Chapter Text
“ She’s collecting memories, and putting them away. She’s counting stars, in her perfume jar. Who do you love? Who do you love?” - Jessamin by Darling Violetta
--
July 2, 2016
Swinging the door open and kicking her shoes off, she heads to the kitchen to grab a snack and to make a cup of coffee. Sitting on the counter is a note messily written in her mother’s rushed handwriting. There’s no need to look at it to know of its contents, and she can practically predict every line that it’s going to say.
Dearest Lila,
Something came up at the embassy, so I will have to stay late tonight. Please send me a text as soon as you see this letter. I will call you as soon as I know when I’ll be coming home. There are leftovers in the fridge from last night, so feel free to just heat those up. I left you the account details for Netflix, if you would like to watch something.
If I don’t see you until tomorrow, then have a good night, my little dove.
Love,
Mom
Tossing the note away, she retreats to her room and pulls out her laptop, keeping an eye on her phone for any messages from Alya or her other classmates. Later, she will have to sleuth on social media for any juicy tidbits to work into her schemes, but after a long day with Alya, she just wanted to relax and watch a movie.
--
She didn’t expect an opportunity to present itself to her, but Alya’s complete and utter obliviousness to anything outside of her interests shone through for her, not only allowing her a moment to sabotage Adrien’s “date” with that Tsurugi girl, but also giving her the opportunity for her to temporarily borrow Alya’s phone for key information. She did have to contend with Alya’s sister calling her five times, but she made sure to switch Alya’s phone to vibrate after pocketing it from her.
Of course, she still had to be covert. Alya couldn’t live without her phone, so Lila really had to go out of her way to spin some tales to keep her occupied and from wanting to look at a screen. There were only a few times Lila was able to keep her distracted long enough to steal a glance at Alya’s messages, and to take pictures with her own phone. One such instance involved stopping on a bridge to make Alya close her eyes for five minutes and make a wish to resurrect Parthenope the siren.
“There’s a rumor that Parthenope wore a sapphire necklace,” Lila explained, “But when her body washed up on Naples, it was no longer there. Some think it could be in Parisian canals!”
“That’s amazing!” Alya exclaimed.
“Well, it’s just a myth,” Lila pointed out, “However, they say if enough people stop at a canal, close their eyes for five minutes and wish for Parthenope to be resurrected, the necklace will wash ashore.”
“That seems kind of silly,” Alya hummed, “But what kind of journalist would I be if I didn’t try to investigate it properly?”
That wouldn’t matter. You’re just as easily manipulated as everyone else, you tabloid news writer.
“Yes, you should give it a chance,” Lila said, patting her shoulder. “Go ahead, I’ll keep track of time for you.”
Alya easily obliged, giving Lila full access to her phone. She didn’t have time to read absolutely everything, so she made sure to use her own phone to take pictures of the most interesting messages off Alya’s phone, as well as copy her contacts list. However, one message thread caught her attention.
Alix: Fat chance. You dragged me out of the house for nothing , I’m not about to lose more time over some stupid mission.
Mylene: I’m sorry, but I’m spending the afternoon with my dad. It’s one of the few days off he gets.
Rose: sorry, alya!! D: but neither me nor jules want to break up lukanette, even if we liked adrinette a lot! we’re team mari!!
For a moment, all Lila could do was glare at the message thread and then back at Alya. So the Ladyblogger wasn’t the sweet, encouraging mom friend after all.
Not that Lila believed that for a second. Everyone deep down was selfish, just like her. But people like Marinette and Alya were so self-righteous about their “virtues” that it made her sick.
Lila was not Alya’s number one choice, and that would be her biggest mistake. She didn’t even care anymore if Alya caught her with her phone. Let her feel bad for even thinking of trying to use Lila as a pawn.
So what if Alya found out, missed what she assumed to be urgent messages from her sister, and got in trouble for it? She was so tightly wrapped around Lila’s finger, she wouldn’t possibly suspect Lila of foul play. All she would have to do was bat her eyes like a kicked puppy and pout like a child that was about to lose their favorite toy. Besides, it was clear from her messages that Lila was just a pawn in her own scheme - Lila was only returning the favor.
