Beau and the Beetle

Sabine endeavoured to give the impression of bereaved acceptance in the face of her greatest tragedy. She and Tom stood to one side as Marinette’s former classmates stood by the railing of the Eiffel Tower’s highest viewing platform to release a handful of petals over the side. These were immediately snatched away by the wind, and scattered across the city as whoever had thrown the offerings shared a memory, or said a few words for their lost friend.

There were other people about, mostly tourists, who openly stared at their gathering, apparently unable to read the mood. Instead of politely turning away, they snapped pictures and pointed, yammering loudly.

Marinette’s former enemy, Chloe, surprised everyone with an impatient shriek, just as Rose was concluding her speech.

‘You insensitive louts,’ she yelled at a woman who was filming them on her phone. ‘Can’t you see we’re grieving here?’

To make her point, she snatched the woman’s phone, threw it to the floor, and stomped on it.

Ignoring the woman’s outraged blustering, Chloe lunged toward another tourist with their phone out, but he shied away, acting as if he were never there.

‘Maybe this wasn’t the best location,’ Tom murmured in Sabine’s ear.

Sabine could only nod as Alix joined in Chloe’s mission, shoving the overly curious onlookers forcibly away, while threatening to smash their cameras.

Security was called, and using the tour guides as mediators, it was eventually decided they could continue their service undisturbed as long as they kept it brief.

Giving the authorities the stink eye, Chloe rambled long and loud about her rivalry with Marinette, conveniently remembering to namedrop her father’s position whenever it looked like someone was going to interrupt her.

She continued to act as their personal security guard so the remaining students could say their piece without fear of oglers or time limits.

In total, they were there for a little over an hour, making a nuisance of themselves for officials and tourists alike. No one in their group cared overmuch, as they had all been annoyed by the blatant stares and disregard for common courtesy.

Afterward, Chloe, Sabrina, Nathaniel, and Marc went home, citing prior obligations. Alya, Tom, and Sabine thanked them for attending, while their classmates waved and called their own farewells, promising to meet again at school.

Sabine turned to those remaining, about to offer a meal, and a place to rest, when she was brought up short by Adrien scowling fiercely at her. Quickly, his expression cleared, as though it had never happened, to return her stare blandly.

She turned to Tom, deeply perturbed, to ask if he’d noticed the uncharacteristic display, only to find him engaged in conversation with Kim and Max. Shaking her head, she turned to the group at large, and announced her offer. The prospect of a free meal won them all over instantly, and they followed her and Tom back to the bakery like a row of ducklings.

At the bakery door, Adrien made his excuses.

‘Sorry, guys. I’d like to stay, but my dad only lets me off the leash for so long.’

Nino shook his head. ‘You’d think he’d have a little more compassion for an occasion like this.’

Adrien shrugged. ‘Yeah, well, what can you do?’

With that, he began walking back the way they’d come, his hands in his pockets.

Sabine was glad to see him go. She didn’t like the way he looked at her, as if he knew what she’d done, and was judging her for it.

Putting him out of her mind, she focussed on the remaining children as they milled about the bakery talking quietly among themselves. She hugged the girls, and spoke with the boys, impressed by their maturity and eloquence.

They trickled out, alone or in pairs, until it was just her tiny family once more. It was a lonely feeling.

‘Time to clean up,’ Tom announced, with false levity.

Between them, cleaning didn’t take long. They then trooped upstairs to sit in the loungeroom in reflective silence, while the tv murmured in the background.

Sabine was tired. She had been withholding more supplies from Marinette, and she felt like a monster. Never before had she been so tempted to pick up a spell book, and try to turn Marinette back on her own. Unfortunately, grimoires were not sold to the general populace, and even if she did try to cast a spell, it wouldn’t work.

Children were tested for magical potential at a young age, and once they turned twelve, they began their formal education. It took years of training to learn how to wield magic properly, and for the uninitiated, the results could vary from uneventful, to catastrophic.

Of course, that didn’t stop the frauds and charlatans from attempting to make a quick buck, as she and Tom had learnt. They exploited the desperate and naïve, pretending to perform actual magic, but it was all smoke and mirrors designed to fleece people of their hard-earned money.

Sabine slouched against Tom, resting her head on his arm, overcome by emotional fatigue. He patted her hand sympathetically, then continued to hold it, her smaller hand dwarfed by his. It was almost like he knew what she was thinking, that she had been forced by reality to give up on yet another plan.

‘Do you think we’ll ever find her?’ Bridgette asked.

‘I wouldn’t count on it,’ Tom replied, sombrely.

Bridgette furrowed her brow. ‘But surely we shouldn’t just give up.’

‘What would you have us do?’ Sabine retorted, with poorly concealed impatience. ‘She’s been missing for close to eight months now. Even if she were alive, perhaps it would have been kinder if she had died at the beginning.’

Bridgette’s eyes bulged. ‘How could you say that?’

Tom held up a hand. ‘We don’t know what she’s been through. If she was hurt by someone, kept alone and scared, I wouldn’t want her to have to live through that after all this time. It would be too traumatic.’

‘She could have therapy,’ argued Bridgette, her voice rising. ‘There’s help available for victims – ‘

‘Enough,’ Sabine snapped.

‘But,’ Bridgette stammered.

‘I don’t want to hear another word about it.’

‘But if we – ‘

‘No. Go to your room, Marinette.’

An uncomfortable silence fell, as Tom and Bridgette both turned to her with their eyes wide and mouths agape.

Sabine swallowed thickly and stood up, retreating to her bedroom. She needed to be away from everyone for a while.