Miraculous Ladybug Crossover ~Tomorrow, When the War Began~

Chapter 9- Back in Hell

~Chapter Nine~
Back in Hell

~*~

It was silent on the way back to Hell. I didn't bother fighting with Nathaniel with who to drive because to be honest, I didn't believe I was stable enough to do it.

After what happened with Ivan, no one has been talking to me. Not even Alya or Adrien. They said it was to give me some space but, I think they were all trying to avoid me as much as possible. Especially poor Ivan. It obviously wouldn't of taken much for me to snap again.

This is what I had become, the feared and avoided.

Still no talking all the way into Hell either. We quietly set up the area. Adrien set up the tent for me. He insisted that I would sleep. I then soon realised I still hadn't slept in days. I slipped into the tent, got into the sleeping bag and immediately into a deep sleep.

                             .:!:.

I awoke some time later. I sat up and came to my senses of where I was. It was early morning; maybe four o'clock? And it was bitterly cold. I slip on a knitted sweater and got out of the tent. Everyone was asleep except Alya, who sat on the esky by the fire reading a book."How long was I asleep?"

"About, 16 hours," Alya answered blankly, not taking her eyes off her book.

I approach her and sat on the ground and reached my hands out to the fire, letting the pleasant warmth pass through me."How's Ivan?" I asked.

"He's okay," Alya answered. She turned to me,"you gave him a hell of a fright you know."

"I'll apologise to him when he wakes up" I mumbled. The guilt was starting to get to me.

"Actually, he wants to apologise to you," Alya said. She smiled at me and put a hand on my shoulder,"you were right Mari, you went a little overboard about it but you were right."

I got up and hugged her tightly,"your a great friend Alya."

"And your a bloody nutcase!" She exclaimed through giggles. She handed me a bowl of noodles before going back to her book.

"Good book?" I asked.

"Better then the movie."

"Books usually are."

                              .:!:.

That afternoon we all listened into the radio. The head of the invaders was making an announcement.

"France must be made to share their resources and wealth with the less fortunate countries. In this way, the economic scales will be balanced and lead to a future of peace and stability. Anyone who is willing to stand against this will have consequences."

                              .:!:.

I wrapped the bandage around Adrien's leg. His bullet wound was healing surprisingly well and he wasn't limping as much.

It was just me and him on the rocks. It was if I'm honest, a bit awkward. I mean, we kissed but we haven't talked to each other since.

Adrien broke the silence,"you know the other day, when we-"

"Yeah I remember."

"We haven't spoken since. Are you trying to avoid me?" He asked.

"Sorry I'm just... confused. About you. About us about, this war. This mess we found ourselves into."

"Is it that you don't like me?"

"No Adrien! I like you okay? I like you, very much but right now, your driving me crazy." I stormed off.

I don't know why I was acting the way I was. What I really wanted to do is to hold him and tell him everything was going to be alright. But I wasn't sure of it.

All that mattered was for now, we were free. But we had done nothing to earn that freedom.

Not yet anyway.

                             .:!:.

"The way I see it we have three options," Nathaniel said, addressing the group around the circle."One, we can stay here, come out when the war is over. I don't know about you guys but what's the point of doing nothing. Two, we can try to be heroes, rescue our families from the Pyramid. Like Dr Helpful said, we would probably pay the price. Or three, we go out, goriller style, at night, using hit and run tactics, and take back Paris. Might even help win this thing."

"Yeah true that," Nino spoke up."we know this country better than they do. We can use it to our advantage. We can plant traps ambush them, pick them off."

"Nino we are talking about murder!" Myléne argued.

"Do you think its fair do you?" Nino asked."For them to take everything out parents have worked for?"

"No Nino I don't think its fair-"

"Are you in, or are you out," Nathaniel said blankly.

"I feel like I should be out," Myléne said,"but I can't help but think of the coincidence that, out of all the weekends we could've gone camping we chose THAT weekend. God spared us for a reason, and I think he wants us to do something. I will help you but I am not. I am NOT killing anybody."

"All this talk scares me to death but," Alya said,"but I think we have to fight back anyway. We'll never sleep again if we don't."

"We'll never sleep again if we're dead," Ivan retorted.

"Chicken Ivan?" Nino asked.

"You would know all about that wouldn't you?" Alya asked.

"Nothing chicken about staying alive. I'm mean we are not even trained for this stuff. What would our parents say? They'd say, the most important thing is our. Safety. They wouldn't want us dead in exchange for them to be alive."

Nathaniel looked over at Chloe,"I guess, when the time comes I will. But what worries me is that, I can't guarantee that I won't crack under pressure. I might just stand there and scream." She looked down sadly.

"No one knows how anyone's going to react, when shit hits the fan. You've been doing a pretty good job so far," Nathaniel said. Chloe looked up and smiled.

"We are not going to sit around here, and do nothing," Adrien said blankly.

Then they all looked at me."Well I'm different to all of you, I've got blood on my hands. I can't tell what I did was right or wrong. I like to think it was, save my friends, part of some noble crusade to save my country but it really comes down to the fact that I valued my life over theirs. How many people is it okay to kill in order to keep me alive? To what point, do we start to lose ourselves then we already have?" I leaned forward."In the end I think we need to trust out instincts. I mean, it all we have left right."

It was silent for a moment before Nathaniel spoke,"what does your instincts tell you?" Everyone waited for my answer.

"That it's time to go to war."