Chapter Text
“What!?” Marinette cried, looking at the faces before her in shock. Lila stood next to Adrien, a finger pointed at her, shouting about how Marinette is deceiving them. Around her are Alya, her most loyal supporter, Ivan, Mylene, Max and his bird Markov, Rose, Sabrina, and Kim. Marinette meets Adrien’s eyes, pleading for him to interviene. He knew she was the true Creation Goddess, not Lila, and he had promised that he would stand with her no matter what. Adrien looked away with shame written all over his face as a cold dread filled Marinette’s stomach; he betrayed her just like the others. Instead he took Lila’s hand and tried to calm her, his words drowned out in the other gods and goddesses’ shouts for her head.
A few voices broke through the tyrant of hate and insults:
“What the hell are you talking about?! Of course Marinette is the Creation Goddess! She’s been betrothed to Adrien since birth, that’s proof enough for you! Utterly ridiculous! Completely ridiculous!” That was Chloe, her former rival and the Goddess of Beauty and Passion.
“You fools! Lila could never be the Creation Goddess, she has never once used Creation Magic!” Close behind was Kagami, Goddess of Hunters and Virtuous Warriors. She and Chloe seemed like polar opposites, but to Marinette’s delight they complemented each other perfectly.
“I’ve known Marinette since we were little! I was there when it was proclaimed that she was the Creation Goddess!” Ah her dear cousin Nathaniel, God of Arts and Creativity.
“What are you doing Alya!? We both swore an oath to protect creation and now you’re siding with the Goddess of Deceit?! Marinette was your friend! I was your boyfriend! Who else are you going to betray today?!” Finally there was Nino, God of Protection and Justice. Her oldest and dearest friend had sworn both privately and at official ceremonies that he would always be by her side, her faithful knight and shining shield. He had never once broken that oath, and it appears to be costing him his relationship as he and Alya argued.
Marinette knew she had one last chance to save herself, and the gods and goddesses under her care, she looked forward to face Adrien, the Sun God and King of the Gods once More. Taking a deep breath, she refused to let them see her cry as she made what could be her last stand.
“Adrien,” she started, feeling her courage waver she pressed on,”You know I would not lie to you. You know I would never do any of what I have been accused of. I beg you, have courage and do what is right, for the sun cannot provide without creation to nourish it. For my sake, their sake,” she gestured to the gods and goddesses around them,”And the sake of the mortals we care for, please make the right decision. I have loved you since time began and always shall, please do not turn your back on me!” The room around her stilled as all eyes turned to the Sun God.
Adrien was looking down in contemplation, before turning to face Lila, and uttering a quiet, “What do you think?” Lila smirked triumphantly as Marinette went pale.
“I think that for the crime of trying to usurp my rightful place as Creation Goddess and Queen of the Gods, Marinette and her followers should be...
...executed.” The Gods and Goddesses around Lila cheered as Adrien looked at the brunette in shock and horror. He tried to convince her to change her mind, anything but execution, but Lila was set in her goal. Marinette and the others would always be a threat to her if they were left alive.
Marinette clutched her chest and let out a shriek as she collapsed to the floor, she could feel her heart shatter as her bond with Adrien broke. She barely registered Nino and Kagami stepping in front of her protectively, or Chloe and Nathaniel dragging her to her feet and pulling her out of the hall. It felt like she was burning one minute, suffocating the next, and being stabbed by a thousand blades. He knew, he KNEW Lila was lying but he left her fate up to the very woman who wanted her dead! He was not the man she thought he was, certainly not the man she fell in love with. She felt herself being picked up bridal style as she sobbed. She was in too much pain and distress to move.
Kagami, Chloe, Nathaniel, and Nino with Marinette in his arms ran past the pearly gates of Olympus and down to Kagami’s chariot. They had barely gotten on when the Moon Horses thundered off of the mountain and into the sky, the horses themselves seemed to sense the urgency. They could use whatever head start they could get. Nino held onto Marinette tightly, after all he didn’t want to drop his dearest friend. The Creation Goddess was looking worse by the minute, the color and life seemed to be draining from her. Chloe noticed that Marinette was bleeding and gulped. Gods were not supposed to bleed. Nathaniel looked behind them, and saw two things. No other chariots had yet to leave Olympus, and the droplets of blood from the Creation Goddess hitting the earth. Whenever a drop touched the ground, a thorny bush of deep crimson roses sprung, their petals dripping with her blood.
Kagami was at the reins, steering the horses and pushing them to go faster than they ever had before. It would be a short night tonight, hopefully the mortals would understand. Chloe kissed her on the cheek, before removing her own shawl to try and stop Marinette’s bleeding.
“Are we going where I think we’re going?” She asked her girlfriend as she dabbed at some of the blood leaking from Marinette’s chest. Kagami only nodded.
