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History
An angel sent by the Goddess Ishmael to restore the balance of the world of Elrios, Ain is an enigmatic man known for his dedication to his friends and mission — whatever that may be at the time. His sole mission from Ishmael was only to restore the El — a large crystal responsible for maintaining all life on Elrios that had exploded 500 years prior to the main story. Ain was created from Ishmael's energy on the night of the El Explosion, which was apocalyptic enough in scale to rend continents and kill a majority of the population, and given a simple instruction to essentially fuse with it to stabilize it before more damage was done. Unfortunately due to the El Explosion, several rifts into what's called "Henir's Time & Space" (basically the endless void, capable of corrupting and/or killing anyone who falls into it) opened up because without the protection of the El, the fabric of spacetime began to unravel. When Ain initially went to restore the El, he fell into one such rift and wound up trapped within Henir for those 500 years, where his pure energy was tainted by the darkness, giving him a distinct scar over his left eye only when he takes on his angel form. This corruption actually wound up being a good thing for him in the end, as it carved a path for him to develop emotions, which angels are naturally created without. If he hadn't gotten the Henir corruption, he would've gone down a completely different path, largely emotionless and uncaring over humanity.
After wandering in the void for 500 years in search of an escape, he eventually found his way back to Elrios via another rift, but Elrios had changed a lot in those 500 years. Although the world was largely still post-apocalyptic, pockets of society managed to live thanks to the shattered remnants of the El being housed in cities. These El all took on elemental aspects — fire, earth, wind, water, moon, and sun — and kept the civilizations they were built around aspected to that element, as well as safe from the Henir rot spreading over the land. However, they were quite well-hidden, and sought after by a cult organization known as Henir's Order, the perpetrators of the original explosion who sought to fully end the world for good this time. The recently-freed Ain met with a group of people searching for the remains of the El named aptly "the El Search Party", on a similar mission as he was supposed to be, and joined up with them for the purposes of furthering said mission. He spends this time pretending to be a priest instead of an angel out of necessity at first, and then later experiences shame over having to possibly confront the fact he's been lying to them — therefore continuing to perpetuate his own lie out of self-preservation. As he spent more time around the Party, he slowly developed loyalty and friendship with the group's ever-expanding members over the course of five years. Naturally, those five years weren't spent in total peace, as not only did Ain spend a great chunk of time trying to decipher what makes humans human (such as wondering why they feel the need to help each other so much even if it's inconvenient) but he also spent that entire time travelling from battleground to battleground to battleground.
Ain primarily acts as the El Search Party's core healer. He did not start as a healer, knowing no magic of that type at the time, but started to pick up some healing magic tricks about a year after meeting the party. Learning to heal them was combined with his growing love for humans, who he didn't initially care for very much. At several points in the early story, Ain had made threats of killing anyone who annoyed him (this once included a literal child who needed to be escorted back to town, which was considered "out of the way") and saw no point in dawdling to help people with issues he viewed as "inconsequential" despite them either helping the greater good, or helping to foster trust between the El Search Party and the places they visited. As he and the party travelled from city to city, continent to continent, Ain learnt that the small problems are just as important as the larger ones, especially to short-lived humans, and has since developed a lot of sympathy and willingness to help others — thus, the next logical step for him was to learn how to heal others, most importantly the group of humans he was spending all of his time around and learning from.
The path leading up to Ain deciding that he liked humans and that he wanted to become more like them was certainly not an easy one, though. His own festering insecurities over if he was doing the "right" thing by stopping along the path to protect humankind instead of heading directly to the El led him to believe that the Goddess — who was already noncommunicative with him — was fully going to forsake him. This was compounded by the fact that if he lost a lot of his natural magical energy in battle or from helping to seal rifts, he would lose his physical form and become nothing more than a small ball of light. When this happens to Ain, his passive angel abilities to make people forget he ever existed kick in, resulting in the whole party having their memories of him wiped until he can regain his form. This causes strife among a few party members, notably Add, who he basically snaps into existence in front of and plays off as "I've been here the whole time" type gaslighting while promising Add that Ain would spill his secrets to the party if Add blabbed. The two have since formed a sturdy friendship, but as far as first impressions go, it led to a long line of passive-aggressive comments between the two for multiple years.
