Nathalie Sancoeur was no stranger to fainting spells. Using the damaged peacock Miraculous does that. A risk she was willing to take, for the man she loved. For the woman she considered a sister to be returned to her. Nothing what happened to her should matter. Anyhow, normally after a fainting spell she often found herself waking up in a bed at the Agreste mansion. But she woke up in a white void this time.
"Good, you are awake, we can move on." Nathalie's vision was blurry and she looked around for her glasses, which were handed to her by the source of the voice. She put the glasses on. She recognized the person as Bunnyx, one of the heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir recruited for their mission to take them down. Only older. "Hope you had a nice rest. I needed you healed and well-rested before I inflicted punishment." Bunnyx said in a cold tone.
"Where am I? Release me!" Nathalie said as she got up and took a fighting stance. Well, she at least indeed felt no more side effects of her illness.
"I won't." Bunnyx just straight out said. "You have too many strikes against you. Helping a madman whom would tear the world apart to see his goals fulfilled. He nearly did so, if the heroes hadn't defeated you. Though I took you, him and your little accomplice so that they could face consequences."
"He had a good reason, it was for a noble cause!" Nathalie noted, not dropping her fighting stance.
"You pave the road to hell with good intentions." Bunnyx noted. "But were his intentions really that good? Did he want the Miraculous to fix the corruption in the world? To prevent evil political parties from gaining power, fix pollution? No, he instead wanted it to revive his wife."
"Emilie didn't deserve this…" Nathalie clenched her fists.
"She wasn't exactly a bad person but she did support her husband's controlling and isolationist attitude, and knowing clearly that the Miraculous was broken she still kept using it because she was on a power high. Sure, she was still loved by many but she should have been more careful." Bunnyx noted. "Besides, it was not worth tearing up Paris over."
"We just wanted the Miraculous!" Nathalie growled.
"You had the butterfly, ever thought of creating a healer Champion?" Bunnyx asked.
"Er…" Nathalie hadn't thought of it. But she thought she had an answer. "The Butterfly creates temporary champions, whom knows if the healing effect would even last?"
"Or send a message? A messenger champion?" Bunnyx said, unconvinced, unmoved and almost uninterested as she checked out her fingernails though they were covered by her gloves.
"We didn't even know where the Guardian was…" Nathalie said, sounding more nervous.
"Or make a huge announcement like 'Hello! I'm the Butterfly wielder, my wife is in a magical coma. If you are out there Guardian, can I please ask to heal her?' If he could project himself during the Stoneheart incident, he could have done the same for a call for help." Bunnyx said, tearing the last arguments of Nathalie down.
"I…he…" Nathalie was running out of answers. "He wouldn't have helped us, we had to use force."
"You never knew that and you'll never know now because the old Guardian is gone." Bunnyx said. "And about that force…you realize how many people died because of the Akumas and Sentimonsters?"
"The Miraculous Ladybug would fix it every time!" Nathalie argued.
"Oh, that makes it right!" Bunnyx said sarcastically. "'Oh I'm so sorry I ran you over with my car and you got hospitalized. But a year of revalidation and physical therapy and you'll be able to walk out like nothing happened, so it's fixed!'" Nathalie grew pale at that comment. "You have no leg to stand on. You and your sempai hurt and killed people, and those whom were brought back were traumatized. A tragic backstory can only do so much to give you sympathy."
Nathalie dropped her fighting stance as all her arguments were ripped apart like wet paper. "So…what are you going to do to me?"
"You and your accomplices deserve punishment of course. They had to go through their world of nightmares. Gabriel seeing a world where he didn't exist and how the world is better off without him. Lila being a ghost, unable to be heard, seen or touched like a ghost…" Bunnyx explained. "Care to guess what I'm going to do to you?"
"Oh, maybe a nightmare world where my love for Gabriel is unrequited…Oh wait, I already lived in that kind of world." Nathalie said sarcastically. "The man I love is already trapped in a nightmare, everyone will hate me for the role I have to play, what else could you do to me?"
