Claiming:Camp/Clémence Adèle Grimaldi

Name: Clémence Adèle Grimaldi

Godly Parent: Morpheus, Hypnos, Deimos,

Mortal Parent: Maria Aurelia Spinola

Age: 365 (appears 16)

Appearance:



Personality: Clémence has a very breezy and wispy personality; it changes with the wind or the mood. She can go from adoration to hate in the blink of an eye, but generally stays in a mellow in-between mood. She loves smiling and dreaming, dreaming especially when it involves romance. She’s one for cute things, gestures and thoughts. She can be very snappy towards people, but this happens rarely. She adores flowers, almost always holding one so she can smell it whenever she feels like it. There is a side to her personality that is truly regal; a kind, adoring, graceful princess who loves her people. She often reminisces about her past, and as a consequence can often be hard to talk to.

History: The year was 1649. It was winter in Monaco, and Maria Aurelia Spinola was taking a walk through the palace gardens. She was the wife of Ercole Grimaldi, Prince of Monaco, and had already bore him three daughters and a son. She had tired of her life, and Ercole had grown irritated at her inability to present him with a second son. She held the belief that being mother to four children had diminished her beauty; her appeal to men.

As she walked, a servant ran into her at an intersection of hedges. She was bowled over, and as the servant helped her up, she caught her breath. The man had beautiful deep brown eyes and sandy blonde hair that hung on his face. His dreamy smile reassured her as he brought her to her feet.

The servant was, in fact, Morpheus, and Maria’s beauty had caught his eye. He courted Maria in secret from there on in, and soon Maria was pregnant. She was delighted at her pregnancy, thinking perhaps she would finally be able to present a second son to Ercole. She, of course, had covered up the pregnancy as his child, and he had dutifully believed her.

When Morpheus discovered Maria’s pregnancy, he left her without a word of their child, or what their child would grow to become. Maria was partly relieved he was gone, it was hard to keep up the façade she was still a normal wife, but she missed his presence the first days without him.

In the autumn of 1649, Maria gave birth to a baby girl. At first she was disappointed at another girl, even more so that the girl bore no resemblance to Morpheus so she had nothing to remember him by, but she also took delight in this fact. Ercole remarked how their newborn looked just like Maria, with her tufts of beautiful blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.

They named their daughter Clémence Adèle, and raised her as a proper little princess. Clémence and her siblings, older sisters Marie, Jeanna and Thérèse and brother Louis, were raised as a tight-knit family unit. She was the youngest, and the girls loved playing with dresses and always braided each other’s hair. Louis especially adored little Clémence, and was a brilliant older brother.

By three, Clémence had a decent grasp on her language. Her eldest sister Marie was now eight, and was allowed to attend formal functions. All the other girls were jealous, but they made do with the company of each other. When Clémence was six, her sister Jeanne was allowed to attend formal functions. This left just Clémence and Thérèse to bond.

They grew very close; they were barely nine months apart in age. The two of them always made up games to play when their siblings weren’t around; they made puppets and ran around the castle trying to find one another. The two promised each other they would never be gross like their sisters. Marie was already eleven, and loved talking about the princes she could marry. Their other sisters always loved joining in on her musings while Clémence and Thérèse pretended to throw up behind them.

Finally the day came when Clémence was allowed to joins her sisters in formal functions. She adored the ball gowns and fancy hairstyles she wore to the functions, but everyone attending seemed so old and boring to her. They never had any imagination, or dreams, it seemed, so they always were very dull.

Her life continued like this for many years. She would attend balls and functions and try her hardest to socialise with people without any thoughts of their own. Her father was killed in an accident involving a guard and a wayward gunshot when she was ten, and Louis became first in line to the throne at 9. Their grandfather, Honoré ll, who they rarely saw, was still Sovereign Prince. Louis had now become distant, and was often away training for whatever war he thought was coming. This was around the time that a passionate love for her brother began to manifest in Clémence.

