[ ooc | application for ilpromenade ]
PLAYER
✧ NAME: Lii
✧ LJ USERNAME: derptacular
✧ CONTACT (EMAIL, AIM, MSN, PLURK, ETC.): Email | lii.lionheart@gmail.com // AIM | derpsexual // MSN | spongebob_898@hotmail.com // Plurk | tyrantrave
✧ CURRENT MUSE LIST: N/A
CHARACTER
✧ NAME: Emily “Lii” Madsen
✧ SERIES: Original Character - Academy of Hart
✧ HISTORY: Almost as ordinary as one might expect to be growing up as the daughter of a former soldier, Lii was accepted into the Academy her Sophomore year of high school. It took some time to convince her parents to let her go, but eventually she was accepted and moved to the campus, fitting in quite well while still keeping in contact with her old friends from home.
[ZERO]
Her Junior year, she was nominated for the position of Homecoming King. This particular year at the Academy, they decided to reverse the roles, with the Homecoming "King" and the female members of the court sporting male formal-wear while the guys and the "Queen" had to dress in drag. Anyway, a few weeks before the student body had to vote and decide, some strange things started happening.
A small group of students, herself included, had witnessed things that they shouldn't have. In Lii's case, she saw foul play afoot during a sparring match between the other two candidates for King. She and the others were just about to confront the Chief of Student Security (Who happened to be a good friend of Lii's) when he was kidnapped by a cloaked figure wearing an orange mask.
However, what he had left behind was a vital clue: The Chief had already been investigating the group that was responsible for this and the creatures that were attacking the students. They were none other than Heartless. This was the beginning of a conspiracy that nearly tore them all apart. A couple days after the Chief had been kidnapped, Heartless attacked the campus, and more data regarding their enemies had been unearthed and interpreted. What they found out was shocking to everyone. Some previous students that had gone missing were actually some of the converted Heartless.
It was after this that the same four people that were about to confront Vee with their testimonies (Lii, Chibi, Renai, and Watty) faced the first of the Masquerade: The Orange Masque of Deception. As the name insinuated, she was a master illusionist. Much to their horror, they found out that this terrible person was none other than a fellow student of theirs. What was worse was that Lii had fallen for one of her illusions earlier: she was one of the combatants that was 'injured' during the sparring match. Enraged, the quartet tried to defeat her and eventually was victorious. Unfortunately...that ended with Lii being forced to kill Silk by stabbing her through the heart with Phoenix Fire.
This was only the first in a string of bloody battles. And also the beginning of something much more gruesome.
Grieving and feeling remorse for what she had done, despite the fact that she knew she was only trying to protect the other students, Lii began to start spiraling. The resulting despair and other dark feelings in her were already beginning to manifest, and somehow, it was able to create a separate being within her that surfaced during their third battle with the Masquerade, against the Emerald Masque of Deception. The others started noticing she was getting more aggressive with her tactics, and that her eyes would flash and change color from their normal brown a to sickly yellow color...much like that of a Heartless.
After the fight with the Emerald Masque, she met up with Plasmos, a close friend of hers who had been in a coma before the attacks. She offered to let him stay with her to help protect him, and the two talked about what had happened along with the fact that they might be falling for each other.
The next morning, another attack occurred, this time instigated by the Crimson Masque of Anathema. Plasmos, Lii, and the other members of the Revealers moved to the athletic building where they had confronted the Emerald Masque earlier, knowing from Crimson's words that this was to be their battleground. However, during the fight, it was revealed that through epic hax the Crimson Masque had placed dormant control cells within Plasmos's and Renai's bodies, which would only awaken when the Masque called for it.
And called it he did. While Chibi was dealing with her psychotic best friend, Lii had to fight Plasmos on her own while Watty went after the Masque. After some not-so-pleasant things happened (including how both Chibi and Renai were killed by the Masque, Lii being attacked by her boyfriend and Gemini coming out), Lii collapsed from exhaustion before the battle even ended. Thankfully the mysterious masked woman known as DeFalco had come down and assisted Watty in defeating the Crimson Masque while Plasmos got Lii out of there.
She woke up again in Plasmos's room, and nearly freaked out because of earlier events. There was some explanation and a bit of freaking out, but things worked out in the end, and they even made a new friend along the way. While they were cleaning up, a student who hadn't evacuated just yet was still wandering around and stumbled upon them. After nearly beating the crap out of her for scaring them, the trio then left to investigate some more, Lii and Lumi going together. While they were out searching, Lii heard someone she recognized almost immediately- Sharry, one of her friends and also the acting Chief of Student Security while Vee was missing. After saving her life, Lii took the passed-out Sharry up to the Chief's office, only to leave her as she sensed energy that was familiar and yet deadly at the same time- Ryusei's.
Turns out that Plasmos had found DeFalco and was interrogating her about the recent events when Ryusei showed up, recently freed from isolation training in a block of ice (I wish I were kidding), and in a fit of rage, had attacked Plasmos, thinking he was trying to harm DeFalco. Lii rushed to the scene and yelled for her sensei to drop him immediately. He obliged, and the two ended up fighting.
During the fight, Ryusei had trapped Lii and would probably have suffocated her if she hadn't allowed Gemini to come out and catch Ryusei off-guard. They fought for a while before Plasmos stepped in again, noticing that Lii and Gemini were fighting each other for control. When Lii regained control, both Ryusei and Plasmos were gone. Getting a hold of herself, she realized that she left Sharry alone back in the Chief's office and sprinted back there as fast as she could.
Unfortunately, the sight she would come to see was one that would haunt her dreams for a while. Sharry had been brutally murdered, and she knew that if she hadn't left, there might've been a chance she would've survived.
Unfortunately, there was little time for grieving, as Ryusei had found her and the two began to fight again. It was actually a fairly close battle until the Violet Masque had shown up, knocking Lii out with barely any effort at all before fighting Ryusei.
After resting for a few days and recovering, Lii and Plasmos had found a new lead that led the duo to a network of catacombs under the school. It was there that they had met up with Vee, to their relief, who was unscathed.
However, this wouldn't be happy for long, as they had found out that he was the Violet Masque all along. He had trapped them in the room with him, and the only way out was to kill him. Lii, hurt and furious over the betrayal, had stepped up to fight Vee personally. Unfortunately, Vee had a trick up his sleeve. Using his abilities, he was able to draw Gemini out of Lii's body, and the Heartless that was formerly in her body was ready to fight her for total control. Plasmos fought Vee alone until DeFalco and Ryusei ended up bursting in, DeFalco ultimately killing him. Also, Lii had triumphed over her inner darkness, killing Gemini once and for all.
