Author's Note: Hi! SnivyLord here! Here is the official first chapter of The Future Past, a story wrought with drama, angst, feels, and all around epic moments. I just wanted to officially welcome everyone on this journey because ummm... it's gonna be pretty long. This is a story that revolves around the tragic tale of Louis Agreste, his family, and their struggle to win against the dark forces of Hawkmoth, who has completely taken over Paris. The prologue has already given a taste of what's to come in this momentous moment in the history of Paris as well as the history of the miraculous. Keep in mind that I do not own any of these characters except for the fan canons of the Agreste children and the OC children of the original miraculous wielders. So in this chapter, Louis, Hugo, and Emma move on from the death of Gavin, Nino and Alya's son, and make their way towards the Eiffel Tower. However, on the way, they run into someone familiar and Louis finally snaps when the unthinkable happens.
Louis looked off in the distance at the Eiffel Tower, which was completely surrounded by darkness. His parents were still fighting in there, unable to get out. His thoughts immediately went to the amount of time Adrien and Marinette spent in there. Louis couldn't help but think the worst, what if Hawkmoth had really defeated his parents? Or even worse? Hawkmoth could have killed them by now. Louis couldn't help but think of the worst, looking at the state of the world, how was any of this supposed to get better? Louis then thought back to his best friend Gavin, the guilt overflowing his senses and crippling him. He had let his friend die, and he sat there as Gavin praised him as a hero, when he was the farthest thing from it. Emma noticed the grim look at his face as they ran across the crumbling rooftops of Paris.
"Louis... are you still thinking about Gavin?" Emma asked carefully. She hated the fact that the three of them had to leave Auntie Alya and Uncle Nino, but they had no choice but to press on. The real root of the problem was currently fighting their parents at the Eiffel Tower: Gabriel Agreste and they had to hurry.
"Yeah," Louis' voice barely above a whisper. The twins could hear the regret and grief in his voice. Emma didn't know what to say in order to make him feel better, but what could you say to console your brother when his best friend dies?
"There... was nothing more you could have done for him," Emma tried to say without looking at her brother in the eye, "We can't let his sacrifice be in vain, and we have to fulfill his last wish!" Emma tried to get Louis to look at the silver lining, but actually, there was none.
"He shouldn't have had to... if only I had been stronger..." Louis gripped his lance tighter as a demon akuma came out of nowhere and sliced at him. Without batting an eye, Louis dodged and twirled his lance to slice up the akuma's arm, the monster screaming in pain before Louis sliced the akuma square across the face, leaping over it and landing on the building on the opposite side. The akuma fell and dematerialized into darkness, Louis didn't bother to look back as his siblings followed him onto the next building that started to crumble under their weight.
"Louis, we can't let ourselves feel this way, we can't let Gabriel win!" Hugo tried to reassure Louis as he heard one of the monsters fire a beam of dark energy right at him. Sparing a glance to his left, Hugo deflected the beam with his sword and thrusted his sword back at the demon akuma, sending a shockwave that knocked the monster to the ground.
"Like hell I'll let him win," Louis murmured, more for himself than an answer. He looked around at all the destruction and chaos with a grave apprehension, "He brought this upon himself... and he'll get what he deserves."
"However, we can't guarantee any of the citizens' safety, I think several people have already died," Hugo looked around as he winced at the distant screams that he heard, carried over the smoke of the flames that ate Paris and its people alive.
"And more people are going to die if we don't hurry!" Emma urged her brothers on and they nodded in agreement. So they continued on, leaping across buildings, and the Eiffel Tower became closer in view. Just as they were about to assess the dark barrier that was surrounding the tower, Louis heard a familiar scream nearby as the trio looked over to the burning park that surrounded the tower. Through the smoke, he could spot a blond haired girl that was running away from several of the demon akumas.
Emma gasped as she figured out who that was, "Wait isn't that?" Before Emma could finish, Louis already rushed in towards the hoard, already recognizing who it was and Hugo fell in stride with Emma.
"It's Elena Bourgeois!" Hugo exclaimed as he rushed in as well to help the queen bee's daughter. Emma followed suit and they were immediately met by a barrage of attacks from the demon akumas that they tried to fend off, but they noticed that Louis was further within the horde and they couldn't reach him, "Lou! Be careful!" Hugo struggled to stay as he used his sword to block the demon akuma's claw that was threatening to crush him. Emma used her miraculous's levitation abilities to dodge the akumas with ease and scorched each of their swiping claws with her flames. However, she couldn't break through their ranks to where Louis was. Louis was't going to allow another death on his watch, and he furiously used his lance to cut through the masses to get to where Elena was.
"Summon! Sylgr!" Louis chanted out as his lance transformed into dual knives, the blades lined with crystalline blue ice. His outfit slightly changed as well where his cape became more of a cloak and his likeness was transformed more into an assassin than a knight. Louis felt the surge of speed well up within him and he dashed forward to incapacitate the rest of the demons with blinding speed. The demon akumas screamed and fell to the floor and faded away into darkness, the butterflies dropping to the floor as if they were dead. Louis looked at them before eyeing the terrified girl that had noticed her savior.
