-s-s-s- (06:02 am) (Soleils POV)
At long last, I had made it to the Rouzet-residence. Looking on my phone, I confirmed that I was almost punctual this time. Two minutes overdue, but it should be just fine.
When I rang the bell and Mrs. Rouzet opened the door for me, she scowled down to me again. "You're late.", she greeted me disapprovingly.
Alitta Rouzet was a rather tall and slender woman dressed in a black business-suit. Her deep black hair hung straight down just past her ears, shaping her square-kind-of face neatly. She was also wearing an expensive silver watch on her left, and a golden bracelet on her right arm. On each ear, she had an earring with a pearl hanging on them, and a necklace donning an expensive looking gem. Just by her appearance, you could tell that she was a businesswoman through and through.
"The taxi refused to chauffeur me, otherwise I would have been here sooner.", I explained myself, but the woman didn't seem to believe me, "Of course, it's always the fault of someone else, isn't it?"
Turning around she invited me in anyway, "Well, at least you're here now. Wait at the entrance, I'll tell the kids you're here."
Stepping into the entrance-area I already took off my shoes, whilst Mrs. Rouzet went to get her kids. It only took a few seconds before they stormed in and tackled me to the ground. "Soleil! Hi!", they cheered together with the brightest grins on their faces.
"Arrete! Dennis! *gasp* I can't breathe!", I rang for breath as they kept me pinned to the ground. Upon my plea, they allowed me to get back up. "Th- Thanks, you two."
Arrete was eight years old and had the same black hair as her mother, though much curlier and at shoulder-length. She was wearing a long-sleeved red shirt and a blue skirt that stopped beneath her knees. Furthermore, she had two golden bracelets mirroring her mothers, as well as a silver necklace she got from her father way back when.
Dennis on the other hand was five years old, with the same short, dark brown hair as his father had. However, unlike his fathers, his hair just wouldn't behave, so it stood in all directions randomly. He was wearing a striped black and white shirt with blue trousers, but he too had a silver necklace inherited from his father around his neck.
"Chausson, a word before I leave.", Mrs. Rouzet asked of me as she moved outside. Well, didn't really ask, more like demanded it from me.
When I met her outside again, she firmly grasped my shoulder and gave me an ice-cold stare, "I just want to make one thing clear: Until I'm back, my children are going to be your one and only priority, understood?"
There was an accusatory undertone in her voice, which caught me off guard, "O-Of course, Mrs. Rouzet! Like always!"
Gripping my shoulder even tighter, she growled at me, "Don't think I haven't heard about what happened. About you fighting supervillains alongside that boy, and about him dying."
Now I understood what she was accusing me off. And I really didn't need that sort of guilt-tripping right now. However, she continued nonetheless, "You can act as sad and mournful as you like. I KNOW that his death is your fault in some way, even if I can't prove it yet. If Arrete wasn't so damn attached to you, I would never even consider letting you come here again."
"I mean… Understandable, in a way.", I had to admit to myself, "But also: Screw you."
"Here's the thing:", she warned me with a death-glare a downright threatening voice, "You yourself can get hurt or even die for all I care. But I swear to Edward, if either Arrete or Dennis get into any sort of danger because of you, or god forbid either of them gets hurt while you're with them, no magical ladybug in the world will be able to fix what I do to you."
A shiver ran down my spine, even to my own surprise. Usually I'd just put the threat away in silence, I'm no stranger to them after all. But after the events of the past few days – the super-intense battles, harsh injuries, and especially the death and resurrection of Manuel – this one hit quite differently.
"I understand.", I confirmed with what little confidence I could muster right now, which wasn't a lot. Mrs. Rouzet merely scoffed, pushed me away by my shoulder and went off to work.
One final shiver coursing through me, I recomposed myself, "Scary. Not to mention insensitive. But who am I to blame her…?"
Putting that in the back of my mind for now, I made my way back into the house to watch over Arrete and Dennis, whilst also taking care of the cleaning and cooking. After what happened these last two days, this was just the distraction I needed. A relaxing day with my "siblings", with no thoughts about fighting or dying in any way whatsoever… hopefully.
