Chapter Seven

"Yes, Nathalie?" Adrien asked, answering his phone as soon as it rang.

"Your bodyguard will be there to pick you up at six sharp," she replied, voice monotone. "Your father has given you permission to remain after school as requested."

Adrien sat up. "Really?"

"Well, the fact that I mentioned it as a school project instead of an optional activity may have helped," she said. "As long as you continue to mention it as such if asked about it, and that you did well with it then I am sure nothing will come of it."

"Thank you so much, Nathalie!"

"Of course." The line went silent after that, Adrien leaning up against his locker as he hung up.

"Well dude, what's the verdict?" Nino asked, shouldering his bag.

"I can stay," he said with a smile.

Nino pumped his fist. "Yes, we have our Officer Jones. Can't believe your father actually loosened up for once."

"More like his assistant told him it was an assignment," Adrien said, following after Nino to head back up to their classroom, where they would be shooting the short film.

"I thought you said she was a drag too?"

He smiled faintly. "Nathalie doesn't always show it, but she does care. She helped convince Father to let me stay in school."

"Guess I can let her off the hook for now," he said as they stepped into the classroom, only to pause as they found a few of their classmates in an argument– which of course included Chloe. Adrien sighed, not sure he wanted to know what the issue was this time.

"Of course I should be the main lead," Chloe said, flicking her ponytail behind her. "Do you really think Mylene can handle the spotlight? Anyone would be a better choice than her– even Juleka, and that's saying something!"

"Leave Juleka out of this!" Rose growled, stepping in front of the dark haired girl as she shrunk back.

"We already picked the roles," Marinette said, crossing her arms. "Mylene is Agent Smith, not you. Alix will be Officer Jones if Adrien can't stay, and Ivan is the monster."

A smirk curled on Chloe's face. "At least you guys got one role right, let the monster play the monster."

An uncomfortable silence fell across the classroom, eyes being drawn towards the back of the room, where Ivan sat with the mask in front of him. He looked up, eyes distant, then looked back down at the mask without a word. No one said anything, people's gazes swiftly looking anywhere but at him. Mylene shrunk back towards Rose and Juleka, while Marinette took a step towards Chloe.

"Listen here," she snarled, causing Sabrina to take a step back and for Chloe's eyes to go wide in surprise. "You better shut up before I make you. You're not going to run this classroom this year like it's your kingdom. Mylene is Agent Smith, and Ivan is our classmate! Say anything else and I will kick you out myself–"

"Hey everyone!" Adrien said loudly, not liking watching the two of them fight. "Guess what, I'm allowed to stay!"

He let out a small sigh as the tension dispersed somewhat, and Marinette turned towards him with a smile. "That's great, Adrien! Are you still up for playing Officer Jones then?"

Adrien loved the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, such a pretty shade of blue. He smiled softly, forgetting for a second that he was supposed to reply. "Of course," he gave a short nod, then turned towards Mylene. "How about you, still want to do this?"

Mylene closed her eyes for a second, before bobbing her head. "Yeah, I am. My dad's been helping me practice– I can do this!"

"That's the spirit, girl," Alya said, giving the blonde a huge grin. "Come on everyone, places, we have a limited amount of time here."

Marinette glanced at Chloe, who was now examining her nails. "What? Aren't you going to try to get the main role again?"

She looked up with a sneer, blue eyes cold. "Um, no? Not if Adrien's playing the officer. I read the script, and no way am I kissing him, even for some little movie."

Adrien frowned slightly, finding the idea just as weird– but he didn't remember any kiss scene when he had read over the script. He shot a glance back at Alya, who looked just as confused as he did.

"Kiss? I didn't write a kissing scene," she said.

"Final scene," Chloe said dismissively. "Officer and agent kiss and they all live happily ever after. Sabrina, go grab me my nail polish, they need a touch up."

"Right away, Chloe!" Sabrina chirped, darting for the door, while Alya seized one of the scripts lying about.

