How does a magus family fall into obscurity? There are many different reasons, but for this one it was simply lack of suitable heirs. It seemed that each generation, the children's magic circuits declined further. In many cases first and second borns would perish in infancy. And so it came to the current day, where the family once was a respected lineage it now only held influence within it's own territory. They still hailed themselves as masters of Geomancy, but their time as a large and affluent line of magi was over.

Until, the birth of a new heir. Second child of the current head of house, and next in line to take over due to the fact that her older brother had died well before she was even born. Called Khünbish as was customary of the family's dark humor and futile hope of breaking whatever curse had attached itself to them, the girl was born with a high quality of magic circuits the likes the family hadn't seen in a century or more. Eager to capitalize, the girl's family pushed her hard and early with her magecraft studies. It was clear she was talented, but it was also clear that she wasn't... exactly what her family had expected.

"Chabi," as the girl preferred to be called, had all the hallmarks of a family prodigy. For the first few years she was a model student and perfect child. When they made to implant the family's magic crest, their last treasure, into her things took a dangerous turn. A rushed procedure, leading to a near death experience, and resulting in Chabi coming out of the other side of the transfer with a new experience. "Something," she claimed, had saved her life. "Something" that she was sure didn't exist in this world. She'd had a vision while hovering between life and death, and firmly believed that some outside influence had intervened on her behalf. How and why, she had no idea. Her family was skeptical. In the end, the transplant had been a success even with the close call, and so they let it go.

However, Chabi did not let it go. She often would look into researching other realms and beings, sometimes even shirking her practical studies. These were the rebellious pre-teen years. With little to no social interaction outside of her family, Chabi did little actual rebelling, but she did indulge herself in the convenience of the mundane world. This is also when she determined that her mysterious savior from so long ago definitely was... an alien, given the "evidence" she'd collected from these trips outside of her home.

The next few years were simple. Chabi had an eccentric side that didn't suit a magus, but her ability was too great to write her off. She focused on her family's magecraft, and no one stopped her when she began developing a sub-species of their specialty that was directed up, into space. She wanted to connect with other intelligent species, see what kind of magecraft those on other planets might use, and if possible thank the person that saved her life. It was a quiet life, being that the family was still small and fairly isolated.

Then, a proverbial call to arms. A magus working with the organization of Chaldea requesting the help of magi. Chabi's family was eager to send her to get some real experience, and perhaps rid of her of the childish cloying to a phantom from the past. Ironic, given the circumstances of the excursion these magi would be going on.

As is common knowledge in the Moonlit World, mages seek to hone their magecraft in order to reach the Root and obtain the True Magic. However, the Root is not the only goal of magecraft. Legend tells of the existence of a colossal, mechanized god of almighty power. A divine being existing outside time and space, capable of observing and overseeing countless possibilities and timelines of our world. So powerful is this deity that it has concluded that any interference on its part would cause massive, irreparable harm on our world, regardless of its noble intent. Therefore, it has remained on the sidelines, ever watching our past, present and future play out naturally.

This being is known as Bastion, The Flawless One....and it was the Ullser family that were the first and only mages to have succeeded in reaching this glorious fusion of magic and technology.

Reginald, prefers to be called Reggie, Ullser comes from a relatively old line of secretive mages, the origins of the family dating back to the birth of the Industrial Revolution. As a family that began right as Mystery began to decline, this peculiar group of mages uses modern technology alongside their magecraft, as way to augment and fine-tune their abilities. Unsurprisingly, this earned the family a rather low reputation of not being "real mages" among the more ancient and traditional mage families. The dreams of the Ullser family were mocked and ridiculed, regarded as a "wild goose chase for a thing that doesn't exist."

However, through decades and centuries of research, failures, trials and bloody wars, the Ullsers did reach their goal: Bastion. Upon learning and understanding this enigmatic god, the family made a wise decision. Realizing the catastrophic ruin that would come from Bastion's mere presence in the world, the Ullsers would go into hiding, ensuring the existence of Bastion would never see the light of day. The mage world would go on to assume the Ullsers had reached the end of their magecraft and simply faded into obscurity.

Years later, on rare happenstance, a woman, by the name of Ritsuka Fujimaru, sent a letter of invitation to the Ullsers, offering one of their number to be a member of the Security Organization, Chaldea. Not believing this to be mere coincidence, the family turned to Bastion for guidence.....and were revealed a grim vision:

A dark fate was set to befall on Humanity, in all timelines. One that, if not met and deterred, would require Bastion's interference.

Knowing that such an occurrence would spell disaster, the Ullsers would send their oldest son, Reginald. Kind yet guarded, crude yet wise beyond his years, the 20 year old was the most prospective of his generation, as well as the most talented. Hopefully, his talents and skills, along with the teachings of Bastion, will be of great help in averting this looming crisis.