However, it was during this time that the quartet had found out that the members of the Masquerade were being manipulated by their leader- they honestly had no intention of going after anyone like this. Furious, Lii strode forward, her flames burning brighter than ever before.
The group eventually faced the White Masque, coming out victorious, mostly thanks to a last-resort attack initiated by Lii and DeFalco. The attack called for the one who would be using it to have suffered extreme emotional pain. Still angry over what had all happened, including the revelation that the other members of the Masquerade were being manipulated by the one in front of them, Lii volunteered. She and DeFalco teamed up for the attack, taking down the leader of the Masquerade, although he had left them with another mystery on their hands, telling the group that he was paid by someone else in order to do all this, but had died without revealing his employer's identity, much to the chagrin of the others.
Despite the success of the attack, because of a counter from the White Masque, Lii had earned a large gash moving diagonally down her back from her left shoulder to her right hip. She had to spend the last few weeks of what would've been the spring term in the hospital to recover, although with everything that the doctors had done for her, they couldn't repair the wound completely, and now Lii has a scar in that spot to remind her of the sacrifices that had occurred to bring about peace.
Not like she wasn't reminded of them already, though.
During her stay at the hospital, the Board of Directors for the school had mailed her, congratulating her and the others for foiling the plot and potentially saving not only the Academy, but possibly the entire world. She was also then offered the job of taking over Vee's former position as Chief of Student Security once the school was rebuilt and reopened, to which she accepted. She was going to make sure that another tragedy like this would never happen again.
[ASCENSION]
Turns out that there was another campus that was already built, however, and Lii left for there after some family drama (mostly involving her mother not wanting her to go back and Lii being forced to go to the hospital thanks to her old injuries before leaving) and isolation training to keep control of her powers. She had arrived late, but thankfully, the school recognized it as a "family emergency" and didn't reprimand her for being a week late to classes. After getting settled in, it seemed that the fighting would begin again, this time, from within.
During the night of her return, a figure later revealed to be White Masque (who had somehow come back from the dead) attacked the girls in the dorm, forcing them to become trapped within their own dreams. The guys (including Plasmos and several of the others) were forced to attack him while the girls found out that all their dreams were connected and stuck together in order to survive the hellish nightmares that had been placed upon them.
Things went on normally for a time, until the Dean of the school himself decided to stop by for a visit, giving an assembly. One would think that things wouldn't go wrong there, right?
Hah.
That was the beginning of the end.
First, a “special guest” appeared- an associate of the Dean’s. This “guest”? None other than King Mickey himself. (Not that our wayward heroes knew this at the time.) But in order to make him come out, Kresoveer (the Dean) had summoned a Darkside to attack the students, which, indeed, drew the king out of hiding. Mickey explained that there was darkness and light in everything, something that Kresoveer didn’t seem to agree with. So what does he do? He attempts to kill him - only to find the King had vanished. Then he summons flames that not even Lii, who was considered to be one of the more powerful fighters in the Academy as far as pyromancy was concerned, could control. The fire and Heartless that had shown up had completely destroyed the weaker-hearted students, leaving only a select few (Lii included) there to stare in horror at what had just happened.
Kresoveer then gave them a choice: join him in his quest to “forever purge the worlds of darkness” or die. Not one student that survived said yes. Kresoveer proceeded to freeze them all forever via a Stop spell, but the school’s security system kicked in, preventing him from doing that. A few select students escaped his wrath, the rest frozen by the weakened spell, which would be slowly weakened over time.
That’s the last thing Lii remembered before she woke to the smell of rotting, charred flesh.
[CRUSADE]
It had been two years since that day, although nobody knew about that until later. When Lii and the others had woke up, they were surprised to find out that a few of their own had arrived to help, saying that they were in danger- Kresoveer had sent in a hundred SWAT gunmen to kill them all. Within the group that was helping out was Fujin, who had disguised herself as another student and infiltrated the school to try and get an idea of what Kresoveer was up to back then; and Takeshi, who, after a moment of aura reading, Lii found out was actually her old teacher, Ryusei.
But there wasn’t much time for happy reunions, especially with the SWAT teams incoming. Lii did her part to incapacitate as many as possible, making sure not to kill any of them. She also found out her brother’s friend, Nate Talbot, was one of the SWAT members, only by nearly beating him within an inch of his life. He helped her defend herself as she tried to figure out a plan of attack, only to be taken down by one of his own squad members. Furious, Lii then took out the rest of the group before escaping with the others.
Once there, she talked with Takeshi to confirm who he really was, then was shunted with the others into the Hotel to hear what Veronica had to say. It was then that she and the others realized that Kresoveer was the one that hired White Masque to infiltrate the Masquerade, and that the group was actually supposed to be the guardians for any potential Keyblade wielders within the student population. They also believed in the aspect of balance over light or darkness being the dominant element.
Hearing this, Lii had a mental breakdown, leaving the meeting immediately to try and calm herself down. Takeshi, sensing the wavering spirit of his former student, followed, and with a somewhat literal kick in the ass, got her going again, enough for her to actually show that, and I quote, “her mastery of fire had surpassed his own”.
However, during their spar, they were interrupted by Veronica, who was dragging along the other students. It seemed that during their fight, a Patron of the Crusade, one of Kresoveer’s elite, had attempted to kill the group’s resident Keyblade master, Kota. Unsure of where they were supposed to be going, Lii followed the others through the Corridors of Darkness....
...and into chaos. The group was supposed to have gone through the portal to the apparent “headquarters” for the group, but they had ended up getting into a fairly sticky situation, with an attempted murder and general chaos ruling the area. Lii ended up screaming orders, and she and Takeshi were at least able to split them into three groups: one to take care of the monsters that were rampaging, one to evacuate the citizens, and another to go after the would-be murderer.
Lii and Kota ended up going after the murderer, fighting him into a draw before he withdrew, momentarily giving the group some time to collect their bearings and try to figure out what exactly was going on at this point.
