CHAPTER ELEVEN:
TESTIMONY
"Well, Alya?" King Gabriel spoke, his tone as cold and hard as the look in his icy eyes. "What have you to say?"
Alya licked her lips, tasting the sweat that was already starting to seep through her pores.
While she had been a thief in the streets of Agreste, she never cared how people looked at her. In fact, she rather had enjoyed being the centre of attention, especially whenever she made a spectacular steal.
Now, glancing at the shocked, frightened, and angry faces of everyone she knew and loved, Alya wished she could use her magic to disappear.
But Alya the Street Rat was no coward. If she could conquer her fear of heights, she could certainly conquer her fear of King Gabriel.
"Your Majesty," she began, her voice sore from shouting earlier, "I think... that is, I believe that Trixx was... well... she was..."
"Mesmerized?" Nino added hopefully.
Alya nodded. "Yes! She was under Volpina's spell. Remember her fox amulet?"
Gabriel's eyes narrowed at her neck. "Like the one you are wearing?" he pointed out.
The redhead opened her mouth to retort, but once again, Master Fu came to her rescue.
"If I may, my king," the Great Guardian said, raising a calm finger, "while it does bear similarities to Volpina's enchanted necklace, this one is quite different." He looked over at Alya with an intrigued expression. "Alya's demonstration with your guards proved that. The fact that she has accomplished such a skilled magical feat with so little training... It's astounding."
Alya tried to smile, but she could feel the scolding eyes of Captain Roger and his men burning into her back.
Trixx apparently took that compliment well, because she poked her head out of Alya's hair. "That's not all she can do," she said excitedly. "You should've seen this girl going up against D'Argencourt!"
"Trixx!" Alya snapped.
"What? If honesty's the theme of the night..."
"Wait a minute," Adrien spoke up for the first time since Alya's little magic trick. His eyes gleamed with concern. "You fought D'Argencourt? Alone?"
Marinette seemed to be more angry than concerned.
Captain Roger stepped up beside Alya, buffing out his chest arrogantly. "Objection, Your Highness!" he declared. "I was the one who chased the traitor out of the city!"
Alya frowned at the guard and placed her hands on her hips. "Right after he attacked you with a sword that just happened to turn into a fish?" she remarked. "That was all me, you bozo."
Roger gaped at her, his face turning as red as an angry, desert sun.
Alya turned back to the king and her friends, her face softening. "But I never would have done it without Trixx's help," she explained. "My point is... she's not all that bad." She caught Marinette's steaming look, and shrank back. "At least... I don't think so anyway."
Nino nodded, indicating that he agreed with his girlfriend.
But Trixx rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Should've stuck with the amulet defence, kid," she groaned.
Gabriel raised a high eyebrow. "Not all that bad?" he repeated incredulously before returning to his stormy demeanour. "She only served this kingdom's greatest enemy!"
Now it comes to it, Alya thought. "Volpina's gone for good," she said aloud. "Trixx got rid of her Miraculous."
Adrien blinked. "And you believe her?" he asked.
Now it was Alya's turn to have the hard-eyed look. "Yes," she stated firmly. "I do."
On her shoulder, Trixx glanced at her partner, her violet eyes wide.
"And I believe Alya," Nino said, not at all frazzled by the rising tension.
Alya gave him a small smile before looking at their kindly, old visitor. "Master Fu, you said yourself that a black heart could heal with time. Surely a kwami that wants a second chance is proof of that?"
"She does have a point, Master," Wayzz said with a bit of optimism. "Even I can tell that Trixx has... changed somewhat."
Tikki and Plagg seemed to be whispering among themselves, but their faces were alleviating too.
No one else said a word, and Alya could tell that the king's eyes were losing a bit of their sharpness. Well, a bit. Adrien seemed to lighten up, Lady Nathalie looked kind of torn with her thoughts, and Tom and Sabine were almost smiling at Alya.
But Marinette remained exactly as she was: brows drawn together, cheeks heated, and mouth tight. She reminded Alya of Princess Chloe, an unfortunate, potential bride of Adrien's who had given that exact same look to Marinette when the latter had stood up to the cruel princess.
Marinette was no Princess Chloe, that was certain... but it was still a mean look.
Finally, Master Fu gave a soft smile. "It would seem, Marinette, your friend has had quite the effect on Trixx," he said.
The blunette looked away the moment Alya glanced back at her, making the redhead swallow hard.
Nathalie at last took her turn. "With... all due respect, Great Guardian," she said stiffly, "we cannot simply allow this... creature to roam the palace on her own accord."
