**history expansion/personality update**
Theme Song- Helena, piano tributeBattle Theme- The Ghost of You, piano/karaokeName: Helena Mitsuko
Nickname: Elly, Ella, Mitts
Age: 17
Physical Age: 16
Gender: Female
Species: Human with a touch of magic
Position: Neutral; Helena could honestly care less which side wins, but instead she focuses on her own agenda. Because of this, her allegiance does not lie with any group.
Powers: Helena's power lies in her pyrokinesis abilities, which first developed at age 13. After four years of practice, she has perfected the technique of conjuring flame, but Helena knows she still has a lot to learn. By exciting the atoms in the air, she can ignite objects as well as air particles. She can selectively control the direction and intensity of the flames. The combustion of a given object is usually accompanied by the snap of the fingers. Otherwise, Helena has a difficult time focusing her energy on combustion, thus she cannot use her powers as a means for silent attacks. To assist with her powers, she often carries around gunpowder in her locket and in her belt buckle, which, of course, presents rather dangerous consequences. Under normal circumstances, Helena is vulnerable to flames and smoke like any other human, and for her own safety, she does not let her flames burn for long. As is the case with all fire, Helena has a natural weakness to water and thus cannot swim.
Helena's fighting style is smooth and elegant when she's under little stress. As the battle gets more intense, the calculated, perfected facade falls away. While Helena does reveal the intensity of her powers and her strength under stress, she is more vulnerable to attacks in this state.
After any one of her powers has been used, Helena must wait a certain amount of time before using them again. Her powers become stressed if used in quick succession, putting a strain on her mental and physical state because of their close association with her magical energy.
As an aside, Helena has difficulty using her powers in high humidity. She cannot use her powers in rain or in water.
Invoked Flurry: By exciting the atoms in the air, Helena can ignite a small flame, usually in the palm of her hand, for a maximum of five posts, but usually less. She rarely uses this power in battle but rather as a light in dark areas. This power is also used out of sheer boredom. However, Invoked Flurry has the potential of distracting foes, though Helena prefers fight over flight. Three posts must pass in between uses.
Pop rocks: By releasing varying amounts of gunpowder, Helena can create anything from a distraction to a devastating explosion upon ignition. The amount of gunpowder carried allows for up to three foe distractions or one explosion. The distractions are much like Snappers (the fireworks you throw at the ground and they make popping sounds and sparks) in spark size, and around twenty can be deployed per distraction. In between distractions, three posts must pass. The explosion itself has the potential of having the explosive effect of a firecracker, but only if arranged correctly. Any aftermath of the explosion has the potential to spread the flames (most of which would probably be about one to two feet tall. It wouldn't be a wall of flames or anything.) This explosion probably won't end a person, but they won't look pretty afterward. Gunpowder cannot be replaced in the same thread it was used up in.
Candle Wick: When her weapons are summoned, Helena can set its blade aflame, but only for a limited period of time. As time progresses, the length of the blade covered in flames will decrease, much like a candle's height decreases. Stronger and more focused attacks usually mean that Candle Wick will burn out faster. The length is two posts long at most, and the cool down period is (you guessed it) three posts.
Third-Degree Burns: Similar to Invoked Flurry, Third-Degree Burns is an attack that actually sets objects and foes aflame. The duration of the attack lasts at the most three posts if the object/foe does not put out the fire beforehand. Based on how long the object/foe was on fire and the natural weakness/resistance to fire, the object/foe may experience no burns to some very serious burns. The period of the cool down is five posts.
LIMIT BREAKS
Firebird: By far Helena's ultimate attack, in this form, Helena is invulnerable to flames and smoke. She uses this only under times of serious stress due to her own personal pride. Firebird engulfs Helena in flames, creating a shield that absorbs partial damage. The flames do not consume Helena's clothes, but they do slightly singe her hair and she smells of smoke after use. In this limit, Helena can use any combination of her attacks aforementioned. Their power is slightly magnified, and all attacks (including regular attacks with her weapon) have the potential of igniting the enemy. This limit break has a limit of two posts and can only be used once per thread. Use of Firebird saps Helena's strength, so for three posts afterward she cannot use any of her powers.
Weapon:Phoenix Feathers: Helena's weapon is a Xiphos, a dual-edged blade originally seen used by the Ancient Greeks. The blade is silver and roughly 50 centimeters long. The guard, shaped like two crossed feathers, and the hilt, also shaped like a feather, are golden in color. From the end of the hilt hangs a red ribbon, a gift from her late father that means the world to her. Phoenix Feathers is used like any other sword--for hacking, stabbing, and parrying. Helena is rather aggressive in her use of her weapon, and under little stress she leaves virtually no openings for her opponents. Under stress, she's entirely on the offensive, leaving herself almost constantly exposed. When not in use, Phoenix Feathers hangs in a sheath by her belt (not shown in the picture).
