Chapter Thirteen:
Alix's POV:
Someone screamed.
I leap from my hiding place, which was not easy with skates on. A few feet away, Mélodie was frozen in stone, and Nathaniel was behind her in shock. The Pétrifier smirks, and raises her paw, preparing to strike.
As I run, I grab my watch, and quickly press on the button.
Before Mercury could say anything, I quickly point to Florence. "Save her. Now."
He rolls his eyes, which made me want to smack him. "Chill, hedgehog. I got everything under control."
With a snap of his fingers, the air ripples, and time stood still. My mouth drops in shock. "How-" I never finish the sentence. Dammit, he froze me too!
The blue human kwami lazily strolls to where Mélodie was, and lifts her. "The girl weighs a ton," he grumbles in protest.
"Oh wait."
He taps on her shoulder, and with a neon light, and she vanishes. Teleportation.
Mercury laughs. "Surprised, hedgehog? Oh wait, that's right. Can't speak. Unfortunately…"
The air ripples once more, and Nathaniel blinks. The villain confusingly stares at the blue man glowing in front of her.
Stupid blueberry. Now he's caught both of us in the middle of the fight!
"Oops."
The Pétrifier regains her composure, and snarls. Mercury scoops me in his arms, and runs for our lives. I hit his chest.
"Put me down, idiot!" I yell.
"Sure, darling, go ahead and send me back in that compartment if you dare."
Knowing he has won the argument, I cross my arms and sigh.
All I can say is, "I'd be faster in skates."
We reach a safe spot, and he looks at me, waiting for something to happen.
"What do you want?" I demand.
"Well…you owe me some Gatorade."
I scowl.
Ladybug and Cat Noir commence the fight. They probably had seen us, but luckily, they know that they got to deal with the akuma first.
Nathaniel slowly props up a groaning Volpina, who clutches her head with her hand.
"Mercury, we got to get her to safety, too," I say.
My watch's kwami shakes his head. "Can't. One, she'll refuse. Two, I already broke a lot of rules by doing what I just did. And three…"
He stares at my pack. "I'm out of juice to do anything. So may I have some Gatorade now?"
I throw a bottle of the energy drink at his face.
He greedily chugs down all the contents. I silently scold myself for not giving him some regular drink the second time we met.
"Let's go check on that blond chick of yours," Mercury suggests.
"Yeah, where did you send her?"
"Oh, in Ladybug's civilian abode."
My jaw drops. "You did what?!"
The tone of my voice throws him off, and his eyes widen at his mistake. He laughs nervously.
"Well, the genie always grants the wishes, next time, just be more specific?"
I glare at the stupid idiot, just like I did in our first encounter…
Flashback
The watch was carefully shining in its display case beside one of my trophies.
For school, Ms. Bustier told us to study any artifact of our choice. Since family heirlooms also counted, I decided to research the watch.
I wasn't an amazing artist like Nathaniel, but the sketch turned out really well. I had an hour left of extra time, and wondered if I should call Kim and take up on his next bet.
"Wait," I had thought to myself. "Wasn't there some glowing image of a woman also with the watch?" That was what scared Chloe enough to drop it. Hmm. Maybe she was an ancestor.
I plop down on my bed, and gently push the button.
As usual, a blue figure glows, holding its own watch.
But something was off.
Unless I was seeing things, the blue figure solidified into a male in a ballerina tutu, smirking.
"Hello, I am the Genie, say your three wishes…"
He reminded me of the former Kim when he was teasing bully. He was also just as annoying.
I glared at it. "No thanks."
After, I shut off the watch.
I placed it back at its place, and called Kim to race him. My homework was completed as the way it is.
Besides, there was no way I was going to be able to explain that. I doubt, "Oh, this drawing? The blue hologram of a ballerina faking as a genie? I'm sure it has some significant meaning" would cut it.
Months later, out of pure boredom, I opened it.
This time, he emerged out in human size, and looked tired.
"Thirsty," he croaked.
On instinct, I threw him the first bottle I grabbed out of my pack.
I chose wrongly.
Instead of going for the apple juice, the carton of milk, or even for one of the three water bottles, my hand reached for Kim's extra blueberry Gatorade. The jock gave it me a few hours earlier, saying I should try it.
It also didn't help that he chugged all of the liquid under seconds.
He introduced himself. 'Wazzup, the name's Mercury. Yours?"
"You shouldn't had drunk it fast, and my name's Alix Kubdel."
The blue human flinched at the name. "You're messing with me," he slowly said. "As much as I know, there's no Alix in my family."
I furrowed my brows. "I don't remember there being a Mercury Kubdel or a blue watch creature in my ancestral tree either."
He scowled at that. "Mercury isn't my real name. It's Keith Kubdel."
I blinked. Grandpa once said he had an older brother with the same name. Except that Keith had gone missing in the 1950's.
Mercury looked like he was the same age as me.
"Why are you casting your eyeballs at me?" he asked. "And what are those strange garments you are wearing?"
