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Sabrina ran through the hotel, looking for Chloe. Chloe had, yet again, disappeared during the akuma attack. She wondered if she had already left the building and not informed Sabrina.
Sabrina came to a sudden stop as Chloe’s door opened. Fearing the akuma, she stayed quiet, before seeing Elitra walked out.
Elitra looked at her, before simply groaning and grabbing Sabrina’s hand.
“Sabrina Raincomprix, I need you!” Elitra whispered, pulling her into Chloe’s bedroom.
“Wait, what do you need me for?” Sabrina said, confused.
Elitra looked stressed. Her hair was a mess, and she was visibly nervous.
“I—I can trust you, right?” Elitra said nervously.
“You save the city every day, so I guess I’m indebted?” Sabrina reasoned.
Sabrina had seen Elitra in action, and she was… okay? She expected heroes to be more heroic, but Elitra was distracted and apathetic. Leaving most of the work up to Chatence.
“Okay, listen. An akuma is going to discover my identity. It works by downloading all of my memories, and it hit me a couple of minutes ago,” Elitra revealed.
Sabrina’s blood ran cold. She disliked Elitra but the end of the world was not a preferable alternative.
“What do I do?” Sabrina said.
“Okay, so, you probably don’t know this, but I’m a guardian. This means I have access to every miraculous and am an exceptional Ladybug holder! Potentially the most exceptional holder to exist!” Elitra boasted, momentarily slipping into being self-aggrandizing, even in the face of danger.
“That’s how ‘Yellow Jacket’ became a hero, right? Why on earth would you give a miraculous to Audrey Bourgeois?” Sabrina quipped.
Yellow Jacket had been an outright disaster. Malediktator gets akumatized and Elitra gives a miraculous to his wife—the person who was threatening to leave him—yet again. Sabrina had seen enough of Chloe’s mum to know it wouldn’t end well. She supposed that revealing her identity and getting hit by Malediktator was probably one of the least terrible disasters possible.
“First off, Audrey Bourgeois was an excellent holder! It was my fault I didn’t explain the rules about not revealing your identity well enough. Second off, I wasn’t even the guardian then. That stupid old man was,” Elitra retorted.
“How is this related to your plan?” Sabrina said, nervously looking out the massive windows into the Parisian night sky.
Elitra sighed, as if Sabrina was meant to be a mind reader.
“It’s easy. I give the guardianship to you, at which point I will forget everything about being Elitra and the miraculous. That’ll shock the akuma’s systems or, at the very least, sever its connection to me,” Elitra said.
Sabrina had significant doubts about that plan. It relied too heavily on assumptions. The assumption the akuma would be affected. The assumption the akuma hadn’t downloaded the memories yet and told Hawkmoth. The assumption that Sabrina would give it back. The assumption Elitra’s memories would come back when the guardianship got transferred back.
“I’ll do it,” Sabrina said.
“Finally,” Elitra said, rolling her eyes. “Come here.”
Elitra walked to Chloe’s bathroom and opened the door.
“Now I’ll go in, lock the door, and transfer it. Then you’ll transfer it right back, okay?” Elitra instructed, as if finally detecting the weak link in the already weak plan.
“How do we know I won’t lose all my memories?” Sabrina questioned.
“You’ve never had a miraculous, so you have no miraculous memories to lose. Duh,” Elitra replied, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door.
“I, Elitra, hereby relinquish the miracle box, and name Sabrina Raincomprix the new holder!” Elitra said.
Sabrina saw a blinding light, before hearing a thump hit the ground. Guess Elitra forgot to sit down beforehand.
Sabrina’s hand graced the handle. She tested it and found Elitra had remembered to lock the door.
Sabrina sighed, “Okay, time to do this.”
“I, Sarina Raincomprix—”
“She’s lying,” came a small voice from below Sabrina.
Sabrina looked down seeing a floating talking red and black thing in front of her.
“What?” Sabrina replied, unnerved, but not scared.
“She doesn’t know what it’ll do to your memories. It could erase them forever, she just doesn’t care,” the red being confessed.
