The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
It was a hug she had been waiting for, for more than a month. Warm, big arms with an actual heart beating away in there. This was home. This was where she felt most comfortable.
She squeezed a little tighter, as tight as her thin arms were able, and then let go. "Thank you, father."
She was proud. The plan hadn't failed, and Father McCallen was happy to see her.
She sat again, hands clasped in her lap and soaked in the sermon like it was the first time she had ever heard one. She knew she'd come a long way since the day she'd first stepped foot in the church. She understood almost all of what he was saying now.
She waited for the sermon to be over. Waited for more for him to make his usual rounds to greet people and check-in. She waited further as others snuck out and down to that dark room. Once he himself had exited, she stood and smoothed the wrinkles in her skirt down. Stopped by a reflection to make sure she looked presentable enough, and then headed down to join the others.
Eisley joined last, a habit of her lessening anxiety, and had her usual pleasant smile fixed on her lips. She didn't want to cry in front of the others. Didn't want to show how deeply happy she was to be back. She would save that for later when she was alone and could confess her feelings with just the two of them.
"Yes, please!" The idea of him showing her practically anything that was new or different was about as exciting as seeing a real-life unicorn with her own eyeballs. She would never pass something like that up!
He went on to explain the...uh... what had he called it again? Harambe's code? She listened raptly, hands folded politely in front of her on the table beside the gun, which was clean and polished and put back together. An eye for an eye? It... made sense, she supposed. If you took something that didn't belong to you, it was only right that you compensated whoever you took it from for equal value. An eyeball for an eyeball was pretty dang equal, even if it made her a bit squeamish to think about losing an eye, or taking one for that matter.
The idea of a son for a son was equally distressing, but he wasn't wrong. It made sense. She'd known a lot of people who lived by rules like that. You steal my food, I steal yours. A punch for a punch.
Eisley nodded. Even if she didn't fully understand the why, she understood it enough to grasp the concept.
"Okay, Father McCallen. Thank you. I really liked today's lesson!" Back to the rainbows and sunshine in the blink of an eye. She rushed to help clean up the rest of the table, not wanting to chance to make him late to any important business.
~~~
Months passed. Her life shifted in a direction she hadn't anticipated and her happy little bubble was threatened. Her birthday had passed and she was now old enough for marriage to the son of a prominent family out of the country. It was a contract she had known about for a while, she'd even told Father McCallen about it at some point before it had become a reality. Weeks before the suddenly sprung trip she had tearfully given the news to the priest that she would be leaving. The idea that she would never be able to go to Sunday classes, or sit through his sermons with her was distressing to a point she wasn't used to. She'd grown fond of him, more so than her own flesh and blood father. There was nothing she could do to get out of the agreement, though. Till death do thy part.
A plan was hatched behind the scenes and in a very short time, she was instructed in an entirely different sort of lesson than she was used to. Would she be able to pull it off on her own? Only time would tell. But, with so much resting on her pulling this off, she put her all into it.
It was either succeed and come back to New York, or fail and never see the Father again.
~~~
The day she left she cried. Her soul hurt at the thought that it could possibly be the last time she ever saw the city again. Eisley wept on the flight there until her father callously demanded she stop, and then she sat mutely the rest of the way there. At the end of her trip, her betrothed apparently was waiting for her. A boy two years older than her whom she had never seen nor spoken to. It was an arranged marriage between her Father and one of his business partners, whom he would secure significant investments from and visa versa.
She didn't even know the boys name, yet.
~~~
Upon landing, she was swept away by hired waitstaff. Off into a limo that would take her back to the estate to get ready. They had her measurements already so a dress was waiting for her, and all other decorations were prepared. She just needed a final fitting, a good wash, and some pampering, and she would be ready. The ceremony was the next day, that evening, after all of the paperwork would be signed and filed.
She was miserable, and the butterflies of trepidation never stopped dancing in her stomach.
~~~
Her soon-to-be husband was handsome, she supposed. Good looking enough that other girls probably had crushes on him. Eisley didn't. She didn't want him touching her or trying to kiss her, and she was prepared to punch him right in the face if he tried. Thankfully she didn't have to worry about it as it was apparently custom for the groom to not see the bride until after the wedding had started. That brought her a few hours at least.
