Chapter Text
Keeping the truth about Gabriel Agreste’s identity had been a huge burden on Marinette’s shoulders. Not only had she had to lie to the entire world but what especially hurt was deceiving her boyfriend, Adrien. She always pondered how she will eventually break the news but the more time had passed the less easier it got. But maybe it was actually a good thing. Maybe she did what she could to protect him. It would’ve been an entirely different story if Ladybug had secured the Butterfly Miraculous but with things as they were Adrien’s safety was a liability. In addition his reaction probably wouldn’t have been the best, he could’ve even got mad at her. And rightfully so. But she couldn’t have ever predicted how the reveal would actually play out.
It started as a typical day. Marinette went to school (she was, of course, late) and spent time with her friends and her boyfriend. It wasn’t even weird when an akuma alert came up since the new Butterfly holder’s schedule of attacks had been very frequent. Things started going south when the akumatized villain led them to the Eiffel Tower that was turned by him into his lair.
‘’Give up the akumatized object now, or else!’’ advised Ladybug holding out her arm. Next to her were Chat Noir, Rena Rouge and Carapace. All of them looking smug like they were sure they already got the villain.
‘’Or else what, Ladybug?’’ a tall figure appeared from one of the pillars. Dressed in all purple, with big grayish hair and butterfly mask, her green perceiving eyes lingered on the small group of heroes. It was anyone’s first time seeing the new Butterfly holder and Ladybug had always imagined that it would be during a much greater showdown than a small, measly akuma attack. Nevertheless she was there, she stood in front of them, looking calm and sure of herself as if she wasn’t at a disadvantage.
Seeing the group’s frightened and stiff poses, she smiled and said:
‘’Oh, don’t worry. I just came here to have a little chat’’ her smile lingered. ‘’It would be quite nice to actually get to know my enemies. Wouldn’t u like to get acquainted with me?’’
Before Ladybug had said anything Chat Noir took out his staff and striked an aggresive stance.
‘’We are not afraid of you, mini Monarch” said Chat through his gritted teeth. ‘’It’s really bold of you to show your face after all of those atrocities you had commited. Give back what you’ve stolen and spare us your lecture!’’
‘’You wound me, Chat Noir. I’m here to finally have an honest talk yet I’m met with such a negative reaction. Maybe we could even find a solution to our shared problem’’ she formed a chair with the use of the white butterflies and sat on it with a humble expression. ‘’My name is Chrysalis and tell me, have you ever wondered how I got my Miraculous?’’
It was surprising to finally learn the Butterfly holder’s name after such a long time. Ladybug had actually never really thought how Chrysalis could’ve come into possesion of the brooch so she deduced that Gabriel could’ve had something to do with that. But surely Chrysalis wouldn’t just reveal the whole secret just like that. Maybe she actually didn’t know about it. Ladybug started to panic at the thought that the bubble she meticulously crafted could pop just like that. But of course, they surely wouldn’t believe a villain.
‘’Well it all happened after Gabriel Agreste was finally defeated’’ Ladybug’s heart dropped into her stomach. So Chrysalis did know. ‘’I was very lucky to find the brooch lying in the basement. It was quite dangerous with all the debris from Ladybug’s fight with Monarch. God it must have been so scary to fight there with that corpse lying in its coffin. But I guess Agrestes always been a pretty strange family. I mean, keeping your wife in a basement and terrorizing the whole city is surely a way to go.’’
The heroes couldn’t believe the baloney they just heard. What was she talking about? Only one of them knew the whole truth. Ladybug. Her legs started to tremble. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. So she did know the truth. And she wasn’t going to keep it a secret. Ladybug tried to show a brave expression and not get influenced by Chrysalis’ trap. Surely she could later dispel their doubts and explain everything to them so everything would be back to normal.
‘’Are you delusional?’’ asked Rena Rouge. ‘’What are you even talking about? What corpse? And what do you mean by the Agrestes terrorizing the whole city?’’
‘’Oh, I thought that Ladybug had told you. I thought you were all-in on the big secret. I mean it was kinda weird that you would lie to everyone so easily but I thought you had your reasons’’ questioned Chrysalis. After a pause she added. ‘’So actually only Ladybug knew the whole truth? How could you lie to the entire world, Ladybug. What do you gain from protecting Gabriel Agreste’s legacy?’’
