Chapter Text
“Come with me. I want to show you something.”
Cold, was Adrien’s first thought as he descended into the basement—a basement he didn’t even know he had—as his father stoically walked ahead of him. His arms reflexively crossed together in the hope of retaining some warmth as a shiver wracked his body. Curious, he blew out of his mouth, watching for a cloud of air. Thankfully, he didn’t see it, otherwise he might’ve asked for a coat.
Although, from the serious, unyielding way Gabriel ordered him to go with him, Adrien doubted he would’ve paused to allow his son to quickly grab a coat upstairs.
Of course, his iceberg of a father appeared entirely unbothered by the change in temperature. His proud and careful stride didn’t falter for the slightest moment, and he certainly didn’t show any weakness such as crossing his arms together and shivering. Adrien idly wondered if he was beside or in front of him, would he have scolded his son for not following his example?
Adrien’s eyes strained to see the man in front of him. The lamps positioned on either side of the walls of the hallway provided little light, only enough to ensure he didn’t trip over his own feet. He honestly half-expected his father to pull out a torch and light it like in those adventure movies; that would’ve been better than trying to navigate in these nearly dark hallways. Besides, the flame might’ve provided a little heat for them.
But Gabriel Agreste was far from the adventuring type, entirely unlike any of the heroes Adrien had seen on TV. He was too dignified and posh to bravely lead the way in a dark cavern by holding a wooden torch. He would probably opt for something classier, like an oil lamp or a lantern.
Yes, a lantern, like the one the Phantom of the Opera used. Adrien could see the scenario happening, especially given the circumstances. Gabriel leading him through dimly-lit winding hallways, Adrien clueless as to where he was being guided to, and the most stable light being provided only by a single lantern his father held out in front of him.
And hey, Gabriel played the piano too! It wasn’t exactly the instrument the Phantom played, but it was close enough to the piano. Adrien wasn’t sure if his father could sing, though. He never heard him, and never thought to ask.
Gabriel Agreste pounding away on the piano keys, singing in a harsh baritone for Nathalie to provide him with his schedule for the day, or to forbid Adrien from leaving the house and berating him for thinking otherwise…he might be dramatic enough for that.
Adrien didn’t realize he was chuckling until his father halted and he nearly crashed into his back.
“Is something amusing to you, Adrien?” Gabriel asked frostily, his tone perfectly matching the atmosphere.
Adrien swallowed, his earlier mirth dimming like the lanterns on the walls. “No, Father. I’m sorry.”
Gabriel hummed low in his throat, apparently dissatisfied with the answer, but opted not to press the issue. He started walking again, and Adrien did everything he could to hold in a relieved sigh.
His head perked up when he suddenly heard metallic clanking, and just as quickly as it reached his ears, he realized his footsteps created the sound as well. The floor had changed from wooden to metallic, leading Adrien to wonder yet again just where in the world his father was taking him. How many people had basements with metal flooring? And how many people had basements this massive and complex? He was fully aware he was wealthy, but come on…
But just when he thought it couldn’t continue for this long, he saw it. Adrien’s jaw dropped as his father led him inside a much more spacious room. Hell, it had to be big enough to hold a blimp. Lamps—thankfully brighter than the ones in the hallways—were placed along the walls, allowing him to see more of the room. Although, there wasn’t much to it. Just more metal flooring and some metal beams crisscrossing on either side of the bridge lying just ahead of them, the only path they could take.
Oh, and there was also the main source of light, which came in a single, yellowish spotlight at the end of the room. If Adrien didn’t know any better, he would say that it was sunlight instead of something artificial, but he had a feeling that they were beyond a point that the sun could touch.
It illuminated the intricate design on the wall, something that reminded Adrien of a flower, or maybe a lucky four-leaf clover. It also shed light on a few evergreen bushes on the ground (how did those even grow down here with the metal flooring and lack of sunlight?) surrounding something in the distance.
Adrien narrowed his gaze, trying to discern what the speck was but ultimately failed. His vision wasn’t nearly as strong as he’d hoped. Plus, the dimmer light was probably messing with his eyes.
Gabriel said nothing as he started to walk forward once more. Adrien dutifully trailed behind while taking the time to marvel at the…room around him. Could it be called a mere room? It was way too massive for such a small-sounding name. Chamber? Expanse? Those sounded like better words to describe it.
