"Does Paon Bleu sound good? Or maybe I should have gone with Madame Paon." The woman hums to herself. "Gosh, I'm so terrible at names." She looked over to Chatte Noire and Volpina. "What do you two have as names?" She asked, pointing between the two of them.
"Volpina."
"Chatte Noire."
"Oh, oh, and I'm Lady Wifi!" Alya spoke up.
"Well, I guess I didn't do so bad with my name." She hopped down from where she was perched, and joined the rest of them.
"Hey, uh, sheer curiosity, what did you do to evil ol' Lady Wifi over here?" Volpina asked.
"Oh, that?" She pulled out a small pouch that was tucked behind her coattail. "It's a little bit of my special ability. It's called, well, I like to call it, Ah-Truth Powder."
"Ah-Truth Powder?" Chatte asked.
"Oh, you know, like when you sneeze, you say 'achoo'? Well, it's like a play on words... Ah-truth... C'mon, it's funny." She tucked the pouch back into her coattails. "And this is my fan." She unclasps her fan from the back of her coat, and she opens it up to it's full extent.
As she opened it, the patterns on it shimmered, and the whole fan was almost covering her. "I can use it to make gusts of wind, or I can spin it and make a shield sort of thing." She demonstrates by spinning her fan.
"Wow, pretty cool, Madame Paon Bleu, but here's the real question." Volpina nudged Chatte.
"Are you Emilie Agreste?"
Paon Bleu looked down at Chatte and she smiled. "That's correct. And you're the girl that Gabriel adopted shortly after my... 'disappearance', correct?"
Chatte blinked, and she was slightly stunned. "I, um, how did you know?"
Paon winked. "Call it a Mother's Instinct. How's Adrien?"
Volpina hisses lightly and she shook her head. "Not doing so good, Madame Paon Bleu. As you can see, she has the cat's Miraculous."
"Wait, wait, wait, hold the phone." Alya spoke up. They all turned to her. "You're telling me that you're Adrien's mom?" She pointed Paon.
Paon nodded. "Guilty." She replied, chuckling slightly.
"And... Marinette?"
She turned to look at Alya. "It's... a long story." Chatte started.
"Like the blue-black hair wasn't sign enough." Volpina commented.
"Hey, ever heard of the Superman effect?" Chatte asked. "Clam it."
"And then that means, Adrien was the original Chat Noir..." Alya continues.
"Get this, Marinette was Ladybug, too. Try to remember that when we fix the world." Volpina added.
"Can you shut up, oh my god, you're going to kill her reporter mind." Chat motioned to Alya, who was running her hands through her hair, and pulled out her phone to tap on it. "Ah, ah, no blogging."
"Ugh." Alya groaned and she handed her phone over to Chatte as she held her hand out. "Okay, mom."
As Chatte took the phone, she tucked it into the bag they stole from the Keeper, with his dice in it.
Paon giggled. "You all seem to be very good friends."
Chatte and Volpina murmured disagreeably while Alya nodded.
"Well, I'm sorry to ruin such a friendly get together, but unfortunately, your time is running out, my dear." Paon pats Alya's shoulder lightly. "My magic can only last for five minutes, and then in five minutes, my magic will wear off too."
"So we should probably get going." Volpina sighed.
"Papillon will probably lose his shit because of the three of us, but..." Paon waved her hand dismissively. "He'll be fine."
Volpina snorts. "Mama Agreste, you're pretty cool."
The blue tinge around Lady Wifi's figure starts to static and fade slowly, then a purple outline appears around Lady Wifi's mask, making her bend over and clutch her head in pain.
"C'mon, Madame Paon Bleu, she's not worth messing with since we took her weapon." Volpina called.
"Hold on, hold on, I just want to do something real quick, I gotta, I gotta instigate." Paon Bleu leaned down to Lady Wifi's field of vision and she made her look up. "Oh Gabriel." She sang.
"Paon, what–" Chatte sighed. "What are you doing?"
"Hi, honey. Remember me?" She waved her fingers. "Wanna play some tag? You know, for old time's sake?"
Lady Wifi straightened and she looked Paon up an down. "E... Emilie?" She asked.
"Come and catch me." She sang, waving her fingers before jumping back.
Lady Wifi held her head and grunted softly. "I... I don't have my phone... I-I can't, I'm powerless." She murmured softly. A purple energy shot through her and she exclaimed out in pain.
"Alya!" Chatte called, already starting to get closer, but she was stopped by Paon.
"That's not Alya. Gabriel is stripping her of her powers soon. We should go." Paon lets go of Chatte's wrist and motioned for them to go.
