Heirs Unapparant | A Miraculous Origin Story

Chapter 24: Know Thine Enemy (تعرف على عدوك)

With his miraculouses knocked from his grasp, his transformation fell instantly, leaving him vulnerable and exposed to the dangers of the battlefield and of whoever now had dominance over Lorr and Scarr before he had entirely stopped rolling. Heat danced at his nerves and blistered across his skin, but nothing near the intensity he had anticipated.

And that was when everything came crashing back into focus.

He wasn't roasted alive.

Someone had pushed him out of the way of the flames.

"Get him!" a voice cried over the ringing in his ears and he immediately braced himself to be grabbed or stabbed or sawed in half. A moment passed and something large and heavy slammed down on the cement next to his head. Something hot, struggling, and screaming things Nicholas never wanted to hear aloud.

Milo.

"Mel, hold him! Hold him down! I'm going after Griffon!"

"Okay, but hurry! I don't know how long I can keep him like this!"

Footsteps came charging across the pavement and before Nicholas knew what was happening, warm hands were already on his arms, dragging him upwards. At first, he thought it was Caniley back already, but then he realized the voice was all wrong. This was someone quite a bit older, someone who shouldn't have been there in the first place.

"Come on," the female spoke, giving no time for pleasantries nor time for Nicholas to catch on to the fact that she hadn't even flinched when his transformation had come down. Was it possible she hadn't seen his face? Did she really not know it was him? "You need to get up now. Let me help you. Your miraculouses...those two pieces of jewelry, you were wearing, I'm guessing?...landed over here by the gutters. Mel's fending off your angry friend for the time being, so let's work on getting on your feet. Can you stand?"

Nicholas nodded, his throat dry with fear. "I...I can walk," he stammered, then blanched when he realized the syllables flying from his mouth weren't in English, but a panicked, slurred amalgamation of French and Arabic. Oh no. Without Lorr, I can't communicate. Which also means I can't warn them of how much danger they are in by being here. But, if he had lost his ability to speak multiple languages, that would also mean...

"Ahhh! Don't look!" he begged, cringing at his own broken phrasing and throwing up his arms to hide his face. "I don't want you to see me like this!"

"Nicholas," Kat exclaimed, not sounding even remotely fooled by his pleas. Actually, he would dare say, she even sounded a bit triumphant. "I know it's you. I know you're Griffon and I also know your name is not Ryan so maybe we can, you know, be a little more truthful the next time you try to pretend to be someone you're not?"

Nicholas stiffened, not knowing what to say. Without Lorr, he was once again the uncomfortable unsociable outcast he'd always been. With no kwami there to give him direction or guidance, he felt terribly like a fish out of water; three seconds away from total annihilation. "How..." he coughed, letting her pull him up. He could still hear Milo's furious bellows from somewhere behind him, but he could not force himself to turn to see what was happening. Instead, he kept his eyes low, trained on the younger girl's dark converse as she hauled him across the gravel. He wanted to push her away, to make her run and get clear of the fight where she would be safe, but he wasn't sure he'd have the strength...or the words. "How did you know?"

"Well, for starters, you're a straight-up terrible liar," Kat reasoned. "You pretty much gave yourself away in the first five minutes when you were talking about Paris and you literally mentioned the miraculous when I hadn't even asked about them. I told you weren't very good at the 'secret-identity' thing and I was absolutely right, by the way."