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Hawkmoth's P.O.V
I took in a deep breath through my nose before expelling a sigh out of my mouth. I could smell the negative energy in the air—practically taste it if I concentrated long enough.
"Yes, this is the moment I have long awaited for years," I said with a grin, "I can finally rid Paris of those rebels and seek my revenge."
I had better act fast if I am to accomplish my goals. I am sure some of the most powerful witches could sense that my time has come. I focused some of my energy into my hands, grabbing a wisp out of its realm and tainting its essence. The white, flaming orb turned a dark purple.
"Go, my little wisp. Turn their hearts black as night and their souls as dark as I have made you," I commanded, sending the wisp out the window and into Paris' sky.
"Soon, I will be the new ruler of Paris, just as my father before me," I proclaimed. I plucked a feather from my fan, admiring and readying it for its corruption.
"Your time has come to an end...Sabine Cheng."
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Ladybug's P.O.V
"A darkness," I repeated before questioning her, "Who are you?"
"Juleka?" Chat questioned, having just entered the training room. He came over and cut the rope off of her. In the blink of an eye, mother's blade was at Chat Noir's throat. I jolted, nearly jumping forward to help Chat.
The blonde flinched away before grabbing his own weapon. He protectively extended an arm, keeping Juleka behind him.
"You fool! Why would you release the intruder? Has she placed a spell over you?" mother questioned, jumping to conclusions as usual.
"Calm down and lower your weapons," I cut into the middle of the blazing stares before acknowledging mother, "If she had those capabilities, do you not think she would have used it on us?"
Mother did as I asked, sheathing her sword. Chat Noir put his weapon away as well, not taking his eyes away from mother. I would not blame him for not trusting her and her tendency to point her weapon at someone's face at any given chance.
"Chat, would you so kindly explain who this is?" I requested.
"This is Juleka. She was a close friend of Master Fu and a friendly witch. She is very skilled in magic," he explained, emphasizing "friendly" directly at my glaring mother.
"But I am most shocked she is here. You are usually in hiding. Has something happened?"
"Chat, we are in incredible danger!" Juleka warned again, "There is something afoot. I can feel the magic's heaviness growing denser in darkness. Something big is coming."
"Can you elaborate on what it may be?" I asked.
"I do not know for certain but I have a feeling that this may be Hawkmoth's doing," Juleka answered, panicking, "He has to be stopped before it is too late!"
"Do you think you could track the energy?" Gabriel asked. I had almost forgotten he was here with how quiet he had been.
"Unfortunately, I am unable to without something of the person's I am tracking. I have never been quite skilled in that type of magic. I never had reason or interest in that type of sorcery," Juleka responded, sounding regretful for not doing so. If it was not clear in her voice, her face expressed just as much so.
"Your warning was very helpful and I thank you for that. It was very brave of you to risk your life to warn us," I reassured Juleka, "It gives us a chance to do something and prepare for whatever evil will be unleashed. Your message will not go unnoticed."
Juleka gave me the smallest of smiles, very unsure of herself.
I do not know what life Juleka has lived but I can tell it was not an easy one. I do know that being born with powers immediately makes that person a freak of nature in some people's eyes, especially the SSS.
I could not imagine being hunted my entire life for something that was out of my control—something I was born with—and looked upon as something monstrous.
"There has to be a way to find Hawkmoth. We cannot just sit around and wait for him to just pop out of the blue," Chat Noir stated.
"Do you think Bunnyx would give us a hint?" I suggested.
"Not if her small hint could lead to something excruciatingly terrible in the future," Chat said.
At that moment, Bunnyx decided to appear out of her burrow. Gabriel and mother were on high alert, reaching for their weapons. Yet, they did nothing much else. With a hard stare at the two, I returned my attention to Bunnyx.
Her face was pale, sculpted with horror after watching a haunting tragedy. Her arms were crossed over her chest as if it would defend her.
"What is the matter?" I asked, approaching the rabbit hero to provide her with any comfort I could.
Bunnyx scanned the room before leaning closer to me.
In a small, ragged voice, she spoke, "Burrows...not working."
I perked up in surprise, not expecting her to say that.
"What does that mean?" I questioned.
"Future...unclear. Do not...know...what...happens," she answered before coughing into her arm.
"You do not know what the future will hold," I gaped. Bunnyx nodded with a tense expression.
I was flabbergasted that the holder of time did not know what would come to be. Whatever will happen is not yet set in stone. We would not know who the victor would be, who would survive or die, or what the outcome of Paris' future would be.
Maybe, fate has not yet decided because it does not know itself. And that truly was a scary thought, not that Bunnyx would have told us what the future would be. It was a comforting thought to know at least someone knew what would happen.
