Chapter 12
Nathalie never thought she would spend her birthday like this. Of course, she had already arranged her own plans before, but in her condition, she had to cancel everything and stay in bed. But nothing took away the sadness she felt for this day.
Gabriel forbade her of leaving her room that day. She always worked on her birthday and usually took the day off the weekend closest to her birthday so she would not have any worries, as she had always done for 15 years. She normally would go to some restaurant and order her favorite dish, to sit alone by the candlelight. Sometimes Emilie accompanied her because she did not like that she was left alone. Nathalie appreciated the company and admitted that it was much more entertaining.
Stretching out of bed, she randomly pulled out a book from one of the bookshelves in the room. It was one of the oldest books she had in her collection. Jane Eyre was the title of the book. She remembered very well what the book was about. It narrated a situation very similar to hers. But with the difference that everything ended well for Jane and Mr. Rochester, despite all the difficulties they went through. The only issue was, those were just fictional stories. In reality, the story would end very differently. And that was what hurt her the most. She began to reread it to remember everything. She left it on the bed when she heard the sound of the door opening.
"Nathalie, father told me you'd be in bed today and I wanted to say goodbye before I go."
Adrien leaned down to kiss her cheek.
"See you later, Nathalie."
He left without saying anything else. It seems that everyone she considered close forgot about her birthday. She put the book next to her and took a nap, until Adrien's voice woke her up again.
"Nathalie" the boy whispered. He pulled a medium-sized flat package out of his backpack "Happy Birthday"
She got up and leaned against the back of the bed. She carefully opened the package. She was surprised with its content.
It was a framed photo, but this one was very special. She was together with Adrien, when he was a child. He was sitting on her lap and they were both looking at a book. They were both smiling warmly. That made her a little happy.
"I didn't know what else to give you, but looking through the things that were stored in one of the rooms we don't use, I found this picture. Did you know about the existence of this photo?" Adrien asked as he stood next to her.
Nathalie nodded. She remembered that photo very well.
"Yes, but it got lost a long time ago. At the time, you were a child full of energy. Your mom had the flu and she didn't want to infect you, so I took care of you. And the only way I found to distract you was by reading your favorite book.
Adrien smiled.
"I think I remember already. I didn't want to leave my mom alone. But you came and stayed with me."
Adrien and Nathalie kept remembering some situations from when Adrien was little. Just at that moment, Gabriel entered the room carrying a tray with a plate and cutlery. He placed it on the bed, right in front of her. When he removed the plate cover, Nathalie saw her favorite dish: Cordon Bleu Chicken with a piece of Quiche Lorraine for dessert.
"This is for you. Happy birthday, Nathalie."
Gabriel accompanied her while she ate, even Adrien went to the kitchen to order his plate on a tray and be able to eat with her.
After finishing the meal, Adrien excused himself to leave, as he promised to speak to Marinette after dinner. Gabriel stayed with Nathalie. He noticed she looked a little sad. After carrying the trays to the kitchen, Gabriel returned to the room and saw that she was a bit uncomfortable with her hair down.
He sat next to her.
"Can I comb your hair? You don't look very comfortable like this"
Nathalie just nodded.
Gabriel untangled her hair with a comb and then with mastery, he braided her hair. Gabriel couldn't help but notice that Nathalie looked pretty bad. She was staring into space.
"Is something wrong?" He took her hand.
"Well, this day doesn't seem so special to me to celebrate it with you."
"But what are you saying?" He squeezed her hand more, but without hurting her "You are very important to Adrien and me."
She looked at him, her eyes bright, with tears that had not yet been shed.
"It's not that. My father, he died on my birthday. That's why I had dinner by myself. On my eighteenth birthday, I waited in vain for him to arrive. I was surprised he was so late. Then I learned from a call from the hospital that he was hit by a car and there was nothing they could do to help him.
"Oh Nathalie, why didn't you tell me? I could have done something for you today… Any wish you have."
