Niko

"But at this point, I’ve accepted my death"

-- Niko

NOTE:  Additional backstory and personality information to be added soon.

A runaway human teenager/firefly hybrid that escaped his lonely and chaotic home with his one friend Rikka to find a new home to build a new life.  Though Rikka wishes to use the wish to save him from the curse that’s killing him, he wishes to guarantee the two of them will have a new, safe home far, far away from the mages that cursed him to spend his last days in peace with her.

Backstory

Niko grew up onethe third youngest of seven siblings in a both lonelypoor and chaoticcramped home.  NikoHe always had a sense of curiosity and a love of quiet, but having to constantly take on some of his often absent parent’s responsibilities - especially once a couple of his older siblings noticed he’d comply when they asked him to do something for them - he never really got to nurture it or any real interests.  On top of that, the general chaos of the house with five siblings, (the sixth only being born in his teens) and frequent shouting matches and physically violent arguments would frequentlykeep fantasisehim aboutup movingat somewhere more peaceful.night.  He hadwas nounable friendsto growingdo upanything exceptin peace, especially when the same siblings who used him would blame him for Rikka,their actions.  He was surrounded by people at home but still felt constantly lonely.  Even if most kids hated it, he found school and an odd sort of refuge.  At least, until bullies realised he was an easy target.  He didn’t have any friends, until he noticed a classmate left her science textbook on her desk after class in middle school.

While he was going to return the textbook to the girl, he was cornered by of the school’s worst bullies who hewas eventuallyabout decidesready to runbeat the shit out of him when he noticed her, and they got into a fight instead,  He watched in fear until she managed to scare him off after defending herself.  Seeing her injuries, he decided to use a Healing Light spell on her as an act of kindness and gratitude.  She was surprised by this, but their rule violations got them both sent to detention.  While there, the girl he learned was named Rikka took interest in actually talking to them, and with their similar backgrounds, they became fast and loyal friends.  They’d find any excuse they could to share notes (mostly Niko to Rikka) and do any activity they were interested in together.  Niko also got a chance to share knowledge he’d gathered from numerous books he’d quickly read in his pockets of spare time.

Overtime, their home lives started to get even worse.  For Niko, the birth of his youngest sibling caused tensions between his parents and siblings to reach a boiling point.  His parents would become outright controlling, not being able to get away with afterbeing absent anymore as he and his siblings would refuse to take on what should’ve always been their responsibility.  For Niko especially, he’d been spending more time away from home with Rikka, so his parents would threaten constantly to lock him in his room, the car or deprive him of food, or threaten to cut her off if he didn’t follow their demands.  Thanks to his friendship, Niko began to understand what it felt like to actually be appreciated, and not just used but he wasn’t sure what to do about his predicament until he came up with a bit of an extreme solution:  Running away with her.  At first, despite being able to plan the logistics of how to execute such a plan he was afraid of taking action so drastically, being hesitant to propose the idea to Rikka was too, but her own escalating home situation made her willing to agree to it, despite their mutual fears, they knew all they really wanted in life becamewas completelysome unbearable.peace and somewhere they could truly call a home.

AlongNiko made a plan, and they left in the way,middle of the night with the clothes on their back and what they could fit in their pockets and fled to a nearby town.  They conserved every penny and piece of food they had.  Having to steal at times.  Even with how difficult their new lives were, they still found a sense of hope that one day, they’d finally be able to just live somewhere they could consider a true home.  At some point, Rikka gotwas kidnappedapproached by ana undergroundwoman magewhilst Niko was inside a shop to buy her some food.  He sensed something was off outside but ran out only to find that Rikka was gone.  She had gone with the woman who told her she could get her and Niko some food and supplies if she followed her which she agreed to out of desperation.  Turns out, the woman was using a disguise and was actually a part of a mysterious, deadly cult who intended to put a curse on her that wouldused turnhumans her intoas an energy source for their stavesmachinery and machines.as test subjects.  Targeting especially those they perceived helpless and whom not many would care about if they died.

Rikka was seconds away from becoming the latest victim of their signature curse;  One that makes a substance grow in your body, slowly killing you until your body is turned source for the cultist’s technology shortly after your death.  Niko used a flashbang attack to blind the magesintervened at the last secondsecond, using a Flashbang spell that caused the cult leader to savedrop her.his staff on the ground, landing pointed straight in his direction.  However, as a result, he ended up cursingCausing him to get cursed instead of Rikka.  TheAs curseRikka nowbroke isfree slowlyfrom killingbeing him,restrained causingby two other cultists, she grabbed Niko and Rikkaran toaway. attempt toAfter findthat, athey’d scour libraries and looked desperately for any cure/way to lift itNiko’s oncurse topafter moving between several different towns to both avoid the cult and those who’d recognise them from their hometown.  Rikka’s desperation and fear of losing her only friend worsening overtime, especially given the possibility brought up by Niko the cult still may want their original goaltarget (he is right.)

After learning the prize for victory in the Cross Tournament is a wish, Niko, having grown accepting of his fate and avoidingfearful of the cult.possibility the cult may still be chasing them, wishes Rikka to use it to save herself.  However despite their conflicting motives, he does hope (outside of fights) Crossroads could maybe be somewhere he can enjoy the semblance of peace he’s always craved while enjoying what he can still do or see there with the unknown amount of time he has left to make the most of.

Personality

Observant and curious, Niko tends to pick up details in his surroundings most don’t,t. this This extends to his ability to read people, with his perceptions of them usually being accurate.  He’s shy and soft spoken, so it's hard for him to express himself to most but he does try to speak up when his knowledge and input could be useful.  Niko has always had an interest in learning about different peoplepeople, places and subjects (though Rikka’s the only one he’s ever gotten close to)to and abeen desireable to exploreshare newhis places,curiosity with) which despite his acceptance of his fate he hopes to use some of his remaining time to do while in Crossroads.

Despite his background and desire to make his wish come true, he actually has a lot of empathy for most and can understand the majority of motives.  He generally doesn’t like to fight or fight back, but will if needed.  In general, Niko is a good planner and strategist and feels like he shines best in that role.  Even in intense and uncertain situations and when he’s scared, he’ll manage to keep a cool enough head to think mostly clearly.  

Around Rikka in casual settings, Niko can be talkative and sometimes a little childlike.  She is someone he can work together with as an equal.  Since she is actually interested in him and his views, receptive to his kind acts and would give him the chance to explore new interests.  At least, until recently, where Niko has reverted to being more passive again.  As Rikka’s desperation has grown to save him, he’s gotten devastated and found it harder to have the sort of teamwork he once had with her as his body has started to weaken.