-x-x-x- (07:26am) (Manuels POV)
"Today's a… Saturday, right?", I asked in thought, seriously out of the loop at this point.
If I remembered correctly, it was Sunday when we fought Paparazzi,
and since then there were CopyChat on Monday,
my first hospital-trip on Tuesday,
and my day of recovery on Wednesday.
Meaning I fought and died against The Nemesis on Thursday,
and since then I've been here for a full day on Friday.
So today would be Saturday, right?
"Yup, meaning I can keep you company all day.", Alya, who came to visit about half an hour ago, answered enthusiastically, "And we'll need that, since I have several questions!"
I groaned slightly. There was no getting out of this, was there? I definitely couldn't up and leave, and there was just no way I could talk her out of this. Soooo… "Okay, fine. Bring it on.", I just accepted my grim fate.
Curiously enough, she took out a notebook rather than her phone, "Awesome! Okay, first and foremost: Herisson Blanc. How exactly did that come to be?"
I blinked at her in confusion, before I couldn't help myself anymore, „Pffft- Hahahaa! I'm sorry, what was that name?! Herisson Blanc? What does that even mean?"
„Well, to English, it literally translates to White Hedgehog.", she explained slightly offended, making my laughter die down instantly. „…Oh no."
„Yeah, didn't expect me to connect those dots, did you?", she continued matter-of-factly, „Admittedly, I neither saw you transform or him de-transform, but I'm not stupid."
Wide eyed, I desperately, and very stupidly, tried to save my identity in even dumber ways than Marinette ever had, „ Whoa whoa- Now hang on! Let's- uh- Let's hear that evidence first!"
Looking quite annoyed by now, Alya, unfortunately, managed to list a few more things than I could possibly deny: „*sigh* You were present in every single akuma-fight since you got here, whilst Herisson Blanc was not. And the only time you're oddly absent, he appears out of nowhere. Then, when he leaves, you show up within an inch of your life, with a brand-new accessories on your arm, and a mysterious white hedgehog-like creature crying over you. There's just no way all of that is a freaking coincidence."
I gave her a fascinated look. If she was even half this observant when it came to Ladybugs and Chat Noirs identities, my forehead would only have half as many furrows.
But the point right now was, she caught me. She left me not a single way to get out of this one. So, instead of fighting a losing battle, like I usually would, I just silently beckoned her closer.
Once she was next to me, I whispered to her, „Can you keep secrets?"
„If need be.", she answered a bit more vaguely than I would have liked, but apparently it was the best I was gonna get. „Then I may as well admit it. The wielder of the white hedgehog is me."
„HAH! I knew it!", she called out in triumph, causing me to pull her closer again, and growl to her, „When we talk about him, we talk about a third party. And if you tell literally anyone about this, be it friend, family, or hero, I turn you into a pincushion! We clear on that?!"
Not intimidated at all, she just replied, „Calm down, you edge-lord. I wasn't going to tell anyone." Thus, I let her go again, „Good." Giving an audible sigh, I called into the drawer of the night-stand next to me, „Whissp, Alya is henceforth allowed to see you!"
Within an instant, my kwarmi flew out of his drawer and flew a quick circle around me, before scolding me again, „It would be really helpful if you could make up your mind on that!"
„Nobody gets to see you, unless they already have!", I repeated just as annoyed by now. How was it this hard to understand? Granted, who was and wasn't allowed to see him updated daily at the moment, but it was a really simple and straight-forward rule.
An amused giggle escaped Alya, as she greeted my kwarmi, „Hahah, hello again, little Whissp."
„No jokes about my size!", Whissp instantly shot her down. I hadn't even known he was sensitive about that.
„So, let me explain real quick.", I started, before she cut me off, "Whissp is a kwarmi that gives the miraculous-wearers their powers when they transform. I know that much."
I have to admit, I was quite surprised at that. Alya did display, that she was a bit knowledgeable with how the miraculous work when she debuted as Rena Rouge. But that was in Season 2, when basic knowledge about the miraculous was getting more common already.
