When morning came for Kim; it was like any other.
His sister woke him up in her usual bubbly way, the sun was shining and his parents were making breakfast.
He could almost believe the day before never had happened.
He left for school earlier than usual as he and the girls had decided to meet up to discuss their next plans. But before he left he gave Felicie a challenge for the day. He told her not to make any wishes and tell her friends at preschool not to either. He said it was a challenge for the day and she agreed happily. Kim didn't know if that would make them want to make a wish or not, but he figured it was worth a try.
On his walk to school, Kim watched old videos on the Black Jade Blog. It made him nervous to think of how much power Genie must have if she was able to make such incredible changes. It wasn't just everyone's memories that had been altered, if there was solid proof of another timeline like these videos then that meant that she had literally changed history. It was a terrifying prospect when you thought about it.
He wanted to see if there was any sign of Ladybug at all, but there wasn't. She never fought, and the other two didn't mention anything about her, even when asked about the ladybugs by Alya. He noticed there was no big showdown at the Eifel Tower and no reincarnation of Stoneheart. Because of that no one even knew about Hawkmoth until the second akuma Stormy Weather.
When he reached the school he saw Alya, Juleka and Rose were waiting out the front for him. He began jogging over to them when he saw Max was also there and talking to Alya. No doubt about him. Kim picked up the pace with more purpose. They'd agreed to tell their classmates everything and he figured there was no better way to start than with his own best friend.
"Hey, Max. How are you?" He grinned when he reached them. It felt like it had been ages since they last spoke even though it was only yesterday. A lot had happened.
Max looked a bit unsure about his chipper attitude, but he smiled anyway. "I am well, Kim. How about you?"
"Better than yesterday. Hey listen, the girls and I have to tell you something." He gestured to the trio standing patiently to the side.
The unsure look intensified, "Okay. What is it?"
Kim started, "I know you're gonna find this hard to believe buddy, but when you live in Paris where akumas are a normal occurrence the realm of possibility tends to stretch a little bit so hear me out."
Thus started the retelling of the tale that Kim felt he had told way too many times. Maybe getting all their classmates in one place to tell them all at the same time would be a better idea.
Max, naturally, had a much harder time believing their story than Juleka and Rose did. He kept stating the impossibilities and rattling off statistics to prove it. Statistics that went way over their heads. But he was asking a lot of questions and after about half an hour he ran out of things to say. Kim was right. When you live in Paris 'normal' has a different definition.
Max was silent for a while after that, having had his beliefs in science once again thrown in his face. When the bell rang they were all silent on their way to class. Just before they reached the door Max spoke; "I hate magic."
They all let out a soft laugh and Kim felt it was okay to speak again. "I was thinking," He ignored Alya and Max's groans, "that instead of telling this whole thing to one person at a time, we do it all at once. It'll be much easier that way."
Alya nodded, "I was about to suggest the same thing. We'll do it after roll call."
They agreed and entered the classroom where Kim found a little bit of hesitance. Max, having re-emerged from his stupor just slightly, picked up on it. "Go ahead and sit with Alya. I need some time to think."
The rest of their little group smiled as he took his seat but two did not. Adrien and Nino had overheard that last part and, not knowing the context, immediately assumed that Max and Kim were having an argument. Following Max's poor posture and empty face they did not see the smiles of the rest of the group. The two began speculating and sharing what they knew. Max was in his own little world, but Kim seemed quite content and conversing with Alya. Both had heard the rumours circulating about the two being in a relationship and had seen the little scene the day before and came to the conclusion that the rumours were true and Max was feeling left out now that his best friend had a girlfriend.
"I hope it turns out alright." Nino said.
Adrien looked at his friend and noted the way his fists were clenched and shaking. He knew that Nino had a crush on Alya so finding out that she had a boyfriend must have been pretty hard on him. He knew that if the girl he was crushing on turned out to be dating someone, he'd be heartbroken.
'Wait', Adrien thought. 'I don't have a crush on anyone. So where did that thought come from?' Not for the first time that morning, Adrien felt like crying.
Adrien pushed the weird feeling aside and focused on the task at hand. His best friend was hurting. But he still had enough heart to worry about Kim and Max's friendship. Adrien didn't know what to say though.
All this time he'd been pushing his friend to ask her out with encouraging reassurances that it would all work out just fine. And he believed it would be fine because all this time Adrien believed that Alya liked him too. But it appeared he was wrong. So what was he supposed to say to make it better?
Luckily he didn't have to find out because bigger problems walked through the door.
All conversations stopped as Chloe Bourgeois entered the room.
