Chapter Text
The voice was distant, like static through a heavy rain. it buzzed and fizzed like static in a storm as she listened for it, felt for it.
It was….. something . A pounding in her chest, like the deep thrum of crashing waves. The roar of a storm above like thundering drums in her ears.
It was calling to her. tempting her. Prying at her mind and body.
It would empower her.
It would ruin her.
All she needed to do, was take it.
Staring into the swirling waters, she felt the pull, the tug, the temptation. It was there, tempting her. Enormous, and yet minuscule at the same time.
It wanted her.
The sea rocked beneath her feet as she considered it. Considered what taking it would mean. Considered if she desired it, as it desired her.
“-ake- -lre-! -lo!?”
A buzzing in her ear. Insignificant, unimportant, compared to the choice she would need to make.
The power beckoned her. It was always hers, after all. Before the buzzing static, like bees in a hive. Before the tumultuous storm, it was there. They had just given it form to reach for her.
“-ot let any- -ou, US, l- is! Ge- -p!”
Slowly, she crouched, eying the massive thing in the deep, eying what made it.
Connections, and ties. Rules and laws and things, made to drag others down to its level. To take from others anything it wished.
As she stared at the connections , reaching out, preparing to take it…
“-take WAY too much joy from this!”
CLONK!
—----------
Chloé yelped as she shot up from the deep sleep that had taken her, rubbing at her head with a whine as she felt the forming bruise, eyes closed with pain as she felt around for what had hit her.
It was… a box? Small, but hefty…
Opening it, Chloé discovered it was a shoebox, containing platform boots she had gotten when they were in style, then never used again. Had they taken umbrage with being left in the depths of the closet, forgotten in the dark?
No, Chloé suspected it had something to do with the only other awake being in this closet.
“Bout time you woke up.” Wrath snapped, eyes alight with indignant fury from where she floated near the top shelf, a shelf mysteriously absent a shoebox. “Get your shit together, people are going to start looking for you soon, and I refuse to let them see us in this pathetic state.”
“D… did you just hit me in the head with a shoebox?” Chloé asked, incredulous, as Wrath snorted, shaking her head.
“Not important right now, Blonde,” The blonde spirit said back, scowling at her. “Your ass. In gear. Before someone comes looking and sees this pathetic mess.” She snorted, making Chloé look around again.
A slowly growing blush came to her face as she remembered crawling in here, nearly literally dead tired and yet unable to sleep. A memory had drawn her into this closet, a memory of comfort.
In truth, with the soft carpet, the silky dresses, and the cuddling warmth of her still sleeping Kwamii, It felt just as comfortable here as her bed.
Still…
“You sure you aren't Pride, with how you're acting?” Chloé asked dryly as she stood, gently moving the sleeping Kwamii so they wouldn't wake as she walked out of the closet, Wrath close behind her, as she looked at the window.
Dawn, or near about. She had been sleeping for most of the day…
“Our butler came in and saw us. He’s kept everyone else out since.” Wrath said, her voice an indignant snarl as she floated around to glare into Chloé’s eyes. “Speaking. Of. That shit? Crawling into that little spot right there? It never happens again.”
“I don't think you're in control of that.” Chloé shot back, though internally she was cringing at how weak it seemed. To lose herself in childhood memories like that…
She could see why Wrath was disgusted with her.
“Never. Again.” Wrath intoned, dead serious, before turning. “Get your shit, an early breakfast will cure what ails you. I’ll get the doors.” The parasitic spirit said, making Chloé blink in surprise.
“Why…?”
“Because if I leave you to do this shit, you're going to look weak, stumbling around on your crutches.” Wrath shot back. “And Chloé Bourgeois Isn't. Weak.”
Another point in her favor, Chloé couldn't help but admit internally. She had always hated people who claimed weakness wouldn't let them do something. After all, if they were weak, they could grow stronger, better, do something rather than just give up and take it.
A part of her had always hated Adrien for that weakness in him, though it was like a single grain of sand in the beach of her love for her brother.
And now that she was acting weak…
Well, Wrath wouldn't let her settle in that weakness.
“Thanks.” Chloé said, not wanting to say more, and Wrath not wanting to hear it as she gathered up her crutches, and set to walking, making her way towards the elevator to take her downstairs.
If she had paid more attention, she would have noticed the tiny, almost insignificant trail of drops following behind her. Light stains marring the carpet that would evaporate before she was even done with breakfast.
Water. But, with an odd scent. A mix of Sea and Rain, distinct, but somehow mixing. Separate, but together.
Connected.
—------------
“Uh… Chloé…?” Zoe asked, walking into the dining room with surprise clear in her face as she saw the table. Full of breakfast foods to pick and choose from, a smorgashboard of options.
And at least half of them were vanishing down her sister’s throat.
“I have had nothing but stew,” Chloé started, before taking a bite from an apple and downing it swiftly. “And oatmeal, for weeks. I am feeling better, even if my balance is unsteady, and I will eat what I goddamn please.” She said, the swear slipping from her mouth and leaving Zoe gobsmacked even as she continued to eat, refueling her energy as best she could from the absolute bottoming out she had gotten yesterday using Flikka.
Energy intensive was no joke, when it came to the Conflict series. Where Slipp had nearly brought her back to full health on his own, Flikka had taken one day to send her back to a stumbling mess.
But….
That didnt mean she didn't enjoy it.
Chloé considered her options as she shoved a piece of ham in her mouth, barely bothering to cut it in the privacy of her own home like this, with no windows for paparazzi to spy through. And with how empty she felt, this seemed like a good way to get her energy back quickly.
“Are you sure you don't have a tapeworm or something?” Zoe asked slowly, seeing the mound of food Chloé was demolishing, a bit taken aback by the sheer hunger on display.
“Healing takes a lot of energy, and I've been starved of good food. For weeks.”Chloé scoffed. “They did their best with stew, but I can barely eat that normally, let alone when I feel like I'm dying.” She huffed. “Now, pass me that grapefruit, would you?” She politely requested, looking at the half of grapefruit Zoe had cut her own breakfast from.
Oddly amused, Zoe acquiesced, pushing the half-a-grapefruit, the size of a small plate, to Chloé, and watching her demolish it with a singular raised eyebrow.
“Where are you even putting it all?” She asked her sister, getting a smirk from Chloé.
“A modeling secret I learned from Adrien~” She said, smiling as Zoe leaned in.
“Share?”
“Never.” Chloé shot back, smirk playing over her lips as she finished clearing at least a quarter of the food from the table, before huffing, and staggering to her feet. “I think… I'm going to go back upstairs now. I need to rest, especially after the stress of yesterday.”
“Yeah, from what I can tell, that was a bad one.” Zoe said, shivering. “Thankfully, it seems to take a bit for those big ones, right? So we should be good for now.”
“Don't tempt fate.” Chloé said, a sullen grin on her face, before she sniffed the air and grimaced. “And take an umbrella with you to school. Even through the walls, it smells like rain.” She huffed, shaking her head and making her way back towards the elevator, seeming to open the door with her sheer presence alone as she walked out to the hallway.
Leaving Zoe with more food then she had ever seen, bemused and casually eating her grapefruit, wondering if she could have her sister's limo driver take this to her class. This was enough to feed everyone there, even with the chunk Chloé had taken for herself.
Smiling, she dug into her grapefruit, a nearby door opening as a waiter walked in, letting in cold air from the hallway that made her shiver.
Chill, with the barest hint of damp. Her sister was right, it really did smell like a storm was coming.