Rain Markus knows a lot about regret. She knows more than most, even.... she's lived through what she is sure has been the worst time of her life, and come out on the other side. Alive, but... well, she's pretty sure she hasn't survived as she was. People are often forced to change when they encounter strife like this, after all.
Regret. Regret is such a potent emotion, and linked to so many others. She's tasted it, in herself and others, and she knows it all too well.... she doesn't like it one bit. It's the one thing that really gets her.
A few years back, Rain Markus was a normal girl. And that's all she was. She was simply. Utterly. Normal. There was not a damned thing special about her, nothing special she could do... she was fairly happy, but at the same time she always wanted something more... Or at least, she thought she did. What she got, though, was not what she wanted... at least not at first.
Magical girls are an odd lot, but there are some common traits. At least, with the normal ones. She started off like all the rest... bright colors, flashy attacks, a cheerful, upbeat nature. But it just wore her down. It made her tired, physically and emotionally. And then it happened.... the unthinkable.
She lost. They ALL lost. A greater power came in and simply smashed them, injuring her very badly and killing her closest friend, who was utterly normal. Consuming her, body and soul. And why? Simply because she was convenient. She was no threat, nor even a great meal. She was a snack.... something to celebrate victory with. And Rain? She got to see all of it... every last second, the pain her friend was in. Everything. And... well, she was never the same.
She spent more than a year in the hospital after that. Her broken bones were easy enough to fix, though it was a few weeks before she could move at all. Many of her ribs were fractured, both arms and one leg were broken, and several fingers were as well. Cleanly, thankfully, but it was still a rather bad case. And that damage was nothing to the emotional trauma she suffered. And... she had very strange symptoms for a long time. The Doctors wouldn't let her leave, until they were sure she wasn't going to be harmed by them, or harm herself. It was a while before she learned the right answers and gave them.
Set loose upon an unsuspecting society, the first thing she did was find her friend's grave. It was empty, of course... there was no way it couldn't be. After all.... her friend had no body left to bury. Someone had left a bit of black ribbon twined about the headstone... a magical girl marker, for someone who they could not protect. It seemed.... fitting, to Rain. She took the ribbon up, and twined it through her hair, before wandering out of the life she had known and grown accustomed to.
It didn't matter. Not really. Her parents were gone. Had been for years. No one missed her, except her friends from... work. Many of them wondered, but there was too much else to do for them to be concerned with one girl, even if she had been a comrade. They assumed she simply dropped out of the 'business' and that was that. Nothing there to disrespect, or despise, or be upset about. More than one of them had done it before. They assumed she'd be back, that she'd stick around. But, they never saw her, in more than five years.
You see, this thing that happened to her.... she was twelve when it happened. Her transformation matured her significantly, at least physically, but emotionally? She was far too fragile for the work. And she fell out.... for a time.
Years later, someone looking a lot like that one magical girl, with fairly short blue hair with black ribbons twined through it was seen attending a school in another city. Naturally, people were curious.... but there was no way that could be her. She was far too sad... no magical girl could be that sad. They could feel it, a sort of perpetual melancholy swirling around her like a fog. Then she saw them... and she smiled. And they felt... something else. It frightened them, and they fled.
And that's where Rain is today. What is she now? WHO is she now? You'll just have to find out. You can see her in various places. She's almost always dressed the same, outside of school, in silky stockings, comfortable shoes, a light vest, and fingerless, arm-length gloves. Her skin is a fairly typical asian tone as well, and her hair is blue, with that black ribbon wound through it.
Fanart by Gregole! Wheeeee!