I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas who celebrates it. If you don't then Happy Hanukkah and Joyous Kwanzaa.
I will be using my original idea for the Snake Miraculous in this chapter. I hope you like it. Also, Vivica has been aged up a little so she's the age of a second-year university student.
Arriving in Buenos Aires, the noises and the smells bombarded Iria Santos aka Peace Keeper as she exited the airport. The city was always lively and today was no exception.
Hailing a cab, Ms. Santos thought it would be best to go to the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty office first. She wanted to get to know the permanent staff at the office because she would be working with them directly to help them.
Arriving at the office, Iria noticed how plain it seemed on the outside. It was a simple building with a black entrance way and was squished between two other buildings.
Walking inside and taking the elevator to the fourth floor, she saw the huge glass plaque displayed for all to see. The name of the office was written in four different languages. At a desk near the front sat the office manager Vivana Collado.
"Greeting. I am Iria Santos from the UN OLO from the treaty division. I was told that you would be expecting me," she said in perfect Spanish.
Ms. Collado nodded in conformation. "Executive Secretary Lluberas is busy with a very important phone call. If you will take a seat over there, I'll let him know you're here.
Ms. Santos thanked her and took a seat. She looked around the office and was pleased by how orderly and inviting the office was. The support staff was helping the other members carry out their duties.
About twenty minutes later she was told that Executive Secretary Lluberas was ready to see her. She entered his office and was pleased by how inviting it was.
"Greetings Ms. Santos. Please take a seat. I am curious to know more about you. I was surprised when I heard you were coming. I make sure that everyone here follows proper procedure and that all the paperwork is taken care of," he asserted.
"We know that your office does follow the law perfectly. We also know that your office is planning several proposals to both the ECP and ATCM committees and if ratified, you understand that my office will be in charge of approving any changes to the treaty."
"Of course Ms. Santos. However, none of these proposals have yet to be written and is a long way from being ratified. This is why I don't understand your presence here at this time."
"My superiors believe it is never too early to help someone out. I'm simply here to help your office with writing up these proposals to make sure they can be approved by my office at a future date.
It will cut down the time and paperwork that would be needed in making any changes to the treaty effective. I can also assist in making sure the wording of the proposals is precise and no one can find any loopholes to circumvent the rules set by the treaty."
The Executive Secretary thought about what she said and had to agree. It took a long time to add amendments designed to help promote changing the treaty. Having a member of the Treaty Division helping out would make it a little easier.
"I believe we have much to discuss Ms. Santos. Shall we begin?"
"Gladly. I would like to familiarize myself with the permanent staff here before I begin my assignment. Does that work for you?"
E.S. Lluberas agreed and alerted the other permanent staff members to assemble in the conference room in ten minutes for a short meeting. Once in the conference room Ms. Santos took a look at everyone and tried to gauge their behavior to determine how well they would get along.
She was introduced to the Assistant Executive Secretary, Mr. Wydler, Information Officer Mr. Agraz, and Editor Wainschenker. There was also the Financial Officer Mr. Fennell, Communication Specialist Ms. Balok, and lastly, the IT Specialist Mr. Papaserge.
"It is nice to meet all of you. I look forward to our short time working together. Hopefully, by the time my assignment is over, you will have perfected the proposals to proper parties at the annual ATCM.
It would be wonderful if these proposed amendments could be passed and ratified. The future of an entire continent is depending on this office and the ability to communicate what's best for it is to have all parties understanding one another so it has a future."
They would begin their work tomorrow after Ms. Santos had a chance to settle down in her hotel room for the duration of this assignment. Once the room was secure Iria decided to take a hot bath.
It hadn't even been one day and already this assignment was proving to be a challenge. With such a small staff she would have to be extra diligent she didn't slip up by either giving the wrong biographical details or make anyone uncomfortable because there was only one person for each job.
"I hope tomorrow will go smoother than today," the agent said to herself as she sank into the hot bath and relaxed.
