When William suddenly grows ill, and the signs of his illness points to magic, Adrien and Marinette must venture to the other side of the wall to seek help from Adrien's father—and possibly learn some new hidden secrets while searching for a cure.

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When Adrien felt a sudden shake to his shoulder in the middle of the night, he expected it to be Charles at his bedside, asking to sleep with him again due to the nightmare that a monster was under his bed—a fear every child seemed to experience.

He didn't, however, expect to find Marinette nudging him awake.

"Marinette?" He groaned, still drowsy from sleep. He even thought he might have been hallucinating... which is why he reached over to see if his wife was still sleeping beside him... only to find she wasn't. "What are you doing awake? What time is it?"

"Adrien, something is wrong." Marinette whimpered instead, her grip around his forearm tightening.

At the sound of desperation in her voice, Adrien sat up immediately. "What happened?"

"It is William." Marinette whispered, her voice sounding as if she almost was on the verge of tears. "He started crying, but when I went to fetch him to change his diaper, he was clean."

Adrien propped himself up on one arm. "Are you sure something else is not bothering him? Did you try burping him?"

"Yes, I tried everything I could think of. He will not stop crying and... and I think he might be in pain."

In an instant, Adrien bolted up from their bed, all tiredness vanishing from his body. He ran towards his sons' shared bedroom, well aware that Marinette was right behind him. When he entered the bedroom, he found Charles beside his brother's cradle, trying his best to stop William from crying.

The moment Adrien entered the room, Charles moved away from the cradle, giving Adrien the opportunity to scoop the child from his crib and embrace William in his arms. Marinette pulled Charles towards her, holding him at her side as she worriedly watched Adrien fumble with their son... trying to figure out what could be causing the child so much distress.

"Are you sure he is not just hungry?!" Adrien asked loudly above the loud wails William made as he continued to struggle in his father's arms.

"He never eats at this time of night!" Marinette answered, "Besides, I completely weened him off of breast milk months ago!"

"Well then what else could it be?!"

"I-I do not know! Should we fetch the doctor?!"

With his mind too clouded to function properly, Adrien began to panic. What was wrong with their son? He had been fine earlier that day—happy, so full of joy, smiles, playfulness, and once again refusing to eat his vegetables. The boy had been acting himself all day and he wasn't much of a crier in general. Something had to be really wrong with their son for him to be crying like this, and Adrien couldn't even figure out what it was.

Could it be a fever? A sickness? Teething? Food poisoning?

With tears already forming on his bottom lids in distress for his son's well-being, Adrien began to lightly caress his son's head, as if that would soothe him. He was completely at loss on what else to do for their son who was clearly desperate for some sort of release.

And then he felt something. Something that felt out of place, something that his son wasn't supposed to have hidden beneath his blond locks.

"I know what it is." Adrien said suddenly, turning to face his wife. "I know what it is! Quick, pack a bag! We need to go!"

"Go?!" Though she was confused, Marinette immediately rushed to follow Adrien's instructions. "What is going on?! Where are we going?!"

"The wall!" Adrien quickly wrapped his son in a blanket. "We need to get to the Forbidden Forest now!"

Marinette didn't hesitate or question his decision. In a matter of seconds, she had packed their bags and had Charles by the wrist. Then, the family was rushing deep into the forest in search for the Forbidden wall.

When they reached it, Adrien effortlessly lifted his wife and eldest son over the wall. Then, he was leaping over it himself with William tightly clutched to his chest.

They barged into the palace a moment later, startling his father, the king, and his company when the palace doors slammed against the wall, causing a loud BOOM to sound.

"Son?!" The king was surprised as he stood from his throne... and appalled. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Adrien didn't stop as he barreled even closer towards his father's throne. The king's company seemed offended to have been interrupted, but Adrien paid them no mind. They were forced to disperse anyway when the king waved his hand, dismissing them.

"It is our son!" Marinette cried from behind him as she struggled to match his speed. "We think he is ill. My husband has reason to believe you can help."

The king instantly descended from his throne, almost floating down the steps in effortlessness.

"You have a son?" The king asked Adrien when he reached him, genuinely bewildered by that revelation. He spared a glance down at the crying baby in shock before his eyes lifted to Adrien's in offense. "And he is clearly not a newborn. How is it that I am just now discovering that I am a grandfather?"

"Father, I can explain—"

"You might as well shut your mouth, Adrien." The king said, pausing only to shoot his son a look of disapproval. "Of course, it is when you require my help that you show your face here."

"You have no idea what my reasons have been for staying away." Adrien narrowed his eyes at his own father, unashamed for the tone in his voice.

"And you can keep your reasons. I have no interest in hearing your pathetic excuses as to why you have chosen to leave me out of your new family."

"Could we please save the bickering for later?" Marinette interjected urgently, "Please, help us figure out what is wrong with our son."

The king spared a brief, apologetic glance at Marinette before his eyes returned to their son. He ran a hand over the baby's face, then over his blonde hair. It only took seconds before he pulled away, clicking his tongue in satisfaction.

"Well... it seems your son has a bit of our DNA coursing through his veins, which has resulted into a... transformation of sort. Congratulations, son. It seems the staff didn't take away all of your roots."

"Wait... what kind of transformation?" Marinette quickly asked.

The king sighed heavily, "Your son is becoming a part of this clan. Evidently, children born of the same blood are born like us. But since William was born half and half, he is experiencing a very painful transformation from human to, well... our kind. In all honesty, I have never witnessed something like this happen before."

Adrien glanced down at his son in worry. "Can it be stopped?"

Hesitantly, the king shook his head. "With the knowledge I have, I am afraid not."

