Lament for the Loved

***Lament for the Loved*** is the sixth arc in the *Godsign* series. It follows Hailey Lustrin, a member of the Skonia blessed by the spirits of Cherry Loraca and Camilla Lustrin, Rue Cherosub, a Loracan descendant who was revived to serve as a powerful soldier in the Collizevo, and Ophelia Sietvazo, the only one of her and Rue's friends to survive their journey to find the Skonia.

## Concept Development

*Lament for the Loved* began as an accidental idea I came up with near the same time as *Aria of the Blind*. It originated from the influence of *Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure* (the first game in a series I grew up playing) and *The New Prophecy* arc of *Warriors* (the second in a series I grew up reading). I got the idea to create ten characters based on each of the elements in *Skylanders* (hence the group name: The Elements) and thought "why not send those little guys on a quest of some sort?" I don't know where I also got the idea to kill every single one of them except for Ophelia came around, though. When I finalized *Aria of the Blind* as an accidental fifth arc, I added this one to be its pair.

This arc has gone through a ton of changes since its original concept. For instance, I know that it was originally planned to be two arcs, sort of like *Lightwalk* and *Light's End* in how they tell two different parts of Nyx's narrative, before I finalized *Aria of the Blind* to be the first arc in the Song Arcs; the first arc was supposed to be the journey while the second arc was supposed to be Ophelia in the Skonia and her friends revived, so basically the final arc is mostly what was supposed to be the second arc. Instead, Ophelia and the Elements' backstory was explored through Ophelia and Rue's memories.

I also took it as an excuse to go a few different directions with the main characters. Starting with Ophelia, she was supposed to be the overall main character of the arc. We had finished discussing in my English class about Shakespearean influences in stories and thought "what if I made the water character Ophelia... who eventually dies?" Since it was originally going to be two arcs telling Ophelia's story, she was going to be the main character, but as I altered it and adapted it to the single-arc story, she sort of shifted out of the main focus, even though the plot technically revolves around her.

Rue's positioning in the Big Three order altered throughout development, though her role has remained fairly constant across all the concepts. After Romy's concept was fully developed, I decided to try and make a villain Loraca again (though don't get me wrong; I love where Romy's character ended up). So I made Rue spiteful and hateful, giving her the same type of savior as Romy, but making it so that she wouldn't want it. She was always fun to write.

Hailey went through the most development as a character out of the three. She was initially the third character, since I wanted to keep the Loraca/Lustrin pairing that I eventually gave up on. She was supposed to be a random Lustrin, descended from Ally's brother. However, after working on her character, I realized that she seemed like a mixture of Cherry and Camilla, and I swear it was accidental. I started making jokes to myself that she was the child Cherry and Camilla would've had together and then started thinking about how close to that in canon could I get. I pondered the idea of Cherry and Camilla seeing her as their daughter, as well. I don't know how I got to it, but I eventually decided on what I have now. Though I feel like it's likely to change, it has potential to be explored and tie Fenn, Evelyn, and the Divinus & Sceleratis vessels back into the story, since she's under the belief that Fenn blessed and saved her. Plus, it's a minor plot point that pushes the start of *Lostpawns* at the moment.

This arc was supposed to be the last arc, hence the big ultimate battle at the end of the arc. That only changed when I made the mistake of thinking of "what happens afterwards, when everything is all over?", which is the same way the Song Arcs became canon. It started with the epilogue of the Fortissimum's Extra Chapter, which is set in the future to show them as the leaders of the Skonia. I then started wondering the fates of some of the characters, so *Twin Fates* really all began with me saying "I think Larissa was the first of them to get a team of their own, but since Claire's attached to both her and the other Claire, little Claire probably got one next."

There are a lot of holes in *Lament for the Loved* at the moment, save for a few plot points that are major for certain characters, but I think it has potential to be a really interesting arc.

## Summary

***Warning:** Most of this project is mostly an overview and in constant progress; many details in this section are likely to be incomplete or subject to change.*
Ophelia Sietvazo has lost everything she cared about on her journey to find the Skonia, but she's alive and finally part of the new family she's dreamed of ever since the experiment that gave her the Godsign on her shoulder.