Moving to a new school in a new country was difficult, but it was something Lila was well versed in. She had a three step plan to fit in whenever she landed at a new school.
Step one, scout out the atmosphere. There were always different cliques: sporty, nerdy, artsy, etcetera. See who's in charge, who had the run of the school, who was bullied, who was doing the bullying. Avoid both the bullied and the bullies. That narrowed things down.
The first thing Lila noticed about the new school she was going to, College Francois Dupoint, was that the atmosphere was... friendly. Most people were open to newbies and the majority of the class she was in had an amicable relationship with each other. The big exception she saw was a blond rich girl named Chloe, who had big bitch energy.
Once Lila found out she was the daughter of the Mayor of Paris, she was a little tempted to have a conversation with her. But she held back. She learned her lesson trying to befriend bullies before - oftentimes being friends with a bully wasn't much different than being the bully's victim.
Lila also decided to avoid the redhead in the back. He seemed difficult to hold a conversation with. She nearly crossed Max, the nerd, off the list as well, but the jock he hung around wasn't cruel or shaking him for homework answers, so she settled on neutrality for him.
The second step was to choose who she wanted to be friends with. She liked people with social sway and charisma, people who wouldn't be bullied and were admired. After narrowing down the crowd further with little interactions, she'd find a group and do her best to join them.
There were a lot of people to choose from. Rose was friends with nearly every single girl in class. She could even hold a conversation with Chloe's lackey, Sabrina, who only ever seemed to have eyes for Chloe. And she seemed genuinely sweet and invested in everyone. Yes, Rose would be easy to set up a nice network with.
There were a few other more isolated groups. Marinette and Alya both seemed more reserved and in their own world. Alya was supposedly the creator of the Ladyblog and often went on risky adventures to film akuma fights.
Honestly, if there was anything that would throw a wrench in her plans was that the city was regularly attacked by monsters, supervillains, whatever you wanted to call them.
Lila wasn't sure how to go about the topic. She wasn't sure how much she believed the stories and rumors. She didn't know how serious it actually was. She didn't know how real it actually was. She didn't know how casual people acted around it. Like, could she bring it up in a conversation? It felt like she was trying to ask someone about their dead dad. They could react in any manner from dismissive, to bursting into tears, to angry.
Lila shook her head. She'd just have to watch and wait and listen. Her expertise really.
Speaking of listening...
"Have you heard that Prince Ali is coming to do charity here , in Paris!?" Rose's bright and energetic voice was easy to hear from any part of the room. She was clearly talking to Juleka and Mylene, but surely she wouldn't mind if Lila overheard.
Juleka listened with a fond smile. "You've mentioned it once or twice."
"Yeah, but he's actually landing today!" Rose gushed. "He's going to raise funds for kid toys and supplies for people in need. Isn't that amazing?"
"It's very kind of him." Mylene agreed.
Lila made her way over as Rose continued excitedly talking about all of his past endeavors.
"You're talking about Prince Ali, right?" Lila asked. The group of three expanded their circle to include her.
"Yep!" Rose nodded.
"I love Prince Ali." Lila had never actually heard of him before now, but he was clearly a good person. There wasn't any harm in a little white lie. "I've always admired his determination to help people."
"Right!?" Rose's hands clasped together in front of her heart and she sighed dreamily. "He's so romantic..."
"You know, I've actually met him before." Lila found herself saying.
Rose's attention snapped to her. "Really?! What's he like!?"
Lila clenched her teeth and hid her hands behind her back as they curled into fists. Her nails bit into her palm. Why did she say that?!
Quickly on the back pedal, Lila tried to minimize the damage. "Well, I was super young, so I don't remember much about it. It was at one of those big charity galas."
From her seat a few rows in front of them, Chloe scoffed. "Yeah right."
Defensiveness boiled up in Lila and she crossed her arms. "My mom's an ambassador, so I've been everywhere. I'm certain he was raising funds for a hospital."
Chloe rolled her eyes and looked away.
"You're so lucky," Rose sighed wistfully. "I would love to meet him..."
The third step was the most important one:
Don't get caught in a lie.
. . .
"Father's been even more annoying lately!" Adrien complained with a huff once we sat at our spot.
I wrinkled my nose. "I thought that was impossible."
"I swear he's going crazy." Adrien shook his head.
"What's he doing?" Nino asked.
"He doesn't let me leave the house, even for studying. He's signing me up for even more things, things he's never wanted me to do before - like pottery! Which is fine, if I didn't know he's just doing it so I don't have any time to hang out with you guys. And he's insistent that I never leave the house unless he knows where I am!"
"That's so dumb." Keana objected. "He's trying to work you into the ground!"
"That's not even the half of it!" Adrien continued, rant mode activated. "He's so contrary. He doesn't want me to leave the house, but he keeps signing me up for things that make me leave the house! He says he's just worried about akuma attacks, but knowing where I am at all times isn't going to keep me safe from an akuma! Those are like, random or something!"
A good portion of them come from this school, for some reason though, I mused. High school is full of high emotions so it makes sense. That also explained why there have been so many giant toddlers, since babies have no emotional control. As for why this high school in particular... I was pretty sure the universe had it out for me, specifically. Like, I had just moved here, then there the first akuma attack happened on my front porch. And if that wasn't enough, it happened again on the second day of school while I was suffering from jet lag.
