The Wicked

Chapter Five: Dark Days

"Damn you, Marinette," Alya choked out as she clenched her friend's note before hugging it tightly against her heart. Closing her tear-soaked eyes, the young woman doubled over in unseen agony before laying her body down atop her unmade bed. "Why didn't you tell me? …I would've stopped you. You know I would." Her overly full, bloated stomach aching, Alya pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her shame and sorrow away from the rest of the world.

Tom and Sabine held one another, praying for their daughter's safe return, and that her suffering would give way to the happiness they always wanted for her. Not a moment went by that either of the two didn't wish they could take Marinette's place, wherever she was.

"How could you have let this happen?" Gabriel roared as Nathalie attempted to raise herself up, the red mark on her cheek throbbing. As his rage and fear continued to grow, the silver-haired man violently thrust his upper body to the left, grabbed a marble statue standing nearby, and knocked it onto the ground with such force it shattered on impact. "He's all I have! How could you let this happen?"

"I-I'm sorry, sir," Nathalie fearfully stuttered as tears of immense sorrow and emotional shock began to drip from her eyes. "He came to see me, but I blacked out. I'm so sorry. I reported him as a missing child as soon as I could."

"I trusted you to keep my family safe!" Gabriel hollered, turning his face red and creating an echo so terrible his assistant nearly attempted to cover her ears. "I can never forgive this." As her employer turned away from her pitiful form, Nathalie slowly picked herself up and stood on her trembling legs. "Get out, Nathalie," Gabriel whispered with profound disgust and sorrow in his voice. Unable to accept what was happening, the purple-haired woman stood frozen and shaking, her mouth agape. "Get out!"

Her heart shattered, Nathalie turned her back to the one she had trusted and adored for so long, and charged out of the room in terror as she silently wept. Once he heard the door shut and lock, Gabriel looked out at the destruction he had caused, lifted his glasses with the hand he used to cover his shameful, tear-filled eyes, and fell to his knees in shame. His throat remained raw from his screams and cries, and his soul felt darker and more distant than ever before. Emilie, forgive me, he prayed.

Running into her room and locking the door, Nathalie thrust her back against the wall, desperately slammed her hand onto her dresser to support herself while paying no attention to the items she knocked onto the ground, and slowly lowered herself to the floor. Removing her glasses with shaking, clammy hands, the woman forced in several deep, trembling breaths as she desperately fought the fears and panic that descended upon her like an icy torrent. "No," she begged as she covered her ears. "Not you too…Not like my mother…"

Locked in her bedroom, music blaring through her headphones, Lila dug her nails into the orange wallpaper before her as hot tears of anger, sorrow, and loss welled up in her eyes and streamed down her dry cheeks. "Damn you, Adrien," she snarled. "Why did you do this to me?"

Standing alone in the icy darkness of his chamber, Gabriel summoned his Kwami from the cracked necklace that had become the vessel of the butterfly Miraculous. Inside its purple exterior lay a small photograph of the only woman Gabriel had loved, and would ever love. The butterfly Kwami quickly materialized, revealing its soft, purple skin, four stubs on its back representing wings, tired and sorrowful eyes, and the absence of a mouth. "Nooroo, my trusted servant," the time-torn man declared, his voice reflecting a growing sense of desperation and a complete loss of joy. "The King of Moths has need of you yet again." With the snap of his finger, the silver-haired man restored his Kwami's mouth.

"Master, how long must this persist?" the suffering little creature begged. "So many suffer because of your misuse of the butterfly Miraculous."

"Silence!" Gabriel screamed, his echo resounding throughout the entire chamber. "All that I do is to restore justice to this unjust world. This world knew an angel once, but death stole her without reason or remorse! If this world will not show mercy, then we will force it to. But now, our plans have changed…My son has departed from me, and I must recover him at once."

"Master, have you sensed a lingering presence from several of your former Akumatized?" Nooroo replied, his timid voice bearing a greater fear. "I fear the effect of your Akuma was not purged by Ladybug's powers. Should we not focus on them for the time being?"

"I care nothing for them," Gabriel answered in disgust. "In failing me, they have abandoned us all. Whether they choose to cling to false powers and dreams I gave them is their own concern. I would…never allow someone to stay in a sense of false hope, Nooroo. All that matters now is finding Adrien. We'll find someone in the city, akumatized them, and transform them into a bloodhound. Until he is found, nothing else matters."

"Yes, master," the Kwami agreed. "Maybe, once we've found him, you could try to reconnect with him. It's been so long since the two of you have gotten along like you used to, master."

"…Maybe," the suffering shell of a man decided, his heart beginning to ache.