"Kei-Mercury, uh, how long were you in that watch?"
"Not that long, just a few hours, after the genie joke." He chuckled. "Don't you keep track of time?"
"No, I mean before that."
He frowned. "A few days, maybe a week. And before that…I don't know." He muttered to himself, and said something about annoying clowns.
His expression was now horrified. 'What in tarnation…" He shot out and crazily shook my shoulders.
The caffeine finally kicked in. And not in a good time.
"Doll, what year is this?!" he demanded.
I took his fidgeting hands off me. "Do not call me doll." We stare. "It's 2016."
He stayed silent. Then he spoke.
"Well, if I be damned…. I've been stuck for 60 years in that thing."
He looked at me. "Alix…can I have some time alone? I need time to think…"
Mercury broke down crying.
Knowing nothing else, I wrapped him in a hug.
We stayed like for a while.
He moved from my embrace, and smiled. "Thanks, kiddo."
That's how my relationship went with Mercury. Every now and then, we would catch him up to the future. One time, he caught me smiling at a picture of Kim. "Nice, good taste, hedgehog!" he had exclaimed. He was referring to Amy from the Sonic the Hedgehog, from one of Jalil's old games. It took all my force to not get him hooked to modern technology. And now, it took all my willpower to not throw a pillow at him. Unfortunately for him, my hand reacted before my brain.
No one else knew about Mercury. We kind of had an unspoken agreement to not breathe a word to another living soul.
I never pried into why and how he was entrapped in the watch, but I was sure he was the real Keith Kubdel. I had snuck and looked at the old family photographs. In one of the black and white ones, grandpa's old family in Australia grinned. A preteen lovingly wrapped his arms his little brother's shoulders. Keith and Grandpa Raymond.
I smiled sadly. When dad offered him to live in Paris with us, he had declined. I guess he still clung onto the hope that his brother was somewhere alive. In normal circumstances, that would mean Keith would be in his 70's.
At first, I felt mad about Grandpa's stubbornness. Yet, I didn't lash out at Mercury. The guy definitely had his own trouble. This wasn't anything weird. After all, people were always turning into villains around here and Ladybug and Cat Noir would save the day.
"Can't believe Raymond's an old guy now," I remember Mercury saying lightheartedly. It was still a lot for him to digest at this point. "I missed so much stuff…"
"Well, you can make it up now. Start living now." I tried to make the situation lighter.
My great-uncle looked at me sadly. "Too late for that, kiddo. I'm not the same kid I used to be, and that was way before Aarith…" He clamped his mouth shut, not wanting to say more.
He didn't like it when I called him Keith. He said Keith died a long time ago, and was something, someone else. Someone called Mercury. Why, I never asked.
The questions started popping up after my encounter with Florence and her kwami Chicca.
He didn't say anything.
But now, I'll need answers.
End of flashback
Mélodie's statue was tucked in Marinette's bed, though I didn't think it would help.
The caffeine was still running through the kwami's magical veins. Mercury was in his miniature form. He's floating above my friend's head, and he's twirling. I motion him to come over here.
I decide to try a simple question. "Why are you still wearing a tutu?"
He laughs. "Well, when I first arrived in that watch, I was butt-naked."
I turn crimson red. He snorts at my reaction.
"Aarith loved wearing tutus, and thank goodness she had this plain one. Otherwise I would be stuck with that Edwardian dress."
My ancestor looks at the ceiling wistfully. "Aarith only picked smart Miraculous Holders. Everyone before me, our ancestors, were Mercuries. Great mathematicians, scientists, just geniuses. Never knew why she chose me. My brother would have been the better pick. He was an absolute nerd."
"Still is," I add, and he gives a small smile.
He continues. "Then again, seeing how this all happened to me, I would have stopped her. And you wouldn't have existed."
He reverts into human form, and looks at Mélodie. "Look at her. She risked her life coming to the future, and her efforts would make both of her parents proud. But me…" He blinks tears. "I'm the last and worst Mercury of them all."
I let him cry, and offer soothing pats. He stops, and sighs.
"Even today, I still don't understand, how, why, Aarith did this to me." He points to himself. "I was a human, but Aarith gave me her kwami powers. What am I?"
"You're an annoying old man in a teenage body with good intentions," I reply.
He laughs, but becomes serious.
I try asking. "Mercury, what happened?"
Stubborn, he shakes his head. "I can't tell you yet. You'll find out real soon, I promise."
Before I can press on, the trapdoor to the rooms swings in an arc.
Millions of ladybugs swarm over to where Mélodie is lying. When they disappear, Florence peacefully sleeps. A figure pops in.
Marinette leaps to the bed. "Florence!" she exclaims. Her head lays down on the sleeping girl, and sighs in relieve when she hears a healthy beating heart.
It's not until Mercury makes some coughing noises for Marinette to realize we're here.
"Oh, um, hi?" she tries.
"How's everybody?" I ask.
