To Lyger 0: Of course, most knights' ladies fair aren't actively putting themselves in danger!

It was the morning of the fight. The food tent in the Villains' Ghetto had been unusually subdued ever since Lila arrived; no one had seemed particularly hungry, and very little conversation could be heard. Nadine had flopped into the chair next to her and opened her mouth to say something, only for Tanja to glare her into submission. Marta had eaten a few bites of her bread and finished half a cup of coffee before pushing the food away and leaning back. On the far side of the tent, the Yakuza group sat quietly together sipping tea. One of the men in their group had gotten himself a plate of eggs, but either of the women had eaten a thing. The Engineer and Mecha-Man had stepped into the tent just long enough to pour themselves some coffee before vanishing back out into the camp, muttering something about having one final project to complete before the battle commenced.

The only one in the entire pavilion who seemed unaffected by the anxiety and tension was Elettrisicario, who sat at one of the far tables, eating steadily. Next to him, the Bearator's face had taken on a distinct greenish tinge. Araignée and Gardur both sat quietly at the same table – Gardur with his eyes on the camp outside of the pavilion, and Araignée with her gaze fixed on the contents of her mug.

Lila poked at her eggs, pushing them around on her plate without making any effort to eat them. Pollen sat on the edge of the plate, steadily picking out pieces of fruit and sticking them in her mouth. How could the Kwami eat so much at once? By now she must have eaten her entire body weight in melon chunks; meanwhile Lila couldn't bring herself to do more than nibble at the mealy, grainy bread that the Angolan cook had baked to serve with breakfast.

"Come on," Nadine wheedled, raising her eyebrows at Lila meaningfully. "You have to eat so you have energy for the fight." She scooped up a forkful of her own fruit and started to put it in her mouth, only to pause with the fork halfway there. She frowned, swallowing anxiously, and finally forced herself to eat. Shuddering, she fixed Lila with a grin. "See?"

Lila groaned in frustration, pushing her plate away. With a yelp, Pollen flew off of the plate, one last piece of melon still clutched in her paws. "It's all fine you," she grumbled, fixing Nadine with an irritated glare. "You're staying far away from that Monster; I have to get up close and personal with it." She frowned. It had seemed far simpler when she had first considered their plan: the Tarasque was just another big dumb brute that she needed to manipulate and bring under her sway – she had been manipulating people into doing what she wanted them to do for longer than she could remember. But the Tarasque had laughed off every weapon they had thrown at it in Paris, all without seeming to feel any effects. What was going to make this time any different?

Nadine smiled in excitement. "We're going to beat it this time!" she assured Lila.

Shrugging, Lila ran her fingers through her hair, stopping when she found her hair comb. "An Akuma will let me control the Tarasque, right?" she finally asked Pollen. "It will give me enough power to stop it in its tracks?"

"It will enhance your power," Pollen squeaked, nodding. "That is what it is intended to do."

Lila nodded slowly. Back during the reign of Hawk Moth, she had been no stranger to the power of Akumas. Every time she could, she had accepted that power and used it to take her revenge on Ladybug… but it had never been enough. Ladybug had always been just that much faster, just that much luckier – never better, but better protected. But this time, facing something so horrible and powerful that even Little Miss Perfect Ladybug couldn't stop it, she wouldn't just have the Akuma power, or the miraculous. She would have both.

But would it be enough?

Two of the few remaining Dark Acolytes – a handful had not tried to attack the heroes last week, so they hadn't been thrown in prison – stepped into the dining pavilion not far from Lila's table. Grabbing disposable trays from the end of the buffet line, they started piling their plates with sausage and eggs. One of the Acolytes looked down at his food with a frown. "They really expect us to eat this stuff? The eggs look like rubber."

"No one's forcing you to eat it," the other pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Still," the first one began, making a face. "How much do you want to bet that Ladybug is eating better on the other side of the camp?"

Nadine cocked her head, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she listened to their conversation. In spite of herself, Lila could feel her chest starting to constrict. "Where is Ladybug?" Nadine wondered, looking around the pavilion. "I hardly ever see her."

Tanja snorted. "Why would she come in here to eat?"

"But I thought she–"

"Oh, she has far more important things to do than hang out with us," Lila interrupted. Tanja arched an eyebrow at her dubiously. Lila gave an exaggerated shrug. "You can't expect someone as busy as Ladybug to be everywhere."

Nadine frowned. "I suppose that's true…"

Lila opened her mouth to continue, but one of the two Dark Acolytes by the buffet drowned her out. "Hell, what do you want to bet the Parisians are even eating better than us?" he asked his companion. Nadine pursed her lips, studying the Dark Acolyte carefully. "I mean, let's face it: why would they want to give good food to the vill–"

Suddenly, Lila started coughing as loudly as she could, pulling Nadine's attention back to her. Her tea came right back up, followed by her couple mouthfuls of bread. With a groan, she coughed, accepting the cup of water that Nadine pushed into her hands and downing the whole glass in a single gulp. Nadine smacked her several times on the back, and Lila stood up, clearing her throat. "I don't think I'm going to eat anything more," she announced, giving Tanja and Marta a look. "I'll see you when we're ready to start this fight." Briskly, Lila scooped up Pollen and strode out of the tent, Nadine hurrying along behind her.

