-Julian's POV-
"Ladybug and Chat Noir have saved Paris yet again."
Humming to myself, I smile at the captive on my bed. "See? What did I say? Ladybug and Chat Noir's got this."
Said captive glares at me with his multicolored eyes, aggressively wrapped in blankets and currently buried in an abundance of pillows while I spoon feed him soup with croutons, relaxation scented candles lit all around us. "Well they coulda saved Paris quicker if you were there."
"Should've thought about that before lying to me huh?" I say again, stuffing a spoonful of soup in his mouth before he could protest. Ever since last week's Akuma attack, I've placed Ossi under strict bedrest, informing Ladybug and Chat Noir of my absence and leaving both my Miraculous and him here while I reluctantly attend school (it was the only way to stop him from leaving), avoiding superhero work as much as possible. Thankfully, there weren't any Category V Akuma attacks the past week, the victim today didn't have enough emotional strength to prove much of a threat to the superhero duo.
Plus, I gave Chat Noir the perfect opportunity to cuddle up to Ladybug without an annoying third wheel around. It's a win-win.
"Didcha see their faces? They look so sad without ya."
I look at the screen, Chat Noir's smiling as natural as always to the reporters whilst Ladybug swings away in style. Both look exactly the same.
"Now you're just exaggerating." I accuse.
"I'm not! I'm a Kwami, we know these things."
I sigh at his still defiant attitude, would it kill him to just lie down and accept the cuddles for a while? Still though, he has been in my room for a whole week now, buried under stuffy blankets and spoon fed meals all day.
"Maybe I have gone a bit overboard." I mumble.
"Ya think!?" Ossi yells, struggling in his blanket bindings to prove his point.
I snicker lightly at the scene. "On the bright side, you seem to have gotten your energy back." I put the bowl of soup away before checking his temperature again.
"I think we're safe to resume hero work now." I conclude.
"REALLY?" Ossi shrieks, letting out a whoop before phasing through the blankets and hugging my face. "Oh kid thank you thank you thank you THANK you!"
I let the Kwami tackle me back onto the bed, laughing. "Don't act like you didn't love being pampered." I tease, since Ossi could've phased out of bed the entire time but didn't.
Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupts Ossi and I's celebration.
"C-Come in!" I yell as my Kwami dives into my pocket.
"Julian?" My dad asks as he opens the door, smiling at me. "School's about to start champ."
"O-Oh? Well... I would love to but-" I cough heavily into my arm. "I think I'm having a cold."
My dad raises an eyebrow. "That's the same excuse you said the past 3 days son, I can't keep calling Dr. Kaplan over to prove you wrong."
"Well then maybe you should believe me this time." I cough again. I've been trying to skip school for days now and it's not working (you can't fool an actor by acting), I'm starting to run out of places to avoid Adrien.
I frown at the thought of him again. We haven't spoken much since last week where he asked all sorts of weird questions, actually we haven't spoken at all, and I'm not planning to speak with him again. That shocked look on his face at what I said… There's no doubt about it.
He found out about my embarrassing crush.
Which in itself is also embarrassing, considering it took me weeks to discover that I even had a crush.
I'm lucky that he still seems shocked over the discovery, mulling over it day by day and basically so distracted that he didn't even notice my sudden disappearance.
A hand drops on my shoulder and I jump, my dad smiling from above. "You know you could just say you're having a bad day and I'll let you stay right?"
I groan, flopping back on my bed dramatically, where did this care-bear father come from all of a sudden? "I don't want to use that unless I'm actually having a bad day." I grimace, because I meant it. I can't keep using my fears as an excuse for avoiding the problem.
That doesn't mean that I won't use other excuses though. (cough)
"Then c'mon! Pick yourself up by the bootstraps and march on into prison!" My dad encourages, pulling me into standing and dusting off my clothes.
I pout, giving him my best doe eyes. "But what if I actually am sick?"
"Dr. Kaplan said you're not. Three times in fact."
I wince, right. "What if I fell down the stairs?"
"You didn't fall down the stairs." My dad holds his hand up to stop me from interrupting. "And no. You're not throwing yourself down the stairs."
"I wouldn't have gotten hurt." I grumble, why take all those classes on safe falling methods if I don't even get to use them.
