Anselma Desiderea-Calixta Faustina Arechavaleta

*― Taste it on my lips
― Fall in love with unpredictable
― Kinda makes you sick
― But the buzz is irresistible
― Such a pretty poison; take caution if you please
― 'Cause you never know what's next
― When a little you meets Chemical X*

**Anselma Desiderea-Calixta Faustina Arechavaleta** (アンセルマ・デシデレア-カリクスタ・ファウスティナ・アレヴァバレタ, *Anseruma Deshiderea - Karikusuta Fausutina Arechavareta*?) is a major character in *Bleach: Mirrored Planes*. She is an Arrancar of the Vasto Lorde classification and is the current *de facto* ruler of Hueco Mundo. She is also the founder-leader of the Cierta Espada and given this, she is feared as the **Queen of Hollows** (虚ホロウの女王, *HorōKyo no Ō*?).

## Background

### As a Human

Anselma Desiderea-Calixta Faustina Arechavaleta was born as Livia of Saxony, the only daughter of Otto I who was then, King of East Francia (which would later be called Germany) and Corinna, one of the ladies-in-waiting to Otto’s wife, Queen Eadgyth (otherwise known as Edith of England), on September 20, 943. As she was born to a lady-in-waiting, Livia was considered illegitimate, however, her stepmother treated her as her own child as her relationship with Corinna was that of best friends despite their rather stark difference in social status. Livia was raised with love and care by her stepmother until her sudden death on January 26, 946. Included in her will was a statement that she has adopted Livia as her own and that she should be treated as one of her legitimate children; this was written after Eadygth had acquired permission from her friend to do so. As such, Livia’s birth which was initially kept a secret was publicly revealed to be Eadygth’s last child before her untimely death.

Unfortunately, due to the rather short amount of time between Livia's birth and Eadygth's death, rumors began spreading that it was due to Livia's birth that Eadygth's health suddenly declined unexpectedly, ultimately resulting in her death; essentially, Livia was blamed for killing her stepmother. Upon her *débutante* at the age of five, it was clear to her developing mind that she was the target of much hatred despite her father promising her that he absolutely did not feel any form of animosity toward her; this was among one of his wife's final pleas before her sudden passing. Otto was greatly pained that he was unable to completely fulfill his deceased wife's last wish, that is, to shelter Livia from any form of discrimination she may or may not receive, however, Livia did not let the contempt against her get to her head. At the same time as this, Livia began to slowly become aware of supernatural entities; when she brought upt the issue to her father, she was doted on even further as her father worried that the stress of being subject to such levels of hatred was beginning to make her see things. Livia, however, insisted that what she was witnessing was all true but of course, no one believed her.

Instead, Livia picked up on traditionally masculine activities, especially swordfighting. Every single day after her *débutante*, Livia would shirk her normal studies as a high-ranking lady of society and visit the training grounds where she would join the older boys and adults who were training in the art of sword combat. At first, they refused to even let the princess put her hands on a blade but this proved to be a great irritant to the princess which culminated in her forcibly grabbing a sword and displaying immediate mastery in using it. The only possible word to describe the princess's sword skills was '*genius*'. She was able to easily defeat the instructors who trained the students with hardly any training herself and built for herself an undefeated streak. If anyone had any complaints against her, Livia would take up her sword and shut them out in a protracted duel and she has always backed up her claims with victories. While she still continued to study the mannerisms of a high-ranking lady, she preferred to spend more time practicing her sword arm with her skills.

While she continued training in the sword, she kept on encountering the supernatural and each time she tried to seek counsel, everyone thought that she was simply insane. It reached the point where Livia was close to simply accepting that she was indeed insane that she was approached by a strange woman who no one but Livia could see. After being ousted, the strange woman, who gave her name as Taira no Kiyonami, explained Livia's situation to her: that she was what was called a '*high-spec human*' and that she had ludicrous amounts of spiritual power (Reiryoku as the mysterious woman called it). While the mysterious woman was only around for three months, she taught Livia how to harness her spiritual power and Livia slowly began surpassing the limits of a human.

Livia, as a princess, had many opportunities to meet potential suitors who would go after her title as "Princess" in order to make their way into the royal court of her father, Otto. Many suitors have tried and failed to win her hand as she always made it a requirement for those who would try to wed her to defeat her in sword combat; of course, as a true genius, Livia has never lost once. Upon her father’s triumphant return from his first expedition into Italy, she attended a ceremony in which a young warrior by the name of Albrecht was knighted for his truly stellar performance and service despite being merely sixteen years of age. Livia, who was nine years old at that time, fell in love with the newly knighted prince of Swabia (as he was the third son of Burchard III) and took some time out of her day to observe the knight and his training from the shadows; it was actually rather ironic how the fearless daughter of Otto was balking at the idea of speaking directly to the man she loved.

