These characters aren’t necessarily exclusive to a specific/fixed setting. They can be interpreted as headcanons that exist/fit in the canon storyline, characters specific to my Millennium AU, characters that exist by themselves and don’t fit anywhere,…etc. Anything really, as I do want them to have some flexibility. So feel free to interpret them as whatever makes the most sense to you. Personally, I see them as existing in both the canon storyline as my headcanons, and in my Millennium AU. In this post I’ll be (mainly) approaching and discussing them in the context of my Millennium AU, though there will also be some references to canon/pre-canon events of my interpretation.

Onwards to the backstory and concepts… woohoo!!! I’m sooo excited to introduce them!!!

In this drawing, there are two clans total, with two characters in each clan. The blue-haired ones are the “Volo”, and the orange-haired ones are the “Pyradros”.

For context, age-wise these Clan Leaders belong to the previous generation so they’re around Previous Lord’s age. Maybe a little older, maybe a little younger, but basically that. In terms of title/position, they were appointed as Clan Leaders by the time PL became Lord. Currently, they are still active as Clan Leaders in Raskreia’s reign, so technically they can be grouped with the current generation of Clan Leaders (aka Raskreia’s peers). The heirs of these Clan Leaders are around Raskreia’s age, maybe a little older, maybe a little younger, same thing.

No one would have guessed that the Previous Lord had a different plan all along. As the years passed, witnessing the rapidly changing world had prompted PL to think of the possibility of entering voluntary eternal sleep with his Clan Leaders. Asking Gejutel to stay behind and guide the next generation weren’t the only things he did. Long before PL even mentioned anything to anyone, he came up with another idea, a different way to protect Lukedonia: sending two of his Clan Leaders to the outside world, as far as possible, to the corners of this planet. Zephyrus Volo and Leona Pyradros were his close friends and trusted allies, and PL entrusted them with the mission of completely separating themselves from influences within Lukedonia, including PL himself. They were to walk every corner of this planet and see the world for themselves, for what it truly is. Try leading others, try being led. Expand your perspective, because it is crucial. PL’s instruction regarding their eventual return to Lukedonia was that they were to return during Raskreia’s reign, and many, many years well into it. In a way, this was PL’s last resort. If Lukedonia is still holding up and doing well under Raskreia’s leadership, they can simply settle back and continue on with their lives. And if Lukedonia is suffering for whatever reasons such as unforeseen circumstances or bad leadership, they can help rebuild Lukedonia and guide them back to the right direction, since they had spent vast amounts of time outside and accumulated valuable experience. PL had hoped that this would be Lukedonia’s last choice. By not leaving all of his eggs in one basket, he was certainly preparing for something. And Zephyrus and Leona were his close friends, and he could fully trust them with this mission. For safety purposes, no one knew about this mission except for the three of them. There was a mutual agreement between the three of them, and it was kept secret from everyone else, the entirety of Lukedonia. Not a single one of their fellow Clan Leaders, including the eventual traitor nobles, knew why they departed Lukedonia. They only had a vague idea that PL assigned them on some sort of mission, but none of them knew that they would never see the two again. Perhaps it was also a sacrifice on their part, to leave behind their home and everything they were familiar with. They respected PL, so to them this mission was of great importance, even if it meant that this would be a permanent farewell to the rest of Lukedonia. Their fellow Clan Leaders. And most of all, their beloved friend and leader. After sharing one final moment and goodbye with PL in private, Zephyrus and Leona silently and quickly depart, never to be seen again. The drama regarding the traitors would occur much, much later. The two’s journey began there, and they lived many lives as different people, in different places. They had nothing else except for each other, but that was enough for them. Gradually, their mutual friendship blossomed into something more. They fell in love with each other. Sometime later, Azurine was born. Then Rufus was born. Together they would raise their children and continue on with their journey around the world, completely oblivious to everything around them, just as PL had intended them to. The plotting, the murdering, traitor nobles leaving Lukedonia, Raizel and Muzaka’s fight, the invasion of Lukedonia, even Crombel’s nukes… these events simply didn’t exist to them. The two stay loyal to their mission post-finale and continue to explore the world. They would change locations every few decades to avoid suspicious of their lack of aging. Their now young adult children, thanks to their lifestyle, are very well-informed.

(This is were context starts to become vague/flexible/divergent, for the purpose of my story I choose to have them exist in my Millennium AU.) The four of them return sometime during the events of my Millennium AU, where Lukedonia has already seen birth of a new generation. Prior to their return Azurine and Rufus had never met any of the current generation of Clan Leaders, as they were born and raised entirely outside of Lukedonia. Even Raskreia is surprised. Explanation done, questions cleared, carry on. They settle back in Lukedonia. From the on, the story continues. How will they view the current Lukedonia and what will they do? Is this what PL had foreseen? For the better or worse? Seemingly, another “journey” for them begins.

