DC OCs

The day was exhausting, Cornelius could barely support himself on his feet anymore. What didn't help was he was running on a good 4 out of 48 hours of sleep, as part of his extensive training. Suddenly feeling a sharp swat to the back of his upper thighs he immediately jerked standing up straighter again, but only for a brief moment before swaying again, more subtly, Thomas hissing out, "Straighten your posture. Do you ever see that blonde idiot or Batman slouch and sway? No."

Cornelius shut his eyes and jutted his chin upwards as though it would help balance him better, slurring out in a mumble, "Yes father."

Thomas narrowed his eyes then scoffed, "Its only been two days and you slept that morning before this training. What happened to that adrenaline, huh?"

Cornelius honestly wished he knew. He'd give anything to be running on anything but the miserable feeling of fending off sleep when the need was so obviously threatening to crush him, "W-wore down for a bit.." the little boy decided, starting to yawn but quickly stopped himself, instead mustering out, even lower than before, "it'll k-ki-kick back in, fa-father.."

Thomas sneered at the stuttering earning another swat to his rear, which was stinging now, "Coherence, Cornelius."

Cornelius bit at his bottom lip to stop it from trembling. Normally, he could take the spankings better but the lack of rest was catching up with him. He screwed his eyes shut tighter, desperate to not give away his tears. Unfortunately, Thomas seemed to know better however as Cornelius soon felt two more hard swats to his rear, a shaky gasp leaving him before he could stop himself followed by a whimper composed of equal parts of fear and pain.

"Does Batman cry, Cornelius?" the father hissed, bending in the little boy's face. Cornelius bit harder on his lip, shaking his head quickly.

"What cries? Hm?"

A wave of shame came crashing over Cornelius, the humiliation making it harder to resist breaking down, knowing the answer Thomas expected, that didn't cure the embarrassment however, "B-ba-...babies.."

"Is Batman a baby? Can we trust babies to take Batman's mantel?" Thomas continued prodding the subject, voice growing more and more obviously angry.

Cornelius had felt cries bubbling up from his chest and rising up his throat at record breaking speeds, and the borderline yelling combined with previous feelings made it near impossible to resist. One tear slipped out, then two, until he was silently crying. He shook his head all the same. Thomas scoffed, it taking all of Cornelius's willpower to not wince at the sound.

"Then why are you crying, son?"

Cornelius did his best to swallow a hiccup though a little noise still succeeded in slipping past him, "I-I'm sorry.... I'm just s-so tired.."

Another, and final swat that he allowed himself to wince at, quivering of his lip occurring too, but at hearing the slap of the ruler hitting a desk, he let himself relax, opening his eyes to reveal how glossed over they were. Thomas scoffed and pulled a face, shaking his head.

"Those were not the results I was wanting, Cornelius," he scolded, "we will be working on this. Do you think Batman hasn't spent days upon days awake fighting crime and being a detective? You think he crashes after just 44 hours?"

Cornelius knew the answer, but he couldn't bring himself to shake his head again between the exhaustion and chagrin. Instead, he drew his gaze up to his father's, uttering just above a whisper, "Why do I have to do this, daddy?"

Thomas's gaze hardened for a moment before some form of gentleness appeared, a kind Cornelius could deem familiar if nothing else.

"You're doing this for me, Baby Bat. To make me happy.... you want your daddy happy, don't you?" Cornelius swallowed again, followed by a little sniffle, bit he nodded a bit, Thomas had a smile break out over his expression and while it didn't give comforting waves to the boy, it was, again, familiar enough to settle him, "Your daddy will only be happy when he has everything owed to him. The life he was supposed to have... and taking down the Batman will be the first step in doing this.... you can't take Batman on like this though... we have to train you... to be my perfect little soldier."

Cornelius nodded a little bit, albeit sluggishly, supposing he understood. He wanted Thomas happy and safe, even if that did require sacrificing himself. At the end of the day, he was only a clone after all. Spliced and combined DNA for, surely, this exact purpose. Thomas hummed softly, "There's a good boy," he murmured, "get something to drink snd something to eat. Take advantage because after you rest up some we are going right back to this. You will master this, Cornelius," the semi-comforting tone that was there previously was gone. Now all there was in place of it was a stern promise.

Cornelius swallowed but nodded all the same. Really, he wasn't too concerned about drinking nor eating, though he hadn't had a thing outside of a few minutes right before training had started, but the hungry ache in his stomach and dryness of his throat was something he thought he could ignore. He was far more accustomed to them than the sleepy weight crashing over him again. Still, he'd obey knowing dehydration would get him before anything else would. Between it and sleep, he hoped it would help his thudding head at least.

He stumbled off into the kitchen, getting a water bottle to start. He lazily held it to his mouth with one hand, the other scrubbing at his eyes, hoping this would tide him over until he could lay down. Next step was to fix something to eat, he easily found some leftovers Thomas had made a few days before. He got some on a plate and while he waited he sunk down to the floor, intending to wait for his food. However, near instantly after his head dropped to his knees, he was out like a light.

Thomas wasn't sure how long the boy had looked like that by the time he'd found him. He knew he'd heard the microwave go off a good few hours ago, but a quick check showed Cornelius never even touched the plate which had gone back to cold by now. Thomas scoffed softly, shaking his head. He watched Cornelius a moment, as if expecting him to wake simply from his intense stare but no such thing happened. With another shake of his head, Thomas picked the boy up.

"Brat," Thomas muttered in pure disdain, "a pathetic brat at that... I have so much more work to do with you," he grumbled.

Cornelius heard every word, having been initially stirred awake from being picked up and further awakened by hearing his father's voice, but he didn't dare to move to even suggest he was awake. He couldn't remember the last time he was carried but it felt so, so nice and so comforting. Maybe it wasn't selfish to just want it, just one more time.

