Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

The Fire, Part VI

Kiss of Fire

…

The Fire is here. And nothing will ever be the same.

Don't own, you know.

…

Days later: Manon and Chris were in the park, and had taken a brief break from their play. Manon's mother had stressed to them that they were not to go too far nor stay too long. There had been reports of unexplained fires in the hills, and arson was suspected. If so, that meant an arsonist was loose. So…danger.

They were lying, side by side, on a gentle hillock, looking up at the clouds. "There," said Manon, "that one looks like a dragon."

"A dragon? Where are its horns?"

She shrugged, hands behind her head. "I dunno. I guess not all dragons have horns. I mean, some cattle don't have horns, 'n' they're famous for havin' horns, so why would all dragons haveta have horns?"

That made sense, he thought. He was trying to find a shape of his own in the fluffy whiteness overhead when a shadow fell overhead, blocking out the sun. "Hi, kids!" said a woman's voice.

Startled, they sat up. "It's the crazy lady!" gasped Manon.

"Yep," said the woman, sitting up on her knees before them. Her straight brown hair fell nearly to her shoulders, framing a face so far beyond perfect that she almost didn't seem real. She was like an anime heroine: too good to be true. She was wearing a red tunic and pants combo, with a wide black belt, seemingly made of either heavy-gauge plastic or leather, cinched around her middle. Draped across her shoulders was a blacker-than-black cape or cloak of some sort. Somehow it didn't look real, either; it didn't blow in the breeze. "I'm the Crazy Lady. And I'm crazy to learn what you know about…" she placed her hands together by the side of her head and looked at them out of the sides of her eyes, "...him."

Manon and Chris looked at each other. "Er…who?" asked Chris, even though he had an idea. Still, there were a lot of "hims" running around Paris.

"You know. Him." Her expression went from pixyish to tormented, and she rubbed her hands alongside her head. They both noticed the horns on either side of her forehead, near her temples: ebony black trimmed with deep crimson edges. The horns themselves looked to be razor sharp. "The one I dream about…all the time, whether I'm asleep or not. I see him, in, in every reflective surface, sometimes just in the air around me. But…I can never see his face. I think…I think I did something terrible to him a long time ago. But I keep apologizing, and, and he never seems to hear me. But if I could just find him, for real…I know I could make everything right again." Her attention wavered, and the two children moved back. She put her face in her hands, and her shoulders began to shake. "Oh, won't somebody help me?" She seemed to lose interest in them, and they ran over the hill.

But at the top of the hill, Chris stopped. "Manon, go get help." The "Crazy Lady" had put her hands over her face and was obviously crying…but what dripped down her face seemed to be made of fire rather than water.

"What? What're you gonna do?"

He seemed transfixed by the crying, horned woman. "I gotta help her."

"WHAT!? Are you crazy? Don't answer that!" She grabbed at his arm. "Come on, now while she's not looking, we gotta get away!"

He shrugged her off. "You get away. Go get Ladybug or somebody. I, I…" He turned back to the crying woman. He just couldn't stand to see her cry like that.

"CHRIS!"

But he'd already reached the woman's side. "L-lady? I'll help you. I dream about him, too-the guy with horns? Like yours? The, the devil guy?"

"He's not a devil." She sniffled, sitting up on her knees, and turned to him. "Your friend is right. You should get away. I…something's wrong with me. I could hurt you. I don't want to, but I might anyway, without meaning to." She gestured to her red outfit. He noticed the fiery tears (?) hadn't burned it-but they had burned the grass and ground around her. He hadn't taken his attention from her-something told him that could be a Really Bad Thing To Do-and he saw just a glimmer of that odd and very disturbing sheen come back into her eyes. "You… you really wanna help me?"

"Y-yeah." He was right here, now, within touching range of her; no backing out now. He pulled out his tablet. "See? This is what I've dreamed about. But I can never see his face or know his name. Here." He handed her the tablet. "My birthday's next week, so I'll get another tablet. You can have this one. I mean, if it'll help."

Her face relaxed somewhat, and she took the proffered tablet. Smiled a gentle smile. She didn't look quite so dangerous like that. "You're such a good boy. Your mother must be so proud." Suddenly, she gathered him in for a fast but curiously friendly hug. He was startled; she felt intensely hot without feeling all that warm. He couldn't understand how that could be. It was as though the heat came from somewhere deep inside her…as though she was burning up from the inside out. She sat back and held the tablet, and, to his surprise, it just seemed to dissolve, there in her hands and was absorbed into her. "Sooo…" She muttered, to herself, "he is here, somewhere. You know," she turned back to Chris, grasping him by his shoulders, "We each have a piece of the puzzle. I have some, and you have some. I bet if we put our heads together, we could figure out the rest, or, at least, enough so's I could find him. What do you say?"

Well, at least she wasn't crying anymore. Chris was discovering, early on, that he just couldn't stand to see a woman cry. "Put our heads together? Er, how-how do we do that?" He'd given her all the information he had. Some sixth sense was starting to go off in his head. But her touch didn't seem to be all that threatening.

"We put our heads together. Like this." And she clasped her hands on either side of his head and drew him into a literally scorching kiss, as a cyclone of strange-looking flame erupted around them.

