a/n: Well, here we are again! This was slow going, since the Undertale Wiki is surprisingly sparse on the specifics, but here we are!
Chapter 1: Fallen Down
Chloé's entire body cried out in pain as she forced her eyes open.
"How did I survive that?" she groaned as she tried to push herself to her feet, only to wince, hug herself, and drop back onto the bed of golden flowers, "Oh son of a- Dammit that hurts!" She gave a quick glance around the cavern she had landed in, and found an old branch lying on the ground half a meter away. "… It's not like anyone cares enough to come look for me." She rolled over and crawled across the ground to the branch, planted it into the ground, and shifted her wait so she could prop herself up against it. "Here goes nothing…"
.
Using the stick as a makeshift staff, she walked away from the flowerbed and down a narrow walkway that veered off to the east, coming across an archway carved into the stone, with strange markings along the top.
"Wait… Who made this?" Chloé wondered, "I thought this place was cursed?"
She shambled through the threshold, and came across another yellow flower, this one with six golden petals.
"What's this one doing all on it's-"
"Howdy!"
Chloé shrieked and let go of her branch, falling backwards as she noticed that the flower had two eyes and a mouth.
"You can talk!?"
"Of course I can!" the flower replied, "I'm Flowey, Flowey the Flower! You must be new here!"
"… I… Okay," Chloé remarked as she calmed down, "There's talking plants under Mount Ebott… A little weird but-"
"You're accepting this awfully quickly," Flowey remarked as he narrowed his eyes.
"Things in Paris got really weird before I left," Chloé deadpanned, "You are not the first magical creature I've run into."
"Oh! So you know about magic!" Flowey perked up, "That'll make showing you the ropes so much easier!"
A red glow flickered to life from Chloé's chest as she used her old branch to get back on her feet.
"What the-" Chloé blinked, "This didn't happen with the Miraculous!"
"That heart-shaped light you see? That's your SOUL, the summation of your entire being," Flowey explained, "All magic down here draws power from it. Want to know how to make your SOUL stronger?"
"Obviously!" Chloé replied, If he's like Pollen, I should listen to him.
"Well, for that, you need LOVE," Flowey explained as little white pellets flew up from the ground around him, "Here! Just take one of my Friendliness Pellets, and I'll show you how you can get more LOVE!" The 'Friendliness Pellets' (Did he have to give them such a cutesy name? Chloé thought) flew through the air towards Chloé, who reached out to the nearest one.
Blood spurted from her palm as it pierced her hand, followed shortly by the rest of the 'Friendliness Pellets' picking up speed and shooting through her, launching the girl into a wall as blood leaked from the bullet holes in her flesh.
Thud!
Chloé hit the cave floor and struggled to push herself back up as the blood pooled beneath her, Flowey laughing maniacally.
"Wh-what the hell is wrong with you?!"
"You idiot!" the flower taunted with a jagged grin "In this world, it's kill or be killed!" A dome of bullets surrounded the battered human's body as she tried to push herself to her feet. "Die." Flowey cackled as the dome closed in on his victim.
Realizing that she couldn't run, Chloé curled in on herself to shield her head and vital organs, and braced herself for the searing pain.
Only to feel a comforting warmth wash over her instead.
"Huh?" Flowey questioned, as Chloé peeked up and uncurled from her defensive position, "How the Hell did you GAH!" A fireball launched him across the room as Chloé watched.
"The fu-"
"Oh what a miserable creature!" a new voice chimed in, "Attacking a poor, defenseless child!"
The voice belonged to a large goat woman in a purple dress, the same icon that had adorned the doorway marking the front of her dress.
"… I'm fifteen," Chloé deadpanned, as the goat woman rushed over to her.
"Goodness, it's a wonder you survived that with the condition you're in," she remarked as she held Chloé's right arm in one of her fluffy hands, "Here, let me help you."
