Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste, the written words shocked Alya so hard that she nearly fell over. It's been two weeks since that battle she had with the akumatized villain Revelator. Alya knew that back then she learned something about Marinette that made her hate her, as unbelieveable as that sounds, before Mari instructed Chat Noir to erase her memory. "But," Alya thought to herself, "then how does my journal contain the secret along with 14 new entries?"
Alya read journal to find out the answer. Before Chat Noir erased her memory the first time, she suspected that Marinette intended to keep the truth to the grave. "I won't let her," Alya wrote, "Marinette doesn't have the right to keep this secret from the world. Paris has a right to know that the man who terrorized them for a year is dead and can no longer threaten them. All of the people that have been akumatized have a right to know that they are idolizing the man who abused them. Adrien has a right to know that his father isn't the hero that Ladybug lied he was."
As Alya continues to read her journal, revealing to herself secrets that she forgot again and again, her emotions shift from confusion to anger... then they shift from anger to horror. She confronted Marinette about this topic 7 different times, and each time she lost her memory before reminding herself by reading the journal again. And the days she lost her memory... those were the same days that Lady Noire was active instead of Ladybug.
"Don't tell Marinette," the last entry warns Alya, "she cannot be trusted anymore." The written words cause tears to fall from Alya's eyes. "You have to tell Adrien and Adrien alone the truth. About his father, and about the lies that Marinette fed him. And avoid Kagami and Felix at all costs, THEY ARE WATCHING US NOW!!!" As Alya reads that part, she quickly looks out her window and sees nothing... nothing but a single blue feather, and a red blur.
"Oh Marinette," Alya sadly says to herself, "what have you done?" The redhead sprints into her bathroom with a plan to stop this madness.
"Trixx, let's pounce! Mirage!!!"
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Marinette POV
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The bluenette paced back and forth in her room, waiting for when her 'best friend' would finally arrive. Felix & Kagami had reported that they finally discovered how Alya had kept remembering her secret, the idiot had wrote it down in her journal. "Honestly, what was she thinking! Anyone could have stolen her journal, and spread the awful truth which would crush Adrien!! Does she just not care about him? Does she want him to be hurt???"
Before Marinette could spiral further, Alya came into the room. "You wanted to see me?" She asked.
"Alya, you are one of the greatest support systems that I have. I know that you value the truth, and I respect that, but sometimes the truth is too terrible to tell! I know that you wrote down my secret in your journal, but this all ends today!" With that, Marinette transformed into Lady Noire.
"So it's true! You've been erasing my memory against my will!" Alya jeered at Marinette. "YOU LEFT ME KNOW CHOICE!!! You were going to hurt Adrien with your worthless truth!" Marinette shouted at Alya.
"Adrien has a right to know, Marinette. This is his father we're talking about for Pete's sake!"
"What good is it for Adrien to learn the truth? You want him to throw away his conception of a loving father in exchange for eternal suffering and despair!? He doesn't need that... he doesn't need any of it! What's wrong with that?! Just give him a peaceful lie!"
"NO!!! I'm sorry Marinette, but as your best friend I can't continue to let you do this to him, and all of Paris! Erase my memory, I'll just remind myself and tell him!
That's when Argos and Ryuko barged into the room from the window. The two blocked the exits of the room from Alya as Marinette moved closer and closer.
"That choice," Marinette said, "is no longer yours to make, Alya. I had Argos erase the parts of your journal that contained my secret. After I erase your memory this one last time, there will be no more arguments between us. Everything will be as it was."
Alya looked around at the situation unfolding before her. Then she held her head down and shed a single tear. She then shot a glare straight at Marinette, her eye still red. "Congratulations Marinette. You love Adrien the same way Gabriel did."
Lady Noire's eyes grew wide from the shock of what Alya just said. Her cat pupils became so thin that they looked like like black daggers. She tried taking a deep breath, she tried taking deep breathes, she tried holding herself, but nothing could contain her rage at that insult. She shrieked at Alya, before slapping her across the face.
Alya vanished in orange smoke.
"... what?" Marinette asked aloud. A moment past as she, Felix, and Kagami slowly processed what had just happened.
"It was an illusion!" Felix exclaims.
Marinette can't hear him.
"But how? Is Alya working with Rena Rouge?" Kagami asks.
Marinette starts to hyperventilate.
"Marinette, what do we do?" Felix asks her.
Marinette can't take it anymore, "SHE BETRAYED ME!!! I TRUSTED HER AND THAT BITCH BETRAYED ME!!! NOW SHE'S GOING TO HURT ADRIEN AND HE'LL NEVER TRUST ME AGAIN AND IT'S GOING TO BE ALL MY FAULT!!! EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS MY FAULT!!! AAADRIIEEEENN!!!" Marinette screams in agony as she mentally breaks down. Felix and Kagami attempt to console her, but she flinches and flails at their touch.
The two sentis helplessly watch as their leader is reduced to a sobbing wreck, trapped in the throes of self-inflicted misery.
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Adrien POV
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"Adrien we don't have much time, but I need you to you to promise me to believe what I'm about to say."
