#mantikidd

[planet-duckling]

A woman's war Unoccupied history True nature won't search to destroy If it doesn't make sense

[planet-duckling]

Profile

Name: Ana S. aka Manticore aka A.

Age: late 20s

Origin: North Blue

Residence: The Island of Chryseus (Island Made of Gold)

Star sign: Scorpio

MBTI: ENTJ, 8w9

Significant relationships: Eustass Kidd (lover), Killer (friend and confidant)

Devil Fruit: Mythical Zoan, Model: Manticore

Backstory and Motivation

As a young linguist and translator, Ana went on her first expedition as a part of a crew searching for a mythical island of Chryseus replete with fertile soils, ambrosial fruit and fairy tale treasures.

By a stroke of luck, the island finds the expeditionists, and the research begins. To the crew’s bewilderment, their safely berthed ship disappears without a trace.

In the heart of the forest, the crew is met with a guardian spirit of a Manticore that defends the island from invaders that have come to pillage the land and drain it of its rich resources, slaying the crewmen who began the excavation process on the island. However, for better or for worse, the manticore leaves the linguist untouched, vanishing instead and leaving a mysterious devil fruit behind.

Entranced by the Manticore, she consumes the fruit forever uniting with the spirit and accepting the duty of guarding the island and its inhabitants.

Together with the surviving crew, she joins Chryseus commune, scatters the fields with seeds and vineyards, produces wine and does all in her power to sustain the island’s flourishment. In several years it turns from an arguably fictional patch of land into a small but robust cradle of prosperity governed by a close-knit community. The island continues to find the tired souls and welcomes them to stay for as long as they find necessary.

A. keeps her gift and connection with the Manticore a secret, disclosed only to a few closest confidants, for the sake of the safety of the islanders and herself. Like the rest of them, she worships the ruthless spirit that executes the wrongdoers and those who disrespect the island’s folkway. However, she keeps an eye out for transgressors who intend to devastate the island or harm its inhabitants, and swiftly carries out the punishment under the guise of Manticore.

Personality

Before the fateful expedition, Ana led a peaceful but unremarkable life: she had a job that she didn’t despise but wasn’t quite passionate about; was friendly with her peers but never formed more meaningful relationships. A feeling that she can achieve more significant things in life gnawed her heart relentlessly.

She held back her fiery and passionate personality out of fear of being misunderstood or ridiculed, her desire to create and nourish her little world started dissipating until she was invited to the expedition to the mythical island as a translator. Finally, her prayers for a shift in her life have been answered.

Following the consumption of the possessed devil fruit and merging with the Manticore, she mustered courage to throw off the shackles of fear, taking initiative in building and enriching Chryseus pouring her soul into securing the well-being of the community and announcing that the island is the force to be reckoned with in trading world.

Despite Manticore-fueled ferocity she brings when dealing with traders, pirates and breakers of island’s folkway, Ana needs a lot of time to recover from the instability of being its de-facto leader. She restores her strength by making wine or painting and lounging in her garden.

At her worst, she allows her anger take over and runs off people who try to get closer to her. Several times, she transformed into Manticore’s monster point, abandoning her humanity and regretting it as soon as she’d realised what she’d done. Her intensity and tenacious drive can come across as intimidating, if not malignant and aggressive.

Appearance

Height and physique: The young leader of Chryseus is a petite woman, around 5’2’’ in height. She cannot brag she’s got voluptuous forms either.

Facial description: Fair skin tone; oval face; hooded blue eyes; straight nose; sultry lips. Wears natural eye makeup, but likes to accentuate her lips with red lipstick .

Hair: Since her arrival to Chryseus, Ana grew out her golden blond hair and started wearing it in a braid or side ponytail. For special occasions she embellishes her hairstyles with flowers.

Preferred clothing: Ana comes to town meetings and greets guests dressed modestly, not exposing her skin. For formal events, her gowns have a velvet veil cascading from her shoulder. Casually, she opts for a flowing maxi skirt with a slit and a top that exposes her clavicles and shoulders. She prefers clothing in burgundy or wine red shades with golden accessories, traditional to Chryseus.    

Relationship w/ Kidd

When attacks on Chryseus trading ships became increased, Ana decided to seek help from all sailors to strengthen the defence of her people in the open sea. Alas, despite the generous reward she promised, nobody responded to her call for help.

At the brink of despair, she and de-jure mayor of the island summon the most feared pirate captains in an attempt to form an alliance with anyone willing to run protection for the island’s traders in exchange for an extravagant baksheesh. Among the captains, towers Eustass Kid, upon glancing at him Ana feels the spirit of the Manticore itself slightly roused. In his turn, Kid finds something strange yet familiar in her icy gaze. Ana does most of the talking with the pirates, although the supposed mayor is right there and the observant Kid infers who is the real decision-maker.

Negotiations go awry when one of the captains starts poking fun at the island’s fear of Manticore which results in a verbal altercation between Ana and him, the former daring him to steal something from the premises to check for himself if the legends are true. Frustrated, she adjourns the meeting, making plans to summon another batch of captains to try her luck with.

Late in the evening, she goes to the island fair to unwind and taste fresh cherry wine, when one of the vendors gifts her an adorned bottle of the most expensive nectar on the shelf. Confused, she replies she didn’t buy it, when the vendor points at the familiar towering figure enveloped in a lavish fur coat. She scoffs and approaches Kid, treating him to a glass of nectar.

One shared bottle of wine turned into two, the distance between them shortened with each joke and each laugh, soon they found themselves in her garden, feeling each other’s warmth, cheek to cheek. All of the sudden, he stares at her with the most serious expression in his eyes, telling her that he’s willing to defend her and her people no matter what happens. He’ll personally announce to everyone in the sea and on the land that anyone who attacks Chryseus' ships or the attempts to invade will have to deal with his wrath.

Touched by his words and the blood moon glimmering above their heads, Ana gave in to Kid’s persistent touch, spending the night with him, no regrets could dare to sneak into her heart. He kept his promise, mercilessly punishing the fools who attacked Manticore’s traders, and she kept hers, rewarding him tenfold for his protection.

The fact that the couple has stuck together for years remains a surprise to anyone aware of their relationship. Reckless and constantly chasing thrills, Kidd can never be bound to a singular place unlike Manticore who must guard Chryseus till the day she passes on. A shadow of fear pushed through in her soul that her attachment to the Captain of Victoria Punk might prevent her from fully bonding with the spirit, but little does she know that her lover could finally feel at home only next to her.  

Thank you for reading! This is an old concept of Manticore, my first One Piece s/i that I expanded a little bit. I’m going to dedicate a separate post to her DF and Chryseus lore.

Artwork of Manticore is by my beloved wife @gojirarara​ 💜