Randa Primarosa

"Fie upon the ruin wrought by the wickedness of the blood red filth; cleansed, it shalt be, by the retribution of Her sanctity. To tarnish the very blade She hath bequeathed the apostate, its stench be that of our brethren's blood; to spit in the face of Her austere divinity, it fancies itself Her eternal bane. Is such defoliation truly not of death incarnate itself?"

- A zealot speaking of Kaya Hike

"Enigmatic Allure...a whisper that heralds calamity upon the cradle to fall..."

—Somnium Fluxus

Kaya Hike (ひけかや, Hike Kaya), more commonly referred to by her alias, Scarlet, is a former member of Diluculum Sanctus and thought to be last remaining of the original Nefas. Having inadvertently inherited the immortality of Velia Agostinha Vivax, Scarlet frequently changes her identity to hide her true nature from society; her birth name is Randa Primarosa (ランダプリマローザ, Purimaroza Randa). She is sometimes referred to amongst Agostinha's worshipers as Mulieris Ruber Sanguis (ムリアリスルバサングイス, literally "Woman of Blood Red"), paralleling Agostinha's nickname.

Following the destruction of Diluculum Sanctus and her brutal physical encounter with Agostinha, Scarlet severed all ties to the cult and became a vigilante of sorts, actively hunting all of Agostinha's remaining worshipers throughout the centuries to carry out her revenge. Scarlet is heavily feared and demonized by such zealots, who label her "death incarnate" and ridicule her for her seemingly futile ambition to destroy Agostinha above all else. Although she does not actively pursue them, Scarlet mercilessly murders any Nefas who encounter her regardless of their affiliations, considering them pawns in the will of the black-winged woman. Scarlet is worshiped as a goddess much like Agostinha by groups of Nefas who have lost faith in the latter.

Appearance
Scarlet is a fully-grown woman with a common physique and matured face. Her most distinguishing trait is her luminous red eyes, which she obtained after becoming a Nefas—they were originally brown in coloration. Scarlet has long red hair that reaches halfway down her back with an asymmetrical fringe—her hair barely frames her face on the left, but reaches past her shoulders, where it is noticeably wavy, and partially obscures her eye on the right. Although her vision is no longer impaired, Scarlet always wears a simple pair of glasses, presumably to hide the luminosity of her eyes.

Scarlet's choice of fashion is known to be very exotic; her general costume consists of a black tank-top low enough to partially expose her black-strapped white bra, with smoother, white fabric around the breast area, and red outlining on top; this is complemented by a pair of black composite sleeves that partially obscure her hands, with white fabric on both ends of the sleeves. Underneath her tank-top is a red fabric with a faded, golden pattern embellishing its edges. Worn underneath this is a long, flowing black skirt, similarly colored black tights underneath, and knee-high black and white boots each decorated with a golden crescent plate. Worn over her entire outfit is a green cloth cross-belt a golden star-shaped buckle. with Scarlet accessorizes this outfit with a golden-twined necklace of two circular golden chains and a blue orb in the middle. Her larger, red cloth necklace features a crescent design similar to those attached to her boots.

For more formal occasions, Scarlet wears a long, collared sleeveless black vest cut to expose her naval area, with a white outlining in its center, a brown miniskirt, and a golden, stat-buckled belt hanging over her hips under her vest. Scarlet still wears the same boots and accessories with the exception of a golden bracelet on her right wrist.

As a member of Diluculum Sanctus, Scarlet wore a simple hooded robe with gold outlining around the hooded area and her usual pair of necklaces. Her hair was styled similarly as it is presently, but appeared to completely obscure her right eye.

Personality
In her childhood, Scarlet was defined as iffy, low-spirited, and reserved, traits apparently inspired by her inherent blindness and inability as an artisan; in the presence of those earning of her trust, however, Scarlet exhibited a far more exuberant persona. In contrast to her external behavior, Scarlet was, in truth, highly optimistic, believing that she would one day overcome her blindness and gain acceptance in her family even despite her lack of faith. Primarily, the traumatic events occurring as a result of Diluculum Sanctus' foundation have shaped her into the woman she is today.

