#delphine.

powers  &  abilities

probability  perception  and  manipulation,  allowing  her  to  see  choices/occurrences  and  the  ‘paths’  that  they  create  in  order  to  shift  certain  situations  to  his  liking.  her  perception  has  only  grown  with  time,  stretching  over  years  if  not  lifetimes.

darkness  manipulation,  in  the  form  of  controlling  shadows  and  the  ability  to  create  solid  constructs  out  of  them.

night  vision,  to  compensate  for  her  occasionally  plunging  spaces  into  pitch  darkness.

proficient  in  hand-to-hand  combat,  experience  in  strategy  and  foreplanning.

relationships

odette  wallace  (mother,  deceased),  sampson  hall  (father,  deceased),  roland  hall  (son,  unknown),  selene  kearsey  (daughter),  ambrose  kearsey  (son)

salvador  cortez  (ex-husband,  deceased),  brendan  gale  (ex-husband,  deceased),  stefan  wade  (protege,  deceased  —  verse  dependent),  casper  wade  (enemy)

shipping  status:  absolutely  not.

notes

—  delphine  is  the  first  person  in  her  line  to  have  developed  her  darkness  manipulation  abilities,  as  her  mother  never  showed  signs  of  having  them.  she  is  unaware  of  where  they  manifested  from.

      [ trigger warning for mentions of child abuse, manipulation and pregnancy ! ]

the  only  child  of  a  socialite  and  a  stockbroker,  lucia  grew  up  lacking  nothing.  it  was  a  well  kept  secret  that  her  mother  had  knowledge  that  her  father  happily  profited  from.  for  years,  lucia  observed  odette  giving  sampson  information  there  was  no  way  anyone  could  guess,  the  money  that  flowed  in  when  another  prediction  stuck  true.  her  mother  was  an  attentive  mother,  and  she  gave  lucia  all  of  the  love  and  affection  she  needed,  but  she  kept  her  secrets  well  guarded.  it  was  only  when  she  was  nine  that  lucia  got  answers:  her  mother  had  abilities  that  allowed  her  to  see  paths  that  might  unfold,  and  to  manipulate  them  to  her  liking.  those  same  abilities  began  to  manifest  in  lucia.  sampson  realized  what  was  occurring  months  into  the  development,  and  he  was  angered  by  the  truth.  his  wife’s  abilities  may  have  been  profitable,  but  they  were  unnatural.  dangerous.  just  shy  of  her  tenth  birthday,  odette  disappeared.  an  unhappy  heiress  in  a  loveless  marriage  tied  down  with  a  child,  everyone  said.

lucia  lived  every  day  following  in  fear  of  what  her  father  might  do  to  her,  but  she  remained,  seeing  no  paths  that  would  turn  out  better.  within  time,  she  became  numb  to  the  knowledge  that  she  was  in  danger  herself.  she  took  her  mother’s  place,  feeding  her  father  information,  earning  them  wealth,  but  she  severely  downplayed  her  foresight.  she  wouldn’t  be  dangerous,  just  useful.  things  turned  when  lucia  was  seventeen.  pieces  falling  into  place,  she  met  a  friend  of  her  father’s  who  was  clearly  interested  in  her.  things  progressed:  they  started  a  secret  relationship,  lucia  found  herself  wrapped  up  in  his  attention,  and  in  time,  she  discovered  she  was  pregnant.  worried  for  what  might  await  her  if  her  father  found  out,  she  pleaded  for  an  escape.  in  the  end,  he  agreed  to  help  her  disappear,  giving  her  the  resource  to  stay  at  one  of  his  homes  on  the  other  side  of  the  states.  he  promised  to  come  meet  with  her  once  the  baby  was  born.

lucia  spent  eight  months  in  a  place  with  nothing  but  a  maid  to  keep  her  company  and  the  life  growing  inside  of  her.  when  she  finally  gave  birth  to  roland,  lucia  took  one  look  at  him  and  knew  he  was  meant  to  live  an  ordinary  life.  but  she  would  not  be  the  one  to  give  it  to  him.  her  missing  lover  never  showed,  not  that  she  expected  him  to.  she  placed  the  child  in  the  maid’s  care  before  ultimately  fleeing  with  all  of  the  resources  she’d  collected  in  those  eight  months.  at  eighteen  years  old,  lucia  was  determined  to  make  her  own  life.

she  wanted  power,  the  type  her  father  had  been  able  to  hold  over  her.  the  type  men  like  him  could  use  without  fear  of  repercussions.  she  arrived  in  los  angeles  with  this  mission  in  mind,  and  this  was  how  she  got  herself  noticed  by  salvator  cortez,  the  son  of  a  long  standing  crime  lord.  everything  came  easy  to  lucia  in  those  days,  and  she  loved  knowing  she  was  on  top.  two  years  into  their  relationship,  they  married.  another  two  later,  they  had  a  child:  selene  cortez.  the  child  would  be  a  game  changer,  but  salvador  loved  his  daughter  the  way  lucia  had  never  known  love  from  her  father,  which  caused  ire.  she  left  selene’s  care  to  others,  more  interested  in  the  power  she  had  at  present.

