30 Character Challenge: 2012
Story: Her name lives on in story, as she has lived a long and lonely life. Before the curse, she was Melissa Velez, a beautiful young woman who was adored in her home town in Venezuela. She was eventually married to a wealthy man and had a child with him.
One day, she was swimming in a river by her home, when a strange man saw her and stayed to watch her. Irritated, she told the man to leave or she will call her husband. The man said he is here to warn her that her husband is having an affair with her mother. At first, she didn’t believed it, until the man led her to her home and she saw the mother leaving her home while adjusting her clothes. Enraged by what she witnessed, the man handed Melissa a machete and told her to take her vengeance on her unfaithful husband and treacherous mother.
Melissa approached her home and entered the bedroom. There, she saw her husband asleep with her son. She raised her machete… and then stopped. A moment of clarity came to her and she felt ashamed at what could possibly a misunderstanding. Melissa drops the machete and joins in her husband and son in slumber.
The next time she swam in the river, the man appeared before her, admonishing her for not taking action against an unfaithful man. Melissa chastised the man, accusing him of instigating what could be a horrific misunderstanding. Enraged, the man tries to attack Melissa, she fights hard and nearly drowns the man, until she lets go. She warns the man to never come near her or her family ever again or she won’t be so merciful.
As she is walking back to her home, she once again sees’s her mother leaving the home in a hurried pace and looking slightly disheveled. Confused and angered, Melissa rushes towards her home to find her husband adjusting his pants and looking on her with shock. This was all she needed to see. As the husband tries to explain, Melissa hacks away at him with the machete, killing him. Melissa, losing all sense of reason, sets fire to her home while she carries away her son, with the bloody machete still in her hand. Her mother come running back to the house, and she sees a visibly upset Melissa. Her mother tries to console her; only to have a machete blade plunged deep into her abdomen. The mother asks Melissa why she did it, and Melissa says “Because you slept with my husband.” As her mother lies dying, the strange man appeared, complimenting Melissa on taking her revenge on her unfaithful mother. He leans down and whispers some words to her, and with a smile, steps back as the mother delivers a curse to her daughter, forever cursing her to be a force of vengeance to all those who are unfaithful, with the price of the spell being the her life and the life of her daughter’s son. As her son disappears before her eyes, Melissa’s tears turn to blood as she painfully changes from human to a vampiric monster. The man approaches Melissa and changes the machete into two blades and with a wave of his finger, binds her to her weapons and to serve as a servant to him, Canaima, the God of Death.
For Centuries, Melissa served under Canaima as La Sayona, the Spirit of Vengeance to Unfaithful Husbands, killing those she deems unfaithful to their partners, and then disappearing over time as the modern age makes her only a legend, yet La Sayona still exists and she still kills. It wasn’t until a joint operation by the 4th El Boriken investigating the slayings of 15 men in the Venezuelan forests did the legend become fact and after a lengthy battle, did El Boriken successfully apprehend La Sayona.
Imprisoned, La Sayona is kept under close watch and after a breakout caused by her killing an officer under investigation of extramarital relations, did any security detail undergo thorough background checks to ensure La Sayona remains docile. She became a field operative at the behest of the 5th El Boriken, who feels the need for a powerhouse and La Sayona fit the bill. Unfortunately for him, he dies under her hands for cheating on his wife with her sister. The 6th El Boriken, Luis Mendez, follows up on the 5th’s idea of using La Sayona as an operative and meets her. When La Sayona sees him, she finds herself strangely drawn to him, and liking the idea of not being cooped up in a cell, agrees to work for Los Superiors.
As an operative, La Sayona serves as a reliable operative in combat and a helpful lie detector in obtaining information. Her attraction El Boriken has caused some tension for the young recruit, as he is aware of her killing the former Boriken and the fact she is a vampire. Other than that, she generally keeps to herself, save for a casual friendship with La Llorna and a good friendship with El Cuco.
Abilities: As a Vampire, La Sayona possesses the enhanced strength, speed, and healing of her kin, as well as her vulnerabilities to silver and direct sunlight. What differs from other vampires is La Sayona does not get destroyed by sunlight, only gets weakened by it via intense pain and discomfort, therefore, she wears protective clothing and contacts. She drinks blood, but is capable of eating regular food, as her bloodlust is triggered solely by her senses.
As per the curse, La Sayona is capable of sensing and seeing the impure thoughts and actions of men who have been unfaithful. Upon sensing an unfaithful man, La Sayona’s strength increases to incalculable levels and she is whipped into a frenzied state that gives her a single minded goal of killing or punishing the unfaithful. Her curse does not just limit it to unfaithful men, but also to rapists, sadists, and individuals who commit atrocities towards women. This ability is not limited to determining fidelity, but also serves as a form of lie detection for the team.
La Sayona possesses two enchanted machete blades that are capable of cutting any surface. The Blades are capable of draining the blood of its victims without the need for La Sayona to use her fangs. They are spiritually linked to La Sayona and can come to her by sheer thought.
Conception: The La Sayona story interested me and I wanted to add a strong female character to the roster. Her design is influenced from Psylocke in Wolverine and the X-Men and styled after the Arrancar from Bleach. Her back story is actually literal adaptation of one of the La Sayona stories, with the added element of the Pemon God of Death, Canaima, playing the role of the man who tells Melissa of the infidelity.