However, before she could do anything to help, the Patrons decided to pay a visit to the group, and with a new target in mind- Lii herself. She quickly moved away from the others, hoping to draw her attackers away from them so they could take a break and recover. It's during this time that Dante jumps in and begins to assist her, handing her a Potion as well as keeping the odds somewhat more even. During the fight, she's taunted and her right arm is injured due to gunshots and cuts to the point that it's practically useless, backing her into a corner before an unlikely savior shows up -
- her older brother, Jake. He stopped the attack just in time to chastise his comrades for attacking her in the first place. Also, during this incident, Plasmos's alter ego, Spade, takes over as a self-defense mechanism and takes the Patrons' sniper hostage. It was a standoff, if the Patrons attacked, Spade would most definitely kill Crystal, but if they did, the Patrons wouldn't hesitate to attack the others, sans Lii. Furious, Lii snaps (in a sense), yelling at Jake before promising the others that she wouldn't even dare let them harm her comrades, even if they spared her out of respect for Jake.
But before anyone could respond, the group was transported again, this time to a safer location - the penthouse of a secret “sponsor” of the kids, though they never did get the chance to find out who he was.
Surprisingly, when they woke up, all injuries were healed, including Lii's mangled arm. It was also at this point that she confronted Spade as to what he had done, since they still had Crystal with them. While the two were arguing, Dante appeared at the tail end of the argument, asking Lii if she would teach him how to do shunpo as well as how to control his flames better. Flattered and a little proud of herself, she accepted the offer, taking him outside to train in the alleyways while the others went after a Heartless outbreak that had occurred in the city.
What they didn't realize until the duo arrived, although Lii could sense him in the area- was that Jake was actually controlling the Heartless in an attempt to lure the Soldiers out, then get rid of them before they became too much of a threat. Lii carved her way through the Heartless so that she could confront her older brother head-on. She was then stopped by Spade, who warned her about the incoming Heartless that Takeshi was trying to defeat.
She then (reluctantly, mind you) leaves Spade to fight both Jake and Luc, taking Dante with her in order to fight the giant Heartless that had appeared in the city alongside Takeshi. After some catching up and sarcasm, the trio had the giant Heartless on the ropes - up until Lii noticed something. Jake and Luc were gone, and Spade wasn't moving from his spot below. Enraged, she went down to check on him, only to see that Plas had finally taken control again, and he was bleeding out from injuries that the two had inflicted.
It was then that she swore she'd take down Kresoveer, no matter the cost.
In light of recent events, the Queen met with the Soldiers, appointing a taskforce in order to try and teach the newer people within the group the ropes as well as to try and gain some semblance of a fighting force. This group included Lii, Dante, Takeshi, Reese, Tana, and Kell. Shortly before they were transported, the Soldiers held an impromptu memorial service for Plasmos, swearing that they wouldn't let his sacrifice be in vain.
During this time, her training mostly included ways to try and strengthen her defenses, especially considering the fact that she had no magical talent to speak of; which was actually a standard for the group. Most of the fighters were more adept in manipulating certain elements [Lii and Dante with fire, Kell with electricity, Bunq and Fuujin with wind, Reese with ki/chi/life energy, etc.] or were good at using certain types of weapons.
But before the year would close, Lii and crew would end up mounting a direct attack against Kresoveer himself, to which end Lii had actually cornered Kresoveer when Jake showed up to interfere with the attack. While arguing, Jake had realized what Lii was trying to tell him all along, and when presented with the choice of continuing to aid Kresoveer or helping his sister, he chose his family. Needless to say, Kresoveer wasn't too happy about the whole thing, and nearly killed the pair if it weren't for Jake jumping in at the last minute to intercept the attack [and receiving a nice scar in the process].
At this point, the group backed off, and are now in hiding while they recuperate from the attack. At this point, our wayward pyro has been thinking about taking some time off in order to train once again - she was going to become stronger - for all of them. She needed to find ways to protect those that she had left, including her parents, who were evacuated in order to protect them from the Patrons, who were now calling themselves "The Holy Order of the Luminous Knights". The Soldiers, in retaliation, changed their name from "Soldiers of Light" to "The Alliance of Heroes".
✧ TIMELINE: Post-battle with Kresoveer, pre-REDEMPTION timeskip
✧ PERSONALITY: When we first meet Lii, she's quiet, laid-back, and a bit shy. While being no-nonsense to most, to the people that know her fairly well, she's a bit of a spitfire and with an impressive snarky streak. With the trauma of the Masquerade attacks looming over her head, she became distant, bottling up and hiding her emotions. This lead to the creation of “Gemini”, a literal manifestation of her fears and darkest feelings. It wasn't until she met others that she felt she could trust that she began to open up again.
Despite the fact that she's laid-back most of the time, Lii has an incredibly explosive temper when provoked. Coupled with her stubborn streak, it makes her a force to be reckoned with. She has several particular rage buttons, mostly connected to her family, close comrades, and her former state when Gemini was in her body. Another major rage button is the man that was indirectly and directly responsible for the whole fiasco in the first place. While Lii doesn't consider herself to be a vengeful person, she does deem it necessary to punish Kresoveer for what he had done to her and her comrades.
At her core, Lii is the type of person who is willing to do anything and everything within her power to make things right. With a stubborn streak a mile wide, a compassionate nature, and a strong sense of justice, she has been picked time and time again as a combat leader within the group. “Grabbing a sword and charging headlong” has been her M.O. up until recently, and especially thanks to her cross-world training that she has realized as such and is trying her utmost to change it. Yes, she is still very much driven by impulses and instincts, but she does try to take the time to plan out a strategy, and has shown the ability to come up with new strategies on the fly during battle. To put it bluntly, Lii also has a strong hero complex - if there's someone in trouble, she's usually right there to try and help them out. This, despite being a reflection of how she was raised, has proven to be a bitch and a half to work around, especially when coupled with her stubborn streak.
Lii is fiercely loyal to her comrades, friends and beliefs, and it's somewhat difficult to shake it without something major happening. She has thrown herself into danger more than a few times because of this as well [i.e. the confrontation with her, Jake, and Kresoveer]. She honestly tries to adhere to her father's teachings, and has been known to turn what he has taught her into inspiring speeches and strategies for the others to work with.
They say that “war changes people”, and Lii is honestly a prime example of that. Although with her time training, forging long-term relationships with people she can trust, and knowing she's got the support of her brother and comrades, the old Lii is beginning to shine through again.
