The Price of One || Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction

Chapter Thirty-Three: Day of Ruin

Ladybug

Everything seemed to still, and Ladybug and Cat Noir stood back-to-back as Loveless circled around them - black tears continuing to flow down her face like endless twin rivers.

Ladybug's mind was still reeling from the revelation, and her head seemed to be going in circles, muddled as she tried to process this seemingly impossible information - that her very own daughter from the future was standing right before her.

The questions had escaped all at once. The confusion, the hurt - it surged forward, overpowering the excitement and joy. And now Emma - her daughter - was akumatized. And it was all her fault.

“Aw - did I break your heart?” The words were clearly targeted at her, and Ladybug couldn’t help but flinch as Loveless chuckled, her eyes glinting mischievously with pure malice. “You two have only been parents for 5 minutes and you’ve already failed.”

Ladybug grit her teeth, ignoring the pain in her chest at Loveless’s comment as she tried to convince herself that it was just the akuma talking. “Come on, Emma. This isn’t you. Fight it. Fight him.”

“Oh, that’s cute. You think that Emma is still there. Somewhere. Lost to the villainy and brainwashed by the akuma.” She giggled madly. “I’ve already told you, Ladybug. The old Emma is dead. She died a long time ago - long before she ever came here. She simply allowed the real her to finally come out, the demon behind the smile.”

“You aren’t Emma.” Cat Noir snarled. “You’re Hawkmoth.”

“Wrong again!” Loveless sang. “Gosh - you heroes are pretty dull. Haven’t you ever wondered how someone could possess the ominous Black Swan Miraculous? It was crafted from pure evil - a type of evil a hundreds times darker than Hawkmoth is even capable of. Yet, little Emma Agreste is the only one alive who has ever worn it?” She shrugged. “Sounds like you’d need to be kinda wicked to wield it.”

“She isn’t evil.” Marinette said confidently. Though she had only known ‘Emma Agreste’ for a short time, she did know Emma Bisset and Cygnet like the back of her hand. “She’s kind, brave, sweet. She’s-”

“A murderer.”

Loveless’s lips twitched in amusement at Ladybug’s expression at her words before tapping her chin thoughtfully. “You know - you two would make viable candidates for my Misery Army.”

Before anyone could take a step, Loveless’s pearl ocarina was on her lips as she began to play a classical melody.

Ladybug gasped in confusion as the world shifted, and she and Cat Noir were somehow off the streets of Paris and inside a girl’s bedroom.

The walls were baby blue, and sunlight flooded through the wall of windows, causing her attention to turn to Emma, who no longer seemed to be akumatized, humming softly as she waltzed across the wooden floors.

“Emma..” Cat Noir trailed off in a whisper, looking around as he took in the scene around him. “What did Loveless do to us? Where...where are we?”

“I..I have no idea.” Her foot moved forward of its own accord as her hand reached out, everything in her aching to touch Emma - to embrace her and tell her that she loved her.

But her fingers simply passed through Emma’s form, and the pinknette continued to dance without delay.

“How didn’t we know?” The words slipped through her lips. She didn’t understand how she was so blind - her hair, her eyes. Emma even had the name Ladybug had always dreamed of giving her future daughter. Every single fiber of her being was buzzing with anxiety - a type of anxiety only a mother could feel when their child was in danger. It was only now that she realized that somewhere deep inside, she had been feeling that buzzing all along - when Adrien had first told her that Lila had pushed Emma down the stairs, when she had found out that Emma was living alone. The sense had always been there. But the motherly instinct had all but disappeared when she had needed it the most.

“I should’ve known that I was pushing her too hard. Asking all those questions.” Ladybug admitted, crossing her arms - as if the tighter she squeezed, she might just disappeare entirely. “And now Hawkmoth got to her.”

“We’ll save her, M’lady.” Cat Noir reassured her, reaching out as he squeezed her hand comfortingly. “Just as we always do.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Cat Noir.”

The heroes whipped around to see Loveless, standing idly at the corner of the room farthest from them.

She grinned. “You two are already stuck in my trap. Your consciousnesses will be trapped here, while the real me is out there - terrorizing Paris.”

“What did you do to us?” Ladybug demanded. “Bring us back.”

“Relax, Bug. I’m not finished with you two yet.” Loveless took a few steps forward, spreading her arms wide as she gestured around her. “This is one of my memories. The day..I was ruined.”

“Why are you doing this?” Cat Noir asked, his hands clenched into fists.

Loveless simply smiled, walking forward as she ran a finger along a barre that was mounted on the wall. “I’m simply showing you the story of my existence - the reason why I am who I am today. Why I’m...loveless.”

She suddenly disappeared in a plume of pink smoke as...Adrien bursted in?

“Louis?” Memory-Emma squeaked, causing Ladybug’s mind to slam to a stop. Louis - Emma’s late brother. She thought, and her frown deepened. Was this her future? - a future where she has to lose her memories along with her own child?

He looked exactly like Adrien, but his eyes were all her own - clear sapphire blue.

“Emma. Joanne. Agreste.” His face was expressionless, though his irises smoldered with rage, his fists clenched in fury. “What. Did. You. Do?”

Emma frowned in confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I didn’t do..” Her eyes widened in realization, and her jaw dropped.

Louis snorted. “That’s right. I really can’t believe you. You told Camille everything. The one secret that I tell you that actually means something - you can’t shut up, can you?” He spat. “Do you know how embarrassing it is to have the girl of your dreams apologize in front of your entire school because you like her? How humiliating?”

“I’m sorry.” Emma whispered - a tear slipping silently down her face. “I just...I just thought that if she knew, then maybe you two could be happy.”

“Yeah.” He scoffed. “Well, you thought wrong.” His hand came up, and Ladybug could only watch in horror as Louis moved forward to hit her.

“Louis Wang Agreste.”

Adult-Adrien’s voice interrupted the scene, his hand restraining Louis’s arm from Emma’s reach - his face un-naturally stern. “You do not lay a single hand on your sister.”

Adult-Marinette was now by Emma’s side, allowing her daughter to sob into her chest, another teenage boy right behind her, glaring at Louis with utter disappointment.

“I don’t believe it!” Louis exclaims, shaking his arm out of his father’s hold as he took a few steps back - his face full of fury as he turned on the teenage boy. “Hugo - she’s been bothering you all day, and you still take her side? Even when she’s the one in the wrong.”

Hugo narrowed his emerald eyes. “Because that’s what big brothers do - we protect our younger siblings and we teach them right from wrong. We don’t hurt them.”

Adult-Adrien’s eyes softened as he walked up to Louis, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Let’s take a walk - clear your head.” He suggested. “Then you can apologize to Emma later.”

Louis looked up and scoffed, shrugging Adrien’s hand off as he grabbed his guitar, slinging it over his shoulder. “Forget it, Dad. I’m done.” He then stalked off, and the memory shook with the force of Louis’s slam as he left the house.

Ladybug turned to Cat Noir - her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I don’t understand. This memory just showed Louis leaving. Emma once told me that her older brother passed away - there’s got to be more to the story.”

“You’re correct.” Loveless suddenly reappeared - her lips upturned in a wicked smile. “The real tale has yet to begin.”