Name: Malrenn Ni Haodhai

Age: 16 (looks) | 119(actual)

Family: None

Species: Valkyr

Faceclaim: Lauren Jauregui

Positive: studious, honest, believes in surpassing limits | Negatives: lazy, alcoholic, emotionally detached

On a cold, damp, dark evening which wasn't unusual in Ireland during the Autumn months, a young teenage girl could be seen walking down the empty streets of Galway City. Her name was Marienn, a dark haired vivacious female, born on a night just like this in 1792...little did she know the events of this night would change her life forever.. 

The curious girl adored taking late night strolls to clear her mind and to grasp the beauty of the empty city aesthetic. While she loved these short trips, her parents however greatly disapproved. Given her worsening physical condition - Guillain-Barré syndrome which she had contracted as a child, coupled with the fact that she was only 16 stirred great worry. She developed a habit of leaving when everyone was asleep to take her evening walks rather than simply coming home at the darkest hours while they were awake.

The ground was still wet from the rain and she didn't care much about her shoes getting damp. That's when she heard it. The feminine scream of some poor soul. While Marienn lacks proper sense and sympathy, she did care about the wellbeing of others if it were within her ability to assist. She wasn’t fond of physical violence, but she couldn’t ignore a call for help. Turning towards an ally between a boutique and a café, she saw her. A tall red headed lady and some man in a trench coat. She lowered her purse from her shoulder and stared with her eyes widened with her own fear. "Hey! What are you doing to her? Leave her alone!" Marienn's timid voice travelled down the ally and bounced off of the building walls. The couple turned around, but the man didn't give Marienn's plea a second thought as he refused to let the woman's purse go. Shaking herself from her moment of indecisiveness, she darted down the ally and utilized her momentum and the slippery ground to her advantage as she slid the rest of the way. Just as the thief turned around, it was too late for him, but that's when Marienn spotted the silver glint of his gun. 'Oh no,' she thought to herself. With no time to spare, she wrapped her purse's strap around the man's neck and tightened it so that it restricted his breathing. He flailed like a taunted bull while the woman took her window of opportunity and ran for all her precious life was worth. "Gah!" Marienn cried out in pain as the man backed her so hard into a wall that she hit her head on the stone. Her ears were ringing, and she mistakenly let go of her grip.

With a great deal of luck, she dodged a bullet, quite literally, as he shot in her direction. His aim, much to her appreciation, was off as he raced to catch his own breath. Reaching down into her bag, she removed a small knife and went back in for him just as he aimed his gun and fired off another misguided round. Adrenaline was her savior. She plunged the knife into the man's neck as she tackled him to the ground. She panted heavily as he eventually lied still. "Crap," she gasped as she hunched over, out of breath herself. This wasn't her first fight, and she didn't think it'd be her last either. As the adrenaline quickly vanished, she felt the immense throbbing in the back of her head. Wincing, she reached back and placed her dainty hand over the injury. Bringing her hand back around she inhaled sharply as she stared at her blood covering her palm and fingers. To this grotesque sight she started feeling a bit nauseous. She's not acquainted with seeing this much of her own blood. "Oh no-" she mumbled. She didn't envision this walk going like this. How will she explain this to her parents? She stood and stumbled out onto the street. The shops were closing, and she didn't know where to go for help. Perhaps her mother's old warnings of travelling around without a care had some sense to them after all. She winced as she leaned against the cool glass of a pet shop.

It felt like the entire world was spinning. As the spinning slowed down, she noticed something so adorable that it made her heart light with love. "Oh-puppies-" she smiled as she saw them sleeping in their little basket near the store window. If only she could go inside and pet them. "Are you alright?" Her blurry vision was doing her no favors, but that voice seemed to be coming from the same red headed lady she saved. She watched the woman cautiously and slowly approach her. Marienn pointed slightly towards the woman "You didn't run that far-" Her small hand was then enveloped between the red headed lady's warm palms. Her green eyes were struck with worry. "My name is Charlotte- let me help you home." Marienn nodded and explained where she lived, and with that, she collapsed unconscious into the woman's arms.

