There is no recollection in her mind of the day she was deposited in a NICU crib, disguised as a newborn human girl named Fiona Laughlin. But Fiona is who she became, a girl raised middle class and content, unaware of the power she had. Fiona spent much of her life an average girl. She was described by classmates as somewhat quiet, rather studious, with a heart for giving: she spent weekends in soup kitchens citing that she “just couldn’t see people suffer and not do anything about it.” With that mindset, nursing was a natural calling. Fiona felt like she was discovering herself during her hours in labs or at the bedside. But she discovered something else, too. It took one suffering, screaming little girl with a wound Fiona could not seem to stitch, exasperation and a rush of energy – of electricity, almost – and suddenly, beneath Fiona’s palm, the wound was sealed shut. She was grateful no one bore witness, and spent nearly two years trying to discover what exactly she had done that night in the emergency room. Not long after she walked across the stage at graduation, Fiona departed for Lethe, a place she’d heard only whispers of, where she thought she might find more like her.
The last four years have been a time of discovery. Exposed to a world she knew nothing of (and still, at times, feels so ignorant to), Fiona tries to take it all in stride. She is apprehensive about what she can do, however, and almost tries to ignore it. Healing can be done with medicine and natural care. That is what she tells herself, and she has never allowed herself to even attempt healing again. She finds herself envious, at times, of those lucky few who are confident in who – or what – they are. Fiona is not even sure what to call herself. She settles on “nurse.”
Hearing about a seemingly drowned man rising sounded like nothing out of the ordinary, at first. The amnesia was initially dismissed – it was temporary, she told herself, and would fade with time. But with more news of the Riverborn came more apprehension from Fiona: uncertain power is something she is familiar with and apprehensive of. Yet part of her wonders about these lost souls, who know so little about who they are. She wonders what they might have in common.
