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The kingdom of Gotham was celebrating the birth of a prince. The prince was a beautiful baby boy, which the king named Damian. Sadly, the queen had died during childbirth, something that magical flower she had consumed when she had fallen ill during pregnancy could not fix. Luckily, Damian was healthy and strong. His brothers, Prince Richard, Jason, and Timothy were elated with the birth of Damian. Of course, they, along with King Bruce, were saddened by the queen’s death. They knew they had to take care of the youngest.
That night, tragedy struck again. A woman broke into the castle, and into the nursery of Prince Damian. The woman, Thalia Al Ghul, took the child into her arms, eliciting a cry to fall from the baby’s lips. She escaped right as the royal family burst into the room. Damian was kidnapped, right under the noses of the royal guard.
Immediately, search parties were set out to find the missing prince. People searched for days, all across the kingdom and beyond. Nobody ever found the prince or the cloaked kidnapper. Fair away, hidden in the woods, lay a tower. Inside the tower, the prince was being raised by Thalia as her own. Damian Wayne was still known as Damian Wayne, as Thalia was cocky, and decided to keep the name. Damian would remain in the tower for years to come, never leaving once.
----
16 years later
Damiain got up when the sun came up. He had moved his bed specifically so that the sun would leak onto his face and wake him up. After waking, Damian would get dressed and start on chores. It was one of the only things to do in his tower. He was lucky that mother allowed him to cut his hair, otherwise it would be too long.
It was discovered when he was young that he could magically heal someone when he sang an incantation. Neither he or his mother knew why it was such. He was required to sing songs to his mother whenever she showed up. He lived in a tower, in which his mother left him there frequently. There were no doors to exit the tower from, only a window in which a long rope was used to climb up and down. Damian would have to pull the rope up with his mother latched on.
In his free time, Damian had taken to painting the walls. Still lives, imaginative paintings, and those of random memories of his youth. There was a sun, and men with blue eyes. However, it was only in his dreams where he saw those men. He never knew where they came from, only that they were important.
When he was younger, Damian had taken to reading about anything he could. By age ten, he was well versed in English, Arabic, French, Mandarin, Romanian, and many more languages. He specialised in all sciences and maths, as well as art. Thalia had made sure her son would be very well educated, even though Damian was not allowed to leave the tower.
One of his extracurricular hobbies were blades. Anything related to swords, knives, even bladed boomerangs. Damian excelled in it, and frequently was given new blades by his mother.
----
The week before his sixteenth birthday, Damian asked his mother to see the lights. The lights only appeared on his birthday every year. He never knew what they were, or what they meant. Thalia had claimed they were stars, but Damian knew better. The lights were something more than just stars.
“Mother, can I go see the lights this year?”
“No, Damian. You cannot. We have been over this a multitude of times.”
“Fine. I will try again next year.”
Thalia scoffed then continued on with her day in the tower. At the end, Thalia asked Damian a question.
“Damian.”
“Yes, mother?”
“What do you want for your birthday?”
Damian thought about it, then answered.
“May I have those special paints? I am running low.”
“The ones that take me a three days trip?”
“Yes, mother.”
“Very well. I will leave tomorrow.”
“Thank you, mother.”
The next day, Thalia left the tower again. Watching her until she left the clearing, Damian then turned around and grabbed various items. He would go and see the lights this year. He would not be trapped in the tower forever.
Grabbing a satchel, Damian put enough food in for a week. After that, he grabbed an extra pair of clothes, and a few of his blades. Then, for extra precaution, he grabbed some extra money. Then, he grabbed the rope to the tower, and climbed down.
----
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a recluse. She lived in the forest, and only came when she needed to. Why would she socialise, when her friends had started lying about her and tarnishing her reputation? To avoid her house being vandalised, she had moved into the forest outside the kingdom, in a hidden area. Today, however, was different. She was in town today.
Marinette had already stopped by the tailor in order to drop off her orders, and grab more fabric for her new ones. Then, she went to the market to get enough food until the next time she came to town. She walked along the streets, and to her favorite bakery. She grabbed some coins and paid the lovely couple running it for sem bread and sweets. After catching her eye, she also got a cupcake.
She was interrupted by the bane of her existence- Lila Rossi. As a serial liar, she had turned her friends against her, to the point where she had to flee the kingdom for her own safety. It had been a tough decision, but the breaking point was when Lila and Alya had broken into her home. They had stolen precious jewelry, and sold it. They had also taken Marinette’s animal companions and sold them to the butcher, sold them away, or had killed them. Marinette was unable to retrieve anything stolen. That day she had not only lost family heirlooms, but her friends that had stuck with her. She could no longer stay in the kingdom of Gotham.