On the topic of losing the allegiance of Ishmael, Ain did do so; after his friend and party leader Elsword restored the El using his own natural powers, Ain — whose mission was completed by technicality — was essentially "despawned" by Ishmael since he was no longer needed in the world. Saddened by the news that the El Search Party had forgotten him again and wanting nothing more than to stay by their sides, he prayed to another Goddess, Elria, and asked to ally with her instead. Elria accepted this prayer and restored Ain's form, making it so that he would no longer lose his human form if he used a lot of energy and that he could no longer be forgotten by his companions. Alas, Ain's insecurities continued regarding Ishmael; eventually, this led to a confrontation spurned on by his own fears of not being "proper" in Her eyes, where he would get into a physical fight with an anxiety-manifested version of Ishmael herself. In an effort to prove himself to this fake version of her, Ain won their battle and declared that it was not wrong of him to love humans and want to be like them, nor was it wrong for him to complete any missions he was given in his own way or with his group like She seemed to think. After this confrontation with "her", he still gets cagey and questions himself and his actions, as if there's a "right" way to attempt saving the world that he's supposed to magically know.
Even after restoring the El, the battles didn't stop. It would seem that, as far as wars go, there's no end in sight. The Party has since gone to the Demon Realm, a realm adjacent to Elrios, in search of both Henir's Order and the El that might be in the adjacent realm so they can strengthen the whole. These are both treated with equal priority, but as Ain is now much kinder as a result of being around his friends and learning from them, he has no problem veering off course to help with other major concerns — such as his friend Lu losing her throne to a coup, or helping Ara recover her brother from demon possession. While Ain still wonders if veering off path is okay, he also states resolutely that he's accepted his choices, and that it's better to simply make a choice than to waffle over what to do and miss an opportunity.
After wandering in the void for 500 years in search of an escape, he eventually found his way back to Elrios via another rift, but Elrios had changed a lot in those 500 years. Although the world was largely still post-apocalyptic, pockets of society managed to live thanks to the shattered remnants of the El being housed in cities. These El all took on elemental aspects — fire, earth, wind, water, moon, and sun — and kept the civilizations they were built around aspected to that element, as well as safe from the Henir rot spreading over the land. However, they were quite well-hidden, and sought after by a cult organization known as Henir's Order, the perpetrators of the original explosion who sought to fully end the world for good this time. The recently-freed Ain met with a group of people searching for the remains of the El named aptly "the El Search Party", on a similar mission as he was supposed to be, and joined up with them for the purposes of furthering said mission. He spends this time pretending to be a priest instead of an angel out of necessity at first, and then later experiences shame over having to possibly confront the fact he's been lying to them — therefore continuing to perpetuate his own lie out of self-preservation. As he spent more time around the Party, he slowly developed loyalty and friendship with the group's ever-expanding members over the course of five years. Naturally, those five years weren't spent in total peace, as not only did Ain spend a great chunk of time trying to decipher what makes humans human (such as wondering why they feel the need to help each other so much even if it's inconvenient) but he also spent that entire time travelling from battleground to battleground to battleground.
Ain primarily acts as the El Search Party's core healer. He did not start as a healer, knowing no magic of that type at the time, but started to pick up some healing magic tricks about a year after meeting the party. Learning to heal them was combined with his growing love for humans, who he didn't initially care for very much. At several points in the early story, Ain had made threats of killing anyone who annoyed him (this once included a literal child who needed to be escorted back to town, which was considered "out of the way") and saw no point in dawdling to help people with issues he viewed as "inconsequential" despite them either helping the greater good, or helping to foster trust between the El Search Party and the places they visited. As he and the party travelled from city to city, continent to continent, Ain learnt that the small problems are just as important as the larger ones, especially to short-lived humans, and has since developed a lot of sympathy and willingness to help others — thus, the next logical step for him was to learn how to heal others, most importantly the group of humans he was spending all of his time around and learning from.
The path leading up to Ain deciding that he liked humans and that he wanted to become more like them was certainly not an easy one, though. His own festering insecurities over if he was doing the "right" thing by stopping along the path to protect humankind instead of heading directly to the El led him to believe that the Goddess — who was already noncommunicative with him — was fully going to forsake him. This was compounded by the fact that if he lost a lot of his natural magical energy in battle or from helping to seal rifts, he would lose his physical form and become nothing more than a small ball of light. When this happens to Ain, his passive angel abilities to make people forget he ever existed kick in, resulting in the whole party having their memories of him wiped until he can regain his form. This causes strife among a few party members, notably Add, who he basically snaps into existence in front of and plays off as "I've been here the whole time" type gaslighting while promising Add that Ain would spill his secrets to the party if Add blabbed. The two have since formed a sturdy friendship, but as far as first impressions go, it led to a long line of passive-aggressive comments between the two for multiple years.
