Daemera Elysia Camdessus
"No, I don't know how to forget you
No, I don't know how to forget you"
"Stay, you're not gonna leave me
This place is right where you need to be"
Nickname(s):
Dae-Dae, Ely, Mother
Wolf Name:
"The Vicar"
Your Color:
Bleeding Gold
Age:
27 years old
Gender:
Female
Sexuality:
Heterosexual
Role:
Second-in-Command preffered, Other Member
"But please, just hold on to me
I've slayed these demons, they're old to me"
Appearance:
Beauty is a word that could have been used to encapsulate Daemera Elysia, from the platinum hair that elegantly curled in waves atop her head that came to an end at the crease between thigh and knee, to the pale, almost translucent light brown eyes that haunted her pale face. Her face, round like that of someone much younger than herself, with a pale pink shade of heart-shaped lips, a gentle smile almost always gracing them as she emits that prominent warmth she was so well known for.
That was, of course, before the slaughter, before the betrayal, before then.
After the fire, after the burning and the brutality of those who claimed it was The Others that were dangerous, Daemera Elysia was left scarred and burnt, a pain that feels constant on her skin. Her hair was burnt, however, instead of burning off, her hair was permanently marked and so the top of her head held that once beautiful platinum blonde hair, while towards the bottom, was the color of burnt and deceased bodies, a black brown color that reminded her, when she managed to catch a glimpse of herself, of her failure.
Her once pale brown eyes seemed to have changed from the smoke that had attacked them, now nearing that almodt milky white of blind eyes, though Elysia had not lost her sight.
After the attack, the smile she once held began to appear forced, and the warmth was replaced with a desire for revenge on those who took the lives of her parishioners.
In height, she stands at 5 feet 8 inches, her posture almost always impeccable as she holds herself highly, the scorn of being an "Other" and the constant hunting down like that of a dog forcing an anger into her that refused to slouch.
She has scars all along her chest and stomach, coming down to her thighs and ankles where she was restrained to avoid the burnings. Burns mar her once flawless back, and though that was what felt like ages ago, phantom flames seem to dance upon her skin and awaken that familiar pain once more.
At the height of 5' 8", Elysia weighs a steady 155 pounds, not too thin to be considered poorly, but not to weighted to be considered anything other than average.
Her mark, the one where she was believed to have been blessed once upon a time, lay bestowed upon her face, as though someone took a thick paintbrush dipped in the purest of gold and dragged it across her face, from the end of her right eyebrow down to the left side of jaw, like they had given her war paint.
And just maybe, that was exactly what they had done for her.
"Burning holes in the night time
My open scars feel like barbed wire"
Attire:
Elysia wears a long dress, a beige, nearing white color underneath a dress like vest that falls to the length of the dress, black in contrast. Her white gown lays off shoulder and has sleeves that are much longer than that of her arms, drooping down pleasantly. The black vest part of her dress has straps that hold onto her shoulders, a built-in corset holds her stomach in before it separates and shows the entire center of her beige dress. Her attire inside the den is mostly similar to this, as she prefers to wear clothes suited for fighting in combat, but is also commonly drawn to dresses that don't cling to her body and allow for her to cool down better.
When readying for combat, Elysia will wear tight leather pants, only slightly thicker than most clothes to provide more resistance should she be at the unlucky end of someone's blade. She wears a black long sleeve shirt, a black leather corset atop it that hugs her tightly but allows free, flowing movement. Her forearms are covered in the same leather material, rings of gold lining them to use as a buffer for blade attacks as the blade slides over the gold.
At her thighs, Elysia wears a tightly placed garter designed to hold her long, thin princess dagger, easily accessible for when she must fight at extreme close proximities. She wears black leather boots that come up to her mid-calf almost long enough to reach where her hair lays. To hold her Ryyk blades, she has a crossed design upon her back where she can sheath the blades, and unsheath them should she need to fight.
