Private Finished A Tale of Two Chloes

If Violet was being honest, she was a little terrified.

Of course, she wasn't too scared of anything happening at this meeting in particular. Chloe wouldn't be so stupid as to try something at Grovefire itself. That would be social suicide, destroying everything that she had been building up here. It was much more likely for Chloe to strike after the meeting had ended, once she was aware of her identity. That was why she had the contract last two weeks - it was enough time for her to get her affairs in order and skip town if she had to. She had already made arrangements for that.

Though it was always possible Colten could betray her. And maybe Chloe had revived some of Gabriel's old criminal connections to bring her in. Of course the contract would ban that, but what if she found some kind of loophole? There were so many possible risks - as she sat in the room where they would be meeting, she felt like she was treading water in on ocean full of possible threats, hiding under murky waters, waiting to bite her and pull her down and drown her and eat her, all at a moment's notice. She had arranged this meeting herself, and she felt like a cornered animal.

At least she had Arda.

The door opened. Violet tensed up.


If Chloe was being honest, she was a little terrified.

She felt like she was walking directly into a trap. Of course the contract should prohibit that, on paper - she had been very careful to make sure of that, and this 'Chloe Minor' shouldn't have been notified of her signing this if the contract didn't apply to her, so it definitely applied to her in some capacity. But there could still be some kind of weird loophole. Maybe the other Chloe had revived some of Gabriel's old criminal contacts and had come up with a scheme to take her down - one that the didn't think she would expect.

Plus, it was always possible Colten was betraying her. He had gotten more distant with her lately. Maybe he and the other Chloe were in on some kind of deal with one of her enemies in hell. They could be offering him a lot, after all. One of them might have found out what she was capable of, the kind of attack she'd been planning on Andramarax, and it would be worth the investment to neutralize her. Or maybe - fuck, there were so many maybes. She could barely tread water in all these maybes to stop herself from drowning in them.

At least Dalia wasn't coming with her. That was the last thing either of them needed. Dalia had been traumatized enough.

She made her way through Grovefire, led by one of Colten's staff after exchanging pleasantries with them. Colten had made a few interesting changes to the decor, and Chloe tried to appreciate them. She also stayed on alert, making sure that none of these changes were threatening her in any way. Every step she checked for any potentially threatening magics.

Finally, she made it to a room where Violet was waiting for her. Violet - the girl that she had seen in the community center once, with Colten. That actually explained a lot. She and Imogen had been her top two guesses, if it was someone she'd met before.

For several painfully long seconds, they just stared at each other. Each one prepared for the worst, ready to dodge, jump, run away, summon weapons, or any of a number of things.

Violet was the first one to speak. "Uh... hey. Chloe. Other-me."

"Yeah. Hey Chloe." She paused. "I mean... there's no way that's what people have been calling you. I think Alma and Colten call you Violet, right?"

She sighed. "Yep. That's what's on my forms and everything... I put a little bit more thought into this than fuckin' 'Zoey Grey,' at least."

"Aw, shut up," Chloe said. She wasn't really mad about it. They both shared a laugh.

Chloe got serious again. "So. Violet. I'm here. I signed your fancy contract. What do you want from me?"

"That's easy," Violet answered. "I want to be able to live my own life, by my own terms. And I want to be able to get back in touch with our girls. And I want to do it all without being terrified you're going to eat my soul."

Chloe considered this for a moment. "I'm going to be real honest, I don't believe that. So what do you really-"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"That's bullshit. You should know I wouldn't do something like that, if you're literally the same person as me. But you made an attempt to turn Jackal against me, and you've been real fucking shifty the whole time you've been out here. So, tell me. What's your plan?"

Violet blinked. "Chloe, are you trying to gaslight me or something? You literally ran into our sanctum with one of the only weapons that could kill me. Not to mention you lost part of your soul. I mean. Yeah, Dalia wouldn't have done any of the things Anastasia did, but." She made a vague gesture. She didn't need to say anything else about that. "You're missing part of your soul. I am that part of your soul. What's two plus two?"

