9: Horrificator

The Parisian Short Film Festival was tomorrow night.

Luckily for me, I had already submitted my animated short last night as Sea Queen. And I had received my answer this morning that it was approved and actually already nominated for Best Animated Short Film.

I squealed when I received the email, and several of my classmates were giving me weird looks, but I didn't care.

This was a huge step for my career.

Even though it is just a nomination, it is still a huge thing that would get me recognized in a university, where they could teach me how to manage the 3-D animation program.

Before I could dwell on more thoughts about my dream career, Nino's voice cut through.

"Cut!"

To be honest, I wasn't paying much attention to what was actually happening.

My part for the film was helping edit the video when it's done, mostly going to involve the sounds effects and implementing music for dramatics and all that. So my part isn't going to be until after the recording,

Which is why I had brought my laptop so I could work on the scene once it actually finished.

But being honest, this is going to take an all nighter to finish this video at the pace we are going.

Poor Mylène.

...Maybe I could suggest that instead of that mask, I can create an impromptu green mask so that I can edit it on the computer and make it a real scary monster.

But I think keeping my opinion to myself is better for now.

Nino seems very stressed and Mylène isn't looking so well either.

"Would you like a drink?" Rose asks as she offers me a cup.

I smiled, "Yes, thank you."

Rose grins and gives me the cup. The orange soda woke me up.

Or that is what I hoped.

I didn't realize that I was snoozing off again until Mylène screamed and Cholé just had to comment.

"And the Oscar for the best pathetic scaredy-cat, afraid of its own shadow, goes to Mylène!"

Now I was awake and mad.

"Cholé, seriously?" Adrien frowned as he placed a hand on Mylène's shoulder.

"Yeah, so what?" Chloé shrugs, uncaring as usual.

And that is what broke Mylène.

She ran off crying.

I growled as I stood up, but saw Marinette yelling after her. Though it was Ivan that ran after her.

Just like how Marinette has a crush on Adrien, it was obvious to see that Ivan has a crush on Mylène.

And unlike them, Mylène seems to have a small crush back.

I think he could handle it.

Sighing I sit back down and watch as the chaos unfolds between my classmates.

...And there I go dozing off again.

I shouldn't have done an all nighter last night either.

But in my defense, I have insomnia, but recently, it just got worse.

All because playing brought memories…

"You're lame! Mylène is crying her eyes out because of you!" Ivan's shout made me jerk awake.

I looked at the snack table and saw a large pile of cookies.

Sweets help me feel better, hopefully it would do the same for Mylène.

So I snagged a couple and covered them with a napkin before sneaking out of the room.

They don't need me until later.

Now, where would Mylène be?

Maybe the library? I would go there, especially since we have the whole school for ourselves.

She wasn't in the library or the girl's restroom.

I was heading towards the nurse's office when I saw… Mylène?!

Well, it wasn't Mylène. Not in human form anyways.

And there is just one logical explanation. She has been akumatized.

And she's attacking Max and Kim!

"Hey! You- you three eyes!" I yelled as I jumped and waved my hands to get her attention.

It works as she turns around, her multiple eyes following me.

Ohhhhh that's a bit scary.

"Jolene!" The boys yell.

"Come and get me!" I taunt, as I teasingly walk backwards.

She screeches as she leaps towards me and I barely dodged away, but her tail caught me around the middle, wrapped me in place.

She brought me closer to her face and she roared.

I held onto my head, afraid that the green wig would come off.

"Hey! Let her go!" Max yells.

Mylène turns towards them and Max squeaks out a, "Please?"

"What are you guys doing?!" I scream as I hit the tail, but it seems that it doesn't hurt her. "Run and get help!"

That seemed to help them get their heads straight and they started to run away.

Mylène went to run after them, so I did what I had to do, as much it disgusts me.

I grabbed the end of her tail and bit down as hard as I could.

She screeches very loudly. But that did the trick.

But it also hurt.

