A/N: Welcome to my latest endeavor! This is a thing that I have been working on for a while. I love the concept and plot of it and I want to share it with you all. The only problem is that it is rather slow in coming. I currently only have the prologue written, though there is an actual outline. I have no set eta for it, nor an updating schedule for it either.

I'm completely posting this because miraculousmumma told me too. (She's pretty awesome like that).

La Mort du Chat Noir

Prologue

Ever since he and his companions had come to this realm and their jewels had been forged by the Guardians to tether them here, he had watched as the very dregs of humanity took every opportunity to wreak havoc on their fellow man. As a creature of Chaos, he could get behind the disaster. However, as a creature forged from the Light, he could not condone the emotional pain and unnecessary destruction.

It was that very destruction that led him to where he was now. Centuries ago, the temple he and his fellow demi-gods resided in had been burned down by a dark group of people searching out power. The small demi-gods rushed back to their jewels, and their head guardian pushed them unceremoniously into a box and ran through the secret passage in the wall.

The black cat's ring however, didn't make it into the box. It fell on the floor under the table and was later found by the darkest of the lot. His powers had been used to cause such atrocities as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, and the one thing he refused to ever talk about (and also where he was given his name): The Black Plague.

He had been lost for so long that he felt like he was the only one of his kind left, though he knew that to not be true since many of his "masters" had fought his brethrens' holders. When the last bearer of his ring was killed and the ring cut from his finger, instead of allowing the magic to pull him back in, Plagg refused the call. It was a difficult strain, but he absolutely refused to be held by another darkling.

He would make his own destiny. If he couldn't find a guardian to take him back into the fold, then he would choose his own person. If Bast's children could do it, then so too could he. He just hadn't taken into consideration how much time it might take to find someone he felt worthy enough of his ring. After years of being by himself and hiding from the evil in the world, his magic was getting weaker, and he just needed to sleep.

A little girl gave a watery huff as she slid down against the brick wall next to him and breaking him out of his thoughts. There were unshed tears holding to the corners of her eyes glistened in the sun, and she was biting her lip as if to hold in any noises that might give her taunters more ammunition. There were twigs and leaves in her midnight-black hair. Her arms were scraped and bruised, there was a hole in her shirt and the knees of her jeans were torn.

The bullies were still pointing and giggling at the child's distress, though there was one boy who stood apart from the others. He had blonde hair and kind green eyes that almost looked sad. He stepped forward in their direction but his attention was pulled away a second later by the call of one of his friends. He giggled at whatever was said and ran to catch up with the others.

The little girl hiccupped drawing Plagg's attention back to her. He wondered where her adults were. She couldn't be more than six human years, and yet, here she was, outside at the park with no one around to watch out for her. If he was being honest with himself (which he unfortunately was) her being so young and on her own didn't even surprise him.

"Marinette!" A dark-skinned boy yelled, running over to her. He kneeled down in front of her and pulled her head up from her knees. "Dude. I saw what you just did! That was awesome!"

"I fell, Nino." Her articulation was well-formed for someone who was six, but maybe she was one of those wealthy kids that had speech lessons. Who was he to judge?

"And now they're all laughing at me." The last word ended on a sob and she buried her head back in her knees.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Sh. Shhh. It's all right, Mares." The boy pulled her to him in a tight hug and allowed her to openly sob into his shirt.

There was an incredible amount of wisdom and empathy in the young boy, and Plagg wondered if the two were family of sorts.

After a few more minutes, the girl pulled back, "Sorry for crying on your shirt," she whispered so lowly that Plagg almost missed it even with his oversensitive hearing.

Nino laughed. "Don't worry about it," he said, face becoming serious, though there was a caring glint to his eyes. "That flip you did off the top of the slide really was amazing, even if you didn't land it. I can tell your gymnastics lessons are paying off. You shouldn't listen to Chloé and her goons."

"I know," the girl grumbled. "It's just sometimes –" Her breath hitched as she glanced behind him. And Plagg, who had become so engrossed in the conversation, had to look and see what it was that had caught her attention.

Nino looked behind himself and then stood half in front of Marinette as if shielding her from view. A girl with brown hair and glasses stood there with her arms were crossed in front of her body and her eyes lowered as she watched her foot scuff the ground.

"Can we help you?" Nino snarled at her.

Raising her head just enough to see them, she said nervously, "I'm Alya."

"Okay, and…?"

Marinette looked around Nino's shoulder with a weariness to her eyes as if she was expecting the worst.

"I just wanted to apologize for laughing at you," the other girl said. "You could have been really hurt, but you took Chloé's dare like a champ. That was really cool."

Marinette stared at her with wide eyes, looking like she had no idea what to say or think.

Nino cleared his throat which brought the girls' eyes to him, and finally after giving her own little cough, Alya gestured behind her and invited them to come play on the swings.

Marinette shuddered at the sight of Chloé and her other friends in the middle of what looked like a swing-jumping contest.

Already shaking her head when Nino turned back to her with a gleam of excitement in his eyes, she said, "I think I'll pass. You go ahead though."

