(Chloe's POV)

    It was just a totally normal school day.

    Ha. Yeah, no. No story of mine starts with normalcy. Sabrina had just left me - yelled at me in front of the entire class in a grand declaration of freedom, in fact. Didn't she know I was just playing a role? Wasn't I nice to her in private? Didn't she know I cared for her?

    Yes. Yes she did. It wasn't anything I did, rather it was everything that bimbo bitch calling itself human did. I wasn't entirely sure what happened, but from what I understand, Lila got her dad in trouble at work and made Sabrina think it was my fault.

    One sentence. A bit of fake pity.

    That was all it took for one of my closest friends to hate me.

    But oh no, there was more! My tomato in shining paint had his pride and joy ripped apart right in front of his eyes - not me. I'm obviously still here and still looking glamorous. I mean his sketchbook. You know, that thing that he uses to make money? That thing he'd worked on tirelessly? Nope, let's just go ahead and trash that! Why not?

    I walked down the hall, ignoring the insults my classmates were flinging my way. Oh, if only I could show them what hell the school would be trapped in if I didn't exist. Sadly, I don't have that kind of power.

    Maybe I was thinking a little harshly, but you know what? I had a right to be mad. And what happened next made me even madder. I walked in on Ivan, Alya, Kim, and Sabrina ganging up on Marinette.

    Now, contrary to popular belief, Marinette and I are very close. We just aren't allowed to show it. It's part of our 'characters', a ruse to make sure no one knows we're still the people we used to be.

   History lesson over. All you need to know is that when I saw people who claimed to be Marigold's friends beating her up.. well, let's just say I was a little pissed.

     "That's what you get for hurting Lila, you-" started Alya with a sneer. She had the gall, the fucking gall, to look Marinette in the eyes.

    Let me tell you, the amount of fury I felt in that moment was indescribable. "Stop!" I demanded. They stopped as I marched over, usual brat attitude ditched in favor of raising hell. "What did Marigold ever do to you?!"

    Kim, Alya, Sabrina, and Ivan looked shocked that I was defending Mari. Sadly, Alya eventually remembered she had a tongue (worked through her disbelief) and spoke up.

    "It's not what she did to us, but what she did to Lila! Lila's the sweetest girl on Earth, but just because they like the same stupid boy, Marinette here thinks that's an excuse to threaten her in the bathroom!"

    I rolled my eyes at how stupid these sheep were, though I was surprised not even Mari's 'best friend' could see through the lies. Like, seriously? It's pathetically obvious. The girl doesn't even know what she's trying to sell half the time.

    "For the last fucking time, I didn't threaten her! She threatened me!" Marigold snapped, twisting out of Ivan's grip and walking over to me. I saw red hand marks on Marinette's wrists, clearly the result of a hard grip.

    My gaze switched to Ivan. "Christ, what happened to the pacifist?" I muttered, hoping my eyes were sending a clearer message than daggers plunging into Caesar's back.

    Alya gritted her teeth and swore under her breath whilst the boys clenched their fists and muttered empty words. Did they forget everything Marinette had done for them? Just in case, I chose to remind them.

    "I'm sorry, do you not remember everything our Empress has done to help you? Don't you remember Kimmy Sanders? Jim Auch? Olivia Running?"

    That last one finally received a flinch. Olivia Running was a nice, kind, gentle, and sweet person - when the teachers were around, anyways. In truth, she was a hacker who changed her grades, bully to anyone who dared speak ill of her, and sexual harasser of any poor boy that crossed her path. She tried to make moves on Kim and tried to convince Ivan to take off his shirt in the middle of class while the teacher went to the bathroom. To quote my text to the Royals group chat: "like.. girlie, wtf?"

    Me, Nath, and Marigold got rid of her after taking videos of what she did. Wasn't terribly hard, just needed a few well-placed listening devices, a volunteer or two to film in secret, that sort of thing. When we revealed her, she went fucking feral, screaming and yelling and trying to attack everyone in the room. Thank god for me (which, come to think of it, is a sentiment that should be expressed more often). When all was said and done, she was put in a detention center in Germany. Back then, Kim and Ivan swore to us that they would be in our debt.

    Clearly, things had changed.

    "Look, I'm sorry, but Mari's-" Ivan began, only for me to cut in. "You do not have the right to use that nickname anymore. You hear me?"

    A few more steps and I was a mere foot away from Ivan. Though I may have been physically looking up at him, I was still very much looking down at him. "Get this through your fucking skull real quick, m'kay? From this moment on, you've left loyalty at the doorstep. You betrayed us when you betrayed her. You believe a fox with a sliver tongue over a true friend, and if that's all it takes for you to switch sides, maybe you were never friends at all. That little Lila bitch you've promoted to Jesus is the most obvious liar I've ever seen."

