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“Y’know,” Plagg mumbled around a mouth of cheese, lounging across Adrien’s couch. “I think this might be the first time you’ve pouted like this since you tried to write that letter to Ladybug.”
“I’m not pouting,” Adrien sighed, his voice muffled by the bed he was currently doing his best to fuse with. “I’m contemplating. I’m lamenting. It’s different.”
“Contemplating what? The best way to pout over your latest magical problem?” Trust the Kwami of Destruction to be the most annoying friend Adrien had ever been stuck with, while also somehow being the first friend he’d ever been stuck with. “Come on, it’s been three days already! You’ve gotta get out of bed at some point.”
“I got out of bed yesterday.”
“That was for school, it doesn’t count.”
“Says the guy who floats everywhere.”
“You try walking after flying around for the entire history of the world.”
Adrien mumbled, and buried his face deeper into the crux of the pillows. There really wasn’t a fun or witty response to Plagg when he brought up the whole ‘I’m immortal and the concept of me has existed longer than your planet has’. Just thinking about it made Adrien feel much too small for comfort.
Luckily Adrien had already finished whatever Nathalie had wanted him to finish today. He didn’t know what he’d do with himself if he managed to disappoint her only a handful of weeks into their weird new relationship.
(Adrian likes her, he really does. But it’s hard to move from two parents, to one parent, to no parents, to one legal guardian very quickly. Especially after gaining superpowers)
Plagg sighed, and Adrien heard him swallow. At least disappointing Plagg was familiar enough territory that he didn’t feel too bad about it.
“Look, I know it’s not fun having to think through all these problems of yours, and I still think your best option is to tell Ladybug before she finds out on her own,” Plagg pointed out, which made Adrien’s stomach twist. “But being butthurt about it isn’t gonna make you feel any better.”
“I’m not butthurt. I’m lamenting. I told you,” Adrien groaned, sitting upright and trying not to wince when his shoulders pop. “And Ladybug has enough on her plate to worry about. She doesn’t need to know about the new bad guy whose name I don’t even know yet. I don’t even know what animal he’s supposed to be, he looked like…he looked like a vampire, and vampires aren’t animals.”
“Maybe not,” Plagg agreed. “But they do turn into bats.”
Adrien paused, and turned over his shoulder to cast a suspicious glare at the small black cat getting cheese crumbs all over his couch. “You know something about this, don’t you?”
Plagg looked back at him, with an expression Adrien couldn’t quite read, and huffed. “I’d say I know more about him than any other Kwami. Other than the one he’s got, I guess.”
Adrien stood up fully, and furrowed his brow. “What does that mean?”
“It means there’s a long, complicated, and sometimes annoying backstory to him, and I am not at liberty to tell you about it,” Plagg floated up from his tiny spot on the couch to meet Adrien face-to-face, the disgusting scent of rotting cheese following him closely. Adrien was damn lucky he was as nose-blind to it as he was. “So don’t ask. Seriously.”
“Plagg.”
“It’s not like I don’t want to, buddy, but there are rules to these things,” Plagg folded his arms and turned his back to Adrien, who slumped his shoulders and tried to focus on keeping the annoyance out of his expression. “The bubble-spitting kind of rules. That Kwami is more strict and control-freaky than…uh. A really strict parent, and no one in particular.”
Plagg turned back to him, and Adrien blinked.
They hadn’t really spoken about his dad’s passing since he’d taken Monarch down with Ladybug. Adrien would be lying if he said he’d been avoiding the statue in the effort to avoid anymore conversations about feelings or mourning. He appreciated all the love from his friends and family (except for Felix, but if Adrien was honest if he ever saw his cousin again with his stupid purple skin and his stupid green hair he might smack him), but at some point all of the well wishes and sympathy got a bit…smothering.
It was a lot easier to go around as Chat Noir and get congratulated for their victory than it was to go around as Adrien and have a fifty-fifty shot at getting recognized by a fan or someone who wanted to say they were sorry for his dad. Ladybug never spoke about it, and neither did any of the other heroes; even Rena seemed to dodge the subject. But maybe she was just upset she missed out on the fight, and maybe Ladybug didn’t want to think of the memories or something.
Nathalie never brought him up, either, unless it was about the will or the now empty rooms in their house. But she seemed happy and had taken over most of the management of the Agreste brand, and had put in a lot of effort to see Adrien as much as possible and to make sure he got to school on time. It was nice not having to fight to be normal now, at least.
