this is a longer chapter have fun
Marinette sensed that she was in a bit of a pickle. Just a small one. It's not like she was currently flying in the sky, prisoner to Volpina fresh after a transformation. Tikki was exhausted and tucked away in her purse, she had no source of food, and Volpina seemed to be stronger than before. Also, she was at risk of plummeting to her death at any time Volpina wished.
She didn't know why this was happened. Just before she'd had to become Ladybug and save the day, she'd felt like she shared special moment with Lila. Where both of their affections increased and Marinette realized that she harbored budding feelings of romance. What could have made Lila feel such negativity that she was akumatized yet again? She felt an ache in her heart.
"What do you mean?" Marinette needed clarification on that answer. What the heck did Marinette do?
"Gee. I wonder." The akuma scoffed as her flight slowed. Marinette recognized the Eiffel Tower not too far beneath them. It was always the Eiffel Tower.
As they descended a bit, Volpina literally tossed Marinette at the structure, and for a moment Marinette felt nothing underneath her, nothing supporting her, and her eyes widened as she briefly registered the sense of falling. Oh no.
Thankfully she was only falling for a couple of feet before landing on the tower, tumbling as she hit it and nearly rolling off the side. Then she blinked in realization; this was where she'd defeated Volpina the first time.
"Isn't it so ironic," Volpina began as her feet touched down on the metal on the opposite side, "that you deceived me? Me, who can create illusions and tell lies?" Her dark voice then laughed, and it made Marinette shiver. Not twenty minutes ago had Marinette heard that same voice pleading for forgiveness. And now it was all velvety and dark and downright evil. There was no affection to be found it. "Who would have thought that the sweet and lovely Marinette could be so cruel?"
Marinette was still as confused as she was when they'd first started talking.
"What do you mean?" She asked, getting to her feet. This was a bit difficult, considering the platform she was on was not a solid floor. It was a crisscrossing of metal beams, and the ground was more hole than it was metal.
"Don't play dumb." Volpina's voice became harsher as she said that, and then she raised her flute to her lips. As Marinette shuffled backwards in fear of whatever illusion would come forth from that instrument, she suddenly noticed a red band around Volpina's wrist. Then her hand went inside her skirt pocket, and realized the spare hair band she'd taken with her was gone.
The akuma could only be inside that. Marinette didn't have to contemplate the significance of the akuma having infected a belonging of hers and not of Lila's.
Volpina grinned maliciously and hurled the glowing orange ball at Marinette, and Marinette literally yelled as she turned away and put her hands up, as if to shield her from whatever would appear.
But when the dust cleared, she was surprised to see her wrists and ankles currently bound behind her by very solid and very real bands of orange rope.
"I thought you could only create illusions?!" She looked up at Volpina in disbelief.
"The greater your rage, the greater the power you harbor." The akuma simply replied as she ran a hand down her flute, smiling in satisfaction. Then she approached and Marinette felt fear creep down her back. She couldn't move or escape, whatever Volpina had planned. Then again, even if her hands and feet weren't tied, there would be nowhere to leave unless she decided she would rather leap off the tower.
She couldn't think of anyway out of this. And Ladybug always found a way of trouble. So this was very concerning.
"I know exactly what you are, Marinette. And I have some questions for you." Volpina said as she fixed her with a deadly stare. And then the fear in Marinette mounted to a ridiculous height. The only thing she could "know" about Marinette was her secret identity. And if Volpina said that out loud, Hawkmoth would know exactly what she was talking about. And then all of Marinette's friends and families would be at risk. No one would be safe.
But Volpina didn't say anymore on that matter.
"So what did you think when you saw me that day, Marinette?" Volpina asked, and then leaned forward and grabbed the hem of both her jacket and shirt, lifting her up into the air. Marinette's feet left the ground again, and her breaths became more shallow. She looked at the thin red fabric encircling the hand that held her suspended in the air. "Did you look at me and think about how much you wanted to be friends with me? How you thought I would be such a nice friend?" Then Lila walked forward and Marinette became aware that there was nothing beneath her but emptiness. "Because I don't think that's what happened." Volpina continued at Marinette's silence, and then she extended her arm so that Marinette was hanging even farther off of the edge. She couldn't struggle, she couldn't move.
Marinette was powerless.
Ladybug was powerless.
"Lila." She whispered as a very intense dread swept through her body. She didn't know what to do. Ladybug didn't know what to do. Then Volpina's face contorted in fury and she literally shook Marinette, forcing her legs to swing back and forth with the motion.
