Of Runways and Darkness

Chapter 6

Author's Notes: The next chapter as promised! I actually live streamed as I worked on this chapter so it was... interesting. I'm kidding. Literally Fanatic was the only one there so (TT^TT). That's okay. It'll get better. Hopefully more people will show up next time (I should probably pick a better time to be doing all of this anyway).

Enjoy the chapter!

Maria Vasquez was in trouble.

Not like a "oops" kinda trouble but more like a "her whole life was now crashing around her head" kinda trouble. She messed up. Big time. After years of studying and doing her best to achieve the job of her dream.

When she was little, her father would take her all over the world, Britain, France, Japan, Israel, Romania, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, America, everywhere! She loved it. What fascinated her the most were the various languages; even the changes in her native tongue intrigued her to the point that she decided that she had to learn them all. At least, as many as she could. That's why she wanted to be a translator. Everything she worked towards was for that one goal and her parents backed her the whole way. They were so proud of her when she finally graduated. They were even more so when she finally got a professional job for a major corporation in which she traveled to other countries with the CEO in order to ensure that all major transactions went smoothly. She'd been doing well for the last three years.

A hiccup interrupted her thoughts.

Her eyes rolled and the lashes fluttered, trying to clear her vision. It didn't work. She still couldn't see but that was the alcohol's fault.

Speaking of.

She took another hard swallow.

Damn the French.

Damn their language.

Damn her boss.

Another hiccup. Another swallow.

The day had started out like any other but don't most of them? She had flown in a day ago for a meeting here between a major French company and her boss in order to start shipping some materials between the two to automate the process at many of the factories under their company. Something about creating more works or whatever. She didn't know. Dealings of the lesser people where none of her business; she just had to listen to her boss and the others that they dealt with and translate everything. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Pretty much she was useless and she knew it but she still loved to listen to how words rolled off others' tongues as they spoke in their own languages. It sent shivers down her spine. The sensation was better than any pleasure anyone could offer to her.

She had been enjoying listening so much today, something that rarely if ever happened, that she missed some vital information.

She'd messed up. Big time.

The meeting had ended in a near shouting match between both parties until her boss, ever the embodiment of calm, had called for silence from all people, stared her down, and asked her to repeat what the French representatives had said. She swallowed. Repeating it, they realized that she had mistakenly switched up some words, easily changing the meaning of the sentence and nearly insulting all parties in the room. All eyes turned on her in that moment.

She'd never felt so exposed in her life.

Another swallow.

Her boss softly asked her to tell the others that they were sorry for the mistake. Shakingly, she did. They only nodded at her but the frowns on their faces never left until they all finally shook hands on the agreement and they were escorted out. The older man met her eyes when they were at the bottom.

"Go home," he softly but firmly ordered. She didn't know what to think; he had often demonstrated himself as a kind leader who often led people like herself through their mistakes. There was none of that this time. He just gave an order, climbed into his limo, and left her standing on the sidewalk.

Wouldn't you know it? It had to rain too.

Walking to her hotel, dark thoughts circled fiercely in her mind. What if he was going to fire her? What if she was going to be blacklisted from working in other companies? What if she lost the only dream she ever had? It wasn't fair! She was only human after all. Humans made mistakes. He didn't have to be so dismissive of her.

That had been hours ago.

Now she laid on her hotel floor, empty bottles of some alcohol around her, her makeup smeared from crying.

It wasn't fair!

She was so angry and upset but she didn't know what to do.

Should she call her parents? Oh god! They were going to be so disappointed in her. This was a tragedy! It was horrible.

A cold chill shot down her spine.

Her life was over.

Maniacal laughter tore from her throat and she threw her arm over her eyes, not caring that the makeup was now going to ruin the sleeve of her jacket.

A small silver box on her hip, an item of a bygone era to be honest, beeped. She looked down at the pager and it had just one message, "Call the boss." Her face fell. Fear shot through her heart and she wanted nothing more than to curl in on herself and disappear. Let the world handle her failure as it wanted. She just didn't want to be there for it.

The world grew fuzzy in her mind. It felt... whole. Complete. RIGHT. She sat up, completely entranced and let the warm, black feeling course through her system. She knew what this was. Even in Spain they knew about Hawkmoth and how he terrorized the citizens of Paris. They knew how he would send out his little black butterfly and offer his victims peace instead of the raging emotions they had.

A voice strongly spoke to her, "Miss Translate, I'm Hawkmoth. What happened today was not your fault. After all, everyone should be impressed that you know so many languages."

"That's right," she agreed. Standing, she waited. She wanted it.

"I can help," he continued, "no one will be able to judge you if they all speak funny right? I can give you that ability. However, I need something in return. I need you to bring me the miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir."

A twisted grin crossed her lips.

"¡Por supuesto mi amigo!"

The darkness swirled all around her until the power was hers and havoc was meant to be rained on the people of Paris.