Discordant Sonata

Chapter 14: Rubato (Part 1 of 2)

Musical glossary:

Rubato (Italian:  'stolen/robbed')- Musical term for the elasticity of music, most often  expressed in time, or rhythm. In essence, by 'stealing' time, or  borrowing it, rubato allows the performer to achieve greater musical  expression and freedom. The player may deviate from strict tempo  regularity by stretching certain beats, measures, or phrases and  compacting others, in a musically correct method of atonement.

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(Mood Music: "One Man's Dream" - Yanni)

Ladybug was falling. Her body felt like it was floating,  yet she could see a myriad of objects zooming past her: buildings,  vehicles, street signs, people, as if her world had been rotated ninety  degrees and gravity was pulling her across the street instead of towards  the earth. She dropped down (or was it sideways??), further into the  blackness. Time seemed to have slowed down, although she couldn't be  sure. It was as if she were a stone that had been dropped into a vast  ocean, its currents violently rushing past.

   Where am I?

She looked up towards the only source of light, which dimmed more  and more as she fell. When it was merely a speck, she wondered if she'd  plunged into a complete, terrifying darkness, all alone. Was there no  way out? Fear gripped her chest, and she struggled to hold in a  whimper.

A sudden brightness blinded her and someone, or some thing,   caught her, preventing her from falling any further. Panicking, she  squeezed her eyes shut against the onslaught of lights, and she  struggled to wrest herself free. She squirmed and tried to shove the  unknown entity away, but it was all in vain, as she was merely squeezed  even tighter. The unknown force was simply too powerful to fight off in  her confused and disoriented state, and although the grip wasn't rough  or painful, it was firm and unrelenting.

"Let me go!" she cried, still scrambling to get away. "Please, somebody help!!"

She felt someone's face lower next to hers. "Easy, easy, it's just me. You're okay," a deep voice cooed, their warm breath tickling her ear.

Her struggles ceased; she knew that voice.

"Chat...?"

Ladybug forced her eyes to focus, and they traveled up to meet his. She felt her body relax a bit as she looked into the familiar green glow. Could it really be him? How much of this situation was real?

"What happened? Is it really you? Am I... is this a dream?" she asked.

Chat Noir gave her a self-deprecating smile. "As much as I'd like to joke about being the man of your dreams, you're actually awake right now."

Ladybug quirked an eyebrow. Well... he certainly sounded like the real Chat.

She ignored the sudden heat in her face and asked, "Where are we? How did I get here?"

She felt Chat shrug as he held her, his face mirroring her own look of confusion. "It's... I'm not exactly sure how to explain." His eyes looked distant as he recounted what happened. "I saved the people from the vehicle that the akuma threw, and then started running back towards you guys. But I saw that she had you cornered, and I realized I wasn't going to reach you in time. I was so scared. But then, like..." His face scrunched as he tried to articulate what happened, as if he were still trying to make sense of it himself. "Something stopped me. I got this feeling, this urge, that I needed to go inside this building. It seemed like a really stupid idea, but it's like I couldn't ignore it. So, against my better judgment, I followed it. Then when I was inside, I heard Plagg's voice in my head. He said... 'BLACK HOLE'."