Picture: 
(picture does not belong to me.)
Appearance: Standing at about 5'3" and weighing about 115 lbs., Helena is a fragile little flower whose skin has barely seen daylight. The girl's physique is slender but reasonably toned, her face heart-shaped, her lips a pale pink. Her hair, usually styled in a ponytail, is black streaked with bright red and can be stubbornly wavy. One of her identifying features is her strange rust-colored eyes. Others include the mass of piercings on each of her ears, her choker from which her mother's locket hangs, and her strong, resolute stature. She wears long, striped, fingerless gloves, a variety of black t-shirts, and ripped skinny jeans. The studded belt that hangs at Helena's waist is accompanied by a plain black sheath in which she houses Phoenix Feathers, as well as a heart-shaped belt buckle in which she stores gunpowder.
Personality: The disappearance of Helena's world has left her cold, calculated, and with a drive to protect, contrasting her from her powers. She's very cynical--a natural loner. Helena does wish for friends to protect, however, only because she lost all of hers right in front of her eyes. The one friends she did have in the little world of Moonlit Lake was her very best, but after he was lost, she became virtually numb to all emotion. Thus, she's hard to impress and difficult to befriend. If one does happen to find their way into Helena's heart, one will find that she suddenly turns around. A gentler, kinder, more loyal Helena emerges from underneath the cold facade. Suddenly, Helena is the greatest ally one can have. If one should double-cross her, however, she will despise them forever--if they're not eradicated first. In battle, Helena is arrogant and calculated. She always seems to know what she's doing until a weapon cuts a little too close. As tensions rise, so will her fiery strength and passion in battle. Her moves become less fluid and becomes more agitated and furious, a sign that though her strength is rising, her defense is falling. In such situations, Helena often claims she is fearless, but her biggest fear is water for it's her power's natural enemy and she cannot swim. Only for a moment was she able to conquer this fear, and this was in the midst of a new friend and a closer friend. Helena cannot stand those who use water as a power and will often fight them to prove to herself that water is harmless. Needless to say, she has failed more than once.
Upon seeing one in a poor condition, Helena cannot help but be instantly sympathetic. As a protector, she will do whatever she can to help someone in need. Someone who is in a dreadful plight also seems to get brownie points with Helena. Under such situations, she is much more sentimental and her inner personality will come to surface much more quickly.
Helena tends to try to fend off her emotions with logic. In such situations, her mind usually triumphs over her heart and she goes back to being numb. In special instances, Helena will give up the fight and let her emotions overtake her.
To be honest, Helena has never really loved someone else outside her family. Even then, Helena was closest to her mother. She doesn't know how to deal with love. Due to her cynical nature, Helena will most likely attempt to clip her emotions toward someone else off in the bud. This means that she will be distant from the person, even while thinking about him. If she cannot... well, Helena will probably just go on loving from afar until she can't take it anymore. This is exactly the case with Hero, who was also the one who is slowly changing her outlook.
After meeting Hero, Helena has seemed to open herself up to more people. It became a goal of hers to travel from world to world, balancing out power so that one being wouldn't be treated above another. In her quest, she became friends with others, at first only because it was necessary. However, Helena learned to respect them just as much as she respects Hero. With the combined efforts of Legato, Falsetto, Anil, and herself, she was able to convince Leiz to cart them around. She hopes to settle down in Radiant Garden, as she hates Traverse Town. Along the way, she has met many people and realized that maybe, people aren't so bad after all. Though still cynical, slowly the old Helena is returning, perhaps for all to see.
However, something--whether it be a wish for more power, or a sudden foothole--has caused Helena to hear her father's voice speaking to her. This is her darkness. He speaks in
dark green in her thoughts. Her darkness seems to be more observant than she is, and while he does pick out weaknesses in enemies just like she does, he seems to know a lot more about them beyond that just because he listens more than she does. He's very sarcastic and rude, taunting Helena and those she sees. His ultimate goal is to corrupt Helena's heart and mind, taking over her body and possibly even causing her to die. As long as she can surround herself with the light of others, she can overpower her darkness. However, places near darkness, dark thoughts or actions, and people with dark hearts will provide her darkness with more power. When the darkness takes over, her powers stay the same, but take a slightly different aesthetic look. If she can win the inner conflict, or if someone can bring her to her senses/surround her with light, she can take down the darkness. If not, it's pretty likely that she'll lose all control.