"Are – are you okay?" Nadine asked, her voice laced with worry.

Lila smiled reassuringly. "Of course I am! I just–I must have eaten too much."

"Okay…" Nadine frowned. "I'm worried for you."

Lila sighed dramatically. "Oh, I will be okay – I can't let Ladybug down."

Nadine nodded. "So… why hasn't Ladybug been eating with us at all? I mean, I know you said that you're supposed to be undercover, but what's the point of that now? Everyone's going to know you're with the Heroes of Paris as soon as you help her defeat the Tarasque."

"Well she can't do it all the time…" Lila hummed. "But who said she never eats with us?" she asked. "Don't you remember last Thursday?"

"No…"

"Well there's your problem," Lila told her, patting Nadine on the shoulder and giving her a sympathetic look. "You just don't remember. I'm sure it must just be all the stress of being here in Angola and not knowing what's going on back in Paris. As soon as we get home again, everything will make sense. Okay?"

Nadine nodded hesitantly. "I hope so."

The bright morning sunlight shone down brightly on them as they made their way across the camp in the direction of their tent. Lila let out a breath, looking off to the side in the direction of the main refugee camp, which was now a hub of activity, with people quickly moving to take down more of the tents surrounding the central clearing, where both space-planes were parked alongside a vaguely-triangular shape approximately half the size of the smaller space-plane. Heroes and villains alike could be seen moving around and organizing boxes of supplies while the civilians watched from a distance.

Watching all the activity, Nadine was almost bouncing with anticipation. "I can't believe we're finally going to be going home!" she positively crowed, beaming from ear to ear. "I've missed Paris so much – especially my family."

Family. Lila hummed – a part of her wondered if her mother had even noticed that she was gone. Considering the hours that she put in at the embassy, that was unlikely. Of course, that assumed that her mother had even survived the Tarasque's rampage – and that was still an open question. "Seeing Paris again will be nice… as long as it's still standing."

"Ladybug will be able to put it all right again!" Nadine insisted. She furrowed her brows and cocked her head. "She will be able to fix everything, right?"

Lila shrugged, glancing down at Pollen, who remained silent. "I don't know." That was a subject on which Pollen had never been able to give her a clear answer. What were Ladybug's limits? Would she be able to repair all the damage, or was the world going to be stuck like this forever?

"I guess all we can do is do our best, right?" Nadine decided, nodding firmly.

Lila rolled her eyes. "Just make sure you stay back and don't get in my way!"

"Definitely!" Nadine promised. "I know I can't do nearly as much as you'll be able to do – not this time, anyways.

Lila cocked her head, her mouth setting in a thin line. "What do you mean, this time?"

"Well," began Nadine slowly, "when we had to stop the Dark Acolytes, it was me who had to go and do that; you had to stay back here because they could have really hurt you. So me and Marta could go and fight them, but you and Tanja couldn't."

Lila frowned, a bitter taste in her mouth. "I suppose that's true," she finally admitted. "Honestly, what were they even thinking?" Nadine shrugged. "They could have ruined everything; they're honestly getting to be more trouble than they're worth," Lila continued, almost growling. "This alliance has never worked out like it was supposed to…"

Nadine started. "'Alliance'? I thought the Dark Acolytes hated the heroes."

Lila froze. "They do…" she agreed, choosing her words carefully. "Or at least they hate those with miraculous. But while we've been here," she continued, gaining confidence as she went, "they've been working with us – sort of. So we've had an alliance with them here, in Angola. But when we get back home…" She shrugged. "It can't last."

"I hope they don't cause any problems while we're trying to stop the Tarasque," Nadine mused, frowning. "Maybe Marta and I will have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't try anything while you and the Jellyfish and the others are fighting the Tarasque."

"That's probably a good idea," Lila agreed, nodding. She hummed to herself. After everything they had done, could she really trust any of the Dark Acolytes other than the Deaconess? She frowned. Could she even trust the Deaconess? The fight against the Dark Acolytes suggested that maybe she could, but was that enough?

But Nadine continued, "After all, in all of this, you're one of the most important ones! You're going to have to stop the Tarasque all by yourself so the Jellyfish can destroy it!"

Lila grinned, straightening her back. "And don't you forget that!" She sobered, giving Nadine her best worried look. "But you shouldn't try to get too close. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt."

Nadine's shoulder slumped, but she nodded. "I'll be sure to stay out of the way and try to look for survivors," Nadine told her. Lila stifled a snort: as if anyone could have survived that Monster. But as long as it kept Nadine occupied…