-Julian's POV-
We're not safe until he's dead
He'll come stalking us at night
Set to sacrifice our children to his monstrous appetite
He'll wreak havoc on our village if we let him wander free
So it's time to take some action, boys
It's time… To... Fo...llow... me!
My fingers dance across the piano keys, picturing the scene of the mob gearing up to fight the "dangerous" Beast vividly in my mind.
Through the mist
Through the woods
Through the darkness and the shadows
It's a nightmare but it's one exciting ride.
Music… is weird.
I know music, but if you were to tell my jaded guitar teacher that, he would probably just laugh at you and say something like how I don't respect the tempo or that I don't finish any of my theory homework.
He barely even lets me play the guitar, it's always watching videos and doing composition homework while he criticizes me over the most miniscule details. It's honestly a little grating, being talked down to weekly, but I put up with it for my parents. After all that's happened, it's the only thing left that they expect of me after all.
Say a prayer
Then we're there
At the drawbridge of the castle
And there's something truly terrible inside.
Whenever I have the time though, I much prefer to be playing the piano. For one, because I'm not taking any classes on it, I can learn as many nerdy songs as I want off the internet without bothering with all the theory stuff. Second, it doesn't leave my fingers sore and aching afterwards.
It's a beast
He's got fangs
Razor sharp ones
Massive paws
Killer claws for the feast
Although if I were to be more personal about it, I guess it's just because I find that it's easier for me to express my emotions when playing the piano.
Hear him roar !
See him foam !
Whenever I'm happy, there are songs that take advantage of that feeling, I can add as many additional chords and movements as I want as long as it sounds good. Same goes for when I'm sad, the pedals make things dreary and depressing, like standing alone in the rain.
But we're NOT!
Coming HOME!
I struggle playing angry though, I've never experienced enough anger to really play an angry piece well, it always sounds too fake, so I mostly avoid pieces like these.
Till he's DEAD!
I like to think that I'm getting the hang of it now. You just need to experience it. Experience what actual anger and frustration feels like.
GOOD AND DEAD!
Like how Ladybug doesn't even try to understand my side of the story.
KILL THE BEAST!
How I can't even explain it to them because I might reveal my identity.
KILL THE BEAST!
How Hawk Moth, a freaking GROWN MAN is apparently watching me now like some sick guinea pig, waiting for me to have some sick mental breakdown to turn me to an Akuma, compelling me to the dark side so that he can control my every action like a sick puppeteer forcing me to go against my teammates making me-
KILL THE BEAST!
Panting slightly, my hands crash down on the wrong chord, sending the entire mood to a discordant frenzy and I swear quietly to myself. All that effort, time and build up, wasted by a botched ending. That's fine, it fits how I'm feeling anyways.
"Mister Julian?"
" What? " I unintentionally bite out, still feeling the mood from the song.
The maid shifts around uncomfortably, clearly surprised by the outburst. "Y-You have a guest, Mister Julian."
Huh?
Anger dissipating, I look up from the piano, tilting my head in confusion. "Who is it?" I ask. It can't be Alix or Nathaniel, they made plans to visit the former's house at the museum. They had invited me at first, but I declined.
A blond head pops in from the door, smiling at me sheepishly. "Hi Julian…"
"Adrien?" I'm even more confused now. Looking at the clock in the room to check the time. "It's Saturday, don't you have modeling sessions around now?" I ask, remembering how packed and tightly scheduled his life is.
He shrugs. "It was… cancelled." He lies ominously.
Narrowing my eyes at him, I give him a once over. From an outsider's point of view, he probably looks fine, but honestly, he's a mess. His face and body language basically exudes exhaustion, and his smile has that hint of fake politeness that I've perfected since kindergarten.
I sigh. "Okay." I say after, nodding at the maid so that she can leave, shutting the door behind her as she does, leaving the two of us in an awkward silence.
He's probably waiting for me to say something, since he showed up unannounced and all.
Should I come right out and ask what's going on? Or is Adrien just looking for a distraction from that?
Am I really in a good enough headspace to be helping others right now…?
I clear my throat. "You play, right?" I gesture to the piano.
"Huh?" The blond blinks, not expecting that question. "Yeah, I guess…" He looks away, embarrassed. "That song you played just now… Was it from Beauty and the Beast?"
I nod. "Yeah, I know most Disney songs, they're pretty great." I stand up, opening my piano seat to take out a thick binder of mostly Disney scores and setting them on the piano. Judging by how Adrien looks, he's probably been having a pretty rough couple of days too. I don't want to pry, but I do want to at least try to cheer him up…
Maybe he can cheer me up too.
"Do you…" I gulp, this is going to be really forward of me, but the imaginary Alix in my head yelling at me to just go for it and the sleep deprivation is making me more brash than usual.
"Do you wanna play? With me? Play the piano with me, I mean." I stammer out, heart hammering wildly in my chest, was that too forward? Oh my gods, what do I do now!?
"Really?" The model looks at me with wide eyes before smiling. "You're serious?" He asks, kind of excited.
Feeling my face redden, I look away. "Y-Yeah, music is meant to be shared with other people, you know…?" I wince, I will be cringing about that line in the future, that's for sure.
Adrien doesn't say anything for a while, hesitantly looking back at him, he's face seems to be stuck in complete joy. "Yeah! Of course!" He exclaims, hurriedly making his way to the instrument, taking a seat next to me.
I take a deep breath, willing the blush away from my face (probably making it worse). It's nice… Making him so happy. I want him to be happy.
Well that thought certainly did not help the blush go away.
"W-What do you wanna play?" I ask, nervously fiddling around with my jacket as Adrien flips through the book, humming a little tune from it here and there.
"Well, since you were playing Beauty and the Beast, I think we should continue with that. I mostly play classical but I've practiced the songs in that movie before."