The next morning, Marienn awoke in her own bedroom. Confused, she sat up quickly in bed, but her head began throbbing again and she winced. How did she get back into her own room? She turned her head to see her disappointed parents standing in her bedroom doorway. They were apparently awaiting her to wake up. While her father stood with his arms crossed, it was her mother that stormed the distance between them and shook Marienn by her shoulders.

"What is wrong with you child?! Have you no sense?! You get dropped off at home at God only knows what hour, with a bloodied head, and some strange woman holding your unconscious body! I swear to the gods I thought she'd brought home my dead first born child-" her mother's panic made her heart sorrowful as she stared into her teary blues. Before she could apologize, her mother pulled her into a tight hug and Marienn cried. She truly felt bad for worrying her so much and she decided from there on out that she'd be a better child- more obedient. And to that promise, Marienn held true. 

By the time she had turned 19, some three years later, Marienn was preparing to go with her parents for a prestige affair. She was dressed in her blue gown and pearls when the sitter for her younger brother didn't show up. He was only 7 years old at the time. He was a very quiet, gentle, and sweet little boy. Due to the sitter not showing, Marienn's parents were going to call it a night and stay home with the kids, but Marienn volunteered to stay behind instead. With her parents being a wealthy local influence, it was probably best they attended. And so that was the path the family took; the children stayed home reading books by the fireplace. They fell asleep on the makeshift bed of blankets and pillows on the living room floor.

By the age of 20 her syndrome had progressed at a rapid rate, confining her to leg braces and crutches to help her get around. Only one year later, did it leave her completely paralyzed from her waist down. Still though she never spoke about how she felt. Only if she were in pain or sick did she verbalize discomfort for the sake of obtaining proper medical attention. She did return physical affections given, such as hugs to her brother and father. Her little brother was always adamant about visiting Marienn in her room and sometimes sleeping in her bed. He refused to leave her side even into his late teenage years. He never showed any embarrassment for being so worried and closed to his sister.

As a young adult, their father left for a temporary job position out of the country. He'd have to spend a consistent year in London for the sake of securing a new contract and Marienn understood the necessity for him to go in order to continue building their family's wealth. And so, he left his children in the hands of their house keeper Juliette. A woman that Marienn, up to that point in time, never had any reason to distrust. She was always helpful even if often caught daydreaming or staring longingly at Marienn's father. Clouds toiled in the sky and a streaking blade of light clashed through the sky, with rolls of thunder closely following it, proving the uprising storm was a short distance away. Marienn was suffering from a nightmare and the nature outside did nothing to sooth her stess.

The repetition of awful images and ghostly voices hailing from her past, spoke to her, tormented  and menacing. She awoke in the middle of the night with a fright crying out the name of her mother who had disappeared when she was a teenager. Her hands were trembling, and she covered her mouth instinctively. 'No...No,' she thought to herself as the heavy patter of the woman's feet rushing down the hall made her already overwhelming stress heighten to uncontainable levels. Her weak body was threatening an attack. Juliette; a petite lady with cold blue eyes and dirty blonde hair came storming into the room with a metal bucket filed with ice water. Without hesitance, she splashed the cold water and ice onto Marienn. It was such a bitter chill that it felt like it froze Marienn down to the core.  Juliette didn't say a word, but she wore her anger without shame. She hit Marienn's right shoulder with the bucket before throwing it on the bed. "Why don't you just die already?" Juliette's famous words slipped out before she turned and stomped out of the room. In all honesty there was nothing Marienn wanted more. She couldn't wait for her father to return home. She was counting down the days, and at this point it was just a month away.

Juliette only fed her a measly slice of bread, buttered sparingly and a small cube of cheese. To swallow the insubstantial amount of food, she was given a small cup of milk each day. Marienn never expected to be treated like this, but she didn't have the means to fight against it. Whenever she'd struggle, she'd be starved a meal or beaten. Juliette admitted to having pent up hatred towards Marienn long before her father left on business. She wanted to be the second wife to Marienn's father, however he always denied her advances because he worried about his daughter's upbringing. He wanted Marienn to remember her mother, and he wanted her to be in a better place to accept another change so bold as a step-mother. Nothing boiled Juliette's blood more than seeing Marienn as the only obstacle between her and a wealthy happily ever after.

