Calliope Ochre

Calliope Sekhmet Ochre is a fifteen-year-old sphinx attending Fitherington's School for the Magical. She is the daughter of Leda and Cyrus Ochre, as well as the cousin of Alexander Solferino and Corinne Quill. Calliope's name is almost exclusively shortened to Callie, and those who do not know her tend to refer to her as "the sphinx", or 'that girl with the plaits and the book'.

Personality
Calliope is down-to-earth and has a good heart, although she can be cold and even intimidating towards those she dislikes or doesn't know well. A hard worker who excels in her studies, Calliope is confident, independent, and more than a little stubborn. She can't resist a good display of wit, and is often devastated when she loses such a contest, believing that it reflects poorly on her intelligence.

Appearance
Calliope is of average height and weight for a teenage girl, with wavy dark hair which she usually wears in two thick braids. She has large, expressive dark brown eyes (hidden by a pair of thick glasses), thick eyebrows, and a deeply tanned skin due to her Greek and Egyptian ancestry. The only obvious evidence of Calliope's sphinx heritage is the pair of tan cat ears on the top of her head. She loves earth tones- especially rust red, bronzy gold, and olive green- and her wardrobe consists of comfortable t-shirts and jeans, especially those decorated with Egyptian symbols like the ankh and scarab.

Not that this drastically changes her appearance, but Callie is a trans girl~



Early Life
Calliope was born into a moderately well-to-do sphinx family in the city of Dian on November 1st. Her parents, Leda and Cyrus, were both half-sphinx, and they were surprised and startled on discovering that their daughter was a full-blood. The rest of Leda's family (especially her sister, Thalia) were very excited about Calliope's birth and it came as a nasty shock to them when the young couple announced that they were to start a new life in the human world, bringing Calliope up away from even the smallest magical co veniences. When she was one year old, Leda and Cyrus sold their home and small business and headed for the human plane.

Childhood
Calliope lived in a small town somewhere on the west coast of the United States until she was thirteen. She has no idea where exactly it was, and can no longer remember anything about it other than she used to be lonely and was often picked on by other children. She was one of the best in the class up until eighth grade, although she was never a favorite of the teachers. Calliope often worries about forgetting where she came from (especially since she doesn't remember the name of her hometown), but her aunt Thea Flax insists that it is because most newcomers to the magical world forget their human roots.

Introduction to the Magical World
While Calliope was busy leading a normal human life, her sphinx family had plans of their own. Since Calliope was a full-blooded sphinx and, to put it bluntly, the pride of the family, they hatched a kind of plot to bring her back into the magical world.

Calliope was fourteen and just out of eighth grade when Corinne paid her family a three-week visit. Initially, the two girls were disgusted with one another- Calliope thought Corinne was insane and Corinne thought Calliope was woefully ignorant. Gradually, the two warmed up to one another, and around the middle of summer, Calliope crossed over into the magical world. She traveled with Corinne from Upper Malinthene to Dian, where she met her cousin and soon-to-be best friend Alexander Solferino, as well as the rest of her family.

It was here that Calliope learned of what she was, and she spent much of her time in her aunt Thalia's enormous library, reading up on the many magical species.

Once it came time to enroll Calliope in a school, she had her heart set on Arhanxtos Academy, the most prestigious magical school in the world. As a child of Cyrus Ochre, she was offered a scholarship to the school; however, Calliope was forbidden to attend the school once the staff found out she was a girl, and the scholarship was issued to Alexander instead. Thea enrolled Calliope at Fitherington's, but she was extremely upset and hasn't spoken with Alexander since. This may prove to be a bit of an obstacle in the future, as Alexander recently sent her a letter announcing his plans to attend Fitherington's.

Interests and Skills
Calliope is very interested in almost everything to do with the magical world, and spends a lot of time poring over Corinne's notes and sketches. She also enjoys telling stories of her life to other people, especially her friends. Calliope often writes these down to remember them, although her writing is not very good and she lacks the imagination of a novelist. She loves to collect things, especially coins from other places.

Like all sphinx, she possesses a subtle power of persuasion, which can make her a difficult person to argue with. She has a good memory and above-average tolerance of warm temperatures, which are also results of being a sphinx. Aside from sphinx talents, Calliope has a knack for learning new languages (it took her three weeks to master the basic Sphinx tongue, which she speaks with a heavy accent), and can identify foreign phrases without much trouble.

Corinne Quill and Alexander Solferino
Corinne and Alexander are Calliope's cousins, and the three were once the best of friends. Calliope and Corinne are still extremely close; however, Calliope began ignoring Alexander after he was given her scholarship to Arhanxtos Academy. Calliope's cousins are the closest she has to siblings, and she would be devastated if anything happened to them. She feels the same way about the rest of her family.

Lucia Fellona
Lucia is Calliope's closest school friend; they were drawn together by an "opposites attract" phenomenon and see eye to eye on almost everything. Both have been picked on by Claire Monsün, which may have brought them together. Despite their closeness, Calliope feels very awkward around Lucia- the elf is very shy, and Calliope always feels too self-centered around her. Despite this, both friends are always there for one another and Calliope couldn't ask for a better confidant.

Phoenix Crest
Calliope doesn't get along well with Lucia's almost-boyfriend, to say the least. Phoenix is popular and chivalrous, and Calliope doubts most of his artistic talent. She thinks Phoenix is just trying to make a fool of Lucia by getting her hopes up and then breaking her heart, and she refuses to let that happen to her friend. Calliope also resents Phoenix's good-intentioned courtesies (such as holding the door open for her), because she believes she can take care of herself. Calliope is at her most sphinx-like around Phoenix, and has attempted to humiliate him on several occasions.

Dawn Allikin
Dawn was the first person Calliope met at Fitherington's School for the Magical, and while she hoped Dawn would be a true friend, the fairy began ignoring her for the spiteful and malicious Amy Hex. While Calliope was initially crushed by Dawn's petty betrayal, she decided to move on and now considers her attempts to impress Dawn as a personal failing.

Celio Adrotti
Calliope's relationship with Celio is extremely convoluted. She first met him when he used her as a human shield against his Gorgon ex, and she despises him for it. However, Celio was also the first person to engage her in intelligent conversation since she last saw Alexander, and she felt something like jealousy when he left her for Amy before the trip to Mytin. Calliope has not yet straightened out her feelings about the Araldris; only time will tell how their relationship unfolds.