"…Okay then.", I just accepted, not willing to overthink this right now, "So, what did you want to ask me then?"
The girl took a moment, probably rewording her question to fit with my terms. Then, she asked, "What can you tell me about Herisson Blancs origin? How did HE come to be?"
So, she was asking me how I got the miraculous. I mean, I couldn't tell her about Master Fu yet, so I had to think fast, "Found the miraculous in a trash-container. Around the time of Paparazzi."
Quite offended, Whissp called out, "That's not how we met, you liar!" Signing him to shut it before he let go of Fus identity, I got him to correct himself, "It was a regular trash-bin!"
"A trash-bin?", Alya asked confused, probably already smelling the bullshit we were telling her here, "Why would someone just… discard a precious magical artefact like that?"
I just shrugged to keep the ruse going, "Maybe they weren't aware of its special properties?"
Thankfully jumping atop that train, Whissp added, "Or they left me there for you to find!"
"Heck if I know…", I just closed the topic, hoping Alya was satisfied with what we were dishing up for her.
Luckily, she seemed to buy it. "Okay, so it was basically just dumb luck.", she sighed disappointed, which I confirmed as it fit right in my agenda, "Basically, yeah. But we made it work just fine."
"Even with our incompatibility.", Whissp added without thinking, making me glare at him but causing Alya to back up on that, "Wait, hold up there! Incompatibility?"
I couldn't help but facepalm. "Thanks, Whissp. That was necessary, wasn't it?"
Cringing himself, the kwarmi noticed his mistake as well, "Sorry… Slipped up there."
„Hey, back up real quick!", Alya demanded confused, „What do you mean by incompatible?"
God, she was not going to let this go, was she? Not until I filled her in. „Every Miraculous has a certain nature to it, that defines its properties and powers. If the wielders nature matches or compliments their Miraculous very well, it can allow them to reach new heights in power."
As I was explaining, Alya seemed to think she understood already, and finished herself, „And if they don't match at all, it sets a penalty to its power?"
„Worse.", Whissp denied, explaining far more than I would have liked, „If they conflict too much, it can either damage the Miraculous or hurt the user over time."
Alya stopped taking notes abruptly, and just starred at the two of us in disbelief. „Uhh- Are you actually serious? Actually, knowing you two, you definitely are…" Thus, she ripped off the armband in one swift motion, "What is wrong with you?! No wonder you're always one foot in the grave if you're using a power that kills you over time!"
"Hey, I've only been on deaths doorstep once.", I corrected her out of principle, but this time, Whissp interrupted me angrily, "Stop it! If you start joking about that, I'll turn YOU into a pincushion!"
"I'm not joking about anything here!", I spat back slightly agitated, "I'm just clinging to cold, harsh truths."
Alya gave me a confused look, then looked a bit too intently at me. "Whole 'nother question…", she eventually asked sternly, "Do you, perchance, need a dose of sleep?"
"NO, why?!", I threw back a bit too fast, something within me stirring at the mere mention of sleep. At that, Alya pointed out, "You could carry groceries in those bags under your eyes, and you're triggered a bit too easily. Feels like you barely got any sleep at all."
At that, Whissp perked up, "Wait, those eye-rings are signs of tiredness?"
"Usually.", the girl explained to the kwarmi, "For some people, they hardly ever go away and just get harsher, but HE never had such eye-bags until now, so… I'd say you go to sleep for a while, I'll come back later sometime."
"NO!", I refused instantly, shuddering again at the thought of sleep, "I… Ugh, I'm fine, I swear!"
"Swear to Soleil, not me.", she dared me to, twisting that guilty knife in my gut all over again, "She's not gonna be happy to hear that you refuse to sleep."
After letting me think about that one for a few seconds, she repeated, "I'll come back in a few hours, okay? Sleep tight!"
And just like that, she left me here! All alone, with nothing to keep me awake! "Well? Nighty-night, kiddo!" Thus, Whissp too disappeared back into his night-drawer, "Just tell me when you're awake again!"
"Wha- Get back here, Whissp!", I called after him, "I… Don't leave me all alone here…" However, I got no answer from him.
