Connecting Everything (Connecting To Everywhere)

by Miss-Ecchi

The rise of Le Papillion has not only disrupted the lives of Marinette, Adrien and the rest of Paris but has also become the catalyst to the worldwide exposure of the supernatural and the essence of death. Now the entire world is at risk of merging with the other side which will doom everything that everyone knows and love if Ladybug and Chat Noir fail to retrieve the Butterfly.

2. 二

A/N: Well. I've been very busy and sick and busy and still very sick and whoa has it almost been a year since I've updated?

But enough about me, let's get on with the show!

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"Even if this foolish, beautiful life can be oppressing,

The higher the wall is,

The more meaning it has to overcome it."

1,000,000 TIMES - My First Story, feat. chelly (EGOIST)

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~(15th December, 2014)~

"It's been like two weeks so far and everything still seems normal— well, as normal as it can get," Alya commented quietly as her best friend leaned her entire weight against one of her strong shoulders, both of them seated at their desks in class. The taller of the duo internally sighed in pain at the sight of Marinette's drained features and how she seemed much paler and skinnier these days. She was already quite scrawny and tiny when Alya joined her class at the beginning of the school year; she looked pretty knackered, weary and very unhealthy now in comparison.

Her dark, thick, beautiful hair has long lost its sheen, broken strands now fraying out of the ponytails and looking coarse to the touch. Her skin which once bloomed beautifully with subtle shades of sweet pink and plum blossoms looked deathly translucent, emphasising the veins and sinews that bulged underneath.

And her eyes…

They've lost their light for a long, long time now.

.

It really depressed her, seeing her best friend like this and she wished she wielded some kind of magical power that could make Marinette lively and happy again (to bring back that beautiful, adorable smile she often wore back when the days were simpler). "You still worrying about those volunteers that helped you out, girl?" The heroine opened her eyes, tired baby blues glancing at Alya and then she pooched her lips.

"Not too loud. This whole ghost-busting job is meant to be a secret for everyone's protection, you know? It's bad enough that one silly, nosy reporter caught a whiff of my after-school activities, something that not even Maman and Papa know about. Wouldn't want anyone else getting in on this too. Right?" She scolded lightly, her mouth turning into a slight smirk when Alya whined dramatically and batted her pretty long lashes. "Don't worry, I know you won't tell a soul. But you never know who's listening, Alya."

Alya's eyes widened almost comically and she quickly glanced around the room, only spotting their chattering classmates and the stray students from the other classes and year groups mingling with them much to her frustration. The soft sounds of an old English Christmas carol played in the background and the vicinity was nothing less but peaceful and calm and ready for the festive season. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Who else is here that I can't see?" She whispered sharply, both super excited and slightly nervous that there might be an entity or a magical being in the same room right now. She was met with a broader grin from Marinette and she lazily pointed to one of the windowsills, eating up the way her best friend pretty much vibrated on the seat with glee like an excited child ready to bolt off to Disneyland. "Une fée? Un fantôme? What is it? Who is it? Where is it?"

.

"Ah, c'est Cléo le chaton." Adrien's sudden voice had the shorter girl almost jump out of her seat in surprise, clutching her chest and then sending a cute pout towards the sheepish-looking blond. She wasn't blind to the glimmer of pleased mischief that lingered within his eyes; the boy on the other hand was secretly quite delighted by her sudden response thanks to his habit of constantly sneaking up on people. He took a seat on Marinette's other side as the two girls budged up to make room for him, Adrien quietly indulging in her warmth and the way that her familiar bakery scent engulfed him with the flavours of vanilla and warm spices. She felt like home to him. "She belonged to a little boy a few decades ago and this windowsill was her favourite place to come and to take a little nap whenever she snuck out of the house." His fond, nostalgic smile then fell as he continued to watch the tiny bundle of black and white pounce and jump about on the sill without a care in the world. "Unfortunately, she wasn't very careful one day. That's why...some of us can see her now." His tired eyes landed on Marinette's gaze and he offered an understanding smile, taking one of her hands that were resting on the seat and giving it a comforting squeeze. The fatigue in his spring greens loosened when she squeezed back and mirrored his grin with a smaller one of her own.

"Must have its advantages, being part of a family with a long history of performing exorcisms since who knows when." Alya chirped to lighten the atmosphere and then waggled her brows enthusiastically at Marinette before leaping off to find Nino after receiving a text from him (most likely to spend some 'special' time with each other before the morning bell rings, much to the heroes in disguise's simultaneous amusement).

"I guess being a Graham de Vanily does have its perks, hahaha! Scares away all the nasties that think that they can possess my body and make me do dumb things!" Adrien joked, the feline within him very pleased when he earned a light giggle from his beloved friend. He loves, loves making Marinette laugh. "I once had a fever dream where I got possessed by an eighty-seven-year-old woman and she dyed my hair black and made me come to school wearing a zebra-printed bodysuit! I woke up in such a cold sweat and triple-checked my wardrobe to see if that monstrosity existed. But do you know what I found instead? A pair of leopard-patterned trousers. It was worse than my nightmare!" She was practically in tears now, leaning against him for support and she tried to catch her breath from giggling too much. Neither of them paid any mind to the inquisitive and playful looks some of their classmates directed towards them, relishing each other's company and indulging in their bodies' warmth and shy touch. It also helped that Chloé called in 'sick' today and that Lila was off on a 'trip to Achu' so there were no headaches or obstacles for them to deal with.

"How has it been on your end, by the way, Marinette? I hope all of this hasn't been too much on you." He was holding her hand with both of his now, warming up the ice-cold appendage with the friction of his skin and he even went as far as blowing hot air onto it. Her heart was a hummingbird and he was the sweetest flower she's ever come across with the most delicious nectar. The girl attempted to compose herself a little better but the hint of shyness and the way her tongue would tie into knots before Adrien barely struggled to break through her makeshift wall of weak confidence.

"I guess every day is something new and interesting in all sorts of ways for me," She glanced at him sweetly under her lashes, trying to keep the mood light. "What about you, Adrien? Nothing dangerous has come after you, right?" And of course, she failed horribly to keep up with the cheery demeanour, her worries multiplying anew because she had been so preoccupied with her last haunting that she ended up pushing back the safety of the love of her life, her family and her very good friends to the back of her mind. The loving concern that was quick to make way on his face sent a shot of raw, hard guilt into her stomach and Marinette scrambled to fix the situation. "I guess I've been reading way too many news articles about what's been happening to all the other exorcists lately. Sorry, hahah..." He didn't brush off her anxieties like she hoped (who was she kidding? He was one of the kindest people out there in the world for a reason), coming closer so that she could see the way his eyes softened on her behalf.

"I'm pretty sure Alya has been on your case about doom-scrolling on the internet several times. You already have plenty of problems that are hard to deal with...after all, you're just like me." He lifted a spare hand and let the backs of his fingers tenderly graze the suppleness of her cheek, brows furrowed and the mood losing all of its laughter. Marinette assumed that he meant that they were both thrown into this unique situation because of the experiences they've gone through in their lives which consequently opened up all of their senses to the other side. She was oblivious to the meaning between the lines of his words and the unconditional understanding within his emerald greens, quietly savouring the feel of his tender touch. Adrien had no qualms with it, continuing to treat her with patience and love without a beat (even if she continued to remain oblivious to the truths he was aware of).

"Yeah…you lost your mother a while back, didn't you?"

"And you lost your older twin brother just a few minutes after you were both born, hm?"

.

The heroine and hero stayed quiet for a little bit, hands lightly entwined with one another's, the feel of their pulse thrumming under their skin giving them comfort and keeping them grounded. The festive music was barely audible to their ears and it was like they were under the spell of each other's gaze. The kitten's spirit was no longer lounging on the window sill and snow started to fall again outside in a slow, soft, sombre manner. Layering the city with a few more thick blankets of white sheets and glistening under its golden lights as if they were made of glitter and diamonds. The reapers of Creation and Destruction being connected by their souls and hearts had a few curious spirits and faeries and all sorts of little supernatural creatures come and go, only for the harmless beings to leave after a little while. Their presence made goosebumps rise and made the baubles on the classroom's Christmas tree sway and jingle and their energy even brushed against some people's skin for a split second.

Some of their more sensitive classmates were slightly spooked by the sensations and the glimpses they got of the creatures but were quick to either tune them out or observe them with interest. Others were blissfully unaware and continued to carry on with what they were doing without a care in the world.

"Do...do you ever see her? Your Maman?" Marinette asked carefully, not wanting to cross any boundaries and upset her friend. Luckily, Adrien was more than happy to answer, always enjoying the intimate conversations and personal talks that he often has with her these days. He's always wanted to get closer to Marinette as his civilian persona and he finds himself becoming speechless from time to time because they're now the bestest of friends and it never ceases to melt his heart with absolute joy. He smiled delicately, pressing one of her hands against his face and placing his own on top, leaning into her soft touch. She didn't know why but she almost, almost expected him to kiss the palm of her cold hand and her mind flashed back to her wonderful, beautiful partner.

This wasn't the first time that this happened and she's lost count of the similarities that the two most important boys in her life shared despite also being so different from one another (as if they're two sides of the same coin).

"I've sensed her presence in the building many times. But I haven't seen her form yet. It's warm, it's comforting and it's the only thing that stops the house from feeling so lifeless." His eyes then darkened and he averted his greens for a moment. "That's how I realised that she had passed away all this time. She's not just missing. But Père refuses to listen at all and would rather die than accept the fact that she's no longer around physically." When Marinette started to rub comforting circles on his cheekbone and offered a comforting look, all of his frustrations and anger visibly dissipated and his heart felt light again. "I know it's hard to grieve and to move on...no one can truly move on. The least you can do is live a happy and fulfilling life. That's what Maman would have wanted."

"You're right." She threw away her timidness and her need to protect Adrien's mind and soul gave her the courage to keep going. "Many spirits linger because of unfinished work they left behind. Sometimes, that work is just to help their loved ones move on or make sure that they're okay. I think your Maman is still around now to keep an eye on you...like a guardian angel. So that you're never alone." The way he beamed and the way his eyes glittered afterwards was worth every single pain and hardship she had ever gone through. She was willing to go through it all a thousand times more just for this moment alone and it was then that she reaffirmed her heart's promises to keep him safe and happy. No matter what it takes. Even at the expense of her own life—

"Marinette…what have I done to deserve you? You always know what to say and how to cheer me up," His other hand then rested on her knee gratefully, giving the appendage a warm squeeze and rubbing mindless shapes on the bone with his thumb. "Trying to survive in the kind of world we live in would have been nearly impossible if I never met you." He was pure reverence and softness right then, his gratitude and marvel so overwhelmingly innocent and unadulterated, Marinette couldn't find it within herself to breathe and break the priceless moment with the love of her life.

