Day 12 (Thursday)
Today at school we got some homework, so Adrien agreed he would ask his father about the party after he finished the homework, because like most parents, his father would be more likely to say yes if he has already finished his homework. He even started working on it during lunchtime. We started telling our classmates about the party, making sure to tell them Adrien's house wasn't a sure thing yet. After school, we went straight home, and once we got home, Adrien first saw Nathalie, and told her he really needs to speak to his father tonight. Then we got straight into the homework, and after it was all done, he did some more piano, until Nathalie came and knocked on the door.
"Come in,"
"Your father has a moment to talk to you."
"Alright, here I go. I'll try my best Caity, but don't get your hopes up, okay?"
"Remember, you deserve this. You don't have any modelling jobs scheduled that day, so you're free that day anyway. You already got all your homework done, you practiced piano a lot, you studied more English with the help of your exchange student. I'll be out of his hair the next day, we should get to enjoy our last day together."
"No promises, but I'll try my best." And with that, he headed off to speak to his father. The look on Nathalie's face seemed to say 'what was that about?' so I decided to tell her, remembering to speak French, after having just spoken to Adrien in English.
"We want to invite some people over tomorrow, since it would be my last day here."
"Well, Mr. Agreste was in a good mood. I think it might be okay." Nathalie said, before walking off.
Looking around the room, I noticed the rock wall and decided I could give it another try. I started to climb up, higher and higher, until I heard the sound of the door opening, which I knew must be Adrien coming back in. The sound startled me enough to make me look down.
"You're doing great up there. Keep going." Seeing how high up I was, I grew scared and decided I couldn't go any higher.
"No I'm not. I'm actually so scared."
"You got this. Trust me." Trust him? After he lied to me about being Cat Noir? I straight up figured it out, and he didn't trust me enough to admit I was right? No way. Damn it, I thought I was going to stop thinking about that. I promised him. I told him I can still be his friend, but… I don't know if I can trust him.
"Nope, can't do it." I climbed down, as I realised 'can't do it' was referring to that I can't trust him. I hoped he would just interpret it as that I can't climb any higher.
"Awm you were so close! What made you stop?" I just shrugged, hoping he wouldn't make me talk about it.
"What did he say?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, right. He said yes! As long as it's not too many people, just our class."
"That's fine." I said. After we hung around a little longer and texted our friends to tell them the party was a go, we headed off to bed.
I wasn't sure exactly what it was that woke me up in the middle of the night. Some sort of uneasy feeling that I can't quite describe. Something outside seemed to be glowing, so I opened the curtains. Something seemed to be floating up in the sky, and I heard a voice but I couldn't quite make out what they said, so I opened the window. Big mistake.
"The Sandboy just checked in! Now nightmares can begin!" Someone sang. But just after I opened the window, some sort of gold dust floated into the room through the open window, and hit me. Suddenly, the distance between my window and the ground below seemed to grow larger, as the room I was in seemed to get higher and higher. From what I could make out from the window, it looked like this section of the mansion had been lifted up, turning into a tower stretching high up, very high up. I looked into the destance, and was surprised to see that as my room continued to rise, my room became level with the height of the Eiffel Tower, before rising even higher. No. No way, too high. Okay, what if I just step away from the window and close the curtains so I can't see outside? No. My feet refuse to move. I'm stuck. It's like something is forcing me to see how high up I am, forcing me to live out one of my greatest fears."The Sandboy just checked in! Now nightmares can begin!" The voice repeated. Of course. Someone must be akumatised, and their power must be forcing me to live out my nightmare. But it can't just be me. This must be happening to everyone. As I stood there, frozen, stuck staring out the window, I eventually began to feel dizzy at the incredible height.
I finally snapped out of my dizziness when I felt as if the floor below me was cracking into pieces. Is this part of my nightmare too? I tried to look down at the floor to see what was happening, but I was stuck looking out the window. But there was no mistaking it, the floor beneath me was breaking. Suddenly, my feet slippened as the entire mansion crumbled to pieces, and I fell, closing my eyes as I didn't want to watch myself fall.
"Don't worry Caity, I've got you!" I heard a familiar voice, in English, which most people here don't speak. I felt myself being caught in someone's arms before they leg go with one arm and did something to make us stop falling. I opened my eyes to see none other than Cat Noir, having caught me, and now used his staff to stop us falling by hooking his staff onto some of the remaining pieces of the mansion. "Going down," Cat Noir said, before using his staff to lower us down and then put me down. It was such a relief to have my feet back on the ground. I looked up at what remained of the mansion. Some parts on the mansion that were on the opposite end to my room remained mostly intact, but my bedroom and the areas around it were completely disintegrated.
"Did you just destroy the mansion?" I asked.
"Yeah, well, I had to get you down somehow." He said sheepishly. "It's fine, Ladybug will fix it later."
"But you destroyed the floor beneath my feet! I could have died! Do you realise how high up I was?!"
