Princess Marinette

Chapter 27 - The Choice Is Yours

Adrien/Chat Noir P.O.V.

Father's eyes were full of horror as he stared at me, still tied up in Ladybug's yo-yo. In return, I stared back, but not with the same horror he felt, but instead with all the anger and hate that had been hiding in me ever since Mom's disappearance. 

"Hello, Father."

"A-Adrien?" He whispered, his eyes still focused on me and my entirety. I didn't speak for a second, but continued to gaze at him. "Is that really you?"

I swallowed hard and nodded my head. There seemed to be something hidden in his eyes...guilt, maybe? Of course, behind his glasses hid all sorts of emotions, all but anger and hate, that is.

"Do you see what you've been doing, Gabriel?" Ladybug spoke. "You've been putting your son in danger, and...the one he...loves as well. I know in your heart that everything you've done in the past, other than this, was for Adrien. Like how you kept him from school? Or how you put him in fencing, to defend himself? But instead it was all thrown away when you decided to steal our Miraculous."

My heart raced as I stared at her, not just because I love her, obviously, but because of how empowering her words were. She could easily just have said "you're a jerk" and thrown him in jail, but instead she took the high road and told him what he needed to hear.

"But..I-I didn't know!" He yelled, and just as he did, tears were flowing down his cheeks. The lump in my throat was beginning to return, and I tried as hard as I could to contain myself. Although, I honestly had no idea what I felt.

"That doesn't matter. You at least tried to hurt someone, and that's proof enough that you're a selfish, malicious man. That someone just happened to be me...Gabriel," I whispered, hesitating with calling him by his first name. In fact, he doesn't even deserve the title 'Father'.

Something inside him seemed to have shattered into a million pieces when I whispered his name. Then, he looked frantically down at the yo-yo's wire, moving his head from left to right.

"Wait!" His voice echoed, and he looked up at Ladybug, then me, "What if I could offer you...a choice..."

I furrowed my brows, then looked at my partner, who in return looked at me. We both had the same, unsure look on our faces, but she decided to take a stand instead.

"What choice?"

Suddenly, Gabriel's frantic, sad expression disappeared, and was replaced with a sly smirk. His eyes moved ever so slowly from Ladybug to me.

"Why, it's about Adrien's mother."

My stomach dropped and my teeth clenched tightly. 

Mother? What was he saying? Why had he brought up Mom? I thought, and felt my hands ball into fists.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, taking one step closer to Gabriel. He looked me up and down, still seeming to try to hide his sadness and fear, and grinned again.

"What if I told you that you could bring your mother back. What if," He emphasized the 'what if' with a bit of amusement, "she could return home."

Mother....return...home?

Oh my god.... Was he being serious? Can he really bring her home? Am I just delusional, or did he actually just say that?

"Excuse me?" Ladybug said, and stepped next to me.

"You heard me, bug. I said I could bring back Adrien's mother."

I could barely breathe, my heart was pounding, I even could feel it in my toes. God knows what I was truly feeling, because I sure didn't.

"And how exactly would you do that?" She asked him, crossing her arms. The yo-yo string was still tightly trapping Gabriel, but it somehow became a bit more loose than before.

"You see, in an ancient book, there was a tale, that if both the Miraculous of Creation and the Miraculous of Destruction were both being wielded by the same person, that person would achieve ultimate power. And with this ultimate power, they could make one wish, a wish that could change the course of humanity and time itself. This wish, of course, I'd use to bring my wife back."

Ladybug and I were both quickly taken aback. One wish? That could change the course of time and humanity? Bring mother back? Was this really possible?

Millions of questions ran through my brain at the speed of light, and I could barely grasp just one.

"What a minute, how can we believe you?" Ladybug questioned, "I mean, you're a psychopath that's been trying to kill multiple people, you've put tens of hundreds of civilian lives in danger, and you're just an absolutely deceptive and horrible person!"

For some reason, I tried so hard not to agree with her, but I succumbed anyway. Gabriel is awful, and I truly do hate him, but what if he could bring Mom back?

"That doesn't mean it wasn't for a good cause... But all in all, are you in, or are you out? The choice is yours," He said, placing a seemingly innocent smile look on his face.

I gulped, I guess it was up to me. Do I let him go and risk the chance of him hurting Marinette and everyone else, but have the possibility of bringing my mom back home, or do I lock him up and keep everyone safe, while never seeing Mom again?