Though the world marches ever forward, eyes focused on the future, this tendency often results in much going unnoticed. Such is true for the world that lives just out of view, lingering in the shadows, the background, entwined with the planet itself - A world of magic and mythical beings that have existed for longer than time itself, hidden away and doing its best to live among the 'regular' population... A world that has its own troubles and strife to deal with, oft struggling to match the same look forward as their human counterparts as they try, yet continue to be reminded of their distant past.
At one time, long, long ago, these beings walked a world not too unlike the current. What is now considered legend and myth was once a commonplace sight; beings of immense magical prowess walked the land, closely intertwined with the ebb and flow of the planet's own power. Content and at an understanding with one another, all was well - Until the addition of a new group threw that world into an uncontrollable tilt, and eventually, led to its downfall. It is those same beings, both survivors, reborn, and descendants, who now roam this world's realm of magic, simply trying to blend in and survive... But it also the same beings, still among them, still determined, who seek a revival to that original world at the cost of the current, regardless of how much they need to manipulate and even destroy to see their plan a reality. Their presence forces secrecy and coverups, and prevents the two worlds - that one humans, and that of magic - from truly being able to exist in harmony, leaving those who simply wish to survive and move forward eternally tethered to fear and a need to hide, or in some cases, fight back, as many of them feel the call to awaken in current time, for reasons beyond them.
The war that resulted in their original world falling is aiming to rekindle itself in this one... And this time, it's more than just the realm of magic at risk.
✿ Trigger Warnings Apply for content within. Please see rules. ✿This carrd contains writeups and relevant information for the Spellbound verse on Sakurarisen! All content here is for Sera's modern/current day verse, also known as the Spellbound verse, and applies to all threads not otherwise set into another verse or a fandom-based setting.This verse is a natural continuation of Sera's primary info found HERE, but does not apply to other fandoms/verses. While Spellbound is the natural continuation of her story, it is for modern day related timeframes ONLY. all information present in the base carrd applies here, as well.
For the other primary verses please click their respective buttons bellow.
✿Name
Seraphina Mayuzumi✿Also Known As
Aria, the Snow Fenix✿Nicknames
Sera✿Gender
Female✿Height
5'3"✿Weight
Unknown; even she has no idea and no intention to find out✿Hometown
She claims it to be Bunkyo, to avoid admitting where she's actually from and thus having to talk about either her past or admitting to her missing memories✿Date of Birth
March 29th✿Current Occupation
Currently serving as a local 'goddess' in Bunkyo, trying to change the world through kindness alongside her family, while investigating what's happening in the magical side of the world
✿Eyes
Brown, nearly the color of darkened honey; when using her magic, there are flecks of white and incredibly pale blue within them if one looks closely enough, resembling a distant, slow snow flurry.✿Hair
Golden blonde; usually worn loose, it falls to her waist in length, with three distinct, chin-length sections framing one side of her face, and another two on the other side with the remaining bangs sweeping to the side to be tucked back. Faint silvery highlights are present when using her magic, lightening her blonde hair a bit, but at all times, there's a slight sparkle to her hair, almost like tiny snowflakes are clinging to the strands here and there, though this sparkle is only visible in direct sunlight, and so pale it's easily missed. She isn't above keeping her hair tied back into a ponytail or a braid, and often carries both a ribbon and an elastic on her at nearly all times to have the option available.
While disguised in 'fox form', she further has a pair of pale orange, almost sandy colored fox ears peeking up from her hair, matching her tail in color, with slightly paler tips. When startled, these ears pop up even when not in her 'disguise', forcing them to be hidden until she regains control over her emotions enough to do something on it herself.✿Skin
Light peach in shade; her skin is free from most blemishes, aside from a littering of scars. However, her back is marked in the colorful and bright ink of a large, leaping koi tattoo, spanning the vast majority of her back. Done at the age of 16, its colors slowly dim over the years.
Her left ring finger is later added to with another tattoo: A pair of closed wings forming a heart with a single feather make up the band of a 'ring', colored with pink, yellow, and two shades of blue in a watercolor style. Done at 17, the colors fade quickly, but remains just as treasured as her koi.
