Rain poured outside the Agreste mansion as two children found their parents leaning against the wall, a blood trail behind them. Their mother's faded dark blue hair mixed itself with the fresh crimson color that poured from her head. Beside her was their father, holding her with one arm around her waist and another hand on the wall for leverage. His dusted yellow hair covered over his eyes, his white shirt showed the signs of open blade wounds , some old and others more new. When strength has finally left their legs, the two fell to the surface below them. Rushing to their side, the older son helping his mother sit up against the wall, holding one of her blood covered shoulders and the other holding her right hand. Besides them, the daughter desperately searched in her pockets for something, anything, to stop the bleeding in her father's chest. Both parents tried to catch their breath in seeing their children, but the evoking pain only continued to rise.
"Louis..?" Their mother asked in a soft voice. He leaned closer to his mother, gripping onto her hand. Her sea blue eyes were clouded, the colors in her lips faded along with the color of her skin. The velvet purple that was her nightgown was ripped at its ends, her legs under them showed evident cuts and bruises.
"Yes mother? I'm here." He responded a second later, his heart pounded at the sight, his breath was caught. His mother smiled lightly.
"Oh Louis…I'm so sorry…" She started, leaning towards him, she closed her eyes and let out a small wince. "I'm sorry I have put you in this situation…" small trickles of water fell from her face as her voice cracked.
"No mother. Please do not talk like that" He choked out. Across from him, his sister has already bursted into tears in front of their father, as beat and worn as he was on the floor, still found the last bit of energy in his ruined body to pick his hand up slowly and crease his daughter's tears away, only to welcome even more tears.
"I'm sorry..But you are not safe here.." She spoke slowly, pacing every word with every breath, as if it was counted and she didn't want it to go to waste. "Take this" Louis opened his hands and looked down at his hand, where a set of red earrings were at the palm of his hand. He looked over to his sister, the middle finger of her right hand now held a silver banded ring. "Take hugo... from bed…. grab whatever you can…... in 10 minutes... run." His mother caught her breath in each words. "They will come after you…... if you stay here any longer."
"But mother- You and father has to come with us!" He cried. His mother shook her head, burying her hands in her face to suppress having to break down at that moment .
"My time... ends here. I have to make sure...that you are all safe...from this place" She muttered, each word getting decreasingly lighter. "Go to Master fu...He'll keep you safe".
"But-" before he was able to retort, a green flash blazed from the other side. His blonde hair sea blue eyed sister was cladded with the black suit that was once his father's. Her bangs fell over eyes as she stood up, a fist in hand. Looking down towards their father, there was a small but existing smile that lit his face. A single stream of tears fell from his right eye as he gazed hopefully to his daughter. If he were not in the state he was in now, he would have lifted his little princess and laugh with her till the day ends. But the mere thought of it crushed his daughter farther than imaginable.
"Louis, we are losing time.." She said in a small voice. Thunder cracked from the outside world, footsteps could be heard from behind the walls. Louis leaned carefully towards his fallen mother and gently gave her an embrace. As much as he wanted to squeeze harder, he couldn't find the strength to. He slipped on the earrings on his ears and closed his eyes. The locked image of the once smiling mother that would sing him softly to sleep was replaced with a withering women that looked up to him with the last bit of light she had left. Light illuminated around him and he felt the tightening of his outfit after his transformation. He saw the same eyes that his father gave to his sister. That hopeful look. Louis bit hard down on his lower lip with blood drawing into his mouth only moments later. Biting back the tears that already built up around his eyes.
"I'll get Hugo" He choked out finally, standing up slowly but eyes fixed to the floor, not even turning to face his sister." you grab the bags and stuff whatever you can in there." Louis instructed, a cold chill followed his words.. His sister only nodded, looking at her father one last time before leaping to the other room. "I love you, Mom. Dad." He said in front of the both of them, closed his eyes only to dash away to retrieve his youngest brother. A stream of tears could be seen dripping down the wooden floor.
Their mother slowly turned her head towards her love, leaning her head on his shoulder, their trembling hands intertwined together. The two old loves sat in silent as they faced the window where the rain continued to fall. There was no words in the moment, just a silent exchange of regrets, gifts, sweet words, and farewells. They stayed motionless till their last breath, where each of them held a small tug on the corners of their mouths. A smile.
