This fic is inspired by @fandomsforpali IG story quite a while back where the question was, IIRC, "How would each character learned about the situation?". I made several fic using that prompt, but this one is the best one I could make after a long hiatus from writing. This may not be much, but this is what I can do.
Red Determination: A Miraculous Fic
The whole class gave a round of applause after Mylene gave her speech about her dream job: being an environmental activist. A benevolent job, fitting her nature perfectly.
Today, each and every one of them must give a speech about their dream job, an assignment Ms. Bustier gave them two weeks ago, where they must do research about their job and pretty much try to convince why their job is important. They were supposed to make the speech last week, but an akuma attack delayed it by a week.
Ms. Bustier looked at the attendance list before calling out the next name she chose randomly. "Alya Cesaire."
Some of the class were cheering on her. Nino cheered the loudest and had Ms. Bustier telling him to quiet down. Marinette just placed a hand on her shoulder, barely making a smile that she knows her best friend didn't look.
To everyone else, Alya may looked fine, almost expressionless, but Marinette knows better. Something has been bugging her best friend, almost a whole week, and Alya never spoke about it with her. She always said "I need to learn something".
Alya stood in front of the class, a sheet of paper with her speech in hand, and she looked at her friends, not focused to any of them.
"Good morning everyone." Alya spoke. "Well, as you all know, I'm here to make a speech about my dream job."
None of her classmates noticed it, but her voice trembled when she spoke the first sentence. It was slight, almost unnoticed, but Marinette and Nino caught on that. They shared a concerned look but said nothing otherwise.
"As you all know, I wanted to be a journalist, which is why I created the Ladyblog and post videos about the latest akuma attacks as a, well, let's just say it's training." A few of the giggled, being fully aware of her reckless behavior. "And of course, I can do that almost without much to fear. Ladybug always save the day, so I can be stupidly reckless. Although that's not something I should be proud of."
Marinette twitched slightly. Sure, her Miraculous Ladybug can fix any akuma damage, no matter how bad it is, but still, she'd rather deal with akuma knowing her best friend is being anywhere but near the danger itself.
"So, I did a deep research for this speech about being a reporter for the last two weeks. Too deep, I must say, and I learned a lot about it." She spoke matter-of-factly. "Of all the things that I learned, I particularly learned about the...weight of being a journalist."
That short delay instantly shifted the mood of the class. Now, they're all looking at her. Listening to what she learned in the last two weeks from this assignment.
Alya took a breath and let it out softly. "I learned that being a journalist is more than just trying to get the latest scoop and news . Scandals that piqued people's interest that makes them talk about it in their free time." She said. "I also learned that being a journalist also mean to put my life on the line and being ready to lose it any second, all for the sake of telling the truth to the world."
There's another delay, longer than before. Concern was visibly painted on her classmates' faces, and even Ms. Bustier had to step in.
"Alya, if you don't feel like doing the speech now, you can do it later with me after class. You can go back to your seat." The teacher said, as concerned as everyone else.
"Thanks, Ms. Bustier, but I'll do it now." Alya gave a quick smile. "If I want to be a journalist, I have to be ready to face reality and truth."
She lowered her hand that's holding up her speech, and she spoke as if she had memorized every single letters on the paper. "Since October 7th 2023, israel had been committing genocide on Palestinians' land, committing war crimes after war crimes, and violating every single international law.
"In just a single year, they have murdered over 45.000 Palestinians, where 17.000 of them are children. And 146 of them are journalists, as per the latest news. That is twice the number of journalist killed in World War 2, the most horrific war in human history that lasted for several years, in just a single year."
Someone scoffed, and it came from none other than Chloe. "Are you really trying to turn this whole thing into politic? How ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous."
Chloe didn't even look at Alya when she spoke. She could pretend all she wants, but everyone present there could hear it in her voice, one that's often filled with pride and arrogance, was trembling for once.
Alya read that act all too well, and she continued. "Genocide tied every topic together, even our dream jobs." Alya turned to her friends. "Mylene, you said you wanted to become an environmental activist, correct?"
The environmental activist nodded her head. "Yes."
"Do you know in just a single year, israel have dropped over 80.000 tons of bombs on Gaza? Compare that to the two nukes that were dropped on Japan in World War 2, both weighted 9.300kg in total. Max, how much is the comparison?"
Max, with his calculator on hand, answered with a choked voice, "That'll be 8.6 times more."
"In a single year. Now, Max," Alya continued with Max after Mylene nearly fainted. "You love technology more than anything. How would you react when you know they used drones that plays baby crying to lure the Palestinians out from their shelter to kill them? What would you do when you heard about "Where's Daddy?" AI."
Max was reluctant, afraid of what he would see. And yet, his fingers moved by themselves and search for it. "Oh my god" was the only response he could give.
"Sabrina," Alya turned to the orange haired girl. "You wanted to be a nurse, a healthcare worker. In just a single year, more than 900 healthcare workers were murdered by israel, 260 of them were nurses."
Sabrina's face lost her color, but Alya is not stopping.
"Kim, you want to be an athlete. FIFA is putting a double standard for Russia's invasion on Ukraine and israel's genocide on Palestinians. Ivan, stay at home dad, 70% of the people israel killed are women and children. Nino, a movie director, this is the most documented genocide in history. Alix—"
Abruptly, Alya stopped. She unclenched her fist that nearly teared her speech paper and wiped the single tear on her cheek.
Her heart was beating fast. Flames burning wild within her, crawling its way up her throat. She couldn't exactly tell what she's feeling right now, because she felt everything. Sadness, fury, disgust, shame, all burning inside her.
She took a deep breath once more, keeping her emotions under control. She looked at the crumpled piece of paper in her hand and folded it into her pocket.
"This is not something that happened just recently, it's been going on for decades." Alya spoke again, keeping herself together with everything that she had. "In 2021, israel massacred 137 people, then in 2019, in 2014, in 2012, in 2009, and many others and all the way back to 1948 where they massacred five towns. Seven decades of oppression."
Alya take a look at Marinette, then Adrien and Nino. For the first time, she smiled, genuinely.
"I haven't changed my mind about being a journalist, and I am not discouraged in the slightest even after knowing that the international law will not protect me," she said. "That is why I will create another blog to keep everyone as up to date as possible about the situation in Palestine, and I'm planning to held a protest this weekend to demand for an end to this illegal occupation."
"Alya," Ms. Bustier called with a thin smile on her face, the similar smile she wear when instead of punishing the wrongdoer, she punished both sides. "Don't you think protest is a bit too much?"
"It's not." Alya answered immediately. "We helped Mylene with her protest during the Project Oxygen announcement, and we did it. We were fighting for environment back then, now we're fighting for human rights."
Alya looked at her friends once more with determined look, and they looked back on her with the same look as her.
"I will close my speech with my all time favorite quote: "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing". We may not have superpower like Ladybug and Chat Noir, but we have the power to make a change. This time, let's us all be heroes." Alya said. "I am Alya Cesaire, thank you for your attention."
She went back to her chair with a deafening cheers.
Writer's note: You don't need a miraculous to be a hero. All you need is that first step to fight against injustice.
We're with you. We'll fight together.
turnnoffyourmind
snowghoul
jbbartram-illu
germansingergirl
