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milarqui · 11 months

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Scarlet Lady: Princess Fragrance

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“Bonjour,” Nadja Chamack greeted. “Once again, Scarlet Lady, Chat Noir, and Marigold have saved Paris.”

The screen turned to a map of Paris, with one zone marked in green over blue, and a photograph of a woman with plant-like hair and eyebrows.

“Zoe Rapporte was Akumatized into the Enchanted Florist, threatening to engulf Paris in a treacherous jungle!” the reporter continued, as the image turned to show Paris' heroes under the rain, Scarlet Lady laughing while the other two waved and gave the former a glare. Underneath them ran a message announcing Paris' best therapists. “This makes Mlle. Rapporte's Nth Akuma–”

“Well maybe if people were a little less shi–” the florist suddenly yelled, jumping into image with a rather unfriendly face.

“CUT!”

----

Anyone that knew Chloé Bourgeois would have been surprised to see what she was doing.

She was in a public bathroom. Willingly.

That she was fixing her hair was a lot less surprising.

“Ugh, can you believe I have to work in the rain?” she complained, glaring at her own reflection.

“A-choo!”

Chloé looked into her bag, where laid Tikki, the Kwami of Creation, who did not look healthy.

“Ew, don't sneeze in my bag.”

Not that Chloé cared.

“Chloé, you n-need to take m-me to a doctor,” Tikki begged, but Chloé didn't seem to be up to it.

“What, a kwami doctor?”

“I know a healer,” Tikki said, but Chloé closed the bag.

“Oh, suck it up. I'm not letting you ruin my attendance.”

“Your attendance is already ruined!” the kwami pitifully pointed out. “Doctoooooor!”

----

Rose watched in her phone the news of the day (she shouldn't be, since she was at class, but this was important!), paying special attention to one report.

“Today, Prince Ali, heir to the Kingdom of Achu, will be organizing a toy drive for the Paris Children's Hospital,” the news anchor said, as the image turned to show the young prince at previous engagements.

“He's so beautiful, inside and out!” she said, feeling the tears threatening to drop off her eyes. He was truly a Prince Charming!

“So, like you?”

“Oh, you!”

Juleka had always been a bit shy, but ever since they got together, she had been more open about this. In fact, there were times she was really romantic. Like now.

“You know what?!” she said, pulling out a sheet of paper and uncapping her pen. “I'm going to write him a letter to tell him how much I love and respect him!”

“How you gonna get it to him?”

Alright, she wasn't sure about that. But...

“Love will find a way!”

“Does love do delivery?”

“It delivered you to me.”

Juleka blinked and blushed, but there was a wide smile on her face. She couldn't let her doubt her love for her!

----

For Olga Mendeleiev, teaching was a passion, an attempt to show her students the importance of science in the modern world. She knew that few of them saw it the same way as she did, but she didn't let that prevent her from trying to follow through.

She also knew that she had a fame of tough, but it was necessary: in places like a laboratory, it was essential to pay attention to everything, lest you suffer an accident that could be grave. In her entire career as a teacher, only thrice had a student messed up, and she always made certain that such a mistake was not repeated.

However, there were things she could not handle well. Like students arriving late to class.

“And where have you been, Chloé?”

“Fixing my hair and makeup, duh. This perfection takes time.”

The fact that Damocles bent backwards over this girl was the only reason she wouldn't punish her.

And then the door opened, paving way to the other tardy girl of the day.

“Waghh!” the girl said, almost tripping over her own feet as she ran in.

“Marinette, what's your excuse?”

Going by the girl's face, she braced herself for a terrible excuse.

“I, uh, had to bring my... dog! To the vet! He... ate all of my socks!”

…

If only she could apply her clothing artistry to other fields.

“Maybe if you were early, you could fully bake your excuses, Clumsinette!” Chloé laughed. “And you wouldn't look like a drowned rat!”

“You were also late!” she reminded her. She decided to let them go with just a warning, since she could hardly punish one and let the other free, and they had arrived before she could truly begin her class.