My dad groans. "Alright spawn. You leave me no choice." He checks something on his phone and does a soft cheer. "If you leave for school, I'll give you something special when you come back."
I look at him confused. "You were getting something for me?"
"Yeah!" My dad says before looking a little guilty. "I was checking my schedule to see if I could stay longer, and I realized that your mother and I didn't celebrate your birthday last year. I know it's a little late, but I got you a present!" He smiles at that last bit.
My confused look grew even more confused. "But you did get me a present last year, the pen?" I reminded him, because even if it was a pen, that pen changed my entire life, and became my greatest treasure.
"We did? And a pen?" My dad asks, confused too now. "Why would I buy you a pen? That's boring- Wait, does it shoot lasers?"
" No it doesn't shoot lasers, I-" My phone rings, interrupting me. Checking it, I realize that my chauffeur is waiting for me at the door and cringe. It's too late to skip now, I can't ask the guy to just leave when he waited so long for me. Maybe that was my dad's plan all along, stalling.
"I have to go." I say, grabbing my bag from the desk while my dad lets out a whoop.
"Alright! Catch you later Pebble! Get ready to be shocked out of your socks when you get back!"
I let out an unexpected snort before walking out the door. My dad hasn't called me that in years , so long that I've pretty much outgrown that nickname (he started calling me that because I was short, well take that dad).
The car ride was uneventful, well, except the excited vibrations of Ossi who had been kept inside my house for a whole week. Unfortunately we couldn't talk because of the chauffeur in front of us, maybe I can commission a mini phone for the Kwami to use… And some pockets.
"Hey Julian." Nathaniel greets as I approach our table.
"Hey!" I return, looking around the room for signs of a blond boy.
Adrien is sitting at his desk next to Nino, staring blankly into space. Thank gods he still seems to be in shock, I still have time to fall down stairs.
"Julian?"
I jump slightly at my name being called and turn to Nathaniel, who's looking at me worriedly. "Are you okay? You're acting weirder than usual."
"You know. At least Alix is mean to me upfront." I grumble at him, pouting and sparing another glance at Adrien again.
The redhead ignores my attempts at deflecting. "Is it Adrien? Did something happen?" He probes.
I sigh. "Was it that obvious?"
Instead of an answer, I feel a pitying pat on the back and I groan. If Nathaniel found out, Alix definitely did too, which means that I can expect to be confronted by the two of them later. Again.
Thankfully the teacher comes in before any more questions could be asked.
The class passes uneventfully, Adrien, despite being distracted, still manages to answer any questions directed to him flawlessly, I almost want to check if he was a robot, but decided that it would be better if I leave that question unanswered, gods know what I would do if the answer was yes.
At the end of class, Miss Bustier asks if there are any willing volunteers to run as candidates for this year's class representative. Immediately Chloé and her best friend Sabrina volunteers, walking to the front of the class.
"Chloé is running for the class representative position and Sabrina will be her deputy. Do we have any other candidates?" The teacher asks, and immediately the room's atmosphere thickens with slight fear.
"Can't blame them." I think, looking at the blonde standing in front of class, her dad's the mayor, so she naturally has the power to do whatever she wants. Even if the other person wins, who's to say that Chloé won't go to her daddy to blackmail the headmaster again.
The door bursts open, and Marinette finally arrives. "Hi! I'm sorry! I-uh, I-uh, the bus-" She says before interrupting herself with a cough. "dry throat!" She finally settles for, and everyone actually believes that! Why couldn't they be my dad?
"Do you want to volunteer?" Nathaniel asked me.
I look back at him, unamused. "Have you met me?" I deadpan, making him to snort. Volunteering for class rep is completely out of the question, not only do I wish for death every time I'm in front of people, I have additional responsibilities as Faon Vert too.
Ladybug would've made it work though . I think to myself, amused. Ladybug would definitely be overpowered enough to be both class rep and superheroine, heck she might even be able to do even more with that workload.
Chat Noir is a little less plausible, but I think he would still be able to pull it off.
"Alright!" The teacher gets my attention again. "I'll give all of you till the end of lunch to decide if you would like to be a candidate."
The rest of the classes pass by uneventfully, and before I know it the lunch bell rings.
