Jeanne-Marie Beaubier

**WARNING:** Contains references to abuse and mental disorders.

## Personality

Jeanne-Marie has Dissociative Identity Disorder, so she has what she refers to as a "host" personality, "Aurora", and one known "alter", "Jeanne-Marie".

Aurora is a social, curious girl, always wanting to explore and experience the world in spite of (or maybe because of) the restrictions imposed by those around her. She loves company, light, loud music, dancing, and flying. She's affectionate and friendly and though she has moments of extreme cluelessness and selfishness, she does love very, very hard. Her wild streak is a mile wide, and her sense of humor can be sharp, but she hates cruelty and meanness and will stand up to bullies. She's desperate to be free and rid herself of her alter, whom she finds overly pious and boring--and whom reminds her far too much of the bad old times when she was controlled by forces beyond her. As a result, Aurora can seem reactionary, kneejerk, but she is very much the old JM people knew before her split, just turned up to 11 on purpose.

Jeanne-Marie is, in many ways, her opposite. Close-minded and prudish, Jeanne-Marie is secure in the superiority of her faith if nothing much else. She holds the collective bad memories and pain, the mental scars and emotional trauma of sixteen years of abuse and neglect. She thinks she's wicked and sinful; though most others are as well, she tends to turn her piety inward rather than outward, except on occasions where she feels someone else is affecting her ability to live in the light of God. She believes penance is the only way to Heaven, and Heaven is the only thing to look forward to—everything she's been through, everything that's been done to her, will be rewarded if she endures it with a penitent heart. She'll often give herself tasks like sitting in the dark and praying or walking on gravel barefoot while saying the rosary, that sort of thing, if she begins to feel sorry for herself. For all that, she also believes in studying hard and following Christ's example. She's basically like a hyper-Christian goth kid, wearing simple, modest black clothing at all times and keeping her hair pulled back.

At current, these personalities each keep a journal, as recommended by the professor, so that they can fill in gaps in memory for each other. They disapprove extremely of each other.

## Powers

Aurora shares her brother Jean-Paul's ability to fly and move at superspeed. On that level, she's like a watered-down version of him: she manipulates and redirects kinetic energy on a molecular level to propel herself or some part of her at an accelerated rate, but has nowhere near the potential speed of light. The same goes for flying: she applies the energy as downward thrust to stay in the air. This hasn't been explored fully, or at all, really, and she mostly does it on instinct. She's more powerful and in control of it in her brother's immediate presence.

Where she's most adept is with her photogenesis--the ability to convert that same kinetic energy into electromagnetic--as in light--usually centering around her hands, since that's where she tends to focus it. There is heat involved, but it's minor and more of a byproduct. These flashes are just that--extremely short and bright white, but last barely a second. Their potential uses are mostly untested, but they temporarily blind anyone who was too near when she let one loose.

She shares a vague telepathic bond with her twin brother, Jean-Paul. It becomes obvious in moments of emotional distress, when they tend to bleed over into each other.

## Talents

Languages—her English is as perfect as her Quebecois and she does well with standard French, too. She'd like to learn more Latin and Ancient Greek. She has a pretty singing voice and loves to use it, especially at Mass.

## Interests

Music, dance, and art have always interested her, both secular and religious. Aurora is very interested in boys. Jeanne-Marie is very interested in keeping them far, far away. JM is mostly interested in prayer, fasting, and black clothes.

## History

Jeanne-Marie and Jean-Paul Beaubier were infants when their family was in a tragic car accident. Their mother Melisande was killed instantly, but their father Jean-Baptiste managed to get the twins to safety just before dying, himself. The nearest relative, a cousin of Melisande's called Luis Martin, could only afford one child. They took Jean-Paul, and Jeanne-Marie passed into the hands of the state--where no one ever thought to mention to her that she had a brother.

Her existence since then has been an unstable one, characterized by neglect. Between infancy and the age of twelve, she was passed between various foster homes, with the occasional spate at several charitable Catholic institutions and orphanages. When she had a foster home, they were more likely looking for state funds and help raising their own children than for an actual daughter. Though she had a few decent ones, the bad ones were abusive and exploitative—and there are certain stretches of time at some of these places that Jeanne-Marie doesn't remember and doesn't want to. For the most part the Church-run charitable houses provided for all her basic needs, but there was no love to speak of.

