Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Plagg wasn’t one to wander from his holder.

He never really had a reason too, he was one that was quite content to lounge about in a pocket or a bag, not worrying about what was going on in the outside world as long as he had cheese on hand– which he always did. If he did find himself curious on what humans had done over the last few hundreds of years it wasn’t too hard to find answers on the internet– access given to him right in his wonderful pocket via the phone Adrien had gotten for him.

But today was a different day– because there was some bleu d'Auvergne hidden away in the kitchen.

Adrien got him a variety of cheeses, but it had been a while since he had some blue cheese. He had smelled it in the soup his holder had been eating last night, and Plagg was sure there was more hidden away in that kitchen just waiting to get into his stomach. So while his Kitten was locked away in a conversation with his girlfriend (which he wasn’t about to interrupt, those two needed every moment they could get together, if you asked Plagg), he drifted through the halls of the mansion, in search of his precious cheese.

Unfortunately he was forced to hide when the human equivalent of dairy-free cheese chose to come waltzing by like he owned the place.

Okay, maybe he technically did– but Plagg was not just a cat, but a kwami as well. With everything except cheese the idea of owning something was stupid, just like how this Gabriel Agreste was stupid. The low end of what humanity could produce, and someone the kwami hated with a passion. He glowered at the stupid human from the shadows as he walked towards his office, face lit with determination, a clear destination in mind.

Any goal that man had was a nightmare though, especially when he loved to throw Adrien into his plans with no regard for how the boy felt– so with his kitten taking priority Plagg was forced to abandon his quest for cheese, following after the horrible Gabriel Agreste. The man smelled horrible, like fancy cologne and bland pancakes. There was a faint scent of rot under it all, but even this man could make rotten smell bad.

The man stood in front of the painting of his wife, looking up at it for a moment, before extending his hands forward. Plagg’s ears flicked up as he watched him press several hidden buttons within– the floor beneath him beginning to shift. 

Plagg wasn’t surprised as he watched the man vanish through the hidden elevator– just intrigued. Adrien had a few hidden compartments in his own room, like the small lift that hid away his piano when not in use. That’s why he wasn’t surprised that there were more in the house, but clearly this hidden passage led to somewhere seeing as it had completely whisked Gabriel away. So phasing through the manor Plagg followed the passageway that Gabriel had disappeared into.

It led to dark observatory, tucked away in the most upper part of the mansion.

Shadows covered most of the room, the only light coming from a large stained glass window that overlooked Paris. White butterflies fluttered throughout the room, drifting through the air among the specks of dusk. Gabriel Agreste stood in the middle of it all, a kwami hovering by his side. His arms spread out as he called for a transformation– and with a burst of lavender light there stood Monarch, the one his kitten called father, and their sworn enemy.

What consumed Plagg’s focus, however, was what stood behind the horrible man. Made of curved metal and a spiral design most might have found it beautiful. It was nothing but horror to Plagg’s eyes, however, inlaid with glass spheres– each one containing one of his own brethren, captured and on display as if they were trophies. For a moment Plagg couldn’t move, staring out from the shadows at the disgusting sight, which was only getting worse by the moment. 

Two empty spheres sat near the middle of the display, and it wasn’t hard to guess who they were for– Creation and Destruction. A cage for him, and a cage for his beautiful Creation as well.

Plagg had always hated Gabriel Agreste. The man was disgusting, horrible, and he had never hesitated to call him evil before. Plagg had not thought he could loathe him more, yet as he watched on he felt his bitter anger churning and growing within. Eyes narrowed into mere slits, paws curling as Destructive energy bubbled about him. The only thought that kept a Cataclysm from forming about him was the fact that Adrien was in the mansion as well, down below– and he would not put the boy in line of fire.

However the kwami did not need to summon a Cataclysm– as the remains of one already churned within this room.

The smell of rot on Gabriel made sense now, as Monarch had inflicted himself with a Cataclysm in order to escape. Now that Plagg focused, mind calm and deadly, he could sense the decay worming its way through the man’s arm. He was pleased to find that it had spread, the aura of Destruction spread across his shoulder and chest, down to curled fingers. Most of all it surrounded him from the outside in, already having spread deeper, not far from his stone heart within.

The thought of killing Gabriel had come to him many times before. It was a thought he entertained perhaps a bit too much for his holder’s comfort. He didn’t bring it up too often, times had changed and humans did prefer other means of dealing with threats– and most of all he did not want to harm one his kitten loved. All that was far from his mind now as he seized control of the destructive energy, a pained gasp coming from Monarch as he hunched over, spasming as the power coursed through him.

Plagg was Destruction, not Death. He could have easily dragged out the man’s misery and a part of him so wanted too. To let Destruction weave through every part of his form before it claimed the parts of his fragile mortal form that let him exist. To watch him writhe and suffer as he did now, falling to his knees– but Plagg felt more aware than he ever had before in this moment. Nooroo was transformed with this man, and shared every sense with him– and his brother had suffered enough.

So he had the Destruction lay claim to the man’s cold heart, his lifeless form falling to the ground the instant it stopped beating.

The transformation fell away from the man in an instant, Nooroo’s aura instantly returning to the Miraculous pinned to his shirt. The caged kwamis watched on in silence as blackness spread across Gabriel’s form, crumbling away into nothing but ash. Plagg breathed heavily, his rage and anger still as potent and bitter as before. What had happened wasn’t enough. This man’s death did not make up for what he had inflicted upon his kitten, both in and out of the mask.

“Huh,” Xuppu’s voice broke the silence. “I’m not complaining– but I thought he had a few more weeks left in him.”

“That wasn’t a natural course of a Cataclysm,” Roaar remarked uncertainly– as an aspect of Destruction herself she had a better understanding of what had just taken place, but still she looked uncertain.

Daizzi bumped against the glass. “His orders are still intact– I still can't get out!”

Wayzz was looking at Gabriel’s remains– now nothing but a pile of ash, clothes, and rings at this point– before raising his head. He called out uncertainly, a hesitation in his voice. “Plagg?”

The others seemed confused at this remark, as of course only Wayzz and Sass knew that Plagg resided within this manor as well. How he had not realized that the others had been here this entire time? He closed his eyes, rage still hot and burning, before drifting forward into the circle of light, letting the others see him.

