Mercy Calíope Medina
TRUE NAME: No
FACECLAIM: Gal Gadot
NICKNAMES AND ALIASES: Merce from her sisters, others should use it with extreme caution
DATE OF BIRTH: May 5, 1985
ACTUAL AGE: 30
GENDER: CIS female
SPECIES: Human
OCCUPATION: Pawn shop part-owner, unwilling medium, and sometimes treasure hunter
DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Pierced ears, there used to be more piercings in her ears but she's let them grow over. Couple of scars here and there from her excursions when she was too drunk to realize she'd been injured and take better care of them. The initials of her sisters "C&T" are tattooed on the inside of her right wrist, as a reminder for herself - she got the tattoo after a particularly bad week when she was in the early days of recovering from her alcoholism, so she got her sisters' initials tattooed so she could be reminded of them before taking a drink, remember their faith and hope for her.
She also has a tattoo on the back of her neck from a magical tattoo parlor - the couple running it were a changeling and an enchanter, respectively, and Mercy paid for a tattoo to grant her some semblance of the Sight. It's not powerful enough to really do more than allow her to sense the presence of glamours from someone as strong as a High Fae, but with the varying strengths of glamours, her own Sight varies in effectiveness. It tends to pick up human glamours, wards, curses, and similar effects with varying degrees of success based on how recently the tattoo's spells have been done and the caster's own strengths. The spells and ink have to be refreshed every few years (not to mention it's a lengthy trip), but Mercy claims it to be well worth the money. Due to its magical nature, the tattoo tends to actually move and react, a swirling pattern that seems to almost be eternally moving, if looked at closely - at a casual glance, it could just be a trick of the light. In the presence of other magic, however, it can grow quite rapidly and spread across her shoulders, up the back of her neck, and so on - the stronger the magic, the more it reacts.
PERSONALITY: Most apparent upon meeting Mercy? She comes off as cold, often quite curt or startlingly blunt - which generally aren't qualities you'd expect from an owner and oftentimes shopkeeper for her family's pawn shop. Mercy doesn't particularly give a damn about what anyone else outside of her family thinks and that much is obvious from the moment you meet her. She can be incredibly acerbic and cynical, which comes across in her sense of humor and way of speaking - but that being said, well, there are moments. Glimpses non-family members see on occasion, especially around her sisters or directed at her dog - and, on even more rare occasions, if she's come to make a house call on behalf of someone... else. She can be far more compassionate than she'd ever like to admit, but more often seen would be her fierce loyalty for her family, her devotion to them and the monetary side of their business (if not the customer side). She's also extremely hard to shake, these days, though there are some long buried trauma of growing up being able to see dead people that give her night terrors to this day.
HISTORY:
Mercy had been seeing ghosts for longer than she could remember. When she was very young, they seemed to come in and out - perhaps by some small mercy from what they remembered of being human, to take pity on a child. Or perhaps simply because her abilities were still growing, only just starting to awaken. Regardless, when she was young enough, her parents didn't quite realize the depths of the "friends" Mercy made, believing them to be normal imaginary friends. So Mercy created more than Chase did, so Mercy seemed to cling to those imaginary friends longer - nothing too alarming about that. Until they started scaring her. Until they only got worse. Until they'd wake up to the sounds of Mercy sobbing and go into the twins' room where Chase was trying to comfort her desolate sister. Psionic practice came from Gabriel's side, so he recognized it first, shocked that Mercy's powers were awakening so quickly. And, to his credit, he attempted to teach her how to deal with her powers - but, the fact remained that mediums were staunchly different than dowsers, so while he was able to teach Chase well enough when her powers starting rearing their head, there was much less he could do or knew to try and help Mercy. Even telepaths were better, more consistently researched and published for Tempy's own learning. Mediums... the fact blended in with the fiction, or worse, seemed to walk that fine edge between sanity and not far more readily.
It didn't help that things elsewhere in the family were breaking down at the same time - Mercy remembers the night their mother came in, offered to take the girls with her. She remembers shrinking back, closer to the wall. Papá was the one who understood, he was the only one who was trying to help her learn. Her mama tried, she cared, but the most she could do was hug her and try to wait until the ghosts went away. But they didn't they never did and - and she refused to go. Which meant Chastity stayed. Which meant Temperance stayed. Which meant that, when she was older, Mercy did nothing except blame herself for holding her sisters back from the best opportunity they had to get the fuck out and do something better for themselves.