Though the actual reason was probably that Hawkmoth had a distance limit and his secret, butterfly-themed evil lair was under the Eiffel Tower or something.
I shook my head and refocused on Adrien's spiel.
"It's seriously not fair. How am I supposed to do - to do anything if he's always breathing over my shoulder! But how am I supposed to even talk to him about it when he just says" -and here Adrien pitched his voice down so it sounded growly- " It's not up for debate and I'm your father, you listen to me! And then kicks me out of his office and doesn't talk to me for the rest of the month!? And recently, he hasn't even been around to tell me how he's planning on ruining my life next! He just passes a note through Nathalie and says he's either on a business trip or not feeling well. Which is total bs, because I can hear his yelling from the air vents!"
"The air vents?" Nino asked, just as I said, "Wow, he must be pretty loud, then."
"Yeah. The mansion's walls are pretty thick and soundproofed, but there are AC vents that connect most of the rooms together. They don't let you listen in on conversations or anything, but if someone's loud enough you can hear the echo, even if you can't understand what's being said." Adrien explained in a grumble. "The weirdest part about it is that it happens randomly. I thought it was a wild animal at first, but after a few times, I realized that it's Father's voice."
"What do you think he's yelling about?" I wondered.
Adrien shook his head. "No clue. He always has his day scheduled, so it can't be a bad business partner or something like that."
"He's finally going senile," I said. "You can put him in a retirement home."
Adrien let out a huff of laughter.
"He's already senile," Nino disagreed, which was an incredibly valid point.
Adrien smiled, but it ultimately slid off of his face.
"Thanks, guys." He shook his head. "I just don't know what to do..."
We sat in contemplative silence for a bit, before-
"Hey, are you Adrien Agreste?"
I jolted. Standing in front of us was the brown haired new girl - Linda(?).
"That's me." Adrien smiled, but it was very obvious that he wasn't feeling it. It was still a good smile - he was a model - but it just wasn't real . It was good enough to fool the newbie, though.
"Wow, this is so cool. I'm Lila." Right, Lila. I knew that. Lila clasped her hands behind her back. "I'm a huge fan of your work!"
Nino and I winced. Adrien's modeling gig wasn't really his work. It was his father's work. Normally, Adrien wouldn't feel irritated over this topic, but seeing as he had just finished a rant about his dad...
"Thanks." Adrien's tone fell flat. It wasn't even half as convincing as his smile had been. Even Lila seemed to notice.
"Sorry, you probably don't want to talk about work." Lila backed up a bit. She bit her lip, which I took as a sign of anxiety.
Having been in the friendless, new girl position several times in my life, I took pity on her.
"Adrien doesn't like his modeling gig," I explained, "But his dad still makes him do it... because he's the worst."
Lila's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize-"
"It's fine," Adrien shook his head. "You couldn't have known."
Lila kept standing there. Her arms were crossed and her gaze had lowered to the floor. This was getting a bit awkward for me.
"No, I should have used my head." Lila denied. "I don't have the best relationship with my parent either, so I should have been more aware."
I edged a bit away from Lila and crossed my fingers and hoped she wasn't about to dump her life story on me. Adrien could do it as much as he wanted, because he was my friend, but Lila was a total stranger.
"Really?" Adrien's face was stricken
"Yeah, I mean," Lila heaved a sigh. "She's just busy all the time, since she's an ambassador and doesn't have much time for me."
"What do you do when you get into fights?" Adrien asked.
Lila laughed a little and it was on the edge of being uncomfortable. "Oh. I get pretty petty. Y'know, just little rebellions."
"Dude, that's it!" Nino exclaimed, startling the rest of us. He turned to Adrien. "You need to rebel!"
"Huh?" Adrien titled his head. "But I already kinda do that, don't I?"
I saw the light. "You're a genius Nino!"
"Adrien, what are things your dad hates?"
"Uh... Messy stuff? But I can't just make a mess, that's not fair for the maid!"
"Something else then."
Nino brought up skipping all the activities Adrien didn't like, but that got thrown away. The tutors and people in charge of the lessons reported to Nathalie and Nathalie was required to report to the douchebag himself. Her job could be in risk if Adrien didn't listen to her, and then Mr. Agreste would hire a worse nanny.
I mentioned skipping out on his skincare routines so he wouldn't look perfect in photoshoots, but then Adrien said they'd just photoshop the blemishes out. We all decided self inflicted acne only harmed Adrien and wasn't worth it. Ignoring the dumb diet would work but it just wouldn't have a big enough effect.
"He doesn't like us," Nino mused. "And nothing's stopping us from being in the same location as Adrien."
"Malicious compliance, I like it." I noted. "But we need something bigger. Something to really piss him off."
A few more ideas were thrown around and tossed out, until-
Adrien's eyes blew wide. "I got it!"
He explained it, and I had to admit it was creative. I was impressed. The brainstorming session ended abruptly, since Adrien had a phone call to make and a business expense to settle.
We split up, leaving a bewildered Lila behind.
. . .
The arrival of Lila and Kagami did not change much for Marinette. Other than homeroom, she did not share many classes with the two new girls. So life continued on as normal.