The ceremony was boring and she didn't care for any of the people cooing over her, talking in a language that she didn't understand. Her father seemed to understand it well enough since he had planned it all in the same tongue. Photos were taken, people filed into a very old, big church, and a priest who didn't seem as likable as Father McCallen rambled on in two languages for everyone gathered. It felt like it took hours to get to the end, where she fumbled out a shaky "I-i do." And her betrothed did the same.
She had to fight the instinct to poke him in the eyeballs as he leaned in and gave her her very first kiss. Chaste and sweet looking on the outside, but filled with nothing but lies.
After a night of dinner and many people she didn't know standing around chatting in a language she couldn't understand, the guests started to leave and she was left alone... with the main family and one personal assistant of her own. It had been explained that there was supposed to be some sort of honeymoon the next day.
Even though dinner had ended she could still hear members of the main party celebrating their son's "passage into manhood" or whatever. She lingered in her room until well into the night, until her assistant opened her door later that night and stepped into her room.
~~~
Siobhan had been with her weeks before she'd even left New York. Father McCallen had convinced her father that the best thing she needed for the wedding to go off without a hitch was a friendly face she could understand. She'd been instructed to pretent like she'd known the woman for a while, even though she'd just met her. Father McCallen's word was law, though, so she dutifully pretended.
Siobhan lid into her room quietly and shut the door behind her while Eisley was perched on the edge of her bed in a white, silky nightgown. It was time for the rest of the plan to proceed.
"Are ya ready, child?" The woman asked, tucking her greying hair into a cap and making sure her apron was on securely.
"Yes, Ma'am. I am." The young woman stood.
The ruckus downstairs had long since gone quiet. Siobhan has spiked their chosen drink of choice earlier in the night. The whole family was slumbering away in various places; the floor, couches and chairs, and some in their bedrooms.
The woman produced a bottle of accelerant from a pocket in her apron, unscrewed it, and began dousing the large expensive rug she was standing on with it.
"You know the plan then." Once the bottle was empty the woman crossed the room to Eisley, picked up an old decorative oil lamp that resided on the table beside the bed, and used a match to light it. The flickering little flame brought her comfort. A stark difference to the too-bright electric lights in the room. "Time for you to do the honors, Little bird." The lamp was passed to her. It hadn't even grown warm yet.
"I'll miss you, Siobhan... I know we just met, but-"
"Shh now." The older woman stroked her hair in a motherly fashion, and the expression on her face made Eisley's heart melt. "You need to get your wings, Eiley, and no better time like the present. You just need to take the jump. Don't you worry about me none, we'll meet again I'm sure."
Tears sprang to her eyes, but she fought then back valiantly. With a shaky nod, she let the woman help lift the lamp up over her head. She squeezed her eyes together, took a breath to steel herself, and then smashed the lamp on the floor with all her might. Amid the shards of broken glass, the oil caught straight away. It wouldn't take long for it to hit the accelerant and the room would go up in ablaze.
"I'll never forget you! I promise!" Siobhan ushered her to the only window in the room, drew it open, and gave Eisley room to perch on the edge. The room she had been given was on the second floor. The older woman gave her a fleeting moment to collect herself before she shoved Eisley the rest of the way out the window.
"Send them all to peace, Eisley, By the grace of God."
The fall was quick and she landed on her side in the grass below. Her temple hit hard, knocking her out for about an hour.
When she woke the mansion was fully up in flame. It was eerie and beautiful. Wisps of burning ash rained down from the sky, which was dark with smoke above her. Eisley stood on shaky legs, collecting herself as best she could. The roar of the fire and the creak of burning wood filled the air, and she couldn't help but marvel at how quiet it was.
A mansion full of men, women, and some children. All gone in an instant and without a peep.
She didn't dwell on it though. She knew they were all on their way to heaven together, free from sin and with a bright future of eternal happiness before them. Siobhan and she had saved them all.
"...By the grace of God..."
