Chapter Text
Marinette wasn't quite sure what was going on. Everyone was rushing around her, putting on jewelry, make-up, dresses, just to take it all off again and start with something new. She caught snippets of conversation, words like "wedding" and "heir" and "guardian" floating through the air, but none of it made sense to the little girl. After all, she was only 4 and, despite being incredibly smart for her age, was still confused. A woman with black hair in a bra and skirt walked towards and crouched.
"Look at her, she looks perfect for my Damian. They could almost be siblings. Bring her out, and don't forget the chalice." Marinette looked at her feet, admiring the pretty black and pink colors of her dress and trying to avoid the woman's piercing gaze. The woman clipped something into her hair and then turned around and left. Two more women, clothed in black, led her to the door and down the hall.
"Just do as they say, okay sweetheart?" She nodded, still unsure of what was going on, just knowing that it was important. The door was open and she was shoved in, with only the instruction of walking down the aisle to guide her. At the end of the walkway stood a boy clad in black and red, looking every bit as confused and unhappy as she felt. When she reached the end she was forcefully yanked onto a dais, as was the boy. The woman from before came out, this time dressed in a white body suit.
"We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of the League of Assassins and the Order of the Guardians. We have before us my son, Damian Al Ghul, heir to the Demon, and Marinette Fu, Heir to The Guardian. Today they are to be bound together till they are of marrying age, using the ancient rites and the magic of the Lazarus Pit." She took Marinette's and Damian's hands and bound them together with a green cloth, chanting the entire time. She presented a golden chalice filled with glowing green liquid, looped the green cloth around it, and told them to drink. Marinette drank first, yelping in pain as the liquid burned it's way through her body.
Damian drank next, grimacing as he did. Talia smiled.
"I present to you- the betrothed."
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They did everything together, Marinette and Damian. They grew together, fought together, trained together, laughed, loved, cried, played, and hurt together. They were inseparable. Until the Order of the Guardians learned what The League was planning to do with their alliance. What they were planning to do with the miraculous. So they attacked. It was a long and bloody battle, one that Damian and most of the Order did not survive.
The only surviving members were Wang Fu and his granddaughter, Marinette. They fled the league, landing in Paris, France, where Fu left Marinette at the doorstep of a bakery, with only the instructions of hiding her upbringing and ladybug and cat miraculous to keep her safe.
So there she sat, a 10-year-old girl, alone in the rain, in shock and broken from the events of the past few days. She was still there in the morning, and by that time the next day, she was no longer a Fu, but a Dupain-Cheng. She was, for the first time, showered with love and attention that didn't have to be earned. And that made it hard, hiding her true personality and interests from her guardians, and made it hurt. But what hurt even worse was that there was no one she could talk to, no one who could help her understand what had happened. But she got used to it eventually, that empty, broken feeling in her heart.
And as the years went by, that broken, empty feeling began to fade. And she was happy. Until she found out she had to go to school.
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"WHAT? WHY!?!?" Marinette would rather die than have to interact with, with, well, with people.
"Because Marinette, you need to talk to people your age. I'm sure your classmates will love you. Please Marinette. Please?" Sabine was exasperated. She'd been fighting the nearly-teenage girl all morning.
"Uggggg, fine. But I'm not gonna like it."
"You'd be surprised."
And, well, let's just say she was not surprised. It was as draining and annoying as she thought it was gonna be. But of course she couldn't say that, so when her mother asked how it was, she simply said "fantastic". But eventually, the class grew on her. They became, well not exactly friends, but something of the sort. And then she became Ladybug, dropping the ring of the Black Cat off at one of her classmate's home, fighting a villain who called himself Hawkmoth. And as she grew as a superhero, she grew as a person. She became class representative, went out of her way to talk to people and make them feel welcome. And then Lila came. The silver-tongued vixen lied her way into the class, and when Marinette-trying to save her classmates- outed her, she was ostracized, which didn't affect her at all. No longer did she have to listen to Alya's constant blabbering of "OH MY GOSH Ladybug this and Ladybug that. OH MY GOSH IT"S CHAT NOIR." Ugggg. Not to mention how much she talked about Adrien. It hurt Marinette, every time Alya just made assumptions about her love, reminding her of the dark-haired, green-eyed boy that had died defending her. At least she didn't have to pretend anymore.
She sat in the back of class now, no one talking to her except for, surprisingly, Chloe. The girl was nowhere near as annoying and cruel as Marinette had pegged her. It turned out she was just as broken and bruised as Marinette was, with a mother who showed blatant favoritism and emotionally abused her constantly. She became Marinettes first friend. She helped Marinette discover a new passion, designing. And when it turned out she was good at it, well, Chloe was her biggest fan, helping her create an alter ego called MDC, going so far as to get her a commission with some of the most famous people in America, just to help her brand grow. Of course, now she needed an excuse to go.
Which brings us to the present.
"Just read it Marinette! You are being ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous! The worst they could do is say no."
"On behalf of Wayne Enterprises, I would like to thank you for the time and consideration you put into your essay. I read countless submissions, but yours stood out in a way that I can't describe. So without further ado, I would like to say you have won the all-expenses paid class trip to Gotham City." Marinette stared at the screen with wide eyes until it hit her.
"WE WON WE WON WE WON! EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She squealed and grabbed Chloe, "Did you see? We won!"
"Yes Mari, I saw. Now put me down!"
"Oops. Sorry" She smiled sheepishly. Chloe just shook her head and smiled, until she looked at the clock.
"Oh, I gotta Go. Goodbye Marinette!"
"Goodbye, Chloe!"
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Of course Lila was taking credit for her work. Who cares that the email was quite clearly addressed to Marinette Dupain-Cheng, not Lila Rossi. But who cares. They were going to Gotham! Marinette had everything planned down to the hour for the entire trip. She couldn't wait.
School was let out early, so they could pack and be back by 5. The bus ride to the airport made Marinette want to shoot a certain orange-haired liar in the face, but she managed to refrain from doing so, although she did chuck a rock or two at the back of her head when she wasn't looking The airport was uneventful, aside from Lila claiming Marinette had stolen her ticket, which was easily disproved with a single look at the ticket. And when the stewardess told Lila she could be arrested for saying something like that, well it was just the icing on the cake.
The plane ride was fantastic, to say the least. Chloe had gotten them first-class tickets, so they had almost 9 hours of luxury and silence. Of course, once they got to Gotham, Lila accused Chloe of stealing her luggage, and then the bus left them behind. It didn't bother Marinette however, because the hotel reservation was under her name so they'd just be stuck in the lobby. But they definitely went as fast as they could to the hotel. And they definitely didn't stop to sightsee and get coffee. Unfortunately, they did end up at the hotel and got everyone checked in and settled.
Apparently, there was a god somewhere smiling on Marinette, because she was paired with Chloe. Or maybe it was the little goddess of luck that she carried with her. Hopefully the rest of the trip would go this well.