Alya had invited Marinette to go to the Historical Museum with her family.
Normally, going to the historical museum would be fun, if a tad bit boring. But at the moment Marinette didn't have the focus to walk around and stare at random plaques that spouted random fun facts about daily life for peasants in the Dark age.
Tech week was in two weeks, which meant the performance was in three weeks! And Mari still had so much more work to do, she couldn't afford to take the day off, even if it was for some dumb project.
Alya said they could hang up posters while walking around. And she apparently needed to be saved from her baby sisters. Mari didn't know why Alya needed to go to the museum: if she wanted to avoid her siblings they could just go to Mari's house, then she could work on finishing up the costumes.
...Maybe that was selfish of her. Alya seemed pretty excited to go, despite never showing interest in the historical museum before. They always did stuff at Mari's house, so she could get work done. Now Alya had the chance to put up posters and Mari was complaining about it.
So Mari agreed to go. The long line to get tickets almost made her regret the decision. She normally loved kids, but them screaming and swinging around like monkeys early in the morning was a bit much, even for her.
Luckily, they quickly split off from the group, when the two twins tugged Alya's mom in the direction of the children's area of the museum.
"Where should we go first?" Marinette asked, once they finally got into the museum.
Alya didn't respond immediately, instead she picked up a pamphlet that had a map of the exhibits on it. "Oooh, looks like the Ancient Egyptian exhibit is new. We should check it out, girl!"
"Didn't you want to ask for permission to hang up a few posters? Then we can put them up while we walk." Mari suggested.
Alya shrugged. "We can do that after."
The trip to the Ancient Egyptian exhibit was a bit of a trek; since it was new, it was closer to the edge of the building. So Mari and Alya learned a bit about the Vikings and Ancient Rome before they got there.
The entrance to the exhibit was impressive. There was a replica of a sarcophagus just outside and giant lettering above the doorway spelling 'Ancient Egypt.' It was stylized so it looked vaguely like hieroglyphics while still being readable. There was a sign to the left of it that showed the actual hieroglyphs for it, along with what the exhibit was in several other languages. To the right of the sign, was a disclaimer that almost everything in the exhibit was a replica of things found at a recent dig site.
Alya took a photo - without flash, since flash photography was banned - then they entered.
It was dark, not because of lack of light, but because the walls were mostly painted black. Every pop of color was from an item on display, or a display case itself. There was a tiny to-scale replica of the Great Pyramids, complete with sand dunes and a blue sky background. A mummified Pharaoh was propped up on an angled table, wearing the pharaoh's headpiece and holding the crook. The description attached to that one was an in-depth description of the mummification process.
It was all pretty standard, until they made it to an area that was very clearly still getting worked on. There were empty display cases with tiny signs in them talking about how the display was coming soon. This section was nearly devoid of people, save for a tall, important looking man.
He was 'important looking', not because of how he was dressed, but rather because he was standing near an opened display case and carefully arranging it. It was one of those large ones that took up an entire section of wall, filled with various objects, but the biggest one was a large slab of stone that had detailed imagery on it.
Alya zeroed in on it and immediately moved in his direction.
"Hello, Monsieur!" Alya was in blogger mode again. "Are you the owner of this area?"
The man startled and stepped out of the display case. "Not exactly. I don't own the entire exhibit, just this particular display in the exhibit."
"I hate to interrupt," Mari knows that Alya never had any qualms interrupting anyone for anything, "but I just noticed that interesting mural."
"Caught your eye, did it?" He chuckled and closed the case, locking it.
Alya stuck her hand out. "I'm Alya Césaire."
"Alim Kubdel," He shook her hand. "Might I ask why you approached me?"
"Well, I run the Ladyblog, which has all the up-to-date information about the three superheroes protecting our city." Alya explained. "And I just noticed that that mural looks like it's showing some ancient form of Ladybug and Chat Noir."
Marinette took a second look at the picture carved into the sandstone slab. There were two people on it, dressed in elaborate clothes. Besides the one to the right was a stylized black cat and the one on the left had a spotted scarab - a ladybug, Mari realized - by them. The one on the left wore clothing that reminded her of Cleopatra, except it was red with black accents. The one on the right wore a pharaoh headpiece, except it was black and very pointed, so it looked like he had cat ears. He had a black skirt with a gold belt and was shirtless save for a fancy ornamental collar.
Mari had no idea how Alya spotted those details from across the room, but it definitely was interesting. Tikki never mentioned any other Ladybug holders, other than the very first in her cautionary tale about responsibility. Suddenly, Marinette wanted to know more about the previous holders. What were they like? What challenges did they face? Did they also have to fight against corruption?
Mari scrutinized the mural further, looking for a hint of personality in the faded, painted eyes. She looks kind , she finally decided.
"And I was wondering if I could get permission to write an article about it." Alya finished, staring earnestly at Monsieur Kubdel.
His entire demeanor seemed to brighten up. "That's fascinating! I hadn't even thought about that! You see, my team and I found this at a newly discovered dig site, around six months ago. We cross referenced these two everywhere, but couldn't find anything. It's like we uncovered a lost era of the Ancient Egyptians-"
A maintenance door was thrown open and out came running a man in his early twenties, holding what looked like a fragile papyrus script. "Dad! Dad, you have to see this!"
Monsieur Kubdel's attention reluctantly shifted to the racket his apparent son was making. He evidently wanted to continue this conversation with Alya. But when he saw exactly what his son was doing, he paled considerably.
"Jalil!" He snapped. "What did I tell you about handling the papyrus without gloves on!"
Jalil hardly even paused at the scolding. "It's just a replica, but look what I-"
"Just a replica !" Monsieur Kubdel was outraged. "My team and I have been recreating that replica for the past three weeks to make sure every detail was perfect, and you're getting your grubby fingers all over it!"
"But Dad, listen to this, I finally translated it!" Jalil adjusted his grip on the papyrus script, turning it around so he could show the group.
It wasn't just ancient hieroglyphics on the scroll, there were a few illustrations to go with it. There was a detailed sarcophagus with a person sitting up in it, someone pointing a pharaoh's crook at the sun. Then there was a person reaching towards the sun.
"It's a spell, and I think it's supposed to raise people from the dead!" Jalil finished excitedly.
"Jalil," Kubdel warned, "this isn't like that book, the Kane Chronicles, where Ancient Egyptian gods and myths are actually real. We don't research the Ancient Egyptians in order to live the same way they did, believing in spells and whatnot. We do it so we can connect with history and understand their way of life."
