Nireva Hale

Full Name- Nireva "Niri" Hale (born: Lucia Cammeresi)
Gender- Female
Age- 441. Official documentation states she is 27, but she is known to lie about it.
Date of Birth- November 3rd, 1569
Sexual Orientation- Bisexual
Location- Los Angeles, California
Celebrity Claim- Daria Stavrovich
What should we call you?- CO
Play anyone else?- Ryan Alcroft, Devon Ridgeman
Have You Read the Rules?- JESUS TITS AND GOD AMERICA!

Personality-

While she has the capability to be polite, mature, professional and refined when the situation warrants, Nireva (pronounced "NEER-a-VA") is - for the most part - just a rebellious teenager with ten more years added to the little box marked "age". Having long ago discovered that nearly all of the rules of mortality don't apply to her, she has been living a life dictated by a combination of the rules her mother taught her in Renaissance Italy and some rules she made up along the way to make life more fun.

When immersed in any sort of hierarchical structure, such as the one found in the Jung Facility, Nireva is also prone to slipping into a rather submissive mindset, preferring to follow rather than lead; a habit in which she has been entangled for centuries in order to avoid drawing attention to herself and, as such, is a rather difficult train of thought for her to break.

Outside of work, she is outgoing and confident and, although she isn't much of an adrenaline junkie due to her fear of heights, she is always looking for her own brand of action in order to stave off the boredom, which often leads her to pick up hobby after hobby to keep herself occupied and throwing them away when they get boring.

Likes-

- Unusual Clothing / Fashions

While her finger is far from being on the proverbial pulse when it comes to fashion, Nireva has always had something of a liking of the various forms of attire that would be considered either unusual or just plain inappropriate for the social rules of "normal" society. Be it the usual attire of the punk or gothic subcultures, the costumes one would wear to parties or something rather more intimate, she finds herself fascinated by anything which bucks the usual trends of a normal life and, if she gets to don the outfits herself, so much the better.

- Exotic Dancing

Rather than see it as a deplorable occupation with a seedy underbelly, Nireva sees her side job as an exotic dancer at a nightclub as a way for her to get much-needed exercise, indulge in a fun hobby and, best of all, get paid for what is effectively having fun being a colossal tease.

- British Comedy

As far as Nireva is concerned, if the Brits can do one thing right, it's make people laugh. And, with the advent of DVDs and online shopping, she can order as much of it as she likes and watch it as many times as she likes.

- Technology

By today's social standards, Nireva could be considered a bit of a geek. She is pretty computer-savvy as well as enjoying the comforts of the modern world. However, her love of technology is more down to the fascination of how far humanity has advanced over the many years she's been alive. Letters can now be sent via machines and cables in fractions of a second, sundials and bell towers have been abandoned in favour of a tiny piece of plastic which displays a series of numbers and wheel-based transportation - aside from being able to propel themselves - can now travel hundreds of miles in a single day! It's incredible!

- Anime

While at a basic level, they are just "cartoons from Japan", Nireva sees anime (and, by extension, manga) as an artform just as legitimate as the impressionists from history. She may not be an art critic by any means, but she realises that anime in its myriad sub-genres and forms is enjoyed by everyone regardless of demographic. And, if she encounters people who think that anime and manga are strictly for children, then she can always show them her DVD of Akira...

Dislikes-

- Most Thrill-seeking Activities

Be it rock climbing, abseilling/rapelling, sky diving, ziplines or any fun activity involving descending from/ascending to a great height, Nireva despises each and every one. Because she's afraid of heights, she is almost completely unable to even bring herself to try them out, let alone throw herself into the activity with reckless abandon.

- Physical Violence

Nireva, while not averse to violent behaviour (either in herself or others), generally holds a dislike for violence that isn't confined to television, movies or videogames. The reason she took up Aikido was to dissuade others from holding violence over her as opposed to dishing it out.

- Pretentious People

If there is one personality trait that Nireva doesn't like, its pretentiousness. She finds herself getting rather annoyed at people who boast about their frankly inane personal accomplishments with a disturbing regularity. Living for four hundred years. Now that's something to boast about...

