Hello! I hope you are all have a good weekend and a good life so far. I am happy I have had some free time to work on this. I hope you are ready for some fun with historical fiction! There i a lot of play on history, don't take what you see in here for perfect fact, but if it intrigues you, go look it up! French History is quite fun. (# nerd life) Any way, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I am sorry I have not responded to everyone who has commented. I will get back to you, I promise! And please continue to comment. I love hearing all your thoughts and questions. When an author gets to hear from their audience, they can grow so much.

Love you all,

Traditional Twist

Chapter 10

"Sir Gregor Hurcle?" Adrien repeated.

The talk knight lifted his head and stared back at the the teen. "Yes, that is I."

"Gregor!" Plagg shrieked. "How on earth did he get cursed? He may have been the nicest Chat Noir ever!"

Adrien side eyed the black cat. "Really?"

"Oh get over yourself," Plagg huffed. "But seriously, Gregor was one of the most accomplished, honorable, and loyal knights of all time.

"Honor and loyalty don't protect you from the curse," the knight sighed.

"Then are all Chats cursed?" Adrien's heart sank. If a knight could be kind and still be cursed, then he would truly be out of luck.

"Who are you talking to?" Marinette asked.

"Shh," Plagg landed on the girl's shoulder. "Gregor is a noble man. Let him and Adrien talk."

"I am cursed, and it is because I cursed myself. My partner was someone famous. You may know her as Joan of Arc."

"Joan of Arc was a ladybug?" Adrien's eyes filled with shock.

"Joan of Arc? Adrien what is happening?" Marinette placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder. She knew for a fact that Adrien was talking to someone. After Tikki had lead her and Alya to hieroglyphics about Ladybug during ancient egypt, Marinette had asked more about forer Ladybugs. She had found out that Joan of Arc, as in fact Ladybug.

"Sir Gregor was Joan of Arc's Chat Noir." The blonde answered without turning from the knight. "I don't understand how you could be cursed. We know Joan of Arc. We read about her in the history books."

"Not the true history. I was fearful and selfish. After defeating the English, her miraculous wore off. Her spotted armor fell and she was revealed to be a young woman. I stood beside her, trying to convince my other knights to let her leave with no harm, but they charged. She did the one thing she could think to do, which was remove her miraculous and give them to me. I wanted to stay and fight the ungrateful men who dare oppose the one who lead France to victory, but she said there was no time. It was save the miraculous, or save Joan. She told me to choose the miraculous, and I did. I fled, and left her to be captured, raped, and eventually burned.

The somber tone in the former Chat's voice filled Adrien's heart. "You loved her, didn't you?"

Gregor nodded. "I loved her, and never told her. I tried to rescue her, but I wasn't able to make it there in time. I should have been less worried about myself getting caught. I should have charged the cell where she was being held, and cataclysmed it. I could have rescued the love of my life, instead of watching her burn while others cheered."

Adrien's eyes glossed over. "You can't blame yourself for the situation."

"I do blame myself. I blame myself for not protecting Joan. I lived the rest of my life alone, and angry. Without the love of my life, I filled my heart with dark thoughts and hate. That is why, I am here."

"Wait, you're cursed because you blame yourself for not protecting Ladybug?" The blonde started to reflect on himself. Did he blame himself for not helping his Lady?"

"The crap, Gregor!" Plagg shouted. "You had a horrible decision. You had to do what the world needed. You saved the miraculouses. Those powers can not end up in the wrong hands. The guardian explained that what you did was right!"

"You can give Plagg my thanks, but that is not why I am cursed. I'm cursed because I was never able to express to her how I truly felt. If I would have saved her, I would have been able to confess my love to her."

"That must be why I am cursed too," Adrien lowered his head. "I've tried to tell her I love her, but I can't seem to let her know."

"Adrien, you love Ladybug?" Marinette asked aloud.

The blonde nodded. "I… I'm sorry Marinette. I realize you may like me, but I can't deny my feelings. It also looks like it may be the reason I am cursed now too."

"Adrien loves… Ladybug!" Marinette's mind was spinning. Adrien, who was also Chat Noir, loved Ladybug. She loved Adrien. This was all too good to be true! Except, she frowned, he didn't know she was Ladybug. This was the most horrible situation to be in. She wasn't going to let herself be known by Adrien and who ever these invisible Chat Noir's were. Would confessing to Adrien ix his curse? Could it really be this simple?

"You, ninth life, have an opportunity to help us all," Gregor stated.

"Me?" Adrien asked. "How can I help everyone?"