In terms of mental illness, because of previous events, Lii has a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She has nightmares and flashbacks of the Masquerade, Gemini, and Kresoveer's betrayal of the students - though these episodes have become more sporadic, they do come up from time to time.
✧ ABILITIES/POWERS: Pyrokinesis- Lii's main ability is to summon and manipulate flames- meaning that, among other things, she can walk through a blazing inferno and not have a scald on her body. The flames that she summons on her own are usually tinted a white-gold color.
Sub-abilities include - Explosive Touch: Merely by touching her opponent and focusing, she can create explosions from the point that she touches. Great for distractions.
Create Fire: Just what the package says, folks. Lii can create fire from nothing, as long as the starting point is near her body.
Absorb Fire: By absorbing flames into her body, Lii can add them to her own attacks and prevent others from getting burned at the same time.
Fire Strike: By allowing flames to engulf her limbs and sword, Lii adds physical power to her attacks. Between her and Jake, this and Explosive Touch are her trademarks.
Shunpo - Also known as flash-steps, this ability was taught to her by Ryusei, and allows for her to move at speeds not normally detectable to the naked eye. It also serves as a damn good way of getting around morning traffic.
Swordplay - This is actually her secondary means of combat, but Lii likes to use her swordplay skills whenever she has the opportunity. Unlike some others, she has not been taught any specific style of swordplay, but she prefers to use a one-handed grip unless she is trying to deal a heavy blow.
Weapon Summoning - Lii can summon her longsword, Phoenix Fire, into her hands if she so desires. It appears in a burst of white-gold flame, the flames dissipating as the sword takes shape.
Aura Reading - A passive ability that Lii picked up while fighting, she can detect and track people via their aura. However, she’s not very good at it, only able to pick up stronger readings or ones that she’s extremely familiar with.
Hand-to-Hand Combat - Even as a child, she has been interested in hand-to-hand fighting, if only because of Jake and her father. Lii actually has a fairly strong grip for someone her size, and has been canonically known to throw a nasty right hook, as well as being able to throw someone nearly twice her size over her shoulder in her anger.
Outside her combat abilities, Lii is proficient in Japanese, if only because of her time training with Ryusei/Takeshi - it was always a way for them to talk with each other without needing to worry so much about being overheard.
✧ TIME OF ARRIVAL: Daytime
✧ MASK DESIGN:
Phoenixes have always been associated with Lii, even despite the obvious fact of her pyrokinesis - no matter the adversity she had gone through, she would always rise again, stronger than ever to overcome the obstacles in her path.
✧ PLACE OF SOLACE: N/A - if only because there are few places she actually feels protected from Kresoveer's influence.
SAMPLES
✧ FIRST PERSON: It's been … shit, how long, guys? A couple weeks? Training's going along well, thankfully. I know I left kinda suddenly, but I think I just needed to get away from everything for a bit. I'm not running away from this fight, so don't get that in your heads. I just … dunno. I guess sensei could explain it better than I could. Guy practically seems to be able to read my mind half the time anyway.
Jake, Dante - I'm coming back. Count on that. But this is something I want to take care of first. If there's ways for me to get stronger, faster, I'm going to take it. I gotta at least try. Besides, Dante, it'd be stupid of me to just abandon you in the middle of training, right?
Kell, Kieve, Tana, keep an eye on those two for me - I'll try and check in like this as much as I can, but I can't make any promises once things get heavy.
I will come back. That I do promise.
[Japanese]
Sensei, thanks for the advice. I'm not going to beat a dead horse, so - you guys need anything, let me know and I'll be back as fast as I can make it. Be careful out there, Takeshi.
✧ THIRD PERSON: “Sounds good. I'm not exactly in top form right now anyway... had a little run-in before getting on the ship.” Just thinking about that fiasco made Lii shudder visibly, her amiable demeanor dropping for a moment, a deep scowl etched on her features. She definitely didn't like that situation one bit - or the fact that this guy apparently knew some of the off-world allies that she had made.
Takeshi could visibly saw some fresh marks from a battle coming off her. Not just that her aura was still visibly enlarged, she had just recently used her ki quite actively.
“But it's still acting up? Shit, I don't think even my back was that bad for that long,” she added, taking a long swig of her beer. As a reminder to the fact, the scar running across her back throbbed for a split second. Battle scars were to be the reminders of their past and what they had to go through, apparently.
“Doubt your back has anything on this, kiddo.” Takeshi pulled down the collar on his black shirt revealing the clear 'hole' in his chest. More like an indent now, but it was still very visible, even from across the table.
“Point.” She visibly winced; even though she was used to seeing some pretty gruesome battle scars and experiencing very painful battle wounds - sometimes it still caught her off-guard. “By the way, anything I should know about what's been happening that I might not have caught while chatting it up with the others through the logs?”
“Nothing that I've taken note of. I just returned to home base when we were told to evacuate from a light reconnaissance mission. Nothing special popped up from that either. Frankly, if you want information you'll have to ask the others that actually communicate on a regular basis.” Takeshi finished his drink and got up. “We're landing soon - so I'm going to rest as much as I can in my quarters. Anything else?”
“Nah, I think that's it.” She shook her head. “Might try catching a few Z's myself before we head out if I don't find someone else around here that wouldn't mind chatting for a bit. Just let me know if you're up for that sparring match or if you need anything, sensei.” She smiled a bit before taking another pull of her beer. “I'll catch you later.” She stood, one hand pressed against the tabletop as she rolled a shoulder, ready to head out.
“Kid-” Takeshi grabbed her arm, causing her to turn back, blinking. “Good work on the stall job.” He put a gloved hand on her head, ruffling her hair for a moment before gliding past her.
“Ah -” She simply shook her head as he left, smoothing her hair out with one hand. “Some things never change.” She finished off the beer, grinning behind the bottle as she set it down.
✧ ORIGINAL CHARACTER QUESTION: One minute she was in the hospital, sitting next to her brother's bed, the next, she's in a city that she doesn't recognize. Lii's entire body tenses as she takes in her surroundings, eyes narrowed and sword out. “What the hell is this -” Deep breaths, Madsen. No point in flying off the handle yet.
First thing's first. She shut her eyes, focusing. There were flares of energy around, some pretty strong, surprisingly. But nobody that she was familiar with. Cursing softly, she opened her eyes again, takign a few steps forward, sheathing her sword. There had to be someone around here with the answers she needed, and dammit, she was going to get them.