“Plagg!” Ziggy cried, pressing up against the glass. “Plagg! You’re here!”

“That means Chat Noir has to be nearby!”

“Then Ladybug will be here!”

“We’re going to go home!”

“Get our Miraculouses, Plagg,” Trixx said, tapping on the glass urgently. “The rings, they’re the rings!”

“Rings?” Plagg finally managed to say, the confusion managing to pull him somewhat from the consuming rage.

“He used Nooroo’s powers of Transmission to transform them into rings, easier to manage,” Wayzz said.

“Yeah,” Plagg muttered. 

“Plagg, I need you to lissssten,” Sass said, but Plagg didn’t move. “Gabriel wasssss not the only one in on thisssss!”

Plagg looked up.

“Nathalie and a woman named Tomoe are involved as well,” Wayzz said. “If we don’t move quickly we risk them reclaiming the Miraculouses for themselves.”

Plagg nodded, swooping down to the ashy remains, and began to pluck out the scattered rings among them. They all looked nearly identical, save for the symbols on the face of them. He used one of Gabriel’s empty gloves as a means to carry them all, carefully setting them inside. As they were placed within the kwamis vanished from the cages, being returned to their dormant state.

That was for the best, free them from their prison, and free himself from their happy cheers. Celebrating that they were being saved, but not realizing the true magnitude that would be inflicted on his precious kitten once all this came to light.

He picked up an alliance ring, looking at it for a second– before throwing it across the room, shattering it against the wall. Several of the remaining kwamis flinched at the action– Wayzz, Kaalki, Mullo, and Pollen. He then placed Nooroo’s Miraculous within the glove, the only one not turned to a ring, before finally picking up another ring from the stash. Plain and silver, which Plagg recognized as Gabriel’s wedding ring. It pulsed with energy, perhaps a lingering magic from being around Miraculouses for so long.

Plagg raised his paw to throw it as well, when Wayzz desperately cried out: “No!”

He looked up at the Turtle.

“Do not let that ring come to any harm,” Wayzz said, pressed up against the glass, eyes wide. “Plagg, it cannot get hurt.”

Pollen nodded in agreement. “That’s not just a normal ring– that’s part of an amok. Monarch used it to control his son.”

A chill settled over Plagg, and the worst feeling yet seemed to consume him, voice cracking. “What?”

“That is Adrien’s amok,” Wayzz repeated. “Half of it– the two wedding rings together make the complete amok, and whoever told one of them can control Adrien. The other half is with Nathalie, you have to get it from her as soon as possible.”

Plagg knew that Nathalie had the ring, he remembered how happy Adrien had been seeing the woman he considered a mother wear it. He had happily brought it up whenever Plagg said something negative about his father, telling him how the man was changing. Plagg hadn’t been sure what to think, but now the disgusting truth was in front of him.

This whole time, Adrien had been bound by orders. His freewill being able to be taken away with just a simple ring. A ring that his father wore at all times, and his mother had as well. His very parents had complete control over him at all times– and that power had been extended to the family’s assistant as well.

Plagg knew what it was like to have orders yank one around like a puppet, to have your freedom be dictated by whoever held a ring– and he let out a yowl of pure rage and pain as he now realized his kitten had suffered the same horrible fate.

The remaining kwamis called to him in worry, pounding on their glass domes as they tried to reach him, but he didn’t hear them. He just sat there in the ash that was once Gabriel, clinging to his kitten’s ring, to his amok, to his life– clutching it to his chest. The pure agony of Destruction radiated from him– the floor fractured, white suit withering, glass cracking. The ring in his paws, however, was completely unharmed. And this ring would stay with him, a Cataclysm waiting for whoever anyone were to even think of touching it. No, no one would ever come near this amok again, the only other hands that it would ever be placed in were Adrien’s own hands.

A million thoughts ran through his mind, but he had only one destination he was seeking out. He would not have to go far, just through this horrible mansion to find Nathalie– and reclaim Adrien’s life once and for all.

Chapter Text

Plagg wanted this mansion to crumble, but he couldn’t do a thing while his Kitten remained trapped in here.

He rode down slowly in the elevator, glove full of Miraculouses in front of him, and half of his Kitten’s amok wrapped tightly in his tail. Coiled so tightly that it would not leave his grasp. It was the most important of the rings he had gathered today, and still half of it was vulnerable, out in other’s hands.

This elevator was too slow, but he refused to release the amok ring just so he could phase through the walls.

After a minute that lasted an eternity (and Plagg knew what an eternity felt like), he at last arrived in the atelier where Gabriel had always stood. Where he’d summon Adrien to glare him down, binding him with each word that left his mouth.

Plagg felt his burning anger flare once more, and there was nothing keeping him back. He launched himself at the man’s desk, slamming straight into the computer monitor, sending it flying to the floor. It shattered, the crash echoing through the silent mansion, but it wasn’t enough.

“Aaaagggghhhh!” Plagg screamed, going for the mannequins next. He charged straight at the glass, and if it shattered from force or from the rage emulating from him, Plagg couldn’t tell. All he knew was that glass covered the ground, and he was on the mannequin.

He bit, he slashed, he let his energy radiate. Black formed wherever his teeth met, a slow disintegration taking place across the clothes. Once it was nothing but threads and dust he rushed to the next one, breaking the glass and destroying the man’s horrible creations. He could hear footsteps, his rampage not going unheard, that didn’t stop him. He hurled the mannequin to the floor, where it laid upon shattered glass. For a moment he wished he had the powers of Life, to bring Gabriel back, and let him feel every shard press into his skin.

One of the double doors swung open. “Gabriel, what on earth are you…?”

Nathalie trailed off as she looked in, eyes sweeping across the room, at the destruction that had taken hold, before they fell into Destruction himself. Nathalie stared on in horror, knowing exactly what he was. Again her eyes searched for Gabriel, before stepping back to retreat.

Plagg was faster though, zipping past her, before barreling into her back. She stumbled into the office, her exoskeleton moving with her to keep her standing. This was an easy fix for Plagg though, wrapping his paws around the metal that supported her, willing the wires within to crumble to nothing, sending the evil woman falling into the floor.

She let out a cry of pain, one that was too satisfying to Plagg. She had fallen among the glass, blood forming on her arms. She raised her head, looking up at him as he zipped closer. Plagg felt a rage burning within him, one that had been kept silent for too long.

