Name: Aureus Aliward

Age: 1569

Species: Aspect of Time

Family: Biologically none

Face Claim: Stephen Amell

Bio:

Aureus’ life began in the part of Europe that is know today as Germany. His parents, Emmerich and Klaudia Amsel lived amongst a nomadic, Initia tribe that raided smaller villages to sustain itself. Klaudia was desperate to have a child but as time went on it didn’t seem like it was going to happen. Klaudia was reaching the end of her childbearing years and still hadn’t conceived which was not something she could live with, so she made the radical decision to visit a witch doctor which the tribe had captured. The witch doctor had no reason to help her but she swore that if she conceived than she would make sure the witch doctor’s life was spared. She has never revealed what happened that night but Aureus was the result, however by that time the witch doctor had already been killed by the tribe her word not kept and perhaps what was to come was karma for it.

As a child he was cherished by both his parents until his mother noticed that he was starting to develop red lines along his back. He was only eight at the time but his mother knew straight away that her son was not a member of her own species. Her son was a phoenix, the mortal enemy of the Initia. She was unsure how long she would be able to hide this fact from her tribe especially her husband, who at the time was brother to the Magister. After everything that it had taken for Aureus to be born his mother was not going to allow him to be tortured or killed for something he had no control or choice over.

When Aureus showed signs of being able to manipulate fire, Klaudia knew it was only a matter of time before he was discovered. Despite the fact that Initia could also manipulate fire she knew those that could were looked at in skepticism and tired to see if they were in fact phoenix.  During the dead of night she packed up what measly belongings she had and, her and Reus fled in the opposite direction that the nomadic tribe was heading. At the time Aureus did not know they were on the run as he had moved from place to place regularly with the nomadic Initia tribe he had been born into. Though never had it only been himself and his mother but he trusted her completely and so believed nothing was wrong.

Aureus spent much of his teen years traveling across Asia learning different cultures and languages but never staying in one place for more than a few months. Undeknowence to Reus at the time his mother moved them because they were being pursued by a small group of Initia lead by his father. Klaudia decided that the quickest way to lose them was to risk taking a boat across the pacific ocean to America. They stowed away on a ship bound for Washington and said goodbye to Asia and the lives they had there. Reus never forgot the knowledge he had gained or lessons he had learned throughout Asia.

America was only still a babe when they landed on its fair shore. They had been at sea for many years in poor conditions which little or rotten food and Aureus mother was poorly after the voyage. Luckily there was an Initia tribe settled by the port that invited Klaudia and Reus to stay with them. Aureus had matured on the trip and his back was covered in black lines in form of angel wings. Now that he was in his early twenties it was once again easy to hide the fact that he was phoenix. His mother was unsure of them staying with a strange Initia tribe they knew nothing about but they had very little choice in the state Klaudia remained in never able to full shake the lack of sunlight, malnutrition and whatever else she may have gained on their travel.

Life was okay for a few years. His mother never really recovered from the trip across the ocean and continued to get worse until she finally passed away when Reus was twenty-five. It got harder and harder for Aureus to stay hidden without his mother's constant reminders since she had been his voice of reason and sense. He’d slipped up more than a handful of times but thankful the Initia tribe in which he was residing in were not very observant. Those moments reminded him of exactly how quickly they could turn on him if they did realize or truly open their eyes. Many times he considered leaving but he had no idea where he would go since this was all he had ever really known.

All this came crashing down when a small group arrived at their little village. Aureus had not seen the man in years but he instantly recognised his father across the clearing in the village center. Unfortunately his father recognised him too and instantly outed him. The tribe which had been his solace when he arrived in America was now turning on him seeming to put the pieces together and trusting in what his father had said. Having no other choice he took to the sky in fiery flight for the first time, his emotions getting the better of him and over taking him completely for he now had nothing to hide.

