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Marinette breaks down to her knees.
Her entire body feels numb.
So, so numb.
Her world came crumbling down.
She had never felt this devastated before.
Not when Master Fu lost his memories.
Not when the responsibility of being the guardian was becoming too much for her.
Not when she woke up at four in the morning, still seeing the blue eyes of Chat Blanc that oh so commonly haunted her nightmares.
No, this is much worse.
It had happened so quickly.
Way too quickly.
As quickly as someone snapping their fingers.
Quite literally.
She lifts her head, to stare at the object that was slowly drifting away, being carried by the wind.
A singular white feather.
Marinette watches after it, as it innocently flies off into the horizon, not a care in the world, as though it didn't mark the end of her partner.
Her best friend.
The love of her life.
Chat Noir.
Adrien Agreste.
His last words had been 'I love you'.
She hadn't had the chance to say it back anymore.
He was gone.
Gone forever, and there was nothing she could do about it.
No lucky charm would be able to fix this.
If he had been a regular human that died, maybe she could have done something.
But he wasn't.
He hadn't been.
There wasn't one singular thing she could do to save a sentimonster whose amok had been purified.
A sentimonster whose existence had been released by the peacock miraculous holder.
Maybe she could use the peacock miraculous to recreate him, but it wouldn't be the same.
It wouldn't be her Adrien.
Because her Adrien was gone.
Forever.
And he would never come back.
A laugh brings her back to the present.
"You're seriously this heartbroken over a sentimonster disappearing?", a mocking voice says.
Marinette tries blinking the tears that were distorting her vision away.
Had she really been crying this much?
She hadn't noticed.
Nevertheless, she knows whose voice this is.
There was only one other person in this room.
Shadowmoth.
Gabriel Agreste.
The man who was her worst enemy.
The man who she thought would be her father in-law some day.
The man who brought despair over all of Paris.
The man she had admired for so long.
The man who had just murdered his own son, without hesitation, without a singular hint of emotion.
"He wasn't real, Ladybug."
"He was!", Marinette spits back. "He was as real as you and I!"
Referring to Adrien in past tense out loud made everything even worse.
Everything even more real.
Everything even more painful.
"That's your emotions speaking", Gabriel replies.
Marinette could swear there was pity in his tone.
"He wasn't real, and never has been. Sentimonsters aren't people."
"Shut up!", Marinette yells back.
She hates how desperate and unsteady her voice sounds.
She hates showing this much vulnerability to her enemy.
But she couldn't control it.
"He was as real and human as you and I! He had things and people he loved! Things he loved doing! And he didn't have a dream yet, but I know he would've found one soon!"
Finally, Marinette looks into Gabriels eyes.
"He was your son! And you just... killed him! Doesn't that make you feel anything?!"
Gabriel only huffs.
"I don't know why I'm arguing with you about this. It won't matter anymore soon anyways."
Marinette hates the certainty in his voice.
Hates how sure he is that he's won.
Hates how sure he is that he will make a new universe.
Hates Gabriel Agreste.
Blindly she touches the ground in front of her, until she finds what she's looking for, and grabs the one object that remained when Adrien disappeared.
Somehow, she manages to get up.
To stand on shaky legs.
She slips the black cat ring onto her finger.
"Tikki, Plagg, unify!"
"Marinette, no!", Plagg tries to shout, but he disappears into the ring a second later.
Marinette can feel the transformation washing over her.
She can feel the sheer amount of power of the two strongest miraculouses combined.
She wipes the last few tears that are still obscuring her vision away.
She gives a now terrified Shadowmoth a hatred filled glare.
"You're going to fucking pay for this."