"For someone with glasses you are really blind. There is one more crime you are guilty off." Bunnyx noted. "You hurt someone you were supposed to watch over. And you are going to feel his pain."
"Who?" Nathalie asked.
Bunnyx sighed, as if she was dealing with a very stupid person. "Adrien Agreste!"
Before Nathalie could react, Bunnyx and the white void were gone. Instead she was back at the Agreste Mansion. To be precise, Adrien's room. Did Bunnyx mess up? However, she found her body wouldn't move. She could see but…she couldn't blink. It didn't hurt. She just saw. But she couldn't move or speak. Though she felt her vision shift like she stood up from the bed and moved to the mirror and saw Adrien Agreste staring back. She was seeing things through his eyes…though she was a bystander looking on, unable to influence everything. She also felt something, a pang of sadness what wasn't her own. Adrien checked the date on her phone, it was shortly after Emilie's disappearance. The sadness and hurt Adrien felt grew stronger.
Adrien was seen in the mirror trying desperately to create his 'model smile' so that he could hide how utterly hurt he fell. And hurting it was. That feeling of emptiness like a piece of your heart was missing, the longing of seeing someone again, the sorrow and fear that they may not return. Nathalie felt it herself but feeling Adrien's…It was so much stronger then her and if she was physical, she'd have become sick.
"Adrien…" Nathalie heard her own voice but since she wasn't physical and couldn't speak, just witness, it wasn't really her. Adrien turned around and through his eyes she saw herself. The stern look, impassive so you would not see her emotions. Is that how she always looked or how people saw her. "Get ready quickly, you have modelling to do."
"I'm not sure if I can do it today. I still…" Adrien muttered.
"You have to continue working, you are the face of the brand. Your father also keeps the company alive, the tragedy should not be an excuse to not move forward. Grief in your private time, but right now you have to do your part." Nathalie said. Oh god, did she really say that to Adrien, did she really invalidate his grief like that? She felt Adrien's pain, like what he felt didn't matter…but he always seemed so…how well was he able to hide it all?
"Will Father…will be he there at dinner this time?" Adrien asked. He hadn't tried to argue. He just wanted to see the one person he had left he cared about, the last of his family.
"He'll be busy. He is the head of a company. You should understand." Nathalie said coldly. The feelings of sadness became nauseating. She…did she do that? No she did what Gabriel asked. Adrien was too sensitive, he had to learn to be strong, to deal with it, he…
The scene changed. She saw the classmates through Adrien's eyes. "Happy birthday bro! Let's hope this year no one gets turned into clownish Akumas." The boy with the red cap said as he handed his gift. Nino she believed his name was. Adrien's feelings, she could feel them, bouts of joy. It was different from the earlier sadness. There were still pangs, but they didn't hurt as much anymore.
"Happy birthday Adrien." Another voice said, a bit nervous sounding. Now, she recalled the Dupain-Cheng girl really well. Talented and creative, having impressed Gabriel with her work. And how he wanted her to be an Akuma. A burst of joy, bigger than before…it was something affectionate. Was that love? Because she wasn't sure since she felt moments of confusion. She showed off a jacket, no doubt hand made.
"Thank you Marinette, it is lovely. It actually fits the scarf my Dad made…" However, the feeling of realization set in. The confusion grew, feelings of doubt, but not aimed at this girl. Ok, not all, but mostly the confusion about the scarf were his own. "I'll wear it for the rest of the day." He put the doubts aside for now as…for some reason what this girl made for him became dear to him and he should treasure it.
It shifted again. Nathalie saw herself, or the self from Adrien's memories. "He did nothing! He stole another artist's work. I thought he was against that, that he had more honor then that!"
