The moment Adrien was told his mother had passed away, there was nothing but an empty feeling in his chest. It had been the castle's healer who approached him with a solemn expression, which made it worse, because his father was nowhere to be found after Emile's passing. He was comforted by the maidens yes, but out of that, his father was not there to share their grief.

The next thing he knew, everything stopped. The people around him, the birds flying outside, the clouds moving through the sky, nothing. It was as if he had been frozen on the spot. His mind turned blank as a fog appeared from everywhere around him, covering him until nothing was left.

And then he was moving again, but there was a different feeling around him. The tree in front of the window looked bigger, the grass as high as the walls that surrounded the castle. He was confused, how did that happen? Adrien ran, the fear creeping inside him more and more when he realized the castle appeared to be empty. But that made no sense, a moment ago the healer had just walked by, with people going up and down in their usual duties.

He couldn't find nor Nathalie, his father's right hand, nor the Gorilla, a big man that worked as a bodyguard. Adrien ran to the other side of the castle, the one that housed several of the attendants and their families, but they were barren, as if no one had lived there.

Adrien's hands clenched and unclenched as his breath hitched. Was he alone? All left alone in that gigantic place?

"Not quite," a voice said at his side, causing him to shriek and trip on his feet, crashing butt first to the ground.

"W…who- "

"Name's Plagg," a small black creature materialized in front of him "how are you doing kid?"

Adrien's eyes welled up. He was afraid, after all, this looked like magic and his mother had told him to always respect magic for it was wild and powerful. He had done that, he had been respectful of the woods whenever he went out to play, he would always mind his words, so why was this happening?

"In short, your dad was a prick" Plagg grumbled, then groaning as he floated around "I was thinking of fixing things a little but your dad is, full offense, rude."

"I'm sorry," he said "I don't know what he said but- "

"Save it kid," Plagg waved a hand, paw? At him "your old man cursed magic itself and that is a heavy punishment already, sucks that a lot of people got the heavy blunt but, such is life."

Adrien looked down. So, it was a curse, and to think he had tried his best to not insult magic. Had his mother taught them wrong then?

"However, ~" Plagg poked his cheek "my beloved counterpart offered a way out of this mess,"

"R…really? What is it? I'll do anything!" Adrien's eyes lit up. If there was a way to save everyone that was under the curse then he'd do it, no one deserved what his father had done after all.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you right away," Plagg shrugged "what would be the point then, but I like you so I can tell you this."

It was as if the aura around them turned heavier and Plagg, even if he looked small, emanated such power that made Adrien tremble.

"You will have to bear the curse bestowed upon your father, as per ancient rules dictate, but if you can learn from his mess, this place will be free of the curse."

Adrien was only able to nod.

"Now, you may have noticed that time has passed, am I right?"

Adrien turned to the window, where indeed he could see the gardens unkept, nature reclaiming the wildness that it was.

"I will let you grow as humans do; I think it's been too long already" Plagg snickered "although… you do seem a tad…small for a regular human."

"I'm this old" Adrien pushed his hands forward, showing six fingers to the creature.

Plagg groaned.

"Tikki! A little help here,"

"You know, when I said let time run its course, I thought he'd be a tad older" a red figure appeared right next to Plagg, causing Adrien to gasp "oh, hello there, I'm Tikki."

"H-hi,"

"I forgot humans age so slow" Plagg grumbled "now what?"

"Well, we can't let the kid be like this, my soul is too young to…"

Adrien blinked, amazed at the two creatures that were now discussing in hushed tones, until the red one poked the black one's cheek and turned to him.

"Let's see now" Tikki touched Adrien's forehead, a warm feeling washing over him "yeah, that should do it, at least until you are old enough."

"Do I have to grow more to break the curse?"

"Perhaps," Tikki smiled "in the meantime, I wish you luck."

"Not so fast," Plagg turned to him "I am not leaving it so easy to you," he did a motion with his paws and a snap was heard, leaving Adrien blinking because he had felt as if something had washed upon him, but his clothes were dry.

"Was that really necessary?" he heard Tikki groan at Plagg.

"Of course, we can't leave it so easy after all."

