Day 28 - Unexpected Reveal
Alya sighed as she walked along the sidewalk. She couldn't help it. She should be happy. New heroes appearing. Hawkmoth defeated. Things were looking brighter.
But her blog counts were down. Now that people weren't fearing Hawkmoth, no one was visiting her website. And despite what the new heroes said, no one had actually seen any new threat yet aside from the one shadow fight the other day. She wished she could interview Ladybug or Chat Noir (or Papillon or Paon, but those two seemed more standoffish than their counterparts), but the two heroes had vanished for the last several days.
On top of that, Marinette had been flaking on her more often than usual. Just this afternoon, for instance, Alya had secured a promise to hang out. She even told Nino not to bother walking with her because she and Marinette had an afternoon planned.
Until the girl got called out of class near the end. Along with Adrien. Something to do with some fashion thing? She missed the details in the hasty under-the-breath excuse Marinette mumbled, but knew Mr. Agreste was primarily responsible for their early dismissal. Was that why Marinette had been so tight-lipped lately? Was she working on a secret fashion project with Gabriel Agreste? Would Marinette really be able to keep that a secret from her? She trudged along, lost in her own morose thoughts when a shadow passed over her. She looked up. And gasped.
"Ladybug!" she exclaimed, catching a glimpse of the red-clad hero for the first time in an achingly long time. "And Chat Noir!" She whipped out her phone. "This is just what my blog needs! First look at our heroes in action." She took off running down the street, filming and narrating as she ran. "Hey Ladybloggers, this is Alya here with your first sight of Ladybug and Chat Noir after a whole week of absence. Let's see if we can catch up with them and ask them about the fight that was caught on camera."
A cry caught her attention. She looked around and spotted an elderly gentleman prone on the ground. A cane lay just out of reach. Alya bit her lip as she shot a remorseful glance back at her heroes before stopping her stream and running to help the man.
"Are you okay, sir?" she asked, helping him to a sitting position and grabbing the cane.
"I'm fine, miss," the man said. "I just slipped on something. These legs aren't quite as spry as they used to be."
"I understand," Alya replied. She helped him up as he grabbed the cane and hefted himself up.
"But I ruined your chance to get a video of Ladybug and Chat Noir," the man lamented.
Alya laughed and waved her hand. "Don't sweat it," she assured him. "My bloggers will just have to wait for another scoop."
"Those don't come around very often," the man said.
She shrugged. "I'll deal. Have a good day, sir," she said.
The man waited until she was out of sight. "And you as well, Miss Cesaire." With a small smile, he turned and sauntered away.
Back in her room, Alya tossed her bag aside and flopped down on her bed, wallowing in self-pity as she read the tweets and posts from other people about catching the latest of the heroes. She grumbled with each new picture and comment that appeared. And her blog sat quiet, empty, and completely void of visitors.
Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. She had several comments from fans expressing their disbelief that she wasn't the first person to get this amazing scoop.
With another groan, she rolled off her bed and tossed her phone aside. She didn't want to look at it anymore. Maybe some homework to take her mind off this. She opened up her bag and pulled out her tablet when her fingers brushed against a foreign object. "What's this?" she muttered, pulling out the ornately inlaid wooden box. A white envelope was attached. She unstuck the envelope and set it aside, opening the box first.
"Ah!" she cried as a blinding orange light seared her eyes. She threw up her arms on instinct. When the light faded, she found herself facing a tiny orange... fox? It blinked at her. "Wow!" she cried, "You are so cute! Is this some kind of holograph? Did Nino make you?"
"Nobody made me, honey," the fox replied.
Alya's face lit up. "You're interactive!"
"I'm a kwami," the fox corrected.
"With a name!"
"It's Trixx, actually."
"So cool!"
"Thank you." The fox kwami preened. "I like to think I'm the coolest of the bunch."
"Bunch? There's more of you?" Alya resisted the urge to poke the fox. The tail was adorable!
"Of course. Pollen thinks she's the coolest, but I just let her think that. Plagg gives everyone a run for the cool kwami, but he's really too lazy to keep up appearances. Such a typical cat."
"Uh... Pollen? Plagg?"
Trixx peered at her. "They might not be active yet. I've been inactive for several years." She yawned, exposing a mouth filled with tiny sharp teeth. "But they rest in the bee miraculous and the black cat miraculous."
Miraculous. That was a word she understood. "Cat?" she asked. "Like Chat Noir?"
