Julietta

"If I hit her, Vince will probably... fuck it, he's not around anyway."

With her tiny, delicate, doll-like appearance and choice of fashion, Julietta gives the impression of a sweet little girl for about 0.5 seconds before she punches somebody across a football field.

In actuality, Julie is quite a tomboy, and isn't afraid to cake her fancy clothing with dirt or sweat if it means making a point. She's brash, aggressive, and stubborn. She does not suffer fools gladly, and is quick to escalate to physical violence after becoming hostile. 

The reason that she can afford to be so reckless all the time is that she has not ever truly tasted defeat at the hands of anyone other than herself. She is descended from a rather powerful demon, and even though the lineage is around 10 generations old, making her less than a tenth of a percent demon, by some twist of fate her lineage has manifested itself in her to make her impractically strong. 

Her blood grants her a lot of physical durability - she could level a city with a well-aimed punch. Not much can actually pierce her skin, save for herself and certain enchanted blades. As for things like exhaustion or sleepiness, she hasn't hit her limits yet, and her brother keeps her from doing so by forcing her to rest as if she were a regular human. She is eternally a child and healthy, a reflection of her body when her powers were awakened.

When she was eight, she and her younger brother Vincent were riding a bus that crashed. The children were trapped under its ruins while people tried to free them and called for emergency services. As she watched her brother, whom she loved with all her being, struggle and cry out in fear, something in her snapped.

It was an unprecedented showing of what should be extremely diluted demon blood. However, the rush of power in the hands of a panicked, inexperienced child caused a disaster zone far larger than the bus crash. In a field of destruction and death, Julie cried for her brother, who was nowhere to be seen. He had vaporized like many of the other people caught in the fallout of Julietta's power.

She would have continued like this, a human natural disaster, if not for the appearance of the very demon she was descended from, who put the equivalent of magical duct tape on her and threw her into a cage to make her calm down. Eventually, the only thing that made Julie stop (too-effectively) wearing at the barriers he placed over her was blatant manipulation in the form of her brother, who had been resurrected by her ancestor in a suspicious way he wasn't willing to divulge.

She allowed Greed to explain, learning about her lineage and her nature as an anomaly. From her oldest family member, she demanded a seal that would limit her power, and that would divorce it from her emotions, to avoid a repeat occurrence. He did so gladly. Then, she told him to install the equivalent of a kill-switch on her, in case something happened and she did lose control of herself, which he refused to do. Greed kept an eye on his troublemaking descendants as they finished school, in the stead of the parents that Julie killed in her outburst.

Julietta is terrified of herself, and how she might hurt others if her control isn't perfect. Therefore, she stays away from them so that they don't get caught up in her affairs. In theory, she's a good enough person and doesn't like hurting others, but constantly being on guard is tiresome to the point where she figures it's easier to isolate herself. She is unhealthily attached to her brother, whom she is the most afraid of hurting, but her selfishness prevents her from leaving him. 

Vince opened a patisserie the second he was able to, and Julietta followed, too protective to leave him alone and too afraid to go out into the world on her own. She lives her days as his assistant, occasionally taking on jobs for her great-great-(etc)-grandfather, and acting as the town's unofficial protector.

DEVIL APPROACHING. Make deal? [YES/NO]

At the humble age of twenty-one, Julietta Begnoche sits in an ebony chair decorated with a cream and pale-blue lacy cushion. The table is high, to the point where she thinks she could lick it if she stuck her tongue out - a deliberate choice on the part of that little dicknugget, she suspects. Before her lays a moral quandary.

He looks at her far too eagerly, his hands folded under his chin as he peers down at her. "Well? How is it?"

She stares down at the plates before her, and then back at the deceitfully youthful face who is looking at her with sparkling eyes. Suppressing a sigh, she resigns herself to the truth.

"Not bad."

Coming from her, it's a glowing-five star review. And unfortunately, he knows that.

"Yeeees!" He cheers, throwing his head back. "I knew you'd love it! It's made just for you, you know?"

It's some sort of whitefish cooked in herb butter, and a bunch of other fancy things she doesn't know the name of (hey, she's no chef), but it works. He's also prepared escargot on another plate, and calamari with some sort of sweet-and-sour sauce. He really did attack all of her biases.

"Don't get a swelled head," she snaps, the sight of the man happy filling her with rage. "I'm not going to waste the energy to lie on someone like you."

"Yes, yes~ I'm so lucky to have an honorable descendant~" he says, taking a swig of lemonade from a sparkling glass.

"With you for an ancestor, I wonder where I got it from?" she quips, smirking. He drops his head onto the table.

"Uuuu, you don't have to be so mean, Julie~"

"Shut the fuck up. Eat a squid ring." She passes the basket of calamari to her grandfather. He takes one and begins nibbling.

She finishes inhaling the fish, even taking a bite of the mysterious vegetables that Greed has placed on the side, before wiping her mouth with a silken napkin. "Now. What did you want?"

"Wha d'you mean?" he asks, mouth disgustingly full of squid and batter.

"..." Her look of disgust conveys everything she needs to, so she doesn't comment. "We both know you didn't invite me over just to make me lunch, so let's not insult the other by pretending."

"Not everyone is looking to take advantage of you, you know."

"But you are."

He gives her a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. In other words, it's his usual smile. 

"How's Vincent?"

"Doing splendidly, of course."

She allows the question, as it's perfectly reasonable for him to show a degree of concern for Vince. His caginess is pissing her off, though.

"Really? The bakery's doing well, too?"