So she simply rested her forehead on his chest, refusing to let him see just how bright red her face and ears were and how watery her eyes were becoming, his quiet laughter not helping in the slightest bit. Adrien took the opportunity to hold her in his arms, placing his head on top of hers and his smile continuing to dance on his lips (they're such a perfect fit). She was so, so adorable and it took him everything to hold back the purr that was dying to rumble throughout his body.

"I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for you either, Adrien." She admitted with her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt and still refused to face him, pressing her head further into his chest and her heart close to leaping out of her throat. "I'm...I'm glad someone like you is in my life. So glad. You're one of the few good things that's happened to me. And I hope you'll stay in my life forever..." It was his turn to become speechless and all that he could do was hug her even tighter, his own eyes starting to sting from all the overwhelming emotions that ran through his body thanks to her rare but heartfelt confession. He was only a breath away from peppering her head with some butterfly kisses because there were no words out there in the world that could ever convey just how much her soft murmurs meant to him and just how much he adored her.

She deserved all the love and kisses in the world—

"MARINETTE! MARINETTE!"

The sound of Alya's distraught voice and her body tumbling through the door snapped them both out of their rose-tinted bubble, even gathering the attention of everyone else in the classroom. Marinette didn't think twice before leaping over the desk and rushing towards her dishevelled best friend who looked like she just went through hell and back. Nino appeared just as instantly as his girlfriend, wearing a similar expression except his was laced with some confusion and concern for Alya. "The people…those people!" The usually fiery and energetic girl was ashen and looked like she was about to be sick, unable to utter another word and her mouth constantly opening and closing like a suffocating fish out of water. Her entire body trembled as Marinette placed her strong hands on Alya's arms to support her, Adrien already by their side as he looked at Nino questioningly, beckoning him to tell them what the hell was going on.

"I don't know, Mec! Alya checked the news on her phone and then suddenly she became frantic and said that Marinette was in danger—" He was cut off by the way Marinette's eyes widened and how all the blood rushed out of her system, pupils constricted to the point where all that was visible in her eyes were twin circles of ice blues that sent shivers down everyone's spine. Without wasting another breath, she snatched Alya's phone from her trembling hands, her pointer finger rapidly swiping across the screen, only to freeze.

.

THUD.

.

"Marinette!?" Adrien's wail of her name was deaf to her ears, the girl barely comprehending her close trio of friends getting to their haunches simultaneously to reach her level and the dull throbbing of her knees from the impact of her body suddenly dropping on them was a silent buzz in her mind. Marinette didn't dare to take a single breath as the brutal, fatal images she came across of the volunteers who helped her that night were tattooed to her brain like a destructive parasite, crushing her poor heart anew and leaving behind nothing but a decomposing, distorted piece of bleeding flesh that leaked with guilt and guilt and just so much guilt. The ghastly feelings were so overwhelming and so dreadful, it felt like that all of her internal organs were liquified in an instant from the burning white hot flames that roared through her bloodstream. She didn't even bat an eye as Adrien and Nino glanced at the images themselves, only to let out distraught gasps and horrified whispers of their own, the shorter of the two immediately locking the phone and setting it aside as he became visibly greener, eyes bulging out of his sockets (whilst the taller of the duo tightened his protective grip on her as if he couldn't believe that she's still alive). She didn't care about anything anymore.

She gave up.

.

They were all dead.

.

Every single one of them.

.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

The older teens...the young adults...Imran. Every single person barring herself and the ancient guardian who was present on that damned night in that damned forest was dead.

All twenty-five of them.

Their bodies were savagely ripped in half, leaving behind only the bloodied torso and upwards whilst their lower halves were nowhere to be found in the vicinity. Their heads were ruthlessly decapitated and replaced with a crimson-stained cross messily made of their own broken bones that penetrated the centre of what was left of the neck. The joints of their arms were shattered and yet the lifeless limbs were stiffened in a praying motion with the exception of their left which was contorted inhumanly so that the palm was facing downwards, parallel to the right palm that was pointed upwards (as if to point to both Heaven and Hell). And lastly, the bodies were placed in a circle surrounding and facing the infamous mother tree of forêt de Fontainebleau where their decapitated heads hung from the branches by mere rotting organs and were pierced savagely by the razor-sharp branches, all with their eyes gouged out and their mouths permanently etched in a soundless scream of pure, unadulterated horror, their jaws unnaturally stretched and distorted to the point where they no longer looked human.

It was the most gruesome, abominable, bloodcurdling scene that Marinette had ever seen (that her poor trio of best friends had to see), resembling something akin to an appalling ritual that's come out of a forbidden religion that worshipped any and every single evil thing that's ever existed. As if it's a glimpse of Hell or the Underworld or anywhere else just as fearsome, making her realise just how powerless she was and always will be when it came to the daunting existences that were the dead and the demons.

She failed.

She failed them all.

.

All this because they helped her from the goodwill of their hearts, knowing fully well the dangers and unimaginable terrors that would greet them and plague their very own lives. And when they showed a slither of hesitation and fear, not only did she brush them off, but she also put them in a position where they had to either choose to help her with the soul-sucking wraith that clung on or to run away even if it meant abandoning her to her ruthless fate. She used their neverending kindness and compassion to her advantage and in return, her weakness and helplessness sent them plunging to an early grave in the most brutal, indescribably painful way possible. She killed them.

She killed them all.

And she fucking hated herself right there and then.

.

"Shit...she's still not responding. Shit...shit...shit! Adrien, don't let her out of your sight and make sure to scare away any Akuma butterflies that may try to possess her. I'm going to go find Max to help me find the sick bastard that took this picture in the first place and sent it to all the major news and networks and scrape the image off the internet somehow." Taking the lead since Marinette was still wholly unresponsive, Alya gathered her bearings and swallowed down all her apprehension and anxieties on behalf of her best friend. She shuffled closer towards the silent girl, tenderly cradling her face, only for her frown to deepen from the lost, empty, lifeless expression that was plastered on the heroine. "Please, please don't blame yourself, Marinette. You did nothing wrong. We will protect you, we love you, no matter what. I promise." After whispering her vow, Alya pressed an affectionate kiss against the top of Marinette's head (her heart sank even further from the lack of reaction, her worries skyrocketing and her mind scrambling for any more ideas that could help without making everything worse).

"I won't let anything happen to her. Get to Max quickly! I think he's still at the library!" Adrien's face was full of nothing but determination to protect his precious, beloved friend, the news and the sickening images of the victims heightened his protectiveness for his loved ones to the absolute extreme and he was ready, ready to destroy anything that dared to even bend a hair out of shape belonging to his precious people. No matter what. His body was practically curling around Marinette's like a protective beast as he held her tight against his throbbing chest, ready to pick her up bridal style and take her to the nurse's room or anywhere else that was safe and quiet—

SMAAAAAASHHHHHHH!

The classroom was immediately filled with frightened screams and shrieks as all the windows in the vicinity simultaneously burst and smothered all the unlucky teens with jagged shards of broken glass and debris, injuring those who were closer with unforgivable wounds and viciously blinding those who didn't look away in time. Luckily, Adrien's quick-mindedness could rival his own when he's suited up as Chat Noir and he managed to get all three of his good friends to duck just in time, his whole body pinning Marinette's to the ground whilst his protective arms were spread over Alya's and Nino's backs, the hero taking in the full brunt of the explosion which shredded his shirt and mercilessly stabbed through his hot skin and flesh. His adrenaline numbed down all of his pain receptors, the blond boy caring about absolutely nothing but ensuring that his beloved trio were safe and sound and that not even a minuscule shard of broken glass touched them. His body be damned!

Thankfully, the incident was over in a matter of seconds, leaving behind the howling, bitterly cold wind flooding inside the room and the pained whimpers and wails of the severely hurt students. All of the comfortable heat dissipated in an instant and the state of the broken classroom would make one think that a horrendous natural disaster swept its way through and tore everything apart. Some of the bloodied teens remained hunched under their tables, refusing to even budge out of the paralytic fear they felt after the shocking experience. Others who weren't as terribly injured timidly glanced around the room and some of the braver students (such as Rose, Alix and Ivan) attempted to usher the wounded out and towards the school infirmary as they waited for the paramedics to arrive, unfortunately very used to these extreme circumstances due to catastrophic Akuma attacks and the more frequent shows of violence from the other side.

However, no one was able to deduce what caused the windows to implode on their own and after checking outside carefully for any clues or any evidence of the supernatural and finding nothing, more and more of their classmates began to theorise that it was potentially due to thermal stress. The temperature was dropping very quickly outside after all so surely the windows just couldn't handle it.

Perhaps this really was just a freak accident.

Hopefully.

"What are you doing!?" The sudden shout of Marinette's raspy voice and her trembling arms hovering around his back was what snapped Adrien out of his 'protect-and-kill' mode, the boy registering the pure horror that was etched on her face and the way that there was virtually no colour in her translucent skin. "Your...your back...SHOW ME!" Despite how tiny she was in comparison to his frame, the raw strength she held was enough to force him up into a sitting position with her straddling his lap, her fingers barely grazing his lacerated back only to come back with red and red and so much red. "You're hurt!" Tears automatically ran down her face and Marinette tried to move so that she could see the damage herself but he kept a firm, iron grip on her arms to prevent her from doing so, refusing to allow her already shattered heart to crumble and crush itself all over again. "Adrien!?" His own heart tore itself apart from the sound of not only his sweet Marinette's wobbling voice but also the horrified murmurs from Nino and Alya, all three of them undoubtedly crestfallen from the sight of his injuries and disappointed in themselves for not being as fast he was which ultimately led to this.

"I'm fine." He lied, trying his everything to ignore the way his muscles ached sharply from the mutilation they suffered and the way the icy cold wind was like daggers digging deeper and deeper into his wounds (flakes of snow burning more than salt as they struck his tender flesh). Fragments of glass that remained embedded under his skin simply dredged themselves in the more he moved and it was only a few seconds more till his friends got a proper glimpse of his back, ripping their hearts into shreds anew in an instant. "It looks worse than it actually is! I'm fine, really—"

"First all the volunteers were killed because they tried to help me...and now you're hurt because you protected me...so, so hurt..." Shit. She was crying even more and if Adrien or the others didn't act soon, she could fall into a panic attack (her last one was so bad that she passed out completely and almost tore out her skin from the way she dug her nails into her arms during the entire ordeal). "I'm so sorry...so sorry..." Oh no, no, no, no! Neither of the trio was able to do as much as blink let alone find the right words or actions to take to alleviate poor Marinette's heart because all of a sudden, the fluorescent lights in the classroom's ceiling and the entirety of the school building blacked out, leaving the whole vicinity in total darkness and causing a handful of students to gasp and whimper, all whilst the old Christmas carols continued to play on the radio. Adrien didn't dare to breathe, keeping his iron grip on Marinette who was immediately silenced and on guard. Alya was right behind her, her chest pressed against her back as she had her arms in a vice grip around her best friend's waist whilst Nino kept his shaking hands on his girlfriend's and best friend's knees, struggling to swallow his saliva as newly found dread bloomed within the pits of his stomach like a disease.

