Merry Christmas Eve! Well I'm going to be busy with dinner plans with my folks so I thought I'd post this chapter in the morning and let you all read it whenever you like. Here to a festive holiday. Also, happy holidays to those who celebrate Hanukkah and Kwanzaa or any other winter holidays that I'm clueless about. Anyway, on with the show:
Chapter 7: Succumb
"Well students, I've graded your assignments and I'm please to say that you're all doing well," stated M. Lavigne, passing out said graded assignments back to their owners, "The lowest score was a B- so I'm sure everyone here has an above average knowledge about the Paris Commune of 1871."
Marinette was content to recieve her paper back with a red A circled at the top. When Tikki had told her that she had lived through thousands of global historical events, including the Paris Commune, she thought the young kwami was kidding until she began rattling off major details, dates and key players and what they did that Marinette started taking notes. This was doubly good news as now her grade in class, that had dropped to a C, was now bumped back up to a B. Alya smiled and flashed her own paper, also a red A circled on top.
"Now that all the assignments are back with their owners, it's now time for our end of the semester project," M. Lavigne concluded, earning the groans of more than half the class. The history teacher chuckled, "Yes, yes, I can feel the excitement in your enthusiastic groans. But don't worry, this is more art history than historical events."
The project was fairly simple: choice a piece of art work that was created during the 19th Century, explain its cultural significance to the era and how it was received by the public during its unveiling. Pulling out a piece of paper, M. Lavigne started calling out the groups: "Remember, you can not ask for a different partner. Nino and Rose, Sabrina and Chloe, Nathanaël and Juleka, Max and..."
Marinette tuned out her teacher's voice and glanced at Chloe who was downing her third cup of coffee, still looking hagard and pissed with each passing second. Sabrina had scooted her seat a few inches away from the growling blonde, pouring another cup of coffee from a thermos and passing it to Chloe. She could feel the irritation and fatigue coming off the girl in waves, making some of the students close to her back away a bit. Color was slowly returning to her face, though Marinette wasn't sure if it was because Chloe was gaining her strength or due to the heat of the coffee.
"...Adrien and Alya, and finally Hector is with Marinette. I suggest you and your partner exchange emails or phone numbers and set up a date to which you two can work."
Cold tremors ran up her spine as Marinette heard her name being paired up with Hector for the assignment. Said boy was getting up from his seat, along with everyone else and heading towards their respected partner, save for Chloe and Sabrina. Alya patted the girl on the back, "Sorry about this. If you want, me, you, Adrien and Hector can group together to do our projects."
Before she could say anything, Alya walked over to Adrien to talk to him about the double team thing while Hector came up behind her, nearly scaring the poor girl to death. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to scare you," said Hector, waving his heads in defense, "So I guess you and I are partners."
"Yeah," replied Marinette, trying to sound enthusiastic about it, trying to shove that screaming voice away from her thoughts. 'It's all in your head. It's all in your head. There is nothing wrong with Hector. It's all in your head,' she chanted in her mind, but each time she did she felt her heart rate go up.
"Here's my number if you need to contact me," he pulled out his phone's contact and showed her the number, "Do you mind putting your number in here too? I text more then send email."
'Yes, I DO mind,' she screamed in her head, but shook it off and copy down his number before putting her own in.
Hector smiled and started talking about their project and where they should meet up. "I was thinking we could meet up at your family's bakery and start going through online art database or go to the library if you prefer."
"Great idea!" chimed Alya, popping up next to Marinette, the girl almost suffering a heart attack from her second scare in the pass ten minutes, "Adrien and I will join you. Right Adrien?"
The blonde model nodded, his golden hair bouncing and eyes shining made Marinette forget the creeping sensation for those few seconds. "Sure, I would love to try another piece of Marinette's clafoutis."
'He remembers!' Marinette wanted to self-combust in sheer happiness, giving off a wide smile and nodded. Aya rolled her eyes and quickly pulled the grinning girl off to the side, excuse themselves from the boys.
"Well," began Alya, putting her hands on her hips, "Guess you can't avoid not hanging out with Hector now, huh?"
"No, guess I can't," Marinette let out a nervous laugh, twisting the straps of her bag, "Have you decided what art piece you and Adrien are going to use?"
"Nope, I want to use one Eugene Delacroix's painting like Liberty Leading the People but model boy is more towards something by Paul Delaroche," complained Alya.
