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Part III: Chapter 5

Hello. And it's around this area where I get writers block. But it's coming along together. I just took a short break and watched a bunch of anime and read a bunch of comics to get my inspiration back up. But then I realised some parts which were in chapter 4 should be placed in here instead so I changed stuff around and then I put some parts inn here in chapter 6 instead. Now I'm going to try write as much as I can before I start uni. 

A little update. That didn't happen. Apart from writers block, I got really distracted because I was reading comics. And now I've started uni, I have even less time T.T. But it's okay because I'm really enjoying my course already!  Anyone wanna take a guess at what it is? I assure you you won't be able to.

............

She did not bother to bow, she didn't even duck her head slightly in respect, instead she kept her head up high and spoke loudly, "I would apologise for not coming to greet you earlier, but you see, I had much more important matters to deal with," the side of her lips turned up to form a smirk and she cocked her head in an arrogant manner which he would normally attribute to the egotistical manner of Destruction himself. On her it was deadly sweet and he almost flinched at the sight, "You understand, don't you? My dear uncle."

"C-creation? You can't be- you-"

"Oh, but even if you deny it, you know the truth uncle" she leaned down to level her face with his, whispering to him, "You're just ashamed that you couldn't recognise your own niece."

Offended (even if it was true), the Emperor leaned back in his throne and scoffed at such an accusation. But knowing that there were people watching them he sat up straighter. Satisfied for now, Marinette also straightened up.

"For all who have not come to the right conclusions yet, allow me to formally introduce myself," with a hand dramatically placed over her heart- she had decided, when was a better time to bring out her inner Adrien than now? She addressed the court in a way which made the already frozen room turn, almost ironically, glacier, "I am Princess Marinette, Goddess of creation. And as you can see, I am not dead."

Silence.

The first to speak was the Emperor, "This is preposterous! You have been alive for how long? And you didn't come tell me?" Internally, she rolled her eyes, "Tell me this. Were you even dead in the first place?"

Marinette almost snorted at her uncle's half pretentious words, but she was going to answer regardless, "I was. Dead-that is. Well, in a state of death, probably."

"That means what ex-"

As if Master Fu hadn't heard the Emperor's attempt at a line of questioning, he added to her rather bold way of speaking, "What she is trying to say is that whilst her physical body was indefinitely lifeless, her spiritual body was powerful enough to be kept alive until it was time for her to return and grow her body back to fairy form."

"But if the spiritual body is away from the physical body for too long," someone from the court spoke up, "And they don't reach the gates of the After-Realm in time, does that not mean the person cannot be reincarnated?"

Murmurs of agreement went through the crowd, for this was how it was meant to be.

The Emperor, also seeing that line of logic, looked to his niece for explanation, "So how?"

She shrugged, "You told me yourself once upon a time. I have the power to create anything I want. If it means creating a method to survive, I can do it," she turned to look at the court and muttered a spell to make her voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "In actuality, when I sacrificed myself, I left a shred of my life in a place I could trust. That way, I did not need to worry about reincarnation. Once the time came, Master Fu retrieved that piece of my life and grew it."

"How can we trust that this is the truth?"

Her face became smug as she honed in on the person who asked, almost smirking when the man shrunk within himself as their eyes met, "I had Master Fu record everything until my body manifested."

"And why didn't he come tell me once it did?"

Marinette turned to face her uncle again, chuckling, "Oh dear uncle. Did you forget that even during all that time I was gone, his true loyalty lies in me?"

"I-" his eyes widened comically.

She clapped her hands together, "But enough of that," she stepped closer to him again, and the way she loomed over him made everyone feel on edge, "I want to to know why despite all of my warnings, despite all of my heartfelt pleas for peace. I want to know why you are secretly building up an army once more?"

The enraged Emperor stood up at the accusation, his nostrils flaring as he looked between his niece and her (former) betrothed, "You!"

Unable to help herself, she rolled her eyes, "Luka didn't tell me. I figured it out myself. If you want to know why, move."

"What?" His teeth were gritted as he looked at his niece, wondering how she had turned out this way.

'This must be his influence. She would not have been like this otherwise.'

"I said move," she tilted her head with a smile, "Whilst I'm asking nicely."

He sighed and conceded, "As my niece, I will allow for your impoliteness to pass. However, what you think you can achieve by do- What are you doing?"

As he and everyone else wondered why she had asked, she sat herself down in the throne the Emperor was once residing on, "Huh? I was wondering why you liked this seat so much but it's not even that comfortable. Still," she looked up, "It is easier to address everyone from here."