Chloé tried to pull her arm free, but froze as a green light and a comforting warmth washed over it, the light seeping into her injuries as the goat woman took out a roll of bandages and wrapped her arms in them.
.
It wasn't long before the bleeding stopped and Chloé was able to stand back on her feet.
"Thanks?" Chloé mumbled out consciously, "But uh… Who are you?"
"Oh! Where are my manners?" the goat woman remarked, "Greetings child, I am Toriel, the caretaker of these ruins. I was on my way to tending to the flowers in the next room over."
"You mean, the flowers I landed on?" Chloé asked.
"Oh yes, I planted them decades ago, after…" Toriel's voice trailed off.
"By the way," Chloé interjected, "Why did my soul start glowing?"
"Oh, it was reacting to being targeted by magic," Toriel explained, "We are especially attuned to magic, allow us to aim our spells directly at the soul, for healing, communication, and battle. Come with me, I can explain everything." She turned away and walked towards the door at the other side of the chamber. "Please, do stick close. There might be others like that flower nearby."
Toriel crossed the threshold.
Chloé, after a moment's hesitation, picked up her branch and took her first steps after the strange woman.
"Woah…" Chloé looked up at the purple structure looming above her, stairs built around a fountain that lead up to a doorway to the inside, and a shining light radiated just in front of the fountain.
"The Ruins are certainly breathtaking, aren't they?" Toriel asked from the top of the stairs, "Please do be careful, they are as treacherous as they are beautiful. It will be some time before you will be able to navigate them without a guide."
"How old is this place?" Chloé asked.
"This used to be the capital when we were first locked away down here," Toriel answered, "Of course, not that many monsters live here."
"I guess that makes…" Chloé's voice trailed off, "Did you just say monsters live in this place?"
"Goodness, my child, I thought it was obvious that I was not human," Toriel remarked cryptically as she turned to the doorway to the next room, "Do not worry, my child, I will not allow any harm to befall you as long as you are under my care." Toriel stepped through the door as Chloé mulled over the implications of what she just heard.
"Well… It's too late to climb back out," she muttered as she approached the shining light, "I wonder what this thing…" Chloé's soul lit up the second she reached out to the light.
The shadow of the ruins looms above, filling you with determination.
"What the fu-"
"Language! My child!"
"I'm fifteen! Not five!" Chloé snapped back, "And who the Hell said that?"
"My child," Toriel peaked back in, "Are you alright? I haven't stepped out for that long?"
"No, not you!" Chloé replied, "The voice who talked about the ruins' shadow."
"… My child, I fear your mind might be playing tricks on you," Toriel replied, "I understand you are under a lot of stress right now, but I assure you, there is nobody in this part of the ruins but us right now."
"But, when I touched that light…"
"What light?"
"This one, right here!" Chloé motioned to the shining thing in front of the stairway, "I touched it, and then a voice… Oh God, I'm going crazy…"
"My child, please calm down," Toriel stepped back down to the stairs and approached Chloé, "You just fell down from a great height and were assaulted shortly thereafter by that foul flower. The magic I used to heal you can only do so much, and you will need a warm bed to sleep in in order to fully recover." Toriel knelt down to make eye-contact with Chloé. "Would you feel better if I stayed with you instead of walking ahead?"
"… Why do you care?'
"Excuse me?"
"I'm so, unexceptional," Chloé replied, "Everyone back home realized it, my family realized it as soon as a better version of me came along, hell, even Ladybug realized it!" Chloé felt her vision blur. "The only thing I'm good at is ruining everything I touch!" Something wet rolled down her cheek.
"My child, please, look at me," Toriel lifted Chloé's chin up, "Listen to me, you are not 'unexceptional'. Nobody is 'unexceptional'! You are alive, and that alone makes your life precious!"
Toriel rose up and offered Chloé her hand.
"I promise you, no matter what your life was like up there, this is a new beginning," she continued, "And I will be there to help you grow into the wonderful adult I know you will one day be."