“We need to talk,” Plagg whispered in a chilling voice. “Just me and you, monster.”

“Where’s Gabriel?” She rasped, even though Plagg had thought he made it quite clear that he would be the one asking the questions, he was more than glad to humor her with this answer.

“Dead.”

Surprisingly, Nathalie didn’t seem too upset by this response– perhaps conflicted at most– but maybe that wasn’t surprising for someone named heartless. Instead she just asked another question. “By the original Cataclysm, or by you?”

“It was me all the same,” Plagg replied, drifting about her. “But if you want to know, I didn't hesitate to end it the moment I saw who he was. I do regret his death though, because I wish I hadn’t let it be so quick.” There was a dark gleam in his eyes. “Well, you’ll have to do.”

This time it wasn’t shock or horror in her eyes, but rather a true fear that shone through– and Plagg felt nothing by it. It was a side of him most never saw, though it was perhaps all the Order had seen of him. Plagg was not an evil being, he wanted what was best for the planet and those on it, but not even he would not call himself good. The anger within him was bitter and raging, his Kitten had been wronged, and it was solely vengeance he wanted.

“The Grimoire is in a safe behind the painting of Emilie,” Nathalie said, closing her eyes. “The tablet I stole from the last Guardian is there as well, with all translations. There is a flashdrive in there as well containing all other information we have also discovered of the Miraculous. In my room there is another painting with a second safe. It also contains Miraculous related content, though it is more personal in nature than informational.”

“How generous,” Plagg hissed. “But I assume Nooroo could easily tell us that much.”

Perhaps if he had been a human Guardian he would have been satisfied with such information. But when it came to the knowledge that these evil people held, the only thing Plagg cared about was that it was not passed into the wrong hands. Right now what he wanted was the ring on her finger– the key to his Kitten’s freedom.

“If you value your pathetic existence,” Plagg continued, hovering right by the woman’s ear. “You are going to take that amok off of your finger, and hand it to me.”

He honestly expected her to immediately comply. To shove it into awaiting paws with no hesitation. She had not tried to hide her involvement so far, and had seemed desperate to yield information that would help spare her. Instead the woman’s eyes went wide, and with a sudden surge of strength in her weakening form she drew the hand with the ring under herself, pressed between her chest and the floor, as if this action could keep it from him.

“Never!” She hissed with a wild look in her eyes, not hesitating to shelter the amok even as glass pressed against her as she pinned her body to the floor to keep the ring hidden from sight.

Plagg hissed himself, and sank his fangs into the skin of her arm. She grimaced in pain, teeth grinding together– but made no effort to remove the ring she was hiding. This only made Plagg’s anger grow, the fact that she had this much thirst for control. Even when her crimes were revealed that she was still latching onto this form of manipulation she still possessed over his Kitten. The hatred boiled within him, and he wanted to claw and scratch at her. Let his Destruction leak into her blood and destroy her from the inside out– but unfortunately her head still contained knowledge that would be needed. Answers they wouldn’t get elsewhere, even if he wanted her dead more.

But he could make use without his powers, and he zipped down and selected a jagged piece of glass that littered the ground. He turned to look into those bright blue eyes that were watching him with that primal panic, but unyielding– and plunged it into the skin of her arm.

This time the woman didn’t stay quiet, and she let out a cry of pain– but did not move from her position of hiding the ring under her.

“You monster,” Plagg hissed– ripping the glass back out, the woman letting out a gasp, tears falling from her eyes. “You think you have the right, with a mere child?” He zipped in close, staring straight into her eye, holding the glass dangerously close to it. “What you’ve done to my brethren is unforgivable. The fact that you want to unite me and my other half is deplorable, but the fact that you would do the same to a child who looks to you for love and comfort is absolutely disgusting.”

“I won’t let you take him,” she gasped.

“Take him?! He’s not yours to have!” Plagg roared.

But like the commotion that had drawn Nathalie to investigate the atelier, his fury and Nathalie’s cries were not going unheard. Plagg heard the footsteps as they encroached the top of the grand steps in the foyer outside, and he dropped his shard of glass. It wasn’t until the young boy called out that Nathalie heard it as well, going still as she laid there under Plagg’s glower.

“Nathalie?” Adrien called out in worry. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” Nathalie called back– a bit too rushed, voice a bit too strained, and Adrien’s footsteps increased in pace. “Adrien, I’m fine, don’t–”

She didn’t get to finish, and Adrien pushed one of the doors fully open, looking in. His eyes widened at the sight before him– his father’s atelier trashed, Nathalie lying helplessly on the ground bleeding. He started to rush forward, only to freeze when he noticed Plagg hovering there, right where Nathalie and the world could see him.

“Adrien, I need you to go–” Nathalie began, but she didn’t get to finish. Her words were a command, and with the amok still on her finger he wasn’t going to let her finish it. He pulled harshly at her hair, forcing her to twist and cut off her words. Even if he too wanted Adrien to leave, he wasn’t going to have the boy be forced with a command he couldn’t refuse.

“Nathalie!” Adrien cried, running to her side. “What are you doing to her?! Stop!”

“Adrien,” Nathalie gasped. “Don’t anger it, just go, it’s here for me–”

“‘It’,” Plagg spat at her. He had never cared much for how humans addressed him, but he knew this was often saved for animals and mere objects. “Is that what you call all beings you twist under your control, monster?”

His voice was nearly unrecognizable, growls and snarls leaking in with each word. Adrien recoiled, but stayed by Nathalie’s side, pure confusion in his eyes as he looked up at Plagg.

“What are you doing?” Adrien cried at him.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Plagg sneered– which was true. There was plenty he wanted to do, but not with Adrien here to witness such. “But it’s nothing you need to see.”

“I’m– I’m not leaving!” Adrien cried, trying to help Nathalie sit up. He looked scared, angry, confused. Eyes darted about, looking about the ruins of the office, as if trying to piece together what had happened. Two beings he trusted, two who should have never met. What was littered about him could have easily been deliberant or just a mere remnant of Plagg’s anger, and Adrien didn’t know which it was.

Plagg felt horrible that Adrien was seeing this, and the unavoidable truth which was to come– but still he regretted nothing. 