.

.

.

"It's not safe here." Marinette softly whispered after what seemed like hours (but was only no more than thirty seconds of haunting silence with eerie Christmas music and bated breaths). "We need to leave now. All of us." There was a little bit of light from outside courtesy of the broken windows which allowed the three close friends to make out the heroine's hardened features, all three of their hearts clenching as they realised that once again, she had thrown away all of her own emotions and turmoil in order to keep them safe despite their vows and attempts to protect her too. However, they knew that she had a point and that staying in the freezing classroom for a second longer could mean death at this rate with the way things were going (and especially with the things that they'd experienced).

"Whatever we do...wherever we go...always make sure we're holding each other's hands," Nino added, the boy extremely frightened beyond comprehension and the only thing that was keeping him grounded was the feel of everyone's presence and the fabric of their clothing which he had clutched with a white-knuckled grip. "Can you all stand up?"

"I would rather that we crawled away but there's broken glass all over the floor." Alya then tried to wiggle her legs, shaking off the pins and needles and gritting her teeth, internally cursing her limbs for being so slow in regaining back its strength. "I think I need another moment."

"We don't have another moment, babe— I'll carry you—"

An unexplainable, indescribable feeling of unadulterated trepidation instantaneously sunk its fanged teeth into everyone's stomach, stealing away everyone's ability to breathe (let alone their ability to talk) and it was right there and then that they realised...

Something is here.

.

"EVERYBODY! DUCK!"

The sound of Adrien's uncharacteristic roar was enough for everyone to instantly get to the ground and cradle their heads. In an instant, the blond teen was immediately swept off his feet by the inhuman speed of the entity that tackled him to the hazardous ground and prompted an unrestrained yelp of pain from the boy as his shredded back was pierced anew from all the broken glass.

"Adrien!" Marinette was the first to leap to her feet, almost stumbling from the shock when the realisation settled in on what exactly was attacking the love of her life which was then swiftly replaced with determination to save him from its sharp, malevolent clutches. "How dare you show your face around me again!" She charged at the wraith without listening to Alya's and Nino's desperate cries of her name, pouncing on its pale, elongated back with all her weight and locking her arms around its neck. It proved to be a terrible move the split moment it bent over backwards grotesquely, forcing the heroine to get slammed against the floor harshly into the broken glass and lose her grip on its ice-cold frame. She didn't even get a chance to take a breath, let alone register Adrien's guttural scream of her name as the demonic creature had its hollow face merely a whisper away from hers, its soulless yet paralysing gaze keeping her pinned on the spot and filling her lungs with so much horror and fear and hatred against it.

"I had fun with all those poor little people. Thank you for leading them to my trap, Creation." Its hoarse, tri-toned whispery words were the equivalent of fatal bullets to Marinette's heart, rendering her completely still and riddled with all the overwhelming guilt she's felt ever since she met the volunteers in the damned forest that sealed their fates. "The wonderful sounds of their screams for help...their pleas for you to save them. The pleasurable feeling of their bones crunching in my hands. The intoxicating taste of their rich, rich souls...oh~ I am now finally powerful enough to take on both you and Destruction—" It didn't get a chance to deliver a final blow to the hyperventilating girl because all of a sudden, its head was gone and deep black fluid sputtered out of its neck and all over her face. The misshapen body fell limp against her own but all that Marinette could perceive was the sight of Adrien's downright furious expression, standing over them both as the bleeding, decapitated head hideously gaped in one of his hands. Though his back was battered beyond compare and a bloody cut ran through his left cheek and down his lips, he looked like he could take on the world and win.

"Disappear."

With the firm command of his voice and the inferno of unadulterated resentment against the wraith blazing within his green eyes, Adrien sentenced it to the deepest, darkest depths of nothingness. He didn't even give it the mercy of leaving behind a conscious, the creature now never to be reborn ever again. Its entire body turned pitch black and then crumbled into ashes and then into dust, blown away by the Wintery breeze that quietly howled through the broken windows and became one with the snow that was starting to build up on the classroom's floor.

.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Light, soft footsteps scattered around Marinette and Adrien and instead of being faced with something diabolical or pure evil, they were face to face with twenty-five smiling figures. The heroine practically choked on air as she registered every single one of them as the volunteers who selflessly worked with her that night and whose dead bodies were desecrated and placed in the forbidden forest, eyes watering anew as she slowly sat up (unable to believe what she was seeing before her eyes). Each and every person smiled at her wonderfully, peacefully, with eyes filled with nothing but kindness for both the reapers and also melancholy on behalf of the two teens.

"Thank you for freeing us." One of them spoke and Marinette immediately recognised him to be Imran, the leader of the volunteers. "We knew what we were getting into when we joined the association to help neutralise the evil entities and put the dead to rest. In every job we took, we always went in knowing that death could take us at any time. So please, do not blame yourselves for the loss of our lives. All we ask is that you live life at its fullest and cherish your loved ones." He tried to pat Marinette's and Adrien's head, only for his translucent hands to go through and the dead leader could only gawk for a second before chuckling to himself. As if he was a big brother figure. "Once again, thank you for saving us, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste." Stepping back to his group, they all beamed down at the heroes one last time with teary eyes and then faded into the atmosphere as a gust of wind blew through them with snow.

.

Marinette reached forward slightly with a trembling hand, only to pull back with a strangled sob and rest her blues on Adrien when he palmed her shoulder comfortingly. He wore an exhausted but relieved expression and the wraith's black blood that was originally splattered all over them dispersed into the air (leaving behind her light wounds and his heavy injuries). Too many things happened at once in the span of a few minutes but the one thing that she could focus on now is what the wraith referred to the boy as, its last words echoing in her head like a mantra. 'Destruction'— it had called him and she could only watch him intently, blind to the rest of the students who hurriedly shuffled out of the classroom (after asking the pair quickly if they were alright and that they should get treated now), leaving behind the duo and their best friends. She noted his eyes and suddenly, the déjà vu she always felt whenever she got lost within his greens finally, finally made sense. Marinette couldn't help the soft sound that left her mouth and by instinct, her fingertips skimmed the surface of his bloodied skin.

It's him.

"We need to purify your wounds, Adrien." Her voice was so wrecked and raw from all the emotions that clawed within her but thankfully, her good friend (her partner!) understood the situation and nodded, internally relieved that his Lady had finally, finally figured him out. He no longer had to protect her in secrecy nor mind his words whenever they were together in and out of the mask. Judging from the way her blues seemed so soft and intense, Adrien wanted to assume that her discovery was a pleasant one (and that she was just as ecstatic as he was when he figured her out). He just wished that she found out in better circumstances. "Alya, Nino. Once you've gone to the paramedics and patched yourselves up, please wait outside the infirmary room on the ground floor. Do not come in or let anyone else in until I've finished purifying Adrien...but please remain as close to the door as possible because I can guarantee your safety this way."

His three beloved friends delivered comforting squeezes to his hands and for the first time in what felt like a long time, Adrien's heart was at solace.

~(x)~

Thankfully, all the lights were quick to flicker back on in the building but Marinette chose to only keep a small lamp on in the infirmary room, bathing the vicinity in a soft, golden glow that was amiable to the eyes. The wind outside howled and clattered against the aged window glass whilst the snowflakes stuck themselves against the surface and piled up, blocking away what little natural light there was. Regardless, Adrien kept his eyes on his partner whilst remaining seated on one of the beds. He paid no mind to the way his blood oozed down from its congealing wounds and soaked the pristine white sheets with crimson stains, completely entranced by his Lady's movements along with Tikki's indescribable glow as they blessed a bowl of water. The little Goddess was like a quaint star that danced on the surface of the water and every time her body grazed the liquid, a subtle chime would release like bells.

It was probably one of the most beautiful, ethereal things he had ever seen and he just couldn't look away (he didn't even want to blink).

Plagg, on the other hand, was curled up on his wielder's head, purring up a storm in hopes of distracting the blond from the pain of his injuries (as well as keeping his own rage at bay towards the now deceased wraith because how dare that thing harm not only his kitten but also Sugarcube's little bug?). Had there not been other people present in the classroom when they were attacked, the kwami of Destruction would have eradicated the demonic being in a snap and maybe even taught it a lesson or two for all the atrocities it has committed. For daring to even entertain the idea that it could ever get away with hurting Adrien and Marinette. Heck, even if it was just Alya and Nino who were present, Plagg would have risked it all and attacked. Those two were close to the reapers and he strongly felt that they could be trusted with their secret identities and would even go out of their way to protect their best friends!

Alas, Adrien and Marinette were far too selfless and are the type of people to shoulder all the burdens on their human, bony shoulders than ever dare to think of putting their loved ones at risk. Even with their soulmate-like partnership, the duo hesitated in breaking the thin wall between their heroic lives and their civilian lives because they simply didn't want to put the other in further danger. Plagg loved and hated them for it. Why couldn't they just see that…

He can protect them too…?

.

"How long have you known?" Marinette went straight to the point, finally settling on the edge of the bed with the bowl of blessed water and a white, linen cloth. She was all fatigue and skin and bones, her sunken eyes making her blues haunting and devoid of any cheeriness. Adrien couldn't help the way his heart sank at the sight. Clearly, the cruel deaths of the volunteers who aided her that night weighed heavily in her mind and he felt a slight twinge of guilt bubble up in the pit of his stomach because instead of being able to mourn for those people, she had to prioritise purifying his wounds first. If only he was stronger—

"I'm not mad or upset, mon Chaton," His heart skipped a couple more beats, taken aback by the nickname. He thought she would play dumb at first or even ignore the identity reveal until her brain had finally processed it. It was very short notice after all and she's been through way too much. Or maybe…deep down inside, could she have suspected him too and was on track to figuring him out? "Adrien, I…I just…"

'Why didn't you let me know from the start!?' She wanted to blurt out but she kept her lips firmly shut. However, he wasn't her partner for nothing and often, it was like he could read her mind.

This time was no exception.

"You didn't want us to know. I wasn't sure what to do." He combed his bloodied hand through her ponytails, the ties inevitably slipping off and her hair cascaded down to her shoulders like a waterfall of deep, black ink. "I think I figured you out a little while ago. I believe it was around the beginning of this month? But I started to have my suspicions for a long time before that." He tangled up his fingers loosely within her long strands, paying no mind to Tikki and Plagg who flew away to the far corner of the room to give them some semblance of privacy. "With how close we are in and out of the mask, I'm surprised that we didn't figure it out sooner." He then smiled as his hand trailed to Marinette's face, cradling the side of her jaw tenderly and rubbing circles into her cheekbone with his thumb.

She fluttered her eyes shut for a moment, melting into her partner's touch and savouring his warmth and it felt like he healed all her pain away. The immeasurable agony that silently wailed inside her heart from the loss of Imran and everyone else subsided a little, her partner's sweetness like an embrace that melted away all the ice that formed around her soul. It's like his very presence was enough to ease all her anguish away no matter what and it just fueled her constant need to love and protect him.

