Kagetsukiko
Name: Ciel Kupo
Nickname: Cici
Species: Human
Home World: Destiny Islands [Consumed]
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Appearance: Art by Senano Yu
Theme Song(s):
Significant Trait: Curious
Quotes:
Good/Evil/Other: Neutral Good
Element: Light/Darkness
Weapon: Keyblade
Job Class: Keyblade Wielder
Commands:
Supports: Supports that are struck out are unavailable to Ciel.
Limit Breaks:
Key Chains:
Strengths:
Personality:Flaws:
Dislikes: Kupo nuts, forgetting things
Fears: Loss, dragons, skeletons, fairies, math tests, pain, death, forgetting
Family: Ciel lost both biological parents before she can remember: her father before she was born and her mother as she was born. Since then, two close family friends raised her as their own child, even if they were moogles and she was human. The following is what Ciel knows about the only family she's ever heard about.
Deceased Biological Mother - Rose:
Bio:
Birth
Growing Up
The Day of Destruction
Nickname: Cici
Species: Human
Home World: Destiny Islands [Consumed]
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Appearance: Art by Senano Yu
- Height: 5’10”
Weight: 160 lbs.
Body Type: Athletic
Skin type: Fair
Eye Color: Sky Blue
Hair Color: Blonde
Hair Style: Waist-length and straight. Light and wispy. It moves easily in the breeze.
Accessories: A dog tag chain necklace with various keys, a few charms, and a chocobo whistle in place of dog tags. It’s kept tucked between shirt and scarf for safe-keeping.
Unusual Markings: None, but the scent of chocobos is just about ingrained in Ciel’s very skin, even if all the Chocobo on Kupo Ranch have been fed nothing but fresh gysahl green since birth to maturation.
Clothing / Description: Like most residents of Destiny Islands, Ciel wears light clothing. A white tank top is worn under a light blue shirt that reaches down past the waist to the upper thigh area. The shirt itself can be opened and closed via a line of buttons down the right side of its front. It is sleeveless on the right side and just barely connected on the left side to a loose sleeve that hangs past a bare shoulder to cover the part of the arm just above the elbow all the way to the hand. Keeping the sleeve from falling any lower is a white armband decorated with a simple, white charm. The lower right arm is covered by a detached sleeve. A fingerless glove that stretches from wrist to middle finger covers the left hand. Over and above the shirt is a white, light scarf that loosely hangs to about the knee. Around the waist is a white sash of similar material to the scarf. For pants, Ciel wears asymmetrical jeans, which go down all the way to the feet on the left leg but separate into bands that stop at a few inches above the knee on the right leg. Footwear for Ciel consists of sturdy sandals that comfortably hold and support her feet with a plethora of leather straps that climb all the way up to her ankles.
Theme Song(s):
- I give up. Here, have this 198 song long KH playlist- Kingdom Hearts
Significant Trait: Curious
Quotes:
- “Ooh. Tell me more? Please? Please? Please?”
“Hi! What’s your name?!”
”Oh. This? I heard that my parents did something like this once, so I wanted to try it for myself. I think I kind of enjoy it.”
”… Don’t speak to me. Throwing a tantrum. …”
”I really hope that I don’t forget something important.”
”You wanna go?! Huh?! Huh?! I’ll show you who’s better at riding! COME AT ME YOU CONCEITED SHOW-OFF SO I CAN BREAK YOUR DELUSIONAL MISBELIEF!”
Good/Evil/Other: Neutral Good
Element: Light/Darkness
Weapon: Keyblade
Job Class: Keyblade Wielder
Commands:
- Skeleton Key- Lock or unlock the target. e.g. Unlock a chest without requiring the key for it.
Memoria- Use memories to create a Keyblade keychain, which can be used to modify Ciel’s own keyblade. Aside from creating custom keyblades based on Ciel’s or others memories, Memoria can create keyblades based off of other keyblades and weapons, creating keyblades very much like the originals--to the point of sharing some of the same abilities--but uniquely fitted to Ciel's heart and memories of the original weapon.
Chain Change- Changes the keyblade keychain, thus changing the keyblade’s abilities. Keychains cannot be changed in the heat of combat. Although, a reprieve of a few seconds is enough time should the keyblade user be willing to risk it.
Pierce- Allows attacks and spells to pierce through protective enchantments for a limited time. Ignores all levels of Protect, Shell, Wall, Reflect, and Barrier.
Wall- Increases both defense and resistance.
Silence- The target's magic becomes blocked, making them unable to use magical Commands.
Nullify- Temporarily negates any damage of any one element.
Deprotect- Reduces the target's physical defense. Negated by Protect.
Deshell- Reduces the target's magic resistance. Negated by Shell.
Addle- Temporarily causes the target to completely forget any commands he/she has.
Corridor of Darkness- Opens a corridor of darkness that can be used to traverse between worlds. While classified largely as darkness magic, the casting of the spell doesn't require the use of the darkness element so much as it requires a willingness to expose oneself to it. As a result, it's one of the few, if not only, darkness spells that Ciel can use without frequent recoil. However, Ciel wasn't formally taught how to use this spell. As a result, she doesn't quite know what exactly she has to do to create a corridor. She is only capable of rendering corridors of darkness as a last resort escape, a panic reaction of sorts, and does so in an extremely inefficient manner that, when combined with the stress the corridor puts on her body as she passes through it, leaves her at varying levels of severe exhaustion that generally renders her unfit for battle until she takes an extended rest.
Supports: Supports that are struck out are unavailable to Ciel.
