Backstory
Ijus was born in Ystad, Sweden but grew up in the U.S for most of her early life. She was an only child and had two loving parents, although she had always felt like an older sister to her close cousin, Paris. Paris was like a little sister to her, younger and following her guidance over the years. Even if it was brief, with Paris passing away one day, the two would still be inseparable for a while longer. When Paris passed, Ijus’ family was silent about it. They acted as if she moved away, not wanting to see Ijus grieve as greatly, especially as they had considering Paris’ mother was sisters with Ijus’. Even then, Ijus was able to learn the truth of her cousin’s passing when she appeared before her as a spirit.
When death comes, you‘re up for grabs by many deities who could shepherd you— you can go to heaven, hell, undergo reincarnation, nirvana, etc. It seemed as if Paris didn’t want to go anywhere but Ijus’ side, and so she stayed a spirit alongside her. It took a while of her staying around, “haunting” perhaps, for Ijus to indirectly be able to see her. With that exposure to a spirit came the ability to see other ghosts and supernatural beings. While it certainly spooked young Ijus, being able to see Paris happy nonetheless was comforting to her. Similar to Gingko’s childhood, many adults simply thought Ijus was playing with an imaginary friend. Learning to read atmospheres, Ijus stoped her habit of “muttering to herself“, so her talking to a spirit didnt get in the way of her school life at first. Paris was a petty person, childish, so those who talked behind Ijus’ back were picked on by Paris. Items thrown around in the bathrooms, “wind” blowing their schoolwork away, sometimes it felt as if something physically kept their mouths shut when talking about Ijus. Unfortunately that did backfire a bit as Ijus was then rumored to be a “witch” or bad omen. That drama was widespread among girls in her classes, but Ijus didn’t realize why those peers didn’t warm up to her. She figured it was just that she was sporty, maybe a little nerdy, or a goody two shoes? With that said, she befriended boys, but really did want to understand other girls better deep down.
Naturally wanting to be liked by others, and believing that fawning over boys was normal for her age, she wanted to get a boyfriend. She did have a few growing up, but differences got in the way; they didn’t like that she was taller early into puberty, that she could play sports better, that she wasn’t feminine enough in looks. None hated her, in fact, they said she felt more like a brother in the end. It didn’t hurt her too much, there were band boys to crush on next after all. Eventually, their music didn’t interest her, or boys at all.
When she was in high school, she got herself into Tennis more seriously, aiming to become a professional. She excelled in it, won tournaments here and there, but no trophy was better than the experience she got from a particular game abroad.When she went to China for the first time, she remembers a simple convention hall more than the time she spent touring landmarks. It was there that she met Gingko, during a cooldown period before she was going to go against Yingpei, Gingko’s cousin.
She noticed Gingko was very encouraging to her cousin and thought her energy was pretty cute. When the players stood on the court, she saw Gingko in the crowd cheering, and got distracted a few times by her. When the match was finished, she saw the two, and finally approached Yingpei to thank him for playing with her. More fluent in English, Yingpei thanked her and introduced his cousin who was just tagging along. The two tennis players were going to attend the same tournament after this one in the near future, so Ijus said she wanted to practice her Chinese better by then so she can get to know Gingko better. Of course, Yingpei invited Ijus to hang out with them as a translator for the two, but it soon dawned on him that their commonalities together were way too prevalent. That said, he promptly forced the two to join his Duolingo family plan so he wouldn’t third wheel. Throughout all her lessons and practice trying to text Gingko with translators, Paris hung around but didn’t bother learning with her if Gingko didn’t interest her as much.The next time Ijus and Gingko saw each other, a language barrier was still there, yet they didn’t always need words to get along. They tried to use actions when they got stuck, with Ijus holding her hand as a way of saying “let’s go here” or “follow me”. When Gingko wanted her to try unfamiliar foods, she simply shared her own food and drinks with her too. All the gestures between them ended up being fairly romantic whether they intended it or not, the two realizing it, and words like “I love you” were something that could be said by either without need of a translation. They’d both heard it enough times in media to understand it. So when Ijus finally said those words, even “Will you marry me?”, Gingko bawled her eyes out both times.She had a habit of crying when something good happened, Gingko not sure of the reason herself, but Ijus didn’t mind it If she adored all that made up her individuality.
In the end, the two got married in America, studied enough to converse the other’s language almost fluently, but stuck to English the most. Ijus felt blissful knowing that she found someone that she loved, not liking boys, but neither any particular girl until she had met Gingko. While they usually stayed out of the country due to Ijus’ championships as a tennis player, they came back to Gingko’s childhood home when Gingko’s cousin got sick. As for Ijus, her cousin Paris was a little jealous of the attention Ijus’ wife was getting throughout the years, growing distant to some degree, but she tried not to voice it. Ijus noticed that she didn’t talk to Paris as much as they used to, that Paris didn’t allow Gingko to see her, just Ijus, and that she was away longer than usual.
The spirit would wander, preferring not to talk to other spirits, but in time she met Ephialtes, who was neither a human or spirit. The escapee from Pandora’s Box, an evil being meant to fester off the nightmares of humans, befriended Paris with promises of ending a curse imposed on Ijus.Neither questioned the questionable parts of their family tree, that many aunts seemed to die young, most of them not living to an old age unless they were younger sisters. Apparently an ancestor had gotten on the nerve of Merikh, another Misery from Pandora’s Box that dealt with Death. While most Miseries tried to not curse others, Merikh tossed around curses freely when inconvenienced. Ephialtes explained that they could see that within them, that their curse was for firstborn daughters to die young. It was a miracle that Ijus was still alive, but that meant she could pass any moment. Ephialtes said that the remedy lied in an urn stored in Gingko’s family’s temple. If Paris could have Ijus open it, they could save her. Naive, Paris convinced Ijus to take a brief look inside the warehouse, but, sensing a great sadness from the urn, Ijus opened it herself. In turn, Ephialtes' comrade, Chimäre possessed Ijus, whisking her away, yet suspending her death.
