Chapter Twenty-Eight
Adrien let out a long sigh as he headed down the stairs, his bag slung over one shoulder. He never thought the day would come that he didn't want to go to school– but, mentally, he was exhausted. This last week the media had been buzzing about the interview that Prime Queen had aired, and with the findings Alya had brought out about potential past magic users there was just a general buzz about the heroes in the air.
Unfortunately, this brought out the good and the bad– and Alya's other article wasn't going unnoticed. It was just a theory from a teenager's blog, which meant for the most part the news and officials didn't comment on it, but social media had happily seized it. He did not want to see one more comment that put Lady Noire in a bad light. And those that weren't talking about her powers negatively, were usually talking about her looks– and very rarely was it in a way that one would see it as a compliment. As a model, he had seen similar remarks made about him... and it made him sick that Lady Noire could encounter the same thing.
"That is unacceptable!"
Adrien flinched at the shout, his eyes flickering towards his father's atelier, which had one door slightly ajar. It wasn't uncommon to hear his father yelling or shouting at workers– either his father was completely calm and quiet, or loud with rage; there was no in between. He couldn't help but pull away from the front door, heading towards the office, wondering what had happened this time.
"The sample garment doesn't match at all! You just have to follow a simple pattern!" There was a slight pause, a slight growl in his father's voice now. "What do you mean this wouldn't have happened if I was there? I shouldn't have to be there– not when you're being paid to do your job! I send the designs, and you make sure they're made!"
Adrien peered through the open door, and saw his father looking down at a book. Not reading it, though the book was open. His face only showed frustration, holding a phone up to his ear. Adrien couldn't help but wince slightly, because it had been over a year since his father had stepped foot outside the house. So someone mentioned the fact that he wasn't there and then using that to point blame at his father... that wouldn't end well.
"We have three days before the show," Gabriel said with a growl. "So, use this time to prove your worth, and I'll forget about that comment. Am I clear?"
Adrien knew that he should go, that his bodyguard was waiting to take him to school, but he couldn't help but linger. Tikki nudged him from his pocket, telling him to leave, but he just stared through the open door at his father instead. Something seemed different, and he wasn't sure what. This conversation wasn't a surprising one from his father or anything, and his atelier was always kept in pristine condition.
His father shut the book he had been looking at, before strolling across the room and towards a safe that was in the wall. That was when Adrien realized what was different– the safe being something he had never seen before. Gabriel carefully slid the book inside, before closing the safe, and then closing the large painting of Emilie so it was back in its normal place– covering up the safe.
"No," Gabriel grumbled into the phone. "Don't use him– he's useless."
Adrien's eyes widened as Gabriel started to turn around, and, not wanting to get caught spying, he stiffly hurried and pulled back behind a pillar in the foyer. He was half convinced that it wouldn't be enough to keep him hidden, but his father's footsteps echoed as he walked by Adrien and across the foyer.
"You need to call my assistant, Nathalie," Gabriel said, his voice growing fainter as he walked away. "She'll give you some other names."
Once he was sure his father was gone, he slowly pulled out from behind the pillar, looking towards the atelier once more. "...He hides stuff behind the painting of Mom?"
"Adrien, you're going to be late for school," Tikki said, peering out of his pocket.
"I didn't know there was a safe back there," Adrien muttered, and even though he knew he wasn't privy to what went on in his father's office, he couldn't help but feel slightly hurt all the same. He walked into the office, looking up at the painting of his mother, heart hurting slightly.
He missed her.
"Everyone has secrets, Adrien," Tikki said softly. "And it's not our place to search for them."
Adrien took in these words for a moment, staring at the painting for a moment longer– and his gaze hardened.
"I'm sick of secrets," he muttered, before strolling forward and pulling back the painting of his mother, looking at the safe.
It was perfectly flushed with the wall, a thick metal door with a small pad to type in a code. Adrien hesitated, before reaching up and typing in a few numbers. He tried his mother's birthday, his father's birthday, their anniversary– but all resulted in a flash of red light, and no locks clicking.
"Adrien," Tikki whispered. "You shouldn't be doing this. Doesn't your father deserve his privacy?"
Adrien hesitated, before trying one more possible combination of numbers. He didn't expect anything to happen– but this time the keypad flashed green, and the safe softly clicked open. Adrien stared for a moment, wondering if in fact he shouldn't be snooping, some of the bitterness he felt lessening when he found that the passcode was in fact his birthday.
But he had come this far, and so he pulled open the safe and looked inside. He saw the book his father had put inside, stuffed away on the bottom shelf. Tikki went still as they peered in, clearly not happy with them snooping. What caught Adrien's attention the most was a picture of his mother, which he carefully picked up, his heart aching as he looked at it. It was one he had never seen before, and, going by how young his mother looked, it had probably been taken before he was born.
He put it back, scanning the rest of the items. There were knickknacks scattered within it, what looked to be his parent's college diplomas, and a framed drawing of a young child's scribbles. Adrien picked it up next, looking down at the family portrait he had once drawn. He remembered it, vaguely, having given it to his father on Father's day years ago– and he hadn't known that his father had kept it all these years.
He barely noticed Tikki drifting out of his pocket, just putting the picture back. The spark of defiance he had felt earlier was quickly turning to guilt, realizing that this safe didn't store secrets or even monetary valuables, but rather, things with emotional meaning. His father's keepsakes, things he probably shouldn't be going through.
That didn't stop him from looking at a small shallow ceramic dish, which held a collection of jewelry. It looked to be an assortment of both his mother's and his father's, and he wondered if his mother had used this safe as well, or if her jewelry had only been added to this safe of memories after she had disappeared. He remembered his mother's flower brooch that his father had given him for his birthday, and wondered if it had come from here.
There was a pearl necklace, several different pins, two sets of cuff links, and multiple pairs of earrings. Adrien reached forward to shift through them, wondering if there were anything of his mother's that he would recognize, if there was something he could recall her wearing, but a hiss from Tikki made him freeze.
"Adrien," Tikki was no longer in his pocket, instead hovering in front of the lower shelf of the safe. "You need to take that book."
Her eyes were locked on the leather-bound book his father had been looking at earlier. Adrien blinked at her words, positive that he had misheard her.
"T-take?"
Tikki looked back at him, blue eyes wide. "Take the book, Adrien, and let's get out of here."
"I– I can't steal from Father," Adrien said swiftly– not quite sure how Tikki had gone from 'respect your father's privacy' to 'steal what are clearly sentimental items'.
"Adrien," Tikki said in a low tone. "Do you recognize the symbol on the book?"
