Chapter Text
Ladybug gazed up. The statue of Gabriel Agreste gazed down at her, a towering behemoth. The metal that made up the statue was an untarnished silver, its polished surface almost seeming to glow in the dark.
It was well past midnight. The city was silent—or as silent as Paris ever was. There was nobody around. Not a soul present to witness the truth.
You’re a monster, Ladybug tried to say. She moved her mouth, feeling the weight of the vowels and consonants on her tongue. You’re a monster, Hawkmoth. Shadowmoth. Monarch. Gabriel Agreste.
The words refused to leave her throat.
She could see her reflection in the silver sheen of Gabriel’s statue, a warped crimson figure dotted in black. She drew her gaze away, glaring at Gabriel’s face so she didn’t have to look at the reflection of her own distorted features. Gabriel smiled back benevolently at her.
Of course he did—he had gotten everything he wanted, after all.
Gabriel Agreste, hero and beloved father. the plaque beneath the statue declared, mocking her. The entire world mourns your loss.
Ladybug flexed her hand, remembering the weight of the Black Cat miraculous on her ring finger. The rush of power at Tikki and Plagg’s unification had been dizzying, Creation and Destruction both dancing at her fingertips. For a moment she had glimpsed the fabric of space-time, and knew it would obey if she desired to unravel reality and re-weave it to her own designs.
It would’ve been child’s play to destroy this wretched monument, back then. All it would’ve taken was a brush of her fingers, and this facsimile of Gabriel Agreste would crumble to dust. It would still be child’s play to destroy the statue now. Ladybug could summon a Lucky Charm and crush it, shatter it, set it alight. She wouldn’t even need to detransform afterwards—she could continue to stand in front of the destroyed statue and revel in its broken remains.
Gabriel Agreste, hero, the carvings on the monument crowed with glee. A jeering taunt. Ladybug would know—she had ensured these were the words depicted on Gabriel’s monument, after all.
Monarch had won, Ladybug had lost. This statue was not only an ode to Gabriel’s sacrifice. It was also a monument to Ladybug’s failure.
That, at least, was one truth Ladybug did not hide from the world.