They kept jumping from roof to roof, never standing still for more than a second. That was what he told them to do this rainy night. The training was again focused on maneuverability and special awareness.
They were using the storm to practice their maneuvers since it effectively offered protection from prying eyes while providing greater difficulty to their movements as they had to keep in mind to where, when and how to jump in order to avoid interfering with one another and keeping avoiding Magus's attacks.
Chat Noir was already out of commission, lying on a nearby roof after having been hit by a chunk of ice straight to the face. Magus was being especially merciless with them this time. Barely giving them time to think on their next move.
"Keep on the move!" He shouted not far from them. "If you stop, you are dead!".
"I much prefer life" Volpina tried to fill Chat's place as the jester only to be cut short by another icicle flying by her head.
"Fighting magic casters is much trickier than an akuma". Master Fu calm yet loud voice reached Ladybug despite the storm that was raging over the city. He was being protected by translucent sphere cast by Magus before their training session had begun. "They rely on preparation, so you must be ready to face even the unexpected".
"How can we be ready for the unexpected when we don't expect it!?" Queen Bee shouted somewhere on the left of Ladybug, before slipping off the railing she had just landed and plummeted to the street below.
Volpina dived after her on the following moment, grabbing the other's waist while running across the wall until she could jump back to the roof where Magus was standing. Queen Bee mouthed a silent thank you and launched herself at the caster of the mayhem around them, calling her power in hope of stopping him.
But before she could hit him with Venom, he spun and waved his staff at her side, sending her flying off again. Ladybug threw her yo-yo to catch her and bring her unconscious form back up. She knew from past experience that being struck by Magus' staff was the same as being hit by an entire wall made of concrete. Not pleasant at all.
"Your miraculous give off an aura that any mage with proper training can sense, so if you want to sneak on me, you must first learn to hide that aura in order to ambush me" Magus thundering voice echoed above the storm. He surely had just woken up half the neighborhood, but didn't seem to care.
Now only she and Volpina were still standing against Magus. At this times, she hated his mask as it completely hid his face and made it impossible to grasp at his expression.
She heard her friend call her power, a ball of orange light enveloping them and creating several copies of them. They knew Mirage would only buy little time, but every second they lasted longer was a victory.
Magus seemed unimpressed as he hadn't changed his stance. It had actually the opposite effect. He released his hold on the spell that sustained the flying icicles, which evaporated on the spot, and started a slow march towards them.
"Your illusion is still weak, Fox" he said in a calm voice, a grey smoke forming from the tip of the blade of his staff. "You have to understand your place and your power"
With that, the cloud of smoke completely covered him only to disperse afterwards.
"Terrific…" Ladybug cursed under her breath. Whenever Magus pulled the disappearing act, someone was bound to be knock out next.
"And why does he keep saying that? It's the third time this week alone" Volpina grumbled beside her. She commanded the copies to start running wild, trying to catch Magus before he could be done with them.
"And why does he keep calling me Fox?" she backed on Ladybug, lowering herself to a defensive stance.
"I don't k…" Ladybug was interrupted went she noticed the smoke appearing on her right with the corner of her eye, but was to slow to warn the other in time.
"Because that isn't your name" Magus's voice came along with a kick that sent Volpina rolling over the wet roof tiles.
"Alya!" She heard Ladybug shout before she too was hit by his staff between her shoulder blades, making all air escape her lungs before she fell unconscious.
Volpina's mirage faded one after the other, until only she remained, having recovered soon enough and stood her guard high against the mage, ready to defend.
However, when he lost his footing on a metal plate, she seized the opportunity and aimed at him.
He tried to recover, but his movements had suddenly become slower. Not that Alya would notice or care at this moment. She broke through his guard, her knee connecting with his chest with all the strength she had left. She could fill the bones of his chest cracking under the pressure, a sickening sound only perceptible by her enhanced sound coming from a rib.
He backed several steps before he fell to his knees, coughing hard.
"Finally!" She cheered "How is that? Does it hurt?" She sneered at him. "Will you stop calling me Fox? I have a name just like the others". She was mad at him. There was no other word that would describe her emotions and she needed to vent those emotions before they consumed her.
"Sorry, Alya, but I can't do that just yet" He managed to say between the coughs, raising his head just in time as a lightning illuminate the sky and she saw red streaks running the lower part of his mask.
She felt nauseous at the site, knowing it was her doing.
"Magus!" She ran to his side. For all the pain he caused them during the training sessions, he never deliberately harmed or hurt them and even when he did, it was much more bearable than any akuma they had fought and they also had greater healing capabilities them normal people. A bonus to help with the burden of the miraculous.
'No pain, no gain' he used to say.
"I'm sorry! I didn't…" She started, but he raised his hand to interrupted her, slowly recovering his breath. He proceeded to uncork a small viable that was hidden inside his cloak and drank all of it in one go.
He didn't say a word for a while, but she could almost hear the grimace in his features. Whatever he had just drank, it certainly didn't taste good.
"It's ok, Alya" She notice that for the first time he didn't called her 'Fox'. "That was actually a pretty good hit".
"I saw an opening and went with the flow" She said in a low voice. He cracked the first laugh she had ever heard him give yet. That until he started to cough up blood again. "Oh gods! What did I do?!"
"Aside from giving a decent bruise and some well-deserved pain, nothing I won't recover" He finally said after regaining his composure. "And congratulations, Alya. You are the first of the group to learn how to fight light a true warrior."
"What do you mean?" She gave him a quizzical look.
"You fought like kids before, only swinging right and left, wasting so much precious time thinking when that was supposed to be as natural as breathing." She didn't have a reply to him immediately.
"Thanks, I guess" She finally gave a shy smirk and helped him to his feet, it was strange helping someone much taller than her with almost zero effort. Once he was sure of himself, Magus released her hold on him and, leaning heavily on the staff, made his way back to where the others were lying.
"Just one question" She waited for his response, to which he waved his hand and nodded in a conceding gesture. "Why am I the only one you call fox? I never hear you calling Ladybug…well…ladybug…not the best example, damnit".