Most prominently, Scarlet has developed an indomitable will and idealism, acting on her own without questioning herself regardless of who might disagree or turn against her as a result of her actions. Despite her rebellious nature, however, Scarlet does not seem to be interested in forcing her beliefs on others, and in fact has little care for the beliefs of others as long as they do not strongly oppose her own. Possibly due to her childhood, Scarlet avoids discussing conviction whenever possible, not, as she states, due to the possibility of rejection, but simply because such discussions draw unpleasant memories, a result of her inability to put past experiences behind her despite her stout efforts to do so. As a result of Agostinha's betrayal and the Shinigami's negligence, Scarlet has become highly distrustful, at times deliberately deterring potential allies by voicing—and sometimes exaggerating—her beliefs with an intimidating passion. As another product of the aforementioned events, Scarlet has developed a particularly strong distrust for spiritual beings in general, avoiding interaction with such beings whenever possible.

Despite her personal opinions of Shinigami, Scarlet is fully aware of the significance of their duties and has been known to personally assist them in their most dire situations, proving that she does not normally allow her emotions to hinder her ability to act rationally according to her morals; even so, Scarlet has been known to act impulsively on particular occasions, usually when presented with a situation similar to a traumatic experience in the past. Generally, Scarlet is capable of remaining calm in any given situation, partially inspired by her unwavering determination. She has shown a tendency to bite her thumb or adjust her glasses whenever she is nervous, both of which she considers bad habits.

Despite her tenacious exterior, Scarlet is, at her core, a highly fearful individual, but has learned to overcome her fears through courage. Scarlet is fairly open in discussing her fears as shown when she states that, while she fears the seemingly unbeatable Agostinha beyond all else, her courage and obligation to see her will fulfilled enables her to oppose Agostinha no matter how powerful she may be. Scarlet is fully aware that she may never even see Agostinha again, but states that she has little left to do in life than carry out her revenge; in truth, Scarlet prefers not to consider what may happen after she succeeds as a result of her fear of being left with nothing to do in an eternal existence, which could potentially result in her one day becoming similar to Agostinha.

While Scarlet generally avoids bonding with other individuals, mortal or not, she deeply cherishes those who do manage to earn her full trust, but fears that she may be unable to protect them and is aware that she will outlive them regardless as a result of her immortality. Despite her introversion, Scarlet is noted to be unnaturally charming, and thus other individuals, both male and female, are instinctively drawn to her, fueling her annoyance more often than not.

Scarlet is a highly reticent individual, preferring to keep her past and her deepest emotions to herself. Aside from another attempt to distance herself from others, Scarlet does so because, as she states, her allies may very well betray her at any time, using her emotions against her. Along with her tendency to closely observe other individuals in secret, this hints to some degree of paranoia, likely another product of Agostinha's actions. Scarlet states that because her intellect far surpasses that of most around her, she is unable to find anyone who can "oversee reality" as she can, which likely further contributes to her introversion.

Scarlet is shown to be rather blunt and informal in speech, usually addressing an individual by their first name, regardless of familiarity or status, and sometimes even coming up with nicknames for them, which she usually justifies by stating that it is easier to remember them that way. Scarlet is not one to swear or directly insult an individual unless angered, but such traits prominent in other individuals does not seem to bother her.

As a result of both her old age and wisdom, Scarlet is exceptionally patient; the greatest testament to this is her persistence in dealing with Agostinha's influence, knowing full well that she may not succeed in eradicating said woman's presence in society for thousands of years to follow, if at all. This is also inspired by her immortality, as Scarlet frequently states that she no longer has time to lose; as a result, Scarlet tends to plan her actions hundreds of years in advance, which she states is another one of her bad habits. Scarlet does seem to lose her patience when dealing with overly frivolous individuals.

Scarlet is an astonishingly convincing actor, capable of even feigning grief to the point of forcing herself to cry. Scarlet states that this is mainly a side-effect of her trained self-control, which is primarily for the purpose of more accurately manipulating her Anima Obscuritas; even so, Scarlet occasionally employs her acting skills to create humorous irony or to avoid potential, unnecessary conflict.

Scarlet is highly professional in dealing with those she considers her opponents, killing them, even if they were former allies, without remorse or sympathy. Having literally fought tens of thousands of battles in her life, Scarlet strongly dislikes the “tedium” battle has devolved into for her, preferring to settle disputes diplomatically if possible; as a result, Scarlet prefers to kill her opponents as quickly as possible regardless of her opinion of them, and additionally does not participate in battles she deems uninteresting or pointless. Scarlet claims to have kept of exactly how many zealots she has killed, suggesting that she does consider any battle worth remembering. Scarlet considers the concept of honor a “pretentious hindrance,” and is thus willing to use any means necessary to triumph in a serious conflict. Scarlet does seem to become mildly intrigued when training with an ally capable of holding their own against her, yet frustrated when an actual enemy demonstrates similar capabilities.

