Chapter 26

The class of Miss Bustier played together in groups on a learning platform against each other to learn geography. Gerda was working in a group along with her deskmate Ivan and the two students behind her Nathaniel and Lila.

"Okay, the capital of Uruguay," Began Gerda. "Come, who remembers?" Asked Gerda looking at her group.

"I think it's that one city, that has the word video in it. I can't recall it without seeing it at the moment," Mentioned Lila, then Nathaniel widened his eyes and pressed on his tablet on a solution and the entire group's device made a scoring noise.

"Ah, it was Montevideo," Mentioned Ivan making Gerda nod. "Which of the following flag belongs to Ecuador?"

"I remember it has a large yellow bar on the top," Commented Lila. "It's either this one here with the stars or the other one with a blazon in the middle,"

"I think its mines here," Commented Gerda pressing on one of her solutions to get it right, "Yep I was right,"

"Now we've got a right or false question," Pointed Lila out. "Portuguese is the main language of the country Chile,"

"Wrong!" Answered Nathaniel loud.

"That was easy….next question is, which of the following cities is the capital of Brazil?" Asked Gerda watching Nathaniel smile and press on his tablet making a buzzer noise shrieking him.

"It was Brasilia," Commented Ivan watching Nathaniel facepalm.

"Why do I always think Rio is the capital?" Commented the redhead embarrassed.

"Well I kept it in my head like the fact the country's first words are the same letters as the country," Explained Ivan.

"I could think about it with the German variant. Brasilien and Brasilia,"

"We have Brasile for Brazil in Italian," Told the brunette her deskmate,

"Okay," Commented Gerda, then turned around to see on the projected image on the wall the ranking of the group and their group was third place. "We would have been first, if we had gotten Brazil right,"

"Sorry," Apologized Nathaniel making Ivan and Lila giggle.

"Who is the last group anyway?" Questioned Ivan looking at the wall, then noticed Nino sat alone around the tablets of Marinette, Adrien and Alya. "Where did Adrien and the others go?" Questioned Ivan making the others shrug their shoulders.

"I remember Marinette and Alya commenting something about going to the bathroom because of girls problem and Adrien left a few seconds later," Mentioned Nathaniel. "Oddly they've been gone for a pretty long while,"

"This happens quite a lot lately," Mentioned Ivan, then the door got opened up and Adrien appeared heading back to his seat.

"I'm sorry Miss Bustier. I had a terrible stomach ache and….I received from the nursery a painkiller to soothe it down," Adrien commented, moments later Alya appeared along with Marinette to sit back as well.

"I'm sorry Miss Bustier, I uh…...had a little accident and needed new clothing," Made Marinette up.

"I helped her out," Added Alya making Miss Bustier nod a little confused, but minded her own business by ending the app on her computer.

"But…...she's wearing the same clothes," Commented Ivan.

"Aren't we wearing the same clothes every day?" Questioned the redhead making Gerda and Lila drop their mouth in shock.

"Who won actually?" Asked Nino asked looking at the other side of the classroom to see Max and Kim high five each other and do the same with Juleka and Rose.

"So mes enfants, the winner team was Pandas, the group of Kim, Max, Rose and Juleka. Congratulations," Wished Miss Bustier making half of the class applaud for them.

"I'm sorry I made us lose," Apologized the German descendant boy, making Gerda smile a little.

"It's okay. We'll have better luck next time," Mentioned Gerda and returned to her seat with Ivan.

"Okay for Geography lessons, you've got to solve page 52 and 53. Don't forget to learn for the exam as well. Feel free to use the platform to study," Mentioned Miss Bustier. "Which lessons are you going now? Mrs. Baskov?"

"Yes," Answered Kim with a chuckle. "Miss Bustier, when are we going to meet your boyfriend?" Questioned the Vietnamese boy curious about her private life.

"When the time's right, Kim," Answered the brunette.

"Why exactly are you interested in knowing him?" Questioned Alya.

"Just curious,"

"I'm more curious about which man was brave enough to marry Mrs. Mendeleiev," Nino added making Alya laugh.

"That's rude, Nino,"

"At least he didn't make that same comment he made last week about a threesome," Mentioned Lila making Ivan laugh loud, while Nathaniel and Gerda looked at each other unaware of what they were talking about.

"Health class this generation is messing up with everyone's brain lately. It's amazing," Stated Max taking out his smartphone to make a research.

"Come on kids, it's break time. Get out of here and made sure you're punctual for the next lesson," Warned Miss Bustier dismissing the class, then watched everyone quickly get up and pass in front of Miss Bustier, which watched all leave and Rose stopped by the woman staring at her belly.

"Can you already feel it bumping?" Asked Rose curious making Miss Bustier chuckle.

"I've felt it a little bit a few hours ago," Commented the teacher making Rose smile, then Juleka accompanied the friend along with Gerda out of the classroom.

"Anyone planning on going to the restroom?" Questioned Gerda making the duo shake their head.

"Shall we wait for you?" Asked Rose making Gerda shake her head.