Magus chuckled at her antics. "No, it wasn't, but I understand your question." He tapped each of the three knocked out heroes and they were covered with the grey fog Magus used for transportation. "And the answer couldn't be simpler"
"Volpina isn't a name you choose. It was given to you by the media as if it could take the place of the akuma, giving it a better idea to be associated with." He explained referring to when Lila was akumatized the first time. "And that image interferes with you powers and how you see yourself."
"How?" She urged on "How does a simple name affects me?"
"Because words have weights and our names, especially the ones we chose ourselves are even heavier. They mean a part of what we are, the part the world see.". He said without further elaborating, the grey fog already rising around Alya before she could notice.
"Wait!" She tried to move away, but it was too late. She closed her eyes once and when she opened, she was standing in the middle of her room like every time he did that.
"I hate when he does that" she released her transformation, several fruits cookies already prepared for Trixx in a plate over her bed.
"Don't beat yourself to much over this, Alya" Trixx's high pitched voice reached her between the bites. "Magus had years of Spartan training before any of you, even the Guardian in his prime would be helpless against him on one on one. And he is even worse than your friend Adrien when it comes to social behavior".
"How much Spartan are we talking here, Trixx?" She asked the little god. "All that we know is that his parent make Gabriel Agreste looks like a doting father in comparison".
"I don't know the details of his childhood, if that's what you want to know" He took another bite on his fourth cookie. Alya was still amazed how something so small could eat so much. "But I know that for anyone to grow faster, they need to have magic infused on themselves by a third party, much like he is doing with all of you and that can hurt considerably if done directly to the body".
"Wait, what?" Alya was at loss, she was never told that.
"Although he is certainly being as gentle as he can…" Trixx went on ignoring his holder until Alya grabbed him by the tail and forced his attention to focus on her.
"What do you mean he is infusing magic on us?"
"Oh! I thought you'd have noticed by then". Trixx gave the most innocent face he could muster, however Alya wasn't about to let him go so easily. "Fine, but if anyone ask, you didn't hear it from me".
"Magus have been forcing little bits of raw mana inside the miraculous to awaken all your powers as soon as possible, which would otherwise take decades to be mastered. A time you clearly don't have."
Alya tried to interject, but Trixx silenced her with a wave of his little paw. "No, you wanted to hear it, so now you will hear all of it". It was weird to be scolded by the naturally easy going and overly excited kwami.
"Over ten millennia ago, a power beyond your understanding threatened this world. In order to protect it, the miraculous were created by Magus's ancestor at the cost of her existence so she could harness the power of kwamis like me into this world and seal away the threat".
Alya tried once again to ask something, but the dejected look on Trixx's face stopped her this time.
"Please, Alya, just listen for now, ok?" He asked softly, barely above a whisper. She just nodded and let him have his time.
"Kwamis, on the order hand, are naturally free beings, quantic gods, fragments of the reflection of this reality" Alya clearly wasn't understanding, so Trixx tried his best to make things simpler. "Think of us as tiny pieces of the universe. Tikki is creation, Plagg is destruction, I'm illusion, Wayzz is protection, Pollen is subjection, Nooroo is transmission and Duusu is manifestation, just to name the my own set."
"So when together, all kwamis are, like what… this universe?" Alya tried to make sense of what she had just been told.
"No quite, the kwamis exist to mirror the universe, we are gods whose sole purpose is to represent parts of it, we were never supposed to take part in it. However, because of our nature, we can interfere with the universe, at a cost, of course".
"So Magus' ancestor payed the price for binding you guys on the miraculous?" Alya tried and Trixx nodded in agreement.
"Yes. The power liberated during our imprisonment was enough to seal away the threat" He finished, stressing on word in particular.
"You were free before and now you are unwillingly bound to the miraculous" Alya rationalized "That's the same as slavery! Can we undo it?"
"I doubt even Magus would know how to undo the binding and it doesn't bother us anymore". Trixx commented light hearted.
"But that just Stockholm syndrome" Alya snarled back angrily.
"No, not anymore at least" Trixx was delighted in seen his chosen wishing to make justice, she was indeed one of the best he ever had. "We found a meaning we didn't have before, he found a purpose and more important, we found dear friends. There were lows on the way, but the highs for outweigh them. You alone far outweigh everything bad I had ever gone through, Alya".
Her eyes started to swell and water at his sincere words, she always had a soft spot for her little furry friend, now more so than ever.
"I'm glad I could be useful" She replied, brushing a tear of the corner of her eye with her finger, a part of her noticing Trixx wanted to change that specific subject as soon as possible. She complied.
"Useful? Ha! I've been on cloud nine ever since Ladybug picked you out for me!" He zipped all around her until he came to nuzzle amidst her locks.
"I couldn't have asked for a better or cuter partner myself" Alya laughed when his tail brushed against her ear.
"Now, back on topic" She finally said after the giggling died. "How is he putting magic inside of us again?"
"Not you" Trixx replied, flying towards her necklace "It is your miraculous that have been receiving raw mana, so its potential can be unlocked more easily."
"That explain why we were handling the akumas much easier since we started training" She remembered that every fight they had with Hawkmoth's victims was becoming increasingly easier and faster. "Is the training just for covering?"
"No, of course not!" Trixx chuckled "Even a power granted takes a while to get used to. That's the purpose of the training…"
"To make us ready for the powers we unlock?" Alya completed his phrase, waiting for a confirmation that came as vigorous nods from the kwami.
"But how does he do that?"
"Remember his staff?" Trixx asked and she grimaced. Of course she remembered. The blood thing always sent them home unconscious and painfully sore on the next day. "That's how he does! He conducts the mana through the staff into the miraculous while you are transformed."
Although Trixx explanation seemed simple, she had a feeling things quite as simple.
"Sneak son of a bitch" Alya shot between her clenched teeth. "Isn't that dangerous? Or couldn't he do that with less pain involved?"
"Not that I'm aware of for both. The miraculous must be in use for this to work, but since the miraculous itself tries to protect its holder to some degree, it rejects most of the magic, thus creating a shockwave that renders you unconscious and hurting."
"Well, that explain a few things." Alya scratched Trixx behind his ears, earning a content hum from him. "He could at least explain a few things to us beforehand."
