** TW Self-harm **

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your wish is my command...

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NAME

Virginia "Jeanie" Ortizo

ROLE

District one convict

APPEARANCE

Lalla Rania Benchegra

AGE

23

GENDER

Cisgender female

SEXUAL ORIENTATION

Demisexual

PERSONALITY

What could you expect from a criminal other than deviance? Jeanie makes sure to play her part perfectly- which is to say, she makes the prison guards miserable with her contrary behaviour. She hates being told what to do, and feels a kind of catharsis of freedom by defying orders. And if it results with a few extra bruises and less meals, then she knows she's getting under their skin.

Some guards think she's a straight psychopath with how often she plays an unwinnable game of hide-and-seek with them. First, they can't find her after she went to lunch, or the bathrooms, or the exercise yard. Then a guard's gun is gone so the whole prison goes into lockdown for a few hours, guards are suddenly tripping over their own shoelaces, and they find her napping in the warden's office with him tied up at her feet. She's the menace of the district one prison, but hey, she needs to get exercise and entertainment somehow- they denied her request for a tv. Determined on getting Jeanie to participate in The Tournament of Second Chances to get her out of their hair one way or another, they've tried threatening and punishing her every year she doesn't join. But Jeanie's resolve is unshakable.

Jeanie hadn't always been a prisoner, so she hadn't always been so hell-bent on independent craziness. Stubborn, yes, but there had been a point in her life when she'd been an ardent rule-follower, convinced that doing everything that she was told would be the path to happiness. After a brutal lesson that happiness would allude her no matter the path, Jeanie stopped doing what she was supposed to and welcomed the consequences.

To others, nothing can phase this jailbird- there are whispers among the prisoners that she murdered her identical twin at age fifteen because she was tired of sharing a face. That she cuts her skin open just to paint her cell walls with the blood. But the reality is that Jeanie spent most of her life in fear and has learned how to live around it. She would rather be seen as crazy than scared and vulnerable. If she smiles as she's staring down the barrel of a gun, maybe they won't notice how her arms shake.

Under the fear, the tension, and the bitterness, Jeanie is courageous, resilient and loyal. Her friends stay her friends, and her enemies stay her enemies. She holds onto her anger and it fuels her need to survive in spite of the royal's plans for her (which pretty much culminate to rotting away in her cell). Every moment of her entire life she has spent on her toes, waiting for the impending strike, so Jeanie has learned to appear chill and relaxed even though stress and tension erode away at her insides.

If she ever gets the chance to relax, Jeanie is playful and daring, always up for a challenge. She has a good heart and hates watching suffering when there's nothing she can do about it. Jeanie's quick-witted in a pinch, and is more of an improvisor than a planner- she can be impulsive and impatient. Inaction is her worst enemy, as boredom breeds dark thoughts and memories, and Jeanie fears that enough of it will make her mind spiral into a deep place it will never return from.

STRENGTHS

- typical assassin abilities (silent footsteps, acrobatics, lockpicking, fighting hand-to-hand and with daggers, knowledge of human anatomy)

- resilient

- cool-headed under pressure

- high pain tolerance

- a nearly perfect memory

- fear enhances her abilities instead of inhibiting them

- very creative in ways to occupy herself through boredom

WEAKNESSES

- self-destructive

- unable to stop or manipulate any wish said in her presence

- pessimistic

- very slow to trust

- not great at connecting to animals (she's convinced they all hate her on principle)

- never had the chance to explore her own interests and doesn't know what she wants out of life, so she can be listless and impulsive

- struggles with forgiveness

BRIEF (ACTUALLY KIND OF LONG SORRY) BACKSTORY

Jeanie was born one half of a pair, five minutes before her identical twin, Victoria Ortizo. The two of them grew up close, whispering wishes to each other to bring the magic they possessed to the surface. It was their favourite game, to wish for a shower of daisy petals or a miniature dragon. Their father, of course, tried everything to get them to break the habit- explanations, discipline, even pleading. But little Jeanie and Tori couldn't understand why something so wonderful and fun could also be so dangerous- it wasn't a loss of control when they wished upon each other, because their trust ran too deep.