Adrien could hardly make sense of the strange situation he found himself in. First, Ladybug called and demanded Plagg bring his miraculous to her for a secret mission, now Rena Furtive pulls him aside to tell him something unbelieveable? He almost wanted to make a joke, but something told him that Alya was deadly serious.
"I promise." Adrien retuned Alya's seriousness.
Rena Furtive turned from Adrien, taking a deep breath as she did so. She then turns back to the blonde and delivers her grim news.
"Ladybug... lied. She lied to you, and the whole world about Hawkmoth's defeat. Your father didn't die fighting Hawkmoth, your father is Hawkmoth."
Adrien's eyes grew and his heart sunk.
"I... why, why would Ladybug do this?!" Adrien demanded an answer.
"She was scared of the truth's impact on you. If everyone knew you were the son of a supervillain, some might seek revenge on you since they can't get to Hawkmoth. But more than that, Ladybug didn't want the truth to wreck your mental health. That's why she... lied to Marinette who repeated that lie to you." Alya explained.
Adrien held his head in his hands. Ladybug didn't know who he really was. Marinette, Alya, nobody in Paris knew that he was Chat Noir. Nobody knew that Chat Noir was the son of Hawkmoth but him... all those times his dad spent alone, it was all a cover up for his activites as Hawkmoth. Why? Why did he choose Hawkmoth over his own son??? Was it... no. But the Miraculous Grimoire was inside his dad's possession. If he had that book, if he knew how to decode it, then he would know that he could use the Ladybug & Black Cat Miraculous to make a wish that would bring his mother back to life. Adrien almost threw up.
"Adrien, are you ok?!" Rena said as she used both arms to help him stand. Adrien couldn't hear her. He couldn't hear anything. But he did here a voice...
"Pardon my interruption, but I couldn't help but notice your anguish."
"Wha-what? Who are you!" Adrien screamed into the abyss.
"Who I am is unimportant. But what is important is your pain, Adrien. I suspect that you finally see the truth behind Ladybug's lies. I have been trying to reveal that truth this whole time, but she and Chat Noir stopped me. You... know something about Chat Noir, don't you?"
"No! Get out of my head!!!" Adrien screamed into the abyss again. The abyss smiled back.
"Why resist me, Adrien? Your crush betrayed you, and your love and friends all mindlessly repeated her lies at you. Let me help you, and the lies, the pain will stop. You won't have to pretend your father is a hero anymore. Just Let Me I-"
"Don't listen to it!!!" Alya, who had detransformed, screamed at Adrien while holding him. "You're one of my best friends Adrien! Please, whatever you want to do we'll do it together but not this! Fight it!!!"
"-ow, what should I call you?" For a second, Adrien was about to give in. Then, he screamed with all of his soul, and broke the free from the Akuma's grasp. He collapsed onto the ground before Alya caught him and sat him down gently.
"Wow, Adrien are you ok?!" Alya asked
Adrien, slightly delirious, looked Alya straight in the eyes and said "You're pretty."
Alya blushed before hugging Adrien tightly, "Don't scare me like that ever again!"
Adrien returned the hug. The two stayed like that for a while. Suddenly, the sky turned black and streaks of darkness began flying all around.
"What is this?" Adrien asked.
"Marinette." Alya responded with tranquil fury. Adrien's confusion turned to anger as he realized a truth unwritten. "Adrien, everything is up to you now. You have to be the one to reveal the truth!" Alya said just before being hit by one of the streaks of darkness.
"Wh-what am I doing here?" Alya asked Adrien. He, with fierce determination in his eyes, tells her "Alya, I need you to help me break up with my girlfriend."
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Alya POV
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"Journal Entry 15, Alya speaking. I haven't written anything in almost two months, where do I even begin?! Well, after you-know-who gave me déjà vu for like the 8th time, Adrien filled me in on the situation and we figured out what to do. Together, we confronted Nathalie and he made it very clear that if she didn't want to go to jail for life she would shut up and do exactly what we say. We then took a trip to the Guardians Temple all the way in Tibet, and let me tell you how PISSED they were when we told them the ways Marinette had been abusing her miraculous! Before she even knew anything was wrong, we blindsided her and her lackies with the rest of the Miraculers AND dozen's of guardians on the our side. In the aftermath, Marinette had lost both her miraculous and her guardianship... and her memories. After she developed amnesia with no explanation, her parent's institutionalized her. I visit her sometimes... it's sad. I feel that Mari never fully healed from the trauma of what Chloe did to her, and the superhero responsibilities made it worse. But maybe now she gets a second chance? But enough about the sad stuff!!! After watching the way Adrien carried himself with such determination and confidence during this whole horror story, I started to see him in a different light. We grew closer, but it wasn't like Marinette where I always had to do the emotional heavy lifting. To think that even after EVERYTHING that happened to him, Adrien would still always ask if I was doing ok! Of course, Nino eventually got jealous of us, even accusing me of cheating on him with Adrien... I thanked him for saying that, it gave me the perfect excuse to dump someone I fell out of love with a long time ago... Adrien's calling me now, today he's taking me to the fanciest resturant in Paris! Honestly, what more could a girl ask for?"