“And where would that be? By the time the sun comes up, they’ll have searched the entire earth!” Nino practically wailed. He didn’t know how to protect Mari this time. Nathaniel was frantically trying to keep Marinette conscious in Nino’s arms, he could barely get through to her. He hoped these horses could go a little faster, they were losing her.
“The one place they’ll never look, The Underworld.” The group froze. There was no chance they would be given sanctuary once they made it to the land of the dead, and no chance Marinette would survive the journey. Kagami didn’t know the Lord of Death very well, she rarely drove the Moon chariot, preferring to hunt or assist heroes on their quests. But she did train these horses, and they knew the way by heart. Faster and faster they went, as if they sensed that the fate of the world rested upon how fast they got to the Underworld.
The whole group sighed in relief as a clearing on the side of a mountain came into view. The mouth of a large cave opened up in the clearing, with flourishing plants, trees, and flowers surrounding it. The only tell that this cave wasn’t normal was the stillness and silence that surrounded it. Nothing moved, nothing lived near it or dared make a sound. Kagami gently landed the chariot, trying not to leave any traces like wheel tracks in the grass. The group unloaded from the chariot, and Kagami urged the Moon Horses to run as far away as they could, a sort of red herring.
Nino led the charge down the dark tunnel, Marinette laying limply in his arms, as his companions followed close behind. Down the winding dark tunnels, through passage after passage. Nathaniel was beginning to wonder of they picked the wrong cave, when the tunnel they were in opened up into a massive chamber. Looking down the path they saw a river with a lone shadow on a boat, they made it to the River Styx. As they approached the figure on the boat, they ran past many spirits, who parted for them like a sea. Some were whispering, others wailed at the sight of the broken goddess. The shadow on the boat took one look at the group and quickly motioned for them to board the boat, and took off without so much as a request for prepayment. The shadowy figure rowed quickly, as the boat cut through the water like a serpent through the marshes.
Once they reached the shore, Kagami, Nathaniel, Nino, and Marinette climbed out of the boat immediately, but Chloe stayed behind. The blonde goddess pressed a glittering necklace into the Ferryman’s skeletal hand.
“Payment for taking us across. I’ll throw in my earrings if you tell absolutely no one that we came here, not even the Sun God. Marinette’s life is in danger from the other gods, they believe the Goddess of Deceit is actually the Creation Goddess, and Lila ordered Mari’s death.” Chloe explained as she took off her earrings to hand them to Ferryman.
“Not a soul, divine or mortal shall know what I’ve seen today. The other spirts will not tell. They forget their memories once they cross the river,” the Ferryman responded in a raspy, barely used voice as he accepted the jewelry. Chloe nodded in thanks and ran to catch up with the others. She caught up with them as they ran up to the dark iron gates, cold and closed with a large three headed dog in front of them. The gated path led directly up to a large, dark castle where the Lord of the Dead and his court resided. They were so, so close, but depending on this dog it could all be for nothing.
The growling dog bent down and sniffed the group, and they held their breath. Suddenly and with a loud groan the large gates swung open. Taking their chance, they ran through and up the path towards the castle. Up the many stairs and to the large doors, Nino charged at the doors with his shoulder leading, shielding the broken goddess in his arms. The doors swung open with a loud bang, smacking the walls and startling everyone in the throne room, most of all the man sitting on the throne.
“Sanctuary!” Nino shouted, dropping to his knees in a bow. The other god and goddesses fell to their knees as well, to the bewilderment of the four figures in the room.
“What the hell?” A deep voice asked. Nathaniel shivered the Lord of Destruction sounded just as terrifying as he had always imagined. He took a chance and looked up. A tall man with broad shoulders and deep blue eyes sat on the throne. His black hair faded into a cyan at the ends of the strands, and a large crown made of ebony and jewels sat on his head. He was wearing a dark suit of armor, looking ready to lead an army of the undead. Around him stood a woman with similar black hair, but parts of hers were purple and she wore a long, deep purple dress. Another woman with pink hair stood at his other side, in deep crimson armor and holding an hourglass. To her right stood a man with black hair and two large black wings, in a black toga. It was this man who noticed Marinette in Nino’s arms.
“My Lord! Look! That’s the Goddess of Creation and she’s, she’s dying! What happened?!” The Lord of Death’s eyes widened, and he dashed from his throne to Nino, gently taking the Goddess from his arms and cradling her.
“Marc! Tell the Fates to put their scissors down! Juleka! Get your potions and spell books, bring everything! Alix! Go to your orb and see what’s going on on the earth and in the Heavens! Go!” The three underworld gods scrambled, running about in different directions. The King of the Underworld placed a cold hand on Marinette’s forehead, willing his magic to heal what he could.
“Now,” He started, not taking his eyes off of the limp body, “Tell me what happened.” The group looked between them, who should explain? Who even had the strength left to explain? Kagami stepped forward.