"It is not his fault; I did it because I had forgotten to get you a gift on his behalf." Nathalie noted. "I take responsibility." Nathalie actually didn't feel that much guilt at the time because making Gabriel look good was a bit more important then an amateur designer's scarf. Not that she knew at the time Marinette would gain respect and popularity.
"Shouldn't he have done that? He is my father, it should be his responsibility. You are an assistant, not an errand girl." Adrien not often raised his voice. At the time he did it weakly but now she could see through his eyes and feel his feelings, he felt how much anger Adrien was holding back and any less self-control and he would have really torn into her at the time. Not that her past self did realize it.
"He is a busy man, you should know that, Adrien!" Her past self said. Once again the feelings were ignored. Frustration kept building up at the indignity at having been made to feel like he didn't matter.
"I am his son, he could have spared two minutes at worst, it wouldn't have taken that much time." Adrien argued.
"ENOUGH!" Nathalie said. Her past self…she had wished she hadn't snapped at the time. "He knows what is best, you should trust him, you shouldn't question him. I am sorry about the scarf, now go to your room and wait until you are summoned for your next lesson." Before he was left alone. The anger had cooled a bit, or at least pushed back, before it gave way to a feeling of emptiness and defeat. A sadness that was beyond tears.
The scenery shifted, feelings of confusion, sadness, but also something else as the Dupain-Cheng girl came into view. "Why? Why didn't you tell me?" Adrien asked her.
"You looked so happy when you thought it came from your father, I didn't want to take that away for you." She said sheepishly. A warmth filled Adrien, which the incorporeal Nathalie also felt. A sense of admiration about her selflessness. Adrien grabbed Marinette in a hug, whom blushed so hard she was almost exploding. It felt so nice.
But that feeling of warmth was taken away when the scenario changed. A feeling of dread, disgust, anger… "You leave Marinette alone! I promised not to expose you if you left her alone." It was Lila Rossi. Nathalie never liked her and only tolerated her because she was useful.
"I am leaving her alone, I don't directly confront her, do I?" Lila said smugly.
"Oh, don't think I'm that obvious. You are sniping at her with subtle comments, planting doubts in the minds of others. She is one of the kindest people there is, how dare you paint her as awful when you are a liar?" Adrien said. The righteous anger radiated. Nathalie didn't feel shocked by this emotion.
"I only tell people what they want to hear. They want to believe me being famous? I let them. They want to believe their 'Everyday Ladybug' isn't as nice as they believed, whom am I to correct them?" Lila said with a smug smile.
"I thought you were nothing more than an over-glorified tabloid. That if you ignored it, it would go away. I thought you may be having trouble fitting in so you lied. But no you do it because you are awful. I never thought such a vile being like you exist. Well, since you don't follow the agreement, I should have no reason to either." Adrien said. A feeling of victory, empowerment. Knowing he can take her down. Nathalie rooted for Adrien.
"They didn't believe Marinette, and they know her for a long time, will anyone believe you? Aside Chloé but her word is not worth a lot. And even if you get the class behind you, your father will pick my side. He hates your stupid and vapid classmates and he won't need an excuse to pull you out of school. And your principal and teacher are so spineless that even if I were to be faulted, I can pull my clout with your father and my mother's position to get away with it. Face it Adrien, you're stuck with me." Lila said.
"How can anyone take such a great joy into harming other people? There must be better ways." Adrien asked. She felt the confusion, the inability to comprehend. Poor Adrien's naiveté. He was just too kind that Lila's line of thinking was alien.
"Those better ways are no fun." Lila said. Nathalie grew angry alongside Adrien. Yes, she and Gabriel did questionable things but with purpose. Lila did because she wanted to. "So, if I were you, I'd act nice and give me what I want. Your dad asks you to take care of me, and if you can convince Marinette to stand down I'll make sure to no longer snipe at her. You just have to be my little boytoy."
"I am not a trophy! I am a living being, I would never be your boyfriend because you are everything I hate!" Adrien said.