Gathering my lunch, I should probably check up on Ossi, make sure that he's okay.
Sneaking out of the classroom and into the courtyard, I look around for a safe place to hide. Before a hand roughly grabs my shoulder, letting out a yelp, I turn to see Chloé and Sabrina behind me.
"We need to talk." The blonde says before dragging me to a secluded area against my will.
"W-What do you want?" I feel my heart pick up, not liking where this is going at all.
The mayor's daughter sneers. "Not that I have to do this, but if you're planning to run for class rep. Don't."
I tense up, that's what this is about?
"I-I, umm…" I stutter, completely unsure of what to say in this situation.
"Ummm what? You're saying you're going to run anyways!?" She accuses.
I widen my eyes, taking a step back. "N-No! Not a-at-"
"Enough! Sabrina, show him." Chloé snaps her fingers before a laptop is opened in front of me.
And a video plays.
I feel like my body's dunked in ice.
The video shows a cocky young boy, humiliated in front of an audience of hundreds, completely soaked in water and sand, covered with prop pizza slices, a spaghetti bowl on his head and his shirt ripped from the fall. And the audience dying from laughter, from laughing at him…
Laughing at me .
"H-How…" I feel my throat close up. "H-How-"
"So it was you." The demon says, smirking at me. "Just so we're clear, run for class rep, and this video goes viral again. "
"N-No…" I choke out, tears welling up in my eyes. "Please…"
The blonde gives herself a nod, turning to her friend. "We're done here, let's go."
Her friend nods, closing the laptop and trailing after her away from me. I feel my legs give way from under me.
How'd she get that video!? I think frantically. No. Don't think about that, focus on breathing. Feel the concrete under your knees Julian, the texture of it, breath in, count to-
C-count to-
I mutter curses under my breath, slowly getting up to lean against the wall.
It won't last forever, it won't last forever, it won't-
"Julian?"
I gasp at the voice, looking around, a familiar presence slowly envelops me. A hand slowly running across my hair while a tune plays and I let out a sigh. This feels, it feels familiar...
Familiar's good, need more familiar.
I don't know how much time had passed, but I managed to get my breathing back in check. Sitting up, I rub the tears away from my eyes to see my savior yet again.
"Are you feeling better?" Adrien asks.
I nod. "Thanks…" I mutter, voice hoarse.
"Did you have another panic attack?"
I hesitate for a second before nodding again. "Uhuh…"
"Did I do everything right?"
I look up at the blond in slight shock. Before shrugging. "I-I don't know the 'right' way, but the singing definitely helped…" I answer, thankful that my face is still red from overexertion.
"I'm glad." He smiles before moving from in front of me to sitting next to me instead. "My mother used to sing that to me, when I was younger." He explains, expression melancholic.
My heart aches looking at him, not only because of my crush, but his sadness was so incredibly overwhelming.
"She… She seems like a badass mom." I say.
Adrien freezes up for a second before laughing loudly. I feel my stomach do quadruple somersaults before tying themselves in knots, my affection towards the blond growing so strong it's almost nauseating.
"She was." Adrien agrees, adopting a faraway look now, and I would've done anything to get him to smile like that again.
I look away, afraid that if I look anymore I would do something I would regret.
What do I say now? Ask if he misses her? As if the answer to that isn't obvious.
Ask what she was like? That'll just make him more sad.
I opt to clear my throat instead. "Back when I was seven, I got a part for a play."
Feeling the blond shift around to look at me, I continue without waiting for a response. "It was just to play as the child of the lead, but it was an incredibly huge production, directed by a close friend of my parents, well, used to be close."
I wrap my arms around my knees, pulling them closer. "My parents actually begged him to give me the role, I don't even know why I thought I could do it, I barely had any training at the time, I probably just thought it was cool." I let out a self-deprecating laugh at how spoilt I was back then.
"I trained a lot for it, we had to sing and dance, and I was responsible for playing the guitar too, but I've been taking classes for those since I could walk, so that was fine."
Adrien says nothing, listening carefully.
"On the night of the premier, the tickets were all sold out. It makes sense, the only child of the Le Beau power movie couple was playing his first role after all, everyone had high expectations."
I let out a shaky breath, trying to become smaller before feeling a hand slowly rub my back, I breathe in.