The rain poured even harder by the time they got outside. The only light seemed to be coming from the moon and nothing else. Louis rubbed away the water that fell over his mask, mixed along with the salted water beneath it. He slightly turned to make sure that his youngest brother is fine in his new surroundings. The light breathing by his ears eased him only a bit as they faced the dark path in front of them. HIs sister followed behind him out the door only a few seconds later, slung heavily over her shoulders were the light pink bookbag their mother gave to her when she first started middle school, along with their father's light blue messenger were stretched out more than usual. There is no knowing what exactly she stuffed in them within the short them they had.
The both were silent, Louis was the first to walk and travel into the darken woods that bordered their home. The once glistening colors of spring washed away from their eyes and was replaced with the cold shades of blue. Even when pacing quickly, Louis made sure to slow down by one step to make sure his sister was keeping up. The soft sound of crushed leaves below them were the only sound between them. No one dared to make a noise.
They continued to pace through the woods quietly, walking past a small clearing, a quiet whimper was heard from behind Louis. Abruptly turning around, he found his sister with both hands over her mouth, her body lowered slightly. The thought then hit him. This clearing was the place that their family would usually have picnics and outings during the careless summers.
"Emma" he said softly, approaching her. But in an instant, she pulled away, shaking her head slowly.
"I can't do this...I can't I can't I-" she rambled , gripping on the bags strung around her shoulders. Her sob became more heavy as she crumbled to the floor. "I can't do this" She cried.
"Emma, We have to go" Louis said pleadingly. She shook her head , covering her ears. "We have to get ourselves safe" .
"How will we ever be safe?" She asked, voice cracking under her tears. "Mom and dad- they were the only people that could keep us safe !" She exclaimed." But-But they're…." She bit down on her lip, but a new wave of tears has already fell from her eyes.
"But we have to live, Emma" Louis grabbed her left shoulder. She looked up. " We are Louis and Emma Agreste. Our parents fell to save us, to keep us safe." He paused, letting out a sigh. "We can not fall with them when they just gave their lives to keep us going."" The rain continued to fall, a silent reminder that they were still in the present. Louis stood up, holding out his right hand in front of her. " We will be fine." He said with a slight smile. " We are the Agreste after all."
Emma rubbed her tears away from her face and grabbed onto his hand. Louis gently pulled her back to her feet, waiting for her to approve of her well being. Emma closed her eyes and slowed her breathing before looking up to her brother with a nod. As of the moment, the rain seemed to have been lighter than before.
When finally stepping foot in the city, the night was still young. The city however, was in ruins. Small craters were seen on the damaged pavement. Buildings were broken, some with their entire top half sunken into the ground. The lights coming from the street lamps were dimmed with several that were either flickering or not working at ll. The only sound that could be heard was the everlasting rain that pattered on the ground. Louis made sure his younger brother was still occupied. Walking around the destroyed city, Louis caught eyes on the one building with red tiles that seemed to still be intact.
The children soon found themselves standing in front of this building. The rain mixed in with the dimmed lighting fave the structure a darkened atmosphere. The door was slightly opened, as if knowing they were going to be there.
Louis took a deep breath, leading the way into the building with his sister following shortly behind. The lobby was without lights, the elevators didn't seem to be working either. The only source of light they had was from the uncracked glass windows behind them, and even then they did not pour a lot of light in. Louis scrunched up his eyes into the darkness and was ready to take his first step to the stairs before a hand took grip to his wrist. Before he could react, a pair of glowing sea-green eyes blinked.
"I can lead this time" Emma smiled, stepping forward without letting go of his wrist. He smiled back and nodded.
There was an echo of their footsteps up the staircase, with each step their heart pounded faster.
"Fifth floor" Louis whispered. Emma squeezed her grip around his wrist as a way to tell him she heard him, and continued up the narrow staircase. One hand to the railing and another on her brother.
" What number" She asked once she pulled open the iron doors.
"505, I believe" He responded, keeping the door open for him to pass. They made a right from the stair doors and a long corridor displayed itself, a window at the end gave Louis enough to make out the layout of the hall.
"Here it is" Louis sighed. The two stood in front of the bronze polished door with black lining at the edges , connecting the corners of the door. With his drenched hand, Louis gripped onto the doorknob and pushed it open to see a small old man with his back faced to them. Silence hung between the kids
"Come in Louis, Emma, and Hugo Agreste" The old man finally said turning around to face them. He had on his usual red hawaiian shirt with white flower prints scattered about his top. Tanned capri pants and dark brown slippers accompanied his outfit as he presented himself sitting in a pretzel.