"I don't care whether you consent or not. But I'm not that cruel so I'll give you time to think. After all emotions are high at the moments, and I'll let you have that pretty little brain of you catch up first. I'll give you a week, I'm feeling generous if only because I know I'll come out on top in the end." Lila said. The rage and disgust was so strong. Nathalie now wondered if she really would have tried to talk Gabriel out of hiring her harder.
We shift again, but to Adrien confronting Gabriel. "You can't believe Lila Rossi, she lies as she breathes. She is turning the class against each other. You can't really believe her father, I know you can tell if people are lying like that, you can't approve." Adrien was afraid. Not angry, but not afraid about confronting Gabriel. He was afraid what would happen if Lila wasn't stopped.
"You talk nonsense Adrien. I know best, and I say that you must remain friendly with Lila Rossi. I don't care about your classmates, they are not worthy of our attention. She is the only one that should matter." Gabriel said sternly.
"I hate her. She is a devil. She is a psycho. She also won't stop touching me or grabbing me…" Adrien responded. A shiver went up his spine thinking about her, which Nathalie could also feel. Did Lila really do a number on him like that?
"You model with her, it is natural you make physical contact. Man up and deal with it." Gabriel waved off the concerns. It…she saw her other self at his side. She wanted to shout out to her other self to do something. Adrien is in distress, can't she see…until she realized that was her, she was the one whom had ignored it. She had said nothing. Combined with the disgust, fear and anger Adrien felt…how she wished she had a body, she needed something to physically shed this feeling of revulsion.
"No, it is not like a mere modeling gig. Other models never exceed the boundaries. No other people have touched me like that without permission, not even Chloé." Adrien said. "Why won't you believe me. I am your son. I have always done what you asked of me. I have given up so much for you, isn't that enough? I may have rebelled and gone out, but the worst I did is doing normal kid stuff like hanging with friends, nothing illegal or frowned upon. I never brought embarrassment, why can't you believe me on this one?" the emotional pain of being ignored by his father like that. He rarely gets to see him and the time he now saw him, he made him feel unimportant. Nathalie couldn't bear it as she felt herself falling apart. She knew how this situation ended, but she hoped it was a dream that would turn around, and not have the same outcome.
"I have clearly made a mistake in letting you go out. If you can't be kept in line I'll…" Gabriel said. Adrien knew the threat that was coming, and so did Nathalie. Threatened with being isolated.
"You can't lock me up like a bird in a cage!" Adrien's anger having been pent up and boiling for a long time. "I can't live like this. I don't know what happened to you dad. I also miss Mom, and I know you hurt. But I cannot keep continuing to live my life in misery. I learned life is short and I won't be a kid forever. I work hard like it should be but I want to take moments to feel happy, something I can look back fondly upon years later, live my life. I made friends, real friends whom care, I have found a life worth living, and taking that away from me…You are not protecting me you are hurting me!" Adrien said, he no longer held back his tears. Sorrow, rage, regret, disgust, so much…too much.
"Do you honestly not care? No…you don't. Because everything is about you. Your reputation, what you want from me, no one else's feelings matter. I don't know what kind of plan you have for me and Lila and whether you are in denial or stubborn but I can say, you are selfish!" Adrien let it all out…it felt good, Nathalie felt the pressure on her lightening as well. Until a painful sting was felt in Adrien's cheek.
Gabriel had slapped his son…She forgot he did that. Her other self looked shocked, but didn't step in at all. Gabriel was huffing and red. "Ungrateful child! I made you great! I have made sacrifices, and you can't be bothered to do the same. You dare lecture me…you know nothing! You are nothing without me, you hear me? You only get what you got because I allowed it. I have been too soft." He recomposed himself and despite appearances, Nathalie knew Gabriel wasn't remorseful. "Look what you made me do. All because you acted out. You get to your room and you are not coming out. A bit of isolation may make you think about what you've done."
