More on Bella

Thought more on this magic thing while I was at work today. This whole "Bella just can't handle it" stuff. Also noted how insecure it was of me to make such a super powerful character, but that's another discussion. I don't consider her a super power anymore, anyhow. I think that Bella cannot emotionally take the stress, and is not smart enough to actually handle it correctly.

When you think about it, Magic bends the laws of the universe. We, living things, exist in between matter and time. Those that use magic deal with a force that makes possible the manipulation and breaking of both. Intelligent beings aren't emotionless computers, while not always logical, they always see the world a certain way. Mortality is limiting, the knowledge of the universe cannot be comprehended by a being that has a sense of self. A being with a sense of self sees only how the world relates to itself. Sees itself inside the world. It is the capsule that contains the mind's own smaller universe and is, by its very nature, restricting. When a caster uses magic, the wand acts as a conduit, allowing the user to manipulate magic without having to come into direct contact with the energies itself. The mind can focus on it while still having the safety of distance. You don't have to think too hard about it. You don't feel it draining the heat from your body like the very vacuum of space. What is different about Bella is that when she casts, she does. She feels it in her, through her, around her. When she casts she knows it with the intimacy of a lover, her mind has no place to escape. It can only look on and be overwhelmed. Such a fragile person stands no chance. Think of it as holding in your hands a screaming shaft of lightning. So powerful, unpredictable and potentially devastating.

The original Bella was a test tube baby. Coming out full grown with no childhood. This has since been dropped. The circumstances leading up to her birth have become more clandestine. She was born naturally, conceived on purpose to be used as a tool. Her mother chosen carefully before being abducted, raped, and forced to bear her. Only minutes after taking her first breath, she was given a dose of a syrupy, dark substance meant to 'align her poles' so to speak. To create 'pathways' through her body that aid in the conducting of magical energy. To remove 'friction' in the same way that a finely crafted wand does. At the base of her neck, her shoulders, hips, elbows, knees and the ends of each of her middle fingers were implanted with tiny obsidian and silver beads to aid in her conductive power. This process stressed the child incredibly. As a result Bella was a sickly baby.

Try as they did to make a perfect caster, Bella quickly fell short of their expectations and the project was eventually abandoned. Bella grew up a troubled and lonely person and while possessing the ability she does, she dreads and fears it like one would fear drowning in blood. She is by no means a noble person, or more capable of being a hero than anyone else is. Her mortality holds her back from her power, just as it would anyone else.