ᴄʜᴀᴘɪᴛʀᴇ ᴏɴᴢᴇ - ᴀᴄᴀɴᴛʜᴇ
Chapter Eleven - Acanthus

Quick side note(s)
Welcome to the start of the second act! For this act, each chapter will be named after a flower/plant.

For plot purposes, I will not be explaining the symbolism behind the title of the chosen flower/plant for each chapter. A few of the chosen flowers will be explained in the midst of this act, so there's a possibility you'll learn the meaning in the book from there. As for the other flowers mentioned in this chapter, the symbolism will be explained [with the exception of one of them].

It will be noted, however, that flowers play a major role in this act so... take with that as you will.

Note: I do not own the following characters
Rey Lopez/Snow Drift, Rey getting an orchid as her assigned flower, Iris Lopez, Amy Lopez [mentioned], Reina Hunter-Lopez [mentioned] and Shawn Lopez [mentioned] - Sci-Briana14

Bernadette "Betty" Fontaine (her getting a rose with thorns as her assigned flower), Celestia Lesbianne (her getting forget-me-nots as her flower), the Primaries (the group name in addition to Dominique Morgenstern as one of the members associated with the clique), Professor (Poppy) Bourgeois (her getting a peony), The Miraculous Supers (the group name and its members owned by her including James Lahiffe, Allegra, Terrance Dupain-Cheng and Claudison/Claude all getting a lilac/mentioned), Queen Katie (mentioned), King Zeth (mentioned), the crown-shaped birth mark, the Kingdom of Brighton (mentioned) - GeekyCookie1

Jasmine Dupain-Cheng (mentioned) - Pokemon_Fan1789

Language checkpoint
Princesse - Princess
château de cartes - house of cards
Ex Favilla Nos Resurgemus - from the ashes, we will rise

Trigger Warnings
This chapter contains very graphic depictions of death and murder, so if you're uncomfortable with this topic, please reconsider before reading.

Thank you so much in advance.

~~~~~~~~

Rayan was, to say the least, nervous. It's been two weeks since the fall of his father, who was Hawkmoth and for the first time, he would be attending a public school! Instead of being homeschooled, Rayan would be going with Adrien and attend Collège Françoise Dupont with him! He would actually be kids his own age! Just the sheer thought of not being homeschooled was enough to get him nervously excited.

Rayan had spent the previous night planning his outfit in a strategic manner in hopes of making friends. He saw what the high school experience was supposed to be within the confinements of his room, but now — he was actually living the experience for himself!

Rayan wasn't sure what to expect.

From Adrien's daily stories about school, Rayan had a vague idea of who to engage and who to avoid. Though for sure, it was commonly agreed among the siblings that Robert La Clare was the one to avoid the most as the two knew him from the formal parties the two were reluctantly forced to attend as kids.

Neither one of them had liked Robert and at a young age that became apparent. He was too self-absorbed and had a tendency to flex his wealth. Plus, he always felt the need to insist that his family was better to the point where Robert directly placed himself as a "rival" of sorts [Adrien and Rayan knew he was a joke though].

As such, Rayan had to plan the perfect outfit. First impressions were everything. He didn't want to underdress and sell himself short, but the boy didn't want to overdress to the point where people simply chose to brush him off because he would just be another snob for the school to handle.

"Adrien!"

Seconds later, Adrien ran into his room with his toothbrush in hand as the boy was in the middle of brushing his teeth and placing his top shirt on. "I heard you screaming. Are you okay?" Adrien concernedly asked, his eyes looking at him with full concern as Rayan shook his head.

"No! I thought I had my outfit figured out and now I'm having second thoughts!"

"That's what you were screaming my name for? Your outfit problem?" Adrien slowly but bluntly asked as Rayan blinked. "Uh, yeah. It was a fashion emergency," Rayan casually pointed out, as if this should have been obvious to his younger brother. In response, his younger brother shook his head.

"You're worse than Plagg, I swear," Adrien quietly mumbled, but not completely low as Rayan could pick up on his response. "Who is Plagg?" Rayan innocently asked, to which Rayan saw Adrien's eyes widening at his response. "Uh, no one! He's no one! Just forget I said that!" Adrien exclaimed in panic as Rayan merely blinked.

"Actually, I'm need to go, but the second outfit looks great on you!" Adrien added, now literally dash off as he closed the door from behind him. Shaking his head, Rayan then took out a small plate of Camembert and mutely left the plate on his desk, to which he saw a four-inch black and green-eyed black cat approaching the snack with skepticism before he began to munch on the food.

"I knew it."

In response, four-inch black and green-eyed black cat 'thing' looked at him and attempt to phase out with the cheese, but Rayan was faster as he caught the cat thing with his hands. "Aha! I gotcha you now!" Rayan proudly exclaimed. "I was tricked by my love of cheese! No!" Plagg exaggerated, but it was clear he wasn't scared of the boy.

"Aw! You must be Adrien's kwami, Plagg," Rayan assumed upon releasing him. "I'm his big brother, Rayan but Ray works too," Rayan continued as Plagg stared at him. "This never happened," Plagg firmly stated as Rayan lightly tugged on his face, ignoring the kwami's words as he was too focused on the kwami's miniature appearance.

"You are so cute! I can see why Adrien is fond of you. You're just so adorable!" Rayan happily gushed as Plagg rolled his eyes. "I am not here," Plagg further added as Rayan rolled his eyes at the kwami's denial.

"You and Adrien can keep coming up with excuses, but it doesn't take much to put two and two together. Trust me, I lived with Adrien my whole life. I would know when he's gone or when his personality changes as a result of being Chat Noir," he followed up, to which, Plagg reluctantly sighed.

"How long have you known?" Plagg reluctantly asked, as if dreading the question. "How long has Adrien been Chat Noir?" Rayan rhetorically asked, to which Plagg glare at him, now knowing his response. "You can't tell a soul or else I'll be forced to leave and Adrien would have to give up his ring. I really like him and if you tell Adrien what I told you, so help me, you will be punished," Plagg firmly stated as Rayan scoffed at his response.

"Adrien's going to be so pleased to know how his kwami really feels about..." Rayan had started, only to trail off as Plagg grabbed the remaining Camembert and stared at him, the two now having a stare off. "You don't have the guts. Plus, you care too much about your Camembert to let anything happen to it. It's also why I knew what kind of cheese to bait you with," Rayan confidently followed up as Plagg quietly chuckled, catching the boy off-guard.

"Who said I was risking my beloved Camembert?" Plagg followed up as he then ate the cheese before holding a used sock. "Plagg, we can talk about this," Rayan starts, slowly backing away as Plagg continued to chuckle. "Do you think I still have the guts now?" he followed up just as Adrien opened the door to witness the exchange.

"Plagg, get back over here."

"Ha!"

In response, Plagg threw the sock at Rayan, who immediately dodged the sock at once as Plagg silently glared at him. "Well, this wasn't how I wanted to tell you but..." Adrien began as Rayan warmly smiled. "Hey, I'm glad you're the one to protect Paris. I always knew you were going to be a hero someday and what do you know? I was right," Rayan softly said as Adrien embraced him, the two brothers smiling.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome and hey, your secret's safe with me," Rayan sincerely concluded as he saw the nod from Adrien's face. "You're the best," Adrien passionately said as the two heard a groan. "Gross. I wish I had Camembert to clear the sweetness of your affection," Plagg dramatically said as Adrien and Rayan playfully rolled his eyes.

"You should hear what he said about you," Rayan whispered as Adrien chuckled. "He's a softie deep down, I swear," Adrien whispered in turn as Rayan only shook his head in a playful manner. As the boys pulled away, the brothers gave each other a knowing look, much to Plagg's suspicion as he had a feeling he was on their radar.

"Adrien! Rayan! The limo is leaving in next five minutes if neither of you are here!"

Upon hearing Nathalie's response, Rayan looked down to see he was still in his pajamas as Adrien chuckled. "Adrien, you have to stall until I'm dressed," Rayan quietly pleaded as Adrien raised his eyebrow. "What do I get out of this?" Adrien teasingly asked as the boy quickly weighed his responses.

"Uh... I'll take over your piano duties for the next two weeks?"

"Deal!" Adrien happily exclaimed as the two shook hands. "Come on, Plagg," he added as Plagg then made his way to Adrien's inner pocket. Then once the two left, Rayan had quickly closed the door and grabbed the second outfit he was debating on. In an effort to move faster, Rayan attempted to speed up the process and found time was actively working against him.

Upon finally changing into his clothes, Rayan then ran — yes, he practically sprinted — to the dining room area just as Adrien finished his presumed stalling. Rayan knew this as Adrien gave him a knowing look that screamed 'have fun with the piano for the next two weeks.'

"Oh, there you are, Ray!" Nathalie happily exclaimed, an affectionate smile on her face as she looked at him. "This is your bag and I took the liberty of packing your lunch," she happily follow up, handing him his new book bag with the necessities and a brown sack lunch. Glancing over, Rayan saw Adrien got the same, identical brown sack lunch as the two smiled warmly at her.

"Thanks, Nathalie."

"Of course. Now get going and I wish you both the best on your day. Adrien, continue to make good choices and Rayan, try to make some friends but don't let yourself get carry away. Okay? Me and Adrien both know how you can be sometimes," Nathalie softly said as Adrien nodded, much to Rayan's shock as he felt 'betrayed' by his younger brother in the moment.

"I won't get carried away," Rayan insisted, but the two gave him a knowing look and he was stuck awkwardly laughing underneath his breath, hoping the two wouldn't notice his lack of response. "Okay, I have to get started on the paperwork, but I'll do my best to be there for you both after school," Nathalie softly stated as the two smiled, deciding to give her a chance.

"Okay."

Then as the two attempted to leave, Adrien and Rayan were surprise by Nathalie kissing their foreheads. In general, the two were stun that she was starting to show some signs of emotions as she was genuinely trying to be more affectionate to them, which the two thought was pretty nice of her.

"Have a great day at school!"

"Thanks!"

Upon entering the limousine, Adrien and Rayan waved to Nathalie, who waved back as the two were soon out of her sight. In an attempt to pass the time, the boys began to call off every sign the two saw until the two arrived at the high school. After the two got out to thank the driver, Rayan stared at the school and gasped.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Staring at the steps leading up to the entrance door, Rayan nodded. "Yeah," he said in a breathless tone as Adrien chuckled. "Come on," he said, grabbing his hand as the two started to make their way inside the school. Yet, Rayan stopped to stare at the double entrance dark oak doors with gray handles.

As he stared above the doors, he saw a white banner with a red outline hanging down and as the boy looked above the banner, Rayan saw four rectangular windows, a large circular window, and a smaller circular window on each side. "I can't believe it's really happening. I'm actually going to school with you and getting out of the house," Rayan said in awe as Adrien smiled.

"You're going to love it," Adrien softly assured him before grinning. "Ready?" he asked, holding out his schedule as Rayan stared back at the school. He was actively nervous as he was starting to have second thoughts, but he wouldn't bother Adrien with his way of
thinking. Besides, Adrien was right: he would love it.

"Heh. I'm ready to handle anything," Rayan proudly boasted as Adrien grinned at his response, which made Rayan grin brighter as he loved seeing Adrien smile. He felt his brother deserved the world and he was determined to make Adrien proud.

"Bring it on."

As Adrien and Rayan entered the halls of Collège Françoise Dupont, the brothers then got Rayan situated as he was given his school schedule. From there, the two made their way to upstairs as the brothers shared the same schedule. So upon arriving at top of the stairs, the two made their way inside a glass-centric greenhouse.

Upon entering, Adrien offered to sit next to his brother, but Rayan (knowing his brother wanted to sit next to Rey as it was a two-seat system) politely declined. "Romeo, go get your Juliet before you end up with unwanted competition," Rayan lightly teased as his brother only rolled his eyes.

"We're not —"

"Yes, you two are."

So as Rayan saluted his brother and watch him make his way to Rey, he smiled at the sight before leaving. As he walked around, Rayan attempted to greet people, but they had either turned him away or too preoccupied to actually notice him.

Granted, Rayan knew no one {besides the Bourgeois and Lopez families as Chloé and Rey knew him through Adrien as the two hung out with his younger brother} would truly know of his existence [as Gabriel wanted to keep him under lock-and-key] or his relation to Adrien Agreste but still.

"Hey, new guy! You can sit here!"

As Rayan glanced at slightly dark-skinned male with his brunette hair combed over to the side, he saw the boy wearing a light blue Italian wool jacket underneath his white short sleeve T-shirt, khaki pants and dark navy high tops sneakers. "Oh! Thanks!" he had cheerfully stated, now making his way to the boy.

"Wait! Don't listen to him!"

As Rayan saw a dark-skinned girl with dark amber (almost yellow) eyes and light beige lips, he saw the girl's long jet-black curly hair went below her shoulders. More so, she was dressed in a pastel pink blazer [with her light pink T-shirt] in addition to matching pants, long black socks and a rather dark shade of pink high-top sneakers.

"Ignore her. Everyone knows better than to listen to the slut witch," Rayan heard the boy say as the girl darkly glared in the boy's direction. "I knew you were the one who came up with that stupid nickname!" she snapped at the boy, before turning to face him.

"But anyways, you don't want to trust him," she insisted as the boy laughed. "Oh, Cleo, like anyone should take advice from you," the boy bluntly mocked as he gave a laugh once more. "Anyhow, the name's Fiorenzo Salvatore, but people call me Enzo for short and that slut witch over there is Cleo Monroe," the boy began as he and Enzo looked at her.

"I'm sure you've seen the news about her. Her stepfather cheated this whole town and had an affair with Audrey Bourgeois, hence why she's a slut of this high school. If you want my advice, new boy, pick your friends wisely. She may claim I can't be trusted, but she's the one who was trying to embarrass you just now by placing gum on your chair."

