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Okay! Time for a Witch!Marinette AU one-shot with a Lukanette twist! And right on time for Halloween! I got inspired by some Marichat May 2020 fics that I was reading earlier.
So, here's the summary: Marinette is a local witch/fashion designer both loved and feared by her community. Not only is she great at creating spells that she puts into both baked goods and fashion garments she makes, but she'll use those spells for the greater good and to help her friends.
And along from being one of the few nicer witches in the world, what sets her apart from other witches is that she doesn't have a familiar, which is almost unheard of.
But Marinette doesn't have time to worry about being devoid of a familiar, what with all of her duties and a few... Annoyances.
Stigmas are annoying. Very annoying. Especially when you're breaking stereotypes just by living your life and there are people who still think you're bad news.
At least, that was how Marinette Dupain-Cheng, local fashion designing witch felt about herself. Sure, the village she lived in loved her for using her magic to do nice things. But there were still a few people who thought that one day she'd get fed up with it all and start acting like... Well, like a witch, just replace the "w" with a "b."
Luckily that was slowly going away with being herself and minding her own business.
The young woman with black-navy blue hair in pigtails, blue eyes, milky skin, and was wearing mostly red with black spots, was in front of her little magic nook. It had a bookshelf of magic spells and information, a cauldron in the corner that was behind two tables, and there were spice racks/shelves filled with her baking spices and witchcraft ingredients (organized so she wouldn't mix them up, if past accidents were any warrants). There were drawers filled with fashion design tools and fabrics, and there was a mannequin on the other side of the nook so she could avoid mixing up her fashion magic with her food magic or her magic magic.
Using her wand, she was levitating her spellbook while working with the contents of her spell.
"Okay, a pink-headed duck feather..." Marinette said as she put the aforementioned feather into the cauldron.
The pot contained sparkling, dark pink liquid that looked both dangerous and delightful.
"A tablespoon of genuine Cassia cinnamon..." Marinette continued as she put a tablespoon of the cinnamon in the pot.
The liquid turned purple.
"And finally, a teaspoon of oyster shell fragments!" She said as she used her wand to shake some of the oyster shell bits into a teaspoon measure and then dumped the contents into the cauldron.
She faced the cauldron and said, "Noissap htiw meht llif!"
*POOF!*
A puff of pale pink smoke and sparkles blasted out from the cauldron and the contents were swirling.
"Perfect! This should reinvigorate their marriage." Marinette said as she used her wand to bottle the potion and she tied it with a ribbon and a little card.
She put it in a basket that she made, along with several other bottles in different shapes, sizes, and ribbon colors (organized to make sure she doesn't mix up one potion type with another). There were also a few baked goods and some small sewing projects in there, too.
"Okay, now to turn the cauldron off..." Marinette said. She snapped her fingers and the contents of the pot were gone. "And done!"
Marinette took the basket up and left her little cottage, which looked like any villager's home. She shut the door and used a spell to lock it, and she started walking through the streets to make her deliveries.
"Okay, first, the diluted aphrodisiac potion for M. Bourgeois... Next, the sleeping pecan sticky buns for Nathaniel Kurtzberg... The courage serum jacket for Ivan Bruel... The Caquet family is looking a mood improvement spell to help Mireille, thus the cupcakes..." Marinette began, as she recited off a list of the orders she had for the day.
"Hey, girl!" A voice said.
Marinette turned around her and saw her best friend, a woman with tan skin, dark red ombré hair, and hazel eyes framed by glasses, wearing an orange dress.
"Alya, hi!" Marinette said as Alya came up to her.
"So girl, what's on your list today?" Alya asked.
"A lot. I've got deliveries for André Bourgeois, who wants to reignite the passion in his marriage, Nathaniel wants some sticky buns to help with his sleep problems, Ivan needs a confidence booster to confess to Myléne, so I put some courage serum in a jacket, Mireille Caquet is pregnant and needs a mood booster to help her with the birth, etc." Marinette began.
"Wow, that is a lot," Alya said, with a big "whew," and she shook her head. "Need a little vulpine assistance?"
Marinette knew what Alya was talking about. Not only was Alya her best friend, but she was also a shapeshifting fox, just like the rest of her family. In fact, the Césaire family were the only shapeshifters in the village. If one saw a fox, and it could talk, chances were it was one of the Césaires.
"Yeah, you would be such a big help. I have so many deliveries to make," Marinette said. "Divide and conquer?"
"You know it!" Alya agreed.
The two of them shared a high-five.
"Okay, so you bring Ivan and Nathaniel their orders, I'll bring M. Bourgeois and Mireille's family their orders, and then we regroup in twenty minutes and get through the rest of them." Marinette instructed as she separated the items into two different baskets before handing off one of them to Alya.
"Got it!" Alya said as she took up the basket, transformed into a fox, and ran in one direction.
Marinette ran opposite from Alya to run for the Bourgeois estate.
Marinette was soon standing in front of the palatial gate to the Bourgeois mansion, and she was looking up at it.
As a child, Chloé, the owners' daughter, would pick on her relentlessly for no reason, and it got even worse when Marinette discovered she was a witch. But that changed when Chloé pushed Marinette too far once, and the ravenette cast a karma spell on Chloé, so no matter what happened, for better or worse, Chloé would get retribution for her actions.
It lasted for about three weeks until Chloé got on her knees and begged Marinette to remove the spell. There were tears in her eyes, she was making a huge scene, and everyone found it amusing that the most spoiled girl in town was begging a witch for mercy. Marinette made Chloé promise that she would never pick on her or her friends again, otherwise the karma spell would be placed back on. For good.
Even now, Chloé knew better than to cross Marinette.
Marinette knocked on the door. Within minutes, the door opened and the butler, Jean-Yves, emerged. She said, "Bonjour, Jean-Yves!"
"Bonjour, Marinette," Jean-Yves said as he lifted a yellow silk favor bag. "I have your payment here."
"Thank you," Marinette said as she handed the potion to the butler, and he gave her the favor bag. "I have M. Bourgeois' order here. I hope he and his wife rekindle their love."
