Julia/Story

Spoilers!*"Your greatest villain Drake shall warn you, SPOILERS AHEAD!"*The following article or section contain **spoilers!** Viewer discretion is advised.

Overview**Story**VoicelinesGallery

## Behind the Scenes

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Park Ri-na

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Corey Pettit

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Ayane Sakura

## Profile

A Nikke belonging to Master Hand, a musical "squad" whose role is to archive and preserve music from before the Raptures invaded. While she was made by Missilis, Syuen saw no value in Julia being made to record music and threw her into the battlefields as fodder. There, Mustang of Tetra Line saw her musical leanings and took her in.

### Nikke Backstory

A violinist whose life revolves around music. Belonging to Master Hand, she uses music as a way to express herself.

## Story

### Background

Julia was a Nikke made for Master Hand, a music "squad" whose role is to archive and preserve music from before the Raptures invaded. While she was made by Missilis, Syuen saw no value in Julia being made to record music and threw her into the battlefields as fodder. There, Mustang of Tetra Line saw her musical leanings and took her in.

### Event Story

#### Brand New Year

Julia is invited by Helm to play for the New Year party held aboard the Admire. Unfortunately, her musician's block leads her to playing her violin very badly, and eventually she's brought on a mission with Sugar and the protagonist so she'll stop disrupting the event with her violin's screeching.

On the upside, she does find some musical inspiration up on the surface, a feat that fuels her New Year's resolution to find sheet music leftover from the invasion.

### Character Story

#### Episode 1 - The Bones and Soul of the Ghost Bride

In a dark alley, Counters is in pursuit of the "Ghost Bride", which according to Neon is a woman in a white veil who makes creaking noises at night. Rapi feels a sense of deja vu whilst Anis is less than happy to be literally chasing ghosts. The protagonist tries to explain that the squad was assigned this task, but that just makes Anis complain more until her tirade is broken by a screeching noise.

The screeches nearly make Anis scream until Rapi covers her mouth. The leader of Counter then calls out to the source of the screams, which soon reveals itself to be Julia. Turns out the rumor of the Ghost Bride was just Julia playing whenever and wherever she wished, even if that meant a dimly-lit alleyway in the dead of night.

When asked her reasons, Julia explains she's looking for her bones at the behest of her mentor (Mustang of Tetra Line), an answer that confuses Counters until she further elaborates. In Mustang's opinion, Julia's music has lost its soul, comparing it to "a fish without bones" and tells her to look for her lost bones. While Anis tries to brush off Mustang's words as more of his usual nonsense, Julia believes he has a point. The music she's played up to now, it was all just rote recital of the sheets penned by another.

Thus, in order to find the bones she lost, Julia has been playing the violin whenever the moment strikes her. But she feels as though this alley isn't doing it for her and is considering relocating. The protagonist tries to explain that Julia can't just wander the Ark playing her violin everywhere, but the Master Hand Nikke interprets that as advice that she must leave the Ark to find her soul and bones.

The protagonist clarifies that he means nearby residents have filed complaints about the noise Julia's been making, and Rapi adds that even if Julia moves elsewhere, this same situation would just repeat. Julia herself seems appalled at what her music has wrought, thinking she'll be thrown into prison before she can even make progress in finding her soul and bones. The protagonist then reclarifies that she'll accompany the squad back to the Outpost, both to solve the Ghost Bride problem and to provide a more suitable space to play violin.

#### Episode 2 - Music and Noise on the Floor

Some time after Julia was brought to the Outpost, her violin playing has...gotten out of hand. By which is meant that she's playing day-in-day-out, and no one is able to sleep because of her. Counters' group chat is flooded with Neon and Anis all but pleading for something to make Julia stop, leading the protagonist to go talk with her.

Knocking on the door to Julia's room, the protagonist's visit fills the Master Hand Nikke with elation, as she was apparently infusing her intent to invite a visitor into her music. Thus she believes the protagonist received her "message" (which is very much not the case). He explains that that's not quite the case, as Julia's music has been the source of yet more complaints, a revelation that makes her mood plummet.

