Many apologies for the late update. School happened, and then it kept happening, and now I'm a week late. Oops.
Chapter 44: Pont des Arts
Now that they didn't have to transform to meet up, they had no problems taking over Chloe's room.
Chloe only let Lacy and Mylene sit on her bed with her, but Alix decided she didn't need permission and sat next to Lacy anyways. Marinette and Alya had taken over the chair, Nino and Adrien sitting at their feet. The rest of the heroes lounged on the floor, creating a circle.
Marinette had brought the whole miracle box, and the kwamis had free reign of the room. Orikko and Xuppu were chasing each other, zooming around the large room. Tikki and Trixx were resting on the backrest of the chair Marinette and Alya were sharing, and Plagg, Sass and Roarr were napping in a sunbeam. Wayzz, Pollen, and Kaalki were all with their respective heroes, Fluff was floating upside down, Longg was curled up in a pile of jewelry, and Ziggy was resting on Kim's head.
"Alya and I have been talking," Marinette started. "And we think we know what Mayura's first move is."
"It is pretty obvious," Alya added.
"You think she is going to akumatize Hawkmoth," Alix guessed.
"Correct," Marinette said.
"I agree," Max added. "I estimate a 95% chance of Hawkmoth being akumatized."
"Makes sense," Kagami agreed.
"But it's more than that," Marinette explained. "We think we have a pretty good guess on what his powers will be."
Adrien frowned. "Wouldn't it be related to the powers he gave others as Hawkmoth?"
"Exactly," Marinette said. "Which means we have an upper hand."
"Because you've battled all of those powers," Alix said.
"But hasn't Hawkmoth or Mayura fought all of us?" Luka asked.
"Yes," Marinette agreed.
"Which is why we've brought the extra kwamis," Alya added.
Alix nodded. "Because if you recruit new heroes-"
"We'll have people on our side who Hawkmoth and Mayura have never fought," Marinette finished.
"So, who are you recruiting?" Adrien asked.
"I haven't decided," Marinette said. "Which is why we're meeting up."
"What about Juleka?" Luka asked. "I know she's shy, but she'd be an amazing hero."
"You know her best," Marinette replied. "Any ideas on what miraculous?"
"Tiger," Luka said.
"Roarr - oh, nevermind," Marinette said. "What about Rose?"
"Rose is a sweetheart," Alix said.
"Yeah, but she can scary too," Kim added.
"I'd give her the pig," Alya said. "Seems to fit her personality."
"Agreed," Marinette replied.
"I know someone," Lacy said. "A friend of mine who's visiting for magic-related reasons. She'd make a good ox."
"I'll look into her," Marinette said. "I wish Taurus was still an option, but I respect Ivan's decision."
"A good decision," Chloe said. "He is really bad at secrets. And coming from me, that's saying something."
Ivan nodded. "But if you need us for anything else..."
"Thank you," Marinette replied. "Right now, I just hope we have time to train our new heroes."
The day after a Hawkmoth was defeated, there was no school in celebration.
But then school resumed as normal, which was weird.
There was no real reason to change anything - the butterfly miraculous was still out there, akumatization was still a risk - but it felt surreal. Lila had left, but since she had already switched classes, even that had little effect.
Bustier announced it in class that day, and as everyone was heading to lunch, Lacy noticed how depressed the teacher looked.
She didn't want to say anything. There was still a part of her terrified of teachers, but she liked Bustier. And Lacy was a hero now, she could survive a conversation.
"Miss Bustier?" Lacy asked, walking up to the desk.
Bustier looked up, smiling at Lacy. "Yes?"
"Are you okay?"
Bustier's smile faltered. "I - I'm a little sad about what happened with Lila. I really believed I could help her, after I realized what was going on, but-"
"Just because you're not the one who helped her, doesn't mean she won't be helped," Lacy said. "You did your best, but that wasn't what she needed. Hopefully, wherever she ends up, she'll find what she needs."
"You're right," Bustier said. "Thank you, Lacy."
Lacy nodded, glad to see her teacher cheered up, and went to follow the rest of her class out the door.
"Hey-"
The voice came from behind, startling Lacy to death.
"Adrien! Don't do that!"
Adrien winced sheepishly. "Sorry. But I need your help with something."