~~~
After the mansion burned and everyone inside had been pronounced dead, her father was forced to come to collect her. As the only survivor of a great tragedy, on her wedding night no less, she was left a widow at 17 and a sizeable estate to her name. Which, interestingly enough, was now Eisley Castelo.
Interestingly, her father did not welcome her back with open arms. He had thought that the marriage was a way to get rid of her while also furthering some of his own goals. He had her dropped off at his large house while he went off to figure out paperwork and numbers her return brought. She took it upon herself to secure a ride to her home.
The sight of that familiar small church had never been so welcome as she climbed carefully out of the car, clad in a fitted silk dress that suited her age and helped to take the eyes away from the few bandaged cuts and scrapes she had earned. It was hard not to get a bit emotional as she stepped in and found her normal seat for service.
She nodded at his question while folding her hand in her lap. "Yes. I have a few in my room that I am working on. I used to go into toystores a long time ago and if they had puzzles out on the toy tables I could work on them for a bit. Oh, and sometimes libraries have them too! I really like figuring out how things fit together and what's missing."
She thought about the puzzle she had at home. It was Unicorn themed, which had just made her sad all over again that her mom had thrown Mr. Unicorn away. She'd really liked being on the hunt for his horn, even if deep down she knew she'd never really find it. It had just been something to keep her going on long, cold nights.
"Hammu..rabi..." She took a moment to think about it. Her tutor did have a sizable stack of books he often brought with him, and she had a pile of books she had hardly made it halfway through on her bookshelf in her room. Had she heard that anywhere?
"No, Father McCallen, I don't think I have heard of it before. What is it? Is it like a... bank code? Or like a secret code?" She knew quite a bit about secret codes. The homeless population in her city had an assortment of codes to learn if you wanted to be safe and not step into the owned territory.
Eisey did not love her Father. It brought her shame to think about... she was supposed to love her father, or, at least honor him she guessed. He just didn't seem like the kind of person who deserved honor to her.
"...Through charity, we do work for the lord..." She mumbled repetitively, quietly, every line the Priest spoke to help drill it into her own brain. Eisley knew she wasn't the smartest and sometimes she had a lot of trouble remembering the lessons her tutor at home tried to teach her. Here, with the father, she didn't ever want to disappoint him like that! Not ever! He was the kindest person she knew and he never treated her like she was dumb and annoying, so... she'd simply do her very best to be a good student.
Hard work and pushing herself to her limit had gotten her somewhere though! "...We work to be the avengers of the lord, and those harmed by the demons..."
It was still a little hard imagining all of those nice people she had met in her life as being demons. Demons in books were red and looked like monsters. Like, with wings and horns, and pointy teeth! So many of the ones she had met looked nice, and normal, and had kind smiles.
It was really, really sad.
She paused in her task for a moment to count the taps on her shoulder. It was something he had started doing after giving her the gun, as like a pop quiz of sorts! She liked them because she'd gotten better at answering the last few times. "Four." She unconsciously tapped her fingers on the table before her as she counted. Habit she hadn't really bothered to get rid of, even if her tutor complained about it all the time. She liked using her fingers for her gun, because she had eight fingers and two thumbs, and there were eight bullet spaces in her gun! When she imagined firing it she could remember how many bullets were left by ticking them off on her fingers.
It had been hard at first because she wasn't used to handling a weapon like that. She had held one before on occasion when she encountered them out in the city... but only for a few seconds to sate her curiosity before cautiously leaving it alone. People in the Tv commercials always said that guns were bad and kids would hurt themselves with them, and back then she certainly hadn't wanted to be the little kid getting buried.
Now, though, she knew how to properly handle one. Father McCallen was teaching her lots of stuff about them and really they were pretty neat! Like a moving muzzle made of metal and plastic, or wood sometimes. If you weren't paying attention when you took them apart, as he could, you might not be able to put it all back together!
The idea that she was forgiven, or would be at least, make her cheeks warm with happiness. She had always worried that she had let all of her role models down with her constant need to eat and switch out really old clothes that were falling apart.
"I've been really good, I swear! I haven't stole nothin' for a whole buncha months now." She'd been keeping track and everything! It didn't matter if she wanted something or not, she simply had controlled that primal urge to collect and hoard things for when she needed them. "I even stopped hiding food under my bed. Papa won't have to get mad anymore."