His instincts brought him east as his body burnt and rebuilt itself and he crash landed just south of modern day Florida. Raising he realised that his rebirth had given him an advantage, his father would no longer be able to recognise him by sight his body now completely different as where his facial features. With this good omen he moved further inland and began to slowly build a life for himself. Sometimes he stayed with Initia tribes but mostly he spent his time alone afraid of what might happen should they find out what he was even though he meant them no harm. He’d yet to meet any other phoenix, though sometimes he got the feeling he was being watched from afar and he was never sure if it was more of his kind or his father watching and waiting to strike again.

Aureus had changed his name to Erik after he had gained his new face further hiding his identity from any who chased him. He still used his family name of Amsel as his accent was a dead give away of the country of his birth when he spoke. It had been sometime since Reus had heard word of his father so the phoenix presumed he was safe which was a breath of fresh air. He settled in a small town just on the border between North and South Carolina. The population was mainly human, there was an elderly shifter couple but they never made a fuss over his presence since he mostly kept to himself and out of their way. He built a house, got a job delivering supplies out to the different ranches and fell in love with the blonde haired barmaid, Sofia. He married the woman in front of the whole town, it was the happiest day of if life and for the first time he truly felt alive. A few months after the newlywed couple was announcing to the town that they would soon be welcoming a baby girl into the world. All were rather happy the day that Aureus’ daughter Nina was welcomed into the world, happy and healthy.

Nina had just turned four when it all came crashing down. Aureus had been away at one of the far ranches so he was late returning home which he hated since there was never a way to get word to his wife and daughter that he would be late. There was an eerie quiet to the town upon his return which set him a bit on edge but he didn’t think too much about it. He noticed that the Inn was full and that there was a horse he did not recognize tethered to the post outside his house a feeling of dread washed over him though he wasn’t sure why. Abandoning his own horse, Reus entered his home calling out to his wife. The bottom floor was empty but he what he found in his daughter's bedroom still haunts him to this day. An old man sat in the chair that he used to read Nina bedtime stories at night, the man smoked a pipe and waved a knife over the lifeless bodies of his child and wife that rested in the small bed. It was clear Sofia had put up a fight while likely trying to protect their daughter since he hadn’t been there. The blood on the blade looked like it had dried sometime before causing the phoenix to wonder how long they had been laying there dead. Reus looked to the man with rage in his heart and fire in his eyes his new life ending with the deaths of the two women he loved the most in his life. “Finde dich,” (found you)he muttered as Aureus cremated him with a blast of white hot flames as tears rolled down his cheeks the weight of lose mixed with pure unadulterated rage.

The town burned that night as Reus rage over took him and he murdered all the Initia that had come into the town with his father as vengeance for those who had been brutally taken from him. Nothing survived his wrath, not even those who were innocent in the actions which had been taken against him. In the morning he’d kneeled in the smoldering ash that once was his house as the bones in his wings snapped painfully from the form of angel wings and reformed, muscles lengthening to form the wings of a osprey which would have been agonizing if he weren’t already in the deepest form of turmoil. He was too consumed by his own grief to notice any of this, the pain of both just melded into one. This was the lowest point Aureus had ever reached and for the first time he cursed his immortal life and what he was, for there would be no reprieve from his torment in death. All Reus seemed to do was cause pain and suffering to those he cared about most and so he decided it was better not to care.

That was when he met his first phoenix after spending so much time alone and wondering if he was the only one. This phoenix came to him in the form of an elegantly dressed woman who came to him as he buried what was left of his family. She stood in silence as the wind did it’s best to reignite the embers in the still smoking town. “Come child,” she’d said to him. “We have watched you from afar for a eon and have deemed you worthy.” Even in his grief stricken state her words washed over him like a bucket of icy water. We watched… They watched and didn’t step in to help. If they had been watching for as long as they said they would have known what the Initia planned to do, what his father planned to do and that he would not back down. “Why would you not protect the child? My child!” he’d said words dipped in venom. “We could not be sure she was one of us.” They had chosen to stand idly by when they could have stepped in, protected the defenceless humans and stopped this tragedy from ever happening. But they did not and to Aureus that was unforgivable and all because they were more worried about protecting their own than the innocent.