He could tell Adrien to leave, and he knew he should, but as long as the ring was wrapped in his tail anything could come out as an order, which he wouldn’t subject Adrien to.

The ring.

With that all of Plagg’s anger returned to the surface, his one goal taking focus once more. He needed the other half of the amok, and he could not risk using his powers on Nathalie to get it– as that would in turn put the ring at risk. And so with Adrien still there he rounded on the woman, even as she was supported in the arms of the one she would willing manipulate, the ring still clutched to her chest.

“You will give me that ring, human,” Plagg murmured, drifting forward. “Or else I will bite your hand off to get it myself!”

That fear flashed in her eyes again. “N-no, never.”

He saw red. “How dare you think you have a right, you vile piece of–!”

“Th-that’s Dad’s ring,” Adrien’s eyes fell to the silver ring coiled in his tail. “Why... why do you have Dad’s ring?”

His voice sounded so fearful, so frightened, and Plagg hated that.

“Adrien...” Nathalie whispered, voice breaking.

There was many things Plagg could say at this moment. Things he could say to comfort Adrien, but hurt him even more when the truth was to come out. And the truth could not be hidden, not with how far Adrien had been drawn into the world of magic. And though a part of Plagg did want to lie to Adrien, to hide the pain and reality that the kwami had only learned tonight, he wouldn’t. Plagg hated that he decided to speak the truth, which would hurt Adrien, but a lie would only be worse in the end. So the kwami closed his eyes, and let it fall from his lips.

“I killed him.”

Silence, pure silence as Adrien looked at him in pure horror, in pure pain. Plagg just held his gaze so the boy would understand. That he would take it in now and not be forced to process it later. Confusion, disbelief, pure and burning sorrow were burned in his eyes– but Plagg did not look away.

Most important of all, Plagg had to make it clear that he had delivered the final blow to Gabriel, so that when Adrien learned who the man truly was that never for a moment would he think it was his own Cataclysm had done so. He already knew the guilt he bore from letting his powers touch the evil he had called Monarch, and once he knew that the man was also his only family... Plagg would not let the boy think he had killed his own father.

“Y-you’re lying,” Adrien croaked. “You– you wouldn’t– he isn’t– you wouldn’t–”

“I killed Gabriel,” Plagg said again, his own pain filling in his heart as he saw the betrayal that crossed Adrien’s face, a personal pain taking hold in his little Kitten. “I used my powers, and stopped his heart. He’s been turned to dust.”

I killed him . Plagg told the boy he loved as his own. My powers, not yours. I killed him, not you. He drove the stake deeper into his heart, and knew he was only creating a rift between them– but he could not let the boy blame himself.

Plagg did not regret killing Gabriel, but he did regret the hurt he was giving to his holder– and he wished that he could take it away.

Tears fell from Adrien’s eyes, empty and unfocused as they fell from his face. He didn’t cry, he didn’t scream– and it didn’t seem that he could. He just knelt there on the ground, among shattered glass as shattered green eyes stared off into nothing. The reality he had been told was not one he seemed to even understand, one that could not exist in what he knew. He trembled, strained noises coming from his throat as he tried to breathe.

“Adrien–” Nathalie whispered, grabbing his wrist, even though she was struggling to stay sitting up. “Adrien, can you hear me?”

Then suddenly he was crying, almost a wail– sobs rattling against his chest, breaking out in desperate gasps as he struggled to breath. A panic that had taken hold, and it was consuming him. Plagg zipped forward, but Adrien couldn’t seem to get enough air. Wheezing sobs being forced from his throat with each intake he managed to choke in. 

Plagg curled against his chest, purrs of pain rumbling from him in an attempt to comfort– and Adrien grasped him. His hands clutched the one that had killed his father, desperate to bring him into a hug even after what he had done. Paws wrapped around fingers, wishing that he could destroy this pain inside of him, to see that smile he had seen on the boy not even an hour ago.

Then Plagg felt a tug on his tail, someone trying to grasp the ring that was resting there. With a snarl Plagg turned, phasing through Adrien hands to turn towards Nathalie, who was desperately trying to take the amok from him. She didn’t get a chance to react before Plagg was upon her, attacking the hand that had dared try to take his Kitten from him– the same hand that wore the rest of the amok.

“Na-Nathalie!” Adrien gasped, a wild look in his eyes– and that was the only reason Plagg didn’t do more as he clawed the ring off of Nathalie’s finger. 

The scratches she had were minimal compared to what falling among the glass had done to her anyways– and the only thing Plagg cared about was now that both rings were finally in his grasp.

“St-stop!” Adrien cried. “Plagg, please– stop! I can’t– I can’t–”

But his Kitten was still hurting.

“No!” Nathalie cried. “No, please! You can take everything, take my life if that’s what you want– just don’t hurt Adrien, please!”

Plagg turned, looking back at her, and for a moment that burning rage wasn’t searing through him. He stared at the pathetic woman, who looked as desperate as before, her words not being one he had been expecting. For a moment he could only stare, Nathalie reaching a weakened arm towards him, and he wasn’t sure what he felt– something that was between relief and pure disgust.

“SentiBug,” Plagg spat at her, trembling. “SentiAlec. SentiNino. SentiBubbler. And who knows how many others you’ve stood by as they’ve been murdered– or have done the deed yourself.”

Nathalie looked down, saying nothing.

He turned his attention back to Adrien. His Kitten didn’t seem to be processing the words they were saying, or even focused on them. Gaze was unfocused, lost in the grief he couldn’t understand. Plagg carefully went and landed on Adrien’s knee, reaching for his hand– though he got no reaction.

Though he didn’t trust Nathalie, in that moment the kwami knew he was quicker– she would not be able to reclaim the ring as long as he was here. Plagg carefully slipped the twin rings onto Adrien’s hand. There was no immediate reaction as he did so, but still he couldn’t help but let a shaky sigh escape him, the magical rings at last out of the hands of any other.

Chapter Text

Plagg felt himself relaxing as the amok rings were placed on Adrien’s finger, a wrong at last having been righted in this house. He pressed his head against Adrien’s hand, but he knew this wasn’t a moment to pause. While something might be right, for Adrien his world was still shattered.

“Get away from him,” a hoarse voice seethed, and he looked down to see Nathalie laying on the floor, blood pouring from the shards of glass she laid on, not able to even sit up, but still her eyes burned.

