Chapter Four - Talking to Daddy Dearest
Dang, it's been a while guys. I'm sorry about that! I haven't had a lot of time recently to write but I'm starting to make time for it again. It also helps that I have inspiration again. cx Once summer comes around I'll be able to be even more consistent, so hurray for that!
Anyways, I finally have this next chapter for you all, so I hope you all enjoy it. c; The talk we've been waiting for is finally here!
Adrien's Point of View
Alya and I walk in silence back to my house. She doesn't try to talk, and I'm thankful for that, because I don't want to. I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything that's happened so far.
What was the deal with Marinette? That's currently my biggest holdup. Why did she receive the reception that she did? And why the heck did she look so injured? She's never been akumatized, yet she was at the akuma house, yet most of them seem pretty opposed to her. This whole thing has been so incredibly confusing for me and I just want it all to stop.
But that's the thing. Nightmares are so much harder to wake up from than dreams.
And this is definitely a nightmare.
"Why are we here?" I ask as Alya opens the door and gestures for me to enter my house. My house? This is all so insane. How can Hawkmoth's lair be in my house? I still can't wrap my mind around my father being him. It's crazy! My dad may be cold, but he's not a super villain, right? Still, all the facts seem to point to that.
Patience seeming to wear thin, she answers, "You know this."
I sigh. "Well, remind me then. I know Nino told you I didn't get to take my meds at my normal time."
"The easiest way for a non-akuma to access your father's lair is through his office."
"Oh," I blink, stowing that info away in my brain for later, "Of course, yeah."
For a moment, Alya frowns. The intense look on her face - one I recognize to mean she's thinking through all sorts of facts - makes me nervous, but she relaxes after a second and turns away. It appears I'm safe, at least for now.
As we approach my father's office, Nathalie steps into our path. "Lady Wifi, Hawkmoth is busy right now."
Alya folds her arms. "Adrien would like to see him."
Just like old times. There isn't a single opening for me to talk to him in. I shouldn't be smug to be proven right, but it's better than being upset that this is true of my father no matter what. Though what's worse? Knowing your father will never not be negligent or knowing your father could be the father you want in another timeline?
It's better not to consider the alternative. After all, my father isn't going to-
"I'll let him know so he can wrap up his meeting. He's been wanting to speak with you, Adrien, but he didn't want to disrupt the medical process. He'll be glad to hear that you want to talk to him."
Flabbergasted, I watch her walk into the room. Alya raises her eyebrows, but I don't bother to pick my jaw off up the floor. My father wants to talk to me? There's no way. It has to be for business, or something similar. There's no way he's concerned.
"What has you so surprised? He adores you."
I don't get the chance to answer her because Nathalie returns, but Alya's words ring in my ears. He adores me? There's no way. He just sees me as another employee.
"He's asked his associate to get back to him and can see you now, Adrien." Nathalie smiles as she comes to a stop in front of us. "Lady Wifi, is there anything you need to speak with Adrien's father about, or were you merely serving as his escort?"
"I may need to explain some events to him once he and Adrien are finished talking. Where would you like me to wait?"
Nathalie thinks for a moment, then gestures for me to enter the room. "Adrien, he's waiting in there you. Please head on inside. I'll escort Miss Cesaire to somewhere more comfortable in the meantime."
They walk off, leaving me to stand and stare at the office door. He's in there? Ready and willing to talk to me? It seems impossible, but I manage to work up the nerve to approach and, slowly, open the door.
"Adrien!" I can barely process what's happening before my father has his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. "I'm sorry that I haven't been able to spend more time with you while you're recovering. I've been busy sorting out things after the...incident. How are you holding up?"
I blink, trying to take it all in stride and failing miserably. "I...I..." Finally I decide the safest response and answer, "Everything is just so confusing, Father. I'm told that's because of the medication I'm taking to help?" When I pull away, his face betrays nothing. "Please, Dad, no one is explaining what's going on to me. Please, help me understand. I feel like I'm going crazy."
Is that showing too much of my hand? I hope not. Something tells me my dad is the last person I want to have knowing I'm awake.
"Are you sure you're feeling well enough to hear it?"
"I don't even know what 'it' is. Everything in my head is so blurry and I'm struggling to remember. Please, tell me?"
Putting a hand on my shoulder, my father guides me over to a couch that I'm almost certain wasn't in this room before, sitting down beside me. "Okay. If at any time you can't handle it any more, just tell me and I'll stop."
Why is everyone walking on eggshells around me? I somehow manage to remember to nod.