I fell about a six foot height, landing on my shoulder.

I think I heard a snap, but all I could think of was the white hot pain.

Eventually, I passed out.

The last thing I remember was my body being lifted and seeing pink slime.

"Jolene! Jolene!" I heard someone shout.

I groan before whimpering in pain. My shoulder…

I looked down, but I couldn't see much in this pink-tinted darkness.

But I know that my shoulder shouldn't be at that angle.

"I-I'm here!" I shout, but I quickly hiss in pain.

Soon I heard footsteps coming closer and a dark shadow fell above me.

"Are you okay?"

"Adrien?" I asked, recognizing the voice.

"N-no, I'm Cat Noir, your friend," He stammers. Damn it mouth! I should have known!

Of course he would be Cat Noir now!

"Felino!" I grin, but I quickly hiss again as I moved.

"Jolene, are you hurt?" I hear something thump against the pink goo.

"...Yeah. I'm pretty sure my shoulder got dislocated," I admitted.

"Don't move, we will get you out of here and I'm sure Ladybug's powers will heal you after she captures the Akuma." He reassures me. "Don't do anything to make it hurt more, okay?"

"Okay," I answered and soon he left.

There was a lot of fighting, and I am pretty sure that Cat did his Cataclysm.

Then music was playing.

Something about a smelly wolf.

But in my mind, I was singing 'Smelly Cat'.

And before I knew it, the pink goo was gone and my shoulder was healed.

I moved it, and there was no pain. Like it never happened.

I smiled and saw Cat looking at me.

I gave him a double thumbs up and a reassuring smile.

He winked, and ran off.

I fondly shook my head and before I knew it, Alya ran towards me with that glint in her eyes.

Oh no.

"Oh yeah," She grins and I slap my hands over my mouth. I didn't mean to say it out loud. "So spill, girl. This time there isn't any denying."

"Um, what are you talking about?" I asked as innocently as I could, trying not to make eye contact with her.

"Oh, you know what I mean," she pokes my shoulder gently. "So, anything you would like to tell me?"

"I…. um, it is not what it looks like?" I offered and she groaned.

"Fine, be that way." She huffs as then she squeals when she looks in the other direction.

Mylène kissed Ivan.

Awwwww.

"And 'cut'!" Nino exclaims with a wide grin on his face. "This is going to be so epic! I bet we are going to win a prize or something," He looks at everyone. Then his gaze settled on me, "Now Jolene, it's time that we make some movie magic!"

"Of course," I answered with a wry smile on my face, but then that disappeared as I realized one thing.

Alya was going to help.

...She isn't going to let it go.

Oy vey.

Alya didn't let it go, as predicted, but she didn't push it either.

It was more teasing than anything.

Which was rather awkward.

And even more awkward when Nino found out about Cat Noir 'hitting' on me.

"No wonder he was so worried about you!" He says loudly.

"That's what I've been thinking," Alya adds smugly. "He really cares about you."

I groan, "He cares because we are just friends. And anyways, I'm pretty sure he is in love with Ladybug. I don't think he is that type of person."

Alya smirks, "What type of person are you thinking?"

"Womanizer," I blurted out without thinking and a few seconds later, my cheeks felt just slightly warmer. "We are just friends, okay, now do you want to finish this in time or not?"

"Fine, fine, your way," Alya sighs.

Thankfully, it was all smooth after that.

And I have to admit that I made such a great soundtrack for this amateur film.

We just have to wait for it to be approved by the judges.

When we all found out that the film didn't make it, my whole class was disappointed.

And I felt bad.

So I did what I hoped I would not regret.

I basically had them, minus Chloé and Sabrina, meet me in the park next to the school.

"Jolene, what's up?" Juleka asks once everyone finally gets here.

"I have Passes for the Film Festival, if you guys still want to go."

"What, really? That is so cool! I thought that they sold out already!" Nino exclaims as he fixes his cap.