Alya had been in a funk. Despite weeks having passed by now, and the girl's hardy and determined nature, she was quiet and had not even made a post on the Ladyblog since the video stream of Pharaoh. Marinette had never seen her friend this... forlorn before. Now that the musical had settled down, and given everyone room to breath, she seemed listless. Like the activities and the focus the musical gave her was the only thing that had kept her afloat these past few weeks.
Guilt and concern stung at her heart every time she saw the downcast expression on Alya's face.
Marinette wished she could do something to help, beyond lightening the blogger's mood when she had the chance. And any smile never seemed to stick on her face.
So the new transfer students didn't breach the top ten concerns Marinette had on her mind. Even when she spotted Lila approaching Adrien and a flicker of jealousy and irritation welled up within her.
Mari thoroughly ignored it and went about her normal school day. She was in the middle of Madam Mendeliev's class, when a tiny sneeze came from her purse.
In any other class, this would have been easily covered up by ambient noise, or the teacher talking. However, Madam Mendeliev required for the room to be silent enough to hear a pin drop, even when she wasn't lecturing. Especially when she wasn't lecturing.
The class was in the middle of working on an in class worksheet, so the tiny sneeze felt deafening to Marinette, even muffled by the fabric of her purse. She could feel curious eyes boring into her from all directions.
So she did the natural thing.
" Ah - ah -Achoo!"
Mari sniffled, to really sell it. It was an incredibly loud sneeze. A few people chorused a quick 'bless you,' much to Madam Mendeliev's displeasure. The high strung teacher quickly shushed them.
Marinette smiled apologetically, but privately wondered why Tikki had sneezed. The kwami had never done so in the past. She shrugged, deciding she would ask about it later. Then she had to cover up three consecutive sneezes in the next twenty minutes, and 'later' quickly became as soon as possible.
Class ended, even though Mendeliev tried her best to keep them past the bell. Marinette quickly fled towards the bathroom, promising to meet Alya in her next class. She went past the bathroom, towards a more secluded area of the hallway, because it was passing period, so the bathrooms would be flooded with people.
Opening the latches of her purse, she could see the faint red glow of Tikki through the darkness. It was dimmer than usual and flickering slightly. She opened the purse wider and saw the tiny form of her kwami curled up and shivering.
"Tikki?" Marinette whispered. Was she sick? Was it even possible for kwami, the very concepts of the universe made manifest, to become sick?
Mari reached in and gently pulled the kwami out, cradling her in her hands.
Tikki groaned a little and shifted, opening her big blue eyes, though even they seemed dull and were half lidded. She sneezed.
Panic fluttered in Marinette's heart. "Tikki? What's wrong? Are you hungry, sick? Do you need a cookie-?"
Tikki was small enough to fit in the palm of just one of Mari's hands, so she used her other to start riffling through her purse, looking for the small stash of chocolate chip cookies the kwami adored.
"Mari-Marinette," Tikki coughed. "I'm fine, it's just a cold."
She attempted to float out of her wielder's palm, only for her glow to flicker and for gravity to assert its dominance. She coughed again, the sound high pitched and percussive, like two tiny cymbals tapping together.
"What can I do? How do you get better?" Marrinette asked frantically. "I didn't even know that kwami could get sick!"
"Calm down, Marinette," Tikki's voice was lower and raspier than it usually was, which had the effect of making her sound like an eight year old trying to impersonate an adult smoker. "I know someone who can help."
"You-You do?" Marinette had no clue who could possibly have expertise in kwami sickness. A doctor? A vet?
Then she stilled, an idea coming to mind.
There was one person who must know something about kwami. She had come to the conclusion that Chat Noir's and her Miraculous was given to them by someone else. Someone else had previously been taking care of Tikki and Chat Noir's kwami (was Plagg his name?).
Marinette was about to meet the person who entrusted the safety of the city and Hawkmoth's defeat to her.
She didn't know how to feel. She wished Tikki was coherent enough to talk with her. She wished she could hide in the bathroom. She couldn't focus on the rest of her classes, eyes glazed over as her thoughts and emotions whirled around in her head and chest.
She loved being Ladybug, loved that she got to meet Tikki but...
It was crushing her
She wished she could be normal.
She was only 13, the youngest in her class. She had a summer birthday in July.
(She remembered her talk with Tikki, about responsibility. About letting go.)
Mari remembered how Alya was so excited about superheroes, when she felt untouchable. She held onto her innocence, that invincible feeling that came with youth. Because it didn't matter that a supervillain was terrorizing the city, that people were being twisted into monsters, because there were superheroes who protected the city.
Marinette, Ladybug, the de facto-leader of the small team of heroes, felt the weight of the world closing in on her.
And she was about to learn who exactly laid this responsibility, this burden, across her shoulders.
The hours couldn't pass quickly enough, and yet at the same time she wished time would freeze.
Eventually, the final bell rang.
Marinette jumped up from her seat, and quickly moved over to Alya. Her bestie got up, swinging her bag on her shoulder and they walked out the classroom together. They made their way to the locker room, where they both gathered their things in silence, even as the locker room buzzed in activity and noise.
Eventually Mari tapped Alya's shoulder.
Her bestie looked up at her. "What's up, girl?"
"I'm so sorry," Mari started out. "My parents need me to run a few errands for the bakery. Do you want to meet up afterward?"