Trixx cringed a bit and hung her head down.
Alya noticed, and now she realized that Nathalie was right. No matter what she would say, Trixx's past would follow her like a long shadow of suspicion and doubt. No one would dare leave the fox kwami alone, especially where the royal family was concerned.
That left only one safe option.
"I'll watch her, then," Alya stated.
Even Trixx looked surprised.
Taking a deep breath, Alya walked over to King Gabriel and curtsied with a hand over her heart. "Your Majesty, with your permission, I am willing to accept full responsibility for Trixx."
The kwami on her shoulder went slack at those words. "You are?" Trixx breathed with a mixture of disbelief and awe.
Once again, the dining hall went stiff with silence. All eyes turned to the king at the head of the table.
Gabriel put a hand on his chin, his expression grim. "Hmm..."
Alya licked her lips again.
Trixx gulped.
Everyone else held their breath.
At last, the king moved to stand before Alya. The straightness of his posture made him appear taller than he was. "Your priorities seem questionable to me," Gabriel said, that thunder in his tone slowly fading away, "but... so be it. Alya, you will watch Trixx every moment. And you will refrain from using any kind of magic inside the palace."
Alya wanted to smile, but she kept her composure and curtsied again in gratitude. "Thank you, my king," she said.
Gabriel clasped his hands behind him and strode on past her without another word, though the former thief could feel the mistrust radiating off the king like a fever. Nathalie trailed after her liege lord like a nervous puppy.
Captain Roger bowed as the king walked by, but then he straightened and glared at Alya. "And if the fox makes one wrong move," he growled, "you'll be the one I skin, girl."
"That's enough out of you, Captain," Adrien snapped coolly. "As you were."
The plump guard bowed again, stiffly this time, and marched out of the dining hall with the rest of his men in tow.
"Well..." Nino sighed with half-a-chuckle, "that could've gone worse."
Alya was just about to blow out a big sigh of relief, until...
"You were hiding Trixx all along, weren't you?!"
Alya winced and turned to see Marinette standing in front of her, hands braced on her hips and her voice thick with hurt.
Nino's shoulders slumped. "I spoke too soon."
Alya held up her hands, looking sincere. "I knew you weren't ready for the truth, Mari," she explained hastily, "so I –"
"So you lied," Marinette finished for her, "after we both promised there wouldn't be any more secrets or deceptions." She waved her hands into the air in exasperation. "Not only that, but you played around with Volpina's magic? Went up against D'Argencourt on your own?"
Alya dropped her hands, her amber eyes narrowed and her guts twisting up into a hard knot. "I just wanted to help!" she argued back defensively. "And Trixx, she –"
But Marinette wasn't done spewing. "What if something happened to you?!" she exclaimed. "Don't you understand how much danger you could've been in?!"
"Marinette..." her father spoke tenderly.
Alya, on the other hand, was far from tender. "No!" she shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at her friend. "You're the one who doesn't understand!"
Marinette's bluebell eyes shot wide open, and her jaw dropped.
Adrien, Nino, Tikki, Plagg, and Marinette's parents reeled back in unison. Master Fu, once again, remained abnormally calm.
"Ooh, not good," Trixx winced as she flew off Alya's shoulder.
The redhead paid her no heed, her attention and anger directed solely on the blunette before her.
"You have no idea what it's like for me!" Alya declared, her chest caving in from the onslaught of heated words. "To be "Ladybug's best friend"; to always feel like I can't do anything without having to be rescued!" She paused for breath before continuing, "For once, I wanted to prove that I could fight my own battles, make my own decisions!" Her face scrunched. "So yes, I lied... and now I'm wishing that I never considered telling you the truth at all!"
Marinette stepped back, pressing a hand over her mouth. Her eyes began to tear up.
"Alya..." Nino breathed.
The way he spoke her name – like he didn't recognise her – made the wave of fiery anger within her dissipate into ash. Alya felt like she was coming back into her body, and only after a few heartbreaking seconds did she realize what she had just said.
Was that the magic coercing through me? Did it make me say those things?
Or was that... me?
Alya suddenly looked like she was going to be sick. "Mari," she murmured, "I didn't mean –"
"You are such a hypocrite," Marinette said ever so quietly, yet the pain in her voice made it sound like she was holding back a scream. "When I was pretending to be a princess, you kept pleading with me to tell the truth." She shook her head, and a tear streamed down her face from each eye. "Alya, I thought you were better than me."
Alya took her own step back, the weight of that sentence crushing down on her.
