Fabia (φαßiα, favia)
Relationships
History
Fabia and Artur are not what might be called be the start of it all - Fabia is too obviously the start of it all, the oldest - but they are the original team. They have a natural chemistry which is a large part of what helped them survive Artur's early years. Fabia was around 150 years old when Artur died for the first time. It took them several years to find each other as Fabia had no idea what the dreams signified at first, and their travelling wasn't synchronised yet. The third time they spotted each other in different times and places, Fabia followed him to a quiet spot and they each demanded the other to explain what was going on. From that moment on they were a team. Not that everything went smoothly. Artur wasn't particularly inclined to listen to anyone, especially a woman, but whereas he had a knack for getting himself into trouble, Fabia had a gift for getting them out of it again. Both with brazen, combative personalities they tend to spark off each other rather than clash and by now have a stunning level of coordination together. Despite their closeness and a tendency to engage in a lot of physical touch, including hugs, braiding hair and laying exhaustedly in human piles, they have very little romantic interest in each other. Every 200 years or so they try it out and conclude that nope, still not into it. They still tend to be the parental figures of the group, although they have a very different idea of parenting than Katherine. Fabia has definite seniority over Artur, being the real leader of the group both because she's the oldest and because she's less reckless. This is also something that has just remained from their original duo. Fabia had so much experience by the time Artur joined her, she was his mentor even as he introduced her to a new era of history and inspired her to try new things. They have a fierce, obvious love for each other, delighting in similar things and pushing each other to new heights even after so many years. They are the energetic burning heart of the group, Artur feeding Fabia's bright flame as leader.
History
When Faruq showed up, it wasn't such a shock for Fabia as with Artur, but there was definitely a realisation of "oh, I'm probably going to end up collecting a bunch of these people". With Artur she had generally taken the lead, but it was Faruq who caused her to set herself up as the leader. It didn't take as long as with Artur, but they were still searching for a year or two before they managed to locate Faruq. Faruq had been relatively lucky with his first few time jumps, ending up in areas where there were significant Mahrim populations and his features didn't stand out. Indeed, some of the delay in finding him was caused by the caution Artur needed to employ in those environments. It was they ended up in 1200s Cologne that they were able to find him. Although Faruq had learned to manage in the previous two years, he was sufficiently lost to immediately accept the offer of help Fabia gave him. She herself stood out enough in Cologne for him to realise that frankly any help she could give him right then was valuable, quite aside from all the other factors. For her part, Fabia was impressed by how relatively well Faruq had been managing on his own so far. His obvious intellect and cunning were clear to see, but it was his kindness and patience that quickly won her affection. She had first set out to find him partly because she was curious (after all, the dreams made it impossible not to wonder about him) and partly because it meant they were now travelling to new times and she needed someone with the knowledge to navigate those. But Faruq not only showed her that there was place enough in her heart for other people, but that they would need her. Despite his intelligence, his luck in the early jumps, how well he had been coping, Faruq was still lost, confused and vulnerable especially in any time or place very different from that of his birth. So instead of setting him on his feet, gathering some information from him and going on their semi-separate ways, Fabia took Faruq under her and Artur's wings. For his part, although Fabia thinks it's some fluke of natural law, like gravity, Faruq is convinced that the universe that does not take them to the same time and place by accident, especially not since the closer they are, the more synchronised their travel is. For a brief time, he almost viewed Fabia as sent by God, she seemed like an angelic guide to his strange new life. Although he has long since realised her humanity, Faruq still has an extremely high regard for Fabia. For Fabia, Faruq's knowledge and interests opening up a entire new dimension of life for them. Although Fabia has always appreciated art, Faruq gave her tools and context to understand it better and its impacts on life and history. He had basic combat skills, but Fabia turned him into a master and he enjoys the strategic element of it, the way it has transformed his body into something he can rely on. Very different from the cheerful camaraderie of Faruq and Artur, Fabia and Faruq's relationship is quieter but a continual exchange of gifts and abilities. Especially as more immortals have joined their group, they have become the masterminds behind most of the complicated plans.
History
Although Matas looks up most to Artur, Fabia has an enormous soft spot for Matas. She finds his passionate, impatient nature endearing - he is after all similar to young Artur, albeit with more diverse interests and a very different cultural perspective. Matas does actually admire Fabia and is glad when he has her attention, but her position as leader of the group means he has natural angsty and occasionally rebellious reactions against her. He does always fall in line though when it's important or the priority is immediate. To Fabia, Matas is really one of her protégés and since both Artur and she think Matas is best off learning from her, they encourage him to seek his lessons from Fabia. Matas continues to be half oblivious to this as he trots around after Artur. Partly this is because although he finds Fabia impressive and acknowledges her as the leader, he hasn't quite shed the influence of his patriarchal upbringing and most societies they spend time in confirm this subconscious prejudice. Consequently when viewed from the outside Matas and Fabia have a somewhat rocky, contentious relationship. It's not one of frequent spats but rather recurring periods of several weeks where Matas tends to argue every unimportant decision, makes reckless decisions that often get him into scrapes, and generally avoiding Fabia's company for that of Artur and Genevieve's. Fabia doesn't exactly have an endless patience with this although she will tirelessly rescue him from his reckless escapades time and again. As a result, Matas does trust her enormously which causes the foundation of their relationship to be much better than you might expect based on some of their interactions.