"Uhuh." I look at him skip to that movie's section, there's a lot of good choices there that makes good use of four hands, Be Our Guest is a classic, Gaston can be pretty funny if we improvise a little, there's also…
Wait-
"Let's play this one!" Adrien announces, showing me the sheet and-
Oh my gods.
"I-Isn't that one a little- romantic?" I squeak, staring at the sheet with a deepening red face. No way, if I play this with Adrien, I would die immediately.
"Yeah. It's one of my favorite songs." The model says wistfully. "My mom and I used to play it together, before she…" He trails off, face slowly turning sad.
What the freak.
What the FREAK!
"I-" Taking what I'm sure is my last breath, I give him a solemn look. "O-okay, sounds- sounds fun."
"Really?" The blond looks at me with such hopeful eyes.
Here lies Julian Le Beau. I try to give him my best smile which I'm sure looks more like a grimace at this point. "Yeah… Really."
"Awesome." He looks at the sheet, before frowning. "Oh no, this one doesn't have a four hand version."
I shrug. "I-It's okay, we'll just improvise."
"Improvise? You can do that?" He asks, looking at me with wonder.
Blushing harder, I nod. "It's not that impressive, you just need to relax and let the music lead." I want to be buried alive, that was so cheesy, I can't even. "Here, you play the sheet, a-and I'll accompany you…" Adrien nods, putting his hands on the left side of the piano while I place my hands on the right, before faltering.
Screw it, if I'm going to die, might as well go out with a bang.
"Here, it'll be better if we play like this." I mutter, moving my left hand to play in between Adrien's. "I-It's a romantic song, ya know! Playing like this makes it sound more… Intimate!" I excuse, louder than usual.
The model lets out a soft laugh. "Sure, you're the best at improv after all."
"P-Please don't say that…" I beg, if he compliments me again while we're like this I would just melt onto the floor. "Anyways… ready whenever you are…"
Adrien nods, taking a deep breath and reading over the sheet, before playing the first note.
Letting him take the lead, I wait for a good cue.
Tale as old as time…
Playing a lighthearted accompaniment, I mutter the words along with the song, fully immersing myself in the scene.
True as it can be...
A song to symbolise the sudden love between two wildly different people. To show that love can come from anywhere, and between anyone.
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly…
I wonder what it would be like to dance with Adrien to this song, I'll probably fall on my face out of embarrassment. No, playing this with him is much better than embarrassed dancing.
Just a little change…
I wouldn't mind embarrassing myself if it makes him laugh though.
Small to say the least
Both a little-
Suddenly an unfamiliar chord breaks the serenity as I jump out of my musings. Adrien's hands having tripped over itself as he retracts it to his chest in a panic.
"I'm-" Adrien looks at me with wide eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll be better."
"What?" I give him a quizzical look, why is he apologizing? "You were great though."
"No, I made a mistake, it's- I can't make mistakes, I have to-" The blond's breaths start picking up. Worried, I find myself slowly patting his back.
"Adrien, it's going to be okay. Inhale for four seconds, then exhale for four seconds, alright?" I say quietly, drawing comforting circles on his back with my thumb.
After a while of listening to Adrien breathe, he finally seems okay enough for me to remove my hand from his back. "Sorry, I... I don't know what came over me." He apologized.
I let out a hum, wondering what to say next.
"I can tell that you're really tired." I mumble, the blond stiffens next to me, but doesn't say anything in response. I gulp. "You don't have to tell me why, but exhaustion can make it easier to… to panic." I trail off.
He sighs. "Yeah, it does."
Silence.
Fingers curling up, I place them back on the keyboard. Judging by the silence he probably doesn't want to talk about it, so I shouldn't keep pushing.
"W-were you distracted by something?" I change the topic, quietly playing a more light and simpler version of the song to distract the both of us.
"I…" He hesitates. "Maybe…?"
I nod, adding a couple arpeggios for fun. "It's a romantic song, isn't it?"
"Y-yeah…" The blond blushes.
I snort lightheartedly, nudging him slightly as I continue playing. "It's okay to make mistakes Adrien, but if you want me to say more, I think it's especially okay right now." Left hand plays the chord here. "You were just lost in the music right? Thinking about something romantic? Dancing maybe?"
The silence after confirms my suspicions, even if it makes my heart sting a little.
"How did you know?" He asks quietly.
I laugh lightly. "Music has that effect on people."
I was thinking of dancing with you. My thoughts were left unsaid.
"Here, join in whenever, and if you make mistakes, just keep going." I urge, restarting the song from the beginning.
It takes a while, but a set of hands soon joins me again, and we continue.
Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
There were no mistakes after that, or maybe there was, I just didn't care enough to recognize it, too distracted by how well the blond's playing. Hopefully Adrien stopped worrying about it too.
"Tale as old as time…" I sing, louder than before as we approach the end of the song.
"Song as old as rhyme." I jump at another voice, Adrien can sing? How am I still alive?
"Beauty and the Beast"
My face heats up more, his voice is so nice, I feel like I'm ruining it by singing along with him.
"Tale as old as time." He sings this part now.
"S-Song as old as rhyme." I try to finish this part, voice breaking a little.
"Beauty and the Beast"
Is this love?
Fingers freezing up, Adrien takes this opportunity to spread his hands across the piano, playing an arpeggio set that really shouldn't be legal with how serene he looks (acting like he's not good at improv, what lies ).
"Beauty and the Beast." Adrien finishes with a satisfied smile on his face while I'm sure mine just looks like I'm in agonizing pain, which honestly wouldn't be too far from the truth.
Loud sudden clapping from the door.
Shrieking at the sound, I all but jump out of the seat and away from Adrien, panting heavily. Ignoring the blond's surprised stare, I turn to see my dad standing by the door, wearing the most shit-eating grin I've ever seen.