Thomas carried Cornelius all the way to his room, plopping the boy onto the bed, he looked the boy over a moment sighing in an almost exasperated manner, "Oh Cornelius. What in the world am I going to do with you? You were the only clone of mine to survive so I hope you show some promise soon. I don't want to go through this disaster again..." he mumbled seemingly to himself. As Thomas walked away, Cornelius could hear him muttering more plans for the little boy, things to make him better and stronger.

General Information

Name: Wrath "Lucias"

Nicknames: Lu, Luce, Luci, Lu-Lu, Little Soldier, Braxie

Age: Melina years worth, physically appears to only be 22-24

Species: Embodiment of wrath, immortal being, once was a Cambion

Gender: AMAB, identities as agender

Pronouns: it/its/itself

Sexuality: Demisexual panromantic

D.O.B.: October 29th

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio ♏️

Alignment: Bounces between Chaotic Good and Neutral Neutral/Neutral Good depending on if it's angry or not

Classification: Alpha

Physical Appearance

Skin color: White with a reddish-tan tint

Hair Color: Half black (left side), half white (right side)

Hair Style: Doesn't put much effort into its hair, often leaving it messy looking, it's length often stays just below it's ears (per Cain's demands) but it has had it longer and shorter before

Eye Color: Red

Wears: Much like it's hairstyle, Wrath isn't fussy over what it wears, when it's in control of its outfits it usually goes with comfortable shirts, sometimes a hoody, and pants (grunge style pants either ripped, with chains, or with deigned patches), however when asked, it has been known to wear the more formal taste of it's uncles choices, frilly button ups and all

Personality

Personality: Wrath is the walking form of 'if looks could kill'. To be the barer of the sin of wrath, it is surprisingly calm and not one to immediately jump into conflict. When it is worked up, however, all hell breaks loose. It has a surprisingly big heart for that sin as well, willing to take on all the responsibility of everyone's safety against anyone or anything. Emotions are not Wrath's forte, seeing as it had been taught to suppress them from a young age but it has worked on better expressing itself, throughly interested in the emotions it can feel and how far those feelings can go. In pair with not being good with its feelings, it doesn't express them too much as a means of intimidation, it wants strangers to be weary of it, and in turn of its family, as a means to protect them. While having a stronger build due to its powers, Wrath is extremely skillful and agile, very light on its toes mainly from its days before it was sin barer of wrath. While not popping up all the time, Wrath can be extremely sensitive especially with its past as it can remember every fight it has gone through, every face of every child its fought (and killed), every outcome of the fights, on those days it tends to be more secluded and moody, though it tries not to make it obvious not wanting to worry its family. It has a photographic memory.

Likes: Cuddling, being held, cooking, protecting others, learning, being read to, emotions, rain and mud puddles, playful wrestling, coloring

Dislikes: Being seen as weak, nightmares, it's photographic memory, having its picture taken, pettiness, not having some kind of control over its emotions

Fears: Hurting others, being heavily reminded of its past, being seen/called evil, mild fear of strong storms

Quotes

Quote 1: "If you have something to say, then say it out loud, jackass."

Quote 2: "I am being nice. Do I make you angry, uneasy?"

Quote 3: "Preferred pronouns?"

Quote 4: "Alright, Lu. A bit easier, huh?"

Quote 5: "By choice. They can respect me regardless of what I go by. Can you?"

Quote 6: "So... we kinda have that in common, Uncle Cain? Your mark and my mark, as a reminder?"

Quote 7: "Stop asking me questions, I hate to see you cry."

Quote 8: "We are one in the same. Oh, you take all of the pain away."

Quote 9: "She.... she was... sweet... always looking out for me... tried shielding me from dad and his ways.... but, as he put it 'she couldn't do it forever'... she'd hug me close and tell me things about the human life every night. But every night it was something different. Lullabies, stories, sometimes she'd ramble random facts until I fell asleep."

Relationship With Other Characters

Envy "Raven": One of Wrath's best friends and one of two sins that it's willing to be a little more open with in regards to its insecurities and fears, Wrath refuses to let anyone hurt a hair on Envy's head and it dares anyone to try, it is willing to take Envy's vents, even going as far as to provoke his anger just to help his mood, letting him wrestle with it.

Pride "Athena": Sees Pride as its little sister making it protective over her, especially as it saw Envy and Pride practically glued to the hip when they all were children, it enjoys letting her fuss over its hair and outfits, gladly going along with whatever she wants to put it in.

Greed "Lux": Has a bad tendency to regard Greed like an immature child, often expecting him to break his toys and whine about it afterwards that said, Wrath does find something endearing about it, truly seeing Greed as it's baby brother.

Gluttony "Nyx": Like all the other sins, Gluttony was the youngest sibling it grew up with for a while, so that automatically makes it a lot more protective of her, this is where it's big sibling tendencies shine the brightest.

Sloth "Salem": The Yin to Wrath's Yang, Salem gets to see all sides of Wrath, except for its utter rage (something Wrath thankfully doesn't feel much of these days and is something it doesn't want to show Sloth, worried it will either hurt or scare them), the two balance each other out extremely well, Sloth being the only person that can quickly calm it back down.

Lust "Darcey": More often than not, these two do not get along, Wrath sees Lust as an annoying nuisance, and while Lust doesn't have a thing against Wrath himself, he definitely doesn't help his case by teasing it, that said Wrath still will not tolerate slander against Lust's name and is more than ready to protect and defend him.

Cain: Cain and Wrath do not always see eye to eye, that being said, Wrath is more than prepared to step up to defend Cain against anyone taking it as 'no one gets to say you're a piece of shit except for the people that live in this house', and Cain does hold plenty of endearment towards Wrath himself, finding its wrathful and even violent tendencies entertaining at times.