‘’I-I.. W-What do you mean by that? I would never do that” Ladybug tried, key word tried, to explain herself. Surely her friends wouldn’t believe Chrysalis, a supervillain. She never slipped up anywhere. ‘’You’re only trying to devide us to get our Miracu-‘’
‘’Is it true?’’ Chat Noir’s demeanor changed. He suddenly became much more calm as if he tried to puzzle out what Chrysalis had just said. ‘’Was Gabriel Agreste really Monarch?’’ His mouth trembled.
‘’Listen, guys. As I said, I’m here to solve our shared problem. Don’t you hate liars? Don’t you hate when someone isn’t brought to justice? When the entire system tries to cover up their actions? It’s really weird that someone would just try to excuse the terrorist’s deeds” Ladybug’s panicked stare met Chrysalis’. Her cocky smile told Ladybug everything about her attitude. Chrysalis knew she won. She knew she figured everything out and is just waiting for the results. ‘’I know I did some bad things myself but I only did it to finally be sure of my theory. Rest assured I was always right.”
Ladybug’s patience finally gave out. She turned to face the rest of the group while still trembling. ‘’Surely you don’t believe what she is saying. Gabriel Agreste was a hero, one to be celebrated. He was simply Monarch’s another victim. He did everything for others, for his son, he would never harm anyone!” she wasn’t entirely sure whose words she had just spoken.
‘’Now it finally makes sense’’ Chat Noir’s panicked chuckle could be heard. He stared at his paws and asked: ‘’Why would you lie, Ladybug?’’
‘’Chaton, you know me. I would ne-‘’
‘’Then who really was Monarch?!’’ quickly demanded Chat Noir. ‘’Is this why you were always so secretive about that day? Because what? You couldn’t look us in the eyes to tell the truth?’’ He finished and stared at Ladybug with disbelief.
‘’Paris deserved to know’’ added Carapace.
‘’Oh I thought of that, don’t worry’’ everyone was suddenly reminded of their previous target. The akumatized villain stood behind the pillar with a comedically huge camera in his hands. ‘’It’s quite handy to have a tech-versed supervillain who can materialise any device he wants. I made sure that all the world could get the look at the their favorite hero’s true face. I didn’t expect for it to be so amusing.”
Ladybug couldn’t believe what was happening. That’s not how it should have been. She didn’t know what to do. Adrien will soon find out. She could see Alya’s expression on her face. The expression of distrust and disappointment. Chat Noir couldn’t even look at her. But what was she meant to do? How could she have prevented this moment from happening? The bubble had popped. Everyone knew. All the world knew. That Ladybug was a fraud. Will they think that she worked with Monarch? Will they think so about the other heroes? Her thoughts spiraled. She didn’t know what to say to save her face. It would’ve been so easy. She was accused of that by a villain. Surely she could come up with something, anything.
But yet, she just stood there. Too scared to move a muscle in her body. Or maybe relieved. Relieved that even in this weird way, the truth came out. She was free, free from the burden.
‘’I-I I d-didn’t, it w-wasn’t-‘’ she tried, she really tried to say anything coherent but the words she wanted to say just couldn’t come out. All she wanted was to cry. To hide in her bedroom from all this attention. So that’s what she did. She fled this weird situation.
‘’Oh, don’t go, Ladybug. The party had just begun’’ that was the last thing she heard from Chrysalis.
Swinging her yo-yo on the buildings she quickly found herself at her balcony. She slid to her room and detransformed.
Tikki looked at her with so much care as she started to cry. She could finally let go of all the emotions she tried to keep in check. Maybe an hour had passed and Marinette finally deduced what she should do. She was not worthy of being Ladybug anymore, of being the guardian, a friend, Adrien’s girlfriend. Not after what she did. Not after what had happened. In spite of Tikki’s protests the teen quickly took off her earrings and put them in the drawer. She saw that Adrien tried to call her. Poor Adrien, how stupid she was, she could’ve never protected him. He was probably so confused. But she couldn’t face him. Not anymore.
Marinette took some clothes, put them into a pink backpack and snatched some money from her piggy bank. Before leaving she glazed at her room one last time and said: ‘’I’m sorry’’ as if thinking that Tikki could hear her. That she would forgive her for being a disappoinment.