The black she wears on missions are starkly contrasted by the flowing golden cloak she wears, her mask and mark almost blending into each other and adding the pop of color her clothes seems to lack.
"I wanted you to be the last thing on my mind
I wanted you to be the reason I close my eyes
But I can't sleep"
Weaponry:
Elysia is a mediocre fighter, though that isn't to say that she can't hold herself, simply that she would prefer not to. She uses ryyk blades, long and curved to fight in a more defensive manner than offensive. She always carries two, often times using the curves to slide other weapons off of or away from her. When forced into extreme close combat, Elysia will use her long thin princess dagger, a gift from her time in the chapel she was the Vicar at. The dagger holds immense sentimentality to her and she tries her best to avoid using it.
Ability:
Blood Healing -
There's a reason Elysia's color is labeled as Bleeding Gold. When Elysia wears her mask, and is in the field of fighting, her eyes will begin to bleed, though they bleed gold rather than the blood red most are familiar with. From her eyes, and any other wounds that result in blood, Elysia is able to take her hands and smear the blood onto them, and should she touch those in need of healing, the souls of the parishioners from the blood church she had been apart of will use their own remaining essence to heal those touched and imprinted by Elysia. Because this is done through blood, Elysia can only heal one person at a time, and should it be in dangerous combat, her first priority would almost always be the Prince. Elysia can only do this per one attack, and if she pushes to heal more, may either pass out from the energy exertion or wind up using her own essence and end up dying trying to heal someone.
Souls of the Damned -
As her Blood Healing ability, Elysia uses the souls of those who loved her and were loved by her in battles. When she marks someone on the opposing team with her bloodied hand, Elysia has a soul of those burned to the ground attack those on the opposing team. Because they are soulled, and bodiless, they aren't great at their physical harm, but will attack the souls of those attacking, weakening moral and often times exhausting ones weary soul to the point that it flees it's human husk and ascends, or descends, to where it belongs, the human husk then falling in defeat and decaying. Similar to her healing, Elysia can only do this for so long, and once she starts to bleed from her mouth, may very well fall over in grave danger of dying herself. The more Elysia uses this power, the weaker the presence of her soul becomes, and she could lose her body to the souls that live within her, even though none are trying to take over.
"And everything you saw
With eyes straight blurred became our downfall"
Personality:
Elysia was and always has been renowned for her gentle and nurturing demeanor. She's the type who thinks logically before she acts in rage. Most of her actions are planned and she rarely lets a situation unnerve her, knowing that the more tense people there are in a room, the more likely accidents are bound to happen. Elysia places her logic before her feelings, and often times, morals are placed only slightly below. When in her congregation, she was called "Mother", for her constant maternal nature, often times the one most ran to to help clear their minds and give advice.
Elysia does not like to lie, she sees no point in it. If you are to lie, then you are to know and acknowledge and accept that you did something that shouldn't have been done, and did so willingly. She isn't the type to second guess herself and seems almost sternly for that.
Elysia's kindness does not make her a weak member, as she can and will not back down from those who are in the wrong. She has a respect for the organization and the mission that The Prince has formed, believing the way that "The Others" are being treated is unfair and cruel. She does not loathe the mark she was bestowed and still views it as a blessing, a way to protect those without the marked blessings, a way to make sure the kingdom was safe from those who wished harm.
Elysia listens intently to others and takes in everything that is said to her in stride. She watches when nobody thinks she is and has a habit of checking on things that don't quite make sense to her. She's not nosey, but if you're acting odd, she'll be the first to check you.
Shame ridden, is Elysia. Not for her mark, but for her failure to save those who worshipped with her, something she thinks about often and seems unable to forget. Her goal now is to make sure the same does not happen to The Wolves, to make sure that those that matter to her now won't be killed in the same way, or that she won't let more people down again.