"Ah! It's the White Fang! Thank god!" Elena sobbed as she rushed forward to hug Louis. Louis looked back to where his siblings were and found that they finished off the rest of the demon akumas. Elena looked past the hero to acknowledge the two other heroes as well, "and it's the Phoenix Priestess and the Divine Voice! Thank you so much! I don't really know what I would have done there, I think I would have been dead..."
"We're just glad you're alright," Emma sighed with relief as Elena finally found the courage to let go of Louis, who looked sadly at her. The group stood there in silence for a moment before Elena spoke up again, her voice laced with panic.
"Oh no! You guys! My friends! Louis and Gavin! I haven't seen them since the apocalypse started! Have you seen them around the city anywhere?" Elena exclaimed as the three froze at the mention of Gavin. She was too late to be asking that now, since he's been killed. Elena eyed the three of them, noticing how they all couldn't look at her in the eye, "What? Are either of them ok? Guys what's wrong?"
"We saw Gavin earlier..." Louis started to explain but his mouth went dry since he couldn't find the words to explain that their best friend is dead, "and I'm... sorry to say that... he's dead."
Elena clapped both her hands to her mouth and shook her head vigorously, "No... that's... how? How did he die? Why did you let him die!?" Elena screamed as Louis could only look at her with remorse.
"A building collapsed on him! There was nothing I could do! I'm sorry!" Louis argued as Elena gasped and looked at the superhero with slight contempt.
"A building? What are those powers of yours good for then!? One of my best friends... he's... dead!" Elena choked out a sob as she came to the realization that her friend was really dead. Then an even worse thought came to her mind, "wait! What about Louis!? Have you seen him?" Louis shifted uncomfortably in his place as the boy she was talking about was right in front of her. However, he decided on a vague answer instead.
"Don't worry, he's safe, you don't have to worry about him," Louis tried to reassure Elena, but sure enough, she didn't believe him.
"How? How do I know that?!" Louis saw that Elena was starting to increasingly panic again. It didn't really seem like she was going to believe anything that Louis said. However, Louis still had to try.
"He's fine! I saw him earlier escaping with everyone else!" Louis tried to explain, exasperated, but Elena was becoming more irrational by the second. Emma and Hugo could only watch as those two kept arguing.
"Are you sure? Louis is the son of two literal legends Ladybug and Chat Noir! Do you know how important his life is?!" Elena exclaimed as Louis winced at her description of his "supposed" title. Emma and Hugo's attention were drawn to their older brother because they knew that his relationship with their parents was a complicated subject, especially when it came to the miraculeuses.
"And yet, he may end up dying by the end of this..." Louis thought to himself, minding that he probably shouldn't say that part out loud, "yes, I'm perfectly aware the value of his life... and yet, he couldn't even protect the life of his best friend," Louis murmured, more for himself, but everyone heard him anyway.
"What? How dare you! Wasn't that your job?! He could have died!" Elena retorted in indignation, but Louis shot back with a response of his own, getting increasingly annoyed with Elena.
"No! It was his job to protect Gavin and he failed! I... Failed him..." Louis cried out, on the verge of tears. Elena looked at Louis with a confused curiosity, closely examining the look of remorse on the hero's face. Suddenly Louis let down his transformation, and left only himself to Elena's shocked face. His kwami looked at him worriedly as Elena reached her hand out slowly, as if she was questioning whether the person in front of her was real.
"Louis?" Elena whispered as Louis looked at her sadly and if she was going to be honest, the look on his face broke her heart.
"I... let Gavi die... Elena... I'm so sorry!" Louis cried as Elena immediately moved forward to hug him and cry into his shoulder. Emma and Hugo moved closer to share their condolences but they just let Louis and Elena have their moment.
Elena clutched the fabric of Louis' hoodie and she felt a burning sadness fill her as she realized what must have happened, "You idiot... you were... the White Fang this whole time! And you've been facing this all on your own!" Elena tried to remember the outline of his arm as she hugged him because it had just occurred to her that since Louis was a miraculous wielder, he would have to come face to face with Hawkmoth eventually.
"Elena.. I'm sorry... I kept it from you for your own good," Louis murmured into her hair and he felt her head move in a nod of understanding.
"No I get it, You're a hero and all and you've got to keep your identity secret, just like your parents did," Elena finally moved back from Louis' embrace to look at him in the eyes, she could never tell him how relieved she was to know that Louis was safe and that he was the White Fang no less. Elena then looked at the other two wielders that accompanied Louis and she immediately knew who they were, "So that means you two are Hugo and Emma!" Elena exclaimed as Emma laughed and rushed forward to hug Elena and Hugo gave her a courteous nod.
"Yeah, keeping our identities a secret is not going to matter anymore because Gabriel is literally tearing this city apart to get Mom and Dad to give up their miraculous, no matter who dies or lives," Louis looked gravely at the Eiffel Tower and the group was in silence for a moment before Hugo broke their silence.
"It isn't safe here, we have to get Elena somewhere safe," Hugo started to move out of the park, with the others following him. The area that they were at was surprisingly quiet as the demon akumas had already destroyed the area and there was nothing left to find.
