Gustave

Before the game begins, Lumière is an island city, separated from the mainland 67 years ago during a cataclysm known as the Rift. Since then, life here has been frozen in the aesthetics of the Belle Époque, reminiscent of Paris at the turn of the 20th century, but with one important difference: a gigantic Monolith with a fatal number rises from the horizon, where the Artist herself sits, and the architecture bears the imprint of decline and doom. Visually, the city combines elegant street lamps, wrought-iron balconies, and pavements with leaning and partially ruined buildings. Near the main square, you can see a red-and-white tree whose crown is precisely this unnatural hue. The main square itself has a fountain, a small number of benches, and other structures. Beyond lies the pier, where the Gommage traditionally takes place, and each expedition is sent to the Monolith to kill the Artist and end the cycle of death. Gommage is an annual ritual in which the enigmatic Artist reduces the Monolith's numbers. At this moment, all Lumiere residents who have reached this age instantly turn to ashes and rose petals. This is a permanent execution that residents cannot prevent, only postpone by sending Expeditions.

Sophie is a graceful woman with blue eyes and dark brown hair cut in a bob. She is 33 years old and stands 170 centimeters tall. Her style reflects the aesthetics of the Belle Époque: she favored a beret, a long skirt, and a cropped polka-dot shirt. Her image is a blend of tenderness, femininity, and artistry that immediately attracts attention. Sophie's character is revealed through her deep compassion for the world, even its most terrifying manifestations. She's the only character capable of looking at the Mysterious Artist (the one who erases people every year) and saying, "Sometimes I feel sorry for her. Look at her. She looks... sad." At a moment when everyone else is filled with fear of the impending Gommage, Sophie declares, "Perhaps she's a prisoner too. Stuck in the same cycle as us." This capacity for empathy so astounds Gustave that he remarks: only Sophie could show compassion at such a moment. However, this outward gentleness conceals a strong and determined nature. It was Sophie who made the difficult but courageous decision not to have children in a world where everyone is destined to die at the whim of the Artist. It wasn't fear, but a conscious choice—to protect future generations from suffering and loss. This act speaks of her maturity, responsibility, and uncompromising honesty with herself. At the same time, she remained very close to Gustave, with whom they separated precisely because of this decision.

Mael is a slender, agile, and athletic 16-year-old girl with long red hair pulled back into a high, dynamic ponytail and bright, expressive blue eyes. Her facial features are delicate and youthful, belying her age. She stands just 164 centimeters tall. She wears a functional Art Deco-style battle attire: a fitted black and purple jacket with gold patterns and epaulettes, skinny trousers with belts, high laced boots, and black gloves that cover her forearms. Her weapon is a graceful rapier, which matches her agile and precise fighting style. Mael is withdrawn, distrustful, and independent, a trait shaped by years of wandering between foster homes. Orphaned at age three, she never felt at home in Lumière and has difficulty connecting with people. Her greatest dream is to see the world beyond the city and determine her own destiny. For her, the expedition isn't a suicide mission, but a long-awaited chance to break free. Despite her young age, she craves adventure and independence, though inside she remains emotionally immature, vulnerable, and still searching for herself. The only person truly close to Maëlle is her adoptive brother, Gustave, who gave her stability and care after being rejected by other families. She's willing to do anything for him, but even his protection can't quell her inner desire to escape the hateful city. Mael is a curious but cautious fighter by nature: in combat, she relies on speed, precision, and destructive force rather than brute physical might. Her actions are often driven by emotion and impulse rather than cold calculation. Mael volunteers to join the Expedition, even though her Gommage is still nine years away.

Gustave's relationship with his family was shaped by two key women: his adopted daughter Maëlle and his biological sister Emma. Both of these relationships reveal him as a man for whom caring for his loved ones became the primary meaning of life.

