Veronica Castor

"In the time it took you to check your scroll, I read twenty-one pages on biology. I can recite them to you, if you want." Veronica Castor is a first-year student attending Beacon Academy

Appearance
Veronica keeps her straight hair a bit above her shoulders and held back by an intricate silver circlet set with a brilliant sapphire, a graduation gift from her father. Her skin is pale, as she rarely goes outside, and her build is athletic. Her posture is confident, her gait deliberate, even if she is feeling nervous, uncertain, or shy. Her eyes are a piercing deep blue. She often smirks, but rarely smiles, but when she does, it is honed and practiced.

She tries to keep her clothing simple, usually wearing a black shirt under a steel blue short-sleeved jacket with silver trimmings. The jacket has one pocket on each side; the left pouch stores dust crystals, and the right stores medical supplies such as gauze or bandage rolls. Her left hand is covered by a black half-glove, and a silver band circles the ring-finger of her right hand.

She wears black light-weight pants that fall to her ankles, comfortable laced steel blue boots, and a light-brown belt with three pouches, one for medical supplies, two for dust crystals. Attached to this belt on her left hip is a small silver ring that acts as a sheath for Veloxensis. Hanging from her right hip, looped around the belt, is a black kerchief with her emblem, a dark blue snake wrapped around the silver blade of an ornate rapier, in the center. The kerchief covers a small sheath strapped to her thigh that securely holds a small utility knife

Personality
Veronica wants to be better than everyone else. This goal, coupled with a small inferiority complex, drives her to work incredibly hard, to the point where it can be unhealthy. She has more than once landed herself in the medical wings of Beacon and Signal after injuring herself by over-training. Even then, she had someone bring her books to read and study while she recovered. She doesn't sleep often, preferring to use that time to either study or practice with Veloxensis.

She has a destructive habit of using her semblance for extended periods of time; to others she may blank out for a few minutes, but a few minutes when her semblance is active can translate to several weeks for her. When her semblance is active, her only social interaction is with her sub-conscious taking the forms of various people in her life based on her perceptions of them. Because she interacts very often with her perceptions of people, if these perceptions turn out to be wrong, it is difficult for her to alter them.

She also uses her semblance when distressed, either emotionally, or physically. She will often calm her thoughts by either writing or playing music, on both piano and violin. She has composed countless pieces, but many of these she has claimed to have forgotten. Through developing her muscle memory when her semblance is active, she has been able to learn how to play both instruments; with regards to the latter, she is unaware of what it actually feels like to play one, her perception of its feel coming from reading about it and listening to it. Were she to actually hold one, it is possible her perception of the instrument may be shattered. She has not had the opportunity. This is not the same case for the piano, and she has been rightly called a prodigy by those who have heard her play on one.

She is extremely intelligent and is very good at grasping concepts. She has a remarkable memory, even without her semblance, and can learn very quickly, committing to memory concepts after a single observation. She is perceptive and detail-oriented, and slightly obsessive compulsive, with a nervous habit of cracking her neck and fingers. She can observe small details in an area, often noticing things others do not.

When actually interacting with people outside of her mind, she tries to be polite, and wants to get along with people, but often says what is on her mind, with little regard as to how people will respond. This has resulted in several insulted people storming off, leaving Veronica puzzled as to what happened. Despite her social awkwardness, she is very quick-witted, and if someone tosses her an insult, playfully or not, she will retort. Unfortunately, her concept of what is hurtful and what is not is different from others, and sometimes her responses are actually hurtful, regardless of the intent of the initial remark. She also hates large crowds, and if there is one, she will keep her distance, hanging to the side until it passes.

She is stubborn, and while she has good control of her temper, it can be dangerous; when enraged, she doesn't raise her voice, but instead speaks softly and calmly, but with a deliberate threatening edge. In this state, a harsh insult can be enough to warrant a physical response from her, but she will often goad people into making the first move. She can become angered by “recreational violence”, hurtful acts of discrimination, and pointless fighting. These things will warrant a response from her.