...Although misleading her about Marinette was also pretty nice. If Lilla was going to keep her control over Alya, divide and conquer was pretty necessary. And Marinette was only making it too easy by spending more time with that new boyfriend of hers.
He won’t stay her boyfriend for long, if I have anything to say about it.
--
August 31, 2016
Things were going well until they weren’t.
Alya has limited access to her phone during summer break because of her grounding. They thankfully had a couple of days left at school for her to talk about it, but if she wanted to speak to Lila after that, she had to steal her phone and sneak back into her room. So for a time, they had some contact, allowing Lila to sour Alya’s opinion of Marinette’s new relationship.
(Of course he was just as much of a self-righteous goody two-shoes, just like Marinette . No wonder she picked him over Adrien).
Meanwhile, Lila spent her summer generally avoiding the rest of her class, pretending that she was off on a grand vacation in Morocco. To be fair, she did get out of the summer for a couple of weeks - mostly to go to Versailles. And she did spend two weeks in Naples, visiting her father’s side of the family. But she would hardly consider that a vacation.
When she wasn’t “on vacation,” she spent a lot of time taking selfies or posting pictures of activities that she saw got a lot of likes. Bullet journaling and meditation seemed like good options to go with, and sure enough, they turned into some of her most popular posts. However, it seemed that most of her class weren’t responding to her posts, and in fact, she lost quite a few of them as followers.
Despite all of that, she was fully confident that she still had a strong grip on Alya, who would be desperate to see her as soon as they made it into class. From there, Lila could work on improving her image, and perhaps set the record straight with Alya regarding who was the pawn in the schemes.
She spends her last day of summer break inside for the most part, waiting for school the next day to make her dramatic entrance. After dinner, she settles back into her room, scrolling through her feeds to watch something to watch, when a livestream catches her attention:
Kitty Section First Single Liveshow!
In the thumbnail, she can see three of her classmates, as well as Marinette’s boy toy, Luka, a woman she recognizes as an upcoming musician, and Jagged Stone himself. A lump forms at the bottom of her stomach, and hesitantly, she clicks the link to watch the show.
It seems that they’re in the middle of Two Truths, One Lie. The musician Lila barely recognizes is apparently multilingual and says something in both Spanish and English, which she’s somewhat able to make it. Despite her mother’s attempts to tutor her, English wasn’t her specialty. Spanish, on the other hand, was closer to her native language, and thus, easier to pick up.
“That’s fantastic! Well, since no one got that right, I think our other special guest should get to go next. Jagged?”
Lila doesn’t miss the smirk that Jagged sports, staring at both Juleka and Luka.
"I’m allergic to non-organic flour, cats, and coffee."
She clutches her pillow, ready to scream and curse the world for giving her such rotten luck. They wouldn’t, she scowls, ready to reach across the screen and strangle all of those smug-looking brats.
“ Gee, I don’t know. Was it…cats?”
“Ah, yes. Very good. I can’t handle certain coffee beans. Not really sure why. It just means I have to live in a world where I have to wake up without making it. My pastries can only be made with organic flour, or else I’ll have problems breathing. But cats? Was always more of a dog person myself, so I’ve never had one, but they’re alright.”
“ I hate you !” she screeches, chucking the tablet at the floor, before throwing herself on her bed. “All of you! Traditori! Siete vigliacchi! Spero che voi siate maledatti dal Malocchio! ”
Plans of revenge fill her head, finding ways to humiliate all of the members of Kitty Section, ruining their careers, and more importantly, making Marinette out to be the bad guy. Sure, she wasn’t on camera, but Lila knew for a fact that Marinette convinced them to do the segment on the show to ruin her! They weren’t even trying to hide their stupid looking smirks or have any degree of sublety.
“ Lila ! Are you okay?” her mother calls out, forcing the door to her room open.