"But they only give out extra passes to those that have actually participated… which would have been our chance to go there if our movie was approved."

"You entered?!" Both of them exclaim.

Instantly I shrieked back. No, I can't say the truth.

"N-no, b-but my friend did," I answered meekly.

"Who?!"

"She is known as Sea Queen, I'm not sure you have heard of her…" I looked at Nathaniel and silently pleaded with him to follow along.

Thankfully, he understood and didn't say anything.

"No way," Alya grins. "You know her? The most awesome animator in UTube?!"

"That's her," I blushed at the indirect compliment.

"Oh, I follow her on InstaChat! Her drawings are so amazing," Rose squeals.

My classmates murmured between themselves, many of them knowing who I- er- she is, and before I lost the nerve, I quickly mentioned, "Yeah, we're friends, but sadly I cannot attend the Festival so I mentioned you guys and she was cool since you are my friends and my friends are her friends so yeah, she got you all passes and she wants to meet you!" I say everything in one breath.

"How did you guys meet?" Marinette asks after I caught my breath.

"Uh… well, you guys know that I love drawing. And well, we met back in her earlier days in DivertArt and we've chatted and have kept in touch ever since."

"Why can't you come?" Alix asks.

"Tonight is going to be the first night in a long time that both my aunt and uncle have a day off at the same time so we want to spend it all together."

"I understand," Adrien says. "It really is a shame that you're not coming, but we will get to see your friend, what is her name anyways?"

"...Marina."

I gave them the tickets. And they all thanked me, but I made sure to give Nathaniel his last.

"Jolene, why did you lie?"

I quickly shushed him and made sure that no one was around.

I sighed and made him follow me to sit on the bench.

He did quietly, and I opened and closed my mouth several times before groaning. "I was scared," I admitted.

"Scared of what? For more people knowing that you are Sea Queen?"

I nod. "It's one thing admitting it to one person, but to the rest of my classmates? It was too much," I sighed.

I looked down at my hands.

"I never really intended for anyone to know, but then you figured me out," I smiled wryly. "But I'm okay with you knowing so far. We are artists, we should help each other out."

"Yeah, but are you going to tell them eventually?"

I stayed silent, one person already coming into mind in who I want to share this secret.

"Eventually, but it will be one by one, in a slow process. I did get scared by trying to tell all of them at the same time."

"Alright, fair enough," he smiles. Then I gave him his pass.

"Sea Queen would be very happy to meet you," I winked.

Both of us laughed. And soon we had to go our separate ways.

The taxi driver who dropped me off at the Festival asked me a lot of questions, which I answered.

As my Sea Queen persona.

Which includes changing my voice into a different pitch that made me sound more… mature.

She was friendly, but kind of pushy.

Asking me if I was a celebrity or if my starfish, seashells, and pearl twine head-wear was real or made of fake materials.

I told her that the pearls and starfish were fake, but the seashells were very real. I picked them out from the very ocean.

But the nicest thing she said was complimenting me in my outfit and my hair.

She said that my hair reminded her a lot of the Little Mermaid and that I styled it quite cutely to make the headband compliment it.

And when she mentioned when she saw me, she thought that she was in the wrong address.

She thought that there was no way that someone wearing such a cute outfit would call for a taxi.

Personally, I didn't know if my outfit was that cute. I just thought that it was really cool. I mean it's just a teal long sleeve, knee high dress and some nude colored wedges. And I brought a gold colored shell-shaped shoulder bag.

I was trying to look like a modernized 'mermaid'. I am Sea Queen, after all.

When I was finally dropped off, there was a long line to get in.

The place was decorated as if presenting the Oscars, but it also had the feel of a convention like Comic-Con.

My phone beeped and it was Nathaniel who sent me a text.

He said they were already waiting for me inside.

I texted I just arrived and I will let him know when I made it inside.

I waited for three minutes before someone poke my shoulder.

I jumped and was about to hit them when I realized that it was a security guy.

