Title: Shifting Oceans
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug, Bleach
Characters: Alya, Nino, OC, Jagged
Chapter: 15
Word Count: 1519
Warnings: nothing
Beta: ToxicAngel13 on AO3
AN: I'm doing better. I promise. The cough is going away. I'm not actively sick. But I'm doing better.
Enjoy.
"Do you really think that this witch will be able to help us?" Alya asked, clinging to Nino's hand. The male smiled at his girlfriend, patting her arm with one hand.
"Yeah. You heard the press conference. If you had interactions with any of the Akuma's, we probably have some lingering magic. That and Ichigo there told us that we probably have some lingering magic from Lila on us and we need ta get it cleaned off of us. Ichigo was right about how we've been actin' lately and with the way she's been talking? There is something there," Nino said. "I also saw Ladybug and Chat going to visit Lila before taking her somewhere, but there's something different about her after that meetin'."
"That's because Ladybug has used a very special ritual that the Guardian's of the Miraculouses use to help remove lingering magics that came from those who have been touched by the users or their magics," Ichigo said from behind them. Alya and Nino whipped around, finding the red head just standing there. He loosely held a bag from the craft store two stores down, wearing a pair of sunglasses and looking as if he was in the middle of working on a painting when he had run out to hit the store, stopping to get some boba tea while he was at it.
"Oh?" Alya asked. She smiled slightly at that. She had to ask him the question, her need to know pushing at her. "Will it help her?"
"I'm going to be blunt, the only thing that can help that girl is a lot of therapy and self reflection," Ichigo stated. "The fact that she had the lingering magic removed just made it so that she couldn't use it at all since Papillion is under magical probation now," he continued. He shifted on his feet. "Go on in, you two. You both set up your places to take care of yourselves right?" he asked.
"Yeah, at Nino's place for a while. I told Nina and my parents that I wasn't going to be able to watch the twins tonight," Alya admitted. "And I told them why."
"Same. I told my mom I can't watch my brother tonight since I'm doing this, so she's taking him out to a movie and hanging out with some friend's of his," Nino said. He rubbed at his head. "We have an Uber on hold for after. As long as they know what time our appointment is, they'll have one sitting and waiting."
"Good idea." Ichigo nodded to them and headed off, going for his bus by the looks of it. Nino took a deep breath, shared a look with his girlfriend and nodded. They headed into the shop. They came to a standstill at finding Jagged Stone smiling at the woman who was standing behind the counter, talking about something or another as she carefully bagged several dried and semi-fresh herbs. The woman did her work with easy, knowledgeable movements.
"Jagged Stone? What are you doing here?" Nino squeaked. Jagged turned towards them with a chuckle, beaming.
"Ah, yeah! You two much be Alya and Nino! Rockin'. Mari told me all 'bout you and that friend of hers, Ichigo. Told me that there's some lingerin' magic on ya to. Missy here will fix ya up good," Jagged said, beaming at them. "You already been warned?"
"That we need to have tea, easy to eat foods, aspirin and to rest afterwards? Yeah, we have been," Alya promised. She walked over to them with a smile, bowing slightly to the witch as she stuck the money from Jagged into her cash register. The woman had dyed green hair, her roots showing that she was a soft blond naturally, the dyed color matching her eyes. She looked as if she hadn't bothered with any makeup outside of some softly tinted lip balm. Her jeans and sweater were rather unassuming but the pentacle that rested around her neck was a subtle and strong message. Along with the various bangles that Alya could barely see marking carved into the metal of.
"I'm Nino, and this is my girlfriend, Alya. We had been told to come in today?" Nino asked, the woman nodding her head.
"I remember your call. I'm Missy and I'm to do your full cleansing today. Ladybug dropped by and told us just what was going on and what she had found out," Missy said. She smiled softly. "I've already put out that if someone wants a cleansing, all they have to pay for is the cost of the items, which is nineteen euros per person, and I'll do the cleansing. Make sure that I remove any lingering magic that may be left on them."
Alya and Nino smiled at that information, nodding their heads and reaching for their wallets. "We can pay for ours if we need to," Alya said as she pulled her wallet out.
Jagged chuckled softly and waved a hand. "Nah. I paid for your entire class to go through 'em. Though Mari and her boy were both done by Ladybug and Chat because of their connections to other things," he drawled, picking up his bag of herbs. "I was just pickin' up some stuff for me and Penny ta do our own cleansin' at home," he said as he patted them on the shoulder, bag in hand and walking out the door.
Missy smiled once he was gone and led them into the back room after closing up and flipping the sign, having them sit down on a pinned down tapestry once they had removed their shoes.
It took her about twenty minutes for the full cleansing to be done, having both of them feeling as if they had slammed into walls with their heads. Multiple times. The headaches were bordering migraines and their entire body was sore, but they could feel just how clear headed they were. There was no nagging need to defend or believe Lila. No matter how outlandish her tales were. There was no nagging need to attack Marinette just because Lila had said that she had done this or that or something else.
Alya was feeling nauseous about the fact that they had gone after Marinette the way that they had. But she could tell that most of it had been the magic that had pulled her worst traits forward and magnified them. But there had also been some resentment from the way that Marinette had acted. To her eyes, she had simply been jealous of the way that Lila and Adrien had worked together. But now? Free of influence and able to look at it in new light?
They could see that while at one time her attitude might have been out of jealousy, but it had also been out of concern for her friends. She hadn't wanted them to be hurt by the lies that came to Lila as easy as breathing. Nino called the Uber driver to tell them they were ready to go to his place. For the moment, the plan was that they would go to his place where they would crash on his couch for a couple of hours before her parents would pick up on their way home.
Once at his house, Alya changed into a pair of comfy pants and shirt, curling up on the couch under a blanket before she took some headache pills.
Nino made sure that they had some half frozen bottles of water next to her that was placed on a towel on the floor before he went to order some take out, and adding a good tip for the delivery. He went with some simple, easy food from a local Italian place that was suggested by the woman who took his order. Soups that were easy to digest, some fresh bread loaves, a couple easily frozen and baked later, some lasagna because he knew that they would want something more filling, and some dinner for his mom and brother.
Nino settled onto the couch with Alya once the food had arrived, with a mug of mint tea, the TV playing quietly in the background as they figured out their own thoughts. Once they had eaten, they decided to take a nap after putting the leftovers away. As they took their nap with the TV quietly playing in the background, they missed Chat Noir stopping by. He slipped in through an open window to use as a small charm that his Ladybug had given him to test the two.
He smiled as he found that the magic that had been lingering on them was disappearing, becoming null and void. Writing down that bit of information, he laid blankets over the two before he left again. He closed the window behind him and headed to an alleyway, letting go of his transformation, heading back to the tea house. He knew that the rest of his class would be going to visit Missy and they still needed to talk about what they wanted to do with the class after all.
