Name: Ella Griffin Age: 17 Power: Bone Manipulation House: Omega Faceclaim: Ariana Grande Status: OPEN
POWER
Ella progressed well when she first arrived at the academy, but over the last year her progressed slowed and then seemed to regress. Though she tries to keep it under control she can no longer touch people because of her power, out of fear of hurting them.
PERSONALITY
✔ PATIENT, CREATIVE, GENTLE
✘ ANXIOUS, DETACHED, FINICKY
BACKGROUND
Ella grew up in the foster care system, though it was a more pleasant arrangement than most other people got. She had initially lived with her parents until she was four, at which point they both lost their jobs and couldn't find new ones. As time went on it became clear that they could no longer take care of Ella and they made the decision to give her up to the care system. As much as they hated to be apart from her they knew it was the best thing to do, and they made sure to keep in regular weekly contact with their daughter. They were not unfit parents by any means and had tried as hard as they could to make it so that Ella could stay with them, but it was just one of those things that didn't work out. In the end it was the best decision for the young girl. Ella didn't really understand the whole arrangement at first, but she quickly got used to it and it became the norm. She stayed in group homes for the most part, because it was easier for her parents to see her and she never seemed to settle well when placed with new families. It was always uncomfortable for her, probably because she could never see anyone else as a "real" family.
So Ella grew up with a strange family dynamic, but she never felt unloved in any way. Despite the strange arrangements she grew up normally, well-balanced and happy. Something that other people thought to be strange she thought of as normal, and when people asked her how she coped she simply shrugged -- coping wasn't the way to describe it at all. Coping implied it bothered her when really it didn't at all. The reasons behind the arrangement had become clearer to her the older she got and she understood it was for the best, for both her and her parents, when the arrangement was the way it was. Maybe one day they could all be together properly and be normal. Not that the group home wasn't normal; in fact it was, and boringly so. Until Ella's power kicked in when she was fourteen. She was on her first date and reached out to hold his hand, but her nerves had triggered her mutant gene -- one touch and the bones in the boy's hand snapped. Scared and upset she went home, but there she broke her best friend's arm when she tried to hug her. Ella couldn't figure out what was going on and it terrified her. One of the care staff recognised what was happening and told Ella and her parents that she was a mutant. Her gene appeared to be random, as neither of her parents had heard of mutants before, and at first she was terrified about the implications of her power.
Ella was relieved when the carer told her about Morgana Academy. A place just for mutants, a place where she could learn to control this terrible curse that seemed to have bestowed itself upon her. She opted to go immediately, not wanting to waste any time or put others in danger with her power. She was scared of hurting her parents the most -- the other kids in the home had already stopped talking to her because of what she'd done and the freak they saw her to be, even though they didn't know what she really was. She was afraid if she accidentally hurt her parents they wouldn't want anything to do with her either. When Ella arrived at the academy she was uncomfortable, not used to being away from her parents and other people she considered her family for so long. Eventually she did settle in and started to make progress with her power, but recently all that progress seems to be disappearing. Ella is retreating into herself more, drawing away from people and struggling to keep up with school work because she feels so home sick. It's a vicious cycle; her dwindling control makes her want to be away from people, and that means staying away from classes, including power training, which in turn contributes to her control problem. She recognises it's a problem, but has no idea how to fix it.
CONNECTIONS
Kate Lyndon: Ella used to be tutored in power training by Kate, going to any lengths to get her power under control. The training was actually going really well for a while, until Ella got a little out of hand one day and accidentally broke Kate's arm. She couldn't apologise enough for the incident and stayed away from Kate for a good few weeks while she recovered. But in that time her power control deteriorated, and when she asked Kate to tutor her again the girl said no for fear of being hurt again. Ella hopes she'll change her mind one day.
Abigail Owens: Ella got talking to Abigail one day and mentioned how much trouble she was having with her powers; Abigail offered to teach her gymnastics as a way to help. Ella didn't really see how it could help at first, but Abi explained it would take her mind off things for a little bit so she wasn't so stressed and would also give her peace of mind about being able to avoid physical contact if she needed to. The girl was right and it has helped, though not as much as Ella would have hoped in a short space of time.
Megan Perrault: Ella and Megan became friends through their similar issues of accidentally hurting most people they touched. It was nice to finally be able to connect with someone who knew the feeling of being afraid to brush against someone in the hallway, and it definitely helped her to feel more normal. The two have become close friends and offer each other support in learning how to control their powers.