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Chapter 3 — A Frightening Discovery

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Marinette was tossing and turning in bed. She was exhausted: not only had Monarch's attacks become increasingly targeted and dangerous, but the pressure of the school year, so important because of the Brévet at the end of it and the deadlines of her first commissions on the website she had recently opened, were starting to leave a toll on her.

But she couldn't sleep. It was as if there was something new in the air. Something scary. The only time she had managed to fall asleep, she had woken up after a few minutes, with her sight still clouded by the vision of a pair of fierce and desperate blue eyes.

Chat Blanc.

The memory of her Akumatised partner didn't want to leave her, a constant reminder that, even if she wanted to, even if she was starting to reciprocate the boy's feelings, she could never get involved with Chat Noir. At least until Monarch was defeated.

"Our love did this to the world," her Akumatised partner had said.

Marinette knew very well that it was wrong to trust the words of an Akuma victim, but for some reason, she couldn't not believe him. She couldn't help but think about it. Constantly.

And then... there was Adrien. She had said it several times and even written it in her diary: if Adrien had never existed, perhaps she would have given her partner a chance. After defeating Monarch, of course. But Adrien... she couldn't imagine a world without that boy. It would have been a world without sunlight.

She was reflecting on this, her body in a foetal position, and was almost asleep when a couple of well-placed knocks on the glass of her skylight made her jump. But Marinette didn't have time to say or do anything because she was swallowed by something black, cold and trembling that fell on her and began to hug her so tight as to risk breaking her ribcage.

"Wha—" she managed to say, with a suffocated whisper, but she couldn't finish the sentence because a gloved black hand landed on her lips.

"I'm sorry, Milady. I'm so sorry!"

Marinette's blood froze in her veins as her heart skipped a beat and landed directly in her throat. "Ch-chat Noir? What... what did you call me?" she stuttered as her hand motioned for the light switch on the bedside table. She had just switched the light on and her heart froze when she caught a glimpse of her partner's face—terrified, desperate. He looked like prey.

"Claws in," he whispered, and Marinette closed her eyes and uttered a cry that sounded almost like a squeak.

"What are you doing? Please, don't do this to me, Minou; say the words and re-transform! Please!" she begged him, but he grabbed her hands and tried to remove them from her face.

"Please, Marinette, look at me. You have to look at me!" The boy's voice was hoarse and almost unrecognisable. He seemed more than terrified. Scared to death. Marinette's heartbeat quickened in her chest: she had never heard Chat Noir in such a state.

"No! Why do you think I'm Ladybug? And even if I was, you know we can't until Monarch is defeated!" The girl resisted strenuously and managed to prevent him from moving her hands from her face.

"He told me," Chat Noir replied, sniffing. "He spied on you with the help of a Sentimonster similar to Optigami. He knows who you are. And it's not the only thing he knows."

Marinette held her breath at his words. What? This was a disaster! If Monarch was aware of her identity, they were in deep trouble. Did Monarch know who Chat Noir was, too?

"Please look at me, Milady. The time for secrets is over. I know who Monarch is—he's my father! He's doing all this to bring my mother back! He... he knows you're Ladybug. Keeping secrets between us could be deadly; he wants to... use me... to break your heart. And he's gotten the upper hand." Chat Noir's voice was so hoarse that Marinette realised how much effort it cost her partner to speak.

Then, her brain finally recorded the weight (and the meaning) of her partner's words. Monarch was…his father? Marinette slowly moved her hands from her face and opened one eye. Then the other.

And her heart stopped.

"A-Adrien?"

The boy was almost unrecognisable because of the messy state he was in. His usually well-groomed hair was shaggy and damp, almost sticking to his head. Marinette carefully inspected his appearance and the sight left her heartbroken: green eyes swollen and injected with blood; large red patches marking his usually perfect complexion; dark circles under the eyes; he was a real mess. Despite that, he grabbed her hands and brought them close to his heart.

"I'm sorry to tell you who I am like this, but it's an emergency. He... not only knows who you are, but... he knows something else, and he wants to use me to hurt you. I don't want to hurt you!"

She gave him a confused look. "What do you mean? What does your father know? And why does he want to use you? How can he use you against your will? If you need a place to stay, I'm sure Maman and Papa can..." Marinette began to think aloud, her mind trying to find a solution, but when she looked again at Adrien, the boy had such a gloomy expression that she could not continue; the words died on her lips.

Plagg decided it was the right time to show himself; he came out of Adrien's... shirt pocket? He looked at her with his electric green eyes, his ears flat on his head.

"You don't understand, Pigtails. I'm not surprised because my gamin can't formulate a coherent thought. We're in so much trouble. That monster knows who you are, and he knows your weakness. And he has the upper hand because..." He threw a concerned look at Adrien and stopped talking.