And then she saw something else that she knew she had warned about multiple times.

“Rose, I doubt the room needs to be perfumed,” she said as the blonde sprayed an envelope with perfume. It was a bit of a miracle that they hadn't started the experiment part yet – it could have cause an explosion! As she approached to grab the bottle, she also noticed that the girl was keeping her phone – switched on – under her table. “And using your phone in class? Take your things to the Principal.”

“Aww,” the girl moaned, but she had to be inflexible. Rose knew well enough what the rules in the lab were, and she had skipped all over them.

“I thought someone forgot a rotten fish in their bag, but it's just Rose's perfume!” Chloé, ever the troublemaker, shouted out loud, thinking she was funny.

“You have the exact same perfume in your locker,” Sabrina fired, causing everyone else to laugh while Chloé growled in embarrassment.

Alright, she could admit that it was a little funny. But that had no bearing with what was important right now – which was their class. She called everyone to order and began with her teachings of the day.

----

“Chloé, I don't feel so good,” Tikki moaned, her innards feeling like Plagg was doing his thing inside them.

“Oh, hush” Chloé replied, pushing her into the bag. “Don't you know Prince Ali is waiting at the hotel? I have to get ready!”

“Chloé!” That was Rose, who was clearly walking up to her. “Were you talking about Prince Ali?!”

“Not to you,” Chloé, ever the 'diplomatic', answered.

“Were you talking to your bag then? Cuz you have no friends?”

Ouch, that was kinda insensitive, Tikki thought, even if it was somewhat true.

“NO!”

----

Rose smiled. Poor Chloé, ever since Sabrina broke ties with her, she had been so lonely! But... she couldn't deny her a little favor such as this one, right?

“Could you give him this letter?” she asked, offering the letter she had been writing earlier in class.

“But of course!” Chloé replied, picking the envelope, before her smile turned... evil. “NOT!”

And she ripped her letter apart.

“AH!”

While she knelt to grab the pieces of paper that were all that remained of her work, Chloé got in her car, laughing like the evil witch she was.

“You seriously thought I'd walk around with that smelly fish rag?! Hahahaha!”

----

“Aghh!” Tikki groaned. The sudden movement was not doing her any favors.

“Hey! You better not get sick in my bag! You're ruining this moment for me!”

Love you too, Chloé, she thought sarcastically.

----

Hidden beneath her Queen's hair, Pollen was carefully combing through it to get rid of the knots that a long day at school had produced. She was glad that she could help her Queen in this way!

Then a car passed by, and her Queen's attention was drawn to it.

“Huh?! Wait, is that–?!”

Pollen looked in the same direction – and saw Tikki, lying on the hand of her wielder!

“Tikki?!” her Queen exclaimed. “Pollen, Chloé has Scarlet Lady's kwami!”

“Oh, my!” she said, smiling. Yes, her Queen had realized the truth of who had taken Tikki –

“She probably stole her! Cuz she's a thief and Scarlet is careless!”

“Oh my.”

Oof, so close.

----

He felt optimistic about this Akuma. The power she was granted could easily turn those blasted heroes into mere puppets of his will!

“Princess Fragrance, your perfume will be, from now on, your secret weapon. No one will be able to resist it, no one will oppose you!”

“I mostly just want my prince, to be honest...” the girl replied, “... but we can torment Chloé a little.”

Ah, Chloé Bourgeois. Clearly his best pawn in this world that kept preventing him from reaching his goal.

----

Marigold was a woman on a mission! And she wasn't going to let anyone prevent her from saving Tikki!

“Ahem,” she coughed, calling the attention of the hotel doorman. “Hello, I need to see Chloé Bourgeois! Hero business.”

“I'm afraid I can't let you in, Mlle. Marigold.”

What.

“Huh?!”

“Unless you have an invitation from the Bourgeois or there's an Akuma, you and Chat Noir are banned from the hotel.”