✧ NAME: Lii
✧ LJ USERNAME: derptacular
✧ CONTACT (EMAIL, AIM, MSN, PLURK, ETC.): Email | lii.lionheart@gmail.com // AIM | derpsexual // MSN | spongebob_898@hotmail.com // Plurk | tyrantrave
✧ CURRENT MUSE LIST: N/A
CHARACTER
✧ NAME: Emily “Lii” Madsen
✧ SERIES: Original Character - Academy of Hart
✧ HISTORY: Almost as ordinary as one might expect to be growing up as the daughter of a former soldier, Lii was accepted into the Academy her Sophomore year of high school. It took some time to convince her parents to let her go, but eventually she was accepted and moved to the campus, fitting in quite well while still keeping in contact with her old friends from home.
[ZERO]
Her Junior year, she was nominated for the position of Homecoming King. This particular year at the Academy, they decided to reverse the roles, with the Homecoming "King" and the female members of the court sporting male formal-wear while the guys and the "Queen" had to dress in drag. Anyway, a few weeks before the student body had to vote and decide, some strange things started happening.
A small group of students, herself included, had witnessed things that they shouldn't have. In Lii's case, she saw foul play afoot during a sparring match between the other two candidates for King. She and the others were just about to confront the Chief of Student Security (Who happened to be a good friend of Lii's) when he was kidnapped by a cloaked figure wearing an orange mask.
However, what he had left behind was a vital clue: The Chief had already been investigating the group that was responsible for this and the creatures that were attacking the students. They were none other than Heartless. This was the beginning of a conspiracy that nearly tore them all apart. A couple days after the Chief had been kidnapped, Heartless attacked the campus, and more data regarding their enemies had been unearthed and interpreted. What they found out was shocking to everyone. Some previous students that had gone missing were actually some of the converted Heartless.
It was after this that the same four people that were about to confront Vee with their testimonies (Lii, Chibi, Renai, and Watty) faced the first of the Masquerade: The Orange Masque of Deception. As the name insinuated, she was a master illusionist. Much to their horror, they found out that this terrible person was none other than a fellow student of theirs. What was worse was that Lii had fallen for one of her illusions earlier: she was one of the combatants that was 'injured' during the sparring match. Enraged, the quartet tried to defeat her and eventually was victorious. Unfortunately...that ended with Lii being forced to kill Silk by stabbing her through the heart with Phoenix Fire.
This was only the first in a string of bloody battles. And also the beginning of something much more gruesome.
Grieving and feeling remorse for what she had done, despite the fact that she knew she was only trying to protect the other students, Lii began to start spiraling. The resulting despair and other dark feelings in her were already beginning to manifest, and somehow, it was able to create a separate being within her that surfaced during their third battle with the Masquerade, against the Emerald Masque of Deception. The others started noticing she was getting more aggressive with her tactics, and that her eyes would flash and change color from their normal brown a to sickly yellow color...much like that of a Heartless.
After the fight with the Emerald Masque, she met up with Plasmos, a close friend of hers who had been in a coma before the attacks. She offered to let him stay with her to help protect him, and the two talked about what had happened along with the fact that they might be falling for each other.
The next morning, another attack occurred, this time instigated by the Crimson Masque of Anathema. Plasmos, Lii, and the other members of the Revealers moved to the athletic building where they had confronted the Emerald Masque earlier, knowing from Crimson's words that this was to be their battleground. However, during the fight, it was revealed that through epic hax the Crimson Masque had placed dormant control cells within Plasmos's and Renai's bodies, which would only awaken when the Masque called for it.
And called it he did. While Chibi was dealing with her psychotic best friend, Lii had to fight Plasmos on her own while Watty went after the Masque. After some not-so-pleasant things happened (including how both Chibi and Renai were killed by the Masque, Lii being attacked by her boyfriend and Gemini coming out), Lii collapsed from exhaustion before the battle even ended. Thankfully the mysterious masked woman known as DeFalco had come down and assisted Watty in defeating the Crimson Masque while Plasmos got Lii out of there.
She woke up again in Plasmos's room, and nearly freaked out because of earlier events. There was some explanation and a bit of freaking out, but things worked out in the end, and they even made a new friend along the way. While they were cleaning up, a student who hadn't evacuated just yet was still wandering around and stumbled upon them. After nearly beating the crap out of her for scaring them, the trio then left to investigate some more, Lii and Lumi going together. While they were out searching, Lii heard someone she recognized almost immediately- Sharry, one of her friends and also the acting Chief of Student Security while Vee was missing. After saving her life, Lii took the passed-out Sharry up to the Chief's office, only to leave her as she sensed energy that was familiar and yet deadly at the same time- Ryusei's.
Turns out that Plasmos had found DeFalco and was interrogating her about the recent events when Ryusei showed up, recently freed from isolation training in a block of ice (I wish I were kidding), and in a fit of rage, had attacked Plasmos, thinking he was trying to harm DeFalco. Lii rushed to the scene and yelled for her sensei to drop him immediately. He obliged, and the two ended up fighting.
During the fight, Ryusei had trapped Lii and would probably have suffocated her if she hadn't allowed Gemini to come out and catch Ryusei off-guard. They fought for a while before Plasmos stepped in again, noticing that Lii and Gemini were fighting each other for control. When Lii regained control, both Ryusei and Plasmos were gone. Getting a hold of herself, she realized that she left Sharry alone back in the Chief's office and sprinted back there as fast as she could.
Unfortunately, the sight she would come to see was one that would haunt her dreams for a while. Sharry had been brutally murdered, and she knew that if she hadn't left, there might've been a chance she would've survived.
Unfortunately, there was little time for grieving, as Ryusei had found her and the two began to fight again. It was actually a fairly close battle until the Violet Masque had shown up, knocking Lii out with barely any effort at all before fighting Ryusei.
After resting for a few days and recovering, Lii and Plasmos had found a new lead that led the duo to a network of catacombs under the school. It was there that they had met up with Vee, to their relief, who was unscathed.
However, this wouldn't be happy for long, as they had found out that he was the Violet Masque all along. He had trapped them in the room with him, and the only way out was to kill him. Lii, hurt and furious over the betrayal, had stepped up to fight Vee personally. Unfortunately, Vee had a trick up his sleeve. Using his abilities, he was able to draw Gemini out of Lii's body, and the Heartless that was formerly in her body was ready to fight her for total control. Plasmos fought Vee alone until DeFalco and Ryusei ended up bursting in, DeFalco ultimately killing him. Also, Lii had triumphed over her inner darkness, killing Gemini once and for all.