Marinette's face became frosty and distant, and she looked away. "If you want to keep Trixx, go ahead – let her stay," she stated. "You two are obviously peas in a pod now."
With that, she covered her face with one arm and tore past the girl she called her best friend.
Adrien reached out for her, opening his mouth to call his fiancée back, but Plagg flew over and shook his head at the prince sadly.
Alya snapped around and hastened to the dining hall doors just as her friend vanished beyond the threshold. "Mari, wait! Please!" she called out desperately. "Just... let me explain! Back at the marketplace...! Trixx, she -!"
BANG! The door to Marinette's chambers slammed shut.
Alya winced and hung her head down. "She saved my life," she choked as her own eyes started watering. Then she leaned heavily against one of the great doors.
She didn't look up when Tom and Sabine went up to her and assured Alya they would try and talk to their daughter. Then the couple left the hall.
She didn't look up when Adrien, Nino, Master Fu, and the kwamis came up to her.
She didn't look up when she left out a sigh that felt like a fist was squeezing the air out of her lungs. "Some Chief Advisor I'm going to make," she groaned ashamedly. "Everybody's mad at me."
"I'm not mad," Adrien said.
Nino gave him a hard look.
"Okay, I'm shocked; annoyed, even. But I get it." The prince offered a small grin. "Marinette will come around too. She just... needs some time to cool down, that's all."
Alya didn't meet the prince's eyes as she moved away from the group and into the hallway, which was columned by marble pillars and exposed to the elements of the night. But the air seemed a lot colder, and the beauty of the moonlit gardens and the glistening fountain outside didn't sway Alya.
I thought you were better than me.
She wished she could melt into the darkness and never come back out.
Nino's hand found Alya's shoulder and stroked her gently. "Don't worry, hon," he said. "Tonight was rough, but it'll get better."
Tikki flew over to the former thief, and a cup of steaming tea appeared in her hands. "Care for a cup?" she asked sweetly. "Camomile always soothes the nerves."
Alya glanced between Tikki and the cup, and then she looked away, her hair falling past her face.
Plagg flew up. "I don't think you can help this one, Sugarcube," he told Tikki.
Master Fu, thankfully, said nothing. Neither did Wayzz. Trixx was hovering close by, watching with a blank expression.
Now Alya wished they would melt into the darkness and leave her be.
She groaned and rubbed her temples. "I don't get it, guys. I try to be a hero, and it... blows up in my face." She pulled away from Nino and proceeded towards the palace gardens.
She was almost past the pillars when Master Fu spoke: "That is the burden of all heroes: sometimes you have to fight alone."
Alya paused, a hand on the cool stone, but she didn't look back.
"But for a rare few," the Guardian continued, "friendship and trust can overcome all battles."
The last word made the redhead think back to when Volpina took over Agreste mere months ago. Alya had left the palace, sick and tired of being dragged around by Marinette's lies. But the moment her friend needed her most, Alya came back and fought with all her might.
I thought you were better than me.
Alya's throat bobbed. "Marinette's never going to trust me again," she said weakly, "not after this. She's right – I am such a hypocrite."
She sleeked off the pillar and stepped out into the gardens.
Behind her, she heard Adrien speaking softly, "Let her go, Nino. She needs some time too."
As soon as she was out of earshot, Alya broke into a sprint and went up to the grand fountain.
Without so much as a glance at the sparkling water or the fireflies that flittered about, the former thief sat down on the fountain's edge, brought her knees to her chest, and buried her face in her folded arms.
Her cries were as silent as the crickets around her.
The whole time, Trixx watched Alya from the top of the hallway pillars.
Seeing the kid explode like that had been scary – not as scary as whenever Volpina got frustrated, but there was a spicy kick to it.
And then, seeing Alya deflate so suddenly and fall into such a melancholic state...
It was as if a little flea was eating away at Trixx on the inside.
Once Alya ran off into the gardens, Trixx saw Adrien wrap an arm around the distraught Nino and lead him back into the dining hall. Neither boy said a word.
Trixx sagged against the pillar, her violet eyes unmistakably soft.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the image out of her head: Captain Roger's sword bearing down on her, and Alya letting out that burst of light in the nick of time.
"I don't believe it," Trixx uttered. "That girl saved my life."
Not only that, but Alya had risked exposing her secret – their secret – just to save a kwami who had once been the servant of the most vile sorceress that ever lived.
Volpina wouldn't have lifted a finger for Trixx. But Alya did... and more.
Trixx didn't know what to do. "No one's ever done anything like that for me," she said to herself. "Now it feels like... like I owe her."
