Author's Note: Welcome to my new story Future Past: A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction! This is another Child AU that is influenced by the story of Fire Emblem Awakening. Some other parts of the story such as the miraculousness that the kids wield is taken from Miraculous Ladybug: Celestial Guardians except for Hugo's as his miraculous is influenced from Fire Emblem Awakening. The only thing I took from the plot of the game is that they travel back in time to prevent an awful future and that's practically it; everything else is my original story because I always wanted to try an Apocalypse/Time Travel AU. Anyway, this is incredibly angsty and sad just an FYI and if you're into that kind of stuff then I hope you're ready to cry because I planned out a lot of emotional scenes. If this isn't your cup of tea, then check out my other less angsty and more fluffy fanfics such as "Is Fate Cruel? Or is it Wonderful?: An Adrinette Story" and "The Truth and What Remains: An Adrinette Story" as there's still plenty of drama but more cute moments because for the former, it's a completed story so you don't have to wait for chapters and for the latter story, there's 20 chapters unlike the first story so they will keep you busy unless you like to binge. Anyway! I talked long enough, enjoy the story, enjoy crying because I know I will, and this is the only chapter you guys will get for a while so tell me what you think in the comments! Should I continue with this story?
Present day...
"What did you need to call us here for Master Fu?" Marinette as she sat down in front of Master Fu, who was mixing a concoction in a brew that was bubbling profusely. Adrien looked at the pot pointedly before relaxing and sitting down next to Marinette, who immediately grabbed Adrien's hand for comfort.
"I have... received a vision... that I believe all of you should see," Master Fu answered as he stopped mixing to look at all of them with a grave look. The rest of the group was there including Chloe, Nino, and Alya as they had all been called by Master Fu to his home.
"What is the vision about?" Adrien asked as Master Fu looked off into the distance, as if contemplating an answer before replying.
"It's a vision from 15 years in the future... when the flow of fate takes a disastrous turn... it is paramount you understand what is happening as my future self wanted to send you all the full story... about how the lives of three children and all of París were ruined in one night," Master Fu as the group shared worried looks as he closed his eyes and swept his hands over the pot, bringing the essence of the vision to life. Soon, the brew emitted a large cloud of smoke and within that large cloud that seemed to keep a fixed shape, the vision started to show itself.
"So, is it like Bunnix's power then? Because she can travel through time," Alya asked as she kept one of her elbows on Marinette shoulder as she looked at the brew questioningly.
"Not exactly because with Bunnix's power, you have the ability to travel through time and change the chain of causality without any consequence. This is merely just a warning," Master Fu explained as Alya nodded slowly and the group prepared to see what was to come.
"How the lives... of three children... were ruined," Marinette repeated to herself as she felt as if her body wasn't ready to witness the horror, "what in the world happened that prompted Master Fu to send a message 15 years into the past?"
Master Fu then commanded the brew to start smoking and eventually, the smoke grew into a huge cloud that seemed fixed in place and a picture the size of the cloud started to appear. It was like some sort of magic movie theater. However, the vision zoomed in on three kids that lay motionless in the street as they heard the wind and fire wash around them. Then the vision started to narrate the events in the perspective of the boy with a soft yet weak sounding voice that belonged to who they think is the boy in the middle.
"I see the message got to you then... good," The boy said as the group listened, the vision sort of seemed like it was talking straight to them. Adrien, having some odd sense to reply, did exactly that.
"Yes... who are you?"
"Ah yes... I'll get to that in a moment... but it's more important that you understand what's going on here," the boy instructed as a picture flashed on the screen to show a frontal view of the Eiffel Tower and the surrounding area in complete ruins and in a filter of black and red, "I have delivered to you this message to urgently warn you that 15 years into the future from present day, Hawkmoth will destroy all of Paris, and no one was able to effectively stand in his way."
"Destroyed? What happened to Ladybug and Chat Noir? I mean... us?" Marinette asked as she realized that this boy must already know who they are.
"You were killed... regrettably when me and my siblings tried to confront Hawkmoth..." the boy explained as Adrien narrowed his eyes at what he heard and continued to ask:
"So we were protecting you and your siblings when... we... died?" Adrien tried to choke out of his mouth as the boy immediately replied.