She frowns. "While we don't like you, we wouldn't exactly kick you out if you visited." She's pretty sure he knows this. "Vince wouldn't, at least."

His fingernail taps against the table. It's a strange thought, but Julie wonders how many other people have seen his bare hands, as he's always wearing gloves.

"I'm just trying to get to my point," he says, his pleasant expression never breaking. "I'm just trying to ask, are you happy there?"

She has no clue what he's getting at. "Yes??" 

"Hmm." She's not sure when it happened, but she's drained her lemonade and he's pouring another glass for her from the pitcher. "So if I were to offer you an opportunity to study overseas at a university, would you refuse it?"

Julietta gives him a look, his expression as equally infuriating and unreasonable as always. "Why would you do that??"

"Owning a bakery is your brother's dream. I don't think it's yours," he says. "I feel like you, on the other hand, are not so suited to that kind of life."

She bristles. "What kind of life am I suited for, then?" she growls. "War? Experimentation? Assassination?" 

He sighs, closing his eyes and resting a cheek against one of his palms. "The fact that you're suggesting those kinds of things says a lot about your psyche, Julie."

"..." The table is suddenly very interesting.

"Rather, I know you and I know you'd refuse to leave Vincent," he says, and pulls out a folder from somewhere when she wasn't looking. "So instead, I have a challenge for you. Or an offer."

"So you've finally come for my soul?"

He gives her a mocking smile. "Please. The souls of blood relatives aren't nearly as delicious as a stranger's." He slides the folder to her.

How does he know that? She looks at the folder, in its innocent manila existence, as if it's a primed bomb.

"Come on, it'll get lonely if you don't open it. Those documents were made for your eyes to read."

She scowls at the overly cutesy interjection, and flips open the folder.

It's... a map of Paris, with a number of red marks. Clipped to it is a stack of images of children.

"What is this?"

"It's a job offer."

"Excuse me?"

"I know you don't need money, but you'll be rewarded quite handsomely for this job."

...one of the photos looks familiar.

"The number on each headshot corresponds to the last location in which the child in question was seen. In spite of the installation of public cameras and the influx of police officers patrolling the streets, the culprits remain at large. They've been operating for 9 years. I'd have asked you sooner, but I don't like employing minors, unless I can underpay them grossly."

...Culprits?

"The position is that of an actress. And the role is that of a victim. It's a job with incredibly high stakes, and requires world-class talent. It's a position that will challenge you and favors those with communication skills, the ability to think on the spot, and initiative," he says, sinking. "What do you think?"

The paper crumples under her hand.

Nine years...

The stack of photographs is thick and weighs heavy like lead. She tosses the folder back at him. The photos and files scatter in the air, before landing on the table and floor in a mess.

"Do you think I'd be a good hero, of all things?" she snaps, standing up at her chair. "Don't make me laugh."

As if.

With her luck, she'd end up wiping out an entire city again.

He begins gathering photos, smile glued onto his face. "Nobody is asking you to be a hero, but you can be whatever you want to be. I don't think this is exactly a laughing matter. I just thought that you might want to put that youthful face and skillset to good use, instead of cowering behind your younger brother for the rest of your life."

"FUCK OFF."

As she stomps away, she doesn't even feel like that bad of a guest. 

They both know she'll be calling back later in the day, after all.

misc

• Ironically, Julie has a mild phobia of children. While regular humans are already fragile enough in her eyes, children are even more so, and isn't that just the worst?
• She loves playing soccer, but doesn't have enough friends to play it with. She can't fully enjoy it either, since there's nobody she could let fully loose with.
• While her hair used to be a frizzy nightmare for her, ever since her demon blood unlocked, it's always effortlessly silky. A small blessing. 
• She's usually polite enough, but once she snaps, her vocabulary is colorful. 
• She hates sweets and people assuming that she likes sweets due to her appearance. Don't call her 'cute' or 'darling.'
• However, if it's Vincent's sweets, which are world-class and made by her beloved brother, she'll eat those without complaint.
• She also hates those who pick on the weak and innocent (which is partially why she never strikes first).
• When it comes to Greed, she is openly disgusted by the things he does and the whole 'stealing souls' business. He's also annoying and grating and generally awful. However, there's a part of her that begrudgingly acknowledges how he rescued her from the life of a mindless animal, and how he gave Vince back to her. Therefore, she'd probably never work against him, and is usually quite compliant with his requests.
• Which was probably exactly his plan in the first place!! How aggravating!!!
• Because of her limiters, she has a lot of trouble with tasks that require high amounts of dexterity, as she often has to remove them to do a task, and then put them on and have to get used to a different level of power again. She used to enjoy wood carving as a kid, but it's not something she can do anymore. 
• She hates being touched and touching others. ...she says, but she's super touch-starved.
• While she would greatly prefer t-shirts and athletic wear, the stupid frilly clothes that Greed gave her are the only ones durable enough to survive her usage, and he won't give her anything more functional-looking. At least they help her fit in at Vince's bakery.
• It's a fact only she and Greed know, but her blood has incredible restorative property. A drop diluted by a factor of a million works as an effective salve that accelerates healing. A few drops undiluted is too much for most beings and will kill them in moments, giving them the appearance of being cooked from the inside. However, if the person were to somehow survive the ordeal, they would discover that they'd become immortal, with an accelerated healing rate, albeit lacking Julie's other litany of dumb powers.
• While she regrets...her life, in general, Julie is glad that she was the one who awakened as a demon and that Vincent got to live a regular human life.