So, so sorry about the wait. I had take a few weeks of writing off for real life stuff, and then this chapter was being frustrating. But I'm back! And finishing this off should give me momentum not to take three months to finish the next.

Chapter 7: Grandma Lavillant

The Liberty did not have enough room for all the heroes, but they didn't care.

Lacy, Alix, and Sadie had no problem sitting in a clump. Marinette was curled in on Alya, who was sitting with her knees against Nino, who was next to Adrien. Juleka and Rose cuddled, Mylene was curled up with Ivan, and Kim was against the wall upside down, leaving enough room for Luka, Chloe, Kagami, and Max not to feel cramped.

"Mysterious American red-head?" Lacy summarized after Adrien described his encounter. "Yeah, that's Rachel."

"You know her?" Adrien asked.

"Yep," Lacy replied. "She's an oracle - or possessed by the oracle? I don't really understand it. But she sometimes gets all green and misty and spills out prophecies."

"So her prediction?" Adrien asked. "Is it true?"

"Probably," Lacy replied.

"What's a Greek oracle doing in Paris anyways?" Alix asked.

"Artsy stuff," Lacy replied. "She's rich and she's an artist, of course she's in Paris." She nudged Alix in the elbow. "You two might get along."

Alix scoffed. "I'm not that artsy. It's just a hobby."

"Sometimes I wish I kept mine as a hobby," Marinette admitted. "Taking these commissions is draining me and keeping me from making what I want to make."

"Then put them down for a while," Alya suggested. "I'm sure Jagged Stone can afford another designer."

"Plus, we don't need any new designs!" Rose chimed. "We've got to work with the ones we have!"

"Thanks," Marinette said. "Oh, are there any practices this weekend? I'd love to come!"

"No," Juleka replied.

Rose shook her head. "I have family visiting."

"Ooh, fun!" Alya said. "Who is it?"

"My grandma and little cousins," Rose said. "My parents are taking my grandma to this big show on Saturday, so I'll be babysitting."

"Oh, fun," Alya said.

"Is it the play my dad's in?" Mylene asked. "I'll have to see if I can find them!"

"They'd love that!" Rose replied.

"We've all met Rose's parents by now, right?" Alya asked. "Aren't they the sweetest?"

"I haven't," Adrien said.

"Me neither," Sadie agreed.

"Or me," Lacy added.

"Or I," Kagami said.

"Oh, you should come over some time!" Rose said. "But you should be warned - it does smell fragrant."

"Very fragrant," Juleka added. "I can barely stand it."

"We like our candles!" Rose explained.

"I don't understand candles," Kagami admitted.

"Me neither," Max agreed. "One would think we were past the need to keep open flames in our house."

"But they smell good!" Rose argued.

"Many things smell good," Kagami said. "Food, for instance."

"My apartment always smells like food," Alya added. "Definitely better than any candles."

"Same here," Marinette agreed.

"Anything's better than perfume," Lacy noted. "I have smelled enough perfume to last a life time."

"Same," Sadie agreed. "And I only know one of your sisters."

"Lots of perfume is also a fire risk," Max stated. "Food is obviously the superior choice here."

"Plus, food is edible!" Kim added. He had readjusted his position so most of his body was on the wall, and only his shoulders supported him.

"That is by far the best part of food," Alya agreed.

"Agreed," Max added.

"Speaking of food, where did the kwamis end up?" Adrien asked.

"What does that have to do with food?" Mylene asked.

"Plagg eats a lot," Adrien explained.

"I have no idea," Marinette said. "They'll reappear eventually."

"They haven't had much time outside of the box!" Rose said. "Let them explore!"

"Plaggs not exploring," Adrien said. "He's probably eating something."

Luka shrugged. "We have plenty of food. Let him eat."

"The Couffaine's won't appreciate you eating all their cheese," Tikki scolded.

"I'm not eating all their cheese," Plagg argued. "Plus the blue-headed kid said I could have some."

The kwamis had taken over the meager kitchen while their holders talked. Human conversations were still strange to most of them, or just flat out boring. So, instead, they convened elsewhere.

"I'm sure they won't mind," Sass confirmed.

"These fridges are extraordinary," Longg commented. "They just stay cold."

"Technology has come a long way from the last time most of us were active," Tikki commented. "I wish we didn't miss so much history."

"Master Fu had his reasons," Wayzz reminded them. "But it has been lonely without you."

Sadie tried not to laugh when Lacy, instead of sitting down like person, hopped onto the bench and perched like a bird.

"Don't laugh," Lacy said. "You'll be acting like an ox in no time."

It was a beautiful Saturday to be sleeping in, so Lacy had dragged Sadie with her to the zoo early in the morning. Sadie had been wanting to go anyways, and it was fun hanging out with Lacy. Even when she was mainly focused on her camera.

"Can't wait to see how these pictures come out," Lacy said. "It'll be nice to have some new photos that aren't top secret."

