Meredith Monroe

Meredith Monroe is a student teacher and a member of the Alpha Prefects at Ashford Academy. She is Anna's main character on CTB. Her powers are biological manipulation, power modification, and empathy. She is associated with Seth Rosa (deceased fiance), Isabelle Amherst (friend), Calista Rosa, Bridget Shine (friend), Chandler Fernandez (frenemy), Oliver Grey, Lilith Malixi (potential rival) and Tristan Carmichael (trainer).

Biological Manipulation
This power manifested as an ability to heal using cell death and cell regeneration. Over time, Meredith gained more control over the abilities, able to use cell death and cell regeneration separately and in offensive ways. For example, cell regeneration can be used to overwhelm the body's immune system so that the body attacks itself, induce painful and/or deadly cancer on any body part, or extend the skeleton to crush other organs. Cell death can be used to shut down the body's immune system or destroy vital organs. These abilities only work on living, human tissues.

Power Modification
Meredith's power modification ability is the most closely linked to her emotions. Before the Kazuma Kidnappings, she only had access to half of this ability: power augmentation. This was because she was a mousy, docile person who only knew love, care, and admiration; her anger at the world was extremely repressed. The kidnappings accentuated that anger and removed some of its repression, activating the second half of power modification: power suppression. With power modification fully activated, Meredith can suppress another gifted individual's powers to virtual negation, augment them to virtual boundlessness, or anything in between. Meredith has very little control over this power and usually augments or suppresses people's powers unintentionally, depending on her emotions. She avoids using this power except as a Hail Mary.

Empathy
Empathy is Meredith's weakest ability. Though it was once a passive ability that forced her to constantly be aware of, or even to feel, the emotions around her, the activation of power suppression weakened Meredith's empathy. Now, she can only read people's emotions when she actively uses her empathy, and the readings are not as sharp unless she really focuses.

Personality
Meredith Monroe may seem like a simple girl at first glance, but her complexities lie in her subtleties.

On the surface, she is quite kind. She carries herself with a warm aura, generally smiling, waving at everyone she knows, and maintaining an open body posture. In her days as the prefects' de facto second-in-command, she made an effort to introduce herself to every single student that arrived so that everyone would know she was there for them. These days, as she has taken over as prefect leader, she strives to do this when she can but is not nearly as available. Still, she has a reputation for being mostly sweet and docile. Younger students are especially drawn to her due to her maternal manners. However, her kindness and aversion to conflict often makes her slow to act as a commander. She withholds violence and force at almost all costs, preferring peaceful means of maintaining order and safety. Because of this, her critics often label her as a "sitting duck." She can be seen as submissive, rarely choosing to confront the Battlefront or others who openly challenge the prefects unless she sees danger, rather than quelling them preemptively. This unwillingness to hurt others without foolproof justification is Meredith's greatest weakness.

However, Meredith has a hidden inner strength that was dormant before the kidnappings but brought to the forefront of her personality after the trauma. Meredith's strength comes from two places: her capacity for selflessness and unconditional love and her deeply embedded anger at the world which has been especially cruel to her and her loved ones. In combination, these traits make Meredith willing to do anything to protect the ones she loves as soon as she does sense that there is danger. If a person were to hurt somebody she loved, then Meredith would do a sudden one-eighty in personality and happily destroy or even kill that person. This ruthless strength and fierceness is usually unseen but can come out at any moment, especially when someone she loves is threatened.

Meredith has a tendency to over-think. Preferring contemplation over conversation, she is introverted: shy, quiet, reflective, observant, and very perceptive. She seems to live in "passive observation" mode, with wide eyes and a quiet curiosity about the world around her. Her introversion also makes her very reserved, both physically and emotionally. Although she habitually gives small, comforting gestures, such as touching a person's shoulder or elbow, she tends to keep people at arm's length. She isn't completely comfortable with others initiating contact, and she is especially started by hugs. Emotionally, she is a master of repression. She ignores and hides her true feelings as much as possible, except from those who are closest to her. Believing that she must remain a beacon of strength for Ashford Academy, she maintains a smile even in the darkest times so that others can believe her when she says everything will be okay. On the inside, she is a mess of repressed angst and turmoil, but she would never willingly show it.

This constant facade of optimism and nonchalance in the face of devastating terrors causes many to conclude that Meredith is crazy, and that is completely accurate. Having survived seven years of Ashford so far, she is somewhat desensitized to tragedy. When terrible or terrifying things happen, she does not react as a normal person would. She has already killed and seen more than her fair share of death and trauma, so responds with a disconcerting lack of horror, which can make her seem callous and emotionless. However, it all adds to her bottled emotions, and when she does feel, she feels it all and releases it all in a fit of overwhelming distress, unquenchable rage, and suffocating fear, all at once. She is unstable and bipolar.

