Tikki and Plagg begrudgingly circle Gabriel before disappearing into their respective jewels. An intense purple light surrounds his person and Adrien closes his eyes. Suddenly, everything goes quiet.
"My son," An almost ethereal version of Gabriel's voice beckons, "Open your eyes."
He obeys and there, floating half a foot off the ground, is his father. His eyes glow a bright violet and power seems to emit from his body. His usual white suit is now a radiant gold, and each pocket and seam looks as if it's going to spill over with beams of purple light.
All around them, everything has stopped: the leaves that were falling to the ground have paused in mid-air, the people on the street have become like statues, and even the wind ceases to move.
"Why so sad?" The man says with the voices of the thousands of Ladybugs and Chat Noirs before him.
"My... my Ladybug is gone." Adrien says, still holding her body.
"Yes. I understand what the bond between the two Miraculous holders is like. I feel it within my every bone."
"Father, you need to take the Miraculous off, you're not supposed to use both of them at the same time! I'll come back home, I'll do whatever you want, just take it off."
"This was what I was always meant to do, my son. There's no turning back from here."
"Please."
"I might not ever be able to get you back in life, but maybe in death." Gabriel lifts a single finger, gesturing for Adrien to come closer. Without the boy moving a muscle, he gets pulled by an unseen force until he's standing a foot away from his father. The man raises his purple staff high above his head, and Adrien prepares for a final blow, still unconsciously protecting Marinette's body. The blow never comes, and Adrien sees the staff simply pointed at Marinette.
"The girl. She is whom you truly wish for?" The man asks.
Adrien looks down at the pale face that used to hold the most magnificent smile in the world, "Yes."
Without another word, Marinette's body slowly floats upwards out of his hands, surrounded by a thin fog; Gabriel looking lost in thought.
Adrien holds her hand for as long as he can before she disappears behind the fog and he's forced to let go.
Suddenly, in complete Beauty and the Beast style, the Marinette-shaped cloud disappears and her figure bursts into light. She floats to an upright position, looking as graceful as a ballerina on pointe. A long red and black spotted dress billows around her bare feet and the color slowly comes back to her face until her lips move to take in a deep breath and her eyes finally flutter open again.
From Adrien's perspective, he could swear her skin is glowing like the moon.
That's when she starts screaming.
~ ~ ~
Author's note:
I liked writing this chapter cause it was interesting trying to put what I saw in my mind into words.
I'm so thankful for you guys: this book literally just blew up last week getting it to 2.1k views and multiple top ratings in a few hashtags. Thank you!!