#mldccrossover Rose Lavillant

[goggles-mcgee]

Ashes of Rage: Act 1 - (Heart)Breaking News

Chapter 6 of the story for @miner249er

A03 Beginnning Last Chapter

Summary: It was supposed to be a nice day, a nice picnic, a nice distraction...but it didn't happen like that and Rose didn't know how to process it.

Notes: Hope you enjoy the read! Also, sorry for the late update but my job, idk if I told y'all, I got a new job! I work for my state's child support services division and can't really work on personal things while in the office so this did take some time.

Also like small disclosure, I did do research but I in no way think what I got was 100% so take the actions of the police with a grain of salt. ^u^

(Heart)Breaking News:

Confused. Betrayed. Angry. These were all words that described how Rose had been feeling lately and yet she pushed herself to attend the class picnic with Juleka. It hardly even compared to past picnics they had had in the past. The usual soft, pillow-y blanket was replaced by a blanket so thin that the still present morning dew that draped over the prickly blades of grass stabbed through the fabric easily and brought a chill to her legs and an itchiness that seemed never ending. It was irritating but Rose didn’t want to say anything and make Kim feel bad since he was the one to bring said blanket. Plus it would have most likely broken the tentative good mood everyone was in. She was doing her best to stay the happy-go-lucky Rose that everyone expected her to be but it was getting harder and harder to do so as the days went by. Even her appetite had been affected by her mood, she just simply wasn’t hungry which made her want to cry. She tried her best to eat because when she was sick she hadn’t gotten to eat a lot of food like she was able to do now but looking around at the food that laid on the blanket there just wasn’t anything that looked nor sounded good. 

The food from her memories of past picnics danced around her thoughts and mocked her. The food from those times had been homemade and filled her with such warmth and joy even if something hadn’t been the best tasting. But today everything was store bought, not that there was anything wrong with that! There was just something about everyone bringing something homemade to past picnics that made this one feel lacking. Rose simply couldn’t help the way her stomach clenched and mouth watered remembering the food from the past but it would quickly die when she remembered that was when Marinette had been part of the group. She always encouraged everyone to bring something homemade without even outright asking for it. It was like knowing that she herself would make something for the picnic and not just ask her parents to give her something, motivated everyone else to do the same. And the smile she had given to everyone when she saw what they brought seemed to make the sun shine brighter those days. Then things changed abruptly and Rose had questioned whether those smiles were real or an illusion as Lila had mused aloud about. It scared her to think someone could be so manipulative. Her views changed once more when she watched Nadja’s broadcast.

 The speculation that Marinette had…that she had died that night…hit particularly hard. All Rose could think about was every instance that the pig-tailed girl had been there for her and the rest of the class. She thought of all the laughs they shared and even tears. Marinette was always there and hearing the news was like a slap to the face. How could Rose ever think that Marinette was anything but genuine? How could the class think that? But then that would mean Lila had lied or just severely misunderstood something and everyone just believed it and turned on their friend. Rose couldn’t even remember the last thing she had ever said to Marinette but it was more than likely nothing nice since she had believed the girl to be a bully. That thought made her appetite really disappear and her stomach clench. She was sure everyone else was thinking similar things so really it would be cruel to expect homemade food at a time like this. The weather that had once been predicted to be sunny and cloud free was still sunny but a biting wind had plagued the day every now and then. So things looked well and good but it hid small disappointments all throughout.

 It reminded Rose of those true crime documentaries that Juleka loved to binge. The families tended to have a pattern in the one's she watched, where on the outside they seemed like the perfect family with the perfect life but behind closed doors they were anything but. It reminded her of the situation the class was in. Except most had well and truly believed in the perfection others perceived them to have. It would have been extremely ignorant of Rose to say she didn't notice how the rest of the school looked at her class in envy, because she did and she tried her best not to show how pleased that made her. She never wanted to come across as entitled or anything of the like, she knew their situation had been a rare one. Where everyone in class got along, with the exception of Chloe and Sabrina in the beginning, and their teacher was nice and kind. They had the picture perfect class. 

Until they didn’t. 

Oh they still acted like it was, Rose was mature enough to admit that, because everyone wanted that envy and that admiration their class was accustomed to. She recalled how Lila wanted to warn the other students in different classes about Marinette’s ‘true’ self but somehow Alya and Max had talked her out of it. She knew Lila hadn’t been happy about that so the girl group decided to take her out for lunch as what could only be described as a bribe the more Rose thought about it. It made her throat dry in guilt and shame. She hastily grabbed her cup of lemonade and took a big drink and nearly choked at the speed she did so. She managed to refrain from coughing and hoped no one noticed her little slip up. Thankfully it seemed like no one had so she took the time to look over at her friends. Alya and Nino were setting up her tablet as the police were going to be giving a statement on everything, Max and Alix were playing some kind of switch game together with Markov giving advice. Mylène, Ivan and Sabrina were snacking on the food and talking about something. Kim was laid out next to the blanket staring at his phone, and Juleka was listening to music in one ear.