That realization was a few years in coming, but hit soon enough. Things got worse for Mercy, felt more desperate with every attempt to research, to learn, came up empty - when even Gabriel couldn't think to do anything more than hug her, sometimes, when she shook violently. So she stopped telling him about the episodes. Tried to look at the people in front of her, tried not to stare at the ghosts instead. Tried to pretend it was fine. Chase, of course, knew better - Mercy still woke up with screams that died in her throat, still shook violently, sometimes didn't even sleep but instead stared endlessly at the ceilings. Mercy pleaded with her to keep it quiet, to let it go. Their father didn't need to know, he had enough to worry about. She'd just have to figure it out on her own, had to come with time, didn't it? She used to think that with a smile, with a stab at remaining hopeful.
Throwing teenage hormones in the mix just made everything worse. Gabriel started getting distant, working on things he stopped telling Mercy and Chase and Tempy about, jobs he talked around rather than explained or let them help plan. And Chase - Chase seemed happy, for once. Seemed like she was the star, the center of attention, the life and laughter and everything bright. Tempy started looking at college, Tempy had plans and Mercy - Mercy had a dead girl following her around. Small and sweet and an ugly gash around her neck from the rope that was used to strangle her. Who kept trying to take Mercy's hand and cried that she missed her mommy. Mercy kept hanging around graveyards, drawn in despite herself. Mercy followed the little girl to where she'd lived and tried to talk to the kid's mom to offer some comfort. Mercy got thrown out when the mom threatened to call the police on her. Mercy got laughed out of the police station for making up wild stories. Mercy stole her father's whiskey bottle and drank until she couldn't really see the little girl and could ignore her, then passed out asleep for the longest time she'd managed to sleep in months. So she kept the damn thing, started keeping mints in hand to hide the taste, for the first time in her life trying to hide something from even Chase.
It only got worse as the years went on, but something she thought she could manage- buying replacement bottles for when their father was home by talking to the right people in high school, the ones who had friends in college or "knew a guy." She got her alcohol, she hid the worst of it, tried to make it seem like it was just a little drinking when Chase found out - nothing major. But when their father was arrested, Mercy's control started to slip further. Her tolerance kept growing, with the years, and after graduation she started openly carrying a flask. Who the fuck cared? Certainly not Mercy herself, shrugging off her sisters' protests and pointing out that they'd have a different tune if they saw fucking dead people around every corner. And so long as it didn't interfere with their abilities to take over the shop, what did it matter?
Given long enough and it finally did. Mercy crashed, passing out in her living room vaguely aware of the fact she was probably going to die in her own vomit. Some part of her was grimly pleased by the thought - maybe this time she could go haunt some other poor bastard. But when she woke up, Chase was the first person she saw. Chase, her much more compassionate and caring almost-mirror who still managed to have some grain of hope. Mercy envied it. Between Chase and Tempy, they started to talk Mercy into entering rehab, went into her apartment and cleared out all the alcohol, poured it down the drain. When she came back from rehab, all the bottles had been replaced by fucking fruit juice, of all things. Mercy laughed and went with it, appreciating that at least she could keep the habit of sipping out of a flask when she was annoyed - even if the sweeter un-fermented juice was a weird change to her. At least it was worth it, if it made her sisters happy.
FAMILY:
Chastity "Chase" Medina (fraternal twin) - Chase is Mercy's staunchest supporter and has been ever since they were little. The two slept together as children, inseparable in almost every activity - constantly helping each other, working together, or clashing against each other in the way that all siblings do. One thing was always certain, however. No one else was allowed to fucking touch their sister. Mercy and Chase have had each others' backs for a long time, knowing what the other was thinking simply because they knew each other so damn well. Their powers became more evident and Mercy started... drifting. But no matter how far down Mercy fell, Chase has always been there for her. There's absolutely nothing on this Earth that Mercy wouldn't drop for her sister, no time that she wouldn't answer her call or text or anything for her. But with that comes a lot of guilt - Mercy is devoted to her sisters, but she's long felt that she's holding them back and wonders where Chase would be without her. She's pretty damn sure that she'd be doing something pretty amazing by now, if not for the shitty alcoholic mess of a twin keeping her down. A lot of her drive to recover is purely for wanting to make Chase proud and stop holding her back from whatever she may want to do.
