Veena Lu

**Thank you Nicothedark for the drawing!**

* Drawing
* Gacha Life 2

### Allies

Locaster Helios, Ashton Khanh (neutral), Shay Hanamura, Yuna Hanamura, Damion Halloreen, Fēng Xu, Hideko Inazuma (neutral), Hikage Ishuko, Cherry Amana, Windflower Amana, Nabi Haluška, Shizuka Ikami (neutral), Kahori, Lyria Emerith, Shiah Bereng, Colbalt Majmua, Soul Kawasaki, Crimson O'Connel

### Enemies

Crow Watanabe, Ashton Khanh (formerly), Akuji Hasegawa, Cassian Packard, Caius Astrada, Shítǐ

## Portrayal

### Voice Claim

Zero Two (Tia Ballard)

**Vivian "Veena" Lu** is a supporting character in *Challenge of The Shadows*. She is an owner of the spirit shard that came from the spirit gem and a social outcast. She was the daughter of Lili Lu, who did not live for long and was both neglected and abandoned by her father, leading her to be kept with her grandmother at a young age. She was raised in the province of Illoko and was said to be a beauty of her town, yet was always seen with a cold face and had a hard time socializing with others, thus being seen as undesirable by people of her age.

During the course of the story, Veena would join Team Strelitzia after being discovered by Locaster in northern Soraya and would provide details on the Demon Gems whenever she received new information and became one of the crucial members within the team due to being one of the first main members, with Hikage coming along after. She mainly acts as the mom of the group at times, caring immensely for her friends and acting like their mother because of her having to take care of herself at a young age and forcing herself to become mature after her mother died during birth and her father abandoning her.

## History

Veena was the daughter of Lili Lu, an embroider who sew and crafted tapestries for a living before settling down with her father. Her mother had died when giving birth to her because of blood loss, causing her to die immediately after Veena was placed in her arms. Her father was never in the picture of her life because of her parents marital problems and was often neglected emotionally because of him blaming Veena for her mothers death during her early years when living with him. It is noted by her that whenever she would walk in a room where her father was, he would often shoo her away and kept her isolated from others. Additionally, her father would have acquaintances over and often overheard him speaking more happily, unlike his bland and unamused tone with her.

Though her father never said anything hurtful to her, Veena knew that he did not want to be around her because of her mother's death and had a hard time coming to terms with Veena being his child. Veena attempted to have a relationship with him but he would mostly ignore her, giving her the basic needs but withdrawing his affection or any care he has for his daughter and perceived her as a "demon child" for killing her mother, despite only being an infant when her mother died because of her birth complications. In some instances, Veena would often act as a servant instead of his child, often having to serve her father and his acquaintances, something she disliked, yet did so in order to build a relationship with her father. Eventually, she was given up and sent to live with her grandmother out of both grief and hatred because of her resemblance to her mother.

Veena's grandmother showered her with love and attempted to make up for the neglect she had faced by her father. She was angered that he abandoned his child and was left with resenting Veena's father in the process, relinquishing any contact between him and Veena. As she became older, she had to learn how to take care of herself at around eight because of her grandmothers depleting physical state and took on the domestic sphere of her household, often doing chores and taking care of chickens that her grandmother had raised. As she grew, she began taking care of her grandmother due to her reaching a point where she was inept to take care of Veena, further burdening her shoulders.

Because of her constant working at home and taking care of her grandmother, Veena was a recluse and had a hard time making friends with others. She had little to no people who related to her situation and was devoid of any communication because of her difficulties with expressing emotions. While no one had particularly bullied her, she was left out of activities and was reprimanded for being emotionless, being called a "freak" and an "emotionless doll." Even though Veena pretended to not care about what was being said about her, she would often run home from school weeping, questioning why nobody would validate her and often skipped school without her grandmother's knowledge, missing out on studies and had a difficult time going back.

