Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
lucky charms ❛ii. stoneheart ❜
━━━━━CHARLOTTE FELT LIKE the shittest person alive. not physically, at least. in truth, she felt perfectly fine physically; the fight with stoneheart hadn't tired her at all. maybe it was some more magic tikki could do while she was in the earrings.
no, charlotte felt like shit because she felt like she was a horrible person. it was like this hollow wringing in her chest. she had let everyone down; the people of paris, cat noir, tikki, her parents. charlotte had failed. she hadn't done the job properly and now people were suffering because of her.
tikki told her she was chosen for a reason, but charlotte was certain there was someone out of the millions in paris that could do a better job than she. and she already had a pretty good idea of who could make a better coccinella — or whatever name she chooses next.
charlotte grabbed the hexagon-shaped box on her way out of her bedroom. she stuffed the brown box into a small pocket on her backpack, slinging the bag over her shoulder. all she had to do was silently sneak the box into the bag and then this wouldn't be her problem anymore.
before she left for school, her father insisted that they stopped to watch the news. "the stone beings are scattered all over paris, and for the time being, they are showing no signs of movement," said nadja chamack, motioning to the variety of photos behind her. charlotte's stomach dropped as more and more pictures of frozen stone beings appeared on screen. "police have cordoned off the area."
the mayor of paris was the next to speak; "we won't stop until we find a way to get these people back to their normal selves, but for now, we're not making much headway."
nadja chamack came back. "paris is relying on our new gardian angels — coccinella and cat noir — to save us all. our lives depend on them."
charlotte held onto the strap of her backpack tighter. "how are they so sure coccinella — i mean, coccinella and cat noir will be able to do anything?" she asked her father. "coccinella wasn't even able to help ivan yesterday, how can she help all these people?"
charlotte's father, fiorenzo, placed a hand on her shoulder. "there's no need to worry, charlie. they'll be able to figure this all out. coccinella and cat noir are looking out for paris. the best way to help them is to show we're not scared and that we believe in them. isn't that what i always tell you before a game?"
it was. despite the many, many times charlotte wanted to leave volleyball and never play another game, her father always helped her find why she had fallen in love with the sport. he was her biggest supporter, and that was one of the best ways he could ever help her; by supporting and believing in her.
