Leto Camilla Irizari

*"My very existence was considered a means to an end. Do not think for a single moment that I am above the notion of utilizing the same reasoning for my own ambitions."
~Leto Camilla Irizari~*

Leto Camilla Irizari, also known as "Project 442", is a Zukuren Morph and the titular mastermind behind Leto's Rebellion. Feared as a powerful and very unstable, volatile elementalist and warrior with a troubling violent streak, she is particularly notorious among the Vestar-Menda for being an "escaped subject", who "cannot be allowed to live". Despite these allegations about her ferocity, violent nature, and emotional outburssts, the exact extent of these purported tendencies is often called into question due to how rarely she actually displays them. She has been compared to the mythical creature Kuna due to her similar appearance and fighting style, although since the original Kuna was a Renkinda and is still at large, it is impossible for the two to be the same woman.

## History

Leto's history is rife with mystery and deceit, most of it through no fault of her own. The exact reasoning for why Emperor Mieszko and Empress Venéra gave up one of their children, and why it was Leto, was a mystery that died with them. Since Leto has no memories of her past and slaughtered the scientists and researchers that had kept her in the compound, the reason for her being chosen will forever be a mystery.

### Early Life and Liberation

Leto was born the 4th child of 7 to Emperor Mieszko and Empress Venéra Irizari of the Koldizé Empire, and thus by rights was 4th in line for the throne of the most powerful empire in the world. However, early in her childhood there was a shift in the mentality of her parents and a rising fear of Jalengan Machinations that caused them to turn her over to the radical Arakan group known as the Vestar-Menda. According to Archon, she was raised as a fairly ordinary albeit highly disciplined child until around her 13th birthday, which was when the experiments began—under the name of Project Aylanu-Kuna. Archon himself played no direct part in Leto's transmutation, although took many notes on the different actions and reactions from both Leto, the researchers, and those who had employed him and the Vestar-Menda to begin with.

For over 25 years, Leto lived in relative seclusion, and while the experiments performed on her were by all means unethical, they truthfully comprised a very small portion of her life. However, the traumatic experience from many of these tests forced the Arakos to start tampering with her memory as early as Age 17, clearing most of Leto's memories after each new experiment to try and minimize the amount of traumatic memories she retained. While it proved mostly effective, it was not a foolproof strategy, and Leto retained certain small fragments of her younger years as she grew older, fuelling a spark of loathing for her captors and their mysterious employer(s).

The original purpose of Leto's Morphic Augmentation was to try and find a cure or immunity to the Mejiyi-Miri Plague, a deadly machination created by enemies of the Jalenga in a bygone age that stripped their victims of will while keeping motor skills and other abelites intact. They were successful in making her immune to this plague and most other diseases, although the cost proved too steep for Project Aylanu-Kuna to be repeated, given that most of the major contributors, as well as the primary research facility, the associated notes, and Project 442 herself, were either no longer present or no longer alive.

While the success of Leto's immunity to Mejiyi-Miri was successful and costly, other augmentations were much more successful, including giving her an increased duability akin to that of the Zaderei, as well as augmenting her physical strength in a way not unlike Vampirism. These abilities balanced out her incredible magical and healing prowess, and essentially turned Leto into a promising super-soldier type of woman. However, the success of this creation was then hampered by the severe mental and emotional trauma Leto received as a result of these experiments, and so her memory was wiped enough times and eventually collapsed, which mitigated a lot of her would-be potential.

### Prime & Liberation

Leto was 38 years old by the time she was liberated from the Arakan Compound, and it was entirely by chance. Since it was located deep within the Sayenzi Greatwood, far from most major civilized regions, most people never knew it existed unless they were aware of its location beforehand. She was discovered and subsequently freed by Tzakani Nezami, almost entirely by chance. The fiery swathe of carnage she left in her panicked flight was the source of the beliefs that she was a wild and feral creature, although by the time she had put significant distance between herself and the compound she had been essentially imprisoned in, she had calmed down and remained rather docile ever since.

She was eventually rediscovered by her family, who skillfully hid their shock and surprise at seeing her again, but welcomed her back with seemingly open arms nonetheless. However, due to her own trauma and extreme sense of caution, she suspected some degree of foul play, and so began a quiet and subtle investigation into the history of her parents and those they associated with (particularly the Kagero-Kiza and the Vestar-Menda) to try and learn the truth.

### Rebellion and Civil War

*See Also: Elven Civil War*
Inspired by the truth she learned about the atrocities committed against her as learned from familial history archives as well as from the Renkida regent Isikiro, Leto delved deeper into the Koldian political scene, and in the process learned that a great many Kumenza were starting to go missing from their homes. To what end she did not know, but it was enough for her to stir them up with dissatisfaction at the current regime, and suggest that perhaps it was time for a change. She was eventually successful, not only with the Kumenza, but also with other Zukuren citizens, as well as the capitalistic Madizi of some of the nearby Matsakan Tribes, who were more than happy to sell their supplies and services to the highest bidder—and with the royal treasury as the prize, it lured many a Medizi mercenary to join the fight. With battle lines drawn and high stakes for the outcome, this event culiminatd in what became known as the Elven Civil War, which Leto would wage relentlessly until she stood victorious.

