thehalcyonscene FROM THE ARCHIVES ✨ Some longtime Halcyon residents may recognize the gown Dr. Eleanor Amarin wore to tonight's Charity Gala. The dress first appeared years ago on her mother, Mercy Kanya Amarin, at one of the city's annual fundraisers. Tonight, it returned for another evening beneath the museum lights to prove that elegance never goes out of style.
"Dad, I'm already here." A small sigh escaped her as she slipped away from the crowd, her champagne flute still untouched in one hand. "It's a fundraiser, not a battlefield . . . Yes, I know who's in attendance. No, I'm not planning on introducing myself to any of them . . . I'm not alone. I'm with Nate . . . Nathan Ogundare. We studied together . . . No, it's not a date my friends set us up on-- well, technically it is, but that's not the point . . . Don't worry about me. I'm not irresponsible, and there are security guards every ten feet. I'm going to be fine . . . I know. I'll call you when I leave. Love you too."
Jia chuckled at Ella’s comment. A community pool sounded a lot more like a receipt for disaster in their book. Jia didn’t mind taking their clothes off. Actually, they walked around their apartment with practically no clothes on, but going to a public pool seemed too much exposure for someone who tended to keep to themselves like the hacker.
❝ Shouldn’t you be against public pools, babes? ❞ The brunette asked. ❝ Too many germs or something. ❞ But then again, they guessed that with summer still being upon them, a pool wouldn’t be so bad. Just maybe something a little more private would be better? ❝ So, are you inviting me to come with you? Because I need to restock on my sunscreen. Too many tattoos, you know? ❞
Ella rolled her eyes playfully. If she worried about every microorganism she came across, she'd have picked the wrong profession. "Oh, please. The heatwave would kill us long before the germs did. If we stopped doing things because of bacteria, we'd never touch our phones, shake hands, or breathe this air."
She took another sip of her drink, the bottle cool against her palm. "What if I am?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "Would you actually come if I asked?" Her gaze drifted back to the poster before returning to Jia. "Not everyone has one of those fancy North-side penthouses with a private pool, we have to make do with whatever the mayor gives us." She hummed. "Or start befriending rich people."
It was the first time in a while that Ella hadn't felt entirely at peace during one of her morning runs. A sense of unease clung in the air. The city was quiet, almost disturbingly quiet. Her shifts at the hospital had been oddly peaceful, the clinic had been oddly empty, and she had found herself with far more time to herself than she was used to. She wasn't about to complain, though. If a storm was coming, she might as well enjoy the silence before it.
The heat eventually drove her into the nearest convenience store, where she grabbed a drink, the sun seeming to be the only thing unwilling to give the Island a break. Someone was putting up a poster on a nearby bulletin board, and it immediately caught her attention, colorful and flashy in all its glory. “Wow, a community pool,” she laughed to herself. “That sure will solve Halcyon’s problems,” Perhaps the city's funding could have been better spent on education, healthcare, or maybe even addressing the rather obvious mob problem… But, hey, what did she know? She turned to the person closest to her, a small smile dancing on her lips. “It does sound kinda nice, doesn’t it?”
" you know they make me take a survey every time i leave this place , " he mentioned with a small grin. " i think doctors need to re up on their bed side manners , " though out of all her patients he knew he must've been the most difficult to deal with. he'd learned about ella's distaste for him a while ago and since his discovery , whenever he needed entertainment he would simply just --- go to the hospital. however , this time was out of his control. he had been trying something new with his abillity and he had fainted , he didn't know how long all he knew was he ended up in the hospital now in front of his favorite doctor.
“I assure you that's only because your thoughts are very important to us, Mr...” She glanced down at her clipboard, taking longer than necessary. Of course she knew who he was, she had no trouble remembering the name of the guy who somehow managed to make her shifts feel even longer, but that was perhaps the only kind of pettiness she would be allowed at the workplace. “...Vassos. I do apologize for any inconvenience, though.” Her lips curled into the most customer-service friendly smile she could manage.
In what she considered an admirable display of restraint and professionalism, Ella continued like he hadn't said anything at all. She knew that if she gave him even the slightest opening, he'd find a way to get under her skin, and she had decided he wasn’t winning today.
“The bad news is that you'll be required to fill out another survey before you leave. The good news is that your test results are back, and, if you don't have any other complaints, you're medically cleared to go.” She'd been looking forward to saying those last four words since the moment he'd been admitted. “So, how are you feeling? Any dizziness? Nausea? Anything else I can assist you with today?”
s͟i͟c͟ i͟t͟u͟r͟ a͟d͟ a͟s͟t͟r͟a͟ ✶ such is the way to the stars . . .
