Akibi

Despite his often civil attitude, Akibi is a person who often deals with inhumane amounts of stress, and can be quite snippy when he's feeling it. Paranoid of trusting others due to repeated murder attempts on his life, Akibi will often try to come across as someone you can come to if you're in trouble...but shouldn't unless it's really necessary. The rational mind of the team otherwise, Akibi is one of the more mature demons in the group, often creating medicines or food for others to consume in tough times. Because he's seen as a weak Demon Lord in general, Akibi can become very flabbergasted when his skills and powers are complimented.

As the Nature Lord, Akibi has incredibly powerful magic on par with the Nature Guardian's. Often utilizing sedatives and poisons to defeat opponents quickly, Akibi often refuses to play or spar with magic. Because of his unique ability on Ceres (Adaptability, which causes him to take on different dominant elemental forms if he's already been hit by that kind of magic before, making him almost invincible (exhaustion potential aside) with Elemental Absorb), he restrains his magic usage to simply medicine and food out of fear that he'll be targeted for more than just prestige and wealth if others find out. As a result, Akibi has mastered the use of his rapier, Eglantine, able to kill opponents with a quick slash to the throat, or stab to the heart. Fighting quickly and a master of dodging, Akibi is prone to very little distractions in battle when he's in "fight or flight" mode, only moving in harm's way if his friends or Ryoku are in trouble. He can also use the Wyvern Skeleton/Dragon Slayer whip as a result of his training at the hands of his step-father, though he only uses the whip if absolutely necessary. It runs on his blood as an undead weapon (this is partially the reason for Akibi's nickname as "The Lord of Life"). However, Akibi prefers to use diplomacy more than violence to solve disputes. He can become easily enraged into a fight, though.

As the reincarnation of Ryoku's mentor, he was skeptical of Ryoku's affection for him at first, outright rejecting any possibilities of a relationship the first few times Ryoku asked. After Ryoku proved to him that he was mistaken, Akibi eventually allowed himself to partner with the manakete, and often helps him curb his energy and strength through words alone. Due to circumstances, he eventually becomes Ryoku's Dragon Tamer, and holds onto Ryoku's Dragon Stone until the time is right to give it back. He and Ryoku share a telepathic link due to their souls being bound together; this was created out of circumstances aside from their relationship, however.

Now that Ragnarok's Call has passed by successfully, Akibi had regained the use of Adaptability, and has come back much more confident than he was before. Coming back at 18 rather than 26, Akibi has changed a bit. Now "fraternal twins" with Takuto, he's become a bit more open in this new life, supported by his brothers and Ryoku, who he has accepted sooner. Now simply a descendant of Aion's rather than his reincarnation, Akibi has lost whatever Psychic capabilities he might've once shown, although he can temporarily regain them by taking on his Esper Form. Though he still respects Yoru and his friends a great deal, he's much more willing to joke with them, rather than to maintain professionalism. He's still fairly diplomatic, however.

As an aside, Akibi gained the nickname "Etheram" in the Flame Region of Ceres due to his short-temper and wealth of magic strength. Only those he was close to in his first life call him this, however. His eyes are also naturally gray, although they'll turn red if he becomes especially enraged, or green if he's possessed. The Core Four Season Spirits are also prone to this (meaning Kage, Yoru, Ryoku and Akibi. Their eyes change colours depending on the situation).

When Ryoku became a True Lord and gained complete control of his True Form, Akibi binded his soul to Ryoku's. Eventually, the two of them created a Seed together that eventually became Messiah Jr. Showing obvious pride whenever Messi is mentioned, Akibi has taken the role of teaching Messi how to fight with the Dragon Slayer whip, whereas Ryoku will focus on teaching Messi the more dragonic ways of life.

When Ryoku and Crysta set him and Aoren up in the hopes that they would eventually become close Mates, Akibi and Aoren initially did well in the resulting relationship. However, it quickly dawned on them that they both had more affection for Ryoku and Messi than they did for each other. When the Dragon of Creation nearly awakened and Akibi was freed from her clutches, he and Aoren quickly agreed that it would be best to part ways. Though neither Lord is proud of this agreement, Akibi seems to be a little bit more at ease knowing that Aoren won't suffer with him if the dragon ever comes back. Aoren has declared himself Messi's Water Magic tutor to get an excuse to stay nearby him. Neither Akibi nor Ryoku mind this arrangement, and remain good friends with Aoren at this time.

After taking up a "love" challenge from Crysta, he grew closer to her to the point that he Marked her during that same night, and he received her Mark in return. With the promise that Ryoku will claim her as a Mate as well, Akibi seems very happy to be connected to her in some way (especially after he gained a pouch). However, he seems a bit jealous of Takuto. It seems Takuto and he used to be rivals when it came to love (considering they're both halves of the same soul).

Supposedly, Takuto convinced Ryoku to choose Akibi over himself, figuring Akibi needed him more than Takuto did. Ryoku still shows affection towards Takuto, however; a point that isn't lost on Akibi. More recently, he's decided to allow Ryoku to pursue Takuto, having realized Ryoku won't leave him if more partners are included in their dynamics.

