Chapter 8: Visions of the Future
Monday came too fast, like it happens one too many times. But on that Monday, unlike so many others, there were reasons to celebrate. At least, for Caline Bustier and those who knew her. It was her 30th birthday, and she knew when she woke up that she was going to have a busy day, but no matter how busy, it also going to be one full of joy. The first people to wish him a happy birthday were her parents and her sister, as well as a few other relatives. And when she arrived at school, the other people who wished her the same were the other teachers, as soon as she entered the teacher's lounge, telling her that during recess, they would have a cake waiting for her. Last, but not least, it was her class, who also wished her a happy birthday. By the time she arrived at the classroom, they had all decorated the room and placed the gifts they had bought or made for her on her desk, like they always did, whenever it was someone's birthday.
"You all shouldn't have." -Miss Bustier told her class.
"But we had to, miss Bustier." -Mylene smiled.
"You're the best teacher in the world, and you deserve every there's good in the world, on your special day." -Rose declared.
"And we would be very rotten students, if we didn't show you just how much we appreciate you." -Max said.
"Thank you all." -Miss Bustier smiled at her class.
"Don't thank us just yet." -Alya said. –"You still don't know what the presents are. And like always, there will be cake." -she smiled.
"Yes. I asked my dad to bake you a birthday cake, miss Bustier." -Marinette declared.
Being their teacher for the past three years, Caline had grown accustomed to her students always putting a little birthday party for her. Yet, she could not help but to feel emotional and grateful to them, knowing they did not have to do it. It was just one of the many gestures that made her feel like she was the luckiest teacher in the world.
"You… You all sure know how to make me feel emotional." -Miss Bustier said, as a few tears ran down her face. –"There was no need for all this." -she said.
"That's up for us to decide, miss Bustier." -Alix declared.
"The best teacher in the world deserves the best party from her class." -Ivan declared.
"Plus, maybe this way, we might be able to sweeten you enough to raise our grades a little bit." -Kim said, earning a –"O-Ouch! I was just kidding, Imp! Let go of my ear!" -he told the antelope kwami, as he let go of him.
"It's a good thing you were kidding, Kim. Because as nice as giving me a birthday party is, that will not influence on your final grades… no matter how much some of you, including you, need it." -Miss Bustier said, which made Kim go white as a sheet in a matter of seconds. –"I'm only kidding, Kim. I still haven't looked at the exams. I needed the weekend for myself." -she smiled, tranquilizing him.
Sticking to tradition, they all took their seats, as miss Bustier sat behind her desk, and one by one, she opened the presents. She began with the one from Mylene; a book of poetry by Robert Desnos, an author she knew her teacher loved. Then, it was Kim's present she opened. Now knowing she was a geek and a nerd, he gave her a Betty Boop t-shirt, where the infamous cartoon girl was winking her eye. After it, it was Nathaniel's gift, which was not exactly a surprise, due to everyone knowing it was another portrait he had painted. But even knowing what it, they had no idea of how it looked. And when the teacher unwrapped it, she was surprised by just how beautiful it was.
"Oh my… Nathaniel, it looks beautiful." -Miss Bustier said, as she looked
"I'm glad you like it, miss Bustier. I tried my best to capture your essence in the canvas." -Nathaniel said.
"I think you did an incredible job, Nathaniel." -Miss Bustier told him. –"Of all the portraits you gave me, this one is the most beautiful so far." -she smiled, as she looked at the portrait. –"I love how you used the colours of sunset to create it."
"I'm happy you liked it." -Nathaniel said, with a shy voice.
"And you thought she wasn't going to like it." -Mulan told him. –"It's like I always tell you; trust your instincts and in your artwork, and everything will work out." -he reminded him.
Next it was time for her to unwrap Alix's present, which was unusual to say the least. When opening it, miss Bustier took a second to look at what was inside the box, and was surprised to see what looked like a stuffed doll wearing a hula skirt and dozens of pins stuck to it.
"Is that a voodoo doll?" -Alya asked, noticing all the pins.
"Yup, a genuine voodoo doll. At least, that's what the guy at the Haitian store told me. All you need is a lock of hair or a piece of cloth that belongs to the person you want to curse, and you can curse it or do your bidding at will." -Alix joked. –"If you want to, you can use it on Kim, right away, to test if it really works." -she laughed, as she hastily pulled a couple of hairs from Kim's head.
