【Complete! Thank you to everyone who stayed till the end!】
Selene LeClaire- hardly fluent in French- moved to Paris when she was little. Taken in by her late mother's best friend, Emilie Agreste, Selene was in debted to the Agrestes.
However, this c...
Rise smiles sheepishly while Juleka turns back to the television monitor. "I'm worried."
"They'll be fine, Jules! Ladybug will swoop in any minute now and save the day like always." Rose squeezes her arm.
"I hope my family's okay. My mom brought in a guest right before I left. I haven't seen him in a long time."
"Who are you talking about?" I ask as she piques my curiosity.
"He's an old friend of my mom. He insists on being called Master Shou only that I don't think he's a master of anything. He's from Singapore, you see, and is visiting Paris."
My eyes widen in surprise but I quickly mask it. "Have you talked to him?"
Juleka turns to me. "Do you know him? He boasts that he was a big fan of my mom's music when she was in her prime, but we didn't talk much. I'm not too comfortable in social situations, but he talks about music more often with Luka- I guess since Luka's too nice."
I shake my head. "No, I thought he might be a karate instructor I've heard of." Huh. So Juleka knows nothing about Luka's association with Master Shou or anything about the miraculous. My shoulders relax, knowing that Juleka was safely steered away from the danger.
•●•●•●•●•
"Paris is saved once again by Ladybug, Chat Noir and seemingly a new super hero who has joined their ranks, Viperion."
All three of us collectively sigh in relief when we see dozens of people we recognise reappear back from Desperada's prison. I throw a glance at the bathroom door that still housed Marinette. It looks like she could have taken a huge dump.
The sound of a toilet flush come from the door and Marinette emerges with a rather proud expression glowing her face. To my relief, there's no questionable smell that could have wafted out from the bathroom.
"Hey, let's get back to work!" Rose says, forgetting that Marinette was in there for almost half an hour since her eyes were practically glued to the television the whole time. "My turn! My turn! Can you make a unicorn horn..."
Rose's voice fades away as I continue to observe the replay of the heroes fight on screen. Desperada was definitely a super villain. She was dangerous and a looming threat to the lives of civilians. I shouldn't compare myself to her, right? I glance at Rose and Juleka bickering by the vanity table.
Although I don't mean to hurt anyone as Blood Bat, how long would it it take until I start losing their trust? Without much thought, I begin imagining my friends accusing me to be a super villain, looking down on me with horrified expressions. What hurts more is that they're not too far from the truth.
"Hey, Selene. Is...everything all right?" The voice was so gentle and soothing that it reminds me of a certain boy who always coaxed me to be truthful to myself and offered support whenever I needed him. It was rash of me to assume that he was never genuine with me.
"When do you think they would start suspecting me as the Blood Bat?" I say it so flatly that the person beside me seem to freeze up in shock. I peal my eyed away from the screen and nearly choke when I meet Marinette's frightened baby blue eyes. "A-ah wait I d-didn't mean tha-"
"Girls, I'm going to do Selene's hair in the bathroom. See you in a bit." Marinette grabs onto my arm and unceremoniously pulls me into the bathroom with her.
As she locks the door, I clear my throat. "Hey, it's not a big deal."
"Of course it is!" Marinette exclaims so suddenly that it render me quiet. Placing her hands on both of my shoulders, she says, "I completely trust you, Selene. I don't believe that any inch of you is capable of hurting anyone in the whole world."
My eyes look away distractedly. I stop when I catch sight if Grimm hiding behind the shower curtain. I give him a look of disbelief as he watches us with bright yellow orbs. He shrugs casually.
"That's sweet of you to say, but it's okay! I don't need a pep talk," I try to brush over the vehement look Marinette gives me.
"No, listen. I don't believe that you're the Blood Bat, but so what if you are? We may have only been friends for a short time, but I know that you're heart is good and strong. If there's anyone who would label you as a super villain, don't you dare compare yourself to them."
Her words strike a chord with me, causing me to stare on the tiled floor somberly. "The Blood Bat has hurt Ladybug, you know? Are you sure she isn't a super villain or atleast a criminal?"
"No," she says with great conviction. "Because she saved my life." She claps her palms over her mouth.
I look up with a start. I say with a forbidding tone. "Marinette, what's going on?" I don't ever remember saving the klutzy girl from any near-death experience.
Unless it's when she wasn't acting like a normal civilian.
"I just want you to remind you that I trust you completely. Will you promise to keep his a secret?"
"Keep what a secret?" I ask- anticipation rushing into my veins.
"I'm Ladybug," Marinette whispers so softly that it's almost carried away by the breeze from window she left open a while ago. But I hear her confession all the same. "Tikki, you can come out now."
A small red blob- the ladybug kwami flies out from her pocket. She waves at me with a glowing smile and big doe eyes. "Hi, I'm Tikki! Marinette has said nice things about you."
I spot Grimm's tiny jaw drop in amazement of the Kwami of Creation, but I'm affected by its voice. I step back- astonished by the kwami's baby-like voice. Grimm sounds like a dignified old man but this one- sounds like a freaking child.
"I know we dropped a bombshell on you, but please remember that it's a secret so severe, it's like Marinette is entrusting her life to you," Tikki says, concern flicking on her face.
I stare at the kwami and then at Marinette and then at Grimm and then my reflection the bathroom mirror. I turn back at the two and confess," I- uh- I already knew."
Their comedic reactions are all worth the months I kept it a personal secret especially Grimm's jaw dropping all the way to the floor.
"What?!" Marinette exclaims. "Huh- how wha- when?"
"You weren't exactly discreet about it."
•●•●•●•●•
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This place is actually where I based off Selene's vision. Marina Bay Sands where Chiroptera vs. Crimson Sunbird took place is just a little to the left out of the picture and the Merlion Park where the blind spot is, is further away to the right.