“B-but, why–”

“We're still finding ladybugs, Mlle. Marigold.”

“Ehehe...” she laughed.

C'mon, that was only because Scarlet wouldn't show up!

----

KNOCK KNOCK

“Oh, that'll be Adrien! Coming~” she sang out, putting Tikki back into her bag as she ran to open the door.

“Hey, Chloé,” and there he was, so handsome in his coat and vest and shirt and pants and he was so ready to be her one and done!

“Adrichéri, you're here –!”

And then her mood soured as she saw that chrome dome standing next to her Adrikins, wearing some sort of an ugly robe she wouldn't be caught dead holding in a hand.

“Agh! What are you doing here?!”

“I was invited,” the girl replied, glaring back at her.

“Doesn't she look great, Chlo?” Adrikins asked, unable to understand what he was supposed to be doing (which was getting rid of this girl, of course).

“Thanks, 'Adrichéri',” the girl said in a mocking tone.

“How dare you.”

----

She still wasn't sure why someone had thrown a perfectly serviceable motorcycle helmet and cape, but they (along with the pizza box she had also found in the pile) had allowed him to fool the doorman into thinking she was doing delivery.

She would have to thank Luka later for indirectly giving her the idea to do this.

Take your ban and shove it, Chloé! she thought, giggling to herself.

----

The doorman watched as another person dressed in what was obviously not normal clothes walked up to him.

“Oh, Lord, another one,” he muttered under his breath, before turning to the newcomer. “Mademoiselle, you can't be here–”

“That's no way to talk to a princess!” the stranger said, spraying him with a rather delectable perfume that assaulted all of his senses.

“Agh!”

Then, he realized he had had it all wrong! How could he have so horribly treated Princess Fragrance! He bowed to her and bid her enter the hotel.

“At your service, Princess Fragrance,” he said.

“I'm coming, my Prince,” Princess Fragrance sang out, before she turned. “Where's Prince Ali?”

“Restaurant floor, Princess Fragrance,” he informed her. She would soon meet her beloved Prince, and that could only make him happy.

----

This was Ali, Prince of Achu's, first visit to the city of Paris, which he had heard much about. But this was not a tourist's visit – it was meant to be about visiting the local children's hospitals, ensure the money was correctly invested in ensuring their health and, most imporantly, speak with the children and see for himself they were getting better.

But, still, as he was the representative to his country, there were unavoidable moments, such as meeting the local authorities. In this case, he would meet the mayor and the children of some of the city's biggest names.

Like the blonde girl standing in front of him – if his notes were right, she was the mayor's daughter – who was now holding a figurine of a girl that resembled her, but dressed in a red-with-black-dots costume and a domino mask over her eyes.

“Prince Ali, I brought you this beautiful, unique Scarlet Lady figure – for the children,” she said, offering him the figurine.

“Oh!”

He wasn't sure of what the children would do with the figurine, but it certainly wasn't safe for them.

----

He couldn't know that Chloé had just grabbed the figurine she liked the least off her shelf-slash-altar.

----

Then approached a boy with blond curls, holding a plushie of a boy that resembled him, but with wilder hair, a black domino mask and clad in black from neck to toes.

“I commissioned a friend for a few Chat Noir plushies,” he said. “The rest have been delivered.”

He picked it up, and smiled both at the detail and how good it felt to his hands. He knew the children would love this and the others.

“Oh, soft!”

----

He couldn't know that Adrien had asked his crush and number one fan to craft them. Or how handsomely he had paid for them.

Or how Marinette had worked on it as her 'compensating' Adrien for the Pixelator incident.

----

The last teen in the room was a Japanese young lady, dressed in traditional garb, greeting him with a bow that he returned.

“The Tsurugi's have delivered a truck of Marigold merch in your name,” she declared in (very) slightly accented French.

“That's so nice of you!” he declared. He and his companions would have to check and make sure the merchandise was child-safe, but he was certain the children would also love to play with them.

