looking back at Alya. ‘I tried to call everyone that I could remember the numbers of, but even Marinette isn’t picking up!’

Alya felt sick again at the mention of her name.

‘Surely you were able to get in contact with her,’ Adrien pleaded, putting his hands on her shoulders. ‘I’ve been stuck under Father’s and Lila’s thumbs for this past week, and I was only able to escape just now.’

With Adrien so close, she could see the anxiety, desperation and fear that was threatening to consume him.

‘Please, Alya,’ he begged, ‘please tell me you found her and she’s okay. She’s in danger, and I need to ensure she’s safe.’

All Alya could do was shake her head. She felt Adrien’s hands tremble and saw his eyes fill with tears as he began to hyperventilate, before he crumbled to the floor and let out a soul-crushing cry that shattered her heart.

[seas-of-silver]

Hi guys! I know it's been a while since I've done one of these, but last year was a bit insane, so I'm back, and so is this ask game!

This is a request from Ardvarkeating101, who doesn't have Tumblr but wanted to still play in the "first sentence then scene" ask game, so here's my response to their submission!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

In retrospect, Adrien probably should have figured out that his father was Hawkmoth before a SWAT team burst through the doors of the mansion. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t put it all together before now.

Well, there was the laughing, for one. Father’s laughter had always sounded a little evil for as long as Adrien could remember, but it had been taking on a more maniacal quality in recent months. He had picked up on the change because initially he thought that maybe Nathalie had developed a funny bone and Father might have been finally warming up to her, especially since the more cackle-like laugh had become increasingly frequent. Also, the whole mansion is covered in pristine marble, meaning that his father’s cackles from the atelier carried and echoed throughout the mansion, and those random maniacal cackles would startle Adrien out of his focus when studying… as did the akuma that almost always soon followed.

And then there was Father’s recent designs. Adrien would be the first to admit he’s far more creative than artistic (seriously - his drawings were more of stick figure quality), but that didn’t stop him from being able to tell the quality of a design when he saw it - perks of growing up in the fashion industry, he supposed. After all, it was that exposure to fashion that enabled him to spot the quality of Marinette’s designs, and how they rivalled junior designers ten years her senior.

But Father’s designs had been on a steady and rather concerning decline. It had started with what Adrien could only guess was attempts at making fashion faux pas fashionable, such as the “sandals with socks” designs that didn’t quite capture the imagination, but with every visit he made to his father’s atelier, he witnessed the quality of the work and ideas continually deteriorate. Just last week Adrien saw a most ludicrous design that incorporated the currently in-trend of brightly coloured pants in combination with steampunk and fairy design elements that made for a painfully eye watering monstrosity. If it wasn’t for his father’s distinctive art style in the drawing, Adrien wouldn’t have believed his father was capable of something so repulsive.

Adrien had attributed it to grief, and thought his Father would eventually be inspired enough to break out of this slump, but it seemed that his artistic decline was far worse than Adrien had ever realised. His akumas proved that it was possible for his father to have no artistic integrity.

Then there was Ladybug herself suspecting his father, but he didn’t want to entertain that suggestion. And he had become an akuma, so that had settled that debate, but in retrospect the timing was unbelievably convenient.

And then there was the most damning piece of evidence of all - Father had an increased interest in Adrien. Father had always been a distant man; Adrien always knew that Mother was the only person he would actually show love for, and while Adrien yearned for his father to be more expressive in his affection to him as his son, he understood that this was just the way his father was. Though, that didn’t stop Adrien from wanting to get closer with his father and to know him better.

But then Father started to visit him, talk to him - and not just about his performance at the most recent photoshoot or runway show. He was asking about how Adrien felt. He was asking about school. He was talking about Mother. And he was asking about his ring, his Miraculous, not that his father knew about the true nature of the ring.

…or perhaps that’s why he asked? Did Father suspect he was Chat Noir? He had asked about it in multiple occasions, after all. It was unnervingly intense to experience at the time, so it was likely he suspected him, and Adrien wondered now how he had managed to convince his father that he wasn’t the Black Cat hero of Paris.