"Yes, that is correct, my name... is Louis Agreste, and I am the oldest son of Chat Noir and Ladybug, making me your child," Louis revealed as Adrien immediately sat back and gaped at what he heard. He then turned slightly to find Marinette feigning the same reaction.
"Wait! So... Marinette," Chloé gestured emphatically to the aforementioned young woman, "and Adrien," before gesturing to the young man in question, "HAVE KIDS!?!?"
"Yes please Chloé, shout it louder for the whole neighborhood to hear!" Alya chided as Chloé looked at her in disbelief.
"Alya! How could you believe that?! It's ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Chloé countered back as Alya smirked and scoffed.
"It's not really a surprise, I mean, they're dating right now!" Alya laughed as she gestured to the increasingly blushing couple, who let go of each other's hand and looked away.
"It's really up to you whether you believe me or not, but believe me when I say that you two died protecting us... your kids," Louis whispered with a silent sadness before he quickly continued without expressing too much sadness, "your future is destroyed due to an event called the Future Past, which is an future apocalyptic event that I believe is caused by events from 15 years in the past. This event follows the original flow of fate and even though Bunnix and I usually don't like to meddle around with the chain of causality, the conceptual chain of time that governs events in this world, we must make an exception as we need your help to fix the future."
"Of course, we'd be glad to help, just give us the details Louis," Adrien nodded firmly as Louis appeared on the screen to give him a tearful bright smile. The boy looked slightly more built than Adrien when Adrien was his age. He had a beautiful head of blond hair like his father that was swept to the side in a curled fringe. He had a face like his father's and what they noticed immediately was his bluebell eyes. Marinette and Adrien immediately recognized it as Marinette's eyes. He looked happy to see them, but they could sense unbearable sadness beyond his eyes and smile.
"So that's what you look like... you look like you've grown into a fine young man..." Marinette murmured as she looked at Adrien, who turned his head to look her and the expression she saw on his face was picture perfect.
"Yeah... he did.." Adrien's gaze softened on Marinette and as if in sync, they both looked back at the screen at Louis.
"Wow.. that was... intensely cute you guys," Nino joked as Alya couldn't help but snicker. Then, the group continued to listen to Louis.
"Thank you... Maman," Marinette felt herself smile wide when she heard the word from his lips, "it means.. a lot..." Louis said quietly as he snapped his fingers and his projection moved to the side for four more figures to appear. The figures were arranged with two on top and two on the bottom. The top two showed a boy with reminiscent blue hair and emerald green eyes in a sort of swordsmen knight outfit and a blond girl with emerald green eyes dressed in a sort of extravagant red mage outfit. The bottom two looked to be the same boy and girl but in regular pedestrian clothing: a black and neon green hoodie and pink dress with a white blouse inside respectively, "these two are your remaining children, the last surviving members of the Agreste family: Hugo and Emma."
"Wait... last surviving members? You mean to tell us that-," Adrien started but Louis softly cut him off.
"Yes... not only did you two die... but I will show you how I also had to play my final cards to help my siblings escape," Louis looked off to the side as if he was pondering that very decision to sacrifice his life, although he turned back towards the group to give more context, "well... I am "technically" dead... meaning that my body is still of this world... but I am no longer myself."
"So what you're saying is your body is still functioning and of this world, but I'm guessing your, how do I say this, person? Somehow disappeared?" Chloé guessed as Louis nodded and Nino decided to interject.
"Wait, that means you're still alive because your body still works, don't say that you're dead!" Nino interjected as Louis looked softly at Nino before sighing.
"Honestly, I don't really see the difference, but as of right now, I sent Hugo and Emma into the past, in your time to try to change our fate," Louis explained as Marinette suddenly connected the dots in her head.
"Wait... that strange disturbance that the kwamis felt yesterday... that was them wasn't it? It was on the news yesterday night!" Marinette grabbed both Adrien's and Alya's arm as the group started to see the whole picture.
"Yes, Plagg felt that disturbance yesterday, so that would mean Hugo and Emma are currently in this time while we're sitting here..." Adrien murmured as the realization just hit the whole group that these two kids are currently alone somewhere in Paris.
"I feel like it's better if I just showed you what happened, you have to know this if you're going to help. Please brace yourselves... for the horror that I saw... and felt with every fiber of my being," Louis pleaded with the group, who glanced each other warily before nodding to Louis, who started the vision.
15 years into the future...