"I-I don't know what happened, but as soon as I looked at the people, my confidence disappeared. I forgot all my lines as soon as I stepped on stage, stuttering like a lunatic and stumbling around. I tripped over all of the props, there was food on some and it spilled all over me before I fell back from hitting a table." I choke on a sob.
"E-Everyone- Everyone laughed at me… The famous Le Beau son was a joke before he even performed. My friends... They were jealous that I got the part, s-so they laughed too… A-And I don't know how, but someone got a recording of it… It was on the internet by midnight." I feel bile climbing up my throat.
"The director of the play got accused of favoritism. 'How could he cast someone so unqualified for such a large scale play?' Everyone asked, and his career basically went down the drain after that… He still blames my parents, blames me…" I sniffle. "My parents stopped talking to me after that as well, my dad went on as if nothing happened and treated me exactly the same way when I was different, and my mom… My… My mom-"
I start crying.
Try as I might I just couldn't stop it, watching that video brought up all the memories that I tried so hard to get rid of. The many times someone would laugh at me in hallways, or how my classmates intentionally play the video on the projector whenever I walk in. The look of pure hatred on the director's face, the paparazzi following me around everywhere afterwards to see if I could screw up again more for views.
My parents leaving to America to direct a three-year long TV show production days after the play.
Adrien says nothing, his hand never leaving my back, which I'm thankful for.
"S-Sorry, I'm- I'm sorry." I say after I stopped crying, not quite sure what I'm apologizing for but feeling the need to anyways.
The model smiles gently. "It's okay Julian, thank you for telling me."
I sniffled, rubbing my nose. "I promised you I would anyway." I look away, embarrassed. "It's getting better, my dad's trying now, he didn't even realize he was doing what he did, surprisingly."
Adrien frowns. "And your mom?"
I tense up, before sighing. "Mother's stubborn..." I repeat what my dad said.
I turn back to look at the blond, who's deep in thought. Speaking of stubborn. "Hey, can I ask…? What happened the other day? You kind of left in a hurry."
The boy's face reddens before looking away. "O-Oh. Sorry, I just realized something that caught me off guard." He notices my complete look of devastation before tacking on. "I-It's not about you! I promise!"
I feel my insides uncoil, okay, so it's not because he found out about my feelings for him, that's good, that's good.
"You seemed pretty troubled recently… Is it because of that? Do you want to talk about it?" I ask, offering to return the favor. The blond thinks for a moment before deciding to say something, but the sudden ringing of the school bell interrupts us.
The model sighs. "Lunch is over, we should head back."
I shake my head. "N-No thanks, you go back, I think I'll just go home."
Adrien looks conflicted before nodding. "Alright, I'll help you take notes."
I give him a small smile. "Thanks Adrien. You're the best."
He really, really is…
Wishing him goodbye, I take out my phone to dial a number.
"Hello?" The person says from the other line.
"H-Hey dad." I whisper. "I'm… I'm having a bad day…"
"...Alright, I'll come get you."
The drive back home was tense, I can tell that my dad wanted to ask what happened, but was trying to give me some space to process things. I'm grateful for that, even if it made the drive home a hundred times more awkward.
Once we arrived, I went straight to my room, shutting the door with a sigh of relief. Ossi flies out of my pocket.
"That little-" I wince at the long list of vulgarity coming from the Kwami's mouth, I didn't even know half of those curse words.
"-girl! I swear if I see her again I'll-" More vulgarity.
"Ossi! Ossi hey!" I interrupt his tirade as he looks at me with rage. "You know you're talking about a 14 year old girl, right?"
" So!?" He counters, flying wildly around that I worry he'll expend all of his newly recovered energy. "That brat blackmailed you! It's wrong!"
I sigh. "The question is, does she know it's wrong."
"Kid, ya not seriously defending her are ya!?" Ossi asks as I flop onto my bed with a groan.
"I don't know! I mean, look at me , I am who I am because of my parents, Chloé's probably the same."
"Parents or not, it doesn't give someone the right to be rotten."
"To be rotten you have to be spoiled first…" I hum, thinking back on her actions. It's no question that her dad spoils her, but in the months that I've known her I've never once heard of a mom. Maybe that's the reason why she acts this way.