"With your magic, they should," Jean-Yves said as he gave her a smile and a nod. "We'll be coming to you again if the situation calls for it."
"Merci beaucoup monsieur! À bientôt!" Marinette said as she put the payment into her basket before skipping off for the rest of her deliveries.
Alya, still in the form of a fox, had dropped off Nathaniel's sticky buns. Nathaniel took out the box of buns, and he replaced it with a red silk pouch with coins in it.
"Thanks, Nate. Marinette will get these, no doubt." Alya said as she took the basket back up into her mouth before bounding of.
Marinette made her way to another part of the village, where the Cauquet family was.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" Mireille's mother said, relieved Marinette arrived. "Mireille's been in the foulest moods, and nothing we've tried has worked. She's been demanding your goodies and we thought that maybe..."
"Say no more," Marinette said as she handed the woman the box. "Here's the cupcakes you ordered."
"Oh, these are her favorite! You're a lifesaver!" Mireille's mother said as she gave Marinette the coins.
"Have a good day, future grand-mére." Marinette said as she turned on her heel and started running back to find Alya.
Back with Alya, she'd found her way to Ivan's place and she'd handed him the jacket.
"Thanks, Alya. Marinette's the best with these things," Ivan, a taller, chunkier boy with a tuft of blonde hair said as he took the jacket and gave her a sack of coins, too. "I really need this."
"A little more advice - don't sing. You're better off writing your feelings down and giving it to Myléne instead." Alya advised.
"Thank you," Ivan said. "I'll let you and Marinette know how it goes."
"Thanks!" Alya said as she took the money before running off to get to Marinette.
Marinette had found herself back in the town square, and she was looking around for something or someone. She also looked a bit nervous.
"Hey girl!" Alya said as she ran over to her best friend. She changed back into a human. "All done on my end."
"Great, now we'd better hurry up and get the rest of these delivered before heading back to the cottage." Marinette muttered to her.
"What? Why?" Alya asked.
"You know why," Marinette hissed under her breath while rolling her eyes. "We're in the middle of the town square where the market is, and you know what that means!"
"Oh, right..." Alya muttered, groaning in annoyance.
"Well... No signs yet, so I think we're good," Marinette said after looking around once more. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Come on, we still have more deliveries around town, between all of the market vendors placing orders with me, some of the other villagers, and some people who have taken ill."
"Like who?" Alya asked.
"Well, the Beauréals' daughter is sick, so she needs some medicine in the form of candies she can suck on," Marinette listed off. "Max's mom has been working a lot of all-nighters on her astrology work, so Max ordered a scarf with a relaxation spell so she can calm down and take it easy. Myléne's father's lucky hat needed to be repaired, and I added a bit of magic to help him with his performances. Mme. Tsurugi broke her arm, so Kagami ordered a magic salve to help her heal faster. The list goes on."
"Well, we'd better stop burning daylight and get to work before it's too late," Alya spoke. She grabbed Aurore, Kagami, and Max's orders. "Meet up here later in another thirty minutes?"
"You got it." Marinette agreed as the two of them scattered around and started to deliver everything.
Marinette started dashing through town to deliver her part of the orders. Each person was grateful for the magical potion/fashion piece/baked good that was ordered, and they responded in kind with generous payments to the young witch. The same could be said about Alya, who was making sure to gather the money paid out for Marinette and only Marinette.
Marinette wrapped up her deliveries before going to the marketplace center to wait for Alya.
"Marinette, I'm back!" Alya said as she caught up to her best friend. "Got all the coins!"
"Great," Marinette said before taking two out of three of the pouches. "Thanks, Alya."
"Hey, you didn't take all of them." Alya pointed out.
"Keep that one, Alya," Marinette said. "You deserve it after all the help you've given me."
"Aw, thank you, girl!" Alya said before hugging her best friend.
"Well, that's all the deliveries today," Marinette said as she checked off the list. "Shall we head back to the cottage and chat?"
"Great idea, girl." Alya said as the two of them started walking through the square to get to Marinette's cottage.
"So, I'm thinking that some of your cookies would hit the spot after all of that," Alya began. "Thoughts?"
"Totally," Marinette agreed. "But I'm also having a hankering for croissants..."
"Yeah, that sounds good, too," Alya said. "Hey, what about both?"
"Yeah, that-" Marinette began, only to stiffen up and make a scared squeaking noise. She looked pretty uncomfortable.
"What's the matter?" Alya asked.
Marinette shoved her hand into her cloak pocket and pulled out another bottle. She opened the cork and sprinkled its contents on the two of them. The two girls turned transparent, along with their baskets.
"Hey, what-" Alya began, but...
"Shhh!" Marinette hushed, her finger to her lips. "Look."
Marinette pointed someone out.
Out in the center of the square, there was a young man about their age with slicked-back blonde hair, green eyes, and was wearing a nicer suit. He was looking around, as if bored/angry or something.
"Merde, pas lui..." Alya muttered.
Marinette gave a whimpering nod, saying, "Yeah. Let's stay silent and walk."
Alya nodded in agreement. The two of them took deep breaths before they began walking, making sure they were on the opposite side of the square to avoid the blonde boy. They kept their mouths completely shut, and their eyes on him, in case he looked in their direction.
The women walked right past him, and he didn't even notice. Once they were outside the market, and they were out of his line of sight, Marinette breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, we're good now," Marinette said. "Nees eb su tel!"
In a puff of pink and sparkles, the potion wore off and the two of them breathed a sigh of relief. They soon made it to Marinette's cottage and they immediately went inside the cottage.
They gasped in relief and the two of them slumped down a bit.
Marinette pushed herself off the door and said, "That was close."
She started walking in to the potion station.
"Great call, having your invisibility potions on hand whenever you're out." Alya praised.
"Yeah, I don't want to cause a scene by hexing Félix Graham de Vanily." Marinette said.
