Archive of Our Own ^beta

The Agreste manor was dark once again. The servants had returned home and the residents were all snug in their beds, embraced by the sweet depths of sleep. 

The night was quiet, almost deathly so. A few windows were open, letting in the soft cool breeze of the summer night. The curtains swayed with the breeze, the only movement around the manor at such a late hour. 

A shadowed figure stood outside the gates, watching. Her pink eyes glowed slightly in the dark, her dress moving slightly against the back of her legs in the breeze. She knew exactly where all the cameras were on the outside of the manor and with that knowledge she was able to stay out of sight. 

One moment she was there. The next, she was gone without a sound. 

Gabriel slept soundly in his large bed, unaware of the figure lurking close by. His dreams were filled with scenes of Adrien, of Emilie, of their family reunited once more.

A shadow crossed his open bedroom window. The window was gently pushed open, just enough for the figure to enter. A cautious foot entered, then the other, silently stepping in through the window. Her body followed until she was standing inside his room.

She emerged from the dark corner of the room after being sure that Gabriel was asleep. The moonlight coming in through the space between the curtains illuminated her as she stepped out of the corner. The figure stood silently in the room. 

Dark blue hair, light blue skin, pink eyes, and light purple lips. Dressed in a long royal blue dress with white curves at the bottom and pink spots to resemble peacock feathers that almost reached the floor at the back and split up to mid-thigh in the front. Purple tights ran down into black heeled boots that stopped just higher than her ankles. A small mesh hat pinned in her hair covered part of her face. There was no mistaking the woman's identity. Everyone in Paris knew her name. 

Mayura. The holder of the peacock miraculous. Partner in crime to Hawk Moth, the butterfly miraculous holder.

Although she was seen as a sidekick to Hawk Moth in the eyes of Paris, Mayura was more than capable to taking things into her own hands to cause chaos. She also wasn't against using the miraculous for personal gain. She just didn't have a reason to do so until now.

Mayura knows what she wants and she will have it. 

My love, my love,
My fearless love
I will not say goodbye

Sea may rise
Sky may fall
My love will never die

Mayura watched Gabriel sleep. He looked so peaceful, not like his usual stressed self during the day. Why couldn't he see that trying to bring Emilie back was just making him more miserable? She would be so much better than Emilie. She could make him so much happier. 

She loved him from the moment they met and after he married Emilie she couldn't stand to see them together. That should have been her on Gabriel's arm. Adrien should have been her son. She loved Gabriel more than anything in the world. And with Emilie out of the picture she finally could have him all to herself. She was overjoyed to hear that Emilie had fallen prey to the peacock miraculous. It was disappointing to find out that she was only in a coma and not actually gone.

Unfortunately Gabriel was set on doing everything he could to bring her back. She'd been patient for two years. She hoped that Gabriel would have moved on after one year of failures, but if anything he was just more determined to bring her back than before. Another year went by with not much change. She was there for him in his times of doubt, supported him through ever tear, and although they had grown closer over the past two years it just wasn't enough for her. She wanted more. She was tired of being second place to Emilie. It was time to take things in her own hands. 

She stepped closer to the bed, admiring the slow rise and fall of his chest beneath the blankets and the way his hair was free to move without all the hair gel in it. A lock of hair was falling in his face and she had to resist the urge to push it back and run her fingers through his hair. She didn't want to wake him up.

"Don't worry Gabriel. We'll be together soon my love." She spoke softly, just louder than a whisper before placing her hand on her lips and blew him a kiss. 

With that she turned and climbed onto the window ledge, pulling the window back into its original place and with one last look she vaulted herself up onto the roof.

Gabriel stirred momentarily, rolled over, and promptly fell back to sleep. A new dream falling over him, one involving Hawk Moth and Mayura on the Eiffel Tower at sunset.

Go on, go on
Go bravely on
Into the blackest night

Hold my breath, til your return
My love will never die

On the roof, Mayura quickly surveyed the area to make sure that there wasn't anyone around to see her. The veil of darkness made it easier to hide. She ran along the rooftop and proceeded to climb the side of the tallest part of the manor leading to the attic which had been transformed into a lair for them to conceal themselves in when they were Hawk Moth and Mayura.

She found the large window with practiced agility and gently pushed in the middle pane of glass. It swung in slowly and she dropped down into the room below. She stood slowly, the corners of her lips curling up in a slight smirk as she crossed the room to the elevator that would take her down to the room Emilie was being kept in.