And inevitably, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier. "Can't just… fall asleep.", I told myself, "Have to stay awake…" But alas, it was a losing battle, and the overdue sleep overwhelmed me mercilessly.
-x-x-x- (08:48 am; Soleils POV)
I was currently in the bathroom of Mrs. Rouzet, letting cold water run over my burnt left finger. "Today I learned, you shouldn't be ironing when you're absent-minded.", I sighed to myself, but then my thoughts started idling again, specifically moving back to our… conversation we had in the hospital, "Better me than you… That was about as inappropriate as everything else I do and say. The guy is worried about me dying, and I basically tell him that I don't care. God, it's like he's rubbing off on me…"
"Do you need a band-aid?", Dennis asked carefully as he stepped next to me and looked at my swelling finger, "That looks nasty…"
Quickly recomposing myself again, I replied with a smile, "Don't worry, it's fine. It's just a burn – some cold water will do the trick." Looking around under the sink and then pulling out a small white tube, Dennis offered, "We have a salve that can help with burns. Can I help you apply it?"
I knelt down to face him directly, and explained to him, "Thank you for offering, Dennis. But I can't accept that. If Mrs. Rouzet found out I raided her house-pharmacy, she'll think I endangered you two in some way."
"I'll explain it to her.", he was quick to reply, „She'll surely listen to me!"
I cut our conversation short right there, because an unpleasant smell entered my nose. "Wait a minute…" I smelled more intently and concluded, "That smells like… something burnt?!"
Rushing back to the iron, I came just in time to witness a hole getting burnt into the pair of suit-pants I was on when I pushed it over my finger. Obviously, I quickly took it off the pants, but the damage was already done. A neat, rectangle-shaped hole precisely in the right knee. "I'm gonna freaking die…", I sighed in defeat.
I really should have known better than to say something like that within earshot of Dennis. The very next thing that happened, was the sweet boy charging into the room, brandishing a goddamn kitchen-knife! "I'll save you, Soleil!"
"Dennis, put the knife down right now!", I screamed in panic as I hid atop the couch.
"What are you two screaming about here-", Arrete asked as she too entered the room, and then registered me with a fearful expression, and Dennis with a knife, "…Everything okay in here?"
"Soleil said something about dying!", Dennis shrieked with tears forming in his eyes.
"It's a manner of speaking!", I explained quickly, and then had to let out a sigh, "Uff… I'm sorry, Dennis… Please, can you just… put the knife back?"
"Sure."
"Say, Soleil…", Arrete asked, tilting her head curiously, "You're sort of… strange today."
My eyes widening as she caught on to my behaviour, I asked out of obligation, "How do you mean?"
Coming over to me, she answered simply, "You barely speak a word, and keep getting hurt. That's not like you, so what's up?"
I looked to the side, a look of uncertainty forming on my face. "Arrete is far too precious.", I spoke to myself, "No way in hell can I just tell her the truth." Deciding to protect her innocence, I lied on the spot, "Just lost in thoughts. Nothing to worry about."
Arrete looked at me sceptically, pouted, and then proceeded to scold me, "Soleil, you've always been a terrible liar. You couldn't even look at me right there!"
Gritting my teeth in discomfort, I replied carefully, "I have… a lot to deal with right now. And it's very… personal as well."
Beaming in delight, Arrete cooed happily, "Aww, Soleil! You're thinking about love!"
If I had been drinking something, I would have choked on it right there. And that Dennis joined in with a long squeal didn't help either, "Yahay! I'm so happy for you, Soleil!"
"Stop, STOP!", I called out in embarrassment, "I'm not in love, nor thinking about it! I'm drowning in guilt because my friend almost died!"
Clasping my hands on my mouth in shock, I could barely believe I just told them that. The emotions kept swirling up, and once again I lost control. "Freaking typical for me."
Watching their faces drop from delight to shock, another heavy heap of guilt shoved itself onto me. "Oh- Oh geez. I-It's not as bad as you think! P-Please, just let me explain.", I begged them desperately, "And especially don't tell your mother about it!"