Félix was the son of a local, wealthy widow who was just as bad as Chloé Bourgeois when it came to mistreating other people. Pulling pranks, causing mischief, wrecking friendships (or at least trying to). In fact, even Chloé couldn't stand him.
But Marinette was always able to find a magical solution to stopping him, and even after the fact, Marinette would still show him some kindness. As a result, Félix took a bit too much of a liking to Marinette. He'd often make passes at her, drop by her house with flowers, things like that. A man of means like Félix courting a witch was almost unheard of, which was very confusing for her. Marinette tried to tell him to leave her alone, but she had concerns that if word got out that she'd turned down a wealthy suitor, she'd be kicked out of the village. And since she was a witch, the consequences she'd possibly face would be worse.
But then again, Marinette broke conventions all the time by her mere existence.
"Honestly, getting Félix to leave you alone would be so much easier if you were like other witches." Alya commented.
Marinette gave her friend a questioning, affronted expression, and asked, "Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean? If I was cruel and nasty to everyone for my own amusement?"
"No, I meant if you had a familiar," Alya elaborated, hands up in surrender. "Most witches have them. A magical animal companion that acts as your guide and guard."
"Well, I'm not like other witches," Marinette laughed with a smile. Her face fell. "...Besides, if I was meant to have a familiar, I'd have one by now."
Alya's face fell. Familiars were a bit of a tough subject for Marinette, as she'd gone her whole life without one, and other witches would pick on her.
Like Alya said, the majority of witches and warlocks had a familiar, and the familiar in question could be any kind of animal or mythical creature from a dragon to a snail, and everything in between. The creature would be a mentor, friend, and guardian to their witch, assisting them with their spells or work, accompanying them when they would go out, etc. How a witch or warlock got a familiar wasn't a case of the witch choosing the familiar, but the familiar choosing the witch.
It was rare that a witch would be without a familiar.
"Come on, girl," Alya said with a laugh. "I'd be more than happy to volunteer for the job."
"Alya, no!" Marinette protested. "You're my best friend, I don't want you to be forcibly glued to my side until I pass on. You have the right to do what you want to do with your life. Don't you want to be working with the press someday? You can't do that if you were my familiar."
"Okay, good point, it'd be tough to balance," Alya laughed. "But still..."
"Listen, I'm fine without a familiar. Besides, you know how it works - the familiar chooses the witch, not the other way around." Marinette said as she started working on something else in her cauldron.
"Whatcha working on?" Alya asked.
"Just another batch of the invisibility potion," Marinette confirmed. "I used the last of it just now, so I gotta make more for next time."
"Yeah, good call," Alya said before standing up. "I gotta get going. Nino's waiting for me for a date."
"Have fun!" Marinette said as Alya left out of the cottage.
Marinette kept using her wand to stir the pot to create the invisibility potion, but her face fell as her thoughts turned to a lack of love life.
The crystal ball she had on her table started glowing.
She spelled it (and the cottage) to create an invisible, magical barrier where people (with or without magic) couldn't get in without her consent. Anyone who touched the barrier activated the crystal ball, which would show Marinette who was there, and she would decide whether or not they could come in (a magical video doorbell/fence, in a way). She kept it secret outside her inner circle for safety reasons.
Being her best friend, Alya was allowed to come and go without the barrier blocking her. The same applied to Nino. Otherwise, anyone who wasn't a close friend or a family member was subject to the barrier. All they needed was Marinette's permission to be allowed to go in and out as they wanted.
Marinette looked into the crystal ball, only to see Félix standing outside with a bouquet of flowers and his usual cocky, wicked smile.
"Hey, ma sorcière mignonne! We're going to dinner tonight." He said before puckering his lips and getting all kissy.
She rolled her eyes with a moan and chanted out, "Nehtgnerts eht reirrab!"
It was invisible to those without magic, but Marinette could tell that the pink sparkles around the cottage were getting stronger.
"That should keep him at bay for a while..." Marinette muttered as she continued the potion.
After about thirty seconds, the crystal ball lit up again, and Félix was still there.
"I won't take "no," for an answer this time." Félix stated.
"For crying out...!" Marinette moaned before glaring at the door. "Nrub eht srewolf!"
She snapped her fingers. That instant, the flowers Félix was carrying spontaneously combusted into pink fire.
"Ow! Hothothothothot!" He shouted as he dropped the flowers on the ground and started stomping on them to put out the fire. Once the flames were gone, he glared up at the cottage. "Mark my words, Marinette! You will be my wife!"
He scoffed before turning on his heel and leaving.
Marinette shook her head, and said, "Honestly, if I wasn't so strict about not using my magic to manipulate emotions, I would've used a love potion to get him to fall in love with someone else a long time ago!"
She went back to her invisibility potion while keeping an eye on her magical viewing tablet in case more people ordered something from her.
The next morning, Marinette had gathered up her orders for the day, put them in her basket, and left the cottage. She started walking through town to make her deliveries.
She looked around, and everything was routine and monotonous, not that she minded. She found it peaceful, how nothing surprising came and went. It was a nice, quiet lifestyle that satisfied her.
Marinette saw Ivan and Myléne, a shorter woman with golden eyes, and had blonde hair in multicolored dreadlocks, walking down the road together, hand-in-hand. Ivan saw Marinette and waved at her, smiling.
Marinette waved back, and gave Ivan a thumbs-up to congratulate him on his success.
As they walked away, Marinette had to wonder... What about her? Was she not allowed to find love because she was a witch? Her parents were a witch and warlock who found love with each other, so why couldn't it happen to her?
Up ahead, she heard shouting and yelling of some sort.
She looked up and she gasped when she saw some kids throwing rocks and kicking a snake or some other long, scaly creature. They were laughing, cackling, and shouting at it, calling it mean things like "evil" and other nasty insults.
Marinette gasped in shock, and she shouted, "Hey, stop that!"
They didn't listen to her. So, she began to run over, she raised her hand up, and she called out, "Sdik esoht pu elbbub!"
Instantaneously, all three little boys were trapped in giant bubbles, like they were in a bubble bath, and they were floating up into the air. They were screaming in fright, unsure about what was going on.