----

He couldn't know that Kagami's decision had been prompted by what some would call a 'girl-crush' she had on Paris' true heroine.

----

“And who are these characters?” Ali asked, confused. He knew he was not up on current cultural events, but maybe they could tell him? Perhaps it could be something to bond with children in the future?

----

He couldn't know...

... he was about to learn the truth.

----

Marinette ducked behind a short table as she saw the small group passing by, with Chloé between her father and the foreign prince Rose had mentioned in class – holding one of the Chat Noir plushies she had crafted at Adrien's request.

But her current target was elsewhere.

“Oh, there!” Pollen pointed out, signaling with her tiny arm at Chloé's bag, where Tikki could be seen hanging from.

“Pollen, she doesn't look so good,” she muttered, her heart hurting at the look. She had to find a way to get Tikki out of Chloé's hands!

Then the elevator's doors opened, and in came –

An Akuma?! One that resembled ROSE! What is she –!

The Rose Akuma aimed with what looked like a gun and pulled the trigger, but instead of a bullet it fired a cloud of green smoke that washed all over Chloé.

Everyone around her quickly covered their noses.

“Prince Ali, what – is that awful smell?” someone from the prince's entourage asked, her face almost as green as the cloud that now seemed to hang around Chloé.

“C-Chloé, you smell like rotten fish!” Adrien declared, trying to step away from her.

“What?! It's not me!” Chloé screamed, before she began to smell around.

It was definite.

This might be my favorite Akuma, she thought, giggling again as Chloé realized the true source of the smell.

“Oh no, it is me! Waaah!” the girl cried out.

“W-Who are you?!” the prince asked, clearly shocked. Didn't he know about Akumas?

“I'm Princess Fragrance, I came just for you!” Rose – or, rather, Princess Fragrance – declared. “One little PSHH, and you'll be my Prince Ali!”

Alright, pranking Chloé was one thing, but control someone was another – and she wasn't about to let the Akuma win.

She grabbed the pizza box and threw it at the biggest flower bouquet in the room.

“Not on my watch!” she shouted, as the flowers almost exploded from the impact, filling the room with flower petals – which fell around the Akuma.

“Wha– hey!”

“Now's our chance! Run!” the Mayor stated, ushering his guests away.

----

Adrien dodged out of the way of the rest of the group, ducking into a side hallway as Plagg came out of his pocked.

“Now's our chance! Plagg! Claws Out!”

----

With everyone escaping from the Akuma, and the latter distracted, it was her chance.

“Pollen, Buzz On!”

“Uh, wait, the helmet–” Pollen tried to say, but the magical transformation absorbed her before she could finish her warning.

Oops.

----

The Mayor slammed the door behind him, his back forcing it closed.

“We're safe, the door is reinforced,” he declared, but that was little comfort for everyone else, who were trying to hold their breath and avoid smelling the stench coming from Chloé.

“Disastrous!” Prince Ali's aide said. “How does anyone keep to a schedule like this?!”

Chloé looked around, and realized someone was missing.

“Hey... where's Adrien?!”

Kagami, covering nose and mouth with her sleeve, chose to answer.

“He must've been caught like the news crew.”

----

When Chat Noir returned to the place where he had split off from the group, he realized it was emptier than it should have been.

“Where is everyone?!”

----

The Mayor's claims that the group was safe were quickly put to test, as Princess Fragrance approached the door.

“Mon Prince~!” she sang out. “Breathe the perfume of our eternal love!”

And she fired her gun, which now shot a cloud of a dark pink that threatened to slip into the safe room.

“Not so fast!”

But a vacuum cleaner was turned on – and the pink cloud got sucked into the latter, preventing it from reaching the other group.

“Hey! How dare you... Marigold?” the Akuma reacted, seeing the heroine entering the scene by wielding the cleaner...

“Marigold is here! With... a helmet?” the Mayor said, surprised at the mysterious change.

“Make a break for it!” Kagami said, pulling from Ali's free hand.