What made his father’s behaviour all the more bizarre (and all the more damning) was the constant hopscotch between being hot and cold. Father had berated Adrien for talking about Mother, but then offered to watch his mother’s movie with him and told Adrien that he “didn’t have to hide anything from him”.  Father had refused to let him go to New York, changed his mind and let him go, and then ordered him back home over the course of three days. Father had repeatedly given him permission to hang out with friends, and had rescinded his permission at the last minute just as frequently. It was baffling, confusing, and had made Adrien wonder whether Father was doing this on purpose, or whether the man was slowly losing his short-term memory.

…could abusing the Miraculous lead to damaged short-term memory? He’d have to ask Plagg. But that would have to wait until after the SWAT raid was over.

Adrien wished he could talk to Nino or Alya or Marinette, but with him being under the protection of four SWAT guards (or was he a prisoner? He wasn’t sure), he doubted he’d have the permission to call them. And transforming into Chat Noir and escaping to Ladybug was completely out of the question. So Adrien sat in overwhelmed silence as troops swarmed the mansion, investigating every nook and cranny of every room.

…or at least he was silent until he saw his very disheveled father, who looked like he fought a leaf blower and lost.

‘Why, Father?’ he asked, ignoring the stinging in his eyes as his father was being escorted in handcuffs with SWAT soldiers on either side of him. ‘Why would you do it?’

‘You would never understand,’ Father snarled, fighting against his restraints. ‘You don’t love her like I do.’

‘Who?’ Adrien asked desperately. ‘Mother?’

Just then, Nathalie emerged, restrained and disheveled just like his father was.

‘Nathalie?!’ Adrien yelped, disbelieving. ‘What- why? How? You knew?’

Nathalie looked away, silent.

Father and Nathalie were read their Miranda rights and informed of their charges being the magical terrorists Hawk Moth and Mayura respectively, shoved unceremoniously into the back of a SWAT vehicle, and were driven away with an armoured entourage. The remaining SWAT soldiers continued to scour the mansion, while two intimidating men approached Adrien and his guards.

‘Adrien Agreste, I am Corporal Jean Briand, the leader of this SWAT Unit. How are you coping with all this?’

‘I- I…’ Adrien stammered, trying to form a sentence as his mind screamed incoherently. ‘I don’t know.’

‘That’s understandable,’ Corporal Briand said sympathetically. ‘I can only imagine it’s a lot to take in.’

Adrien thought that was a bit of an understatement.

‘Am… am I under arrest, sir?’ Adrien asked.

‘No, no you’re not,’ the Corporal reassured with a small smile. ‘Chat Noir may be a vigilante hero, but that’s hardly a reason to charge you, especially since you protected millions of civilians with your selfless bravery against a magical threat.’

Adrien’s eyes popped out of his head.

‘You… you know?’

Corporal Briand and the other SWAT soldiers chuckled.

‘You really need to find better hiding places to transform than behind a bush, tree or park bench,’ the Corporal chided gently. ‘But so does that friend of yours.’

‘My friend? You mean Ladybug?’ Adrien asked. 

‘Yes, a young Miss-‘

‘WAIT!’ Adrien exclaimed. ‘Don’t tell me!’

‘Hang on, so you seriously don’t know who she is?’ SWAT Guard 1 asked, amused. ‘I thought that was just a gimmick.’

‘Of course they didn’t know! Were you even paying attention during surveillance?’ SWAT Guard 3 asked.

‘Of course I was!’ Guard 1 protested. ‘But with how close they were, it was hard to believe they didn’t know!’

‘Didn’t stop you from betting on their reveal though,’ SWAT Guard 4 muttered with a smirk, and Guard 1 glared at them.

‘Huh?’ uttered Adrien.

‘Come one, man,’ said SWAT Guard 2, ‘did you really think they were going that far to hide their identities from the world if they really had revealed to each other? They don’t have that kind of intricate level of forward planning.’

‘Oh really?’ Guard 1 retorted. ‘What about Ladybug’s battle plans?’