He could still remember the screams. The explosions. The roar of those ghastly creatures that destroyed the city. It seemed as if everything had drawn to a stop; where he could no longer hear the fires or the screams, but just blank static. He didn't know how it could have escalated up until this point except for the fact that it just happened. And now's everything ruined. Louis tried to heave himself to his hands and knees as he felt a heavy weight on his back. Forcefully pushing off the piece of rubble, he forced himself to open his eyes to the ruined ground. He memorized every crack in the stone as his eyes stung with smoke trying to just stay open. Slowly, he turned his head to look at his surroundings, and saw his little brother and sister knocked unconscious from the beating they just took. Louis didn't know how he went from spending a nice evening with his siblings to almost dying, but the thing is: he knew exactly why. And he had failed at protecting his parents and siblings when they had already sacrificed so much; that was his greatest regret.
A few hours earlier
"Oh my god! Lou! Look what's happening outside!" Hugo yelled as Louis closed the book he was reading and raced up to the roof of the house, raising the trapdoor and stepping out to find Hell. He heard another pair of footsteps and he turned around to see that Emma followed suit, "what's going on?" Hugo asked as Naga, his kwami, floated up and gazed upon the disaster.
"It's started... Gabriel really went through with his grand plan..." Louis looked in horror at the fires that were razing the city, people running and screaming for their lives, and giant black demons destroying the city. If Louis has to describe the demons, it would be that they had really long and skinny legs connecting to a giant feathery sphere with a mouth. Its head had no eyes, just a giant mouth with foreboding and ghastly teeth, and it had giant black feathery wings. It truly horrifying, "Mom and Dad warned us about Gabriel's plan when they left earlier, so they must be still fighting at the Eiffel Tower."
Emma looked out over the balcony railing towards the Eiffel Tower and saw an ominous, pulsing dark aura surrounding the monument, "I feel like something's wrong... we have to help them!"
"We can't do that," Hugo took hold of Emma's arm and looked at her in the eyes, "Maman said if this ever happened, we have to run away from here."
"But!" Emma started but Louis softly cut her off.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Hugo's right. Our first responsibility is to get out of here. Mom and Dad will be fine, they've dealt with Gabriel before," Louis explained as he noticed that Emma's eyes were watering, threatening to pour over. Louis then leaned down to her level to cup her face and smile, "they'll be fine... I promise..."
"Ok..." Emma sighed, and this was just a few moments before the real disaster started, just as they were starting to leave.
Meanwhile... Present Day...
"Wait... that boy said Gabriel... he couldn't possibly mean who I think it is right?" Marinette wondered aloud as she felt Adrien's hand tighten around hers and she looked up to find Adrien's face contorted in a grimace.
"There's plenty of Gabriels in the city, we wouldn't know which one he's talking about," Alya replied as Marinette nodded and calmed down, not that her mind believed it for one second.
"Hawkmoth started the apocalypse? And with those things?" Chloé asked as she took a closer look at the vision as Marinette could only gaze in horror.
"Just what are those things?" Adrien wondered aloud as his focus shifted from the akumas to the children, "and those children... wait? Is that us?" Adrien suddenly asked as the vision showed Ladybug and Chat Noir at the Eiffel Tower, confronting Hawkmoth and Mayura.
15 years in the future...
Ladybug and Chat Noir took a flip backwards as they clashed with Hawkmoth and Mayura for what seemed like a thousands times but they could never score a legitimate blow against him. Another problem was the akuma barrier surrounding the entire vicinity of the Eiffel Tower, so no one can get in or out. Ladybug eyed the barrier as she noticed the akumas were getting absorbed as some sort of dark energy, drawing towards a giant cube in the center.
"Damn... we're gonna get nowhere at this rate, we have to find a way to destroy that cube," Chat Noir huffed as Hawkmoth laughed at their futility and firmly placed his staff into the floor.
"You can definitely try Chat Noir, but it won't work. This relic comes from the butterfly miraculous, and supposedly relics of the miraculous are indestructible. The akumatization of all of Paris is at hand!" Hawkmoth sneered evilly at the pair as Chat Noir snarled and swung his sword at the man again. Over the years, Chat had traded his signature extendable baton staff for a extendable whip like sword and it was a proud testament of his growth and power. Hawkmoth quickly deflected it with his staff and Chat then changed the direction o his whip so it would sweep under Hawkmoth and blow him backwards.