It was then that Rose remembered she was also listening to music and it was like the realization broke the dam on her hearing and everything came alive around her. She did her best not to wince at the guitar solo that started off in a high pitch since she didn’t want Juleka to think she didn’t like the song. She did her best to be as nonchalant as possible as she took the earphone she had in out, she was more of a headphone person since earphones tended to hurt the inside of her ears if she wore them too long. Juleka knew that which is why she didn’t look upset when she noticed Rose taking out the earphone. “How’s your ear? The song wasn’t that long was it?” 

“Don’t worry Jules, the song was great. I’m just a little thirsty. I finished my lemonade so fast…” Rose lied and was grateful that Juleka seemed to buy it. 

“That’s a quick fix.” Juleka mumbled with a small smile as she stood up and went to get Rose a refill of lemonade. Rose tried her best not to think of how Marinette would bring the customized cups she made for everyone to a picnic. They were paper cups that she printed designs on and bought each one in bulk. It always made Rose feel special when she would get her pink and purple kittens printed cup with her name in a beautiful cursive old font. Today’s cups were plastic with their names written on them in permanent marker. It was still cursive, Juleka had wonderful cursive and did her very best to make it look nice so Rose felt bad about the disappointment that swelled in her every time she saw the cups. She did her best to not let it show when Juleka turned with a smile to give her her drink. 

“Thank you.” 

“No problem.”

The lemonade Juleka got her was the perfect blend of sour and sweet and yet she couldn’t enjoy it. Even though it was her favorite lemonade, one that Alix made sure to bring because her friend knew it was her favorite. Rose wanted to cry. But she couldn’t, not now, she felt like she didn’t deserve to. All of them, everyone here was trying to be as normal as possible in the light of their revelations. No one said it out loud but Rose was sure that they all came to the realization that they had made a big mistake. More than a big mistake but none of them knew how to voice it nor accept it nor move past it. They were stuck in some messed up limbo. Marinette was…dead. There was no other reality, a person they had been good friends with then broke that friendship was dead. Rose didn’t know if they all felt like her though, like they didn’t deserve to cry over Marinette being gone because they weren’t friends with the girl when she died. It was depressing. 

Worst of all no one could get a hold of Lila. Maybe she felt bad for the misunderstanding that drove the class, minus Nathaniel and Chloe, away from Marinette. Lila was so kind and thoughtful that Rose had no doubt that the girl was probably drowning herself in some kind of misplaced guilt and Rose’s heart broke more at the image her mind conjured of an alone Lila crying nonstop and apologizing to a photo of Marinette. Though, thinking of it, Lila probably only had a photo of their latest class picture that had Marinette in it. The thought was sad all the same and Rose wished once more that the class had been able to get ahold of Lila. She felt like the girl could have used a picnic like today to unwind and see how everyone supported her and were there for her. Even if the picnic felt off to Rose, maybe it would have been the thing that helped Lila feel better and come back to school. 

“What seems to be the matter Kim?” Max’s question got Rose and almost everyone’s attention. It was then that Rose realized just how quiet the usually boisterous boy had been all day. It made her somehow feel worse. 

Kim sighed loudly and rolled onto his back, “Ondine hasn’t been answering my texts, calls, ChatSnaps, Rapidgrams, basically anything and everything that I thought I could use to try and talk to her. She’s been mad for a while now and I don’t know why.” 

“Did you guys fight recently?” Rose asked. 

A sigh once again. “That seems to be the only time we talked but that was like two months ago! She said she wanted a break and wanted, no needed, time away from me.” 

“...Well, if she said she needs time, Kim. then…” Nino awkwardly pointed out. 

“But how much time? It’s been ages!” Kim whined and while a part of Rose felt sorry for him, another part felt for Ondine. Maybe it was like some weird female sense or something but Rose understood that when a girl says she needs time, she needs more than a few days. Kim had always been impatient but he clearly needed his friends’ comfort. 

“Well,” Juleka hedged, “how bad was the fight?” 

By the wince Kim gave, it was bad and all the girls in the group looked at each other. It seemed like they all came to a consensus because they all gave Kim sad looks. “Did you maybe misunderstand her? Did she really say she wanted a break or did she say you guys were broken up?” Alya asked carefully. 

