Post by desdemona gael xanthos on Sept 17, 2012 20:37:36 GMT -5
DESDEMONA GAEL XANTHOS
desdemona was born to two normal, ordinary parents; gael xanthos -- a greek who had immigrated across the continent to england, taking the name gale smith -- and annie moore, a pious, kind woman. before she had been born, her parents had joined the pilgrims who had sailed from england to the new world. the couple settled in salem, massachusetts, and soon had a baby girl. dae smith was a happy child, and the three of them lived happy lives ... for the most part. dae was a bit of a strange girl, prone to tantrums that led to inexplicable disasters around the household. other than the odd occurrence, however, they were as happy as happy could be.
when dae was six, her mother gave birth to twins; a girl and a boy. the family couldn't have been happier -- neither of the two babies were difficult to handle, and (despite the more mouths to feed) the family only got more and more close-knit. dae loved her siblings, ena and kell, more than anything in the world, and the two of them admired their sister. dae's tantrums stopped; after all, with little children to care for, there was no time for babyish fits. gale worked hard, annie was loving (if sometimes a bit sickly), and the children were happy. none of them could have foreseen what happened next, when little girls began to accuse other girls of being witches and those accused accused others who then accused others --
the witch trials had begun.
dae was ten; ena and kell were both four. annie had fallen ill; dae stayed behind to watch over her. the hysteria in the village led to them calling for annie's death. the two of them convinced gale to escape with the twins, as annie had been convicted of witchcraft and would not be able to leave. gale reluctantly fled and saved the twins while dae and annie were thrown in prison -- annie for witchcraft, dae on suspicions that she could also be a witch as well. a few days later, annie was executed. dae was slated to die not very long after, but -- to her surprise and horror -- her family's neighbor's wife came to rescue her. although born to muggles, dae had shown an affinity for magic; a fact that was not lost on the neighbor, elaine, who was a witch herself.
she was not pleased. if elaine was a witch, why were all of these people dying? she couldn't understand why her mother couldn't be saved. elaine explained to her the rules of secrecy -- whenever the rules are broken, things like the witch trials occur. then elaine sent her to the salem witches' school, where dae learned magic. although it took many years for dae to become accustomed to the rules, she eventually accepted them and their need. just when dae began to truly accept the magical part of her, the part that had caused the events that led to death of her mother, disaster struck.
only a few weeks after graduation from school, she was bitten by a vampire.
the turning was painful; excruciatingly so. once it was over, all dae could think about was her thirst, her constant thirst for blood. if it hadn't been for elaine, who had restrained dae all through her transformation, she probably would have killed as many people as she could get her fangs on. for years, dae battled with her instincts until she was finally able to walk with humans without attempting to jump them. by then, she had lost everything -- twice. first was her family in the witch trials. then, once she found a place she could belong at in the community of witches and wizards, she became a vampire. elaine had been killed in an accident, where dae lost control of herself; her ever-loyal wand had withered away.
she wandered around by herself for many years, traveling the world and hating herself. witches, vampires, magic -- all of it had only caused her disaster after disaster. it was only after decades had passed that dae finally came to terms with herself; she very obviously couldn't die, as she was already dead, but wasting her time moping wasn't going to get her anywhere. thus, she began to investigate her family history; mainly her father's side. dae discovered her father's real name, gael, and decided to start anew. dae smith no longer existed. taking the name desdemona after her paternal grandmother and adopting her father's names, as was the tradition, she became desdemona gael xanthos.
eventually, desdemona came to the point where human's blood was no longer a massive temptation (as long as she kept her thirst at bay and they weren't bleeding) and moved to england, where the ministry of magic resided. she's lived in england ever since, although she does travel frequently.
desdemona doesn't talk very much, instead being very reserved and serious. her values are incredibly old-fashioned, and although she's adapted her demeanor to fit with the present, she still has a bit of trouble being honest when it could be rude. you could call desdemona a bit of a stick-in-the-mud; her sense of humor is, er, lacking. she is incredibly devoted, however, and more than a little hard-working. desdemona tends to be more self-sufficient than anything, but she is also very generous; she can't help but maybe leave a few sickles for those poor children in need.
on the other hand, desdemona is guarded and very hostile. she knows she's a danger to those around her, and attempts to have as little contact with others as possible. she has a great amount of self-loathing, especially since the death of elaine, whom she considered akin to a foster mother, and constantly feels great amounts of guilt for what she's done. desdemona is as stubborn and vengeful as they come; she never forgets, and will get her enemies back one day. her patience is endless; she's been alive for almost three hundred years, after all, and desdemona doubts that number is going to stop rising anytime soon.
see celeste.
