Erza Cross
"Friends always stand beside one another, regardless of liability."
- Erza to Ryu, Rise of the Rapture Swordsman Arc
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Erza Cross is a member of Amandine City's Special Defense Force and major protagonists of "Sephirot's Eye". She is a 17 year old female with light blonde hair and blue eyes. She is often seen wearing a long red, Chinese inspired long coat with a yellow undershirt and dark red pants. The coat has fire designs along the sides, and is of a slimmer fit. Erza is known both for her incredibly friendly disposition and the intensity of her emotions. She is well respected among the citizens of Amandine City because she is famous for her many mercenary exploits at a young age. Both of her parents are renowned for their military expertise and skills and she aspires to be just like them. By extension of her disposition, she is incredibly kind and always looks for the best in people, rarely holding grudges against individuals for too long. She is also a sword fighting prodigy which is not surprising given her upbringing. She will however grow angry or emotional when someone insults a family member or friend of hers, and can get irritated with people who lack good manners. Her strength and courage are unmatched when she is fighting for the honor of a friend, and people have noted that she has a habit of bringing out the best in people.
Erza is the sixth member of the Sephirot and represents the dimension known as Netzach. Her original soul weapon, Sol, was destroyed by Ryu Naraka during the events of the Rise of the Rapture Swordsman Arc, and was later replaced by Apollo: the former soul weapon of the fallen god Helios. The reason why Apollo was able to remain in this world for so long after losing its master and then become bounded to the weaponless Erza was because the properties of god weapons are different from those of human weapons. Apollo is a Unique + class weapon in the form of a very intricate katana with a sun pattern engraved on the hilt. The specific effects the evolution had on the soul weapon are unknown since it transformed prior to being bounded to Erza. It has an affinity for the fire element and has a purity level that varies directly with Erza's own willpower. Due to the fact that Apollo was not her original weapon and is not perfectly linked to her soul, she can not call upon large blasts of fire energy, so she makes the most of this weakness by setting off small bursts at the tip of her sword in order to speed up her strikes substantially. Also, because Apollo was originally a god's weapon, it possesses a will of its own and can manifest itself in a human form that is only visible to Erza.
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Erza was born into a family comprised of dedicated soldiers to the Romerian Army, and was brought up to support the same ideal. Since her parents were frequently on missions, she spent a lot of time with her aunt and uncle as a child. They taught her swordsmanship and honor, and that it is the duty of the strong to protect those weaker than them. At around the age of ten, Erza applied to the youth division of the military and quickly rocketed up the ranks. The personalized training she had received in addition to her family legacy earned her a great deal of respect among the people of Amandine City, where she had been stationed. On occasion, however, she would take a leave of absence from her duties as an officer to visit her home town of Merrington, which resided in the far countryside of Romeria. While there she would spend time with her family and two close friends, Ren Willow and Kyoko Harmonia, and entertain them with stories of her military exploits.
Her status as a member of the Sephirot was revealed to her just after the "Amandine City's 56th Annual Fighting Tournament" in which she took second place to Aaron Lotus, who was already a member of the group. This made her the second member of the Sephirot to be discovered.
Erza has a very strong disposition and can be very stubborn when she has her mind set on something. This can be seen when she forces the release papers of Ryu Naraka from prison by influencing the opinions of the court through sheer force of personality and charisma despite the fact that, at the time, Ryu was still under questioning for countless crimes. This trait also extends to her willingness to help a friend with a problem no matter how tedious or difficult it may be.
Erza serves as the primary character of focus during the Rise of the Rapture Swordsman Arc, as she is the one recruited to eliminate the terrorist (later revealed to be Ryu) on accounts of multiple homicides, the aiding of a wanted criminal, extensive destruction of federal; state and private property, and the creation of a Rapture Weapon - all of which are crimes punishable by death. At the time of their first encounter, Ryu was shifting back and forth between his insane and normal personalities which confused and scared Erza, resulting in her thinking that he was nothing more than a deranged criminal. The battle was incredibly one sided, resulting in Ryu using Ragnarok to devour her soul weapon, Sol, essentially permanently disarming her for life, and then sparring her life telling Erza to never confront him again. The loss of her soul weapon was devastating to her because it meant that she would have to give up on all of her dreams of following in her parents footsteps, and causes her to become heavily depressed. It is not until Aaron goes off in search of Ryu that Ido Yama informs Erza of Apollo's existence and tells her that there is a chance that she could link her soul to it and attain a new soul weapon; which was something that had never been done before. She jumps at this chance and heads out in search of the weapon, while Aaron goes off to confront Ryu in the hopes of getting revenge for her. Eventually, Erza does discover the resting place of Apollo, and upon making contact with it, the weapon is awoken and a link is formed.
