Ben Baker

"He didn’t have much to lose if things did turn for the worst, and he was well aware of this fact. Rachel had her family to go home to, but it wasn’t like his was anything anymore."

Alternative Name(s) or Nicknames

Batil Bendesa

Age in Book 1

14 years old

Birthday

September 30th

Personality Type

MBTI: INTP Enneagram: 4

Classification(s)

Eswie- Water Abilities

Preferred Weapon(s)

N/A

Gender/Orientation Identity

Nonbinary Aro-Ace

Personal History

Content Warning: Mentions abuse, drug use, and mental health challenges.

Ben's family had been one of the last to escape from the carnage of the attack. Though he would have no memory of the destruction and death that had occurred on that day due to his age, it would go on to shape his life. His mother was a cruel woman and had always been, and after watching her life get torn to shreds, she only became more so. It didn't take long for his father to turn to substance use, slipping from alcohol and marijuana to cocaine and heroin.

Ben was alone in a household with two incredibly unstable parents, but school was his relief. While the first couple of years were rather uneventful, when he entered second grade at eight years old, a rather energetic and outspoken girl would take him under her wing and never leave his side again. Rachel became his home, a source of both comfort and protection from the world that appeared so grim. The two grew together, and Ben was welcomed as an extension of her family.

While other friendships fizzled out or were riddled with drama, their balance remained as easy as breathing. Where he struggled to stand up for himself, she would step up. Where her impatience got the best of her, he calmed her. While many around them didn't understand their friendship, claiming they were too different, or that Rachel dominated their relationship, the two understood each other. They were inseparable.

As they transitioned into middle school, his home life would grow worse as his father was arrested for his drug use. While he would grow more confident in his academic life, his mother tore him down verbally. Seemingly slowly, her emotional abuse would escalate to being physical. Living with her became unbearable, and his mental health began to slip faster than it had in the past. Rachel's parents contacted CPS several times, however, it was unaccounted for that his mother was a telepath, and all issues would go unseen under her manipulation each time.

Depression and anxiety encompassed him, and though he had no plan, his thoughts would often wander toward ceasing to exist. Rachel was his liferaft in an ocean filling with his apathy for life, and it often appeared to him that it wouldn't matter if something happened to him. This thought, paired with his mother's violence, convinced him that she would be responsible for his early demise. This was when his life would change, and he would go willingly as he had nothing to lose. He would be given a second chance at life, this time facing monsters rather than his mother. Here, he would find hope and reclaim himself.