comeback kids

Her full name is Eleni Lysandra Seres. Her mother affectionately named her Eleni, meaning "bright, shining light," as Eleni was that for her. A beacon of hope and joy. Lysandra meaning "release," not as poetic as Eleni, I'll admit, but her mother thought it was beautiful. Seres is a Gaelic and Celtic name. She's 16. She was born on October 29th, 1998, an especially sunny morning. And if it wasn't made clear, she is a female.

Eleni's god parent is Zeus. Her mother, Denise, had an unfortunate time throughout her life. Despite being exceptionally beautiful, she was never particularly skilled at anything. She was headstrong and street-smart, rubbing these traits off on her daughter. However, street-smarts are exactly what Denise had to rely on to ensure the survival of herself and her baby. Foraging for food, fighting for shelter, and even stealing was basically in Denise's job description, carefully detailed in her resume, if she had one.

Eleni was born in Rochester, New York. Experiencing rich culture and a beautiful city were Eleni's favorite hobbies in the beginning of her life. From birth, she was always exceeding expectations, moving forward. She learned to speak very quickly, and walking came soon after, and once Eleni was on her feet, there was no stopping her.

Eleni was always quick on her feet from the moment she stood. She was always so sure of her footing, like every step was a giant leap for mankind. Planting her feet on the hard concrete of the city, she was determined to make her mark on the world. Unfortunately for her mother, this usually led to an incredibly antsy Eleni showing symptoms of ADHD and dyslexia very early on. Eleni could never tolerate living in their tiny apartment, so she left. Her excuse was to see the world, to make her mark. Freshman year of high school, she dropped out with her mother's consent. It wasn't legal, but she decided to never return.

Despite this big move for Eleni appearing to be what she always wanted, something felt wrong. When she left the city limits, leaving her comfortable city, there was a feeling of despair she felt descending upon her. She immediately missed the comforting arms of her mother, but something else was off. Eleni felt as if she was being watched, and turning every corner made her uneasy and jumpy. Soon enough, Eleni figured out what that feeling was. Monsters.

While crossing a street with her eyes aimed at the ground, Eleni was nearly hit by a truck, or something that felt like a truck. When she forced herself to stand despite her groaning bones, she was met with red eyes glaring at her from the darkness. Dim street lamps provided her only light. Instead of continuing on her way, she turned in the direction she came from, and ran. She ran faster than she had ran in her entire life. Her brown hair trailed behind her in a flurry of loose curls, her eyes stinging with frightened tears. The 14 year old hadn't a clue as to what was happening. She only had one thing on her mind: her mother.

Upon reaching the door of her apartment, she was greeted by the door standing ajar. The wood around the hinges was cracked. It was forcefully kicked in. Eleni tapped the door with her hand, and it fell into the apartment, giving off a slam as it hit the concrete floor. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight in front of her. Blood pooled on the apartment floor in front of her couch. The couch she often passed out on when homework kept her up late at night. The couch her mom would curl up and cry on when she thought Eleni was sleeping. The ugly brown couch with a flat spot on the right cushion. The couch that was now tainted, witness to the crime before it.

Eleni was blind to the seemingly literal elephant in the room. The large black mass of fur looming over the body lying in the middle of the floor was something not from this world. Something that Eleni had certainly never seen before, or something that she hadn't seen in the state of New York. But somehow, Eleni could name the creature. She learned Greek mythology in middle school during a two week course, but she never paid attention to the textbook. She only found herself skimming the black text to find the pictures of ancient statues and illustrations. The statues were her favorite, because the words engraved in stone were somehow situated where she didn't have a problem reading it. Her teachers found it odd that she would stare intently at pictures of ancient tablets as if she were reading them, but she couldn't stand to read single 5 sentence paragraphs. From that wasted two week course was some useful information, it seemed.

The hellhound was breathing heavily as it shifted on its feet. Turning its large ugly head to glare at Eleni, it took several large strides in her direction. She frantically scanned her eyes across the apartment, racking her brain on what to do. Assessing the situation, she knew she was not going to be the "fly" person she always was. She was not going to sprint away from her problems like she always did. She was not going to abandon the woman who raised her on her own. Her mother was lying in her own blood on the floor of their living room.

In a split second decision, Eleni sprinted to her room, the only place with actually useful materials. Her mom once dated a guy for a few months who was an avid hunter. Or at least that's what Eleni figured. He owned weapons, but she had never seen him fire any. When she took interest in a bow at his apartment once, he gave it to her. She only ever fired it once, when she was presented it initially, using it instead as decoration on her wall. Slamming the thick wood door closed as the hellhound tried to squeeze through the tiny hallway, Eleni pulled the bow and quiver from the shelf as quickly as possible. She fired a quick test arrow at the drywall surrounding her. It was indeed sloppy, but Eleni figured it was good enough for the current situation.

Carefully stepping out of her room, with the bow raised as she had seen in movies, countless times, she stared straight into the red eyes glaring at her from the end of the hall. The beast was breathing heavily, angry. Seeing her mother lying on the ground only ignited the same level of fury in Eleni's eyes. Without wasting any more time, Eleni aimed the bow between the hellhounds eyes as thunder shook the apartment building. Lightning flashed, knocking the lights out in the hall. Eleni heard the arrow make contact with the wall behind the monster. She missed.

