I had too much fun writing this. It's supposed to be serious, dammit. Oh well.

Both heroes were nearing their limits by the time the sun had begun to set. In the four hours since Volpina had declared her intentions and disappeared, there had been twelve reported illusion 'attacks', all scattered about Paris. She had carried through on her hypotheticals of tigers in the zoo and the collapse of the Arc de Triomphe. She set construction work on fire, unleashed demonic creatures in a cathedral, and created 'walls' along the entrances and exits to metro in the heart of Paris. And that was just the beginning. Illusions, every last one, but very, very real to the people experiencing them.

Ladybug and Chat Noir could do nothing but respond to each situation as it arose. The news outlets and social media were swamped with reported sightings of Volpina, coverage of the incidents, announcements from officials, and warnings for Parisians and tourists alike. There was no way to filter and sort through it all. So they'd stopped trying to rely on outside help and took to scouring Paris between incidents.

Several times they encountered 'Volpina', only to quickly discover that she was nothing but a decoy copy. There had been thirty reported sightings of Volpina, most of which were miles from the most recent incident and likely copies themselves. It was impossible to tell which one was real without attacking them all.

The illusions themselves were easy to deal with. Sometimes they arrived to find that people had unwittingly dispelled parts of them since they disappeared when forcibly brought into contact with anything real. By the time of the seventh incident—a swarm of crickets across an outdoor market—awareness of the situation had risen greatly and, apparently, once people realized what was going on, they had decided not to wait for the heroes. So when Ladybug and Chat Noir finally turned up, they found shopkeepers and patrons alike bravely combatting the illusionary bugs with brooms, rolled up newspapers, purses, shoes, and anything else they could find, led by an overenthusiastic tourist wielding a fanny pack.

The illusions were also in and of themselves harmless. Even the collapsing Arc could be deemed as unthreatening because no one would be hurt by the falling debris. The real danger came from people's reactions. People were panicky creatures and Volpina's illusions weren't exactly subtle. So far the heroes were aware of multiple traffic accidents, many injuries, at least seven panic attacks, one broken iPhone—which managed to stick out in their minds because its owner was very much like a certain Bourgeois—a sobbing priest and quite a few inconsolable nuns, as well as plenty of incidental property damage.

No one had died yet but that could easily change. Ladybug could fix everything else but restoring the dead back to life…she wasn't sure if she could do that. She had never been in a position where she had to find out, thank the kwami, and now that she knew a Guardian of Life existed, she was doubtful.

Poor Chat Noir's newfound sense was going absolutely haywire. Apart from the overwhelming sense of dread which was slowly eating away at his composure, every so often he'd feel flickers of…something and his eyes would be drawn in a particular direction. Not long after, they would get wind of another attack, always in the direction that he had been drawn to. By the fifth attack, Ladybug had stopped questioning him when he insisted on a direction to run in.

Yet even then, they never arrived in time to catch Volpina herself.

Suffice to say, by the time Volpina brought most of the gargoyles on Notre Dame to "life", they were exhausted and downright cranky. Fortunately, people were well aware of what was going down by this point, and many eagerly assisted in dispelling the illusions, including police officers who had been given instructions to aid Ladybug and Chat Noir in any way possible.

Not only did they appreciate the help, there was something ridiculously hilarious about watching Paris's finest charging into battle against gargoyles like something out of Lord of the Rings.

After Notre Dame, Ladybug asked Chat to give her a few minutes and then took off in the direction of la Rive Droite. He had a feeling that she might have been going to check in with her family since she'd mentioned needing to not long before they'd gotten word about Notre Dame. He should probably do the same but he wasn't going to risk it. Considering Volpina was loose, his absence had to have been noticed, but if he went back now then getting away again would likely be impossible. He wondered how she planned to.

His stomach rumbled and Chat Noir frowned. They'd barely had a moment's rest and nothing to eat since before all this began. Lifting his nose, he scented the air. He could smell food not too far away, no doubt from one of the restaurants on the island. Deciding to play the hero card, he leaped down from his perch on one of the cathedrals lower balconies used his baton to propel himself over the heads of the people milling about below.

Chat's nose led him to a brasserie just a few blocks from the church. There weren't many people inside, staff notwithstanding, which didn't surprise him. A lot of people had retreated to their homes and hotels where they could hope for some measure of safety. The occupants of the brasserie were instantly on alert the moment the hero entered. Chat's ears lowered humbly as he approached the counter. Ladybug would probably have an easier time doing this than he would so he had to be careful.

"Salut," he greeted.

"Hello," the man behind the counter replied, perturbed. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Chat reassured him quickly. "There was an incident at the Notre Dame but it's been dealt with."

"Good. Then is there something I can help you with? We haven't seen the fox girl, she hasn't been around here."

"No, no." Chat shook his head and inhaled deeply. "…I know this might sound strange but, um, can I have some food?"

The man blinked.

