Noel is very loyal, almost to a fault considering the abuse she endured for her family. She is typically quiet, preferring to study her surroundings than interact. She can come across as awkward having not grown up with any friends. Because the first bout of kindness she received was from Pathos, she is excited to meet new people, simply doesn’t know how to start. Noel can be considered brave and doesn’t fear pain. She’s very talented and catches on to things quickly, she just needs to have faith in her ability.
Noel River, great-grand daughter of Evelina Giacomelli, hailed from a cursed bloodline. To paraphrase, Evelina Giacomeli and her twin sister had offended the Gods, and it led to a series of curses that affected all of Evelina’s descendants. The initial curse prohibited Evelina from having access to her abilities. To add salt to the wound, the Gods also cursed her and her lineage with a more potent scent, drawing the attention of monsters near and far. Despite this, Evelina found peace and love, which of course angered the spiteful Gods more. This led to a second part of the curse, which only affected the descendants of Evelina: they would never make it past the ripe age of 23. The only way to break the curse, being to prove their undying loyalty to the Gods.
Despite swearing to end the family line, Evelina’s son was seduced by Aphrodite, leading to her granddaughter’s birth: Solene Riviera. Located in the French Riviera, Evelina’s family grew, despite her efforts. Solene was quite the “loose” woman, having six children, all of whom were demigods. One of those demigods, is who this story is about: Narcissa Riviera aka Noel River.
Narcissa Riviera, later renamed Noel River, has a tragic story on top of her tragic heritage. It began when Mnemosyne, curious as to the family and its infamous curse, decided to investigate. The moment she saw Solene a vision came upon her, causing her to disguise herself as, “Mike.” A night together led to the creation of Narcissa. While the daughter of Mnemosyne was mostly raised by Evelina, there were times when she was with her inattentive mother.
One of the many problems with Solene, was that she was not careful with whom she trifled with. The daughter of Aphrodite had a love bug and it had zero regard for the relationship status of the person she slept with. This led to her gaining the ill-will of a Mafia family across the border.To teach her a lesson, they decided to abduct a child of hers, with the intention of killing it. However, when the gang member took Narcissa, he couldn’t bring himself to harm her. So unbeknownst to the Riviera family or his boss, the Mafioso brought the toddler to an orphanage in Lyon.
Narcissa, who was both blessed and cursed by a perfect memory, never forgot her family. However, her kidnapper warned her that if she ever went home, she and her family would be killed on the spot. Hence, the change of her name to Noel River. Noel stayed silent, even through the abuse she later endured from those who housed her. On the plus side, the disgusting nature of those she lived with, protected her from her monster attacks. Not to mention the fact that she was hardly allowed to leave the home. Unfortunately, the abuse grew so bad, that at age 13 she was struck too hard and put in a coma.Luckily, she drew the attention of a sleep nymph before any monsters. It was right in the nick of time, too. Not even a week later after being put in the hospital, a harpy came for her, only to be killed by the nymph named, Pathos.
To help mask her scent, he filled her room with Aconite, a flower that sprang from the spittle of a beast, making its smell extremely potent. When monsters did attack, Pathos defended Noel; and when times were calm, he taught her about her heritage as a demigod. She learned of the Gods, her family curse, and how they were the only ones who could help her. Of course, this all happened in Noel’s dream-like, coma state.
Three years later, Mnemosyne’s vision came true. Her beloved muses were in danger and she needed a demigod to save them. The whole reason behind Noel’s existence was for this mission, albeit Mnemosyne wasn’t exactly sure what the mission would be, until now. Unfortunately, Noel was in a coma was no use to her mother, who couldn't help her even is she wanted. Pathos shared this sad tale with Hypnos, whose domain the nymph often roamed, and the sleep God took pity on Noel.
However, if Hypnos was to meddle with the wrath of the Parthenon, Noel would need to successfully rescue all 9 muses. This would hopefully spare Hypnos of the wrath of Zeus and maybe even help Noel escape her family curse. . The demigod was fast to agree and after some recovery from being in a coma for five years, Pathos took Noel to camp.
On the way, they were faced by multiple monsters. A cyclops, who fell susceptible to Pathos’ ability, allowing them to reach the airport. Once they made it to the US, they were attacked three hellhounds, whom they only defeated, because Pathos used telecommunication to SOS other nymphs. The scariest monster was a manticore, which Noel only survived, because Pathos decided he could “handle it.” She never saw him again and it left her feeling grim, once she arrived to the safety of camp.
