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Zoe breathed in, the chaos of her suite left her wondering if it was worth the effort to socialise.
“Veronica, make me cookies,” Sarah bugged, not looking up from her phone as she lounged back on a couch.
Veronica retaliated and threw a pillow at Sarah, causing her to splutter.
“Make them yourself, leech,” she said, walking to the fridge.
“Ugh, rude. I am so not—”
“Why don’t you guys make them together?” Zoe interjected. “That way, it takes half the work and you’re able to enjoy each other's company?”
They both looked at her before they let out a short laugh and went back to their activities.
Zoe sighed, trying to return to her magazine. It cost the temple far too much to get these, someone might as well read them.
Chloe criticised, “This is why you’re not a good fit for the Bee, Zoe. You lack the killer edge. A Bee needs to be sharp, a reigning monarch above the rest.
Sarah paused, “I thought monarchs were butterfl—”
“Zoe,” Chloe said, “face it. You had your chance to choose the pig or the mouse and, let’s face it, probably fail in those streams too. But now, it’s over, okay? You should just quit now. I need a new walk-in closet, and your room could do nicely.”
Zoe huffed, throwing down her magazine and walking outside the suite.
---
She walked into the training room, thankfully empty.
She came up to the spinning top storage crate, and sorted through them.
The weapons slightly changed between each holder, and the Bee was one of the most susceptible. The worst thing was where the string came out of. It could come out from its direct top, creating an even weight distribution, like the ladybug’s yo-yo. Or it could come out the side, like a normal spinning top but creating an unevenness Zoe found hard to use.
Most Bee students preferred the side variant though, so there were more of them kept in the box.
She finally found a centre one, and pulled it out.
Walking over to the training dummies, she played around with its weight. She’d become moderately accustomed to it over the past couple of weeks..
Facing the dummy, she lowered her body slightly, and threw it around the mannequins torso. She tried putting the string under her elbow for leverage when she pulled down, but instead got caught off balance and fell over.
“Oh my,” came a sweet voice from behind her.
Zoe turned, and upon seeing pollen, quickly shot up. Great, she’d embarrassed herself in front of her professor too.
Pollen was relatively unassuming. A short woman with slightly greying blonde hair and blue eyes. Her time as the Bee was marked by relative peace, all things considered. Pollen had remarked on the first day that a good hero often didn’t need to resort to their powers.
“You’re tall, but not weighty enough to do that,” Pollen chuckled.
“Huh?” came Zoe's dumbfounded reply.
Pollen stepped closer, and gestured to the dummy.
“The Bee is a tricky miraculous. You think you’ll be fighting big fast tough enemies, and you will, sure. But the Bee’s power lies in capturing the uncapturable, stopping the unstoppable. To be a true Bee, you need to know what everyone on the field is physically capable of, and beat them at it,” Pollen asserted.
“How am I meant to be the best at everything? That’s impossible,” Zoe exclaimed.
“Oh sweet pea, listen up. With this dummy, if it were a real person, they’d be top heavy,” Pollen replied, pulling out her own spinning top, and throwing it around the dummy.
The wire was focused around its legs, which should prevent them from moving.
“Now, considering both our statures, we’re not going to have enough mass to move him, so we need some leverage. You had a good start trying to leverage around your elbow, but you’re thinking too small. What in this room could provide a good leverage point?”
Zoe looked around, startled by the question.
“Uhhh, the roof beams, the concrete pillars, and…the stairwell railings, if they’re screwed in tightly enough,” Zoe responded.
“Very good, have a biscuit,” Pollen praised, her free hand holding out an individually wrapped biscuit.
Zoe grabbed it, opening up the paper to reveal a honey biscuit. She took a bite and felt pure bliss.
“Now that we have a plan, we need to act!” Pollen said, leaping back and throwing her spinning top over the roof beams. She did a backflip before catching it in her hands.
“Woah,” Zoe said.
“Now, we pull!” Pollen roared, pulling the wire and launching the dummy at least 4 metres off the ground.
“See! You don’t need to be stronger, faster, bigger, or smaller than them to beat them, just clever enough to use what you have to your advantage,” Pollen said, slowly releasing the dummy back onto the ground.
Zoe paused, taking it all in. Having a 1 on 1 session was a privilege, but she couldn’t help but wonder why. Was she being pitied?
“Doesn’t that seem a bit…ladybug-ish?” Zoe replied. “Using your environment to your advantage, assessing everything, being intuitive?”
Pollen tutted. “The ladybug stream doesn’t have a monopoly on being smart, my dear. Although I do suppose I might be considered an outlier in that regard,” she chuckled.
Zoe blinked, “What do you mean?”
“The other Bee’s used to call me a ‘blood orange’—I’m not sure if that slang is even used anymore. But it means to be a Bee on the outside, and a ladybug on the inside. I was told many times I should be a Ladybug holder, but the Bee was always my goal.”
Zoe thought for a moment. She could almost apply the same idea to herself.
Pollen walked over to a bench, Zoe following.
“The Bee is often considered a derivative of the ladybug, but I’d just say that was other streams with no imagination…like the ox, for instance.”
Zoe gaped as Pollen just laughed.
“Professor Stompp and I have never gotten along, sue me,” she grinned.
Zoe sighed, “Y’know, I came to the training room because I didn’t fit in with the others. They’re all so…uncooperative. I keep wondering if maybe Chloe was right. What if I should’ve chosen the pig…”
Pollen shrugged, “You’ll do great. I try not to influence the young ones too much but now that you’re in my stream, I will say you have a high chance of making it through.”
Zoe gasped, “Really?!”
“I’ve seen all the others. They’re not all terrible and some of them are frighteningly competent. But the Bee stream attracts so many wasps, always has. People desperate for power, but who know they can’t get the Ladybug or Black Cat. I should do a research assignment on them, actually. We’ve had a few gain the miraculous before. Back in my day, some of them filtered into the Butterfly or Peafowl, but that’s not an option anymore,” Pollen said.
Zoe stayed silent. This was a conversation she had not been expecting, and information she never thought she would get.
“The best Bee holder is one who adapts to changing circumstances. Rulers and systems throughout history have needed to bend to changing times or risk losing their power. Seasons change, clothes move in and out of style, hives become active then dormant, people come and go. The best way to command isn’t to do what everyone wants, or only to do what you want. It’s to adapt and evolve. And you, Zoe Lee, have what it takes to evolve.”
As Zoe squeezed her spinning top she took a breath, and felt wings begin to emerge.