#lenore.

DIGGING DEEPER.

TW: death

lenore was born and raised as far away from the compound as one might possibly be able to get. her family may have never had much, but having each other was always enough. her father was a bar manager, while her mother cleaned rooms at the crows nest. despite rarely ever being in the same room, they believed it was all worth it for their little girl. everyone around her was always taken with lenore the moment they met her – kind, well-mannered and selfless without a doubt. her childhood was about as normal as one might be able to get out of living on the outskirts of burnington. she went to school, came home, spent time with those she came to love ( and it was no secret – it was very difficult to make lenore dislike you, for she sees the good in everybody! ). amidst it all, she would come to grow into her rebel heart, something that was supported by both of her parents. when those in power fail you, you must fight for yourself. 

always passionate about helping others, she makes it her goal to bring some amount of good into the world when she’s old enough – thus, she pursues a career in teaching. she meets the man who would eventually become her husband when she’s fifteen years old, who would grow to be  a young private hoping to take down the system from the inside. the young couple would eventually marry in a small ceremony with their closest family and friends, joined as one. they’ll move subtly and gracefully together. lenore begins homeschooling under the table, an option for parents who want their children to learn away from afterglow. 

their world shifts when lenore finds herself staring as a positive pregnancy test at the age of eighteen, unexpectedly, but she’d have been lying if she said she wasn’t excited. the next nine months are a blur and somehow manage to feel not only endless, but like they went by with the snap of her fingers all at once. when ash is born, everything feels like it’s shifted into place – that she’s exactly where she was meant to be. she never expected herself to have it all so young – a husband, a young son – but her world was complete.

everything shifts again, shortly after ash turns thirteen. nowadays, she says she was taken from the darkness, and shown the light. but in the beginning, with the death of her husband and being ripped from her home – she was a difficult woman to tame. she needed to get back to her son, and she would rip heaven an earth apart to get to them. but then, she’s told he has died. while she initially didn’t believe them, they managed to offer something close to tangible evidence – which finally broke her. thus, she succumbs to what could only be described as re-education. in her eyes, dio becomes somewhat equivalent to her protector – and the only person she could trust.

dio soon sees that she’s ready for leadership, placing her carefully by his side as his second lieutenant. it’s the one remnant he allows her to have from her past life even if she doesn’t know it, the ability to oversee afterglow’s education system in what she thinks is their image, when in reality – it’s merely his own. lenore is completely devoted and loyal, holding no memory of the son she’s raised or the man that she once loved. she believes she’s doing something good with her life, something she can be proud of, when instead she is complicit in a system that she had once despised, and away from the only real family she had ever truly known.

EXTRAS.

  ashton ryder: son, estranged, believed to be dead