Faustine was never exactly a normal child though she looked like one. Blond hair, bright blue eyes and a happy demeanor. Her parents, mainly her mother knew almost instinctively she was not really their child even if her mother carried her, treating her like dirt sometimes. One bright spot was her older brother Magus, whom always treated her kindly. Something was off about her, she loved chaos. Fights in school, making little comments that caused more then one of her teachers to rip their hair out in frustration. When she was nine, a superhero and villain were fighting near her home so naturally she ran off to watch the battle, her brother not far behind.
The fight took to right near her and her brother took her hand and pulled her into a lunar research/history building. The hero knocked the villain into the building with such force the building began to collapse. He tossed her out into the street and became buried in the rubble, she screamed, screamed and screamed digging into the rubble with her bare hands to get to her brother. The hero now having to help people let the villain flee, and helped Faustine to dig her brother out. He did not move, nor breathe. Barely about to move with shock, guilt and sadness, she reached out to unknown parts of her and gathered a massive amount of 'magic' and forced it into her brother. He began breathing, but it was labored and he never opened his eyes ever again.
It wasn't until she was in the hospital that she realized her hair was now changing color, from blond, to a bright red. Her parents rushed in to their son and immediately blamed her. Her father even rose his hand to hit her but before he could a nurse with dark red hair stopped him as she checked Magus vitals. The doctors told her parents, as Faustine huddled in a corner weeping, that her brother should not be alive. He was crushed by tons of concrete, and re-bar from the building. To discuss life support, and whether or not it would be better for him to just be unplugged from the machine rather then forced to live, her parents and doctor left.
Faustine crawled out from her corner and stood by her brothers bed and put her hand around his feeling more energy, more magic flow out of her to sustain him. "It's all my fault..." she whispered dry sobbing now that all her tears have been used. Letting go of his hand she crawled into a nearby chair and pulled her legs up to hold herself. 'He shouldn't be alive, its my fault he is almost dead.' she thought despairingly.
The read haired nurse walked in to check his vitals once more and stopped buy her. "Hello little child." the nurse said in a voice that was best described as being underwater. Tinny blinked up at her almost seeing two things as her vision was blurred, then cleared. She saw a young woman, with almost sharp looking angles for her body and bright yellow eyes that seemed to glow, and almost like a ghost she saw some red creature that looked like a man overlapping the woman. "Suffering from a broken heart? You should be happy that your brother is alive."
Faustine sniffed rubbing her hand under her nose and then wiping her snot on her school uniform. "My brother should be dead..." she said lowly.
"No should be about it dear one! Loved ones should never have to pass so horribly!" The woman smiled and Faustine felt unsettled about it. "Why not wish to bring him back? Or heal him? After all, who knows who is listening."
"I... I... I do want him back." Faustine told her. "I would do anything."
"I can do that darling child."
Faustine lept up and slipped off the chair nearly going right down to the ground, but the woman caught her. "Wh-what, HOW?" she yelled. The nurse hushed her putting a finger with long nails and deep red nail polish on them to her lips.
"Sush, all we need to do is make a deal."
"What deal? What do you want? Can you really bring my brother back?"
The nurse chuckled softly ruffling Faustine's hair. "Such a good child," Faustine heard a distant warning in her head but ignored it, focusing on the nurse with all her attention. "Now, I do so hate having to take children, so here is the deal: You help me, I help you."
"You can really help my brother?"
"Of course I can. I'll heal all his wounds, wake him up so that he can be your big brother again."
"I accept!" Faustine said without hesitation. The nurse chuckled again and looked to the door briefly.
"I do so love the simpleness of children, ah, first thing first." She waved her hand and a red orb the size of a large jelly bean appeared and floated right next to Faustine. "Take this and eat it, I promise it will go down gently." Faustine hesitated only a second unsure if it would burn her, but once she touched it, felt that it did nothing but feel slightly warm she popped it into her mouth and swallowed. The nurse proffered her hand and Faustine took it, she then took Magus's hand.
The nurse spoke lowly, and in some strange kind of language that almost hurt to hear. The room began to spin, and spin faster and faster. Faustine clung to the nurse closing her eyes until there was a soft 'click' sound like a lock being flicked close. "Here we are, my home away from home." the nurse said and Faustine opened her eyes to a small bedroom with blank grey walls. Her brother was no longer on the life support machines, but still breathed steadily, laying on a twin bed covered in a simple blue sheet.
"What... what do I need to do?" Faustine asked the nurse. The nurse smiled down at her making Faustine uneasy.
"For now," she waved her hand and a book appeared. She grabbed the book and handed it to Faustine. "You read little one. Once you have finished it, we can start on the actual work." Faustine glanced at her brother and walked over to him and sat down on the ground by his bed. Almost immediately from the ground a cushion and desk lamp popped up as though pulled through the floor. Faustine just blinked and shrugged looking at the book. It was bound in pale leather with no title on the front or spine, she opened it and the first page swam with letters, hieroglyphics, and strange fonts until it settled into plain English.
[Shadow Hand]
Form hand into fist.
Focus small amount of memory of pain into fist.
Chant
"Umbra est scriptor tenebris fluat utque per me!"
Touch nearest person to cast.
Faustine rubbed her eyes as they almost burned and pulled out a bit of her hair, it was a bright red color with no trace of her blond hair anymore. "I wonder if Magus is going to recognize me..." She frowned feeling a almost nawing sensation in the back of her head as she kept reading the weird book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~11 years later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She looked up at the stormy sky and wondered if there were any holy gods watching her. Any goodly gods, or goddesses looking with a frown just waiting to strike her down with lightning bolt, or a plane engine falling on her. "Please." she begged to the sky. "Please kill me." only the rain answered by finally falling down to the earth. She chuckled and looked back down at the city streets before her. People milled about under umbrellas, some rushed as the rain began to pour in heavy sheets. She didn't much feel the wet cloth sticking to her, or the coolness of the rain, or even her own heart beat.
"I guess things are going down the hard way then." she said and smiled. With a small hum Faustine walked towards people that had no idea what was to come. If they did, the only thing they could do was kill themselves. "Heroes, come get me." she said happily and breathed in the air cleared by the rain.