"Hey, what is this?!" "Let us down!"
Marinette came from underneath them and glared up at the kids.
"What did you three think you were doing, hurting an innocent animal?!" Marinette demanded.
"Snakes are dangerous, evil creatures! Mommy says that they can kill with a single bite!" "My dad tells me if you see a snake, you kill it to protect your family!" "I was told that snakes are cunning, wicked beasts that will attack without hesitation!"
"Snakes are an important part of the circle of life!" Marinette insisted before turning to the creature. "Yes, some are venomous, and yes, those venomous species should be avoided! But it's simple, you just leave the snake alone and it won't bite or constrict. And a lot of species are harmless, like garter snakes."
"We were just doing what we were taught to do to protect our families!"
"I get that, but that's no excuse for animal abuse," Marinette scolded. "And let me ask you this: do any of your family members farm?"
"Yes, my daddy's a farmer!"
"Well, he should be thanking the snakes for eating all the rodents that try to come and eat his crops," Marinette scolded. "Didn't you know that?"
"I... I didn't."
"Well, maybe now you'll think twice before hurting a snake!" Marinette said before closely examining it. "Now, let's have a look..."
The snake looked very beat up. It was covered in scratches, there was even one over one of its eyes, and it looked like it'd been through hell. But what was curious to her was that it didn't look like any species of snake she'd ever seen before.
Its coloration was pale teal green as opposed to black, brown, or dark forest green. Not only that, but it had diamond markings and on its back and a rattle on its tail akin to an eastern diamondback rattlesnake. The shape of its head was also that of pit vipers in general, but it had a hood like a king cobra. Not only that, but it was also the average length of a cobra. She noticed that the end of the snake's tail was longer and thicker, so she could tell it was a male.
"Poor thing... Elbbub a ni ti tup!" Marinette recited before bubbling the snake, as a safety precaution.
She picked the bubble up in her hands before beginning to run back to her cottage.
"Elbbub eht pop!" She shouted.
The bubbles containing the kids popped and they all fell to the ground.
Marinette dashed indoors and placed the bubble onto the coffee table before looking at it to examine its wounds.
"You don't look too healthy... Those kids, they should know better by now!" Marinette said. She lifted her wand and used it to rapidly flip the pages. "Aha! Healing tonic!"
Marinette immediately started on the tonic.
"Okay, chamomile flowers for relaxation and sleep aids for post-treatment, echinacea stalk to prevent infections, goldenseal to treat any irritations, lavender oil for therapeutic purposes, and yarrow for the external wounds." Marinette said as she put all the ingredients into the cauldron.
With a few stirs of the contents with her wand, she said, "Cinot eht hsinif!"
With a huge POOF, the contents created a small, pink mushroom cloud and it began sparkling. She took a bottle and filled it with the tonic.
"Done! Now, this is for external use, so..." Marinette began as she cautiously ruptured the bubble and sprinkled it over the snake.
It was subtle, but some of the wounds on the snake started to clear up.
"Hm, those kids did more damage to you than I thought... And I don't know about any internal wounds... Not to mention there's no vet around here..." Marinette muttered as she put the tonic bottle down on the shelf.
She crossed her arms and looked over the snake, and she saw that unlike the yellow she would see in most snakes, this snake's eyes were blue like hers.
The snake looked at her, as if she were just there, and nothing more. He didn't rear its upper body into an S shape and start hissing and rattling his tail like most vipers would do in defense/attack mode. He was likely just so tired and weak from the injuries that he didn't have the physical strength to feel threatened.
"Yep, you're definitely not like any snake I've ever seen," Marinette said. "So, what am I going to do with you? I don't know exactly what species you are, but you have all the traits one would see in a venomous snake, so I should put you back in a bubble, but..."
The snake didn't move, again only looking at her. He slithered closer to her, but it wasn't a rapid, quick movement. And Marinette could've sworn that the snake almost... smiled.
"Okay, I don't have any other options for you, so I guess you'll have to stay here until you're fully healed... And if you don't mind, I'll keep you in a bubble for each other's safety, okay?" Marinette said.
The snake moved his head up and down, like he was nodding.
Marinette blinked, shook her head, and she said, "Okay, I think my eyes are playing tricks on me... Maybe I've been in the cottage too long, but I could've sworn you just nodded..."
Marinette snapped her fingers to bubble the snake back up and she said, "I'll give you about two or three doses of this tonic a day, and hopefully you'll be fully recovered in two of three days."
Again, Marinette thought she saw the snake nod, before saying, "Well... I have to get back to work... I'll see if I can conjure up some dead mice for you to eat later..."
Marinette shook her head before going back to her station to work on a sleep aid potion for herself.
The following day, Marinette had woken up early to check on her patient.
The snake's wounds were visibly healed, but he wasn't fully recovered yet. He was also resting peacefully next to a pile of dead mice Marinette conjured up for him to eat.
"Wow, you're a fast healer," Marinette praised. "But I still think another dose of that tonic could help."
Marinette once again popped the bubble, took the bottle of tonic and sprinkled it over him again, and more of the healing was seen.
"There you go," Marinette said with a laugh. But again, the snake didn't move, only looking at her with what Marinette could swear was a smile on his face. "Um... Hey, if you promise not to bite me, I'll let you stay out of the bubble... And I'm talking to a snake."
The snake laid his body down on the table and sat there. Marinette gave a shrug before saying, "Okay, time to get to work."
As she kept working on her potions, fashion pieces, and baked goods to deliver for the customers who ordered from her, her new reptilian friend stayed in his spot, letting the healing tonic do its magic and watching the young witch at work.
A few hours of peace and quiet passed, and Marinette was packaging all the baked goods, bottling the potions, and bagging up the garments.
"Okay, next item on the list, apple turnovers..." Marinette said as she started using her magic to cut the apples and the puff pastry. She put all the apples in the bowl and started looking over her ingredient list.