There were many wishes she wanted, such as Gabriel to love her, but there was another wish she had many years ago.
"There is nothing you can do. But if I could ask for something, it would be to have said goodbye to my father." She shuddered. "I never had someone who cared about me like this, you know?" Her voice cracked, which showed how bad she was.
He gave her some tissues for her to use.
"Please if you feel like this, I'll be there for you" She was sniffing a little. He allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder "Just let it out."
She nodded wiping her tears. She was relieved to know that she didn't have her makeup on, or else she would look worse than she did right now. She didn't want Gabriel to see her like this.
She dampened his shirt with her tears, and he just laid her chin on top of her head, rubbing her shoulder gently.
Her father wasn't the only reason she was like this, but it wasn't good to tell her boss the truth. They were in that position for a few hours. They watched some TV shows, the ones she chose. Gabriel thought that maybe it would help her to stop feeling sad.
Through the Miraculous of the butterfly, Gabriel felt how bad Nathalie felt. Perhaps that is why he felt empathic with her. After a while, she stopped crying. Her eyes were irritated. But that didn't stop her from asking Gabriel a simple question.
"Gabriel… I'd like to know; how did you know what my favorite dish was?"
"Do you remember when you went with Adrien to his presentation at school? Apparently by mistake some of the dates stayed in sync with mine" He showed her the calendar where his personal dates appeared. Gabriel continued "Well, since you had to cancel your plans, I thought about ordering your dish for today. I knew which one because of the times Emilie went with you.
Apparently, Gabriel was paying more attention to his surroundings than she gave him credit for.
"That ... was very nice of you, sir. Thank you."
Nathalie had always been there for him. But who was there for her?
He didn't know.
In the days that followed, Nathalie was still in bed. Since she didn't want to stop working, Gabriel ended up confiscating her tablet. Which left her with nothing to do.
Nathalie couldn't help feeling so… useless.
The only thing she had thought to do was read another of her favorite books. But that day for some strange reason, she couldn't focus on reading.
Gabriel was watching her from the ajar door for a few moments. He couldn't bear to see her so miserable and… so sick.
That was when he decided to enter. The footsteps on the bedroom carpet alerted Nathalie.
"Good morning, Nathalie."
"Oh Gabriel, good morning."
Gabriel sat on the edge of the bed.
"I just wanted to see if you were okay."
She put the book aside, only to remove her glasses and rub her eyes.
"I was trying to read, but I can't concentrate. It's like my vision gets blurry at times. Even if I wear my glasses."
Gabriel was really worried about this. The same thing happened to Emilie before succumbing to the effect of the peacock Miraculous.
He settled into bed, kicking off his shoes before doing so.
He took the book in his hands and invited Nathalie to rest her head on his shoulder.
Gabriel's voice was so soothing, she began to feel sleepy, much more than usual. She tried to pay attention as much as she could. But her eyes and her mind didn't want to answer her.
She sank into sleep, only to wake up every so often.
At lunch, Gabriel ate with Nathalie as Adrien would be staying for lunch with his classmates at his request. He had some important things to attend to at school and Gabriel himself allowed him to do it since according to Adrien, it would be beneficial for his grades.
They were both talking about very casual things, something Gabriel thought would lift Nathalie's spirits. With the talk, Gabriel realized that he and Nathalie had many things in common. The literary genres, food, their hobbies like reading and chess. Many of the books she liked were the ones he liked as well.
Nathalie told him about her childhood, her father, her college years. He had never gotten to know an employee so much. Although, if he thought about it, she was no longer just his employee, but his best friend. And it was not for less. In years of service with him, she also knew him very well. And they both felt very comfortable with each other.
Although that gave her a little hope, Nathalie knew that Gabriel was still suffering like her, for his wife Emilie. It was that feeling of guilt that gnawed at both of them from the inside out from the whole incident, which just led them to where they were. She remembered how it all started. Of how the Miraculous are the curse that ended this family that she loved with all her heart.