Alya shrugged. "You don't need any help?"
"No, it'll only take a little bit." she bit her lip. "Just a trip to restock some ingredients they forgot to bulk order."
"Oh, ok." Alya looked away. She wasn't even typing on her phone as she normally would in the blank space of a conversation. "See you later, I guess."
They split up and Marinette quickly disappeared into the crowd of students leaving the building. Once the throng thinned out, she gently extracted Tikki from her purse and cupped her in her hands.
"Where are we going?" Marinette muttered under her breath, too low for anyone nearby to hear but loud enough for Tikki.
Tikki groaned, blinking her hazy blue eyes open. She coughed. "F-Fu's Massage Shop..."
Marinette's brow pinched together. A massage shop?
Nonetheless, she returned Tikki to her bag and pulled out her phone for navigation. It was a bit of a walk away, tempting her to turn into Ladybug just to get there quicker. But she knew Tikki powered her, and transforming while the kwami was sick would not help her feel better. So she resigned herself to just walking.
Her gps led her to a tiny building, the kind that didn't look like a storefront in the slightest. It was squashed between two other apartment buildings, the only thing distinguishing it from a normal house, was a tiny, rustic hanging sign that was labeled Fu's Massage Shop. All in all, it gave hole-in-the-wall cafe vibes.
Hesitantly, Marinette reached up and knocked on the door with the door knocker, a bronze ring coming from the mouth of a dragon. And then she waited.
The silence was toe curling, but eventually she could hear the sounds of movement from beyond the door. There was a click of an unlocking lock and the door swing wide open, revealing-
Marinette's mouth dropped open in surprise.
"Chase?!"
Standing in the doorway was Chase Luana. He was half turned away from her, like he was yelling at someone behind him. He was also soaked in sweat.
He turned toward her, also surprised. "Marinette? What are you doing here?"
Was Chase the one who gave out the Miraculous? But he had moved here the day of the attack-
"Chase, who is it?" And in came Keana, appearing from behind her brother. She also looked like she had been working out. "Oh, Marinette? What are you doing here?"
Marinette's mind, very inconveniently, went blank. "Uhh- What are you doing here?"
Keana opened her mouth to respond only-
"Children, children, out of my way!" In came a cane wielding old man, who smacked at Keana and Chase's ankles until they stepped out of his way.
"Ow," Keana hissed, rubbing at the small injury. "You killed Chase!"
Chase had collapsed completely and was cradling his injury like it was threatening his life. "I'll never be able to walk again!" He wailed to the sky, only for another cane attack to hit him.
"Out of the way, you oaf!" Chase was notably blocking the doorway for the old man.
"You killed him again," Keana noted.
Marinette felt like her brain was short circuiting.
The old Chinese man's gaze fell on her. There was a hidden intensity in his eyes. He smiled. "Ah, silly me, I forgot I had a four o'clock appointment. Marinette, yes?"
Marinette nodded numbly, gathering herself. "Y-yeah. That's me!"
"Come in, come in-" He beckoned her and she stepped around Chase's fallen body.
Marinette took in her new surroundings. It was cozy inside, yet sparsely decorated. There were a few chinese styled decorations and pieces of furniture. She caught the whiff of incense and slipped her shoes off on the mat.
"Sometimes I forget Grampa Fu actually has a job," Chase mumbled and sat up.
Keana squinted. "I didn't take you for a person to go to a random massage parlor."
"O-oh!" Marinette waved her hands in front of her. "I like to find small hole in the wall places like this. I like hidden gems, a-and there's no way to know if something's good or not unless you try it."
The american shrugged. "I guess you're right."
"Why are you here?" Mari asked again.
"Oh, right." Keana absentmindedly rubbed at her neck. "Our mom signed us up for self defense lessons with Grampa Fu, here. With all the akuma attacks, we wanted to be able to feel safer."
"Grampa Fu?"
Keana chuckled. "We got pretty attached to him, so he's practically part of our family now."
"That's nice." Marinette breathed out. A knot of tension seemed to ease within her for a reason she couldn't parse.
"Come over here, Marinette." Fu beckoned again. "Keana, Chase. Stop distracting my guest- wait out here and take a lesson in patience."
"Are we not your guests?" Keana snarked back.
Chase just shrugged. "It was about time for a break, anyway."
Fu gestured with his cane again and Marinette trailed after him. She crossed the cramped foyer into a narrow hallway and up a few steps. She was led into a more spacious room. There were a few flat mattresses up against the wall and a bamboo mat was rolled out on the wooden floor. A gong was set up in the corner and a few potted plants lined the window.
"Take a seat." Fu tapped on the large bamboo mat with his cane and Marinette hesitantly followed his directions.
"Uhm, I'm not actually here for-" Marinette started.
"No, no. Of course not." He chuckled and shook his head. "What do I owe the pleasure for this visit, Holder of Creation?"
This was him then.
This wrinkled old man, who relied on a cane to hobble around his small flat, was-
Wait .
"You're the one who I helped across the street!" Marinette exclaimed. It was all coming back to her. The flower patterned button up, the cane, his face- this was the man who she had nearly tripped over the very first day of school, costing her half her box of macrons. She had helped him cross the street and- How did he know Hawkmoth was going to attack that day?
"The very same." He nodded. "You may call me Master Fu."