Fur raised on Plagg’s back. “The only reason you’re still alive, monster, is because he wants you to be. You’ll shut your mouth if you know what’s good for you, because patience is the one thing I don’t have.”

“Says the murderer,” Nathalie hissed.

What a pathetic being, she was a murderer herself– and she seemed unable to grasp the concept that he would destroy this plane of reality before he would ever bring harm to this child. That Adrien was his to care for, and any right she thought she had was lost the moment she chose to wear his amok.

Plagg swiftly let his full attention return to Adrien, who still hadn’t moved from where he sat, those ragged breaths coming from him. Despite his stillness Plagg knew he was listening, the fresh wave of distress contorting his face no doubt being from the words he had just heard. Plagg flew up, landing on the boy’s shoulder as tears fell down, pressing up against his neck with rumbling purrs. One eye remained locked on Nathalie’s prone form, while every other part of him was focused solely on Adrien.

The minutes trickled by, the boy unmoving even with the kwami’s silent reassurance. Adrien's phone then let out a ding, the alert for a message shattering the constructed silence. Adrien flinched, though beyond such didn’t move. Plagg peered out, looking at Adrien’s empty expression, making no move towards his pocket. Throwing a suspicious glance at Nathalie, Plagg swooped down, pulling the device from Adrien’s pocket, the message being exactly from who Plagg thought it was– and who he had hoped it was.

MariPrincess<3: everything okay? you said youd call back in a few minutes

MariPrincess<3: nvm ignore that I know things can get busy for you

MariPrincess<3: love you!!

The next two messages popped up while Plagg was reading the first, and he no doubt could imagine Marinette panicking over the first one, perhaps worried that she was being too pushy or impatient. If only that were truly all they had to worry about. 

Plagg eyed Nathalie again, but she hadn’t moved from where she lay near Adrien, and he turned his attention back to the phone, tapping the box to reply. He hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to say– because he couldn’t just spell out the truth in a text message. After a moment he just sent something that was simple but urgent, something that would bring Marinette here.

Adrien: come here hurry

It wasn’t how Adrien usually typed, capitalization and punctuation were always present in his writing, even in text messages– but Plagg didn’t have time to care about that. Perhaps it would only convey a sense of urgency to Marinette and get her here quicker. Plagg dropped the phone to the floor, which immediately began buzzing with incoming messages.

MariPrincess<3: adrien?

MariPrincess<3: did something happen? is everything okay??

MariPrincess<3: adrien??

MariPrincess<3: im omw

Plagg let out a shaky sigh of relief, abandoning the phone and immediately darting back to Adrien. He curled up against the boy once more, who would soon have someone here that would know exactly what to say and do, someone untainted with the death Plagg had exacted. Someone who understood the nuances of human emotion and mortality more than he ever could.

“What are you doing?” Nathalie whispered.

“More than you are,” Plagg replied coolly.

“Who did you message?” She hissed. “What did you say?”

Plagg ignored her, because if he paid her anymore heed she’d end up as ashes on the floor. Instead he hovered in front of Adrien, pressing a paw to his cheek. Adrien seemed to come alive to the touch, letting in a sudden gasping breath. His eyes still didn’t focus, but his chest shook with fresh sobs. Plagg nuzzled his face, gathering the tears that lingered there.

“Fa-fa-father,” He hiccuped.

“He’s gone,” Plagg replied.

“No!” Adrien roared, pulling back. He scrambled on his hands, scooting back with his feet, before letting out a cry. He pulled his hand up looking at the bleeding cut on his hand– having sliced it on the shattered glass around them.

Plagg drifted forward despite his protests, carefully pulling out the shards of glass that had lodged itself into his palm. Adrien stopped his retreat, cradling his hand close as he bled, crying once more, though it had nothing to do with the pain in his hand. 

Plagg once again tried to move closer, but Adrien stiffened up at the movement, sending him a wide-eyed stare. “St-stay away from me!”

Plagg paused at the action, a heavy feeling forming in his chest.

There was a sound of an alert that cut through the silence, though it didn’t come from Adrien’s abandoned phone. Instead it came from Nathalie’s tablet, which lay fallen on the floor with a now cracked screen. Plagg drifted over to it, to find a notification from the front gate. There was no way Marinette could’ve gotten here that quickly unless she was already in the area, or had transformed to rush over here.

That was fine with Plagg.

Plagg opened up the alert, which immediately revealed the camera feed for the front gate, where Marinette was now urgently waiting. He didn’t bother to connect to give a reply, his voice wouldn’t carry over the machine anyway, instead tapping the button to unlock the gate. He could see Marinette immediately bolting inside, and he flew away from the tablet.

“Who did you let in?” Nathalie demanded, punctuating her words with a cough.

He had no chance to answer, as the double front doors were now rattling as Marinette tried to barge in. When she found it was locked she immediately began knocking, her faint voice calling, though the words were muffled. Adrien didn’t react, and Plagg eyed Nathalie. Adrien had moved away from her, and it was quite clear she couldn’t hold herself up. He should be fine to leave for a moment, even if that’s the last thing he wanted to do.

“Don’t you dare move,” Plagg growled at her in warning, before swiftly swooping out of Gabriel's office into the main hall, rushing towards the front doors.

He phased through the lock, unlocking it in the same motion he used to pass through the front doors. Marinette recoiled when she saw the kwami in front of her, pulling back.

“Hurry.” Plagg snapped, which was all he had to say to her before diving back inside, rushing for the office once more. 

He rushed into the room as the front doors opened behind him, and found that he had been right to hurry. In the few seconds he had been gone Nathalie had gathered the last of her strength, dragging herself towards Adrien once again.

He dove just as Marinette followed him into the room, grabbing Nathalie by the bun as he yanked her away. Deciding not to traumatize the children further he showed the monster of a woman mercy, tossing her into a section of floor that wasn’t littered with glass. Still she had to fight down a groan of pain as she fell, laying weakly on the floor once more as she broke down into a coughing fit.

“Ms. S-sancoeur!” Marinette cried, and then her eyes fell on Adrien, rushing forward. “Adrien! What’s– what happened?”

“Marinette,” Nathalie coughed. “Take Adrien and get out of here, I’ll handle–”

“Shut up, you don’t have the right to talk to either of them,” Plagg snarled at her.