Jalil scoffed and murmured, "Whatever..."
He abruptly left the conversation, to walk off in a different direction.
Monsieur Kubdel pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed sharply.
"I'm sorry you had to see that." He apologized. "He's always been a superstitious boy. There's not a problem with that, but then he does things like this..."
"Anyway, as I was saying. I would love if you write your own article on what you believe the story of these artifacts are. We thought the black cat man was perhaps an important follower of Bastet, or perhaps a sibling god, but your theory is much more interesting. It even perhaps gives us some history of these heroes!"
"Thank you, Monsieur Kubdel!" Alya beamed.
"Please, call me Alim. And do keep in mind we're still uncovering artifacts at the dig site, so we'll keep in contact in case there are more interesting discoveries."
With that, they bid Alim goodbye, and started walking in the direction of the Industrial Revolution exhibit.
"So archeology, huh?" Marinette smiled. "I didn't know you liked that kind of stuff."
Alya waved her off. "You know the thing that caught my eye was the Ladybug and Chat Noir figures. I have so many theories right now, girl, you have no idea!"
"I think I have a clue." Mari replied dryly.
And unlike the rest of the world, she had a primary source who was willing to talk. She glanced towards her purse: Tikki had a lot of explaining to do.
. . .
"What does he know?" Jalil muttered harshly under his breath.
He stalked down the back area of the museum. It was mostly an office space, with plain walls and such, but there were also plenty of areas where people stored artifacts that were getting shipped in, out, or were on lend.
"It's like he has no sense of fun... Like, what's the harm in trying to do the spell? If it fails, it fails. If it succeeds... I save someone's life."
The idea seemed more and more appealing. There was literally no harm in trying.
His eyes darted up and down the corridor. It was a spacious hallway, with several bulky doors connected to it. He palmed his security badge. He was technically part of his Dad's team, but he was more of an intern than an actual archeologist. Even so, he had permission to enter the room his Dad was using to store the artifacts.
Walking forward, he flashed his badge at the scanner. It beeped green and he entered quietly. There were a few team members still in, working on the next replica and doing various tests. Joshua, the geologist, was date testing some of the soil they dug up with the artifacts. And Sariah, their humanities expert, looked like she was just packing up to go home for the afternoon. No one on the team liked working weekends, so that was when Jalil spent most of his time there.
Jalil sat down on the chair in the corner, fully intending to wait for the two to leave. It didn't take long for Sariah to leave, but then Joshua had to wait for his test to come back, and that left them both in awkward silence. Which Joshua eventually tried to fill.
"You know, tunneling can get quite boring, which is why I quit." The geologist said. "They always took me for granite."
This was why Jalil only came here on weekends.
"Why don't you go get some lunch?" Jalil suggested. "You've been working for hours."
"It's only 10 in the morning." Joshua frowned.
Jalil whistled. "You're working hard, I bet you could at least use a coffee refill."
"Well, you're not wrong about that." Joshua chuckled. "Well, I can tell I'm not wanted. I'll be back in a few."
He left the room and Jalil was free.
He carefully opened the box containing the papyrus script, reading over the spell and practicing the pronunciation under his breath. It was fairly tongue twisting, but he attributed it to being a foreign, ancient language.
Once he gained enough confidence, he said the whole thing aloud.
"ɐɹ ɟo ʇɥƃᴉ˥ ǝɥʇ ɥʇᴉM
ʞooɹƆ s,ɥoɐɹɐɥԀ pu∀
llIM sɹolɐǝS ǝɥʇ ɟo suᴉɐɥƆ ǝɥʇ ǝlʞɔɐɥsu∩
ǝɔuǝssƎ ǝɥʇ ǝʞɐ┴
ǝɔᴉɟᴉɹɔɐs ǝɹnԀ ɐ ɟO
pǝuosᴉɹdɯᴉ ʎlʇsnɾun ǝuo ǝɥʇ ǝǝɹℲ pu∀
ǝʇɐℲ ɹǝɥ ɯᴉɐlɔ ʎɐɯ ǝɥS oS"
Silence filled the air after he finished, and he frowned. Did he do it wrong? No... Something else was missing.
His focus briefly drifted towards a case that was open. Weird, he swore it was closed earlier. Inside of it was the Pharaoh's crook from the dig site. Jalil's eyes widened as an epiphany overtook him.
Of course!
He looked back to the images on the papyrus. The person was pointing the Pharaoh's crook upwards. They must be the one who used the spell! And so he would also need a crook of his own.
Jalil glanced up to the clock. Joshua wouldn't be back for several more minutes, at the very least. The geologist liked to take long breaks.
He pulled on a pair of gloves, carefully pulling out the artifact. It seemed to tingle in his grip. He grinned.
He lifted the crook into the air, mimicking the position in the picture, and once again read the incantation off the papyrus.
"ɐɹ ɟo ʇɥƃᴉ˥ ǝɥʇ ɥʇᴉM
ʞooɹƆ s,ɥoɐɹɐɥԀ pu∀
llIM sɹolɐǝS ǝɥʇ ɟo suᴉɐɥƆ ǝɥʇ ǝlʞɔɐɥsu∩
ǝɔuǝssƎ ǝɥʇ ǝʞɐ┴
ǝɔᴉɟᴉɹɔɐs ǝɹnԀ ɐ ɟO
pǝuosᴉɹdɯᴉ ʎlʇsnɾun ǝuo ǝɥʇ ǝǝɹℲ pu∀
ǝʇɐℲ ɹǝɥ ɯᴉɐlɔ ʎɐɯ ǝɥS oS"
His words seemed to thrum with power, but once again nothing happened.
Jalil felt an uncanny fury rush through him.
"What's wrong with this!? I'm doing everything right, so why am I failing!?"
He set the crook harshly against the table, not taking the time to be gentle in his rage.
Of course, that was when his dad entered the room.
"What do you think you're doing!?" His dad shouted in alarm.
"What do you mean? I'm wearing gloves, aren't I?" Jalil wasn't in the mood for another lecture.
"Cut the sass, you broke the crook!"
What?
Jalil blinked and looked over to the crook. There it sat, an imperfect crack running down its side.
"Wha- I didn't mean-" Jalil sputtered.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Dad growled. "You're always breaking things, you're never careful, and you hold no real interest in archeology. You're always chasing after superstitions and your imagination; you don't even think about the effect your actions could have on others!"
