Marinette and Adrien walked back to the apartment shortly after confronting the protestors at the rally. Hoping that Alya and Nino didn't suspect them being there and definitely not as the two superheroes Ladybug and Chat Noir.
"We need to tell them soon Mari'" Adrien warned, "I just...I just don't think it's safe to keep secrets anymore like this around them."
"And I just think there's a time and place for things chaton." Marinette insisted.
"Well-" As the long silence took up the last few minutes it took them to get back to the apartment.
Adrien opened the door for Marinette, where they saw their two best friend staring back in disbelief with their arms folded.
Adrien's eyes widen as he froze like a cat caught in an act. Marinette chewed on her bottom lip slightly.
"Now...everything is starting to make sense." Alya huffed.
"Yeah, seeing that our best friends are liars." Nino scoffed, his eyes narrowing at Adrien.
The heroes of Paris stood there, knowing well they got busted. How they didn't mean to, but still betrayed their friends. Not telling them who they were outside of school and extra-curricular activities.
"Alya..." Marinette started, "If you guys let us explain..."
"We didn't want to keep it a secret anymore...not with so much danger now." Adrien said. "We lied but-"
"Dude save it, I'd think after all these years you would trust me...but you didn't. And you both knew all along." Nino scoffed.
"I put myself in danger because I enjoy doing what I love to do: journalism. Telling stories and risking my life. And you guys...you guys were just pampering and making us feel like...frauds. Like it's just a big game for you...even our friendship." Alya clenched her hands in fists.
Marinette's throat tighten, "That isn't true Alya-"
"Then what is the truth hmm? You guys lied. What else is there to say?" Nino lashed at her.
"Hey! If you just stop being so stubborn and just listen-" Adrien stood up to his girlfriend, standing between her and Nino. They glared at each other as Nino puffed his chest.
"Stop it!" Alya said. "Let's just go Nino."
Marinette helplessly watch Alya shove past her, as her heart sank with regret.
"We did it to protect you guys and everyone we cared about. Being heroes isn't a honest job. We just do what we think it's best..." Adrien said before they left out the door.
Alya hesitated, not even looking at them, "Well, I guess the best thing for us is to just...think about things for a while."
The door slammed shut after their best friends left the flat.
For another five to ten minutes, Marinette and Adrien paced the flat in silence. Both guilty of their actions, and just trying to figure out what to do. Maybe not telling their best friends for so long wasn't a wise choice, and they clearly understand now. Marinette even huffed at the thought that Adrien was right...and she didn't listen.
"I...I shouldn't have said that." She began. "To not tell them anything. I should've listened to you. I just wanted to just wait until-"
"Until what Marinette? They're on the edge of death or being threatened by Hawkmoth and...whoever that guy was?" Adrien confronted her. "On your terms, right?"
Marinette stared back at Adrien, ready to stand up for herself, "I wasn't ready Adrien!"
"This isn't about you Marinette! It's about the people we care about!" Adrien talked back her.
"We can't just tell our parents that we're superheroes, one wrong thing and it's...just a bigger problem than Hawkmoth we have to deal with. I love them Adrien, and I would die than have anyone or Hawkmoth know who I was. Not for anyone to be in danger...to-to be tortured and humiliated!" Marinette's throat caught as she was on a verge of tears. Her face hot and her body shook as her arms fell at her sides. Adrien stared.
"My lady..." He regretted lashing out at her. He didn't mean to sound so harsh. He knows keeping secrets is hard, but keeping them from people they cared about was even harder. The fine line of trust and safety. Alya and Nino for all they cared would swear not to tell anyone, but with the risk of them being akumatized before, him and Marinette had no clue if it was surely safe.
Which left them on unknown tangents of their friendships.
"I just...wish you didn't do this. It took...five years to finally realize we known each other for so long. In class, as the heroes of Paris. I understood you weren't ready, but it took you-" He had to pause for a moment, "It took you until we were on the brink of death...that you finally woke up."
Marinette opened her mouth to say something, but shut it immediately. He softly smiled.
"Come here bugaboo." He coaxed her into his arms as he embraced her tightly. She buried her face into his chest groaning.
"Hush hush I know." He cooed her, slightly rocking her side to side. "We were both wrong...and now, we just need to give Alya and Nino time to just...think about this."
"I just...want to do right for once. It's like everywhere we turn, there's another problem." Marinette huffed.
"We're human Mari'. We aren't perfect." He buried his nose in her hair.
She sighed, "I...Yeah. Well, with that being said...I think I have some work to do. I should head back home." Marinette said.
"Right, I do too...business umm...stuff." Adrien shifted as she backed away from his hug before briefly kissing his lips on her toes.
"I'm going to use your bathroom, will you walk me back to the bakery?" Marinette asked as he smiled.
"You already know the answer." Adrien told her as she walked to his bathroom. Then shortly after his phone vibrated.
His father was calling.
His blood went cold as he slowly picked up the phone.
"Adrien." Gabriel stated.
"Father." He said steely.
"I called to briefly inform you about your trip Saturday morning at 4AM to Japan. Nathalie will send you the itinerary tomorrow." Gabriel merely said.
"That's a mistake...you said my trip was in January." Adrien hissed, making sure Marinette wasn't nearby as he went into the hallway.
"The collection deadline was pushed up for various reasons. I rather not waste time and do the last photo shoot of the year beforehand. So you'll be in Japan for a week up until the holiday party." Gabriel told him.
"Of course you wouldn't care about my scheduling. And of course you wouldn't consult me." Adrien told him.
"Our interactions are merely business and only business. You decided on this, and I will abide by it...being in the contract. Now, do mind if you try anything I'll make sure your life gets a bit harder." Gabriel swore. "I have no room to play anymore games with you."