Now, we do not have that safeguard anymore. Anything could happen and we would be blind to the event until it commences.
I let out a breath, releasing any anxieties I had.
No, just because we no longer have access to knowing the future does not change anything. Aside from Bunnyx, the rest of us did not know before. This does not mean we lose. It is just undecided.
"Keep your chin up. We will not let this get us down," I assured her before turning to the others, "We need to make a plan of action. Gabriel and mo—assassin, do you have any information on Hawkmoth?"
"I have a theory that Hawkmoth may be among the wealthy," Gabriel informed, "A majority of his victims have always come from the wealthy section of the city aside from the recent one. Also, it would be an excellent place to blend in with others just as cruel with power. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a precise location of where he could be lurking."
"Gabriel is the brains behind our operations so I do not have any information," mother confessed.
I hummed in thought. There had to be some sort of hint of who or where Hawkmoth is. There had to be an obvious clue that we were just not seeing.
"I have seen a walking corpse but I do not know if that has any relation to Hawkmoth," I said, "That is the only oddity that I have seen."
"A what?!" Chat Noir gawked. Gabriel had the same surprised look on his face.
"Why had you not shared this information earlier?" Chat asked
"Because there was not much else to tell. I did not know what his purpose was or who was controlling him. And I cannot tell you how I found out since it would hint at my identity," I explained.
"Wait, a walking corpse?" Juleka questioned me, "Are you speaking of Luka Couffaine?"
"Uh...yes, I do speak of him," I hesitatingly answered, "Do you know something of him?"
"Yes, he...was my brother until he was killed off by the witch of deception, Dae Sphinx. I believe she used some necromancy magic on him and controlling him. She is the one who cast the spell and no other being can control him," Juleka explained, practically venomous at the end.
I was a bit taken aback, not only to find out this woman is Rose's witch teacher but also the sister of Luka. Yet, I am more interested in hearing who Dae Sphinx is and how she fits into the story. Would she have any connections to Hawkmoth?
"Where is this Dae Sphinx residing?" I questioned.
"I do not know. Dae Sphinx disappeared shortly after she murdered my brother. Before I knew it, someone else had moved into her mansion," Juleka informed before going thoughtful.
"I believe the family's name was Rossi?"
"Rossi..." I gaped before the puzzle in my head began to be pieced together but there were still a few missing ones.
"Did not Lady Rossi say that she is Lord Couffaine's cousin?" Mother asked Gabriel.
"Yes," Gabriel agreed, "Now that I think about it, those two are never too far away from each other at parties. I do not believe I have ever seen Lord Couffaine without Lady Rossi."
I would have to agree with Gabriel's statement. Every time Luka has come to visit me, Lila is always there too. I thought she was just there because she knew that her presence annoyed me and found it entertaining.
Yet, there was always a bigger picture in the making.
The truth was...
"Are you implying that Lady Rossi and Dae Sphinx are the same person?" Chat Noir questioned.
"Yes," Gabriel confirmed, "There are too many coincidences to say otherwise. As this witch said, no other being can control Lord Couffaine except the one who cast the spell."
"What does any of this have to do with Hawkmoth?" Chat Noir asked.
"I believe what they are trying to say..." I began, "...that if Dae or Lady Rossi can have different identities, what is stopping her from having another? Juleka even said that she is known as the "witch of deception."
"Which means, she is a strong illusionist," Rena answered, entering the room with Carapace following. They had bandages on some parts of the skin that I could see, making me think they had been nursing each other back to health.
"Correct, she can look and sound like anyone she pleases," Juleka added, "even of the male variety."
"So...Lila Rossi is Hawkmoth?" I questioned.
"It is a possibility but we cannot jump to conclusions. There is no proof that connects the two," Chat Noir stated, "What would a witch need with the miraculous of the butterfly when she already has magic? What purpose would she have attacking the poor section?"
"What is Hawkmoth's true purpose?" Carapace questioned, "We had theorized that Hawkmoth wanted...certain miraculous but what if we are wrong?"
"Is there something here that Hawkmoth would want?" I asked Chat Noir.
"Apart from our miraculous, I would say the only other thing would be the Grimoire. It holds spells that unlock all the miraculous other powers," he answered.
"Maybe, Hawkmoth is trying to unlock more of the butterfly's miraculous powers to become stronger," Carapace theorized.
"That could very well be," Juleka agreed.
I glanced over at mother, noticing that she had been quiet for some time. She has barely said anything other than mentioning Lila's "relation" to Luka. Was she still hiding anything else? She did say Gabriel was the one who figured out everything so she might not know.
"Wait, back to the Dae Sphinx or Lady Rossi—whoever that person is. I know I should not reveal anything about my civilian life but I feel it necessary," Rena said. I gave her a look, wondering what in Paris she was thinking.