"Not true!" Cleo sharply protested but Enzo only chuckle. "Then what's with the napkin in your possession?" Enzo smugly ask as Cleo attempted to say something, only to get cut off. "You see. She's not only a slut, but a liar as well. She can say what she wants to about me, but if I were you, I wouldn't trust her," Enzo followed up as Rayan looked at Cleo and scoffed.

"Unbelievable."

"Wait! I wasn't placing the gum on your chair, I—" Cleo quickly began in an attempt to defend herself when Enzo took the napkin and performed the deed. "You were trying to embarrass him, Cleo. Why persist with your lies?" Enzo followed up as he then look at her and shook his head.

"How cruel — even for you, Monroe. Then again, I wouldn't expect anything less from a lying slut like you," Enzo sharply continued, now tossing the napkin promptly in Cleo's face as she glared at him. "Come on, new boy. Let's go find somewhere else to sit since the witch had to go ruin everything with her terribleness," Enzo promptly stated as he then started to lead Rayan away from her.

"Wait!"

"It's okay. She won't take long anyways. I'll catch up," Rayan promptly told Enzo, who only nodded and began to walk away. When Enzo left, Cleo caught up to him as Rayan then crossed his arms. "I wasn't lying about Enzo. He really is someone you don't want to trust," Cleo insisted as Rayan only chuckled at her weak attempt.

"Yet, he's the one who got the gum that you put there off from the chair," Rayan points out as Cleo sighed. "If you came in five minutes earlier, you would have seen how he—" she started, only to get cut off as Rayan shook his head.

"Out of all the people Adrien told me to avoid, I'm surprised he didn't mention you. You look like trouble and I wouldn't be surprised if you did get me in trouble later on down the road," Rayan had sharply continued as Cleo's eyes widened from his response, much to his delight.

"Yeah, I'm Adrien's older brother, Rayan Agreste and you just made the mistake of not playing your cards right, Monroe," he coldly followed up as he only shook his head at her. "Some welcome. I hope I don't bump into more people like you," he concluded as Rayan then left, not wanting to hear whatever she had to say next. As Rayan took his seat next to Enzo, the other students began to take their seats.

Moments later, everyone saw a fair-skinned older woman enter the greenhouse. As she walked to the center of the class, everyone could see she was wearing a navy blue button up shirt and black denim jeans. When she turn to face the class, everyone could see her bright red hair and her dark brown eyes as she had a pair of glasses with a dark blue frame on.

"Let's begin."

—————————————

"My name is Miss Blair and I'll be your new permanent botanical sciences teacher for the rest of this school year," she began, chuckling as she heard the groans.

After all, she had expected that much as (from what she heard), the students were going through a series of substitute teachers in an effort to fill the void left behind two weeks ago by the murder of Juno Granger, their former botanical sciences teacher.

"Now, I understand the transition to a new teacher after losing a former teacher, even if it's only been two weeks is hard, so I decided to make this first assignment easy. I will each assign you a personalized flower hand selected by me and it is your responsibility to care for your assigned flower."

As she paused, Miss Blair listened to the whispers and the commotions as she knew the assignment was most likely not on their to-do list. Some of these kids were going to kill their plants in less than five weeks, some even less and there would be those who would know how to care for plants and make it through the rest of the year.

"There will be no exchanges between changing your flowers and no shortcuts as this assignment will be ongoing through the rest of our time spent here. So what you get is final. Additionally, these flowers were hand selected by me based on what I've gathered about you from other teachers, so if you have any questions about your chosen flower, please feel free to let me know."

As she paused, Miss Blair could see the looks of curiosity, concern and mostly boredom on their faces, so she decided to cut her initial plans for class. Besides, she still needed to access the school's greenhouse and it would be nice if she could have that privacy. It was, after all, one of the conditions that she and Principal Damocles had agreed on as she wanted full control of the greenhouse.

"As I pass out your assigned flower, you can all freely talk amongst yourselves in light conversation and once you receive your flower, you are free to leave as I wanted to keep today's class short. When we meet again, I'll go more into depth about my expectations for this class and we'll start our first lesson."

The reactions — Miss Blair quickly noticed — look different as she saw there was more excitement, which she assumed came from leaving early. Nonetheless, at least, she had her own personal privacy once all of her students left and the students would have one less class to endure. It was a win-win situation.

As she glanced at her roster, Miss Blair saw she had eighteen students in total and she did a mental count, she ended up with eighteen. "Well, it's nice to know all of you are punctual," Miss Blair mumbled to herself before taking a deep breath.

"When I call out your name, please raise your hand and say here or present, so I can then identify you, present your assigned flower to you and mark your attendance," she continued as the students had all either nodded or ushered a "yes" to confirm that they were listening to her.

"Good."

When she got their nods and their collective "yes," Miss Blair then glanced down at her roster.

"Okay, let's see who we have here..."

Adrien Agreste
Rayan Agreste
Robert La Clare
Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Bernadette Fontaine
Gushiken Makoto
Jasper Harrison
Max Kanté
Lê Chiến Kim

Celestia Lesbianne
Rey Lopez
Cleo Monroe
Dominique Morgenstern
Alex Parkins
Sabrina Raincomprix
Lila Rossi
Fiorenzo Salvatore
Kagami Tsurugi

"Adrien Agreste."

"Here."

As Miss Blair looked up to see a blonde-haired male with emerald-green eyes raise his hand, she then glanced over to his seat mate, which was the olive-skinned Latina girl with straight, medium-length and brown eyes as she had a light beige jacket over her light brown and black-laced dress along with her authentic pearl necklace.

"And you?" Miss Blair followed up, pointing at the girl, who momentarily blinked. "Oh," the girl started before clearing her throat. "My name is Rey Lopez," the girl briefly said as she then nodded. "Thank you," Miss Blair added as she then checked off their names as 'present' before she carried two flowerpots over to the two.

"So, you two must be the teenage celebrity power couple, correct?" she teasingly asked, upon arriving at their table, to which she saw the two teenagers blush. The woman then chuckled, now making a mental note to keep the two together for future assignments in addition to projects (if she had any, that was). Blair was hoping that her instincts were right in the sense that Adrien and Rey liked each other.

"I'm just teasing, but you two do look cute together and oh. It seems as though you two are close. Do I suspect a childhood friendship perhaps?" Miss Blair followed up as the two stared at each other and back at her. "We're actually childhood best friends," Rey and Adrien briefly explained as Miss Blair fondly smiled.

"That's adorable! I had a childhood best friend, but..." Miss Blair explained, only to stop as she saw the look of pure awkwardness in their eyes, so the woman briefly apologized and distributed the flowers in their direction.

"Oh. Miss Blair. I'm just curious. How did I end up with a pink orchid?" Rey curiously asked upon retrieving her assigned flower. Miss Blair then smiled warmly at the girl's response.

"Well, that's a easy one. From the way your teachers have described you and from what I can see as of now, you have a sort of grace and gentleness to you, which isn't seen in a lot of students. So, I can safely say I wouldn't have to worry about you as you don't look like the troublemaker type."

As Rey nodded and said her thanks, she began to start packing her things. "Miss Blair, how did I end up with a snowdrop?" Adrien politely asked as he retrieved his assigned flower, to which she gave him a sympathetic smile. "Well, I know it's been two weeks since the death of your father, so it seemed as though you could use the extra support," she gently explained.

"Oh."

"But snowdrops symbolize new beginnings, so think of his death as the next chapter in your life. From what he did as Hawkmoth, maybe that might have negatively affected you, but now you have this opportunity to experience hope and much like your flower, you'll come to overcome the challenges of grief and anything else that might potentially come your way."

"Oh, well thank you."

"You're very welcome, Agreste, and I didn't know you had a brother," Miss Blair briefly said as Adrien glanced over to see Rayan and Enzo talking to each other, which made him feel better about his brother adjusting... though he personally wasn't sure if Enzo was the right person to befriend... out of all people. But if Enzo treated his brother right, Adrien supposed he shouldn't be the one to judge who Rayan chose to befriend.

"Not many people do," Adrien briefly replied, though Miss Blair had a feeling there was more than what he was leading her on. "Interesting, I wonder why this is the case," Miss Blair simply said but only shrugged as she didn't want to press the boy any longer since she still had more students in need of their assigned flower.

"Well, I'm glad you at least had someone to keep you company," she added as Adrien smiled warmly. "Yeah. Rayan's the best brother I could have," Adrien cheekily but also somewhat passively corrected, something she picked up on. "My apologies," she later added to which, Adrien maintains his smile and simply waved off her apology as a one-time mistake.

"Rayan Agreste."

"Here."

As Miss Blair glanced over to see the emerald green eyed and blonde-haired boy dressed in a floral-printed T-shirt with black leggings and matching shoes obtaining the Agreste symbol in the back of the sole, she thought back to Adrien's response and quietly laugh to herself.

"And you?" Miss Blair momentarily asked, pointing at the boy next to Rayan, who then smirked at her. "I'm Fiorenzo Salvatore, but people call me Enzo. It would do you some good to remember that," the boy told her and as she stared at the slightly dark-skinned male with his brunette hair combed over to the side, she saw Enzo wearing a light blue Italian wool jacket underneath his white short sleeve T-shirt, khaki pants and dark navy high tops sneakers.

Either way, Fiorenzo was going to be one of the annoying kids in her class. That much, Blair knew. But Rayan... he looked like he had potential. So as she check off Rayan and Enzo's names to confirm their attendance, she then carried the two flowerpots to their table, which caught their attention as she placed them on their table.

"Well, this is rather interesting," Miss Blair began as she stared at the two. "We have a royal and his jester," she continued as Enzo and Rayan look at each other, clearly trying to figure out who got what label when Enzo began to speak.

"You know, I am quite popular to the point where you could say I am—" Enzo promptly began, smugly grinning at her response and she smiled simply because she wanted to see his little smug, arrogant grin of his fall right off.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Enzo, but...." Miss Blair started as she gave a so-called sympathetic look over in Enzo's direction. "I was actually referring to the new student as the royal and I'm afraid you're his jester, Enzo," she finished, trying to hide her true emotions as she saw Rayan's eyes widened while Enzo's jaw dropped.

"Are you trying to threaten me on your first day? I'm not anyone's jester. Much less, his," Enzo firmly stated as Miss Blair continued to smile. "Do you know who I am? I am a Salvatore!" he sharply continued as she blinked.

"Well, I guess your family must not be completely famous because the only names that come to mind are the Agreste, the Lopez and the Bourgeois," she politely continued, but she was hiding her smugness as she saw Enzo angrily stand up, now defensively looking at her.

"The Salvatore family will be famous one day and you'll regret ever mocking my family name!"

To say she wasn't getting joy from the sight of seeing Enzo lash out was funny, because it then proved he clearly got spoiled as a kid and now, it was showing. She had mentally thought Enzo had this coming, especially once she factored in the way he talked to one of her students.

"Oh, don't forget your flower, little jester," Miss Blair politely but smugly continued as he then glared at her and sharply retrieved the flowerpot. "This class is already looking to be stupid," Enzo angrily remarked as she saw the boy grab his columbine flower and promptly stormed off.

"Enzo, wait!"

"Forget him. Besides, I imagine you're better off leaving him behind, prince," Miss Blair gently but somewhat stated, now speaking lowly as Rayan awkwardly blinked. "I'm not a royal, much less a prince," he pointed out as she only chuckled.

"That birth mark of yours tells a much different story. It's the mark of the royal Agreste family, Queen Katie and King Zeth," she cheekily explained as Rayan stare at his arm sleeve, which was now revealing his crown-shaped birth mark. Rayan then hid his birth mark as she only chuckled.

"I thought seeing how Gabriel and Zeth were brothers, Adrien might have told you so," she continued as Rayan looked at her. "Look, I don't know where you're going with this, but I'm seriously not a prince though I appreciate the gesture from a figurative point of view," Rayan told her.

"Besides, neither of us have ever heard of their names, so nice try, but even if Adrien did know about the royal couple, he would have told me because we don't keep secrets from each other. We're brothers," Rayan confidently added as she only chuckled once more.

"I hate to be rude, but you're not directly related to him, so you two can't be brothers," she pointed out. "Besides, people know Adrien and people here don't even know you. You are a stranger here, but in the Kingdom of Brighton, you're a idol," she whispered as she gave a small wink.

"Trust me, kid, you and Adrien are nowhere near brothers but... if you ever want some answers about your past, I'll be here to help you... your Grace," she concluded, sliding his flower to him as Rayan cautiously picked up his black tulip. "Well, um, this should um being a interesting class," Rayan awkwardly began as she smiled.

"I look forward to having you in my class, prince. Oh, and just like your flower there, I know you'll make a great royal. Just like your parents," she concluded as Rayan politely but awkwardly gave his thanks, nodded, and left. It was clear that she got into his head, so it only be a mere matter of time until he came to her.

She would be ready by then.

"Heh. I didn't know I would have my nephew in my class," she said as Miss Blair looked at the next name on her roster. "Aunt Fani!" she heard and as she looked up, Fani could see the excitement in the fair skinned blonde male with his light pink lips and dazzling grayish-blue eyes.

As she look at him, Fani noticed he was dressed in a light, sky-blue T-shirt, denim jeans and black sneakers with his hair brush to the left side of his face. She then chuckle and return his excited wave. "Hi, Robert. Who's your friend next to you?" Fani added as the two boys chuckled.

"I'm Alex Parkins," she heard the boy next to her nephew say as Fani stared at the jet-black haired, midnight blue eyed and light-skinned boy with freckles across his face. As she looked, Fani saw Alex's denim cuffed jeans, a pair of high-top white sneakers and a light gray sleeveless T-shirt.

