Irina Clockworker

Irina Clockworker is a powerful sorceress from the Magic Kingdom Levianta and the counterpart to her sister-in-law, Elluka. Cunning and deceitful, she began collecting the Seven Deadly Sins and became involved in numerous conflicts.

Early Life
Born the sister of Kirill Clockworker, Irina became a craftsman and lived with her brother for some time in the Magic Kingdom Levianta. Later on, Irina became friends with Kirill's fiancée, Elluka Chirkrassia, but grew jealous of her brother's lover.

Project 'Ma'
In EC 013, both Elluka and Irina were selected as potential candidates for Project 'Ma' after being surveyed for their viability. As the time for the final selection drew closer, Irina began plotting to eliminate the other candidates.

After the mysterious accident killing Milki Eights and the apparent suicide of Li Lee, she had approached Elluka and asked that they stop fighting for the position, telling her sister-in-law that she, as well as Kirill, supported her becoming the new Ma. After Elluka expressed her gratitude to Irina and promised to protect her, Irina stabbed the sorceress in the back, crying as Elluka collapsed before her. Admitted for being the last living candidate, Irina smiled before an altar in the temple.

Shortly after, the explosion and ensuing destruction spreading across Levianta mutilated Irina, losing all her limbs and suffering from internal bleeding. Perceiving Elluka to be the cause of the catastrophe, she swore vengeance, even if it took her a hundred years to achieve that revenge. Alone in the wasteland of her country, she was approached by Seth Twiright, illuminated by the moon and carrying a red stuffed cat under his arm.

Venomania Event
Irina possessed the cat, using it as her new body. Afterwards, she began to acquire the Seven Deadly Sins with the intention of spreading malice through the world, and collected the Venom Sword. Referring to herself as “I.R.”, Irina found Haru Netsuma and realized her strong magical power. After she destroyed the girl's home, the sorceress attached herself to the girl, stealing her body and using it as a medium for her feline form. Towards the end of EC 135, she approached Cherubim, the estranged son of Duke Venomania and, wishing to see the evil acts he could commit, offered him the Venom Sword to encourage the child to make a contract with the Demon of Lust.

Afterwards, she watched as the child slaughtered his family within their mansion and later smiled after he returned to his basement, witnessing him make the contract as she planned. As part of their deal, they agreed the new "Duke Sateriajis Venomania" could keep the sword and use it to acquire more power so long as he assisted her whenever she called upon him. After several months, I.R. returned to the Venomania manor in early April of EC 136, desiring to acquire one of her father's magical artifacts. Entering his basement, she was briefly greeted by Sateriajis before he realized it was her, and unenthusiastically asked why she came.

In response, the sorceress asked why he was so rude before asking if he was ready. As the duke asked what she meant, I.R. questioned if he was playing dumb and warned him that he would then need to return the sword. After he conceded, Venomania asked if they would leave her "body" and I.R. affirmed that it was more convenient, charging Mikulia Greonio with taking care of it. Releasing control of her vessel, the sorceress followed the duke out of the mansion and later leapt upon his person. Hiding within his coat as they traveled, the sorceress took him to Mystic town in search of an altar in the Misty Mountains.

After Sateriajis found a guide, Lilien Tarner, to lead him to the location, I.R. climbed upon the duke's shoulder and continued their journey through the ruins until they arrived at the altar. As the duke expressed disbelief that Lilien had known Lukana Octo, I.R. retorted that Mystic was his concubine's hometown and that he should have expected it, chastising that he should learn more about the women he entranced. The duke joked how unusual it was for her to care about women; the sorceress responded that she too was once a woman and reminded him to fulfill their contract if he wanted more power.

Unlocking and entering the tomb, Venomania discovered a stone coffin filled with treasure, retracting the spoon from among the riches. The cat denied the duke's claim that it was vessel of sin. After explaining, the disappointed Venomania tossed the weapon, shocking the sorceress and she leapt after the tool. While retrieving it, she remembered the soldier trailing her, and decided to deal with her later and demanding they leave. The duke lectured that he wanted to avoid killing in his land and I.R. questioned if it was because the soldier was a woman, hearing his interest in adding her and other women into his harem.

The sorceress leaped back on his shoulder, noting that he was at least consistent. Traversing through the mountains again, she asked who would accommodate them during their stay and the duke replied they would stay with Earl Ferdinand. Noting the earl had been investigating the disappearances, she questioned his judgement. Arriving at the mansion, the sorceress attached herself to Ferdinand's wife. After the duke left for Mystic Town the next day, I.R. discovered the earl's secret collection of Princess Meilis' possessions. That night, after the duke returned from his stroll though the town, she told him he was late and showed him her findings in the secret room.