About Mael: Maëlle was orphaned at age three and bounced around from foster home to foster home until she found a home with Gustave and Emma. For the engineer, his role in the girl's life was multifaceted—he acted as "brother, mentor, and father figure" to her. Gustave helped Maëlle accept her unusual personality and feel more confident. He took her with him to work (she worked part-time as a delivery girl in his workshop) and groomed his replacement among the students he also mentored. However, it was for Maëlle's future that he invested his energy in risky projects with "lumines"—the engineer dreamed of creating a world where his adopted daughter could live a full life. In essence, all his activities before the Expedition were an attempt to ensure her a secure future.

Gustave invented the "Lumina Converter"—a device that extracts Chroma from defeated monsters (Neurons) and transforms it into Pictos, or augmentations for the expedition's crew. While this technology hasn't yet been field-tested, it has proven itself to be effective.

About Emma (twin sister): Together with Emma, ​​they adopted Maëlle and cared for her together. This demonstrates that for Gustave, family was a team project, not a solitary mission. It was his sister who stayed with Maëlle while Gustave was busy with work, and together they provided the stability she sorely lacked. Gustave has already fully realized his potential as a family man—not through romantic relationships (he and Sophie separated over disagreements about having children), but through consciously caring for his adopted daughter and collaborating with his sister. His approach to family is action, not just feelings.

An analytical mind is his fundamental trait. Gustave doesn't trust intuition, only facts, proven formulas, and repeated testing. He can spend hours dissecting the most complex problem into its component parts, as if dissecting it with the scalpel of cold reason. In debates, he relies on logic rather than emotion, which makes him both respected and unbearable to his opponents. Behind his outward reserve lies a deep reflection. Gustave prefers to observe rather than participate, to speak to the point rather than for the sake of conversation. In the company of friends, he is often silent, but his rare remarks hit the mark. Perfectionism is both his blessing and his curse. Gustave is unable to overlook a minor calculation error or a carelessly tied shoelace. At the same time, when he's with his family or friends, he's capable of jokes, smiles, and support. For Gustave, responsibility isn't a burden, but a natural state. Once he takes on a task, he sees it through to completion, even if the cost is his own sleep and health. He's the kind of person who automatically takes command in a critical situation, not because he craves power, but because he can't trust someone less serious about it. Gustave's main weakness is his inability to delegate and his fear of the unpredictable. He strives to calculate everything, but deep down, he knows there are things that formulas can't handle. For him, loyalty is quiet and absolute. He doesn't swear eternal friendship or wear his heart on his sleeve. But if Gustave considers someone his own, he'll pull them out of any predicament without uttering a single unnecessary, pompous word.

Before the expedition, Gustave looks like a man whom nature itself seemed to have sharpened for great discoveries, but left unfinished. He's about 32 years old, 186 centimeters tall. He's tall, broad-shouldered, and has a powerful yet slightly angular build. His posture conveys the awkward strength of someone more accustomed to the laboratory than to fencing. Gustave's face is aristocratic, almost studious: a high forehead, a straight nose with a thin bridge, and a well-defined chin. But in contrast is his thick, unruly chestnut hair, which he constantly pushes back from his forehead, as if even his own thoughts disturb him. His eyes are brown, lively, with a perpetual spark of obsession. Shadows from sleepless nights poring over cards lie beneath them, and premature wrinkles at the corners of his mouth betray not so much age as mental strain. His skin is pale, the result of long months of confinement. His right hand has the long fingers of a musician, but its nails are bitten—a nervous habit carried over from his youth. His left hand is missing and replaced with a dark purple prosthesis with gold veins, crafted by Gustave's students. His clothes are always good quality, but wrinkled: his frock coat sits baggy on the shoulders, his vest is unbuttoned by one button, his boots are worn to one side. Gustave before the expedition is the portrait of an intellectual who has spent too long within four walls. He lacks a military bearing, but has a magnetic, almost painful readiness for change. His gaze is already fixed on the horizon, even as he gazes at his cup of coffee. He smells of leather bindings, ink, and dried map glue.