Rayna Acqua

> *"Keep your chin up and live life facing forward! Survive with me and everyone else!"*
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## Rayna Acqua

### Titles

Experiment 236: The Psychic
The Non-Human Who Is Just Impartial

### Nicknames

Ray, Rayne
Miss Peace of Mind

## PERSONAL INFORMATION

### Likes

Her mom, Elian Whitlock, Dakota Standall, Sweets, Salty foods, Video games, Blueberries, People, Helping people, Humanity

### Dislikes

Loneliness, Her (former) foster mom, Girl toys, Her father, Spoiled brats

## OTHER

### Theme Song(S)

Psychic, by Jaye ClassicWellerman, cover by Annapantsu

## AFFILIATIONS

### Friends

Dakota Standall, Marianna, August, Everett Keane, Eugene

### Enemies

Sparrow Amemori (One-sided)

**Rayna Acqua** is an experiment of the DC, known as **Experiment 236: The Psychic**.

## Personality

When she was first introduced, Rayna seemed like a mysterious individual, speaking cryptically and explaining very little. Later it could be seen that she is a carefree and relaxed person, and she is actually described as one of the more ordinary experiments despite her mysteriousness, with she herself stating that she can sometimes get a bit overwhelmed by the others' stranger personalities. Nevertheless, she is shown to have more patience than others, having a tendency to just laugh off some of the potentially hurtful things they say. She is usually seen smiling and describes herself as "not a suspicious girl", and she gives off a really calm and composed vibe, making her seem like a pretty reliable person.

Despite her appearance and manner of speech, she has cold, excellent insight, and is both determined and brave. She even has downright frightening expressions whenever she gets very serious. Most of the time, however, Rayna is very laid back and jovial, she always remains calm and maintains her sense of humor during crisis.

She has strong charisma, able to turn former rivals into allies and friends. She is always willing to help out a friend, even at risks, and is more than willing to assist anyone in need. At the same time, Rayna has a natural charm around her that causes people to believe in her ability to win even the most hopeless of battles. Even Sparrow noted that Rayna's ability to get people to believe in her is astounding. Rayna does not believe that one's background should dictate their skills, and thus, treats her teammates more as equals, something that was rarely reciprocated. Rayna never retorts when insulted and usually uses her brain to do the talking for her. Whenever Rayna wins, she seldom gloats her victories and even takes time to help her opponents see what they did wrong, thus helping them better themselves.

When asked who she is, she uses her catchphrase of "I'm just your friendly neighborhood psychic". However, when Eugene says he does not recognize nor remember her, she claims that because her face was ripped off, she is nobody.

## Background

Rayna had a very tough childhood. Her father had a big drinking problem. He would get aggressive, and hit her for no reason at all. Her mother would try to stop him, but then he could just let his anger out on her instead. Rayna's mother would worry about Rayna constantly. She knew it wasn't safe for Rayna to be there. So one night, she packed Rayna's things and they left. She took young Rayna to foster care. It was the hardest day of her life, saying goodbye to her only child. But she knew she had to do it for Rayna's own safety.

Because of her abnormal abilities, she quickly matured, and soon was surpassing even adults in all fields. While her growth was initially viewed as fascinating, many professors would retire after seeing their lifelong efforts easily outdone by a little girl, and gradually started viewing her as unsettling instead. Because of this, Rayna began to wonder why she was even born. At the age of two, Rayna was sent to Hakoniwa General Hospital, which studied atypical children; it was a starting point for the Flask Plan. While waiting to get checked, Rayna ended up sitting beside a four-year-old Ezauer. He was sorely unimpressed by what was going on, telling Rayna that people are born for no reason. As he was called in, Ezauer left Rayna with the parting words that there was no point in being alive. These words left a strong impact on Rayna, and she lost interest in the world. Eventually, she grew bored with the constant examinations and tried to escape. Hiding from the hospital staff, she made her way into a nursery room for children of the doctors on call. Inside, she found only one other child, a two-year-old Eugene struggling with a toy puzzle. Not knowing how else to introduce herself, Rayna took the toy away from him and easily solved it herself. An impressed Eugene asked her to solve the rest of the puzzles in the room, which she accomplished without trouble, much to Eugene's delight. Rayna brushed him off, insisting that life has no meaning. When Eugene refuted her, she asked him for what reason she was born. He then pointed out how happy she had made him, and told her: "I'm sure you were born to make the people around you happy." Rayna took these words to heart, and the two became friends from that point onwards.