- Dual Mastery: By benefit of her father’s darkness and her mother’s light, Ciel is attuned equally to darkness and light. She resists both elements by one step, is stronger ability-wise in both elements by one step, and can easily learn abilities of both natures. The advantages of having both elements present in her blood doesn't stop with just natural benefits. Given time, Ciel can become further resistant to invading dark or light influences, eventually peaking at a point where she can walk through corridors of darkness unaffected. Of course, that won't come until later.
The Light, the Darkness, and Explosions: Darkness and Light, being an elemental pair, react dangerously when combined. However, like most elemental opposites, they do not simply negate each other. They blow up and then negate each other. Something similar happens in Ciel, child of a mother attuned to light and a father attuned to darkness. Until Ciel finds a way around this drawback, attempting to channel either element causes the magic to erupt while it’s being created within Ciel’s own body. The eruption does not result in the negation or weakening of the element, though, allowing her to utilize darkness and light magic at the cost of harm to herself equal to half the strength of the magic. The only exceptions to this rule of boom are Dark Corridors. Ciel can create Dark Corridors without any self-harm.
Limitless- If you think it, you can do it. Magic’s greatest strength has nothing to do with raw power and everything to do with how deeply the tools are understood and what can be done with those tools. The abilities listed are nothing but the framework, and can be manipulated freely to create other effects. e.g. reversing the gravity spell to toss up enemies rather than crushing them or using magnega to siphon away lava.
Primally Inept: Both of Ciel’s biological parents had a weak connection to the primal elements: fire, ice, lightning, water, wind, and earth. Raphael had trouble learning them to increase the variety of his skillset. Rose never even tried. This weakness has only been amplified in their offspring, Ciel, and Ciel is physically incapable of learning any of the 6 primal elements. She can only use them if their usage is enchanted into some sort of weapon or other physical trinket.
Well-coordinated: Riding is most definitely a sport, regardless of what others might say, and Ciel excels at it. By extension, Ciel also has a respectable sense of balance. She’s no gymnast, but she can do handstands, cartwheels, tumbles, and walk along the tops of most fences with some arm-waving to help maintain her center. However, her balance really shines when it’s tested with motion. Accustomed to Chibi’s wild movements, Ciel can remain steady and poised even when violently shaken.
Chocobo Rancher: Growing up surrounded by chocobos, Ciel has a better understanding of the animals, both intelligent and non-intelligent varieties, than most other humans. She can’t translate their “kweh”s word for word, but she can usually tell from a chocobo’s tone, condition, body movements, and various other details the general gist of what it’s trying to say. Of course, how well Ciel can understand a chocobo varies from individual to individual. Understanding Chibi is easy for Ciel, and she can almost translate his squawks word for word. Understanding a chocobo she just met is not nearly as intuitive, but she can usually tell generals like how panicked the chocobo is, what’s paining it, and other basics.
Scan- Inspects the target's current HP.
Aerial Recovery- Quickly regains balance when knocked down both mid-air and on the ground.
Limit Breaks:
- Name-
Faith - Summons pillars of light in a circle around the user that spin outwards to severely damage enemies and restore the health and mana of allies.
Power - Summons pillars of darkness in a circle around the user that spin outwards to severely damage enemies and restore the user's health and mana.
Key Chains:
- Dark Blessing- Strengthens defensive darkness magic by one step.
Sacrificial Light- Draws minuscule amounts of light found within the wielder and magnifies it to imbue all attacks with minor amounts of light magic at no extra cost. (Lots of tiny booms for Ciel.)
(Note to self: Keyblades will advance. Use the + and ++ notation like in 358/2 days. Expand to higher levels when needed. I intend for the first two keyblades to end up the strongest eventually.)
Strengths:
- Athletic: Ciel isn’t physically amazing or anything, but her frequent participation in sports, specifically riding, has left her with a healthy and robust body.
Resistances: Resistant to both Light and Dark.
Adaptable: Once she learns how to use her keyblade, Ciel’s battle style will be largely determined by the form her keyblade takes. Stronger keyblades even go so far as to greatly change the distribution of her stats, with the ability to turn her into everything from an unbreakable tank to a havoc-wreaking wizard.
Inherited Magic: Ciel inherited the light and dark potential found in both of her parents. If there’s one thing to set her apart from the rest of the crowd, it’s her inborn talent in both fields. While athletically fit, she'll bap most of her physical capabilities earlier than most. On the other hand, she can increase her mastery over light and darkness to limits that few can hope to.
- Inexperienced: Ciel grew up on Stiltzkin’s stories and warnings, but tales of adventure and caution are different from real experience. Despite knowing of the wonders of magic, seeing her first Firaga will still shock Ciel as much as the next person. Despite knowing the dangers of heartless, Ciel will still underestimate them like any other beginner; of course, this is only after staring at them numbly with a mixture of fear and shock. Ciel is just a simple ranch girl who grew up on amazing stories and a formal public education. She’s never left Destiny Islands.
Limited Magic: Ciel cannot use any form of primal magic. When she has the chance to try it, she will find that she also has difficulty pulling off nature and poison magic. Trying to cast a single cure will be a struggle for her.
Boom: Trying to use light or dark magic of any kind, barring creating Corridors of Darkness, will result in recoil damage to Ciel.
Inherited Magic: Ciel’s biggest strength is her inborn talent with light and darkness. However, her biggest strength causes harm to her the more she uses it, putting not only a physical limit to how strong she’d want her magic to be but also a psychological limit. Fear of self-harm is a hard barrier for anyone to get past.