Marinette had carefully navigated around the glass, now kneeling by Adrien, who hadn’t said a word– but the moment his eyes had focused on Marinette he had thrown himself into her arms. He looked like he was trying to find something to say, but any words were lost in his tears as he tried to speak as her arms coiled tightly around him.

“Plagg– what is going on?” Marinette demanded, and Plagg instantly recognized the tone– one usually only used when she was Ladybug. “What– what are you doing here? Where’s Mr. Agreste? What’s–”

“He’s dead,” Plagg said– and at the words Adrien seemed to completely collapse into Marinette’s arms. “I killed him.”

The small purse hanging around Marinette’s shoulder shifted, and he could see Tikki’s eyes peering out at him. Not horrified like Marinette’s, nor in disbelief like Adrien, instead there was only a questioning look in Tikki’s gaze.

“Wh-why?” Adrien’s voice cracked, quiet in the stillness of the ruined room. “Why did you do it? Why would you–?” He couldn’t say another world, his voice seeming to close in on itself. He didn’t break down into sobs, but instead his eyes stared ahead at nothing. “Why?”

“Plagg,” Marinette’s voice was hard, but even she couldn’t hide the edge of panic that had overtaken her. “How– why–?”

Plagg drifted over near where the hidden elevator had been, where Gabriel’s white glove lay abandoned. It was dusted with the ash of the man’s own body, its form misshapen from the rings stuffed inside. He picked it up without a care, flying back over towards Marinette to drop it in front of her.

Several Miraculouses spilled out as it hit the floor, the rings rolling free to display the emblem on the kwamis on the face. Among them laid a small brooch with strips of lavender cloth to look like wings– the Butterfly Miraculous laying vulnerable in front of Ladybug and Chat Noir, their foe now defeated.

Plagg was sure none of them had ever thought it would have been like this.

“He was about to send out another akuma,” Plagg hissed in a low voice as the children stared at the Miraculouses in front of them. “He– he had them all in cages. On the wall. Like trophies. There were empty ones, one for T-tikki– he wasn’t going to stop, it was never going to stop–”

There was now a waver in Plagg’s voice, a different reality from the rage and anger that had been consuming him now washing over him. A realization that this man caged gods to display when words themselves would have contained them. That he had done the same thing with his child, could bind him with words and orders but still did all he could do to carefully frame him for the world to see, to not let one hair get out of place. He wasn’t even sure if there was a ‘why’ to all of them– if there was even anything to this beyond the sheer need and desire for nothing but control.

Tikki slowly phased out of the purse she had been hiding in, realizing that like Plagg there was now no more reason to hide. She carefully drifted towards Plagg, ignoring the gasps from the humans, nuzzling softly against Plagg.

“I had to do it,” Plagg said– he had wanted to, but he also had to, and he didn’t know if they would understand. If they even could understand, not when their views on life and mortality were so different. So he didn’t bother to see if they did, his eyes were locking on Marinette instead. “Help him. He needs you. Help him.”

And suddenly Plagg understood the unstableness the humans were feeling. The way everything felt shaken, and he didn’t know what to do. Not with Gabriel, nor with questioning his fate– he would never regret killing that man. But his Kitten was right there, and he couldn’t draw near.

Because he was watching Adrien crumble, and he didn’t know how to pull him back together. Cracks had long shattered any facade, and how was Destruction meant to be the one to fix this? The truth had broken him, but so would have the lies. He wanted to comfort him, but comfort didn’t heal.

The threat was gone, but things weren’t right– and the fear Plagg felt was the fear that his actions would make it so nothing could be right for his Kitten again.

“They’re safe now,” Tikki whispered softly as she wrapped herself around him.

Safety wasn’t enough. Not right now.

“...You’re Ladybug,” Nathalie said slowly, leveling her eyes with Marinette. “That’s why it brought you here.” Her eyes shifted towards Plagg, narrowed. “But what brought you here, how did you even–?”

“My... my lady?” Adrien’s voice cracked as Nathalie spoke, all eyes falling on him as he looked up at Marinette. The realization washed over her face, Marinette immediately pulling Adrien even closer, cradling his head.

“Chaton,” she whispered, half tender, half horrified as everything truly sank in.

“No,” Nathalie whispered. “No, not you, anyone but you.”

Adrien’s hands curled tightly as she spoke, his eyes locked on the glass that littered the ground. Marinette held him close, though he didn’t seem to have the strength to do the same, practically collapsed in her arms. There was a focus in his gaze though, one that hadn’t been there before. Plagg soon realized that it wasn’t the glass he was looking at– but instead his eyes were locked on the abandoned Butterfly Miraculous.

“Y-you were a part of this?” Adrien’s gaze didn’t move, but it was clear he was speaking to Nathalie. “And h-he... Father truly was...?”

He couldn’t bring himself to finish his words.

“Adrien, I swear, if I had known it was you behind the mask–” Nathalie began, but she didn’t get to finish her sentence– because suddenly Adrien's shaken and unresponsive self was now gone.

He lunged forward like a viper going for the strike– breaking free from Marinette’s gentle embrace, hand snatching the Butterfly Miraculous as if it were about to scurry away. With a single movement he was on his feet, sprinting towards the door with a surge of energy that hadn’t been there before, glass crunching under his feet.

“Adrien!” Several voices called out together, but Adrien’s feet were already thundering up the stairs. Marinette was moving to go after him, a torn expression on her face. Her eyes shuffled about the room– to the many Miraculouses, to Nathalie’s weakened shifting form. She was on her feet, ready to go after Adrien, but then she was leaning down, scooping the rings knowing that she couldn’t just leave them– eyes flickering to the door desperately.

Plagg phased through Tikki’s arms, flying towards the door himself. He knew that Tikki wouldn’t follow, she had her own holder to look after. Plagg didn’t rush, eyes locked up on the stairs as he drifted after where his holder had run. He went right past the boy’s room, knowing that wasn’t where Adrien was going to take shelter, heading up the next flight of stairs.

And he found Adrien just where he had expected him to be, on his knees, huddled in a study that had once belonged to his mother. The Butterfly Miraculous was clutched in his hands still, but now a confused and frightened Nooroo was hovering right above him.

“Why?” Adrien cried at the Butterfly. “Why did he do it– why did he do this to me?!”

