Awoken from the restless sleep he had by his beeping alarm, Jaiden immediately noticed his right arm was once again sticky and the crimson smell of iron assaulted his nose like an old friend. Then the dull pain in his arm came to greet him.
"Great, guess it's laundry day" Jaiden mumbled stumbling out of his bedroom door and into the bathroom. The cold water knocked the wind out of him the same as it always did, he couldn't remember the last hot shower he had. The blood washed from his arm rather quickly and clots had already formed around the 13 pieces of obsidian imbedded all along the length of his arm.
Once he finished and got clothes on, black tee shirt, jeans, red long sleeve button up shirt , he walked upstairs to the kitchen where his mother was making breakfast, he hugged her good morning and after eating his eggs and sausage he was off to the first day of school.
'Nervous kid?' the thought appearing in Jaidens head from his serpent Kwami wrapped around his right arm attempting to numb the pain.
'Yes and no, it's going to be a culture shock for sure but with you around it should be fine' Jaiden thought back
The school was only a 15 minute walk from his new home and when he got to the campus he still had plenty of time to find his first class.
"Now where is literature?" Jaiden said to himself more than to anyone around him, looking at his schedule.
"Whose literature class you in?" A brunette girl with pigtails asked with a curious look on her face.
"Oh umm, Bustier" Jaiden responded after realizing she was talking to him.
"You're in my class so come with me." She said excitedly walking away.
'You smell that right?' Jaiden asked his companion following his new classmate.
'Yep, definitely magic on her. You'll want to watch her.' The serpent whispered.
"My name's Marinette by the way"
"Jaiden. I'm new to Paris."
"Where are you from originally?" Marinette asked on there way up the stairs.
"I'm originally from the States, my parents work for a tech company that recently opened an office here in Paris."
"Your French is good for not your first language."
"Thanks, I have a knack for languages luckily." He lied knowing his language was due to his magic abilities, if he can speak the language of the Aztecs he could speak French, and he was fluent but she didn't know that. "Although some of the culture nuances are lost on me, I might need you to help me understand French literature."
Y-yeah I'll do my b-best to help." Marinette stuttered opening the door, her face a cute shade of red and walked over to where her friends were sitting in the front of the class room teasing her for blushing.
Jaiden walked to an empty seat at the back of the room and sat.
The first half of class passed smoothly, general introductions and expectations mostly, and then a sense of impending dread sent a shiver down his spine, and then the blood started to soak his right sleeve.
'I thought you had a handle on my arm?' Jaiden questioned his kwami. 'Did you need to drink so badly?'
'you felt it as clear as I did, that wave of black magic, we need to be ready.'
It was then that Jaiden noticed his classmates and teacher staring at him with scared concerned looks.
"May I go to the nurses office?" Jaiden said with a nervous laugh.
"Umm. Yes." Miss Bustier said realizing the severity of what was happening to a student.
"I'll take him there." Marinette said standing up "he's a new student so he probably doesn't know where it is."
"Good idea." Miss Bustier said only half in shock.
"Thanks" was all Jaiden said as he stifled his grunt as best he could and they walked out the door.
"What happened to your arm?" Marinette questioned with a concerned look on her face.
"Scars from an archeological expedition in Mexico, they never properly healed." Jaiden said trying to drown out the pain coursing through his arm. Marinette could tell he was in pain when the thought was interrupted. "Do you believe in magic?"
"That's a little out of nowhere." Marinette responded after processing the question. "Why do you ask?"
"I'll tell you after you answer truthfully." Jaiden said with a sly grin.
"Well considering Ladybug and Chat noir us magic to defend Paris I'd have to say yes." Marinette decided.
"Wanna see it up close?" Jaiden said with the devilish grin as they entered the empty nurses office. "Seems she's not here, can you help me take my shirt off?"
" Uh y-yeah." Marinette stuttered out.
"Nervous around boys?"
