Akuma - A Dark Miraculous Ladybug AU

Chapter 12 - Truth Revealed

Ladybug sighed as she threw her hands in the air, behind her head, and gazed out at the Parisian streets, her expression filled with relative content. A gentle wind passed through the air, sending a light shower of snow in her direction. For a moment, she felt peaceful. Almost as if she wanted to return to Alya's dorm at the academy. 

Her hoodie had been badly damaged, so it was now tied neatly around her waist, with a bit torn off to seal the burn in her wrist. 

Her eyes turned downward, to see the flashy lights blazing from some fashion show. The Eiffel Tower proudly shone as tiny figures sauntered down the catwalk. 

The mellow thumps of music eased her heart just the slightest. 

But in the end, she could still hear the wailing sounds of the fire engines in the distance. Ladybug eyed the shack in the distance. The fire seemed to have lost its purple glint. 

She got away...

She pursed her lips, staring at the shack from a distance with a bitter expression. 

One second she was there, the next, she was gone. Then the next, she disappeared too. 

Her focus changed when she heard footsteps. 

Her ponytail slid from over her shoulder as she turned around and noticed a dark looming figure approaching her.

She was a bit scared at first, but a small bell chime seemed to ease her worries.

"How'd you find me?" Ladybug asked coolly. 

"Tracker, as usual," he said, holding up his beeping GPS device.

"That's creepy on so many levels," Ladybug said. She pulled her hands by her sides again and faced him. "So, did you find her?"

"Yes, I even tried to get a strand of hair but she caught me right away," Chat sighed. "Even despite that though..."

He grumbled in disappointment. 

"Have you ever talked to a person who just wouldn't stop spitting lies?"

Ladybug looked up to the sky thoughtfully, then shook her head.

"Well, not...really?"

"Never meet this chick for your own sanity, it was just, 'I wasn't there' or, 'you're not the police!' and, 'it's just me and Mil here!'." Chat Noir complained, the plastic cat mask coming into view from the moonlight. His anger was hard to see from the cheesy cat smile and rosy cheeks.  

"Ah, return of the Plastic Cat," Ladybug grinned a little. "That takes me back."

Chat Noir's eyebrows turned downward in suspicion. He studied her for a brief moment. Ladybug didn't seem like herself, she was slightly pale in the face too. 

"What's wrong? You did...purify the akuma right?"

Chat Noir's sudden question seemed to break Ladybug's facade a little.

"So, what did you really learn about her?" Ladybug said loudly. "You could've brought her here or something, couldn't you?"

Guess she isn't gonna give me a straight answer then...

"Well, her name was Lila Rossi, she was living with another girl at 'Le Procherie de Paris', some motel in the Parisian Slums," Chat Noir continued. "She kept telling me she knew nothing and was pinning it some other girl or something. She kept saying she was being framed and stuff. All with this giant smile on her face. She kept on threatening to call the police too."

"I see," Ladybug said silently. She walked toward Chat Noir. "Well then, I guess we better-"

He grabbed her arm and pinched it ever so slightly so she couldn't weasel her way out of the topic again. His green eyes were threatening and piercing.