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Marinette's POV
I've never felt so happy. It's gleeful, and it's infectious, enough that even Damian, the ice prince of Gotham, (at least, that's what the Gotham newspapers called him) smiled.
Over the past two weeks, I've spent all of my free time on this dress for this single night. I wanted it to be special, and I knew it would be with Damian.
I hoped Hawkmoth wouldn't come and ruin it, but it had been too long since his last akuma, so I was a bit on edge.
Chloe and Adrien were already here, dancing in the crowd. Chloe was in a silky, yellow sresss, which reminded me of the one from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Adrien was in a tuxedo, with a matching yellow tie. They were the best of friends, having fun for a night.
Chloe wouldn't tell me who she liked, and I wasn't going to push her about. Honestly, I don't think I even knew him, it must of been someone she met in New York over the summer.
I think Adrien still had feelings for Kagami. Fading feelings, and he was learning how to deal with them.
The song ends, and Chloe beelines for the refreshments. She's a little tired, but she looks happy.
After all we had suffered through, we deserved this. We deserved to be happy.
Chloe grabs a cup of punch, raising it to her lips when she spots me. She practically squeals, and shoved her drink into Adrien's hands. Adrien eyes go widen as he attempts to grab the drink without spilling over himself. Luckily, he doesn't get any on his pristine suit.
Chloe rushes towards me, and envelopes me into a hug, causing me to let go of Damian. "Oh my goodness! YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!" She screams into my ear.
"Thank you," I say back, and pull away slightly from her. "You look stunning. Yellow is your color."
"Well duh. Hello, it's me," Chloe says, rolling her eyes at my obvious statement.
Adrien makes his way over to us, scowling at his date. "You might as well throw your cup at me next time."
Chloe checks her nails, while staring, "I like to keep you on your toes. A cat always lands on his feet, doesn't he?"
Eyeing Damian, Adrien says to conceal his identity, "I wouldn't know. But please, tell me about your new found crush on Cat Noir."
"That mangy alley cat!" Chloe exclaims. "Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous," she mocks him.
Adrien opens his mouth to argue with her, but he's interrupted by his phone buzzing. He takes it out of his suit pocket, and his face twists as he reads who is calling him. He sighs, "It's my Father. It's important if he's calling me directly. I'll be right back," Adrien promises Chloe and I. He walks swiftly out of the room, out into the cold.
Chloe shrugs, and turns to me, "I can't get over your dress, it looks amazing." She gushes towards me.
"Thank you Chlo. It's worth it to see the looks on Alya and Lila's faces." I shrugged. Damian hums in agreement, although I know he feels like an outsider in the conversation.
The music suddenly gets less intense, and it's replaced my a love song. Nino takes off one side of his headphones, and grabs the microphone, "And this one's for all the lovers out there! Grab your partner, and head to the floor for a slow dance."
I blushed , not really knowing what to do in the situation. Adrien wasn't back yet, and I didn't want to leave Chloe alone.
And then there was Damian.
Was he going to ask me? Was I going to ask him to dance? Were we just going to go straight to the dance floor without exchanging a word—
Chloe rolls her eyes with a mischievous grin, and pushes me into Damian, towards the dance floor. "You guys go dance, I'll go find Adrikins."
She saunters off, and leaves me with him.
Damian offers his hand, a perfect gentlemen. "Would you like to dance?"
I give him a nod, not trusting my voice. I take his hand, and Damian leads me to the dance floor.
He shrugs my arm over his shoulders and neck, and I clasp them behind him. Thank goodness for my insanely high heels because without them, I doubt I could barely reach his shoulders. He puts his hands on my waist, and pulls me a little closer to him.
I can smell is expensive cologne, and the gel he used for his hair. I looked into his green eyes, and noticed how much larger his pupils looked up close.
"This is perfect," I finally speak, as we sway back and forth to the music.
He nods, and his eyes dip down to my lips. I blush, and look away for a moment, trying to catch my breath.
Damian lowly chuckles, as he sees the true effect he has on me. Honestly, it was turning out to be a perfect night.
...until I saw the mocking glances of Alya and Lila, looking at me. I decided to not let them have any power over me, and I ignored them.
But the DJ didn't.
I watched as Nino put on a pre recorded track, and hopped down from the stand. He didn't look happy. Alya did. "Finally, let's go dance Nino!" She said, grabbing his arm.
He didn't move, and he spun around to face his girlfriend. "Alya, I'm tired of watching you tear down people like it's nothing. It's toxic, and mean, and it's not the Alya I once knew."
Everyone turns to watch the two lovers' squabble. They've been together for so long, everyone thought they were the it couple.