Marienn stayed awake and unmoving for so long that night, she watched the new dawn rise and fall back into it's sunset. 

Her bedroom door creaked open at dusk and Juliette stood in the threshold with a basket of items: soap, hairbrush, mortar and pedestal etc. The evening had arrived - August 14th, 1817, Marienn's 25th birthday. Marienn was forcefully yanked from her bed and set in her wheelchair. Juliette went to work sponge bathing her and then drying her off. She put her in a lovely red ball gown decorated with silver and gold sequins. She placed matching slippers on her feet and then set her up in front of the mirror while she worked on her hair and makeup. Marienn's skin was dreadfully pale and her cheeks sunken in. Her lips were dried and cracked, and her forest green eyes so dark that they looked black. Her muscle mass had greatly diminished but the dress sleeves covered it well. The foundation was heavily applied to her face and a crushed rose petal paste rubbed on her lips to make them a lovely reddish pink. The same red paste was lightly rubbed on her cheeks and the tip of her nose to make her seem rosy and full of life. This pampering wasn't for Marienn, it was for the party her father organized every year for her. Juliette was wise enough to know not to let the public see her abuse on the eldest daughter. Doing so would mean her swift arrest and her father's undying hatred.

Juliette pushed Marienn down the large halls in her wheelchair and into the ballroom where she was greeted with thunderous applause. The entire city knew she was sick and that was the public ploy Juliette used to deny her visitors. The evening passed in a blur but Marienn enjoyed the genuine affection from family and friends so much that she ended up shedding a few tears; the first tears she let show in many years. She took time to embrace her baby brother and tell him how much she'd missed seeing him due to Juliette insisting on keeping Marienn locked in her bedroom. Her brother had graduated earlier in the year and moved away for college, so it was always Marienn and Juliette alone in the estate.

Looking to a corner of the room, she took notice of quite possibly the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. Her emerald green eyes were framed by her deep red hair and her golden dress highlighted her tan skin. She was staring at Marienn without shame or shyness for a few minutes before walking away into a crowd. "Charlotte?" Marienn whispered the name she'd all but forgotten until then. That couldn't have been right. The woman in the gold dressed seemingly vanished into thin air, but her resemblance to the woman from 11 years ago was so striking that Marienn thought she'd seen a ghost. As the night came to a close, she was taken back to her bedroom and into her bathroom. Juliette filled the bath to just inches from the brim. 'A proper bath?' Marienn thought to herself. No- that's not what this is. Juliette removed the ribbon from her hair and tied Marienn's wrist together behind her back. "What are you doing?! No, please!" She cried and yanked her arms back, but her resilience was met with a harsh slap against her right cheek. She was then thrown into the bath face first. Marienn screamed and cried into the water as struggled. Her resistance was futile as Juliette clearly had the advantage over her as she held her face down. Marienn's lungs filled with water and began to sting. After moments that felt like forever to her, she perished and everything went black.

Her eyes opened the following morning in her bedroom. She was disoriented as she shifted in bed. As she shifted, she bent her right leg to help her sit up. She stared at her leg as if it were alien and yanked the blanket from over her legs and they seemed fuller as if she'd never lost any muscle mass. She wiggled her toes and her eyes watered. Her hands rubbed down her legs and she could feel it! She could feel the warmth of her hands, the subtle shifting of the small hairs on her legs, and the gentleness of her nails brushing the skin. She was so engulfed in her legs that she almost didn't notice that by her bedside was the redhead from the night before. Marienn jumped and scooted herself against the headboard frightened. Did she never leave after the party?! "Wh-" Marien breathed out nervously, "Who are you?"