"I think he consider this pointless since you wouldn't probably trust him anyway." Trixx answer was a needle to Alya's consciousness, it was true. They didn't trust Magus in the beginning and if she was being honest to herself, she still had her doubts regarding him.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear what Trixx had said afterwards. "Sorry, Trixx, can you repeat, please?"
"Oh, nothing, Alya, it was nothing." He shrugged aside and went back to his cookies, munching them contentedly.
Alya decided to let it aside as another topic was nagging her mind. The last words he had directed to her that night.
"Trixx, how important is a name for us?"
"That's a tricky question since every species reacts differently to names" he wondered "A name can mean many things or none at all. That's something you have to figure by yourself, what does your name mean to you?"
She agreed with him. It was a tricky question and one without an easy answer. Alas, it was also a question her tired mind wouldn't willingly try to answer now.
They remained in silence for a while until Trixx spoke again. "Hey, Alya, don't you have to meet Alix and Marinette tomorrow for your little project?"
"Fuck! With everything that was going on, I completely forgot about it! Thanks, pal! She hurried, readying everything that she would might need for Alix's secret plan to finally stop Marinette from stuttering near Adrien.
She didn't know what her friend was planning, but she sounded pretty sure she would succeed where they failed so far.
Either way, it was worth a shot.
"What I do out of love" She said more to herself, a small smile on her lips.
Once everything was in place and she was ready for bed, she turned to her kwami. "Take your time, Trixx. You know I can sleep with the lights on."
"Don't worry, Alya, I won't take long." The little fox then proceeded to gulp the remaining cookie in a single bite, earning a giggle from his chosen.
"Ok, buddy, goodnight and sleep well" She bid the kwami, gently petting him and made her way to bed.
Once settle, Trixx came floating and landed on top of her head. "Goodnight, Alya. Thank you for everything."
Despite her tiredness, her mind refused to shut down. She tried to make sense of everything she had been told, especially how Magus seemed more connected with them than he let on. She remained awake until Trixx rolled off her head, yet didn't wake up.
She held back a giggle that tried to escape her, cupping the kwami in her hand she finally let herself relax.
When sleep finally took hold of her, she had the best night since Magus appeared in their lives.
(…)
"Wake up, Marinette!" Her mother's voice came from the trapdoor for the third time in the last five minutes and it wouldn't be long before she came to check on her since she knew Marinette had a school project to do and her group agreed to meet on the Saturday, but Marinette couldn't muster any strength in her tired body. Everything was hurting….hell! Even breathing was hurting!
'Now I know how many muscles I use to breath and walk' she thought bitterly rolling to the side so she could get some kind of leverage and pull herself from the bed. She found some in the small handrail of her stair and took great care when climbing the steps down, for she knew it wouldn't be easy to get up again if she fell.
"Marinette, I'm worried about you." Tikki said in a soft tone which her chosen greatly appreciated. On their first week, they learned that Tikki's morning squeals always gave Marinette terrible headaches whenever she woke up like a zombie.
"I will survive, Tikki." She petted the small deity sitting on her shoulder while slowly made her way to her wardrobe wishing she could remain in her pajamas all day, but settling with a plain white shirt a size bigger and a pair of soft jeans shorts.
Not the best choice of outfit for an aspiring designer, but it was comfortable and in the state she was, she would take comfort over looks without a second thought. Deciding her outfit was good enough, she gave Tikki her morning cookie, grabbed her purse and make her way to the kitchen.
"Good morning, sweetie!" Her mother cheerfully greeted her as she was setting the table for her breakfast. "I'll be going now, dear. Your father needs all the help he can get with a big order we got last night, but I took the liberty of preparing a few things before for you and your friends".
"Thanks, Mamam, you're the best, you know?" Marinette tightly hugged her mother and took her place at the table. She silently ate the oatmeal her mother had prepared for her, picking the bag of snack her father had just backed for her and her friends.
Words couldn't explain how much she was grateful for being their daughter as she experienced every day the love and care the backers had in their enormous golden hearts.
As if on her cue, Tikki appeared at her side and started devouring an entire row of macaroons "Sorry Marinette, but your father's baking skill are the best I have ever tasted!". Having a little deity of thousand years earnestly munching the sweets made Marinette giggle despite everything.
It was these little moments of silliness and peace that she was glad to have Tikki in her life. No matter what they might face, in the next day the kwami of luck and creation would be jumping and beaming at everyone and everything with the greatest joy in the world. That was the way she was.
Marinette hadn't even finish her bowl of oatmeal when Alya burst through the door, stomping her way to her friend. Luckily, Tikki flew to her purse, as she was always fast to hide and could easily phase through objects and cloths.
"Girl! What's taking you so long?" Alya shouted already grabbing Marinette's arm and dragging her, she almost hadn't time to pick the bag her mother just gave her. "We'll be late if we don't leave now!" Marinette swallow a whimper that threatened to escape her his when Alya pulled her.
"Come on, Alya!" Marinette protested taking deep breaths, but did nothing to free herself. It was useless trying to brakes free of Alya's death grip, especially when your body is already tired and hurting from all the beating she took as Ladybug. "For the first time in forever I'm not late, so why rush everything?"
"Girl, what am I gonna do with you?" Alya turned to Marinette, but didn't let go of her nor slowed her march. "You and Alix are set to debate with Adrien and Max about technology next week and do you truly believe you can beat your stuttering and put up a fight against the two biggest nerds of the school in just seven days?"
It was true her chances of winning were terrible slim, however winning the argument wasn't her goal. It was getting rid of her shyness near Adrien for good and it was just a coincidence that Ms. Mendeleiev's project happen to give her the chance to finally be able to talk to Adrien normally with akumas attacking or crazy fan mobs running after them.
To make things even better, Alix agreed to focus in helping her rather the project. Alix was hellish smart when she wanted to and a single school project wouldn't jeopardize her grades. The same went for Alya as she also agreed to help in their endeavor as soon as she heard from them.
They made their way to Alix's house, which was near the Louvre, chatting about anything and everything. Alix's house was an old apartment with even older antiques inside and, although Marinette have known Alix for years, her house still surprised her. Century old artifacts, paintings, sculptures, mechanism, clocks, replicas and another infinite assortment of documents and photos were always neatly organized in the baroque living room where Mr. Kubdel usually worked.