Nathalie was also weirdly conscious of the ring that Marinette had given to him, always asking where it was and if it was safe. Adrien had tried to give it to her, since she clearly cared about it much more than Adrien did (look, he loved his mom, but that ring was so ugly), but she’d refuse to take it and just say she was glad it was okay.
Adrien was gonna do his best to keep that ring safe, because he did not want to see what a super angry Nathalie looked like. Especially if all that anger was gonna be pointed at him.
“It’s…it’s fine,” Adrien said, waving away Plagg’s concern. “I just want to know what the deal with that guy is. And why can’t you talk about him? I thought the bubbles only popped up if you tried to talk about your holders with someone who doesn’t know their identity.”
“I bubble if I say anything that breaks the rules. And explaining him, his Kwami, and what her job is is very much against the rules,” Plagg explained, with just enough of a hint of pity and concern in his voice to make Adrien’s skin crawl. “But it looks like it’s the same guy, so at least we’re not stuck with a newbie.”
“A newbie?”
“Experience is key when it comes to any holder, Adrien,” Plagg said in that tone of self-importance that was familiar, friendly, yet extremely annoying. “Experience can make or break a fight. But with that Miraculous, and with that Kwami, if you’re not experienced, you’re not gonna be able to use it. And if you can’t use it then nothing is gonna go well for anybody.”
Alright. As far as Adrien knew, anybody with a Miraculous who knew the activation words could use a Miraculous. That had been true with Chloe, when she had apparently picked up the Bee Miraculous from the bottom of the Eiffel Tower. Maybe the guardian of whatever Miracle Box that guy’s miraculous had come from was just…crazy efficient with their chosen holders.
Adrien walked over and picked up his ring from his bedside table and looked into it. This ring, Plagg, Ladybug, and even Hawkmoth slash Shadowmoth slash Monarch had changed his life for the better. He honestly didn’t know how long he’d have lasted if he’d been stuck with his dad’s crazy rules for much longer, even with being allowed to go to school and Nathalie doing everything she could to take care of him.
What would’ve happened to him if Master Fu hadn’t picked him to be Chat Noir? Would he be stuck at home with all the villain attacks, watching someone live out his dream? Would he have gotten akumatized, and destroyed the city or even hurt his dad in revenge for being trapped for so long? What if he had taken Ladybug’s Miraculous? What if he had taken them both? What if he’d been the one to make the wish and destroy the world, bringing back his mom and fixing everything that was wrong with his life?
That was a train of thought he really didn’t want to entertain. He’d considered it before loads of times, just sneakily making a wish and returning Ladybug’s earrings before she knew about it, but he couldn’t get past the idea of betraying her and he didn’t know if he could pick the life of the person that would be sacrificed to bring his mom back. There were any number of evil people out there that the world would be better off without, but if Adrien couldn’t get rid of them and instead hurt an innocent person while bringing back his mother, then there wasn’t much point to it at all.
The glint of the setting sun caught on the silver cusp of the ring, glaring back into Adrien’s eyes. He blinked the brightness out of them, grunting slightly at the small bout of pain, rubbing his eyelids with his free hand and squeaking them back open to glare at the silver metal of the ring.
Reflected in the ring, just the barest hint of color, was a smudge of glowing red caught underneath the balcony of one of the buildings outside his window. It could have been a clash of the setting sun’s rays against the silver of the ring, or perhaps Adrien’s eyes were still reeling from the bright light, but something inside of him was screaming its head off at the bare sight of it.
Adrien turned around and tried to find the red glint without the reflection of the ring. The spot under the balcony was empty, but it was mostly hidden by the shadow of the house itself, and he couldn’t quite make out any shapes inside of it.
Not with his human eyes, anyway.
“Plagg,” Adrien started, slipping his ring onto his finger. “We’ve got work to do.”
“What? Huh?” A slice of cheese fell out of Plagg’s mouth as he rolled over on the edge of the couch. “An Akumatized villain? Already? Man, this new baddy is so much more aggressive than Hawkmoth was.”
“No, not that,” The red glint hadn’t shown up in the ring again, and there wasn’t a single ebb of movement in the shadow Adrien had locked his eyes on. “It’s…agh. I don’t know if I have time to explain before he gets away. You’ll see, alright?”
Plagg grumbled, which Adrien was rather used to, but didn’t complain. So he took that as permission.
“Plagg, claws out!”
