Of Magic and Mayhem

Ch 1

The man ran through the bright, rainy streets of Paris, panting so hard his lungs hurt and his throat grew raw with the effort. He couldn't hear the giant pawsteps of the creature chasing him, but he felt it's breath down his neck all the same. He turned down a dimly lit alleyway, hoping to lose the hellish beast, but cornered himself in the maze of buildings and shadows instead. He stopped. The walls were too high and wet to scale. There was no way out. His breath caught in his throat when he heard a deep purring behind him, and his heart almost stopped. His blood ran cold as he turned around to face his demise in the form of the creature, purring as it seemingly materialized from the shadows.

------------------------

Adrien woke from a relatively unrestful sleep, having had a terrible dream. He noticed the bedsheets were scrunched in places. He put no thought into it, as he had a nightmare. His window was open, but he usually left it that way. The only thing out of place was the model's lack of clothing, as he had gone to bed fully dressed. He blanched, and searched his tired mind for an explanation. He heard a knocking on his door. He scrambled to fully cover himself despite the fact that he was now sweating through the sheets.

"Adrien?", came Nathalie's concerned voice. It took a few tries for the teen to properly use his voice, but it sounded scratchy when he did, "Y-yeah! I'm fine! Don't come in!" The assistant was silent, then Adrien heard her heels click as she walked away. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and promptly went to take a shower and get ready for school.

--------------------

Marinette hadn't slept at all the previous night, and her mother was worrying over her. "Please, Marinette. Tell me about the vision." "Mom..I-", the young witch's voice caught in her throat as she felt as if her voice was bound. "Can't.", Sabine finished. Marinette nodded slowly, hanging her head. The older witch sighed,"You know I would be able to help you if you just told me about the vision." Her daughter nodded, head hanging lower.

Sabine smiled gently, and placed an index and middle finger on her daughter's throat, and slid them up, bringing the blockage up and out of the girl's mouth, bringing away a ball of negative energy on her fingertips. A concerned look crossed her face,"What are you so afraid of to cause this?" Marinette breathed a sigh of relief before launching into her story. "I had a vision last night, but....it was more like cutscenes in a game. Spaced out, but not making any sense until you get enough of them." "Go on." The young witch took a breath, "Running across rooftops and in back alley ways. It was so dark, Mama....The streetlights hurt my eyes." The girl curled in on herself as she explained the rest,"There was a man. He was standing over something and it smelled really good. It almost made me hungry. I started feeling sick when I realized what it was. The man ran. I chased him. He cornered himself...and there was so much blood..."

Sabine felt for her daughter, and hugged her gently. "I think it's time to go see a certain fairy, don't you think? Come on." She guided her out of her daughter's room, down the stairs and out the door. They walked down the street to a small looking flower shop. "Oh! Sabine! Marinette! To what do I owe the pleasure?", came the musical voice of Tikki, the shop owner. "Nothing good, I'm afraid.", the older witch stated. Tikki's face grew serious, and she stepped out from behind the counter. "Need a place for a more private discussion?", she asked as she flipped her sign to 'closed' and locked the door.

She led them up to her flat, which was absolutely covered in plants. Up they still went, and out the trap door into her rooftop garden. "So, what seems to be the problem?" Sabine told Tikki of the vision, and the fairy's eyes grew wide. "I'll let him know, but you must teach her. Especially now that this is happening. Her training should have started as soon as you saw the signs."

----------------

Sitting in school was proving difficult for the young model. At least sitting next to Nino was proving to ease his anxiety a little bit. He could hear the tick of the clock in the front of the classroom just a bit too loudly, like it was on his desk and not at the front of the room. Then he caught the sweet scent of fresh herbs and spices, bread, cinnamon, sugar and a hint of chocolate...but mostly the smell of warmth...of life. It smelled like home. Not his borderline sterile excuse of a mansion, but a cozy little home with a loving family residing within. Adrien wanted that.