I noticed Arretes legs getting shaky, and therefore quickly grabbed her before she outright collapsed. Dennis on the other hand sunk to his knees and curled into a ball, silently humming to himself.
Both of those reactions were perfectly understandable. I mean, Arrete is eight, and Dennis merely five years old. That they had to learn about the concept of dying already is tragic as it is, but that I just told them how close death can hit was just a disaster! But hey, what else would you expect from me, huh?!
-o-o-o- (10:12am) (Manuels POV)
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a deep black void. A familiar black void at that, with a much dreaded beeping sound in the distance. "No…", I muttered under my breath as I spun around, trying to make out anything in the distance, "No no no."
Trying to run through the darkness, I just hoped to find that deep blue door again so I could reawaken once again. However, I without any ground beneath my feet, I may as well have just flailed around. "Please, I can't be dead again!"
"Thou thought THOU could CHEAT DEATH ITSELF?!", I heard the loud echoey voice of Anubis booming through the darkness again, this time angry and with an accusatory undertone, "HUBRIS TRULY IS SEATED DEEP WITHIN HUMANITY!"
As Anubis continued speaking, the black void seemed to… pulse as it turned to a sinister red, and way beneath me a black circle opened. "THE GAP BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH CANNOT BE TRAVERSED AS PLEASED BY MERE MORTALS!"
Bloodred claws began to reach out of the circle and took hold of me mercilessly. Their sharp nails dug into my arms and legs, and they stretched me apart as though they were trying to tear me in four.
"FOR DARING TO BREAK THE TABOO OF THE GODS, THOU SHALT BE TRAPPED IN HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY-" In front of me, out of a familiar-looking dark cloud, formed a hooded figure well known to me. It brandished a knife and stepped closer to me with its piercing grey eyes shining at me. "-RELIVING THY PAINFUL DEATH AT THE HAND OF THY NEMESIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN!"
Gripped by panic, I tried to fight against the claws holding me, which only dug deeper into me in retaliation. My hooded nemesis gripped my shoulder, placed her knife on my heart, and with a devilish grin-
-x-x-x-
"STOP!", I screamed in despair and shot up from the bed. A cold sweat was running down my forehead and my hands were shaking. I quickly placed my hand on my heart, and with a relieved breath I noted that it was still beating healthily. "Haaaahhh… I am… not doing okay…"
Just a moment later, Mark and Anabelle burst into the room, closely followed by Whissp floating behind them. "What's the matter?!", Mark asked alarmed as he quickly came to my side.
"Calm down, he just had a nightmare.", Anabelle replied annoyed, and then turned to Whissp floating next to her, "The next time this happens, you just give him a quick nudge, so he wakes up, got it?! We're very busy here, so don't you dare call us for something like that again!"
The kwarmi, seeming in serious distress, replied with a shaky voice, "How am I supposed to know that?! I thought he was having a see-sure or something!"
"QUIET!", I yelled at the two of them, and instantly regretted it afterwards. Anabelle was constantly pissed, but Whissp was just a naïve moron with the purest intentions. Poor guy didn't deserve to get yelled at by me. "S-Sorry. Just… a little quieter, please."
As I rubbed my eyes, I noticed them starting to hurt by now. Testament of how much I had been doing that these last two days.
"Bloodshot eyes, deep blue eyebags, easily agitated – Kid, you're seriously sleep-deprived.", Mark diagnosed me as well, once again telling me something I already knew, "No shit, Mark. How long do you have to study medicine to diagnose that with such accuracy?"
"Got trouble falling asleep? Troublesome thoughts keeping you awake?", the male-nurse asked patiently, in spite of my rude comment, "Because we can always prescribe you some calming medicine if need be."
Shaking my head violently, I tried to answer calmly, "No! N-No, thanks."
But clearly that answer didn't satisfy him, "Kid, we have to do SOMETHING. Your body needs rest, else you're just gonna collapse all over again!"
