Chrono the Sinner (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rebelwithaclock) wrote2011-11-14 08:39 pm
rebelwithaclock) wrote2011-11-14 08:39 pm
Entry tags:
Application!
Just tossing this up here for people that would like to see~
[ PLAYER INFORMATION ]
Player Name: Haley
Age: 24
Timezone: Mountain Standard Time, USA
Personal Journal:haleysings
Contact Information: HaleySings@gmail.com, [AIM/plurk] brightblueink
Current Characters: N/A
Links to Activity Check: N/A
Beta-reader: Manda
[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]
Name: Chrono (sometimes with "of the Broken Horn", "the Slayer of a 100" or "the Sinner" tacked onto the end of it)
Age: He’s approximately around 30 from where I’m taking him, although physically he appears to be in his late teens to early twenties.
Gender: Male
Canon: Chrono Crusade
Timeline: From the flashbacks in Volume 6—while he’s on the run with Mary after Aion removed his horns (but before the final confrontation).
Character History:
http://www.chrno-crusade.com/AC_Chrnostory.htm#Pandemonium%20and%20the%20Sinners –the “Pandaemonium and the Sinners” paragraph covers the information from the flashbacks to the time period I’m taking him from. To flesh it out a bit in my own words:
Chrono was born at the same time as Aion, and what little we know of their lives in the demon world hints that they were close from the time they were very young. Through hints in the manga and comments from the mangaka at cons and interviews, we can guess that much of their childhood was taken up in training to become soldiers. The Elders had high hopes for the pair, since they showed signs of having a large amount of power, and possibly growing even stronger after their coming-of-age “Tuning” ceremony. However, when Aion went through the Tuning Ceremony, his powers allowed him to reach ancestral memories that were forbidden, which threw the Elders into a panic. Chrono was forbidden from going through the ceremony, and him, Aion and their younger siblings were condemned to death. They fled their home, but were chased, which led to a bloody battle where Chrono snapped after seeing his dead younger siblings and killed 100 of the attacking demons. In the aftermath of the battle the “Sinners”, as they were branded because of their perceived treachery, dwindled from a number of hundreds to only six.
Chrono became depressed after the battle and withdrew emotionally from his friends, until Aion ordered him to capture a powerful seer known as Mary Magdalene. Mary was able to see through his avoidant actions and could tell that Chrono was actually a very sensitive person that didn’t want to hurt anyone. The way Mary cared about his thoughts and feelings impressed Chrono, which caused him to become comfortable with her and draw closer to her during the two months they spent together. However, during a battle Mary became possessed by the memories of the demon queen, and Aion (who is extremely afraid of the queen) decided the only way to solve the problem was to kill her. Chrono disagreed, wanting to find some way to save Mary, and the two fought, which ended with Chrono wounding Aion and Aion tearing out Chrono’s horns, a debilitating injury for demons. Mary made a contract with Chrono to save his life, and Chrono decided that the only chance to save Mary would be to take her back to the religious order he’d captured her from, even though it was likely he might be killed because he was a demon.
Chrono will be arriving to Death City in the middle of his trip to take Mary back to the Magdalan Order.
Character Personality:
At the time point that I’m taking Chrono, he is a young demon suffering from the trauma of his first experiences with battle, on the run after severing his only remaining “family” ties, and desperately clinging to the hope that he can save the one person that he feels fully understands him. He is often depressed and pushes people away, but Mary has broken through to his true caring heart and has been helping him slowly come out of his shell.
After the Sinner’s flight from Pandaemonium, Chrono has shown signs of being traumatized by his part in the battle. He’s shown having nightmares of the moment he snapped and killed 100 of his former comrades, and while Aion praises the fighting skill he showed that day, he shows little more than regret for his actions in the battle. There are two reasons for this. The first is that he failed to protect the younger Sinners during the battle, and the second is that, despite being a soldier, Chrono hates hurting other people and tries to avoid it whenever he can.
Chrono places a lot of emphasis on protecting other people. When he heard where the Pursuers were attacking, his immediate response was to worry about the injured and children in the area (even though the other Sinners insisted that he be concerned with protecting the severed head of the Queen’s “terminal” first). The moment that he snaps is when he sees the badly burned bodies of the young children that had taken refuge in the area the Pursuers attacked. Later, he focuses his energy on protecting Mary Magdalene (who he’s clearly smitten with), and in the main bulk of the story set 50 years later he’s practically obsessive about protecting his second contractor, Rosette, and often physically throws himself in front of his friends to take blows for them rather than allow them to get hurt. He does anything in his power to protect the people he cares about, and often recklessly jumps into impossible situations to see this through. When he isn’t able to protect those he cares about, it hits him hard. Although Chrono appears to have always been introverted and shy, it seems that he withdrew from the other Sinners even more after his failure to protect his younger “siblings” during the battle. A few weeks after where I’m taking him, Chrono’s failure to protect Mary hits him so hard that he decides to sleep in her tomb with the apparent intent to die at her side once he loses all of his astral energy.
Chrono tends to take his failures to protect others so poorly because he cares a lot about other people, even total strangers. Mary correctly points out to him that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, and because of that he struggles between his duties as Aion’s “sword” and his feelings. When he captured her from the Order he could’ve easily attacked and killed her guards, but hesitated until she was able to tell him a way to escape without harming them. Even when Aion is attacking him to try to kill Mary, the woman he’s falling in love with, he hesitates until the last possible second to fight back and might even lose his horns because of this. Later in the series he starts to get a backbone and feels a bit more comfortable showing this side of himself, so he seems much more comfortable trying to reason with others through words than through fights. We know from later events that he will still fight if he has to, particularly to uphold his convictions, but except when his temper and demonic instincts gets the best of him he’d much rather talk things over than let things come to physical blows.
However, Chrono is still a demon soldier. He’s been trained from the time he was young to be a ruthless fighter, and when he lets his emotions and instincts take over fully he becomes a mindless fighting machine. He got the title “Slayer of 100” when he killed 100 high-leveled demons in one battle during one of his moments of mindless rages. A few days after I take him, a brief moment of rage will cause him to use his powers without thinking, possibly causing Mary’s death. 50 years later, he will nearly kill his second contractor, Rosette, when the pain and anger of Mary’s death boils over and causes him to lose control. His temper is probably his greatest flaw, and it’s something he constantly struggles with.
Perhaps because of his training as a soldier as well as the difficult time he’s recently had, Chrono tends to be gruff and finds it difficult to connect with emotionally. Although he’s concerned for her safety when she faints from using too much of her powers, when Chrono first meets Mary he scolds her for teasing and being friendly with him, telling her that he’d kill her if Aion ordered him to do so. (Of course, he changes his tune on that later.) His friend Shader later notes that Mary seems to be breaking him out of his shell a little, so in Death City he’ll probably attempt to be a little bit more friendly than he might’ve been before he met her, but he’ll still have difficulties getting close to others at first. He’s still in a lot of pain and is having a difficult time processing it, and the stress from betraying the Sinners can’t be helping any. Later in the series, Rosette notes that when she first meets him he looks at her “as if he wanted me to go away.” Some of that is because of Mary’s death for sure, but we definitely see some of that when he first meets Mary, so his later friendly disposition toward others is partially due to Rosette’s influence—who he doesn’t yet know. It could just be that he’s a bit shy, too, the brief time we see him as a kid he still comes across as quieter and more serious than his older brother.