"Louis, how was Gavi... before he died?" Elena asked, although not really sure if she wanted to hear the answer, but she thought it was important to know how their best friend was when he died. They kept walking for a bit, keeping their surroundings in mind, and Louis didn't say anything for a moment before he started to speak.
"The way he usually was, he was... so proud that his best friend was a superhero, when honestly... I'm the farthest thing from it," Louis bit his lip in a bitter smile. Gavin was always like that, he always liked to make a big show of his best friend's accomplishments. Louis appreciated him putting him on a pedestal, but eventually with his hero responsibilities building upon him, he began to feel like a fraud. Even to the end, Gavin praised Louis for being one of the best and coolest heroes around, but Louis still felt like a fraud. He still let him die. Now, Louis had to press on and try to keep Gavin within his memory, "He was... like he usually was, so unbelievably forgiving... and hopeful that we could win this war, he was... thankful to the end." Louis sighed as he moved his arm to wipe the tears away from his face. He looked to the right at Elena to see her crying. He made a move to comfort her, his arm barely within reach of her shoulder, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"That sounds just like him... Poor Gavi I hope he rests in peace..." Elena murmured as the trio nodded in silent agreement before Elena realized something else, "I wonder how Queen Bee is doing, I mean Mom... I hope my parents are alright," Elena sighed to herself as the trio led her out of the park and in the direction of the evacuation. As they were escorting Elena through the streets, a loud rumble could be heard throughout the city as everyone looked back towards the Eiffel Tower and saw that comets of dark energy were shooting out of the dark barrier surrounding the tower and crashing throughout various parts of the city.
"Oh no... more of the demon akumas are spawning! We gotta go now!" Louis kept his eyes on the akuma spawns that were shooting across the smoky, brazen sky and ran with Elena, Hugo and Emma through the streets. They could hear the comets crashing with a resounding boom across the city followed by the sickening sounds of the demons awaking. The group ran through the streets as their surroundings crumbled and became replaced with the roar of the demon akumas.
"How are there so many of them!?" Emma screamed as the group skidded to a halt and they found themselves surrounded yet again. The malicious growls from the demon akumas permeated the air and filled the wielders and Elena with a deep fear. Louis, Hugo, and Emma agreed on one thing, and that was the fact that none of them were prepared for this.
"Elena get behind me!" Louis yelled as he thrust his hand to get Elena behind him. Glaciess came out in response to his order and Louis nodded at him, signaling the transformation, "Glaciess! Prowl on the hunt!" Glaciess nodded and went into Louis' bracelet and in an instant, Louis was transformed into the White Fang. Elena watched him in awe as he transformed into her hero. The billowing ice white cape, his signature lance Leiptr, and the unmistakable ears of the lynx, she was standing in the presence of the White Fang. The trio formed a triangle around Elena and waited for the akumas' attacks. With a deafening roar, the akumas attacked all at once, sending their beams at darkness from all directions at the group. Elena yelped and crouched down to try evade the beams in vain, but all she heard was an explosion and the impact never came. She looked up and saw the trio standing strong, each with their own powers that countered all the akumas' beams. Louis stood strong with a giant wall of ice that blocked the beams, Emma had one arm stretched out to the side with a giant swirl of fire that intercepted the beams, and Hugo had his arms clapped together in a prayer and a giant wall of shining vines and trees blessed with the Divine Dragon's powers blocked the last of the attacks.
"Oh my goodness... amazing..." Elena whispered as their powers disappeared and the trio launched themselves into the air in their respective directions and attacked the akumas in unison. Elena watched as Louis, Hugo, and Emma dispatched each of the akumas one by one, but more kept crawling out of the woodwork and it was just a matter of time before it became too much for the wielders. Louis had just finished plunging his lance into one of the heads of the akumas and he was suddenly grabbed by two grotesque hands and Louis grunted as he was squeezed tight enough to let go of his lance and he watched as it fell to the ground.
"Louis!" Elena screamed as another akuma placed itself in front of Louis and prepared its mouth to blast Louis and akumatize him. Louis looked down at the hands that were wrapped around his body and looked up at the impending akuma beam and had an idea. Louis closed his eyes and concentrated his power within him to emanate a chilling aura that became cold enough in order to freeze the hands of the akumas. The hands froze and Louis strained against the hands hard enough in order to shatter the hands like glass. Just as Louis broke through, the akuma fired its beam and Elena gasped as Louis flipped himself off of a piece of ice and landed on top of the akuma's head just when the beam hit the akuma. The impact sent the akuma flying in the opposite direction, with Louis along for the ride. Louis got off of the akuma mid flight but just as he was about to land on a crumbling building, Louis saw an akuma in his peripheral and he turned and blocked just in time for an akuma to punch him and send him several streets away, crashing into another building, "Oh no..." Elena turned her attention towards the other two wielder and saw Hugo and Emma in their own predicaments. Emma noticed her brother get sent flying and she was about to fly over to him before she had to dodge another volley of beams from the akumas, preventing her from getting to Louis.
