Chapter Text
In the Principal’s office, the adults had a…rather interesting conversation of their own once Lila had departed.
“Good heavens! I didn’t know how much longer I could stand that smell.” Principal Damocles asked as he opened a window to try and freshen the air.
Amara Rossi took her seat in front of the desk, feeling a bit lightheaded herself. “Did something happen today? Science class? Chemicals, perhaps?”
“It could have been an akuma attack. We had one just earlier.” He replied.
Her eyes darkened. She was reminded of the constant prolonged akuma attacks that disrupt daily living and the inept superheroes who allowed them to persist. “I see. That will be one thing we will no longer have to worry about once we leave, at least.”
“Quite right.” He agreed kindly as he went to his files to pull out Lila’s paperwork. “I do hope that Lila’s new school will be better suited to accommodate all of her illnesses.”
Amara shook her head, uncertain of what she just heard. “I beg your pardon?”
“Of course we did try to adjust to Lila’s needs as we were made aware of them. Especially with her little…fibbing illness. But it was difficult without official documentation to clarify what she had and the best ways to address them. And we were never able to get clarification during her stay here.” He rested the paperwork on his desk and looked up to make eye contact with Mrs. Rossi. “We of course are not judging, but it would be prudent for you to make the appropriate arrangements prior to her arrival at her new school, wherever it may be.” He puffed up in pride. “And of course we will be more than happy to assist in sending over documentation as well—”
“No wait. Hold on.” Amara interrupted him. “What needs are you talking about?”
Needless to say, once Lila was out of the room, it didn’t take long for them to notice things weren’t adding up. And the conversation that followed ended up being…
“What tinnitus?”
Quite informative.
“What fall down the stairs?!”
With certain parties being made aware of things they hadn’t known previously.
“WHAT LYING DISEASE?!!”
By the end of it, both adults were in shock.
Damocles wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, clearly…unnerved to say the least. “I…erm…take it that some of these things might have been said…er…erroneously?”
Amara covered her face with her left hand, exasperated. “Unless my daughter has been under an akuma’s influence for the past several months the school has been closed.”
He frowned at that, unnerved. “On that note, I’ve been trying to reach out to you for some time about your daughter’s absences. Have you not gotten my calls?”
“I only received one or two. And Lila warned me not to answer because you were akumatized.” She paused in thought for a moment before lowering her hand and looking to the Principal. “Has the school been closed at all? Lila said you had been akumatized and that the school had been shut down, which was why she had to stay home for so long.”
Damocles blanched at that. “It was only the once! Well…twice actually, with the attempted mass akumatization during that one incident. But I assure you, madam, that the school was never closed. Certainly not for more than a day at any rate!”
She frowned, unsure. “But…the heroes…”
“Are quite adept at their job for youngsters!” Damocles hurriedly told her. “Akuma battles are normally finished within a couple of hours. Some have lasted overnight at most. There is only one to my knowledge that continued for a few days, but that was a rare exception and the damage was minimal.” Though the harm to Chloe’s mental state couldn’t be quantified.
“Oh…” She murmured. Wow. While Lila’s complaints had dampened her view of the city’s heroes, she had known her coworkers and the city at large seemed to admire them greatly. She regretted that she had never really listened to their gossip about them, but she was grateful she had never spoken up on what she had believed. Otherwise she would likely be a laughing stock at work.
He shook his head. “But no akuma has lasted for months, I assure you! In fact,” He said, reaching to his monitor and turning it so that they both could see the screen, “the Ladyblog should have all the facts about the akumas and our heroes!”
Amara observed the blog, curious. It was well made. Perhaps they could get the designer to help update the embassy site.
But on point, the blog listed news reports and updates. Hero sightings. Events. Akuma attacks. And in particular, the most recent attack…
“Wait!” She gasped. “Is that Lila?!”
From there, it had been a simple matter of reviewing the footage from the latest akuma attack.
Including the incident where Lila had shoved an innocent girl to the ground in front of the mob. (“That would be Marinette Dupain-Cheng. A bright student and the Class Representative. But…er…she and Lila haven’t quite seen eye to eye and there was an…incident a few weeks ago…”)
As well as a compiled list that had been taken of every claim made by the akuma—Witch Hunter? She was apparently a classmate of Lila’s. And according to the most recent update from the Ladyblog, she had been a victim of Lila’s lies, which had resulted in her akumatization and targeting of Lila. (“My word!”)
And worst of all, a video of Lila tied to a pyre and surrounded by a mob of people wanting her to burn. In and of itself, it was horrifying. Especially for any parent to see their child in such a state.
But for Lila…it was like she didn’t think it was real. Like she didn’t think she was in any actual danger. Or she thought this was a game.
And that, Amara found most terrifying.
“This is…” She muttered in shock. She couldn’t even begin to describe it. Her daughter, tied to a pole. About to be lit on fire. All because she had been lying this entire time? Not just lying, but stealing from her peers? Framing people? And she didn’t dare say it, but from some of her statements in the video and the akuma’s claims, it almost looked as if she had been working with a known terrorist!
