Chapter Text
Foreword: This chapter is very summary-heavy because it’s a setup to the AU. Future chapters will be way more fleshed out, this is more or less the Prologue.
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Gabriel Agreste has never been a patient man, though he likes to pretend otherwise. Ever since beginning his mission as Hawkmoth, Ladybug and Chat Noir were two persistent thorns in his side, though they were not the only ones. Sometime after Volpina, Nooroo refused to eat. This made his control over his akumas lessen, made them more sporadic, more independent. Gabriel could command the kwami to do many things, but Nooroo always adapted. “A Kwami first and a prisoner second,” Duusu mocked on the occasions that they apparated.
It was of no consequence to Gabriel, however. Eventually, Ladybug and Chat Noir would slip up. He was convinced Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the key. That girl had such anguish in her that she could become a truly powerful akuma…but she avoided him, ran from him, even resisted him. He was certain she would be perfect after Fashion Day, when she not only defended Chloe, but mocked the Style Queen to her face with a confidence to rival Ladybug’s own.
She would make a better Anti-Ladybug than Chloe ever could. Gabriel tried using Lila Rossi to weaken the girl, but on the incident of his second attempt at a Scarlet Day, Marinette Dupain-Cheng snapped.
She never returned to school, kept to herself, continued to resist his akumas, and worst of all, grew closer with Adrien. This girl was somehow immune to akumatization…which only told him that if he ever did manage to akumatize her, she would be more powerful than any other akuma of his.
So, he took advantage of her relationship with Adrien when they decided to start dating. He feigned approval. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a talented designer, after all, and her MDC Commisions were gaining some notoriety online. He would manipulate her in subtle ways, break her down by using the harsh truths of the real world. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a girl of truths, after all. He soon became aware that she was more loyal to Adrien than anything else…perhaps moreso than Paris herself. There was only one thing to do to break this girl down, one way to shatter her entirely.
The poor girl didn’t stand a chance. When she learned of who Gabriel truly was, of his goal, of what Adrien was and all Gabriel did for him…Marinette was angered, and mentally stronger than he anticipated, he’ll admit. Discovering she was Ladybug was the cherry on top, but without her precious Chat Noir, he was able to retrieve the earrings and finally akumatize the hopeless wreck of the girl before him.
When Ephemeral rose from the husk that was once Marinette Dupain-Cheng, they went on the hunt. Nothing would stop him now, using Ladybug’s own intellect against her partner. Sure, she broke free of his hold and tried to attack him on occasion, but he was able to barely keep her under control. Nothing would stop Gabriel from getting his wish.
Not even learning Chat Noir’s true identity.
Usually, Gabriel would tell himself that Adrien would understand one day, but now he doesn’t need to! Now, he tosses Adrien aside, not caring, for the new world he makes will have an Adrien just like this one, a happy Adrien with his Mother, not the melancholy rebel who snaps at his Father and sneaks out to be with friends that he’s better off without.
As Tikki and Plagg’s true forms combine, the world goes dark as the barrier rises around him, Adrien prone on the ground, and Ephemeral on her knees. Null rises, looking over Gabriel.
“Look into my heart, Kwami of All! Grant my deepest-” Gabriel begins.
“I…will stop you…” Ephemeral growls.
“Quiet.” Gabriel snaps.
“I will stop you!” Ephemeral beats on the walls of the barrier of light. “I will never forget. No matter what you create, what you do, I will stop you!” she starts to laugh maniacally. “You could never stop me before! I’ll find you! I’ll tear your precious new world to pieces! I’ll subvert your every expectation, just like always, Hawkmoth! You’ll never be safe!”
Gabriel knows he’s safe in the barrier, but he can’t help but take a step away from Ephemeral. Raving as she is, she’s right. Ladybug and Marinette Dupain-Cheng alike had always subverted his expectations. They’d always found a way out. They’d always won. Even in this case, he was only able to beat her because he brought her to his side, broke her down emotionally…and therein lied her weakness. Her emotions.
“Your wish is granted,” Null speaks in a voice that hurts the eyes to taste.
Gabriel hadn’t even fully realized he made his wish, but his heart had spoken as the world was remade anew.
When one wields the broken Peacock Miraculous, the victim of its power will not be the wielder, but one who is held dear to the heart of Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
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“My Lady…no…” Adrien whimpers, hovering in the void, waiting for destruction to take him…but it never does. He saw her vaporize before his eyes, his Father spirited away, abandoning him as the new world begins to be made. Why was Adrien left behind?
“Well, hello.” the all-encompassing voice of Null comes to him. “I’ve never seen survivors before.”
“I’m a sentimonster,” Adrien chokes out, looking at the cracks across his own body, like a living statue. A horrible truth he learned all of two minutes ago, when Null’s cataclysmic power couldn’t destroy him. “Are you here to finish the job?”
