Chapter Text
"Never though you would go this far, M'lady"
"I only did what I had to"
"Was this the only possible outcome?"
"...Not certain"
"I will stop you if I have to."
I could only look back and give off a smirk. "I wouldn't have it any other way... Adrien"
I suppose one might be wondering why me and Cat Noir are in a stalemate? See, three years ago I left Paris. That's right. This story began all the way back from three years ago. Gone was the 15 year old Ladybug, or I suppose, Marinette the carpet anyone could trample on.
That girl left Paris a long time ago. On the day she realized her friends were nothing more than gullible idiots, believing any story that sounded good enough. But where was I when it mattered most to them? I was there, always comforting them, putting my needs above theirs.
I regret ever giving any of them a miraculous. But I suppose I was naive back then. 3 years of training with the Order of the Guardians. 3 long years.
I'll tell you this story...
3 years ago (No POV)
As Marinette walked out of the school, she felt like just letting herself fall off the front stairs right then and there. Given how clumsy she was, she snickered at the thought.
"Marinette, are you okay?"
Tikki popped her head out of her purse, face full of concern. Marinette smiled in return.
"Yeah, I'll be fine"
"Marinette!"
Turning around, the bluenette saw a blond running toward her down the stairs. Adrien. Her boyfriend. Or at least, she believed they were a couple at this point. The two had gotten their confessions out of the way, so that's something, right?
"Adrien?"
"How are you holding up?"
"I'm... fine. Really. Thank you"
Good job, girl, SO convincing. Adrien knew that look on her face. A face that screamed low self worth.
That day, Lila came to school with another sob story. The beginning of the day was going rather well, with Marinette and Alya giggling and joking around with Adrien and Nino occasionally joining in. But then, Lila came and claimed Marinette had attacked her.
Adrien had asked Lila for proof of this before Marinette coukd even protest or deny those claims. And to everyone's surprise, Lila rolled up her sleeve to show a nasty blue bruise. Even though Marinette did not do it, for some reason the class, sans Adrien and even Alya, surprisingly did not believe her.
Before anyone could insult or berate her, the class had started, during which Marinette hoped with her whole heart that everyone would forgive her and listen to her before they accused her of anything. After all, Alya knew she was Ladybug. Ladybug would never harm anyone out of spite or lack thereof. She knew this very well.
But she never expected what would happen after class. Grabbing her things, someone had quite literally tripped her using their foot. And she never expected Rose of all people to be that one person.
"That was for Lila!" She had claimed.
And then followed the rest of the day, full of insults, berating... bullying. Marinette was used to bullies. Kim and Chloe had done so before. But ever since becoming Ladybug and Adrien coming to school, she had bonded with the class. And she considered them family. A non-blood family, but family nonetheless. So you can imagine the torment she felt inside when one of the purest of the class turned into a bully over one sob story.
And then came Juleka, Nino, Kim, Max, Alix...
"I'm sorry I could not stand up for you..." Adrien said, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"Adrien, you don't need to apologize for it. Really. I just need to go home and recover. That's all. This is nothing new for me. I promise"
Before anything else could be said, Adriens bodyguard honked his horn from the car, ready to take Adrien home. Said boy looked at his girl with concern. Marinette smiled, leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek
"I'll be fine, I promise. I love you" she reassured.
"I love you too..."
Marinette watched Adrien leave. Once the car was out of view, she made her way home. Not a long way, to be fair. Just cross the street and boom, she was home. Saying hi to her parents, she made her way to her room and climbed up onto her bed, plopping down and burying her face in her pillows.
"Marinette...?" Tikki called out gently, petting her chosen's head.
Marinette turned around and raised her hand, looking at her palm. One word only came to mind. Loss. Loss of trust and friends. Her boyfriend could only provide so much. Alya as well. Two friends were not enough for her.
But this got her thinking.
Am I the only one feeling this way? Are there other people's lives she has ruined?
Moreover, were there other people suffering because of someone's compulsive lying? She can't be the only one. This only made her feel less relief, however.
She even failed to notice a purple and black butterfly flying in through a portal in front of the window behind her chaise.
"Marinette! Akuma!" Tikki cried out.
Oh... right. Monarch. The sole provider for most of her problems. A terrorist who akumatizes people for reasons still unknown to her. He wanted her and Cat Noir's miraculous, but why?
"Tikki... let it happen..." she ordered.
"What!?"
"I have something to say to him..."
As the Akuma enters Marinette's purse still hanging off her, a butterfly symbol appears in front of her
"Princess Justice, I am Monarch-"
"What do you want?"
"To give you a chance to bring justice to those who wronged you"
"Tsk, not happening. I refuse to stoop to your level of doing this. After all... you can't akumatize Ladybug herself..."
Tikki could only watch and mouth a "what are you doing!?", which Marinette ignored for now. She'll answer her kwami when Monarch was gone.
"E-excuse me...?" Monarch asked.
"That's right. You found me. And I have a proposition for you, idiot... until I return to Paris, you will not send out a SINGLE Akuma. Once I return, I shall give you my miraculous. But only if you hold onto your end of the deal"
"You dare make conditions to me?"
Marinette snickered. "Why shouldn't I? After all, you're just a petty man terrorizing innocent lives and for what? A couple of jewelry when you could have sought out the Guardian to ask for their help instead? No, you chose to be a petty criminal who thinks he's above everyone else. Let me be then first to tell you, you are not. You are below them. Very below. And that is why I am going to be the mature one here and give you this demand. As the current Guardian, this is MY order to a user of a miraculous from MY Miracle Box. Do we have a deal, pettymoth?"
Monarch fell silent. He never expected this. Not even decades of doing the same thing would have ever prepared himself for this sudden reality check. But he was more persistent than one might think.
"How dare you... who's to say I won't come to you now and take your miraculous by force?"
Marinette snickered again. "Oh, you won't. You tried to take our miraculous by force twice now, remember? How did that work out for you? You ended up losing Fluff instead. And if you dare harm my family over two pieces of jewelry, I will destroy you... I will ask this one final time. Do. We. Have. A. Deal?"
Once again, silence. But once the akuma had left her purse, she knew Monarch's answer.
"Marinette? What are you planning? What did you do?" Panicked Tikki.
"Tikki, the temple of the Guardians was restored after Feast, correct?" Replied Marinette, ignoring Tikki's question.
"Yeah...? You're thinking of going there? What about Monarch?"
"If he is as smart as he claims to be, then he will hold onto the deal. If he doesn't, he'll have to deal with me. As of today, I am leaving Paris to go to the temple to train. But to do that, I will need to tell my parents the truth, otherwise I'll never be able to go."
So Marinette did tell her parents. Tikki had tried to talk her out of it, but Marinette claimed she was thw Guardian. She does not have to follow the rules Fu had set in stone. And Tikki understood.
Her parents handled the news better than Marinette thought. So in a matter of weeks, Marinette was off to Tibet. For the next three years, no one saw any glimpse of Marinette OR Ladybug.
But when she returns, Paris shall be... liberated.