Temperance "Tempy" Medina (older sister) - Like Chase, Mercy has a long standing devotion and loyalty to Tempy. However, because of their mother leaving so early on, Tempy took on a more maternal role to the twins - that being said, Tempy is the one of them going somewhere. Mercy's always known it, Tempy was the smartest of them, the most driven. The most like Mom. The one they were most likely to lose, somehow, that would walk away like mom. And yet - somehow, Mercy always just thought that meant that Tempy needed to be protected. She and Chase menaced any dude who took too close of an interest in their sister that they thought was... less than desirable, for whatever reason. They attempted, to the best of their abilities, to keep Tempy out of the more questionable aspects of owning and operating the pawn shop and still do to this day.
Gabriel Medina (father) - Mercy always idolized her father, she was absolutely a daddy's girl. She never imagined doing anything else but following his footsteps, which he delighted in showing her. Unfortunately, she followed his example a little closer than any of them really wanted her to - while she doesn't violate the law, she tends to push the boundaries of it and skirt around some of its fuzzier lines based on what he'd taught her. Her flask was from him, her gun still technically registered to him. For a while, the main time to catch Mercy sober was if she was planning to visit their father in prison - she's still deathly scared for him to find out just how rock bottom she's hit while he was away. She just wants to make him proud.
Rosana Gray (mother) - Ever since she left, Mercy has cut Rosana out of her life. If she ever tries to contact Mercy on any kind of social media, email, phone, etc., Mercy will immediately block her. She wants absolutely nothing to do with their mother and blames Rosana for breaking apart what she thought was their happy family. Despite knowing better as she grew older, Mercy still has a shitton of resentment built up for their mother and thinks that she left for shame. She's certain that even if Mercy had gone with her, things would've ended up even worse because they wouldn't have had their Dad teaching them about magic and even the slivers of control she manages to have.
Arthur Gray (younger half-brother) - Not yet even more than distantly aware that her mom remarried and has a new family. But she's damned resentful of that "new" family.
SEXUALITY AND RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Bisexual, but tends to have a preference for men. Single, but comes with a dog. Not liking her dog is a deal breaker.
OTHER TIES: Any friends, mentors, coworkers, exes, etc. that have had an impact on your character’s life.
LIKES: Bad weather (keeps people from coming into the shop and bothering her), some goddamn peace and quiet, dogs (Daisy in particular), her sisters, her father, feeling useful, giving Daisy ice baths, amusing herself with the reactions of people who realize she's got fruit juice in her flask instead of alcohol
DISLIKES: Shows like Ghost Whisperer and Medium (if she ever has to watch a show like that again, she's liable to go to find where they're filming and try to punch someone), fussy customers, noisy customers, demanding ghosts, people who don't believe her (if she's going to come all this way to give them a message from their damned dearly departed, they better fucking have the decency to listen)
HOBBIES: Walking/wandering with Daisy, impulsive road trips, cleaning/keeping things in order (helps her feel more in control)
SKILLS: Researching, then tracking down magical items and artifacts; fixing things around the shop and her sisters' places, tinkering with magical items to find their purpose or how to activate them, decent shot with her handgun
MEDICAL CONDITIONS: Alcoholic, but has been clean for 3 years and change. She has a chip to prove it. Tends not to go to AA meetings these days, but will when she's hit rough patches again.
CURRENT FINANCIAL STATUS: Not great, but livable. Mercy is shockingly frugal and tends to live off of what's been passed down from the family - the majority of her funds go into research and travel expenses.
PLACES: The pawn shop, her apartment that's connected to Chase's
PETS: German Shepherd and husky mix, about 3 years old, named Daisy. Mercy claims vehemently that her dog came with the name and she was unsuccessful in re-naming her, but there's no real proof of this. Daisy is grey and black, adopted by Mercy after she flunked out of being an official therapy dog - but there's enough of the training there that she's been a huge support and presence for Mercy while she's been working to maintain her sobriety. She also has been known to ride on Mercy's motorcycle with her on a regular basis and appears to have just as much of a penchant for wandering as her owner.