Abel: Abel was another adult that helped Wrath with its emotional regulation, while not quite to the extent Satan is due to Abel being a rather gentle soul, he was the best adult to calm it down, especially when it was still young, even now as an adult when it feels itself growing agitated but it's usual sources of comfort are busy with their own things, Wrath will be content to go and be simply held by Abel for a short time to settle itself.

Satan: While these two started off extremely rocky, they have an amazing relationship now, Satan helping teach Wrath some kinds of emotional regulation and ways to calm its anger, Satan is the one adult it feels understands its feelings and can help it the best.

Freyja: Sees Freyja as a part of the family, wholeheartedly, it doesn't think there could be anyone to better fit in with their ragtag bunch, and suit Pride so perfectly, that said it is a creature of few words towards her, not that Wrath is much of a talker to anyone.

Mina: Wrath throughly impressed and interested about Mina, seeing as it was one of the first to see that she was a lot more sneaky and clever than she let on, and then being able to survive Greed and his temper tantrums, it will playfully dismiss her as just as childish as Greed seeing as she is his 'playmate' but there obviously is a lot more respect for her than it let's on.

Achilles: Just like Amityville, it automatically took Achilles somewhat under its care, it's not the most present mentor but it is very willing to teach Achilles what it can, especially in regards to his demon powers having seen all of it in Hell, it was the first to point out that his wings are a weapon and not just in the sense they allow him to fly, it also offers what it can in regards to emotions controlling one's physical strength and how to balance the two out.

Amityville: As mentioned, Wrath became somewhat of a mentor to Amity, just as it is for Achilles, also teaching her about her demon powers especially in regards to her tail which also is not just there for decoration, it got to know Amity a little bit easier due to them having a lot of one on one time during the nights, with them both being night owls, it helps out whenever and wherever it can also in regards to emotions, it may not be good at expressing its own but there's no denying it has done its studying.

Backstory

Wrath was born to a woman, Clementine, who wanted children but was unable to have any, leading her to make a deal with an incubus who promised her a child, what the woman didn't realize was she was signing away her life. As soon as she became pregnant, she was locked away in Hell by said incubus. The pregnancy was rough and resulted in Lucias. The first year was as normal as things could be in Hell, but by age two, Lucias had its natural demon abilities peeking through as well as advancing far past the average human two-year-old making its father, Frollo, decide it was time for some 'fun'. He signed Wrath up for a local fight in Hell, 'kid fights' as they were called where demon children of all ages fought each other often times to the death, but at the very least severe injury. From there, that was what what its life consisted of. Training and fighting. It's only break from the horrific cycle was the nighttime, the only time Clementine was able to see her baby. She'd hold it close and soothe it to sleep with talk of the human world and what it was like, sometimes singing lullabies to it, sometimes random facts, stories, whatever she could think of at the time. This, tragically, came to a hard stop when Frollo finally fully drained Clementine of her life-force. He locked her away from Lucias and he forced it to continue fighting for his and other Hellish beings amusement. This was its life until it was about 11 when Cain and Abel got ahold of it. It being framed almost as a kidnapping Lucias was extremely weary of them at first, when it became immortal it took the illness better than most of the other kids, going practically comatose through the first day and sleeping it on and off through the second. Once better was when it first attacked Cain, but with Abel helping talk it back down, Lucias was able to begin its road to being the sin barer of Wrath. It first met Sloth when Cain and Abel brought home their limp body. Wrath was immediately fascinated and infatuated, often sneaking into the room even when not allowed. It was practically glued at the hip once it was able to be.

Extra Information

It's immortality tattoo is placed on the very center of its back, right on the spine which is said to be the most painful spot.

Wrath was originally named Abraxas by its parents, but when Cain and Abel found it, it came up with the first name it could and that eventually stuck. Wrath doesn't mind as it feels this seperates it from it's dad.

It has a scar on its right hand in the shape of a bite mark which it got from when it bit Cain upon still being new to the House of Mysteries.

Is (currently) the only sin that I've adapted to the Netflix version of Sandman, Lucias being a living embodiment of wrath made in order to keep the Waking world's wrath at bay.

While being Satan's sin barer of Wrath, Wrath also is the ruler of the Anger ring of hell.

During its time as a fighter it has seen children like each of the sins die, sometimes even by its own hands.

It has two full on fangs in place of its canines.

When it and Cain get into altercations (very rarely does it happen) both more try to restrain the other into submission more than hurt the other seeing as Cain's mark means Wrath gets hurt seven fold and Wrath is strong enough to cause a lot of physical hurt to Cain, neither want to see the other hurt though.

Despite how they look, Wrath's horns have a kind of velvety texture to them, it's also a bit of a pleasure spot for it in the same response a cat gives to being pet.

Wrath's powers include super strength and super stamina, it also has some lower grade demon powers like energy manipulation but it's been so long since it has used it that it would take some time and energy for it to tap back into it.

A very distinct speech pattern of Wrath's includes skipping letters in its words (some examples I've done in my writings include: 'nimals, suppose', and what're).

Has a love hate relationship with fire.

It's adoption day is celebrated August 5th.

It was the second child obtained but is the oldest in age.

Little Soldier is its special nickname from Cain and Abel, neither are really sure who started it but it simply stuck.

