Angel of Lies

Chapter 6 - What A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy

~*~*~*~*~
Any practiced Catholic would cross themselves upon entering
The rooms have a hint of asbestos
And maybe just a dash of formaldehyde
And the habit of decomposing right before your very la la la la eyes
Along with the people inside
What a wonderful caricature of intimacy
Inside, what a wonderful caricature of intimacy
~*~*~*~*~

Build God, Then We'll Talk - Panic! At The Disco

December 2021

PARIS, FRANCE

Clicking through the same two news channels Adrien allows the presenters monotone voice to bleed into white noise as the despair in his body grows. Festering and rotting him from the inside out.

It's been years since he last saw Ladybug's terrified blue eyes as the world imploded around them. They still burn even now, engraving themselves in his eyelids, forever there when he seeks peace. Not a day goes by where he doesn't berate himself for his actions. Maybe if he has protested more or was less desperate to save her things would have been different.

If he loved her less or if she cared more.

Not long after Adrien's world had collapsed, he learned that the love of his life was none other than the girl who adorningly, would trip over herself every time he entered her space. Her discomfort had diluted as he spent more time with her as Chat Noir ironically getting closer to his lady than he ever thought possible. But perhaps that was the problem.

There were no thoughts, no rationality or sense.

His head had taken off and left a bleeding heart behind.

Adrien had foolishly thought she disliked him, found him intimidating or rude. A naïve child simply so happy to be released from a gilded cage. Adrien knows better now but denies himself hope.

For what love can a ghost give.

In his lovesick joy he had foolishly believed she was okay. Placed her on a pedestal that he could pray too and covet as his father was locked away, miraculously kept alive by the girl who screamed in his arms.

Eyes bleeding as his toxic greens whispered reassurances, while destruction ravaged her veins. In his defence her symptoms where slow to form but quick to take control. Little more than a day after the battle had ended was she ripping her vocal cords screaming at him before disappearing.

Locals had whispered about a ghost bleeding and singing before the lithe figure stumbled into a vast forest.

Alya and Nino had tried to reassure him, tell him that she was just overwhelmed and would come back. That she maybe needed time to gather herself, she deserved that much.

For she loved him did she not.

Her golden boy.

But she didn't come back and whispers of a girl died down as a new fad replaced the old news. Then he found the earrings, with dried blood and deep cracks. Discarded in a street corner Adrien likely wouldn't have noticed them if not for Plagg's heart-breaking wail at Tikki's broken appearance.

Plagg never said it, but Adrien knew that the God blamed him to some extent. If he hadn't forced that Cataclysm on Ladybug or rather the wish that was fired into her, perhaps she would still be by his side now. He had heard Plagg screaming in his mind but ignored the desperate cries.