HEART OF GOLD ★ hazel's bio

[★ HAZEL]

★ — HISTORY

[BEFORE]
Born of morning light and cold shadows, of beginning and end, of love and apathy; born of the sweet scent of roses and the prick of their thorns, of the fluff of clouds and their ever changing shapes; of yin and yang, of cosmic stardust, of interlocking universal forces and exploding nebulae. Born to the Roman goddess of dawn and god of the Underworld, this child is destined to lead a life of constant opposites, of constant ups and downs. She is destined to experience misery and laughter and things immortals should never know of 一 for what must the universe do with the walking embodiment of Life and Death?

With skin the color of cocoa, wild curls the color of topaz and amber, and eyes seemingly so concentrated with gold they glowed, the little girl was a bundle of joy. She rarely cried, and her infant peals of laughter were contagious.

Given the name Stella for its Latin meaning, Aurora and Pluto doted on this baby girl. Aurora with all the bubbling excitement of a mother, and the latter more hesitant to step up to the role. Pluto was unsure of how to approach the precarious situation he had created, for one wrong step and his wife, Proserpina, would discover the child and Aurora and see to their immediate demise. His discomfort also lay with the child herself. His objection to light was steadfast, but curiosity often won the battle that presided. Like a child fascinated with a flame they could not touch, Pluto was engrossed with this little girl, bubbling with pride at his achievement of contributing to something that wasn’t so completely wicked. Quickly, he became defensive of her existence, and kept Stella and her bouncing curls a secret from the rest of Olympus.

To keep Stella hidden, Aurora kept up her daily appearances at dawn, the immortal ichor in her veins saving her youth and need for rest. After her morning ride, she would return to the expansive palace in the East: a great sprawling estate of marble and glass, with saffron draperies and other luxuries mortals could only dream of. It was here, tucked away in the depths of the palace during the winter months, that Aurora kept Stella. Stella could find no fault in it as a child, for she had every reason to keep happy. Aurora dedicated hours and hours of time to slip Stella to the fringes of the palace to show her the world, pointing at and teaching her all the things she could touch for herself one day. When Stella got upset at being unable to leave 一 as a child inevitably will 一 Aurora would sit her in her lap and let her play with her saffron toga, telling her “Mea clara stella, per aspera ad astra.” Through difficulties to the stars, my bright firefly. She would have Stella repeat the phrase, until it became habit to say it at bedtime.

At the beginning of the spring and summer months, Aurora would trek to the Underworld with her daughter, carefully in disguise to slip Stella into the looming obsidian castle of Pluto while he returned Proserpina to her mother, Ceres. As they passed through the halls encrusted with gold, opal, silver, and other precious metals, Stella would reach out to brush small fingertips against the jewels, making them rattle in their stone beds. Ferrokinesis would be a trait carried from her father, therefore making it Pluto’s responsibility to teach her, wheras photokinesis would be Aurora’s specialty.

Aurora would journey deep into the corridors of the castle and await Pluto’s return, keeping Stella busy with small light tricks. Upon his arrival, Pluto would sit silently whilst Aurora rambled on. When Aurora said her goodbyes, Pluto would sweep Stella into his arms, cooing at her while the child laughed. Quickly, she came to recognize him as her father, and refused to call him anything except “Pa’er” which turned to “Pear” in her infant years, for her young tongue couldn’t quite wrap itself around “Pater.” Pluto would indulge in her childish ways and rumble “Mea regis filia,” My Princess, or “Antemeridialis rosa,” Morning Rose, at her.

While Pluto had more rigorous duties than Aurora, he would try to spend as much time with Stella as he could. The castle attendants quickly became familiar with the little girl, as bursts of light dispelled them when she smacked her hands together. Nevertheless, Stella was undeterred, and spent hours chasing the servants with giddy happiness. Pluto allowed her to play in the throne room when she pleased, and because of it, held the most important meetings elsewhere in the castle. When frustrated with her endless amounts of happiness, he would send her to play in Elysium, where the fallen heroes would regale her with stories of the world and what it was like. Pluto took the extra measure to warn everything in the Underworld that if they so much whispered a word to any passing deity, even Tartarus could not punish them as severely as he would. He also warned Stella to stay far away from any of the rivers she came across, as any one of them could destroy her sanity or soul. Surprisingly, Stella took this warning very seriously, and refused to go near them.

For six years, this cycle spun. For six years, Aurora and Pluto traded duties, always keeping Stella out of sight from the wrath of Proserpina. Until one, horrible, inevitable Autumn day.

Aurora was late to retrieve Stella due to a meeting Apollo had called. And, like everything Apollo did, the meeting was extravagant and lengthy. Pluto had reassured her that he could keep Stella hidden until Aurora smuggled her away. Unfortunately, Stella was so unaccustomed to being locked in her room, she managed to warp the metal hinges of the door and escape into the castle, dismissing servants with a snap of her fingers. In a petulant outrage, she stormed right into Pluto’s throne room, ready to hop onto the throne to the right of his, only to find it...occupied. Chaos quickly ensued, with Proserpina taking little time to figure that this was Pluto’s child, and Pluto being helpless to stop as she turned on little Stella. After all, he made a promise to Ceres and Jupiter that he would not hurt Proserpina, so long as she was still his wife. Proserpina demanded to know who Stella was, who her mother was, and everything else about her. Stella began to cry, which was such a rare sight for Pluto, his anger became visibly tangible as curls of black smoke frothed at his feet. This only frightened Stella more, and as Proserpina’s echoing voice rose and Pluto’s anger grew, Stella increasingly grew more panicked, until a sudden flash of light threw Proserpina to the ground. Too terrified to do much more than stifle her sobs, Stella was powerless to do anything as Proserpina swept forward, having taken the little girl’s power slip as an attack, furious and merciless. She gathered the child and stormed out of the castle, with Stella screaming for her father’s help until her screams faded into the distance. Pluto would feel the inklings of guilt for months.

Proserpina immediately stripped the girl of her immortality, but as she was not nearly as powerful as Jupiter, the job was only half complete; Stella retained her abilities, but could remember nothing of her mother, father, or the person she was. As cruelty ran side by side with anger and jealousy in deity’s veins, Proserpina plucked two souls at random from The Fields of Asphodel, and stuffed them into Stella, confusing the child even more. Determined to thoroughly finish the deed, Proserpina changed Stella’s name to Hazel, cast her to Earth, and turned her into a feline. She handed a newly-reborn Hazel to a mother who had recently lost her entire litter, knowing full well that the she-cat was grief stricken and would take to Hazel with a bitter, cruel intent.

[INFANCY/CHILDHOOD] birth - 6 months
— Raised in a massive clan, so Hazel never knew the feeling of close family; her mother was extremely verbally abusive; not so much physically so, but it wasn’t uncommon. Hazel became very used to doing what she was told when she was told, and to expect even the smallest of errors to be found and punished for them. Contributes to her perfectionism. Deep down, she’s frustrated and angry, but is terrified of the consequences if she speaks out. Confusion is an untouchable residue from her godly life. Very few people in the clan treat her like a friend.
— Set out on her own at 5 months; managed to survive that way for a month
— Found Arion during that month, and befriended him quickly after she rescued him from a sticky situation.
— 23 April 2018 Joined the Ascendants

[ADOLESCENCE] 7 months - 15 months
— 19 May 2018 First Flashback
— 24 May 2018 Starrynight, leader of the Ascendants, dies
—

[ADULTHOOD] 18 months +
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