Playlist

You're Not Welcome, Naethan Apollo, 2:30

Mama, My Chemical Romance, 4:38 (♡Theme Song)

Hell's Coming With Me, Poor Man's Poison, 3:32

I Am Damaged, Barret Wilbert Weed & Ryan McCartan, 1:25

My Demons, STARSET, 4:47

Surface Pressure, Jessica Darrow, 3:21

Picrews made of it (not all include its horns or split hair because they weren't an option for the picrew)

One of my favorite Tik Toks of it (Very hard choice because I loved almost all of its)

Defending Cain against someone (idea gotten from the original Dreaming comics issue #8).

Athena bounced from her little heels back to her tip toes then back on the heels of her mary jane buckle shoes, looking down at her assigned outfit, black and white all except for a thin line on the collars, sleeve edges, and skirt end which was purple, her given color to represent her sin. She was pleased at the perfect symmetry, being one of the children to be extremely fussy over her looks. She smiled at the thought, the reminder of exactly what she was waiting on.

Raven had occupied himself with a book, and she didn't want to be too clingy. Cain had locked himself into the library 'organizing it' he claimed (though all the kids knew that such matters were much more up their other uncle's forte), which did simply leave Abel who was finishing up with the dishes. She'd been waiting oh-so-patiently for the rushing of water and the clinking of plates and silverware to cease signaling her perfect opportunity to plead for the dark haired caretaker to play with her. Finally hearing said chance, she immediately rushed into the kitchen with a delighted giggle.

"Uncle Abel!" she chirped, keeping her voice sweet even in her excitement, hoping it'd be enough to sway the man into her game, gently clinging to his vest, tugging on it tenderly, "You're done? You're done with the dishes?"

Abel chuckled briefly, placing a hand on the blonde little girl's head, "Yes, darling, I noticed a little pair of purple eyes watching me as I worked, was there something you needed?"

Athena's face flushed gently hearing she'd been caught in her spying, but Abel's non-judgmental tone was enough for her to keep her big, endearing smile, bouncing on her feet again, "I was just wondering, since you're done, if you'd play with me? Please Uncle Abel?"

Abel glanced to the time with a small hum, a gentle smile pulling at his mouth with a nod, "Yes, we have time for a little game," he agreed, "what did you have in mind, little Pride and Joy?"

Athena's eyes absolutely lit up, trying her hardest to suppress her squeal of happiness, though she wasn't quite as quick to stop her excited little bounces, "Dress up! Dress up please! Pretty please Uncle Abel..!"

Seeing the little girl's practically glowing face, Abel smiled a bit more, unable to deny the request, nodding, "Of course little dear," he murmured, "lets go get your box of dress up items," Athena wasn't quick enough to quiet the giggles that spilled from her mouth, eagerly taking Abel's hand to guide him upstairs to her room, once there, she quickly got into her closet.

Finding an item she'd been looking for, she called out, "Close your eyes and bend down, Uncle Abel! Please!" she added. Abel arched a brow gently but did oblige to the little girl's words. Athena skipped over, keeping the item hidden behind her back, despite Abel not being able to see it anyways. Once close enough, she produced the little crown she'd found, she gingerly placed it on his head.

"Now, stand back up, but keep your eyes closed, please!" Abel snorted at her words, but again followed them. Upon rising to his feet, he felt Athena grab his hand and guide him over somewhere, he easily assumed to her little vanity mirror and desk.

"Ok, open them!" she chirped.

Abel did so and smiled once he saw the little crown, chuckling softly, "What's this for, silly girl?"

"Cause..!" Athena chirped, twirling herself almost shyly, "You're the king of my heart!"

Abel smiled softly at that, feeling his heart absolutely melt hearing her words, "Ohh darling, that is so sweet, thank you... but you know what a king needs?"

"Besides a crown?" Athena asked, head tilted.

"Yes, besides a crown," Abel chuckled, "he needs a little princess," he hummed, "let's go find a suitable dress, shall we?"

Athena's face heated up again but Abel wasn't too worried about it, as he could see the utterly elated smile on her expression, he held his hand out to which the little girl eagerly took it, Abel leading her back over to her closet, "Let's see now, what dress would you like, dear?"

"Mmm...." Athena hummed softly, "I want you to pick it, Uncle Abel. I wanna wear your favorite color..!"

Abel chuckled quietly, heart further melting at the little girl's sweet words, he shifted through eventually finding a deep blue dress, "Here we are, do you need help getting it on, princess?"

Athena giggled shyly, starting to fidget with the ends of her long hair, Abel smiled, right as she opened her mouth to timidly assure she could do it, he spoke up, "Oh my, how silly of me," he knelt down, "a little princess shouldn't have to lift a single finger," he cooed gently, "allow me, darling."

Athena's eyes twinkled at this, another meek but clearly joyful giggle leaving her, covering her face lightly. Abel smiled a bit more, extremely glad ge could offer Athena such happiness, "Here little darling, let your king get you dressed up all pretty," he cooed. He gently but quickly swapped the more school uniform type outfit for the extravagant dress, humming afterwards.

"There we are, anything else the princess would like to add before we parade around the 'kingdom'?"

Athena blinked in awe, looking up to Abel, who nodded gently in return. The little one could barely keep back her squeal this time, "A bow? Please?"

Abel hummed softly, "Absolutely," he agreed, looking in the little girl's bow drawer, finding a matching ribbon, tying it into a neat little bow for her to hold her hair up. Athena giggled excitedly, hugging onto Abel afterwards.

"Thank you Uncle Abel! It's perfect!" she squealed.

Abel smiled warmly, "My pleasure, now, shall we let the kingdom knows who their king and princess are," he cooed opening the bedroom door, even bowing a bit like a gentleman for the little one, "after you, princess."

Athena giggled a bit skipping outside the room and once Abel was outside the room she took his hand, eagerly leading him down the stairs and through a few hallways, only pausing at a familiar voice.

"Well, well, well... what have we here?" Cain called, in the doorway of the kitchen.

