Ney Phutapie

"About what I said... please make it confidential."

Ney Futapie, real name Ney Marlon, is the thirteenth daughter of the Marlon Royal Family who infiltrates the Kingdom of Lucifenia for her birth mother, Prim Marlon. She is one of Gretel's reincarnations.

Early Life
Ney was born in Marlon in EC 482 as the illegitimate daughter of Prim and King Arth. She was given to Abyss I.R. to be experimented on. When she was eight, her brother Kyle painted a portrait of her. In EC 491, after reporting her Uncle Presi's failed attempt to possess the six-year old Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche to the sorceress, Abyss I.R. sent the child back to infiltrate the Lucifenian palace. Ney was later found unconscious by Mariam Futapie and subsequently adopted by her. Under her mother's tutelage, she learned the art of spying and assassination.

Sometime after, she became a maid at the palace, serving Princess Riliane after the 13 year-old assumed the throne in early EC 499. Following Abyss I.R.'s instructions, she transplanted the Demon of Vanity to Riliane. Several days after Riliane became the governing monarch, Leonhart Avadonia asked Ney to find Mariam so she could look at the new palace servant, Allen. Obeying, Ney entered the Hall of Mirrors and found her foster mother speaking with Elluka Clockworker. Politely apologizing for itnerrupting the womens' conversation, Ney alerted Mariam of Leonhart's request and the Head of Maids complied, leaving with Ney to fulfill her friend's request.

Reign of Evil
On December 27th, EC 499, Ney swapped places with Allen Avadonia for taking care of Riliane for the day. Around three o'clock, Ney entered Riliane's room to present the princess with her snack but found it empty. She thought she had gone by the mirrors but then noticed the hidden passage dug inside the fireplace and realized she escaped. Shouting for Riliane and on the verge of tears, Ney was found by Leonhart, Allen, and Chartette as she passed between some mirrors. She told Allen that Riliane was missing and joined the search for her in the Forest of Bewilderment, appearing.

That night, during the ball held for Riliane's fourteenth birthday, Ney and the other servants were working to make up for lost time due to the search for the spoiled princess. Ney called out to Allen and reminded him that they still had one more task to do; she, Allen, and the other servants brought in the huge birthday cake for her highness. Nearly a week later in EC 500, Ney witnessed Leonhart stealing from the palace barns to feed the citizens and began spreading the rumor throughout the palace. While she and Allen were busy preparing dinner, Riliane stormed into the kitchen demanding to know where Mariam was. Ney explained that her foster parent had gone out for the day and, hearing this, Riliane asked Ney if she knew who was stealing food from the palace.

Ney looked at a nearby chef as she explained she heard a rumor from the chefs about the incident, and justified that none of the servants were stealing the food. The princess noted Ney's inclination for gossip and asked why she knew about the rumor. Lost for words, the chef intervened and helped explain what he had seen and Ney finally admitted that Leonhart was the culprit, threatened with being beheaded otherwise. Later, Ney told the princess that she heard "rumors" about Leonhart being in multiple love affairs, killing many compatriots, kidnapping a baby from one warring countries, and attempting to overthrow Lucifenia.

The day following her confession, she entered the Servant Room. Asked if she was taking a break and she said she was. As the servant prepared to finish his break, Ney told Allen she heard Leonhart and her mother conversing about him and listened in. Piquing the boy's interest, Ney continued and said she learned Allen was the knight's adopted son and that he was sent to the palace for a reason. When Allen explained the reasoning, Ney shook her head and said Leonhart planned to have the servant assassinate the princess, much to her mother's surprise and fury. Before finishing her gossip, Allen left and ignored the rest of her words.

Shortly before Allen and Riliane had enacted their scheme to assassinate Leonhart that night, Ney had told Allen about his mother's crushes. She was later bedridden due to the flu around the time Allen was sent to visit Keel Freesis at his mansion. After Riliane learned that Kyle broke off her engagement, Mariam was tasked with discovering the identity of the king's secret lover; sent to the Kingdom of Elphegort to investigate, Ney arrived at the Freesis' home with another messenger, explaining what had transpired at the palace. After learning of his maid, Michaela, the double agent returned to Mariam and told her she learned nothing regarding the mysterious girl's identity. At some point, she learned that Michaela was Elluka's disciple who was assisting her in collecting the Seven Deadly Sins.

Green Hunting
During the Green Hunting, Ney spied on Allen as he visited Keel in prison and overheard their conversation about Michaela and her location. At some point, she learned from Mikina that Michaela was hiding in a well in the Millennium Tree Forest. She would later tell Riliane about this in the Servant Room, asking to keep her information "confidential" when Allen arrived. Appearing nervous, she left and waited outside the doorway for the servant. Overhearing their conversation, Ney apologized to Allen as he exited the room, learning he was ordered to kill Michaela. Allen forgave her and Ney asked if he was actually going to kill the green-haired girl. When the servant responded that he wasn't sure, Ney disguised herself as Allen and approached Michaela's hiding spot the following night.