‘What about the transformation hiding spots Adrien and Ma-’

‘No, it’s true!’ Adrien piped up, cutting off Guard 2 from revealing his lady’s name. ‘We really don’t know, and I’m not going to betray her trust by learning who she is from you guys, no offence.’

‘None taken,’ said Guard 1. ‘But now I’m looking forward to that reveal for more than just the bet.’

Adrien was reeling, his head spinning like a tornado from emotional whiplash, the million and one questions he had about the events and information revealed over the past hour and a bit, and wanting to know what kind of bet these SWAT soldiers had made about him and Ladybug. He suddenly felt very sympathetic with Dorothy and Toto.

‘So how did you find out about Father and Nathalie? And about me and Ladybug?’ Adrien asked.

‘We started investigating into Hawk Moth as soon as he made his dramatic debut in September,’ Corporal Briand began, ‘and kept a keen eye on events as they occurred. We don’t take kindly to terrorists of any kind, and that includes magical ones. We reached out to a few specialist groups as we tried to narrow down the nature of this magic, as UNIT confirmed it wasn’t alien of origin, but it wasn’t easy. All we had to off was your friend’s Ladyblog, and our own observations, including the fact that you were interacting with a creature that didn’t register on any electronic devices.’

‘Creature?’ he echoed.

‘The black cat-like wingless flying one that has an affinity for Camembert,’ the Corporal replied. ‘Our snipers had spotted you taking to what seemed like thin air, until they switched their digital scopes for analog ones.’

‘Right, smart,’ Adrien conceded dumbly.

‘But what really helped us find Hawk Moth and Mayura was, rather simply, CCTV,’ the Corporal admitted. ‘Just because we couldn’t see the floating creatures on video didn’t mean we couldn’t see things like transformations or where people travelled to and from. All it took was unlimited access to Paris’s CCTV network, using social media posts of people’s sightings, and good old fashioned investigation to solve the puzzle. Well, that, and Shanghai and New York.’

‘What about those?’ Adrien asked.

‘Because Hawk Moth and Mayura made very few in-person appearances in battles, it slowed our investigation considerably, but we still had a selection of possible suspects,’ the Corporal explained. ‘But after Hawk Moth’s attacks in both China and the US, the only one from our suspect pool who was present in both countries during both attacks was your father. We already had all our main suspects under 24 hour surveillance from before New York, but we had to make sure we had enough indisputable evidence to take to court before we could make the arrest.’

‘Oh,’ he uttered. ‘So were Ladybug and I under investigation?’

‘Initially,’ Corporal Briand admitted, ‘but once we discovered you two were just teenagers who had taken on the mammoth responsibility of using magic to protect the city and fight the terrorists, you two got downgraded in priority, but still kept under surveillance, just in case.’

‘Right,’ muttered Adrien, just as another SWAT soldier emerged from some sort of van and approached them.

‘Sir,’ the soldier said, ‘the magical items are clean, yet the Peacock one shows signs of damage. We’ve completed our assessments on the items to submit as evidence.’

‘Excellent,’ Corporal Briand said, and the soldier handed him two plastic evidence bags. ‘Now we just need to ensure they’re the real deal. Adrien, can you do the honours?’

Corporal Briand held out the plastic bags to him, and Adrien tentatively accepted them, and sucked in a sharp breath when he saw two broaches within them.

Adrien’s throat suddenly felt like it had swollen, and it was harder to breathe or swallow.

‘Um, before I do,’ Adrien said hesitantly, ‘what will happen to these Miraculouses? Recovering these Miraculouses and other lost or stolen Miraculous-related items was a major part of Ladybug’s and my job. Will we be able to take them back to their rightful place, or will you be taking them for evidence? And will we be able to retrieve them if you do take them for evidence?’

‘Don’t worry, Adrien,’ Corporal Briand told him with a smile. ‘You can take the Miraculouses with you. We just need proof that those are the real deal, so that we can confirm we got the right people and that the threat is well and truly over… and maybe, where possible, answer a few of our questions just in case we find ourselves facing a similar threat in the future. And don’t worry about yours and Ladybug’s identities - we’ll keep them secret.’