While Alya went on about how Delacroix would be a much better and easier subject to do, Marinette shifted her eyes towards Chloe who's head was swaying back and forth, as if she was trying hard not to fall asleep. Sabrina was next to her, putting away Chloe's stuff in her bag while simultaneously pouring her friend another cup of coffee. What's more shocking is that when Adrien walked up to her to ask if she's alright, Chloe didn't response! She just grunted before sliding her head on the desk and fell asleep.
"...and then I jumped into the lava-filled lake, save the three headed puppies and was crowned Miss France two days later. Earth to Marinette!" Alya snapped her fingers in front of her. Marinette let out a tiny squeak before turning to Alya, "Sorry! You were saying?"
"I know it's a challenge to look away from Adrien, but do you think you can do it for the next few minutes?" teased Alya, "Come on, Marinette. If we're going to do this study group, I've got to know that you won't be staring at Adrien the entire time and ignoring Hector."
Marinette glanced up towards the two boys and saw them animatedly talking to Rose, Nino and Juleka, the female students laughing at what she guessed was a joke Hector made. Rose blush when Hector whispered something to her, making her giggle and reply with: "Thank you, that's so sweet."
Rose was definitely comfortable around Hector, Juleka too as she asked to see the custom Celtic knot ring his had on his hand. This just made Marinette even more aliened from her peers. Why was she the only one uncomfortable around Hector?! The question drove her mad and it wasn't helping when Alya kept telling her to hang out with him. And now she was paired with him for a three week project.
'Maybe this is a good thing,' she tried to ration, 'Maybe with the time we'll be spending together I can finally get used to him and all those creepy sensations will go away! No one else feels weird about him, so it's just in my head, right?'
"So...we'll meet up the bakery?" asked Marinette. Aya agreed to the plan and went to tell Hector and Adrien. Marinette took in a deep breath and let it out. 'It's going to be fine. It's all in my head.'
"So what do you think, Marinette. Painting or statue?" asked Hector, opening a art book with images of 19th Century artworks.
Marinette pried her eyes away from Adrien and glanced at the book in front of her. Several images of bronze and marble statues were all over the pages, along with a few oil paintings here and there. "Oh, uh, I don't know. I think maybe a statue? There are so many paintings during this period and over ten movements happen during that era, most of them were painting centered so maybe something less...common."
"You really know your art history," Hector complemented, "Are you going to major in art in college?"
Marinette shook her head, "No, I'm more of a fashion design major. I design and sew my own clothing and accessories."
"That's amazing," he replied, "Did you learn it from a class or are you self-taught?"
"I taught myself, my parents had me take some classes to help sharpen my skills," she answered, fidgeting with a loose thread on the bottom of her jacket.
Hector continued to make conversation with Marinette over her skills in fashion while Adrien and Alya were still arguing over which art piece they were going to present. "I'm telling you that any of Delacroix's work would be a perfect subject for our paper. The guy made over 300 paintings, there's not exactly a shortage of works we can choice from!"
"But Delacroix is one of France's most popular and celebrated artist, there will be dozen of kids that have already picked him," stated Adrien, "Paul Delaroche did a bunch of historical paintings of France's most famed people like Joan of Arc and Queen Elizabeth I and The Hemicycle mural that was inspired by Raphael's The School of Athens."
Marinette chuckled at Alya's furious attempt to choose Delacroix for their project, occasionally grabbing at some of the chocolate-dipped madeleine Mrs. Dupin-Cheng brought out for them. The small group were seated in Marinette's living room on the sofa as the bakery was too cramped to study in while the after school rush of customers started bursting through the door. The baker's daughter can't help but feel a little embarrassed about having two guys in her very pink-shaded living room. Though they didn't seem to mind much, at least she hoped they didn't.
Adrien was actually having a great time being in the Dupain-Cheng's home. The entire place radiated warmth and love, nothing like his family's mansion, too big and too cold for anyone to comfortably live in. Smells from the bakery downstairs permeated the air around them, the aroma of freshly baked bread and vanilla invaded his senses. Large windows let in rays of sunlight into the living room while the oriental painting and decor gave the place a more exotic flair. It was funny to see how much of Marinette's love of fashion, designing and sewing had taken over the home. When Marinette went downstairs to get some treats for the group, Alya mentioned that the pillows on the couch and curtains on the window were made by the French-Asian girl during a sewing frenzy she was having at the time.
