Chapter 41
About an hour later, Gerda brought Rollan back home to the Hemmings, sitting in their living room on the couch with the Spaniard and the office worker Arthur.
„You were a superhero all along and you haven't said any of us a word?" Questioned Arthur earning a nod from Rollan, which remained sad from his incident. „Have you thought about how we would feel if we knew you had died? Or worse, we wouldn't know and would just know you disappeared mysteriously," Arthur commented with his arms crossed while Rollan kept his head down with Gerda beside him holding him by the shoulder.
„Mr. Hemming, you know all the superheroes can't tell their family and friends, that they're superheroes and so couldn't Rollan. He just did the right thing," Stated Gerda looking at Rollan, which kept the same facade.
„I still can't believe it I really lost my will over the Fire Demon. I…..I couldn't even fight myself or I wasn't even aware of what was going on. I don't remember anything of that," The Spaniard bawled. „I lost the trust of the heroes and Coal is probably gone as well. Just because of me," Complained Rollan covering his face, making Gerda sad placing her arm behind the boy's back to pat him on the other side of the shoulder.
„No one lost the trust. Especially Ladybug, she knew it could happen anything to you soon or earlier, that's why she called us on the meeting. I have even noticed on Ladybug, that her emotional state was short of leading her to a breakdown. It could have gotten worse if your life had really ended down on that channel,"
„If you see her, tell her I…...I don't know…..,"
„That you're sorry?" Asked Gerda making him shake his head.
„No, I'd like her to know, that if it was possible I would redeem everything I have caused under evil influence….if it was possible, but I know there's no way this is going to happen,"
„One thing I know is, that she will understand you. What she will probably get to wonder is, why it happened exactly so soon. I heard from her, you could get triggered into falling easier into the trap of the supervillain,"
„"I don't know," Commented Rollan, then he lifted up his head and looked at Gerda. „Wait…..I woke up inside a trash can. At least it looked like one in the inside. I remember being fastened with chains on something hard and I tried to free myself by using my firepower. What happened next I don't remember,"
„You remember waking up in there, right?" Asked Gerda making Rollan nod. „What else do you remember? Maybe we can find out, who tied you up. Maybe this could have been done by someone, who knew the issue about you or just for fun,"
„Well before I jumped over a car landing on the front window of it. After that a tall man with blonde hair and black glasses spoke at me, then made small talk with me. What happened afterward I don't know. I don't remember them leaving, nor telling me, what we should do about the little accident of mine,"
„Can you give more details? His clothing? His eyes? Anything else?"
„I feel like I have seen him before…..I do remember his car, it was silver and the symbol on the front was a circle with three lines overlapping itself in the middle."
„I do know four blondes, that drive one of those," Commented Arthur. „What type of car was it? A sedan? An SUV? Limousine?"
„I don't know," Responded Rollan. „I only saw the front,"
„Do these two blonde men have glasses?" Asked Gerda looking at the Swedish man.
„There is Patric Bourgeois and Gabriel Agreste. Mr. Bourgeois has a sort of SUV and Mr. Agreste a sedan,"
„I've heard about Gabriel Agreste actually," Mentioned Gerda. „Isn't he the father of Adrien from my class?"
„Adrien Agreste is his son, actually," Stated Arthur. „Do you by coincidence remember the license plate of the vehicle? Or at least two numbers?"
„Not really,"
„And if you see the car?" Questioned Arthur making Rollan shrug his shoulders.
„Eventually I could," Commented Rollan. „But I think if I saw the guy again I would know it for sure,"
„Wait a minute, maybe I can help you," Said Arthur leaving the living room, then Gerda gazed back at her love interest and twirled her finger around one of Rollan's hairstreak.
„Are you feeling a little better?" Asked the blonde making Rollan shrug his shoulders.
„If we would know who that guy is and if he's got anything to do with what happened to me I would probably feel way better," Commented Rollan making Gerda nod.
„Don't worry, we will find out," Promised Gerda making Rollan nod.