"If I'm allowed to say something…", Whissp started, to which I muttered under my breath, "No you are not, but you'll do it anyway…"
"I don't know if this is normal, but I don't think he wants to sleep. He keeps himself busy with basically anything he can find, and gets angry when we talk about sleep in general. I think he counted the tiles on the ceiling around 13 times by now.", the kwarmi told so nonchalant it made me even more mad. I couldn't even scold him for that! He was just a kid with next to no life-experience! And no comments about me counting exactly 87 ceiling-tiles 13 times!
Anabelle sighed exasperated and offered impatiently, "Alright then, listen up Gilson! I offered you the easy way a number of times, and I'm done now! You either go to sleep by yourself, or I'll just sedate you here and now!" Already preparing a needle she took from… hell if I know where, she added, "But just as a warning: Sedation works via needle and is going to make you sleep for a whole day or two."
Quickly shifting away from the nurse, I finally chose to explain the reason behind my sleep-deprivation, "I don't want to die again!"
That quote made all of them stop what they were doing at once. After a few seconds of confused silence, Anabelle eventually asked still impatiently, "Explain …"
Taking a deep breath to calm myself again, I couldn't get around explaining my sleeping issues anymore. "I already died once, but by some miracle I managed to awake. I'm terrified of… falling asleep and… not being able to wake up again."
"Ahh, nightmares induced by trauma.", Mark noted with closed eyes, "Usually, the right treatment for that is therapy."
"Probably. But, unfortunately, I don't exactly have the connections for a therapist. Or the time for therapy. Or the money, for that matter.", I replied exasperated. However, against my expectations, Mark replied, "Yeah you do! Right here!"
My eyes widening, I asked for confirmation, "You what?! You're a psychotherapist as well?!"
"Psychiatrist, actually!", he confirmed with a proud smile, "Since I have both a medical and psychological education, I'm qualified to prescribe therapy and medicine!"
"So many words I've never heard before…", Whissp mumbled under his breath.
"Good, you don't need to know.", I growled slightly miffed at the whole situation.
Another sigh escaped the psychiatrist, "Alright, I'm just gonna ask flat out: What exactly was your nightmare about? Do you remember anything about it?"
With Anabelle quietly leaving the room and Whissp quickly flying back into his drawer, I was left with no other choice than to answer him, „Well… it's usually just a pitch-black void. Nothing above, below or around me. And then, things get… worse."
One specific word seemed to have piqued his interest, „Usually? So it's a recurring nightmare?"
„Yep, it totally is.", I confirmed, the events I had seen today playing in my head again, „Always slightly different, but also… kind of the same?"
Taking notes on his phone, he continued asking, „And what is it that happens in those dreams over and over again?"
Shaking my head at the phrase ‚Over and over again' I quickly told him, „Don't say that phrase! Over and over again! That one just keeps popping up in those nightmares and I really took a disliking to it!"
His eyes widening for a moment, he took quick notes and directly asked further, „What exactly does it refer to in your nightmare? Certain phrases can definitely be triggering, but usually they're connected to something unpleasant then."
I held in for a moment. I was far from comfortable with discussing this with a nurse that I had really known for like a day and a half. But alas, this was therapy, and therapy is all about confronting the uncomfortable, ain't it?
Therefore, I reluctantly answered, „…Dying." I saw his eyes widen for a moment, and proceeded to go further into detail, „These nightmares… I keep waking up in a hell where I'm doomed to die again and again. Be it by getting my throat cut open, or getting my heart pierced. It's… scary to say the least."
„Serious understatement there.", Mark noted uncomfortably, „It's quite disturbing, I'd say." Tapping down his notes again, he eventually asked, "From what you're describing to me, you're not just dying in your nightmares. You're getting killed by something, or rather someone."
At that comment, the image of my nemesis flashed before my eyes again. Her dark coat, from which her piercing grey eyes shined out of. That sadistic fanged grin. The knife she always brandishes at me.
A shudder coursed through Manuels body as he subconsciously gripped his blanket tightly. From that reaction, the psychiatrist knew he had found one source of his trauma, "Does that someone have a specific form or even a face?"
"H-Human.", Manuel answered quickly, before trying to shut the topic down, "Not much more I want to remember right now…"
Looking down on his notes, Mark eventually accepted, "Okay then, I think that's enough for now. Perhaps you'll tell me more sometime later?"
