Miraculous Weasel

by Tang Ri Shan

Alice Bourgeois, the twin sister of Chloe, grew up in New York City with her mother. But shortly after she is sent to live with her father and sister in Paris, she comes across the Weasel Miraculous, which grants her the power of transformation. She becomes the superheroine Ermine to help Ladybug and Chat Noir protect Paris, but her mission soon becomes much more...'complicated'

8. Chapter 8-Pharaoh

Miraculous Weasel CH 8

Pharaoh

A Tang Ri Shan Fanfic

Reminder: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug, or any characters apart from my OC.

"Hmmm…." I mused as I gazed at the two pictures on the screen in front of me. One was of Adrien Agreste from a magazine photo, the other was of Chat Noir, taken from a news article. I had the two pictures side by side and was comparing them. Recent events had led me to suspect that Adrien Agreste, my best friend, classmate, and modelling partner, was secretly one of the superheroes that I fought alongside with as the heroine Ermine.

Chat Noir! The very name made a smile cross my face. I had such a crush on the charming and cheeky hero. Wouldn't it be ironic if he and Adrien were the same person?

As I glanced from one photo to the other, it boggled me how similar they appeared. They had the same hair color, and hairstyle. They appeared to be the same height. Even their voices were similar. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that Chat Noir and Adrien seemed to have opposing personalities, I probably would have suspected this right from the start.

While Adrien tended to be shy, reserved and, in my opinion, rather submissive, Chat Noir was loud, social, and real funny. He was also a bit of a flirt, but only towards our leader, Ladybug. I let out a sigh as I gazed longingly at Chat Noir's picture. No matter how much I tried to ignore it, I still felt myself get jealous sometimes when I saw Chat Noir try to charm Ladybug. Why couldn't he see that Ladybug wasn't interested in him?

"Are you still looking at those pictures?" An annoyed voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned to see Minkk, my Kwami, floating next to me.

"I just…have a real good feeling that Adrien and Chat Noir are the same person." I argued.

Minkk shook her head. "Alice, Miraculous holders cannot know who each other are, those are the rules. If you figure out who Chat Noir is, he may have to give up his Miraculous. He'd lose his powers because of you, is that what you want?"

I frowned at this. I had not forgotten the rules, but Minkk had a good point. If Chat Noir lost his Miraculous because of my meddling, he would probably be furious! I know I would be if I had been forced to give up my Miraculous because of someone else.

Minkk flew away to my desk and began jumping up and down on my computer keyboard. A browser window opened on my screen, showing the Ladyblog. "Take Alya for example, you know how devoted she is to her blog dedicated to Ladybug." Minkk started to explain.

"Yeah, so?" I asked, trying to hide the frown on my face at the sight of the blog. Even though Ladybug, Chat Noir, and I had all been represented in the news, Ladybug still had this blog dedicated to her, and I had even begun to see fan sites of Chat Noir pop up online. However, there had been very little on Ermine so far, and I was starting to feel like a third wheel.

"Well, what do you think would happen if Ladybug's identity would be revealed?" Minkk continued, oblivious to my envy. "Alya knows the risks. No doubt Ladybug has explained them to her, and she is careful about how much she reveals about her favorite superhero."

At that moment, a streaming window opened on the screen and Alya's face appeared. "Don't blink now, 'cause we are live from Paris! Yo peeps, Alya here, bringing you the one and only Ladyblog!" I smiled at Alya's energy. Ladybug was lucky to have a fan like her. I felt the jealousy in my gut bite into me again and my smile faded. Why couldn't I have fans like that?

"Huh? What's that?" Alya's camera suddenly panned up to see Ladybug flying by, hanging on by her yo-yo to an out-of-control helicopter.

My jaw dropped as I leaned closer to the screen. This was happening now! Maybe I should go and help her!

As I stood up, however, I saw the helicopter pull Ladybug out of view of the camera. Suddenly, the camera focused on a falling object. Had Ladybug dropped something?

"Ladybug in action! Hang on 'cause we're going for a ride!" Alya exclaimed as she ran over to the object and picked it up. My eyes widened as I recognized the same kind of history textbook I used in class! "Freak out! What you got here is no ordinary book, it's a tenth-grade history textbook, and I should know, 'cause I've got this very same book! Could our very own Ladybug be a high school student in real life? Whoa!" Alya's excited face filled the screen.

I felt myself smirk as I turned to where Minkk was floating, looking dumbstruck. "I'm sorry Minkk, what you were saying?" I said teasingly.

Minkk shot me a dark look before letting out a 'hmph' and flew away, muttering something about investigators.

Ignoring her, I sat back down and leaned back in my chair, mentally digesting this new information. Could Ladybug be a high school student? It was certainly possible, since her physical appearance and mannerisms seemed too atypical with someone who was about my age.

"Oh my gosh!" I suddenly exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. "Could Ladybug be someone I know?!"

As far as I knew, Francois Dupoint was the only school in Paris that used that particular textbook, and it was only issued to students in the 10th grade. If that textbook really belonged to Ladybug, then there was a very good chance all three of us were in the same grade in the same school. Maybe we even shared the same class!

I instantly thought of my classmates, mentally scrolling through their faces. I was pretty sure Ladybug wasn't really a guy, so I dismissed all the boys from my list and took a closer look at the other girls. Rose was too short. Alix had already been akumatized. Mylene, Alya and Chloe had all been seen with Ladybug, so she couldn't be any of them. It couldn't be Sabrina either, she would never have been able to hide something like this from Chloe. That left…Juleka and Marinette.

Letting out a thoughtful "hmmm", I got online and searched up images of my two classmates on social media. I found Marinette's picture easily enough, but Juleka proved to be trickier. There were pictures of her, sure, but her face seemed to be covered in every shot.

Frowning, I decided to focus on Marinette first. Almost immediately, I moved to dismiss her. Marinette was one of the clumsiest, most socially awkward girls I knew! There was no way she could be Ladybug!

And yet…

I stoked my chin, then enlarged the image of Marinette on my screen, before pulling up an image of Ladybug from a digital newspaper. I placed the two images side by side and visually compared them. Just like Adrien and Chat Noir, Marinette and Ladybug did look similar in appearance. They were similar in height, had the same hair color and hairstyle, and even had the same eye color!

Wait a minute! I frowned as I suddenly remembered that my eyes changed color when I transformed, as did my hair color, and I was pretty sure that Chat Noir's eyes changed color as well. Eyes like his would look out of place on a regular person. Maybe Ladybug's eyes changed color too.

But then again…My memory flashed back to when we battled Stormy Weather in the TV station, and she took out the lights. Chat Noir and I could still see, but Ladybug couldn't. Ladybug's eyes seemed more human-like than Chat Noir's or Ermine's, so maybe her eyes didn't change when she transformed after all.

Not to mention there was the fact that both Marinette and Ladybug seemed to act strangely around Adrien Agreste. Marinette was obvious, her crush on Adrien had only gotten stronger as the school year had progressed. But Ladybug…I snorted in amusement as I remembered how, on Adrien's birthday, Ladybug had wasted her Lucky Charm in an effort to separate Adrien and Chloe on the dance floor.

"Is it too obvious?" I murmured thoughtfully. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. Ladybug and Marinette looked so similar that I was surprised that no one else had reached this conclusion yet, just like with Adrien and Chat Noir. The only reason why no one seemed to be able to connect these people was the fact that Marinette and Adrien seemed to be the polar opposites of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

And yet…I felt I had an answer for that. I had noticed that I had begun to take on a different personality when I was Ermine then when I was Alice. I was more up front and aggressive as Ermine, whereas as Alice, I was more laid back and mellow. It was like there were two sides to me, my Alice side, and my Ermine side, and I switched between the two whenever I transformed.

If the same principle applied for Ladybug and Chat Noir, then there was nothing else that prevented me from identifying Marinette as Ladybug and Adrien as Chat Noir!

I felt myself chuckle as I realized what I was visualizing. Not only was it possible that all three of us were both high school classmates as well as superhero partners, but that Ladybug and Chat Noir were both crushing…on each other! Without even realizing it!

Minkk suddenly appeared in my field of vision again. "Okay, okay! Maybe Alya isn't the best example. But do you understand what I'm trying to tell you, Alice? What you're doing is dangerous."

"Relax Minkk, I know." I assured her. "I'm only doing this to satisfy my own curiosity, it's not like I'm actually going to confront Chat Noir and Ladybug about their real identities."

Minkk did not look convinced. "It would be better if you stopped investigating altogether. Trust me, Alice. Things never go well when a Miraculous holder's identity is revealed."

I blinked, surprised at what Minkk had just said. "What do you mean by that?" I asked.

Minkk paused, appearing to think something over, then flew back to my computer. "Take a look at this." Again, Mink began hopping back and forth across my keyboard, until she had pulled up another image. This one showed what looked like the top part of a coffin with the word 'Pharaohs' written above it.

I leaned forward to read the smaller text underneath the image, then turned to Minkk. "What does an exhibition at the Louvre on the Pharaoh Akhenaten have to do with Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll see." Minkk gave me a knowing smile. I frowned at my kwami, but she didn't say anything more, which made me feel a bit irritated. I questioned Minkk for a while longer, but she refused to reveal any more information, saying only that it would be better for me to see what she meant rather than hear it.

Since we didn't have school the following morning, I decided to travel to the Louvre to see this new exhibit. I had Bruce, our new driver, drop me off in front of the museum, and instructed him to take some free time and return when I called for him to pick me up. Bruce helped me out of the car, thanked me, and drove off as I made my way into the museum.

I purchased a ticket and, after asking directions from one of the security guards, headed over to the new exhibit, located in the lowermost level of the museum. I skirted around some scaffolding and found myself in a hallway containing large statues of black cats with golden collars and realized that I must be in the right place. As I made my way down the hall, past the pairs of statues, I suddenly tensed up. I could feel eyes on me, watching me very closely.

Pausing in the middle of the hall, I glanced around. The two people closest to me were two painters on the scaffolding, applying a layer of black paint to one of the cat statues. There were other people milling around, walking in and out of the room at the other end of the hallway. But no one was even looking in my direction, much less watching me.

As I continued making my way down the hall, I could still feel like something was watching me, so I stopped and looked around again. As I spun, my gaze met that of one of the cat statues, and I froze as the feeling suddenly intensified. I frowned, tilting my head curiously. The statue didn't move, but I felt that, if it could, it would have narrowed its eyes at me, as if judging whether I was 'worthy' of being here.

Biting my lip, I forced myself to turn away from the statue, only to come to face to face with the once across from it, and the feeling of being watched came back. I bit my lip as I met this statue's gaze, and I could almost feel disapproval coming from it. "O-kaaaaay." I muttered under my breath as I resumed walking, trying to ignore the judgmental looks of the statues as I passed them. I was tempted to call Minkk out so I could ask if she felt the same way I did, but something in my gut told me that wasn't a good idea. If I was being watched, I didn't want Minkk to be seen.

As I stepped into the main room of the exhibit, I breathed a small sigh of relief as the feeling went away. Was I officially going crazy? Or was there something else going on? Either way, I hoped that my return trip down that hallway wouldn't be as tense.

Frowning, I began to walk around the room, examining the various Egyptian artifacts on display. There were stone tablets lining the walls, carved with hieroglyphics and scenes showing people and animals. There was a collection of scepters, tools, and other objects in pedestals, such as a crook and flail, a headdress, what looked like a short sword, and a carved golden cup. At the back of the room, a painted Egyptian sarcophagus stood open, allowing visitors to look inside.

"Hmm." I mused, as I reached the back of the room. I still wasn't sure why Minkk had told me to come here, I couldn't see anything that connected with Ladybug or Chat Noir. But my kwami had never led me astray before, so I made my way towards the coffin. I remembered reading that coffins sometimes had images painted in them, maybe that was what Minkk had wanted me to see.

However, I had only taken about two steps before I felt something bump roughly against me from behind, almost making me fall. I spun around, glaring. "Hey! Watch…oh!" My expression changed when I recognized the people standing behind me. "Hello Marinette, Alya." I greeted my classmates.

"Hey Alice, what brings you here?" Alya grinned at me, while Marinette just waved.

Though I kept my cheerful expression, I narrowed my eyes mentally at Marinette. "I'm just checking out the exhibit. I heard through word of mouth that this exhibit is supposed to be very informative."

"No way, we're here for the same reason!" Alya said. "Marinette told me she found out something about Ladybug from this exhibit."

"Really?" I raised my eyebrows as I glanced at Marinette. The dark-haired girl seemed to get really nervous at Alya's words. "Oh, this I've gotta see." I said teasingly.

"Yeah girl, where is it?" Alya asked Marinette.

But before the dark-haired girl could say anything, someone pushed their way between her and Alya, knocking both girls off their feet. I stepped back just in time to avoid a collision and caught a glimpse of an older boy with brown hair and big glasses rush past me before I suddenly felt him trip over my foot.

With a startled cry, he fell to the floor. Papers flew everywhere, but the boy didn't seem worried about them. Instead, he scrambled forward to catch some sort of pendant before it hit the ground.

"Whew! It's not broken!" The boy exclaimed in relief.

"Uh, I'm okay too, thanks for asking!" Alya snapped, causing the boy to look up. Realizing what he had almost done, he scrambled to his feet, looking embarrassed as he made his way over to us.

"I'm sorry. I was just really excited about a discovery I might have made." He apologized.