She lets out a sharp breath, “Yes, mother. It was just a bad dream.”
No, mother, I’m not. But, if I get akumatized now, I’ll only out myself. I have to wait. I can fix this. If I just explain things to everyone, it’ll be alright. And besides, what are the chances that they even remember that story anyway?
“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie. Tell you what, why don’t I make something for you to drink so that you can get a proper night’s rest before your big day tomorrow?”
“Yes, mother. That would be lovely.”
--
September 1, 2016
The locker room has been slightly rearranged, making her neighbors with Chloe’s lackey, Sabrina, and a blonde named Fleur. She reminds Lila of a wilted flower upon first glance, keeping to herself and shooting shy glances around the room to see if anyone would talk to her. The moment that Lila gives her any amount of attention, she perks right up and is eager to please.
“By the way, you’re Italian, right?” she asks excitedly, having finished explaining her summer spent working in her mother’s boutique, “Have you ever been to Milan?”
“Oh, of course. I lived there for a number of years actually.”
“That’s amazing ,” Fleur sighs, “I’ve always wanted to go to the fashion capital of the world! That’s where my mom studied before opening the boutique.”
So she’s a wash-out , Lila figures. Probably a failed designer and decided to open a store to compensate or something . Still, I might be able to get good deals on stuff if I’m nice enough to her daughter…
She spots Alya from the corner of her eye, and urgency returns to her. Patting Fleur’s shoulder, she says, “Why don’t you go ahead? I’ll meet you in class, I just have to take care of something real quick.”
“Oh, okay. Maybe we can be desk partners!”
Lila only shoots the girl in question a smile, allowing her to scurry off. Before she can walk out of the locker room, Lila corners Alya, attacking her with the biggest smile she can muster.
“Oh my god, Alya! It’s been so long since we last talked! How was your summer?”
Alya closes her locker door, regarding Lila with a cold look. “Lila.”
She’s rather surprised to see Alya so… unimpressed . Clearly, Lila miscalculated something and she needs to recover quickly. Clearing her throat, she asks, “I-I’m sorry I didn’t message you a lot while on break! It’s just I was out of town a lot and-”
“Save it. That’s not what I want an apology for,” Alya has the nerve to demand, “I want you to apologize for a. lying to me and b. stealing my phone the last time we hung out.”
At this point, Lila can’t help but gawk at Alya. It’s all a trap. She’s being set up by Marinette or someone else jealous. Come on, you can save this.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Pulling out her phone, Alya shows her the “Missed Calls” tab. “You see all of those? Those are from my sister. She was trying to get me to come back home and babysit our younger sisters, which I promised to do. She ended up missing a pretty important fight because of it.”
“So what if you forgot?” she can’t help but ask, trying to keep her sweetest smile in place.
“I got grounded, Lila. I might have been careless and lost track of time, but you still chose to take my phone so I had no way of remembering,” she says, trying to contain her voice, “So tell me, Lila. Why did you take my phone?”
“What are you talking about Alya? Why would I do something like that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because you’re a liar and you make stuff up, like being friends with Ladybug. Maybe Marinette was right about you this entire time, and you couldn’t stand that. So you tried to dig up some info on her through me.”
Of course Marinette was involved in this.
“Please. Acting if you’re some saint . I know you only ‘helped’ me with Adrien after your number one failed you. I was only convenient to you.”
“I’ll admit my motives there were not pure. I shouldn’t have used you like that, and for that, I’m sorry. However ,” she says, staring Lila straight in the eyes, “I’m done with letting you encourage the worst parts of me. We’re not friends, Lila, so just stay away from me.”
She walks away in a huff. Which is silly, considering that they’re going to be in the same class. Lila flips her hair in response, before spotting Adrien glumly closing his locker door and starting to head out.
“ Adrien !” she squeals, throwing her arms around him in a side hug, “I’ve missed you so much! How was your summer?”
“Hi, Lila,” he says meekly, not meeting her gaze. “I, uh, it was okay. We should probably get to class.”