"And then…maybe you won't have to be Hawk Moth anymore," Nooroo finally worked up the courage to suggest to his master. For so long, the Kwami had prayed for the man intended to be his partner to redeem himself. "Maybe we can all move on."

His icy gaze locking onto his slave, Gabriel's pain and sorrow regained control. "There is no moving on!" he roared in Hawk Moth's voice. "Until she has been brought back to me, I will never surrender my Miraculous! Be silent, Nooroo." At his command, Gabriel's long-suffering Kwami looked down to see his mouth fade away. As his anger slowly cooled, the man looked at Nooroo with a deep sense of sadness and something resembling compassion. "…I'm sorry it has to be this way, my friend. I'm sorry it all went so wrong. When you first came to me, I believed you were sent from God to save me from my sorrow…" Nooroo's eyes opened wider as the man he once knew and had come to comfort seemed to return to him. "…But I know now there is no God…We are all alone in this world…The only comfort we will ever find is from those we love. I love my family, Nooroo, but I'm not the man I once was. Losing Emilie killed what faith I had…Adrien needs his mother, and I will bring her back. Dark Wings, Rise."

Their bodies writhing and trembling with a pain that could not be seen or treated, the wicked ones remained swaddled in their veil of fog. Even as her head throbbed and her nostrils bled, Aurore maintained her precious, protective wall to protect the only family she had left. Kim clenched his knees to his chest as mucus streamed from his nose and tears of blood fell from his eyes. Bethany leaned against Aurore, unable to look away from her compact or stop applying cosmetics, even as her nose bled and her icy hands shook. Jalil felt the weight of the history he had taken into himself begin to bear down on his weary shoulders while Jean watched his fingers transform into knives and snakes as the magic slowly built up to consume him.

"It hurts so bad," Kim gasped, not daring to open his eyes. "Why can't we find them?"

"They just disappeared," Aurore explained. "There was a flash of light, I lost control of the fog, and nothing turned up during our search. I saw things, but I don't know how much was real. They've got to be around here somewhere."

"Why couldn't I have stayed as you, Aurore?" Bethany mourned as she looked at her reflection. "I'm so ugly."

"My queen was the only one who could love me," Jalil sobbed. "If I had just taken Chat Noir's Miraculous when I had the chance, I could have brought her back."

"I just wanted to control the magic I dreamed of," Jean quaked as his forced his shaking hands into fists. "The Akuma promised me I'd be able to, once I got the Miraculous."

Finally opening his eyes, Kim found himself standing in the hallway of the Collège Françoise Dupont as countless students passed around and through him. "I-is…Is Chloé Bourgeois here?" he called out. "I've been trying to find her. Chloé!"

"Piss off, Kim," Chloé called back in a voice colder than she had ever spoken before. "Nobody loves you, especially not me. You're nothing without those powers you stole from Hawk Moth. Why don't you go chase after him from now on?" Turning her back to the one who adored her, the blond-haired young woman let out a malicious cackle as Kim fell to his knees and cried.

"How could they not choose me?" Aurore asked her friends as she sat atop a rusty bench in the empty park. "I thought I did a great job."

"Oh, please," Marinette scoffed with perfuse disgust in her voice. "You went on that show wearing that trampy dress, blew kisses like a schoolgirl, and practically slept with all the executives. Who the hell would want you?"

"It's true," Mireille taunted her former opponent. "You made them all sick. That's why they all chose me. Face it, Aurore: Nobody wants you. The only family you ever had hated you. They felt sorry for a while, but only Hawk Moth could stomach you. Pretty soon, he'll toss you aside too."

As the growing laughter became entirely too loud and close to stand, Aurore lowered her head, clenched her ears with each hand, and gritted her teeth in pain as she tried to escape.

Running down the small, dark hallway of her childhood home, Bethany made her way into her bathroom, where a large, cracked mirror awaited her. Her little legs climbing the small ladder to allow her to reach the sink, the girl gazed at her reflection and was met with horrors. Now a teenager, Bethany saw her pale, pasty skin glisten as if it were coated in sweat, her bulging eyes resembling a toad, her lips so dry and cracked they nearly bled, her hair as coarse and unkempt as a nest of rats, and her body so thin and malformed it was almost obscene. "N-no," she begged as she backed away. "Please, no! I can fix it. I'll work so hard!"

"Ugly. Not good enough. Hideous. As putrid on the outside as she is on the inside. Ugly. Freak. Get out of here, Bethany. You're so ugly it makes me sick. I hate you! Get out! Get out! Ugly! Ugly! Ugly!"

Turning and running away from the cruel voices, Bethany collided with Hawk Moth's leg and looked up to see his loving face. However, she was greeted only by her own distorted reflection. She was truly alone and too hideous for anyone to love.