He slowly reached for the book, carefully pulling it from the shelf. There was a faded symbol on the cover, the design looking old, and familiar. He stared at it for a moment, trying to place where he had seen it, and his hands tightened around the book as the realization set in.
"This is the same design that was on the box your Miraculous came in," Adrien said, looking at Tikki. She turned away, and his heart started thumping. "What... what does it mean?"
"It means that it shouldn't be here," Tikki said. "We need to take it with us and leave before we're caught."
"I can't just steal from Father–!"
"Do you want answers?" Tikki buzzed, urgency in her voice. "Because this book would be your ticket to getting them now. Answers, Adrien, nothing else hidden."
Adrien stared down at the book, then up at Tikki. He hesitated for a moment, before slowly kneeling down and tucking the book away into his bag. Tikki noticeably relaxed slightly, before tensing up.
"Someone's coming," she whispered, before diving into his pocket. Adrien was left with only moments to shut the safe as quietly and swiftly as he could, before pushing the painting back into place. His heart was thumping, guilt and panic rushing through him as he stumbled back, hoping that it just looked like he was looking at the painting of his mother. He could hear footsteps, and he braced himself for his father's voice.
"Adrien?" The voice was surprised– and it was not his father's. He turned around and saw Nathalie standing in the doorway, a hand over her chest. "What are you doing here? You should be at school!"
"I– I, um–" He fumbled for a believable excuse. "I wanted to talk to Father, but he wasn't here, and I was just... just looking and the picture of Mom..."
Nathalie stared at him for a moment, and he was ready for her to call out his lie, but she just closed her eyes instead.
"You know your father is very busy," Nathalie said, her voice having gone from surprised to stern. "There's a show just a few days away, and he is very stressed. Besides, you're going to be late for school at this rate."
She strolled forward, and he reached down to pick up his bag as she laid a hand on his shoulder. As Adrien stood up he was swiftly guided towards the double doors that lead to the foyer, and directed out. He looked back at Nathalie, who was still in what he called 'business mode'.
"Make sure you apologize to Ezra for making him wait so long," Nathalie said.
"Of course," Adrien said, and Nathalie gave a short nod in reply. She then closed the door to the atelier, locking herself in, and leaving Adrien alone in the foyer. He let out a shaky sigh, still not sure how he hadn't been caught, before heading towards the front door, his father's book still tucked away in his bag.
"Oh, Marinette!" Miss Bustier said happily. "I see you found our new student, thank you for guiding her here."
"New student?" Rose asked, looking up from her desk. She was quick to get up from her seat, scurrying to the front of the room where Marinette and Lila were, a smile on her face. "Oh my goodness, welcome! I'm Rose!"
"Hi, Rose," Lila said shyly. "I'm Lila, it's nice to meet you."
"I didn't think we could get a new student this late into the year!" Rose said, practically beaming. "You're going to just love our class!"
"Just watch out for Chloe," Juleka mumbled quietly under her breath, having risen up from her seat as well to join her girlfriend.
Marinette smiled at Lila, though the girl didn't return it, as her focus was currently looking about the new classroom. Her eyes flickered across the students that were currently here– Chloe and Sabrina's front row currently empty, Alix and Mylene behind them. Max was in the next row, seemingly waiting for Kim, then Rose and Juleka were currently up from their back row seats.
Across the aisle were Nathaniel and Ivan, both in their own rows, and in front of them was Marinette's own desk; empty since Alya had yet to arrive. Finally in the front row was Nino and Adrien, who for once weren't talking. Nino was listening to his music, while Adrien was reading what looked to be an old book; though his bag was up on his desk, blocking anyone from getting a proper look at it.
"Thank you, girls, for giving Lila here a warm welcome," Miss Bustier said, laying her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Now Lila, we have two empty seats, in the last few rows on the right. You can take whichever one you'd like. Ivan is the one with the dark hair, and Nathaniel with the red– they will both be very kind seat mates."
"Actually, Miss Bustier?" Lila asked uncertainly. "Is there any way I could sit in the front row?"
Miss Bustier blinked. "Well, if it's needed we would most certainly arrange that. What's the problem?"
"I don't have my contacts with me," Lila said, blinking a few times. "They got lost in the move, and my medical records haven't been transferred over quite yet, and my mother is very busy, so we haven't been able to get new ones yet. I had my old glasses that I thought could work, but they're small and a bit scratched up." She looked away. "I don't want to take anyone's seat, but until I can get new contacts I won't be able to see the board."
"I'd give you my seat if I could," Rose said. "But I'm already in the back."
"How close to the front do you need to be?" Miss Bustier asked.
"The very front would be the best," Lila replied.
"Don't put her in Chloe's or Sabrina's seat," Alix called. "No need for the new girl to be on her target list from day one."
Miss Bustier frowned at that comment, but didn't say anything, knowing it was true. So she instead turned towards Adrien and Nino's seats, tapping on the desk to get their attention as they were both absorbed in their music and book. They looked up at the teacher, Nino pulling one of the earphones back.
"Oh, has class started?" Nino asked. "I didn't realize–"
"Don't worry, you're fine," Miss Bustier said with a smile. "I just need to talk to the two of you. Would one of you boys be willing to move to the back row? Our new student needs to be closer to the board."
Nino and Adrien shared an uncertain glance. "Um, could me and my bro both move to the back?"
"We're not rearranging the whole seating chart," Miss Bustier replied.
"I am so sorry," Lila said to Nino and Adrien, looking away slightly. "I don't mean to separate anyone."
"You didn't do anything," Marinette quickly.
"It wouldn't have to be permanent, Miss Bustier," Lila said quickly. "I should be fine in another seat as soon as I can get my contacts. Besides, maybe this could be a way for me to get to know some of my classmates?"
Nino looked at Adrien, before shrugging. "Well, if I can sit with Adrien again, I wouldn't mind going to the back for a few days."
"Thank you very much, Nino," Miss Bustier said, watching as Nino reached down to get his backpack. "Remember that this doesn't mean class time is to be used goofing off. I remember your antics when you were in the back last year."
Nino gave a guilty grin. "Don't worry about me." He stood up, gesturing to his seat. "Here you go, Dudette. Be nice to Adrien, 'kay?" Nino clapped Adrien on the back as he walked by. "I'll see you at lunch, my dude."
Lila sat in Nino's seat, turning to look at Adrien, a huge smile on her face– which slowly turned to a frown. "Um... have I met you before? You look really familiar."
Adrien glanced at her, before closing the book he was reading. "I don't think so."