"No one else has been aware of their curse until they had passed. When you managed to die in one timeline, but not in another, a rare opportunity had opened up. You carry the burden of releasing all the lives trapped in this ring. We can all move out of the limbo we have trapped ourselves in. We have fated ourselves because we could not accept, or admit our love to Ladybug. As far as I am concerned, we have doomed ourselves, and wish to not see you in this fate as well."

"So all I have to do is confess my love to Ladybug and I can free everyone?" Adrien's face lit up. He could do this.

"Oh great," Plagg moaned. "Like you will get the ability to confess to her? How will you get that bug to listen?"

You have to do more than just confess," Gregor told Adrien. "You must do what none of us were able to do. You must win her heart."

"Win her heart?" Adrien repeated.

"Yes. You must get Ladybug to fall in love with you. If you can not persuade her to love you, then we can not be freed, and the monster inside this ring will have the ability to escape, as long as you live." Gregos eyes were dark. His voice dropped and the serious look on his face was terrifying.

"What monster?"

"His name is Marquise, and he has no mercy." Gregor pointed to Plagg. "Perhaps you should ask him to explain who he is. I am here as the place holder. I will stand guard and protect you at night. The rest of the Chat Noir's are fighting to keep him restrained. He may never leave the ring."

"What makes Marquise so dangerous?" Adrien asked.

Plagg shuttered. "This is the darkest part of my life. I hoped I would never have to explain who Marquise was to any of my kittens."

"What happened?" Marinete asked. "I know Adrine keeps mentioning him. I can only assume he was once a Cha Noir. Isn't Chat Noir a hero? How could he turn out so bad."

"He was once a Chat Noir, but he was never a hero," Plagg corrected. "He was a horrible person, who somehow found the miraculous while grave robbing. He donned the ring, and the destructive power filled every dark corner of him. He began to kill everyone he could for the months he held the ring. It was a dark time in France from 1793 to 1794."

"1793 to 1794, wasn't that during the revolution?" Adrien thought out loud. "Wait, this wasn't the Reign of Terror, was it?"

The black cat nodded his head. "He was truly a monster. Everyone was terrified at that time. Ladybug and the Republic at the time worked hard to hide the fact that it was Chat Noir killing the thousands of people, by trying to make this a bloody executions It is hard to believe that over 16,000 people were killed by jut execution. Magic was involved in most of that tragedy."

"Then how did they stop him?" Marinette asked.

"Ladybug had to do something none of her previous selves had ever had to do. She had to kill Chat Noir."

The room fell silent. Marinette was lost in thought. She couldn't imagine killing her partner, especially now that she knew that he was Adrien."

Adrien had fallen into deep thought. For several minutes he sat frowning and pensive. "If Marquise ever comes out, is there a way I can protect us?" He turned his head back towards Sir Gregor.

The knight nodded slightly. "If you are fast, you can transform into Chat Noir. None of us can come out when you are using the ring."

Adrien frowned. "Why do I feel like you are not telling me everything."

"The other Chat Noir's and I, we have a greater fear than if this were to be released as I am in front of you. If you ever become too emotionally, or physically weak, possession may be in play. As you can tell, some of the Chat Noir's take this situation more seriously than others. I know you would hate to lose control over your body, but if it is to prevent Marquise from emerging, one of will posses you."

"I don't want to be possessed!" Adrien cried.

"Possessed?" Marinette started at Adrien. This whole conversation was so strange. She wished she could hear and talk to Sir Gregor as well.

"There is a possibility I could be possessed," Adrien shuttered. "I won't let that happen.

"Then you must win over Ladybugs heart. If you don't, then you will not be able to lift this curse." Gregor said.

"I will win Ladybug's heart! I am going to woo her, and she will be mine." Adrine gripped his fists in determination.

Suddenly , a shout from down stairs. Stirred the room. "Marinette, it is late. You need to go to bed. Did Chat Noir leave." The sound of footsteps began to move upstairs. Sabine was making her way up to her daughter's bedroom.

The bluenette stared at Adrien with an equally paranoid look. "Quick change into Chat Noir!"

"If you transform, I will not be able to watch over you," Gregor informed Adrien.

"What!" Adrien began to panic. "If I transform Gregor disappears, and I don't know which Chat will come out next."

Blue eyes darted around the room. She had to hide Adrien, fast. Tikki poked an antenna out of the teens purse and pointed up towards the bed. Of course! She grabbed Adrien and dragged him to her bed. "Get up on the bed and hide behind the cat pillow!"

Adrien didn't question her. He scurried up the ladder, placed himself under the blanket, and placed the giant cat pillow over his body. He had moved at the right speed, because just as the pillow had halted movement, he heard the floor door open.

"Hey, mom."