"Nino!" She cried as she turned to the last page. "Why is there a kissing scene at the end? I didn't write this!"

He shrugged. "It's just a little tweak I added, to wrap everything up, ya know?"

"I never gave you permission to alter my script!"

"Um, it's our script, remember?"

Adrien let out a sigh. "Look, we aren't doing to do a kissing scene unless everyone is comfortable with it. I personally really don't mind, I've done similar stuff at photoshoots, but what do you think, Mylene?" He heard a small squeak in reply, and he turned towards her. "We don't have to do anything that you don't want to do–"

It wasn't him Mylene was looking at, instead she had shrunk back towards Alix and Nathaniel– Ivan was coming down the steps to join the rest of the class. He had paused a ways away from them, mask in one hand, looking at the fearful expression Mylene was giving him. He didn't move for a moment, hesitating, and Adrien could see the conflicting emotions in his gray eyes.

"Mylene–" he began, voice quiet and gravelly, and she let out a yelp. Before anyone could say anything she turned and bolted, racing out the door without another word, and the classroom fell silent once more.

"Mylene!" Marinette called. "Wait!"

"I'm sorry," Ivan whispered, pulling back. "I– I didn't want to scare her, I didn't want to–"

"Well what do you expect?" Chloe said, raising an eyebrow. "You don't need that mask to play the role of monster– you were the first one in this city to become one anyways."

"Chloe–" Adrien began.

Ivan said nothing, a flash of anger crossing his face, his hands tightening on the monster mask. Juleka and Rose jumped at this reaction, which seemed to pull him out of his anger. He stood there for a moment, eyes darting across the classroom. He turned away, climbing the steps back towards the back of the classroom.

"Guys–" Adrien began again.

"Well, this is putting us behind schedule," Max said, looking at his watch. "If Mylene is unable to play the role we'll need to find someone else to do so."

"How about you, Alix?" Kim said. "You were willing to play the officer, so how about the agent?"

"I don't know the agent's lines," she said simply. "You do it."

"I'm not a girl!"

"So?"

"I know!" Nino said, jumping forward. "How about Marinette?"

"Marinette?" Max said, raising an eyebrow. "The one who just ran out after Mylene and is not currently here?"

"Come on, it would be perfect!" Nino insisted. "She and Adrien would make the final scene so cute, don't you think?"

Adrien blinked at the thought. Kissing Marinette? Well, he most certainly didn't mind that idea...

"It's not supposed to be a love story!" Alya cried. "It's supposed to be about the main character's emotional journey, conquering fears and overcoming what's thrown at her!"

"That can still happen in a love story!" Nino countered.

Alya opened her mouth to argue back, but everyone fell silent as a loud scream echoed through the building. For a moment everyone froze up, and then Chloe threw herself out of her seat, bolting towards the door.

"Sabrina!" She cried.


Mylene huddled in the bathroom, tears falling down her face. She had heard Marinette calling after her, but she had been made sure to stay quiet. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now; she wasn't even sure if she deserved it. They hadn't even begun filming and she had already bolted– wasting the limited time they already had.

She had always been a coward, she knew that; but ever since the akuma attacks had begun everything had just become worse. The realization that something could attack at any time was horrible, and that creatures from her childhood nightmares could become real. Ivan being in her class didn't help– and she didn't want to be rude, but every time she looked at him all she could remember was watching Stoneheart smashing down the school wall, throwing cars and roaring as he made his way through town.

"You're okay," she told herself, brown eyes pressed shut in an attempt to stop the tears "You're just fine."

She didn't hear the soft flutter of wings, nor see the butterfly that merged with the pendant on her neck. One moment she was trying to calm herself– and the next there was a presence in her mind. Mylene went still, all the thoughts of her fears rising to the front of her mind, becoming her sole focus.

"Fear is not an easy thing to deal with," a soft voice said in her mind. Instantly her tears stopped, breath getting caught in her throat, because the voice was just so understanding.

