Jeanne wasn't supposed to be out of bed yet and they both knew it. But she could be surprisingly persuasive when it came to her little brother. There was an Egyptian exhibit at the Louvre and Jeanne wanted to see it more than anything else. She had dressed in a cat-themed ensemble; cat ear headband, oversized pink sweater with a cat face on it, cat paw tights, cat choker, as well as a black skirt and black flats. The outfit covered most of her bandages and her long free-flowing hair distracted from the bruises on her face.
"Jeanne, this is a bad idea." Adrien said, following after her as she strode down the stairs. "Father will be furious!"
"It's just a trip to the museum." Jeanne said. "Nathalie told me it was okay as long as you stayed with me and got me out of there if things got serious."
"Does she mean-" Adrien's heart jumped to his throat.
"She said no vigorous physical activity and no letting me be around if there are akuma attacks." Jeanne brushed him off, still calm. "So if you have to transform she wants you to bring me home first."
"So she knows?"
"The only one who doesn't know at this point is Father."
"I thought I was careful!" Adrien groaned.
"You were, but with the level of security your father demands, one of us was bound to find out sooner or later." Nathalie was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "I'm sorry, Adrien." He didn't know whether to be scared by this or relieved. He decided to be relieved. Sneaking around Nathalie had caused him endless stress. Knowing she was in his corner made him feel better. Jeanne's reaction had been less calm, but then again, she had found out at a less than optimal time. She'd reacted better than expected given that Nathalie and the Gorilla had informed her while she'd been having a panic attack.
"Oh! Did you see that video Alya posted on the Ladyblog?" Adrien asked once they were in the car. "Ladybug might go to my school!"
"Well, I did see the video." Jeanne leaned back in her seat. "There is a strong possibility that she goes to your school. But on the other hand, half the high schools in Paris use that textbook. Just saying."
"Wouldn't it be cool if she did go to my school though?" Adrien persisted. "I might even know her!"
"Given how quickly she shows up to the akuma attacks, yeah, she probably does go to your school." Jeanne gave up playing devil's advocate. Adrien continued to come up with theories for the rest of the car ride, completely distracting him from the fact that his sister was not supposed to be out of the house yet. Jeanne just sat back, glad to finally be mobile again. Being stuck in that hospital bed had been awful, not to mention all the complications that had occurred because of the curse still on her. Plagg had said it would wear off on its own, but not how long it would take. Still, she was going to see some great Egyptian art now, and pay homage to the great cat goddess Bast.
"Be home before dark." Nathalie told the siblings as they exited the car.
"We will!" Jeanne said, bounding inside.
"Slow down!" How was she moving that fast while still injured? Adrien ran after her. Jeanne practically glided through the Louvre. This was her true home, surrounded by art and the dappled sunshine that poured in through the glass exterior. She sighed deeply, savouring the air. It always felt different here.
"So..." Adrien stopped behind her, breathing heavily. "Which way is the exhibit?"
"Mm...This way." Jeanne said, pointing to the signs. It was easy to find the exhibit, and Jeanne was in absolute bliss, pointing to everything and rattling off all the knowledge she knew. She stopped in front of one mural and frowned.
"Hey, Plagg?"
"Mm?" The kwami popped out of Adrien's shirt pocket. "What? What's going on?"
"That." Jeanne pointed to the mural again. "Is that one of your past wearers?" The mural was mostly hieroglyphics, but there were a few pictures, one depicting a figure that looked surprisingly like Ladybug, and another that looked quite Chat Noir-esque.
"Oh yeah. Him." Plagg yawned. "Yeah, he was one of my kittens. Nice kid. His mom was a devotee of Bast, so I was treated really well there."
"Bet they didn't have Camembert." Adrien said. Jeanne rolled her eyes and patted her brother's shoulder. He was trying to one-up a dead Egyptian kid.
"True. But they were nice." Plagg stared wistfully up at the mural. "I really liked living with them." There was a quiet mournfulness to him that neither Agreste sibling had ever witnessed before.
"Everyone dies in the end, right?" Jeanne said, forcing a smile. "It's part of life."
"That's what Tikki always says. Doesn't make it any easier." Plagg burrowed back into Adrien's pocket. Jeanne and Adrien looked at one another, then at the mural. There were no words. They continued through the exhibit. Thankfully, a distraction soon came along. The two were about to turn the corner when Jeanne stopped.
"Ugh." Jeanne wrinkled her nose.
"What? What's going on?" Adrien asked, trying to peer past his sister.
"Jalil Kubdel." Jeanne said. "I took a history class with him once. He's obsessed with Egyptian history, but he always reads the wrong sources and his facts are all wrong. He's still at it, I see." She cleared her throat. "Hey, asshole! Nefertiti was Tutankhamen's stepmom!"