As grim and serious as Chrono can come across as in this time of his life, deep down he’s a bit of an awkward dork. He’s just barely at the age to be considered an adult among his people, and until the Sinner’s rebellion he doesn’t appear to have ever left the demon world of Pandaemonium. He’s only had about 8 months of experience with humans in particular, which doesn’t help his awkwardness. He finds Mary very weird because of her not treating him differently since he’s a demon, and he has a tendency to openly stare at her while he’s trying to figure her out. It’s pretty obvious from the beginning that he’s nursing a crush on her, too. He blushes and is very embarrassed when Mary teases him, from having a conversation with him in her underwear (and joking that it’s “too bad” he missed her when she was bathing), to her joking that his gruff attitude and shoddy clothing won’t get him a woman no matter how handsome he is. Although Mary is a little weird even for a human, even “normal” things completely baffle him—he admits that he doesn’t understand the concept of a childhood the way humans do because of his background, and when Mary mentions “laundry” he doesn’t even know what she means. (Considering he meets her 6 months after leaving Pandaemonium, and he’s been wearing human clothing at least some of the time to blend in, this means he walked around in the same outfit with several months of dirt and sweat caked on it. And he apparently thought this was normal. DERP.)
Possibly because of his age and lack of experience, he also shows a bit of hopeful naivety, soldier or no. The idea of the deaths of the other Sinners being a ‘sacrifice’ is something he has a hard time of accepting, and when Mary makes a contract with him, he doesn’t even know what she means. (Considering that it’s Pandaemonium’s memories that allows Mary to know what a contract is herself, this shows that Chrono is lacking in knowledge even of things that come from his own world.) His hope that he can save her is arguably pretty reckless, particularly since his plan to do so includes going to an organization he knows will likely kill him for his crime of “kidnapping” the holy maiden. He tells Aion that even if a good solution doesn’t seem available, that you should keep searching until you can find one. Later in life this will be tempered with a bit more wisdom and age, and he’ll have moments where he’ll concede that there might not be an easy solution, but at this point in time surrender isn’t much of an option for him. Now that Mary has made him feel like he shouldn’t be ashamed of the emotions he feels and his convictions, he seems determined to find a way to fight for what he believes is right. Sadly, in the process of doing this he will end up hurting the people he cares about the most. (Perhaps this is one way that Aion and him are closer in personality than he’d like to admit.)
One thing that tends to be a weakness of Chrono’s is that he’s much more comfortable being a follower than a leader. This might be due to his training, or maybe just a quirk of personality. In the official guide his favorite word is listed as “yes!” He only briefly hesitates or questions orders before following them most of the time, from Aion’s orders as a commander, to Mary’s suggestion to make a contract with her (even when he doesn’t know what she means), to his later partnership with Rosette where he happily calls himself her assistant. He’s capable of making his own decisions, and when he’s convinced of something being the right solution he’ll push for it (for example, taking Mary back to the Order even though she doesn’t want to), but when he’s given a chance he obviously prefers taking a submissive role, and is easily swayed by charismatic leaders as long as they don’t try to force him to do something he doesn’t believe is right.
Overall, although Chrono is struggling with grief and falling into a habit of pushing others away to cope, he’s slowly been coming out of his shell to show his gentle, caring side a little more (even if he’s a bit awkward at doing so). But he’s still a soldier, and when backed into a corner or when someone he cares about is in danger, he will fight tooth and nail.
Character Abilities you would like to expand on further:
Demon abilities (these are abilities that are weakened since he’s lost his horns, and are mostly supernatural):
-Strength above that of humans. He’s shown catching a falling building before it squashes his friends, grabbing a trolley (still containing people!) to throw at an enemy, and plunging his hand into an enemy’s chest to rip out his heart, among other things. Even when his powers are sealed, he carries a box that’s about his size and full of guns on his back without much trouble.
-Regeneration. Demon’s bodies are made of cells called “legion” that can quickly rebuild themselves and repair injuries that would instantly kill a human. At one point in the manga, Chrono has a large chunk of the left side of his body blown away from a powerful attack and is even called “dead”, but manages to regenerate and get back on his feet. His brother Aion, who is of a similar power level, recovers from a wound that has his innards spilling out of his stomach with the help of an infusion of astral energy. There only seems to be three wounds that demons of his strength level can’t seem to fully recover from: severe injuries to the brain (or complete disconnection to their brain, like decapitation), having their heart destroyed, and having their horns removed.
-The ability to “stop” time. At full strength, Chrono can use his powers to spread legion onto a target to “stops” its time and freeze it, making his target appear to turn into stone. He can selectively do this to just a section of a body—an arm, a leg, everything from the head down, etc—or an entire object or person. (People who are “stopped” are frozen in stone and don’t age until they’re unfrozen, and a destroyed building has planks of wood hovering in mid-air because of his powers, etc.) He can also stop the effect at will. This seems to take a lot of energy, so he uses this ability mostly as a last resort, and only once when he loses his horns (and he kills his contractor when he does so).
-Sensing spiritual energy. This is vaguely defined in canon, but he can do things like tell when a body has had its soul drained, sense an “evil presence” in another room, he can tell when an enemy is projecting a barrier, etc. Some of this might just be that he has experience with other demon’s powers and can make educated guesses—it’s hard to tell what’s his powers and what’s just him knowing demon-y stuff sometimes.
-Shapeshifting. He can switch between his “true” form where his demon traits (wings, horns, tail, etc) are clearly visible, and a “human-esque” form where only small hints of his demonic nature remain (as well as a “sealed form” where he looks like a child to save as much energy as possible when he loses his horns). He also can shift the legion in his body into different shapes occasionally—this most often shows up as him turning an arm into a blade to fight with. (Also, his true form’s clothing seem to be able to transform at will, or at least when his body goes through changes. This might explain why he didn’t understand laundry, since his clothing and armor seems to be almost an extension of his body.) He can't use this ability to make himself look like another person or anything like that, all of his forms still have the same face.
-Wings/flight. In his full demon form, Chrono has a pair of bat-like wings on his back that he can use to fly. This might be something he can form with his legion. It’s not quite clear in-canon, but while we see him with his wings in a dream where he appears to be naked, it sometimes appears as if his wings are attached to his demon clothing/armor. (Particularly since, near the end of the series, he forms a new set of demon armor and his wings switch to being a pair of two large wings and two smaller wings to only being the larger wings. The smaller wings almost look like they might lend legion to part of the new armor. …It’s weird.)
-Misc. powers that only come up once or twice in canon and are ill defined: he seems to be able to break curses (possibly only with Rosette’s help), he occasionally can manipulate astral energy and project it as an energy attack, and there’s hints that he might be able to read minds, although that only comes up as a throw-away joke in canon one time. Joshua’s able to read minds when he gets Chrono’s horns, but it’s hard to say if this is an ability that Chrono’s horns are giving him, or Joshua’s own powers being amplified by them. Since Chrono never seems to use this power, horns or no, I’m going to err on the side of caution and say he can’t read minds, particularly in SC. I just wanted to mention it for the sake of being thorough.