At the Grand Paris Hotel, Jagged Stone was in the middle of an argument with Vivica, his new bandmate. She was a pretty woman with short chocolate brown hair that angled over one eye. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and she had a beauty mark on her face. The most obvious part of her looks was her braces. She wore a nice rock and roll outfit.
Back when Jagged was in university he and Anarka Couffaine had been band mates. They had split up after graduation to follow their pursuits in life. Eager to have a partner again, Jagged had recently contacted her offering her a job as his backup guitarist. She was thrilled to be working with Jagged, despite his dramatics.
That was not the case today. "You are being ridiculous Jagged! We're sharing the suite which means we're sharing everything in it, including the food!" Vivica snapped at him.
"I bought that cereal for myself! I even wrote my name on it! Why did you have to eat the whole box?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's one of the foods that doesn't get stuck in my braces so easily. I told you about that when you went on the grocery run for all of us."
"Well, I forgot okay? Even if I did remember, you still shouldn't have eaten something with my name on it."
"Grow up Jagged! We are both adults' not little kids. If you think I'm going to stand here being yelled at for something stupid then you're wrong! When I get back you better have grown up!"
Vivica grabbed her guitar case and stormed out of the room angrily. Why did rock stars have to be so dramatic? It was a sad thing when your idol broke the image you had of them. If putting up with someone this childish was part of breaking into the music industry then maybe she should rethink her career plans.
She went down towards the Seine and sat on a bench. As she strummed her guitar she was still fuming and sad about the stupid argument. So she missed seeing the akuma that flew into her guitar.
"Desperada, I am Hawkmoth. You're angry about being treated so poorly by the musician you admired. I can give you the power to get back at him. All I ask is you retrieve Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses for me."
"You're playing my song, Hawkmoth." Purple and black smoke covered her body before bursting away revealing Desperada. She now resembled a like a skeleton from a Día de Los Muertos festival wearing a mariachi outfit. Two musical notes covered both sides of her cheeks. She had a star-shaped guitar case that she carries on her back.
She went over to the Seine to see her new look. "Well, now I'm a rock star. I hope Jagged likes my new look. Ha ha ha!" she jumped onto the street level and went looking for the man.
At the Liberty, the class and Kagami had gathered to watch Kitty Section's band practice. At the moment, Ivan was practicing for his big drum solo. He was picking up the pace as he got closer to the end of the solo.
"He's been practicing hard for his solo. He's amazing isn't he?" Mylene gushed. She watched as Ivan finished his solo by using the foot pedal to strike the large middle drum. Mylene jumped up and cheered.
Ivan blushed at his girlfriend's praises. "I think I did alright."
"You did more than alright. You've never sounded better than you did just now," Luka informed the boy. Ivan grinned happily to hear such a compliment from Luka.
In the crowd, Kagami was sitting next to Chloe. This was the first time both of them had attended a practice session. Kagami watched impassively as the blond took out her earplugs.
"I thought you were here to support your classmates."
"I am doing that, but rock and roll music is so loud I felt like my eardrums would pop. Thankfully, Sabrina remembered to bring me some earplugs." Noticing that the fencing girl's gaze hadn't broken Chloe added, "I'm trying to change, but I don't think I can get rid of my dislike of this music overnight."
Back with the band, Luka was getting ready to practice his solo when Jagged, Penny, and Fang showed up in their crazy van. "Rock and roll everyone! I wasn't expecting so many fans to be here."
The kids gasped and then fell over when Anarka stormed out of the cabin and slammed the door with great force. "What in the name of all the seven seas are you doing here Jagged? I thought I told you to scram the last time you showed up here unannounced!"
The Couffaine siblings looked at one another wondering what their mother was talking about. They hadn't seen Jagged around the Liberty before. All they could do is watch the horror playing out before them.
"Don't tell me you're here for my guitar skills. I told you I'm not interested in jamming with you again. Besides, I thought you had a new guitarist to work with."