Medusa and her sisters were born from the wishes of mankind for ideal idols, the embodiment of the yearning hearts of men. As "perfect goddesses", their "divine essence" was to remain the same from the moment of their creation to their destruction. Medusa was an exception who was a failure from birth, growing older over time. Though they should have all been copies, or even as close as clones, resulting from the deification of the same phenomenon, a mistake in her birth or something of deeper significance caused her to be copied imperfectly. While she did not embody "forever young and immortal", she gained abilities in compensation compared to her sisters' inability to even care for themselves. With divine powers, her Mystic Eyes, indispensable in protecting her sisters who could not live in the world on their own, this caused the previously united sisters to become three separate individuals. Although Medusa was different from the start, even the other two showed irregularities, their sadistic nature, from interacting with her.[8]

She was originally considered to be a princess loved by humans, but Athena, jealous of their beauty, cursed Medusa alone, taking away her "faith from each and every person" and exiling her to the Shapeless Isle. Their love for her turned to hatred, and she was banished by those who had adored her. The island had nothing to offer compared to her days of luxury, and she prayed that none of the humans that now frightened her with their unwarranted resentment would tread on the island. Weeping in loneliness, she had no idea as to her sin that forced her to be exiled. Although her sisters were not affected and still greatly loved, they too accompanied her there out of caring for their younger sister. She was happy even on the barren island due to their company, and only had to fear the coming humans.[8]

While they became rumored as monsters, her sisters were still revered by nearby men, while she was feared as a monster. Humans sought to kill that which had been branded as a monster and take away the goddesses, and after they began to also target her sisters, she decided to protect them while taking her revenge on the humans. Although littered with statues that had been warriors, they were harmonious for a time on the island, at one point receiving her Pegasus from Poseidon. Though bullied by her sisters daily, she simply moved about the island on days humans did not appear, hoping for the peace to continue. Repaying them in the same manner as they treated her, she killed many humans, simply hoping to be left alone on the only place she could exist with the company of her sisters.

Though she was protecting them from the foolish humans who sought their own deaths, her sisters warned her not to take pleasure in killing them. Using her eyes that were only a deterrent to sow terror in humans, she began to experiment in ways of killing them more quickly. Deciding to become a trap against those who would take her sisters, even they who had always been full of joy began to fear her after she started drinking their blood instead of simply petrifying them. The humans continued to journey the island no matter the infamy surrounding her, and she eventually became too ashamed of her slowly disfiguring self to appear before her sisters. Leaving them, she once again found herself alone, hungering for new sacrifices to replace her sadness and loneliness.

She grew into the Gorgon each day as her body, heart, and very being decayed, all backed by the thought of becoming stronger for the sake of protecting her sisters. Even that reached a point where her sisters instead became nuisances who were intruding upon her lair. They appeared before her after her full descent into a monster, lamenting that they had not asked for her protection and were just letting her enjoy what had seemed fun to her. Saddened by her state, they sacrificed themselves to the Gorgon because the sister who protected them was no longer there. Consumed by countless snakes without any trace of joy or sadness, they were ground into pulp and absorbed into the beast while still alive. Without leaving a trace, they became its flesh and blood, and it continued to thrive as the Gorgon sisters became monsters of nightmares and legends.

The Gorgon's notoriety continued until Perseus decided to bring back its head for his own fame. Granted five Noble Phantasms, he boldly traveled to the Shapeless Isle without any hesitation, only realizing his folly upon seeing the state of the island. He despaired upon encountering it, having decided that there is no victory to be found against the demon god, with his Noble Phantasms only acting as lifesaving equipment in the best scenario. Avoiding her gaze by focusing on his Mirror shield, he desperately fought to survive. Tired of toying with him, it used Breaker Gorgon, and he used the only possible method of defeating it, using Kibisis to have it encage itself.

Reversing the nightmare of the Bounded Field upon it, it suffered as Medusa as the nightmare reflected upon it instead of Perseus. While it was a "nightmare beyond nightmares", it was not an evil vision that caused excruciating pain, but a pleasant dream of her sisters, paralyzing her with the joy of seeing those she thought she would never again meet. Despairing upon the reflection of itself from when it was still self-aware, this allowed Perseus to have his single counterattack, severing its head with Harpe. The monster, out of its own will, became Medusa again and let itself be struck down. Perseus used Kibisis to hold its head, later going on to become a successful hero.

When the nameless child was found washed up on the riverside one moonless night, the local police thought they’d encountered a ghost. They could find no trace of him in their records, no evidence on the scene that might point towards his origins, and none of their efforts to communicate yielded a single word from the pale and wide-eyed boy. Unnerved and confused, they hastily arranged for him to be taken in by a nearby orphanage, not wanting to keep him around any longer than strictly necessary.

It was easy to see why. The child was odd, never speaking or engaging with others but always staring at them wide-eyed with a deep and ravenous curiosity. He didn’t listen to directions or follow anyone’s schedule, but only wandered wherever he wanted, sometimes showing up behind locked doors or in places that should have been too high for him to reach. Most of the staff wanted nothing at all to do with him, but one particularly dedicated worker took it upon himself to try and speak to the boy, persisting until ‘Michel’ finally learned to repeat and reply. Now that a line of communication had been established, it was only a matter of time until he began to integrate with the other children, though strange happenings would persist around him for several years after that.