The simple yet practical kitchen was on the left, while the bedrooms were on a corridor on the right. All in all, it was a house well lived and not that extravagant given how rich Alix's family was and where she lived.
They had just ringed the bell of Alix's door when Alya nudge Marinette's side with her elbow "So, girl, are you ready to get rid of your crush-related-mind-breaking-stuttering?".
"Very funny, Alya" Marinette answered unamused "And how do you and Alix pretend to do that without said crush? I doubt you could smuggle Adrien in her house." She paused for a moment, considering what she had just said "And I'm not daring you to do it. I don't want my best friend to go to jail".
One can never underestimate Alya Césaire and her relentless will to follow her own crazy ideas.
"Relax, girl! I promise that this don't involve kidnapping models". Alya joked, but when Marinette wasn't so sure.
Before either could reply, the door sprung open and Alix was already pulling them inside and ushering them to her room. "Kidnapping is the next step should this one fail". The mischievous glint in their pink haired friend reminded Marinette that Alix was another force of nature to not be trifled with.
However, as she wasn't paying attention to where she was pushing them, Marinette and Alya were rammed into Mr. Kubdel, who had just entered the living room caring several files that were sent flying all across.
"We are so sorry, Mr. Kubdel!" Gasped both teens already crouching to pick the dropped papers and photos.
"Don't worry, girls" He chuckled and helped them to their feet. "I know my daughter doesn't necessary pay much attention to where she is going, despite having an excellent special awareness. She even managed to run me into a wall a couple of months ago."
"Very funny, dad" Alix replied deadpanned with a roll of eyes, which seemed only amused her father even more.
"And might I know the reason for this girl-time?" The old curator asked them with a truly curious expression. Marinette and Alya were surprised since it was rare for any adult, specially someone like the curator of the Egyptian exposition in the Louvre, to care for what they were going to do. Besides Marinette's parents, but they were so caring about anyone that it only seemed natural to them.
"We are trying to get rid of Marinette shyness around Adrien" Alix explained much to Marinette's mortification. Being exposed to her friends was one thing, but being exposed to her friends' parents wasn't something she ever wanted.
"Ah! Young Miss Dupain-Cheng infamous stuttering! I remember seeing it personally once when your class went to the museum on a school project" Mr. Kubdel laughed, but soon stopped when he noticed her downcast look and almost teary eyes.
"I'm sorry, Marinette, it was unkind and uncalled on my part" He knelt and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm certain Adrien will soon see how wonderfully kind and talented young lady you are". He gave her a sincere smile and Marinette knew Alix's father wasn't a bad person, so there was no need to hold a grudge for something that even she agreed had become tragically comic.
"Thanks, Mr. Kubdel, but I think my romantic life could easily be famous comedy one of this days if I ever write a book about it" They all laughed, the prior incident soon forgotten.
"Well, I'm going to leave you girls to your machinations, but don't do anything dangerous". Mr. Kubdel was already at the door, leaving for work after quickly organizing the fallen papers. "I know for experience that love can make you take unnecessary risk."
"Don't worry, dad!" Alix stepped to the door, giving her father a last hug before he left. "We promise to not jump off a building. Love you!"
He gave a hearty laughed at his daughter's antics. "I know you won't and I love you too, Alix." The door closed with a soft click and they were at last alone to proceed with their plan.
"Your dad is actually pretty cool, Alix!" Alya exclaimed once the door was safely locked. "I've never seen another adult besides Marinette's folks to be interested in what a bunch of teenagers are up to nowadays".
"Yeah, I'm lucky for that. Dad always wanted to know what Jalil and I were doing, especially after mom died" She pulled the pocket watch that now hanged from a thin chain on her neck and traced the delicate lines of the ornamentations. "I just wish I learned to appreciate it sooner".
"I sure he is happy for you, no matter what" Alya ruffed Alix's pink hair and Marinette vigorous nodded.
"Thanks, girls, but enough sentimentalism!" Alix pushed them through her house until they were in her room.
Alix's bedroom wasn't fancy or anything. Actually, it wasn't even what someone would expect from a tomboy like her. There was some poster of rock bands and famous roller bladers plastered on the wall, but besides that, it was pretty standard.
She had widow bed with sand colored covers on the corner, there were several shelves over it where she pilled books, trophies she earned and a few cans of spray ink for her graffiti. Her small closet was open reveling the astonishing amount of sport clothes she owned and under the window a wooden desk where he left her notebook and computer.
Nothing out of ordinary, except the huge tome over the nightstand. It was a massive black hard leather covered book, the kind that Alya had only seen in museums. Moreover, the only distinguishable sing on it was a strange and old fashioned golden hourglass.
"I didn't know you were into this kind of reading, Alix" Alya commented pointing towards the enormous book "Whatever that may be, it looks old…really old".
"Oh! That's…" Alix rushed to the book, took it in her arms and hid it somewhere in her closet, effectively away from any praying eyes. "That's just a little project I'm doing with my dad".
Although Alya wasn't buying that, she shrugged at Alix's response. It wasn't the time to turn Inquisitor Alya mode on yet, since it would likely hinder any kind of progress they could make with Marinette.
Meanwhile, Marinette was desperately trying to keep herself awake and from getting to nervous with whatever crazy idea Alix had come up this time. Her last try ended with clumsy Marinette flailing hopelessly in a 70s themed skating nightclub.
The embarrassment of that memory still burned in her brain from time to time.
"If you say so…" she shouted, startling linking her arm with Marinette's and forcing her to sit on Alix's bed. "Anyway, let's get this over with!"
"Okay…" Marinette complied to Alya's pull, though uneasiness begun once again to settle on her stomach. "But you haven't told me what's the plan yet".
"You gonna love it!" Alya said practically jumping on her feet from excitement "Alix had an insane idea!"
"But how something crazy can actually help me?" Marinette argued back.
"Hush!" Alix interrupted her "And prepare to be amazed with my geniality!". She them produced a massive number of pictures of Adrien in all kinds of outfits…or the lack of it due to some swimwear and even an underwear ad he did once.