(will continue to expand on this stuff in future posts!)

Moving onto the clans and characters!

Volo:

The Volo Clan specializes in all-rounders. Their spell-based attacks are ultra wide-range. Clan members can cast buffs on themselves and their allies, and debuffs on their enemies. Usually, the most powerful spells are casted by the pureblooded Clan Leaders and their line of heirs. The fighting style varies depending on the enemy. Due to the nature of their clan, one typically performs the best in fights as support for allies. In circumstances where they’re alone and/or all allies have been defeated, a well-trained Volo can also fight solo. The symbol of this clan is the Healer. Healing is their specialty and almost all Volo CLs and their heirs go through an extensive and unforgiving training regimen specific to their clan. One would find this to be extremely hard to endure. To them this is viewed as a necessity.

Soul Weapon: Octavio. Appearance is a crystal ball set atop a golden base that has eight red gems embedded on its surface. User can choose to hold it or have it levitate on its own. The crystal ball itself for the most time is a dark shade of color such as black, purple, blue etc. and glows other brighter colors when its user chooses to activate its powers. Can summon a wide range of spells. Most spells are not meant to be offensive, as they are intended to be secondary support, though there are a few attack-based spells too. Minor to moderate wounds can be healed repeatedly, though not indefinitely. The number of times Octavio can cast a healing spell depends on the user’s remaining energy and/or occasionally, willpower. E.g. if the user is worn out and/or injured badly, other spells may still be summoned but a healing spell cannot be summoned. When a healing spell is active, the crystal ball glows a bright cyan hue. Octavio’s ultimate skill is not an attack but rather an ability. When activated, the user can transfer a serious and even fatal blow from an ally to them self. Or, they can transfer a serious or fatal blow that they received to an ally. Due to the nature of this ultimate skill, it is rarely ever activated but if the situation is dire, the user can summon the skill and, in the process, decide who to save. Both parties involved need to consent and agree to the injury transfer for it to carry out. Contrary to its appearance, Octavio cannot be used for fortune telling. You can stare at it all you want but all you’ll see is a boring, unflattering reflection of your distorted nostrils.

Zephyrus Volo: the current Clan Leader, and Leona’s husband. Tall and fairly slender, though the slender part isn’t always visible because his layers of clothes cover it up. Wears black eyeshadow. Doesn’t talk much even though he has a lot of thoughts in his head. Some of them might as well stay unspoken, since they’re quite funny but mostly annoying. A very kindhearted man in general but sometimes seen as aloof because he’s always tired due to the nature of his powers as a healer as every single spell, even the most minor ones, will drain his energy. Will extend his hand to help others around him with his powers even if it’s not an emergency, something very minor that people can probably heal by themselves with a bit of time. He takes his job very seriously and it could be a bad thing. His wife Leona keeps him in check and makes sure he isn’t going around fixing everything he can and as a result draining himself dry of his own energy and passing out somewhere with his face planted to the ground. Very affectionate but is shy to express it. Reaaaally likes holding hands. Loves it when Leona picks him up and carries him like a princess. Calls her Leonie.

Azurine Volo: the clan’s heir, Zephyrus and Leona’s first child, and Rufus’ elder sister.

Very beautiful and has a mysterious aura to her. To some she may appear to be cold, because she doesn’t smile much and prefers nodding and other subtle body language for communication rather than talking. However this completely reverses where she becomes super chatty if you get close to her and gain her trust. Just like her father she is passionate about helping others. Unfortunately, she is in the same situation as him where she needs to trade her own welfare for it. She does it a bit differently though. Unlike the Tradio who specialize in poison, she specializes in antidotes. Specifically, she purposely inflicts herself with poison and/or other injuries, then tries to find a way to fix it. Literally putting herself through pain and enduring through all of it so she can find a solution for others, since she believes experimenting on other is inhumane. There has been several times where she had almost died from self experimentation, but it never stopped her. She does this for centuries after centuries, and there is virtually no one else with the willpower and mental capacity to do this. Her arms are always, always covered either in bandages, long sleeves or other accessories to hide her scars from self experimentation. Occasionally blood oozes out from fresh wounds that haven’t completely healed yet and it scares people. She insists it’s fine though. Karias’ on-and-off lover and in a sense Kaelestis’ not-stepmother.