At the halfway point of the bridge, Adrien finally received a clearer view of what once was a speck, that was now a case of some sort. It was propped up on display, but he still couldn’t see the contents. Whatever it was, it was too small to be anything extraordinary.
A scowl twisted his lips. His father dragged him all the way down here, with all the secrets and mystique to get him practically bursting with curiosity, led him to this grand expanse, only to show him something in a small case? All this grandeur for nothing?
Appearances can be deceiving. Never judge a book by its cover. You know what they say about assuming…
All were phrases Adrien had heard growing up, either in books, TV, or more recently at school. He acknowledged the wisdom in those phrases, but other than that didn’t give them much thought.
He should’ve. Maybe then he wouldn’t have felt like the floor was ripped beneath him. Maybe he wouldn’t have nearly fallen in his shock. Although, could anything have really prepared him for the sight that lay across the bridge?
“Is that-?” Adrien whispered, before words lost him entirely. He was honestly surprised he could even manage that, since he was positive all the air left his lungs already.
“Yes,” Gabriel replied. He didn’t spare a look to his son as he spoke, his stare completely concentrated on the woman frozen in time in front of them. “It’s your mother.”
Adrien felt numb as he slowly approached the coffin. All this time he thought his mother had simply disappeared, that she was alive somewhere but couldn’t be found, or that she merely left their family and moved somewhere else. He never thought she would be right under his nose the entire time.
But it was wrong. She was so still, not even her stomach rose and fell to indicate her breathing. Her eyes were closed and showed no hint of ever opening again. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her, the same hands that had once affectionately ruffled his hair but didn’t even twitch with life now.
At first glance she looked to be the picture of death.
And yet…
As he looked closer, he could see her skin retained that peachy, warm glow with no signs of decay. Her hair was the same radiant gold he remembered, and her lips were slightly upturned in the ghost of smile she always had when she was asleep (before he would wake her up to open presents on Christmas morning).
If it weren’t for the coffin and her not breathing, he would’ve assumed she was only sleeping. Yet she was in a coffin and her body lay unmoving, which most would associate with death, but she showed no other indications of it!
“What’s wrong with her?” Adrien asked after regaining his bearings. However, he felt he would never truly get over what he was seeing. “She’s not dead, is she?”
Gabriel shook his head, that stoic frown never leaving his mouth.
“No, she isn’t.” Finally, he turned his attention to his son. “Do you remember those fairy tales your mother would read to you?”
Adrien didn’t know what childhood bedtime stories had to do with any of this, but he nodded nonetheless.
“You could say she’s like Snow White,” Gabriel continued, casting a look toward his not dead but not alive wife. “It’s a sleeping death, only no kiss is going to cure it. She’s alive, but barely.”
Adrien followed his father’s gaze, his eyes shining with a new desperation. If even a little part of her was still alive, then maybe they could save her!
“Father, isn’t there something we can do? There has to be some sort of cure!”
For the first time that night, his father smiled. No, it was more so a grin, something equally rare. Normally Adrien yearned for such gestures of approval and would’ve beamed back in pride gratitude.
So why did he feel a shiver of dread race down his spine instead?
“There is, Adrien. There’s only one way in the world to bring her back, and I’ve been working on obtaining it for awhile now.”
Now Adrien was confused. “You’re funding research for it?”
Gabriel ignored his question and spread out his arms, his head tilted towards the sky. Before Adrien could question what he was doing, his father said the words he never expected to hear from someone from his own family.
“Nooroo, transform me!”
In a flash, Adrien was met with perhaps his worst nightmare, even worse than the time he dreamed of kissing Marinette only to pull back and see Chloé’s head on Marinette’s body and hear her laughing hysterically at him.
He took a step away from the figure in front of him. The man who caused so much terror in their city, who preyed on people’s emotions at whatever opportunity he could get and use them for his own gain. The man who wasn’t above using children for his evil schemes. The man who was responsible to his jumping off a building and being saved by the skin of his teeth, and the same man that almost caused him to get stabbed by another akuma.
“You-you’re…you’re…!” Adrien gasped. For the second time he felt the floor give way beneath him. His knees wobbled in his effort to stay upright and not collapse with the shock of it all. First, he discovers that his mother was here the whole time and partially dead, and now this?!
Papillon grinned down at him, his hands clasped over the top of his cane.
“How-how could you?!” Adrien spluttered, fury rising within him and quelling the shock.
