(http://i.imgur.com/eoiOuNq.png)
IGN: Hope
Character Name: Yukino "Yugure" Espoir (Previously known as "Hikari" and 'Yami".)
Age: 20
Main Clan: Gold Paladin
Avatar Card: Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel
Alignment: Hero
Personality: After the events of the civil war, Yukino has deflated her queen by a large margin. Still believing she is a queen, however, arrogance is unfortunately an expectation from her. This time around, the value of "friends" has been understood and is cherished. It is a firm belief based on how having real comrades uplift the heart from despair, and the woman will preach as much. Princess Hana is a massive priority for her, to the point of an obsession almost. Prune to violence, she'll likely snap the necks of those who offend her little sister. A sort of guilty pleasure that came with being an older sibling.
Vanguard is not a tool to justify one's ends - it is a game in which bonds are created through the sport of having fun and understanding each other. No longer believing that Vanguard is a weapon, Yukino enjoys it to its fullest. There is still a hint of fear of failure, the same phobia that caused her to fall into darkness. She does her best to move on from it, but it's still there. In addition to this connection with the game, the queen holds the Paladins of Cray in extremely high regard. Especially Ahmes and Yunos, the real names of her Avatars.
Yukino's adjustment to Gold Paladin was difficult emotionally, still unused to Ezel and Garmore's bickering. Despite that, she'll continue to press on against the odds in hopes to save her clans, while preserving the lives of her current. "Yugure", the name of Twilight, is proof that she lords over Light and Shadow - praising Royal and Shadow for finally allying themselves together. The woman would not hesitate to say she loves Ahmes and Yunos, along with her many other companions that spurred her on.
Biography: In the events of two months prior to today, Yukino failed to enter Nationals, and had fallen into a short depression due to believing she was a failure as the Chosen Sword. Because of this shortcoming, she met Haruka and Satoshi, her two best friends who also didn't make it. Despite bonding with them, the queen still fell into darkness after losing to Jellal a second time. Meeting Yunos - who shared the same dream as her. After Hana came to help her sister with her phobia, Yukino came back to her senses. Ahmes and Yunos accepted each other, and their swords fused with her becoming "Yugure" - the Chosen Sword of Twilight. A final challenge to Jellal was issued, but she lost the fight. However, on Cray, Exculpate the Blaster - her new identity - won the war by turning Shadow Paladin against Phantom Blaster Overlord. This was the end of the civil war and Jellal's hideous methods of achieving his goal. The queen promised to help him fulfill his duty while keeping their happiness intact.
However, the overseer of time-space had different plans for her. A nightmare of sorts - Yukino found herself within the white-grey space of the rift. A booming voice declared that: like the rest of the knights,
Exculpate the Blaster shall be erased. Due to Yugure's full synchronization with the Avatar of Twin Blades and his transcendence, this was effectively herself. The void demanded she vanish, and began pulling her away into the depths of nothingness. Just when all hope was going to be lost, an enormous brute appeared, roaring like a lion. It... was Father Espoir, and he delivered a heavy punch to the time-space overseer that had been invisible, dealing severe damage to its being, and making it escape.
Though saved, Yugure had a mountain of inquiries.
"What's going on father? Where did my Royal Paladins go? Why did the rift try to take me?!"
A sigh, he turned to his daughter. "Cray's screwed as it stands. The rift didn't stop just because the Dragon of Hell was dead. All that happened went with the big bad's plan. All prominent figures on Cray that posed a threat would be taken away and were. Royal and Shadow, Kagero, and Bermuda Triangle still. They're gone,
locked away. Since you were the legendary figure of twin swords, you'd have been taken away too."
Naturally, disbelief was the only thing Yukino felt in response. Everyone fought to prevent themselves from disappearing only to do so anyway?! Her shock was expected, so Father placed a hand on her head. Somehow, he had dragged her mind into a flashback. The queen stood as Exculpate - her Cray-bound form - atop a large rock. Legions upon legions of Royal and Shadow Paladin had all gathered in the storm-ridden wasteland. This... was a memory. After Exculpate's speech, the paladins all swore loyalty to her. Cray was prepared to deal with the threat altogether, to protect their home. Even Ahmes and Yunos were there, along with multiple new faces. Some even with new, golden armor. Right... this was
Gold Paladin, an extra faction made as a sort of precaution. It was also a clan of alliance, made up of Royal and Shadow paladin, along with uprising knights. There was even one named Vortimer that she remembered.
Only then did the real nightmare start.
A scream echoed throughout, and everyone looked off into the distance. Dragonic Overlord - the spearhead of Kagero was drifting off into the sky concealed in a bubble. The "looming storm" came in the form of a colossal cyber dragon of a horrifying design. Black Rings attached to its back, the monstrosity summoned a sort of orb. It was almost mistake for a black hole, but when the beast fired, Yugure suddenly understood everything.
It was a
trap.
When the ball of energy hit the ground, several knights floated away in a bubble. Mass panic broke out within the Sanctuary, with higher ups ordering everyone to evacuate into the castle. Exculpate was frozen in horror as the gravity devil approached. More orbs crashed into the ground, taking more and more with them into the sky. It set its sights on Yugure, and she felt a deathly amount of terror. Aiming to capture her, it launched another bubble at the ringleader of Paladins. Much to her shock, Ahmes and Yunos leapt up to protect their friend. They cried out in agony, and she called out their names - screaming. The two looked back, giving wry smiles, happy she was alright. That was the last they saw - as they too were
locked.
Yukino in the rift screamed, begging for it to stop. Dad Espoir removed his hand, ceasing the show of memory lane. Wasting no time, he explained that the
War of Liberation has begun, and she has to save the sealed heroes. Placing a card in her hand, he commanded her to use the power of "the Meister". This awakened her trance state from months back, beginning to replicate the armor of the card. The man introduced it as Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel. That unit and Garmore with his new armor will assist her in her goal. These
Gold Paladins of hers were key to fixing the disaster brought upon by the rift. Yugure questioned how much does he really know, and what is the power of the Meister?
He said ask Ahmes and Yunos. A vague answer, but one nonetheless. Gripping her head again, he bestowed some kind of power to her, changing her eyes to a red-orange color with the same yellow sword pupils. Stating that this was her emergency promotion as the Sanctuary's leader - its queen. He exited her dream, and she awoke in a cold sweat. ... But it was real, Ezel and Garmore were on her desk. Those snowy blue eyes had transformed into reflects of the sunset. ... Yukino simply prepared herself for the upcoming days, adjusting her wardrobe and hairstyle appropriately.
"If we are going forth over thousands of nights,
it is only for friend and tomorrow."