Marinette opened her mouth. She had so many questions but-
A tiny fit of coughs came from her bag.
(She didn't have time to ask any of them)
"Tikki, my kwami-" Marinette said instead. "She's sick and pointed me to your address."
The girl reached into her purse, gently lifted her out, and laid her on a nearby pillow. The kwami sunk into the cushion and flickered weakly with another cough. Her normally bright red skin had lost its luster.
Marinette glanced up at Master Fu just in time to see a flicker of indiscernible emotion cross his face. It was gone in an instant, replaced by concern.
"I recognize this ailment," Fu nodded, stroking his beard with his free hand.
"Can you help her?" Marinette anxiously asked.
"Yes, I can," Master Fu returned both hands to his cane. "It's a symptom of essence depletion. It happens every once in a while for kwami, and luckily has an easy fix."
Mari breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good..."
"However, Tikki will need some time to recover after the treatment." Master Fu cautioned. "You will be able to transform into Ladybug, but you need to take it easy."
Easy? How was she supposed to take it easy? "What if there's an akuma attack?"
Master Fu tapped the ground. "You have two other people to support you. I suggest you rely on them."
"But- ow!"
Mari rubbed at the ache on her shin. Master Fu continued standing there, as if he hadn't just whacked her.
"Doctor's orders. Now," Master Fu shooed her away. "Go out, talk with your friends. This will only take a moment."
. . .
Tikki was in space again.
The fabric of the cosmos was rolled out in front of her. A blank canvas, speckled with stars and galaxies and unlimited potential.
She floated, a haze over her eyes. She giggled, touching stardust that drifted within reach.
The energy coalesced within her, clashing and sparkling, a light show of untold proportions.
It was euphoria.
But then a black void came into view.
Tikki smiled and pushed a cluster of galaxies towards it.
They were swallowed up, their spark snuffed out.
The smile slipped from her face.
She stared at it, willing to hear for the clash of symphonies that surely existed.
She could hear static.
Nothing was bright enough to light it up.
Nothing was loud enough to bring harmony back to the universe.
Tikki stared at it, feeling the sting of tears at the back of her eyes. Why did nothing work? Why did it remain empty? Why did it refuse to be held among the life and light and creation of the world?
And slowly, within the void, two glowing white moons, just as empty as the rest of it, revealed themselves.
Abyss stared back at Creation.
H҉͜͠ ȩ̸͠ l̵̢͠ l̴̨̛ o҉̧҇
Tikki whimpered.
. . .
Water was great, I decided. Especially cold water.
I gripped my glass with both hands, relishing the chilled condensation on my hot skin. Every so often, I would take a cooled off hand and press it against my sweaty forehead or my neck. It offered temporary relief, but I was still sticky with perspiration.
Chase was worse. He sweated more than I did, it was just a fact of life. But he also got the ice pack since I landed a good hit on his jaw in the spar, so it all evened out in the end.
Grampa Fu's old, beaten up TV buzzed in the background. It was on the news channel, but for the past fifteen minutes or so, it had just been playing commercials. I had gotten fed up after the sixth Agreste brand commercial and muted it, so we were sitting mostly in silence.
"I can't believe you tried to ruin my good looks," Chase jokingly grumbled, in reference to the bruise forming on his jaw.
"Get better at dodging," I said. "Besides, it builds character."
"I think I'd have a better shot at blocking you than avoiding you."
"Probably," I acknowledged. I was faster than him, but he was stronger. We had around equal endurance, which was completely unfair. I was running around every day and I still couldn't outlast him.
I thought since I had more fighting experience the sparing sessions would be in my favor. But Chase was an annoyingly quick study and a hard worker. We started lessons at the same time, so it also made sense that we were around the same level.
Grampa Fu had both of us working on cardio as basic exercises. Beyond that, Chase had a weight lifting routine and I had an agility course. Then we'd move onto a brief meditation exercise and the real lesson would start. Master Fu taught us each a mixed bag of hand to hand, but I couldn't name what each technique he showed us originated from.
And once the break came around, we were both sweaty messes.
We continued to sit in exhausted silence, recovering our energy. Until we heard the quiet creak of a door and footsteps come down the hall.
I looked up to see Marinette enter. That was fast.
"Aren't massages supposed to an hour or something?" I asked. Whenever Mom got a massage or went to a chiropractor it always felt like it took ages.
"Oh-um." Marinette shrugged. "That's for in-depth body massages. Master Fu just did my, er, shoulders. And hit a gong a couple times. To... purge my tension?"
Chase snorted. "Normally, I'd laugh about how absurd that sounds, but sometimes I swear Gramps can work magic."
Marinette's eyes widened. "Wha- But magic doesn't exist!"
I turned to look at her, eyebrow arched. "Sure it does. What do you think the superheroes are doing?"
She bit her lip. "I guess I never really considered it magic..."
"Well," Chase stretched upward, and I heard his shoulder pop. He let out a sigh of relief. "If you liked it, you should ask about his meditation sessions. The first time we did one, I was dead to the world."
I nodded. "Yeah, that was great."
Marinette seemed to relax more the more we continued with idle chatter. I quietly wondered why she was still here since her session was over. I would ask, but I didn't want to sound like I was trying to kick her out. Grampa Fu still hadn't come back from the room, but he was weird so maybe he was doing a wack after-cleansing ritual for her stress or something.
