Shadow

17

I just watched the new episode. All I can say is...wow. I'm literally speechless. My jaw was on the floor during the whole thing. I won't spoil anything and let y'all enjoy the chapter!

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Adrien's P.O.V

My bedroom is quiet.

This is nothing new. I should be used to the quietness. I should be used to the stillness and emptiness of my quarters. I should be used to the bleakness. I should be used to having nobody around. After all, this is my life after my mother disappeared. Locked away in my room like Rapunzel in her tower (with an occasional visit from one person.)

At least, that's before Plagg came into my life.

He brought rambunctiousness, color, and fun into my room. Finally, another I could talk to and just be around someone in general. He filled my empty room more than I knew or ever known.

Now, he is dormant within the silver ring laying on my nightstand. The ring. The miraculous of bad luck. The very embodiment of destruction itself and what's troubling my mind right now. The power...it almost felt like it consumed me in my weakest moment.

I nearly killed an innocent civilian...again.

But this time it wasn't on accident. I was purposely planning it and almost committed the deed without a second thought. What kind of hero am I? I don't deserve these powers.

Should I give up on being Chat Noir and have someone else wield the cat miraculous? If I lose control like that again and Ladybug isn't there to stop me or fix my mistakes, a person would die from me simply touching them.

I shudder at the thought and bring my knees up to my chest. I cocoon myself deeper into my comforter trying to hide away from the world. My hands clench the blanket tighter. Plagg deserves a better holder than me. It might be for the best for everyone and Ladybug's safety if another one of Paris's menaces is out of the picture.

   Just like my father.

   I curl myself into a smaller ball and push away that thought.

"Plagg was right. That warehouse was a mistake," I quietly admitted. Then, I grimace, "Giving me a miraculous was a mistake too."

   I glance over at the very ring, both taunting me. Yet, a feeling of yearning to wear it joins in the tormenting fight of my emotions. Guilt collides with no regret. Reason collides with feelings. My head collides with my heart. Neither side is winning. That's why I need to make this tough decision now or I might back out later.

   I release myself from the confines of my blanket and walk over to my desk. I open the bottom drawer and dig through the books, papers, and binders. At the very bottom and hidden away, I find a small box with red markings.

   The small box where I first found the ring. It's been ages since I last saw it but I never thought the next time I would be in these circumstances. I reach in and grab the miraculous holder box. I stare at it a little longer than I should before heading over to my nightstand.

I know if Plagg was not in the ring right now, he would do everything to try and convince me not to do this. I wish it didn't have to come to this but I can no longer wield the cat miraculous. I'm far too dangerous. Ladybug—Marinette—deserves a better Chat Noir.

She deserves a better partner.

I pick up the ring and open the small box.

It's time I live my life as a regular kid (who also happens to be a teen model) and stop pretending that I was ever a good hero or even one, to begin with. It's time I stop living in a fantasy world and start living in reality.