After Takuto was killed in the revolt of Zhoushen, Aion split his powers and Core in two, and gave each half to Takuto and Akibi to absorb. When Akibi absorbed the half Aion gave to him, he gained the physical abilities of Aion, although he hasn't grown "permanent" summonable wings yet, nor have any horns grown in yet. His tail has become bigger, however, signifying that it might split in two after enough time passes. Because he physically resembled Aion to begin with, the changes won't seem too drastic. But as he's gained Aion's memories (as Takuto one day will), he seems to be having some difficulty coming to terms with it. He's become much more possessive over Ryoku due to some of these memories, however, and has become slightly distant with "outsiders" as he tries to sort through things.

After becoming Soul Mates with Crysta (alongside Ryoku), Akibi received two Seeds (and Takuto gained one), plus three children between himself, Ryoku and Crysta. Aine, the cool Flame chile, Fiorello, the hot-headed Nature boy, and Luvina, the kind mediator of the bunch. He seems happy to begin raising a bigger family, especially now that Crysta is with them, and shows a very strong fondness for Crysta and Ryoku nowadays.

However, after quite a lot of rough spots, including being possessed by his protective 'shield', the mysterious Mystic Etheram, who treated others rather coldly, Akibi has found many of his relationships have either dwindled or extinguished. He's at the least very happy that his family stuck by his side during the whole ordeal, and now has the company of his 'shield' as well.

Backstory

Note: The first half is identical to Takuto's backstory due to their shared source.

In his first life, Takuto was originally a part of Akibi and had no sway or willpower of his own. However, as Akibi grew and the Dragon of Rebirth began to grow more powerful within him, Akibi grew weaker and weaker to the point of debilitating disease. When his long lost brother Griever, alongside Requiem and a young Ryoku (then known as Kiryuu) returned home and found him in this state at the tender age of 3, Requiem (known for his ability to split demons into Fragments, as well as being one himself) split what became Takuto's soul from Akibi's. In doing so, Takuto and the Dragon of Destruction warped themselves elsewhere, deciding to recuperate where no one would suspect them of being a destructive half. With the Dragon of Creation within him, Akibi began to grow strong again, and eventually forgot Takuto's existence. However, a decade and a half later, when Takuto was murdered and set to reincarnate by the Reaper, Rangge, Akibi grew aware of his existence once again (especially when Ryoku brought him Takuto's soul crystal). From there, Akibi and Ryoku strengthened their bond to prevent either dragon from awakening once more... Until recently, neither "half" has remembered this crucial detail, since the reset Ceres set them back to a time before they learned about any of this.

In his life before the Overworld and the Ragnarok, Akibi often suffered at the hands of others, especially Adamantine and other Lords because of his gift for Adaptability. Often criticized for "throwing away his gift" (as he would often stick to a few select forms and refused to improve any other magic spells), this greed culminated to the point that Akibi snapped and went mad, basically becoming an (often drunk) power-seeker. Beginning a sneaky, yet equally brutal, murderous rampage to get revenge on those who had caused him pain in the past, Akibi eventually left his home region after Ryoku got caught in the crossfires of his rage and was killed by his own hand. Living in solitude until his death, Akibi grew to hate the happiness of others and felt bitter to the very end. In this life, Akibi had reabsorbed Takuto's Soul Crystal and successfully quelled the Dragon of Rebirth with his own powers, diverting the Ragnarok centuries later. He had also gotten rid of Adamantine (though it was during this event, when Ryoku was trying to convince him to let Adma live, that Ryoku was accidentally killed, making Akibi lose any semblance of sanity he had had left).

However, this was only one outcome of his future. Due to a split timeline (which was rectified by Kaskuri later on), the Akibi that eventually experienced the Ragnarok led a happier life. Though much of his past was the same, his life changed for the better once he met and befriended Ryoku. Though the pair often had silly little arguments and sometimes not-so-small ones about secrecy and trying to conform to the other one's mood, they were generally able to work past these issues. With the help of their close friend Sukoru (as Akibi did not have the capacity to carry Seeds at the time), they eventually raised Messiah Jr. on their own. At least, until Akibi was abducted by a power-hungry Lord and his "Elementalists" (humans whose studies would be bolstered with the knowledge of how Adaptability worked). For decades, Ryoku searched for Akibi, leaving a then toddler Messi with Sukoru and her family. Because he had neglected his own health, Ryoku fell into stasis shortly after he recovered Akibi after decades of trying to find him. Though Akibi lost his ability to use magic and Adaptability thanks to the experimentations, he lived a happy life with Ryoku and Messi once they were able to reconcile (although it took a few years before Messi allowed them close again). In this timeline, Akibi did not divert the Ragnarok's beginning (especially considering he didn't kill the instigator of it in this life), and depended on the Soul Bond between himself and Ryoku to survive (as the loss of his magic made him as frail as a human).

The Akibi that travels with the group has no memories of either timeline, since he's blocked them out. It's worth noting that Akibi used to have a split-personality/junctioned Mystic soul that used to go by the name "Etheram/Ether" (though only his close friends called him that). So many of these events are not remembered by him, especially since the reborn Ceres is set in a timeline before any of this occurred.

(The attachment shows him and Takuto trying to exploit their psychic bond, to varying results.)

Akibi in his True Nature Lord outfit.

One of the first sets of sprites I ever worked on, and quite an old reference to boot. Here is Ether in his default outfit.

A sprite of Ether in his coat, in a good mood.