Author's Note: Was the Colony that Mio, Sena, and Miyabi originally met at prior to Colony Omega ever given a canonical name?
(goes to a cutscene playlist on Youtube)
...Colony Theta, that's right!
xxxx
/Time: During Chapter 2, at the Lake Rezzento oasis, Fornis Region/
"...so, is your hair actually not on fire?"
Eunie's question elicited a confused blink from Sena. "Eh?"
As the trio of Ouroboros girls floated in the water, Lanz and Noah were swimming laps along the perimeter of the lake. (For added challenge, Manana was atop Lanz and Riku was atop Noah, hanging on as though the two were Nopon vessels of the high seas.) Since Taion had declined to join them all, this gave the trio an opportunity to mingle, away from the wretched dryness of the Eagus Wilderness.
Mingling, in this case, consisted of inquiring about their differing 'head bits'. "I mean, it looks like it's on fire, but it doesn't go out underwater. So how does that work?"
"I mean...I dunno," admitted Sena, resisting the urge to fiddle with her side ponytail. "I never really thought about it. It's just...always been glowing? I mean, what about your wings? Can you use them to fly?"
Eunie's head wings twitched in unison, somehow matching her irked expression. "Do these things look big enough to hold air?"
"I mean, hover-type Levnises don't have wings, but they can still fly!"
"Not sure you're gettin' the point..."
Mio calmly interjected, stepping (or rather, floating) into the discussion. "I think we're all still getting used to our differences and similarities...we just never had time to think about this sort of stuff, before."
Sena inwardly winced, not letting her discomfort show on her face. "Mimi..."
"...well, guess it's all cosmetic differences, innit?" wondered Eunie, a thoughtful frown on her face. "Though, come to think of it...you haven't, like, ever set anything on fire, have you? With your hair, I mean?" Sena shook her head 'no', prompting Eunie to turn to Mio and ask, "What about you? Your ears give you any problems?"
"Well...the hearing is kind of sensitive," she admitted.
Eunie huffed, looking downright gutted. "Sparks' sake, that'd be my luck, wouldn't it? My wings ain't good for nothin' but making my head a bigger target. And molting is a downright bitch!"
"Erm...if you need help with preening or what not, you can ask me or Sena for help," offered Mio. "Right?"
Sena hurriedly nodded. "Yeah, it'd be no problem! And you don't have to worry about your head wings; they look really pretty!"
Eunie seemed genuinely dumbfounded by the compliment. "Eh...you think so, huh?"
It sufficiently changed the course of the conversation away from Sena's hair. It was strange; she hadn't really had much of an occasion to think about cosmetic aspects of herself. Her and Lanz's observations — his skin patterns, her 'shiny chest doodads' (which was an amusing way to think about it, she inwardly thought) — had somehow prompted this level of introspection. Who am I? And why do I look the way I do?
(It was just another aspect of the Agnian called Sena.)
(Can you really afford to think about something so trivial? You're still not even sure as to who youare.)
xxxx
The nature of races as a form of categorization had been surprisingly absent, in the realm of Aionios.
The only categories that mattered were tied to the war: were you part of Keves or Agnus; what was your Colony's rank; what was your role in a squad; what kind of weapon was your Blade; and so on, and so forth. As such, the physiological differences amongst soldiers — bound as they were by the Flame Clock, consumed with the taking of life to sustain their own — had never been of much importance, if it had had any at all.
Some Kevesi had head wings, or skin with metallic colors; some Agnians had cat ears, or skin with rocky patches, or blue flesh with pointy ears, or crystalline protrusions from the ether lines running up their bodies.
Yet, human nature — regardless of how hard Moebius tried to control it in their neverending desire to fuel the Endless Now — was a wily beast to wrangle with. Though it had been suppressed in most, it still poked its head out in various ways.
Sena — with her self-doubt, feelings of loneliness, and inferiority complex — was no exception.
xxxx
/Time: Six Terms before the Main Plot/
/Colony Theta, Far Northeastern Cadensia Region/
Colony Theta was located in a patch of wooded land, nestled on the northeastern edge of Erythia Sea; in this territory, they could see the tips of Agnus Castle hovering above the treetops, lingering far in the distance. It was about a day's trip by a hover-type Levnis to the Castle's workyards, which made their Colony a prime location for training new recruits...mostly because collateral damage wasn't as much of a concern. It was why a squad from Colony Delta was even here: to lend some of their expertise in preparing first and second-termers for close combat trials.
Sena had to admit feeling somewhat intrigued, at the sight of 'Smouldering Cammuravi', if only because she hadn't ever encountered anyone with hair that appeared to burn. It was honestly kind of...exciting, in a sense? He was even in the same term as Mio! You've talked to Mimi, so you can talk to him. Right? Right...not right.
(Mio had looked at her askance, confused by her reluctance to try and talk to the visiting warrior. "It's not like he'll tear your head off. We're allies!")
(It was easy for someone as cool as her to say; but you've been mocked by those same allies. Some right proper reassurance, hm?)
After going back and forth in her own mind about it, Sena's feet nonetheless disobeyed her wishes by taking her right to the bench Cammuravi was sitting on. "Eh?" When did I get here?