"Look..." Now it was Chloe's turn on the back foot. "I wasn't going to use that on you. I thought something might have gotten into our sanctum while I was gone, because I wasn't aware of anything inside of it anymore. And when you ran away, that kinda seemed to confirm..."

"Confirm what?"

"...Well. It didn't confirm anything. But it did give me a good reason to be wary about you."

"You're right," Violet said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "When a woman runs into my sanctum swinging around a divine weapon capable of giving me Final Death, the cool and normal thing to do is to stay calm and simply ask her if she's doing ok."

"Well, what the hell was I supposed to do? Just walk into a compromised hell-realm without protection?"

"And what was I supposed to do? Chill out and let you play tee-ball with my skull?"

They both sat down and huffed with frustration.

Chloe broke the silence this time. "So... I don't actually need you to complete myself."

Violet gave her an incredulous look.

"You didn't take that much out of me. And I figured out a few things about soul magic while we were cut off, so. I'll be able to heal the damage without you."

Violet closed her eyes. Chloe's soul didn't seem like it was messed up, but she didn't know what she was supposed to be feeling for.

"Honestly," Chloe continued, "I'm worried about you. And not just because I think you might try to eat me. I can't-"

Violet interrupted. "If I was gonna do that I would've just summoned you and dropped your true name a couple of times. Then I would've gone home and made dinner for the girls like nothing happened. It would have been easy."

Chloe paused. That was a pretty sobering thought. "And... why didn't you?"

"I just thought you didn't really deserve it. I made sure you weren't mistreating the girls. The worst thing I saw was Amber walking home from the bonfire by herself, but... you know, that wasn't enough to talk myself into eating you."

Chloe took a second to digest that. "...Well. I'm glad you didn't. Obviously." They shared a small laugh. "Like I was saying, though, I was worried about you, since you really got the short end of the stick. I can't even imagine the ways you must be hurting. Between the spiritual stuff and being cut off from the kids."


They spent some time getting caught up, and it was surprisingly pleasant for the two of them. It helped that they had the same sense of humor, and the kinds of in-jokes you could only get from sharing a mind with someone for several decades.

At some point, Violet interrupted herself and started laughing - and she didn't stop. She hadn't been discussing anything particularly funny. Chloe asked her if she was okay.

"I'm fine. It's just..." she laughed again and caught her breath, eyes watering, "I was fucking terrified of you, for as long as I've existed. I thought you were secretly trying to - to hunt me down. And that you might have brought in other people to track me down. I could barely have a conversation with someone without wondering if they were conspiring with you, somehow."

Violet laughed some more. Chloe only joined her halfway.

"I think there's something wrong with me." Violet said. Her eyes were tearing up now, and she couldn't tell which emotion was causing it. "Maybe even both of us. Because... fuck, Chloe, how long have we been like this? Since Gabriel, right? Just... Constantly. Finding things to be worried about and just, making up all these plans and contingencies and safeguards all the time."

Chloe shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with where this was going. "I mean... I'm a small demon lord now. I have to be proactive about finding threats. That's just part of the territory. And you've seen the death threats in my DMs."

"But don't you think, maybe, we've been overdoing it sometimes?"

Chloe took a breath. "No. And I don't want you trying to convince me otherwise."

A tense moment. They stared at each other.

"But let's end this on a good note, okay Violet? I think the family and I should have you over for dinner sometime. Are your tastebuds still the same?"

Violet was shocked. "...Y-yes? I think so?" She could almost cry, she was so happy about that idea.

"Then I'm making our favorite. And nobody can complain, because my... wayward... soul-fragment-person is finally coming home. We'll come up with a word for our relationship later."

Chloe took a moment to enjoy the effect this was having on Violet. It was easy to see the waves of emotions playing out on her face.

"Sisters," Violet said. "We'll just tell everyone we're sisters. I mean we're basically twins. Aside from all the things that make us nothing like twins."

Chloe smiled. "I can work with that. Now... Do you trust me enough for a hug?"

Violet did.