A/N Warning: The beginning of this chapter contains lime-ish scenes.

Chapter 5

Nine days left

Plagg was not happy when he arrived early morning. The lazy cat had been sleeping by the window and nearly fell out when Adrien clawed his way up the walls to his room. It took him several apologies and five wheels of cheese before the grumpy cat was satisfied enough to forgive his carelessness. He had thankfully kept a secret stash where he usually kept the ring as Plagg seemed to be such a glutton for cheese.

He undressed, tossed his garments and burrowed himself beneath the duvets. There was a strange sensation in his heart as sleep slowly overtook him. He was surprised how hard he found it to fall asleep. His head was swirling from everything that had happened, but what seemed to pierce through all his thoughts were a young woman, who had been holding onto him for dear life. He could still smell the sweet lilies that was etched into her skin. Slowly his eyes closed.

He had a strange dream that morning. He was riding Plagg beyond the walls. He was chasing someone, a lady on a white horse, his Lady Bug. He had to find out who she was. The landscapes blurred around her, there was an essence of lilies that led him to her. His Lady Bug finally slowed, on top of a large stone bridge. She turns, she waits for him. As he approaches, he can see her clearer.

It wasn't his Lady Bug, it was Mari, dressed in a clean white dress, smiling. They simultaneously dismount on the bridge. She holds out her hand, he grasps it. She leads him to the edge of the bridge, she jumps. Panicked, he jumps after her.

The water is neither dark, cold nor even deep. As he surfaces she waits for him on the side. The white dress near transparent showing every silhouette and curve of her body. He gasped, she is safe, she is home. He wants to go there, but there is a stream. He fights it. He wins.

He is breathing hard when he crawls up on the banks of the river, where she waits for him. She meets him with a kiss and he presses her close. The thin material of their clothes allows him to feel her skin radiating warmth beneath his fingers. He kisses her there and then and she answers with the same fire that sparks between them. It's the same spark as beneath the lantern, except the fire in the lantern flares. He pushes her wet dress up, he wants her to know how much he wants her. She smiles as his fingers move beneath the dress and the bareness of her scandalous but yet so tempting forbidden skin.

The dream becomes muddled, like muddy water washing over it.

"Adrien, promise me when you find her, don't forget about me." she says. He doesn't understand, because the voice he hears is not Mari's, it is that of his mother.

He woke hours later at noon, dream forgotten. The was a weird atmosphere of the room, it felt strange and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was up.

Groggily he got up, just as Plagg munched on the last of his fifth wheel of cheese. Today he was determined to find out what truly had happened at the church. Perhaps there could be clues among the rubble and he knew now that Alya would return to sort through them. He wanted to help, but first, he would need to see his father.

-oOo-

Plagg had not liked the idea of him changing into his Chat Noir persona by day, but it was the only way for him to sneak out of his room now and bypass his bodyguard. He dropped the transformation outside the Throne room hallways. He knew his father would be there because he had heard Nathalie say that his father had an audience with the Mayor.

The doors to the throne room were open and he snuck behind the guards to get inside. There were an unusual number of guards patrolling the corridors and hallways and he was extra careful to be seen. He wanted a private word with his father, away from prying ears and eyes.

He hid behind some pillars in the room. It was a large room with high ceiling and large windows. The large throne stood by the end of the room, where normally nobility and important members of the community would gather to hear the king speak. No such activities took place this morning, but there were raised voices coming from the throne. His father sat on the large throne, Nathalie stood by his side and on his knees were Mayor Bourgeois.

"I am sorry, Sire, but I must confess that I don't understand why it was necessary to burn down the entire Chapel. What harm could a few nuns do for you, they were only doing what they could to help the children of the town." Mayor Bourgeois said.

"The nuns owned valuable documents, but they refused to share." His father, King Gabriel, answered in a bitter tone. "I need to find out where the previous king hid his Miraculous, my wife never received it, but they refused to allow me to access it. Me, the King, could not be allowed to look at such documents because as they claim, only the line of King Louis of the Lily has the rights to."

"But surely, your wife could have sent for it. She is after all the King's daughter, like you said if the line of our legendary king can access such information that surely she could have told you."

"I am afraid that our queen is still very ill and her conditions have gotten worse."

"But Sire, rumours said."

"Rumours were spread because I need her to be healthy. Until Adrien becomes of age, I can only rule because she exists. And once Adrien turns 20, as his grandfather stated, he will be sole ruler of the entire kingdom. It's is ridiculous, all these years I have spent building this reign and the power of this nation, to hand it over to a mere child."