Personality:
Confident, outgoing, friendly, but most of all curious. Get Ciel curious about something and then just watch her go nuts with finding an answer, usually by pestering someone constantly with questions or going to the source of the answer herself. She’s not the bookish type, so cracking open a book is usually her fifth choice on the list or so. She doesn’t have the puppy eyes trick down quite as well as Chibi does, but she’s about ten times as tenacious with her demands as anyone else. Whining is something she does, so is popping up at the most inopportune times in the most unexpected places.
However, rabid curiosity aside, when Ciel isn’t rampaging around for an answer to something, she’s quite the agreeable fellow. Don’t let her breezy locks and relaxed figure fool you. She’s willing to get down and dirty with the rest of the boys, probably more willing than most considering she’s accustomed to cleaning up dung as part of her daily chores. Growing up helping around a chocobo ranch, Ciel knows the meaning of hard work, and she knows both how exhausting and necessary real hard work is. She’s not afraid of working herself tired to achieve what she needs and is all too familiar with the mental and physical burn accompanying such strain. Disciplined is a good way to put it.
Still, Ciel is only 15. She’s basically a kid, all of her attempts to prove otherwise aside. She still relies on parents. Elmina and Stiltzkin may not be married, but they are still “Mom” and “Dad” to her, and she calls them as such. On the surface, she may show confidence about living without any help, but in reality, Ciel wouldn’t know the first thing about living by herself. She can cook and clean and work on a ranch, sure, but she can’t manage finances, find a job, figure out how to earn money with her talents, or direct a ranch even if she was lucky enough to end up with at least her home. This stretches beyond physical needs to emotional ones as well. She has a special fondness for both the darkness and the light, stemming from what she knows about the parents she has no memories of. Somehow, probably just a self-delusion, Ciel feels that she’s closer to her parents when she’s surrounded by the elements that they were filled with. For that reason, when she feels like she needs comforting but is too embarrassed to talk to anyone, even her moogle guardians, about it, she’ll search for the light or the darkness to take comfort from them. She’s never met them, but she wishes they were still alive. It’s a natural and deep bond, the one that can only form between parents and their child.
Also in memory of her mother, Ciel loves collecting charms. She rarely ever wears any herself because of all the physical activity she partakes in, but back home, she had a whole collection of them going. She never knew how to make any, so they’re all small trinkets bought with whatever spare money Ciel had on her at the time. Still, they’re one of the few things Ciel has perfect memory on. Each one, Ciel can recite how she came to buy it and what exactly was occurring at the time, even if she fails to remember the exact store names and dates. It’s quite the feat for the girl, who has a tendency to forget even answers she’d spent hours asking for.
There is a bit of both father and mother, Raphael and Rose, in Ciel’s personality. She can be exceedingly gentle with animals and extremely cold to those who she dislikes. Her quiet anger easily gives way to a light smile and casual conversation, but is just as quick to come. Grudges are not remembered easily, and even when they are, forgiveness is easy to find from Ciel. If she’s told to back off, particularly by an authority figure, Ciel usually will. However, she can be ridiculously proud about certain things, like her riding skills, and don’t get started on her stubbornness when it’s triggered. Get her angry, and while she’s holding a silent tantrum, don’t expect a single word to get through. Even when not angry, there’re certain things she just won’t back down on: insulting her riding, leaving behind someone she cares for, and breaking her promises to name a few. She’s the kind of person that brings a smile to her face, just like her mother, but is exceedingly forward, just like her father.
However, rabid curiosity aside, when Ciel isn’t rampaging around for an answer to something, she’s quite the agreeable fellow. Don’t let her breezy locks and relaxed figure fool you. She’s willing to get down and dirty with the rest of the boys, probably more willing than most considering she’s accustomed to cleaning up dung as part of her daily chores. Growing up helping around a chocobo ranch, Ciel knows the meaning of hard work, and she knows both how exhausting and necessary real hard work is. She’s not afraid of working herself tired to achieve what she needs and is all too familiar with the mental and physical burn accompanying such strain. Disciplined is a good way to put it.
Still, Ciel is only 15. She’s basically a kid, all of her attempts to prove otherwise aside. She still relies on parents. Elmina and Stiltzkin may not be married, but they are still “Mom” and “Dad” to her, and she calls them as such. On the surface, she may show confidence about living without any help, but in reality, Ciel wouldn’t know the first thing about living by herself. She can cook and clean and work on a ranch, sure, but she can’t manage finances, find a job, figure out how to earn money with her talents, or direct a ranch even if she was lucky enough to end up with at least her home. This stretches beyond physical needs to emotional ones as well. She has a special fondness for both the darkness and the light, stemming from what she knows about the parents she has no memories of. Somehow, probably just a self-delusion, Ciel feels that she’s closer to her parents when she’s surrounded by the elements that they were filled with. For that reason, when she feels like she needs comforting but is too embarrassed to talk to anyone, even her moogle guardians, about it, she’ll search for the light or the darkness to take comfort from them. She’s never met them, but she wishes they were still alive. It’s a natural and deep bond, the one that can only form between parents and their child.
Also in memory of her mother, Ciel loves collecting charms. She rarely ever wears any herself because of all the physical activity she partakes in, but back home, she had a whole collection of them going. She never knew how to make any, so they’re all small trinkets bought with whatever spare money Ciel had on her at the time. Still, they’re one of the few things Ciel has perfect memory on. Each one, Ciel can recite how she came to buy it and what exactly was occurring at the time, even if she fails to remember the exact store names and dates. It’s quite the feat for the girl, who has a tendency to forget even answers she’d spent hours asking for.