If this was the case, it would make sense why Adrien would still be friends with her too, because of their mothers.
"In another world, we probably could've been friends, for better or worse." I think wryly to myself.
There was a soft knock on the door and I felt Ossi fly into my jacket right before it opened. My dad walks in with a fresh plate of croissants.
"Hey squirt, you hungry?"
I sigh again. "Not especially, thanks for bringing it anyways."
There's the sound of a plate hitting my desk, but no further sound of the door closing. Lifting my head up, I see my father awkwardly standing by the door, shifting from feet to feet.
"Did you… Need something?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.
That snapped him out of it. "Oh! Uh, yeah! I have something to show you! If you want to of course!"
I let my head fall back onto the bed for a moment in thought, before getting up.
"You don't have to sound all scared, you're still my dad you know." I mumble as I walk past him, face heating up at the nervous sincerity of his actions.
My father laughs before catching up to me, leading me all the way to the other side of the mansion, a place that I've rarely been to in the past couple of years. (All my favorite rooms were in my wing.)
"Okay. I was planning on showing you this when you get back, but since you're here now." He mimics a drumroll before kicking the door open.
There in the center of the room, a large grand piano, along the walls were the best looking speakers money could buy, and the shelves around the room appear to be stacked with CDs too.
"This… This is." I stutter, looking around in confusion.
"Tada! You mentioned how you like playing the piano, so I got you one!"
I look at him with wide eyes. "Dad… This is amazing. But…"
I slowly walk up to him.
"But we already have a piano room!"
"I knew you'd love it, I- Wait. WHAT? " My dad exclaims, looking so genuinely shocked that I burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"D-Dad, stop! Gods you need to know your house more!" I continue to laugh, stomach cramping up from the pain.
My dad says nothing, looking away in shame as I laugh at his over eagerness.
When I finally stopped laughing, I realized that I had completely forgotten about my disastrous experience with Chloé, even if it was for a second.
My dad actually helped .
"Thank you." I say genuinely, my father turns to look at me with wide eyes before smiling, he probably understands what I really mean when I say that.
We're both movie folk after all.
After that hilarious moment, the two of us decided to have an early dinner, croissants in my room abandoned as we sat in the dining room, TV playing in the background.
"I'm not joking, the jack-o-lantern actually blew up! There was pumpkin in the camera and my shoes, and the actress was so upset that she didn't leave makeup for hours ."
I snort, drinking a glass of milk as my dad continues his story about hilarious behind the scenes fails.
"Part le fer! Who dost we have hither?" A pompous voice from the TV interrupts the both of us. Looking at it, I notice that my P.E teacher, Mr. D'Argencourt is shown on the screen.
"Nadja Chamack. Don't be bemused, it's just the news!" The reporter introduces. "Do you have anything to say about your quote un-quote landslide defeat?" She asks.
Before the man could answer, another voice interrupts them. "Hey, you! Excuse me! How did you get into the school?" Another school staff yells, running to the reporter, who skittishly backs away from the property.
I frown, that definitely wasn't legal.
"I don't think the reporter could just walk onto private property like that." I say to my dad, who looked lost in thought before snapping a finger in realization.
" That's it! He was running for the Mayor!" He exclaims and I snort, like father like son I guess.
"Poor guy, I heard that barely anyone voted for him." My dad continues before going back to his meal, politics was never really something my family discusses at the table.
Except now, I have this awful feeling growing in me. A vote so one sided it crushed the opposition huh?
If I was Hawk Moth that would be a perfect target.
"May I be excused?" I ask as my father switches the channel to something more interesting. He looks confused but nods anyways as I take off upstairs, locking my door and turning my laptop back onto the news channel.
The reporter's face returns, this time looking way more hesitant as she faces a fully armored dark knight standing in front of her. "Anything y-you'd like to say about your t-transformation into a-"
"Darkblade! The lord of Paris!" The knight claims before firing bolts of magic at the news crew, and the feed goes dark.
I gulp, that was definitely an Akuma alright.
"Ossi, we have to-"
A pen was shoved into my hands before I could even blink, Ossi vibrating with excitement in front of me.
"Go on kid! Say it! Say the line!"
Chuckling a little, I point the pen at the Kwami. "Ossi, Horns Drawn!"