Nino smiled at her, nodded, pulled her into another hug, and then took off to the swings. But the brown-haired girl stayed for a few minutes longer as if silently waiting would get Marinette to change her mind.

Plagg almost laughed out loud and gave away his position when the smaller girl merely stared back and started making funny faces. Her stubbornness was endearing to him, and he decided right then, that this was child was going to be his chosen.

Excitement flooded his blood. He wiggled slightly, knocking his ring over and onto the ground, drawing the girls' attention to it.

"What's that?" Alya asked as they both hurried the very short distance over to the noise. The taller girl reached him first and picked up the ring. Plagg knew that it would be cold to her touch, but he hoped that she didn't take a liking to it and decide to keep it and give it to a loved-one. The ring itself was the sign of a man's ring. It was a plain silver with no distinctive design. It was boring, which currently worked for Plagg. The more boring the design of the ring, the less magic he had to use.

Alya handed the ring to Marinette for examination and while the she still looked wary, she took it and started examining it. Neither Plagg nor Alya were ready for Marinette to pull a sketchbook out of seemingly nowhere and start drawing. She drew for a few minutes with Alya watching on before she realized that the other girl was still there.

"Oh. Sorry," she said, grinning sheepishly.

"No. Don't worry about it." She scratched the back of her neck. "Why don't you keep that?" She gestured to the ring. "I bet you could get so much inspiration from it."

"Really?" Marinette asked, wiggling a little.

"ALYA!" Chloé yelled running over to them, he blonde ponytail bouncing behind her. She grabbed Alya's arm and started pulling her away. "You don't want to play with Mari-trash! She's bad luck! Come on!"

Alya rolled her eyes, shrugged and mouthed a sorry to Marinette allowing herself to be pulled away by her friend.

Plagg watched as the girl's entire being drooped. "It's fine," she whispered. "It's not like I expected anything different anyway." She leaned back against the wall and glared at the sky, and fighting back tears, and toying with the ring between her fingers.

Her melancholy pulled at his hardened heart. It had been a long time since he had felt any type of compassionate emotion. He watched her take in a deep breath as if readying herself to face the world. One so young should not have to be so brave. Well – at least not without some godly help. Besides, he knew a thing or two about bad luck. He could help her harness it to her advantage.

He mustered up his own battered courage and floated over to her leg. Pulling on the little bit of magic that he had left, he transformed himself.

She jumped and looked around, only to find a tiny black cat with bright green eyes looking up at her and nuzzling her leg.

"OH! Kitty! Aren't you adorable!" She bent over and gently picked him up. "I wonder if Papa and Maman would let me keep you," she muttered, nuzzling his head. "We live in a bakery, you know. There's a good chance they'll say no because of animal codes and food."

Plagg purred. It didn't matter to him one way or another. This was his human from now on and he would keep her no matter what.

"Mari!" Someone called from the sidewalk.

She groaned into his head and whispered, "that's Bridgette, my cousin. She's staying with us right now. She's kind of bossy and I only like her a little bit."

"Marinette, come on!" Bridgette said huffing out breaths as she got closer. She had long black hair that was tied back in twin-tails, much like the younger girls. She had to be quite a few years older than his chosen master because while she still had a child's face, that bump on her belly was a definite indicator of her being in the way of a family.

"You could have answered when I called you, Mari!"

"I'm sorry. I was coming. I didn't mean to make you come all the way over here." She looked down at the ground and sighed. Plagg was getting really tired of people making this girl feel bad. Already feeling protective of her, he turned and hissed with all the might of his tiny body.

Bridgette screamed, covered her mouth, and pointed. "What is that!?"

"It's my new cat," Marinette said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

(Plagg had to agree that it was).

"Your parents won't let you keep him."

The little girl only shrugged. "You don't know that. Maybe they'll let me have him for my ninth birthday."

Ah, so the girl was older than he thought. Well, no matter. She was still too tiny for her own good and needed protecting. This thought was proved seconds later when the two girls started walking and Marinette tripped over thin air.

Bridgette's voice was incredulous when she answered, "Which is in, what, seven months?"

"So? It'll be an early birthday present." They came to the door of a patisserie boulangerie. A little bell dinged as they entered, and Plagg was hit with the smells of sweet goodness. But above all of it was cheese. And not just any cheese, but camembert. His mouth watered and he struggled to get down. However, when she tightened her hold on him, he realized that maybe jumping away wouldn't be in his best interests.

A woman that resembled the two girls stood at the counter and greeted them when they came in. Her eyes zeroed in on him and then moved over to her daughter's face and darted between the two of them for a moment. Whatever she saw there wasn't made clear to Plagg, but she nodded slightly and told them to go upstairs.

But as Marinette passed behind the counter, her mother lightly touched her shoulder and said, "we'll discuss this later." She gently patted Plagg's head once and then nudged them to the door.

"Hmph," Bridgette said as they went up the stairs. "Your parents spoil you."

Marinette just sighed and continued up the stairs behind her cousin.

A/N: Kudos and Comments are much appreciated and also motivational food and love for the author! Let me know what you think!