There is a bit of both father and mother, Raphael and Rose, in Ciel’s personality. She can be exceedingly gentle with animals and extremely cold to those who she dislikes. Her quiet anger easily gives way to a light smile and casual conversation, but is just as quick to come. Grudges are not remembered easily, and even when they are, forgiveness is easy to find from Ciel. If she’s told to back off, particularly by an authority figure, Ciel usually will. However, she can be ridiculously proud about certain things, like her riding skills, and don’t get started on her stubbornness when it’s triggered. Get her angry, and while she’s holding a silent tantrum, don’t expect a single word to get through. Even when not angry, there’re certain things she just won’t back down on: insulting her riding, leaving behind someone she cares for, and breaking her promises to name a few. She’s the kind of person that brings a smile to her face, just like her mother, but is exceedingly forward, just like her father.
- Ciel is way too inquisitive, and her curiosity can get to the point that it can be outright dangerous or rude. She usually needs to be reminded twice about doing something dangerous for the sake of curiosity. When being warned about how rude her curiosity might be, she tends to just shrug it off as not a big deal.
Equally dangerous is her confidence in her riding skill. Ciel once had a dream of being a professional chocobo racer. However, as her growth spurt came and went, she found that she was too tall to be the optimal jockey. For the sake of the chocobos she would be holding back if she were to dauntlessly pursue her racing dreams, Ciel gave them up. However, she is not so quick as to admit defeat when it comes to chocobo riding in general. While she easily admits her inexperience in most things, it’s surprisingly difficult to get her to admit that she’s too young to possibly know all the tricks to riding a chocobo. She will support and admit to any claim about being an excellent chocobo rider, and doubting her skills will quickly spark a competitive habit of hers to prove that she really is all that. Admittedly, she’s close to it but not quite there. (Something to note, Ciel knows and fully stands behind the belief that a rider’s chocobo does all the real work. Just as a chocobo’s full potential is only brought out by a skilled rider, a rider is nothing without a physically and mentally able mount. Her conceit is centered around her skills as a rider in comparison to other riders. She doesn’t believe in the slightest that she’s the only one doing all the work when riding a chocobo.)
Ciel hates this flaw of hers, but it’s a thing she can’t just get rid of. She has a tendency to forget. Names are difficult to remember. Although, faces are several times easier. Ask her to recite a story, and she’ll know what happened but be unable to recall the exact words and will retell the story in a patchwork style, where she jumps from one part to the other as she remembers details. She’s not a consistent amnesiac. There are times when she’s remembered, which is good but also just makes things worse sometimes. No one will ever know, Ciel included, if she’ll remember or forget about attending some meeting or other.
- Ciel reverts to an old habit of ending her sentences with “kupo” and referring to herself with “Mogu” whenever panicked, rushed, or talking with others with the same verbal quirks.
At times when she’s troubled or when she just wants to focus, Ciel will look for either the brightest or the darkest spot she can find. This can result in either finding her somewhere quite pretty, like the beach or a meadow on a sunny day, or somewhere quite surprising, like inside a cupboard in a dark room or just sitting on a chair in a pitch-black room.
Ciel has a keen eye for the shinies, probably a result of being so used to keeping an eye out for any interesting charms and the like. Flashing something just out of the corner of her eye is an effective way to grab her interest and distract her.
To help focus her thoughts, Ciel often thinks out loud. Even in the middle of an emergency, she can be seen muttering her thoughts to herself. She doesn’t trust herself to hold her thoughts all at once without giving them vocal reinforcement.
Dislikes: Kupo nuts, forgetting things
Fears: Loss, dragons, skeletons, fairies, math tests, pain, death, forgetting
Family: Ciel lost both biological parents before she can remember: her father before she was born and her mother as she was born. Since then, two close family friends raised her as their own child, even if they were moogles and she was human. The following is what Ciel knows about the only family she's ever heard about.
Deceased Biological Mother - Rose:
- Rose came from a small village on the Tipa Peninsula. She was chosen as an apprentice keyblade wielder for her strong affinity for light magic. As an apprentice, she met Raphael, with whom she would have a lifelong friendship that would turn into a marriage. Despite having the strength of will to go through the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony, she could not muster the focused conviction to wield a keyblade or tap into the full potential she had for light magic, so she was gently let go. Rose then returned to Tipa Peninsula, where she learned to make a living by creating charms out of memories of the past and promises for the future. She was often visited by Raphael, and served as his ever-present anchor from falling too deep into darkness. When the two wed, she left Tipa for Raphael's home world of Destiny Islands. Stiltzkin often wonders aloud how explosive Rose's light magic would have been if she was just a bit more forceful, but quickly admits that her lack of a strong presence wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was probably because Rose didn't have a strong conviction that she never faltered where those stronger than her might have. She was easily eclipsed, but always there for when there was no one else to help, and that probably proved key to her skill in preserving memories. Contrary to her personality, Rose had a healthy build. From her curly, red hair to her soft build, everything about her seemed soft, fuzzy, and reliable. It was only her eyes, a piercing light blue--the one thing Ciel inherited from her mother appearance-wise--that seemed to bore straight into the soul of whoever she was looking at.
- Raphael was born on Destiny Islands but he was anything but what one would expect of an island child. He was cold, stubborn, arrogant, and selfish, which accurately reflected the talent he had for dark magic. However, shortly after being made a keyblade apprentice, he met a certain kind girl by the name of Rose, and she's kept him from falling too deep into his dark studies ever since. Rose could never completely change him, but she at least gave him enough compassion to continue fighting to protect the weak and preserve the light. Often teased over his feminine appearance, Raphael was known for doing everything that would distance himself from the adjective "girly." His fighting style was known for being punishingly aggressive, but those who knew him better knew that his prowess in the offensive side of darkness was nothing compared to his defensive dark magic. His barriers were some of the strongest and he demonstrated unseen flexibility with the way he executed his defenses, straying from the conventional walls all the way to long-term blessings of darkness that could protect the subject even when Raphael was worlds away. To support his dark defenses, he had a solid grasp on life magic, a talent that was sadly not passed to Ciel. However, Raphael considered focusing on defense as a feminine thing to do, and often refused to erect even a single barrier unless it was either absolutely necessary or if it was for the sake of Rose. Ciel's appearance takes after Raphael's down to the small dimples that form when she smiles. She has his athletic build, blonde hair, and even feminine face. All she lacks are his amber eyes.