She was lucky that nobody knew where her new house was. That way, she could live without the fear of harm coming to her possessions.
That was why she was surprised when she ran into a man checking out her house.
-----
Damian had spent the day wandering through the woods. He needed to go find the lights, but he didn’t know where to start. When he came across a small house hidden away, he thought they could tell him. So, he explored the area.
The house was a small cottage. Homey, and obviously not meant for very many people. The door was locked, and when he peeked inside, it looked empty. He looked through other windows, and that was when a voice came up behind him.
“What the hell are you doing? This is private property you creep? Gonna try and steal from me? Not today!”
Damian turned around and saw a girl. She had dark hair tied into pigtails, and was wearing pants and a tunic. Brown boots made it so that she could run and traverse freely.
“Tt- of course not. I was in need of assistance.” Damian replied.
“Yeah? And why’s that?” Marinette asked skeptically.
“I have been unable to see the lights that happen every year in six days.”
“Woah- you mean the lanterns set off annually for the lost prince?”
“Lost prince?”
“Are you totally clueless? The royal family gave birth to a prince. The queen died in childbirth, and the prince was then later kidnapped. Couldn’t be found. They set off the lanterns every year as a way to call back the prince. It had become tradition.”
“So they set it off on the day he was kidnapped?”
“No, his birthday is the reason they chose the day.”
“Oh. What is the prince's name?”
“Damian Wayne.”
“Wait- what?”
“His name is Damian Wayne?”
“Well, yeah.”
“But my name is Damian Wayne.”
----
In the days leading up to Damian’s birthday, he had learnt many things. About society and limitations. He was also getting nervous, as his mother- no, his kidnapper- would have been back and noticed him missing by now. He did not want to bump into her. However, when he had sunk into a panic attack over it, Marinette had sang him a lullaby to help him out of it.
“Flower gleam and glow/ Let your power shine/ make the clock reverse/ bring back what once was mine/ heal what has hurt/ change the fate's design/ save what has been lost/ bring back what once was mine/ what once was mine”
Marinette, who he had learned was her name, had told him about the song. It was a song her mother had sang to her, and it was a song that her mother’s mother had sung to her daughter. It was the only thing Marinette had of her mother.
Thalia had never sung to Damian. Never gave him a hug. Never cared for him like Marinette had been cared for from her own family. It was after such stories that Damian learned how Thalia had unfairly treated him.
On the subject of flowers, Marinette had deemed Damian worthy of helping her garden. In a small clearing off to the side of the house there was a garden full of different kinds of flowers. Red ones, blue ones, white ones, even purple ones! Damian had yet to come across something he was not good at, so he demanded Mari teach him about flowers. So, she did.
Later that day, Marinette had accidentally cut herself while making food. Trusting her, Damian revealed his secret- about his magical powers.Mari had promised to keep the secret, and help protect it as well. After that, their relationship had grown deeper.
---
By the end of the week, Marinette dubbed him ready to go into the kingdom. Just in time, as that night the lanterns would be released. Damian was excited, although he would not show it. However, Marinette still picked up on it. She did not say anything though.
They left at midday, so that they would have time to enjoy the festivities. They arrived to see music and dancing. It may be a festival about a Prince’s kidnapping, but a festival was still a festival.
They danced together for fun, and had bought an assortment of items. From matching flower crowns to snacks. Marinette even got Damian a cloth with the kingdom’s symbol on it- a bat.
At the end of the day, Marinette and Damian climbed into a boat to see the lanterns from the water. It was beautiful. Lanterns floated all around them, and they seemed to reach far into the sky. After sixteen years, Damian got to see the lights he had wanted to see. After sixteen years, Damian had returned to his home.
----
“You ready?” Marinette called out to Damian as they exited the boat. It was time for Damian to reunite with his family.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Damian replied.
Together, they walked up to the kingdom palace. They had to squeeze through the crowd, but when they reached the castle door, guards blocked their entrance.
“Who are you, and what do you want with the Royal Family of Gotham?” One of them gruffed out.
“My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I have recently come across the lost prince.”
The guard scoffed. “Yeah right, and just where is he?”
“Right here,” Damian interrupted. “My name is Damian Wayne, and I request an audience with my father.”
After that, everything seemed to blur. Damian reunited with his father King Bruce, and his brothers Prince Richard, Jason, and Timothy. Thalia had been imprisoned for her crimes against the kingdom of Gotham. Marinette spent time over at the castle with Damian, their friendship blossoming into love. Due to preferences, Jason and Richerd (He preferred to be called Dick) became head knights. Timothy became the royal treasurer, and helped keep the kingdom prosperous and healthy. And Damian? He became king, with his queen Marinette by his side. Although once a month at least, they took a break at Marinette’s cottage.