𝓥𝓪𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓲𝓷 𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓼 (𝓹𝓳𝓸 𝔁 𝓶𝓵𝓫)

I hate this necklace

Adrien's POV

"Adrien? I'm sorry to wake you up early, but your father has requested your presence." Natalie gently shook him awake. He slowly opened his eyes and adjusted to the bright light of morning shining through his windows. He never had closed the blinds the night before and now his eyes were paying for it.

"My father wants to see me? Why?" His father talking to him once: rare; his father talking to him twice in two days: never. Could it be about the necklace? That seemed most likely. It seemed like everyone had seen it before, but him.

"I'm not entirely sure, Adrien. Just please hurry." Natalie's voice cracked a little and she sounded as though she was nervous. Worried even.

"Okay, I'll be right down." Adrien got ready and placed the necklace around his neck again. He'd have to return it to Annabeth after school.

The only thing going through Adrien's head as he walked towards his dad's study was keep the necklace safe. He felt a strong guilt surrounding the whole affair. He had after all mistaken Percy in a worm costume for Shadowmoth's newest puppet. That sort of thing was not taken lightly by a straight-A student.

"Father, I'm here," Adrien said as he pushed open the unusually large black and white door.

"Good, Adrien. We have something to discuss." He glanced around the room. "I really should put chairs in here."

"That's okay, Father. I don't mind standing." His fingers once again found the gold ring on the necklace. He twisted it between his fingers. Adrien had a bad feeling about this meeting.

"I need you to tell me more about where you found your necklace and who it belonged to." Unlike the last meeting, his father was staring him directly into the eyes. It was sort of unsettling. He wasn't sure his father had paid this much attention to him in a long time.

"Uhm... it belonged to a tourist. Annabeth, was her name." At that name Adrien noted the way his father's jaw clenched. But there was a faraway look in his eyes. As if recalling memories that were both painful and beautiful. Adrien continued, "She was with her boyfriend, Percy. It fell off and I found it."

"So they're here? In Paris? Impossible." He asked the first two to Adrien but the last word was clearly mumbled to himself. "Do you know where they are currently residing?"

"No," Adrien lied, "I don't." Adrien had no idea what his father was up to but he clearly knew Annabeth. And somehow that didn't sit right with him.

His father frowned slightly. "If you see them again, tell me. I- uh love the design of the beads. This Annabeth must have talent. I must talk to her about them."

For the first time he was starting to think of his father in a whole new light. He was keeping something big from him and somehow he understood that he could not tell him anything else about the couple. He had to return the necklace to Annabeth ASAP. "Of course, Father."

"Dude, what's up the necklace, bro?" Nino jogged over to Adrien as he entered the large double doors that led to the courtyard of their school. People, school students, mulled about, huddled in their different cliches and friendship groups."Your father sign you up for arts and crafts? You never wear jewelry."

Nino reached for the golden ring on the center of the necklace as if to slide it on his left pointer finger. "Woah, this won't make me disappear right?"

"Hands off, Nino, it's not mine," Adrien said lightly, chuckling. But in his mind he was screaming to get everyone away from it. Everyone who'd come in contact with him had acted strange around it.