- Elmina is not actually Stiltzkin's wife, but one of his many friends. She happened to own a chocobo ranch, known as Kupo Ranch, on Destiny Islands and knew of Raphael in passing. Stiltzkin, being a moogle of travel, could not take care of the baby Ciel when Raphael and Rose, who he both considered friends, died. The next best thing he could do, barring leaving Ciel in an orphanage, was to give her to Elmina to raise. Elmina is like most moogles, complete with the constant use of the word "Kupo." Her only difference is probably her peaceful and stable life as owner and director of a chocobo ranch. Well, that and being known as "mother" to a human girl several times her height. Elmina is an Ivalice Moogle.
- Stiltzkin is a well-traveled moogle. He knew Rose while travelling through Tipa and met Raphael several times while the keyblade wielder ran about doing missions before learning that the two of them knew each other. He happened to be in the area when the two had their wedding, more like the two of them made it a point to make sure he was in the area while planning out the wedding, and attended it. A constant and reliable friend to his huge network of friends, he made it a personal mission to make sure that Ciel was raised by a proper, upstanding citizen, and who better to rely on to do that than a fellow moogle? He made sure to visit Ciel whenever he had the chance, initially out of respect for his dead friends, then because Ciel would constantly nag Elmina about him, and finally because Ciel had matured into a person of interest herself. Stiltzkin's constant visits made him a father-figure to Ciel. Like most Moogles, Stltzkin lives a nomadic lifestyle. Unlike most, he does not speak with the "Kupo" verbal tic. Instead, he is very much capable of speaking what the general human population considers "normal." Stiltzkin is an Alexandria moogle.
Bio:
Birth
Raphael's mission was supposed to be like any other, and just like any other, he left his wife with a kiss to her forehead and a blessing of protection powered by the darkness. He and she expected his return before the child was due. It was not to be, however. He was categorized as MIA as Rose's belly grew, and as the due date neared, the MIA simply meant that Raphael's body had just not been found.
Rose was never forceful, she lacked not the strength of will but the ability to focus it. However, she was healthy and while not amazingly strong or fit, it would be wrong to think that her soft-spoken words came from a frail body. However, a complication occurred during childbirth, and it boiled down to her life or her child's. She was lucky to have Stiltzkin, a long-time family friend, nearby. With her mind set on the selfless decision, Rose asked of him one last favor and mentioned as a pathetic attempt at lightening the mood that it was a good thing Raphael had gone before her. If he had still been alive, she did not know what would have become of him. Admitting to such was just about the closest thing to boasting she'd ever done. Then, with time running short, it was time for Rose to undergo her final operation. Under various anesthetics, she passed away peacefully, just like the life she lived, but where she once was, there was now a gaping hole.
Stiltzkin had just been passing by. This wasn't like Rose and Raphael's wedding, which they had scheduled meticulously so that he would definitely be in the area during it. This was pure luck and chance, which meant that the crying bundle he held in his heads was quite lucky. He would have said very lucky, if it weren't for the fact that Destiny Island's orphanage wasn't actually that bad. However, Rose had asked him a favor, to look after her child. After something like that, he couldn't just leave the baby at some old orphanage. It seemed like it was time for him to make use of his connections.
Ciel had been the name given to the baby girl. There wasn't a very long list to choose the name from. Rose wanted the name to be something she and Raphael had come up with together, and they'd only thought of so many before Raphael had to leave. Rose didn't want to leave her child with one name or another. It had to be one, specific name. As she could not be guaranteed to think of one after knowing her child's gender, it had to be a gender-neutral name. Ciel, yes. Ciel sounded nice. It was on the list, and it sounded just like the bright blue sky shining through the window. What a wonderful day for Ciel to be born. She wished that she could have given more to her child than just life, and that was her last thought before drifting into a drug-induced sleep.
Elmina was one of Stlitzkin's connections, an old friend. He had known her even longer than Raphael and Rose, but that was no surprise since Elmina was also a moogle. She spoke like a moogle and acted like one, but unlike most moogles, she stayed in one spot, as owner and director of Kupo Ranch, a ranch on Destiny Islands that raised and sold various chocobos. Sure, Ciel was a different species than Elmina, but he trusted that would be no problem. Elmina was technically experienced in raising young of another species, after all, and he trusted her. Plus, she'd known Ciel's father, Raphael, a little bit. After all, Raphael had grown up on Destiny Island. He and Rose had also intended for Ciel to be raised on Destiny Island, so he figured that it all worked out nicely.
Rose was never forceful, she lacked not the strength of will but the ability to focus it. However, she was healthy and while not amazingly strong or fit, it would be wrong to think that her soft-spoken words came from a frail body. However, a complication occurred during childbirth, and it boiled down to her life or her child's. She was lucky to have Stiltzkin, a long-time family friend, nearby. With her mind set on the selfless decision, Rose asked of him one last favor and mentioned as a pathetic attempt at lightening the mood that it was a good thing Raphael had gone before her. If he had still been alive, she did not know what would have become of him. Admitting to such was just about the closest thing to boasting she'd ever done. Then, with time running short, it was time for Rose to undergo her final operation. Under various anesthetics, she passed away peacefully, just like the life she lived, but where she once was, there was now a gaping hole.