"Jalil, how pathetic you turned out to be," a faceless queen mocked her would-be suitor. "You had all that power, all those chances, and you still failed."

"Nefertiti, I'm sorry!" Jalil cried out in shame. "Ladybug and Cat Noir were too strong. She deceived me. Please, I'll do anything for you."

"Then put yourself to sleep," the wicked queen answered. "Become another mummy, and we just might forget your shame."

"It's too much," Jean whispered to himself as the power welling up inside of him threatened to split his very skin open. "I just wanted to learn magic. Hawk Moth, please, take it away from me! Take it away, or give me the strength to control it! I don't want this…I was wrong. Please…"

His feline eyes opening with a jolt, Chat Noir found himself in the same miserable room he had been in for so long. However, the smell of Ladybug's hair, the final, fading kiss of Marinette's perfume, and the embrace, though forced, he shared with her, eased the pain and sorrow. "Did I fall asleep?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"Just for a little while," Ladybug answered, her voice gentle but waning. "I kept watch the whole time."

"Thank you," Chat warmly replied. Hanging his head, the young man let his long hair once more shield his face from the unclear light above him. "I'm sorry to keep leaving you alone like that. I, um, I had this dream. I wasn't sure where it was, but we were in this house: All of us: You and me, Alya and Nino, my mother…and my dad. It was cold outside, but the house was warm, and all the colors were warm and welcoming. I kept walking from room to room to talk with my mom, but she was always in the next room. Then, finally, you took my hand, and you told me to just stay for a while. Then we danced. Nino and Alya started dancing too. Then I looked out and saw my mom and dad dancing by the Christmas tree, smiling and dancing right next to us. I looked at her, and I smiled, and closed my eyes, and just kept dancing with you. You showed me everything would be alright."

Ladybug smiled to herself, though she could feel a hot tear blur over her eye and slide down her cheek. "I used to have a dream like that, too," she warmly declared. "We were at school, but it looked more like this school I went to when I was a kid. I saw you in the hallway, so I walked out of class and tried to follow you. No matter how fast I walked, you were too far in front of me. I'd turn away for a second, then turn back, and you'd be gone. Then, I'd turn into Ladybug, or someone like her, and I'd run and get closer to you, but then you'd see me and ask where Marinette was. I never understood why, though. I even said one time, 'Why does that matter? I'm here with you now. Can we talk?' Then, you'd hang your head and walk away."

"Marinette, whether it's you or Ladybug, you're both one and the same," Adrien answered. "I saw you as a friend, but I couldn't…I mean, I…I didn't think I could have anything else with anybody. I thought I was this broken, unlovable thing just wandering around. The whole time, though, I knew Ladybug was the one I wanted to be with…I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, Mari."

"Don't be sorry, Adrien," Marinette said just above a whisper. "We didn't know. Things like this… Trying to live two lives at once…it's too much for kids. We got through it, and we're better now." A peaceful, redemptive silence fell over the two as their shame, regret, and sorrow seemed to wash away. "Close your eyes."

Nodding his head, Chat Noir closed his eyes and found himself floating in a transparent, flowing body of water. His long hair blew and flowed as if guided by a greater breath while his lightly pale body allowed the waters to flow though. Looking to the sky, he saw the dark expanse of the endless sky, crowned with millions of stars. Plagg floated beside his shoulder, and Marinette and Tikki each gazed at him from across the small patch of water that separated them. Her long, dark hair gently blew in the same breath that Adrien felt, each long lock gently brushing up against her exposed back.

"Can you see me, Adrien?" Marinette asked, feeling no sense of shame or modesty, as neither were relevant here.

"I do," Adrien called back, no longer feeling the need to cover his exposed form. "Can you see me, Marinette?"

"I do," the dark-haired young woman answered.

"I see you, Plagg," Tikki called out.

"I see you too, Tikki," Plagg replied. "Lookin' good."

"During the fight, I saw something," Marinette began to explain as her bluebell eyes reflected the light of countless stars and cosmic gases. "Tikki, like an angel, told me about my powers…She said that…I could do more than just purify the Akuma. What did you mean, Tikki?"

"I'm not sure, Marinette," the ladybug Kwami confessed. "I can barely even remember telling you. No Ladybug in the past has had to face the struggle you have. The Akuma have existed almost as long as the Miraculous, but their effect has never lingered after their purification."

"Maybe the people themselves can be purified," Adrien suggested. "I don't think the yo-yo is enough, though."

"What was that thing you told Adrien before, Marinette?" Plagg spoke up. "About our powers not being just about destroying stuff, or something like that?"

