A Princess Ladybug and the Charas - a massive crossover PSL for Ladybug in Japan

[chicklet]

 Warning this PSL will have *MASSIVE* spoilers for Pretear, Ladybug, and Shugo Chara.

Also warnings for: Angst, gaslighting, violence, magical girl transformations (the pretear ones have... implications.....), possible death mentions, abuse, child abuse, potentially gender issues depending how far it goes. 

You have been warned. You might want to find something to hold on to, this might be quite the ride... 

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[princesspretear]

The flight to Japan had gone well enough except for one bit of oddness just before landing. It had started snowing. Just a flurry. Except that there were two things weird about the snow. One was that it was red. The other was that no one but Marinette seemed to be able to see it. But it hadn't lasted long and by the time they landed the skies were clear.

The next bit of weirdness wouldn't happen until after they were settled into the hotel and Marinette was out on her own, for whatever reason. But that was when she'd see the purple butterfly. It didn't look like an Akuma, but it also didn't look natural. And something about it would alarm Tikki, though she wouldn't be able to say why....

It was heading towards a small public park near the hotel.

[luckymiracles]

Okay. The weird red snow was one thing. She could have just passed it off as being tired as the flight from France to Japan wasn't quite a short one. Nobody else had even seen the color of the snow as weird so of course it had to just be exhaustion.

She had put it out of her mind until much later, just glad to be done with settling into the hotel - and letting her parents know she made it here okay. Naturally Marinette was excited to check things out, wanting to do a little bit of shopping for a couple things she figured she would need here during her trip.

Then the butterfly crossed her vision and immediately? Anxiety rose up in her chest, not helped by Tikki's exclamation that said butterfly actually alarmed her. It wasn't the same thing as Hawkmoth's butterflies, but following wouldn't hurt to see what was going on. "I'm sure it'll be fine. We'll see things through and then go about our day." Marinette murmured to herself quietly.

Well. It would be okay, right?

[princesspretear]

Following the butterfly she'd hear an argument taking place behind the restroom building at the edge of the park.

"And I'm saying we don't need one!" a male voice snapped. "We can handle this on our own!"

"Hey! Wait," another male voice.

Someone rounded the corner around the restroom swiftly. If she wasn't careful and agile, she was about to collide with him.

[luckymiracles]

So far nothing really devastatingly bad had happened yet which was a definite good sign, the sound of voice getting her attention all the same.

Curiosity won out at the worst time, being about mid-step when someone suddenly rounded the corner without warning. She tried to stop and avoid them but in her haste of trying to step aside, Marinette had the misfortune of running straight into this other person. Thankfully, not going super fast meant that she was able to step back and not fall flat on her butt.

What a way to make a first impression.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" She managed to get out, but it was anybody's guess if they'd even understand her or not.

[princesspretear]

He reached out instinctively to help her keep her balance. His hand touched hers and there was a sharp painful shock and a bright flash of light. He stared at his hand, horrified.

[luckymiracles]

Huh. That was a different sort of reaction, to say the least.

Surprise flashed across her face, looking between him and her hand briefly. "...What was that? Are you okay?" Again, who could tell if she'd be understood or not, still trying to figure things out but focusing on this man since he looked strangely horrified.

[princesspretear]

He could understand her. He narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm fine, we don't need your help."

A male voice called from the way he came. "HAYATE!" sharp, alert.

"Forget you met me, go home," he said to her, coldly, then turned, hair moving in the wind as if gravity didn't affect it as he ran back the way he'd come from.

[luckymiracles]

Marinette couldn't help but frown just a little in concern when he responded so coldly to her. Those words repeating themselves in her head over and over. What did he mean by 'we don't need your help.' and saying to forget she met him??

A soft huff. "...Go home? Really?" She mumbled under her breath, knowing there was no way she could just pack up and go back when she was going to be here for a while. "He was in such a hurry, too. None of this is making any sense." Marinette groaned, hanging her head a bit. If only just for the fact that she had no idea what was going on and trips overseas really never could be normal with her.

Was this just her fate?

[princesspretear]

Back the way he had come from, and then gone again she heard someone cry out, in pain. A should of anger.

"Catch it!" a male voice.

"Trying!" another male voice.

"I've got it!" the man who had bumped into her.

"Hayate! Watch out!"

[luckymiracles]

At least she wasn't left waiting long for something to happen, instinct kicking in as she stepped forwards.

She was going to get to the bottom of this, making to try and get a look at whatever was going on around that corner. It could be something harmless or it could be something else entirely, though it was way too late to back out of things now.