Speaking of pain, he must be in excruciating agony right now and Marinette was determined to purify him. She tried her best not to look so startled when she opened her eyes, seeing nothing but green and green and so much green. Adrien had his forehead pressed against hers and it was as if he could peer into the deepest depths of her soul. Even though she knew that it was hardly appropriate, Marinette couldn't help the way her face lightly warmed up in the softest shade of pink and the way his lips were only a breath away with their inviting plumpness practically forced her to swallow harshly.

Then she re-registered the jagged scratch that ran through his cheek and down his kissable lips. Ice-cold water immediately dumped itself over her thought process and shame sewed itself into her bones anew.

She needs to stop wasting time and purify him now. Then they will need to suit up as Ladybug and Chat Noir and cremate the volunteers' defiled corpses as well as get rid of the infamous tree in the forest for good.

Otherwise, knowing their shit luck, a nasty spirit or shameless entity will possess the bodies and cause more casualties and deaths and God knows what else.

"Adrien. Take off your shirt." She was all Ladybug now, taking his hand off her face (reluctantly) and placing it on his knee, her own fingers pressed against his knuckles. She didn't falter from the way Adrien was physically taken aback by her abrupt command, lightly flushing under her sharpened gaze and from the addicting heat of her skin against his. He could have sworn that his heart leapt out of his throat right there and then.

"Wow. You haven't asked me out on a date yet and you're already taking off my clothes~! How scandalous~!" He rested a finger against his chin and tried to waggle his brows with blatant implications, not blind to the flicker of pink that bloomed within the apples of Marinette's cheeks. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough of a distraction because her blues lingered on his blood-soaked shirt and ripped-up sweater, knowing that her Chaton was in so much pain right now but was prioritising her feelings instead. Trying to make her laugh and smile. Like the wonderful, stupidly selfless boy he truly is. "Sorry. I'll stop joking around."

Sensing that the sombreness continued to grow in her expression, Adrien tried his best to take off the ruined clothes, only to suddenly clack his teeth shut to prevent himself from howling in pain the split-second he stretched his back.

.

'SHIT! ItHurtsItHurtsItHurtsItHurtsItHurtsItHurtsItHurtsItHurtsItHurtsItHurts—' The adrenaline was gone from his body and all that Adrien could feel was the brutal, unimaginable pain that was embedded within his flesh and ate away his ability to even think straight with its jagged teeth sinking into the marrow of his bones. 'Don't cry. Don't you dare fucking cry. This is nothing. This is nothing in comparison to what she's gone through!' He gritted his teeth harder, trying with his everything to silence the cries that wanted to escape his throat so badly.

But the pain worsened.

'ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS—' He was almost deaf to his surroundings, bombarded by his internal howls of torment and he was close to throwing up what little there was left in his stomach.

"I got you, I'll heal you." Marinette pressed a few brief kisses into his sweat-soaked hair, clasping his hands with her own and squeezing the trembling appendages. "Bite onto this. I…I have to cut up your clothes and get the glass out of your back before I can start the ritual." Merde! His entire back was a brutal, gory mess and the last thing the heroine wanted was to put her partner through more pain! However, if she performed the ritual first, there was a high chance that the glass pieces would further embed themselves into his muscles rather than ease themselves out of the tissues and that was a situation they had to avoid at all costs. Marinette had to force herself to be calm once more because Adrien needed her now more than ever and she would be damned if she allowed him to go through another second in such a horrific state.

"You can do it. I believe in you." He scarcely managed to rasp through gritted teeth but that didn't stop him from delivering one last bloodied, broken smile and an awkward thumbs-up before taking the scarf she offered and shoving it into his mouth.

.

The next ten or fifteen minutes were the equivalent of torture for Adrien.

.

His voice and the inside of his throat were so wrecked and scraped raw from all the muffled screaming as every inch of him felt the sterilised tweezers and tools pick out the glass shards from his back (positioned on his knees with his spine facing his partner in a miserable, foetal position). There were no words in the entire world that could ever, ever accurately depict the immense pain that he felt throughout the ordeal. He was deaf to Marinette's encouraging words and could hardly feel the way Plagg and Tikki thrummed with energy whilst holding his fingers worriedly (the kwamis immediately having rushed back towards them the second Adrien started to break down). Tears and tears and so many tears poured down his eyes and soaked the scarf that he bit down hard; he no longer even perceived the jagged, deep cut that ran through his face, feeling only hot white fire that gouged into his back with its gnarly claws, scooped out his flesh and trying to set off an inferno within his blood.

'Don't black out. Don't black out. Don't black out. DON'T BLACK OUT.' Adrien couldn't even think so he had no choice but to rely on those three words and repeat them to himself over and over again. He held onto the kwamis' hands with herculean strength, giving zero fucks about how drool seeped from the scarf and how his eyes were red and stinging with their neverending tears. He clung to everyone's words harder as the thin, brittle line between consciousness and the tempting, seductive darkness grew thinner and thinner. The childish, frightened side of him that lurked within the hidden crevices of his heart wailed and wanted to scream at everyone till his voice cracked.

'Take me to a hospital!' He howled. 'Give me anaesthesia, dammit! Fuck our secret identities! I don't want to be awake!' He begged, rattling the bars of the cage he was trapped inside, his tiny voice ignored by the rest of him. 'Please! I can't take it! I can't take it anymore!' The logical, calmer side of Adrien could only watch the child with pity and sigh with exhaustion because he knew (both of them knew) that going to the hospital was off the table.

They knew that if there was anaesthesia in the room, Marinette would have used it instantly because she's the last person to ever, ever want him to go through something so gruelling and horrible.

They knew that if she took him to the hospital, he would either be kept in there for days and it would be harder to perfectly heal up all his injuries with the ritual after that or he'd be waiting long, suffocating hours in the emergency room because of how overflooded with patients they are (the rise of the other side causing more victims than ever).

They knew that if she performed the ritual at the hospital itself, it would put a target on her back from not only speculations regarding her heroic identity and spark le Papillon's and Mayura's interests but also wildly desperate people who would want her powers for their own gains and stop at nothing to take it.

And they knew that if he passed out, any lurking demonic beings could seize the opportunity and possess his body.

'IT HURTS! MARINETTE PLEASE!' And yet, Adrien bore through it all through sheer willpower and undying trust in his partner alone. He followed her instructions as if their lives depended on it and chased the darkness away in his vision until Marinette applied the last stitch and immediately soaked his back with the blessed water.

.

The icy cold liquid was a shock against his system at first, flooding his senses like electricity zapping through all his nerves and boiling his blood at high temperatures only for the abominable pain to ease one slow moment at a time. And when Marinette's bare hands pressed themselves against his wounds, Adrien could have sworn that his vision exploded in white. The scarf fell out of his mouth and all that he could do was arch his back within his Lady's grasp and stare wordlessly at the ceiling.

He was in a complete daze.

The sound of Plagg's and Tikki's concerns for him went unheard to Adrien's ears as all he could hear was a high-pitched ringing ripping through his eardrums and his muffled heartbeat trying to pummel itself out of his chest. He couldn't even hear his partner, let alone feel her shaky touches as he sunk deeper and deeper into the darkness above like a human spirit leaving its body after meeting its demise.

He doesn't feel hurt anymore.

He doesn't have to think anymore.

He doesn't have to be anything anymore.

.

He's free—

"Adrien!" The sound of Marinette's desperate voice ripped him out of his disassociation and brought him back to reality, the harsh cut through his face now stinging nastily and sharp, baby blues grounded him to her very soul in an instant. He could only watch her as he heaved and tried to catch his breath, their fingers tightly entwined to the point where they were sure to leave bruises on one another. Knuckles white, trembling bones and splotchy skin. "Adrien…" His whole body felt numb and he couldn't stop himself from collapsing into Marinette's arms, his own wrapping themselves around her torso tight and his face pressing itself into the crook of her bare neck (indescribably desperate for skin-on-skin contact).

Marinette was quick to embrace him back and hold him close, lovingly cooing his name into his hair whilst giving him all the time he needed to regain his bearings. "You did good. You're my strong partner. The best partner in the world. I'm so proud of you." Adrien held her even tighter with every praise that left her quivering lips, his fingers curling into the fabric of her clothes to the point where he could easily tear them off with his iron grip alone and his body still shivering against her frame. Goosebumps rose all over his bare torso but all that the boy could feel was this intense heat that crackled through his veins like lightning.

"Thank you…" He couldn't muster up any other words, his voice muffled from his face practically keeping itself glued to her neck and his heart still racing a million miles an hour. "Thank you, Marinette…" His entire weight was slumped against her but she was more than strong enough to handle it, continuing to stroke his hair with one hand.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could have been faster or made the procedure more painless." Her other hand then grazed its fingertips against his sore stitches, her partner quietly flinching from the contact and she immediately placed her hand on his shoulder instead. "I've managed to heal most of your injuries. But in some areas, the glass dug in really deep so you'll have to keep the stitches on. I think the scars might be permanent. I'm really sorry…" Reluctantly, Marinette pulled away so that she could face him.

Thankfully, Adrien seemed to be completely back into reality and he kept his gaze on her. Plagg and Tikki exchanged a few encouraging words with the heroes, offering their praises to them both (especially to the blond) and made themselves scarce once again so that the duo could finish the ritual.

.

"Don't be sorry. You did amazing." Adrien then lightly smirked, flickering his greens to one of his bare shoulders. "I've always wanted a battle scar. I can show it off to Nino and the others and prove that I'm more than just a pretty boy." His humour was an excellent sign of him starting to get a lot better. One of the downsides of the ritual was that the worse the injuries were, the higher the chances of a cardiac arrest or a temporary vegetative state from the shock of the healing. Her partner haemorrhaged majorly from his injuries and if they chose to rely on a hospital instead (be it a private one or a public one), he could have ended up in the worst-case scenario from all the blood loss.

Marinette once again internally thanked Tikki and all the other good deities out there for the existence of magic and its incredible healing abilities. Without them, the duo would have been severely tainted with blights and burns and scars and all other sorts of injuries that would have crippled a normal person for good. It would have also further compromised their heroic identities and all of their loved ones would have been immediately put in danger. It was hard enough already shooing away or even destroying any malicious beings from the other side that tried to cling onto their family and friends.

Le Papillon and Mayura would make it downright difficult.

.

"All that's left now is your face." She soaked the linen cloth with the remaining blessed water and then paused before pressing it against his wounded skin. "Do you need a minute to rest? We can take a longer break if you need to." Marinette was all attentiveness and vigilance, blues scrutinising his body for any signs indicating he was still unwell or something else along the lines. She noted that he was shivering quite a bit so she made haste to grab a spare blanket, drape it over his back and curl the fabric around his front like a cocoon. The way his usually strong and masculine hands looked like trembling paws when they reached out to clutch the ends of the blanket tugged something deep and heavy in Marinette's heart and she felt her eyes sting all over again. She's never seen him so vulnerable, ever.

