Lisa Hounds (Web Novel)

**Lisa Hounds** is a point of view character from the *Ori of the Dragon Chain* web-novel. An aspiring adventurer, she is a student of Solminati Academy and the ex-girlfriend of the main protagonist Nozomu Bountis, her childhood friend.

Despite the clear power difference between them, Lisa originally supported Nozomu in spite of his Ability Suppression. Not long after joining the Academy, Lisa "saw" Nozomu cheating on her with another woman. Furious and distraught, Lisa ended her relationship and friendship with Nozomu. With help and support from her friend Camilla Vecnose and Ken Notis (her second childhood friend) Lisa made sure that everybody at the Academy knew what her "traitorous" ex-boyfriend had done, causing him to become a pariah amongst his fellow students.

For the next two years, Lisa avoided Nozomu, hating him for what he had done to her. During this time, she tried to begin a relationship with Ken but was never able to reciprocate his feelings. Ken and Camilla both believed that this was due to the trauma caused by Nozomu's infidelity, but it is also implied that deep down, Lisa still retained affection for Nozomu.

Two years later, however, during her third year, Lisa would discover that Nozomu never betrayed her. Ken, due to his own selfish cravings and desire for her affections, framed one friend in order to manipulate the other. Horrified by this revelation, Lisa sank further into depression. With the support of her real friends, however, Lisa eventually began to dedicate herself to making amends for her past mistake, in an attempt to reclaim what she had previously had with Nozomu.

## Relationships

### Love Interests

#### Nozomu Bountis

Lisa has known Nozomu Bountis since childhood. They were best friends growing up and eventually began a relationship. Despite the clear differences in their power due to Nozomu's ability supression, Lisa never treated Nozomu any differently. As a couple, their mutual goal was to become a great adventurers party alongside their friends.

Shortly after joining Solminati Academy, however, Lisa ended both her friendship and relationship with Nozomu. Thanks to a tip off from their mutual friend Ken Notis, Lisa caught "*Nozomu*" cheating on her with another woman. Completely heartbroken and distraught by the "*revelation*", Lisa automatically assumed the worst and never gave Nozomu a chance to tell his side of the story. Casting him aside, over the course of the next two years Lisa treated Nozomu with nothing but hostility and hatred. She turned everybody in the academy against him, whilst relentlessly shooting hostile looks and comments in his direction. Despite this, it is heavily implied that Lisa never truly recovered from the breakup because she was still in love with Nozomu, even though she refused to acknowledge it.

Then, during a chance encounter in their third year, Nozomu said something to Lisa that would change everything. Having resolved to face his problems head on, instead of avoiding them and running away like Lisa, Nozomu finally told his ex-girlfriend his side of the story. Nozomu told Lisa that he had never cheated on her and that he was training in the forest on the day that the incident took place. This coupled, with his attempts to rebuild the bridges and his display of power during the mock duel with Jihad, left Lisa confused. Nozomu's actions contradicted everything she had thought about him since the incident. However, she had still seen "*him*" cheat on her and was therefore unsure what to think.

Not long afterwards, whilst dwelling upon her confusion, Lisa spotted Ken and Camilla heading towards Ecross School. Confused, she followed them, only to witness Ken attacking Camilla, Somia and Lansa in the guise of Nozomu. Bountis himself arrived moments later, which only soldified Lisa's horror and guilt. In that moment Lisa Hounds world had come crashing down as she finally realised that she had made a terrible mistake. It was Ken that she had seen on that day, using his abilities to disguise himself. Nozomu, had never betrayed her, it was *she* that had betrayed him. Lisa's heart was shattered as she realised that in her grief and anger, she had not only persecuted a completely innocent man, but thrown away a genuinely loving boyfriend.

Following Ken's defeat and incarceration, Lisa was left feeling remorseful and extremely guilty fo what she had done. In the aftermath, she began to hang around with Nozomu and his friends, wanting to make ammends for her past actions. During this time, Lisa came to realise that she was still in love with Nozomu and she eventually confessed to him, asking if they could get back together again. Unfortunately for Lisa, Nozomu turned her down. Despite her sincerity and the knowledge that she was manipulated, Nozomu, understandably could not ignore all of the pain that he had endured or the way that Lisa had deserted him without confronting him first.

Although heartbroken by this statement, Lisa originally accepted Nozomu's decision. Grieving at the loss of her relationship and knowing that there was nothing left for her at the academy now, Lisa originally decided to return home. However, she changed her mind at the last minute, deciding that she wasn't ready to give up on Nozomu just yet. Resolving to face her problems head on, she returned to the academy both to make amends for her past and, hopefully, win back the heart of the man she loved.

### Friends

#### Camilla Vecnose

Camilla is Lisa's best friend and has been by her side ever since they joined the academy. Their friendship was still going strong by the start of their third year.

When Nozomu was accused of cheating on Lisa, Camilla stood by her friend. Witnessing first hand just how badly Nozomu's "actions" had affected her friend, Camilla made sure to harshly berate Nozomu, calling him a scumbag and making sure that everybody knew what a terrible person he was. She even tried to attack Nozomu during their third year, after he scared Lisa away and had the "audacity" to ask how she was getting on after all these years. She was stopped by Irisdina, who told her that Nozomu did not cheat on Lisa and that somebody framed him.

A few days later, Camilla realised that Ken was the one responsible for Lisa's suffering. The revelation caused Camilla a great deal of horror and concern, but as Ken pointed out, she had no way to prove it. Wanting to help Lisa, Camilla secretly conspired with Nozomu, his friends and the authorities (whom Ken had attacked whilst disguised as Nozomu) to help stop the real villain before Lisa or anybody else got hurt. Unfortunately, Lisa spotted Camilla during the mission and followed her. Upon seeing Ken disguised as Nozomu, Lisa realised the terrible truth and, as Camilla had feared, she was left completely devastated.