Trixx's eyes lit up and her tail twitched in excitement. "Ah, so he is active. Excellent!" Her eyes gleamed. "He's always fun to annoy."
Alya shook her head. "Wait, I'm confused. What's going on?"
The orange kwami cast her a sympathetic look. "Honey, I'm a kwami. I grant you the powers of illusion. Just wear your miraculous and call out my catch phrase."
"Uh, maybe later." Alya reached over and picked up the envelope. She opened it, skimming the contents. "What does this mean, Trixx?" she asked.
The kwami floated over to her. "The answers you seek may be found here. Tomorrow, 4pm." There was an address listed. Alya quickly punched it into her phone.
"Adrien's house?" she questioned aloud. She looked over at her kwami. "What does Adrien have to do with getting answers?"
Trixx shrugged. "Dunno, honey, I've been asleep for a while. Guess we'll find out tomorrow."
"I guess so." Alya set the envelope aside. She shot her kwami a smile. "So, what was that you were saying about a catch phrase?"
Alya looked up at the imposing gates. "I'm not too certain about this," she confessed to her kwami. "What do the Agrestes have to do with anything?"
Trixx peeked up from her bag. "I dunno, Alya. Ring the bell and let's find out. It's already time."
She pressed the button and the optical eye shot out after a moment. "Yes?" She was stunned to hear the voice of Gabriel Agreste speaking, instead of his assistant.
"Uh, I got a letter that told me to show up here at four," she said.
"Come in." Was it her imagination, or did he sound incredibly displeased?
The gates swung open and she walked up to the house. He greeted her inside the foyer, his lips down-turned into a frown and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Nope, not her imagination then. "Uh, I might be at the wrong place, but-"
"The letter, please," he said, interrupting her. He held out his palm. She quickly rummaged through her bag and produced the heavy cardstock. He withdrew a small pen from his jacket and clicked it. A thin beam of purple light shone from it. He waved it over the card. She caught the distinctive Gabriel emblem illuminated by the blacklight.
"Wow," she said, suitably impressed.
He clicked off the light and stuck it back inside his inner pocket. Instead of acting relieved, his frown deepened. "This way, Miss Cesaire" he commanded, turning and heading toward the dining room. She trailed after him. He threw open the doors and strode in. "If you two rigged this, I'm going to be very angry with you," he said, pointing his finger at two occupants who were in the middle of a conversation.
"What do you mean?" Alya heard Adrien's confused voice reply. She peeked around and spotted Marinette and Adrien sitting at the end of the long table.
"Alya?"
"Hey guys!" she said. "Did you get a letter, too?"
"Letter?" Both pairs of eyes swiveled from Alya to Mr. Agreste. He glowered at them.
"Tell me right now. Did you two set this up so that your friend would get it?"
"What?" Adrien exclaimed. "No way!"
"We were only told to be decoys," Marinette explained. "We didn't do anything, Mr. Agreste, we swear!"
"Darling, is that any way to greet our newest member?" An unfamiliar voice caused Alya to turn, and the others to look in her direction. A blonde woman with bright green eyes entered and smiled at Alya. "Welcome to the team, dear."
Team?
Alya looked around for confirmation. Beside her, Mr. Agreste morphed into a completely different man. The frown melted away into a bright vibrant smile. His eyes lit up and shone at the woman with unashamed devotion. He stepped over to her and wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her close and pressing a tender kiss to her head. His eyes closed briefly as he relished in her presence. Even the harsh angles of his face seemed to soften as he gazed with adoration at the woman.
She sighed and relaxed into his arms. She melted like soft ice cream on a hot summer day in his embrace, and he supported her, shaping around her like the perfect lock-and-key combination.
A sharp pang struck through Alya's heart as she watched the two interact. She realized in that moment that this was what pure love looked like – and her chest was left aching at the sudden loss of something inside her. But how can she feel empty without ever having experienced such a strong emotion herself? She relapsed into pensive silence as she reflected upon that.
Mrs. Agreste – because who else could it be? - turned toward her husband and returned the gentle kiss. It was a completely chaste moment, but Alya still felt like she was intruding upon something intimate. She turned away, looking over at Marinette and Adrien, who, come to think of it, were acting completely at ease with one another. When did that happen?
"I'm Emilie Agreste," Mrs. Agreste said, capturing her attention again. She turned back to the older woman.