Adrien clenched his fists. The truth hurt, more than he was willing to admit, but he couldn't help the tears that trickled down his cheeks. It became quite clear, the years of being locked away, never seeing his mother, never being allowed anywhere near the kingdom. His father did not want him to rule, it was that simple.

"But Sire" Mayor Bourgeois continued. "It is still his birthright and I and all the other Nobles heard the old king say it himself. We have all been preparing for the day when Adrien will be old enough to claim his rights."

Gabriel laughed.

"Oh, I know how you all plan behind my back. This is why I sent for young Lila to come to the castle. She understands me and she believes I will foolishly hand her a Miraculous after the marriage. I simply need her to stop his curse from spreading then I will continue to rule. She is a powerful witch and once she works his magic through him, he will not have the will to stop me and my rule will continue through him."

"Gabriel, I will not stand for this. I came to ask to stop you for this madness, but I see we were wrong to trust you. The Nobles will hear of this and once they do, your time will be over."

His father laughed and the laugh was dark and menacing. "I don't think so, no one will know. Nathalie, be a dear."

There was the sound of a sword being unsheathed and Adrien panicked. The mayor squealed and made a run for it, but as if it had been commanded the doors closed.

Adrien knew he had to act at once to save the mayor and he rushed from his hiding place. His blood was boiling.

"Father, stop!" he shouted. Three heads rose in his direction.

"Adrien, I see, so you heard." King Gabriel acknowledged. "It cannot be helped, I guess you know now."

"Father, I won't let you do this."

King Gabriel laughed.

"You don't have a choice, my son." He said with an evil gleam in his eyes. He pointed at a butterfly brooch on his cape. The brooch started shining and Adrien fell to his knees.

"You see, I have the power to subdue you my son. Even if you know, there is nothing you can do about it. Once the Miraculous of this kingdom is discovered and once your marriage to Lila is complete, I will still be king and you cannot stop me."

Adrien tried to fight the shackles that seemed to bind him to the ground. He heard Nathalie step toward the now trembling mayor and he heard the thud as the mayor's now lifeless body hit the ground.

"You will return to your room and stay there." King Gabriel ordered. He couldn't fight it, he had to obey. And he hated himself for it.

-oOo-

Plagg met him as he stumbled through the door.

"What happened?" he asked concerned.

"My father, he… he somehow controlled me. I couldn't stop him." He was so angry, but there was nothing he could do. The mayor was dead. His greatest fears had been realised. His father was behind it all, and his father was dangerous.

"Calm down, kid. Tell me what he did."

"He had this brooch. I think it was magic. When it shone, I couldn't move. It was as if my body was cut away from my head, I wanted to kill him, but he had me down."

Plagg hissed. "It's worse than I feared." He said shortly and dug to where Adrien hid his ring during the day. Adrien followed.

"Put it on kid, and never remove it again. Gabriel has Nooroo's brooch and it carries the power to subjugate its users will upon anyone. This ring, your grandfather gave it to me."

"Grandfather did?"

"Yes, your grandfather suspected something like this could happen someday, so he gave me the ring and made me promise to pass it to you before you ascend the throne. Listen kid, this ring. It's purpose to this kingdom is even greater than you think."

"What, but I thought you said this ring wasn't magical."

"I know, I made something up, but it was to keep you safe. Listen, long ago all kingdoms received a gift from the magic of the world, a power in which would prove their entitlement to their thrones and a balance to their powers. They called these gift Miraculouses, because they each come with magic. It was a bond between humans and all magical creatures and for several hundred years. But many years ago, it was foretold that a great darkness would spread across the world and with it the Miraculouses and its creatures would die, one by one. Your grandfather decided then to hide his own, as this very Miraculous, is one of the most powerful one. I understand now why Gabriel has been looking for it."

"But, what does it do?"

"I cannot tell you yet, not because I don't trust you kid, but because you aren't ready yet. Look, it's not my idea, I have a partner you see, and she would skin me alive if I didn't do this properly. Short version for now, as long as you wear it your father will have no hold on you. But from now on, guard it with your life."

They both jerked as he could hear movement outside his room.

"Quickly, we have to get out." Plagg said.

"Got it, Plagg, claws out!"

-oOo-

It was the earliest that he had ever headed out as his alter ego Chat Noir, but he figured the guards would look for prince Adrien and not a masked being in black clothing riding a black steed.

