Maritza

Maritza Jack Straye Valero (a.k.a. Tiny, Mari, Fire, Melody, Luala,)

Maritza has always been considered by her friends to be "the odd one out", despite this, she tries not to trouble with anyone. It's her pleasure to simply exist in the world.

Her adoptive mother, Daisy, thought everything would change the day Maritza learned she could commune with the dead in her dreams, but Maritza didn't think much of it. She considered it a cute parlor trick, an interesting skill but fairly useless, as the spirits she could talk to had all already made it to the underworld and even if they asked something of her, it wouldn't be important that she finish it very quickly or even at all, as they could do her no harm if she failed to complete the task.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Maritza is kind of average, though she feels really short. She's a little bit stocky, and likes to make muscles at herself in the mirror. She's quick on her feet and has good reflexes.

Body Features

Maritza's skin has a weird ghostly pallor to it, despite her time in the sun and despite how dark it is otherwise, in certain lights this makes her skin appear a medium grey. She's seen doctors about this, but all tests assure her that there's nothing medically wrong, so she assumes it must be a genetic trait she inherited from someone in her family. She's unaware that this is a result of her being born a child of Death, she's also unaware that the proper term to describe her is "ghostly darkness" or "Spirit's Complexion" as she has no idea that's a thing.

Facial Features

Her face is very soft and a bit round. Some people don't take her seriously and call her things like "dumpling", "squishy", and "baby faced".

Special abilities

Maritza can speak with the dead and see into the spirit realm. She doesn't think a lot of these tricks, but she can also interact with the spirit realm which sets her apart from some of the other children of death.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Maritza was born to mother Melinda Straye. Shortly after her birth, her father left her and her mother, fearing for their safety in his continued presence. Maritza never learned didn't learn for many years that the man her mother married, John Straye, was not the man who was with her mother when she was conceived.

For the brief time that they still lived, John and Melinda loved their daughter very much. They did their best to be sure she had everything she would need, but three years is a very short time to live with your child.

Upon her parents' death, she was taken in by Daisy who later adopted her.

She was three when her parents were killed in a house fire that was ruled to be arson, though the culprit was never caught.*

When she was seven, she learned that her imaginary friend from her dreams was actually the spirit of her departed mother, though Daisy did believe for a while that it was possible Maritza was just trying to cope with what few memories she still had of her mother, by dreaming about her.

She was 12 when she figured out for sure that the people showing up in her dreams were spirits from the underworld attempting to communicate with her because she was one of only a few who could actually hear them. She learned this by one of the spirits actually just telling her.

*See: Local Doctor Found Dead After House Fire and Doctor's Death, Possibly Not Accidental for more details

Gender Identity

I'm a person, not a cupcake.

she/her, they/them, he/him, she doesn't actually care, most people just default to she/her and she's fine with that since that's how she dresses and what her name implies.

Sexuality

Lesbian

Education

Daisy, much to her husband Charles' disdain, allowed Maritza to learn and train alongside the recruits of the Tybi River Junction Volunteer Police Academy while she was still in school. Maritza was banned from entering the K9 training area, and barred from touching a gun, but they taught her self-defense, hand to hand combat techniques, and other useful skills in case she some day decided to join the force and follow in her mother's footsteps. (Despite this, Maritza has not yet decided to join the force, though she regularly--when she has time--runs through exercises and drills with them to stay in shape.)

Maritza graduated Tybi River High School, but dropped out of college after a year due to some things happening that she'd rather not talk about. When asked, she just says it wasn't for her.

Employment

Currently she works at a store in town, though she hates it there (not because she doesn't like the kind of job it is, but because her boss Santi is a real jerk, this is the first and so far only job she's ever had.

Accomplishments & Achievements

She feels like her biggest accomplishment in life so far was when the teacher who would have been her creative writing professor read one of her short stories (knowing full well that it was fanfiction) and told her that she'd be more than happy to make room for her in her classes in the future. She feels like if she ever goes back to college, she'd go to the same one, specifically to see if that teacher was still willing to make room for her.

Failures & Embarrassments

She feels like a failure for dropping out of college and letting ██████████ get the better of her, but she bears the burden without telling anyone about it because she's scared of the reactions she'll get. She blames herself for what happened, which is part of why she refuses to tell anyone about it.