"ALRIGHT!" Ossi yells, immediately diving into the tip of the pen, causing a deer head to appear in front of it. Swiping the pen across my eyes, the mask gets drawn and materializes onto my face, I drag the pen from my left hand back to my right as a brown suit slowly starts to appear from my arms towards the rest of my body. Twirling the pen around effortlessly as it slowly grows longer, I toss it upwards before reaching towards my back and pulling up a newly made hoodie, ears on its side and antlers on top as I catch the pen which has turned into blowgun as I lean against it with a lazy smile and a peace sign raised in the air.
Nodding at myself in the mirror, I let out a sigh of relief at my costume. During Horrificator's attack it was too hectic for me to properly check, but the return to the original design is extremely appreciated.
Alright, first thing's first. Locate the Akuma.
Perching myself on the tallest building nearest to me, I enhance my hearing to the max. Months of practicing lets me pick up the distant sound of blades clashing, that's probably it.
Immediately leaping to Lock Bridge, I notice that Chat Noir has beaten me to it, and is currently in a battle between him and Dark Blade.
It's almost like fencing. I notice, both their stances mimic that of a fencer, well, Mr. D'Argencourt is a fencing instructor so that shouldn't be a surprise.
Suddenly the Akuma drops his guard, and Chat immediately presses on, successfully goaded into Dark Blade's trap. With a flourish of his sword, Chat Noir's staff goes flying away from his hand and off the bridge.
"Seriously? How did I not see that coming?" I hear Chat groan as I immediately change course for the staff, grabbing it from the pavement as I look at the bridge again. The Akuma shouts at the army to storm City Hall, and the cat hero's nowhere to be seen.
Did he…? I start to think before shaking my head, as if Chat's that easy to defeat. I jump towards his most likely location to hide, under the bridge. True enough, I see a flash of blond hair hanging from underneath the rafters.
"Looking for this?" I land in front of him, waving his staff around and snickering at his shocked face.
"Faon! You're back!" He exclaims, smiling brightly at me before plucking the staff out of my hands and equipping it back behind him.
"Yep! Ossi's feeling all better now." I smile back at him, looking around dramatically before leaning in closer. "So, did you and Ladybug make any progress while I was gone? Is she in love yet?"
The cat hero blushes (good sign!) and laughs awkwardly. "Yeah, a-about that-"
I raise my hand up to shut him up, wincing at him apologetically before tuning my hearing again. "Sorry, I'm hearing a lot of trumpets nearby, the Akuma must've reached City Hall."
The blond lets out a sigh of relief before looking back at me. "We have to go!"
Nodding, I leap to City Hall with Chat. Arriving at the location, Chat immediately throws his baton at the knights charging towards the building's main entrance, knocking them all down as we land in between them and the building.
"Take him!" Dark Blade commands, and his knights charge at us.
"Guys, do you only know heavy metal?" Chat complains, running to them and dodging out of their attacks, knocking them all off balance and onto the floor.
His flank is undefended!
"Look out!" I yell, winding up my blowgun and battling away three knights that were about to dog pile him.
"Lemme guess, that was just a warm up?" I tease lightheartedly, nudging him in the back. The blond suspiciously stays quiet.
"Part le fey!" A sudden voice yells, looking at the source, I quickly dive out of the way from the Akuma's attack while Chat deflects it with his own staff. Quickly the two enter a duel while I try my best to hold off any other knights from ambushing my teammate.
"You have any idea where Ladybug is!?" I yell, clobbering a knight in the head.
"I don't! Know! A little! Busy! Here!" Chat answers as he combats the Akuma, both sides never giving way.
Suddenly, a guitar strum plays around us, but I couldn't even get the chance to check it out as a new hoard of knights begin chasing after me while I run around in circles.
"HELP!" I gasp at the sudden sound before looking up, Chat falls from the sky and into my arms while I continue to run from the knights.
"How did that even happen ?" I ask incredulously. Chat buries his face in his hands, embarrassed.
Continuing to run around in circles, I notice that there are more knights attempting to break down the door, however I can't really do much about it until I;
Get rid of the knights chasing after me and, Wait for the Cat Hero to get off my arms.My distracted thinking unfortunately led both Chat and I into a dead end, leaning against the walls of the building while the knights slowly moved in on us with their spears at the ready.