Crossing off their names from her roster, Fani then proceeded to make her way to her nephew and his friend as she placed two flowerpots on their table. "How's my favorite nephew doing?" Fani softly asked as Robert chuckled. "Auntie, I'm your only nephew," Robert cheekily said as she smiled.

"I know, but you're still my favorite because there's no one else. That's why picking your flower was especially special to me," Fani softly continued as she saw her nephew stare at his flowerpot and back at her. "A white daffodil?" Robert curiously started as she had continued to smile.

"It's perfect! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you're experiencing some unrequited love right now," Fani continued as Robert then sighed. "Do you see that girl over there?" he asked her as Fani glanced over to see two girls talking amongst themselves. "Which one?" she asked, out of politeness, as she already knew who her nephew was referring to as the teachers talked and well, Robert had a thing for one of her students—

"The one next to the redhead with glasses."

"You mean Sabrina?"

"Yes."

As Fani stared at the dark-skinned girl with dark amber (almost yellow) eyes and light beige lips, she saw the girl's long jet-black curly hair went below her shoulders. More so, Fani saw she was dressed in a pastel pink blazer [with her light pink T-shirt] in addition to matching pants, long black socks and a rather dark shade of pink high-top sneakers.

"Oh! Isn't that —"

"Cleo Monroe. She's the one who saved my life and I've fallen for her ever since," Robert dreamily said as Fani resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her nephew. "But she doesn't seem to be in love with me, so I make my feelings clear and hope she'll notice that I'm the one for her," he solemnly said, the heartache evident in his tone.

"Well, in that case, you should also view the white daffodil as a sign of hope. There's a chance your crush will come around and return your feelings," Fani softly told Robert, though she knew that her words in itself were wishful thinking. White daffodils meant unrequited love for a reason. There was no chance of him ever getting Cleo to return his feelings, but Fani knew better than to tell her nephew so.

"Oh! Maybe, I could invite her to the Cendrillon Ball as my date. We could get to know each other better and she would see that I'm the one," Robert excitedly told Fani, who only smiled as she nodded. "That's a great idea, Robert. I'm sure your parents would be thrilled to meet the girl who saved your life too, so bringing her to the Cendrillon ball is a start to build that emotional bond," she had continued as Robert happily retrieved his things and hugged her.

"Thanks, Auntie. You're the best."

Then as Robert grabbed his white daffodil and left, leaving her with Alex, who looked at her. "I don't get it. Why did you lead him on?" Alex inquired as Blair's smile threaten to fall in that moment. "I didn't lead him on. White daffodils symbolize hope, which was a thing Robert needed," Miss Blair gently corrected as Alex only skeptically stared at her,  much to her annoyance.

She already knew one skeptic and Fani already met her [well, she would meet the girl again momentarily once she got through her roster as Cleo and Sabrina were the last ones on her sitting chart]. Plus, Fani didn't really need a second one, so she needed to get him off her trail and fast.

"But you—"

"Say. I'm just curious. How did Robert ever end up with a orphan for a friend? Tell me, do you think my nephew pitied you and chose to befriend you just so he could feel good about himself?" Fani continued and it was clear that she succeeded in getting under his skin as Alex awkwardly looked at her.

"With all due respect, your nephew wouldn't befriend me out of pity. Your nephew and I are close. In fact, some would even say that we're best friends," Alex told her, but from the hesitant nature of his voice, she could tell Alex was skeptical of his own response.

"Here, I had a feeling this flower would relate to you," Fani briefly added as she slid the flowerpot to him. "What is it?" Alex puzzlingly asked as she smiled. "That is a foxglove," she began as she looked at him. "Foxgloves symbolize the insecurities that we all face in our day-to-day life. But in your case, this flower seems to embody all of the insecurities you might be having," she continued as Alex stared at his flower and frowned.

"Oh. Do foxgloves, by chance, have any other meaning that might apply to me? Like the symbol of courage? Or playfulness? Or flirtiness? Or —"

"Nope. Foxgloves only symbolize insecurities and nothing more," Fani promptly told him, sharply cutting him off as his eyes widened. "My apologies," Alex reluctantly told her as he began to grab his things. "Well... thank you, I guess, for my flower," he later added as she warmly smiled.

"You're welcome and if you ever need help sorting out your problems, you're more than welcome to swing by the greenhouse anytime to chat to me. High school is tough and I know what it's like to lose your loved ones at a young age," she sincerely told Alex, but her response only made him puzzlingly look at her again.

"But... if you're Robert's aunt, wouldn't that just make you Anaïs's sister and Edward's sister-in-law? How can you say you lost your loved ones when they're clearly alive and well?" Alex pointed out as Fani silently took a deep breath. If he was anything like Cleo, then chances were, she was in for a long semester.

"There are some things people like to keep hidden," Fani cryptically told the boy as Alex then stared at her. "I don't—" he began, but she only chuckled. "Okay, I appreciate this lovely chat, Alex, but I must get around to the other students. Enjoy the rest of your day now," she promptly told him as Alex awkwardly blinked.

"R... Right. I should um I should get going. Thank you for the flower," Alex timidly told her as he then grabbed his things and left. Once Alex left, she only shook her head and stared at her roster.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"Here!"

As Fani looked up from her list, she saw the half-French and half-Chinese girl as the girl worn her bluebell hair down as she had a dark blue bow in her hair. More so, she saw the girl completely adorn in a dark blue blouse, a black skirt and dark blue flats and as she glanced closer, she could see a pair of earrings on her.

"And you?" Miss Blair followed up, now looking from the dark blue color-themed girl to the... yellow-themed color girl. With the second girl's bright blonde hair, bright yellow eyebrows (which must have been dyed because there was no way someone had perfectly yellow eyebrows naturally) and a bright yellow striped turtleneck. The only things about her that weren't yellow were the girl's light blue eyes, her light pink lips and the freckles on her face.

"I'm Dominique Morgenstern, madam," the second girl had greeted and if Fani heard correctly, Marinette and Dominique were only half of the clique that preceded to call themselves the Primaries.

She was then suddenly somewhat anxious to see how Allison Starglow and Catherine Hawthorne would fare in her class later on in the day in terms of their appearance if blue and yellow were taken. Crossing off their names from the roster to mark the girls' attendance, she then brought two flowerpots to their table.

"So... blue and yellow, huh?"

"Yep! We all wanted to do a color scheme that went with our personalities," Dominique and Marinette happily explained as she awkwardly smiled, internally fearful of the way the two were in sync. This was going to be one, interesting semester for her as she was going to get herself exposed to... the life of the Primaries, she presumed.

"Well, then I'm sure both of you will find your assigned flower to be a reflection of your character," Fani simply continued, now placing the flowerpots on their table as the girls then glanced over at the flowerpots.

"Oh, sweet! I got a yellow daisy. I guess you knew about my love of yellow and my joy-like wonder personality," Dominique softly began as Fani internally thanked Poppy for the heads-up. "I wonder what could have given it away," Fani quietly but sarcastically mumbled.

"Well, thank you so much, Miss Blair. I look forward to our first lesson," Dominique softly said as she began to grab her things. "I'll meet you outside, Mari, when you're done," she softly added as Marinette happily nodded.

"Of course. I'll see you in a bit then, Minnie!" Marinette called out and once Dominique left, Fani was then left with... the blue-themed girl, who kept looking at her flower. "I know Minnie got a yellow daisy because she's generally a happy person and daisies are linked to happiness, but why did I end up with a blue...." Marinette started, only to trail off as Fani chuckled.

"Why did you end up with a blue gladiolus? Well, that one is easy to explain. You see, blue gladiolus symbolize love, desire, community and hope. You clearly have a sense of community in your group as a member of the Primaries and from what I heard from the other teachers, you clearly have a loving personality in terms of how you treat everyone around you," she began as Marinette nodded.

"Oh."

"I also have a sense you end up bringing hope to a lot of people here in Paris in more ways than one," Fani briefly continued as her focus were now on the girl's earrings, to which Marinette hadn't noticed as she was starting to pack her things. "Your earrings are quite interesting," she added just as Marinette finished packing.

"Oh, well thank you."

"I wonder... how did you inquire them?"

"The earrings were a gift from my brother, Terrance," Marinette promptly answered as Fani only stared at her. "Right, well. I don't recall your brother mentioning anything about getting you authentic Ladybug earrings," Fani slowly followed up as Marinette briefly cleared her throat.

"Well, he made them for me," Marinette promptly stated as she grabbed her flowerpot and Fani took her reaction as a sign to move on. "Thank you again for the flower. I uh look forward to our first lesson," she quickly said before leaving as Fani skeptically look at Marinette as she left.

"Huh," Fani mumbled to herself. "She's going to be quite an interesting character," she further mumbled, now glancing at the next name.

"Bernadette Fontaine."

"Present."

As Fani looked up from her roster to see a dark-skinned girl with her hair in two upright buns as she adjusted her black jacket, she then turned to the boy next to her.

"And you are?" Fani promptly asked, looking at the boy with his black-rimmed glasses, a light green polo t-shirt, and pale, light grayish gamboge and brown checkered jeans, she saw he also has a love for suspenders as he was wearing a set with a light brilliant tangelo line between two grayish amber lines and silver buckles, along with pale, light grayish cobalt blue sneakers and a blue watch on his right wrist.

"Oh! I'm Betty's cousin, Max Kanté."

"Cousins, huh?" Fani quietly mumbled to herself as she checked off their names to mark their attendance before she began to carry two flowerpots to their table as she saw Max and Bernadette look at the flowers and back at each other.

"Well, you are thorny," Max teased as Bernadette lightly rolled her eyes as she pick up her flowerpot. "How did you know my favorite flower was a rose with thorns, Miss?" Bernadette curiously asked as Fani softly grinned.

"I didn't. Based from what I've heard from your other teachers, I was able to gather that a rose with thorns suited you best as thorns symbolize protection and boundaries. You seem to set boundaries to protect yourself by only letting a few in, but this mindset will only get you so far. You need to open up and make friends to truly grow and learn more about yourself," Fani explained as she heard Max gasp.

"You see! I've been telling you that your lone wolf mentality would get tiring," Max had confidently told his cousin, who only chuckled. "Well, what about his flower then?" the girl asked as Fani and Bernadette looked at Max's flower.

"Ah, yes. The Scarlet Pimpernel," Fani fondly began. "I chose this flower for you, Max, but I suspect there will be a big change coming your way," she continued as Max looked at her.

"Is it good change, at least?" he asked as Bernadette scoffed. "Come on, Max, you can't seriously be buying into her words like she's a psychic or something," his cousin added as Fani only chuckled. "Well, besides that, the Scarlet Pimpernel also means to delight in, so I like to think whatever big change you end up experiencing, Max, you'll come to at least make amends and to delight in whatever occurs to you," Fani continued as Max then looked at her in earnest.

"Come on, Max. Let's leave the psychic to ponder the lives of everyone else," Bernadette lightly mocked as she then proceeded to thank her for the flower. "Thank you," Max had added after his cousin as Fani smiled. "You're welcome, Max," Fani warmly told him as she watch the two cousins leave.

She knew she wouldn't have to worry about Max, but Bernadette? Fani thought she was rather interesting.... But her thoughts were soon sidelined as Fani internally winced at the next name on her roster.

"Uh—"

"You can call me, Mako, and I'm here."

As Fani looked up to see the boy with his white long-sleeved T-shirt, sliver earrings, a long gray scarf-like jacket with black lace-infused gloves, black pants and black buckled high-shoes, she had blushed from embarrassment as she felt terrible for not being able to say his name.

"Thank you," she told Makoto, before looking at the girl next to him. "And you are?" she had followed up, now looking at the light-skinned girl, who was wearing a more modest orange and dark auburn outfit, her hair going well below her shoulders. "Lila Rossi and I'm the ambassador to Prince Ali. I'm surprised that you don't know my name. I mean, I've done so much for his kingdom," she told Fani, who only blinked.

"Yeah, no. Little Miss Liar, this isn't going to work out. You really need to get your life situated before this affects your life as an adult," Fani sharply stated, now checking off their names before she approached their table with two flowerpots. "I'm sorry, but I'm pretty—" Lila started as Fani briefly chuckled.

"Innocent? Don't test me. Your lies may work for some of your other teachers and you may have even fool Miss Granger, but I am not your former botanical sciences teacher and I'm not like most of your teachers here," Fani sharply continued as Lila's eyes had widened at her response.

"So, either you're going to develop your trustworthiness here or we're going to become future detention buddies. Take your pick, Miss Rossi, but if I were you, I would want to work on your lying impulses, because detention with me is not fun. Trust me, I've been known to make students cry with the things I make them do," Fani further continued as Lila blinked.

"Okay... whatever."

"You don't believe me. I get it, but I dare you to try your luck, Miss Rossi. Get detention with me and you'll see what I mean, Lila," Fani warned her, while Lila only looked at her assigned flower in confusion.

"What is it?"

"That, Miss Rossi, is a snapdragon. Snapdragons are known to symbolize deception and from our small interaction, I can already tell you're going to be the most troubling out of everyone here," Fani continued as Lila only laughed.

"You're telling me this snapdragon is a symbol for deception? Ha! You're funny and for the record, I am an angel. You can ask anyone and they would attest," Lila promptly stated as Fani merely glared at the girl. "If you want trouble, Miss, just go look at Cleo Monroe. She's the one you should really be concerned for," Makoto chimed in as Fani took a deep, sharp breath.

"Oh, yeah. That's the real troublemaker right there. Or my cousin, Enzo, as you met. He can occasionally be trouble, but only when people like you cross him," Lila chimed in as Fani face-palmed, internally trying to figure out if she wanted the girl kicked out of her classroom or if she somehow had another use.