"…That it's not an end, but a way out," Marinette realized. "The pain of Destruction…is the joy of Rebirth."

"Do you really think my Cataclysm could save them?" Adrien asked as his hair began to blow in a stronger wind. "But…I killed that bird. It'll never come back."

"But you only saw your power as a destroyer," Tikki answered. "You didn't see it as a part of the greater cycle. And maybe it was the bird's time. Maybe it was needed in another way."

"Chat, when I was akumatized, I had to lose everything," Marinette explained. "I had to be broken, just so I could find who I was. If I hadn't been destroyed and exposed, I could never have been reborn and set free. Look inside yourself…Find the answer, and know that I believe in you. You're not a weapon. You're a Miraculous, and I thank God every single day for you. Your powers, who you are, they're all gifts, not curses."

"…Okay," Adrien happily gave in. "I'll trust you for now. Then…I'll start making myself believe it. Thank you, everyone."

Chat Noir and Ladybug opened their eyes to find themselves sitting on the same cold, filthy floor, still chained together, and still badly wounded. However, the presence of hope gave them strength. Everything would be alright.

Crumpling up another empty bag of crackers, Alya felt her stomach start to ache. Unaware of the time or how long she'd been eating, the young woman looked in the mirror and immediately felt disgust. "I can't do anything for them," she sobbed. "So all I do is gorge myself…What's wrong with me? Why can't I even control myself?" Throwing on a coat, Alya ignored the nausea growing within her swollen stomach and made her way down the street.

"Alya Césaire," an unfamiliar voice called out, freezing the young woman in her tracks. "Deh one you are seeking…Marinette Dupain-Cheng, do you know where she is?"

Turning around, the redheaded girl looked at a shorter, thin, elderly Chinese man standing several feet away from her. "I-I don't know you," Alya stuttered, not knowing how to react.

As she turned away, she heard the man's voice call out once more. "But you know her to another name as well," he continued, his accent mild and his voice strong and confident. "Ladybug, yes?" At that, Alya froze dead in her tracks, her jaw agape. "You seek to help her, but you know not the way. I can give you deh power you need. You see, I have been watching you and your allies for a long, long time, Alya. I have seen the sacrifices you have made, the pain you have endured, and all you have given up to protect 'dose you love. You have no desire for worldly gain, and would give it up by your own merit. Dat is why I have chosen you."

"W-what do you…" Alya stammered, her heart pounding as she finally turned back to the man. "H-how? How do you know me? How do you know about Marinette? And, what are you choosing me for?"

"I am deh one who chose Marinette and Adrien Agreste to bear the Miraculous or Creation and Destruction," the mysterious man explained. "Dey never saw me, but I knew the depth of their hearts and the strength of deir moral character. Deh Miraculous are sacred, and must only be used for deh greater good of all life. You shall inherit deh fox Miraculous, and carry on deh work of 'dose who came long before you."

"Look, I believe what you're saying," the young woman answered. "But, I-I'm not…I'm a mess. I stress-eat, I lie to my parents, friends, and teachers, and I've been akumatized in the past. I'm not worthy. I'm sorry, but you made a mistake."

"You did not refuse deh ladybug Miraculous when your friend was in need," the man persisted, his tone unchanged. "Dough you did not think yourself worthy, you bore deh mantle to save those you care about. I know your fears: You fear you will fail on your own, dat deh Miraculous will turn you into a monster, and dat you will make matters worse. I am here to tell you…dat you are wrong. Alya, your kindness, selflessness, and ability to keep coming back after every fall…'dose are deh things that make you a hero. Deh fox Miraculous calls to you. You are enough. Your soul is not dat of a monster."

"…What about Lila?" Alya finally dared to ask. "Did it call to her too?"

"Lila is a tortured soul, too easily taken and comforted by Hawk Moth's lies," the elderly man sorrowfully recalled. "She was not given deh fox Miraculous. She was fooled by a worthless charm and deh broken promise of a blessing. But, even Lila's soul can be healed and nursed to health. Alya, if you do not take deh Miraculous, your friends will perish. Dere is a great darkness coming…Dis world needs its heroes now more dan ever." With that, the man pulled an orange metal armband bearing the face of a fox from his pocket. Shaken by the man's words, Alya gazed at the object until the image of the fox stared back at her.

Sulking alone in her room, Lila opened her eyes to see an Akuma flying towards her. At first, she was frozen, remembering all the pain Volpina had brought to her life, but the promise of numbness and power soothed over her pounding heart. "Okay…" she declared as the dark creature neared her. "But only if you give me the power to find Adrien." Hawk Moth smiled to himself as his former pawn volunteered herself.