Her hair was loose from it's ponytail and fell limp on her shoulders, she wasn't wearing her signature sunglasses or yellow jacket and her face was completely void of makeup. The mayor's daughter slouched as she shuffled into the room with her face hidden behind her barely brushed locks and her eyes never looking higher than her feet. She stopped before she reached the stairs and Adrien nearly got up when he noticed that his oldest friend was shaking. He stopped when she slowly started to lift her head. When Chloe's tired eyes with dark circles underneath looked at her seat they filled with fear. No one said anything when her gaze slowly turned to the seat that was occupied by both Alya and Kim. She flinched and looked away almost immediately, as if the sight of them hurt her. Without another word, Chloe sat in her seat followed by the ever-present and clearly worried Sabrina whom no one saw enter just after, too absorbed by the sight of the blonde wreck.
The silence in the room was thick. Not one word was spoken. No one knew how to react to that. When Ms Bustier entered the room she was shocked to find her usually rowdy classroom completely silent. As she called out the role, no one noticed how both Kim and Chloe flinched at Mylene's name said after Juleka's.
Once roll call was over and it was evident that everyone from the class was there, Kim and Alya shared a nod and both raised their hands.
Before the teacher could call on them however, Alix's voice rose up from behind Alya.
"Ugh! I'm so sick of this heat already! I wish it would sn-"
"NO!" Several voices cried out, but none were louder or more desperate than one Chloe Bourgeois.
It was too late though. By the time it took for the commands to be shouted, and for those commands to be understood, Alix had already finished the word.
Alix's shocked and confused eyes traversed the room of her equally shocked and confused peers, landing on the people that had twinges of fear on their faces. Alya, Kim, Max, Juleka and Rose turned their attention and confusion to Chloe while the blonde looked as if Alix had just murdered someone.
After a beat of silence, Alix spoke again, "What did I say?"
A purple mist began seeping through the windows as if in answer to her question. Everyone in the room minus the teacher felt a sense of deja vu as the mist formed into a person wearing purple and gold. Gold-painted lips twisted into a malicious smirk aimed at the small pink-haired girl.
"I am Genie," She said in a voice that echoed unnaturally, "And I will grant your wish spoken in frustration."
Genie disappeared as quickly as she came, as if she'd never been there. The only evidence to her claims was the purpling sky and the snowflakes falling unnaturally heavy considering how hot it had been not one minute ago.
As snow began piling up outside and the room grew colder, Alix turned to her classmates with her arms wrapped around herself. "I take it back."
The only person to respond was Chloe. The mayor's daughter sat in her seat and brought her legs up to her chest before speaking in a pained whisper, "You can't. Once you make a wish, you can't take it back."
Alya stepped forward, a thoughtful look on her face. "And how do you know that?" The blonde only hid herself further in her arms and legs, "How did you know not to make a wish." This time it wasn't a question. It seemed as if Alya had already figured out the answer to that.
A sniffle was the first thing she got. And then Chloe was straight up bawling as she tried to get the words out. It wasn't anything like her loud and fake sobs she used to get her way. These were real, genuine and full of remorse tears that she was crying. "It's my fault, I know it is, I took it too far, I didn't mean, I didn't mean it, I promise I didn't mean it, everyone knows I hate Marinette but I'd never really want her to never be born, I wouldn't, I mean it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm-"
"Chloe!"
The heiress finally stopped her rant as Alya shouted her name. Chloe couldn't look her in the eye, knowing that she was the reason her best friend was gone. "I'm sorry." She said again, this time calmer. By now everyone was staring at her with more confusion than ever. "I-I tried to take it b-back, I really d-did. B-but it wouldn't work. G-genie wouldn't take back m-my w-wish. S-s-sh-she's g-g-gone!"
When she burst into tears again Alya didn't try to quiet her. The blogger had gone pale and slowly stood back to stare at Kim. What passed between their eyes in that silent conversation, no one in the class knew. Alya turned back to Chloe with her own tears in her eyes. It looked like she herself didn't know what to say next.
Taking the opportunity, Ms Bustier stepped forward and tried to make some sense of the situation. "I understand that that was an akuma, but you two seem to know more about this situation. What is going on?" She, and the rest of the class, looked between both girls, waiting for an explanation. It was silent for enough time that when Kim let out a shaky exhale, nearly everyone in the room jumped out of fright at the sudden noise.
"I can explain that, miss. We were gonna tell the whole class this morning anyway." When all eyes turned to him, he straightened up. By now Alya had composed herself and was facing the class with him.
"Please... Go on." Ms Bustier motioned towards the front of the room before taking a seat in Kim and Alya's abandoned spot.
The two stood tall as all the students took their seats, shivering as the cold continued to creep in. They listened avidly as the duo recounted the past day's events, about Marinette, Chloe's wish and how Kim was the only one who remembered.
