Miraculous (Angel-Demon AU)

Chapter 9

"So you've failed."

"No, I haven't" Chloé insisted patiently. "Ladybug is dead. And I don't think Chat Noir will be giving you any trouble either, in the meantime. You can akumatize as many people as you want to, nobody will stop you." She paused, expecting Hawk Moth to thank her. He didn't even turn around to face her. "You're welcome!"

"You didn't get their miraculouses..."

"I've told you, she's dead" or soon will be, she added to herself, but he didn't need to know about the details "You don't need her earrings anymore."

"Miraculouses are passed onto a different human once their carrier becomes unsuitable for the job, and I believe being dead makes you pretty unsuitable! So no, you haven't solved anything, other than adding a death to your own personal record. Congratulations."

Chloé felt slightly irritated. Gabriel Agreste wasn't her superior in any way, but it was her responsibility to actually invigilate him, like all demons had to do upon each other, in order to make sure that he was fulfilling his duty. And that, in her opinion, meant giving a hand from time to time. She certainly hadn't attacked Alya, Marinette or the two superheroes because of Mr. Agreste, but impelled by her own rage and desire for vengeance. Still, deep inside she knew she'd done it to help the Agrestes too. By finally shoving Marinette out of the way, Adrien's image would be cleaned, for he wouldn't be around her anymore. In fact, she had done much more than only cleaning his image. Involuntarily, she had helped him to endue an impressive act ... involuntarily.

"I've also discovered who she was." She slowly announced.

That finally drew Hawk Moth's attention, who turned around to face her. She grinned and let the seconds tick by, savouring his anxiety.

"Ladybug was Marinette", she finally revealed.

And his whole world collapsed. He hadn't thought it could, but it did. Marinette, the girl for whom his son cared so deeply, was now dead. One of his people had killed her. Gabriel had asked Adrien to reject her himself, to abandon her so that he would spread the forces of evil, isolation, as they were supposed to do as demons... but his son would never be able to recover from her death, Gabriel knew that only too well.

"We're not meant to kill humans, only to "evilize" them, Chloé..." he suddenly felt in need to remind her so, even though it was useless.

"What? Now you suddenly care? You didn't seem too concerned about Ladybug's death a few seconds ago, why is Marinette any different?"

"Adrien knew her. He was taking her to the ball, and you know that." Sudden realization hit him. Chloé hadn't been aiming at Ladybug, but at Marinette. Still, that wasn't meant to be any of his business, so he just continued "I just don't know how my son will react to this, he could embrace darkness or rebel completely against it once he discovered it was you, a demon, who killed her..."

"Actually..." Chloé began. "I never said it was me who killed her." Gabriel's eyes widened. Once again she paused before she threw the bomb. "It was Adrien, your son, who killed both Ladybug and Marinette."

Thanks to her, but that was, yet again a minor detail.

And she could have left it there. She could have ended the conversation there and helped Adrien in so many ways. His father and the rest of the underworld wouldn't worry anymore about him; his previous negligence would be forgotten and killing the girl who both loved him and who had fought untiringly against evil would be enough to convince everyone that he was still loyal to The Cause and therefore deserved to continue living on Earth.

She started to walk towards the exit, knowing that she had just saved Adrien's life.

However, she was only two metres away from the door when she remembered. She remembered how closely Adrien and Marinette had been dancing earlier that night; how he hadn't even considered taking her to the prom, not even when his reputation was at sake; how Chat had glared at her just before resolving to kill her... and how she had realized that that hatred had come from Adrien, from Adrien who hated her because she was stepping in his and another girl's way. Another girl: a good girl, a pure girl... She recalled how he had clung onto her dying body, not even caring that his identity would be revealed to her, even though that would mean a fate worse than death... all because he had fallen in love with a good girl. A mortal girl who was worth more than what all demons fought for. Who was worth more than her.