"But there has to be a way!" Desperate, Marinette reached forward for the king's hands, which he took without a second thought. "You must have a way to stop it, do you not?"

"I wish I had a way," the king could only offer her his sympathy. "But I would not even know where to begin... and even if there was a way to stop the process, it could be more harmful than simply letting nature take its course."

"How so?" Adrien asked.

"It is only natural for your blood to take dominance in the boy. Taking away that part of him could be dangerous to his life."

"But allowing this to continue is also dangerous for his life." Marinette whimpered.

Adrien watched from the corner of his eye as his father squeezed her hands gently. "All I can do is promise around the clock surveillance. We will make this process is as easy as possible."

Marinette didn't miss a beat. "And when the process is over?"

The question was left hanging in the air like thick fog, because all three persons in the room already knew the answer to it. When the transformation was complete, William would become what his father used to be.

Chat Noir.

The king stepped away, allowing the couple a moment of privacy. Marinette turned to Adrien and asked, "What will we do once the transformation is complete?"

Adrien offered her an uneasy frown. "If William completes the transformation, he will become what I was. And if he becomes... that, he will have to stay here."

"What if we could stop the transformation?" Marinette asked him suddenly, "Or reverse it?"

"You heard what my father said. It will be impossible to stop it. And trust me, I have thought about it. The possibility of the using the staff again came to mind, but at what cost? We know it will take something else in return."

Marinette swallowed nervously, "Using the staff is not an option."

"I agree," Adrien said, "Which is why we have to consider the possibility of allowing my father to raise William here..."

"No! William is our son!"

"I know, Marinette. I know—"

"There has to be another way!" Marinette exclaimed, "There just has to be! There has to be something we have not thought of! Something we are missing!"

"Perhaps there might be." The king suddenly interjected. Adrien frowned at his father for eavesdropping, but the king paid him no mind. "There is an ancient text I have partially read before that speaks about certain jewels or totems that correspond with the staff. It allows the user to cast safe spells where the staff asked for nothing in return."

Adrien stared at his father, mouth agape. "So... you are telling me my ritual could have been performed safely?"

"I am not sure why that information bothers you so. You got what you wanted anyway."

"That is beside the point. All this time, you have been using the staff and releasing curses onto the people. Are we just going to ignore the fact that had you done so the safe way, mother would still be here—"

"Where is this ancient text?" Marinette interrupted, insistent on making sure father and son did not resort back to arguing.

"I have the scroll." The king revealed, "Unfortunately, it is so ancient that even I cannot decipher all of its text. Our language has greatly changed since the dawn of days."

"Surely there is someone here who can still read it." Adrien insisted.

The king considered those words before he snapped his fingers. "Perhaps I know someone who can."

A moment later, a young member of their clan stood before them. She was in her early adulthood and was an aspiring scholar for their future generations. She claimed she had been studying the ancient language and was practically fluent, and so, they handed her the scroll. She told them that the scroll held several enchantments that could be used with the staff, along with a different totem for each spell.

Specifically, a gem that was called 'gem de na h-uile a tha ga shireadh', which had the ability to grant the user one single wish of his choosing.

"Are you saying this gem actually exists?" Adrien asked hopefully. His excited eyes darted to Marinette's who looked just as excited. "The gem de na h-ui—yeah... that is a mouthful—could save William! We could wish him to be fully human!"

"I am so glad we are on the same page." Marinette said excitedly.

The female scholar smiled at them. "According to the text, it will work as long as you perform the spell before the first full moon of the new month sets."

"That is tonight!" Marinette exclaimed with a worried gasp. "Where can we find this gem?"

"You are in luck." The female scholar said as she reached into her tote and pulled out the magical gem. "I thankfully happen to have one in my possession, which I acquired months ago from a seller of rocks."

"Wonderful." Adrien snatched them gem out of her hand and handed it to his father. "Now, do the spell and wish for William to be fully human."

The king looked conflicted, his eyes drifting between their son and his son. However, he didn't dare insist otherwise. He placed the stone in the center of the staff, and they all watched in awe as it lit up profoundly. Then, saying the incantation in his native tongue, the king wished for their son to be fully human.

A bright light of green flashed, blinding them for just a second before it disappeared. Almost instantly, William's crying ceased. He looked up at his father and sniffled, his eyes close to being bloodshot red. Adrien ran a hand through his son hair and sighed in relief when he no longer felt the little lumps of ears forming from his skull.

"Did it work?" Marinette leaned forward to examine her son. Her hand came up to rub his rosy cheek, and he responded with a weak gurgle. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah... he is okay." Adrien let out a relieved chuckle as he leaned down to press a kiss to his son's forehead. Marinette leaned her head against his arm, her hand coming around his waist. On his other side, Charles was leaning against him. The family of four simply stayed that way in a moment of silence, as if repairing the brokenness that they had experienced while their son had suffered.

Then, Adrien glanced up at his father, his eyes narrowing. "And do not think for a moment that we will not be discussing the fact that you could have prevented mother's death had you done your enchantments the correct way."

"I did not know there was a wrong or right way at the time." The king defended himself sternly.

With brows furrowed in annoyance, Adrien opened his mouth to respond, but his wife placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look at her. When he looked into her eyes, it was then when he realized that now was not the time to try solving a new problem. Marinette and their sons were exhausted, and so was he.

For now, they needed to rest... and the rest of the world could wait until he was ready to face it.

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Bonus chapters 6 and 7 were originally going to be part of the plot for the second book "Forbidden Ecstasy" that was discontinued. Since I still had these drafts saved, I figured I would share them here.

Stay tuned for the next one!