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Had Gabriel Agreste been sane, like any other person in Paris -much less the country of France- he would have known Émilie was dead. Her corpse was lifeless, and as much as the capsule preserved her body for months and even years, there was no bringing her back by any form of traditional means. As time ticked by, his madness slowly grew as her body began to deteriorate. Never accepting nor rejecting this truth, all he could do was hope for something miraculous. Two Miraculouses, to be precise.
One again, he called to his Kwami, “Nooroo, Dark Wings Rise!”
Of course, Nooroo had initially insisted to him the command was simply, “Wings Rise,” but you and I both know how over-dramatic Gabriel can be. And did I mention insane? Nooroo, his depressed kwami had given up on life. That is not something an immortal creature can do with confidence. Nooroo, yet again, shook his head and transformed the man before him in a radiant violet cloud of smoke.
“I can feel a deep hatred, a dark, unstoppable force, a presence like no other!” His breath stuttered, his hands trembling.
Nathalie laid sick in the corner, watching from afar. Her coughs, unstoppable. Her hands were covered in red. Her electronic tablet, her clothing, and her Miraculous too. Adrien didn’t know how she was still alive with the sheer amount of blood she coughed up each time he saw her. It was like he was the only one who knew her days had been numbered. In her mind, she imagined herself standing right next to her boss, helping him every step of the way.
Yet the kwami that was Duusu, broken of all mind, body, and soul, rattled its head off to her in un-negotiable nonsense, completely unaware of the situation at hand. “Would you like some tea, Madame Nathalie? I could’ve sworn I heard the wallpaper speak to me that there is a little rat with a teapot around here somewhere...”
There was a smash of glass. Hawkmoth threw his cane out the window before him. “It’s that goddamn Pigeon man again, isn’t it?” Hawkmoth screamed in fury. Despite his vehement tremors and the vein bulging from his neck, he was going to take what he was going to get. Besides, it was getting somewhat entertaining. ‘Why did this man love pigeons so much? What was his deal?’ Then a thought struck him. A twisted thought. This man was reliable. He could count on him to get akumatized again. And again-
“Monsieur Pigeon.” A purple butterfly silhouette appeared around the man’s face. “Do you want your vengeance? On all of those who reject you? I can feel your anger, your fiery passion! Bring me the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir.” He initiated the first step of his new operation.
“Coo-coo, Hawkmoth.”
Disgruntled, he let out a sigh. “I’ll just take that as a yes.”
As normal, Xavier Ramier was entangled in a vibrant, yet dark cloud of magic. As time delved on, it was clear that -yet once again- Monsieur Pigeon was incapable of retrieving the Miraculouses from Ladybug and Chat Noir.
As expected.
The Thursday that same week, Xavier Ramier had been akumatized again. The battle had been the same as always, with his half-thought-out scheme that could be solved with the typical Cataclysm and Lucky Charm. But he retreated.
Monsieur Pigeon never retreated before.
That was not within his nature. He was a man who stuck to his morals and stuck his ground, even when he should turn tail.
Suspicious, Ladybug and Chat Noir had no choice but to follow him.
Over the Parisian rooftops, they jumped, tile to tile. As they moved forward, the old buildings crumbled. The shingles would fling back up in their faces, tearing the fabric of their clothes, making them scar and bleed. Their weight was, at times, too much for the withering neighbourhoods that stood for hundreds of years and they simply fell through the roof at times.
This time around, quite luckily, Monsieur Pigeon had been leading them to a rich neighbourhood whose structures wouldn’t dare let their weight collapse through the rooftops beneath them.
Monsieur Pigeon finally landed in the gardens of the Agreste Manor.
In the garden, surrounded by milkweed, a swarm of butterflies fluttered around a statue of Émilie. There was a loud creak as it suddenly slid itself backwards, revealing an opening in the wall with a flight of stairs going down.
Chat Noir’s eyes were too wide for comfort. “M’lady, do you think we have enough time to go down there?”
“We should have some time, Chat Noir,” Ladybug said to him. “This is a big discovery, I can feel it.”
The stairwell, however matching the rest of the aesthetic of the Agreste home, made of beautiful marble with shining accents, was nevertheless abandoned, and showed it, too. The lights above them were dim and flickering, as though the electricity flowing through them was unusually weak, especially considering the high standards of the construction that went into the Agreste Manor. Spiders spindled from the ceiling. Webs were in every corner. Crawling bugs against the walls, and greenery run amok. Flying creatures kept fluttering at their heads. Unexpectedly, they were white butterflies.