[princesspretear]

A group of guys - ranging from small child to older teen with the man she spoke to looking more like a teenager when with the others - were all trying to capture the purple butterfly from before. That would be odd enough except there was odder yet to notice. Since she's used to noticing a lot of things at a glance.

One was that guy she'd been speaking to was in a different outfit. Nothing that would hide his identity, nothing to keep her from knowing it was the same person.

The more obvious thing most people would notice, though, was that some of them seemed to be levitating, and flying about, without wings of any sort.

And then another more subtle thing is that some of them were using... well it looked like one guy shot light out of his hands at the thing. Another, just... subtle waves of something seemed to emanate from him. The light missed. That, whatever it was, cause the butterfly to falter.

"Shin, now!" a guy in red called down from where he was flying.

The youngest of them, a small boy looked up, eyes wide, as the butterfly started heading for him. He was lifting his necklace as if that could somehow protect him...

[luckymiracles]

All of this was just.. so surreal.

She thought she'd left all things unnatural back in France with Chat Noir and yet there were guys in odd outfits, floating around and using what looked almost like some of the powers she's seen from the other miraculous. The butterfly was bad then?

It was all she could surmise as she saw the butterfly heading for the young boy. Her mind began racing, wondering what decision she was supposed to make here. Since becoming the guardian she'd been making a lot of them and not all of them felt right, so acting prematurely wasn't in the cards here. Especially since she wasn't even in France. Marinette clenched her hands into fists, jaw setting into a firm line. They seemed all capable and everything, right?

There was no time. If everything went sideways she'd change immediately into Ladybug.

[princesspretear]

The butterfly jerked at the last minute, like it was trying to avoid the necklace.

The one who had crashed into her crossed his arms then spread them wide towards the butterfly in a burst. Wind blew the child's hair and clothes back. But it also blew the butterfly at him. He snapped it up in his necklace.

The necklace closed around it, like her yoyo closed around akumas before she purified them. But the child didn't do anything to purify it.

The one on red landed beside the child and braced him when he looked about to fall. "We need help, Hayate. Shin can't contain them forever. They need to be purified!" the guy all but shouted.

"We're doing fine," Hayate, - the one who she had run into her - insisted. "We don't need her. She'll just get in the way." He landed and his clothes changed to the much more normal clothing he'd been wearing when he ran into her. Just a flare of wind and light and his clothes had changed.

[luckymiracles]

Marinette let out a breath she'd been holding up until then, at least relieved nothing wholly bad seemed to happen and they seemed to be able to contain the butterfly but it was very much unlike the purification she could do as Ladybug.

Something instinctual told her to stay, feeling Tikki's gaze on her up until she heard the one mentioning purification. It could have been left at that but something grated at Marinette when she heard that one man's voice saying such cold - and rude - things that had her stepping out from her spot without truly intending to.

"I'll have you know I would not get in the way! How can you just assume things out of people you barely know?" The words all tumbled out, her bravery as Ladybug acting before she could think twice about it. A pause followed and she tried to put on her best - albeit sheepish - smile. "I-I mean... if it was me you were talking about just now, given.. uh... before? If not... Sorry."

[princesspretear]

"Talking about...." the white haired young man asked. He tilted his head then looked to Hayate. "You already found the princess then?"

"Found her and was rude to her, apparently," the one who had used the light as an attack said. He was still in what he had been wearing in the battle, and was floating a half foot above the ground. He turned to face her. "Please excuse us, Princess."

"Yes," the white haired one said, bowing. "Please do excuse our rudeness. We appologize."

[luckymiracles]

Given everything from before, this was definitely not the reaction she'd been expecting.

It almost felt like she was missing some pieces. Even moreso when they referred to her as 'Princess' and were using all that formality which had her clearing her throat instinctually. Nobody'd ever really called her that before.

"O-Oh, it's fine. Really! There's no need for all that." Marinette tried to wave it all off with a small laugh. "I'm no royal or anything. Not sure where the princess stuff came from..." Oh dear she was babbling again, unable to help old habits because what on earth was even happening. Had she hit her head getting off the plane or something?

[princesspretear]

"Do what you want," Hayate snapped at the others. "I want no part of it." He turned and vanished in a flash of white light.

"He certainly has gotten rude lately," the one who was still hovering said. He landed and as he did his clothing became slightly more normal. "We are sorry this was how you first found us, Princess. But we welcome you all the same. I am Kei, Knight of Light."