Manon was running back towards them. "Stop it! Stop it! Leave him alone! You're hurting him!" Chris stood transfixed, shivering slightly, as though he'd stepped on a live wire, his eyes wide open. Off to the side, Manon could see his glasses, knocked off from his face, themselves burning and melting from the heat of the flame, flame which flared up again, practically exploding, knocking her back.

Abruptly, the woman stood up, letting Chris's limp body fall to the ground. His eyes were open, but Manon could tell he wasn't seeing anything. Maybe he wasn't even alive…if that strange fire could burn his glasses, what might it have done to him? "Sauelsuesor! You know where he is! I'm coming to you, and we'll have such a nice conversation!" And with that, she lifted off from the ground, flying, her form rapidly dwindling to a point as she vanished straight overhead.

Manon ran up to Chris's body. "Chris! Oh, Chris! Say something!" But he didn't. His eyes remained open and staring blankly skyward. She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. "Oh, help…Ladybug…somebody…help…" she sobbed.

"Fear not, Manon," said a woman's voice off to the side. She looked up to see two men (?), attired the same way the crazy lady had been, complete with horns, both carrying golden tridents, as well as what looked like a woman made entirely of golden light, with two enormous triangular extensions sprouting from her back. An angel? But what else could she be? And she recognized her… "Miss Adriel?" The substitute teacher? "You…" she shrank back from the two horned men, at the same time trying to shield Chris's body.

"It's alright, Manon. These gentlemen are here to help." And she turned and gestured to the two by her side.

The shorter of the two came over and knelt by Chris, resting the hilt of his trident on the ground. He passed his hand over Chris's body twice. "Hm. He's taken a heavy load of negative energies, but if we can get him to the regeneration pods, he'll be okay." He picked Chris's body up. "But we have to hurry. The pods can't heal death."

"Come along, Manon," said Miss Adriel, "Come with us. We're going to have to take your friend to a most…unusual place, but you'll be safe there as long as you stick close to me." She nodded to the other two. "These are trustworthy people. But now tell me," she asked, as a golden pentagram made of fire formed around them, "What happened here? Leave no detail out."

….

The demon known as Akane flew through the void of space to the location she'd gleaned from the human boy. Part of her hoped he was alright; she'd tried to hold back this strange compulsion she was feeling, this itch on the inside of her mind, her soul, and had tried her best not to do him any physical damage. In her condition, it simply didn't occur to her that she might have done him some psychological damage. (But that had been a truly splendid kiss from one so young. It had been so hard to hold back, to keep from draining him of all that he had, all that he was. Why, if the boy kept on like that, he'd have to beat the girls off with a six-tined trident! The thought made her giggle in an insane sort of way.) "Sauelsuesor! I'm here! Where are you?" She flitted this way and that, trying to find her quarry. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she sang.

No Sauelsuesor. She flew close to the sun, knowing her senses were not at their best. Still nothing. "Hm," she thought, standing there in the vacuum of space, a quizzical expression on her more-than-perfect face, "I know the boy didn't lie to me." She shrugged. "Oh well. I'll just have to find someone else who's seen him." And back to Earth she headed.

When she was safely out of range, a dark figure rose up out of the brightest part of the sun itself, a figure with miles-long black hair. "My thanks, brother. Were it not for your radiant strength, she certainly would have sensed me. But Damien must know, he must be warned." Sauelsuesor turned towards the distant blue-white marble, and, holding her fingers in a triangle, focusing her energies, spoke, her "voice" reverberating across the millions of miles in less than a heartbeat: Damien: See me now, in that Mirror, Always Seen.

You must beware. She who has become Death has returned to the worlds of men.

….

Damien was taking a shower when his mirror lit up. He was despondent that he was out of the fight, unable to do anything to save his beloved Akane, when his communications mirror chimed, and her voice came through. He bolted out-only to nearly collide with Deanna, who was wearing nothing but a towel. "Dee! What the Home?" He was wearing even less, and tried to cover up.

"Oh, come on, big bro. It's not like we haven't, y'know, seen each other already," she said. "I was just bringing you a towel. You know you always forget."

"I don't forget," he corrected her, "I just don't need one. I always just fire up and-*"

"-and set off the fire alarm, just like last time. And the time before that. You know we're supposed to comply with the customs of the worlds we're assigned to, so here." And she took off the towel she was wearing and handed it to him. "I'm getting in the shower right after you, so I won't need it for a few minutes, at least. Why Damien! What are you doing?" Now he was trying to cover his eyes with one hand and his private parts with the other.

"Dee, you're naked."

"Big deal, so're you. Now here. I'm stepping in here now; you take the towel, dry off and just leave it here when you go. Simple economy." She'd been on a money-saving kick lately, even in those areas where it didn't really seem to make that much difference. At least, that was what she'd said. And it seemed like she'd begun to expose herself to him more than she ever had. True, it wasn't like they had any secrets from each other-she'd cared for him when the Black Throne's torture had reduced him to an invalid-but still. Why? He couldn't shake the feeling that there was another, less obvious reason for her actions. He couldn't figure it out. After all, they weren't kids anymore, and he was acutely aware of his "little sister's", er, physical development more than ever before. But they weren't kids anymore…and he couldn't deny that the sight of that "physical development" was affecting him. "Less load for the washer. It-*

The mirror chimed again, interrupting her, and she looked around. "What the home?* You put your comm mirror in the bathroom? Who's-* But he rushed around her, forgetting all about the towel or his modesty. If she was calling, something bad had to be going down.