Penny slapped her hand over Jagged and spoke quickly. "We do have a new guitarist. She's extremely talented, but she and Jagged had a minor tiff this morning and were wondering if she came here? She's a big fan of yours Anarka."
Penny showed the group Vivica's picture and they all shook their heads. Anarka rolled her eyes and demanded to know what stupid thing was Jagged melting down over.
She never got a response a yellow beam of light zapped Anarka and she vanished. Everyone gasped and started looking frantically around for her attacker.
"Up here you wannabees," a voice drew their attention up to a street lamp. Desperada was standing there aiming a trumpet at the group. "I knew Jagged would come here to find his old friend. How she put up with his dramatics I'll never know. Must have been a drama queen as well."
Juleka saw red and cried out, "Hey! That was my mom you just zapped! I don't know what your problem is, but never call her a drama queen!"
Desperada barely glanced at Juleka. "Ugh, I'm so tired of having to deal with childish actions. Maybe I should play you all a lullaby!" Everyone scattered in different directions as the Akuma started firing her trumpet at everyone.
She quickly nailed Jagged, Penny, and Fang before zapping Kagami and Kitty Section, save for Luka. Desperada laughed with joy and jumped onto the street. Her trumpet changed into bike horns as she started to stroll through the streets zapping everyone in her way.
Ladybug appeared on the scene. "Hey, I don't play an instrument, but maybe you'll humor me and my yo-yo." She flicked her weapon out and managed to take out one horn before creating a shield to block a rapid-fire attack.
Adrien could do nothing but watch. Luka had caught him before he had a chance to transform and they were hiding as his girlfriend scrambled to get away. Desperada weapon had changed again, this time a battle ax shaped guitar.
"Time to cut you part from this performance." Desperada sliced her weapon through the air. Ladybug ducked just in time as the car behind her cleaved in two. She took another swing and this time sliced the street in half.
"Where's Chat Noir? Shouldn't he be here helping her?" Luka asked in calm, but fearful for her. "Ladybug's heart song is beating out of rhythm. She needs her partner."
The word rhythm caused Adrien's eyes to widen. He recalled something he read during one of his training sessions with Master Fu. There was one Miraculous that could really help them out.
First things first. "We need to do something to help until Chat Noir arrives. Think you can distract the Akuma long enough for me to get away so I can go find Chat Noir?"
Luka nodded as he went out and started strumming a song to distract Desperada. Adrien took off running as fast as he could. Once he found a place to hide he transformed and hurried to the Guardian's home.
Master Fu was explaining the importance of the EMC to keep their personalities in check in the modern world when the door opened revealing a panting Adrien.
"Master Fu, there's an Akuma out there whose powers are more than Ladybug and I can handle. I need to borrow the Snake Miraculous please."
"Understood Adrien. I'll be right back with it. I hope you have someone in mind to use it."
Back at the battle, Desperada was on top of the Eiffel Tower. Her weapon was now a trombone that could strike targets far away. "Come on out Ladybug. I just want your earrings to seal a deal."
Hawkmoth's mask glowed over her eyes. "Don't forget to keep an eye out for Chat Noir. They're planning something I'm sure of it."
In the sewers, Luka watched as Ladybug paced back and forth. The heroine thanked him for causing a diversion and helping her when a smoke attack disoriented her.
Ladybug could feel her anxiety starting to grow. She took a few deep breaths and pictured the box for her emotions in her mind. She took a few more deep breaths and managed to put away her emotions for now. Standing up straight she looked over at Luka. "I'm sorry about that. I should have done that in private. I hope you don't think less of me for having an anxiety attack."
"No need to apologize. Everyone gets anxious and your heart song has lowered its volume. Who taught you to meditate?"
"A friend. They once told me I have to find peace within myself so I don't let my anxiety get to me. Sometimes that's hard to do," the spotted heroine admitted as she rubbed her arms together.
Luka knew what she meant. He was genuinely a calm and relaxed person who moved with the flow. That didn't mean he didn't get anxious before a performance. It took a lot of work to keep your anxiety in check, especially if you were a superheroine in Paris.