    Their next reactions were fairly predictable, yet still disappointing nonetheless. Ivan's face went red. Meanwhile, Kim shouted "LILA IS NOT A LIAR!" and basically pounced.

    One deep breath. Two. Three. Four. Let them think you're weak. Five. Six. Seven. When in reality.. Eight. Nine. Ten.

    You're stronger then Satan herself.

    I tripped Alya as she was trying to move for Marinette, and dodged Kim's punch to my face. I grabbed his wrist as he was pulling his fist back and judo flipped him. Ivan chose that moment to purchase temporary braincells and run away.

    Mari stumbled over me, dazed. "Hey, Queenie. Where's.." Shit, this was bad if she's trailing off like that. "Shush, darling, you need rest."

    I offered her my arm as support, and she took it. Y'know how I said this was bad? Well, if Nette was accepting help, then it was WAY worse then I thought.

    With some effort from Mari, we both managed to get to my limo outside. "Jean Paul, you are a total lifesaver." I murmured. He heard me and nodded, looking back at Marinette with a concerned expression. Some students wore the same face, and any members of my class..?

    They just stood there, some looking at my honorary sœur  like she was some sort of disease, and some like it was a crime that she hadn't just curled up into a pathetic ball. Lila was gawking as if she was sorry, but I saw her flash a smile. That little piece of whore-dipped shit! And the nerve of those other bastards!

    I gave them each a dirty look, Lila's being the dirtiest, and slid Mari into one of the middle rows of my limo. She dozed off instantly. I was sure to flip them off as we drove away.

    Now that I had a chance to look over her injuries, I did, and.. damn, had this girl been fighting the mafia?! She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was all messed up, she was bruised in several places.. God.

    The trip to my hotel was dead silent, except for the sound of Jean Paul handing me some first-aid, my quiet "Thank you"s, and me applying said first-aid.

    Once we got to the hotel, I had some maids carry her to my room (with my help, of course) and called her parents to come pick her up. The bluenette was only half-conscious when she came about, not awake but not asleep. All she offered in terms of conversation were absent-minded agreements and words of gratitude. Not great, but better than nothing.

   When Tom and Sabine got to the hotel, I helped Marigold walk over to her parents' car. Once I explained what had happened to their daughter, their faces both went white with rage. Despite what Nathy loves to say, the Dupain-Cheng family's fury might just be equal to if not more than ours.

    As the Dupain-Chengs drove home, I watched them until they were no longer in view. I walked back into the hotel with only one thought on my mind,

    This has gone too far.

(time skip brought to you by Bunnix/my laziness)

    It's been two days. Two days since the attack on Marigold. Two days since Sabrina left. Hopefully, this won't be my time metric for forever, but-

    Wait a second.. no way. No fucking way. But no, that was a very specific tune in my ears, a tune that signified a comment in..

The Royals' group chat:

Mari: That's it. Lila has got to go.

    I was worried. What could Lila have done that would push Mari over the edge? It has to be something bad. Mari normally tries to reason with our poor target first. What could Lila have done?

    Well, what could she have done to push Nette over the edge, I should say. I could make an entire book series of things she's done. But I digress.

What did she do? :Chloe

Mari: She ripped my sketchbook.

Mari: It was in my locker with a note. Here:

    Mari sent over an image of a post-it note with the words: 'Give up. Your classmates hate you, and soon, everyone in Paris will follow. - Anonymus'. I was furious. And she didn't even spell anonymous correctly! If you're going to write a note like that, at least think about the spelling!

Sausage bitch can't even spell right. :Chloe

Mari: You in, then?

You need to ask? You've gotten rusty, Empress. :Chloe

Mari: Nath, I know you're reading. If we're gonna get rid of Rossi, we need the Scarlet Prince back. We need you.

Nath: I'm in. Bitch framed me for stealing her art, now my sketchbook's ruined. Rossi couldn't draw a stick figure if she was taught by van Gogh himself

Mari: Good to see you've still got some sense in you.

Nath: ❤️

💛 :Chloe

Mari: 💜

    For a moment, I was in shock. I couldn't believe what just happened. But then it hit me: The Royals were actually coming back.

    As if by instinct, I walked over to my closet. Some rummaging revealed results, with me pulling out a chest covered in dust. It looked old and long-forgotten, which I suppose it was. I opened the chest and pulled out a photo from years ago-me, Marinette, and Nathaniel giving proud smiles to the camera in stunning original outfits. I smiled, resting the picture against my dresser mirror. No more hiding.

    "This is gonna be fun."