On the topic of losing the allegiance of Ishmael, Ain did do so; after his friend and party leader Elsword restored the El using his own natural powers, Ain — whose mission was completed by technicality — was essentially "despawned" by Ishmael since he was no longer needed in the world. Saddened by the news that the El Search Party had forgotten him again and wanting nothing more than to stay by their sides, he prayed to another Goddess, Elria, and asked to ally with her instead. Elria accepted this prayer and restored Ain's form, making it so that he would no longer lose his human form if he used a lot of energy and that he could no longer be forgotten by his companions. Alas, Ain's insecurities continued regarding Ishmael; eventually, this led to a confrontation spurned on by his own fears of not being "proper" in Her eyes, where he would get into a physical fight with an anxiety-manifested version of Ishmael herself. In an effort to prove himself to this fake version of her, Ain won their battle and declared that it was not wrong of him to love humans and want to be like them, nor was it wrong for him to complete any missions he was given in his own way or with his group like She seemed to think. After this confrontation with "her", he still gets cagey and questions himself and his actions, as if there's a "right" way to attempt saving the world that he's supposed to magically know.
Even after restoring the El, the battles didn't stop. It would seem that, as far as wars go, there's no end in sight. The Party has since gone to the Demon Realm, a realm adjacent to Elrios, in search of both Henir's Order and the El that might be in the adjacent realm so they can strengthen the whole. These are both treated with equal priority, but as Ain is now much kinder as a result of being around his friends and learning from them, he has no problem veering off course to help with other major concerns — such as his friend Lu losing her throne to a coup, or helping Ara recover her brother from demon possession. While Ain still wonders if veering off path is okay, he also states resolutely that he's accepted his choices, and that it's better to simply make a choice than to waffle over what to do and miss an opportunity.
Personality
Sordid, tireless history aside, Ain grows into a playful and cheerful individual once his emotions develop. At times, he can be incredibly sarcastic, usually making jabs at others with a characteristic soft smile. He tends to be the least bit difficult to read, given that he's not very good at making facial expressions — his default is typically smiling, even if he's saying the meanest thing you've ever heard in your life. Oftentimes it seems he also doesn't understand why what he said could be hurtful or wrong, though these moments are folded in with times he absolutely knows better and is choosing to be a brat anyway. He's introspective, spending a great deal of time thinking especially about how others act and drawing comparisons. On the surface and due to his lack of understanding about "human" things and his constant, unreadable smiles, he may seem rather airheaded and ditzy, and will lie to appear more aloof than he really is. Inside, however, is a man who constantly analyzes and assesses, much more observant and analytical than he'll dare let on. In addition, when learning something new or trying to blend in, he will mimic the people around him down to their exact body movements, posture, and even the way they speak.
Speaking of his emotions specifically, Ain just... does not get them. These are new things to him within the last few years of his long life, after all. Most of the time, he lacks the vocabulary or emotional competency to understand feelings more complex than "happy", "sad", or "angry", so he will instead describe his feelings as a physical sensation. For example, "anxiety" according to him feels akin to drowning. Ain is not inclined to share his emotions save for having to ask if they're "okay to have", too. He badly wants to become more like the humans he loves so much, and this comes with having to understand how they think and feel — which mostly makes him feel lost and confused, and like he has to act in a certain way to be human. At one point when the rest of the party is feeling a bit under the weather, they ask Ain why he isn't feeling bad as well, and Ain's first response internally is to think that he's doing the human thing completely wrong and anxiety-spiral over it. The anxiety only worsens when he regularly acknowledges how much danger they're all in in general, and it can be said that he almost cares too much despite everything. That, and he doesn't have a damn clue what's going on ever, which freaks him out even more on the emotional front. He does an okay job at hiding it by simply avoiding the question whenever someone asks him if something is upsetting him, though.
As he is incredibly loyal to his friends, once Ain finds people he likes, he glues himself to their side. Given Ain's tendency to latch onto others in this way, he functions better in a group of close companions than he does on his own. He has a deep-seated fear of being forgotten or left behind due to his nature as an angel where, as stated above, if Ain left the immediate area or lost his form, everyone who he had spoken to would forget he existed entirely. The psychological damage of this cannot be understated, as it's the key reason why he's as anxious as he is. While he's aware of the fact nowadays that people don't just forget he exists, that fear certainly contributes to how clingy he can be at times. The last time he was alone for a long period of time, it was 500 years in the void, and he fears being lost again.