She had known her daughter wasn’t perfect or innocent. But this much? To go this far? And for what? She couldn’t even begin to understand…
“Madam, I…think this is a most serious matter.” Damocles stated. He was trying to be delicate but…well, really. How can one approach this sort of thing delicately?
“I agree.” She stated, resolutely. “Lila has been playing everyone it seems. But now that we know, what should we do from here?”
Damocles stroked his beard as he thought. “I admit we have never had a situation this extreme before. But if you will permit, I believe there may be a way to approach this…”
The rest of their time was spent discussing the matter at length and coming to an agreement. Damocles admittedly had his failings, particularly when it came to stubborn and selfish students with access to parents in positions of authority and willingness to abuse that authority to get their way. But when he wasn’t having to work around such barriers and had parents who were actually working with him instead of obstructing the school regulations, it was substantially easier to make appropriate accommodations and plan accordingly.
Which is what Lila ended up walking in to once she was asked to return to the office.
“Is everything settled?” She asked sweetly, her expression belying her earlier anger. Honestly, her only concern was finishing this as quickly as possible and going home to shower. A good three or four times.
She forced herself to ignore the way the adults in the room turned their heads away from her with upturned noses. She took advantage of the moment and attempted to unobtrusively scratch under her arm. Honestly, this itching was only getting worse! How had she not noticed it earlier?
“Well, Lila.” Damocles coughed as he turned on a fan. “Your mother and I have been discussing things and we couldn’t help but notice a few discrepancies.”
Lila froze. She steeled her expression to hide her rising panic. Because no. Not here. Not after everything.
“Lila…” Her mother called, her tone harsh and warning of her slowly boiling anger. “You told me that the school had been closed. And here I come to find that not only had it still been open and running all this time, but that you had been excusing your absences with claims of trips around the world!”
Shit.
Why had she left them alone?!
“But there were akuma attacks!” She insisted. “And the school was closed!”
“Not for weeks at a time!” Her mother exclaimed, furious. “And what is all this I’m hearing about your actions since you got here? Lying to your teachers? Stealing from a charity? Getting another student expelled?!”
Here, Lila straightened. “She had been bullying me and I had only been trying to protect myself.”
“Then why did you claim a lying disease to have her brought back?” Damocles questioned.
Lila hugged herself to look sad and sympathetic—and also used the opportunity to scratch at her side again. “I was threatened.” She admitted morosely. “Adrien said—”
“Adrien? Adrien Agreste?” Her mother interrupted. “You mean the boy you said was your boyfriend?”
Lila hesitated for a moment before a plan came together and she nodded. “Yes. It was why I wanted us to leave Paris. He’s been harassing me, Mama.” She shuddered and hitched her breath as if in fear. “He threatened me if I didn’t take back the allegations. He’s been cheating on me with her, Mama!”
“Interesting. Very interesting.” Her mother said in a blithe manner that only made Lila more nervous. “Because according to this Ladyblog, it sounds like you were the one harassing him. As well as this Marinette girl, regardless of whether she is his girlfriend or not.”
Lila snapped up and gaped at her mother. The woman never bothered with the Ladyblog. Lila had been sure she hadn’t known it even existed!
“You can’t trust the Ladyblog! It’s just a teenager’s fan site! It’s nothing but lies!”
Her mother glared down at her. “Like this informative interview of you claiming to be Ladybug’s ‘bestie’?”
Lila paled.
“I was only trying to get people to like me and make friends.” She said, lowering her head in shame. Not that she had any, of course, but it paid to look the part at least. “I didn’t think anyone would see it.”
“Lila, the Ladyblog is extremely popular. It’s a central news source for anyone in Paris to know what the most recent update is regarding any akuma attack! Anyone would have seen it!” Damocles exclaimed.
“Even if it wasn’t,” Her mother continued. “You still shouldn’t have been claiming things like that! What if Hawk Moth saw it and thought it was true? What if he tried to kidnap or hurt you?”
She wasn’t worried about that. He wouldn’t have harmed her since she was working for him.
Well, Lila realized with a small wince. Not anymore.
“I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Lila said, looking away.
“Getting back on point.” Damocles interrupted. “There is the problem regarding all of the days you’ve missed. Your teacher was led to believe that you were out of town while you had informed your mother that the school was closed. This is a serious matter, young lady.”
There was no way to lie that she hadn’t done it now that both of them were aware and on to her. But she could still try to reframe things in her favor.
“I’m sorry. I had just needed a break for a while and I didn’t know how to tell you.” Lila spoke, tearfully. “It was just…all of the akuma attacks and everything with Adrien and the bullying…it was too much!”
She sobbed into her hands.
“I just couldn’t take it! I’m sorry!”