Around two years later following the end of her older half-brother Liudolf's rebellion against their father, Burchard III was granted the title of Duke of Swabia following the conclusion of the Imperial Diet meeting in Arnstadt in the final weeks of 954. Livia was in attendance as a member of Otto’s issue and her martial skill along with her (often confused to be) superhuman intelligence allowed her to counsel her father to form the measures that would ultimately strengthen his position as the absolute ruler of Germany. Upon the conclusion of the Diet and the festivities that followed, Livia overheard her father and the newly crowned Duke of Swabia discussing the topic of strengthening relations between them and Livia quickly jumped at this chance, offering herself in marriage to one of the Duke’s sons. Otto, who was already well-aware of Livia’s deep and unfailing love for Albrecht, authorized the marriage much to the confusion of the Duke as he would have instead offered one of his older sons for this union; Livia was married to the Duke's son, Albrecht of Wettin, on Christmas Day, 954.

While happily united, her marriage to her husband did not last long as not long after their union, the Hungarians (Magyars) began their invasions of Europe proper and her father began a campaign against them. Livia herself joined as a foot soldier (although this was with the permission of her father and with the condition that no one knows that she was fighting on the field) and helped both her father and her husband in the war. This culminated with her and her husband’s participation in the (Second) Battle of Lechfeld in which through her father’s great martial might and tactics, the Hungarian army was annihilated and further invasions of Europe by the Hungarians were halted. Unfortunately, while the battle was won, there were a great number of sacrifices that had to be made; this included both Livia and her husband who were killed in action in the final wave of the battle.

Immediately following her death, Livia awoke as a spirit, unable to comprehend what had happened to her. All she knew is that she had died in battle alongside her husband. She quickly tried finding her husband but she simply could not find him. She slowly began to sink into despair as she tried and failed to find any signs of her husband. Eventually, she found her husband's battered corpse and she finally hit rock bottom, with her despair, regret, and anguish coming together to transform her into a Hollow. This also had the side effect of removing any semblance of her existence in history as the child of Otto I; no one will ever remember Livia of Saxony, unparalleled beauty and genius of the sword.

### As a Hollow

Her awakening in the land of the dead of Hueco Mundo was uneventful; she simply just returned to consciousness. She did not remember what had happened to her nor does she know where she is. All she knows is that she must find someone. Even if she had no memories, she would still search for that someone, a person of great importance to her as told to her by the fragments of her soul. To do that, she must survive; she must regain her past strength and survive... and that is exactly what she did. For who knows how long—and really, who even is counting—she wandered the land of the dead, consuming other Hollows to gain strength while escaping from the grasps of Soul Reapers. She continued doing this for centuries, growing in power. She eventually grew to become one of the few Vasto Lorde of Hueco Mundo and awakened as an Arrancar when she tore off her Hollow mask after receiving enough intelligence to understand that she did not like that mask constantly covering her face.

As an incredibly powerful Arrancar, she wandered the sands of Hueco Mundo and eventually stumbled upon a single patch of land surrounding a pillar. At this pillar, there was a single Hollow standing guard as if protecting it. After she approached him, he hefted his sword and got into a fighting stance and seeing as she had no other choice, she too drew her sword and fought him. She was victorious after a long duel and moved to consume the Hollow but stopped at the last second. This was due to the fact that her very soul was telling her that this was the person she was looking for this entire time; there was simply no precedent behind this claim. She took the Hollow in front of her under her wing but only after ripping off that unseemly mask from his face, forcing his evolution into an Arrancar like herself; he was of the same Vasto Lorde classification as herself so he too gained the greatest strength possible as a Hollow.

After realizing that the Hollow she had fought was actually her husband from life, she rejoiced, kissing her lover and once more asking if they can be wed again; having no reason to refuse, he readily accepted. Both chose to discard their human names and start anew, with "Livia" choosing to rename herself **Anselma Desiderea-Calixta Faustina Arechavaleta** while her husband identified himself as **Aarón Silvio-Vidal Silvestre**. The two also consummated their union and soon discovered that while it took great effort, it was possible for Anselma to bear a child and the two eventually became the proud parents of four children. Interspersed between these births, Anselma encountered Shigenori Tenkūbashi, Captain of the Third Division of the Gotei 13, and they fought each other but discovered they were more or less equals in strength. Anselma was surprised a human could match her and Shigenori felt that despite being a Hollow, Anselma was quite '*human*'. The two bonded together and when Shigenori eventually inherited his father's post as Captain-Commander, he made his friendship with Anselma public with the intention of using her as a powerful ally in the war against the Quincy and their pro-fusion faction. After this was settled, she eventually became pregnant once again with her husband's child.

