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"No...this isn't how it was supposed to go..."
The corpse of the Eiffel Tower lay in ruins.
Phantom echoes of the metal groaning filled the air from time to time as the debris that coddled the tower's beams occasionally tumbled from the sharp wind.
"This didn't fix our mistake..."
The Notre Dame continued to crumble bit by bit despite already being destroyed beyond comprehension. The ancient, stained glass windows were nothing but dust that could blind one's eyes if they were unlucky.
From time to time, the sound of the church's bell would haunt the awoken, a bass droll that would vibrate through the air followed by a higher pitched accent that would send shivers down one's spine.
"You were meant to just wake up so that you, I and our son could be family again..."
The sky flickered from one hue to another ethereally, churning to a complexion of butchered meat, to darkening to the shade of blood and then rinse and repeat. The moon hung upside down, alarmingly closer to the earth's orbit and glowed like the eyes of a predator in the night.
The acute-shaped clouds, almost like pitch black smoke, flared around the moon like the wings of a devil, only spreading across the sky like a plague. The copper scent of blood mingled with the sour stench of death and destruction in the air that mirrored the devastated city it was born in.
"Son? You call that our son? Don't be silly Gabriel,"
Two frail bodies, battered and dishevelled, lay side by side in a crater of what's left of the Agreste mansion.
Blood pooled from their bodies like a puddle and bloodied hands laid tightly entwined between them, glassy eyes peering ever so slightly under their unmoving lashes. The girl's vacant dead blues remained in contact with the boy's empty greens whilst the icy wind lightly blew against their hair and the blood from her ears and his finger kept on running.
They didn't move.
They didn't blink.
They didn't even breathe.
"How could you dismiss Adrien like that!? Our little Adrien...your little sunshine...remember...? Please...bring him back!"
Gabriel Agreste begged on his knees again and again, practically grovelling at the feet of the glowing figure that watched him apathetically. The tears that streamed down his weak, exhausted face didn't even make the figure flinch; instead, she stared him down as if he was a mere worm begging not to be eaten by the crow.
Raising a brow, she lifted Gabriel's chin up with her fingers, allowing her lips to stretch into a smile that seemed far too saccharine to be genuine.
"We can always make another son, Gabriel. One that is actually fit to bear the mantle of destruction as well as be a sweet, obedient boy that listens to his parents- unlike him."
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In a split second, her hand was smacked away and Gabriel scrambled backwards till he reached the corpses of the failed heroes, biting back a sob as his fingers sunk into the cooling pool of blood that seeped out of the duo.
His determined grimace countered her blank smile while they both stood up simultaneously. If anyone were alive nearby, witnessing the husband and wife, they'd have momentarily compared their synced movements to Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Head bowed down, the man opened his arms like a barrier, as if he was trying to shield the children and took on a defensive stance. Exhaling sharply, he peered back up and gathered all of what remained of his energy to send a powerful, spine-chilling glare.
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"You're not my Emilie. My wife adored Adrien more than anything else in the world! She wouldn't have wanted this!" The broken miraculous that he wore flared with life on his earlobes and finger, filling the deranged man with hope. The cracked gloss of the earrings swirled with a red light whilst the shattered steel of the ring glowed like acid.
Creation and destruction are not dead yet! There is a chance to set things right!
"Ah, ah, ah," Emilie- the imposter tsked playfully, wagging her pointer finger at him and ventured closer despite Gabriel crouching like a cornered animal ready to attack. "Looks like you didn't know me all that well, Gabe. Quite ironic for someone who wielded the mantle of empathy." She purred but that only filled Gabriel with more dread from head to toe.
"How should I prove that I'm the real deal, dear? Should I..." She hummed exaggeratedly, tapping her finger against her cheek with nonchalance. "...Recite our first date?" She was now trailing a hand up his arm. "Our first kiss?" Her hand curled behind his neck, cupping it as her fingers tangled with his shorter locks. "Our wedding night?" She was only a breath away now, melting away all of Gabriel's defences, regardless of the way his mind was screaming to fight back. "Or when we discovered the miraculous?"
A tight slap was delivered across his face, whipping his face to the side, the inhuman strength behind it caused his body to lurch backwards like he's been whacked with a baseball bat. He crashed through numerous walls and buildings like a bullet until he was finally sprawled within the remnants of the Dupain-Cheng's boulangerie.
It hurt to move.
It hurt to see.
It hurt to breathe.
"I...I-I...I'm s-sorry...Adrie-Adrien...Mar-Marinette...so...so sorry..." The words came out as a dying whisper from his throat, followed by blood being coughed out horrendously. Gabriel's vision swirled into a fuzzy blur till all he could see were splotches of colour.
He was dying.
He wasn't going to make it.
"N-Nooroo..." He whispered, summoning the frenzied lilac kwami from the brooch under his torn tie, having hidden there for the time being. The little God fluttered anxiously, hand cupping his mouth as horror etched into his face when he had a quick glimpse of the world around him. Just the sight of the fallen Ladybug and Chat Noir in the distance and a blonde woman that began to float towards them not too far away was enough to make him heave.
"Master...what have you done?" Nooroo sobbed, clutching what's left of Gabriel's tie. "Your wish got everyone killed...it got your son killed!" Big, fat tears rolled down the little butterfly's cheeks, internally berating himself for not trying hard enough to stop his charge from creating this dystopian world.
"Nooroo...no am-amount of apologies or r-regrets...from me...will salvage this..." With the last of his energy, Gabriel pulled the earrings out of his lobes and slipped the ring off, handing them to the distraught kwami.
Nooroo gasped at the jewels, tears only cascading further and then glanced back at Gabriel. For the first time in what seemed like decades, a soft smile was present on the usually stoic man's lips.
"T-There are...survivors...there must be! Find them! N-Nooroo...they can ch-change this timeline!" With another gasp, Gabriel slumped back into the debris and exhaled his last breath. Eyes that mirrored steel clouded into a murky grey as the head he always held up in pride finally lowered down.
Nooroo awaited for a heartbeat, a breath, anything. Alas, acceptance settled in the ancient God's core and he respectfully bowed his head towards the now dead, ruthless man that deserved a fate much worse than what he was given.
Blinking back his tears, Nooroo darted away as fast as he could with the miraculous of creation and destruction in hand.
"This isn't a goodbye...not yet!"
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~(x)~
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The survivors lost the battle.
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