"Oh?" I asked, tilting my head as I helped Marinette to her feet.

"Yeah I…wait…" He suddenly paused and looked at the three of us. "Hey, you're in the same grade as Alix, right?"

"Yeah." Alya said slowly, looking as confused as I felt.

"I'm her older brother, Jalil Kubdel." At his introduction, I tilted my head. Alix had never mentioned having an older brother. But, as I examined him, I noticed that his nose was a similar shape to Alix's, so it was probably true.

"Nice to meet you, Jalil." I said with a smile.

"So, you're into Akhenaten too?" Jalil asked, but before any of us could answer, his gaze landed on something behind us, and his face lit up. "Dad!" He exclaimed, pushing through Alya and Marinette again. I turned to see him rush over to an older man who was also wearing glasses.

Hmm, looks like Alix's father might be a history buff as well. I noted, as I watched Jalil begin to speak rapidly to his father. My memory flashed back to when Alix had been akumatized, after her heirloom pocketwatch had been accidentally broken. I recalled Alix had been devastated by that and had been so relieved after Ladybug's powers had fixed it. All the Kubdels appeared to share a love for history, though it seemed that love was stronger for some than others.

"So, Marinette, you were saying that this exhibit's got something to do with Ladybug, right?" Alya's words made me turn back to my friends. Alya was leaning forward eagerly, while Marinette appeared nervous again.

I felt a smile appear on my face. This should be interesting!

"Well, uh…" Marinette glanced down towards her purse, then back up again. "Yeah, it's over there." She pointed to a papyrus hanging along the far wall near the coffin before scampering over to it, Alya right behind her.

Chuckling to myself, I followed, eager to see how Marinette would get herself out of this mess. In my opinion, Marinette's nervous behavior seemed to support my idea that she was Ladybug. I thought about maybe teasing her but realized that might be too cruel. Besides, though I hated to admit it, Minkk did have a point last night. Even if I did discover Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities, what could I do with them? I couldn't just tell them I knew, that would only cause more problems.

While I was mulling this over, we had reached the back wall. Alya and Marinette were looking at the papyrus on the wall before us.

"Well, where is it?" I asked as I drew even with the two of them.

"Yeah girl, tell us what it is already!" Alya demanded.

"N-no!" Marinette stammered. "It…wouldn't be a surprise then…!"

I bit my lip to keep from chuckling as Marinette muttered something too low for either of us to hear. Marinette was clearly trying to stall.

"I don't know about you, Alya. But I'm starting to get the feeling Marinette is trying to trick us!" I said after a moment, pretending to give Marinette a skeptical look. Even though I knew it was wrong, I just couldn't help it!

"N-no, I'm not!" Marinette stammered, her eyes widening.

"Well, I don't see anything connected to Ladybug on this papyrus. Do you, Alya?" I said, motioning to the artifact before turning to Alya.

Alya's eyes narrowed as she examined the papyrus. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything…

"I'm telling you father, it's right here in the hieroglyphics!" Hearing Jalil's voice behind me, I turned to see him coming up to where we were, followed by his father. Realizing the boy was not looking where he was going, I quickly stepped aside to avoid a collision. But before I could warn Marinette and Alya, Jalil walked right into the both of them. "Hey!" They yelped as Jalil pushed them aside.

But Jalil seemed too excited to notice. "Excuse me," he said absentmindedly without looking at the two girls as he motioned to the papyrus. "There, as you know, the one with the scepter is Akhenaten. And there, opposite is Nefertiti, his queen. There are exactly one hundred mummies beside them. Legend has it that she died several years before him, and the sun god Ra took her as his goddess."

Jalil's father nodded, looking exasperated. "Yes Jalil, I know all that. I'm the director of this exhibit, remember?"

"Then you also know that Akhenaten wanted to bring his queen back to life by offering the sun god a new wife." Jalil said, motioning to the papyrus. "These images here seem to illustrate the ritual he devised to make that possible. No one has ever fully deciphered the hieroglyphics before, but now, I have! It's a magical chant that needs to be recited in order to complete the ritual! I'm sure of it!"

I raised an eyebrow. What was Jalil talking about?

"He kind of reminds me of someone else with crazy ideas...you!" I heard Marinette say next to me, and I glanced around to see her pointing at Alya.

I bit my lip to hide my chuckle as Alya frowned at Marinette. "You might think my theories about Ladybug are crazy, but just you watch girl," She pointed back at Marinette. "I'll prove you wrong!"

Smiling, I turned back to watch Alix's father and brother. Jalil was gazing eagerly at his father, but Mr. Kubdel did not seem to share his son's excitement.

"Jalil, these types of frescoes are almost always the illustration for a legend, just like the scene you showed me the other day about a magic belt granting Nefertiti the power to change into animals." He said, motioning towards another papyrus that lay farther away on the wall.

I perked up at this. A magic belt? Changing into animals? My hand unconsciously drifted to my belt. Could it be?

"These stories are called legends for a reason…"

"That's what everyone thinks!" Jalil cut his father off. The young man was so excited that he grabbed his father's arm to regain the man's attention. "But I know this legend is real! I can prove it!"

I felt my eyes widen at this. Was Jalil telling the truth? Could he actually prove it?

Mr. Kubdel also seemed surprised. "Oh really? Exactly how are you going to prove it?" He challenged.

Jalil let go of his father's arm and moved over to where a serpent-headed staff was standing on one of the pedestals. "I just need to get my hands on Akhenaten's scepter and recite the spell." He said, a strange tone coming into his voice as he spoke. I frowned. I wasn't sure if this new tone was greed, or ambition, but either way, I didn't like it.

Neither did Mr. Kubdel, apparently, because he seized his son's arm and roughly pulled him back. "Are you serious? Don't you even think about touching that scepter!" He exclaimed angrily. "I could lose my job on the spot! This is a priceless historical object, not a toy!"

Having said enough, Mr. Kubdel turned on his heel and strode away. Jalil looked after his father for a moment, then ran to catch up with him.

"Come on dad!" Jalil pleaded. "We have to try out the spell! What if Akhenaten had discovered a way to bring people back to life? Think of how much we could help people if…"

But Mr. Kubdel had clearly had enough. He whirled around and stuck his finger in his son's face. "Listen, Jalil! That is enough!" He exclaimed with such force that Jalil dropped the papers in his hands in surprise. "It's time you get your head out of those papyrus scrolls and focus on the real world! This one!" He turned and walked away again. This time, Jalil made no move to follow him. He just lowered his head, before slowly bending down to pick up his fallen papers.

I felt a wave of sympathy as I watched Alix's brother walk away, his head still down. The boy looked pretty upset, and I couldn't blame him. I knew firsthand how much it hurt to be yelled at by a parent. As glad as I was that Mr. Kubdel had stopped him, Jalil didn't deserve to get yelled at.

"Gah! Put that down!" I heard Marinette exclaim behind me, and suddenly remembered what had been happening before Jalil and his father had interrupted us. I turned to see that Marinette was trying to keep Alya from pulling a book out of her bag.

Seeing an opportunity to have some fun, I quickly hurried over. "Oooooh! Is that Ladybug's textbook?" I asked.

"It sure is!" Alya crowed.

"Well, have you looked inside it yet? Maybe Ladybug wrote her real name on the inside of the cover!" I suggested, trying not to laugh at the expression of horror on Marinette's face.

Alya's eyes widened. "Ooh, good idea!" She said, starting to pull the book out again.

"No, Wait!" Marinette yelped, practically slamming her hand down on top of the book in an attempt to push it back into Alya's bag.

"What is it now?" Alya asked, looking annoyed.

"I…I'm just about to show you the secret I found out about Ladybug!" Marinette exclaimed, motioning towards the papyrus.

That caught Alya's interest immediately. "'Bout time! This better be blog-worthy!" She exclaimed, placing the book back into her bag.

I rolled my eyes but found my gaze stopping when I spotted the papyrus that Mr. Kubdel had been motioning towards. Remembering his words about a magic belt and Nefertiti transforming into animals, I left Alya and Marinette and wandered over to the papyrus.

I leaned over the artifact, examining it. Unlike the papyrus Jalil had been fawning over earlier, this one was not in good shape. Many of the hieroglyphics and images had faded or were illegible, but a few were still clear. One such image near the top depicted a woman in white with a face that strongly resembled that of Nefertiti from the other papyrus. She was surrounded by different animals, like lions, crocodiles, and falcons, that were connected with Egyptian mythology. Interestingly, all the animals around her were also colored white, and I could clearly see a belt wrapped around the woman's waist that had lines coming away from it, as if to symbolize that the belt was glowing.

I raised an eyebrow at this, thinking back to how my own animal transformations always had white fur, feathers, or skin, and the belt around the woman's waist did bear a resemblance to mine. I glanced down at my miraculous. The shape of the buckle on my belt was definitely similar to what was shown on the papyrus.

As I pondered this, my eyes scanned the rest of the papyrus. Most of the images that I could still make out showed white-colored animals battling against different people. I saw lions, falcons, crocodiles, rams, vultures, and even what looked like a scorpion. But as I neared the bottom, another image caught my attention. I blinked and leaned closer for a better look. This picture showed two people that appeared to be battling each other, each was depicted with the head of an animal that resembled a cat. One seemed feminine, was holding what looked like a whip, and was dressed like the image of Nefertiti above, leading me to assume that this was her. Her opponent was dressed in black and seemed masculine in appearance. He held a staff in one hand, and the other was surrounded by what looked like little bolts of lightning.

As I examined this image, the figures suddenly seemed to shift before my eyes. The image of Nefertiti morphed into Ermine and the image of her opponent morphed into Chat Noir. My eyes widened in shock, and I took a step back before squeezing my eyes shut and shaking my head rapidly to clear my vision. When I stopped and looked again, the papyrus looked normal, but I couldn't shake what I had seen. Was this a three-thousand-year-old picture of Chat Noir and Ermine, fighting each other? Again, I was struck with an almost overwhelming urge to call Minkk out to help me figure this out, but I resisted, knowing it was too risky, especially if I was right about Marinette. If she saw Minkk, and recognized her as a Kwami, then it wouldn't take her long to figure out I was Ermine. As keen as I was to know who Ladybug was, I wasn't as keen for her to know my identity.

Then I had an idea. Taking out my phone, I zoomed in as best I could, and shot a pic of the two fighting figures, making a mental note to talk to Minkk about this later, along with the feeling I had experienced with the cat statues.

I had just slipped my phone back into my pocket when I heard a loud whistle.

"Hey, you!" I looked up to see a security guard move to block the path of a tall figure with black skin and wearing what looked like a golden mask.

I tensed as I heard several gasps echo throughout the room. Either this guy was on his way to a costume party, or….

"Thoth, give me time!" The figure spoke, clenching his fists. His golden mask glowed, and when the light faded, his face had changed to resemble a ram's head.

"Did he just say Thoth?" I jumped a little as I heard Minkk suddenly hiss from right next to my ear. I glanced over to see my Kwami looking absolutely livid.

"Minkk, what are you…?" I started to whisper but paused when I saw the ram-faced person throw out his hands. My eyes widened as golden bubbles flew from his fingers, swiftly enveloping the security guard and civilians in the room.

Yep, he's a supervillain! I thought as I dove behind a nearby pedestal, just barely avoiding being captured in one of those bubbles.

"That wasn't Thoth's power, or his face! How dare this villain show such disrespect!" Minkk hissed. The Kwami was so mad she was practically shaking.

"Minkk, what has gotten into you?" I asked, feeling very confused, both by her sudden anger, and the fact that she seemed to be so familiar with an Egyptian god. She spoke as if she knew him personally. But how was that possible?

"Get out of here!" The figure ordered. The bubbles began to move towards the room exit, taking their captives with them.

I narrowed my eyes. Maybe this was my chance to slip out of the room unnoticed. "Minkk, come on!" I said, quickly scooping my Kwami into my purse. Creeping out from behind the pedestal, I snuck towards the door, keeping pace with the bubbles.

However, I had only taken a few steps before the figure suddenly barked "FASTER!" and the bubbles flew away so quickly that it took me a moment to realize I was suddenly exposed.

I gulped nervously, turned, and darted behind a nearby column just as the figure suddenly whirled around. I held my breath, praying that I had not been noticed. After a few moments, I heard nothing and let out a faint sigh of relief.

"Alice, what are you waiting for?" I almost jumped out of my skin as Minkk suddenly appeared in front of me, still looking angry. "You need to transform!"

Bzzzzzzz! Before I could say anything, I felt my phone vibrate. The sound seemed unusually loud in the quiet room, so I desperately scrambled to mute my phone. "Who's there?!" I heard the villain exclaim, followed by footsteps coming in my direction. Oh no! He must have heard the noise! I thought in horror.

I briefly considered transforming right then and there, but by the sound of it, the villain was just a few feet away from me. If he looked around the pillar before I had finished, he would know I was Ermine. So, I grabbed Minkk and held her in my hands along with my phone, flattened myself against the pillar and prayed that the structure was big enough to hide the two of us. Luckily, Minkk didn't say anything else.

I could feel my body trembling as the footsteps stopped very close by. There was a short "Humph!". Then the footsteps retreated. Still, I didn't move.

My phone suddenly vibrated again, and I tilted my hand to glance at the screen. It was a Ladyblog update. Someone was uploading a live video to the blog right now!