"No, it isn't," she whispered in reply, a glowing purple mask highlighting her face.

"They do not fully realize what you are going through," the voice told her. "I can help you with that. I am Monarch, and I will make it so fear shall become your strength, and not something to hold you back. In return, Horrificator, you will bring me the Miraculouses of Crimson Beetle and Lady Noire."

"Yes, Monarch," she said, and dark energy engulfed her.


"Plagg? Plagg!" Marinette hissed as she darted into the locker room. "Crap crap crap..." She threw open her locker. "You better be in here, Plagg!"

A pair of green eyes peered up from behind one of her textbooks. "What? You said I could sleep."

"You were supposed to stay in my purse!"

"You kids were too loud, and it was too pink," Plagg replied. "Now go away, I'm sleeping."

She plucked him up by his little scruff. "Well too bad, we have an akuma to fight."

"Are you sure it's an akuma?"

"What else would the giant slime monster be?!"

"A really bored human?"

"Oh, claws out already," she snapped, sucking the small kwami into her ring. She let out a small sigh as she felt her suit appear over her, the green energy dancing about her, instantly feeling safer.

She drew her baton, turning, but wasn't sure where to begin. She knew that she could have the element of surprise on her side if she moved carefully; she had been lucky to have caught sight of the creature before it had seen her– but that didn't mean it had been easy. She had been searching for Mylene when she heard the scream, and had found the purple monstrosity dragging Sabrina away, a slimy ooze dripping from its mouth. She had wanted to jump in right away, but of course Plagg had decided to ditch her purse.

"Okay," she said to herself, leaping up on top of the lockers. She didn't know why, but she felt more secure up here. "Get the necklace, and we're good."

The akuma had to be in the pendant around Horrificator's neck, nothing else about it had looked out of place. She had been lucky to get so close to spot it right off, but she wouldn't be able to do a thing without Crimson Beetle. She hoped that word would get out about the akuma soon.

"Chloe, wait!" A voice called from down the hall, followed by the sounds of footsteps.

"Sabrina!" Came Chloe's shrill voice. "Sabrina where are you? This isn't funny!"

Lady Noire watched as Chloe, Alya, Rose, Juleka, and Alix all came into the locker room, Chloe looking about frantically. "She probably just tripped or something, so just calm down."

"Calm down?" Chloe cried, wheeling around. "I will not calm down until we–"

"Shhh," Lady Noire hissed– which had the opposite effect than what she wanted. Chloe let out a cry, Rose yelped, all of them jumping back as they whipped their heads around to find the source of the voice. "We need to be quiet."

"Lady Noire?" Alya gawked, fumbling to pull out her phone. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard a scream so I came to investigate," she said simply. "Found slime near one of the bathrooms, so I believe we're dealing with an akuma."

Rose shrunk back towards Juleka as she climbed down from the lockers, who was more than happy to put her arms around her. Alya looked giddy at this news, while Alix uneasily glanced about. Chloe just stood there very pale, hands curling slightly. "D-did you see Sabrina?"

"...I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about," she finally said.

"Our friends Marinette and Mylene are missing too," Alix said.

"We'll need to investigate," Lady Noire replied, sitting up a bit straighter. "You five stick with me for now, it's very likely that one of your friends may be the akuma themselves, because it doesn't seem like there's that many people here."

By process of elimination and along with circumstance, her bet was on Mylene.

"No way," Alya said, recording Lady Noire happily. "They're like literally some of the sweetest people on earth, no way they could attack anyone."

Lady Noire made her way to the door, not noticing the way the girls pulled away from her, Rose glancing down at her ring uncertainly. "When it comes to akumas it's not your friends that would be in control, it would be Monarch. Come on now."

She had to stay focused, detached from the situation so she would be ready to fight at any moment. An ear flicked back, listening to their footsteps as they trailed after her, though both cat ears stood straight up as another scream echoed through the halls– this time coming from upstairs.