Everything about Marinette's life just screamed loving and happy family, so much so that Adrien couldn't help but feel envious of. Just once he would like his own father to show 1/4 of the amount of affection that Tom Dupain shown for his daughter. The man simply adored Marinette, he could tell the first time he met the man, how he would enwrap his daughter in a bear hug, ruffling her hair and letting her off with a plate of goodies he just made. His envy and yearning grew the more he stayed in this house, but he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay here, stay in a room where he can feel the warmth that Marinette experience everyday of her life. Why would he choose to leave such a cozy home for an ice-castle of a house?
"How about we each find an art piece that we like and we'll trade thoughts on it tomorrow," suggested Hector, collecting this things.
Marinette nodded as she started collecting the leftover plates. Outside, the sky grew dark and, from the clock hanging in the kitchen, it was already a quarter passed six. Adrien and Alya, still at odds with their subject matter, started packing their things as well. "Well discuss this later," promised Alya as she slung her pack over her shoulder.
The blonde rolled his eyes at that as Marinette help escort the trio of student downstairs. Tom walked out of the backroom carrying a tray of little puff balls of dough. "You kids finished with your project?" he asked, setting the treats on the counter.
"We haven't even picked a subject," grumbled Alya, before glancing at the baked goods, "What are those?"
"Gougères! Baked choux pastry with cheese inside," smiled Tom, "The cheeses I used is a combination of comté and camembert. Would you kids like to take a few and tell me what you think?"
Adrien put a hand over his jacket pocket in order to muffle Plagg's excited cheers, "Uh, can I take a dozen to go? I'm need to get home for my Chinese lesson."
"Oh! You're learning Chinese?" asked Tom, packing a dozen of the gougères in a decorated take out bag, "Why don't you asked Marinette to help you? She's fluent in Chinese due to her mother teaching her at a young age."
"Dad!" shushed Marinette, her cheeks turning red as she tried to hid her face beneath her wool jacket's up collar.
Adrien smiled and thanked Tom for the treats, trying to pay him but was told it was on the house for Marinette's friends. Hector patted Marinette on the shoulder, "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah...I see you," muttered Marinette as she watched him exited out the bakery.
"Sweetie, are you alright," asked Tom, his smiling face dropped into a worried looked, "You look a bit pale."
"I'm fine, I'm fine..." breathed Marinette, rubbing her temple. Her previous shakes and shivers around Hector were switched for headaches and drowsiness. She dragged her body upstairs, trying to sooth her fourth headache in the past two hours. "I'm...just gonna go finish my homework in my room."
"But what about dinner? Your mom is bringing takeout tonight," shouted Tom up the stairs.
Marinette groaned, her dad's voice was ringing in her ears, "Just put a bowl away for me. I'll eat it later."
By the time she reached her room, her headache went away and she started to think clearly again. Tikki popped out of her bag sat next to her on the chaise lounge. "Marinette, are you really okay. Your father is right, you do look a little pale."
"It's fine, Tikki. I think I might just have a headache," reasoned Marinette, laying back onto the chaise, "Maybe a little nap will help me..." Her sentence trailed off as she feel asleep, a light snore escaping her mouth.
Chat Noir stared at his baton in frustration. Ladybug was not answering his calls. According to the screen, Ladybug wasn't transformed yet and thus couldn't answer. 'But wouldn't her kwami say something about my call?' he thought, leaning against the concrete walls of Notre Dame, 'Unless her kwami is just as annoying and aggravating as Plagg...'
'I resent that!' yelled Plagg in his head. Chat Noir hissed in pain as the tiny kwami's voice was amplified while transformed, so his yell was akin to that of a megaphone next to his ear.
After the ringing stopped, Chat Noir tried calling again to no avail. He sighed and raced off into the night. If Ladybug wasn't going to join him, then he'll go solo this time. Another of the Sleeping Beauties's family just called, a Mrs. Joan Andersen, mother of the eleventh victim Aly Andersen, knew about his and Ladybug's involvement and asked for a interview with them. Before they got into the case, Mrs. Andersen was very uncooperative with law enforcement as her daughter's background wasn't, for lack of a better term, 'proper' and she didn't want the media spreading false information.