Almost instinctively, I opened the link, which took me to the Ladyblog. "What are you doing?" Minkk glanced up at me, looking surprised. "This is no time to check the Ladyblog!"

Before I could respond, Alya's face popped up on my phone screen. Because my phone was on mute, I couldn't hear what she was saying, but a moment later, the scene shifted, and my eyes widened when I saw that Alya was filming the villain as he was approaching the pedestal containing the snake-headed scepter. That meant Alya was still in the room with me!

"Alice, are you listening to me?!" Minkk hissed, darting in front of my face. "You need to transform!"

"I can't Minkk, it's too risky! Look!" I replied in a whisper, pointing to the screen of my phone. "You see this? This is being filmed right now. That means Alya is still in this room with us. If I transform now, she might figure out I'm Ermine!"

Minkk paused, looking at the video on my phone. Realization appeared on her face, and she let out a tiny groan. "That girl has been nothing but trouble lately!"

Minkk's comment made me frown. That wasn't fair! Sure, Alya's presence was sometimes annoying, but it wasn't like the girl was trying to interfere!

"Ha ha ha!" Before I could say anything, dark laughter caught our attention. I peeked over the top of the carving to see the villain rip the display case off the pedestal with his bare hands. The glass shattered, but the villain didn't even seem to care. "Finally, after over three thousand years, I, Pharaoh, shall have what I desire!"

So that's his name. I thought as I watched the villain grab the both the scepter and the papyrus off the wall. But what does he want those things for?

A rumbling drew my attention to the doorway, just in time to see a security gate drop from the ceiling. The moment before it slammed shut, a red-and-black figure slipped into the room. Ladybug! My eyes widened as the heroine straightened up. "You know that's considered stealing, right?!" She called out, readying her yo-yo.

Pharaoh turned to face her, the scepter and papyrus clutched in his hands. "Actually, I am taking back what rightfully belongs to me."'

Ladybug scoffed. "Maybe if you were the real Pharaoh, which you're not!"

A loud whisper that I couldn't fully make out came from another display case, and I looked over to see Alya was leaning out from behind the case, filming the confrontation on her phone. My eyes widened. Was that girl crazy? No scoop was worth getting hurt!

Ladybug seemed to hear Alya too because she made shushing motions in the girl's direction. But this only seemed to make Alya even more excited, causing the heroine to facepalm. I shook my head at this, Alya was crazy!

Ladybug threw her yo-yo at the Pharaoh, but the villain caught the yo-yo a the last second, then yanked hard. Ladybug was pulled off her feet and the Pharaoh whirled her around like a yo-yo before finally flinging her into a wall. I winced at the sound of the impact. Even though our costumes helped shield us from injury, that must have hurt!

Even though it was too dangerous for me to transform here, I felt I had to do something to help. As Pharaoh turned away, I glanced at the villain, then dashed over the where Ladybug had slid to the floor.

"Are you okay?" I asked, putting my hand over hers. Ladybug looked up at me, and her eyes widened in what seemed to be recognition. I felt my breath catch in my throat. Did Ladybug know me? I was itching to ask if she was Marinette, but the look was gone a second later, and when I helped her to her feet, she spoke to me like I was just another person.

"I'm fine. Listen, can you keep that girl over there quiet? I don't want Pharaoh going after her." Ladybug motioned to where Alya was filming the retreating villain.

"Sekhmet, give me strength!" We looked up to see Pharaoh bending the bars of the security gate with his bare hands. My eyes widened at the villain's physical prowess before they returned to Ladybug.

"Right!" I nodded and began dashing across the room to where Alya was hiding, while Ladybug twirled her yo-yo, in preparation to throw it at the villain again.

"How nice of you to hold the door open for me!" I froze when I heard another familiar voice.

"Kitty?" My gaze turned towards the doorway, just in time to see something in black come flying at me. My eyed widened, but it was too late for me to get out of the way.

WHAM! Whatever it was crashed into me, knocking me back into a solid surface that gave way at the impact. I let out a small shriek as I fell backwards, landing on something hard. Seconds later, something landed on top of me, cutting off all light.

Scarcely had I had time to notice this however, when suddenly whatever was on top of me, started to move!

I bit my lip to cap the scream building up in my throat and I brought my hands up to cover myself but froze as my hands struck solid wood. The sound echoed loudly in my ears.

Whatever was on top of me froze at the noise. Seconds later, I felt something slowly move up and down either side of my body, trailing over my clothes.

"Oh no, don't tell me there's an actual mummy in here!" A timid, quiet, and familiar-sounding, voice whined, and my eyes widened as I suddenly realized that I must be inside the Egyptian sarcophagus, which must have fallen over, and its lid had closed. That was why I couldn't see anything!

I felt my body tense up, and my face heat up, as I felt something move towards my chest area. "DON'T YOU DARE GO ANY HIGHER!" I blurted out.

"Yikes, I'm so sorry! I…hey, wait a minute!" The voice yelped, then paused for a moment. "You don't sound like a mummy."

"That's because I'm not a mummy." I said, and I felt the figure lying on top of me practically go limp with relief. "But I might become one if you don't move. You're squishing me!" I added, wriggling to get some more room.

"Uh…Sorry, I'll just…" The person's voice was drowned out by the sound of scraping and bumping. Then the noise quickly stopped.

Nothing happened.

"Well…are you going to move or not?" I was starting to get annoyed. Whoever this person was, they were not light, and their wriggling was pressing me into the floor of the sarcophagus.

"Okay, don't freak out, but we may have a problem." The voice replied and I tensed at the nervousness in his tone.

"What kind of problem?" I asked after a moment.

"Um…I can't get the lid to open. I think it's stuck." He admitted.

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed.

"Ow! Hey, what did I say about not freaking out?" The voice scolded.

"Buddy, if I was freaking out, trust me, I'd be screaming a lot louder!" I said to him. "Are you sure you can't get the lid open?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, I…" Before he could finish, there was a loud thwack and the sarcophagus shook. "Nice try but banging on it isn't going to help."

"That wasn't me. I thought it was you!" I argued, feeling my pulse quicken. To my knowledge, there were only four people still out there: Ladybug, Alya, Pharaoh, and Chat Noir.

"It's the villain! Don't worry ma'am, I'll protect you!" The voice ordered as the coffin shook again, and my entire body stiffened in shock as I was finally able to identify the voice. It was Chat Noir's! He must have been the one who knocked me into the sarcophagus, and then fell in on top of me! How did I not realize it right away?

I felt my face heat up and, for the first time, I was grateful that there was no light in here. The air suddenly seemed to get hot and stuffy, and I had so much emotion coursing through me I had no idea how to act. I was trapped in an Egyptian sarcophagus with the guy of my dreams! Should I keep quiet and lie still? Should I act scared, and grab hold of him? Should I try to sneak a…?

Before I could finish that last thought, there was another loud thwack, the entire sarcophagus shook, and the lid suddenly slid off, causing me to blink in the sudden light.

"HYAA!" Chat Noir yelled and, through my cracked eyelids, I saw him punch out towards the light.

"HEY! Watch it Kitty!" An annoyed voice rang out. But it wasn't the Pharaoh's

"M'lady! Oh, I'm so sorry, I thought you were the villain!" Chat Noir exclaimed as he leapt out of the sarcophagus.

"Yeah, I noticed." As my eyes got used to the light, I saw Ladybug leaning over the now open sarcophagus, rolling her eyes. But she froze when she saw me, and she gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you in there. Are you okay?" She said, reaching a hand to me.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you." I said, letting Ladybug pull me up out of the sarcophagus. My face still felt red, and I saw Ladybug notice. "It was really stuffy in there." I said, fanning my face to try and cool myself down. "Plus, I was kind of being squished." I added, glancing at Chat Noir, who was gazing at me with wide eyes. For a moment, I thought I saw recognition in his gaze, but it was gone a second later.

"Umm…sorry?" Chat Noir said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Despite everything, I felt a smile cross my face. He looked so annoyingly cute when he was embarrassed, that it was hard for me to stay angry with him.

"Hey! Hands off the threads, I can walk myself!" A shout made us look up to see that Pharaoh had grabbed Alya and slung her over his shoulder.

"He's abducting Alya!" I exclaimed, pointing at them.

"Let her go, Pharaoh!" Ladybug exclaimed before she and Chat Noir raced after the villain. Wanting to get out of this room, I followed at a distance.

Pharaoh slipped though the bent bars, then turned to face the two heroes. I paused and skirted to the side, out of the line of fire.

"Hiding behind an innocent bystander?! You're weak, Pharoah!" Chat Noir taunted as he and Ladybug came to a stop in front of the security gate.

I narrowed my eyes as I realized something. Alya wasn't the only thing Pharaoh was hiding behind. That security gate was also a hinderance. The only way through was the opening Pharoah had made. If he closed it…

"I'm far more powerful than you are!" Pharaoh retorted and, just as I feared, he used his strength to close the opening he had made in the gate, before walking away.

"Hey! Get back here!" Ladybug challenged, ramming her shoulder against the gate, but it was no use. The metal barrier held firm.

"And don't forget! All the latest behind-the-scenes on my blog!" Alya called out from the villain's shoulder as they disappeared.

"That Alya is one brave chick!" Chat Noir commented.

"If by brave, you mean bossy, feisty, and bold? Yup, that's her!" Ladybug replied.

I glanced at Ladybug, my suspicion returning. Ladybug sounded like she knew Alya well, which would make sense if she really was Marinette.

"Come on, get us out of here, Chat Noir!" Ladybug urged.

"CATACLYSM!" Chat Noir activated his power, charging his hand with pure destructive energy. He swiped it against the bars of the security gate, causing them to rust until they fell apart.

I was so busy watching Chat Noir, that I didn't notice Ladybug walking over to me until she appeared right in front of me, making me jump a little.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked.

I nodded as I saw Chat Noir rush through the gate without looking back, and I felt my heart sink a little. Sure, he probably had to recharge his miraculous, but could he have at least said something to me?

"Good. Just stay put until we can deal with this villain, okay?" Ladybug smiled at me before taking off after Chat Noir.

"Okay. Good luck!" I called after her as the two heroes dashed off, leaving me alone.

"Ooooh, you and Chat Noir were locked in a coffin together!" Minkk teased as she appeared. "Now I'm glad you didn't transform when I told you to!" She chuckled.

"Not. Funny. Minkk!" I growled at her, causing her to laugh again. After looking around to make sure that no one was around, I pulled out my phone again.

"What are you doing?" Minkk asked as I began typing on my screen. "Everyone's gone! Shouldn't you transform now?"

"I'm not just gonna rush in there blind." I said to her. "You saw what happened to Chat Noir when he did that." I felt another blush appear on my face at the mention of him and I saw Minkk give me a knowing smile. "Anyway, Alya's got a live stream on her blog. We can use it to find out what's going on."

Alya's face appeared on my phone screen. "Hi, everyone! Alya here, liveblogging from the shoulder of the terrifying villain! Huge scoop to come, stay tuned!"

I had to admit, even though she'd been kidnapped, Alya wasn't showing any fear at all. But I had a feeling this wouldn't last. Something had to be done about this, now!

"Looks like he's gonna take her outside." I commented, noticing the glass walls of the Louvre in the background.

"Okay, now we know where he is, shouldn't you be going after them?!" Minkk urged.

"All right, all right!" I said with a chuckle, putting my phone away. Again, I checked to make certain we were alone, then…

"MINKK, SHOWTIME!" I called out, triggering my transformation. Minkk dove into my belt buckle, and white fur began to spread across my body. My eyes turned electric blue and my hair turned snowy white. A tail sprouted from above my rear end, and white-black ears appeared on top of my head.

My transformation complete, I dashed out of the exhibit room, only to skid to a halt in front of a large golden bubble that was blocking the hallway in front of me. I instantly recognized it as one of those time bubbles the Pharoah had conjured to trap the civilians inside the exhibit room. Frowning, I turned around, only to find another time bubble had appeared behind me and was slowly making its way towards me.

"Yikes!" I yelped and glanced around. I knew that if I got caught in one of those bubbles, I'd probably be trapped until someone rescued me. After looking around, I saw a small gap between the bubble ahead of me and the ceiling. It was tight, but it looked like I could make it without touching the bubble. I tensed, judging the distance. I considered using my whip, but there was nothing for me to use to swing up, and I didn't know if just using my whip on the time bubbles would make them disappear. I didn't want to take that chance.

Taking a deep breath, I took two steps backwards, then started to run. When I was just in front of the bubble, I jumped, twisting my body until I was sideways. I held my breath and arced my body upwards as I sailed over the bubble, until I felt myself falling down the other side. Twisting my body again, I landed on my feet and tumbled forward, coming to a rest a few feet away. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the time bubbles bump into each other, and come to a rest, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Ermine?" I froze when I heard a voice behind me. I spun around to find Alix Kubdel standing near an open doorway, her eyes wide.

"A-um hi!" I almost blurted out Alix's name but caught myself just in time and waved at the girl. "Been there long?"

Alix shook her head. "That was amazing!" She blurted out as she came forward, looking rather awestruck.

I felt myself blush and prayed that my mask could hide it. "Thanks, are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for my older brother, Jalil." Alix replied with a nod. "I saw my father get captured by one of those freaky bubbles, but I can't find Jalil anywhere." My mind flashed back to the glasses-wearing young man, and I frowned as a sudden thought struck me. The last time I had seen him, Jalil had been pretty upset. Weren't Akumas drawn to negative emotions like that?