- Hip-Hop / Rap / RnB Music

While these three genres of music (or instrumentals based on them) are - more often than not - the type of music Nireva dances to as part of her nightclub job, it is precisely because of this that she quietly despises it, despite the fact that it is by far the most "suitable" music to use as an accompaniment for people in her profession.

- Politics / Politicians

It is Nireva's fervent belief that, throughout history, politicians have abused their power and status to help stir up shitstorm after shitstorm in the world, keeping the more impressionable denizens of the planet tearing at each other's throats. With the clearly defined shift between religious and governmental authority with regards to "the people the public are more inclined to listen to", Nireva holds these people responsible for the senseless armed conflicts and bullshit legislations around the globe and wishes for little more than for them to be publically humili incinerated.

Strengths-

- Hard-Working / Determined

In whatever she sets her mind to, Nireva exhibits a sense of intense determination, dedicating as much time and effort as she needs in order to get things done. Part of this stems from her mother's insistence that she take every opportunity to augment her academic expertise, whether it be to learn something new or to help abandon knowledge which has become outdated, though part of it is due to the strain of living for what she deems "a long time". The less time she has to think about how she's been alive for four centuries and the things she's seen along the way, the better she feels.

- Able to Remain Calm Under Pressure

Whether the pressure stems from deadlines, the sheer number of tasks she has been asked to complete, her peers or simply her requirement to perform on stage, Nireva has become accustomed to various forms of stress-breeding pressure to the point where it takes quite a large amount of it to noticeably faze her.

- Intelligent / Insightful

Far from the stereotype she potentially gains from being an exotic dancer in a nightclub, Nireva is quite the academic. Over the years, she has studied at various colleges and universities across Europe and the United States for varying lengths of time and, if she was able to include everything in her resumé and get away with it, it would be large enough to fill a novel.

While not achieving mastery in a single field, she is something of a "Jill-of-all-trades" and is quite versed in a wide array of skill sets, ranging from the household duties of a maid to the performance-related capabilities of a dancer or an amateur theatrical performer, taking in occupations from nearly all walks of life in between.

Except singing. If you value your ears (and possibly sanity), don't ask Nireva to sing outside of her shower.

- Patience

While prone to bouts of belligerence or becoming embroiled in heated arguements, Nireva can be quite patient when in a good mood.

- Not Easily Influenced

With the exception of her sudden departure, the person Nireva respects the most - despite her unwillingness to admit it - is her mother. Because of this, the agenda by which she lives her life is based around her mother's parting instructions and her own personal values. It's difficult for anything outside this to influence her in a significant manner.

Weaknesses-

- Unwilling to Follow Ambition

While most mortals in their twenties are striving to be as ambitious as possible, Nireva fails to see the point. While she exudes the appearance of either a professional woman (training to become a doctor) or a post-collegiate twenty-something simply trying to get by (working two jobs at once to pay her tuition), the truth of the matter is that she believes doing something for the sole purpose of fulfilling an ambition - in her case - is a complete waste of time. As far as she's concerned, any work she decides to put into crafting a career will be rendered meaningless after a couple of decades when people realise that she still hasn't aged past thirty.

- Belligerent Attitude

While she has the capacity to be a friendly woman, Nireva can be rather belligerent and bitchy when the mood takes her. This makes her come across as a person who is almost excessively argumentative when, in actual fact, she is simply passionate about defending her point of view. As expected, she becomes increasingly prone to such behaviour the more intoxicated she gets.

- "Excessively" High Standards / Perfectionism

Stemming from her tendency to work as hard as she can at any given task, Nireva has become something of a perfectionist. Because she often likes to think of herself as more proficient at something than she truly is, she finds that she is often gripped by a desire to achieve something which, in retrospect, she may discover that she wasn't able to achieve in the first place. On more than a few occasions, this has left Nireva feeling dissatisfied with her endeavours, which allows her to give into mild despondency while she asks herself why she didn't (or couldn't) do better.