Apparently ELEANOR “ELLA” AMARIN has been spotted sneaking around Halcyon Island after dark. The 29 year old normally resides in the EAST but the exact details are murky. It seems their alliance to the NEUTRAL has drawn them out of hiding, just in time for the annual meeting of the Faction leaders. Be cautious if you see them around, because whilst they are DEVOTED, they are also AMBIVALENT. Rumor has it that they currently work as DOCTOR and that they have the power of LIGHT MANIPULATION
・・・✶ basics.
name: Eleanor Amarin (born Eleanor Lambert)
nicknames: Ella
age: 29
place of birth: Halcyon Island
gender: cis woman (she/her)
sexual orientation: heterossexual
family: Robert Lambert (father), Kanya Amarin (mother), Patravadi Amarin (grandmother)
marital status: single
children: none
pets: some plants
residence: the East
education: Halcyon Island University (pre-med), Johns Hopkins University (med school), Halcyon General Hospital (general surgery residency, ongoing)
occupation: medical doctor, resident
faction: unaffiliated
・・・✶ appearance.
face claim: Davika Hoorne
eyes: amber
hair: black
height: 5’8
ethnicity: thai/white
tattoos: none
piercings: two in each lobe
scars: none
birthmarks: a mole on her ribcage
light manipulation ⸺ the ability to generate and manipulate light in a variety of ways. Ella can create soft sources of light, amplify or diminish existing light, condense it into tangible constructs, and focus it into precise, laser-like beams. never required, nor trained, to use her powers offensively, Ella has specialized in everyday and medical applications, such as creating kitchen utensils, surgical instruments and using her lasers for cauterizing wounds.
limitations ⸺ while highly versatile, her abilities demand intense concentration and are physically taxing to sustain. large or intricate constructs and prolonged manipulations require constant focus, and even a momentary lapse can cause them to destabilize. though capable of generating light herself, doing so is considerably more exhausting than manipulating existing sources, making well-lit environments far more favorable than complete darkness.
・・・✶ background.
( tw: mentions of blood, illness and death )
Your mother was beloved.
The superhero Polaris, one of the original Mercies.
You never truly knew her, of course. Only the stories. Newspaper clippings tucked into old drawers. Medals collecting dust. The way strangers still soften when they recognize your surname.
They tell you you resemble her.
In your quiet kindness. In the tilt of your smile. In the laughter that comes too easily when you forget yourself. Most of all, in your amber eyes, scattered with flecks of gold that catch the light just as hers once did.
Sometimes you wonder if that's why your father could never quite look at you.
Or perhaps it was because every morning he put on the uniform of the Directorate—the very institution built to police the people your mother once stood beside. Whether he blamed powered people for taking her from him, feared your own abilities, or simply buried himself in work to outrun his grief, you were never quite sure. You learned early that absence can exist even when someone is standing in the same room.
You have never truly blamed him. Still, you cannot help but wonder what life might have been like had the Cinder Incident taken only one parent instead of two.
Fortunately, your grandmother had enough love for the both of them.
She raised you in the East, where summers were spent helping in her little shop, afternoons disappeared beneath homework and astronomy books, and every scraped knee or broken heart was met with the certainty that someone would be there to mend it. She taught you patience, compassion and discipline. Everything worth knowing began with her.
Your mother had saved lives, your grandmother quietly did the same every single day. Perhaps that is why medicine always felt inevitable.
Determined to become someone worthy of both women, you threw yourself into your studies. Halcyon became too small, and before long you found yourself accepted into one of the country's most prestigious medical programs. For the first time, the island became something behind you rather than beneath your feet.
You were supposed to stay gone.
Then your grandmother fell ill.
You returned without hesitation, exchanging one residency for another, convincing yourself it was only temporary. Just until she recovered. Just until graduation. Just until the next year.
Except life has a habit of changing while you're busy making plans.
With your grandmother confined to a hospital bed, her old shop sat abandoned. You stopped by one evening to clear the dust from forgotten shelves.
Instead, you found a stranger bleeding on the floor. You treated him because he needed help. Only later did you learn he belonged to one of the factions.
He told someone. Then they told someone else.
Soon, word spread through Halcyon's underworld that there was a doctor who asked few questions, accepted any patient, and could be trusted to keep what happened within her walls there.
The money helped.
Medical school was expensive. Hospital bills even more so.
Now they come from every corner of the island: smugglers with fractured ribs, casino men with bullet wounds, frightened teenagers whose powers manifested at the worst possible moment...