Meredith is also intelligent and nerdy. Though she is familiar with the sciences, her passion is literature, particularly classic literature. She is always reading, no, devouring a book, and she especially loves Oscar Wilde and William Shakespeare and will occasionally quote their lines, giggling.

When meeting a new person, Meredith is shy but warm, caring, and curious. She doesn't talk a lot, but when she does, she asks questions, sometimes overly personal ones that others would deem awkward.

Unfortunately, Meredith is insecure about herself. Her relatively low self-esteem stems from always being in the shadow of her popular, lively, and powerful twin, Reese. One might say that she's prone to abusive relationships; if one tells her she is stupid, weak, and not worth anyone's time-- she will probably believe it.

Appearance


Meredith's appearance became noticeably different after the kidnappings (See Changes under Post- Kidnappings).

She has very light brown hair, a bit longer than shoulder-length. Her eyes are purple, but they have been known to change to brown when she is feeling strong love or to blue when she is feeling extreme anger. She is five feet and four inches tall. Her skin is pale, and her body is apple-shaped, meaning her weight is distributed unevenly, mostly to her upper body. She dresses simply and modestly.

A jade stone, made and given to her by Seth, is always around her neck on a silver chain.

Pre-Ashford and Early Years at Ashford
Meredith and Reese Monroe, fraternal twins, were born in rural Indiana. They lost their parents due to a car accident when they were only three. As they were passed from foster home to foster home, people always questioned how the two three-year-olds had survived the devastating crash that had killed both their young, healthy parents. The answer became clear to the girls when they simultaneously began to develop their powers when they were six. The twins were gifted.

Having no family but each other, the girls were close. Their powers were their special secret. Seeking an escape from the world that had nearly forgotten them, they would often sneak out when their foster families were asleep to secretly train their powers together. Reese was the alpha of the pack; she wielded the power of earth manipulation, and from the beginning, she was strong. At just seven years old, she could lift boulders. Meredith was arguably just as strong, but her powers were not offensive. In addition to the power of empathy, which Reese teased, calling it "useless," Meredith could heal the wounds of others and enhance the powers of others to as much as double their original strength.

As Reese grew stronger and stronger, it became increasingly difficult to hide the twins' secret. By the age of fifteen, Reese could uproot trees and cause windstorms. Inevitably, one night, the girls' foster parents were awakened by their training as Reese was attempting to create an earthquake, and their powers were discovered. While Meredith was terrified as they were told they would be sent to Ashford School for the Gifted, Reese was ecstatic. Finally, her powers could find their true potential. Reese convinced Meredith to welcome their new future as well. She painted an image of the twins becoming the latest duo with which to be reckoned

For a year at Ashford, Reese's powers and confidence were indeed renowned, while Meredith's sidekick powers of healing, augmentation, and empathy faded into the background. At age 16, Reese became a young prefect.

Meredith was left all alone when Reese died from an infected wound from an infamous confrontation with a Battle Front student that got out of hand. Hoping to avenge her sister's death, she trained to become a prefect herself and continue with her sister's goals.

Involvement in Kidnappings
During her senior year at Ashford, Meredith was kidnapped by Seth Rosa in a series of abductions. Meredith's abduction was said to be the most dramatic and the most traumatic due to her relationship with Seth Rosa. The two were friends, but Meredith had long-standing feelings for Seth, and Seth was beginning to feel affection for Meredith. As a result, their kidnapping scene was intensely charged with both sexual tension and violence. The scene starts with a mind-controlled Seth stating that he "never liked" Meredith's dyed red hair and impulsively removing some of the dye with his ability. Meredith, deeply enamored with Seth, replies that he can change the rest of her hair if he likes and quickly adds that they can do it "in private," knowing that Seth prefers to keep his abilities relatively concealed. Seth leads Meredith into an empty classroom, and after changing Meredith's hair color back to its natural brown, Seth kisses Meredith. The kissing continues until Meredith's intuition, telling her that something is not right, combined with her nerves, forces her to push Seth away for a moment to sit down. As clarity returns to her, Meredith's empathic ability activates, and she has a realization.


 * "She wasn't sensing one set of emotions, of desires, of motivations within Seth. She was sensing two."


 * - Infected, Intoxicated Corrupt

Meredith attempts to run away, and for the remainder of the scene, Seth chases Meredith around the classroom with a dagger while simultaneously attacking her and the classroom around them with his abilities, causing the classroom to crumble around the two. During the struggle, Seth rapes Meredith. Eventually, Meredith is too weakened to try to escape from Seth, and with the door melted shut and the windows turned to crystal, her final act of resistance is to collapse under a desk. Meredith speaks to Seth what she believes will be her last words.