"Alya Cesaire," she said. "I'm in the same class as Adrien and Marinette."
"Ah, that explains Gabriel's reluctance," she said, turning twinkling eyes toward her husband. He frowned slightly.
"It's a highly unusual coincidence, that's all," he muttered. "It's only natural to believe that Adrien and Marinette might want to sway the results."
Adrien and... Marinette, huh? No formalities anymore. Her reporter's instincts kicked in.
"We didn't," Adrien insisted. "We were just following orders."
Mr. Agreste turned away and muttered something under his breath that sounded like "meddling old man". Mrs. Agreste giggled and swatted his arm. He perked up at her laugh and wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling his chin into her hair. "Despite how she came to acquire it, she is wearing the necklace," he said. Alya jerked at that. Her Miraculous! She refrained from instinctively slapping a hand over it, looking up to meet Mr. Agreste's knowing gaze. A fain grin danced upon his lips. "I'm a designer," he explained. "Cataloging the details of a person's outfit is as instinctive as breathing to me."
"Necklace?" Mrs. Agreste pondered that for a moment. "That would be... the Fox Miraculous!"
Alya began to sweat. "I don't know what you mean," she said. After all, Trixx impressed upon her the need for utmost secrecy. It was the reason she didn't immediately call Marinette and gush over everything to her last night.
Mrs. Agreste chuckled. "Oh dear, didn't you come here looking for answers?" She looked up at her husband. "What's the name again?"
"Trixx." To Alya's utmost astonishment, Mr. Agreste easily supplied the answer.
"Ah, that's right. You can come out, Trixx, you're among friends," Mrs. Agreste called. "Nooroo's told me all about you."
The flap of Alya's bag opened and her orange kwami popped up. "Nooroo?" she chirped in excitement, wiggling her tail.
"Trixx!" Alya cried, desperately lunging forward to grab the kwami. She missed as Trixx easily evaded her hands. As she made to swipe again, a small lavender creature flew out from Mrs. Agreste's pocket. Alya froze.
"Nooroo!" Trixx screeched, diving forward and wrapping the pale being into a hug. They tumbled over each other in the air in a blur of purple and orange. She wrapped her tail around Nooroo and snuggled into him. The purple butterfly-like being giggled shyly and patted the top of Trixx's head.
"It's good to see you, too, Trixx."
The gears in Alya's head began to turn. "So, uh," she began, looking at Mrs. Agreste. "You have a uh... Miraculous, too?" She stumbled slightly over the magical word, some part of her instinctively trying to keep it secret.
Mrs. Agreste nodded. "Nooroo is the guardian of the Butterfly Miraculous."
Butterfly... Miraculous... the gears in her brain ground to a halt. "You're Papillon?" she asked.
A lighthearted giggle. "I am. It's good to have you on the team."
Team. There was that word again. But the only kwami she could spy was Nooroo... how can... wait a minute. Papillon's partner... her eyes drifted back up to Mr. Agreste. "You're Paon," she declared.
He gave her a faint smile. "You're pretty quick on the uptake," he complimented.
A snort from behind her reminded her that there were two other people in the room. "Not that quick," Marinette muttered. "Might I remind you that Alya is my best friend. And she runs the Ladyblog."
Alya didn't know why, but that seemed to amuse the two elder heroes. "Oh," Mr. Agreste murmured into his wife's ear. "That's right, I had forgotten."
"What does being your best friend have to do with my intelligence?" Alya demanded, planting two fists on her hips as she squared off against the two giggling teenagers.
Marinette exchanged a smirk with Adrien. "Tikki, you can come out now," she said.
"Plagg, you too," Adrien added.
Two kwamis – Alya was getting good at recognizing them now – popped up from beneath the table. "Wow, you got Miraculouses, too?" Alya squealed. The devious smiles grew. So did her unease.
Marinette fingered her earrings and Adrien placed his hand on the table, tilting his fingers and prominently displaying his silver ring. "Yes, but not exactly when you think we did."
The realization crashed into Alya almost instantly. She wobbled on her feet. There was a noise behind her and strong hands gripped her elbows, supporting her. "Whoa, that one did her in." She had never heard something even remotely resembling a jest from Gabriel Agreste, and now the teasing lilt of his voice as he guided her over to the chair only maintained the surreal atmosphere. Mrs. Agreste was at her other side, sitting in an adjacent seat.