At the door of the living room knocked the youngest twin Jake to look into the living room at Rollan, followed by Jett.
„Can we come in?" Asked Jake, which was noticed by Gerda and Rollan.
„Sure" Responded Gerda watching the twins approach Rollan to see he was down and they got up on the couch to look up at him.
„Can we help you?"
„I'm okay for now" Responded Rollan rolling his eyes up at Gerda, which smiled at the boy.
„Is Gerda now your girlfriend?" Asked Jett making Gerda red noticing Rollan look at her, then dodge her eyes hiding his interest turning slightly pink on his face.
„Not yet," Whispered Gerda, then Jett looked up at her and he placed his hands on Gerda's lap.
„Do you want that?" Asked Jett watching Gerda turn her head away from the boy embarrassed.
„Oy Niños, it's not the right time to ask us that," Mentioned Rollan, then Arthur appeared with an old magazine to show on the front cover Gabriel Agreste, then Rollan nodded.
„That's the guy, that spoke to me," Answered Rollan. „He…...he was there along with another woman. She had black hair and a lilac streak,"
„And where did she go on that part of the story?" Questioned Arthur making Rollan shrug his shoulders.
„I don't know. I haven't seen her when the man spoke with me," Answered the Spaniard, then Arthur leaned to the dinner table to ponder about, what could have happened before Rollan lost his memory of the continuation.
„Is there a possibility, that she or even a third person could have knocked you out?" Questioned Gerda making Rollan shrug his shoulders, then Gerda passed her hand above Rollan's head making him flinch his teeth.
„Ouch...What did you do there?"
„Nothing," Commented Gerda, then kneeled on the couch to analyze Rollan's head to find a small bump on it „You didn't hit your head somewhere did you?"
„Not that I know," Answered Rollan, then Gerda got down on the couch.
„We should talk with Ladybug about it. There has to be a motive for that deed. Maybe we can figure out along with her, what's it," Proposed the blonde earning a nod.
„Probably,"
„Put your head up. It will work out," Added Gerda leaning her forehead on Rollan's face. Gerda's smartphone rang, then she picked it up to see Fabienne was calling.
„It's my roommate," Mentioned Gerda attending the call. „Hey,"
„Gerda! You're alive!"
„Kai?"
„Gerda, where are you? I saw what happened and I haven't seen you anywhere at the home since yesterday night,"
„I'm sorry I worried you, but everything is solved now. Rollan…...he…..had a little problem and needed someone,"
„With this huge situation of a monster destroying the city you leave to help him? Is he out of his mind to allow you come to him?"
„It's a long story, Kai. It was important for me to solve this mess,"
„More important than your life or what?"
„You know I'm that sort of person that puts other's needs in front of mine. I can't just leave the persons I love in danger,"
„You're right…...I'm sorry I yelled. I was just shocked about your absence. I'm afraid something happens to you again,"
„Don't worry. I won't let this happen. If you're still at the youth home, don't worry, I'll get back before lunch. If you'd like we could do something together. What do you say?"
„Sounds like a good idea," Answered Kai,
„Good, see you later" Gerda finished putting her phone back, then looked at Rollan, which glanced at the girl short as she was finished with the call.
„Kai didn't like that you came here?" Questioned Rollan making Gerda shake her head.
„I don't think he knows yet about us being heroes. I'm wondering if I should tell him that at least or not. At one point it's good, I won't have to come up with more excuses for him, why I leave during akuma attacks, otherwise, he will get worried sick from knowing me fighting villains,"
„He didn't have the luck to see Lady Frost in action as close as I did," Mentioned Rollan a little flirty, making Gerda chuckle.
„Probably," Commented Gerda, then got up. „Alright, I will go back home. Will you be okay?" Questioned Gerda looking at the romantic interest, which nodded.
„I have to," Commented Rollan, then Gerda placed her hand on his shoulder.
