I haven't abandoned this story! This chapter just took a lot longer to finish than I thought...
Anyways, enjoy!
Day 2
Since we were going to the same school, Chloé insisted that we go together. Of course we were obligated to agree.
Throughout the car ride Chloé tried to impress me with how many other famous people have visited her hotel. My responses were brief, something she summed up to me not knowing French very well. She was, unsurprisingly, very talkative. If we were in the same class, I wanted to make sure we were as far away from her as possible. I get the feeling she was going to use me to raise her own social standing.
Finally, we arrive at the school. It was larger than I was expecting: three stories tall! Did a middle school really need to be this big? The driver got out and opened the door from Chloé's side and we both get out. "Welcome to Collège Françoise Dupont! The best middle school in Paris!" Didn't I hear this already?
Chloé almost immediately runs to a boy with blonde hair talking to a boy in a red cap and headphones around his neck. "Adri-kins! Look who's staying at Daddy's hotel this week! The Egyptian Ambassador's daughter!" She grabs my wrist and drags me toward the two boys.
I casually rip myself from her grasp and say, "Please, do not touch me." I turn to the blonde boy. "Hello, my name's Amira." I wave awkwardly. "And your names are...?"
The boy smiles sweetly. "I'm Adrien."
"And I'm Nino-" The boy next to Adrien is cut off by Chloé.
"Yeah, yeah, no one cares." I see Adrien make a face but say nothing. Nino looks as if he was going to say something but Adrien stops him. I've met people like Chloé before but this is ridiculous.
"I'm going to go get my schedule for the week. Bye Adrien and Nino. Nice to meet you. See you later, Chloé." I start going inside and thankfully, Chloé doesn't follow. I enter the school and realize that the school opens into a courtyard with classrooms surrounding it. What happens when it rains?
Saqqr pokes her head out of my bag. "What do you think of the students? I recognize that Adrien boy from the posters around Paris. He must be a model or something."
"Is that so… If he's a model, why does he go to school? He should have private tutors of his own, shouldn't he?" I pause as I try to look for where the principal's office is located.
"Maybe he likes school?" I hear Saqqr start to munch on more seeds.
"Saqqr! Try to hold your appetite until classes are over. Someone might hear you."
"I know! I'm just snacking on a few before classes start so I won't get hungry later. I'm not stupid."
"R-right. Sorry." I find a sign near the entrance of the school. "It looks like the principal's office is right by those stairs."
I go to the principal's office and knock on the door. "Mr. Damocles?"
"Come in!" I hear a gruff voice call out from inside. Mr. Damocles was a very large man, with amber eyes and greying hair. "Hoho, you must be the transfer student. Amira, is it?"
"Yes, sir," I respond simply. A bell ran throughout the school as Mr. Damocles passed me a slip of paper.
"Here is your schedule. Even if you're only staying for a week, make sure you attend all your classes. It's important to know where all the students are at all times, especially since we often have akuma attacks around the school.
"Of course, Mr. Damocles." Another bell rings.
"Good. Off to class now with you," he gruffs. I exit his office and close the door behind me.
"Alright," I sigh as I look at my schedule. "Now to find where the classroom is…" At the corner of my eye I see Chloé approach me. I hold my breath and wave as I make eye contact. "Hey, Chloé."
"Amira! Let me see your schedule." I pass her my schedule and her eyes run through it. "Oh good, you're in my class! Come with me, I'll show where the class is."
This time, I let her grab my arm and drag me to the classroom. I know there's no fighting her, and I had a feeling we were going to be late otherwise. We arrive at the classroom just as the final bell rings.
"We're not late Miss Bustier!" Chloé tells the redheaded teacher that was writing something on the chalkboard.
"Please take a seat, Chloé." The teacher looks at me. "Ah! Our new student. Care to introduce yourself to the rest of the class?" Miss Bustier seems like a nice teacher. She has a kind smile.
I watch Chloé go to an empty seat in the first row next to a girl in glasses. "Um, Sure." I turn to the class. There was a little more than a dozen students in the room. "Bonjour. My name is Amira, the Egyptian Ambassador's daughter. My French isn't very good, but I'll try to keep up for the week I'm here..." My voice trails off at the end. I didn't really have anything else to say so I look at Miss Bustier to save me.
"Nice to meet you, Amira. Please, take a seat." The teacher resumes writing on the chalkboard.
I now notice Chloé shoving the girl in glasses off the bench a gesture at me to sit next to her. I try to smile. "Uh, no thanks, Chloé. I'll just sit in the back." I did not need Chloé sitting next to me for an entire week. It was already nerve-racking to have to see her everyday, so I wanted to be as far away from her as possible during class times.