The Andersen lives in a rustic-looking flat on the third floor in the Latin Quarter. Not rundown or fancy, but very modest. Entering the building was fairly simple, no doorman and she had buzzed him in when he answered. When he reached her door, he could hear the faint cries of a baby through the wood as he knocked. Mrs. Andersen looked like every other soccer mom with her blonde hair in a high ponytail, jeans-sweater combo and tan skin from long periods in the sun. In her arms was a baby, no older than one, maybe two, years old.
"Chat Noir! So glad you're here, please come in," Mrs. Andersen stepped aside and noticed someone missing, "Is Ladybug here?"
"Sorry no, she's out interview one of the other victim's mother," lied Chat Noir, taking in the cozy little home.
"Oh...so she's interviewing the Lombardis or the Talbotts," Chat notice Mrs. Andersen looking a bit peeved at the family names she mentioned.
"Actually she's talking with Mrs. Charter, Nancy Charter's mother," Chat lied again.
"Ah, she's talking to Linda," Mrs. Andersen's face became more gentle, "You know, Linda's daughter, Nancy, and my Aly attended the same lyée. Though Nancy is a year older than Aly, I often talked to Linda during PTA meetings and at school bake sales. She is such a nice woman...understood what I was going through..."
Mrs. Andersen looked pretty faint so Chat Noir quickly led her to a nearby couch. He wasn't sure how to go about interviewing her. Ladybug usually was the one that did all the talking and when it came to interviewing it was usually Adrien who was being interviewed. "So...umm...how was Aly like?"
"Aly was...is a difficult child. My husband and I did are best to raise her well, up until she went to lyée, she was a good girl," began Mrs. Andersen, rocking the baby in her arms, "But when she entered the lycée, she changed. Going out late, sneaking in boys, she got arrested for drinking, I thought she was going through a phrase of rebellion. It got worse a few years back when she started hanging around older boys and she...I don't want the press finding out."
"Mrs. Andersen, I'm not with the press," console Chat Noir, "Nothing you tell me will leave this room."
"You don't understand, the media is vicious," she hissed, clutching the baby tighter, "They'll dig and dig and dig until they can find the dirt they want and they'll plasted is out for the world to see and have everyone judge you for your past mistakes."
"And what mistakes did Aly make that you didn't want getting out," asked Chat.
The woman said nothing and looked down at the baby, gurgling and making tiny noises. "I shouldn't have said mistake," she whispered, stroking the baby's face, "You're not a mistake."
Chat Noir understood the situation and decided to go to the next question. "All the victims had dates before they were sent to the hospitals. Aly had one too right? How long was she dating this boy?"
"About a week," she muttered, cooing at the baby, "He was very handsome and charming. And I stupidly thought that this was the boy that would set my daughter straight. Instead he put her in the coma-ward."
"Was she acting strange before the incident?" He recalled the list Ladybug sent him of similar symptoms the victims shared before slipping into a coma. Let's see if Aly was the same.
"She didn't act any different then before, except that she was really tired and pale for a while. I though she may of gotten an infection or gotten sick but the doctors said that it's just fatigue," answered Mrs. Andersen, "I should have made her stay home and sent that boy away but he acted so sweet and he seemed so concerned about her...!"
"Calm down, Mrs. Andersen, you couldn't have known," Chat Noir checked off several boxes in his head. Aly suffered the same symptoms as the other. He glanced around the room and saw the many family photos hanging on the walls. "Mrs. Andersen, where is your husband."
"Police station, trying to get those people to work harder on my daughter's case instead of focusing on the Bissets and the Labelle and the other families that are bribing them!" she hissed.
Chat Noir asked a few more questions, questions he remembered Ladybug asking other families about before bidding the woman goodbye. 'So when the Incubus starts dating them, they become tired and hagard from the energy he steals,' Chat Noir concluded as he jumped across the rooftops. 'Makes sense. You don't have the energy, you get tired.'
Halfway through his track, he found himself in a familiar side of town, the one near his school and the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Being as sneaky as his namesake, Chat peaked in through the living room window to see Tom and Sabine eating from a takeout box, talking and laughing with one another. But no Marinette in sight. Climbing up to said girl's window, he saw the blunette sprawled on her chaise, sleeping away without a care.
'She looks cute when she sleeps,' he though, careful not to make a sound as he left the building and made it home in record time. He tried to call Ladybug for the last time but, again, the call couldn't get through. Instead he left a message about the interview and changed back into Adrien Agreste.
"Ugh, that was boring," complained Plagg, swooping down towards his leftover cheese, noisily munching on the foul-smelling pieces of dairy.
