The Myth of the White Snake

第十五章

Adrien found himself in the middle of a pitch black room with his hands tied behind his back. He frantically scanned his surroundings, trying to make out where he was. However, the room was far too dark for him to see a single thing. The last thing he remembered was being confronted by Fa Hai.

Footsteps echoed inside the room, and Adrien froze in fear. A voice much to familiar to him followed shortly after.

"No need to be scared, Adrien," A deep manly voice said, "Your soul will be cleansed from any demonic energy"

"F-Father?" Adrien asked shakily, "What... What is this place?"

Gabriel lit a small candle, the only source of light in the room at that moment. Adrien trembled as the weak light reflected off of Gabriel's facial features.

"You're at the temple," Gabriel replied monotonously, "Like I said, your soul is getting cleansed because of your interactions with that she-demon"

Adrien shook his head anxiously, "Father, please stop this! Don't hurt her!"

"I'm sorry, Adrien. But love between humans and demons cannot happen," Gabriel said, "They are forbidden"

"But we're not hurting anybody!" Adrien yelled, "Marinette is not a bad spirit! All that matters is that we love each other and we're happy! Let me love who I want!"

Gabriel made a small hmph sound and turned around, bringing the candle with him. Adrien struggled with his restraints, trying desperately to break free. The rough material of the rope dug into the flesh of his wrists, making him whimper in pain.

"Father! You can't let them do this to me!" Adrien shouted after him with tears brimming in his eyes, "Please! I'm begging you! Let me go! Or at least leave Marinette alone if you're gonna leave me here!"

Too late. Gabriel had already opened the door and stepped out, leaving a sobbing Adrien alone and tied up in the darkness.

~

"Guys! I need your help!" Nino shouted the second Alya opened the door.

"Woah there, come inside first," Alya said.

Nino did as he was told and stepped inside their small house. Alya closed the door behind him.

"Now, what's going on?" Alya asked.

"Adrien's in trouble!" Nino said frantically, "Some monk dude confronted us and all of a sudden their conversation got heated. I didn't understand a single word they said, but next thing I knew, the monk kidnapped my best friend!"

Alya's eyes widened, "What?!"

Nino nodded, "You can call me crazy or whatever, but yes. A monk kidnapped my best friend and I need to save him!"

Marinette stood to the side, her eyes darting between the two of them. She didn't know what they were talking about, but she could tell from their franticness that there was trouble stirring up.

And she knew from the fact that Adrien wasn't there with Nino that it must have something to do with him. The boys were with each other when they dropped her off here, and now Adrien was nowhere to be seen.

Finally, Alya turned to Marinette, who nervously watched them as sweat beaded her forehead. Their energy told her something was terribly wrong. Alya went up to Marinette and translated everything Nino told her about. Marinette's eyes widened upon hearing the unfortunate news.

Fa Hai had taken Adrien to his temple, no doubt. She didn't know why he took Adrien, but she needed to save him. She was willing to face her biggest enemy to save the love of her life. For years, she has been running from Fa Hai, not willing to put up a fight. But now, it's time she stopped running and face him head-on. It's time she fought for her love.

Marinette clenched her fists in anger, "Let's go save him"

Alya nodded in agreement, "We need a plan first, though. You know how strong Fa Hai is. Plus, you never know what tricks he has up his sleeve"

As far as Alya was concerned, this was most definitely a trap. He kidnapped Adrien and imprisoned him as a way to bait Marinette. She didn't like the idea of actually going over there to save him, thus falling for the trick, but what other choice do they have? She doubt Adrien would be freed any other way.

"The water demons," Marinette said quickly, "We'll ask the water demons for help"

"Are you sure, Marinette?" Alya asked, "You know those guys can get out of control sometimes"

Marinette nodded, "If they can help me save Adrien, then I need them"

Alya exhaled a long sigh, "I guess we don't have a better option. We don't have much time anyways"

Alya stepped up to Nino and placed a hand on his shoulder. She smiled briefly and looked him in the eye.

"We'll save your best friend," Alya said, "Just stay here, okay?"

Nino took a deep breath and placed his hand over Alya's.

"Be careful," Nino said, "I don't want either of you getting hurt"

"No need to worry," Alya reassured him, "After all, we have de—"

Alya stopped herself before she could finish that sentence. She had forgotten that Nino didn't know her and Marinette were the white and green snake demons.

"After all, we have the strength of the two of us," Alya finished.

"I'm counting on you, then," Nino said.

Alya placed her other hand on the side of his face. Her and Nino closed their eyes and leaned in until their lips met. Nino lowered her hand from his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Alya pulled away from the brief kiss and disconnected her hands from him. With one last smile, Alya turned to the door. Marinette was about to follow, but stopped when Nino called her name. She turned to her lover's best friend. Nino may not be able to have a full conversation with her, but he learned a word of gratitude from Adrien, and now would be the perfect time to say it.

"Xièxiè," Nino said.

He wished he could have added on to his words. He wanted to thank her for being determined to save Adrien. He wanted to thank her for making Adrien happy. No other girl has made him so happy before. Most girls only wanted Adrien for his money or because he used to be a model, but he knew Marinette truly loved him for who he was.

Marinette smiled. She stepped up to Nino and spread her arms out to him. Nino smiled back and stepped into her arms, closing the hug. He had to lean down because of how short she was, which made him chuckle.

The two of them pulled away from the hug and smiled at each other. Marinette spoke two words in response to his, ones that she learned from Alya.

"De rien"

That may have been the closest they've had to having an actual conversation with each other. Nonetheless, love has no language barrier, whether it be family, friendship, or romantic.

And now she had a job to do, one that could possibly cost her her life.