"Are you sure?" Lila said, leaning forward slightly. "I swear I've seen your face before. Have you been to Italy recently? That's where I'm from."
"You've probably seen my face on billboards," Adrien replied. "My father buys more than his fair share here in Paris."
"He's a model," Alix called from across the classroom. "Pretty boy has plenty of pictures of him floating around."
"Oh!" Lila said in recognition. "Huh, maybe we have met before then. Have you ever been to any galas in Italy?"
"You've been to a gala?" Rose asked. "That's amazing!"
"Everyone, to your seats now," Miss Bustier said, motioning for Rose and Juleka to move from the front of the room.
"I haven't," Adrien said politely, though he seemed slightly on edge. Marinette wondered what he had been reading, wondering if his attention had been pulled from an intense part. "Father doesn't take me to any that are out of the country. Last time I was in Italy was for a fencing tournament."
"Fencing? How fun!"
"You like fencing?" Adrien asked.
"I've watched a few matches before," she said shyly. "I don't understand all the finer points; I was just there to support my cousin. He's a natural when it comes to fencing."
"What discipline does he do?"
"Huh?"
"I do saber fencing," Adrien explained. "Do you know which one your cousin does?"
"Oh! Yes, he does saber as well, actually," Lila said, tilting her head slightly. "Sorry, French isn't my first language, it might take me a few moments sometimes to understand everything that's being said."
"Sarebbe utile se parlassi italiano?" Adrien asked.
Lila beamed. "You know Italian?"
"I wouldn't say I'm perfect, but if you need help translating anything, I'd be happy to help," Adrien said.
"That would be wonderful," Lila said, moving closer. "Thank you so much for that offer."
Lila then said something in Italian, and Adrien replied in turn. Marinette tried listening, recognizing a handful of words she had heard from her father and grandmother, and there were somes words that sounded pretty similar to French– but what they were talking about was overall lost on her. Adrien tended to pause for a few moments before answering, but all in all, could keep up with Lila fairly easily.
When there seemed to be a pause in their conversation Marinette spoke up, heading towards her seat. "I'm in the row behind you, Lila, if you need anything."
Lila beamed at her. "Thank you so much, Marinette." She turned back towards Adrien. "Di cosa parla quel libro? Sembra interessante!"
"È solo un vecchio libro," Adrien replied, carefully turning to tuck his book away into his bag.
"Hey, girl!" Alya beamed, and Marinette looked up to see Alya heading up towards their desk. "This last week has been crazy! I've gotten so many emails about what we found about Citrine Húlí, even a few from people that said they've met him before– though I need to sort through those ones, I know there's no way that they're all reliable– but it's been awesome! There was even a university that pointed some more sources my way that look like they might be talking about Pfau, and honestly I don't even know where to begin with everything!"
"That's awesome," Marinette said, but unfortunately her smile felt slightly forced.
"Only thanks to you!" Alya said excitedly. "If you hadn't pointed out what Monarch said in her speech with Cameraman... gah, recordings from that battle have so much information in them, I've been rewatching everything I could, and as you've seen I just have so many theories!"
"Theories, not facts," Adrien said from in front of them.
"I'm not presenting them as facts," Alya replied. "I wouldn't do that."
"Wait," Lila said, turning around in her seat. "You are that girl that runs the blog about the monster attacks, right? My mother and I were watching a lot of your recordings as soon as we learned we'd be moving to Paris."
"Yep, that's me," Alya said, shifting slightly. "But, um, we don't call them 'monsters' here, we say akumas or akuma victims. There's some people in our school who have been akumatized, and they're not monsters." Alya frowned. "Wait, where did Nino go?"
"Nino traded seats with Lila for a few days," Marinette explained.
"I'm blind without my contacts," Lila explained. "And they got lost in the move. My mother is a diplomat from Italy, she's working at the embassy, and I'll be living here in Paris until we move again."
"Do you move a lot?" Mylene asked.
"Usually every year or so," Lila said. "We go back to Italy fairly often, but it isn't long until Mom is asked to go somewhere else. It's really hard being the new kid all the time."
"Well, you're welcome in our class!" Kim said with a grin.
"I moved here to Paris last summer," Alya said with a smile. "Not from a different country, but I get what it's like to be in a new city and school. Everyone here is cool, though, everyone but–"
"Who is she?" A voice cried. "And why is she sitting next to my Adrikins!"
"...Chloe," Marinette muttered, scowling.
"The bell is about to ring," Miss Bustier said. "So why don't you and Sabrina get to your seats?"
"Not until I get an answer!" Chloe demanded, hurrying up to Adrien's and Lila's desk. "Who thought they had the right to separate you from your friend? This is ridiculous, utterly–"
Adrien gave a strained smile. "It's fine, Chloe, really."
"Who are you?" Chloe demanded, jabbing a finger towards Lila– who shrank back in her seat immediately.
"I'm... I'm sorry," Lila muttered. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble–"
"Chloe, back off," Mairnette growled, pushing herself to her feet.
"Oh, shut up, Dupain-Cheng–"
"Everyone, to your seats now," Miss Bustier snapped– a tone they rarely heard from their teacher. Chloe stood there for a moment, her glower flickering between Marinette and Lila, and Adrien put a hand on Chloe's arm– who rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Sabrina," Chloe said, waltzing over to her seat just as the bell rang. Marinette slowly sank back down onto the bench, and Miss Bustier let out a long sigh.
"Lila?" Marinette whispered. "Are you okay?"
Lila glanced back at Marinette with glossy eyes, before looking forward. Miss Bustier stood up at the front of the room, smiling as she waited for everyone to go silent. Slowly conversation died down, the attention turning towards the teacher.
"Welcome, everyone," Miss Bustier said warmly. "As most of you have seen, we are lucky to have a new student with us today. Lila, would you like to stand up and introduce yourself... Lila? Are you alright?"
Lila quickly ran her arm across her face. "Um, y-yes, Miss Bustier." She carefully stood up, turning to face the classroom, and from the quick sniffle she gave it was clear she was trying to keep herself composed, and an uncertain smile on her face. "I'm Lila Rossi, and I recently just moved here from Italy. I hope I'll be able to get to know you all and... yeah."
With that, Lila hurried back to her seat, and Marinette's heart felt heavy. First day here, and Chloe had already decided to focus her attention on Lila. Alya and Marinette shared a glance, and they both knew they were thinking the same thing. When it came time for them to move onto their next class they were quick to go to Lila's side, Adrien's staying near them, and Nino joined them as well.
"Here, we'll show you the way to our next class," Marinette said brightly.
