history.

[demoniaque]

(CW: religious topics, blindness, prostitution; TW: postpartum depression, dysfunctional family relations, physical and emotional parental abuse, terminal illness.)










Some things begin before their beginning.



BEGINNINGS

Justine Lapointe (née Desjardins) was deemed the shining star of her generation, next in line for a promotion to étoile at the Paris Opera Ballet already early in her twenties, when she discovered that she was pregnant. The father, a Japanese corps dancer whom she had only known shortly, though their affair had been passionate, promised to stay by her side and support both her and the children (because it was twins), making her decide to keep the babies and wait a few years with her promotion. However, nothing was to go according to plan, because a month before she was due, her boyfriend left for Japan never to return and the birth itself was so traumatic that it left both her body and her mind damaged. Her dancing days were over and she developed a postpartum depression that ruined any chance of her developing a functional relationship to her children, a girl that she spitefully named Lilith and a boy she named Abaddon. With her career stalled indefinitely, Justine found a rich benefactor and married him, bringing her children with her into the marriage, and although the man was always kind and welcoming towards the twins, he never stopped their mother's hateful abuse towards them either.



MIDDLES

Both Abaddon and Lilith would pursue dance and prove very talented out in the art form, Abaddon showing a gift out in choreography and Lilith being his main muse. She soon outshone her mother and was promised a bright career, dancing leads in all the classics as well as premiering beautiful new creations. Her mother was sick with envy and one night, after a glorious performance of Swan Lake where Lilith was named étoile at only 24 years of age, they had an argument that would end with her mother striking her across the face so hard with an old-fashioned lace fan that she damaged both her eyes and lost most of her vision.

Although Lilith was brought to the hospital, little could be done for her and realizing that she had in one blow lost her chance at outliving her biggest passion, ballet, and now carrying the proof of her mother's hate on her face, Lilith fled from the hospital in the dead of night - hoping that with her out of the picture, at least her mother's relationship with her twin brother might be rectified. She simply disappeared and never contacted neither her brother nor her mother again. Wandering the streets without being able to see, Lilith was taken in by some of the homeless people there. In order to survive, she became a prostitute and lived like that for a few years, until she became so sick she couldn't keep even her most loyal johns anymore.



ENDS

This was how the Sisters of the Sacre Coeur Order found her one day. She was lying weakened and apathetic in a back alley and they took her in, got her much needed medical attention and when her prognosis was given, they offered to take care of her until her time came. Never had Lilith before had a family that showed her such unconditional love and care and during her time with the nuns, she decided to become a novice and live with them. If it would be the last thing she did, and it seemingly would be. Under their guidance, she began finding within herself a forgiveness, if not understanding of both herself and her mother along with a way to mourn the loss of her brother, handing those feelings over to God to carry for her when she felt too small and weak to do it herself.

With the help of the Sisters, she even began to practice dancing again. Those old, familiar steps that her body still knew, whether she was in the dark or not.