"In time, I will come to love it for how it really was
In my mind, it's only false faces whisper, 'See you' "
Likes:
⌑ The cold, winter time is her favorite season as it means she doesn't sweat as much
⌑ Reading, to her, reading is knowledge, and the more you have of it, the safer you are
⌑ Enjoys basking in moonlight, it's always a serene time
⌑ Talking to others and being trusted enough to be told their problems
⌑ Unity. Elysia isn't prone to, or likes, violence.
Dislikes:
¤ Violence, it costs more than it is worth
¤ Being judged without being known. People are not simply what their covers read, everyone has something they love and that makes them all human to her.
¤ Sweating, clothes for women is often thick and clings to skin and sweating can make for some very irritated skin.
¤ The Queen's knightly order. They cost her everything she loved.
"But you can leave, if you really want to
And you can run, if you feel you have to"
Strengths:
⌑ Can be extremely charismatic and capable of keeping tensions down.
⌑ Intense and Intuitive, can cause those with ill will to feel intimidated because of how she looks at those who are curious.
⌑ Watching. Elysia has an abundance of patience and is more than willing to stake out places or people of interest for days on end until she finds what is needed.
Weaknesses:
¤ Her ability constantly puts massive strain on her energy and life force, and each time she uses it, she can succumb to all the energy her soul uses to stay in control of her body.
¤ Tired. Elysia is almost always tired and sleeps for quite a bit of time when it is needed.
¤ Memories. The souls that reside in her are constant reminders of that night, and she's often awakened from night terrors feeling like she has been set on fire once again.
¤ The Wolves have become what the church had been to her, and her fear of losing them is so intense, that she would give up herself to defend them this time.
"It's terrifying when you wake up
A few years later it's a new time
Hard to see how it stands from the inside
Inside, it's trying to start"
Backstory:
She was once apart of a small and undefined congregation that wasn't held in any religious regard except to those who worshipped there. She didn't remember when she became a part of it, only that when she lost her family to the water that had taken them immediately, she was alone when she stumbled upon it, dirty crevices and neglected stone in all its glory. She hadn't even remembered how she managed to stumble upon it, only remembering how she passed out once in front of it, her body weak with illness as the water took hold of her.
When she awoke, she was greeted by thin and sickly members of the parish, having taken her in and nursing her back to health.
"How long have I been out?" She had groaned out, her voice a distorted mess of sound as she tried to find it again.
"It's been about a week, my lady." The parishioner had murmured, a wet rag in her hand as she continued to wipe at Elysia's face.
Elysia hadn't woken up with fear or worry of where she was, she simply assumed that if she had awoken and wasn't in pain, she was in a safe place.
"May I ask your name?" Elysia spoke, her voice not as agitated, though it begged for some form of liquid to quench that burning thirst in the back of her throat. She wondered if this church had a name, if it was a verified church, or if it had succumb to no followers, emptied and desecrated as it's parishioners either abandoned it or died.
"We don't have names here, at least, not really..." The younger woman replied. Elysia guessed she was somewhere between her late teens to the exiting of the teenage years, maybe a year or two older - you could never really tell from those ridden with malnutrition, and the sunk in cheeks and eyes of this woman let Elysia know that the world had not been kind to her. She wondered for a second if she was sick with poison, or if she had only barely healed from it.
"They call us by the simple names of brother and sister. Though, if you must, my name, once, was Ophelia." She murmured the last part, her eyes darting behind her to see if anyone with prying ears had overheard.
Elysia nodded and looked at the girl, her eyes narrowed in consideration. "So, I shall call you Sister?"
The girl gave a curt nod, her hand once again dipping the rag in water.
It dawned on Elysia that she had been using water to wipe her down and panicked slightly.
"You're using water?" She whispered harshly. "If I am sick from the poison in it, why would you use it to wipe me down?" She questioned, starting to attempt to sit up and push the girls hand away.
"I have been told to call you Mother," the girl started, seemingly unbothered, "you don't have to worry about the water poisoning you any longer... you bear the mark now."