However, it was during this time that the quartet had found out that the members of the Masquerade were being manipulated by their leader- they honestly had no intention of going after anyone like this. Furious, Lii strode forward, her flames burning brighter than ever before.
The group eventually faced the White Masque, coming out victorious, mostly thanks to a last-resort attack initiated by Lii and DeFalco. The attack called for the one who would be using it to have suffered extreme emotional pain. Still angry over what had all happened, including the revelation that the other members of the Masquerade were being manipulated by the one in front of them, Lii volunteered. She and DeFalco teamed up for the attack, taking down the leader of the Masquerade, although he had left them with another mystery on their hands, telling the group that he was paid by someone else in order to do all this, but had died without revealing his employer's identity, much to the chagrin of the others.
Despite the success of the attack, because of a counter from the White Masque, Lii had earned a large gash moving diagonally down her back from her left shoulder to her right hip. She had to spend the last few weeks of what would've been the spring term in the hospital to recover, although with everything that the doctors had done for her, they couldn't repair the wound completely, and now Lii has a scar in that spot to remind her of the sacrifices that had occurred to bring about peace.
Not like she wasn't reminded of them already, though.
During her stay at the hospital, the Board of Directors for the school had mailed her, congratulating her and the others for foiling the plot and potentially saving not only the Academy, but possibly the entire world. She was also then offered the job of taking over Vee's former position as Chief of Student Security once the school was rebuilt and reopened, to which she accepted. She was going to make sure that another tragedy like this would never happen again.
[ASCENSION]
Turns out that there was another campus that was already built, however, and Lii left for there after some family drama (mostly involving her mother not wanting her to go back and Lii being forced to go to the hospital thanks to her old injuries before leaving) and isolation training to keep control of her powers. She had arrived late, but thankfully, the school recognized it as a "family emergency" and didn't reprimand her for being a week late to classes. After getting settled in, it seemed that the fighting would begin again, this time, from within.
During the night of her return, a figure later revealed to be White Masque (who had somehow come back from the dead) attacked the girls in the dorm, forcing them to become trapped within their own dreams. The guys (including Plasmos and several of the others) were forced to attack him while the girls found out that all their dreams were connected and stuck together in order to survive the hellish nightmares that had been placed upon them.
Things went on normally for a time, until the Dean of the school himself decided to stop by for a visit, giving an assembly. One would think that things wouldn't go wrong there, right?
Hah.
That was the beginning of the end.
First, a “special guest” appeared- an associate of the Dean’s. This “guest”? None other than King Mickey himself. (Not that our wayward heroes knew this at the time.) But in order to make him come out, Kresoveer (the Dean) had summoned a Darkside to attack the students, which, indeed, drew the king out of hiding. Mickey explained that there was darkness and light in everything, something that Kresoveer didn’t seem to agree with. So what does he do? He attempts to kill him - only to find the King had vanished. Then he summons flames that not even Lii, who was considered to be one of the more powerful fighters in the Academy as far as pyromancy was concerned, could control. The fire and Heartless that had shown up had completely destroyed the weaker-hearted students, leaving only a select few (Lii included) there to stare in horror at what had just happened.
Kresoveer then gave them a choice: join him in his quest to “forever purge the worlds of darkness” or die. Not one student that survived said yes. Kresoveer proceeded to freeze them all forever via a Stop spell, but the school’s security system kicked in, preventing him from doing that. A few select students escaped his wrath, the rest frozen by the weakened spell, which would be slowly weakened over time.
That’s the last thing Lii remembered before she woke to the smell of rotting, charred flesh.
[CRUSADE]
It had been two years since that day, although nobody knew about that until later. When Lii and the others had woke up, they were surprised to find out that a few of their own had arrived to help, saying that they were in danger- Kresoveer had sent in a hundred SWAT gunmen to kill them all. Within the group that was helping out was Fujin, who had disguised herself as another student and infiltrated the school to try and get an idea of what Kresoveer was up to back then; and Takeshi, who, after a moment of aura reading, Lii found out was actually her old teacher, Ryusei.
But there wasn’t much time for happy reunions, especially with the SWAT teams incoming. Lii did her part to incapacitate as many as possible, making sure not to kill any of them. She also found out her brother’s friend, Nate Talbot, was one of the SWAT members, only by nearly beating him within an inch of his life. He helped her defend herself as she tried to figure out a plan of attack, only to be taken down by one of his own squad members. Furious, Lii then took out the rest of the group before escaping with the others.
Once there, she talked with Takeshi to confirm who he really was, then was shunted with the others into the Hotel to hear what Veronica had to say. It was then that she and the others realized that Kresoveer was the one that hired White Masque to infiltrate the Masquerade, and that the group was actually supposed to be the guardians for any potential Keyblade wielders within the student population. They also believed in the aspect of balance over light or darkness being the dominant element.
Hearing this, Lii had a mental breakdown, leaving the meeting immediately to try and calm herself down. Takeshi, sensing the wavering spirit of his former student, followed, and with a somewhat literal kick in the ass, got her going again, enough for her to actually show that, and I quote, “her mastery of fire had surpassed his own”.
However, during their spar, they were interrupted by Veronica, who was dragging along the other students. It seemed that during their fight, a Patron of the Crusade, one of Kresoveer’s elite, had attempted to kill the group’s resident Keyblade master, Kota. Unsure of where they were supposed to be going, Lii followed the others through the Corridors of Darkness....
...and into chaos. The group was supposed to have gone through the portal to the apparent “headquarters” for the group, but they had ended up getting into a fairly sticky situation, with an attempted murder and general chaos ruling the area. Lii ended up screaming orders, and she and Takeshi were at least able to split them into three groups: one to take care of the monsters that were rampaging, one to evacuate the citizens, and another to go after the would-be murderer.
Lii and Kota ended up going after the murderer, fighting him into a draw before he withdrew, momentarily giving the group some time to collect their bearings and try to figure out what exactly was going on at this point.