Describing Ferdinand's fetish for Meilis and his wife's apparent ignorance or apathy about it, citing that he was pathetic. After listening to the duke's fascination with the princess, she explored the mansion and discovered the earl's corpse within a room. Quoting the duke's earlier comments, she questioned the paradox of his words versus his actions, discerning he had murdered him. Sometime after, the two went after the soldier and the duke, after entrancing her, allowed I.R. to interrogate her. Learning she was not the actual soldier, Teto Cetera, but a school teacher, she extracted interesting information from her before returning to the mansion.

Several days since discovering the earl, the sorceress detached herself from her medium, touring the halls before seeing a visitor discover the bodies. Noting the duke's consequences for "showing off", she continued onward and sat along the mansion's walls. Sensing the duke's demon transformation, she spoke aloud that it had begun and began traveling back to see the result of his battle with the intruder. On her way, she found him in the halls and asked if their battle had ended. The duke told her it had and the two left.

On their way back to Lasaland, the sorceress questioned if it was alright that he left Lilien there. When he told her she would come on her own, she chuckled and responded that he truly was evil. The duke told her they needed to hurry and she suggested they take a fast carriage. When the duke said they would take any carriage to the city, I.R. revealed what she learned from the woman and that she extracted some interesting information. As the duke noted that she too responded to his charm, she chuckled and commented on the things he ended up lusting for. I.R. retrieved her vessel, Haru, and remained for a time in his mansion.

When Duke Venomania seduced Haru's sister Hakua, Haru's consciousness slightly resurfaced and I.R. kept a wide berth around the girl to be safe. During this period, she also became aware of Lukana Octo's receptiveness to magic and unique Purple Dream ability, planning to take her body for a new medium. She was stopped by the Duke. When Lolan Eve's dead body was discovered by Lukana, she took the corpse outside the mansion. She also, at some point, transferred the Demon of Sloth from Mikulia to the Clockworker's Doll.

Some time before the Duke's death she departed from his home, happy to see that three women had conceived "devil children" with Venomania's blood. She would later be thwarted from taking Lukana's body when Elluka swapped it with her own.

Evil Food Eater Conchita
Nearly two centuries later, Irina acquired a new male body with strong magical power as a medium and used it as her own. When the Conchita family consulted about the gluttonous habits of their daughter, Banica, the sorceress, calling herself "AB-CIR", indicated there was no cause for concern. At some point, she added the Conchita family chef Joseph to her network of informants.

Around EC 324, AB-CIR hired Platonic to steal the Glass of Conchita from Banica. She later learned of the thief's failure from Joseph, told how Banica's army of undead soldiers prevented her from taking it. Construing a different approach to the plan, AB-CIR killed Joseph and assigned the mission to the captured Carlos Marlon. Using the Venom Sword, Carlos was given Joseph's visage and he successfully infiltrated the mansion around EC 325. However, unable to foresee the ensuing romance, the sorceress lost contact with Carlos and still hadn't obtained the vessel. In August of that year, Platonic completed her mission and gave the wine glass to AB-CIR before Elluka could retrieve it.

Daughter of Fog
Sometime afterward, Irina took an old woman as her medium and adopted the pseudonym "Abyss I.R." for herself. Desiring to collect the Venom Sword again for her plans, Abyss I.R. tracked the vessel to the orphaned Zenon in Elphegort. Learning about the descendent of her old acquaintence, Duke Venomania, Abyss followed the road across the Asmodean border to the country in EC 473 and crossed paths with the child. Starved, he attacked her and she smiled, envoloping the boy with her conjured flames. Respecting his beautiful face, she avoided burning it and left him injured and unconcious on the side of the road so he could be found later. Once the sword was collected, she left.

Curious if the sword had lost its power, the sorceress planned to use Zenon to test the vessel. Learning of Zenon's exploits as a soldier for the Asmodean Emperor using the name "Gast Venom", Abyss approached Head of Intellegence Futapie in EC 477 and had her research the boy's past. Gaining a witness from Gast's hometown, Abyss and the green-haired man followed the Intelligence agent to the home of General Shalgham. Once the documents of Gast's past were delivered and the Head of Intelligence left, Abyss allowed the witness to confirm the information and that the general's foster daughter, Yvette, shared a great likeness with Gast's dead sister, Sarah.