Original World: Moonlit Lake
Current World: Traverse Town
History: Before the reign of darkness began, there was a beautiful world by the name of Moonlit Lake. As if that introduction wasn't stereotypical enough, the people of this world were content with the amount of light that inhabited the world. If there was any question or implication of darkness in the hearts of the people or in the world itself, that question or implication was swiftly dismissed. There wasn't a doubt about how content the inhabitants were… They really had no reason to be. Implied by the name, there was plenty of freshwater from the lake to spare. The soil was fertile; crops and plants were plentiful; there was more than enough supplies to go around. What more could these people want…?
Before a hero can be born, a conflict must be present.
The people of this world were happy, indeed, but they wanted more.
You see, the light of this world was immense. Anybody could covet the warmth and hope such light could bring. Some did more than others. Some wanted such light for themselves as if it was some kind of property that could be traded or taken. This want grew as time wore on. Suddenly, this was a need. Seeds of darkness planted themselves in those green-eyed monsters. They grew outwards and wormed their way into innocents. Darkness had found its way into the people’s hearts.
Nature tends to strive to achieve balance within itself. The darkness festered like a sickness within the population, and at last, the weak fell to its whims. Heartless manifested from their black hearts. Those who were left organized a force to counteract the beasts and eventually, they were driven to the caves found on an island in the midst of the world’s great lake. Others who were thought to be too close to the darkness were sent to the caves as well, and they too fell to darkness. This force, called the SCARECROW, was led by a man named Raiden Mistuko. Shortly after the SCARECROW was created, Raiden’s only child was born to Mrs. Lily Mitsuko, a woman known for her protective magic capabilities. This was nature’s way of introducing a balance to the conflict at hand.
The daughter was named Helena simply because of the way her smile lit up the room. She was the pride and joy of the young Raiden, though he didn't show it. Her father was the disciplinarian, so the precocious young girl learned not to mess with him. Helena grew closer to Lily, her mother and role model. They were so close that Lily decided to pass her powers down to her child when the time was right, since in Moonlit Lake, only one magic-user, with powers focusing on one particular element (thunder, fire, wind, cure, protection in the form of shields, etc, all based on the personality of the one who receives the powers), existed at a time. The death of one resulted in the birth of another, and Lily was no fool. She could see what was happening, and truthfully, so could the young Helena.
At a young age, Helena began being bombarded with messages glorfying the actions of SCARECROW. Her father's organization was built upon the help of vigilant citizens who would report suspicious activity as they would see it. However, they would report those who didn't deserve to be reported. Regular people that others did not like were wrongfully accused and mercilessly put away by SCARECROW. Even at a young age, Helena realized that this was wrong. Nobody else besides her mother and herself seemed to question it. In schools, they were glorfied as heroes; outside of schools, one would see monuments dedicated to their righteous image. Propaganda, no matter where one looked, was never out of sight.
Up until the point of realization, Helena had been a very social little girl. She had many friends and hardly any enemies. But left and right, as she began to say things that her mother would whisper to her while they were alone, kids began leaving her behind. At age four, she was completely alone, left without a friend. While roaming the dirt paths that made up the city streets, she found Kato Luminaire, a young boy with platinum blonde hair, a rather tan complexion, and ice blue eyes. He had the same feelings about SCARECROW that she did. The two quickly became best friends and became one of the most teased kids in all of Moonlit Lake. Kato's parents had died and he was left with a rather crazy uncle, while Helena was simply hard to get along with and almost friendless.
Growing up, Helena saw more and more people fall at the hand of SCARECROW. Some had been placed there for the right reasons; their hearts had been black with negative emotions and they would have been a threat soon. The vast majority were not threats and simply disliked. Kato, Helena, and her mother often talked about this. Only the kids actually spoke out about it. Lily had never said a word to anyone about it besides Helena. She even realized that Raiden was all wrong about SCARECROW and the laws they enforced, but still, she seemed to love her husband with every fiber of her being. Helena could never understand it.
At age 10, something would happen to Helena that would change her life forever.
Kato and his uncle were arrested by SCARECROW and thrown into the cave.
