"Wha? My sister? Oh, well, she's cool... I guess."
5'1" 100 lbs, which makes Garic a little short for his age—a fact his sister will never let him forget.
Everything about him is pretty normal, save his faintly glowing red-amber irises. The image pretty effectively communicates the rest.
Age: 14
Gender: Male
Race: Human (most likely)
Role: Exorcist #9
Rank: Page
Exorcist: Probably a Tamer; room for expansion
Job: Going to school; works with his father at the family shop on the weekends
Backstory (Bio)
To put it simply: there were complications with Garic's birth. Several months into the pregnancy—during a particular night roughly sixteen years ago that will forever live in infamy—Satan attacked the most powerful members of the True Cross Order. Most, if not all of the recorded casualties of that night were males—Exorcists of the highest caliber. Imagine the surprise when Garic's mother, an Upper 1st Class exorcist primed to take a position as one of the Arc Knights, was also consumed by the blue flames whilst lying in her bed, next to her husband. Garic's father, a high level Tamer and Doctor, took swift action, summoning a demon to remove his wife from their bed, which by then had been totally engulfed in blue flames.
By now, Garic's mother was bleeding from various orifices, with neon blue flames spewing from her mouth, eyes, and ears like geysers. Needless to say, she was screaming in pure unadulterated agony. The father attempted every medical trick and technique at his disposal, but it became painfully obvious after several failures: his wife was about to die, as was his unborn son. With an eight-year-old Aurora crying in the doorway, Garic's father made a decision.
He was willing to sacrifice anything—everything—for a chance to save his wife and kid, and, through desperation, he conceived an idea. By now his wife was totally engulfed in the blue fire, and had stopped screaming. Not good. With a shaky hand, he drew out the most complex and powerful summoning circle he had ever wrought. He already knew what would appeal to this demon; they'd been circling each other like sharks, he and this infernal beast, for the better part of a decade. All he needed now was blood. A lot of blood.
So he cut off his arm, hacking and slashing his way through bone and tendon. When that amount of blood wasn't enough, he cut off his leg, wrapping his belt high along his thigh as a tourniquet to prevent an immediate death by blood loss. Vision tunneling, the man tried his summoning once more, calling to a very specific demon. His nemesis—the Prince of Black Flame, son to Iblis, the Demon King of Fire, grandson to Satan: the Kowloon King. After a few moments of silence, Garic's father feared that he'd failed completely, or that Kowloon had rejected his offer, but it was just then, as his spilled blood ignited with obsidian flames, that the demon appeared. A ferocious ink-like jet black wolf, eyes red as rubies, cloaked in the eponymous blue-black conflagration that was his namesake. The Kowloon King, Prince of Black Flame.
Garic's father pleaded with the demon to save his wife and kid. Said that he'd agree to anything. Anything at all. Now, the Kowloon is not a nice demon. He is not benevolent, and these humans—these Exorcists—in front of him were his sworn enemies. Yet, as a demon, he realized his position of power in the situation, so he abused it. These Exorcists had power, as well as knowledge on the order. He wanted it. All of it.
So he offered the dying man a deal.
In exchange for saving the woman and child, the father would have to agree to let Kowloon eat both him and his wife—body and soul—after three decades of life. Vision fading, his wife burning, he had no choice. Of course he agreed. He'd have agreed to anything. Kowloon accepted this and smiled. Their decade-long rivalry had finally come to an end, and the demon had come out on top. Better yet, he'd soon be able to assimilate the knowledge of two high ranking Exorcists—a potentially crippling blow to the Order.
Aurora, a competent child, had run off to phone for help before Kowloon appeared. Hopefully, that help would be arriving momentarily.
Kowloon kept his promise. For two years hence, do not break that summoning circle, Exorcist, or your child will die the demon warned, moving over to touch the burning woman. Upon making contact, he disappeared, a mark appearing upon her abdomen where Kowloon's paw had made contact with her body. The blue flames of Satan turned black, and then vanished altogether. The father blacked out then from loss of blood, to wake up several hours later under the care of an Exorcist medical unit.
As promised, his wife and child survived the Blue Night—though his wife had been rendered a paraplegic. He wasn't able to gather the courage to tell his wife about how he'd made the proverbial (or not) deal with the devil for their lives, but eventually he did. She went through several stages, eventually ending in acceptance. As warned, the Exorcist did not disturb the summoning circle for two entire years. Due to the demon, Garic was not born until after those two years expired. He came out a healthy baby boy devoid of any birth defects or afflictions—save oddly colored red-amber eyes. His father suspected it was a sign of the Kowloon's influence.