The little kids rushed up to Marinette, wide eyed. The oldest looking of the three kids, maybe about 11 or 12, had white hair and sharp eyes as he looked up at her. "Are you really gonna be our princess?" he asked.

The one with the brown and red hair walked over and pulled him back. "Be polite, Mannen, of course she is." Then he smiled at her. "I'm Go. Knight of Fire. This is Mannen, your Ice Knight, when he remembers to eat all his vegetables, that is."

Mannen stuck his tongue out up at Go who replied in kind. Amazing how boys who looked nothing alike could still so clearly be siblings.

The youngest boy, the one who had caught the butterfly pulled lightly on the bottom of her jacket for attention.

[luckymiracles]

Marinette couldn't help but exhale a soft huff at Hayate's reaction, frowning for just a moment but able to put it aside as the other man spoke again. There it was. Calling her Princess. It didn't feel the same way as Chat Noir when he gave a nickname or anything, these guys were totally serious about this and it still kind of had her head spinning.

No sooner had she even been able to figure out what she could say was when the kids all ran up to her and the one had asked her such a thing. She hadn't even been IN Japan for a whole day, trying to sort out things and only getting as far as they were all Knights of some kind.

"It's really nice to meet you all, but how do you know i'm your..?"

Her voice trailed off when she felt the tugging on her jacket, blue eyes turning down to him with a soft smile on her face. "Hey there. What's your name?"

[princesspretear]

"That's Shin," Go said. "And there is a way to know for sure, if you want," he said offering her a hand, as if to shake it.

[luckymiracles]

That was enough to have her looking back up to him in mild surprise, but wanted to get to the bottom of this. Such was what compelled her to nod and reached out to take that offered hand.

Something so inherently harmless that she didn't mind doing it.

[princesspretear]

And touching his hand initiates a transformation cut scene! She should be used to those. And indeed this one feels similar to transforming into Ladybug, except that she is kind of floating during it, even sitting in the air at one point as the bright light he became vanished into her, filling her with warmth. The warmth would spread at just the hotter end of pleasant, to fill her fully. Once it did, light would flare and when it faded she was in a new costume and Go was nowhere to be seen. She also might be floating a few inches off the ground.

The others crowded around her, their expressions ranged from pure joy to relief, to hyper giddiness, to approval, and even warm pride.

"Thank you," the white haired man said, his voice smooth and pleasant to hear. "You do not know how much it means to us that you are here with us, princess."

[luckymiracles]

Unlike that time when she'd touched Hayate? This was far from what she'd been expecting.

She was way too used to the kwami's telling her their activation phrase before things happened, so it came as a surprise when it just took a simple touch to start things off. It was pleasantly warm and felt almost akin to drinking hot chocolate on a cold Parisian day, not even lasting all that long before the light flared and Marinette would be absolutely hard pressed to miss the way her actual clothes had changed.

Go was gone from where he'd been before, surprise evident on her face as everything began to set in, because huh. That sure did confirm what they were saying about being their princess, especially given their reactions.

Marinette couldn't help the soft flush of color that darkened her cheeks, a sheepish but honest smile on her face. "I... uh. You're welcome?" She had to take a second to try and tap into her inner 'Ladybug' before making a possible fool out of herself. "Have you guys been looking for very long?"

Something she couldn't help but ask, since if she hadn't come to Japan, these knights never would have found her.

[princesspretear]

Sasame nodded and took her now gloved hand, kissing the back of it. "Far too long indeed, princess," he said as he moved gracefully to one knee. "Your knights are here to help you in the battles to come."

[luckymiracles]

This definitely was much different than with Chat, making it even harder for her to try and get rid of the color darkening her cheeks. Which meant trying to do her best to try and save face even with her embarrassment.

"Thank you." She was still sincere all the same, nodding her head as she looked amongst them then back at Sasame. "Could you tell me more about what it is i'm helping you guys with?" There. Possible crisis averted. Maybe. It was easier to focus on serious stuff than what flustered her.

[princesspretear]

"Of course," Sasame said.

"The Princess Pretear exists to help the Leafe Knights fight off the Demon Queen, Saihi Fenril," Kei said, pushing his blond hair back.

"Fenril," Go's voice said, though he seemed to have vanished when she transformed "Uses demon larve and purple butterflies to try and devour the world's Leafe."

Sasame nodded. "We Knights preserve and protect the Leafe in our respective elements, but we are much stronger with the Pretear."

"And cannot fight the demon Larve without you," Kei put in.