Abilities and skills not dependant on his horns:
-Chrono is a trained fighter, and shows some skill with a sword and other blades. He prefers hand-to-hand fighting with his claws, though. (Remington later points out that he’s not nearly as good with a sword as Aion is.)
-He wears a gun in 1870 and later helps Rosette with the guns, so he probably has at least a basic understanding of how to use firearms.
-The official guide lists his hobby as “organizing the gun box”. That’s probably more just because he’s very devoted to Rosette as his assistant, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s pretty good at organizing things in general. He seems to like keeping things in order, whether it's the gun box or helping around his home with laundry and other chores.
-He shows a lot of patience in his later dealings with Rosette, and considering he had to grow up with Aion…yeah, I’m assuming this is a skill he’s nursed from a young age. He still gets frustrated at times, but it takes a lot to make him truly angry. (Of course, when he is, then it's a big, big problem.)
Character Weaknesses you would like to expand on further:
-Chrono’s horns were ripped out by Aion, which means he can’t absorb astral energy, which is what fuels a demon’s body and powers. Without astral they’ll eventually starve to death, so when their horns are broken they have to find another way to get it—usually by making contracts with humans to consume their souls. The stubs of his horns also appears to be a weak point, since he covers them up with bandages, and later in life he has metal caps put over them and bolted in place.
-Despite being from a technologically advanced society, he’s not all that good with machines and computers and the like. After where I’m taking him in canon, he joins the Magdalene Order. A lot of the Order’s tech seems to be reversed-engineered from demon technology but when Rosette asks him about how they work, he shrugs and says not to ask him because he’s not very good with their machines. In the flashback, when Shader tries to explain the watch to him his eyes immediately glaze over and he tunes her out. Since he seems to be not very knowledgeable even about demon technology, the odds are high that he’ll struggle to use any of the modern-day human technology in Death City.
-Chrono tends to think with his heart over his head. He’s not stupid, but thinking things out logically doesn’t seem to come naturally to him. It takes effort on his part. When he really works at it he can be pretty clever, but if he’s pressed in a corner and acting on impulse he has moments of using too much of his powers, letting his emotions get the best of him and making the wrong choice, etc.
-I really can't emphasis enough how badly Chrono was traumatized by his part in the Sinner's rebellion, and how much worse he gets after Mary's death. He's already showing worrying symptoms in the time point I’m taking him, with his flashback-nightmares and apparent depression, and in the chronologically later bits of canon he gets much worse, to the point where he seems like he feels physically ill after hearing from Aion again, and puts a ton of energy into avoiding anything that reminds him of his past until he's unable to do so. Although I'm taking him from a point where he's not quite as bad as he gets in later parts of canon, if another significantly traumatic event happens in-game, it’s quite possible that he might develop similar symptoms of PTSD-ish behavior that we see him display in the “current” time of the series.
[ SOUL CAMPAIGN SECTION ]
What abilities will your character retain in Soul Campaign? Bullet-form is fine.
-His training as a soldier, including his knowledge of how to use weapons.
-His strength, but toned down to a strong human level. (Not able to lift a building anymore, but probably still able to carry large bulky boxes with ease, etc.)
-Organizational skills
-His carefully trained patience.
What weaknesses will your character lose or gain in Soul Campaign?
-He won’t need astral energy to survive anymore since his demon abilities have been taken away.
The wish Death the Kid made to the BREW in 2009 was to “rescue Death City and stop the waves of Madness from overtaking the world.” By whatever means necessary. Pretend you are the BREW. Why would you choose to bring this character to Death City?
Chrono is a soldier of incredible strength and skill in his world. Even demons are impressed with his strength and abilities—it was fear of how unnatural him and his brother was that caused the attempted execution of the Sinners in the first place, and he quickly gains a reputation as a ruthless killer among demons once he begins to fight. Also, in the future of the series where he comes from, the actions of him, his “family” and friends will shape the fate of their world. His fate seems to be tied into the fate of his world in general—even when he TRIES to give up and get out of the fight, something drags him back into it. I believe BREW would believe he’d be a good fighter to help the war because of his strength and future importance in his own world.
If your character has difficulty verbally communicating or can’t verbally communicate at all (mute or non-humanoid), elaborate on how this will be treated in the game. (Skip if this doesn’t apply)
N/A, the only reason he communicates poorly is that he’s a shy awkward dork.
[ WEAPON ONLY SECTION ]
Why is your character a Weapon and not a Meister?
As I mentioned earlier, Chrono is much more comfortable in the role of a “follower” rather than a leader. He’s called Aion’s “sword” several times, and both with Aion and Rosette he tends to be used as a weapon in a figurative sense. He’s also really big on wanting to protect people, so this fits him pretty well. Also, although Chrono doesn’t know it, Aion is his twin brother and in Death City he’s also become a weapon, so it’s appropriate for the two of them to be the same “class”.
What is your character’s Weapon Form? Why?
Like his twin, Chrono is a gunblade that has a design similar to guns of the time period he’s being taken from. The gun part is a “double action” revolver with a revolving cylindrical storage for bullets, while the blade part is sharp and slightly curved, similar to the blade he can form with his arm at full power in his demon form. He can be wielded with one or two hands, although the increased weight from the blade means that two hands help with stability.
Much like the weapon form Aion gained when he entered Soul Campaign’s world, Chrono’s form looks a bit worn. However, his engraving is different than Aion—where his brother has the insignia of an eagle, he instead has a clock face, and instead of the brand “SINNER”, his gun is branded with the Greek word “Χρόνος”, or Chronos, the personification of time. The symbol and writing are about a hand’s length.
Since Chrono is a blade-type weapon, he can transform part of his body into a blade. However, he can’t shoot energy unless he’s in his full weapon form.
What is your character’s Weapon Ability?
Since the major “theme” of Chrono’s powers (and his name, and his life in general) is the flow of time—in particular, the ability to stop time—Chrono’s weapon ability is similar. When he and his partner are resonating well, Chrono has the ability to increase the speed of himself and his meister to the point that their perception of the world around them is that it's slowing to a crawl, giving them a chance to get in several blows or quickly escape. With a descent resonance and only a few souls, this ability lasts for a handful of seconds. At full resonance with Chrono at Deathscythe level, this effect can last for up to a minute and thirty seconds.
HOWEVER: much like how in his world Chrono’s disability requires him to contract with a human and use their soul’s energy and lifespan to fuel his powers, Chrono’s ability is fueled by the soul energy of his Meister. A meister that doesn’t have good resonance should not even attempt using this ability, as it will likely cause injury to both themselves AND Chrono. With better resonance, using this ability for up to 5 seconds will probably do little more than wind the meister, but the longer this power is in use (particularly if Chrono has only collected a few souls), the more damage is caused to the Meister. Even at full resonance and with Chrono at a deathscythe power level, this power is EXTREMELY dangerous for use longer than a minute—the full one and a half limit time span should only be used in the most dire of circumstances, as doing so will weaken the meister so badly as to completely take them out of the battle, and might even lead to them losing consciousness or—in the most extreme cases—death. The time used is cumulative within a 24 hour period. For example, if this ability is activated for 10 seconds earlier in a day, then for another 30 seconds later that evening, Chrono’s Meister will experience as much fatigue and injury as if they used the power for 40 seconds all at once, and the 1 minute, 30 second time limit is in effect for the entire 24 hour period. In general, this ability is best used for only a very short amount of time, or as a last-ditch attempt to turn the tide of a battle. Failure to respect the damage that this power can do to Chrono and his meister could be a deadly mistake.