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Erza Returns to find that Aaron has also failed in his attempt to slay Ryu, but also discovered two very valuable pieces of information in the conflict. Aaron only reveals the first piece immediately and that is the nature of Ryu's defensive power as a sort of fiber weaving beneath his skin. Using this knowledge, Erza trains with her new found power and develops a strategy to defeat her sworn enemy. Just prior to her departure, Aaron confides his second discovery. He believes that the identity of the Rapture Swordsman is none other than their long deceased friend Ryu. Erza is very hesitant to believe this, but resolves that she would learn the truth in this final battle. She confronts Ryu next at the site of a recently destroyed village and an epic battle ensues. Over the course of the fight, Erza notices that it is not malice or insanity that drives her enemy, but fear. This causes her to begin to pity her opponent as the battle begins to turn in her favor. Eventually, Erza manages to use quick strikes to read the flow of Ryu's Woven Fiber Defense and the thrusts her sword through his abdomen. Before, Ryu can retaliate she lights him on fire and removes her sword. Even after this, her enemy is not defeated and staggers from the flames. His hat has been blown away, revealing his true identity, and the two stare each other down. Ryu begins to weakly swing his sword as Erza dodges despite her injuries. Then, Ryu is suddenly shocked by a device hidden under his coat which he manages to remove before it kills him. The device then shows a hologram of Doctór who lies and claims that he is done with his experiment on Ryu and has no more use for him. Realizing that his greatest fear (being completely alone) has finally become a reality, Ryu breaks down and his power goes out of control releasing shock waves of darkness in all directions. Erza, who has completely resolved to finish off her former friend out of mercy, starts to move in for the final blow, but as the shock waves hit her, they transfer parts of Ryu's torturous memories with Doctór and she realizes that Ryu has not become evil, but is rather a victim of circumstance and fear. She throws down her weapon and makes her way toward him, embracing him when she finally reaches her former enemy. Erza asks Ryu to be her friend again and return to Amandine City with her, to which Ryu tearfully and hesitantly answers yes. The two then collapse.
On the way to the city, Erza realizes that Ryu's injuries are, in fact, fatal, but they come across a farm in possession of a fresh crop of Titus Beans, which quickly heal any injuries of the one who eats them, however they only grow once every 100 years and are very rare. When they make it back to the city, Ryu is arrested and imprisoned. He undergoes many trials until Erza finally uses her influence to release him into her custody. Erza asks Ryu to live with her at her home and over time the two become friends closer than family. She has often been described as Ryu's protective older sister because she is always standing up for Ryu when he is too shy to do so himself. The two are able to put their full faith in one another and would never do anything to betray the other. Erza often serves as Ryu's teacher in that she is often introducing him to new things and teaching him about the world he was cut off from while locked up in Doctór prison. For a large portion of the story, Erza is the only individual he is willing to confide in and one of the only people he feels comfortable revealing his Arcosian eyes to.
On the way to the city, Erza realizes that Ryu's injuries are, in fact, fatal, but they come across a farm in possession of a fresh crop of Titus Beans, which quickly heal any injuries of the one who eats them, however they only grow once every 100 years and are very rare. When they make it back to the city, Ryu is arrested and imprisoned. He undergoes many trials until Erza finally uses her influence to release him into her custody. Erza asks Ryu to live with her at her home and over time the two become friends closer than family. She has often been described as Ryu's protective older sister because she is always standing up for Ryu when he is too shy to do so himself. The two are able to put their full faith in one another and would never do anything to betray the other. Erza often serves as Ryu's teacher in that she is often introducing him to new things and teaching him about the world he was cut off from while locked up in Doctór prison. For a large portion of the story, Erza is the only individual he is willing to confide in and one of the only people he feels comfortable revealing his Arcosian eyes to.
Relationships
Ryu Naraka
Erza and Ryu are extremely close friends in addition to being housemates. Both look to the other as sources of inspiration and advice and they consider each other to be family. Though Ryu does not feel as though he has done enough to repay Erza for all of the kindness she has shown him, the latter believes that he has done more than enough over the many years they spent together considering how many sacrifices her friend has made for her sake. Even after Ryu moves in with Naomi and leaves her abode, the two remain very close and visit each other often. Erza is also the godmother of Ryu's son, Damien Naraka.
Aaron Lotus
Erza considers Aaron to be a very dependable and strong ally despite his arrogant disposition. She is willing to depend on him and he feels the same way. Having fought countless battles together, the two developed extraordinary teamwork based around their ability to predict the actions of the other while fighting. Erza also sees Aaron as a rival and occasionally tries to outdo him in various ordeals, which are happily welcomed by her competitor.
Erza and Ryu are extremely close friends in addition to being housemates. Both look to the other as sources of inspiration and advice and they consider each other to be family. Though Ryu does not feel as though he has done enough to repay Erza for all of the kindness she has shown him, the latter believes that he has done more than enough over the many years they spent together considering how many sacrifices her friend has made for her sake. Even after Ryu moves in with Naomi and leaves her abode, the two remain very close and visit each other often. Erza is also the godmother of Ryu's son, Damien Naraka.
Aaron Lotus
Erza considers Aaron to be a very dependable and strong ally despite his arrogant disposition. She is willing to depend on him and he feels the same way. Having fought countless battles together, the two developed extraordinary teamwork based around their ability to predict the actions of the other while fighting. Erza also sees Aaron as a rival and occasionally tries to outdo him in various ordeals, which are happily welcomed by her competitor.
Naomi Shiro
Erza and Naomi developed a strong bond of friendship shortly after meeting each other and continued to develop this relationship over the years. Erza quickly realized Naomi's feelings for Ryu and often encourages her to act upon them while also advising Naomi on how to get his attention. Her close relationship to both Ryu and Erza leads her to frequently visit their villa, and the latter always welcome her.