The lights flickered, shining a dim orange light across the hall once again. To Eleni's surprise, the hellhound was lying dead on the floor. Its hair stuck up in all directions, its eyes were closed, smoke rising from the body. Eleni rushed over to her mother, pulling her head onto her lap. She laid her head on her mother's chest, ignoring the blood dripping from her neck as she did so. Her pulse was going, but it was slow, and gradually becoming slower. With tears in her eyes, Eleni observed the light drizzle outside the window. She whispered in her ear, hoping for any sort of response. Only a low groaning emerged from her dry lips. Refusing to look down at her mother's injuries, she instead focused on the pale skin of her cheeks, the way her eyelids fluttered with every brush of her golden hair.

This was all Eleni did when her mother died. She did not dare look at her bloodied throat, or her soaked clothes. Eleni only held her mother as close to her as she could, sobbing into her hair when she finally stopped breathing. The storm outside reflected how she was feeling. The rain was practically sideways, lightning flashing every few moments, thunder shaking the buildings in the city.

The night Denise Seres died was a defining one for Eleni. After gently setting her mother's head on the floor, she stood. Nearly falling over, she took the first unsure steps she had taken in her life. Making her way to her room, she packed her essential items. Leaving her mother, her home, was not something she desired. But how was she supposed to explain this to the authorities? Debating against herself, she called her grandfather. He was a smart man, but not on good terms with his daughter, due in part to Eleni. She left a message when he did not answer.

Taking one last glance at her mother, she laid a blanket across her cold still body, the way she used to when she would fall asleep on the couch.

Eleni left that apartment never to return. A satyr found her crying in the woods on Long Island a week later. He led her to Camp Half-Blood, where she was claimed immediately after crossing its borders. She never left camp again, opting to stay year-round. For roughly two years she has trained and studied at Camp Half-Blood, determined to make her mother proud.

Eleni is a stereotypically beautiful girl, with rosy cheeks and clear skin, at least for a teenager. Her eyes are almond shaped and a medium brown color. She has medium length brown hair, with a thick and wiry textured hair that is often frizzy. She usually wears it pulled back away from her face. Who wants hair in your face when you're trying to kill stuff?

Her skin is fair, and after two years at camp, has come to be very tan. She has a heart shaped face with a defined chin. Her lips are thin, but are usually stretched out into a smile. A unique feature that Eleni carries is a black mole underneath her left eye. She has a wide nose, and her eyebrows are usually tweezed to perfection, thanks to an Aphrodite camper.

She isn't very tall, standing at only 5'2". She is often teased about this, but she goes along with the jokes, often laughing at them herself. She is lean, thanks to her constant training at camp.

Her wardrobe consists of flannel tops and jeans, usually accompanied by converse or other typically "boyish" clothing items. Eleni doesn't try to make an effort into her appearance, and it is quite evident when she wakes up in the morning. She practically owns the "rolled out of bed" look.

Prior to her mother's death, Eleni was a bright young girl, shining with positivity and a wide smile for anyone she met. After her death, there was still an aura of positivity surrounding her, but not as much as before. Her light had dimmed, but that would not stop her.

Eleni is honest, positive, and self-confident. She doesn't have a problem with telling someone they're doing something wrong, but she will attempt to soften the blow in anyway she can. She attempts to be a shining example for her fellow campers, always trying to brighten their days. Sometimes to the point of annoying them, but she doesn't care.

With every step she takes, she's sure of it. She is so sure that she is Eleni Lysandra Seres and that she lives at Camp Half-Blood that is practically radiates off of her. This sometimes confuses the opposite gender, seeing someone with such wise eyes that it's sometimes mildly terrifying for them. But they get used to it. Especially when they have her on their team for capture the flag. The girl sure can shoot, due to her constant training in the arena.

Difficult topics for Eleni involve her mother, her powers, and giraffes. (Don't ask about the giraffes. It was a very weird school field trip for Eleni.) These topics often cause her to get very upset, to the point of tears. She tends to run away from these moments, never sticking around. Between fight or flight, she's flight. She doesn't often snap, as these moments tend to only occur infrequently.

Eleni's fatal flaw is excessive personal loyalty. Her loyalty to her mother and her willingness to do anything to honor her memory plague her. Speaking about her mother ruins her, and she blames herself for her death on her worst days. Eleni's loyalty to her few friends is also overpowering, and she will do anything for them.

Eleni, being a child of Zeus, has control over the weather, with the ability to generate fierce storms. Lightning, thunder, and hard rain are all she has control of at the moment. These powers are weak, as Eleni has not yet learned how to control them quite yet. Her powers usually only come about in fits of intense emotions such as sadness or anger, which are infrequent for her.

Eleni constantly has her yew recurve bow with her. The quiver is a light brown leather, the inside is constantly filled with arrows. Eleni takes good care of her arrows, choosing to make them herself and sharpen them regularly. Eleni also has a small dagger that straps to her leg, which she only uses as a backup weapon. It was made out of iron by a fellow camper and presented as a gift on her 16th birthday.

Eleni has no pets. She is allergic to cats, but desires to own a dog, hoping one day her siblings won't mind having one in the cabin.

Her favorite color is teal, and she has learned how to play volleyball while at camp. She is interested in boys, but does not currently have a boyfriend. She was approved by Vina. <3