The snake noticed a bottle was on the floor, and Marinette hadn't noticed it. He slowly slithered from his spot and got to the floor. He used his head to pick up the bottle and started moving towards Marinette.
"Apples, check; lemon juice, check; cloves, check..." Marinette muttered as she looked over her spice rack, only to see something missing. "Uh-oh! Where's the cinnamon stick jar?!"
The snake used his tail to pat Marinette's leg.
Marinette looked down and saw the snake using his tail to grab the cinnamon stick bottle off his head and presented it to Marinette.
"Oh, thank you, vous serpent doux!" Marinette said as she took the cinnamon sticks from him. "This is just what I needed! How did you know...?"
She looked at him and noticed a certain gleam in his eyes. He nodded his head.
She shook her head, amused, before taking out a cinnamon stick and using her magic spice grinder to grind it.
Once the turnovers were in the oven, she turned to her patient, and she saw that he wasn't in his spot. He'd left it, and he was slithering up the bookshelf.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Marinette asked. The snake knocked a book off the shelf.
It fell on its spine and it opened up to a picture of a small, handheld harp. The snake slithered over to the book and looked at it before putting the end of his tail on the picture.
"A lyre?" Marinette asked. "You want me to create one for you?"
The snake looked at her, as if saying "Please," and Marinette gave it a nod.
"Okay, I'll try. I've never created a musical instrument before, but I'll see what I can do." Marinette admitted as she picked up the book and looked over the spell.
She set up the cauldron and looked at the spell and the list of ingredients. She was a bit confused about the ingredients, but she tried to make it work.
"Alright, then... So the shards of a musical ghost's mask," Marinette spoke as she sprinkled the mask shards into the pot. "Horse hair..."
She took some of the horse's hair and threw it into the cauldron. It started to change colors from pure white to murky teal. She wondered if that was what it was supposed to look like.
"...Ew, this next one might be uncomfortable for you... Dried and ground black mamba scales." Marinette muttered.
She shook a spice shaker bottle of the snake scales into the pot. The teal started to get paler in value. The murkiness began to fade.
"And last but not least, a ray of sunshine..." Marinette said.
She looked out the window and saw it was a sunny day, so all she did was open the curtain and use some mirrors to direct the sunlight to the cauldron. It landed directly on the contents, and it turned pale teal green, with green sparkles intertwined.
"Now... Chimes, bells, sweetest of spells. For the kindest melody, a harp you will be!" Marinette chanted.
Mist the same color as the cauldron's contents billowed out of the pot and it went over to the table. Out of the mist materialized a small hand harp that had the same coloration and patterns as the snake himself.
"Wow, it worked." Marinette said.
The snake raised his upper body and slithered over to the instrument. Using his tail, he started strumming the strings on the lyre.
The music was quiet, in major key, but the tempo was adagio and the melody was conjunct with the dynamics being mezzo-piano. The song was soothing and quiet, like Marinette had created a magic diffuser and the song was being accompanied by the sweet scent of the lavender essential oils perfuming the air.
"Wow... For a snake, you're very musical..." Marinette muttered, smiling in delight. She giggled before turning back to her cauldron. "Thanks. Play as much as you like."
The snake kept playing the lyre as Marinette kept working on her potions for her orders.
About an hour later, Alya came by.
"Hey girl, I'm here to he-" Alya began, but once she saw the snake... "AAAAH! SNAKE!"
"Alya, calm down!" Marinette said as she tried to calm her foxy friend.
"Marinette, didn't you hear me?! You have a snake!" Alya asked, pointing at Marinette's guest.
"Yeah, I know. I brought him in here. Some nasty kids were hurting the poor guy, so I took him in to heal him." Marinette explained.
Alya, who was still breathing heavily, looking at the snake again before looking back at her friend.
"Marinette, shouldn't you bubble him?!" Alya asked.
"I did at first, but after a while, I started to let him be loose," Marinette explained. "Because, well... I don't think there's anything really dangerous about him."
"What makes you say that? He's got all the physical traits of a deadly snake!" Alya asked.
"I know... But it's weird," Marinette commented as she looked over to the snake before looking back to Alya. "He's the calmest, most docile snake I've ever seen. No matter what I do, he doesn't act like... Well, like what you would expect from a snake. And yet he looks like what you would get if you combined a rattlesnake with a cobra and dyed him teal."
"Fair enough." Alya admitted.
"Not only that, but he's been a big help around here. As he's recovered, he's just... Well, helped me when I've misplaced ingredients, used his tail to play a tiny harp I conjured up for him, and more..." Marinette confessed.
"He's been helping you out and he plays music... Marinette, I don't think this snake is even a real snake." Alya told her.
"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, too..." Marinette admitted.
Alya smiled and said, "Marinette, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Are you thinking that I should take him on as a familiar?" Marinette asked.
"Yeah!" Alya said, nodding. "What's stopping you?!"
"Alya, remember: the familiar is the one that chooses the witch." Marinette insisted.
"Ugh, fine..." Alya laughed.
The snake was looking at them, almost smiling at the two of them. He went back to playing his music.
"Wow, he may be a snake, but he's definitely a musical snake." Alya laughed before continuing to talk to Marinette.
Three more days passed. On the fourth day, the young witch woke up in her bed. She sat up, yawned and stretched her body.
She looked at her tablet on her nightstand, picked it up, and said, "Okay, today's orders..."
"You've gotta make chocolate chip cookies laced with your decongesting serum for the Lahiffe family - Chris apparently has a stuffy nose and is getting a cold. Next, there's a request for cherry turnovers with an immunity booster and endurance spell for the Duparc family's son. There's also an order from the Raincomprix family for a flexibility spell in a new hat for Roger so he could become more flexible with the rules." A voice said.
Marinette screamed and jumped before looking around in fright.
"Hey, who said that?!" Marinette asked, a bit freaked out.
"I did." The same voice said.
Marinette looked behind her to see a young man about two years older than Marinette herself. He had dark hair with tips that were dyed blue-teal, with bright blue eyes. He had black gages in his ears and he also wearing dark blue/teal/navy blue night clothing for men. He had a peaceful, kind smile on his face.