She was confused about his warming for Super Saph and Thomas, though. What did he mean by 'beings'? She hadn't heard that word before. Would... would he get mad at her for not knowing it?
"... What's a Be-ying? Are they bad?" She focused on her paper, doodling in a very simple drawing of a cockroach with a little top hat on.
Eisley blinked at him for a moment when he finished. She was glad to hear that he didn't think she was a bad person while she had been running around doing bad things. That was confusing, but she was still glad for it.
"I like being here now." She paused, stopping her drawing even to think, "I wasn't really anywhere or with anyone though. Too many people out there are mean and scary, so I was on my own. It was scary too, sometimes, but better."
She added in a few flowers here and there, gave Mr. Unicorn a pink beard, and started trying to doodle the Father talking to her into one of the corners.
"It can be scary here too, sometimes... but I like it better anyway. I got to meet people like you, and Ms. Paisley, and one of my nannies tells me stories sometimes." She squinted as the tip broke off of the crayon in her hands and picked it back up to resume coloring. She wasn't gonna waste perfectly good crayon!
She blushed at least five different shades of red and pink and ducked her head, zeroing her attention on her drawing so that she wouldn't have to focus on Mr. McCallan calling her bright. Nobody ever called her anything like that. Heck, even Papa told her she was slow at least a few times a day. Her tutor always tried to play it off like some kind of encouragement, but... Eisley knew she wasn't the smartest.
She paused mid doodle of what the plant fairy looked like when the Father questioned who the people she was drawing were, and frowned at his tone. Was it bad that she had met them? They had seemed nice to her. They had saved her from things and bought her yummy food and stuff.
"Yes?" She glanced between him and the paper, stricken for a moment until she recalled their last conversation. She couldn't lie to him, that would be wrong. She pointed at Super Saph first as she legs swung nervously under the table.
"I met Super Saph a while ago, um.. before Papa found me." She wasn't allowed to talk about anything before her dad had found her at home. He didn't like hearing all of the things she had been up to. "Before I had a home, or, um... as many morals, I guess... I stole something from him and he chased me for it." She fiddled with her pencil sheepishly. "But it was okay, cuz I gave it back in the end and he scared away a bunch of people who woulda hurt me. I call him Super Saph because he can fly and stuff like spectacular Man can." ... Did she have to mention the bus thing, too? She didn't wanna mention the bus thing.
"And Thomas... um, well... I stole something from him too, but he thought someone else had stolen it, so I didn't get in trouble. I told him my name was Thomas, and his name as also Thomas, so it was kinda funny. He had weird teeth!"
She pondered talking about the fairy next but decided to see what kinda trouble she was going to get into for the first two, first. "... I'm sorry I was such a bad person before..."
She nodded slightly, uncertainly. "Morals are things that tell you how to be a good person?" Once she had permission to keep drawing, she dove back into it with as much gusto as she could muster. Jesus still needed a lot of shading, after all. Beards were hard to get juuust right.
"Really? Thank you!" She looked at him in surprise, and as she processed what he'd said hope bloomed on her face. "Nobody's ever said that to me before." Actually, quite the opposite. People were really prone to yelling about kids like her being a waste of space... and a few of the other street kids had really loved to tell her to go die. A lot. It had hurt quite a bit, bit just ended up reaffirming her wish to not die, under any circumstance, if she could help it. "I liked that. Everybody being equal..."
Did that mean she didn't need to worry about if other girls were prettier than her? Eisley had always just kinda winged it when she needed to dress up to lift things from stores. Everything had been based on pictures in magazines of what other girls were wearing. But, if everyone was equal, then she didn't need to worry about it after all.. right?
Her nose wrinkled because she found that that thought didn't mesh well with what her father said and did. He always wanted her to look a specific way when he was around. But she couldn't say anything because she was supposed to respect her dad, right?! Ahh! So confusing!
Moodily, she started sketching in a crude doodle of the green-skinned man she'd met, with his funny teeth and eyes.