"Top secret?" Sadie asked. "You mean from your early morning patrols?"

"Uh huh. I haven't been able to show anything to my dad lately."

Sadie opened her mouth to respond, but was rudely interrupted by a scream.

Lacy startled, knocking her balance off and nearly face planting in the ground below. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Sadie said. "Let's go see. Towards the screaming!"

They made it two footsteps before the source was evident.

"Akuma!" Someone screamed.

Sadie pulled Lacy to a hiding place and they ducked. Lacy quickly glanced at the akuma again while Sadie dig out her phone.

"Angry parent vibes," Lacy said. "Sounds like he's ranting about the important of controlling yourself."

"Powers?" Sadie asked.

Lacy glanced again. "I think he's eliminating people's ability to control themselves?"

"In a zoo?" Sadie asked. "That's great. I texted the group chat, we should get help soon."

"Then let's transform."

Lacy shot Sadie a grin, and Sadie couldn't help but return it.

This was the fun part.

Kota deflected a ray with her kite, preventing the no-control ray from hitting a family of four.

The Akuma Villain - Non-Tyrant - scowled at the deflection.

"Could you stop doing that?" Non-Tyrant asked.

"Nope."

There wasn't much else to do. Non-Tyrant was near impossible to get close to, though Kota couldn't pin down the reason why, and back-up had yet to show up.

Stampede grabbed a golf cart and threw it at Non-Tyrant, and he dodged.

And he dodged the ice-cream cart as well.

"Stop dodging!" Stampede yelled.

"He's not."

Viperion's sudden appearance behind Kota startled her, and she made a small eep.

"What do you mean?" Stampede asked.

"The way he's moving - it's like he's unfocused," Viperion clarified unclearly.

"Yes," Stampede agreed. "But what does that -"

"I don't think he's actually here," Viperion explained.

Non-Tyrant had noticed the lull in thrown large objects, and targeted another family. Kota darted, just barely deflecting the ray in time.

"Like a projection," Stampede said. "Makes sense. But how do we-"

"He must be somewhere," Kota reasoned. "Can anyone track him?"

"Leave that to me."

Rena Rouge landed heroically on the top of a cage.

"What do you have planned?" Stampede asked.

"You'll see," Rena Rouge replied. "Just keep throwing things at him."

"Have I mentioned I love this job?" Stampede asked. "Throwing things is so much easier than what I'm used to."

Rena Rouge leaped from the cage, off to do whatever she was going to do. Stampede grabbed a bench and swung it at Non-Tyrant, distracting him from whoever he had been aiming at.

Kota caught a glimpse of Lis Tigre out of the corner of her eye, but she kept her focus on Non-Tyrant as she and Stampede did their best to distract him.

It might have been an hour, it might have been two minutes, but sometime during the fight, Non-Tyrant vanished.

"Ha!" Rena Rouge said, through the comms. "We've found h- Lis is hit! I need back-up!"

"On it!" Kota replied. She checked her kite for Lis Tigre's location, barely catching the location before it disappeared. Right behind one of the bathrooms.

"Hurry!" Rena Rouge shouted.

Kota leaped to the location. The bathrooms had been destroyed - ew - and the whole area had been covered in orange fog.

"Kota, over here!"

Rena Rouge was completely covered in the fog as she wrestled with a detransformed Juleka.

"What happened?" Kota asked.

"She tried to detransform in front of non-tyrant!" Rena Rouge explained. "I just barely managed to cast mirage in time."

Kota moved to grab Juleka so Rena Rouge could rest.

"I wanted him to know!" Juleka shouted. "I want them all to know! I don't want to be invisible any more!"
"You're not invisible!" Rena Rouge said. "You are very visible right now! That's the problem!"

Ladybug landed behind Rena Rouge in a blur of red

"What's the problem?"

"She got hit!" Rena Rouge said. "I lost track of Non-Tyrant."

"I can fix that," Ladybug said. She opened her Yo-Yo and her drone took off into the sky. "We'll catch him in no time."

"I want to fight him!" Juleka yelled. "And I want everyone to know it was me."

Kota watched Ladybug's face flash with emotion - first confusion, then understanding, and then determination.

"Do you?" Ladybug asked, putting her hand on Juleka's shoulder. "But isn't the mask freeing? You can be brave, be bold in it in a way you can't as Juleka. Do you really want to give that up?"

Juleka hesitated. "I guess not." She relaxed, and Kota let her go.

Ladybug's yo-yo beeped. "We found Non-Tyrant - let's go!"

"I need to recharge," Juleka said.

"Me too," Rena Rouge said.

"Okay," Ladybug said. "Kota, you're with me."

"And me?" Stampede asked.

"With us please."

Ladybug leaped back into the air, spreading her wings. Kota ran to keep up with her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blur of black. Chat Noir had arrived.