Ladybug's yo-yo rang and she opened it up quickly. It must have been a text from Chat Noir because she held out her hand to Luka and asked him to follow her. The two of them made their way through the sewer system.
Chat Noir tapped his foot as he gripped the box in his hands tightly. This was the second time he would be presenting a Miraculous to someone. Kim might think he got his Miraculous from the hero, but that had all been Master Fu.
He looked down the tunnel and was happy to see Ladybug and Luka coming around the corner. "My Lady, I'm so glad you're safe!" He reached out and hugged her tightly.
"I am thanks to Luka. Did Desperada spot you at all?"
Chat shook his head and said he stuck to the ground level and went into the sewers when he saw something glittering off the Eifel Tower. That's when he sent the message for her to come to him.
Breathing in deeply, Chat stepped around his partner and held out the box to Luka. "Luka Couffaine, this is the Snake Miraculous and has the power of Rhythm. You will use this Miraculous to assist in defeating Desperada. Once the mission is complete you will return this to me and never speak of what happened to anyone. Do you agree?"
Luka nodded. "I'm good at keeping secrets." He took the box and opened it. A brief flash of green light and Sass appeared. He looked into Luka's eyes and smiled.
"My name is Sass and I feel our rhythms coming together. A musician such as yourself will be an excellent wielder of my Miraculous." He waited for Luka to put on the bangle before continuing.
"To activate my Miraculous you need to say Slither Forward. Your weapon is a lyre which you can use to activate your power Tuning. It will cause the target to sync up with your rhythm and do whatever you do. Once you use my power you'll only have five minutes before you change back. Any questions?"
Luka shook his head and calmly called out, "Sass, Slither forward!" The magic quickly covered him and when it vanished he looked at his reflection in the water.
He was wearing a black, teal, and cyan-colored suit. The shape of the suit made him slender and muscular. The material looked like a snake texture with his chest and abdomen resembling the underbelly of a snake. His eye mask was cyan. His eyes and hair were now green.
"You look great as a superhero. So, you have a name for new skin?" Chat joked.
"Viperion." The partners nodded in agreement and the three of them started planning how on how to stop Desperada. They would only get one chance to take her down so their teamwork had to be flawless.
Desperada was getting impatient and was contemplating whether she should just sniper attack everyone when she was shoved from behind and fell to the ground below. Picking herself up, she changed her weapon to the bike horns and formed a smokescreen around herself.
"If they can't see me then they won't know where to attack," the Akuma reasoned to herself. She changed her weapon again, this time to her battle ax guitar. Adjusting her stance she was ready to attack.
She heard the sound of footsteps coming from her right so she swung her weapon through her smokescreen. She didn't connect with anything. Then she heard the footsteps coming from the left and she swung her weapon there, but again, nothing.
She kept hearing the footsteps and swinging her weapon only for it to never connect with anything. Soon her smokescreen was gone and she found herself staring straight at Viperion.
"Another wannabee? Not for long!" she brought up her weapon and started bringing it down on top of him.
"Tuning!" Viperion strummed a tune on his lyre and the musical notes appeared in the air. The traveled over to Desperada and swirled around her freezing her in place.
"What the heck? Why can't I move?" she grumbled. Still looking at the new hero, she felt her body sync up with his as she mirrored his moves.
Viperion lowered his arms to his side and turned left before walking five steps towards a waiting Ladybug. She had conjured her Lucky Charm earlier and she quickly used the horse saddle to pin the villainess arms to her sides.
Desperada tried to struggle and found it was no use. As long as Viperion remained motionless with his arms by his side, she couldn't do anything. She could only watch as Chat used his powers to destroy her guitar. "NO!"
The akuma flew into the air and was quickly captured by Ladybug. After purifying it and restoring everything to the way it was before, she went to comfort Vivica. The young woman had tears on her face.
"Are you okay miss?" She hadn't seen many victims crying after their akumanzation before.
