Saige Crystallos

Saige Crystallos is a student attending  Siren Academy, the leader of  Team STRM , and one of the main protagonists of  The Coming Storm.

Appearance
 Volume 1:  While Saige is taller than most women her age, she carries the same physique. Her hair is brown with a cyan ombre which reaches down to her hips.(WIP)

Volume 4 Onwards:  (WIP)

Personality
Saige is the kind of person who, while she is capable of expressing the full range of emotions, has learned to keep a cool head for the sake of giving her team and companions a sense of stability. She's gone through life learning to appreciate the things she has and how to make the best of a bad situation due to her childhood upbringing. While calm and reserved, she is also determined to fight for what she believes in and is not so easily swayed by the opinions of biased strangers. It's for this reason she can approach a problem with a clear conscience and analyze the scene detail by detail to come up with a proper solution.

Saige is kind and willing to help when one is in need, and on the side likes to poke a little fun. With her workaholic lifestyle, she doesn't find much time to consider her own feelings or put herself before others, though when she does, it makes her feel selfish. This has led to her adopting a more "motherly" trait to focus on the wellbeing of her teammates before herself. Fear is something most don't see, as she's one to keep it inwards rather than projecting it, but she will express what she's feeling if somebody just asks her. When provoked or infuriated, Saige prefers not to let it show outright, and will do what she can to calmly resolve the issue or her personal feelings before it attracts any unwanted attention.

Background
Saige was born in a hospital on the coast of Vale to parents Doris and Arwyn Crystallos, who came from a lower class upbringing. Her mom worked at a flower shop, and her dad juggled two jobs to keep their heads above water. Saige was a smart kid who understood early on the value of making the best out of a bad situation, and through her parents' stress put on a brave face to keep them from worrying over her. In his efforts to find a well-paying job, her father found a job shipping goods for the Schnee Dust Company across the seas between continents, and with some more money in their pockets the family was able to improve their standard of living.

When Saige was 11, she and her mother were surprised one day to find her father home for dinner when he should've been at work. His ship had been ambushed by members of the White Fang, and the ensuing scuffle left him without an arm and unable to work, leading to his unemployment. With their debts stacking up, the family was on the verge of eviction, and by then Saige was determined to do what she could to save her parents from homelessness. Her endeavors to raise money on the streets led to an encounter with one Faunus missionary—a woman who went by Mother Chrysanthemum—who sat her down to inquire about her situation. Saige's explanation struck a chord with the woman, who met with her parents to offer a proposition. She and her organization would donate and help the family out, if Saige moved with her to her home of Xervia to experience a proper upbringing and eventually train to become a huntress. Saige's parents were initially skeptical, but realizing they couldn't take care of their daughter as well as they'd hoped said their goodbyes and sent her off with well wishes.

Saige's first few days in Xervia were rocky to say the least. She was easily overwhelmed entering a new city surrounded by unfamiliar faces, but also felt renewed with fresh air and new opportunities. Mother Chrysanthemum had informed her that she would not be the only resident of the house, and upon moving in discovered her two new adoptive siblings were Faunus, quickly put on edge with a human in the house. Days went by, and what was initially tense air melted into a warm atmosphere the more they got to know each other.

Naturally, there were bound to be discriminatory encounters against her new Faunus family. Saige took initiative to stand up for them as well as study up on the subject, which in turn led to her taking up a role as a Faunus rights activist in her early teens. During one particular outing, a personal attack against her siblings went wrong and led to Saige's intervention, which in turn resulted in severe damage to her right eye. In that same encounter, she unlocked her semblance and landed the attackers in the hospital with her new ability before passing out herself. The next time she woke up, she was in the ER surrounded by her mother and siblings and informed that unfortunately her right eye was no longer functional, but she could easily cover up the damage with a glass prosthesis. She and her mother from that day on started her huntress training to become better equipped to defend her family, and to control herself to prevent her semblance from getting out of hand.

Years later on her 17th birthday, Mother Chrysanthemum determined Saige was ready to enroll in the local training school and gifted her with her very own weapon. Saige, enthusiastic about the possibilities, immediately submitted an application; preparation for the initial judging process kept her occupied day and night until the day she received the news she was accepted to perform for the individual assessment trial. With nothing standing in her way, Saige gave her best efforts and went on to finish with high marks, succeeding with flying colors and securing a bright future for herself.

Weapon
Weapon Name: Aethiya (meaning "diver" or "ship)

Type: Melee + Mid-Range

Modeled After: A saber sword and assault rifle

Capabilities: Can shift between melee and firing forms in under 5 seconds. Can fire bullets at a rate of 650 RPM (rounds per minute). The ammunition cartridge contains twelve large slots, each able to hold 50 5mmx49mm bullets.