Either way, Lila was going to be a pain in her thorn and upon looking at Makoto, Fani saw the boy wasn't going to be any better. Once Lila stated that Enzo was her cousin, Fani realized she had her own trinity of trouble and it was only her first class! She had internally hoped her next set of kids were better.

"Miss Rossi, please grab your things and go before I decide to give you detention on the account of lying," Fani sharply stated as Lila blinked. "Gladly. This class is going to be a boring sight, I can tell. Oh, and I would love to see how you plan on giving me detention as I've been known to weasel my way out of trouble," Lila cockily stated as Fani darkly glared at the girl.

"Keep testing me, Rossi, and we'll find out just how well your weasel skills work."

Lila proudly grinned and Fani made a vow to wipe that stupid grin off from her face as she watch Lila leave her classroom. "I'm going to learn how to pronounce your name, I promise," Fani sincerely vowed as Makoto only shook his head. "Please don't. Just call me Mako and spare the embarrassment. You'll thank me later in the long run," Makoto firmly insisted as Fani only sighed.

"Anyways, I can tell you are really passionate about the flowers you picked out for the class, so can you tell me about the reason you chose mine?" Makoto slowly inquired as Fani's spirits immediately went up.

"Of course!" Fani excitedly began, now gaining a bright smile on her face. "The orange-red marigolds represent love, passion and courage but marigolds are also a symbol of lost love, which I suspect you must feel," Fani briefly explained as she glanced over at Makoto, who blinked at her words.

"Something like that..."

"Well, the person you think you want is often times, not the one for you," Fani began as she only smiled. "Love has a funny way of occurring and something tells me, you might be in love with someone, who is pining for someone else," she had continued as Makoto then looked at her in awe and disbelief.

"You don't have to tell me who, but—"

"It's Lorelei. I try to act like I'm in love with Rey or Little Miss Perfect as everyone calls her, but I'm not. She's so incredibly beautiful but so boring and basic! I don't really love her, I just act like I do to get on Adrien's nerves," Makoto confessed, the words pouring out as she chuckled.

"Whoa. Okay," Fani lightly said as she lightly chuckled. "You were really holding that in for some time now, huh?" she teased before blinking. "Um... okay. If this Lorelei girl is someone you love, then why don't you prove that to her? Get her to see that you're the better option than opposed to Adrien and I'm sure she'll come through," Fani softly told him as she advised Makoto, who nodded.

"Okay, cool. Thank you! I look forward to our first lesson."

As Makoto grabbed his things and his assigned flower, he left as Fani lightly chuckled from the boy's response. "Ah, young love. I miss that," she mumbled, before looking at her roster, which only had a few kids left to go.

She grinned at her progress and found she was learning more about her students through this first assignment. She uh only hoped Lila would get her life together, because as of now, that girl was going to get on her nerves.

"Jasper Harrison."

"Present!"

As Fani looked up to see a pale-skinned male with his straight, jet-black locks curved to the right side of his face as he worn a football leather-man jacket with the number '5' on both sides of his jacket. From his torn up blue denim jeans, his white T-shirt and a pair of leather boots (which she was almost certain were fake), she then sighed.

"And you are?" Fani reluctantly asked, now looking at the Vietnamese-French boy who was muscular and taller than the average student at school. With his olive skin and gray eyes, Fani saw his black hair with the ends dyed gold, styled into a rather sharp quiff as he worn a red, short-sleeved hoodie jacket with a big front pocket. On the front of the jacket, there is a white logo, which is a downward-pointing pentagon outline outside of a smaller, filled-in pentagon with a red corner and a star. He pairs his top with navy blue track sweatpants, and red, white, and black sports shoes.

"Just call me Kim," the boy said as Fani looked down at his name, feeling embarrassed as she wasn't sure if Lê was his middle or family name and the same issue had applied as she looked at Chien. She wanted to ask Kim himself, but again, she felt embarrassed, so she had made a mental note to ask Poppy, who Fani realized, was becoming more of a guide to surviving this crazy school.

As Jasper and Kim fist-bumped and began to talk excitedly about sports, Fani groan to herself. "It's always the athletic ones," she mumbled, realizing that she needed to have the two separate as the boys were never going to focus together. As she checked off their names to mark their attendance, she then made her way to their table as she placed two flowerpots on their desks.

"What is this?" Kim and Jasper asked, looking at their flowers in confusion as Fani had chuckled at their reactions.

"Kim, I chose the white hydrangea flower for you as this one in particular ties into your need to boast, which I've heard is a rather big issue from the other teachers here," she explained as Kim sheepishly nodded. "Yeah, it's a problem, but I'm getting better at it," Kim insisted as Jasper chuckled.

"Somewhat."

"It's still progress, even if it's small," Fani pointed out as she stated at Jasper, who had blushed from embarrassment and quickly stated his apologies. "Regardless, I'm proud of you, Kim, for getting the problem addressed," she softly said as Kim brightly smiled at her.

"I'm glad someone around here appreciates my efforts," Kim softly but teasingly said, now lightly jabbing at Jasper, who only rolled his eyes in a playful manner. "Wait till next class. You'll be switching your tune," Jasper forewarned, but Kim had grabbed his flower, his things, thanked Miss Blair for the flower and left, causing Jasper to slightly frown at this moment.

"As for you, Jasper, I chose this light red carnation as this particular color symbolizes a minor interest in someone and this color also means friendship. From what I see, you clearly have a rather playful but strong friendship with Kim. I suspect you might have a interest in someone if I am going based on the flower," Fani briefly explained as he only looked at her and chuckled.

"You're only half-right. I have a great friendship with Kim, but I'm only focus on getting my team to a championship," Jasper promptly stated, but there was some hesitation in his tone and Fani knew he wasn't telling the complete truth. He knew that she was right and just chose not to admit it.

Interesting.

"Well, Jasper, I hope your team goes all the way to the championship and I'm sure there will be a reporter here to capture the triumphant moment," she followed up, only to see a light blush from Jasper's face as her eyes widen. "Oh. Do you like one of the journalist here at school?" Fani further inquired as Jasper quickly began gathering his things in a hurry.

"Nope! I will not fall for this!" Jasper sharply stated, now grabbing onto his flower as he quickly gave his thanks and sprinted out of the greenhouse as Fani and the remaining four students chuckle at the sight.

"Since you're the last ones here, you can pick up your flower at my desk," she said as the four began to grab their things and make their way to the front of her desk. "As for you, Sabrina, you're free to go since I'm fairly confident that the blue lilac I gave you and the rest of your group the other day is a perfect fit for you. So, you can just use the flower I gifted you as your first assignment," she continued as Sabrina lightly perked up.

"Cool!"

As Sabrina grabbed her things, she then looked at Cleo. "Hopefully, you'll get a better flower this time around. The uh flower you got was rather ominous, don't you think?" Sabrina softly said as Cleo awkwardly chuckled.

"Oh, yeah, for sure. I would have definitely settled for the blue lilacs that you, Terrance, Nora, Claude, Allegra and James got or even the jasmine flower that Jasmine got," Cleo cheekily said as the two chuckled. "Well, good luck," Sabrina softly said as the two then gave their farewells as Sabrina left the greenhouse.

"What kind of flower do you think you'll get?" Kagami and Cleo ask as Celestia lightly pondered before grinning. "Oh! I hope it's forget-me-nots since they symbolize respect and true love. Plus, those are my favorite," she excitedly said as Kagami made a mental note to keep Celestia's favorite flower in mind in the event she wanted to surprise her.

"What about you two?" Celestia curiously inquired as Kagami and Cleo glanced at each other and back at her. "I would get the tsubaki. Tsubakis are a striking red camellia that not only represent love but also served as a symbol for a noble death among samurais during the historical period in Japan," Kagami explained as Celestia softly stared at her in awe, making a mental note to keep the flower in mind in the event she wanted to give Kagami a striking red camellia as a surprise.

"Cleo?"

"O... Oh," Cleo sheepishly said as she awkwardly stared at Celestia and Kagami. "Um, I don't know. I think I might have bad luck when it comes to these kind of things," Cleo sheepishly said as Celestia and Kagami laughed. "How so?" the two teasingly asked as Cleo cautiously looked at the two.

"Well—"

"Celestia Lesbianne."

"Hold that thought," Celestia lightly said as she made her way to Fani's front desk, who then checked off her name. "Perfect. I think you'll find this flower to your liking," Fani told her as Celestia excitedly grinned. "I got it! I got the forget-me-nots!" Celestia had happily told Kagami and Cleo, who both grinned.

"Kagami...."

"Kagami is fine, thank you," Kagami briefly stated as she made her way to the front desk where Fani checked off her name to confirm her attendance. "Perfect. I think you'll also find this flower to your liking," Fani softly said as Kagami smiled warmly. "Thank you," she softly said, before making her way to Celestia.

"Look! I got the tsubaki!" Kagami happily told Celestia, who grins. "It looks like we both got the flowers we wanted," Celestia softly said, before the two looked at Cleo, who was a bit nervous and rather skeptical about the potential flower she would get. At least, the girls were still here, so it's not like —

"Kagami, Celestia, I hope you girls don't mind but I need to talk to Cleo alone for a few minutes," Fani told the girls, who then nodded. "Of course! Good luck, Cleo! I bet your flower is going to be awesome just like you!" Kagami and Celestia happily told the girl, before the two girls then took off.

As Fani took in the silence, her eyes then wandered to the last girl, who was cautiously looking at her. "You left me last... again. So, I can only suspect you have another omen for me," Cleo began as Fani chuckle. "The last gift and this flower are not omens," Fani softly told her while Cleo remain unfazed.

"Well, this is a rather interesting turnout for you, Miss Monroe."

"How so?"

As Fani checked off Cleo's name to confirm her attendance in the class, she took out the last flowerpot. "When I first saw you, you got a black dahlia. Now, your second flower is lavender," Fani slowly began as she smiled at the girl. "It's a rather interesting notion, the black dahlia and lavender," she continued as Cleo crossed her arms. "Flowers for a disastrous future, I presume," she started as Fani frowned.

"Oh, Cleo. You're not looking at the bigger picture here. I chose the black dahlia for you in honor of —"

"The infamous murder of Elizabeth Short. She was a 22-year-old woman working as a waitress and destined for Hollywood until she was found dead on the fifteenth day of January in 1947 when her body was discovered at the Leimert Park neighborhood on Los Angeles," Cleo continued as Fani nodded.

"To this day, it's a Hollywood cold case that baffled everyone but her case was primarily known for the unidentified killer's gruesome handling of her corpse, which was bisected at the waist and the rumor pendant that led to her being called the Black Dahlia," Cleo followed up as Fani then nodded.

"You say I don't know the bigger picture, but I respectfully think you're wrong. You gave me the flower as you were alluding to the unsolved murders occurring here in the city of lights," Cleo continued before she chuckled.

"Yet, the fact you specifically gave me the black dahlia leads me to believe you know of my connection to the unsolved murders since my stepfather, Lance Abbott was killed by Crimson Spider and my mother being a pending target. You think I'm looking into the murders because of them and as a result, you end up alluding to my interest in being a cop," Cleo further added as she finished.

"Well, aren't you a little detective?" Fani softly asked as she happily laughs. "I was a bit skeptical at first, but now it's no wonder on why Poppy says you want to be a cop. You certainly have the mindset for the job," Fani complimented, lightly praising the girl as she saw Cleo sheepishly blushed at her response.

"Uh, well..."

"Cleo, there's no need to be modest when given a compliment."

"But—"

"Poppy told me you were in love with mysteries and from how quickly you associated the flower to the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short to the ongoing murders here, I can't help but be impressed by your thought process as most people go to the more negative aspects of the flower, which is a shame because black dahlias are so lovely," Fani softly continued as Cleo looked at her.

"I imagine you don't hand black dahlias out lightly."

"No. If anything, you're the first person who has ever received a black dahlia from me. I did give you the flower to test your skills since you're interested in being a cop/detective role, but you also seem like someone who knew the deeper meaning of the flower," Fani softly explained. "So, I guess that's why I had you go last in addition to wanting to speak with you alone as I didn't want the others to look at you differently when I gave you the flower," Fani softly said as she sigh. "Some people, they see a black dahlia and assume the worst, but you and me, we see the beauty behind it," she continued as Cleo stared at the lavender flowerpot.

"I wonder why you chose to give me another flower when you told Sabrina the blue lilac flower she had was fine. I mean, we were both there in the same class as the Miraculous Supers," Cleo started as Fani gave her a confusing look. "It's a group name that consists of Sabrina, Terrance, Nora, James, Claudison and Allegra," she later explained as Fani nodded.

"Well, the blue lilac works for her as the flower symbolizes happiness and tranquility, two things in which Sabrina has achieved through being with the group as from what her father, Officer Raincomprix, and Poppy told me, she was quite different until she met them," Fani told the girl before looking at her.

"You, on the other hand, are different. You're the only one I couldn't pin down with just one flower, which is why you got a second flower," Fani further explained as Cleo then held the flowerpot. "It's interesting you chose lavender though," Cleo noted as she saw Miss Blair curiously look at her.

"How so, Miss Monroe?"

"Well... Lavenders all represent and symbolize various traits such as but not limited to a sense of grace and calmness. So, it's almost ironic that for a flower that is regularly used in essential oils can also mean distrust," Cleo slowly answered as Fani noticed the girl's subtle hyper focus on her as she softly shook her head.

"Cleo, I think you're looking too deep in this now. Besides, I want nothing more than to be your friend, so I would like you to call me Theo when we're alone. Getting on a first-name basis is a good way of displaying this trust," Fani softly said, now smiling as Cleo only chuckled, not taking her seriously.

"I think you trust too easily."