“Wait, she's real?!” the Prince shouted, shocked.

Hasn't he been seeing news on Paris? Kagami thought.

----

Unfortunately for her, the vacuum cleaner had only worked as a temporary measure, as Princess Fragrance had simply amped up how much perfume she could fire. She was getting cornered.

But she found the means to escape. It was going to be tight, but she could fit in.

“You won't escape my perfume!” she heard Princess Fragrance sing.

I already have, she thought, and closed the dumbwaiter's door to go down to the kitchen. That was her way out.

----

Chat Noir finally found the rest of the group, diminished in number, as they reached another part of the restaurant.

“Chat Noir!” Alright, Kagami would act as a voice of reason.

“There you are! Where's the Akuma?” he asked, but the answer quickly came from another source.

“Behind us, close the door!” Chloé shouted at one of the hotel's workers, pointing at one door. “Daddy's been bewitched!”

But it was too late. Princess Fragrance walked through the door, still spreading her perfume around.

“Come into my arms, mon cher Prince~”

“No means no!” Chat Noir shouted, enlarging his baton and forcing the Akuma out of the room.

“OOF!” the Akuma complained. Chat Noir quickly turned it around and pushed out of the window, enlarging it until it touched ground.

“All aboard the Escape Express!” he declared, ever the showman.

----

Fortunately, lowering everyone who was still free of the Akuma's influence was easier than expected, and soon enough they had reached the Prince's car.

“Let's go–” Chloé said, but Kagami interposed her bokken.

“Stop,” the Japanese girl stated.

“Huh?! Where were you hiding that?!” Chloé asked, surprised.

“She's not after you and you'll stink up the car,” Kagami replied, ignoring the question.

“Let me in! Who do you think you are?!” Chloé yelled, and in her agitation, she made a mistake.

She forgot Tikki was in her bag.

And when she shook the bag, Tikki flew out of it.

“Go hide in a bush,” Kagami ordered, not caring for the other girl, as everyone else got into the car.

“Chloé,” Chat Noir said as the doors closed. “Wait for Marigold. Or your BFF, Scarlet Lady.”

“GRR!” Chloé growled.

“HOW DARE YOOOOU!” both Chloé and Princess Fragrance yelled out in unison.

----

Chloé's irritation with the world increased as she saw the Akuma fly off the restaurant's terrace in pursuit of the fleeing car.

“How dare that Akuma prove Tsurugi right by ignoring me?!” Chloé complained. “Tikki, time to give her a piece of my–”

But when she looked down into her bag, she realized the kwami was missing.

“Tikki?” She began to look around. “Where'd she slink off to?!”

She thought over what had happened, when she saw someone else showing up.

“Oh, no, where'd they go now?”

“Marigold!” she shouted, approaching the heroinesidekick.

“Chloé?!” Marigold waved her off, putting a disgusted face. “You stink!”

Chloé ignored that.

“After that car! Tsurugi stole my, um, important bug plushie!”

“Oh, I bet she did,” Marigold replied, before taking off after the car.

----

At the car, its four occupants remained on edge. Chat Noir and Kagami were more than conscious about the danger the Akuma still represented, while the Prince and his attendant, Soraya Khan, remained in shock about the sudden turn of events, of something that they had never heard about.

“Ugh, I can still smell it,” Mlle. Khan complained, as Chloé had been close enough to the rest that the rotten fish stink had permeated through their clothes and into the car. “I'll open the moonroof a little.”

“Ah, wait–!” Chat Noir warned, but the woman still did it.

“Don't be a fool, do you want the Akuma to gas the whole car?” Kagami stated, hitting Soraya's hand with her bokken.

“OW! What?! Surely we've gotten enough distance–”

“What a great idea, future servant~!” Princess Fragrance suddenly said, from the top of the car.

“NO!” Chat Noir yelled, but it was too late, as the car's interior got flooded with the pink mist.

“I'll take you to the Pont des Arts to seal our love!”

