Scholar

The **Scholar** is a character in *Magical Girl Policy*. She lived in the Ardent Empire thousands of years ago and died in the Ardentia Civil War, but she is present in visions granted to the Spirit Guard and Kunapipi. Her name is unknown, as it is rendered as the intelligible "ƺ⊈Ϧ≭Ȝ" in the visions for unclear reasons. She was a genius researcher of empathokinesis, and created the Spirit Sticks as part of the Princess's plan of protecting Earth with what would become the Spirit Guard. In the modern day, she is succeeded by Vivian Feliz.

## Appearance

The Scholar was rather small and had pink hair reaching to her ankles. Her face was round and often bore a prominent grin. She is assumed to resemble Vivian, as the Spirit Guard transformation alters the user's body to be closer to their predecessor's. In the Scholar's Chapter 25 appearance, she wears a sleeved dress.

## Personality

The Scholar was energetic, mischievous, and silly, being poor at hiding emotional overtones that her peers could sense. She was apparently rather religious as she was a Sister in the Church of the High Spirits's Tranquil Discipline until she recanted due to difficulties in learning the order's traditional methods. Despite her unwillingness to do things the traditional way in favor of using nonstandard methods in her work, she was a gifted academic and reached the rank of Scholar after only four years in the empathokinetic research field. Seeing the rampant corruption all throughout the power structure of the Ardent Empire, she deemed her groundbreaking Spirit Sticks too dangerous for it and agreed with the Princess's assessment that it was beyond saving, and joined in the scheme to protect Earth from such threats.

## Abilities

The Scholar had an aura with felicity as its primary component. With her poor emotional control, her presence in one's empathokinetic perception was easy to spot.

As an Ardentia trained in empathokinesis, she had a notable empathokinetic perception.

She was originally trained in empathokinesis by the Tranquil Discipline, a branch that channeled the calmer emotions and had members learned in high-speed combat, reconnaissance, and espionage, but found herself to be poor at this. She found herself better suited to researching empathokinetics and working on empathokinetic foci, such as those that allow one such as herself to use powers they are normally less skilled in. For example, she created the Spirit Sticks and is seen channeling tranquility into the blue one to make herself invisible, a move associated with the Tranquil Discipline that Spirit Guard Serenity would later use and call Placid Mist. As the Scholar invented the incredibly advanced Spirit Sticks in secret, she was the only known person that could create or modify them.

The Scholar is assumed to have had the same set of empathokinetic powers as Vivian, including the use of a staff that conjures and controls flames as a weapon.

## Biography

### Background

The Scholar was born the granddaughter of the Vice-Archon of Tranquility, and would herself enter the Tranquil Discipline as a Sister, where she befriended the Shrine Maiden, who was also a Sister at the time. Having issues of adhering to the rigid traditions and methods of the order, the Scholar later recanted her vows and took up empathokinetic research instead, reaching the rank of Scholar in just four years. She looked into ways to oppose the incomprehensible Other Power that looked to destroy all life on the Ardentia homeworld, and after creating a special device that could attempt to scan past the Other Power's veil of darkness, was able to obtain some data on the Other Power. She then set to work on creating a new, incredibly advanced focus that might be able to combat the Other Power, but fearing what might happen if it fell into the wrong hands, including those of her own Empress, she did so alone and in secret. This slowed production to the point that only five such foci could be made. The Scholar believed that had she invented the foci years ago and/or had a team to help her, enough foci might've been produced to save the Ardent Empire from the Other Power, but it was now too late.