"I promise you Hawkmoth... no... Gabriel, that I will stop you, even if I have to kill you," Chat Noir narrowed his eyes at Hawkmoth, retracted his sword so it would turn back into a regular blade. Gabriel smirked and then got up as if that blow was nothing and with a snap of his fingers, an intercom appeared in front of them.
"What is that?" Ladybug asked as the intercom showed them a house in the midst of the destruction but she suddenly realized why she shouldn't have asked.
"Why Ladybug, it's a live feed of your house, surely you thought it was a good idea to leave your kids unprotected," Hawkmoth grinned slyly as Chat Noir and Ladybug watched in horror as one of the monsters snuck up behind the three kids.
"Oh god no... LOUIS LOOK OUT!" Chat Noir yelled with a desperation in his voice he never felt before.
"LOU LOOK OUT!!" Hugo yelled as he pointed behind Louis with the latter turning around to find one of the ghastly creatures right behind them, raising its haggard fist up in the air.
"Guys! Duck!" Louis yelled as he took both of his siblings by the scruff and dove back into the building as the monster swung its fist down and cleaved the house in half. The last thing Louis saw before his vision blacked out for a few moments was a whole bunch of debris, ruined scaffolding, and fire. After waiting for a few seconds for the fist to settle, Louis raised his head slightly to take a look at his siblings who were under his arms, "you guys ok?"
"Nghhh..." Hugo slowly raised his head and coughed out the debris, "more or less..." Louis looked worriedly at him before three kwami appeared before them.
"Glacies! Fawkes! Naga! Are you guys ok?" Louis asked as the kwamis nodded and Glacies flew around Louis to check for serious injuries.
"We're fine, but how are you?" Glacies asked as he looked worriedly at his wielder. Louis shrugged the burning debris off him with great effort to create some room for his siblings.
"Fine... could be better..." Louis coughed as Hugo struggled to heave himself onto his elbows.
"So that's the power of those akumas then... how do we even get out alive?" Hugo asked he coughed out more debris as Louis replied.
"Can you even call those things akumas? They're simply monsters, demons even... Emma are you alright?" Louis asked as he noticed his sister being silent, but faintly heard a whimper of pain coming from here, "Emma! What's wrong?" Hugo looked worriedly at his sister.
"Yeah... I'm... ughhh.. fine, I think my leg got injured somehow though..." Emma tried to bite back her groans of pain as she felt a stinging, burning pain course throughout her right leg.
"Alright, can you get up? I'll help you onto my back... we need to be quiet in case that thing comes back..." Louis warned as he quickly helped her up and leaned down so she could get on his back. Emma wrapped her arms loosely around Louis' neck and looked around at their ruined house. Nothing but burning debris and ashes.
"Our home..." Emma cried as Louis looked back at her and frowned sadly.
"I know Emm... but we can't afford to stay here any longer, we need to go," Louis reassured his sister as he grabbed Hugo's hand and led them quickly outside the collapsing building and onto an empty, razed street. After looking out for the demons, they went out into the street and started to run in opposite direction of the Eiffel Tower and away from their parents, " Mom... Dad... make sure you make it out alive..." Louis thought to himself as he looked back at the tower and stared at the radiating dark energy for a moment longer before looking back ahead and running away. They weaved through broken and flipped cars and made their way over fractured ground. Suddenly, amidst the screams, Louis heard a couple of huge slams and the trio found themselves face to face with a couple of the demons that had somehow found them.
"No! We're completely surrounded!" Hugo whimpered in fear as the demons looked hungrily at them. However, for some reason, they didn't move, but just stood their places menacingly. Louis stared at them in fear as one of them suddenly raised its arm and swung it down and just when he was about to move, he heard a shout.
"NAGA! LEND ME YOUR DIVINE VOICE!" Hugo yelled as Naga nodded and went into his brooch, which was hidden inside of his hoodie. In a burst of pale green fire, Hugo transformed, abandoning his hoodie and donning a tunic that was covered with a dark blue cape that circled around his upper half and flowed into the back. The cape was held together by his brooch, which was his miraculous and he brought out his dark blue cuff sleeves and boots. Under his cape, he had a sleek breastplate armor and shoulder plates. He truly looked like a knight. Hugo then drew out his sword and parried the attack, deflecting it with a loud bang.
"Hugo!" Louis called out as he balanced himself and the two other kwamis flew around his head, watching the whole ordeal.
