The two snakes tilted their heads in confusion at her declaration, their unblinking eyes focused solely on her.
"No?" One said before the other started to say, "I believe you are confu-"
"NO!" Chloe shouted as she turned to fully face the strange snake (or was it snakes?), her hands balling into fists.
The snakes' heads flinched at her raised voice.
"Miss Bourgeois," they continued to alternate speaking, "if you would just let us expla-"
"NO!" Chloe screamed, her voice on the edge of cracking as she stalked towards the snakes, who slithered backwards in retreat. "No more magic! No more heroics! I just want to fix this fucking mess of a life I lived and I do not want some Miraculous bullshit in my life fucking it up!"
At that the snakes stopped retreating and drew themselves up as they hissed angrily.
"Do not compare us to the Miraculous!" they said in unison, their eyes gleaming dangerously as the cobra flared its hood. "We are instruments of the divine, unlike those wretched wizard-crafted objects. And like it or not, Chloe Bourgeois, you have been chosen by the gods to serve a higher purpose."
Before Chloe could respond, there was a knock at her door and Chloe started before rushing past the snakes to head off whoever it was. She caught the door just as it began to swing open and startled Jean, who had a tray of food with him.
"The snack you requested, Mademoiselle," Jean said once he overcame his surprise and tried to open the door further only to be halted by Chloe.
"Thank you, Jean," she said as she reached for the tray. "I'll take it from here."
Jean nearly dropped the tray in shock and Chloe could have kicked herself for behaving so out of character around him.
"Mademoiselle, is everything alright?" Jean asked quietly as he tried to look over her head to scan the room. "Is there someone else in there? Are you safe?"
"I'm fine, Jean," Chloe said as she tried to wrestle the tray from him. "I've just been shouting to get some stress out and I'd rather be alone, thank you."
Jean reluctantly released the tray and stepped back, "Very well. Please don't hesitate if you need anything else."
"Sure thing," Chloe said before pushing the door shut with her hip. She carried the tray back into her room and pivoted towards the entertaining room rather than her bedroom where the snake was.
She sat down on one of her two couches, setting the tray on the coffee table before her. She lifted the lid and found an assortment of fruits, which she immediately began to dig into. She ate partly to assuage the hunger gnawing at her middle but mostly because it gave her something to focus on other than the strange creature in her bedroom.
Eventually, the two headed snake slithered into the entertaining room and took up on the couch opposite of her. Chloe continued to pointedly ignore it as she bit into an apple wedge.
"Ignoring us will not make us go away," the cobra head said as the other head extended forward to bite a grape and pull it off the vine. Chloe couldn't help watch as it raised its head and with a flick, tossed the grape into the air so it could fall into the snake's open mouth.
"So if you're not a Miraculous, what exactly are you?" Chloe finally asked. Ignorance would not help her in this situation.
"As we tried to explain a moment ago, we are a Numinous. I am Haje," the cobra head said before nodding towards the viper head, "And I am Naje. We are the Judge of Truth, a divine being sent by the gods to find a worthy champion to carry out the gods' decrees for the betterment of the world."
"And you think I'm worthy?" Chloe asked with a derisive snort. "Some Judge of Truth you are. I failed, utterly failed as a hero, not to mention willingly chose to be used as a villain more than once. Why in the world would you choose me?"
It was the second head, Naje, who spoke up as Haje reached for a grape, "Worth and worthiness aren't something you just have, Miss. They are earned, and while all you say is true, it is how you were after that that proves your worth to us. Both in how you lived and who you became, the people you helped and what you lost, but most importantly, the truths you spoke that even you were scared of."
Naje seemed to smile, if a snake could smile, as they moved from the opposite couch to sit beside her. Chloe had to resist the urge to get up as they rose up and leaned in close to whisper, "The truth is what we saw as you shed the lies that you had used and embraced who you became even in the end. Even if you may not remember those truths, we do and we deemed that the final thing to see you as worthy, which is why we used one of our most draining techniques in that final moment."
