We're finally getting some answers as we head toward the climax. It makes me excited and a little sad that this story will be ending in just a few months. Thanks to everyone who has followed so far and I hope you'll stick around until the end.

Also, was my name or this story mentioned somewhere? I randomly got a bunch of people favoring, following me and offering me art services in the span of about an hour. I curious to know where if that was the case.

Content warning: Secrets, guilt, abandonment issues, and loss of control.

Chapter 24

Revelations

Ladybug was doing her best to scan the outside of the Agreste Manor, she was trying to at least. Her thoughts kept drifting back to her boyfriend and what was going to happen to him after this whole mess was cleared up. He'd likely be sent to live with his Aunt but she lived all the way in London and they'd likely be separated. She shook her head berating herself for thinking of something so petty when there were so many other important things going on right now.

"You look a little distracted? Something on your mind?" Lance asked, bringing her back to reality.

"Not really, just the not so important stuff distracting me from the actual important stuff." He gave a small hum.

"I hear ya, there's a lot going on and it doesn't seem like anyone knows what's causing it."

"I've been fighting an unknown villain for a while now and even though I didn't know who I was really fighting or what his true goal was, at least I knew how to handle it. Ever since the rocks showed up out of nowhere I'm finding myself surprised at every turn." Lance looked thoughtful.

"That's Shadowfly right? The one Varian teamed up with?"

"Shadow Moth, and yes that's the one."

"As strange as it sounds I can kind of relate to that a little." She gave him a weird look. "No, I mean it. Me and Eugene grew up as orphans until we got tired of waiting for someone to come and save us. We got mixed up with a nasty guy called The Barron and while we didn't see it at first, he had a habit of taking in kids who were down on their luck. He was basically giving us an imitation of a family that we always wanted but he was also the type that didn't let you go once you were in.

"We had to rescue two little sisters who were even younger than Varian from him not too long ago." He sighed. "My point is, when you have no one looking out for you a helping hand can look pretty inviting to the point you can't see the red flags until it's too late."

Ladybug thought for a moment remembering how defensive Varian always was when he spoke about Gabriel. Was that what was going on? Maybe, but she also knew Adrien saw Varian as a brother which is why his betrayal hurt so much.

As she was thinking this however she and Lance both missed a figure sneaking into the Manor hidden in the shadows.

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Varian hastally shoved whatever he was holding into his bag as he backed away from the dark cloud of decay creeping towards him.

"Adrien snap out of it PLEASE!" but no matter how much he called out to his brother he just kept singing and now black tears were running down his face. It looked like he was trying to stop but couldn't.

"Hey what's going-oh crap." Varian whirled his head around to see Vee who had just snuck in through the window.

"What are you doing here, you were supposed to stay behind with the others?" Vee just shrugged.

"I had a gut feeling this wasn't going to go down well. Also I was trained by Knightowl who is the most paranoid person in New York." He looked back up at the still singing Chat Noir. "And she's right more often than not." Varian slipped his goggles on and transformed but noticed he'd never seen Vee with them.

"Where's your Miraculous? Did you leave it behind?" Vee just gave him a cocky smile.

"So you haven't figured it out yet?" He adjusted his glasses and out came his version of Ruddiger…who was a brown raccoon not a gray one.

"Ruddiger, let's mix it up." He transformed into a very different version of the Raccoon holder. He has a biker style helmet with the trademark raccoon ears and mask in the form of a visor. He has a brown and white jacket and his leggings were brown in the front with black and white stripes on the back.

Looking him up and down Varian finally realized why he looked so different and more modern. Somewhere along the way Vee must have gotten a power upgrade like Ladybug did. Likely why the googles changed form as well. He also noticed he had quite a few more colored balls on him meaning he could work with more than four elements.

"Careful not to get too close, everything around him is…rotting." Azeban frowned but kept his distance.

"It's the decay incantation." Varian's eyes shot open.

"But how? I thought it was a spell that only worked for those connected with the Sundrop and Moonstone." Vee frowned.

"You said you found some connection to the scroll in this world right? Maybe Chat Noir is connected in some way too." Varian was extra glad he grabbed his notes but that wasn't helping Adrien right now. "If you know this spell, how do we get him to stop?"

"We need to break the chanting, with Rapunzel they usually just knocked her down."

'Alright', thought Varian. 'We just have to hit Chat Noir without getting too close. Shouldn't be too hard.'

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It had been bugging Ladybug for a while now and again this wasn't something important but she had to ask.

"I'm sorry but have we met before?" she asked Lance with a thoughtful look on her face. "Or maybe there's another version of you in this world because you sound so familiar." Lance's face brightened up.

"You know that's been bugging me for a while now. I swear I've heard you somewhere too."