Jalil felt his rage flare and opened his mouth. "Oh yeah, we're listing my flaws now? What about you? You have a stick up your ass, you never take any risks, and you care more about archeology than you ever cared about Mom!"
Silence filled the room, as if the anger in his words saturated the air itself with his rage. Jalil met his dad's eyes fearlessly.
"You're fired." He said, deceptively calm. "I thought I could trust you to have some responsibility, maybe a mote of professionalism. Evidently I was wrong."
Jalil's dad turned around and walked away. He paused just before he left the room. "I expect you can at least clean up after yourself before you leave."
Then he exited. The heavy door slammed shut behind him, leaving Jalil alone.
. . .
When mummies started shambling down the hallway from the direction of the Ancient Egypt exhibit, Alya immediately got her phone out to stream it. She didn't mind when Marinette paled and immediately ran to hide somewhere.
She thought she might have heard a few screams earlier, but dismissed it as just a few kids. Most people haven't really screamed at the sight of an akuma in what felt like months. Okay, maybe Horrificator was an exception, but that one's whole purpose was to freak people out so it didn't count.
The point was, once people learned that something fishy was going down, they generally just evacuated as quickly as possible. Screaming didn't really do anything except make everyone else get scared. And most of the akumas were pretty harmless. Like the other week, Monsieur Pigeon showed up again. He tried to raid the pet store for seed to feed his 'starving children', but the store owners just locked their doors and there wasn't much he could do.
Mummies were a bit scarier than random birds. They acted like zombies, and were pretty slow until they had a target. So Alya just crouched down behind a steam engine exhibit and waited for them to pass.
It looked like they were looking for something, but they weren't very good at it. Alya briefly wondered how they were supposed to look for anything if they didn't have eyes. Did they have eyes? They shambled about aimlessly, stinking up the hallway with the smell of dust and mildew, with an even fouler undertone.
One of them stumbled too closely to her hiding spot, sending a shower of sandy dust into the air.
Alya couldn't take it anymore. She sneezed.
Cracks filled the room as every single one of them turned their heads in her direction in sync.
"Creepy," Alya chuckled, almost unfazed by the action. Ok, maybe she was a little fazed. Was fazed a word? Well the silence was broken now, so there wasn't anything stopping her from doing some running commentary. "When I learned about the mummification process, I didn't ever think I'd see an actual demonstration."
The mummies continued staring at her. A few shambled closer and Alya took a few steps back, phone still recording.
There was a standoff for maybe a minute. "They don't seem to be doing anything," Alya said. She slowly started trying to walk away.
This triggered them and the horde began shambling after her, moving a lot more quickly than they were earlier.
Alya began running away, hoping to leave them in the dust. This wasn't effective, as they all sped up to a running pace.
She felt a dry bony hand grab at her arm, wrapped in an itchy dust covered cloth. It yanked her back with surprising strength.
Alya kept a tight grip on her phone, even as the rest of the mummies caught up, and she was manhandled to a standstill. Their stench was overwhelming up close and nearly made her gag. But other than grabbing her arms, they didn't make any other moves. They continued to creepily stare at her. Up close, she could see tiny pinpricks of green light.
And then she heard the echoing sound of footsteps. Running footsteps.
Before she could hold out on hope that it was a superhero coming to save her, something else grabbed her attention. Something much more interesting than a horde of stinky mummies:
There was a person walking leisurely down the hallway, coming from the area that the mummies were from. They had pitch black skin, golden armbands that flashed under the overhead lights. A golden skirt wrapped around their torso and a ornate collar around their throat that was dotted with turquoise. An amulet dangled right over his sternum.
The most flashy thing about him was the fact his head looked like it was made of gold, and it was in the shape of a jackal with glowing green eyes. He had a mummy entourage around him.
He must be the akuma!
Alya struggled to zoom in on him due to the fact both of her arms were getting held hostage by gross old dead people, but she managed.
As he grew closer, the throng of mummies parted for him, allowing him to have a clear path to get to Alya. Why did he want to be closer to Alya? She didn't know, but she figured it was the perfect opportunity for her to ask a few questions.
"Hi Monsieur Akuma, what are you doing here? What can I call you?" Alya put on her best smile and crossed her fingers that this was one of the akuma's who could speak.
"Child. You may refer to me as Pharaoh." Child? Alya wasn't a kid! "As for what I am doing, that is of no concern of yours."
"Uh, yeah, it kinda is," Alya retorted. "I mean, you're holding me here against my will. That makes it my business!"
Some of the mummies shifted at the sound of running footsteps, but Pharaoh seemed dismissive. "Very well, Child. I shall inform you of your fate."
Before he could do that, a very familiar voice shouted into the air:
"Leave my daughter alone!"
Alya's eyes widened and she quickly tried to face the commotion behind her. It was difficult because of the amount of mummies, but she needed to see!
And there: In the back of the crowd of mummies was her mom, fighting through the throng with a broken sword and a rusted shield- she must have picked those up at other exhibits.
Where the mummies had easily overpowered Alya, Mom was slashing through the crowd like she had been trained to do so for decades.
"Let her go!" Mom snarled. She bashed in the head of a mummy that got too close to her, and hacked at another one's knees, but there were too many of them.
Soon they surrounded her, and not long after that she was disarmed. But she kept struggled in their grip, wrenching them around with every attempt to free herself. It took four of them to restrain her.
Pharaoh's attention didn't even shift from Alya. The distraction had ended, and he continued what he was going to say.
"I plan to use your vitality in an arcane ritual." He explained.
"No!" Mom screamed from the back of the throng of mummies. "Don't take her!"
"Silence your incessant pleas, Woman." Pharaoh ordered with a chop of his hand. This had an effect on the mummies as they surged forward to attack.
"Take me instead!"
Huh?
Suddenly Pharaoh's face shifted into that of a woman with cow horns and a solar disk. "You propose a trade? Your life for your daughter's?"
That's what he meant by vitality? "No, don't do that!" Alya protested.
"Just don't hurt her." Mom said.
"Very well," Pharaoh nodded. "Let it be known that your willing sacrifice pleases the gods. Your daughter shall be blessed by the protection of Isis."
He waved his arm again and golden magic was released in a wave. It shot into Alya, leaving her tingling. It settled around her like a comforting blanket even as the light disappeared. But it didn't soothe the pit that had opened up in the stomach.
The mummies parted as Pharaoh made his way to Alya's Mom.