Athena's eyes twinkled further, skipping up to Cain, dragging Abel along who was trying now not to seem too embarrassed under his older brother's ever taunting gaze. Athena held one poofy corner of her dress, doing a little curtsy.

"Your king and princess decided to take a stroll through the kingdom!"

"Ohhh, I see," Cain hummed doing a deep bow to them both, "What a delight then to see our royalty out and about," he then held a hand out to Athena, "if I may, princess."

Athena couldn't seem to turn off her bashful giggles now but she still presented her hand to Cain's outstretched one. Once he had it, he gently pressed a kiss to her knuckles, rising back up afterwards, doing a smaller bow, "And the king, how lovely of you to get the little princess out. Its always something special when we see her.."

Abel smiled gently, eyes focused down on little Athena who was just glowing with joy now, "Yes, a special event for a special little girl.."

Cain hummed in agreement, "Would the little princess like a glass of warm milk? And perhaps tea for the king?"

Abel hummed softly, pondering a moment, he knew it was getting close to bed time now, but he didn't want Athena to feel as though the game was ending too early, but upon her catching his gaze and nodding eagerly, he nodded as well with a warm smile at her understanding, "Yes, I think that would be a wonderful idea."

Cain had insisted the two sit as he fixed the drinks as an 'ever dutiful assistant' by his own words (Abel knew he'd never stoop to the title servant willingly) but what caught him off guard was how easily Cain played along into the game, honestly having expected his older brother to let his pride or jealousy get the better of him. Still, he'd served the drinks to a perfect T, even ensuring Athena's was in a lidded cup to 'prevent any messes on her beautiful dress'. Athena, now nearly done with the drink was curled up to Abel, still drinking on the liquid to get it gone. Abel rubbed her back and hair soothingly in between sips of tea, humming softly.

Cain finally sat down, "I do hope you intend to give as much attention to Nyx or Raven tomorrow," he commented propping his chin on his knuckles.

Abel hummed softly nodding, intending to make sure all the kids got equal amounts of his attention, "I will," he assured softly, almost in a mumble as if to keep Athena from hearing, "Its just been a while. I thought Pride could use some attention... but I already planned on reading with Raven some tomorrow," he assured. Cain snorted softly in approval.

Athena pulled the cup out with a little pop, yawning afterwards as she looked sleepily up to her Uncle, "Uncle Abel?" she murmured, "Think I'm ready for bed now.."

Abel hummed kissing her forehead gently, "Let's get you in comfy pajamas and tucked in then..." he stood up cradling her gently.

Cain snorted softly, "Good night, Pride and Joy," he hummed standing himself to put the cup in the sink before he headed up himself to tuck Nyx in first. Abel bit his tongue as to not say anything, figuring he'd just let the little fantasy continue up in the little girl's bedroom. He undid the bow and brushed through her hair gently, getting her all comfortable in her purple and white fuzzy pajamas and finally tucked in with her precious toy kitty cat.

Abel pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, "Good night my little princess. Have the sweetest of dreams..." he whispered. Athena let out an utterly content and sleepy sigh, cuddling up into bed, her little eyes fluttering already. Abel hummed heading to the door, shutting the light off as he passed, automatically activating the light sensored night light which displayed a light starry purple onto the ceiling and walls. He went to shut the door and go to tuck Raven in, but as he started to shut it, he heard the smallest voice murmur.

"Good night my king... have.... sweetest dreams.."

The lessons were difficult, what didn't help was Athena was quite behind all the other kids. Raven and Lux had very advance schooling, not something either took much pride in, for very different reasons. Salem had schooling on and off in between their illness. Lucias and Darcey at least had known the basics when they arrived. Even Nyx was ahead of her mainly due to Cain eagerly teaching the youngest girl whenever she could.

Athena, however, had nothing to fall back on. Normally, Abel handled the lessons, especially with the children that were more behind, but with him focusing on inventory of the home so that Cain wouldn't have to, that left the teaching up to the older brother who obviously had much less patience. The lesson focus of the day was math, something Athena really wasn't any good at, having only recently gotten ahold of double digit multiplication which took her to the next step, double digit division, what particularly tripped her up were the ones with remainders.

Her eyes narrowed a little bit in concentration, trying to recall her 'backwards multiplication', as Abel had called it when she worked with single digit division, but upon feeling an intimidating figure looking over her shoulder, she grew more anxious, hand subtly trembling.

Cain watched her, narrowing his eyes seeing Athena not writing anymore, rather just letting her pencil hover over the paper. He tsked gently, "Pride... the sooner you finish this ridiculously easy homework, the sooner we can be done for the day.."

Athena blushed at the patronizing tone, like she didn't already know this, "I-I'm trying Uncle Cain... the numbers are just a little too big.." she mumbled shyly.

Cain scoffed, "This, dear Pride and Joy, is nothing. You'll be dealing with much bigger numbers soon enough," the mere thought brought tears to Athena's eyes in worry. She was struggling with double digits and that was two numbers each, what was a bigger number going to do. Cain narrowed his eyes further.

"Don't you dare start to cry. There's no need for all of that. You're not a baby are you?" Cain asked, brow arched, to which Athena quickly shook her head, "Then don't act like one. Answer the question on the worksheet so we can be done."

Athena gave a whine from the back of her throat, now throughly worked up, her hand shaking harder as her eyes blurred over with tears, making it near impossible for her to even see the numbers.

"Pride..." Cain stated, voice low and warning, the blonde girl's lip started to tremble at the sound of it, "You cry and I'm going to give you a proper reason to. Your little hind-end will have a nice date with my belt. Do you understand?"