Veena's emotional state started to decay, finding it hard to gain validation from others. Her emotional state became incredibly frail to an extent where she would be around individuals older than her to build bonds and feel validated, finding comfort in those who are older because of how they were able to relate to her struggles and started to mature further. She started engaging in activities made for adults, such as smoking, but quickly quit as she realized she didn't have the gut to do it, and started to spend her school-nights on being around older individuals in order to receive validation from those around her. With her relationship with older individuals, Veena was further taunted by people in her village for her spending time around older people and was called promiscuous, despite her never viewing the people she spent time around in an illicit manner. As a result of the taunting, she became attached to those who would compliment her and give her endless amounts of affection, seeing them as parental figures instead of companions and turning to them when she needs to release her emotions and struggles.

When alone and sitting on the road after being bullied, an older man approached her and started to interact with her, brightening her day and started to spend more of her time with him, later on gaining an interest in literature because of him. Veena's grandmother became concerned with her behavior, though noticed she was much happier and did not give any thought to it. Though, he would begin to manipulate and coax her into doing his bidding and started to guilt her into staying with him, wanting to keep her to himself and often stayed, with the man threatening to commit suicide if she ever dared to leave, resulting in her being trapped in a rotting friendship with the man. Eventually, he grandmother found out about their interactions and had an argument with Veena, straining their relationship and resulting in her being isolated further. Though her grandmother apologize, she told Veena to be cautious with who she interacts with, regardless of how kind and unassuming they seem.

Veena would start isolating herself for two years, not interacting with anyone and frequently spent her time aiding her grandmother and improving on her relationship with her. Though, her years of isolation resulted in her being socially stunted: When attempting to ask for a bottle of herbs, she would stumble on her words and be on the brink of tears because of having a difficult time asking for favors because of those around her showing her nothing but cruelness for her demeanor and behavior.

When she was a young adult, Veena moved out of her grandmother's home and settled in Iloko, a western province in Azuren and managed to live a quiet life without having to talk to anyone. She would often spend her days reading books, isolating herself in a world of her imagination and began gaining an interest in reading, starting to write her own novels but never published them. She did not mind being alone, though missed her grandmother deeply because of her decaying physical health and wishes she were able to care for her longer. Though, Veena attempts to visit her to check on her physical health and stays with her whenever needed and often kept to herself.

Veena had discovered her shard when noticing it sitting on a rock when bathing, seeing it glow when around water. Soon after taking it and attaching the gem to her choker, she realized that it had spirit-like abilities and started to experiment with it's magic, often using it's ability of summoning spirits so she would feel less alone and managed to maneuver her magic without difficulty in the span of two years. She would later on gain an interest in studying spiritual magic and the origin of where her gem was from, which made her realize her shard was from the Spirit Founding Demon Gem that once belonged to Ueno.

Later on in her life, Veena would travel to Northern Soraya to pursue her job as a librarian, though gained the occupation as a healer to help fund her goal. Eventually, she encounters Locaster after bumping into him while rushing, and he recruits her after he shares his extended knowledge of the Demon Gems, thus making her one of the original members of Team Strelitzia.

### Conflict in Soraya

Veena was discussing the Demon gems with Team Strelitzia, along with Locaster and many others being fascinated that a human was able to possess a shard. Kahori had, however, cut the moment short as she signaled that both Damios and Esper were in incredible danger. As Locaster, Soul and Kahori went to assess damages, Veena quickly located both Esper and Damios who were both restrained. She transforms into her spirit form to unlock their restrains and heal them both as Locaster, Kahori and soul were fighting enemies.

## Appearance

Veena is a tall woman with a peach complexion, silver-white eyes and long, silver hair that is the length of her ankles. Around her head is a flower crown with white roses and on her left ear is a white earring that is connected with two beads. Her spirit form resembles Pangur Ban from Secret of Kells, except a lighter blue color and slightly longer in length.