The underside of the balcony was empty by the time Adrien had gotten to it, but there were metal scuffs on the walls that looked far too deep and intentional for any faulty handyman to have done. It didn’t mean much in the matter of home improvement, but Adrien had tracked a number of villains enough to know how to follow a trail.
The only problem was this trail seemed oddly intentional, which just made him even more annoyed. This guy really liked leading him on.
The stars were starting to dot the sky as he jogged across the rooftops, following too-obvious bookmarks and not-at-all-subtle smudges of mud. He was getting farther and farther from his house, which made him slightly nervous. If there was any chance this was a trap, leading him away from his home turf was definitely boosting their chances.
He also just realized that, if this guy was really trying to get Adrien to follow him, then he’d have to have known where Adrien lived. Which was a problem. A very big problem. A telling Ladybug-sized problem, because his identity has probably been compromised.
But if he told her his identity was toast, he’d have to stop being Chat Noir. And he’d never get to see her again. And, besides, maybe he could fix this before it even got out of hand? If he could take this guy’s Miraculous before he got the chance to do anything, even if he ran around Paris shouting Adrien’s name there’d be no proof to it. This guy would turn into just another conspiracy theorist, like when Lila had come up to him a few weeks back and tried to convince him Marinette was Ladybug.
Adrien had laughed her off, of course. Marinette might be beautiful, and amazing, and maybe even stronger than Ladybug (emotionally, mostly. Marinette is awesome, but she probably wasn’t up for beating Ladybug in a fight. Probably wouldn’t even want to, anyway; Marinette might’ve not ended up being the Mouse Holder, but those two could still get on like a house on fire), but there was no way those two were one in the same. He’d seen them in the same room together multiple times. It just wasn’t possible.
The tracks were going in some…weird places. When passing under an arch connecting a pair of rooftops, some of the boot scrapes even passed up to the voussoirs and the keystone, walking up the wall with small holes left behind. Either this guy was the world’s greatest rock climber, or this Miraculous thought gravity was a joke. Adrien was sort of jealous; it’d be a lot easier to fight some of the more ranged-focused villains if he could run on walls.
It would also be nice if he could catch up to this guy. The dude had been fast back in the sewers, sure, but this was getting ridiculous. The gaps between the tracks were getting bigger and wider, and sometimes they were practically invisible in the pale light of the moon. If he lost the villain here, there was a zero-percent chance he was never going to get another chance like this, and he’d have to turn his Miraculous back over to Ladybug. And that would be…not very good, to say the least.
Hopefully Nathalie wouldn’t be too mad if he wasn’t in bed when she came in to say good morning tomorrow, because he didn’t really want to go home empty handed. Especially if it meant the end of his chances to see Ladybug.
The scuffs marks ended, finally, at the edge of a building with sparkly, ugly windows. Adrien followed them as they ran in literal circles (honestly, what a joke. This guy had to know what he’s doing), and watched as they ran off the edge of the roof and stared blankly at…
The Eiffel Tower. Because of course that’s where this villain had gone. The shiny armor and the blackish red color scheme definitely gave off a ‘flair for the dramatics’ vibe. But if Adrien was gonna be honest, almost every villain was like that. Especially Chloe, or Lila if she had decided to be even worse than usual.
Tall, Dark, and Edgy was standing with his back to Adrien when he finally managed to climb to the top, staring off into whatever smoggy distance that he’d probably been staring into for the past however-long-it-had-taken-Adrien-to-catch-up-to-him. He barely gave any indication he knew there was company with him, a small hum deep in his throat and the twinge of his chin. It ticked Adrien off, if he was gonna be honest.
“Alright, man. I’ve chased you across almost every rooftop in Paris, and I’m pretty sure you actually wanted me to do that,” He said, not trying at all to keep his annoyance out of his voice. “What’s the deal with you? Why do you keep showing up everywhere?”
“Have you considered that, perhaps, we simply share an interest in locations?” The man with the bat around his neck suggested snarkily, still refusing to turn around and face Adrien. “Sewer systems often have a lot of appeal in terms of stealth and travel efficiency. And the rooftops of Paris are a rather beautiful place at any time of day.”
“You really expect me to believe you just happened to show up at almost every single villain fight in the past month? And just happened to show up outside the Agreste mansion the day after we met for the first time?”
“Villain fights are becoming an increasingly more regular occurrence in Paris. It’s not surprising that one would be interested in them each time, considering the threat they pose to human life,” The man in the silver armor said, almost as if that was obvious (and, like, yeah, Adrien knew people liked to watch them fight to make themselves feel better, safer, what have you, but he didn’t get those vibes from this guy). “And relaxing beneath the shade of a balcony in the general radius of your house is not inherently suspicious.”