At eleven, her sister Marie married a Prince of Montafia, and left the family to live with him. At twelve, Clémence was attacked for the first time. She was walking alone through the grounds of the castle when a pack of Stymphalian Birds attacked. They pecked at her and scratched her, tearing her clothes and leaving her skin bloody. She tried to throw her arms up to protect her face, but she was just attacked more savagely. She ran blindly, stumbling onto the threshold of a chapel. Just as she thought she would die, the huge, bronze bells of the chapel began ringing. The birds shrieked and scattered, seemingly startled at the noise, and flew away. Clémence lay on the steps of the chapel, too stunned to speak, until someone found her. Only then did she faint.

Clémence lay unconscious on the steps for hours, until the friar made his way to the chapel for evening mass. He was shocked and repulsed by Clémence’s bloody form, and her torn clothes. Fearing the worst had happened, he took her into the chapel to heal her. When all her wounds had been tended to, the friar called for the castle servants to take her back to her chambers.

Her brother, who was home at the time, was furious that she had been attacked, and ordered two guards to accompany her around each time she went out. He sat by Clémence’s bedside for two days and nights; for it took her a while to regain consciousness and recover. Her love for her kind brother grew even more during this time. Eventually, she fully regained her health and went about her life as normal. There was a ball to celebrate her new health, and Marie and her husband even returned from Montafia to attend.

For a while, life was good. Louis jokingly gave Clémence a bronze shield with the coat of arms on it to protect herself. It was too big for her at that point in time, but she admired the odd way it glimmered in the light, like magic, so she kept it. Now, when she ventured into town she would have two serious looking guards in tow. The guards were anything but serious, however. They very happy to chat with the young princess, and she found that they had significant thoughts of their own, and imagination as well. One of them mused that he sometimes saw fantasy creatures roaming the forests, while Clémence and the other guard laughed.

On the day of Clémence’s thirteenth birthday, she went out to town for the day. She bought herself a dress from a little-known tailor, a stunning rose-gold gown with golden embroidery. She had hopes of impressing Louis in the dress, to show him how grown up and adult she was. Her guards were waiting outside, and as she reached over to pay the woman, she grabbed onto Clémence’s wrist and held tight, her fingers growing into to claws. The woman’s face changed, and she grew, propelled upwards by what seemed to be snake’s tails. Unable to comprehend what she was seeing, and scared witless, Clémence could only think to scream.

And that was what she did. She screamed as loud as she could, at the top of her lungs, and her guards rushed in to the store. Their swords were drawn, and they gleamed a strange bronze colour; the same as Clémence’s shield. As the woman hissed at the arrival of the guards she tightened her grip on Clémence’s wrist yet again. The guards advanced, and the woman pulled Clémence to her, pinning her. Clémence’s shield was now pressed against the woman. The woman pulled a jagged dagger from beneath the counter, and held it to Clémence’s throat. The guards stopped, dumbfounded and unsure of what to do. At this point Clémence was whimpering and trembling. The woman hissed something she couldn’t understand, and in her frustration she screamed again.

This time, her scream felt powerful. The scaly woman’s eyes grew wide with fear, as if she was seeing her worst nightmare come to life. She dropped the dagger and slithered back against the wall in fear. Clémence had unknowingly called upon her powers for the first time. The guards seemed unaffected and rushed forward and one grabbed Clémence, pulling her out of the shop. The other approached the lady calmly, and stabbed her in the heart with a bronze dagger. The lady turned to dust. When the deed was done and bot the guards were by her side, one of them, the one who said he sometimes saw strange creatures, explained to Clémence that she was special (but didn’t elaborate any further), and needed to meet her grandfather as soon as she could.

Clémence was confused. As the guards escorted her back to the palace, she repeated their words over and over in her head. What did they mean she was special? As they reached the castle, one guard whispered into her ear for her to act as normal as she could. She nodded in comprehension, still stunned.

