Miraculous Ladybug: The New Holders

Volpina: Part Thirty-Four

"Oh my gosh, Marinette, this would look fabulous on you!" Chloè pulled a strapless dark green dress on a hanger off of the rack it hung on and gave it to Marinette eagerly.

Marinette saw the price tag and fumbled with the dress, trying not to drop it. "But Chloè, it's so expensive-"

Chloè lightly pushed her towards the changing rooms. "That doesn't matter. Just try it on!"

Alya laughed a bit as Marinette grudgingly stepped into the changing room.

Chloè sat down on a bench near the changing rooms and beckoned for Alya to sit next to her. "You seem cheered up." She noticed.

Alya sat down. "Yeah, so far this has been really fun." She looked at Chloè. "Thanks for this."

Chloè smiled halfheartedly. "If it's any consolation, I know how it feels." She gave a short sigh. "Broken hearts, shattered relationships, unrequited love, the whole deal... I've been there."

Alya raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean Adrian?"

"Hah, no." Chloè laughed a bit. "It was never meant to be, and I knew it."

"Then who? I'm sure any guy would feel lucky to be your boyfriend."

Chloè giggled. "Now, the thing wrong with that is any guy."

Alya didn't get what she meant at first, but caught on after a minute. "Wait, you're a-"

Chloè smirked. "It seems that I've stopped painting my nails as much as I've started trimming them."

Alya burst out laughing, right along with Chloè. "Okay, that was pretty smooth. Me, I've been there, done that, but-"

"Uh... Guys?" Marinette's confused voice interrupted her.

"Oh! Are you changed?" Chloè jumped out of her seat. "Come on, let's see it!!"

Alya stood up as Marinette stepped out of her changing room, dressed in a beautiful long dark green dress. She constantly fiddled with the top of the dress, trying to keep it as high as she could.

Alya sighed. "Mari, live a little! Let that dress fit on you how it's supposed to fit on you!"

Marinette sighed and stopped messing with the top, letting it slip down into it's correct positioning over her chest.

"O. M. G." Chloè's jaw dropped. "Marinette, you're gorgeous!"

Marinette looked in the mirror, and her eyes widened with surprise. "Oh my gosh!" She looked speechless.

"Screw it, I'm buying you this dress. It's too gorgeous on you for me not to." Chloè grinned.

Marinette's reaction was a mix of delight and worry. "Really?! But-" She swallowed hard. "I could never ask you to do that!"

Chloè laughed. "So don't! Now, get changed so we can buy it!"

Alya wandered away from the two to look at some other dresses. She found a particularly cute white dress and held it up to examine it, when suddenly, Alya stopped dead and froze where she stood.

There, right in front of her, staring at her with cold black pools for eyes, stood Eliza.

Her toned skin had lost its vibrancy, replaced with a sickening colorless complexion that almost screamed death. Her hair was torn and ratty, its former fullness lost. Her clothes were muddy and ripped, and you could see every bone in her body sticking out underneath her colorless skin. Spiderwebs of alien-green colored veins bulged out of the skin as well, glowing eerily. Deathly black mist flowed out from behind her and poured out of her slightly ajar mouth and her black pools of eyes.

Alya stared at the walking corpse of Eliza in horror, feeling chilled by her rotten appearance. Eliza moved closer, but Alya couldn't scream for help or even move an inch. Streams of cold sweat ran down from her forehead, fear working its way into her every nerve.

Eliza stopped moving after what felt like an eternity, leaning just inches towards Alya's left ear.

She whispered, her voice scratchy and dry, like nails on a chalkboard. "Beware of Vixen." Eliza hissed the last name with distaste.

"Wh- what- who is Vixen?" Alya rasped, managing to scrape the words out of her throat.

Eliza said nothing and simply melted into sand, disappearing from sight.

Someone placed their hand on Alya's right shoulder. "Cute dress-"

Alya jumped and whirled around to see Chloè, looking concerned.

"Woah, Alya, are you okay?" Chloè stepped closer cautiously. "You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

Alya put the dress back on the rack, hands trembling as she did so. She rubbed her eyes and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "I-I think I just did.." Alya couldn't even speak without her voice shaking.

"Alya?" Chloè looked a bit scared. Alya was always so tough and steady-minded. Seeing her so shaken up made Chloè nervous. What could've scared her that badly?

"Yeah?" Alya tried to regain her composure for Chloè, just to hide how truly terrified she had just been. "S-sorry, do you need something?"

Chloè grew serious. "Alya, I think you should go home. You really don't seem well. We can cut this thing short-"

Marinette walked up to the two. "Chloè? What's going on-" Marinette began, but then let out a yelp when she saw Alya. "Woah, Alya, you're sweating buckets. Are you okay? You look spooked!"

"Uh..." Alya rubbed her temples. "I think Chloè's right... I should probably head home..."

Before Marinette could interject, Chloè placed her hands on Alya's shoulders and spoke up. "Absolutely. We can totally do this some other time, can I call a car for you?"

"That'd be really appreciated, Chloè.." Alya smiled thankfully.

"Okay, Mari, I'm gonna go pay for your dress, you stay here and keep an eye on Alya." She took the green dress from Marinette and took off to the cashier.

"Maybe if you sat down, you might feel a bit better." Marinette suggested, and Alya took her advice, plopping down on the tiled floor.

After a minute of silence, she spoke again. "So, what happened? If you don't mind me asking..."

Alya paused, wondering how she would answer. She let out a sigh. "I saw something- no, someone. Someone I know to be dead." Alya shivered, even though she was sweating so hard she could've died of heat stroke by now. "They looked like a walking corpse..." She whimpered. "Their eyes were like black holes..."

"It's okay, you don't have to say any more." Marinette spoke reassuringly, but even as she said so, her mind swam with thousands of questions. Who was this dead friend? How could Alya have seen them?

At that moment, Chloè returned and handed Marinette the bag with her dress and helped Alya to her feet.

"Come on, let's get you back home."