It was one final comeuppance—the demon had already won the two Exorcists' lives, and now he had corrupted their new born son in some way. Even breaking the summoning circle did not remove the red-amber corruption from the boy. It wouldn't be until Garic was eight that his father would discover just how the Prince of Black Flame had saved their child, and just what price they would all pay for making a deal with a demon. Garic fell down the stairs on this day, breaking his wrist in the process. However, before his father could pull out his medical kit and tend to the boy, the injury began to heal itself—slowly, but noticeably. At the same time, Garic's right eye glowed a soft red. Upon closer inspection, the father was horrified to find the source of the spontaneous healing factor.
Embedded in the boy's right red-amber eye was a summoning circle of sorts, one so detailed in its complexity and grand in its construction that the father couldn't even begin to comprehend the logic behind its design and microscopic scale. So that was how Kowloon had done it. He'd engraved himself into their son! And for the first and only time, Kowloon spoke through the boy. This child, my vessel, will be my key into the True Cross Order. The boy stood then, staring his father in the eyes. When the time is right, you will send me to the True Cross Academy. You will do this or I will end this child's life.
Like his sister before him, Garic was sent to the True Cross Academy when he turned 14.
Weapons
Performing this type of summon, which utilizes the circle (and blood) in his right eye, does require a certain level of self-confidence and absence of fear on Garic's part. Lack of confidence or an overabundance of fear will prevent him from mutating his extremities, and will sabotage his powers if he's already transformed himself.
Thanks to the Kowloon, Garic does not have need for traditional weapons, and therefore does not know how to use them.
Personality
Garic is very kindhearted and supportive of others, often sacrificing his own happiness for the sake of people he considers his friends. He also tries to hide what he's thinking or feeling, mostly to prevent Kowloon's personality from showing through. Because of this, he may seem like he's hiding something... which he is. His father told him to never ever let anyone see him transform using Kowloon. Never to tell anyone about Kowloon. Never to let Kowloon show through to the surface of his psyche.
His sister refers to him as "that wall flower," although that's not always true. Garic is naturally a shy person when by himself. He'll usually keep quiet unless spoken to directly, preferring instead to converse with the voice of Kowloon in his head. However, when surrounded by friends, he becomes much more of an extrovert, his shy and timid demeanor melting away.
Since confidence is required when working as a Tamer, Garic can be thought of as "confident when he wants to be". He'd never admit it, but his mental state is somewhat fragile and, even though living with his sister and her mouth has gone a long way towards conditioning his psyche, his confidence can be easily fractured by harsh words. Still, he is an extremely tenacious person. If he sets his mind to something, he'll never give up until he achieves his goal.
Likes
- Reading
- Watching TV
- Doing stuff with friends
- His sister (clean thoughts, people)
Dislikes
- Arguing
- Talking at length; people who tend to bloviate
- Wasting time
- Transforming with Kowloon in front of others
Flaws
- He doesn't necessarily "dislike" fighting, but he is often reluctant to engage opponents
- He completely and utterly relies on Kowloon during battle
- Words hurt, and he is easily disheartened. His self-confidence could be considered by some as "fragile"
Hobbies
- Eating tasty food. That counts, right?
- Reading, watching TV
Skills/Talents/Abilities
Kowloon's Influence
Due to Kowloon's presence within him, Garic receives some autonomic boons, namely: an accelerated healing factor, augmented sight, and the ability to communicate with the kin of Iblis by touch.
Though his expanded healing capabilities aren't in the same league as a real demon's or someone like Rin Okumura, Garic tends to heal much faster than normal humans. Most small woulds heal almost instantly, while more grievous injures such as broken bones and stab wounds will heal in a few hours. Something insane like a severed limb might be able to be healed if Garic receives proper medical attention first, and the limb is reconnected in time. On the other hand, something like decapitation, getting punched through the chest, run through with a blade multiple times, or being blown to bits is not something that his meager healing factor can overcome. In cases such as those, he'd be just as dead as anyone else.
Thanks to Kowloon, Garic can see things that others may not be so quick to notice: those possessed by demons, offspring of demons, demons masquerading as humans, and the like are all as visible to him as the sky on a sunny day. Similarly, Garic can communicate with certain demons by touch, even if these demons do not speak a human tongue. This only works on demons that are kin to Iblis (and, therefore, kin to Kowloon).