“No! I mean, I don’t think she really meant broken up. I know we have been fighting and everything but Ondine and I always make up.” Even though he said that, Kim didn’t look too sure. 

“What were you guys fighting about anyways?” Alix asked lazily from where she laid out across the blanket. Rose wished the skater had been looking at her because she would have at least seen Rose’s glare to pipe down. She had done her absolute best not to ruin the peace, even when she hadn’t been paying all that much attention, then Alix went and ruined it! 

Wait. 

No.

No. Rose couldn’t think like that. They were all in this together so they had to stick together. She sent a silent apology towards Alix for her somewhat unkind thoughts. It did truly feel like they were only in this weird situation together. Rose had kind of thought that they would be getting some sympathy from the other classes or at the very least, Mme Mendeleiev’s seeing as Kim and Ondine were dating. Plus Marc was in that class and Nathaniel and him were friends, but that class had been sending them looks… Rose didn’t know why and she hoped it had nothing to do with Kim and Ondine’s fight, but a part of her felt like that had nothing to do with it. The rest of the school also sent them looks, but there were also the constant whispers that went on around them and were more than likely about them, but no one had come up to them to say anything. It felt like everyone was mad at them, but Rose couldn’t understand why. Though she knew it would come to a head one day, she dreaded that. 

“We were just fighting about-” Kim had started but abruptly stopped before Alya and Nino shushed him and waved everyone towards them. The volume of Alya’s tablet increased dramatically so they could all hear presumably the police statement that the reporter had been impatiently waiting for. They didn’t get to hear the introduction but that was fine, Alya had probably started screen-recording already. They all tried to catch a view of the live broadcast on the screen, it seemed like they were filming in front of City Hall. 

“...Before we get into the details we would like to warn that the details and evidence we bring forth is not for the faint-hearted. As everyone knows we have been investigating the destruction of the Agreste Mansion, and whether it was a planned attack or an akuma. We have ruled out the involvement of an akuma, but it was also not a planned attack.” Everyone could hear the deep breath the officer took. “Again, it was not a planned attack. We don’t know exactly what happened but with evidence we have gathered, we can make a pretty good guess.”

“We were working under the assumption that this was an attack on the Agreste family and thus were doing everything we possibly could to bring them justice. During our investigation, we happened upon the security cameras that had their footage backed up, thankfully. It was as we were reviewing the footage that we found…the disturbing truth. This will shock many and maybe many won’t believe us but we have provided some of the footage for this announcement and will be shared with the media.” Everyone waited with bated breaths. Rose felt like she had stopped breathing all together.

“Gabriel Agreste…Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth.” The officer stuttered out and by the roar of sound by all her friends and fellow park goers they hadn’t missed a word he said. 

“No…No he couldn’t…I know the dude was a dick and a half but there’s no way he was Hawkmoth.” Nino said in disbelief. 

“I know this is upsetting and … shocking but I promise you will get your proof afterward. Nathalie Sancoeur was his accomplice. She was Mayura.”

“I mean if Mister Agreste was Hawkmoth then that would kind of make sense.” Alix muttered. 

“And Adrien Agreste…”

“No. There’s no way my bro was involved! If that’s what he’s implying then we know it’s bogus!” Nino yelled out as he stood up and paced.

Rose silently agreed. There was no way Adrien could be involved, he was a shy boy but overall very nice. They never hung out one on one but he was always very kind to Rose and she had seen him try and talk some sense into Marinette in the beginning of the whole ‘Lila is a liar’ thing. She admired his determination to try and get Marinette to see reason and his unwavering faith in Lila. It was one of the many reasons why she thought they’d be a good couple. At least Lila could talk to Adrien and be around him without becoming a mess. She felt bad thinking that but it was the truth and it had been so frustrating that everyone of the girl group’s plan to make Adrienette happen crashed and burned because Marinette couldn’t do something. But Adrien always handled the situations with grace and a lot of patience so again, there was no way that Adrien knew or had anything to do with his father’s crimes. No way at all. 

“Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir. Before you cheer or sigh in relief, let me be frank. Chat Noir is now believed to have been a ruse to lure Ladybug into a false sense of security and give her trust to who she believed to be her partner.” 

The roar of denial and betrayal shook Rose and she couldn’t even be sure if she had joined in. It felt like she was in daze, in a haze, just completely adrift in what they were hearing. She both wanted to and didn’t want to listen anymore. She didn’t want to believe what she had heard but at the same time she felt a burning need to know everything.