"Ermine?" Alix's voice snapped me back to reality. I saw her looking up at me with a concerned expression. "Can you help me find my brother?" she pleaded.

I felt torn. I wanted to help Alix, but at the same time, I knew Ladybug and Chat Noir might need me to help rescue Alya. Who needed my help more, Alix or Alya? To help make up my mind, I decided to check Alya's blog again, hoping that the livestream was still going on. If it looked like Alya wasn't in immediate danger, then I would try to find Jalil.

I opened the screen of my whip and logged onto the Ladyblog.

"What are you doing?" Alix asked.

"Checking something." I explained, as I searched for the livestream. "I want to help find your brother, but Alya Cesare was abducted by the villain responsible for this chaos. I need to check on her safety before I can start looking for Jalil."

"Oh, ok." Alix said as I found the livestream and selected it.

The video image showed Pharaoh standing in the courtyard outside the louvre surrounded by what looked like mummies. I raised an eyebrow as I remembered Jalil saying something about Akhenaten needing 100 mummies to offer to the sun god. I didn't remember seeing any actual mummies being in part of the exhibit, so where had these mummies come from?

"Uh, excuse me, Mr. Pharoah, but, uh, what exactly is going on?" Alya started speaking, and I saw Pharaoh look at her, and by extension, us, through the screen.

"Is that the bad guy?" Alix asked. I nodded, motioning for her to be quiet as the Pharaoh responded.

"I'm going to carry out the secret spell, to bring Nefertiti back!" The villain proclaimed.

Again, my mind flashed back to Jalil's eagerness to try out the same spell. Could Pharoah be an Akumatized Jalil? He had certainly seemed susceptible to an Akuma the last time I saw him, and they both did seem interested in that spell.

"Ah, mmm, gotcha! You're talking about the spell on that papyrus, right?" said Alya.

"Correct!" Pharaoh proclaimed. "One hundred mummies, plus the offering."

"Offering? What offering?" Alya asked.

"In order to persuade the Sun God, Ra, to give back my sweet princess, I must give him something in return. A pure soul!" Pharaoh explained.

"Wow dude, that's pretty hard to come by!" Alya exclaimed. "Where are you gonna find someone with that kind of characteristic?"

"But I've already found her." Pharaoh corrected, before pointing to the papyrus as it floated closer to them. Alya's phone turned towards it, and I narrowed my eyes again. Amongst the hieroglyphics, there was an image of a girl being held up by a group of mummies, as if in offering. And the girl seemed to bear a striking resemblance to…

No! It couldn't be! My eyes widened in horror.

"Do you not see the resemblance?" Pharoah's voice confirmed my fears.

"Say what?!" Alya gasped as the villain laughed.

"I don't get it. What's going on?" Alix asked as the camera image spun to show an extremely nervous Alya.

"Ladybug, this is Alya. I just found out I'm the sacrificial offering to the Sun God! Please Hurry!" She begged.

I heard Alix gasp as I closed my screen, having seen enough. I glanced up at Alix to see a determined look on her face. "My brother can wait; you've got to save Alya!" She exclaimed. I smiled and nodded gratefully at the girl. While I did care about helping Jalil, Alya was in trouble now!

I rushed down the hall towards the stairs and took them three at a time. Reaching the top, I made my way over to the exit, avoiding the lingering time bubbles in the process. Once I approached the doors, I hid behind a guard's desk and peeked out. I couldn't see much, but I could see a lot of mummies, many more than I had seen on the screen. I decided to check in with my partners before doing anything else. Since I suspected Chat Noir was still charging his Kwami, I called Ladybug first.

After the first ring, Ladybug's face appeared on my screen. "Ermine, thank goodness! Where are you?!"

"Inside the Louvre Museum, near the front entrance. I can see a lot of mummies out there. Where are you and Kitty?" I asked.

Ladybug groaned in frustration. "I got trapped in one of Pharoah's time bubbles!" She admitted, and, for the first time, I saw that Ladybug was surrounded in a golden haze.

"Where are you? I'll come free you!" I said, making to stand up.

"No!" Ladybug's outburst stopped me. "You need to help Alya. Have you been following the Ladyblog?"

I nodded.

"Then you know that Pharaoh plans to sacrifice Alya to the Sun God. Someone needs to rescue her, and right now you're the only hero available!" Ladybug continued.

My eyes widened. "But what about you? I could free you and we could save her together!"

"By the time you free me, it may be too late for Anya." Ladybug countered. "My gut tells me Pharaoh won't wait. I already sent Chat Noir a message. Once his Kwami recharges, he can come help get me out of here, but until he does, you're the only one who can help Alya."

"But…" I still tried to argue.

"Please Ermine," Ladybug pleaded, giving me a smile. "I'll be fine. Go and help Anya, I believe in you." Before I could say anything else, she hung up, leaving me staring at my screen.

"So…what are you going to do?" I jumped when I heard a voice behind me and whirled around to see that Alix had followed me up and was crouching next to me.

"What are you doing up here?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes at her. "You should have stayed down by where I met you!" I pointed towards the stairs.

"I wanna help!" Alix said, looking confident.

"You can help by keeping out of the way." I said, as I stood up and taking a breath. Truthfully, if I was going to go up against Pharaoh and his mummy army alone, I could use all the help I could get. But I didn't want to have to worry about saving Alix as well. Speaking of help…

"ANIMORPHIX!" I cried, triggering my superpower. A white light emanated from my belt buckle and spread across my entire body. I could feel my limbs shrinking, my fingers pulling back into my hands. My tail got smaller too, and my weasel ears grew bigger.

A few moments later, the light faded, and I found myself on all fours. I opened my mouth and a loud meow escaped from my lips.

"A cat? How's that gonna help?" I looked up to see Alix gazing at me with a confused expression.

I glanced down at myself and saw that I was indeed a short-haired cat. In fact, my body looked just like a black Egyptian cat, except that my fur was white. I frowned thoughtfully. Obviously, I couldn't take on the Pharoah directly in this form. But, as random as my transformations were, I knew that there was always a way to use them. I just needed to think!

As I racked my brain to figure out a plan, I suddenly remembered the black cat statues lining the hallway leading to the Egyptian exhibit, and I smirked as an idea come to mind. It was risky, maybe even crazy, but if it worked, it might allow me to save Alya without needing to fight anyone.

"Actually, Alix, there might be a way you can help me after all." I meowed, turning to Alix. "But it all depends on two things."

"What?" Alix asked, looking eager.

"How fast you can work, and how good you are with makeovers." I replied.

"Makeovers?" Alix tilted her head, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Just follow me." I said, dashing back towards the Egyptian exhibit. I just prayed that everything I needed was still there.

About 10 minutes later, I was back at the front entrance, hiding near the same guard's desk, but I looked completely different. Alix had, rather reluctantly, used a spray can of black paint from the scaffolding I had seen earlier to spray-paint my cat body black, then had used a paintbrush to paint golden Egyptian-style markings around my eyes. She had also dusted my body with golden glitter from a nearby storage room, not enough to hide my now black fur, but enough to give, hopefully, a radiant appearance.

Once the paint had dried, we had then raided the Egyptian exhibit in search of some artifacts I could wear to make my image more believable. Alix had been even more hesitant to let me borrow some of the artifacts, but once I told her that it was the only way for my plan to work, she relented. I was now wearing a wide golden collar around my neck, and each of my legs was encased in a jeweled band designed specifically for cats. I had also stumbled across a pair of clip-on earrings, probably dropped by a museum visitor, that could be fit into my own ears, and make it look like my ears were pierced.

"Do you really think this will work?" Alix whispered from where she knelt next to me, her phone out and open to the Ladyblog. Even though my sense of hearing was now sharp enough that I could probably hear anything being said outside, I couldn't risk being spotted just yet.

"Honestly, I'm not sure." I admitted. "At best, I'll be able to save Alya. At worst, I'll be able to hopefully distract Pharaoh long enough for Ladybug and Chat Noir to rejoin the fight. We'll just have to see how this plays out."

Alix nodded, but I could see my answer had not done much to reassure her. I felt my tail twitch uneasily as we both turned back to the Ladyblog. As we watched, Alya's face on the screen, seemed to focus on something we couldn't see. Then, the image jumped to show Pharaoh.

"Woah, back up!" Aya said, causing Pharaoh to look at her, and us. "Who's that goddess chick with the black spots? There, on your papyrus!"

The Pharaoh turned to look at the papyrus. Alya zoomed in as best she could. I narrowed my eyes. The image was a bit blurry, but I could make out what appeared to be a woman in a black-spotted outfit swinging something that looked a lot like Ladybug's yo-yo. In fact, the person in question looked a lot like an Egyptian version of…

"Ladybug, my sworn enemy!" The Pharaoh spat, breaking my concentration. The image on the screen shifted to his face. "My nemesis may have kept me from carrying out my ritual over three thousand years ago, but she will not stop Nefertiti from coming back to me this time!" The villain vowed as he clenched his fist, and the papyrus suddenly tore itself to shreds.

"D-did you say…Ladybug stopped you…three thousand years ago?" Alya gasped. My eyes widened in surprise. Ladybug had been around for at least three thousand years? But then how…?

No! Focus on the here and now! I scolded myself, shaking my head. If my plan was going to work, I couldn't afford to be distracted.

"No way!" I turned to Alix looking at me with wide eyes. "Are you that old too?" She asked.

I narrowed my eyes at her, even though I was trying not to grin. "First, it's rude to ask a lady her age, and second, don't you think we have more important things to worry about right now?" I asked.

"Oh right, sorry." Alix quickly apologized and turned away, looking embarrassed.

I let out a tiny chuckle as I turned back to the screen.

"Oh, Sacred Ra, God of the sun. I, Pharaoh, offer to thee a pure soul! This sacrifice I make to thee, for the return of Nefertiti!" The Pharaoh started chanting. The Louvre pyramid began to light up at his words, and a beam of light shot up into the sky, creating a portal of darkness above the museum. "I bow to you and present this gift with my mummies. In company, we pray to you the safe return of princess Nefertiti! Awaken Nefertiti, Awaken! Awaken Nefertiti, Awaken!"

"Awaken Nefertiti…Awaken!" The mummies began to chant as well.

"Okay, I'm going to get into position. Remember your cues!" I said to Alix.

The girl nodded and rushed back into the depths of the museum.

I'm counting on you, Alix. I thought nervously as I slipped out the open front door of the museum and hid in the shadows of the doorway. I watched as a group of mummies approached Alya, grabbed her, and lifted the struggling girl up over their heads, all while still chanting Nefertiti's name.

"Ladybug, help!" Alya yelled as she struggled in the grip of her captors.

I glanced around in search of my partners. There was no sign of either, which meant Chat Noir probably hadn't recharged his Kwami yet, or he was too busy searching for where Ladybug was trapped.

Either way, Ladybug was right. Right now, it looked like I was Alya's only hope.

When Pharaoh was nearing the pyramid, I suddenly heard the intercom system for the museum click on behind me and knew that was my cue. I slipped out the door and made my way to stand in front of the approaching group. With everyone bowing or focusing on the circle of darkness that had appeared over the Louvre pyramid, no one noticed me.

"RRROOOWWWW!" A loud cat yowl that Alix had recorded on her phone boomed though the speakers behind me. I fought the urge to wince at the volume as I saw Pharoah jump in surprise, stumbling backwards into one of his mummies, which caused a chain reaction that made all of them stumble and end up dropping Alya. The girl landed on her feet and tried to run, but Pharaoh grabbed her before she had even made two steps.

Setting my face into a cat scowl, I let out an angry yowl, causing Pharaoh and Alya to look up.

Alya's eyes widened. "Woah, check out the Egyptian threads on that feline!" She said, holding up her phone.

Pharaoh glared at me. "Begone, mangy feline!" He barked, making a shooing motion with a hand.

Here goes nothing! I thought before pretending to look insulted. Praying that Alix was watching, I raised my tail and flicked it to the right, before opening my mouth, as if I was going to yowl again.

Seconds later…

"RRRROWWWWW!" My recorded yowl played back through the museum speakers, but louder this time. I fought the urge to wince as the noise bombarded my sensitive ears, but I stood strong as I watched Pharaoh, Alya, and the mummies all take a step back.

"INFIDEL!" I cried as the recorded noise faded. "You dare to address a goddess in that manner?!" I snapped.

"What?!" Pharaoh exclaimed. Though his face remained unchanged, I could see by his stance that he was surprised.

"A-a g-g-goddess?" Alya stammered, her eyes widening.

"Behold, mortals!" I brought myself up as tall as I could and tried to look as regal as possible. "You stand in the presence of Bastet the Protector, the Lady of the East, sworn enemy of the Chaos Serpent, Goddess of the Rising Sun and Moon, and the sacred, all-seeing eye of Ra!" As I spoke, trying desperately to remember all I had read about the cat goddess over the years, I flicked my tail again, to the left this time, and a few seconds later a bright light flashed from behind me.

I saw everyone flinch and look away from the bright light. Emboldened by this, I took a few steps forward. "I am the champion of the sun god, I am his protector, and the giver of his word! Through me speaks the voice of Ra, and to disrespect me is to disrespect Ra himself!" I saw Pharaoh flinch at this and glared at him. "Pharaoh, you will release your prisoner, fall upon your knees, and beg forgiveness, or you will face my father's unbridled wrath!" I commanded.