four  years  following,  lucia  realized  just  how  powerful  selene  would  be.  barely  developing,  and  she  was  already  showing  powers.  she  took  steps  to  ensure  that  selene’s  powers  were  hidden,  but  salvador  was  watching.  he'd  noticed  lucia’s  shift  when  the  child  was  born.  he  saw  something  was  amiss,  and  soon  understood  lucia  had  manipulated  him  for  power.  he  was  angry,  but  he  didn’t  care  about  the  manipulation.  his  concern  was  for  selene.  he  planned  to  take  her  away,  lucia  saw  as  much.  seeing  no  other  option,  she  took  salvador's  life.  with  him,  lucia  hall  was  gone,  she  wanted  to  be  someone  else:  she  renamed  herself  delphine.

for  two  years  after,  delphine  continued  to  carefully  stitch  together  events  that  best  benefited  her.  she  met  another  man,  brendan  gale.  brendan  was  on  the  run  from  another  set  of  criminals  he  owed  money  too,  and  delphine  offered  him  employment  and  protection.  what  delphine  wanted  from  him,  she  never  divulged.  the  two  quickly  became  close  and  in  no  time,  delphine  had  her  third  child,  ambrose.  brendan  became  the  primary  caretaker  of  both  him  and  selene,  though  delphine  finally  turned  her  interests  on  selene.  delphine  intended  to  train  selene,  but  selene  refused  and  hid  from  her  mother.  expecting  this,  delphine  tried  a  different  approach  that  she  knew  would  further  her  goals  as  well.  she  took  notice  of  two  of  her  associate’s  child,  stefan  wade.  it  was  clear  to  her  even  without  her  powers  that  stefan  was  being  abused  by  his  parents.  seeing  the  paths  laid  out  before  him,  she  took  the  opportunity  to  take  him  under  her  wing,  promising  him  that  she  would  help  him  become  something  stronger:  a  weapon  against  those  more  powerful.  teaching  stefan  had  ulterior  motives.  not  only  did  selene  quickly  take  a  liking  to  the  boy  and  became  more  willing  to  be  trained,  but  she  saw  what  the  future  held  for  her  new  protege.  and  his  brother,  casper,  a  boy  as  young  as  ambrose  was.  but  cas  would  develop  powers  too,  and  delphine  could  see  the  potential  in  them.

not  all  things  could  remain  perfect  for  delphine.  a  shift  occurred  when  brendan  took  note  of  the  influence  that  she  had  over  selene  and  stefan,  the  latter  of  which’s  abuse  was  noticeable.  believing  that  delphine  ultimately  had  good  intentions,  brendan  urged  her  to  take  stefan  out  of  his  home  life  and  instead  let  him  live  a  normal  life  far  away.  delphine  realized  brendan  would  be  more  of  a  hindrance  than  an  asset,  and  she  made  the  choice  to  remove  him  from  the  equation  immediately.  the  man  was  murdered  in  front  of  selene’s  eyes,  and  delphine  went  on  with  her  planning.  this  lead  to  selene  acting  up  and  trying  to  run  away,  but  after  multiple  occurrences  of  her  escaping  and  being  dragged  back,  she  ultimately  chose  to  comply.

ten  years  after  delphine  took  her  first  life,  things  fell  into  place  perfectly.  casper’s  abilities  manifested  in  a  volatile  way,  and  the  boy  killed  his  parents  for  the  abuse  he  witnessed  against  his  brother.  delphine  knew  the  crime  would  be  pinned  on  her  for  the  connections  she  had  to  the  wade's,  the  organization  taking  the  case  having  long  since  painted  a  target  on  her  back.  she  also  knew  that  there  would  be  more  to  gain  from  being  apprehended.  she  didn’t  fight  the  arrest,  and  even  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge.

for  well  over  a  decade,  delphine  stayed  imprisoned.  in  some  instances,  she  was  tortured  and  experimented  on.  in  others,  the  organization  gave  her  favor  in  exchange  for  information  they  might  see  as  useful.  delphine  bided  her  time,  knowing  things  outside  were  taken  care  of.  stefan  would  take  over  her  empire,  her  children  were  placed  with  one  of  her  arresting  agents.  casper  remained  with  his  brother,  his  life  never  getting  better.  much  her  surprise,  however,  she  found  that  selene  came  to  visit  her.  she  had  been  recruited  by  the  organization,  and  through  her  delphine  saw  the  way  the  world  shifted  outside.  rose  becoming  a  hero,  cas  a  criminal  for  his  brother.  her  empire  as  powerful  as  ever  in  the  hands  of  her  protege,  and  —  though  selene  could  never  suspect  her  intentions  —  the  chance  of  escape  and  power  more  than  she'd  had  before.