"Stay away from us scrap metal!" I yell, looking around wildly before noticing a flash of red waving at me from the window above.
Oh!
Giving the knights a wink, I crouch down before jumping all the way up through the window, but the sudden jump without distance causes me to trip over the railing with Chat, toppling through the window and crashing into the wall inside the building.
"Sorry! A little rusty." I groan.
"Welcome back Faon, sorry I was busy doing damage control inside" Ladybug explains.
I shrug, Chat Noir seems to be sitting upside down with his legs and arms crossed. "No worries, we managed just fine by ourselves." He says and I scoff.
"Easy for you to say, I was nearly a deer kebab!" I shudder, causing the two of them to laugh before the sound of clanking metal alerts us to the window again.
"The knights are making a human ladder, we have to stop them!" Ladybug orders, jumping out the window and kicking a few knights back down on the floor while Chat and I tipped over any knights nearing our location. Resulting in all the knights falling into a heap on the floor.
"Strike!" Chat yells as I pull Ladybug back inside.
"Cursed colorful acrobats!" The Akuma yells at us before walking to some cars, knighting them and turning them into catapults.
"Woah…" I say starry eyed, I could use that in the future.
The knights start pulling back the catapult, launching their allies up onto the-
"Why are they going to the roof?" Chat asks as a knight slams right into the wall next to us before falling back down as we wince. "Well, at least some of them." He amended.
Ladybug gasps. "The flag!" She points up to the City Hall roof where the flag of Paris stands proudly.
"Tally ho!" The Akuma shouts from below as the catapult launches him all the way to the top, like a cheater. "Ha ha ha! Once these stripes are supplanted by mine coat of arms, I shalt reign supreme!" He declares, cutting down the flag as his knights hand him the flag of his family crest.
"The Akuma is in his sword." Chat informs as we climb up to the roof.
"Awesome." I say, tilting my head in question. "So how're we going to get it?"
"By getting me close to it!" Ladybug shouts, hooking her yo-yo around Dark Blade's arm and yanking herself up to it before we could react. The Akuma wildly slashes at Ladybug, missing by millimeters but successfully knocking Ladybug away from him, crashing onto the lower part of the roof.
"Ow." I wince at her pain as she shakes it off before looking at us. "Don't let him get the banner!" She yells.
Chat and I share a look before we charge right into the human ladder of knights bringing the flag up. Toppling them all down, I could barely look for the flag before a knight crashes right on top of me, pinning me to the floor.
"Villains! Thou impress me not. By the blade of darkness, I hereby declare all peoples of this kingdom are henceforth mine!" I hear the Akuma declares which means only one thing.
He got the flag.
"Bow to King Dark Blade!" He announces as dark clouds start forming around the tri-state area followed by a large circle surrounding us, slowly shrinking towards the flag's location. "Soon thou shalt join my army, you venomous insect!"
This is bad. I think as more knights start piling up on me.
"Not so fast!"
A bunch of metal rings nearby, followed by screams as some knights start falling down the building. Chat kicks off his captors and raises his staff at the Akuma. "En garde!"
Well, I can't be shown up now can I?
Rolling to the side, I manage to knock one of the knights off balance enough to use that to my advantage, kicking him and the rest of the knights on top of him off of me.
Finally standing up after a while, I notice with fear that the circle is slowly closing in on us, turning anyone it passes through into knights. "We're about to turn into knights!" I say to Ladybug, who nods and activates her Lucky Charm, a wind-up toy appears in her hand.
"What the-" I say before dodging out of a knight's attack, gods they were annoying!
Knocking them all away again, I look back at the ever enclosing circle.
"Faon! Hold on!"
I look at Ladybug just as she throws her yo-yo to me. I grab it, standing my ground as Ladybug uses me as a weight to launch herself all the way around the building and closer to the Akuma and throwing the toy into his armor, sending him into a fit of giggles as his sword falls out of his hand and into Chat.
"Cataclysm!" He says, turning the sword into rust as the Akuma flies out of it. Immediately the circle vanishes and Ladybug begins the purification process.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I give a tired smile to my teammates as they share a fist bump. They still have that friendly easy going energy between them, does that mean Chat still hasn't made a move yet?