"Wow boys. That was amazing." My dad sighs dreamily. "It takes a performer years to get to the level of chemistry that you two got going on." He gives me a wink. "Now, give me a close two-shot."
" Dad!" I scream, wanting to throw the whole piano at him.
"What does a close two-shot mean?" Adrien asks, confused.
My dad smirks. "It's when the camera focuses on-"
"It's nothing!" I scream again, giving my dad a death glare.
He just laughs, like the traitor he is. "Whatever you say son." He lies, looking at Adrien. "So you're here, that explains it. My son has been playing nothing but angsty Disney music all day, so when such a sweet and happy song started playing, I just had to see what warranted such a change."
"Dad…" I growl, warning him to keep quiet. Although my blush probably makes me look ten times less intimidating.
He laughs again. "Alright alright, I'll go away now." He gives the blond another look. "I hope your father knows that you're here, I wouldn't want another Agreste to show up on my doorstep unannounced."
"Y-Yes sir…" Adrien answers, looking away guiltily.
My dad and I share a look, he sends me a nod before exiting, shutting the door behind him and leaving us alone and awkward again.
I was tempted to sigh, all that hard work to be normal, wasted.
"Did you get into a fight with your dad?" I probe quietly.
The blond sends me a panicked look. "What? No, I would never ." He says, so quickly that I'm starting to be really worried for him.
Probably realizing what he's implying, he shakes his head wildly. "I-It's not like that! We're alright and all, it's just…" He trails off, before sighing. "Sometimes, when I'm feeling down, I just have to get out, you know?"
"Not really…" I answer honestly, because when I feel bad it just makes me wanna hide inside even more. "But I can empathize…" I add. The blond laughs quietly, but otherwise doesn't say anything.
I fiddle with the sleeves of my jacket. "So… You ran away from your bodyguard?"
The model sighs. "Yeah… I actually came here to maybe ask for a ride to the movies, since the one nearby is closed, and the next one is pretty far away. It's- It's been a while since I've seen one."
My heart skips a beat, he wanted to ask me to take him to the movies? Just me? Gods why are you doing this to me?
Probably mistaking my silence for anxiousness, Adrien quickly adds. "Not that you have to follow me or anything, it's just that- I don't have a car, and your house is right next to mine…"
He's willing to just go alone to spare me the anxiety? I think to myself, heart swelling up so pathetically I'm starting to wonder if I had died and gone to hell where Adrien would just torture me like this endlessly.
Why is he looking at me like that?
Crap! He's waiting for an answer!? What did he say last!?
"I-I-" My voice cracks, making me want to do defenestration to myself but there's always time for that later . "I'm sorry, but we gave our chauffeurs the day off." I admit. It's true, if my dad and I find ourselves with no important places to go for the rest of the day, we give the staff the rest of the day off. Since it's not fair for chauffeurs to wait all day to drive us places when we already decided that we're not going anywhere.
"Oh." The blond says, disappointed. "That's alright then…"
My heart clenches around itself painfully. "W-We can just watch something here!" I offer a little too loudly.
He shakes his head. "No, I'm sorry, I… want to be outside, you know?"
Damn him and his adorable kitten eyes. I look outside the window, cloudy day, peaceful weather, the people probably out and about doing outdoor things even more so than usual.
Even so…
"Okay, let's go." I find myself saying. "W-We can take the subway? Maybe? It's fast, a-and the cinema is right outside one of the stations."
Wow even more people? Gods Julian you are so whipped.
The blond looks surprised at my offer, but doesn't say anything, other than, "I've never used the subway before, have you?"
I shake my head. "M-Me neither."
"Oh." Adrien looks hesitant, but shrugs it off. "Okay, what can go wrong, right?"
Things did go wrong, very wrong.
First was the smug look my dad gave me when I told him I was taking Adrien to the movies. I'm pretty proud of myself to have thought ahead and told my friend to wait downstairs while I talk to my father alone, because the words that man spilled from his lips, will never leave the confines of my mind, the memory locked up, locked again and locked away.
Second of all, and I didn't even realize this until we got to the nearest station, but there are train stops basically all over Paris. So much so that the map of the railway system is filled with so many colors and shapes it reminded me of those really old desktop screensavers our ancestors had for their computers.
It's absolutely mind -melting.
"Why do so many of the lines cross with each other." I ask exasperatedly to Adrien, who has a foldable map in his hands, looking just as confused as me.
"It says here that they're called transit stations, you can change train colors on them." He explains as I nod, I don't really know why trains need to have different colors, but whatever.
"It looks like we just have to take the green train, but change to the red one at this station, and go for another stop to reach the cinema." I deduce, turning around and looking at the crowd of people. Gulping, I grip my messenger bag tighter.
It's okay Julian, you got this. Just think about how happy Adrien would be. Somewhere along that train of thought I can hear imaginary Alix and Nathaniel laughing their butts off, but at the moment it calmed me down just fine.
Following the people down the line, I stop at the turnstile, watching the people insert their tickets before pushing past it.
"Wait, we need to get tickets." I realize, Adrien nods from behind me, turning us around to look for a ticket machine.
Which is how we find ourselves at the ticketing kiosk. Embarrassingly enough, I had completely forgotten the train plan that I myself made. Luckily, Adrien remembers it, we would've needed to read the map again if he hadn't.
Pressing a bunch of buttons, the total amount pops up on the screen and I start rifling through my pockets for my wallet.
"It's okay Julian, let me pay for it." Adrien offers, reaching into his bag.
I shake my head. "No need, it was my idea to come here in the first place, you can get me popcorn." I tease before pulling out my wallet with a small "ahah!" Taking out my parents' credit card.
Wait.
"They don't take credit cards?" I notice with mounting horror, looking around desperately for a card swipe, or waive, or, something that I can use to pay that's not cash.
