Naomi (PS)

Not part of Riordanverse The following article/section is from the Paola Santiago continuity under Rick Riordan Presents and not the Riordanverse canon.

Naomi
Biographical information
Full name	Naomi C
Gender	Female
Age	14 (biologically) 22 (chronologically)
Affiliation	Niños de la Luz
Status	Alive
Physical description
Eye	Dark
Hair	Silver
Species	Human
Behind the scenes
Appearances	Paola Santiago and the River of Tears Paola Santiago and the Forest of Nightmares Paola Santiago and the Sanctuary of Shadows

“	Look, Beto's not a bad guy, from what I’ve seen. But you know how I feel about Franco, and about men and their “I’ve got this under control, little girl“ crap in general. If you want to go after hero boy yourself, you know I’m on your right.	”
–Naomi to Pao after the other girl speaks with Franco in Paola Santiago and the Sanctuary of Shadows.

Naomi is a member of the Niños de la Luz.

History

At one point in her life, Naomi became a member of the Niños de la Luz. She tried to go back to her family at one point, but she changed to much to return to her old life so she returned to the Niños.

Naomi joined Marisa and Franco in searching for the key to The Rift and one day went in with out it. They were overpowered and Franco sacrificed himself to save her and Marisa.

Paola Santiago series

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears

After saving Paola Santiago from a Chupacabra and learning Dante Mata has an Arma del Alma, she takes them to her group's encampment and interrogates them with Marisa Martínez. After they learn what they can, they allow Pao and Dante to spend the night with them. She has stay in a tent when the camp is attacked by a swarm of La Mano Panchona, as the attack goes on she somehow ends up on fire and Pao tries to put her out.

As the last of the Manos are taken care of, she calls everyone to the mess tent and complements Pao and Dante for their actions during the attack. As she and Dante make eye contact for too long, Pao breaks the silence and they head to the tent. After Marisa tells the Niños to rest for a day of rebuilding, she joins Naomi in explaining the role of the Niños and invites Pao and Dante to join. Dante considers it while Pao declines. The following morning after Pao and Dante join temporarily, she helps Marisa train the two until Marisa tells her and Dante leave to stop an attack from the east. They are forced to fall back to camp but are saved when Pao uses her flashlight. When they realize it is the key, she berates Pao for not telling them sooner and informs her of Dante's abduction. When Pao tries to leave to save her friends, they tell her they need the key to defend the camp and show her the white streak in her hair as they explain the key takes a toll on her life force. She and Marisa convince Pao to sleep and, to keep her from leaving with the key, ties her to the cot.

After The Rift is destroyed, she talks to Pao about research the effects it has and asks her about her next move.

Paola Santiago and the Forest of Nightmares

A few weeks after the Weeping Woman passes on, Franco, who has regained his role as leader, detects an anomaly in Oregon and convinces all the Niños to head north. However she detests his leadership and how Marisa refuses to see his poor leadership skills. She stays behind, taking small jobs clearly houses of minor evils to get by.

Half a year later, Pao and Dante return to the now abandoned camp while she is away. Naomi wakes Pao as green light starts to surround the other girl. She tells Pao everything that happened and is shocked that she knows the anomaly is in Oregon. Naomi agrees to take Pao and Dante to a contact in Rock Creek and stand watch for Pao. When Dante wakes up and sees her he glares at her, revealing she let him get taken. After Naomi secures the camp, Pao reveals to Dante that she asked Naomi to help them, much to his anger. After she secures camp they walk two and a half hours to Rock Creek. When they arrive they buy sunglasses and breakfast burritos. Naomi reveals some she helped a few months back, Johnny, makes trips to Fresno and she thinks she can talk him into taking them. When they finish eating Pao goes to wash her hands and they go to meet Johnny when she comes out. She takes Pao and Dante to Juan & Sons Auto Repair and introduces them to Johnny. He agrees to take them to Fresno during a scheduled trip on Thursday, three days from then, but Pao insists they have to leave that day. Johnny rejects the offer and Naomi ushers Pao and Dante away after saying she will refuse Johnny's next call for help. Johnny gives in and agrees to take them in a car he is working on, as the owner won’t pick it up for a few days. Pao and Dante get in as Pao tries one last time to get Naomi to join them. She refuses and they head out, only to change her mind and join them soon after.