"Did I miss anything while I was gone?" I decide to ask, receiving a shrug from Ladybug and a blush from Chat.
"Nothing much, we had a harder time dealing with all the Akumas without you though, so try not to make it a habit." Ladybug teases as I laugh.
"I think Ossi would kill me if I make him stay any longer." I admit, turning to Chat-
Who had disappeared?
"Where did-" I turn to Ladybug-
Who had also disappeared?
Did they seriously leave me here without saying goodbye?
Maybe there is something going on between them. I think to myself giddily, sure it could be possible that they're just in a rush to get back into civilian form, but the inner romantic in me can't help but hope.
Oh well. I turn to Mr. D'Argencourt and make sure he's safely escorted down before leaping all the way back to my house.
"Horns in." I whisper and a bright light surrounds me before Ossi flies out of my Miraculous.
"Woo! We did it!" He shouts, hugging my face excitedly as I laugh.
Pulling him away from my face, I give him a once over. "How're you feeling?"
"Better than ever!" The Kwami flexes his tiny arms as if it would prove a point.
Letting out a hum, I let go of him and flop back onto my bed.
"I guess I'll wait a couple more weeks before I use my Mind's Eye." I say.
Ossi suddenly stops mid celebration. " What!? "
I shrug. "Just to be safe, you know?"
"But ya can't just fight at half strength!"
Shooting him a small glare, I sigh. "Those are the terms, take it or leave it. Which reminds me." I reach towards a notebook I keep in my bedside drawer. "We should work on a list of what I should avoid turning my Mind's Eye into as well, to avoid a repeated occurrence like with the helicopter."
I barely opened the book before it was swiped out of my hands. Looking at Ossi, I gulp at the ferocity of his glare.
"Kid. I may not have cared about the bedrest, or not using the Mind's Eye for a few weeks." He flies closer to me. "But don't ever. Ever. Start limiting your Imagination. Understood?"
Feeling a shiver run down my spine as I look into his eyes, I'm reminded of just how old Ossi is. Of how many places he's seen come and go, how many events he's witnessed blossomed and concluded.
How many emotions he's experienced, the joy and the sorrow.
"O-Okay." I nod.
The Kwami stares at me for a moment before nodding his head, tossing my notepad to the side. "Alright, let's get some rest, it's been a long day for ya."
I nod again, following him to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
As we're both lying down on my pillow, staring up at the empty ceiling in the darkness, a distant question runs through my mind.
"Hey Ossi?" I ask quietly, receiving a grunt in return.
"Do you remember how you got here? Or at least how'd my parents got your Miraculous?" I ask again.
Ossi lets out a hum. "I dunno kid, all I remember was my last owner sayin' goodbye, and then falling asleep." He admits, voice tired and so old.
I gulp. "How… How were they like?"
"At the start? Lonely… But like you they found lifelong friends along the way… Some had Kwamis too." Ossi yawns. "Not like the Ladybug or Black Cat though, they were much cooler."
I snort. "Why? Cause they're American ? You're saying that America has better Kwamis or something?" I joke, before feeling a soft paw hitting my face.
"What makes ya think-" Another yawn. "What makes ya think ya friends' Kwamis are French, hmm…?" Ossi's paw leaves my face. "I'm tired kid, let's get some sleep, m'kay?"
"...Alright." I whisper, shortly after the soft sound of snoring echoes through the room and I smile. Ossi probably isn't as back to normal as he says, but it's cute that he's hiding it to make me feel better. Even if he's lying.
I look at the notebook Ossi threw back on the table, and my fingers twitch.
Lying is not good, but sometimes telling the truth isn't better either.
In the end it doesn't matter whether you lie or not, as long as it leads to the same goal.
Ossi lies to keep me happy, to make sure that I don't fret over him and die from worry, to make sure I don't get more anxious than I usually do.
So why can't I do the same for him?
Slowly reaching for the notebook, I freeze in place for a second.
Am I a bad person for lying to keep someone happy? Even if it means it might make them mad?
Will this have any consequences that I can't see right now?
What are the consequences of limiting Imagination, to the Kwami of Imagination?
I fall asleep to these questions still plaguing my mind, hand inches away from the notebook.