“You don’t think this is where the Akumas we cleansed go to, do you?” Ladybug wondered.
Chat furrowed his brows, “That, or they haven’t yet been evilized.”
A shiver went down both their spines. They carefully ventured onward, making sure to lift their feet over the vines in the path to prevent a possible trip or fall. Neither was sure if the element of surprise had been on their side or not.
“It’s getting brighter,” Chat whispered to her.
Ladybug nodded, “We’re almost out of the tunnel. Be prepared.”
They stepped out into a garden before them. Heavenly beams of light came through the stained glass windows, illuminating the white butterfly wings that flew about the room in a gentle cascade across the milkweed, rose, and butterfly bushes.
“I never thought Hawkmoth’s base of operations would be a place so beautiful,” Ladybug murmured.
“We still don’t know if this is Hawkmoths base, though.” Chat Noir was confused, looking around. “Why under the Agreste household?”
Ladybug sighed, “There are many reasons, Chat, but we can’t question that now. Literally anyone could be Hawkmoth. Inside this household or not. We need to be open to any possibility, whether it could be Gabriel, who we suspected before.” Her eyes began to water. “Or even-”
It was like he could read her mind. Chat, knowing her for too long, knew she had a special place in her heart for Adrien Agreste, but he knew he could never tell her that he noticed. “M’lady, didn’t you tell me you gave Adrien the Snake Miraculous when the Desperada Akuma attacked?”
She calmed down. “That’s right, Chat, I’m sorry. Just, being down here doesn’t give me a good sensation.”
“Don’t fret. He can smell fear. Literally.”
She nodded. “I’m thinking we should’ve gotten the full team down here.”
Chat sighed, “Stealth is on our side now, and there’s probably no going back-”
“Right you are, Chat Noir.” A deep and familiar voice echoed through the secret garden, “There is no going back.” Behind them, the entrance they came through shut with a loud thud.
Ladybug and Chat Noir cocked their heads into the shadows. Out of the darkness of a path they hadn’t noticed before, Hawkmoth’s presence withdrew from those shadows and into the light.
Hawkmoth smirked. “You of all people should understand the danger in accepting one’s true destiny, Ladybug, Chat Noir. From the moment you both accepted your Miraculouses, its fate was always to come into my hands.”
“Never, Hawkmoth!” Ladybug said.
The wicked man smirked again. “I will pry your ring from your cold dead hand with mine own, and rip your ears off with the earrings still attached with the other if you try to have it your way.”
Chat Noir’s temper emerged. “Then so be it! You don’t lay a finger on my lady!”
He smiled. He rolled his fingers on the head of his cane with a loud crackling. “When was she ever yours to begin with, might I ask? I have witnessed each and every battle and she clearly does not want you.”
Ladybug gasped. “Don’t listen to him, Chat. He’s manipulating you!”
He laughed. “How can I manipulate using the truth, dare I ask? He is nothing but an entitled pervert, if you ask me.”
She grunted. “Which I didn’t.”
“You’re just sparing his feelings. How sweet.” Hawkmoth pouted in jest. “Don’t forget who can actually read the room, you bedazzled cockroach.”
He battered Chat Noir in the back of his head with his cane where the base of his skull connected to his spine, breaking the connection between the two.
There, in front of Émilie’s grave, Chat’s lifeless body sat.
Hawkmoth pounced his body, tearing his finger off with his nothing but his gloved hands. As soon as he had the ring, he threw the detached finger back at the dead teenager.
Ladybug had no reaction time. Seconds felt like minutes. It bled into hours. Years. Decades. Centuries.
Before she knew it, Adrien’s ever-still body sat in her arms. Where his finger once was, spewing blood from the final circulation around his body from his stopping heart. She caressed the back of his head. Each finger of her own was now covered in his blood from where Hawkmoth had hit him.
Ladybug has murder in her eyes.
The room began to tremble. The chandeliers that hung above the garden began to crash at Hawkmoth’s feet. “Tikki.” It seemed like blood began pouring through the seams of the ironclad doors. “Marinette.” A brilliant light shined as though it came from heaven itself. “Unify.” No longer bound to the power of destruction, her power was left unchecked. Creation and luck had made the stars align, creating an apocalyptic storm of her very own calling.
She was, indeed, a force to be reckoned with.
In a flash of light, both a divine red and white, her mortal shell, her soul, and her mind permanently bound into one with the immortal Tikki. Her body rose from the ground, encased in light. She was transcendent. Light poured from her eyes, her mouth, even beamed off each fingernail.