"I'm ok! I'm not gonna let them touch us!" Hugo brandished his sword in front of him as Louis realized that his only choice was to escape by taking advantage of the physical enhancements of having a miraculous. As much as he felt torn about using his miraculous, but Louis shook the thoughts of doubt from his mind as this is a matter of life and death to them and he didn't have time to be doubting.
"Alright then... Glacies! Time to prowl on the hunt!" Louis called out as Glacies nodded and went into his charm bracelet and he quickly transformed into his superhero form. He wore a white tunic cloak that reached down to his knees with a belt in the middle, and the tunic sported a high cuff around the neck. Wrapped around his neck with a snowflake sigil was a flowing white cape that billowed under Emma's body into the back. His entire suit shone with a faint light blue tint and the familiar mask covered his eyes and his cat ears sprung up from his hair, with gray tips, "Emm, you better hold on tight," Louis warned as he felt Emma nod against his shoulder and he felt her wrap her arms tighter and he took that as a signal to jump onto the rooftops of the collapsing buildings. Luckily some of them still had structural integrity so he could stand on them no problem.
"We've gotta find a way to get past them..." Hugo murmured as they constantly scanned the akumas for any sign that they were going to attack. Louis looked frantically for an opening but they were completely surrounded by them. However, on the bright side, Louis noticed that these akumas were the majority of the monsters that were set upon the city so he found solace in the fact that most of them were focused on them.
"Hugo... I have to use both my hands to keep Emma on my back while I use my ice magic to soothe her ankle. You're gonna have to find a way to break through to escape," Louis explained as Hugo nodded as he charged up his sword with draconic energy.
"That's not a problem," Hugo smirked as he launched himself up in front of the akumas, who moved to attack him, but before they could, Hugo already thrust his sword forward and a huge burst of energy in the form of a giant dragon shot forward and Louis saw that as a chance to move to escape. The dragon blasted the akumas apart with a resounding boom and it created a break in their circle. Louis winced at he heard the akumas crash against the buildings, destroying them and he felt bad, but at least they were still alive.
"Alright Hugo! We gotta move quickly before they recover! Let's go!" Louis called out as Hugo nodded and landed beside him as they quickly sped out of the circle and kept running. Louis then turned his head slightly to check on Emma's leg and found that the swelling had gone down significantly, "Emma how do you feel?"
"Mmmhmm I feel fine, thank goodness we got out of there," Emma breathed a sigh of relief as she felt most of the pain fade away as Louis nodded as he continued to move over buildings away from the Eiffel Tower, "Although I think my leg is fine now, Louis you can set me down in case if we get into any more battles."
"Are you sure?" Louis asked as he stopped and looked back at Emma who nodded and he carefully set her down, and Emma tested out her leg and felt fine so she smiled at him to reassure him. Louis' concerned face softened as he summoned his ice lance, Leiptr. It was a special lance with a wide arrow like blade and it seemed to radiate bright blue energy from its icy edges. Emma looked out over the chaos and destruction with a forlorn sadness as Fawkes, her kwami floated right up next to her and they looked at each other in agreement.
"Fawkes! Rise from the ashes!" Emma called out as a bright red teardrop shaped jewel appeared on her forehead and Fawkes entered it, materializing a golden band around her forehead. She swirled around and her transformation was wrapped in a flurry of flames. She donned a double layered dress: the first layer was a simple sleeveless white dress that had a turtleneck and the rest of the dress flowed out like a flower around her knees. The second layer was red cloak that had two straps over her shoulder and a cloak that loosely hugged her shoulders and covered most of her body. This second layer also contained the sleeves as the large sleeves materialized a deep crimson with shiny gold embroidery, and the cloak was bound together at the center of her chest with a golden jewel. The rest of her dress covered the white layer and the flames dispersed to reveal her transformation. Emma then turned around and lifted her hand up in a palm. Suddenly a blaze erupted from her palm and practically decimated the akumas, although she didn't go overboard because she knew these akumas used to be people.
"It's utterly terrible, to think these akumas used to be human..." Hugo murmured as the three of them continued on. Louis' face fell when he heard that because it was undoubtedly true. Some of them may be people that he knew but all of them look identical so he couldn't tell.