- Occasionally Cynical

After living for so long, there are some things about the world - such as politics and the so-called "necessity" of warfare - that Nireva can't help but view with a heavy dose of cynicism. Knowing full well that the sole, overriding destiny for humanity is to secure their advancement in any and all endeavours, regardless of the cost, she is prone to calling bullshit on any number of things, whether or not her own views might be a little skewed, biased or just plain misguided.

- Vehicular Ineptitude

Nireva is far from the woman you want as a getaway driver. While she does hold a valid driver's license, driving a car is probably the one technology-related activity she still struggles with accomplishing. And as for parallel parking? It still gives her nightmares.

Skills-

- Multilingual (Italian/French/English)

Having been born in late-Renaissance Italy, Nireva - or Lucia as she was known back then - was immersed in the Italian language from minute one. Having four centuries to practice Italian, French and English - now her preferred language of choice as befitting the modern age - means she is able to effortlessly slip between any of them as she deems necessary.

- Emotional Deceit

Whether it's bringing up a temporary façade in order to portray a certain role, dialling her powers of seduction up to eleven in order to squeeze the patrons of the nightclub out of as much money as possible or simply something as childish as turning on the waterworks to garner additional sympathy, Nireva has proven time and again that she has the capability to do so and, for the most part, it seems to work.

- Self-Defence Training

Working as an exotic dancer four nights a week has introduced Nireva to how impulsive and belligerent a person can become while intoxicated. A few run-ins with such people have necessitated the adoption of yet another hobby in the form of Aikido lessons for her own protection, which she started two years ago. While the easy solution would have been to buy a gun, the desire to keep in shape was the deciding factor in taking the more physical option.

Flaws-

- Prone to Paranoia

While the allure of immortality is an obvious one, Nireva has seen that there is more than a few bad sides to living forever. Being a witness to four centuries of persecution, hatred and warfare stemming from the both of them as well as keeping suspicion away from herself has bred a "need" for Nireva to constantly look over her shoulder. Anyone she sees could be someone who despises the prospect of abilities or, worse still, a part of a group dedicated to eradicating people like her. After all, humanity's done far worse...

- Disapproval of Parental Figures

After her father lost the inevitable battle centuries ago with old age and Felicia - regardless of Nireva now understanding why - left her to fend for herself, Nireva has been at odds with the various mother/father figures she has met over the years which followed. Even now, she finds herself behaving in quite a rebellious fashion when away from her day job.

- Acrophobia

Despite seeming like a brash young woman who refuses to let anything stop her or get in her way, Nireva is afraid of heights. Even though her abilities would ensure her survival if she happened to fall, she is still gripped by a fear of the danger involved. Depending on where she happens to be, her reactions can range from a slight nauseating feeling in her pit of her stomach all the way up to a momentary nervous breakdown, complete with all the hyperventilating and panicked screaming it implies.

- Blackouts

Having been diagnosed as everything from fainting spells brought on by vitamin deficiency to a very mild form of narcolepsy, Nireva's occasional blackouts have literally baffled medical science for centuries. In fact, they are the main side-effect to counterbalance the immortality granted by her ability. Due to her "soul" being more tenuously connected to her body compared to other people, there will be moments of high emotional stress where her consciousness will effectively become dislodged from the rest of her momentarily, resulting in her collapsing suddenly to the floor. She may only be out for a few seconds at the most, but enduring them on and off for four hundred years will make anyone pissed off.

Abilities/Powers/Skills-

{ Transcendence }

In modern society, spiritual belief systems which postulate that the body and soul are two seperate entities are regarded with suspicion and derision, due to the lack of conclusive and/or visible proof to support the claims made by those who follow them. Such people would say that, without meditation and years of practice, a person's soul would not be able to leave the body until death. After the revelation that superhuman abilities are in fact real, there are cases in which these rigid provisos have become rather blurred.