"Let's all go together," Rose said, she and Juleka making their way to the front of the room.
Lila looked around at her new class swiftly joining her, giving a small smile. "Thank you guys, so much."
With the heaviness she had been feeling in her heart all week, Lila's company was just the very thing Marinette needed.
Lila was a cheerful girl, and once she seemed to warm up to the class she opened up. She happily was telling stories of places she had been thanks to her mother's job– many places around Europe, several trips to the United States, a vacation she took to the Amazon, and by the time they were at lunch she was telling them about her time in the Kingdom of Achu, all of them moving through the lunch line.
"...And that's how I know Prince Ali," Lila said shyly. "We met at a fundraiser of his."
Rose lit up. "You know Prince Ali too?"
"Too?"
"I write letters to him every week!" Rose said, beaming. "I was able to meet him after I was akumatized, and he invited me to his fundraiser. I just admire all the work he does for children in the hospital, and he's really become a close friend of mine." She was bouncing on her toes. "I'll tell him that I met you, too– what a small world!"
"W-wait–" Lila said swiftly. "I, I think you misunderstood me. I... I..." She swallowed, looking down at her hands. "I am so sorry, I think I misspoke. Not 'know'... I meant, I meant... incontrato. Met. I met Prince Ali, I don't know him personally. I doubt he would even remember me, I was just one of many people at that fundraiser..."
"Oh," Rose said, pausing.
"I'm so sorry!" Lila exclaimed. "I didn't mean to make it sound like that I– I'm sorry–"
"No, no, no," Rose said. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Lila, I'm the one that jumped to conclusions!"
"It's really amazing that you know Prince Ali personally," Lila said as their group made their way to a table. "How did that happen?"
"I've always admired the charity work Ali does," Rose said brightly. "Especially for young children in hospitals, making sure they have toys and joy in their life despite all the gloom– and that just means so much to me. So when I heard he was coming to do work here in Paris I was just so excited, it was all I could talk about..."
Rose carried on, telling about the day she was akumatized– focus mostly on the fundraiser and dinner she had been invited to by the prince afterwards. Lila listened keenly, her head tilted slightly, and when Rose paused to catch her breath she spoke up.
"That must have been so frightening to be akumatized," Lila said. "I can't even imagine. I've been keeping a close eye on what's going on here in Paris, but this is my first time actually being here since it began. How did you all handle it?"
Rose shrugged. "Oh, it wasn't too bad, my akumatization took place after the prejudice started to die down."
"Ivan got it really bad," Mylene said, looking away. "Even I didn't treat him the best after his akumatization."
"I'm glad to hear that's changed," Lila said, her gaze shifting to Alya. "I was reading some articles on your blog, and I have to say, the one about that old fox hero was really interesting. Could you tell me some more about what you found, exactly? I might have missed a few things since it was written in French."
Alya smiled. "I do have a few articles I've allowed people to translate into English. I really should look into expanding to some other languages too." She sat up. "But I would love to tell you about my blog– I put so much research into that article."
"Beware, Lila," Alix said, smirking. "You've just awakened a monster– getting Alya to talk about her research."
"I just loved hearing about the fox hero," Lila said. "I'd love to hear more about what you found."
"Are foxes your favorite animal?" Rose asked, pointing to Lila's neck. "That necklace is based on a fox, isn't it?"
"O-oh!" Lila exclaimed, her eyes suddenly going wide with panic. Marinette blinked, surprised, watching as Lila hastily tucked the golden necklace so it was hidden under her shirt, but they were able to see the orange fox-tail pendant at the end. "Um, sorry– please, Alya, tell us what you were going to say."
Alya blinked, but was more than happy to delve into her research and theories– it wasn't everyday someone invited her to, knowing just how much she could ramble. Lila listened intently to Alya's hypothesis about Citrine Húlí having weather based abilities based on the reports of fog, though she had yet to find any other strange weather patterns from around that time. Marinette listened intently, because of the few Miraculouses that she had been able to get Plagg to tell her about, the Fox was not among them. He had only ever mentioned Citrine once, and had refused to say anything more when she pressed him about it, especially when it came to Citrine's connection to their ring.
The other girls started up a conversation of their own, though, which Marinette was slowly dragged into. Lila and Alya soon joined the four of them as well, lunch passing swiftly for the classmates. As the bell rang for them to go to their next class, Marinette realized how light she felt– for the first time in days feeling like there wasn't a constant tension about her, that she didn't have to force herself to breathe.
"Can I get your number, Lila?" Marinette asked as they all stood up. "Then we can contact you next time we all plan a hang out."
"Oh yeah!" Rose said, pulling out her phone as well. "We need to trade numbers! Here, this is mine–"
Marinette was glad to see Lila looking a lot happier than she did back in the classroom. She was currently talking to Mylene and Alix, Juleka and Rose behind them, and Marinette found herself drifting towards the back of the group, letting out a long sigh. A moment later she felt someone bump up against her shoulder, Alya looking at her in concern.
"You okay, girl?" She asked.
"Of course I am," Marinette said, blinking. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Alya's hazel eyes softened. "You haven't been yourself all day. All bright and smiles, but as soon as you think no one's looking, it's gone. Did something happen? Is everything okay?"
She smiled. "Everything's been great, you don't need to worry about me."
Alya watched her for a moment, clearly not believing her. "...You busy after school? Maybe we could go get some ice cream or something?"
"...Sounds good," Marinette said after a moment, smiling as they headed back to class.
As much as Adrien enjoyed Ms. Mendeleiev's class, he was thankful that they didn't have a lecture for their final period, instead having been turned loose in the library to research an upcoming project. Adrien was indeed researching, but it had nothing to do with the project, nor was he even looking at any books in the library. Instead he headed straight for the back of the library, isolating himself so he could pull out his father's book and get a proper look at it.
During first period he had been able to get a few small glimpses of what was inside– pictures of heroes and Miraculouses– but with it feeling like everyone was hovering about him, he had opted to wait just a bit longer, despite the burning curiosity he had felt all day.
The book looked old, the way it was bound, the style, the writing looked like it had been done by hand rather than printed, yet at the same time it didn't seem old. The pages turned with ease, the ink was faded; but readable, and the papers were crisp but not yellowed. He had no idea of what any of it said– there was an Asian style to the art and the designs, but the writing itself seemed completely foreign. It wasn't Chinese, and didn't look like any Asian language he had seen. Not that he was an expert when it came to languages, though.