"It's alright, I'll meet you afterward," Commented the blonde making her way to the stairs to head to the toilet.

Juleka grabbed Rose on the arm, then watched her roll up her eyes to have eyecontact.

"Can we talk?" Questioned Juleka making Rose nod and the tall girl guided Rose downstairs, then looked around to see the most of the students walk around, leaving less privacy and Juleka looked at the stairs she just got down. Juleka smiled and led Rose under the stairs, where both were alone in the semi-dark place.

"Rose uh….I've been thinking for a while. Luka talked to me as well and I have just either failed or….pushed it forward. We spoke again and before I got convinced myself to talk to you from the start on,"

"Uh okay, what's going on Jule?" Asked Rose slowly getting a bit anxious about what Juleka wanted to say.

"Back when Miss Bustier got akumatized and….caught you, something happened back there,"

"What?"

"It's kind of weird to explain you that. I'm not sure if you even will believe me or not. It's just…..I don't know, it happened that way and I don't want you to think I'm crazy or something,"

"No I won't think that Juleka. Pinky promise," Assured Rose holding up her little finger waiting for Juleka to give hers.

"Rose….when one of the Zombies took over you and none of us were aware of it, you had taken over me afterwards and….,"

"I kissed you right?"

"Yes…...and what…..what's kind of odd for me to explain is how it was….You kissed me right here on my lips," The raven-haired girl explained. "When that happened I felt shock. I….felt more than that…..Many things went through my head on that moment and…..then everything got blurry,"

"Right. About yesterday...I had been thinking. I spoke to Gerda, cause she was at that one moment with me and wonder about what she would say. Now I am here talking to you and…..I mean, when I was with Gerda I she questioned me about the cinema how it was and all. I noticed how you didn't mind suddenly to caress me,"

"Okay…..it was bad, wasn't it?" Asked Juleka feeling sligthly sad, believing then conversation isn't going the way she's been hoping for.

"No, it wasn't. I just didn't expect you to do that. I was caught off-guard a little as you did that. To be honest it was pretty cute,"

"Okay….what does this now mean for us?" Questioned Juleka making Rose slightly furrow her eyebrows wondering, what she meant afterward Rose facepalmed remembering what the point of the meeting of Juleka could be meaning right now.

"Oh shoot, I'm complicating things aint I?" Asked Rose making Juleka tilt her head. "Wait I have something better," Noticed Rose going up on her tiptoes to give Juleka a kiss on her lips, making the tall girl turn red. Rose got down, then noticed Juleka's face and chuckled. "Your face must be so hot right now"

Juleka rolled her eyes down embarrassed at what had happened, then Rose grabbed Juleka by her hand and shrieked as someone whistled and both turned their heads around to see Luka stand there along with Gerda clapping with their hands.

"See I knew it would work out someday," Stated Luka stepping closer to the girls, then Juleka shared along with Rose a hug with the older Couffaine. Gerda was glad at the reunion, then behind her appeared Wayhem looking at the trio, then got surprised.

"What happened?" Asked Wayhem looking at the Norwegian girl.

"A issue was solved," Commented Gerda remaining with her eyes glued on the friends, then Wayhem shrugged his shoulders and made his way back to the court.

In the evening, Rollan had just arrived home and entered into the apartment of the Hemmings to encounter the boys in the living room doing their homework. Rollan entered the room to greet the boys, then watched the twins get down and ran at the boy's legs.

"Hola Niños," Greeted Rollan surprised at their reaction.

"I'm sorry Rollan. I accidentally told Jett about your secret identity. I didn't mean to do that, I just did that by coincidence,"

"What?!" Asked Rollan shocked, making Jake sad.

"I'm so sorry, Rollan," Apologized Jake making Rollan frown, then sit down on the couch and Jett sat on the couch as well beside the teenager.

"He only told me. I didn't tell anyone else, I swear," Warned Jett making Rollan nod and pull Jake up onto his lap. "Niños look, it's really serious. We have to keep this really, really for us. No one can know who I am. Not even your parents. You two shouldn't know it as well, but I have no choice, it happened yesterday. I wasn't careful,"

"I was just worried about you, Rollan," Commented Jake, then Rollan patted the boy on his back,

"I know. But please, this really has to stay between us three. No one else outside of this house wheter the person know about me or not should know that I'm Fire King. It may put us all in danger and I want to avoid this,"

"We're sorry Rollan," Apologized the kids sad, then Rollan placed his hands on each of the boy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry if I was a little strict now, but I have to tell you two that. We have to do this, no matter what,"

"Yes,"

"Alright….uhm I have to do my homework as well. Will you be alright if I sit with you on the same table or do you want to be alone?" Questioned Rollan, then the boys grabbed Rollan on his arms and led him to the table to show him a task they were doing together.

"Do you know how to read maps?" Questioned Jett showing the tall boy the homework.

"Yeah, that's Europe I think," Said Rollan sitting down, then Jake pulled a third chair to sit beside Rollan, while Jett got to the other side. "What are you looking for?"