 * “Seth, if you’re in there… I meant it when I said I liked you. You’ve been kinder to me than anyone else, than my own sister… I’m glad I got a chance to know you…  And I forgive you for this.”


 * -Meredith, Infected, Intoxicated, Corrupt

In the final battle between Kazuma and the rescue team which included Seth Rosa, liberated from his mind-controlled state, Darrian Zenon, and others, Kazuma goes to stab Meredith with a poison sword but is thwarted when Seth steps in front of her and takes the sword through his chest. Seth is killed in this action, but he uses the opportunity to take Kazuma with him.


 * "His teeth clenched tightly as he recalled those last few moments, as it looked as if Kazuma would kill Meredith. Even now, his breathing escalated at the memory, his body tensing to try and stop the remembered action. He wasn't sure why he had done it, taking the sword of poison straight through his chest, but Seth was certain that his choice afterwards, grabbing hold onto his power, and actually increasing the density around Kazuma to materialize the bastard before unleashing a explosion in close proximity to his own body, killing himself and the other, was most definitely the right choice. He wouldn't regret that, stopping the monstrosity that had tried to ruin this school."


 * -Forever Haunted

Rushing to Seth's corpse, a confused and distraught Meredith acts quickly. In a desperate attempt to save him, she heals Seth injuries and then infuses him with some of her life force (something she has never been able to replicate), reviving Seth and setting herself up for a possible lifetime of reduced stamina and immunity.

Post-Kidnappings
In the aftermath of the kidnappings, Seth Rosa, newly appointed to the position of Prefect Commander, and Meredith Monroe was pregnant. In an act of unconditional love, Meredith began a relationship with Seth, whom she still feared, to protect him from the inevitable whispers of rape that would come as soon as she started showing. Seth recruited Meredith to join his team of Alpha Prefects, an honor that Meredith accepted.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Although she is consciously aware that Seth would never hurt her, she has an unconscious fear of him and often has nightmares about him during which she screams or sleep-walks. When he catches her by surprise, she tends to shriek, jump, or attempt to run away until she comes back to reality and remembers that the kidnappings are over. She hates being startled, as her reactions are always closer to terror than surprise. She is also far more easily angered than she was before the kidnappings.

Changes
Along with Seth and Calista Rosa, Meredith was notably transformed by the kidnappings. She was never the same after them in many ways.

Personality
Meredith's anger at the cruel world that took her parents and her sister, which was previously extremely repressed, became more prominent and closer to the forefront of her personality. Though it is still repressed most of the time, because of this anger, she is not as weak as before; she is less willing to let others walk all over her. This anger surfaces when those that she loves are threatened. Her usually docile personality will do a complete one-eighty, as she will do anything to protect them.

Abilities
Meredith's "power augmentation" ability, which was highly linked to her emotions, evolved to "power modification." Her healing power also evolved, becoming biological manipulation. See "Powers" section for more information.

Appearance
As her confidence and will transformed, so did Meredith's looks. Firstly, her dyed red hair was back to its natural light brown after the kidnappings, courtesy of mind-controlled Seth. Secondly, her previously warm brown eyes became a neutral purple as her personality and abilities became more balanced. She also began to look less childish and more like a young adult. This change was reflected by a change in face claim from a realistic rendering of Miku Hatsune of Vocaloid, with the hair changed to red, to Stella Nox Fleuret of Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

Influence
As it turns out, bringing someone back from the dead, becoming an alpha prefect and the girlfriend of the powerful prefect commander, developing the battle-changing ability of power modification, and having half the school think you're crazy changes the way people look at you. Although she doesn't use it and is still completely bewildered by it, what Meredith wants, Meredith gets. She was initially the prime candidate for prefect second-in-command, but both Seth and Meredith refused to be separated.

First Battle
Meredith's first run-in and battle with the Battlefront was devastating. In one night, she permanently handicapped a student for the first time (removing Chandler's arm), saw her friend Bridget impaled, and was impaled herself by none other than Calista Rosa, Seth's sister, resulting in her baby's death. After this event, Meredith was out for blood, aimlessly walking through the West Tower, looking for Calista to kill her. However, when she found that Calista was already going to kill herself, Meredith did a one-eighty turn and saved her instead, and the two girls henceforth called themselves sisters.

Promotion to Prefect Leader
Following Seth's disappearance, Meredith was promoted to prefect leader. The first incident she faced under this title was Pitch Black. The island was attacked by a faction of anti-gifted agents within the Ashford Project. Meredith killed for the first time and also used her power augmentation ability to carry the prefects to victory. After Seth's disappearance and Pitch Black, Meredith and Cali grew even closer over their common loss, insisting that they are sisters and joining hands, which created a peace between prefects and Battle Front for a time.