"Well... That's Jesus." She pointed at the robe-clad man on the horse, "and that's Mr. Unicorn. He's missing his horn because he lost it." She wondered where he was now... After her father had thrown him out, she was sure he'd gone off to find his horn on his own.
"And these are some of the nuns that I saw in the book today, and this is Super Saph... but he doesn't actually have a cape. I just thought it looked cooler like that."
Lastly, she pointed at the little alien-looking head. "And that's Thomas. We were name twins at one point."
She was still in the classroom by the time the Father had found her, sitting at a table and scribbling on spare paper she had been given. Various pictures of things she had learned that day, or lately, mixed in with some of her favorite things.
Currently, Jesus was riding Mr. Unicorn over a rainbow. There were a few nuns, with the wides hats or course, seemingly floating beside the rainbow and a little doodle of a superhero with a very long cape. Empty space had been filled with various stars and hearts, as well as spelling attempts at hard words she had heard during the class.
Abbctindance was something she very much doubted she would ever be able to spell correctly. It didn't help that the teacher had spoken really quietly and some of the lessons had been hard to hear.
The teen jumped a little at the appearance of the priest, set her pencil down, and positively beamed at him.... until he asked about her day.
By the way her face fell and she became moody again, it was probably pretty easy to tell.
"It was okay... I liked the stories and stuff." She was torn between picking up her pencil again to doodle more, or leaving it down and paying attention. Would it be impolite for her to draw while talking to him?
"... I had a hard time hearing everything though, and I think the other kids think i'm weird."
A week passed and suddenly it was Sunday again. Unlike most days in her new, still slightly unwilling home, she was actually excited to get up and get dressed, actively ate her breakfast with no issues and called Gerik 'Papa' without hesitating once. Today, in place of the normal lessons she found so boring, she was going to Sunday School!
She had no idea what that was like, but it was still exciting!. She only wished that she still had Mr. Unicorn to take with her. Unlike the last time where her Father had dressed her up fancy for the service, she was given cute, girly coveralls and a long necked, long sleeved shirt to wear under it. She'd been allowed to choose her own hairstyle for once, though she hadn't been allowed to actually do it herself. A simple braid was more than welcome since it didn't pull at her skin like a tight pony tail did.
She was dropped off after the service was over, which was slightly upsetting because she had wanted to sit through it again. Father McCallan said a lot of big words she still didn't understand yet, but she liked to sit and ponder on their meanings while he spoke. It was also pretty neat being in a room with so many people who were all so polite and focused while he talked.
She was practically vibrating from her own nerves by the time she was actually dropped off in the class and her Father's assistant left. And then... Well, and then her nerves kicked in. She'd never been around other kids her age who hadn't also been out on the streets, and most of the time she avoided them because they wanted what she had or she was on their turf. This kids were normal kids, right? What if they thought she was dirty and smelly and weird and... and...
She clammed up and withdrew rather quickly, making efforts to participate... but with very obvious hesitance. She was 100% sure that if she did or said the wrong thing they'd all hate her and then she'd never be able to go to Sunday School every again.
Also, a lot of the girls were decidedly more girly than her and that had the very strange effect of making her feel really self conscious about every single scar and freckle on her face.
She felt like an absolute failure by the time the class was over and was decidedly ready to leave with her tail tucked between her legs, but.... no one had shown up to pick her up yet. It was already ten minutes past, too.
Gerik's smile pinched a little in one corner as he calmly stared at the damaged priest. Had his father not whispered in his ear about keeping his temper in check around a very valuable asset to the family's image, the tall man might had questioned if the priest thought him incapable of keeping his own daughter in line. Instead, a muscle on one side of his jaw twitched and he cleared his throat. "The offer is... tempting, Father." His father patted him on one shoulder gently to get his attention, and then leaned in to whisper a few more things into his ear. After a moment, he nodded and his smile relaxed again. His father was right, the priest would certainly be able to sway the girl in ways that her father apparently couldn't at the moment, and possibly make it easier for him to control her later on. Also, it would be one less thing on his plate to have to deal with while still in the process of taking over the company from his ailing father.
"On second thought, Father McCallan... After some counsel on the matter I think Sunday School might be exactly what she needs."
Eisley visibly perked up. He'd agreed!?