He cursed his luck, because he truly had to be the unluckiest prince of all time. As he and Plagg rode back to town he knew he would not see the inside of the castle for long. He figured at first that he should flee town and get away for the evening, but all gates were closed. With the growing darkness no one was able to leave.

He hid in a dark corner. "Plagg, claws in." he muttered and the transformation lifted. The black cat, no longer black horse, fell on all four paws. "What should I do?"

"I see we don't have much time. Go find this Alya and help her dig through the chapel. Maybe the nuns' scrolls survived somehow and it could give us something to work with."

Adrien nodded and transformed himself once more, this time without his horse, but Plagg did not mind jumping on his shoulder for the journey and he jumped of right before Adrien had reached the location of the chapel that he would need to investigate for the day.

Alya was already by the chapel when he arrived and by the looks of it she had been working hard to clear as much of the rubble as possible. The poor woman's hands were dirty and she panted as she did her best to turn the giant stones over to get as far down into the demolition as she could. Behind her was a woman he did not recognise, peaking over her shoulder. Based on how she was dressed he figured she had to be a nun from the chapel.

"Miss Alya." He said, but not loud enough to gain any attention in case someone had a window open.

"Chat Noir, perfect timing. Could you help us with this?" she asked and grabbed the corner of a corner of a wall. "Rose tells me that this was were they stored all their documents."

He perched down and grabbed the other end. It was heavy, but the magic with him seemed to enhance his strength because he did most of the work of sliding the wall away. Behind it lay a destroyed bookshelf. The books had fallen of the shelves, some were burnt badly and some of them seemed deliberately destroyed.

Alya gasped at the sight and bent down to check the damage. The nun however turned to him. "I am Rose, sorry for not introducing myself, but I was anxious to see if anything survived."

"Barely." Alya said. "What are these records Rose and why would anyone need to destroy them?"

Both Rose and he bent down to closer inspect. "Oh, this is the records of the nation's history." Rose said happily." Some of these stretch as far back as the founding of the country."

"Why would King Gabriel destroy his own family's record?" Alya asked.

"It's not his." Adrien said. "It would belong to m… to the prince. The queen is the rightful ruler of these lands."

"Damn." Alya murmured. She had opened one of the lesser damaged books, but it crumbled beneath her fingers. "Whatever he tried to achieve, he succeeded." She grumbled, muttering how life was completely unfair. Rose had stopped listening. She gazed at another corner of the rubble.

"Could you help me, Mr?"

"I'm Chat Noir and of course."

By helping Rose he soon learnt where the important documents had been stored. However sadly, the fire seemed to have torn through everything. Soon the actual night fell over them and Rose had to go and fetch a lantern for them to see as the little light they had been working with had disappeared completely.

"I hate to admit this, but I'm at a loss for what to do." Alya admitted after another few hours of searching."

"What are we even looking for?" he asked.

"I was hoping to find some sort of evidence as to why the King burnt everything down, but I cannot present the town with charcoal. People rarely believe anything I say."

"Why is that?"

"I was cursed as a child. I cannot lie, but people think my truths are often lies. Most don't ever believe me, so I shout my truths out and sometimes someone will believe what I say. I need evidence, then they cannot take the truth for lies."

Adrien pondered if curses were more common than he would ever have believed and briefly wondered why someone would curse a nice girl like Alya. Then again, he was cursed because his father took over the land. They continued, hoping against all hopes to find anything.

Adrien was about to give up when he dug his gloved hands on something thin, hard and sharp. He pulled it out very gently and quickly recognised it.

"Alya, come here." He said. She followed suit and gasped once she too saw what it was. Rose, who could tell they had discovered something, joined them.

"It's a sword." Alya said. Nuns don't carry arms. This must have been dropped by one of the soldiers."

Adrien took the lantern and raised it, but he quickly lowered it and dragged both girls back. Right next to the sword was one of the soldiers, clearly dead.

Rose squealed and Alya put a hand over her mouth to silence her. Adrien bent forward to see if he could recognise the guard, unfortunately he did not. But he did note a piece of parchment in his hand.

Quickly he set the lantern down and took the parchment from the dead man's hand. He unwrapped it and raised the lantern close. It read:

Dear Mr Coulier

By order of his Royal Highness King Gabriel Agreste of Champetre, the belongings of this Chapel fall under the Crown. Should the members of the Chapel question His authority or show any signs of opposition you and your fellow guards will strike them down. All blood that shall taint the stones will be for the greater good of the nation, as false evidence against the King is hosted within those walls. Be brave and lead your battalion through fire and ash.