A few miles after they cross into California, Johnny stops at a rest stop and gives them ten minutes to get snacks and go to the bathroom. They find Pao being attacked by a pack of Cadejo and she tells him to toss her his Arma del Alma. When Pao takes them out she helps her up and lets slip that she knew this things would happen. As Naomi defends herself by saying she thought Franco was exaggerating, Johnny comes up to them and says some tourists called the police on Pao “assaulting the vending machines” and they head out as. As they continue north, Johnny pulls into a dive for lunch. Pao turns her phone on to see if Emma has any news when her mom calls and she quickly turns it off. Back on the road, Johnny asks for a drop off location. She and Pao have nothing, but Dante requests they be dropped off in Raisin Valley, a town southwest of Fresno. They reach Raisin Valley at sunset and Dante directs Johnny to a house. When they get out of the car, Johnny gives his fair wells and leaves them. Dante knocks on the door as a woman answers it as she catches Pao. Dante addresses the woman as his mother and asks if they could come in as Pao passes out.

After Pao passes out, Dante locks her and his mom in his old bedroom, telling them they will be safe. About three hours later Pao comes by and Dante’s mom tells her where to find a spare key. After Pao finds it and unlocks the door, she asked about Dante as Mrs. Mata simply stairs at the room. She catches up with Pao and the other girl explains everything to her. Naomi is shocked and angered by Dante’s actions as Pao goes to speak with Dante’s mother. After asking why she abandoned Dante, the woman reveals she feared for her life and was too ashamed to look for him after that, knowing he was safe with her mother-in-law. Pao says they need to get to Oregon as by the following night and Mrs. Mata says a bus will come at five and tells them to sleep. As they wait for the bus, Mrs. Mata explains that the bus often takes children to the farms to work and asks them to help Dante if they find him

For the first few miles, Pao and Naomi sleep, when Pao wakes up screaming and show tells Naomi about her dream. They then have a heart to heart where Pao reveals she thought Naomi had a crush on Dante, which she debunks and goes on to say she is disappointed in Marisa following Franco, who she sees as a bad leader. Pao is glad she and Naomi are bonding as they reach the California-Oregon border, however the bus stops and lets on a man in a Santa suit who starts bothering the female passengers. However he skips Pao and Naomi after catching a glimpse of Pao's magnifying glass. Pao thinks he is familiar and starts to think he is a ghost. Pao berates the man and he finally comes over to the girls. After seeing his eyes change color, they attack him, causing panic on the bus. The man then starts to change shape. The ghost then turns into a man and boy Pao says she saw before the Cadejo attack. Naomi backs away in fear upon realizing what the ghost is. The bus driver, who was driving at a high speed, pulls over a all bus Pao, Naomi, and the ghosts get off. Upon remembering the legend of shapeshifters who turned into young women to seduce men into giving them a ride before killing, Pao shares Naomi's fears. The Hitchhiker says it was ordered to follow Pao before going to kill the other passengers.

The girls jump off the bus and search for the passengers, but do not find them. Naomi sees a white shape moving ahead of them and they follow. They lose track of the thing and, after a jump scare with a rabbit, she reveals to Pao that she knows she is hiding something, that something in her story doesn’t add up. Pao then tells her about the dreams with her dad telling her to save him. After mentioning Dante’s grandmother saying the name Beto, Naomi says that is the name of one of La Llorona's sons. Pao starts to think that he could be her father, but she says it might be someone with the same name. They then hear different laughs coming from all over the forest and mark a tree with their initials before moving on, only to end up back at that tree. Pao starts to think that he could be her father, but Naomi says it might be someone with the same name. They then hear different laughs coming from all over the forest and mark a tree with their initials before moving on, only to end up back at that tree. Pao falls to her knees and is about to give up when Naomi gives her a pep talk. After Naomi realizes it is a force field, just like the camp, she asks Pao how she navigated it before. Pao says she used her flashlight and Naomi jokingly tells Pao the niños used echolocation, which Pao believes and she laughs at Pao for it. Just then a duenducillos arrives and Pao tries asking her for help. After learning her name is Estrella, a more show up. The leader tells them to leave but Pao says they need help. Estrella informs them her kind don’t trust humans, but the leader says they don’t trust Pao's “other half”. They decide to pass judgment later and look Pao, Naomi, and Estrella in a tree, where they realize they are not alone. They find the Niños and Naomi becomes skittish when Marisa addresses her. Franco, who ignores them, says they have found the anomaly as Pao reveals what it is. Franco finds it hard to believe but Marisa takes her seriously. When Pao learns the guards will check on them if there is a fire, she suggests starting one, as she knows how, and the niños agree to help. After starting the fire they wait by the door. After several minutes of watching the fire grow to dangerous levels, the door opens and they escape, only to come face to face with the Hitchhiker. They comes at the group and she, Pao and the rest of the niños attack them. They put up a fight but it is a losing battle and she, Pao and the niños are quickly defeated. However the Hitchhiker is expelled from their work after the one who summoned them passes on. She and the other niños are led to Beto's trailer by the duendecillos.

