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At the age of 13 Marinette Dupain-Cheng received the butterfly miraculous inside a mystery box that somehow appeared inside her schoolbag one day, a beautiful lilac brooch in a delicate butterfly shape that soon became part of her daily outfit.
Slight changes started to happen since then.
Enlighten senses, like she was able to feel everything that everyone at Paris was feeling, frequently she found herself tearing out of the blue without a reason or her anger getting out of hand at the slightest provocation. One time she started giggling out of control at the middle of a class that had earn her trip to the principal’s office. The worst seasons being the exams period where her usual nerves and anxiety seemed to be multiplied by a 1000.
“Girl! I don’t usually say this to anyone else but myself” Alya had told her one time after she drank her fourth cup of coffee just before they enter a physics exam “But you seriously need to calm down”
Taking a sip out of her hot drink, trying to shake off the weird creeping sensation down her spine and resisting the urge to tap her foot on the floor nervously, Marinette just shrugged her shoulders not giving it any relevance.
Then the white butterflies appeared. First there was just a scarce amount of one or two at time to time, then as the time passed she found herself encircled by a gush of flying friends wherever she went. Some people found it weird (including her parents) but she never seemed to mind.
At the age of 14 Marinette met a kwami (apparently her kwami) named Nooroo, along with two others named Wayzz & Plagg and an old man with a cane called Master Fu who, after a lot of work convincing her they meant no harm and no this wasn’t a joke, introduce her into the world of being a super heroine and trained her in the duty to come.
“But why me?” she had one asked to the old canned man who was trying to get her do a full perfect split “Why did you choose me to be the Mariposa? Why now? There isn’t any danger to be defeated”
Master Fu had only smiled at her before answering
“Your soul reflects the aura of a miraculous holder” He said his voice as calm and stern as ever “And even if Nooroo wasn’t the one destined to be yours, it’s the right path for fulfilling your destiny”
She meant to ask for more but the old man just told her to keep practicing.
At the same age Marinette met Adrien Agreste and fell in love with him as a lightning struck. She could feel his lonely soul and tender nature and it soothe her senses like no other aura has been able to. Different from all and unique in his own way.
He was a kind, reserved, curious, a little awkward, sad and even quite dorky person that had her somehow attracted to him in a way no other could.
Alya had called it a “crush”, a mere fascination for the blonde model but Marinette knew it meant something else… Something deeper.
Something stronger that seemed to pull her towards him
At the age of 15 Marinette and the rest of Paris met Mohr Skorpion as he terrorized the city of light destroying everything as he called out for the other holder to give him their miraculous.
That same day she became the Mariposa, gauze like lilac dress flown down till her knees degrading till a shade of white and moved along with the wind. Two enormous semi-transparent and glittering white wings attached to her back and a delicate lilac lace mask over her eyes to protect her identity. Her dark hair undone from her pigtails curling her free strands around her face, her blue eyes shinned like gems as her skin seemed to glow out in the light.
Dozens of white glowing butterflies fluttering around her.
“Senshi” Nooroo had called them later. Apparently her powers consisted in creating a warrior or some kind of “chosen one” to fight the evil beings along her side by taking a white butterfly and transferring its powers to a significant object
Taking the theory from the lessons from Master Fu to practice was harder than she ever imagined and the effort from creating “Lady Wi-Fi” out of her best friend using her feelings of love and desperation as Alya looked out for Marinette to get her to safety, had her almost passing out. The purplish kwami explained that the stronger the emotion the person reflected more energy was needed to transform them.
At the age of 15 she declared war against Mohr Skorpion and swear to protect the city with her life as thousands of white butterflies flew away magically fixing the havoc as they passed.
It wasn’t easy. But no one said it would. There were times where she really thought everything was lost, for her, for Paris.
She had been beaten, punched, cut, almost drowned and froze to death, electrified, buried under invisible piles and even threatened to be sacrificed to the Egyptian gods between other situations that went from utterly embarrassing to mortal danger.
But every time she wasn’t alone
The Bubbler, the reflection of Nino’s loyalty towards his friends
Le Dessinateur, Nathaniel’s affection and admiring towards herself
Archangel, Kim’s determination and strong will
The Gamer, Max’s dedication and passion
Reflecta, Juleka’s feelings and care for her loved ones
Animan, Otis calling and duty to the animals
All of them different people, different emotions and different magnitudes that had her struggling at some point during the battles against the different monsters that Skorpion used to fight her, she was barely getting a hold of her powers and maintaining her Senshi’s transformations long enough was more difficult that it originally seemed.
And then at the age of 16 she found Chat
Or rather he was the one who find her.
When she took a Senshi, usually the “chosen one” is the one who seems the most likely to accept the butterfly´s gift, but still it was a random chose based on whoever was nearby the altercate and so on.
But that wasn’t the case of Chat
The fight against “The puppeteer” had been one of the toughest she could ever recall. Skorpion’s creation had the ability to manipulate others creating a doll replica of themselves so she wasn’t just battling against just one monster but against many others that Skorpion had made before and even her own Senshi “The Magician”.
Without any resource to make another Senshi, she had to physically fight the enemy, and even thought she was prepared to do hand to hand combat by training with Master Fu, the exhaustion from calling a Senshi and her body being beaten up by not one but five enemies at once was making her giving in, making her moves more reckless and sloppy.
Hiding from the enemy on an empty alley with a still sore body and a “fresh” transformation after feeding Nooroo she was about to get out and fight once more when someone called her name.
A hooded figure approached her from behind a bin calling for her to wait.
She can’t see the stranger’s face but the emotional charge she gets from him seems unusually familiar but that tint of braveness and unravelling …. Attitude, got her off balance.
Even before he spoke the words she already knew what he was going to ask.
He wanted to offer himself as a warrior to fight with her.
“I can feel your intensity, your passion and your will to serve… but also I can feel your fear and your impulsivity, there’s a whole contradiction of emotions inside of you kid… are you sure you have what it takes to be my warrior?” She asked her voice stern and hollow as she could summon it.
He just smirked, his green eyes sparkling with determination
“Yes.... my lady”