Abduction
Meredith was abducted from the island and kept at the Ashford headquarters for about a month in a human-sized test tube, where the government performed various tests on her, tortured her for interrogations, and used her DNA to produce a prototype clone, coined MJ 2.1. The clone was returned to the island in her place. To test the clone, the government ordered their infiltrating agents, undercover as students in the school, to attack. This sparked a series of battles in which many died, including Meredith's first clone. The government decided that their cloning techniques were not yet sufficiently refined, and Meredith was released back to the island for holding.

Seth Rosa
Seth and Meredith originally knew each other through Meredith's sister, Reese Monroe. Meredith had a crush on Seth, but Seth had feelings for Reese. When Reese died, Seth withdrew from the world, becoming more introverted and nearly forgetting Meredith's existence until he ran into her again one day at lunch. Initially mistaking her for Reese, Seth sat down with Meredith. They bonded, and while answering Meredith's question about his abilities, Seth created a passion-cut jade stone, a reference to Meredith's middle name, and gave it to Meredith. She wears it around her neck on a silver chain.

Seth raped and abducted Meredith while under the influence of Kazuma's mind control. After Seth saved Meredith's life, and Meredith, in turn, ressurected Seth from the dead, the two soon began a relationship, both out of love and out of a desire to protect Seth's reputation from rumors of rape in light of her pregnancy. They have been dubbed "the natural disaster and the plague" as a tribute to their deadly powers and their partnership as prefects. With Seth's powerful nature-bending abilities and Meredith's power augmenting, it is said that the two could wreak boundless destruction when working in unison. "Don't piss off the happy couple. They'll break the Earth," Isabelle Amherst has joked.

In fact, they almost did. While kissing for the first time after the kidnappings, Meredith accidentally used power augmentation on Seth, and Seth accidentally caused massive fluctuations in the air density around them, resulting in miniature stars in Meredith's dormitory. The unstable stars could have had devastating effects had they been left to turn into black holes, but Christopher Desely was called to use her dimensional storage to fix the problem.

Although there is love between the two, part of Seth's affection comes from his understanding that he owes her everything, from his life to his reputation. This is a source of unhealthiness in their relationship, as Seth's devotion is stemming from a feeling of debt rather than love. As a result of his feelings of indebtedness, Seth goes out of his way to care for and protect Meredith, even going as far as to shift the prefects' priorities, often ordering prefects to follow and guard Meredith without her knowledge. Meanwhile, Seth was also a changed person, some of the influence from Kazuma's mind control remaining a part of him permanently. The dynamic of Meredith and Seth's relationship was that she was the kind, docile, unconditionally loving person whose love grounded him and kept him from becoming irredeemably evil... but she was also the only person who could defeat him if it became necessary. Losing their baby in Meredith's first battle was a huge blow to the couple, but the loss also brought them closer. Shortly before his disappearance, Seth proposed to Meredith, and they became an engaged couple.

Seth eventually disappeared, having been plucked off the island by the government to be sold to the highest bidding military group. The disappearance crippled Meredith emotionally for years to come.

Bridget Shine
Meredith and Bridget met on the beach. Meredith sensed Bridget's fear of the water and asked her about it, and Bridget was offended by the abrupt personal question. Despite this rocky start, the two quickly became friends.

Isabelle Amherst
Considering the contrast between Isabelle's wild and eccentric personality and Meredith's demure and introverted personality, one would not expect the two to be good friends, but they are. This started when Meredith, who remained a member of the school's welcoming committee even though she had initially joined it with her sister, who later died, was assigned to give Isabelle a tour of the school. While they were at the beach, Isabelle's best friend, Sinclair was attacked by an unstable Battle Front student. Meredith healed Sinclair and suggested that Isabelle join the prefects to help prevent such injustices. Isabelle, eternally grateful to Meredith, joined the prefects and remained her friend. Isabelle enjoys being weird around Meredith to see the reserved girl's reactions. Even though Meredith was initially rather uncomfortable around the strange Isabelle, she has learned to accept Isabelle's ways and is now cautiously amused by her and appreciative of her friendliness and kindness.

Lilith Malixi
Meredith and Lilith do not know much about each other except that they have been involved with the same guy. Meredith knows that Lilith and Seth had well-known and long-running romantic tension until Meredith abruptly came into the picture, and Lilith knows that Seth and Meredith are dating. They do not hate each other, but Meredith is aware that the world has set them up to be rivals.

Tristan Carmichael
After the kidnappings, Meredith joined the prefects at Seth's beckoning and immediately came to Tristan to begin her self-defense training. Tristan likes Meredith because she is quiet and dedicated to her training, and Meredith appreciates Tristan's help.