Marinette screamed and scrambled out of the bed. She grabbed a spare wand and held it up to the stranger.
"Who are you?!" Marinette demanded.
"My name's Luka Couffaine," He said, introducing himself. "Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you."
"Okay, but how did you get in here?!" Marinette demanded again.
"You brought me here," He explained. "You saved me from those kids and brought me here to heal me."
"Wait... You're the snake?" Marinette asked, lowering her wand.
"Yeah, a shapeshifter," He explained. "Not an average snake, as I'm sure you figured out."
"Definitely not," Marinette chuckled. "I guess you didn't change back into human form before for some reason?"
"Yeah, those injuries hurt something fierce, and I couldn't transform back because I was so weak from them," He said, shuddering. "You really helped me."
"It's no problem," Marinette said. "So... Since you're all healed up now, I guess you're going to leave."
"Well, initially, but..." Luka said as he got off the bed and approached her. "I... I was hoping I could stay and help you."
"Stay and help me?" Marinette asked.
"Yeah, I want you to be my witch." He confessed.
Marinette's eyes popped open.
"You... You want to be my familiar?" Marinette asked.
"And your friend." He elaborated.
"I..." Marinette began, not sure what to say. She looked up at the handsome gentleman, who was giving her a kind smile. "Are you sure you want me?"
"I do," He confirmed. "But... Only with your permission."
Marinette was blushing, her eyes wider than dinner plates at the sight of him.
She wasn't sure how to react. Most familiars were steadfast in their choices. If they chose you, that was that. But others were a little more considerate, and were very firm about mutual consent for both parties involved. Luka was clearly the latter.
"I..." Marinette began. But she looked back up and him and saw how sincere he was.
'I COULD use the help...' Marinette thought. She looked up at him and said, "...Yes. I'd love for you to stay."
"Thank you!" Luka said with a chuckle.
"Now that we've gotten that settled..." Marinette began as she led the two of them into the common area of the cottage. "I only have the one room, so where are we going to put you up?"
"I can always stay in snake form and sleep like that in the kitchen." Luka told her.
"Just one second." Marinette said before snapping her fingers.
She created a large, plush cushion bed on top of the coffee table where Luka was originally sleeping. It was large enough to carry his entire length, had a smaller pillow, and there was a bowl for food for him to eat.
"Um, since you're not a real snake, I assume dead mice aren't on the menu?" Marinette asked with a chuckle.
"Yeah, not my favorite food, but I'll take it when I can," Luka chuckled back. "So, no more of those, please?"
"Deal." Marinette agreed.
"I guess we're a team, then." Luka said.
"Yeah... A team." Marinette agreed, while blushing at him.
Almost immediately, the two of them started to get to work. Luka stayed in human form as he started to help gather the ingredients for the cookies.
"Hey Marinette, do you want milk or dark chocolate chunks for the cookies?" Luka asked as he looked through the cabinet.
"Milk, please. Chris loves milk chocolate, so it'll be easier to give him his medication if he eats something he likes." Marinette said as she was using her magic to cream the butter and two sugars.
"Got it," Luka said as he found the milk chocolate chunks and brought them over to Marinette. "Need anything else?"
"The flour and the eggs." Marinette told him.
"Right here," Luka said as he took two eggs out of the fridge, brought them over to Marinette, and he found the flour bin and rolled it over to her, too. "All set?"
"For now," Marinette said. "Luka, could you please mind the crystal ball until I need you?"
"Okay." Luka said as he took up his lyre and walked over to the table where the ball was.
He was strumming the instrument for a few seconds, letting his mind (and eyes) wander to Marinette, when the ball lit up.
He looked in and saw Félix standing outside the barrier, another bouquet of flowers in hand.
"Marinette, were you expecting someone?" Luka asked.
"No, Alya's allowed to come and go as she pleases," Marinette said as she added the chocolate to the cookie batter. "Why? Who's here?"
"Blonde, green eyes, dresses sharply..." Luka described.
"Oh no..." Marinette said. "Félix again."
"Suitor?" Luka questioned.
"He wishes." Marinette scoffed.
"So, what are we going to do about it?" Luka asked.
"You leave it to me," Marinette said as she clapped her hands twice. "Spartylf sunev retsnom htiw egattoc eht druag!"
The flowers that were planted around the cottage magically turned into venus flytraps, and they grew to gigantic sizes. They started snapping at Félix, causing him to drop his bouquet. One flytrap took the bouquet in its mouth and ate the flowers in one gulp before continuing to snap at him.
Félix stepped back before saying, "You can't avoid me forever, Marinette!"
He turned on his heel and walked away.
Once he was out of sight, Marinette snapped her fingers and the flytraps were gone.
Marinette shook her head in annoyance and said, "Honestly, he's obnoxious."
"Sounds like this is normal around here." Luka commented.
"Yeah." Marinette said with a sigh. She went back to her cauldron.
With the cookie dough done, the two of them started scooping cookies and putting them onto the sheet pan. Marinette used her wand to put them in the oven and shut it.
"Now we just need to bake them until they're done." Marinette said as she put the wand down.
"You've got this down to a science, Marinette." Luka praised.
"Thank you," Marinette said. "I've been at this for a while. My parents are witches, so I come by it honestly."
"Nice," Luka said. "They sound like very good people if they raised you to use your magic for good."
"I know. Most witches can be real... Well, witches, but I choose not to conform to those stereotypes." Marinette spoke.
"I'm glad you were the one that saved me, Marinette," Luka said, giving her a smile with a sultry tone underlying his expression. "I don't think I've could've gotten any luckier."
Marinette giggled and blushed as she looked at Luka, a shy smile on her face.
The two of them stayed quiet as they kept looking at each other in affection and joy. Luka went over to the table to pick up his lyre and he started playing it. Marinette sighed as his soothing music made her feel much more relaxed and at ease.
"You're really good at that, Luka." Marinette said, a blush still on her cheeks as she looked at him.
