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After school that day, Ivan logged into FearScape without bothering to let the dog out or grab a snack. Just as he’d feared, the mood on the Paris boards was somber.
Ivan skimmed the five most popular threads from that afternoon, growing more and more frustrated all the while.
Ways to send support to latest “akuma” Aurore Beauréal and her family?
open letter to hawkmoth if hes on here
let’s make a thread of pet pics so we don’t have to look at the news, guys
Mind Control Protection Spells: Megathread
Footage I got from the fight today. Anyone else think “heroes” were acting weird?
Ivan took a break at last, rubbing his temples to stave off a headache. “This is a mess,” he told the dog.
Hawkmoth had been using innocent members of the magical community to attack Paris for almost six months, and lately every attack was worse than the last. It wouldn’t be long before all the lies fell apart and the general public realized that “akumas” were a convenient fiction to cover something much more sinister. In the meantime, the magical community’s fear was close to the boiling point.
Bl00dRed: Get ready for garlic and silver bullets to make a comeback in a big way, that’s all I’ll say. I heard the mayor’s already training monster hunters.
Ivan scowled at Bl00dRed’s comment. Things were bad, but fear-mongering would only make matters worse. Before he could type a rebuttal, a new comment popped up.
mossyrock34: That isn’t true. If we want to help Hawkmoth’s victims and ourselves, the time to get ahead of the narrative is now, before any version of the truth comes out. That’s why I’ll be at the White Butterfly Day protest outside Le Grand Paris this Saturday. We need as many people as possible to show up for akuma victims in a real way! DM me if you want to help with behind-the-scenes stuff.
Ivan reacted to the comment with a thumbs up emoji, then scrabbled in his desk drawers for a sticky note so he could write a reminder for himself. If Destroika and Brightwing attended the protest, the human side of Paris would have to take notice.
“Absolutely not,” said Destroika.
Brightwing very carefully did not clench his spotted fists. He was better than that. He was a better person as a superhero than he was as Ivan. He had to be, or everything would fall apart. “Why?” he asked, and his voice came out with an angrier edge than he had intended.
Destroika looked away from him in a way that told Brightwing she was about to twist the truth. “I support the protestors,” she said carefully. “But I don’t think we can risk it. What if Hawkmoth seizes the opportunity to attack?”
“If he does, isn’t it safer to have Paris’ heroes close by?” Brightwing couldn’t look at his partner. “Please, Troi. It’s important to me.”
Destroika folded her arms. “You don’t know what you’re asking me to do,” she said quietly. “I can’t, Brightwing. I’m sorry.”
Brightwing leaned in to kiss the top of her head. “I’m not angry with you,” he said. “Not exactly. But I am frustrated. And—”
Brightwing’s thoughts sped by faster than he could keep up. From the moment he had realized how he felt about Destroika, he had wanted to tell her everything. If he did, though, there would be no going back. If Destroika took things poorly, their community would be exposed.
Brightwing clenched his jaw. And what if she saw him, the real him, and was afraid? His heart wouldn’t be able to bear it. Dating a human girl was like playing with fire. In the end, you didn’t get anything substantial to hold on to.
“—I’ll go to the protest by myself,” he said at last.
Destroika merely nodded. “I understand.”
Ivan typed and retyped his direct message to mossyrock34 several times before he arrived at something he felt comfortable sending. Heart in his throat, he pressed the enter key.
Stoneheart: hey. the other day you said people could DM you if they wanted to help with the white butterfly day protest? i’d like to help, but i’m kind of in a weird situation.
He sat back in his computer chair and took several deep breaths. If mossyrock34 responded, he would tell them everything. The magical community needed to know that Brightwing, at least, was one of them. The tiny bleep his computer emitted to alert him of mossyrock34’s reply startled him so much that he almost fell out of the chair.
mossyrock34: Hello! I can absolutely connect you to the event organizers if you want to volunteer. Some of the planning staff are human, so if you have community-specific questions, I’ll try to answer them now. Thank you so much!
Ivan swallowed. He could do this. He had to do this, before fear ate his community alive.
Stoneheart: I’m kind of…well-known in my humansona. I’m worried that if I show up without clearing it with people first, I’ll do more harm than good. That’s the last thing I want. On the other hand, I want to use what clout I have to show people that Hawkmoth’s victims are innocent people.
This time, mossyrock34 took a while to respond. Ivan fed the dog and had started on his literature homework before the computer bleeped again.
mossyrock34: Sorry to leave you hanging. I brought your concern to the volunteer coordinator. She’s human, so I modified the situation a little. Anyway, she recommended that I ask who you are, if you’re comfortable sharing your identity.