"Because?" Marinette encouraged him, but the Kwami turned his gaze from her to his holder and seemed to doubt whether to continue.

"I don't think it's fair for me to tell you, Pigtails, it must be him."

Marinette blinked a couple of times, more and more confused. "Sorry, but I don't understand. What did your father find out, Adrien? My…weakness?"

As the girl spoke, Adrien's face turned from patchy red to a uniform shade of the same colour as Ladybug's suit. And when he glanced at her, his face became even redder. "It's something my father discovered when Luka became Truth. He went to ask everyone what your secret was, and..."

Marinette's face went from pale to crimson within a millisecond, her eyes opening wide as her mouth twisted in a terrified grimace. She brought her hands to her face and hid behind them, longing for the ground to open under her feet and swallow her whole.

"Oh..." she managed to say, as she moved her fingers apart and glanced at the boy in front of her. Then she hid her face again, squirming on her bed as if she wanted to disappear from his sight. "I want to die..." she whispered at her fingers, but as she said it, she felt something push her fingers to remove them from her face and finally pulled herself up a little, crossing with her terrified gaze Plagg's annoyed one.

"Cut it out, Pigtails. The damage is done; frankly, it's the least of our problems. He found out about your feelings and did it in the worst way he could. It's your fault, after all."

Adrien interrupted him. "Don't be so harsh, Plagg; it's not easy!"

"Harsh? I'm not harsh at all, Adrien. This has been going on too long. And now we're in trouble because of her indecision!" the God of Destruction snapped, flying before the eyes of his holder and throwing him a grim look. "I'll never understand you humans and your feelings. It doesn't take that much. It's three words; I tell them to my cheese every five minutes. I love you! There, half a second. No... this one took almost a year! And she still can't tell you!"

Adrien grimaced at the words of her Kwami and threw an embarrassed look at Marinette, a deep blush dusting his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. The girl, caught off-guard, looked back at him, and her face became the colour of a ripe tomato.

"Behold. You both became lobsters. Exactly what was I saying!"

But as Plagg told them off, a red flash came out of the blankets of Marinette's bed and flew in a zigzag until it reached the black Kwami. Tikki glared at him. "Stinkysock, that's not the way to address people!"

Plagg didn't look very bothered at Tikki's pouty remark; he crossed his arms over his little chest. "Oh, don't lecture me, Sugarcube. If that monster wakes up and doesn't find his son in bed, it will be as catastrophic as me going in my camembert press and finding it empty. You should see what he's done to the others." He paused as a shudder visibly ran through his little body. "He's got them caged, you understand?"

Tikki sucked her breath in, her tiny nubs running to cover her mouth.

"Yeah," huffed Plagg, "and he's got two empty cages. Guess for whom?"

The two Kwamis exchanged a terrified glance, and then Tikki moved her gaze to cross Marinette's.

Adrien looked down at the words of the Kwami, but Marinette still looked at them, confused. "That's terrible! So not only does he hold you, his son, almost in prison, but he's done the same to the Kwamis, too?"

Plagg nodded and looked down, his little body flopping downwards. "They told us that he melted their Miraculous jewels into rings."

Tikki and Marinette both sucked their breath in at the news. "What?" they said at the same time.

"Yes. I don't know the details because the others feared we'd get caught. But…I've never seen the other Kwamis so terrified. That man is a monster. And, going back to what I was saying, you don't want him to wake up and not find his son in his bed. It would be a catastrophe, believe me!"

Marinette frowned. "Why? I have no intention of letting you go home until that man is handcuffed and in jail. I'm sure Maman and Pa—" she started saying, but Adrien shut her up by putting a finger on her lips.

"Thank you for the thought, Marinette, but it wouldn't do any good. You see... there's one more thing you don't know, and... sadly, getting away from my father won't help."

"What do you mean?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Adrien closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then a second one. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked straight into hers as he spelled out, loud and clear but with a shaking background to his voice: "I'm a Sentibeing."

Marinette and Tikki gasped in unison, their blue eyes opening wide. The girl jerked away from him and flattened herself against the wall of her room, carrying her hand in front of herself in a protective gesture. "What did you do to Adrien? Why do you have his Miraculous? Oh my God, he knows who I am! And Plagg, why didn't you tell me? Where's the real Adrien?"

Plagg gave her a stern look and shook his head while Tikki, who had understood the situation, looked down.

"Pigtails, the real Adrien is here on your bed."

The girl looked at the Kwami as if he had grown two heads. "He just said he's a Sentibeing."

"Yeah. Because that's what he is. A Sentibeing. From the very beginning."

