Even if you’ve killed hundreds–thousands maybe, can you still recover? Can you still redeem yourself, no matter how far you’ve gone down the darkest path? Lilac Carmine seeks a definitive answer to this question.

Born with the surname Rabenda, Lilac was the daughter of a powerful hunter. He had worked for the wealthiest and most influential figures in all of Mistral. When he caught wind of all the corruption which flooded the inner-workings of the government, however, he abandoned his team and his work as a hunter.

Afraid he might expose government secrets, many assassins were sent to kill him, including his former teammates. Although all their attempts on his life had been futile, the hunter became worried when the assassins began to target his family. These attacks eventually resulted in the death of his wife.

He had managed to keep the knowledge of his daughter a secret, and hid in a cabin deep in the Mistralian forests. Unfortunately for him, he was traced to this location, and a pair of hired thugs was sent to kill him. He put up a good fight, but the combined might of Morgan Carmine and Verna Vidkinstein was enough to retire the hunter for good.

While ransacking the cabin, Morgan Carmine had discovered the young Lilac. No older than two years, the child was terrified by the stranger invading her home. Suddenly struck with remorse, Morgan began to comfort Lilac. Seeing how Lilac had no one else to care for her, Morgan decided to take her in as her own.

Adopting the surname Carmine, Lilac was trained to be an expert assassin and thief. Accompanying her surrogate mother on jobs, and watching as the gang slowly expanded. She became a fierce warrior herself, displaying almost unnatural talent in the art of combat.

As Lilac grew older, and slowly more independent, she began to wonder more and more about the world outside of criminality. Wanting to be apart of regular society, she figured becoming a huntress would be the way for her to use her learned skills in a moral manner. After a lengthy period of convincing, Morgan agreed to let Lilac apply for Beacon Academy.

Lilac is a glass cannon, possessing incredible agility, but low durability. She weaves from target to target, tearing them apart with her sharpened sai.

She is notably weak against grimm opponents, often finding them awkward to face compared to human ones, as dispatching rival gang members is what she has grown accustomed to.

Her semblance allows her to turn her hair into vapor. Whenever she is located in the vapor, she can teleport to other sections/clouds of it. For example, if there is a cloud of this vapor at point A, and another cloud of it at point B, she can travel instantaneously to point B, as long as she is within the vapor at point A, and vice versa.

One of her twin sai is infused with wind dust. This dust serves as a small vacuum, pulling the vapor emitted by her hair towards it. This allows her to use the sai for transport.

Lilac is a fish out of water when it comes to social interaction. Only bringing with her vague ideas of politeness inherited from her ‘uncle’ Moates Verde. Many common expressions get misconstrued by her, and peeks at her criminal history can’t help but show from time to time.

Her social ineptitude results in her being unable to understand how others feel about her. From Yolanda’s distaste, to Kari’s fondness, most feelings not expressed in simple terms simply fly past her. Requiring someone like Pahi to explain.

There’s nothing Lilac wants more than to be apart of society. To be accepted in a friend group. To experience what it’s like to be ‘normal.’ But she knows that this can never be.

She’s guarded when it comes to her past, often having to recite cover stories cooked up to prevent others from catching on to her gang affiliations. Although she wants to talk about her past, her upbringing and her current situation, she knows she can’t do so without risk of exposure.

Exposure, is social death in her eyes. In a academy filled with people training to hunt people like her, the knowledge that she is the very thing they’re taught to despise would no doubt result in ostracization, if not worse. There’s a safeguard she maintains to prevent this. Whenever she gets too close to revealing herself, she simply disengages. Much to her own dismay.

But this is the fate she has resigned herself to. That of a spectator. “What would they think if they knew? Would they treat me the same? Would they still like me? Would they hate me?” These questions are best left unanswered in Lilac’s book.