Oh, her pauvre Chaton…

"I'm fine now. My face doesn't hurt too much so I shouldn't get all…weird…like before. Hahah…" He was downplaying his pain and shock and all that Marinette could do was grit her teeth and furrow her brows. She tossed the cloth back into its bowl without a second glimpse and cradled Adrien's damp face, ensuring that he was looking directly into her eyes. His injury on his face congealed into a long, painful scab, implying that the water alone wasn't going to be enough to purify this wound and she felt her heart shatter all over again from the pitiful sight of the love of her life. He didn't deserve this.

He didn't deserve any of this pain and sickness and hurt at all.

Once again, she was reminded that the two boys she loved and cherished more than life itself turned out to be one all along and Marinette could only internally weep because he's been through so, so, so much. Losing his beloved mother at a young age and being forced to mourn an empty coffin because her body was still yet to be found. Dealing with an aloof father who only ever sees him face-to-face to harshly scold him for not being the perfect little puppet he was forced to become. Fighting Akuma and Sentimonstres on a daily basis where often he took painful blows for her or even sacrificed his life to ensure her safety. Exorcising beings from the other side because those vile entities were determined to make their lives a living hell.

The list kept on going on.

And on.

And on.

Yet, here he was safely wrapped in a blanket with her hands tenderly holding his face because he was the most precious person in her world. He watched her with those earnest, breathless greens, basking her surroundings with spring and warmth and the sun. She noted the curiosity that glinted within the glitter of topaz, emeralds and amber as she traced his wound with a feather-like pressure. She knew her partner wondered what was going through her head, pondering on how to figure out her unreadable gaze whilst trying not to get distracted by her touch against his sore skin. Marinette found it quite interesting that often, he finds it easier to read her when she's spiralling to a dark place and yet comes across a block when she's thinking about him.

As if he's not used to people thinking about his well-being…

(Or, has he simply forgotten how after the untimely disappearance of his mother, left behind with an echo of her presence in the lonely Agreste mansion?)

"You're much stronger than you give yourself credit for, Adrien." Marinette began, her fingertips still grazing the scratch, watching how the stubborn injury still refused to heal properly. Blood continued to weep from the ragged line and dead skin flaked outwards like a reptile shedding its former skin. She briefly pressed her lips against the top edge of the cut, her heart beating a million miles per hour as she felt smooth, unblemished skin replace the wound in a matter of seconds. "Anyone else would have lost consciousness back in the classroom had they dealt with just half of the injuries the wraith gave you." Her mouth trailed downwards, cool rosy lips fluttering against heated, damp skin that brought nothing but relieving bliss for her partner. "But you?"

She paused at the corner of his mouth, rose tickling peach and for a moment, the duo were hypnotised by each other's gaze. Wintery sky blues bore into the lush, summery greens and it was at that instant that she confirmed all over again that her beloved partner and the shy boy who was the love of her life were the same person. "You pushed your pain aside and saved us all without thinking twice. You selfless, silly boy." Marinette's voice was barely above a whisper, her eyes tracing the remainder of his wound which sliced through his lips and ended just above his chin. She didn't miss the way his bottom lip quivered in anticipation, his pupils dilating similarly to his alter ego's as the blanket started to slip off his frame when his hands unconsciously rested on her knees. His breathing was becoming laboured by every second that went past and he went as far as knocking his nose gently against hers like a nudge.

Their trembling lips lightly feathered one another's once.

.

Twice.

.

Thrice.

.

"I would do it all over again. If it means keeping you safe and sound." Adrien vowed and then finally, finally, their lips met in one singular, innocent kiss.

.

If Marinette were to describe the kiss, she would have labelled it as serene and perhaps even lazy. Like the golden sun basking through the dreadful, dark clouds after a huge storm one delicate beam at a time. Every time she parted her lips against his, Adrien would mirror her actions with all the patience in the world. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced even though she had kissed him in the past either to snap him out of an Akuma's influence or as a part of her convoluted plan to save the day. She never had the chance to register those kisses, let alone enjoy them properly and they've always lasted for no longer than a couple of seconds at best. This one, however? It was like a pleasant, soothing heat spreading from their mouths and then throughout her body which eased her tense muscles and alleviated her headaches.

And then, it got even better.

One of Adrien's hands left her knees and made its way to the side of her jaw, his long piano fingers gingerly caressing her cheek before tucking some of her loose hair behind the shell of her ear and resting his palm against the back of her neck. His clumsy, inexperienced lips matched her own again and again and again. Every time he tried to hasten the speed or experiment by instinct such as skimming the sharp of his canines against her bottom lip or whispering her name against her tongue, their front teeth would bump into each other or his lips' aim would be downright off.

He could only pout like a kitten when his lips landed on Marinette's cupid bow for the umpteenth time, her sweet, quiet giggles only making his entire face redden even more. He chased after her mouth, hoping to change those giggles into sighs of his name but was met with two fingers pressed against his lips, keeping him in place as he opened his eyes in surprise. It took the heroine everything within herself to not pounce on her partner and smother him with even more kisses, especially with the way he watched her with those huge, pleading eyes.

(She also wasn't blind to the heat that flared and sizzled within his greens, her partner clearly desperate to crash their mouths together anew and greedily explore this newly found discovery that is the taste of her lips).

"There. All done." Her voice was hardly above a whisper and their surroundings felt like pure, concentrated magic enveloping their wiry frames. The muffled sounds of Christmas carols from the classroom upstairs along with the continuous, howling snowstorm outside and the honey glow of the lamp that softly illuminated everything around them made the duo feel like they were captured in a moment of a timeless film. The feel of Marinette's previous touches on his face lingered like a soothing flame and when she moved her fingers from his lips to cradle his jaw, the flame turned into an inferno.

He wanted to kiss her again so badly.

So, so, so badly.

"It still hurts." He fibbed, his tone almost a little whiny and childish. From the way Marinette's eyes crinkled with mirth and the way her cascading jet-black hair followed her movements when she cocked her head to the side, Adrien knew that she could tell the meaning between the lines. The tip of his sharp nose grazed her softer one for good measure, one of his hands clasping hers whilst the other removed her fingers from his unblemished, perfect skin. He shuffled closer, their digits entwined until he decided to free one of his hands just to lightly push her chest which automatically had his partner fall onto the bed with a light gasp.

Marinette could only blink owlishly for a second, her skin turning beet red and her hair fanned out underneath. Her heart rate sped up immediately when Adrien leaned over her, one arm resting by her head, pinning her in place whilst the knuckles of his other hand teased the surface of her collarbones with all the time in the world. His eyes were green flames, shadowed by his unkept, messy hair and the way he pressed his knee between her legs so deliciously almost made her want to squeal into her hands. How is she supposed to handle this!? No amount of Akuma fighting or ghost busting or Chloé endurance would have ever prepared her for the final boss that was her beloved partner who happened to also be the boy she loved with her everything!

He looked ready to devour her whole.

"It still really hurts, My Lady…" He muttered softly in her ear, knuckles turning into fingers stroking the nape of her neck, evoking a stuttery whisper of his name from her quivering throat. The heroine didn't even need to look to know that her Chaton was smirking against the shell of her ear like the Cheshire cat.

Oh, she has definitely, absolutely unleashed something within him now that all their walls were down.

"Y-You're awfully bold tonight, mon Minou…heheh…" Marinette tittered nervously, her fists pressed against her chest as his lips smoothly roamed from the subtle sharpness of her jaw to the tip of her chin. She had to swallow a hiccup when his lips nonchalantly snatched hers halfway between a kiss and a brush of flesh, effectively swallowing all her breaths until he had his fill (for now) and leaned his head against hers. He had her wrapped around his finger and Marinette couldn't decide between combusting on the spot or turning the tables and kissing him senselessly (and show him who is the boss).

"Do you want me to stop?" He kept his hypnotising greens on her but his fingers continued to tug on her shirt, exposing her collarbones even further and the swell of her left bare shoulder. He was brutal.

And she was losing her mind.

"I'm just wondering if your brain is running on the appropriate wavelength." She resorted to bantering in an attempt to hide her jitters, clearing her throat when his thumb rubbed circles on the joint where her shoulder and collarbones met. She also managed to note that the area of her throat he was now caressing was where she was last injured by the wraith, her skin thankfully devoid of any evidence of that incident because of the healing ritual her partner performed.

Now that she thought about it, he looked like he wanted to jump her back then too after they came back from the forest and resumed the ritual.

"I'd say wanting to heal our hearts is appropriate enough." The way he innocently pressed a kiss to her nose only encouraged her heart to pummel her chest faster than ever. He was going to kill her!

"With you shirtless and mine halfway to the floor?"

"Absolutely."

"In this suggestive position?"

"What's stopping you from switching it?" Oh. She wasn't expecting that. And her traitorous brain took that as a sign to concoct up a million fantasies at once that were filled to the brim with lustful wishes and her deepest, darkest desires. On the one hand, Marinette wanted to do just that and wipe his sinful smirk off his face and maybe show him how she truly wanted to be kissed. On the other, his back was still covered in fresh stitches (from an attack that almost killed him no more than half an hour ago) and this wasn't the time or place to be getting…handsy.

"The fact that Alya and Nino are waiting outside the door, probably scared out of their wits on your behalf." Marinette bleated. Thankfully, Adrien's brain wasn't completely taken over by his libido and had enough shame to look sheepish, greens flickering to the locked door where their best friends were on the other side. Perhaps they should probably let them in soon before Nino mentally spirals with all the worst-case scenarios…

"So you're insinuating that your control is worse than mine. Got you." His grin then turned downright wicked and his hand rested on her hip, giving it an unabashed squeeze. "Next time you pin me down, feel free to go wild. I'll ensure I have protection ready in advance, ma belle."

"I-I-I was just talking about kissing! KISSING. Nothing more than that! Stupid cat!" She couldn't help it anymore and pushed her hands against her face after shoving Adrien to the side of the bed. Her face burned as his chuckles grew louder but she didn't protest when he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her against him, her head now on his chest and their legs entwined. "You're such a pervert…" He held her even tighter and his chest continued to vibrate against her frame.

"Your pervert." Unfortunately, their current circumstances decided to rear its ugly head once more and Adrien's back didn't hold back in expressing how sore it was from all his movements. The skin tightened around the stitches, causing the blond to let out a little pained wince. It didn't go unseen by his partner and sadly, the mood turned sombre all over again. "I'm fine…" His frown deepened when Marinette sat up, fixed her shirt and then brushed her fingers through his hair whilst her eyes lingered on his shoulders. 'After everything I did to try and make her forget about it all and feel good again…' He sighed internally.

