Nicole "Panic" Barton • Age: Eternally 21, actually late 30s [November 21] • Cursed Human • Hercules • Kristen Stewart • CLOSED
"He's not going to be happy when he gets outta there!"
Qualities
+ Willing, Loyal, Discreet
- Mischevious, Inefficient, Cowardly
Power:
Nicole doesn't have any powers, but she struck a deal with Hades and now falls under the Cursed Human category. She can live eternally young but has to do Hades' bidding.
Biography
Nicole, or as her brother would call her Panic, wasn’t really born for a huge, influential, celebrity lifestyle or come even close to it. Nicole and her twin brother Payne - neither of them knew which one was the oldest but they still argued about it - were born on the third floor of a large house to a woman who had next to no money, with no father in sight. She used to think that maybe he was a travelling merchant who would go from house to house selling things like the ones who used to approach her own door that she would have to turn away. Neither her brother or her had any real idea but it was fun to dream and get lost in the illusions that he might someday come back and take them away from this life that they had adjusted to. Nicole would often panic and wonder if perhaps their father had forgotten about where they lived, and it caused severe anxiety attacks in the poor girl, and she could no longer answer the door to anyone who came, just in case it was her father that she would look in the face, and she had no idea what to do if that were the case. If anything, these anxiety attacks of hers made her mothers health even worse - something which would also trigger these panic attacks. For this small family of three, health was a large concern - their mother had the physical and Nicole had the mental, and she depended on her twin brother to be the strong one in the house.
The outside world was just a pipe-dream to Nicole, something to aspire to be in but at the same time, something that was so far out of her reach, it seemed impossible. Nicole and her brother were instructed never to leave the house by their mother, who was terrified that her own allergy afflictions were passed onto her children and they would surely die out there. She would tell her children horror stories about their through closing up and the pain that they would feel not being able to breathe, and it was enough to scare the young children into not going out, and do encourage those fears as they grew up. As more allergies became apparent to their mother - everything from dust to perfumes to latex - the less she was able to do anything, and she hardly left the bed, leaving strict instructions on how everything should be cleaned for her children to take care of. Nicole stopped herself from having the interactions with the delivery men thanks to her father fantasy, and thus the only social experiences she had were with her brother and her mother.
Nicole was the one who had found their mother's body in her bed on that awful morning, which did nothing but aggravate her nerves even further. She screamed, bringing her brother into the room, and had left it all in his hands how they should proceed, since he was the strong one in the family. Nicole realized at that moment that all that she really had was her brother, and despite now having the freedom of being able to leave the house without worrying about their mother, she stayed with him in that big, lonely home. The poor girl walked into her mother’s room every single day to pile on more blankets on the smelly corpse, and keep the room dust-free like her mother would have wanted. She was willing to take care of her mother even after she was dead, but seeing that corpse didn’t bring on feelings of love like it had when it was alive - Nicole started to panic when she thought about death, she became fearful. Eventually the fear became so strong, they couldn’t live in the house with their mother anymore. Nicole started to dream that her mother was death itself and would come into her bedroom late at night - she had to get away. And eventually she did - her and Payne managed to escape the house, and despite their anxiety about inheriting allergies, they were able to breathe in the fresh air just fine. They heard rumors of a witch that could cast deals, a witch that guarded the wardrobe that could give them a brand new life. They travelled, they found the wardrobe, but they were told no by the witch and outcast Hades, but he struck a deal with them. Eternal life in exchange for their servitude, which they both accepted whole-heartedly. Nothing seemed worse to them than being like their mother was in that bed.
The first task that Hades put upon Nicole and Payne was that they had to kidnap the baby Prince Hercules from the palace, take it away from the city, and murder it. She and her brother worked together on this one, her anxieties actually coming in handy because she over-analyzed every plan and they took the one that had the highest success rate in her mind. Payne would dress as a guard and sneak her in. Since Nicole had a slighter figure than her brother, it was easier for her to remain in the shadows, to take the child, and to run out and meet up with Payne by the doors. Hiding the child in a scarf, they went through the city at night, looking like parents who were caught out too late. The only problem was that since the two of them were so frightened of death, they couldn’t cause it, so Payne had the idea to leave it on the side of the road and leave it to fate to decide, and that is what they did, leaving it behind, and lying to Hades about it being dead. Through the years, Hercules had vanished from Nicole’s mind, and she had much more things to worry about. She was still in the deal with Hades, and still adjusting to being out in the world after being locked up for so long. Despite her anxiety, it’s worse for her to be by herself, and often when she is found without her brother, she may cling onto anyone who might help her. It’s just her way of making friends.
Relationships
- Payne Barton [Twin Brother] - She's never done anything without her twin brother. They're as thick as thieves, and serve Hades together.
- Hades Olympia [Boss] - The man who owns her soul, and she does his bidding in exchange for eternal life.
- Hercules Alcemene [Almost victim] - She and Payne were supposed to kill him as a child, but didn't. That could definitely come back and nip her in the butt.