"We need to finish evacuating the citizens and keeping these akumas off them while they escape," Louis ordered as Emma and Hugo nodded in agreement and the three split up to cover more area. They fought on and on without end as the akumas didn't seem to stay down. They tried to save as many people as they could but they knew that casualties with inevitable. Louis was helping a couple of people escape as he held off an akuma when he was suddenly alerted to a person who was inching out from a giant piece of rubble from the other side. Narrowing his eyes at the person, Louis realized who that person was: it was his best friend Gavin. He thought Gavin had already escaped but he could recognize that head of dark brown, slicked back, and wavy hair anywhere since he gets the color from Uncle Nino.
"Gavin! Don't move! I'll take care of this!" Louis called out as he used his lance to send a blast of ice at the akuma, sending it barreling down the street in a resounding crackling ice sound. Louis then ran to Gavin's hiding place and looked around it to find his best friend holding his head in fear, "Gavin? You ok?"
Gavin looked up for a second and immediately relaxed to find someone comforting there, "Thank god... someone came... thank you so much White Fang. But how did you know my name?"
"Ahhh about that, since we're in the apocalypse and all, I couldn't let my best friend be killed by an akuma now could I?" Louis grinned as it took Gavin only a second to register Louis' words and figure out the reason.
"Wait! Louis! Is that you? You're the White Fang?!" Gavin exclaimed as they quickly ran from their hiding place and joined up with the rest of the citizens. Louis grinned cheekily as he nodded in reply.
"Yeah! I hope you can understand why I didn't... tell you," Louis said with a hint of shame in his voice as Gavin looked at him for a second before laughing.
"Dude I completely understand why, my best friend is a superhero! Of course you have to hide your identity, it's practically Superhero 101," Gavin explained as Louis breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as his cat ears sensed the akuma getting up and he urged Gavin to keep running, "did you tell Elena? I think she may get pissed at you for not telling her."
Louis frowned slightly as he thought about his other friend, "No... I didn't tell her, but she inherited her mom's temper so I wouldn't put it past her... her mom's Queen Bee, surely she knows that not even Auntie Chloé can divulge that information."
"Didn't stop Auntie Chloé from revealing herself as Queen Bee the moment she got her miraculous..." Gavin rolled his eyes as Louis pondered that really good point because it was technically true. However it was at that time that the akuma had caught to them and roared as it flapped it wings and sent down a railing hail of sharp feathers. Louis whipped around and swept his lance to send a powerful gust of icy wind to deflect the feathers.
"Gavin! Keep running! I'll handle things here!" Louis called out as Gavin stopped to look at him.
"Alright! You better make it out alive!" Gavin called back as Louis nodded and continued to parry the attacks of the akuma. However, out of nowhere, Louis felt the presence of another akuma on the other side of the street and without warning, it's arm burst through the building and slammed into Louis, who barely blocked it. Even with him blocking, the impact still sent him flying into the building on the other side of the street.
Louis groaned out in pain as he tried to steady himself but the akumas weren't giving him a break, "you've gotta be kidding..." the first akuma crept towards him and punched the top of the building so debris and rubble would fall on top of him. Even with his superpowers, that would be enough to knock him out if he couldn't escape. Right before the rubble fell, Louis felt himself get roughly pushed out of the way, and he looked back to find Gavin taking his place.
"GAVIN!!!" Louis yelled as he looked on in horror as the rubble crashed on top of his friend with a resounding crash. It felt like the moment lasted an eternity but when he was snapped back to reality when he hit the ground. Louis quickly scrambled to get up and his head snapped towards the akumas who were turning their attention onto him. With a insatiable fury, Louis blasted a blizzard of ice towards them which knocked them back several blocks back, sending them into a few other buildings, effectively immobilizing them.
"Hold on Gavin!" Louis grunted as he used his hands to send a high pressured gust of wind at the rocks, blowing them off the crash site where he found Gavin unresponsive on the ground. He immediately kneeled by Gavin's side and tried to shake him awake, "Gavin hang on! Speak to me!"
Hugo and Emma doubled back to Louis' location and saw Gavin on the ground, to which they immediately flew down to meet him. The screams and the booms in the distance can still be heard as they all gathered around Gavin.
"Louis what happened?!" Hugo asked worriedly as he tried to administer first aid using his miraculous's unique ability to heal. Louis clenched his hands as he refused to look at Hugo but he continued to stare at the ground, then he responded.