“He lured her to the Agreste Mansion, it seems, in a false drop on Gabriel Agreste, who, as we said, was operating as Hawkmoth. The tables turned quickly and…” The officer’s eyes looked glossy but his face was red in what could only be, barely contained anger. “Ladybug’s earrings were taken. She was…she was struck by Chat Noir and taunted from the looks of it as we were not able to get audio from the security videos. Then…then something happened.”

He paused. “If any children are watching this I beg the parents to either turn it off or make sure the children do not hear.” 

For a city as noisy and chaotic as Paris tended to be, it seemed like everyone was quiet and holding their breath like Rose was. 

“What we believe happened, is that Ladybug, in a last ditch effort to save us all…sa-sacrificed herself in a way we can not explain. With a scream of rage the screen turned red and then nothing, but at the scene we found evidence of this sacrifice. A sizeable puddle of charred blood and pieces of burnt clothing. Furthermore, we now have an identification of Ladybug and it is with a reluctant and heavy heart that we share this with you all. But we have been given permission by her family to share.”

Rose tasted blood, she hadn’t even noticed she had been biting her lip in anticipation. 

“Ladybug was a child, a child who without hesitation protected us time and time again, up until her last moments. Her parents felt like it would disrespect everything he had done for us to not share her name. This girl was none other than our very own, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” 

Marinette…Dupain-Cheng.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!

Rose missed probably the rest of the announcement but the ending…the ending had her snapping back to focus so fast that if mental whiplash was a thing, she knew she would have it. 

“..And it seems like Gabriel had more help than previously thought. One guaranteed individual we know of is a minor so we will not be giving her name. With that being said, if anyone has any information of the whereabouts of Giada Rossi and her daughter, please contact us. Thank you.”

Rose was…everything at once yet numb somehow. She didn’t know how to react or if she even should react. But it seemed like someone did as she heard angry footsteps approaching their group, they were purposeful so there was no mistaking where they were heading. Rose turned to see who it was, partially hoping it was Lila to tell them it was a misunderstanding and she had an explanation that would somehow magically fix everything, but no, it was Ondine. Ondine and Mireille and Aurore and what looked to be all of Mendeleiev’s class plus a couple others from other classes. Rose distantly watched as Kim scrambled to get up and run towards Ondine with a teary smile on his face but something was wrong. Wrong, wrong , wrong. 

The resounding slap that came next confirmed her thoughts and with the way it snapped her out of said thoughts, you would think she had been the one who had been slapped. 

Everyone was still. All they could do was stand and stare at the sight of Kim’s cheek turning red from the harsh slap he had received from Ondine. Then it was like a dam burst and everyone started shouting at one another, some were even getting into the faces of those who had just arrived. It was awful and scary and Rose hated every second of it. Rose would bet things would have turned physical if it weren’t for Markov being present, it was well known he recorded whenever he felt like Max was in trouble. It had caused some issues with the school. Rose had never been more grateful for Markov’s presence than that moment as it provided a distraction for Rose to grab Juleka’s hand and run away. It was cowardly perhaps, maybe she should have stayed and defended Kim. Maybe she should have been a silent support for those trying to get answers from an angry Ondine and the rest of those who arrived with her. Maybe she should have asked why they were mad. 

There were so many ‘maybes’ that it was overwhelming and that was a big part of why she ran. Rose simply was overwhelmed and her brain felt fried with all the information they heard from the conference and the events that followed. She needed a safe space to digest it all and calm down. Luckily for her, the Liberty was parked close by and it was somewhere she wholeheartedly considered a safe space, plus she thought it would help Juleka, who’s rapid heartbeat she could feel beneath her fingers wrapped around the goth girl’s wrist. She only stopped her run once they were aboard and then she was finally able to stop and breathe. She had just caught her breath when she heard footsteps and noticed Luka making his way towards them. 

She sighed in relief at the sight of him, knowing he could provide comfort to Juleka and herself. She smiled at him but that smile quickly fell once she saw the look on his face. Luka was a chill guy through and through so it was pretty rare to see him mad. The boy marched towards them with purpose and it startled Rose so much that she instinctively took a step back. Then the yelling started and Rose couldn’t handle everything anymore. She felt bad for just letting Luka yell at Juleka but she could feel herself zoning out as she tended to do when she heard fighting. 

It was an old coping mechanism of hers.

At first the yelling was all she heard, then it dulled to an unpleasant buzzing. 

She hated the buzzing.

But she hated the sound of yelling and fighting more.

Her last coherent thought before she drifted too far was, ‘ Why was this happening? ’

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