"I believe you." Though the worry could never be smothered away, Marinette did have trust in her partner and would never intentionally underestimate how strong he truly was. "You just need to get some rest. I need you at your best when we return to the forest and retrieve the bodies later." She offered him a smile and thankfully, it was enough to ease the tension from his features. Tossing the blanket back at Adrien so that he could cover up, Marinette called for Alya and Nino to come inside.

In hindsight, she should have also warned them to be gentle as well because before the heroine could even blink, Adrien was jumped by the frantic duo in one huge, embrace, causing him to embarrassingly yelp in pain which sounded similar to a little girl. Oh well. This could be her way of getting back at him after he got her all hot and bothered on the bed, teasing her with his lips and touches.

.

Oh.

So what does that make them now? Marinette felt her face redden all over again as the kisses flashed through her mind on a loop, a kettle-like squeal seeping out of her lips and she was completely deaf to her Chaton's pleas for help as he continued to be engulfed by their best friends' arms. She hasn't even confessed her feelings for him yet and she originally didn't plan on ever telling him until they've defeated Le Papillon and brought the world back to normal. Now? She was pretty sure he was more than aware that she was ready to get down on one knee and propose to him.

But also…

Does this mean that he likes her too? Or could potentially even…

Love her?

.

"M-Marinette! A little help here!" Poor Adrien continued to fall on deaf ears as Marinette was too busy squealing in her hands and wiggling on the spot, Nino sobbing in his ear and Alya a pinch close to crushing his ribs. Mon Dieu, he loved his good friends to bits but dammit, they were going to be the death of him! Was this his punishment for getting extra cheeky with his partner and turning her into a blushing mess?

He wanted to talk more with her regarding their identity reveal and even prod about her feelings about him too…

~(x)~

.

.

.

"Don't you think that's a little too extreme?"

"If there were any other way, I wouldn't have resorted to this method."

"I know…I just think it's such a shame. There's a lot of history on that land and all the wildlife that left in fear of their lives will never be able to come back."

"..."

"Sorry. I know you're only doing this so that we can be safe and sound. The curse on the land could date as far back as over a thousand years and no amount of blessed water or spells will be enough to purify it."

"...A wise person once told me that no matter how much destruction we face, life will always find a way to grow back. Creation is a very stubborn force after all."

"Maître Fu's ramblings when he believes he's on his deathbed every time he runs out of constipation medicine isn't something I thought you would pay much attention to."

"He usually says wise things when his stomach hurts, I've noticed. And when he's struggling to take a shi—"

"Chaton."

"That aside, my point is that in due time, that land will go back to the way it was. Maybe even better than what we could ever imagine. This is an opportunity for the future."

"When you put it that way it doesn't seem so bad. You've always been the optimist out of us both."

"It's not like you didn't have a point either. A lot will be sacrificed…but I'm always willing to do anything to keep you safe."

"Adrien…"

"And that's a promise, Marinette."

.

The wind tore through his hair like furious claws raking through anything that dared to threaten its peace, snowflakes clinging onto his suit and face as if they were trying to burrow themselves into his very flesh and infest his organs like maggots. And the entirety of his surroundings would have been pitch-black had it not been for the blankets upon blankets of snow that continued to build up one centimetre at a time on the surfaces. However, that wouldn't have mattered either way since he possessed night vision along with enhanced super-senses (just like his namesake).

Chat Noir stood before the infamous tree of forêt de Fontainebleau, the mutilated corpses belonging to the volunteers long gone as his partner retrieved them back to the city to be purified and cremated hours ago. They had a little assistance from the selfless fire brigade team who stepped forward to lend the heroes a truck, a driver and some firemen to bring the bodies home despite the risks of the other side. A brilliant stroke of good luck for once after everything they've been through.

It also took a searing kiss on her cheek and some sweet but truthful promises whispered into her ear for him to persuade Ladybug to go back to the city with the firemen and that he was more than capable of handling the rest.

"—It won't even take me longer than fifteen minutes. Je te le promets."

"But we were supposed to do this together. I'm supposed to observe in case anything goes wrong! And you're still injured too…"

"I promise, I will be fine. The firemen don't have any magic of their own so they'll need your presence to protect them from any entities that try to attack them and the bodies."

"...Just keep me updated, okay? And text me once you reach your house afterwards. Just to let me know you're safe."

"Of course. I'll even call you. Now hurry along and go. And take my jacket so you don't catch a cold, my Lady."

"But you'll get cold!"

"Impossible. I have this beautiful, cosy scarf a certain little bug has made for me as a birthday gift, remember?"

"Y-You…you found out that I…?"

"I'm your clever Chaton, non~? Now quit stalling. Or else I'll pick you up like a sack of potatoes and drop you off at the truck in front of EVERYBODY."

"Fine! I got it…s-see you later."

While he stared down the tree and its surroundings, Ladybug right now was most likely with their maître in the heart of Paris purifying the bodies with their healing magic and stitching the heads back to their respective torsos. Since the volunteers' deaths took place around two days ago according to the autopsies and the entity was killed today without the use of a Lucky Charm, it was unfortunately impossible for Ladybug to bring them back to life with the cleansing light. She was also forbidden from using the rabbit miraculous of Evolution to go back in time to prevent the incident because it could cause deadly butterfly effects that could potentially destroy the current timeline. The jewel was meant to be a last resort for the worst-case scenarios such as the end of the world. So all that his Lady could do was fix what was left of their bodies and make it seem like they were sleeping so that the victims' families could have a semblance of peace.

Additionally, they received some updates from Alya and Nino and were informed that they successfully managed to scrape off most of the ghastly images of the corpses from the internet with the help of Max and Markov and were now looking for the culprit who shared the pictures online in the first place.

("—We all have a feeling that it was that crazy monster ghost thing that uploaded those images, mec. Others have done this before apparently. But we're still keeping an eye out just in case. Especially with the rise of cults and crazy people worshipping these things. I…these people are so crazy. The comments I've seen that people have made online praising this shit…dozens and dozens of them. Max is creating a program as we speak to automatically delete the images in the future if any of those freaks try to repost them. But until then, try to keep Marinette from going online. Just in case. She's been through enough.")

.

Thankfully, all of his loved ones were a good distance away from the foe he was facing now and he had no intentions whatsoever of holding back. Mercy was now non-existent and tonight, he will show his audience why he is the Reaper of Destruction.

Raising two fingers and pointing them towards the tree, as if aiming a pistol, Chat Noir's facial features darkened with utmost hate and loathing as he muttered "Cataclysme" lowly under his breath. A small orb of pure destruction crackled and hissed at the tips of his claws, growing bigger and bigger and bigger. The howling, stormy wind stood no chance against him and it was as if the black orb was a shield, annihilating every single snowflake that shot towards him like needles.

The tree remained motionless.

"It was you all along, wasn't it?" The vivid memories belonging to the wraith he disposed of clashed through his brain and had he been a weaker person, those haunting thoughts alone would have been more than enough to make him take his own life to escape its infectious clutches. "You are the curse." Though the abominable creature had a will of its own, the wraith's black heart abundant with hundreds of damned souls just like the three children, it wouldn't have been born in the first place had it not been for the sole existence of the curse. "Show yourself, now."

And just like in the evil phantom's memories, the tree revealed its true form.

The ominous, teeth-scraping sounds of bark and branches snapping and cracking filled the vicinity like giant insects scuttling around in a closed space and all that Chat Noir did was watch with contempt. The tree grew ten times its size and the sides of the trunk split into hundreds of branches which looked like contorted limbs as sharp as razor blades. The large stub on its side which once looked like an unassuming remainder of a broken branch migrated to the front with a nauseating sound, revealing itself to be an eye that blinked vertically and oozed with thick, dark red liquid. At the bottom of the trunk, the plant became hollow and caved into itself, revealing a hole that looked like a mouth with jagged pieces of bark acting as famished teeth and a gruesome stench that would put a hundred decaying bodies to shame.

It was probably the ugliest thing Chat Noir has ever seen.

And the creature looked absolutely ecstatic to see him.

"JE SUIS—"

"Disappear."

He didn't even let it talk.

The fatal Cataclysme was shot and it engulfed the entity at once at lightning speed and then exploded into a colossal fireball of devastating black flames. It then detonated like a powerful bomb and roared through the entirety of the forest like a wildfire from Hell, burning every single thing that stood in its way into nothing but ashes. Foliage and trees and plants were consumed and scattered into dust. Snow and soil and roots were ravished and its bones were spat out in the form of dirt. It was absolute carnage.

Nothing was spared.

Chat Noir paid no mind to all the desperate wails and dying screams belonging to the evil entities that were originally hiding in the now burning forest, his tsunami of calamitous flames quick to sniff them out and brutally purge them out of existence. All he did was grit his teeth hard and jam his baton into the ground in front of him, his hands clutching the top as all the memories belonging to every single diabolical being that was currently scorching to death forced their way to his poor brain. Visions upon visions of innocent people getting slaughtered, getting possessed and going through the most horrendous, heartbreaking torture ever imaginable practically destroyed his ability to think, let alone breathe. It was hard enough to act normal around Marinette after destroying the wraith; the abhorrent memories that followed regarding how the entity tormented the volunteers till their last breath both cleaved and shattered his heart.

But this?

He didn't know how else to describe this feeling other than a literal Hell unleashed onto his very being. The burdens and weight of being the host of Destruction in an era where the world of the living and the dead were merging increased by tenfold and it was like he was suddenly carrying a mountain on his shoulders. The scared little child within him shook the cage he was still locked away in with unmitigated desperation, bawling his big green eyes out from the sheer panic and trepidation that aggressively clawed through his insides from the sensory overload of all the malevolence flooding his pitiful little mind.

The boy screamed for Marinette.

He screamed for Plagg.

He screamed for Père.

He screamed for Maman.

The rest of him however continued to bear through it all with white knuckles and a tight jaw, immersing himself in the black flames and trying his utmost everything to focus on cleansing the forest once and for all of all the evil and the malicious that sought haven in there. But the little boy persisted.

'I don't like this! I DON'T LIKE THIS! Let me out! I want Marinette! I want Papa! I want Maman! LET ME OUT!' The child's stubby little fingers became bloodied and scraped raw from all the frantic scratching against the walls and all the tugging on the barred door. 'Please! Please, please, please, PLEASE!' Big fat tears welled in his eyes as he sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. He rolled into a foetal position on the ground, raising his torn-up hands and gesturing in a praying motion. 'I beg you…please…stop hurting me…'

Whether it was instinct or if his inner child had finally influenced his brain, Chat Noir wouldn't have ever been able to tell and in a snap of fingers, the black flames shot up high into the skies carrying the screams of the damned along with it. Then, in a final explosion that lit up the heavenly clouds in a burning, green glow, the flames disappeared as if they were ancient fireworks of the underworld, leaving behind a scarred land full of nothing but ashes and an unresponding wielder of Destruction.

.

Minutes went by in real time but the recollection of untold events from an eternity ago ran through the frozen hero's head like a film.

.