While Scarlet naturally appears to be very self-centered, her desire for revenge does take into consideration the fates of Diluculum Sanctus' original members—she expresses her disgust at Agostinha for taking advantage of their faith and tricking them with false hope, Axenus in particular. She further states that her former comrades are always watching over her, hinting at her philosophical nature. In contrast, it is very rare for Scarlet to develop such a bond with more recent allies—while choosing not to manipulate their actions, Scarlet generally considers them expendable, rarely showing concern when her allies die or turn against her. Scarlet is known to resort to violence whenever her closest allies consider leaving or turning against her, effectively forcing them to continue fighting alongside her whether they want to or not. While seemingly cold-hearted, this is, in fact, her most powerful expression of earnest affection as it indicates a friend she considers truly irreplaceable. While Scarlet normally has little regard for the emotions of others, she does sympathize with those who can relate to her own past. Ironically, although she refuses to admit it, Scarlet does have an uncharacteristically tender side for animals, going as far to protect nearby wildlife from harm and sometimes even feed tiny animals during intense battles, often to inadvertently humorous effect.

Although Scarlet is strictly stern in most situations, she does, in the presence of her allies, display a dry sense of humor on occasion, usually for the purpose of adding levity in desperate situations to calm her allies. Her humor is also expressed, more rarely, in the form of sarcasm, usually to offend her companions whenever they make a drastic mistake. Scarlet appears to enjoy aggressively belittling individuals significantly younger than her, often questioning their judgment and criticizing minor mistakes on their part aside from humorously talking down on them as though they were children.

Scarlet usually displays her more flirtatious side during times of persistent peace, which she does purely for entertainment rather than to manipulate men in any way. Scarlet does not seem to have any interest in pursuing an intimate relationship, stating that she would simply outlive her lover and be left with nothing, ultimately rendering such a relationship unhealthy in the long run.

Scarlet spends most of her free time practicing qigong, preferring to train her mind rather than her body; this is supported by her tendency to remain in deep contemplation for long periods of time, often mumbling quietly to herself. Scarlet is an avid collector of relics, favoring ancient weapons in particular. As an exceptionally talented artisan and inventor, Scarlet has a plethora of hobbies, but states that her simpler interests frequently change; her most prominent passions involve knitting, music, visual arts, jewellery designing, engineering and blacksmithing. She is known to personally design most of the uniforms and jewelery she wears. Although Scarlet no longer needs to consume anything to live, she is particularly fond of apples, which seems to be the only food she eats. Scarlet states that consuming apples helps her to think and relax. Scarlet strongly detests almost any form of song, at one point admitting that she once threatened to kill a minstrel for repeatedly singing in front of her.

History
Randa was born within a patrician family of musicians, artists, and mathematicians around 7th Century BC in Latium, Italy. Randa was raised by her unnamed grandparents for the majority of her childhood, having lost her parents to unknown causes at a very young age. As a consequence of her inherent blindness, Randa was severely handicapped in pursuing her family's passions, and thus became the “black sheep” of her family, only exacerbated by her lack of faith. Randa's grandfather initially considered disowning her, but soon decided against it despite the protest of Randa's siblings, unwilling to go against the will of Randa's parents. It was for this decision that Randa held her grandfather in higher regard than the rest of her family.



Randa would first meet Axenus Gate sometime during her adolescence. Axenus, having recently inherited the power of Agostinha, had heard of Randa's plight and offered to cure her blindness and restore her faith in the gods, which Randa accepted with her grandfather's permission. To further convince Randa, Axenus lead her to the statue of Agostinha he had been using as a medium to contact said woman. It is through this statue that Agostinha first interacted with Randa, beckoning her to accept Axenus' guidance. With her blindness cured, Randa accompanied Axenus in his journey to grant miracles to the rest of his community and make Agostinha's existence known. Randa would immediately join the newly-formed Diluculum Sanctus two years later, inheriting the power of Agostinha shortly after and finally becoming a Nefas.

During her time in Diluculum Sanctus, Randa primarily participated in Hollow extermination, occasionally engaging in harmless interactions with Shinigami (known then as Deorum Mors) as well. Randa had very little interaction with her family beyond this point, but it is known that she discreetly attended her grandfather's funeral ten years after joining Diluculum Sanctus, where she was also reunited with the rest of her family. Despite her brother's pleas, Randa completely disassociated herself with the Primarosa family soon after, intent on overseeing Diluculum Sanctus for as long as it continued to develop; to this end, Randa, like many of Diluculum Sanctus' first members, prolonged her life via use of Messor Vita on animals and remained a prominent member of Diluculum Sanctus long after Axenus' presumed death.