Elysia remembered how she had reacted so out of character before, how she rejected the idea and even chose to leave the parish, the small girl watching her and turning back to her Brother's and Sister's that had gathered to watch her departure. Somewhere along the way, Elysia had grown tired by herself and often times caught a reflection of herself in passing mirrors or bodies of water.
Elysia remembered how she ran her hands over the mark, her pale face now adorned by gold that seemed to make her seem all the more ghostly.
"You're back." Sister Ophelia stated, not surprised or unwelcoming at the site of Elysia.
"You said that the mark meant I was blessed, that it meant I had brought fortune to this parish." Elysia stated, her eyes confused and searching her face.
"Is that something you believe then? Do you not believe in the blessing you were bestowed? If you looked, you would see that The Prince also bares a mark, are you both not blessed?" Sister Ophelia asked, her head turned slightly as though she were genuinely confused at the lack of understanding.
"The Prince is looked upon with fear. There are people who whisper about how he is cursed and will bring about the Kingdom's downfall." Elysia argued, having heard harsher things after she was thrown out of places for her mark and spat at when she crossed those with fear ridden hearts.
"Is that what you believe then? Could it not be possible that you marked, you "Others" could bring about and guarantee the Kingdom's safety? That you are not our saviors from the plight known as mankind?" Sister Ophelia asked, leaning against the frame of the cathedral's large oak doors.
"How could we be when we are regarded so highly with fear? How could we when we are spat at and cursed at for simply existing?" Elysia responded, an anger she hadnt acknowledged before entering her shaking voice.
"We are monsters to them, to them I am a beast, beaten down and spat at like a dog. I crossed streets to avoid harassment, only to be followed and tormented for having a gold mark upon my face." She spat, angrily as tears formed in her eyes.
"And that is the fate a lot of marked deal with now. Is it not our job to enlighten others of your abilities to protect our homes? That is what this cathedral can do for you. We welcome you with open arms, our sweetest Mother." Sister Ophelia said as she turned her back to Elysia.
"Come inside Mother. Your children have been waiting." The sister said and walked in.
Elysia followed.
It had been months that Elysia had spent in the cathedral, reading through their scriptures and taking in the love and devotion they held for what had been granted to the earth, those with gifts that would bring about massive change. Elysia slowly turned the cathedral from it's run down state into something of grandeur, something impressive and holy.
Elysia wasn't the only marked in the congregation, there were several other Mothers and one Father of it, each a devoted member.
"The Prince will become the King one day, and slowly, if ever so gradually, the people of the Kingdom will no longer look upon us in fear, but in graditude and admiration. The Prince's love for his Kingdom will show them not to be afraid of us. He will teach them." Father said once.
Elysia couldn't remember his name, but that was fine, for they all went by Father, Mother, Sister, and Brother here.
"Praise to our Prince and to all other marked." One of the other Mother said. "Our loyalties will always lie with the marked Prince, for he will bring the change." She continued.
Elysia remembered how herself and the others agreed before bowing their heads to pray for the Prince's well-being.
The "Others" would bring a change that none other could, and they would lovingly welcome those who once spat them with open arms and forgiveness.
"The King has been killed." Mother spoke. It didn't matter which Mother it had been, they all had known it and had been thinking about it as well.
Elysia remembered looking over at her fellow Mother's and at the Father.
"They will come for us, you know... Princess Marie is a fearful led personality, she cannot accept what she does not understand or hold power and access to." Elysia remembered saying.
The others looked at her solemnly, not replying as she had only spoken what they had all been thinking.
"Pray for all the marked. Pray for all The "Others". Our days of reckoning will begin with this death. It began the second our Prince was forced from his throne." Another Mother stated.
"Prince Evander," Elysia started, the members of the cathedral joining their hands together, "We pray that you are not hunted down for your gift, and we pray your heart remains loving, for these people are scared and led by a hateful heart." She stated softly, heads hung in unison.