"You don't have to lie to spare my feelings," Chloé replied with a grin that didn't reach her eyes, even as she reached for the offered hand, "But if you're serious about wasting your energy on me…"
Toriel sighed.
"This is going to be a long day," she realized.
"So what's the deal with this room?" Chloé asked as she stepped into the threshold.
The path in the middle of the room lead to metal bars, there were six switches on the floor in a two-by-three grid, a lever near those switches, and a plaque on the wall.
"Monsters love puzzles," Toriel explained, "So there are times where you will have to solve them to proceed." She released Chloé's hand. "Allow me to demonstrate." Toriel walked over to the switches and stepped on the four on the left and right, ignoring the switches in the middle.
The iron bars lifted, opening the way forwards.
"Come along now, my child," Toriel encouraged as she stepped back onto the path, "There are more puzzles along the way home."
Chloé walked up to the plaque by the switches and squinted until she could make out the words.
Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both not walk the middle road.
"On my way!"
.
The next room was still purple, but with wooden bridges connecting the floor wherever the path crossed the running water.
The way forwards to the next room was barred by spikes jutting out of the floor.
"Why don't you give this puzzle a try yourself?" Toriel suggested, "I will wait by the exit. The plaque on the wall will give you a hint on how to solve the puzzle." Toriel walked down the path and crossed the bridges as Chloé stepped off the path and walked up to the blurry rectangle on the wall.
She leaned in close and squinted her eyes until the etching was legible.
Stay on the path.
"Shit, I already messed it up!" Chloé groaned, "Maybe it's not too late to course-correct." She hurried back to the path, turned down the direction Toriel walked down, and headed down the direction she saw Toriel walk down, ignoring the forks in the road to forge straight ahead.
.
"Is everything alright?" Toriel asked.
"Did I already fail the puzzle?"
"My child, what your life on the surface was like, but I promise I won't set you up to fail," Toriel answered, "Remember, the plaque was just a hint. Besides…" The goat woman smirked. "Walking down a straight path wouldn't make for a fun puzzle, now would it?"
.
Chloé doubled back to the start of the path and retread it from the start, this time checking the forks in the path.
At the end of the first branch, there was a lever right next to yellow text indicating that she was supposed to flick the lever painted onto the wall.
"… Oh great…" Chloé groaned, "Now she's going to think I'm an idiot…"
To be fair, you kind of are.
"Shut up, brain," Chloé snapped as she flipped the lever and walked back the way she came.
.
There was a second switch at the end of the second branching path, and she heard the sound of something metal retracting.
"Excellent work!" Toriel congratulated as Chloé reached her, "But before we proceed, I have a question for you."
Chloé sighed.
"Go ahead."
"Were you able to see the levers when you entered the room?"
"… Excuse me?"
"I noticed that you got surprisingly close to the plaque before reacting to it," Toriel elaborated, "And you didn't even look at the levers after reading the plaque. You just headed straight for me."
"I mean, how can anyone be expected to see that far?" Chloé asked, "I get that you have super-monster vision-"
"Actually, my vision is probably subpar compared to most humans," Toriel interrupted, "And while I've had a human think they had failed after reading the plaque, none have ever had any trouble seeing the levers before."
"But my eyes can't be broken, then I wouldn't be…" Chloé's voice trailed off, "No… There's no point trying to pretend for her anymore…"
.
"So uh… Where's the puzzle in this room?"
"There isn't one," Toriel explained, "In this room, I've set up a training dummy to help me in teaching self defense!"
"… Okay so, I get that I didn't have a good showing against the flower, but I do actually know how to fight," Chloé explained, "For a few months, I was one of the heroes protecting my city from supervillains!"
"Oh really?" Toriel remarked.