Veena don's a light blue shirt with darker sleeves and a white, diamond-shaped armor with a mute blue diamond in the middle. She dons a long, white skirt with a cape-like design in the back and white tights, all held by a mute blue belt. Around her neck, she wears a thick, black choker that has her shard dangling down from the center, and around her head is a white flower crown decorated with white roses, sported with gray boots with white diamonds set in a vertical pattern. Veena also sports bandages around her arms after sustaining burns from a forest fire.

## Personality

Veena has been shown to be a calm individual, mainly keeping her cool in intense situations and has little to no reactions in dangerous situations. She often assists Locaster in his group when needed and has shown to be knowledgable about the Demon Gems and their history, and has a particular interest in reading. Though, Veena has demonstrated to be stoic, but not completely emotionless; She speaks in a refined and posh tone while having a rather cold expression on her face, keeping her sentences brief unless she explains a concept in detail. Despite her rather stoic and inept demeanor, she can be quick to anger, screaming at Cherry for coddling Windflower because of how she is young and displayed as vulnerable. She does, however, regret saying certain things easily and often doubts herself after saying certain things she does not intend to let out and has a hard time articulating her worlds in a more kinder manner. Being exposed with harsh realities, she often keeps a serious face and gained the nickname "Stone Face" throughout her childhood because of her bland expression.

Veena has a gaping desire for validation and approval from others, regardless of rank or age: Having her mother die when giving birth to her and her father leaving her with her grandmother, she has a difficult time learning about love and had to take care of herself a majority of her life while he grandmother was falling ill. She has a hard time building emotional relationships with others because of never being taught how to build a relationships, but desperately craves validation from others. Being sheltered, Veena has a hard time socializing or interacting with others and doesn't speak unless if it is needed for information or inquiry, often keeping to herself unless she is in a dire situation. She is often seen as the voice of reason and manages to settle conflicts with harsh words, though does not get violent unless provoked extremely and manages to be both intimidating outwardly to drive fear into Ashton to prevent her from calling her "Vegetable." Because of her dysfunctional upbringing, Veena perceives herself as worthless because of those around her perceiving her as such for her cold demeanor towards others.

Veena is honest and has a difficult time in trying to sugarcoat what she says and always tells the truth to those around her; She does so by telling Locaster that things can get more complicated overtime and he cannot expect everyone to come back alive from their battles. With her honesty also comes with her difficulty of lying because of how she is only used to being rather down-to-earth, often stammering on her words when trying to deceive someone and has a hard time coming up with believable lies. With her honesty, she used it to her ability to lie during their trials in Lyakon, managing to outsmart Akuji and Cassian with witty responses. She has also shown to have a large distaste for being called by her first name or nicknames like "Vegetable," which both Ashton and Hideko call her in a teasing manner, and prefers simplistic nicknames that are not insulting.

However, despite Veena's tranquil and calm disposition, she has shown to loosen up when she is around Hikage or any of her friends, as seen when she starts to actively socialize when in the Luckyside Tavern. She begins to become more loosened and dropped her usual calm nature and opted for a more talkative, energetic disposition. She begins to actively socialize with the group, laughing and smiling while still keeping her distance from them at the same time, but can also become slightly hostile; This is seen where Ashton decides to call Veena "Vegetable" as a nickname and nearly punched him in the face. Because of being sheltered, she has little to no knowledge on how friends treat one another and has a difficult time telling tone.

## Abilities

**Overall Abilities:** As a spirit shard user, Veena is a powerful and skilled combatant. It is stated by Hikage and Nabi that she is incredibly talented despite her only being eighteen. She was able to easily overpower Crow when he had attempted to steal her shard in the past and many non-shard user demons, like Hideko and Ashton. After managing to flee from the Lyakonian soldiers for a brief amount of time, her skill further increased when she managed to quickly heal Hikage's wound and hide her in a tree for a little bit of time so she can rest and not get injured further.