“Marinette, the true Goddess of Creation is in danger from the other Gods of Olympus. The Goddess of Deceit, Lila convinced everyone but us and the Sun God that SHE was the True Queen and that Marinette was the true Goddess of Lies. Adrien did nothing to stop her, and it came to a climax earlier today. Marinette, along with the rest of us, entered the throne room to find Lila sitting in Marinette’s throne as the other gods and goddesses discussed plans for her coronation and marriage to Adrien. Lila began lying about Marinette again, saying she attacked her, and the other ones, the fools believed her! Adrien knew she was lying, but did nothing to stop it! It got to the point the other gods wanted to throw Marinette out, so we began to argue in her defense. Mari made a last plea to Adrien, to finally do what was right and stand with us, but instead he turned to Lila and asked her to decide Marinette’s fate! Lila demanded Marinette and her allies be executed. Marinette collapsed, and we picked her up and fled here.” Kagami trembled with rage as tears threatened to fall from the usually stoic goddess’s eyes.
“Please. All my life I’ve sworn to protect her. Please at least give her sanctuary.” Nino begged the man trying to save his best friend, his other half. Juleka approached with her arms full of books and potions to aid the Undead king.
“Luka, what happened to her?”
“Her heart’s been shattered Jules, and her bond broken, Adrien the asshole chose the Goddess of Lies over her!” Juleka gasped and quickly began flipping through one of her books, before setting it down and reading a spell out of it. Marinette began to glow a soft purple. Luka gently handed her over to his sister, and turned to face the other gods.
“As you know I am the Lord of Destruction, but please, call me Luka. I grant you all sanctuary here in the Underworld, and I swear on my godhood to protect you from the wrath of the King of the Gods and his False Queen. What happened is that Adrien shattered their bond when he chose to protect Lila. You see,” Luka waved his hand, and a small glowing sun and flower appeared in his hand, intertwined by a white band of light. “The Sun God and Creation Goddess have a bond that connects them. They need each other, and are bound by strong feelings of love for each other, sort of like soulmates. When one is unfaithful or betrays the other, the bond is broken and the betrayed dies. A new being is born as a new god or goddess. This is to insure that the balance of life will go on, but never has something like this happened. I promise we will do all we can to save her.”
Chloe pulled Kagami into an embrace as the noble woman finally allowed herself to sob. Nathaniel wrung his hands, and Nino looked sick. A light hum from Juleka caught everyone’s attention.
“She’s going to make it, I had to do something drastic but she’ll live.”
“What did you do Jules?” Luka felt the mood in the room lift, and he couldn’t help but smile proudly at his sister.
“I totally severed her bond to the Sun God. It was slowly crushing her heart, shattering it. By completely severing it I’ve stopped her heart from breaking more. However the bond is permanently destroyed, she no longer has any connection to him and him to her. He will have no idea where she is.” Juleka began to clean up her supplies.
“But... Doesn’t a heart need bonds to function? What will happen now that she doesn’t have one?” Nathaniel whispered.
“Yes, divine hearts need bonds to function, however the bonds do not have to be specifically from one being. After severing her bond with Adrien, It gave her heart the chance to reach out and form other bonds. You see the Bond between Creation and the Sun is so strong, it does not allow for other proper heart bonds to form. Before you ask, No Adrien will not die, but he will feel pangs in his chest from the bond reaching out to try and find Marinette. Her heart was immediately able to find four new bonds to sustain it, and she found them in you four. Your love for her and hers for you has saved her life.”
At Juleka’s words the four broke down in relief and exhaustion from the whole ordeal. Marc and Alix returned to the room just in time to hear the good news, and went to stand next to Juleka. Luka scooped Marinette up into his arms, before murmuring to Juleka and Marc to show their guests to their rooms. He asked Alix to accompany him to bring Marinette to her room. As they walked down the long, dark halls, the two began to talk.
“So what’s happening in the heavens and on earth?”
“The Heavens are rejoicing over Adrien’s engagement to Lila the “True Creation Goddess.” It’s bullshit. Adrien’s sitting there looking guilty and occasionally clutching his chest, like Juleka said he would. They’re too busy celebrating to notice that the earth is slowly beginning to wither. I wonder what they’re going to do when they realize Lila can’t take care of the world eh?”
“They’re going to eventually come down here and try to take Marinette back.”
“Are you going to let them?” Alix asked and gently opened the large brass door to Marinette’s room. She watched as Luka carefully set the woman down on the bed then gently tuck her in. Luka never was a violent god, despite what mortals claim. He was gentle and kind, opening his home to all, mortal and divine. But this seemed to be different. His eyes glowed with something Alix couldn’t yet place, but she knew she had seen it many times before. Luka rose and walked out of the room, Alix following quickly behind. He looked back at the sleeping Goddess one last time, before finally answering Alix’s question.
“They’ve have to go through every soul, divine, and demon in the Underworld before I let them hurt her again.”