Then he heard a startled yelp from beside him, and instinctively reached out to catch the person. He took one look at the young woman he caught, and knew. He looked up at the girl sitting across the isle from him, and narrowed his eyes at her as she winked at him. He picked Marinette up and put her on her feet, then turned to Chloe. He couldn't stop the angry growl ripping from his throat. "You. Me. Outside. Now.", he growled, dragging her out by her wrist.

Once out in the hallway, the furious teen pinned Chloe to the wall. "Listen. I don't like you. You are not cute. You are not funny.", he hissed. The blonde brat scoffed,"That's ridiculous, Adri-kins. Everybody lo-" She was cut off by him loosely wrapping a hand around her throat, elongated claws dimpling her skin, while his fangs did the same to his bottom lip. His eyes were narrowed, and his pupils were slits. His mouth was drawn into a snarl, and he stated,"If you really think that, then you need to take a serious look at yourself. There's a reason why nobody wants to be your friend." "Sabrina-" "Hangs around you because you give her things. She's nothing more than a servant to you! Plus, you're the mayor's daughter, right? I gurantee you she does it to add weight to her name."

Chloe was temporarily speechless, then she started to protest. Adrien slightly strengthened his grip, causing her to freeze. He leaned in and hissed,"Do. Not. Test. Me." "Daddy will hear about this." "Go ahead. See if I care." He then let her go and proceeded to stalk back to the classroom. The bell was about to ring anyway.

----------------

Alya whistled beside her,"Girl, what did you do to earn that? Adrien dragging Chloe of all people with murder in his eyes? Girl, you......" Alya's voice faded out. Marinette couldn't think straight, but thought back to the vision. She knew Adrien was her age, and scrambled to think back to her brief lesson on demons and possession earlier that morning. Alas, she wasn't able to grasp anything of import. She didn't think he was possessed. She didn't feel or see anything different about his aura. It was relatively dark, but she had always chalked that up to problems with his father.

"Dude, I think you broke her.", faintly came Nino's voice. She felt someone tilt her head up, and was met with the bright green eyes of her longtime crush, Adrien Agreste. She felt giddy, light headed and felt her face heat up. "You shouldn't have anymore problems with her, Marinette.", he said softly.

The witch felt a grin splitting her face, and found herself muted by his proximity. "Definitely broke her, pretty boy.", Alya cut in and shood him back to his seat. The rest of the day progressed with Chloe silent and avoiding their group like the plague, Adrien hovering over Marinette, and Alya and Nino snickering to themselves and texting back and forth.

----------------------

"So, where should we go? We don't usually get the chance to hang out...and it is Friday." "Yeah, my dad cleared my schedule for the next week, oddly enough." "I-I was j-just going to h-head home." "So, you mind if we hang out at your place, Mari?" "Uh-uh-I -uh- don't exactly kn-know." "C'mon! You're parents are usually fine with me! What's the harm in bringing a couple more friends?" "I-um...I guess it could be alright?" And with that, they headed off to the bakery.

"H-hey, Mama. Hey, Papa.", Marinette greeted her parents as they walked through the door. Needless to say, a certain member of their group caught the older woman's attention, or rather, everyone's attention. She stopped them. "Marinette, who are your new guests?", she asked, a genuine smile on her face.

--------------------

Home. Warmth. Love. Those were the scents Adrien caught just before he stepped into the Dupain-Cheng Bakery...then his senses were overwhelmed when he stepped inside. The smells relaxed him, made him melt inside. He almost didn't notice his chest rumbling, but everyone else did.

"Dude, no way! Are you....purring?" Nino's question caught him off guard, and he started to internally panic. The hair on the back of his neck and arms stood on end as he instinctively fell into a defensive stance. He started backing up, eyes widened and sweeping from face to face, until a very stern, all too familiar voice stopped him from leaving.

"Adrien. Stop it. You're being rude." Then he saw his father step out from the living quarters and into the shop. He felt himself stop purring. He. Was. Terrified. Why would his father of all people be here of all places? Nino and Alya just looked from father to son and back again. "Um, Alya? Do you think that maybe you and Nino could....you know?", he heard Marinette ask. If the look Gabriel was giving them had anything to say about it, it said he agreed. So, Alya and Nino shuffled out of the bakery and hightailed it home. So much for hanging out.