"Miss, you don't have to get in line," He says.

"Really, why?"

"You are one of the VIPs, it shows in your pass," he points out at my belly where the pass was hanging around my neck.

"Oh."

"Let me escort you to the VIP lounge and they will tell you where you are placed." He then gently pushes me away. Soon I heard several people whispering among each other and some were pointing too.

I hope they don't think I did something bad.

It must have been my imagination, but I thought I heard several cameras clicking and flashing in my direction.

I passed the whole line and when I passed through the door, the security man passed me on to one of his friends and then I was escorted once again.

My imagination was picking up again as I heard cameras and I think there were some screams or squealing.

Eventually, there were large double doors that had a plaque that read 'VIP'. He opened it for me and I went inside where several people wearing fancy clothes were talking with each other.

It was a big lounging area, in the center there was a table where two persons in suits were looking at packets of papers, and their pens ready at their hands.

I approached them.

They looked up and gave me a smile. "Welcome, your name please."

"Sea Queen," I said and immediately I saw how their eyes glinted in recognition.

And I think some people nearby went silent.

"Oh, you have been nominated for best animated short film and best musical score as well."

That last one was a surprise, "Huh?"

"That was a recent development after categories were officially made," the other partner says with a smile on her face.

"Oh, I didn't know."

"No worries," the guy says as he waves his hand. "Now that you have been nominated for not just one, but two, you will have to sit in the front seats."

The lady next to him fixes her glasses as she reads something from her packet. "I see that you have twelve guests."

I nod, "Yes, I am hoping that there are seats available for them?"

"We have a Club Area where it's just for them." The guy says. "You can stay with them, but you will have to be down in the front for… presentation."

"Oh, makes sense."

They told me a schedule and map that I would follow, and to enjoy the after party.

"After party?"

"I'm sure someone will tell you about it," they waved off and soon I was outside.

Quickly, I texted Nathaniel to meet me at Club Area 303 with everyone else.

Now, how to read this map…

I had to show my pass to several people to prove that I am going to a certain area. One of them mentioned that my friends are already there.

So when I opened the door I saw my friends stopping what they are doing and stared right at me.

For a moment I forgot that they didn't know 'me'.

So I cleared my throat and made sure my voice was different from 'Jolene's', it's the same voice that I do when I narrate in my videos.

"Hello, I'm Sea Queen or... Marina as you know by now. Jolene told me so much about you guys," I smiled nervously as I made my way towards them, but stopped before getting too close.

"Oh my god! You are her!" Rose squeals as she runs towards me, a pink notebook and pen in front of her. "May I have an autograph?"

I smiled, "You must be Rose."

I think she almost fainted, but somehow still was conscious.

"Wow, you and Jolene must be very close. To know us without having us present each other," Alya says as she comes closer with her phone in her hand, "Can I have a picture with you?"

I nod and she gives her phone to Marinette.

Alya wraps an arm around my shoulders, "Hey, can you take off your shades? Or…"

I simply took them off and put them inside my bag.

"You do have star shaped white pupils! Just like in your videos! Where did you get those contacts?" Alya exclaims.

"I know a place back in America. They do custom work," I say wryly. "Now smile!"

Alya and I looked at the camera and when Marinette nodded we pulled apart, but then everyone wanted pictures.

We took individual pictures and then groups and then a whole group picture.

For that I asked one of the service guys, who was delivering a tray of cookies at that moment, to take us the picture.

He also seemed to recognize me. He said that his daughters follow me on social media and that they wanted to become animators like me.

I blushed and asked if he wanted to take a picture with me and he excitedly did.

He took a Euro out of his pocket and his permanent marker, "May I have an autograph please?"

I gave him an autograph and even wrote his daughter's names and said something cheesy like, 'Be whoever you want to be, girls. As long it's your passion.'

And his eyes shone as he carefully placed the Euro in his front pocket.

He quickly left saying that he will bring in more snacks and beverages for us.