"Louis!" Emma yelled as she watched akumas blocked her path to Louis, "What's going on... are they trying to separate us?" Emma asked herself as she tried to fly higher in order to make it out of range of the akumas but she then realized that wasn't an option as she found herself completely surrounded by the akumas in the air, "Shoot! I forgot that these things can fly!" Emma gasped as she looked down and saw that Hugo had his hands filled with his own akumas. Looking around her, Emma noticed that the akumas were preparing to fire their beams at her. Carefully watching all of them, Emma brought her palm closer to her chest and summoned her staff that floated next to her. Then, the first volley of beams were fired and Emma quickly snatched her staff and sent a stream of fire to counter the volley, and like a chain reaction, volley after volley of beams were fired at Emma from all directions and she had no choice but to dodge. With the grace of a phoenix, Emma gracefully dodged every beam, deflecting them with fire and employing her acrobatics to evade every beam. Elena watched in awe as she watched Emma dodge every beam, it was almost like a dance in mid air. Emma spun in mid air and whipped her staff to send bullets of fire in every direction, perfectly intercepting every beam. As she finished her spin, Emma brandished her staff and blasted the last beam with her staff with the finality and aura of a queen.
"That was amazing!" Elena exclaimed as she tried to remain out of sight to the akumas.
"I should be probably best closer to the ground, I'm way too exposed here..." Emma started to fly closer to the ground but she heard the sounds of the akumas preparing their blasts again, but this time, they were all charging it at the same time, "No! All at the same time?" Emma exclaimed as the akumas roared and fired all of their beams at once. Emma spun her stuff until it was gyrating in a circle at a speed invisible to the eye. Then Emma used the momentum of her staff to summon a fire barrier around herself just as the beams made contact with the barrier, creating a huge explosion in the sky.
"Emma!" Hugo exclaimed as he plunged his sword into an akuma's head and landed in a building to look at the explosion in the sky for any sign of his sister. Then a streak of smoke left the explosion cloud and Hugo immediately recognized it as his sister falling from the sky. After slashing one of the akumas in its face, Hugo outstretched his hand to the ground to summon a root tendril from the ground in order to lift him into the sky in order to catch his sister. When he got closer, he realized that she had fallen from unconscious from the impact but her superhero form was still intact. Leaping off of the root tendril, Hugo caught his sister in midair and safely landed on a building that was intact enough and watched as the akumas that were in the sky landed around them, " Emm! Wake up! What's wrong!" Hugo searched the face of his sister, who was completely unconscious. Noticing that all the akumas landed around them, Hugo looked around helplessly as both his hands were occupied with carrying his sister. Hugo then noticed that half of the akumas were interested in something else as they were turning away from Hugo, "What are they...?" Hugo thought to himself as his eyes followed what they were facing and his eyes widened in horror: Elena.
Elena gasped as several of the akumas sensed her and started to make their way towards her, "Elena run!" Hugo yelled as he hauled Emma onto his back and tried to make his way towards Elena but several akumas blocked his way, "You have to make it out of here!"
"But!" Elena turned around to protest but Hugo's yell scared her into running again.
"We'll be fine! You can't get caught! These things! They'll kill you!" Hugo used one arm to support Emma on his back and the other to brandish his sword. There wasn't much he could do with his sword to defend, his movement was limited and he couldn't put too much force into his attacks because of Emma. Hugo looked over to where Louis was, "Louis where are you?"
Elena kept on running, hearing the footsteps on the akumas on her heels made her even more afraid. Was she even outrunning them? Elena kept pumping air into her lungs to run, no matter how exhausting things were, she couldn't let herself get caught by these things. A few streets away, Louis finally pushed off the last few pieces of the rubble of the building that collapsed on top of them and saw Elena running from the akumas that were chasing her.
"Dammit... no..." Louis grunted as expelled a blizzard of air form his body to expel the broken obstacles that was the building rubble and hurried himself over to where she was. As he ran towards her, the akumas sensed him and moved to block him from getting to her, "I won't you take anyone else! Summon Fimbulvetr!" Louis chanted as a shining midnight blue tome lines with crystal ice appeared in his outstretched hand. Without wasting any time, Louis swept his other hand over the book, opening it with pages flying and turning into ice.
"Fimbulvetr, Blizzard Crash!" Louis called out as the book shone even brighter and out of nowhere, giant icicles rained from the sky and skewered each of the akumas directly through the head with perfect precision. The akumas roared in pain and disappeared in a burst of dark purple butterflies. Before Hugo could use his sword to assist Louis in purifying them, the akumas immediately got sucked back into the dark barrier that surrounded the Eiffel Tower. Louis and Hugo watched in intrigue and horror as Hugo heard a voice comment on the event that just occurred.
"The akumas... they're being recycled back into the Chrysalis of Paradise..." Hugo turned his head to see that Emma was conscious and was watching what just occurred.
"That relic that Hawkmoth is using... you can't purify any akumas from it. It immediately calls back the akumas it creates before we can do anything..." Hugo sighed as he turned his attention back towards Elena, who was still running from the akumas that escaped Louis' attack.
"Louis! Help!" Elena called out as Louis immediately sprung into action and tried to flank the akumas from the side. Louis had managed to get two out of the way with just a single blast of Fimbulvetr. Louis then switched his weapon to Leiptr once again and the akumas switched their attention to him again. With a flip of his lance, he had cut off the arms of the akumas in a flash and Hugo leaped into the air with Emma from behind and sent a shockwave of draconic energy through them. The akumas all disappeared and Elena sighed in relief as the group gathered again and looked at the mess that was the aftermath of the battle.
