Anemone stands at an average height of 5'6 (167 cm), and has a slight, unimpressive frame, considering her profession. She is in decent shape, but relies more on her Magery to fight and move around rather than her physical strength. Her full, long, blonde hair, gentle blue eyes, and pale, smooth skin - while normal for one of Norwegian descent - attracts much attention in Japan.
She also blushes easily, and it shows well against her light skin. All-in-all, she has a very delicate, fragile appearance, contrasting greatly with her profession.
She enjoys wearing light dresses, which is almost always what one will find her wearing when she's out and about. When fulfilling her duty as an Exorcist, however, she wears a black, hooded robe which hangs loosely around her, over tighter fitting dark clothes, allowing her to move easily.
Name: Anemone Shibuya, born as Anemone Madsen
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Nationality: Norwegian-Japanese
Allegiance: Exorcist of the Unseen Church
Notable Traits: Despite her ladylike and well-mannered behaviour, Anemone fidgets incessantly, whether it be playing with her hands, hair, clothing, or touching her face. She has a hard time sitting still, so she tries her best to subtly relieve the itch to move to keep up her appearance. She also tends to apologize. A lot. For everything. Even if it has little to do with her.
Everything about her -- how she walks, speaks, handles objects, and all else -- always appears very deliberate and careful, as though she's treading on thin ice.
When it comes to Air Magery, Anemone is extremely skilled at it. Early on in her training, it was discovered that she seemed to have a natural inclination towards it, so she was encouraged to focus on it, which she did.
Flaws: Anemone is very much a follower, and this can best be seen in her devotion to the Church and its orders. She can think for herself and silently questions orders she is given, but she has never once considered disobeying them. An extension of this is her inability to lie, even if it would be ideal. She's a bad judge of character, and will trust other's words easily. She's extremely susceptible to being convinced and talked into things, partly because she wants to please those around her, and partly because of her own doubt in herself.
Along with that, Anemone very much craves affection, and is very clingy to anyone who affords her kindness. She hates being alone, is constantly scared of being abandoned by those around her, and has a very difficult time expressing herself, both verbally and emotionally. When things get out of control, and she doesn't know what to do, she's prone to suffering panic attacks. Finally, she has a guilt complex, always blaming herself for the things that go wrong in her vicinity.
Channel: A long-barreled, all-black, 6-shot revolver.
Inventory:A wooden, intricately designed cross which is on her person at all times. When out acting as an Exorcist, she carries plenty of bullets for her Channel, and a pair of knives.
History:Anemone was born in Norway to a young mother not yet out of her teens, and a father gone long before the day of her birth. Her mother greatly struggled with the choice of whether to keep her child or give her up for adoption. When the time came and she finally first laid eyes on her daughter, she went against all the advice she had been given and decided to keep Anemone.
Barely being an adult herself, Anemone's mother dropped all her future plans and dedicated herself to caring for her child. It was an immense struggle, especially since her relationship with her parents was less than perfect and she had no other close friends or relatives to turn to for help.
For many years, Anemone's mother managed -- she scraped by, but always worried that her decision to keep her daughter was the wrong one. Perhaps it was just motherly bias, but she saw Anemone shining brightly even at such a young age, and feared their living conditions would deprive the girl of many opportunities.
A solution came by when Anemone was six years old. A Reality Convergence had appeared in Norway, attracting many powerful Magi -- one of which was Akio Shibuya, the head of the Shibuya family from Japan, a rich family that was a part of the Unseen Church and had spent generations selectively breeding to create only the most naturally talented successors.
It so happened that Akio came upon the dingy house that held the young Anemone Madsen and her mother, saving them from beasts and receiving light injuries in the process. To show her gratitude, Anemone's mother offered to house Akio and treat his wounds, which he accepted.
It was during this short time that Akio discovered that extremely impressive tainted blood ran through Anemone's veins. The man offered to take the girl and bring her into the Shibuya family.
After painful deliberation, Anemone's mother decided to accept. The way she had been forcing her daughter to live wasn't fair, and she wasn't even sure how much longer she could keep it up -- keeping Anemone had always been a decision she regretted, though had refused to admit it to herself until now. She wished the best for her daughter, and being adopted by such a rich family would give her all the opportunities in the world. Akio himself was a convincing man, too. Add onto that that he had saved both their lives, and Anemone's mother found herself trusting him easily.
Pleased with his acquisition, it only took a few more days for Akio to whisk Anemone away to the Shibuya manor in Japan.
It was during this time that the young Anemone developed all her issues. She was scared and confused by the sudden, drastic change in her life -- going from a small shack only occupied by her and her mother to a huge mansion filled with maids, cooks, teachers, and all sorts of other personnel. Not to mention a dozen adoptive siblings, all of whom had been fathered by Akio and mothered by various Magi mistresses, chosen for their tainted blood.