"He... pushed me out of the way of falling rubble when the akumas overwhelmed me... it was stupid..." Louis murmured as Hugo nodded and ceased the first aid.
"I don't think my power's working on him, but he's still hanging on, even if it's by a thread," Hugo sighed as Emma gasped and held her hands to her mouth.
"Oh no..." Emma whispered as the three felt another presence and they turned around to find an adult Rena Rouge and Carapace rushing towards them and when they saw their mangled son in front of them, it just made matters worse.
"Louis! Hugo! Emma! What in the world happened?" Rena Rouge asked as she immediately knelt down to check her son's face, which was completely sullied with dirt and ash, "Gavin! Hang on! Mom's here!"
Carapace looked at Louis with an unreadable expression as the latter tried to direct his eyes at anywhere else other than Carapace.
"Gavin! Stay with me!" Rena Rouge as she immediately whipped her heads towards Louis with a look of understandable anger on her face, "how could you let this happen to him!?"
Louis grit his teeth and kept his eyes trained on Gavin's body as his lips moved to attempt to explain, "I couldn't do anything! There was no time to react! He just came out of nowhere and tried to save me when I got overwhelmed by the akumas. By the time I realized what was going to happen... it was too late! I'm sorry Auntie Alya!" Louis tearfully explained as his siblings silently looked at him in understanding. Meanwhile, Rena Rouge's stern expression softened slightly, but he could still see the anger burning in her eyes.
"And Gavin's... he could have lived! He could have gotten out of here like everyone else! You let him die!" Rena Rouge cried as Louis winced from the accusations that seeped into his mind, slowly convincing him that it really was his fault.
"I-..." Louis started but his voice fell after drawing a blank for words. Suddenly, another voice interrupted as Louis looked up to find Carapace looking down at him with a melancholy, solemn expression.
"That's enough Alya... you know it isn't his fault... Gavin should have known better than to get in the way when superheroes are fighting, especially in a situation like this. I just wished God was more kind... so he could spare my son from the horrors of this apocalypse," Carapace murmured as Rena Rouge sighed in exasperation and sat back on her haunches. However, just right then, they all heard a quiet groan as they all noticed Gavin stirring and managing to open his eyes just a bit to see everyone.
"Mom?" Gavin coughed weakly as Rena Rouge de-transformed and cradled her son's head.
"Yes sweetie, I'm here, try not to talk anymore..." Alya forced a smile as Gavin weakly nodded before turning his head to face Louis, who looked at his best friend with worry in his eyes and a solemn expression.
Finally, after a few moments, Louis spoke, expressing his apologies once again, "I'm sorry Gavin, that I wasn't fast enough to push you out of the way and that I'm so weak that you felt the need to come back and try to save me," Louis paused for a moment to gauge Gavin's reaction, which was sympathetic as much as he could describe it, "there's no excuse for me for letting you get into this condition... I'm truly sorry." Louis' voice cracked as he felt himself tear up and he felt a hand on his shoulder and he found Nino comfortingly rubbing him on the shoulder. Louis wiped the tears away before looking back at Gavin, who smiled before speaking once again.
"It's... fine Louis... I wanted to help you... even if it turned out that you didn't need it. All I saw... was my best friend in trouble... and I had to do something," Gavin whispered as Louis nodded in understanding and smiling appreciatively back at him.
"I know... but you didn't have to do that for me... and now I don't what to say..." Louis replied as Gavin coughed once more and felt himself settle back more against his mom's arms.
"I didn't think it would end for me here... but I guess it is..." Gavin murmured as Alya grit her teeth and defied his words.
"Gavin, don't talk like that! You're going to be fine... we just have to get you out of here..." Alya started but she felt Gavin tighten his grip around her fingers in a weak attempt to grab her attention. Hugo and Emma just stood back and watched as they watched who was essentially family die right in front of them.
"Mom... Dad... I can't feel anything... my whole body feels completely crushed," Gavin slowly said as he coughed a few more times, feeling static electricity course through his body as he couldn't feel anything.
"My son... I'm so sorry, you should have been first in our priority... but we lost track of you..." Nino started to say but broke off because he didn't know what to say anymore.