Charmingly, or perhaps obnoxiously depending on outlook, Ain rarely ever refers to others by their names, instead giving them what he thinks is an apt nickname typically based on their race, background, or otherwise. Examples include "Ms. Knight Captain" or "Ms. Elf". He will do this regardless of social standing. Yes, he knows that person's name. Yes, he's choosing to give them a different name. No, he won't stop. There are a few people he uses the name of, however: Elsword has never had a nickname because of how important the young man is to Ain, and a person he respects gets called "Ms. Harnier" as though he's referring to a teacher. Basically, you only get name rights when he respects you, and even then he still might not grant them to you. After all, he still respects his party members, including those who he got off on the wrong foot with... really, no one knows why Ain is the way that Ain is. Interestingly, though, when he has complete and total disdain for someone, they lose their "Mr./Ms." prefix entirely, as seen with his (future) friends Lu and Ciel who are respectively referred to as simply Demon and Half-Demon until such point where Ain bonds with them enough to add prefixes to their names.
Given that he is an angel, Ain has an instinctual hatred toward demons that was pre-coded into him by Ishmael, and as a result he will be outwardly aggressive toward them. It's one of few moments where he isn't simply a "friendly bystander with a big mouth". In addition, he may come across as defensive and standoffish to those he distrusts, and much of this may be hidden behind a thin layer of sarcasm as well. It is possible for anyone, including demons, to get on his good side, but it will take time should they start off on the wrong foot. He's gotten better as time has gone on, especially after bonding with Lu, Ciel, and other demons they've met along the way, but he still displays moments of being enraged when demons do something he perceives as distinctly holy or human; a demon praying at an altar to their god, for example, gets Ain riled before he walks it back and wonders why he was programmed to hate.
Speaking of his emotions specifically, Ain just... does not get them. These are new things to him within the last few years of his long life, after all. Most of the time, he lacks the vocabulary or emotional competency to understand feelings more complex than "happy", "sad", or "angry", so he will instead describe his feelings as a physical sensation. For example, "anxiety" according to him feels akin to drowning. Ain is not inclined to share his emotions save for having to ask if they're "okay to have", too. He badly wants to become more like the humans he loves so much, and this comes with having to understand how they think and feel — which mostly makes him feel lost and confused, and like he has to act in a certain way to be human. At one point when the rest of the party is feeling a bit under the weather, they ask Ain why he isn't feeling bad as well, and Ain's first response internally is to think that he's doing the human thing completely wrong and anxiety-spiral over it. The anxiety only worsens when he regularly acknowledges how much danger they're all in in general, and it can be said that he almost cares too much despite everything. That, and he doesn't have a damn clue what's going on ever, which freaks him out even more on the emotional front. He does an okay job at hiding it by simply avoiding the question whenever someone asks him if something is upsetting him, though.
As he is incredibly loyal to his friends, once Ain finds people he likes, he glues himself to their side. Given Ain's tendency to latch onto others in this way, he functions better in a group of close companions than he does on his own. He has a deep-seated fear of being forgotten or left behind due to his nature as an angel where, as stated above, if Ain left the immediate area or lost his form, everyone who he had spoken to would forget he existed entirely. The psychological damage of this cannot be understated, as it's the key reason why he's as anxious as he is. While he's aware of the fact nowadays that people don't just forget he exists, that fear certainly contributes to how clingy he can be at times. The last time he was alone for a long period of time, it was 500 years in the void, and he fears being lost again.
Charmingly, or perhaps obnoxiously depending on outlook, Ain rarely ever refers to others by their names, instead giving them what he thinks is an apt nickname typically based on their race, background, or otherwise. Examples include "Ms. Knight Captain" or "Ms. Elf". He will do this regardless of social standing. Yes, he knows that person's name. Yes, he's choosing to give them a different name. No, he won't stop. There are a few people he uses the name of, however: Elsword has never had a nickname because of how important the young man is to Ain, and a person he respects gets called "Ms. Harnier" as though he's referring to a teacher. Basically, you only get name rights when he respects you, and even then he still might not grant them to you. After all, he still respects his party members, including those who he got off on the wrong foot with... really, no one knows why Ain is the way that Ain is. Interestingly, though, when he has complete and total disdain for someone, they lose their "Mr./Ms." prefix entirely, as seen with his (future) friends Lu and Ciel who are respectively referred to as simply Demon and Half-Demon until such point where Ain bonds with them enough to add prefixes to their names.