Athena's breath hitched at this, arms curling into herself, and before she could quite stop herself, she burst into tears. As soon as she realized her mistake, that she had gone against Cain's instructions, she started to cry out through another sob, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm s-sorry, I'm sorry!!"

Cain blinked, usually the threat worked, and even if the child started to cry (like Lux, the child he most often had to use the threat with) they never started to apologize like that. Cain might've appreciated it, if it didn't leave an ill feeling in his stomach that he didn't like at all.

"Now, now, no need for all that. Settle down. You're just embarrassing yourself," Cain scolded, trying to encourage Pride to stop crying, albeit poorly. However, this only did the opposite, making the little girl cry harder, breath hitching in her throat as she does. The older caretaker's mistakes quickly catch up with him, having seen all the children suffer a panic attack at least once. He groans in frustration, rubbing his face before kneeling before her. Before he could open his mouth, Athena winced away from him, trying to curl herself as small as she could on the chair and as far away from Cain.

"Oh darling..." he murmured, realizing he wouldn't be of any help, he stood back up, going to the doorway, "Abel... Abel you stuttering, dense meat-muffin, get your lard-ass in here!" with Cain being occupied, he failed to notice his yelling making Athena cry harder, covering her ears tightly.

She so desperately wanted to remind herself that she was somewhere safe now. Threaten as they might, Cain and Abel hadn't ever physically hurt any of the children. Yet she couldn't seem to do it. Her mind screamed at her that she was still a meek little slave, trapped under her master's thumb, just waiting for a punishment for messing up again. And her body ran with what her mind persisted with, refusing to let her breathe very much between the harsh shallow breaths and the sobs, so she was just sure to get in trouble, scaring her more. It all creating a very vicious cycle.

Cain felt his irritation rising more and more, and he despised the fact he was having to yell for his useless brother even more, but anyone could tell you that Abel was the more sympathetic brother. He growled but before he could yell again he spotted Darcey walking past, he almost ignored the boy before an idea struck him.

"Lust, come here."

The red head boy jumped at Cain's voice, but immediately turned, head tilted, "Yes, Uncle?" he hummed.

"Go find that dolt," Cain instructed firmly. Darcey blinked but nodded quickly catching view of Athena's position. As the boy took off towards the stairs, Cain heads back over to Athena, keeping his distance but trying to talk her back down.

In Darcey's haste, he bumped into Raven who stumbled slightly but immediately glared, "Watch where you're going Darcey!"

"Sorry V! J-just have you seen Uncle Abel? Uncle Cain and Thea need him..!"

Raven narrowed his eyes slightly in curiosity before shaking his head, "He's not upstairs, that's for sure," he mumbled. Darcey nodded calling a 'thanks' before taking back off downstairs. Darcey's vague answer left Raven worried, however, not liking the feeling it left in his gut. He took off downstairs to the library. He shuffled in barely having to take in the scene before his blood started boiling some.

"Pride, dear, I need you to look at me. I cannot help you if you're not looking at me," Cain coaxed, irritation edging his words.

"She's not gonna listen when you sound like that," the black haired boy retorted as he made his way over to Athena, kneeling in front of her, "'Thena?" he called gently. He admittedly wasn't sure if it would work or not, but much to his relief, Athena seemed able to hear him even past her wailing, panicked breaths, and her ears still being covered, because she did peek an eye open to him.

Raven frowned a bit seeing her, she was looking at him, but he was confident she didn't see him, "What happened to her?" he asked in a mumble.

Cain bristled slightly despite trying to keep his composer, "No telling. We were doing math one minute and she's like this the next," he shrugged, simplifying the timeline nearly enough to be a lie, one Raven definitely wasn't buying. He figured he'd just have to get answers himself, but there was no way it was happening with Athena in this state.

"I don't think you being here is helping," Envy commented seeing Athena in a position almost like she was trying to get away from the oldest family member.

"Abel can handle it. I just don't want her alone. You, my boy, are a child. No need for you to worry about all this," Cain stated but Raven didn't budge.

"You want Uncle Abel? I'd suggest looking for yourself. Pretty sure he's in the more secret, lower levels. Darcey definitely won't find him anytime soon. No one knows them better than you. I'll sit with her."

Cain mulled over the child's words, before growling and standing up, "You only sit there. Leave the hard work for the adults, hear me?" he warned as he finally relented, standing up. Raven silently nodded. He waited until he heard the library doors shut before he stood up and locking them. He wasn't sure where Abel was actually, so he hoped it would take Cain a while. Long enough for him to do what he needed.

He made his way back over, kneeling in front of the younger sin, "Hey Thena.... can you hear me?" he asked softly.

Athena drew in a hard, shaky breath, choking on it slightly, but she nodded all the same.

"Good... good girl," he praised, glad to see some form of recognition flicker in Athena's purple eyes, "can you move your hands for me..?"

Athena hiccuped somewhat, but after a moment of letting the words sink in, she did as told, instead hugging them to her chest.

"Great, now, can you copy my breathing? Look, deep breath in..." he showed an example of his words. Athena attempted to copy but instead it got caught in her throat followed by another frantic cry, shaking her head.

"I-I-I cannn't! I caaaannnn't! I'm s-sorry, I'm sorry!" she wailed.

"Hey, hey... it's ok.." he paused a moment before leaning up gently blowing on her face, this trick working well enough for Athena to take a sharp, but mostly stable, breath in, releasing it in a softer cry.

Raven hesitated before carefully reaching up to rub her back, thankfully, rather than trying to get away again, Athena relaxed instead, this was encouragement enough for Raven to murmur gently, "Can I hold you?"

Athena hiccupped slightly but nodded, reluctantly holding her arms out to the older child, who carefully shifted her off the chair and onto his lap. Athena immediately buried herself into Raven's shoulder, she hiccupped and sobbed again, eventually mumbling out, "I'm s-sorry..!"