[ SOUL INFORMATION ]
Describe your character’s soul with six adjectives.
Caring, Devoted, Earnest , Grieving, Hesitant, Violent.
What does your character’s soul look like? Be creative.
Light red, sort of the same color if you deluded blood with some water. Fringes of his soul falls in front of his “face” similar to his bangs, and his soul tapers off into sectioned tail that looks similar both to the metal, spin-like tail coming from his neck in his demon form, and the braid he wears later in life in his sealed form. His three “eye spots” are visible on his forehead, and together make the shape of a triangle pointing up. The expression on his soul’s ‘face’ is full of doubt and has a slight frown.
[ SAMPLES ]
[The entry starts with a confused-looking young man staring at the screen. He has purple hair, tan skin and pointed ears, and a cowboy hat is perched on his head. An observant viewer with some knowledge of the guests in Death City might realize that he has a striking resemblance to the demon Aion, although his hair and skin color is different and he’s missing some of the demonic traits Aion seems to have. They do have the same red, angular eyes, though…]
…………
Oh! Wait—it’s already recording? [His eyes dart around as he tries to figure out the information on the screen.] Dammit. I better start it over. [He stares blankly at the screen for several seconds, then groans softly when he realizes he has no idea how to do that. He clears his throat and tries (unsuccessfully) to regain his dignity as he begins his intended message.]
Hello. I need some information. Specifically, I need to find a way back home. [His voice gets a little quieter, sadder.] There’s…there’s someone I need to be with right now, and she’s back home, so…I…[He clears his throat and attempts to make his tone seem firm.] The point is, I can’t be here—and honestly, I probably wouldn’t be much of a soldier for your war, anyway. So…let me go home. [And then, as an attempt to sound more firm--] Or I’ll find a way back home on my own.
Provide a Third Person sample set during the last minutes on their world and/or their first few moments in the Kishin Chamber.
They had been on the run for three days, and Chrono could tell that Mary was getting tired. He wished that he felt comfortable enough to rent a room and give Mary a proper bed to sleep in, but the less people saw of them, the better. Even during their short stop at a town to pick up some supplies and some new clothing to make him stand out less he was constantly looking over his shoulder. He knew Aion was a master at manipulating people through words, and great at information gathering as well. Chrono had a paranoid thought that if they ended up in the same town as him, Aion might be able to convince people that they were some sort of wanted criminals on the run from the law. Then he’d be forced to attack those people to defend himself and Mary…He cringed and shook his head at that thought. No, he decided, he wouldn’t let that happen. He was tired of fighting. That was another reason to avoid any human settlements—the less people involved in this, the better.
It was for those reasons that he insisted on traveling until he was sure they were out of sight of the town or any farms or ranches before they made camp. After a supper of soup made from bacon and dried vegetables, the pair fell silent. Mary turned her head up to look at the stars, while Chrono stared into the fire and tried to solidify his plan in his mind. He knew that the Magdalan Order wouldn’t be happy to see the Holy Maiden’s kidnapper back on their ground, even if he was returning her to them. Mary Magdalene, the saint herself, was less than thrilled about returning to the place she had referred to as a “cage”. She was resistant enough to the idea that it lead to their first real argument when he’d suggested it, both because of her dislike of the place and, particularly, her fear for his safety. Even now, the only reason they were continuing with his plan was because neither of them could come up with a better solution. Shader might have been able to figure out a way to save Mary, but Aion would rather tear Mary’s head off than give them a chance to try. The Order was the only place either of them knew that would have any hope of saving Mary from the demon that had possessed her.
“Chrono, what’s wrong?” He turned his eyes from the fire toward Mary, who had stopped her stargazing to give him a worried look.
“Nothing,” he said with a smile and a tone he hoped seemed reassuring. “I was just thinking.”
She shook her head. “No, you’re worried.” Her tone was gentle, if a bit scolding. “I’m sorry I fought you on your plan…”
Mary’s powers were a bit of a trouble to deal with at times. He appreciated having someone that understood him, but being unable to hide much from her was disconcerting. “I think we’ve both apologized enough about that. Anyway, why don’t you get some rest? I’ll keep watch for a bit.”
If she could tell he was trying to avoid the subject, she didn’t mention it. She paused briefly before responding. “All right. I think I’ll do that. Try to get some rest, too.”
“I will.”
He listened to her shallow breath as she fell asleep, allowing his anxiousness to show on his face. Every day her skin grew paler and her breathing became more ragged. Although she tried to hide it, her struggle was becoming more and more obvious. Earlier in the day she’d had a coughing fit that lasted for several minutes. He knew so little about their contract that he wasn’t quite sure what symptoms were the strain from the Contract, and what was Pandaemonium, but he had a feeling it was her fight against the demon Queen that was weakening her the most. He had to find a way to free her, no matter what. He’d never forgive himself if he didn’t. It didn’t matter if the Order killed him for what he did, as long as she would live and be happy. He’d never felt so strongly about anything before.
He spent the night trying to find the words to say to the Order when he returned her. My name is Chrono the Sinner, and I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself properly before. No, that seemed almost a little too friendly considering what he’d done. He could still see her guard’s angry and fearful blue eyes in his mind. Before you say anything, please hear me out. I know what I did seemed…
No.
I don’t care if you call me a monster, or lock me up, or kill me, but Mary’s in trouble and you’re the only ones--
No, no, he had to sound like he wasn’t demanding help. He knew he didn’t deserve it. He knew he wouldn’t have much time to say anything before they leveled their weapons at him…
Please. Please help her. I don’t care what you do to me, but save Mary. I’m sorry I lead her into this situation. I’m sorry I didn’t protect her from Pandaemonium during the battle. I’m sorry I didn’t realize what was happening. I’m sorry I trusted Aion. Just help Mary. Please.
Please…
He tightly closed his eyes and tried to swallow, forcing way the memory of a small body crumbling to ash in his hands and focusing on the strange, ethereal connection he could feel through his contract with her instead. He wouldn’t fail her like he failed his younger siblings. He refused. He’d protect her and help her to smile again. And then he would learn everything about her and do anything he could to understand her. He’d do whatever it’d take. Anything…
He wasn’t quite sure when he fell asleep. Maybe he was more tired than he thought. All he knew is that when he woke up, the stars and the camp were gone, he was in a room he didn’t recognize, and he could no longer sense the warmth of Mary’s soul…or anything else for that matter. Panic overtook him so much that he barely noticed the screen come on or the redheaded man’s explanation. He tried to morph into his fully-powered fighting form, but he couldn’t. His arm itched a bit, but that was the only change he could detect. Somehow his powers were gone—not weakened because of the loss of his horns, but completely gone--and Mary was nowhere to be found. He rushed out of the room as soon as he was able.