"But you didn't! I caught you didn't I? Don't you trust me?" Trust him. Those words again. I knew who he was, I had it all figured out. But he refuses to admit it. He doesn't trust me with his secret. So why should I trust him?
"Ugh, whatever. Why did you bring me down, anyway? There's an akumatised person to stop. I was scared, but I would have been fine."
"Because we needed you. Ladybug is doing what she can for now, but she agreed that we need you. The Sandboy flies too high up for us to get. What we need is someone who can bring him down to us. So, since I know who you are and she doesn't, Ladybug asked me to bring you this." From his pocket, he brings out a small black box that I recognised and handed it to me. "Caitlin Fletcher, I present you with the miraculous of the dog. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is done, you will return the miraculous to Ladybug." I took the box from him and opened it to see the choker. "That was fun. Usually Ladybug hands them out." Cat Noir added. I put on the choker to see my little friend Barkk appear. I gave her a quick pat on the head before saying, "Barkk, let's play!" Just as before, Barkk was sent into my choker in a flash of light. I spun around as my clothes began to change, morphing into my orange bodysuit. I reached for my hair, which wasn't in its usual braid since I had taken it down before going to bed, and twisted it into a bun, which stayed in place by itself. Brushing my hands along the top of my head, some orange dog ears appeared on my head where my hands had touched. As a finishing touch, I playfully covered my eyes before removing my hands quickly in a peek-a-boo motion, making an orange mask appear around my eyes. I raised my left hand up and my boomerang appeared with a flash in my hand.
"Let's do this." I said.
"Okay, this one is simple. All you gotta do is bring him down for us."
"I can do that." I looked up to see where the Sandboy was. I saw him in the distance, but he was quite far up. Still, I could see him. My power can bring to me anything or anyone I can see. I looked to Cat Noir to see him using his staff as some sort of communicator.
"I got Pup Fidèle, m'lady. She's going to bring him down. We're over by what remains of the Agreste mansion." After a moment, I saw the red figure coming towards us across rooftops, and the Sandboy seemed to be following her. Now was the time to bring him down.
"Fetch!" I said, and then threw my boomerang towards the Sandboy. The boomerang hit its target perfectly, coming back toawrds us and bringing the Sandboy with it and he landed on the ground right in front of us as the boomerang returned to my hand. Just in time, Ladybug landed nearby. Cat Noir grabbed the pillow cloud and held it out to me. "Care to do the honours? Can't be too hard to break." I took it and ripped it, releasing the akuma that was inside.
"No more evildoing for you little akuma." Ladybug said, capturing the akuma in her yo-yo. "Time to de-evilise! Bye bye little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!" The ladybugs flew around, fixing everything including the mansion beside us.
"Great timing m'lady. Pound it!" I joined them in a three-way fist bump.
"Thanks again, Pup Fidèle." Ladybug said.
"Happy to help." I said.
"I'll be just behind the gate." Ladybug said. She climbed the gate in front of the mansion and disappeared to the other side of the thick wall.
"See you around, Pup." He used his staff to launch himself onto the roof before vaulting onto other rooves and out of sight. He's just going to have to come back to the mansion, I thought with a smile. But I knew he still had to keep it a mystery to Ladybug.
"Barkk, stay." I said, transforming back. I watched Barkk reappear as I began to feel the cold on my bare feet now that I was back to wearing nothing but my pyjamas. "Barkk, I'm going to be going away in just over a day. So unless something crazy happened tomorrow or something, I guess this is the last time I see you."
"But I just met you last time! I was so excited to help you be a hero again and again and again!"
"Sorry Barkk, that's just how it's gotta be. It was fun though. Goodbye." I gave her a pat on the head before reaching for my choker.
"Bye bye, Pup Fidèle." She said, before disappearing when I took off the choker. I put it back in the box and slipped it under the gate. I watched the red gloved hand grab the box before I ran back to the mansion. That's when I realised my problem. I had started in my bedroom, and after the mansion was destroyed and now repaired, I am now outside the mansion, without having brought a key with me, and everyone was probably asleep. Luckily, that wasn't a problem for very long, when as if on cue, the front door was opened, and I saw that it was Adrien that had opened the door.
"I saw you out here from my window. Did you go out for fresh air or something?" He asked. He knows, I thought. He's offering me an excuse so we don't have to acknowledge that we were both just here as Pup Fidèle and Cat Noir. He probably got back into his room by his balcony. Wait a second… his lie was that he knew I was outside because he saw me from his window. But his window is on the other side, it doesn't face this way. Maybe I should call him out on it and see what he says.
"Your window? But your window doesn't face this way. You wouldn't have seen me from there."
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean my bedroom window. I was in the kitchen getting a drink." Okay, whatever, I'll let it go.
"Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, anyway, I came out here for some air. But then the door locked behind me, and then I realised I forgot my key."
"Yeah the security on this place is annoying, I've learnt never to go anywhere without my key." He motioned for me to come back in. We both went back to our rooms, completely ignoring what had just happened because we're supposed to pretend our superhero identities are sectret. I knew. He knew. Why couldn't we admit it?