One of the families that she ended up being with consisted of a mother and her only son, who were both darker skinned. However, the mother only got Rayna for the money she'll get from the Government, and refused to use it on Rayna, instead using it on herself and her son.

Then one day, they went to a restaurant for breakfast. When the waiter brought over some eggs and pancakes for the woman and her son, the son, Rayna's new 'brother', asked the woman for a milkshake, to which she said 'Sure, honey' and asked the waiter for a chocolate milkshake. Rayna got excited and said she also wanted one, but the woman merely said, 'Rayna, you know your budget is five dollars. You already spent that on your eggs,' then she turned to waiter and said one milkshake was fine. The waiter then left.

Rayna asked the woman, 'How come he gets to have pancakes and a milkshake... but I don't?', referring to the son, to which the woman simply responded by saying that because he is her real son, and Rayna is just a foster child, she doesn't get the same things he does, and that she is his real mom. Rayna then asked where her real mom was, and that she wanted to see her because she told her she'll come back for her one day. The woman said her real mom lied, and she probably didn't even care about Rayna, and that she is lucky to have the woman. Rayna was going to say something, but the woman cut her off, saying she doesn't want to hear anything else, or when the social worker comes to the restaurant, she'll tell her she doesn't want Rayna anymore either. Rayna was clearly tearing up after all this.

'I won!' The son suddenly exclaimed as Rayna was wiping away incoming tears with her sleeve. Rayna asked if she could see, and the son said 'Sure.' He was about to give her his IPAD, but the mother stopped him, saying she told him not to give Rayna his IPAD because then she's gonna want one too. He apologized, and was looking pretty sad about the whole thing.

Rayna asked her if she could get the IPAD, even for a little bit, because she wanted to play it with her new brother. But the woman told Rayna she already knew the answer to the question she was asking: No. The woman then told her the straight up truth as she was already getting close to crying: Taking care of Rayna was a business, that she needed to make money off of Rayna, and that she couldn't be buying her expensive things, like an IPAD. Plus, what if she broke it? Does she have any money to fix it? Any money at all? As the woman was saying this, her son was looking at her with a very sad expression, clearly not liking his own mother's attitude.

Rayna was trying to stop herself from crying as the waiter came over and placed the milkshake down in front of the boy. As the waiter left, he began to drink said milkshake, and said it tasted amazing. Rayna asked if she could try some, but again, the woman responded with a firm 'No!' and that it was for her son. Clearly, said son wanted to share his milkshake with Rayna, at least, as could be noticed from his expression. The woman spoke again, and said that if he had anything left when he was done, THEN Rayna could have some.

Rayna's voice was breaking as she told the woman she wanted her own milkshake, but the woman then yelled at her and told her to be more appreciative. She revealed that her 'contract' for taking care of Rayna was up, and when the social worker comes, she was going to tell her to place Rayna somewhere else, and that she'll end up all alone, which is something she didn't want: She just wanted to be with her real mother, who told her she'd come back for her. By this point, she was already crying, but it only got worse when the woman said in a firm voice, 'She gave you up, and she probably never even loved you.' Rayna denied this, of course, because her mother loved her: she just knew it. The woman said that if that was true, then said mother would be there right at that moment.

Then suddenly, Rayna heard someone calling her name. She turned towards the voice, and her face lit up: her mother was right there, and next to her was a social worker. Rayna hugged her mom, who told her how much she'd missed Rayna. Rayna tells her she thought the forgot about her, but her mother reassures her that that wasn't case: She never *stopped* thinking about Rayna. She then told her that she's come to take Rayna home. Then, the other woman stood up and walked to them and took Rayna by the arm, pulling her, saying that she can't just take Rayna back after she 'chose to abandon her'.

