Tell you about me? I've almost always been the one that listens. I'll do what I can, but I'm a psychiatrist, not a storyteller.

My parents adopted me when I was about two. It's never been clear to me how they found me after my mother died, since I was born in Porto. I suppose it never mattered to me. These people brought me into their home and loved me completely. They even encouraged me to learn my culture's history and embrace it. I never felt without a place to belong, you know? I've always known who I was, where I came from, and in which direction I wanted to go.

I was raised in politics, which isn't always fun, however, I tended to stay out of trouble. That means happy parents and an easy life. We were an upperclass family with huge social circles. Nothing but the best schools, personal effects, and friends all of my life. It was a fairly normal life too, even after I discovered my powers at around twelve. My father was campaigning and particularly stressed one day, which concerned me since he had had a heart attack a few months prior. I remember taking his hands and gently asking him to calm down. His irritation faded while his desire to keep me close intensified. I spent many days with him and mother that summer, forcing my feelings on to many people. I thought I could only make people calm, until I made my mother cry one evening. How was I supposed to know she already was on the verge of a break? Apparently I hadn't done a swell job of keeping her calm.

That seemed to be a bit much for my parents. They started to become distant emotionally. After that summer was over, they enrolled me in Bellefonte Academy, where I received my secondary education and my bachelors. Once my parents saw that I was more in tune with my powers, they warmed back up to me, I don't believe they ever loved my any less, they were just... scared. Wouldn't you be, if you thought your child could be a danger to your mental health? I suppose they believed I was capable of anything. It's sad to think they had no faith in me as a person, when really I was just a product of my environment. They were the ones that had raised me and instilled morals in me after all.

Anyways, let's get off the parent train. That's a dark spiral. So after I received my bachelor's at Bellefonte, I was accepted into medical school, then spent four years doing my residency in Maine, which is where I grew up- did I ever mention that? Wow, this talking about yourself is harder than I thought it would be. I'm a psychiatrist, not a writer. Whatever.

The summer I graduated medical school and started residency was when the problems started for mutants. I've never liked that word. My parents were terrified that something would happen to me. By the time I finished my residency, they had secured me a job with the government to ensure my own safety. I was lucky that my parents were in a position of power. Otherwise, I might be like the others that were shipped off. I'm constantly reminded of how fortunate I am when I see people in my practice.

I've been a guardian for several months now. They relocated me to Oregon. I'm doing what I can for the people that are like me. If I can help take away some of their pain or help them understand themselves, I think we're all better off for that, right? Being a guardian is the best possible role for me. It really is.

EMPATHY
Ella is an empath. She can best feel emotions from people by touching them, even if only briefly. This is extremely easy for her and she does it almost naturally. She can read someones sadness and almost instantly attempt to push happiness on to them. This isn't the same as empathic healing, where she can entirely change someone's perception of their own emotions. (Empathy)

Empathic healing is a fairly new power that she's still developing. She can remind a person what it's like to feel joy or pain, which helps that person overcome or succumb to their emotional pain. This is less of a temporary/faux feeling and more of a helping a person see the light. Right now, this only works for her if she can make skin to skin contact. It also takes a fair bit of concentration, though not nearly as much as empathic mimicry. (Empathic Healing)

She developed her power into being able to read emotions that translate into powers, thereby learning how to channel someone else's power herself. This is typically temporary and she's never tried to actually hold on to the power for long term use. There isn't a guarantee that Ella is easily able to replicate the power, especially if the person she's reading has a mental shield or doesn't associate their powers with emotions. Ella can also struggle with trying to control the power she's mimicking. (Empathic Mimicry)

LIMITATIONS
Empathy of any kind has limited range for Ella. The wider the range between Ella and the person, the less Ella is able to read their emotions. She's at her strongest when she can physically touch the person and gets her best distant reading at just a few feet. Anything after that depends on her connection with the person and the physical distance. If she isn't physically touching the person, it takes a toll on her body the longer she tries to maintain a connection with that person.

Empathic powers are also weak against those who don't feel/show emotions or those that have shields. There isn't a way for Ella to get around that.

Though she's proficient in blocking out others if she's actively trying, if enough people are touching her she can easily be overwhelmed by all of their emotions.

SIDE-EFFECTS
Simply reading emotions isn't what takes the toll on Ella. Basic empathy no longer tires her out physically, instead it's more of the emotional drain from feeling the massive amount of people she sees or passes on a daily basis. Ella throws herself into hobbies to try to focus on things other than the mental/emotional turmoil that plagues her gift of being an empath. There is a difference between her touching the subject and attempting to read from a distance, the latter taking a toll on her physically.

Empathic healing takes the toll basic empathy has on her and increases it five fold. If the emotional/mental pain she takes on is severe enough, it could take Ella days or weeks to cope with the feelings. Since this is a newer power, she is still working on how best to handle the emotions she takes on from this. A typical turn around in emotions is a few hours for her.

Empathic mimicry has the biggest toll on her physically and mentally. It requires a great amount of concentration and channeling. This depends on her closeness of the person as well as the general understanding she might already have of the power. Her recovery time with a familiar power mimicry might be a few hours or a day, while a newer power might take several days to recover.