Naje sighed almost wistfully and rested his head on her shoulder. Chloe wasn't exactly a fan of snakes, magical or otherwise, but there was a warmth in his words and his touch almost felt like a comforting hand, kindly reassuring her even as everything she learned only confused her more.
"Why can't I remember these truths I spoke?" Chloe asked quietly, her brow furrowing worriedly as she looked at the snakes. Haje looked at her with a mixture of pity and encouragement, which was odd on a snake's face.
"What do you remember Chloe? Tell me that and I'll try to fill in the rest" Haje said, resting his head on her other shoulder and Chloe began to think. She felt the haze in her mind, some memories fully materializing while others coming in glimpses that she could only partly feel or see.
"I remember school, the akumas, that I have a half-sister that I was a complete and utter ass to. I remember being akumatized a lot, and being Queen Bee and completely ruining it." Chloe gripped her thighs as she felt nauseous remembering those times. "I remember ruining things for everyone constantly. Becoming irredeemable and helping Lila. I remember…" She paused, swallowing heavily before going on, "I remember the identities of some of the Miraculous holders, including Ladybug and Cat Noir and I remember my greatest fuck up, the one that basically got me kicked out of France. Or at least, that's how I felt about it when I went to America. I taught at a school, I painted, I hung out with the craziest students I-" Chloe's breath hitched as the memories began getting blurrier. The more she tried to focus on them the more it started to scare and hurt until she had to close her eyes and rub her temple as her head throbbed. "I can't see past that expect for the final day. The day I…" Chloe's throat tightened up and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she remembered the sensation of falling.
"The day you died in the rain," Naje spoke in his raspy voice. "There are things that you can feel but can't remember, certain sounds, smells, or tastes, that will either bring joy or pain." He sighed, "We used one of our greatest techniques, the Shedding, and you shedded 17 years of your life, returning to this day to begin again. Granted, I wish there'd been some warning but time was short and we were starved. We planned to wait until the end of the day to talk and eat, but then the attack happened and you used our powers to save that girl and made our hunger worse." He huffed and his scales flared akin to a bird ruffling their feathers, "Thankfully, you felt our hunger and decided to eat something."
"Felt? You mean the reason I dropped to my knees in the park was because I felt your hunger?" Chloe asked as she ate an orange slice. She nearly spat it out laughing as Haje ate a banana whole, and instead devolved into a coughing fit.
"That is correct. You see, the ring you now wear is what links us and what we can reside in. If you use our powers, we grow hungry and so will you. It helps when in your Numinous form to prevent you from transforming back to your mortal form. It is quite handy when fighting or doing the tasks of the gods," Naje said as it watched it's other head eat.
"What exactly are they going to have me do? Tasks and decrees are rather vague and I don't like that it sounds like I am going to become some sort of hero. I've already failed at that, badly," Chloe said, the memories of her time as Queen Bee dragging her into a pit of misery as Haje finished swallowing the banana and spoke.
"No. You are a Champion of the Gods, not a hero for the people. Your duty will be to complete the tasks they give you, which are usually for the betterment of the people of the world as a whole. Most importantly, though, is ensuring any and all Miraculous users know their place and fear what comes if they step out of line," Haje said matter of factly that ended with a hiss of satisfaction. "And if they do take that step then dealing with them is our duty, and our most important one. Whether we take the item and find a better user or we leave a reminder to others, that is your choice."
Chloe's eyebrow climbed her forehead in shock as she looked at the snake. Doing tasks she could potentially understand, but there had been an unspoken implication in the way Haje talked about a reminder that worried her.
"And if I refuse?" Chloe asked watching both heads closely as she waited for its answer.
"Well last time someone refused the task of a god that god released the Black Plague upon humanity," Haje said, reaching for an apple slice.
"What are you talking about? Don't you remember that ship? What was it called? The Titan? Titania?" Naje argued before rubbing the tip of their tail under his chin.
