profile & permissions

[chimericalclaw]

BASIC INFO

name
Zekarion Altius

alias
Onyx

age & dob
36 | 08/22/78

species
human

gender
male

height
6'2" (188 cm)

origin
southeastern USA

crime
child sacrifice

APPEARANCE

AS ALTIUS; VISUAL ⬬ black wavy hair cut almost above his ears ⬬ attentive, amber eyes ⬬ aquiline nose ⬬ mixed race, specifics unknown to him ⬬ broad-shouldered ⬬ fit ⬬ clean-shaven ⬬ straight, confident posture

FASHION ⬬ tailored clothing ⬬ leather shoes ⬬ long sleeves and pants unless necessary ⬬ neutral or dark colors with the occasional jewel tone accent ⬬ avoids standing out ⬬ pierced ears, unused

NONVISUAL ⬬ deep, smooth voice ⬬ typically comforting or faintly lighthearted tone ⬬ deliberate choice of words ⬬ no pauses or stuttering in the midst of speaking ⬬ light cologne ⬬ earthy, woody, paper ⬬ trace of antiseptic

AS ONYX; ⬬ glowing yellow eyes with slit pupils ⬬ frequent smirk or grin ⬬ black drop earrings ⬬ caped costume ⬬ pointed metal pauldrons, gauntlets and boots ⬬ dramatic gesturing ⬬ expressive, almost over the top reactions ⬬ snide, demeaning tone ⬬ greater range of volume ⬬ smell of ozone, ash, metal

PERSONALITY

On the surface, Altius is a pleasant man, open to compromise but not so much to be a doormat. He's apparently curious, confident, and level-headed, but he has moments of being serious and even terse, mostly with regards to danger. Even in those situations, however, he practically never raises his voice in anger. He's highly attuned to social cues, body language, and words left unspoken, and will offer what he thinks others might need without prompting, whether it's something concrete like food, items or physical help, or something like advice or the satisfaction of winning an argument. He tends to direct conversational topics towards other people and their needs, desires and interests, but he won't avoid direct questions when asked.

In truth, Zekarion categorizes all people into two groups: victims and villains. Both deserve death for different reasons, and for him the ends largely justify the means, although there are still lines he won't cross. Always looking for ways to acquire information and power, he'll play the long game and learn from surprises and mistakes, no matter how much he may hate the situation or those around him. While it would be a lie to say he has no pride, he's more concerned with his reputation and what he might get out of a situation, whether it's demeaning to him at that current moment or not. He considers respect and trust to be greater tools than fear, and works to earn them. If it gets him what he wants, maintaining the facade is worth it. The destruction of sapient life is no small matter.

A combination of misfortune and his own terrible decisions have brought him to this point; as jaded as he might consider himself, Zekarion has always been a deeply emotional person who hates to watch others suffer. Even with those he despises, he finds no satisfaction in seeing them struggle. Wounded by the abandonment of his biological parents, the death of his young childhood friend, and the difficulties of everyone else along his path, he's largely lost the ability to see life as worth living at all. Even so, the near-death of his ward for the sake of protecting Zekarion has shaken him to some extent; the idea of being wanted by anyone, much less the young man whose family he deliberately destroyed, is so absurd to him that he struggles to make sense of it. Watching Ferran and his friends learn to fight and grow closer has started to remind him, just barely, of why he decided to fight so long ago: for the sake of a future and a better world. Whether he can believe in that again is yet to be seen.

HISTORY

Being abandoned at birth tends to give a man a complex about being wanted, and between wondering if he was a replacement for his adoptive father's lost family and their financial struggles, he was a loner and a rebel in school. Even so, he still managed to find a small group of kindred spirits he could call friends. In high school, he and this group were recruited by two magical beings to fight another of their kind, and granted the magic to do so; though they fought valiantly, many innocents were lost along the way, and their greatest accomplishment was merely sealing the Spirit Chaos behind a barrier that required the sacrifice of the youngest of their group, the 10-year-old Akane. This sacrifice ultimately broke the group—Zekarion worst of all, who drew into himself and began to obsess over the idea of destroying the Spirits who'd caused so much suffering and tricked a group of children into fighting their battles.

To accomplish that lofty goal, he believed he would need to seek out more magic Gems, which the other Spirits had spread throughout the world to maintain the barrier. Between isolating himself and focusing only on that which could give him the resources and power he wanted, he had no real support to help him cope with the darker aspects he encountered as he climbed through the business world and found those who'd realized the power of the Gems that had come into their possession. The final turning point was his attempt at peaceful resolution to a hostage situation ending in a massacre, and he came to believe that humanity was just as horrible as the Spirits they empowered. Everyone would be better off dead or never existing than living in a world like this—so maybe Chaos had it right, after all. Breaking the Gems shattered the barrier enough for him to make a pact with the primoridal Spirit, and with that came a greater ability to track the remaining Gems that stood between him and enough power to destroy everything.

His years-long journey was nearly at an end when he found one of the final Gems in the possession of the teenage son of two of his employees. Though nearly successful at killing them in an "accident" so he could recover the Gem, he reconsidered when he noticed the boy Ferran barely escaping. His magical senses told him a group of other Gems had been created close by, giving him the thought that the Spirits might be preparing another team of children to face him and prevent Chaos' release. To properly deal with this team, he took Ferran in, leaving the boy none the wiser as to who killed his family. Zekarion secretly began to prepare him to betray his friends through a combination of subtle manipulation and magical corruption, and ultimately broke the young man with the realization of what he'd done, turning him into a weapon. However, his plans didn't account for a near-sacrifice to protect Zekarion, nor the claim that Ferran didn't want to "lose him"...

ABILITIES

The Onyx and his pact with Chaos grant Zekarion a number of powers, including enhanced speed, reflexes, strength and durability, as well as a sturdier transformed state and a rapier he can summon and dismiss at will. He cannot use these without the Gem in his possession, and it never leaves his person, though it's not always on display.

HEAL;
Onyx can sense and alleviate ailments in physical bodies when touching them, heal potentially lethal wounds, cure diseases, neutralize poisons, and so forth; he cannot regrow limbs, cure system-wide or hereditary ailments, revive the dead, etc.

CHARM;
This gives him a naturally charismatic aura, which typically gives people a better impression of him. With effort he can subconsciously encourage others to help him in some way. He can directly command others, erasing the memory of his command, which is replaced naturally by a sensible alternative in the person's mind. He cannot force people to do something they never would.

DISTORT;
Chaos's power allows him to avoid supernatural detection entirely; even for one standing directly in front of him attempting to sense him, such abilities will react as if he does not exist. He can warp magical Gem shards into monsters, the most common of which is the size of a large dog and powerless. He can also do minor things such as twist structures, rust metal, and otherwise ruin stuff.

BREAK;
In addition to the literal ability to break things on a smaller scale, Onyx uses this to create portals by "breaking" the space between his location and another he's seen. They're disorienting to traverse at best, and he's only able to reach his destination thanks to experience and self control. He's able to "break" people into largely mindless destructive pawns via forcing Chaos energy into them, but this is a power he would not use of his own volition.

PERMISSIONS

DRUNK TAGS: please don't tag me while drunk/high/etc
BACKTAGGING: Y
4TH-WALLING: I love magical girl trope references
THREADJACKING: Y for text, ask for action
AVOID: detailed descriptions of eye/hand injury

MIND READING: only special circumstances
ROMANCE: bi; good luck getting past the facade!
FIGHTING/INJURY: Y
KILLING: Ask
CHARACTER CW: child death; suicidal thoughts

OOC

Ryoko . CST . lumieresdedragon . PM

code