"I'm sniff fine sniff Ladybug. I'm just saddened with myself sniff. I was so cheerful when Jagged Stone picked me…sniff… to be his new guitarist. I always wanted to play with him and sniff…sniff…and when I finally meet my idol and stay in the same hotel as him sniff…he turns out to be a bit of a drama queen."
Viperion placed a reassuring hand on Vivica's shoulder. She looked at the new hero and felt herself calm down as he spoke to her in a gentle tone.
"Everyone gets sad when they realize the people they admire don't live up to their expectations. The important thing to remember is you can still live up to your expectations of yourself."
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Vivica thanked the young hero for his kind words. Hearing the beeping of their Miraculouses, the heroes said goodbye and headed off pleased with another job well done.
It was time for dinner at Master Fu and he was serving everyone their favorite foods tonight. After serving Wayzz and Honorra their regular dishes he passed out the other small dip dishes filled to the brim.
"For Zippy, here's some buttered popcorn." The kwami smacked his lips and started eating happily.
"Stella, Jill, here are your mustard seeds and potato chips." Stella ate in a dainty manner while Jill stuffed her mouth with three chips at once.
"A salt lick for Arron and a small bit of alphabet soup for Sunny." Arron attacked his meal as Sunny studied each letter before eating it.
"Lastly, some broiled cauliflower for Prickker and some shrimp for Flapper." Prickker took a few sniffs before starting to eat his cauliflower. Flapper slurped down her shrimp.
"Remember your manners everyone. Dinner time is meant to be a pleasant experience."
The Kwamiis realized they had been rude by not waiting for Master Fu to serve himself and stopped eating at once. Once the Great Guardian had his plate full they resumed eating their food.
"Guardian Fu, I have a question. Will we be interacting with the humans of this city?" Zippy hopefully asked.
"Perhaps. It will depend on if the circumstances warrant it. These are troubling times and Hawkmoth and Mayura are getting stronger each day. There have been close calls where our enemy nearly discovered other active Kwamiis."
"It is best if we stay here together," Wayzz explained.
"If you get a case of wanderlust, then you'll have a good time with Marinette or Adrien, when you get to go home with them for a few days," Honorra quickly added.
Hearing this, the "siblings" started to talk amongst themselves who would be the first in line to step out in the modern world. It soon became a huge squabble with emotions literally running high.
Stella argued she should go first because she was the most adventuress of the group. Sunny scoffed saying that Stella always got to go first with new things. Arron demanded to be the first to go out.
Flapper was trying to gather support for herself. Since they were in Paris, she should be allowed out first because it was the City of Love. Prickker wasn't interested in going out of the house just yet.
Zippy flew around in the air in bliss from hearing they would get to go outside. Jill was hanging back looking upset as her "siblings" continued to fight. It made her very sad to see them arguing.
Master Fu cleared his throat bringing an end to the arguing. "May I remind you once more about the importance of keeping yourselves in check while you're awake?"
The Kwamiis felt embarrassed. They were the literal embodiment of each emotion and since Hawkmoth preyed on emotions, they couldn't let him discover them or the last Great Guardian.
"You'll all have a chance to be out in the world for a day at the most, but until you settle down and show me your best behavior, I can't trust you around our young wielders."
The Kwamiis settled down and finished eating their dinner. Afterward, they watched a movie on TV. It was a kid's movie based on a bunch of toddlers getting into mischief all over Paris and there was a big green dinosaur in it.
They all enjoyed the movie a lot and afterward were very sleepy. Soon everyone was in bed sound asleep as well as the Great Guardian. It wasn't until one in the morning that anyone stirred.
Jill opened her eyes and looked around to make sure everyone else was asleep. Everyone was breathing steadily and no one was getting up. Even Stella seemed content to sleep the night away.
Quietly, she pulled herself out of the tissue box bed that had been made for her. Using her grabby limbs she managed to hall herself up to an old window near the back door and climb out undetected.