The Scholar became familiar with the Princess through their mutual study of empathokinetics, and would read the intelligence reports of their mutual friend, the Shrine Maiden. At some point, the Scholar would agree to take part in the Princess's goal of allowing the corrupt Ardent Empire to die in the Ardentia Civil War in order to protect Earth, a planet with young peoples and the destination of the planned final gateway. The Scholar, with her stellar reputation as an empathokinetic genius, convinced the Empress to appoint her as the head of the gateway project. Needing the Shrine Maiden's connection to the High Spirits for the plan to succeed, the Scholar was given a letter from the Princess and departed for where the Maiden's shrine is stationed. With the invisibility power of the blue Spirit Stick to evade Platicore's soldiers and the Princess's seal to make the deacons cooperate, the Scholar reunited with the Shrine Maiden. The Scholar gave the news about the death of her grandfather two months ago, and that the conspiracy involved ensured the Maiden wouldn't learn of this until the vote for his successor was completed, as the Maiden would've been the only candidate popular enough to challenge the conspirators' choice of Liff. With the Empress, High Archon, and three of the six Vice-Archons all corrupt, any hopes of reforming the Empire were dead, so the Maiden agreed to join the Princess's goal of sabotaging the Empire's planned escape to Earth. She had the Maiden return to the capital city and justify her appearance with the Scholar's information on the Other Power, which would be presented as something the High Spirits gave to the Maiden in a vision.

The plan to save Earth saw the Shrine Maiden request the High Spirits have the Princess's team reincarnate as humans when their powers will be needed, with said humans to use the Scholar's foci in order to access the powers of their predecessors. During the Civil War's final battle for the gateway, the Empress took to the front to battle Platicore directly while Princess's team was paired with the Knight's as the last line of defense. While the Mender created a barrier around the site and the others kept intruders out, the Scholar finished linking the gateway to its nigh-complete partner on Earth as directed, but also stored her foci within the gateways' shared iris and configured both to only activate to one matching a team member's Investiture, then got to work on severing the gateways' connection. When the team's lie of the warp not being ready was discovered and the Other Power approached, the battle became chaotic. The Scholar successfully disabled the warp moments after a gravely wounded Platicore broke through the barrier to be the only one to get to Earth. The Princess's team was killed by the Empress for their betrayal, and everyone else is assumed to have died in battle or to the Other Power.

Thousands of years later, the team's reincarnations are born, with the Scholar succeeded by Vivian Feliz. During her senior year of high school, Vivian used a Spirit Stick left to her by the Scholar to become Spirit Guard Felicity, a Champion that protects Earth using the Scholar's powers. She would also at this point learn of her past life and start experiencing events from the Scholar's memories in visions.

### Weeks 2-4

Robynne has a vision of the Shrine Maiden being visited by the Scholar and informed of the Princess's plans.

## Relationships

### Shrine Maiden

The Scholar and Shrine Maiden became friends while they training as Sisters of the Tranquil Discipline. The Scholar liked to tease her much more serious friend, who would poke at the Scholar for not taking well to the Church of the High Spirits's traditions and was rather upset to see her recant. The Scholar's grandfather was an idol to the Maiden. The two women met again years later when the Scholar recruited the Maiden onto the Princess's plan to protect Earth.

### Princess's team

The Scholar became friends with the Princess through their shared empathokinesis studies, and it can be assumed she also became familiar with the Princess's ever-present bodyguard the Soldier at the same time. At some point the Princess confided in her a plan to let the corrupt Ardent Empire die and protect Earth. The Scholar convinced the Shrine Maiden to join the team, which consisted of the Princess, Soldier, Mender, and herself. They also received aid from the Knight, but he was not let in on their true goals.

### Empress

The Scholar is implied to have been nominally loyal to her Empress, as she was held in high regard in the court's social circles. The Scholar was aware of the danger the Empress posed, however, and created the Spirit Sticks in secret so they wouldn't be misused. The Scholar convinced the Empress to make her the head of the project to relocate the Ardent Empire to Earth. She co-opted this as part of the aim to protect Earth, placing her foci in the iris and then disabling the gateway. The Empress found out about the Princess's team's insurrection during the battle for the gateway, but was too late in killing them to stop the plan to doom her on the destroyed Ardentia homeworld.

### Vivian Feliz

Thousands of years after the Scholar's death, the Princess's team's request to be reincarnated as humans when their powers are needed is granted, with Vivian succeeding the Scholar. Vivian inherited part of her predecessor's soul, including the Investiture, as well as several empathokinetic abilities, though she was unaware of any of this at first. Using a Spirit Stick left by the Scholar, Mallory becomes Spirit Guard Felicity, a form that lets her access the Scholar's powers and instincts. After transforming for the first time, Vivian sometimes receives visions of the Scholar's life in her sleep.