Louis looked up and down Elena's figure to check for injuries and placed his arms on her shoulders, "Elena, are you ok?" Elena felt a little bashful under Louis' worried gaze, she thought his concern was cute. To be honest, Louis had always been oblivious to her crush on him. Elena chalked it up to it being part of the family since Madame Marinette had told her one time that she had spent years pining after Adrien since he had never been aware of her love for him. It's funny how the situation has been repeated and between Marinette and Chloe's children no less. Elena had always admired how charismatic and kind Louis was, how he took so much responsibility. Now, it's just hitting Elena exactly how much responsibility Louis has taken on, and how much of a burden it must be on him. It frustrated her how powerless she was to even help him. The more Elena thought about it, it reminded her of her mom since all her mom wanted to do was assist Ladybug in her day to day battles. However, Chloe's superhero status was rescinded for quite a long time and all she could do was watch Ladybug and Chat Noir battle Paris' battles and bring other people in to boot! The parallels were uncanny, although Elena's situation was still pretty different. All she could think about now was Louis' cute face scrunched up in concentration as he tried to examine her for injuries.
"Louis, I'm fine, thank you," Elena stated truthfully, however they could spare no time to dwell on it further. Louis' face softened at her reassurance and he gave her a short but endearing nod.
"Alright we need to go, we have to get Elena out of here first along with anyone else along the way. Then we need to go back and help Maman and Papa," Hugo said as Louis and Emma nodded in understanding and Louis ushered Elena along.
"Wait you're going to help Ladybug and Chat Noir fight Hawkmoth?" Elena asked hurriedly as they ran down the street. She saw Louis glance at her out of the corner of his eye as they were running as if he was contemplating whether to tell her or not.
Louis sighed as he proceeded to quickly explain, "Yes, they're in danger, and I promised Auntie Alya that I would help them put an end to this..." Elena noticed the determined look in his eye, and she felt his confidence in his voice. This was exactly the reason why so many people trusted Louis, she felt like everything was going to be ok just listening to his voice. However, Louis would soon curse that he made people feel that way. He somehow made people feel at peace and reassured, but he wouldn't have the power to do any of those things now.
"Do you think... Ladybug will be able to fix all of this? No matter how bad it gets?" Elena asked as the group continued to run down the battered and ruined street. The group could see the buildings falling apart from just the vibrations of the tremors that rang throughout the city. Cars crushed, homes reduced to rubble, businesses forgotten. Could Ladybug really fix all of this?
"I hope so..." Louis tried to answer carefully, but even he knew that wasn't really reassuring for an answer at all. Hope in this situation seemed to be waning by the moment, disappearing by the second. All of a sudden, a giant hand burst through one of the buildings on the left and caught the group by surprise. Before Louis could even react, the hand grabbed onto the first thing it could find: Elena. The force of the grab knocked the trio back, but Louis felt his heart drop when he felt his hand disconnect from Elena's. The trio was knocked to the ground and Louis immediately scrambled to his feet to find Elena being held by a demon akuma. Louis' eyes widened in terror as he saw the grip of the akuma tighten around Elena and she screamed in pain.
"AAUGHH!" Elena screamed as she felt the bony fingers of the demon akuma grip her tighter with an almost crushing force. She felt her bones strain to stay together, but she felt like she was going to be snapped like a twig any moment.
"Elena!" Louis yelled as he dashed forward with his siblings behind him. Just as he was about to jump up to free her from the clutches of the akuma, more demon akumas came blocked their path. Emma tried to weave her way through the akumas, brandishing her staff to hit them in key spots to incapacitate them, but just as she was about to get to Elena, an akuma grabbed her by the leg and dragged her back.
"Ah! No!" Emma looked back at the hungry, gaping mouth of the akumas and summoned a steam of fire into its mouth. The demon akuma screamed in pain, but it kept its firm grip on Emma's leg. Hugo tried to flank from the other side, using his sword to gracefully propel himself through the demon akumas by slicing through their arms and wings. Then, the demon akumas roared and flapped their wings, sending a barrage of crystal scales towards Hugo. While running along the arms and heads of the akumas, Hugo brandished his sword to deflect the scales, but eventually there were too many. The crystal scales unfortunately caught Hugo's cape and suit and sent him flying into a building, pinning him there.
"Eughh... Oh no.." Hugo strained against the crystal scales, but they had him firmly pinned against the building. He braced for the impact of more scales to pierce his body but they never came. Hugo opened his eyes to find that the demon akumas had simply turned their attention to Louis. It was almost as if the akumas were simply just preventing both of the siblings from helping their older brother to save Elena. Louis had just finished killing one of the akumas before he looked ahead at the akuma that was carrying Elena and saw that it was getting ready to eat Elena.
"AUGHHH! Louis!" Elena called out for help as the akuma brought her closer to its mouth and she could feel the hunger and malice from it. Louis bounded from head to head of the demon akumas, desperately trying to get to her, but the demon akumas were intent on stopping him. Louis deflected all their scales and dodged every looming swing of their arms in their attempt to catch him. Suddenly, all the akumas positioned themselves in a circle and Hugo, Emma, and Elena could only look in horror as the demon akumas charged their evil breath in their mouths to blast him. Then, all of the akumas unleashed their breaths at once and Hugo and Emma screamed as all the beams struck Louis in a simultaneous explosion.