"Horus, I ask for your assistance." His form shifted yet again, this time into a hawk's head with two different colored eyes.
He picked Mom up into a bridal carry and started levitating off the ground, as if the very air bowed to his whims.
"No!" Alya cried out. "No, come back!"
The mummies let her go once Pharaoh had completely vanished. They slowly trailed after their creator and completely ignored Alya.
Alya glared and rolled up her sleeves. She had to get her mom back.
What am I going to do, barge over and fight the horde of mummies?
Then she heard the sound of a yo-yo.
Alya grinned.
Ladybug swung into view, quickly spotting Alya. "Ladyblogger!"
Ladybug landed. "I saw your video and got here as soon as I could. What happened?"
Alya felt the need to geek out that she got to the scene of the crime first and that Ladybug watched her video, but it was largely overshadowed by the fact her mom was about to get killed in a sacrifice. Sure, she wouldn't actually die, since Ladybug fixes everything once she beat the akuma, but Alya really didn't want to see her mom die.
"The akuma's name is Pharaoh, he's like an ancient Egyptian guy who uses the powers of the gods, I think." Alya explained. "And he kidnapped my mom to use as ritualistic sacrifice! We have to stop him!"
Ladybug nodded seriously. "You need to hide. Chat Noir, Ghost, and I will take care of it."
"But I want to help!" Alya protested. She had to at least help save her mom, because she wouldn't have been used in the ritual if Alya hadn't been messing around!
"The best way you can help right now is to take cover." Ladybug said firmly. "Okay?"
Alya looked to the ground. "Can I at least hide nearby?"
"No. An akuma with as varied powers as these is dangerous." Ladybug denied. "You need to stay safe."
Alya nodded.
But internally she was planning on completely ignoring Ladybug's orders.
. . .
I just about finished my math homework when my phone buzzed with a notification from the Ladyblog. Alya was apparently live streaming something. I figured it might be important, so I clicked on it and suddenly wished it wasn't important. Because, lo and behold, there was Alya, silently filming a bunch of walking mummies.
I didn't bother watching more. It was at the history museum - my parents had dragged the family over there for a bit of family fun time, so I recognized the area she was in. I figured Ladybug and Chat could figure that out too.
Knight, who was in the process of stealing one of my erasers, blinked at me.
More
"I'm not feeding your addiction." I rolled my eyes. I had no idea why Knight liked pencil shavings and eraser dust so much.
please
They looked at me with their big eyes.
"Maybe later," I conceded. They were worse - meaning I was more susceptible to their schemes - at begging than a Labrador retriever pup.
"For now, Void Rise."
I transformed and set off towards the history museum.
Unfortunately, I had to take the rooftop approach. It was daytime and, even if I went through the most unused alleys, there was no guarantee that I wouldn't stumble across a civilian. And, while it wasn't the end of the world if a civilian saw me, it was super awkward.
Before Alya's interview video was released, most people just screamed when they saw me. Other people seemed super freaked out. It made sense: I was hardly seen with the other two heroes, and I didn't exactly have a friendly visage. The only exception was that one girl I stumbled across in a dark ally in the middle of the night, after beating up Copycat.
Honestly, that was so suspicious. She just kinda stared at me. I think she might've been stoned, or something.
After the video, people started acting weird. No one screamed anymore, but people seemed split between being terrified of me, trying to ask questions, or asking for an autograph. Considering I couldn't speak, it just ended with uncomfortable staring. I didn't exactly have time to pull out chalk when this happened, because I was usually busy.
I think I preferred the screaming.
I shook my head and jumped over another gap between buildings, stumbling a bit on the landing. I paused for a bit, trying to remember which direction the museum was in. I should have brought a GPS, I'm awful with directions. And it didn't help I kinda ran out of roofs to run on.
I walked to the edge of the roof, looking down. It was one of those hidden courtyard gardens, kinda like a mini terrace garden. It didn't look like it was very well taken care of: the bushes were overgrown and vines were covering most vertical surfaces. In fact, the entrances were just about entirely blocked by the bushes. It felt like a little forgotten corner of the city.
Despite being in a bit of a rush, I carefully made my way down to the courtyard. The floor was made of stone bricks in a circular pattern, but most areas had weeds or moss growing between or on the bricks. There was a small metal bench in the corner that was miraculously free of bird poo.
This was a nice little area. I made a mental note of it in my mind and went to leave.
Only for something very sharp to suddenly be poking me in the back.
"Halt, Ghost ," a voice imperiously said from behind me.
I froze. There wasn't anyone in the lush courtyard when I first jumped down. How did someone get behind me?
Swiftly, I moved forward and spun to face my apparent assailant. Only to freeze once again as complete confusion overcame me.
What in the world..?
In front of me stood a figure in a mask and a strange red shawl. The mask wasn't like the ones that Ladybug and Chat wore, it was closer to mine. In fact, it was near identical to my own, except for the fact the horns were shaped differently and the mask seemed more... slender. She - I assumed based off of her voice - wielded a long slender weapon. I thought it was an extremely long rapier at first, but at a closer look, the sides were rounded, not sharp. It was closer to a javelin than a sword, but even that wasn't an apt description.
It was like she was my weird, red cousin or sister or something.
She stared at me as if my reaction to her poking me in the back with her weapon confirmed something to her. Then she tensed.
I tensed too, preparing for an attack. I'd prefer to just dodge and get outta here but-
She lunged forward at blistering fast speeds. My eyes widened and I barely managed to dodge to the side.
She swung her blade into where I fled, nailing me on the shoulder.
I hissed out through my teeth. That hurt. Whether it was sharp or not, getting hit by a metal moving that fast was bound to at least leave a bruise.
I drew my own blade, barely managing to block the next swing.
"You wield your nail like a barbarian." She stated.
I didn't have any chance to feel a mote of offense, because she launched into another flurry of attacks.
I tried to fend her off, but she landed almost every attack. She used her weapon with grace, whirling it in complex movements that made it difficult to even try to predict what she was planning.
She hit my side then pivoted. It looked like she was aiming for my shoulder again so-
Crack
I stumbled to the side, reeling back from the blow to my mask.
Something hit my chest and I fell to the ground, my head luckily landing on a clump of moss instead of hard stone.
My vision swam and I struggled to get up, only for a force - her boot - to pin me to the ground. She had her weapon leveled at my face.
So this is how I die. I thought. Shishkebabed by a weird, murderous look-alike.
Luckily for me, I had another trick up my sleeve.