Sauelsuesor's face appeared in the mirror: "Damien, I-oh, my." She saw the image of the two naked people in the mirror. "Did I…interrupt something?"

I get the impression you did and thank you, uhm, I think, Damien thought. Deanna had been acting rather strangely lately. "Uh, no. Not really. Is there a problem?"

Come to think of it, which he didn't have time to do just then, he'd been feeling a little odd towards her lately, like there was some kind of connection between them now that hadn't been there before. More so than her simply nursing him back to health would account for. But what could it be?

Put another way, he was becoming acutely conscious that his "little sister" wasn't so little anymore.

"Yes. One who has been tainted by the Madness of Love's Flame was just here, searching for me. Probably to get information on you, if I read her correctly. She attacked some children of your acquaintance. But your comrades have taken them into their care, and the one injured should recover. But you should know she is returning. Unable to find me, she will no doubt seek out some other means of finding you.

"I doubt they will be subtle."

….

Hell, the city of Dys: Manon couldn't help but look around in amazement. Of course, she'd heard of Hell (who hadn't?), but it wasn't anything like what she was seeing. It was true there was fire all around, as though they were inside a star, only more so, but there were whole cities here, with giant crystalline towers, gargantuan crystal statues seemingly made out of solid ruby, and other edifices, some too complex, too strange, to take in. She took Miss Adriel's advice and stayed close by her; she could sense that this was no safe place for mortals.

And Miss Adriel was an angel?

The demon (or shadonai, as she learned they were called) who'd brought Chris here apparently not only ran a giant university, but also a kind of hospital or medical center of some sort, as well. He'd introduced himself as Morax, the demon of Knowledge, Learning, and Wisdom, and had apparently taken it upon himself to personally see to Chris's recovery. "It's really very simple, young one," he'd told her, "He can be regenerated to a point just before his injuries. That is a common practice here, and well-established. You needn't worry about him." His wife, a beautiful demon named Luan, had reaffirmed that. "You'll be able to see him shortly. Trust me, he'll be fine."

Manon had already tearfully told Miss Adriel all she knew about their encounter with the "Crazy Lady," to which the angel had nodded sympathetically. "He's a boy, Manon, soon to be a young man, and men of any age just have a positive allergy to a woman's tears, whether they be of water or of fire. He meant well; he just didn't know what he was dealing with.

"And it may be he was acting in your defense, as well."

"What?" sniffled Manon, wiping her eyes. "He nearly got himself killed!"

"Perhaps he sought to provide a distraction, so that you could get away. Not saying he did; just saying it's possible. So don't be too hard on him, okay? No matter what, he acted from the purest of motives."

"I'll 'purest of motives' him-!" But her tirade was interrupted by Luan. "Manon? We're decanting him from the regeneration pod. Would you like to come see him?"

Forgetting all about sticking close to Miss Adriel, Manon rushed into the chamber where the regeneration pods were stored. Chris was just sitting up, holding the white sheet around him. "Manon? You're okay?"

"Am I okay?!" she began angrily. "I'm not the one who just nearly got killed by a crazy demon lady!"

"Demons? So that's what they are. Say, what happened to my clothes? And my tablet?" He was looking around on the tilted canister.

"You don't remember?"

"I don't remember anything except for seeing that poor crazy lady crying, and feeling like I should do something. I guess," he said sheepishly, "it didn't work out so good, huh? Say, where are we, anyway?"

"You don't remember going up to her?"

"I went up to her? Why on Earth would I do that?"

"'Cause you're stupid, that's why! You, yourself, called her 'dangerous, like World War Three dangerous,' and yet you walk right up to her! What were you thinking, anyway?"

"I walked up to her? I don't remember that. I don't remember any of that," he said in a low voice, as though he couldn't believe his own words.

"You certainly did! And I'll tell you where we are when you get a little stronger. Believe me, you'll need it." She turned to go.

"But wow," she heard him mutter, to himself, "Boy, was that ever some kiss!"

Slowly, she turned. In a dangerous tone of voice that he totally didn't recognize (then), she said, "You…remember…the kiss?"

He smiled a naughty smile. "I'll remember that kiss when I'm dead."

She flung herself at him. "Let's find out!"

She chased him up one way then the other. "Remembered the kiss, did you? I'll give you the chance to remember my fists!"

"Manon, leave off! I'm only wearing this sheet!"

Honored Morax, Revered Luan, and Adriel watched them run back and forth. "So," said Luan, to her husband, "When do you think the ceremony will be held?"

He shrugged. "They're both still rather young. I'd give them at least six Earth years. Maybe seven."

For once, however, Honored Morax, the demon of Knowledge, Learning, and Wisdom, proved to be off by a factor of three.

To be continued…