Chloé eyes me suspiciously as I walk towards an empty seat in the back next to a boy with messy red-orange hair. He seemed like the quiet type, but I wasn't really looking for conversation. When I walk around him to the empty seat I notice him abruptly close a small journal. Or was it a sketchbook? I wave as I sit down.
When I realize the lecture was about French literature, I start to zone out and observe the students. In the front row was Adrien and Nino on the left, the two boys I met earlier. Behind them were two girls, one with brown hair and one with dark blue. I took a mental note of each student's basic appearance. I wanted to learn all their names, even if I was only staying for a week. Who knows, I might come back if my dad has more business in Paris.
Before I know it a bell goes off and the class gets up from their seats. As I get up and stretch I notice the girls with dark blue hair and brown hair come up to me.
"Hey girl!" the brown haired girl said. "I'm Alya, the class deputy, and this girl here is Marinette, the class rep."
The blue haired girl waved. "Hey. We figured-"
"What do you think your doing?" Chloé comes up from behind Marinette, cutting off whatever she was going to say. She puts her hands on her hips and looks at Marinette expectantly.
"Fulfilling my duties as class representative?" She sounds like they'd been through this drill before. "Chloé, as class representative, I'm in charge of transfer students. You lost the race." It seems like Chloé and Marinette don't like each other. Marinette crosses her arms.
Great. It seems like I'll have to make a choice. I'd rather not but I obviously have to go with-
As I open my mouth to say something I hear the teacher call out to me. "Amira! Come to my desk please." I smile at both girls and walk between them towards Miss Bustier's desk. Saved by the teacher. I almost breathe a sigh of relief but manage to hold it in.
"Yes, Miss Bustier?"
"I know your only attending our school for a week, so I don't expect you to be serious about schoolwork, but I still expect you to try, alright?" She hands me a small packet and winks. "This is your homework for the week. You'd be surprised what France has to offer." I flip through the pages. It seems that not only does Miss Bustier teach French literature, but also French language and grammar.
I look up at her. "I'll try my best, though it may be difficult to read…" I put the packet in my bag and start to make my way out of the classroom but when I turn I see both Marinette and Chloé looking straight at me.
Marinette is the first to speak. "Miss Bustier, as class representative I believe I should accompany Amira and make sure she comfortable at the school."
"But she's staying at my father's hotel! It's more convenient if I stay with her!" Chloé interjects.
"That's enough Chloé. I agree with Marinette; it's falls under her duties. Besides, Amira should have the opportunity to spend time with everyone at the school." As they debate I sneak out of the room. The situation was too tense and there was no way to make everyone happy. Why should I mix myself into a rivalry that has nothing to do with me?
I find the restroom and after making sure no one else was in I unzip my bag and let Saqqr out. She stretches and rubs her eyes. "School is boring. You sure you want to come here for a whole week?"
I hold out my hand for her to sit on. "I can hardly back out now. Besides, I might be able to learn a bit more about Ladybug and Chat Noir. A lot of akuma attacks are centered around the school, so the students here get to see them all the time. I think I recognize that Alya girl as the owner of the LadyBlog."
"Alright, but remember not to engage with the akumas!" Saqqr warns again. "They are a far greater threat than what you encounter in Egypt. They have-"
"Superpowers of their own bestowed upon them from the evil miraculous user Hawk Moth, I know." I sigh.
The bathroom door begins to open and Saqqr phases into the backpack. I rush to the sink and pretend to wash my hands as Marinette enters. She seemed surprised to see me but kept her composure.
"Hey, Chloé's looking for you," she says.
"Figures. Is her tantrum over?" I ask.
Marinette giggles. "Please, she's always having a tantrum over one thing or another."
I turn off the sink. "I'll be going then…" I check my schedule. "Next up is… Maths? English is so much easier to read than French. Well, see you next class." Marinette crosses her arm as I start to walk out the door.
"Do you even know how to get to the classroom?" she asked. After she says that I realize that I actually don't.
"I'll figure it out. Can't be that hard, all the room numbers are labeled."
"I'll walk you," she says.
"That's fine. You have to use the restroom right?"
"Not really."
"...Then why are you here?"
"Ahaha, to… be alone?" She rubs the back of her neck.
This is awkward. "Ok… I'm going to go now." I exit the restroom as the warning bell rings. Marinette follows behind me and we both enter the classroom together. To greet us was a teacher with upturned dark purple hair and piercing blue eyes. She wore black glasses and a white lab coat.
"Everyone take your seats," the teacher says. "We have a new student, but I'm sure she's already been introduced. Today we're going to start working of trigonometry…"
I take a seat in the back next to the boy with messy hair again. This time I try to pay more attention in class, even though I've already started on trig identities. Eventually though, I find myself losing interest and start doodling in my notebook. I almost reach into my bag for colored pencils but I remember that I'm in school and that Saqqr is in my bag. I look at the chalkboard and see the 45-45-90 and 30-60-90 triangles.