KNOWN MAGIC: Mercy is an incredibly strong medium, but it comes at the cost of never being able to turn the skill off - she sees and hears specters constantly. She's studied bits and pieces of more ritual magic for tracing or things that might be useful to her hunting down magical items (or their owners), but generally tries not to learn too much beyond what she thinks is necessary.
COVEN: No, as they're all psionic practitioners, the Medina family keeps to themselves. And, if you asked Mercy, who would bother wanting to recruit an alcoholic medium?
RUMORS: There used to be more screaming in the local graveyards. The thin wail of a child, found most often near graves that were recent - or those that were forgotten, long since left to disrepair. Local stories about a scared little girl ghost who would come and tell people words from their loved ones, horror stories of how they'd died, lasted long after Mercy grew older and disconnecting from the reality of her actual "adventures" as a child. No, instead she grew older and more cynical - rumors floated around about that family, those psionic sisters. There always had been gossip about that kind of magic most of all and look - living proof of just how fragile they could be. Fingers pointed at Mercy as the epitome of hitting rock bottom, of what losing it could be like when magic took over one's life. Mercy fucking hated it, hated it even more when people tried coming to her specifically and asking her to speak to someone who'd died for them - many who'd spoken ill of her or her sisters previously had a door slammed in their face.
But there were few, precious few, who she'd pause at and just cock her head a little at - as though listening to better angels, perhaps. And invite in, maybe try and give a little closure for. But those were few and far between, often Mercy wouldn't even acknowledge the possibility of having done it, when questioned later. No, really - if you wanted to get to Mercy and have her give you any sort of a chance to hear you out, it'd be better to try going through her sisters first.
WRITING SAMPLE: "Fuck this." The words weren't uncommon, especially from Mercy, but it was the heartfelt irritation and resignation behind it that was truly impressive this time. She stared at the doorway into the lower levels of the crypt, wishing she'd actually let Chase come with on this one. Shouldn't be a problem, she'd said. All the research points to it being a cakewalk. Just watch the shop for me. "Stupid fucking Mercy, had to go and fucking jinx it."
Daisy, true to form, pressed herself against Mercy's leg and stared up adoringly at her - selling it a bit thick, maybe, but at least Daisy didn't seem to agree with her assessment of herself. So hey, at least one... being had faith in her. "Someone has to," the last was muttered, absently scratching at the pup's ears while she tried to figure out exactly how the curse was placed on the doorway. She could see the barest traces of it, something meant to be nasty and creep up on those passing through, if she was reading it right - something that might not even kill someone until long after they'd left the crypt. Probably meant to protect against grave robbing, as the "mummy's curse" in Egypt had done to those that breeched Tutankhamun's tomb. It was a good deterrent against grave robbers, in most cases.
Not so much against nosy psionics who were running out of patience and just wanted to go home. Still muttering obscenities to herself, Mercy started fishing out the components to try and dispell the curse.
"What are you doing?" The screech was offended, managing to sound somehow both disdainful and righteously angry at the same time. What Mercy really wished is that she had been surprised. That she had jumped, dropped something, was even vaguely shocked that somehow, someone appeared seemingly out of nowhere. That she was scared, that a ghost was wholly unexpected.
But that would be far too convenient.
Instead, Mercy just sighed and stared up at the ceiling, mentally begging for a little bit of patience to be passed down from on high. Or, failing, that, a fucking break. "Are you going to be difficult about this? Because I really don't want to have that today. Just no."
The ghostly woman managed to actually look offended, getting a bit less hazy as Mercy spoke, "You - you can hear me?"
"I would prefer not to, honestly." She didn't even look forward, instead checking a few runes she was drawing against a worn leather journal, "Kinda busy."
"Robbing my family's tomb!"
"See, there we go. Right back on message, I can admire that."
"There are precious keepsakes down there! And - dangerous traps!"
Mercy finally glanced over her shoulder, then waved the book and her piece of chalk, "Yeah, I know. I've been expecting that. But thanks."
"I wasn't trying to help you!"
She shrugged, "I know. But it's not like you're going to stop me either." Mercy snapped the book closed, a tight grin managing to come across her face in grim satisfaction. "And besides. I can always just put in some headphones to tune you out. Right, Daisy?" A few more scritches, and they were on their way down into the lower levels of the crypt.