If he didn’t find Mary soon, then he was going to figure out what that bastard Aion had done to her, and then he’d kill him. Possibly in that order.
[ NOTES ]
[ PLAYER INFORMATION ]
Player Name: Haley
Age: 24
Timezone: Mountain Standard Time, USA
Personal Journal:
haleysingsContact Information: HaleySings@gmail.com, [AIM/plurk] brightblueink
Current Characters: N/A
Links to Activity Check: N/A
Beta-reader: Manda
[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]
Name: Chrono (sometimes with "of the Broken Horn", "the Slayer of a 100" or "the Sinner" tacked onto the end of it)
Age: He’s approximately around 30 from where I’m taking him, although physically he appears to be in his late teens to early twenties.
Gender: Male
Canon: Chrono Crusade
Timeline: From the flashbacks in Volume 6—while he’s on the run with Mary after Aion removed his horns (but before the final confrontation).
Character History:
http://www.chrno-crusade.com/AC_Chrnostory.htm#Pandemonium%20and%20the%20Sinners –the “Pandaemonium and the Sinners” paragraph covers the information from the flashbacks to the time period I’m taking him from. To flesh it out a bit in my own words:
Chrono was born at the same time as Aion, and what little we know of their lives in the demon world hints that they were close from the time they were very young. Through hints in the manga and comments from the mangaka at cons and interviews, we can guess that much of their childhood was taken up in training to become soldiers. The Elders had high hopes for the pair, since they showed signs of having a large amount of power, and possibly growing even stronger after their coming-of-age “Tuning” ceremony. However, when Aion went through the Tuning Ceremony, his powers allowed him to reach ancestral memories that were forbidden, which threw the Elders into a panic. Chrono was forbidden from going through the ceremony, and him, Aion and their younger siblings were condemned to death. They fled their home, but were chased, which led to a bloody battle where Chrono snapped after seeing his dead younger siblings and killed 100 of the attacking demons. In the aftermath of the battle the “Sinners”, as they were branded because of their perceived treachery, dwindled from a number of hundreds to only six.
Chrono became depressed after the battle and withdrew emotionally from his friends, until Aion ordered him to capture a powerful seer known as Mary Magdalene. Mary was able to see through his avoidant actions and could tell that Chrono was actually a very sensitive person that didn’t want to hurt anyone. The way Mary cared about his thoughts and feelings impressed Chrono, which caused him to become comfortable with her and draw closer to her during the two months they spent together. However, during a battle Mary became possessed by the memories of the demon queen, and Aion (who is extremely afraid of the queen) decided the only way to solve the problem was to kill her. Chrono disagreed, wanting to find some way to save Mary, and the two fought, which ended with Chrono wounding Aion and Aion tearing out Chrono’s horns, a debilitating injury for demons. Mary made a contract with Chrono to save his life, and Chrono decided that the only chance to save Mary would be to take her back to the religious order he’d captured her from, even though it was likely he might be killed because he was a demon.
Chrono will be arriving to Death City in the middle of his trip to take Mary back to the Magdalan Order.
Character Personality:
At the time point that I’m taking Chrono, he is a young demon suffering from the trauma of his first experiences with battle, on the run after severing his only remaining “family” ties, and desperately clinging to the hope that he can save the one person that he feels fully understands him. He is often depressed and pushes people away, but Mary has broken through to his true caring heart and has been helping him slowly come out of his shell.
After the Sinner’s flight from Pandaemonium, Chrono has shown signs of being traumatized by his part in the battle. He’s shown having nightmares of the moment he snapped and killed 100 of his former comrades, and while Aion praises the fighting skill he showed that day, he shows little more than regret for his actions in the battle. There are two reasons for this. The first is that he failed to protect the younger Sinners during the battle, and the second is that, despite being a soldier, Chrono hates hurting other people and tries to avoid it whenever he can.
Chrono places a lot of emphasis on protecting other people. When he heard where the Pursuers were attacking, his immediate response was to worry about the injured and children in the area (even though the other Sinners insisted that he be concerned with protecting the severed head of the Queen’s “terminal” first). The moment that he snaps is when he sees the badly burned bodies of the young children that had taken refuge in the area the Pursuers attacked. Later, he focuses his energy on protecting Mary Magdalene (who he’s clearly smitten with), and in the main bulk of the story set 50 years later he’s practically obsessive about protecting his second contractor, Rosette, and often physically throws himself in front of his friends to take blows for them rather than allow them to get hurt. He does anything in his power to protect the people he cares about, and often recklessly jumps into impossible situations to see this through. When he isn’t able to protect those he cares about, it hits him hard. Although Chrono appears to have always been introverted and shy, it seems that he withdrew from the other Sinners even more after his failure to protect his younger “siblings” during the battle. A few weeks after where I’m taking him, Chrono’s failure to protect Mary hits him so hard that he decides to sleep in her tomb with the apparent intent to die at her side once he loses all of his astral energy.
Chrono tends to take his failures to protect others so poorly because he cares a lot about other people, even total strangers. Mary correctly points out to him that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, and because of that he struggles between his duties as Aion’s “sword” and his feelings. When he captured her from the Order he could’ve easily attacked and killed her guards, but hesitated until she was able to tell him a way to escape without harming them. Even when Aion is attacking him to try to kill Mary, the woman he’s falling in love with, he hesitates until the last possible second to fight back and might even lose his horns because of this. Later in the series he starts to get a backbone and feels a bit more comfortable showing this side of himself, so he seems much more comfortable trying to reason with others through words than through fights. We know from later events that he will still fight if he has to, particularly to uphold his convictions, but except when his temper and demonic instincts gets the best of him he’d much rather talk things over than let things come to physical blows.
However, Chrono is still a demon soldier. He’s been trained from the time he was young to be a ruthless fighter, and when he lets his emotions and instincts take over fully he becomes a mindless fighting machine. He got the title “Slayer of 100” when he killed 100 high-leveled demons in one battle during one of his moments of mindless rages. A few days after I take him, a brief moment of rage will cause him to use his powers without thinking, possibly causing Mary’s death. 50 years later, he will nearly kill his second contractor, Rosette, when the pain and anger of Mary’s death boils over and causes him to lose control. His temper is probably his greatest flaw, and it’s something he constantly struggles with.
Perhaps because of his training as a soldier as well as the difficult time he’s recently had, Chrono tends to be gruff and finds it difficult to connect with emotionally. Although he’s concerned for her safety when she faints from using too much of her powers, when Chrono first meets Mary he scolds her for teasing and being friendly with him, telling her that he’d kill her if Aion ordered him to do so. (Of course, he changes his tune on that later.) His friend Shader later notes that Mary seems to be breaking him out of his shell a little, so in Death City he’ll probably attempt to be a little bit more friendly than he might’ve been before he met her, but he’ll still have difficulties getting close to others at first. He’s still in a lot of pain and is having a difficult time processing it, and the stress from betraying the Sinners can’t be helping any. Later in the series, Rosette notes that when she first meets him he looks at her “as if he wanted me to go away.” Some of that is because of Mary’s death for sure, but we definitely see some of that when he first meets Mary, so his later friendly disposition toward others is partially due to Rosette’s influence—who he doesn’t yet know. It could just be that he’s a bit shy, too, the brief time we see him as a kid he still comes across as quieter and more serious than his older brother.