Angered by this injustice, Helena stole her father's sword while he was sleeping, untied a rowboat at one of the docks, and sailed out into the middle of the lake to collect her friend. She knew that they couldn't go back to the town. On the opposite side of the lake, however, was a wooded area where they would not be found. Helena dived deep into the cave, unfamiliar with the use of a sword as well as the behavior of Heartless, and managed to guide the duo out due to overwhelming determination and with the help of the ones inside, who had managed to fend off the monsters for quite a while by that time. They went to the opposite side of the base where they set up camp for the rest of the night. Helena rowed back home, exhausted, but knowing that this was exactly what she wanted to do until she was old enough to get rid of SCARECROW once and for all.
Being the daughter of the leader of SCARECROW, when Raiden died, Helena would inherit command of the organization. Knowing this, she asked her father to teach her how to fight. She honestly wasn't the best at it, but she got the hang of it soon and used her newfound knowledge to better benefit her efforts. She was assisted by Kato every night there was an arrest without any pause. However, there were many times where the duo were simply too late and they couldn't save whoever had been trapped inside the cave. There were points at which they were overpowered and narrowly escaped without saving who they went out to help. But, more often than not, she and Kato were able to guide the arrested out. All of the rescued were transported to the other side of the lake, where they were regularly delivered supplies to set up camp and crop up their own food source. As more and more people started disappearing from the town, more and more people ended up on the opposite side of the lake. They lived off the land for quite some time until Helena saved a few farmers, who provided for the hungry people.
However, there were tell-tale signs that she was up to something. The first five or so times she went out to help, she got pretty beat up and had to tell her parents that she had fallen off of something or had gotten attacked by the school bully. She dozed off during class, causing many after-school detentions and invoking the concern of her parents. Helena blamed it on intensive studying, but due to lack of sleep and less time to study, they seemed to be slowly plummeting from low A's to high B's. Her father's weapon, from time to time, moved from the spot it had been placed.
Both of her parents knew that there was something up. Her father, in particular, spoke up about her strange behavior. He knew that she had sympathy for those who had been arrested. Others were catching on, as well. Everybody seemed to be telling on each other now that the only people who remained were well-liked. Helena only remained because they were scared to invoke her father's wrath. Even SCARECROW's members seemed to be diminishing, as people were turning on each other left and right. It was up at this point that Helena received a member's weapon, a dagger, and gave it to Kato to use instead of taking down Heartless with his own strength--which, honestly, both didn't have much of. Both equipped with weapons, their job became incredibly easier. They were both about twelve-and-a-half.
At precisely thirteen, about half of the city was on one side of the lake and half was on the other. Tensions were running high. Kato and Helena were meeting in the middle of the lake almost every night. With experience backing them up, their successes were far surpassing their failures. She was quick, and Kato had started surpassing her in strength. He would distract the Heartless while she would go deeper and save whoever was inside. He would follow close behind her, knowing she couldn't easily protect someone while focusing on beating down Heartless. They made a great team, in all honesty. He was the force backing up her intelligence up. Helena would pinpoint the particular weaknesses in her enemies by studying them in their natural state. She had been around Heartless enough to watch them closely, and Kato would back her up with his greater strength.
For some reason, he never forgot a single thing she said. His smiles were starting to grow kinder, and there was something behind those ice blue eyes he wasn't telling her.
About a month or two into their thirteenth year, someone had finally gathered up enough courage to turn Helena in. All tips were anonymous, and as such, Helena never learned who did it. At her father's mercy, she had one more night to spend with them. However, this time, they never let her out of their sight. It was then that Helena confessed her secret to her mother, the only one who would ever understand. Her mother sobbed quietly for the rest of the night. She gave her only child her locket, the one that Helena had always admired, as a token to remember the family by. Her father, when Helena attempted to talk to him at all, screamed at her, calling her a disrespectful child who had ruined the family name. In his anger, he said that she wasn't fit to be called his daughter.
The next day, Helena didn't show up for school. She ran off without the permission of her parents and met Kato across the lake in order to tell him what was supposed to happen from now on. She would escape the cave with his help, row to the other side of the lake, and keep a close eye on the happenings in the main town. They would sneak into the town and collect a weapon for Helena to use, and maybe some better weapons for those across the lake. Around seven or so, the plan was completely fleshed out and the two parted ways, knowing that after this, things would never be the same...
Helena returned home and surrendered to SCARECROW. Her own father put her in handcuffs and took her out to the island a little later. Her mother had whispered her goodbyes... But her father seemed as mad as ever. He stopped about half of the way to the island and gave his sword and a bit of gunpowder. She had no idea what the gunpowder was for, exactly, but accepted the gifts as her father's way of helping his daughter. Though he gave his apologies, Helena never exactly forgave him for doing everything that he did. Her hatred of her father never quite went away, even years after the events that made her who she is today.