“I–” Nooroo drifted back, the fright in his eyes clear, and Plagg could only imagine what was going through the kwami’s mind. One moment he had been transformed as he witnessed his holder dying, and the next he was in the hands of his distressed son– the Butterfly probably thinking the cycle he had been stuck in was about to continue.

“Adrien,” Plagg said softly– and instantly Adrien whipped his head towards him, tears streaking down his cheeks, eyes full of pain and anger.

“What do you want!” Adrien screamed at him.

He wanted Adrien to be okay– but he knew such words would accomplish nothing. Plagg looked from Adrien to Nooroo, considering. He didn’t know how to proceed, he didn’t know what to say– all he wanted was to be here, but he didn’t know if Adrien felt the same.

“If you need someone to yell at, I'm right here,” Plagg finally said, shrugging. “Nooroo didn’t really have a say in any of this, afterall.”

Adrien’s eyes widened, green eyes shifting to Nooroo– as if realizing for the first time that the kwami was even there. Horror flashed through him, and he dropped the Miraculous, scrambling back across the floor until his back was pressed to the white couch. Thankfully Nooroo was not recalled back to the Miraculous by this action, giving the Butterfly a moment to try to piece things together for himself.

“But I– I didn’t want– I just needed to know–” The words came out of Adrien’s mouth in bursts, silent tears falling steadily down his cheeks again, and Plagg was afraid that the composure he had gained would fade away again. Or maybe he hadn’t even gotten ahold of himself in the first place, it only being anger that had driven him up here.

Plagg flicked an ear, listening to the other parts of the mansion. Marinette was calling, worried– very worried. It sounded like she was in Adrien’s room right now, probably thinking that was where he had taken shelter.

“Nooroo, why don’t you take your Miraculous down to Ladybug,” Plagg said. “She’s downstairs, she’s been looking for you for a long time.”

Nooroo fluttered down to his Miraculous, looking up at Plagg. “And you...?”

Plagg gave a forced smile. “Tell her we’ll be down when he’s ready.”

Nooroo picked up his brooch, giving a half nod. His eyes darted between Adrien and Plagg, not fully realizing the extent of what had happened, but recognizing the pain. Then as a blur of lavender he zipped away, rushing from the room and towards the freedom he had long been waiting for, slipping under the door.

And then it was just Plagg and Adrien, as it often was in this manor.

“I didn’t mean to,” Adrien whispered, as if he had been the one to harm Nooroo as his father had. “I just– I just needed to know why–”

“I don’t know why he did it,” Plagg said, slowly drifting closer. “I just did what needed to be done when I saw who he really was.”

“Was... was it really him?”

“I saw him transform,” Plagg confirmed, ears falling flat. 

Adrien nodded, looking away. He was still pushed up against the dusty couch, red staining white from where his hands were pressed up against it, his cut still bleeding. Adrien pulled it back, staring at his palm for a moment, before his gaze suddenly hardened. He glared at the rings on his finger, ripping them off with a sudden fury.

Plagg instinctively braced himself to be recalled to the Miraculous– but that was not the ring Adrien had torn off. The two wedding bands of his parents now sat in his hands, which he stared down at in disgust– before launching them across the room with an angry shout. Plagg jumped, before immediately flying after them as they hit a bookcase, falling down to the floor.

“I don’t want them!” Adrien yelled as Plagg gathered the silver rings. “Why’d you even give them to me?! Especially if Nathalie was in on all of this too! She was Mayura, wasn’t she? She knew about it all this whole time and– and why are you looking at me that way?”

“You... you should put on the rings,” Plagg whispered, taking a moment to phrase his words. Adrien shouldn’t put them on– he had to, but if Plagg said that aloud then it wouldn’t be a choice for Adrien, he would have to do it, he would be bound by magic to carry out whatever Plagg said.

“Cataclysm them for all I care!” Adrien screamed back at him.

Plagg’s mouth went dry, but just like everything else he had placed on his kitten today, he knew that nothing good would come from waiting. “Adrien, these aren’t just rings. They’re... they’re magic as well, and no one else should hold them but you.”

Hands pulled at blond hair, eyes pressed tightly shut as he spat out: “So he had even more magic?”

Plagg carefully clutched the bands close. “It... it comes from Miraculous magic. These rings, they hold an amok in them, they have for years.”

“Th-there’s a sentimonster running around?” Adrien croaked.

“Um, yeah, there’s a senti running around,” Plagg began. “Wasn’t able to for a while, but you should see him on the rooftops. He’s pretty agile.”

An eye cracked open, nothing but confusion as Adrien peered at him, and Plagg let out a sigh.

“...The other kwamis told me they were yours,” Plagg finally said softly. “That– that he’d use them to give you orders. That’s why you have to hold it, that’s why no one else should–”

“No.”

“Kid–”

“You’re lying,” Adrien whispered, eyes widening. “That’s– that’s impossible.”

“Not beyond Duusu’s magic, actually, but it’s not very often that the Peacock is used... like that,” Plagg began. “But it’s happened before a few times I’ve heard, Duusu would know more but–”

“I’m not a monster!” Adrien screamed, trying to push himself back, pulling himself up onto the couch as he tried to get away. “You’re lying, they’re lying, they have to be lying–”

Plagg opened his mouth, but no words came, not ones he could risk. Not without putting down the rings, but he couldn’t put down the rings, because they were the one thing that should never be lost. They shouldn’t even be in his hands, but there was nowhere else for them to go.

“I’m– I’m human,” Adrien croaked. “I have to be.”

“Of course you are,” Plagg said offhandedly, in a tone that probably would have Tikki glaring at him, but he decided to roll with it as he zipped towards his chosen. “I mean, that’s how the magic works– sentis are what they’re made to be. Their soul is just in a different vessel, that’s all.”

Adrien was no longer retreating, and Plagg used that as permission to get closer. He held out the rings, but the teenager seemed to recoil from them, so Plagg resigned himself to holding them just a bit longer– flopping down onto the couch next to Adrien like they were about to watch a show.

“It’s, you know, not a big deal,” Plagg said, clinking the two bands together. “Just a bit different, that’s all.”

“I’m... I’m not real,” Adrien whispered in complete horror– sending Plagg straight up into the air.