"It's ok Dad... Mom... thank you for just being my parents and for being heroes... it's a tall order right Louis?" Gavin smiled weakly as Louis nodded slowly. It just seemed like a painful eternity watching his dear friend go, but he knew there was nothing he could do. Louis watched despairingly as the irises around Gavin's eyes became dulled and Alya could only grip her son's hand harder as they were losing him, "Louis... chin up dude... you can't afford to let Hawkmoth win..." Gavin croaked as Louis snapped his head up to look at his friend and tearfully wiped away another round of tears.
"How... Gavin? I could barely handle myself against a demon akuma, how could I win against Hawkmoth?" Louis asked ruefully and he clenched his eyes closed again in fear and despair. He then felt two other presences fill in beside him and he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up to find his sister looking at him dead in the eyes with a determination he had never seen before.
"Because he has us," Emma reassured her brother as Hugo nodded and smiled sadly at Gavin.
"We promise we won't let him win," Hugo solemnly said with an aura of firmness. He sounded so sure in his resolve, and how he could find that in this situation is a miracle beyond Louis's comprehension.
"You are the most amazing and kindest person I have ever met... the things I've seen you do with your siblings? That," Gavin said as emphatically as he could, "is the work of heroes. You're true to your friends and family... París is lucky to have you. And... Thank you for being my best friend..." Gavin coughed as Louis could tell that his friend's consciousness was fading, and without a second thought, he replied back.
"And thank you... for being mine..." Louis couldn't help but let a sob crack through as he felt his siblings lean into him for comfort. His sobbing was the only thing that could be heard amidst the rumbling, the fire, and the howling winds that covered the distant screams. He had lost a dear friend of his that day, but fate couldn't prepare him for the rest of his world being destroyed as he would soon be losing everyone else.
Present Day...
"How in the world did this happen? I thought I had nothing to lose for some god forsaken reason..." Louis's voice murmured as the group listened to his words, their words fallen on their tongues as they were just speechless to the sight they just saw, "thought that because I was a hero, I was entitled to some sort of protection for my loved ones... what a foolish mistake. I should have known fate wouldn't be that forgiving. Even if I tried my best to save the city, but it turns out?" Louis's voice paused for a second before continuing, "I couldn't do that either."
"That was... my son... and he died in the future," Alya mumbled as she absentmindedly leaned against Nino, who nodded in agreement.
"It only gets worse from here Alya, and regrettably, Louis has even more to show us," Master Fu said sadly as he narrowed his eyes at the screen, which Louis took as a sign to continue.
15 years into the future...
Louis continued to stare the lifeless body of his friend, cursing that he was the one who did this to him. He didn't know what to say to Auntie Alya, who was still crying over the loss of her son. He suddenly felt a firm hand on his shoulder and he looked up to find Uncle Nino sharing the same sympathetic expression as him.
"Uncle Nino... I'm sorry... I couldn't save him..." Louis whispered as he noticed the tears that were running down Nino's face, who leaned down to be leveled with Louis.
"This isn't... your fault, and know that Gavin holds you in the highest regard. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain. You and your siblings have a bigger job to do, and we're counting on you three to finish what your parents have started," Nino said as Louis looked away and let out a small smile.
"You know... for someone who just lost their son, you're awfully noble... it's ok if you hate me and want to mourn him without being nice to me," Louis said ruefully as he felt the grip on his shoulder tighten in response.
"Louis," Nino started as Louis continued to stare blankly at his friend's body, "you did what you could do... and we're not gonna hate you for that. What you need to do now and help Adrien and Marinette defeat Hawkmoth. Your parents are gonna need you regardless of what they say," Nino explained as Hugo and Emma nodded in understanding. He noticed the look on Louis's face harden in determination as his words were starting to get through to him.
"Right... I have to... help them..." Louis said slowly as he saw Alya turn around to give him an angry yet determined look.
"That's right Louis, and when you see Hawkmoth, get revenge for us will you? Give him what's good," Alya held out her hand that Louis took for a firm handshake. Louis then stood up and turned around towards the Eiffel Tower, with his siblings standing up with him. With heavy hearts to leave Uncle Nino and Auntie Alya to mourn, the three drew their weapons and turned their attention to the dark aura that surrounded the Eiffel Tower.
"Get ready Hawkmoth... because we're coming for you!" Louis growled as he and his siblings started off towards the tower with a new resolve. The Agreste siblings despite their best efforts were able to keep the flames that engulfed the future at bay. They paid the biggest price for their mistakes and what they loved and held dear; they lost it anyway.