"I will have my assistant get everything set up. She will start next Sunday... if that works for you, Father?"
His elderly father smiled slightly and inclined his head at the priest. He couldn't speak much english, considering the prime of his life had been spent outside of the US building his business and wealth... but he was fine being the proverbial little voice on his son's shoulder.
Meanwhile, the small teenager behind all of them was bouncing on her heels, imagining what Sunday School would be like and if it would be like actual school that all of the normal kids had gotten to go to while she had lived on the streets.
He would be a good person to tell things. That was good to know! She had gotten kind of comfortable telling things to the Doctor, but... she wasn't allowed to see him anymore. It was nice to have someone she could reliably talk to again!
She looked comically shamed by his explanation of her father, and a little guilt. Alright, so maybe the man was right when he said that sometimes she spoke without thinking. She should have thought a bit more before making those comments. "I'm sorry.. i'll try and remember that from now on."
The guiltiness quickly changed into starry eyed adoration when the kindly priest admitted that he knew about Mr. Rogers and what he thought of him. "He's the best!" She announced, hands clasped in-front of the frilly blouse of her dress. She even bounced on her heels a bit. "He taught me how to tie my shoes!"
She may have jumped a little and some of her courage retreated at the idea that her father was coming back over. She'd do her best from now on to 'honor' her father, but... he still scared her quite a bit. Something about how calm he always seemed, and yet how dark his eyes were. It just didn't sit right with her.
Her back went ramrod straight as he neared, with her grandfather in tow, and she ceased her fidgeting. The man's dark eyebrows lifted when the priest mentioned Sunday school, and Eisely was looking everywhere but at him when he glanced at his daughter in question.
"Sunday School?" He questioned, his voice smooth and deep. He tucked his phone away and a small smile tugged at his lips as he refocused on the priest. "Why, i'm not sure that is needed, Father McCallan. Eisley already has private tutors at home. Adding in extra activities might impact her current studies."
As much as he liked to show up on occasional Sundays with different family members, it wasn't a regular activity. It was for show. Everything he did out in the public was for show. Her grandfather leaned in and whispered something into Gerik's ear, something not in Engish.
Oh no! Her spirit was dirty! How was she supposed to clean it? Was it really as easy as just... telling someone?
She blinked at the gentle hand he laid on her shoulder and gnawed at her lips in thought. "... Do I have to tell you if I have made a sin, or just... anyone? I don't wanna have a dirty spirit. People look at you funny when you're dirty." Did that mean that god was looking at her funny too? His nose all scrunched up and eyes squinted, like she smelled funny?
"Papa knows a lot of my, um, sins? But he said not to tell anyone." She blinked again, and had a moment of looking panicked over her own admission. He'd said not to lie though! It was a sin! What the heck was she supposed to do?!
"I stole stuff for a while before I got brought to his house, but I only took what I needed and I kept a book and stuff with names and dated cuz I was gonna pay them all back once I was big enough to get a job. Papa threw it away though, so... I don't remember any of them anymore." She paused again, puzzling over more of what he had said.
"Mama and papa must have a lot of stuff to confess about. Mama was always yelling about god and Jesus back when I lived with her, whenever she had friends over... and Papa just isn't a very good person. Mr. Rogers wouldn't approve of him at all, I don't think."
Her head tilted as she thought about talking to god. She'd heard of it before, but she was more familiar with people praying when things were really, really bad. Nobody she'd known from before had ever been the pray every night type of person.
She'd have to mull over that one later.
Her eyes widened dramatically at the offer of school. Heck, even if it was more lessons, it was outside the house and maybe even with other kids!
"Really!?" She was honestly excited about the idea, but that energy quickly deflated when she remembered she wasn't allowed to leave the house. Well, until today that is.
"I'd like too, but I dunno if he will let me, though. I tried to run away once so i'm not allowed outside by myself." If the Father said that her dad had been happy to find her, she supposed he must have been telling the truth. He wasn't supposed to lie, after all. So maybe her dad was just scared?
"Maybe he's afraid i'll die like his other kid did. I know he misses him because whenever he tries to tell me about his work and I don't understand he looks tired. I'll bet his son was way better than me."
