Chapter Text
𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜,
𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗…
𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚜,
𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗.
𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐.
~ 𝙳𝚁. 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚆𝚎𝚒𝚜𝚜
“Nononononono-”
She was his light, his kindling flame. Always holding such a burning passion within those ancient eyes of hers.
And yet, her fire was flickering out.
He screamed her name, again and again as he cradled her dying body within his arms. Tears spilled, a burning acid that ran from his eyes in a seemingly never ending flow.
He’d never cried so feverently before, yet his lady gave him reason to.
She cupped his cheek, the gold of her blood smearing across his cheek as she stared up at him. Looked at him with so much love and trust that, even though he’d never had a heart, he felt something within his chest shatter into a million pieces.
“Don’t cry, mon Chaton.” Her voice was weak, so very, very different from the confidence she usually radiated. “We won. We beat Hawk Moth, didn’t we?”
Hawk Moth.
His father.
He’d done this-
“N-no-,” She choked, grasping at the air despite never having needed oxygen to fill her lungs. “Don’t. I know what you’re thinking and it’s a no. I hate him too, you know... But killing him would be wrong.”
“H̶̶͙̳̞͖̤e҉̳͕ͅ ̣̟̺̼̗̖̺͢d͏̻͚̙̳̲͓i̜͎̫̳̩͍͢͞d̶̛̮̼̳̳͖̲͈̪̀ ̵̱t̷̹̲̘̮̭̱̪̩̀h̠̜̯͖i̼̘͜͟s͍ ̨̭̹͢t̨҉͚̟̬̙̘͖͔͈o̥̼̥̹͚̝̘͉ ̱̳̤͚̫̹͝͝ỳ̬͓̻o͏̮̳̼͠u͏̧̲-”
Despite the situation, she gave him that look of hers, just a little all too knowing with a dash of mischief. “He’s living out his eternal punishment as we speak. He’ll be sorry enough.”
“But he has to pay! He h̡̝̟̯͓͙̟͚͈̹̀ạ̶̰s̷̜͓̤͖̬͢ to. He’s taken-” Too much, way too much. “You from me, My Lady.”
“Hawk Moth had a lot of power, yes. But he never had the power to separate the two of us.”
He stared down at her, nonplussed. “I don’t-”
“You’ll understand. One day. When we meet again.”
“...Meet again? You’re- you’re talking about reincarnation.” The look on her face only confirmed his suspicions. “But you won't be the same. Reincarnations are never the same. I want you , My Lady. I need you! I can’t- I can’t- I can’t do this without you!”
Her smile dimmed a little, though her gaze didn’t waver. “No, they won’t be me.”
It was then when the dam completely broke, tears crashing down in a tidal wave as his form flickered completely to a void black, a colour so dark and empty that if anyone were to bare witness, they’d be overwhelmed by grief and despair.
“I need you, I need you, please, please-”
Her bright light dipped, dimming bit by bit as her eyelids drooped drowsily, and the hand that had been gently caressing his cheek fell limp at her side. “M’sorry, Chat.”
“Ladybug?” His voice was hesitant, a gentle whisper in the wind, the quiet before the storm. “Ladybug? L̨̢̠̗̯à̤̪̗d̶̪̺͉̣ͅy̝̳̲̞̬̦͍b̶̛̝̩͚̩̩̕u̧̢͓̻̬̼g͏̲ ?”
Her eyelids shut, those beautiful bluebell irises hidden forever to time as her form started to deteriorate, the world ripping the one thing that mattered most from him from his arms. He watched on, unable to stop her fizzling particles as they drifted off into the distance, as if carried away by some unseen wind.
And as the demon screamed out the angel’s name, again and again and again, he couldn’t help but think about what she’d told him moments before.
Yes, they’d won the war.
But the cost had been greater than he’d ever imagined.