After the final battle with Ken, Camilla was one of the very few students to stand by Lisa during the subsequent fallout. Having lived, fought and worked alongside Lisa for so long, Camilla knew her friend well enough to know just how much Lisa had loved Nozomu prior to their breakup. As Lisa suffered the ramifications of Ken's actions, Camilla once again tried her best to comfort and support Lisa during her hour of need.

### Others

#### The Student Body

Lisa was a highly respected student during her first two years at Solminati Academy. This was due a combination of her good looks, natural talent, leadership skills and kind personality. As such, when Ken, Lisa and Camilla accused Nozomu of cheating upon Lisa, the student body took her side, denouncing and harassing Nozomu in her sted. The pupils that did not respond quickly enough received a verbal lashing from several of their peers (including Lisa), prompting them to change sides.

For two long years, virtually everybody at the academy would shun and reject Nozomu, whilst praising Lisa for her talent. Then, during Lisa's third year, the students opinion of both her and Nozomu would start to change. It began when Nozomu gained some genuine friends in the form of Mars Dickens, Irisdina Francilt, Tima Lime, Shina Juliel, Mimuru Midari and Tom Dale. To their peers astonishment, this small band of students supported Nozomu over Lisa. When they were inevitably confronted, the group told their detractors that Nozomu had explained everything to them. They declared that Nozomu was framed and had never betrayed Lisa.

Not long afterwards, Nozomu, in a move set up by Henri Var engaged Jihad Raundel in a mock battle in front of the entire student body. Although Nozomu lost the fight, he managed to push Jihad to his limit, forcing the latter to use his trump card. Lisa and the other students who had dismissed Nozomu as weak, were completely shocked by this display, which would have a profound effect upon both Nozomu and Lisa's reputations. The first and second year students (aka the underclassmen) were greatly impressed by what they had witnessed, developing a deep admiration and respect for Nozomu. Having joined Solminati Academy following the altercation, the underclassman did not accept Lisa and Ken's accusations as readily as their peers (i.e. the upperclassman), choosing instead to judge people by their actions rather than speculation. Meanwhile, the third and fourth year students, although now weary of Nozomu Bountis, continued to believe what they had been told for over two years. As far as they were concerned, Nozomu was still a no-good two timer who broke his girlfriends heart. Thus, they continued to avoid him.

In the days following the duel, however, a new accusation began to circulate around Solminati Academy. Taking everything that they had witnessed into consideration, the underclassman started to reject the declarations made two years previously and accuse *Lisa* of being the unfaithful one. Aware of Nozomu's Ability Suppression, the first and second year students started to suspect that Lisa had framed Nozomu. According to this new theory, Lisa had wanted to get out of the relationship because she, like everybody else, had mistakenly believed that Nozomu was weak and worthless. Since dumping him outright would make her the bad guy, however, the underclassman accused Lisa of lying to everybody so that all of the anger that would have been directed at her was instead turned towards her completely innocent boyfriend. These false declarations, coupled with Nozomu's words and accusations caused Lisa a great deal of pain and unease. Ken and the majority of the upperclassman (with the exception of Camilia, Nozomu's friends and classmates) told her to ignore this accusation. Having witnessed Lisa's pain and heard the rumors first hand, the upperclassman continued to stand by Lisa, convinced that Nozomu was guilty.

The third and fourth year students opinion was irreversably shattered, however, following Ken Notis' attack on Ecross School. Following the altercation, the academy and the authorities published seperate reports, which confirmed Ken's villainy. From these publications, the students of Solminati Academy learnt that Ken's ability to impersonate other people and how he had used those abilities to *frame* Nozomu Bountis, due to his own personal feelings for one *Lisa Hounds*. Thus at long last, the third and fourth year students, like Nozumu's friends, Camilla and Lisa before them, finally realised that everything they had been told concerning Nozomu's infidelity was a lie.

Shocked and horrified by the revelation, the students of Solminati Academy looked for somebody to blame for the whole fiasco (both in and out of the academy). Since Ken had already been expelled and imprisoned, the students turned their wrath and disgust upon his ex-girlfriend. Within no time at all, new theories and speculations about what had happened started to circulate. The upperclassman now accepted the underclassman's theory about Lisa as fact, but with an additional twist, which made Lisa accountable for everything. According to the most popular rumor, Lisa had conspired *with* Ken to betray their childhood friend, so that he would look like the bad guy and they could get together. After witnessing the duel with Jihad, however, Lisa had realised that she had made a mistake about Nozomu, causing her to have a change of heart and want to get back together with him, which in turn prompted Ken to lash out.

As a result of these inaccurate speculations, Lisa's popularity and reputation were destroyed. In a reversal of fortunes, the students that had once praised and supported Lisa, now shunned and ostracized her. Wherever she went, people from every year group pointed at Lisa, gave her disapproving glares or looks of pure disgust whilst excluding her from their activities. They said horrible things about Lisa without bothering to keep their voices down, mainly about how she was such a bad girlfriend to Nozomu. The upperclassman were especially vindictive towards Lisa, furious that she "*tricked*" them into persecuting Nozomu.

Lisa made no attempt to rectify this misunderstanding, despite the pain her fellow students declarations caused her. Haunted by her own actions, Lisa acknowledged that there was an element of truth to their words and accepted that she had brought this fate upon herself. Although, she considered it a fitting punishment for what she had done, Lisa, unlike Nozomu, was unable to cope with the harassment that she endured. Having lost all of her boyfriend, most of her friends and prospective future, Lisa eventually considered leaving Solminati Academy but changed her mind due to her lingering feelings for Nozomu.