"LOUIS!" Hugo and Emma screamed they couldn't see anything through the smoke of the explosion, and after a moment, another strange thing occurred. The smoke from the explosion didn't subside, but it didn't move either. It was almost as if the smoke cloud was frozen in time.
"Wait... what?" Emma wondered as she used her staff to snipe the hand of the akuma, who eventually let her go. Everyone heard a resounding ticking sound of a clock as Emma felt like she could feel every second and every moment that passed as she tried to race towards Elena. Hugo, Emma, and Elena eventually noticed that none of the akumas were moving; in fact the entire area around them became a frozen frame, locked in time.
"What... is this?" Hugo wondered aloud, glancing at the scales that pinned him to the wall to find them disappearing. The entire scene before him was surreal, Hugo heard the ticking of the clock and the sound of glass shattering all around him, everything seemed frozen within time. Slowly, the explosion cloud started to revert on itself and as the ticks went on, the reversion went faster until the smoke clouds turned back into the beams that were going to hit Louis. Then the beams retreated back towards the mouths of the akumas. Everyone saw that Louis was unharmed, but it looked as if he was focusing on reversing the time of all the akumas. Louis had his hands clapped together as if he was straining to his limit on how far he could turn back time and with the last of his strength, Louis whipped his hands outward to disorient every akuma around him.
"Lou just turned back time! Ok! Now we can save Elena!" Emma exclaimed as Louis finally opened his eyes and passively froze the air under his feet so he could stand. Right away, his sister noticed that Louis looked exhausted, however she expected as much since this is the first time Louis has ever managed to use the true nature of his miraculous: time. Without wasting time, Louis sprung forward to cut the hand of the akuma and Hugo and Emma focused on making sure the other demon akumas didn't get in his way. The demon akumas must have recovered from the lapse of deja vu because they started moving again to stop Louis. Hugo spotted his sword on the ground and grabbed it to aid Louis. Then, as if sensing Louis' plan, the akuma grabbed Louis with its other arm just as Louis was about to cut the arm holding Elena.
"Aghh! No!" Louis struggled against the akuma's crushing grip and paled in fear as the akuma started to bring Elena closer to its mouth. Emma flew in to blast the akuma's arm and when she tried to, an akuma stepped in front of her blast and blocked her attack. Hugo went decided to go lower and aimed at the akuma's legs to topple it, but the other akumas stomped their feet to sunder the ground to throw off Hugo's balance. Neither sibling could get close enough to help Elena. Louis struggled and tried to freeze the akuma's hand to break again like he did before, but the akuma seemed stronger than last time as if it anticipated Louis using the same technique. The demon akuma brought Elena closer to its open mouth and all Louis could hear was Elena's screams of fear, "NO! PLEASE! DON'T TAKE HER TOO! DON'T TAKE HER FROM ME!"Louis screamed desperately as he tried in vain to break out of the akuma's grip, and as much as the other siblings tried to find their way around the akumas, they couldn't get any closer and they had to watch as their friend was eaten by the demon akuma.
Elena looked despairingly into the gaping darkness that was the demon akuma's mouth and looked at Louis one last time. It was a shame that the last time she would see him, he would have a face of horror and anguish. It wasn't how she imagined how her life would end, or even how she would see Louis for the last time. The boy was scarce without a smile, Louis could light up rooms and draw attention everywhere he went. The optimistic and charismatic boy that she grew to know and love, she would believe in him until the end. Knowing that Louis would lose both her and Gavin, both of his best friends, Elena felt that the loss would be too much for him to bear. No one expects to lose family and friends like this, in an apocalypse no less, absolutely no one. Would the loss make that smile of his disappear forever? The weight that loved ones leave on the life that was left behind is one that no one expects a 15 year old boy to bear, Elena surely didn't expect so. As she was put further inside the mouth of the akuma, Elena decided to say one last thing to Louis. As scared as she was to die, Elena had the courage to say at least that much to the boy she loves.
"I'm counting on you Louis..." Louis stared in horror as the akuma closed its mouth on her Elena with a resounding crunch. There was no scream or sound or any evidence that was in any pain. Emma and Hugo gasped as it took Louis a moment to register what happened before he snapped. The atmosphere around him dropped to such freezing temperatures that it seemed as if the air itself around him froze and Louis immediately broke out, shattering the akuma's hand like paper. Without a second thought, Louis summoned his broadsword Golgr and quickly plunged it into the head of the akuma, the monster reacting with a resounding scream. The akuma fell to the ground and disintegrated but nothing remained in its wake. Turning around on the rest of the akumas, Louis summoned his dual daggers Sylgr and threw the two of them at the horde of demon akumas.