From behind her, a guard asked another, "Wh- what should we do?"

She ignored the chattering and glared dangerously at her uncle, "I didn't confirm it until all of my memories were back. But when I did, I found it suspicious how you punished (or- well- tried to punish) Luka so severely when he did his best to defend Soleria. And yes- I say severe. Even for Alya and Nino, two of your most trusted and important officials, the two who the people of Soleria truly relied on, the punishment they received was worse than it should have been. And for what?"

The Emperor tried to simmer his rage and answer, "It was because they helped you that they got punished. If you hadn't gotten involved with Destru-"

"No," She raised her palm and shook her head calmly, "It wasn't because of that. Because even I know that if it was only because of that, you would have sent them to train their discipline with the mountain masters for a couple of years and left it at that. Their crime was only knowing me, and every one of you knew that."

"Their crime was knowing that you helped Destruction!" But even he knew that it wasn't enough to deserve such punishment.

As if it confirmed her theory, she raised her brow arrogantly, "And because of it, you started to doubt them. You started to think that because he saved me, I would ask him to save them too. And when he did, their loyalty would shift to him. And they would tell him everything about how, ever since Destruction escaped from the prison you have been preparing for another war. It's not hard to guess considering your hatred for him."

Even though Marinette hadn't given him a chance to tell her, Luka had still written in his letter to her about the inner workings of the army they had been building up for war. Not only were the guards and soldiers of Soleria being taught new ways to fight, but they were learning new methods to attack with magic in a way Luneith had not seen before.

Luka had basically sold out his entire Army, but Marinette and Adrien had already decided that they weren't going to send the Luneith Army to fight unless it was a last resort. And they knew Luka wished for this too, so they had begun working on defence mechanisms to minimise the loss on both sides, especially since their actual focus was on something else.

Something worse.

"Of course we have been! It is crucial that we do prepare. If not, we will suffer at the hands of Destruction once more."

"It's pathetic how you blame him only for back then when you were equally at fault. Besides, what of your people, what of the ones who would be most affected if a war does start because of your tactlessness?"

Luka finally decided to say something, in hope to direct some of the Emperor's anger back towards him, "In a way you were right to think our loyalties would shift."

He looked to Alya who nodded, "Not to Destruction. But to her."

As expected, his anger- just like their loyalties- shifted, "You dare!"

"What?" Marinette said, amused at their remarks, "Weren't you the one who wanted me to take the throne so you could retire? I'm already sitting here so why not make it official?"

"How can I trust that you will be able to rule Soleria when you can't even stand for what Soleria lives for. You are not the Creation I once knew."

"Actually," she pretended to inspect her hands, "I am. I just hid the part of me you so clearly hate because I thought maybe I could make you change for the better without angering you. Maybe before I told you about him, I would be able to change your mind about everything you have been wrong about. I thought you would be able to let your prejudices if I just helped you work on seeing that the people of Luneith are not some monsters we must fight. That Destruction is not just some tyrant that threatens the stability of the three realms."

"Destruction is dangerous!"

At that, she groaned, "Of course he is! He is a God. He has incredible power which is needed for the realms."

"Needed? Destruction is not needed."

"Uncle don't act so naïve! Without Destruction, there is no way for the Realms to be balanced. You know that!"

"He will destroy us all if we don't act now!"

"You're hatred will do that before he can!"

"Stop defending him!" It was quite petty, how he said it, almost like a child not getting what they wanted due to their irritable behaviour.

For a moment, she went silent, and he thought she was truly doing as he said. But then her face went from the frantic annoyance she felt as her and her uncle went back and forth, to a quiet deadliness which made the Emperor feel more and more intimidated by his niece.

"I will not," she seethed, "I will not do as you say."

It was then when he realised, he truly did not know his niece at all. Not anymore. She had truly grown from the naïve, unaware girl who always smiled at him no matter what. She had changed from just being his sweet and delicate niece and had become someone with a strength of both body and mind exceeding any of his expectations for her.

But when did she go down the wrong path?

"Why?" He asked, his eyes going from her one of his oldest and most trusted guards, who nodded in response.

Luka, who saw the nod, immediately squinted his eyes suspiciously but Marinette didn't seem to notice, her emotions stirring at the question.

"I think," she was angry, sincerely angry. It was something he had never seen in his niece before. She barred her teeth almost like she was a ferocious animal ready to strike at it's prey, "You already know."

"Why?" He said again, as his guard nodded again, and he almost let out a loud sigh.

"You really want me to say it out loud?"

"As your Emperor, I command you to."