She continued her sobs for a good minute. Since she had her face covered and her head lowered, she couldn’t quite see how the adults in the room were responding. Sneaking a peak got her a glimpse at best lest she risk them seeing her.
Her mother looked drawn. The Principal seemed tired. Neither of them so much as tried to get closer to Lila to comfort her. Though that may very well have been due to the smell, and she cursed Witch Hunter and Ladybug both for causing the situation in the first place and for not fixing this with the Magical Cure as well.
Really, she thought hatefully. This was all their fault. Rose’s. The class’s. Hawk Moth’s. And especially Ladybug’s. She never would have ended up in this position if not for her!
“I’m sorry, Lila. If you were truly having such trouble, then you should have spoken to one of us about it and we may have been able to help you.” Damocles sighed. “I’m afraid there’s nothing else for it now. It’s already gone much too far for us to be able to overlook.”
Amara nodded, resigned. “I understand.”
Lila sniffled and raised her head.
“So I guess I’ll be expelled?” She asked with a mournful tone.
Okay. All right. So she would be sent to another school somewhere. A boarding school perhaps? Some sort of alternative or otherwise stricter school meant to “rehabilitate“ her, no doubt. She could handle this. It was still someplace new where no one would recognize her. It wouldn’t take too much before she could just start over. Within two months, no one there would even really know why she had transferred.
She could still make this work for her.
Damocles, however, looked at her in surprise.
“Expel you? What are you talking about? We don’t expel students for truancy.”
Lila froze.
“What?”
“You will be suspended for a time.” He continued. “Though I believe given the nature of your actions, it would be better for your suspension to be altered so you remain on campus and under constant supervision.”
Lila stared. She would swear she could hear cracks forming in her reality.
“And we will have to keep you in a separate classroom as well to remove any...distractions.”
Crack.
“Of course.“ her mother agreed. “I’ll be removing her computer and phone for the time being as well. Depending on how things go, we may have to dispose of them altogether.”
Lila felt her eye starting to twitch.
“This will be an opportunity for you to catch up on all the coursework you missed.”
Crack.
“And there will be a hearing as well.” Damocles continued.
Lila jumped to her feet and slammed her hand on the desk.
“But—but you expelled Marinette immediately without a hearing!”
Damocles appeared flustered at that. “My actions at that time were…admittedly hasty, especially considering that it turned out they were based on a lie...” He gave her a sharp look at that. “But given what appeared to be dangerous and escalating behavior at the time, I had only acted in a way to protect the other students in this institution.”
He clasped his hands. “But less school is not the appropriate answer for a student whose crime was skipping school. Especially in this case given that Lila may very well need to be held back a grade as it is.”
“What?!” Lila demanded.
He gave her a dry look, unimpressed with her reaction or the repeated interruptions. “Young lady, regardless of your reasons, you’ve missed months of your precious education. Surely you didn’t think you would be able to graduate alongside your classmates. At this point, you won’t be able to get the approval from the conseil de classe to move on to the next grade, much less be prepared for the brevet.”
Lila blinked. “The what?”
Her mother groaned and covered her face. “It’s the mandated test required in secondary school into get your diploma, Lila.”
Lila gaped, glancing back and forth between the two, as if expecting this to be a joke. “But…college in France is just scuola media! It’s middle school! How do they require a diploma?!”
“It’s a national requirement and certification of the knowledge and skills acquired.” Damocles explained, ignoring the way mother and daughter were reacting as he instead puffed out his chest and straightened his jacket. “And we here at Francois-Dupont are dedicated to our students and making the appropriate accommodations to help them succeed! Regardless of any…”
He paused, sending Lila a look. “Complications.”
Amara sighed but faced Damocles. “So what would you recommend?”
He brightened at that. “The best answer to get young Lila back on track would be an alternative remedial program in which she can remain in school and make up for what she missed in a setting where she can be more closely monitored to keep something like this from happening again.”
Remain here? In Dupont? With everyone aware of her lies?
“You can’t do this!” Lila shouted. But to no avail as the adults paid her no mind at this point.
“What about the fraud?” Her mother asked. “I believe she had solicited funds under false pretenses?”
“Oh, that is outside our jurisdiction.” Damocles answered, waving it off. “We can only deal in school and school-related matters. Fraud is a legal issue, so that will be going to the courts as a separate case. But on that note, I would recommend getting a lawyer.” He said, turning serious.
“Hopefully, that won’t be necessary.” Amara replied. “As we will be making arrangements with the students who started the charity and reimburse the funds Lila took.”
“WHAT?!”
“Returning everything you bought with the money to the stores you purchased them from should be a good place to start,” the woman continued, “assuming they will even accept the exchange once they know what you did. Which you will be telling them if they didn’t already know from that akuma.”
“But…but I don’t have them!” Lila exclaimed, suddenly realizing that she had worn Marinette’s clothes back home and left her designer items at the bakery.
“Then you will just have to find some other way to make up the lost funds.” Her mother stated, dismissively.