Underneath the koi tattoo crossing her back is a marking in shades of pale, light, and into to medium blue, spanning the upper 3/4s of her back in the shape of a pair of fluffy wings, most often hidden underneath the koi design unless one really squints to make them out amongst the colorful inks of her tattoo. When in the presence of powerful magic, this marking on her back glows, making itself more obvious and stands out against the tattoo; the closer she is to the source of the magic, the stronger and more solid the glow, though never much brighter than a freshly snapped glowstick. She is also fully capable of changing this marking into a pair of actual, fluffy, pale icy blue and white wings reminiscent of an elegant bird's.✿Build
Fair and petite, it's fairly easy to tell Sera is smaller than most her age, both in height and weight. She's a bit underweight and looks about as physically strong as she actually is - That is to say, not very. Her health is rather poor and it's noticeable, though she refuses to allow it to stop her.
✿Scars, Other notable features
A large number of her scars are faint and difficult to spot unless really looking for them across her body, but Sera has several far more noticeable scars littering the fronts and tops of her shoulders. Around 18-20 in number if one really takes the time to stop and look at them, very few of them have properly healed; most of her scars are still rather ugly in appearance, resembling valleys and knotted, slightly raised mountain ranges, with several of them close enough together in multiple places to heal into a messy clump of scarring. Bothered by their existence, Sera keeps them hidden from view as much as possible, wanting to avoid the memories of what caused them while also trying to avoid questions and judgemental looks they might fetch her.
After the birth of her son, she becomes more comfortable with her scars, but never completely, and is able to show them off a bit more without worrying about them. Even despite this newfound comfort, they're still a source of bad memories and even impact her ability to move her shoulders and arms, able to cause pain she's long since grown use to, and cares not to dwell on them with anyone who doesn't have her full and complete trust.
While 'disguised', she has a fluffy fox tail that matches her ears in color, the tip of which is a fair bit lighter in shade than the rest. Like her ears, she has this tail whenever she's in need of a disguise, though it too tends to pop up without her 'permission' when startled, requiring her to hide it somehow.✿Accessories
Sera wears a single, sterling silver angel wing pendant on a matching delicate chain, and refuses to ever remove it. The back of the wing has both her initials and her husband's carved into it, and is paired with a small, sky blue crystal heart on the same chain. Shortly after having her wing tattoo done, she further covers it with an engagement ring - a small, rosey pink crystal ring in the shape of a flower on a matching colored band.✿Attire
Her style of clothing varies between her early life and when she learns to stand on her own; for most of her life, she tends to wear three threadbare and ratty dresses riddled with tears and holes - One in dark pink with long sleeves and skirt, another in softer pink with short sleeves, knee length skirt, and a blue sash around her waist, and a third in pale yellow with a long skirt and short sleeves. All three are paired with a pair of worn and run-down dark brown loafers, and are regularly covered - along with herself - by a large, dark green cloak also loaded in tears, holes, and fraying edges just large enough to provide glimpses of the outfits and woman underneath.
Later on, her wardrobe expands into things more comfortable but still very much modest, and her original three dresses and cloak are retired for good. Instead, her primary outfit becomes that of a blue, corset style top with a pale pink front underneath dark pink lacing, magenta knee length skirt, and a matching magenta cropped jacket, keeping the sleeves rolled up to just above her elbows. Two dark brown belts criss-cross over her hips and match almost knee-high boots in color, with light pink socks coming up to her knees.
While 'disguised' and in her 'shrine', she wears a simple yet still elaborate by human standards robe, white in color with light to mid-range pink shades for the trims and detailing, among faint touches of gold. Going barefoot in this form is most common, but if required to wear shoes, she'll go for a simple pair of white and pink slip ons.
She further prefers light sun dresses and flowing skirts when out and about if not in her magenta and blue outfit, and regularly carries a hat of some kind. When dealing with the Fenix council, she returns to the formal robes and gowns she once wore during Halcyon, many of which resemble simple but flowy ballgowns.