Ultimately, Leto and her rebellion won the war in question, and among the results was her sister Iona on the throne, her older brother Drazen executed, both Mieszko and Venéra slain, and an overall regime change including more rights for Kumenza and lower-class Zukuren, helping reshape the Imperial Province at the heart of the Koldian Empire to be more in line with the behaviour of the other provinces.

### After the War

Sicne Leto had put so much weight on her quest for vengeance, she soon found herself unsure of what to do with herself once the war was ended and her lust for revenge had been sated. As such, she moved to fade into obscurity, disappearing from Koldia and the public view for many more years until resurfacing after the annihilation of Krawvill, due to the resurgence of the Mejiyi-Miri Plague.

## Appearance

While a Zukuren by blood and a member of the Irizari Royal Family proper, Leto lacks a lot of the elegance seen in her siblings, with pointed facial features and sinister, sunken eyes reminiscent of those of a PTSD victim. She is around average height for a Zukuren of her type, although her hair often hangs lank and in messy loose curls or waves behind her when she is in action, and her gaze is rarely focused when idle. While she is classified as a Morph, her physical traits on the surface all line up with those of a mostly-ordinary Zukuren, leading many who are unfamiliar with the concept of Morphs to wonder how they differ from other Serenza.

### Physical Appearance

Leto stands at 6'1", a roughly average height for Zukuren of the Winter (Highland), Spring (Archipelago), or Royal variants. Her skin is slightly paler than that of her siblings, possibly due to sheltering during her early life as she developed as a genetic test subject for Project Aylanu-Kuna. She has a particularly menacing-looking mien due to her heavy eyes and fierce resting face, and her idle posture is actually remarkably straight to the point of being intimidating. With angular elven facial features, large, keen ears, and sharp yellow eyes hidden slightly behind loose flyaway black curls, Leto almost appears like she is not really present while being ever-present at the same time.

### Body Markings

Leto's upper arms and back are etched with intricate ritual markings, some of which are reminiscent of the Serénez Tribes and their forbidden rites. Others look more Jalengan in origin, while yet others carry more Arakan motifs reminiscent of symbols from Sacrisola. Her lower legs and feet are also etched in similar patterns, done in shades of black and gold, the latter due to Leto's elemental affinity. Unlike the Serénez or other tribal cultures that mark the body, Leto's marks do not tell her story and were not given to her of her own free will, and as such she dislikes revealing them. As a result, she's most often seen in long-sleeved shirts and long pants or skirts, with knee-high boots or similar footwear to cover the markings on her lower legs and ankles. There is also a distinct Kumenzic marking on the back of Leto's neck, although her long, thick black hair is left down to conceal it.

### Clothing

Leto is not much of one for fashion, although swiftly realized that dressing sharply or professionally would not only garner respect but command a certain degree of fear from those around her. She has no issues with wearing skirts, dresses, or gowns, although she feels most comfortable in vests and breeches, with knee-high boots and a breezy high-collared dress shirt with cuffed sleeves at the wrist. allegedly she covers up so much of her body to conceal some of the markings she obtained as a Morph, although few have seen much more of her apart from her head and hands to be able to know for sure. Her favourite colours (in terms of clothing) are black, white, and red.

## Personality

Leto is a contradictory mixture of fierce and passionate as well as cold and indifferent. Adamant and stubborn about committing to her causes, she pours her passion into her formidable ambitions, while her coldness and indifference are her standard reaction to most people, who she inwardly fears will try to use and abuse her as has been done before. While the reassuring words and actions of her sister Iona did somewhat placate her, they were not enough to change her resolve. While she is relentless in her resolve once she has committed to a cause, her violent streaks are overplayed most of the time due to their sheer strength. In truth, Leto is generally rather docile until provoked.

### Virtues

Cold and ruthless, Leto is unshakeable in her resolve once committed to a cause, making her a staunch ally if she can be convinced to a cause. She holds those with power and ambition in extremely high regard, and admires cleverness and raw strength as well, both of which are aspects she possesses in abundance. She is not above respecting her enemies, or even people that disagree with her ambitions, as demonstrated when Tzakani Nezami defected from her cause. With Tzakani citing a conflict in her own moral values should she continue down Leto's path, Leto admired her conviction to stand up for what she believed in, even if it opposed Leto's own ideals.