A young woman, no older than nineteen. Her hair was rich with a vibrant colour of chestnuts and her big brown eyes were filled with so much life. Her tanned skin was smeared with dirt from doing housework all day and her modest dress didn't exactly flatter her curvy frame. But she was undeniably beautiful to the man who observed her daily and lived close by. He was a rather hardworking fellow in his early forties who had always known what he wanted. And he would stop at nothing to get it.

He brought her flowers every day, freshly picked from the meadows at dusk. She refused them all and would express sadness for the plants because their lives were cut short just for vanity.

He brought her newly hunted game and some deliciously brewed mead. She politely thanked him but gave it all to the starving children who lived next door, claiming she had more than enough to eat.

He even brought her some good-quality fabric which was perfect for making a dress and surely she would no longer rely on the torn rags that were barely holding on to dear life. Once again, she declined his generosity and mentioned how the clothes she wore now belonged to her late mother so she could never part with it.

The young woman eluded him! No matter what he offered, no matter what words of honey he would use, he was rebuffed every single time with a beautiful smile and browns that were filled with unconditional kindness. A spark of rotten, repulsive hatred was born in his heart.

It didn't take much time for the hatred to infect his entire body.

One night, he stumbled around drunk outside after drinking to his heart's content with some friends. His intoxicated mind thought it would be a good idea to visit the young woman and maybe he could try to woo her with his touches. With his many years of experience, he believed he knew the best way to touch a woman and get her undressed in the blink of an eye. Oh, he could already envision it. Her dark hair fanned against the bed sheets. Her thick, shapely legs bare and wrapped around his torso. Her naked chest arching into his own with her endowed bosoms slick with sweat.

And her grinning lips reddened by his ministrations and screaming his name.

This was it. He was taking her tonight.

.

However, she wasn't alone.

Before he could knock on her door, the unmistakable sounds of lustful sighs and moans were registered in his ears. Rushing to the nearby open window where a candlelight was placed, the man was bestowed a sight that made him see nothing but red.

Another woman, with fairer skin and hair that would put the sun to shame, had the young woman's lips captured with her own rosy pair. Their naked cores were moving against each other like a forbidden melody, luscious legs entwined like braids and their skin was deliciously flushed from all the passion and excitement.

But what drove the man practically insane was the way the young woman looked at her lover. As if she was ready to dedicate her everything to her and worship the very ground she walks on.

So without wasting another breath, he went straight to his house and grabbed his axe. The man then charged through the young woman's door, deaf to their horrified screams and attempts to calm him down. He could only see red. He wanted their blood. And he wasn't going to stop until he got what he wanted. The women had no chance. He struck the blonde woman first through the head, the stench of iron and her hot, hot blood spraying on his frame was like ambrosia to him.

The young woman managed to impale him in the stomach with a pitchfork but it wasn't enough to take him down. Still blinded by his blood lust and his warped love for her, the man pinned the woman down with the hilt of his axe pressed against her throat. He confessed his love for her again. Only this time, she spat on his face and cursed him. So he drove the axe through her heart and told her "I love you," one last time.

He dragged the blonde woman's corpse and laid her next to her deceased lover, only for the man to slit his own throat and fall in between them both. As if to say even in death, he refuses to allow them to ever be together.

Their bodies were never found and their spirits never received refuge. The young woman's rage and the man's insanity simply grew beyond the mortal realms and infected their surroundings, spreading further and further across the land as nature took its course and turned them into a tree. The hate was so pungent, so deadly, it warped the minds of any timid living beings that stepped foot on the rotting ground. It also attracted the epitome of evil and all other sorts of malicious entities that thrived on the curse's stench as it simply fuelled their powers and supplied them with hosts.

The man became the face of the cursed tree.

And the women could only spread their curse in hopes of finding someone to finally set them free.

.

"Thank you, o child of Destruction."

.

The hero didn't even need to open his eyes to know who was talking to him, his enhanced senses were more than enough to feel the tormented women dissipate into the air as purified spirits. After over one thousand years, years of unadulterated anguish and coldness, the innocent lovers were finally, finally free.

.

"Love can really become such a twisted curse, huh…" Chat Noir whispered to himself, on his knees against the floor and holding onto his baton with dear life. The snow stopped falling some time ago and his surroundings were nothing but a death-like, empty stillness which juxtaposed his weeping heart. To think that so much suffering, so much misery persisted throughout this land for centuries upon centuries just because two people fell in love and someone else couldn't handle it so he decided to kill them…?

In a sense, their love could have destroyed the world had he or Ladybug been weaker people. Every living being could have been consumed by darkness and insanity and the mortal realm would have successfully merged with the other side, granting victory to no one but the wicked.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair that something so powerful, something he believed in his everything, something that kept him hanging on the threads, was also capable of destroying everything he knew and loved. Like a double-edged sword.

'What if…what if my love turns out like that in the future?'

As if to snap him out of his brooding, the moonlight shone through the departing clouds, revealing the full extent of the damage he's caused with his cataclysmic flames. The entire land was barren and pitch black, contrasting the blankets of snow that were glimmering many, many miles away from his position. It was as if a meteorite had hit the forest and left behind a crater. The feline boy couldn't help but wince, knowing that it would probably take another few hundred years or so for anything to grow again.

Much to his surprise, as if to truly show him the horrors, the moon shone brighter and it was right then that Chat Noir recognised what was a few feet ahead of him.

What was peeking out from the scarred ground in numerous amounts.

He ignored the way his heart sank at the sight, anchored to the pits of his stomach and immediately called his partner using the baton.

.

"Chat Noir! Oh, mon Chaton! Tu vas bien!?" The sound of his partner's worried voice was the antidote to the poisonous melancholy that dug itself into his veins and already he felt much lighter. Dieu, he loves, loves, loves her so fucking much. His Lady, his princesse, his queen, his belle, his amour, his everything. He loves Marinette Dupain-Cheng! "Chaton? Hello, hello?" Oh, he should probably answer her before she worries herself to death on his behalf.

"Ouais, my Lady." His words were barely a breath and it revealed just how truly exhausted he was. Both physically and mentally. He could barely feel his legs and he was still seated on the ground. The cold was starting to get to him and he pushed his scarf up to cover the lower half of his face. "I'm okay. It's…it's over now. I've gotten rid of the curse. This land is now safe."

"I'm glad. The news was showing a live broadcast of the forest burning with your powers. It was…I…I never knew you could do that. It's unlike anything I've ever seen." The awe in her tone had his lips tilt upwards into a small smile, continuing to heal his heart and spread warmth throughout his very being. An ordinary person would have been terrified of him after seeing that display of power; his partner seemed very thrilled by it instead and showered him with praise. "I'm really happy to hear your voice again, mon Minou. I-I…I miss you already." His heart swelled up to the point of almost robbing him of his breath because he knew how hard it was for his Lady to ever voice her vulnerable thoughts and feelings and yet here she was, giving him a full-course gourmet meal of a lifetime.

"Me too," He wished so badly to instantly appear by her side and hold her tiny frame in his arms for the rest of eternity. His eyes then glanced back at the remains on the ground and he almost cursed himself for ruining the moment. Unfortunately, duty always came first. "In fact, you're gonna see me sooner than you think. Are the fire brigade still around? I'll need them to send another truck here."

"...You found them? The rest of…of Imran and the others?" He gave her a low hum in response. "I see. That's good…that's very good. We can restore their bodies properly now and let the families see them ahead of schedule. And then we can cremate them without having to worry about any other potential incidents tonight. Maître Fu will guard them for now and I'll join the fire brigade. Is that alright?"

"You're perfect." He confessed, his mouth running loose and he didn't even bother controlling himself. "I want to hold you tight and never let you go."

"I'll hold you tighter."

"I want to kiss you with my everything and make sure you know how much I love you."

"You love…me?"

"Marinette," He couldn't help but pause, his exhaustion clearing away all his inhibitions and secrets. He swallowed and then opened his mouth and repeated the process a few more times but Ladybug remained patient as ever, giving him all the time he needed to collect himself. "If. If one day, my love for you were to destroy the world…would you push me away?"

.

"...Silly Chaton. I would save you and save the world. I will never, ever abandon you. You're my precious partner. My one and only. My soulmate."

And when they finally met up again at Av. de la Forêt, near Origine Jardins, Chat Noir didn't waste any time at all launching an embrace whilst Ladybug recklessly jumped out of the fire engine truck and into his arms as if they were long-time lovers of a hundred thousand years. He spun her around, almost sobbing out her name into her hair and it took him everything to not fall to his knees in relief. Thankfully, his partner was strong enough to keep him steady, allowing him to lean onto her frame and greedily take in her warmth.

"Chato-oooon…Chaton, Chaton, Chaton, mon petit Chaton." Ladybug wrapped her arms around his torso even tighter, her voice muffled into his scarf and her mittened hands clutching his shoulder blades. "I'm not hurting you, am I?" She referred to his stitched-up back and the boy could only laugh out loud. He completely forgot all about his injuries and the incident with the wraith suddenly felt like ancient history.

"Hold me tighter." His face was hidden in the crook of her neck, getting a mouthful of her hair but he didn't give a flying fuck. She was here, alive, breathing, speaking, right here in his arms. "Hold me like you'll never let me go, please…"

"Not even the end of the world can make me let go," Ladybug vowed and she couldn't help the quiet hiccup that left her mouth when her Chaton brushed his ice, cold lips against her neck. He inhaled in her scent, relishing the way she smelled like the crisp, wintery air, the remnants of magic from the healing ritual and the sugary spice that always clung onto her skin from living above her parents' boulangerie. She smelt like home.

"Ladybug…kiss me." His voice was hardly above a rasp, his face still hidden in the crook of her neck, feline ears plastered against his blond locks and his knuckles whitening under his suit as he clutched the fabric of her jacket (which was actually his and it adorably dwarfed her frame). Unfortunately, she wasn't able to answer, let alone act upon his plea because one of the firefighters came up to them to ask some questions regarding their current mission.

The poor man wasn't able to appreciate Ladybug's downright endearing pout because the stony, seething glare that Chat Noir shot at him was enough to almost make him piss his pants on the spot.

What did he even do!?

~(x)~

It was around four in the morning when Adrien finally made it to the Agreste mansion. With the way his phone had blown up after he texted Nathalie that he was on an 'exorcism mission' before switching off his phone and departing to the forest, he was dreading the confrontation that was soon to come. He didn't mean to worry her or the Gorilla but he also couldn't give them too many details otherwise his secret identity would have been at stake and their safeties would have been compromised. He had hoped to make it before midnight at the very least but the staggering amount of human remains they managed to uncover (other than the volunteers') with their limited resources alone was enough to make them all think that the Parisian catacombs will have a run for its money. It took them hours to dig up at least one hundred people's worth of remains as carefully as possible but alas, it became clear that it was a job that should be left to the professionals.

