Everybody gets a sad backstory!

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Chapter 2: Destruction

But every coin has a flipside and every blessing comes with a curse.
So let me restart this story.

There once was a boy named Adrien.
He was a special boy, born as a prince. His parents were pleased when they saw the mark of magic on his left shoulder, as they were both talented witches. His was a black mark that consisted of geometric shapes. It resembled some kind of feline with piercing green eyes. Animal marks were the strongest ones, the royal couple was proof of that.

But when a council member came by to register the boy's magic, their dreams faded like snow on a sunny day. She told the parents that their baby was destined to be the Chat Noir, the witch of Destruction.

"Hide him," she said. "Don't let anyone know of his magic. I will register him as unmarked. Help him to control and conceal his powers. Don't let him be found, I'm sure you remember the tragedy of the last Chat Noir."

xxxxxxx

At first, the pair payed no attention to the council member's warning. Adrien was a difficult child and needed constant attention, which everybody in the palace was happy to supply. But after a while, those who spent the most time with the crown prince started to fall ill. They didn't think much of it until the queen was a victim of the boy's powers.

After that, the king had an additional wing built to their palace, custom made to meet Adrien's every need while growing up. There he received schooling fit for a prince. Adrien knew that the constant stream of classes –Chinese, fencing, piano…– was to prevent him from going outside, but he didn't mind.

On the day of Adrien's tenth birthday, his mother cancelled his classes. She spent the day with him, despite her sickness and against the wishes of her husband. You can only keep a mother away from her child for so long. It was the best day of the boy's young life and the last day of his mother's.

After the queen had passed, Adrien's isolation became final. Only the necessary classes remained in his schedule, the others were replaced with books. What the boy craved most -contact with other people- was kept to a bare minimum. Adrien slowly faded away in his royal prison.

xxxxxxx

Adrien was staring at the garden outside, an Eden he was forbidden to enter. He studied the trees from a distance and tried to identify the occasional passing bird. He loved nature, but it didn't love him back. One day when he was a child, he had gone into the garden. It was a catastrophe. The plants died under his touch and wilted under his gaze. It had taken ten royal gardeners and two witches of Nature several years to convince plants to grow there again.

His thoughts were interrupted by unusual sounds. Footsteps. Panting. Yelling in the distance. A young man around Adrien's age turned around the corner and ran his way. He wore ragged clothes and was clearly running for his life. The prince ducked but the stranger had already seen him.

"Dude, please let me in. I promise I'll repay you, just help me." The man begged. He sounded desperate.

Adrien laughed sadly. "You don't want to come in here, believe me."

"Believe me, I do. Now move, I'm climbing through your window." He was inside before Adrien could protest any more. "I'm Nino by the way."

"I'm Adrien," the prince replied. "What did you do that you need shelter so badly?"

Nino grinned. "I might have stolen someone's loaf of bread, it seems they were very attached to it. Want some?" He asked while looking out the window nervously, searching for his pursuers.

"Only if you tell me about your life outside. You can calm down, nobody ever passes here. I haven't seen another person in months."

That day, the two formed an unusual friendship. Nino came by nearly every day with a new story about his life on the streets. In return Adrien taught his storyteller something he knew. The both of them had lived alone for so long, it was nice to see a friendly face for a change. And somehow, his new friend didn't fall ill after a few weeks.

xxxxxxx

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Adrien asked his guest after he finished his story for the day.

"Sure, ask away bro."

"Are you marked?" He had been wondering for some time why his new friend seemed unaffected by his bad luck. Not that he was complaining. He wanted to know if he actually could control his powers or if Nino was just immune to them.

Nino smiled and pulled up his right sleeve. There, a pattern of colourful bubbles – blue, red and yellow - spiralled around his forearm. They were small and concentrated around his wrist and got bigger and sparser towards his elbow.

Adrien opened his mouth in awe. "So what kind of witch are you?"

