Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

Stranger in Town

The Fire, Part III

Morax's arrival was heralded by a cyclone of fire in the shape of a pentagram, erupting in the middle of the apartment. Kagami couldn't help but yelp, even though she had dealings with the shadonai and knew him to be an honorable and gentle soul. But humans fear fire…

Even before the fire-clone had died out, Morax was zeroing in on Deanna, who hadn't even hung up the phone. "Honored One!" she cried out, dropping the handset, and bowing. "I didn't expect you to-*"

"If it's what you say-and I have little doubt but what it is-there is no time to waste. But before we begin…" He paused, casting a glance at the bedroom. "Before we begin, let me see him."

….

Without a word, Deanna led him into the bedroom. As the doors closed behind them, Kagami reflected that Lord Morax was possibly the only being in All Existence whom she would have let into that room; she'd certainly made no secret to her other guests that they were not to go in there. Respectfully, of course, but firmly. "He needs to rest," was all she'd say. And while she said it respectfully enough, there was an undercurrent of if you go in there, I will kill you that both frightened and infuriated Kagami. She wanted to help! It wasn't like she wanted to see a freak show or something…

Morax gazed at the shattered being on the bed. He moved over, passing his hand over Damien's forehead, down to his chest. "Deanna," he said, turning to her, "this is bad. He can't take another such session; it will kill him." He turned to her. "Was it…about…the same thing?"

Deanna's fiery tears were flowing freely down her face. "I…I know. A-and yes, it was. Her," she spat. "Akane." Her gaze, which had been hard as rock, softened as she looked at him. "Lord Morax, why are they so insistent on this matter? I mean, I mean, really, what difference does it make, after all this time?"

Morax hesitated. Should he tell the girl all? Then he reached a decision. "Come," he said, "we'll further this discussion out there." At Deanna's alarmed look, he said, "If what you have to tell me is what I think it is, perhaps they need to know. But first…" He reached into a pouch on his belt and drew forth a healing crystal. Deanna's eyes widened: she'd never seen one like this before. She hadn't even known healing crystals of that magnitude existed. But considering how badly off he was… Morax placed it on the nightstand by Damien. "There. Let that crystal do its work. Now come." And he led the way back to the living room.

Kagami had been trying to rest in the recliner without much success. The night's events had conspired to make her high-strung. Tomoe Tsurugi seemed much more composed, getting reports from somewhere via Kagami's phone. Kagami wondered who she was calling.

The two shadonai came back into the room. Kagami looked up in surprise; she'd expected them to conduct their business somewhere away from the humans. "Where is the cat?" Lord Morax asked.

"Right over there. Here, I'll get her."

"Thank you, Deanna." She brought the purring kitten over to the shadonai, who took her in his arms. The kitten looked up at him in alarm, but soon settled down. Like Deanna, he gazed intently into the kitten's eyes, as though searching for something. And, like Deanna, his eyes widened as he apparently found what he sought. "Yes. It's as you feared, Deanna.

"It's the Madness Flame. It's here."

….

"I am Froggy, here I come. I'm not afraid of anyone," sang the boy on the bike. He self-consciously reached up to adjust his wolf-ears cap. He grimaced. "I can't believe I used to scoot around town singing that stupid song. What was I thinking?" Carl Flechette, formerly known as "Froggy", aka Risk, in his akumatized state, pulled over to the side of the road to rest a moment. Biking up and down the hills of Paris was harder than it looked.

"We all do things, in our youth, that we wish we hadn't. But that is where wisdom comes from." He jerked around. He was certain he'd been alone just a moment ago.

Sitting on a bench beside him was a man dressed in what looked like expensive clothing. Wolfy was wary; he'd been warned about strangers, but somehow he didn't get that "vibe" from this one. But to dress like that, he had to be rich. What was a rich man doing in this part of town?

But Wolfy was respectful. "Yes, sir." He didn't really know what else to say.

The strange man was looking at him oddly. "I sense you have the capacity for great courage, young one. Such courage will be needed in the dark days ahead." He pulled something out of his vest pocket.

It was really odd. The more Wolfy tried to see what it was, the more, well, blurry it got. From what he could see, it looked like a small crystal statue of a knight. "What is it?" His mother had taught him all about "stranger danger," so he was on his guard.

"This, Carl Flechette, is the eudaemon of the Warrior. Take it. It's yours."

"A eudaemon? What's that?" And how had the stranger known his name? His suspicions grew.

"Something you'll need. Something to help you reach your true potential, to be the person you were always meant to be. Once you accept it, it can never be taken from you. And you can never be akumatized while you hold it within your soul."

But he was hesitant. "I, I don't know…"

"She will need you, Wolfy." And somehow, Wolfy knew exactly who the stranger was talking about.

The beautiful werewolf lady would be in danger. The eudaemon promised power, or at least he thought it did. Power he would need to rescue her.

Of course he'd rescue her. He'd do anything for his beautiful werewolf lady.

He reached out for it…

….

Damien's apartment: "There are still many questions to be answered. But. Anything involving fire, or flame, particularly flame of what would seem to you to be of an odd colour, must be avoided at all costs." He turned to the mortals in the room. "You must alert us should you encounter such. Here." He produced a crystal orb from his pouch and gave it to Kagami. "Should you encounter such a flame, you can use this crystal to alert me. Simply hold it to your mouth and speak, just as if it were an Earthly cell phone." At her expression, "I trust you," he said with a wink, "I know you will not abuse this privilege."

"Yes, Honored One." said Kagami bowed, and took the crystal. "Thank you for trusting me." My own mother doesn't.

