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When they were children, they were told the world would be beautiful. They would have everything if they put their mind to it. The aspiration, however, would soon fall apart as their parents died for no known reason whatsoever.
Nine year old Mara Hart, true to the meaning of her name, started growing bitter and cold afterwards. That pipe dream meant nothing to her anymore. It was false and lies the world would feed the children in a way of sugarcoating the reality of the universe. Chiara (4) tried to get her to reopen to the world, gently trying to worm her way through the cold, thick walls Mara put around herself but to no avail. Upset, she ran from the former cozy house. Mara didnt want her anymore after all, so why bother staying?
But… Mara felt her emotions morph from cold annoyance to a dreading fear. The world wasnt safe. Chiara could die. Running after her, she found Chiara at the feet of a serene-looking woman and a bunny-masked man standing beside her. Her blood ran cold. Chiara was knocked unconscious at their feet and getting taken away by some dangerous-looking men, one of them covered in gleaming white (or was it silver) armor from head to toe.
She screamed, bargained her life for them to let her sister go. They refused. She changed her bargain. They could take Chia and herself but they must not hurt her little sister. It was then that they agreed. Getting hit with something hard, Mara was knocked unconscious too. When she woke up again, she was in a cell with Chiara on the other side of the thick glass window, still unconscious. She sighed in relief but it would soon morph to horror…
Mara’s POV:
Crying… all she could do is cry in agony, in pain. Those experiments are too harsh on her delicate skin. She could hear Chiara but that felt far away too… They were slowly turning her into a monster, into a wendigo. She lost sight of her humanity as her mind became plagued. Reduced to nothing but icy flesh high on instincts, she lashed at anyone. They did everything to stop her.
Blasted a giant, gaping hole where her voice box was when she screamed. Gouged her eyes out when she saw too much, which the sockets were then filled with ice to hide the bloody, gaping holes where her eyeballs used to be. Though there was that one day that Project Gaping Heart could finally escape. Slowly tweaking everything to her favor, she escaped at the first possible moment. She managed to leave (I mean…that’s how she came to know Greed and Amaryllis-) with minor injuries and inconveniences. She traveled far… before seemingly landing herself in Sins territory.
Eira’s POV:
She didn’t understand… how did everything fall apart so fast…? It has barely been a week and everything came crashing down. Her parents dying out of nowhere and now this. Where was she even? This isn’t home… this decrepit-looking room looks like a torture chamber. She just wanted to lessen her sister’s burden… but now she’s watching over her like a hawk to its prey. Watching as they slowly warp Mara’s body beyond recognition, beyond what her memory showed her during nightmarish nights. They ruined her body, her mind. Ripped her soul from her body while all Chiara could do was watch. That wasn’t the only thing they did, however…
They threw her through a series of tests, battles, horrific scenarios. She became a freak show. She also started to forget her past, but more importantly, her name and identity. They called her Eira. Her callsign was Sea. The unpredictable body of water that could provide both peace… and suffocation. Death. She gave up and offered herself to them in exhaustion. She was too tired to fight against them anymore. She had lost the morale long ago. Though when news of her sister had escaped containment, she couldn’t help but quietly smile. She was free… until she wasn’t.
Eira was dispatched to retrieve Project Gaping Heart. Now that would’ve been fine but they raised the stakes. They put an exploding chip in her thigh that would activate via command of the Queen. Her life was on the line. She had to find “the beast” now and fast. Running like her life depended on it, she ran and ran. Far away from the facility but more importantly, far away from those monsters. She managed to hide her water abilities for a long time and once upon a time, she even considered letting it explode, taking her life for Mara’s safety but she persevered. She soon encountered the Sins territory…
…
3 Months Incident.
Chiara Eira Hart was underwater, exploring the vast ocean for her sister Mara to see more of the world.
Month 1:
Everything was going well. She had gotten through some of the most beautiful coral reefs she had ever seen and witnessed the shimmering clear blue ocean of the open pacific. She collected some trinkets along the way.
Month 2: (TW: DISTURBING IMAGERY)
Lately, shes been experiencing some nightmares. A parallel universe, where she felt like something was picking at her skin. This trip was supposed to be happy… so then why did she feel her skin peeling off and decaying. She could vividly remember dreaming of a time where she was taken apart limb by limb like a doll before being put back together with body parts that weren’t hers sewn onto her.
Month 3:
She was getting pursued by a shark who snapped its monstrous jaws closely at her heels. She swam and used her abilities to get away from it… only to find out it was a shifter. He smiled devilishly at her after catching her off guard, cornering her. Held captive for a month, she laid motionless, being biten a couple of times, repeatedly harmed. She nearly lost all hope… until Mara decided to finally awake and spiked him in the chest. He grew cold and ice formed as it froze his heart over. Eira herself left immediately, wide-eyed with fear and quickly glamoured herself to hide those… from view. Emerging from the ocean after 3 months, she let herself wander the world while she held her dual swords by her, ready to spring to life and fight if anything happened.
…
The Aftermath.
Deep in the misty and quiet plains of The Asphodel Meadows, a particular spirit has not yet lost their humanly appearance. It’s… sorry. Her name is quite familiar to some… at least, her current name. Although her being has now become far more ashy and grey as a couple of seasons that have passed in the Overworld, she has yet to fully lose herself here. Her white flowing hair makes a stark contrast against the gloomy atmosphere of the area as she sits by the river Lethe, cradling a pale asphodel flower in her hands. And her eyes… ohhhh her eyes… still dull with exhaustion and pain, still the same fuchsia.
