Lydia Bernath

Personality
Lydia is the kind of person to think every action through twise before actually doing it. Almost everything she does is according to a plan, or at least some sort of plan. That, however, doesn't make her a coward; quite the opposite. She is very strong-minded and brave, never afraid of standing up for herself. Being very intelligent, clever and quick she has a slight knack for scheming. Her cunning streak helps with that, anyway. Even though she has a strange, dark and perhaps a but dry kind of humour, she can be carefree and likes to have fun, whether that involves a good party, or a good prank. She left the criminal part of her in the past, however she might agree to a job, if it's an interisting enough case.

History
Tahlia Bernath's father, Joseph, and the whole Bernath family did business with the Mob for years, before it became as organized and feared as it was in Tahlia’s days. Even though her father tried to keep her away from things, Tahlia got involved anyway. She helped pull some hijacking operations by playing the distractions, and got paid good money for it.

She was a very determined, skillful and extremely clever and strong woman. She was very attractive, too, what with her golden hair falling down her back, her full lips, almost always painted red, and her big, sad blue eyes. She attracted men and women alike, and even a god – the Greek kind.

Thanatos approached her when she was nursing on a glass of whiskey in a bar, alone, a very uncommon thing for a woman in 1905. He didn’t have trouble seducing her; when every second man that walks up to you is a moron and the rest are bloody savages, someone intelligent and charming is a very welcome change. They spent a few nights together, before Thanatos disappeared.

On June 3rd, 1906 Tahlia gave birth to a baby girl. She named her Lydia Anne. When she first brought Lydia home, a black rose appeared on the kitchen counter. Beside it was a package. Upon opening it, Tahlia found a letter addressed to her, and a sealed box, meant for Lydia. The letter was from Frank; he explained who he really was and the dangers that Lydia would have to face. He wrote to her about Camp Half-blood, a safe sanctuary for children like their daughter, near Long Island.

Years passed, Lydia grew and her mother finally found someone she could rely on and trust. It was a man named Russell O’Brien. He also worked for the Mob – he was a drug dealer and bootlegger. However, he didn’t drink, nor smoke, nor was he a drug addict. He was a gentle and loving husband, and Lydia really liked him. Russel had something special about him, but she just couldn’t put it into words.

Tahlia sent Lydia to a boarding school that was frankly not far from New York. When Lydia was 13, her powers started showing. It was during winter holidays, and Russell noticed. Exclaiming “I knew you weren’t mortal!”, he hugged Lydia and then questioned Tahlia. She confessed that Lydia’s father was a Greek god, and that he had told her that in a letter. She retrieved the package that Thanatos left for Lydia and gave it to her.

Inside, Lydia found two pedants. The letter stated that if one were to pull on them, and only if said one was Lydia, the first pedant would transform into a dagger, and the second into a bow. The letter didn’t say much other than that, apart from a small explanation on how to get to Camp. Russell, obviously excited, revealed that he was a demigod, and that he used to go to that Camp. He was a son of Hermes. Russell trained her, and made Tahlia transfer her to a regular school, next to their house. When monsters attacked, Lydia tried to fight them off on her own, but most of the times Russell was there to help. A few months later, in late May, Russell accompanied Lydia to Camp, where she trained and got claimed by Thanatos after defending one of her step-brothers in a Capture the Flag game.

When Lydia got back home, she had a realization. She rather liked being a demigod, because her life as one was full with adventures. She also realized that she would rather prefer if her adventures had a darker edge. It was, of course, because of what her mother and only father figure did for a living. Building up the courage after a while, she asked Russell if she could maybe help him with something. At first, Russell laughed, saying no. But after taking another look at his adoptive daughter, he supposed that she actually could. Lydia always was a small kid, not tall, and quite skinny. She could go unnoticed easily. Russell decided to teach her everything he knew about pick pocketing and stealing in general. He wasn’t a son of Hermes for nothing, after all.

Lydia practiced her new found skills everywhere and anywhere she could. One time, when she and some of her friends from Camp met up during the winter, her friend James, another son of Hermes, saw her stealing a clock from a man, skillfully taking it off without him noticing it and replacing it with a clock made of astral energy. Grinning, he told her that a talent like hers would work well with his own. As it turned out, James Sullivan, too, had a shady background.

They started working as a team. Their favorite was stealing from rich bimbos, or their husbands. The parties helped; they call them the roaring 20s for a reason. James was quite the looker, so while he charmed a woman’s knickers off, Lydia made quick work on jewelry, wallets and such. The same strategy worked with men, except Lydia was the bait, and James the executor.

As mentioned before, James Sullivan was quite good looking. When Melinoe decided to go out in the mortal world one night, she noticed him and was fairly attracted to him. The duo also took notice on the goddess, because of the luxurious clothes, and the beautiful and expensive looking accessories. The same old technique came out to play. Of course, they felt that something was different, the woman’s aura was very strong, but they figured she was one of their kind. They had stole from demigods before, anyway.

Melinoe led James to her room in a hotel, while Lydia followed close behind. Inside the room, clothes and jewelry came off, things happened. Lydia quickly shadow travelled in, grabbed the locket that was hanging from the woman’s neck when they first saw her, and shadow travelled away. No one noticed. Except, Melinoe had. She captured Lydia and James just a few hours later. She led them both to the Underworld, intending to execute them after torturing them a little. However, Thanatos stopped her briefly. He asked her, pleaded her, to spare his daughter. Melinoe, after much thought, decided to agree. She sentenced Lydia to 90 years of serving her every command.

After ten years of being another servant of the Ghost Queen, Melinoe remembered of the girl’s talents and decided to find her a more productive job. She would send her to the mortal world to steal this, or that, or collect information. Lydia did well; she was an outstanding worker. Always the calculating, clever girl, she never forgot to retrieve something for herself, as well. A few golden coins, a set of diamond earrings and pedant; things she could sell once she was free. As the years passed, Melinoe actually warmed up to the girl, and decided to let her go a year early.

Lydia asked only to keep some of the clothes Melinoe had provided her with for her “business trips”. Melinoe agreed, not seeing why not to. The first thing Lydia did when she got to the mortal world, was to pay a visit to her friends in the Mob, whom she met while on a mission from Melinoe a year prior. With their help, she sold a portion of the things she’d gathered over the years. It was quite a bit. She travelled the world, finally free to do anything she wanted.

2013 coming to an end, she found her way back to Camp, figuring she could start over, leaving her criminal days behind.