"Our class is up there!" Rose cried, bolting towards the stairs, the rest of them right behind her. Lady Noire easily took the lead, able to leap over them and run much faster, rushing for Miss Bustier's classroom. Her gut twisted as she saw globs of pink slime trailing into the room, and she pulled out her baton as she burst in.

She found Adrien, Ivan, Max, Nino, and Kim inside– eyes wide and skin pale. Nino yelped as she charged into the classroom, which was covered with even more pink goo, one of the windows shattered. The girls were quick to follow, their eyes darting around the classroom.

"Where's Nathaniel?" Alix demanded, charging up to Kim.

"Lady Noire!" Adrien said.

"What happened here?" She asked, trying to keep her voice calm, though her heart was pounding. This was different from most akumas, which were quite open with their attacks– but this one seemed to be sneaking around.

"This thing just burst into the classroom!" Nino cried. "Pounced on us and was spraying this goo everywhere."

"It was an akuma," Adrien reported. "It covered Nathaniel with slime and carried him out the window."

Lady Noire went to the shattered window, suit protecting her from glass, her claws digging into the wall to keep her balance. She saw more trails of slime going up the side of the school, and as she looked up towards the roof she caught sight of the creature. It peered down over the side at her with three yellow eyes, opening its mouth as it spat out a spray of slime at her.

She quickly withdrew her head, the goo sliding across the window, glowing faintly as the sun filtered through it. She shivered as she watched another wave of goo wash down over the other windows, covering them as well. She poked at it with her baton, and found that what had appeared to be a sticky substance was hardening.

"It's trapping us in," Kim said.

"Awesome," Juleka whispered.

"We've got to find Mylene!" Ivan cried. "We can't leave her alone with that thing running about!"

Lady Noire closed her eyes. "I'm afraid this akuma might be M– your friend."

"No," Ivan whispered.

"Come on," Lady Noire said. "Everyone stick close to me, we need to get all of you out of here so me and Crimson can deal with this akuma– alright?"

"Where is Crimson Beetle?" Alya asked excitedly, Adrien shifting at her side.

"He'll be here soon," Lady replied, even though she had no idea where he was.

"You're..." Rose glanced at her ring again. "You're not going to destroy anything... right?"

She wasn't sure what to make of her friend's expression. "I'll... I'll keep you all safe, I promise."


She hadn't been able to keep her promise.

Adrien had been the first of their group to be picked off, soon followed by Max– and the most she had caught was a glimpse of fleeing purple with the latter. Instead they had found the doors had been blocked off with more of the hardening slime, alongside many of the windows, slowly locking them in.

Fortunately, Crimson was quick to arrive.

"Barely avoided being blocked out," he explained as he strolled up to their group. "I don't think we're going to be able to get the civilians out of here, so we need to stick together as a group."

"It's picking everyone off one by one," Lady Noire reported, relieved to have her partner here. "We turn our heads and then she strikes. It's taken four people already."

"Five," Alya said. "I haven't seen any sign of Marinette anywhere."

"Five," she amended.

"I'll take the rear, you take the front of the group," Crimson said after a moment of thought. "Everyone, stick close together and if we tell you to do something don't hesitate– got it?"

Murmurs of agreement were given, the class looking apprehensive as they got into formation– all save for Juleka, who had a grin on her face as she looked about at the school, which now looked more like something from a horror movie. Rose was clinging to her arm, blue eyes flickering about as everyone gathered between the two heroes. No one seemed keen to stand near Ivan, who was pushed towards the back of the group– and much to Lady's relief Crimson didn't show any sign of apprehension towards him like she had seen from so many others.

Not much was said as they made their way through the school, all eyes constantly looking about for the monster they knew was stalking them.

