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“Here lies everything
The world I wanted at my feet
My victory’s complete
So hail to the king”
- Everything You Ever, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Nathalie followed Adrien's bodyguard up the stairs and watched him place his unconscious ward on the bed.
"I'll make sure he's okay," she said, brushing Adrien's bangs away from his eyes. "Thank you for carrying him. He's gotten so tall."
The bodyguard left, closing the door without ever having turned on the light.
"Oh, Adrien," Nathalie said, sitting beside him and taking his hand in hers. "How did you get yourself into this?"
He didn't answer, of course. He didn't answer, because she had drugged his food. She knew his exact height, weight, muscle mass, metabolism speed, so she knew how long he would sleep, and how deeply. He was perfectly safe.
"When you wake up, everything will be better." She squeezed his hand, and for a second, she thought he squeezed back. She froze. When he didn't stir after a minute, she slipped the silver ring from his finger and watched it turn black in her palm.
"If only you had known what you were fighting to prevent." She went to the doorway but turned back. She slid Adrien's shoes from his feet, pulled a blanket over him, and made sure his pillow was properly situated. "See you soon."
She found Gabriel in his office. He seemed unaware that he was working in the dark. The screen illuminated his face, casting deep shadows that gave him an even sharper look than normal. She hoped that in a few hours, the aura of deep sadness that seemed to radiate from his very skin would dissipate. Fade like mist in the sun.
Because that's what she was doing. Bringing him the sun.
"Sir?"
Gabriel looked up. He took in his surroundings with a frown.
"What time is it? What are you still doing here? I thought you went home hours ago."
"I just had to take care of something."
He nodded. She had probably said those words to him a hundred times.
"Was there anything else?"
She suppressed a smile. "Go make an akuma."
He quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Just seems like the right time for it."
She let him stare at her, trying to puzzle out what she was up to. But she had honed her poker face for years because of him. There was nothing for him to glean from her expression.
"What do you know?" he asked.
"You'll see."
He went to the painting, looking up at the image of Emilie before triggering the trap door. Nathalie counted to two hundred in her head before she slipped out of the office. She made her way to Gabriel's bedroom and in a box in a secret compartment in a drawer in his desk was the Peacock Miraculous. He had thought she didn't know where it was. That was okay. He wouldn't underestimate her again after tonight. He would finally see what she could do. He would see that she did it all for him. For them.
The Peacock and Butterfly were both meant to enhance the fight without engaging personally. But that didn't mean they couldn't. In an alley close to the sounds of destruction that all of Paris knew to be an akuma victim on the loose, Nathalie became Mayura one last time.
She spotted Ladybug quickly. "Chat Noir! Where are you? I have a bad feeling about this, Kitty."
Such a bright girl, Mayura thought. I hope she adjusts to normal life quickly after this.
It was easier to sneak up on the girl than it should have been. It was easier to take her down with her darts than it should have been. It was easier to slip the earrings from her unconscious form than it should have been.
Maybe the Miraculous of Creation knew it had already lost, that its mate wasn't active anymore.
Maybe the luck had finally run out.
Mayura made sure that the girl was safe and the akuma was freed before returning to the mansion.
"How?" Gabriel asked, meeting her at the front door. "How did you do it?"
"It doesn't matter," she said, pressing the three miraculouses into his hand. "Go get her back."
"Come with me," he said. "Not many people get to witness an all-powerful wish."
There was a small staircase to the lair. It was rickety, musty, narrow. It was also long. Nathalie tried to ignore the dizziness from her time as Mayura, but with every few steps, she slowed her pace a little. Gabriel waited for her, but she could feel his impatience as though she was the empath instead of him.
"You really won't tell me how?" Gabriel asked, holding an earring up to catch the moonlight streaming in through the butterfly window.
"It's not important." She muffled a cough with her sleeve. "Let's bring Emilie back."
Gabriel put the earrings in first. The Ladybug kwami started to cry the moment she recognized who now held her.
"Silence," Gabriel said. The Ladybug went silent. He had more than enough experience controlling kwamis.
The ring took just a moment longer after it was in place for the Black Cat to appear. Before Gabriel could react, the kwami flew, not at his new master, but at Nathalie, stopping inches from her nose.