"Jeanne!" Jeanne was dragged behind the corner by Adrien before Jalil could see her.
"I think you're high on the pain meds." Adrien said, looking around. "We should go home. This was a bad idea. I should never have snuck you out."
"He has no respect for history. And we just got here!."
"I don't care. You're high on pain meds. Now let's go."
"We should stick around." Plagg snickered. "I want to see your sister yell at people more." At least he seemed better.
"We have an image to protect!" Adrien hissed back. "She can't just go yelling at people outside the house." The last few weeks had been stressful enough, he did not need Gabriel chewing them both out about causing a scene here.
"You two need to live a little!"
"Adrien's right." Jeanne fiddled with a chunk of her hair. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking."
"I thought you were back here." Jalil was suddenly next to them.
Jeanne forced a smile. "Um, hey Jalil."
"Hello, Jeanne." He said flatly.
"How's it going?"
"Not great."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"What happened?" Adrien asked.
"My father won't let me touch Tutankhamen's sceptre." Jalil said, looking at the ground. "I know the legends are true! I can use it to bring people back to life!"
"Wouldn't your father lose his job if you did that?"
"That's what he said too!" Jalil stamped his foot. "You're all the same!" He stormed away. Jeanne and Adrien exchanged a confused look.
"Oh, dear gods I hope he doesn't get akumatized." Jeanne groaned, trying not to talk too loud.
"Gods?"
"Ancient Egyptian gods." Jeanne folded her arms, almost smug.
"Um, okay. We should still get home." Adrien tried gently to start pushing her in the direction of the exit. "If an akuma attack happens, you are in no shape to be around." Jeanne sighed and let herself be pushed. She hated that he had a point.
"There's no if here, it's a matter of when." She said. "Let's hope you can get me out before Jalil gets a butterfly to the chest." They didn't even get to the front entrance before a strange man who looked very much like a sarcophagus come to life stormed in.
"Sorry bro." Jeanne whispered. "Go transform. I can take care of myself."
"The last time I left you alone with an akumatized villain you ended up getting slammed into a wall!"
"That was my fault for provoking him!"
"I'm not leaving you alone!"
Jeanne took a deep breath and put her hands on her brother's shoulders. "Adrien. Ladybug needs you, okay? You're a team. I'll be fine on my own. I promise."
"Promise you'll go right home." Adrien said, gnawing at his lip.
"I'll do my best."
"Okay." He made sure Plagg was in his pocket and ran off to find a place to transform. Jeanne took a moment to steady herself and began trying to sneak out. It wasn't easy, what with Jalil (wait, he was calling himself something else now. The Pharaoh?) blasting everyone into gold time bubbles. Luckily the Pharaoh was headed for the Egyptian exhibit, and the coast was soon clear. Jeanne hobbled over to the front doors, put her hands on the handles. She was so close to getting out. But...She couldn't. She couldn't just leave Adrien to face this alone. Who knew what this guy could do to him. Not to mention with Jalil's less than accurate knowledge of Egyptian history and gods, he might not realize that cats were sacred to Egyptians and just beat the living Hell out of her brother. Her breath caught in her throat and she made a beeline back to the exhibit. Adrien could handle himself, she had told herself that a thousand times before. But with all that had happened, she found herself increasingly anxious when it came to his superhero antics. She came onto the scene to see the Pharaoh walking towards her, Alya slung over her shoulder. He raised his hand, his face switching to that of Thoth.
Panicking, she blurted out the first thing she could think of. "I am a sacred priestess of Bastet! She of fire! Slayer of the serpent Apophis! Protector of the carriage of her father and the hearth of the home! To harm me is to incur the wrath of my lady!" There was no way that was actually going to work, she said to herself. There was no way Jalil, the Pharaoh, whatever, was actually going to believe that shit.
"Very well, you shall bless this ceremony." He picked her up and threw her next to Alya. "It's so good to see they still have priestesses in this day and age."
"I can't believe that worked." She said, more to herself than anyone else.
"Girl! That was quick thinking!" Alya held out a fist for Jeanne to fistbump. Jeanne did so, still not completely processing the situation. Adrien was going to kill her for this, if the Pharaoh didn't kill her first. She kept muttering to herself until she was suddenly put on the ground.
"Priestess, you may stay here while I prepare the offering." The Pharaoh announced. Jeanne looked around, noticing that they were both no longer outside and surrounded by mummies. Where had those come from?
"Offering? What offering?" She asked.
"He's talking about me!" Alya flailed in the Pharaoh's grip.
"Um, your grace," Jeanne bowed deeply. "Would you mind filling me in on this spell I'm supposed to be blessing?"
"But of course." She swore he was smiling behind that mask. "I'm fulfilling the spell to bring back my princess. It requires 100 mummies and the offering of a pure soul in order to persuade Ra to bring my love back to the land of the living." Okay...He really hadn't been paying any attention in that Egyptian history course. Osiris and Anubis were the people you needed to talk to if you wanted to bring someone back from the land of the dead. But that wasn't the point.
