Who’s Who: Val of the de Ardo Coven

Complexion: smooth tawny with warm rose undertones

Specialty(ies): offensive & defensive magick, charms, conjuring spells, complex rituals and spell-casting, energy/magick detection

Greatest fear: becoming her mother

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Random Facts:

1. Before coming out as trans, Val had to pretend in more ways than one: she had to pretend to be the perfect son, so she abided by her mother’s strict rules and schedule. She rarely spoke or laughed at gatherings, and her social life was non-existent during her time at AOA.
2. While she and Cari share a mother, Val has no idea who her actual father is. This is because it is a witch custom to bear children with men out of wedlock and then disappear, so that the father has no say in the child’s upbringing. This practice has replaced the long-standing ancient tradition of murdering their mortal husbands following the birth of their firstborn.
3. Axel was the first person Val ever came out to; however, she forced him into a blood vow to never speak of her trans identity to anyone prior to her coming out, especially Cari.
4. Val may be the first witch ever within the De Ardo Coven to uncover the secret life Axel held during the late 1800s.
5. According to Axel, Val is the spitting image of Antonia de Ardo, the coven’s matriarch who rescued him.
6. When Val was young, she was placed in a private primary institution for magickal beings. One of her classmates underwent puberty much too early, resulting in a werewolf transformation in the middle of class. Val was bitten by him, resulting in a fear of large canines (and, for several years, therapy to overcome her aversion to werebeasts.)
7. She needs, like, six alarms just to get up on time every day.
8. Val had the option to attend AOA as early as age ten and to graduate at age fourteen; she was already experiencing bullying and from peers because of her academic prowess, so she instead opted to attend school normally as well as taking extra classes that were advanced by a couple of years. When she graduated from AOA at eighteen, she had already completed two years worth of college courses and earned the subsequent credits.
9. Her most treasured memories are all with Cari; taking her to star gaze, watching poorly made horror flicks, using her allowance to buy Cari a beginner’s broomstick. Unfortunately, all of those memories also took place when Cari was very young, before their mother’s expectations began to weigh on Val.
10. During her fourth year of university–two years after she had graduated from AOA–she was approached by L.O.R.E. to train as one of their trackers. As far as her mother knows, she did not accept.

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