Adrien plotted himself on his computer chair and started working on his part of the project. Even if he and Alya couldn't agree on a artist, that didn't mean he could do his own research or look for other alternatives. However, mid-way through his work, he got a phone call. According to the caller ID, it was Chloe. "Hey Chloe, are you feeling better?" He asked.
"Oh Adrikins, it is so awful!" cried Chloe from the other end, "I feel like I'm going to die! Daddy had to call over three doctors to check me! He even said he was going to cancel my ticket to our cruise! I had to beg him not to! Can you image how horrible it would have been if they broke our trip together?!"
"Yeah...that would be a tragedy," he replied sarcastically, though Chloe didn't seem to notice and continue ranting on how 'awful' the doctors treated her by giving her pills or homemade remedies. "What happen Chloe? Did you stay up late or catch a cold?"
"No, never!" Chloe started bawling into the phone before reverting back to her normal tone, "All I did was go on my normal 5-hour shopping spree with Sabrina and Hector after school, ate dinner at that new nouvelle cuisine restaurant in the 7th arrondissement, gave Sabrina my homework while I entertained Hector with my father's new indoor theater, send them home while the maids prepared my bath with my favorite essential oils, watch of my favorite soap operas and then went to bed."
Chloe then tried to say that it was probably something she ate at the restaurant or the maid who drew her bath put something in her water or other ridiculous scenarios that were just as unbelievable as the ones she had Sabrina say after last week's photo shoot. Adrien listened to it all with impeccable patient he had after years of dealing with demanding photographers. "Okay, I understand Chloe. I just hope you'll feel better soon."
"I better! Tomorrow is Armistice day which means no school and I don't want to spend a holiday in bed!" whined Chloe, "Luckly, Sabrina has my project under control so I don't have to worry about that. Anyway, I have to go. Daddy says that too much phone use might 'hinder' my healing process. Tsk, yeah right. Anyway, night Adrikins! I'll talk to you later!"
After hanging up, Adrien began to think back on how ill Chloe looked. Pale, bags under the eyes, and a slumped posture. She was angrier than normal as well, lashing out at whoever annoyed her and she was drinking coffee, a drink she would never touch for fear it would stain her teeth! She was also tired as he saw her falling asleep a few times on her desk. It was weird and he hoped she was okay. He couldn't help but think back to the Sleeping Beauties and how they were all tired while dating the Incubus.
Adrien shook his head, 'Those girls were dating the Parisian Incubus and had their energy drained. Chloe isn't seeing anyone, let alone the Incubus, it's probably just a flu going around.' Satisfy with that conclusion, he turned his attention back to his computer.
Marinette nearly had a panic attack when she woke up at 4:30am the next day! She fell out of her chaise and started struggling to change clothes before Tikki stopped her halfway through pulling up her shirt. "Calm down, Marinette! Don't you remember? It's Armistice Day, no school!"
At that news, Marinette relax. Wide awake and not wanting to go back to sleep, the bluenette quietly showered and dressed in her favorite pink polka-dotted coat, jeans and boots and headed out. The sun started to peak over the building and the breeze started to pick up. Tikki hid in the collar of Marinette's coat, wearing her own, hand-knit kwami-size sweater. "Where are we going, Marinette?" she asked.
"Nowhere, Tikki," she replied, "Just want to stretch my legs for a bit. Can't believe I slept that long."
"You were really tired," her kwami stated, "But at least you're all better now, right?"
She let out a small laugh, "Yeah, I'm fine. My heads cleared up and I just want to enjoy the morning."
Walking passed a newsagent's shop, Marinette watched the shop clerk restock the newspaper and magazines. Plaster on the front of L'Opinion, Le Monde, and Le Point were articles about the Sleeping Beauties case. "13 Sleeping Beauties, Will There Be More?", "Sleeping Beauties Case Grows Cold," and "Twisted Fairy Tales Come To Life: The Sleeping Beauties and The Parisian Incubus" were the titles on them. She picked up one of the paper and started skimming through the articles.
Marinette felt herself grow angry at the writings, it was nothing but a slander against the police and how they weren't doing anything to move the case along. The author also shamed the victims, highlighting some of the girls' less savory activities. The clerk saw what she was reading and clicked his tongue, "Don't read that garbage, sweetie. That journalist is know for bashing on the police and victims. Those poor girls are laying in a coma, the police are scrambling to find out what's happening that that joker is doing nothing but shifting public opinion against them."