History
Whereas Artur is Geneviève's mentor, Fabia and Geneviève are friends. Fabia definitely doesn't have a binary view of gender anymore and though she refers to herself as she/her, her identity is more genderfluid. Geneviève was the first other woman to join the immortals and though Fabia had made occasional friends amongst other people, this was the first time she could really develop a close relationship with a woman again since her "mortal" life. For Geneviève Fabia is a picture of freedom, a woman free from any bondage but the ones she chose for herself. Fabia has figured out a both free and stable identity, passing through so many cultures and yet connecting easily with the people they meet. As Geneviève has always struggled with figuring out where she does and doesn't belong in her mortal life, the way Fabia moves through life inspires her. She views Fabia's leadership of them more as protection, a safety net, than any kind of restriction (it's the mysterious force of their time travel that pushes them together, not a demand from Fabia). Fabia and Geneviève have a similar sense of humor, although Geneviève's can be much sharper whereas Fabia is bolder and less refined, and they share many a good laugh together. Geneviève looks up to Fabia, her intensity and determination which are rooted in kindness, her physical skill and ingenuity. She can't imagine how Fabia survived that long on her own without losing her kindness; Geneviève is 100% sure she would have made on her own but she is immeasurably relieved she doesn't have to do it on her own (Geneviève doesn't realise how much the others have brought Fabia). But neither does she fawn over Fabia, far from it, she is quick to point out any flaws she sees in anyone's plans, will step in if she disagrees with Fabia (though with more tact than Artur or Matas). Fabia is glad that Geneviève is more interested in certain areas of life than she is (using clothing for more than just blending in, mathematics, and cartography to name a few) and that Geneviève has stepped forward on her account to mentor the younger immortals in these aspects.
History
Although Katherine is by far too withdrawn and wary to fully show it, she is both utterly entranced and intimated by Fabia. The hundreds of years of experience Fabia has, her intensity, her kindness, her cunning, her bright strong energy as the leader of the group are still overwhelming to Katherine. She is slowly starting to realise Fabia's still human and approachable though, and Fabia's easy friendship with Geneviève also helps (although Geneviève herself is sufficiently intimidating to Katherine that it only helps a little). Fabia was delighted to gain another protegé. She and Artur had expected the next one would be 'his', but Katherine's shuttered light, her habit of reticence (enhanced by recent trauma) combined with a stubbornness and flashes of keen insight drew Fabia's eye at once. Fabia's decision to pair Katherine off with Faruq for combat training for now isn't because she doesn't wish to train Katherine herself but thinks the emphasis on relaxation and control have the priority right now and Fabia knows she can become overenthusiastic in her demands. Besides this, Fabia is still focused on getting Matas trained and she doesn't think either Matas or Katherine are ready to be following combat training together. As far as Fabia's concerned, they have all the time in the world for that to develop. Katherine is continually trying to figure out what Fabia wants, what role she is supposed to inhabit to be both of use to Fabia and a part of the group, as the group is obviously very important to all of them. Yet there's enough variation among them and most of the others are so much further along in many skills that she can't figure out what to model herself on, how to appear as anything other than a well-meaning obstacle to Fabia. As a result, her reactions tend be very guarded while simultaneously eager to offer help to Fabia with anything she feels she might be able to contribute to without getting in the way. From her side, Fabia sees a young woman who comes not only from a constrained society in general but one which has hampered Katherine's development in many ways, only for the war to goad her into action in a traumatic manner that seems to have brought her as much harm as good. The first stumblings into immortality and time travel have visibly cut Katherine's self-esteem even further and remind Fabia painfully of her own early days, despite their very different coping mechanisms. So Fabia is careful in her approaches to Katherine, although she hides that skilfully, presenting rather as casual and forthright to her. She's keen to find out what will grow out of the defences Katherine has created, discover where to encourage her, to guide her to the moments where Katherine will realise the cage is gone and she has wings to spread.
History
When everyone woke up in a different location one morning, with dreams of Helena, Fabia was alarmed. For some reason it had never even occurred to her that any of the immortals might show up while still a child. To be sure, Helena wasn't technically in physical danger, but the thought that Helena wouldn't understand well enough to hide her new ability and be captured with who knew what consequences made Fabia's blood run cold. "We bloody well have enough traumatised youngsters on our hands as it is," as she put it to Artur. This confusion and alarm were compounded by Helena's extremely quick appearance after Katherine. Fabia rapidly organised a search, determined to find the child as quickly as possible. After Artur's less than successful attempt to introduce himself, Fabia set about coaxing Helena out of her new hiding spot. It proved a little easier than expected. Some older children had spotted Helena and were in the process of cornering her, when Fabia told them in no uncertain terms to sod off. Being very scared, not to mention hungry and cold by this point, Helena was convinced of Fabia's good intentions (despite Fabia's rusty and extremely archaic Polish) and came along. Even though Artur is Helena's chosen parental figure, the sight of Fabia standing in that alley and telling those kids to clear off before turning to Helena, radiating nothing but calm and kind strength, glows warmly in Helena's chest whenever she thinks of it. To Helena, Fabia is almost a distant figure - too high up to be someone you really interact with, something that is reinforced in her view by Artur deferring to Fabia. Although she does sometimes attempt to play the "but Artur didn't say I had to" card to Fabia, this is inevitably answered by Fabia with "Artur listens to me" (and backed up by Artur if he happens to hear, although secretly it makes him laugh every time). Fabia for her part is careful to always include Helena in the group, realising well that Helena should be an equal member even if she might always remain immature in some respects. Being originally from the medieval period, she doesn't really have a modern perception of children anyway, she quite possibly considers Helena halfway to adulthood already. Yet she's fine with Helena sticking mostly to Artur for support at the moment, as long as she also learns from the others as needed. Since that's also encouraged by Artur, she doesn't foresee any problems. Anyway, seeing Artur moving along with Geneviève next to him and Helena atop his shoulders is truly the cutest thing, as far as Fabia's concerned.
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