Fooling the disciple, Michaela asked why she dressed in a cloak and sounded a bit different. Ney gave her excuse and said that the princess knew of her location and she needed to be moved. Michaela turned to prepare her luggage and Ney took advantage of the opportunity. Charging at her, the assassin knocked Michaela down the well, breaking her back at the bottom. Laughing, she descended the ladder and removed her disguise. Maniacally crying out to her mother of her success, Ney laughed again before stabbing the "Lonely Magi" Elluka's disciple in the chest. Confident the girl was dead, Ney left.

Lucifenian Revolution
Sometime later, Ney, Chartette, and Riliane talked together in the Heavenly Yard. Chartette justified her leaving the palace to buy books by blaming Ney for often leaving as well. Ney timidly responded she did so to meet with "friends" and Riliane asked if her friends were men, which Ney said wasn't the case at all. Following Prime Minister Minis's attempted assassination, Ney joined Chartette and Allen as they overheard the meeing. After accidentally touching her breast, Ney argued with the fellow maid until Allens silenced them both.

In late EC 500, Ney was among the servants who fled during the invasion of the palace. She returned to the Heavenly Yard to find Mariam injured and told her she was looking for her. Once Mariam told her to flee, she golden-haired child stabbed her foster parent in the back and left her to die. After the revolution was over and her brother occupied the Lucifenia, Ney reported that Germaine, Elluka, and Gumillia were involved in Michaela's murder and fed them information on their possible whereabouts. Soon after, she returned to Marlon and saw her mother, Prim, again for the first time in nine years. The agent reported of the princess' execution and the dissolution of Three Heroes. Prim was concerned that Elluka was still alive but Ney assured her that the sorceress wouldn't interfere. Congratulating her daughter, Prim told her to rest and leave the rest to her.

Praeludium of Red
Five years later, Ney became a commander of Marlon's engineering battalion and is given the Glass of Conchita by the mage Abyss I.R.. In Beelzenia, Chartette and Yukina Freesis found Ney at a cemetery. Ney announces that Marlon has declared war on Beelzenia and uses the Glass of Conchita to raise the dead, forcing Yukina and Chartette to flee and causing havoc on the Imperial City. Ney then becomes the commander of Retasan Fortress, prompting Liliane Mouchet to resign. In retaliation, Beelzenia launches a counterattack on Retasan Fortress and ultimately captures it.

Ney returns to Lucifenia and tells Kyle Marlon that Germaine Avadonia and Gumillia, two of the people that Kyle has been hunting down, are in Beelzenia. She then leaves for Marlon.

Praefatio of Blue
Kyle found Ney and Prim at the Castle of Hedgehog and sent two of his soldiers after Ney. Ney escaped through the back door and easily killed the soldiers chasing her. Ney returns to Prim, expecting appraisal for her actions but seeing that Prim is merely neglecting her, Ney becomes insane and stabs Prim, killing her. Having succumbed completely to the Glass of Conchita, Ney attacks Kyle with unwavering ferocity and stabs Kyle in the chest. Just as Ney is about to make the finishing blow, Germaine intervines. Taking advantage of the distraction, Kyle fires Chartette's Rocket Glove, sending Ney flying into the ceiling and crashing down on the floor. Left in a coma, Ney is captured and tied up.

Later that night, Ney appears to Kyle in a dream, with a six year old image; Ney apologises for doing bad things to everyone she had hurt. Ney hopes that:


 * "If we could be reborn, some other time... Brother, Riliane, and Allen. We can play together, and be friends."

However, the Demon of Gluttony laughed at Ney, saying that she can never hope to be reborn and that Ney will be instrumental in bringing forth the Master of the Graveyard. Ney, completely unaware of what has been said, bids Kyle goodbye and walks into the sea. Kyle woke up and rushed over to where Ney was restrained and finds her dead.

Legacy
After her death, Ney would be later buried in a cemetery next to her mother, Prim. When Abyss I.R. attempted to use the Glass of Conchita against Riliane, Ney hindered the glass' ability, stalling the sorceress until Germaine finally stabbed her cat familiar and subdued her. Ney's soul, having merged with the Glass, would later awaken as the female servant in Evil's Theater.

Personality
While undercover, Ney appeared to be kind and timid at times. She would often stutter and hesitate when nervous and would consider her words carefully out of an apparent fear of Riliane's anger, which she was careful never to provoke. She was considered honest but a bit "loose-tongued", gossiping about rumors and hearsay circulating within the palace often.