"Maybe-"

"Hey! You two!" Adira called out frustrated to see the ones who were supposed to be guarding the building with her were sitting around talking. Lance looked sheepish but Ladybug did look a little ashamed.

"Sorry Adira." Lance said, keeping a smile on his face. "I was just a-"

"It doesn't matter." she snapped. "Something's going on inside and we need to get there fast!"

Ladybug raced ahead leaving Lance behind as he tried to catch up. When she got to the library she was greeted with a horrifying sight. Chat Noir was singing this haunting melody as the area around him seemed to be decaying. The black of his suit seemed to be melting off leaving it white.

Perhaps it was the memory of the alternate world where Chat Noir became Chat Blanc that made her act so impulsive. She raced up and tried to grab him.

"Chat Noir what-" Thankfully before she could reach him Azeban pulled her back.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Unfortunately they were both still too close and they started to feel weak. Tanuki threw them a rope. He had been planning to use it for his plan to knock down Chat Noir before Azeban was forced to save Ladybug. Thankfully they were strong enough to grab it but they were having trouble hanging on while Tanuki tried pulling them out of the danger zone.

"What's going on? How is he performing the decay incantation?" Adira asked as she pulled the rope back making a lasso.

"I don't know but we need to get them away from Chat Noir now!" Tanuki exclaimed, reworking his other rope into a lasso as well. They managed to snag the two holders and were dragging them away when Lance finally made it to the library.

"Oh no, not again." He exclaimed, taking in the screen in front of him. Seeing Varian and Adira were busy helping Vee and Ladybug he quickly looked around to see if there was anything he could use from a distance. He looked up and spotted a stack of books on the shelf above Chat Noir. He grabbed another book and aimed it at the stack…and it missed. But the book hit the shelf which caused it to break sending most of the book shelf and all of the books down onto the black clad hero.

"Oops." After pulling Azeban and Ladybug to the side Tanuki raced over to make sure his brother was OK. Adira turned to Lance.

"A little over the top Strongbow but that should-"

"Wither and decay. End this destiny." Adira's eyes went wide in horror.

"Varian! Get away!" But the boy was already at his brother's side clutching his face as he watched the tear continue to fall. He didn't know why but he didn't feel weak or tired even though he was touching him directly.

"Chat Noir, (Adrien)" he whispered that last part. "I know I've hurt you in the past and even though we have a truce I understand that you don't fully trust me. But please, I need you to fight this, I need you to come back. I need you!" All of the sudden Chat Noir gasped and his hair and eyes went back to normal. The color was slowly seeping back into his suit and the life seemed to be coming back into his eyes.

As Ladybug and Azeban were coming to, Adira just stared at Varian. How was he not affected by the incantation? Vee went down as quickly as Ladybug so why?

Varian helped Chat Noir up as the two stumbled toward the group.

"I'm so sorry." Chat Noir said with real tears forming in his eyes again. "I…I couldn't stop. It was like the power of my cataclysm was just…leaking from me." Lance tried reassuring him everyone was OK and that the same thing happened to Rapunzel when she read it. Varian looked thoughtful for a moment before running over to a different part of the library.

"OK, new rule." Vee said, shaking the numbness out of his fingers. "No reading any spells out loud." Ladybug went over to her partner limping a little.

"I'm glad you're OK." He started to reach for her but hesitated.

"I still don't know what happened. I thought the spell could only work on the ones connected to the Sundrop and Moonstone." Adira nodded.

"I'm not sure why it happened but this can't be ignored. We suspected there was something different in this world that connected it to the black rocks but-"

"But it might be worse than we thought." Tanuki said, holding up a very old book and his notes. He set them aside on the table and ran over to another shelf where he put in a code that opened part of the wall. Chat Noir raised an eyebrow, he wondered what else was hiding in his own house that he didn't know about. As soon as he saw the book however, everything became clear.

"Is that-" he stopped himself not wanting to reveal that he knew about the Miraculous book that Adrien had found.

"It's a book about the Miraculous." Tanuki supplied as he flipped to the very back of the book where several pages were filled in with notes from the former holder. "I've always used the digital copy Shadow Moth gave me when I was researching the wish but something was off from this image." He pointed to an image that looked like it was burnt off. "Something important was there and I think I know what."

He then pulled up another old book and his crumpled research notes. "I was trying to see if I could find when the wish was last used and I came across a story about a man who supposedly sold his soul to the devil to resurrect his daughter. I didn't think much of it at first until I found it mentioned in another book saying the man spoke to the devil who was in the form of a black cat."