I void dashed through her, appearing just behind her. I didn't wait for her to turn around. I sprinted for a gap in the hedges.
Shink
Silver blurred past me.
The javelin weapon cracked the stone wall just in front of me, embedded in it. There was something tied in the little loop at it's end. It glinted under the light of day. A string? A wire?
Why did she throw her weapon if she didn't even hit m-
Something hit me between my shoulders. I suddenly couldn't breath.
I crashed into the wall. A hand grabbed the back of my head and pulled me back and-
Crack
Pain blossomed in my forehead.
Her forearm pressed across my shoulders, keeping me against the wall.
"Tell me, Ghost." She hissed into my ear. "Do you know of the legacy you have sullied? A fallen King, and yet you persist your treachery."
What on earth is she talking about . The question swam to the front of my mind.
"I have been granted permission to do away with you as I see fit," She continued, oblivious to my absolute confusion. "But first I wish to know why you decided to taint the Legacy of the Pale King with your dark magic. Why do you mock It with the title of Ghost ?"
The stranger had little to no inflection in her voice, yet I could feel the cold rage emanating from her.
I would feel scared, if I had any idea what she was talking about. Pale King? Dark magic? Magic didn't exist! I briefly thought about the superhero crap going on. Okay, magic existed, but I certainly didn't actually know how it worked!
Of course, I couldn't say anything, so my fate was sealed!
"Well?" She prompted.
Hesitantly, I reached over and tapped my mask, right where my mouth would be.
"Of course, you can't speak." She stated it like a fact, not like something she just remembered. "Very well, take your chalk."
She let me up, confident in the fact that she could just pin me again if I tried to make a break for it. I didn't doubt her. She probably could have taken me out in one move, but it felt like she wanted to smack me around a bit before killing me.
I took out my chalk and wrote.
'wth are u talking about? also who are you'
She didn't say anything for an entire minute. For a second I thought she was going to kill me for my insolence, like I was pretending to not know what was going on.
But then she took a step back and lowered her weapon.
"If you are lying, it will not stay hidden for long." She promised then her mask tilted up.
"Return to this place in a month, but for now," She pointed towards the sky, "I suggest you deal with that."
I followed her gaze and found the sky was now swirling with crazy, black waves of energy. That was definitely the akuma.
I looked back to her, but found - to my great offense - that she had vanished.
. . .
It wasn't difficult to track the stream of mummies to a large park nearby. Sure enough, a large man with a golden head stoop in the center, carrying Alya's mom. And before her eyes, the golden falcon head shifted and morphed into one of a strange creature. It had a long curved snout and tall ears with squared tips.
Other than what Alya described, Pharaoh's abilities were concealed in mystery. They obviously had to do with Egyptian gods, but other than her visit to the museum earlier today, Ladybug didn't know anything about Egyptian gods and their abilities. She knew Ra was an important sun god, but that was the extent of her knowledge.
It would be absurd if he legitimately had the power of gods, so maybe he gained one power from an aspect of different gods? The Jackal head could summon mummies, so perhaps that was the god of death. The falcon head could fly, so that was probably a sky god. Ladybug had no idea what the power of the woman with bull horns was supposed to be, but that one had given Alya a blessing so maybe that was a protection goddess?
There was no way for Ladybug to plan for every head, she probably hadn't even seen them all yet! How was she supposed to beat a guy who had at least five different superpowers?
She shook her head. Focus. Break it up into steps and pieces.
Ladybug observed the area from a nearby rooftop. It was a large open space, without a lot of places to hide. Most of the trees closer towards the epicenter of it all were skinny, not the best for cover or hiding. There were hedges that lined the edges, but had the same problem. Stone borders provided better cover, but didn't help if Ladybug needed to sneak up on Pharaoh.
Ladybug heard the telltale sound of Chat's baton and a few seconds later, Chat landed next to her with a muffled thump.
"I need to focus on this one, Chaton," Ladybug said, before he had even opened his mouth for some pre-fight 'witty' banter.
Chat Noir seemed to sense the stress in her voice and nodded. "What's the rundown on this weirdo?"
"His name is Pharaoh, he's obsessed with Egyptian mythology, and he kidnapped Alya's mom for a ritualistic sacrifice." And if he knew anything about those, then that about summed up how dire the situation was.
"So, step one, save Alya's mom," Chat said. "Step two, beat up the akuma."
Below them, in the park, Pharaoh had managed to summon a sandstorm, and was quickly filling the area up with sand dunes. Ladybug noted that control over sandstorms went with the weird head with the long snout.
"It's not that simple, Chat," Ladybug could not stress this enough. "He has 'the power of the gods.' Which means he has a different power for whatever head he has on!"
"Hey," Chat Noir soothed. "No plan survives first contact with the enemy. You don't have to plan for every possibility."
Ladybug nodded slowly, not entirely satisfied. An overpowered akuma, no places to hide, no way to ambush him... And Ghost still hadn't shown up.
The sand dunes were building up down in the park, and Ladybug felt dread rising in her chest. The longer she spent planning, that she spent overthinking , the less time they had to save Alya's mom. Whatever prep Pharaoh was doing for the ritual wouldn't last forever, and then they'd be out of options.
"We need to get Alya's mom away from Pharaoh," Ladybug started. He kept her close to him the entire time they were watching, guarded by a group of mummies but always within reach. "I bet he'll get distracted by setting up the ritual. We'll go with the classic 'distract and grab' plan. Chat, you'll be the distraction. I'll grab Madam Césaire when Pharaoh's distracted."
"When this sandstorm ends," Ladybug said, "that's when we'll go."
Chat Noir titled his head. "What about Ghost?"
"We don't have time to waste." Ladybug shook her head, irritated. She didn't know why Ghost wasn't here. She knew they didn't come to every akuma attack, but they couldn't choose their battles, especially on difficult akumas like this.
"Why am I always the distraction, anyway?" Chat grumbled.
"You're impulsive and you're great at annoying people."
"Don't be pass-hiss aggressive."
Ladybug rolled her eyes. "That one was a stretch."
Chat Noir settled down. Seconds ticked by, and eventually turned into minutes. Ghost never showed up, but Ladybug refused to let doubt creep in. A third person would be helpful, especially in this situation, but as the winds started to die down, Ladybug had to accept that they weren't coming, that just the two of them would have to go through with this extremely risky, half baked plan.