"At least this way I don't leave behind a magical imprint on where I've been like phasing through stuff does." Getting on the ground, the little kwami raced across the ground, only levitating when she needed to cross the streets.
At last, she reached the Grande Paris Hotel. The Great Guardian had told them what happened during the fight with the Akuma after Adrien returned the Snake Miraculous.
After hearing the story, Jill knew she couldn't wait until it was her turn to be out in public to speak to Vivica. So she had come over in the middle of the night when no one was around to see what she could do to help.
Upon entering the suite, Jill gave a nervous look at Fang. The crocodile was lying upside down on the couch snoring away. Hopefully, he had a big meal and wasn't hungry for opossum.
Deciding not to take a chance, she levitated into the air and headed into Vivica's room. The young musician was rolling around in her sleep trying to find a more comfortable position.
"I can feel her sadness even when she's asleep. She's thrilled to still be the new guitarist for Jagged Stone and happy she's no longer an Akuma. Underneath that all is the sadness of losing her innocence to the music industry," Jill whispered to herself as she struggled not to cry.
Blinking the tears away, she looked around and spotted Vivica's guitar. The object that had caused her akumanzation. Even with the object itself cleansed, the memories surrounding that object couldn't be forgotten as easily.
"A source for expressing a person's emotions should not be tainted by evil," Jill stated softly. She floated over and touched the instrument with one hand. "Teardrops."
Tiny little teardrops fell over the strings, strumming a soft tune. Satisfied, that her job was done, the kwami slipped away into the night. Jill didn't realize that Vivica had opened one eye when the tune played and saw the kwami. Pushing herself out of bed she wrapped a bathrobe around herself. Then the young guitarist picked up her instrument and tiptoed out the suite and up to the roof.
Settling in a lounge chair she strummed a few notes. The strings glistened for a few seconds. She strummed a few more and she felt her sadness coming to the surface of her mind.
She started to play random notes forming a song out of her sadness. The strings continued to glisten and soon she found words to express her sadness over being disappointed by meeting her idol.
As she played she wondered what the little creature had done to the guitar to make her play like this. What she didn't know was the music was all from within her.
Teardrops were the power to give a voice to what was making a person sad. By using it on a musical instrument, Jill had given Vivica a way to express her emotions to the world.
I have never played this good before. I can hardly wait to write lyrics to the song and perform it. I know Jagged would be thrilled to help me Vivica thought to herself. She didn't know that that strange creature had been and sent out a silent thank you to it for helping her.
It was a new day in Buenos Aries and Ms. Santos was already working hard with E.S. Lluberas to determine the five top proposals which should be presented at the next meeting.
"As you can see we have several ideas for the EPA to consider. Each proposal draft addresses a separate environmental concern. The ones in the left pile are the ones that would be the most beneficial and the most expensive to implement.
The pile on the right are proposals that will somewhat beneficial and would cost less to implement. I suggest that we focus on these proposals because they will be more likely to pass then the more expensive ones."
Ms. Santos looked over each one carefully. She studied the facts presented and also the solutions to make the proposals a reality. She reviewed the budget and time it would take to implement the amendment.
"Most of these proposals are sound and could be passed. However, they also need to be more specific in the details to explain exactly how the amendment will be beneficial to the treaty.
I also recommend a little more proofreading and a comprehensive conclusion." Sorting through the proposals she took four of them out of the right pile and one out of the left.
"These five are the most promising of the proposals. I fully support the proposal for more research to be done on climate change while minimizing the amount of activity on the continent."
E.S. Lluberas was pleased to hear this. Climate Change was an important matter and they needed to study it now before the point of no return. He was certain that the EPA would agree it was important, but getting the approval of all the parties involved would be challenging.
Ms. Santos also agreed that stricter regulations were needed to prevent the transfer of invasive species and plants in the ecosystem. She had read about a recent success in the removal of invasive species.
The sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia was declared rat and mouse free in early 2018, 250 years after they were first accidentally introduced by passing ships. The native ground-nesting birds had long since been banished to a few outlying islands the rats could not reach
With the rodents gone, the birds had already returned to the main island in what was the world's biggest project of its kind. If they could do this with rodents, then she had no doubt they could get rid of the other invasive species.
The other three proposal ideas for the EPA included improved regulations for tourism to cut down the number of humans who came. The less human activity the better.
The second one dealt with preventing future mining of minerals, oil, and gas. While banned, for now, the treaty would be renewed fully in 2048. They needed to prevent this from happening in the future.
The last proposal was about dealing with the impact the infrastructure was having on the continent. The construction of buildings and roads were harmful to the icy world. Also, an increased activity could eventually lead to an increase in the global warming effect.
"The EPA will be impressed once the proposals have been formally written for presentation. My concern now is how these proposed amendments can be accepted by all the parties involved in the treaty."
E.S. Lluberas knew what she meant. Treaties are complex pieces of paperwork and each member of the treaty needed to work together. Tensions between countries and pressure from major businesses to start plundering the continent for its valuable resources also caused problems.
The point was if they were going to keep governments who cared more about profit than peaceful and environmental conscious research than any amendments needed to propose sounded more profitable than any resources the continent offered.
"Do you have any suggestions?"
"At the moment, no. I would like to take these proposals and review them with A.E.S. Mr. Wydler. You're a busy man and as you said, these are just drafts. Hopefully together, we can make these proposals stronger before typing them up."
In France, Lila was getting ticked off with her family. Not only had the removed the door from her room and replaced it with a flimsy curtain, but they were also installing cameras in her bedroom.
"This is an invasion of privacy! I'm entitled to have a place that's my own and you need to ask to come into!" She was stomping her feet and waving her arms all of the place throwing a fit.
Vino's eyes narrowed his eyes as he walked over to her and hissed at her to stop throwing a temper tantrum this second. "You're a fourteen-year-old girl, not a two-year-old toddler. Try acting your age for a change Lila. There are consequences for your actions. If you carry on to act like this I have no problem with putting you in timeout permanently. "
This stunned the girl. Her father had never indicated that he would send her to jail before. "You would have me arrested for crying about the unfairness I'm dealing with?"
"No, I would have you arrested on the charges that you are a danger to yourself and your family if you keep acting like this." The man paused as he looked at his daughter trying to find the right words to get through to her.
"Your mom and I don't want to take away your privacy, but your actions have caused several and very serious difficulties for our family. You've broken our trust twice Lila for no other reason than you think you deserve better."
"I do! I'm vastly superior to other people. I'm smart, cultured, and charismatic. It's not my fault there are so many idiots in the world who don't recognize a sales pitch."
Vino looked ready to slap his daughter for her mouthing off. What would it take to get through to Lila what she did was wrong? Thankfully, Olivia entered the room that minute.
"No one is entitled to anything in life. You have to earn what you want or it doesn't mean anything Lila. If you want your privacy back you have to earn it. Now, stop throwing a fit please and go help your cousins out with unloading the delivery truck. That fresh food is not going to put itself away."
Huffing angrily, Lila stormed out of her suite and headed downstairs to the back porch to help cart the food inside.
Back in the suite, Olivia was in her and Vino's bedroom dabbing on some lavender oil to help relieve her headache. She didn't know what she was going to do with her daughter. Each year, Lila seemed to get more devious with her behavior.
In her vanity mirror, she saw her husband entering the room. "Did you finish installing the cameras?"
Vino nodded. "I don't like what we're doing."
"Neither do I, but what choice do we have? Her behavior is getting worse and whenever she's alone in her room, I'm afraid of what she's plotting. I don't understand what we're doing wrong with parenting her."
Her husband shrugged. He was also confused. Growing up here in Fox Burrows, his parents had been very strict and expected his best behavior. At the same time, they gave him his freedom to make his own choices and showed him affection whenever they could.
"I've been reading articles on how to deal with teenage lying, but I'm not sure it will help much." She passed her husband one of the articles she cut out of a magazine for him took at.