...Except then she gets the idea of telling Mustang she'll use her complaint-worthy music to punish wrongdoers, an idea the protagonist quickly puts a stop to. After a brief back and forth, the protagonist convinces Julia that it's not because her music is bad, but rather even if she was playing good music, the dead of night is *not* the time to be loudly playing the violin. It brings Julia's mind back to something else Mustang told her, of how even though her musical skill was acceptable, the music she played would not stir the hearts of the listeners, and thus cannot be considered "good" music. Unable to find the soul and bones her mentor told her to, Julia wonders where they have gone, or if she even had them to begin with. Perhaps she was not meant to be a performer, having originally been constructed to record music.

At the protagonist's questioning, Julia exposits her past. She was made to record music and the ways it was played so that humanity would retain those things after the war ended. But against the expectations of her creators, humanity preserved music in their own ways, listening, enjoying, and playing it during the invasions and even after entering the Ark. Her original purpose obsoleted, Julia was sent into the battlefield as another soldier. One day, Mustang discovered her musical leanings and took her under his wing, proclaiming a Nikke who understands music shouldn't just become more scrap in the war.

That was the first time Julia was ever called a "musician", but now she's unsure whether she deserves that appellation, wondering if Mustang is reconsidering his judgement of her. The protagonist asserts the contrary, noting that Mustang said Julia "*lost*" the soul of her music. Ergo, her music had soul, it's simply a matter of finding it again. As Julia ponders how she will do that, the protagonist points out that simply playing the violin randomly hoping to find her soul won't work.

Thus, he forbids Julia from playing violin for one week. Needless to say, Julia is not happy with this idea, but the protagonist explains that she's just banging her head against a wall at this rate, and believes it would give new perspective if she stepped back from the violin for a time. After a moment's reluctance, Julia accepts the violin prohibition.

#### Episode 3 - Withdrawal Symptom

Day 1 of violin prohibition. Anis and Neon are all too happy to have some peace and quiet in the Outpost for once, while Rapi is more concerned about how Julia is taking it. As if on cue, a knock on the door sees Julia step into the room.

She complains of feeling jittery and her fingers won't stop shaking. Holding the violin stops it, but it recurs as soon as she puts it down. Neon can't help but remark how it resembles withdrawal symptoms while Julia pleads for a repeal of the violin ban. The protagonist reminds her she agreed to this to find her soul, and she eventually relents.

Day 2 of violin prohibition. Julia furtively peers around the Armory, believing the protagonist won't hear her even if she just played a little bit of violin. But just as she raises her bow to the strings, the protagonist pops up and spooks her out of it.

Day 3 of violin prohibition. In a remote part of the Outpost, Julia takes up a branch, bids the wind be her instrument, and takes up the same pose she plays violin with...only for the protagonist to forbid her from playing air violin.

Day 4 of violin prohibition. Julia is all but begging the protagonist for even just one note, one quick strum of her bow on the strings. When he bluntly tells her no, Julia responds that she fears what will come of her not playing. Her fingers will grow lazy, and her skills will dull, leading to her being unable to play entirely. Continuing to be blunt, the protagonist questions why Julia is so fixated on perfecting playing the violin when her purpose was only to record music. As it turns out, Mustang never actually told Julia she *needed* to perfect the violin, and the protagonist tells her it's fine to make mistakes from time to time.

Julia has an epiphany about how she doesn't have to follow the music perfectly down to the last note. Now, this *would* be the part where she picks up the violin and puts her new insight to work...except the ban is still in effect, leaving Julia and the protagonist to stand about in awkward silence.

Skip to day 7 of the prohibition. Julia seems to be a little out of it, these past few days having gone by in a blur. Neon briefly suggests Julia accompany her to study and exert firepower to get back in gear, which Anis quickly shoots down as she does not want to entertain the thought of *two* Neons in the Outpost. Julia herself asks Neon why she's so in love with firepower when she's not actually a Nikke made for exerting or studying that sort of thing (Neon is classified as a Supporter Nikke, not an Attacker), and she responds in turn that she simply likes firepower. There's no other reason or motivation, and frankly she doesn't need one. Julia remarks how Neon's soul thrums with passion for firepower, and goes back to her room.