The whirling sand settled down, leaving the park covered in mini dunes. Sand was raining from the trees. The grass was completely covered, though most of the sand seemed concentrated around Pharaoh. And since the sand had ceased it's blowing, that gave the two heroes a perfect view of Pharaoh's head once again shifting. This time, it shifted to a fairly normal appearance of a man with a thin rectangular beard sprouting from his chin. Ladybug couldn't see if he had any hair from the distance.
Pharaoh held his arms out, palms facing the ground and fingers spread. His hands started glowing with a golden light. From her vantage point, Ladybug could see lines of light forming in the sand, and her sense of urgency spiked.
"Chat, go!" Ladybug ordered.
Chat nodded and launched himself off the building, towards the throng of mummies.
"Has anyone ever told you that mummies are out of fashion?!" Ladybug heard Chat yell. "Zombies are what's in!"
The horde of mummies turned at that and immediately began making their way towards him. Ladybug didn't think it was because they were enraged - they seemed to only follow Pharaoh's orders, so he had probably told them to attack if they saw the heroes.
Ladybug jumped down once she saw that the horde had all focused on Chat, save for the small group personally guarding Alya's mom. Pharaoh seemed to give Chat no mind, as his hands were still outstretched, and the magic lines were still forming.
Ladybug swung down towards the center of the park. Then she took out the first of the mummy guard with a brutal kick.
This got the attention of the rest of the mummy guard, who started stumbling towards her.
Alya's mom jerked her head up, revealing dried tear tracks. She looked like she was in disbelief. "Ladybug..?"
"Don't worry, Madam Césaire, we'll save you!" Ladybug assured, as she dodged the lunge of a mummy. It stumbled and she rewarded its attack by sweeping it off its feet.
Another mummy charged and she leapt over it, sending it crashing into another. She sprung off another's shoulders, and finally made it to the two restraining Alya's mom.
Ladybug flung her yo-yo, and it wrapped around the mummy on Madam Césaire's left. Ladybug dug her heels into the sand and pulled. It lost its traction and was sent sailing in the air. Ladybug dodged its path and rushed at the last mummy. She grabbed its wrist and twisted. With an audible crack, it was forced to let go of Madam Césaire. Then she kicked it in the chest, sending it to the ground.
Ladybug turned to face Madam Césaire, who had fresh tears spilling from her eyes. She reached out with minutely trembling hands and clasped them together. "Thank you," She whispered.
Ladybug smiled softly. "Let's get you out of here."
Madam Césaire nodded only to freeze.
"You shall not take my willing sacrifice, Spotted Scarab."
Pharaoh's voice is deep and booming, like a base thrumming in an empty room. It felt like he rattled her very ribs when he spoke.
Ladybug whirled around and faced him, just as his face morphed into a lioness head.
"She made the deal under duress," Ladybug countered. "That's not exactly what I'd call willing."
"Divinely favored you may be, Spotted Scarab," His eyes flashed, "you know nothing of what pleases the gods."
He lunged with blistering speed, swiping at Ladybug's face. Ladybug just barely ducked under the strike, retaliating by kicking at his ankles. He smoothly jumped over it and lashed out with his fist. Ladybug blocked it with her forearm. It still made her wince.
She jabbed at his sides, and tried for a roundhouse kick. He blocked every strike and caught her ankle. Ladybug didn't have time to feel dread as he twisted her.
Her leg screamed in protest. Then he stomped on the middle of her back. It knocked the breath out of her and she felt a crack in her ribs. Her back erupted into agony.
She heard a choked gasp from behind her - Alya's mom.
"You shall watch, Spotted Scarab," Pharaoh's growl resonated like that of a real lion, "as I bring forth the New Age. One you shall have no power to oppose, even with the Black Cat behind you. You will bow to the Ascended and, perhaps if you are lucky, you might have a chance to join Her Pantheon."
The pressure lifted from her spine, just slightly. And crusty skeletal hands began grabbing her.
The mummies lifted her off the ground, five of them easily able to carry her weight and the rest made sure she couldn't squirm. They dragged her away from the center of where the ritual was evidently going to happen. Away from Madam Césaire.
Ladybug could feel tears prick at the back of her eyes. Her back ached and she could barely move. She had no leverage over the mummies, no matter how much she twisted.
Vaguely she was aware of another cluster of mummies to her left. She figured it was Chat Noir, also captured by mummies. She didn't call out for confirmation, she just sat there, held by the dead vice grip of lumbering corpses.
She failed.
She took a risk, and now Alya's mom was going to be ritualistically sacrificed for an akuma's twisted agenda. She doubted even Hawkmoth knew exactly what Pharaoh's goals were. He was probably screaming at Pharaoh right now to take the Miraculous. But Pharaoh knew he had time, because he had already easily overpowered Ladybug and Chat Noir. They were trapped, and soon Paris was going to be under the whims of a madman.
Ladybug closed her eyes and bit her lip. She took a risk, and it failed.
(It would have succeeded, if Ghost had been there. She could tell. Ladybug could have distracted Pharaoh long enough for Ghost to save Madam Césaire. She wouldn't have had to defeat the powerhouse on her own, she just had to distract the akuma. Chat Noir would have been fine. He got overwhelmed because he didn't get the sign to retreat, so he was overpowered.
Why wasn't Ghost there?)
Now Ladybug had to watch her best friend's mom get killed.
She couldn't let that happen.
"Chat Noir?" She called out.
"Ladybug?" He said, surprised. "They got you too?"
"Yeah," Ladybug said softly. "We need to get out. Can you reach anything, like your baton?"
"No," Chat said. He sounded dejected. "And I can't use Cataclysm, either."
The situation was grim. Before them, Pharaoh had shifted back into the man head with the square beard, and once again was casting some sort of spell. The lines in the ground were back, but they looked like they were forming into some sort of... wall of light. Like he was making a building from light.
It grew before her eyes, forming an open courtyard with thick pillars, strange statues and hieroglyphic lettering. The open layout allowed Ladybug to see into the building and see what she assumed to be a sacrificial dais.
The light eventually formed the entire building and soon after, sand rushed in to fill the area. It compacted, forming bricks and creating each wall, almost as if it was always made out of stone. It only takes minutes to form. And once it was solid, Pharaoh's head shifted back to a standard pharaoh's head.
Ladybug watched with dread as Pharaoh gathered Madam Césaire into his arms. He held her gently in a princess carriage, as if she was a fragile piece of porcelain. Like he wasn't carrying her to be slaughtered.
Ladybug's expression hardened.