Needless to say, Marinette looked like a tomato close to fainting from all the blood that rushed to her cheeks, much to Alya and Alix's delight. They were both grinning madly over Marinette's reaction.
"C-come on, g-girls…" Marinette whimpered, trying to regain some sort of composure. "We already tried extreme exposure and it didn't work."
"But it isn't just exposure this time" Alix replied taking her watch off and holding it in front of Marinette's face. "We're adding hypnosis!"
"That was…" Marinette was looking for a way to be disrespectful towards her friend's idea. "Alya, help me out here, please."
"How about anti-climactic?" Alya considered after a brief moment "Hey, don't take me wrong Alix, but we were expecting something, I don't know, more tangible or watchable at least". Marinette wondered how much Alya had known before agreeing with this.
"You two have too little faith for your own good, you know" Alix replied, a bit of annoyance sipping in her low voice, she always hated when people didn't take her seriously.
"Come on, Alix, don't take it seriously" Alya tried to reason "I was expecting some projecting or a sculpture of a naked Adrien".
"Fine…" Alix grumbled, not fulling forgiving her friends and was just waiting to prove them wrong. "I learned a few tricks and Marinette is going to be the perfect guinee pig for this one"
"If you are so sure of this, then least see how good you are" Alya moved to the bed and started forcing Marinette to lay down.
"Hey!" The bluenette protested "Don't I have saying in this?"
"No" both girls said in unison much to her disbelief.
"With friends like you, I'm beginning to wonder if I should ask Chloe to help me next time" Marinette teased them.
"Oh you wouldn't!" Alya faked hurt by dramatically placing a hand over her chest, perhaps she was staying too much time with Chat as Volpina for her own good. "Chloe would never be a bff like I am!"
"And she would never help you to get Adrien" Alix completed, amused at their antics.
'It was true. If it involves Adrien, then Chloe is more likely to behead me and burn my body just to make sure no one will be between her and Adrien' Marinette thought bitterly. Although Chloe was much better since she was chosen by Chat Noir to help with her mother, she was still insufferable sometimes.
"You two are impossible" Marinette complained, but still complied with Alya's push and made herself comfortable and closed her eyes. 'Ok…this might not be so bad after all' she thought 'with this I can rest a bit more too'.
"Ready?" Alix asked Marinette to which she only nodded in return. She was already getting sleepy and the sooner they started, the sooner she could sleep it through.
Alix positioned herself beside Marinette and with the watch properly tied so that Marinette would be facing it despite laying on her back, she begun moving it like a pendulum, ever so slowly, back and forth.
Soon, Marinette's body begun to feel heavy and sluggish, she felt something falling over her eyes and rubbed them to remove whatever it was stopping her from relaxing, but there was nothing on her skin.
She thought it was weird, but since Alya hadn't said anything about Alix sprinkling strange substances over her, she decided to ignore it, brushing it aside as some sort of hallucination her tired brain had played on her.
"Are you sure this is safe, Alix?" she said between yawns. It wouldn't be long before sleep took her and she was very happy to oblige.
"I believe it is" Alix answered truthfully to which Marinette only hummed in acknowledgement. "We will be here with you all the time"
"That's right, Marinette" Alya gently stroked her hair with a soft smile on her lips. "We won't go anywhere while you take your nap".
Marinette mumbled something on the lines of a thank you, but it ended sounding more like a low snore than anything else. She was already out, sinking deeper into her sleep with each passing moment.
"Okay, Alix, she is out" Alya whispered, not wanting to awake Marinette to soon. "What now?"
"We make her dream of Adrien in every possible scenario she might have imagined" Alix begun to explain her idea, silently placing her watch over a table near her. "Okay, Marinette, this will be a little crazy and perhaps overly-stimulating, but is all for your own good"
She cracked her knuckles and took deep breaths, focusing all her attention to the task ahead. She had been studying for this and it was time for some practical experience. "Come on, girl" she thought to herself "You can do this".
"Think of Adrien" she began placing her left hand on Marinette's head, her pointing and middle fingers covering the brunette's eyes while her thumb rested over Marinette's slighted parted lips. Then Alix pressed her right palm on Marinette's forehead "Remember your thoughts of him, your fondest memories of him, everything that made you fall for him".
Her right hand lowered to her exposed neck. "Think of how he makes you feel. Remember his warmth, his summer green eyes focused only in you when you fell for him". Alix's hand continue to go lower, stopping over her heart "Think of how you feel towards him, what you desire from him and what you hope for your future". Marinette's hand was next "Think of how you want to touch him, running your hands through his hair, caressing his face and body".
Marinette gave a shy smile and flushing more and more with each passing moment. In the meanwhile, Alya was left gawking at Alix, she never knew that side of her and she was speechless. Alix was turning Marinette into a flushed mess with simple words and she still couldn't belief it might work in the end.
"And now for the finishing touch…" Alix look at Alya with a mischievous glint in her eyes then turned her attention back to Marinette's sleeping form, moving her right hand back to chest, more specifically, her breast. "Think of how you want for him to touch you, how you want to give yourself to him, how you want him to give himself to you".
She slightly squeezed Marinette's breast and she gave away a sharp gasp, but Alix wasn't done yet as she lowered her hand to her friend's lower belly, firmly pressing her palm there. "Think of only him, everything about him, every side, every aspect of him and let your love and lust guide you".
That was the last nail on the coffin.
A low moan escaped Marinette's lips, the kind Alya had never heard her friend make before…at least not in front of her. The entire situation seemed much hotter and sensual than Alya had expected.
Ever so gently and silently, Alix rose and joined Alya on the other side of the bed with great difficulty. She looked drained, exhausted even, like she had just run a marathon. Sweat pulled on her bangs, her flushed cheeks and her chest raising and falling in short ragged breaths desperately getting as much air as she could.
"Are you okay there, girl?" Alya got up and held Alix by the shoulders, she looked like she would black out any minute.
"Yeah" She finally said after a few long second. "I just didn't expect it would be this hard".
"Really?" Alya comment trying to get Alix to talk. She needed to know what this was all about and her guts told her there was more to this than the eyes met.
Alix hummed in agreement. "I knew it would be hard, but not this hard" She said once had regained her composure.