The social worker than said the woman was Rayna's birth mother, so she was fully entitled to be there. Her mother then explained what happened to Rayna in the past, and why she had to put her into foster care: She had no choice, nor did she choose to abandon her own daughter. Everything she did was for her daughter. She apologized to Rayna about everything, and explained her father was no longer around (implying he was either dead or in jail) and that she didn't have to worry anymore. Rayna said she loved her mother and that she completely forgave her, understanding why she did what she did. They then share a hug.

The woman coughed behind them, and sarcastically said it was a sad story, but Rayna was still her foster child due to a contract. The social worker then revealed that the contract expired on that day. The woman said she wanted to renew it, and also revealed she just wanted Rayna for money, but the social worker said it wasn't up to her and that it was up to Rayna. The woman started bribing Rayna, saying she'll get her the IPAD she wants, if she chooses her. But Rayna already knew her tricks, so without hesitation, she hugged her real mom and chose her. They both cried. Then she said sweetly that they were going home, but Rayna stopped and said she had something to do first.

The boy, who sitting at the table, stood up and walked to her. Rayna expressed happiness being with him, and that she'll miss him. They then hugged each other, and made a promise: "We'll see each other again soon."

Rayna discovered her psychic abilities around her early teen years. She bumped into someone, and they spilled all their stuff on the ground. Apologizing, she helped them pick their stuff up, but accidently grazed her hand against them. That's when she had a vision of the person getting killed. Shaking her head, she just thought she was tired and needed more sleep. But then, on the news the next day, a body was found that was the same person that she saw the other day; the same person she saw getting killed.

It's unknown the events that happened after her early teen years, but something in it, or perhaps a lot of colliding events, caused her to believe that "Good and Bad", "Happiness And Sorrow" and so on are the same thing and they have no real value. She was also popular in high school and got the nickname "Miss Peace of Mind".

## Powers and Abilities

* **Clairsentience**: The ability to perceive the residual information of an object by touching it.
* **Telepathy**: Psychics are able to enter the minds of others and read their thoughts and access their memories. While they appear to have considerable range, physical contact allows them to search through the deeper recesses of a person's mind.
* **Mind Control:** Psychics possess the ability to apply subtle influence on the minds of others.
* **Telekinesis**: One of the rarest powers for a natural psychic, but also one of the most powerful; this allows them to move objects with their mind.
* **Mediumship**: The ability to communicate with the dead.
* **Empathy**: The ability to sense the emotions that a person is feeling.
* **Biokinesis**: Rayna was able to cause wounds in the form of stigmata to appear on the people she was communicating with.
* **Mental Projection**: Rayna was able to project her thoughts into people's minds. However, this was fatal to them.
* **Divination**: The ability to gain insights on the future, the present, and the past through divination tools.
* **Electrokinesis**: Displayed by Rayna. She could change TV channels with a gesture.

## Relationships

### Romances:

#### Elian Whitlock

> "She doesn't know about love, does she? She just loves people, but it's not like she loves someone."
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Rayna is one of the two people that Elian loves with all of his heart. Elian has a precocious crush on Rayna, being in love with her. One example is when he blushed when she bent down, and touched his forehead with her hand. Considering Rayna's psychic ability, she probably knows about his feelings and loves him back. However, Elian remarks when she says she loves him too, that she doesn't love "him", but rather "humanity" as a whole. He doesn't even know if she knows about love, and if she can love someone.

### Friends:

#### Eugene

Eugene and Rayna first met in the hospital, where Rayna impressed him by solving numerous toys that he was having trouble with. He was the one who gave her greatest wish, to make others happy. However, nowadays, Eugene doesn't remember her. When they first met on-screen, Rayna said "because her face was ripped off, she is nobody".