The little vixen blinked incredulously. "Nah!" she stated with a brushing motion of her paws. "That's crazy talk. Besides, this is between her and Blue. It's not my problem."
But as Trixx said that, that flea-like nibbling came back. "But... she stood up for me," she murmured again, "in front of Gabe! I can't just..."
Trixx blinked again, and let out a growl of annoyance. "Why the heck am I arguing with myself?!"
A different voice answered her: "Perhaps that is your conscience talking to you."
Trixx turned to see Wayzz floating beside her, his big green-and-yellow eyes batting, and his tiny mouth drawn up into a warm smile.
The fox kwami frowned with distaste. "Conscience? Me?" she scoffed. "Never had one. Never."
She got up and tried to fly away, hopefully to somewhere where she could relax on a nice comfy pillow...
A burst of black smoke and green lightning exploded in front of her, and a pair of giant, cat-like, green eyes appeared inches from her face.
"BOO!"
"AH!" Trixx screamed as she fell backwards and landed on the soft grass.
The giant eyes closed, and the smoke swirled together into the form of a hysterical, black-cat kwami.
"Ah, that never gets old!" Plagg chortled, wiping a tear from his eye.
Trixx sat up and glared at the laughing cat with swirly eyes. "Whaddaya trying to do – give me a heart attack?!" she gasped.
POOF!
As if Plagg's prank wasn't enough, Tikki popped up beside Trixx, dressed in a doctor's white coat and mirror-headband.
"Aha!" Tikki exclaimed happily. "You do have a heart!"
Before Trixx could say anything, the ladybug kwami pulled an X-ray machine out of nowhere and held it against Trixx's chest. Inside the tiny skeleton rested a tiny blotch of red, which was thumping away like an over-excited drum.
"Hmm... an itty-bitty heart," Tikki noted with a shrug, "but it's there."
The red bug clapped her hands... and with another POOF, all four kwamis appeared in their normal state in the royal gardens.
Trixx shook her head from the dizziness. "Could you guys quit it with the hocus-pocus?" she asked. "That's usually my shtick."
Tikki turned the vixen's head slightly to the right.
That's when Trixx saw Alya, just sitting there on the fountain. She had stopped crying, thankfully, but her amber eyes – once filled with a thrive for adventure and mischief – were now dimmed with vacant misery.
Again, that weird flea-like itch...
"Look at her, Trixx," Tikki said. "Would it really kill you do something nice for a change?"
The fox frowned at that word. "Possibly. I don't do nice," she said as she made her way to an empty bird cage littered with white, dove feathers.
Plagg hovered after her. "Ah, come on, Foxface," he cooed with a fanged grin. "It'll be fun!"
Trixx snapped to him. "I don't do fun either! What is it with you pipsqueaks and your goody-goody morals?"
Wayzz appeared on the other side of her in a puff of green smoke. This time, his look was as hard as the shell on his back. "This is a serious matter, Trixx, and you are the cause of it," he stated, "which means you have to get Marinette and Alya back on good terms."
Trixx held up her paws. "What do I look like – a shrink? Don't answer that, Whiskers," she added quickly when she saw Plagg open his mouth again.
Tikki moved over to hover in front of the fox, completing the circle. "Marinette and Alya have come a long way in their friendship," she said with concern, "but it will fall apart completely unless you do something."
Trixx wanted to throw her paws up in frustration. Don't they get it? she thought. Don't they remember what life was like for me with Volpina?
But she kept her cool as she glanced between all three of them and said, "Look, I'm not used to the whole "friendship" thing. It just isn't me." She broke out of their circle and turned away with folded arms.
Unfortunately, that caused her to look directly over at Alya.
We make a pretty good team.
The redhead's words from the marketplace earlier today made Trixx stiffen.
Then another thought crossed her mind: Marinette had lied and cheated her way to the top of the totem pole, but she made up for it in the end by showing everyone who she really was. That's how you tell the good friends from the bad, Alya had told Trixx.
The fox kwami sighed. "I can't, you guys. I'm the Spirit of Illusion – the kwami of trickery, deception, and lies. I turn people against one another. I've never had to... bring them back together."
Something gleamed in Plagg's glowing eyes, and it wasn't the reflection of the stars. "Maybe not," he sang, leaning closer, "but it's gonna be tricky."
Trixx's violet eyes shot open.
Tricky... yes.
No trickster ever backed down from a challenge, and the hardest ones were always the best. Why should this one be any different?
A sly grin grew on the little vixen's face. "Tricky is good," she said, rubbing her paws together. "Tricky I can do."