She squinted at him. It was clear that she wasn't getting all of what he was saying. Why did she need to call him father, too? She already had a dad, apparently, and she wasn't even sure yet if she wanted that one. Was she trading her missing mom for another dad? Two dads? That was fine, she supposed. Already this one at least seemed a bit nicer than the other one.
He explained a bit more and understanding dawned on her to a degree. Oh, so... he wasn't like, a literal father. It was some kinda title. "I don't know what a sin is. Is that like a lie? Do people tell you their lies? Why?"
Her father had tried to explain it a little to her on the way to the church, but.. he tended to grow tried of her questions and her general lack of knowledge tended to irritate him to a degree. She usually stopped asking questions after she spotted the muscle in his jaw start jumping, because she knew he was close to being grumpy at her. Nodding her head and pretending to understand was just easier.
Her nose scrunched back up again when he pointed out their shared scars and mentioned that he was thankful for his. "Why?" She asked, in a way that conveyed that she was absolutely curious as to his reasoning. "What kinda lesson?" She shifted on her feet, feeling a tad bit more comfortable since he was talking to her like she was an actual person and not yelling at her for being dumb. "I don't remember any lessons." She paused, thinking about it. "Cept' that I gotta learn how to doge better, I guess."
The girl turned bright red when he asked her how she has liked his talk, and she shifted guiltily. "I... um... I did't hear a lot of it. I was thinking about what you meant by people getting lost and then being found again." Wasn't that why phones existed? So you could bring up a map to find your way home?
She craned her head back a little to see if her father was still gone, before leaning in slightly toward the nice priest. "Mr. Levo- er... papa, doesn't like me talking a lot right now because I still have a lot of stuff to learn. He says I tend to talk first without thinking, but I think that's silly because I have to think the words up first, right? Or nothing would come out."
The child trapped in a teenage body blinked, shuffling her feet a little. "Is it true you talk to god? What's god like? Everybody on the streets says different things."
Eisley didn't understand a lick of what was going on. The words that eveyone seemed so focused on didn't mean anything to her yet, and, well... they were rather boring. Like, she would totally wanna be anywhere else playing with a doll or something than sitting as still as a statue listening to some guy in a funny clothes talk about god.
But, well... fear kinda kept her rooted to the spot and unwilling to turn her head away much. Unfortunately for the man and all of his pretty words, she only caught half of them. Her father didn't like her tilting her head to catch things in her good ear... thought it looked weird or something, so she had to sit with her face forward and missed some of it. He had mentioned that he was working on getting her some kind of surgery to her bad hear and some sort of little device that would help her heard better.
She did catch bits and pieces though, and once he had enough of her attention she actually braved a direct look at the guy. She didn't know the significance of his robes, or what his little collar stood for, but she knew that his scars looked like they hurt. Hers still hurt sometimes too... dad called it 'phantom pains' because they were so old, but she didn't believe him.
She wasn't sure what to make of that song, or his talk about being lost. What did being lost or found have to go with god? She puzzled over it for a bit, catching a few bits and pieces of the rest of his sermon, and then it was over.
It was over and everyone was standing, but she remained seated until her father directed her to move. She was on her feet with her hands clasped in the sides of her nice dress, wrinkling it, when the priest came over to talk to them.
She turned bright red and her eyes went pretty much everywhere else at being called lovely. She was determined to try and avoid that attention as much as she could until her father's big hand pressed into her back front behind and she was suddenly front and center.
"N-nice to meet you too, Mr. McCallan." She hesitated briefly before shaking his offered hand. Why had he introduced himself as a father? Did he have kids here too?
... Was she finally gonna get to play with some other kids!?
Her fathers phone rang loudly, and he stepped slightly to the side to pull it from his nice jacket and check to see who it was.
"Ah... i'm afraid I must take this." He glanced down at the short girl by his side and ruffled her hair slightly with one large hand. Eisley froze up like he was going to smoosh her with it, relaxing again slightly when his hand left.
"I'm sorry, Father, We'll be right back." And then he turned and left without any further words, his older father trailing after him. Eisley was left standing there, unsure of what to do or where to go. So... she'd just keep standing, she supposed?