"Ouch! Hey, give me back those! I don't want my hair to be used to turn me into a zombie!" -Kim exclaimed, as he tried to get the hairs from Alix.
The way he said it, made everyone believe that Kim actually believed in voodoo, which earned him a couple of laughs from everyone in the classroom. Even miss Bustier let out a couple of laughs on account of Kim. When the laughter ended, she thanked Alix for the gift, in a way only she would.
"Well, it's an unusual gift, I'll give you that, Alix. But I don't think I'll be using it to curse anyone. I prefer to think of it as the latest acquisition for my figurine and doll collection." -Miss Bustier smiled at Alix, who smiled back at her.
Present after present, the whole class had bought or made truly beautiful presents for miss Bustier, and it was hard for her to pick which one she liked the most. Not to mention that she had been surprised already by the uniqueness of some of the presents, like the dreamcatcher Juleka had given her, or the poem that Ivan wrote for her. And now it was time for her to unwrap one more present; Chloe's present.
As she began to unwrap it, miss Bustier saw just how Chloe's eyes were sparkling with anticipation. They looked like the eyes of a young child when giving a person something she had worked hard on. She could tell that whatever was the present inside the box, Chloe was hoping she liked it. Once she finished unwrapping it, she saw a word written in gold letters on the box. It said "Cartier", which meant she had bought her some jewellery. Opening it, inside was a beautiful gold bracelet, magnificently crafted, adorned with several diamonds. Just from looking at it, the teacher knew that bracelet had been incredibly expensive.
"Chloe… this is… this is too much." -Miss Bustier declared, without taking her eyes off the bracelet.
"It's to make it up for other years, where I forgot about your birthday." -Chloe confessed. –"Sabrina helped me pick it." -she said, as she exchanged a glance with the redhead who smiled back.
It was a beautiful bracelet. Fit for a princess, or even a queen. And miss Bustier was not the only one who was thinking that. Everyone, including the kwamis, all thought the same and agreed that Chloe had gone overboard once more, though this time, for a very good reason.
"You shouldn't have spent so much money on a gift for me. But I would be lying if I said that I don't love it. Thank you, Chloe." -Miss Bustier smiled tenderly.
Hearing her say that, a tear ran down the blonde's face, as she quickly lounged at her and hugged her. Miss Bustier was caught out of surprise, but like always, she knew what to do. Gently wrapping her arms around Chloe's shoulders, she hugged her back, knowing that she needed it.
Once the presents were all unwrapped, the kwamis announced that they too wished to give miss Bustier a present of their own. Holding hands in a circle, the kwamis began to glow, as something appeared in the middle of that circle. Once the glow dwindled, it revealed what the kwamis had offered to the teacher; a golden locket the size of a walnut. Holding it in her hands, miss Bustier noticed there was a yin and yang symbol engraved on the back. Unlike the bracelet Chloe had given her, which was exquisitely crafted, that locket was beautiful because of its simplicity, and that made it ever the more special.
"It's not much, but it's our way to demonstrate the love and respect we have for you, miss Bustier." -Tikki said, speaking for all the kwamis.
"It's beautiful. Thank you so much." -Miss Bustier thanked, as all the tiny magical creatures gathered around her and hugged her.
"Our pleasure, miss Bustier." -Wayzz said, as he and the others broke the embrace. –"But we're not the only ones who also want to present you with a gift." -he declared. –"Master Fu didn't forget about your birthday, and he wants you to have this."
Using its powers, the turtle kwami made appear the old master's gift out of thin air. A beautiful glass jar filled with tea. Grabbing it, miss Bustier unscrewed the lid and smelled it.
"It's Junshan Yinzhen. A blend of yellow tea. From the Hunan Province, and it is considered one of the rarest teas of China." -Wayzz explained, as miss Bustier inhaled the tea's distinct aroma.
"Junshan Yinzhen… am I pronouncing it right?" -Miss Bustier asked the turtle kwami, who nodded. –"I'm feeling quite pampered with such a rare tea." -she giggled. –"I'll have to thank him, next time I see him."