While Leto is swift to abandon those who serve no purpose for her ambitions, she is also willing to reward those who linger around for her causes more than once. She holds no pretense about who she is or what she wants, and admits that she has no issues with being called "evil" as long as she is "efficiently" evil. She has incredible emotional control as a result, although this also results in feelings that are often repressed, with Leto's quiet fear of her own emotions only serving to exacerbate her already ailing emotional health.

### Vices

Leto is a borderline sociopath who carries no real love or affection for anyone, including herself. Whether this was inherent in her nature of a byproduct of her becoming a Morph is unclear, but her hatred towards the Vestar-Menda for doing the experimenting, and moreso her parents for allowing it to happen complete with financial/political support, is a clear sign that there is no love between her and her family. While she has no issue with working with others, she also has little issue with abandoning them the moment they stop being useful to her. To Leto, everything and everyone is but a means to an end, including herself.

Since she lacks emotional attachments to anything or anyone, there is nothing that can be used as leverage against her, a rare trait she shares with Eka-Katara. While she clams her family for twisting her this way, she also has no recollection of her past and thus no recollection if this degree of indifference was inherent to her nature. Despite losing most of her memories, lingering bits of the remaining trauma still haunt her give her a further disdain for most people in general.

### Beliefs and Morality

While Leto is something of a misanthrope, she does not try to use her ideals or beliefs to justify her actions, and her motives are nothing dramatic or philosophical. She was driven mainly by vengeance, and once she had achieved her goals, she had little interest in lingering around and thus let herself fade into obscurity as best as her reputation would allow. While she did not believe she was "beyond redemption" due to her belief that she was in the right for instigating her revolution, she also had lingering doubts about what her purpose in the world was once her objectives had been completed. This was ultimately caused by her longtime belief that the ends justify the means, given that her very existence was a means to an end.

## Abilities

Leto was a borderline-unnaturally talented mage with a particular affinity for the healing arts, which she excelled in immensely. Often seen wielding staves, wands, stones, or other methods of channelling her magic, these turned out to be superfluous for her actual abilities, betraying that she used these implements as a method of self-restraint more than to try and augment her prowess.

### Elemental Capacity

A swift and deadly elementalist, Leto's lightning-swift reflexes and reaction times made her an extremely slippery foe, and her elemental abilities matched it. With a sharp knowledge of one's chi paths coupled with a surprisingly intimate knowledge of vitality, Leto was one of the most talented healers the Zukuren had seen in centuries. While she possessed great talents with all six Mencuan Elements, her favourite of these was Light, followed by Fire, and her lightweight but fierce and swift jabbing style of movement and fighting was perfect for the element. Favouring the searing and striking power of Light and Fire, some of Leto's favourite attaacks are essentially flashbangs or "light grenades" that stun her targets by blinding them or startling them enough to gain the upper hand. It is rumoured that she can use this Lightforming and its associated healing abilities to absorb life force from one quarry and use it to replenish the life force of another, but these theories are so far thus unfounded.

### Combat Prowess

While her elemental abilities and magic are what people tend to see the most of, Leto also possesses immense and terrifying physical strength, bordering on superhuman. She can easily outmuscle the average Dorenzu or Todawa, although like most of her enhanced physical traits, this is attributed to her Morphic Augmentation rather than natural strength. She is swift and balanced in combat, with basic knowledge of how to wield most common weapons properly, but her weapons of choice are either chains and flails, which she excelled at after she had broken out of the Arakan Compound; or her fists and feet, where she can deal devastating blows due to the strength behind each swing. While she tends to wear reinforced shoes or boots to help strengthen the already deadly blows from her legs' powerful strikes, her hands are often left bare. In spite of this, strikes from Leto's fists have cracked softer stone before, leading some to question whether her fists had been augmented during her childhood as well given that she walked away with her knuckles unbloodied.

### Other Talents

While some tack them up as being talents the Arakos taught her while she was in seclusion, Leto is a remarkably gifted harpist and has a keen ear for music. To her great annoyance however, her lower and somewhat monotone voice lends for poor singing skill, although she often compensates for this by humming a gentle contralto harmony to the music she plays. She is also an incredibly detailed and talented artist, whether paintings or simple sketches or anything in between, and can create strikingly realistic portraits of people from memory—one of the few aspects that her faltering memories can retain. Due to her heightened flexibility from the physical augmentations she received over her life, Leto is also very supple, and can both bend backwards with her hands and feet on the ground, and do a full 180°-splits. However, her most common choice in clothing (and general asocial attitude) often prevents her from giving any demonstrations.

## Relationships

As asocial as she might be, the woman who started a revolution was doomed to remain far from an obscure face. With surviving family members and faces even she would struggle to forget, Leto's is not a name unknown.