Lila stomped her foot, the picture of a child throwing a tantrum. “But that’s not fair!”
“You stole money from your classmates, Lila!” Her mother bit out sharply. “Giving back what you took is the very least you could do!”
“But I can’t pay it!” Lila yelled, scratching at her chin in fury.
“Then you can use your now copious amount of free time to take on some extra employment. Because you won’t be sitting around at home doing nothing or getting into more trouble while I’m not there. And you certainly won’t be going out with your friends—assuming you have any left after this mess.”
“But…where am I supposed to find employment?!”
Her mother looked through her tablet and pulled up a number of listings when she then handed to Damocles to print off. “There are always openings for extra hands. Odd jobs. A part time job. I don’t care if it’s something like washing dishes at a diner, you will be doing it. And whatever you earn is going to go to straight into the bank until you pay back every euro you took.”
Lila gasped. “I’m fourteen! That’s child labor!”
“That didn’t seem to be an issue when you were modeling for the Gabriel line without telling me.” Her mother countered, growing more furious.
Lila glared back, enraged and for once incapable of speech.
“Whatever you have to say, this is your own fault for stealing the money in the first place. And also using it when you knew it wasn’t yours!” The woman shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t even understand how you thought that was supposed to work.”
“We were supposed to be out of Paris already!” Lila muttered darkly.
Unfortunately for her, her mother heard her well enough. “Which I suspect was the real reason you suddenly wanted to leave, wasn’t it?”
Lila stayed silent. Merely sitting petulantly and scratching at her arm.
Her mother looked down at her daughter. She had never seen her like this before. And now that she knew what the girl had been up to, she wondered if she had been blind to the truth. And for how long.
She sighed.
“You dug yourself into this, Lila. And you won’t be running away from it. You are going to pay back what you took, no matter how long it takes. If this does end up going to court, you are going to agree to any deal they offer and you will make this right. And if you are very very lucky, they will accept your apology and your return of the money, and not pursue harsher charges. Because if they do, you will be accepting those charges and any consequences that come with them.”
Damocles coughed, daring to interrupt. “Am I to presume she will be losing her cellphone and laptop as well?”
“That would be a given.” Her mother replied. “Though at the rate this is going, I may very well sell those off as well to contribute to her debt.”
“What?!” Lila screeched. “But how am I supposed to do schoolwork then? Or keep in contact?”
“With pen and paper like everyone else. And you won’t need to worry about contacting anyone since you are going to be grounded for the foreseeable future.”
Lila groaned and sunk further into the office chair. She tried to keep her arms crossed, but couldn’t hold it for longer than a couple seconds before she felt the itchiness again and started scratching at her arms once more.
“And would you stop scratching yourself?”
“I can’t help it!” Lila cried, spilling real tears for once.
The lighting in the office was decent. Adequate to see by, but not quite enough to get a full detail of what they were looking at. In an attempt to help, Damocles turned on his desk lamp and moved it shine on Lila, putting her skin in much clearer display.
And particularly, the red and splotchy areas that were slowly spreading on her body.
“Good heavens!” Damocles shouted as he went to his phone to call the nurse. “That is an extensive rash, dear girl!”
Her mother grabbed her arm to look closer. “What did you do? Take a bath in the Seine?”
“I didn’t have a choice! I was being chased!” Lila exclaimed, attempting to pull her arm out of her mother’s hold so as to scratch more.
“That…would explain the smell.” Damocles noted before the receiver picked up and he quickly turned his attention to requesting the school nurse’s assistance.
“Did you at least wash it off? Didn’t you shower when you got home?” Her mother asked, exasperated as she had to keep hold of Lila’s arm to prevent her from scratching herself.
Lila hunched over. “No. I had to call you first.”
Her mother groaned in response, much to Lila’s irritation. She glared up at the woman who should be reassuring her own child in this hardship but instead was merely shaking her head at Lila like this was something she had simply brought upon herself!
How could she?! What sort of mother would be so cruel?
She barely paid any attention when the nurse entered the office with some ointment in hand. She only realized what they were doing when they started to slather the gel on her skin, which felt gross and humiliating. Made all the moreso with the way the nurse and her own mother couldn’t fight the looks of disgust at the smell that still covered her. Even Ladybug calling her out in front of Adrien hadn’t been so humiliating.
But it would get worse.
Damocles coughed. “We will resume this discussion another time. Madam, if you are willing, I can arrange a meeting with the students involved and allow you to discuss reparations in an informal…non-court setting.”
“If you please, that would be preferred. In the meantime, I will be taking Lila home so we can deal with all of…” She paused, waving her arms around and trying to think of the right words before simply shrugging with a sigh. “This.”
“Wait! I can’t go out there! Everyone will see me like this!”
It was perhaps out of some love as a mother, or just some small mercy that had Amara Rossi agree to take her daughter through a roundabout path out of the school. One that allowed Lila to take hallways that were less used and offered less visibility in and out of the classrooms.