With the last present opened, and because the class had done all its finals, and it was miss Bustier's birthday, she decided to put on a movie for everyone to watch, while they waited for Marinette's dad to show up with the birthday cake. The movie chosen was an oldie but goodie, as some would call it; "La Boum" with Sophie Marceau. A coming-of-age comedy. Almost everyone in that class had watched it, at least once, but that did not make it less interesting. And the kwamis, who had never watched it, had their eyes glued to the projector screen. As the movie started, the lights were turned off and silence settled in, only to be broken by the occasional comment from one of students.
"This is the first time I watch this." -Adrien whispered at Marinette, who turned around.
"Really? You never watched it before?" -Marinette asked him. –"I must've watched it like a hundred times. My dad had a crush on Sophie Marceau while growing up, so we watched it a lot, when I was little." -she whispered at Adrien.
"Marinette, hush!" -Tikki told her, in a hushed voice.
"Oops, sorry Tikki." -Marinette apologized to her, before turning to Adrien and whisper to him. –"I hope you like it, silly kitty. It's really good."
"If you say it is, I'll take your word for it, bugaboo." -Adrien whispered back.
The cake Marinette's dad created for miss Bustier looked just like every cake he baked; beautiful and delicious. A truly lovely combination of shapes and colours. Modelling it with marzipan, Tom had made the cake to look like an open book, with a ruler on top, and an open box of chalk, with pieces of different colours inside it. The words "Happy Birthday, miss Bustier" were written in a beautiful calligraphy, each letter looking like it had come from an ancient book. And adorning it were 30 blue candles.
"This cake is absolutely beautiful." -Mylene said.
"Your dad outdid himself again, bugaboo." -Adrien whispered at Marinette's ear, making her smile.
"I don't know if I'll be able to eat such a pretty cake. I don't want to ruin such a beautiful thing." -Rose commented.
"Look at it this way, Rose. It ain't gonna last forever." -Juleka told her. –"Besides, if there's anything you love more than birthday cakes, it's to eat them." -she smiled at her girlfriend, who smiled back.
"Okay, everyone. Get those lungs ready to sing "Happy birthday" to the best teacher in the universe." -Alya warned the others, as they all gathered around miss Bustier's desk.
"I'm more concerned with getting my mouth and my stomach ready to eat this cake!" -Kim declared, as his eyes devoured the cake. –"I just hope it's a chocolate cake, because that's my favourite."
"Hold your horses, Shaggy Rogers!" -Nino joked. –"We sing first, and then, we eat." -he told him.
Some in tune, others less in tune, the whole class sang happy birthday to miss Bustier, who could not help but to shed a tear. Taking a deep breath, she blew up the candles, to the sound of claps. A sound which was replaced by silence, which had no place there, right then. It was then, that miss Bustier realized that she was alone in the classroom. The whole class had disappeared. One moment she was surrounded by her students, and the next she was all alone in the classroom.
"What's going on here?" -Miss Bustier asked, as she tried to understand what was happening to her. –"Could this be the work of an Akuma?" -she asked.
It was a good question. She had been attacked by Akumas before, and each of them attacked her differently, due to their powers. Still, that did not feel like the work of an Akuma. And then, she noticed a small golden sphere at her left.
"What's this sphere?" -Miss Bustier asked, as her hand reached for it.
When she touched the sphere, she felt as if lightning had struck her head. And to put things to rest, she started seeing things that did not make sense. First, she saw her students, but they were inexplicably older. Then she saw an open coffin, surrounded by numerous dead flowers. Before she could make sense of what she was seeing, everything changed around her in a heartbeat, and suddenly, she saw two brides dressed in white holding hands in a kind of chapel. She could not tell who they were, because they had their backs to her. Then, she saw a huge presidential banner fall to the ground, while hearing a glass breaking.
"W-What is the meaning of this?!" -Miss Bustier asked.