"No. I usually have good instincts on people and I'm willing to bet you do too, if you're anything like me," Fani gently countered as Cleo curiously looked at her. "Anything like you?" she follow up as Fani nodded. "Yes," Fani stated, as if it was obvious but Cleo only looked at her in confusion, so she knew she had to explain.

"Cleo, I saw the way Enzo was picking on you in front of the new kid, Rayan. Enzo had called you all of those nasty names, but you were persistent about getting Rayan to see the truth. Even when Rayan did something similar, you still tried to explain and didn't let their words get to you."

"Oh... but—"

"When I was your age, people called me all sorts of names because I stood out while my sister had fit their mold of perfect. I remember my sister was dating this guy I had liked when I discovered she was cheating on him with another guy. I tried to tell him what my sister was doing, but he called me a witch and a evil little gremlin who was jealous of my older, popular sister who got called Aphrodite for her looks," Fani explained as she saw Cleo's face fall.

"Well, that's not fair."

"No, it's not, but what's important here is that we both stood our ground. The guy I like at the time would come to learn the truth on his own and he tried to apologize, but I made the mistake in forgiving him, because he only used me to get back at my sister. I was nothing more than a stupid pawn to him."

"That's—"

"So, I got my payback on the guy and learned a important lesson that day. Rather than forgive, get revenge on those who wrong you instead," Fani promptly explained as she saw Cleo's skepticism. "Trust me. Guys like Enzo are idiots with lots of money to spare and guys like Rayan are stupid," she continued, to which she saw Cleo's eyes widened at her response.

"Hey. Rayan's not stupid."

"No? He sure believed that Enzo kid really quick. Rayan didn't even give you a chance to hear you out. No, he just chose to believe what Enzo told him," Fani sharply stated as she then sighed. "Look. I just don't want you to make the same mistake I did. You're a smart kid, but let in the wrong people, and you'll surely get caught in the crossfire," she later added as Cleo blinked.

"I get what you're saying, but that doesn't make Rayan stupid either. He's new and Enzo is a guy who sounds like he'll have your interests at heart before betraying you. I'm sure the new guy will come to learn, but I won't hold a grudge against him. There's no point in getting revenge over something as simple as gum," Cleo promptly stated as Fani only chuckled.

"Well, to each their own then."

"Yeah... Wait," Cleo stated, which had caught her attention. "Hmm?" Fani inquired as Cleo briefly blinks. "I don't mean to pry, but your necklace..." she trailed off and as Fani glanced down, she gently held her own emerald necklace with the phrase Ex Favilla Nos Resurgemus.

"The phrase... Ex Favilla Nos Resurgemus.... I believe that's Latin, right?" Cleo asked as Fani glanced down before smiling. "Yes. You know Latin?" she followed up as Cleo gave a timid smile. "Somewhat," Cleo sheepishly confessed, now rubbing her arms. "Do you know what it means?" Miss Blair curiously followed up as Cleo blinked.

"Well, resurgemus means rise and ex favilla means from the embers, which is just another way of saying ashes, so..." she started as Miss Blair encouragingly nodded.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to say the phrase altogether means 'from the ashes, we will rise,'" Cleo told her as Fani grinned. "You got it!" Miss Blair cheers as Cleo only chuckled. "Just um, what inspired you to wear the phrase as your necklace?" Cleo curiously asked as Fani only smiled.

"It's my family motto."

"Oh."

"Well, this talk has been rather lovely, Miss Monroe, but the next group of students will be coming soon and you need to start heading to your next class. I'll write you a pass in case you're late because of me," Fani softly stated as she wrote a hall pass.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I would love to have more conversations with you, Cleo, so I'll always be here in the early mornings at the greenhouse if you ever just want to talk," Fani told her as Cleo accepted the hall pass and grabbed her flower.

"I'll keep your offer in mind, Miss..." the girl had started as Fani's face fell, causing the girl to stop. "I'll keep your offer in mind, Theo. Thank you for everything," she corrected as Fani's eyes lit up in genuine joy. "You're welcome, Cleo," she softly said, watching as the girl then left.

After Cleo left, Fani saw she had some time to spare before her next class started, so she decided to be a good teacher and personally thank Poppy. After all, it was the least she could do. Fani then went through her endless arrays of flowers until she found a purple peony.

"Perfect!"

Upon retrieving the flower and gently placing the purple peony in a flowerpot, Fani then locked the greenhouse before making her way to the teacher's lounge. She felt somewhat nervous, but also excited to make a friend. After all, she hadn't really got many of those... well, not willingly, at least.

When Fani made her way to the lounge, she found herself slightly intimidated but after she calmly took a deep breath, she had started to walk... only to trip on her rain boots and nearly fell had someone not caught her. She then sighed in relief, knowing her gift to Poppy was safe.

"Hey, I think you dropped these," she heard a voice say and as her glasses were placed back on her face, Fani's eyes widened at the sight of the fair-skinned man with brown eyes, dark brunette hair and a black fully-length beard. Furthermore, Fani had saw him wearing a navy blue long-sleeved suit, a dark blue bow tie, blue pants and dark brown loafers.

Fani started to open her mouth when the two were interrupted by another woman who approached the male, now grinning. "Oh, hey Emmett!" the woman greeted as Fani saw the male look at her in fondness than opposed to the shakiness he gave her. "Hey, Etta," Emmett fondly greeted, a slight chuckle to him.

As Fani looked at the fair-skinned older woman with dark blonde hair and light brown eyes, she felt somewhat envious as the woman worn a light auburn suit underneath her ebony shirt and khaki slacks along with black high heels.

"Oh! You must be the new teacher! I'm Rosetta Bennett. I'm the drama/performing arts teacher here. I'm also a waitress, but that's besides the point. Oh, wait, I think I might have said too much," Rosetta sheepishly said, now grinning. "This handsome fellow is Emmett—" she started, only to get cut off as Fani chuckled.

"Moore," Fani finished as she saw Rosetta's look. "How do you know—" Rosetta started as Emmett chuckled. "You're the one who always gets a matcha latte from Château de Cartes café," Emmett had chimed in as Fani then nodded. "Yeah. I'm surprised you still know my order," she said, looking at Rosetta, who sheepishly smiled.

"My bad. I just never heard Emmett talk about you, but it seems as though you two are close," Rosetta pointed out. "We were close, but that's behind us now," Emmett briefly stated, his eyes focused on her solely as Fani's smile faded. "You know, maybe I should go," Rosetta awkwardly chimed in.

"Yes."

"No," Emmett promptly countered. "Etta, you're more than welcome to stay," he softly told her, now looking at Rosetta, who looked at him and back at her. "Are you sure? I don't want to interrupt whatever you two have going on," she insisted as Emmett then chuckled.

"You're not interrupting anything, Nettie," he said as Rosetta's eyes softened at his word choice. "Oh? Nettie, huh? I haven't heard that since we last got together," Rosetta softly teased, causing Emmett to blush, which only made her more jealous as she gripped onto the flowerpot harder.

"You two were together?"

"We were together, but we um we called off our marriage," Rosetta briefly said, though Fani could hear the sadness in the woman's tone, not that she cared much. "Now, we're just friends and co-workers," Emmett explained, which gave Fani hope.

"Hey, Em. I heard there's going to be an art latte lesson at Château de Cartes café later tonight and I was hoping if you weren't too busy with your shift there, you could teach me how to make some pretty hearts in my latte," Rosetta softly said as Emmett softly grinned.

"I would love to. Besides, I'm one of the teachers, so I'll be sure to keep on a lookout for you," Emmett softly told her as Rosetta was blushing now. "Perfect," she shyly said, now grinning as Fani silently seethed in anger. "Oh! It looks like it's getting to be that time," Fani pointed out, trying to conceal her anger as Rosetta gasped.

"Ah! You are so right! I'm not going to make on time though and Robert is going to give me his dramatic monologue on why he shouldn't be counted late because I showed up late," Rosetta half-dramatically said with a chuckle. "That boy is something else," she added as Fani only blinked.

"I'm glad the kid is trying to be an actor and not a journalist. I really don't think I could handle him as one of my students," Emmett half-jokingly said as Rosetta softly chuckle at his response. "Well, I'll leave you two be," Rosetta softly said when Emmett had stop her.

"Wait! I'll walk with you," Emmett briefly said. "You still have like fifteen minutes left," Rosetta pointed out. "Eh. I can spend those fifteen minutes with you," Emmett sincerely said as Rosetta raised an eyebrow. "W... With your class. I meant with your class. I can see the inside of the famous Rosetta's house of incoming actors and actresses," Emmett timidly followed up as Rosetta giggled.

"You're cute, you know that?" Rosetta softly said, now as she held his hand in a stealthy manner, which caused Emmett to blush harder as he was left speechless. "We'll see you later... uh..." she sheepishly began, only to trail off. "I don't think I ever actually got your name," Rosetta followed up.

"Fani. Fani Blair."

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Fani!" Rosetta happily called out, now dragging Emmett along as Fani could hear his laughter as the two presumably went up the stairs. "I am so going to—" Fani angrily started, only to get cut off as she heard footsteps.

"Fani?"

"Hey, Poppy!" Fani excitedly began in an attempt to cover up her initial response as she grinned brightly. "Hey! How's your first day going so far?" Poppy softly asked as Fani smiled brightly.

"It's going great! I have a few troublesome students, but that's almost a given. Anyhow, I wanted to give you this because you've been so nice to me and you've really helped me adjust," Fani continued, lightly pushing the purple peony flowerpot to her as Poppy had softly gasped.

"You didn't really need to do this, you know."

"It's the least I could have done."

"Well, thank you, Fani. That's really sweet of you," Poppy softly said, accepting the gift as she grinned. "Please call me, Theo," Fani softly said as Poppy softly chuckled. "Well, Theo, how did you know about peonies being my favorite flower?" Poppy curiously ask as Fani chuckled as she got reminded of Bernadette, who had asked a similar question to her.

"I didn't. You see, purple peonies symbolize uniqueness and positive energy. With you, I get a sense of originality and you're always looking out for everyone's best interests as you had no problem getting me adjusted to my first day," Fani softly explained as Poppy smiled warmly.

"Well, I'm glad I was able to help you feel welcome, Theo, but I also hope you get to make some friends along the way. It helps and through friends, you'll come to enjoy your time here at Collège Françoise Dupont. I promise," Poppy softly said before her eyes widened, which made the woman nervous.

"What?" Fani puzzlingly asked, before glancing over to see Poppy attempt to catch a dark purple butterfly with one of the jars to no luck as the butterfly zoomed past the woman.

"Was that—" Fani started, only to hear a sigh out of Poppy. "Yeah, yeah it is. If there's an akuma, that means Hawkmoth is back," Poppy dully said as Fani blinked. "But I thought Gabriel was Hawkmoth and he's dead. I mean, dead people can't just come back to life now," Fani pointed out as Poppy chuckled.

"True, but Gabriel probably hid his miraculous and someone got a hold of his brooch, which is why I'm guessing we'll have a new Hawkmoth," Poppy explained as she sighed once more.

"I'm just trying to figure out who could possibly be upset enough to get an akuma sent to them," she continued as Fani stared in the direction of the akuma. "I don't know. I mean, it seems pretty..." Fani started, only to trail off as her eyes widened, now as she awkwardly chuckled.

"Fani?"

"The Salvatore family will be famous one day and you'll regret ever mocking my family name!"

"Heh, so... funny story, I may or may be directly responsible for causing a student to get akumatized," Fani awkwardly but nervously began as Poppy raised an eyebrow. "It was an accident, I swear! Enzo was being super rude to Cleo earlier, so as I was giving out flowers to the kids, I may have insulted his family and called the boy a jester," she had reluctantly explained as Poppy shook her head.

"Enzo would definitely do something like that, but we try not to stoop to the level of the kids. Instead, we want to defend students from the exact moment the incident is taking place, not after. But, you were trying to help out and it's the thought that counts," Poppy began as she held onto her newly gifted flower. "Come on," she added as Fani's eyes had widened.

"N... Now?"

"Yes, now. We need to get to Enzo before Hawkmoth does and you'll have to apologize to him," Poppy explained as Fani laughed. "I'm not apologizing to the kid when he was the one at fault," Fani sharply stated. "Well, then you better hope he doesn't come after you," Poppy countered as she began to walk away.

Not wanting to deal with the possibility of having an akumatized villain after her, Fani began to panic.

"Wait! I'm coming with you!"

—————————————

"Lila, I'm telling you the woman is annoying!"

"Fi, you've said this like five times now! Will you give it a rest already?" Lila exhaustedly pleaded as she rubbed her forehead. "I know Miss Blair is annoying, but Miss Granger got murdered and there's nothing we can do about it now, Enzo," Lila briefly said as she saw her cousin sighing.

"She insulted my family name and called me a jester to the new guy! Me! A jester!" her cousin angrily continued as Lila couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Well, you certainly look like a jester. I mean, I guess that's why Jean gave you that joker card," Lila lightly teased, quietly chuckling afterwards, only to stop when Fiorenzo angrily punched her on the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"I'm going to make that woman pay. Somehow," Fiorenzo angrily persisted as Lila now rolled her eyes. "How? There's no Hawkmoth, remember?" Lila bluntly pointed out as her cousin only rolled his eyes. "I don't care! Mark my words, Lila! Miss Blair will pay and I'm going to do whatever it takes to ensure I get my revenge on her," Enzo sharply told her and it was then that the two heard the sound of a fluttering butterfly.

"Wait, is that—"

"Don't get near that akuma!"

Glancing over, Lila and Enzo saw Professor Bourgeois and Miss Blair running to them as Enzo merely smirked. "Fi, I would take their advice. Just let it go," Lila insisted, but he only chuckled. "No. She needs to pay and I am not wasting this opportunity," the boy insisted and before Lila could protest, he pushed her out of the way, allowing the akuma to enter his joker card as Lila's eyes widened. "Fiorenzo!" she called out.