And most importantly allowed her to avoid Bustier’s class.
After getting instructions from the school nurse regarding skin care to get rid of the rashes, Amara thanked both Damocles and the nurse before taking Lila outside. The two made it to the front of the school with few being there to witness Lila’s ‘walk of shame’ so to speak. It was probably more than Lila deserved, but her mother was hardly cruel. Tough when she had to be, certainly.
There was now just the final leg of the trip. Amara started down the steps of the school and made it to the bottom before she realized her daughter wasn’t following her.
“Lila!” She hissed. “Get down here!”
“But…” Lila hesitated, looking up and behind her to where Bustier’s class would have a perfect view of her exit.
“ Now , Lila. Or do you still want to be out here when classes are over?”
Lila forced herself to move down the steps—both as quickly as possible to try and lessen the amount of time anyone had to see her and as carefully as possible to avoid anything touching the ointment on her skin.
“When we get home, the first thing you’ll be doing is taking a shower to clean yourself properly this time. We will be going through your room as well and taking back your laptop, your phone, and anything I even think you may have bought with that stolen money.”
Lila grumbled but didn’t argue.
“Yes, mother.”
At this point, she just prayed no one had seen her.
They saw her.
“Is that Lila?”
“It is! And her mom!”
“What’s that on Lila’s arms?”
“Oh. Wow.”
Bustier had stepped out of the room for what she said would be a minute while leaving the class with some assignment to do until she returned. Naturally, given the drama of the day, no one was really able to focus on the schoolwork. So instead, they took to quietly chatting with one another. Or in Alya’s case, nudging Marinette repeatedly as the girl tried to wrap her head around the prospect of having a date with Adrien.
No, THREE dates. Wait—were they dates? Like…date-dates?
Fortunately for her own peace of mind, her imagination was put on hold by the exclamations of those near the windows. Helpless to the draw of wanting to know what all the fuss is about, Marinette and the others on her side of the class joined those at the windows to see just what it was about Lila that had grabbed their attention.
And she had to say: Yikes.
“That has to be the worst rash I’ve ever seen.”
“Looks like that dip in the Seine did not agree with her.”
Marinette winced in sympathy.
As Ladybug, she had a few instances of having to make use of the Seine or the sewers as an exit, so she knew full well how nasty the water could be. The suit and resulting Cure would normally rid her of any of the water or contaminants or so Tikki said, but that didn’t stop Marinette from taking a good long shower afterwards. Or three. Just to feel clean afterwards, despite Tikki’s reassurance.
What happened this time?
She looked down to her purse, but the little clasp remained resolutely closed. Even when she tried to pull at it.
Tikki...what did you do?
“I feel kind of bad.” Rose murmured, resting a hand on the window. “She only jumped into the Seine because of me. Because I had everyone hunting her.”
“I don’t.” Alix replied. “You were only after her because of what she did.”
Nino nodded in agreement. “Yeah. And if the info on the Ladyblog regarding Lila’s crimes are any indication, she may have been doing it to help Hawk Moth.”
“We can’t prove that, though.” Ivan noted.
Rose hugged herself.
Marinette hugged her as well. “Whether or not Lila deserved it, it happened because of Hawk Moth. Not you. So please don’t blame yourself, Rose.”
Adrien came up next to them and rested a hand on Rose’s shoulder. “If we try to question who is truly at fault, we’ll be dragging this out forever. All we can do at this point is try to figure out where to go from here.”
“Hey, that’s right!” Mylene realized. “Rose, what are you going to do about the charity?”
Rose looked down. “I don’t know. It’s kind of pointless now since we don’t have the money anymore.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t try again.” Nino reassured her.
Adrien nodded in agreement. “Plus Alya and I were talking earlier. If you still have the ledger of the funds, you could try to bring up charges against Lila to get the money returned. My father has some attorneys our company frequently uses for any legal issues. I could see about getting one of them involved to find out how to proceed on this.”
“Dude, seriously? Is your dad cool with this?” Nino asked, completely taken aback that the man would do such a thing.
“It’s only the beginning of what he could do to make up for his part in this.” Adrien muttered.
Nino blinked at his friend and his…strangely dark expression. Then he grinned and slapped Adrien on the back. “Good for you, man!”
“But what about Lila though?” Ivan asked.
“Murder?” Juleka asked.
Which of course, none of them took seriously.
Right? Right.
“If Lila’s mom’s attitude is any indication, I don’t think Lila will be getting away with the theft.” Kim said, looking out the window in the direction the two ladies left. “She looked maaaaaaad.”
“She is angry from what I have heard.” Max said from his seat. He didn’t look up from his tablet and was the only one aside from Nathaniel to not move from his desk. “Apparently Lila had been lying to her mother and the school about why she’s been absent for months. And then with the theft on top of that, plus all of the other things revealed thanks to Witch Hunter, I believe there is a 97.3% chance that Lila will be grounded for the foreseeable future.”