Raven frowned gently, debating with himself whether or not he actually heard what he thought he did, once he was sure, he murmured, "Sorry for what, Thena? You're not doing anything wrong..."

"I-I'm crying..! I-I'm sorry!" she insisted again, "N-not- not trying to be bad..!"

Raven frowned at that, but gently rocked with the blonde girl, "You aren't being bad... there's nothing bad about crying... it's ok," he murmured. Athena clung on tighter, and Raven slowly started to rock with her. This eventually settled Pride's crying, which I'm turn eased Raven.

"There you go," he murmured, moving her hair out of her face, the usually well tended to blonde hair now in a disheveled mess, "there.. now what happened, Thena?" he murmured gently.

Athena hiccupped slightly, looking up to Raven, hesiting a moment, "Uncle Cain and I were doing math a-and I was getting frustrated s-so I had tears in my eyes... Uncle scolded me for it threatening me with his belt if I did start to cry and... it's all so blurry from there... it felt like I was back with my masters and I was going to be beat at any moment.... I'm sorry... I know it was dumb.. I just... got so scared.."

Raven set his jaw slightly before shaking his head gently, "It wasn't anything that you could help... he shouldn't have spoken to you like that.." he assured, still rocking with her. Athena sniffled, hiding herself against Raven.

"Rea?" she murmured after a while, surprising the dark haired boy as he was sure the girl had fallen asleep.

Raven hummed looking down at her, "Yeah Thena?"

"You wouldn't have let him hurt me, right..?" she whimpered.

Raven paused before snorting and shaking his head, "Yeah, I wouldn't have let him... no one can hurt you while I'm around, remember?"

General Information

Name: Pride "Athena"

Nickname: Ann, Thena, Ena, Thea, Pride and joy

Age: Melinia years worth though physically appears about 21/22

Species: Embodiment of Pride, immortal being, once was human

Gender: AFAB, identifies as female

Pronouns: She/her/hers

Sexuality: Lesbian

D.O.B: November 14th

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio ♏️

Alignment: Overall Nuetral Nuetral

Classification: Beta-Caregiver

Physical Appearance

Skin Color: White

Hair Color: Blonde

Hair Style: Curtain bangs or split down the middle, hair is very long reaching her lower back and appears curly if not unruly, occasionally has some extra pieces of her bangs tied up in two smaller pigtails on the sides of her head

Eye Color: Purple

Wears: Pride likes a combination of professional and cute, so her go to is frilly button ups, shirts that hang off her shoulders, or regular button ups with a thin bow tie, in regards to her bottoms she is content to wear whatever matches having no direct preference between skirts and pants, she also very, very often has a hair accessory like a bow or flower crown, and other various items.

Personality

Personality: On the surface, Pride is (as her title suggests) is very prideful and confident. While loving the appraisal of others, she will not hesitate to flip into a full bitch with the wrong word against her or her pride, having no issues breaking someone else down (especially verbally) should they hurt her or her family in any sense of the word. While she carries herself as needing no one, all these traits are just surface level. Upon breaking past this, there's still a broken little girl scarred from a childhood of degradation, being used, and pain, desperate to simply be seen as a 'good girl' and to please. Surprisingly, a lot of her smiles are forced or fake, not wanting to worry others but always having an impending sense of doom following her wherever she goes, that said they're still beautiful smiles. A creature of nature and very obedient, Pride does extremely well at following directions and honestly feeling more comfortable in that kind of setting. Like all the sins, to an extent, Pride is extremely curious especially in the worlds around her while not one to ask thounds of questions, she is extremely content to sit and listen to things for hours at a time.

Likes: Flowers, hair accessories, being called a 'good girl', praise, dancing (especially ballet and slow dancing), going for walks

Dislikes: Bee stings, isolation, rudeness (especially unprompted), bringing up her past, swimming in deep water

Fears: Drowning, humiliation, being stung by anything, being abandoned

Quotes

Quote 1: "They told us they wanted us to be proper, especially when.... guests were around."

Quote 2: "He's pretty. Nice to meet you Envy."

Quote 3: "Before I get too mean and take it out on you... and your best friend too.."

Quote 4: "No! I wanted to forget those things! Don't uncover them! I don't want these terrible memories anymore!"

Quote 5: "Oh, I wouldn't know, I've never stood behind a man."

Quote 6: "Doesn't mean you haven't been through stuff. They definitely didn't pick up any 'no trauma' kids... when yours gets bad.... I wanna be there. I wanna help."

Quote 7: "Its possible. I'll have to look into the book later.... right now... my girlfriend and I are doing our hair. Would you like to join us?"

Quote 8: "So this part of the book are family trees... we three are all on the same family tree... so that means..."

Relationship with Other Characters

Lust "Darcey": They like each other fine, bonding over a certain kind of shared trauma, similar care to their appearances, they throughly enjoy each other's company, Lust proving to be a remarkably well listener, there's also playful banter back and forth.

Gluttony "Nyx": Very protective of Nyx as she is the youngest, Pride greatly tried to embrace her big sister role and teach Gluttony as much as she could (though the young girl likely already knew more than Pride due to a favoritusm from Cain), even now she keeps to her older sister role gossiping and listening whenever the younger girl wants.

Wrath "Lucias": One of the few family members she doesn't feel she needs to necessarily protect, though make no mistake, she still won't tolerate slander against its name. Like with many of the sins and Wrath, they have a sibling relationship.

Envy "Raven": Of the other sins in the home, Pride is closest to Envy, the two perceiving each other as a very close brother and sister relationship (though they both had Cain and Abel fooled into believing they would be together in a relationship for years).