There was a stillness between the two women for what felt like forever. Finally, the woman opened her mouth and spoke, "I'm Charlotte. Do you remember me?" Marienn stared in disbelief for so long that Charlotte slowly waved her hand between their faces to help Marienn refocus."Yes-but- but you look the exact same. You haven't changed at all. Why are you here? Who let you into the house? Where have you been? You-you-you never stopped back by to check on me that night and I thought-where's Juliette?! Did she let you in? Does she know you're here?!" Marienn's heart was raced and she'd already forgotten about her newfound mobility in her legs."Shh. I'll explain to you everything you need to know if you'll listen." Charlotte explained that she was in fact a 572-year-old Valkyrie. While Marienn had her speculations of this tall tale, she let the woman finish without interrupting. She explained the process she went through of transfusing some of her own blood into Marienn, which had healed her of human ailments and retored her soul to her body.

To Marienn seemed gross and unsanitary, but she saved her life so who was she to complain? After learning of this woman's tremendous ability's, Marienn was left with one question only. "So- why turn me into a Valkyr? I lack all of the-heroic and noble qualities. I wouldn't call myself worthy of this transition." To that, Charlotte only laughed and stood from her chair. Before walking from the room she did however say this, "Even the most noble protectors, weren’t always that way. While the man from that night did catch me by surprise, it was a young human girl with a big heart that risked her life to save mine. Is that not where nobility and heroism begin? We see trouble and we strive to create a positive outcome."

As the day passed, Charlotte kept a close eye over Marienn's development. Marienn’s hearing and vision were greatly sharpened, and it kept giving her headaches or making her paranoid. 

The Valkyrie kept Marienn outside for the entire day so she could adjust to the new abilities. Every little sound was so loud that it was frightening. As the evening rolled in, Charlotte guided Marienn back into the estate. "So, I truly did die last evening," Marienn whispered once they were strolling down the halls. The experienced Valkyrie wrapped a protective arm around Marienn and pulled her close. “Worry not over it.” Charlotte stopped at Juliette's suite and Marienn tensed up. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen or heard the woman all day. "You have to have blood for your transition to properly take," Charlotte explained. Marienn found that to be discomforting. What was she supposed to do exactly? "Bare your teeth," she ordered. Marieen licked across her teeth which felt normal and she smiled. “You're a late bloomer- that's odd." Marienn frowned at Charlotte's verbal notation. She opened Juliette's door and the woman was sitting in a wooden chair with her arms bound to the back, her legs bound to the wooden legs, and her mouth stuffed and tied with cloth. Her blue eyes widened as she stared at the young Valkyr standing before her. Using a blade that seemed to come from thin air, Charlotte cut the base of the care giver's neck just enough to make her bleed."Drink." Marienn raised her hands in submission as the Valkyrie snapped with dominance. Juliette struggled within her bounds and was undoubtedly probably cursing them both to hell."Okay-" she slowly closed the distance between her and Marienn before latching her mouth onto the open wound. She felt like throwing up. The taste at first it was irony but then it became a bittersweet. She was secretly waiting for the Valkyrie to tell her when to stop, but when she didn't, Marienn took it upon herself to stop when she felt full. She went to bed and Charlotte tucked her in. "You'll never have to fear her again" the Valkyrie whispered. Marienn fell asleep that night and her life as a Valkyr began. 

Subdued to Charlotte’s direct supervision for the first year of her newfound life, Marienn proposed their fabricated story when her father returned home a couple of weeks later: Juliette retired, Charlotte was her new caregiver and physician, and that she'd found a trial medication that was helping Marienn (it was nothing more than a placebo). Her father probably waved all scepticism aside when he saw his daughter walking again. He figured if it was working then why question it?

Marienn became incredibly fond of the woman and even began seeing her as a motherly figure. Sadly, Charlotte left in the middle of the night one summer evening the following year and left Marienn with a letter. She was stricken with great waves of grief and depression being without a mother figure. She eventually moved out from under her father for the sake of concealing the truth that she was no longer ageing. She did however visit him in his elderly years when he thought his daughter was his wife. It was a heartbreaking thing to experience but she preferred to see him from time to time even if he did think she were a hallucination. She stayed within Ireland long after her father's, and brother's death.

Marienn packed away her wealthy life in Ireland and moved to Salem, Oregon, USA in 1955 to live a life of simplicity and seclusion. She was but forgotten to the outside world, until a tall stranger came calling 161 years later in 2016. 