"Do you think the police will find the perpetrator?" she asked, putting the newspaper back.
"I hope they do," he replied, straightening the candy display, "Whether it's the police or Ladybug and Chat Noir, I just want this guy caught. The last girl was around my daughter's age. I don't want that sicko running around attacking young women."
"...I'm sure they'll find him," Marinette responded. She bid the man a good day and continued on her walk.
Before long, Marinette found herself in the center of Champ de Mars, the Eiffel Tower washed in shades of yellow, orange and blue from the sunrise. The park was vacant, save for a few dog walkers and early joggers, so she sat on the soft grass, taking in the setting and silence. With the case on a stand still for the police, she knew it was only a matter of time before the media turned to her and Chat for answers, increasing the pressure for them to solve it.
Marinette was used to working under a time-limit and high pressure type of situations, but this was a new type of pressure. One where the lives of multiple people were on the line and they were up against a villain possessed by a akuma that could change his appearance at will. This wasn't like Stormy Weather, Lady Wifi or Monsieur Mime that only attacked one person or centered their attack on a certain type or group of people. No, this villain was much more clever and devious. Spending time with his victims, gaining their trust, the trust of their friends and families, seducing them and feeding off their energy.
And he attack indiscriminately. Age or appearance didn't bother him, it was personality based so he had to be around them to know how they acted. All these thoughts swirled in Marinette's head, forming another headache and causing her to bury her head in her hands to stop the pulsing throb in her temple. With her headache growing, she didn't pick up the crushing leaves behind her or the heavy-set footsteps coming towards her.
A low chuckle snapped her out of her thoughts, "Fancy seeing you here, Miss Marinette. Early morning walk?"
The French-Asian girl jumped a bit and turned her head back. Hector loomed over her, dressed in thick black jeans, tan wool jacket and matching workman's boots, a smile on his face as he stared down at her. Again, a shiver crawled down Marinette's shine, though she wasn't sure if it was from being around Hector or the wind picking up. "Hey Hector," greeted Marinette, "I didn't know you were up this early."
"Routine," he answered, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "My folks are strict with me being early to school to avoid any tardy demerits. So they would always have me wake up before sunrise. Now my brain does it automatically."
"That's rough," she commented. She wasn't sure what to do in this situtation. Should she stand up to talk to him? Walk with him? Ask him to leave? Ignore him? No, that last part would be rude. Marinette wasn't completely comfortable around him and her headache was still pounding in her head. "Umm, so what are you doing here?"
"Going for a walk, trying to clear my head," he answered, before pointing to the spot next to her, "Do you mind if I sit with you?"
"Umm, sure," she answered. Hector sat down Indian-style next to Marinette. He started rummaging through his pocket before pulling out a bag of BonBon brand candies, one bag of strawberry-flavor, the other blue raspberry. He held out the strawberry one towards her.
"Do you want one?" be offered, opening the bags, "They're really good and I've become pretty addicted to it."
Marinette nodded and plucked a candy from the bag and popped it in her mouth. Since she skipped breakfast before going out for her walk, her stomach began growling, thankfully not loud enough for Hector to hear thankfully. "So...how do you like Paris?" she asked, trying to make small talk with him. After all, she did promise Alya she would hang out with him. This counts as hanging out, right?
"It's great! here are so many places to see, things to do, I've really fallen in love with the city," he gushed, "There are so many places, restaurants, people and events, I'd have to live here for several months to fully experience life in Paris. You're so lucky to live in such an amazing and pretty safe place."
"Heh, guess you haven't been around an akuma-attack," she muttered under her breath, but perked up and said, "Yeah, Paris is beautiful city and I wouldn't imagine living anywhere else."
Hector nodded, agreeing with her, "The best part about being in a new place is that I don't have to wear a mask all the time."
She stopped mid-way from popping another candy in her mouth, "What do you mean?"
"Well...you know how some people say they have dual personas. You know, the personality and mannerism they show in public and the personality they secretly have or wish they can show?" he stated, "When I'm back in Switzerland with my classmates and my parents, I have to act the way everyone expects me to be: the perfect son with the great personality, manners and just everything they expect me to be. You know, kinda like a trophy."
"But when I'm here," Hector gestures to all of Paris, "I don't have to constantly worry about my parents looking over my shoulder about how I act. I can be myself for a while and don't have the pressure of my family name holding me back."
