Vertin/Story

Overview**Story**Gallery
## Prologue

Vertin was taken in by the Foundation at one month old, and became a student at SPDM along with other young arcanists. She was incredibly shrewd and intellectual, leading to her dislike of class and would often skip, much to the frustration of the staff. She became close friends with fellow classmates Sonetto and Matilda. Despite being classified as an arcanist alongside the rest of the students, she herself was unable to use arcane skills.

As she got older, she became increasingly interested in the world beyond the Foundation, mainly the Storm, something that was heavily discouraged amongst the staff and students. One day, when she was 12 at the pre-parade assembly, the principal granted her one question, on account of being a "special student". She then proceeded to ask about the Storm, causing her to be sent to the guardhouse for the rest of the night,

After successfully fending off the Shamirs inhabiting the guardhouse, she realizes that she has now become hungry. Using the Shamirs to break the lock, she heads out to find food. On the way out, she meets another student held inside the guardhouse who calls himself The Ring. After bringing back food for the both of them, he asks Vertin how she ended up in the guardhouse, to which she tells him about the incident at the assembly. She explains that she had learned the word after hearing the janitor screaming it over and over while being escorted out of the school. She asked many people, but none bothered to answer. The Ring then shows her a stack of Manus Vindictae pamphlets he snuck out of the staff office that was written about the Storm. The two flip through the pages, finding a poem written at the back that greatly inspires them.

The next day in class, Vertin passes around a note inviting other students to who wanted to learn about the outside world to meet at George the Oak tree at 9. After class, Vertin gets confronted by a group of bullies, who threaten to report the note to the instructor. However, Vertin tells them that they have no proof that she wrote it, as the handwriting is different from hers. Angered, the bullies attack her, but she successfully fends them off and hides before the instructors come.

That night, The Ring and Vertin wait inside the oak tree. As they start to lose hope, they see a large group of students marching up to join them, including Mesmer Jr., Isabella, and Matilda. At first, the students are afraid of Vertin forming a rebellion, but she quickly dispels their worries. Vertin and the Ring then go on to explain to their classmates that the reason they gathered them all is because they all have their shared interest of knowing more about the world beyond the school, encouraging them to embrace the differences that the Student Handbook seeks to eliminate in them. The Ring and Vertin then share the poem they found the night before, and tells them while they may not be able to leave, they encourage them to remember who they were before going to SPDM so as to "rebuild" the world outside. Inspired, each of the students begin to share what fragments and memories they have of the outside world. Looking at their experiences that the Ring has written down, Isabella suddenly becomes inspired to sing it to the rhythm of their school song. The students then get the idea to sing the newfound melody at the parade ceremony as a way to get the Big Head to hear their collective wishes.

The day of the Parade, Sonetto confronts Vertin, taking note of how she wasn't in the dorms the night prior. Sonetto tells Vertin that she is aware of her scheming behind the instructor's backs, and encourages her to not do anything against the regulations. After the president's speech, the students are brought out to sing the school song. Against the odds, they all begin to sing the poem, shocking Sonetto. As the staff realize what they are doing, they desperately try to stop them from singing, to no avail. Security then force Isabella off the stage and spray the children with Dumbitter potion. Empowered by their desire to have their voices heard, more and more people join in on the singing against the potion, much to the fury of the principal. Vertin instructs them all to stand firm and hold their ground, while the principal instructs the guards to shoot tear gas above them. In the frenzy, Vertin is shot in the thigh with the tear gas, causing her to fall into a coma.

Prior to the main story, Vertin has been taking pictures of and recording the people she meets before they reverse in time. She accidentally discovers that the things inside her suitcase can withstand the storm with her, and slowly experiments with it, yet always failing whenever she tried bringing a person with her. Her last attempt was with Regulus who she thought was also an Arcanist due to her inaccurate reporting on the moon's phase through her ship's radio and just as she thought, Regulus is able to successfully bear the storm with her and ends up joining her as an ally.

## Tender is the Night

Together with Regulus, and APPLe, Vertin travels back to 1929 through the storm, and after Sonetto joins back with her, their first mission is to interfere to an event where Arcanists get targeted and killed in Chicago, she heads to the scene and alongside Sonetto and APPLe, while Regulus who agrees to join the Foundation heads for the headquarters. However as she arrives to the scene, she finds that the past as it should have been was changed, and all the gang members who were supposed to target the Arcanists were killed by a mysterious girl. After following the clues left behind by the girl, and separating from Sonetto along the way, she arrives at the Storm Gathering in The Walden where they encounter the disguised Druvis III and find out the true identity of the Mysterious Girl as Schneider who she is chosen to duel with, as things get chaotic, Sonetto returns alongside Sotheby to support Vertin.

As Manus Vindictae block the entrances to The Walden, the group exits through the improvised exit where they run into the Manus members Arcana and Forget Me Not, and learns of Schneider's imprisoned sister Marian, together they rescue Marian, and while they are being pursued Vertin and Schneider remain in the labyrinth to fight off the attackers, while the rest escape and bring Marian to safety. However, the two are captured and brought back to Arcana by Druvis III.

Arcana does not forgive Schneider of her betrayal, and forces Vertin into joining the Manus, after which she orders her to kill Schneider, when she refused, Arcana offers her an orange, which takes Vertin under her spell, causing her to seriously injure Schneider without realising. Later, as the "storm" draws near and people begin experiencing the "storm" syndrome, Vertin is able to win the support of Druvis, and meets back with Schneider, whose body had been delivered to, and treated by Sotheby and Sonetto. The next day, Manus Vindictae gathers lots of civilians under the disguise of a relief camp and starts massacring them through explosives, with Regulus joining back with the team alongside X, there is a major confrontation between the two sides which ends in their victory.

Now that they are all gathered up after their victory, Vertin collects and records the wishes of everyone, and together they have a final banquet before the "Storm". Just as the "storm" begins, Schneider approaches Vertin one last time, and reveals her secret.

After arriving in 1913, the team is taken by the Foundation and Vertin is forcibly separated from her friends. Diagnosing her with Type ll Trauma from experiencing the same traumatic event repeatedly, she was taken to the Laplace Rehabilitation Center and forced into a medically induced coma to undergo Artificial Somnambulism Therapy to search her dreams and allegedly try to find the root cause of her trauma. Before going under, she gives Lilya a bottle of vodka and entrusts her friends safety with her.