"Yes." Marinette sighed as she started unbuttoning his shirt.
First his left arm, Marinette noticed several scars along his arm, and then the right arm, and Marinette was not prepared.
Thirteen shards of glass like obsidian were embedded all along his arm, all dripping blood and the tattoo of a snake with wings wrapped around his arm, the body passing through all thirteen pieces. "Ah!" Marinette gasp in shock as the snake started moving and drinking the blood. "What the hell?"
'Nice to meet you too princess.' A voice said inside her head
"Why did you just call me princess?" Marinette questioned Jaiden.
"I didn't say anything." A moment before realization dawned on him. "You're already speaking to her?" Jaiden said surprised looking at the snake who was still drinking his blood. "Well Marinette this is Quetz, he's my partner."
Once the snake was done drinking he tasted the air and asked 'So Marinette, do you spend much time around those Parisian superhero's?'
"N-no w-why do y-you ask?" She stuttered out at the unexpected question.
"It's because you smell like magic, we both noticed it when we first met you." Jaiden said so that she didn't feel too uncomfortable with the questions, while Quetz sniffed at her bag.
"Let's just tell them cause they'll only stay suspicious of you." A high pitched voice accompanied by a tiny red body emerging from Marinette's purse
"Fine Tikki, I'm Ladybug." Just as she said the words a loud scream and crash sounded from out the window and a tire barreled towards the window. Jace pined Marinette against the wall and shielded her with his body as shards of glass exploded into the room the tire narrowly missing the two students.
"Are you ok?" Jaiden asked Marinette quickly assessing her body for any injuries, of which he found none.
"I'm ok." A shaken Marinette responded, "how about you?"
"I'll be fine." Jaiden said, the glass bounced off but stung a little.
"Well you already know, Tikki spots on!" Marinette yelled as she transformed into Ladybug. "Get to safety, I'll go see what's up." Jaiden grabbed her arm before she could swing away.
"I'm coming with you." He said staring into her bluebell eyes.
"But it's dangerous." Ladybug protested
"Guess that means you'll just have to protect me." A devilish grin spreading across his face.
"Fine, hold on tight." And with that they swung to see what had happened.
As they followed the trail of destruction away from the school, Jaiden looked at the chaos in the street and shivered as he remembered the events 6 weeks ago, compared to that this was nothing. The trail ended at a plaza where a hulking bodybuilder was destroying statues.
"Great, all brawn no brain." Ladybug said with a little groan at her own bad joke. They landed on a nearby rooftop and she looked around expecting company.
"Looking for someone?" Jaiden said noticing her eyes scanning the other rooftops.
"Chat Noir should be here by now." She said worrying about her partner.
"Unfortunately you don't have time to wait cause the incredible bulk down there is looking for a fight." He said pointing at the aggressive beast of a man.
"Aren't you going to help?"
"Oh no I'm not much good in a fight, besides you've defended Paris just fine without me."
"Why did I bring you along then?" Ladybug asked the annoyance audible in her voice.
"Because, I wanted a front row seat to my first superhero fight." That smirk annoyed Ladybug so much. With that she leaped off to fight the akumatized bodybuilder.
The fight went on for a few minutes Ladybug dodged all of his blows but nothing she did phased the bodybuilder, 'where was Chat?' As she thought those words she lost track of the fight and the bodybuilder landed a blow dead center of her chest throwing her back and toppling over a bench.
"I have to help her." Jaiden furiously hissed to Quetz.
'Yeah but with your magic power as drained as it is you won't last long.' The snake whispered in his mind. 'Unless you're ready to move on from Kat.'
"I wasn't strong enough to save her, but I am strong enough to save Marinette!" Jaiden yelled as he leaped off the roof summoning the wind to dampen his fall, barely. He landed, rolled and sprinted towards the downed Ladybug ignoring the shock in his legs. "Quetz keep him busy for me, as long as you can!" With that the serpent launched from Jaidens outstretched hand and unfurling his feathered wings and darted straight at the bodybuilder. With the bodybuilder distracted Jaiden made his way to Ladybug, his arm bleeding rapidly from the exertion. "Marinette are you ok?" He knew the answer was no but he couldn't say anything else.