"I don't know," Nino said while shrugging. "Hey, don't look at me like that, I really don't know. I never learned how to use my magic. I was practically born on the streets, man, I'm not even registered by the council."

"Don't you want to know? I know people who could help you."

"Nah, I'm good. I like my life how it is. I don't want to become a professional witch and work for the council. Or even worse, a priest. That's not my style." He paused and grinned. "I'm probably the witch of Fun! Or the witch of Rebelling, if that is a thing."

Adrien laughed. "That sounds about right." He was thankful his friend didn't ask him the same question.

xxxxxxx

On his eighteenth birthday, the dreams started.

Adrien was walking through the forest at night. He was lost, didn't know where to go but kept on walking. His feet were guiding him towards a goal unknown. He looked up and tried to recognize the constellations he loved so dearly. Though the stars that poked holes in the charcoal sky where not the ones he had studied. This world existed only in his dreams.

Suddenly he came by an open place. In the middle stood a girl. She seemed otherworldly, bathing in the moonlight like that. Her skin seemed to glow, only interrupted by freckles dusted across her body, and stood in stark contrast against het midnight black hair. She wore a simple red dress and a matching mask. Adrien felt his face and noticed only now that he was wearing a mask too. He walked up to her. She seemed to have expected him.

"Chat Noir," the girl said.
"Ladybug," he answered.

He didn't know where the names came from, but they felt right. He knew that she had been his destination from the very beginning, that he hadn't been lost at all. They remained as they were, standing in front of each other. They didn't dare to break eye contact, afraid to lose the other forever. No additional words were spoken.

Standing here like this, in a dream forest with a dream girl, Adrien felt at peace.

xxxxxxx

"Do you ever think about leaving this place?" Nino asked. "I could take you anywhere you want, you know. Consider it my birthday present."

"I told you that I don't need any presents Nino, I'm just glad that you came by. You're literally my only friend. To answer your question, I haven't thought about leaving for a while now."

"Really dude? Why not? Are you afraid your dad will find out? Because I doubt that. I mean, he hasn't even noticed me yet and I practically live here."

"Yeah you do," Adrien snickered. "It's just that… Some really awful stuff tends to happen around me. There is a reason I live isolated from the rest of the palace. I don't want to risk anybody's safety. Besides, everything I need is right here."

"I won't ask what happened man, but didn't you get classes for that? To learn how to control your magic and aura and all that buzz?"

"I did but I haven't really tested if those classes worked. It's too dangerous Nino, just drop it."

Nino didn't drop it. "Adrien, your power is basically bad luck, right? There is someone who can help you with that." Adrien looked up in surprise. "Dude, I'm not stupid. I think you can control it pretty well since nothing bad has happened to me yet. Or at least nothing worse than the usual. Anyway, there's this witch at the temple called Ladybug and people sa-"

"Ladybug?" Adrien interrupted him.

"Yeah, that's what I said. People say she's a lucky charm of sorts, she's a healer and gives away blessings. Maybe she can counter your bad luck or something. You wanna visit her?"

He hesitated. Could this Ladybug be his dream girl? Could she exist outside of his head? "Maybe she can help me. It's worth a shot."

Nino pumped his fist in the air. "I knew you'd come around! The big bad world isn't as scary as you might think."

"Quit mocking me!" He punched Nino's arm. "Don't you think people will recognize me outside? I look a lot like my parents."

"That's no problem at all, just wear a mask!"

Adrien lifted an eyebrow. "A mask? Sure, they won't suspect the crown prince of lurking around the city with a mask on. A criminal however…"

Nino laughed. "You clearly haven't been out in a while. Masks are fashionable nowadays, people wear them for all sorts or reasons. Though it's mostly a witch thing. For example, witch guilds have their own trademark mask, like a kind of uniform. Freelance witches wear designs that fit their powers. Nobody would ask questions if you wore one to the temple. I'll wear one too if that would make you feel better."

"Okay. We'll go as soon as we have masks," Adrien decided.