When you live forever
Your own story grows longer
"There is no greater agony then bearing an untold story inside you."
Maya Angelou.
Marinette
Alya stayed the night, agian.
I woke up to her snoring at the foot of the bed, sniffling whenever Mari (who was perched on her head) swung her tail in front of Alya's nose. Silently getting out of bed, I looked outside and checked the clock, before groaning softly. Two hours before my alarm, great.
I moved to the room, slowly opening the door and slipping out. Tikki offered me a sleepy wave from where she laid, but didn't move to follow, still mostly asleep.
Taking a quick shower, I put back on the clean pajamas (I had time) and padded out into the living room. Moving towards the coffee table in front of the TV, I sat down, turning the TV on and filing through the bills scattered on the table.
'Parisian scientists are looking into the phenomenon known as Ladybug and Chat Noir.' I looked up, catching interest. 'Even though many are sceptical about the truth behind Chat Noir's words at the egyptian museum, the facts are starting to line up. Going over to Dr. Celtic Webler for more.'
'Thank you.' A greying man truffled, standing at what looked to be the construction area of the statue Paris is building. 'It really does seem like they are immortal beings when you start looking for answers. Starting with the egyptian tombstone, we have gotten confirmation from a Russian archaeologist that Chat Noir was indeed correct. Now, he might be able to just read the script, but the pictures drawn on the tablet depicting them also shows to Chat telling the truth. Eyeless in the picture, but an exact replication of the modern day heroes. Descendant is a theory, but not much evidence goes into it. The really interesting part of this is the mythological standpoint of all of this. I'll let Professor Jessica Malbury explain.'
I set down the letters, leaning back as a brown haired strict looking lady filled the screen. 'Thank you, Webler. See, most children are taught fairytales when their young, but not many know about the hidden story Paris has. My colleagues and i are in the mist of depicting an old journal, dating back thousands of years ago, written in an old French dialect. It expands greatly on our knowledge of how our beloved city was created, and we found two people that might interest our audience…'
She paused, pulling up a paper and clearing her throat. 'Hmm… to the ones who created this city, the one with gold hair and the one with blue, let you and your group fly high forever in your eternal grace.' She went to another page. 'Grandfather is the oldest in the village, or so it seems. I've heard the stories about the eternals, and my sister was a messenger of theirs. She oftens talks about them, her favorite being the leaders, the black cat and Ladybug. One day she came home crying. She said they left, but wouldn't say more. She was the last person to see them.'
The reporter's face split the screen. 'Thank you, and what do you think it all means, Professor?'
Malbury smiled. 'How little of a chance that Ladybug and Chat Noir know hyroglyphs, that chance is down to almost impossible adding the ancient French dialect. My question isn't if they're lying, I am certain they weren't. My new question is, are there more of them? The journal gives the impression, but where are they? Was the tombstone Chat Noir looked at for one of them?'
'All great questions.' The reporter said. 'And we'll be back with more when we learn more information, but you have it here- Chat Noir seems to be telling the truth. If anyone has anymore information, please call the number below…'
The reporter went off to another subject, and I picked up another bill, scanning it and groaning. The water bill and electric bill had almost doubled since I came, which made sense but was still a pain.
Arms appeared from behind me, wrapping around me. I would've elbowed the owner of the arms if the owner didn't sound so cat like just walking up. Adrian groaned slightly, nuzzling into my neck with a yawn, his eyes closed. "Why 'ou uwp so erly?" His muffled voice slurred.
I giggled as his hair tickled me, placing a hand on the top of it. "Just woke up early, kitty. I'm looking at the bills. How'd you even make it over here, you're half asleep."
He didn't answer, just moving closer. He is an actual cat. After a moment, he let go, stretching to wake himself. "Ew, bills."
"S'not all bad." I said, gesturing to the screen. "They just had a segment on us a few minutes ago. They found an old journal and some archeologists agreed with your translation. They believe you."
"Really." He was much more coherent as he flopped down on the couch, arms crossed. "The news believes it? I dunno whether to be surprised or sceptical."
We sorted through the letters for the next few minutes before Adrian went to get ready. I went to get changed after, not surprised that Alya was in the shower. By the time she got out, I was completely ready, bag packed.
"I have questions." She said after I was ready.
I smiled tightly. I was ready for this. "Hhmm? What questions?"
Alya's hand seemed to twitch, as if wanting to go to her phone. But, she seemed to stop herself. "Well, I guess I have only two. Why didn't you tell me? And I don't want any 'it'll keep you safe' bullshit, cause I'd be safer knowing either way."
"We always planned on telling you." I said gently, holding up my hands. "We just didn't know when. We're pretty sure Gabe's going to target you anyway, now."
Alya blinked. "Gabe? Who's-" her eyes widened. "Gabriel Agreste? The fricken designer? That's why Adrian looked like he was about to attack the man!"
"Yes." I nodded. "Gabe's an immortal too- he's known by the public as Hawkmoth. To us, all he is is a murderer."
Alya's face morphed into concern. "What?"
I checked the time. Adrian wasn't ready, but we still had time before we had to leave. "When Chat, or Adrian, was talking about the tomb in the Egyptian exhibit…"
It clicked in her head. "Was that person an immortal as well? Did Gabriel kill them?"
"Jani," I heard Adrian say as he left his room. "The immortal with the bear miraculous. And boy, did she deserve it."
I wrinkled my nose. "Jani might've been grizzly at some points-"
"She was a bear at heart."
"-but that doesn't mean that she herself was a bear." I finished. "Are you a cat?"
He shrugged. "You've seen me on Sundays."