## Personality

### As a Human

Anselma as Livia was, to put it simply, an arrogant and headstrong but humble and helpful girl. While this may seem contradictory, Livia lives such a life of contradictions. As a princess, she was educated in the mannerisms of a lady of high society and as such, she is capable of holding extended discourse with just about anyone. For those who only knew of Livia's public life, they would only say that the Princess of East Francia was a woman who refuses to abide by societal norms as she took an interest in traditionally masculine activities and more or less forced her way into these activities. Many citizens took to worshipping Livia as a messenger from God as despite being a noble, she took to mingling with those of far lower social status than herself. To her enemies, Livia is an incarnation of arrogance but to those who are on her side, she treats those people with great respect.

She is a no-nonsense textbook practitioner of '*noblesse oblige*', a mindset dictating those of high social status should only use their powers to help those of lower social status. It is with this mindset that Livia honed her skills with the sword despite repeated warnings to the contrary by those who worried for her (her father did not reprimand her after a while as he knew that his daughter would not listen to anyone). If anyone disagreed with how either she or her close relatives behaved, she would challenge that person to a duel and always emerge victorious, forcibly shutting them up. She also uses this method to determine who would be worthy of taking her hand in marriage as she simply refuses to marry a man weaker than herself. The one time she went against this self-rule was after she had fallen hopelessly in love with Albrecht of Wettin wherein she quickly offered herself up for marriage when the topic of strengthening ties between her father and the newly appointed Duke of Swabia emerged.

Livia's speech pattern is archaic in the sense that she uses personal pronouns that are rather ancient and confusing to understand. For example, she refers to herself using '*We*' and '*Our*', personal pronouns that are usually used to mention a group (this is due to the fact that the Japanese personal pronoun she uses, *warawa* (わらわ妾?), has a literal translation of '*child*' and many official Japanese-English translation companies elect to translate that as '*We*'/'*Our*'). Her speech pattern is also exceedingly formal as a result of her royal upbringing and her inability to use the so-called "casual" tone of the lower classes is one of her great points of charm, especially to the peasantry who finds this to be extremely cute (for example, when Livia tries and fails to adopt the previously aforementioned "casual" tone of the peasantry, she always angrily lashes out her fists as she tries to hide her red face [of course, no one is hurt]; her immensely formal speech is also part of the reason why she is lauded as a messenger of the divine).

Before falling in love with Albrecht, Livia was rather indifferent to matters of romance. For her, all she knew about it came from the many stories she could afford to read. She was also educated in the necessary knowledge for the act of intercourse but she was also taught that her chastity absolutely must remain intact until her marriage after which she would consummate the union with her new husband and offer up her cherished virginity. She took this knowledge to heart and after marrying Albrecht, she attempted multiple times to consummate their union but was regularly shaken off by her husband who worried that she was simply too young for the stresses of bearing a child; Livia repeatedly insisted that she was already of age but her husband was adamant in his '*no-touch*' self-rule even after being subject Livia's womanly wiles.

### As a Hollow

Upon first awakening as a Hollow, she was completely and entirely emotionless. Everything to her was washed a dim gray and she merely ambled through the land of the dead without purpose, however, she did remember just one thing which would serve as her main defining trait: she was searching for someone. Until she had found that someone, she would survive no matter what and this obsession with survival would later define her entire existence upon awakening as an Arrancar. Ironically, her intense fixation on this personal goal was the one thing that kept her '*human*' despite having already become a nameless monster who devours souls for sustenance. She only fully regained her emotions after ripping off her mask and morphing into an Arrancar.

As an Arrancar, she regained most of her human personality traits, such as her immense arrogance and poise as a royal princess as well as her undying love for the man she cannot remember. She also reclaimed her mania for the sword and this combined with her obsession over her singular goal, as previously stated, would later become her '*aspect of death*' once she had risen to become the absolute ruler of Hueco Mundo and the Queen of Hollows. Before doing so, however, she spent most of her time training to improve her sword skills now that she recouped most of her past life's memories which includes her innate genius with the blade and the muscle memory that not only her body but also her very soul remembers. She also displayed great amounts of affection for her beloved Aarón who didn’t reject her advances this time unlike when they were still alive.