"He's so nice," I comment loudly.

"You're nice!" Rose gushes. "I bet you get people asking for your autographs all the time."

"Not really, this is my first real life appearance. I mostly stay at home or just don't dress like this normally." I shrug.

Alya then pulls out her phone and points it at me, "So what is it like to be in Sea Queen's life?"

"Normal?" I offered. "I spend a lot of time coming up with new ideas for my next videos and new art projects.

"But this month, the art community has an Inktober 'challenge' sort to say. Where we draw once a day and that day has a theme with it.

"Like today it was-"

"Moon," Nathaniel smiles. "I saw your post and I forgot to tell you that it was beautiful."o

"Thank you," I blushed.

"Wait, you knew her before?" Alya asks. "No wonder you weren't freaking out like the rest of us. Especially since you are a great artist!"

Now I started to panic.

But I didn't have to worry, since Nathaniel helped me.

"Jolene introduced me to her a while ago, that is how I have her number."

They all bought it. Thankfully.

Alya then continued to ask me some questions, but I made sure I was vague for more of the personal questions.

Who encouraged you to post your art online?

My best friend.

Who is your muse?

Depends on what I am working on.

Why haven't you shown your face before?

Didn't think it was necessary.

What can you tell us about your Film right now?

I smiled sadly, trying hard not to cry or my voice to waver. "I can tell you that it took sweat, tears and blood to create it. That I can absolutely say that it is something I placed my whole heart and soul on this project.

"I've been working on this for a while now. Originally, I didn't plan for it to be showcased here, but the opportunity came and I took it.

"Once I get back home, I will post it on my UTube channel so everyone can watch."

"That is awesome," Alya grins. "But I saw in the schedule that your film 'Moving On' is actually nominated for two awards tonight; the best animated short film and best musical score. How do you feel about that?"

"Honored, and a little overwhelmed too." I gently scratch my cheek with a finger. "I am very glad that I even got one nomination, but two? I got my mind blown when I heard about it."

"So humble," She turns off her phone and finally puts it away. "Will you be staying here when the films start?"

Everyone's eyes all of a sudden seem more intense.

"I would love to, but the people organizing this want me to be in the front seats along with the other people who participate in this festival."

"That makes sense," Max fixes his glasses. "From my brief analysis of your videos, your nomination was predictable. You have an average of 1.8M views per video, making them extremely popular. I believe they make it on average on the top ten spots trending when they come out on your UTube platform."

Stunned to silence is a thing people. "Wow, you did your research," I manage to say as I put on my shades again.

"I like investigating patterns," He smiles.

For the next couple of moments, I was with them. They asked a lot of questions, and I spied Alya recording me when someone asked a specific question about my videos that are safe to answer.

But then I had to go, the presentation was about to start.

"It was nice meeting all of you," I waved. "I hope we get to see each other some other day."

They all said their version of farewell and I left the room.

When I got to my assigned seat, the people around me wore elegant clothes that made me feel a little underdressed.

But that all went out of my head when all of a sudden, the seat right next to me was occupied by none other than Cholé herself.

She has a cute glittering golden dress with matching black accessories.

"Oh my god! Are you Sea Queen?!" She squeals.

What?! She knows me?!

"Um, yes, you know me?" I asked nervously, barely remembering to use my Sea Queen voice.

"I am such a huge fan when you animate dramas!" She grins. Of course she would be a fan of that. My mom liked the Mexican soap operas. So I animated some of the most dramatic scenes in them and changed it so they were even more dramatic in a comical fashion.

Sometimes I include some other pop culture character, celebrity, or even my avatar, depending if it fits the situation.

Then she whips out her phone. "Let's take a selfie!"

Before I could answer, she got close to me and snapped a picture.

I bet if I wasn't wearing my shades, I would be looking very confused and shocked. But it was surprisingly a normal picture, just Chole doing a duck face.

