Mayla Stygian

Mayla Stygian is a character of The Celestial Ribbon, and one of the main protagonists of the story.

Personality
Mayla is charismatic and cool-headed most of the time, talking her way through situations easily. She tries to find the good in things, despite her mentally straining job and other worries. She jokes around with people she knows. On the inside, Mayla is a very kindhearted person, wanting to protect the people she cares about, such as Orion. Orion is very important to her, as someone she loves dearly, and he's the only person she truly trusts to drop her defences down in front of.

History
Mayla was born in Bastet, but because of a strange disaster barely a few years after she was born, her parents were badly injured and as she had no other family in the town, she was sent to live with her aunt in Clarity City.

Her aunt was kind enough and taught her well, and she grew on to be a strong and intelligent person. A short while into her teenage years, she got word that her parents had died, five years before she had received this news. Mayla was uncertain about how to feel, but continued to stay positive.

She took on a part-time job acting as a caretaker for the young Prince Claude, and for her work, she and her aunt were moved higher up in rank, moving to the higher districts of the city.

Mayla met Orion shortly after through her schooling, and quickly became friends with him. She listened to him telling her about how he wanted to be a mercenary, and was inspired.

Years later, Mayla and Orion both attended a school to train mercenaries in Steelmine, Mayla quitting her part-time job. They both passed with incredibly good scores, going on to become mercenaries.

Mayla is often contacted by Prince Claude, who informs her of political complications as well as occasionally giving her an assassination job.

Abilities
Mayla is a master at stealth and silent killing, due to her job as an assassin. Her exceptional ability means she is one of the most sought out assassins, and this gives her the moral freedom to reject jobs that she deems immoral. Mayla is also skilled at climbing and acrobatics, using high and out-of-reach, out-of-sight places to get around when on a job.

She has general mercenary combat training, and is more proficient at dodging rather than withstanding attacks, due to her skill at acrobatics and since she cannot wear much armor or it would hinder her movement and stealth. She typically wields light one-handed swords, such as rapiers or backswords, using mainly thrusting attacks.

Despite her lithe form, she is surprisingly strong and muscular, being able to lift up opponents easily and even pin them against a wall. One of her best uses of this strength is catching an enemy off guard who has managed to grab ahold of her and throwing them. She is not supernaturally strong, however, and can still have difficulty moving opponents with heavy armor.

She is not proficient with actively using magic, but subtle magic seems to enhance her stealth, making her more difficult to notice when she doesn't want to be noticed.

Trivia

 * Stygian means 'of or relating to the river Styx', which is a mythological river that is between the Greek underworld of Hades and Earth. She kills people, metaphorically sending them across the river Styx.
 * Since Orion didn't want to be partners with anyone because of Silkie, he and Mayla made up the excuse that he didn't want to have to take care of her when she was in heat. Orion later told Mayla he was certain Silkie was dead or gone forever, and Orion decided that the heat excuse was a valid reason, since he didn't want to get close to anyone again in fear of them going away and dying like Silkie. Mayla still supports Orion's search for Silkie, doing her best to give him hope.
 * Mayla is in love with Orion, although it's something she keeps a secret to only herself and Orion.
 * Everyone Mayla kills has done something wrong. If anyone cruel attempts to get Mayla to kill an innocent, she kills the cruel person asking her and takes their money as payment.
 * Mayla is one of the most well known assassin mercenaries in the elven kingdom. Prince Claude, due to his viewing of her as a motherly figure and the people she kills, has issued that she will always be cleared of any and all charges from killing someone.