Miraculous Ladybug: Destiny [UNDER SERIOUS EDITING]

39 • Adrien (UNEDITED)

A rush of adrenaline ran through me as narrowed my eyes and searched for the purple-cladded villain. After all he's done, he is no longer family in my heart. His betrayal was one that hit me hard, but I had to gather all those rare memories I had of him and lock them safely up at the back of my head, trying my best to forget the times when I had been sitting on his lap as a five-year-old, when he told me stories and told me riddles that I could barely understand. Over all these years, I had almost forgotten him,but now seeing him again had the same affect Cassandra had on me.
I caught a snippet of his lone figure in a clearing of butterflies, facing away from me.
Gotcha.
Peering through the mass of black butterfly wings, I also caught a flash of red on the opposite side.
Knowing that ladybug was here boosted my confidence, I got myself ready to dash and grab his miraculous—the brooch that lay in the centre of his chest. But before I could move, in one swift dash, ladybug rushed out and swung her yo-yo at Hawkmoth. He turned around and started to defend himself with his staff, blocking all the attacks that ladybug threw at him.
I picked this out as a sign that ladybug had started the plan to distract him.
But I should have known that something was off about this perfectly coincidental setup being so perfectly in my favour. Everything was too perfect, too coincidental. The attacks that were thrown at teach other between ladybug and Hawkmoth, the way that Hawkmoth didn't use his akumas even once, or the fact that ladybug seemed to have the upper hand on him.
But I didn't until I had taken action, pouncing out and aiming to catch Hawkmoth's miraculous.
He disappeared in a orange puff of smoke, and so did ladybug, in sync with him. A slow, sarcastic clap sounded out from behind me, and I turned to face the villain who could do this: Volpina.
"Congratulations cat, you finally got yourself into a trap that you can't get out of." Her voice was smug, and tinted heavily with the same lace of poison on every akuma's tongue.
Before I could retalitate, she flipped out her flute in one fluid motion and lifted it to her lips, beginning to play a tune. The song she played was haunting, hollow, hypnotic. I soon found myself immersed in the music that intwined itself with my soul. The song paralysed me, rendering me helpless to do anything. I just stood, frozen, listening to her serenade. Soon, darkness tugged at the corners of my eyes, and unconsciousness threatened to overwhelm me. It swallowed me whole, and the last thing I saw was Volpina's smirking face before I plunged into a world of hollow and never ending darkness.