“Oh, we can take our time,” she says, batting her eyelashes. Still, she indulges him and walks alongside him to Bustier’s classroom, only letting go when he decides to sit down next to Nino.
Now that I no longer have Alya in my grasp, I think it’s time we take a direct shot at Adrien. Maybe see what’s on his phone.
Spending most of her morning and lunch break scheming, she barely pays attention to anyone else throughout the day, not even Fleur and her weird obsession with a boy that’s supposedly Adrien’s cousin. She spends most of her time chatting him up, leaving Lila to her own devices. It’s not until Adrien comes back from break that she decides to put her plan in motion.
“ Hello , again,” she says, getting closer to him, “How was your lunch?”
“It was okay.”
There’s something so pathetic about the way he slumps and looks as though he doesn’t care about anything. Lila has no clue what could have happened and she couldn’t care if it meant getting him to go along with her plans.
“You know,” she says, tracing her finger on his shoulder, “I missed you at lunch.”
“Maybe you should hang out with some friends,” he mumbles, “Go to their house or something.”
From the corner of her eye, she spots the Tsurugi girl walking into the line of vision. Lila isn’t sure if she’s watching or not, but she’ll put on a show just in case.
“Oh, Adrien, I would just love to hang out at your place!”
She makes sure to make a whole circus performance of how joyful she is at the idea, giving him small touches of gratitude and easily allowing her to snatch his phone without him being any the wiser.
“I-I guess you can come over for a little while, just to see the place. But I don’t think that my dad will approve of me having company over. He’s been kind of strict lately.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I have that all figured out.”
She retreats to her seat and Lila thinks the day will be smooth sailing. In fact, she’s in such a good mood, she’s caught off guard by a text that arrives on Adrien’s phone.
Are you available to speak with after school? I apologize for the repeat text, but it’s rather important.
It’s from Kagami, and it presents Lila another opportunity to get rid of another rival. However, it’s a juggling act trying to send a response, with Fleur’s curious stares, Miss Bustier looking up at her class every now and then, and Lila trying to deduce the passcode. She’s only glad to have a seat in the back so no one else can catch on to what she’s doing. About thirty minutes later, after guessing Adrien and his father’s birthday, Lila correctly guesses the code - it was none other than the birthdate of Emilie Agreste, something that she had to look up on her wiki page.
Finally able to get into his messages, she types:
Sorry, but I don’t have time to waste on you. I have better things to do.
While she has access to Adrien’s phone, she makes sure to copy his contacts into her own phone, just in case.
Before she knows it the rest of the day is over, and she’s quick to claim Adrien, easily slipping the phone into his pocket and escorting him to his limo.
“Adrien,” Kagami barks, marching up to the two of them and flashing “Adrien’s” message in their faces, “What is the meaning of this message?”
Ha, this ought to be good.
“Oh my, you look rather upset,” Lila sighs, “I’m sure it was all just a misunderstanding.”
Looking confused but also deflated, Adrien averts everyone’s gaze.
“I didn’t write that.”
“Then who did?”
Adrien looks ready to just take a lecture, and be humiliated in front of everyone, or attempt to make an escape with her in tow.
Unfortunately, there was one person that Lila didn’t account for.
“Yo, guys, what’s going on?”
Flashing the screen in front of him, Kagami scowls, “I sent Adrien a rather reasonable request to speak after classes, and he has the nerve to say this .”
Nino frowns, and for a moment, Kagami worries that she’s going to have someone else to have to fight. But sure enough, he looks over to Adrien and Lila, studying them intently. “You know, now that I think about it, I did see Lila returning Adrien’s phone to his pocket just before class started again.”
“N-Nino! What are you saying? I only meant to return his phone after he dropped it from his pocket!”
“Yeah? Why did you sneak it back into his pocket then? Why didn’t you tell him he dropped it? My guess, dudette? Whenever he ‘dropped’ his phone, you took it and sent that message to Kagami.”