It sounded a little suspicious but black cats were already associated with witchcraft and the devil so no one knew why this tale seemed to catch Varian's attention. That is until he pulled another book with a tale of a woman claiming to be the girl brought back from the grave. There was no mention of what became of this woman but there was a faded image of an eye, one that was practically identical to the one pictured in the Demanitus scroll. Not only that it was accompanied by a torn page. Varian pulled up a copy of the page from another source online that had the image intact. Clear as day was the image of the black rocks once again pictured the same way as the Demanitus scroll.

"I…I don't have proof of this but I have a theory. The events in this story date back about 1000 years ago. What if when the wish was made the energy was so strong that it…bled into another world. The excess power of creation might have taken the form of the Sundrop flower while the power of destruction crashed and formed the Moonstone Opal."

The crowd looked stunned, no one more so than Adira. Ladybug was also going over his notes while Chat Noir just stared at his claws. Was this right? Were the rocks a manifestation of his uncontrolled power?

"That's…that's why my power can break the rocks? It's a raw form of destruction?" Vee was looking between the notes and Chat Noir.

"That might also explain why you could use the decay incantation." As the others discussed this new revelation Adira couldn't help but wonder why Varian, who wasn't the holder of the Black Cat, was unaffected by the incantation at all. She palmed the letter Quirin had entrusted her with just after Varian was born. Did Quirin know something? Something he didn't want the rest of the Brotherhood to know? She was tempted to read it herself but she had already failed her brother by not seeking Varian out immediately after the battle of Old Corona.

"We need to let the others know about this." Everyone nodded in agreement and decided to head back to the meeting spot to discuss this further. Adira had a sinking feeling deep in her gut. This time she hoped it was wrong.

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From his secluded hiding place Gabriel got an alert that someone had broken into his house. He assumed it was Ladybug and he was partially correct. She was there along with Chat Noir, one of the men who was at the school when Varian was attacked, the woman from the warehouse, and Varian himself.

He sighed in relief seeing that he was OK. Nathalie tried tracking the boys through their phones but they only used them for brief moments before disconnecting them. He glanced back at the room Nathalie was resting in. She wasn't doing so well. She had pushed herself so much while trying to get him up and out before they were caught by Ladybug and it was taking a toll.

He sighed to himself. He didn't know what to do. While he was glad to see Varian it concerned him to see he was with Ladybug and Chat Noir. Did he get caught? It looked like he was searching for something in the library but he couldn't make out what. He didn't seem to be restrained so there was that but there was also no sign of Adrien.

He would normally call the police but Ladybug had likely exposed him by now. If not to the public at least to the authorities. He hoped that was the case for the sake of the boys. The public would certainly react badly once the word was out.

As he watched he noticed something odd happening. Chat Noir seemed to be reading something off of Varian's phone and suddenly the area around him started to decay. Gabriel was alarmed not knowing what was going on when the camera started flickering. As the image was lost he heard one last line from Varian.

"Chat Noir! Adrien!" and then the picture went blank. Adrien was-is Chat Noir! He's been Chat Noir this whole time?! And Varian knew, how long has he known?

All this time, he's been fighting his own son…for his son's future. He started to laugh almost hysterically but he forced himself to get it together and called Gorilla.

"Bring the car around, right NOW!" security be damned. His safety was unimportant. The only thing that mattered right now was that his boys were in trouble again. He didn't trust this to an Akuma this time, he would go himself.

He just prayed they would be alright once he got there.

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The group ended up using a building under construction as a temporary base as they prepared to try and enter the museum. They didn't expect Ladybug and the others to come back with the revelation that the Sundrop and Moonstone originated from this world.

Varian was explaining as he was passing the books and his notes around as the others recounted what happened with Chat Noir and the decay incantation. As everyone argued and discussed this new revelation Adira pulled Varian to the side.

"Varian, I have something for you. I should have given it to you long before now but…I doubt it will ever be the right time." He looked at her confused as she handed him an envelope.

"What is it?" She took a deep breath.

"It's a message from your Father." As expected his eyes shot open and looked between her and the note.

"Wa-wait, when did he give this to you? How long have you had it?" He needed to hear the truth even if that might make him lose whatever trust he had with her.

"Shortly after you were born your father gave this to me and told me if anything were to happen to him before you turned 18 I was to give this to you." He looked confused for a moment but then became angry.

"If anything-The blizzard was over a year ago. Where the hell were you if you knew this was so important to him?"

"I only learned of his faith after the battle for Old Corona after you were taken to jail."

"So you KNEW I had been arrested and didn't think to come and see me." She turned away. This wasn't an unexpected reaction or even an unreasonable one. It was her decision that was once again hurting a member of her family and she'd have to live with that.

"I made a choice to follow the Sundrop for the chance to put an end to the Moonstone once and for all. I know logically I made the right choice but looking back I wish I had made a different one." Varian clenched the letter in his fist.