As I spoke, I flickered my tail to the right, and another bright flash came from behind me, along with a roar that sounded like thunder.

Nice touch, Alix! I thought with a smirk.

Pharaoh gasped, let go of Alya, and immediately fell to his knees. "Forgive me, Lady Bastet! I meant no disrespect!" He bowed low, his face literally touching the ground.

"Bastet! Bastet!" The mummies began chanting, bowing in the same way.

Trying to look noble, I raised my nose into the air and looked around, as if judging all that I saw. I noticed Alya was on her knees as well, but rather than bowing, she was still filming me with her phone. I couldn't help but grin, wondering how the viewers of the Ladyblog were going to react to this.

Seeing a way to get her out of danger, I focused my gaze on her. "You! Mortal!" I called.

Alya's face paled as she realized that I was addressing her. "Y-yes, Lady Bastet?" She stammered.

"Come to me!" I ordered.

Alya gulped nervously and slowly got to her feet. With shaky steps, she made her way over. I tensed as I saw Pharaoh lift his face up to watch her, but he made no effort to stop her. Alya came to stand in front of me, and then sank to her knees, still filming me. When she saw I had noticed, she gave me a nervous smile. "I'm sorry. I've just…never filmed a goddess before. You…you don't mind me filming you, d-do you?" She stammered.

I felt my whiskers twitch with amusement. "Why do you show fear, Alya? You have never done so before." I said softly.

Alya's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Y-you know my name?" She gasped.

I let out a rumbling purr of amusement. "I am not just my father's guardian. I am a patron of women, provider of solace to their households, and protector of their secrets. I have come to know you well, Alya Cesare. You are not to be sacrificed today."

"What?!" We looked up to see Pharaoh had risen to his knees. "But she is the one destined to take the place of my beloved Nefertiti!" He protested.

"Silence! The girl is not to be harmed!" I replied, my voice hardening. "Ra has decreed it!"

But Pharaoh was not giving up. "Lady Bastet, I beseech you! Do not deny me this…!"

"I said SILENCE!" I yowled while flattening my ears, and Pharaoh quickly bowed again. "Three thousand years, Pharaoh, has it taught you nothing?!" I exclaimed, coming to stand between Alya and the villain. "Ra did not approve of your sacrifice then, and he does not approve of it now! Why do you think I am here?! Why do you think Ra summoned Ladybug to defeat you last time? Clearly you are too consumed by selfish desire to listen to the words of his messengers, so now you will hear his words from the mouth of his daughter. Abandon this foolish mission! Nefertiti has found peace in the afterlife. Take comfort in that!"

Pharaoh seemed to freeze at my words, then suddenly he shot to his feet. "YOU ARE NOT BASTET!" He roared, pointing at me.

I felt my body tense in shock. How did he know? "HOW DARE YOU!" I screeched, trying to hide my growing anxiety as the Pharaoh's mummies stopped bowing to me and started to get to their feet. I flicked my tail to the left again, but this time, the light didn't appear. I flicked my tail to the right, opening my mouth in anticipation of the recorded yowl, but it never came. I realized Alix must either have left her station, or she couldn't see me. I was on my own! In desperation, I decided to improvise. "You try my patience, Pharaoh! One more word from you, and I will see to it you are never reunited with your beloved!" I

"YOU CANNOT TRICK ME ANY LONGER, ERMINE!" Pharaoh replied, taking a step forward.

"Ermine? No way!" I heard Alya gasp behind me, and I realized the jig was up.

As Pharaoh and his mummies began to close in, I looked at Alya, who was gaping openly at me. "Alya, run! NOW!" I ordered, snapping the girl out of her daze. She nodded and bolted.

"SEIZE HER!" Pharoah ordered to his mummies, who chased after her, but Ladybug swooped in and seized Alya, carrying her away.

"Yes!" I cheered, then froze as I saw a shadow fall over mine. I looked up to see Pharaoh looking down at me. Instinctively, my eyes narrowed, and my ears flattened. I hissed angrily at him, and as I did, my eyes were drawn to the pendant that hung around his neck. My memory clicked. I had seen that pendant before! The face of Alix's older brother, Jalil, swam in front of my face, and suddenly everything made sense. Jalil was Pharaoh, and the Akuma was probably in that pendant!

I tensed my muscles, then I sprang, unsheathing my claws. If I could destroy the pendant, or just get it away from him, this battle would be over. Suddenly, I felt something grip the back of my neck and I came to a halt in midair. Realizing that Pharaoh had grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, I yowled angrily and lashed out, trying vainly to reach the pendant.

"Did you really think you could fool me?" Pharaoh taunted, leaning down far enough to look me in the eye. I just hissed at him and tired, in vain, to reach his face with my claws.

"Paws off the pussycat!" I heard a familiar voice yell suddenly yell, seconds before something collided with the Pharoah's chest, knocking him off his feet, dropping me in the process.

I spun in the air, landed on my feet, and dashed back towards the Louvre as fast as I could. Suddenly, I felt someone grab me from behind and scoop me up. I yelped in alarm and tried to wriggle out of my captor's grip.

"Hold still, before I end up dropping you!" I froze as I recognized Chat Noir's voice, and I looked up to see that I was clutched against the hero's chest. If cats could blush, I'm sure I would have done so right then and there.

Chat Noir landed on top of a building, and I smiled gratefully up at my savior. "Thank you, kitty!" I meowed.

"Of course, we cats have to stick together, don't we?" Chat Noir smiled down at me. Then, he reached out and tickled me under my chin. I gasped as a feeling of pleasure rushed through me and, before I knew what was happening, I had started purring. "Aww, do you like that? Yeah, who's a clever kitty? Who's a clever kitty? You are, yes you are!" I could barely her Chat Noir's babyish tone as I leaned against his hand, closing my eyes, and purring louder. Honestly, I didn't care what he said as long as he didn't stop scratching me under the chin. I felt like I was in heaven!

"Ermine?" I jumped as Ladybug's voice cut through my feelings of bliss. Chat Noir stopped scratching me and I looked up to see Ladybug and Alya approaching.

"Is that really you?" Ladybug asked, gazing at me in disbelief. Next to her, Alya was filming, and I tensed as I realized that everyone who watched the Ladyblog had just seen me purring in Chat Noir's arms.

"Yep." I replied, still feeling rather flustered. "I thought I could trick Pharoah into releasing Alya. Guess it didn't work, huh?" I hung my head, my ears and tail drooping.

"Not for lack of effort on your part." Chat Noir commented, and I looked up to see him grinning at me. "That was a pretty good performance!"

I blinked, surprised. "Y-you saw it?" I stammered.

"Ladybug and I were watching, waiting for the right moment to swoop in. But I've gotta say, you were really convincing." He said, and I lowered my head in embarrassment.

"I second that!" Alya commented. "You had us all completely fooled! I really thought I was speaking to an actual goddess!"

I chuckled nervously. "Um…thanks?"

"But I don't understand. You've never changed color when you transformed before." Ladybug commented, motioning to my black body. "Can you do that now?"

I shook my head. "No, I have Alix Kubdel to thank for my 'makeover'. She was also responsible for the special effects during my 'show', that yowling and lights flashing you witnessed. She was watching via the Ladyblog and from the security center inside the museum, which also had controls for the floodlights that are sometimes used during night events, and we hooked up her phone to the intercom system for the sound effects.

Realization appeared on Ladybug's face. "Oh, that would explain a lot."

"The sound effects were all Alix's idea actually." I admitted, wanting to give credit when it was due.

"Clever girl." Chat Noir commented.

"Eager might be a better word. She really wanted to help." I replied.

"I need to remember to interview her." Alya said, holding her hand up towards the sky. "'I rolled with Ermine'. That'll make an excellent update for the Ladyblog!" She looked super excited, and, despite everything, I felt excited as well.

Suddenly, I remembered about Alix's brother. "Oh, by the way, I think the Akuma might be in Pharaoh's pendant."

"That's just what I was about to tell you, Ladybug!" Alya commented. "Alix's older brother was wearing one just like it, and I saw him get chewed out by his father over that very spell Pharaoh was trying to complete."

"The pendant! Of course!" Ladybug pounded her fist into her hand. "Good eye, you two!"

"Thank you, I…LOOK OUT!" I screeched as I saw a menacing figure appear in the air behind Ladybug and Alya. The two spun around to see Pharaoh, now with the face of a falcon, diving at them.

"Watch out!" Ladybug reacted instantly, shoving Alya to the side. Pharaoh slammed into Ladybug, knocking the heroine off the roof.

"LADYBUG!" Chat Noir cried.

Narrowing my eyes, I jumped out of Chat Noir's arms and landed on the rooftop. "Get him, Kitty!" I called, feeling my fur start to bristle as I glared at the villain.

"Gladly! It's time to wrap this up!" Chat Noir charged forward, his stick raised. But the Pharoah just grabbed him and used his momentum to toss him off the roof.

"KITTY!" I yelped, rushing in the direction. Peering over the edge of the roof, I saw him use his stick to land on the ground. Nearby, I saw Ladybug had also managed to land safely, and I sighed with relief.

"HEY! NO!" Alya cried behind me, causing me to whirl around just in time to see the Pharaoh grab Alya's phone out of her hand and throw it off of the roof. Hissing, I spun around and charged towards the Pharoah, just as he grabbed Alya's arm. I lunged, sinking my claws into the Pharaoh's arm.

"YEOW!" The villain cried in pain before glancing down at me. "GET OFF!" He roared, and began shaking his arm, and me.

"NO-OOOO-OOO-OOO!" I yowled, feeling my brain rattling in my skull as I hung on for dear life. My eyes were open, but I couldn't see anything, my claws felt like they were being pulled out. Suddenly, my claws slipped and I lost my grip. With a mighty fling, Pharoah threw me off, and I found myself flying over the edge of the roof.

"OH NO, ERMINE! SOMEBODY CATCH HER!" I heard Alya scream.

I screeched in terror and shut my eyes as I fell towards the hard concrete below. Then suddenly…

"GOTCHA!" I felt something grab me, and Ladybug's voice rang in my ears. Instead of falling downwards, I felt that I was now moving sideways. Then, I came to a stop.

"Ermine, are you okay?" I opened my eyes and looked up to see a concerned Ladybug looking down at me.

"I…think so, but now I know what soda feels like when you shake the can." I quipped.

A small smile flitted across Ladybug's face, and I felt her hand stroke my back. It felt really good, so I leaned into it, arching my back to better enjoy the feeling. Ladybug giggled at my reaction. "You really do like this, don't you?" She said teasingly, scratching me under my chin as Chat Noir had.

"Oh, please don't start that again!" I begged, while trying to resist the urge to purring again.

Suddenly, my body began to glow with white light. I felt Ladybug stiffen in surprise, but I quickly realized what was happening. Wriggling out of Ladybug's grasp, I leapt to the ground just as my cat body became haloed in light. I felt myself rise on my back legs, my arms grew, my ears shrank.

Seconds later, the white light faded, revealing that I was back to my human form, but I was thankfully still Ermine, though Alix's pray painting had not survived the transformation, so my body was white again.

"You're human again!" Ladybug commented.

"Yeah, which means we need end this fast!" I responded. My animal transformations lasted for five minutes, and then I had five more minutes before I had to transform back.

Ladybug nodded in agreement, her face looking determined.

"HELP ME LADYBUG!" Alya's yell of terror drew us back to the fight around us. We looked up to see that Pharaoh had grabbed Alya and flew up to the top of the pyramid and placed Alya onto a beam of light. As Alya started to rise towards the dark portal above, Pharaoh turned to face us.

"CRUSH THEM ALL!" He ordered, and we were instantly surrounded by mummies.

"Scatter!" Ladybug ordered. She dashed left, while I darted right. The group of mummies split up to chase us both.

Dodging multiple bandaged hands, I decided to get some elevation, and used my whip to pull myself up to the top of a nearby lamp post. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I glanced around, and froze in horror when I saw that Chat Noir was backed against a nearby wall, with a trio of mummies approaching him, holding a car above their heads.

"What the-WOAH!" I yelped as the lamp post I was on began to shake violently. I glanced down to see the mummies that had been chasing me pushing themselves against the lamp post, trying to knock it over. "Seriously?!" I grumbled as I leapt to another lamp post. The mummies immediately abandoned the one they had been trying to topple and ran towards the lamp post I was now on, but I jumped to another one.

Leaping from lamp to lamp, I left my pursuers in the dust and quickly covered the distance between me and Chat Noir. Just as the mummies that had cornered him threw the car they had been carrying, I wrapped the end of my whip around Chat Noir's ankle and yanked him out of the way of the car, just in time.

"Thanks M'…oh, Ermine!" Chat Noir started to say but broke off when he realized it was me who had saved him.

Are you okay, Kitty?" I asked, trying to hide my disappointment at the fact he had so quickly assumed I was Ladybug. I told myself that, since he hadn't seen me de-transform, he wouldn't have known I was back in my human form.

"Yeah, but that was embarrassing. I almost got taken out by a bunch of bandages." Chat Noir replied with his trademark smirk, and I knew he was okay.

A chorus of groans alerted us to the fact that the mummies that tried to crush Chat Noir weren't done with him yet. The ones chasing me had caught up as well, and now there were mummies charging at us from all sides.

"Up and over?" I asked.