During combat, she is very calculating and tactical; she uses her semblance to form battle plans in an instant, and expects people to follow her if she tells them what to do. She places an importance on the safety of the people around her, but her mentality is that if something is threatening them, it is prudent to eliminate the threat rather than defend the target, if given a choice between the two. If she is outmatched, she will continue to fight until she is unable. She is not afraid to sacrifice herself if necessary; if she is fighting with a group and they are outmatched, her main priority will be to use her semblance to either figure out a way to divert the enemy to her or get her allies out by either tricking them or even knocking them out, if necessary.

She is also deathly afraid of wasps, justified, considering she is allergic to them.

Veloxensis
A custom multi-action dust rapier, lightweight, designed for thrusting. The handle has an intricate black wrapping, and the four prongs that make up the basket hilt have ornate engravings. The trigger can be both double and single action, depending on if the hammer is pulled back. The blade is hexagonal, with a length of 39 inches. It has six dust settings:

Red:  Repulsion; coats the blade in a crimson field that blasts back anything that touches it. The weapon can strike something fifteen times before the crystal must be replaced. Pulling the trigger when this is active turns the setting off.

Indigo:  Piercing; pulling the trigger fires a spear-like beam that can pierce even thick sheets of metal, creating a hole with a radius of four inches. Five pulls of the trigger will exhaust the crystal.

Green:  Shockwave; pulling the trigger and then releasing creates a destructive wave that blasts things back. Pulling the trigger primes the wave, and its radius is traced by the blade; releasing the trigger fires the shockwave in the traced pattern. Can be used to launch Veronica. The number of shockwaves that can be created varies based on size, but pulling and releasing the trigger with no pattern fifteen times will exhaust the crystal.

Violet:  Extension; creates a spectral extension of Veloxensis that increases Veronica's reach with the blade. Pulling the trigger extends the blade, and releasing the trigger makes the extension fade. The extension can be used continuously for twenty seconds before the crystal must be changed, and the blade's length is tripled. This setting is difficult and almost hazardous to use in confined spaces.

Orange:  Tracing; launches a fast and powerful bolt that Veronica can guide by moving Veloxensis. The more time the bolt spends in the air, the stronger it becomes; it takes ten seconds to reach its peak strength, at which point it can cause a large damaging explosion. The bolt will explode either upon contact or upon the release of the trigger. Five bolts can be launched before the crystal must be changed, but it is impossible to control more than one at a time, and control usually requires focus and concentration.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:24px;">Blue:  Destruction; Veloxensis' engravings glow a deep blue. When the glow is at its peak luminosity, Veloxensis can pierce anything; if plunged into something, it effectively turns it into a sheath. The setting takes five seconds to charge, and upon contact, exhausts the crystal. Once charged, it must be discharged.

Latensica
A straight, double-edged knife that Veronica uses more for utility than actual combat. Its razor-sharp blade is six inches long. If Veloxensis is either too excessive for a situation or unable to be drawn fast enough, Veronica will reach for Latensica, but more often than not, she will draw the blade for utility.

Semblance
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> When active, her perception of time slows to a ten-thousandth of what it normally is. A second to everyone else lasts three hours for her. With everyone, including her physical self, effectively frozen, she can think. When her semblance is active, her memory becomes perfect, and she can recall almost anything. Her imagination couples with her memory to allow her to mentally simulate almost anything, provided she has some experience with what she is recreating. She can imagine herself in what seems to be a very realistic fight, or she can recall a book or a piece of study material and review it. During combat, this allows her to develop strategies seemingly instantly based on her knowledge. Her semblance does not make her omnipotent, so she can only use what she knows. This means that when developing a strategy, if there is something she does not know, her strategy may fall victim to that fallacy. She can predict reactions to what she plans, but these predictions may not be correct, and she cannot see the future.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> In addition, her semblance has a cooldown based on how long she spends using it. If she activates her semblance, and takes ten minutes in her head to plan a strategy, it will take about a minute to cooldown. Likewise, if she activates her semblance, and doesn't deactivate it until five minutes have passed for everyone else (essentially spending more than two months with her thoughts), she will not be able to use it again for nearly four days.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> The basic formula is that for every second she uses in the mind palace (not every second that everyone else perceives), she will accumulate a 0.1 second cooldown. Five minutes will net her a thirty second cooldown. Likewise, if she spends a minute (as perceived by everyone else) in her head, the cooldown will be eighteen hours.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> The ratio for time perceived by everyone else as opposed to time perceived by her is as follows: for every second that goes by for everyone else, 10,800 seconds go by for her, or three hours.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> When in danger (when an attack pierces her aura and she sustains a very damaging or painful injury), her semblance will activate regardless of cooldown, but she will not think as quickly. In this situation, a second will last about five minutes for her. She will often use this emergency slow-down to cope mentally with the pain of the injury, figure out the best way to moderate the damage, and retaliate or escape appropriately. In this state, every second she perceives that passes adds five seconds to her existing cooldown.