„You can call me or visit me, alright," Noticed Gerda. „I will help you as good as I can. I promise," The blonde declared earning a nod from the Spaniard, then got kissed by Gerda on his nose and watched her walk out of the living room waving goodbye at Arthur, which was looking into the magazine he had picked up a while ago.
„Get well home," Wished the adult watching the Scandinavian girl nod and close the door behind her.
„Rollan, why didn't you ask Gerda out to be your girlfriend?" Asked Jett making Rollan snort.
„Pequeñuelo, I can't just do that one day after our first kiss," Spoke Rollan. „We gotta wait a little while before we can get serious with each other,"
„But you like her, right?"
„More than ever,"
„Then ask her to be your girlfriend. We all can see, that she likes you too,"
„Don't worry boys, my time will come, just it's not right now," Commented Rollan patting Jett on his back.
Marinette stood at the balcony along with the monk and Su-Han, hours after what happened to the city.
„That was an enormous chaos with this Fire Demon situation. Unbelievable, that a bunch of teens and some help of civilians really stopped it," Spoke Su-Han holding his hand in front of his forehead. „This was in fact really astonishing,"
„It's wasn't easy, to be honest. I was fearing, this would have turned out more difficult with the time, but my team didn't give up and kept their focus on max to make it through,"
„They all deserve my congrats," Said Su-Han. „About that, where is the miraculous of Lady Frost?"
„I didn't get it back yet. But after this, she's aware, that she shouldn't use it. I will bring it back to you when I get to meet her again. About Rollan's miraculous, I'm not sure if it broke or it is hidden inside the Seine,"
„If you manage to bring him back the two miraculouses, that would be perfect," Stated Su-Han making Marinette nod.
„By the way, you remember when I talked about Hawk Moth possibly being Gabriel Agreste, right?" Asked Marinette making the man nod. „Apparently Rollan under the skin of Fire King crashed against the car and had passed out shortly after meeting him. There was a sign on his head, that he was hit on his head with something hard. Eventually there's a chance, that Gabriel planned this on purpose to put the city in a chaos,"
„It's possible, he might have used my information, that served as a warning and he used it for bad causes," Added the monk, making Su-Han nod.
„At least we're all now aware of Gabriel's true nature and closer to Hawk Moth, than ever," Said Marinette making the men nod.
„What will you do now? You know he's Hawk Moth, why haven't you attacked yet?" Questioned the monk, then she looked at Su-Han, which waited for the girl to answer.
„I don't know," Responded Marinette. „I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to be attacking his house soon. Probably after all this that happened it was good I didn't go earlier,"
„You think so?" Asked Su-Han raising one eyebrow making Marinette shrug her shoulders.
„I don't know. Master Fu was the one who had helped me out, when I didn't know further, I'm afraid that this only chance I have won't work,"
„Hawk Moth is most likely to be alone in his hideout. Three or more heroes going there at once will make a difference quicker than you think. Defeating him is ten times easier than fighting the Fire Demon or yourself akumatized. If your team working together made it greatly against these two, Hawk Moth will be a child's play,"
„I think you're right," Smiled Marinette. „It won't be the same with Fire King or Lady Frost, but I can gather back the other ones and make up a plan together. We will attack him one the time he least expects,"
„When exactly?" Asked the monk, watching Marinette ponder about it.
„Hmm I would need to know the exact time he goes out of the house in the morning. One moment, where there's silence and no other citizen around,"
„Sounds like a good start, gather your team together and figure it out together,"
„Yeah, I will also need one civilian to help us out," Mentioned Marinette looking out of her balcony at the Agreste manor, she could see from afar.
Adrien sat in front of the computer writing an essay, while Plagg chewed on a cheese cube looking at another computer screen with the news about what happened in the morning.
„Whoa did you know nine firefighters were hurt during the fight today against the Fire Demon?" Asked Plagg making Adrien shake his head.