“Wait. How do you know that?” Kim asked.
“Markov told me.”
“Oh.”
A pause.
“And…how does HE know tha—”
Max simply disregarded him and turned to Rose. “You should probably discuss the matter with Lila’s mother. It sounds like she is taking the issue seriously and would like to meet with you and work this out appropriately.”
“Oh. Okay. Thanks.” She said with a smile. Albeit a somewhat wary smile.
“So there may be a chance to get the money back then?” Ivan asked, hopefully.
“But wait—what about Prince Ali?” Alix realized.
This brought all eyes to Rose, who looked hurt at the reminder of her friend cutting off ties with her.
“Rose…” Marinette started.
She winced. “I…still have his email. I don’t know if he’ll talk to me, but…I can apologize. And I can try to make it right. I think…” She took a breath. “I think I understand now why he was so upset. He’s a Prince and must be used to a lot of people trying to use him.”
She hesitated, looking down.
“Lila was…probably that exact type of person. And she was able to use him through me—even if she didn’t know it.”
The others winced.
Yeah, it was probably a good thing they learned about Lila now before it got too serious. Who knows what would have happened if Lila had ever actually gotten to meet him? Or really any of the other celebrities they actually knew.
Rose bit her lip for a moment, then looked up. “I’ve been thinking…if I do get the money back…since the charity Lila had told us about doesn’t exist, we can’t donate the money as planned. I would like to give the funds to a charity with a similar purpose—I even found one that looks genuine and does a lot of good, but…” She frowned. “That’s still misleading to the people who originally donated.”
“So what will you do?”
“I have a log of everyone who donated since I had wanted everyone to get credit or some sort of ‘Thank You’ for helping. I can try to reach out to them and ask them what they want to do.” She brightened slightly. “Alya is also helping by putting a notice on the Ladyblog about what happened and what we’re doing so that anyone who did donate before can be alerted and know to contact me.“
Alya smiled. “It seems to be working so far. If anything, I’ve been more messages from people wanting to donate as well.
Mylene gasped in delight. “You may end up with even more funding for your charity, Rose.”
“Just as long as we make it clear it’s the real deal this time.” Alya agreed. “I posted the charity’s info on the website as well as some links to verification sites so people can check for themselves that it’s real. This way, we don’t run into the same problem we had with Lila or get accused of lying ourselves.”
Well, that was a relief. They had a plan and they were certainly taking this seriously.
“I’m glad for you, Rose.”
Rose smiled back. “Thank you. I know this doesn’t really fix everything, but it feels like the right thing to do.”
“Aww!”
The group hug that commenced was just what they all needed.
Tom and Sabine had quite the busy day. Especially with that girl who had come in earlier and snuck into Marinette’s room.
And the akuma. Though they were at least getting used to daily disruptions caused by those.
“I hope nothing came of it.” Sabine worried as she was finishing putting things away. “I’m sure she was doing something up in Marinette’s room.”
“I’m sure if anything happened, Marinette could handle it. And if she couldn’t, she would let us know.” Tom replied as he headed to the laundry room to put away their used aprons and towels.
There was silence for a bit.
Then…
“Honey?”
Sabine paused and turned towards her husband. “Yes, dear?”
“Did that girl ever come back with Marinette’s clothes?”
Confused, she started towards the laundry room where her husband was. “No, why?”
Tom turned to her, with some items in hand. “I think she left her things behind and the Miracle Ladybug Cure didn’t send them back.”
Sabine stared. “Oh my!” She reached forward. “These look practically brand new!”
“And expensive.” Tom added.
The two looked over the items before looking up at each other. With a nod, they seemed to come to the same conclusion.
“Early birthday gift for Mari!”
“We’ll take it to Roger.”
…not…so same conclusion, evidently.
Sabine gave Tom a flat look. Tom smiled embarrassedly and rubbed his head.
“Yes. We can take it to Rodger as part of the case.” He agreed, sheepishly.
Sabine sighed and shook her head.
“Though maybe we can discuss it with the school.” She mused. “Since that girl is a student there. And some of the things on the Ladyblog are a bit concerning…”
“Should we still press charges?” Tom asked, worried.
“Let’s wait and speak with Roger tomorrow. And see what Marinette has to add.” Sabine said, taking the items from Tom and placing them in a safety box where they wouldn’t be mistaken as common items.
…or early birthday gifts.
Taking the Dragon Miraculous back to Fu was easy enough.
Apologizing for beaning him with a pot was less so.
“It is all right, Marinette. Really.” Fu assured her as he took the box back from her and restored the choker to it’s rightful place. “With the Miraculous Cure, I no longer have the injury.”
Marinette winced from her seat at the table. “Still, I feel really bad about it.”
He shook his head. “You did what you had to. The akuma’s influence was widespread by that point and the situation was dire.”
Especially since her kwami and the Guardian himself had both been affected as well.