"Do not call me that." Volpina hissed, and then she threw Marinette yet again back onto the surface. And Marinette breathed hard as her legs hit a beam at an angle, bruising them. She felt metal on her cheek and pain in her shins. But she wasn't going to fall. At least, not just yet. Volpina was looking away. "You don't get to call me that when you never liked me. You tricked me!" Volpina's voice grew in volume as she continued.
"What?" Marinette lifted her head to look at Volpina, mind racing with whatever she could have meant by that.
"Humiliating me wasn't enough for you, I guess. After that, you had to pretend to like me, too." Volpina let out a loud laugh of amusement as her voice lowered, and then she faced Marinette again. "So why did you do it then?" She asked, in a tone that was quiet and deadly. She pointed her flute at Marinette accusingly.
And then Marinette was hearing Tikki's voice from a talk they'd had a long while back.
I think you need to make sure you aren't just befriending Lila out of pity.
"For your amusement?" Volpina supplied an answer, and then she crouched down next to Marinette. And then Marinette was putting pieces together in her hand.
Lila didn't think Marinette actually liked her. But why?
And then Marinette remembered that Volpina hinted heavily multiple times at knowing about Ladybug. That meant Lila did, too. Somehow she had figured it out.
Marinette hadn't realized how her words from that time had affected Lila so heavily. She remembered feeling a bit of regret immediately afterwards. But she'd had no idea that it had caused lasting anger. And now she felt a massive wave of guilt crest over her. She'd tried to befriend Lila despite also being the one who caused her pain. And it was true that she hadn't done it out of the goodwill of her heart in the beginning.
Marinette realized she'd hadn't made very good life decisions regarding Lila.
"Out of guilt?" Volpina continued as she put a hand underneath Marinette's chin and lifted it up off of the ground, forcing her to look at her eyes. "Do you like me, Marinette?" She asked.
"I do." Marinette whispered, truthfully. Because there was no way she could deny the attraction that she had felt to Lila earlier that day. She couldn't deny how her heart had fluttered when Lila had protected her. How she'd wanted to close the distance to Lila when she'd seen her above. How Volpina's fingers on her jaw felt almost like electricity.
"No!" Volpina yelled, face twisted in fury. And then all at once, the fury was gone, replaced with something else. She looked exhausted.
The akuma closed her eyes and put a hand to her head, as if in pain or disappointment.
"Even now, you continue to lie…" Volpina exhaled and withdrew her the hand under Marinette's face, and Marinette's heart broke as she heard the emptiness in her voice. And then she felt something well up in her own eyes as she tried to imagine the feelings that Lila had. If she discovered that the person she began to like was the same person who had embarrassed her to the point of akumatization. It wasn't something her simple apology from before could fix.
In the silence Marinette felt the pressure around her wrists vanish, and then she realized the difference in Volpina's power from before. She still created illusions. But the illusions had substance, for a limited time. It was similar to the Mime's power from before. And the Evillustrator, too. Where their creations existed for only a brief time. Perhaps Volpina's illusions continued to exist even after they lost their solidity. But since Marinette was touching them, they vanished in a puff of orange smoke. Volpina didn't notice.
"Why?" Volpina repeated, clearly unsatisfied with Marinette's lack of words.
"I'm not lying." Marinette said, thinking. Perhaps she didn't need to be Ladybug right now. Now she was understanding the problem. And now she could talk it out. Maybe. She wanted to save Lila, and she wanted to come clean.
"How cruel." Hawkmoth said, pity dripping in his voice. "Such a betrayal is never easy. And she continues to lie!"
Lila was struggling. No matter how terrible she'd felt after the realization, she'd never wanted to exact revenge. But part of Hawkmoth's awful power was making dreadful acts seem reasonable. She'd flinched on the inside when she'd thrown Marinette. She wanted to stop. The butterfly inside was stronger than her. She was weak. The only thing she'd managed to do against Hawkmoth was fail to mention exactly why she was upset with Marinette. She wasn't going to expose her. She had a bad feeling about the possibility of Hawkmoth harboring the knowledge about Ladybug's identity.
"But if you don't hurry up and get the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir, I'll be forced to take away your power." Hawkmoth's sympathetic voice suddenly turned hard, and Volpina was assaulted with the terrible feeling of her hands being crushed. The flute in her hands trembled as pain lanced up her arms.
And then it was all gone. The threat was made, and Volpina could move again.