"Now, these triangles are fundamental when finding the trig values. We've already went over what sine, cosine, and tangent mean. Who can tell me the sine of 45°?" The teacher asks. I realize I don't know her name yet.
No one raises their hand at first. After a few second though, I see Adrien raise his hand. "√2 over 2," he says. The teacher nods her head affirmatively and Adrien and Nino do a silent fist bump. I go back to doodling.
After the teacher calls out a few more questions, the bell rings and I hurry out before anyone can catch me off guard again.
"What are you doing?" I hear Saqqr hiss in Arabic. "You're at school! Socialize!"
"I- I can't," I say. "Not right now. Besides, next is lunch, I'll socialize then." I feel someone poke me from behind. I turn around and see that, of course, Chloé was there with her friend in glasses. "Oh, hello," I say. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Amira." I wave.
The girl smiles. "I'm Sabrina," she says, straight and to the point before Chloé could interrupt her.
"Who were you talking to?" Chloé asks suspiciously.
"Um, no one. I was talking to myself." I laugh nervously. "Anyway, what's up?"
She cuts to the chase. "You're sitting with us during lunch, right?"
"Aha…" Looks like I'm trapped…
Suddenly, an alarm goes off and I see everyone pull out their phones. Sabrina and Chloé do the same.
"There's an akuma attack right now," Chloé says. She look at me with a devilish grin. "Want to go watch it?"
"But… do we have time?"
"Of course!" Sabrina says. "Lunch is a whole hour, we have plenty of time, come on!"
Before either of them can grab my hands I put them behind my back and start running behind them. Outside the windows I saw an explosion of colors. Was that… paint? I separate from the two girls and hide in an empty classroom. Saqqr emerges from my backpack as I go look out the window.
"What are you doing?" she hisses.
"Relax, I'm not going to transform. I just want to observe them without anyone annoying nearby. Besides, you want to see them in action too, right?" I say as I take my bag off and sit by the window.
Saqqr flies over my head and sighs. "Ok, fine. BUT once the akuma is taken care of you have to hide in the bathroom. People will get suspicious if they see you alone in a classroom."
"Agreed."
It turns out it was paint that I saw outside. There was a rather colorful villain that seemed to be painting Paris in different shades with his giant brush. It was rather strange to see him create an endless supply of paint, but then again, a being of magic was floating over my head.
"So these are akumas… they seem a bit more powerful than super heroes, but the have no tact, huh? It seems like they have no strategy, just brute force." The villain was trying to pin the heroes down, but I couldn't tell why.
"Correct. The only emotions they have right now while being possessed by Hawk Moth are negative. Most likely this one's angry considering how big of a fight he's putting up." She sighs. "It wasn't always like this though…"
I look up toward her. "Huh? What do you mean?" Saqqr almost never tells me about her past. "Wat was it like before?"
She caught herself. "No, no. I misspoke…" She stared intently at the window. I poke her gently.
"Just tell me! You never tell me about things from the past. Do you know something about Hawk Moth the heroes here don't?"
Saqqr kept looking out the window. "The heroes here have their own kwamis to enlighten them. Plus, I think there is someone else here in Paris helping them out, a guardian of sorts, but we won't be bothering him."
"You didn't answer my question…" I grumble. She simply ignores me, knowing that anything she says will reveal something to me. I sigh and lean back against the window. In my excitement I almost forgot about the villain outside.
"Tell me about Ladybug's and Chat Noir's abilities," I ask. The heroes were hiding from the akuma right now, probably devising a plan.
"Well," she begins, "Chat Noir has the power of destruction. He can destroy anything with his 'Cataclysm.' Ladybug actually has two abilities. Her 'Lucky Charm' is what triggers her countdown, which creates an item she uses to defeat the akuma. The second is her 'Miraculous' spell, which reverts everything to the state they were in before the akuma attack."
I see ladybug shoot her yoyo straight into air and an object covered in spots land in her hand. "I assume that's 'Lucky Charm?' it looks like an… empty bucket?" Both Ladybug and Chat Noir look at the bucket quizzically. They seem just as confused as I was.
"Just watch. Lucky Charm never fails." Saqqr was watching intently, too. Her sudden seriousness unsettled me. I knew two things for sure at this point.
One, that Saqqr knew Ladybug's and Chat Noir's kwamis, and that they had some deep history. And two, that they knew each other in Egypt since Saqqr said before that she's been there for all of Egypt's history.
Later today I should do some online research. I might find some connection between the past Horrus and Ladybug.