**Enhanced Speed & Reflexes:** Veena possesses enhanced speed and reflexes, swiftly out-pacing Shizuka during their time as enemies and effortlessly running away from soldiers while having to carried an injured Hikage. She had also managed to evade several of the Lyakonian soldiers attacks that were being launched at her, despite their fleet being the most enhanced of all kingdoms. Her speed is on par with Hikage, but she is slightly slower than the rest of the cast, though she was able to outrun Crow's new magic attacks and managed to dodge multiple grenades being thrown at her by Cassian.

**Enhanced Strength:** Veena has also proven to have enhanced strength, kicking down soldiers effortlessly and managing to land a hit on Akuji with a single punch that ultimately let his guard down. Her strength is further proven when she casually punches Ashton in the face as a joke for teasing her about the nickname "Vegetable," and also managing to knock down many of the Lyakonian soldiers effortlessly with the help of Hikage. Her strength is further proven when she nearly breaks Hideko's wrist during their time as rivals because of his annoyance bothering her.

**Enhanced Durability:** Veena's body is incredibly durable, being able to withstand many crucial injuries when in battle, as seen when her arm is nearly cut off by The Dark Entity during their final battle and getting shot in the leg by a Lyakonian soldier. She was also able to hold Hikage while spinning around a spirit shield to protect her and Hikage from the soldiers. She also managed to endure a bullet wound to the torso after getting shot when protecting Fēng because of her dropping her staff and being put in a more vulnerable position. She managed to withstand life threatening wounds from Akuji after he nearly slashes her in half after making their way out of the prison of Lyakon while protecting Nabi and Locaster. She also proves her durability when Akuji shoots her in the lower torso area when attempting to fight besides Hikage, who was nearly hit by the bullet.

**Enhanced Stamina & Endurance:** Veena possesses above average stamina and endurance, resisting many attacks being inflicted on her effortlessly and managed to stay in the same physical and emotional state. Her body was able to endure many of Crow's new dark magic attacks he was granted from the dark entity and was able to outpace him, despite his enhanced speed and reflexes he now has. She has shown that she does not get tired nor exhausted easily, being able to stay awake late in the night to guard the Owl's Grotto.

**Keen Intellect:** Veena demonstrates to be an incredibly intelligent individual, exhibiting this through her knowledge on the Demon Gems and incredible coordination skills. She also used her skills in order to coordinate inescapable attacks, seen when she activates her spirit in order to wipe out many Lyakonian soldiers without having to necessarily plan beforehand due to her fast thinking skills.

**Bilingual:** Veena proves to be bilingual, being able to speak both Chinese and English. She is seen mainly speaking her native language to her grandmother or Fēng, but often speaks English due to it being one of the first languages being taught to her. She mainly speaks in Cantonese, though is able to speak in Mandarin fluently because of her interest in language.

## Magic Abilities

**Spirit Magic:** As a spirit shard user, Veena is able to manipulate semi-large bodies of spirit magic, though cannot manipulate too much due to her shard's size. While in the Sacred Meadows, some of the trees had caught fire because of a previous fight they have been in. To minimize the damage, she utilized her spirit magic by putting out the fire from the trees with her spirit magic. Veena is capable of removing small amounts of dark energy and converting it into light magic: Her removing parts of tar from a pond being plagued, demonstrates this, along with when she managed to contain a large amount of dark vines and converted partial of it into spirit magic.

**Spirit Form:** A wielder of a spirit shard, Veena can transform into a cat-like spirit that is able to float through various objects. She manages to sneak through many doors and was able to free both Damios and Esper from their restraints after a Black Sun soldier attacked them. However, an exception to her power is metal doors, seen when she attempts to go through the cell door of the Lyakonian prison, but could not due to the strong metal having unique properties that resist magic.

**Spirit Tentacles:** Veena is capable of summoning large spirit tentacles that grow on her back if she uses her spirit magic to a full extent. She is able to extend her tentacles to great lengths, seen when she uses them to grab Hikage before Ashton nearly slit her face with his sword. Another moment in where she uses her spirit tentacles are where she grabs Locaster when a tree nearly fell on him.