He opened to the page he had been looking at earlier, marked with a small piece of paper he had used as a bookmark– the inside showing a picture of the Ladybug Miraculous, and a woman that appeared to be transformed with it. She had long dark hair that was tied up, a strip of spotted cloth acting as a mask, the red apparel was much looser than his own transformation, with gray wrist guards on her arms. On the same page as the earrings there was an image of his yoyo, which he stared at for a moment.
"Tikki, who is this?" He asked softly. "What does the writing say?"
He felt the kwami shift in his pocket, peering out for a moment. She stared down at the picture, antenna back. "...That is Piáo Chóng. She was one of my very first holders."
"Wow," Adrien whispered, tracing his finger across the image. The longer he stared, the more he felt a connection with the image. It wasn't just a drawing on a page– but a person who had lived, who had worn the very earrings in his ears, who had known Tikki just like he had. "How long ago...?"
"Five thousand years, about," Tikki said. "Give or take a few centuries."
That number was dizzying. Adrien swallowed, shifting his gaze to the strange characters instead. "And the words...?"
Tikki shrugged. "I don't know."
There was a beat of silence. "...You don't know, or you can't tell me?"
"...Both," Tikki said after a moment. "The information inside is something not just anyone is privy to– and that includes me. When our Miraculouses were created, they were imbued with a fraction of Ecco's power, but that does not extend to written languages."
"Ecco?"
"Kwami of Language. Their power allows us kwamis to understand and speak all languages, but reading written words is a different matter," she glanced about, before drifting forward. "The book was written so it could not be read by outsiders or kwamis."
"...Why not kwamis?" Adrien asked, hesitating. "I mean... it's about Miraculouses, isn't it? Yours is in here."
"Yes, but this book is filled with important knowledge," Tikki replied. "If that knowledge was in the hands of a kwami, and then their Miraculous was to fall into the hands of someone like Monarch..."
"Oh."
"Exactly," Tikki said. "I don't necessarily like being excluded, but I understand that the more limited the knowledge is, the less likely it is for the wrong person to learn it." She looked up at Adrien pointedly. "Understanding the value of secrets is important."
Adrien narrowed his eyes, but wasn't in the mood to press. Things had been slightly strained between him and Tikki. Not fighting... but her warm and cheerful demeanor just didn't always feel genuine when he knew she was keeping things from him. She seemed apologetic... but at the same time, she didn't. It seemed that she was sorry that he was upset, but completely convinced that she was right. And maybe she was– but he didn't have enough information to draw any conclusions, only leaving him with unknowns and frustration.
"Have you ever been in the wrong hands?" Adrien asked.
Tikki went still, and he glanced at her. Tikki hesitated, then let out a sigh. "...Yes. Some were holders with a good heart who had poor judgement. Others were ones I loved, but made the wrong choices. Then there were some I wish I had never had the pleasure of knowing."
"...I'm sorry," Adrien whispered after a moment.
"It's not your fault," Tikki said briskly, watching as Adrien moved on from the page with the Ladybug Miraculous, and he found himself looking at the page with the ring of the Black Cat. "That's Hēi Māo, one of the first Black Cats– Piáo Chóng's partner."
"What was he like?"
"Shy. Protective. A good soul."
Adrien kept turning pages, which was revealing Miraculous after Miraculous– Bee, Phoenix, Octopus, Fox, Lion, Eagle, Deer, Platypus, Dog, Peacock, Bear, Goose, Dragon, Ox– and he paused on the page with the Butterfly. The man pictured inside looked very different from the brief glimpse he had seen of Monarch, but the brooch she had worn was pictured– a purple gem with four strips of cloth coming out from it. A harmless looking thing– but the very object that was terrorizing Paris.
Tikki suddenly dove into his pocket, and Adrien stiffened up as he heard footsteps coming towards them. He slammed the book shut, giving a weak smile as he saw Ms. Mendeleiev behind him. His guilty actions prevented any chance of giving the excuse that he was working on school work, and the teacher gave him a pointed look, and he flushed slightly.
"We may not be in the classroom, M. Agreste," she said. "But this is still class time– save your personal reading for later and don't waste research time."
"Sorry, Ms. Mendeleiev," Adrien said swiftly.
"You're always a hard worker, so I'll let you off with a warning," Ms. Mendeleiev replied. "But this is an assignment you don't want to put off."
"I know, I just got... distracted," he pushed himself to his feet. "Sorry again."
He hurried off to find a few books on physics, pulling them off the shelf without much thought– only needing to look like he was busy. Once he had three of the large textbooks in his arms he headed back towards the corner he had been studying in– only to freeze up as he realized that someone was sitting where his stuff was, Father's book opened up as they peered at it.
"Excuse me, that's mine!" Adrien said swiftly, rushing forward. The girl jumped, looking up at him, and he found it was Lila that was in his place. He set the textbooks down as swiftly and quietly as he could, before pulling the book towards him. "Not a library book– this is from my house."
"Oh, is that the book you were reading in our homeroom?" Lila asked, turning so she was facing him, and Adrien carefully sat down next to the seat he had been in. He found that the page had been opened to the section about the Fox Miraculous– a picture of a girl in orange on one page, a drawing of a pendant and flute on the other. "It's really fascinating, what's it about? What language is that?"
"Um," Adrien hesitated for a second at the sudden switch to Italian, but at the same time was glad; he didn't need everyone to know about this book. "I'm not sure, actually. I, um... found it in a large collection at home, you know, ones just stuck on the shelf and never read. Heh."
They did have a small library at home– filled with first edition books, family favorites, and anything that was produced by the family company. It had everything from older books like this one to every magazine the Gabriel brand had been featured in some form, so his story wasn't too much of a stretch. He carefully shut the book, reaching for his bag that was between their chairs, slipping it in.
"It looked like a book of old superheroes or something?" Lila asked, pressing closer.
"I don't know– can't read a thing in it." Adrien said quickly. "How much did you look at?"
Lila shrugged. "It seems like heroes really do go back a long time, doesn't it." Her hand went to her chest, lacing her fingers around a necklace, playing with the charm on the end as she spoke. "Some people seem to know more than others, don't you think?"
"Um... I guess?" Adrien said uncertainly, not quite sure what she meant. She sounded vague, but maybe he just was missing context. His Italian wasn't bad, but he didn't get a lot of opportunities to hold conversations in the languages he had been taught.
She did not go back to French like he had, instead scooting closer. "You know," she said, flashing her necklace towards him. "I'm one of those people that does know more."
Adrien frowned at the fox-tail pendant– one that was very familiar. It looked a lot like the one in the book... but that was not why it was familiar. He stared at the necklace for a moment, then up at Lila's smiling face. Green eyes maintained contact for a moment, and he eyed her uncertainly.