In truth, she is ruthless and cunning. Her gossip was carefully seeded lies used to manipulate Allen and Riliane in an effort to undermine the princess' rule and her timid personality was a guise to hide her carefully selected words. Ney was needy for affection from her birth mother, Prim Marlon, and appeased her mother's wishes so she could receive her affection. Her psyche was affected by Abyss I.R.'s experiments and, after wielding the Glass of Conchita, took a turn for the worse and developed psychopathic characteristics.

Eventually, the vessel of sin made her act and think like its original owner, Banica Conchita, and the lack of affection from her mother drove her absolutely insane. Towards the end of her life, Ney realized her sins and became consumed with grief before merging with the Glass of Conchita.

Skills
During her stay in Lucifenia as a maid, Ney was skilled at doing chores. Allen states that she was better at her work than both himself and Chartette. She is also very skilled in cloak-and-dagger activity, having learned the art of assassination from her foster mother, Mariam.

Ney is also skilled in deception, maintaining her cover as a Marlon spy while feeding false information to both Riliane and Allen, which ultimately leads to the Lucifenian Revolution and the overthrow of "The Daughter of Evil". Similarly, she is able to disguise herself as her half-brother Allen and impersonate him well enough to fool Michaela.

As a reincarnation of Gretel, Ney is able to wield the powers of the Glass of Conchita. After obtaining it, she utilizes its powers over death easily, reviving an entire graveyard and transforming it into her undead army and command it with the strategic expertise of Banica Conchita.

Appearance
Ney is pale with golden eyes and yellow hair. As Riliane's servant, she wore a standard black and white maid outfit when working in the palace. When Ney disguises herself as Allen, she wears grey attire with a large collar and a pair of brown boots and a brown belt for her knife. She dons a coat similar to his, tying her hair back so that her ponytail is hidden from view, and puts the hood up to complete her costume.

By EC 505, Ney's attire changes to the standard Marlon officer uniform, a blue coat with black lining and steel-grey cuffs and has several brown belts worn over it. She wears a steel-grey cape over her new outfit with a single silver pauldron on her right shoulder. When she is fully possessed by the Demon of Gluttony, she dresses in the attire of Banica Conchita.

Character Connections
Prim Marlon: Ney's birth mother. Ney expressed that her whole existence revolved around Prim and she took an addictive satisfaction in receiving praise from the latter. This need to be praised by Prim became Ney's entire motivation through the Story of Evil; due to this, Ney became infuriated in a moment when Prim failed to praise her and so murdered her.

Kyle Marlon: Ney's half-brother. Ney expressed no love for Kyle, seeing him as unimportant compared to Prim and manipulating him for her mother's ends; when he began to oppose Prim, she saw him as another enemy. Despite this, when momentarily free from her insanity a childlike Ney expressed the wish to play with him in another life.

Abyss I.R.: The mage who experimented on Ney. Ney's mental instability was due to the experiments performed on her concerning the Glass of Conchita.

Mariam Futapie: Ney's adopted mother. Ney held no loyalty or love for Mariam, only deceiving her into believing they had a mother-daughter relationship on orders from her real mother; she later murdered her during the Lucifenian Revolution.

Chartette Langley: A fellow servant of Riliane and later opponent. Ney often quarreled with Chartette over trivial things in their employment and she held no affection for her, seeing her only as an obstacle to her mother's plans. She later took pleasure in revealing herself as a Marlon agent to her and attempting to kill her.

Michaela: Ney's victim. Ney took great delight in killing Michaela as the apprentice of Elluka Clockworker, one of her mother's enemies, and as a catalyst for Prim's designs towards Lucifenia.

Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche: Ney's half-sister and employer. Ney often manipulated her in order to fulfill Prim's aims, such as in feeding her rumors and betraying Michaela's location to her.

Allen Avadonia: Ney's half-brother and fellow servant of Riliane. Ney often manipulated Allen during their employment together according to Prim's orders, such as telling the servant falsehoods about Leonhart so he would kill him and using him to discover Michaela's location.

Gretel: Ney's first incarnation. Ney got her loyalty to Prim from Gretel's relationship with Meta Salmhofer; she associated her mother figure with Meta, and so wished to please her.

Arte: Ney's previous incarnation. Ney's relationship with the Demon of Gluttony is credited to her connection to Arte, and the latter passed on to her fanatic loyalty towards her mother figures.

Servants: Ney's later incarnation. Ney's absorption into the Glass of Conchita led directly to the Female Servant's existence. They shared the same soul and Ney passed on her fanatic loyalty to her as she served the Master of the Graveyard in Evil's Theater.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * Ney's name is partially inspired by the name of her representative Vocaloid derivative, Neru, both names sharing their first two letters.

Curiosities

 * Ney's dagger has a retractable blade and can be used as a hair accessory, which allows conceal it in her ponytail, as it shows Interlude of Evil: The Daughter of Evil Worldguide.
 * In The Lunacy of Duke Venomania, Neruneru Nerune is a spy, foreshadowing Ney's role during her service to Riliane.

Gallery
Concept Art=