It was a couple of minutes later Lady that suddenly froze up, bringing the whole group to a stop. She could hear the sound of something oozing, and immediately she whipped around, extending her baton in the same motion. The silver rod shot over the rest of the group, slamming right into the creature– which had been crawling across the ceiling towards them. Several screams echoed out as the akuma fell on the group, Crimson swinging his yoyo like a shield.

"Run!" He shouted at them, leaping to the side as a spray of slime was released at him. "Lady, take the other side!"

She leapt forward, running as Crimson shouted to keep the Horrificator's attention on him, and she swung the baton like a bat at the back of its head. That sent Horrificator stumbling towards Crimson, gurgling out a blob of its goo, causing Crimson Beetle to flinch back. Much to her horror the creature gleamed faintly, growing in size as it staggered back to its feet.

"Please don't tell me it's like Stoneheart," Crimson muttered under his breath as it charged forward, knocking him aside as it ran after the rest of their classmates. A spray of slime sent Juleka and Rose to the ground, another glob landing on Kim's arm.

Its tail lashed out like an extra limb, grabbing Juleka, while an arm plucked Kim up from the ground. It dangled him in front of its face, letting out a roar right at him. He let out a whimper, Rose let out a shriek, and Horrificator swelled in size more. It then turned towards Juleka, doing the same, goo flying from its mouth like spit.

"So cool," Juleka whispered, wiping the slim away from her face as she hung there, tail wrapped around her upper arm.

The hallways were dim, but Lady knew she was seeing clearly as she watched the creature slowly shrink in size– in the process losing her grip on Juleka. She vaulted forward, catching the girl before she could hit the ground, Horrificator letting out a hiss of frustration, before wheeling back towards Kim. It slammed him into the ground, roaring right in his face, clawed hand keeping him in place as he trembled.

Lady Noire shivered as she watched Horrifcator's size swell once more, grabbing Kim and racing off towards the lower levels before she had the chance to move in and strike again. Those remaining pressed against the wall, and Lady looked down to see if Juleka was okay. Her cheeks were flushed pink, but otherwise she looked just fine, and gently placed her on her feet.

"Did you see that?" She asked, wheeling around towards Crimson.

"That it just got away with Kim?" He said, a slight growl of frustration in his voice. "Yeah, I did."

"No, it seems to be feeding off of energy somehow," she said. "It isn't growing bigger when attacked, it responds to our reactions or something– it shrunk down when it was snarling at Juleka."

Everyone's eyes turned towards the dark haired girl, who was peeling off flecks of hardening slime from her shirt. She shrugged, shifting at the sudden spotlight. "She's not really that scary," she said softly. "Kinda cute actually."

"You think that thing is cute?!" Chloe snarled. "It's picking us off one by one!"

"It will keep doing that if we keep acting this way," Lady said, taking a step forward. "Monarch preys on emotions, so does this akuma. As long as we're afraid of it we're only helping it grow."

"We'll need to stick together," Crimson said. "Keep our morale high, and we'll track it down together."

"Awesome," Alya whispered.

"You want to track it?" Nino cried.

"Well, we need the akumatized object to stop it," Lady said, pointing with her baton towards the ground, which was littered with globs of glue. "And we might as well use this opportunity to see where it's taking anyone. Besides, it's not like we can leave easily."

Her classmates didn't seem too thrilled about this except for Alya, who was recording everything with her phone. Still they pressed forward after the two heroes who took the lead, Lady and Juleka at the back to hopefully act as a barrier should it sneak up behind them. Crimson kept flicking out his yoyo and drawing it back, green eyes scanning the halls as they went after the trails of goo.


The last thing Mylene remembered was a voice whispering in her head– the next thing she knew was the rush of dark energy sizzling around her as she stood in a dark room. She looked up in confusion, and was startled to find many of her classmates surrounding her, strange splatters of pink scattered across the room. She opened her mouth, trying to speak, when a voice cried out around her:

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

It was the same voice she had heard on the news many times, but this time it was right in front of her. She watched as a rush of pink energy flared out from Crimson Beetle, sweeping across the room, removing the splatters and easing up the dents that had been caused by... something. She felt her breath get caught in her throat as she saw Lady Noire there as well, all eyes on Mylene.