"Sounds like you're treated more as a show dog than a person," commented Marinette, "But you must have friends that know who you really are?"
"That's the thing: not even my classmates know what I'm really like, the things I like to do, my opinions, nothing like that," Hector looked downtrodden at this point, "Before I attended Le Rosey, everyone knew about my family. Our wealth, influence and power, everyone immediately expected either this snobby, spoiled rich kid or this perfect, charming, future-CEO son that everyone adored. I became the latter. I wanted friends so badly but my parents told me that I had an image and that I shouldn't shame the family. And now that everyone thinks of me like that, I don't want to destroy their outlook on me."
Marinette frowned, "Why? Why put up a mask to make your parents happy and to trick others?"
"Isn't better to be something amazing than something so ordinary and boring?" he questioned, he turned to face her, "My parents, classmates, teachers, everyone expect me, the son of two upper-class socialites, to follow in their footsteps. Be the perfect son, be intelligent, charming, interesting, all those things. And what would happen if they hated the real me or thought I was just a let-down of a son? Why would anyone settle for someone who is just so dorky or boring or lame or just plain normal when they can get someone who is so incredible and extraordinary? If it was between me and someone like Superman, people will always choose the better, more exciting version. Beside, wouldn't it be such a disappointment to know that the person you built up to be so marvelous and exciting turned out to be someone so boring and weak, a completely opposite?"
"Disappointment..." Squeaked Marinette, her appetite gone and replace with a bitter feeling in her heart.
"Yeah, you put these amazing people on a pedestal like celebrities, athletes and heroes and everyone just thinks they are the absolute best and then they become so disenchanted when these people make mistakes or turn out to be something else," Hector explain, finishing off his bag of BonBon, "Like Clark Kent and Superman, no one ever suspect such a dull, mild manner person to be a superhero and when it is revealed, the illusion of Superman kinda dies with it for some people because they expect he to be just as incredible in his civilian life as he is as Superman."
'Like if people find out I'm Ladybug,' thought Marinette, her heart growing heavier by the minute, 'Why have boring, plain Marinette when they could get marvelous and incredible Ladybug, a superheroes girls look up to and is adored by many boys. Why wouldn't they choose Ladybug over Marinette? And wouldn't they be disappointed to find out Ladybug had been this shy, weak and stuttering young girl?'
"Sorry, this is probably seems like such a depressing topic but I just need to get it off my chest," Hector replied, "I don't want people to be so dishearten when they see the real me and know I'm not this perfect guy that has the perfect life. And you're such a sweet girl, Marinette. So open and honest, you'd probably never lie to anyone or keep secrets from the people you care about. That's what makes you so incredible, you don't hid anything."
Marinette felt herself becoming smaller the more Hector continued to talk. Guilt was building up inside of her rapidly, the memories of all the times she had to lie, sneak, and fail to help her friends due to her alter-ego came back to haunt her. There was one time where Alya and her were partners for a project and the blogger had to do everything herself because of an akuma infestation that week. Another was failing to deliver a package on time for her parents because a theater-themed akuma had destroyed half the city. The worst having Chloe save last year's spring dance because Marinette failed to get everything in order due twin-akuma villains tearing up her neighbors. Trying to balance her civilian life and her superhero duties were getting harder and harder as time passes.
She was suppose to be the class president, her parents' daughter, the selfless one, the girl that tries to help everyone, and yet she felt as if she was failing at every turn! Ladybug had everyone's admiration, they turned to her for safety and protection, she couldn't fail them. Hector turned to her and smile, patting her hand. "You're a wonderful person, Marinette. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's fine if you make mistakes, you're only human."
'But I can't make mistakes!' she screamed in her head, 'I can't afford to make mistakes as Ladybug!' Marinette can make mistakes, Marinette's life can take a turn for the worst, but Ladybug can't. She's Paris's savior, their hero, everyone is relying on her to stop the bad guy, fix the city and be there when trouble arises. If Ladybug starts making mistakes, will the citizens of Paris lose faith in her? Will they start to question whether she can handle the job? Marinette felt herself getting sick, she should have stayed in bed.
Hector looked down nervously and tapped her on her shoulder, "Look, Marinette. I know you probably don't like me and I probably make you uncomfortable."
"W-what?!" gasped Marinette, "That's not..."