"Thanks, I've been playing guitars, harps, lyres, you name it, ever since before I could even walk." He chuckled before playing some face-paced, happy notes on the guitar.
Marinette giggled at it, and she looked up at Luka, giving him a look of affection. Luka put the lyre down and looked up at Marinette.
"...So, now what?" Luka questioned.
"The cookies are in the works, so let's see what's next..." Marinette said as she looked over the list on the tablet.
"The cherry turnovers." Luka stated.
"Thanks. Could you start pitting the cherries? I'll get the puff pastry." Marinette asked as she used her wand to get the pitter and the cherries out and onto the counter.
"Got it!" Luka said as he went to the counter to pit the cherries.
The two of them kept working together on the turnovers, with Luka on the cherry filling (with the immunity booster spell provided by Marinette) while Marinette was getting the puff pastry prepared.
"How's this?" Luka asked as he presented the cherry bowl to Marinette.
She examined the contents of the bowl, took out one of the seasoned cherries ate it. She chewed for a few seconds, and then looked up at Luka with a smile.
"Looks great!" Marinette said as she gave him a thumb's up. "And nice call with the lemon juice."
"Thanks," Luka said as he took out a cherry and ate one, trying to act sensual with his chewing. "Your spells are flavorless, odorless, and basically undetectable..."
Marinette was red in the face. She said to him, "Y-Yeah, that's why it's impossible for people to tell unless someone says something."
"Well, a little bit of that immunity booster will help me," Luka chuckled. "Don't want any future wounds to infect me."
Marinette laughed before saying, "Okay, let's get back to work, you silly snake."
Marinette took the bowl and brought it to her station to work on filling the turnovers.
"Okay, a bit of egg wash..." Marinette said as she brushed the egg wash on the edges of the puff pastry. "Some cherry filling..."
She put a tiny scoop of the cherry filling into the square before turning the pastry over and sealing it with the tines of a fork. She washed the pastry, cut some vents into it, and sprinkled a bit of sanding sugar into it.
"Now, into the oven!" Marinette said as she used her wand to switch the cookies with the turnovers before putting the cookies onto the counter.
"Looks great, and it smells just as good." Luka praised as he put a hand on Marinette's shoulder.
She looked up at him and blushed as she examined his profile in the light. He looked at her and gave her a smile that could only be described as affectionate.
"Let's keep powering away." He said to her.
"Okay." Marinette said, agreeing with him.
The two of them kept working on the orders for the day, including the hat for Roger. About two more hours passed and the hat was just about done.
"Wow, that looks so good," Luka told her as Marinette finished up the hat. "The flexibility spell should help."
"Yeah," Marinette said as she put the hat in her basket, which had the other orders finished. She looked over everything else. "We've got everything we need for the deliveries."
"Okay," Luka told her before looking over her spice/ingredient racks. "I noticed that some of your ingredients are running down."
"Then we'd better get going to the market. There's a magic ingredient vendor at the market in town, and we can do the deliveries at the same time, so let's go." Marinette said as she picked up another empty basket and took out the bottles of ingredients that were nearly empty, so she could remember which ones she needed.
"I'll meet you outside." Luka said as he made for the door.
Luka opened the door to the cottage and stepped out, only to see Félix standing a several feet away from the barrier, once again holding a bouquet of flowers.
Félix looked up, thinking Marinette was there, but he paused and his eyes bugged out when he saw Luka instead.
"Um, hello..." Félix began, trying to be formal, but his body language suggested confusion and distaste.
"Hi..." Luka said as he tried to remain civil.
"Who are you and where is Marinette?" Félix asked as he approached.
Luka said, "I'm Luka."
"Well, is Marinette in?" Félix demanded.
"I don't think that's any business of yours." Luka said, trying to stay calm and collected.
"Yes it is," Félix spoke as he glared at Luka. "I'm here to take her to the mansion for dinner."
"Is she expecting you?" Luka questioned.
"No, not that it matters," Félix scoffed. "Once she marries me, she'll give up all this witch nonsense and..."
"Stop right there," Luka said, putting his hand up. "How do you know she even wants to marry you?"
"Because she..." Félix began.
"Luka? What's going on out..." Marinette began as she came to the door, only to see the scene. "Here..."
"Ah, Marinette," Félix said as he pushed Luka aside and presented the flowers to her. "This charlatan is getting in our way."
Luka growled a bit, trying to retain his calm.
"So, when shall we start planning our wedding?" Félix asked Marinette.
"Try never," Marinette said as she snapped her fingers and turned the flowers into ash again. "I've told you multiple times that I've no interest in marrying you."
Félix growled and said, "Do you have any idea how many women envy you for having my attention?"
"Then why not direct your advances on one of them?" Marinette asked as she tried to get to the safety of the door.
"Because none of them are you," Félix purred, his look becoming predatory. "Now, once you and I are married, you'll stop this witchcraft crap and start acting like a proper lady should. After all, what nobleman's wife would be a witch?"
Marinette, repulsed, started to ask, "How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm never gonna marry you, Félix!"
Luka started sparkling in teal in rage. He started to change...
"Marinette, the less you play games with me and the sooner you say "yes," the better!" Félix said, about to corner Marinette.
The barrier was about to activate and repel Félix, but before it could, the conceited blonde felt a sharp pain in his ankle and he screamed.
Marinette looked down and saw Luka had changed into snake form and bitten Félix in the ankle.
"Hey! Luka!" Marinette shouted in scolding as she looked at her snaky companion, who took his teeth out of Félix and slithered back to her.
"Don't you know how to treat a girl properly?" He questioned. "When she sssssaysssss "no," she meansssss it. You're being disssssresssspectful of her wishesssss by acting thisssss way."
He transformed back into human form and stood next to Marinette before glaring Félix down.
Félix was groaning in pain as he held his ankle.
"H... Hey, you just gave me an opening to get close to Marinette!" Félix spat, smirking while grimacing in pain. "Now she has to take me in and cure me of whatever toxins you injected in me!"
