Description
(woaah haven't been here in a while)
Name: Alexei Zharilysa (Алексе́й Жарился)
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Height: 170cm
Species: Dragon/Phoenix hybrid
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House: Polaris
Arcana: Aqua (Element of Water) ✧ Ignis (Element of Fire)
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Spells:
✥ Ferveo: By using his internal body temperature, he can channel the heat into the water molecules in the air to create hot steam. He can only affect the molecules directly touching him, giving him space to evade oncoming attacks by clouding his body. He can also concentrate the steam by blowing it out through his mouth, allowing him to scald his enemies at a distance. Since the spell draws from his own body heat, effectively decreasing his internal temperature at a rapid rate, he can only use this spell safely once every few hours in short, instantaneous bouts, as he runs the risk of hypothermia and loss of consciousness upon continuous use. (cast time: 5 seconds consecutively, needs 1 hour to warm back up to same temperature; each time casted, his cool-down/warm-up (ha) period increases; can do this only 3 times a day before he experiences symptoms akin to hypothermia, and has to depend on alternative methods outside of his body heat to keep warm) ✥ Aqua Bullet: Through the manipulation of water molecules, he can force droplets of water to rapidly accelerate, allowing them to deliver slight yet swift slices at enemies. The spell requires his full concentration in order to keep the molecules from flying apart and losing their velocity, from which they becoming harmless. As such, he can only control one droplet of water at a time, using it like a small blade of sorts to graze and cut his enemies. The spell allows him to wear his opponent down (albeit slowly) from a safe distance, distracting them with a droplet of water that can sometimes be too quick to notice from up close. (note: The same mechanics of aqua bullet also helps Alexei do do amateur gardening, allowing him to manipulate tiny amounts of water in certain directions //he just wants plant children//) (cast time: 15 seconds, cool-down time: 3 minutes)
Weapon: His partial dragon form (here )
+ tougher skin which makes him slightly more impervious to extreme heat and protects him from sustaining instant damage from blunt weapons
+ wings allow him to fly and move around his enemies
+ sharp claws and armored tail which lets him grab small objects like weapons, as well as slash and hit, respectively
Personality:
+ Optimistic
+ Can be a bit overbearing/try too hard at times when he's excited
+ Is always in a rush to learn/see/do everything, so he often trips over himself and runs into things
+ Values his friends over his own wellbeing (dependent on friends vs. independent from family)
+ Calmer around close friends bc he doesn't feel the need to hype it up and constantly running at 100%
+ Pacifist/Avoids conflict when he can
+ Actively tries to have new experiences/take risks (direct opposite to his sheltered childhood)
+ Very interested in understanding/meeting other species and the seeing the world as a whole
+ A bit of an inferiority complex (being a halfbreed/not a pureblood)
+ Can be a bit crass/rude at times due to his ignorance and lack of real world experience
+ Is able to concentrate quite well under pressure, but can lose confidence once he starts to overthink/get emotional
+ A bit reckless (since his skin is tougher, he doesn't get hurt too easily, and when he does, he hardly notices it half the time)
Likes/Dislikes:
+ Meeting people
+ Learning!!
+ Friends
+ His little sister
+ Flying around
+ Wisteria
+ Plants/gardens/greenery/flowers/etc.