Ivan fiddled with the glamour amulet that hung invisibly around his neck. Max was always saying that no digital method of sharing information was truly secure. FearScape’s servers were enchanted with several layers of protection spells, but even so…
Stoneheart: Could we discuss it in person? I want to tell the magical community who I am, but I need to control the flow of information as much as possible until I’m ready.
Stoneheart: I know this is a big ask.
mossyrock34: King’s Plaza, 17:00 tonight. Sit at the fountain across from the popcorn stand and wear a blue shirt. I’ll decide whether to approach you once I’ve had the chance to size you up.
Stoneheart: Deal.
Ivan logged out of FearScape and stretched, popping his back. More than anything, he wished he could tell Destroika the truth. Once mossyrock34 knew, it would be the end of their comfortable relationship. Fleetingly, he wondered if he should break up with Destroika now to save himself the pain of rejection. What human girl would want to date a monster like him?
“What do you think?” he asked the dog, but she didn’t have an answer.
Ivan made himself a sandwich, left a note for his mother, dug a blue t-shirt out of his closet, and set out for King’s Plaza.
The plaza was jam-packed when Ivan arrived. He instantly saw why mossyrock34 had chosen it. Fiddling with his invisible amulet, a nervous habit his mother hated, Ivan scanned the throng of tourists, bicyclists, and families with small children in the hope that a friendly face would surface. He spotted a few distant acquaintances from school, but no one made eye contact.
Feeling practically naked, Ivan sat on the side of the fountain across from the popcorn stand. The stand’s owner was just closing up shop for the evening. She gave him a strange look, but there was no recognition in her eyes.
Ivan wondered for the dozenth time whether it would have been wiser to show up as Brightwing. He didn’t want to sign autographs for tourists, which had been the deciding factor. Besides, the magical community viewed Destroika and Brightwing as glorified monster hunters. If the roles were reversed and Ivan was in mossyrock34’s shoes, he wouldn’t want to be seen meeting up with a superhero.
“Hey,” said someone, jarring Ivan out of his anxious rumination.
Ivan looked up with a jolt, but it was only Mylene, a girl from his class. He had harbored a crush on her earlier in the year, but that was before he met Destroika, before Hawkmoth’s attacks and the responsibility of being Brightwing added another layer of distance between Ivan and his human classmates.
“I like your shirt,” said Mylene. “Were you, um, waiting for someone?”
Ivan realized that she was as nervous as he was. And why. “Yes,” he said. “Are you mossyrock34?”
Mylene nodded. “It’s an alt I use to plan protests. Let’s take a walk.”
Ivan set his chin. “I need to show you something first,” he said. “You have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?”
Mylene’s lips formed a question, but she didn’t voice it. “Okay,” she said. “There’s a good place near here.”
She took Ivan’s hand and lead him through the crowd and down a side street. At last, they made their way into an overgrown park. There, shrouded by trees, Mylene stopped walking.
“I can sense how afraid you are. I have a lot of questions, but you don’t have to share anything you aren’t comfortable with,” she said.
“I appreciate it,” said Ivan, who had spent the walk trying to guess what Mylene was.
Vampirism was out. It was too sunny for that. She was too solid to be a ghost. That left… basically everything else. Trolls could sense fear. Could Mylene be a troll?
Ivan shook his head, trying to clear it. There was no reason to delay the inevitable. “Tikki, spots on,” he said, still holding Mylene’s hand.
Mylene gasped.
“It isn’t what it looks like,” said Brightwing hurriedly. “I don’t know who chose me for this power or why. All I know is that I need to use it to fight for our community and make it clear that Hawkmoth is Paris’s only enemy.”
Mylene closed her eyes and rubbed one of the buttons pinned to her jacket. “I’m Destroika,” she whispered. “I thought I was alone.”
For the first time, Brightwing noticed the gold ring on a chain around Mylene’s neck. All the pieces of his triple life began to fall into place.
“I thought I was alone, too. You’re organizing the protest?”
Mylene nodded. “Helping, anyway.”
Brightwing smiled so widely that his cheeks ached. “Then my girlfriend is even more amazing than I realized.”
Mylene threw her arms around him. “You don’t mind that it’s me?” she said into his chest.
“Mind? I love you so much!” Brightwing kissed the top of Mylene’s head. “I’m the luckiest boy in Paris. Rock giant. Whichever.”
He didn’t need to see Mylene’s face to know that she was thinking hard. Destroika was a master strategist. “I have an idea,” she said. “We’ll embrace the magical community and take the fight straight to Hawkmoth in one stroke. All we need is a little bit of help.”