He pointed at the man who has caused so much suffering for so many people in the past year. He knew his father could be harsh, but he didn’t think he would ever escalate to becoming a supervillain!
“How could you do this?! You’ve been terrorizing Paris, turning people into monsters, causing misery for so many people!”
“I’ve never caused misery, Adrien, that isn’t part of my powers,” Papillon denied, shaking his head. Was he seriously disappointed? If anything, Adrien thought that he deserved to be disappointed!
“I’ve only used pre-existing misery and took over from there. I’ve never caused any negative feelings.”
“What about fear?” Adrien snapped, crossing his arms together. “You’ve caused plenty of that.”
“I don’t do it because I want to,” Papillon argued, scowling. “I create those akumas for your mother!”
He turned to point at the woman in question with his cane, both of their gazes softening for a moment before they locked eyes again.
“And how is that helping her?” Adrien asked, raising an eyebrow. He would love to hear this reason. Emilie Agreste was peaceful and gentle, she would never condone her husband doing these things.
“If I can get Ladybug and Chat Noire’s Miraculouses, I will be able to have one wish without any consequences.” His features softened again, hope filling his eyes. “I will be able to bring your mother back. She’ll be back to normal as if it never happened. Once this is done, I’ll give up being Papillon forever. My only goal is to save her, I don’t have any other sinister desires.
“But lately,” he continued, when Adrien opened his mouth to speak. “There have been complications. My akumas can hold up fairly well against Ladybug and Chat Noire. There have been a few times when I almost had their Miraculouses in my grasp and completed my wish. However, they’ve done things that have tipped the scales in their favor now more than ever and I find myself at an extreme disadvantage.”
Papillon stared hard at Adrien. “I assume you’ve heard about them in the news. Carapace, Queen Bee, Renard Rouge?”
Adrien could only nod. For some reason he had a bad feeling of where this conversation was heading.
“They can call on their allies whenever they wish, a luxury that I don’t have. Until now.”
His stomach felt hollow. Papillon had an ally now? That could spell defeat for Paris’s duo, depending on how powerful this ally was.
“Who is it?”
His father grinned and reached for a pocket inside his suit jacket. Soon enough Adrien found himself peering at a small brooch. It reminded him of a peacock’s fan, blue with five feathers attached and each with a single, pink jewel on the tips.
Adrien tilted his head, trying to find the reason why Paris’s supervillain was showing him this. Overall it looked just like any other pretty brooch.
Appearances can be deceiving. Never judge a book by its cover. You know what they say about assuming…
He really needed to start heeding that advice.
“This is the peacock Miraculous. With this the user will be able to transform into a peacock hero…or villain. I am giving it to you, Adrien. Together, we will get the ladybug and black cat Miraculouses and finally get your mother back!”
Adrien’s lips parted as the color drained from his face. His wide eyes darted between his father and the seemingly-innocent piece of jewelry lying in his palm. Another Miraculous? How did he get this? More importantly, he wanted him to wear it? To fight alongside him against Ladybug and Chat Noire and against the whole city? Their home?
“I-I don’t-” he stuttered, unable to find words. His father, Papillon, was giving him a Miraculous to join him in his villainy. He would be helping the man who hurt so many people, all for the cause of his mother’s health.
It was a good cause, but at the expense of so many people’s safety and happiness? Don’t get him wrong, he wanted-
“Don’t you want her back?” Papillon snapped, indignant when Adrien didn’t make an attempt to take the offered brooch.
“Of course I do!” Adrien said, offended that he could even ask such a question. “It’s just that-”
“It will only be temporary, just until we get the Miraculouses and free her. After that we’ll never use our own again.” His eyes softened into a pleading look, beseeching Adrien to consider. “I miss her. Don’t you?”
Adrien cast his gaze toward the coffin. She was just as lifeless as when he first saw her and showed no signs of opening her eyes anytime soon. He missed those warm eyes, her bright smiles, her hugs and kisses and encouragement and kindness and spirit.
“I miss her too,” he whispered brokenly. He squeezed his eyes shut to prevent the tears threatening to spill. He wanted his mother back, his family, more than anything. But at the cost of working with a villain and threatening his home?
He refocused on the Miraculous held in front of him, biting his lip.
“Trust me, son. This is the only way we can have her back.”
