Another Agreste!

Chapter 14

Third person's POV:

The tall man hovered over the fifteen year old teenager as she gave him a tight smile. Adrien stuck close to Marinette, the words of Adeline repeating in his head. "Adrien has told me you're a striving designer." Gabriel Agreste maintained his straight posture, the usual firmness on his face was fixated. 

"Y-Yes, Sir." Marinette stuttered, intimidated by the serious and poker face the man so perfectly kept. He nodded at her knowingly, smiling a little. "I see the talent and the effort put in this dress." He remarked, studying Marinette's long, velvety dress.

"Although," Gabriel started, "That ear accessory doesn't quite suit the dress." he eyed her miraculous, causing Marinette to defensively cover them with her hands. "Oh these?" She questioned with a nervous smile. "They are really important to me. I can never think of taking them off." she quickly said, making up a story.

Gabriel just nodded politely, though both of the teenagers could see the maliciousness in his eyes. He certainly had a motive behind that remark. "Anyway, enjoy the party." He firmly said and walked away, setting his tie back on place like the proper guy he was.

"Phew." Marinette turned to Adrien. Her eyes met with a quiet expression on his face as his brows formed a frown. Marinette cocked an eyebrow, putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the touch of Marinette's hand. "Are you okay, Adrien?" she asked, worry clear on her face. Her silky and soft voice reminded Adrien why he had fallen in love with her in the first place.

He examined her concerned face, from her blue bell eyes to her pink lips.  She was beautiful and he always admired that.

"I just..." Marinette motioned for him to continue. "I just...feel sad." he said finally, looking away a bit. "About what? You should be happy. We can finally defeat Hawkmoth!" she attempted to cheer him up, throwing him a bright smile.

This only made it worse. "M'lady," his voice was low. "Hawkmoth's my dad. How can I possibly be happy?"

The words hit Marinette hard. Realization dawned upon her as she slowly understood. Adrien was Gabriel's son. Of course he would never want him to go to jail. It pained him that he was the one responsible to give Hawkmoth the punishment he deserved.

Marinette put her hands on his shoulder, lifting his face up with one free hand. "Kitty..." she trailed off, smiling sadly at him.  "I understand. But we have to do what we have to do." she said.  Adrien nodded, sighing. "I know." he looked up, straightening himself. "Anyway, let's go and see what Ada is upto."

Marinette smiled inwardly at his courage and she nodded. "Yup, let's go."

...........

Adeline stood in the middle of the corridor, staring at herself in the mirror. "Are you sure this will work?" Nuru questioned, doubtly.  She turned to face the five inch purple Kawami.  "Nope, I have no idea what will happen." she sighed, shaking her head.

Nuru's eyes widened. "Then what're we going to do?! We can easily lose to Gabri—err Hawkmoth." she quickly covered her mouth, correcting herself. Nuru could see the flash of hurt in Adeline's eyes. But she quickly covered it up.

"We have to try. Hawkmoth's cornered. He has nowhere to go. I doubt it's a fair fight. If we fail, we'll just have to try another way." Adeline had a fire in her eyes as she spoke. "But, what if the loss is bigger than we expect?" Nuru argued.

Ada shook her head. "Whatever it is. Time is running out. We need to act fast." she gave a stern look, one almost identical to Gabriel Agreste and it just reminded Nuru that she was, after all, his own daughter. "But... " Nuru's voice lowered. "What about Natalie?"

"What about her?" Both turned their heads on hearing Adrien's voice. The superhero couple neared them from the corridor and now stood before them. "Natalie?" Marinette questioned. "What's she got to do with any of this?" A look of fear reached Adeline's face. She kept quiet, when Adrien tapped his feet on the ground.

He knew she was hiding something.

"Well... " Intimidated by her brother's demanding gestures, Ada couldn't help herself. "There seems to be a teenie tiny problem." she grinned sheepishly, holding out her hand to show the size between her fingers. Adrien cocked an eyebrow at her. "Tiny is it?" he asked.

Adeline gulped. He was onto her. "We've got a confession to make." Nuru stepped in. Marinette turned to look at the stranger. "Hawkmoth's got two miraculous at the moment. Not one." she explained. Both of them snapped their heads to Adeline. "Is that true, Ada?" Marinette asked, a wave of worry washing over her.

Ada bit her lip, nodding slowly. "Then, who's the other Kawami?" Adrien asked Nuru. "It's the peacock. Natalie's the holder." she replied, sighing.  "And how did you find out??" Adrien questioned. 

"Because Nuru and Tikki are the only Kawamis that can sense other Kawamis' presence near them." Surprisingly, it was Marinette. Adrien turned to her and so did his sister. "Tikki told me." Marinette grinned, answering their unasked questioned. The mentioned Kawami shot out of Marinette's purse and gave a little wave.

"Anyway, we need to get Adrien's miraculous back." Adeline reminded them, breaking the tension. Adrien and Marinette nodded, their expression turning serious. "And how are we going to do that?? God knows where Father—I mean Hawkmoth has kept them." Adrien asked. Ada smirked. "I've got an idea."

"Dark wings, RISE!!"  Adeline shouted into the air. Adrien, Marinette and Tikki just watched as Nuru got sucked into the brooch fixed on her collar. Dust filled the area as the kids tried to see. The dust cleared slowly and what appeared to be a figure, stood before them.

Adeline's long hair were the first visible feature. They were slightly wavier. The eyes were greener than ever and a mask till her mouth covered her face. The outfit was almost the same, just a little lighter shade of purple. The small wings attached to the back were bright and had bits of sparkle.

"It worked!" Tikki cried, a huge smile on her face. At the sight of his sister's accomplishment, Adrien almost forgot the whole situation. "Oh God! Adeline!" Marinette  exclaimed, rushing to her. Adeline smiled.

"I'll need another name. But for now, we need to get our plan into action." she replied, eyes furrowing into a scowl. "Any idea about the plan?" Marinette turned to Adrien. He shrugged in response.

"You'll see what happens. Watch and learn, superheroes. Cause even with your experience, you've  got a real special young lady over here." Adeline smirked.