Coira

**Coira** is the tenth princess introduced in the series. She is the protagonist of *The Light Princess*.

## Appearance

Coira is a slender young girl with rosy skin and light blue eyes. Her hair is light pink and tied into two pigtails that resemble feathery wings.

## Personality

Coira is very chipper and upbeat. She doesn't seem to take her curse seriously and likes floating around. Her curse caused her to take everything lightly and prevented her from feeling anything negative which could be mediated through being doused in buckets of water.

After Robin sacrifices herself to replenish the lake, Coira's curse is broken from her overpowering grief. Since breaking her curse Coira is shown to have matured quite a bit, but points out that there's still a lot for her to learn, indicating that she wants to learn more about herself and the world.

## Synopsis

### Before Forever After

Coira was born to the king and his husband, a councellor. Due to her father not inviting her aunt Makemnoit to Coira's christening, Makemnoit cursed Coira to lose her gravity and float through the air. Unable to feel any heavy emotions like sadness, Coira did not mind the curse growing up and enjoyed her ability to fly around. The same could not be said of her fathers, who desperately looked for a cure but could find none. The metaphysicians of the kingdom proved unhelpful, as their solutions were either nonsensical, like suggesting to bury her up to the neck or downright cruel, suggesting to kill her outright to free her soul. Eventually her fathers decided to get her engaged, hoping that falling in love would ground her in at least some way.

### Forever After

Coira caught a Prince Charming named Robin, and her companion, Tank, as they were eavesdropping on her fathers. She was amused by the pair and introduced herself, asking if they were here to cure her too.

She then flew inside the throne room to play around with her fathers. She continued floating without a care, as her parents told Robin about her curse and their and the kingdom's people's worry that Coira's lightness in spirit made her an unsuitable heir to the throne. Both of her fathers tried in vain to make Coira pay attention and consider a list of suitors. When she would not listen to them, they eventually splashed buckets of water on her, which temporarily dampened her mood and lowered her back to the ground, where the king led her outside to get dry clothes. Coira argued that she liked being wet, but the king replied that it wasn't proper. Robin managed to convince Coira's father the councellor to let her go outside, under the condition that she wear a safety rope, taking personal responsibility for the princess' safety. Coira was overjoyed.

As soon as Coira and Robin left, Coira marveled over the warm sunlight and the fresh air, even boldly declaring that she would never return to the castle. During their outing, the trio passed a couple of old ladies on the road. The women recognized Coira as the Light Princess and started making fun of her curse. Tank told Coira not to mind them, but Coira seemed unfazed, replying that she was as light as they said she was. Coira was then distracted by a bird flying by and Tank explained to her that birds are light and able to fly due to their hollow bones. Coira worried that she might also be hollow inside, which Tank quickly told her wasn't the case. Despite her wonderful time outside, Coira still felt nothing but lightness. But then she spotted a lake in the distance. Immediately fascinated by such a large amount of water, she begged to go there and Robin obliged. Once at the lake, Coira asked who would carry so much water to one place. Robin and Tank informed her that the water lived in this place and that the lake was most likely where the castle's servants got the water used in the castle itself. Coira called that "silly" and announced that she would simply live at the lake, then asked Robin to lower or push her into it. Robin replied that she had a better idea, then asked if Coira trusted her. Coira did not know what trust was, due to trust being linked to potentially negative emotions which her curse prevented her from understanding. Robin gave up and simply told Coira to close her eyes, then, after making sure Coira was ready, had Tank shove them both into the lake. When they resurfaced, Coira was intrigued by a new emotion she'd felt while under the water with Robin and Robin told her that the emotion was "falling". Finally able to feel at least some other emotions, Coira giddily splashed around in the lake.

However, her fun would be cut short when Makemnoit drained the kingdom's lakes of their water. Coira was heartbroken by the water disappearing, begging both her fathers, who had arrived on the scene, and Robin to bring it back, as it was the only place where she felt anything at all. After Tank searched the empty lake on Robin's behest and came back with a golden plaque proclaiming that someone had to plug the lake shut for the water to return, Tank argued that the lake wasn't worth Robin's life. Coira pleaded with Robin to fix the lake, not knowing exactly what she was asking. After a brief confrontation with Makemnoit, Robin agreed, much to Tank's protest, but asked Coira to stay with her until the lake was full again. Coira watched with glee as the lake filled up again, starting to swim as soon as the water was deep enough for it. She asked Robin whether she would be able to breathe once the water went over her head and Robin confirmed that she would not. Robin asked Coira to promise never to lose her light even after regainng her gravity and Coira watched helplessly as Robin was completely submerged in the lake.

When Tank, using a growth potion, broke free and brought Robin back up, Coira asked if he could fix Robin. He blamed Coira for what had happened, as she had pressured Robin into restoring the lake. Coira broke down in tears for the first time, finally understanding grief and death. Her outburst broke the curse and brought Robin back to life. When the three of them returned to the kings, Coira's fathers were ecstatic that their daughter was cured. The king inquired whether Coira would enter into an engagement with Robin, but Coira refused wanting to explore her newfound emotions before agreeing to such a heavy commitment, though she told Robin she'd never forget her.

## Relationships

### The Kings

The kings are Coira's parents and she's very precious to them. They're distraught about her not taking her curse seriously, as well as their inability to find a cure for her.

## Abilities

### Gravity Curse

Coira was cursed as a baby by her aunt Makemnoit to lose her gravity. As a result she is constantly floating. She can control her flying ability to a certain extent as shown when she swooped down to better talk to Robin.

## Etymology

* The name Coira is of Scottish origin and is derived from the word *kore*. It means churning waters or seething pool.

## Trivia

* The ribbons on Coira's dress are there so that anyone can yank her down should she float off.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/ChDkW1yPK9T/