Abilities
While Saige is fully capable of engaging in short-range, melee, and hand-to-hand combat—though she finds it increasingly difficult to suddenly switch from one format to another. When in doubt of physical attributes, her intelligence and quick wits make up for it, finding skills to aide her when things start looking grim.


 * She takes after a Russian fighting style called Systema in which "the body has to be free of tensions, filled with endurance, flexibility, effortless movement, and explosive potential." As such, her movement during combat is smooth and calculated.

Semblance
The name of Saige's Semblance is Athena's Guard. It's activated in the event of physical or emotional turmoil, and is considered akin to an adrenaline rush. Her muscles harden, and her pain receptors are numbed, so she can do something as difficult as punching through a brick wall bare-handed without feeling the physical effects on her body. With her Semblance, she can use the force of her attacks to swing her weapon much harder than normally, abling her to slice through a string of enemies in one attack.


 * Side Effects: Saige's eyes glow bright blue when she activates her semblance, and a projection of a laurel wreath appear on the sides of her head.
 * Weaknesses: The biggest drawback to Athena's Guard is how much energy it takes out of her. When she comes out of her semblance and deactivates it, the high energy evaporates and creates an effect akin to a bloodsugar crash. Thanks to this, one of her teammates needs to carry some kind of energizer (such as an energy drink) with them at all times, usually packed with caffeine or sugar.

Later Mastery
One year after her initial introduction to Siren Academy, Saige has significantly honed her semblance to a point she can keep it constantly activated in its simplest form, and prevent herself from feeling significant physical pain during day-to-day activities. She uses this during training to minimize the impact of hits taken and push herself to the point of exhaustion if it means learning to improve her fighting style and techniques. Because of this, she frequently makes visits to the nurse's office for checkups.

Relationships
Tana Rhys: Saige was eager to meet Tana and start the foundation of their team, looking forward to their future as classmates and battle partners. She respects Tana's boundaries, and chooses not to push it unless she detects something is legitimately wrong

Raine Shiba: Saige finds Raine to be quite a cheery fellow, and values his efforts to make the world a better place. She does what she can to keep him on the right track.

Mira Anumati: Someone who makes Saige worry. A lot. Saige has always found Macy to be a pleasant person and welcome friend, though worries for her and everyone else's safety when her ideas are in motion.

Canaan Jordan: Saige's first impressions of Canaan were remarkable, as finding someone who shared her brand of humor was a rare find and a welcome one. She sees much of herself in him and, knowing the challenges he faces on his own time, respects his desires to keep a pleasant atmosphere.

Ringo Alexander: She wasn't too fond of Ringo in her first days at Siren, and found it quite taxing to put up with his pessimistic attitude. Their first encounter was unfortunate in that she had to be the one to defend her teammates from his actions, and proceeded to put him in his place by means of combat. She finds him, despite irritating at times, to be an empathetic person, and admires him for at least trying to find common ground with her.

Sirius Aster: Saige relishes in the time she spends with Sirius, as she finds his intellectual side and sophistication fascinating to learn from.

Emeraldine Scarborough: Right off the bat, Saige knew Emmy was an outstanding woman, despite her generally pampered and luxurious lifestyle. Their vastly different backgrounds never made for sources of conflict. Through understanding and some much-needed quality time, Saige learned from her how to take time and focus on her own wellbeing when the need arose.

Chrysanthemum: Saige can only describe her foster mother as a light in the dark. Were it not for her, she would still be living an impoverished life with little to no hope of becoming a huntress down the line. Saige highly values Chrysanthemum and looks up to her as the ideal of a caring leader and mother.

Doris and Arwyn Crystallos: Her birth parents, and compassionate people. They took care of Saige for the first ten years of her life. Despite their previous poverty, Saige has high amounts of affection for them and knows they did their best to give her a good life. They often write letters to each other about the mishaps and adventures that take place in their respective spots in Remnant, though she wishes dearly to see them again one day. After the Fall of Beacon, it is unknown what happened to Saige's parents, or if they are still alive.

Original Concepts and Designs

Trivia



 * Saige's first name means "wise" in Latin.
 * It's also the name of the perennial plant blue sage, also known as salvia azurea, prairie sage, or azure sage.
 * Her surname Crystallos is derived from its Greek origin krustallos, which means crystal. It shares its name with cristallo, a type of clear glass.
 * Saige's allusions to real-world stories stem from Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.
 * The name of her weapon, Aethiya, shares its name with one of Athena's epithets, centering on the art of ship building and navigation. This alludes to Saige's role as the navigator, or leader of her team.
 * Saige has no problems sharing the details of her damaged eye with those who ask of it. On occasion, she'll take the prosthetic eye out of its socket to make jokes or scare her classmates and friends for amusement.