She backed up. "Wh-what happened?" She asked voice cracking slightly. "How did I get here?"

I am Monarch... The memory of the voice echoed in her mind, and she already knew the answer before either hero said anything. Lady Noire approached her, carefully handing her the pendant that she always wore, but by then she was shaking.

"You were akumatized," Lady Noire said softly, and fear coursed through Mylene. "But it's okay now..."

She didn't hear the rest of what she was saying though– because this was anything but okay. Monarch's magic had touched her– she had been turned into one of the monsters. She didn't even know what she had done, but her stomach churned. She desperately looked at those around them, but no one was looking her in the eye save for the heroes, and Alya who was filming the whole moment.

"N-no," she whispered. "N-no, I– I couldn't have been–"

She stumbled forward, and Nathaniel flinched as she came close. The realization crashed over her– that she had become a monster, and her classmates had witnessed it. Her friends had– if that title was even still held. She shook like a leaf, and Lady Noire reached for her she bolted as she had earlier, fleeing from the stares and the reality of what she had done. She paid no heed to those calling after her, simply bursting out the front doors and into the streets.

She was barely aware of the walk home, tears blurring her eyes as she walked down the familiar paths, eventually throwing open her door to her apartment, shivering as she headed inside– not feeling the sense of security home should have brought. She leaned back against the door, slowly sinking down to the floor.

"Sweetie?" Her father's voice called. "Is that you?"

What would her dad think of her? Would he want anything to do with her after what had happened?

This thought broke the dam, and Mylene crumbled into sobs.


"You can do this," Mylene told herself as she looked up at her school. "This is just fine, you can do this..."

She had taken yesterday off, but she couldn't hide in her house all day. There was nothing to be afraid of, she just needed to walk inside like any other day. Find her seat, talk with her friends, and pretend that the akumatization had never happened. She was okay... she was just fine...

With tears brimming her eyes, she stepped into the school building.

She tried to tell herself that the whispers weren't about her, but she knew that they were. Alya may have not posted her name to the blog nor any images of her besides her akumatized state, but word had spread. Both neighbors and reporters had already come knocking at her father's door, all of whom he had slammed it in their face.

Mylene told herself no one was avoiding her, but her eyes kept being drawn to those who scrambled out of her way as she went down the hall, the way conversations fell silent and wide eyes stared at her as she passed.

She was still herself, she was still herself...

Her world was a blur once she actually made it to her classroom, which she stumbled into as quickly as she could, wiping away her tears. Mylene let out a shuddering breath as she closed the door, wanting to be away from the stares and the silence– but she knew she was only being met with more as she turned around, her classmates looking towards her.

She opened her mouth. She tried to say something– but no words would come out. Her eyes flickered across her friends and classmates', but their gazes were something she couldn't quite read. So she held her bag close, looking straight down as she rushed to her seat, not making eye contact with anyone. Not even when the teacher came in, not when the lesson began, she was too afraid of what would happen if she were to. She stayed huddled there up until the lunch bell rang, waiting for the classroom to clear out before she dared stand up.

A shadow fell across her though, and she looked up to find Ivan looking down at her with concerned eyes, and her heart started hammering.

"Mylene?" He asked, deep voice soft. "Are you okay?"

His voice sent shivers through her as they always did, her instincts tell her to run– but she didn't. She couldn't. He was the first person to say a word to her all day, to look at her with something else besides fear... and she hated it. She hated the fact that the pity in his eyes was because he knew exactly how she felt– because he had gone through this exact same thing. That he had been treated exactly how she had– and she was one of the people who had fled from him as if he was still Stoneheart.

"I'm sorry!" Mylene cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry Ivan– I'm so sorry!"