All that was happening made no sense. She did not know where she was or what was going on. And before she could have the time to make sense of it, everything around her changed once again, and she was presented with another vision. This time she saw what she thought was a dark vortex that kept growing. And just like it happened before, before she was able to make heads or tails of what she was looking at, it changed, and she saw a heroine that was wearing a pale, light greyish fuchsia superhero body-jumpsuit with dark cerise tiger like stripes and brilliant crimson marks on it, alongside another hero that was wearing a black and cyan suit, appearing to be slender and muscular, with a snake-like texture and patterns, complete with fangs on his brilliant opal and turquoise-ish grey mask, holding twin sais, fighting what looked like a huge creature made out of dark red plasma. And just as she was about to land a punch on it, both of them disappeared, and something completely unrelated appeared. This time it was what she perceived as a medical stasis pod filled with green liquid, and someone inside it. This time, unlike with the previous visions, she tried to make it who was inside the pod. But before she could even take a step, the pod disappeared, and two figures came out of the shadows, each with a sadistic smile on their face. They were both Ladybug and Chat Noir, but their outfits looked completely different. Chat's outfit was completely white, and so was his hair. And Ladybug's outfit was black with red polka dots. Before she could even react, the two of them lounged at her, attacking, only to disappear in a cloud of smoke. This cloud of smoke quickly dissipated to reveal something else. This time she was standing on what looked like a cliff overlooking a seemingly infinite army grouped into legions, goose-stepping in one direction. The whole thing felt like something out of a Nazi propaganda film. And as if that was not creepy enough, she turned around to see Hawk Moth behind her, surrounded by numerous shadowy creatures.
"Miss Bustier? Miss Bustier!" -a voice was heard. It was Rose calling her.
Hearing Rose's voice, the images of Hawk Moth and the shadowy creatures puffed into smoke, and Caline saw herself back in her classroom, surrounded by her students. It took her couple of seconds to realize that she was back in the real world, and that made the kids wonder if it was everything alright with her.
"Are you okay?" -Nino asked her.
"O-Oh, yes." -Miss Bustier lied.
"Are you sure, you are okay? You spaced out for a couple of seconds." -Nathaniel pointed out.
"It's just… I was still thinking about the wish I made." -Miss Bustier told them, as a thought crossed her mind. –"What just happened?... I don't know what was that, but I need to talk to the master about it, and fast."
Parking her car, miss Bustier allowed herself a moment to breathe. It was not easy for her to pretend that everything was alright, during the rest of the school day. She had no idea what the visions, which was what she was calling them, she had meant, or if it was even normal for people who had ties with real magic to have them. She had done a good job keeping the kids from realizing there was something wrong, but now she felt exhausted.
On a day as special as that one, where she just wanted to enjoy herself and be around the people she cared about and whom also cared about her, the last thing she needed was magic-related problems. Still, she knew she would not be able to enjoy the rest of the day, if she did not tell anyone about what happened to her, And the only one she could talk to right then, it was Wang Fu. Once she got to her apartment, she gently placing all the presents she had been given on the living room's sofa, and then called the old master.
"I hate to bother him with this, but I've got nobody else to talk to." -Miss Bustier thought to herself, as she waited for him to pick up.
Like always, it did not take long for the old master to answer her call. Telling her that he was almost finished with his last client of the day, he told her to meet him at the usual place, in 15 minutes. Hearing that, Caline knew he was referring to the Garden of the Ancients, where they could talk for as long as they needed to, without worrying about the time.
While she waited for the 15 minutes to go by, she texted her parents and her sister, reassuring them that she would be on time for dinner, with them. Once the 15 minutes were up, she teleported to the Garden of the Ancients, appearing near the pond filled with koi fishes. Making her way to the temple, the visions she had, came back with her reliving them, one by one, over and over. Each of them had given her a different feeling, which ranged from happiness to fear.
Arriving at the temple, she entered it and called out the master, with him answering her, almost immediately, and telling her he would be with her in a couple of minutes.
"Wait for me on the tea room overlooking the cherry tree, my dear. I'll be with you in a few moments." -Master Fu said, his voicing echoing on the temple's walls.
Making her way to the room in question, miss Bustier wondered if she was making a mountain out of a molehill, out of those visions, but she quickly told herself that she was not. Whatever reason she saw what she saw, it had to be important, or else she never would have had them.
Arriving at the tea room, she sat down on one of the pillows that were displayed around the table, and looked outside, to see the cherry tree in blossom. Just looking at it, she felt relaxed and stress-free. She did not know if the old master had chosen that place for their conversation, knowing that it would relax her, or if it was just a coincidence. Whatever the case, miss Bustier silently thanked the old master for choosing it. A few minutes later, master Fu arrived with the tea.
