A witch, Practitioner, and Molly’s girlfriend. She first appeared in Good Intentions.
Biography[]
Onyx was born 22 years ago, probably in April or May.[1] She grew up in or near Seattle—probably Everett. Throughout her childhood and youth she had a sense of both looking for someone and that someone was hunting for her.[2] She started to explore magic during high school, and a ritual led her to Elizabeth’s bookstore, where she met Molly.[3] She was seventeen at the time.[4]
Moving to Seattle[]
Sometime after Onyx’s graduation from high school, Onyx and Molly moved together into a small Shoreline apartment and started studying at North Seattle Community College. Together with Molly she was bequeathed Elizabeth’s Book of Shadows after Elizabeth’s death. The inheritance turned out to be a mixed blessing, because it put interest from other Practitioners in Seattle on them.[5][6]
“I didn’t plan to jump into bed with you when we first hung out,” she said. “Not even close. I had a crush, sure. It wasn’t until we got talking and… and the longer we both talked, the more we clicked. It wasn’t all about the sex appeal, either. It was the friendship. The rest was…” Onyx shrugged. “Awesome. A bonus. Everything escalated. The thing that floored me right out of the gate was feeling like I’d found a best friend. Like I was safe.”
— Onyx, Past Due, chapter 9
She was curious about her bisexuality, and she and Molly had discussed sex and relationships with men.[1] They met Alex during photography class at North Seattle. Onyx had a date with him a Friday in September during which they connected deeply and that developed into a tryst. While at his home she discovered that Lorelei was a demon.[7]
Meeting the Crew[]
Onyx and Molly set out to free Alex from Lorelei, causing them to study demonology and summoning. During this they had to fight off an attempt from the Brotherhood of Apollo to abduct them.[6] With little more than a day of research, Onyx crafted a ritual to summon a demon with Molly’s help.[8] The attempt backfired because they saw Rachel interact with Alex at North Seattle and they mistook her for Lorelei, causing them to use some of Rachel’s hairs for the summoning ritual, thus summoning and capturing her rather than Lorelei.[9] This complicated Alex’s situation before and under the Battle of Blackthorne Manor, but they were instrumental in rescuing Alex and Lorelei from Baal and Hell.[10]
She attempted to deepen her relation with Alex, but he kept some distance from her.[11] In the end, Lorelei sought out Molly and Onyx herself to help protect Suite 1705, to get help handling Alex’s Post Traumatic Reincarnation Disorder, and to help make Alex connect with them.[12] She and Molly were present at the Emerald City Halloween Ball where they learned to know the Crew better as well as negotiated with and had a tryst with Lorelei.[13]
Relation with Alex[]
Onyx and Molly crafted and performed a ritual to settle Alex’s past memories, during which Onyx appeared as Elena. This also opened the way for the three to begin a relationship.[14][4] They were instrumental throughout the Battle of Magnuson Park. After the battle she and Molly started to consult on magical topics with the Special Task Force of the FBI.[15] This together with being on retainer for Lorelei gave them greater economic freedom.[12][13]
As a result they went house-hunting with assistance from Alex in early December. They found, leased, and cleansed House 12573, and moved into it between Christmas and New Year.[16][17]
The destruction of the Brotherhood of Apollo at the Battle of Blackthorne Manor led to a meeting among Seattle’s Practitioners, which turned into Battle of the Casino and then to the Battle of Suite 1705. Onyx played a pivotal role in both battles, though she was grievously wounded by the demon Evelyn during the latter.
The Family[]
When Onyx’s connections to the Family were uncovered by Zafirah, they became a major part in motivating the Crew in going to the Family party in Vancouver in March.[18] Her past life sister Kashvi managed to partially awaken Onyx’s memories from past lives, but with no apparent long-term effects.[19] She played an important role during the Battle of the Silver Delta.[20]
Throughout this period her relation with Alex has deepened considerably, going from friends with benefits to being “polyamorous sex trash”.[21]
Personal[]
Onyx’s birth name is unknown; she began to go by Onyx in middle school.[5] She is bisexual and identifies as a “queer pagan Seattle liberal woman”.[2] She has been described as a delicate, classic beauty, with blue eyes and long and curly black hair.[7] She is usually well-dressed in a goth fashion, mostly in black satin and lace combined with Doc Marten boots and a frock coat.[7][22] She appears to treat clothes as a shield against the world.[2]
Onyx played theater in high school and has a high level of cultural awareness.[23] She is socially adept with a strong sense of decorum. Like Molly she is more open about magic than most Practitioners.[24]
She usually gives a friendly if introverted impression and is well aware of social conventions and the feelings of others, but has a hard, disciplined, and resolute core.[25] She reacts poorly to nightly disturbances.[26]
Relations[]
Onyx has good relations with her parents and no known siblings.[27] There is however a very slight hint that she has to work for her parents not viewing her as a kid.[7]
She has lived together with Molly in a committed relationship for several years. She has a side relationship with Alex together with Molly that is still evolving, and considers him family.[2][21] According to Molly, Onyx’s and Alex’s relationship is much more serious than the one between Molly and Alex.[24]
She has had a tryst with Lorelei together with Molly.[28]
Together with Molly she maintains a wide circle of mundane friends. It is known there that she is pagan, but not that she can work magic.[17] Following Molly’s lead she has however kept a relative distance to the other Practitioners in and around Seattle.[27]
Abilities[]
She walked around the kitchen counter toward the living room with Drew close behind. “It turns out I’ve got good eyes,” said Onyx. “I notice stuff…”
Her friends carried on. Rain pattered gently against the balcony glass door. The office tower across the street lay dark and still… except for the dim light from the broad pane of glass directly across from Lorelei’s balcony.
