Juān was born to a pair of the many refugees fleeing to Hong Kong during and after the events of the 3rd calamity. By the time she was born, the metropolitan area was still teeming with fugitives, though they were diminished compared to the first few years of the 2000s. There were two main reasons for that; part of them had moved elsewhere, and a part had been decimated during the early power struggles of the various criminal elements clashing for turfs and influence. However, after a swift resolution followed a boom of building and gradual healing. The remaining newcomers were also largely integrated.
Juān’s home was a medium sized, demi-human exclusive community – consisting predominantly of fey – which had claimed an old, unused underground mall. With the allowance of the city (or rather, its not-so-secret rulers), it had been renovated and expanded, now serving primarily as a residential area. The fey had layered it with soil and grown foliage within, making it resemble a large greenhouse/park. Over the years, part of the place was once again dedicated to shoppers, while the expanded main entryway became littered with small-scale eateries and tea or coffee houses.
For a daring youngling, there was plenty to explore, especially once one left the premises. Juān soon became acquainted with the wider world – though it might have seemed sizable at the time, it was of course only a small part of it. Since the nearest public school was outside of her home district, Juān ventured outside daily, and there wasn’t much to stop her from wandering elsewhere after her lessons were finished. Her parents were largely unworried, distracted as they were with work. It was during her early childhood that she met her best friend, a half-fey named Yun with a penchant for adventure matching Juān’s.
The two were practically glued hip-to-hip for years, together for nearly everything; going to school, playing, visiting each other’s homes (Yun’s was an apartment in a high-rise), learning how to fly, discovering new locations on the daily. However, this nearly idyllic life was cut short when Juān was about 14. Yun simply disappeared one day, and even after being declared missing for a month, hadn’t been found. Those who were aware and cared presumed the child had been snatched by the Mun Ji Dong. Juān was devastated, and stayed at home for two weeks straight.
Her return to school was a rocky one, her grades dropped, and she was clearly not engaged, not with the lessons nor with the people. She became more withdrawn, not letting anyone get close. But she also became wilder and moodier, started getting into fights, and was drawn to minor crimes (mainly vandalism). She was obviously lashing out, and no one seriously tried to stop her. After a brief loner period, she migrated to the company of older kids, whom she occasionally got to mooch cigs or alcohol off of. Once or twice, she got herself a stronger hit back home, but it wasn’t what she was looking for. She somehow managed to muddle through school until 18, though poorly. She got her successful graduation purely in memory of Yun.
Due to her low prospects, the downwards spiral into aggression, and a seemingly non-caring, dismissive environment, it was of little surprise that Juān fell into with the worst of the worst. She was recruited into the Four Seas Gang, and she joined entirely willingly, even eagerly. It was the first and last time that she managed to shock her parents into fury; they threw her out, severing all ties. She knew by then that her home district was one of the suppliers for the Tien Tao Meng, but didn’t feel like joining that business; it was mainly due to this conflict of interest that she was driven away. She never got to see her parents again, but frankly wouldn’t have cared to even if she could have.
Ironically enough, her gang membership in the following years had a stabilizing influence on her. Juān felt better that ever, and got to improve her physical fitness and magical prowess. Certainly, she was murdering, extorting, and otherwise intimidating whomever she was ordered to left and right, but since her superiors cared more for an efficient pawn than a self-destructive maverick, she was tightly leashed and collared. The young fey actually enjoyed the sense of direction, both being under control yet feeling more in control than she’d had in a long while. She got a sense of accomplishment and a decent pay besides.
At 21, Juān was sure that this was it for what remained of her likely short life. Her work posed a high risk of fatality, yet wasn’t anything that special. But it was hers, comfortable and well-known by then, and rather freeing. Then, one mundane nighttime, during her earned rest after a shootout the previous day, her long-departed best friend spoke to her. “Wake up,” they said, in the Old Tongue and with that all-too-familiar voice. When she awoke, Juān knew she was a Starweaver. She felt as if she’d finally emerged from a haze she hadn’t even known was there, yet was simultaneously drunk on power.
She recalled her desire for vengeance against the Mun Ji Dong; a goal which suddenly felt well within her grasp. Those old embers of righteous fury were reignited, and she was proudly full of purpose. She set out on her own, disappearing into the night, with nothing but a half-formed plan. This, then, shortly after the most momentous occurrence of her life, was when she encountered the mist; an event which very suddenly and unexpectedly swiftly became the newly most prominent of her existence. She met Yun, this time not just their voice, but the whole person; some as she remembered, some as they might have grown up had they occasion to do so. Yun spoke to her at length, though when Juān reemerged from the mist, barely any time had passed at all.
The whole of it was deeply confusing, though also brought her deep relief alongside a bittersweet happiness and a sorrowful regret. Juān didn’t know if it’d been a hallucination or an unexplained magic, but she was nonetheless tremendously affected. She forwent the solo revenge plan and went back home to sleep on it. Over the next few days, Juān gradually crafted a new idea, one that’d satisfy both her and her friend’s wishes.
She arranged a meeting with some of the Four Seas bosses, claiming to have info on a Starweaver.
When faced with them, she simply activated her power, and the meeting began. It was fairly long and tense, involving mutual blackmail, threats, menacing, and violence. Eventually, they grudgingly came to a satisfactory arrangement. Juān would get an array of targets to destroy (people and buildings from all three clans – including the Four Seas, so they could hide their involvement). This would get her the desired revenge against the Mun Ji Dong, as it would be the first time she got leave to act against them in a significant manner. In exchange for a vow against attempts that may lead to mutually assured destruction, she’d get the appropriate documents and such afterwards. Finally, Juān would leave the country – effectively being exiled until further notice.
The plan was carried out, and though the rampage of the so-called Blue Emperor lasted no longer than a day, the gangs were certainly affected enough to act swiftly. With the secret backing of the Four Seas (who’d in actuality been harmed the least, though they put on an admirable front of outrage), Juān left the country before she could be chased down. She then got herself out of the continent, leaving the area of influence of those who might seek her.
Eventually, she settled in New York, where she’d been laying low since then. She got herself some part time jobs, a shitty apartment, and eventually made a few low-scale connections among the local gangs. Nothing she did was too prominent, as she’d been concealing her Starweaver powers ever since the events in Hong Kong. She’d got what she wanted; now she wanted to try out that ‘normal life’ thing her departed friend had recommended.
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