"Okay." He shifts in his chair, staring away from me out towards the painting of my mother. "I won't bore you with the story of how I got my powers. A while back, I discovered a jewel brooch; a Miraculous, said to grant power to whoever weilds it. I kept it, though for a time I didn't think I'd ever use its powers. But then, a little over a year ago, things changed.
"Two supervillains appeared on the scene. They called themselves Ladybug and Chat Noir, and they were hunting for someone. Someone they called the Guardian."
"What?" I furrow my brows, trying to think. Had Ladybug ever mentioned someone by that name to me? And, furthermore, Ladybug and Chat Noir were...villains? "A Guardian?"
"The Guardian, as they would later reveal, was the keeper of the Miraculous. They are the one is was supposed to distribute the Miraculous to those deserving to wield them, and keep the rest of the Miraculous safe till they are needed. I don't know how the Butterfly Miraculous, the one I stumbled across, was lost, but apparently the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous were also lost.
"And there was something wrong with them. When I spoke with the creature living within the Butterfly Miraculous, a kwami named Nooroo, he said that something had changed in those two Miraculous. They were the two most powerful, but something had disrupted the kwamis that lived within them, corrupting them. Instead of it being a partnership, the kwamis acted as a sort of parasite, or so Nooroo hypothesized.
"But, as time progressed, he also realized that there was an imbalance in their relationship. It seemed that while Ladybug had already been tainted by the parasitical state of her Miraculous, Chat Noir was fighting against it. While evil, it did not seem to be much of a choice to him, at least not to the extent that it was for Ladybug. Furthermore, it seemed that being in the presence of Ladybug did something to the boy. She...entranced him. Nooroo told me that this was likely a result of the power imbalance; having grown more powerful, Ladybug was able to hold some sway over her supposed partner."
That's not true! I had to resist the urge to scream the words as my fingers dug into the palm of my hand. This isn't right. This isn't how everything went down. Ladybug and I were heroes, chosen by Master Fu to fight against Hawkmoth.
"Do you need me to stop?" My father sets an arm on my shoulder, but I force myself to shake my head.
"No. I want to hear the rest."
Sighing, he hesitates, but he ultimately chooses to respect my request and continues on with the story. "Returning to the start of things, when the two villains first appeared and Nooroo told me about what might have happened, I decided I couldn't just stand by. With some nudging on Nooroo's part, I transformed, and used my powers to bring forth the first akuma, a champion for Paris. His name was Stoneheart.
"Every time, Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to outsmart my akumas, undoing whatever damage that was done simply to save their own hides. After all, Ladybug had the power to heal, but she wasn't able to be selective with it; to fix whatever damage she and the cat had experienced, she had to fix everything. But my akumas were able to waylay them, keeping them from staying transformed long enough to continue their hunt. The Miraculous, after all, have a time limit after they used their special powers. As long as I kept throwing akumas their way, they would never be able to stay transformed long enough to do all that much. All I needed was to force them to give up their Miraculous. If what Nooroo said was true, then they weren't necessarily even in control of their actions.
"But things escalated. There was only ever one casualty to come of the fight between Ladybug, Chat Noir, and me. And it came about when Ladybug murdered one Sabine Cheng. No one knew why the woman was targeted, but I know it practically destroyed their family."
Sabine Cheng? As in Marinette's mother? I gulp, thinking back to Marinette in the akuma house. Is that why she was there? Because Ladybug might have tried to kill her next? But that didn't account for the akumas' reactions to her. Why do almost all the akumas hate her?
"I fought them with renewed vigor. Bigger and better akumas. More frequent attacks. And, a month ago today, I finally succeeded. An akuma by the name of Timekeeper finally managed to get the two villains - and their Miraculous - to me. When I found out who they were? Well..." He looks at me, as if unsure how to say what he feels he needs to. "Nooroo's theory was correct. Something had corrupted the two most powerful Miraculous, changing them to something far more malevolent. They did act like parasites, completely warping their weilder when they were transformed. Yet they were also addictive, forcing their weilder to have to transform back eventually, no matter how much they tried to resist.
"But Adrien, no one blames you for what happened. I've kept yours and Ladybug's identities out of the public's eye. Nobody knows who was behind the mask, just that they were defeated. Some people have tried to demand justice, but the Parisian government has agreed to leave what happens up to me, as I am the only one who knows Ladybug's and Chat Noir's secret identities. And based on the sway Ladybug held over you, people's view of Chat Noir is far more favorable than their view of Ladybug."
I stare at him with wide eyes. "You mean...you mean I was Chat Noir?"
He nods gravely. "Yes. It's why we had to keep you medicated. We had to help readjust you to living without the Black Cat Miraculous, and make sure that it hadn't corrupted you."