„I still can't believe it, that this giant thing was Rollan all the time," Confessed Adrien. „I'm amazed how this didn't have him end up dead or stuck inside the stone-creature forever…..or how my cataclysm could have killed him as well or…..I don't know, anything bad,"
„Well he destroyed a part of the city and we couldn't restore it back," Commented Plagg. „That's bad as well,"
„And he probably lost now his miraculous as well. His kwami must have died as well or somehow disappeared. Just think about if this had happened to us. I couldn't live with the knowledge of having lost you to death,"
„Kwamis don't really die if a miraculous gets broken or anything. We just vanish. Eventually, this is what happened to their kwami. I'm not even sure if they're considered kwamis as well. They might be another sort of species,"
„I have no idea, Plagg," Commented Adrien, then pressed the save button and smashed his head on the keyboard. „Gosh, I can't come up with any more words to describe this image. How am I supposed to describe this in two pages?" Asked Adrien looking at the kwami, which shrugged his shoulders.
„What about changing the font to 14 or something?" Plagg suggested making Adrien shake his head.
„Sorry, but they want size 11-12. The other option would be cheating,"
„How does the teacher know you cheated?" Asked Plagg making Adrien frown.
„Maybe because I have to send it digitally?" Asked Adrien ironic.
„You could use a break, boy. Why don't you take this free-time of when your father is out of the house to play a game or two to release your stress?" Suggested Plagg watching Adrien ponder about it.
„What about we play together on the piano?" Suggested Adrien. „I miss our little duets,"
„Let's pick something playfully then!" Suggested Plagg flying above the room dropping himself on the piano to begin the play, followed by Adrien, which ran to the bench to join the kwami playing one joyful tune on the piano.
Gerda sat in her bedroom holding in her hand her smartphone, then noticed above the home button the envelope symbol had a number on it, then Gerda pressed on it to see, what kind of message she had received and opened it to see it was an email from the school. Gerda opened it to see it contained a link, that led to the school page and under it were several pictures, that contained Gerda on it. She smiled as she found three, where she stood together with Rollan in front of a beach picture and she opened one, where she was embraced around Rollan's arm. Gerda giggled from seeing Rollan having a surprised face on it from seeing Gerda around his arm, then she pressed her finger against the display to open up above options and saved the image.
Someone knocked on the door, then Gerda saw it was her younger brother Kai, which walked up at the girl.
„Is it okay, if I come in?" Asked the raven-haired boy making Gerda nod. „Sure," Responded Gerda watching the boy get down beside her to see her watching the prom pictures.
„Is that picture from yesterday?" Asked Kai making Gerda nod.
„Yeah. It was taken a little while before we waltzed together," Answered Gerda making Kai nod. „Here he looks quite flustered here,"
„A little," Agreed Kai, then Gerda moved on to see a picture of her alone looking up at the stage along with Kim and Wayhem at the moment Rollan got announced as the Prince of the prom. „Is it serious between you and Rollan?" Asked Kai earning Gerda's attention.
„Well I know he's in love with me and so does he, but at the moment we're not in a relationship. At least officially,"
„But you're planning? Right?" Questioned Kai making Gerda smile enamored at the thought.
„I'd love to," Answered Gerda sincere. „At the moment after today, I won't force him into anything. He has to recover from what happened today,"
„Did he have an accident?" Questioned Kai making Gerda shrug his shoulders.
„Well not exactly an accident more…..this is weird, I don't know how I should tell you that…..this monster, that had been destroying Paris was actually him and he sort of was possessed by the Fire Demon," Gerda tried to explain the brother, which pondered about her phrase, then widened his eyes.
„How did he look like?" Asked Kai. „Did he have magma on his legs and creepy face with sharp teeth?"
„Yeah…..how did you know?" Asked Gerda curious.