"... Well... We thought he was the only one who remembered." Alya added with a look in Chloe's direction. The girl was still curled up and had remained silent through their whole speech, having ceased her crying by the time they began. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Chloe lifted her head from her arms and looked at Alya for a moment. "... I... I thought it was just a bad dream at first." She spoke in the most quietest voice any of them had heard from the rich girl's mouth, "I just... Wanted to wake up. Or at least... I didn't think it would be permanent. I thought it might go away if I learned my lesson... And I have." Chloe's voice picked up a little in volume and surety, those listening didn't know if she was trying to convince them, or was holding onto the hope that if Genie was listening she'd take back her wish if she knew the heiress regretted it. "I regret it, I know I went too far. I never liked Marinette, but wishing she was never born was too low. I want to take it back, I... I do. I really do." Chloe's voice had grown shaky and unconfident when it was clear that Genie wasn't listening. "I was hoping that everything would be back to normal today. But when I saw she wasn't in her seat again... I just kept hoping that she was gonna be late like usual... But..." Chloe shook her head. "But she's not... She's not coming back."
"The wish isn't going to go away until Genie is taken care of... Which leads us to another problem." Kim looked at Alya worriedly. Her voice had trembled just slightly at the end of her sentence and with the steely look in her eyes, he couldn't decide if it was out of sadness or anger. "We have to take care of this akuma."
Confused and incredulous chatter filled the room.
"What do you mean we have to!?"
"We can't fight an akuma!"
"What!? Why!?"
"Why can't Chat and Jade deal with it?"
"All right everyone. Settle down."
The class fell silent at their teacher's voice and stared expectantly at the duo at the front.
Kim continued, "Marinette is our classmate. I know not all of you can remember her but the fact that you were all feeling sad yesterday is proof she meant something to you. Marinette never failed to help someone in need and we owe it to her to help her now. I know we don't have experience, but if I'm right then we are the only ones who can help Marinette."
Alya turned to Adrien who asked the last question. "Chat and Jade can't help us... Because we can't trust them." This time the class stayed silent in shock, waiting for them to explain. "We developed a theory that because Kim can remember Marinette he can remember everything Genie has changed, like an immunity. We thought this because he can remember other things that are just way too possible for him to be wrong... A-and from what Kim can remember of the previ-true timeline... There was no Jade Turtle."
Eyes started widening in fear and confusion as Kim took the reins. "Since the very first akuma attack there were always two heroes that protected us. Chat Noir... And Ladybug." A few of the quicker people who remembered Alya's theory on there being a ladybug hero in the shadows caught on. Whimpers of 'Oh God' and 'This can't be happening' were tossed around the room while the others who hadn't figured it out yet continued to look confused.
Alya could see a flash of recognition in Chloe's eyes but the confusion still stayed. So she remembered Ladybug, but was still confused on why they shouldn't trust Jade Turtle. "The theory we came up with is that Jade Turtle was someone who made a wish to be a hero and put Ladybug out of action. For this reason, we can't trust him."
"But Jade's always taken care of us." Adrien protested again.
"I thought so too." Alya's voice was quiet and unsteady but she looked Adrien hard in the eye as she spoke. "But the more I think about it. The more I look back on those memories, the foggier they get. Like when Kim told me to remember how I met him the memory just slipped away, like it wasn't really there. Because that memory, like my one's of Jade... weren't even real to begin with." She finally tore her eyes away at that confession and her voice broke just slightly.
Alya didn't want to believe that her hero, the one she had fallen for, was nothing but a lie. But she had spent the majority of the night before reflecting on all her memories of the hero and it was like the more she reached the further away he got. She tried thinking hard on those memories, like she did with Kim in the park the day before, but without knowing what she was looking for no solid memories came through. She did get flashes though, when she thought back on the first time the heroes came to Paris. Turning a tap, flashes of red and black spots, an army of stone creatures, hundreds of dark butterflies forming a face, being stuck behind a car, a cry of 'Lucky Charm!'. Even telling a pigtailed girl about a blog she made. The Ladyblog.
Alya opened her eyes and faced the class. "We don't know for sure what's going on. But until we do, we can't trust anyone but ourselves."
She could still see the uncertainty in some of their eyes so she tried the same tactic Kim used on her in the park. "If you don't believe me, try what I did. Think back and remember the first time any of you saw Jade." She saw many people close their eyes and concentrate hard. Some opened them with a whimper or look of fear in their eyes. Max looked shock, Alix began to get angry, Adrien's eyes were unfocused and Nino had turned deathly pale.
Alya looked at Chloe and saw a look of deep contemplation she'd never seen on the Mayor's daughter. She raised her eyebrow and filed it away for later questioning when Chloe seemed to come to some sort of decision with a determined nod to herself. There was no fear at all on her face and the blogger got the impression that the girl hadn't even been listening to them or thinking back on her memories of Jade Turtle. Then again if she remembered everything like Kim did then she probably didn't even have memories to draw from.
