Name: Isabelle Fallaci
Magical Girl Alias: Cassandra
Original Strand: A (future)
Age: 23 at the end of her original timeline, but has experienced anywhere from 23 to 1,436 years, depending on which Cass you're talking to.
Height: 5'9
Personality:
Cass' personality entirely depends on how old of a Cass you're talking to. Before she was untied, Cass was a warm, cheerful individual, almost motherly in a way, who enjoyed helping others in any way she could. She rarely passed by a chance to smile, and prided herself on her ability to make others do so, too. However, as years wore on and countless strands went to ruin before her eyes, a pervasive disillusionment settled into the woman. Instead of aiding in any way she could, she withdrew into herself, surrounding the few hints she gave in cryptic, vague riddles. She became harder, skin thickened by the decades of destruction she was forced to witness, and forced her perspective to focus on doing what was best for the macroverse over any individual strand. Centuries of constant shifting between mirror strands have taken a massive toll, leaving the oldest of Casses bitter, cruel, and condescending. Still, she retains her sanity as best she can, aided by the memories and emotions of earlier versions left before.
Biography:
The new sun rose, and with it all turned ash. In place of light was a hollow shadow, a pit of bleakness rent where once lay fire, and from that skybound maw spewed legions of black shadow. Gone was the era of man. Gone was the hope that night would not last. For in the coming of the end, the morning was torn from horizon, and in its place came only sordid dusk.
The earth quaked. The air stilled. All seemed to wait, ardently expecting without knowing what might be, cautiously observing that which had never before been seen. An orb of black devoured the distant sky. After long silence, a brazen siren pierced the thickened veil, loud enough to shiver all it touched. This was it. This was what had long been feared to come, what all had hoped would never come.
“The Grimm!”
The shouts were enough to break the spell, and people began to move. Calmly at first, orderly, but confusion wrought panic and panic hysteria. Soon the crowds were swarming through the streets, screaming masses of terrified civilians futilely trying to flee. The highways packed with cars, but soon those too were abandoned in favor of faster feet. New Kyoto, so prepared for anything, had devolved to seething chaos.
Above it all, at the front of what lay imminent, stood the brave defenders of the city, soldiers waiting for the end, witches ready for the beginning.
“We don’t know what the hell this thing is, but it’s spitting out more Grimm than I’ve seen in my entire life,” a uniformed man barked, bars of rank glimmering on his chest. “We’re working with the DDC, have units of witches and soldiers in tandem to try and set a flank. If this doesn’t work, we’ve got a nuclear contingency, but that’s an ultimate last resort.”
He paused to wipe sweat from his brow, struggling to keep the worry from his line-washed face.
“On my word, to the ATVs! Ready, set, move, move, move!”
Soldiers and witches alike swarmed to the armored carriers, knee to knee on rickety seats made of cheap wood. In the far distance, the first cracks of artillery descended, shuddering the ground with every fiery blast.
“Do you think this is it?” Cass asked. Tobi grabbed her hand, giving it a consoling squeeze.
“I think we’re going to do just fine,” the large girl replied, though her eyes belied the truth her words concealed. Despite the persistent serenity their pale blue often held, Cass could see nervousness behind them, maybe even fear. Tobi was never afraid.
“Well, I’ll just have to keep you from killing yourself, like always,” the tan girl said with a wry chuckle, a laugh that Tobi dryly returned.
“I think
I’m the one that keeps
you alive, missy,” she muttered in a weak attempt at cordial disdain. Humor wasn’t present now, and any shows of it merely tactics to delay the rising panic.
Something heavy struck the side of the vehicle, rocking it to one side. The machine ground to a halt as the wheels spun for traction, steel beast spinning wildly, until it finally crashed into a solid mass. Cass reeled, her head spinning, but was pulled along by Tobi as she escaped from the ATV.
“We need to move!” the girl cried, double-sided battle axe appearing in her hands. The ends crackled with an amber light as she hefted the massive polearm, spinning it to intercept the hordes that were suddenly all around them. “Which way?!”
Cass was still stunned, but she forced herself to close her eyes, mind spinning along the paths her partner and she could take. Left, killed by a massive Lord. Right, hit by a shell. Forward…
“We move forward!” she shouted back, her eyes flying open. Tobi grabbed her wrist again, nearly yanking her off her feet as she was dragged into the fray.
A vulpine Grimm with razor teeth would have pounced on her partner, killing her. With a blink, the creature was slain before it reached them, though the soldier that ended it was tackled down by yet another. He wouldn’t have died if she had let it through.
Protect Tobi.
If a Lord was to turn at the right time, he would spot them, would vaporize them where they stood. Instead, his gaze was caught by a whirring helicopter, which collapsed in an onyx blaze mere seconds later.
Protect Tobi.
Another witch was firing off bolts of smouldering rock. One might strike them in the back, downing both to be consumed by the conflict. Before this might have happened, she was hit with a stray bullet, and fell screaming from her perch high above.
Protect Tobi.