The gasps and explanations come out of her mouth naturally. Normally, this would be enough to get someone to back off. However, it seems that the majority of the attention is off of her , and Adrien and Kagami are the ones on center stage. She’s not used to being sidelined like this, and she’s also not used to the judgemental stares she gets from everyone that crowds around them.
“Kagami, come on. Everyone’s starting to stare…”
“Adrien, all I want is an answer. If you didn’t write this, then do you stand by it?”
“It’s not that bad. She only meant it as a joke...”
She has to admit, she was actually surprised that Adrien would come to her defense. Granted, he wasn’t denying her involvement with the whole plan, but he could just easily throw her to the wolves and watch her be humiliated.
I hope you like the idea of being a part of my posse, Adrien, because you’re on my side now .
“I’m through with this.”
“Kagami…”
“No, I’ve had enough , Adrien! If you don’t actually want me around, you can just tell me instead of pulling stunts like this!”
She storms off, leaving her and Adrien alone with the crowd, which begins to disperse. For a moment, everything is calm, and her route to escape is just within reach.
“That wasn’t cool, dude.”
“What was I supposed to do, Nino? My dad already has me at home on a leash, and says if I get anyone akumatized, I’m going to lose everything!”
“Dude-”
He doesn’t have a chance to finish though, as an akuma, who they assume to be Kagami, appears.
“Citizens of Paris. I am Friend Zone and I am going to be teaching you all a lesson about what happens when you treat people poorly!"
Wow, what a horrible name. Someone really ought to talk to Hawkmoth about that.
Somehow, everyone manages to run away, with Adrien leaving her behind! What a coward! I’ll let him have it!
The moment she’s left alone, she becomes the perfect target for Friend Zone, and is easily captured by her phone. For what feels like a long stretch of time, Lila is trapped on the other side of the screen, crying as much as she can in order to get Friend Zone’s attention.
“ Stop such childish behavior!” she cries.
“P-Please let me go…”
“ No . Villains like you need to be stopped until you learn your lesson. I won’t allow you to go anywhere near Adrien!”
“I promise to stay away from Adrien if you just stop Ladybug!” she cries, “She’s also after Adrien, but if they end up in a relationship together, she’ll only endanger him!”
This causes Friend Zone to stop, lowering herself to the ground, and stare at her screen. Lila can see the outline of the butterfly over her face, so clearly, Hawkmoth is speaking to her.
“If I take her miraculous, you will stay away from Adrien?”
“Yes, of course!”
Tch, as if .
“...Very well. I’ll hold you to it then.”
Lila is released into the streets, not bothering to spare Friend Zone another glance. She’s somewhere in the downtown area, although she’s not exactly certain where. Spotting a rather cute-looking boutique, she runs toward the door, and becomes more eager when she recognizes both a familiar looking blonde, and a familiar looking hero.
“Oh, Ladybug, I knew you’d be here to save me!” she cries, throwing her arms over Ladybug, “That mean Friend Zone doesn’t want me around Adrien. I’m just glad to see he’s okay!”
“Gross, I’m not Adrien. I just happen to look like him, that’s all.”
Wait, I recognize this guy. He was talking to Fleur at lunch.
“Oh, that must make you his cousin! I’m Lila Rossi and I-”
“Am wasting time,” he yawns, “Ladybug, can we please get this over with? The sooner I can return into my street clothes, the better.”
Ugh, what a snob!
Lila doesn’t pay much attention to what happens afterwards, only watching from her hiding spot behind the register.
“Are you alright, sweetie?” the shopowner asks, “Tell you what, I’ll make you some tea later. You look rather tense.”
“Oh, I would like that, but I couldn’t impose on you.”
“It’s not a problem. I meant to make some for my daughter when she came home from school. I just hope she didn’t get hurt on her way back.”
“Your daughter?”
“Her name is Fleur. She goes to College Francois Dupont.”
“No way, really ? We’re seatmates!”
And so the conversation goes.