Adrien nodded warily, wishing he had the comfort of Ladybug’s presence beside him, and put on the Miraculouses. Immediately, two kwami emerged.

‘Yes, Mas- wait - Adrien?’ the purple butterfly kwami asked disbelievingly.

‘Adrien! It’s Adrien!’ cried the blue peacock one. ‘It’s soooo nice to finally meet you! Em- bleugh! I hate those bubbles! Ugh, your mum used to talk about you all the time!’

‘Duusu!’ scolded the purple one while Adrien spluttered.

‘Mum? My mum? What- how did you know her?’ Adrien asked, the words practically falling out of his mouth in frazzled sudden desperation.

‘Well-’

‘Before that,’ interrupted the purple one, looking warily at the soldiers, ‘who are these people?’

‘Oh!’ Adrien exclaimed. ‘Right, sorry - this is Corporal Braind and his team. They’re the ones who rescued you two from, um, Father and Nathalie.’

‘Woohoo!’ cried Duusu, waving their stubby arms in the air as the purple one relaxed somewhat. ‘Rescuers! Nooroo, we’re saved!’

‘Yes, apparently,’ Nooroo commented.

‘Oh!’ Duusu gasped. ‘If you’re rescuers, you can get Em- bleugh! I hate those bubbles! You can rescue his mum, then, right?’

This time, it wasn’t just Adrien’s eyes that popped out in shock.

‘Wait, what?’

[seas-of-silver]

Positioning An Undead Titan King

Summary:

Luke, and most of his inner circle, thought they should put Lord Kronos’s sarcophagus on a flat surface (because where else would you put the sarcophagi of your undead Titan lord?), but said Titan King had other ideas…and an unrealistic deadline (which was ironic, considering that “Kronos” in Greek literally means “time”), but despite all that, Luke was determined that he wasn’t going to let his Lord down.

Inspired by a clip from seaweedbrainpodcast on Instagram.

Continue reading at:

AO3

[seas-of-silver]

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Snekmouse

Summary:

It's post-Monarch defeat, and Ladybug is training Chat Noir up on the Miraculouses and the role of the Guardian! As part of her plan (which has been more successful than she had hoped), the two of them would explore different Miraculouses and their power sets over the course of a week, and this week Ladybug has chosen the Miraculouses of the Snake and of the Mouse. Little did they know what this would lead to.

Merry Christmas @peakwonderfulness!!!

Continue reading at:

AO3 | FF.Net

[seas-of-silver]

Did the doctor say "triplets"?!🤭

‘Did the doctor say "triplets"?!’ Rose burst excitedly as Adrien and Marinette walked through the door of Alya and Nino’s home for their monthly Akuma Class (and friends) game day. ‘Oh, please let it be triplets!’

‘Wha-’ Marinette began.

‘No, I’m sure it’s twins,’ Mylène cut in, just as animatedly as Rose was.

‘Guys, it could be a single child,’ said Marc calmly.

‘Or quadruplets,’ Nathaniel suggested teasingly, earning him a playful elbow from Marc and a squeal of delight from the girls.

‘The real question is whether it’s a boy or a girl,’ interjected Kim.

‘And if there’s more than one, how many of which gender!’ added Ivan, looking over his shoulder. ‘Max?’

Max was sitting at the kitchen counter, paper everywhere, pen scribbling, and tapping away at the calculator. ‘Hang on. I’m almost done my calculations - Markov’s just getting me more information on their genetic history.’

‘How-’ Adrien started.

‘What about you, Alix?’ Luka prompted.

‘Hey, don’t look at me,’ Alix replied, holding her hands up by her head. ‘Even if I do know, I can’t tell you.’

Everyone grumbled at that.

‘Guys, what’s going on?’ Adrien asked, finally getting their friends’ attention.

‘We are speculating on the quantity and gender of yours and Marinette’s unborn child/children,’ Kagami informed them.

‘Right… and why now?’ questioned Marinette.

‘Because you two went to the doctors,’ answered Félix, as if that explained everything.