"Works for me." Chat Noir nodded, and the two of us charged forward. Just before we reached the wall of mummies, Chat Noir took my hand and slammed the edge of his stick into the ground, using it to pole vault over the mummies, taking me with him. We hit the ground running and raced away from the mummies, which immediately turned to chase us again.

"Ermine! Chat Noir! Quick, this way!" Ladybug waved to us from where she was running towards an open bus nearby. Instantly, I saw what she had in mind.

"Gotcha!" Chat Noir must have understood too. As we reached the bus, he jumped up over it, while Ladybug and I rushed into it. As we hoped, the crowd of mummies followed the two of us into the bus. When we reached the back, we turned and began leaping over the seats back towards the front, passing the mummies and darting out the open doors. The moment we did, Chat Noir used his stick like a lever to turn the bus on its side, trapping the mummies inside.

"Good call, Ladybug." I commented as we rushed back towards the Louvre.

I saw Ladybug grin at me. "Thanks, now let's hurry. We have to save Alya before she reaches the circle of darkness!"

"Yeah, I kinda figured." Chat Noir joked, which caused the heroine to roll her eyes.

Pharoah suddenly landed in front of us. "You will not stop me from bringing Nefertiti back! I'll finish you off myself! Anubis, give me mummies!" He roared, before his face changed to resemble a jackal. Golden beams of light shot from his eyes towards the three of us, but we dodged them.

That must be how he made his mummies! I realized as I leapt over one of the beams, just missing it by a hair. As I landed, I heard my Miraculous beep, reminding me that I was running out of time.

"Chat Noir! Grab Alya!" Ladybug ordered before ensnaring the Pharaoh with her yo-yo.

"Right!" Chat Noir ran past them and towards the pyramid. I skidded to a halt, raising my whip to help her. But then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see a small group of mummies charging towards us.

Growling in annoyance, I activated my whip and lashed out. The tail coiled around one of the mummies and I yanked to the side, using the captured mummy as a makeshift ram to knock over the others in one swing.

"Horus! Give me your wings!" I turned to see Pharaoh's face change to the hawk face from before. He took off into the air, with Ladybug's yo-yo still wrapped around him.

I tensed as Ladybug was yanked off her feet and dragged into the air, but the heroine seemed to recover quickly. She yanked at the string, using the momentum to pull her up towards the villain. They seemed to grapple for a moment, then Ladybug pulled something off the villain. "Ermine!" She cried as she threw it towards me. My eyes widened as I recognized the object; Jalil's pendant! Realizing what Ladybug wanted me to do, I started to run towards the pendant.

"YOW!" I yelped and came to a sudden stop as I felt something grab my tail and pull hard! I glanced back to see that a pair of mummies had managed to sneak up on me and had grabbed my tail. Realizing they had my attention, one let go of my tail and reached out to grab me.

I narrowed my eyes. Unlike Chat Noir, whose tail was really an extension of his belt, my tail was real, complete with feelings, and I hated when it was pulled.

"Bad move, rag bags!" I hissed before whirling, raising my leg to catch the mummy reaching for me on the side of its body with a sweeping kick. Then I jumped, snapping my other leg up to slam the front of my foot into the chin of the mummy that had been holding my tail. I said a silent thanks to the sensei that taught me martial arts back in New York as the mummies crumpled to the ground. I think he would have been proud of those moves.

Turning, I began to run towards the pendant, but something landed opposite it from me, Pharaoh!

"NO! You will not deny me my love!" He yelled.

Ignoring, him, I sprang towards the pendant, praying that I could get to it first.

"Sekhmet, give me your strength!" Pharoah yelled, and I felt a sudden surge of anger well up in me, though I had no idea why. Growling, I released the tail of my whip, preparing to slam it down on top of the akuamtized pendant.

Pharaoh's face changed to the lioness, and he clapped his hands together, creating a sonic wave that slammed into me with the force of a train. Yelping in pain, I flew backwards through the air before landing hard on the ground some distance away.

"Woah, that was intense!" I commented, shaking my head to clear the dizziness. I heard someone cry out, and a moment later, something thudded down next to me, making me jump. It was Ladybug. Like me, she groaned from the impact, shaking her head to clear it.

I heard another boom followed by a yelp and looked up to see that Pharoah had launched another attack at Chat Noir just as he had jumped up to try and save Alya. The sonic wave blasted him out of the air to land with a thud nearby.

"It's over!" Pharaoh crowed as he grabbed his pendant and held it up triumphantly.

"Ladybug, save me!" Alya cried out as she was lifted higher and higher.

Pharaoh spun around and lifted his hands. "Oh, sacred Ra, God of the sun! Accept this humble offering and return Nefertiti to me!" He invoked.

My Miraculous beeped again, reminding me that time was running out. "I can't keep this up much longer, we need a plan here!" I said, turning to look at our leader.

"I know." Ladybug said as she got to her feet. "LUCKY CHARM!" She called out, invoking her own superpower. A swarm of magical ladybugs flew out of her yo-yo, swirled around, and formed into something that fell into Ladybug's hands.

"A Ladybug outfit?" Ladybug exclaimed in disbelief as she examined the costume package in her hands.

I raised an eyebrow at the Lucky Charm's choice. "Well, I suppose we could try to disguise Alya as you, but I don't think Pharaoh's gonna be fooled by that." I mused.

Suddenly, Ladybug's eyes widened. "No, but you just gave me another idea. Watch this!" She said with a smirk as she ripped open the package and took something out. "Pharaoh! This offering isn't good enough for Nefertiti!" She called out, taking a step forward as she spoke.

"Huh?" Chat Noir and I both looked at her in surprise.

"Hey! Thanks a lot!" Alya exclaimed in annoyance from atop the beam of light.

"It's too late, Ladybug!" Pharaoh turned away; his arms crossed. "The ritual has begun!"

"Did you ever consider that the reason why you were thwarted over three thousand years ago was because you picked someone that wasn't worthy?" Ladybug continued, stepping forward through the remaining mummies, which parted to let her pass. "Set Alya free and sacrifice me instead!"

"WHAT?!" I yelped.

"M'LADY, DON'T!" Chat Noir urged, readying his stick.

"Quiet, you two! I know what I'm doing!" Ladybug scolded us, but then she winked at us, and we both froze, exchanging a look. Ladybug obviously had some kind of plan in the works.

Satisfied with our silence, Ladybug turned back to the Pharaoh and offered him her hand. "Just think of it, Pharoah, wouldn't that be the sweetest revenge? After all, I'm the one who's kept you from Nefertiti all these years, and, as a Miraculous Holder, I'm certain to impress the sun god!"

Pharaoh tilted his head, as if considering Ladybug's words. "It is true that you would be a more precious offering than this mortal." He admitted. "Horus, give me your wings!" His face changed from a lioness to a falcon before he took her outstretched hand.

"NOOOO!" Chat Noir yelled as Pharoah took off, pulling Ladybug with him. I felt rooted to the spot, my hands tightening on my whip. I hoped Ladybug's plan worked. If we lost her to Ra, how would we be able to protect Paris?

Pharoah reached the top of the beam, roughly pushed Alya off it, and plopped Ladybug onto it instead. Alya landed on the top of the pyramid, slid down the outside of it, and landed on the ground.

"Alya, are you okay?" I rushed over to her, Chat Noir right behind me.

"Excuse you, but I make excellent sacrificing material!" Alya said with a pout.

"Of course." I commented, trying to hide a grin, as I turned to look at Ladybug, slowly rising up on the beam of light, Pharaoh right next to her. I narrowed my eyes. They seemed to be talking about something, but I couldn't hear what it was. Then, Ladybug seemed to reluctantly hold something out, only to suddenly throw it towards the ground.

To my surprise, Pharaoh immediately dove after the item, catching it with a cackle. "YES! The Miraculous is mine!" He cried triumphantly, holding up his clenched hand.

I felt confused, as I glanced up at Ladybug. If she had thrown her Miraculous away, then wouldn't she had transformed back into civilian form? But she was still in costume. Something wasn't right here.

Seeing me looking at her, Ladybug madly gestured towards Pharoah. I looked at the villain again and realized that the Pharoah's pendant was dangling loosely from the villain's other hand. My eyes widened as I realized what was happening. Ladybug must have removed the earrings from the Ladybug costume she had gotten and pretended to throw her Miraculous away to get Pharoah close to us so Chat Noir or I could swipe his pendant!

I was moving before I realized it, stalking forwards towards the gloating villain. I tried to move slow so he wouldn't see me, but he seemed too busy gloating to realize that I was creeping up on him. I met Chat Noir's eyes, and I mouthed the word 'pendant' before pointing to his hand. Chat Noir's gaze followed my finger, and his face lit up with understanding.

Suddenly, Pharoah's laughter faded as he examined the object in his hand more closely. "A toy?" He exclaimed, whirling around in a fury. "You tricked me!" He roared up at Ladybug. By this time, I felt I was close enough. I bent my knees, preparing to spring. Then, the worst thing that could happen, happened.

My Miraculous beeped again!

Pharaoh, alerted by the noise, looked around. He recoiled when he saw how close I was. It was now or never! "Gimmie that pendant!" I cried, lunging for Pharoah's hand. The villain immediately held it out of my reach. Growling, I grabbed his arm and tried to climb up to where it was, but he dropped the fake Miraculous earrings and used his other hand to push me down.

"Heads up!" I heard Chat Noir's voice yell seconds before the end of his stick swung out of nowhere, slamming into Pharaoh's hand. He cried out in pain and his hand opened, causing the pendant to fall out.

Shifting tactics, I immediately lunged for the pendant, and managed to grab it just before it hit the ground.

"My pendant!" Pharaoh roared and I dove away, just missing his swipe at me. I hit the ground and started to roll away from the villain, only to collide into a mummy that had appeared out of nowhere.

"ERMINE, SMASH THE PENDANT!" Chat Noir's voice yelled as I saw the mummy reach down at me. Spotting a gap between the mummy's legs, I crawled underneath the mummy, and then stood up, upsetting the mummy and causing it to fall over.

Getting to my feet, I turned around, only to see Pharaoh lunging at me. "GIVE IT BACK TO ME!" He roared at me.

Seeing his falcon face, I felt another unexplainable surge of anger rush through me. "FAT CHANCE, FAKER!" I cried before throwing the pendant to the ground as hard as I could.

"NOO!" Pharaoh cried out as the pendant smashed, releasing the Akuma, which fluttered up towards the sky. I glared at the Akuma but looked away when I heard a laugh from Ladybug. I turned to see her slide down the Louvre pyramid to land on the ground.

"No more evildoing for you, little Akuma." She changed as she swung her yo-yo. "TIME TO DE-EVILIZE!" She sung her yo-yo, capturing the Akuma. "Gotcha!" She crowed before popping open her yo-yo, releasing a white butterfly that flew up into the air and disappeared. "Bye bye, little butterfly!"

"Well, I'm glad that's over." I sighed as Ladybug rushed over to pick up the package with the costume.

"MIRACULOUS LADYBUGS!" She exclaimed, throwing the costume pack up into the air. The pack exploded into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around fixing everything. The mummies were turned back into people, and the circle of darkness above the Louvre was dissolved.

As the swarm dissipated, I saw a newly restored Jalil looking around in confusion. I frowned as a sudden thought struck me and I began to make my way towards Jalil but froze when I heard my Miraculous beep again and glanced down. I gulped when I saw that there was only one claw mark still flashing. I needed to hurry!

"Ermine!" Hearing my name called, I turned to see Chat Noir rush up to me.

"Hey Kitty!" I smiled awkwardly at him. Despite having talked to him numerous times, I still always felt a little nervous whenever Chat Noir and I spoke.

"Good to see you back to your usual color!" Chat Noir commented, before giving a chuckle. "I'm not sure there's enough room in this town for two black cats!"

I couldn't help but smirk at his words. "You're just jealous that I was a better kitty than you were today!" I retorted before reaching out to ding his bell.

"Oh please!" Chat Noir scoffed, waving his hand dismissively, as Ladybug joined us.

"Everyone alright?" She asked.

"I'm great!" Chat Noir said, flexing his arms to prove it, making Ladybug and I giggle.

"And you?" Ladybug turned to me.

"I'll live." I said before holding out a fist.

"POUND IT!" We cheered as we did our three-way fist bump.

"That was incredible!" Alya exclaimed as she ran up to us.

"Thanks. Oh, I think this is yours." Ladybug said, handing Alya back her newly repaired phone.

"Thanks, Ladybug! But, uh, I still gotta ask: how old are you, really?" said Alya.

Ladybug seemed surprised for a moment, but she quickly recovered. "Much older than a high school student, that's for sure!" Before anyone could say anything else, she quickly swung away.

"I should go too, I'm almost out of time." I mentioned as I used my whip to lasso the top of a nearby light pole. "Are you gonna be okay?" I asked, turning to look at Alya.

The girl nodded, and I smiled at them. "Catch you later then!" I said before swinging away from the pair.

I used the momentum of my swing to fly around to the back of the Louvre, landing in a service area. Just as my feet touched the ground, my Miraculous beeped one last time and, in a flash of white light, I transformed back into Alice.

"Whew! That was cutting it a little too close for my liking!" I commented as Minkk appeared in front of me.

Minkk was too weak to say anything, she just nodded meekly as I fished into my purse and pulled out the chocolate bar I had packed there this morning. Minkk's face lit up when I held out the treat and she began to happily munch.