Then suddenly they were five, and their birthday gift was a chip and a warning. Their last wishes were cast on each other- each wishing the other for the toy they wanted the most as a present. Tori cried when the guard pushed the needle under her skin, but Jeanie didn't start crying until she tried to wish that her sister felt better and her voice never came out. Losing her freedom and autonomy at such a young age made her silently sob for reasons she didn't know yet.

School was exciting and fun, but even as they made friends, the twins remained practically stuck at the hip. Despite the curriculum's best effort to emphasize compliance and deference in their students, the Ortizo's still maintained a dangerous disregard for the rules- when Tori started struggling in math, Jeanie insisted on them coming up with an elaborate plan for Tori to cheat off of her that had them both giggling even when they'd gotten caught. They'd almost habitually switch seats and pretend to be each other to mess with their teachers, and the two of them convinced the other kids to join them in making a 'lunch-time band' that riled against the constant silence oppressing their day, complete with pots and pans they brought from home. No punishment seemed to stick- or at least, it never seemed to outweigh the pure mischievous glee they'd feel when turning to each other to see a mirroring scheming face grinning back at them.

They shared almost everything, including their ambition. They both wanted to serve the royals, who seemed so much like a myth- castles and crowns and balls, that sounded like magic as real as their own. But the best part would be the freedom they'd only heard of, being free to use their magic once again, maybe even getting the chance to speak if they earned their trust. They were apprenticed to their father, who was an entertainer for an aristocrat, and sought to teach them how to harness their curse, to add flair and implication to the wishes given. But while Tori learned to control and form her wishes, Jeanie's always seemed to control her. What the wisher wanted, they got, and she was helpless to even slightly tweak the tone. She was better at learning acrobatics and juggling, but it would not be enough to win the favour of the critical aristocrats.

It turns out, Jeanie hadn't needed to worry- neither of them would be becoming entertainers anyway. The nine year-old twins were playing in their backyard, a game where Tori was Queen Elvara and Jeanie was the evil middle prince who had to catch her, when three men climbed over the fence, breaking up the beautiful evening with their intrusion. She still remembers her fear at the way their eyes latched on her and her sister as they began to run towards them. Jeanie fled up to the top of the play structure where Tori was sitting, terror fueling her as she climbed out of reach. But they were on them soon after, dragging the girls to the ground as they kicked and opened their mouths in what should've been screams.

Their dad was just inside making dinner- if Jeanie could just yell, she knew he'd come save them. She tried so hard, throat aching and arm clawing at the arm that held her chip, but not a single sound escaped as she and Tori were stolen from their home (which should've been safe), tied up, and taken to an auction.

Jeanie still remembers the boy behind to her in the auction line- not his face, but the fact that he'd wet himself in fear. The thug guarding them had grimaced and an order must have been made (all the children were facing the wall so they couldn't see what was being discussed) because the chains that connected were unlocked, and he was led around a corner. Where they all heard a gunshot. They were turned around for a moment so that the crime lord in charge could sign that "they weren't allowed to do anything without their say-so, not even piss themselves." There were plenty more kids who wouldn't be missed, they said- they wouldn't make themselves deal with defective ones.

The district minister's man was at that auction, and he bought Jeanie, Tori, and a burly boy named Saul. Considering that Jeanie's worst fear at that point had been being separated by her sister, she was almost relived. They'd cost extra because of their novelty- identical faces. Their handler told them he saw potential in them, as a thug tugged them towards a black truck by their chains, and if they worked hard, they may one day have the honour of working for royalty. It seemed that Jeanie and Tori's dream was closer than ever to coming true- in a twisted way they never would have wished for.

They began training alongside eight other children- their handler was their teacher, a former  royal assassin who's only chance at retirement had been teaching the next generations. Tori's defiance prevailed, and she tried to convince Jeanie to run away, to go back to their father, but Jeanie was adamant that they stay and behave. Home wasn't safe before, why would it be safe now? They would find them again, and then their dad would be in trouble too. Jeanie's first taste of real fear took the defiance right out of her, and Tori unhappily complied right alongside her.