### Family

Emperor Mieszko and Empress Venéra were Leto's father and mother, although any memories of them serving as her parents proper has been lost to time and tribulation. As the 4th of their 7 children however, Leto had six siblings: her eldest brother Drazen, her elder sister Iona, her older brother Milan, her younger sister Zora, and her younger twin brothers, Maius and Enerus. She holds a cautious view of her mother and father upon reuniting with them, and this caution soon turns to loathing once she learns the truth of her Morphic Augmentation and what parties were responsible for allowing it to happen. Her older sister Iona was the one who came closest to "getting through" to Leto, although her younger sister Zora and her two younger brothers Maius and Enerus were more of neutral parties. Her older brothers Drazen and Milan did not warm up to her the same way, and so she did not mourn at their misfortune, or at the eventual death of Drazen during the Elven Civil War. She was outright vindicated at the deaths and demise of her parents and their reign, having felt justifid in ruining their lives the same way she felt they had ruined hers.

### Friends

Leto's stubbornness and conviction have earned her many admirers and much respect, but her tendency to keep people at an arm's length coupled with her asocial behaviour are the primary culprits behind why she has very few actual friends. She has great respect for Tzakani Nezami Serénez, and closely confided in the Kumenza hero Nevada, although due to Leto's own sharp personality, both women kept Leto herself at a distance. One of the few people that seemed to have no qualms with trusting Leto at face value was the Jalenga queen Zivia, who saw some of her own people's work shine through Leto's state as a Morph. Another unusual friend of Leto's was the assassin Eka-Katara, who not only was unfazed by Leto's hostile personality, but also found her combat skills and healing magic to be inspiring. The latter proved to be so inspiring in fact, that it inspired Eka-Katara to take up the healing arts, and later even inspired her to become a nun for the Church of Shioru. Leto later found herself investigating Eka-Katara's faith as well, finding solace in something that brought her closest acquaintance joy.

### Enemies

Apart from Iona who could not bring herself to become enemies with her sister, Some of Leto's biggest enemies were her own family, as well as the "establishment" of Koldia's governmental hierarchy. Those who took the side of her parents during the Letozé Rebellion were also among her enemies, with many of them putting out hefty bounties for her death or capture. By the time the war has ended, most of Leto's primary enemies have been slain or put in line due to their defeat, and due to her subsequent attempts to fade into obscurity, she was fortunate enough to not make too many new enemies after that. However, due to the impact she had on the everyday life of the Imperial Province of Koldia, she is greatly disliked among most of the Imperial and Royal elves. However, due to their minimal involvement in this civil war, the Spring, Autumn, and Winter elves do not hold Leto in such disdain. Despite the involvement of Archon as an overseer, she could not consider him her enemy due to the feeling not being mutual, and twice now has he convinced Leto to stand down in her attempts to slay him.

## Role in the Series

### *The Crown of Zivia*

Leto played a significant role in The Crown of Zivia where she was discovered imprisoned in an Arakan compound by Tzakani Nezami. After being freed, she made a cold, clean break with the area, instinctually making her way southeast towards Koldia where she was reunited with her family. Her reception was mixed, and Leto still feels some sort of suspicion and distrust aimed at her, but her faltering memory makes it difficult to discern the truth of her past and origins. She meets Tzakani again later on in Kerala, where she later assists the teen in a raid against the Koldizé Royal Palace and the Kagero-Kiza to retrieve the Crown of Zivia in turn. After their success in this endeavour, Leto returned to the palaec, quietly biding her time for her next big move.

### *The Crusade of Zulera*

Leto's role in The Crusade of Zulera is arguably that of a major antagonist, considering that she is the instigator of the Elven Civil War, which drags on for a lengthy period of time due to the stubbornness of her, her supporters, and the defenders of the current establishment. During the events of this volume, Leto discovers a way to retain some of her memories, allowing her to finally grasp the story behind her origins, which is the initial inspiration for her rebellion. Further spurred on by the words of Conqueror-Queen Zivia, as well as mistreatment of Kumenzic citizens in Koldia, this drive is what escalates it to a full-blown civil war, of which Leto becomes a ruthless commander who seeks to see the war through by any means necessary.

## Trivia

* Leto's nickname of "Project 442" is a direct reference to her Reference Number.
* Leto has a Kumenza named Eka-Leto. The "Serum 506" that was extracted from her to create Eka-Leto is numbered after Eka-Leto's Reference Number.
* It was Leto's healing prowess that inspired Eka-Katara to take up the arts herself, becoming a very talented healer in her own right as well.
* Coincidentally, the name 'Leto' allegedly means "hidden" or "forgotten", which is unintentionally symbolic given her past.

## See Also

* Morph
* Drazen Mieszko Irizai
* Iona Kamira Irizari
* Zivia Severa Vizori
* Mieszko Irizari
* Venéra Irizari
* Tzakani Nezami Serénez
* Zak Matu Dreggite