Ann

"Isla's Choice: When the Ghost King Marked Her, Halcyon University Became A Battlefield"

Isla Annette Merrick ("Ann") Basic Profile: Age: 20 Year: Sophomore at Halcyon University Major: Literature and Political Theory (Double Major) Nickname: Ann (Only friends and her family call her this) Origin: Eastbridge, a quiet, middle-class coastal town --- Family Background: Father: Name: Thomas Merrick Profession: High school history teacher (American and European history) Personality: Stoic, steady, quietly brilliant, deeply moral man who believes in slow, steady progress over shortcuts. Believes knowledge is the sharpest weapon. Bond with Ann: Very close. Thomas was the one who taught her chess, introduced her to literature, and always treated her like her thoughts mattered. Mother: Name: Helena Merrick (née Walsh) Profession: Nurse (Emergency Department) Personality: Fiercely empathetic but practical. Helena is a fixer, a listener, and a fighter when she needs to be. Bond with Ann: Complicated but warm — Helena always urged Ann to "be kind but not small." She also taught Ann to work through pain, not wait for it to go away. Siblings: Only child — but grew up close to her cousins, almost like siblings. Family Values: Intellectual honesty, quiet resilience, community loyalty, and a fierce disdain for arrogance. Financial Situation: Middle class, tight but never desperate. Vacations were road trips to national parks, not flights to Europe. Every dollar was earned, not given. --- Core Memories: Age 7: Sitting on her father’s lap as he read her The Odyssey aloud, explaining every word she didn’t know. "You don’t have to be the strongest, Ann," he said. "You just have to be the one who doesn’t quit." Age 13: Watching her mother come home after a double shift, exhaustion on her face but still smiling. Learned that you can be dead tired and still choose kindness. Age 15: Lost a debate tournament to a smug rich boy who implied she didn’t "belong" competing with them. Went home, rewrote her argument, and came back the next year to win the entire circuit. Age 18 (Halcyon admission letter): She cried when she got in — quietly, alone in her room — because she knew she was stepping into a world that would never fully accept her. Determined to go anyway. --- Personality: Strengths: Sharp-minded: Quick on her feet, strategic, sees connections others miss. Resilient: Can take emotional and mental blows and get back up. Empathic: Understands people’s emotional currents even when they try to hide it. Loyal: Once she chooses you, she doesn’t abandon you easily. Flaws: Self-critical: Harshest on herself; struggles to forgive her own mistakes. Guarded: Opens up slowly, if ever. Afraid vulnerability will be weaponized. Prideful: Hates pity. Would rather suffer in silence than ask for help. Overthinker: Sometimes paralyzes herself analyzing outcomes rather than acting. Internal Conflicts: Wants to belong at Halcyon, but hates the idea of changing who she is to fit. Craves recognition but despises what she sees in those who crave power. --- Habits & Quirks: Fidgeting: Rubs her thumb against her knuckle when she’s thinking hard or nervous. Night Owl: Studies late at night when everything is quiet. Moonlight comforts her. Collects Quotes: Keeps a battered notebook where she jots down lines from books, speeches, random conversations. Chess Player: Always carries a small magnetic chess set in her bag, a gift from her father. Quiet Dresser: Prefers muted colors (deep greens, maroons, navy blues). Hates flashy fashion but has a subtle, understated elegance. --- Physical Appearance: Height: 5'5" Build: Feminine but natural; slim waist, graceful neck and shoulders, slight curve to hips — beautiful without being exaggerated. Hair: Dark chestnut brown, waves easily; usually keeps it loose unless she needs to "armor up" (then it’s in a low, clean bun). Eyes: Soft gray-green, expressive but guarded. You can often tell what she’s feeling — if you know where to look. Skin: Fair with a few freckles across her nose, a little sun-kissed from her coastal hometown. General vibe: Beauty that's not intimidating at first glance — but something in her carriage, her gaze, keeps people from underestimating her for long. --- Dreams vs Reality: Dream: To prove to herself she can survive — and maybe even thrive — in a world that was never meant for her. To make her parents proud without losing herself. Reality: Every day feels like walking a tightrope. She fears one misstep will expose how much she’s pretending not to drown. --- Emotional Triggers: Condescension: Nothing cuts her faster than being looked down upon. Betrayal: She doesn't trust easily; betrayal devastates her. Loneliness: She can handle solitude. True, bone-deep loneliness scares her more than anything. --- Worldview: Believes that ambition without integrity rots the soul. Fears that survival at Halcyon might require exactly that rot. Hopes that real loyalty and real love are possible even in broken systems. At Halcyon University, the elite are born — not made. Or so it was, until Isla Merrick, a middle-class beauty with sharp wits and an even sharper tongue, slipped through the cracks. At first, she stood tall among them, refusing to shrink even when the world of privilege tried to swallow her whole. But passing as one of them came at a cost she wasn’t prepared to pay — her identity, her confidence, maybe even her future. At Halcyon, there are Five Houses, ancient and revered: Vanguard House — the tacticians and scholars Corvus House — the schemers and politicians Lucent House — the artists and dreamers Wolfe House — the warriors and loyalists Calder House — the forgotten and the feared Each House is ruled by a King — a title earned through brutal tests of mind, body, and will. You are either Selected — or you are invisible. Calder House — the oldest and weakest — had been a joke for as long as anyone could remember. Until last year. Until the ghost rose. They say the old King was toppled by a freshman, a boy whose face few know, whose name even fewer dare whisper. No one knows what he wants. No one knows how he rose. But Calder House has changed. Its estate is silent now, eerily disciplined, with an air of cold fear and rigid respect. Every year, the Houses compete in Halcyon’s private war — games of intelligence, influence, and endurance. The reigning champions are granted immunity in the first round. The rest? They fight for survival, territory, and honor. When Isla receives her envelope, thick and heavy with an old wax seal, she nearly convinces herself it’s a mistake. Until she notices the puzzle: A cipher hidden in the etchings along the seal's edge, coordinates buried within a quote printed in faded ink across the flap. Solving it leads her to an abandoned bell tower at the north edge of campus — silent, crumbling, and full of shadows. There, blindfolded and alone, Isla is initiated into Calder House — the ghost’s House. And she realizes two things: 1. She’s been marked. 2. He has been watching her all along. But the deeper Isla falls into Calder’s secrets — into his secrets — the more dangerous the games become. Not all victories are won in daylight. Not all kings rule for glory. And falling for the ghost king might destroy them both.