Stiltzkin had just been passing by. This wasn't like Rose and Raphael's wedding, which they had scheduled meticulously so that he would definitely be in the area during it. This was pure luck and chance, which meant that the crying bundle he held in his heads was quite lucky. He would have said very lucky, if it weren't for the fact that Destiny Island's orphanage wasn't actually that bad. However, Rose had asked him a favor, to look after her child. After something like that, he couldn't just leave the baby at some old orphanage. It seemed like it was time for him to make use of his connections.
Ciel had been the name given to the baby girl. There wasn't a very long list to choose the name from. Rose wanted the name to be something she and Raphael had come up with together, and they'd only thought of so many before Raphael had to leave. Rose didn't want to leave her child with one name or another. It had to be one, specific name. As she could not be guaranteed to think of one after knowing her child's gender, it had to be a gender-neutral name. Ciel, yes. Ciel sounded nice. It was on the list, and it sounded just like the bright blue sky shining through the window. What a wonderful day for Ciel to be born. She wished that she could have given more to her child than just life, and that was her last thought before drifting into a drug-induced sleep.
Elmina was one of Stlitzkin's connections, an old friend. He had known her even longer than Raphael and Rose, but that was no surprise since Elmina was also a moogle. She spoke like a moogle and acted like one, but unlike most moogles, she stayed in one spot, as owner and director of Kupo Ranch, a ranch on Destiny Islands that raised and sold various chocobos. Sure, Ciel was a different species than Elmina, but he trusted that would be no problem. Elmina was technically experienced in raising young of another species, after all, and he trusted her. Plus, she'd known Ciel's father, Raphael, a little bit. After all, Raphael had grown up on Destiny Island. He and Rose had also intended for Ciel to be raised on Destiny Island, so he figured that it all worked out nicely.
Growing Up
For the next fifteen years, Elmina raised Ciel. She did surprisingly well considering the race barrier, and she imparted her vast knowledge of chocobos to an eager Ciel. Before she left primary school, Ciel felt at home riding chocobos. She learned to ride and love with all her heart an old, blue Chocobo, a tame girl named Myrrh that was very gentle. Myrrh, with her creaky old bones, could never do the stuff that the other chocobos did, but even when Ciel could easily ride the more lively specimens on Kupo Ranch, she would always make time to keep Myrrh company. Even in the final months of Myrrh’s life, when the old girl could no longer support Ciel’s weight and then slowly became unable to even walk, Ciel would spend hours by the gentle creature’s side. Myrrh would die a peaceful death when Ciel was 11. In an attempt to cheer her up, Elmina put Ciel to work around the ranch. She was charged with simply and easy physical tasks, stuff that would take Ciel’s mind off the old chocobo. Ciel did enjoy her chores overall, even if it included some particularly nasty stuff like shoveling chocobo dung, but menial tasks could only take Ciel’s mind off of grief for so long. It wasn’t until she received an early birthday present, a tiny Gran Pulse chocobo chick to raise as her own, that’s Ciel’s recovery truly began. The small life, which Ciel rather flippantly named Chibi, may have just started as another responsibility to take Ciel’s mind off of Myrrh, but as Chibi grew, he came to be to Ciel a companion that was like Myrrh but wasn’t. There was a short time when Ciel grew frightened that maybe Chibi was replacing Myrrh, but she soon learned with the young chocobo that that wasn’t the case. By raising and befriending Chibi, Myrrh learned to live with the memory of Myrrh and how to value such memories without letting them consume her. She learned that the true value of memories wasn’t found by wallowing in them but was found in the simple keeping of that memory and so long as she did just that for Myrrh’s memory, she would always have a part of the chocobo in her heart. Ciel led a simple life, but it was fulfilling and valuable in its own little days. Each day may have been very similar—wake up, go to school if there was any, do chores around the ranch, and ride chocobos in whatever free time was left—but it still taught her many a valuable lesson even in its simplicity.
Ciel didn’t inherit just Chocobo knowledge from her adoptive parents. Raised by moogles on Destiny Islands, Ciel developed her adoptive mother’s verbal quirk of referring to herself as “Mogu” and ending her sentences with “kupo” among other things. It didn’t matter that her surrogate father, Stiltzkin, did not have these ticks. For the most part, Stiltzkin was out traveling the world while Elmina shouldered most of the burden of raising ciel. Ciel developed a fine moogle accent. Although, after being picked on in elementary school for them, she quickly learned to repress her verbal quirks most of the time.
In school, Ciel did about average, doing well in some classes and badly in others. She was generally well-liked, but never seriously popular. She was that one kid that could go around eating lunch with a different group everyday and she’d be welcome for the most part. She never made any close friends in school, though, always busying her after school hours with chocobos.
Then there were the stories. The many, many stories that Stiltzkin had stored up over his travels. Whenever he would visit Ciel when she was young, he would tell them to Ciel as a daily bedtime story. The stories led to questions, fostering Ciel’s budding curiosity, a curiosity that would eventually become a problem. However, in the safe times, the most problematic thing that arose from Ciel’s curiosity was even more questions. For the young Ciel, her obsession with questions came from a very simple formula. Ciel, for as long as she could remember, knew Elmina and Stiltzkin weren’t her real mother and father. She was happy even with that knowledge, but content was another thing. It was just so natural for Ciel to want to know more about her biological parents. The more she asked about them, the more answers she received. Questions equaled learning more about her parents. In that way, asking questions came to be ingrained in Ciel as a very good thing to do. The first stories Ciel would beg Stiltzkin for were of her parents. Then, it gradually extended to all manner of topics. Even after Ciel had outgrown the bedtime stories, she’d take every chance she could get to ask Stiltzkin about this or that she had read in a book. She was ever-hungry for knowledge about the outside world, but her curiosity lacked the scholarly discipline for Ciel to ever become a living encyclopedia. In fact, Stiltzkin often had to repeat facts over the course of several meetings because Ciel had unintentionally forgotten them in his absence.