He wouldn’t say he…approved with her methods. Or the headache it had caused him. But it had allowed her to defeat the akuma and restore things in the end. And truly, that was what mattered.
“It took a lot of strength from you today, Marinette. I am proud of what you accomplished.” He told her as he returned the Miracle Box to its hiding place.
“I just wish I could have helped Rose more.” She murmured.
“You did everything you could, Marinette!” Tikki insisted.
“It is difficult, but sometimes there is only so much that can be done, even with the aid of the Miraculous.” Fu returned to his seat at the table. “But I sense that is not the only thing on your mind today. Am I wrong?”
Marinette gasped. “Oh, Master! There’s something we’ve discovered today. Something really important!”
Tikki gasped. “That’s right!”
The two nodded to each other and spoke at the same time.
“Gabriel Agreste is Hawk Moth!”
“Adrien invited you to see a movie!”
Marinette froze, turning red at the reminder.
Tikki, for her part, blinked at Marinette in confusion.
“Wait…you mean what Lila said earlier?”
“That’s right.” Marinette said, turning her attention to Fu and away from any distractions of stupidly cute blond boys. “Earlier today, Lila tried to claim that Gabriel Agreste was Hawk Moth.”
Fu frowned. “Marinette, are you sure about this? Lila Rossi was Hawk Moth’s accomplice. As well as an unrepentant liar. This may be a lie as well.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Lila tells lies if she thinks they’ll benefit her, but she’ll tell the truth if she thinks it could serve her more.”
Yeah, she knew that much from Lila’s attempt to sneak into her room and get dirt on her.
But more than that, Hawk Moth had betrayed Lila. After working with him all this time, someone she had…at least trusted she could use if not actually trusted had turned on her. And was even outright going to let the akuma kill her.
If Lila could be so spiteful for this long over Ladybug simply telling someone she had lied about knowing her, she couldn’t put it past the girl to not hold some grudge against Hawk Moth as well. And if she thought she knew who he was…
Well, if all else had failed her, there was no reason at that point not to try to reveal it.
“It would explain her connection to Gabriel Agreste as well.” Marinette reasoned. “He was a known recluse for a year before Adrien started school. He would keep Adrien from any events. Refused to let his friends come to visit him or for him to visit them. And wouldn’t even let Adrien have a birthday part.” She frowned, tapping her chin.
“So why would a man like that who is so protective of his son trust some random teenage girl with Adrien’s well being? Especially one he has never met who lied to his staff, forced her way into his home, manipulated his son into a photo op,” Not that she was bitter of course, “…and snuck into his personal office?”
Fu frowned, considering her words. “That is strange.”
“Exactly!” Marinette said, pushing closer to the table in earnest. “Even if she didn’t know he was Hawk Moth at the start, she still tried to get to him because of his control over Adrien. It was a connection she knew she could use, so it would benefit her. Which is Lila’s MO.” She said with a roll of her eyes.
She shook her head. “But this would explain why he would seemingly trust her. If he was Hawk Moth, that means he akumatized her before. Three times, even!”
Fu nodded. “The powers of the Butterfly would have let him know what she was like. If she was a willing assistant as Witch Hunter’s scroll proclaimed, he would have known.”
Tikki gasped. “It could also explain the mass akumatization when you had gotten expelled!”
Marinette gripped the table in growing anger. “They must have planned it! How else would he have known to have it ready?”
“Calm yourself, Marinette.” Fu reached out to place a hand over her own. “This is a good theory, but you don’t want to open yourself to an akuma. Especially not after everything that has already happened today.”
She wilted at that. “You’re right, Master. I’m sorry.”
“That is all right.” He assured her with a kind smile. “It is healthy to feel emotions, but you cannot let them overcome you.”
“But…” She hesitated. “Do you think I’m wrong?”
He paused for a moment, thinking it over as he took a sip of tea. “I had suspected once before that whomever had the Grimoire likely had both the missing Miraculous as well. After Gabriel Agreste had been akuamtized, I had wondered as you did whether it was simply coincidence.”
“Because the Butterfly user can’t akumatize himself, can he?” She asked.
He gestured to the tablet containing the translated Grimoire. “Normally, I would say not. But as you have learned, there are ways around any barrier. And as coincidences increase, at some point, we must ask how many coincidences are necessary before something is proven true.”
He smiled. “One such coincidence may be that he had the lost Grimoire. But another may be how convenient it was that he should be akumatized immediately when anyone may be suspecting him after its loss.”
She frowned, uncertain.
“Let us think on it for now, Marinette. And it will be best if we keep an eye on both Gabriel Agreste and Lila Rossi in the meantime.”
“Yes! Thank you, Master Fu!” She nodded before getting up and heading to the door.
“Goodbye, Master! Goodbye, Wayzz!” Tikki chimed before she flew into Marinette’s purse.
As Marinette walked down the street towards home with Tikki in tow, she continued to think over things. What she had learned. What Master Fu had told her. What she had experienced throughout the day.