"Gods help us all." She had finished, turning slightly to watch the tight-lipped, pale look on Sister Ophelia's face.
She had whispered something, but Elysia was never able to confirm what she had said then. She never got the chance to ask her.
It didn't take long for the Cathedral to become overrun with those who were loyal to the Prince, all coming to pray for his safety and return to the throne. And just as it hadn't taken long for them to find the parish for their loyalties, it was soon found by the Queen's knights.
At first, the knights hesitated to desecrate the cathedral, turning to harassing those with marks at first, telling them to pack up and disappear. But, as the search for the Prince grew more merciless, it wasn't long until the Commander himself showed up at the Cathedral, his head held high, illuminated by the large torch he bore in his hand.
"The "Others" will rue the day they decided to believe their importance. You are a disgrace to this Kingdom, and an infection that cannot continue to live." He had said, Mother's and Father's watching.
And just like that, the knights set upon the church like hounds, tearing through it with a fury fit for that of a wild animal.
They were the kind of wolves you read about in fairytales, where the knight in shining armor was the hero and the wolf was the villain.
Elysia remembered how they had threatened to hang the parishioners should the marked members continue to resist. As she bent over, her hands on her knees as she was forced to the ground, her hands and arms restrained by rope, she remembered glancing over at the bodies of Father and two of the other Mother's.
Beside her, Elysia watched as the rest of the Mother's grit their teeth, their heads held high even as they were hit for doing so.
"You cannot break the mind of those who are enlightened." One mother spoke, earning her a sharp smack from one of the knights.
"I need'nt break the minds of someone who will die soon." The Commander had spoke. "That would be akin to trying to make a dead man cry, pointless." He scoffed.
Elysia remembered as the guards threw gasoline over herself and her fellow mothers. Anger filled her as she started to cry gold, the powers of the other mothers also trying to stop what was about to happen began to show.
Elysia watched as the Brothers and Sisters were gathered to watch their public execution, and she wondered, 'If we are to die here, will our parishioners follow the same fate? Will they be slaughtered simply for treating us with respect?'
Her eyes moved over to Ophelia, who was crying and reaching out as if to hold onto Elysia.
"My sweet Sister Ophelia, please do not worry, for I will protect you, even if it is the last thing I am ever able to do." Elysia thought, her eyes narrowing as she started screaming.
Civilians had gathered outside to watch, their eyes lighting up as the Commander threw his torch down on the first Mother, the one across from Elysia. Her screams forever seemed to echo that night as they were joined by the other Mother before Elysia's voice was among them. She remembered the pain as it danced upon her back and her body, she remembered how, as the Commander smiled so cruelly at their torture, he closed the door to the Cathedral, locking the burning Mother's in with the children of the parish.
The Brother's and Sister's ran to their Mother's aids, trying to put out the fires, though many would up setting themselves ablaze as well, collapsing and dying from the wounds.
Elysia felt the fire on her get dosed out, looking up with confused and blurry sight at the face of Sister Ophelia.
She was screaming something, though what it was, Elysia could not hear.
Her dazed eyes looked over at the place her fellow Mother's had been, gold tears leaving her eyes as she realized there was no movement from them, fallen and slain brothers and sisters surrounding them.
Hands were upon Elysia, as they forced her aching and pained body into an upright position, whimpers leaving her at the touches as she writhed in pain. She looked back at Sister Ophelia, who was now panicked as she forced Elysia into a hallway of the Cathedral, her body shaking with what Elysia could only assume were coughs.
Why was she coughing?
Elysia looked at the cathedral, her eyes widening as she realized it had been set on fire and the other parishioners were attempting to find ways out, while some sat beside the bodies of the Mothers and Father, each weeping and accepting death as they knelt beside them, their hands reached out to touch their burnt and slain bodies, collapsing from smoke inhalation.