Chat plastered on his most pleading expression, complete with the big eyes and wheedling tone that always worked wonders on the house staff. "Ladybug and I have been running around for hours and we haven't had time to eat and we're really hungry and we have no idea how long it could be before we get to eat again. I can send a friend to pay you back later!" he added. "We're just really hungry and we live really far away and—"

The man held up his hand and Chat pressed his lips together. "The only thing we have that you'll be able to run with and eat are sandwiches. What would you like on them?"

Chat's ears perked up so fast that the man laughed.

Tom and Sabine were beside themselves by the time Ladybug arrived. She understood completely and was not looking forward to facing the music as herself later on. Hopefully her visit would at least diminish the amount of trouble she'd be in, as well as their fears. She explained to them as calmly and contritely as possible that Marinette's absence was entirely her fault.

"She has been an invaluable asset today," Ladybug said. "We would not even have been able to make it as far as we have without her."

"Where is she?" Tom demanded.

Ladybug shook her head. "I can't say, I'm sorry. The less people who know the better. I swear to you that she's not in any danger."

"That's not enough!"

"I cannot tell you," she insisted. "It is for my safety, Chat Noir's, and for your daughter's. It is our…safe house. It's not always possible for us to return home after a fight. We have a place we go. She's there, monitoring social media and the news for us. Her phone is turned off as a precaution. I swear to you that no harm will come to her there. I can count on one hand the number of people who know its location."

"Why her?" Sabine asked. "Of all the people you could have chosen, why is our daughter helping you?!"

"Marinette is a friend, one of the only ones that I have." Ladybug admitted. "She agreed to never say a word about it to anyone for her own sake. If Papillon knew…. Which is why we cannot risk even you knowing. If one of you were to be akumatized—"

Tom cut her off with a furious shake of his head. "And what if she is?"

"Marinette has received…training. Even if she is targeted, it would be very difficult for her succumb. She's safe, I promise, and I will personally bring her home."

"When?" Sabine fretted.

Ladybug paused. When was she planning on coming home? If they didn't catch Lila tonight, could she risk coming home and not being able to leave again? "Tonight or tomorrow," she answered. "I'd rather we stop Volpina first. In the meantime, do not let anyone know she is with us. Even other members of your family or close friends."

"We don't like this. Or appreciate it. She's our daughter."

"I'm sorry." Ladybug ducked her head apologetically. "I need to go. I'll let her know I came by as soon as I can. She's been worried about you."

Tom and Sabine looked at each other. "Tell her we're fine," her father said. "And thank you for coming to tell us."

Chat was waiting for her on top of one of the Notre Dame towers when she returned. From the smell of things, he'd come and gone from the church…and he had food. Sure enough, there was a bag in his lap containing a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water. She could've kissed him. If she hadn't been so hungry, she may just have.

"Courtesy of a brasserie just up the road," he explained as he relinquished the food. She immediately tore open the sandwich wrapper. "I knew you had to be as hungry as I was. They were all too willing to feed the heroes after such a long day."

Ladybug didn't comment, too busy wolfing down the sandwich to bother with words.

"The sense of doom has…faded." Chat went on. "I still have a bad feeling but nothing like it's been. I think she might have decided to stop…for now. But she's still out there," he added, voicing her thoughts. "So we can't just pack it up and go home."

"I know," Ladybug agreed as she swallowed the food in her mouth. "But what can we do? We can't find her, she has no target this time, and no way to track her."

"We need help," Chat agreed. "But if we go to the police, then it seems like we can't do this ourselves…and she wins."

"We already look like we can't do this ourselves."

They both fell silent. For a few minutes, they sat and watched the city as Ladybug finished her sandwich then moved onto bag of chips. The sky was steadily darkening as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. Shadows grew longer and the lights of the city flickered to life, though not as many as there usually were, Ladybug noted. Traffic was unusually quiet. It was as if the city was holding its breath and waiting. The Eiffel Tower glowed in the distance. So far it had been spared from illusions but Ladybug knew it was only a matter of time. Volpina was probably saving it for something special. She shuddered at the possibilities.

"Hey…Ladybug?" Chat murmured. She hummed. "Do you think she's acting a bit…odd?"

"Who? Volpina?"

"Yeah. She's not like she was before. The hostages, for one." He began to tick things off on his fingers. "For another, these attacks are completely random. Scattered. All over the place. It's either really strategic or completely impulsive. Her motive seems to be just to fuck with us. She hasn't even mentioned our Miraculous. She doesn't mind being called Lila—"

"Wait, what?" Ladybug frowned. Didn't she? Akuma never liked being referred to by their real name. They often got irate or violent as a result of hearing it. But Volpina…

"You've called her Lila at least twice and so have I, but she hasn't tried to correct us even once."

"…Huh."

A beat.

She inhaled sharply.

The heroes looked at each other. Their eyes widened.

"You don't think…."

"No way."

"Is that even possible?!"

"We have to ask," Ladybug decided, jumping to her feet and pulling out her yo-yo. "Come on."

"What? Where? My Lady, waaaaiiit!"

Oh me oh my, whatever could they be thinking?