Chapter 2: The Black Butterfly
Plagg rolled over on the desk. "I can't understand why you're so upset. I thought you were thrilled."
Adrien stepped way from the window. He didn't know what he expected to see while watching from it for an hour and a half. Of course Ladybug or Marinette wouldn't just come running back. What was there to run back to?
"How could I be thrilled?" Adrien covered his face with his hands and sighed into them angrily. "Didn't you see the look on her face?"
Plagg sat up and glared at him. His pupils were cat-like slits that watched him carefully. "I thought you always wanted to reveal yourself. I thought you always wanted to know who she was."
Adrien threw himself down onto the white sofa in his room and draped his arm dramatically across his face so he could shield the evening sunlight from his eyes. He was always subconsciously modeling.
"I did," he sighed. "But not like this."
Plagg flew over and landed on Adrien's hair. It was the only bit of affection he could stand giving his holder. "Care to explain?" He suggested half-heartedly. The last thing he wanted was to hear this kid ramble on some more, but he also wanted Adrien to keep a level head about this.
"I guess I knew the consequences of my horrible flirting, but now that I know that it was Marinette all this time makes everything so much more embarrassing. Marinette is…" Adrien sighed again, a little smile peeking at his lips. "She's kind and sweet."
"So what's the problem? That just means she will understand, right?"
"Maybe," Adrien huffed. He removed his arm and stared up at the ceiling. "But Marinette- If I knew that it was her this whole time, I would have maybe tried to control my emotions a little bit better. Maybe chilled it a bit on the flirting."
He cringed and shot up, causing the black cat spirit to go flying. "I must have made myself look like an idiot!" Adrien exclaimed, slamming his fists into the black pillow. "How could I have been so stupid? Why couldn't I just control myself like a normal human being?"
"No need to get hostile," Plagg reassured, flying back over to eye-level. "You had a crush. It's normal."
"It's more than a crush, Plagg," Adrien spat. "That's why I acted like such an idiot. Now she will never love me. Because I acted like an idiot." Adrien couldn't help but let some tears drip from his eyes. They fell and made dark spots on his jeans. "We were never meant to be together."
Plagg sighed and grabbed onto the tip of Adrien's nose. "Don't say that. Ladybug and Chat Noir have always been able to work things out. You just have to take a deep breath and let destiny ride itself out, okay?"
"Okay," Adrien mumbled, wiping his face.
Even after a long shower, a pile of homework, and a lonely dinner, Adrien found himself lying awake in bed replaying what Plagg said. He wanted to let it go, but he couldn't. No matter what he tried to go, he couldn't stop his mind from turning.
It was the early hours of the morning when he became so delusional that he began to let the darkness creep into his mind. The petty, irrational thoughts contaminated his emotions like black ink being poured into water, until the whole thing was nothing but murky clouds of shadow.
Adrien rolled over in his bed and looked at the way the night drained his entire room of color. Plagg slept somewhere at the foot of his bed and snored loudly. Adrien carefully reached up towards his nightstand, and felt around the surface until his fingers brushed over the bracelet.
He snatched it and pulled it close, as though it was giving him energy. However, the bracelet was anything but lucky. Instead of becoming hopeful or confident, he only grew more and more furious.
I should have known she would never love me back. Adrien thought to himself, finding some kind of sadist satisfaction in the negative thoughts. First of all, I acted like a moron. But secondly, she was always better than me. I was always the goofy sidekick. I would always wait for her orders. I always had to have her save me. I'm sick of it.
Adrien was only speaking in his mind, but he felt something like a growl coming from his throat. Ladybug would be fine without me. I would be fine without her. She only weighted me down since I had such strong feelings for her.
Ladybug always thought she was the most powerful, but if I could show her the truth… The truth that I would be so much more powerful than her. And that I could be the main hero.
Adrien caught movement in the corner of his eye and quickly ducked further under the covers. What he thought was Plagg was something that was moving much faster. It had sporadic movements as it bounced around his room. It was glowing purple, and when it dove into one of the pools of moonlight, he instantly knew what it was.
An Akuma.
He thought if he ever saw an akuma in real life, he would jump into action. But this time, he only calmly watched as it drew closer and closer. Once it was an arms distance away, he closed his eyes and felt as it hovered by his chest before landing somewhere near his hand.
When he opened his eyes. he only saw the foreign purple glow around the edges of his eyelids and the glowing bracelet.
"Well, how ironic," a voice growled inside his head. It sounded vaguely familiar. "Hello, Adrien," It stated with a voice lacking of all emotion. He recognized the voice. It was his father's. "Feeling down, son?"
"Adrien?" It was Plagg now, watching him with horror.
Adrien looked to him slowly before letting a sick smile creep upon his face. "My poor Adrien," his father mused. "How about we have a chat?"