----

Out of sight of all the humans, a tiny kwami laid on the floor of the car, unable to act. Brought low by her sickness, she could only beg for her holder.

“C-Chloé...”

----

By the time she was able to track down the car, it had crashed into a pile of (now empty, fortunately) cars and buses. She knew it was a bad sign, that the Akuma had captured the ones riding there. Right now, though, she couldn't do much – save for helping the reason she had been running around.

“Oh no, Tikki!” Running up to the car, she finally got rid of her helmet (it would be restored to normality as soon as the Cure was cast) and checked into the car.

When she saw the tiny kwami, laying on the floor, in clear pain and distress, broke her heart.

“Tikki! Oh, you poor thing, you're worse than I thought!”

“M-Marigold?” Tikki weakly said as she picked her up. “I-I need to get back to Scarlet Lady, to transfor–”

“Absolutely not!” she interrupted. “I'm taking you to Master Fu first, no ifs, ands, or buts!”

“B-But–” Tikki tried to say, but Marigold was resolute.

“No buts!”

----

Finding her way to Master Fu's home was not easy, but with Pollen's help she was able to remember the path, and soon enough the venerable man was using his magic on the sick kwami.

“How did you find her like this?” the man asked.

“My classmate had her,” Marinette said. “Knowing Chloé, she probably stole her.”

Tikki let out a groan of what sounded like pain, but Fu smiled and retired his hands.

“She should be all better now.”

Tikki sat up and smiled. Her countenance had completely changed now, and it was obvious she was hale and hearty.

“Oh, thank you! I feel so much better! I'll go right back to Scarlet Lady now!”

“Tikki!” Pollen exclaimed. “Goodbye hug!”

“Huh?”

“My Queen gives the best hugs!”

“I-If it's okay...” Tikki replied, feeling insecure, but then Marinette smiled and opened her arms.

“Of course!”

And Tikki jumped to hug the one that should have been her wielder.

And if there were tears in her eyes, no one said anything.

Then Tikki opened her eyes and noticed Pollen giving her a face.

“Tikki, just to be clear, you're the only one I'm willing to lend my Queen to,” she whispered. “Tell the others she's off limits: especially Mullo.”

Wow, Mullo had to have done something bad to bring this side of Pollen.

----

“This padlock will seal our love for eternity, Mon Prince!” Princess Fragrance said as she spread her perfume over the object the ensorcelled Chat Noir was presenting her.

“At your service, Princess Fragrance!” Prince Ali replied, not realizing the danger due to the Akuma's power.

Suddenly, a top flew and struck the heart-shaped padlock Princess Fragrance had created, forcing it out of Chat Noir's hands and causing it to drop into the waters of the Seine.

“Rose, did you forget you have a girlfriend?”

“Marigold!” the incensed Akuma shouted as the top returned to the heroine's hand. “I have two hands, busy body! Servants, attack!”

As the people the Akuma was controlling ran over to her, Marigold just rolled her eyes.

“Honestly, I'm more afraid of Kagami than Chat Noir.”

----

Tikki quickly tracked down Chloé by the Earrings, and found her sitting down by the hotel, moody and arms crossed.

“Chloé!” she called out, and the girl looked up at her.

“Tikki! Where've you been?”

“The doctor. Like I told you earlier.”

“Don't you know I was stuck on the sidelines like some civilian?! Ridiculous, utterly–”

“Chloé–” she said, interrupting the girl's favorite sentence before she could get more absurd, but that was interrupted when Chloé looked up.

“Ah, there she is again!” the girl exclaimed, and she turned around to see the Akuma flying with the young boy from earlier holding onto her. “Tikki, Spots On!”

“Agh!”

Now, she could only hope Chloé would actually be able to do her part.

----

Hawkmoth was feeling impatient. The girl had managed to put Chat Noir under her control, but for some reason, instead of doing the obvious thing and taking the Ring, she was instead focused on forcing some boy to love her. He opened the connection to her and got ready to berate her.

