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Fallen Princess

Name	Araceli Almador de Luna
Gender	Female
Age	21
Height	5'4" (163cm)
Aspect	Radiance
Affiliation	Team Raiden, Cielisono Royal Family

Profile

Appearance

Araceli is a young woman with long, brown hair and purple-brown eyes. Her hair is thick and wavy, yielding a fluffy appearance. She has a light moon-and-star birthmark on her right hand that glows blue when magic flows through it.

A clear tell of her Cielisona origin and residence, Araceli dresses in warm layers. Her deep purple capelet, clipped by a gold button cradling a blue stone, is a staple of most of her favorite outfits. Like most other nobles, her clothing is often decorated with subtle gold accents that shine under light. Typically fastened to her belt is a chain, an accessory that she misuses to stow away her rapier.

Araceli hides her emotions behind a very convincing "poker face." Behind her pleasant, professional smile is a storm of frustrations—mostly toward herself.

Personality

In general, Araceli is rather serious and focused, frustrated by distractions from her main goal of fulfilling her prophecy. Guilt weighs heavy on her, but she tries to convey it (and other emotions) with a level-headed maturity.

As expected of a San Ven princess, Araceli maintains a proper and respectable image. Around other people, especially other nobles, Araceli is graceful, dutiful and composed, and tries very hard not to make enemies. Indulgence in her interests is kept to a "normal" degree, and she's very calculated about how and when she expresses her emotions. Most people see her as a strong prospective leader with exceptional manners.

With Raiden, however, Araceli seems to drop much of her façade. Her penchant for romance and passion for young adult novels shines unabashedly, and she is far more emotional, impulsive, and easy to fluster. Araceli wants to be idealistic—she wants to feel like there is a real hope out there, but she struggles to convince herself. She keeps this insecurity and feeling of hopelessness well-guarded.

Araceli tends to ignore her own needs and well-being for the sake of her goals. The consequences of this flaw are mitigated thanks to Raiden's close attention and quick response to Araceli's condition, especially after Araceli injured her dominant hand due to carelessness. Despite knowing that she does need Raiden's assistance at times, at times she grows frustrated—particularly when she feels that the care is coming across as stifling or patronizing.

Abilities

In the early game, Araceli is a powerful physical attacker. Despite a considerable INT stat, she lacks any viable CAST abilities until the late game. Araceli has a radiance aspect.

Loniles' Pact

Araceli has a pact with the Champion Loniles. She formed this pact when she was a young teen. Both sides maintain their part, but Araceli has not been able to tap into her Champion's reserved abilities, nor has she heard her Champion's voice.

History

Prior to Story

Just before the birth of her daughter, Cieliso's Rey sought a divination from one of her closest friends, Lady Clarisse Infiaco. The reading was glorious–her baby would be born with a great power, one that had laid dormant in the de Luna bloodline for many generations. Suspecting that perhaps this was an omen for something significant, the Rey assigned a trustworthy member of the Church of Loni with great potential to help care for the princess.

Thus, Araceli was born under Loniles’ Eclipse to great celebration and expectation. For the first few months of her life, she was mainly in the care of her mother and her attendant. Then, just under a year after her birth, Araceli's mother was assassinated, and the attendant was nowhere to be found—declared a traitor to the kingdom.

Because of fears of a repeated incident, Araceli would not receive a replacement shadow for some time, instead raised by various castle personnel. Her father, unable to bear watching his daughter grow into the likeness of his late wife, was relatively absent. Now aware of the power promised to her, Araceli spent her days studying and training in order to unlock its true potential. However, these efforts continuously fell flat, as she's almost completely unable to channel her aspect, let alone unleash some prophesied power.

When Araceli turned 15, the Cielisono royal family returned to House Infiaco to consult its Head for another divination. She told them of a washup on the shores of Buragee who may prove helpful to Araceli's mission—as a healer, a loyal knight, or perhaps something more. Clarisse could only glean so much about the mysterious newcomer–a girl around Araceli's age, who would awaken with no memories into a world with no memory of her.

As the prophecy foretold, the Umisuu council reported a young child collapsed on its shoreline. The royal family immediately took her in and questioned her appropriately, confirming that she was indeed the one described by the Head of House Infiaco. At first, Raiden was kept in the castle with little expectation or duty. In that time, castle staff observed improvements in Araceli's mood and improved training progress, as Raiden was able to magically ease her injuries. With that, Raiden was then trained in and appointed as Araceli's shadow—a very important position that bound Raiden’s life to Araceli’s.

Around the same time that Raiden was sworn in, Araceli took another step in attempting to unlock her magic—a pact with her ancestor, Loniles, Champion of Tenacity. At 16, this made her Loniles' youngest acolyte (and by a longshot, as most acolytes form their pacts at a comfortable age in adulthood). Though, it seemed as if Loniles wouldn't answer any of Araceli’s prayers.

Araceli trained tirelessly despite every setback, awaiting the omen foretold by legend—a great, blinding, corrupting darkness. One evening, when Raiden took Araceli out for a treat, a sudden storm flashed around them. A terrifying, corrupted dragon attacked the kingdom with a violent tempest. Unable to unleash the power to stop it, Araceli was swept into Raiden's arms and forced to flee her crumbling kingdom against her will.

Bolt from the Blue

Relationships

Raiden

Officially, Raiden is Araceli's "shadow," a specialized attendant who serves and protects a single royal family member. Informally, however, Araceli would consider Raiden her closest friend. The two are similar in age and interact as if they were childhood sweethearts (or perhaps something more).

Araceli completely trusts Raiden. When the two are alone, Araceli feels like she can truly be herself around her. Though she tries to hide it, Araceli clearly has some romantic feelings for Raiden. To her, Raiden is akin to a stereotypical young adult novel love interest—citing descriptors such as "handsome and charming" and "chivalrous with an air of mystery" when speaking of her. She is under the impression that Raiden likely would not return the feelings, despite the two having gone on dates and kissed before.

Saffron Infiaco

Araceli's childhood friend. House Infiaco and the Cielisono Royal Family have close ties spanning multiple generations, so it was only natural that Araceli and Saffron would spend a lot of time together, especially given their closeness in age. Saffron's exceptional magical ability caught the attention of the royal family, who arranged for him to visit often in case he had the solution to Araceli's curse. He was never told exactly this—only that he should try practicing magic with Araceli. He was present when Araceli damaged the nerves in her right hand, but was never told how exactly that happened.

Saffron used to have a "secret" crush on Araceli, but got over it after confessing his feelings and learning that she was a lesbian. The confession has rarely been mentioned since, if ever.

Damaris Miron-Gushiken

Another close childhood friend of Araceli's (and Saffron's), and the adopted child of Melia Miron and Ryo Gushiken. Because of Umisuu's proximity to Cieliso, it wasn't uncommon for Mari to visit Araceli and vice versa, with Saffron often tagging along. Eventually, when Araceli grew older and prioritized her prophecy-bound duties more, she spent less time with Mari.