"But... Alya..." Chatte murmured.
"Come on, kitty, there's nothing we can do now." Volpina put a hand to Chatte's shoulder.
Chatte slowly nodded before she turned and jumped ahead to the next rooftop.
The three of them jumped through Paris, facing many other akuma.
There was a giant snowman made of ice cream that was rampaging through a portion of the city, and the zoo animals were running loose through another part of the city.
Chloé had been akumatized as well, claiming herself to be the Fashion Queen, and was severely disappointed with Chatte Noire's choice of costume.
"It's hideous, darling." She was covered in a golden gown that shimmered in the night. The gown was sleeveless and had a sweetheart neckline. In her hand was a golden staff, and over her head of curls was a lopsided crown.
"Hey, your crown is crooked." Volpina called.
Fashion Queen looked up at her crown, and huffed gently. "It's a fashion statement, okay!"
Volpina hummed in disbelief. "Are were sure it's you that's the Fashion Queen?"
"Stop patronizing her, lord." Chatte sighed.
"Your mama would be so proud, Chloé." Paon smiled gently.
Fashion Queen looked at her for a moment, before pointing her staff threateningly at Paon Bleu. "How do you know about my mother?" She demanded.
"Why, your mama and I were the best of friends! She and I raised you and Adrien together after all." She sighed softly. "You've grown up to be a wonderful young lady, Chloé."
Fashion Queen slowly lowered her staff, her shoulders sagging. "Auntie Emilie?"
Not shortly after she said that, the butterfly outline surrounded her eyes, and she was holding her head.
"Sorry sweetie, but we will catch up later, okay? I promise." With a flip of her fan, Paon managed to knock Fashion Queen's staff out of her hands, making her stumble forward.
The staff spun in the air an was caught by Volpina. She turned to Chatte. "You've got the Bag of Holding from that nerd?"
Chatte rolled her eyes and pulled the bag of dice out. "I feel like you're a secret nerd, I never mentioned the name of this bag." She opened the drawstring bag and offered it to her.
Volpina rolled her eyes now and dropped the staff into the bag, the staff being swallowed by the bag completely. "I don't associate with nerds like them." She dusted her hands as Chatte pulled the drawstrings.
"What's the difference between investigation and perception checks?"
"Perception is looking into detail to what you see and notice with what you have in front of you. An investigation check is when you are looking for something you don't know is in front of you." Volpina supplied.
Chatte snapped her fingers. "Nerd." She smiles smugly.
"Shit." Volpina sighed. "You don't tell a soul, or else." She pointed a finger at her.
Chatte rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm so scared." She looked to Paon, who was apologizing to Fashion Queen and tucking her fan away.
"Lets go girls, I've only got another minute." She murmured.
The three of them continue to go through the city, until they reached the school grounds. They entered the library, a blue light blinding them momentarily as Paon Bleu detransformed.
Once the light dissipated, the two were greeted by a woman in a simple golden gown and a nondescript white mask. Her hair was pinned up and curled over one shoulder.
A blue kwami fluttered from behind her, falling into her hands, and she smiled as she looked down at him. "You've done a good job, Duusu."
Marinette never really knew Emilie to begin with, only the stories she had heard from Gabriel, and the photos Adrien had of her. Seeing her in person was such a... surreal experience.
Emilie looked up at them and offered a sympathetic smile. "Please forgive us, Duusu will rest for a moment."
Volpina went up to her and went to look at the little peacock kwami sitting in her hands. "So, you're the Miraculous of Veracity." She says, petting the little blue creature.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you, Volpina. Is Trixx going to come out?" He asked, looking at the necklace sitting on her chest.
"No, but Trixx tells me that as soon as he gets out, he's going to pick up where he left off?" Volpina questioned.
Duusu visibly shivers.
"Are the two of you not going to detransform?" Emilie asks.
"Fu gave our kwamis some sort of boosts, so we can go for a little longer than usual." Volpina replied.
Duusu looked towards Chatte, who was still a little awestruck. He floated over to her and bowed his head politely. "Plagg, I'm sorry for your loss."
"She's not dead." Chatte replied suddenly, before bringing up a hand to her lips. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap, it was Plagg." She apologized.
Duusu chuckled and shook his head. "It is quite alright, I am familiar with Plagg's sharp tongue."
"We were all under the impression that you disappeared." Chatte continued. Even though it was she who talking, it was Plagg's thoughts coming through.
Duusu nodded. "Once Emilie and Gabriel retired, Nooroo and I remained like... household pets, per say."
Volpina scoffed lightly. "That already sounds sketchy."
"Quiet," Chatte chided lightly. "Continue." She told Duusu.