"Something is troubling you, is it not?" -Master Fu asked her, as he entered the room, carrying a tray with a tea pot, two tea cups and a plate of cookies. –"I can see it in your eyes, as clearly as I heard it in your voice, when you called me earlier." -he said, as he placed the tray on the table and sat down.
"Y-Yes. Something is troubling me. And I need to get it off my chest, before I do anything else today." -Miss Bustier declared.
"Well, then, whatever it is, I'm all ears, my dear." -Master Fu declared. –"I hope you're in the mood for some chamomile." -the old master handed her the cup.
"Thank you." -Miss Bustier said, blowing the tea, trying to cool it down.
"You could've talked to the youngsters, or even the kwamis. But instead, you said you did not share anything with them, and came directly to me. That alone makes me suspect that whatever it is, it's very dire." -Master Fu spoke. –"Am I right, or wrong, my dear?" -he asked her.
"You're right. It's something quite serious, and after all the work they had with my birthday party, I didn't want to upset them, because of something that even I don't know what is." -Miss Bustier declared.
"Then, whatever it is that is bothering you, take your time. Remember, time flows differently here." -Master Fu reminded her.
Sipping the tea, miss Bustier explained to Fu what happened to her, when she blew up the candles. She described each of the things she saw, trying her best to not forget any detail, and how some of them had scared the daylights out of her. The old master heard her, without interrupting her. And as he heard her, he could not hide the fear her words were giving him.
"It's hard to even choose which one of them scared me the most." -Miss Bustier said. –"There were some of them that were… I'm not going to say pleasant, but… well, they weren't as bad as the others, and they offered me a little bit of hope about the future." -she stated. –"But the others… the others were as bad as anyone can possibly imagine, master."
"From the way you described what you saw, I can imagine it." -Master Fu said.
"But what was all that?" -Miss Bustier asked. –"I'm still confused on what truly happened that made me see those visions." -she stated.
"Either my guess is wrong, or you had a premonition. Several actually." -Master Fu said, as he poured himself another cup of tea.
"Premonitions? Is that what they were? And having them is it good or not?" -Miss Bustier asked him, fearing the answer.
"Well, for starters, it's rather unusual for that to happen." -Master Fu declared. –"There are miraculous holders who can get a glimpse of the future, like it has happened with Nathaniel, and more recently with Marinette. And then, like my old master Su-Han, told me, there have also been some Keepers of the Secret who got premonitions of the future." -he told her. –"It's even rarer for that to happen, than it is with the miraculous holders. And usually when it does, they might mean something good is going to happen, or instead, something bad."
The way the old man spoke the last sentence, gave the young teacher shivers up her spine. The idea of predicting the future, but not knowing if it was going to happen the way one saw it, or if it would even come to happen, was frustrating, to say the least. Many would say it would be like knowing a natural disaster is going to happen, but they do not know when or what kind it was going to be.
"That doesn't really ease my fears, especially when some of the things I saw" -Miss Bustier sighed.
"And I'm sorry for that, my dear." -Master Fu told her. –"I wish I could tell you that what you saw won't happen, but I can't." -he said. –"But I can tell you that not all premonitions come to pass. Some might even come to pass differently; thanks to the knowledge we gather from those visions. With that knowledge, we're now better prepared to deal with future situations that feature elements seen in them."
"I just wish I could understand why I was shown these images." -Miss Bustier said. –"And more importantly, what some of them mean." -she sighed, in frustration.
"This is just my opinion on the matter, but I believe that perhaps it happened, because of your bond with the kids." -Master Fu stated. –"The bond you shared with them was already incredibly strong, and ever since you figuratively went down the rabbit hole and found out about their superhero activities, that bond only grew stronger." -he said.
"That makes sense." -Miss Bustier admitted. –"But what about the meaning of these visions or premonitions? Some of them seemed like straight out of a nightmare, especially the one with creepy evil versions of Marinette and Adrien. And the others, felt like things that could really happen."
"I'm afraid I can't give you answers for that, my dear. But that doesn't mean, I won't try to find them." -Master Fu declared. –"I was also told by my master that sometimes premonitions won't happen as someone sees them. Sometimes, elements in them have certain meanings that will point in a different direction." -he explained to her. –"Which is why, I must record every single detail of what you were shown, to further explore it.