As grim and serious as Chrono can come across as in this time of his life, deep down he’s a bit of an awkward dork. He’s just barely at the age to be considered an adult among his people, and until the Sinner’s rebellion he doesn’t appear to have ever left the demon world of Pandaemonium. He’s only had about 8 months of experience with humans in particular, which doesn’t help his awkwardness. He finds Mary very weird because of her not treating him differently since he’s a demon, and he has a tendency to openly stare at her while he’s trying to figure her out. It’s pretty obvious from the beginning that he’s nursing a crush on her, too. He blushes and is very embarrassed when Mary teases him, from having a conversation with him in her underwear (and joking that it’s “too bad” he missed her when she was bathing), to her joking that his gruff attitude and shoddy clothing won’t get him a woman no matter how handsome he is. Although Mary is a little weird even for a human, even “normal” things completely baffle him—he admits that he doesn’t understand the concept of a childhood the way humans do because of his background, and when Mary mentions “laundry” he doesn’t even know what she means. (Considering he meets her 6 months after leaving Pandaemonium, and he’s been wearing human clothing at least some of the time to blend in, this means he walked around in the same outfit with several months of dirt and sweat caked on it. And he apparently thought this was normal. DERP.)
Possibly because of his age and lack of experience, he also shows a bit of hopeful naivety, soldier or no. The idea of the deaths of the other Sinners being a ‘sacrifice’ is something he has a hard time of accepting, and when Mary makes a contract with him, he doesn’t even know what she means. (Considering that it’s Pandaemonium’s memories that allows Mary to know what a contract is herself, this shows that Chrono is lacking in knowledge even of things that come from his own world.) His hope that he can save her is arguably pretty reckless, particularly since his plan to do so includes going to an organization he knows will likely kill him for his crime of “kidnapping” the holy maiden. He tells Aion that even if a good solution doesn’t seem available, that you should keep searching until you can find one. Later in life this will be tempered with a bit more wisdom and age, and he’ll have moments where he’ll concede that there might not be an easy solution, but at this point in time surrender isn’t much of an option for him. Now that Mary has made him feel like he shouldn’t be ashamed of the emotions he feels and his convictions, he seems determined to find a way to fight for what he believes is right. Sadly, in the process of doing this he will end up hurting the people he cares about the most. (Perhaps this is one way that Aion and him are closer in personality than he’d like to admit.)
One thing that tends to be a weakness of Chrono’s is that he’s much more comfortable being a follower than a leader. This might be due to his training, or maybe just a quirk of personality. In the official guide his favorite word is listed as “yes!” He only briefly hesitates or questions orders before following them most of the time, from Aion’s orders as a commander, to Mary’s suggestion to make a contract with her (even when he doesn’t know what she means), to his later partnership with Rosette where he happily calls himself her assistant. He’s capable of making his own decisions, and when he’s convinced of something being the right solution he’ll push for it (for example, taking Mary back to the Order even though she doesn’t want to), but when he’s given a chance he obviously prefers taking a submissive role, and is easily swayed by charismatic leaders as long as they don’t try to force him to do something he doesn’t believe is right.
Overall, although Chrono is struggling with grief and falling into a habit of pushing others away to cope, he’s slowly been coming out of his shell to show his gentle, caring side a little more (even if he’s a bit awkward at doing so). But he’s still a soldier, and when backed into a corner or when someone he cares about is in danger, he will fight tooth and nail.
Character Abilities you would like to expand on further:
Demon abilities (these are abilities that are weakened since he’s lost his horns, and are mostly supernatural):
-Strength above that of humans. He’s shown catching a falling building before it squashes his friends, grabbing a trolley (still containing people!) to throw at an enemy, and plunging his hand into an enemy’s chest to rip out his heart, among other things. Even when his powers are sealed, he carries a box that’s about his size and full of guns on his back without much trouble.
-Regeneration. Demon’s bodies are made of cells called “legion” that can quickly rebuild themselves and repair injuries that would instantly kill a human. At one point in the manga, Chrono has a large chunk of the left side of his body blown away from a powerful attack and is even called “dead”, but manages to regenerate and get back on his feet. His brother Aion, who is of a similar power level, recovers from a wound that has his innards spilling out of his stomach with the help of an infusion of astral energy. There only seems to be three wounds that demons of his strength level can’t seem to fully recover from: severe injuries to the brain (or complete disconnection to their brain, like decapitation), having their heart destroyed, and having their horns removed.
-The ability to “stop” time. At full strength, Chrono can use his powers to spread legion onto a target to “stops” its time and freeze it, making his target appear to turn into stone. He can selectively do this to just a section of a body—an arm, a leg, everything from the head down, etc—or an entire object or person. (People who are “stopped” are frozen in stone and don’t age until they’re unfrozen, and a destroyed building has planks of wood hovering in mid-air because of his powers, etc.) He can also stop the effect at will. This seems to take a lot of energy, so he uses this ability mostly as a last resort, and only once when he loses his horns (and he kills his contractor when he does so).
-Sensing spiritual energy. This is vaguely defined in canon, but he can do things like tell when a body has had its soul drained, sense an “evil presence” in another room, he can tell when an enemy is projecting a barrier, etc. Some of this might just be that he has experience with other demon’s powers and can make educated guesses—it’s hard to tell what’s his powers and what’s just him knowing demon-y stuff sometimes.
-Shapeshifting. He can switch between his “true” form where his demon traits (wings, horns, tail, etc) are clearly visible, and a “human-esque” form where only small hints of his demonic nature remain (as well as a “sealed form” where he looks like a child to save as much energy as possible when he loses his horns). He also can shift the legion in his body into different shapes occasionally—this most often shows up as him turning an arm into a blade to fight with. (Also, his true form’s clothing seem to be able to transform at will, or at least when his body goes through changes. This might explain why he didn’t understand laundry, since his clothing and armor seems to be almost an extension of his body.) He can't use this ability to make himself look like another person or anything like that, all of his forms still have the same face.
-Wings/flight. In his full demon form, Chrono has a pair of bat-like wings on his back that he can use to fly. This might be something he can form with his legion. It’s not quite clear in-canon, but while we see him with his wings in a dream where he appears to be naked, it sometimes appears as if his wings are attached to his demon clothing/armor. (Particularly since, near the end of the series, he forms a new set of demon armor and his wings switch to being a pair of two large wings and two smaller wings to only being the larger wings. The smaller wings almost look like they might lend legion to part of the new armor. …It’s weird.)
-Misc. powers that only come up once or twice in canon and are ill defined: he seems to be able to break curses (possibly only with Rosette’s help), he occasionally can manipulate astral energy and project it as an energy attack, and there’s hints that he might be able to read minds, although that only comes up as a throw-away joke in canon one time. Joshua’s able to read minds when he gets Chrono’s horns, but it’s hard to say if this is an ability that Chrono’s horns are giving him, or Joshua’s own powers being amplified by them. Since Chrono never seems to use this power, horns or no, I’m going to err on the side of caution and say he can’t read minds, particularly in SC. I just wanted to mention it for the sake of being thorough.