Pyradros:

The Pyradros Clan specializes in both close-range and long-range combat. Attacks are mostly melee, and are super destructive and explosive in nature. The only purpose is to destroy. Not to weaken, not to contain, not to subdue. The only goal is to completely destroy the enemy with no concern about what state they’d be left in. This style of combat takes a lot of training to master. Insufficient training could lead to injuring oneself, so those who want to wield this type of fighting style must be very experienced. Even an experienced user needs to be careful, Clan Leaders and heirs included. Typically, combat training starts at a very young age and safety precautions are the priority and taught first. The symbol of this clan is the Sun. Beautiful, dazzling, and destructive. Too much or too little of it, you die. It’s all about control and balance.

Soul weapon: Soleil. A flail. The handle is mainly black with golden tips on either end, with a massive spiked sphere attached to one end. Typically used for swinging attacks that use brute force to puncture and/or smash enemies to bits. Attacks are virtually impossible to defend against, and they are designed to inflict a great amount of pain. Even enemies with superior regeneration fear this weapon, as they will relive the trauma for every single blow they receive and recover from, where the process repeat over and over again. Sometimes even Soleil’s appearance alone is enough to instill fear into the enemy and make them lose their will to fight. In general, Soleil is unforgiving to both the enemy and the wielder, as the former will usually perish within receiving one or several blows, and the latter needs to be extremely cautious too or they may injure themselves in the process. User can also choose to fight long-range as Soleil can also release aura like a typical SW, though most users prefer melee to bring out the full extent of its raw swinging and smashing power. The spikes on the flail’s sphere can detach and reattach on command. User can command Soleil to detach its spikes and the spikes will hurl themselves at the enemy as powerful and fearsome darts. After the enemy is pierced, Soleil’s spikes can be recalled (vanishing from enemies’ body) and reappear on the flail’s sphere. And repeat process if you wish. Soleil’s flying spike darts are very hard to dodge, though it is still possible to dodge them. Soleil’s ultimate attack is summoning a self-destructive blinding light that could possibly temporarily blind everything in the area (user and allies included) and a massive field of sharp crystals in the same fashion as the spikes will emerge from the ground to pierce anything within its reach. Due to the nature of this soul weapon, fights are best done solo just because of how destructive it is. Teamwork is possible but needs to be coordinated very, very carefully.

Leona Pyradros: the current Clan Leader, and Zephyrus’ wife. Has a great smile and radiates energy that can be felt by anyone near her. A bright and bubbly person who is most often found chatting with just about anyone. The weather, new recipes, your kids doing stupid things, just mundane things. Though, as inviting as she seems, she is actually pretty selective and doesn’t let people into her inner circle easily. Or at all, really. They don’t even know that she has functionality blocked them off because she’s so good at handling it and making them feel like they’re important to her (even when they’re not). Probably knows all of the latest gossip. In a way, she’s very good at collecting intel. Enjoys fighting and will fight anyone who is willing to spare some time. Sometimes refers to her SW as “little sunny” and talks to it as if it is capable of conversation. Aww, little sunny is feeling a bit bloodthirsty, aren’t you? Me too me too. Stuff like that creeps people out sometimes. Very protective of her husband and hates it when people expect him to fix just about anything. Will chase them away so he doesn’t spend his energy on them. Will shoot spike darts juuuuust a little past your ear barely grazing it as a warning to back off. Hah. That’ll do. Though if someone really needs healing she’ll let him help. Calls her husband Zeph and sometimes Windy if she’s feeling playful. Loves a good ribcage-crushing hug (usually the one giving it)

Rufus Pyradros: the clan’s heir, Zephyrus and Leona’s second child, and Azurine’s younger brother. Quite muscular in general but that part is usually invisible because he wears so many layers of frills and furs. A bit shy and instinctively covers his eyes when he sees his mother and elder sister because he hates the sight of blood and is quite afraid of it actually, and more often than not they are bloody, with the former loving spars and the latter injuring herself for research. Will scream “eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!” if frightened. A big sweetheart in general and his love language is gift giving. If he likes you you’ll find that he’s always handmaking something for you. Loves makeup and often makes his own from scratch. He loves his momma and wants to make her proud but he is pretty much lacking in terms of fighting ability because he’s SO scared of blood to the point where she can’t even train him properly without him crying and begging for a break and/or quitting at the sight of any open wound really. They just keep trying and momma is very patient. He’s very sorry about it and thinks he won’t ever be able to wield Soleil, even when she tells him not to worry. Loves potato chips. The really salty kind that always leaves your fingers all greasy and sticky.