Why did she have to tell him that? If the Brotherhood didn't know about him then it was reasonable that no one had come for him. Knowing his supposed Aunt not only knew but chose to leave him behind for Rapunzel, the whole reason he was in prison in the first place brought back that burning flame inside his gut he thought he had let go of. And he hated that.

"I'll read this on my own." He said walking into a nearby room not trusting himself to not to start yelling again.

"Are you sure you don't want-"

"I said ALONE!" he couldn't help but raise his voice a little and he continued to walk away. "I'm starting to see why my Dad didn't want me to know you." he said bitterly, not waiting to see her reaction. He doubted he'd be happy regardless of what he saw.

Once he was finally alone Varian inspected the envelope. The seal was old but it looked unbroken. The hardened wax cracked as he tore it from the envelope and removed the letter.

He felt a mix of sadness and comfort seeing his Dad's handwriting and suddenly felt nervous. He knew his Dad was keeping things from him and here in front of him could be all the answers but what if it wasn't? For all he knew this was his Dad's final message to him. When he was locked in the amber Varian saw the message he left and was aching to know what it said. Was it the same? This message was written when he was just a baby after all. What could his Dad have to say that was so important he left it with someone and then never spoke to them again?

Gathering up all the courage he could muster, Varian began to read.

"Dear son, if you are reading this it means I've failed you.

I had hoped to be telling you this in person once you had become a man but it would seem the fates were against us."

The letter went on to tell Varian all about the Brotherhood and the Moonstone. It informed him of the fall of the Dark Kingdom when the rocks claimed the life of the Queen.

"Edmund was mad with grief and attempted to destroy the stone itself. I tried to stop him knowing the stone couldn't be destroyed but when he hit it we were both blasted back by a massive dose of power. The king lost his arm and was on the brink of death when he ordered us to leave. I thought I had escaped unharmed so I followed his orders and later married your mother. I learned she had become pregnant with you before she could even tell me herself. I had a dream where I was visited by the spirit of the moon itself.

It told me I was to be blessed with an extraordinary child gifted with a piece of their power for my loyalty. The next morning Ula told me she was pregnant. I thought it was just a dream at first but the night you were born you had a tiny mop of black hair with a little blue stripe that glowed briefly in the moonlight. I knew then it was true and I knew you would likely suffer a hard life because of it.

The Moonstone has chosen you as its bearer like Princess Rapunzel was the host for the Sundrop. I know how people can be cruel to those who are different or even seek to use them for themselves. I have told no one of your connection to the Moonstone for fear of losing you like the Princess was, not even my own family. I'm leaving this message with my sister Adira with instructions to give this to you if something were to happen to me before I have the chance to tell you myself. I dare not tell the Brotherhood because even though they are family their loyalty is to their duty to guard the Moonstone. After seeing how deranged Edmund became I feared what they might do to you if they learn you are caring a part of the Moonstone inside of you. So please tell no one!

I wish I could be there to guide you and help you through this but sadly I can not. As I'm writing this I keep looking at your bassinet and just watching you sleep so peacefully. I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much after only just meeting them.

Keep yourself safe Varian and just know that no matter what I love from the bottom of my heart.

Love Quirin, Your Proud Father

Varian dropped the letter in shock, mindless watching as it floated to the ground. This…this couldn't be true. HE was the true bearer of the Moonstone? This is what his Dad was keeping from him?

He reached up and stroked the blue strand of hair in his bangs. It had always been an anomaly, his hair. The stripe had been there as long as he could remember. He didn't know why it was a different color. His best guess was a mutation in the follicles or a lab accident when he was helping his mother in her lab. He even tried to cut it a few times but it just grew back so eventually he left it alone.

But there was no way it meant he had moon powers did it? He did find it strange the decay incantation didn't affect him but there had to be another reason. Shouldn't he have been able to control the rocks if that was-the rocks!

Were…the rocks here…because of him? Was the Moonstone trying to find him and if so…

"Oh God…is this…is this all my fault?"

There was a flash of pain as a familiar headache rattled through his brain. The same one he had when he was at the museum both times. When they revealed an art piece carved from a rock that came from the moon and when he tried to enter to find Alix's brother.

Behind his eyes he thought he could see a bright light trying to shine through. He wretched his eyes open enough to see something that made his blood run cold. The once teal blue streak in his hair was glowing much in the same way Rapunzel's glowed when she touched the black rocks at the battle of old Corona.

"Varian!" He was able to turn despite the pain and saw a second sight that filled him with fear.

King Edmund was standing in the doorway looking at him coldly with the original Moonstone in his hands.

The faint glow coming from the opal matched his hair.

To be continued…

Next time: Varian is finally revealed to be the true holder of the Moonstone. What does that mean for the current situation as well as his future? Maybe talking with the other Varians will help.