“Oh…” Sabrina replied, not sure how to continue.
The being shifted around awkwardly.
“I’m Tikki.”
Sabrina looked down at Tikki. “Sabrina Raincomprix.”
Silence filled the room. Sabrina tried not to move, as though any action would cause something to happen she couldn’t control.
“You should… You should see this,” Tikki said.
Tikki flew into the lock, and Sabrina heard a clunk.
Sabrina tested the door handle. The lock now giving way. She pushed the door handle down more and slowly opened the door.
And there was Chloe Bourgeois lying on the floor, with Tikki hovering sadly over her unconscious body.
Sabrina was overcome with an emotion. She couldn’t quite place it, but it drowned out every other sensation.
Sabrina had spent years following Chloe around. Following her every command, keeping her every secret, dropping everything for her. Fighting her fights, saving her from her own emotions, working in the background to keep Chloe’s perfect life together. And now she was afforded clarity.
No one person deserved that kind of attention, but a city, or the world. That definitely deserved that focus.
“Whatever you’re going to do, do it soon. Chloe’s going to wake up soon,” warned Tikki.
Sabrina could see every part of Chloe now. She had for a while now, truly, but she spent so long in denial.
“Elitra’s not a good hero, is she?” Sabrina asked, almost rhetorically.
Tikki shook her head.
Sabrina stepped forward, towards Chloe’s body.
“She’s not a good friend either, is she…” Sabrina mused, standing to the side of Chloe’s body.
Tikki shook her head again, and moved to Sabrina’s shoulder.
Guess Tikki had made her choice.
Slowly, Sabrina lowered herself onto the ground, hands moving to Chloe’s ears.
She paused, waiting for Tikki to say anything.
She did not.
Sabrina finally grasped the black diamond earrings and pulled them out, changing to plastic teal earrings.
She put them on, as Chloe stirred beneath her. Tikki quickly hid in Sabrina’s bag.
“Sabrina?” She said groggily, “What’s going on?”
Sabrina started walking away.
“You just had a fall in the bathroom, that’s all,” She said at the door.
“Oh,” Chloe said. “Wait, where are you going?”
“I’ll alert the hotel staff that you need medical attention, then I’m going home for the night.” Sabrina said, still walking, as Chloe stood up and wobbled after her.
“But I need you here! Jean-Parc is nice, but you’re my friend!” Chloe bemoaned.
Sabrina touched the handle of the door and turned around. “No, Chloe. We aren’t friends. This is the end.”
Sabrina walked out the door, ignoring Chloe’s screeches and verbal attacks.
She didn’t need that anymore. She didn’t want that anymore. And as she walked to the elevator, she knew Paris needed her. And she wanted to help.
The elevator doors opened to reveal Lydia, one of the hotel's butlers.
“Hey, Lydia, Chloe had a fall in the bathroom! When I walked in she was on the ground, I got her to wake up, then I came to find you. I’ve got to leave so—”
Sabrina didn’t have time to finish her sentence before Lydia ran off to Chloe’s room, shouting thanks behind her.
Sabrina shrugged, then stepped into the elevator and pressed the roof button.
She slumped against the back of the elevator.
“Did I do the right thing?” she agonised.
Chloe had been her ‘friend’ for the past 6 years, and Sabrina had seen just how tragic Chloe’s life could get. Sabrina wasn’t sure she could do better than Elitra did. And what if Chatence liked Elitra more, or knew about the plan? Everything in Sabrina’s life was planned out, but this had been an uncalculated, spur of the moment decision.
Tikki floated out and landed on her shoulder.
“This… new situation… will be better for everyone. I’m sure it’ll be a bit of an adjustment. We’ll need to get the Miracle Box back after defeating the akuma, but I know you have what it takes to succeed!” she affirmed.
And maybe, with a bit of luck, Ladybird could do what Elitra never could. She didn’t need to be perfect, just better.
“Okay Tikki, you ready?” She said, stepping out onto the roof.
“Definitely!” Tikki confirmed.