"This necklace has been in my family for a while," Lila said slowly in French– and he was not sure if it was her lack of experience with the language or her trying emphasizing what she had said in Italian, but considering how easily she was talking to the rest of the class today he was inclined to believe the latter.
"When you say 'for a while', do you just mean the last four years?" Adrien asked.
"What?"
"That necklace was part of my father's A Miracle in Paris line," Adrien said, maintaining eye contact with Lila, who pulled back slightly. "Released as a collection of five pieces of animal-themed jewelry about four years ago– it was my mother's favorite line of my father's."
He swallowed as his thoughts turned towards his mother, his hands tightening around his bag. He had been young, not even eleven, but he remembered all too well that time. His mother had been so happy then, a joy on her face that even seemed to fade. Adrien would remember the way she would hum, her hands taking his as they would dance across the room, his father would be playing on the piano, his music filling the room...
Adrien looked down at the bag that held the book. The fox necklace of his father's design had indeed looked a lot like the Miraculous that was featured in this book. Not the exact same, it lacked the golden highlights, but he had a feeling that if he looked at the Miraculouses that matched the animals of the other jewelry featured in the collection, he'd know where his father had gotten his inspiration from.
"I'm..." Lila began.
"Look, Lila," Adrien said, lowering his voice. "I'm not quite sure what exactly you're trying to say right now, but if you're trying to claim that your necklace is the same one as in this book... I don't appreciate being lied to."
Lila stared at him. "Wait, I'm–"
He gave her a soft smile. "I heard you girls talking about how Rose knows Prince Ali and how Marinette knows Jagged Stone at lunch. And yeah, some of our classmates have gotten to know some big names– but it's not a competition of any kind. Our class welcomed me with open arms when I was new, and it will be the same for you, I promise."
"I–"
She was cut off by the final bell, and Adrien pushed himself to his feet. "I'm afraid I don't have a lot of time, but I'll see you on Monday, Lila."
Adrien didn't think too much about what she had said– he had met people before at galas and dinners that would stretch the truth at times, mention connections they had that maybe weren't as strong as they had claimed– but, honestly, most of those events were less of a formal get-together and more of an informal place to boast and show off.
"Okay," Adrien said to Tikki as they stepped outside of the school. "I have the book you wanted, and I have permission from Father not to go straight home– so what's the plan, and how do I get the answers you promised?"
"Just follow my directions," Tikki promised from his pocket. "Don't call for your driver, we'll walk, we don't need anyone to know where we're going."
She pointed down the street, before retreating into his pocket, and Adrien shouldered his bag and went on his way. With people all around him he couldn't exactly stop and talk to Tikki, having to open up his button up shirt to see which way she was pointing. The path seemed slightly familiar, and with the knowing look in Tikki's eyes it seemed it was supposed to be.
However it wasn't long before something else took his attention, muttering voices around him turning to calls of awe– fingers and phones pointing up towards the roof. He couldn't help but follow their gaze, his eyes going wide when he saw what was drawing their attention.
A girl leaping with ease across rooftops, a mask on her face and a flute on her back– her entire outfit looking like that of a fox.
Adrien didn't even pause, retreating into the nearest alleyway and calling for a transformation.
"...That's Lila," Crimson said in disbelief as he stared at the fox heroine on the roof across the street, the girl tilting her head as she looked at him.
It was strange, seeing someone in a mask and just knowing... but it was so clearly Lila. Her hair, her eyes, the way she held herself. He watched in disbelief as she gave him a single wave– before gracefully leaping across the street so she landed on the roof next to him with a flip.
She wore an orange mask that was rimmed with black, a pair of long fox ears standing straight up from her hair. Her outfit was orange and white, with the black on her legs and arms looking like boots and gloves. A sash was tied around her waist, which flared out behind her, featuring the pattern of a fox tail. The tips of her auburn hair were white, and hanging around her neck was the same fox pendant that she had shown him before, though now segmented with gold.
"Hello, Crimson Beetle," Lila said warmly. "I'm Volpina, and it's nice to finally meet you."
"...Hi?" He said uncertainly, still not quite sure what exactly was happening.
Volpina glanced around. "Where's your partner? I need to speak with both of you."
"Lady isn't out right–" Crimson behind, before pausing, sensing a familiar and churning energy. "Wait, actually she's on her way."
Moments later a blur of black could be seen speeding over the roof, and Crimson felt himself relaxing as his partner came vaulting towards them. The Black Cat landed silently next to Crimson Beetle, shrinking her baton as she pushed herself to her feet. Feline and vulpine watched each other for a moment, before Lady Noire turned towards Crimson.
"I came as soon as I heard the reports of a so-called 'new hero'," Lady reported, eyes flickering down to the gathering crowd below, all of whom were taking pictures of the three of them.
"This... this is Volpina," Crimson said, gesturing to Volpina, who smiled at them. "I'm... I'm not sure what's going on, I just transformed as soon as I could."
They both turned towards the fox hero, who didn't seem put off by their hesitation at all. She just gave them that warm gaze, and as Crimson watched her face didn't seem to quite so clearly be Lila's as he had thought before. He hesitated as he watched her, not sure what was happening. He knew there was a magic surrounding them that protected Miraculous holders' identities... was that what was happening?
"Why don't we go somewhere less public?" Volpina asked, gesturing with her head to the crowd below. "I have a lot to explain."
With that she leapt away with a large graceful bound. Crimson Beetle and Lady Noir shared a glance, before drawing their weapons and followed. Volpina could move quickly, but the two of them were able to keep up with relative ease. Crimson wasn't sure where she was trying to take them, since Paris was a big city there wasn't really anywhere on the rooftops that one could consider 'private'– but it just seemed she was trying to lose the crowd.
Once they had put a considerable distance between where they had been she paused, moving away from the edge of the roof so it would be harder to see them from the streets. Volpina was silent, even as they landed next to her, staring off into nothing, her green eyes unfocused.
"...Volpina?" Crimson asked.
She blinked a few times, before looking at them with a smile. "How much do you two know about Citrine Húlí?"
"Um," Lady Noire glanced at Crimson. "We, well..."
"Why do you want to know?" Crimson asked instead.
Volpina just let out a laugh. "Oh, I'm not surprised, my grandfather was always a very private man."
"Grandfather?" Crimson asked.
Volpina nodded. "Citrine Húlí is my grandfather, but, unfortunately, he's much too old to fight. He gave me his necklace to carry on in his stead– and to join you two in the fight against Monarch."