### Others:

#### Elizabeth

> "I don't wanna. Because. I can't win against Elizabeth. That is to say, no one can beat her. Well, it's different if it's in games or sports. But there's nobody in this world that can win against her. Don't you understand? The reason no one can defeat Elizabeth is because, if this world was a story in a book or tv show, she would be the main character."
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Rayna has a belief that she cannot beat Elizabeth, because, in her own words, "She [Elizabeth] is the main character".

#### Leia

> "I don't think I have to say it at this point, but Rayna is all-knowing. If what you said was true, she would've known. But she wouldn't spoil it. She absolutely wouldn't. Anyone can turn to the solution of a mystery novel. However, anybody that would actually do that isn't a truly invested reader. This is the same thing. She may have a lot of power, but she's fair to every twist in the plot."
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Leia is Rayna's "Boss". At least, that's what she calls her. Rayna is very useful to Leia because of her psychic ability; Leia considers Rayna to be all-knowing, much like everyone else does, but doesn't see her as a monster. However, compared to other people, Leia knows Rayna's personality in "keeping the story interesting".

#### Ezauer

Ezauer and Rayna met in the hospital, where Ezauer showed his pessimistic outlook on life, that really got Rayna thinking about... her life and if it mattered.

## Trivia

* The name Rayna comes from the Yiddish  ריין (*rein*), meaning "clean, pure".
* Rayna is the one character who constantly breaks the fourth wall.
* There is an implication that Rayna has already died once; specifically by having her face ripped off.