A distant relation to abilities such as remote viewing and astral projection, Nireva's primary ability manifested four hundred and thirty years ago. Normally, a person's consciousness is rigidly kept in place by an array of metaphysical rules and barriers which prevent it from leaving the body until the person in question has reached the required elevated level of being to forego them but, in Nireva's case, most of these barriers are - to put it simply - completely missing.

While she isn't able to leave her body and go for a jaunt across a spiritual fantasy land, she is able to draw out portions of the energy spiritualists believe is held deep within a human consciousness and, with enough concentration, can repair numerous forms of physical damage.

{ Biological Reversion }

Both the source of her immortality and the cessation of the aging process, Nireva's cellular structure is - while in no danger of spontaneously losing its cohesion - in a near-constant state of flux. This fluctuation has, for reasons unknown to even Nireva herself, exponentially increased the speed at which naturally dying cells in her organs are replaced. In essence, her own DNA acts as an always-on life support system for her body.

Under the influence of this ability, the so-called "life cycle" of a large portion of her body (1. maturity - 2. exhaustion - 3. death) is thrown into a limbo state in which her organs are unable to complete the "exhaustion" phase of their existence.

Limits-

{ Transcendence }

Due to the tenuous connection between her body and her "consciousness", Nireva has been prone to momentary blackouts ever since her ability first manifested. These can arise in a number of different ways but, relating to her ability, they often occur after prolonged periods of overexertion. While many people are able to use various metaphysical sources to augment themselves in order to perform feats of incredible strength or agility, Nireva is unable to do this. Nor is she able to use her ability to heal others. Anything "superhuman" she can do is limited entirely to herself.

{ Biological Reversion }

While this facet of Nireva's ability has effectively given her eternal youth, it is not reversing the aging process, merely preventing it from happening in the first place. Because of this and the fact that physical maturity is a "set in stone" part of any living organism, she cannot regress her level of growth to return her body to its teenage years (if she ever desired to do so). This also explains why - after manifesting at the age of ten - Nireva continued to mature normally until adulthood, when the aging process stopped.

Her body may be able to replace dead cells quicker than usual, but she cannot repair ones which are still technically living. Among other things, this means that she can still fall ill like any normal person. As far as terminal illnesses and degenerative conditions (hereditary or otherwise) are concerned: it is still possible for Nireva to contract them.

In essence, excessive smoking will still give her lung cancer, excessive drinking will eventually cause liver failure and kidney problems and, while her ability can stave off the eventual death of both the organs and herself, it is impossible for Nireva to rid herself of any such condition once she actually has it. For all she knows, she could have diseased livers and mild cancer in her lungs already and not even realise it...

Appearance-
If there was a way to describe Nireva's appearance, it would be that she has the tendency to be a social chameleon. While many people in the world wear a variety of masks, Nireva is one person who takes it a few steps further and enjoys doing so. When untouched by the rigours of social convention, her well-maintained black hair stretches to the bottom of her shoulder blades; long enough to give some fluidity to her looks, but still short enough to prevent it becoming unwieldy.

Nireva is a rather slim woman, measuring in at only 5'8" and weighing a little over 125lbs and, while she isn't on the supermodel levels of so-called beauty, she is far from what people would consider ugly, despite a pair of very old scars - her story is that they are remnants from a childhood operation - on the small of her back. While her voice now shows that she has lived in America long enough to shed any sort of accent she may have had previously, both her facial structure and slightly tanned skin are still clear evidence of her European descent, centered mostly around the Mediterranean. On that basis alone, more than a few people tend - and have done so on many occasions - to think of her as an Italian woman, which she technically is, despite it being centuries since she last visited the country.

The styling with which she adorns herself differs with the scenarios. When she is at the nightclubs - especially when working - her hair flows freely, with the occasional strand in the sea of darkness being dyed a vibrant blue if she finds the time. Nireva has also taken to braiding her hair - or wrapping it into a multitude of thin dreadlock-like tendrils - on occasion, the extent of which entirely dependent on the amount of free time she has or whether she feels like adopting the style. Wearing both false fingernails and eyelashes in addition to (often glittering) make-up, everything she wears is designed to compliment and augment her looks, turning her into something the people want to watch.