“I'll enchant all of Paris and make it our kingdom!” Princess Fragrance declared, much to his shock.

“Wait, not me though, right?” he said before he could contain himself.

“ALL OF PARIS!”

…

I might have miscalculated this time.

He was now confronted with a Morton's fork. If he didn't reclaim the power, this Akuma might well manage to put him under her control, and he'd be unable to escape. But, if he did reclaim the Akuma, he'd lose the chance to get a half of what he needed to make the Wish! This was the closest he had been to his goal!

But then the Akuma's concentration was broken.

----

“I don't think so, Stink Bomb!” Scarlet shouted, throwing her yo-yo and hitting Princess Fragrance's gun before she could fire her perfume.

“Ah! Scarlet Lady!” Princess Fragrance turned to glare at Scarlet, only to see Marigold landing right next to her. “And you again?! What happened to my servants?!”

Marigold ignored the question.

----

At the banks of the Seine, Chat Noir had recovered his senses, and was now guarding the stunned people that had been controlled by the Akuma, tied up with his belt.

----

Scarlet called up the Lucky Charm, and as soon as it showed up Marigold grabbed it, an angry face over her features.

“I'll be taking that Lucky Charm!”

“Hey!” Scarlet yelled.

Nobody cared.

The one who cared was Princess Fragrance, but what she cared about was how the Lucky Charm – a balloon – got thrown into her gun just as she tried to put the heroines under control.

“Wha– NO!” the Akuma shouted as the balloon caused the gun to backfire and break down.

“VENOM!” Marigold shouted, jumping at Princess Fragrance, who had suddenly found herself defenseless.

“Wai–!”

Too late. The tip of the spinning top pierced her, and the Akuma was paralyzed, allowing Marigold to grab the perfume gun and smash it against the floor.

“Well, that was easy!” Scarlet said, immune to the glare the ticked-off Marigold threw at her.

“Easy for you, maybe.”

----

Prince Alí came about somewhere in the streets of Paris. Not only he didn't know where he was, he didn't know how he had actually arrived here. The last thing he could remember was that... Akuma? Throwing some perfume into the car he was riding, and after that it was a blank.

And then there was the girl next to him. He felt a bit uncomfortable about how she was holding his arm, but... he couldn't deny there was something genuine about her, unlike other girls he had met before.

“Prince Ali!” the girl said, smiling and blushing as she stood there.

“Where am I?” he asked, before turning to the two... heroes that had apparently saved him. “Who are they?”

The one in red and black – the one that resembled Mlle. Bourgeois – stepped up, while a loud beeping came from something around her. Had she left some alert that she was ignoring?

“Why, I am the famous hero of Paris, Scarlet–”

“Lady of Timers!” the other one, the one that resembled a bee, interrupted, pulling from the red one's ear.

“OW!” the latter said, but clearly the bee girl didn't care about her pain.

“Time to go, my Queen of Irresponsibility.”

The bee girl kept pulling from the other one, until they were at the top of the Sacre Coeur and...

“See you later!” she said, waving with one hand as she just shoved off her partner down the other side of the dome with the other.

“Are your heroes usually this... eccentric?” he asked the girl, who was similarly shocked.

“Um...”

Deciding to learn more of the situation and this young lady, he decided to talk with her, because maybe she'd be able to throw some light.

Rose – the girl – explained what Akumas were and how the heroes – Scarlet Lady, Chat Noir, and Marigold – fought the Akumas in order to prevent them from stealing some sort of object on behalf of Paris' villain. As for Rose herself, she had been Akumatized, and apologized profusely for what she had done, but he forgave her: if what she had said was true, everything she had done was not something she would have done if she wasn't under control of this Hawkmoth, so he couldn't blame her.

And then she had come down to explain why she had been Akumatized.

“I know you help the sick children of the world. I just wanted to tell you that you're the nicest person I've ever met!” Rose said, her face blushing from cheek to cheek, and he also felt his face redden. He had been told similar things many times... but never by someone so honest and sincere as Rose.