Ciel’s biggest dream was to one day travel through all the worlds, or at least as many as she could. Not quite yet, of course. She still had so much she wanted to learn about chocobos and as wonderful as Stiltzkin’s travels may have sounded, the moogle had a way of stressing the dangers that soundly instilled into Ciel the very true notion that she couldn’t just step into any world without proper preparation at least. Stiltzkin did see in Ciel much of both of her parents, and he knew that alone would make it impossible to keep her always leashed to just one world. Raphael had been well-traveled and would always selfishly choose to go to a different world to accomplish each task if he could help it. Even gentle Rose was excited at the prospect of moving from Tipa to Destiny Islands. However, he at least managed to get a promise out of Ciel that the young child would not leave Destiny Island until she had at least finished her formal education. In return, though, Stiltzkin had to promise to teach her in preparation for that day and, once that day came, take Ciel with him so she could learn about the other worlds in person alongside him. Stiltzkin had hoped that the teaching part would have come a few years later, but Ciel’s constant questioning and pleading managed to prod the moogle into beginning when she entered junior high. He cunningly started with elemental magic, something he knew Ciel’s father had trouble with. He hoped that Ciel had inherited her father’s elemental handicaps. He was correct, and as dedicated as Ciel might have been to creating a tiny spark of fire, swirl of blizzard, or flash of thunder, she just could not succeed. For three years, he kept her busy. However, he did intend to start in earnest the lessons he promised during the summer of Ciel’s 14th year alive.
Ciel didn’t inherit just Chocobo knowledge from her adoptive parents. Raised by moogles on Destiny Islands, Ciel developed her adoptive mother’s verbal quirk of referring to herself as “Mogu” and ending her sentences with “kupo” among other things. It didn’t matter that her surrogate father, Stiltzkin, did not have these ticks. For the most part, Stiltzkin was out traveling the world while Elmina shouldered most of the burden of raising ciel. Ciel developed a fine moogle accent. Although, after being picked on in elementary school for them, she quickly learned to repress her verbal quirks most of the time.
In school, Ciel did about average, doing well in some classes and badly in others. She was generally well-liked, but never seriously popular. She was that one kid that could go around eating lunch with a different group everyday and she’d be welcome for the most part. She never made any close friends in school, though, always busying her after school hours with chocobos.
Then there were the stories. The many, many stories that Stiltzkin had stored up over his travels. Whenever he would visit Ciel when she was young, he would tell them to Ciel as a daily bedtime story. The stories led to questions, fostering Ciel’s budding curiosity, a curiosity that would eventually become a problem. However, in the safe times, the most problematic thing that arose from Ciel’s curiosity was even more questions. For the young Ciel, her obsession with questions came from a very simple formula. Ciel, for as long as she could remember, knew Elmina and Stiltzkin weren’t her real mother and father. She was happy even with that knowledge, but content was another thing. It was just so natural for Ciel to want to know more about her biological parents. The more she asked about them, the more answers she received. Questions equaled learning more about her parents. In that way, asking questions came to be ingrained in Ciel as a very good thing to do. The first stories Ciel would beg Stiltzkin for were of her parents. Then, it gradually extended to all manner of topics. Even after Ciel had outgrown the bedtime stories, she’d take every chance she could get to ask Stiltzkin about this or that she had read in a book. She was ever-hungry for knowledge about the outside world, but her curiosity lacked the scholarly discipline for Ciel to ever become a living encyclopedia. In fact, Stiltzkin often had to repeat facts over the course of several meetings because Ciel had unintentionally forgotten them in his absence.
Ciel’s biggest dream was to one day travel through all the worlds, or at least as many as she could. Not quite yet, of course. She still had so much she wanted to learn about chocobos and as wonderful as Stiltzkin’s travels may have sounded, the moogle had a way of stressing the dangers that soundly instilled into Ciel the very true notion that she couldn’t just step into any world without proper preparation at least. Stiltzkin did see in Ciel much of both of her parents, and he knew that alone would make it impossible to keep her always leashed to just one world. Raphael had been well-traveled and would always selfishly choose to go to a different world to accomplish each task if he could help it. Even gentle Rose was excited at the prospect of moving from Tipa to Destiny Islands. However, he at least managed to get a promise out of Ciel that the young child would not leave Destiny Island until she had at least finished her formal education. In return, though, Stiltzkin had to promise to teach her in preparation for that day and, once that day came, take Ciel with him so she could learn about the other worlds in person alongside him. Stiltzkin had hoped that the teaching part would have come a few years later, but Ciel’s constant questioning and pleading managed to prod the moogle into beginning when she entered junior high. He cunningly started with elemental magic, something he knew Ciel’s father had trouble with. He hoped that Ciel had inherited her father’s elemental handicaps. He was correct, and as dedicated as Ciel might have been to creating a tiny spark of fire, swirl of blizzard, or flash of thunder, she just could not succeed. For three years, he kept her busy. However, he did intend to start in earnest the lessons he promised during the summer of Ciel’s 14th year alive.