“We’re almost to… whatever the heck that thing is!” Tobi called, her axe (though now in only one hand) still spinning with a deadly whir. Whatever it struck was flung back, the wounds flaring up in a phosphoric gleam as they dissolved around the gash. The black orb hung overhead, somehow touching the horizon yet also floating high above the sky. Colors seemed to bend around it, and near the very edge rested a ring of brilliant light. Cass closed her eyes again, and opened them with a gasp.
“It’s a gate! The… thing that caused all this is in there!” she said. Tobi nodded.
“In that case, hang on. We’re ending this!” Before Cass could say a warning, the girl had dragged her through the shimmering surface, body swept in a blur of fog and cold and hot and nothing and something yet again, breaking forth in a cavernous hall that seemed both real and not. At the front of the hall stood a young woman.
“That’s…” Tobi said, and Cass merely watched in rigid assent. Tobi grunted, hefting her dual axe in both hands, and rushed at the stranger.
The girl turned, and Tobi disappeared in a crimson mist.
“No!” yelled Cass, squinting her eyes shut.
Fog, cold, hot, nothing, then something yet again. The portal broke forth into a cavernous hall that seemed both real and not. At the front of the hall stood a young woman. This time, she was facing them, a frown on her melancholic face. Her eyes, though grey, were cracked with glowing yellow.
“That’s…” Tobi said. Cass reached out a hand, but her partner was already charging, glowing axe swinging into arcs of brilliance.
“Be careful!” Cass cried, desperately scanning the threads which branched out from this point. Death. Death. Death. Death. She tried to bend chance anyway, but as much as she strained it refused to budge. She could only watch as the somber girl raised her hand, and Tobi again erupted.
Cass squinted her eyes shut.
Fog, cold, hot, nothing, something. The hall, the portal, all the same. Now the girl was closer, her hand still outstretched. Cass panted from the effort, her body beginning to shake under her own weight.
“That’s…” Tobi said. Cass’ hand shot out, spinning her friend around to face her.
“You’re going to fucking die!” she shouted. Tobi’s eyebrows raised. The girl behind her raised her hand once more, and wet, warm vapor was all Cass held.
She could feel the tainted energy coursing into her, could sense what she could normally not. Knots around her, drifting to the girl. Thousands of knots. She could never untie them all.
Cass squinted her eyes shut.
“Why do you keep wasting your time?”
Fog, cold, hot, nothing, something. Hall. Portal. Girl. Hand raised. Mist.
Cass squinted her eyes shut.
“This has gone on long enough.”
Fog, cold, hot, nothing, something, hall, portal, hand, mist.
Cass squinted her eyes shut.
“Begone.”
She was gone.
Primary Power:
Walking the Strand.
Before she was detached from causality, this power allowed Cass to project her consciousness forward in time, scoping out outcomes certain actions would bring about. This was an imperfect ability, as the knowledge of future outcomes often affect what will actually occur. Following detachment, this ability now works against Cass, shifting her consciousness across branches of possibility uncontrollably. Generally, she is able to exist in a certain temporal state for a day or so, before an errant choice will send her travelling back along another path. She is unable to die in this state, recursing to a previous focal point at the moment directly beforehand.
Secondary Power:
All Pips Up.
Using her knowledge of future outcomes, Cass is able to magically coerce a certain possibility to occur. This directly influences chance on split timelines, and can circumvent the necessity for certain minor triggers, as long as the absence of said triggers doesn't completely remove the possibility. For example, if a certain outcome requires it to rain one day, but the rain is not directly necessary for the outcome to occur, Cass is able to push possibility in favor of that outcome even if it doesn't rain.
Tertiary Skill:
She possesses an intuitive understanding of temporal mechanics and causality, and is a skilled gambler, even without use of her powers.
Hyper Power:
Backstep Loop.
Generally, Cass' abilities only allow her to project forward in time. By expending a tremendous amount of energy, she is able to thrust herself backwards ten seconds or less, using a major event as an anchor. Through this, she is able to directly experience what is instead of what will be, make what was what is again, and rewrite what will be based on what she experienced before. This differs from Walking the Strand as her projection is only experiencing possibilities, and any catastrophes seen when projecting are avoidable. By Backstep Looping, Cass is able to avoid things that have already occurred.
Clutch Power:
Switchknot.
Through harnessing immense negativity, Cass can untie a target from the present strand, knotting it to another outcome. The further back the focal point for the two outcomes is, and the more of an influence/impact the target has on the present timeline, the more effort it takes. This effectively undoes the target's actions back to the focal point, asserting them in the other timeline. To all others, it is as if the target ceased to exist following the focal point. If the target caused a certain possibility to unfold, this possibility is undone as well, and the present timeline is replayed without the target existing in it from the focal point. Cass, and anyone Cass is in contact with, retain only memories of the old outcome, and must learn any changes that the nonexistence of the target has effected.
Appearance:
Appearance after Transformation:
Theme:
Leo is the individual on the right.
For the features and stature.
For the outfit.
Appearance after Transformation:
