She is young, somewhere between 19 and 22. Her skin is a pale brown, kind of a milk-chocolatey kind of colour. Her hair is brown with blond and red and black highlights. Her eyes are green with flicks of gold and tints of blue in certain lights. She is average height and average weight, but looking at her is strange. Its almost as if she ripples, almost as if she is never the same. You look at her, look away, and when you look back, something is different. You can't place it. You can feel it, but you cannot distinguish what is it that has changed.
That is on the outside. The subtle chaos of her physical appearance is a mewling kitten in comparison to the tiger inside. Inside her mind is a tangle of webs so complicated and strange that every doctor and psychologist on Earth would give an arm to study her. Some would scoff at her 'condition', say it isn't real. But one would only have to live a day, maybe only a few hours with her before they saw for themselves that her 'condition' is real.
'And do not touch me again, Trilla.'
'Do not look at me like that then, Cara.'
Do not fight, sisters.
The girl sat in the center of the firelit room, on the wooden floor, wearing soft tan leather pants and a large white shirt. Her eyes swirled like stormy weather, changing subtly from green to gold to the lightest shade of blue. Her voice went from quiet and strong to aggressive and full of anger. The last voice did not speak aloud, but in her own mind. Suddenly she blinked, and her eyes went back to their 'normal' colour, and she shook her head. She rose, and walked to the next room.
The cake was blackened. She'd been out a lot longer than normally this time. She sighed as she dumped it into the waste bucket. Too bad. She flopped onto a chair and ran her hands through her hair. It was hard coping with this...this...handicap. One of the problems was that, unlike a club foot or being blind, people didn't notice at first, or even at second. Nobody notices what goes on in your mind. And this gave her a problem when she tried to fit in.
On a humid starry night, late into the night, the full moon rising above the trees and mountains in the distance, a baby was born in a small modest home. Her parents named her Delilah. She had the strangest eyes- green with tints of gold and blue. They loved her. She was their only child. Sort of.
As the years went by, Delilah became to have strange characteristics. She would be quiet and reserved one moment, and the next screaming and throwing a fit, breaking toys and basically just being a little terror. By the time she was seven, she had developed two distinctly different personalities. But sometimes she was 'normal'. This was her as herself, or so she began to think, and so her parents thought. The aggressive and loud personality called herself Trilla. The quietly subdued, yet powerful and able to control was Cara. These two personalities, though polar opposites, were also very much the same. They both were able to control and manipulate people to use then for their own good. Delilah was a combination of these two...and a third.
The third was Danielle. Danielle was sweet and even-tempered, an artist. She was able to see the big picture in situations, she was intelligent and friendly. Cara and Trilla, for all their differences, agreed on one thing- their dislike for Danielle, that 'little miss perfect'. So together, somehow, they were able to overpower her, and keep her, in essence, locked away. Eventually she became blind, deaf and mute. She had no control, as her 'sisters' did, over Delilah's functions when she surfaced. It was as if Delilah were deaf blind and mute when Danielle had control.
But Danielle, Cara and Trilla were all in Delilah's mind. When Delilah had relative control, they were stored in the back of her mind, where they could all see and hear. So Danielle could see and hear. And when her 'sisters' took over, she could see and hear what they saw and did, though she could not control it.
Anyway, back to the whole fitting in and making friends thing. At school, her friends would like her, her as Delilah. But when Trilla surfaced, or Cara even, things became chaotic. Delilah's personality completely changed. She became domineering and demanding, barking orders and just being mean. Cara would be quiet and careful in her methods of getting what she wanted. Either way, Delilah's friends slowly distanced themselves from her. And so, she had no friends, aside from the voices in her head.
After a while she came to another town. She met a boy her own age, and they were happy. But one night he hit her. Trilla couldn't take it, and she overpowered both Delilah and Cara, and punched him so hard in his face that her knuckles bled. She fled late that night, taking with her more money, some food and riding his white horse.
She finally escaped it all, and ended up in Hale. She quietly rode. Slowly, down the street, trying not to look at the locals. And ended up at Number One Garrick Drive.