✿WeaponryWhile Sera's stance on fighting borders on hating it, she carries with her a large knife for the occasions she has absolutely no choice but to do so. Fairly plain in its design, she's carried it with her since she was 13, large enough for her to use as a weapon, yet not so much she can't comfortably hold it or keep it well hidden when not in use, and sturdy enough for her to coat in ice magic for a frozen blade if she truly, desperately needs to. However, due to her desire to talk confrontations down before they grow worse and placing herself in the role of peacekeeper, her knife is usually more of a carried ornament than a weapon, with her instead relying heavily on defensive tactics and keeping her distance over actually unsheathing the blade.
As an older teen and into her adulthood, she steadily learns to use a bow in place of her knife, instead, inspired and initially taught the basics of using by her partner, Zack. Styled to resemble two frozen angel wings with the feathers facing outward, the bow is designed to bend freely as needed while leaving multiple feathers, lined with small blades along their edges, stationary pieces that keep their place as the bow bends on shifting plates, similar to typical plate armor in their workings. This bow is capable of shooting both regular arrows and those made from ice magic, as well as regular arrows coated and tipped in ice, though the use of ice-made arrows are draining on her health for long periods, resulting in more use of regular arrows instead, especially after retiring her knife completely at 20 in favor of her bow.
Although Sera is more than capable of also using a simple short sword with a bit of training, it is a weapon she keeps within her temple to use during Halcyon Era far more than her current lifetimes. However, due to being a novice still with the blade, the frosty, icy weapon is a backup when needed, with her preferring her bow over all.
✿AbilitiesAs the Fenix of Ice and Snow, Sera - Aria - is more than capable of using magic to match - However, her magic is limited to the fact Aria herself is only half-awake, and is in turn only half of what it truly could be, while further being used mainly as a defensive tool, as she understands her need to hide.
Though she is able to summon a snowstorm on the level of a light, small blizzard, Sera rarely does, and prefers to make small snow flurries, or to coat things in ice crystals as a means of making others smile with its sparkling radiance. She can summon the snow and ice in nearly any way she wishes, but not at any time she wishes; while disguised as a fox, Sera's magic is far weaker, and she is only capable of creating a soft snow flurry that lasts perhaps an hour at best and ends if she leaves the area, with the majority of her magic being held close to her form instead due to her focus being on her 'disguise'. Summoning her wings is a similar trade-off and severely limits her magic to only a quarter of her original strength; she may still be able to coat things in ice or call on a flurry, but it resembles a gentle snowfall instead of a snowstorm, and she can no longer extend her ice out past a ten foot radius from herself due to her focus being on keeping her wings stable, rather than her usual 20-25 maximum.
In battle, Sera vastly prefers using her magic as a defensive measure, creating pathways of ice to slide opponents across and harmlessly away from the battlefield, or creating shields and walls to hide behind until she can make her escape. Snow flurries to cover her companions movements or her own escape are commonplace, and she will do all she can to incapacitate her opponent or simply flee rather than actually cause others harm; should she have no choice, harm comes soley in the form of incapacitation, and only as mildly as she can manage, preferring to freeze shoes to the ground rather than actually break a bone of any kind.
If needed, she is capable of summoning swords and weaponry made of ice, but will pass them to unarmed companions if she has no choice and they need a means to defend themselves.
She is also capable of mild healing magic, though can't healf anything worse than mild wounds and fractured bones, and requires a great deal of focus and time with her hands on the injured individual, requiring some kind of defense due to her being unable to protect herself during the process.
✿Flurries of Merciful SnowAs the Fenix of Snow and Ice, and the one who sits on the Fenix Council to this day, Aria thrives in using her ice magic - Specifically, in using it to make others happy. Gentlehearted, kind, and warm like her brother's flames, she loves nothing more than the look of wonder in the eyes of those who see those first few snowflakes fall, and will even go out of her way to lay out a bit of frost where the sun's rays will catch it, bringing a sparkle to the lives of those who need it. Her magic has also proven a wonderful aid in medical situations, serving as a means of immediately making an ice pack or a cold compress; if she can be of some aid to someone through it, she will, twice as much so when the aid given helps to lift someone's spirits and bring a smile to the lips of others!