Combat Style and Skills
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> Veronica's combat style is one that utilizes very quick strikes to vital areas; thrusts are generally used to dispatch unprotected targets, whereas extremely fast slashes are used to wear them down and open them up for more deadly attacks. Defensively, even without her semblance, she is very good at perceiving an incoming blow. If she cannot dodge, she can parry, and vice-versa. Heavy blows she will either avoid or block using Veloxensis' red setting. She incorporates a small amount of acrobatics into her combat, using them to evade or outmaneuver an opponent. She is very fast and agile, but not particularly strong, relying more on the velocity of her strikes to do damage. Her style is focused on ending the fight as soon as possible, as she can tire quite quickly. If disarmed, she can either draw her backup weapon, Latensica, or resort to hand-to-hand combat, in which she is proficient (she is adept with basic Judo throws and has developed a personal style based around joint-locks and strikes to vulnerable areas). She fights better with her weapons, however.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> She is well aware of the weaknesses of the human body, including vital areas, thanks to her background, and has studied Grimm biology quite a bit. While knowledge of human anatomy is ingrained in her head, Grimm biology can sometimes be difficult for her to recall without her semblance. She has developed her aura somewhat, and is able to manipulate it and redistribute its protection to fortify certain parts of her body at the expense of the protection of others. Her reaction time is well-honed, as are the mental aspects of her combat. This comes from her frequent use of her semblance during her training. She often has mock fights in her head, and while the physical improvements that come from frequent combat do not translate to her actual physical body, the mental aspects, such as improved reaction time, do. Her muscles, however, require time to adapt to the improved reflexes. Because of this, most physical training Veronica will do outside of her head.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> Finally, her background means that she can provide limited medical treatment to wounds on and off the battlefield, provided she has supplies, which she will often have with her. She is a proficient medic, and provided with the right tools and the use of her semblance can even attempt minor surgery. She's treated stab wounds, cuts, scrapes, bruises, burns, and occasionally broken bones.

Background
Veronica is the youngest child of two in her family. Her parents, an extremely caring mother and an equally caring but extremely intelligent father, run a non-profit clinic in Vale and have enough wealth to ensure their children live comfortable, but often busy, lives. Veronica's brother, Pollux, is five years older than her, and, like Veronica, inherited his father's intelligence, but to a greater degree. When Veronica was old enough to start helping at the clinic, Pollux helped her, but would often belittle her for making even the smallest mistakes, often oversights no one without exceptional intelligence could catch. Because of this, Veronica to this day tries her best to be as perfect as possible, harshly scolding herself for any mistakes and remembering all of them so as to not repeat them, no matter how small they are. Despite this occasional mistreatment by her brother, she still looks up to him, considering him more intelligent than her; she secretly feels like a child when compared to him, and his mocking is the source of her inferiority complex. However, his teasing has allowed her to develop a sharp wit and a knack for harsh retorts. Despite this seemingly hostile relationship, the two are on fairly good terms and stay in contact.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in"> At the age of ten, Veronica discovered her semblance, her only mental advantage over her brother. She quickly figured out how to use and manipulate it, creating a sort of “mind palace” where she could retreat, think, and calm herself if need be. Once she figured out how to use it, she activated her semblance whenever she could, spending huge amounts of time with her own thoughts and interacting with parts of her sub-conscious taking the forms of her perceptions of different people. Unfortunately, interacting with her perceptions as opposed to the actual people made her set in what views she had, and if something in real life conflicted, she found it difficult to reconcile the two perceptions. She also learned how to use it as a coping mechanism; if hurt, she would retreat to the recesses of her mind and call up memories of a piano she used to play, spending hours playing and composing music in her head (she later was able to construct a perception of the violin based on what she had read about it and heard from it).