"Ugh, just leave me be for a while.", Manuel growled exasperated at this point, "I'm in a foul mood already and tired as all hell."
"Yeah, I can tell.", the psychiatrist agreed with a sharper undertone himself, "Listen, I'm gonna get you some calming medicine and a notebook, and if you have that nightmare again, you write down exactly what happened."
"I have a notebook!", the boy shot back, "In my backpack! Just gimme a pen, Imma document everything from now on!"
"Like a diary?"
"No, like a documentation!"
-x-x-x- (Soleils POV) (12:35 am)
As embarrassing as it was to get taken care of by the very kids I was supposed to care for, I couldn't disagree that me going home and getting some more rest was for the best. That Mrs. Rouzet agreed with this decision wasn't helping my case either.
As I ascended to Charles apartment, I luckily managed to avoid the asshole downstairs, but did run into his neighbour again. Unlike the other times though, she was just glaring at me this time. When I went past her towards Charles door, she asked behind me, "What did you do this time?"
Looking back at her, I asked confused, "Huh? Why?"
Scoffing at me, she went back inside and said, "You'll find out why…"
Now nervous all over again, I quickly entered Charles apartment, and was immediately greeted by my caretaker standing right behind the door, a look of worry on his face.
"S-Soleil. Back again already, huh?", he asked awkwardly, twiddling his thumbs and tapping his feet nervously. And just like that, I knew that something was up.
"Okay, what's going on, Charles?", I asked flat out, but another, much dreaded voice spoke up, "That's what we would like to know ourselves."
With the authority of an empress and emperor, my mother and father in person entered from the living room. "You are supposed to be at boarding school at this time of the year, young lady.", my father added as he glared at me, before he turned to Charles again, "Except, it appears, she hasn't attended a single lecture for the whole semester."
My father, Damien Chausson, had short red hair which he kept well-kempt at all times. Always wearing a grey business-suit, he made sure that everyone remembered his status at all times.
As he was about the same height as Charles, I reached just about to his stomach, leaving him to loom over me like an observation-tower. A metaphor that was supported by his slim-squared glasses.
My mother, Eliana Chausson, had curly blonde hair that reached down to her shoulders. Similar to my father, she wore a suit in a royal-blue colour, which was in no way a coincidence. After all, anything to highlight her superiority.
Unlike my father, though, she was wearing contacts rather than glasses, which gave her supposedly green eyes an ominous blue shine. Though she was slightly shorter than my father, allowing me to barely reach her chest, she radiated an even more oppressive aura.
"Mr. Gachett, we gave you a single job.", my mother approached him angrily, "Take care of our daughter while we were away. What have you been doing since then?"
"I-I took care of her just like you asked, Mrs. Chausson.", he tried to answer dutifully, but had a traitorous uncertainty in his voice. However, my mother cut him off offended, "That's LADY Chausson to you, peasant!"
That outburst aside, my father noted suspiciously, "You don't sound too sure of yourself. Not quite like we asked, I guess."
"Uhh…" And thus, his confident façade crumbled, upon which my mother reacted, "You were supposed to make sure she took her studies seriously, while teaching her proper etiquette. Instead, it seems you made her move in with you, and enrolled her in a different school altogether, while making her forget all about her status as well."
"I just wanted her to grow up healthily amongst her peers!", Charles defended offendedly, "The pressure you put on her is crushing her mentality, not to mention the countless letters she's received!"
Pulling the already opened envelope out of the drawer next to the door, he explained, "This one came just today in the morning, and it's the third one in this week alone!"
When my mother took the letter, made up of cut out letters from the newspaper, I already knew what this had to be. Yet another threat of kidnapping, murder, revenge, or something along those lines. I mean, yeah, I got a lot of those. Heck, I even remember being followed and stalked several times, but I had yet to meet the criminal that I couldn't outmanoeuvre or outrun easily.
After a few seconds, my mother laughed mockingly, "Ahah, jealous lowlifes! To think they could actually put a hand on us!"
"An amusing thought indeed.", my father agreed with an arrogant grin, "Either way, this is nothing to be concerned about. Far more important: Gachett, you have failed our dear Soleil in every way possible."