The model frowns. "Did you not bring cash?"
"Y-Yeah but the machine doesn't accept hundreds!" I quickly cover my mouth with my free hand. I can't believe I just loudly admitted to only carrying large bills in public.
Oh no people are giving me weird looks now, I'm going to be robbed blind like the spoiled rich white boy that I am.
A quiet snort turns me to look at Adrien, who is hunched over himself, entire body shaking as he's desperately trying not to laugh.
"I'm- I'm sorry-! " The blond snorts again as he notices my look of complete betrayal before covering his mouth with his hands. His eyes radiating mirth as I blush in embarrassment.
"Is it okay if I pay now?" He asks, taking out a perfectly normal ten Euro note, still a lot, but at least the stupid machine accepts tens.
Blushing harder, I step to the side without a word, watching him slip the note in as the machine churns out two tickets for us.
"I'll get popcorn." I mumble, plucking the ticket from his hand and walking straight back to the turnstile, ignoring the blond's goodhearted laughter as he tries to keep up.
Adrien's so mean. Why did I fall for such a mean person?
His laugh is cute though.
I'll buy all the popcorn in the store and force him to eat it.
Oh my gods I am a spoiled white rich kid.
After getting lost and having Adrien drag me away from crashing into the wall for the third time. ("You need to watch where you're going Julian." "S-Sorry!") we finally arrive at our terminal.
Wait a second.
"There's a kiosk here too?" I ask, looking at a nearby staircase leading upstairs to the sidewalk. Crossing my arms, I huff. "Wh-What's the point of this place having an entrance further away from the tracks then!?"
"It was probably closer for the other train colors." Adrien muses. "I guess we probably should've looked at the signs by the stairs clearer…" He admits sheepishly.
Fortunately, our train arrived shortly after that, walking into the last carriage, I collapsed on an empty row of seats with a relieved sigh.
"I can't believe we wasted all that time navigating this maze ." I grumble half heartedly.
Adrien looks at me playfully from the railing he's holding onto.
"To be fair…" He starts, and I have a feeling that what he's going to say wouldn't end well for me.
"It was more or less just a straight line." He finishes.
Oh my gods.
"Seriously?" I stare at him in disbelief. "Why did you let me lead the way then?"
The blond flushes, looking away sheepishly. "It's- Umm… You sort of just, walked ahead? You've never done that before, so I didn't want to break you out of it and make you anxious."
Well, that's sweet and all, but…
I glare at him. "Alix told you about my horrible sense of direction, didn't she?"
He looks even more embarrassed now.
Called it.
"I… thought she was exaggerating!" He tried to excuse himself.
"Yeah well she's not!" I whine, not like he needs me to confirm anymore, not after he watched me walk into walls suddenly for no reason.
"I can't help it okay?" I added, hands flailing around wildly. "My brain just doesn't have time for geography. Back then, it was like- thirty percent focused on avoiding people. Forty percent on what movie we should watch later, and ten percent thinking about how cool trains are!"
Adrien tilts his head to the side in question. "That was only eighty percent, what's the other twenty?"
"I-"
Was thinking about how warm your hands were when you dragged me away. I stop myself from blurting out. No way. Stop talking. Looking wildly to my side, I quickly notice a familiar face in the other cart.
"Is that Alya?" I quickly bring up, ending the last topic.
To my relief, the blond drops the previous line of question, looking at the direction of the next cart. True enough, Alya is standing there, waving at us with a stiff smile.
"That's a coincidence, do you think they're going to the movies as well?" Adrien asks, waving back.
Before I could answer. A dark blue head of hair peeps out from behind the blogger.
"Marinette's here too." I note, accidentally sounding really unenthusiastic about it. Watching her wave at Adrien awkwardly, he returns it with an equally awkward wave.
"Do you want to go over there later?" Adrien asks.
I bite my lip in hesitation. On one hand, they're both friends of Adrien and me, on the other…
I came here to hang out with Adrien, and Marinette is going to make things awkward for me.
It's a selfish thought, but Alix has been encouraging me to do things for myself anyways.
Still, Adrien doesn't want that, and I can't decide for him, especially since it was his idea to go to the movies in the first place.
"Y-Yeah, okay." I admit defeat, preparing for the stress of a group outing featuring a weird love triangle that only I know about. So much for a stress free trip.
Suddenly a bright light bursts forth from the carriage ahead of us. Shielding my eyes from it, I look back just as the light dies out. Instead of Alya standing there, it's instead-
"Lady WiFi?" I ask, shocked. How is that possible? Alya looked perfectly fine just now, how did she get Akumatized?
The Akuma yells are Marinette for something, but as Julian, I can't pick up what they're saying at all.
This is bad, I have to find a place to transform soon.
Luckily, the train seems to be stopping. Taking a step forward, I jump at the hand suddenly on my shoulder.
"Julian, you need to stay here where it's safe." Adrien warns, taking a step ahead of me.
What?
"What do you mean I need to stay? Where are you going?" I ask incredulously.
The blond freezes in place. "I-I just, uh-" He stammers. "I… Have to check on Marinette!"
I falter. "R-Really?" I ask, jealousy making me feel a little hurt, which isn't warranted for the situation at all .
"Yeah! So just- stay here alright?" Adrien repeats as the door finally opens, the model exiting the train with haste.
I grip my bag strap tighter. Calm down Julian, there's no reason why you should feel hurt by that at all. Adrien just really cares for his friends.
He even asked me to stay here, where it's safe, so why am I even cut up about this?
"Gods having feelings suck." I mutter before running out of the train this time, looking both ways and running to the edge of the train tunnel where no one can see.
"Kid, ya alright?" Ossi asks, flying out of my jacket.
I sigh before nodding. "I don't really have a reason to be upset." I say, knowing what Ossi is referring to.