Mental Trauma

In college she participated in many things with her New Friends, things she thought would be extremely fun. She went to parties with them, went shopping with them, went to concerts the school of music held because they were either in them or knew people who were in them, she helped them with their work and listened to their problems. She thought these people would be her friends forever.

However, one day after going out with said friends, they left her behind when she told them she'd catch up with them after going to the restroom. They were supposed to wait for her outside the restaurant but they left her there to head to the next place, a bookstore down the street. When she came out and couldn't find them, she got upset and texted asking where they'd gone. After being assured they thought she meant to go on to the bookstore she'd catch up, she started to head down there herself.

Along the way she was stopped by a guy she'd met in one of her classes the previous semester. He was a friendly guy who gave her bad vibes, but she ignored those vibes because she thought they were just because she was a lesbian and he obviously had a crush on her. He invited her to come with him over to the arcade, told her that they'd recently finished refurbishing their old Galaga machine and he remembered her mentioning that it was her favorite arcade game. She then texted her friends letting them know she met another friend who wanted to go to the arcade and she'd catch up with them back at the dorms because the arcade closed in like an hour or something and she didn't want to have to wait until tomorrow.

He took her to the arcade, and they had fun playing the different games. She thought everything was fine, until they left and he suggested that he walk her back to campus because it was getting late and he was worried about her. She tried to assure him that she was qualified to be a police officer and trained in hand to hand combat and people should rue the day they mess with her, but he just laughed and asked if she'd humor him because he would worry anyway, even knowing that she'd be fine.

Eventually she relented, against her better judgment and the increasing feeling that there was something wrong. She texted her friends that she was on her way back to the dorms and that He was walking with her, but only one of them responded and that was to tell her they decided to go see a movie and asked if she wanted to go with them. When she said she didn't have money for a ticket, they just replied "k. see you at the dorm." Unsatisfied with how little her friends cared that she was uncomfortable with her current situation, she tried texting her parents but neither of them responded.

She headed back to campus with him, and he insisted upon walking her to her dorm, despite multiple assurances that she was fine on her own. He followed her up to her dorm room where she was displeased to realize her roommate had gone home for the weekend. By this point she was about ready to pepper spray the boy. She told him to leave her dorm room, claiming that she needed to get ready for bed. He closed and locked the door behind him and told her that he'd much rather stay the night, and he didn't care if that displeased her. She tried to fight back, but he laughed and told her it wouldn't do much good because he was in the school's martial arts club and a heck of a lot stronger than her. Still, she did try to fight back. It did her no good to struggle, as it didn't stop him from raping her, but she at least tried.

She blames herself for this whole thing happening, as she felt that she should have just gone to the bookstore with her friends despite his invitation. Because of these events, and later figuring out (by them not realizing they were friends with her mom on facebook, and that she was following them on twitter through her private account that had a different persona than her personal one) that her friends didn't believe her about what happened, and thought she was just trying to make them feel guilty for not offering to pay for her to see the movie with them. She learned that they didn't really ever like her much, and thought she was weird, and didn't try hard enough in school (despite her really good grades). She blames herself for that too, for not realizing how shallow her friendship with those people really was. How much none of them ever wanted to do anything with her, and wouldn't actually invite her places with them, they'd just let her tag along if she asked because they felt sorry for her for not having any other friends to hang out with.

Because of these events, Maritza is fairly scared of meeting new people, and lost a lot of her Tough, Know-it-All edge she used to have in high school.

Intellectual Characteristics

She knows how to sing, and how to fight. Her best skill is writing and memorizing "useless" information about things.

Morality & Philosophy

She tends to side on the side of "just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's moral or even good".

Current Location

Tybi River Junction

Species

Human

Year of Birth

4333 AC 23 Years old

Circumstances of Birth

Maritza's birth was prophesied thousands of years ago, when the Seven Divine Weapons were cast into the edges of the world. Though, the prophesy could have meant any of the children of Death.

Eyes

A dark fiery red, almost mistakable for deep brown if you're not paying attention

Hair

black, kept fairly short usually in some kind of pixie or crew cut, though occasionally if it's too cold or she's too busy it grows out some into a fluffy mess

Height

4'11

Weight

123lbs

Known Languages

English