Discordant Sonata

Chapter 8: Abbandono (part 3 of 4)

(PLEASE READ PARTS 1 AND 2 FIRST)

(Mood Music:  Morning Passage - The Hours)

Adrien stood in front of Gabriel's office door. He could feel  goosebumps forming on his arms and the tiny hairs on the back of his  neck rising. He would much prefer to hop on that long-distance train  that Nathalie suggested rather than face his father, but he knew this  confrontation had been a long time coming.

So he knocked.

There  was no answer. A moment later he opened the door and looked inside.  Gabriel was at his desk, but did not react to his presence. Nooroo sat  on a pile of books, but from the looks of it, he wasn't permitted to  speak, as usual. Adrien stepped in and closed the door, but still,  Gabriel would not look up from his papers.

The pit in Adrien's  stomach grew larger. Was he no longer even considered worthy to be  acknowledged? The mounting frustration spurred him on as he walked  further into the room.

Putting on a false confident air, he finally spoke, "Father... it's time we really talk."

Gabriel  ignored him, casually leafing through his paperwork and scribbling in  his notebook on occasion. Nooroo eyed him wearily, then back at Adrien.

Adrien  straightened up to his full height, bristling with rage. "At least look  at me when I talk to you!" Adrien snarled. "It's the least you could do  after everything I've done for you all these years!"

Gabriel  finally lifted his gaze, a lofty look pasted on his face as if Adrien  were nothing more than an annoying fly that entered the room.

"What  is there to say? I'm sure you can predict what comes next," Gabriel  replied, leaning back on his massive chair and steepling his fingers.  "However, since you obviously seem to be having trouble thinking clearly  lately, I'll give you a hint." His eyebrows furrowed in displeasure;  his voice became darker. "Effective immediately, you will surrender your  miraculous, and are hereby forbidden to leave the mansion  indefinitely."

Adrien widened his eyes, not in surprise but in outrage. "No," he stated simply.

"That  wasn't a request." Gabriel eyed him carefully, disapproval evident in  his face. "You knew this would happen when you disobeyed me. Why try to  fight it?"

Adrien inhaled sharply and braced himself for what he was about to say next. "Because what we're doing is wrong."

The older man chuckled with that ever-present condescending air to his voice. "Since when do you   care about right and wrong? This was never about being the  stereotypical 'good guys' and changing the world one good deed at a  time. This was always about gaining power. Power that we need for a perfectly legitimate reason. And now, apparently, you've got morals,   suddenly pretending to care about others." He fixed Adrien with a  steely glare. "Life is not black and white, Adrien. My methods may seem  unconventional and, I'll admit, even controversial. But at least I'm no  hypocrite."

Adrien suppressed a growl, recoiling in vexation and  distress. It was like a sack of hot coals had been dropped into his  stomach, searing him with the guilt that had always been there, but had  now grown tenfold. Gabriel somehow always managed to find a way to make  him feel like a horrible human being.

But... he wasn't wrong.  Chat Noir was just as guilty as Hawkmoth was for putting the city in  danger, even if their motives were slightly different. How could he  possibly argue with him, when he was just as responsible for harming the  innocent? Could his father be right? Was there no escaping the giant  pit he'd dug for himself? His throat felt dry, and he couldn't help but  wilt under his father's judgmental gaze.