#And then she had some accidental parallels to Eugene so I leaned into that too

[merkerlers-fairytales]

Okay well. I don't get to talk about Zodi enough on here, so here's her backstory:

She grew up in a place called Mayweather Bay, a town by the seaside in a small corner of Corona. She was orphaned when she was about 9 years old. Her parents (Fabien and Lylette) were obsessed with an ancient magic source- The Celestial Tear. And they died in a landslide trying to find more information on it. They were archaeologists. Zodi was on her own after that. And she made as decent a life for herself as she could, being alone at 9 years old. An old woman regularly checked in with her, made her food- just generally made sure she was okay. At least, until the incident.

See, losing your parents at 9 years old and being alone, that does a number on a person. And her parents were so passionate about the Celestial Tear. She wanted to continue their work, make their deaths have some kind of meaning. So she did. And she found out that her parents had moved to Mayweather Bay because that is where the next Celestial Tear was approximated to fall. When it did, she knew what it was. It was like a comet falling to earth. But somehow, it didn't create TOO much damage when it fell. And she went to retrieve it.

When she did find it....the conditions for this tear were....well, unconventional for the artifact. It had turned into powder upon impact. Unfortunately...this really is an ancient magic, with much about it being unknown and misunderstood. It's dangerous. And it's powerful. Perhaps even sentient, in a way. She tried to pick it up. And...it stuck. So instead of keeping it, preserving it, keeping it out of the wrong hands, and being able to study it....it fused to her, became one with her and in a way, possessed her.

When she woke up from the black-out, she had found that she had practically demolished her entire village. And of course, the people here didn't KNOW what had happened. They just knew that she seemed possessed, volatile, and was flying through a jealous rage. The tear...it feeds off of jealousy, come to find. Unfortunately jealousy is one of her biggest problems. And it did of course, start when her parents died. In the midst of the yelling and being chased off, she learned that she had been targeting households of children who still had their parents. Of course, she ran away. And changed her name. This is when she took on the name Zodiac (and later on, Zodi- of course her parents didn't name her Zodi, they named her Celeste. Can you guess why?)

What is a young girl to do when she has no home, no family, no friends? When she is so ashamed of her actions and her own existence that she can't bear to face another human being, let alone forgive herself? Not to mention the energy toll that the Celestial Tear takes on her when it flares. To much of that, and surely, she would be to ill to take care of herself. Fleeing Mayweather Bay was hard after the whole ordeal...

She still has to survive. So, petty thievery it is. She still has to survive. She takes down notes, names, and faces of those she steals from. She develops a keen interest in botany, and entomology so that she can make medicine. A young thief in the woods needs to know how to doctor a cold. Those interests turn into a passion. But still, she's made a name for herself as a theif. Petty thievery turned into full jobs, missions, pairing herself up with other thieves that didn't always have her best interest at heart (who knew Flynn Rider was a real person? And that he would be willing to actually defend her against other criminals that tried to take advantage of her? Truth be told, aside from her father, this was the first man she felt truly safe around. To bad she didn't stick around to see him turn into Eugene) And it feels impossible to turn back. Until the age of 14 she had somehow managed to become one of the most well-known and elusive theives of Corona. She's too smart and quick for her own good. You top that with no one really suspecting a small, unassuming girl (she hits a growth spurt later of course) and you have the recipe for one of your more frustrating theives.

Thank God for the Captain of the Guard having a forgiving heart and a soft spot for orphaned girls. He caught her when she was 14, and, much to her surprised....somehow, could sense how deeply troubled she was. And he actually WANTED to help her. Talk about a lucky break. He made an appeal to the king, and Fredric....actually agreed. But if she messed up, it would be on the Captain's dime.

And so, she became a stable girl. She changed her name again, from Zodiac, to Zodi. Now at first, she was closely monitored. But slowly...over the course of about 2 years, she was able to gain their trust. The Lost Princess returned, and, boy did she at least try to bring some light into her life. Zodi got paid a small wage, stayed in the servant's quarters and....now that she had some time to reflect on her past, her wrongdoings, how deeply she wanted to correct what she'd done wrong (and she was saving every penny possible to be able to at least start to try to repay the people she had hurt, there was a reason she kept record of those people), and was given an actual chance to be a stand-up member of society....it was all to obvious to see how empty she felt. How deeply lonely she was.

She had no real family. Sure, the Cap had took her under his wing but...honestly, while he was a good mentor. She had trouble viewing him as any sort of father figure. She craved a father figure. A mother. A friend, a family. Cassandra was the closest thing she had to a sister, and she was so standoffish. She'd take her to spar sometimes though, and she appriciated the company.

Eventually, a horse had a baby. A very, very sick foal. It wasn't expected to make it, and it was to be left for dead. After all there is no point in wasting precious resources on something guaranteed to die. Seeing the poor foal broke her heart- her skill with animals was almost unbelievable. I mean, she had lived a significant part of her life in the woods, and had dealt with a variety of creatures. So, being the most brilliant doctor that corona would come to know some day, she asked, "Can I try my hand?" and since the poor thing was considered dead anyway, she was told yes. Should she be able to save the baby, the horse could be hers. She'd have earned it, if she brought it back from the brink.

She named her Penelope. She was her first real friend. And it was her first real public display of brilliance outside of just thievery and mischief.

It felt good. And she loved Penelope.

Some time after she turned 16, she got word that the king needed a courier- just for a simple message to Old Corona. The man who would normally deliver messages was out sick. It wasn't important enough to dispatch guards to send though. It was simple communication to Quirin (truth be told, I don't know what is in the letter- the contents aren't as important as where it makes her go). And Cassandra had recommended her. She'd proven herself trustworthy, and the only other thing she had to do with her time was muck out the stables. So of course, she accepted the opportunity. And that, of course, is how she ended up meeting Varian.

Now imagine being 16, having been alone since you were a little girl, never being able to make or keep many friends- and even if you did find someone you got along with you had to move on before you could really get close. Then upon finding some semblance of stability, you were to busy to really try to meet people your age. To ashamed of your past, to scared they'd find out who you were. Plus, none of them shared any of your interests anyway, on the off chance that you WERE able to find someone your age to befriend. They didn't share that scientific curiosity, get grossed out by your insect collection, you can't really talk to them about the things you're passionate about. And then you meet someone....who is your age. Who does enjoy those kinds of things. And not only that, but he's kind of a legendary theif fan-boy. (He enjoyed the Flynn Rider stories, and the stories that- well they were about you, but he doesn't have to know that).

To top it off......he's so sweet! He's friendly, empathetic, intellectually challenging. They become rather fast friends. His father is accepting, warm, and kind. She could see him as some kind of father figure, for sure! Maybe, just maybe...she doesn't have to feel so alone? Maybe she's found her family.

Granted, Varian has no idea how important this friendship is to her, at first at least. She is kind of a standoffish and distant person- not that he'd really be aware of that because her bitter, angsty teenage personality didn't come out around him, he brought out the best in her. How bright she can be, when she lets her guard down a bit. He only really comes to realize how important they are to her the same day that his dad becomes encased in amber. That's also the same day he learns...a bit more about her history. The one she was keeping secret from him. Because she actually cared enough to go with him. But he had no idea that she possessed a power like the Celestial Tear- at least by this point she learned how to control it better. She was willing to reveal that secret to try to save his father. And it's crazy that it couldn't do much against the amber. It's crazy that it hurt her so badly...

And it's to bad she had to watch her best friend spiral.

She couldn't bear to lose her family again.