Abilities and skills not dependant on his horns:
-Chrono is a trained fighter, and shows some skill with a sword and other blades. He prefers hand-to-hand fighting with his claws, though. (Remington later points out that he’s not nearly as good with a sword as Aion is.)
-He wears a gun in 1870 and later helps Rosette with the guns, so he probably has at least a basic understanding of how to use firearms.
-The official guide lists his hobby as “organizing the gun box”. That’s probably more just because he’s very devoted to Rosette as his assistant, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s pretty good at organizing things in general. He seems to like keeping things in order, whether it's the gun box or helping around his home with laundry and other chores.
-He shows a lot of patience in his later dealings with Rosette, and considering he had to grow up with Aion…yeah, I’m assuming this is a skill he’s nursed from a young age. He still gets frustrated at times, but it takes a lot to make him truly angry. (Of course, when he is, then it's a big, big problem.)
Character Weaknesses you would like to expand on further:
-Chrono’s horns were ripped out by Aion, which means he can’t absorb astral energy, which is what fuels a demon’s body and powers. Without astral they’ll eventually starve to death, so when their horns are broken they have to find another way to get it—usually by making contracts with humans to consume their souls. The stubs of his horns also appears to be a weak point, since he covers them up with bandages, and later in life he has metal caps put over them and bolted in place.
-Despite being from a technologically advanced society, he’s not all that good with machines and computers and the like. After where I’m taking him in canon, he joins the Magdalene Order. A lot of the Order’s tech seems to be reversed-engineered from demon technology but when Rosette asks him about how they work, he shrugs and says not to ask him because he’s not very good with their machines. In the flashback, when Shader tries to explain the watch to him his eyes immediately glaze over and he tunes her out. Since he seems to be not very knowledgeable even about demon technology, the odds are high that he’ll struggle to use any of the modern-day human technology in Death City.
-Chrono tends to think with his heart over his head. He’s not stupid, but thinking things out logically doesn’t seem to come naturally to him. It takes effort on his part. When he really works at it he can be pretty clever, but if he’s pressed in a corner and acting on impulse he has moments of using too much of his powers, letting his emotions get the best of him and making the wrong choice, etc.
-I really can't emphasis enough how badly Chrono was traumatized by his part in the Sinner's rebellion, and how much worse he gets after Mary's death. He's already showing worrying symptoms in the time point I’m taking him, with his flashback-nightmares and apparent depression, and in the chronologically later bits of canon he gets much worse, to the point where he seems like he feels physically ill after hearing from Aion again, and puts a ton of energy into avoiding anything that reminds him of his past until he's unable to do so. Although I'm taking him from a point where he's not quite as bad as he gets in later parts of canon, if another significantly traumatic event happens in-game, it’s quite possible that he might develop similar symptoms of PTSD-ish behavior that we see him display in the “current” time of the series.
[ SOUL CAMPAIGN SECTION ]
What abilities will your character retain in Soul Campaign? Bullet-form is fine.
-His training as a soldier, including his knowledge of how to use weapons.
-His strength, but toned down to a strong human level. (Not able to lift a building anymore, but probably still able to carry large bulky boxes with ease, etc.)
-Organizational skills
-His carefully trained patience.
What weaknesses will your character lose or gain in Soul Campaign?
-He won’t need astral energy to survive anymore since his demon abilities have been taken away.
The wish Death the Kid made to the BREW in 2009 was to “rescue Death City and stop the waves of Madness from overtaking the world.” By whatever means necessary. Pretend you are the BREW. Why would you choose to bring this character to Death City?
Chrono is a soldier of incredible strength and skill in his world. Even demons are impressed with his strength and abilities—it was fear of how unnatural him and his brother was that caused the attempted execution of the Sinners in the first place, and he quickly gains a reputation as a ruthless killer among demons once he begins to fight. Also, in the future of the series where he comes from, the actions of him, his “family” and friends will shape the fate of their world. His fate seems to be tied into the fate of his world in general—even when he TRIES to give up and get out of the fight, something drags him back into it. I believe BREW would believe he’d be a good fighter to help the war because of his strength and future importance in his own world.
If your character has difficulty verbally communicating or can’t verbally communicate at all (mute or non-humanoid), elaborate on how this will be treated in the game. (Skip if this doesn’t apply)
N/A, the only reason he communicates poorly is that he’s a shy awkward dork.
[ WEAPON ONLY SECTION ]
Why is your character a Weapon and not a Meister?
As I mentioned earlier, Chrono is much more comfortable in the role of a “follower” rather than a leader. He’s called Aion’s “sword” several times, and both with Aion and Rosette he tends to be used as a weapon in a figurative sense. He’s also really big on wanting to protect people, so this fits him pretty well. Also, although Chrono doesn’t know it, Aion is his twin brother and in Death City he’s also become a weapon, so it’s appropriate for the two of them to be the same “class”.
What is your character’s Weapon Form? Why?
Like his twin, Chrono is a gunblade that has a design similar to guns of the time period he’s being taken from. The gun part is a “double action” revolver with a revolving cylindrical storage for bullets, while the blade part is sharp and slightly curved, similar to the blade he can form with his arm at full power in his demon form. He can be wielded with one or two hands, although the increased weight from the blade means that two hands help with stability.
Much like the weapon form Aion gained when he entered Soul Campaign’s world, Chrono’s form looks a bit worn. However, his engraving is different than Aion—where his brother has the insignia of an eagle, he instead has a clock face, and instead of the brand “SINNER”, his gun is branded with the Greek word “Χρόνος”, or Chronos, the personification of time. The symbol and writing are about a hand’s length.
Since Chrono is a blade-type weapon, he can transform part of his body into a blade. However, he can’t shoot energy unless he’s in his full weapon form.
What is your character’s Weapon Ability?
Since the major “theme” of Chrono’s powers (and his name, and his life in general) is the flow of time—in particular, the ability to stop time—Chrono’s weapon ability is similar. When he and his partner are resonating well, Chrono has the ability to increase the speed of himself and his meister to the point that their perception of the world around them is that it's slowing to a crawl, giving them a chance to get in several blows or quickly escape. With a descent resonance and only a few souls, this ability lasts for a handful of seconds. At full resonance with Chrono at Deathscythe level, this effect can last for up to a minute and thirty seconds.
HOWEVER: much like how in his world Chrono’s disability requires him to contract with a human and use their soul’s energy and lifespan to fuel his powers, Chrono’s ability is fueled by the soul energy of his Meister. A meister that doesn’t have good resonance should not even attempt using this ability, as it will likely cause injury to both themselves AND Chrono. With better resonance, using this ability for up to 5 seconds will probably do little more than wind the meister, but the longer this power is in use (particularly if Chrono has only collected a few souls), the more damage is caused to the Meister. Even at full resonance and with Chrono at a deathscythe power level, this power is EXTREMELY dangerous for use longer than a minute—the full one and a half limit time span should only be used in the most dire of circumstances, as doing so will weaken the meister so badly as to completely take them out of the battle, and might even lead to them losing consciousness or—in the most extreme cases—death. The time used is cumulative within a 24 hour period. For example, if this ability is activated for 10 seconds earlier in a day, then for another 30 seconds later that evening, Chrono’s Meister will experience as much fatigue and injury as if they used the power for 40 seconds all at once, and the 1 minute, 30 second time limit is in effect for the entire 24 hour period. In general, this ability is best used for only a very short amount of time, or as a last-ditch attempt to turn the tide of a battle. Failure to respect the damage that this power can do to Chrono and his meister could be a deadly mistake.