However, before she could do anything to help, the Patrons decided to pay a visit to the group, and with a new target in mind- Lii herself. She quickly moved away from the others, hoping to draw her attackers away from them so they could take a break and recover. It's during this time that Dante jumps in and begins to assist her, handing her a Potion as well as keeping the odds somewhat more even. During the fight, she's taunted and her right arm is injured due to gunshots and cuts to the point that it's practically useless, backing her into a corner before an unlikely savior shows up -
- her older brother, Jake. He stopped the attack just in time to chastise his comrades for attacking her in the first place. Also, during this incident, Plasmos's alter ego, Spade, takes over as a self-defense mechanism and takes the Patrons' sniper hostage. It was a standoff, if the Patrons attacked, Spade would most definitely kill Crystal, but if they did, the Patrons wouldn't hesitate to attack the others, sans Lii. Furious, Lii snaps (in a sense), yelling at Jake before promising the others that she wouldn't even dare let them harm her comrades, even if they spared her out of respect for Jake.
But before anyone could respond, the group was transported again, this time to a safer location - the penthouse of a secret “sponsor” of the kids, though they never did get the chance to find out who he was.
Surprisingly, when they woke up, all injuries were healed, including Lii's mangled arm. It was also at this point that she confronted Spade as to what he had done, since they still had Crystal with them. While the two were arguing, Dante appeared at the tail end of the argument, asking Lii if she would teach him how to do shunpo as well as how to control his flames better. Flattered and a little proud of herself, she accepted the offer, taking him outside to train in the alleyways while the others went after a Heartless outbreak that had occurred in the city.
What they didn't realize until the duo arrived, although Lii could sense him in the area- was that Jake was actually controlling the Heartless in an attempt to lure the Soldiers out, then get rid of them before they became too much of a threat. Lii carved her way through the Heartless so that she could confront her older brother head-on. She was then stopped by Spade, who warned her about the incoming Heartless that Takeshi was trying to defeat.
She then (reluctantly, mind you) leaves Spade to fight both Jake and Luc, taking Dante with her in order to fight the giant Heartless that had appeared in the city alongside Takeshi. After some catching up and sarcasm, the trio had the giant Heartless on the ropes - up until Lii noticed something. Jake and Luc were gone, and Spade wasn't moving from his spot below. Enraged, she went down to check on him, only to see that Plas had finally taken control again, and he was bleeding out from injuries that the two had inflicted.
It was then that she swore she'd take down Kresoveer, no matter the cost.
In light of recent events, the Queen met with the Soldiers, appointing a taskforce in order to try and teach the newer people within the group the ropes as well as to try and gain some semblance of a fighting force. This group included Lii, Dante, Takeshi, Reese, Tana, and Kell. Shortly before they were transported, the Soldiers held an impromptu memorial service for Plasmos, swearing that they wouldn't let his sacrifice be in vain.
During this time, her training mostly included ways to try and strengthen her defenses, especially considering the fact that she had no magical talent to speak of; which was actually a standard for the group. Most of the fighters were more adept in manipulating certain elements [Lii and Dante with fire, Kell with electricity, Bunq and Fuujin with wind, Reese with ki/chi/life energy, etc.] or were good at using certain types of weapons.
But before the year would close, Lii and crew would end up mounting a direct attack against Kresoveer himself, to which end Lii had actually cornered Kresoveer when Jake showed up to interfere with the attack. While arguing, Jake had realized what Lii was trying to tell him all along, and when presented with the choice of continuing to aid Kresoveer or helping his sister, he chose his family. Needless to say, Kresoveer wasn't too happy about the whole thing, and nearly killed the pair if it weren't for Jake jumping in at the last minute to intercept the attack [and receiving a nice scar in the process].
At this point, the group backed off, and are now in hiding while they recuperate from the attack. At this point, our wayward pyro has been thinking about taking some time off in order to train once again - she was going to become stronger - for all of them. She needed to find ways to protect those that she had left, including her parents, who were evacuated in order to protect them from the Patrons, who were now calling themselves "The Holy Order of the Luminous Knights". The Soldiers, in retaliation, changed their name from "Soldiers of Light" to "The Alliance of Heroes".
✧ TIMELINE: Post-battle with Kresoveer, pre-REDEMPTION timeskip
✧ PERSONALITY: When we first meet Lii, she's quiet, laid-back, and a bit shy. While being no-nonsense to most, to the people that know her fairly well, she's a bit of a spitfire and with an impressive snarky streak. With the trauma of the Masquerade attacks looming over her head, she became distant, bottling up and hiding her emotions. This lead to the creation of “Gemini”, a literal manifestation of her fears and darkest feelings. It wasn't until she met others that she felt she could trust that she began to open up again.
Despite the fact that she's laid-back most of the time, Lii has an incredibly explosive temper when provoked. Coupled with her stubborn streak, it makes her a force to be reckoned with. She has several particular rage buttons, mostly connected to her family, close comrades, and her former state when Gemini was in her body. Another major rage button is the man that was indirectly and directly responsible for the whole fiasco in the first place. While Lii doesn't consider herself to be a vengeful person, she does deem it necessary to punish Kresoveer for what he had done to her and her comrades.
At her core, Lii is the type of person who is willing to do anything and everything within her power to make things right. With a stubborn streak a mile wide, a compassionate nature, and a strong sense of justice, she has been picked time and time again as a combat leader within the group. “Grabbing a sword and charging headlong” has been her M.O. up until recently, and especially thanks to her cross-world training that she has realized as such and is trying her utmost to change it. Yes, she is still very much driven by impulses and instincts, but she does try to take the time to plan out a strategy, and has shown the ability to come up with new strategies on the fly during battle. To put it bluntly, Lii also has a strong hero complex - if there's someone in trouble, she's usually right there to try and help them out. This, despite being a reflection of how she was raised, has proven to be a bitch and a half to work around, especially when coupled with her stubborn streak.
Lii is fiercely loyal to her comrades, friends and beliefs, and it's somewhat difficult to shake it without something major happening. She has thrown herself into danger more than a few times because of this as well [i.e. the confrontation with her, Jake, and Kresoveer]. She honestly tries to adhere to her father's teachings, and has been known to turn what he has taught her into inspiring speeches and strategies for the others to work with.
They say that “war changes people”, and Lii is honestly a prime example of that. Although with her time training, forging long-term relationships with people she can trust, and knowing she's got the support of her brother and comrades, the old Lii is beginning to shine through again.
