Blamed for Murder | finished

Ch.6: The Funeral

It was Tuesday morning. I haven't heard anything from Chat since our next appointment was this evening. I spent Monday with going to school and finishing Chat's winter coat. It was a lot of work because I had given myself a short deadline, but I still wanted to make a great coat with lots of details. Chat still was someone special to me, as a partner and a close friend.

I woke up early as usual for the past days. Finding a dead body, getting blamed for murder, running from the police and being torn apart on the news and social media wasn't on my list for a great weekend. At least I still had Chat, Alya, and Tikki.

It was time to meet up with Alya and the rest of the class. Every one of us attended the funeral. I felt guilty and the bright sun that was shining this morning wasn't fitting into anyone's mood. Everybody was wearing black, including me. It was a seemingly endless sea of black, with no white in between. Every word of the priest's speech was hurting me because I felt responsible. Tikki often told me that I couldn't have done anything about it, but I didn't buy it. I tried to pull myself together, as I wasn't the one who had lost her father. The past days must have been hell for Chloé.

The funeral took some time, as a lot of people were holding a speech, including Gabriel Agreste, who spoke first. Adrien told me he and his father had to leave early, because of some very important business meeting or something along these lines. Even he thought his father's behaviour was kind of strange, but Gabriel acting weird seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for anyone of us.

Chloé was standing beside her father's grave as his coffin was slowly put down into the earth. She was devastated and crying. Not the fake tears she pulled out in class sometimes. Those were real tears and real emotions as this probably was her darkest hour. Time seemed to stop, as a small black butterfly approached her, melting into her necklace.

Hello young Lady, this is how we meet again. I am Hawk Moth and we both know who is responsible for your beloved father's death. There is no way Ladybug is missing this. She must be nearby. I will grant you the power to avenge your father! All you need to do is handing out her miraculous to me after you are done with her.

This wasn't good. I was in the middle of the crowd and everyone started panicking, as Chloé turned into Antibug. I turned around, as Alya took out her phone to film the whole scene. This girl truly had a death wish, so I grabbed her arm and pulled her along with me. Suddenly Antibug jumped in front of us, kicking me to the ground and taking Alya with her as she jumped on top of the church, yelling: "Ladybug I know you see this. I give you one minute to show yourself, or I will take the life of your biggest fan, just like you took the life of my father!"

Hawk Moth probably waited for this opportunity. I couldn't deny it, this could have been me if I was Chloé. I ran to one of the many exits and jumped into the nearest back-alley to transform into Ladybug without being seen.

I swung back as Antibug yelled: "Time is up, Ladybug!" I was still several hundred meters away and wouldn't make it in time to catch Alya and defend myself from Antibug, so I immediately yelled: "Lucky Charm!"

A self-inflating cushion appeared in my hands, as I was jumping from building to building. Antibug's grip on Alya loosened and my best friend fell to the ground. I threw the cushion and it landed beneath her, inflating enough to catch her safely. Antibug instantly attacked me as soon as I attached my Yo-Yo to the church's tower. I fell down but managed to land on the church's main roof. I would have never been able to catch Alya without using my Lucky Charm. This was way too close for comfort.