adalene's in this bitch. {closed}

Adalene never had a problem with causing a scene. However, she preferred to be in control of said scene, and typically they didn't revolve around embarrassing her, instead starring some other poor sap. Yet here she was, right outside a large mansion-turned-school, with her mother smothering her with affection, doing her best not to cry (failing horribly) while at the same time trying to straighten Adalene's unruly hair, an equally failed endeavour. Honestly, Addie didn't even know why she tries with that one, as she had given up on that years ago. People were starting to look, and really, Adalene did not need to make a bad first impression. After all, she had a reputation to uphold. "Maman, I appreciate the concern, but really, I think I can handle it from here. No need to fuss." She tried to hide her annoyance with the emotional woman as she gently pulled herself away and gathered her bags.
She said her goodbyes to her mother and to her father, who wasn't nearly upset about her going away to a completely different continent as her Maman. After all, it had been his idea that she go to this damned school in the first place. Adalene didn't see the point. She had gotten by just fine with private instructors. Something about "interacting with gifted children your own age." All garbage if you asked her.
She set off towards the gate and entered the school, looking at it with an unimpressed gaze. Here she waited until someone arrived to show her around. A cousin of her's or something, her father had told her. She knew she had family here, but she barely knew any of them and nothing really connected them aside from a name. Still, family ties were better than nothing, and it was a start.

As soon as she heard her name, Adalene looked away from the school and spotted a girl who was just as blonde and beautiful as Adalene herself. Undoubtedly an Amell. A small smile appeared on her face, though any smile of her's was more of a smirk than anything. She hadn't been sure who in her family was here, but she vaguely remembered this girl from her childhood. Valerie, if she recalled correctly. They wrecked havoc on other children together, even before Adalene's powers manifested. "Bonjour, cher cousine." She replied, returning the air kisses before backing up and examining her cousin's posse.
The slight warmth she had before was gone, replaced with a calculating look at each of them. Useless information on their lives clouded her brain, but nothing stood out to her. She rolled her eyes. Some people were so boring. There was nothing of interest in their lives that she could see.
Adalene turned back to Valerie, ignoring the others. There was no use making conversation with lesser beings. "My father told me you'd be showing me around the school, yes?"

Adalene took her cousin's arm, watching as the girls gathered her bags- which she admittedly had a large amount of. The girl simply hadn't been able to decide what to bring, so she gathered what she had considered important and left what she could live without. While there was a plethora of bags with her, that hadn't even put a dent in her possessions at home.

She had heard vaguely of the test and the different houses she had a chance to be sorted into, but hadn't been aware she'd be staying in a temporary dorm first. How inconvenient. "And which house are you in?" She asked, wondering which was fit for a proper Amell. She didn't want to be put in a house full of lazy, mindless animals.

At the mention of her great grandfather, Adalene barely refrained from rolling her eyes. She had spent a good portion of her life at the main residence, as her father believed in visiting Emmaneul as often as possible. Their mansion was rather close by, so it wasn't too much of a trip, but she loathed her great grandfather. In fact, she knew very few people who didn't. The old man was sexist and outdated, and she always felt uncomfortable in his presence. "As always. A miracle, really." Her words were flat, and she really didn't put much effort into sounding genuine.

Adalene let out a soft, amused laugh. "Why, it seems as though the Amell's are taking over yet again." Although, what hadn't they taken over? The family had positions in government, business, and practically ran Sofia. Now more and more Amell's were showing up at Beata Academy, and she wouldn't have been surprised if it was all intentional. Not that she minded. Power was always something she craved and sought, something she learned from her father. "Then I'm sure I'll be joining you in Spring soon enough. Truly a house fit for an Amell." And if somehow she was sorted into another, she was sure her father could make arrangements.

Looking over at the Autumn house, Adalene spotted the girl dancing to the awful music. Immediately her power told her about the girl, all about her recent bad behavior and antics. She rolled her eyes. Nobody ever tried anymore. Surely this girl could build a respectable life for herself if she simply tried, but instead she was shaking her butt and flipping her obnoxious purple hair. What a waste.