There was something about emotions which allowed even the most weary of people let their focus of their surroundings dwindle. It was something he had come to realise long ago, and he had always used it to his advantage. Even his niece, it seemed, could not escape it. She had always been so overly in tune with her emotions that sometimes even she forgot everything but. 

She banged a fist on the arm rest of his throne, and he winced when he realised she had cracked the pure material it was made of, but she didn't care.

"The truth," not only did she answer him, but she answered the whole court who had silently begun to ask alongside him, though most actually had no inkling as to what was the answer, "The relationship between Destruction and Creation was never to be enemies. We were never meant to work opposingly for that defeats the purpose of the cycle of life and death. More importantly, there was never a time where we ourselves ever believed we should be enemies, and it was only confirmed when we allowed each other into our hearts and sought love rather than hate. That's how it should have been, that's how it's always been."

This got the court to start their chatter and shouts and gossip all over again. Of course, some suspected- how couldn't they after that kiss? But some thought that Marinette had somehow been forced to do so. Rather they had wanted to believe it. That if she was Creation, and Destruction knew, he would have used her memory loss to his advantage and sooner or later, a war would have broken out to retrieve the Princess. He could have used her as a vessel to start a whole new war, tricked her into this feeling of love and made sure to prevent her from coming back to Soleria forever. They wanted him to be as bad as the rumours said, likely even more preposterous than them even.

But instead of them being informed by the God of War that Destruction had taken their Princess away, instead of them learning that their princess was alive and had been held hostage by their number one enemy, she had come on her own accord without Destruction even trying to stop her.

Was that an indication that they were truly in love?

"You are opposites," the Emperor interrupted, "You were always fated to be enemies!"

"Fate! That is all you people care about! Even when the prophecy directly contradicts that!"

"Prophecies can be wrong! You must follow the destiny which has been given to you."

"The Fates can be wrong! How are we supposed to just follow what the Fates expect of us? We should have the right to make our own decisions for our lives. Why should destiny choose for us? Shouldn't the point of our lives be that we have the ability to make our own choices, whether wrong or right?"

"Stop speaking nonsense. I don't care if you- as you put it- love him. Your duty is to Soleria and you will marry who I tell you to."

"I will marry only one person."

"And that will be Lord Luka."

She lifted her hand and showed off a ring wrapped around her finger, "I have made a promise to marry someone else. I will not break it"

"How dare you?" He raised his hand, about to activate the magic on his throne, as he had been leading up to by distracting her all of this time, "This is a marriage which your parents wanted for you. And you want to go against that?"

At the she couldn't help but laugh, "I guess Luka didn't tell you, but I died once more."

Shocked, he dropped his hands, "What?!" He turned to face Luka who wouldn't even look at him, but it was clear that he was guilty of something, "What did you do?"

"Never mind that," Marinette spoke loudly, averting the attention from Luka towards her, "The point is, when I died, I entered the After-Realm. I spoke to my parents before I came back."

The muttering began again, this time everyone wondering how someone was able to come out of the After-Realm unscathed. It was astonishing to be able to see with their own two eyes, yet how could they know that she was telling the truth? 

Some shook their heads. This was their Princess! They had to believe what she said, for she was known to have always been honest and merciful.

Others became sceptical. When the Emperor and the Princess were not seeing eye to eye, who should they choose to believe and to follow? The current Emperor or the one who had been expected to become their leader for eternity thereafter, even if she was seemingly rebelling currently. If she came into power, their support for the Emperor could be their downfall, especially if she had Destruction by her side. But if they did support the Emperor, perhaps they had a chance at ending Destruction once and for all.

Marinette could tell what they were thinking even without using a spell to read their minds. She wanted to scowl at their detestable thoughts and their clear prejudice, even when they themselves had only once been affected by Destruction, yet it was due to their own actions that it was even the case. She hated how they took no responsibility, unlike Luka who had been affected by Adrien more than most. Even if it took some time, she knew he would always be able to turn himself around and realise what the right thing was to do.

She didn't care if their loyalties stayed with the Emperor or shifted to her, for she knew who would truly be by her side and who she wanted.

"They told me that there was no need to agree to a marriage arranged by them or you if I saw myself marrying another. And as I have said before, I only intend to marry one person."

"For the sake of Soleria-"

"It is not your choice to make."

She had riled him up again, she knew it. But she knew that she had to make him stop believing he could have authority over her anymore. He may be the Emperor, a God and her uncle, but she was not a kid anymore. She didn't need anyone to make decisions which would greatly impact her life for her. So she was stern when addressing him, pushing her own authority into her voice, not wanting to lose against him. 