"Just try me." Adrien tested him.
"You don't want me to. I know Marinette is applying to the fashion show in May, and as well schools in New York. It would be a shame if her collection got jeopardized again..." Gabriel started.
"You did it." Adrien growled in disbelief. "You ruined her collection."
"It was atrocious anyway...consider it as a mere lesson. And don't think I know you are paying rent with your classmate Nathanael. The life of a starving artist is a dreadful one...and would be more dreadful if he lost his crowdfunding and part-time work. Homeless even..." Gabriel went on.
"Stop it." Adrien threatened.
"Then I advise you do what I say. You make sure you're at the reception and dressed well on your best behavior. You and Felix will get along up until the ball begins. And you will abide by my terms and be on that flight at 4AM that night after and do whatever Nathalie tells you for that trip. Is that clear?" Gabriel ordered.
Adrien didn't speak for a long moment, Plagg watching him with worried eyes, "Yes, Father."
"Then I will see you this Friday." Gabriel stated.
Adrien thought as he gritted his teeth once more, "I just have one more question for you."
"What is it?" Gabriel had little patience especially with his son's attitude.
"Where. Is. Mom?" Adrien spoke bitterly into his phone, waiting the long silence. The phone clicked as he groaned in frustration, leaning on the door before sliding to the ground.
"I hate him...I hate him so much..." Adrien shuddered, curling up.
"Adrien?" Marinette called from inside his apartment. He quickly got up before glancing at a quiet Plagg before re-entering.
The couple walked down the sidewalk in the snow with a long silence. Marinette noticed Adrien's stone-cold face the moment they left out. Saying little to nothing. He wasn' t mad at her...was he? Something was wrong.
"Adrien, what's wrong?" Marinette asked, their arms looped with one anothers.
He didn't speak a while after her before he sighed, "A lot. I-"
He stopped as he turned to look at Marinette, "I wanted us to spend more and more time over the holidays. This...cool concert at a club, the movies, and just...lying down next to you and asking fifty-hundred questions and eating your sweets and spending time knowing your parents more. And I can't now because...my father is ruining everything."
Marinette stared at him, stunned for the moment absorbing his words. Then she blinked, "Wait, about what?"
Adrien sighed once more, "He pushed up one of my trips out the country to Japan for this Saturday. I'll be gone for a week."
Marinette nodded, "Just a week right?" He nodded as well.
She rolled her eyes at him as she hugged him.
"Adrien, we have the rest of the year, and next year and..." She flushed at the though of the rest of her life but, that was just thinking too far ahead and so silly. "Just even more time to get to be with each other. A week is a while but...we can talk on Skype and we have so much more time. Besides...I'm going to be busy that week and won't get to see you as often."
"But-" Adrien tried.
"But we have time...this time for sure. I'll be ok, and we will call and text everyday. Alright?" As she placed a hand on her cheek. He nodded, rubbing his cheek in her hands.
"Alright." As they continued their walk back to the bakery.
Felix crawled on the ground as his body shuddered and contorted with pain. Heavy, foreign liquid coursed through his veins as he clenched and cried into the darkness.
"Feel me...feel my strength. Lend me your mind and help you see..." The Dark One coaxed. "No one else shares deeper sorrows, than the lost of Bridgette."
Felix gasped, sobbing as he could see his mind play the same movie over and over in his head.
Felix! Felix!
Bridgette!
Water too rough and separating them, water too harsh causing Felix to black out.
Waking up, he finds the three heroes checking to see if he was ok.
"Bridgette? Where is she? BRIDGETTE!" Felix called.
"Felix...I'm sorry...she-" Mercury said. Felix grabbed him by his neck.
"Don't tell me you're sorry! You could've saved her! YOU COULD'VE SAVED HER!" He roared.
Felix gasped again, sobbing and crying.
"Do not weep your poor broken child. She will return. In exchange for your loved one, you will bring me the miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir to me. It will be a difficult task, but the reward is worth it all." The Dark One coaxed Felix's conscious.
Felix rose to his feet, staring at himself in the mirror, his eyes tinted purple with veins bulging around the sides of his face and temples. He snarled into the reflection, a pair of eyes watching over his shoulder.
"What about Hawkmoth?" Felix growled.
"Hawkmoth is a key piece in this game Felix. I need him alive for a little while longer. Then, you will wield his power long after I consume him." The Dark One insisted, making himself fully present behind him.
"His miraculous would be something I can use to defeat them. I always wanted to control others. Tell me, who do I serve?" Felix spoke to the shapeshifter. "What is your name?"
"Imra, lost one. Serve me well, and you will get what you willed." Imra spoke to Felix before disappearing.
"Then, I will serve you well. Have my word...and give me time." As Felix eyes glowed in the darkness.
Does that count as angst? I mean we got our little heroes and their best friends kind of not talking to one another, and this guy over here mourning over his girlfriend or whatever.
Poor Bridgette...
I don't want to write a chapter on Felix's backstory...but I might have to. Because he's still a very bitter and evil character but with a reason. (We can't have bitter characters for no reasons c'mon, even I have to bring Chloe back at some point.)
Since I'm doing more live and realtime writing with this fic due to my...tragic first draft of this chapter, I feel the backstory of Felix will be needed in this. How he got the other miraculous (from the Quantic Universe characters check out the wiki), what happened to Bridgette, his relationship with his father and *gasp*...his mother...and possibly her whereabouts.
Honestly this is feeling more like a Zuko's mom case like...WHERE IS SHE?
Until the next update, cheers!
P.S. Imra name comes from Yama, the deity of death from Asian mythology or *checks Wiki* something.