Name: Aalto (pron: all-toh) Kelby Nickname: Al Birthday: June 20, 1998 (26) Birthplace: La Jolla, CA Signs: Gemini / Aries Rising Orientation: Bisexual Schooling: Junior in college studying Marine Biology Favorite Place: The Aqua-Marine Occupation: Waitress at Oyster Royale Pos +: Adventurous, Clever, Observant, Bold Neg –: Impatient, Rowdy, Stubborn, Unpolished
( mikey madison / 26 / she/her) wait, is that AALTO KELBY at/in the THE AQUA-MARINE again? i heard through a grapevine, that the merwoman has been in town for TWO YEARS, and currently works as a WAITRESS. some say she can be UNPOLISHED and STUBBORN, but i thought she was actually CLEVER and ADVENTUROUS..
Full Bio:
Aalto is what teachers liked to call: “the problem child.” Born to a witch, the leader of a dark coven, Aalto's life was far from stable. But her teachers did not see that. They did not know that the reason she so often fell asleep in class was that her mother would wake her up in the middle of the night to practice rituals of water; and they didn’t care. They assumed that she was lazy or that her parents did not care about her education. Whatever the reason, seldom tried to reach out to help and the few that did were met with a harsh rebuke from Dayanara, Aalto’s mother. Even Aalto’s name was an inside joke, meaning ‘wave’, one of things her mother used to kill humans she deemed inferior. Her mother’s elitist attitude continued to plague her life, opportunities to make friends ripped from her because they were not worthy of being within Aalto’s presence. The young witch herself did not believe that she was better than any human. Their heart’s beat just as hers did. They were capable of kindness and empathy, something her own mother sorely lacked. She did not feel they deserved to be punished or die for being “unworthy” and as she grew older Aalto began to refuse to help her mother with her antics any longer.
This difference of opinion led her to hanging out with “the wrong crowd” a result of Aalto’s attempt to forget what her mother had forced her to participate in. The kids who smoked weed in the bathrooms and got high on pills under the bleachers once classes were over. If they’d even bothered to show up that day. It earned her further disdain from her mother and in an effort to curb what she viewed as her daughter’s failings; she enrolled a teenaged Aalto into swimming, forcing her to keep on the necklace that his her tail even in the water. It was a suffocating feeling but her lithe frame allowed her to maneuver easily, and the ability to manipulate the water made her a force to be reckoned with. At least, that’s what she told her mother. In truth Aalto refused to use her mer-folk magic to get ahead, preferring instead to put in the long hours of practice. She didn’t mind; to be in the water was freeing, even in human form, as though if she tried hard enough she would be able to swim away from her life. Before long, she demolished previous school records, making her a bit of a celebrity at the school. It also had the added benefit of making her mother proud. For the first time in her life, the two actually began to form a bond reminiscent of how a mother and daughter should be. Aalto even began to be a lifeguard in her summers. It gave her the opportunity to use her gift to save those in the water, a repentance of sorts for the acts her mother had forced her to commit.
That all changed her junior year at UCSD. Aalto had been accepted on a full ride scholarship thanks to her talent in swimming. She worked hard to prove that she was worthy of the position and her work ethic inspired a close friendship with one of the other girls on the swim team, Sabrina. The two quickly became thick as thieves. Aalto’s new friend was someone of importance, the daughter of a California representative who was well on his way to becoming one of the next Senators. These two were so close, in fact, that Aalto chose to share her secret with Sabrina. Rather than cringe in horror and grab a pitchfork as her mother had taught her would happen if she ever revealed what she was to a human, Aalto’s friend accepted her with open arms. She found it fascinating and asked Aalto questions without end. It was unfortunate that her mother happened to be the recipient of one such question at the girls’ first swim meet of the season. Sabrina had been unaware of her mother’s detestation of humans and Aalto, so wrapped up in psyching herself up for the first swim meet, hadn't thought to warn her.
The next day as Aalto and her friend lounged on the shore of Sabrina’s father’s private stretch of beach, their toes dipped into the water as they sunbathed, disaster struck. All of a sudden Sabrina was yanked into the waves and a scream came from her lips. It was easy to spot the culprit, an abnormal wave that had come crashing down upon the girls only to drag them ferociously back in with the tide. It was her mother. Without thinking Aalto tried to use her own abilities to save her friend. But dark magic rituals and years of steady practice had made her mother too powerful. In vain she still attempted to fight off her mother. She was useless against the strength her mother wielded. But she fought. Fought as hard as she could, allowing her own powers to batter against her mother from where she watched farther out in the ocean. It was futile. Within minutes it was all over, and Sabrina’s body floated up to the surface. Desperate Aalto drug her body back to shore and attempted to perform CPR after a quick call to 911, it was too late.
Chaos reigned for the next few weeks. Sabrina’s father was adamant that Aalto was involved in his daughter’s death somehow. He insisted that she had killed his daughter to become the best swimmer on the team. The young witch was questioned by police and even at one point arrested. She was released on her own recognizince as the coroner tried to find a cause of death beyond the drowning. Aalto, devastated, fled. She could no longer stay where she was and she refused to use her magic to erase the suspicion surrounding her.
Chaos reigned for the next few weeks. Sabrina’s father was adamant that Aalto was involved in his daughter’s death somehow. He insisted that she had killed his daughter to become the best swimmer on the team. The young selkie was questioned by police and even at one point arrested. She was quickly released when the coroner’s report came back. They had analyzed the marks on Sabrina’s leg and determined it to be the result of thrashing, not unsimilar to the injuries of those who had been attacked by an Orca. Though no one could explain just what it was doing so far from the arctic. Aalto, devastated, fled. She could no longer stay where she was.
For three years she drove from place to place. She never stayed long enough to make any genuine connections, just enough time to make money to continue on. Sometimes she became so desperate for food that she would use her abilities in ways her mother had taught. In areas where the population was thick she stuck to the woods. Her connection to water allowed for her to find clean water to drink and fish to eat. There was no destination in mind. Aalto did not know if she would ever be able to place down roots again. “The incident” as she dubbed it in her mind left her wary of seeking out the company of humans, lest she led someone else to their death unwittingly. Eventually she made it to the opposite coast and as she traveled out of New York State a rumor reached her ear about a town, one that was full of others like herself.
After two days in the car, she arrived at a town called Westray. It was here that she would make her new home. The trauma of the incident and loss of her best friend had left scars invisible to the eye. In spite of living so close to the water, Aalto is terrified of its presence to the point that she has not swam since the incident. It was too much. The first and only time she tried, she herself had nearly drowned as the terror made her water-ability dangerously unpradictable. Her love of swimming was over, and she mourned its loss like that of a close friend.
After about a year Aalto finally began to settle. Now twenty-six, she enrolled at the local university with a major in marine biology. She might be terrified of large bodies of water, really any water, but she still found its creatures most fascinating. Aalto was especially transfixed by the ocean. The creatures and myths it held, untold depths just waiting to be explored. It was a pull she felt deep within her gut. But with it was a feeling of dread. She had gotten a job down at the fishing docks, until a tragedy occurred. A passenger fell overboard and, too terrified of the water to intervene, Aalto allowed them to drown before assistance could arrive. With another death on her consciousness Aalto has sworn away the mer-folk part of her forever to the point that most now believe her to be human with an irrational fear of water.