After two years of trying to bring her back with no luck it was time for Mayura to do it her way. It was the power of the peacock miraculous that put Emilie in her coma and it would be the peacock miraculous that finally finished the job she started. Emilie was willing to die for the peacock miraculous and Mayura was more than happy to give her that. 

Everything will be better soon. As it should have been all those years ago.

She stepped into the elevator and turned back to face the empty room. She told the elevator where to go and a moment later the elevator whirred to life and began to make its descent. A few silent moments later, the room below came into view and the elevator came to a stop when it hit the landing.

The room was dark other than a few lights at the far side of the room where Emilie's glass coffin sat, surrounded by a small garden and many floating white butterflies. The walkway in front of her was hard to see, but she knew the area like the back of her hand. 

Without taking her eyes off Emilie's coffin, Mayura stepped off the elevator and began to walk.

Ooh, ooh, ooh

Mayura walked slowly, the motion lights on the walkway lighting up in front of her as she made her way towards Emilie. Her heels clicked softly against the floor with each step, sounding louder as the sound echoed against the walls.

Ooh, ooh, ooh

Mayura enjoyed knowing that these moments would be Emilie's last. And then Gabriel would have to love her. She would be there for him, she would support him, and she would make him see that they belonged together. She wouldn't suffer this heartbreak anymore. She was sick of being sad and angry. With Emilie gone she could finally be happy.

She reached the end of the walkway and stepped onto the grass surrounding Emilie's coffin. Stepping up to the foot of Emilie's coffin her sinister smirk was replaced by a tight lipped frown and narrowed eyes.

My heart, my heart
My drowning heart
Oh all the tears I've cried

Oh I may weep forever more
My love will never die

Mayura stared at Emilie's sleeping figure, feeling the anger building inside her. This woman was the only thing standing between her and Gabriel being together. They'd already wasted too much time that could have been spent together if it hadn't been for Emilie. With Emilie gone she could finally give up Mayura and her health would improve. 

Unfortunately for her, taking on the peacock miraculous had led her down the same road as Emilie. She revelled in the extra attention from Gabriel every time she showed any sign of pain, but she knew it wasn't because he loved her and was more from a place of guilt. 

She found herself coming down here as Nathalie more often than before whenever Gabriel was holed up in his private office designing. Contemplating how she wanted to kill Emilie, but never went through with it. She'd easily get caught if she did it during the day. But after waiting for so long she just couldn't stand to wait another day. Now was the time to end this. 

Even when her mind pushed her to take what she desired most, she was still Nathalie and she was always prepared for any situation. Getting away with murder wasn't something Nathalie ever imagined she would have to prepare for, but life has a funny way of giving you what you want. 

Reaching into a pocket in her dress, she pulled out a pair of long black gloves. She wouldn't be foolish enough to leave any evidence that could lead them back to her. When the gloves were secure she pushed her dress away from her leg to reveal the knife she had strapped to her thigh. 

Removing the knife from its sheath, she held it up in front of her, her reflection staring back at her on the silver blade. She sharpened it before leaving her apartment. It could slice through anything with ease. 

Mayura was thankful that there wasn't any cameras in the lair or this would have been a lot harder to pull off. 

Mayura gripped the knife tightly in her hand as she moved up to the side of the coffin. With the knife steady in her right hand she used her left hand to open the coffin. The top swung open slowly, propped open on the right side hinges.

"I'm sure you would have wished for death over being kept alive in this state, my dear Emilie. Allow me to end your suffering. In return, I will take care of Gabriel better than you ever could." With those few words of goodbye, Mayura lifted the knife and brought it down hard over Emilie's heart, slicing her clothes, piercing her skin, and sinking down to the hilt of the knife in one swift movement.

There was a moment of pause after the knife was in as Mayura admired the look of the knife sticking out of Emilie's chest. Her white clothes slowly started to become stained red as blood started seeping from the wound. 

Mayura imagined that Emilie could actually feel the pain in her comatose state, her anger coming back in a blinding rage as she roughly pulled the knife from her chest only to bring it back down, creating another deep wound. Anger as well as excitement ran through Mayura as she continued to stab Emilie a total of at least ten times. She lost count after the first few stabs. On a few of the backwards motions of the knife, blood sprayed back towards Mayura, splashing her face with a few small lines of blood. 