He opened his mouth, ready to retaliate.

But at that moment, Nino burst in.

When Nino burst in, he was frantic. All eyes were on him but he made a beeline straight to Marinette, not even caring that he had just passed by the Emperor and he had just interrupted the scene that was taking place barely moments before.

"Nino- what?" She couldn't think straight. If Nino was here and he wasn't, if Nino looked so desperate when he wasn't there, if Nino was wearing the bracelet she had specially made for him but clearly, he had given it to their friend... she didn't want to think of what happened to him. 

But she needed to know, "Is he okay?"

Even though she was expecting it, her heart jump a beat when Nino dropped to the floor and shook his head dismally, "I- he- he pushed me away- he told me to go if something went wrong. He asked for you- he said he wanted to see you- as if it would be the last-"

"NO! Don't say it!" She urgently pleaded with him, "Please Nino. Don't- I- Just where is he?"

"His father- I don't know exactly what happened but I think his father has possessed him."

She felt herself slump in the throne and suddenly, it felt like she couldn't breathe. It felt like she couldn't move. She was frozen in place. Even anticipating what could go wrong, even knowing that there was a possibility that Adrien could be taken over by his father once more. She had still foolishly believed that he would be fine. He was stronger than before. She knew it. She had made sure of it. 

So why...

Why did this still have to happen?

She had taken as many precautions as she could. Had recited charms and spells of protection over him for days on end and had even given him the bracelet that Nino was now wearing. They had spoken with each other over and over again about what was going to happen, what could happen, what they didn't want to happen at all. They had gone over and practiced what to do if something went wrong, more than they could even bother to count, but the both of them expressed their unwilling to have to actually put that practice into reality, even when they knew that it was entirely possible they would have to.

She had wanted to be optimistic, had wanted to ignore the dread that almost permanently formed at the pit of her stomach since before she had sacrificed herself, since she had known the akumas existed. But it became overbearing, especially now that her fear had been enhanced by the reality they were in. Even though, realistically she had always known that they would eventually get to this point, inevitably. 

'Hang in there, my love, please!' Hopefully her message reached him and gave him even a tenth of strength that he would need to fight his father.

Her only grace of peace was the way she could still feel the small, numbing presence of him through their bond.

But she was still tense with the alarming anticipation of uncertainty. 

"There's something else," Nino said, "A letter- he wanted me to give it to you."

The Emperor took the chance to make his final preparations.

Marinette took the letter from Nino, and looked at the seal. Her bottom lip wobbled as she tried to stop herself from sobbing, just looking at the cat on the seal. She remembered that he had taken special care to carve the stamp shape out, how he had been so proud of it but he had been even prouder of the stamp which was just five spots.

"They resemble a ladybug!" He had said, "They're a matching set!" He had told her. It had been one of those moments where he seemed to not think about the weight which was on his shoulders, and he had been so carefree that she wanted to save his relaxed face in her memories for eternity.

Carefully, she used her fingers to separate the wax from the paper, not wanting to rip it. Once it had separated, her fingers nimbly unfolded the paper to reveal the words he wanted to tell her.

A sob ripped out of her throat as she looked at the paper, her eyes running over the words again and again.

She didn't even realise that the guards were moving around her. She didn't even see until too late when, one by one, her friends dropped to the floor, tranquilised by the Emperor's own power. She couldn't even tell that the numbingly electrifying sensation she was feeling was not even due to her own emotional state, but because of the chair she was sitting in, attacking the intruder which dared to try take it's owner's place.

But even once she had come to her senses. When she had finally noticed how her friends were surrounded by guards who had slipped through her barrier and taken charge. When she realised that the tingly feeling was becoming increasingly painful to a point where it was trying to knock her out, all she could do was hold that dear piece of paper in her hands and hope those words were not taken away from her.

I love you.

That was what he had written. 

'I want to hear you say it.'

"Adrien..." she whispered, as her eyes, wet with tears, were drooping, "Wait for me..."

'Please don't leave me.'

............

Ugh how did I write so much description in the first half of this story. I feel like all that is happening is dialogue these days. Though maybe it's more because at the beginning I had to set the scene a lot more than now. I guess coming back after a few days helps since I wrote more. 

Truthfully, I think my favourite part so far has been part 2 since I got to play with a lot of different things and it was also really dramatic. I think so far part 3  has just been more traumatic than dramatic for me because so many sad things are happening. 

LetAdriensayIloveyou2k23.

See you soon lovelies <3 

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