At thirteen, she was sent to live with Louise and François Perrault. A devoutly Catholic couple with no children, they determined to take in someone "unwanted". The Perraults enrolled her in a small, strict Catholic school called Madame DuPont's. The curriculum was Catechism-centered, and concepts such as evolution, sex education, and even most literature were unheard-of. Though she had some friends at school who lived less sheltered lives, any music, TV, or movies that weren't pre-approved were banned from the home. When she was discovered with any of them—which she was—she was locked in her small room for entire weekends, if not longer, with the menacing suggestion that she use the time for prayer and reflection on what she'd done.

During one of these lockups, a storm knocked out the power. Terrified and alone, Jeanne-Marie actually did pray—so hard that she started to glow. She found this as comforting as it was scary. Seeing the light from within, Louise opened the door, screamed, and slammed it again.

When this particular bout of penance had finished, the Perraults pretended that nothing had happened, and Jeanne-Marie was frightened enough by their reaction that she did the same; they had halfway convinced her that she was possessed. How else could she explain the long stretches of penance she couldn't remember, let alone that light? The next time she lit up during a tongue-lashing from her foster mother, it became a real lashing, and not the crack-on-the-knuckles she occasionally got from the nuns, either.

Jeanne-Marie doesn't remember that beating, but the bruises and welts the next day were familiar enough. Tormented and confused, she stepped out onto the roof from her tiny window and jumped. But instead of falling like she'd hoped, she flew. The moment changed things for her; she realized that nothing this wonderful could be anything but a gift from God—who of course wouldn't want her to commit suicide—and began to take strength from it instead of hating it.

Unbeknownst to Jeanne-Marie, her gaps of lost time were due to an emerging alter, another, much more serious, studious, and dutiful personality created by her psyche to bear the brunt of abuse and pain. When this alter Jeanne-Marie was dominant, she was penitent, prayerful, and never, ever used her abilities. The only hints of the alter's existence Jeanne-Marie had were whispers in her mind, nagging her to be less sinful. At Madame DuPont's, the nuns began to notice her "mood swings" and memory issues, and she began working with a counselor—who suspected schizophrenia.

As if to prove that she was meant to live, Jean-Paul showed up around this time. At his guardian's urging, he'd begun to research his family, and was amazed to find mention of a twin sister. When she saw the blue-eyed boy waiting outside Madame DuPont's one afternoon, Jeanne-Marie immediately felt that she knew him. It turned out she was right in a way she could never have expected. To find out that she had a brother—family—she'd never known was a dream come true. They immediately became friends, and Jean-Paul set about showing his sister some of the world she'd always longed to see.

There were still times when even he couldn't draw her out, however. Times when his tapping at her window was met with silence and darkness, and Jeanne-Marie would claim the next time not to remember what had happened. But these moments were easily forgotten with a night out in Montreal, raising hell and having the time of their lives. Jeanne-Marie was intrigued by and hopeful at the idea that Raymonde might also adopt her, and she could live with her brother in Montreal. Alas, the agency that had placed her with the Perrault's wouldn't have it on the grounds of Raymonde's "unsuitability". Aka, his homosexuality.

Heartbroken, Jeanne-Marie and her brother ran away on a tear through Montreal, stirring up trouble everywhere they went and being dangerously flippant about their powers. On the third day, Professor Charles Xavier intervened telepathically, having got word of them through his own channels. He offered them a safe place to study and all the explanations they'd been lacking. Jeanne-Marie jumped at the opportunity, but Jean-Paul took some serious convincing. In her heart, though, Jeanne-Marie knew he'd come with her to this new place, where there would be other kids like them, and where they could finally be together as a family.

Though they had their ups and downs, the twins did well at Xavier's, making friends and eventually boyfriends easily. Being a family wasn't always as smooth as the rest of it, but they make a serious effort. Both of them trained to be X-Men, wanting to help the world see mutants for what they were; Jeanne-Marie came out publicly when Kurt and Shen staged a protest in Central Park and she was there with them, openly using her powers and supporting mutant rights.

When the Right kidnapped several of their friends who had been previously held, Jeanne-Marie went with the team. Seeing her friend being abused by guards, she snapped and beat at least one of them to a bloody pulp. Scared of herself, of what she'd done in her rage, Aurora mentally shattered, allowing her Jeanne-Marie persona to take control for some weeks afterward. From here, she's going to have a lot more to work on....