I awoke instantly, feeling as if I had awoken from a dream. I think I was lying on the ground, except, it didn't feel like as if there was anything solid underneath me, as if I was hovering. Confused, I pushed myself up and stood. I couldn't see anything for miles, it was all black. An endless sea of darkness. A whirlwind of mixed emotions brushed me; Sorrow, anger, confusion, frustration, envy.
I didn't know where it was coming from, but it pressed down around me, weighing me down. When I took a step forward in the black emptiness, it felt like as if I was wading through thick mud. Each step was like sinking into quicksand, weighed down by two heavy weights, making the descent quick. I paused, frightened about what this meant.
I surprised myself by the way that I was staying strangely calm and not freaking out in the situation I was in right now. I wasn't transformed, and there was no ring on my fourth finger where it usually was. I looked around me again, just to check if there was anything that I missed.
"Hello?" I tried, calling out to the nothingness. Only my echoes answered, as if I was shouting this in the middle of a gigantic steep-hilled mountain range where my voice carried for miles without stopping.
For a while, I just stood in silence, trying to gather all my thoughts and try to figure out what to do, why I was here, and what was happening. I tried to figure out the strange prickling sensation on my neck, as well as the crushed feeling in my heart, as if someone was watching me and how I had forgotten a big detail. A promise that I never fulfilled.
"Oh you foolish cat, I thought you would be better than this."
The voice sent a sheen of ice down my spine. I nearly didn't realise her voice with the cold ice over it. I spun, meeting hard bluebell eyes staring back at me.
"Ladybug?" My voice came out as a questioning whisper, not the warm greeting I'd hoped it to be.
She chose to ignore me. "You are merely a stupid model who just happen to get lucky and receive a miraculous. I thought you would be better, stronger, smarter than this. But it turns out you're the same as the rest of them. Weak and foolish."
I remained silent, but I was lost, grasping for words. my eyes were wide. I didn't bother to hide the fact that I was stunned.
"You're not my partner. You don't deserve to be. What makes you think that you have the right to my heart? You're nowhere close. Look at that astonishment on your face right now. Pathetic. I thought that you could see it coming." She snarled, staring me down with a strong malice.
"L-ladybug. This isn't you! Snap out of it!" I said, the sudden urge for her to stop and return to the heart-mate I knew was overpowering and I held back the desire to shake some sense into her.
"I'm so disappointed in you, Adrien." A new voice joined in, one that I instantly recognised. Also one that I had longed for, one that caused a deep ache in my chest as I heard it.
"Mother!" I yelled desperately searching for the source to the voice.
She emerged from the shadows, her heart-shaped face and blonde hair, comforting my desires. But my heart quickly plummeted as I took in her words and the scowl of disgust.
"You are not my son Adrien. You deserve to be, so stop calling me mother."
"What?" I whispered, tears already forming and threatening to fall out of my eyes. My mother had been missing for the past six years of my life, and each and every one of her words stabbed into me with the same damage a sharp knife would.
"See Adrien? You are nothing. You will always be nothing. Just a spot in the universe. No one ever notices you, even when you think they do. You say you are Paris's superhero, when you are just a foolish sidekick for me. Think about it. When do they ever say anything about you? Why does everyone address me as the hero and not you?" Ladybug sneered.
Before I could even throw in a word, my mother stepped forwards and slapped me right across the face. The sting left a red mark, and stunned me with the disapproval radiating from her. "I think your father has been too gracious to you Adrien. You should have stayed like you were, encaged, somewhere where you belong. I don't know why on earth I felt guilt when I left you. I should've been glad that you were gone from my life like the mistake you are."
Her words robbed me of any feelings that were coming through, numbing every single nerve in my body and freezing me to the spot. I frantically searched my mother's eyes, trying to find something, anything that would tell me that she was only lying, and that this was a hoax.
And surprisingly enough,
I did.
Realisation hit as I remembered that my mother's eyes were green. Not the strangely dark blue that resided in her irises right now at this moment.
And that was all it took.
All the darkness seemed to fade away in a rush, all at once, and a tunnel of light forced open and blinded my eyes, burning my retinas. I saw orange smoke fill my vision, then nothing.
I awoke for the second time from a gasp, and took in my surroundings by propping myself up on an elbow. It was the scene of the final battle, but the akumas had all been cleared, though the ground was covered in black. When I took a closer examination, I had to refrain myself from flinching at the fact at the black on the ground was actually the corpses of dead butterflies. I raised my gaze up to find a surprised Volpina standing in front of me with something shining in her hand.
My ring.
I stood, surprised myself that I felt full of energy, rejuvenated even. Volpina stared at me still, the shock still written all across her face as she took a frightened step back.
I twirled the baton in my hand, and felt the swish of my belt/tail against the ground. Picked up slight sounds with the cats ears on top of my head.
She had taken my ring, and yet, somehow, I was still Chatnoir.
If a hero at the heart, The test will bring the part.
The jigsaw puzzle finally fit.
A hero at the heart.
Once a hero, forever a hero, no matter what happens.

Probably confusing, but I'm gonna let you guys figure this one out. Go back to chapter 20 to review that riddle if you're not sure. I might or might not have changed a couple of things in the riddle...*whistles innocently*
Anyhow, hope you enjoyed! Next week is the final chapter, and then the epilogue. It's sad to finally say goodbye to this book, but to be completely honest with everyone, I'm kinda relieved... It has taken me roughly like, almost a year to finish this thing. 40 chapters. I'm pretty proud of myself...*preens*
Vote and comment! It won't hurt to let me know that you guys love this! Well, unless you don't. Lol.

HL🐞