lila's revenge

Chapter 28

Chloe's POV:

"You. What do you want?" I ask hesitantly, standing from the bench and backing away cautiously.

"Chill out... I'm not going to kidnap you or something." she chuckled to herself, pulling her hood off her head.

"Chameleon?" I mutter, still wary, but she doesn't seem to be posing any danger at the moment.

Emma nods and sits down at the bench I was previously seated at.

"I heard about your adventures as Queen Bee and thought you might want that opportunity again?" she says, fumbling through her pocket whilst maintaining eye contact with me.

What does she even mean? How does she know about my history as Queen Bee. Unless Lila told her she'd have no way of knowing. So Lila must be involved... great.

"What does Lila want?" I grumble, folding my arms and glaring at Emma who seems to have located whatever she was looking for in her pocket.

"Oh no, it's not what Lila wants, rather she was just an external source who gave me information into the topic. In fact, this has nothing to do with what we want, more about how badly you want this back." Emma smiles extending her hand to reveal the hair pin that I recognised as the bee miraculous.

"That's a fake.. Ma-Ladybug has the real one." I say, trying to cover up my mistake with false confidence.

"That's where you're wrong." Emma comments, placing the pin in her hair as Pollen appears in front of us both.

"What? How? No, why are you telling me this?" I manage to splutter out, watching as Pollen looks at me desperately. I decide right then and there that regardless of the deal, I will get that miraculous back to the miracle box.

"Well you see, we do need something actually now that you mention it." Another voice comments making their way out of the bushes. Lila. Of course, I should have known she wouldn't leave Emma with a miraculous on her own.

"Lila."

"Chloe. Glad to see you're considering our little offer." She replies with a grin.

"Well actually, I haven't heard it yet." I grit my teeth and try to stay calm.

What would Marinette do in this situation. Stay calm, think through the options. I take a deep breath and try to concentrate.

"Oh! Well, we need you to help us a little bit Chloe. In exchange for this miraculous, I want you to be on our side, both as Queen Bee and Chloe. And if you do well, I might even let you befriend Sabrina again. She's getting on my nerves rather a lot if I'm honest." Lila explains, and Emma giggles when she insults Sabrina.

"So you give me the miraculous right now and then I just become one of your allies?" I ask, formulating a plan.

Lila nods but then continues.

"If you even try to double-cross us, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Marinette will feel the consequences twice as hard." 

I gulp before nodding and extending my hand for the miraculous.

Emma looks at Lila before removing the hair pin and placing it in my outstretched palm.

"Pleasure doing business with you Chloe." Lila smiles happily.

I turn to leave, preparing to break into a sprint before Lila says her last comment.

"Oh, and I'm sure you already know this but, this stays between us. If any of your friends find out that you haven't actually changed sides on your own accord, Marinette will pay. You've been warned."

And with that she retreats back into the bushes with her loyal companion, leaving me on my own, standing on Swan Island.

Except I'm not on my own. My conscience is swimming. On one hand, I'm doing this for Marinette, and I just prevented a miraculous from falling into the wrong hands. But Adrien and the others will feel betrayed and might even think I stole the miraculous myself.

I put the hairpin back in and catch Pollen as she drifts lazily down from where she appeared.

"Thank you." she says quietly, watching me carefully.

"Are you okay?" I ask nervously. Pollen is never normally this tired, especially as I'm not even transformed.

 They never fed me, even after transformations, so I guess I'm just tired and hungry." She replies, snuggling into my fingers. I put her gently into the pocket of my jacket and continue to speak to her.

"Do you think I did the right thing?" I murmur, still half to myself but also glad to have someone to talk to who understands.

She nods. "Although it might not seem like it now, or even in the near future, some day people will see how noble you truly were just then." 

I blush slightly, before leaving her to rest and making my way back to the hotel.

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Tikki's POV:

Ever since Marinette blacked out, I've been trying to remain hidden. They went through her stuff but I grabbed her earrings and left before they spotted me. Since then I've been flying the streets looking for Plagg's holder or Pollen's.

Having been with Marinette at all times, I know who knows her identity and therefore who I can entrust the ladybug earrings. Adrien seemed like the best option but I cannot find him anywhere. And it's too dangerous to just sit around his room waiting for his return. Besides, I get a bad aura from that house, the exact opposite of Marinette's.

The other option should have been Chloe, but as I was flying over Swan Island on my way to the hotel I spotted the blonde speaking to Marinette's captors.

I couldn't get close enough to hear the conversation but she seemed angry. A yellow light seemed to be floating in the air near their heads. It looked like.. no it couldn't be Pollen? The hairpin seemed to be in one of the other girls possessions, so I watched to see what Chloe did.

Spotting a tree just far away enough not to get spotted I darted towards it and internally cheered when I could faintly hear their voices.

"Well, we need you to help us a little bit Chloe. In exchange for this miraculous, I want you to be on our side, both as Queen Bee and Chloe. And if you do well, I might even let you befriend Sabrina again. She's getting on my nerves rather a lot if I'm honest." Lila says. That girl gets on my nerves more than I imagine Sabrina does; I wouldn't tell Plagg off if he cataclysmed her.

"So you give me the miraculous right now and then I just become one of your allies?" Chloe asks, her uncertainty showing in her voice. I gasp, a little bit too loudly, and don't wait around long enough to see if they heard me.

I decide to position myself near the entrance of the hotel to see what Chloe chooses to do. About 10 minutes later, she shows up, seemingly alone.

But then I spot the hairpin.

Oh Chloe, you had so much potential. I can't believe you let them manipulate you into this. One thing is for sure, I can't give her the miraculous anymore.

As I'm about to leave I sense the aura of another kwami.

This alone doesn't surprise me, given that she's wearing the hairpin, but Pollen's aura radiates safety and relief. It confuses me mildly, but I leave anyway, back to Plagg's house in the hope that he returned and I can gather other opinions on the problem.