Marinette's focus abruptly switched to the little dinky TV, which was back to the news again and showing a broadcast of the charity fundraiser that foreign prince was doing-
That was currently being bombarded by a girl with bubblegum pink hair, green skin, and a black dress jumpsuit thing. Pink tinted smoke was slowly filling the room and people started coughing. We saw a close up shot of the reporter hacking up a fit, until she slowed, eyes growing hazy and becoming half lidded as she calmed down. Okay, brain washing perfume, then.
Marinette had paled considerably. "I- I gotta go!"
I agreed with the sentiment, but probably for different reasons. Marinette hurried back to the room Fu was in. She probably forgot her purse.
I peeked inside my own bag, expecting Knight to be sitting at the bottom, tearing up paper. They were concernedly absent.
"Have you seen Knight?" I whispered to Chase.
He shook his head and I got up to start looking. I checked the cabinets in the kitchen, turning over pots and checking bowls, calling out Knight's name the whole time.
Eventually, Marinette came storming through and out the doors, looking like a nervous wreck. She hardly said goodbye before she was gone.
A few seconds later, Knight poked their head out of a wall. Because phasing through matter is something they can do, apparently.
"Where were you?" I asked.
S̷͚̈ͅâ̸̘͋y̸̻͝ỉ̸̼n̷̞̳͝g̴̭͙̅ ̶̡͕̑͑ḫ̴̺͂͛ë̴̠͍ĺ̴̼͔͊ľ̴̩̪ö̸̭̬
"Right." I raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "Anyway. Gotta go now."
I started towards the door, leaving my bag with Chase.
"Keana."
I looked back. Chase was staring at me with a pinch in his brow.
"Kick some butt, okay?" He said. Be careful , his eyes told me.
"Sir, yes, sir." I saluted him.
I didn't have another minute to waste.
. . .
It was terribly ironic that Lila's mom told her that she had been invited to the charity gala that Prince Ali was throwing. The diplomat that she was, Miss Rossi was included in the general invitation list.
Now Lila had an opportunity to make her lie a reality. Well, more of a half lie. She doubted she would have the opportunity to talk face to face with the prince. But a chance was a chance she was willing to take.
But now that she was there at the event, in the crowded room filled to the brim with people and rounded tables, she was regretting her decision. There wasn't even a snack table. And to make it even worse, Lila could see Chloe closer to the front of the room, where the guests who received specific invitations were.
It made sense, considering her father was the mayor, but Lila didn't want the rich girl to come over and interrogate her over why she wasn't sitting in that section, when Lila had met the prince before.
Lila shook her head and sipped on her tiny little glass of water that had a faint taste of citrus. Next to her, her mom was chatting with a few other guests that were seated at their table. Thankfully none were reporters; Lila couldn't stand reporters, they were just so... nosy.
And then a hush gradually fell over the guests as Prince Ali's escort caught their attention. The main segment, full of speeches was about to begin. Lila didn't frown, because she literally asked to be here, but it was a sore temptation. The smile she had on her face was certainly disingenuous. They had already been here for an hour just socializing, or networking as her mother would say.
The welcoming speech began and Lila anticipated being there for another three hours. Plus another when everyone socialized again, when they really ought to be leaving.
Mom's own practiced smiled slipped off of her face when she sniffed the air.
"Lila, someone is spraying perfume." Her mom cautioned. Then she fished a mask from her pouch. "Wear this."
Lila withheld a groan. She was allergic to perfume, and events like these were always full of sweaty people, no matter how well air conditioned it was. And sweaty people tended to smell bad, so they sprayed perfume to cover it up.
She slipped the mask over her mouth and nose and crossed her fingers that the perfume wasn't strawberry scented. Nothing would save her from a full on allergic reaction if that happened.
Then people in the back of the room started coughing. Lila's eyes widened as a pink smoke slowly wafted into the room. Who on earth decided to set up smoke machines? Was this someone's awful idea of a prank?
Lila tapped on her mom's shoulder, inclining her head that they should leave. Lila would prefer not to have a trip to the ER today.
But her mom was staring ahead slack jawed, her eyes glazed over.
"Mom?" Lila tugged on her blouse insistently, but it only served to jostle her. Panic began rising in her. "Come on, don't ignore me like this!"
Her mom slowly began turning her head in Lila's direction. The woman smiled loosely, in a nearly dopey manner. "Hey, why don't you take off that mask for a bit? This is great."
Lila recoiled. "Are you crazy? Did someone spike the smoke machine?!"
It looked that way. Her mom was acting strangely and her pupils were blown wide, like she was high. And everyone else around looked like they were acting weird, too.
The pinkish smoke - perfume- continued wafting into the room and no one seemed to care.
And then someone new waltzed in like she owned the place.
Lila didn't gasp, because then she'd choke on the perfume, but it was a near thing.
The newcomer's skin was green like a witch, her hair was unnaturally pink, and she wore a black dress jumpsuit. And she was holding a perfume can that was still pumping out the pink smoke.
And, if you ignored the skin and hair color, she looked exactly like Lila's new classmate, Rose.
The girl spread her arms out in a grand gesture. Guards, with the same hazy look in her eyes, flanked her like royalty. "Welcome, my subjects! I am Princess Fragrance."