"Wh-what are y-you doing here?" Ladybug wheezed out trying to get the wind back in her lungs. "And don't say my name in public." She half scolded half smiled.
"Do you trust me?" Jaiden said in as serious a voice as he could muster.
"Yes." Ladybug said the light in her eyes fading.
The next thing that happened she could never have predicted, he kissed her, and she kissed him back fire flowing between their bodies. The kiss deepened and the pain in her body was slowly evaporating 'who was this guy' was all she could think before he pulled away, a look of pure gratitude plastered on his face.
"I'll be right back, my angel." Yes she was an angel, Jaiden thought. "Quetzalcoatl Feathers Unfurl!" With that he irradiated red, green and golden light from his body, when the transformation was complete his chest and legs were green with a scaly leather, his arms gloves and boots were red scaly leather and the shoulders were golden yellow and his mask was a combination of all three colors lined next to one another. The wind started to pick up building in a cyclone that encompassed Jaiden as he calmly walked towards the bodybuilder. The bodybuilder charged towards the new challenger, but before he reached him the wind itself lashed out lifting the bodybuilder into the air and slamming him into the ground pining him.
"We have to find the Akuma" Ladybug said walking next to him as if she was never hit. "My moneys on the belt." When she said that the wind shifted and cut the belt like a knife and a purple butterfly fluttered out and Ladybug captured and released it along with her miraculous cure. Walking over to the two of them was Chat Noir "Who's the new guy?" He said pointing to Jaiden
"Just call me Quetzal." Jaiden replied with grin on his face.
"Alright second question, why did you kiss my lady?" The jealousy breaking into his voice.
"Because we both needed it." Quetzal said flatly, "She was physically hurt and I emotionally. A quick kiss fixed both our problems."
"Quick my ass. Did you enjoy it Ladybug?" Chat asked looking at ladybug now.
"Well I was um , barely aware what was happening, my body just kinda did it's own thing." Ladybug half mumbled in embarrassment. "But yes I did enjoy it." At that her Miraculous started to beep "Sorry but I have to go." Ladybug said as she launched herself into the air and swung away.
"We should get going too, don't want to be too missed as our alter egos." Quetzal said to Chat Noir as he leaped away.
"Great just what I need competition" Chat said to himself as he leaped away.
After the Akuma attack Jaiden arrived at the school and he ran into Marinette, no surprise. "Guess we made it in time for 5th period huh." Jaiden said looking at his phone.
"Don't worry about it," Marinette assured him "school gets canceled once there's an akuma attack, beside you and I got kidnapped from the nurses office."
"Well that's good to know, already have an alibi. So what are you planning for our newly discovered day off?"
"I don't know, it's only the first day of class so there's no homework" She was cut off when she was jumped by one of the girls Jaiden saw her with at the beginning of class.
"Marinette where have you been I've been looking for you for an hour," the strange girl started and then she pointed at Jaiden "And what have the two of you been doing since you went to the nurses office?"
"We got kidnapped by the akuma" Jaiden said so plainly that for a second Marinette almost believed it herself.
'Kid I hate to interrupt but you did have to use a lot of magic for that stunt today and I'm running out of juice.'
'Shit, how I could I be so stupid' Jaiden cursed himself.
"Are you feeling ok?" Marinette asked concerned "you've gotten really pale."
"Sorry yeah I'm just, really hungry. I did loose a lot of blood today too." Jaiden said trying not to sound winded but the two girls were not easily convinced
"My parents bakery is close to the school we can get food there." Marinette offered.
"Yeah let's do that." Jaiden said as his vision started to darken. "Shit." And the world went black.