Only this would have been enough to send Anemone reeling, but there was more to it -- she was in an entirely different country, surrounded by people who spoke a different language. The first thing she was taught was Japanese. Eventually, she began to interact with those in the mansion, and began to finally settle in.
At the same time, she had been learning Magery, often taught directly by Akio himself, as the man had high hopes in her potential. This garnered her the ire of a few of her siblings, one of whom had a conversation with her that changed her forever.
The boy, a couple years older than her, told her that she had been given up by her mother because she had been a burden -- she had done nothing but make her mother's life difficult and miserable, so it was no wonder that she had been given up so easily. If she had never been born, or had been better able to care for herself, her mother wouldn't have had to give up the rest of her life.
Being so young and impressionable, and having feared herself that that could have been a reason why her mother had given her away, an event which had obviously torn the girl apart, Anemone took the words to heart and broke permanently. She began to develop abandonment issues and a guilt complex. She questioned herself at every moment, fearing that Akio or her nicer siblings would ignore her or give her away if she faltered and didn't live up to the high expectations they had of her. Every time something went wrong, she panicked and cried, apologizing profusely and promising to be better.
As she grew older, the crying stopped, but everything else got worse. While Akio took note of Anemone's issues, he made no effort to help fix them -- he saw how they drove the girl to spend every waking moment improving herself, and liked how she did everything she could to listen to orders and fulfill them. He simply saw more use in leaving her be.
The training itself was brutal, of course, as she was being prepared to become an Exorcist. Along with the obvious Magery and battle lessons, she also learnt all about the Church. She took to the religion very well, finding comfort in it. The idea that her magic was a punishment bestowed upon her simply made sense -- she had ruined her mother's life the moment she had been born, and had upset many of her siblings by winning the attention of Akio, among other things. It was only natural that she should spend her life as one of God's instruments, doing everything in her power to cleanse His creation of all heathens.
Akio was very pleased with how Anemone had turned out -- she obeyed him and served the Church without question, never blinking at murder or anything else as long as she was told it was the right thing to do. All because she wanted to atone and win the affection of those around her.
Anemone officially became an Exorcist at the age of 14, the third of her generation of Shibuya children and the youngest. During the four years she's spent as an Exorcist, she's gone through many hardships and has had more than her share of breakdowns. However, she manages and soldiers on, turning to her siblings and her faith to keep herself together.
Personality:Anemone is soft-spoken and impressionable. Despite her noble-like behaviour, she's actually fairly hyperactive, and is always keeping herself in check to maintain the image of a Shibuya child. Her upbringing has left her a little socially stunted, though she's also outgoing, leading to her being relatively bumbly and awkward, especially when she forgets to act as she believes she should.
She's kind-hearted and honest, and genuinely wants to make the lives of those around her easier, though her primary motivation for that is to garner their affection and approval, something she desperately needs. Her guilt and abandonment issues are always present, and she constantly fears that she'll make a mistake or upset someone, leading her to be a very anxious person who doubts herself greatly when the road ahead is unclear -- if there is no obvious answer to her in any given situation, she becomes extremely indecisive and will look to others to make the choice for her.
When her path is clear or she has someone to lead her, however, her focus and drive is unparalleled -- it is her saving grace when it comes to battle and is what allowed her to become an Exorcist despite her nervousness. She completes her job unblinkingly and without a moment's hesitation, all to gain the favour of those around her. At the end of the day, Anemone is very much capable of murder -- as one who holds the position of Exorcist must be -- having been trained to do so from the moment she was adopted by the Shibuya family. It's a fine line she treads between her kind nature and ability to disconnect herself when taking lives, one that she only manages to walk by convincing herself she's doing the right thing and winning the affection of those close to her. As long as she believes her actions make her appear needed and necessary, she's capable of many atrocities.
Along with her devotion to the Church, her inherent control over lacrimas, and her impressive and ever-improving command of Magery, she makes a useful Exorcist, at the least.
Motivation:Anemone wants to feel useful and needed by others. She wants to be liked by everyone (at least, everyone she deems to be a good person), to minimize any chance of being left alone and given up ever again. Her secondary motivation is her faith. She wants to fulfill her duty as an Exorcist, to atone for her birth and carry out God's will to the best of her ability.
Character Goals:Anemone wishes to destroy all 'evil' as she sees it. She wants everyone around her to be happy and without worry, so along with doing anything any ask of her, she hopes that ridding the world of heathens and those who wish to destroy God's perfect creation will help her reach that ideal.