And around Lila, people began bowing . It happened a table at a time - people's heads went down and stayed like that. Lila quickly bowed along with her table, eyes wide and stinging from the smokey air. What was happening ?!
"Rise, my subjects," Rose, Princess Fragrance, whoever she was, giggled. "You can save that for the wedding!"
Then she dances through the aisles, people easily parting for her as she passed. She skipped right up to the podium where Prince Ali was standing, still as a statue. She wrapped her green arms around her neck and kissed his cheek. He let her, his protective honor guard let her too.
And slowly, very carefully, Lila slipped beneath the table, letting the draping tablecloth hide her from view. The smoke was thicker closer to the ground, like it had settled there, but Lila had plenty more room to breath.
Princess Fragrance announced something else, and Lila could hear the sound of a hundred chairs scraping as everyone stood up in sync and filtered out of the room.
It took ages for each person to leave the room and only once silence ruled the room did Lila dare to breath again, a shaky thing. It felt impossibly loud.
And it came out as a sob.
Her eyes watered from the smoke, her entire body was shaking and she couldn't stop-
Lila wasn't sure how long she was crouched there, too afraid to leave the cover of the table, even as the smoke dissipated. It felt like an eternity, yet it couldn't have been longer than five minutes until-
"Is someone in here?"
Dread washed over her and Lila choked.
It was one of the brainwashed people. It had to be! There was no one else in the building and-
She just had to be quiet enough for whoever heard her to think she was imagining things and leave .
Lila stayed huddled under the table, quivering like a mouse in a trap and holding her breath. She wasn't crying.
Then the table cloth concealing her hiding spot was lifted up. And another face popped into her hiding place.
Lila froze. But then she recognized who it was.
Black hair, red spotted mask, pigtails- It was Ladybug, one of the supposed Parisian superheroes.
Ladybug offered out a gloved hand. "How about you come out from under the table?" She said gently, coaxing like Lila was a trapped fox.
Lila nodded mutely and let the superhero pull her out of hiding.
The air was fresher, and the smoke had nearly completely dissipated from the room. It must have been blown out from the open windows. Lila took deep breaths, and ignored how shaky they were. She wasn't about to cry in front of a superhero .
"Can I ask you what happened." Ladybug asked, as if Lila was about to break down at any moment. "You don't have to if it's too much, but it could be a big help."
Lila shook her head. "No, I can do it. You want to take down Princess Fragrance, right?"
"Yes." Ladybug nodded. "It's my duty to protect the citizens of Paris from akumas."
So this was an akuma attack. Parisians have to deal with things like this on the regular?!
"R-Right." Lila sniffed and wiped her face. "I was just sitting here at the gala, when my mom noticed that someone had sprayed perfume. She gave me this" - Lila pointed at her mask - "because I'm allergic to perfume. And then everyone started acting weird. Then Princess Fragrance came in with a whole troop of armed guards and-"
"Thank you," Ladybug soothed. "This was a huge help. Get home safely, Chat Noir, Ghost and I have this covered."
The Ladybug took the tablecloth and tore it into strips, fashioning a mask for herself and the other members of the trio.
Ladybug then guided Lila out of the room, and towards fresh air. Even in the open breeze, Lila was still too scared to remove her mask.
And Ladybug went to leave-
"W-wait! Some of the guards have guns, and-"
Ladybug smiled and Lila's jaw clacked shut. "Don't worry, we have it covered."
And Ladybug left, slinging away with her yo-yo.
. . .
The masks might have neutralized the effects of the perfume on them, but that didn't make the fight easy. With Princess Fragrance's army of brainwashed civilians, they had to be extra careful.
Ghost drew the fire of the guards. They evaded the bullets and could shadow dash if it became too difficult.
Chat Noir and Ladybug both teamed up to push through the horde of civilians to get to Princess Fragrance. It was a mad rush, but they made it to the akuma before she caused any international incidents by marrying a foreign prince.
Quickly, Ladybug restrained the akuma and held her breath as Princess Fragrance tried to spray her with the perfume. Chat Noir then broke the perfume flask that was the akumatized object.
The black butterfly slipped out.
"Chat Noir, now!"
"Cataclysm!"
And the butterfly was disintegrated.
There wasn't a big wave of energy to fix everything, but people snapped out of their mind-controlled haze and looked about in confusion. There wasn't much damage at all, other than a few bumps, bruises, and some holes in cement and stone where bullets hit.
"Pound it!"
The superheroes parted ways with the classic fist bump.
And Tikki woke up with a yawn as Marinette detransformed in her bedroom.
"Marinette...?" The kwami was clearly more energetic than earlier, but the battle had still drained her. "There was an akuma?"
"Yeah," Mari nodded. "And we managed to beat it so we could help you save as much energy as possible."
Tikki frowned. "But the akuma. How did you purify it?"
"We had Chat Noir Cataclysm it, why?"
Tikki's normal bright and open expression darkened and her lip pulled up. "That piece of-! Why did you let him?"
Marinette's mouth dropped open slightly, surprised at the fierceness of Tikki's anger. She knew that her kwami wouldn't like that they had to do it, but this exceeded her expectations.
Tikki continued. "You know that hurts Nooroo, so why did you let him do that!?"