Marinette frowned and folded her arms. ‘And how did you find out we were at the doctors?’

Their friends went silent, but their eyes flickered, glanced, or even outright stared at Nino, who looked everywhere except at his best friends.

‘Seriously, Nino?’

Nino winced at Marinette’s unimpressed tone.

‘All I said was that you guys would be late because you had an appointment before coming over!’ he defended.

Marinette turned her gaze to Alya, who nodded.

‘It’s true,’ Alya confirmed. ‘They just took it and ran with it.’

‘But how could we not?’ piped up Socqueline. ‘We had our catch-up brunch pushed back to a late lunch because you weren’t feeling well, and when we did meet, you hardly touched the cold meats and cheeses like you normally would!’

‘Couldn’t that just be because she still wasn’t feeling well?’ Juleka muttered.

‘And Adrien has been super protective over you for the last few months,’ Zoe stated.

‘But isn’t that because of the threats she was getting from that competing designer from the competition held earlier this week?’ Sabrina asked curiously.

‘Geez, who’s side are you two on?’ Rose huffed petulantly at Juleka and Sabrina; the two merely shrugging in response.

‘Let’s just calm down, okay? We’ll tell you what happened,’ Adrien soothed, sharing a look with Marinette, and everyone settled down - even Max stopped his calculating and Markov stuck his head out of the study to listen in.

‘We went to the optometrist,’ Marinette began, and she could already see interest drop, ‘because Adrien wanted to make sure he wouldn’t need glasses like Gabriel did-‘

‘Booooooo! Gabriellll!’ came the predictable jeers from their friends. Ever since the truth was revealed about Adrien’s father, all their friends rallied around him in support, offering food, shelter and safe spaces for Adrien to find comfort in, which meant a lot to him.

‘-and we found out that Adrien’s vision is perfectly fine!’

Mutterings of how that was good news filled the room, but it was clearly not the content they were hoping for.

‘So that’s where we were this morning,’ Adrien said to their despondent crowd. ‘Oh, and we also visited Maman and Papa at the bakery to pick up the pastries for our meet-up, and to tell them they’ll be grandparents to a little boy in six months time.’

Marinette watched as their friends’ eyes widened when their words sunk in, and covered her ears and laughed at the chaos and screams of joy that exploded from their friends.

~/~

Ask game: Give me the first sentence and I'll write a short piece for it!

[seas-of-silver]

Mr Sandman, Bring Me A Dream

Summary:

He tossed and he turned, but he was all too awake. He tried everything he could think of: exercising to exhaustion; taking a long, hot shower; playing soothing music to lull him to sleep… but nothing worked. Every time he closed his eyes, the images from his nightmare would flash in his mind and he’d be wide awake again.

Continue reading at:

AO3

[seas-of-silver]

"I'm sorry Master Fu, but... I don't think I can do this anymore."

‘I’m sorry, Master Fu, but… I don’t think I can do this anymore.’

Adrien watched as Master Fu’s eyes bugged out. ‘What?’

‘I can’t keep doing this anymore,’ Adrien repeated.

‘You don’t want to be Chat Noir anymore?’ Fu asked, voice strangled with panic and alarm.

‘Of course I want to be Chat Noir,’ Adrien answered, ‘but I can’t keep being him if things are going to stay this way.’

The panic and alarm gave way to confusion. ‘Do you mean with defeating Hawk Moth?’

Adrien shook his head. ‘I mean being a part of this team.’

-oOo-

Chat Noir landed on the rooftop where Ladybug was already waiting to start their patrol. His heart skipped happily at the mere sight of her, and he sighed in relief. Since that brush of lips, that near-kiss he had with Marinette at the wax museum earlier that day, he had been an absolute mess of emotions, wondering if his heart was so fickle that one little kiss could make him fall for someone who wasn’t his Lady. But now, with his heart doing its usual routine of happy backflips upon seeing Ladybug, he decided that all was right in the world (and that he could examine his newfound - perhaps temporary? - feelings for Marinette later).