Elysia remembered how Sister Ophelia pushed her into a room in the cathedral that had a basement door that led to the outside of the cathedral, into the dense forest behind it.
She watched, dazed, exhausted, pained, as the Sister pushed and hit against the lock on the door, rushing out of the room and somewhere before she came back, her body seemingly giving out from her exhaustion.
She reached toward the lock, collapsing as she tried to unlock it with it's key, her breaths shallow now as she struggled to push the heavy doors open. She looked back at Elysia, who had collapsed to the floor against the heating walls and stumbled towards her, using what was left of her strength to hoist her up and lead her to the door.
Elysia remembered how she was pushed out, the flames of the cathedral now entering the room the Sister had collapsed in.
Elysia let out a pained cry as she turned to reach back for Sister Ophelia, her hands barely able to lift above the ground as she tried to stumble towards her.
With the last remnants of Sister Ophelia's strength and life force, she yelled the last thing Elysia would ever hear from her.
"Run Mother, RUN!" She had yelled, right before the flames engulfed her and the cathedral began to shake, as though Elysia's rage had caused the ground to shake.
The sounds of the knights horses had began to distance themselves, and almost as immediately as Sister Ophelia's screams began to fill the air as she was caught in the flames, the cathedral erupted.
Elysia had been flung from the church, smacking into one of the trees and being knocked unconscious once more.
When she had awoken, her ears rang and her body ached in a way she had never experienced. She cried golden tears as she tried to sit up, her right arm useless as it hung limply from her shoulder. Dislocated from the collision with the tree.
Elysia screamed silently as she moved to a standing position, stumbling and nearly falling over as she tried.
She looked up, the smoke from the burnt cathedral nearly cleared out as it lay in destroyed heaps on the floor before her. She cried silently as she fell to her knees upon the ashes of her home and family.
As her gold tears fell to the floor, Elysia began to hallucinate, her mind seemingly trying to protect her from this nightmare that was now her life.
She watched as Sister Ophelia's spirit came to her, cupping her cheek with her ghostly hand. Elysia looked up in wonder, as she continued to cry.
A sense of warmth began to flood her as the souls of those once belonging to the congregation began to surround her, ebbing themselves into the tears she shed.
She wasn't sure how she knew then, but she did.
These souls would be with her for the rest of her life. Her children and fellow Mother's and Father each held her gently, and she found herself beginning to heal from her burns as they gave her some of their own souls essence.
She wrapped her arms around herself as if to hold onto them, every single one, her heart aching at all that she had just lost.
She bent over them and kissed the ashes she sat upon, tears dripping from her eyes as she did.
And with that last embrace of her home, Elysia took off, in search of a place she could heal so that she could find the Prince, and hopefully, in some way, defend the very purpose of what her people had stood for. The marked, the "Others", the Prince. Hatred boiled beneath her surface, anger and pain ridiculed her as, for months, she sought out the Prince.
When Elysia was approached by a cloaked figure, with an invitation, Elysia held onto it with promise. It had to be from him. She just knew it.
She was one of the few first to move into the den after meeting with The Prince, Ev, as he had preferred to be called. He had called them The Wolves, the group that would take back the Kingdom from the tyrannical hands of Queen Marie.
Elysia's loyalty to the Prince was hardened then, unwaivering as she followed him.
It was time to show everyone else that the knights in their fairytale stories were the wolves they feared, and the wolves in those stories were the ones they should've always been rooting for.
"If that feeling had a price
Then I would gladly pay it
Over and over and over til I'm broke"
Other:
I'll maybe add something here?:')
Credits:
Sunshine Divider: © ThisPoisonedOne@dA
Sunflower divider: © shieas@dA
Tree top divider: © RariDecor@dA
Smoke gif: © TheCandyCoating@dA
Card gif divider: ©kouenli@dA
Gothic Cathedral: © RariDecor@dA