— Onyx, Personal Demons, chapter 20
Onyx is highly perceptive and observant, both with and without magic, and her magical powers have grown greatly in the past year.[5][2]
She is a capable and extremely talented Practitioner, and especially so in magics of the mind, auras, souls, and spirits. This includes breaking spells, managing wards, and working with angels and demons.[20] Reading and understanding auras comes naturally to her, and she has turned a spell of pain and disorientation into a deadly weapon.[5][10] She uses it very sparingly however, since it leaves her to sense the last thoughts and emotions of the target.[20]
She is also highly skilled in all forms of perception and divination magic: hiding and discovering people, magic, and items, as well as seeing through illusions and having a sense of upcoming events.[10][13] She also has a grounding in areas such as healing and other kinds of magic.[29]
The known classes she has taken are woodworking[5] and theater[23] in high school, and music theory[25] and photography[7] in college. She has a keen interest in World War II due to influences from a past life.[2]
Possessions[]
Onyx’s wand is made out of ebony. She made her first wand in woodworking class in her senior year of high school, but it was broken during the Battle of Suite 1705.[5][30] She soon either repaired it or crafted a replacement wand.
She has a set of brass knuckles, a gift from Molly.[20] She usually wears several earrings that she uses as disposable casting tools, e.g. for eavesdropping.[10] She used to drive a used Chevrolet, and may still do so.[5]
Together with Molly she owns Elizabeth’s Book of Shadows.
Theories[]
It is possible that Onyx’s natural talent for magic was accelerated early on by the dual spells laid on her soul by herself and by Malike. The first was of freedom and escape, the second of other people not protecting her.[31][32] While the second spell had been broken by Simon, there might still have been residual effects remaining from it.
“Watching the aisles like she was searching for someone. Looking over her shoulder like she was about to get busted. It was all over her aura.”
— Molly, Personal Demons, chapter 9
Onyx usually appears introverted, and despite dating Molly during four years she only met Elizabeath a few times. She also didn’t learn to know any other of Seattle’s Practitioners during that time.[3][5] This is likely connected with the sense she had that she was hunted.[33] This might have caused her to develop habits to keep private and being loath to apprach strangers.
It is possible that her role in the destruction of the Brotherhood of Apollo led to her being able to claim much more of the available magical power in Seattle.
Onyx was less psychologically and emotionally impacted than Alex when her memories of past incarnations were awakened.[34][35] Molly speculates that this is because Onyx had her wards up, blunting the impact of the spell, and that the spell worked in a different manner than the potion used on Alex. Another possibility is that Onyx spent more time in Heaven between reincarnations, thus blunting the emotional trauma from each life, and that her lives were less traumatic in general. It is unknown if there will be any long-term impact of the memories from past lifes.
Sources[]
Onyx play a key role in the following stories:
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “Naked Justice”
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Past Due, chapter 9
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Personal Demons, Prologue
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Natural Consequences, chapter 11
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 “Authenticity”
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Good Intentions, chapter 14
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Good Intentions, chapter 11
- ↑ Good Intentions: The AMA (Elliott Kay’s Patreon, April 17, 2020)
- ↑ Good Intentions, chapter 15
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Good Intentions, chapter 17
- ↑ “Minor Errands”
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Natural Consequences, chapter 4
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Natural Consequences, chapter 5
- ↑ Natural Consequences, chapter 10
- ↑ Natural Consequences, chapter 18
- ↑ “More Than Friends”
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Personal Demons, chapter 3
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 8
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 19
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Past Due, chapter 26
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Past Due, chapter 28
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 4
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 “Legitimacy”
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Past Due, chapter 12
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Natural Consequences, chapter 12
- ↑ “Constellations”
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Past Due, chapter 2
- ↑ Natural Consequences, chapter 6
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 20
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 22
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 4
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 10
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 9
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 20
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 22