The fourth-termer — focused on the training grounds where newbies bloodied each other in mock combat — looked over his shoulder, looking both detached yet piercing. "I don't believe your squad is next up."
"Oh! Um. Well, Cammuravi, sir, I mean...it's not about that."
"What is your question, then?"
Go for it go for it go for it! "Ehm...well, it's your hair. It's...kinda like mine! Heh, crazy, huh...?"
Cammuravi glanced briefly at her side ponytail and bangs, before tilting his eyes upward; his spiky hair looked like literal flames, culminating in a brilliant glow. "My hair was not always this way."
Sena blinked. "...really?"
"Though a fire burned within me for so long, it was not until my third term where its outward manifestation became permanent. As time goes on, it glows ever more."
"...oh." Mine's always been like this. "I see..."
Cammuravi looked back at her, lips never changing from their stern — yet somehow placid — frown. "Yours has always been burning?"
"...yeah," she relented. (Yet another way in which you're different from everyone else.)
"Then perhaps you've already found your own Way. Is it the path of the warrior, like mine?"
"...my own 'Way'?" she repeated, unsure of what he referred to. "Sorry. I'm...not much of a warrior..."
"Hmm. Interesting." To himself, he quietly pondered, "To be walking your own Way, even if you don't realize it...?" Rising to his feet, Cammuravi manifested his Blade. "If your Way is not akin to mine," he said aloud, with a hint of finality, "then you shouldn't imitate me." That was all he said, before striding into the arena to explosively correct the mistakes of the younger soldiers.
Sena merely pouted, her right hand absentmindedly fiddling with her ever-burning ponytail. What does it mean, to walk your own 'Way'? How would I even know about it...and would I even like where it leads...? Sitting down on the bench Cammuravi had vacated, she watched all the activities of the Colony and its visitors from within, wondering if anyone would notice if she simply disappeared. (Even Miyabi, the well-meaning klutz that she was, would have been noticed if she left...if only because people would wonder why she was no longer around to trip into other people.)
(You don't even have that pitiful luxury; if you had never been, would the world be any different?)
(Even Mimi, despite her distaste at being designated as one of Theta's off-seers, walked that Way with a stubbornness that was uniquely Mio.)
Will I...ever know what I want...?
xxxx
The sentiment regarding Sena's Way — whatever Cammuravi had meant by that — would be paralleled by Mio before long.
("Just be yourself. You know you don't have to do what I do, right?")
What did it mean, to 'be herself'? She didn't even know why her hair burned.
("Never stop being you. 'Kay?")
What did it mean, to be 'Sena'?
It was a question she struggled with. (Quietly, she hated the fact such a struggle even existed.) Better to be something that other people could value...because at least that way, she wouldn't have to worry all the time about who she was.
(And even then, she couldn't do that right. In the fateful aftermath of the Tragedy at Colony Omega, she tearfully remarked to Mio, "I...I couldn't do a thing. I wasn't any use...none at all...")
Even after being reassigned to Colony Gamma alongside Mio, she would continue to wrestle with that uncertainty.
Then, shortly after the beginning of her ninth term, came Ouroboros...and so much more.
xxxx
/Time: Chapter 7, during Nia's Travels with Ouroboros, before the first Invasion of Origin/
/Training Ground, The City/
"It was a shameful display of weakness on my part."
"Huh?" remarked Sena, looking at Cammuravi with a discerning eye. (Even though she had had some time to get used to Consul Y's method of resurrection, it was still weird to see him, Hackt, and Miyabi walking around the City.) "What do you mean?"
"That Consul's attack," he elaborated, arms crossed with consternation. "Before I even knew what was happening, I was frozen in place."
"Oh..." Shania. "That." (The aftermath of Shania's attempt at revenge against the City — the unfortunate girl's first and last outing as a member of Moebius — was an entirely different story.) "Are you okay?"
"I was of no use. None at all," he murmured, eyes trailing over to where Ethel — a little first-termer, with all the vim and vigor of someone much older — was sparring against Lanz. "Ethel puts too much blame on herself for being frozen as well. Yet what excuse have I, as someone in their tenth term?"
"You shouldn't blame yourself," she remarked, patting the taller man on his non-burning pauldron. (The sentiments he was expressing rang all too familiar.) "Even if your body is in its tenth term, you're been awake for what, a month, if that? So in a way, you're as much of a first-termer as Ethel!"
"So you say," he said, looking at her with a contemplative expression. "...have you ever wondered, why your hair burns?" he earnestly asked.
"Eh?" This role reversal brought back memories of six terms ago, when she had inquired about the same topic with Cammuravi's prior life. "Well...yes, actually." All the time, as a matter of fact. Yet, as of late, concerns about that sort of thing had felt...superfluous. Compared to everything else they had gone through, questions about her hair had simply fallen by the wayside. "You know...there was a great warrior who once told me that my hair burned because I had found my 'Way': the Way that I wanted my life to go." Crippled by doubt as she had been, had she not been trying to do her best in every single moment? (Whether you were a 'plucky heroine girl', a 'one-track musclehead', a 'loner', or even 'that girl whose hair is on fire'...did you not try your best to always help everyone be friends? Did you not try to protect those who were closest to you with everything you had?) "Even if I didn't know it at the time, I think his answer was pretty spot-on, looking back. So maybe it's the same with you, and that Warrior's Way you keep talking about!"