## Quotes

* (To Aom Amemiya) *"Aom... your pictures are wonderful. You see these smiles every day, but the way you photograph them is like... a new world."*
* *"Did you think the story was over? \*Chuckle\* It's only just beginning."*
* *"Don't be distracted by the what-if's, should-have's, and if-only's. The one thing you choose for yourself – that is the truth of your universe."*
* *"Comics that go longer than ten volumes just coast on their success. At least that's my theory. And this has already gone three volumes over that. So just watch. I'll end this story before the show starts."*
* *"Just how long are they going to squabble over such pointless things? They're all the same in my eyes. Nothing but a bunch of trash. Light and darkness. Good and evil. Poison and antidote. Winning and losing. Strength and weakness. Black and white. Success and failure. Happiness and sorrow... they're really all the same after all."*
* *"Every time I see people, I know people. I grew to admire people. I love people. As long as this feeling stays within me, instead of stating how the world goes, I want to question how the world goes."*
* *"It is meaningless to distinguish between the beautiful and the ugly, or between the talented and the ordinary. Every human struggles to survive."*
* *"I am the one who can see the difference between reality and not. So I don't feel any reality from you people. Punishments and rewards, insults and praise... To me, it is all the same ink on paper."*
* *"Rayna, who wants to make everyone happy, and Elian, who wants to make everyone miserable. In a way, we are the same."*
* (To Elian Whitlock) *"In the sixteenth century, the nobles had a game that they played. They would break a slave's bones one by one, in order. The slaves would beg in tears, "Please help me." And they would bet on how many bones it would take until they cried out "Please kill me." By the way, it certainly seems like you're in that sort of situation, but... how about it? Don't you want to see how long it would take to change "help me through this pain" to "kill me so I don't have to suffer"?"*
* *"I'm just an even kind of gal."*
* (Reiterating what people have said) *""If I did that, then I wouldn't be human. Much like that all-knowing Rayna Acqua. I would just be a monster.""*
* *"I'm just your friendly neighborhood psychic."*
* *“Pain—You just have to ride it out, hope it goes away on its own, hope the wound that caused it heals. There are no solutions. No easy answers. You just breathe deep and wait for it to subside. Most of the time, pain can be managed. But sometimes, the pain gets you when you least expect it… It’s way below the belt… and doesn’t let up. Pain—You just have to fight through because the truth is, you can’t outrun it, and life always makes more.”*
* *“In general, people can be categorized in one of two ways—those who love surprises, and those who don’t. I… don’t. I’ve never met a psychic who enjoys a surprise. Because, as psychics, we like to be in the know. We have to be in the know, because often, when we aren’t, people die and lawsuits happen. Am I rambling? I think I’m rambling. …Okay, so my point actually, and I do have one, has nothing to do with surprises or death or lawsuits or even psychics. My point is this—Whoever said ‘What you don’t know can’t hurt you,’ was a complete and total moron. Because for most people I know, not knowing is the worst feeling in the world. …Okay, fine. Maybe it’s the second worst.”*
* *“As psychics, there are so many things we have to know. We have to know that we have what it takes. We have to know how to take care of people. And how to take care of each other. Eventually… We even have to figure out how to take care of ourselves. As psychics, we have to be in the know. But as human beings, sometimes it’s better to stay in the dark. Because… in the dark, there may be fear… but there’s also hope.”*
* *“Communication—it’s the first thing we really learn in life… Funny thing is, once we grow up, learn our words, and really start talking, the harder it becomes to know what to say or how to ask for what we really need.”*
* *“At the end of the day, there are some things you just can’t help but talk about. Some things we just don’t want to hear… And some things we say because we can’t be silent any longer. Some things are more than what you say… They’re what you do. Some things you say because there’s no other choice. Some things you keep to yourself. And not too often… but every now and then… Some things simply speak for themselves.”*
* *“In the eighth grade, my English class had to read Romeo and Juliet. Then for extra credit, Mrs. Snyder made us act out all the parts. Sal Scaffarillo was Romeo. As fate would have it, I was Juliet. All the other girls were jealous, but I had a slightly different take. I told Mrs. Snyder that Juliet was an idiot. For starters, she falls for the one guy she knows she can’t have, then she blames fate for her own bad decision. Mrs. Snyder explained to me that when fate comes into play, choice sometimes goes out the window. At the ripe old age of 13, I was very clear that love, like life, is about making choices… And fate has nothing to do with it. Everyone thinks it’s so romantic—Romeo and Juliet, true love, how sad. If Juliet was stupid enough to fall for the enemy, drink a bottle of poison and go to sleep in a mausoleum… She deserved whatever she got.”*
* *“Maybe Romeo and Juliet were fated to be together, but just for a while, and then their time passed. If they could’ve known that beforehand, maybe it all would’ve been okay. I told Mrs. Snyder that when I was grown-up, I’d take fate into my own hands. I wouldn’t let some guy drag me down. Mrs. Snyder said that I’d be lucky if I ever had that kind of passion with someone, and that if I did, we’d be together forever. Even now, I believe that, for the most part, love is about choices. It’s about putting down the poison and the dagger and making your own happy ending… most of the time… And that sometimes, despite all your best choices and all your best intentions, fate wins anyway.”*
* *“Gratitude, appreciation, giving thanks—No matter what words you use, it all means the same thing—Happy. We’re supposed to be happy, grateful for friends, family. Happy to just be alive… whether we like it or not.”*
* *“Maybe we’re not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is… And for what it isn’t… Appreciating small victories… Admiring the struggle it takes simply to be human. Maybe we’re thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe we’re thankful for the things we’ll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing… is reason enough to celebrate.”*

### About Rayna

* *“I don't know how you get up in the morning. I honestly don't. Your mom abandoned you, and your dad, by all accounts, was the meanest person ever, and you can't let Elian love you, and it all really really sucks. But ever since I knew you existed, I had this fantasy about my mom, and you have failed on every occasion to live up to that fantasy. But I still love you, whether you are capable of letting me or not. So, I forgive you.”* —Abir Walton
* *“I’m not stalking you. I just… I hate apples. Hate them. Think they shouldn’t be allowed to be a fruit. That’s one. And… and two, I can draw really, really well on an etch-a-sketch. Like, really well, like I could be a professional if, you know, that profession existed. I play the trombone… badly. Uh, I like Math. And I notice that you do this thing with your hands when you’re trying to make a point, like… like… like this. And I know that that’s about you, but I … I do it, too. So it’s also about me. And that’s five. Five things that I’m hoping will make it a little bit harder for you to hate me.”* —Abir Walton