Her birthday night was a blur to her. She wore the beautiful dress given to her by the monstrous lady, now dead, and drank champagne in toast to her age. She retired to her room late that night, and dreamt of strange monsters and knights in bronze armour.

It was two months before she met her grandfather. He was fighting in a war, or rather, he was ordering people to fight in a war, and hadn't returned to Monaco for two years. When he received word from one of Clémence’s guards about her monster attack he left the battlefield immediately, leaving Clémence’s brother Louis to direct the attack. Though Clémence was unhappy about this arrangement, she was glad she would see her grandfather.

Clémence was walking through the castle’s rose gardens, pruning some occasionally and putting them in a wicker basket she was carrying when her grandfather approached her. What struck her first about him was his size. He was imposingly tall and fit for an ageing man, and radiated a sort of power. He sat her down on a stone bench and had the demigod chat with her.

“Well, my rose (for this is what he called her), I heard of your predicament with the birds. I am… connected, let’s say, with the forces around this castle. A nymph saw the attack, but apparently the chapel bells rang before she could intervene. But, ah, I am straying from the point. The nymph passed on the news to me through other sources, and I guessed from their information that there was something special within you, my rose. Now, I am sure.”

All Clémence could do at this point was look astounded. Her grandfather, on the other hand, looked rather wistful and contemplative as he stared into the hedges.

“Clémence, you are a demigod. Half mortal, half god, as the name suggests. I myself am also a demigod. My father is Ares, the god of war. Yours I am not so sure about. Do you understand so far?”

Clémence nodded then paused, “Grand-papa, why did the guard have weapons of bronze? And why must monsters attack me?”

“Ah, well. My closest men I have equipped with bronze. It is a special bronze; it is the only substance I know of that can kill the monsters that come after us. My closest men are either demigods, like us, or mortal men who can see through the mist that shrouds the demigod world from prying eyes. Demigods must be trained, for monsters will always attack us. They attack, my rose, because they like the smell of us, and are constantly hungry. They want to hurt you and eat you, so you have to stay safe. I will have my guards train you, and even when you can defend yourself I will have them protect you. Once you reach fourteen, I will have them take you to a haven for demigods. It is located across the seas, so the journey may take a while. It is called Camp Half-Blood. That is all I have to say, my rose. I must be on my way now.”

Honoré stood up and stretched, and Clémence stood up beside him gingerly. Then he turned to her, a package in his hand, tied with a golden ribbon.

“A parting gift, my rose. I had it forged for you. It will react to your touch and yours alone. Never part with it.”

He then handed a speechless Clémence the package, and took his leave. The princess watched as her grandfather walked away, then sat down on the bench again and opened the gift. To her delight, it was a dainty bronze charm bracelet. As she touched the charms one by one, she surprised herself by finding that the flower turned into a sabre, and the heart into a halberd.

Clémence’s life was content for a year. She was trained by her guards to utilise her sabre, spear, and shield to great advantage, but all training was carried out in secret. It was highly improper for a princess to be handling weaponry! She was attacked, once, by a harpy, but easily killed the beast with her halberd. She attended many balls and formal affairs, and she was to be promised to a foreign prince before the year was out, but it was not to be.

Clémence was 14, and lying in bed in the early dawn, still asleep. Her windows were open, and four harpies flew in and began attacking her. She thought it was a nightmare, and began tossing and turning, which only slightly deterred the harpies. By the time Clémence awoke, realising it was not a dream, she had been severely injured. Curse my deep sleep she thought, and battled her way out of her bed, using her sabre (her charm bracelet never left her wrist). She reached her heavy door, but at that point she had lost a significant amount of blood, and could not find the strength to open the door.

She killed the final harpy as if flew at her, and began pounding at her door for help. She grew tired and weak, and passed out from blood loss. When her handmaiden, Amandine, attempted to open the door to Clémence’s chamber and found it was locked she used a secret passage into the room, only to discover the poor girl being unconscious. Amandine was, in fact, a dream nymph; created by Morpheus and employed by Honoré ll to protect and ensure the well-being of Clémence. Seeing her now, in a state near death, Amandine panicked and ran over to Clémence, tipping her head back and pouring blue liquid from a vial down Clémence’s throat.

