| “ | Eat my arm. I don't care. Just... leave me the other one. I need it to clobber the jerk who made my Velvet cry!
— Laphicet
|
” |
The malak that would later be known as Laphicet was created during a Scarlet Night, when a pregnant Celica Crowe fell into the shrine containing Innominat. Celica was reincarnated as the malak Seres, bound to her former husband Artorius Collbrande, while her child was incarnated as a nameless malak. This malak was later given to Teresa Linares, and given the designation "Number 2." He would often sneak out to try and gain knowledge, and was eventually brought with her to Hellawes.
Number 2 saved the freshly shipwrecked Velvet Crowe, Rokurou Rangetsu, and Magilou, leading to a chain of events where they set fire to the port of Hellawes. Number 2 was ordered to commit a suicide attack, and after being kicked in the face by Vevet to stop the spell, he was picked up by her and taken when they escaped on a stolen ship. He sticks with the group, eventually being given the name Laphicet due to his resemblance to her late brother.
He journeyed with Velvet and her companions, learning and growing as a person because of it. After Velvet seals both herself and Innominat away, Laphicet takes on the vacant mantle of the fifth Empyrean. He would later be corrupted into a dragon by Heldalf, a later Lord of Calamity. Sorey would then lead his party, including Edna, the younger sister of his friend Eizen, to purify him.
Battle vs Tita Russell (by Leolab)[]
Two blonde children walk into a large arena, its tiled floor covered in a pristine, matte white sand. The crowd cheers, anticipation for the blood of the young finally released after the weeklong buildup. Tita and Laphicet look at each other, resolute as even the voices of the announcers introducing them fade. The girl has her Orbal Cannon in hand, pointed to the side, while Phi has a slip of paper drawn and held as threateningly as he can. They both await one word, and anything else is simple noise.
“FIGHT!”
At that proclamation, Tita levels her Orbal Cannon and fires, while Phi tosses a slip of paper forward. The shell and sheet collide, kicking up dust that obscures the two fighters from each other. Tita circles around to the side, only to spot the glow of magic fading before she’s engulfed in a purple haze. The sudden increase in gravity brings her to her knees, her bones creaking as she shouts in pain. The cloud of dust disperses to reveal a golden glow around Phi, the levitating boy charging his magic for another strike.
The pressure fades as the glow vanishes, an array of mirrors springing up around the girl. Tita acts quickly, diving towards the outer edge of the sphere. She’s a split second short as a laser rips through her ankle, sending her tumbling out as it bounces through the array. She doesn’t quite level her cannon fast enough as a collection of light and dark spheres scatter through the stage, exploding and sending her into the air. Phi lands, needing to recover for a second as Tita aims and fires. He doesn’t react to it, judging it to fly high.
As expected, the shell passes over his head. Where it explodes, knocking him to the ground and freezing him solid. Tita rolls as she lands, leaving red flecks on the sand. She rises after stopping, pointing her mortar straight up and firing Vital Shot, which heals her as the ice around Phi melts. The boy instantly takes stock of the situation and leaps to his feet, loosing another slip of paper forward as Tita fires again. The magicked sheet once again collides with the shell, detonating it and creating another cloud of chilled sand.
Tita, having learned, immediately fires another shell at where Laphect was supposed to be. Her eyes widen as the boy appears from within the cloud as the mortar shell arcs over his head. She takes a half-step back to avoid being hit by a swipe of paper, which bursts into fire. She levels her mortar at the boy point-blank, but he swerves around her just as she pulls the trigger. The shot goes wide as another gout of flames erupts to the side, catching her his time.
The girl shouts in pain again as she stumbles back, taking a deceptively steady shot upwards. She staggers as she swerves around the elementally-charged bursts of paper, and leaps farther back to create distance. Phi notices her aim shifting and dashes forward, only to stagger and cry out in pain as the mortar shell coming from above collides with the new one, blanketing the area in shrapnel.
The glow of magic surrounds Tita as Phi lets loose a burst of energy, healing himself slightly. He dashes forward, creating and exploding two other orbs of energy as Tita finishes casting Tear-All, fully healing her wounds.
“Spirits Release!” he yells, starting to levitate.
“Orbal Gear!” she shouts, summoning the mech and boarding it as a bright magic circle appears in the air.
“I stand in the light of the heavens! Cower before the gates of hell!” Laphicet intones, as a purple circle appears under the starting Orbal Gear, “Come forth, divine lightning! This ends now! Ind—”
He cuts off as a roar of gunfire tears through the stadium, red bursts sprouting on his body as the magic circles fade. Tita and the assembled spectators watch in silence as the child’s body tumbles to the ground with a wet thud, the white sand dong nothing to staunch the spreading crimson pool. A burst of light surrounds him as Soul Distortion fades, some of his wounds closing. He rises to his knees, coughing weakly and groaning as the crowd cheers. A golden circle surrounds him as he begins to cast magic.
“Eat lead!” Tita shouts cutely, leveling the machine guns on the Orbal Gear’s back at her foe. Phi stops casting to run, narrowly dodging the hail of bullets, the shots themselves far more threatening. A wooshing roar sounds behind him as Tita activates the jet thrusters on the Orbal Gear’s feet, sending her forward as she chops with its axe. Phi dives out of the way, and stays on the ground to duck a horizontal swipe. He rolls to his feet, jumping over the return stroke and turning to look at his foe.
The boy’s eyes grow wide as he sees a pair of machine guns pointed at him, the girl in the exposed cockpit staring mercilessly as she presses a button on the console in front of her. Another roar tears through the stadium as they discharge, shredding his body at this close range. The child falls to the floor, dead, as the stadium erupts in cheers.
Expert's Opinion[]
Both characters filled a support niche in their original parties, and were fairly good at them. Tita's Orbal Gear, however, proved to be a far more potent game-changer than Phi's Mystic Arts, allowing her to transform from a squishy support to a frontline tank. Phi can put out decent damage, but not quite enough to compete.