The glamour she placed upon herself has shattered long ago when she was impaled to death, but… she never blamed him. He helped her escape her prison, allowed her to escape the possession she suffered from. After all, wasn’t she the one that pleaded for it? The wound can still be vaguely seen. A gaping hole at the abdomen with blood pouring from it. Of course… that isn’t the only scar a worn solider like her has, especially not when she was forced into training as a child.
Scales can be seen under her ears, on her thighs, and vaguely scattered on her neck and hands as scars seem to be multiplying the closer you examine exposed skin. There’s a small marking on her neck too. A Deadly Nightshade flower, the Atropa bella-donna.

Now… I must say, the hour of revealing her identity shall arrive soon but… not yet. I must first tell you, dear reader, what her inner turmoil is at the moment. Her eyes are unfocused and here, I shall tell a tale using her memories about a young girl that lost her freedom of choice and will when she decided to run away. Run away from the emptier house with only an older, pessimistic sister as the sole companion.
…She recalls a bitter, deep-rooted remembrance where it was winter.
‘The winds were getting stronger as it chilled her to the bone. She didn’t care. Em doesn’t need her anyways. She holds little use for her sister. Frostbite was getting to her though and she slowed down significantly more than when she first took off from her… home. She stopped running. Wearing nothing but a dress that would do nothing to combat the freezing temperatures. The snow beneath her feet barely melted, seeping into her flesh and slowly leeching away the remaining warmth in her.
She collapsed to the coldly blanketed ground, unable to feel her own legs as she shivers violently. She had forgotten how long she had been running. Hours? Days? Weeks? The snowstorm hasn’t stopped, obstructing her sense of time. The hypothermia’s getting to her… and she’s losing focus.
…
She wakes up with a start, finding herself surprisingly warm but quite uncomfortable. This room she’s in… where is she? Turning to her left, she spots a familiar face.
“[Redacted]?” she whispers.
“I’m here.” Why does she sound so exhausted?
“Where are we…?” she asks.
“…Somewhere far away.” Far?
“From hom-?”
“Don’t even mention that place. We will never return there so get it out of your head.” …
“What…?” disbelief fills her eyes.
“Stop it-… just stop it with the questions [REDACTED]. Just stop.”
“I-” That’s the last thing she manages to say to her lucid and living sister before she is put to sleep.‘
And from then on… all she remembers is pain. Tests, trials, torture. What’s the difference between them?
…
Something wet falls upon her wrist.
What is it?
Tears? Of course it’s tears…
Her time outside that place wasn’t much better really. She died once before, having been impaled with metal pipes and plastered on the wall like some sick imitation of a marionette. She explored underwater for 3 months and managed to get harassed before she returned to that old place. She lost love twice, one whom decided it was best if they didn’t stay together and another who died to that man-
Oh… you seem to have realized whose story this is, and I can imagine you piecing the information together dear reader. Congratulations.
Of course, this isn’t the end of her. Just the pause in her life.
Now, you might be asking… what happens next? Who killed Eira Hart? That’s! for me to know and you to find out, precious observers. But to continue the narrative…
She dips herself slightly into the river before drinking from it to kill ugly thoughts that resurfaced. She was in The Asphodel Meadows. She could forget. She needn’t suffer with these rude thoughts. She in particular did NOT want to remember the possession arc. And so she drinks as her uniqueness, her light, her identity is shed from her soul once again.
She will never feel fulfilled again…
…
The Return of an Old Friend.
Reaching out to the starry sky above her, she sees her vaguely frost-covered hand shine slightly in the moonlight. She’s alive again…? That couldn’t be right… That voice said she wouldn’t be able to live again. Huh… hopefully nothing happened to her little sis.
Sitting up- it seems that she has now processed she was lying on the ground… and the slight chill that has always followed her. She really is back… Letting out a sigh, she stands up and is immediately greeted by a smack to the face by something small. Something old, something cold, something… blue… (/ref :P)
“My necklace?” She pauses in surprise. She could speak again? She thought… whatever. Though… how did she return? And where is Chiara? Sighing, she grabs a hold of her old necklace and puts it on herself. Perhaps she should find someone to help her… and get out of this environment…
The snowy woods bring back some rather unpleasant memories she doesn’t need to remember at the moment. Not when she set a priority in her head already.
She navigates through the unfamiliar forest in search of a familiar face, or at least… a helping hand that won’t take advantage of her like how it used to be back in that facility where she “lived” in most her life. Of course- her wintery abilities don’t seem to have an off-button do they…? Oh well, at least she’s bundled up enough to not be bothered by a prickly chill that might run down her spine. Now where is the place of freedom she used to be… Her Hart yearns to return there and she won’t delay further. Question is… how might they react to her slightly new look and really- her as a living and breathing person again?
———
Project Gaping Heart
Former Name: Mara Hart
• Power rating: 5
• Intelligence rating: D
• Interaction specification: ! (†, MAU is alive)
• Power classification: Orange, Blue
TCH Staff File #153
Code Name: Sea
Rank: Knight
Real/Former Name: Eira Chiara Hart
Species: Siren (MAU is not a siren but she isn’t human either)