By the time he was finally placed with a foster family, he seemed almost like an ordinary boy. Sure, he had his head in the clouds half the time, and didn’t seem at all motivated by the concerns that drove the people around him, and often caused great offense with his incredibly blunt manner of speaking… But altogether he was able to live a simple life, going to school every day with his peers and struggling with his studies just like everyone else. He often wondered about his origins, and the half-remembered images of the distant past, but was never able to find any hints that could lead him closer to the truth.

If it hadn’t been for Chaldea, that might have been the end of it. He could have lived a simple life, barely knowing anything of magi or the Clock Tower or any of that. However, when an agent of the organization scouting for Master candidates happened upon an old rumor about a boy washed up on the riverside, they decided to investigate further. What they found was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed: a natural-born prodigy, someone whose inner energy was connected with the outside world such that his entire body formed a single, unified magic circuit. Not a mage, but rather the kind of person who could create Mystics just by existing, often without even being aware of it.

Normally such individuals were quickly snatched up by Eastern magecraft organizations, but Michel had been missed, blending into the local population without ever understanding or harnessing his potential. Jumping at the chance, the recruiter immediately offered him a position, and Michel, realizing that this might be his best chance at ever finding answer, willingly boarded the aircraft that would whisk him away to a hidden facility in Antarctica.

When a child sees a ghost, that’s generally a sign of something wrong, but the Pelham magus lineage had long since cultivated a fanatic obsession with spirits as not just a medium for their magecraft, but as spiritual guides that can allow one to reach the root. As such when their daughter described the face of a man she never could have met clawing at her window, her family was ecstatic rather than comforting. Trauma wasn’t something strange to mages growing up. The very backbone of modern magecraft requires broken people with ideals brow-beaten into them from a young age…and with the family’s magecraft already specializing in spiritual contact, Cordelia would be put through a veritable horror anthology of contacting spirits.

From lingering resentment at the Tower of London to her family’s ancestral tomb, the heiress of the Pelhams was exposed to so many ghosts that it became difficult to tell where the boundary of life and death lay in the first place. After all, spirits without many worldly regrets could be reincarnated through the root, but one that could see the volume of ghosts lingering in the world could only conclude that there were more regrets than joys in life for humans. The very idea of being around people began to terrify the girl even as she advanced into adulthood, proving a disappointment to her parent’s efforts to numb her to the death she saw in every corner she peeked at. Lingering vestiges of unsaid last words, spirits killed in cold blood that wander and wail on deaf ears…it was equal parts tragic and horrifying to the girl.

Proven a disappointment even with her pure eyes and with no way to transfer that power to another, she was left in the care of the only evocator capable of guiding her: Rufleus Nuada-Re Eulyphis. When the call came from Chaldea for users of magecraft, both the departments of Spiritual Evocation and Summoning would recommend the girl not only as a way to assist in Chaldea’s summoning system, but also to identify early problems with the system with how spirits congregated to the facility. …And also because, frankly, she’d need a break before she went insane.

The Trisomatus family were one of many who used the meaning of various ancient monsters to power their magecraft. Though they were an ancient family, they fell into disrepair for various reasons. The dispersal of phantasmal species to the far side of the world, the natural consequences of beast magecraft as a loss of humanity, and problems unique to their own family. The loss of meaning of ‘chimera’ as a singularly powerful beast was already a problem, and, worse, the family’s ability to create new heirs became increasingly poor over time. It was simply a matter of lacking in fertility, but even if it had been purely mundane, such a thing will lead a family to ruin over the scale of time a Magus family needs.

The family stabilized their craft into the modern era of Christianity, by drawing together the meaning of ‘monster’ and ‘demon’, in addition to various meanings of serpents, lions and goats. But nothing could fully regain their past glory. Out of desperation, they turned to a new way of acquiring heirs. Scouring the country for those who naturally fit their purposes, and bringing together three into one.

Katerina is the latest in this line. Not a family by blood, but a line of Magi nonetheless. She doesn’t remember the circumstances of becoming part of this family, nor who she was before being coloured with their magecraft. All she is left with is a vague sense of being much greater than whoever she used to be - well, it’s not something that bothers her, in that case. And everyone changes as they grow up, right?

Even if the Trisomatus family is certainly in decline, a place in the Clock Tower is still a given for their current scion. Though she spent time there, she made no real friends or alliances. Those around her were intimidated by her aura of great evil - or that’s what she told herself. Probably, many of them were simply looking down on her. Even in the world of magecraft, Chuunibyou can still be an embarrassment, it seems.

As for her answer to Chaldea’s call, it was simply a matter of proving oneself. Perhaps it was simply that she took the threat more seriously than many around her.