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It wasn’t often you heard anyone talking about Ajins for any reason. After all, Ajins were still mostly unknown and rare, with strange and dangerous abilities. Most people feared the idea of someone close to them being an Ajin, even though the only way to know for certain was their death. Besides, there wasn’t a single documented Ajin in all of Paris, so most Parisians never paid them any mind. They thought, ‘An Ajin would never be able to hide in a city like ours with their unnatural and terrifying powers!’
They’d be wrong.
Because Ajins look the same as humans. Ajins sound the same. They dress the same, they do the same activities as normal humans. The only difference between an Ajin and a human?
Ajins are immortal.
Unable to be killed in any way, shape, or form.
And then there’s the weird, deadly Black Ghosts creatures that they can summon mostly at will, but humans can’t see those so they don’t really matter all that much.
Ajins had no problem blending in, mostly due to the fact that they themselves had no idea what they are until their moment of truth comes. The moment where they face their (usually untimely) death.
But Paris is such a safe city! Sure they had akumas that often destroyed everything in sight but Ladybug always fixed the damage, and always resurrected those that died in the chaos. With Ladybug there to save the day, no one paid any attention to see if someone had miraculously revived before Ladybug cast her cure. And with Ladybug already swinging away on her yo-yo into the night, out of sight, no one looked closely enough to see the camouflaged blood stains on her red and spotted suit. The people of Paris only briefly cheered for their hero and then went on their way to rest.
Only three people noticed the blood stains, Viperion, Ryuko, and Foxheart, who were no longer bruised, battered, and bloody. They followed Ladybug to ensure her well-being.
Chat Noir hadn’t shown up to the battle.
Ladybug hadn’t had enough time to be disappointed at the fight’s beginning. And now in the aftermath, she didn’t have the energy to wish he had been there to watch her back. As she leaned on a chimney, away from curious and prying eyes, blood pooling beneath her, she voiced only one thought to the loyal teammates at her side.
“You know… I… I almost wish…” Her earrings beeped. One minute left. Her breaths were becoming more shallow and faint now, her words slowly lowering to whispers.
“....that… that I was an… an Ajin…” Ryuko was quietly sobbing.
“so that… I wouldn’t be… be leaving you to…” Viperion had silent tears streaming down his face, his hands grasping one of Ladybugs.
“To fight Hawkmoth alone…” Foxheart looked utterly broken, unable to accept what her eyes were showing her.
“I’m sorry...” Her earrings beeped a final time before she de-transformed.
Marinette gave her teammates the best smile she could (small and weak as it was), trying to convey her gratitude and love for them one last time. She silently regrets not telling Damian how much he truly meant to her as her eyes close and her hand falls limp in Viperion’s hold. Her chest stills and they knew she was gone.
The Ladybug cure wouldn’t bring her back. It couldn’t.
The sun rose behind them, casting the shocked and mourning heroes in a soft light. Their eyes were closed or facing the ground, their ears only hearing the sobs and cries of their remaining friends.
No one saw the strange black residue lifting off of Marinette's body.
Viperion flinches violently (he swears his heart almost stopped) when he feels Marinette’s hand twitch. His sudden movement catches the attention of the other two heroes. Foxheart gasps as her hand shoots to cover her mouth. Eyes wide and watery, the three watch was bated breath, as Marinette’s eyebrows furrow before her chest is rising and falling again, her eyes are opening, and she’s alive and no one can say or do anything for the second that it takes to process before they’re crushing her in hugs filled with relief and love and absolute disbelief.
Marinette herself is beyond confused because she was sure that she had died? What happened? How was she still alive? Why didn’t she feel her wounds or any pain anymore?
But she returns their hugs just as strongly as they give them, glad to be able to stay by them for a little longer at least.
That’s how they stayed for those few hours of the morning, crying, holding each other, cherishing one another with promises of doing better and being better and never again.
When they finally had to leave for their homes, they did so reluctantly. None of them quite ready to deal with the mental and emotional consequences of what had happened (but they promised to meet up later that day for that).
It wasn’t until Marinette was back in her bed holding an exhausted and completely distraught Tikki to her cheek that she thought back to her death, or rather, her miraculous revival. She was sure that it hadn’t been the Miraculous Ladybug Cure, after all it never affected her before. Then she remembered the last thought she shared with her team. She remembers Ajins and the strange black residue surrounding her body. She remembers her wish and for a moment her heart stops as the realization dawns on her.
Suddenly her mind is racing, running a thousand miles a second as her brain tries to process what this means for her, what it’ll do to her life and her future, what her parents will think, and oh god what will Damian think of her now, he’ll hate her for sure, what is she going to do-
“Marinette! Snap out of it!”
A smack on her cheek startles Marinette out of her thoughts. Tikki is floating in front of her, concern obvious on her small face.
“Marinette?”
“I’m fine.” Marinette says automatically. She’s not. She knows she’s not. Tikki knows she’s not.
Tikki floats closer, holding Marinette’s nose in her small paws. “It’ll be okay, Marinette. We’ll figure this out. Together. Everything will be alright. But for now, you need to rest. Try to get some sleep.”
Marinette knows she won’t be able to sleep. She knows that even if she does manage it, it’ll be filled with nightmares of her death, her team’s crying faces, imagined horrors involving Ajins. But she tries anyway. Just for Tikki. And because she knows she needs it desperately. If only to get away from this unforgiving reality for just a few hours. As she lays there, willing herself to sleep, she forces all her other thoughts away. Only allowing herself the tiny luxury of a fantasy picnic with Damian in a beautiful flower meadow.
It takes an hour and a half, but eventually Marinette falls asleep.
Tikki sits on her pillow next to her, eyes and heart heavy for her holder. She goes over every possible outcome she can think of, factoring in this new development, trying to find a path with the least amount of pain for Marinette.
There isn’t many. Even less, paths Marinette would be willing to follow.
Tikki sighs, a single tear falling down her face.
Why did the purest ones always suffer the most pain?