"What are you saying?" Alya said, her voice a little raised.
Damian turns me away from them, slightly stepping in front of me. Everyone has stopped dancing, and I watch from around him the drama that has fallen.
Nino looks around at the crowd watching them, before decisively saying, "I think we should break up."
A collective gasp erupts from the crowd.
"Are you talking about Marinette? Lila told me you'd turn on me for Marinette, that your crush for her would come back." Alya accused him, her eyes glaring at me. Damian steps towards her, but I pull him back and shake my head.
This was going to get ugly, and Damian didn't need to fight my battles. I could fight them well enough.
"See, this is what I'm talking about. It's Lila this or Lila that, but you don't even fact check what she's saying. You believe everything she says, and that's going to be your downfall." Nino says, backing away from her. He looks heartbroken, but determined.
And then that's when it hit Alya.
She begged, "No, Nino, we can talk about this. I can change." Tears stream from behind her glasses, as she grasps the gravity of her situation.
Nino sighs, "I know. I've seen it happening ever since you became best friends with Lila. I don't want any part of this. I think it's best if we go out separate ways."
"Nino I—"
I felt horrible for her. But Alya dug her own grave, and now she had to lie in it. Everyone slowly went back to dancing or chatting, trying to ignore the elephant in the room. Damian took me in his arms again, but we both watched Alya closely.
Nino was already gone, going back to DJing. So Alya went to the one support she had left. "Lila, Nino just broke up with me," Alya says through tears, wiping them away under her glasses.
"Ugh, finally," Lila says, yawning out of pure boredom, although, her foot was tapping impatiently against the floor.
"What do you mean?" Alya says. "He was my boyfriend. I thought he was the love of my life."
Lila rolls her eyes, and grabs Alya's hands. Lila glides her thumb over the top of Alya's hands, trying to comfort her at a distance. "He was distracting you this entire time. This gives us more time to hang out and for you to pursue being a journalist. It was going to end anyways when I got you that intern at the Daily Planet in America."
"Nino was not a distraction, or a waste of time." Alya said, suddenly feeling betrayed. "Marinette never made me choose between her and Nino. And I could handle a career with a romantic life. Why are you being so mean?"
"Well, I'm not a bully like Marinette." Lila groans in exasperation. Lila was so close to her goal, and now it was all falling apart in front of her eyes.
"After what you did to Rose, I've been questioning it myself." Alya reveals, and it's the final blow to Lila.
"You're just saying that to make me feel worse than you now that Nino has decided to move on from you." Lila insults her ex-best friend.
Alya, loosing the two most important people in her life within minutes, shoots back, "You're the worst, Lila."
Lila stops in her tracks. She turns, with an evil gleam in her eye, "What did you just say?"
Alya goes with her gut this time, "You heard me. You've ruined my relationship with my boyfriend. And now you invalidate my feelings? What else have you lied about?"
Lila was finally exposed.
"It was to keep the peace in our class, that why I'm class president." Lila finished, "Alya, it was for the greater good."
"What greater good? You? That's pathetic, even for you Lila." Alya said, feeling betrayed. Perhaps feelings how I felt years ago.
Damian hugs me, noticing the drop in my mood, and discomfort. "We can leave if this is making you feel uncomfortable."
I look up at him and say, "We have to walk right by them to walk out of the dance. Let's leave after they finish fighting."
That wasn't the reason I wanted to stay. There was another exit, but I had a feeling that an akuma might pop up.
Lila screeches, turning heads towards her, "What, Alya? What are you trying to get me to say, to admit?"
"It's like I'm seeing you for the first time. It's like you've been wearing a mask this entire time, to hide who you are." Alya says, through tears and anger. She barely able to control herself, and I know that the inevitable is about to happen.
An akuma flutters through from the windows, heading straight for Alya. Lila smiles, and it clicks that this was planned.
Somehow, some way, Lila was in league with Hawkmoth.
"Alya! No!" I scream. Even though we're not friends, we're not close anymore, a small part of my heart will always belong to her. I wouldn't wish Hawkmoth or an akuma on anybody.
Alya looks at me, a little sadder than before, and then she closes her eyes, accepting her fate.
She let the akuma touch her glasses, and a dark purple haze covered her body.
Alya grew triple in height, almost hitting the ceiling. Her eyes were gaping with darkness, poorly concealed through her black mask. Her orange dress turned into turned half into black, and the other to white.
Alya's voice echoed across the gymnasium, as she said, "I am Truth Seeker. With these masks, I reveal who you truly are. With these masks, I control you. By extent, Hawkmoth, controls you. I seek truth and justice. I seek revenge."
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