"Um." Something nice. She had to say something nice, or nothing at all... right? "Your eye looks like a marble."
She pointed at her own eye, the one that would match the side of the one she was referencing on him. "Like.. the really pretty blue ones with white in them? The kinda ones kids always fight over, cuz it's better than the green and clear ones."
It had been about a month since she had been picked up off the streets and smuggled into that big, unfamiliar house by strangers. A month since she had met the man who claimed to be her father, and a month since she had been moved into a room that, in a different situation, she might have otherwise been overjoyed to have all to herself.
New clothes, new toys, a rotating slew of people who were apparently nannies, or maids. They cleaned her room for her and washed the dresses she was given to wear.
It was... strange. Weird. Uncomfortable.
She was forced to eat breakfasts and dinners at a table that seemed too large for just the four people sitting at it. An older man, her grandfather... apparently, her father... supposedly, and some sort of Uncle. There were no other kids in the big old house. At some point, based on pictures she had spotted here and there on various walls, the man calling himself her father had had a son. She'd had a brother. A... half brother? Something like that.
She didn't know how to feel about all of it.
Mostly, she was still just terrified being trapped liked a caged bird in the building. She wasn't allowed outside, although that was due to a previous escape attempt that had gone wrong, and everyone was too busy to play with her. She say a private tutor for lessons on math and reading, but talking to him was basically like talking to a cardboard cutout of a person. He always seemed too nervous to actually say anything other than lesson material.
She spent a lot of her day learning things; School work, manner lessons, et...eti- lady lessons. Boring things. But, her new parental figure apparently had a bit of a temper (though she hadn't seen it herself yet) and she had been warned many times to try her very best whenever she could to please him.
She was miserable. She'd never thought that she would long to be out loose on the streets again, on her own and battling near constant hunger.
As it were, this particular day she was even more terrified than normal. They were leaving the house today and she was coming with. They were going to Church, one her father and Grandfather apparently regularly attended, and she was going to come along to be introduced to everyone for the first time.
What if they didn't like her? What if she said or did something wrong and god smoted her?! He could do that, right!?
Her bath that morning had been extra stringent. A deep wash and brushing of her hair, some kind of smelly conditioner that made it easy for her caretaker to sweep her hair up expertly in some kind of cute ponytail. A dress that was simple and with neutral colors and puffy sleeves was brought out and she was wiggled into it. It fit her perfectly, like all of her current dresses did. Shoes and a little cute sweater later she was shuffled into a waiting car and they were on their way.
She sat awkwardly between the two grown men, staring at her folded hands in her lap, too afraid to even adjust herself in her seat.
"Are you excited to be going to your first service, Pumpkin?"
She bobbed her head a little, eyes wide as dinner plates. "Y-yes sir."
"It's Papa, Eisley, remember? We talked about this before." He sighed through his nose and patted one of her shoulders gently.
"S-sorry Papa!" The small girl blushed, and it was only half from being embarrassed. The man insisted she refer to him as father even though she wasn't entirely comfortable with it yet. The discomfort that it brought her was enough to light her on fire just from her nerves alone.
Her grandfather chuckled, which ended with a wet sounding cough, and he brought a white cloth to his lips to cover them. "I still don't think this one is entirely yours, son. She's too blasted adorable to be related to you."
The banter went on the whole ride and by the time they pulled up to the curb outside of the church Eisley wanted to sink into her seat and die.
The building itself didn't strike her as very church like, or... at least compared to pictures she had seen of some churches it didn't. It was more modern in structure and blended in with the rest of the buildings around it. Her father too her by the hand, which she hesitated to grip back, and the three of them headed inside. It looked more like a church on the inside, she supposed, since there were very church like seats and that wooden thing that the priest was supposed to stand at. What were those called again? She couldn't remember?
"Now, pumpkin... remember what we talked about?" He tightened his grip on her hand just a little. Not enough to hurt, but enough to grab her wandering attention. She tited her head at him funny to hear better and then jumped a little when she realized what he had asked.
"Think before talking, and If I can't think of anything nice to say don't say anything at all?"
