"You passed out again."
I sighed as I got out of bed, stretching. Of course, whenever I entered a memory, my body would completely pass out, and it was only when I was done experiencing that memory that my mind would return back to my body. The door opened and a few more people walked in, including Rose. One of the maids handed me a glass of water and another gave me a bowl of soup, but while all this happened, I couldn't help but to glue my eyes on Rose. She looked so innocent, yet on the inside, she only wanted to kill me. Finally deciding that I was staring too much, I peeled my eyes away and instead, focused on drinking the soup. I waved the maids off, telling them they could leave now. The others followed the maids out, but Alya, Adrien, Chloe and Nino stayed. I had a feeling they already knew where this was going; they already knew why I passed out, and now they demanded answers. The door closed after Rose went out, which got me to breathe in relief.
"Rose said it happened after you touched her arm," Alya said, and I nodded my head. "So, this has something to do with Rose? Why her? She's literally the sweetest person I've ever met. Is she. . .Is she the next victim?"
I let out a sharp breath. "I don't know. The memory I experienced this time was quite shocking to see, as usual. Bridgette made Rose swallow some kind of potion or something, which got Rose to turn into a different person. Anyway, Bridgette told her to go for me, and Rose agreed without another moment of hesitation. The reason why Rose asked to sleep in my room was just so she'd get the chance to attack me, and most likely kill me in my sleep." I sighed, tired once again. "The real Rose is still in there, but right now, Bridgette is in control of her. I don't know when it's going to wear off, but until then, I need to keep away from Rose."
"Rose isn't the only one-"
I turned my head over to Adrien, who had spoken. "Sorry, what was that?"
Adrien looked at each of them, before returning his eyes on me, as if afraid to say what he was about to say. "You didn't notice it because you were quite busy dealing with other stuff and thinking about what to do. I was walking around the living room, and when you came in, all eyes fell on you. I mean, yes, I get that's normal, but the way they were looking at you, Marinette. Their gazes weren't normal. I just felt like there was something wrong. I pushed that thought aside though, but it came back to me when Juleka grabbed a glass cup from the table when you got close to her. Your back was facing her, and even though I was quite far away, I could still see the murderous look in her eyes. Immediately after she looked at me and knew I'd caught her, she dropped the glass and let you walk past her without getting hurt. Next, Nathaniel came up to me and suddenly asked me if there was some kind of secret passageway that led to your room or something like that. He told me he only asked me this out of curiosity because this place was huge, but I sensed there was something else there; another reason."
My breathing became unsteady, but I quickly got to my feet and headed back to the album placed inside my drawer. Taking it out, I flipped to the picture of our entire class while I sat down on the floor with the album wide opened on my lap. I closed my eyes. First, I touched Ivan, then Kim and then Juleka, because those three were at the back. I experienced each of their memories. Next, my fingers went to Sabrina and Nathaniel. I experienced their memories as well. I finally ended off with touching Max, then Mylene, and Alix was the last. After going through each of them, I shut the album closed with heavy breathing, and I looked up at the others.
"It's not just Rose!" I cried out. "It's everyone! She got to them first! They're all after me." The album slipped out of my hands and I let it fall. Adrien was quick to embrace me, and at first, I wondered if I should trust him. Did Bridgette also get to Adrien, Alya, Nino and Chloe? What about Lila? I never checked her either.
"She's right," I sniffed, tears falling out of my eyes. "She told me that whatever I did, she'd always be one step ahead, and she's right. She knew I was going to do something like this, so instead of attacking everyone, she just turned them against me. I let a group of murderous people who are ready to take me out inside of the palace, and oh my goodness, I'm going to die, and-"
"MARINETTE!" I stopped talking when Adrien screamed out my name right in front of me. "Calm down." He squeezed my shoulders a little, before he pulled me closer to him again. "Calm down. You have us. You're not alone. Don't worry, Bridgette didn't get to us at all. In fact, the only times I've ever really come so close to this girl is when she appeared in my room and told me you were in danger, but that's it. We're not going to let her get to you. None of us are. That's a promise!"
Feeling his thumb wipe off my tears reminded me why I'd even had a crush on him back then; he had been so caring back then and he still was. After a moment of silence passed, I cleared my throat a little and stood up from the floor. At first, I didn't know where to start; I was still overwhelmed and scared with the fact that Bridgette had turned my classmates against me, but remembering that I still had my best friends here in the same room as me, still on my side, just made me feel relieved. "T-Thank you," I said in a small, squeaky voice, looking down. "I really don't know what I'd do without any of you here. I know some of you probably still hate me, but it feels great having you guys here, helping me out."