Emilie and Gabriel went to Tibet. Since she was participating in a movie at that location, she had to travel there. Gabriel worried about her wife, accompanied her as long as the trip lasted. Nathalie also went with them. Coincidentally, she found jewelry at a small market stall that looked very much like one she had seen in her teens many years ago. She bought them without hesitation, curious to know if those were genuine.
Back in Paris, Emilie had also brought something with her. A strange but interesting book. It was written in a very old and strange language. Nathalie investigated and discovered that it was Nictography. But it had the peculiarity that it was used to write short messages. One had to be a very talented interpreter to be able to translate it.
But what surprised Nathalie when Emilie showed it to her, were the illustrations it contained. They were illustrations of the Miraculous, which she discovered years ago. It was a book lost in time.
The three of them were spellbound at the images contained in that book. They were images of people dressed in extravagant costumes despite the time when the Grimoire was made. They were superheroes.
"But what does all this mean?" Gabriel asked the air, very interested.
Nathalie wondered whether she would tell him or not. After all, with great power came great responsibility.
"They're called Miraculous. These are jewels that can grant special abilities to the person who wears them, in addition to improvements in physical abilities."
"How do you know that?" Emilie questioned.
"Years ago, when I was a teenager, I became interested in a story told by one of my teachers at school. When I asked him, he recommended a book that talked about them. He didn't think those really existed, but it gave me enough interest to continue investigating on my own. There was not much information, because years ago, those jewels disappeared out of nowhere. As if those turned into dust.
Nathalie took two jewels out of her pocket. One was shaped like a butterfly and the other was shaped like a peacock's tail. They were exactly the same as the ones in the grimoire.
"I bought them at a market because they looked familiar to me."
Gabriel with Nathalie's permission, took both pieces and examined them.
"Nathalie, I need you to tell me more about this."
She would gladly study the grimoire with him.
Years later, she regretted to have done it. That was a huge mistake on her part. They figured out how to use them and the first one who volunteered to do so was Emilie, who, taking the peacock's Miraculous, transformed. They had a place built in the mansion where they could use the powers of the Miraculous without attracting public attention.
Emilie used the Peacock Miraculous for a long time, at Gabriel's request. He wanted to see what exactly those Miraculous did. The more they found out about these, the more interest they acquired in them. At the moment they were the only ones who owned them. Or at least that was what they believed.
Emilie continued with the transformations, out of curiosity. One day Duusu accidentally got caught in one of Emilie's jewelry pieces and without her noticing it, the Kwami was sucked into the Miraculous.
When she undid the transformation, she had a pretty bad coughing fit. Gabriel at the time did not think it was something so serious, perhaps it was a common cold, so he let it pass and made his wife rest for a few days. When she felt better, she went back to use the Miraculous.
On the other hand, Gabriel designed a collection inspired by the Miraculous. He made replicas of the Miraculous with high quality materials. He left a peacock one to mislead Adrien in case he asked too many questions. Hiding it from him was too difficult because Emilie was still getting sick and he was worrying about the condition of his mother.
It got to the point that the book had to be hidden in the mansion's safe. The only ones who could access it were Emilie, Gabriel and Nathalie. Eventually they would discover that the Miraculous had been damaged, as cracks ran along the back of the brooch.
Emilie over time was getting worse and worse, even without the use of the Miraculous. Everything got worse when she ended up losing all the strength she had left.
One day Gabriel and Nathalie were talking alone in the atelier of the mansion.
"Nathalie, I need you to tell me… Is there a way to reverse what happened?" Gabriel was already desperate at that point.
Nathalie was silent, thinking. She found it was impossible to translate the grimoire completely because everything was written in code. She supposed it was a security measure so if it fell into the wrong hands.
