The Forgotten Ring

Chapter 26: It All Falls Down

If Chat Blanc had realized his mistake, he didn't show it.

Or should I say, Adrien.

All this fucking time, I think on the verge of hysteria, it's been him. I was going in circles the whole time.

I finally gain the courage to look him in the eye. He stares back with unchanging coldness.

"Adrien?" I whisper.

Chat Blanc only blinks and turns around, continuing to walk in the opposite direction. "Why do you even care?" he grumbles.

I stand in amazed shock. This whole time it was him. My goal was to protect him, but he was way more involved than I could have ever imagined, and in turn, I ended up hurting him instead. Both of my best friends in civilian and hero form are the same person. Do I like Chat Noir the same way? Does this change things between us?

I shake my head to rid myself of those thoughts. Of course this changes things. Now I know both Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities. Holy shit, Argos and Chat Noir are cousins! And Gabriel Agreste is Monarch!

I grab my head and growl in frustration. What kind of fucked up family lore was this?

As I watch Chat Blanc walk away, I can only stand frozen with one thought in mind—should I tell him who I am?

Before I can make a decision, a burst of sound invades my ears. I quickly whip around to the source of the sound. Ladybug and Argos stand in the rubble of the Seine, debris and dust coating their suits. Argos looks mildly annoyed, but Ladybug looks pissed.

She stomps up to me, fury ablaze in her eyes. I'm a bit taken aback when I finally realize that hatred is aimed at me.

"You!" she points an accusatory finger at me as she rapidly gets closer. I feel myself draw back from her, afraid of her sudden outburst. "This is all your fault! I knew, I just knew that letting someone who looks like you into our team would put a bad jinx on us!"

I furrow my brows, a bit offended. "Someone who looks like me? Do I look that foreign?"

"No, you idiot!" she hollers. "Your suit! The white cat! Everyone says black cats are bad luck, but I'm starting to think it's the other way around! Every time a miraculous holder becomes a white cat, disaster happens! The second I saw you, I couldn't help but think you looked just like Blanc, a nightmare I never thought I'd have to live again, yet here we are! Third time's the charm!" She throws her arms out in exasperation as Argos slowly approaches the situation.

"Third...time?" I question. I remember hearing of only one other occasion where Chat Noir had been akumatized. "Tikki said it's only happened twice now."

Ladybug glares at me with venom in her stare. "Listen here, amateur, I've seen and experienced a timeline where he destroys everything. This isn't your everyday akuma. He is capable of involuntary genocide if he gets too worked up. He can destroy the entire world in the blink of an eye. And you were the one who got him to this point!"

Throughout her speech, I feel tears spring up in my eyes. These details only made it more obvious that Chat Noir—that Adrien—had deeper mental scars than anyone could have ever anticipated. He was so unstable he was capable of destroying everything and himself faster than even he himself could comprehend.

I glance behind Ladybug to Argos, who looks at me with a sorry expression. Seeing him only reminds me of how incredibly tangled this situation is. I finally let the floodgates fall, and suddenly my body is wracking with sobs.

My knees give in, and I kneel on the ground, hugging myself desperately as if it would provide comfort in this situation. "I know who everyone is now," I sob. "Both of you, Monarch...and Chat Noir."