<p style="margin-bottom:0in"> She took advantage of the perfect memory her semblance provided, using it to improve her already impressive learning capabilities. With it, she could observe or read something, and then review it over and over again in her head for hours until she mastered its concepts. With this powerful technique, she was able to learn many basic medical techniques and practices, an extraordinary feat for such a young girl. By eleven, she had committed to memory basic human and faunus biology, and was adept at treating minor wounds. Despite her progress, she was still kept to minor assistive roles in the clinic due to her age.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in"> When Veronica was twelve, she surprised her family by telling them she wanted to become a huntress. Despite expecting and even grooming her to take over the clinic, her parents were supportive, with her father encouraging her after determining that she understood what she was getting into. Veronica was eager to start learning how to fight, but her mother kept her away from weapons, telling her that she could start fighting when she enrolled at Signal. To pass the time before the start of school, Veronica studied books on Grimm biology, and read several books detailing tactics and fighting styles. She also stole away with several weapon catalogs, determined to pick out the perfect weapon for her. She found it in an elegant rapier with a revolving dust cartridge featured in one article. When she enrolled in Signal, she eagerly designed her weapon, a multi-action dust rapier she called Veloxensis. She additionally made herself a small utility knife she called Latensica.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in"> For her first month at Signal, she was the perfect student (if anti-social). However, crime around the clinic her parents owned increased, and with it, many of the volunteers the place relied on left to seek safer places. Knowing it needed help to stay open, Veronica started skipping classes she didn't deem important, helping at the clinic when she could. Her grades started to drop, but she was able to balance this out by acing each exam, in no small part due to her semblance, which she could use with complete discretion. She did not, however, skimp on combat training, attending every single class and learning as much as she could. She would often spar with other students and hone her technique, eventually developing her own style of combat that mixed fencing techniques with martial arts maneuvers, focusing on avoidance and quick strikes. She made liberal use of her semblance, using it to make observations, develop strategies, and hone mental aspects of her combat style. Veronica didn't start out as the best fighter in Signal, but by graduation, she was one of the most proficient, being able to go up against almost any opponent (excluding the professors, of course) and emerge victorious.

<p style="margin-bottom:0in"> She graduated with slightly above average grades; her marks in each class were low due to her non-attendance, but her scores for her exams were perfect. During the down-time before school started up again, this time at Beacon, Veronica discreetly tried to lower the crime rate in the clinic's area, and as a result, volunteers started to come back in. Veronica left for Beacon, breezing through the entrance exam, determined to be as studious as possible to make up for her poor performance at Signal.

Trivia

 * <p style="margin-bottom:0in;">Veronica is a Latin-based name meaning “she who brings victory”. All of the names with regards to Veronica's character and back-story have a Latin base or influence.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0in;">Castor is the name of a star with a temperature of approximately 8842 degrees K, giving it a bluish-white color.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0in;">Pollux  is the name of Castor's twin in the story of Castor and Pollux; he is generally regarded as immortal compared to his mortal brother.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> Parts of Veronica's back-story and character, specifically her relationship with Pollux (along with his character), her semblance, and her intelligence, are derived from the character of Sherlock Holmes.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> Veronica's emblem, a snake coiled around a rapier, is a play on the Rod of Asclepius, a symbol associated with medicine depicted as a snake coiled around a staff.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> Veronica's kerchief is a reference to the Veil of Veronica, a piece of cloth belonging to a saint of the same name, with the likeness of the face of Jesus Christ depicted in its center.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0in;">Veloxensis  is a combination of the words “velox”, meaning “swift”, and “ensis”, meaning “sword”.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0in;">Latensica  is a combination of the words “latens”, meaning secret, and “sica”, meaning “dagger”.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0in;"> The term Mind Palace, along with the semblance itself, is derived from the Method of Ioci, popularized by the BBC television series Sherlock.