Marinette held her breath. "What?"

"My mother and aunt couldn't have children," Adrien admitted with a sigh. "Father told me that Maman created an amok and placed it in her wedding band. My uncle did the same, and they created two identical Sentibeings. But the Peacock was broken, and that caused both my mother and uncle to degenerate and die."

"So, you and Félix are..." Marinette's eyes were still wide open; her hands cupped firmly against her mouth.

"...Sentibeings." Adrien closed his eyes and took a short break, gasping for breath. "Nooroo told me that we were created to be exactly like human beings. He told me there's no difference between us and a normal human being, apart—"

"Apart from the amok," interrupted Marinette, whose mouth had finally emerged from behind her fingers.

Adrien nodded sadly. "And if my father or anyone else has my amok, they can manipulate me at will, if they so choose, and..." He squeezed his lips before continuing: "...and anyone who gets their hands on the Peacock Miraculous can make me disappear with a snap of their fingers."

The last words cost him a lot. The lump in his throat while saying it was almost unbearable, as well as the twinge of excruciating pain that ran through his chest as he snapped his fingers in demonstration.

Marinette finally caught his gaze, and he stared back with a look so sad and full of pain that Marinette's last barrier collapsed. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

Which meant that Adrien stopped breathing. Not only because of the flow of emotions that embrace was giving him but mostly because she was squeezing him so hard that she was compressing his ribcage.

"Uh... Milady, let go a little bit; you're choking me," he had to admit after several failed attempts to get air into his lungs. Marinette snapped and pulled away from him, backed on herself and looked at him shyly.

"Sorry," she began to mumble, but Adrien interrupted her with a small smile, the first he had managed to put on his face since he discovered the cave under the mansion.

"I didn't say let go: I just said don't squeeze so tight!" He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close to him, wrapping her, this time, in a firm embrace, his face never losing its frown as he stared at her bed sheets. "I'm so scared," he whispered in her ear as she squeezed him tighter. Then he closed his eyes and felt the tears flow down his cheeks while deep sobs shook his whole frame. He started trembling like a leaf.

"Oh, Minou," Marinette whispered as her hand gently stroked his back. "We'll find a solution, you'll see," she repeated like a mantra in his ear.

"What kind of solution? The only solution is to get that ring off him and Nathalie!" he sobbed. "You don't understand. I was passing by Nathalie's room and heard their argument about you, Marinette. Nathalie showed a video to my father, which must have been you turning into Ladybug. Then he found me, touched his ring... and my legs moved by themselves. It was horrible. He controlled me like a puppet!"

He told her in a quivering voice what had happened to him after his father had told him off because of his poor school results.

"He calls an 'A-' a bad mark?" Marinette pressed; he snorted, shrugging.

"I'm used to it, Marinette."

"That's not an excuse. You shouldn't be used to it!" Marinette clenched her fists and frowned to give him a firm glare. But when she saw him look down, she took his hand in hers, making him wince and look into her eyes. "But it doesn't matter now. Continue what you were saying, please," she said, smiling at him as she stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.

This little gesture of comfort was all Adrien needed to throw in the towel. He told her, in between sobs, how he went to get his bag and tablet back in his father's study, and what happened after he found out about his mother's portrait. She didn't indicate that she wanted to break the hug, so he began to relax, aided by Marinette's gentle strokes to his back.

They remained in that position for a long time until Adrien moved, slipping away from the girl to look at her. However, merely crossing her gaze created new tears, which he couldn't stop.

"We need to discuss a plan of action, Milady. Decide what to do and..." he said as the fingers of his left hand began to fiddle with the ring on his right ring finger, his voice becoming increasingly hoarse, his tears running freely down his cheeks.

She winced when she saw that he was trying to take off the ring, and she cupped her hands on his right one. "Don't even think about it."

"But... I shouldn't keep this Miraculous. What if my father—"

"Don't call him that; he's not your father!" Marinette shouted. He frowned at her, so she said, "Legally, he is, but not physically, Adrien. Duusu is more your father than Gabriel Agreste." And that said, she crossed her arms to her chest, a pout curling down the corners of her lips.

Adrien blinked. Then he blinked again. Then his lips stretched in a little grin, and eventually, he burst out laughing. "Sorry, Marinette!" he mumbled in between chuckles.

"What's so funny?" Marinette asked.

"That you're right. I hadn't thought about it!" he continued, trying to stop laughing but failing miserably. "I'll have to get used to having a father four inches tall and blue indigo..."

This joke somehow made Marinette's fake pout go away, and the girl started laughing too. "Oh my God, that's funny."

