Worth The Wait - Chat Noir x Fem!Reader

CHAPTER THIRTY - Strangers With Secrets

Wouldn't change it for the world.

Word Count: 6883

The silence was deafening.

Darkness cloaked the sky, choking out the meager light of the stars as they blinked weakly. The subtle smell of sulfur was a thick metallic smell that stuck in the lungs. Creating a pure, unadulterated fear that spurs the mind to run, escape, flee like a pitiful animal.

Silence can unravel the mind.

But the screams were worse.

Once fabric perfectly suited to my skin, the dress became my enemy. It caught on the tread of the stairs and newly minted rubble as the venue decayed from under my feet. It was as if the dress was trying to fight against me. The tight corset encased my ribs, seemingly set on tightening around my lungs from taking in healthy doses of air. The lack of breath worsened my agility, as if the dress was trying to draw me back to the battle.

I gathered the white skirts in my hands and escaped back into the venue for temporary safety, looking like a runaway bride at her wedding gone awry.

I slammed the door of my dressing room behind me, rattling the mirror from the wall to shatter at my feet. The reflective surface split open into disproportionate shards that made the illusion of contorting my face. I gazed upon my ruined reflection through the broken mirror, my vision blurring as I looked beyond myself. Into another memory, as unfamiliar to me as before.

The same woman, with her face no less blurry. She plucked a fresh rose from a luscious garden, taking a minute to inhale its sweet scent. Her smile was undeniably sinister as she looked upon a helpless man nearly writhing at her feet. His appearance is unknown, but the bass of his voice is familiar. He pleaded for his life and she toyed with him, examining her gloved fingers carelessly. Her smile only widened, red as the world outside.

Who is she? Who is he? Why has my miraculous chosen to show me visions I'm incapable of deciphering?

I begged myself for the answers to the questions that plagued my mind as I sat hunched over the broken glass. But I could only see myself and the tears dripping from my stained cheeks.

Her identity is no more apparent to me, having only seen flashes of her hazy mirage. Neither is that of the man, his face just as unclear as hers in the vision. I can only hope I can prevent her reign of terror, whoever she is. Before I'm too late and Paris falls to her wicked whims.

I gathered my wits and silently promised myself what I had told Ladybug so long ago: that I would protect Paris from harm. Including from the akuma currently ravaging the city, no doubt giving my team difficulties without my presence.

"Trixx, let's pounce!" I exclaimed, letting her transform me.

The chaos engulfing Paris is disheartening. A metal humanoid figure with spikes protruding from his chest and shoulders stalked towards the heart of the city at a steady pace, his steps reverberating against the cement. Fissures splintered through the glass windows of different buildings. Its posture was unproportional like a poorly made robot, long arms extended down in a slumping position. His face was shielded from view behind a metal mask shaped to his skull. His emotions were well-guarded, like an elite assassin.

Hoards of civilians ran from the destruction, but a few misguided stragglers selfishly hung near the battle. Chat Noir redirected them from interfering and falling to harm, muttering to himself about their risky behaviors. His most common nuisance was a toddler dressed in a jumpsuit akin to a frog, senselessly singing rhymes despite the nearby carnage.

But there was no indication of a red suit scattered with black spots. Or the blue hair that accompanied it.

"Chat!" I called to him as I sprinted through the burning wreckage, seeing his head snap up to place my voice. "What did I miss?"