--
September 2, 2016
Another day, another akuma attack. The plan to set things in motion is simple - now having Ms. Tsurugi’s number thanks to Adrien, she alerts her and lets her know that her daughter is cohorting with two devilish brats and that she’ll only get herself into further trouble after her akumatization the previous day. Of course, she makes sure to follow the three of them and send pictures.
Everything was going according to plan, for the most part. When things weren’t, Lila stepped up to Ikari Gozen’s aid, trying to get her back on track and find that loser Ladybug.
And then fate intervened in the form of Viperion, using his Snake Eyes to knock her out.
When she wakes up, she has a small headache. It was nothing major, but it didn’t leave her in the mood to return to school. Stupid Viperion. I bet Ikari Gozen would have won if he didn’t stop me. Seeing that she’s currently in the hotel lobby, she walks a few blocks before making it to the boutique Fleur’s mom owns.
“Oh, you’re back,” she greets, “Are you on your lunch break? I thought that was supposed to end soon.”
“Oh, yes, ma’am,” Lila says with a soft sob, “But I was caught outside with that akuma attack, trying to run for my life! After everything was fixed, I had a terrible headache, and my apartment is all the way on the other side of town. This was the only place I thought to come to so I could feel safe.”
“Well, that just won’t do,” she says, guiding Lila toward an empty chair, “Here, you can rest here awhile. Why don’t you give your mom a call and let her know what happened?”
“I-I’ll try,” Lila pouts, knowing that she has this woman eating out of the palm of her hand, “But she’s usually pretty busy at work.”
“You do that, and I’ll alert my daughter. She’s in your class, right?”
“Oh, yes. Fleur has been very kind to me.”
“I’m glad to hear that. She’s pretty shy but if you spend enough time with her, she’ll warm right up.”
Lila had long deduced that, but having her suspicions confirmed was comforting. With Fleur’s mother satisfied, she leaves the room, phone in hand to alert her daughter. Lila pulls out her own phone. As she expects, no one is available to take the call, so she leaves a message and hangs up. A few moments later, Fleur’s mother returns to the room.
“No luck?”
She shakes her head.
“Then I will alert the school myself. Hopefully they’ll be able to get through to your mother,” she says, “I don’t have much in terms of food here, but I do have some tea. Would you like that?”
“Yes, please. I’ll take whatever you have.”
Once again, the woman leaves the room, returning with a pot of tea, and places it next to the register. She pours its contents into a small cup before handing it to Lila.
“It’s peppermint,” she explains, “It’s supposed to be good for headaches. Now you go ahead and relax, and I’ll take care of alerting your school what happened.”
“Oh, thank you.”
And just like her own mother, Fleur’s mom disappears in a flash, no doubt calling up Mr. Damocles as to what happened, and asking for her to be excused for the time being. What happened after that didn’t really matter to Lila, so long as she didn’t get into trouble. There were only a couple of hours left in school, it wasn’t as though she would miss anything important.
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t skipped school before anyway.
Thirty minutes later, a prim looking woman with red streaks in her black hair enters the shop, directly calling for the owner. Her hands clutch a small object, which Lila can’t determine. There’s a brief conversation that Lila pretends not to overhear, but of course, her curiosity is piqued.
“...the person we want to wear this has to be a very special person,” the woman explains, “A model in the making.”
Lila bites back a smile. How interesting. I might just have to get my hands on whatever it is she’s talking about, somehow.
The woman “I hope you can find someone,” she pauses, looking over her shoulder and casting Lila a long glance, “ worthy of it.”
“Of course. I’m grateful your sponsor would donate something like this to our shop.”
The woman walks out of the shop, sparing Lila another glance, and even a smug smile, before walking out the door.
--
Another thirty minutes pass, and Lila’s mother arrives at the shop, relieved at the sight of her daughter.
“Oh, dio mio , I was so worried about you,” her mother cries, hugging her against her chest upon seeing her, “Are you okay? Did that akuma hurt you?”
“I was so scared, mama,” she says, summoning her tears, “Thankfully, I didn’t get a scratch on me, but I have a headache. Fleur’s mom was kind enough to give me some peppermint tea and stay at her shop until you could be alerted.”
