Philippe's life has always revolved around another person; his biologically full, but not at all looking, sibling. It all started with his father and his insatiable appetite for women.
Mathéo Beaulieu was a married man who held an abundance of love towards his wife; even then, he wasn't the kind of man who recognized the holiness of a marriage and often pursued other women. He was always careful and ensured nobody noticed his womanizing ways. His image and reputation meant everything to him - especially as the pastor of a church. But everyone, everyone, has that lapse in judgement at some point and ends up falling prey to one of their own traps.
His was Nemesis. He wasn't supposed to have an affair that night - he really wasn't. It was the one time he intended to dedicate the night to his wife; they'd been planning to try and conceive for some time now. He knew - or at least hoped - that if she carried his child, she'd be with him despite his shortcomings. But Nemesis always finds away, and in this instance, she manipulated her looks to resemble his wife's. He was a man marked by his brilliance; he should have been able to see Nemesis for what she was - a fake. A wannabe. He'd been in love with his wife for a long time, and had known her for even longer. He should have been able to tell she wasn't her. Maybe if he had - just maybe - he'd have bothered to use protection.
Adéle and Philippe Beaulieu are poignant reminders of everything he lost. His wife, his reputation, his church's respect - all of it. In retrospect, he should have been more careful with who he slept and under the circumstances he did so. Nemesis was a vengeful woman who would always right the wrongs committed against her. Between his first divorce being finalized and his second honeymoon's end, the goddess of retribution had returned. She wanted a second round, despite the knowledge she held in terms of their firstborn child, and tried her hand at seducing him once again. It was as easy as you'd imagine, if you take in consideration her wits and the precautionary steps she'd taken (i.e physically morphing into an identical version of his, ah, favorite maid).
His second marriage lasted a grand total of about three weeks. She'd caught him cheating before, with his maid, but had forgiven him under the illusion that that would be the end of it. But it seemed that once a cheater, always a cheater. Even with the promises he made of rectifying past mistakes and living up to his title as a man of God, Mathéo found a way to disappoint. Not only did he manage to lose his second wife, but he was also condemned to a lifetime of fear and disgust. His children - those he had conceived with Nemesis - had been brought before him by the goddess herself. But they were unlike any other child of Nemesis before them; the reasoning for this gift is still unbeknown to Philippe and Adéle alike, but they were born with majestic wings, resembling that of the angels of the bible.
As you would expect, Mathéo was appalled by the children he'd sired and the woman he'd slept with. He was vocal about it, too. Mathéo had the full intent to kill both his kids by throwing them into a stream, but it was at that point that a curse was bestowed on him. Mathéo fully believed for what remained of his useless life that that had been a blessing, without realizing until the very end that his errors and wrongdoings had sealed his fate and caused his timely demise. Nemesis was able to chain her children's wings with earrings, a design from Hephaestus himself, which would by extension regulate the demigod scent that the wings strengthened. But nothing came without it's condition; this was proven further when it was decreed that:
"You need not see their wings, but they will not be chained forever. And the day their true power is unleashed, will be the day you meet a terrible death."
Mathéo was positively spooked by Nemesis and her constant need for retribution, but he gratefully kept the earrings on his children's ears at all time. Adéle's earring was on her right ear, whilst her brother's was on his left. It was because of this that Mathéo prohibited them from cutting their hair too short; he didn't want to be reminded of the craziness he'd previously dealt with. While he wasn't a clear-sighted mortal, nor could he even fathom to understand the greater purpose their children had originally been born to serve and their mother's world, he had a feeling he still had a lot more crazy to deal with in the future. The concept made him turn towards alcohol. He spent most his free time drinking away his sorrows and trying to hook up with women. Unfortunately, he failed most the time, given Nemesis had, ah, convinced another someone to return his ill manners with erectile dysfunction.
He grew resentful and often neglected his children. At least Adéle was white enough that she could inherit his last name. Philippe, who looked nothing like his family, received the maid’s last name, and was always told that she was his mother. Curious enough, she never visited or called, having been fired, and it seemed she couldn’t give too much of a damn about him either. Typical adults. Philippe Riviera, the bastard boy living in old man Beaulieu’s sock drawer, was the anomaly of their highly affluent schools. Ever since the moment he was born, he was an outsider. In response, a young but perceptive Philippe began to reject many of the ideas and expectations that others seemed to have of success and coolness, which never affected him too much anyways, given that he was the maids bastard son. By seven, the christian kids who called him the devil’s child even became amusing rather than offensive. Maybe the devil really had possessed his father, but he’d take the devil over a cold god any day. His youth could be described as detached, given he made no efforts to connect with his father after the age of 5, and his only friend and companion, Adéle, didn’t seem to realize as he did that they only needed each other.
Philippe grew up frequently attending the church, even if it was in the back row, away from his family. Although his father had lost his reputation in front of the clergy, he was still a man of faith, hence their perfect attendance. Philippe understood the entire premise of a church was hypocritical. They made millions off delusional hopefuls, built extravagant churches, and created division between people by giving the common passerby the benefit of superiority. In a way, religion seemed to him the same as wealth. None of it was real superiority over his character. He’s never been sure in his belief in God, but he knows that, should he exist, he’s probably more similar to the devil than he cares to admit. From his pragmatic standpoint, he found the belief in a God to be more powerful than his actual existence. When he learned about the Greek Gods, sure his views shifted, but he had to suspend his disbelief in light of the events that occured. They were attacked. It had been a sunday, only a few hours seperate from church, when they were jumped by two hellhounds. It surprised Philippe at first, because he had expected them to be these men he had noticed tracking them earlier. One hellhound went after him, narrowly missing his delicious little arm, and the other managed to rip his sisters earring off. Large white wings sprouted from her back, and she promptly passed out.