Alya had a hunch, a very good one to that. She knew Alix wasn't the discreet type, but even so she needed to be discrete and cautious to not blow everything. She knew Alix had come in contact with Magus thanks to Chat Noir little espionage stunt, but she could never say that for risking exposing herself.
And perhaps, just a slight chance, she might know who Magus was considering the near magical show she had just put on before her. And that was worth the shot, a very long shot, but better than nothing.
"So…" Alya begun, drawing Alix attention away from the dreaming figure in her bed. "Anything I can do to help with your little dad-daughter project?" She inquired, but once she noticed how Alix had tensed, she quickly added. "Since we are going to wait the sleeping beauty wake up, I thought we could use this time for something other than spacing out".
"It's nothing that important" Alix quietly mumbled. "Really, it's just about family history. Nothing exciting."
"I think I never saw you willing doing something not exciting before" Alya remarked "And I doubt your family was boring anyway."
At Alix lack of reaction, neither attempting to dissuade her from the topic nor demanding of her to drop the subject, Alya pressed on. "After all, it isn't like a family with a long list of clock makers that worked even to royalties would lack any dark and interesting remarks of their clients, am I right?"
That managed to get a response from her friend with Alix fighting to contain a snort that threatened to escape her mouth.
"Only you to turn a family hobby into a scoop hunt for a tabloid" Alix commented with a smirk.
"What can I say?" Interject Alya "Every reporter dream of a scoop and I must say I have a good intuition to find one".
"You are impossible, you know that, Alya?" Alix managed to say between a laughing fit that took hold of her. "A reporter to the heart! Ladybug must be really lucky if she managed to hide her identity from you!".
"That's just a matter of time! I promise my dear readers will be the first to get the juiciest scoop ever first hand on my Ladyblog!" Alya proudly announced "And you know who else is lucky?" At Alix negative response she continued. "Marinette".
"Because she can escape your inquisition by sleeping it through?" Alix's guess wasn't wrong.
"That's too, but it's only because she sleeps like a log" Alya pointed towards the sleeping form on their host's bed and to ascertain her opinion she grabbed Marinette's hand and let it fall straight to her face. She was unfazed, her dreamy smile still plastered on her lips. "See?".
"No kidding!" Alix tried poking Marinette's body to see if she would react since she was extremely ticklish and got nothing. "She's really out! Thankfully we agreed to do this in the morning. Hopefully this way I don't risk losing my bed tonight."
Sure, a bit of acting always came in hand when prying for secrets and nothing better than talking about well-known facts to make everything more natural and easier, that way you can avoid certain degree of criticism afterwards. That was one of the first tips Alya ever got since she decided to pursuit a career in journalism.
"Fine, you win!". She finally conceded, turning to her desk and picking her notebook.
'Shoot!' Alya thought to herself when she noticed Alix wouldn't be showing her the book she hid earlier. 'Nonetheless, it might still be useful to get closer to Alix and who knows, I might get to see that book again sooner this way.'
"You better be prepared for what I'm about to show you" Alix said powering the device on. "We actually found out a few curious things when we went through some old journals".
"Hit me with the best you got!" Challenged Alya, certain she wouldn't be surprised no matter she thrown at her as her goal lied on the mysterious book her friend was hiding in her closet.
(…)
After roughly three hours of browsering through Alix's notes, Alya's head was about to explode at the sheer amount of information her family gathered through the years. She knew that mankind had some really fucked up moments, but there were so many more repulsive secrets in her files that Alya was having one the rare moments she regretted her curiosity.
"I think I had enough of…whatever I just read" Alya commented after reading a rather graphic description of the stages of decay of a human body during the Napoleonic Wars in different climates and landscapes. Why Alix had or even cared to read such journals was beyond her, all that she knew she would be happy never having to see those again.
"Tired already?" Alix asked her, the smirk on her face clearly told Alya she had been played "And here I thought you were always thirsty for a chance of a scoop".
"That's doesn't mean I enjoy gore and repulsive stuff" Alya shot back "But seriously, why do you have some of this stuff?"
"Dad always said it was important to understand the effects of time on the mankind, be that on its physiology or on its emotional state, thus, the art of measuring time takes different perspectives depending on the purpose." Alix's answer left her baffled.
"No offense, Alix, but that isn't something I expected from you" She said cautiously. This was all way weirder than she could have ever expected.
"None taken, Al" the pink headed offered a shrug as if to make sure Alya knew she wasn't bothered "There are times I even doubt myself of my reasons".
"Then why do you continue?" Alya scooted closer to Alix. She was never one to easily open up her feelings and thoughts (not her opinions thought as she always makes herself crystal clear of something was bothering her).
And just as she was starting to suspect of her friend's reasons, she blushed lightly and got a slight dreamy look. "Is that Arthur guy?" she offered to which Alix nodded in agreement shyly.
'Huh, who would have thought?' She thought to herself 'Love can really make someone to crazy things'.
"He is an old friend, possibly my oldest and he'd always support me in whatever I choose to do" Alix begun recalling her memories. "As far as I can remember, Arthur is a constant in my life so I guess it was only natural to fall for him eventually".
"That's quite mature of you to admit a crush so fast" Alya remarked placing a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"No point biting around the bush when I didn't do much to make you think otherwise" Alix said with a roll of her eyes "I pretty much cling to him whenever I got the chance...literary" She laughed at her own statement, recalling the day Arthur showed up in their classroom the first time.
"True, but does he love you back?" Alya knew she was pushing her luck, but they never had the opportunity to have a talk like this before and for a moment Alya forgot about the strange book in her friend's closet.
"He hadn't said it out loud yet" Alix explained slowly. "But I can't remember how many times he went out of his way just to help me or just be somewhere for me."
"So you pretty much know he loves you back by his actions?" Alya completed her phrase and Alix nodded in agreement.
"Don't that bother you?" Alya wondered.
Alix moved her head to the sides in a silent no. "He has some personal issues to deal first." She stopped, tapping her finger to her chin, with a face she was considering something. "He has a few family problems to solve." She said in the end.
A light clicked in Alya's mind, maybe she was just exagerating...maybe she was onto something. Whatever the case, it was worth a shot.