However, when she is working in her day job as a doctor's assistant, her appearance becomes far more professional. The false eyelashes and nails are gone and her hair is often bunched up due to safety regulations. In addition to everything else, her tendency to give into mild paranoia shows itself with the appearance of a pair of glasses, used simply to disguise herself and seperate her daytime persona from the one she assumes at night. With her make-up also gone, none of her co-workers could ever guess that she was an exotic dancer. Unless, of course, they knew where she worked.

Faction- Jung Facility
Birthplace- Florence, Italy
Mother- Felicia Rahal / 729 / Trauma Surgeon, Bartender, Professional Bitch / Special (Organic Symbiosis, Biological Process Manipulation)
Father- Irrelevant. Nireva doesn't remember him and Felicia probably doesn't care. Besides, he died 400 years ago!
Siblings- After 400 years, could she be blamed for not keeping track?
Spouse / Partner- N/A
Children- N/A

History-

In 1569, the Italian city of Florence - or Firenze as people from the country called it - was well within the grip of the latter years of the Renaissance. Philosophy, culture, technology and science were all making colossal leaps forward before the people's very eyes. Born under the name Lucia Cammeresi, the child who would eventually become known as Nireva Hale grew up as an only child in a relatively unassuming family. Her father, like a decent number of men able to find employment, worked in one of the smaller banks in the city. While it wasn't a job which would bring them untold riches (unless of course, he robbed the place), the income was steady and more than enough to live on.

Her mother, however, was quite an enigmatic soul. Felicia Rahal, living under an assumed identity by this point, was an aspiring scholar with a steadily growing web of social connections. Being married to a banker came with benefits, such as the chance to meet various people of higher social standing through her husband. It was, however, when Lucia was ten years old, that both mother and daughter discovered something startling.

The morning had begun in the usual fashion: Lucia's father heading out to start work, leaving her and her mother to take care of things around the house. After enlisting Lucia's help with the household chores, the two of them set out for the city's market to buy groceries. However, what started out as a normal mother-daughter outing became something far more harrowing. In an effort to protect her young daughter from the darker elements of the city, Felicia had deliberately led Lucia on a winding, indirect route between the market and their home which turned the journey into more of a sightseeing trip, passing by the Palazzo Vecchio and various other landmarks in an effort to remain in sight of the guards as much as possible.

As they approached one of the city's guard posts near the River Arno, the sound of commotion caught their attention. Having robbed one of the merchants on the other side of the Ponte Vecchio, a pair of thieves were making their getaway across the bridge, a small number of the city's guards in pursuit as best they could. With no real concerns on their mind other than avoiding a jail cell, the thieves were picking their own routes through the late-morning crowd, barging their way through anyone without the reflexes to get out of their way. Lucia, being rather small compared to many around her, didn't see the thieves coming until she was roughly knocked aside, colliding with a blacksmith's stall.

With the number of weapons the stall had on display - ranging from stiletto daggers to woodcutting axes - the risk of someone being accidentally injured while perusing their wares was inevitable and, sure enough, when Lucia slumped to the ground, it had become abundantly clear that the tips of two shortswords had bitten into her back as they were jostled from the stall. As the blood began to stain her dress, the crowd quickly forgot about the thieves who had passed by and were starting to flock around the young casualty of their crime spree. Other children, were they in Lucia's situation, would have probably died then and there; whether due to blood loss or some sort of infection from her wounds.

But, as the crowd - Felicia included - soon discovered, Lucia was definitely not "other children". A crowd which was quick to disperse when they saw the once-dying child roll onto her back, sit herself up and, as if nothing was amiss, inquire to her mother as to what had happened. The pair of stab wounds responsible for the blood staining the back of her dress had been reduced to a pair of rather unsightly scars. Lucia, it seemed, was just like her mother. Immortal and gifted with the ability to spontaneously heal even mortal wounds.