+ Nighttime/night sky/stars
+ Oceans/lakes/bodies of water (instinctively finds them calming)- Bitter/super sweet food
- Accidentally hurting other people (due to his clumsiness/ignorance)
- His big ass wings
- The fact that he still can't manage to hide his horns completely since they're still kinda huge
- Going home for holidays (other than to see his sister)
- Being extremely warm/cold
- Dry areas
- Bullies/people who belittle others
- Extremely prideful/egotistical people (reminds him of his father)
- Eggplants
Biography:
Alexei was born to the Zharilysa family, an ancient and noble family that boasted generations of pureblooded Firebirds. His mother was a Chinese phoenix (凤凰; "fènghuáng"), married into the family at the assumption that her bloodline was one of the few purest ones left. So when Alexei was born with the marks of a dragon, it was a bit of a nasty surprise for everyone. As history would have it, his mother—a descendant from a long line of fènghuáng—had once been apart of a long forgotten family that gave birth to dragons and phoenixes alike, one that valued the heritage that saw the two as the halves of a whole (as yin and yang). It only took one purist Phoenix to split the family in two, dividing their bloodlines, and with the passing of inumerous centuries, the two families forgot who they once were. Alexei was the once in a lifetime reminder, a recessive gene come forth after centuries of dormancy, and he was an unwanted one. Having inherited both the fire of his phoenix bloodline and the water of his dragon ancestors, he was the one mixed-blood in his family for generations, the water to extinguish the holy flame that his family held so dear, a mark on the page to those who valued their pureblooded heritage more than their lives. His father—a true member of his family—argued that they should send him away, as to not dishonor generations of effort to maintain the purity of their bloodline. His mother insisted otherwise, and they eventually reached an agreement that he would not bear the crest of the Zharilsya family (a flower of fire) but his mother's family crest instead (the morning star), and would not be formally acknowledged as a successor to the family.
Alexei was homeschooled, prevented from interacting with visitors of the household and other children his age due to his father's paranoia of word getting out. As such, his education was specially tailored for him, meant to stifle his understanding of his dragon inheritance and steer him to favor his phoenix blood instead. Despite all this, his mother secretly left him books about dragons and contacted tutors who could help her son where his parents could not. As a result, he grew up with an intense desire to travel and visit other dragons, to be in the world that has only every existed to be seen through his window. When his little sister Luka ("Light") was born, that dream became ever stronger. He found himself fascinated with her, a true blood phoenix, a prime example of everything his father ever wanted. Alexei instantly adored her—whether it was his desire to be a pureblood or just true brotherly love, he'll never know—and spent every free moment with her when he could. His father originally tried to prevent it, but his mother argued that Alexei was a studious and intelligent child (since he never turned down an opportunity to learn more), and could help her make the most of her education before they sent her to Luna Arcana.
They spent almost every breathing moment together, and he raised her to be curious, to love learning as much as he did. Although at first she was quite resistant to the idea—her tutors being more lenient on her due to her pureblood status—she was more open to being taught by Alexei than anyone else, who would forgo the formal embellishments of traditional lessons. He was a dedicated teacher and she was fascinated by him and his dragon blood, so they got along better than anyone would have ever expected.
Things were going all well and good until Alexei started hitting puberty, and his phoenix-blood tutors didn't know what to do with him. He was going through changes that they've only had to read about in biology textbooks, and they weren't ready to handle a growing dragon who couldn't properly keep his transformations in check. Running out of options, his parents sent him off to professionals who would actually be able to help him control his natural instincts, putting him in a boarding house of sorts filled with people of all different species who needed consultation or rehab. The process took over 6 years, in which he learned how to fly, control his transformations, and live life as a free-roaming dragon, not tied to any home. Upon his return on his 19th birthday, his father informed him that he was going to be sent to Luna Arcana to learn how to properly control his magic, as well as be there when his sister Luka enrolled in order to help her acclimate to the school. Alexei knew his father just didn't want an adult dragon in the household, no matter how much phoenix blood he had, but he took the opportunity with a smile all the same. He's long since resigned to the fact that he will never be able to truly depend on his parents (not even his mother, who still maintained an awkward distance from him despite her efforts to properly educate him in his youth), and found that attending Luna Arcana was another chance for independence, not unlike the last six years of his life. And so, he agreed.
tl;dr: his dad's an asshole, his mom's pretty alright tho
Extra Information:
✥ His current form is the baseline (aka no extra exertion to maintain a human shape). He can supress his horns for a few hours, but that's the most he can do at his current level
✥ Learned ballroom and waltz while he lived with his parents to improve his coordination and agility both as a human and as a dragon.
✥ Learned swing dance at the boarding-house from an old grandma who served as the denmother
✥ Biromantic, Asexual (he's a baby, let him grow lmao)
✥ His dragon form is pretty massive (since he's a Chinese dragon, he's longer in terms of length as opposed to his European counterparts) so he rarely fully transforms since he can do some pretty intense property damage
✥ Can fluctuate his body temperature pretty well due to being born part firebird and part water dragon, but usually adjusts seasonally so he can act as a heater during the winter.