"Chat Noir," she said. "Get ready to fight."
She couldn't hear his response.
In front of her, Pharaoh set Madam Césaire on the dais. He held his hands out palms angled at the sky. A pharaoh's crook materialized in his hands, as if it had always been there. He gripped it and raised his arms up.
The sun reached the peak of the sky.
"Now!" Ladybug commanded.
She wrenched her legs towards her chest in one motion, catching the mummies off guard. She tried to free her arms next, but still didn't manage it. So she committed and flipped backwards. It twisted her arms uncomfortably, but her legs and torso were free now. She twisted and kicked the closest mummy in the leg, making it buckle and loosen its grip.
She pulled her arm free swiftly, and with a swift punch, freed her other arm.
The mummies weren't giving up though, and the one she had kicked grabbed her again. The ones who had held her legs tackled her to the ground. Her chin hit sand. She was pinned.
She struggled to look at Chat Noir and despaired to see he wasn't in a better position.
Above them, darkness began swirling in the sky, whirling around the sun like it was the eye of a storm. Pharaoh took his sweet time, letting the strange cloud of dark energy grow. And eventually, it covered the sky for as far as Ladybug could see. The only light breaking through the darkness was at the epicenter of the swirling mass; the sun that shined upon the dais.
She struggled fruitlessly. And she stared helplessly as Pharaoh began chanting in a language she couldn't comprehend.
And Madam Césaire began levitating into the air, surrounded by a murky golden light. Her mouth opened with a soundless scream and her eyes began to glow.
And slowly, a stream of white light streamed from her into the sky.
Ladybug heard the sound of shifting sand, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the ritual.
"Ladybug!"
And suddenly crusty hands were being pried off of her.
Ladybug startled and looked up.
It was Alya, who was being completely ignored by the mummies.
"A-Alya? What are you doing here?" Ladybug thought she had told her to hide far away.
"I'm saving you so you can save my mom!" Alya pried another mummy hand off of Ladybug and she suddenly had enough leverage to free herself.
Ladybug didn't understand why the mummies weren't grabbing her, or trying to attack Alya, but she didn't exactly have enough time to ask.
"Can you free Chat Noir?" Ladybug asked. The energy streaming out of Madam Césaire was increasing in volume.
Alya nodded and went to do that.
Ladybug swung her yo-yo and launched herself at the Pharaoh.
She landed a fierce kick on his back, making him stumble forward. Then she used him as a kick-board and leapt off of him. He stopped chanting the ominous spell.
Alya's mom gasped and the glow around her faded. She fell a few feet back onto the altar, completely passed out.
"Spotted Scarab," Pharaoh growled and turned around to face her. "Sekhmet, grant me strength!"
His head shifted into the lioness one, and he lunged forward, just as quickly as the first time. Ladybug was more prepared, and dodged it, along with the follow up attack.
He didn't stop there, and launched into a flurry of attacks. Ladybug bided her time, playing defensively. If she attacked, Pharaoh could take advantage of her weak guard. She needed an advantage.
The advantage came a few seconds later, when Chat Noir swung his baton full force into Pharaoh's head.
Pharaoh ducked the last second and turned around to jab at Chat, only for Ladybug to take advantage of his open side.
He grunted in annoyance at Ladybug's attacks. It was like she was attacking a brick wall!
In the midst of the fight, Ladybug wondered why Pharaoh was attacking them with a form that seemingly had no abilities.
Then Pharaoh landed a punch on her side that left Ladybug gasping and she realized that this form must have had some form of super strength. Not to mention fast reflexes and an intimate knowledge of close combat.
Ladybug needed to force him into a different form, something that he thinks would be more advantageous. Like his form with sand powers. Or the bird head form that granted flight.
The two on one was a stalemate, one that the Pharaoh was sure to win. He just hit harder, was faster, and endured more. It was no wonder that Ladybug was completely trounced earlier. Any hits they landed on him, he shrugged off or blocked. He outmaneuvered them, and frequently Ladybug found that she had to dodge Chat's stray baton swings.
Ladybug tried to sweep Pharaoh's feet, landing a powerful kick at his ankles, but he only stumbled, even as Chat's baton swing forced him back.
They needed something-
Ladybug blinked, and Ghost suddenly appeared behind Pharaoh. Their sword glinted and cut across Pharaoh's back.
Flecks of red splattered across the sandstone. Some landed on Ghost's mask.
Pharaoh cried out in pain, but mostly rage, and whirled around. His back was bared to Ladybug and Chat Noir, revealing a thin but long cut across it.
"Creature!" Pharaoh snarled. "I do not know what you are, but you intervene in matters beyond your comprehension!"
Ghost did not back down.
Chat Noir swung his baton at the cut on the akuma's back, but Pharaoh once again dodged.
Ladybug pushed down her frustration, and instead focused on getting the job done.
Pharaoh charged at Chat, infuriated that he targeted the new weak point. Ladybug swung her yo-yo and it wrapped around his shin, effectively tripping him up. Chat dodged the attack and landed one of his own. And Ghost slashed at him again, but he recoiled away from the attack.
"That's it!" Ladybug yelled. "Lucky Charm!"
A surge of power rushed through her and an object appeared in her arms.
It was a leaf blower.
And an idea hit her.
"To the sand!" Ladybug called. "Ghost, flank!"
"Got it!" Chat Noir ducked under a punch.
"You believe you can defeat me in my own element?" Pharaoh sneered. "You shall soon discover your folly!"
They ignored Pharaoh and dashed towards the remaining sand dunes. Pharaoh chased after them.
Chat took another swipe at Pharaoh with his baton, but the akuma caught it with a vice grip and wrenched it from Chat's grasp. He threw it away, leaving Chat weaponless.
"Pesky, stray," Pharaoh grumbled.
Ladybug turned on the leaf blower, feeling its small engine rev up with a rising whir. Then she pulled the trigger, and a maelstrom of sand blew at Pharaoh's face.
Blinded, the akuma shielded his face. He growled in irritation.
Ghost landed another hit on him, impervious to the sand thanks to their mask. Chat Noir took the opportunity to retrieve his baton.
And before her eyes, Pharaoh's face shifted back to the strange creature with the long curved snout and square ears. And the sand Ladybug was blowing was completely diverted around him.
Perfect!
"Attack now!" Ladybug ordered.
Chat launched himself at Pharaoh, swinging his baton at the akuma's head. Pharaoh jerked in surprise and lifted a hand, but he was too slow.