"Sylgr: Blizzard Formation," Louis commanded coldly as the daggers started to multiply from the two to several hundred daggers and struck the horde in an endless blizzard of icy hell. Hugo and Emma had to duck to avoid the daggers themselves and soon all the demon akumas were dead. There was silence for a moment and Hugo and Emma stepped forward to look at the place where the akuma who ate Elena fell. There was nothing left but rubble and ash. Louis looked back slowly over his shoulder at the place where the akuma fell, and he then turned his entire body to face the scene of his failure. After another moment, Louis fell to his knees, de-transforming, and his siblings heard quiet sobs coming from him, slowly becoming louder as the time passed. Hugo and Emma stood next to him and felt themselves break down with him. Louis curled his fingers into a fist as he pounded the ground in anguish, "DAMN IT! Elena... I... please forgive me... for failing you..."
"Louis..." Hugo started to say, but he looked down at his sword and he started to wonder to himself: why does he wield Falchion when he can't even save a single person. Falchion was a holy sword blessed by the Divine Dragon and it is responsible for saving entire nations from calamity, but what use was it in Hugo's hands? Initially, Hugo thought how it was stupid how a miraculous could possibly trust a 10 year old to wield its power properly. Then, Hugo got used to the idea of having a godly companion like Naga around and he came to revel in his holy powers. It just seems like a big joke now. The ideal that he had with his miraculous, the dream that Naga allowed him to have, was it all just wishful thinking? Another person died under their watch, and now... there's nothing left.
Emma could remember the first time Louis introduced Elena to her and she immediately thought that Elena was a big sister. A larger than life personality and the sweetness to match, Emma always thought that Elena was a good match for Louis who had the charisma and dramatic flair to compliment her. Everyone had seen them on "friend" dates and the way they interact with each other seemed as if they were already dating, but they were both just too stubborn to admit it. Now... it's too late. Emma fell to her knees besides Louis and de-transformed out of exhaustion, Fawkes floating up to meet their faces.
"Emma, Louis, I have no words... Emma if only I had given you more power..." Fawkes started to apologize but Emma shook her head, trying to wipe away her tears.
"No... you know how dangerous it is for me to wield your power as it is, I honestly could make things worse," Emma turned to her kwami who had a look of mocking disapproval on his face.
"You always keep yourself in check in fear that my immortal flame is gonna burn everything, but maybe that's what we need!" Fawkes insisted, but immediately shut up at the sight of Louis still mourning over Elena's death. Louis was just looking straight ahead without saying a word, and eventually he felt Hugo sit down beside him in his civilian form as well. Naga came out to meet the trio and all of them looked at the place where Elena died. After another moment, Louis spoke, his voice dripping with silent venom.
"No... what we need is Gabriel paying the price... for everything he's done..." Louis said silently, the tears on his face have dried and a look of pure rage remained. His siblings looked at him in shock but not surprise at his next words, "He'll pay with his life... and I... will kill him with my bare hands!"
Meanwhile inside the Eiffel Tower, Ladybug and Chat Noir looked in horror at the scene that had just occurred and they heard the clapping of the villain on the other side of the tower. Hawkmoth slowly clapped as he made his way closer to the superhero pair, but he still stayed a few feet away from them. Ladybug and Chat Noir could just see the vengeance and sheer grief on their son's face.
"You killed Elena on purpose... Father how.. how could you?" Chat Noir turned to face the monster that was his father. His father seemed indifferent yet somewhat amused at what just occurred, and it scared Chat Noir.
"So you noticed that my demon akumas purposely targeted the Bourgeois' daughter in order to make Louis snap," Hawkmoth explained as if this were to be expected, as if he had meant to spare the trio the entire time and not kill them out there, "I needed to anger the boy to such a degree that he will come here himself, and then... that miraculous of his will be mine," Ladybug and Chat Noir's eyes widened as they realized Hawkmoth's plan all along was to take Louis' miraculous.
"So that's what you're after, Louis' miraculous..." Ladybug murmured and Gabriel nodded in response as he proceeded to laugh.
"That boy.. wields one of the most powerful miraculouses in the world, the miraculous of time, the lynx Glaciess," Hawkmoth brandished his staff again and pointed it firmly into the ground. How the boy had even come into contact with such a miraculous, Hawkmoth will never know. However, what he does know is that Louis' miraculous is the oldest one out of the Origin Trinity: Time, Creation, and Destruction, the three concepts that brought the universe into being. If Hawkmoth had all three, he would create a new and better world for Emilie, his wife, and he would undo their past. That was his ideal, and it figures that the people that were standing in Hawkmoth's way were his family. Louis will come, and he and the boy will have their own clash of ideals, "They say that Glaciess' power is the origin source of Bunnix's miraculous Fluff, who wields time as well."
"Why are you telling us this!" Chat Noir demanded and bared his fangs against his father once more, who chuckled at the sight of his son getting angry once again.
"That kind of power isn't fit for a child like him. Only under my command can the potential of that miraculous truly be released," Hawkmoth said as a matter of factly, earning a disapproving look from Ladybug. Ladybug couldn't believe that she allowed Hawkmoth to get this far into his plan, she allowed him to torture her children and that is something she could never forgive.
"You're not even fit for your own miraculous, what makes you think Glaciess would ever accept you?" Chat Noir asked scathingly and that question prompted Hawkmoth to pretend to give it some thought since it was a good point.