Crimson felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, and he shifted slightly. His mind was racing, did... did Lila know who he was? Had he been too dismissive at school? Too focused on the book and getting answers to listen– and ignoring someone who might have actually had those answers. He opened his mouth to talk, when a beeping filled the air.
"Oh! Excuse me for a second," Volpina said, touching her flashing necklace. "I need to go feed my kwami, I'll meet you two back here, okay?"
Then before they could say anything she leapt away with a single bound, vanishing down into an alley below. Crimson stared at where she had gone for a moment, before sinking down to the roof, letting out a long sigh.
"...Are you okay?" Lady Noire said after a moment.
"Just trying to process everything, I guess," Crimson said after a moment. "So much has happened today..."
"I don't trust her," Lady Noire said, and Crimson looked up at her in surprise.
"You don't?"
"...Plagg is not happy," Lady said, touching her chest for a moment. "Usually I don't sense him, but right now, I do."
Crimson hesitated, but knew what Lady was talking about. The kwamis were aware when they transformed, the small creature merged with them, though they were the ones in control. There were times, however, he had sensed Tikki's presence in his mind. Most of the time just a keen awareness of someone besides himself, but sometimes he could feel emotions from her. Never words, and never had he felt something for more than a few moments.
"Well... I don't sense Tikki right now," Crimson said after a second of trying to search for his own kwami's presence. "And, um, didn't you say that your kwami tended not to like people?"
Lady Noire hesitated. "I, um... he... he usually doesn't, but–"
"...I think we can trust Volpina," Crimson Noire said after a moment, mind flashing back to the school. There had been no particular reason for Lila to be so focused on his book, unless it had to actually mean something to her.
"Don't you think it's strange, though?" Lady said. "A hero just showing up out of nowhere?"
"...We showed up out of nowhere," Crimson said after a moment. "So did Apex and Cottontail, and we trusted them."
"Yeah, but–"
"I'm back!" Volpina called, leaping high into the air, doing a flip before she landed. "Hope you didn't miss me too much."
"We..." Crimson Beetle glanced at Lady Noire. "We have a few questions."
"Well, I have answers," Volpina said warmly. "I'm not from Paris, I only came here because my grandfather asked me to– figured the magic situation here in Paris needed some backup."
Lady's bright blue eyes were on Crimson, who took in Volpina's words silently. He looked at her again... and saw Lila. It was the new girl in class that stood next to him, with a mask on her face. He stared for a moment, and she blinked at him. After a moment, something shifted, even though she looked exactly the same– some kind of magic seemed to surround her in that moment.
Did she know who he was? Had she purposely approached him in school, but he had just misread her signals?
"...Backup is always appreciated," he finally said, and Volpina smiled. "We've been kind of stuck in the same loop– akuma after akuma, and no leads on where to go otherwise."
Volpina grinned. "You just have to know where to look– follow me."
With that she rushed forward, a swift orange blur, leaving Crimson and Lady to hurry after her. The girls were definitely the better jumpers compared to him, he found himself using his yoyo to clear some gaps they could leap across, and Lady Noire seemed to be determined to keep pace with her. His partner didn't seem hostile– she wasn't looking at Volpina with hatred, just caution.
"What power does your Miraculous grant?" Lady asked, running alongside Volpina, the two of them a few paces ahead of him.
"I have the power of illusions," Volpina replied. "I would like to show you, but that would trigger my timer again."
"'Again'," Lady Noire frowned. "What did you use them for before?"
"I was trying to find you guys without attracting any attention, so I used an illusion to cloak myself," Volpina explained. "I was hoping to be able to run into you two, but after a few minutes, it was clear you guys weren't about, and since I plan on sticking around I figured there was no harm in Paris seeing me."
"We don't usually come out unless it's during patrol, or if there's an akuma," Lady Noire said, looking pointedly at Volpina– who laughed.
"I mean, I guess I could have made an illusion of an akuma attack, but I don't think that would have been the best greeting to give you two." She suddenly froze up, eyes wide. "Oh no!"
The trio of heroes stumbled to a stop, following Volpina's gaze down to the streets below. His eyes went wide at the sight he saw below them– a young woman with her back up against the wall, a man cornering her. Even with the distance Crimson Beetle could see the gleam of the knife in his hand, the woman shakily fumbled for her wallet, dropping it into the man's awaiting hand.
"Oh no you don't," Volpina muttered– and suddenly she became a blur of orange. Crimson didn't even feel a breeze, one moment the Fox by his side, the next she was slamming her flute against the thief's side, knocking him away. He was sent tumbling across the sidewalk, the wallet and knife falling from his hands– Volpina standing between him and the woman.
There was a silence in the air, bystanders trying to take in what had just happened. Volpina stooped down, picking up the wallet, her bright green eyes never leaving the man. He backed up under the glare Volpina was giving him– before scrambling to his feet and bolting in the opposite direction.
"I thought so," Volpina sneered, before turning back towards the woman, her gaze softening. "Are you alright? Here's your things back..."
"...Shouldn't we go after that man?" Crimson muttered, glancing at the corner where the would-be-thief had fled. He looked back towards Volpina, who now had her flute defensively out in front of the woman as people came closer to the new hero.
"She needs her space," Volpina said sharply. "She was almost attacked, I think you can put your phone away for a few moments."
"...I think she's one of us," Crimson said after a moment.
Lady's eyes were locked on the ground where Volpina had knocked the thief down. "...I think we should hear what she has to say," Lady Noire concluded, the two of them watching as Volpina pointed out someone in the crowd to escort the women to the police station to report what had happened. "There's definitely a lot going on here."
Once the woman was carefully led out of sight, Volpina turned back towards the crowd. She gave a small salute, their phones out recording her despite her earlier words, and she leapt back up onto the roofs with them.
"Disgusting to see what kinds of people are out there," Volpina said with a sneer.
"Shouldn't we try to stop that thief?" Crimson Beetle said. "He could go after someone else."
Volpina hesitated. "I... I was more worried about the woman, I didn't even think about following him." She glanced at them. "This is urgent, I really need to talk to you guys... but we shouldn't just let him get away."
"He went north," Lady Noire said, pointing with her baton. "He's had a bit of a head start, but with the roofs we have the advantage of a bird's eye view."
A flicker of movement caught Crimson's eyes, and with them being up on the roofs away from everyone he instinctively whipped his head around, yoyo out– half expecting a pigeon, but ready for the worst. He froze up slightly. "Girls... akuma."
Lady Noire instantly was on alert, her head scanning the rooftops as she grabbed her baton. "Where?"