In 5th century BC, all members of Diluculum Sanctus including Randa were mysteriously plagued by Agostinha's Vox Calamitosus. Although the curse killed all Diluculum Sanctus members familiar to Randa, Randa herself adapted to the curse and gained more of Agostinha's power, earning Agostinha's interest as a result. When Randa vehemently cursed out Agostinha for her apparent betrayal, Agostinha physically appeared before her, initiating a violent and completely one-sided battle. At some point during their battle, Randa attempted to kill Agostinha using Messor Vita, which instead granted Randa Agostinha's agelessness and some degree of Her wisdom. The conflict ended with Agostinha vanishing after gouging out Randa's original left eye.

In the aftermath of the battle, Randa abandoned Diluculum Sanctus and changed her name. Randa is known to have visited her family one final time during this period; however, because her siblings were already long deceased, Randa was now completely foreign to the diminishing family. Left with little direction, Randa devoted herself to assisting the Shinigami in their extermination of Hollows until she heard of a small group of zealots attempting to restore Diluculum Sanctus to its full glory. The zealots, unaware of Agostinha's intervention, blamed Randa for the plague that had befallen the cult. When her attempts to reason with the zealots failed, Randa was left with no choice but to exterminate the group so as to prevent innocent lives from suffering a similar fate as she had. During her most famous conflict, Randa summoned an enormous treant-like creature using an ancient oak tree as a catalyst and devastated a massive gathering of zealots as well as a large portion of Latium. Despite Randa's efforts, Agostinha's influence continued to spread throughout Latium, convincing Randa to change her priorities and eradicate Agostinha's influence on society, as well as Agostinha herself, by any means necessary. Randa developed her animosity towards Shinigami upon their refusal to cooperate with her, unwilling to potentially endanger Soul Society by provoking Agostinha. Randa would soon become notorious throughout Latium as a dangerous criminal, feared as an underworld demigoddess by Diluculum Sanctus' remaining zealots. Randa is known to have invented a number of weapons for her own use during the century; her most notable invention was an early version of the projectile weapon that she would later name Abundiantus, even though such a weapon would not be publicly conceived until over a thousand years later. At some point during 5th century BC, Randa developed a cursed left eye as a result of Agostinha's Vox Calamitosus; she is also known to have had two further encounters with Agostinha, although the details are unknown.

Randa departed from Latium in the aftermath of the Gothic War (554 AD) when Agostinha's influence spread throughout neighboring regions, beginning her nationwide hunt for Agostinha's zealots. Such zealots would eventually appear throughout other continents many centuries later, causing further complications in Randa's campaign. Randa's hunt led her to Japan in 1840 where she has since remained, gaining her alias, Scarlet, and much later changing her real name to Kaya Hike.

Powers and Abilities
As one of the original Nefas, Scarlet is considered to be a perfect balance of power, wisdom and experience. As a result of her further contact with Agostinha, Scarlet has obtained several additional abilities and has arguably become the most dangerous Nefas, largely due to her nigh unsurpassable brilliance rather than her exceptional power. It is rumored that her capabilities as a Nefas are surpassed only by the very first humans to inherit Agostinha's power—the three founders of Diluculum Sanctus.

Natural Abilities
Immortality: Scarlet inherited a single aspect of Agostinha's immortality upon using Messor Vita on her—unlike Agostinha, who literally cannot die no matter what, Scarlet is merely ageless, meaning that she can still die from unnatural causes. Scarlet's quasi-immortality means that she no longer requires any sustenance or sleep to survive. Agostinha implies that Scarlet will one day become truly immortal as her powers are still evolving.