"Good, the Pétrifier is saved, and Cat Noir can walk again. He and Nathaniel went looking for Flo-uh, Mélodie. Ladybug helped Volpina, though she was in a bad mood and swore a lot about annoying blocks…"
"Marinette, calm down, we know," Mercury soothes.
Marinette squawks. "You're that thing that popped out of nowhere! You're blue!"
"Yes, I am blue, but not a blue thing." He transforms into kwami form. "I'm Mercury, pleasured to make your acquaintance."
"Sorry," Marinette apologizes. "It's...just a lot to take in. Mélodie is Florence, Cat Noir asked me if I was Ladybug in my civilian form, there's two people in my room, those two people know I'm Ladybug, and one of them can turn into tiny fairies."
Mercury grunts. "I'm a freaking kwami. But it's better than blueberry warrior."
I snort, and the hero lightly laughs. Tension still grips her.
"How long?" she murmurs.
"Right after that fight with Chloe. Florence had transformed back in that treehouse, and I was there for the filming project. She and her kwami, uh, Chicca told their story," I explain. I scan the room. Where is Chicca?
"Over here!"
A tiny red creature bobs her head underneath the covers. I bend over, and snuggling next to Florence is the bird kwami.
"Tikki, is she going to be alright?" Marinette asks. I guess she helps turns her into Ladybug.
The ladybug kwami smiles. "They'll need their rest, but they are both fine."
Kwami Mercury buzzes over to Tikki. "Yo, Tikki, long time no see!"
Tikki gasps in surprise. She scans him from top to bottom, to confirm her next words. "Keith? But how-"
He sighs. "Everyone keeps asking that. I'll explain later, but now's not the time."
"But-"
"He's right, Tikki," agrees Marinette. "If you guys don't mind, could you give us space? I appreciate everything you did, both you and Alix. But I have to talk to Florence privately when she wakes up. I'm sorry." She fishes out some cheese. "Here. P-Cat Noir's kwami likes cheese, so you can use this to refuel."
I take it, and nod. "I don't mind. If anything, she has to tell you everything before any of us, especially you."
"Like how she's your future daughter," mutters Mercury. Before he can spill anymore info, I grab the watch. With a touch, he instantly vanishes.
"Uh, isn't he going to be mad later?" Marinette questions.
I laugh. "No worries, I'm sure he'll be able to forgive his great-niece. Well, see you Marinette. And it was cool meeting you Tikki." I exit the room, and out of the bakery.
I find Adrien yelling in an alleyway. "But who else Plagg? And no, I don't have any camembert on me. She has to be her, Plagg!"
I almost scare him out of his pants. "Yo, Adrien!"
I toss out the cheese, and with feline reflexes, he catches it. "Give that to your complaining kwami." His jaw drops, and I laugh internally. Boy, was I going to enjoy this.
"Don't worry, I didn't let the cat out of the bag, and I don't plan to either. See you tomorrow!"
I skate home, and I chuckle all the way home.
Florence's POV:
This is the second time I've woken up in Marinette's bed after going unconscious.
My first instinct is find Chicca. I find her sleeping next to me, along with Tikki, and I relax.
"You're awake."
I see Marinette sitting on a chair beside me, acting slightly nervous.
Was it time to tell the truth?
My mother grips my hand, and gives a solemn smile.
"Ladybug rescued you, and told me…I know you're Mélodie."
It was time.
I hold on just as tightly.
"And I know you're Ladybug."
WOO HOO!
Well, I say I kind of left you at another cliff-hanger *apologies*, but I feel good updating. I miss writing. Please feel free to point out typos, and if you have the time, leave a comment ^-^.
The grim reaper agreed to let me keep Florence alive. For now, *evil laughter*
I don't like using flashbacks that much but they are going to be essential to what happens next throughout the story. There will be more, especially next chapter, where Florence explains her future out.
Excuse me if this sounds creepy, but I sometimes check out which countries you guys are reading from. I always feel so honoured and glad to be living in this generation, where you get to connect and fangirl about your fandom with people across the globe. It's really cool, and it wasn't possible decades ago. I'm happy that I get to share my stories with you, so thanks to all of you, from fan to fan.
Speaking of fanfiction…
I have a new fanfiction idea, but I am still debating on the original love square or the gender-bend. I think I'll go with the original, but there aren't too many gender-bend fics out there. There will be no Mélodie sadly, but plenty of angst and romance. And darkness. Gosh, why do I torment this couple? :'(
It's going to be my own twist based on a Vocaloid song that came out by the Kagamine twins. There will be less sunshine on the fanfiction, so you have been warned.
I might try drawing art for this, but I am literally still at beginner. So check my multimedia (Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and the regular platform updates) for possible artwork.
Well, hope to be writing Chapter Fourteen as soon as possible. Now that exams are over, I can chill, read, write, and catch up to shows now, mwah ha ha!
Love ya!
~Kurama Kaitou (greeting from Canada)