Duke Darkblade

Scribbled under this was another handwriting, which wrote 'liar'.

He gave the note to Alya, who read it and also showed it to Rose. The young nun's eyes grew wide.

"There was one soldier who tried to stab his superior. He was the one who spared me and allowed me to take the children and run, oh no. Poor man." She said and dried her eyes.

"He won't die in vain. I'm going to take these and expose the King for what he is doing."

"Are you sure?" Adrien was worried. Even if they now had solid proof, Duke Darkblade was one of the nobles close to his father, it might not be enough.

"I will try. If not, it might get me close to Nino again. I am sure he's rotting in one of those cells. If he takes me on these grounds, then I know this country won't be worth saving and I'd rather die close to my own beloved than by the hands of this madness."

She turned to Adrien.

"Thank you for your help, take care of Mari for me."

He wished he had something to give her, something more to help her, but he wasn't sure if revealing himself would do them any good as she had such as obvious dislike for his father. Instead he said: "I will. Alya, keep in mind there can be better days and if you won't end up in a cell and one day you will see your beloved once more."

"Thank you, now go see Mari. She has been worried sick today, she's barely been out the door and that's rare for her."

She turned, took Rose's hand and started to climb from all the rubble around them. Adrien watched them leave for as long as he could before he whistled for Plagg and headed towards the tailor.

-oOo-

It had started to rain by the time he reached the Tailor shop and the rain left a black watery mesh over the dirt roads. The air cleared slightly as the dark particles fell heavily over the grounds.

The shop was lit upon his arrival. He peeked at the windows and could make out figures inside, illuminated by the light of the fire. It wasn't Mari at the shop, but two unfamiliar figures whom he did not recognise but he could guess who they were. One was an older man, bent over a stick telling instructions to a younger woman with red hair that was braided and where the braids had been neatly tied to a Gloria around her head. The woman was working with a fine silk material, that she cut into smaller pieces. A mannequin stood by the side where pieces of the fabric had already been pinned on. They seemed deep in discussion.

But where was Mari?

He figured she had to be in her room, or maybe she was out on an errand. He jumped on the roof, Plagg dug his claws in at the sudden burst of speed. He landed on the small balcony that was connected to the room she slept in. The trapdoor was not locked and he carefully sneaked inside.

The room was dark, but by her bed he saw her. She was asleep. Her hair had been neatly braided to keep it from tangling and the remaining of her body was covered by a soft duvet. She breathed easily, completely unaware of the horrors he had seen.

Plagg jumped of his shoulders and shook the water from his fur. The cat walked of while Adrien stood watching her. Just seeing her calmed him slightly, simply knowing she was safe and felt safe enough to sleep was better than any of the herbal remedies his maids had ever brought him during nights he had a hard time sleeping. He wanted to stay, he was tired and would have loved to get under the covers with her. Shames be damned, he just wanted to be near her.

Plagg suddenly bumped his legs, catching him in his daydream. He looked down as the black feline nudged his head toward her wardrobe.

"What?" he hissed at him, careful not to make enough sounds to wake her.

"You should see this." The cat said calmly. Adrien walked over to where her wardrobe was slightly opened. A quick look and he stepped back suddenly. He couldn't fully believe it, but it hung there, plain to see. A red dress, with black spots to enhance some of its features. A dress he had only seen once.

Mari… Mari was his Lady Bug? This entire time, she had been her.

He wanted to wake her, he had to know, but his discovery would have to wait because he heard steps as someone was climbing the ladder up to the bedroom.

Adrien grabbed Plagg and made a beeline toward the other trapdoor, back into the night. His questions would have to wait for the morning and he promised himself he would return the next day and this time he would tell her everything. She was the woman he had given his heart to.

Nothing else mattered.

A/N: Please feed a starving author some reviews, and this author promises to always love you. No, but in all seriousness, thank you all for the response for my last chapter. I was starting to wonder if I had written something wrong:

Replies:

RebekMiraculous: I forgive you, I am simply happy to finally hear from you. And well… the honest answer to rate this M is from a discussion where I pondered making this darker or lighter, and for some reason every author reasoned I should make it darker. Ah well, sinful writer's are everywhere, but the real reason will pop up in chapter 7. You have been warned, if you think this is still too light..