"Of course. Of course." Jeanne forced herself to keep smiling. "Makes perfect sense."
"Whoa, back up!" Alya fought a little harder, pointing at the papyrus in the Pharaoh's hands, maybe in an attempt to distract him. "Who's that goddess chick in the black spots? There, on your papyrus!"
"Ladybug, my sworn enemy!" The Pharaoh growled. "My nemesis may have kept me from carrying out my ritual 5,000 years ago, but she will not stop Nefertiti from coming back to me this time!"
"Did you say...Ladybug 5,000 years ago?" Alya asked.
"I wouldn't take what he's saying too seriously." Jeanne whispered. "He has no accurate knowledge of Egyptian history. I know this for a fact because I took a history class with him and he got everything wrong."
"Enough idle chatter, the ritual must begin!" The Pharaoh began to rise into the air with Alya. "Priestess, deal with Ladybug and Chat Noir!"
"But I cannot hurt a cat." Jeanne said, innocent as could be. "It is against the code of my lady! She is the protector of all cats!"
"Then just...I don't know. Keep the mummies in line." Jeanne snickered internally at the villain's frustration with her. Soon he was gone to do his ritual and she was left on the ground with the mummies. She wasn't exactly sure what he wanted her to do. Alya was on the mummies now, wriggling and screaming as they touched her, carrying her towards the Louvre. When had it started lighting up?
"Um...Right this way?" Jeanne made some weird hand motions. She'd seen air traffic controllers before. This had to be like that.
"Right this way." She motioned the mummies toward the pyramid. Then Chat landed in front of her. The mummies had begun to chant, "Awaken Nefertiti" in a monotone and it was a little creepy if she was being honest.
"So, you're here to dispatch the mummies?" Jeanne smiled, hoping he didn't get angry. Chat looked at her and nodded.
"We'll talk later." He turned to the mummies. "Hey there you bunches of bandages! What do you say we wrap this up?"
"Seize him!" The Pharaoh roared. The mummies ran after him, still carrying Alya. And so Jeanne was alone again. She sat down, hugging her knees as she watched the battle unfold. She wasn't even paying attention. Not really. For some reason, she kept thinking back to how she'd felt when she'd worn the ring. When she'd had the power to finally stand up and do something. She hadn't been useless then. She could have protected Adrien if the need had arisen. But what was she now? Just some stupid girl who got herself into situations she shouldn't.
"I told you to go home." Adrien said, standing over her.
"I know."
"Why didn't you go?"
"I got worried about you."
He was about to chew her out, about to yell at her, tell her how worried he'd been. But the sight of her slumped against the Louvre wall was enough to let him know she didn't need a lecture. She was feeling bad enough. He helped her up and called Nathalie.
They got home and the rest of the evening was uneventful. He got Jeanne to stay in bed and help him study for his test on Ancient Egypt. Plagg even sort of helped. It was nice, spending time with her like that. He only hit a snag when he had to go on patrol. He came in to tell Jeanne goodnight, and that was about to go patrolling and found her staring out her window.
"That ring..." She said, almost absentmindedly. "The feeling when you wear it, it's wonderful. Isn't it?"
Adrien nodded. "It's the best I've ever felt."
"I wanted to keep it."She admitted, never taking her eyes off the window. "I almost didn't give it back. I finally had the power to protect people. I had freedom." Adrien touched her hands. In all honesty, he didn't blame her. There were so many things he could and wanted to say in that moment, but none of them seemed to want to come out.
"You have to go on patrol now." She said. "Leave me. I'll be fine." He didn't want to leave her. Not after the third time, something had gone wrong in less than two months. But Jeanne had played this game before, and she could play it again She folded her arms and waited. He knew from experience that she could sit like that for nearly half an hour without budging, so finally, he got up and left, apologizing under his breath. Once she was sure he was gone she cried. She buried herself in her bed and cried until she was just sobbing, no tears coming out. She hated this, all of it. She hated always having to watch her words, she hated being so powerless, she hated always being the damsel in distress. She hated everything about the cage her life had become. Most of all, she hated herself. Hated how weak she was, how easily she succumbed to the taunts of others, hated the scars that crisscrossed her arms. No wonder Gabriel wasn't giving her the company. She was a wreck!
"Why am I so weak?" She muttered, surfacing from under her covers. Her gaze darted around the room before finally landing on the ring her mother had given her for her birthday. Her mother had always told her that she should only put it on when she felt ready. When she was in a good place.
"Screw it." She muttered, putting it on. "I need this." Then she went to sleep. Unbeknownst to her, a little creature had appeared on her pillow.
"It's about time." It said.
