Seven Minutes In Heaven ~ A Miraculous Fanfic

Chapter 29

Marinette

Natalie came down the elevator, stopping in front of Marinette.

"Do you need anything to eat or drink?"

"Like I'd fall for that again." She retorted, crossing her arms and turning away, where she could still see Natalie from the corner of her eye.

"I have no reason to drug you again Marinette. The only reason I did before was too keep you from seeing where we were going."

"You could have just asked me!" She shouted, glaring at the woman in front of her.

"Oh? I could have just asked you to come over to have a discussion with Gabriel, right after your home was vandalized? You would have agreed?"

Marinette scoffed, turning her glare to the ground. No, she wouldn't have agreed. Not after what Natalie said to Adrien last night. She had wanted nothing to do with the woman. Or Gabriel.

"Look Marinette. I am sorry, but this is how things have to be. If Gabriel could just get the miraculous-"

"No! Don't you understand? When one makes a wish, no matter what it is, there is always a price to pay."

Natalie huffed, moving forward and slapping a pair of handcuffs on Marinette's wrists. She didn't argue, she didn't care about being chained up more than she already was. Without Tiki she was useless anyway. Natalie unlocked the cuff around her ankle, grabbing her by her sleeve and tugging her forward. They walked around the white machine, and Marinette could finally see the face that went with the legs. Emile Agreste. She recognized her from the picture Adrien had shown her long ago.

"Now do you see? This is what he needs them for. This is what Gabriel is trying to do."

"Bringing someone back from the dead is one of the worst wishes he could make. Someone, an innocent, will most likely die for his wish to be granted."

She looked away from the body, her stomach reeling. All of this was too much. Her fashion idol, was hawkmoth. Natalie had probably been his partner, and Adrien's mother was hidden beneath the floors. It was repulsive.

"Whatever it takes. They both deserve to be happy again, even if someone else loses their life."

"Even if that someone is you?"

She cut her gaze back to Natalie, who didn't seem the least bit bothered by her question.

"I'd give anything to see Gabriel happy again. Even if that means losing my life, I will do it."

Marinette looked back to the woman in the glass coffin, shaking her head. She was sure Emilie would never approve of this.

"What about Adrien? What if it's his life that gets exchanged?"

Natalie took a small step back, growing pale.

"It won't be."

There it was. An opening. A way to convince Natalie that it would be a mistake.

"What if it is? Gabriel loves Emilie. What if it takes someone else that he loves? I'm sure he cares about you Natalie. But more than Adrien, his own son?"

She shook her head in response, gulping. So she cared about Adrien. More than herself, it seemed.

"No. They are destined to be a family."

"He'd be disrupting the balance. Things happen for a reason Natalie. Even awful things. If he changes it, the world always finds a way to correct itself. Gabriel will just cause more harm. Can't you see that?"