Faust

## PROFILE

**Faust** is one of the protagonists of *Paradise Lost*, and major supporting character of *Paradise Lost II-III*. She is an independent mercenary working in her own group known as **JCKL**, though is also affiliated with Black Rabbit.

## **Appearance**

Faust is a muscular, yet slender woman with long, white hair and naturally red eyes. She has the traits of a leucistic Siberian Musk Deer, though was also unnaturally born with antlers. She often wore multiple coats, resembling Kervolshenzsky's military uniform, with the skeleton of a snake etched onto the back. She is often depicted with a porcelain skin tone.

As Faust was forced to have her legs removed as a teen, she instead has prototype legs made of metal, which are mostly customizable. On her back and upper arms are large burn scars, also as a result of her childhood.

There is a tattoo on the back of her neck that spells out '*JCKL*'.

## **Personality**

Faust normally appears as a strict and rather cold person, yet is very empathetic and supportive of others, even those she may barely know. It's true that she is very disciplined, though loyal and treats her companions well, and also very approachable and enjoyed conversation.

Despite often working with them, she does not agree with Black Rabbit's ideals of a world paradise free from the Nephilim and sin, saying that in order to appreciate the good in the world, there must be evil as well. Even though her family and village were destroyed by the Nephilim; she neither hates nor likes them, viewing them as creatures who weren't so different from humans with their desire for world domination.

She seemed to enjoy fighting others that were on the same level as her, though didn't let her reputation cloud her judgement, and was noted to be very skilled in coordination and tactics during her time in the NPCF.  Though, she's merciless to people she judges to be opposed to her and easily becomes very violent. She was even expelled from the NPCF after nearly beating a man, who insulted her sister, to death.

She has a love for literature and writing, though wasn't comfortable with the idea of sharing her works, even with Rei. Arene, after unintentionally reading some of her poems, described them as '*beautifully tragic*'. After the events of *Paradise Lost (II)*, she retired from being a mercenary and instead focused on publishing her literature and various biographies about herself and the events of *Paradise Lost I-II*. Towards the end of *Paradise Lost (III)*, she was shown to be recognized for not only her history as a mercenary, but the astounding works she published as a writer.

Even with her distaste towards firearms, she enjoyed hunting, though despised letting food go to waste. Oddly enough, she also enjoyed collecting various weapons, ranging from pocket knifes to a harpoon gun.

## **Capabilities**

Faust's capabilities allow her to manipulate hemoglobin; which seemed oddly specific, yet proved to be a very valuable capability. The smallest prick will allow her to begin drawing blood from a living being at a rapid pace, and as long as she sees the blood unobscured by a cover such as skin, she can manipulate it. Blood she is manipulating can even **compress** to make solid objects or weapons.

On the other hand, she can stop large amounts of blood from gushing from open wounds, and can manipulate her own blood this way.

### Other Strengths

She is very strong physically, and used to melee weapons such as knives and swords due to her upbringing and time as a Chasseur. Even without using her capabilities, she fought on an equal level as Raphael and almost beat Uriel in an arm wrestling match. Often described as having inhuman strength and agility, she even smashed through a mountain once, though did chip her horns.

* She notes that she *does* in fact shed her horns yearly, though described it as "*not a pretty sight*" and spent most of her time writing during that period.

Though efficient at using them, she seemed to never enjoy weapons such as crossbows or guns, only once ever using a shotgun to protect Koune'li and a hunting rifle as a child.

## **History**

### Before *Paradise Lost (I)*

Faust was born in a remote village in the far northern areas of Kervolshenzsky, where food was extremely scarce and work was hard to come across. Her father was a physically abusive alcoholic who was hinted to have spent most of his time at home with other women, while her mother worked three jobs to try and keep Faust alive. She and her mother were very close, and did what she could ever since she could walk to try and help her family. When her sister, Yelena, was born, Faust dedicated herself to also keeping Yelena alive, subjecting herself to the madness of her father.

When Faust was around 7, she stole a rifle off of a dead soldier and was taught how to hunt by an unnamed man whom she called Big Brother. She became very skilled in hunting deer and rabbits, as well as fishing in the arctic region. She also noted that he taught her how to read and write, and later fragments of Albionian, more about the world outside of Kervolshenzsky, and is a person she is eternally grateful for. Sadly, he was later drafted, and Faust was left alone once more.

Her sister was less prone to hunting and left most of the labor work to Faust, who was slowly becoming more isolated and used to the mentality of *Eat or be Eaten*, a phrase her father often yelled at her. After an intense argument, Faust's mother **smashed a bottle** over her father's head, before stabbing him multiple times. Yelena was not home at the time. She promised her mother that she would keep it a secret, and was happy to finally be 'free'.

Around the age of 11, she did petty work alongside her mother and sister such as cleaning or babysitting in the city. While taxation was at an all-time high and they were making little money, life slowly seemed to get better. Faust also became aware of her capabilities, which she discovered after pricking her finger while sowing.

Suddenly, when she was around 13, Nephilim ravaged her village. While they did little damage; a large fire had spawned, consuming all of her village and trapping her family under the frame of their house. Her mother was killed, yet Faust fought her way out by severing her own leg and dragging her sister into the wilderness. She suffered heavy burns on her remaining leg, thighs, back, and arms, though was concerned mostly about her sister. She said to have made it as far as she did after using her own blood to form a '*prosthetic leg*' and stopping the bleeding of her sister and herself; though the third-degree burns had already done massive damage.

She was found nearly six hours later by one of Black Rabbit's rescue teams after they had been notified of the Nephilim the area and were searching for survivors. As she had no other family, besides an aunt who was still serving in prison, she was allowed to become a member of Black Rabbit. Her sister suffered little from burns, however received permanent lung damage from the smoke. Faust was forced to have both of her legs amputated and spent months healing from her wounds, though insisted on continuing learning how to fight from the moment she could walk again. Black Rabbit had Faust's new legs made with the help of Alco.

After meeting Rei, a similarly-aged person who seemed to be in a similar situation, she seemed to ease up within Black Rabbit. They often went head to head at first, competing over nonsensical problems, but, after a mission in the far north icefields, they became close friends. She joined Rei as a Chasseur, rising together, yet was expelled in 1099 during an oversea trip after nearly beating a man to death; funnily enough, at the same time that Rei was *almost* expelled.

Following her expulsion, she began her own mercenary group known as JCKL; Jackalope, as Rei often assisted her despite never becoming a formal member until *Paradise Lost II*. She worked for various countries, people, and factions, but never allowed her personal political standpoints or morals to prevent her from doing work. She was often away from Black Rabbit during this period; though later returned after being hired for *Operation Chariot*.