Michael Sebenda
Michael's life has been marred by many tragedies, and his own inability to deal with them. He lost his frail mother at five, and his father, the famous knight Aron Sebenda, three years later. Though the King and Queen tried to take their places, by the time Kasha died, Michael taught himself to be self-reliant. His only close friend is Amelia and he keeps everyone else at a distance. He doesn't feel romantically attracted to the princess, however-his emotions towards her are very complex. Striving to become a knight like his father, he constantly looks at himself as a failure in his father's eyes. Due to his hard work and dedication, he eventually became Captain of the Royal Guard at a young age. While he's never had any battle experience, Michael is a very skilled swordsman, despite his perceived shortcomings. As a descendant of the ancient Aresian royal family, he also has access to a special power, a strange magic that allows a warrior to bond his soul with his weapon. Right now, Michael's also got a mean pair of demon wings. Poor guy. Personality: Michael, in his attempt to contain his own emotions, can appear cold at times. He does care about others, but doesn't want his feelings perceived as weakness. As mentioned before, he is overly hard on himself, spending much of his time picking apart his every action. Michael often fails to realize his own talent, feeling the burden of being the son of Aphroa's greatest warrior, and always tries to live up to the legacy of his father. The weight of living up to such an image, as well as his own fractured life, often weighs heavily on his mind and holds him back. This is not to say he never loosens up. When he's around Amelia, he is suddenly open and friendly. Amelia's warmth seems to spread towards him and while he's with her, he feels more at ease. Comments: In contrast to Amelia, Michael has had a tremendous amount of change since I began writing this story. In the earliest draft, he didn't even have a name or any real signifigance. When I decided to make a Kamishibai, however, I decided to beef him up a little bit and include him in the cast so that Amelia would have someone else to be close to besides Teran. He suddenly achieved a life of his own, to the point where I padded up two chapters with him, a move that should have been much better executed in my opinion. Nonetheless, it seems to have paid off. When I first put the page up, Michael picked up the first vote in the Character Poll. Not too bad for a former one-shot character. Amelia and Michael's relationship is an interesting one. I'm a strong believer that a boy and a girl can have a meaningful, deep relationship with absolutely no romantic ties. They have a unique bond that doesn't fit a typical romantic mold. In a sense, each became the other's substitute for a close family member, which both of them have dearly missed (though Amelia handled her problems differently).
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