“I can’t thank you enough, miss, um-”
“Just call me Darcey,” she says, taking her mother’s hand and shaking it gently, “I’m glad things worked out. She looked really frightened by what happened.”
Her mother frowns, staring at her daughter and ruffling her hair. “I see. I’m sorry to make you wait like that, Lila. We’ll have to have a deeper discussion about what happened.”
“Oh, you know what,” Darcey says, pulling some box from the register, “I have a good luck present that might make her feel better.”
She’s quick to recognize it has the little black box that the stranger delivered to her earlier. She notices a small piece of paper sticking out from it, but it doesn’t catch Darcey’s attention.
“You’re giving this to me? Really?”
“Of course. It’s said to bring fortune and happiness to the person wearing it.”
Lila gives little attention as to what happens after that. She remembers returning home, taking some tea from her mother, and retreating to her room under the pretenses of taking a nap, but of course, she’s more curious to open the little box and find out what her prize is.
Upon opening it, something flies around her head, momentarily distracting her from what’s inside - a peafowl shaped brooch, dull as a stormy cloud.
The light finally stops swarming her, stopping in front of her face and revealing a sentient being with peafowl-like qualities. It has a stony expression on its face, as if unimpressed by its surroundings.
“W-What are you?” she gasps, poking her head around it to get a closer look, “Is this some kind of joke?”
“I’m Duusu. Don’t make a big deal about it,” she says, letting out a yawn, “I’m a kwami that can give you special powers, and you’ll be able to make creatures or whatever.”
Lila frowns, giving the creature’s words some serious thought. “Powers? You mean like Ladybug?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever. Look, do you have any fruit? My last owner was pretty stingy about feeding me despite practically living in a mansion.”
“Oh, my, that sounds horrible!” she gasps again, clutching her heart. The kwami doesn’t look the least bit fazed. “Just who was this awful person? I ought to give them a piece of my mind!”
“Please, drama queen. I know that Hawkmoth sent me to you for nefarious reasons or whatever. They were specifically talking about you being a good holder for me because of your ‘ambitions to destroy Ladybug.’ If you’re going to continue to act up, can you be twenty times less annoying?”
“How dare you? Are you accusing me of lying?”
“That’s basically what I said,” the kwami says with a yawn, “Look, are you planning on using my powers or what? Because otherwise, I’m catching up on my beauty sleep. Heaven knows how much of it I lost.”
She allows herself a long moment to glare at the kwami, hoping to get under her skin. But Duusu continues to just float there, not even pretending to look the least bit intimidated by her. I’ll make sure that changes, soon enough.
“Fine. Tell me about your powers.”
After listening to Duusu’s explanation, Lila is quick to transform, appreciating her new costume and form. Her hair takes on a navy tint, and no longer has the small knot tied at the bottom. A turquoise feather is pinned just above her right ear, matching the color of her dress. She has full length, draping sleeves, navy leggings, black boots and a skirt that stops at her knees in the front, and fans out in the back. The skirt also has a pattern of circles to decorate it, with an inner pink ring, and a dark blue outer ring. Deciding upon the name Incantatrice Blu, she plucks a feather from her fan, fuses it with an energy until it turns blue, and sends it away, waiting for it to reach a target.
“ Hello there… cell phone. I will grant you life and you will become the sentimonster Rue-be. You will help the little intern with her chores in order to lure out Ladybug and take her miraculous. Do you understand?”
There’s no response, but she can feel the transformation occur. She’s only able to see snippets of what unfolds (of course that pesky Marinette and her friends had to be there! And when they dare to defend Ladybug, she can’t help but send her thoughts to Rue-be to project! Actually, now that she thinks about it, it felt like the sentimonster shared the same sentiments as her...), all leading up to the monster’s defeat.