Finally, her body lowered to the ground, feet landing flat on the floor. Her garbs, white and red, cascaded off her body’s natural form. Flowing behind her, a red cloak, lined in black fur and embellished in baroque design. Her mask had dissipated, revealing her face, yet instead, perched upon her head, sat a crown fit for royalty.
As the earth finally halted its rumbling, Hawkmoth stood up, staring at the ethereal being before her. “Ladybug!”
“I am no longer Ladybug,” she proclaimed. “I am Lady Magique, the Goddess of Creation, Life, and Luck.”
She stood up and there was a new air to the room.
“Adrien Agreste.” The room began to shake once more. “Chat Noir.” The thick stench of roses flooded the room. “I pronounce you the God of Destruction, Death, and Misfortune.” It was like electricity had filled the air. “Plagg.” The bloody ring flew out of Hawkmoth’s hands, back onto Adrien’s now healed finger. “Unify!” Darkness surrounded the room. The electricity in the entirety of the estate shut down. Glass rained down from every lightbulb and the immense sparks caused fire.
Nathalie, still in her hallucinations, was burnt alive and nothing remained of her but ash that day.
Lord Nuit’s eyes fluttered open. His long, dark, flamboyant eyelashes revealed his emerald green eyes once more. Healthy, thriving, living. Lady Magique pressed her lips to his, sealing their fate as the immortal star cross’d lovers they were.
His new form followed a similar suit with hers. It was as though it were from a time that hadn’t existed. A long black cloak, trimmed with dark fur and attached with his classic bell, a silver crown perched upon his head, and regal black and forest green clothes that draped his body.
She turned back to Hawkmoth. With her lover’s hand in hers, they walked together, stepping in unison.
Her delicate lips moved like rose petals in the wind. “You don’t deserve your power. I relinquish you.” Her finger glowed. With a mere press against Hawkmoth, he collapsed to the floor. A dim purple light surrounded him. It was his final transformation. The Butterfly Miraculous flew into her hand as the Peacock flew into Lord Nuit’s.
“I am Lady Magique, the strongest wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous there has ever been to exist.” She scoffed at the sickly man at her feet. “Gabriel Agreste, you baffling idiot. Your desired one wish, to bring your dearly belov’d Émilie back to life, back to her former glory from whence the Peacock Miraculous withered her away. Dare I so, I will permit that wish you have sought for so long-”
Gabriel was on his knees, in tears. “Thank you, Ladybug-”
“You shall not interrupt her!” Lord Nuit roared, wordlessly preparing his Cataclysm.
“But in turn,” Lady Magique continued, “You, Gabriel, will take her place.”
The man’s eyes widened. “What? I didn’t-”
“My gift has a price, dear Gabriel, and sealing you for eternity, where you belong, is the price you must pay on the charges of murder, terrorism and the countless destructions of the city of Paris, the threats of a new World War, and the abuse of the powers of the Miraculous. You have committed crimes against man, mortal, and immortal all the same.”
Lord Nuit and Lady Magique clasped their hands together. Light and darkness radiated in a sphere around them.
And now, Gabriel was sealed in the glass coffin for eternity.
“Adrien,” Émilie called. Lady Magique and Lord Nuit cocked their heads towards the woman's gentle voice. Both parent and son ran towards the other, embracing their impact with a hug only a mother could give her child. Émilie wept. “I missed you so much, for so long. I’m sorry I missed out on so much of your life.”
“You’re here now, Momma.” As the tears rolled down his face, a ball was forming in Lord Nuit’s throat, “And that’s a hell of a lot more than father could have ever done. Just by being here.”
With her ever-pouring tears, Émilie managed to turn to Lady Magique. “I’m so sorry, I barely acknowledged you. To whom do I owe the pleasure of meeting?”
The goddess smiled. “For you, you may be one of the very few who can know me as Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”
“Well, ‘tis very nice to meet you, Marinette. I can’t thank you enough.”
Lord Nuit smiled at her too. “It was really you, after all this time. Wasn’t it, buggaboo?”
Lady Magique nodded. “It was, and with you too, my kitten? Also, I don’t know if we can ever revert back what we have done, but if I have to spend eternity with someone, I’m glad it’s with someone I love as much as you.”
He took her hand, kissing it. “M’lady, as much as I’ll miss Plagg and Tikki, of course, I’m glad to be spending it with you too, Marinette. I love you. I always have.”
They leaned into each other, sharing a kiss. “I’m glad, mon chaton.”
The three of them, hand-in-hand, walked out of the gardens and towards the great glass elevator with not so much as another glance behind them towards the eternally entombed Gabriel Agreste.