'All my life I've been an outcast. Nobody will accept me for who I am. What I am...well, nobody will accept me. I need real friends. I need friends who will understand,' said Delilah quietly. But here, in this neighbourhood, she WAS accepted. And this neighbourhood was good for her. People accepted her. But something was missing from her life. Yes, those in her neighbourhood were...different. There were the O'Malley's, for example. Little redheaded Irish folk...leprechauns, they were. And then Sanure, the Egyptian cat-woman. So she wasn't alone...but in a way, she was. None of the others had these... mental problems. She was different. She resented that fact. She needed a friend...someone to understand her, and where she was coming from. She didnt know much about her condition, but maybe she could...overcome it. Maybe she could beat it. Maybe she could be only one person, instead of four. If she had a friend that would stay with her and help her.
There was a time she had the chance.
'What in the...what a strange...Hello.' Delilah jolted. She looked up. Peering through the window was...a woman? Hazel eyes and long dark hair. She was staring deeply at Delilah...it made her nervous. It was how she had been looked at for years...but only by people who knew...who had experienced one of her 'mood swings'.
'Can I help you?' she asked quietly. The woman seemed startled out of a trance.
'Oh I'm so sorry. My name is Minaeya, Min for short. I'm...I'm...May I come in?' Delilah blinked. Maybe she couldn't see inside of her mind...
Delilah walked to the door, grabbing a long dark brown leather cloak, and pulling it around her shoulders as she went. She opened the door...
'Holy...' She jumped back, clutching at the cloak. The minds inside her own scrambled for control...But she pushed them back. A large face was peering in at her...Green, a gorgeous shade of green. Delilah peered around the face, and saw the long, smooth body fade from the gorgeous green to the deepest and darkest of blacks. She stared, wide-eyed, as the woman stepped into view. She grinned a large grin and stuck out her hand. Youngish, but older than Delilah, maybe in her late twenties or so.
'That's a dragon,' said Delilah stupidly. She could feel Trilla mentally slapping her forehead. Minaeya's grin widened.
'Yes, yes she is. Her name is Auspexeth. She's the one who led me here to your home.' Minaeya's smile faltered as she glanced to the side. Delilah followed her gaze- to see relatively all of her neighbours gatheres in their yards, staring.
'Curious neighbours,' said Minaeya with a smile. Delilah couldn't help but smile back shyly, and nod.
'Please come in. Would you like a cookie?' Minaeya shook her head. They took seats in the small living room.
'Um, I don't mean to seem rude, but why are you here? I don't get many...well, any visitors. So this is kind of unexpected. And a dragon...wow. Where are you from?'
'Glad you asked! We're from Ryslen. I'm sure you'd really like it there.' She paused. 'There are many of other dragons. It is where they are hatched.' Delilah's eyes widened. 'The reason why I am here is because...well, I'd like to take you back with me, if you'll allow it. You can perhaps, try for your own at a dragon?' There was a surge within Delilah. She sat straight up and rigid, and Minaeya watched, fascinated, as Delilah's eyes changed to a swirling gold, subtly, but the change was definate. Those strange eys turned to Minaeya.
'What makes you think I'd be interested in such a horrible, smelly huge beast? I'm sure its droppings alone are as large as I!' She cackled, and her voice echoed throughout the house. Minaeya blinked, her smile faltering. What was going on?
'Honestly, what good are they for? The villagers down the road would notice, they would probably be afraid! I've been persecuted and hated, feared, for all of my life. I am finally happy here, I belong here. Why would I want to mess all that up, for some stupid ugly animal! What purpose does it serve? Why in-' The shouts ceased, and Delilah's eyes gazed far off. She was still, almost resembling a porcelin doll. She blinked once, twice..Her eyes were green again. She looked at Minaeya, colour rushing to her cheeks.
'I'm...I'm so...I'm so very sorry... I...That happens sometimes, I really can't control it, sometimes she's just so powerful, and she attacks when I least expect it, and I don't have my defenses up, and so its so easy for her to take control, I'm really not like this all the time...,' she said all in one breathe. Minaeya's hands flew up.
'Whoa there girlie, slow down. I've seen stranger things. You'll be fine, I promise. And I'm sure you'll find many new friends at Ryslen. If, that is, you decide to join me.' Delilah was amazed. After an outburst like that, so violent...She was lucky that Trilla hadn't taken a swing at this nice lady... After all that, Minaeya still wanted her? She was still...She was still accepted? For the first time in her life, Delilah felt a surge of relief and love for this stranger. Someone so kind and understanding... Was this who she had been praying for, her someone to comfort and understand? Or was it...someone else, someone else that she might meet on the journey?
'If you still want me after all that, then I am very willing, and very eager to go with you to your home.' Minaeya smiled. They rose.
'By the way, what is your name, dear?' There was a pregnant pause.
'Delilah.'