When your grandmother passed away, the last thing tethering you to Halcyon disappeared with her. You tell yourself you'll leave once your residency is over. That there are better hospitals elsewhere, better opportunities, a better life.
Yet every time you begin to imagine it, another knock sounds at your door. And somehow, despite everything, you always answer.
・・・✶ the lighthouse.
p͟r͟i͟m͟u͟m͟ n͟o͟ n͟o͟c͟e͟r͟e͟ ✶ first , do no harm
what was once the family business ella spent her summers working at now serves as an underground clinic, offering discreet medical care to anyone willing to pay
rules ⸺ the Lighthouse is neutral ground. no fighting. no weapons drawn. no questions asked. payment is expected, discretion is guaranteed, and every patient receives the same standard of care, regardless of who they are or who they work for. break the peace once, and the doors will remain closed to you forever.
finding the lighthouse ⸺ you don’t. the Lighthouse has no advertisements, no waiting room, and no public reputation. every patient arrives by recommendation, carried in by friends, or following directions whispered from one trusted voice to another, eventually reaching those with nowhere else to turn. once you leave, there are no patients and no doctor, you are strangers again. some secrets are protected by locks, others by pretending they never existed.
・・・✶ trivia.
At some point after graduating, Ella discovered that her medical school debt had actually been paid in full. She never learned by whom. Suspicious of the anonymous generosity, she has kept the discovery to herself and quietly tried to trace its source ever since.
On her eighteenth birthday, Ella legally changed her surname from Lambert to Amarin. She never knew her mother well enough to remember her, but carrying her name forward felt like the closest thing she could do to keeping a part of her alive.
Despite being largely estranged, Ella and her father still share lunch or dinner once a week, a ritual they've kept since she was a child. The conversation is polite, often superficial, and sometimes almost nonexistent, yet neither has ever suggested stopping.
Classical music is her soundtrack of choice whenever she needs to concentrate, whether during paperwork, surgery, or late-night research. She relies on a handful of small rituals to stay focused, from rhythmic breathing to silently counting under her breath.
She carries a penlight wherever she goes, you can find one in every coat pocket and purse she owns. She has a habit of buying a new one before the old one ever runs out.
Her emotions occasionally influence nearby light sources without her noticing. Lamps brighten, bulbs dim, and shadows shift almost imperceptibly whenever she's particularly overwhelmed or distressed.
An avid crossword and sudoku enthusiast. She refuses to look up answers, preferring to leave a puzzle untouched for days rather than ask for help or spoil the satisfaction of solving it herself.
Rarely seen without a warm drink in hand, usually coffee or tea. More often than not, she becomes so absorbed in her work that it goes cold before she remembers to take another sip.
She never asks a question she isn't prepared to hear the answer to.
She goes for a run every day, regardless of the weather, the hour, or how little sleep she's had. Whenever her schedule allows, she prefers setting out before sunrise, when the city is at its quietest. She ends every run the same way: with a long, hot bath and a warm drink, the closest thing she has to a reset.
・・・✶ wanted connections
the benefactor ⸺ someone paid off Ella's medical school tuition in full without her knowledge, the debt vanished overnight and no explanation ever followed. she never asked for the favor, and the thought that she might unknowingly owe someone is enough to keep her awake at night. (it can be the actual benefactor, a relative to this person or someone who works for them)
the regular patient ⸺ some people visit the Lighthouse only once. that person never seems to stay away for long. whether it's terrible luck, an exceptionally dangerous profession, or a talent for making poor decisions, Ella has lost count of how many times she's stitched them back together, at this point, the appointments have become almost routine
the last resort ⸺ Ella has spent years avoiding allegiances, convinced that neutrality was the safest path. then something happened. faced with a situation she couldn't solve alone, she called in a favor from someone she had kept at arm's length. they helped without hesitation, now the debt has come due. every so often, a request arrives that falls well outside the boundaries of the services she usually provides: an unofficial autopsy, a falsified medical report. she tells herself she'll repay the favor and be done with it, she isn't sure she believes that anymore.
the remnant ⸺ when Ella left Halcyon for medical school, she intended to leave the island (and the life she'd known there) behind for good. calls became less frequent, messages went unanswered, and eventually, most relationships simply faded with distance. somehow, theirs didn't. now that she's back, things are different. whether the bond survived the distance is something only the two of them can decide.
more ideas i very much want but am too lazy to title and describe: people from her past in the island that she has grown estranged (childhood friends, rivals, uni friends), exes on good and bad (!!) terms, one night stands, people she treated at the lighthouse, people she met after returning, running buddies (or familiar faces from her early runs), family friends (especially related to the mercies/her mother), situationships, anything and everything <3