Adrien’s throat caught. “… my house.”
The pale man turned to him and stared. “Yes. Your house. Because, despite being pursued by a ‘supervillain’ for over a year, you still have not developed the habit of disguising your routes home. Nor do you check if someone is watching you transform. Hiding in an alley only works if no one’s at either end, Adrien.”
Which…yeah. Fine. Whatever. Prove his paranoia right. Hopefully Ladybug wouldn’t mind losing her partner.
“Alright, fine,” Adrien sighed glumly. “You know my name, then. Good for you. Can I know yours?”
The man scowled. “I am not so foolish with my identity as you are.”
“I meant your, like, character name, dude,” Dramatic, much? “Plus you aren’t even wearing a mask.”
“The quantum masking effect can appear in many different ways, yes.”
“…the what?”
The silver man sighed, and brought a hand up to pinch at the bridge of his nose. Adrien wondered if that hurt, in some way, with the pointy claw things on the fingers of his gauntlets. “I should have expected you to be ignorant of that. If I mentioned the Guardian Temple, for example, or the Miraculous Memory Loss effect, would you also drool and gape in confusion?”
“What? Ew. No. I know what the temple was, dude. And I think you’re talking about…how guardians forget everything about the Miraculous when they give up their job?”
It hadn’t been something Ladybug had liked to talk about. After Master Fu gave ownership of the Miracle Box to her, and had lost every single one of his memories that dealt with Ladybug, Chat Noir, guardians, and Miraculous as a whole, she had always seemed…downtrodden, and upset. Adrien understood, of course. Master Fu had always been closer to her than he had been to Adrien. Losing him must’ve been hard for her, and the new responsibilities and dangers that came with them probably didn’t help.
“Then you know that, one day, Ladybug will lose all memories of the Miraculous, and Paris will be down its best protector?”
And that…actually hadn’t been something that had crossed his mind. Like, yeah, he knew they couldn’t be superheroes forever, and he knew that day would probably come later rather than sooner with all the new heroes running around giving them backup, but he’d always sort of assumed that, after they retired, he and Ladybug could share their identities with each other and be good friends again. He’d love to introduce her to Marinette, at the very least. Those two could do anything together.
None of that could happen if Ladybug didn’t remember him, though. And he wasn’t even sure if he was charming enough to befriend her again. He could at least take care of her, right? He could find a nice hospital for her.
Adrien scoffed. “Yeah? So what? She’s got ages of time left; we have it on pretty good authority we’re heroes when we’re adults, too.”
“From Bunnix, I’m aware,” The man in silver and black armor rolled his eyes, and Adrien scowled. “I assure you I do not predict her losing her position any time soon, and not simply because I trust the words of the cottontail.”
The cottontail? And he mentioned Bunnix by name. Did those two have..history, together? She certainly had never mentioned him before. “Alright? If you’re so confident Ladybug will be around for a while, why are you so worried about her? Why chase me all over Paris if she’s your biggest concern? Go bother her, or something.”
“She isn’t my concern. As far as I’m aware, she’s progressed exactly as she should,” The man didn’t sound too happy about that, despite his words. He felt…annoyed, almost, as if Ladybug’s success was somehow a problem for him. It probably was. Villains typically don’t like it when their superheroes were super strong. “I’d even go as far to say she’s surpassed my expectations. The true image of a hero, that one is. The leadership of the Ladybug Miraculous suits her well in spite of her age.”
“Makes sense,” Adrien shrugged, a bit bothered by how pompous this dude was being. “What’s the point, though? If you brought me out here just to talk about how cool Ladybug is, there’s a fan club for that. And a blog.”
“The point is,” The man said, with venom in his voice. “that you aren’t, Chat Noir.”
“Aren’t what?”
“You're not anywhere near where you should be. You’re barely even an asset to Paris , much less Ladybug,” For a dude Adrien had met yesterday, he really sounded upset here. “Since you have gotten hold of your Miraculous, you have been captured or taken control of by the villains a total of forty-two times! And that is not factoring in the many defeats you were handed by Desperada, or the many times you were stung by the Bee Miraculous on the single occasion Monarch used the Miraculous of the Snake.”
“How on earth do you know about that?”