They stopped by a small kiosk selling drinks. Ladybug gestured for Stampede and Chat Noir to go one way as she and Kota circled the other way.

They crept around the building, and poked their heads around to see Non-Tyrant sitting on the ground, looking like he was meditating.

Kota watched him for a moment, something bugging her. Ladybug made a gesture to move, and the four heroes moved in.

And then it clicked.

"Wait!" Kota yelped.

Non-Tyrant vanished like an illusion, and a blast of power came from the roof.

Stampede managed to dodge, but the blast hit Kota, Chat Noir, and Ladybug.

Stampede threw something at Non-Tyrant, forcing him to move, at the same time Chat Noir called to detransform.

Kota shoved Adrien into a small enclosure, knocking him onto the ground, before anyone could spot them.

"Chat!" Ladybug snapped. "What are you doing?"

"Laying down," Adrien replied, dramatically throwing his arm over his face. "I'm tired."

Kota moved to the front of the cave, watching for Non-Tyrant. He landed back onto the pavement.

"Well, maybe I don't want to fight either!" Ladybug said. She sat down on the ground beside Chat Noir and pouted.

Non-Tyrant looked up.

"Mirage!"

Rena Rouge was heading to the cave, flute in hand, as Kota made for Non-Tyrant. She kicked, but he ducked.

"We can't beat him without you!" Rena Rouge said. "You can't quit!"

"Too bad!"

It had been hard to make out Non-Tyrant's outfit when he had been blurry, but now Kota could see him clearly. He had a broken crown, shaggy white hair, unnaturally white skin, eyes with no iris or pupil, and a white suit. Kota smacked the crown off his head, breaking it, but no akuma flew out. She used her kite to rip his jacket and pants, but no luck. The akuma was not in anything he was wearing.

"The akuma isn't on him!" Kota said.

"I'll find it!" Lis Tigre replied.

"Wait!" Viperion yelled. "We have to get Ladybug functioning again."

"Solve it yourselves," Ladybug growled.

"We need Pigmy!" Rena Rouge decided. "She can calm down Ladybug."

"Good idea," Kota said.

"But she's babysitting," Lis Tigre said.

"I can babysit for her!" Stampede offered. "I'm great with kids."

"Okay, go. Quick!"

Rose watched her grandmother with nervousness.

She was supposed to love Juleka - but then again, Juleka was supposed to be here for much longer than five minutes. Maybe it was the sudden departure that was making her grandmother grumpy - surely she wanted to get to know her granddaughter's girlfriend better?

And now it was awkward.

Rose sighed, watching the flames on one of the candles flicker. Her cousins were playing on the living room floor, and her parents were talking about the play. Only she and her grandmother were silent - but it was enough to make Rose anxious.

Someone knocked on the door, and Rose jumped to get it.

She was surprised to see Sadie on the other side.

"One babysitter reporting for duty," Sadie announced.

"Huh?" Rose asked.

"Have you been checking your phone?" Sadie asked. "They need you at the zoo."

"Akuma?" Rose assumed, and Sadie nodded.

Rose let her in, already trying to work out an excuse for her parents.

"Mom, Dad, this is Sadie," Rose said. "There's an emergency, I have to check on Juleka, so she's going to babysit."

"I can assure you I have much practice," Sadie said.

"Of course," Rose's mom answered. "Rose, you go check on Juleka. I'll make sure Sadie can handle your cousins."

"Thanks!"

Pigmy had only just arrived at the zoo when someone yelled directions at her.

Ladybug was exactly where Pigmy had been directed, sitting cross-legged and armed like a toddler.

"Alright," Pigmy said, taking out her wand. "At ease."

Her powers released in pink, same color as her costume, and consumed Ladybug.

The power of contentedness had seemed strange, at first, but Pigmy had come to understand it. It was the ability to give to others, temporarily, what she had always worked to have.

To be content with whatever was happening.

Ladybug relaxed. "That was - okay. I'm Ladybug, so I have to do this. Thanks, Pigmy."

"Of course!"

Rena Rouge shot her a thumbs up.

"Found the akuma," Lis Tigre reported. "Shall I release it?"

"Let me get to your location first," Ladybug replied. "Good job Lis."

Pigmy could picture her girlfriend blushing at the compliment. It made her feel proud as well.

Petunia Lavillant, Rose's grandma, was not very happy with what she was seeing of her granddaughter's friends.

First was the girlfriend. Juleka had seemed all doom and gloom - surely such a person wasn't good to spend time around. And then the babysitter - Petunia's daughter-in-law had grilled her hard to make sure she was a responsible babysitter, but Petunia was still skeptical. The girl had seemed - well, Petunia wasn't sure what it was but she didn't like her.

Surely Rose should have better friends than these?

Of course, a voice echoed in her head. Of course she should, Grandmother Nature.

Since this and the next chapter lead into each other, I'll try to post the next chapter soon.