"Jester, I am Hawkmoth. I can give you the opportunity wreck havoc on the one who has tarnish your very name. All I ask is for the miraculouses of Miraculous Ladybug, Chat Noir and Snow Drift. Do we have a deal?"

As Enzo weighed the weight of Hawkmoth's words, he could vaguely hear someone now calling out to him. "... Enzo, look, I'm sorry! I didn't mean any of the things I said! I'm sure your parents are like super famous or whatever and I just leave under a rock," he heard his new botanical sciences teacher say, but Enzo only chuckled as he twisted the joker card in his possession.

"Look, I went too far in calling you a jester now. I get it. I shouldn't have embarrassed you like that. It was my mistake and I'll do better. Just please snap out of Hawkmoth's control and we can talk this out," he heard Miss Blair now pleaded as Enzo only looked up, his eyes now a mix between a dark purple and light brown eyes.

"Nice try, but your fake apology won't work on me, Miss Blair," Enzo responded with a chuckle as her eyes widened. "Fiorenzo, please —" she started, now attempting to reach out to him as he only smirked.

"We have a deal, Hawkmoth," Enzo promptly stated just as Lila stood up, now gasping as she attempted to run to him, only to get stopped by Professor Bourgeois and Miss Blair. "No!" Lila pleaded, attempting to free herself from the two women, who would not budge.

"That's my cousin!"

Moments later, Lila and the two teachers could only watch as the purple goo went into his joker card. As the purple goo finished consuming him, the goo absorbed itself into his joker card and when Fiorenzo opened his eyes, Lila and the two teachers all gasped in shock.

"Fi...?"

"The name's Jester now and it's time for the first punchline of the hour, folks!"

As Jester manically laughed, his eyes were now a shade of crimson red as he then took off his dark blue feathered hat to bow. Dressed in a dark blue suit and yellow decorative tuxedo suit, the color scheme ran right down to his shoes as Jester carried a light blue liquid on his right side of his body.

"Say, what do you call a belt with a watch on it?" Jester ask as Lila's face instantly turn to a mixture of disgust and annoyance. "Look at what you did! You got my cousin using puns! Puns!" Lila sharply whispered to Miss Blair as Professor Bourgeois simply shook her head.

"With all due respect, Miss Rossi, we have bigger problems than your cousin speaking in puns," Professor Bourgeois politely but dryly pointed out as Lila glared at her. "No, there is not. Nothing can ever amount to the fact that my cousin is speaking in puns now," Lila sharply stated.

"You have five seconds, ladies."

"Five seconds? What happens in five seconds if we don't answer?" Miss Blair asked as Lila and Professor Bourgeois sarcastically blinked in her direction. "Hm, let's see. I would wager he'll use his fancy potion there or I don't know, he'll probably make us suffer," Lila sarcastically answered.

"Three seconds!"

"Focus! It's probably something dumb. I'll just say it," Professor Bourgeois had started as Lila shook her head. "No way! Make Miss Blair say it! She's the reason we're in this mess anyhow!" Lila promptly stated as Miss Blair sighed. "The kid has a point there," Miss Blair pointed out, now rubbing onto her arms. "Besides, this is my mistake, so if I get it wrong, then at least, he'll go after me and you two can go free," Miss Blair stated as Lila grinned.

"Bet. Taking accountability, we love it. Professor, we can go now if—"

"We're not leaving you, Theo. Besides, it's honestly super simple," Professor Bourgeois softly said as Lila silently groaned. "If you aren't leaving, then can I go? I still have my classes to attend!" Lila countered as Professor Bourgeois looked at her and laughed at her response.

"You? Actually attending your classes? Ha! Lila, don't make me laugh any harder than I need to."

"Ugh! This is why you're not my favorite teacher," Lila bitterly stated, more annoyed by the moment. She had a full-blown excuse to leave early and Professor Bourgeois was not letting her have it!

"One second!"

"Okay! Um, is it a time belt?" Miss Blair answered at last as Professor Bourgeois silently face-palmed as Lila couldn't help but laugh at how painfully screwed the three of them were now. "Wrong! Now, get ready for the sledgehammer!" Jester promptly exclaimed as he started to summon a sledgehammer.

"It was a waist of time. How did you butcher the answer so badly?" Professor Bourgeois had asked as Miss Blair awkwardly smiled.

"I panicked!"

Before Lila could lash out at Miss Blair, she saw the sledgehammer now coming to them and quickly threw herself on Professor Bourgeois, who instinctively held the girl. "I'm sorry for everything I've ever done! You're actually one of my favorite professors! I just get on your nerves because it's fun, but I don't really mean any of it!" Lila answered in a panic as Professor Bourgeois smiled.

"Hey, everything is going to be alright. I'm not going to let your cousin hurt you. Okay?" Professor Bourgeois softly said, holding onto Lila as Miss Blair stood in front of the two. "What do you plan on doing, Theo?" Professor Bourgeois promptly asked as Miss Blair only shrugged. "Some kind of defense... I think," she said.

"Hey, Jester! Looks like you got the cold shoulder!"

It was then the three saw a ice, crystallized lasso latch itself on the akumatized villain's shoulder, to which Jester's eyes widened as his right arm began to freeze. "Curse you, snow leopard! You'll pay for this!" Jester angrily exclaimed, now breaking the ice hold.

In that moment, Lila quickly got herself off from Professor Bourgeois, who only looked at her as she chuckled at her student. "So, I'm actually one of your favorite professors?" Professor Bourgeois smugly asked as Lila blushed in embarrassment, as she looked in the other direction.

"You have no proof I said that," Lila promptly stated, to which she heard the sound of a voice recorder playing. Glancing over, Lila saw Miss Blair with the voice recorder as she innocently grinned. "Now, she does," Miss Blair promptly said as Lila's eyes widened in a range of emotions. However, before she could get her response in, Ladybug arrived as she approached the three.

"Are you ladies okay?"

"Oh, yeah. We're great," Lila, Professor Bourgeois and Miss Blair all collectively said as their voices overlapped each other. "Right, well it's not safe to be here. If you three all leave now, me and my team can provide a cover, so none of you get hurt," Ladybug had began as Lila quickly took off as she didn't need to get told twice while Miss Blair follow her to keep the girl safe.

It was then that Professor Bourgeois looked at her. "Thank you... Marinette," she softly said as Ladybug's eyes widened. "I'm not... it's not... I'm..." Ladybug started as she saw her professor chuckled.

"You've been my student for three years now, Marinette. Do you really think I wouldn't pick up on when you leave or how your appearance only gets a bit altered?" Professor Bourgeois cheekily asked as Ladybug then sighed.

"No, I suppose not," Ladybug had said as she looked at her. "I'm guessing you know Chat Noir and Snow Drift's secret identities, then," she followed up as her professor nodded.

"Yes, but I think you and your friends are doing a great job at protecting Paris. You all serve as our symbol of hope, but don't forget that if you three need help, Paris is more than happy to return the favor. Okay?" Professor Bourgeois softly followed up as the bug heroine nodded. "Okay," Ladybug softly answered.

"Spots! We could use your lucky charm right about now!"

"Well, that's your cue, Marinette. I'll leave you to it," Professor Bourgeois concluded as she gave a small smile and a wink before she left. As Ladybug was left to deal with the fact that another person knew of her secret identity, she only shook her head. She had to do better or she really was going to lose her miraculous.

"Lucky Charm!"

As Ladybug raised her yo-yo in the air, she had received a fishing rod as she blinked at her latest item. "These items get more and more interesting with each time," she had mumbled as interesting was a understatement. That was simply her being polite as she didn't want to risk her lucky charm not working if she offended her special power at any moment.

Ladybug wasn't taking any risks. She needed a lucky charm and this one would have to do the trick.

Scanning her surroundings, Ladybug noticed Snow Drift and Chat Noir battling Jester as the two dodged his attacks in some kind of dance. She wasn't sure whether to be in awe that the two could fight dance, which is what she always wanted to with a partner of her own or to be annoyed that the two beat her to it.

"Okay, okay. Fishing rod, think, Ladybug, think. What can you do with a..." Ladybug started, only to trail off as she found a flaw with Jester's outfit. "Okay, this can work," she said, smirking as she looked at her teammates. "Chat! Snowy! How do you two feel about a tango?" she followed as the two heroes smirked.

"We thought you'd never ask."

"Good! Distract him and when he gets close, Chat, I need you to make a tear on Jester's cape and Snowy, I need you to use your lasso to keep Jester in place! That should give me an opening to use this fishing rod and we can grab the akuma from there," Ladybug explained as the two nodded.

"You got it, boss!"

Then glancing at each other, Chat Noir briefly bowed. "Shall we, Snowflake?" he lightly asked as Snow Drift softly smiled. "We shall," she softly said, taking his hand as the two then linked arms and proceeded to perform the tango, much to the confusion of Jester, who was trying to land a direct hit on the two.

"Stop moving!"

"What? Can the jester not keep up?" Snow Drift and Chat Noir smugly taunted as the Jester angrily began to throw a fit. Rolling their eyes, Chat Noir then scratched his cape, now grabbing a hold of the string and he looked at Snow Drift. "Ready?" the two asked, their hands lightly touching as the two grinned.

"Now!"

As Snow Drift and Chat Noir pulled on the string, Ladybug then threw the fishing pole onto the Jester's cape, now having a firm grip. "Snowy, go!" Ladybug exclaimed as Snow Drift smirked. "Lucky Touch!" she exclaimed, now touching the string, which grew back as she ran around the Jester to tie him, while using the lasso to freeze Jester's own feet.

"Chat, it's your turn now!"

"My purr-leasure, M'lady," Chat Noir stated with a smirk. Upon scanning the akuma, the hero then spotted the akumatized object as he smirked. "Cataclysm!" he exclaimed, now touching the joker card as the akuma came out.

As the akuma came out from the card, this left Hawkmoth's latest victim defenseless as Ladybug caught the butterfly in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

As soon as Ladybug caught the akuma and purified the akuma, she grinned. "Bye, bye little butterfly," she softly said before retrieving and tossing the fishing rod lucky charm directly into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

As the fishing rod soon dissolve into a energy of pure red and white light, any damage caused by Jester was fixed.

With the damages reversed and Paris [well, in this case, it was more of the high school: Collège Françoise Dupont] back to normal, the two heroes watch as Jester reverted back to Fiorenzo Salvatore. While Snow Drift and Chat Noir were prepared to do their typical victory routine with Ladybug, the bug-themed heroine froze midway.

"Did anyone think it felt too easy? Like this new Hawkmoth wanted to be defeated this way?" Ladybug curiously asked, now glancing up toward the horizon. "I don't know, but something about this akuma felt off. This Jester guy didn't even fight back as much and the previous ones always put up a fight," Snow Drift chimed in as Chat Noir nodded.

"I think this win might have intentional on the new Hawkmoth's end to see our fighting style," Chat Noir pointed out as he glanced at the two heroines. "Why did you think this one went by easier than all of the other akumas we faced?" he and Snow Drift followed up as Ladybug sighed, now looking back at her team.

"I really don't know, but if this new Hawkmoth is planning something, then we all have to be ready," Ladybug firmly stated before she sighed. "But for now, we should come to appreciate the victory we did get," she softly said as Snow Drift and Chat Noir then look at her and grinned.

"Pound it!"

As the three heroes fist-bumped each other, all of their miraculouses began to beep with Ladybug's own earrings following a minute after. "You two go ahead. I'm just going to think for a minute," Ladybug softly said as Snow Drift and Chat Noir nodded before the two then went their separate ways.

"Why did this one feel so easy?" Ladybug stubbornly asked, ignoring the beep on her earrings as she saw Enzo rubbing his head. As she picked up the joker card, Ladybug then peered at the card before shaking her head. The heroine was about to drop the joker card and go when she was a vague butterfly outline on the drawn joker, which briefly confused her until she felt her head ache.

"Hello, Ladybug. I am the new Hawkmoth and as you can see, my first akuma was in fact a test. I needed to see how you and your team fought to get a sense of each of your fighting styles," the new Hawkmoth spoke as Ladybug found herself unable to move.

"You may think I'm like Gabriel Agreste, but unlike him, I have tricks now and when we meet again, you'll see my new attraction. Perhaps, I'll even name this new sentimonster after you," the new Hawkmoth calmly continued as Ladybug's miraculous began to beep once more.

"So, rest well, hero. You and your team are going to need it. Welcome to the new era, Ladybug. Let's see how long you and your team survive."

Disconnecting the link between her and Hawkmoth, Ladybug fell on her knees as she quickly tossed the card away from her. As she quickly ran to the nearest girl's stall and locked the door, she then detransformed as Marinette's eyes widened from what she had heard.

"Marinette? What's wrong?"

Glancing up at her miniature four-inch red and black polka-dotted ladybug kwami, the girl tried to calm herself down as she looked. "Tikki... I think this new Hawkmoth wants to make sentimonsters of... of..." she started, only to trail off as the words all fell on her tongue. "Marinette...?" Tikki slowly but concernedly repeated.

"... of ourselves."

————————————

It was after school and as Rayan walked out of the doors of Collège Françoise Dupont, he had lightly touched the raindrop, now frowning to himself. "Out of all the things I brought and not one umbrella?" Rayan mumbled, sighing as he kept a lookout for the limousine.

It was in between looking for Nathalie that his eyes landed on Cleo, who waved in his direction in a friendly manner, but he was still annoyed with her, so he looked away as she frowned.