"Have some candies, dear," she said, concern in her eyes as she reached for a plate of sweets in the middle of the table. "That was a bit of a shock for you, huh?"
Understatement of the year. Alya looked down at her hands. "I can't believe I didn't realize my best friend was Ladybug," she whispered. "I'm a terrible best friend."
Marinette shot to her feet and bounded over to Alya, wrapping her up in a hug. "No way!" she declared. "You're the bestest best friend I could ever ask for."
"But I..."
"It's the magic of the Miraculous," Marinette continued. "Actually, I didn't even realize Adrien was Chat Noir until a few weeks ago."
Alya pulled back and shot her friend a look of utter disbelief. She shook her head with a laugh after a moment. "Okay, yeah, that's pretty bad, girl."
"I can one-up you both on that," Mr. Agreste remarked, sitting down in a chair a few paces away from everyone. Instantly the room sobered, like they had just walked into a funeral home. Alya looked around in confusion.
"What is it?" she asked.
Marinette bit her lip, casting a worried glance to Mr. Agreste. He steepled his fingers and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "It's okay," he said. "We need to be honest with each other if we're to work together as a team. No secrets."
"Yes," Marinette insisted, "but now?"
He opened his eyes. "Why not?" He turned to Alya. "I am Paon, yes. And I was Paon all those years ago. But when my wife vanished, my powers were not enough to bring her back. I had to lure out the remaining Miraculouses. Specifically, two others."
Alya gulped. She had a bad feeling she knew where this was going.
"I became Hawkmoth in an attempt to capture the two Miraculouses to bring Emilie back to me."
There was a long moment of silence as Alya processed this new information. All four people watched her with worried expressions. She sorted through it logically. If the four of them were there, that meant that Marinette and Adrien were okay with that revelation. If Mr. Agreste was Hawkmoth, and he wasn't in jail, that meant that... whatever "final battle" occurred nearly a month ago wasn't exactly a battle. She frowned.
"So when you guys said that Hawkmoth was defeated, what exactly happened?"
They all deflated. "You're... okay with this?" Marinette asked, hesitation evident in her voice.
Alya shrugged. "Well, you all seem to be. I got stuck on that fact, though. I mean, what really happened?"
Marinette laughed. The sound broke the remaining tension. Mr. Agreste leaned back with a relieved smile.
They took turns giving a brief summary of the events. When they finished, Alya tilted her head. "You had no idea that Adrien was Chat Noir?" she asked Mr. Agreste. He shook his head. She snorted. "Well, now I know where Sunshine Boy gets his obliviousness from."
"Hey," Adrien protested. "Aside from the Miraculous magic masking Ladybug's identity from me, when else was I so oblivious?"
Alya's grin turned devious. "Well, if you must know," she began.
"We really should be discussing why we're all gathered here!" Marinette shouted, jumping out of her seat. She slammed her palms on the table, startling everyone in the room. "Right?" she looked around. "Right. Now, uh, welcome to the team, Alya!"
Mr. Agreste chuckled, as did Mrs. Agreste, still sitting beside her. "Fine, dear, you're right," she said. "We really need to discuss this newest threat."
Author's Note: Before you all jump on my case about Alya's method of getting the Miraculous, please allow me to explain. I wrote this chapter pretty much in it's entirety last year, well before Season 2 aired, as a planned continuation to the original "No One Mourns a Villain" story. Yes, I KNOW Alya was chosen by Marinette. You don't need to tell me what happened. I also put that this would differ from what Season 2 has given us so far, breaking away from established canon. Because I wrote this a year ago, I already had in mind that Alya needed to EARN her Miraculous. To me, a fitting test would have Alya lose a prime scoop. In the original sequel, I had the heroes vanish for a few weeks with no word. That made her losing out on the first scoop of their appearance even greater. I had to tweak a few things to make it consistent with what I've written so far, but the impact is still there.
Because I had this sequel planned out even before I wrote "It Takes a Village", I actually had the background in mind for how these guys met up initially when I wrote that particular story. Your random weird factoid about the author. You're welcome.
Also, everyone knows that Tikki and Plagg are together, right? Well, I actually headcanon that Trixx and Nooroo are paired together as "soulmates" and Duusu and Wayzz are each others' "soulmates". I'm not exactly sure how that got started, but it's something I've had imagined for a while. All of the kwamis act like family and are super close, but in terms of bonding and resonating with each other, those are how I pair them up in my mind. Pollen just throws me for a loop.