Espira Xirro

Espira Xirro is a relatively enigmatic member of the Cult of Ustream, associated primarily with Shadow.

Appearance
Espira has short, silver hair which seems to flow harmonically, with a single braid adorned with unique black ribbon at the end and what seems to be a completely black maid headwear resting on her head. She has two piercing, red eyes devoid of all emotion which seem to eerily glow in a subtle malevolent tone. She usually wears her black combat outfit--contrasted by lines of a somber shade of pink with a crimson-colored chain going through her skirt, which is a special accessory that allows her to manipulate blood to an ample extent. This is complemented with a black legwear which seems to be part of the main outfit due to the color shades.

Personality
Although Espira's demeanor is generally cold and formal towards everyone, the invariability of the sharp, gelid exterior of her personality comes to an end to reveal a level of compassion for the sensitive subjects in her life... or even others'. Her hesitation is virtually zero when stating her opinions, as irrational as they might seem to be, and she also commits assassinations deftly and without regrets and empathy. Patience is only limited to a point, to where Espira will simply refuse to take anymore nonsense and will effectively begin displaying the hostile edges of her attitude. She is incredibly calculating, easily capable of shifting a situation to her advantage due to how quickly she processes this information.

Fighting Style
Overwhelming, Espira's offensive capabilities are arguably the most brutal out of the entire Cult. She generally opens the fight with combinations focused on her Illusion Dash technique whilst aiming to tear down defenses, suppressing the opponent in a tight position. Her immense versatility comes from both her ability to conjure a wide arsenal of bladed weapons and, furthermore, her extended control over blood granted by her Crimson Chain. This deathly combination effectively allows her to continue fighting and very rarely withdraw her constant assaults while barely spending Mana.

Powers
 * See "Crimson Chain" item, under the "Equipment" section.
 * Hematoimpery: Stemming entirely from the Crimson Chain *, Espira has shown to be experienced at manipulating blood itself as an offensive or defensive measure, limited however to the extent of her own body and the surroundings. There are truly no experimental bounds to this power as she has been able to solidify, liquefy and in once instance, vaporize blood--conserving a complete level of control under every state.

Abilities
 * See "Illusion Dash" item, under the "Techniques" section.
 * Augmented Capabilities: Despite being a human being, Espira's physical and mental capabilities have been exponentially enhanced due to the specialized trained she received along with Sharra, for almost her entire life. Her agility is only paralleled by Jude, as she is capable of performing a feat known as an Illusion Dash * . Factoring in brutal strength which might as well be called an inherent traits, she could acquire enough force to shatter titanium, provided the right conditions. Espira's perception is heavily tuned as well--her abilities to focus, predict, evade, attack, and counter are almost reflexive when in combat situations due to her brain immediately triggering to the experimental mode.


 * Supplementary Magic: Being a Phantasian, she has a substantial grasp over the concept of metaphysics, and more particularly over a branch of it which involves the conjuring of weapons--or more specifically summoning them from a different dimension known as Materia in a process that could be called, by all rights, alchemic in nature. Other appliances to her magic include the incredible heightening of her overall perception, casting a veil of Mana that deviates light in order to conceal herself, changing the causal properties of her weapons, and so on.

Techniques
 * More information available on the "Equipment" section.
 * Illusion Dash: Involves an extreme burst of speed that exceeds the visionary limit of onlookers, causing the motion to be simply registered as she leaving an afterimage which appears to blur out of existence. Espira herself appears nigh-instantly on the desired location with an inverted version of the optional illusion, stopping perfectly with infinitesimal inertia. The acceleration occurs immediately so there is no tell other than her position, and seeing through Illusion Dash is almost impossible under normal circumstances.
 * Crucial Focus: Utmost magnification of the user's senses applied directly to Espira's eyes. While subject to Crucial Focus, her actual irises glow brightly as they are exposed to active Mana, forming various levels of circular layers around its area, ultimately focused on the pupil itself. Under this state, Espira's levels of analysis, reflex, and perception are exponentially enhanced, making otherwise-inhuman feats fall into her grasp. The effect is momentaneous, however, and she cannot repeatedly apply Crucial Focus to herself at the risk of overstimulating these traits, limiting its usage.
 * Chrome Shift: Working in conjunction with her ability to call upon a virtually infinite arsenal of obsidian-based weaponry * focusing on cutting edges, Chrome Shift is an acquired technique Espira herself has perfected over the time, solely meant to apply to these weapons in order to change their specific behavior regarding the general laws of causality. The weapon acquires a distinctive coloration acting as a label, whilst keeping the overall shades and tonalities of the obsidian intact, and it is then bestowed with specific properties. For example, Blue Direct alters patterns to Espira's whim, Red Focus maliciously aims at targets, and so on. Due to the nature of these properties, Espira almost always uses them with projectile assaults.