Sloth "Salem": Being the closest in age with Sloth, Pride gets along with them very well, perceiving herself as older than him, she often will protect her to the best of her ability.

Greed "Lux": Pride tends to take things easy on Greed, while his personality of a spoiled child can get annoying, she also realizes that he can't just turn it off, considering their ages, she easily just sees him as a typical baby brother.

Cain: On the surface they seem to have a typical niece and uncle relationship (one of noticing her when it's convenient for Cain) but Cain is much more proud of Athena than he bothers to let on, similarly, Pride embraced some behaviors of Cain's very naturally making her act most like him between the uncles, Cain initiated the nickname of 'Pride and Joy' as a joke to her title.

Abel: Much like with the other sins, Abel is much more openly affectionate towards Pride and has no qualms feeding her ego every now and again, insisting it's 'in her nature to have it stroked now and then, and he isn't going to break natural nature taking its course'. Because of this, Pride has a big tendency to be very sweet towards her dear Uncle Abel, following his instructions much more eagerly and trust him with more secrets of hers, him being the first adult she came out to, quickly followed by Cain.

Lucifer: Much like Abel, Pride trusts Lucifer much more than she should, despite all the warnings and supposed awful stories Uncle Cain tells her, Lucifer has a tendency to lightly disregard Pride seeing her as a young child that they need to guide and often finding amusement in the things she says despite her being their sin barer and the face as the ruler of the Fraud ring of Hell.

Freyja: Freyja is easily the love of Pride's life, she gets to see a side of her than no one else does, there isn't a thing in the world Pride wouldn't do for Freyja, and what makes the relationship even better is the attitude is returned something that makes Prise feel extremely special, the two are an amazing balance for each other.

Mina: Adores Mina for the fact that she takes care of Greed, of the sins, he was the one he was most worried about getting a partner and regular life, still, she offers her girl time with her, Freyja, and Gluttony knowing Greed can be a bit much at times.

Backstory

Athena was born in France in 1793, a year before slavery was abolished the first time in France. As a result, she was sold into slavery as a very young child, her first major advocate for this being her father (her mother didn't really care either way, simply pleased that this plan meant she could return to the pampered lifestyle she'd led beforehand). Athena was used and abused in various ways throughout her life time until she was about 8-years-old when two men with horned hair bought her. Athena expected the same routine as all her masters before this, however, the two men (Cain and Abel) had other plans. They got her accustomed to the house, themselves, and the five other children living there, then started the immortality process. Athena was one of the children that was hit with the sickness that came with the immortality done in the ritual way. Once healed up, Athena led a childhood as happy and as indulged as the other sins. When she came out of the closet, she carried our very few romantic endeavors until meeting Freyja. The two dated for a few years before deciding to spend their future together for all eternity, Cain and Abel agreeing to make Freyja immortal as well.

Extra Information

Athena has embraced the mortal emotions to the bare minimum. She wants to be accepted and loved by the mortal population and to understand them on some level, but she also doesn't want to be reliant on their praise and approval.

One of the few kids in the House of Mystery and Secrets who's Adoption day falls close to her actual birthday, her Adoption day being celebrated November 11th.

Has a quirk of messing with the ends of her hair in many emotions (i.e. nervous, shy, distracted, etc.).

Was a thumb sucker when she first arrived to the houses, however, Cain quickly broke the habit with the hot sauce trick, while it broke the thumb sucking she did, notably mess with her hair in more situations as if making up for the habit through that.

The mere suggestion of her causing a public humiliation is enough to send her into a panic attack. Another bad trigger for her is her head going under water.

Despite being the sixth child obtained, Pride is the third oldest child (and same age as Sloth).

Adores her Uncle's haircuts and has often attempts to style hers to have the horn shape just like theirs.

As mentioned, her nickname 'Pride and Joy' was started by Cain and easily picked up by Abel. It started as a poke to her sin title of Pride. Despite the nickname being used in a teasing manner most of the time, she still adores the name because she believes it's hers and hers alone which makes it utterly special to her.

Speaking of names, like many of the children, Pride came not knowing her real name hence the need to pick one for herself outside of Pride. Abel helped her find it and Cain had agreed with great humor seeing as Nyx was also named after a goddess and the delightfully morbid humor of the name of a great goddess being given to a girl who once was but a lowly slave. Abel eventually mended his brother's thinking for the little girl's sake, explaining it was a symbol of her transition from a slave to something destined to do great things.

Her tattoo that sealed in her immortality is on the back of her left shoulder.

Being stung by a bee was the first type of pain she felt after being rescued and settled in the house hence her fear. It also made her dislike bees for a while until bring taught that they took care of the flowers she loved so much.

Pride's powers include having a deep influence on a person's self esteem, she can make someone more confident or making them feel like utter shit, which goes well with her ability to go right for what makes a person insecure.

Eventually has a child with Freyja, a little girl named Juno.

While not having her first name when she first was rescued, she was recognized by her last name (the name she was called when she was called a bane rather than slave, girl, etc). Her last name was Lemarie.

Is a very long, distant relative to another OC of mine and my friend's Oliver and Lucy Quinzel (and Harley Quinn by default of those two), this was through a sister she never knew she had until meeting the two younger blonde's.

While also being Lucifer's sin barer for Pride, Athena also is the ruler of the Fraud ring of hell.

Playlist

Perfect Isn't Easy, Bette Milder, 2:57

Show And Tell, Melanie Martinez, 3:35

Labour, Paris Paloma, 3:57

Candy Store, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alice Lee, & Elle McLemore, 2:51

What The World Needs, Tiffany Tatreau, 3:03

Picrews made of her

One of my favorite Tik Toks of her (picked officially by the random choice generator out of 3 videos total as I couldn't pick)