Reus was not sure was happened next. He remembers flames, screaming and blood. So much blood. The next clear memory he had was of himself lying amongst several blackened, winged corpses. He’d immediately been overcome with remorse. He had flat out murdered members on his own kind in blind rage. He had turned into the thing that the Initia tribes said he was and he hated it. Later he would learn that it was called hellfire, an act of rage and vengeance which was so terrible phoenix were killed or excommunicated for it.

It was a few lives later that he would eventually meet Venetus, Ven stood for those who couldn’t stand for themselves, he saw a world where every supernatural was equal and the future was one of building everyone up rather than tearing everyone down. Aureus could get behind what Venetus was saying because it was all he had ever wanted, to fit in and not be hunted for the person he was. If it had been Venetus in the place of the phoenix watching him, Reus had no doubt that the other man would have saved his family.

Aureus joined the Ailward cause without a second thought, he truly believed that Venetus and the others could save the world, even when they were opposed by the mighty king Mitus. The battles with the king stretched for a long time but his power and reach was great and in the end, the Ailwards as powerful as they were, were vastly outnumbered. As Aureus faced his own execution he stood tall, he would not bow to anyone again. But upon his passing after everything went black, it suddenly went white again.

When he awoke, he found himself in an unfamiliar place with the rest of the Ailwards. Aureus was confused at first but slowly he understood that he had been brought forward by the Gods. They had a purpose for the Ailward group which served so much more than the first life they had lived. They had to become the protectors of the world, protectors of important elements which when pieced together became the very fabric of the world itself.

Aureus was granted with a staff from the Gods, for he would be the aspect of time. The staff was a metal rod with a pear shaped clock at the end of it which would make a ticking noise when his power was in effect. He graciously accepted it and bowed to the God’s once more. With the power of time there were many things he could find out which he had never know before but instead he decided to be grateful to the God’s around him and heed their words of warning to him about time and the past. Aureus had to accept his life for what it was now, and to be thought of as a peacemaker between two feuding factions, and keep the peace for the innocent only made him feel that he was worth something. Aureus no longer felt pain, or sadness, he was the aspect of time and he considered it a gift.

Over the years Aureus had grown close to the ones like himself, they had all joined in union, a group that would help each other see that there would be peace among all species and humans, he even made new friends here and there as he spent time with the group he now belonged to and served the Aliwards accordingly. Within that time he meet a dhampir named Lailah Hale who much like him was wounded from her past. The two became close but in the end the idea of becoming close to someone and potentially becoming hurt was too much for her and she left. As hurt as he was Reus understood since the idea of betrayal was one which still haunted him along with the idea of loss like he had felt for Sofia and Nina.

It was who he was now and betrayal was never part of his nature. Aureus was a man of nobility and honor. Many of the Aliwards looked up to him, as he did just the same with them listening to their concerns and often easing their minds. Aureus had befriended Aurantia, and took a liking to her more so than others, for she didn't fear death she, just like himself accepted it and took on the role of being an Aliward, ready to bring peace to each and every species and keep factions from separating, making allies for war, and shedding blood.

Humans weren’t familiar with the Aliward’s, but the supernatural would soon have knowledge of it, some would probably be happy that there would be people looking to protect and monitor the world. Not all held this belief though and some still fought against them making those who followed the Aliward take on roles of protector and becoming the Aliward Guard. The Aliward leader, Venetus, wanted peace between all factions and Reus would see to it that his plan was successful, especially as others began joining the Aliward’s and offered to be part of the group to provide their assistance with keeping the peace.