Profound Genius-Level Intellect: Quite likely her most dangerous weapon, Scarlet's intellect has grown to the point that simply calling her a genius is often considered a “critical understatement.” A natural prodigy at birth, Scarlet intellect is said to have surpassed that of her parents and older siblings when she was merely four years of age, a trait which further distanced her from her family and other children. Since inheriting Agostinha's wisdom, Scarlet's intellect has substantially grown to the point that is often considered supernatural, making it seem as though Scarlet is actually clairvoyant; an example of this is her tendency to quickly interrupt individuals in their speech, predicting what they are going to say by either analyzing the given speech or the tone of the speaker's voice. As an act of both caution and curiosity, Scarlet has a peculiar habit of carefully analyzing every aspect of an individual's behavior, commonly applying to her own allies; this enables her to deduce major facts—even facts not pertaining to the individual in question—by simply observing how the individual interacts with their surroundings or people around them. Scarlet is, as such, a natural detective virtually impossible to deceive through words alone. She is additionally a highly skilled interrogator—when necessary, she is capable of coaxing individuals to reveal their secrets by pretending to know far more than she actually does through a coy application of cold reading. Attesting to her personal belief that life is an easily read book if one understands it properly, Scarlet tends to meticulously plan her own actions thousands of years in advance, taking into account every conceivable event that would force her to alter these plans and developing multiple contingency plans for every such occurrence, a task only possible because of her infallible memory; she is highly adept at, by extension, predicting how events will play out and how individuals pertaining to a situation will act even long after said situation has concluded, supplementing her nigh impeccable skill as a leader. It is said that Scarlet's intellect is possibly second only to Agostinha's, and even then only barely inferior; Agostinha Herself acknowledges that Scarlet's intellect will likely one day rival Her own, confirming that it is still expanding as a result of Agostinha's influence. Scarlet is often considered the very embodiment of wisdom of a result of her extensive intellectual achievements and “boundless” knowledge.
 * Prodigious Inventor:
 * Master of Manipulation:
 * Master Strategist and Tactician:

High Spiritual Pressure: Scarlet, despite being a Nefas, has moderately high spiritual pressure. Perhaps as a result of her Nefas powers, Scarlet's spiritual pressure is highly unorthodox with a profound effect of causing any individual within its range significantly weaker than her in terms of spiritual pressure (excluding other Nefas) to bleed from every orifice of their body and eventually combust. Scarlet's spiritual pressure manifests as a gleaming red aura around her body and is often described as a furtive presence withholding malicious intent. When released for an extended period of time, Scarlet's spiritual pressure has a noticeable effect on the atmosphere, changing the color of the sky itself into a blood red hue while blackening the clouds; it is noted for being very similar to the power of Agostinha's influence in this sense, implying that it is impure (i.e. a hybrid of influence and spiritual pressure). This is further supported by the fact that the effects of Scarlet's spiritual pressure far transcend the actual range of said spiritual pressure. Because a Nefas should normally not have high levels of spiritual pressure and Scarlet's own spiritual pressure has not changed since first becoming a Nefas, it is not an accurate representation of her power level despite its dormant intensity.

Hand-to-Hand Combatant:

Weapons Specialist:
 * Blacksmithing:
 * Sharpshooter:

Equipment

 * Agostinha's Feather:Feather_of_Agostinha.png One of the feathers left behind by Agostinha during Her battle with Scarlet, said to contain an everlasting dormant energy; its power can only be awakened by a user of Anima Obscuritas. The feather is rarely utilized by Scarlet, and thus its true power is unknown. Scarlet primarily uses the feather to drastically amplify the power of her Pili Agostinha by converting the feather into a black vapor and merging it into the javelin, making it nearly as powerful as Agostinha's own javelin; this procedure takes a considerable amount of time, however. The feather naturally reforms itself after it is used in this manner. Scarlet states that the feather's power has not diminished over time, confirming its everlasting nature. Given its properties and the fact that Perplexus Esse is ineffective on it, it is likely the feather's dormant energy is exactly the same as Agostinha's own paradoxical energy.

Shigeko Yasuda
Scarlet became acquainted with Shigeko Yasuda shortly after the latter's reemergence in the Human World. As a regular customer of Shigeko's bookstore, Scarlet quickly developed a small friendship with the rogue Shinigami, from then on occasionally visiting her bookstore just to converse with her. Because of Shigeko's seemingly youthful age, Scarlet often belittles her as though she were a child, but this is usually done for the sake of friendly humor. Although Scarlet is apparently unaware that Shigeko is a Shinigami, Shigeko secretly knows of Scarlet's nature as a Nefas. Oddly enough, Scarlet is one of the very few individuals capable of remembering Shigeko consistently.

Trivia

 * All images used in this article were drawn by the author.
 * Scarlet is intended to be the author's primary project.
 * Although the name is archaic, Scarlet still occasionally refers to Shinigami as Deorum Mors.
 * Scarlet was originally planned to be a 27-year-old woman who obtained Nefas powers genetically; this was changed as the author felt it would make for a rather generic story.
 * Despite being an ancient Nefas, Scarlet does not appear to possess traditional Nefas equipment such as the Sacrificium Cultri. This is likely because, given her proficiency with soul conversion and the power of her cursed eye, she no longer has need of such equipment.