"Look, I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression earlier. I really was just trying to get the gum off from your chair. Enzo does the gum chair thing every year to all of the new students and every year, we try to put a stop to his dumb tradition, but still it persists," Cleo had started as Rayan turned to see the girl opening her umbrella.

"Still, I'm known for a lot of things here, but being a bully isn't thankfully one of them. I know you and I both got on the wrong foot earlier because of the whole gum thing, but... if you wanted to give me a second chance... could we start over?" she followed up and it was the earnest nature in her tone that led him to sigh.

"I owe you an apology, actually. I shouldn't have been too quick to assume things. I do it a lot to Adrien and it gets on his nerves. I can see why jumping to conclusions about the gum situation was a terrible thing to do to you. You were just trying to help and for the record, you were right about Enzo. I heard him talking to his friend, Robert, about how easy it was to trick me. I should have known it wouldn't have been that easy to make friends with some manipulation at play."

As Rayan gave a heavy sigh, he rubbed on his neck. "It's just I really wanted to make a few friends of my own, so I could let Adrien breathe and be himself without having to worry about me all the time, but it seems like I can't even do that," he said as Rayan glanced over to see Cleo gently approach him.

"Well... I'm not sure if this helps, but I can somewhat relate to what you're saying. For the longest time, it seemed like I understand machinery and technology better than I understood people because well, people judged me everywhere it seemed like and when you're working on machinery or technology, there's no reason to judge. You're just free to be yourself. I guess maybe that's why it took me so long to make friends."

As Rayan looked at her, he could see the girl sigh. "All I had at first as my friends were Marinette and Sabrina, because they were being judged too, so we all clicked within a few days of hanging out together. Then, I met Celestia or rather, she met me and that was the whole domino effect of where I am now," she continued, before looking at him as Rayan saw a small, gentle smile form on her face.

"You were homeschooled and I understand you were just trying to see the best optimal solution. Plus, I get it. You were just trying to fit in. We all want that, but it's important to not overlook a person's character too," she softly continued. "Some people like Enzo are charming enough to lead you into thinking a friendship could happen, but in reality, that's not the case," she said, now touching the raindrops as well.

"For what it's worth, I think you deserve a better friend. This school is full of nice people and I'm sure you'll find some great people within time," the girl had concluded as Rayan softly smiled.

"Thanks..." Rayan started before chuckling. "I was so wrong about you and I'm sorry for thinking the worst in you. For what it's worth, I shouldn't have been so quick to judge you. It's clear to me at least that you really do care about people. I can see why Adrien thinks so fondly of you as his friend now," he continued before Rayan saw the rain pour harder and frowned.

So when Rayan turned, he was surprised to see Cleo opening an umbrella and extending the umbrella over to him. "Here. You need it more than I do and besides, I have a spare in my book bag," the girl softly said as Rayan's eyes widen. "I couldn't," Rayan insisted, but as the two heard the sound of thunder, he slowly reached out to the umbrella, now looking at her as she smiled.

"Thanks—" Rayan started, only to accidentally lower the umbrella as the two looked at each other and laughed. As Cleo fixed the umbrella, she then smiled in his direction as he chuckled.

"Uh, does this mean we're friends?" Rayan shyly asked as she giggled. "If you want me as your friend," she slyly said as he grinned. "I would love to have you as a friend," he said as she grinned in return. "Perfect. Then, you have a friend now," she softly said, shaking his hand as Rayan's eyes softened.

As she pulled away, Cleo then raised her spared umbrella as she looked at his direction and smiled once more.

"I'll see you tomorrow then!"

As Rayan saw Cleo walking away, he was unaware of Adrien and Rey walking in on him waving to the girl and now struggling with his words. "Tell me, who's got a crush now?" he heard and upon looking over, his eyes widened at their appearance.

"How long have you two been standing there?" Rayan ask as Rey and Adrien looked at each other and laughed. "Long enough to know you got a crush," the two teasingly said as Rayan brushed off the two's response. "It's not a crush," he stubbornly insisted, but he was blushing now and as he looked at the umbrella, Rayan softly smiled before he looked at Adrien and Rey, who gave him a smug look.

"Fine. It's a crush."

As Adrien and Rey laughed, Rayan smiled at the two. It was nice to see Adrien and his best friend enjoying each other. Now, getting the two to acknowledge their feelings was another matter. But as he stared at the rainy sky, he softly chuckled to himself. His first day might have had some bumps, but he came out relatively unscathed. Plus, he had his first crush.

"Best day ever."

————————————-

"Ethan, you have a visitor!"

As Ethan's cell was open, he was led to the area where other prisoners were talking to their loved ones with the glass barrier and only a black phone line to get their point(s) across. Rubbing on his annoying collar of his orange-colored jail shirt, he sighed as he took his seat, the handcuffs briefly off.

"Poppy, please tell me there are—" he started, only to stop when Ethan saw a young girl now dressed in a barista uniform that consisted of a white dress shirt, a black skirt with black socks, and beige mary jane heels. He saw she also worn her hair in a bun to keep the hair out of her face and kept a umbrella on hand.

"Cleo!"

"Ethan, hey. Sorry. The outside world is hectic and unforgiving," she said upon giving a
small wave as he grinned. "How's your case coming along?" Ethan asked as she sighed.

"Painfully slow. I found Lance's knife and got the item checked out awhile back, but the results came out negative, so Hatt wouldn't take it. I did learn Crimson Spider is a girl,  but Hatt wouldn't take that either since he wants physical evidence and well, each time I get close, I end up at square one," Cleo admitted with a sigh. "Are you sure I'm cut out for this? I mean, I can't even figure out the rest of your keys," she followed up as Ethan sternly looked at her.

"Cleo, you can do anything when you put your mind to it. Trust me. You're more than capable of doing this."

"Thanks. How's the cell life going?"

"Terrible. I hate it. I forgot why I never wanted to ever end up in this position until I got reminded of the time I was sent to jail with Bella Acanthus. Ah, we both had a blast. It's a shame how she and her family turned out," he explained, before looking as Cleo's eyes widened, to which she took out a notebook and a pen.

"Who's Bella Acanthus?" Cleo asked before shaking her head. "Okay, better yet, who are the Acanthus family and what happened to them? Also, this isn't your first time being in jail?" she followed up as he blinked.

"I — Okay. I wouldn't expect you to know unless you were there. The Acanthus were a run-on-the-mill family. Brent and Dahlia had two daughters: Aurelia and Belladonna, who I was best friends with. Back then though, I went by a different name," Ethan had started as he saw Cleo blink.

"A different name? Why?"

"I'll have to tell you some other time. Anyways, Brent ran a dance studio, Dahlia was a stay-at-home-mom, Aurelia was the B+ girl with the makings of cheer captain and as for Belladonna... well, she loved science and she also loved magic. But she had a rather odd obsession for dissecting things. What they could all agree on was their daily ritual of worshipping Erebus, the supposed Avalonian god who brought about despair and darkness."

"What about this god?"

"That's the thing. Everyone thought they were crazy for worshipping some god no one could determine was real, but Belladonna... I don't know if it was because she didn't have many friends or a social life or what, but she threw herself into the rituals to the point where she was convinced that Erebus was her ancestor."

"Well... is he her ancestor?"

"No one knows."

"But you went to jail with her that one time. Weren't you two close?" Cleo followed up as Ethan scoffed. "We were close. We even dated for some time, but then she started talking to her spellbooks and I thought maybe she was a witch. I mean, hers was the only body that wasn't found."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. It was during their winter prom and I guess it was around that time the family had slowly started losing their sanity. Well, cheer captain-turned-prom-queen-runner up Elia had a vision, Erebus personally sent her to test her faith in him by killing seven people, she would be rewarded. Well, she killed about six girls when her seventh victim and their boyfriend stabbed Elia in the chest. Funny thing though, when the stabbing occurred, I could see foam in her mouth."

"Foam?"

"Yeah and she almost looked to be completely dazed. It was like I was looking into the eyes of a beast. She was so beautiful, but that night, she had died a monster. Well, the community did not cope well for the deaths that occurred by Elia. The couple were shot to death but Belladonna... some say she tried to take to sea."

"But..."

"Her body was never found, so some think Belladonna was truly a witch and she would come back to get her revenge against those who murdered her family. That, or, finish what her sister had started and bring Erebus back by looking for the family heirloom."

"Heirloom?"

"Yeah. That's how Elia supposedly got her visions from. It's the necklace of darkness, which is said to contain the core essence of Erebus, who would only come out once the necklace has been shattered. Or, at least, that's one of the ways to get him out. It's this black laced gem with some aspect of a raven and..." Ethan had trailed off when he saw Cleo writing.

"I'm going to invest in a voice recorder one day, I promise," Cleo insisted as she finished writing. "What happened to their house?" she followed up. "It should still be standing. No one had ever went in there since the murders..." Ethan stated as Cleo then held the pen in her possession.

"The keys. Do you think they'll work if I went?" Cleo asked, now lowering her voice as Ethan's eyes widened at her question. "And have Officer Harrison catch you, so he can say you'll just like Lance? Cleo, no. Harry already dislikes you as it is," he stated as Cleo only scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

"The guy is not the first and he certainly won't be the last. Besides, Harry is part of the reason why I keep ending up back at square one. I doubt I'll be able to connect anything there from the murders done by Crimson Spider, granted, but... I can't help but think, it'll eventually be tied to that Acanthus family," Cleo insisted before blinking. "Wait. Is that why some of the keys have serpents on them?" she followed up.

"Yeah. The Acanthus family... they all had a thing for snakes. Snakes, serpents, vipers, it's all the same. Well, to an extent, I suppose," he continued as Cleo finished writing down his words. "Did they by chance have a family motto?" she asked as Ethan shook his head.

"Not as far as I can think of."

"Okay, then what's the address of the house?"

"Cleo—"

"I'm not really going to the house. I'm doing some research on the house. That's all," Cleo stated as Ethan skeptically stared at her. "Betty's rubbing onto you. That explains why you and her are so close," he insisted as she only chuckled at his remark. "What? No way!" Cleo countered as he bluntly stared at her.

"Fine, but if you lose a limb or something, I am not responsible. Also, if Poppy happens to find out about this, I deny everything," Ethan continued as the two glanced over as Cleo slid the paper to Ethan, who wrote down the address. Then just as Cleo grabbed the paper and the pen back, Ethan saw one of the guards enter the room.

"Ethan, your time is up."

"Like I said, you got this and don't do anything stupid. Poppy, Celestia would kill you before the inmates do if you come out of here with even a single scratch and Florian is likely to burn this whole place down if something happens to you," Cleo told Ethan as Ethan smiled.

"Thanks. Tell everyone I say hi," Ethan said as he began to stand. "I will and we'll get you out of here. Till then, stay safe out there. Seriously, they will all kill you if you get hurt," Cleo firmly insisted as Ethan laughed at her response. "Cleo, I'll be fine. Besides, what's the worst that can happen?" Ethan insisted as he was then pulled away.

With the hand cuffs back on, Ethan could only look as he saw Cleo's solemn face before she was forced to make way for the next visitor. He could see her saying things, but now he was dragged back to his unwanted reality while penning all of his hopes on his found family and a girl aching to prove her worth. He could only hope for the best outcome.

Till then... Ethan was stuck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Betty, how did I let you talk me into coming here?"

As Max glanced at the inside of a small but local café, he could see stacks of teacups gradually leaning as he could see the light blue wallpaper. "Simple. You love me too much not to refuse my invite," Betty cheekily stated as Max softly rolled his eyes and lightly shook his head.

"When I said you needed to get out more, I didn't think that meant taking me along to a café," Max started as she grinned. "Well, consider this as payback for the ice skating rink," Betty smugly but playfully said as she held the door for him.

Max had objected to his cousin holding the door for him, but knowing she would be standing there for hours if he didn't go in, he then obliged and went inside. He found the colors more vibrant as his eyes landed on the sign.

Château de Cartes

"It's a Wonderland-themed café."

Glancing over, Max could see Cleo dressed in a barista uniform that consisted of a white dress shirt, a black skirt with black socks, and beige mary jane heels. He saw she also worn her hair in a bun to keep the hair out of her face.

"But, I'm glad you two could come," Cleo cheekily added. "Yeah. I wouldn't miss it," his cousin said and as Cleo briefly left, he then turned to face Betty, who was still grinning in a love struck way. "I knew it. You've been crushing on Cleo," Max insisted as Betty softly laughed.

"No, I have not," Betty stubbornly insisted as Max rolled his eyes. "Fine, is it obvious?" she later followed up as he laughed. "Obvious to me, not to her," Max teasingly said as Betty sighed.

"I don't understand. I drop hints that I like her and Cleo doesn't bat an eye. I think she likes me, but she's hard to read sometimes," his cousin admitted as he chuckled. "That's Cleo for you, but hey. She'll come around," Max softly said as Betty laughed. "Yeah, but La Clare doesn't try to get to her first," she said as the two looked at the sunset in the sky.

Almost by some 'luck,' the doors opened and just as Cleo arrived to give him and Betty complimentary drinks, the three were greeted by Robert, who was now wearing a white tuxedo as he dramatically bowed, holding a bouquet of red roses in his arms.

"For you."

"Oh... um... thank you," Cleo awkwardly said. "Um, I can't really take the roses now, but if you hold onto them, I can accept them once my shift ends," she gently told the boy as Robert nodded. "Of course, princesse," he softly said, now attempting to kiss the girl's hand as Cleo handed him a menu, so watching Robert's crestfallen eyes were enough to make Betty laugh.

"Look at this, then come back if you plan on ordering. Otherwise, let me do my job and work," she firmly told him as Robert blinked. "I'll get with you two in a second. We're a bit low on staff, so I'm operating as a barista and a waitress today," she softly told Max and Betty before Cleo then took off to greet the other customers.