In terms of mental illness, because of previous events, Lii has a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She has nightmares and flashbacks of the Masquerade, Gemini, and Kresoveer's betrayal of the students - though these episodes have become more sporadic, they do come up from time to time.
✧ ABILITIES/POWERS: Pyrokinesis- Lii's main ability is to summon and manipulate flames- meaning that, among other things, she can walk through a blazing inferno and not have a scald on her body. The flames that she summons on her own are usually tinted a white-gold color.
Sub-abilities include - Explosive Touch: Merely by touching her opponent and focusing, she can create explosions from the point that she touches. Great for distractions.
Create Fire: Just what the package says, folks. Lii can create fire from nothing, as long as the starting point is near her body.
Absorb Fire: By absorbing flames into her body, Lii can add them to her own attacks and prevent others from getting burned at the same time.
Fire Strike: By allowing flames to engulf her limbs and sword, Lii adds physical power to her attacks. Between her and Jake, this and Explosive Touch are her trademarks.
Shunpo - Also known as flash-steps, this ability was taught to her by Ryusei, and allows for her to move at speeds not normally detectable to the naked eye. It also serves as a damn good way of getting around morning traffic.
Swordplay - This is actually her secondary means of combat, but Lii likes to use her swordplay skills whenever she has the opportunity. Unlike some others, she has not been taught any specific style of swordplay, but she prefers to use a one-handed grip unless she is trying to deal a heavy blow.
Weapon Summoning - Lii can summon her longsword, Phoenix Fire, into her hands if she so desires. It appears in a burst of white-gold flame, the flames dissipating as the sword takes shape.
Aura Reading - A passive ability that Lii picked up while fighting, she can detect and track people via their aura. However, she’s not very good at it, only able to pick up stronger readings or ones that she’s extremely familiar with.
Hand-to-Hand Combat - Even as a child, she has been interested in hand-to-hand fighting, if only because of Jake and her father. Lii actually has a fairly strong grip for someone her size, and has been canonically known to throw a nasty right hook, as well as being able to throw someone nearly twice her size over her shoulder in her anger.
Outside her combat abilities, Lii is proficient in Japanese, if only because of her time training with Ryusei/Takeshi - it was always a way for them to talk with each other without needing to worry so much about being overheard.
✧ TIME OF ARRIVAL: Daytime
✧ MASK DESIGN:
Phoenixes have always been associated with Lii, even despite the obvious fact of her pyrokinesis - no matter the adversity she had gone through, she would always rise again, stronger than ever to overcome the obstacles in her path.
✧ PLACE OF SOLACE: N/A - if only because there are few places she actually feels protected from Kresoveer's influence.
SAMPLES
✧ FIRST PERSON: It's been … shit, how long, guys? A couple weeks? Training's going along well, thankfully. I know I left kinda suddenly, but I think I just needed to get away from everything for a bit. I'm not running away from this fight, so don't get that in your heads. I just … dunno. I guess sensei could explain it better than I could. Guy practically seems to be able to read my mind half the time anyway.
Jake, Dante - I'm coming back. Count on that. But this is something I want to take care of first. If there's ways for me to get stronger, faster, I'm going to take it. I gotta at least try. Besides, Dante, it'd be stupid of me to just abandon you in the middle of training, right?
Kell, Kieve, Tana, keep an eye on those two for me - I'll try and check in like this as much as I can, but I can't make any promises once things get heavy.
I will come back. That I do promise.
[Japanese]
Sensei, thanks for the advice. I'm not going to beat a dead horse, so - you guys need anything, let me know and I'll be back as fast as I can make it. Be careful out there, Takeshi.
✧ THIRD PERSON: “Sounds good. I'm not exactly in top form right now anyway... had a little run-in before getting on the ship.” Just thinking about that fiasco made Lii shudder visibly, her amiable demeanor dropping for a moment, a deep scowl etched on her features. She definitely didn't like that situation one bit - or the fact that this guy apparently knew some of the off-world allies that she had made.
Takeshi could visibly saw some fresh marks from a battle coming off her. Not just that her aura was still visibly enlarged, she had just recently used her ki quite actively.
“But it's still acting up? Shit, I don't think even my back was that bad for that long,” she added, taking a long swig of her beer. As a reminder to the fact, the scar running across her back throbbed for a split second. Battle scars were to be the reminders of their past and what they had to go through, apparently.
“Doubt your back has anything on this, kiddo.” Takeshi pulled down the collar on his black shirt revealing the clear 'hole' in his chest. More like an indent now, but it was still very visible, even from across the table.
“Point.” She visibly winced; even though she was used to seeing some pretty gruesome battle scars and experiencing very painful battle wounds - sometimes it still caught her off-guard. “By the way, anything I should know about what's been happening that I might not have caught while chatting it up with the others through the logs?”
“Nothing that I've taken note of. I just returned to home base when we were told to evacuate from a light reconnaissance mission. Nothing special popped up from that either. Frankly, if you want information you'll have to ask the others that actually communicate on a regular basis.” Takeshi finished his drink and got up. “We're landing soon - so I'm going to rest as much as I can in my quarters. Anything else?”
“Nah, I think that's it.” She shook her head. “Might try catching a few Z's myself before we head out if I don't find someone else around here that wouldn't mind chatting for a bit. Just let me know if you're up for that sparring match or if you need anything, sensei.” She smiled a bit before taking another pull of her beer. “I'll catch you later.” She stood, one hand pressed against the tabletop as she rolled a shoulder, ready to head out.
“Kid-” Takeshi grabbed her arm, causing her to turn back, blinking. “Good work on the stall job.” He put a gloved hand on her head, ruffling her hair for a moment before gliding past her.
“Ah -” She simply shook her head as he left, smoothing her hair out with one hand. “Some things never change.” She finished off the beer, grinning behind the bottle as she set it down.
✧ ORIGINAL CHARACTER QUESTION: One minute she was in the hospital, sitting next to her brother's bed, the next, she's in a city that she doesn't recognize. Lii's entire body tenses as she takes in her surroundings, eyes narrowed and sword out. “What the hell is this -” Deep breaths, Madsen. No point in flying off the handle yet.
First thing's first. She shut her eyes, focusing. There were flares of energy around, some pretty strong, surprisingly. But nobody that she was familiar with. Cursing softly, she opened her eyes again, takign a few steps forward, sheathing her sword. There had to be someone around here with the answers she needed, and dammit, she was going to get them.