"Master fu" Louis greeted with a bow, Emma followed accordingly. "Mother sent us-" a hand was raised slightly to stop him.
"I am aware." Master fu said in a soft voice " Your mother sent me a note times ago." He sighed. There was a weighted pause. "She wrote that if in time of this crisis that she will pass, she will send her children to me with her and her husband's miraculous." His eyes examined from the red spotted suit to the black. "You both wear them well" He commended with a warm smile.
"Are ...you going to …keep us safe?" Emma asked, her eyes dropped.
"I will do whatever I can to fulfill your mother's wish…, however" Master fu turned to look out the window from his sitting position. "I do not believe that what she has in mind will make you feel any bit safe." Louis and Emma exchanged looks of confusion.
"What did mother have in mind?" Louis asked, his voice doused in concern. Their mother always chose the best choices for them.
"She wants to send you far away from this place, settle a new life for all of you so that you will not receive any connections with Hawkmoth. That way, he will not have a reason or an idea of going after you children." Master fu explained. "However, not erasing your connections with Hawkmoth means that your entire childhood memory will be taken. All of your memory that you have ever gained in the time that Hawkmoth has known you existed will be experienced. Louis at age 7, Emma at age 3, and Hugo….he will not have any memory at all" Emma fell to her knees.
"That...that means we will...we will not remember our times with father...or mother" Emma muttered, words trembling from her mouth. The room felt as if it dropped a few degrees, silence kept them company.
"Yes" master fu responded, closing his eyes. Louis's eyes went in a blur once again. The sight of losing his mother was already the end of his world. Now brings the time in where his own mother is willing to sacrifice the very memory of her in order to protect him destroyed him even more.
"However" The old man continued. The two looked back up to him. "I have an alternative idea that I am willing to gamble."
"Another...way?" Emma asked weakly. Master fu opened his eyes and glanced between the kids before him .
"Yes " He held up his left arm, displaying a traditional bracelet with a jaded green turtle shell in its center. "With the remaining of my power...I want to send you to a place where you can truly change your fate."
"Change our fate?" Louis asked with a more hopeful voice, tilting his head slightly
"Correct…. Back in time..before this all happened." Master fu stated. Louis's eyes widened while his sister let out a gasp.
"Back in time?" They both asked in sync. The old man sighed and turned to them.
"I have hopes, that you all are able to stop this turn of events. To save the world, save the city, save your parents, and save you all from this terrible fate." He spoke softly. "Then will you be ever truly safe."
"But even if we were to really go back in time, how will we be able to do that? Save the world? Our parents? " Louis asked in a more desperate tone. Master fu looked towards the wooden flooring. Then , he took off his jade bracelet and handed it to Louis.
" If you agree to choose to change your future, my past self will be there just as I am here." He said. "Show him this, and then perhaps you will find your answer, Louis Agreste."
Louis looked down at the bracelet and turned to his sister, with hands over her chest.
"Well Emma…" Louis started. "Do you want to? " He asked steadily. Emma stood up from her position and tugged on the wet bags over her shoulders before nodding her head once. Louis turned back to Master fu and nodded as well. "Let's change our fate" Master fu smiled.
"You look very well like your mother when she faced her first akuma, has anyone told you that?" He said. Louis chuckled lightly.
" no, but thank you" He responded. Master fu stood from his spot and started to chant. A bright light surrounded the group of kids and soon they found themselves losing their consciousness. Their suits each undone themselves, restoring back from to their original earring/ring. Then, the light grew stronger, Master fu felt a sharp pain in his lower left rib area, but continued to chant. Their bodies started to absorb this bright light, their colors all started to turn white. Thus , little by little, their bodies sank into the rim of light below them. As the last bit of hair gone through the circle, it decreased in its radius and the room then turned back dark once more. Master fu caught his breath, but his last strength left him, forcing his body to the ground. Around him, the building started to crumble. Windows cracked slowly from their edges, stones rotting itself away. Master fu laid on his back and looked up to the cracked ceiling with a smile.
"I have faith...in you all" He muttered softly, closing his eyes for the last time.