Dominion

Dominion is not very well-adjusted to mortal culture. She can be brash, rude, and unsavoury, with little regard for the feelings of others. She's prone to lying to save her own skin and is very greedy when it comes to food, though she is also picky and thus wasteful. She values the lives of cats above those of mortals, but socialisation with those who attempt to understand her has led to her making a lot of progress in this regard.

She's very impulsive and motivated by base instinct. Although she has no interest in maintaining a façade of politeness, she is caring in her own way when it comes to her few friends. Her work as part of the Palatine is viewed as mostly a chore, though she greatly enjoys field work involving direct confrontation with her targets. She is not widely accepted in the community due to her lack of willingness to conceal her demonic tendencies.

Despite the fact that her binding to the mortal realm was against her will, Dominion has found many things to enjoy about life as a browbird. Most importantly, she has developed an insatiable appetite for meat, curry, salted snacks, and anything that doesn't involve the consumption of vegetables. She is completely incapable of cooking, however, and relies upon others to prepare meals for her.

She's also fond of the local kitlikes and kettlecats that roam the streets of New Centuary, even going so far as sharing her precious food with them. She has names for each and every one. Her usually loud and rambunctious manner is reined in for the sake of the shyer strays.

Most of all, though, Dominion loves carnage. The fire of combat ignites a deeper passion within her that is not activated by any other activity, but she hates sparring — she prefers to only engage in "real battle". She takes great pride in dispatching her enemies.

Dominion is a very inconsistent fighter. When battling with conventional weapons, she is utterly incompetent, but she is extremely adept in the use of her magically generated blood weapons. They act almost like an extension of her body, allowing her to maneouvre in ways that an ordinary browbird could not.

Although trapping her in a mortal body has weakened her demonic abilities greatly, she still retains unnatural speed and strength in comparison with ordinary browbirds. Where her skills suffer is in her defensive skills: she may be quick and physically strong, but her focus on an incessant offensive approach leads to sloppy attacks and the opportunity for enemies to undermine her defences.

Dominion was one of countless primal demons in the Abyss. Among her kind, she was one of the stronger demons, though she was far from the most powerful, but the mortal fear of blood fuelled her strength. After getting into a territorial spat with a group of demons and coming startlingly close to death, she felt the thread of magic drawing her out of her realm; she didn't intend to follow it, but in her weakened state, she was unable to resist the summoning.

The resulting transformation was one of intense, blinding pain. To cram the expansive and infinite body of a primal demon into a puny mortal vessel was unheard of, but on that day, the impossible was achieved. The mortals performing the ritual had expected the soul of a war hero drawn from the Dreamscape, but they were instead greeted by something more sinister. Dominion killed and feasted upon all of them, including the ancient who had summoned them, and was set free upon the world.

At first, she spent her time killing and feeding indiscriminately wherever she could, but it wasn't long before the Palatine caught wind of her activities. A team was sent to "handle" her, but the unprecedented discovery of her browbird form led to a different conclusion. She was capable of reason — as much as a demon could be — and could be utilised as an asset. With that in mind, the envoy subdued her and brought her back for further orders.

Dominion was valuable to the Palatine in a very different way to the rest of their members — unlike them, she was disposable. She also had the ability to detect other demons through scent alone, as well as her immense power over the blood aspect. Besides that, she could communicate with voidtouched as an ally rather than an aggressor, something which was hoped to be developed into a tool for negotiations.

Unfortunately, she was also too much of a loose cannon to be allowed on missions alone. This became less of an issue when she met Nezha, a mysterious satyr with the smell of the void all over them. They mutually agreed to become partners: Dominion in exchange for regular access to blood in the wake of the Palatine's ban on her hunting, whilst Nezha made the agreement in order to ensure that their secret was kept. They settled into the dynamic of uncertain allies.

Whilst Nezha was motivated to protect others and fulfil their Palatine duty, Dominion saw little point to doing more than what was assigned to her. This became an issue when Nezha decided that they wanted to pursue the elusive Heartstealer, a killer stalking the streets of New Centuary. The two broke out into a fierce argument that concluded with Nezha's departure from their shared living quarters. That would be the last time Dominion saw them for a long time.

Now shaken by the perceived abandonment and reeling from the loss of her only friend and partner, Dominion became even more unstable on the field. She went through potential partners like no tomorrow and her lack of awareness on the job led to many injuries on the side of the Palatine. Eventually, they gave up on assigning her a new partner at all; instead, they sent her on what they considered suicide missions. Too dangerous for valuable assets and fragile mortals, these assignments became more and more risky until Dominion found herself struggling to complete them at all. Still, she threw herself into her tasks, the bite of violence the only thrill in her day.

On one such mission, she found herself overwhelmed by her opposition. The feeling of cold, sharp fear was so intense that she could scarcely move and, for the first time in her life, she knew what it was like to look death right in the eye. The trauma of this experience left her unable to function, a mere shell of herself, and it was then that Eun stepped in.

For reasons outside her comprehension, he took her into his home and declared that he would take responsibility for her performance within the Palatine as her new partner. He accepted the arduous task of caring for a thoroughly traumatised and depressed Dominion despite having no known connection to her at all and, over the coming months, she gradually began to make process mentally. Eventually, she was even ready to participate in missions again, this time by the side of a new partner.

Of course, just when she thought she could cling to a semblance of a normal life again, Nezha came crashing back in. Between their blighted mask and their broken heart, Dominion could tell that her friend had changed — but to what extent? And why had they come back at all?