Chuckling at my Kwami's antics, I gently scooped her into my purse before making my way around to the front of the museum. Chat Noir and Alya were both gone, but I saw Jalil making his way towards the entrance. Remembering the idea I had had before, I made my way up to him. "Jalil?" I called.

Jalil looked up and spotted me. "Hi! Alice, right?"

I smiled and nodded as I came even with him. "Are you doing okay?" I asked, choosing my words carefully. "That must have been a rough experience."

"What are you talking about?" Jalil asked, looking confused.

I pretended to look surprised. "You don't remember getting akumatized?" I asked.

"I was akumatized?" Jalil asked, looked astonished

I nodded. "Yeah, I was watching the battle on the Ladyblog and I recognized the pendant the villain was wearing. It looked just like the one you're wearing." I pointed to Jalil's pendant.

Jalil followed my gaze, still looking like he didn't quite grasp what I was saying.

"Also, the villain was trying to perform the same ritual you were talking to your father about. That's how I knew it had to be you." I added.

"You mean Akhenaten's ritual to bring back Nefertiti?" Jalil's eyes widened.

I nodded. "The villain wanted to sacrifice an innocent girl to bring back the dead princess, just like you were describing to your dad."

"Then that means the ritual must be real!" Jalil's whole face seemed to light up. "This is incredible! I need to tell my father that….!"

"A-HEM!" I cleared my throat loudly, cutting Jalil off. "Did you not hear me say the part about where the villain almost sacrificed an innocent girl?!"

Jalil's excited look faded as the weight of my words sank in.

"You know, there's a saying. 'Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it'. Maybe it's best we learn from the Ancient Egyptians by not repeating their mistakes."

Jalil frowned thoughtfully, then slowly nodded. "I guess you're right. Maybe there are some things just aren't meant to be." He said, looking dejected.

I placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "There's another saying that I also think is appropriate here, 'When you get what you want, you often lose what you already had.'. Even if this ritual had worked, you would have lost your innocence forever. Is that something you would have been ready to live with?"

Jalil seemed to shudder at this. "No, I guess not." He said, before shooting me a grateful smile. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." I replied, giving him a sweet smile before he turned to make his way back into the museum. I watched him go, feeling satisfied. Jalil was rather ambitious, so I felt that it was necessary to keep him from trying out that ritual again. But I didn't want him to feel disappointed either, since that kind of feeling is what drew Hawkmoth to him. Hopefully now he would be satisfied with the fact that ritual was real but too dangerous to perform.

"Spoken like a true deity!" Minkk's comment made me look down at her in surprise. She chuckled. "The real Bastet couldn't have said that better herself!"

Something about what Minkk said caused me to raise an eyebrow. "'The real Bastet'?" I parroted. "What do you mean by that?"

Minkk just chuckled. "Shouldn't you try to find Alya and Marinette? They're probably wondering where you are?" She asked.

I could tell Minkk was trying to change the subject but, she was right about my friends, so I reluctantly dropped the topic and made my way back towards the museum. I told one of the guards at the front entrance that I'd been mummified while inside the museum and had been forced to leave my friends inside. Maybe something similar had happened to the guard because he just gave me a sympathetic smile and let me in without asking any questions. I thanked him and made my way back to the Egyptian exhibit. When I arrived, I saw that everything was back in place, including the coffin, the scepter, and the papyrus.

"Hey, where have you been?" I had barely stepped into the room when I saw Alya and Marinette run up to each other and hug.

"You won't believe this! I got mummified!" Marinette replied.

"You too?!" I exclaimed, causing them to look up as I joined them. "Oh my gosh, that was so freaky!"

"Hope you two weren't among the ones trying to swap me for Nefertiti!" Alya said, causing both me and Marinette to gasp.

"What?! You were almost…sacrificed!" Marinette grabbed Alya's shoulders.

"That's horrible!" I added, pretending to look horrified.

"Maybe, but there was something good that came out of this, I got two awesome scoops for the Ladyblog!" Alya said, holding up her phone. "Not only did I find out that Ladybug is at least three thousand years old, but I got to record Ermine totally going all goddess on the villain!"

I felt a twinge of fear at that. I had forgotten that Alya had been filming me when I was pretending to be Bastet. "Are you going to…?"

"Already did." Alya cut me off with a smirk, waving her phone in triumph, and I felt my heart stop. "The public is gonna go nuts for this!"

"That's what I'm afraid of." I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" I stiffened in alarm as Marinette turned to me. I had not meant for her to hear that!

"I…I said, that was so creative…of Ermine to…distract the villain like that." I quickly stammered, trying to cover my tracks.

Marinette looked a little skeptical, but before she could say anything, Alya suddenly let out an exclamation. "Hey! Ladybug's textbook! It's gone!"

"What?" Pouncing on the lifeline, I rushed over to Alya. "Are you sure?"

"Positive, I had it in my bag before Pharaoh showed up!" Alya insisted.

"But why would Ladybug take it?" I wondered aloud. "Come to think of it, what would Ladybug even be doing with a tenth-grade history textbook?"

"Uh…maybe she was trying to find out what's been going on for the past thirty centuries!" Marinette suggested.

Alya chuckled. "Yeah, you're probably right. It's tough staying in the loop."

Personally, Marinette's explanation didn't make much sense to me. But, since it got everyone's attention off me, I wasn't in much of a position to complain.

I soon said goodbye to my friends and headed out of the museum, but no sooner had I stepped out of the building when my phone began to ring. Seeing that it was my father, I quickly answered it.

"Hi, dad! What's going on?" I asked.

"Alice, where have you been? I've been trying to reach you for a half-hour!" I jerked my hand away from my ear as my father's voice yelled through the phone's speaker.

"Dad, calm down! I'm just leaving the Louvre Museum. Everything's fine!" I soothed him.

"The Louvre?!" My father did not seem comforted by my words at all. "But that's where the latest Akuma attack took place!"

"Yes, I know. I saw it happen." I said quickly, wanting to nip this conversation in the bud. "Don't worry, I hid as soon as I realized what was going on. I even turned off my phone to make sure the villain couldn't hear me."

"Ah, that would explain why I couldn't reach you. But still, have you any idea how worried I was?" I felt a smile cross my face with how concerned my father sounded. If only my mother had treated me like that….

No! I shook my head to clear those thoughts. I was not going to think about her!

"I'm sorry, Dad. Maybe I should have checked in with you before switching my phone off." I admitted, now feeling guilty for making my father worry.

"Yes, you should have. Please make sure that I am aware of where you are during all future Akuma alerts." My father's voice became firm, almost like he was issuing an order.

"Is that an order from the mayor, or a request from my father?" I asked teasingly.

I thought I heard a chuckle from the other end of the line. "Both." He said after a moment. "I really was worried about you, Alice, and if I'm worrying about you and Chloe, it…gets harder to focus on helping the citizens of Paris."

I winced at that. My father had a point. The last thing I wanted was to cause him more stress during an Akumatization. "I understand, dad. I'll try to let you know where I am during an akumatization." I promised.

"That is all I can ask." My father sounded relieved, and my smile widened.

"Anyway, I'm about to head home. Will I see you there?" I asked as I made my way towards the curb.

"I'm afraid not, I need to assess the details of this latest Akuma attack before I can come home." My father's words made me pause.

"Assess?" I parroted. "What do you mean by that?"

There was a pause on the line, and I instantly regretted my words. My father had enough on his plate without me butting into his business. "You know what…never mind. Just forget I…"

"No Alice, it's quite alright. I'm actually glad you asked me." My father stopped me. "But you need to understand that what I'm about to tell you cannot be repeated to anyone, is that clear?"

I paused, my eyes widening. I had no idea what my father was talking about, but if he was willing to take me into his confidence like that, there was no way I was gonna refuse him! "Yes."

"I'm putting together a secret committee whose purpose is to try to find out as much as possible about Hawkmoth." My father explained. "It will interview witnesses and akumatized victims, as well as examine sites where battles have taken place, looking for patterns or details that can give us more information on Hawkmoth that can give Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Ermine an edge in their fight against him."

I mulled over this information in my head. Despite the obvious risks involved with investigating Hawkmoth and the fact that Ladybug, Chat Noir, and I knew a lot about Hawkmoth already, I had to admit that my father's idea was actually a good one. There was always a chance that Hawkmoth had made or would make some kind of slip up that the three of us might not notice. Having people study his methods from afar might be beneficial.

Of course, it might also be a problem, as this committee would probably be examining the three of usas well. I needed to find a way to monitor what they learned, but how?

"Alice, are you still there?" My father asked through the phone, snapping me back to reality.

"Um yes. I'm just thinking about your idea, and I think it's a good one. I'm sure Ladybug, Chat Noir and Ermine will appreciate the help that this committee will be able to give them. In fact..." I felt myself smile as an idea came to me. "…I think I can help with their investigation into this latest Akuamtization."

"Oh?" My father asked.

"If you want to learn more about this latest attack, you should probably talk with Jalil Kubdel, his father works at the Louvre. I believe he was the person who was akumatized this time."

"I see." I could practically hear my father stroking his chin and fought down a chuckle. "Thank you for this information."

"I also think I know why he was akumatized, if you'd be interested in hearing." I added.

"Oh? Do enlighten me." My father said.

"I think that he was akumatized because he was upset about something. In fact, from what I've heard, many of the villains that Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Emrine have faced were akuamtized after something bad had happened to them, like they were teased, or yelled at, or embarrassed by someone else. Maybe Hawkmoth's akumas are drawn to negative emotions."

"Hmmm, that actually makes sense. Thank you for telling me this, Alice." Said my father. "It proves that I'm making the right decision."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The reason why I'm telling you about the committee, Alice, is because I would like you to be a part of it and assist with their investigation. Would you be interested?" He answered.

My eyes widened at this. My father was inviting me into his secret committee?!

"Well…I'm flattered to be asked. But why do you want me on the committee?" I asked.

"Because I've noticed that three of Hawkmoth's victims; Stoneheart, Bubbler, and Timebreaker, are all classmates of yours." My father explained. "Now, it might be just a coincidence, but if it isn't, it may indicate that Hawkmoth has a connection to your school. It would probably be good to have someone inside the school monitor things there, and who better to assign this role to than my rather-observant daughter?"

I felt myself blush at his words, but my father had made a good point. I hadn't even realized that half of Hawkmoth's victims so far had been classmates of mine. If Hawkmoth did have a connection to my school, then I was in perfect position to try and find it. "I'm glad to be of service, dad." I said playfully. "What would you need me to do?"

"Just keep your eyes and ears open and take note of anything you uncover that might be connected to Hawkmoth. I'll let you know when the committee will start its meetings and you can share what you've learned then." My father explained.

"Got it." I said, before letting out a giggle. "Wow, this is so exciting! I feel like I'm in a spy movie!"

I heard my father chuckle again at the other end of the line, but when he spoke, his voice had a serious tone. "Just stay focused. This is not a game."

"Right. Well, I should probably let you go. It sounds like you have some work to do." I spoke.

"Indeed. I'll see you later tonight." My father said.

"See you then." I said before hanging up. Then I texted Bruce to come pick me up.

"Alice?" I heard Minkk's voice whisper into my ear and lifted my phone back up so we could speak without being bothered, since anyone around us would just assume I was speaking to someone on the phone. "What are you doing? Why are you sharing information about the Akumas with your father?" There was a concerned tone in the Kwami's voice.

"Well, his committee might see things that we miss." I explained as I saw the limo appear. "Besides, this will give Alice Bourgeois a chance to help fight Hawkmoth too."

"Well…I guess…" Minkk's voice trailed off, but I could tell the Kwami was concerned about something.

"Don't worry Minkk, I promise I'm only giving him the basic information." I said as Bruce pulled up and got out to open the door for me. "He'll have to figure out the rest on his own."

Minkk just hmphed and dove into my purse as I climbed into the back of the limo. Bruce closed the door and we drove off.

As the limo wove its way through traffic, I suddenly remembered my questions about what had happened at the museum. After making sure the petition was up so Bruce couldn't see or hear me, I opened my purse and looked down at my Kwami. "Minkk, I need to talk to you about something."

"About what?" Minkk blinked curiously up at me.

I told Minkk about all the unusual things I had noticed today. How I had felt watched as I had walked past the cat statues in the hallway, about the images of Nefertiti wearing a white belt and surrounded by white-hued animals. How one image of Nefertiti fighting someone had morphed into an image of me fighting Chat Noir in my mind, how angry Minkk had gotten when she had seen Pharoah using his powers, how Ladybug had appeared on a three-thousand-year-old parchment, and what Minkk had said when she meant the 'real Bastet'.

When I finished, I looked at Minkk expectantly. For a moment, my Kwami just looked back at me, not saying anything. Then a smile slowly spread across her face.

"Something funny?" I asked, suddenly feeling annoyed.

"I have a feeling you already have some of the answers you're looking for, am I right?" Minkk asked, tilting her head, giving me a knowing look.

I groaned, shaking my head. Minkk was right. As I had voiced everything, different pieces of the puzzle suddenly started to come together in my head. I glanced down at my belt, then back up at Minkk. "I'm not the first person to have this, am I?" I guessed, tapping my belt buckle.

"Nope!" Minkk said with a giggle. "You are the latest in a long line of holders. Some good, some bad, but they all used the power of the Weasel Miraculous to accomplish great things in their own right."

"And I'm guessing that Nefertiti was one such holder?" I hedged.

Minkk nodded. "Nefertiti was one of the holders that I remember the best." She started to explain. "But before I explain why, let me give you a little history lesson."