"You! He trusted you! He trusted-"
"Silence!"
The Black Cat seethed in front of Nathalie a moment more before flying over to hug his Ladybug close.
Gabriel sighed and turned to Nathalie. "My apologies."
"It's- I-I'm fine."
She wasn't. She was shaking like a leaf. Somehow she hadn't realized the kwami knew who she was. She was lucky Gabriel had cut him off when he did. If she was lucky, after all this was over, he wouldn't think to question the kwamis about their former holders. He wouldn’t find out he had been fighting his son this whole time.
“Take this," Gabriel said, handing the Butterfly and Peacock to Nathalie. He adjusted the ring on his finger, felt for the earrings, and took a breath.
"I told you I would fix this, Emilie."
It didn't even sting anymore that he didn't notice she had done all of the work.
"Spots on!"
Pink light flooded the room, scattering the sleeping butterflies. They had just resettled when Gabriel called up the second transformation, agitating them again. A few settled on Nathalie's hair and clothes. She had always had a fondness for the butterflies. She pulled her hair down with gentle movements, giving the insects more room to explore. It was comforting, the familiar tickle of their feet, the brush of their wings, as she watched Gabriel turn into something... darker. Larger. Twisted and powerful. And if she looked at the Being where Gabriel had been standing for too long, she could feel a part of herself breaking.
An echoing voice came from it. "I can see everything. I can do anything. Any trade..."
Nathalie tried to be as quiet as she could in this Being's presence, but her body couldn't ignore the effects of the damaged Peacock for too long. The coughing came back and she doubled over, hair obstructing her view of the Being.
"Stand up," it said, holding a hand out to her. She didn't know what would happen if she took its hand, but she also knew she wasn't allowed to refuse.
The second her fingers touched his, she gasped. It was the first full breath she had managed since transforming. Warmth spread through her from their point of contact. She felt the tension in her shoulders disappear, her lungs clear, her vision sharpen. She straightened further.
"Thank you," she said, letting her hand drop to her side.
The Being didn't respond. It turned back to face the butterfly window.
"I wish for Emilie Agreste to be returned to me. Alive, healthy, whole, for the rest of what would have been her natural life, in exchange for the rest of another's natural life."
With no warning, the Being dropped away, leaving a detransformed Gabriel in its wake.
"What happened?" he demanded, turning on Nathalie. "Did it work?"
"I don't know, Sir." The familiar fear of displeasing her employer crept up her spine, kicking her heart into a faster pace.
"Well? What did you see?"
Her tongue felt heavy and slow. "You... you became..."
The door burst open. Gabriel and Nathalie turned towards the sound. Nathalie found herself dizzy from the sudden movement.
"Gabriel, my love."
Emilie ran across the room and launched herself into Gabriel's arms.
"It worked. It worked! You're here, my Emilie."
Nathalie tried to turn to face them. She stumbled, hitting one of her knees hard on the ground.
"How did you- I remember what happened. Gabriel, how am I here?"
Nathalie turned to see Gabriel cup Emilie's face. The image was blurry and black around the edges.
"There is nothing I wouldn't do, nothing and no one I wouldn't sacrifice to get you back."
Nathalie struggled to stand. She struggled to speak. At the very least, she wanted to congratulate the Agrestes. This was what they had been working for. This was the goal.
Why couldn't she feel her arms?
Unnoticed, floating near the ceiling, Plagg sneered down at the scene. Tikki knew what he had done. She watched the woman with the red streak of hair fall with a sad croaking sound. If Plagg ever asked her, she would tell him that she didn't approve. But if they couldn't do anything to Gabriel... maybe this small revenge could help her hold on until they were rescued. Whenever that would be.
Nathalie realized what had happened when her head hit the floor, the crack bursting stars into her vision. She should have known.
And the worst part?
This was what she wanted.
She had volunteered for this.
Time and again, she had made him choose Emilie over her.
It was only face down on the floor, her hair falling in her face that she felt the tiniest spark of regret.
Neither Gabriel nor Emilie so much as spared her a glance as she fell.
After all. She wanted this.
“I'm so happy you're back.” The moonlight lit their smiles.
Butterflies settled around Nathalie’s still body. This was everything they ever wanted.
“Everything is perfect now.”
They had the world they wanted.