"Who in this room hates you?" Nino replied, getting me to raise my head up in surprise. "Yes, I may have had doubts before, but that was only because she looked exactly like you, and that messed with my mind. I'm sure it'd mess with anyone's mind because nobody knows you have a twin sister. But, having seen all this happening, it's obvious she's not you, no matter how much you both look alike. You're Marinette, the person everyone loves; the person everyone knows and adores." Nino's eyes seemed to peek over at Chloe before he let out a short chuckle. "Okay, maybe not everyone, but at least most of them. We're willing to stick to your side even after all this ends. All of us." I was about to tear up again, but Nino quickly interrupted. "Just tell us what to do, boss. We'll get it done in a jiffy!"
I smiled and nodded. "Okay." I wiped my tears for the second time before turning to serious mode. "Yes, Bridgette has turned them against me, but that doesn't mean she's willing to let them go. We still need to keep them inside here, protected as they're still innocent. We just need to keep them away from me. Now that I really think about it. . ." I walked over to where my notebook was placed, and I turned to the page where I'd written down all theories. "I thought Bridgette had the power to possess someone, because Madame Camille had said she hadn't been herself when she had attacked me. But, Bridgette might have just used the same procedure in making Madame Camille fight me. She gave the woman that potion. Without that potion, Bridgette won't have anyone under her control. We need to find it, but for us to find it, we need to find where she's staying. And for us to find where she's staying, we need more clues. And for us to find more clues. . .we need Laura-"
"And for us to find Laura, we need Lila," Adrien finished off, and I nodded my head back at him. "Got it. We'll just get Lila to help us out."
"And why do you think that's going to be easy," Chloe glared a little, before peeling her eyes away and walking around the room. "I mean, she's Lila. For us to help her, we'd have to give her something; it's how she works. She's always looking for whatever she can get out of helping other people, and if we promise her something, she could twist our words, manipulate us and make us end up giving her something we don't want to give her." Chloe turned back around and looked directly at me. "She could ask for the crown. She could ask you to drop the position and give it to her. Even if you don't want to be queen anymore, we can't give the position to Lila. You know what a terrible leader she's going to make. Trust me, I would know!" She scoffed and looked away again, looking displeased, and I could immediately tell that this was somehow related to her losing her chance of becoming queen when she had it.
"Chloe, you're right. It's dangerous to ask Lila for help, but who says we have to ask her?" I smirked a little. "I'm queen, aren't I? What are people supposed to do? They're supposed to listen to the queen. I'm in charge. Lila would have to listen to me, and if she doesn't. . .you do know how being queen works, right? Whoever doesn't listen to you, you punish 'em. It's about time Lila got her punishment anyway." I looked at each of them, the smirk never leaving my face. "Go and bring her up here!"
-
I stared at the crown that was sitting on my desk. Honestly, the only times I ever wore it was at my Coronation Oath. I didn't really find any good reasons to put something on my head when it wasn't exactly necessary, but now hearing that this crown could perhaps be a part of all of this, I wanted to keep it close to me.
Hearing the knock on my door, I picked up the crown and gently placed it on my head, before I stood up and walked over to my door. I opened it up and stepped aside as the others walked in while holding onto Lila. Lila looked a little pissed, but mostly confused, while me on the other hand was about to enjoy whatever was going to go down. Lila had to listen to me, even though she didn't want to. I was queen, not her.
"What do you want with me?!" Lila shouted, shaking Alya's hands off of her. "You better make this good. If you called me here just to yell at me again for calling the police, then you better save it, because I am not having it-"
"Lila? Shut up!" I couldn't help grinning once I saw her surprised face. "You know what? I'm glad you called the police here, because I'm definitely going to be needing him once you misbehave." My grinning face turned upside down, a glare replacing it as I gave Lila one of my serious looks. "I'm done playing nice when it comes to you, Lila. You've obviously showed me that no matter what I do, no matter how nice I am, you're never going to forget high-school. You're going to be living with that very same anger for years, and I'm done caring!
"But that's not why I called you here, Lila. I would ask you nicely, but just like I said, I'm done with that. You, Lila Rossi, is going to help us find Laura Nightingale, whether you like it or not." Lila's face was still molded into a surprised and angry look, so I stepped closer to her. "You see? If it was back in high-school, you would have immediately laughed in my face and say 'who are you to boss me around?'. But you can't say that anymore because you know I am in a much higher position than you. You're going to have to listen to me no matter what, or else you're going to have to deal with the police!"
Lila clenched her hands into fists, but a few seconds later, she unfolded them and looked down at the floor in defeat. "What do you need?"
My giant smirk made its way back to my face, seeing that I'd easily won. "I want you to take us to where Laura is staying right now!"