| “ | As long as we do not turn our eyes from what we have lost, and let those losses guide us ever onward, we will not have TRULY lost anything -- or, at least, that is what I believe.
— Olivert Reise Arnor
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” |
Olivert Reise Arnor is the illegitimate child of the Emperor of Erebonia. As such, he is unable to inherit the throne, despite being firstborn. He has little strife with the empress and his legitimate siblings, and loves them all. He nevertheless has a deep distaste for Erebonia's conservative nobility, and strives to change the country for a better, more peaceful future. This puts him at odds with the empire's chancellor, Giliath Osborne, who also wants to eliminate the corrupt and conservative nobility but in favor of a warmongering expansionist empire instead.
In order to disguise his aims, Olivert cultivates a persona of a hedonist - becoming known as the Debaucherous Prince in the process. Osborne is, ironically, one of the few to see through his ruse, and makes sure to keep an eye on him. Intending to see the rest of Zemuria, he takes the name Olivier Lenheim and travels to Liberl. There, he meets Estelle Bright, Joshua Bright, and Scherazard Harvey as they tracked the Capua sky bandits in the country's Bose region. He assists them as payment for stealing a bottle of extremely expensive wine, and forms a close friendship with Schera despite her suspicions. He would part ways with them after, only to meet up again when they reached Grancel, Liberl's capital.
Olivier then assisted Estelle, Joshua, and Zin Vathek in winning the annual martial arts competition, which he was able to enter despite using a gun. He did not get to enjoy the prize, namely being invited to a royal banquet, as it would blow his cover. He was kept in the embassy, rebuffing Colonel Alan Richard's attempts to arrange a marriage between him and the country's princess, Klaudia von Auslese. He later assists Estelle and her friends in foiling Colonel Richard's coup, and stays in the country to spend time with Scherazard. And party.
He reunites with Estelle after her Bracer training, and accompanies her throughout Liberl as she tries to track down Joshua as well as the secret society known as Ouroboros. He is recalled back to Erebonia by Osborne just before the Liber Ark manifests itself over Valleria Lake and begins the Orbal Shutdown phenomenon, essentially a country-wide blackout that also prevents the use of magic. He then forces himself to be in command of Osborne's tank brigade, which are powered by steam and gasoline instead of Orbal Energy, and negotiates with Klaudia.
Despite playing the devil's advocate, he pronounces himself convinced by the princess's arguments and orders the tanks to stand down. He then joins Estelle once more, taking the fight to Ouroboros on the Liber Ark. After the Ark's collapse, he remains in the country for a few days and enters a romantic relationship with Schera. After a few months, he is then drawn into Phantasma due to Kevin Grahm accidentally activating an artifact. While there, he and Schera make their relationship official.
After the collapse of Phantasma, he focuses his efforts on bettering Erebonia from within. Caught between the aggressively expansionist progressive Giliath Osborne and the highly regressive Noble Faction, he seeks to find a "third path," one that oppresses neither Erebonia's citizens nor those outside its borders. Part of this effort is the creation of Thors Class VII, an experimental class that eschews the usual commoner/noble divide. This class plays a major part in ending the Erebonian Civil War, accompanied by Olivert's personal airship, the Courageous. In an attempt to prevent the end of the world, known as the Great Twilight, the Courageous was blown up through sabotage.
Olivert survived, constructing a higher-tech, more heavily armed Courageous II. He recruits Scherazard as his second-in-command, along with several other contacts. He then makes his grand reappearance to prevent Osborne and his Ouroboros allies from sinking the Pentagruel, another airship with many of Olivert's allies on board. He and the Courageous II fly around Erebonia, assisting Thors Class VII, the Liberlian Bracers, and the Special Support Section in fighting off the Great Twilight. After it has successfully been prevented, he and Scherazard have an official Imperial Wedding.
Battle vs. Balthier & Fran, alongside Scherazard Harvey (by Leolab)[]
Balthier and Fran extricate themselves from the wreckage of their bike, careful to snatch the stolen briefcase as they did. A couple potions chugged later, and they turn as a blonde man in a red coat and a silver-haired woman with a whip run out the one door leading to the roof. The cause of their crash, from what they could tell.
“We’d like that back, if you’d please,” Olivier says, flourishing his pistol, other hand behind his back.
“Why, you’re welcome to take it. If you can,” Balthier says, flourishing his own gun with a smug grin.
“Bloody ‘dashing rogues’ always needing the last quip,” Schera grumbles as the orbment in Olivier’s left hand glows behind him.
“Indeed,” Fran mutters.
“Schera, dearest?”
“Fran?”
As the rogues look to their partners in concern, the magic gathering around Olivier’s orbment fades. Fran gasps as she feels the magic start to materialize, and kicks Balthier out of the way as a rift opens between her and the edge of the roof, forcibly dragging her towards it. The sky pirates rise to their feet, separated. Schera turns and runs at the Hume, whip lashing out as Olivier and the Viera prepare spells.
As the lash speeds towards the briefcase, a quick blast from Balthier sends it off course. He fires again, but a quick flick of the barbed tip sends the shot ricocheting elsewhere. Another strike zooms towards the former Judge as Olivier and Fran finish casting their spells. A shield of magic surrounds Fran, redirecting the outpouring of orbal energy from the prince. Olivier swerves, dodging a set of sharp lances that shoot up from the ground where he had been standing.
He traces a symbol on his partner’s shirt as the sky pirates start to ready abilities, a faint glow surrounding them. Another glow surrounds Schera as Olivier fires at Balthier, a graze forcing the other man to break off his charge. He flips his pistol up into the air, catching it with his other hand and firing at Fran, taking off part of her ear. The light around her fades as she hisses in pain, and she quickly knocks and fires an arrow as Schera finishes her spell.
A shard of earth materializes in front of the Bracer and the prince, blocking an arrow and a bullet as the latter readies another spell. Fran quickly casts another as Schera gives her boyfriend a nudge with the whip to speed up his casting. A reflective shell surrounds Olivier as space compresses near Balthier, throwing off the sky pirate’s aim. His shot clips Fran’s bow, and the Erebonian prince doesn’t miss his chance to fire, letting off a flurry of shots that rip through her face and throat.
Balthier barely has time to gasp in surprise before a lash of Schera’s whip tears his throat out, leaving the sky pirate pair dead.
Expert's Opinion[]
Both pairs of warriors were highly skilled, but Balthier and Fan's teamwork wasn't able to overpower the sheer breadth of options Olivier and Scherazard had at their disposal.