Given that he is an angel, Ain has an instinctual hatred toward demons that was pre-coded into him by Ishmael, and as a result he will be outwardly aggressive toward them. It's one of few moments where he isn't simply a "friendly bystander with a big mouth". In addition, he may come across as defensive and standoffish to those he distrusts, and much of this may be hidden behind a thin layer of sarcasm as well. It is possible for anyone, including demons, to get on his good side, but it will take time should they start off on the wrong foot. He's gotten better as time has gone on, especially after bonding with Lu, Ciel, and other demons they've met along the way, but he still displays moments of being enraged when demons do something he perceives as distinctly holy or human; a demon praying at an altar to their god, for example, gets Ain riled before he walks it back and wonders why he was programmed to hate.
Abilities & Inventory
SPIRITUALISM: Ain's more "angelic" form. In this form, he is weightless and is able to float upon the air. This form massively buffs his combat abilities.
PENDULUM: Ain carries around a pendulum which he draws in combat. The pendulum itself, however, is never used as a weapon, and functions as a rather decorative arcane focus.
EDEL EIDS: The tri-coloured, glowing glyphs that swirl around Ain give him various abilities, including augmenting some of his magic and healing. In particular:
♦Mut: The "attack" colour; magic cast under this is typically meant to hurt, and it can grant buffs to himself and allies (increase crit rate, increase movement speed, increase attack, etc).
♦Rein: The "healing" colour; magic cast under this usually heals, with the exception of one (1) spell called Reqiuem which then becomes an AoE attack, for some reason. Ain can't heal physical illnesses or use magic to regrow lost body parts, but he can heal magical diseases, cleanse poisons, and has passive resistance to similar debuffs.
♦Wille: The "debuff/control" colour; magic cast under this typically freezes enemies solid, slows their speed, or decreases their magic resistance.
BARRIER MAGIC: Can make a fairly strong, translucent green barrier around someone to protect them from harm.
MIND MAGIC IMMUNITY: Ain's angel powers specifically allow him to not only be immune to mental effects (hypnosis, mind control, mindreading, etc) but also to extend this protection onto others surrounding him. The range is fairly short, likely no larger than a fifteen foot radius. Canon does not explicitly give a numerical value, but this power is used exclusively when people are very close to him.
DEMON MAGIC IMMUNITY: Somewhat similar to the above but more related to demon magic. In his canon demon magic overlaps heavily with mind magic, so that's already something he can resist, however he is capable of easily dispelling magic used by demons as well. If their attacks hit him, they'd still do damage to him — but essentially he'd either have to allow this, or not cast a counterspell quick enough.
ELEMENTAL MAGIC: Can slightly use fire spells (no fireballs, but able to light a candle for example); proficient in ice, wind, and light magic.
PROJECTION WEAPONS: Ain can summon glasslike swords and spears to his hand at any time, which are made of raw magic. He can throw them and teleport to them at will if needed.
PENDULUM: Ain carries around a pendulum which he draws in combat. The pendulum itself, however, is never used as a weapon, and functions as a rather decorative arcane focus.
EDEL EIDS: The tri-coloured, glowing glyphs that swirl around Ain give him various abilities, including augmenting some of his magic and healing. In particular:
♦Mut: The "attack" colour; magic cast under this is typically meant to hurt, and it can grant buffs to himself and allies (increase crit rate, increase movement speed, increase attack, etc).
♦Rein: The "healing" colour; magic cast under this usually heals, with the exception of one (1) spell called Reqiuem which then becomes an AoE attack, for some reason. Ain can't heal physical illnesses or use magic to regrow lost body parts, but he can heal magical diseases, cleanse poisons, and has passive resistance to similar debuffs.
♦Wille: The "debuff/control" colour; magic cast under this typically freezes enemies solid, slows their speed, or decreases their magic resistance.
BARRIER MAGIC: Can make a fairly strong, translucent green barrier around someone to protect them from harm.
MIND MAGIC IMMUNITY: Ain's angel powers specifically allow him to not only be immune to mental effects (hypnosis, mind control, mindreading, etc) but also to extend this protection onto others surrounding him. The range is fairly short, likely no larger than a fifteen foot radius. Canon does not explicitly give a numerical value, but this power is used exclusively when people are very close to him.
DEMON MAGIC IMMUNITY: Somewhat similar to the above but more related to demon magic. In his canon demon magic overlaps heavily with mind magic, so that's already something he can resist, however he is capable of easily dispelling magic used by demons as well. If their attacks hit him, they'd still do damage to him — but essentially he'd either have to allow this, or not cast a counterspell quick enough.
ELEMENTAL MAGIC: Can slightly use fire spells (no fireballs, but able to light a candle for example); proficient in ice, wind, and light magic.
PROJECTION WEAPONS: Ain can summon glasslike swords and spears to his hand at any time, which are made of raw magic. He can throw them and teleport to them at will if needed.