And so, they vanished, leaving Adrien confused in the hallway until he heard the voice of Nathalie calling out for him.

Magic, as mentioned, was wild and followed different rules. While they were not giving up the curse Adrien's father had caused, they offered a little help for the young boy to grow with some company, although not in the form he had thought, for several of the keepers and maidens of the castle had been brought back, but only their souls, as they were now attached to the castle and unable to leave.

As for Adrien, he realized what Plagg had left upon him hadn't been like what he did to the people of the castle, but maybe a little worse. During the day he would be his regular self, a human boy that with every year grew more and more into a handsome young man. But during the night, as soon as the sun would set, his body would shift to one of a hybrid. Not human, not animal, but a mixture of both. A creature with claws for hands, black fur instead of blond hair. Only his eyes would remain the same shade of green, but he couldn't bear to look at himself after he saw what happened to him.

And so, the years passed, with Adrien losing hope every day that the curse would be fixed, for he didn't have enough clues as to what had caused it or how was he going to fix it.

During those years, in the village on the other side of the woods, a young girl was busy, stitching together some fabric to create what seemed to be a cape.

"Marinette! Are you not ready yet?"

Marinette Dupain Cheng sighed, a strand of hair falling right between her eyes as she tucked it back behind her ear, her fingers moving with ease to finish the seam of the cape she had been working on.

It had been years since that little girl once questioned an old legend, as she was now a young, kind, fierce and beautiful maiden. She was close to reach eighteen years old, less than ten months to be precise, and in the village's old traditions, would mean she'd either have to marry someone or devote herself to the Church of Blossoms.

She huffed as she heard her name being called again, no wonder why, since it was to meet a possible suitor. Marinette hated that antique, archaic rule that cut short all her opportunities. It wasn't that she was against marriage, on the contrary, she did daydream about finding the right someone one day, but it was precisely that, the opportunity taken away by a stupid rule of time.

"Coming mama!" she put the needle back on the pin cushion she had made years ago and folded the cape to leave it on the bed. It still needed some fixing but she was confident she'd have it ready by the time her father had to leave to the next village for a trade.

"Sweetheart, you knew he was going to be here at four," Sabine Cheng sighed as soon as Marinette appeared on the doorstep of their living room, her hands moving to fix Marinette's hair, the wild fringe slipping out of place again "try not to be mean to him, ok?"

"Mama…" Marinette sighed but kept her face from pouting as she guided them to the room, where a young man dressed in a fine suit was waiting. She was not going to deny, the suit was well tailored, she would have chosen a golden thread rather than the purple, but it was nice enough.

"Ahem," the man cleared his throat, catching Marinette's attention "it's an honour to meet you miss Marinette."

Marinette tried not to flinch at the guy's voice, nasal and leaking arrogance that made her almost gag, but she did a courtesy in reply, this was for her parents, another attempt of finding a right courtship.

"Mister…"

"Theo can suffice," he smiled, showing his teeth, "I have to say, the letters do not do justice to your beauty and finesse, let us hope when we have children it remains the same."

Marinette counted to five in her head. Yes, she loved her parents, loved them too much. But this was not going to do.

It didn't take more than ten minutes to find the young Theo out of the Dupain-Cheng household, a fuming Marinette glaring through the window as the man left with his head low and shame hanging from his shoulders.

"Alright," Sabine sighed "he was not good- "

"Mama," Marinette rubbed her temples "I get it, ok? I know that time is running out but…they are just so…ugh!"

"I know," Sabine hugged her daughter "I'm sorry Marinette."

"No, it's the stupid rule" Marinette hugged her back "just… can we wait a few weeks before we try again?"

"Alright dear" she patted Marinette's cheek "how about you go take a walk to relax? You almost tore that guy into two a while ago."

"I could have," Marinette fixed her skirt "but I didn't want to wash away the blood of this outfit."

She sneaked out before her mother could say something.

Marinette walked towards the village, her mind still reeling from the failed meeting with whoever that guy was. Perhaps if she saw one of her friends she would have a moment of peace, a moment of not to think of the stupid rule.

A soft breeze blew past her, the scent of vanilla filling her nose. She sighed and kept walking. Maybe she did need to take a break.