The two laughed for a time that seemed endless. Then Adrien wiped his eyes and looked at Marinette with a smile. "Thank you, Milady. I needed it." Then the boy yawned, bringing his hand to his mouth.

"Maybe we should go?" Plagg asked, eyeing the skylight with some apprehension.

Marinette saw Adrien's anxious gaze follow that of Plagg, and she saw the tension build up in the blond before he tentatively said, "You're right." So, she took a deep breath and grabbed his hand, making him jump.

"No, please stay."

Adrien's face became a deep shade of red, almost crimson. "But I have to go home; if my f-Gabriel doesn't find me..." he mumbled and brought his hand to the nape of his neck.

She giggled. "Tikki's an excellent alarm. And I'm sure even Plagg can be helpful when he wants to be. They will wake us up and remind us that it's time for you to go. S-stay a little longer." She put her hands forward. "O-only if you'd like, o-obviously." Then she looked down and started fiddling with a strand of her hair as she continued, "It's just that…the thought of letting you go straight back to that cold room alone makes me sick. I want to hug you and make you feel better-" The girl froze because Adrien gave her a cunning look that made her goosebumps as it seemed to be a maskless version of Chat Noir. How could she not have seen that before?

"A pretty way to say that Milady wants to cuddle." He winked at her, making her blush to the root of her hair. She turned, took her cat-shaped cushion and threw it at his head.

"Mask or not, you're a flirt, huh?" she groaned, causing the blond to burst out laughing.

"Forgive me, Milady; I can't help it. The girl I love just asked me to sleep with her. Today was the worst day of my life, but it may become the best after this. Am I in heaven?" He gave her one of those smiles that lit his whole face; it made his eyes shine in a way that freed a whole kaleidoscope of butterflies in her stomach.

She pouted and twisted her hair with her hand to hide her embarrassment. "You're lucky that I love you too much to stay angry with you," she mumbled without thinking, but when his eyes lit in a mischievous spark, she put her arms over his head to push it down and almost pulled him over to force him not to look at her. "Noooooooooo!" she whined, making him laugh even more.

"Okay, okay, I give up, Milady. But don't smother me, please, or there won't be anything left to hug..."

"You call that giving up?" she railed at him, moving forward to hit him in the head and ending up riding him. When their gazes met again, and they realised their position, Adrien turned red and swallowed awkwardly while Marinette stiffened on the spot. "Uh, sorry," she muttered, but noticing her embarrassment, the blond stretched out his arms, wrapping them around the girl's shoulders and drawing her to his chest.

"Of course I call it giving up. Do you hear my heartbeat? You knocked me out. Yes, ma'am. Destroyed. Argh. And now I'm your pillow." When he said that, he made such a funny face that Marinette laughed again. She pretended to 'fix' an imaginary mattress and then rolled to his right, taking him in her arms and squeezing him.

"Mhhhhhhh, what a beautiful pillow..." She squeezed him harder. "Be careful; I might get used to it!"

Adrien wanted to answer, but the stress he had endured that evening, the fatigue already accumulated during the day, and the emotion he had felt talking to Marinette made his eyelids heavy. Marinette had also taken to stroking his hair gently, just where, when transformed, he would have cat ears. Combine all this with the warmth from her soft body curled up against his, and the cocktail became deadly.

Marinette smiled as she watched the boy's eyes struggle to open again, and when he was finally asleep, she pulled herself up slightly to give him a soft kiss on his forehead. Then she hugged him again, a little tighter than before.

"Tikki, Plagg, will you tell us when it's time for him to go?" she asked with a sleepy voice.

"Don't worry, Marinette. We'll take care of it."

The girl couldn't even thank them before sleep won over her.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for bearing with me and allowing me the time to recover from my accident. Your support kept me going when I was in pain, so thank you so much for that.

Here's chapter 3. It's a bit longer than the others, so I hope it can satisfy your hunger :) Yes, a lot happens here, and the following chapters deal with the consequences of it. Are you ready for the ride?

I hope you will like this chapter, and let me know what you think in a comment. Feel free to write anything; I don't mind any kind of feedback.

Just…keep following because the ride will be wild!

PS: because you've been so nice to me and waited all this time, I'm going to publish even another story this weekend. Stay tuned because, after the angst here, you will be fed something to cheer up the mood. Are you ready to read about poor Adrien and his misadventures with changing nappies? No? Well, sorry, but it's coming! (Sorry, Adrien, I promise I don't hate you…)

As usual, if you read this and enjoy reading, writing and talking about Miraculous, please join my favourite Discord servers, Miraculous Fanworks (for people on FFN, discord dot gg slash mlfanworks) and Miraculous Discordance (for people on FFN, discord dot gg slash QwgKdUhJNJ). I'll wait for you there!