"We remained happy. Adrien was born and after a while Emilie leaves, leaving Nooroo behind. When the holder of a Miraculous grows distant from their kwami, they go into a slumber. Nooroo was originally Emilie's kwami, so he left shortly before Emilie did. And shortly after Nooroo, I disappeared too." Duusu was sniffling at this point, sparkling tears brimming at his eyes. "Everything has been black since."
Chatte frowned lightly and cupped the kwami in her hands. "I'm sorry." She murmured softly.
"I..." Emilie spoke up. "Gabriel and I met in fashion school. He was an aspiring designer and I was a model. My photographer was Audrey, Chloé's mom. I was his model and eventually, we fell in love." She move to sit down at one of the tables. Volpina and Chatte went to go sit with her.
"Did you two have the Miraculous already?" Chatte asked.
Emilie nodded. "Before we became fashion partners, we were already partners with our Miraculous. After a couple years, we both revealed ourselves, and had Adrien. Of course, he two of us retired as soon as we knew Adrien was on the way. Six months after Adrien was born, Gabriel struck gold. Business boomed and after a while," she trailed off for a moment, shaking her head lightly. "Gabriel became consumed with his work, he... he became obsessed with it, and Adrien and I came second to his work."
"How long did that last?" Chatte questioned, looking down at Duusu, who was wiping away at his tears.
Emilie chuckled sadly, removing her mask. "Years," she replied weakly. "Audrey had Chloé too, so we spent a lot of time with her. Audrey was also unhappy, so one day, seven years after Adrien was born, we both packed up and left."
"Together?" Volpina asked.
She nodded. "She was the one who came up with the idea, and I was always one to follow her whims. She's a headstrong person."
"Chloé is too," Chatte murmured softly, before she sighed. "But... but why did you leave Adrien behind? He's been so hurt and longing to see you."
"I know." Emilie replied quickly, almost harshly. "I know... I just..."She sucked in a shaky breath. "It was irrational of me to leave Adrien behind, but I thought that maybe, maybe Gabriel would come back to his senses."
"I was adopted shortly after." Chatte supplied. "The two of us were roped into his fashion industry with him."
"I just wanted my Gabriel back." She whimpered quietly. She wiped her eyes and cleared her throat.
"Where did you go?" Volpina spoke up.
"Audrey and I, we," she sniffled lightly. "We went everywhere. We went to Spain, Italy, Portugal, Japan, the States. I wanted to stop traveling, but Audrey insisted to continue. Eventually, we went our separate ways. I settled in Texas while she continued to travel."
"In... In the other world, it was said you died." Chatte spoke up.
Emilie shook her head, making a sound that was between a snort and a giggle. "I don't know where that rumor even came from."
"So what brought you back?" Chatte continues.
Emilie sighs. "I... I felt different. Something felt off. I always avoided the French media while I was away, but something called me to look. And when I did, Gabriel had adopted a girl, and was making deals with Rossi..." She looks to Volpina. "I'm impressed your father pulled those strings."
Both of their faux ears perked while Volpina's flattened.
"Honestly, now that I know that Gabriel is the one who changed the world, I'm surprised it even worked." Volpina spoke, mostly to herself.
"Do you know that this world isn't the original world?" Chatte asked.
"I do. You have your own parents, don't you?"
Chatte nodded. "But all of this doesn't answer as to why you have the Miraculous of Veracity."
"When I did some research into Gabriel and why you were in the picture, I found that he was having a gala, or whatever, and so I came back. And it was a masquerade ball, no less."
Volpina looked to Chatte. "The girl just wanted to bring her boyfriend."
Chatte blushed lightly, and shushed her. "And the Miraculous?"
"Have you noticed the painting of me that Gabriel has in the atrium? There's a safe behind that. I thought that Gabriel would have changed the code by now, but he didn't."
Chatte sighed softly. "Let me guess, your anniversary date, your birthday, or Adrien's?"
She chuckled. "Mine."
"So, he had a miraculous in there?" Volpina asked.
Emilie nodded. "He put them in there to begin with. The atrium was left unattended, so I snuck in after freezing the security system."
"You were the one who froze the security system?" Volpina asked, between laughs.
"Of course. The Agreste security system is top of the line, so getting out wasn't going to be easy." Emilie replied with a smile. "But putting the family history lesson aside, how did he change the world?"
"There's a complement miraculous to the Miraculous of Destruction. The Miraculous of Creation," Chatte explained. "Simply put, in our real world, Papillon got his hands on it and created this alternate reality."
Emilie nodded, tapping her lips in thought. "Well, what's the plan?"