"I work in the household of Lady Dupain-Cheng, Lord Couffaine's fiancé. But what purpose does Lady Rossi have with the Dupain-Cheng household for a need to get close to them?" Rena questioned.
My mother was focused on Rena Rouge, studying her as if trying to figure out if she had seen the heroine. I do not blame Rena for giving that slice of information about her life since she did not realize that one of her former owners was in the same room.
But with Rena's question, I had been wondering the same thing. What was Lila Rossi's grand plan? What benefit would she get out of Luka by getting close to me...or could it be someone else I am close to?
Maybe, it was me. She killed father as her ultimate scheme to rid of me from the wealthy section and to hurt me in a terrible way. Lila never did like me. Although, that would make sense if she truly was Hawkmoth.
It was an Akuma that attacked the mansion, after all. And what an odd coincidence that it did. Akuma's are usually heading for the poor section, not breaking into people's houses. That Akuma specifically targeted the Dupain-Cheng mansion.
The more I thought about the "Lila being Hawkmoth" theory, the more it made sense. I still had some unsolved questions but the picture has formed enough clear shapes to know what is on the canvas.
"We should send someone to spy on Lady Rossi for more details. Someone she does not know but who we can trust," Gabriel suggested.
"That may be too risky. If she has the same powers as I, she will be able to see through any lie that our spy would tell," Rena Rouge denied.
"I would say we either break into her mansion or convince one of her staff members to help us."
The group continued to discuss a way to expose Lila's secrets. Yet, the discussion did not last long.
"AKUMA! AKUMA!" Polymouse's voice cried out from the hallway. She practically stumbled into the room.
"HURRY! GET OUT OF HERE! THE ROOF IS GOING TO FA-"
The building was starting to shake. The sound of wood was whining and snapping in two. The phantom noises of inhuman growls were in the background, joining in the symphony of chaos. The walls and ceiling began to cave in on us from all around.
Pegasus and Vesperia entered the training room a second after Polymouse.
"Voyage!" Pegasus shouted, opening a portal to the outside before ushering us to go. Vesperia entered first as the rest of us raced for the portal.
A body suddenly slammed into me. The two of us tumbled away from a large piece of ceiling that collapsed right where I was about to run through.
"Come on!" Chat Noir urged, pulling me to my feet and urging me to the portal. Chat, Pegasus, and I were the last ones to vacate the destruction in the nick of time. Everything caved in just as we went through the portal.
We stood in front of our demolished hideout, nothing but piles upon piles of wood. A few things that were in the building popped out but was buried in planks.
Yet, our destroyed hideout was the very least of our worries.
A grotesque monster emerged from the rubble. Its body a fleshy, circular mush of skin, decorated with many faces all around. The faces were deformed, stretching in odd shapes. Their teeth were sticking out at different angles or were missing. Tentacles whipped around wildly while two of them were being used as legs.
The strangest part was this abomination's entire body was not a dark purple, unlike every other Akuma. This creature has a peachy tone of skin and the tentacles were an acidic green.
I was beginning to wonder if this thing was even an Akuma at all. It looked like a demonic creature that manifested from hell.
Screams could be heard from around the area. The monster reached down and coiled one of its many tentacles around nearby poor civilians, picking them off the ground.
I could not stand still any longer and leaped into action. Who knows what that thing will do with those unfortunate souls. I did not want to find out, nor was I going to let it get away with whatever it was going to do.
The rest of the team followed me into battle.
I slung my yoyo at one of the creature's tentacles grasping a horrified male. He was trying to break free from the monster's grip to no avail. I zipped up near him and tried to help release him. Even with my enhanced strength, the tentacle's grip was too strong.
The only way to free this man was to cut the tentacle. Unfortunately, I did not have anything that could fulfill that task.
And the situation could only get worse as the monster began to move us towards one of its opening mouths.
"LADYBUG!"
My attention was brought to my mother waving me down. She unsheathed her sword before preparing to throw it.
"CATCH!"
With that, she threw the sword with all her might as if it were a spear. I managed to grab the sword and quickly sliced the tentacle. The monster let out a hideous, painful scream.
I free-fell towards the falling man. I used my yoyo to wrap around him and pull him into my arms. I landed on my feet, sending a surge through my legs. I held the man in my arms before setting him back on his feet.
"Get as far from here as possible!" I ordered him.
"I will. Thank you, Ladybug," the man said, gratefully before running away from the danger.
I returned to battle, helping other trapped civilians. A few of the miraculous wielders kept low to help catch the falling civilians. It was going okay so far...as okay as having no plan and being unsure of how long I can keep this up before someone truly does get eaten.
A very morbid thought but that is the reality I am currently facing.
What do I do to stop this thing?
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