"Problems like Adrien?" She tried, testing her ground with new found suspicions.
Alix gave an acid snort in response and Alya could only smile internally, this little visit was really paying off.
"Wit does suit her, don't you think, Trixx?" Alya froze at Alix's remark, eyes bulging and mouth hanging. How could she know about her kwami?
Seeing her friend's brain short circuit because of her statement, Alix went on. "Why the surprised face, Alya? Weren't you the one playing the good cop until now?".
Alya tried to answer, but even if her mouth moved, no sound left. To force her back together Alix decided to brush aside her hair, revealling the small deity that hid amist her locks. "Hello, Trixx!" She gently petted the kwami, scooping it on her hand. "It's good to finally meet you".
"Likewise, Miss Alix" Trixx bowed lightly, flying off to settle on Alix's head where he excitedly ruffled her hair. "I heard news the Arcane Lord had found a consort, but never imagined she would be so close to us".
"Hey!" Alix tried to shake him off to no avail. "No messing up there!" That seemed to stir Alya back to life as she grabbed her kwami by the tail and pulled towards her.
"He doesn't know the meaning of that and you should consider yourself lucky for your short hair" She placed Trixx on her shoulder, but in a second he was already tangling with her own hair. "You should see me after waking up every morning. the little devil makes me look like some punk"
They laughed loudly, clutching their stomach. The little devil in question, in retaliation, only muttered under his breath he would step up his game that night, but Alya couldn't care less.
"For how long have you known about me?" Alya inquired now that the cat was out of the bag.
"For a while now, a couple of months give or take" Alix answered nonchalantly.
Surprisingly, Alya wasn't losing her mind as she had expected she would when her secret was finally exposed. Truth be told, she felt free.
Someone finally knew her secret and she felt lighter than she had in quite a while. There was an undeniable relief in sharing the long kept knowledge. Moreover, she trusted Alix, they were friends, she knew what it was like to be akumatized and how to keep secrets from your friends.
"Let me guess" she managed once she recovered her breath "Your boyfriend told you everything?"
This time, it was Alix who was left speechless, heat crawling her face. "A-A-Arthur isn't my boyfriend!" she was shout, stuttering, only to quickly slam her hand over her mouth in fear of waking up their sleeping friend.
Said friend continued in deep sleep, but now she was blushing profusely, soft moans escaping every so often. Both teen gulped at the sight, neither have seen a clearly arousal face so close to them, not taking into account the searches made on the internet out of curiosity.
Finally, Alya snickered at her, a devious smirk plastered on her face. "Yet, you mean!"
"I walked myself into this one, didn't I?" Alix gave a playful defeated shrug.
"Yup, you did!" She giggled happily in response, enjoy every single moment. She felt truly happy now that she could talk about everything with Alix.
However, a thought crossed her mind, one she couldn't ignore. If she knew her, then…" Do you know anyone else?"
Alix quickly understood what she meant and nodded along. "I know all of you, but I won't tell you."
"Why not!?" Alya shouted feeling slightly betrayed, which was stupid of her, but she could help herself as her friend held information on the greatest scoop she could get her hands on.
"Because it's part of your training or so Arthur said a few nights ago"
'Riiiight…I kind of forgot about that'. Alya thought. "So you're supposed to help me now?"
"Only in helping you see the way, after all Arthur refused to tell me everything" Alix explained in a low voice. "He only told me a part of his plan yet"
"I see" Alya knew what it was like to be left on the dark "That must be frustrating"
"A little" Her friend confessed with a sad yet unfaltering smile "But I trust Arthur no matter what"
A coy smile formed on Alya's lips "You do have it bad, girl!"
Alix, on the other hand, just shrugged it aside "He earned my trust, as he will earn yours eventually"
"But he won more than your trust if he managed to capture a tomboy to the heart such as yourself" Alya snickered at her.
"At least I'm not a damsel in distress that need a charming prince to come to my rescue every time I'm in a pinch" She retorted with a giggled and Alya was appreciating this rare moment of honest and heart to heart talk with Alix.
"Hail girl power or whatsoever!" Alya raised her closed fist in the air and laughed without restrain or care over Marinette sleeping just besides them.
Once she managed to collect herself, she looked at her friend with a mischievous glint in her eyes "And what was that about not being a damsel? Do I take that figuratively or…?"
Alya didn't have to finish her question as Alix's turning a tomato from head to toes with a clear busted face was answered more than she meant with her tease.
However, before Alix could muster a comeback, a shriek echoed through the windows and rattled their very core. It was a high piercing sound that seemed to claw its way to the brains and scratch it.
They rushed to the windows to look for the source of the horrid sound and what they saw left Alix trembling. "Please no…" whimpered, staggering back to her bed and desperately trying to wake Marinette up by shaking her shoulders to no avail.
Alya darted to her friends' side without a clue to what do first: calm Alix down or help her waking Marinette. Unfortunately, she chose the first.
"Alix, stop!" She yelled at her, but she didn't stop from shaking and shouting Marinette's name, she went and grabbed her wrists and wiggled her away from their still sleeping friend. "Girl! Calm down! Breath and tell me what is that think!"
"You don't understand!" Alix tried to break free from Alya's hold without success. It was with terror plastered on her blue eyes, filled with unshed tears, that she fixed Alya. "That thing is a Dream Eater!"
The monster in question burst thought Alix's windows sending splinter and glass shard all around them and shrieked on more. Being this close to the beast made its scream deafening.
The Dream Eater was almost three meters tall made entirely of a thick black smoke and had the form of a cross between a lizard and a human. The only thing that was more alarming than its form was its eyes. Two shinning orbs of the same color as dried blood, a deep and dark crimson that sent shivers through Alya's back when she gazed upon the creature.
Alix was the first to recover after the initial shock, raising to defend Marinette who surprisingly was still sleeping. She took a defensive stance at first even if she was trembling a little of fear, but when she noticed the creature…Dream Eater had its eyes on Marinette, she chose to swallow her own fear and tried her best to stand defiant. "No worries, Marinette, I put you in this and I'll protect you through."
Something clicked inside Alya's head at that moment. 'Shit' She chastised herself. 'Pull yourself together, girl! Your friends need you!'.