Getting up, the old man went to one of the rooms to get what he needed to complete the task at hand, pen and paper. He had already listened to the whole account, but now, he needed to write it, with all the details, if possible. And when he finished it, he had more than 20 pages worth of material, which he was going to study, in search of any detail that would allow them to study the premonitions.
"I still don't understand how writing what I can remember about my premonitions will help us, master." -Miss Bustier confessed.
"One thing I didn't tell you before, it's that premonitions are sometimes glimpses into the future, but other times, they can be more metaphorical. I do believe that some of your premonitions were metaphorical. I intend to study them, the same way some people study dreams in search of a meaning, and use that knowledge to perhaps predict some of our enemies' moves." -Master Fu answered her.
The idea of finding meaning in some of the premonitions, was something that gave the teacher a little bit of hope. But another thought was crossing her mind, and that was how they were going to tell the kids about all that.
"So, what do we do about this?" -Miss Bustier asked. –"Should we tell them about what I saw, or do we keep it to ourselves?"
"I do believe we shouldn't tell them about this. At least, not yet." -Master Fu declared. –"They're still dealing with the aftermath of the fight against La Paon, and personally, I don't wish to give them something more to worry about just yet. But we should confide this with the kwamis. They need to know." -he said.
"I agree. It may not be the best course of action, to just tell the kwamis, and not the kids, but for now, it's the best thing to do." -Miss Bustier sighed. –"Not telling them about all this, it's pretty much like lying to them. But I feel that if we tell them about this now, it'll do them no good."
"They are stronger than they look, my dear. They've proven it, over and over. They have earned the right to know." -Master Fu declared. –"But while they have that right, we also have the duty of protecting them. Whatever these premonitions you had really mean, is still a mystery. One that needs to be researched. And I'm sure that the kwamis will agree that our young heroes don't need to have another thing to worry about, at the moment."
"Yes. They should be able to enjoy themselves a little bit more, without having to worry about any other dangers that might come their way. Especially since after this summer, they will start high school, which will be a whole new journey in their lives." -she said. –"Which reminds me, they will have the graduation trip to Lloret del Mar at the end of the month. We must make sure that if there's any kind of trouble, they'll be able to come back to Paris, just like when we visited London."
"No need to worry about it. I'm already working on it." -Master Fu assured her. –"They might run into some trouble during their graduation trip, but teleporting to Paris to face a threat won't be one of them, I can guarantee that." -he said.
That was one less thing to worry about; that was what Caline thought to herself, after hearing the old master. And on a day that had started so well, only to become filled with problems that were yet to come, it felt good to know that she would not have to add another one to the list.
"They will be thrilled to hear that." -Miss Bustier confessed. –"They're all looking forward for a couple of days in the beach." -she said.
"I bet you are too." -Master Fu said.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't. I'll have to keep an eye on them, because they'll be under my responsibility, of course. But it'll give me the opportunity to relax, tan a little, and at night, drink some Long Island Ice Teas." -Miss Bustier admitted, when she remembered something –"Oh, and speaking of Long Island Ice Teas, with all this, I forgot to thank you for the wonderful birthday present you gave me." -she said, as she remembered about the tea the old master had offered her. –"I'll have to save it for a very special occasion."
"It was nothing, my dear. I truly hope you enjoy it." -the old master smiled at her.
This chapter took way too long to finish, and I blame both my very scarce free time and the pills that I'm taking for my depression. The holidays are the worst for those of us who work in a hotel, with all the tourists demanding to be treated like kings, but some of them behaving like the opposite of a king. :(
Anyways, with this chapter we finally got to celebrate miss Bustier's birthday, and we got a glimpse of the future of this AU. It was hard to choose what I wanted to show you all, without giving too much away of what our heroes are going to face in season 2 and 3, and maybe even in this season finale. Feel free to come up with theories as to what's going to happen. I dare you.
And regarding the move "La Boum", it's a really good movie. If you happen to catch it online, or on the TV, don't be afraid to watch it. I recommend it.
As always, feel free to comment, fav and leave your suggestions to improve this and/or future fics.