Zainab Reaux

**Zainab Reaux** is the mother of Gabriel and Evangeline Reaux.

## Biography

### Early life

Zainab was born to an unnamed mother and Awad Mansour in Deir Yassin around 1941. Seeing as she was born during the Binding, she had a rough childhood. This troubled time was made somewhat easier by her loving parents and her best friends, Alia and Marwa.

On the day Deir Yassin fell, Zainab was with Marwa. Alia was on a trip to Earth with her parents to a Palestinian synagogue. She was mistaken for Arab and therefore caught in the human crossfire and when her soul returned to the Empire, the corrupted magic killed her permanently. Zainab and Marwa had tried to save her, but they were unsuccessful. Marwa’s parents fled with the girls and managed to reach Zainab’s parents. However, Marwa’s family was also swallowed up by the magic as Zainab was forced to watch.

Left with no other choice but to run, Zainab’s parents tried to flee Palestine in what the humans came to call the Nakba. They went west of Deir Yassin since the eastern routes out of the village had collapsed. Those routes had stayed open long enough for Zainab to get out, but not her parents. The family had made it as far as Rafah (by the Egypt-Gaza border) before her parents sacrificed themselves to save her. She suffered many injuries and losses in what came to be known as the Rafah Massacre, but survived. Eventually, she landed in the Empire’s France after spending some couple months in an emergency camp in Empirical Egypt (specifically the Rafah Refugee Camp, also known as the RRC). There, she was taken in by a Mizrahi Jewish family who were transferred to Empirical France with her in tow. They were placed in the emergency camp of *Camp de Montpellier* (also called CDM), an emergency refugee camp in Montpellier, Empirical France.

Eventually, while at CDM, she met Ariel Reaux (whose mother was a volunteer there) and they, years later, married and had two children together: Gabriel and Evangeline.

Zainab had initially named Gabriel *Jibril*, but later realized the name was bound to Palestine and saying it too much would tether him to the corrupt magic and, with enough time, kill him. She and Ariel quickly changed his name to the English *Gabriel* in order to keep him safe. When Zainab realized the rule may also apply to her, she changed her name to Amelia. They gave Evangeline an English name to avoid the same danger Gabe had faced.

## Personality

Zainab is deeply scarred from the destruction she’s seen in her life. However, she is still kind and is unafraid of loving. She is described by both Gabe and Evangeline as “the best mother ever.” She is resilient as Gabe recalls days when the violence in Earthen Palestine flared up, which caused her immense grief and put her in great physical and mental pain where she could not even do basic functions. He remembers she would always come out of her episodes and spoil him and Evangeline. Sometimes, she feels guilty for not being able to endure, but her children love her all the same. They love and support her through everything. Zainab is also very determined and always tries to do the right thing, as is evident from when she killed Ariel after finding out his role in the torture of Cassiel Nakaya.

## Appearance

Because of her struggle during the Nakba, Zainab is very physically altered. Most of her limbs were deformed in one way or another. Her left knee was shattered and never healed right, so she walks with a limp. Her right shoulder needs to permanently be in a cast, so she has limited capability with her arm. Her left hand is missing two fingers while her right is missing only one. She has dark brown hair with blonde streaks, as most of her light detached from her after she fled Palestine. Her eyes are brown. She is of average height and thin from growing up with constant food instability.

## Trivia

* Zainab is ambidextrous.
* She is one of the few angels with dark features both in and out of the Empire. She shares this status with other surviving Palestinian Celestials, including Jewish-Palestinian Celestials.