"Feelings don't hafta have reasons, they just need to be felt." The Kwami says wisely.
I snort, shaking my head. "You're watching too many martial arts movies." I point the pen at him. "Ossi, Horns Drawn!"
Ossi immediately dives 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.
"Manon, this isn't a game!" I hear Marinette yell, quickly running towards her (wait, where's Adrien?), I look at the quickly escaping Lady WiFi, who's using a button as some kind of hoverboard (Damn it, not enough time!)
Two can play at that game.
"Sticks can be used as hoverboards. Mind's Eye." I activate my Miraculous, my blowgun turning into a speedy all terrain hoverboard that's not the crappy one with wheels but an actual floating one.
"Stay here okay? I'll get your friend back." I tell Marinette, taking off before she could reply.
Bursting out of the subway entrance, I look up to see Lady WiFi surfing through the air and immediately chase after her.
"Huh?" I hear her say as she notices me. "No! No no no ! I called dibs on the dolls! You can't have them!" She yells, pointing her phone at me.
I look at her, confused. "Dolls?" was all I could say before quickly diving out of the way of a pause button. Shoot, how did we beat Lady WiFi again?
Not having a moment to think, I swing to the other side, avoiding a cluster of pause buttons again.
Where's she going? And what dolls?
Yelping, I jump off the board, grabbing it with my hands instead as pause buttons cover the entire area above it. Holy crap, when was Lady WiFi this strong? I should've included some rockets or something in the Mind's Eye.
The board suddenly rings as I let out a groan. I click it once. "Hello?"
"Faon! There's an Akuma heading towards Marinette's house. She's the one we rescued from the Evillustrator a couple months ago, we have to stop her!" Chat Noir informs.
"Kind of- Ahead of you- Actually!" I yell, trying to steer a hoverboard with your hands is a lot more difficult than it looks.
"Oh! I'm on my way, make sure she doesn't get any dolls there!"
Finally I gain enough momentum to swing my feet back onto the board. Quickly adjusting my weight, I sigh in relief. "Okay, I'll meet you at Marinette's house." I say to Chat before hanging up, chasing after the Akuma faster.
Arriving all the way to the bakery, Lady WiFi dives straight past the shop doors, sudden screams followed shortly after.
Bursting through the doors myself, I immediately leap in between WiFi and Marinette's mom, spinning my weapon and deflecting the pause button sent her way. Unfortunately Marinette's dad had already been hit, his fear ridden form, frozen with a tray of pastries in his hands.
"Lady WiFi what are you doing? You're not going to find Ladybug's true identity by attacking civilians!" I growl, standing protectively over Mrs. Dupain-Cheng.
It doesn't make sense, Lady WiFi wants to unmask Ladybug's identity, not recover lost dolls.
"Stop calling me Lady WiFi! I'm Puppeteer, and I. Want. Those. DOLLS!" She screams, flinging more pause buttons towards us.
Letting out a short curse, I securely wrap my arms around Marinette's mom before flying her out of harm's way, past the Akuma and back outside the bakery.
"Run as far as can, okay? I'll get your husband back." I assure her before looking up. Ladybug and Chat Noir had arrived, watching the two of them enter through the window. I frown in thought.
Okay, they're fighting Lady WiFi, so the best thing I can do now is...
That's it! Taking out the WiFi signal like how we beat WiFi the first time!
Leaping up to the roof of the building, I scan around the area, quickly pinpointing the WiFi antenna and jumping straight to it.
Okay. I quickly aim my blowgun at the box.
"Faon, you're here!"
Stiffening up, I hear Chat Noir land behind me. Oh, perfect.
I shrug. "An Akuma's attacking, I have to be here, even if…" I falter, saying it would just distract us from the task at hand.
"We need to destroy the cell tower, you're up." I say instead. The cat hero looks as if he wants to say something else, but like me probably realized the importance of our current predicament.
Shove all our problems away, like the angsty teenagers we're meant to be.
"Cataclysm!" Chat activates his Miraculous, touching the cell tower with his powered up hand as it turns to dust.
"Nice." I comment, turning around.
"Faon, wait, I need to-"
Ignoring that, I take a short fall down the bakery, landing by the entrance.
Ladybug is standing there, looking around dejectedly.
"Did you get the Akuma?" I ask, Chat Noir landing next to me.
Ladybug, ever the focused leader, doesn't show much sign of anything happening a week ago, minus a small jump. "No, it wasn't there." The spotted superheroine says.
Chat gives her a shocked look. "What? How is that possible?"
Ladybug thinks for a moment, before lighting up. "She's controlled by Puppeteer! She must have the Akuma!"
Chat lights up with her. "Right! Lady WiFi is nothing but a puppet!" He gasps suddenly. "Please tell me you got the Chat Noir doll."
I tilt my head in question. "Why does the Akuma need dolls?"
"Because that's how she controls people, Marinette gave her a Lady WiFi doll, that's why she was able to turn Alya back to her Akumatized self." Ladybug explains.
I nod, processing the information "Huh. Does that mean she has a Faon Vert doll too?"
Ladybug visibly tenses up. "No, the Faon Vert doll was kept away along with the rest. Puppeteer wouldn't have known where it was."
I nod again. "Well that's a relief. Even if I now know that Marinette isn't a huge fan of me." I joke a little, testing the waters.
Ladybug doesn't laugh, and I sigh.
"What other dolls does the Puppeteer have now?" Chat asks, breaking the tension.
Ladybug takes a moment to recall. "Aside from the Chat Noir doll, she also got one for Rogercop, and… the Evillustrator."
My entire body felt cold.
"W-what?" I take a step back, no . Evillustrator? That means that-
Nathaniel! And he's with Alix!
"I have to go." I say, brushing past them.
