Lia's First Session

Dr. Serach Plethoric reviewed her notes for her next patient.  Her three o’clock was a new patient sent in by the writer for extreme problems with anger.  Not unusual for main characters, but it would seem she had stopped talking in anything but snarky quips.  That particular mannerism was way overused in the Urban Fantasy genre and needed fixing.

The patient, Lia, had come from the ‘Seven Seals’ world.  They had Magic, Fae, Weres, Vampires and multiple subspecies of several mythical creatures.  It would seem that she was involved in some prophecy as well.  The Lia that would be visiting was from the post fourth seal period of time at the age of twenty six.  

Scrolling through the world synopsis, Serach noted it was a Earth based modern world so she wouldn’t have to worry about language or idioms. The supernatural cultures were close to standard and they were out of the closet so there wouldn’t be any argument about secrecy from the patient.   A knock on the door told Serach, Lia had arrived early.

“Come in.” Serach stood and walked around her desk.

“Dr. Plethoric?”

“Call me Serach.  Are you Lia?”

“No I’m a singing telegram”

Serach made a mental note ‘Snarcky and cliché we might need an intervention with the writer’ Ignoring the remark Serach motioned to two comfortable chairs.  “Please have a seat.”

Lia stalked over to the chair and sat scowling as Serach joined her.  “Lia I know you don’t want to be here.  Main Characters like you often have strong feelings about weakness.  Let me assure you that no one in your world will ever know you are in therapy unless you or your author tells them. “

“Fine, whatever.  Let’s get this over with... uhm My mom’s a bitch. My Grandfathers a Psycho.  I am the only half Fae-Were alive and people have been trying to kill me since I was three.  Life sucks buy a helmet.  I’ve got my big girl panties on and I deal. I know and accept my issues, I feel so much better.  Are we done?”

“If it was only that easy I would be completely out of a job.  Since you are stuck here anyway until your author lets you go back to your world why don’t we try just talking.”

“And what exactly have we been doing?  Dancing the tango?”

“No, you’ve been posturing and I’ve been ignoring it." 

“Sorry, look I don’t need this.  I kill the thing I get the bad guy what more does she want?”

“Your writer thinks she may have overburdened you with backstory.  It’s my job to either help you work through it or help your writer understand at what point she went too far.”

“I’m not overburdened. I can deal. “

“Let’s start with something you said.  People have been trying to kill you since you were three.  What makes you say that?”

 Lia settled back in the chair tucking her legs under her. “You know I grew up in a Fae colony and that my mother is a Fae Noble and my father a Were-tiger?” Serach nodded, ”Good.  The first attempt on my life was actually when I was three months old.  My Mother’s Father gave me a teething ring made out of silver.”

“Isn’t that a normal gift to a Fae baby?”

“Usually, except my mother had told him that she thought I was Were.  Her Magic is animal based and she said she felt something inside me.  Half breed wasn’t a word Shidhe used.   A child was either Fae or mortal depending on whether they inherited magic.  Back when Magic was blocked from the world you couldn't tell until after puberty.  Lucky me, the first seal of magic broke the night I was born.  They knew I had Fae magic but my mother said that there was an animal inside as well.”

“So you think your Grandfather was trying to kill you?”

“Bingo give the girl a prize!”

“You know it is those kind of comments that got you sent here it the first place.”

“What my writer doesn’t like my sense of humor?! Gasp! Horror!  What ever will I do?”

“No it’s not the sense of humor it’s the very angry cliché way you show it.  We’ll save that for later.  Obviously your Grandfather failed.”

“Whatever.  Yes he failed.  At first they hoped my ‘Superior Fae Genetics’ had overridden the Were and that was why the silver hadn’t killed me.  Unfortunately someone forgot to tell the three year old me that as a Fae I wasn’t supposed to be able to touch iron.  My mother found me with a piece of iron my Grandfather had 'mistakenly' dropped in my playpen, wrapped around my little fingers like playdough.  My magic had manifested it was a day of celebration.  I was ‘Metal Kissed’ one of the rarest of the rare Fae, able to control any metal with will and mind.”

“Sounds like it didn’t turn out to be a good thing.”

“Got it in one.  Everyone had to admit the truth.  I was a half-breed.  Yes I had Fae magic but I was also a Were.  I was banished from Grandfathers home and land, so was my Mother as long as I was with her. Lucky for me, my grandmother left my grandfather almost five hundred years before I was born and invited me and my mother to live with her and my uncles.  I don’t think I would have survived the next years if she hadn’t taken me in.  ”

“Why do you think your Grandfather threw you out?”

“My Granna once told me that Grandfather hadn’t adjusted well to being stuck in the mortal realm without Magic.  My opinion is that it drove him batty, but I’m pretty biased by this point.  Granna took me in and raised me from that point on.  Mom didn't stay around for long.  One might believe being an ‘Animal Blessed Fae’ would make her love me more. That side of me drew her interest but she told me once that the memory of my father and what her “wild” times had cost her was too much.  I’m still not sure what I cost her since she dumped me on Granna so young but I’m not a Fairy Princess so I guess I just don’t ‘get it’”

“It sounds like you Granna is a special person.”

“Yeah, like I said, I was three when my mother handed me off to her and my three uncles.  It was later that same year that my uncles started training me in combat.  Teaching a four year old how to fight might seam ridiculous, but they made it a game.   My uncles knew I had a hard life ahead of me and they wanted to do anything they could to help me survive. “

Lia snuggled deeper into her chair, “I had the best backyard playground ever constructed.   The obstacle course set up in the woods behind Granna’s house was over a mile long with everything you could imagine to climb or jump on.  I only learned later that many of the impromptu training drills were actual assassination attempts my uncles and I avoided.  Lucky for me even as a small child I could almost keep up with three grown men.”

“So you were different from the other children?”

“Not that I ever spent much time with other children, but yes.  By the time I was six I could out race my Uncles in a sprint and lift almost twice as much as they could.  Looking back I can see they used martial arts to teach me control, delicacy, and grace.  I guess they thought any kid who could toss a log out of her way didn’t need to lift weights.  They believed that all Were children were could do these things so they treated me as if I was normal.  I remember them telling me how lucky I was to get both sides of my heritage. “

“Being unique is always hardest on children...Well we’ve covered quite a bit today.  You could probably use a break.  Why don’t you come back tomorrow and we’ll talk some more.”

Lia stretched pulling herself out of the chair,” Whatever you say Doc.”

Serach stood and walked her to the door.  When Lia was gone the Dr. shook her head.  The first session was done and they had only reached age six.  Lia was definitely a MC with an extremely detailed angst filled background.  It would take time to get the overworked snark out of this one.