Cinnamon and Vanilla

Chapter 26

"I think I'm finally getting somewhere on this snake bangle thing." Alya said excitedly down the phone. "It's taken me weeks of research and my boss is giving me the side eye, but...it's for Ladybug." Alya laughed in a way that reminded Marinette of when she would hatch some scathingly brilliant idea when they were fourteen. "Are you making notes so you can tell Ladybug?" Marinette was glad that Alya hadn't made a video call so she wouldn't see her face. Ever since she had asked her reporter best friend if she could research Lila's snake bangle she had internally cringed at having to pretend she wasn't Ladybug. Yes, she had been tactfully avoiding giving away her identity to her best friend for years, but this just felt so much more deceptive.

"I'm taking notes, go on." She replied in a non committal way. It wasn't a total lie because she was indeed taking notes to tell Adrien later. Pregnancy and trying to finalise the children and baby fashion line before the spring launch had turned her brain to mush. At least the morning sickness had now passed.

"Okay, you weren't wrong when you said it looked Egyptian, it definitely is. I found this really obscure journal article written by a professor back in the 1920's who found a snake bangle artefact in a tomb that was being excavated. The interesting thing was that the tomb, while still over a thousand years old, was nowhere near as old as those tombs surrounding it. It looked like it was built in honour of Isis, but centuries after her cult had long faded out. I'm supposing it was put there to hide the bangle, but I'm not sure why. He said he couldn't be certain of its origins, but that the jewel had definite magical properties."

"What kind of properties?" Marinette asked with concern. Was there a Kwami or other being there too?

"I don't know exactly, something about hypnosis or mind control was mentioned. There are some pretty wild stories associated with Egyptian Mythology, gods and goddesses, that kind of thing. He theorised that the wearer could summon 'disciples' to do their bidding, but he never said if he tried it himself. Honestly, it sounds pretty far fetched if you ask me." Marinette could tell Alya was being deliberately dismissive of the idea. After all, Alya knew very well the ancient power of kwamis and she had always believed there was more out there than just the Miraculous of the Ladybug box.

"So it's not a Miraculous then?" Marinette said more to Tikki who was floating by her head, but Alya was quick to pick up on it.

"No, it doesn't look like it. How much has Ladybug told you about the Miraculous?" Marinette's radar picked up on Alya's investigative reporter mode.

"Oh, Ah....nothing." Marientte scrambled. As far as Alya knew, Marinette doesn't know anything about Kwami's since the only one to see her as Multimouse was Chat Noir. She heard Alya go 'uh huh' on the other end of the phone in an unconvinced tone. Marinette cleared her throat. "So how did Lila find it then?" She asked in the hope of defecting.

"I'm still trying to figure that one out. I don't believe it was a gift to her though. In fact, I think she had been actively looking for it. Check your email, I'm sending you something."

Marinette sat at her desk and opened her computer. She ignored the notification of the meeting she was supposed to be at and opened her mailbox.

"The first picture of the world map shows locations that the bangle was believed to have been seen since its 1920's discovery. It's weird really how many places it's apparently been to. Zurich, Milan, Amsterdam, Athens ...All to private collectors who have sold it on. It's like no one wants to keep it in their possession."

"That's strange." Marinette remarked.

"I know, but check the second pic." Marinette scrolled down to a flyer - Good-Will Diplomatic Tour. "See where our dear friend Lila has been lately?" Marinette gasped. The map showed Lila had been to mostly the same cities and the bangle had previously been.