Mana Crystal:

A single drop earring worn on the right side. A thin silver chain suspends a triangular bipyramid of ice white diamond. When transformed, Setsuna hangs her earring from her weapon's scabbard.

Virtue:

Seriousness, dignity, responsibility. A sense of purpose and the importance of one's task, no matter what that may be. This is the virtue passed to Setsuna, and the mantle she upholds. She has lived her life haunted by her father's words, knowing in him all too well the unmaking man faces not on the grandiose scale of decay and complacency but in the smallest trials of one's soul. She does not relent; she is incapable. No matter what, Setsuna will conduct herself with the proper dignity of her station. She will see her purpose through to the end. Such is the only justice that may exist in the world, such is the only worth a single life can cling to. Once she was a soul responsible for nothing, a vagabond bereft of meaning in her small life. Her days were whiled away, seeking a greater meaning and awaiting the moment that would decide her worth. She is now a guardian, a warrior of determination and commitment. Her purpose is the defense of the unknowing and weak, those that might be stronger than her in life but helpless against the spiritual blight of Vices.

Magic:
_{I will become...}

A power that allows the shared assumption of grief. Setsuna's magic was granted so that she could protect others, and it is that purpose she would consume her very life to fulfill. She is capable of designating a target of her protection with a touch and an oath. While the magic is active, wounds and conditions inflicted upon the target are instead transferred to Setsuna's body. In this way she is capable of protecting another person from incoming damage or taking the existing injuries of another person upon herself. Though trauma can be mended and fell magic redirected, there is no way to return the spark of life with such an ability. A grizzly, pointless death is the reward for imprudent use.


A demonstration of the dignity and resolve of one who knows true, unwavering meaning. Mental impediments such as fear and disorientation can be cleansed from afflicted allies with the power of her magic. The effect is called upon by holding her sword aloft and allowing her magic to flow into the weapon. Allies in a short range illuminated by the light reflected upon its blade are refreshed, the mind altering effects of enemy attacks lifted from them. A display as costly and vulnerable as it is inspiring. To be the light is to become the target, a perilous proposition with her magic drained and her stance interrupted.


A manifestation of the duty of a Magical Girl, a tool that both protects and destroys life at the turn of the hands wielding it. Setsuna's sword is a means to an end, a tool to defend others from Vices. She does not wield it lightly, and her fighting style relies on carving heavy, deliberate blows into her enemies. Her scabbard stays in her off hand or is left on the sword, used in both configurations to deflect physical attacks and in light strikes of its own to search for and create openings. When drawn the glowing crystal within the sword's guard scrolls with a declaration: Alea Iacta Est. To deploy her weapon is to declare her commitment: its magical function is as a lure for Vices. Targets that she engages with her sword can be compelled to focus their hostility upon Setsuna. Equal parts blessing and curse, this effect invites a decisive battle. Her duty is a serious one, she cannot uphold her creed by picking losing battles. The severity of the combat she creates keeps her decisions honest.

History:

Setsuna's family is an unremarkable one. It dates back many years, a lineage of no great distinctions but instead quiet commitment to proceeding into the next generation. The story of the Ikeda name she bears almost came to an end with her father's time. A salaryman sent to Kaigo city, he did not adapt well to the new environment. He drank, he gambled and viced to cope, as any soul would. He met a woman and fell in love. She couldn't slow his fall. Setsuna's father spent too much money, lived too much for what little his work afforded him. By the time his wife was pregnant, vicious men were visiting their apartment daily. Old debts were called, protections were owed, the usual story took place. Setsuna's mother was a woman of no particular fault, she was simply too frail for the life she chose. Her father was a man of no particular worth, but he learned to try.

Her mother died shortly after Setsuna was born. Setsuna would never be allowed to know why or how. Her father seemed crushed flat with guilt. Her earliest memories are always of him being harassed, beaten, forced to give away their livelihood. The bread from their very table, the money from his very pockets. She remembers the look on his face when they bought her first school uniform. The flinch in his hand, eye height for her, as he read the price. His face never changed.

And still they survived. The trauma of seeing her father helpless was always tempered by the pure hearted resolve in his eyes when he knelt by her. She did not know many privileges or pleasures growing up as she did, but from an early age she knew love. There was no price on adoration, no interest on nurturing. Every night they would sit by their porch light or by candles when the power was often off. He read her storybooks from the library, whatever they could get their hands on to feel entertained. She laughed and cried for those random stories, gleefully getting lost in translations of dime store fiction muddled with classic poetry. Some nights he would have to stop early, beset by shivers or coughing fits. He'd started working odd jobs since work had cut ties, which had at least discouraged the loan sharks. He never cried, but his eyes would always glisten when it happened. Her 'apology story' as he tucked her into their bed was always the same. The story of her name. The words of their ancestors, the only heirloom still held by the two Ikeda.

"You are my moment."

He'd kiss her forehead and leave for the night shift.

Senior high school is romanticized, spoken of as a transformative time where a child is oriented for the future. It did transform her life. Her new world came with all sorts of expenses, some mandatory, some not, and her father never allowed her to talk herself out of living a little. He never batted an eye when it was for her. Even if it meant leaving.

Their eke it out lifestyle wasn't working, but Setsuna's father had become a man who would no longer relent. He left Kaigo. He joined the Self Defense Force. He sent his wages home, he bought her a computer, they talked online when he wasn't filling sandbags for a flooded island or trucking water to remote settlements. She could move into a proper home, living alone on the edge of town. She learned to ride a bicycle to get around, painfully independent for the first time. Living was such a sweet, dear thing.

But it hurt more than ever. Ikeda Setsuna was not a fool. She loves her father, and the curse of that love was that as soon as she became an individual, as soon as she could dare to support the father who gave her everything he was farther from her than ever before. How could she ever face him if she could not be half as great? She remembered his words in everything she did, committing only her best to the tasks laid before her. She did well in her public school. She joined the Kendo club, finding reprieve in the indulgently singular world of the swordsman. To perfect a strike was an act of excluding the outside world, a split second to breathe and be alone with one's thoughts.

That was her life. Work, study, cut. She took up a part time job on the edge of town, working as a gas station attendant. It was at work that she found her destiny. One cold night, as she stood watching headlights descend the mountain roads in the distance and waiting for her shift to end, a voice spoke to her. A strange creature, obviously not of the normal world, made her an offer. She would no longer have to live a meaningless, meek life. She could have a purpose, she could grasp a fragment of the perfected resolve which inspired her. Just as her father kept her, and then kept his countrymen... The Keeper offered her the power to protect.

The moment to be made or unmade had come. The wisdom of her ancestors was with her. Ikeda Setsuna needed only an instant to make her decision.