"Admittedly, I needed a mystical relic to do it," Chloé added, "And my self-defense skills without the Bee Miraculous are kinda-"
"My child, you must listen to me," Toriel interrupted as she put a hand on Chloé's shoulder, "Miraculous holders may be honored as heroes in your world, but down here, they are hated and despised. You must keep that to yourself!" Toriel sighed. "I may be strong, but I do not know how long I'd be able to protect you from an army. So please, be careful what you say out here!"
"… Okay…" Chloé said, "So… Uh… The training dummy?"
"Ah yes," Toriel explained, "When your SOUL lights up, that means that it's being targeted by magic. Us monsters use magic to express ourselves, but that can be dangerous to humans."
"I see…"
"As such, the best way to handle these encounters is to talk things out with the monster confronting you."
"… What?"
"By deescalating the situation, you can either escape or convince the monsters to leave you be," Toriel explained, "And resolving the issue peacefully will ensure that nobody will come seeking revenge later."
"… So what is the dummy here for?" Chloé asked.
"Why, for you to practice conversation with, of course!" Toriel answered, "Just go up to the Dummy. As soon as your SOUL lights up, strike up a conversation with it."
"… With the dummy."
"Yes!"
"…" Chloé walked up to the dummy. As soon as she was face-to-face with it, her soul lit up.
You encountered the dummy.
There's that voice again, Chloé thought as she looked over the dummy.
A cotton heart and a button eye.
You are the apple of my eye.
Cute… Chloé thought with an eyeroll "So uh… Nice weather we're having?"
The dummy didn't respond.
Toriel seems happy with you.
"Excellent work my child!" Toriel replied as the light from Chloé's soul blinked out.
"What exactly was that supposed to accomplish?"
"Now you have an idea of where to start when confronted by a monster," Toriel answered, "Now, there's another puzzle in the next room over!"
Chloé followed closely behind Toriel, puzzling over the strange woman's kindness.
I need to find out what she wants from me, she decided, I could never be mean enough for my actual mother, but if I can figure out what Toriel wants me to be, all I have to do is pretend to be like that for the rest of my life, and I'll never be alone again!
It was at that moment that Chloé's soul lit up again.
The human girl desperately glanced around the room, until her eyes fell on a giant, white frog with a face on its black belly.
Froggit attacks you!
"Stay back!" Chloé shouted, pointing her branch at the amphibious creature, the eyes on its belly face blinking, "Don't you dare take one hop closer!"
"Ribbit?"
Froggit didn't understand what you said, but was scared anyway.
Toriel placed herself between the amphibian and her adopted child, and the Froggit looked away with all four of its visible eyes and hopped away, with a splash indicating that it had hopped into a pool of water Chloé couldn't see.
She could see that it left behind ten gold coins, though, so that was a plus.
The red light dimmed, indicating that the danger had passed.
"That was one of the monsters who lives here," Toriel explained, "Froggit's can only communicate through ribbits, but are still an intelligent race." She gently pushed Chloé's branch down. "Intimidation might work on lone Froggit's, but if you encounter a group, I'd recommend using kindness."
"So what, I should say nice things whenever I'm attacked?" Chloé asked.
"While you are down here, it is imperative that you do not escalate the conflict," Toriel answered, "Most of the monsters down here are scared and desperate. Show them that they have no reason to be afraid of you, and they'll leave you alone."
Toriel kept walking along the path as Chloé turned towards the golden coins on the ground.
In order to keep her from hating me, I just have to never fight back, she decided as she scooped up the coins, It doesn't matter how battered, how bruised, how broken I end up. That'll ensure she'll never hate me!
"My child, can you still see me?"
"Coming!" Chloé called as she dashed for Toriel.
.
As it turned out, the water the Froggit dived into went under a bridge of spikes.
"Uh…"
"Even if your eyesight was not impaired, I would not expect you to solve this puzzle unaided," Toriel explained, "Take my hand, and I will guide you safely to the other side."
Chloé obliged with Toriel's order, and Toriel stepped onto the bridge.
The first patch of spikes sank into the ground under her feet.