“Really?” he asked, but before Rose could answer someone else interrupted.

“Prince Ali!” Mlle. Bourgeois shouted as she ran up to them

Rose turned to look at Mlle. Bourgeois, but it didn't seem to be friendly at all.

“Chloé?”

Ah, so they knew each other?

“You're safe! Aren't you glad I'm safe too? Let's continue where we left off! And ditch Rose.”

The words had come out of her mouth like bullets from a machinegun, but still he understood them easily. He understood what the girl intended to do.

And put a stop to it.

“No thank you, I'll be going to the Children's Hospital with Mlle. Rose.”

“Whu–?! Uh, but–” Mlle. Bourgeois babbled, before she appeared to settle on an argument. “She has a girlfriend!”

Hm? Well, if Rose had someone she called a girlfriend, then she had to be a wonderful lady as well!

“Oh, I'd love to meet her!” he told Rose, smiling, and she smiled back at him.

“She'd love to meet you!”

“Arhh!” Mlle. Bourgeois yelled. Clearly, she had not expected this outcome.

----

Soraya Khan, Prince Ali's personal attendant, had been on a quest to track down her charge after waking up drenched and tied with other people by a belt next to the Seine. After the young hero untied them and explained something of what had happened, she had thanked him and then started to look for Ali, knowing that she was risking some severe punishment if the Prince of Achu suffered any damage while under his watch.

Fortunately, a lucky find had pointed her at the Children's Hospital the Prince had meant to visit, and she quickly rushed over, finding him playing with one of the cancer-struck children that were tended to there, as well as another girl of Prince Ali's age holding the child.

“Prince Ali! There you are!”

“Ah, you found me,” the Prince replied. Soraya felt slightly apprehensive: did the Prince not understand how important his security was?

“I've been looking all over Paris for you!” she pointed out, as the Prince and the blond girl stood up – holding hands.

What.

“Who is this?” she asked, surprised that her charge was holding hands with this unknown girl.

“This is my girlfriend, Rose.”

She felt her jaw dropping. At fifteen, the Prince had never shown any interest in other ladies, not even the ones presented to him by her family. And suddenly, a girl he had known for less than a day, he was willing to call her 'girlfriend'?

“And this is her girlfriend, Juleka!” he continued, pointing at the girl holding the other hand of the first girl, a contrast because, where this Rose was blonde and wearing colorful clothing and was just sunny, the second wore black all over her body and looked like she was used to look gloomy.

But here, the girl was smiling, and even waved at her.

“Hey.”

She felt a current of cold sweat down her back. Explaining this to the family was not going to be pretty...

----

As soon as he was certain he'd be able to get away, Adrien had transformed into Chat Noir and jumped his way across Paris.

He had received a message from Marigold.

Meet me at the usual point, 23:30.

And he might be mistaken, but she had sounded like she was on edge for some reason.

He hoped she wasn't angry with him.

When he landed, he found her with her back turned to him, and he decided he needed to avoid being the target of her anger any more.

“Hey Goldie, I got your message. Everything okay? You sounded a bit off.”

When she didn't react to this, he decided it was time to admit his mistake.

“Is this about the Akuma? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get hit–”

“Chat Noir.” Wow, she sounded serious. And when she turned around, he realized she was really serious. “We need to talk about taking the Earrings from Scarlet Lady.”

He felt like his jaw was dropping. They had both thought about it once or twice... but this time, it was clear that Marigold really meant it.

It felt like nothing would be the same any more.

----

Despair Bear

@zoe-oneesama Here endeth Season 3. Season 4 will begin as soon as I can get the inspiration in the middle of this heat. Dealing with high 30s ain't fun.

#scarlet lady the novel #fanfiction #milarqui #long post #marinette dupain cheng #marigold #adrien agreste #chat noir #princess fragrance #rose lavillant #prince ali #chloe suffers

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