Alya brought her attention back to the class and began to address them more firmly. Knowing they were done with Jade she moved on to a different topic. "Kim, Juleka, Rose and I spent hours yesterday watching videos of past akuma attacks trying to pinpoint the location the ladybugs originated from so we could find Ladybug."
"But the likeliness of finding her that way is incredibly low." Max pointed out.
Alya nodded slowly, "We know that... But what else can we do?"
"If Jade really is our enemy then we can't risk the possibility that he will try everything in his power to prevent us from cleansing this akuma." Kim continued.
"But what about Chat?" Nino asked. "He was still a hero before Genie arrived so shouldn't you be able to trust him?"
"We should." Kim nodded. "Like Alya said, we don't know for sure what's going on, so it's possible Jade isn't even the bad guy here. But Chat works with him so that either means Jade's good or Chat's memories have been altered like ours in some way." He shook his head. "It's best to be careful about this though. Until we know what's going on, we're on our own."
"But Kim, how can we stand up against an akuma?" Ms Bustier asked. "None of us have any sort of abilities to aid us here."
Alix suddenly grinned and spoke up. "We might not have any super powers like Chat, Jade or Ladybug." She spoke in a voice that had everyone wary. That was the tone she used whenever she had a devious plan for a prank. "But we do have our own... Special skillset."
The teacher gulped at the grin on her student's face. She knew from experience how disastrous Alix's plans could end up being. And she knew this time, she was going to have to encourage it.
She hoped she didn't get fired for this.
A few blocks away, a preschool was being covered in snow. The children were out playing when the sky turned purple and the snow began to fall, but were now holed up inside by their worried caretakers.
Young as they were, the children didn't understand the danger and were confused on why they had to go inside and why their teachers were so worried.
It was just snow.
While the adults ran around turning on heaters and gathering blankets, most of the children sulked about having to end their game of tag. One such child was staring out a window with a stubborn pout on his face. It wasn't fair. Why did those mean grown ups have to end all their fun. It would be even more fun to play in the snow but they weren't allowed out at all!
"Noll, get away from the window." One of the women spoke with worry. She didn't know what was happening other than it was an akuma and she had no idea what this particular akuma was capable of. She didn't want the children anywhere near the windows in case the glass broke from something.
But Noll didn't move. Why should he listen to the meanies who ruined his fun? He stayed by the window and thought about all the fun he could have at home, far away from these mean adults.
With the snow outside, his thoughts straight away turned to the game he was playing on his XBOX over the weekend. It was a fighting game in the snow and there was an army of snowmen that fought against the evil trolls. It was Noll's favourite game.
The teacher from before came up and pulled Noll away by his arm. "I told you to get away from the window."
Noll shook and twisted his arm out of her grip and sat on the floor with his arms crossed. "It's not fair. Why'd you have to ruin our fun?"
"It's snowing Noll, it's too cold to go outside. You'll get sick." She said, not wanting to tell the child of the true danger in case it scared him. "You can still play inside."
"But you don't let us run inside!" The child shot back.
The teacher crouched down to his level on the floor. "That's because there's not enough room in here to run and you could bump into someone and hurt them." She said in a calm and reasonable voice. "But you can play other games in here. Just stay away from the windows please."
She wanted a confirmation, but Noll refused to speak and she needed to make sure all the children were warm. Satisfied that he would stay away from the windows for now she reminded him to stay warm and went to check on the others.
Noll was still upset and turned to the window with a pout still on his face. With a huff he said out loud: "I wish there could be an army of snow monsters like in my game. Then we could have some fun."
"NO!"
Everyone stopped and looked at the little girl who had shouted. Felicie stomped up to Noll with a disapproving look on her face. "You're not supposed to make a wish, remember?"
Before another word could be said, a purple mist entered the room with a cackle. The children stared in awe at the figure that formed while the teachers tried to pull them all as far away as possible. The new person in the room pointed at Noll. "I am Genie, and I will grant your wish spoken in childishness."
She disappeared and for a moment everything was silent. Then everyone's attention was brought outside the window by a purple glow. The children watched in fascination and awe as the snow outside began to lift off the ground and form shapes. The teachers, however, were horrified by the sight of ice, snow and purple magic coming together in the form of scary looking snow monsters. A lot of snow monsters. Soon, an entire army stood at the ready, as tall as the building they were in and armed with sharp, icy weapons. All their eyes opened at once to reveal glowing gold.
Some of the children began to quiver in fear and hide in the teacher's arms.
But Noll was grinning like it was the best thing ever. As the newly formed army began to march around the entire city, one whispered word was all he could manage in his excitement.
"Awesome."
Noll means elf warrior. I found it fitting.
Hope you enjoyed!