IN THE SHAPE OF THE DEAD | ANIMA BLAIR | ALL YOU WILL EVER DO IS KILL

[ANIMA B.]

[align=center][div style="text-align:justify;width:55%;font-size:10pt;font-family:verdana"]— Anima was born in the city of Haerii, a group of hunters that lived on the Archlyte Steppe. It was a place of gods and monsters, brave hunters against horrors and monsters that threatened to wipe them out off the map. Most people would have abandoned the plains to the dragons, the raptors and the behemoths, but the hunters of Haerii were not those people.

— Her father was Haerii Blair Marcus, the current Chief of Haerii. As such, she was practically royalty among the hunters, along with her two siblings - Elizabeth and Oliver. She was the oldest of all of her siblings, and she was the fiercest of them too. Anima quickly distinguished herself as a natural fighter and hunter, but she was irresponsible, headstrong and brash. She was a perfect huntress but a terrible future leader. As such, her father saw it fit to nominate Oliver as his heir rather than Anima.

— Anima was furious. When she was 8 months old, she stormed off to partake in the Titan's trials and make herself a fully fledged hunter to steal back her spot as the next Chief. Her partner and two months her senior, Cailan, took with her in an attempt to convince her to turn back. The two did not and both completed their trials. Anima killed a juvenile frost dragon in her duel. Cailan slew a behemoth.

— Marcus would still not allow Anima to retake her position as heir, so she called Oliver to duel her, invoking the rite of combat in front of the entire tribe. Begrudgingly, Oliver took up arms against his sister and the two fought to the death, as was the tradition. Marcus allowed his son to poison his claws in an attempt to stop his sister from killing him. The plan was for naught, with Oliver refusing to kill his sister and Anima being all too glad to tear him to pieces to prove that she was worth something.

— Oliver left the arena badly beaten and Anima was the new heir of Haerii. Little knew, she would be the last. A corruption spread through the city, turning hunters into mishapen monsters. They came with creatures of pure darkness that slaughtered innocents and hunters alike, setting the city on fire with their foul magicks and coming to kill every last member. Anima was forced to flee with Cailan, the two now both at least a year old. They travelled to the city of Paddra, only to find one of the sages, Sanyi Fekete Paddra begging them to turn back for the same had fallen Haerii's ally.

— The three then travelled together, seeking to find survivors or an explanation. They found none, and the two hunters resolved to work as mercenaries and assassins, doing dirty work in exchange for places to stay and food to eat. It took them far away from the Steppe and the Plains, far away from home. With time, the three were separated, and Anima was left alone.

— In her bleakest moment, she was saved by her Goddess, the Goddess of Haerii and Paddra and Oerba, Etro. She chose the last sons and the last daughter of Haerii and Paddra, Anima, Cailan and Andras, to be her Champion, Guardian and Seer respectively. Anima herself was to become the Goddess of Chaos and an aspect of Death. With no other option, Anima became Etro's champion.

— The three were reunited, but their friendships frayed easily. The fate of a seer was an unkind one, doomed to die and be reborn over eons with tragically short lives for the gift of prophecy and time control, but never allowed to avoid his fate. Andras instead seeked to end the cycle and murdered Anima in cold blood, hoping to allow the timeline to destroy itself so he would be able to live and die as normal.

— Instead of that, Anima was reborn herself. The two fought endlessly for years, chasing each other through lives and reincarnations - Anima seeking to survive and Andras trying to end his existence. Eventually, Calian sought to help Andras first, but quickly reconciled with Anima and supported her in her attempts to not die. With her brother and truest friend at her side, she felt comfortable.

— With her deaths, her soul became fractured and splintered. This caused memory loss and eventually, lead to the glitches where the power of chaos began to warp Anima into something different. The power threatened to consume her and consume her it did. Anima was gone and Etro died for real with her plan failed. What little was left of Anima was salvaged by the Fae Queen Titania, and Anima was "rescued" as Ryoutoutsukai, an amnesiac blood hunter with fae blood.

— Titania took pity on the huntress and helped her to restore her memories and personality, but admitted that Anima's soul was truly lost. Annie was released from the pact, but she maintains a good relationship with the Fae. Instead of a soul, Anima is kept alive by the force that she once controlled, Chaos. It makes her body an ephemeral shifting form, able to be destroyed and rebuilt as little more than a shade or a wraith.