Orphe Zavi

Orphe Zavi (オルフェ・ザビ, Orufe Zabi), known as “the elegant noble”, was a Blondy in charge of Eos.

## Description

Calm and collected, Orphe’s elegance came through in every facet of his being. From his beautiful and luxuriant appearance to his chic and extravagant office. Even his demeanor and the way he spoke showed poise.

Like other Blondies, he was curious, but only to the point where it didn’t infringe on his work. Orphe wasn’t particularly humorous and seemed to approach most things with calm professionalism, but that isn't to say that he couldn’t become snide and vengeful when crossed. Although even then he wouldn’t go all out and would limit himself to annoying the offender, rather than truly harming them.

## Function

Orphe was the chief operations officer of Eos. He was charged with supervising Eos and anything that happens in it, including security, party-planning, residential disputes and enforcement of pet laws and regulations. In almost all matters, his terms and stipulations were non-negotiable.

Even though he had the final say in most pet-related things, when it came to handling actual pets, he had to defer to their respective masters. Pet ownership rights lay exclusively with the master. Even if Orphe was in charge of supervising Eos, he couldn’t do as he pleased without a master’s permission. To perform anything regarding one's pet required the written consent of its owner. He could however incarcerate an offending pet, or dish out punishments, which would then be carried out by the owner.

Because of his position, Orphe was usually the one who had to deal with the fallout from the mess Iason’s pet and furniture caused. The Katze and Daryl incidents were particularly seen as black marks on his resume, as they managed to hack through his security. Both him and Iason tried to rationalise it by saying the breaches simply pointed out the flaws in what they thought was perfect, but the hit to his pride wasn’t insignificant

## Riki's Return

As the highest authority in the Palace Tower, final decision to let Riki return to Eos had been made by Orphe. Iason needed to be sure that Orphe would allow it, as he couldn't ignore the administrative control he had over Eos. If Orphe said no, Iason would have to switch gears and choose a different track.

But knowing Iason, Orphe deduced that even if he said no, the other would find some way around it, by exploiting loopholes, which seemed to be Iason’s forte, so he agreed.

> A breath of fresh air in this stagnating, dull peace will do good.
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The truth is that Orphe wasn’t entirely against Riki’s presence in Eos, despite the mongrel being “a bit too lively for his taste” and his very existence epitomising a lack of common sense. Even he was quite curious to see how things would unfold once “the wolf had been released among the sheep”.

Riki’s return wasn’t to be without its own set of conditions and expectations however. Despite Iason refusing to wipe his pet records, as far as Orphe was concerned, Riki was to be treated as a new pet. A customary medical checkup before entering Eos was compulsory, and his pet code was to be changed and reissued, meaning that Riki would need to attend a coming out party again.

As penalty for an eighteen-month no-show, Riki had to be on a leash for at least a month. In addition, Orphe felt that simply confining Riki to his quarters wouldn’t be punishment enough, instead he ordered the pet to be taken out on walks once a day. The walks were to be exemplary to other pets, a form of public shaming. To Riki however, anything was better than being stuck in his room, so he personally felt that Orphe’s attempt at punishment missed the mark somewhat.

Being confined to his room and never coming into contact with other pets would avoid a lot of trouble. But Orphe didn't think that was a sufficient penalty. However slight this “penalty” was in real terms, Iason couldn't help but feel in it the slight stab of revenge. It wasn't clear exactly what sort of warning Orphe intended to give, but a pet that had once shaken off the security measures and escaped the Eos perimeters would surely be at the top of his black list.

However, Orphe’s biggest miscalculation with this decision had not been that he succumbed to Iason’s tricks in returning Riki to Eos through a loophole in Pet law, but the shocking public disclosure of a sample of the preferential treatment Iason unscrupulously gave his pet.

## Riki’s Second Debut

Orphe had no scruples about calling Riki a creature with powerfully infectious capabilities. But exacting a "returner's penalty" was itself done with the expectation that Iason would use it to stir up the pot somehow. Common practice was to attend the coming out party two weeks after presenting the new pet to the public. The fact that nobody had ever delayed that schedule before didn’t faze Iason who delayed Riki’s, to Orphe’s chagrin.

Despite Orphe’s clear instructions to dress Riki more fashionably and more appropriately for an event such as debut, Iason instead dressed him in black leather, a ploy deliberately designed to provoke Orphe, though that might have constituted an act of revenge on Iason's part.

Riki, who was by far the oldest pet ever seen in Eos, struck a powerful contrast to the others. Even Orphe had to admit that there wasn't another pet so finely built anywhere in the tower. If Orphe could say what was on his mind, a rough stone still being formed had been ground and polished and Riki was ripe and aglow with emerging adulthood. That powerfully infectious agent he spoke of had only intensified.

> "What a fascinating creature your pet is. For good or ill, you have splendidly betrayed all our expectations."
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## The Simon Incident

In his capacity as the lord of Eos, it was Orphe who had to come up with a solution to the problem posed by Miguel’s overt attachment to Riki. A balanced decision needed to be made which took into account the vast difference in rank, both between the pets and their owners. He also needed to be discrete about it, because the complaint wasn’t lodged officially, and it was expected that the issue would be handled quietly.

Ultimately, with Iason’s reluctant approval, he decided to restrict Riki to his room for 3 weeks, in hopes that it would remedy the situation. He used a minor regulation breach as pretext. To Riki, who had been on his best behaviour since his return, it was evident that his punishment was inflated. He was acutely aware of the fact that Orphe looked for any excuse to pin him with something.

When the situation instead escalated to Simon’s attack on Riki, the stakes increased for Orphe. Not only did something so unprecedented happen on his watch, but there was yet another security issue involved, and worst of all, the realisation that Riki is aware of Furniture’s origins.

Despite Iason’s suspicions, Orphe’s goal wasn’t focused on punishing or harming Riki, rather, he needed to get to the truth of the matter and to ensure Riki’s knowledge doesn’t leak to the other pets. In Orphe’s mind, this would have most easily been achieved by reading Riki’s memories and mindwiping him. Iason’s outright refusal to do so, while expected, was still incomprehensible to Orphe, who nevertheless respected it.

> “Why do you embarrass yourself with such things? Just let me handle it and we can end this.”
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In the end, he left it to Iason to deal with his own pet. As a result, Riki was moved from Eos, and outside of Orphe’s sphere of influence.

## **Gallery**

Tokuma Shoten edition (2009-10) – Saichi NagatoTokuma Shoten edition (2009-10) – Saichi NagatoOrphe, from the 2012 anime series.Crystal Bunko edition (2001-07) – Katsumi Michihara