I turn back to the battle. While I was lost in thought Ladybug had collected the paint the akuma was creating and was sneak toward the akuma. I had missed Chat Noir's cataclysm, but it seems he used it on a small building to create debris for the heroes to have some sort of cover. Ladybug dumps the paint on the akuma and in his confusion Chat Noir steals the paint brush the villain was holding and breaks it under his foot. I see something black and small fly out of the brush and Ladybug catch it in her yoyo and release the thing again, only now it looks creamy and purified. The heroes fist bump each other and go their separate ways.
Suddenly, I remember where I am and that I need to hide. I go to the teacher's desk and hide under there. Saqqr phases into by bag just as I hear the door open. I poke my head out and see the blonde haired boy from earlier in the day. He seemed surprised to see me here, which is understandable. But he was also extremely flustered: his cheeks were red and he was panting like he finished a marathon.
"Are you alright?" I ask. "You seem a little out of breath."
He takes a deep breath. "You're Adrien, right? Here." I toss him my water bottle. "Keep it when you're done." After drinking all the water in the bottle he tosses it in the trash.
"Thanks. How come you're here before everyone else? Where's the rest of the class?" he asks.
"I wouldn't know. Aren't you supposed to be with them?" I retort back. I didn't like how he asked me like I was a child. It was like he was taking down to me.
He seemed to catch himself then and completely changed his demeanor. "Right. Sorry, not my place to ask. I guess we both deviated from the group. We didn't get a chance to talk earlier. This is your next class right?"
I peak at my schedule. "Uh, if this is the science room, then yeah."
Marinette jumps into the room with Alya following behind her. "Sorry I'm -! Oh, no one's here yet," Marinette's face was also red, but, and it seemed to get more red when she saw Adrien.
"Amira!" Alya exclaimed. "I've been meaning to talk to you. You're from Egypt right? Have you ever seen Horrus?" Alya seemed really excited.
"Horrus? I know of Horrus, yeah. The superhero that fights crime in Cairo. How do you know of Horrus?" It was strange to think that news of me reached Paris. I don't take interviews and disappear whenever I finish catching perpetrators. Any articles of me are really vague. No one even knows my gender. I do leave a signature though, a card with the name "Horrus" on it with a golden flower in the background.
"Well," Alya begins, grinning, "I run the LadyBlog and try to keep up with all things Ladybug. At the Louvre Museum exhibit I found -" Marinette feigns a cough. Alya continues: "Marinette found a hieroglyphic of Ladybug. So I dug deep into Ladybug's connection to Egypt and found another superhero besides Ladybug and Chat Noir: Horus. I was unsure if it really meant anything, since Horus was said to be a god, but after a few quick Google searches I found some articles. Or I guess now it's 'Horrus' with two 'r's."
Alya seemed really proud of herself. I was impressed, and secretly thankful. She saved me a lot of work determining a connection between Ladybug and Horrus, but the hardest part is yet to come.
I look at Marinette and Adrien. They both have straight faces and are deep in thought.
"Sorry to say I've never seen Horrus before. I've only seen footage capture of them from security cameras and such. I would really like to meet them one day though." In this situation it's better to pretend not to know anything. I might let something slip and reveal my secret identity.
"Aww, too bad. I was hoping to have a super exclusive interview reveal never before seen facts on Ladybug's mysterious past." The door swings open and the rest of the class enters the classroom.
"There you are dude!" I hear Nino say to Adrien. "Where were you?"
"I was, um, hiding in a classroom and came back here when I saw the akuma get defeated, yeah." He smiles and rubs the back of his neck. Class resumes and I return to my seat in the back of the classroom.
The rest of the school day was pretty boring. Classes finished and I got back into the limo with Chloé, though I realized that the school wasn't that far away from her father's hotel. I decided tomorrow that I would walk to school instead of riding with her and her endless questions. My father sent me a text saying that he wouldn't be done with meetings until late at night and said not to wait up for him.
I arrive in my room and change into my pajamas. Saqqr pulls out a bag of seeds and starts munching on them in her chair. I wait until I finish some of my homework before confronting her about Ladybug.
"Saqqr, what-"
"Amira, I don't know anything about Ladybug. That was 5,000 years ago. You know that the current Ladybug isn't the same as the one back then."
"But why didn't you tell me? You knew that we were coming to Paris and that I was interested in Ladybug. Why didn't you tell me that you knew her kwami?"
"I-" She paused. "That was a long time ago. I haven't seen her since. Enough about this, I have nothing more to say."
I sigh. There was way more to this story than she was telling me, but I guess this is a situation I have to treat delicately. I decide to drop it for now but remind myself to ask about Ladybug again tomorrow. After putting everything back into my bag I turn off the lights and get into bed.
"Goodnight Saqqr."
Soon I hear Saqqr fall asleep, but found that I myself was not tired in the slightest. My head was swimming with the day's events: the school, the kwami attack, the newfound connection between Ladybug and Horrus. I toss and turn until finally I manage to fall asleep.