[ SOUL INFORMATION ]
Describe your character’s soul with six adjectives.
Caring, Devoted, Earnest , Grieving, Hesitant, Violent.
What does your character’s soul look like? Be creative.
Light red, sort of the same color if you deluded blood with some water. Fringes of his soul falls in front of his “face” similar to his bangs, and his soul tapers off into sectioned tail that looks similar both to the metal, spin-like tail coming from his neck in his demon form, and the braid he wears later in life in his sealed form. His three “eye spots” are visible on his forehead, and together make the shape of a triangle pointing up. The expression on his soul’s ‘face’ is full of doubt and has a slight frown.
[ SAMPLES ]
[The entry starts with a confused-looking young man staring at the screen. He has purple hair, tan skin and pointed ears, and a cowboy hat is perched on his head. An observant viewer with some knowledge of the guests in Death City might realize that he has a striking resemblance to the demon Aion, although his hair and skin color is different and he’s missing some of the demonic traits Aion seems to have. They do have the same red, angular eyes, though…]
…………
Oh! Wait—it’s already recording? [His eyes dart around as he tries to figure out the information on the screen.] Dammit. I better start it over. [He stares blankly at the screen for several seconds, then groans softly when he realizes he has no idea how to do that. He clears his throat and tries (unsuccessfully) to regain his dignity as he begins his intended message.]
Hello. I need some information. Specifically, I need to find a way back home. [His voice gets a little quieter, sadder.] There’s…there’s someone I need to be with right now, and she’s back home, so…I…[He clears his throat and attempts to make his tone seem firm.] The point is, I can’t be here—and honestly, I probably wouldn’t be much of a soldier for your war, anyway. So…let me go home. [And then, as an attempt to sound more firm--] Or I’ll find a way back home on my own.
Provide a Third Person sample set during the last minutes on their world and/or their first few moments in the Kishin Chamber.
They had been on the run for three days, and Chrono could tell that Mary was getting tired. He wished that he felt comfortable enough to rent a room and give Mary a proper bed to sleep in, but the less people saw of them, the better. Even during their short stop at a town to pick up some supplies and some new clothing to make him stand out less he was constantly looking over his shoulder. He knew Aion was a master at manipulating people through words, and great at information gathering as well. Chrono had a paranoid thought that if they ended up in the same town as him, Aion might be able to convince people that they were some sort of wanted criminals on the run from the law. Then he’d be forced to attack those people to defend himself and Mary…He cringed and shook his head at that thought. No, he decided, he wouldn’t let that happen. He was tired of fighting. That was another reason to avoid any human settlements—the less people involved in this, the better.
It was for those reasons that he insisted on traveling until he was sure they were out of sight of the town or any farms or ranches before they made camp. After a supper of soup made from bacon and dried vegetables, the pair fell silent. Mary turned her head up to look at the stars, while Chrono stared into the fire and tried to solidify his plan in his mind. He knew that the Magdalan Order wouldn’t be happy to see the Holy Maiden’s kidnapper back on their ground, even if he was returning her to them. Mary Magdalene, the saint herself, was less than thrilled about returning to the place she had referred to as a “cage”. She was resistant enough to the idea that it lead to their first real argument when he’d suggested it, both because of her dislike of the place and, particularly, her fear for his safety. Even now, the only reason they were continuing with his plan was because neither of them could come up with a better solution. Shader might have been able to figure out a way to save Mary, but Aion would rather tear Mary’s head off than give them a chance to try. The Order was the only place either of them knew that would have any hope of saving Mary from the demon that had possessed her.
“Chrono, what’s wrong?” He turned his eyes from the fire toward Mary, who had stopped her stargazing to give him a worried look.
“Nothing,” he said with a smile and a tone he hoped seemed reassuring. “I was just thinking.”
She shook her head. “No, you’re worried.” Her tone was gentle, if a bit scolding. “I’m sorry I fought you on your plan…”
Mary’s powers were a bit of a trouble to deal with at times. He appreciated having someone that understood him, but being unable to hide much from her was disconcerting. “I think we’ve both apologized enough about that. Anyway, why don’t you get some rest? I’ll keep watch for a bit.”
If she could tell he was trying to avoid the subject, she didn’t mention it. She paused briefly before responding. “All right. I think I’ll do that. Try to get some rest, too.”
“I will.”
He listened to her shallow breath as she fell asleep, allowing his anxiousness to show on his face. Every day her skin grew paler and her breathing became more ragged. Although she tried to hide it, her struggle was becoming more and more obvious. Earlier in the day she’d had a coughing fit that lasted for several minutes. He knew so little about their contract that he wasn’t quite sure what symptoms were the strain from the Contract, and what was Pandaemonium, but he had a feeling it was her fight against the demon Queen that was weakening her the most. He had to find a way to free her, no matter what. He’d never forgive himself if he didn’t. It didn’t matter if the Order killed him for what he did, as long as she would live and be happy. He’d never felt so strongly about anything before.
He spent the night trying to find the words to say to the Order when he returned her. My name is Chrono the Sinner, and I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself properly before. No, that seemed almost a little too friendly considering what he’d done. He could still see her guard’s angry and fearful blue eyes in his mind. Before you say anything, please hear me out. I know what I did seemed…
No.
I don’t care if you call me a monster, or lock me up, or kill me, but Mary’s in trouble and you’re the only ones--
No, no, he had to sound like he wasn’t demanding help. He knew he didn’t deserve it. He knew he wouldn’t have much time to say anything before they leveled their weapons at him…
Please. Please help her. I don’t care what you do to me, but save Mary. I’m sorry I lead her into this situation. I’m sorry I didn’t protect her from Pandaemonium during the battle. I’m sorry I didn’t realize what was happening. I’m sorry I trusted Aion. Just help Mary. Please.
Please…
He tightly closed his eyes and tried to swallow, forcing way the memory of a small body crumbling to ash in his hands and focusing on the strange, ethereal connection he could feel through his contract with her instead. He wouldn’t fail her like he failed his younger siblings. He refused. He’d protect her and help her to smile again. And then he would learn everything about her and do anything he could to understand her. He’d do whatever it’d take. Anything…
He wasn’t quite sure when he fell asleep. Maybe he was more tired than he thought. All he knew is that when he woke up, the stars and the camp were gone, he was in a room he didn’t recognize, and he could no longer sense the warmth of Mary’s soul…or anything else for that matter. Panic overtook him so much that he barely noticed the screen come on or the redheaded man’s explanation. He tried to morph into his fully-powered fighting form, but he couldn’t. His arm itched a bit, but that was the only change he could detect. Somehow his powers were gone—not weakened because of the loss of his horns, but completely gone--and Mary was nowhere to be found. He rushed out of the room as soon as he was able.
If he didn’t find Mary soon, then he was going to figure out what that bastard Aion had done to her, and then he’d kill him. Possibly in that order.
[ NOTES ]