This influence is not all boons, however. It's a two way street. If Kowloon catches Garic off guard, the demon can speak through him, even manipulate the boy's limbs.
Becoming a Hybrid: Summoning (Parts of) Kowloon
As a novice tamer, Garic is able to use the circle in his eye to "summon" parts of Kowloon into his own body, effectively transforming himself into a hybrid of sorts. He usually summons Kowloon's hands and forearms, legs (below the knees) and feet, and/or teeth—though the latter occurs only when he's angry. For each body part summoned, Kowloon gains more influence over Garic's actions. In exchange, Garic gains more control over an expanded range of Kowloon's demonic powers such as: near complete resistance to flame-based attacks, extreme speed (if feet/legs), high cutting power (if hands/forearms), etc.
In theory, Garic should be able to summon the entirety of Kowloon into himself, completely merging with the monstrous being and becoming a full hybrid, but he has never attempted such a feat. In such a scenario, he'd have access to a very large portion of Kowloon's powers, combined with anything his human side could bring to the table. The only downside is that control over such a hybrid form would be split about evenly between both Garic and Kowloon, which could lead to trouble.
The Kowloon King
The Kowloon King, Prince of Black Fire—or simply "Kowloon," is Garic's demon familiar... or something like that. Kowloon's goal is to usurp his father, Iblis, as Gehenna's King of Fire. His black flames are superior to his father's blue flames, but Iblis is a greater demon in almost every other way. Kowloon believes that infiltrating the True Cross Order and learning how they work will give him a competitive edge over Iblis, as well as allow him to protect many of his kin from persecution by Exorcists. He's been trying to find a way into True Cross Academy for quite a while. Unlike other demons that manage to sneak past the academy's protections, the pure-bred son of the demon prince of fire is just too easy to spot. However, through a bit of serendipitous fortune, he was able to take advantage of the Grant family and gain dominion over Garic, wearing him as a sort of disguise to mask his presence.
Do not mistake Kowloon's intent—he does not want to destroy the Academy or the True Cross Order. He believes that, without a common enemy, the Demon Kings would go to war with each other over dominion of Assiah. Many demons would be sacrificed in such a needless conflict, and could get so brutal that the entirety of demon-kind would be put at risk. Rather, he wants to gain allies (through Garic) and use the power of the Exorcists against his father, Iblis, so that he can assume the mantle as one of the eight Demon Kings under Satan.
Not much is known about his demonic powers outside of what was observed when he attacked True Cross Town during Garic's father's time: almost unbelievable speed—faster than the human eye can keep up with, sharp claws, and a healing factor the likes of a demon prince. He has pure ruby-red eyes and is cloaked in black fur-like flames that double as protection from most melee attacks. He can also issue commands to many of the kin of Iblis and is suspected of being able to control open flames, which would make sense for the son of the Demon King of Fire.
As a fire demon, Kowloon is weak against water and strong against rot, and can be summoned by a Tamer just like any other demon—though the number of Tamers left in this world that could handle summoning a monster of his caliber can be counted on half a hand. If he accepts a summons, he tends to go berserk and things around him tend to spontaneously combust. Not something to attempt.
Relationships
Mother/Father: Retired Exorcists in their 50s, currently living somewhere in True Cross Town. Father was an Upper 3rd Class Doctor/Tamer. Mother was an Upper 1st Class Aria/Knight, gunning for the position as one of the Arc Knights before the Blue Night incident.
Older sister: Aurora Sanctus Grant
Thoughts Towards Other Characters
Aurora Sanctus Grant
Garic admires his older sister. She's strong. Powerful. Beautiful. Cool. Elegant. Graceful. Magnificent. High ranking. Respected. Confident. Essentially everything he's not. He mostly tries to avoid her, since their meetings tend to be awkward, but when they do meet, he always goes for small talk. He hopes to one day gain her respect.
Theme Song
In The Shadows by The Rasmus
No sleep
No sleep until I am done with finding the answer
Won't stop
Won't stop before I find a cure for this cancer
Sometimes
I feel I going down and so disconnected
Somehow
I know that I am haunted to be wanted
...
They say
That I must learn to kill before I can feel safe
But I
I rather kill myself then turn into this thing
Sometimes
I feel that I should go and play with the thunder
Somehow
I just don't wanna stay and wait for a wonder