The cool midnight air drifted through the ill constructed bedroom as it did every evening in Oregon. The flame in the oil lamp faltered as it struggled to light the old wooden desk. Her quill elegantly danced across parchment paper yet again. Her thick dark locks of hair danced across her shoulders, having only her head to keep them from fluttering off. Her eyes looked up and then to the left as she noticed the rain decided to fall yet again. Her new home in the woods near Salem consisted of nothing more than loosely connected boards of wood, a metal roof, and a heavy wooden door with an old rusted latch and padlock. Inside was a dirtied mirror, a sink who's pipe led into a bucket beneath it, a fairly nice full-sized bed, and her desk and chair. There was also a large heavy chest where she kept things such as her clothing, shoes, sentimental items, and toiletries. In another small chest, red in color, was where she kept things such as her plates, cups, knives, and any small dry goods. Beside her right hand was a bronze cup with Celtic symbols decorating it. Inside of it was blood and she'd already filled it once this evening, making it her second within the hour. She stood and lowered the plastic coverings for the inside of her walls so that the rain would not flood into the room. She returned to her desk and looked down at her writing. She was trying to piece together her memories in a biography. It wasn't coming together beautifully by any means of the word.

Despite the downpour of rain, she could hear the crunching of twigs gaining more audibility. Looking from her paper again, her eyes trained themselves on the door just seconds before a heavy fist landed onto it repeatedly. She stood and pulled the silver skeleton key from her bosom before opening the door to see a gentleman standing there. His height towered over her 5'5". His hair and clothing were soaked, and he looked as though he tangled with vines in a muddy dance. Standing in silence, his eyes looked wide with surprise. Perhaps her youthful face threw him off? After all she was forever frozen in her mid 20's despite being just off 200. His raspy voice finally slipped free, and he spoke, "You are not what I was expecting. Are you perhaps-" her left eyebrow arched and she cut him off by raising her right hand. "Either you're coming in to wait out the storm or you're passing by," she spoke clearly and with authority. The man ducked inside of her home and spent the evening in waiting.

Marienn was not fazed by the man's presence, but she did partake in the politeness of giving him food and towels to clean himself of the nature that decorated him. Throughout the evening, he was so intense with his questioning and stead rising curiosity that it eventually registered in her mind as background noise by midnight. The sun rose the following morning and he finally chose to take his leave, even though the rain had stopped a hours before. He'd told her that whenever she wished to see the world in new light, that she should meet him in a place she'd never heard of, Eternal City. He'd left his contact information and directions on a parchment for her. On it was his name: August Orsino. Come to think of it- did he ever verbally mention his name in all his rambling? She never intended to speak or see the man again in her life after that evening. However, his persistence stuck with her over the years, and she finally decided to follow her peeked curiosity. At dawn on the 11th of April 2019, Marieen was busy packing key belongings. She headed into Salem, where she withdrew just enough money to catch a train to Denver, Colorado. She used a public phone to ring Mr.Orsino and to leave a message of her plans to take his advice. From there, she would find her way to this Evermore using the advice he'd left her in writing. A world anew and adventures yet to be had. She was quite nervous and upon arrival, even more so.

Despite being financially stable, she knew it would be good experience for her to find something outside of her "shell," to do, especially in a new city. Within the first month of being in the busy city, she landed a job as a librarian in a quieter district, and obtained the plastic card the hotel was requesting. Things were progressing smoothly as she was surrounded by books that she could read day in and day out, she worked in a quiet space, encountered few bothersome people, she found a small tea shop where she had her lunch every afternoon, during her time there she had reconnected with Orsino and he paid her kind visits from time to time. Even though she herself was happy with those little achievements, she was  encouraged by the dark haired male,to explore the city more, meet new people, and put her abilities to use in helping others. She believed he had the misguided view that she wished to hoard her abilities away, when truthfully- she didn't know how to control them. And she has yet to share that information with him and she kept quiet about it, but the closer they became she knew the chances of it coming to the forefront would increase.