Her magic has also been used as a reminder to herself, as well: Though she is far from a judgemental person, Sera routinely reminds those who are genuine in their desire to change and grow that so long as their genuine desire outweighs a snowflake, then it is one they can surely obtain - A reminder that winter is a fierce beast on its own, and can easily snuff out more than just desires if one isn't careful. However, she has faith in the goodness and kindess of others; so long as their desire is genuine, there's no stopping them! ...Right?✿Are Those... Ears?Although she appears human and is in actuality a mythical bird both in general and at her core, Sera knows one thing: She needs to hide. There is something out there, something in the world, after her for some reason, and while she can't explain what it is, she knows she needs to hide from it. Hiding her magic from normal humans is one step, but her concern and deep-seated drive to keep herself hidden has decided it's not enough - And to that end, she's used a small part of her magic to take on the guise of a fox.
Dubbed her 'disguise', her foxlike features, and even her ability to become a small, sandy colored fox, are a result of this need to keep herself as a Fenix hidden away from anyone who could do her harm. On some level, she knows nobody would be looking for a fox; it's not anything close to a Fenix, and being so small, she's able to slip away with ease if all else fails! It's also a cute and fluffy 'disguise', though it's also one she's relied on long enough at this point that when startled, it's what she slips into without thinking, a subconscious means of 'covering' for herself that she's long since come to rely on most for the first stages of her own survival.✿Days of Halcyon, Long Since Lost-While Sera can remember her original name, that she's a Fenix, has magic and power to her name, has had many, MANY lifetimes, and is tied to ice magic with a twin brother she fell out of sync with across those lifetimes to the point he is now older despite their cores still being twins, there is still much Aria still has sealed away within her. A Fenix is an important, hunted being, she knows, but... Why? Why would they be hunted? For what crime they've committed? Her original life fell apart in horrible ways, but she remembers little about her past, little about why she needs to hide despite the desperate need to for her safety...
Still, Sera remains a Fenix council member, finding she is far from the only one of her kind half-waking in this lifetime, nor is she the only one without most of her memories. She still knows there are others who need her help within the realms of magic, but where are they? What is this Halcyon that lingers in her memory, and why does it feel so familiar? What has been lost to the partly shattered glacier deep within her, and can she reclaim it?
Is it... Safe to wake...?✿Oh Goddess, Hear My Prayers-Sera may consider herself the farthest thing from an angel, or even a goddess, as she possibly can, but to many others, they view her as exactly that. She has come to be known as a Seraphim - an angel - to some who haven't caught her name in her travels, and while she dislikes the nickname and reminds she is nothing of the sort, it has circulated in certain communities, regardless... Much to Sera's utter exasperation, though she'll do nothing more to try and stop it.
In Bunkyo, however, 'Seraphim' has taken a back seat to 'Goddess'; a slip in public while trying to cheer up a crying child resulted in some seeing the use of her magic, quickly resulting in her being dubbed a 'god' in the belief nothing else could have done what she did. Though she's tried to find a way to counter the claim, she's yet to be able to, eventually coming to be seen as an 'ice fox goddess' once her disguise's ears and tail were further spotted after she'd been startled on another day.
No matter how much she dislikes both titles, with the later holding a special ache deep in her chest she can't explain each time she hears it, even she can't deny it's granted her a certain level of freedom in her movements, and helped her formulate a means of keeping hidden. She's been allowed a small, formerly abandoned roadside shrine to use as a home for herself and her family, so long as they tend to it, has found more avenues open to her to help others, especially when those in need of aid sometimes come find her instead, knows few would look for 'the Snow Fenix' in a shrine of all places... She hates using others' faith like she is, but... What other choice does she have right now...?