"Please do that again, it was priceless," Betty taunted Robert, who rolled his eyes. "She's not into you, freak," Robert sharply retorted while Max glared at him. "Hey, my cousin is not a freak, La Clare," he firmly stated as Robert scoffed. "No one was talking to you, nerd," he remarked as Max's face fell.

"Watch your tongue, La Clare, before you lose it. Call Max a nerd again and you'll learn what happened to the last guys who thought it would be so funny to tease my cousin," Betty firmly stated, her voice darker and colder than usual as she glared at him. "Now, take your roses and get out of my sight," she added as Robert glared at her. "This isn't over," he firmly stated as she scoffed.

"No, it's just beginning."

As Max and Betty saw Robert walk away, he then sigh. "Betty, I appreciate you helping me, but this is starting to get a little bit too much. You can't keep threatening everyone that calls me a nerd," he insisted as Betty only looked at him.

"Max, you're my cousin and I would do anything to see you happy. You shouldn't have to be called a nerd by everyone when you're clearly more than that lame label people give you. Besides, labels are meant for stupid people like Robert," Betty insisted as he only shook his head and smiled.

"Well, thanks Betta. I'm glad you're my cousin," Max softly told her as she grinned. "Me too, Maxie. Promise nothing will ever change between us?" Betty softly said as Max only laughed.

"Do you even have to ask? It's a promise no matter what happens," he lightly answered as Betty looked at him. "Even if the worst were to come?" she followed up as he nodded. "Even if the worst were to come, but Betty, you're my cousin and family sticks together. I highly doubt there's going to be anything that's going to tear us apart," Max promptly told his cousin, the two shaking hands as Betty chuckled.

"Yeah..."

Max did find Betty's question to be slightly weird though, especially as he kept thinking about to the flower assignment where Miss Blair forewarned him about a "big change" happening from his Scarlet Pimpernel. Now, Max considered himself to be a person of logic, but lately, he's been hanging out with Celestia and well, her conspiracy theories' mindset has been rubbing on him.

Then again, Max couldn't help but to think about to the one incident where he saw his cousin covered in... paint. Betty insisted the exchange was a product from his lack of sleep, but Max had a feeling he hadn't imagined that night.

Maybe, he could get Cleo's input on the matter, but he didn't want to make Cleo look at his cousin differently and he certainly didn't want to be responsible for ruining... well, whatever it was the two had got going on. Cleo insisted her and Betty were just friends, but Max could see his cousin (and Cleo) look at each other differently.

Something was there between them and he was almost certain Betty and Cleo were now on that line that blurs between love and genuine friendship. It was going to happen at a point in time, but... that was only if Cleo picked up on his cousin's hints. It was almost a bit hard to watch as Betty was clearly in love with the girl and Cleo was oblivious to the whole thing.

Anyways, Max would just have to wait and see. Maybe, he really did make up that night and Betty was soundly asleep in her room. Or, maybe he hadn't made up that night and his cousin was hiding something from him...

He needed a second opinion and if there was anyone in this town that liked mysteries, it was Cleo. Okay, there was actually more but Max was close with Cleo and she knew his cousin on a personal level, so for better or worse, he had to get to the bottom of this. He needed to know if that night was a result of his imagination or if it was a cover-up story to trick him from looking further.

"Max! Bernadette!"

Glancing over, Max and Betty saw Adrien and Rey walking in as the two grinned. "Hey, Adrien. Hey, Rey," the two said as Rey particularly smiled at Betty using her real name than her title.

"What brings you two here?" Adrien and Rey as Max chuckled, as if he has been waiting for this. "Betty wanted to see her—" he started, only to get cut off as Betty kicked his leg, much to his own annoyance. "Art latte night. I'm guessing you two are here for the same thing?" Betty lightly asked as the two nodded.

"We thought it would fun," Rey explained before she gasped. "I see an opening, let's go," she said as Adrien and Rey waved to the two before dashing off. "You owe me for that kick," Max firmly stated as Betty nodded. "Fair enough. I'm still sorry about that," she said as he sighed, knowing he couldn't stay mad at her for long. "It's fine," Max said as he grinned.

For the time being, he didn't want anything to change.

———————————

"Iris?"

Glancing at her oldest sister, Rey saw Iris in a light blue elegant dress as she tired to hide her face, only to fail as Iris meekly looked up.

"Hey, Rey!" Iris cheekily began as Rey softly chuckled. "What are you doing? I thought coffee shops weren't much of your thing," she teased as Iris chuckled in turn.

"Yeah, well..."

Iris trailed off as Rey looked up and gasped. "Hey, Rey," Emery softly greeted, now in a black suit and tie as she and Adrien then looked at the two. "Iris, are you on a date with Emery?" Rey softly teased as Iris heavily blushed.

"We're having a planning session, not a date," Emery insisted, coming to Iris's rescue as Rey only looked at the two. "Uh-huh," Rey mumbled before turning to Adrien. "They're clearly on a date, right?" Rey whispered as Adrien nodded. "Much like how we are," he said as Rey smiled.

"Well, we'll leave you two be. Oh, and your secret's safe with me, Iris. I never saw this," Rey softly and teasingly said as her and Adrien then left. "At least, it was Rey who found out and not Amy," Emery gently said as Iris sighed. "True," she softly said. "Besides, it's not a date, so you don't have anything to worry about," he softly told her as Iris wonder why she felt so nervous of getting caught when Emery was telling the truth.

The two weren't on a date... not really. It was just a planning session to find ways to get their families together into making amends. But still, if it wasn't a date, then why did she feel so... awkward?

On the other side of the café, Rosetta was doing her best to focus on Emmett's craft but she kept looking at him. They broke up and their marriage was over, so why did she still find herself falling for her ex? Then, she thought about her interaction with Fani... and how the new teacher knew Emmett. It was weird, to say the least.

"Hey, Em. How did Fani know you? I mean, I know you mentioned her coffee order, but she seemed to have known you before then," Rosetta awkwardly asked as Emmett only sighed. "We uh go back. She was the first person I dated before I met you and she's part of the reason why I'm awkward at these sorts of things," he admitted as her eyes widen.

"Em..."

"But that's in the past. Besides, I had someone better, but I messed up with that too," he said, now looking away from her as Rosetta frowned. "Em, you didn't mess up anything. You know I'm always going to be here when you're ready to try again," she softly said, though in truth, she was rather tired of their on-and-off relationship.

The woman wanted to move on but every time Rosetta did, no one could compare. She had dated guys and women respectively, but still, Rosetta kept coming back to Emmett, the love of her life who was afraid to love. It was like a curse, but now, she knew a bit of information.

"I know and I'm glad you're still sticking around to be my friend. You're the best, Etta, and I don't know what I would do without you," Emmett softly told her as Rosetta felt her heart sink. "Yeah... of course... that's what I'm here for, Em," Rosetta slowly said as she gave Emmett a slight grin. "Hey, I actually have to go, but I'll be back," he stated as her eyes widened.

"Em, wait—"

Before she could finish, Emmett left and Rosetta was now looking at her heart-shaped latte as she sighed. "I set myself up for failure every single time," she mumbled with a sigh, but she gave a rather small smile when she saw her name was written with hearts as he only did it when Emmett was in love with her. Maybe, Emmett secretly felt the same way about her after all.

————————————

"Okay, I think that's everyone."

"You're telling me, Monroe."

As Cleo glance at the light-skinned male with his dark brown hair and bright green eyes, he saw the apron covering his light grey T-shirt as he worn denim blue jeans and white sneakers. "Oh, hey, Brownie Mix," she greeted as the boy rolled his eyes.

"Brownie Mix?"

As Cleo and the guy glanced over to see Betty and Max at the counter, she only chuckled as she recalled the time she first met him. "He got the name because—" she started, only to get cut off as the boy crossed his arms. "It's a inside thing, Bernadette. You wouldn't get it," the boy sharply stated as Cleo rolled her eyes.

"Betty, Max, this is —"

"Jack Harrison, trust me. We've met," Betty bitterly stated as she too crossed her arms in his direction. "You're still hanging out with this freak?" Jack asked, before looking at Max, who glared at him. "Sorry, not a freak," he reluctantly added, only for Max's sake as Max's look had came across as unamused.

"Jack, be nice. She's my friend," Cleo insisted as Jack sighed. "I don't see why I have to be nice to her. She's not my friend and quite frankly, I'm rather relieved. Who knows what she's hiding behind those brown eyes of hers?" Jack bitterly followed up as she and Max looked at Betty, whose eyes were ablaze with anger.

"Come close and you'll find out, Harrison," Betty bitterly stated as Cleo pulled Jack as Max kept an eye on his cousin. "Harrison! Are you threatening the customer?" their boss asked as Jack looked at Cleo for backup as she looked at him to handle the matter on his own.

"I um —"

"Kitchen, now," their boss firmly ordered as Jack took off his apron. "I quit," he angrily said as he stormed off. "Jack Harrison, get back here right now!" their boss ordered as he stared at the apron Jack dropped.

"I'll go talk to him," Cleo insisted as she picked up the apron. "He probably just needs a few minutes to calm down. Everyone knows how worked up Jack can get at times," she added as Betty scoffed, to which Cleo shook her head. "I'll go check on the boy, just to see if he's alright," her boss said as Cleo opened her mouth, only to see the guy leave on his own.

"You two really need to settle this already," Cleo stated as Betty scoffed. "Tell him that," the girl stated as Cleo rolled her eyes.

"I will once I—" Cleo started, only to cut herself off when she heard a thunk, causing her to sigh. "Actually, I'll come back to you and Max here in a second," she insisted, leaving before Betty could protest. As Cleo entered the inside of the kitchen, she then sighed as she shook her head. She was about to go back to the counter when a high-pitch scream caught her attention.

"Jack!"

As she ran to the back door to the dumpsters, Cleo hear another high-pitched scream as she ran near the back of the café where she found a light-skinned Vietnamese woman, who appeared to be panicked. "Lara?" she gently asked upon approaching the girl, who still looked frightened.

"Lara—"

"AH!"

"Lara! It's me, Cleo," she insisted, now grabbing the girl by her shoulders as Lara look at her and sighed, to which Cleo released her arms. "What happened?" Cleo concernedly asked as she looked around. "Where's Everett? He said he was going to check on Jack," she followed up, only to blink. "Actually, where is Jack? He's supposed to be out here," Cleo mumbled, now looking as Lara shakily sighed.

"I was just t... taking out the trash like I usually do when I saw Everett and we agreed to go look for Jack. I didn't think about but w... when I came back from my failed search, I was going to report my findings to Everett b... but..." Lara started, only to stop as she only trailed off, now running into Cleo's arms. "It was so horrible, Cleo!" Lara exclaimed as Cleo awkwardly held the girl to the best of her abilities. "It's going to be alright," Cleo told her, but Lara was now pointing.

As she looked at the direction Lara was pointing in, Cleo had gently moved closer as she stared at the disheveled body of a middle-aged man as his body had several heavy-deep wounds across his stomach.

"Cleo? Lara?"

"Jack!"

As the two had looked at him, the boy grinned modestly. "Sorry, I just needed to go on a walk and—" Jack cut himself short as he looked at Everett's dead and gruesome sight of his boss's inflicted body. "W... What happened to our boss!" he exclaimed as Lara only shook her head.

"It was awful! I heard some yells, so I... I ran back to check on Everett and I found that!" Lara confessed as Cleo sighed. "I think it was the Crimson Spider's doing, but Cleo has a different idea," Lara explained as Jack nodded. "This has to be Crimson Spider's doing," he started as Cleo glared at the two.

"'I've studied her killing patterns and it wasn't her. Crimson Spider's killings are more structured and only get fluid when she's really angry like with—"

"Your dad?"

"Stepdad, but yeah," Cleo reluctantly said as she sighed. It was then that the three were joined by Emmett, who looked at them. "What happened?" he asked as Lara and Cleo stared at him. "Where have you been?" the two asked as Emmett looked at the dead body and back at the kids.

"I was trying to find Everett and Lara when I heard her screams. I thought she was in danger, so I came back as soon as I could," Emmett answered. "Jack, I need you to call your dad. Get Officer Harrison and Detective Hatt to grab their men and come check this out," he started before looking at the girl.

"Lara, get the kitchen shut. We're going to close the café just to be on the safe side," he ordered as Lara and Jack went to perform their tasks.

"Cleo—"

"Sir, I need your flashlight," she firmly stated as Emmett puzzlingly blinked before he gave her his flashlight. "What are you doing?" Emmett briefly asked as Cleo turned on his flashlight to analyze the wounds closer. As she looked closer, Cleo saw the wounds were too deep to be done by a blade and the horizontal wounds resemble a mark by a predatory animal.

"I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"These marks... they're not human," she started as Emmett blinked. "Cleo, with all due respect, as a student in my class, you should know better than to say things without—" Emmett started, only to cut himself off when she gestured to a card of a snake and a light blue feather wrapped around a sword.

"Is that enough proof?"

"No. The card doesn't mean anything."

"But the light blue feather clearly resembles an amok, which we know is real because of the Twister incident with his sentimonster, Storm. If this is the case, then I'm right and the killer isn't human, but rather a sentimonster potentially working for humans," she started as Emmett's eyes lingered on the serpent wrap around the blade, looking away the moment he saw Cleo's hyper focus on him.

"Cleo, other than the Twister incident, there's no such thing as a rouge sentimonster," Emmett said as Cleo sighed. "Fine. Maybe, you're right or maybe you're not but one thing is for certain," she insisted as Emmett looked at her. "What's that?" he asked as Cleo glanced back at the card and back at Everett's body.

"Crimson Spider isn't the only killer in Paris anymore."