#leyya won the poll and so here she is

[ratasum]

Lore Post - Leyya, Whispers Infiltrator

(There are some headcanons ahead, as well as information from mine and @wall-legion's lore and slightly altered version of some events.)

The oldest child of Pruri and Daxx, and the only one they had in their contract (though both would go on to have numerous other contracts, having gotten contracted after a whirlwind college romance the minute they were of age meant things fell apart pretty quickly after Leyya was born).

With at least twelve other half siblings spread between both of her parents, she was always a little out of place.

It is, of course, important to note that Leyya was not born Leyya, but I will be referring to her as "she" and "Leyya" through the entirety of this post.

By the time Leyya was old enough to enter progeny school, Pruri was working as a private progeny instructor, primarily in a cushy position as tutoring "wards of the council." That is: she specialized in teaching orphans who were under the care of the state.

Since Leyya was the right age at the time, Pruri just decided to have her sit in on the class instead of enrolling her in a traditional progeny school. She was a friendly kid, open, got on well with the other kids around her. It helped the other progeny feel more at ease in the uncomfortable new surroundings. What happened then was unexpected, however: Leyya spotted a girl sitting in the back of the class. Prickly looking, big pale blue eyes, tucked in on herself and taking notes without really talking to anyone.

Her decision? Yeah. That girl's going to be my best friend.

This amused Pruri- after all, Leyya having a close friendship couldn't hurt. And so Leyya met Zojja, and it was pretty clear Zojja had no idea what to do with this girl with the wild white hair and pumpkin orange eyes and big toothy grin that sat down next to her and talked enthusiastically after every lesson, regardless of the what they were learning.

To be fair, it was not an easy initial friendship. Zojja was very unsure of Leyya, and Leyya was an Extremely Loud Kid. But it can be lonely being an orphan living in Charitable Council Provided Housing with Council Provided Care, especially when you're very smart and there's just something that sets you apart from everyone else. Then you've got Leyya, miss "Hey, I'm a weirdo too!"

Things did eventually warm, to the point that they were pretty much glued at the hip. And honestly, Leyya being so loud and boisterous let Zojja focus on her work… and it did eventually bring her out of her shell a bit.

They were tight enough that when Snaff came into the picture, looked at this angry but clearly brilliant ten year old orphan, and went "Is anyone gonna adopt that," he kept her in Pruri's progeny classes and happily encouraged her friendship with Leyya.

Of course, in the end, Leyya did end up going to Dynamics instead of Synergetics... not that it did much to divert her. She wound up playfully instigating academic rivalry with Zojja, though she otherwise did quite well in college. She proved to have a penchant for sneaking and hiding and getting into trouble, too. It was also during this time that she sort of started… feeling herself out.

Leyya was not as she was born, Leyya was a girl. And so in college, she tentatively came out to Zojja first. Not out of any fear of her reaction to Leyya being trans. Growing up steeped in asuran culture, being trans was a perfectly normal state of being. Matter can change its shape, and so too can people. Instead, it was because of a different reason: by this point, Leyya had developed a significant crush on Zojja, and she was worried about whether Zojja was into girls.

(She forgot to ask Zojja if she was into girls.)

After the two of them graduated, they did drift apart a little, though not completely. Zojja threw herself into her apprenticeship with Snaff while Leyya went on to be recruited by the Order of Whispers. Eventually, Leyya drifted back into Zojja's life, and the two hit it off as if they'd never spent time apart. Snaff began affectionately referring to Leyya as "Zojja's girlfriend" during introductions with strangers, something both young woman constantly denied.

This continued on even into the start of Destiny's Edge, when during one meeting at Snaff's laboratory, she was introduced as such to the new members of the small guild.

Leyya was encouraging the whole time. Zojja had her reservations, not trusting the plans of these representatives from the other races, and it was all Leyya could do to try to keep her spirits up as things grew more and more tense.

And then, late one night, she met Zojja at the entrance to Snaff's lab as she returned home alone, having cremated her adopted father and mentor with her own hands after their disastrous attempt in Elona.

She was one of the only people outside of Destiny's Edge to witness Zojja cry, sitting on the floor with her long into the early hours, draped over her like a blanket and paying little mind to the tears that soaked her thick leather jerkin as her childhood best friend, the most beloved person in her life, grieved the loss of her master.

As for Leyya, she vowed to never let Zojja bear that kind of weight alone ever again.

As time passed, Leyya did her best to help out where she could. She encouraged her parents to help sponsor the creation of the Snaff Savant prize, and for the six years it ran leading up to the Personal Story, Leyya was often in the peripheral, keeping an eye on things and being there should Zojja need a "gopher."

When Zojja came to her to let her know she was seeking out her old classmate Vezz with the intention of having him help with a project since his recent rumored "explosive" exit from the Inquest, she gladly stepped in to help, leading Vezz's induction into the Order of Whispers and then tailing Zojja through the dungeons as the war against Zhaitan progressed. When they learned of Logan's sacrifice in Arah, it was Leyya again who encouraged Zojja to finally speak with Eir, leading the two women to finally bridge the gap and start working down the path to reconciliation.

Through LWS1 and LWS2, Leyya spent her time alternating between living with Zojja and traveling to keep an eye on the younger of her two apprentices, Taimi. It was a time for both of them to relax, and Leyya's time away provided Zojja with time to work and to continue her talks with Eir.

HoT provided the major pivot point. Leyya was at Zojja's side en route into the jungle, but they were separated when the Pact airships were decimated. And when Leyya finally was able to get back to everyone, she learned what had happened to her beloved Zojja. Furious at what had happened and at herself, she went searching for some way to find some form of vengeance. And she found it in an ancient dagger. On slicing through the skin of her arm with it, she was overwhelmed by a foreign power, foreign entity, foreign thoughts...

And so her possession by the Kryptis, Cepir the Greedy, began. She immediately went into hiding, immense guilt overwhelming Cepir's attempts to use her lust and anger to return to Zojja immediately.

What happens next is a story for another day.