Lacy took a deep breath. "Yeah. Okay. What did you need?"
"I - uh, I think I need to talk to Marinette? About - well, you know. The fact that I was flirting with her, and now - well, now I'm - well, but also, we had the identity reveal and I don't want her to think - ugh, I'm never like this, why is this so hard?"
It took Lacy a second to parse what he was saying. "You, as Chat Noir, was flirting with Ladybug, but with everything that's happening, you don't want to or don't feel like continuing that, and you're concerned that Marinette will misinterpret it as you reacting badly to her civilian identity?"
"Yes. That."
"Okay," Lacy said. "Right, so just tell her that? Marinette's a lot more confident in herself than she looks, and she knows you're going through a rough patch. She'll understand, and she'll appreciate you reaching out her."
"Okay, so I just tell her that I'm glad she's Ladybug, but my emotions are all over the place, so if I treat her differently, it's me and not her."
"Yeah," Lacy said, patting his arm. "Say that."
"Ok. I can do that. Thanks."
"No problem."
Lacy watched him go, remembering something Piper said about being the relationship expert at camp. Was this the start of that for Lacy?
She hoped not. She hadn't even had a relationship herself yet!
Kota's morning "patrols" continued, even with the temporary lack of akuma activities.
She wasn't someone who was up with the sunrise a lot, not until she had her miraculous, and she still found the sight to be awe-inspiring. Plus, it was peaceful in the mornings, as peaceful as a city like Paris could get.
On weekends, where she had no school, she stayed on patrol for over an hour. That Saturday, she detransformed near the Seine, near one of her favorite landmarks.
The Pont des Arts bridge, one of the famous romantic spots in Paris.
Mitchell has wanted a photo of her on it, and she was happy to oblige. She could almost feel the romance in the air on the bridge, though Nathaniel and Alix both thought she was weird.
There were only a few people on the bridge this early in the morning, and for a moment, Lacy thought she spotted Marinette near the railing.
But the woman was a little taller than Marinette, and looked a little older. Her hair was left down and long, flowing black with red highlights. Her skin was brown, the same shade of Piper's, and when she turned towards Lacy, she had Silena's eyes.
"Mom," Lacy whispered.
Aphrodite smiled. "Hello, Lacy."
"What are you doing here?" Lacy asked.
"Enjoying the view," Aphrodite replied. "This is one of the most romantic spots in the city, isn't it? And, I wanted to talk to you."
"Me?" Lacy realized she was still rooted to her spot, and forced herself to move closer to Aphrodite.
"I'm proud of you," Aphrodite said. "You've come a long way since you've moved."
"I didn't even know you knew who I was." She didn't mean to say it, but the words came out anyways.
"Of course I knew who you were," Aphrodite said. "I claimed you, remember?"
"That doesn't count! You should have said something!"
Aphrodite pursed her lips. "You're probably right. But of all my lovers, I trust Haris the most with raising a child."
Lacy nodded. She knew she was lucky, her father and stepmom were amazing, but still. Aphrodite was her mom, she should've said something.
"And what about Silena?" Lacy questioned.
Aphrodite almost looked sad. "Silena was a tragedy. I was heartbroken over her too. But I don't know if I could have prevented it. Luke was charming - he swayed gods."
"Most of which had every reason to be mad," Lacy pointed out.
"Probably," Aphrodite agreed. "I've never paid much attention to the politics of it all."
"It's not politics to treat others with kindness," Lacy argued.
Aphrodite laughed. "I'm glad to see you've gain some confidence expressing your opinions."
Lacy felt her cheeks redden. "Thanks."
"But remember, your kindness has always been your strongest suit," Aphrodite said. "You were kind to Piper, despite everything with Drew. You were kind the first time you met Ladybug, and then with Marinette. Those were powerful actions, all to someone who needed those simple acts. Don't ever lose that."
Lacy opened her mouth, but no words came out. What was she supposed to say to that?
Aphrodite smiled. "Now, you should close your eyes for this next part."
Lacy nodded, closing her eyes.
When she opened them, her mom was gone.
Cannot believe this is over.
Thank you so much for all the support! Every comment has meant so much to me.
Hoping to post the sequel on Wednesday, but that's dependent on school.