Cammuravi hummed thoughtfully. "Hmm. It seems odd, to try and show others the Warrior's Way, even though I'm not yet sure of where it's going...but I suppose there is no helping it. I must move forward into the unknown, trusting in my Way..." He suddenly grimaced, reaching up toward his left eye; even now, phantom pains reared their ugly head to sting at random intervals. "...I suppose you do not likewise suffer from odd pains in your eye?"
"Eh...sorry, I'm afraid I can't help you there..." she admitted, scratching at the back of her head.
Inhaling deeply, Cammuravi murmured, "I am the mountain, standing stalwart against the piercing wind..." As the pain subsided, he looked back at her with a solemn expression. "That warrior you mentioned sounds quite wise...and his words sound equally wise, coming from you. Thank you."
Sena had occasionally wondered if it was possible for her cheeks to burst into blue flames, because her face felt hot from utter embarrassment. "Oh no no! I'm not a great warrior. I'm just...Sena. I'm me."
xx
Shortly thereafter, Sena walked with Lanz towards the Centrilo Parade, to satisfy their hunger at the Michiba Canteen with the others.
"...so, still wondering about the hair?" he asked.
Sena smiled sadly. "Still wondering about your skin patterns?"
The taller man chuckled. "Nah. Not gonna change anything about what we have to do in our fight with Moebius, will it?"
"It's the same for me," she admitted, no longer feeling the same sting as she once did. "I'm...still trying to figure out who 'Sena' is. But...I'm getting there, bit by bit."
Lanz smirked, folding his hands behind his head as they neared the main thoroughfare through the City. "Well, if you ask me, this 'Sena' sounds like a pretty cool character, despite being a literal hothead. I hear she can bench press ten Gogols at once!"
"Just ten?" she remarked with a grin, devolving into easy laughter.
"...I do got a different question though. About the hair loop thing." He pointed to the yellow band around her ponytail. "You've always got it set like that. How come?"
Sena blinked. "Oh. This? Well..." Without a thought, she pulled the band off, letting a surprisingly thick wave of fiery hair spill out over her right shoulder. "It just kinda...gets in the way."
"Eh, fair enough. You ever thought about cutting it?"
"No way!" she sputtered, impulsively twisting her long locks back into a side ponytail with practiced ease. "It's...part of my look!"
"Your look, eh?" he observed with a toothy grin.
Puffing her cheeks out, Sena felt oddly irritated at the idea. (Was this what Manana had meant about hair being the lifeblood of a girl? Because the thought of changing her hairdo felt like a violation of the natural order!) "I mean, what I'm saying is...um..." Darn it, where did my words go?!
Lanz looked around, as though inspiration had suddenly struck. Heading towards Wellwell's Emporium, he delved inside.
Even from the main walkway of Centrilo Parade, Sena could hear odd shouts — "Meh-meh, what Tall Man doing here? Meh, not touch merchandise without paying! Wait, what are you doing-?!" — before Lanz...walked...out...with...? "Uh...Lanz...?"
Lanz's left hand looked like it had been dunked into blue paint, which he had then run through his pale hair. The blue liquid caked his locks in an unflattering mess, to the point of dripping down the sides of his face. As though he were a professional, he looked into a nearby window at his reflection, utterly ignoring the curious stares from nearby Cityfolk. "Hmm...well, I don't know about you, but I don't think I can pull off blue hair as well as you do."
It was an oddly touching gesture. Truly.
Yet — as Lanz told Wellwell to calm down, and stop throwing sparks all over the place because yes he'll pay for the paint can! — Sena couldn't help her bout of explosive belly laughs, erupting like ether from a roaring channel.
xxxx
It was probably at that moment when Lanz gained consideration for nickname status.
Because that's just one of the things Sena did: give nicknames to those she felt closest to.
All told, Sena was glad that she was able to live with being 'Sena', even if she believed that she was a work-in-progress on so many things...because life itself was a work-in-progress, was it not?
Even if she had no idea why her hair burned...did the reason really matter?
Sena was Sena. Nothing more, and nothing less.
xxxx
Meanwhile, from a window seat at the Michiba Canteen, Nia and Mio were watching the shenanigans with rapt interest. "Do...you have any idea why Lanz covered his head with blue paint?" wondered Mio.
"Oh, I haven't the foggiest," mused Nia with a strange yet knowing smile, her eyes focused on Sena in particular.
Mio's ears twitched out of curiosity. "Is...something wrong?"
"Oh no, not at all. I'm just...reminded of someone I know, that's all. Maybe I'll tell you later."
xxxx
Author's Note: Is Sena related to Brighid somehow? Maybe! I'm not making any definitive theories one way or another.
But Lanz does strike me as the kind of guy who would do stuff to make people feel better about things they were self-conscious about. If it were Eunie or Mio with the same sort of hangups that Sena had, I could easily imagine him sticking on a pair of fake headwings or fake cat ears.