"It won't matter if that kwami refuses to accept me, because I will force it to submit," Hawkmoth readied his staff once again with Mayura backing him up from behind and Ladybug and Chat Noir charged forward to clash with him once again with neither of them aware that they were losing time. The Chrysalis of Paradise pulsed and shone violently as it continued to warp the souls of the innocent into tools of darkness as the forces of good and evil clashed in front of it.
Louis, Hugo, and Emma charged right up to the dark miasmic barrier that was surrounding the Eiffel Tower and it didn't take much for them to tell that the barrier was going to be hard to get through. Louis thought about the things his friends had said to him before they died, keeping them in mind so that he could find answers to their wishes.
"I'm counting on you, Louis..."
"The things I've seen you do with your siblings? That is the work of heroes.. and you can't convince me otherwise..."
"Do you think that Ladybug and Chat Noir will be able to fix all of this?"
"Chin up dude... you can't afford to let Hawkmoth win..."
Emma looked around but it seemed that the entire Eiffel Tower was locked up tight, "How are we going through the barrier?" Louis studied the barrier for a moment before scoffing at it, "Louis?"
"This won't take much... guys be prepared to follow me in," Louis took a few steps back and hopped up into the air, his feet emanating a cold aura that froze the air beneath them and Louis stepped up into air as if he were walking up a flight of stairs. Hugo and Emma understood and Hugo summoned a tree root to bring him to Louis' level. Emma brandished her staff and flew into the air to meet them both. Louis summoned his lance Leiptr and pointed it at the miasmic barrier. The ice blue gem in the lance shone with a pure radiance like untouched ice and suddenly, a beam of light emerged from the tip of Louis' lance to the barrier, "with my newfound power... I will see this to the end..." Louis murmured before he started to chant the prayer, "Leiptr... the holy lance of Niflheim, grant me the power to turn back what was lost and bring about a new timeline!" The lance shone even brighter and a sigil appeared on the spot where the beam of light touched the barrier. Louis concentrated his power a little further before calling out his miraculous' power. This was his Lucky Charm and Cataclysm, "ULTIMA! You guys! Now!" Louis launched himself at an incredible speed with his siblings right behind. Louis kept his lance straight and true and aimed right at the spot on the barrier that his lance had pierced.
Inside the barrier, the dueling parties noticed the shining ice blue light that started to shine above them on the barrier and they separated to discern it. However both parties knew exactly what it was.
"He's here..." Hawkmoth said simply before charging in again and attacking Ladybug again while she was caught off guard by the light.
"My lady look out!" Chat about yelled as he stepped in front of Ladybug to parry the staff that was about to stab Ladybug, but he didn't need to. Just as Hawkmoth thrust his staff forward, the barrier broke right at that second and the light crashed into the floor like a comet between Chat Noir and Hawkmoth. Hawkmoth pivoted backward in surprise as the shining ice blue light immediately attacked him and sent him backward. The blue light dissipated and everyone felt a chilling blizzard pulsate through the Eiffel Tower.
"So you've finally arrived," Hawkmoth straightened himself up as he looked at the boy who replaced the shining blue light. The whoosh of the white cape was unmistakable and the lance that the boy held was one many recognized, "the White Fang... Louis Agreste!" Louis stood up from his low position and merely looked at Hawkmoth with his body turned to the side. Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at the hole that Louis made to find Emma and Hugo flying in
to meet them. They landed right beside Louis and without even looking at their parents, the children declared war against Hawkmoth.
"Stay back Maman, Papa, we've got this! Leave him to us!" Emma stated without even sparing a look in their parents' direction. In short, they were all angered beyond consolation. The amount of hatred that Ladybug could feel from them scared her because they were face to face with the man who could fully take advantage of their emotional weakness. Chat Noir stared at the back of his oldest son, whose presence commanded such an heroic aura that struck fear and respect to anyone who stood near him. Chat Noir felt his eyes soften at the sight of his son, mostly because he was glad to see him, but also because Louis came such a long way from the moment he awakened his miraculous all those years ago. This grown up boy was his son, and Chat Noir couldn't be more proud, and he was going to do everything in his power to help him.
"Hawkmoth... no.. Gabriel," Louis called Hawkmoth by his real name and the villain in question raised his eyebrows at the clarification. Without giving Hawkmoth a chance to respond, Louis sprung forward and swung his lance with such a ferocity that Hawkmoth had to adjust his stance to just withstand the impact of the boy's holy lance with his staff. The clash of their weapons sent a chilling shockwave of ice and butterflies throughout the Eiffel Tower and the other wielders could only look in shock at Louis' action. Hawkmoth grunted as he strained to keep Louis' weapon from slicing his head clean off. The anger and hatred was clear, and Hawkmoth could take advantage of that, "Don't you even think about it..." Louis growled, making Hawkmoth's eyes widen in surprise again.
"Humph... think about what?" Hawkmoth tried to pretend that he had no idea what Louis was thinking, but Louis knew better.
"You're going to be dead before you get to do anything anyway, because I will kill you," Louis said calmly as there was no fear, no hesitation in his voice. His conscious was clear and that made his words not just a statement, but a promise. Knowing that Hawkmoth feel things that he hadn't felt in a long time: apprehension... and fear...
"Trust me..."