‘Good evening, m’lady,’ he greeted as he sat down next to her at the edge of the rooftop.

She turned to him, smiling happily. ‘Hey, Chat!’

He couldn’t help but smile in return. ‘You are in a good mood. Did you have a good day?’

Ladybug grimaced like she had just bitten into a lemon. ‘Wasn’t the greatest, but luckily not as horrible as it could’ve been.’

‘Oh?’

‘I’d rather not dwell on it,’ she said, before shaking her head, and her expression cleared. ‘But I’d rather talk to you about something far more pleasant!’

‘I’m all ears,’ he said, wiggling his faux cat ears, and grinned when he was rewarded with a giggle. She turned where she was sitting to face him, struggling to sit still as if she were a puppy and he was holding a bone in his hand.

‘How’s your training with Master Fu going?’ she asked enthusiastically, the words practically bursting from her. ‘I’ve been desperate to ask for ages, but I didn’t want to bombard you too early, because I didn’t want to jump too far ahead of where you might’ve been in your training, but surely you’ve learnt enough for us to talk about most things freely together, and-’

‘Ladybug, wait,’ Chat cut in, and she paused, her arms comically frozen in the air from when she had been waving them about excitedly, ‘what training?’

Her arms dropped and she frowned. ‘Uh, the training on the Miraculous?’

‘I’m supposed to be getting training?’ he asked, and her frown deepened.

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘When was the last time you saw Fu?’

‘Saw him? Uh… when we fought against Party Crasher? But if you’re talking about having an actual sit-down conversation with him-’ she nodded, ‘-then not since after we faced Syren.’

‘Syren?’ she repeated incredulously. ‘But that was months ago!’

‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘but that chat was more like a general overview rather than anything I’d consider to be training.’

‘Ugh!’ she exclaimed, jumping up to her feet and starting to pace. ‘What is his problem?’

‘What do you mean?’ Chat asked, turning where he sat to face her.

‘Back around the time of us facing Syren, you were getting frustrated by your role and being left in the dark with identities and all things Miraculous, remember?’ she began.

‘Yeah, I remember,’ he responded. ‘I almost quit that day.’

‘What?’ she yelped, swivelling around to face him. ‘Y-you almost left? Why?’

He cringed; he had never wanted to admit to her how low he had felt that day, but now that it was out, he supposed he should address it.

‘I didn’t feel like you trusted me,’ he confessed, his heart breaking as he saw the pain in her eyes. ’Suddenly, there are more Miraculouses, and I didn’t know about them until you put them into play. There were new team members that just popped up mid-battle that you didn’t trust me with their identities. When we started being superheroes, it was just the two of us, and the only secrets we had between us were our identities, but at some point, that changed. I felt less like your partner and more like your out-of-the-loop sidekick. I had no knowing where it all went wrong, and your lips were sealed tighter than a jam jar. I didn’t feel valued.’

‘A-and now?’ Ladybug asked, her voice soft but the guilt was earth-shatteringly loud. ‘After Master Fu spoke with you when Syren was over, did those feelings change?’

Chat sighed.

‘They lessened for a time,’ he admitted, ‘because he had explained he was training you, and that’s why you couldn’t tell me everything. He told me that he was the Guardian and gave me an overview about his role, he handed me the power-ups, and then he left. And that was enough for me back then, getting some answers for what was going on, but it’s still hard. Even after Syren, I still don’t know our temporary teammates identities, so only you can go get them and bring them to the battle. Only you and Master Fu knew how to make our power-ups. I don’t know where Master Fu lives, so I can’t just go talk to him. I… if I think about it too much, it hurts.’

Arms wrapped around him.

‘I am so sorry, Chat Noir,’ Ladybug apologised. ‘I told him to stop leaving you in the dark, and when he said that he’d take care of it, I thought he was bringing you up to speed, not just giving you a one-off chat. I hate keeping secrets from you, especially things to do with the Miraculous. Never doubt that I trust you with my life and the Miraculouses - you are my partner and my best friend.’

Chat returned the hug. ‘Thank you, Ladybug. That means a lot.’

