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Marinette tried to take a hold of the thick book that was just inches away of her fingers, but it might as well be kilometers, she wasn’t going to grab the book anytime soon. “Darn it” she thought as she stretched as far as her fingers allowed her, just in time to get towered by a familiar blue-haired musician. The scent of seasalt and his favorite cologne surrounded her as he leaned in, handing her the red leather book from before. “Thanks, Luka” she muttered, slightly blushing, avoiding the gentle gaze the boy shoot at her.
“You got the book, honey?” a husky voice asked from the living room.
“Yes, papa, I got it. We’re coming!”
The young couple approached Tom Dupain-Cheng, who was sitting in the coach, eager to start with the story. He was very much proud of his lineage, and shamelessly took full advantage of Marinette’s history assignment. “ Ghost from our past ” was the name of the project, in the expectation of attracting the interest of the students, but Marinette was just as curious, despite of the name. Tom grabbed the book and opened it, as the pair accomodated each on one side. He cleared his throat and begun speaking.
“Every family tree is unique in it’s own way. Some have arranged marriages, some have wars and feuds, and others have… uhm… well… tendencies of perpetuating their so called blood purity. But, if I may say so, ours is very peculiar and fascinating one. At some point, our line of ancestors got merged with magic, all thanks to one courageous witch.”
Two sets of blue eyeballs immediately fired to look at the baker. Marinette was so shocked that Tom was afraid her eyes would’ve pop out. “You said witch? How is that possible?!” Marinette felt a eager tapping in her purse. Luka looked just as perplexed; an unusual look on him. When they finally composed themselves, Luka spoke “Well, Ladybug and Chat Noir help this city with magic and a whole lot of bravery everyday, so it isn’t too far fetched to say that magic and witches and wizards, existed back then.”
Tom chuckled as Marinette started to wrapped her head around the revelation what her… many greats, grandmother was.
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“I don’t like this” Marlene thought as she clenched Muck for warm. It was a cold, moonless night, with the wind whistling through the woods and no blankets, only their coats as protection. In nights like this, it was hard to have hope, but a little never hurt anybody, right? Although, the new Orphanage of Paris, wasn’t a place for any of that, not even a little magic. Specially magic . Marlene had the misfortune to pry on a witch trial once, and what she saw, was horrifying. How they punished anyone who was different, not only in appearance, but also in abilities.
Wanting a family wasn’t natural, family was something that supposed to be guaranteed for a child, but situations happened, either by choice or by tragedy. In this specific case, by cruelty. Society wasn’t fair in the way it treated them, her mother was a mere herbalist, and yes, her father was indeed a white magic wizard, the two of them worked really hard in helping people and raising two happy and talented babies, but the overly religious locals distrusted them and that meant paying an expensive price. The religion these people claimed was not the one they applied, they were driven by fear and not empathy.
To cast a simple spell in a place like this, was too risky, even if she counted with the protection of Lucien, one of the guardians assigned to lookout for the children, a gentle young man, that would’ve adopted Marlene and Muck; if he wasn’t a widower. But the only good thing about the darkness of nights like this, was the refuge it offered.
“
Be warm
” she whispered, a gentle light came and went, and just like that, they stopped shivering… the sisters and every other kid that lied in the same floor… oh well, tomorrow’s gonna be another day.