"The fake spikes aren't even sharp," Toriel explained as she glanced back at Chloé, "But don't let go until we're on the other side, okay?"
Chloé nodded, and let Toriel guide her, by hand, through the winding path between the spikes, trying to ignore the spikes springing out of the ground behind her as they crossed the bridge.
The next room was a long hallway.
"So… Where's the puzzle in this room?" Chloé questioned.
"There is not one," Toriel explained, "I will not always be able to protect you. Your task will be to make it to the other end of the hallway unharmed."
"… What?"
"This will be a test of your independence," Toriel explained as she turned away from Chloé, "I have faith in you, my child. Meet me at the end of the corridor."
With that, Toriel walked off.
"What?!"
.
Chloé walked down the corridor, alone with her thoughts.
Did I mess up?
I had to, why else would she have left me?
She must've decided to let me down gently like Ladybug tried to.
But where could I have messed up?
Maybe I'm just overreacting. She said she's just at the end of the corridor.
Great, now she's going to hate me for doubting her!
Stupid, unexceptional little brat!
Chloé shook her head.
Okay, mentally berating myself isn't going to help, and it would be embarrassing if I break down and she's actually still there. Just keep focused, and pretend to be completely composed!
If she doesn't know me well enough to hate me, she won't be able to tell that anything's wrong!
.
"Excellent work my child!" Toriel declared as soon as Chloé reached the end of the hallway.
"I'm not sure how I got through the hallway without triggering any traps," Chloé admitted.
"That's because there was no danger," Toriel explained, "I thought this could help build up your confidence."
"I used to be a superhero," Chloé remarked, "Why would I need a boost to my confidence."
Toriel didn't dignify that with a response.
"… Okay fair point, but why now?"
"There is a slight issue," Toriel started, "I have some chores to attend to, and the Ruins passed this point are filled with monsters like that Froggit we encountered earlier. As such, I think it would be safer if you were to remain here until everything is ready."
"… What?"
"Do not worry, I will not leave you completely alone," Toriel held out her hand. In it, was a bulky contraption with a number pad.
"What is that supposed to be?" Chloé asked.
"A cellular phone," Toriel explained, "I was going to leave it on the ground and hide behind a pillar to surprise you when you found it, but then I remembered your visual impairment and decided that would be counterproductive."
"Thanks for not embarassing me?" Chloé stated as she awkwardly took the phone from Toriel's hand.
"I already have my number saved on there," Toriel continued as she knelt down until she was eye-level with Chloé, "Please, do not hesitate to call if you need anything!"
"I… I won't," Chloé replied.
Toriel smiled and ruffled Chloé's hair.
"I will see you again soon, my child," she promised, before turning and leaving.
Chloé fixed her hair, and then looked down at her phone.
"Well…" she sighed, "Now what?"
a/n: Can we just take a moment to consider the psychological affect being related to someone who's entire personality is being a more likable version of you would be? Seriously, while it doesn't excuse Chloé's behavior, I imagine that having Zoé as a sister would give her a myriad of issues!
And I'm deliberately staying vague on what prompted Chloé to climb a cursed mountain, but honestly, I don't think Chloé's really in the right headspace to share that information either.
Also, please do not mistake Chloé's assumptions for my own opinions. While she is the protagonist, she's also still wrapped up in a very toxic mindset, and that mindset will color her opinions of the people she knows.
And now to reply to reviews:
Cold-heart-Angel23: Yeah... Child abuse is a HUGE Berserk Button for me, and seeing Chloé's abuse be depicted as KARMIC was part of what motivated me to write this. The other part was a theory I have about an upcoming (at the time of posting this chapter) episode, with this happening in PLACE of that episode! Seriously, get this kid some therapy!
Anon: Welp, Toriel's been a better mother to Chloé in one evening than Audrey has been to her in her entire life! So... Mission accomplished?
Next time, Chloé tries not to die of boredom.