The Guardian

Egoism

Gabriel worked hard on his design when Adrien and Nathalie happily came home. "FATHER" shouted the boy and stormed into the office, closely followed by the assistant, who, in contrast to his son, seemed very calm. "KNOCKING!" he shouted to the new arrivals, slightly annoyed. "I'm sorry father, but imagine I won the tournament" "Nice for you, I would like to go back to work now" the man replies coldly "Sir, the tournament qualifies him for the youth national championship. He even has it managed to defeat the Tsurugi daughter and you know how strong this family is" Nathalie tries "Ok, I get it, but I don't really care at the moment. Thank you very much. You two can leave the room now" Adrien looked hurted to the ground, while Nathalie was now angry "SIR! With all due respect, your son has made a great effort, you could at least look at him and praise him if you don't like appearing at the tournament" Gabriel looked at her annoyed "I think you shouldn't force parenting on me if you don't even have a kid yourself" "YES I DON'T HAVE A CHILD OF OWN! BUT I RAISED ADRIEN, TO ME HE IS LIKE MY OWN SON AND I SPENT MORE TIME WITH HIM AS YOU COULD DO IN YOUR WHOLE LIFE" "It's ok Nathalie, you don't have to be angry, he just can't love me like other parents do. You get used to it," Adrien said while he tugged uneasily on her arm, he didn't want to see the two of them arguing. "YOU FAIL TO GAIN THE RESPECT YOU SHOULD HAVE IN YOUR POSITION! ACTUALLY YOU HAVE TO SIT BACK THERE IN SILENCE AND DO YOUR WORK INSTEAD OF SCREAMING AT ME HERE!" Gabriel now yells back. "Ah and I'm supposed to watch in silence as you don't even manage to take care of your son? How you neglect him and just make sure his performance doesn't decrease because that would damage 'your reputation'?" she hisses "WHAT DO YOU ALLOW YOURSELF? I PROTECT MY SON!" "Since when does protecting mean denying someone love and forbidding them to be happy at every opportunity?" "BECAUSE THE WORLD IS EVIL!" "THAT'S NOT TRUE, THE WORST THING IN THIS BOY'S WORLD IS YOU" " I think you shouldn't talk to me for the rest of the evening, Nathalie," the fashion designer hisses now, turning his back on her. "Nathalie.." Adrien whispers, horrified about what just happened, but she just strocke over his head and leaves him alone in the room without showing any emotion.

"Nathalie didn't deserve that father, she's just trying to help me," mumbled the blonde sadly and also left the office. "Nooroo, what's your opinion?" asks Gabriel when he sees the creature in the corner of his eye, knowing that it also always wants to cautiously share its opinion "I think that you should have gone to the tournament and not sent an Akuma instead. After all, you are hurting them both and as far as I know Miss Nathalie was even injured. Even if everything was repaired by the Miraculouse, they still harmed them both and they come home and instead of finding safety they are rejected by you..." the kwami explains and abruptly holds the Hands over his mouth "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude..." he squeaks softly, "It's ok... maybe you're kind of right, everything changed after Emilie's death, she still knew something back then to do is..." Nooroo nodded silently. He senses negative energy emanating from Nathalie, a lot of negative energy, and this get his interest. How often had he asked himself what was going on in her head and why, with the best will in the world, he couldn't feel her emotions, but now they were there, the anger and sadness, clearly visible and almost tangible. "Nooroo, Transform Me"

Nathalie had now changed. The everyday work clothes, against simple and cozy sleeping clothes. Her little friend looks at her sadly. "Don't take it so much to heart" she tries to cheer her master up, but unfortunately without success. "I try so hard and yet I can never do anything right..." she murmurs and now sits down on her bed dejectedly. "You mustn't let that idiot bring you down, he's not worth it," Duusu explains, after which she just sighs and puts her head in her hands. "Hello Nathalie" the woman suddenly heard a familiar voice in her head "HAWK MOTH?" she screams in shock and lifts her head just to look at Duusu's distraught face "I'm glad you seem to know who I am" "Nathalie, you have to resist, we need you" her friend quips anxiously . "You have been treated unfairly, let me give you the power to return the favour. I know that you are incredibly strong, you would be a great help to me and I only need any other Miraculous you can find in return" "NO" she screams, covering her ears with her hands, knowing it won't help. "I can help you, you can be more than just the assistant to a hot-headed and eccentric designer!" "GET OUT OF MY HEAD" is her panicky answer, desperately trying to suppress her emotions and thoughts. She knows the characteristics of the butterfly and is aware that it will try to find more arguments in her head to pull her aside. "Nathalie, I can help you and you can just let me, I won't hurt you, I don't want to hurt you." "Then stop trying to get into my thoughts," she pleads desperately and feels his presence gaining the upper hand.

'Father, I did it' calls a little girl and proudly runs towards a man who looks up from his book and gives her a proud smile 'I told you that you could do it, Nathalie'...

"What a beautiful childhood memory, what happened to your father?" Hawk Moth asked now and she feels his certainty of victory "I said you should get out of my head" she whispers, anger rises in her, after all he is to blame for all of this. "Oh Oh. You don't know what you're missing out on, you have the chance to take revenge on everyone who has ever hurt you," he explains, just before another memory spills over.

Rain pelts the windows, lightning illuminates the room and reveals a body covered in blood and lying lifeless on the floor...

"FATHER" she yells, carried away by the memory "HOW DARE YOU JUST COME OVER HERE AND READ MY MIND. YOU ARE A MONSTER. GO I DON'T WANT YOUR POWER!" she cried and the man's presence finally disappears. "He's a murderer! He should suffer the damn thing!" she mumbles through tears. "Miss Nathalie..." her kwami whispers, trying to understand what happened. "He dared to poke around in my head..." The woman sat on the floor, crying and in despair. Her little friend looks at her in sadness. She hated it when her master was so fragile, because Duusu knew she wasn't able to help her, Nathalie didn't want help, even if she needed it sometimes.

Hawk Moth stood room at that moment stunned in his secret and tried to understand what he had seen. Why did this seem so strangely familiar, what did it mean, what had happened to Nathalie's father and how had she managed to completely dismiss his power when memories and wishes usually help him convince his new allies?