Back in her room, Neon's words about seeking her passions for passion's sake continue to linger in Julia's mind. The protagonist knocks and enters the room, and the two converse. Julia ponders on whether a "recorder" like her can really be said to "like" music, especially as even with the impending lift on the violin ban, she feels soulless and adrift, like she wouldn't be able to play the violin again.

The protagonist then asks if she's even been moved. If there was a moment that urged her to pick up a violin, that resonated enough for her to start playing on impulse. At that moment, Julia has an epiphany. The first time she was moved, the first moment she wanted to pick up an instrument and play her emotions...was when she was first sent to the surface. Wishing to maintain this momentum, the protagonist declares that the two of them will go up to the surface to relive that memory, the impulse that set Julia's emotions alight.

#### Episode 4 - Julia's Bones and Soul

The interior of the elevator takes Julia back to that time, its atmosphere as cold as the metal that comprises it.

She has a flashback to when she was first introduced to Syuen, the CEO of her creator company. Syuen saw no purpose in Julia being made to record music, deriding her a useless scrap and sending her to the battlefields to ~~die~~ fight.

Julia waited in the elevator with a crush of other Nikkes being sent to the surface, sorrow and fear making the elevator feel like a tomb. A nearby Nikke starts a conversation with Julia, talking about how it's their first battle for both of them, and wondering if they'll make it back alive.

Back in the present, Julia ponders over the questions she was thinking at the time. About the nature of Raptures and the war, and of course, whether she would survive. The elevator reaches its destination as the two ruminate over her final question; will she be able to play the violin again?

The two step out into the desolate surface, ruins painted red by the sunset. The sight makes Julia's spirit soar as her heart is taken back to what she first felt when she stepped onto the surface, and when she remembered that she held an instrument, not a weapon, in her hands. There is no doubt about it, Julia's soul and bones were here all this time. All of her sorrow, despair, fear, loneliness, and joy melded together to form a melody. She asks the protagonist to let her play, and he's more than willing to allow her.

As Julia lifts her violin, she thinks back to when Mustang found her on the surface. He declared that once Julia could put her soul into her music, then she would truly become a musician, as with all Nikkes who understand art.

The bow touches the strings, and Julia begins to play. The melody carries along the twilit breeze, sometimes sorrowful, sometimes joyful. Julia's own song was born, and her lost bones and soul returned to her.

#### Episode 5 - The Musician's Wilderness

A few days later, the Outpost once abundant with the sounds of violin have become quiet, and the protagonist can't help but find it empty. A ping on his phone jolts him back, and it turns out to be a message from Mustang. The Tetra CEO is grateful to the protagonist for helping Julia, and notifies him the Master Hand Nikke is going to travel the surface looking for musical inspiration. The protagonist is concerned about a lone Nikke wandering the surface, especially since Julia can only use her violin as a decoy to try and flee any encounter.

Julia's plans seem to be to return to the Ark every month. The Central Government won't be a problem since Mustang already approved Julia's travels, and they can always say she's looking for music left behind during the invasion. He also tells the protagonist Julia's first destination, which is a wilderness near the Outpost, as a thank-you for helping Julia with her blossoming as a musician, and so that Julia can start her journey on a high note, especially as she literally just started today. Ending the conversation on that note, the protagonist rushes to the wilderness he went to with Julia, hoping to find her before she leaves.

At the wilderness, the protagonist spots Julia, who waited and wished to see him again. He wonders why she didn't visit him at the Outpost, and she explains that if she did that, she would be taken in by him calm caring, and might not be able to leave. The protagonist wonders if Julia isn't afraid of dying, but Julia herself is resolute. So long as she goes with the flow of the music, not even death will scare her.

Julia thanks the protagonist for helping her find her soul, and for being the first listener to her true music. She steps closer and kisses him, her own way of leaving a part of her spirit with him, to rejoin him even should she meet her demise. The protagonist insists on Julia coming back alive, and with a new promise to take care and return safely, a musician with a shining soul steps out into the wilderness under the sunset sky.

## References

Notes

References
1. ↑ Julia's character story."