Akuma - A Dark Miraculous Ladybug AU

Chapter 1 - Alya Césaire

Alya Césaire trudged lonelily through the snow.

Mid-winter Paris was rather ugly in Alya's opinion. Everything was an ocean of snow and ice with benches and buildings sinking into the whiteness. Walking through it tended to put her in a dull mood. Dark clouds, awful weather, the only exception was that students get to miss school for a day.

Alya breathed into her scarf as light warmth was received back. Her hair was cut short like a bob, her hazel eyes rather dim from the cold. The tips of her hair were a dark red, dyed from a few years back. Her glasses were rather fashionable, upturned but black. Her skin was dark like cocoa and a beauty mark nestled above her left eye. She was covered from head to toe in comfy winter clothes. From a soft large red coat that reached her ankles to fluffy boots. The teen in general gave off a hipster blogger vibe; but was a bit more introverted than many would expect.

"Ugh...why is Paris always so damn cold..." she grumbled into her scarf. "I miss Martinique winters..."

She walked up to a shrivelled black tree and rested her back against it. 

It carried many memories of students from Francois-Dupont. Famous couples have carved their names into it, many like to simply hang around there to chat and most importantly, it was were Alya first met Marinette. 

She felt around in her coat-pocket and until she reached for her phone. A device she held dear to her heart. She pressed her thumb on the fingerprint identification and called her close friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Marinette, in Alya's opinion, was a sweet girl. High pigtails, a cute smile, light peachy skin, mischievously subtle freckles dotted over her nose and bright blue eyes. No matter the situation, she always had an upbeat, optimistic and cheery vibe. No wonder she had many admirers.

"Marinette?" Alya said, kicking a bit of the snow from the ground. "Want me to come over already? It's like 2 'o' clock."

"Right, right, we were meeting up at the park right? Sorry..." Marinette's cute voice rang back over the light buzz of static. Her voice had a tint of Chinese accent to it, due to her heritage. There was a small pause and Alya could hear some light yelling from the background. Then Marinette continued. "Uh no! Don't come over! Our house, it's-it's under repair!"

"Okay," Alya shrugged with disinterest, "so are you coming, or what?"

"In about an hour," Marinette said sheepishly. "Sorry Als, my parents are working me to death. I'm not even halfway through my chores...I didn't come home last night until 11:40."

"Great, maybe I'll be able to watch humans de-evolve by then," Alya said sarcastically, slightly bitter. "What were you doing up so late last night anyway?"

"Not worth explaining at this point," Marinette grumbling. She then whispered more silently, "I think I've run out of excuses already at this point..."

"You sure you don't want me to come over? I could help you or-"

"No!" Marinette interrupted loudly. "Just...don't....come over..."

"Jeez, okay, okay," Alya said with a sigh. "I guess we'll meet up at Della-Robbia cafe with Nino, okay?"

"Sounds great!" Marinette chirped back. "See ya Alya!"

"Seeya Marinette." Alya grinned softly. She looked down at her phone and pressed on the illuminated red icon.

Alya chuckled to herself.

She's such a dork.

She found Marinette's clumsiness rather adorable ever since she met her. She was always naive and straight-forward, always smiling. Alya always wondered if there was another side to her. If Marinette truly is who she says she is.