….

Wolfy cycled up and down the hills. He'd stayed out too late again, in part because he'd talked too long with the stranger. And…that was one little factoid he decided his parents really didn't need to know. He knew he should have been in an hour ago, and was now heading home. Checked his iWatch for the time. Yep. Another "talking-to" was definitely in the 'd be late for supper, but he was kinda getting used to it. He always forgot, and stayed out too long. He blew out a breath. Have to make an effort to make it in sooner, he thought to himself. He was tired of being fussed at. Plus he was tired of cold food. Nuking it in the microwave just wasn't the same. Mom is a good cook, and goes to a lot of trouble to fix our meals. I hate to keep on upsetting her like this. He honestly didn't see the difference in the maturity level of his former self and his present-day self.

But now he stopped for breath. It was full dark. Looking around, he realized he'd chanced into a somewhat seedier section of town. Down the street, he could see the bright lights of bars and other places he knew he really had no business going to, nor did he want to. Well, time to backtrack a little. He checked his phone for directions.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something. In his peripheral vision, it looked like a fire, but a fire of a strange colour. He looked around, curfew forgotten, and saw…

…a woman, all on fire, dancing down the empty street, coming out of one of the alleys. Instantly, his every sense was alert. "Lady!" he called out, "Are you alright?" He was already fumbling with his cell, intent on calling some first responders. Obviously, the poor woman had skipped too close to some fire at some point and caught her clothes on fire.

But the woman simply continued her seemingly happy dance. "Of course I'm alright! I'm wonderful! I'm in Paris, and I'm in love! What could possibly be better?" Then she stopped, a somewhat tormented expression crossing her lovely face. "If, if only my one true love were here, here with me. If only I could find him…" She turned to Wolfy and asked, in all seriousness, "Could you please tell me where to find him?"

Taken aback by the spectacle of the fiery person, Wolfy hesitated. He was still thinking of calling someone, but…the woman didn't seem to be troubled by her condition. Maybe she was like the Human Torch in those comic books his parents wouldn't let him read. And she didn't seem to be particularly menacing or anything. Just kinda confused, like. And on fire. "Er, ma'am? I don't know who you mean. Who is he? What's his name? If I know his name, I can maybe look him up on my phone…"

The woman ran her fingers through her hair in an expression of frustration. "But that's just it. I can't remember his name. Or, or even what he looks like. I see him in my dreams, and, and sometimes in reflective surfaces…but I can't seem to remember his name." Her dancing stopped, and she drooped visibly. "How can I find him if I don't even know his name?"

Well, thought Wolfy, that was rather strange. In love with somebody whose name you don't know? Then he noticed the horns on her head. "Uh, ma'am? Does he, like, have horns on his head? Like yours?"

"That's him!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "It must be! Where is he? And, and who is he? Tell me! I must know!"

"I don't know the answer to those questions. But this artist on Deviantart has been posting pictures that he says come to him in dreams." He fumbled with his cell, bringing up the picture he'd seen. "Is this sorta close?" And he gave it to her to see.

"That-that's him! But where is his face?"

"The artist said he dreamed about this guy, with horns on his head, but he could never see his face in his dreams, or know his name. I, I don't know if this is much help, but it's all I can think of."

"It's more help than you know, young one." And she clasped the phone to her breast, an expression of ecstasy on her face. To his horror, his phone just seemed to dissolve into her. I'm gonna have a heckuva time explaining this to Mom. "I know that he's here now, somewhere in this city." She turned to him, still apparently completely unfazed by the flames that surrounded her. "You've helped me a lot tonight, young one. My name's Akane, and I'd like to give you a gift."

That didn't sound particularly threatening, but, he thought, coming from someone all on fire, well, anything was possible. He wondered if he should activate the eudaemon the stranger had given him…

She leaned down to where her head was level with hers, and he drew back. "What is it?" she asked, clearly puzzled.

"Uhm, you're on fire."

"Oh, is that all?" And suddenly the flames, the weirdly-coloured flames, just seemed to suck back into her body. Now she seemed to be just another girl. An incredibly lovely girl, he was not too young to notice, with a perfectly proportioned heart-shaped face, straight nose, eyes as dark as the night sky, complete with silver specks that might have been stars, and shoulder-length soft brown hair. Even at his young age, he could recognize such sublime beauty when he saw it. But she had this odd sheen to her eyes, and an expression on her face that made him nervous. She leaned down and looked him in the eyes. "Oho. I see the one you love. Tsk, young human," she said, an impish expression almost overlying the one that made him nervous. Almost. "Tsk. She is the wrong species, you know. But on the other hand, who can say? Stranger things have happened."

He knew exactly who she meant and turned away. "Stop it," he said, but without any strength to it. She was right, doggone it.

She laughed, but not in any mocking or hurtful way. "Alright, I won't tease you about it. Promise. Anyway, here's my gift." And she leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. Put a finger to his lips. "It will be there when you need it." Then, after a brief pause, in which her face became quite serious, she leaned forward again and swiftly kissed him on the lips, embarrassing him no end. (On the other hand, he couldn't deny that it was definitely an enjoyable experience…) "Just my way of saying 'thank you,' young Master." Her expression was very serious. "You helped me when you didn't have to, and I appreciate it more than you'll ever know." And with that, she got up and resumed her dance, down towards the seedy section of town. He started to call out to her, to warn her that that was no place for a young woman to be, but then he remembered the Flame, that oddly coloured Flame.

Somehow, he didn't think she'd be the one to be in danger.

To be continued...