The Day of Destruction
The day began like any other lazy summer day. Ciel and Chibi spent most of it together, work in the mornings and fun in the afternoon. The skies were speckled with bright white clouds and Ciel caught sight of a few familiar faces on the beach when she and Chibi passed through. Yes, she wished Stiltzkin was around to teach her something new that would be helpful to her when traveling through the various worlds. However, her eagerness was kept in check by the knowledge that it would still be several years before she even had a chance. As per the deal with the two moogles, she was to finish school before any shenanigans. While disappointed with such a development, a little part of Ciel knew and understood why her surrogate parents were such spoil sports.
The only signs of catastrophe were some dark clouds Ciel and Chibi spotted towards the end of the day. Assuming it was just a storm, she warned her moogle mother about it and then helped everyone at the ranch prepare for the storm. It was a strange weather pattern for the season, certainly, but Ciel had handled storms before. She did not expect anything stranger than the usual tropical storm from it. Slightly uneasy with worry about how Chibi and the other chocobos were handling the rough weather, she nevertheless slept soundly with the knowledge that the barns all the chocobos were sheltered in would not doubt hold against the rough weather. After all, the sturdy wooden constructions had never failed once yet in Ciel's memory.
Elmina, however, felt something more. At first, she had taken Ciel's words, but as the storm steadily approached the islands, she could feel it herself, and she felt that it was not the normal storm. Unable to believe what she felt, she did not warn Ciel about it, but she also did not sleep. Rather, she was so wracked with worry that she could not sleep. The moogle, sensing the destruction that was to come, spent her waking hours packing nervously, hoping that all her work was for naught but being unable to write off her suspicions completely enough to stop packing.
The first chocobo cry proved enough to convince Elmina that her fears were real. What she felt from the storm, the incoming wave of darkness, would surely swallow the island. More chocobos cried out, causing even the slumbering Ciel to go into such a panic she was willing to run out into the storm with only her pajamas and bedroom slippers on. Elmina, however, stopped her daughter just in time and scolded the foolish child to dress fully and appropriately. Ciel, not having a moogle's intuition, was very confused at these orders. Sure, she had gone out without any protection, but it was considered normal to only toss on a thick jacket and some boots to be considered ready. To change completely into day dress to deal with a midnight emergency was strange. However, she listened without questions or complaints and returned to her room to change as quickly as she could.
When Ciel returned from dressing, Elmina was gone. The small moogle had gone out ahead of Ciel to tend to the panicked chocobos. She was going to save as many of them as she could. Ciel, left behind, figured that she ought to brave the storm herself. She struggled to open the door against the wind but did so with some difficulty, with the door slamming closed behind her the moment she released it. She trudged through the darkness, not fearing it as she trusted her ability to find Chibi's barn blind, but feeling it very strange nevertheless. Even the shouts she yelled out at the top of her lungs seemed to be swallowed by the dense darkness.
One more fateful step and Ciel no longer felt the ground beneath her feet. The wind she had been leaning into had also suddenly ceased. She felt herself fall with no hope of recovery, but there was no way she could have fallen. The ranch had been built on solid ground with no points to fall from. Then again, the fall itself was quite peculiar. It felt more like a dive than a fall, a dive to somewhere very specific.
The only signs of catastrophe were some dark clouds Ciel and Chibi spotted towards the end of the day. Assuming it was just a storm, she warned her moogle mother about it and then helped everyone at the ranch prepare for the storm. It was a strange weather pattern for the season, certainly, but Ciel had handled storms before. She did not expect anything stranger than the usual tropical storm from it. Slightly uneasy with worry about how Chibi and the other chocobos were handling the rough weather, she nevertheless slept soundly with the knowledge that the barns all the chocobos were sheltered in would not doubt hold against the rough weather. After all, the sturdy wooden constructions had never failed once yet in Ciel's memory.
Elmina, however, felt something more. At first, she had taken Ciel's words, but as the storm steadily approached the islands, she could feel it herself, and she felt that it was not the normal storm. Unable to believe what she felt, she did not warn Ciel about it, but she also did not sleep. Rather, she was so wracked with worry that she could not sleep. The moogle, sensing the destruction that was to come, spent her waking hours packing nervously, hoping that all her work was for naught but being unable to write off her suspicions completely enough to stop packing.
The first chocobo cry proved enough to convince Elmina that her fears were real. What she felt from the storm, the incoming wave of darkness, would surely swallow the island. More chocobos cried out, causing even the slumbering Ciel to go into such a panic she was willing to run out into the storm with only her pajamas and bedroom slippers on. Elmina, however, stopped her daughter just in time and scolded the foolish child to dress fully and appropriately. Ciel, not having a moogle's intuition, was very confused at these orders. Sure, she had gone out without any protection, but it was considered normal to only toss on a thick jacket and some boots to be considered ready. To change completely into day dress to deal with a midnight emergency was strange. However, she listened without questions or complaints and returned to her room to change as quickly as she could.
When Ciel returned from dressing, Elmina was gone. The small moogle had gone out ahead of Ciel to tend to the panicked chocobos. She was going to save as many of them as she could. Ciel, left behind, figured that she ought to brave the storm herself. She struggled to open the door against the wind but did so with some difficulty, with the door slamming closed behind her the moment she released it. She trudged through the darkness, not fearing it as she trusted her ability to find Chibi's barn blind, but feeling it very strange nevertheless. Even the shouts she yelled out at the top of her lungs seemed to be swallowed by the dense darkness.
One more fateful step and Ciel no longer felt the ground beneath her feet. The wind she had been leaning into had also suddenly ceased. She felt herself fall with no hope of recovery, but there was no way she could have fallen. The ranch had been built on solid ground with no points to fall from. Then again, the fall itself was quite peculiar. It felt more like a dive than a fall, a dive to somewhere very specific.