Chat's baton hit Pharaoh in the face, at full power and his head snapped back from the force.
And at the same time Ghost rammed Pharaoh's kneecap with a fierce kick, knocking him to his knees.
Ladybug discarded her leaf blower as Pharaoh collapsed and lunged forward, snatching a dangling amulet off of his chest. She snapped it in her hand and a black butterfly fluttered out of it.
Ladybug let out a breath of relief. The akuma fled, but Ladybug launched her yo-yo at it, with as much pent up emotion that she could muster. She captured it and released it once it was a white butterfly again.
"Miraculous Ladybug!" She shouted. A burst of energy rushed everywhere, cleaning up sand, removing the temple the akuma built, fixing every bit of damage.
Energy rushed over towards Madam Césaire, covering her completely. Then it faded.
And everything was back to normal.
Ladybug felt tension leave her. Then she turned to Chat and Ghost.
"Pound it," She offered her fist tiredly. They fist-bumped.
Ghost shifted their weight, and Ladybug focused her attention on them.
"Where were you?"
Ghost shrugged and Ladybug felt irritation flare in her at the non-answer.
"No, no!" Ladybug shook her head. "Don't pull that now - we almost lost ."
'I don't want to talk about it.' Ghost's sign was incredibly stiff.
Chat tilted his head. "Does it have anything to do with why your mask is cracked?"
Both Ladybug and Ghost jolted.
Ladybug narrowed her eyes, finding that there was a crack in Ghost's mask. It was a thin fracture, not noticeable at a distance, but up close it was more apparent, that ran from the right eye hole all the way up to the edge of the mask.
Ladybug didn't know Ghost's mask could crack.
"What happened?" Ladybug asked, a little softer than her first question. Ladybug's earrings beeped a warning.
' It's a little weird' Ghost signed hesitantly. ' Tell you later?'
Better than nothing. Ladybug nodded.
"But you will tell us." Ladybug pressed.
' Scout's honor.'
. . .
"Mom! Mom!" Alya rushed over towards the figure, lying motionlessly in the grass. She knelt down, shaking her mother's shoulder. "Wake up!"
She stirred with a groan. Her eyes fluttered open, revealing a near faded color. "...Alya?"
Alya felt like sobbing in relief. "Are you okay?"
Mom gave a weary smile. "I've never felt this tired before in my life... But I think I'll be fine."
Alya helped her to her feet, supporting most of her weight. She could feel Mom's entire body trembling from the effort of standing. "Let's get you home. Maybe a nap will help you feel better..."
"W-wait!" Mom heaved in a breath, like she couldn't get enough air. "We need to find Ella and Etta..."
Her twin sisters. Alya had completely forgotten that they were here, especially in the chaos of an akuma attack. "Where did you leave them?"
"I-I left them with one of the other parents in the kids area... I-I" She brought a hand up to her eyes, "I didn't want to leave them, but I saw you right in the middle of all those m-mummies..."
"I'm sorry," Alya mumbled.
Mom let out a breathless chuckle. "I don't have enough energy to be mad at you, right now. I'm just glad you're okay."
They pick up the twins from the kind parent who was making sure they weren't terrors to the museum staff. Mom hobbled the whole way, hardly able to walk.
They called a cab to get home.
Mom went to bed the moment they got home. She slept through dinner, so Alya made box mac'n cheese, much to the twins' immeasurable joy.
In the morning, Marlena Césaire did not wake up.
. . .
"Pharaoh!" Hawkmoth ordered, but it was a mute point. His connection to his latest, most powerful akuma was severed. He narrowed his eyes behind his metal mask.
How was it that Ladybug and Chat Noir always triumphed over his akumas? They couldn't be over 18, they had to be children, and yet they always won! They hardly had a numbers advantage this time! The mysterious Ghost was even absent from this fight, and Hawkmoth had practically taste victory.
But once again, he failed.
Ghost was an obstacle that was unforeseen. He had no reason to take their miraculous, save for the fact they always impeded his progress. He didn't have any information on them, other than what he learned from the fights. He couldn't glean anything from his tome, and Nooroo was useless as usual when it came to answering his questions.
He felt anger rise in him and he quickly flipped through the burnt pages of his tome. The language itself was difficult to read, and the damaged pages didn't make it any easier. But it was enough to bind Nooroo to his will. It was enough to control the akumas and malevolently twist them to do his bidding.
"What am I missing?!" he snarled in rage.
And, as if to answer his question, a soft golden light filled the room.
An intruder.
" Perhaps a helping hand?"
A distinct feminine voice whispered from behind him.
He whirled around to where he believed the light was coming from, only to see no one.
"Where are you?" Hawkmoth growled. He continued looking wildly around his lair. His butterflies were flurrying about, as if filled with terror. "Show yourself!"
" Worry not, little Butterfly. I am not here to bring thee harm. "
"Who are you!?" Hawkmoth shouted.
Laughter filled the room, ringing out like bells, echoing like a choir in a cathedral.
" Someone who wishes to see thee flourish." The voice purred.
"Who are you!?" Hawkmoth repeated, panic edging its way into his mind. How did they find him? His lair's location was only known by him.
"An Admirer."
"Well, Admirer," Hawkmoth threateningly put his hand on his cane, "I suggest you leave."
" Oh, Little Butterfly. Do Thou not realize that I can assist thee? "
"I do not need assistance! I can take Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous on my own!" He shouted.
" Do thou not wish to see thine ambitions breach reality?"
"Leave me be, Spirit!" Hawkmoth ordered. What else could they be? They seemingly had no body, or if she did have one, she could conceal herself from his sight with ease. He did not want to owe a favor to a mysterious entity. He has read enough of fae and demons to see truth in the myth.
" Very well."
The filthy golden light around him dimmed, as if the spirit was retreating.
" Thou will soon turn to me, Little Butterfly."
And then all traces of the light vanished, leaving him alone in the dark.
AN:
I'm posting this today because I didn't write a april fool's chapter.
This is a turning point into what I call the middle arc (very descriptive I know). My work is a more episodic structure because I write by thinking of scenes I want in a specific chapter - generally an akuma fight and some character interactions - and then I sprinkle lore into it to hint at something bigger going on. Because of this, it might not be obvious that there's a change, but it's cooking.
Anyway.
Here's the question that may impact how I write the next several chapters:
Do you prefer discovering secrets when the characters discover secrets or would you rather be able to figure it out before the characters know what's going on?