“Your expectancy for the blind eye of the civilians does not extend to me,” The man hissed. Literally. With the fangs and everything. Props for the commitment to the animal bit, at the very least. “How many times has Ladybug needed to defeat the Akumatized person on her own? How many times have you gone missing in the past few months? You failed to appear during the final confrontation between Ladybug and Hawkmoth, which could be argued as the most important fight of your entire life. What have you brought to the table recently, other than an inspiring speech or a well-timed hug?”
Adrien bristled, and tried not to let his anger bleed into his eyes. “You know who I am, dude. You know exactly why I couldn’t show up to that fight.”
“I know your fear of your father strangled you into submission. I know your sense of duty is nothing in the face of the brutal grip of your home life.”
“I can’t just not listen to him. It doesn’t work like that. I don’t want him to know who I am.”
“Do you honestly think he could do anything about it? You wield pure destruction like a knife in your hand. What could he do to stop you?”
Adrien stared. “Are you…seriously suggesting I beat up my dad if he didn’t let me be a superhero anymore?!”
“There are some things that must be done in order to protect the masses.”
“You’re insane.”
The man scoffed. “Am I? Or are you simply disgruntled that someone is bringing good ideas in the face of your incompetence?”
“Good ideas?” Adrien barked a laugh, and took a threatening step forward. “What part of this was a good idea? Typically bad guys with stolen Miraculouses hide away until we find them and take them back. That worked for Hawkmoth for, like, two years. Kind of a dumb move not to follow up on that.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “My Miraculous was not stolen.”
“Oh, yeah? What Guardian was stupid enough to hand it over to the guy who fantasizes about beating up his parents when they don’t let him do whatever he wants.”
The man felt silent, and Adrien smirked. At least he could keep up the banter better than Ladybug could.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought,” Adrien stepped forward and whipped out his staff, opening up the phone built into the system. He snapped a quick photo of the man in black, managing to capture the shocked and angered expression in the image, and hovered his finger over the ‘send’ button next to Ladybug’s contact name. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an edgy bat-themed supervillain to put on Ladybug’s radar. Enjoy being chased by, like, fifteen different superpowered teenagers in colorful costumes for the rest of your life. We’ve got friends in other countries, too.”
Adrein expected many different sorts of reactions in the split second he’d spent coming up with this plan. The villain could fly into a flurry and try to take Adrien’s staff-phone away before he could send the picture (which was pretty unlikely. If there was one thing Adrien could be proud of himself for, it was his sheer speed at texting), he could try and flee, which wouldn’t get him much ground considering he was in Ladybug’s city (which Adrien knew every nook and cranny of. There was a reason he’s won every Easter hunt since he’d picked up his Miraculous. The ones his father allowed him to partake in, at least), or he could beg Adrien not to (which Adrien was hoping for the most, because he would love to see this arrogant jerk taken down a notch or two).
Except…the man with pale skin hadn’t made a single movement. Out of the corners of Adrien’s eyes, all this guy seemed to was clench his fists and make some sort of hiss between his teeth. It definitely wasn’t anything Adrein had projected to happen. So, he took a glance. One quick glance, directly into the man’s red eyes, and suddenly the world fell to pieces. The Miraculous around the man’s neck, it’s red and black coloring in the shape of a bat, bore down on him.
Within a few moments, Adrien’s vision had been completely filled by dark shades of scarlet and vibrant, glossy crimson. Swirls of cerise and wine devoured him completely; smothering him until his muscles were limp and weak, until his head felt funny and fuzzy, and until he couldn’t tear himself away from it.
Somewhere, outside of his body, he felt the grip on his staff loosen as it clattered to the rooftop. A part of him screamed in alarm, told him to reach down and take it back before something happened, because he needed to do something with it first, but…what was it? Why couldn’t he remember? Why couldn’t he move?! Why couldn’t he look away?
A figure stepped forward, sparkling white and gray like a newborn star, bringing the glorious ruby with him. Adrien felt his breath hitch at the sight of it; beauty didn’t even begin to cover it. His father could design a hundred dresses, and none of them would come close to the snow-white softness of his skin, the rich black abyss of his hair, or the beautiful clash between the pewter accents on the coal coloring of his armor.
And his voice! Oh, if Adrien could die on the spot he would do so without regret, as his life had led him to hear the warmth and ease that was thick within this man’s song.
“You’ll have to forgive me for using this on you,” He said, and Adrien would, he always would, he’d do anything this god would tell him to. “It was never my intention to force you into anything, but to lose my secrecy at this point in the mission could destroy all of the effort I’ve put into this. Although I will give you credit for your bravery.”