“One of Duusu’s children? I cannot. Literally, I mean. But I can fix you. ” Null drones.
“What do you mean?” Adrien asks.
“I will return your mind to the proper vessel at the point of creation. You, like the kwamis, shall retain your memories of your world.” Null speaks.
“And like my Father?” Adrien asks.
“Yes and no,” Null speaks. “The Wisher’s consciousness will not assimilate into his new self’s body until this day comes to pass again.”
“But…but that’s more than a year after I met Marinette…” Adrien mutters, clenching his fists. “I can try again…?” He looks up at the God. “I’ll do it! Send me back! I have to see her again!”
“Go, then, Sentimonster. Live ad infinitum.” Null raises his hand, and trauma, rage, pain, and confusion fill Adrien’s mind as the Sentimonster is born again.
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Being raised again was strange. Even stranger was trying to make sure his Father suspected nothing, but for the most part, Adrien was able to enjoy life with a living Mother, since he believes his Father must have used his wish to repair the Peacock. He decided that he wouldn’t worry about the Miraculous, not for now.
At the very least, he could take off his rose-colored lenses around his Father, now that he knows the monster that lies under the surface.
Adrien grew up all over again, isolated but happy. The years seemed to fly by, and joy-filled him as he anticipated the days he would start asking about school. He was certain that with his Mom around, everything would become a lot smoother.
It wasn’t until he started asking that he realized he always had two pairs of lenses on. The way his Mother coddled him, loved him, made him hers…the twisting of those rings on his Parents’ fingers became an anxiety-inducing sight that he had to pretend he didn’t understand, but now that he knew, he could never shake it. He could feel the tethering link to the rings.
He just wanted freedom, a sense of individuality, something more! Something…something like Plagg. Like being Chat Noir. But there’s no guarantee Fu will ever find them, or hand out the Miraculous. He won’t unless a repaired Miraculous is activated.
And that gives Adrien an idea.
Adrien is a lot of things, and one thing his parents gave him in all his perfection was a perfect memory. Save for the things they wanted him to forget, he’d wager. The House didn’t get a boost in security until his Father was planning to become Hawkmoth, so there are far fewer cameras inside the house. Opening his Father’s safe, he aimed to enact a plan that would make Marinette proud…but his face paled when he saw it was still broken.
Not bothering to think up why his Father would do such a thing, Adrien got to work. He affixed the butterfly to his shirt, and the kwami emerged.
“Wha-” Nooroo gasps, and Adrien puts a finger to his lips.
“It’s okay, Nooroo.” Adrien whispers. “I remember everything. It’s because of…what I am.”
“Oh…oh, I’m so sorry.” Nooroo tears up.
“It’s alright, Nooroo. I have a plan to start trying to help. May I use your powers?” Adrien asks, and Nooroo nods. Adrien transforms for only a second, infuses powers into an akuma, and places the akuma into the cane.
“I grant myself the power to replicate anything.” Adrien says, and as he says, creates a perfect replica of the broken Peacock Miraculous and the Butterfly Miraculous. Detransforming, he aims to put the fakes in place of the real ones, but Nooroo stops him.
“Leave the real me here, Adrien.” Nooroo says.
“What? But Nooroo…” Adrien says.
“It will be fine, Adrien!” Nooroo smiles. “They won’t notice Duusu missing if the Miraculous is here, but eventually, Gabriel will start checking. They’re fine with us gathering dust, but you shouldn’t risk it.”
Gritting his teeth, Adrien obeys Nooroo. Leaving Nooroo and the fake peacock behind, he takes the real peacock and the fake butterfly back to his room. This has already thrown a wrench in his plans…but not forever. He remembers the pages in the Grimoire, every night of research with his Lady, every experiment gone haywire, and above all else…the recipe for repairing a Miraculous.
It wasn’t easy to obtain, but it’s amazing how little his Parents ask about eccentric spending habits. Nathalie was far more suspicious, but nothing Adrien wanted was overtly dangerous, so he was left alone.
“Miraculous, repair yourself.” he orders in the privacy of the night, and the Peacock becomes whole again. Affixing it to his shirt, he takes a deep breath. “Duusu, Spread my Feathers.”
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Leaping across the city, Adrien knows this day. It’s a rainy night, the night of the day he and Marinette met, of the time they defeated Stoneheart and began their journey as Ladybug and Chat Noir. He had to see her, even if she didn’t know who he was.
Slinking through the rain, he landed on the roof of the bakery. Looking down, the Miraculous let him feel the sadness in the house. A sadness he knew all too well…only two hearts. A despondent Tom, and depressed Marinette. Sabine was gone…?
Shaking his head, Adrien realized Marinette needed a friend more than anything. She must have had such a hard day. Opening the trapdoor, Marinette gasps as Adrien touches down on the ground, wreathed in indigo.
“My Lady…” Adrien bows on one knee to the only person who truly loves him. “I live to serve.”