Equipment

 * Crimson Chain: The Crimson Chain is a mysterious relic from unknown origins that has been optimized for immediate usage on Espira's combat attire, though it is possible it might belong to the Crimson Meister herself, after all. It is a quite lengthy chain with eternally crimson shackles apparently made of an unidentifiable metal, devoid of imperfections or damage that the passing of time might have inflicted on it. It is a weapon--but not in the sense it might be used physically, for it does not appear to have been created with that purpose in mind, but instead, it automatically gifts the holder a power known as Hematoimpery, or manipulation of blood, set at a virtually boundless level of potential. The saturation of the chain's color depends on the quantity of blood it has drawn and stored from outside sources, and it also acquires an unnatural glow when it is triggered by Espira due to the usage of a more elaborate technique such as Blood Guard -Rend-.
 * Obsidian Arsenal: Crafted entirely from a particularly unique of obsidian, the actual weapons can be freely conjured by Espira when needed, hence the fact she often appears to be completely weaponless; except, of course, in battle. The obsidian used has an astounding purity and, although lightweight, its unnaturally strong composition permits it to easily glide through flesh and metal. It is, in reality, called Gods' Obsidian, which is powered by an energy known as Faith. Available weapons include her signature "Obsidian Blade", which is a beautifully ornate sword engraved with symbols and appears to be the embodiment of Espira's fighting style; nondescript, standard blades that are substantially weaker than the aforementioned one; patterned daggers bearing the same symmetric, curved design on the guard; and finally, short aesthetic knives with triangular blades bearing openings on them so as to reduce air friction when launched.

Strengths and Immunities
Combining her fighting style, her heightened perception, her brutal strength, her amazing agility and ridiculous versatility, Espira's focus on physical combat makes fighting her by such means a nightmare if one is not properly prepared for what is to come. Without proper restrictive measures, she is potentially able to dramatically shift the outcomes of a particular scenario very quickly; and her agility allows her to evade with relative ease.

Weaknesses and Fears
Despite the aforementioned factors, Espira is still a normal human being, which makes her definitely susceptible physically when compared to other Cultists. Furthermore, having been previously killed by a gun, this further evidences that Espira is not efficient and instead vulnerable when dealing with gun-wielding opponents, though this does not limit her ability to fight. She is extremely cautious with them, however.

Relationships
Even though she has been in the Cult of Ustream for nearly two months, she has a more or less neutral opinion of every other Cultist, but it can fluctuate just as easily for respect, to her, is something which is gained. Her friendship with Shadow is, although seeming like superficial care about the Diclonius at simple glances, a definite stronger bond among everyone else, as she will undoubtedly look out for him, and viceversa. Ziolang and Vale are notable mentions, as well, for after having fought both, Espira has come to actually regard them as worthy opponents, not just mere acquaintances. She also respects the Sky Serpent known as Starr, simply because of the fact she was the one who brought her back to life the day Shadow arrived to Ustream, Euthora.

Quotes

 * "Yet another victim's blood quenches the shackles' thirst."

Trivia

 * Espira was originally meant to be a Touhou character for the Roleplay "Normality in the Realm", but she has become a fully-established character within the canons of the Cult of Ustream and Oblivion Phantasy.
 * Most of her important techniques conserve their Spell Card nomenclature and furthermore reference other patterns and/or characters in the Touhou universe, with the most relevant mention being Sakuya Izayoi, for obvious reasons.
 * Her appearance with Shadow in the Cult of Ustream Canon is one stemming from the alternate possibility she would have been sent to the world of Euthora, as opposed to continuing with Oblivion Phantasy ~ Forsaken Malign.