Teenagers would lie for six main reasons. One was to avoid punishment for causing trouble. It was the same reason children lied about embarrassing matters. Lying was also the result of wanting to protect someone, cover up how they feel, or craving attention. The last reason was to keep part of their lives to themselves.
Several of these reasons related to Lila's case, especially craving attention. She would go to any length to have people paying attention to her. Growing up in a family that owned and managed such a complex company, you soon learned the best way to get attention was to make everyone like what you had to say.
Lila had taken that knowledge and twisted it. Using manipulation and deceit to get what she wanted. While they praised her ability to make people believe in what she said, they had failed to establish when it was time to use a sales pitch and when it was time, to be honest with people.
The article said that the parents had to remain calm when it came to talking to a teenager. Yelling and storming around angrily was hypocritical and wouldn't demonstrate how important it was for everyone to listen to one another.
As tough as it was, especially if the child had been lying about a family member, maintaining perspective was vital when addressing an angry teenager. You had to remember you lied when you were a teenager as well.
Other tips included emphasized lectures about why lying was wrong and the consequences for doing so. Find an example that will show how serious lying is. An example would be about lying about any medication a person took and later there would be a deadly drug reaction.
Parents should model honesty to their teenagers. Be more conscious of their actions and how they affected others. A teenager who has been lying habitually will take time and patience to comprehend their behavior is wrong and how to act appropriately.
They had been doing this and making Lila go to therapy for her disorder. It wasn't helping much because Lila refused to put in the effort to change or even consider the possibility that she had a problem.
Dr. Rocky had recommended a few weeks ago that it might be better if Lila was sent to a long term mental health center where there were trained professionals and security to keep an eye on her all day.
Olivia looked over her shoulder at her husband. "Do you think we should consider Dr. Rocky's offer?"
Vino took a few deep breaths. "I don't know. As angry as I am at her, she's still my only child. I don't want to be separated from her. I just don't know if sending her away would help or hurt her."
They decided to wait a few more weeks and if there wasn't any improvement then they would revisit the issue.
The next day, Marinette went to visit Master Fu. Adrien had another photo shoot today and then he had double Chinese lessons so he wouldn't be able to sneak away for today's lesson.
"So what will I be learning today?" Marinette asked.
Master Fu took a sip of tea before smiling. "Do you recall when Ning was learning to use two Kwami Charms at once?" Receiving a nod he continued with his explanation.
"The combining on two Kwami Charm powers is a scale down version of what the Order called unification. That is, wearing two Miraculouses at once and fusing their power."
He reached behind him and picked up the Miraculous Book and placed it on his small table. He opened it up to the right pages that had an illustration of what she needed to do.
First, she had to transform using her normal Miraculous before putting on another. Then she needed to slip on the second and hold out her hands while saying the two Kwamiis names.
While clapping her hands together she had to say unify. To undo the fusion she had to repeat the process this time saying divide. "Using two Miraculouses at once can drain your energy significantly faster than normal."
"Would it speed up the countdown as well? Could I use both powers in one transformation?"
Master Fu acknowledge she could use both powers. If she did use both she would have only five minutes left before the unification came undone as she was transforming back to her civilian self.
"You must be careful when using unification. Not all powers work well with one another. Your enhanced abilities are much stronger and can be difficult to control. The real danger is the longer your unified the harder it is to divide the powers again."
"Why?"
Master Fu sighed heavily as he explained that if a wielder was using unification often the rush of power became addictive. Some wielders became so addicted that they died because of an overuse of magic.
Marinette paled upon hearing this. The Miraculouses were amazingly powerful objects, but there was always a price to pay when using them. "I'll explain this to Adrien when we see each other next. Am I going to be trying this today?"
"Not today. We're just going to review the theory behind the technique. You need to be a lot stronger before you even practice using this." Marinette was grateful that she had more time to familiarize herself with the power.
If something happened to her while using this power, she wanted her partner right next to her to help her when she needed it.