When you live forever…
Safety and trust are weapons, not feelings.
'Against the bold, daring is unsafe'
Ovid
——————
Mari
Days passed as fast as snow littered the ground. While Mason decided to enroll in school, Fred and George stayed away. When I asked them about it, they said something along the lines of, 'Our last school was much better than this one will ever be, and we don't want to ruin the memory.' and also, 'we have a finicky past with schools. To much death in them, ya know?' which contradicted both statements, but I didn't bring it up again.
Thanksgiving passed. While it was a holiday originating in America, there were scatterings of Parisans celebrating, and Mason had spent the last fifty years there before meeting back up with the twins, so she said it was a must. I, on the other hand, had been in the Netherlands before this. Adrian had been here, and the twins had been in England, so none of us had celebrated in a while to blend in.
She did not, though, see our logical sense. Alya did not help her in this matter. While her parents always cooked big meals for her somewhat large family, Thanksgiving was just like every other day, except for the addition of gravy. Mason had looked faint as Alya told her, and then said that everyone had to have the 'American Thanksgiving' and that 'this would simply not do' and then disappeared into the kitchen with her phone to her ear, calling some form of caterers.
"You're paying!" Adrian called after her. I swatted the back of his head.
"Ignore him." I called after. "We'll split the bill!"
So, after a hearty meal that only the twins and Plagg finished, with plenty of leftovers to spare, I decided that yes, a holiday dedicated to eating was both very American and very my style. Alya called it her favorite holiday after the caterers first put out the food. I don't know if her opinion stayed that way thereafter.
But now Christmas was coming, and the annual panic that emerged from finding, buying, or making gifts appeared. Before, Adrian and I always had calm Christmasses. We were around before Saint Nick, so we didn't grow up to presents twice every year. I still remember when we use to count age by seasons. The twins seemed hellbent on getting someone from across the channel to knit us something, Alya was flailing about in the shopping marts, dragging poor Nino around with her, and Mason… wasn't doing anything, surprisingly.
"I haven't celebrated Christmas in hundreds of years." She said when I asked about her jolly spirit. "You can eat alone, but buying presents when there's no one around to give them isn't really fun."
"But what about the ten or so years you were with the twins?" I asked, still confused. "They seem to set on knitting us something for you to have not gotten one as well."
Her eyes flashed then, anger, pain, and memories directed at the ground. "I was… really hurt, when they found me." She admitted. "I don't really remember the first two or three years, honestly. I was basically in a coma while my body healed. I was bedridden for another year, then something happened at their school and they left for another year. When they got back, we travelled for a bit. I dunno, Christmas came and passed, but I never brought it up, and neither did they. It felt like, after their school, they spent more time mourning than anything else. I understand that, so I didn't bother them."
I bought her a stuffed wolf a foot taller than her. It was hiding in my closet and wait (as well as it could, the tail and a leg was poking out). When Adrian saw it he stopped watching where he was going and subsequently banged his shin and stubbed his toe. Good times.
It was a normal Christmas day, right after school. Mason hadn't showed today, but we had gotten a message saying that they were going ice skating somewhere. I didn't bother asking where- we'd see something on the news about an ice rink turning purple or floating or something later on. Nothing was ever simple around the twins.
It was then that the snow froze, and an akuma came into view over the tops of the buildings. Ever since the spider akuma, Gabriel's been very… tame and conservative with his choices. With only two akumas between then and now, both had been very easy to take care of, with Mason and the twins or without. This one seemed to be another easier one, dressed in a more innocent costume then the spider and the halloween akuma.
Then suddenly Adrian was behind me, arm around my waist as he leaned down to whisper to me, since we were in a crowded space. I know why he did it, but it still made me blush. Why? "I bet I can beat the akuma before you can."
I smirked, trying to pass the blush as flush from the cold. His smile was nice. "You're on."
The akuma was, indeed, very simple to beat. An ice wizard of some sort that was really just a man who just dealt with a breakup. He had a fun time freezing the hearts of couples in love. All in all, a 3 out of 10 on the danger chart.
That should've made me suspicious.
I wasn't though, so I thought nothing of it when Adrian passed the dust to me and disappeared into the city we had built long ago.
——————
Adrian
I had just turned the butterfly into dust when I heard far off crying.
"Can you finish this?" I accidently cut off whatever Mari was saying, straining my ear to hear the crying. It sounded like a child, and it's situation might've been dangerous. The Lucky Charm reversal might fix the problem, but I didn't want to take that risk.
Mari tilted her head at me, but only took the butterfly dust. Jumping off the building, I pole vaulted through the streets in the direction of the sound.
It was a child. A little boy.
"Hello there." I knelt next to the little boy, looking him over. He was blond, with dark green shaded eyes. His outfit was plain, and I would say he was lower class if not for the insanely crusted opal gem in his necklace. His face was squished as he watched the world outside his alcove. "Are you okay?"
The boy shook his head. "No… I was looking for something, but I can't find it. My moma said it would be here."
I gave him a smile, holding out a hand. "How about I help you find it? Here, what's your name?"
The boy took my hand with a beaming smile. "Adrian."
My stomach dropped suddenly. Adrian? That's what- but he should have purple eyes, no way-
My stomach was still dropping when my vision blurred, and the head splitting headache that hit me right after came from seemingly nowhere. If I wasn't already kneeling, I would've fallen. "Are you okay, mister?"
I tried to let go of his hand, but I was numb, almost immobile. Distantly, I could hear Plagg yelling about something, but it all sounded muffled, like I was under water or being smoldered from a pillow.
I blinked. Everything changed.
Where was I?