"Wait, Faon! We need to get Puppeteer!" Ladybug says, probably already knowing my intentions.
I show them my slowly counting down Miraculous. "I'm transforming back soon, I need to go. Besides." Chat's own ring beeps as I look at him. "Chat's time's running out too." Giving the spotted heroine one last neutral look, I turn around. "I'll join you guys when I'm ready again." I half-lied.
"...Okay." Ladybug says, like I need her permission or something. "Both of you, please hurry, call me when you're done."
Hearing Chat give her his affirmation, I leap away, footsteps quickly turning frantic the closer I get to the museum where Alix and Nathaniel are hanging out for the day. I land in a nearby secluded corner.
"Horns in." I whisper as Ossi flies out of the blowgun.
"Here." I say, grabbing the bag of croutons out. "Please hurry, Alix and Nathaniel might be in danger."
"Wait, what? Nevermind! On it!" The Kwami interrupts himself before diving into the bag as I return it back into my pocket, pulling out my phone this time and dialing Alix's number.
It picks up on the second ring.
"Hey Lian! How's it going?" Alix's voice sounds distress free as I let out a long held sigh of relief.
"Hey!" I say, trying to sound normal. "I-I'm at the museum!"
"No way, really!?" Alix's voice sounds excited as she relays this news to Nathaniel.
Clutching the phone tighter, I smile a little at her enthusiasm. "Y-Yeah, I wanted to surprise you guys, but…"
"Lemme guess, you got lost?"
Well that wasn't the excuse I was going to use but it's even better. "Yeah, that…" I lie, pretending to sound embarrassed. "I think I'm back at the entrance."
"You can't think that you're at the entrance Lian, it's a gigantic door." Alix laughs before telling Nathaniel what I said again. "Okay, we'll come get you. Stay put."
Hanging up, I sigh in relief again, I made it in time. Ossi flies out of my pocket and burps.
"I'm all good, let's go!"
Smirking lightly, I pull out the pen again. "Ossi, Horns Drawn!"
Turning back into Faon, I quickly pinpoint the location of Alix's boisterous voice.
"I can't believe Julian is actually here!" I hear her shout.
"I know, it's amazing how far he's gone," Nathaniel adds.
"Damn right it's amazing! When do you think I can get him to roller skate? Whenever it is, it's gonna rock! "
I place a hand on my chest, heart pounding wildly and feeling incredibly touched. But now's not the time for that.
"Hold it!" I yell as soon as I see them, jumping from a nearby pillar and landing right in front of them.
"Faon Vert?" Alix asks in surprise, Nathaniel blushing to the side.
I nod, uncharacteristically serious. "Yeah, long time no see."
" Way too long!" The skater exclaims, smirking a little. "So, what're you doing here?"
I scratch the back of my neck awkwardly. "Well, you see, I'm here for Nathaniel."
Alix's smirk turns wider while Nathaniel tries to hide his beet red face behind her, and-
"W-wait! Not like that!" I corrected, blushing a little, dammit, forgot about Nathaniel's-
Whatever now's not the time for that.
"Listen." I turn to face the artist. "You need to come with me, the Akuma this time is really dangerous and you're one of her targets."
As soon as I say that, Alix's smile disappears as she gives me a dead serious look. "What are you talking about?" She asks, wrapping an arm protectively around her best friend.
I shake my head. "There's no time, I need to get Nathaniel away from everyone, he's-" I gulp, feeling really useless. "He's potentially dangerous."
"No way!" Alix growls. "If you're taking him, then you're taking me too."
I sigh, expecting this. "Alix, it's really nice that you think that, but we don't-"
A bright light suddenly emits from Nathaniel's feet as he lets out a gasp.
"W-What's happening!?" The redhead shouts.
"Nathaniel!" Both Alix and I shout back.
The light rises up, fully encompassing the artist until all that's left of Nathaniel.
Is the Evillustrator.
Pulling Alix behind me, I take out my blowgun, the Akuma puppet gives me a cruel smirk.
"Well well Faon, we meet again." He sneers, spinning his stylus around.
"Nathaniel! Snap out of it! What happened to Mightillustrator?" Alix yells from behind me.
"Mightillustrator's lame, Evillustrator is much cooler!" The Akuma puppet declares, materializing multiple spinning saw blades and flinging them towards me.
Wincing, I spin my blowgun, deflecting a couple of them and grabbing Alix before jumping away.
Dropping her in the middle of the Egyptian exhibit, I give her a stern look.
"I have an idea, but I need your help." Quickly informing her of my plan, she nods enthusiastically before finding a nearby place to hide. Giving her a nod, I quickly ran back to where the Evillustrator last was. Luckily, the Akuma puppet is still here, busy drawing something on his tablet.
"Hey!" I yell, firing a dart at the Akuma puppet, he dodges but does stop drawing. "Trying to draw a way out? You're not going to leave unless I say so." I taunt.
Evillustrator growls, a sinister butterfly mask appearing on his face for a second. "Fine. If you want to lose your Miraculous that badly, then I'll grab your first! " The Akuma Puppet draws saw blades and rocket fists, throwing all sorts of attacks my way.
Nimbly jumping out of the way, I hang from a nearby pillar. "Seriously? That's all you got? At least Lady WiFi got stronger this time around."
"I'll show you who's stronger!" He yells, erasing the pillar I'm holding on to.
Perfect.
Jumping right on top of him, I slam my blowgun downwards as he jumps out of the way. Not giving him a chance to switch back to creation mode, I add on the offensive. Swiping and stabbing him, all of them missing as the Akuma stumbles all the way down to the Egyptian exhibit.
Finally arriving in the middle of the room, I perform a low sweeping attack, breaking his balance as he falls onto the ground with a grunt.
"Alix! Now!" I yell, the skater immediately jumping out of hiding and towards the light switch, shutting down all the lights in the area and leaving the Evillustrator in complete darkness.
