User blog:Swirly592/Gretel (Altered EC)

"Hey mother, praise me, I defeated the evil witch."

- Gretel

Gretel was a girl kidnapped and raised by Meta and Pale Noël, and the twin sister of Hänsel. Born as part of Project 'Ma', the newborn twins were taken by their mother, Eve Zvezda, to Sickle's Forest and raised by the Noël family after Meta killed Eve. After being abandoned in the forest during a famine, Hänsel and Gretel murdered their foster parents and split Eve's Original Sin into the Seven Deadly Sins.

Project 'Ma'
Gretel was born along with her twin brother, Hänsel, in the Levianta Royal Institute as part of Project 'Ma'. After birthed by her mother, Eve Zvezda, Gretel and her brother were placed in vitro conditions. Celebrated by the people of the Magic Kingdom, their births marked the first year of a new calendar, EC 0. Some time later, they were taken by their mother from the laboratory and hid in Elphegort.

Original Sin
After a year of being hidden by Eve, she carried them to Sickle's Forest for a stroll. While there, Eve settled them near a tree and left them. Soon after, she and Hänsel were discovered by Meta Noël. Believing them to be fruit, Meta took them and carried them through the forest as she fled from their mother and eventually killed her. After being greeted by her husband, Pale, he saw the twins in her hands and became horrified by Meta's action. With Eve dead and the twins orphaned, the two woodcutters adopted the children and raised them as their own.

In EC 014, Gretel and her brother were led by their parents deep into the forest on a moonlit night. The curious twin asked her mother what fortune they would find on their path and wondered aloud if their destination would have lots of their favorite snacks to eat.

Eventually, Gretel and her brother realized that they would be lost if they continued on the path and were soon after abandoned by their parents to die. Seemingly betrayed, Gretel and her brother concluded their parents were actually a wicked witch and her henchman that had tricked them.

Filling the glass bottle her brother had with moonlight, the two used it to light their path as they wandered. At last, Gretel and Hänsel arrived back home, recognizing it as the "witch's house". With manic expressions, the twins decided to murder the witch, believing they would become happy if she was gone, and their shadows began spawning tendrils. Knocking at the door, Pale and Meta answered and, while they stared in horror, Hänsel and Gretel grabbed their fake parents with their shadows' spectral arms. Gretel then happily implored her "mother" to praise her for defeating the evil witch, laughing.

While Hänsel murdered the "henchman", Gretel shoved Meta into an oven. Watching the "witch" burn to ashes in the oven, they witnessed her body become the embodiment of her Original Sin. Splitting it into seven fragments, they scattered it across the world so that it could be eventually cleansed. Gretel and her brother enjoyed the confines of the witch's house, sleeping in a chair there for the rest of night, and then decided to go out and search for their "real" mother and father.

Legacy
After her death, Gretel's soul reincarnated with her same appearance every few centuries. In several cases, her reincarnations maintained some of Gretel's memories and characteristics, including loyalty to matriarchal figures who resembled his mother, Eve. Due to the disruption of fate caused by Abyss L.U. and Queen Prim, Gretel's reincarnation wasn't born into the world, though the originally intended reincarnation, Princess Riliane, continued to share her visage. Around December, EC 610, Gretel's soul merged with the Glass of Blankenheim and her degraded will manifested as the female servant centuries later, serving the Master of the Graveyard.

The playwright Ma wrote several screenplays involving Hänsel and Gretel and adapted them into films. While watching the films with an intruder to Evil's Theater, Ma questioned if the twins even existed, since they seemed to be hidden so well by their parents that no documents recording them existed. While reflecting on the "motions" of the Master of the Court, Gammon Octo noted how Gretel's reincarnation, Lucie Abelard, was uncharacteristically born without a Hänsel counterpart. Gammon also wondered what became of the twins, questioning if they needed to ask the Master of the Hellish Yard to find an answer.

Personality and Traits
As a child, Gretel acted kind and innocent alongside her brother and appeared obedient to their parents. They weren't naive, however, and realized when the forest path the family took would inevitably get them lost. After being abandoned by their mother and father, Gretel became embittered by the event and concluded that Pale and Meta weren't their real parents at all, simply a witch and her henchman that had tricked them.

Gretel could act extremely devious as well, murdering Eve with smile on her face, all while mocking her foster parent. Likewise, she and her brother became determined to find their real parents, despite not knowing who they might be. She also appeared particularly supportive to Hänsel, often holding his hand and leading them onward while they were lost, and enjoyed playing with him.

Skills and Abilities
Despite being only fourteen and having a rather short stature, Gretel was able to successfully kill people twice her size, albeit through the use of an unknown power. Through this power, the young twin's shadow could come to life and manifest in dark, twisted forms, such as arms, hands, or other appendages. She also showed some other magical capabilities, taking a bottle they found and filling it with moonlight; similarly, she was able to split the Original Sin into seven pieces and scatter them across the world.

Character Connections
Eve Zvezda: Gretel's real mother. Gretel didn't remember Eve, growing up in Meta's care, but she later expressed a wish to go find her "real" mother after Pale and Meta were dead. She passed on a fanatic loyalty to Eve to all her reincarnations, showing this loyalty to anyone resembling her.

Meta Noël: Gretel's foster mother. Gretel grew up thinking of Meta as his mother, however she became convinced she was a wicked witch after she and Hänsel were abandoned by her and delighted in bringing about her death. She later considered her to be a pretentious and troublesome woman, discovering her Original Sin among her ashes.

Pale Noël : Gretel's foster father. Gretel grew up thinking of Pale as her father, however she became convinced he was the wicked henchman of a witch after she and Hänsel were abandoned by him. After killing Pale, Gretel delighted in his accomplishment and gave him no more consideration after discovering Meta's Original sin.

Hänsel: Gretel's twin brother. Gretel loved her brother and was always beside him if she could help it, holding his hand to comfort him while lost in the woods and leading the way with the bottle; later she would aid him in defeating their foster parents. Gretel continued to stay with Hänsel after Meta's death and would usually be by his side in their reincarnations.

Arte: One of Gretel's reincarnations. Gretel's appearance and soul passed on to Arte's, and with it she passed on her loyalty to anyone resembling Eve, such as Blankenheim.

Lucie Abelard: Another of Gretel's reincarnations. Gretel's appearance and soul passed on to Lucie Abelard, and with it she passed on her loyalty to anyone resembling Eve, such as Platonic.

Female Servant: Another of Gretel's reincarnations. Gretel's appearance and soul passed on to the male Servant, and with it he passed on his loyalty to anyone resembling Eve, such as the Master of the Graveyard.

Rin Futapie: One of Gretel's intended reincarnations. Due to the disturbance of fate caused by Abyss L.U. and Prim Marlon, Gretel wasn't born as Rin, or at all, during this period.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * Gretel is inspired by the character from the Brothers Grimm's tale "Hänsel &amp; Gretel".
 * In the original story, Gretel is depicted as a gluttonous child, strengthening her link with the Demon of Gluttony.
 * Gretel's name derives from German, meaning "pearl" and is a diminutive of the name "Margaret".

Curiosities

 * Similar attire to Hänsel is worn by a young Rin and, to a lesser extent, the female Servant in Evil's Theater.
 * Gretel's reincarnations tend to be more innocent or oblivious compared to her brother's reincarnations.
 * When plotting to kill her foster mother, Gretel's shadow manifested as a physical, shape shifting entity around him.

Gallery
Song Apparitions=