Adrien's feelings were numb now. The anger was left out. A realization hit, it was hopeless. There was no getting through to Gabriel…Now Nathalie realized what Bunnyx wanted her to feel. At the time she was too enamored, too much in denial about Gabriel. The numbness Adrien now felt, it was almost worse than the overwhelming anger and sorrow. She felt like a part of her was dying. Even more when the other Nathalie dragged Adrien to his room without a word, unfeeling, like a robot.
Nathalie woke up with a jerk, in the white space, she could feel the physical sensations of her body again. However, after what she went through, the physical reaction to the revulsions she had felt took her tool and she threw up all over the floor and herself. She panted heavily as her mouth and throat burned and she cried.
"How has life worked out for you?" Bunny asked.
"Oh god…" Nathalie moaned. "I…I did…nothing. I…"
"You did nothing to protect your godson…is he even aware you are his godmother? He'd be more disappointed in you if he knew." Bunnyx noted. "Doesn't matter. Because right now, with you three missing, he is happier. He is with good people, people whom care."
"You punished me. I deserve it. So what do you do now? Send me back so I can repent on Earth? Turn myself in?" Nathalie noted.
"Oh, I am far from done, those were a few cherry picked moments, and not the tip of the iceberg. Only reason I pulled you out, I wanted to have you rest between sessions, so you can keep just sane enough to feel the impact of the other worst moments of Adrien's life you are yet to experience through his eyes." Bunnyx explained.
"Please, no more! I can't take it anymore. I'll behave, I'll set it right, I promise!" Nathalie begged as she cried. "Mercy!"
"Mercy? You had none. Adrien lived through all of that and somehow the kid is still sane and able to function. It shows he is already a better person then you could ever be." Bunnyx said. "No, I can't risk you relapsing, and I don't want you to have anyone feel sorry for you. As you are one of the biggest reasons for the misery in his life. You are going to ride this out all the way!"
"You're a hero, you can't do this!" Nathalie begged.
"I'm a hero yes…But that doesn't mean I'm soft or stupid. Sometimes to be kind and have someone learn a lesson, you have to cruel. Take two…" Bunnyx said as she pointed her umbrella.
"NO!" Nathalie said before she was diving back into the hell where she was incorporeal, where she could only perceive through sight and the tortured emotions of the boy she claimed was like a son to her. She felt the emotional torture she had helped inflict upon him
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bunnyx observed three spheres showing the ultimate fates of the three villains. Once they are done, as they reached their breaking points, only then they would be brought back to their world, when they are so broken up that they wouldn't dare to ever step out of line again.
In one sphere, in his prison, the mad Gabriel was constantly screaming and throwing fits. He refused to accept his wrongdoings and how much the world was better off without him. He would probably take the longest. But Bunnyx had literally all the time in the world. She Chuckled as more guards came in to restrain and sedate him for probably the third time that week.
Lila going mad being starved for attention but unable to do anything but exist. She was rather weak willed when her power was taken away and she would most likely break the soonest.
And Nathalie…probably the only one of the three whom could feel a bit of remorse but she was still not innocent. She had to learn the hard way. She would probably the most harmless when this was over.
She looked into one more sphere. Adrien in the prime world was now happy. He was together with Marinette, and Marinette's parents and Adrien's bodyguard (his legal guardian now) now acting as the positive adult influences in their lives. The classmates, having felt guilty to be deceived by Lila or failing to see how bad things were, were going to do their best to be better friends in the future and do everything to make things right. They will think twice now. They are still kids with lot to learn. And none of them were true psychopaths like Lila.
They would rise from the ashes and be reborn like the phoenix, and make brighter futures. She knew for sure, she checked. Shame a bit of tragedy had to happen but some things were irreversible even for a chronomancer. But Bunnyx was proud of her work, as she was setting things right for the future. It wasn't always clean, but it was worth it.
But for now, let the darkest moments fade away, and let the light shine through.