His eyes widened slightly. "Whoa Mylene, it's okay," he said, holding his hands out. "It wasn't your fault, you have to understand that they're just–"

"N-no!" She hiccuped. "I'm sorry for running from you. For... for ignoring you, for... for everything. I... I..." She struggled to take in a breath. "I put you through this, I treated you like this, it's horrible and I... I... I...!"

She felt a pair of strong hands on her shoulders. "Mylene? Mylene! Hey, um, hey, you can hear me, right? Come on, look at me, look at me. Good, er... that's good. Can you take a deep breath in? I need you to do that Mylene, okay? Just keep breathing just like that."

She was shaking, but his voice seemed to draw her in from the panic. Soft but strong, rooting her amidst the chaos in her mind. She took in several straggling breathes, blinking rapidly as she grounded herself once more. She was in her classroom, by her desk, in Ivan's arms, wait–

She whipped her head up, and he quickly took a step back. "Sorry," he whispered. "I didn't know what else to do, I'm sorry if I crossed any lines, I just–"

Mylene shook her head. "N-no, it's okay. Thank you Ivan... sorry, I'm just a mess today..."

"I get it," he said, sitting at the bench across the aisle. "Nothing to apologize for."

"Why are you talking to me?" She asked softly. "I'm the one that ran away from you when you didn't even do anything."

"I wasn't going to let you go through this alone," he said, shrugging, looking away.

Alone. The idea just made her shudder– because this morning had been one of isolation. "I just don't know what to do. Everyone's looking at me t-terrified, like I'm a monster or something."

More tears pricked her eyes, and for a moment Ivan looked panicked. He glanced around, pushing himself to his feet. "No, um, no Mylene, that's not why–" He reached into his pocket, pulling out a pin. He leaned forward, putting it in her bandana. "There– they're not scared of you, they're scared of that, of course. It's from my favorite band, the Zombie Skullcrushers. No one dares mess with you while wearing that."

For the first time that day a smile twitched at the edge of Mylene's lips, and Ivan smiled back.

"And if anyone does say anything, you just let me know, okay?" He said, holding out his hand. "Come on, let's go to lunch. You can sit with me and Aurore, if you'd like."

She took his hand letting him pull her to his feet. "I would like that."

As they made their way into the hallway Ivan's towering form didn't feel frightening as he walked beside her, but more like a protection from those glancing their way. Neither of them said a word as they made their way towards the cafeteria, Mylene fingering her pedant where the akuma butterfly had been. A part of her had wanted to pull away from the object, but it was too important for her to ever get rid of.

Aurore and Ivan had a table of their own in the corner of the lunchroom– seemingly no one wanting to be near the ones who had been akumatized. Ivan had stayed with her through the entire lunchline, guiding her over to where the blonde was sitting. Aurore looked up from her phone, giving a grunt of acknowledgement as they sat.

"Finally someone new joining the ranks, hmm?" Aurore said coolly. "Not even going to bother trying to sit with your friends?"

Her thoughts drifted back towards how her classmates had reacted this morning. "I... I don't think they want me to."

Aurore gave her a grim smile. "Good choice, skipping out of the stares and glares. Wish I would've done that. I'm Aurore."

"Mylene," she offered meekly as she and Ivan sat. Aurore raised an eyebrow at this.

"Oh, I've heard a lot about you from Ivan," she said.

"Huh?" She blinked, and Aurore grinned as Ivan shifted in the seat next to her.

"Nothing," Aurore said. "Tell me about yourself, I've missed having some girl talk– no offense Ivan."

"None taken," he said, taking a bite of his sandwich. Mylene did have to admit the two seemed like an unlikely duo, one you wouldn't expect to become friends, but clearly their circumstances had changed that.

They talked for a little bit, small talk and ramblings, nothing deep coming from any of the three. Ivan only said a word or two at a time, while Aurore was happy to take control of the conversation. Mylene was happy just to listen, because any sort of distraction was welcome.