If Emilie wasn't dead from the initial stab wound then she definitely was now.  

Mayura stepped back, panting from the effort put into stabbing. Thankfully she was able to control her breathing before a coughing fit could start.

She tried to wipe whatever blood was on her face onto her glove, but without a mirror she only managed to smear the blood more on her face, making her look even more psychotic with how her eyes were wide and how the corners of her lips turned up slightly. 

It was all over. 

Emilie could finally rest in peace and she could have Gabriel to herself. 

The amount of blood inside the coffin showed just how angry Mayura had been. Blood was splattered all over the sides of the coffin and Emilie's once white clothes were now completely red over her chest and down the front as the wounds continued to bleed. Splatters of blood covered her middle and some of her legs. 

It looked horrific, at least it would to any normal person. To Nathalie it was a work of art. A crime of passion. An expression of her love for Gabriel. Blood was her favorite medium to create art with.

As Nathalie looked over her masterpiece she realized it wasn't complete. A wicked thought crossed her mind and without hesitation she stepped forward towards the coffin again. With her left, non bloody hand she took Emilie's right hand and smeared her own blood all over it. When her hand was covered in blood, Mayura pulled the lid of the coffin closer and pressed Emilie's bloody hand against it, leaving a bloody handprint on the inside of the glass.

Mayura found herself smirking as she watched a few drops of blood run down the glass from where the hand print was. After taking a moment to admire the bloody handprint, she wiped her knife on a clean part of Emilie's clothes, effectively removing most of the blood from the weapon before she moved her dress back and placed the knife back into its sheath on her thigh.

Once the knife was back in place she couldn't help herself as she stuck her left hand pointer finger in Emilie's blood. She had to sign her work so Gabriel would know why she did it. She pulled the coffin lid closed and used Emilie's blood to write I LOVE YOU with a heart underneath the words on the outside of the glass. She used generic lettering so that Gabriel wouldn't recognize her writing.  
   
When Mayura was finished she made sure the lid to the coffin was closed, smearing the blood that was on the handle so it looked less like a handprint so Gabriel wouldn't be able to try and match her hand size to the handprint she had left there originally. A feeling of deep satisfaction filled her as she stepped back to fully admire her work one last time. 

My love, my love
My fearless love
I will not say goodbye

Sea may rise
Sky may fall
My love will never die

Mayura pulled out a plastic bag from her dress pocket and peeled off the bloody gloves. She put them in the bag so that she wouldn't drip blood all the way back to the lair window where she would make her escape. Leave no trail. That would make it harder for Gabriel to find out it was her. 

She would already be a suspect due to her knowledge of the room and how to find it, but she was careful to leave no evidence that could connect her to the crime. Gabriel wouldn't be able to accuse her of anything especially since he wouldn't be able to tell the police that Emilie was being kept in his secret basement where he was spending his time as Hawk Moth.

With everything in place, Mayura looked up from her hands at the now very bloody coffin and found herself smirking. The smirk slowly turned into a chuckle and then into a full out laugh, sinister and terrifying to anyone that could have possibly heard it as it echoed against the walls of the room. When she stopped laughing, her face returned to her usual neutral expression, even more terrifying to look at with Emilie's blood smeared on it. 

Ooh, ooh, ooh

She turned and began to walk back along the walkway. Her heels clicked with each slow step, echoing off the walls louder than before, carrying the weight of what she'd done mere moments ago.

Aah, aah, aah

The lights slowly turned off one by one as she walked past them, leaving the room in darkness once more other than the lights coming from Emilie's coffin.

Aah, aah, aah 

Mayura entered the elevator at the end of the walkway, turning to face Emilie for the last time as the doors closed. The elevator whirred to life and began to rise towards the lair. When the doors opened after reaching the landing, Mayura stepped out and walked to the large window still slightly ajar from her entrance.

Mayura wasn't worried about her fingerprints on the window from when she entered as her fingerprints were already on it from them coming and going from the lair occasionally. The window never got cleaned so cleaning the window of all prints would be considered suspicious. 

With a simple jump Mayura was able to pull herself up and out of the window, pulling it shut behind her. Once on the roof she was able to run and gain momentum before jumping to another rooftop and disappearing into the night.

Sea may rise
Sky may fall
My love will never die

My love will never die