The words slip out before I can stop them. "What happened to Ladybug?"
"She's been contained."
Something in his tone tells me that that's all the answer he'll give me, at least on that topic. "If they are defeated, why are there still akumas? And why are there multiple at a time?"
My father gives a strained smile as he looks at me. "It's draining, but Nooroo taught me how to host multiple akumas at once. They act as heroes in my stead, because I was far too old to go gallivanting through the rooftops to fight Ladybug and Chat Noir myself. Besides, my power is giving others power; it would be two against one in a fight, and that disadvantage would make things even worse. Now they are still present to keep the peace, and to put the populace at ease. Everyone is still afraid that other villains might crop up in Ladybug and Chat Noir's absence. While stopping petty crimes, the akumas also give everyone a sense of security." Once again his gaze wanders away from me as he asks, "Is there anything else you wish to ask?"
"Why is Marinette living with the akumas? And why do they hate her?"
My father stiffens. "You've seen Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"
"Yes?" I think back to the reactions the akumas present had when Nathaniel opened the door. Why should I not have seen her? "Why do you say it like that? Marinette is my friend."
"Marinette has experienced a lot of...trauma after what happened to her mother, Adrien. While she has never officially confirmed it with me, I have a strong suspicion that she was in the room and present when it happened. How she managed to escape also being murdered by Ladybug, I don't know, but she is in a fragile state right now." He's lying. I can feel it. I've known him long enough to sense when he's making nonsense excuses. But why? "We still aren't sure whether y...Chat Noir was present at the time. If by some mistake Marinette recognized you, despite the odds, and if you were present, we don't know how she'd react. And we also weren't sure how you'd react to her."
"Father...I don't remember anything from when I was transformed into Chat Noir. That part of my brain is all fuzzy; heck, even the time around it is fuzzy." Which in it of itself isn't truly a lie. I don't remember. "Was I...really a villain?"
"I know it's hard to believe."
It takes me a moment to realize my father is hugging me. I'm too focused on what's been said. What does this all mean? And why do I remember the truth, when he seems so certain I don't? Is what I remember even true? No, I can't think that. It has to be. But why can I remember? I know I shouldn't be able to; this makes that very clear.
It's obviously not my father's doing, so whose doing is this? And why? What do they get out of it? Who could possibly remember the truth besides me? Ladybug, perhaps? She has a reason to break me out; we're partners, helping each other, and she'd want what's right to be restored. Plus, she's been contained, and would need help getting out. But if she's contained, she obviously couldn't have helped wake me up. She's dealing with her own issues. Besides, what if she can't remember anything either? She's simply not a viable option, no matter how much it pains me to say it. So who else? The Guardian? One of father's akumas? A kwami? Someone else entirely?
I need an ally, but I don't know who to trust. I need help. I was a hero as Chat Noir, but now what am I supposed to do without the suit? Without powers? Without Plagg? How long am I even going to be able to keep up the facade before I give myself away? I can't pretend I don't remember the truth forever. Sooner or later I'll mess up, and if what I suspect is true, my father's response will not be pleasant when he finds out.
I need to find Ladybug and our Miraculous, and I need to fix this. Somehow, I've got to bring the real Paris back. I may not be Chat Noir anymore, but I can still be a hero. My father is currently the savior of Paris; I can't openly go against him. But I've had plenty of practice sneaking around behind his back - though he was not the caring father he appears to be now - to prepare for this.
My father finally releases me as I stand, somehow managing to utter, "Goodbye," within my dazed state as I make my way towards the door. Where am I supposed to go from here?
There we have it! The end of chapter four. What did you guys think? Was it good? Bad? How do you feel about all that information we just learned? Were you guys happy to finally see Gabriel? How do you feel about Gabriel actually seeming to be a father in this timeline? Do you buy it? Do you think Gabriel is "awake," as Adrien calls it? Is there anyone else - that we've seen or that we haven't seen - who might be awake? Who do you thinkmight have woken Adrien up, if anyone? And what about the story Gabriel fed his son? What do you think of the explanation for the role swap? Do you really think the Miraculous act like that here? How do you think this world has come about? Any other thoughts? Let me know in a review! I love seeing what you guys are thinking in terms of how the story might go from here. c;
Next chapter, we're going to see a bit more of lovely Marinette, so stick around for that. I can't wait to get to the second arc of this story! If you think this portion is wild, just you wait. :p I've put a lot of energy into this story and I'm so hyped to see how you guys react to some of the later twists.
Until next time!
~ Dagger