Adrien knew there was no other way, not from the way his father so. It was his tone of finality, that there were no other options. It was a tone he heard often back when he was trying to convince him to let him go to school, or when he overheard him talking on the phone to his designers.
Well, he did say that it was only temporary. Once they got the Miraculouses they could use the wish to bring Maman back and then they’d give them up forever. If he did his job quickly, then it would be less time all around for being a bad guy. A surge of guilt hit him from knowing he was about to betray Ladybug and their city, but what other choice did he have? If there was a chance to get Maman back, he had to take it.
“Fine,” he relented, taking the brooch. It felt warm in his hand, like it was pulsating with life. He settled his features into the sternest expression he could muster. “But I have some conditions.”
“Conditions?” he repeated, chuckling. “And what sort of conditions do you have for me?”
“I’m serious,” Adrien hissed, narrowing his eyes. He might’ve been coaxed into taking the Miraculous, but there was no way that he would be swayed with what he had to say now.
Papillon sighed. “Alright, then. What are your conditions?”
“First, no killing.”
“I’ve never killed anyone, Adrien,” his father informed with gritted teeth. “Don’t think of me as any other common criminal.”
“I don’t think I could,” Adrien muttered under his breath. He cleared his throat and raised his voice for his next rule. “Also, I won’t deliberately hurt a civilian.”
Papillon, to Adrien’s surprise, nodded. “That is fair. No innocents will be harmed.”
“Lastly,” Adrien said and held up a finger, “we give Ladybug and Chat Noire’s Miraculouses back to them when we complete the wish. We’re just borrowing them, not stealing them.”
Papillon grimaced, obviously reluctant to agree to this condition. If what he said about the wish was correct, then a power like that could rival a god’s. Anyone would be hesitant to give up such a power.
Not that Adrien cared about that. He wasn’t going to see his father become a power-hungry maniac, not if he could help it.
The longer the silence stretched on, with neither budging, at last Papillon sighed.
“Alright, agreed.” His eyes darted between the Miraculous in Adrien’s palm to his shirt, before meeting his perplexed gaze. “Well, aren’t you going to put it on?”
Adrien peered down at the brooch in his hand. Although he already said he would do this, he felt uneasy to follow through with it. It felt so final to put it on, that there was no turning back from this.
Maman. She needs you.
Releasing a shuddering breath and ignoring his rapidly increasing guilt, he secured the brooch to the inside of his white button-up shirt. Even without it being activated, it would still be noticeable, and so he wanted to get in the habit of concealing it. Besides, who wears a brooch everywhere they go? It was better to hide it.
A blue light shot out of the place where he pinned the brooch, momentarily blinding him. He abruptly shut his eyes and shielded them with his hand until the light faded. Luckily it only lasted a few seconds and Adrien was able to open his eyes again, only to gape at the tiny falling creature that took place of the light.
He reached out and caught it. The kwami was a royal blue in color, with six feathers that resembled a peacock’s that acted as a tail. Their crest consisted of three separate blue feathers and there was a peachy dot in the middle of its head. It was lovely to look at, but there was something clearly wrong with it.
It didn’t move. It lay practically lifeless in his hands.
Adrien tentatively poked its head in an effort to wake it up, to no avail. There wasn’t a single twitch of life in the creature.
“What’s wrong with it?” Adrien questioned, glancing up at his father in concerned confusion.
“The Miraculous is damaged,” he replied with a frown, almost as if it pained him to say it. “Duusu can still transform you, but other than that you won’t be able to interact with her.”
“Damaged?!” Adrien yelped. “Can I wear it? Will anything happen to me, too?”
“You’ll be fine,” he dismissed. “You may feel a little weak after detransforming, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. Besides,” he grinned, “if you do your job quickly enough, you won’t have to worry about that problem for long.”
Adrien bit his lip, chancing a look down at Duusu who had yet to move at all, and he doubted that she would anytime soon. Something that curiously felt like dread crept in the pit of his stomach. Every instinct he had screamed at him that something was wrong and to throw the Miraculous back in his father’s face. But…
Maman. She needs you.
Adrien sighed and relented with a nod. He could do this. He was strong. It would only make him feel a little weaker afterward, something that could be fixed with an energy bar or something. And like his father said, if he did his job quickly enough, then he won’t have to be bothered with it for long.
After all, what was the worst thing a damaged Miraculous could do? It wasn’t like it could kill him.