"True." Alya nodded. "He got Nino to rub his head one time while we were over, before you got here. Purred and everything. It all makes so much more sense…"
Adrian smiled at his small victory. "You said you had two questions."
He'd been listening for that long?
"Well," Alya started. "I just wanted to know the history behind this. Mostly, I wanted to know about my ancestor. Is Fred… still alive? Mari said that Gabe murdered one of the other Immortals…"
Adrian gave her a sympathetic look. Every descendant wanted to know about their ancestor, and each time, we had to tell them about their death. The thing was, she was a descendant of Fred. Fred was the only immortal that might be alive (besides Gabe) who had any children.
"Let's sit down." I said instead of answering. "We might be a little late to school."
"School?" Alya asked. "My mom texted me- school's cancelled today- to honor those who died yesterday in the akuma attack."
I visibly flinched, as did Adrian. I couldn't bring people back from the dead, no matter how much I wanted to. "Oh." I murmured, falling onto the couch next to Adrian.
The immortal was still half asleep and lazy, so I wasn't surprised when he buried his face into my neck. I shook my head in amusement. Now that Alya knew, any feline affection he usually gave me wasn't hidden anymore.
After Alya sat down, Adrian looked back up. "I'm just going to tear the band aid off, okay?" He told Alya.
Alya nodded, masking her face.
"We don't know if Fred is still alive."
Alya let out a loud breath, laughing slightly. "Oh, oh! I was sure you were going to say that he was dead! I'll take a 'I don't know' anyday over that!"
I smiled. "I'll start from the beginning. A long, long, time ago, in a galaxy far far away-"
Alya arched an eyebrow. "Star Wars?"
Adrian shrugged. "We were friends with George Lucas when he was growing up."
Alya blinked. Adrian just laughed. "Anyway, thousands and thousands of years ago, we were born into an average size village, around twenty pairs of people, with a few singles and free travelers. Mari, here, was born to the chief, and I was born to some peasants, or, to the lower life of the village."
I had seriously forgotten about that. "When we were about five or so, a disease hit the children of our village." I continued. "All of the children we hung out with died. All of them, except for us."
"They had to let us play together after that." Adrian added jokingly. "They didn't want princess Mari to be all alone."
"I wasn't a princess."
"If Pocahontas can be called a princess then you can be called one too."
"Anyway." I cut off the side rambling, drawing Alya's attention back to me. She listened intently. "The sickness hit the females of the village too, and for around ten years, not a single child was born. It was only us."
Alya's eyebrows furrowed, deeply confused. Adrian picked it up. "When we were around 14, the first child in years was born. A girl named Mason. Two years later, and 17 other children had been born, all of them -aside from Mason- free from any sickness." He gave Alya a flitting look. "Fred, and his twin, George, were two of them."
Alya's eyes brightened, before confusion took over. "Fred and George? That sounds strangely familiar, like a book I've read."
"Don't worry about that." I said quickly. "ANYWAY, the night I turned 17, we were all blessed by the goddess Paris. The 18 other children turned into teenagers as well, and we were all granted with immortality and strength, as well as a face change."
"I used to be brunette." Adrian added in with a Cheshire grin. "But yeah. For the next few centuries, we built a city. We named it Paris, to celebrate the goddess that gave us our immortality."
Alya exhaled sharply. "You mean…"
"Yep."
I grinned. "We created this city- from the ground up. Everything was great for a long while. We were never attacked, and we were the nicest place around." My expression soured. "It all changed when Gabe became tainted with power."
Alya looked like she wanted to say something, but held her tongue. Adrian continued. "He somehow managed to kill one of the other Immortals. When Mari and I arrived at the scene, he, somehow, took our powers, putting them into a separate form, the kwamis. Tikki and Plagg. And since the others got their power from us- once we lost ours, they lost theirs as well, put into kwami. We couldn't die of age, but we could die from violence."
"Gabe went on a murder spree." I whispered brokenly. "Just casting the spell killed all the mortals around, and all of the Immortals were in one place as well, weakened and confused. Several died right then, just helping us escape."
Adrian dropped an arm around my shoulders in silent comfort. "Mason was our second in command- the others were to listen to her when we weren't around. She was able to save those who hadn't passed yet. Every since then, she's been watching our backs, keeping Gabe off our trail. That was thousands of years ago."
"Why…" Alya gulped, as if afraid to ask. "Why haven't I seen her, then?"
I wiped at my eyes, blinking. "Ten years ago. He had caught up to us, and we hadn't even known. She stayed back to give us more time, but she seemed to… ready. Ready for it to be over."
"I refuse to believe it." Adrian said sternly. "Anyway, we've been traveling, moving from place to place since then. As far as we know, we're still pretty much immortal. The only thing that can kill us is another Immortal's weapon. Since then, Gabe has managed to kill almost every single other immortal. The only two unaccounted for are-"
"Fred and George." Alya finishes, getting excited. "You don't know what happened to them. They could still be around. And so could Mason! 5 against 1 at best, but it's already 2 against 1, and you two are the strongest Immortals, right?"
I bit my lip. "Whenever Gabe kills an immortal, they don't go to an afterlife, but they go into his brooch, his own miraculous. I pretty sure he can channel them through that. He has the abilities of all the other miraculous."
Alya sat silent for a moment, before leaning back on the couch. "Damn."
"Damn indeed." Adrian agreed.
The door to my room opened slightly, and Mari the cat stepped through, followed by Tikki and Plagg.
"Sorry to interrupt." Tikki chirped. "But I sense an akuma."
I groaned. Already?!
Hey guys- What? No! It hasn't been more then a month since I last uploaded *takes step back* what are you talking about? No... *another step* it's still 2018, fix your watches, I'm sure it is *bolts*.