"Please don't start lying now. I've seen the way you've been avoiding me," he looked so sadden by the fact that Marinette's guilt started to pile on, "But I want to show you that I'm not a bad person. Here!" He reached into his other pocket and pulled out two, bright yellow tickets. "These are for the exhibition at Musée d'Orsay this Sunday. I was originally supposed to go with my dad but he canceled on me, so I have an extra ticket. Marinette, would you like to go with me to the exhibit. Just as friends."
Marinette was conflicted. On one hand, she didn't really want to spend a Sunday with Hector, even after they talked, her headache got worse and the chills down her back were still there. But on the other hand, Hector had notice her attempts to avoid him, his sadden face added to her guilt along with his talk about dual lives. Plus Alya's, Nino's and Adrien's insistency on her hanging out with him. She had already messed up enough as Marinette, why disappoint more people?
"O-okay. Sounds nice," she reached out and took one of the tickets, "What time should we meet up?"
"Noon would be great," he chirped, a smile across his face, "I promise you'll have a great time! Thanks Marinette."
He got up and hugged her tightly, the shiver got worse the second his cheek touched her's. Hector waved her goodbye as he walked away towards the west exit. Marinette waited until he was out of sight before she looked down at the ticket. The bright yellow paper with black lettering seemed to glared back her. Tikki poked her head out of her collar and looked down at the ticket as well.
"Marinette are you sure that you're okay?" asked Tikki, "You don't seem like you want to go."
"No, no, it's fine..." she muttered, pocketing the ticket, "I've kinda owe him since I've been avoiding him for no reason."
"But Marinette..." Tikki began but was hushed by Marinette's voice. "It will be fine Tikki. If anything goes wrong, I'll make an excuse and leave. Beside, we'll be at a museum, public place. Nothing bad will happen."
Tikki didn't look happy with the answer but didn't push the subject further, "Okay Marinette. I trust you."
"Great now..." said Marinette, getting up from the grass, "Let's go home, I don't feel so good anymore."
His patience had paid off and her fate was sealed the moment she took his ticket. There was no turning back for her. His words shook her, filled her with guilt, embarrassment and sadness. He learned long ago that people hid their other selves inside, afraid of what others, the public, might think of them. Marinette was no exception. Whatever secrets she had, he didn't know, but he didn't have to in order to manipulate her. Guilt is a powerful motivator and people like Marinette were vulnerable to its effects.
In just a few days, he and Marinette will be alone. Public places meant nothing, he could drain her in a room filled with people and no one would notice. He wouldn't drain her completely, no that would cause suspicion and he didn't want his little rendezvous with Marinette to end so soon. What fun would that be? No, he would hold out a little longer, another week or two. Maybe until winter break started, who knows? Marinette was just too sweet to drain too fast, she needed to be savored.
'That reminds me, I have to thank Alya, Nino and Adrien for their help,'' he though cynically, 'Maybe I'll sent them a card after I'm finished with Marinette.'
It pained him to put such a sweet girl, someone full of love and innocence, in a hospital bed next to all those unworthy whores, but hey, life is unfair. Maybe after he gets the Voice his precious Miraculous and he has his side of the deal fulfill, he could ask the Voice to awaken Marinette. The others, who cares? But Marinette, he had to spare her a lifetime in a dreamless sleep. But for now, she was his target and he was slowly cornering her, wrapping her up in his web. Tighter and tighter until she couldn't get away.
The sun finally settled into the sky, illuminating the beautiful blue day. He felt so lighthearted, giddy even. Phase 3 of his plan had gone without a hitch. He wanted to reward himself. Diving into a nearby cafe, he took a seat near the back and started looking through the menu. An attractive waitress about 20-some years old came strutting towards, her uniform noticeably more shorter than the other girls and she had that familiar glint in her eyes, one he knew far too well.
"Hey there, good-lookin'," he could tell from her accent that she was foreign, American probably, "See anything you like on the menu? Off the menu?" That last part was said in a very suggestive tone.
"Yes, actually," he said smoothly, "I'd like hot chocolate with a warm croissant. And maybe some company afterwards. When do you get off?"
She laughed, "I can get off now if I want to. My idiot boss won't even notice. I'll be back with your food and we can book it. My friend works in a hotel nearby, if you know what I mean." She walked towards the counter and started barking his order to-go. He couldn't help but laugh.
Yes, today was a good day.
New chapter tomorrow! But before that: Read & Review!