Pao's mom rents a van to take all of them back to Silver Springs. As their camp is not safe for them anymore, the niños set up shop in a warehouse with Beto giving them his trailer. Pao tells her she can come to the Riverside Palace Apartments if she gets annoyed with Marisa and Franco.

Paola Santiago and the Sanctuary of Shadows

Eight months after her trip to Oregon, Naomi tries to cheer up Pao after she talks with Franco. She tells Pao if she decides to find Dante, she will join her.

A few days later Marisa asks her to go with her on an investigation at a nearby farm, but she declines. She takes a nap but is woken up by Pao, Emma, and Kit screaming and sees that Dante is back. Naomi greets the four and mentions Marisa got a call about a ghost half an hour ago, around the same time Beto called Franco. Pao finds it suspicious and she takes them to the other Niños, who are eating lunch outside. Dante stays behind the keep an eye out for Beto and Franco, and watch Bruto, as the girls speak to the Niños. She gets their attention as Pao stands on a picnic table and informs the Niños about her trip into the Void and El Cucy's plan. Pao also reveals Franco is keeping them in the dark just as Franco and Beto arrive. The Niños berate Franco for keeping them in the dark as Beto berates Pao for disobeying him. Beto says he will keep her away from the fighting until Pao reveals she is the entry point. Beto takes Pao to discuss this further as Pao tells her to strategize. After Pao learns El Cucuy is planning on attacking in ten days on Día de los Muertos, she decides to get as many Niños battle ready as she can. Soon the ground starts to shake but it quickly stops. After Dante is revealed to be a copy, he uses Pao's arma del alma to open a gateway to the Void and attacks Pao, but Naomi tosses her an old spear and they fight. She and Kit takes Pao's place as Pao goes to ask her father and Franco how to close an opening. However both are uncertain on how to close one. Soon Shadow Dante projects the nightmares of all present and threatens to kill those who aided Pao last, after watching their families and friends die and Shadow Dante vanishes and the images stop. As everyone in the warehouse panics, Pao gets everyone’s attention and reveals that she is the granddaughter of La Llorona. Most of the crowd is shocked as Pao holds out her magnifying glass and says she will fight for them. Naomi, Marisa, Beto, and half those present stand with her while the other half declare their loyalty after Franco does. Naomi enters the office to find that Pao, Beto, and Franco have no plan, but Beto is working on one. She uses Kit's lipstick to mark Pao's forehead to distinguish her from a possible copy. Pao gives a last minute pep talk reminding the Niños not to hesitate to kill and that she will help them tell copy from the real thing.

Soon the shadows start coming out one at a time and the Niños manage to hold them off for a while by forming two defensive rings and switching positions that takes out most of the shadows. However El Cucuy traps the Niños in illusions of their worst nightmares. Pao manages to slap Naomi, Franco, and Marisa awake and they go back to fighting, After learning those being evacuated are still in the warehouse, Pao gives Naomi her apartment keys and tells her to keep them safe as Marisa decides their forces between town, which is overrun with shadows, and warehouse. At one point she stands back to back against with Kit and Emma as the three take on the enemy. Soon Pao comes through a portal holding a cube, the source of El Cucuy's power, and she and the others each take on some of the fear as the enemy vanishes when the cube disintegrates. After the fighting, she and Marisa go over to Pao and Emma. As the girls question what the Niños would do now that the Void is no longer a threat, Pao suggests they go into social justice, much to Emma’s joy. Marisa offers Pao a place in the Niños, but Pao turns her down, Marisa accepts it as she calls Pao a chicken. Kit requests to join, but her request is rejected and she sulks off to help clean.

Appearance

Naomi is a girl around Pao's age with silver hair and dark skin. She wears dark clothes.

Personality

Naomi is a serious girl who is mistrusting of those she just meets.

Abilities

• Prowess in Battle: Naomi is formidable in combat.
• Knifemanship: Naomi is skilled with a knife.