Sending Yvette back to her room, Shalgham spoke to the sorceress about the plan to have Gast killed legally using Yvette and the Venom Sword as the motivator. Once Shalgham accepted the plan, it was executed out at the Misty Mountains. With Gast coming under the sword's influence and determined to fight back and kill the general, the sorceress confirmed that it was still functional. On the last night when it was planned for Gast to die, Abyss I.R. stood beside Shalgham when Yvette managed to avoid the sorceress and stab her stepfather to death with a golden knife. Although surprised that Yvette wielded the vessel of Wrath, she did not pursue the fleeing child and instead confronted Gast at her father's altar.

Emerging from the fog, she greeted the child, poking fun at his name change. Questioned why she was here, the sorceress explained that she had given his ancestor the sword and had simply returned to take it back. When Gast refused, she noted that was fine at first but mused how Yvette unexpectedly became "worried" and prepared to conjure her flames. In that instant, Gast struck out at her neck. Cackling after the blade cut into her "body", the sorceress told Gast that it was useless to use the sword on her and that his family never learns. Blasting his chest with flames, she teased that she promised not to fully burn him either in deference to his face before once again burning him and taking back the vessel of sin.

Story of Evil
Around EC 482, Abyss befriended Prim Marlon, promising to help the Queen Dowager of the Kingdom of Marlon carry out her plans in return for one of her children. After giving Prim the Venom Sword to seduce King Arth of the Kingdom of Lucifenia, Irina used the child born from the engagement, Ney Marlon, as a guinea pig for her experiments. Later on, Prim forced Mikina Freesis to work for the sorceress. Using the Glass of Conchita, Irina caused an epidemic of the Goula disease in EC 490, wreaking havoc in Beelzenia which later successfully infected and killed King Arth during his military campaign as she planned.

Shortly afterwards, in EC 491, Irina collaborated with Prim's brother, Presi Rogzé, in an attempt to control Prince Alexiel and herald the downfall of the Lucifenian Royal Family. The sorceress buried one of the Four Mirrors of Lucifenia inside a black box on the beached shores of Lucifenia. From the Forest of Bewilderment, Irina watched as both twins, Riliane and Alexiel, unwittingly dug up the box and looked at the mirror. Using the mirror as a portal, Irina conjured the Demon of Gluttony from the vessel of Vanity. After the plan's failure and Presi's death, Irina listened to Ney's report on the matter, concerning Riliane being possessed and Presi's failure to defeat Elluka due to Mariam Futapie's intervention. Irina ordered Ney to infiltrate the Lucifenian palace, determining she would use the Glass of Conchita to create another epidemic of the Goula Disease and kill Queen Anne.

In EC 503, Irina stole Elluka's body and took up residence in Marlon, continuing to serve Prim. When Gumillia confronted Irina, Elluka stole her body back from Irina, forcing her back into her original form: the red cat.

Irina then possessed Mikina, stole the vessels of sin, and fled to Lucifenia. When Germaine Avadonia and Yukina Freesis tracked her down, Irina let Mikina confess what she had done as a sort of amusement. Irina then trapped Yukina inside a fiery prison using the Marlon Spoon. Riliane attempted to sneak up on Irina and steal the Spoon, while Germaine attacked Irina's red cat familiar. Irina attempted to use the Glass of Conchita on Riliane but failed, due to a supposed betrayal of the Demon of Gluttony and Ney's influence.

New Four Horsemen
Defeated, the sorceress managed to avoid death and later encountered Germaine in EC 508. Taking possessiong of her body, Abyss I.R. collaborated with Neo Apocalypse to acquire the Twins Sword of Levianta and used them to cause the New Four Horsemen Incident. During the event, the sorceress confronted Liliane Mouchet and, during their battle, Abyss became heavily injured, forced to discard the vessel of Envy and retreat.

Père Noël
Forging her identity as "Julia Abelard", Irina amassed a large fortune, becoming a millionaire. At some point, she discovered a young boy named Lemy at an orphanage in the Lucifenian Republic's Rolled city and subsequently adopted him. Sometime before EC 609, Julia met and became friends with Margarita Felix and formed the criminal organization Père Noël with her, taking the codename "I. the Santa". Brainwashing Lemy to be a cold assassin for the organization, she recruited him as well.

In EC 609, Julia comforted Margarita as her failing marriage left her downtrodden and miserable. The sorceress then gifted the Clockworker's Doll to her, concealing the instructions to create a deadly poison inside it. After Margarita became possessed by the Demon of Sloth and eradicated her hometown of Toragay, Julia had already fled and avoided the Freesis Foundation's investigation.