„You know sister…..back in our old time, you and Rollan went together to the forbidden tomb, where the wishing stone was located. Both of you got in contact with it and were possessed by the Snow Queen and the Fire Demon. You both transformed into their physical appearance and had destroyed half of the troll kingdom. Orm, I and Alfida were the ones making it to push you two into the water and end up frozen. Whatever happened to the bodies of them back then I have no information, neither how we got out…..well Orm helped me and Alfida, but who helped you out with Rollan and Orm remains unknown for us,"
„I think if I'm correct it was Gabriel Agreste, the father of my classmate Adrien. According to Ladybug, there's a high chance, that he's the culprit for what happened to Rollan today," Explained Gerda. „I don't know, how Rollan and I got turned in the past into these spirits as you said. We just wished to have our parents back,"
„You know…...I don't know exactly, what Rollan told you, but according to Alfida's mom, the book Rollan had about this so-called wishing stone explained, that this stone was meant to put on you two the power of the Snow Queen and the Fire Demon. Alfida's mom had met him before and knew he dreamed about turning into a legend someday. This book was handed out to him as a joke. No one expected he would really go this far to bring himself in danger, mostly you,"
„Okay to be honest I do remember him talking about how he had been studying legends in order to find his mother and that the wishing stone would have helped him. Also, he never told me how long he misses his mother,"
„I know you and Rollan have something with each other, but I wanted to tell you this a while ago. He wasn't quite a good influence from the start on,"
„From the start on," Repeated Gerda neutral.
„I'm sorry Gerda. I…..maybe I shouldn't have said that. I had this saved inside me for long and I had to let it out at some point,"
„I understand you, Kai. I just can't imagine he having lied to me like that,"
„Maybe he was correct about it. Maybe he wasn't and he just wanted to find a way to get closer to the stone to obtain superpowers,"
„I don't know. The Rollan I got to know during this space of time doesn't sound like that,"
„I don't know," Mentioned Kai shrugging his shoulders. „Maybe he turned different. Many people change for the ones they love, maybe…..he's one of those cases. I was just wondering,"
„I can always question him that. He must know it better,"
„And you think he will?" Questioned Kai curious.
„Why shouldn't he?" Questioned Gerda. „He knows he can count on me, even if I need to tell him that all the time,"
„He could fear, that you won't want to see him ever again. I don't know,"
„I wouldn't do that just like that. I just ask him that and I see, what he says. The issue is only between us and we have to work on it together. That's how relationships of any kind work. Even ours as siblings,"
„Sure, makes sense,"
„Were you hoping to gain anything else with it?" Questioned Gerda furrowing her eyebrows up making Kai shrug his shoulders.
„Before I got here I probably was hoping for. But you genuinely seem to care about Rollan a lot, that…..I can't do anything, but let you follow what your heart desires. You were so happy yesterday to be with him and you worry about him as well. I should just accept this and try to give him a chance, even though I feel about him bad,"
„I think this is because you're my brother. Brothers worry a lot, when their sister begin to get closer to another boy," Mentioned Gerda making Kai chuckle.
„Yeah you're right," Commented Kai, then moved his feet around playfully while Gerda placed down her phone on the bed, then received a notification from Alya, then she opened it to see it was a video, which began to play mute showing Gerda dance together with Rollan. Gerda smiled charmed about it, then someone knocked on the door and she saw Alfida stand there.
„Everything okay?" Asked Alfida watching Gerda nod along with Kai.
Kai got up, then pointed at Gerda making Alfida look perplexed and Kai looked down at his sister.
„Oh there is something I and Alfida wanted to tell you a few days before," Mentioned Kai earning Gerda's attention.
„Sure,"
„Alfida and I are….no….I can say it better," Corrected Kai making Alfida chuckle. „Alfida and I got very closer during this trip and by closer I mean…...you know…..,"
„Kai and I like each other the way his mother and father did," Commented Alfida making Kai drop his chin in embarrassment.
„Are you seriously mocking me like that?!" Asked the Norwegian boy shocked at his romantic interest's snarky comment.
„I love messing with your brother," Commented Alfida walking up at the boy. „He's adorable like that," The former pirate confessed giving him a peck on the cheek, making him heat up while Gerda just chuckled.
„Guess I'm not the only one that fell in love as well," Joked Gerda making Alfida nod, then glimpse at Kai, which was patting his cheek as he kept listening to the older girls.