“Oh!” She gasped as she realized something.
“What is it, Marinette?” Tikki asked from within the opening of the purse. They were mostly alone for the moment, so they could afford to speak if they did so quietly.
“Something I’d been meaning to ask you.” Marinette told her. “What happened with Lila today? The Cure normally fixes things to how they were before the akuma, so why was Lila covered in a full body rash?”
“The Cure sometimes acts in mysterious ways.” Tikki replied.
Marinette frowned. The answer was obviously vague. And Tikki’s refusal to meet her gaze indicated she knew more than she was letting on.
“Tikki…”
“Oh, look at the time! You should be getting home, Marinette!”
“TIKKI!”
Rose looked over her draft for what had to be the thirtieth time.
Excessive, maybe. But she wanted to make sure she was doing it right.
Ali,
I do not know if you will read this letter, or if it has even been permitted to reach you. At the very least, I am hoping for a chance to tell you from the bottom of my heart:
I am sorry.
While I had never meant to harm you, it doesn’t change the fact that you were harmed. And this harm could have been prevented had I been more cautious.
I could come up with any number of reasons as to why I chose to put my trust in the wrong person. The girl I had thought was promoting this charity was my friend. I wanted to believe the best in my friend. But that is no excuse.
If I truly had respect for you as a friend and as your station of Prince, I should have done my due diligence in ensuring the honesty of anyone I trusted. Especially before I tried to encourage you to trust them as well.
You were right. It was foolish of me.
From your perspective, it must have seemed as a sign that I did not take your friendship seriously. And I am deeply ashamed that I ever allowed that impression to anyone, but to you most of all.
If you choose not to forgive me, I understand. But I at least want you to know that I am going to make this right.
I am pursuing legal options against the girl in question. I do not know how much we will be able to see returned, but I fully intent to refund the donations to you and everyone else who had trusted me to do the right thing.
This may not fix anything. And you do not owe me anything from it. But I hope I can at least try to make up for my mistake and be the person you believed me capable of instead of the fool she turned me into.
Thank you for everything,
Rose
She took a breath.
Okay.
This was it then.
Any last words? Any final changes? Any regrets?
…no.
She shut her eyes and clicked ‘send’.
And finally exhaled. With the air, she breathed out all of her anxieties, fears, and doubts.
She had done what she could.
She was doing what she can.
That was…that was all anyone could expect of her.
All that she could expect of herself.
…
…
…
That didn’t make it not ache though.
But there was nothing for it now, she realized as she turned away from her computer to go to bed.
She wanted to fix things. Desperately so. But she couldn’t force Ali to accept her apology and forgive her anymore than she could force Lila to be honest.
Rose curled up under her covers and hugged her pillow close.
It was a small comfort. But one she was going to allow herself.
She hoped for the best. She always did.
But even if he didn’t…she would move forward and continue doing good. Just as he inspired her to.
She just…
A couple tears fell.
She had just wished he would be around to see it.
It would take another hour before she would fall asleep.
…
…
…
It would be another three hours before an email alert came up on her computer.
__________________
Ugh.
Lila fell onto her bed, huffing angrily.
This whole day sucked.
She was attacked by an akuma. Everyone turned on her. Hawk Moth was going to let her die. And even when everything was saved, everything was ruined.
Thanks, Rose. Thanks, Hawk Moth. Thanks, Ladybug.
And now she was stuck here in Paris and couldn’t even get away from any of it!
She groaned into her pillow. She couldn’t be too loud, though, as her mother was being annoyingly alert and “keeping an eye on her” now. The last thing she needed was to give her reason to suspect something was up and cause her to come barging into her room.
There was no escape this time. Not now that everyone knew.
She’d still have to deal with her class. Even worse, she’d have to see Adrien and Marinette making eyes at each other.
She’d still have to deal with the school. And now that they knew what she did, she wouldn’t be getting away with anything again.
She’d still have to deal with Hawk Moth, and his akumas would still be a risk for her, as well. She wouldn’t put it past him to try to take her out. What little power and control she had was gone now.
And worst of all…
…Ladybug.
That measly little bug and her damn threat against her. To follow her. To keep an eye on her. To be her… special friend.
Like she would really do that.
Lila turned over in her sheets, settling into her bed and getting comfortable.
Or trying, at least.
Something felt off. She just didn’t know what.
She glanced around her room. It was much more barren now since her mother had cleared out a lot of her belongings. Her laptop and cellphone were gone, as was the limited light they provided in the dark.
She huffed and turned over to face away from the door.
Half asleep, she glanced out the window.
Two glowing blue orbs were staring back.
She screamed.
A creak of a window opening and closing.
A giggle.
“Huh? Tikki? Zzat you?”
“I’m fine, Marinette. I was just checking on something.”
A yawn.
“What was it?”
Another giggle.
“Nothing important.”
Two blue eyes sent a glare out into the city.
“Nothing at all…”