My mother grabbed my arm, digging her nails into me, signalling her disappointment in me. "We shall take her home with us now and educate her ourselves. You are not going to contact her again, or we will make you regret it."
Trying in vain to rip my arm away from her, I finally chose to protest, "Leave Charles out of this! I'm the one who disobeyed you!"
Gripping me even tighter, my mother glared down at me, "You have your own problems to deal with, little lady. And he shall no longer be one of them."
"But he-!", I tried to get another word in, but my father cut me off, "Quiet, Soleil! Before you make your situation even worse!"
Others wouldn't have been intimidated by something like this, but I knew better than to go against my parents this directly. A pit in my stomach, I shut up and awaited what would happen next…
Turning to Charles again, my father spoke strictly, "You, mister, may consider yourself fired from here on."
Still not loosening the iron-grip on my shoulder, my mother continued for him, "We will get a restraining order for Soleil on you."
"Uh- Ma'am, you can't be serious!", Charles tried one last desperate attempt to defend himself, but my father cut him off, "You have nobody to blame but your own worthless self. You'll learn the price for making enemies of us."
It was at this point where I failed to contain myself. The moment I saw my parents, I knew something bad was about to happen. But seeing the person, who took care of me for almost a year now, getting his life destroyed like this… it tore into me in a painful way.
Barely catching myself from collapsing in despair, I called out with tears in my eyes, "Stop it already, please! If you're mad at me, then fine! But leave him alone already!"
I felt my hair getting gripped and pulled back, forcing me to look through teary eyes into my mothers face, "You will keep your composure, Soleil! You are going to follow our orders unconditionally, take your lessons as you're meant to, and remember your status and etiquette as is proper for a young woman of your station! Otherwise, who knows what will happen to those brats you keep watching over!"
At that, I felt my blood freeze. "Arrete… Dennis…" Whenever someone threatened me, I could usually rise above it and brush it off easily. But how could I possibly stand above someone threatening the kids who saw me as a sister?
Swallowing down the lump in my throat and pushing back the tears, I lowered my head in humility and simply obeyed, "Y-Yes, mother… I'm sorry…"
"There's a good girl.", she praised me with a pat on my head, "And never forget those manners ever again."
"I think that about wraps things up here.", my father noted with a look on his black watch, now sounding disinterested in any further developments, "We'll be going home now. Judging by the situation, I'm guessing we'll be here for no less than three months. Ugh, this is a pain… Gachett, if we see you anywhere near our daughter again, we will call the authorities on you immediately. Have a good life now."
And with a heel-turn, he left the apartment, followed by my mother keeping her head high, and me keeping my head low. "Goodbye Charles… I'm sorry…", I quickly whispered to him before my mother threw the door in his face.
-w-w-w- (Narration)
"Forced to watch the people you love get hurt, in order to protect them from further harm. A choice with no right answer is a bottomless well of despair, and despair makes a perfect target for my lovely akumas.", Hawk Moth philosophised in his lair, as he held out his hand to evilize one of his butterflies, "Fly away, my dear akuma, and grant this poor soul the exit it so desperately needs!"
-e-e-e-
Wow, that chapter was way more depressing than I thought it would be. It was also way harder to write than I thought. Either way, now that we have met Soleils "siblings", as well as her parents, we are finally in position to kick off the major part of Soleils character-arc! I'm so hyped for these next few chapters, I can't freaking wait to let you all read it!
Also, if you care to leave me a review, do please let me know what you think of the character-dynamics we have thus far. Because I'm a little bit unsure about a few of them, so a bit of feedback would be seriously helpful.
With all that said, see you in, like, a year or so! We all know I have terrible upload-rates after all! xD
Next time on Animations and Superheroes: With Soleils mother and father doing their very best to overwrite their daughters personality into one they deem worthy of themselves, it is only a matter of time until Hawk Moth makes a move on her.
With Manuel still harshly wounded and missing his only partner, options to fight this new threat seem limited. Perhaps it is time to try some rather unconventional methods of combat…