By this point, Felicia had already spent the past four hundred years deflecting suspicions away from herself by moving from place to place. Upon realising that Lucia was destined - or doomed, depending on her outlook - to do the same, she was quick to settle into the routine on her daughter's behalf. Through a combination of acting and stemming the flow of information, she told her husband about the so-called miracle which had been bestowed upon her daughter by God. In such an inherently religious country, the lie sufficed. It kept suspicions about Lucia's survival at bay and, apart from more frequent visits to church, nothing much else happened.

Even so, Felicia knew that the welcomes of both her and her daughter were well and truly outstayed. The longer they stuck around, the higher the likelihood of someone becoming more suspicious. Already, there were whisperings that her daughter's recovery was the work of the Devil rather than the divine entity they revered so much. Leaving was necessary, but so was preparing her daughter for the life she was now all but forced to lead. As much as her own mother's lessons were telling her otherwise, Felicia stayed in the city for another fifteen years in total, watching Lucia grow up into a rather beautiful young woman and start work as a maid for one of the "lower-standing" noble families she had encountered over the years.

The D'Amicos were nothing compared to the likes of the Medici, but they were still more than capable of keeping a comfortable roof over her head and ensuring that she didn't succumb to starvation or illness while in their care. For the four years leading up to her eventual departure, Felicia passed on the knowledge that Khalidah had given her almost four centuries earlier; that, now she had reached physical maturity, Lucia would simply cease to age. Her looks and beauty would simply stay as they were. While she could still get sick like any other person, the act of dying would prove to be a challenge.

The most important rule Lucia learned was that, in order to avoid exposing herself as a woman unaffected by the rigours of time, she would have to constantly reinvent herself. Moving from town to town every couple of decades; even between countries if things became too unsafe. Coming up with new identities was something she would have to become accustomed to, as was keeping her knowledge and insight relevant to the rapidly-changing times. In those four years, Felicia encouraged Lucia to become a lot more studious, persuading the D'Amicos to pay for tuition as a request to allow her continued employment. They agreed and, gradually, Lucia became rather versed in mathematics and literacy, among other things.

Even after all the preparation, however, Lucia found herself distraught when the time came for her mother to leave. She was twenty-five years of age and she was still reduced to an emotional caravan-wreck (trains hadn't been invented yet) when her mother broke the news. However, just as Felicia had told her, Lucia discovered that her body simply refused to age beyond its growth into adulthood and, sure enough, by the time Adalfieri D'Amico - the man who had originally agreed to employ her - had died of old age and his grandson, who had been a newborn baby at the time, was in his teenage years and poised to start work in the family business, Lucia knew it was time for her to leave.

Feigning emotional distress at the loss of Messere D'Amico, Lucia implored the new head of the household - Adalfieri's son, Arlo - to permit her to seek employment elsewhere. While she wasn't an actress by any means, her pleading was enough for her to get what she wanted and, the morning following her departure from the D'Amico household, she had left Firenze behind. Over the next four centuries, her travelling took her across most of continental Europe, supplementing her education as much as possible as she went, first taking in southern Italy and Sicily before heading north and into France as the world was ridding itself of the bubonic plague.

France was Lucia's home for a long time - especially in the eyes of those who surrounded her - and, after a few decades in England, a combination of wanderlust and her mother's lessons lured her south again, into northern Spain. Instead of the people's growing suspicions, it was actually their tendency for self-destruction that eventually drove her out of the Mediterranean entirely, fleeing back to England to escape the beginnings of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. This course of action is one which Lucia herself regards as the single, luckiest thing she has ever done, due entirely to what happened just three years later.

In 1951, she decided to follow the example of many Europeans and, once again assuming her birth name of Lucia Cammeresi and forcing her voice to remember her original accent, was able to board a ship bound for New York. Over the next sixty years, she gradually made her way westward, moving from state to state every few years until she finally arrived on the Pacific coast in California in 2008, now under the name Nireva Hale.

Anything else?- Nireva's ability's likely capped, so I will flaunt Ryan's huuuuuge.... bank account and pay for a bit of cap breaking. Also, bunneh.