She pulled back and looked him in the eye. ‘I promise you, Chat Noir, that I’ll talk to Master Fu and make this right.’

-oOo-

’After that, she gave me your address so that I could reach you in case of important discussions that need to happen, and for emergencies,’ Adrien explained, watching as Master Fu frowned deeply.

‘She should not have done that,’ Master Fu said sternly.

‘Yes, she should have,’ Plagg retorted, staring the old man down. ‘If she hadn’t given him your address last night, I would’ve brought him here anyway, and he would’ve learned your address either way. But she trusted him, and so should you.’

‘What makes you think I don’t trust him?’ asked Fu. Plagg stared at him, unimpressed.

‘Did you not just hear everything my kid just told you?’ Plagg responded dryly. ‘Ladybug and Chat Noir’s relationship almost fell apart, Adrien was going to give up being Chat Noir altogether, leaving Hawk Moth a step closer to victory - just because you couldn’t bring yourself to trust Adrien as much as you do Ladybug.’

Fu seemed unmoved by Plagg’s words. ‘He can’t just give up - he has a responsibility-’

‘And what about your responsibility to him?’ Plagg countered. ‘Has he done something wrong?’

‘No.’

‘Has he proven himself less reliable or trustworthy than Ladybug?’ Plagg continued, cutting Fu off.

‘No, but-’

‘Has he ever showed any signs of wanting to betray Ladybug or wanting to join Hawk Moth?’

’No, he hasn’t-’

‘So then-’

‘Because there are extenuating circumstances!’ Fu yelled.

‘Like what?’ Plagg yelled back.

‘I can’t say, it’s too dangerous,’ said Fu tersely.

‘Can’t or won’t?’ Plagg shot back.

Fu didn’t answer, opting to silently fume with a red face.

‘Does Ladybug know what you aren’t telling us?’ Plagg prodded.

Fu pursed his lips, but averted his gaze in discomfort.

‘I’ll take that as a “no”, then,’ Plagg stated.

Adrien was finding this conversation frustrating. He knew Ladybug would talk to Fu sometime soon - she had only made her promise last night, after all - but he decided to try and talk to the Master himself when his fencing lesson cancelled last-minute and he had some free time on his hands. The last few instances he had met Master Fu, the old man seemed kind and understanding, so Adrien thought this discussion would go smoothly. How wrong he was.

There was no reason for Fu to not trust him - the man had said so himself! There was something Fu was hiding, and he clearly wasn’t willing to disclose whatever it was that was preventing him from trusting Chat Noir the way he does Ladybug. Adrien opened his mouth to speak-

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and Adrien jumped where he sat, turning to look at the intruder as Plagg zipped under the table.

‘Fu! You have some explaining to do!’

The door closed shut with a quiet click. Eyes met.

‘Marinette?’ he asked. He had never seen her like this before. Her body was tense like a lioness about to pounce on her prey. Her heavy breaths foretelling a storm of epic proportions. The fire in her eyes burned like a bushfire raging in the peak of a dry summer. She was livid. But not at him.

‘Adrien? What are you doing here?’ she asked evenly. No stutter. No stumble. No sweet blush or cute little smile.

‘Marinette, this is very rude of you-’

‘I’m here for a personal matter,’ Adrien said, cutting off Master Fu as he held Marinette’s gaze. ‘You?’

The blue fire blazed. ‘I’m also here on a personal matter,’ she began, turning the inferno towards the old man across the table, ‘and it’s a matter of urgency.’

Marinette looked like she’d eat Master Fu alive if Adrien left them alone. Adrien didn’t know if he should hold her back from ripping Master Fu apart for whatever he had done to rile her up so much, or if he should sit back and enjoy the carnage, but one thing was absolutely certain - he was staying put.

‘Why don’t you sit down and join us? Adrien offered brightly, ignoring the wild eyes Master Fu was sending him. Marinette, too furious to question Adrien’s motives, sat next to him.

Master Fu cleared his throat. ‘Uh, well, since these discussions are both personal matters, we should discuss them without mentioning other people’s names,’ he suggested.