Adalene studied her cousin while she spoke of the patriarch. She considered herself very good at reading people, partially because of her power, but her power didn't do all the work. Though she could tell people's story, she had no grasp at their emotion. She considered both equally important tools against people, and so she learned how to read emotion on someone's face. Adalene studied Valerie, and while she spoke with a light tone, she could see how it falled flat of genuine joy. Her guess was that she had the same opinion of Emmanuel as Adalene had. "I certainly hope not! All the love to great grandpa dearest of course." Her voice was laced with sugar when she spoke, the words thick on her tongue. "But the thought of my papa passing ever is simply too much to endure." And while she meant it as a joke, she honestly meant it. Adalene had never been a loving child, and saw her mother more as a mouse- over anxious and emotional. But she loved Lucien. In fact, the only person who truly had her heart was her father.

Adalene nodded, looking absently around the school. There really wasn't much to look at if you were used to this sort of majesty, and Adalene was no strange to elegant places. At the mention of her father, she nodded contently. "Yes, well, I can only hope I get that from him as well. No time to be sick." In fact, if Adalene ever did catch a cold, she could probably just force it away with sheer determination, in the same way she got everything else she wanted.

There wasn't much that wasn't talked about in her family, but there wasn't anything good talked about outside of closed doors. She'd heard whispers of Renard's behavior, his love for power equal to his love for exotic women, and how when he actually was at home, he paid no attention to his daughter. But whispers were whispers and they weren't the same thing discussed over the dinner table. Oh, we're so proud of Renard! Being CEO of such an important bank must be so tiring! He really goes above and beyond to make his family proud!  She figured the latter was the safer bet to bring up. "Oh, I've heard he's doing just fine. He works so hard, but I'm sure he's taking care of himself, no need to worry too much." She glanced over at Valerie as she spoke, looking for a crack in her facade.

Adalene studied Valerie curiously, noticing the slight clench of her fists at her side. If it had been anyone else, Adalene would have exploited this, but since it was family, she knew better. An Amell's game was of the mind, and she figured Valerie would be her equal in this, more so anyone else around Beata. Plus, despite her love of playing with people, family ties were still above all else in her mind. So she let Valerie's words slide without poking too hard at them. She went for a more light approach. "It is quite difficult being away. Especially when we have to spend all of our time with Americans."

Listening to her cousin's words, Adalene looked around in surprise. She couldn't believe so many powerful children were just walking around unsupervised. Surely that was against some rule somewhere. Besides, she had been raised since a child by a special tutor on how to control and use her power. "I'm assuming you learned before coming to Beata as well, then?" She couldn't imagine having no inkling of an idea of what you could do. Still, they all seemed pretty gung-ho about conflict. If she tried hard enough, she could probably start up a fight or two for fun. She made a note to remember to do that.

Adalene watched Valerie relax a bit with the subject of her father being passed. Good. She didn't need any discomfort stirring under the surface there. She made a mental to approach that topic very carefully if ever brought up again.

While Valerie talked of it, Adalene got a flashback of said mental attacks and though she followed along beside her cousin, for a moment she was stuck in the other Amell's memory. She felt every attack on her mind as her cousin had felt and she let out a quiet breath at the intensity of it all. After a moment it passed, and she forced herself to respond, though her voice was a bit strained, but it was subtle enough that not everyone could notice. "I've heard that as well about mind control. I sadly wasn't fortunate enough to be born with it." It was a bit of a let down, actually. She was content with her power, and it didn't give her the power to control others, but it did give her the means to manipulate them in her own way. She was at a disadvantage compared to other Amell's, but she wasn't the type of person to let that stop her. "My power is knowing others, not controlling them."

At the sculpture, she stopped for a moment to admire it. Adalene had a secret respect for strong, uncontrollable forces. They were often looked down on for an Amell, as their powers were based on the mind and its strength. But Adalene often found herself amazed with the idea nonetheless. Still she didn't let that show on her face as she gave the sculpture a bored once over and kept walking. "It's amazing how they can do such things with such little control." It was with disdain, but she couldn't hide the respect she felt.