Sample RP-

What you have, my daughter, is power. You will span the ages, while others
will simply wither and die. To cease to be mortal is not a blessing, as much
as you may deem it to be. If any were to learn of your condition, then you
would be in terrible danger. You will be forced to move frequently in order
to avoid undue suspicion, just as I am and just as my mother before me.
With your adulthood, I grant you the freedom to do as you wish as the
sands of time pass you by. You are strong. Never forget this.

_________- Mother

As a child, it had been Lucia's belief that her mother would be a permanent fixture in her life; always there for her in her times of need or moments of vulnerability. Firenze was a beautiful place, always filled with people as they went about their day-to-day lives, be they bankers, merchants or soldiers. Not a day went by without something of interest happening before her very eyes and, while her mother had often told her about the dangers of the darkened, less travelled alleyways of the city, the innocence of youth had ensured her experience within the walls of the bustling Italian metropolis was a happy one.

The accident, of course, had changed everything. Every detail had been engraved deeply into her mind, instantly available to her powers of recollection for as long as she lived. She remembered lying on her back, gazing up at the summer sky as the church bells pealed in the distance. Long, agonising moments passed as her life gradually slipped away. There were voices all around her; a soldier commanding the people to stay clear, her mother understandably distraught, a passing priest muttering a quiet prayer to speed her journey to Heaven...

...and then, for whatever reason, her life simply stopped slipping away. Other than "il diavolo" and phrases along those lines, the words to explain what had happened to her on that day simply didn't exist. Admittedly, the sight of a ten year old girl sitting up on the ground wearing a small dress ruined by both tears in the fabric and her own blood had done the powers of rational thought no favours and, as Lucia peered around, wondering why everyone had suddenly fled out of sight, the only person who remained with her was her mother. As ever.

Passing the whole thing off as a miracle worked for a while. After all, Italy was quite the religious country, just as one would expect from a place where a figure as iconic as the Pope resided. As a so-called "miracle child", Lucia's ordeal did have some unforseen effects, such as being asked - or rather, guilt-tripped - into attending church far more often than usual. Whether it was out of reverence or something else, Lucia had enjoyed attention that wasn't riddled with the negativity she had once encountered.

At the age of sixteen, Lucia - with the help of her mother's social connections - found work as a maid for one of the "less wealthy" noble families. While it hadn't been a job working as a banker for the Medici, she hadn't been forced to work as a courtesan which, given the reputation the strangely dressed women had at the time, was a definite upside. Everything considered, life with her mother had been simple and fulfilling.


At least, that was, until she left.


One morning, at the age of twenty-five, Lucia had been rather surprised when she opened the door to the house in which she worked to find her mother standing there. Strictly adhering to her duty, she had treated her mother as a guest, escorting her to the study in which Messere D'Amico had sequestered himself for the better part of the afternoon, no doubt busying himself with important work. After going through the motions, Lucia was allowed to return to the servant's quarters with her mother, where they were able to speak privately.

For the past four years, Lucia had been privy to some dark secrets; secrets which she had sworn never to tell another soul for the remainder of her - at the very least - colossal lifespan. According to her mother, she was as immortal as the God the people of Firenze prayed to in church every day. While it was possible for her to die - a fact which had been made abundantly clear to her from the start - the act of killing her would always be difficult. As the months passed and the lessons were absorbed, Lucia had begun to get the distinct suspicion that her mother was doing this for a reason.

The reason, rather predictably, stemmed from the accident. After realising that her daughter was just as immortal as she was, she knew that her time in Firenze had become even more limited than it would otherwise had been. However, it was what the woman had decided to do in response to this societal pressure that shook the young Lucia to her very core. With her daughter now a fully grown woman and living comfortably in a wealthy household, it was time for the family to once again part ways.

Lucia remembered bursting into tears by this point, collapsing into her mother's arms and wailing things like, you can't do this to me! and I beg of you, please don't leave! in an effort to dissuade her from going through with her plan. Even as an immortal, Lucia discovered on that day that even she could be rendered ineffectual. Once she passed beyond the threshold of the D'Amico's front door, that was the last she ever saw of her.