The strangers who had been following them promptly staged their entrance, and took care of the monsters. Lionel and Richmond, they introduced themselves as. Philippe took his own earring off to test his hypothesis, coming up accurate in what he had predicted.He hen quickly put the earring back on, before he had a chance to pass out from the pain like his sister. It’s about this time he realized they weren’t average humans, hence his suspension of belief. Soon, Adéle woke up, decently bewildered.
The two explained their heritage, and the purpose for them to come back. Philippe at first assumed they only meant Adéle, but then, that wouldn’t explain his own wings. Part of him then feared that, if Mathéo was not really his father, that would mean Adéle was not really his sister. He’s a pragmatist, but even he values whatever feelings and the bond he has with his sister. What if she’d stop caring for him because of it? While his sister seemed to trip out about the experience, he quietly held this insecurity to himself. They didn’t know their god parents, so he still had a chance. Ironically, Philippe had more confidence in this greek thing than any of his fathers teachings. At least this had evidence to support it. Christianism was, simply put, unscientific.
They left to go home, to the most unlovable creature of secrets they’d ever known. Philippe began the questioning, attempting to be sly enough that he might be able to gain information on their real parents without Adéle interfering. It was no use. Adéle then went for it, seemingly much angrier at him than Philippe, which made sense considering he had given up long before she had. Sometimes the entitlement to a last name affects a person more when they realize it means nothing, or so Philippe concluded. She questioned and questioned, but their father was a stone wall. You could see the steam build in her to an overflow. Philippe would have never thought she was capable of what she did next, but that day had certainly changed them forever. She wanted vengeance. She needed someone - anyone - to pay for what was going on with her. And it just so happened that the only person in her vicinity she could take it all out on was her father. Mathéo's death came swiftly, at the hands of his own daughter, who plunged a kitchen knife into the front of his skull, through his eyes. Philippe could only stare in frozen shock. Killing seemed more intense in real life than it did in video games. After a momentary pause, Philippe felt his obligations as a brother and a loyal companion to help her out of this mess. Help them both out, really. The two of them hid their father’s body with the satyrs help, who used a little bit of reed and mist magic to get the job done. As unconventional as it was, his father’s death would continue to follow him in his dreams for the rest of his life. They claimed he left on a sabbatical, only to never return.
By the time Adéle finally came to realize that her mother was a goddess, another two attacks would have happened if not for her and Philippe's protectors' quick thinking and acting. Only then was she compliant enough to sit down and listen to the satyrs about a camp in New York for demigods like her and her brother. Philippe and Adéle were quick to counter. They wouldn't be attending that Camp until they graduated from school. It wasn't that she enjoyed her popularity, so much as that she honestly valued her education. She still had the intent to get her high school diploma. She didn't care what the had to do, but she would not be leaving Canada in favor of a camp for 'people like her'. Nothing was wrong with her. On the contrary, she was better than ever before now that she knew her mother was a goddess. She was part goddess with wings that sprouted from her back - how could you not find that cool?
The satyrs pestered them with invitations to Camp Half Blood, where not only would they be safe, but they’d be able to hide from their crime. Philippe was a strong believer in the mind’s advantage over body, so by principle he at first refused to conform to learning how to protect himself. Unfortunately, the continued to be attacked, and his mind had less success than the satyrs did at protection. Finally, he agreed to be trained by them, but not leave for camp half blood, given that education as all he had left of their former life. He detested his classmates and those that judged him, but he knew they would never get nearly as far as he would. From then on, Lionel and Richmond protected him and trained him in combat. Before his combat program, he had been a sort of lightly chubby nerd. Afterwards, however, he became slimmer and slimmer, to the point that he feared losing his loser identity. Philippe began wearing fake glasses and diminished both his style and haircut in order to continue to blend in as the outsider everyone loved to hate. Now that he is no longer in the same school, he may considering changing his personal style, but he would still rather not conform to male ideals.
Adéle and Philippe lingered in Canada for four years after the first attack. For two of those years, Adéle used what remained of her father's money to hire someone adept at swordsmanship to train her. While the satyrs had offered to train her, as was part of their job, Adéle was intent on not accepting it. While all three of the guys were frustrated by her response, after about 2 years she finally accepted Lionel and Richmonds’ offer. From there, they all trained together after school, increasingly becoming adept at facing threats.
The four departed with her brother for Camp Half-Blood in the company of Richmond & Lionel the night they received their high school diploma. Philippe made sure he got into Columbia University so he could take care of both housing and expenses with camp, and also attend the school during the day. The satyrs helped him come up with extenuating circumstances in which he had to live off campus, and the commute was easy as he would practice flying by flying to and fro. Philippe knew he would be sacrificing training, but he felt confident in the training he had received from the satyrs. Besides, he wouldn’t start college until September, giving him plenty of time to get to know his camp.
Philippe stayed in a NYC longer than they did to get to know the city better, and then a month later, he officially arrived at camp. To his joy, he realized he and his sister at least shared a mother; Nemesis.