"It's the butterfly," Crimson replied, pointing off towards the black insect as it flew its way above the distant rooftops, barely visible from where they stood, but the dark energy pouring off of it was enough to show what it was. "Looks like Monarch is off to find her next victim."
Volpina stood in a defensive position, reaching back to draw her flute. "We need to move quickly. If we attack the akuma as soon as it appears the less damage it can do."
Crimson ran his hand across the center of his yoyo to open it up. "Or if I can catch it and purify it before it claims anyone, then there will be no attack at all." Glowing white energy poured from the yoyo. "You two go after that thief, and I'll get the butterfly."
He threw his yoyo and swung across the street.
There was no sign of the man.
She and Volpina had spent a good twenty minutes dashing across rooftops, peering down into alleyways and looking across streets with no luck. Paris was a big city, and it was crowded. That, combined with the fading memory of what the thief had actually looked like made for a poor starting place for looking for him.
They should have gone after him right away, but, unfortunately, despite having played the role of hero, Lady had never played the role of law enforcement, and had no instincts on the matter. She tried to reason with herself that a report was being made, and the proper officials would be on the lookout for that man.
She kept glancing across the streets, to where she was seeing blinding orange instead of a familiar red. As soon as she looked at her she could feel Plagg in her mind, his presence almost buzzing as they looked at the Fox. It pricked at her, almost like his nagging words when he was awake– except she couldn't stop it by handing him some cheese.
No sign of Crimson, but seeing as there was no akuma, that probably meant he had gotten the butterfly. Lady slowed her jog to a walk, wondering if she should turn around. Their zigzagging across the city probably wasn't making it easy for Crimson to find them, and she'd much rather him be here than her be alone with this stranger she still wasn't sure off.
Across the street Volpina seemed to notice as Lady slowed, and with an impressive bound she easily cleared the road, landing on the roof a few buildings over, heading her way. She didn't say anything to the Fox, simply sinking down onto the roof.
Lady Noire shivered slightly as Volpina sat on the roof next to her, feeling vulnerable without Crimson with them. It wasn't often she was transformed without him by her side, and she was starting to realize how much he protected her emotionally. When something negative was said about her, he countered it. When there was a crowd, he was the one to handle it. Her partner protected her so much, and she felt nothing but guilty at the thought.
It was like Apex had said– it was her job to protect Crimson. If Crimson got hurt, there would be no Cure. He was the most important one between them.
"Is everything alright?" Volpina asked, green eyes looking at her in worry.
Lady Noire glanced at the fox-themed heroine, hesitating, fiddling with her baton in her hands. They were alone right now, if Volpina wanted to do something, now would be the perfect time, when Crimson wasn't near.
But Volpina wasn't doing anything. She was just watching her with concern, a soft expression on her face. Even with Plagg's angry presence in her mind, she felt herself relaxing slightly, trying to separate her emotions from the kwami's. She did trust Plagg, but she also knew the kwami had a very narrow window of whom he would trust. Not even Crimson and Alya were on that list– so maybe she shouldn't take the Black Cat's wariness at face value.
Volpina has been nothing but kind and helpful so far. She had no right to jump to conclusions about her, that would be hypocritical if anything– because she knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of negative assumptions. So she made herself take in a deep breath, her clawed hands not gripping her weapon as tightly, and gave a small smile to their newest teammate.
"Things have just been hard lately," Lady said softly. "With the recent interviews and just... just the city in general. It feels like I always have to be on edge." She glanced at Volpina. "I'm sorry for how I treated you earlier."
"Don't worry about it," Volpina replied. "Wariness is a good thing, that's what my grandfather always said. Helps keep you safe. Just remember you're not alone– you have me now. Crimson Beetle and your kwami, too, of course."
Lady Noire couldn't help but let out a small laugh at this, smiling. "My kwami can be a bit of a pain at times– but I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world."
"They're fascinating little creatures, aren't they?"
"What's your kwami like?" Lady asked.
Volpina paused for a moment in thought, tilting her head. "She's... she's a little spitfire. Sporadic and sassy, not afraid to try to boss you around. When I first met her it was quite the experience, we..."
Lady watched Volpina as she continued, easily slipping into a ramble as she talked about her kwami, which Marinette understood completely. Her journal usually ended up being the place where she ended up talking the most about Plagg– everything from how his favorite cheeses were so expensive, to how often she found him napping in the purse she had made him for, despite how much he had insisted he hated purses when they had first met.
Volpina continued on, and Lady found herself smiling softly.
Crimson Beetle couldn't find the akuma anywhere.
Butterflies shouldn't be able to fly that fast– but apparently akumas were able to move swift enough for even a hero to lose track. He had scoured these last few streets multiple times, looking for any hint of the dark insect– but nothing.
He was now regretting having the girls stay behind. What he had thought would be a quick and simple job would have probably been just that if he had the Black Cat's and the Fox's sharp eyes to help him. But it was much too late now, and he was sure that the akuma had probably already found a target, or was on it's way to one now...
Crimson was now keeping an eye out for Lady Noire and Volpina, knowing that he needed to let them know that they would probably have an akuma fight on their hands any minute now. It wasn't something to be surprised about, with Volpina's image probably all over the internet by now, Monarch had probably wanted to see what this new opponent was like. And if he had been a bit quicker, he probably could have stopped it.
It didn't take him too long to find them, having been able to sense Lady Noire's energy, and had gone in that direction. He paused on the roof across the street from where the girls were, both to catch his breath, and to look over in the direction he had seen the butterfly to see if there was any akuma in sight. All he saw was the peaceful cityscape, so he looked back at his partner and Volpina, and found himself relaxing slightly.
The two girls had their backs to him, sitting together on the roof, chatting away. Lady Noire's shoulders were relaxed, and Volpina seemed to be letting out a laugh. He was glad to see the tension between them had left, and perhaps his short excursion had been a good thing. It was nice, seeing someone talking to Lady was no hesitation or fear.
But this was no time to relax, not when an akuma attack was about to happen. He drew his yoyo, ready to throw it across the street and join them and warn them that he hadn't been able to catch it in time, but he found himself pausing once more when he saw Lady Noire stiffen up slightly.
Volpina didn't seem to notice, continuing to chatter on, meanwhile Lady Noire's braid was twitching, and her ears were pointed forward on alert, her entire form tense. He wasn't sure what to make of this sudden shift, and he didn't even have a moment to think about– because Lady Noire was a blur of black as she struck, moving before he or Volpina even had the chance to react.
Crimson felt his breath get caught in his throat as he watched his partner slam her baton into Volpina, launching the Fox heroine off of the roof.