The liquid was a gift from Morpheus to Amandine that she should only use if Clémence was in grave danger. It made the victim seem dead for long periods of time, while in fact they were sleeping. Gathering all the nymphs in Honoré’s posse, Amandine carried Clémence’s body to the royal crypt, and informed her family that she had dies from sickness.

Her family mourned and mourned, and a huge funeral was held. Her name was written in the history book as the princess who left this earth to soon, and stories were told of her beauty among the palace folk. But the nymphs could not have this. They knew, one day, Clémence would awake and a storm of issues would sweep through Monaco. So they destroyed the books that mentioned her, shushed the gossip around the palace, and slowly, very slowly, every shred of information about Clémence was lost to time.

Well, at least they thought they did. Her family minds were not tampered with, and they passed down stories of a long lost sister to their sons, daughters, nieces and nephews. Over the 349 years that Clémence slept, a tale of her existence lived on. If people were brave enough, they would venture down to the royal crypt to discover the body of Clémence, untouched by time. She aged ever so slowly over her time asleep. She slept from 1663 until 2014, and only aged two years physically.

The day came for Clémence to awake. As she got up, and stretched out 4 centuries worth of cramps, she noticed first the dingy and dark area she was in. Curious as to her dark abode, she gingerly climbed the stairs of the crypt and pushed open the heavy door, and light flooded the space.

It was the view that first alerted Clémence that something was wrong; there were tall buildings made of pale glass that stood like fingers pointed towards the sky, and others that stretched out towards the sea. Overwhelmed by what she saw, Clémence fell against the cool outer wall of the crypt, almost in tears. The area the crypt was in was deserted, bar a few graves. As she surveyed her surroundings further, one of the graves bean to shake and a ghost rose out of it. Unable to contain herself, Clémence screamed and passed out.

When she awoke she was still in the graveyard, but a familiar face loomed above her. It was Amandine, the dream nymph who had condemned her to sleep all those ages ago. Clémence had no idea that it was Amandine who had put her to sleep, and was so emotionally stressed that she collapsed into the lap of her former handmaiden.

Amandine comforted Clémence a while, then picked her up and carried her to a waiting car, where the two of them were driven to the Prince’s Palace. The royal family was delighted to meet an old relative, not having too much of a difficult time believing Clémence’s story as many of the family had visited her in her slumber, were demigods themselves, or were related to demigods. They ensured that Clémence would always have a place at the palace, but insisted that before taking up permanent residence she should attend Camp Half-Blood for at least a year.

Clémence had one comfortable night’s sleep at the palace, visited in her dreams by her grandfather and brother. Her grandfather expressed his joy at her finally being able to attend the haven for demigods. In her dreams, she met her brother in a passionate embrace, but towards the end of the dream he told her to move on and find another, as he had passed on. She woke in tears, but with a determination to find herself another lover as sweet as her brother.

That day, she set off to Camp with a satyr named Luc, who had been in nearby France and had responded to a call by the Monégasque Royal Family to assist Clémence on her journey to camp. The journey took a shorter period of time than Clémence was expecting, after the two caught a ride on a machine called a “plane”. Clémence kept her eyes shut for the entirety of the plane ride, terrified of the metal beast. The touched down at JFK airport, and almost made it to camp safely. They were attacked by the Chimera. Luckily for the pair, Clémence had not forgotten her fighting skills, and Luc had his pan flutes at the ready. Together they brought down the beast, and Clémence finally entered Camp at the age of 365.

Weapons: Charm bracelet that can transform into a celestial bronze sabre or spear, depending on which charm is tapped. Also possesses kunai and a celestial bronze shield with the Monaco coat of arms adorning it.

I'm sorry this is so long, I went far too over-the-top