“I did not say that!” He bellowed, but Adrien’s gaze wasn’t fixated on him, but rather on something a hundred miles away.

He shook his head. “I’ve– I’ve seen how it works, they’re just whatever the one with the amok tells them who they are. If those are my amoks then I’m not real, I’m just a set of rings and that means I’m–”

“Oh no!” Plagg said loudly and sarcastically, purposely cutting Adrien off before he could continue that train of thought. “What an impossible reality– to have your physical form tied to a ring, wherever shall someone do?”

Plagg flopped down onto Adrien’s hand, the one that held his Miraculous, his touch causing it to switch to its activated form.

“I guess that means I’m not real,” Plagg continued, basically shouting as he dramatically closed his eyes. “Just ‘cause someone can throw a few orders for me around with this ring my entire self is just a lie! I guess I never really wanted to eat all that cheese, or steal your socks, or secretly hide your Ladybug collection around the room. Apparently those choices I never made because I’m just nothing but a ring on some boy’s finger– oh well. Even though it happened I guess it never really did, because that makes sense!”

He cracked one eye open, not quite sure what he’d see. Usually his antics like this would either earn a smile or an eyeroll from his kid, but he was not surprised that neither was on the boy’s face. Not today, and perhaps not for a while. He just hoped not forever. However his gaze was focused– listening, thinking– and that was all Plagg could ask for at the moment.

Adrien’s eyes shifted to the silver rings Plagg was holding, which he stretched out toward the boy. He hesitated, before a shaky hand reached out towards the bands, pausing when he was only a few inches away, before pulling back.

Plagg’s response was to chuck the amok straight at his face.

“Ow!” Adrien cried as it nicked him in the forehead, instinctively fumbling to catch it. “Don’t– hey!”

He flicked the other ring at Adrien’s face again, though this time he was able to catch it before it hit him. Plagg rolled over, flying off of Adrien’s hand and into the air, stretching with a loud yawn.

“Take care of your own soul, kid, I ain’t a babysitter.”

“But I– I don’t know what–”

Plagg turned back towards him, watching him closely. “Please... just wear them. You can put them right next to mine, maybe?”

Adrien hesitated, before shakily sliding them onto his middle finger, closing his hand into a fist once they were on. He just stared at his hand for a moment after that, not sure of what to do, or even what to say. His eyes held a million words though– the emotions from before clutching him just as tightly as they had before.

Grief. Rage. Confusion. Pain.

“Plagg,” Adrien croaked. “I... I don’t know what to do. Wh-what do I do?”

Plagg hated that he didn’t know the answer to that. “I... I could go get Ladybug for you?”

Adrien shook his head, tears stinging his eyes. “N-no, I can’t. I’m not ready, not yet, please. I... I need to be alone. Please.”

“Then I can go,” Plagg said in understanding, drifting back– but immediately Adrien’s hand shot out towards him.

“Wait–” he began, and no more words came despite there clearly being more he needed to say.

“...I can stay too, if you want me to,” Plagg said slowly, and Adrien gave him a single nod.

Plagg rushed back to his Kitten, pressing up against his chest, letting out a low purr. Instantly Adrien’s hands were around him, trying to bring him even closer. Plagg could feel the cool rings against his fur– one his, one Adrien– and the boy quivered as another sob built up in his chest.

“I...” he croaked. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I don’t either,” Plagg whispered back quietly, honestly. “But... but I am here, and I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

Adrien broke down crying, and Plagg closed his eyes, nuzzling close to his Kitten.

Things weren’t okay, nor were they for a long time. 

Not that day, not that night, nor even two weeks down the road– not even when Adrien was far from the manor, tucked safely away in the guest room of his bodyguard’s apartment. It was a quiet place, much smaller than the room they had once been in at the manor, but Plagg was quite sure that Adrien didn’t care about where he was, just as long as he was away from it all.

The media was as ruthless as ever, people wondering what had happened to Gabriel Agreste– vanishing one day nearly as mysteriously as his wife had years ago. People were wondering about the silence of Monarch, and when an akuma would strike again. There were things that the media didn’t know, the answers that Nooroo and Nathalie had to the questions Adrien had needed (yet had been so afraid) to ask. Answers that did not bring comfort or peace of mind.

Yet despite it all Plagg would say the both of them found a pattern in the new life they had found themselves. Not that it felt right in the midst of the turmoil they lived in, but it was what it was. A system to live by, a means of carrying on.

Things were still in shambles, but Plagg’s Kitten was not alone. Adrien had his lady, his bodyguard, the other kwamis– on some grounds he had Nathalie still– as rocky as that incline was.

And through it all Adrien decided to keep him close, despite all that the kwami had done– and for Plagg that was all that mattered.

“I want you to have this,” Adrien said softly as they hid away in the room of this house (maybe one that Adrien could one day call a home), holding his hand out to Plagg.

Plagg raised his head from where he had been sunbathing, looking towards Adrien with a blink. The Black Cat sniffed at Adrien’s hand once, but didn’t smell any cheese– much to his disappointment. However he still drifted forward, peering into the palm of his holder regardless to see what he was being offered. A small silvery shape sat in the middle, and Plagg immediately pulled back in confusion, staring at Adrien.

“That’s your amok,” Plagg said. 

“Just half of it,” Adrien replied, holding up his other hand– showing the ring’s twin on his other hand, the same one that held his Miraculous. “I want you to have this one though.”

Plagg shook his head. “Look, Kitten, that’s something you keep on yourself, okay? Whoever holds that can control you, you don’t want anyone holding that but you.”

“Whoever has your ring can control you,” Adrien said quietly, causing Plagg to go still. “So why am I the one holding it?”

“That... that is true,” Plagg said after a moment. “But that’s just part of being a kwami–”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

Plagg sighed, before pressing his paws against Adrien’s fingers, guiding them so they wrapped around the ring he was offering to the kwami. “Kid... thinking about right and wrong leads to a very long and confusing existence. For me, I trust you, and that’s enough for me to let you hold my ring.”

Adrien scooped the kwami up in his hand, picking up the amok ring, before placing it on Plagg’s head as if it were a crown. “I trust you too.”

Plagg delicately pulled out the ring, carefully cradling his holder’s soul in his paws, saying nothing in reply. He just stared up at Adrien, before giving the human a single slow blink in reply– which Adrien returned with a soft smile.