 The training was brutal and unforgiving, and the twins learned early on that they could only trust each other- and even then, that trust was strained somedays too. They were pitted against the other trainees in vicious fights or tests, where the underperformers would always disappear. After six years, only the two of them remained and the minister was finally called down to assess whether they were finally ready to start working.

"What is this? There should be only one assassin." Was the first thing the minister said upon entering the room.

"Both of these girls have passed every test, and they excel in opposing categories." Their handler explained coolly. "Used together, they are an assassin far surpassing any of the royal's previous." With a grin, he added, "And there is only one face that the ministry must keep track of."

"The ministry is far less concerned with faces then storing two highly skilled cursed in close proximity where their chips will be weakened."

"These two will be no trouble, minister. They know that their only true purpose in life is serving the crown, their only value the skills we've given them- they have no other place in the world. Besides, their one weak spot is the other, and controlling both will give you even greater power over them."

"I do not want two of a kind, and neither does the palace." Her eyes moved between the two silent girls standing at attention, frown pulling at her lips. "What about one more test, hm?" It disappeared before she declared, "I wish that you both fight each other to the death."

The words hadn't even fully sunk in before their bodies reacted, and Jeanie and Tori were locked in a brutal, deadly fight. Their eyes were wide and teary and Jeanie's breath was fast and shallow. But Tori had always been better at controlling what was wished for her, and managed to pull back. And Jeanie had always been the better fighter.

"Well that was a little disappointing." The minister had said once it was over and Jeanie cradled the broken, bloody body of her sister, shaking in silent sobs.

The minister had grabbed her face and turned it towards her. "You're unique now, poppet, and mine to command. You will repay me and your country with your compliance."

And three days later, still bruised and heartbroken, she got her first assignment. A man who she watched put his infant baby boy to bed before she carved out his heart. The dull haze of grief and hopelessness crumbled in the horror of it, and the knowledge that she would do so again and again, as much as her master wished, almost made her turn the blade on herself. Instead, the long-buried defiance ignited within her and she decided she would do everything in her power to undermine the royals she was supposed to be serving.

To get her control back, she used anything sharp. If there's a sharp edge in her skin and blood dripping from her body when someone tries to wrest her power, she can keep it. Most days she would go to her summons in the castle with a blade up her sleeve to press into her arm the moment her master opens her mouth to utter the words 'I wish.' Jeanie would go where she was supposed to go, but only to warn them, to get them into hiding, and to visit the cemetery for a bloody heart as proof. Some wishes still caught her off guard. And she will never forget what it is like to be fighting against her arms and legs and being unable to stop herself from slitting a throat.

It was only when one man she was supposed to have murdered popped up on video surveillance that her master grew wise and convicted her of the crimes she'd forced on her. And Jeanie has been languishing in high-security prison ever since.

OPINIONS ON CURRENT REGIME

Cruel, self-serving dictators. Though Jeanie spent little time around the titular royals, she's learned more than enough from the minister and Queen who'd taken everything from her and from living in the palace all of those years. Jeanie knows that they see their citizens only for their curses and how useful they are to them. She fears them all, so afraid of losing the control she fought so hard for for the sake of party tricks for the royals. Or something more cutthroat.

OPINIONS ON OTHER DISTRICTS

She doesn't really have too much of one- only that they suffer just like her district does under the royal's command. Jeanie believes her district has it the worst, however, because of their constant surveillance and control, and would much rather have any of their curses than her own.

ADDITIONAL INFO

- she still talks to her sister, sometimes, in the language they made up together. It's made up of rhythmic tapping- so that they were able to communicate in public without others watching their hands, and in their home without being heard or seen.

- her biggest fear is losing control of her actions- when she feels like she's losing control, even if there's no wish present, sometimes she cuts herself anyway to feel like she's getting it back.

- she looked for her father many times since she'd graduated training and been allowed out in the field. She has never found him.