As soon as Raiden Mitsuko had felt the time was right, he surrendered himself to darkness.
Finally, the end of the world came. The delicate scales that balanced the light and darkness within the world had been tipped too far. The sky was blotted out. Everything became pitch black. Somewhere in the never-ending darkness, she felt her mother touch her cheek…
A spark interrupted the endless black. Above Helena’s palm hovered a small flame, lighting the immediate area surrounding her. All around her were ambiguous shapes with beady yellow eyes. In her surprise, she dropped the flame onto the ship below her… The darkness exploded with light one more time. The ambiguous shapes fell away, but the flames were coming ever closer… She jumped into the lake, knowing she couldn’t swim... After flailing about, Helena eventually gave up and lost consciousness, sinking into the darkness…
Upon awakening, Helena found herself on the ground in the middle of Traverse Town. Her world had sunk into the darkness; her loved ones were gone. As if her own newfound powers over flames had consumed all that she ever cared for, Helena emerged from the ashes a new person. For four years, she fought the Heartless to hone her skills and protect innocents, but otherwise, she does not fight light or darkness. Eventually, Helena realized that there was virtually no hope left for her world, or for any other. They all had the same fate: to fall to darkness. She became cynical and cold toward others, but still she hoped that one day, someone could make her change her mind about people.
Hero, perhaps, was just the one she needed.
That particular event and the ones following are chroniclized on
this page.Role Playing Sample: Life was inexplicably dull that day for Helena. She had hunted around Traverse Town for hours, but there wasn’t a single beast worth fighting. There was no patience present in her heart for fighting someone who wasn’t harming anyone. Of course, all beasts had the potential to harm, but were they bothering her or other people? No, not at all. She didn’t like to persecute innocent beings, no matter who or what they were. Her blade had been used too many times in that manner by its previous user. Helena had vowed to never turn out like her father, like the man who almost willingly handed her over to the will of the people…
She was in Traverse’s Third District whenever she saw the Shadow. It was a cute little thing, she couldn’t lie. It almost looked like a child’s animated and demonic stuffed animal. The Shadow’s antennae twitched, sensing her presence, and it turned its little head toward her. For a moment, it stayed perfectly still as if scoping whether or not Helena was worth the kill. Helena unsheathed Phoenix Feathers and twirled it between her fingers, scoping her enemy out as well. The little Shadow took a few steps toward her, trying to get a better look. Helena matched its steps. The beady yellow eyes blinked curiously. The hunger for hearts was apparent in its eyes. The girl smirked to herself and held her blade steady.
How cute. The little Heartless must be looking for someone to play with, huh? the thought entertained Helena. She remembered the way she used to play with her stuffed animals as a little girl, and though the idea of playing with something that could possibly kill her was odd, Helena felt playfully amused.
“Hey, buddy. Why don’t you play with me?” She asked the Shadow softly, trying to make herself tempting to the creature. The Heartless tilted its head slightly to the side, curious to as to what the silly human girl could possibly be saying. It took another few wary steps toward Helena. Its antennae twitched again, signaling to a few other Shadows in the area. They came up from the floor and joined their friend. Helena’s smirk grew. The Shadow apparently felt that the kill would be safer in a group. It was time to choose whether or not she would fight them off. They were advancing upon the girl, five total. Helena remained resolute in her stature. They quickened pace. She twirled Phoenix Feathers one last time. “I hope you’re ready for some third-degree burns!”
With a snap of her fingers, a wall of flame formed a line between the Heartless and Helena. The beasts ran straight into it and the one Helena first laid eyes on came out on the other side aflame. The others had managed to stop before the wall. An instant later, the flames died down, and Helena raced toward her foes with her blade bared. A resolute swing of Phoenix Feathers eradicated the first Shadow. The other four Shadows came forward, just as resolute as Helena was, and cleverly she jumped over them. Claws reached up and scratched areas of her skin that were exposed, but a few scratches couldn’t slow Helena down. She unleashed a flurry of jabs upon the enemies. They were gone a moment later.
That wasn’t very fun… Her sword found its way back into its sheath. Helena turned on her heel, tucked her hands into her pocket, and proceeded to walk away. “That wasn’t even worth my time…” She muttered in a breath to herself.
Questions/Comments/Suggestions? I imagine I must have done something horribly wrong already ROTFL. It's been forever since I've done anything but casual RPing. I was curious about the powers, as in if I needed to put post-lengths and stuff, and overall just what I need to watch out for if I decide to have another character.Thank ye Zephiris ^_^
Thanks, Shun