"You are." She said. Because there was the darkness inside that fed off of her insecurities. That no one really liked her. She couldn't believe anyone did.
And then Marinette pulled herself up to a sitting position and looked directly at her, a determination in her eyes that sent as shock through her body.
Volpina had all the power in the world at her hands to get back at Marinette. But she didn't. She'd never wanted to.
Lila had only ever wanted to hear why. Why Marinette had done what she did. And no matter how wronged she felt, how much she deserved to have revenge…
She still liked Marinette. But she didn't believe Marinette liked her.
"You're lying." Volpina repeated. But her voice was unsure.
"You have the power you need." Hawkmoth's voice returned. "What are you doing? Finish her, and then find Ladybug and Chat Noir!"
Volpina flinched at the volume. "We do not have the time for this." Hawkmoth said.
"Hold on!" Volpina spat in response. Marinette looked at her oddly, and Volpina realized that she could see the purple that lined her eyes. She knew that she was talking to Hawkmoth.
And then he faded away again, and she held her head. Everytime he spoke, he left behind a brief pounding headache. It was a reminder to follow his orders.
Volpina found that she didn't really want to listen to him. Especially not after being infected a second time.
As she looked at Marinette she realized she only wanted one person's reassurance, even if she had also caused an immense amount of pain. But she wasn't sure how much she wanted that.
Why was everything so complicated when it came to Marinette?
"I was wrong." Marinette's voice suddenly said, and Volpina looked at her, waiting for what she had to say. Marinette's eyes were on her, looking directly at her. Volpina couldn't look away. Lila couldn't look away. "That very first day we met. It was wrong of me to do that to you. I was jealous of you."
Volpina's knees hit the ground as she hung on to every word. Marinette took in a breath, and continued.
"And it was wrong of me to seek your friendship after what I said. It wasn't right." And then Volpina looked harder, and she could see a slight shake in the girl's shoulders. "And… it's true that when I tried to be your friend, it wasn't because I liked you."
It was like the words physically hurt. Lila had figured that out already. She was only confirmed her suspicions. But it still twisted at her inside. Volpina leaned forward and her hands were on the ground, gripping the metal beneath them. She lowered her head and stared at her fists as she felt her vision blur again.
"But it's different now." Marinette confessed, and then all of a sudden Volpina felt a warmth on her shoulder. As she raised her head she could see it was a small hand. Marinette's hand. With the warmth she felt something strange inside of her.
It was hope. And it was fighting with the akuma.
The hand moved further back, and then it was running through Volpina's soft hair. She could feel a torrent of emotions running through her. And when she looked up again to see Marinette's face, she was shocked to see a redness in her cheeks. The girl had glanced to the side, seemingly too embarrassed to maintain eye contact. It sent a shock through her.
"I gave you this power to have your revenge, Volpina." Hawkmoth's dangerous voice echoed. "So have it."
Volpina shook her head, wanting to listen to Marinette instead. The sincerity in her tone was like extending a hand down into her, to reach for Lila and to pull her up out of the darkness Hawkmoth had trapped her within.
"Did you know that when I when saw you on the steps of our school, I thought about how pretty you were?" Marinette asked, and then she blushed harder. Volpina blinked. She certainly hadn't been expecting that. "And when I fell down my stairs, did you know that I was happy that you were the one next to me?"
There was a conflict inside of Volpina.
It seemed as if Lila was rising forward, pulling the butterfly within her down. She wanted to be free again. She wanted to hear Marinette herself. She wanted to hear Marinette without the malice of the purple outline that framed her face. She wanted to believe her.
She was finding that she did. That even if Marinette had first approached her for some other reason, the brief time they had shared had allowed for the growth of something else. An affection that touched both of them.
"Did you know that I was really excited about going out with you today?" Marinette continued.
"What are you doing?" Hawkmoth's voice took on an edge of panic and frustration. "She lied! Take care of her, and then bring me the Miraculouses!"
"Did you know that when you saved me today, I-I wanted to kiss you?!" Marinette had to force the last part out, and then she was so red that Volpina's heart thudded. She almost couldn't believe what she'd heard. Lila felt herself rising higher. The darkness was falling.
Volpina scooted closer, looking at Marinette with a curious expression. Her illusion ropes had vanished long ago, and yet Marinette had done nothing but reach out to comfort her. Even though she was Volpina. An akuma. But despite the dark butterfly rooted in her mind, she felt like Lila. Like she was breaking out of the cocoon that Hawkmoth had forced her into.
