OG! Penelope Eckhart Headcanons: A Life Before the Eckharts
This one was uh... it took a while.
While some may remember Shrike's version of Penelope's parents, who are perhaps the best parents she could ask for... the reality, I think, will be much darker.
Studies, like Bywaters et al. (2022), which is a critical review of research papers in the period between 2016-2021 that compiles evidence and analyzes them together, show that food insecurity, low income, unemployment, and other factors in relation to poverty lead to a higher chance of childhood neglect.[1]
Given that from canon, we know that Penelope's father is dead or at least presumed so— "Her widowed mother was a poor traveling merchant"[2]— it's reasonable to assume that he's just not in the picture.
From Part 4, if you recall, Penelope is a World Catalyst where her world is expressed as a romance-genre dating simulator. I'll definitely elaborate on this in another part, but suffice to say, Penelope's life is pretty much written to be tragic no matter what.
Thus, isn't it fitting to give her a just-as-horrible childhood before the Eckharts?
It would certainly explain why she was so desperate for love, despite the seemingly-obvious idea that she misses the love of her biological family.
Aleksander is a Greek name meaning "defender of the people", with this particular variant can be traced to Central and Eastern Europe.
Aleksander is from the Northern territories of the Eorka Empire, near the borderlands with treacherous, eternal winter. He moved from the North to warmer lands when he became of age.
He had three siblings, but his older sister died shortly after marriage. On the other hand, his younger brother died in childhood from sickness and a particularly harsh winter.
His father disappeared one day while hunting for prey in the forests, and his mother was beaten to death for stealing from a noble household.
Aleksander has classic, deep magenta curls (think old Hollywood). The color is so dark that it looks black.
His hair is left somewhat lengthy, reaching his mid-back and tied back with a ribbon.
In addition, his eyes match his hair but have an orange glow to them instead.
He has a slender physique, not necessarily muscular or very strong.
Aleksander is extremely religious.
He has a pleasant smile and a gentle disposition, but that doesn't mean he's weak or useless.
He knows how to wield a small dagger, but that's it.
Aleksander was a doting father and loving husband, content with a simple life with his family.
Originally, he left the church he was a part of to follow his wife, but left and returned to his religion and the North when he found out that Penelope had mana.
His religion actively pursues wizards and those of Ancient Wizard blood, and his daughter is no exception.
It's unclear what happened on the day he found out. All his wife knows is that when she returned from her daily trip to the marketplace to sell her wares, her husband was gone, with blood on the bed.
Penelope was holding her neck, terrified.
In the aftermath, he became obsessed with tracking down wizards to "atone" for not having killed Penelope, torn between the guilt of attempted silicide and also the regret of not having snuffed out an Arcani's life.
He feels similarly torn with Nilar, reasoning that since he can never be a descendant of those filthy traitors who served Laila(the Ancient Wizards), then Penelope's magic must have come from his ex-wife.
Aleksander's fate is unknown, but evidently kept out of the capital and surrounding territories, staying in the outskirts. Penelope never met him again.
Edit: ok I didn't mention his third sibling but his mother had the baby when he was away studying to be a priest. It's not clear what happened to the child, but it died before he could meet his sibling.
In truth, Aleksander HAS Ancient Wizard heritage, ironically — his sibling was killed because flowers started blooming around the infant in the middle of winter. Like, summer flowers in the crib, growing out of the mattress.
His mother, terrified, suffocated the infant. Truly, like mother, like son.
Nilar is a female name of Burmese origin meaning "Sapphire", with the origin having NOTHING to do with my characterization of Penelope's mom. I left the choice up to @eloise175 in a blind-box situation.
If it had any bearing, it would be that Nilar was born in a foreign land but is Eorkan by blood. Her parents just settled down in a foreign land for a bit to ride out the pregnancy.
She was part of a merchant ship crew that docked frequently in the port city of Tratan. By extension, it's near Soleil Island, which is Laila's hideout.
She has abandonment issues due to her parents' mysterious disappearance when she was young. While traveling, she met Aleksander and fell deeply in love.
Nilar is an accomplished Arcani(One who uses mana and is of Ancient Wizard descent). However, her love for Aleksander blinded her, causing her to seal her own powers so he wouldn't turn on her.
Nilar's mother's powers were primarily water-based, which is why they were seafaring. Her powers are Earth-based.
Nilar's hair is naturally a bright pale turquoise-green with darker roots, ending around her mid-thighs. The ends of her hair shift according to her mana. It'll turn from a burnt-sienna color to a pale blonde when uses her powers.
As a civilian, her hair is kept in a low bun.
Nilar's eyes are bright green, near-glowing in their saturated hues. She passed them onto her daughter, though Penelope's eyes tend to stray more turquoise.
She has a soft expression as her default, but her face is naturally stern, which is where Penelope's default "villainess expression" stems from.
In addition, she has a strong physique, from her years as a mercenary in addition to being a merchant. She didn't just settle in Eorka but traveled all over the world before meeting Aleksander.
Had she never settled down with Aleksander, she might've been hired as an Imperial mage, or even an Archmage to fight for the Empire.
Nilar's love blinds her to the red flags surrounding her husband.
After she had Penelope, she became more frail as a result(Giving birth to a World Catalyst, especially one so connected to the world, takes a toll).
When she found out that Aleksander left with her daughter injured, Nilar kind of shut down. She tried to take care of Penelope but found herself spiralling into self-doubt, especially since her daughter looks just like her missing husband with the hair and smile.
As Penelope grew older, Nilar worsened in health, especially since she could no longer easily support two people and pay for expensive medication. She didn't unseal her mana, deluding herself that Aleksander would come back. Poverty made things worse, and the neglect and abuse began to worsen.
Nilar would always cry and apologize to Penelope but it became so frequent that Penelope began to doubt her. Her health and mental state deteriorated to the point where her own mana was lashing out against her, worsening her condition.
Eventually, she died of sickness, a mere three months away from Penelope's 10th birthday.
Penelope wandered for many months between villages and towns, hitching rides on merchant carts in exchange for some labor.
She would take refuge in abandoned houses, sheds, and as she got to larger settlements, brothels.
The ladies there cooed over her magenta hair and sparkling eyes, giving her at least a warm bath and clean(if a bit shabby) clothing.
When she got to the capital, Penelope, again, stayed in some of the brothels. She acted as a messenger girl and was groomed to be one of the upcoming new flowers(essentially, she would've started working at the brothel when she was fifteen).
However, an incident with an unruly customer who tried to touch her made her lash out and stab the customer to death with a sharp hairpin.
She fled the brothel, living on the streets as she continued to wander further and further away. She lived in a dilapidated shed amongst the rest of the shacks. It was barely standing with one wall completely broken down.
During the rainy season, Penelope dragged herself back only to find a woman collapsed in her shed, clearly dead.
At this point, she was too weak and hunger-starved to drag the body out, so she stayed inside with the body.
Eventually, this was how Duke Eckhart found her.