"The Titanic?" Chloe offered as she felt sick to her stomach.
"That's it!" Naje said with an appreciative nod before continuing, "Don't forget about the volcanoes and storms. The gods are temperamental at times, especially when denied or ignored, but thankfully the tasks aren't too difficult or problematic. Normally, all that's required is retrieving a lost relic or object of power."
"There is the chance that you might have to deal with a creature of myth and perhaps a god's item that has fallen into the wrong hands, but those are incredibly rare occurrences," Haje went on. "Your most important duty, as I said, is dealing with the Miraculous users that dare to abuse their power and keeping the others in line."
"How exactly do I do that? And what constitutes abuse? Am I supposed to hunt down Monarch, no wait, he's still going by Hawk Moth at this point," Chloe said as she felt another headache beginning as trying to keep her jumble of memories sorted strained her mind.
"Their broken body or a corpse is normally warning enough to the others," Naje said, paying the horrified look on Chloe's face no mind. "But that was how the First and Second did it. Though that was mostly the Second's signature, the First normally stole their Miraculous from them since that was easier. The Second would give them one chance to surrender their Miraculous to him, and if they said no he'd make sure the others knew why it was best to say yes."
Chloe clutched at her stomach as she fought the urge to be sick. It didn't help that the snakes were so calm about discussing casual murder.
"But I can just take their Miraculous, right? I don't have to kill them?" Chloe asked, between slow, deep breaths as she tried to settle her stomach.
"Of course, but normally if you do that they still might search out for a new one. That is why the Second resorted to his methods," Naje said.
"Wait, First and Second? Who are they?" Chloe asked. She'd been so caught off guard by the topic of murder, she'd almost missed those terms.
"Our first two wielders," Haje said.
"There have only been three people to wear this ring?" Chloe asked as something about the math didn't seem right. "I thought you said you were some kind of ancient divine thing?"
"You are the fifth to serve the gods as our Champion," Naje said, taking on a lecturing tone. "And we are ancient. Being a Champion grants those who are worthy greatly extended life spans."
"What happened to the Third and Fourth?" Chloe asked, thinking it odd that the two of them focused on the first two so much.
"The Third carried out his duties admirably but with none of the fervency of the First or Second and the Fourth ended their career in disgrace and we do not talk of it beyond that," Haje said, sniffing dismissively as he looked away.
"So I'm just the god's errand girl when I'm not killing or maiming people?" Chloe huffed.
"It is not a thankless job," Naje said as he ducked his head down to brush against her hand comfortingly. "The gods often reward Champions for their services and unlike the issues you faced during your time as a Miraculous wielder, you will have us to help guide you."
"What if I can't do this? What if I mess up and piss the gods off so much they decide to level Paris?" Chloe asked as she drew in on herself, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs.
"You must have faith, Chloe Bourgeois, as we have faith in you, else we would not have given you this second chance," Haje said as Naje continued to stroke his head against her.
"Any idea when I'll need to start?" Chloe asked, slowly resigning herself to this strange new fate.
"That is something not even we can tell you," Naje said.
"The gods will send a messenger when they have need of you," Haje continued. "Until then, it is best you rest. This has been a lot to take in."
"No kidding," Chloe said as she fought a yawn at the mere mention of rest. The snake wasn't wrong though, she felt like she could sleep for a week even as her mind still raced with questions. She sent word down to Jean that she'd be turning in early and could barely summon the energy to finish getting ready for bed.
As she washed her face in the sink and looked up into the mirror hanging over it, there was still a disconnect at seeing her fourteen year old face. She poked and prodded at herself while making a variety of faces, wondering how long it would take to feel comfortable in her own skin. Perhaps the key was to fix the path of devastation she had left in the lives of others. That thought prompted her to pull out her phone and look at the picture of Rose and Juleka. Something about the adoration they had for each other and the fact that she had helped capture that moment gave her hope that anything was possible.
Edited and co-written by GrayNeko