Although her involvement with Père Noël was suspected, I. the Santa continued commanding the organization and sent Lemy on nightly assassination missions throughout EC 610 to eliminate targets. During that same year, her organization gained two new members: VII. the Magician and VIII. the Sniper. Early on in the year, Julia assigned Sniper with assassination missions through letters containing instructions. Towards the end of EC 610, Lemy alerted Santa that Magician was a traitor and, grateful for his loyalty, Julia petted her child's head despite the fact VII. the Magician escaped.

At some point, Julia discovered that Sniper had been in a relationship with a member of the Freesis Foundation. Towards the end of the year, she sent a letter and revolver to the assassin, ordering her to kill the man. Learning Magician was actually Elluka, she sent her sister-in-law a letter challenging to come find her at Marigold Plateau in Elphegort. At Marigold, Irina awaited for Elluka's arrival and afterward clashed with her "sister" before being defeated for the last time.

Personality and Traits
Irina is a deceitful, cruel, and manipulative woman. Calm and collected, she usually observes conflicts with glee and rarely becomes too involved in a situation after sowing the seeds herself. As a result, she often laughs at others' shortcomings or muses at how events play out. Coinciding with this, she sadistically enjoys watching others suffer and treats them as pawns in a game. Because of this, she easily uses trickery or lies to achieve her goals. Despite this, she does have brief lapses in her amusement when something unexpected or inconvenient occurs and is visibly distressed or bothered, though she quickly finds the benefits these situations give her.

The sorceress has no qualms with murder and regularly employs such methods, usually without remorse. She also is not above jealousy or anger when provoked, particularly towards Elluka, and derives much of her joy from Elluka's failings or suffering. Similarly, she expects men to treat their women respectfully and take the time to know them, sympathizing due to having also been a woman.

Skills and Abilities
Despite never receiving any magical training, Irina was a powerful sorceress who was only ranked second to Elluka when surveyed for Project 'Ma'. As a result, she has managed to cheat death several times, in part because of an ability she gained to possess the body of another being, such as a stuffed cat, and use it as her own. Her bodies also seems to inherit a degree of immortality, inhabiting Germaine's body without any noticeable aging for over a century and using her cat body for even longer. As a cat, Irina can communicate with those possessed by Demons of Sin but sounds like just an ordinary cat to others. While using Germaine's body, Irina also had the swordwoman's advanced healing, recovering quickly from serious injuries.

Similarly, while inhabiting her feline body, she uses her Body Steal technique to great effect, using a nearby person's body as a medium. Like a ragdoll, the medium is freely under her control and is an extension of herself, sometimes even mimicking her cat body's expressions. While controlling the body, she can suppress the owner's conciousness,  allowing her to leave it behind without the person awakening. The body can be damaged without causing any injury to Irina and, as a shell, does not bleed, making it seemingly invincible in combat. She can also probe the minds of those she controls, although she is unable to learn the full knowledge or intent from their memories. To maintain the technique, always keeping her cat body near the intended vessel at all times.

Among her other proficencies, Irina could cast powerful fire magic and severely burn someone without killing them, disappear in a cloud of smoke, summon nearby animals to attack others, and grow a Very Amazing Octopus to an enormous size and control it. Irina is also skilled at clockworking, creating the Clockworker's Doll to become the vessel of Sloth and has a deep knowledge of the vessels of sin and has the skill to transplant the Demons and switch them between their own vessels without becoming possessed herself. In conjunction with this, she is a skilled manipulator, able to use others by taking advantage of their emotions, desires, and insecurities to get what she wants.

Character Connections
Kirill Clockworker: Irina's brother. Irina maintained a sisterly relationship with Kirill so that he loved her as much as he loved Elluka, and was described as loving him jealously. Their relationship became distant after her murder of Elluka, and Irina displayed no later regret over his loss of reason and eventual death.

Elluka Clockworker: Irina's sister-in-law. While Irina and Elluka lived in peace during the latter's engagement to Kirill, she turned on her when they were chosen as candidates for Project 'Ma'. After being injured in the Levianta Catastrophe, Irina saw the revived Elluka as her enemy and treated her with hostility throughout their existence, mockingly referring to her as "sister."

Gumillia: The apprentice of Irina's enemy. Irina saw Gumillia with a hostility as an extension of her hate for Elluka and fought with her, although displayed inattention to the latter and Elluka's relationship, such as referring to her with honorifics that Elluka didn't use.