"No! Dammit! FAON!"
Night Vision activating, I run to Alix, grabbing her and hightailing it out of there, slamming the exit doors shut and grabbing a nearby bar, sticking the door handles together. Loud bangs ring from the door shortly after.
"LET ME OUT, FAON VERT! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" The Akuma Puppet roars as I sigh in relief.
"Faon, shouldn't Ladybug be here to purify the Akuma?" Alix asks worriedly.
I shake my head. "No, the real Akuma is somewhere else." I quickly turn on the locator app on my blowgun. "The Puppeteer can control any past Akumas as long as she has a doll of them, luckily, they have the same weaknesses." I explain. Looking at the doors again as nothing outside of the continuous banging happens. "The Evillustrator can't draw in the dark, so that should stop him in his tracks. You broke the light switch like I told you to, right?"
"Oh yeah, and sealed the other exit too, that place is as dark as night." Alix smirks, but I can tell that it's a mask she's using to appear braver than she really is.
I sigh, patting her on the head. "Stay safe, I'll be right back once I help Ladybug."
She frowns, pushing my hand off her as I snicker. "You better." She says.
Giving her one last nod, I speedily made my way to where Ladybug's marker is, the TV studio while thinking of a game plan.
There should only be two Akuma puppets left, Rogercop and Lady WiFi, the latter has her phone broken so she might not be much of a threat anymore. Unfortunately, I do not know if Chat Noir had managed to get his doll back, the tracker app did show him near the TV studio though.
Hearing a familiar sound, I look up to see Chat Noir jumping into a nearby window on the highest floor.
I sigh. Giving my blowgun a flourish. "Sticks can be used as Chat Noir's staff, Mind's Eye." I activate my Miraculous, turning my blowgun into Chat's staff again.
I seriously need to think of something else, this is very not imaginative of me.
Balancing on the pole, I quietly raise myself all the way to the top floor, peeking into the window that Chat entered. The blond is standing inside on his knees, presenting the Ladybug doll to the Puppeteer, a black and white fairy with a magic wand, the Akuma and Chat Noir dolls orbiting around her.
Okay, so Chat Noir is definitely being controlled by the Akuma.
Puppeteer brings the Ladybug doll towards herself.
"Now I'm the winner!" She declares, laughing evilly.
"Drop that doll Manon!" Ladybug lands in front of her defiantly.
"I'm not Manon! I'm Puppeteer!" The Akuma counters, throwing Lady WiFi towards the superheroine, the two of them going into a short fistfight before the latter wraps the puppet around with her yo-yo and tosses her away.
"Lady WiFi's not so strong with her phone, huh Puppeteer?" Ladybug taunts.
"Well, Evillustrator is supposed to help her make one, but he's not even here yet!" the child Akuma whines.
And likely never will. I think cheekily before quietly making my way in through an open window. Crawling closer to the Akuma, I watch Ladybug activate her Lucky Charm as an extension cord falls into her hands.
Only Rogercop and Chat Noir left.
"There may be two of you, but I'm twice as dangerous!" Ladybug announces, spinning the extension cord along with her yo-yo as she enters battle with the puppets.
Sneaking right behind Puppeteer, I watch as she raises the Ladybug doll into the sky, wand sparkling with energy.
"Ladybug doll, come to-" She starts.
Jumping on top of her, I deftly rip the wand out of her grip as she lets out a surprised gasp.
"You snooze, you lose Puppeteer." I say, spinning the wand around and looking at Ladybug, who had just finished beating both Chat Noir and Rogercop, the two of them tied together by the extension cord.
"Here, is this where the Akuma's hiding?" I toss Ladybug the wand, who after catching it, breaks it in half as the Akuma flies out before beginning the purification process.
Watching a cluster of ladybugs fly out of the window and towards the museum, I sigh in relief, I won't have time to visit them yet, but I will soon.
After the fight today, I definitely think I will soon.
Miraculous beeping, I take this as my chance to leave before Chat notices me, but not before sending them both a quick message.
"Meet me at the Tower tonight, before patrol."
-Time Skip to Night-
"Kid, are ya sure about this?" Ossi asks as we stand on the balcony, the Eiffel Tower shining brightly in the distance.
Looking up from my phone, I give him a small smile. "Honestly? It feels kind of freeing, having my mind made up."
The Kwami hums. "Ya know I'll always support ya, whatever happens, right?"
I pat his head affectionately. "Of course Os." I say, before my phone rings again. Unlocking the screen, my conversation with Adrien opens back up.
FROM: Normal Classmate Adrien
"Hello Julian. I want to apologize for running off so suddenly, maybe we can try again another time?"
"theres no need to apologize! im just glad that youre safe."
"and of course! whenever youre free! just let me know!"
"besides, i should be apologizing. if i hadnt suggested taking the subway, we mightve been able to sit through the advertisements or something."
-1 New Message-
FROM: Normal Classmate Adrien
"Haha, if it's only advertisements, then maybe it's better that we took the subway. At least we get to see Faon Vert in action."
I blush, I wasn't really all the great today but whatever he says I guess.
Before I can respond, I get another message from him.
-3 New Messages-
FROM: Normal Classmate Adrien
"Sorry, I have to go, got something important to discuss."
"..."
"Wish me luck, okay?"
I snort, sending him a picture of a cat saying good luck before shutting my phone off.
"We should probably go." I say to Ossi, who finishes his croissant just as I take out the pen. "Ossi, Horns Drawn!"
Transforming into Faon, I make my way towards the Eiffel Tower, seeing my two teammates already there, waiting on the railings side by side.
"Hello." I greet quietly, still managing to startle the two as they turn to me.
"Faon, you're here!" Chat Noir says brightly while Ladybug gives me a terse nod.