"Oooooh, I bet my classmates are going to be sooo jealous," She smirks as she types on it.

Before she could do anything else, the host finally came on stage.

Thank goodness for the peace.

Short film after short film was shown.

I actually took mental notes about the storytelling and the scripts.

Then came the last category, animation.

There were five films in total, including me.

Four of them were actually using three-dimensional animations. I was jealous to be honest.

But I admit that they were amazing.

The stories they told were fantastic. I wouldn't be surprised if they won.

They are very talented.

My short film was presented last and it was old school two dimensional.

The show was about to start.

Omake 4: Adrien's POV

Marina's film was about to start and all of us were really excited.

I saw some of her videos before coming here and I have to say that she's very talented. I would not be surprised if she won.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that even though I just met Marina today, I feel like I have met her before.

But that's crazy. I haven't met many people my age. Because if I did, I would remember someone like her.

The opening scene already had a guitar playing a soft and sad melody.

The art was beautiful. It already showed that this takes place somewhere in Mexico, near the ocean.

It shows a young girl, and she's crying. The viewpoint changes and we see that she's in front of graves. Three graves.

It was her parents and a sister…

This story… Does Jolene know that Marina is telling her story?

But that question went away as the scene changes showing how the girl is living with her relatives and they are doing their best to cheer her up, but the girl is just sad.

It shows that she is disconnected with them. How her color is darker and dimmer compared to their pastel and brightness.

Then one night the girl escapes her decorated house filled with candles, colored paper cut into different designs, marigolds, and a shrine with multiple photographs with food in baskets.

She runs, the guitar keeping pace with the action.

Then all of a sudden as she crosses a road, a bright light shines on her is the last scene before the screen turns black for a few seconds after a car horns very loudly and the squeal of tires burning.

In the darkness there were sounds of muffled shouting and other cacophony of noises, until it quiets down to a constant beeping sound before it drones into one long beep.

The scene changes and it shows the girl running towards the cemetery, like whatever happened with the car never happened.

But the images were different.

Instead of a guitar as the background noise, it was piano. And the animation was a different style too, but still beautiful.

The cemetery was decorated with similar items that were in the house.

However, the people around the girl were skeletons. But the girl herself still has flesh.

The girl is clearly distressed, until she bumped into a skeleton.

It was a man and he was accompanied by a woman and a girl. And right behind them were the graves of the girl's parents.

The girl then cries and hugs them. And they hug back.

Next is a type of montage where the girl is speaking and gesturing and the family is listening.

The two girls are arm in arm and they braid their hair and do various things together.

However, there were some glitches that showed the girl's skin fading, showing her bones, but they quickly disappeared.

It was the beginning of dawn and the family was sitting together, enjoying the sun rising over the ocean.

The girl's skin was fading, gradually showing her bones and the family were now having a serious talk.

The girl didn't like what they were saying and for the first time the girl actually speaks.

"Please, don't leave me again," She said in Spanish, the translation in subtitles.

I tried very hard not to cry, but I did let out a tear.

I would say the same thing if…

The parents and the sister all comfort her and they show the girl their love and their hopes for her.

"Live for us," They all say together as they smile at her.

The girl cries and hugs them, but ultimately nods.

The scene fades to black, the piano replaced with a beeping sound and then transiting to white.

This time both instruments are playing together. It shows the girl is in a hospital bed, the family members sitting next to her with worried looks on their faces.

The girl's hand then opens and shows a marigold, the flower that the sister gave to her before she woke up.

The girl smiles and some tears fall.

"I'll be okay," She answers.

Then that was the end.

The end credits show the girl growing up doing wonderful things, with the skeleton family watching over her with smiles on their faces.

I clapped and soon everyone in the audience was too.

This is a definite winner.

AN: Thank you Lunarex15, WilliamLeonis, fanficreader93, tyikamicalacai, crazyman90, and minnatarek for following/favorited this story. Your support helped me have better days. Thank you very much.