Quiet and cautious, Aria has spent millions of years asleep within, waking only occasionally through each itteration of the world; Perhaps this time, those lost with Halcyon's end can return, she hopes. They will find their place and begin again, restart their lives in a world similar to their own, yet one that can give them the peace to thrive once more... And each time she wakes, it's to a world that doesn't quite make the cut. Close or not, if their safety can't be confirmed, it's no good - And back to sleep the Fenix return, facing each world as a human once more, waiting for the day they can finally come back safely.Yet it is this lifetime that Aria finds herself awake once more, albeit not fully. The seal she's placed on her power and memories is still partly intact, and from it, fear holds strong; she has been trapped in a cycle for several lifetimes, and this one seems to be no different, though being more awake means she's able to push back a little. As Sera, she fights and she pushes, doing all she can to survive... And it is at the age of 16, when she's coming back from the very edge of despair, that she feels a familiar feeling:She's not the only Fenix awake.She can sense her brother, Aelius - Now known as Thoma - while she rest, giving her the courage to step forward and test her body, finding it to be less human than she'd initially thought. Using her magic is easier than she remembers, a further sign she's woken for a reason, but as her travels take her towards her brother and even back into the arms of her soulmate, she can sense the waking of others. With little holding her back now, it becomes more obvious to Aria - To Sera - that something has gone wrong, a suspicion confirmed once she finds Thoma and gets a chance to talk things over with him.For reasons unknown to them, Halcyon is waking, seemingly all at once, in a wolrd that was never ready for them to.Now with a family and the conflicting desires to hide yet help, Sera has moved to Bunkyo, seeking both to aid any she can and further her dream of a united world, but also to find answers alongside Thoma as to what's going on in the magical side of the world. Unfortunately, just that alone has come with trouble - Caught using her magic, she's been dubbed a goddess by the locals, and even taking on a fox, or even a 'fox girl', 'disguise' hasn't helped reverse their view... But it has brought trouble to her doorstep in the form of a man by the name of Izayoi, a familiar, young seeming man who meerly questioned if she'd like to 'play a game' before using her loss as an excuse to seal a part of her power, and escape the shrine she'd taken to calling home.Following his disappearance, reports of things going catastophically wrong reach Thoma, and Sera and her husband, Zack, though him; the world of magic is constantly tangled in some kind of chaos, and attacks from an old group called the Venatrix seem to be on the rise - A name Sera vaguely remembers, but can't place past knowing they're trouble, and put a pit in her gut.No matter where she looks, trouble continues to seem to follow, and there's more in the wings - Almost as if it pulls the strings, manipulating Halcyinians to do what it wills, causing chaos in the world's magics...Something out there is wrong, and Sera is determined to figure it out... And maybe herself and what lies in her soul along the way.
✿ Although Sera is aware her true name is Aria, there is a lot she still holds locked up in her soul. Aria is currently only half awake and lacks most of her memories, power, and abilities, though she's more than aware something is out there hunting her, and that she needs to stay hidden. As such, Aria will not answer to her name unless someone she trusts is calling her that, and will instead break away to hide if someone brings up Halcyon, Fenix, her name, or magic in general past a certain point in conversation.✿ Sera's dislike of being called a 'goddess' stems heavily from being viewed as one during the Halcyon Era. Though she'd accepted the role then, her fears of being a poor leader resulted in a heavy trauma and severe survivor's guilt that has stuck with her for several millions of years after being unable to help, let alone save, anyone at the end of the world, making the title of 'goddess' a sore spot for her despite her inability to actually remember why at current.✿ Her choosing of a fox for her 'disguise' is half out of knowing none would think to look for a fox, even one leaning towards resembling an arctic fox, but also half out of her own love for the animals. During Halcyon, Actic foxes were among the breeds she helped introduce into the world, and one she loved to watch after doing so. They, like snow leopards, hold a special place in her heart as a result, and while she'll commonly turn to the later when need be, the former is her choice for the current lifetime as foxes felt easier to blend in with.✿ Sera has been trapped in a cycle of abuse for multiple rebirths, seeing the same abuse, albeit in differing ways. For the last several dozens of lifetimes, she has ended up in the same spot with the same traumas by the age of 16; this is the first lifetime she's been able to break free and push back, largely due to the fact Aria's awakening means her body is, in actuality, not entirely human, granting her slightly better odds of survival. However, Aria herself refused to step out and use any power of any kind out of fear of overwhelming and destroying her body, worrying it may still be fully human, until she could sense her brother nearby while at the koi pond and gained the bravery to test her limits a little more.