“Ugh! I was finally close to-”
The transformation drops and Lila immediately breaks out into a coughing fit, clutching for the corner of her bed to keep herself up. Her mother immediately bursts into her room, eyes wide open. Lila doesn’t have enough time nor the strength to attempt to hide Duusu. Thankfully, Duusu has enough common sense to hide anyway.
“ Lila ! Are you okay?”
“W-Water…”
In less than ten seconds, her mother runs out of the room and back in with a glass of water, helping Lila to sit up and take sips from her glass. While Lila is preoccupied with that, her mother places a hand over her forehead, checking her temperature.
“Oh, dear, you seem to have caught a fever. Are you sure that you didn’t get hurt, sweetie?”
“No,” she coughs, nearly spitting out her water before she can finish drinking it, “I-I thought I was okay…”
“This just won’t do,” her mother sighs, “Finish your water, sweetie, and I’ll make you some tea and soup for dinner. I’ll call you once it’s ready.”
“Y-Yes, mom…”
Her mother leaves the door slightly ajar, just to keep an eye on her. Despite that, it slowly closes until a slam could be heard, much to her surprise. Duusu has come out of hiding to reveal herself as the culprit responsible.
“W-What’s happening t-to me…?”
“Oh, yeah, I kinda forgot to tell you,” she says, “You probably shouldn’t use my miraculous that much. It’s kind of cursed. Or maybe it was broken. I wasn’t really paying attention when it happened.”
“ What ?” she nearly shrieks, before hacking, “How could you forget to tell me that?”
“I mean, you also could have read this note.”
Snatching the paper from the kwami, Lila unfurls the note, and immediately begins to read it.
Use this gift sparingly. You’ve proven yourself well.
There was no signature, but rather, an illustration of a butterfly, which was no doubt Hawkmoth’s calling card.
“How is it a gift if it’s broken?” she hisses, staring at the brooch, “And how is this supposed to be a warning? He couldn’t have been less cryptic?”
“Obviously he was trying to cover his tracks,” Duusu retorts, “If my miraculous ended up in the ‘wrong’ hands, he had to leave his warning vague enough so no one else would catch on. This is why it’s so annoying to be a supervillain.”
“He can’t just treat me like another one of his pawns!”
“Don’t take it personally. He thinks of everyone as his pawn.”
Staring down at the miraculous, she scowls. Finally, one step closer to destroying Ladybug, but not without having to destroy herself.
“Ugh, I’ll deal with this tomorrow,” she groans, collapsing on top of her pillow.
--
September 5, 2016
After giving her mother a convincing performance that she’s not well enough to go to school (which wasn’t entirely un true - she still had a bit of a headache and some coughing fits here and there), Lila retreats to her room, turning on Netflix and settles down in bed. She’s promptly interrupted by a text message.
Fleur: Hi Lila! Class rep elections are today! I was wondering if you would want to run alongside me as the class deputy?? I know you’re pretty busy, so you wouldn’t have as many responsibilities!
“Ugh, responsibilities,” she groans, typing out her response.
Lila: I would absolutely love that! Unfortunately, I can’t come into school today. Would you mind getting the homework for me?
Fleur: Of course! Hope you feel better!
The rest of the morning is pretty boring. She alternates between napping and flipping through movies to play, almost certain she’s running out of things to enjoy. The day continues to be dull and uneventful until she finally
“I think it’s time to experiment again,” she says, summoning Duusu, “And hopefully, my plan will sabotage Fleur’s chances of winning the election.”
Duusu sighs, “You didn’t actually want to be class deputy, but you need to keep Fleur around for whatever it is you’re planning.”
Lila could only blink at the kwami in surprise. For a rather lazy personality, she didn’t expect her to catch on so quickly to her. Still, it’s not as though her kwami can do anything to retaliate.
Her plan was to amokize her target and then drop the transformation afterwards. Sure enough, she’s able to send the amok Fleur’s way and create School Spirit, but even after undoing her transformation, her body still feels drained and weak, and she begins coughing again.
Everything had its price. But if it meant ruining and dragging down Ladybug, even at the cost of her life, Lila would do it. And there was no going back on that.