"We have to find certain cities and countries. We haven't found all and need your help,"

"Sure I can help you," Answered Rollan, then Jake showed Rollan the homework list, where he could check what wasn't ticked off from the list.

Gerda sat in the bedroom doing the homework along with her roommate Fabienne at the same time both chatted with the other.

"I'm giving it a chance to try using the tablet to learn for the geography exam. I just have the feeling it doesn't help me learn the way I am supposed to learn," Gerda mentioned. "For me I feel like the old school way is easier for me,"

"You mean by writing or reading?" Questioned Fabienne.

"Both variants. Mostly writing though,"

"Maybe you're not used to it. But you know, since you're here you can learn the way, that helps you the best. You don't have to use a tablet like everyone else,"

"I know, except at the school I think I'll have to use the tablet anyway,"

"You should be able to study the way you're most comfortable with. Maybe you could ask Miss Bustier,"

"Maybe I could, but I think at the start the Principal told us we had to go with the flow. We could ask other classmates for help, when we're in trouble,"

"Okay maybe there's a truth in it," Commented Fabienne, then someone knocked on the door and it was Carmen, a dark-skinned teenage girl.

"Hi girls, am I bothering?" Questioned the girl watching the girls shake their head. "I received from a classmate four tickets for the movie Grave Robber. Are you two interested into that movie?"

"I wouldn't mind to watch it. Are you interested in the movie as well, Gerda?" Asked Fabienne looking at the roommate.

"What is it about?"

"About a hot, badass chick, that is presumed to be dead, but in reality she's actually hunting for treasure inside dangerous tombs," Explained Carmen making Gerda nod.

"Sounds interesting to me," Gerda answered. "When is the movie out?" Questioned the blonde.

"The hard part….I'm not sure if it works out for you, but those tickets here are for tonight, that's why I came to you two instead," Commented Carmen. "Bianca is fine with us going together as long as we're able to finish our work,"

"We're able to finish it in time, we're working together," Announced Fabienne making Gerda nod.

"Cool, do you girls need help? I'm done with my homework," Suggested the Latina-descendant girl and Fabienne nodded, then Carmen sat on the table to look at the two girls working on their tasks.

Kai and Alfida managed to board illegally into a cargo train, which passes by the French capital during the entire route.

The two had their backs leaned against the wall of the wagon and had a sight at the open gate so they could see the landscape during the ride.

"I really hope it's really true, that we're only three hours away from Paris. I think I have never been so excited to be close somewhere,"

"It's just a matter of time now and we'll see Gerda again," Commented Alfida followed by a yawn, then crossed her arms behind her head, while adjusting her one leg after the other. "I really would like to know how your sister has been doing lately there alone,"

"She's not alone, she's there with Rollan," Complained Kai with a grunt remembering the strange boy, that gets along with his sister.

"I know you have an intense dislike for that guy, but don't waste any braincell on him. Our first priority is to get there and find a way to see, where Gerda is. See how she's doing, how we're doing and so on. Everything else you can leave for now,"

"Good then. I'm sorry," Apologized Kai watching Alfida yawn again, then lie her head on his shoulder. "You're exhausted," Commented Kai watching Alfida take her head off his shoulder again.

"A little, but I stay awake for the entire ride until we're in Paris,"

"Well you don't have to. I'm already awake and I'm not really not tired or anything. If you're really tired you can just lie down and rest a little. I promise I wake you up, when we're there,"

"And are you sure you know, when we're there?" Questioned Alfida with a smirk, making Kai frown.

"Of course! I know how to read signs. I just did a mistake back in Germany,"

"Don't worry, I'm not thinking about that time. But if you don't mind me taking a nap. I'll do it. It will just be for a little while,"

"You know I don't want to look like a loser, who's capable of nothing. I know I can do far more, I just didn't have the chance to it,"

"There's one thing you're actually good at…..Just it didn't get used a lot lately,"

"What…..oh you mean my magic?" Asked Kai making Alfida nod. "Well I'd need to figure out more ways I could use my power. I have seen I could sketch on the grass something or at the wall in the jail to bring something into life,"

"The one in the grass was pretty cool. That I have to admit,"

"When we're in Paris and we find Gerda I can see where I can use my skills more. According to Gerda, my father wanted to become a craftsman and build things people would need in their homes. At some point as he got his magic, he was able to use them at his work and created magical mirrors,"

"Maybe you'll be able to create things like your dad or use it for the good,"

"Yeah for now on, I'll wait and see what awaits us in Paris," Announced the raven-haired boy making Alfida nod, then lie her head on his shoulder to yawn again.

"Okay, this is crazy but I think I will take that one nap," Commented Alfida making Kai chuckle.

"Go ahead, I' stay awake," Commented Kai watching Alfida lie her head on the boy's shoulder, so he could put his chin over her head and place his arm around Alfida to caress her on the shoulder. Alfida closed her eyes, therefore Kai looked out of the window to see a village in the far and remembered the last days he had spent with Gerda walking from place to place to earn money to sustain themselves by telling their legend of the fight against the Snow Queen.