"Hey Faon." She greets. I give them a small smile, sitting down on the walkway while motioning for them to do the same.
The two of them share a look before sitting down in front of me.
"This is pretty fun for a superhero hideout huh? The top of the Tower at night, it's so obvious no one would suspect anything." I start with a joke, but it doesn't really work, the two of them seem way too on edge for what I'm about to say.
I sigh, okay, straight to business it is. "Listen, Ladybug…" I begin, watching her jump at the mention of her name. I clear my throat. "I-I… umm…" I wince, where did all my confidence go all of a sudden?
Pausing to take a deep breath, I notice that none of them had said anything yet, instead patiently waiting for me to continue.
Exhale.
"I want to explain, umm… why I reacted so poorly to you." I finally say.
Noticing their shocked expression, I take another deep breath.
"My… Civilian life, isn't too great." I start explaining. "Something happened when I was younger, and because of that, I've always felt… alone, I guess." I scratch the back of my neck awkwardly. "When I first got my Kwami, I almost tried to return it, because, how could someone as disconnected as me become a hero of Paris? Right?"
Chat looks like he wants to say something, but looks like he's waiting for me to finish first.
"But… When I'm Faon, I just- I can talk to so many new people in ways that I could never imagine my civilian self doing-" I pause slightly, realizing that I was giving away a little too much and re-centering myself. I give Ladybug a defiant look. "Whenever I have the time, I talk with the Akumatized civilians, spend time with my fawns, I never let it interfere with patrol, or any other more pressing duties, it's only when I could afford to do it."
"Faon…" Ladybug sounds like she's going to go into her whole 'it's dangerous' spiel again, but I won't let her, not this time.
"Do you know what it's like to be Akumatized?" I interrupt, glaring her into silence as she looks at me in quiet shock. "Everyone says that they don't remember a thing, but that's because at the time, they were practically still in shock." I clench my fists in frustration. "But they don't forget everything, it's haunting them, figments of their Akuma's actions replaying in their heads like a loop whenever they sleep. Some of them look at themselves on the news and can't believe what they did, or who they hurt."
"I only found out about this recently, and ever since I did, their guilt, it's- it's overwhelming." I bite down tears.
"So, I don't want to stop. They need us to check on them every now and then. Being superheroes- Being superheroes isn't just about beating the bad guys..." I trail off, finally breaking eye contact with them, looking out towards the city.
Is Alix sleeping well tonight? And Nathaniel, did he pass out because he was too focused on painting again?
Mylene and her dad, they've been sharing the same bed ever since Horrificator and the Mime took place.
My father's office light never seems to turn off nowadays, and oftentimes I catch him looking at me with remorse over what he did.
Will all this ever go back to normal?
"Faon, I understand where you're coming from." Ladybug finally says in response, and her tone...
I brace for it.
"Ladybug…" I hear Chat start to say, but stop soon after.
"Faon, it's- What you're doing... isn't helping."
I scoff.
"You know this, you can't just shoulder everyone's burdens on your own." Ladybug continues. "It's not healthy, for you and your fawns."
"Well, what do you want me to do then?" I grit out. "And what do you know about being unhealthy?"
Ladybug gives me a pitiful look. "Faon, when I said that Nathaniel was being re-Akumatized today, you dropped everything to save him."
"He was with Alix! He could've hurt-"
"What if Hawk Moth notices this?"
I falter.
"If Hawk Moth realized that you have a connection to Nathaniel, what do you think he's going to do?" Ladybug presses on. "He's going to focus his sights on him, and wait for the one opportunity to turn him back into Evillustrator."
I grit my teeth in frustration. "But if he knows that we're there to protect him, he won't feel scared of Hawk Moth any-"
"Faon, all of Paris already know, and that's the best we can do." Ladybug asserts herself, her forceful and no-nonsense nature grating at me. "If you really want to help, we can go looking for a qualified counselor, maybe if we shared-"
"No." I stand up, fists clenched so tight I've lost feeling in them. "I'm not telling my fawns that they need to see a therapist. You do that. I-" I choke back tears.
"If you want to get better so badly, get out of the house and see a therapist."
"I'm not giving up on them." I bite out. Glaring at Ladybug. "So this is it then? No matter what else I say, you're not going to budge?"
Ladybug doesn't respond. Chat looks like he's on the verge of tears too.
I sigh. "Okay, that's it then."
Chat sends me a fearful look. "Faon, what do you mean? You aren't going to… leave, right?"
I hesitate for a moment, before nodding. "If Ladybug and I can't find common ground, then it's better if I just leave."
The blond for the first time, actually looks frustrated. "But, y-you two haven't even compromised ! You're just fighting to have it one way or the other!"
"He's right."
Chat freezes in place, giving Ladybug a shocked look. The spotted superheroine looks as tired as me. "Faon's right, the two of us are too different, it's a risk to the team."
"Ladybug…?" The blond asks, quietly.
She sighs. "I'm… tired of arguing all the time, maybe… Maybe a break from each other is what we need."
"But-"
"Chat…" I say softly, interrupting him and giving him a small smile. "I won't be gone, okay? I'm actually willing to take over all night patrols." I take out the planner I've brought just in case something like this happens. "Here, I'll take care of the nightly stuff, which lets me visit my fawns, while you and Ladybug fight the Akumas. The extra rest should be enough to keep you guys at full strength, even without me!" I explain, pretending to be happy.
"Faon…" Chat looks like he's about to cry again.
I smile at him again. "It's gonna be alright, I promise." I look at my team leader. "I guess… we're done here."
She stares, face betraying nothing. "I guess we are."
"Roger that." I fold the paper up and put it back into my pocket. Giving Chat one last look for the night. "Look after Ladybug for me, alright?" I whisper to him, walking past and taking a dive off the Tower without looking back.