"Tikki," Marinette started slowly. "That was our only option."
"No, I could have purified it, we don't need to stoop to such lowly-"
"Tikki, when I transformed, it barely held out for the entirety of the fight! I couldn't even use lucky charm, much less purifying an akuma and fixing all the damage!"
"I could have-"
"No, you couldn't have." Marinette shook her head, frustrated. "It was either cataclysm or the akuma multiplying!"
Tikki didn't say anything, so they sat in frosty silence that Mari broke with a sigh.
"Tikki, you can't just- You're such a hypocrite!"
The kwami snapped her head towards her holder. "What do you mean?!"
It was Mari's turn to be frustrated. "You're always telling me how important it is to take care of myself, so i can take care of the city. That duty comes first, but not before self care. And now you're endangering yourself with-with stubbornness!"
"What- That's not-"
"Tikki, if you aren't at one hundred percent, then Ladybug isn't at one hundred percent. And that puts the city in danger."
Tikki didn't respond, but she couldn't meet her holder's gaze.
"Please don't drive yourself to the ground."
. . .
The smell of roses and lilacs and other flowery scents lingered far after the akuma attack ended.
In a room kept separate from the rest of his house, was a small altar. It was simple, with two holders for incense. The only detail it held was a simple carving on it: a circle split into quarters, each with a boxy spiral within it.
Master Fu knelt in front of the simple shrine. lighting the incense sticks and placing them within the holders. Twin trails of smoke curled off of them, gathering at the ceiling of the room in a lazy stream.
He bowed his head, closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He focused on the scent. He centered his mind on his duty, on his regret.
He could hardly smell the incense under the potency of the lingering perfume. But it was there, cleaving to existence.
"I expected the Final Guardian to be well hidden."
Fu didn't look up from his altar. He didn't open his eyes.
"I expected a member of the Tsurugi Clan would have more respect towards the fallen."
If the current title bearer of Hornet took offense, she expressed no sign of it.
"Very well," her tone was perhaps a touch more icy than before. She waited until the smoke of the incense burnt out, sitting in silence with Fu. Only as the final wisps of smoke reached the ceiling, did the interaction continue.
"Tsurugi, why have you sought me out? Curiosity?" Fu asked.
"I know of your failures, of your loss, Guardian Wang Fu." The Tsurugi member spoke with a barbed honesty typical of her clan. Fu endured it without changing his countenance from a stony exterior. "So now I ask you this. Why do you dishonor their legacy?"
Fu's eyes snapped open and he turned to the young Tsurugi, who was still leaning in the window frame.
"What is the meaning of this?" He uttered, a cold rage lining his words, crackling in his aged throat like scraping sandpaper.
"Allow me to enlighten you." Tsurugi stepped away from the window. "Your organization, the Guardians, they gave up everything, stopped at nothing, to halt the calamity of the Corrupter's Ascension. And now another wielding dark magic, the very same, has crept back into this world. And you entrusted the two capable of halting him the quickest to a pair of untrained children. It throws doubt onto your motives."
The impudence of this child should infuriate him. She sought him out, stalked those he trusts to his house, so she could scold him like he was a child. When he was the one who survived these centuries, outliving everyone he holds dear. When the Clan of Tsurugi were the very first ones to flee, to hide, when another who abused their power came along. It should have filled him with an incandescent rage.
He only had enough energy within him to feel a tired determination, worn-out by time.
"My dear Tsurugi," He said eventually. "An era is coming to an end. Secrets are coming to light and those who try to stick to the shadows will be discovered whether they wish to be or not."
She stilled. "You wish to-"
"I will not be around forever." Master Fu said. "And it is time for the next generation to be brought up. Had I given the Black Cat or the Ladybug to anyone else, they would not have had the strength to do what comes next."
"I see." Tsurugi nodded. She did not leave.
"Have you come for any other reason?" Fu prodded.
She nodded again.
"What do you know of Ghost?"
AN:
If you hadn't noticed, Lila is ooc.
Here's my reason why:
She's the reason I fell out of love with the show. Her lies are so ridiculous, but nearly every character believes her anyway. It isn't charming, it doesn't make her seem devious it makes all the other characters seem stupid. It made me incredibly frustrated, because I could see that the other character's obliviousness to Lila wasn't real; it was just used as a plot convenience to add more drama to Marinette's life. Like, tell me someone random you know claims that they saved a celebrity's cat on an in flight airplane and you wouldn't laugh out loud at them.
There are several ways I could go around this. 1) make Lila's lies more subtle, so other characters don't seem stupid for believing her. or 2) make a typical bash Lila scenario where she is as subtle as a hammer and immediately gets called out on her outlandish claims.
I decided I didn't want to do either. I didn't want to write Lila as a straight up villain, not when I'm already struggling with balancing character perspectives and trying not to lose any plot threads. If Lila became a minor recurring problem (thus becoming her own mini arc), it would distract from other things going on. Also I really didn't feel like writing a minor antagonist when any other reasonable person who just moved to a city already known for monster/terrorist attacks would be freaking out, not stirring up drama in school.
So Lila became another form of a straight man into how Paris is like right now. The citizens of Paris are getting used to this apocalypse, so it was fun to throw in a new perspective.
Anyway!
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'm working on 26 right now, but it's pretty slow going so far.