Years down the line Aureus would come to co-lead the movement that Venetus had created the two easily working together and holding a mutual respect. It was this very position that lead him to meeting Ophelia Dreyvalian. Aureus had always been fixated on the Celestials and their power over time, they caused rifts in his element which made him uncomfortable, angry and set him on edge. He however knew that wasn’t the fault of the celestials since they had no control over those hunting them and what their deaths could be used for but he sought a way to control it, prevent time from being disturbed or ripped apart.

Aureus offered the Celestials the opportunity of protection in the Isle of Skye and in exchange the wayfinder, Ophelia, would help him by going back in time and preventing large time rifts caused by the death of a celestial and therefore restoring time back it’s natural and correct course. This worked for several years and the two factions grew close. Despite being the Aspect of Time, Aureus had limited power over the element himself and could not return to important points and have an affect the way Ophelia did. It was around this time Lailah found her way to the Isle of Skye apparently worthy of the mantle of becoming an Ailward Guard. It put him in a odd position between two women he had a connection with.

Ophelia and Aureus would talk often through the night about the ways of the world, about the life they had to lead and their equal connection to time. They became close friends and allies slowly and cautiously, though Aureus tended to keep formality between them knowing that he couldn't fully trust anyone who wasn't a member of his close circle.

Everything changed the night that Raven Milenia was killed. Ophelia had without hesitation decided to go back in time to save the other celestial however despite his growing confidence in her ability to repair the time rifts, she had failed. Aureus had to make one of the hardest decisions of his life that night as he watched the time rift set before his very eyes, countless of thousands of people dying needlessly. Everything he had worked towards with the Celestials crumbled down that night, every rift before this one being very small in comparison but he could feel and see the shift in history. So many deaths and so much suffering played out before him nearly making him comatose from the toll of it all.

It was then that Aureus had decided no more, he had called together a meeting between the other aspects and made his case and eventually the decision had been made to lock all of the celestials away. It was far from a decision everyone agreed with but having their own elements to protect they understood his stance.  Aureus couldn’t see any other way he could prevent this happening again and despite the fact that he felt sorrow for the celestials, his element was his to protect and always had to come first.

During this time frame Lailah finally began to let him in again. It was far from easy for the two of them to let go of the past and devote themselves to one another. Despite Lailah’s cold nature which always remained she became warmer around him and he grew to trust her again and began to fall in love with her. Even though he knew what he felt it was harder to get her to admit the same. The two became closer as the Ailward and Ailward Guard worked together to gather up the Celestials.

Aureus had slowly caught and locked up all the Celestials he could find it became his duty or obsession as some might say. Lailah agreed to marry him even though she knew his mind and attention was split between her and his duty. The two weren’t married long before Lailah accepted an assignment in Evermore which put a bit of strain on their marriage but both knew they needed to stay true to themselves and he didn’t want to tie her down.

The night the Isle of Skye fell it was clear that someone within his own midst had helped Ophelia escape from the island and flee from capture. He was angry and suspicious because he knew someone had lied to him and for that very reason his element was still at danger and so was his plan, Ophelia wasn’t the type to give up and he knew one day she would come back in full force. Never had he meant to put the Ailward and Celestials at odds with one another but you reap what you sow.

The night that the Isle of Skye fell was the worst of his life. Aureus had been woken to screams of panic as he heard the news. There had been an attack on the isle of some kind which had caused a series of unnatural disasters and eventually the isle had fallen into the sea. Aureus was furious and he already knew who was to blame for what happened. 74 guards had been on the Isle the night it fell and only 20 of them had managed to escape back to Evermore city. Every Celestial has escaped and most of those he had grown close to had been killed when the Isle fell and the pain of knowing his decision to lock up the Celestials had caused it. For the rest of his life he would have to live with the fact that he was to blame but he still stood by his decision since the rifts in time caused a larger loss of life than those who had been lost on the Isle.

Now with the Celestials and the Ailwards living in the same city it’s only a matter of time before the conflict boils over and reaches an ignition point. Despite everything that occured Reus still believes in the decision he made and that it was the best way then and is still the best way now.