Volpina… no, Lila, reached out her own hand. The dark glove of her akumatized arm was curling around Marinette's face. And then Marinette's hand came to rest on top of hers, pressing it to her face. Her blue eyes were closing, and Lila was approaching. Her other hand came up to touch the other side of Marinette's head, framing the girl's face entirely with her own fingers.
"You're disappointing me, Volpina." Hawkmoth said. His words were meaningless.
When Lila felt Marinette's lips against hers, she felt her own eyes fall closed and a relief crest through her body, washing away her anger and her doubt. A relief that calmed her nerves and relaxed her mind.
With that, the only emotion that had allowed Hawkmoth to infect Lila in the first place was gone.
"If you don't get up right now and find Ladybug and Chat Noir, I'm taking away your powers." He growled, and Lila's eyes flew open. It was a repetition that he had uttered multiple times. A repetition that she didn't care for. Lila broke away from her kiss and narrowed her eyes.
"So take them." She bent her head and hissed. Lila had never wanted them, anyway. She heard a grunt of disgust from Hawkmoth, and then all of a sudden she felt the darkness inside of her thrash.
"This was a waste of time." His voice was saying, and then she could feel the negativity inside begin to dissipate.
"Come back, Lila." Marinette whispered, her breath lightly gusting over Lila's face. A black wing was rising out of Lila's wrist, out of the red hair tie stretched over her hand. And when Lila looked back up at the girl in front of her, with her hands resting along the sides of her face, a dark butterfly burst out, and there was nothing but a pleasant joy residing inside of her.
Lila looked at the dark purple and black thing, hovering there before beginning to slowly move away. She wondered if akuma had ever been removed by Hawkmoth himself like that before. She'd only ever heard of Ladybug's purification.
Ladybug...
And then Marinette was standing up. Because the link to Hawkmoth was broken now, and he wouldn't know about what was about to occur.
"And I'm sorry for lying about this, too." She was saying, and Lila looked up at the girl, who gazed at her.
"You're lucky you left a cookie in here." A smaller voice said, and then she watched as a small red thing flew out of Marinette's purse.
Ok, what.
"Haha, yeah." Marinette giggled and then looked at the butterfly. And then she called out, "Tikki, transform-me!"
And that was how Lila witnessed her very first magical girl transformation. In a couple of seconds, a swirl of red and pink similar to the repairing magic she'd seen earlier that day wrapped around Marinette and took away the black blazer and outfit, leaving behind a spotted costume and mask.
"You've done enough harm, little akuma." Ladybug said, and then opened her yoyo. She let it dangle for a moment before spinning the cord. Lila had already seen this happen before. Ladybug then threw the red disk out into the air towards the akuma, catching it inside. She grinned and yanked the cord back, where she tapped on the yoyo cover and a white butterfly exited. It would have been prettier if Lila didn't associate it with the darkness that had twisted her inside.
It still hurt to see Ladybug. Even with all she knew… it still hurt.
"You've already figured it out, Lila." The heroine said. "And it's true. I am Ladybug. AndI am so, so sorry for ever hurting you."
Then a series of sparkles washed over the girl, and it was just Marinette standing there again. She extended a hand down to Lila, who despite the difficulty in reconciling her thoughts, took it and allowed Marinette to pull her to her feet.
Lila had many things to say too. But before she could say anything, the small red creature from before dove rapidly back into the purse, and a black blur suddenly landed next to Marinette, who had a look of panic on her face. It was Chat Noir, who looked between the two girls.
"You're back to normal!" He exclaimed in surprise, looking at Lila.
"Yes, Ladybug was just here! She just left, thought." Lila supplied for Marinette. "I'm sorry about earlier, Chat Noir. I was in a bad mood."
"Always have to have the fun to herself. Ah well. And it's no problem; I assume your lovers' quarrel is resolved, ladies?" He then asked. Lila paused, looked down at her hand, which was still in Marinette's, and then she blushed a bit. When she looked to Marinette, she could tell she was blushing even more.
"It is." Lila said. "Um, mind giving us a ride down from here?" She asked, giving Marinette's hand a squeeze, who was still redder in her face than her superheroine suit ever was.
"Of course! Hang on to the staff." Chat Noir said as he set the silver stick on the metal beam. Lila and Marinette gave each other embarrassed looks, and then they grabbed on.
Chat Noir always did his best to impress the ladies, as they soon found out after an unnecessarily long and daring staff ride back to the movie theater.