I leaned forward. This should be interesting.

"The first thing you should know about the Miraculous, is that they are old. Much older than you'd think. They were created thousands of years ago, and each Miraculous is built to channel a power based on a concept. The Ladybug Earrings relate to the power of creation, the Black Cat Ring with the power of destruction, the Weasel Belt with the power of transformation, and so forth. With me so far?"

"Uh huh." I nodded, and Minkk seemed pleased.

"Well, throughout history, holders of the Miraculous have used these powers to perform great deeds, and many were worshipped as heroes, or even deities, by the rest of humanity. Usually these holders would operate alone, or in small partnerships, such as the one you have with Ladybug and Chat Noir right now. But there have been times in humanity's history when multiple miraculous holders have been active in one place, and those times tended to result in great civilizations flourishing due to the efforts of these holders.

"Let me guess, the people of these civilizations viewed the Miraculous holders as their pantheon of gods?" I theorized.

Minkk giggled and nodded. "Ancient Egypt was one such place. At least a dozen Miraculous were active in one place during that era. Their holders were granted elaborate animal masks whenever they transformed, and so the early Egyptians came to worship them as animal-headed gods."

"Makes sense, seeing as how the Miraculous are animal-based." I commented.

Minkk nodded again. "The reason why I got so angry with Pharoah when I saw him using his powers was that he was mixing the powers and images of past Miraculous holders. For example, the face of Thoth was actually the face of Khnum, who wielded the power of Passion. Also, Sekhmet did not wield strength, she wielded the power of Elation. I felt that this mixing of powers was an insult to how much those holders had struggled and sacrificed. That's why I got so angry." Minkk's gaze fell to my bed. She looked embarrassed again.

"I understand." I said, reaching over to tickle Minkk under the chin, which made her giggle.

"As for your other questions, the image you saw of Nefertiti fighting against someone that resembles Chat Noir was a record of when the Egyptian Black Cat Miraculous holder went rogue." Minkk explained. "If I remember correctly, he had lost the woman he loved and he blamed Akhenaten for her death. This holder attacked Akhenaten, who had just recently become the new pharaoh and was named Amenhotep back then, with the intent of killing him. This holder was a friend of Nefertiti, who was forced to fight against him when he attacked the new pharaoh. Even thought she was able to defeat him and take his Miraculous, this caused Akhenaten to learn the truth about the Miraculous and make him realize that the Egyptian gods were really regular people who had been granted magical powers. Fearing that other Miraculous holders might use their powers against him, Amenhotep abolished the worship of the animal-headed gods, claiming that they were 'flawed'. He changed his name and started a cult dedicated to worshiping a new god and had the cult members hunt down Miraculous holders under the guise of seeking out and destroying monuments dedicated to the old Egyptian Gods."

"Oh," My eyes widened as I remembered reading about that in history class last year. Many historians had been puzzled over why Akhenaten had tried to abolish worship of the Egyptian gods, but Minkk's explanation totally made sense.

Minkk nodded grimly. "That was a dark time for the Miraculous holders in Egypt. Any that were found were executed, their miraculous seized by Akhenaten, but he never knew that Nefertiti was one of them. She married Akhenaten in an effort to keep his ambitions in check and to help save as many Miraculous holders as she could. When she passed away, the Miraculous holders that remained rallied behind the Ladybug Miraculous holder and they were able to defeat Akhenaten leading to him being overthrown."

My expression became solemn as Minkk finished her explanation. The inside of the car grew mournfully quiet and remained that way until we arrived back at the hotel.

After Bruce dropped me off, I was intercepted in the elevator by one of the maids and told that Chloe and Sabrina were doing something in Chloe's room and were not to be disturbed for any reason. I rolled my eyes at this. As if I wanted to disturb them! I simply thanked the maid and made my way to my own room. I secured the door and let out a sigh of relief as Minkk came out of hiding.

"Whew!" What a day!" I exclaimed, plopping back onto my bed.

"You can say that again!" Minkk agreed, floating over me. "I think this might have been your most challenging mission yet!"

"Speaking of which, you still haven't answered all my questions yet." I said, looking up at Minkk. "Like, what do you think was watching me from the cat statues in that hallway?"

Minkk looked thoughtful. "I…actually don't have an answer for that. This has never happened to any of my previous holders. It's possible that there may have been some kind of presence there, but I have no idea what it could have been."

I sighed, disappointed. Then I tried another question. "What did you mean when you said the 'Real Bastet'?"

"Oh, that I can answer!" Minkk grinned at me. "When Nefertiti transformed, her mask was cat-like, so she was often depicted with the face of a cat, and she was called Bastet."

"Really?" My eyes widened.

Minkk nodded. "Yup! So, when you were pretending to be Bastet to fool Pharoah, you were actually pretending to be an ancient 'you'." She explained, before giving me wink.

I felt my face heat up, thinking back to my 'act', causing Minkk to giggle. "You know, in hindsight, pretending to be a goddess probably wasn't the best idea." I commented as I lay back down on the bed. "I mean, the odds of it actually working were pretty slim."

"I think it was a great idea." Minkk said as she flew out of my field of vision.

"Really?" I said, draping one of my arms over my eyes. "Then you're probably the only one who actually thought so."

"Chat Noir and Ladybug seemed to think so, and I think Alya did as well." Minkk commented.

Minkk's words made something click in my head, and I suddenly sat bolt upright in alarm. "Oh no! Alya was filming me when I was pretending to be a goddess! She's already posted it on the Ladyblog!"

"So? What's the problem?" Minkk asked.

"The problem is that, even though we both know that 'Bastet' was really a Miraculous holder, everyone else thinks of her as a beloved Egyptian deity." I said, looking at her with a horrified expression on my face. "Bastet was one of the most popular goddesses of ancient Egypt. Even today, she is still held in high regard in that country, and even around the world. She was my favorite mythical figure when I was younger. How are people going to react when they see Ermine pretending to be her?"

"Well, why don't we find out?" Minkk's next words made my eyes widen in as she began jumping up and down on my keypad.

"Minkk, no! Don't…!" I started to say, rushing towards my computer, but froze as the Ladyblog appeared on my screen. A video started running, showing Alya being carried by the Pharaoh towards the Louvre. I winced as an angry cat yowl crackled through the speakers as I appeared in the video in my 'Bastet' disguise, standing in front of the pyramid. As I watched my 'performance' of Bastet, I felt myself getting redder and redder in the face, while Minkk giggled.

"Oh, this is so embarassing!" I groaned when the video ended, my head drooping.

"Wow Alice, you make an excellent goddess!" Minkk commented, giggling as I hid my face in my hands.

A chirp drew our attention back to my computer screen. The comment section next to the video was overflowing with messages, and I felt myself cringe. I did not want to look at whatever hate-filled things people were saying.

"Wow! It looks like I'm not the only one who was impressed by your performance. Alice, come look at these!" Minkk commented, as she floated forward and pointed to one of the comments.

Against my better judgment, I walked over to my desk, leaning over and forcing myself to read the comment.

"Wow! Somebody get that hero onto the stage!" Someone had typed.

"Huh?" I paused after reading it. That didn't sound too bad. I began reading the comments below the first one and saw that some people weren't just commenting on the video, they were also responding to comments that other people had made.

"What a show! I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish!"

"Encore!"

"Yeah, and do it again too!"

"If I hadn't known Ermine could change into animals, I'd have believed that really was the goddess!"

"Oh my gosh, she had me totally buying it!"

"Yeah, she nailed the role completely!"

"You think Ermine's real identity could be an actress?"

"I don't know, but she could make a killing in Hollywood if that's true!

"Did you see how she made that villain bow to her?!"

"I was on the verge of bowing! That's how good she was!"

"Ermine rocks! Ladybug and Chat Noir are lucky to have her on their team!"

"You got that right!"

"No way!" I exclaimed under my breath, my breath quickening as I took in the messages. While a few were questionable about my actions, none of them were downright mean, and the majority of them were very positive, complimenting my portrayal of a goddess. Relief flooded through me as I continued to read. The public wasn't angry at all that I had pretended to be a famous goddess.

"See, I told you." Minkk boasted.

"Yeah, I guess you did." I admitted, feeling a smile cross my face.

For a moment, we just scrolled through the comments, until there was one that caught my eye, something about a 'performance for the ages', that made me pause.

"Minkk?"

"Yes?" Minkk looked at me.

"One last question. Is Ladybug really over three thousand years old?" I asked, giving my Kwami a firm look. "I mean, since I now know that there have been other holders of the Weasel Miraculous before me, I'm finding it very hard to believe that the Ladybug of today is the same person that fought against Akhenaten in ancient Egypt."

Minkk hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "The truth is, I really don't know how old Ladybug is, or Chat Noir for that matter." She finally spoke. As I opened my mouth to say something, she spoke up again. "As I mentioned before, the Miraculous are not all kept in the same place. Different Miraculous have been activated at different times in human's history. Do I think that this Ladybug is the same holder that was active in Ancient Egypt? No, of course not." Mink shook her head. "However, I cannot say that for certain because the transformation that the Miraculous provides is to hide the holder's identity, so that the holder, and the power they wield, can be better protected. Recall that when you become Ermine, your eyes and hair change color, and it could be the same for Ladybug and Chat Noir. Just because they may look and act similar to Marinette Dupan Cheng and Adrien Agreste, there is no guarantee that is actually the case. There is a chance Ladybug and Chat Noir are both much older than they appear to be. It wouldn't be the first time something like that has happened. I once had an owner who grew no taller than a child, even when she was an adult."

I nodded, realizing that Minkk was right. Maybe all these connections I had come up with were just coincidences, or crazy guesswork. I didn't really have any concrete proof to back any of them up.

"So, I know that Nefertiti once held my Miraculous. Are there any other previous holders I might know?" I asked sarcastically.

"Well…." Minkk grinned. "Does the name Launcelot ring a bell?"

My eyes widened. "Launcelot, as in King Arthur's Launcelot? That Launcelot?" I exclaimed, not believing what I was hearing.

Minkk nodded. "Launcelot was one of the holders I best remember. His power, combined with the Miraculous held by King Arthur, and Queen Guinevere, was one of the greatest alliances in our history."

"Both King Arthur and Queen Guinevere also had a Miraculous?" I was stunned. "Which ones?"

"Hmmm." Minkk frowned thoughtfully. "I believe that Guinevere held the Butterfly Miraculous at one point, while Arthur himself held the Miraculous of the Eagle."

"There's an Eagle Miraculous now?" I shook my head in awe. "Just how many Miraculous are there?"

Minkk smirked at me. "Quite a few, actually. But many have been lost to history, or are bring kept hidden by protectors, and will be distributed to those who prove themselves worthy, just like you did."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked. "I didn't prove anything, I just found you in my room."

Minkk smiled. "Oh, I'm sure you must have done something to prove your worth, like performing some sort of deed or passing some sort of test."

I frowned, rubbing my chin. What could I have possibly done that would prove me worthy and a Miraculous?

"Speaking of tests, don't you have one tomorrow? You'd better get some sleep." Minkk reminded me.

"True." I said before chuckling. "Good thing that test is on Ancient Egypt!"

"Right!" Minkk giggled as she flew over to the light switch and clicked it off.

"Goodnight Minkk." I said sleepily.

"'Goodnight Alice." Minkk replied.

As I snuggled down beneath the covers, I suddenly felt very warm and very drowsy. Just before I fell asleep however, I could have sworn I felt eyes on me, and heard the quiet, cheerful sound, of a cat purring.

---

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you all enjoy my Christmas gift to you. I know its not the Christmas-themed episode, but I'll be getting to that eventually.

As always, thanks to Draconos 13 for Beta-reading and offering some killer suggestions for how this chapter could be expanded.

Special thanks to Dynaman 21 for reviewing my latest chapter. I've never considered myself good at writing scenes with drama and stakes, so your comment really touched me. I'm glad you're enjoying the ride!

The plot-line for this chapter was inspired by two things; the first was the history of the Miraculous. I was intrigued by the idea of early people seeing the Miraculous holders as gods, rather than just heroes, due to the magical powers the Miraculous grant to their holders. I felt this concept would tie in well with Ancient Egypt since many of their parthenon deities have animal heads, which could have easily been magical masks of some kind.

The second thing that inspired the plot of this was the fact that no one seems to notice how similar Marinette and Adrien look to Ladybug and Chat Noir. It's like how no one notices how similar Superman and Clark Kent are. I wanted to delve into that and see what could happen if someone took a moment to compare these people together. How do you think I did?

I also wanted to touch up on Alice's acting skills in this chapter, and give her a fun way to run interference against the villain while waiting for Ladybug and Chat Noir to show up. I've got plans to have Alice play different roles while in animal form again, but if you have any roles you'd like Alice to see, please let me know. If I agree with you, it may happen!

Oh, and please be sure to comment on the 'up close' scene that Alice and Chat Noir have in the sarcophagus. I'm not very good at writing scenes like that so any suggestions you could offer for future 'intimate' scenes between Alice and her crush would be greatly appreciated.

Unless I decide otherwise, the next episode I post is probably going to be Lady Wifi. But, I've gotta be honest. That name never really appealed to me. I'm thinking of changing it to something like Wifinder. Let me know if you think I should.

Well, I think that's all for now. Again, please comment on what you liked and what you would like to see, and Happy Holidays!

Until Next Time!