TW: this chapter contains abuse. There will be references back to this chapter, but it isn't too important.
Lila watched the news footage in awe. A new superhero. Dolphin. Her powers were obviously extremely powerful, possibly even more powerful than Ladybug. Lila paused the video and zoomed into the superhero, who was now kneeling down, pointing her trident towards the frozen wave, her eyes closed and her face set strong. Lila moved the zoom across the hero's body, searching for the miraculous. She saw a blue anklet with tiny fins on the sides. That had to be the miraculous. With this much power, Lila could only imagine what she could do. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard giggling behind her.
Marinette looked like she was in a daze as Félix fed her a blueberry muffin. Lila saw Chloé growling at Marinette. Lila sighed. Chloé would never stop this, she cared for Adrien too much. Lila grabbed her food tray, sliding her phone inside her jacket. She stepped out of the bench and pretended to trip, sending a carton of milk and food onto the new couple. She heard Félix and Marinette gasp as they felt the coldness of Lila's uneaten food. Some cheese dripped down Félix's hair, which was the same shade as the cheese. Lila dropped her tray, putting her hands to her mouth.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Adrien and Marinette!" Lila cried.
Lila heard a soft growl from Marinette as Félix stood up, "it's alright, Lila," he said, "we better go clean up as best as we can, Marinette."
"Me and Nino can help," Alya volunteered, shooting a hesitant look at Lila.
Marinette was still glaring at Lila as they walked off to clean themselves. Lila rolled her eyes and looked at the rest of the class staring at her.
"Show's over," she declared, stalking off.
Lila pulled out her phone and ordered for Adrien's bodyguard to come pick her up. She waited outside beside the school's staircase. Her phone beeped . Lila looked at the message she got.
Was that on purpose? If so, why would you do that? If not, are you okay? You're not in class.
Lila let out a shout and slammed a fist into the staircase wall. She felt the rough bricks scrape her hand, leaving small cuts on her skin. Félix's message made her blood boil. Why couldn't he understand? Did she have to spell it out for him? Did she have to explain to him how Marinette and Félix's relationship made her heart clench? Lila knew it was fake. She knew. Instead of concerns flying away, more filled her head. What if Félix actually caught feelings for Marinette. What if he decided to abandon Lila?
Lila's thoughts were interrupted when she saw her ride pull up. She quietly got into the car.
"The aquarium again, please." She said, the life non-existent in her voice. As expected, Adrien's bodyguard drove without a word. In a few minutes, Lila got out of the car and walked up to the aquarium door.
"Nathalie?" She exclaimed in surprise, "what are you doing here?"
"Well, Miss Rossi, since I quit for Gabriel, I started working here. Shouldn't you be at school?"
Lila took a deep breath, calming her entire body, "I don't have to go to school anymore. You see, while I was abroad, I finished all the grades. I only go to school here to get credit for a scholarship. Now that I am Mr. Agreste's assistant and intern, I don't require that either. Mr. Agreste said he'd pay for my scholarship." Lila felt the lies fall out of her mouth. She wasn't an intern. Gabriel wasn't paying for her scholarship. In fact, Lila had taken the job in the hopes of gaining enough to get into a university. She was scraping the floor for every penny she could find.
To her surprise, Nathalie smiled, "that's very good for you, Lila Rossi. Would you like me to take you to your sister? She's with electric eels."
Lila shook her head, "no thank you, Nathalie. I know my way around," Lila smiled and walked towards the eel exhibit.
Lila opened the door. She saw Lydia sitting on the floor, watching the eels. "Hey, Lydia." Lila whispered.
Lydia turned around. Lila observed her sister's face. Lydia's usually happy face was strung and filled with drowsiness. Her dark circles were bigger and darker than usual.
"Lila!" Lydia said happily before engulfing Lila in a hug. Lila could smell the ocean on her sister. She smelled like the beaches the Rossi family would go to when they were still functional. Before her dad. Lila felt the tears she had held in for the past few days break out. The tears started flowing like a river into an ocean on Lydia's shirt. Lydia smoothed Lila's hair with her hand just like she had done when Lila was little. Lila also felt a tear drop onto her forehead, letting her know that. her older sister was crying as well. Lydia picked up Lila's hand, examining it.
"Oh my piranha, you're bleeding. What happened?"
"I punched a wall," Lila said nonchalantly, brushing off her tears with her other hand.
"You need to stop being so aggressive, Lila." Lydia went to a cabinet and pulled out some ointment.
"I had a reason to be upset," Lila defended.
Lydia squirted some of the paste onto her finger, "this may sting," she warned before placing it onto Lila's skin.
Lila hissed in pain. Gritting her teeth, she decided to tell Lydia why the emotions raged inside of her.
"Félix and Marinette are dating," she said as she clenched her fist.
Lydia put back the tube, "oh no, I'm so sorry Li."
Lila smiled through the pain, "you haven't called me that in a decade."
"You haven't been this upset in a decade. You really like him, don't you?"
Lila nodded, "he reminds me of dad," she whispered.
Lydia's face hardened, "I've told you to never talk about him. He doesn't deserve your attention. He doesn't deserve anything."
"Lydia," Lila protested, "he was always amazing, though. He just made a mistake."
Lydia's eyes filled with an emotion Lila had only seen once before. Rage.
"That man hurt us, Lila. You're too young to understand. You were then and you still are now. It's a coping mechanism. You only remember him playing with you. You only remember him attending your tea parties. You don't remember me protected you when he returned home drunk, filled to the brim with god knows what, and attempted to hit us all. Not just Mom, not just me, but you as well. Mom usually put a stop to it. One day he got his hands on me," Lila scrunched her eyes together, as if reliving the event, "he deserves to be in jail. Mistakes are choices, Lila. Some choices are wrong. Never forget that."
Lydia started to walk out of the eel exhibit, then stopped mid-way out of the door, "I love you, Lila," she said, before leaving.
Lila stood there in shock. The only other time Lydia had been that upset was when Lila had knocked over the fish tank. Through her shock, Lila was still able to notice one thing:
Lydia was wearing a light blue anklet.