She had been permitted to collect her remaining belongings from the family home a few days later. The letter which lay sealed on the dining table only served to bring the tears flooding back to her, while the lack of knowledge concerning her mother's destination - as well as the inability to really find out due to her duty - left her feeling empty and abandoned, despite it never being her mother's intention.

That had been centuries ago. Four of them, to be precise. Four hundred and twenty one years had passed since that day, yet Lucia still remembered the words her mother had written long after the parchment which contained them had faded and become an illegible, shrivelled mess. The bustle of Firenze - or Florence as people outside Italy called it - was all but forgotten, confined to the pages of history. A combination of warfare, pandemics and religious zealotry had caused Lucia - now having adopted the name Nireva Hale - to leave Europe behind and do what many had done and seek a fresh start in America.

"Oh, yeah! That's it, baby!" Los Angeles was an enthralling place. She was certain that not even the old Carnevale in Venez--... Venice was able to compare. While the use of fireworks was far less frequent here, there were enough lights on the signs which denoted the various clubs to make up for it. While it wasn't anything on the scale of Las Vegas, life these days seemed to be a neverending process of taking what one could get. After her mother had "abandoned" her, she had eventually been to witness the festivities in Venice first-hand and, from the moment she had been handed a mask to wear, she had immediately fallen in love with the theatrics of it all.

The palpable mystique of wondering just who was standing before her, requesting the honour of a dance had always filled her with a buzz. Because she was doing something that people never did on a daily basis, there was always the sense that she was doing something which had been considered wrong. Yet, at the same time, it just felt so right to do it. It was the same brand of non-conformity that the punks of this century had adopted and, while she could never say so to anyone else, she loved being able to silently boast about her invention of a social trend nearly four centuries before anyone who followed it today had even been born.

It was why she had become a dancer. While she didn't possess the necessary talents to become an actress, her looks had been more than sufficient for her to get by. Dressed in little more than a pair of knee-high leather boots and a shimmering, black bikini, the stage on which she stood effectively transformed her into a goddess for the duration of her show, her smoothly gyrating body effortlessly enthralling the men who sat around her. It was perfect! With the combined presence of technology, the security guards and the strict set of rules, it was nigh-on impossible for anyone to do anything untoward to her. She could be a tease as much as she damn well liked and there wasn't a thing in the world the fawning peasants situated mere feet away could do to stop her.

What made the situation all the sweeter was that she was getting paid to do this. And, being unable to lose her good looks thanks to the little genetic quirk which had granted her eternal youth, she could quite easily do this forever, if she so desired. All she really needed was a bottle of hair dye and the necessary imagination to conjure up a fake name. As the music reached its resounding conclusion, Nireva took a deliberate, cleavage-showing bow before retreating backstage, allowing one of her colleagues to take her place after a short delay.

Upon reaching her seat and sitting down, her hands immediately set to work. Her left hand grasped one of the facial wipes from their packaging and set about removing the glistening make-up from her face while the other hand grasped her cellphone.

1 missed call
-- Work --

Damn it. She might have known. It was a good thing that her shift at the club was over. Jabbing at the touch screen with her thumb, Nireva navigated the menus in search of the voicemail she knew would be sitting in her inbox. The people at her day job were far too professional to simply not leave a message. As she located the message in question, she placed the phone to her ear as the device began to dial the automated service.

"Ah, hello, Nireva. It's Doctor Shaw. I'm just calling to let you know that
Cassandra called in sick earlier this evening. I know that it's on such
short notice, but would you mind coming into work tomorrow? We're
going to be rather understaffed as it is, so we could really use you."

She may have only been working part-time at the Jung Facility as a doctor's assistant - rather close to the bottom of the pecking order until her medical training reached some semblance of fruition - but it was still a paying job and, unlike her job as an exotic dancer, it offered her meaningful career prospects as opposed to something she did for the fun of doing it. Alas, Doctor Shaw had spoken.


It was time for this dancer to turn back into a trainee doctor.