Marinette flinched. Bring Félix into her cottage?!
"You're going to be fine," Luka said with a shrug and an eye-roll. "That wasn't a lethal bite. Think of it like a bee sting times ten."
"So, he'll be fine, just in pain for a few days?" Marinette asked.
"Right," Luka confirmed. He looked at Marinette before saying, "Come on, let's get out of here. We can't get those ingredients by standing here."
Luka started leading Marinette away from the snooty noble, who was almost on the ground in pain from the bite. He was glaring Luka down.
"Thanks for that, Luka." Marinette told him.
"No problem. I knew he was annoying when he first came by the cottage and you created monster venus flytraps." Luka chuckled as he put his arm around Marinette.
"Speaking of which..." Marinette said as she snapped her fingers.
The flowers near her cottage turned into monster vines, and they wrapped Félix around by the torso before throwing him a fair distance away.
"...You sure that won't hurt him too much?" Luka asked with a chuckle.
"Even if it does, it sort of serves him right for bothering me." Marinette laughed in agreement.
"Well, I hope that... I'm not a bother." Luka confessed to her.
"You're definitely not," Marinette said with a laugh. She took Luka's hand in her own. "In fact... You're more than a welcome pleasure around my home."
"I'm glad." Luka said as he chuckled and looked at Marinette in joy.
"Hey girl!" Alya said as she ran up to Marinette. She paused at the sight of Luka. "Oh, who's this?"
"Nice to meet you properly as humans, Alya," Luka said, holding out his hand to shake Alya's. "I'm Luka."
"...As humans...?" Alya began, giving Luka a questioning gaze.
"Alya, remember that snake I took it?" Marinette asked. "This is him."
"Wow, girl, you struck gold with this guy," Alya teased. "So, you made him yours?"
Marinette blushed, and it sounded like a kettle was hissing.
"Yeah, I'm her familiar now," Luka said before giving Marinette a kiss on her cheek. "And... Hopefully something more."
"Oh, definitely," Marinette giggled as she leaned her head against her chest. "Definitely something more."
Alya smiled as she saw Luka put his arm around Marinette's shoulder and say, "I'm glad."
"So, what's the list for today?" Alya asked.
Marinette was still fixated on Luka, so she didn't hear Alya.
Again, Alya asked, this time louder, "Girl, what are your deliveries today?!"
Marinette snapped out of it and she said, "Oh, right. I have a list of deliveries, yes, but we also have some ingredients to gather. Shall we, Luka?"
"Let's," Luka agreed. "I'll stay close to you in case Félix comes back. Alya, could you start making some of these deliveries?"
"I'd love to!" Alya said as she took out the hat and the cookies. "I'll bring the cookies to Nino's place."
"Thanks," Marinette said as she took Luka's hand again. "Let's head to the witch spice vendor!"
The group split up, with Alya turning into a fox and running off to Nino's home.
Luka and Marinette, holding hands, were walking through the town square. Everyone was looking at the two of them, but Marinette felt they were more looking at Luka, who was a stranger in their village, as opposed to her (though if some of them were thinking about how weird it was for Marinette to be with a man, she wouldn't have been surprised, either).
The two of them weren't paying attention to them, though, focused only on the task at hand.
"Oh, there he is!" Marinette said as she pointed out an older man who was at a large cart, standing on a stool and giving out the ingredients to his costumers. "Master Fu!"
The aforementioned man looked up and said, "Ah, Marinette. It's nice to see you. Here to restock, I assume?"
"Yes," Marinette said as she and Luka went over to his stand. "Master, I'd like you to meet Luka."
"It's a pleasure, young man," Master Fu said as he stepped down from the cart and held his hand out. "...You're not what you seem, are you?"
"No, I'm not," Luka chuckled. "I'm Marinette's familiar now."
"Hm... A shapeshifting snake, I presume?" Fu asked him.
"Yes, how'd you know?" Luka asked.
"I saw some children hurting a snake about a week ago, but before I could do anything, Marinette stepped in. You're the snake, I'm guessing." Fu chuckled.
"I am." Luka laughed as he let go of Fu's hand before putting his hand on Marinette's shoulder. He gave her an affectionate look.
"So, what can I get for you today?" Master Fu asked.
"Oh, here's my list." Marinette said as she handed the list of missing ingredients to Master Fu.
Once they got their ingredients and started walking back to their meeting spot with Alya, Marinette turned to Luka.
"Um, Luka..." Marinette asked. Luka looked at her.
"Yes?" Luka asked her.
"I wanted to ask... Are you sure you're okay with being my familiar?" Marinette questioned.
"I am," Luka told her as he turned to her and they stopped walking. He looked her in the eyes with the biggest smile ever. "Because..."
"Because...?" Marinette began.
"Because you're the most extraordinary woman, Marinette," Luka told her. "As clear as a musical note, and as sincere as a melody. You're the music that's been playing inside my head ever since you saved me."
Marinette's heart hammered against her chest and she looked up at him, saying, "...Wow... I... Never thought I'd hear something so poetic."
Luka chuckled as he held his arm out. Marinette wrapped her arm around his. The two of them kept walking through town.
"I... Never thought I'd meet a man as sweet as you, Luka," Marinette said as she planted a kiss on his cheek. He chuckled back at her. "I really like you."
"I feel the same." Luka told her as he turned Marinette's affection and hugged Marinette by the shoulder.
The two of them kept walking, neither one of them leaving each other's side or letting their eyes leave one another.
Yeah, stigmas are annoying. But when two stigmatized people find love and comfort in each other, nothing else matters. Such was the beginning of this love story between a witch and her shapeshifting snake.
Okay! My Witch!Marinette one-shot is DONE! I hope to hear lots of comments and kudos!
English Translations for the French used here:
Merci beaucoup monsieur! À bientôt! - Thank you so much, sir! See you soon!
Grand-mére - Grandma.
Merde, pas lui - Crap, not him.
Ma sorcière mignonne - My cute witch
Vous serpent doux - You sweet snake