"No, sir ... but there is something particular that can be done with the Miraculous. If all the miraculous are reunited, a wish can be made" she said, pointing to the grimoire.
"A wish ..." Gabriel said thoughtfully.
"But we only have two and we don't know where the others are."
"Wasn't there a temple where they were kept? Please Nathalie, you must tell me" Gabriel took her by the shoulders, looking at her worriedly.
Nathalie didn't know what to say to him. The only thing she could tell him was the truth.
"The temple ... disappeared more than a century ago along with the Miraculous. Finding them is almost impossible. But I have the suspicions that they are here in France. There are certain indications that could prove it."
It was at that moment that they organized a plan, without Mrs. Agreste knowledge. They had a special cryogenic capsule made that, if something happened, they could buy a little more time to fix everything. Nothing could fail.
Nathalie remembered everything that happened before what they called the fatal day.
Those were sad days at the mansion. Madame Agreste was very ill and she could not get out of bed even if she tried. One day she asked Nathalie to speak with her alone. She did not suspect that this would be one of the most important days of her life.
"I don't think I can get out of this one" Emilie was direct with Nathalie.
Nathalie shook her head.
"Don't say that, Mr. Agreste ..."
"My husband has tried the impossible, but it has no remedy. There is no turning back. He only refuses to accept it."
She took her hands weakly
"Nathalie, promise me that you will watch over the integrity of Gabriel and our son"
Nathalie looked at her in surprise. Emilie looked at her pleadingly and with tears in her eyes.
"Please."
Nathalie sighed
"I promise."
Adrien was the next to enter. Emilie smiled weakly at him.
"I'll see you tomorrow, don't worry everything will be fine, my little one. Sleep well and don't be sad."
"Why are you telling me all this, Mom?" Adrien asked, very concerned.
"Because I love you, and I want you to be happy" she coughed a little.
"Do you want me to call dad?"
"No, Nathalie will do it for me, don't worry" Adrien at that moment leaned over so his mother could kiss him on his forehead, his cheeks and to keep hugging him for a few minutes.
Nathalie listened to everything behind the door. All of this was tearing her apart, inside.
"Sleep well, my son" Nathalie led Adrien out of the Agreste's bedroom.
"Nathalie please bring my husband here."
Nathalie went to bring Gabriel. It was difficult to tell what was happening, to her boss. After what Emilie told her, Nathalie knew what was coming. The signs were clear. Mrs. Agreste's need to say goodbye to everyone was a bad sign.
"My love" Miss Agreste said weakly.
"Emilie, my dear." Gabriel kissed her on the lips.
"I can't take it anymore; I don't think I will pass from this night."
"You can't do this to me, I'm still looking for a solution" Gabriel looked very imploring at this point.
"I don't want you to think that this is all your fault, just because I used the Miraculous many times at your petition. I also did it on my own accord."
"No ..." Gabriel's whole body was shaking.
"I love you Gabriel, take good care of Adrien, he will need you a lot from now on ..."
The hand that was resting on his cheek fell to the bed as Emilie Agreste's consciousness slid into darkness.
"Emilie, Emilie no..."
Emilie had finally fallen into an eternal sleep.
Gabriel hugged her body and cried heartbrokenly for his wife. He took her in his arms and took her to the basement, where they had everything prepared for her.
Nathalie went ahead of her boss and prepared the cryogenic capsule, connected it to the source and quickly, Gabriel left his wife inside. He closed the capsule immediately, allowing it to keep her wife alive. This machine showed how stable she was, which reassured Gabriel.
Nathalie didn't know what to think about those moments. This was not the natural order of things.
"Are you going to continue with the plan, sir? Don't you think it's too risky?"
Gabriel was still staring at his wife in the capsule.
"I don't care what I have to do to bring my beloved Emilie back."
Nathalie looked at him worriedly. She knew more trouble was coming for them now.
The whole Miraculous thing was a mistake. And to a greater extent, it was also her fault.