Adrien agreed, and Marinette nodded stiffly beside him. Secret identities needed to remain a secret… then again, Adrien thought that if he was allowed to entrust anyone with his identity, Marinette would be at the top of the list.

‘Why don’t you go first, Marinette?’ Adrien suggested, earning him a curious look from her. ‘I’ve been here a little longer than you have, and you said your matter was urgent.’

Marinette nodded with a small “thanks”, before turning towards Master Fu.

‘I have this friend,’ she began, ‘and you know him well, Mr.Fu. And you have done him a great disservice.’

‘What happened?’ Adrien asked.

‘My friend and I were working on something together, and we had been for a good few months before I met Mr. Fu. Mr Fu decided to give me tutoring in the area me and my friend were working in,’ she explained, her voice unusually even for the fury that emanated from her. ‘I kept asking and asking Mr. Fu to tutor my friend as well, but he refused, citing “security reasons”. But my friend had noticed the sudden difference between my level of knowledge and his, and began to question it, and I could see him getting upset when I couldn’t answer him because I had made a promise to Mr. Fu here that I wouldn’t share this knowledge with anyone - that promise was a condition of my tutoring.’

Adrien could understand her friend’s perspective. Maybe he should meet this friend and teach him some breathing techniques to avoid being akumatised.

‘One day, I told Mr. Fu that it was time for my friend to be brought into the loop, to be trained the same way I was.’ Marinette was on a roll now. ‘He had agreed, and promised that he’d “take care of it”, which I thought meant bringing my friend up to speed, but no! I just found out yesterday that it was just a quick little one-off chat that did barely enough and my friend still feels on the outer! Things haven’t been fixed!’

Something was niggling in Adrien’s mind, whispering that this friend of Marinette’s had an eerily similar situation to himself, while the rest of his brain fought to ignore that very thought.

‘I can’t believe you, Mas- Mr. Fu!’ Marinette exclaimed as she jumped to her feet, body tense with anger, ready to fight. ’The way you’ve been treating him is totally and unnecessarily cold! Why? What’s he ever done to you? He is just as much of the team as I am, and instead of guiding him and teaching him, you’ve been treating him like a mushroom - keeping him in the dark and feeding him shi-’

‘Marinette!’ Master Fu gasped. Adrien almost pouted; he had never seen Marinette so mad to be on the verge of swearing, and he never knew that he wanted to hear her swear until now, and Fu just prevented him from hearing it. Yet another thing Adrien wasn’t able to experience, thanks to the old man. All the while, that niggling feeling grew stronger.

Instead of looking abashed at Master Fu’s scolding, Marinette looked even more infuriated than before, and a lot more hurt.

‘He almost left!’ she shouted, tears forming in her eyes. ‘He almost left his job, he almost left me because of you! Before you came, we trusted each other, we were partners, equals! But your blatant favouritism towards me and obvious disregard of him made him distrust me! He didn’t feel valued anymore, and almost left! This needs to change!’

Tears started to fall from her eyes. This was his Lady. She was crying for him, and he didn’t know what to do.

‘I can’t do this without him,’ Marinette declared. ‘He is the only reason I stayed after that first day, and if he goes, then I go.’

Adrien’s heart leapt into his throat. If he ever needed any proof she cared about him just as much as he did her, that was it. He stood up, placed his hands onto her shoulders, and gently turned her to face him.

‘You can’t go, m’lady,’ he told her gently, watching her eyes cloud with confusion before widening with realisation, ‘Paris needs you more than I do.’

‘I can only stay if you do, Kitty,’ she responded with equal softness, voice hitching with wet hiccups. ‘Paris needs both of us, because I can’t do this without you.’

He held his arms out and she all but jumped into them, hugging him just as desperately as he was hugging her. Adrien knew that he still needed to resolve the issues with Master Fu, and there was the whole matter of the unexpected identity reveal to deal with, but that was for Future Adrien. With Plagg resuming his staunch defence of Adrien to Master Fu (now joined by Tikki), and with Marinette in his arms, he knew they’d be okay.