The man bent at the knees, keeping his eye contact with Adrien all the while, as he scooped up the discarded staff with a clash of scraping metal. With notable difficulty, probably because those red eyes still refused to leave Adrien’s and it appeared the man’s clawed gauntlets were not made for the sensitive touchscreen of the staff’s phone system, and the telltale sound of a photo being deleted from its software nuzzled through the soft cotton in Adrien’s ears.
“Alright,” he muttered with a small hum, grabbing Adrien’s wrist and pressing the staff into his hand. “It’s been a while since I’ve had to give a direct order like this. Usually I can just take what I need when they’re too blissed out to stop me.”
“You don’t need to be afraid, okay? I’m not going to hurt you,” the man continued, and Adrien listened like his life depended on it. “Nobody can tell you to do anything while you’re like this except for me, and I don’t plan on making you do something you would never usually do. This state you’re in won’t last for more than five minutes, and any directions I give you will end in exactly one week. There’s nothing to be scared of.”
Of course there wasn’t. This beautiful entity was being so kind to him. He’d obey every order, every direction he got, just as long as this angel would continue to let Adrien exist around him for a little while longer.
“You can’t stay for very long. It’s getting late. Your guardian will want you back soon,” And, oh. Adrien had said that out loud, had he? “It’s alright. It’s not your fault. You can’t hide anything from me when you’re like this. You wouldn’t even remember this moment if I didn’t want you to.”
Was Adrien…imaging it? That alluring voice was thick with disgust and hatred. But Adrien hadn’t done anything, he hadn’t! Could it be that his deity was upset at himself? For what? Adrien had never been happier than at this exact moment. He’d do whatever this person told him to. It was so much easier not to think.
The man grimaced, and internally, Adrien cried. “One week from now, three hours before now, you’re going to come back to this roof. You’re going to bring your Miraculous, you’re going to come alone, and you’re going to have a very convenient excuse for anyone who would want to take that time away from you. I want you here. Understand?”
Adrien nodded, eager to please. The man’s expression wasn’t getting any happier. Did he want something else from Adrien? He hadn’t asked for anything. How could Adrien know what to do when he hadn’t been told what to do?
The man watched him carefully, with a dark glower in his enrapturing eyes. “The truth is, Adrien, I’ve had my focus on your for a long time. I don’t know why your Guardian, the one before Ladybug, thought it would be a good idea to put both the Unity Miraculous in the same city at the same time, but that decision can’t be influenced now. All I can do is my job. And my job, right now, is to make you better.”
“The Miraculous of the Ladybug and the Black Cat are supposed to be equals, in every sense of the word, at all times,” The red accents on the wings of the bat around the man’s neck glistened in the pale light, and the man clutched at it ruefully. Was it the muddle inside Adrien’s mind, or was it…blinking? “Creation is much easier to adapt and expand upon, but that doesn’t mean Destruction can fall behind. Her power has grown. Yours must to. I’m going to help you do that. I’m going to make you a better hero, so I won’t have to do anything else.”
“And…,” Those hollow red eyes flickered, for just a moment, and his arm dropped back to his side. “On your way home today, you’re going to buy yourself something to eat. Like a snack, or something. You haven’t eaten all day.”
Sure. He can do that. He brought, like, five euros with him today. He can buy a granola bar or something.
He could feel his body prepare itself for movement, the muscles in his calves tensing and flexing. He hadn’t even told them to do that. He wasn’t even considering leaving. Was his body going to move on its own? Was that how powerful this god was? That Adrien would remain a prisoner in his own body until the order wore off?
He hated that idea. There was nothing Adrien valued more than freedom. But his god wouldn’t do that to him, would he?
“No, I wouldn’t,” Ah. Said it out loud again, had he? He didn’t even remember his mouth moving. Everything felt numb. “I would never do that. I’m not evil.”
“I don’t even know you,” That Adrien did feel himself say. But it felt cruel. Why was he being so mean? If he wasn’t careful, he’d chase this vision of beauty away from him. He’d never forgive himself if he was left alone because of his cruelty.
The man nodded solemnly. “That’s true. You did ask me to introduce myself properly. And I suppose it’s due recompense after I used my power on you so unfairly.”
“You can call me…” The silver armor clinked along the red accents of it when the man rolled his shoulders dramatically. “…Sanguine.”
Adrien blinked and, for a moment, came back to himself.. “That’s…kind of lame, dude.”
“It is not!”