Begrudgingly, everyone decided that it was best to return to Paris with just the volunteers' body parts since they were in the early stages of decomposition and were easier to identify who they belonged to. The rest of the remains that they discovered were nothing more than crumbling skeletons and torn fabric that were once clothes. Ladybug theorised that they were all either unfortunate victims who were fed to the cursed entity as sacrificial offerings or were just unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A part of Adrien vehemently wished that he made all the evil entities that dwelled on the land suffer even more before annihilating their very existence.

"I'm glad you didn't, Chaton. If you allowed yourself to get swept away with so much anger whilst suited up, Le Papillon would have used that opportunity to akumatise you or Mayura would have used your feelings to create a Sentimonstre."

"Now that you mention it…I'm surprised they didn't try tonight. Dealing with all those evil entities' memories really messed with my head for a second. That would have been the perfect opportunity for them to akumatise me. So why didn't they?"

His brain couldn't help but linger on the last hero-related conversation he had with Marinette whilst they were still suited up as Ladybug and Chat Noir. In the beginning, they would have chalked it up as their enemies not having enough of a reach to be able to send their dastardly little butterflies after them, especially since the forest was an hour away from Paris by car. However, just like himself and his partner, Le Papillon's and Mayura's powers were growing too at an alarming rate as the divide between the mortal realm and the other side was becoming practically non-existent.

So far, not only has Le Papillon akumatised people who were cities away from his occupation (he's managed to snag Akumas from Lyon and across the English Channel, from London too!), the most amount of people he has taken control of at the same time is eight. Adrien could only rub the bridge of his nose with exhaustion as he recalled the brutal night that took place around a month ago, the battle wounds he gained fighting all eight of the blood-thirsty Akumas feeling raw again (even though they were cured by Ladybug's cleansing light).

Oh, the things he would do just to bring back the good old days like the first few weeks when they received their Miraculous and he just started public school. Back then, before the boundary between the living and the dead was ruptured, his biggest worries were along the lines of how he could get Ladybug to fall for him, how to snag any papers he completed that were less than full marks before Nathalie could get a glimpse of them or how to stop stinking like camembert cheese because his gremlin of a kwami was a complete glutton for it with a capital 'G'.

Bypassing the security gates with the swipe of a card he may have 'borrowed' from Nathalie so that he didn't have to deal with the creepy camera, Adrien couldn't help but muse over Marinette once more, a small smile resting on his lips. 'I guess I can cross out my worries regarding where I stand with my Lady.' Before they parted ways, Marinette promised that they would talk about everything another day regarding their identity reveal and…their feelings for each other. The boyish side of him (which was almost all of him) couldn't help but be thoroughly pleased with the direction they were going, the love of his life continuing to be his light in the darkness. He liked to think that he was excellent at reading people having grown up in an environment where everyone would parade with faux personalities and mask their depraved wishes with a hearty laugh and the clink of a champagne flute.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the first person to ever challenge that.

Both as a civilian and as a heroine. She took his heart by a storm without ever realising and would also be distant from him to the point where he would sadly ponder if she genuinely didn't like being around him. But then they got closer.

And closer.

And closer.

Now, they were only a few words and kisses away from becoming official lovers and his heart was already pounding in anticipation for that day where he would finally become hers in every way possible. Plagg can tease him all he wants (he wasn't blind to the little kwami's goofy grin, his tiny body hiding in between the fabric of the blond's scarf around his neck), Adrien will not stop aiming to marry his Lady.

Just as he opened the front door, Adrien was pounced by a tornado of red and white and he found himself crushed against a trembling, familiar chest.

.

"P…Père?" Adrien could only remain completely frozen as Gabriel's arms tightened around his smaller frame with all the strength he could ever muster. The boy could have sworn that he heard the older man choke back a sob and the way his arms quivered around him frightfully almost made his green eyes sting with oncoming tears. 'Could it be…has he figured out that I'm…?'

He wasn't given a chance to continue that thought process because all of a sudden he was face to face with Gabriel's bloodshot eyes and clenched teeth. His usually well-kept and brushed-back hair shadowed over his forehead wildly and stuck out in some places, as if he ran his fingers through his scalp a thousand times with anxiety. His freshly pressed clothes were creased and ruffled, indicating that he may have been running around all day without a break.

And his eyes.

The way that his greys transformed from relief to fearsome knives of iron and steel knocked the air out of Adrien's lungs and his father's expression alone kept him pinned in place, rather than his twitching fingers clutching onto the boy's bony shoulders. The little child that lurked within his heart was already howling for him to transform and run away as fast as possible.

"Where were you? Where were you injured!? TELL ME!" Whether it was instinct or unprocessed fear, Adrien quickly pushed Gabriel off him and took a few steps away from the heaving man. Unfortunately for the hero, he stepped inside the house so when Gabriel followed and slammed the door shut behind him, he immediately felt trapped and all of his senses were now on high alert. 'Shit, shit, shit, SHIT.' Knowing that this wasn't something he could run away from, Adrien took a deep breath and kept his ground. He attempted to lift his hands slightly to gesture for his father to calm down, only to stop midway and keep them clenched by his sides.

Gabriel was a ticking bomb and the last thing Adrien needed tonight after such an eventful day was for the man to throw a scary tantrum and potentially become akumatised. Since he was aware that Marinette was coming clean to her parents about her 'ghost-busting' activities, he knew for definite that it would be impossible for her to get away from them and transform into Ladybug if an emergency did occur.

So he had to choose his words wildly.

"Sorry. You were hurting me." It wasn't a fib per se but his father's grasp on his shoulders did cause Adrien some discomfort. He almost blurt out another apology when he saw the way Gabriel faltered in his steps, his eyes darting to his own hands with horror for a second and when he faced his son again, the fury was only a tenth of what it once was. Adrien wasn't blind to the way his father kept his hands to himself after that. "You don't need to worry about the injuries. Marinette healed me."

"Marinette…? That girl you're always talking about? The one who won the bowler hat contest a few months ago?" Adrien didn't like the tone his father was using. It was as if the man was trying to read between the lines and a nagging feeling in the back of his head was growing bigger and bigger. So before Gabriel could come to any conclusion, Adrien spoke up again.

"Yes. The girl I love, Marinette." That shut the man up. "Her family from her mother's side come from a long line of healers." It was a half-truth, a half-lie that the duo used to their advantage whenever anyone asked why she even possessed that ability to begin with. While her family does have a history of dabbling in healing magic and charms, it's nowhere near as strong as Marinette's growing powers thanks to becoming Ladybug and syncing up with him perfectly. "Similar to how Maman's side of the family were known for their exorcisms."

"Exorcisms that got the majority of them killed and your mother would have been one of them had she not chosen to run away with me." The stinging sharpness was back on Gabriel's features and Adrien could only bite his tongue, realising that he has unknowingly touched a sensitive nerve. He was well aware that the Graham de Vanily family weren't picture perfect and had plenty of skeletons in the closet but he also respected the work they did and how some of that power he's inherited from them has been such a great help when dealing with the other side.

"It's also thanks to their power that I wasn't killed." Adrien stared at his hands, palms facing upwards and he thought back to how he held his own against the wraith and the tree curse. Had he been just Adrien Agreste with his exorcism talents backing him up or just Chat Noir with only the power of Destruction, he would have surely been at the brink of death, if not killed a long time ago.

"Why did you go?" His father looked uncharacteristically tired and it threw Adrien through a loop. "You were gone for hours." He was now only a foot away from him at best, his hands itching to hold his son again. "First we received news that you were injured by something from the other side…and then you left for an exorcism mission without letting us know the details." He couldn't hold back and his hands were reaching for Adrien's shoulders again, his voice becoming raspier with every word. "Why didn't you call me?"

.

"I didn't think you would care."

The words slipped out of his mouth before he could even think them through and by the time Adrien realised what a huge blunder he's made, slapping his hands against his mouth, it was already far too late. Gabriel gawked at him silently like a kicked puppy, his lips twitching as if he was unsure whether to laugh or to cry and his vision became cloudy with stinging tears begging to break free. The heartbroken expression was instantaneously transformed into a face of pure, unadulterated anger and if looks could kill, Adrien knew he would have been suffering the same fate as the evil wraiths and demonic beings that he had eviscerated himself.

The bomb was set off.

"What the hell do you mean by that—"

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY SON!"

Pressed against an ice-cold chest and wrapped by a pair of long, pale arms, Adrien could only watch flabbergasted as the ghostly woman screamed right into Gabriel's face with an indignation that could rival his hatred towards all the evil beings. Her face was gruesomely contorted and stretched out as she continued to shriek at Gabriel, the man already falling to the floor with indescribable fear etched on his face and his throat paralysed to the point where he could only choke out sounds.

Despite all that, Adrien couldn't help but feel strangely calm and comforted within her corpse-like arms and with the way Plagg stopped silently growling at Gabriel and relaxed against his wielder's neck within the scarf, the boy began to connect the dots. The woman's long golden hair was the final nail in the coffin and for the first time in a very, very long time, the little boy within Adrien's heart jumped with joy.

.

"Maman?"

The woman turned her head around like an owl to face him, her face still nightmarishly twisted and hollow with a complexion that reeked of death. But Adrien wasn't phased. He held onto her long limbs and his lips wobbled into a wet smile, tears already pooling down his eyes. "Maman…it's really you." He was met with a few seconds of silence, the ghostly woman staring down at him like a predator and his father remained on the ground, now scrutinising her frame.

With the sounds of snapping bones and squelching flesh, the ghost's elongated neck and limbs began to shrink and the hollows and twists within her face reworked themselves, revealing her to be a beautiful woman who was undoubtedly Adrien's mother. Though her skin and flesh were still like ice to the touch, Adrien savoured the way she pressed a palm to the side of his face and wiped away his tears. He could only whisper "Maman" over and over again, allowing himself to be the child that has always wanted to be set free and be with her again.

Mon Dieu…he's with Maman again!

.

"Emilie…?" The sound of Gabriel's scared but hopeful voice brought the steel back in her eyes and without a warning, her body became grotesque again and she roared in her husband's face once more. This time, her screams had enough force to knock Gabriel off his feet and force him against the bottom of the staircase. She clutched Adrien towards her even tighter and refused to transform back to her beautiful exterior. As if she was trying to protect her son from the man.

Adrien watched Gabriel wobble back to his feet with furrowed brows, wondering just what the hell was going on.

"Why is she so angry with you…?" He mused out loud, paying no mind to the way Gabriel called for his wife again, practically begging for her to say something.

Then something clicked in Adrien's brain.

.

"Père." The sound of his son's clipped, threatening tone caused Gabriel's heart to drop to the pit of his stomach and it was right there and then that he noticed something ominous and dark gleaming within the boy's eyes.

"Did you kill Maman?"

.

.

.

~(x)~

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A/N: I have nothing else to say other than pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease lemme know what you think in the comments :)))))))

Or else I'll haunt you.

Till then, let's hope I don't take far too long updating the next chapter LMAO.