My Boss is Felix: Alternative Miraculous Ladybug Tale

Ch65: Silent Night

Natalie's POV - this chapter takes place on the same day as the previous chapter.

ˏ⸉ˋ‿̩͙‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙ ‿̩̥̩‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙ˊ⸊ˎ ˏ⸉ˋ‿̩͙‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙ ‿̩̥̩‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙ˊ⸊ˎ

Something terribly wrong had just happened.

For the first time in five years, the aching in my bones, the weakness in my muscles, and the painful cough that had plagued me were gone. Had I been suddenly healed? Why?

I rose from the large dining table that was covered with my computer and office notes. My knees didn't hurt when I stood, and I didn't feel lightheaded like I often did. My hand instinctively grasped the Peacock Miraculous - it was still there, so the curse couldn't have been lifted, right?

"I didn't mean to make you sick," a high-pitched voice whispered.

Was it...could it be that the spirit trapped in my Miraculous was talking to me? No...it couldn't be...the spirits were supposed to be sleeping. I tugged the Miraculous from my blazer, feeling panic tingle through my fingers. It was empty! It was empty! I could sense all the power had evaporated. Those were its last and only words to me.

What did that mean? How was that even possible? Had all the Miraculouses died? If there was no more Miraculous power, then that meant Gabriel and my mission was over and there was no chance of the wish...which meant no chance that Emilie would return.

Was it wrong that I felt relief and a strange happiness at the thought of being free from this misery? Was it selfish that I was glad at the thought of Gabriel being forced to move on from his obsession with bringing the dead back to life? Maybe, just maybe, my love would finally be returned.

Emilie haunted me when she was alive, and also when she was dead. She was always with me - like a glass wall keeping Gabriel from me - keeping him away from everything he could have loved.

I stopped my train of thought - this could be false hope. I shouldn't just assume that the wish was no longer an option. Who knew - maybe the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculouses were still active and somehow they had finally found a way to deactivate ours. No. I prayed all the magic was gone! Let it all be dead!

Magic was supposed to make dreams come true - it only ruined my life, plagued my body, and distanced my love. What would have happened if my life had played out naturally?

Suddenly, a loud scream echoed from below. I was amazed I could even hear him. I made my way to the underground garden, trying to prepare myself for whatever I was about to see. Whatever it was - it clearly wasn't good from Gabriel's perspective.

No.

Gabriel was on his knees, drooping like a wilted flower over the glass coffin. Gagged cries and screams poured from his throat - based on how choked his voice sounded, I assumed he'd been at this for a while. But how long? When did everything officially die?

I took hesitant steps.

He pounded a heavy fist against the glass, leaving behind a web of cracks.

"Come back," He cried, "No. Please. I knew I wasn't worthy of your love. Forgive me, Emilie!"

I felt the urge to vomit when I saw what Emilie had become - she was nothing more than a pile of black ash, pieces of her body somehow holding a shape, while other parts had collapsed. She looked like a once perfectly sculpted sand sculpture that had been trampled by children.

Even if I never liked her, I was sorry to see her body in this state. Only yesterday, she was a perfectly preserved Barbie doll, and now she was a pile of dust. Did that mean that the power of the Miraculoues was holding her body together?