Sateriajis Venomania: Irina's partner. Irina viewed Venomania as having good potential for aiding her and becoming the Sinner of Lust, and so she helped him murder his family and provided him with the Venom Sword. She grew concerned by his careless acquisition of women for his harem; although she was amused by his consistency in goals, she believed many of the duke's actions, without considering the consequences, would cause trouble later.

Presi Rogzé: Irina's partner. She used Presi's ambitions to enlist his aid in attacking the twins Alexiel and Riliane, and later was amused at his rage when things did not go according to plan. She was not affected by his later death at the hands of Elluka and Mariam, having warned him of the Three Heroes beforehand.

Prim Marlon: Irina's partner. Irina viewed Prim as a means to orchestrate political chaos during the Story of Evil. She maintained a close confidential relationship with her, but would occasionally act against Prim's own interests, such as in her murder of Anne.

Ney Futapie: Irina's test subject. Irina viewed Ney as merely a means to further her own ends as an incarnation of Gretel. She relied on Ney's connection to Arte as a way to have the Demon of Gluttony take to her and possess her.

Lemy Abelard: Irina's adopted son. Irina viewed Lemy as merely a means further her own ends, adopting him due to his being a reincarnation of Hänsel and brainwashing him into obeying her. She would maintain a false motherly relationship with him to keep his loyalty, using the body of Germaine Avadonia to remind him of Meta Salmhofer.

Margarita Blankenheim: Irina's partner. Irina saw in Margarita potential to become the Sinner of Sloth and destroy Toragay, and so maintained a friendly relationship with her while giving her the Gift and bringing her into Père Noël.

Clockworker's Doll: A doll Irina made. Irina made the Clockworker's Doll with the intention of making it the vessel of Sloth, using it to influence Margarita into committing her mass murder on Toragay.

Haru Netsuma: A body Irina used as a medium. Irina recognized Haru's strong magic potential and thus used her as a medium during the Venomania Event. She would act according to Haru's consciousness when it resurfaced, such as leaving Hakua alone. She displayed little personal attachment to the body, however and later discarded it to move on to other hosts.

Lukana Octo: A body Irina targeted as a medium. She recognized the magic potential of Lukana's body, and so wished to use her as a medium rather than Haru--however, she was unable to follow through on this wish due to the interference of Sateriajis and later Elluka.

Germaine Avadonia: A body Irina inhabited. She originally knew Germaine as an enemy and fought with her during the Story of Evil, and later saw use in possessing her body to become Julia Abelard.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * Irina's name is Slavic, meaning "peace".
 * Her surname refers to the inner workings of a clock and literally refers to someone who makes or works with such devices.
 * Her alias as AB-CIR is a bridge to her eventual pseudonynm Abyss I.R. and a reference to her representative Vocaloid; the name Iroha translates as "ABC".
 * Her pseudonym as Abyss I.R. used the word abyss, meaning a "deep or bottomless chasm" or a "profound difference between people".
 * The alias may also be derived from the word abyssinian, a breed of cat characterized by red fur and a slender body; Irina's true form while using the name is that of a slender, red cat.
 * Her pseudonym while possessing Germaine is a female English derivative of the male name "Julius", meaning "Jove's Child"; Jove is another name for the god Jupiter of Roman mythology, the king of the gods.
 * Her alias' surname, Abelard, is derived from German meaning "resolute" or "steadfast" and is the surname of a French philosopher.
 * Irina's name is partially inspired by the name of her representative Vocaloid, Iroha, sharing the same first letters and syllable.

Curiosities

 * When surveyed for Project 'Ma', Irina's rankings were M=206, O=96, T=83, H=113, E=666, R=153.
 * Her E factor being quanitifed as 666 resulted in suspicions that she was a HER; the number is regarded as the Number of the Beast and a satanic number of evil by biblical scholars.
 * Irina's role in Père Noël follows the twisted "Christmas" theme that surrounds the organization, giving "gifts" as "Santa" to the other members and desiring to punish "naughty children" for their actions.
 * As I. the Santa, Irina inhabits the body of Germaine, represented by the Vocaloid MEIKO; like Santa Claus, MEIKO characteristically wears red clothing.
 * According to Ma, Irina desired to collect the Seven Deadly Sins so that they could grant her a wish.
 * Humorously, Irina refers to Elluka as "big sister" while using an old woman as her medium, much to Ney's confusion since Elluka looks physically younger than her.

Gallery
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