Trixx seemed to react to her thoughts, zooming in front of her and giving her a firm nod. "Okay, buddy! Let's show this freak what we can do! Trixx, Let's pounce!"
An orange light flooded the room, fading a second after to reveal clad in a new outfit. Alix eyed her surprised, a clear indicator that whatever Arthur had told her, it clearly hadn't involved a drastic physical change.
She no longer wore a copy of Volpina's outfit. Stead of an orange and white spandex with the tail serving as a large belt, she had a light and short red-orange overcoat with a black swan-necked collar and white front that hugged her form and went down on her back until it formed an coattail that turned while at the end. Long black leather glover almost reached her shoulder were matched by the knee high leather boots.
She still wore the spandex under everything, white on the front until her waist while the rest was a tone lighter of the overcoat. Her mask had also changed, the former dark orange with sharp angles was now colombina styled, being the upper half a dark orange that was close to red with the bottom being white. The black marks over her eyes gave the impression of being eyebrows.
Her rebellious hair had been tied into a single ponytail blending her natural color on the roots and snow white on the tips. Finally, her fox ears, formerly black with the orange tips were now entirely orange with that black tips.
Alya felt like she no longer was a simple copy of an akuma. No, not anymore, now she was a hero on her own accord, with her own path. The feeling was liberating, terrifying in a way, but that was truth.
She had long known the weight of deception and the power of lies as an aspiring reporter, more so after getting her miraculous, but now she completely understood the lightness that the truth brought her mind and heart. And for the first time since donning the mantle of the Fox Holder, she felt complety.
And it was exhilarating!
However, the Dream Eater wasn't impressed or bugged at all. Actually, it kept its focus on Marinette.
"Okay, you ugly boi" Alya took her flute in hands and joined Alix's side determined to protect both of her friends. "You're up for some beating since you ruined the moment".
"Hey, Al, can you buy me a few moments?" Alix nugde her side, slightly stepping back and closed her eyes, concentrating and muttering some strange language that Alya couldn't even guess which was.
"I should have known you had something up your sleeve like a like a good hocus pocus-abracadabra thing" She teased her friend, not expecting her to reply the soft 'I'm just an apprentice' before she resumed her chanting. She'd have to ask her why Arthur/Magus didn't have to chant for his spells afterwards.
Her attention zerod again on the Dream Eater as it stepped towards them, lunging at them a split of second later.
Alya would have never be able to react in time in the past, but her change of outfit also gave her a significantly boost to her skill - scratch that! It greatly boosted her! – She sidestepped the Dream Eater's assault and swung her flute on its side.
Despite its misty form, the Dream Eater had quite a corporeal body and it was sent flying across the room to collide on the other wall with a loud hollow sound. "Holly shit!" Alya exclaimed with excitement running through her arms. "Now that's what I call super strength!"
A grunt from the Dream Eater brought her attention back to the fight. The monster was up again, but this time it was focusing on Alya, the desire for blood coming from it was strong enough to unsettle her even without an empathic sense like Nooroo had.
She put her flute away and jumped and the monster, testing her new claws. Moving with greater fluidity and finesse, she spun, kicked and clawed the Dream Eater, forcing it on the defensive. She had barely broken a sweat when Alix whistled.
She took it was her cue to step away and let Alix do her magic. She groaned at her unintended pun. 'Perhaps I'm really spending too much time around Chat'.
"Okay, punk, this is for breaking my window!" Alix drew the Dream Eater's attention to her and that was when Alya noticed the hourglass made of shinny sand floating between Alix's hands. "Eat this! Time Burst!"
A circled of the same sand of the hourglass appear around the Dream Eater, quickly closing on it as it let another deafening roar and exploded on black tendrils of black smoke and golden sand.
Alya rushed to Alix and caught her before she could hit the floor, she was out cold. She rationalized the if a hypnosis would leave her exhausted, a spell like the one she'd just cast would certainly be even more tiring.
That, however, left her wondering how Arthur could cast so many spell like he did whenever they sparred. She was pulled from her musings when Alix stirred on her arms.
"Hey girl! Welcome back to the land of the leaving!" She teased her.
Alix huffed and tried to sit, but when her vision went black and her body threatened to give away again, she eased herself and her Alya hold her weight. She let another indignant huff leave her lips and Alya chuckled at her expense.
"What's the matter?" She teased her once more "Don't you like being lovely held by your man?"
Alix answer was in the form of a single sarcastic laugh. "One, you aren't my man. Two, I'm not the cuddly type"
"Said the girl who used to cling to Marinette during the first grade." At her friend's mortified face, she went on. "Do you really thing I wouldn't dig around?"
When Alix mumbled a low no, Alya didn't even try to hold back, bursting into a loud laughing.
"Anyway...you'll have to choose a new name now" Alix pondered. "Do you have anything on your mind?"
"Actually, yes, I have" She raised her friend on her arms and lowered her beside Marinette, who was still sleeping and blushing and moaning. "You'll have to do the same thing with me later" Alya said, pointing to their sleeping friend.
"We'll see. Name! I want a name!" Alix tried to pull her best demanding face, to no avail. She was too tired to pretend.
"I was thinking something like Rena Rouge" Alya finally conceded.
"Red fox, it suits you, I'll give you that." She smirked and softly bumped her face with her hand.
As Alya dropped her transformation, Trixx let a satisfied, yet tired, sigh. "You did it" I knew you could do it!" He jumped on his holder head and rolled over her hair contentedly. "You are your own person now!".
They chuckled at the kwami excitement and Alya scratched his head. "Thank you for everything, Trixx".
After a few moments, the commotion that was coming from outside finally caught their ears. "You'll have to explain what was that later. Now we have a bigger problem to deal with" She said pointing to her shattered window. "You wouldn't know a magic to fix it, would you?"
"No, she doesn't" A voice coming from behind startled them and they turned to face whoever might have entered the apartment.
They came face to face with a very stern looking Jalil Kubdel.
FINALLY! This and the next couple of chapter are proving to be a pain to write...I don't know how many times I rewrote this little monster.
Hopefully, the next one will take much less time since...one can hope, can't he?
Once again, I thank you all for reading so far and I hope to see you again soon!