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[attr="class","field"]*This is a cruelly cut down and much less poetic than the one I have written (it turns out too long!). Planned to reveal them stage by stage in Shikhandi’s posts! *

*Also, I might use Amba, Shikhandi, and Shikhandini interchangeably*

Born as the first of three daughters of Varanasi, the King of Kashi, pure-hearted Amba and her sisters Ambika and Ambalika were renowned for their beauty and their excellent manners in their youth. As a custom of the time, a swayemvara was held to determine whose Ksathriya class would win their hands.

The night before the swayemvara, Amba promised her hand to an infatuated young prince named Shalva, but the next day the invincible warrior-prince Bhishma came and won all challenges for his kingdom. During his return trip, his chariot was intercepted by Shalva, demanding a rematch out of his love for Amba. But when the twice- defeated Shalva pleaded for Amba to jump from Bhishma chariot and join him on the ground the confused Amba did not do anything, torn between his heart and her own heart that had already fallen for Bhishma.

In Hastinapura, Bhishma’s kingdom, the great warrior revealed the terrible circumstance. The Princesses were to marry his brother, the king Vicithravirya, while Bhishma himself had taken a vow of celibacy due to his late father’s wishes. Bhishma found Amba the most understanding of her sisters, and she even praised him once she had heard his full story. But finding herself unable to marry someone she could not love, Amba made an excuse that she had promised herself to Shalva, and it was not dharma to marry a woman whose mind was married to someone else. Big-hearted Vicithravirya agreed and so was Bhishma, but when the fully-escorted Amba came to Shalva to fulfill their earlier promise, Shalva rejected her harshly. His pride would not allow him to marry someone who has been won from him twice.

Amba’s heart was torn to shreds.

She returned to Hastinapura, distraught. In front of the confused Bhishma she cried her heart out and confessed her love, begging him to marry her for the injustice life had trapped her into. Shalva would not marry her because of pride, Vicithravirya refused her because she had loved another man, Bhishma could not marry her because of his vow, and the only future she could see was a disgrace of being an unmarried woman. But stalwart Bhishma refused. He could not bring himself to break his own vow, no matter how he now has grown to love Amba himself.

For four long years Amba languished in Hastinapura, utterly confused and unsure of what she had to do. For four years Bhishma consoled her, the pure princess he had grown to love, and for four years he tried to convince his brother Vicithravirya to reconsider. When everything else failed, with a heavy heart Bhishma asked Amba to plead to Shalva again, this time accompanied by him in person. Shalva still refused, however, and a desperate Amba fled into the woods.

For six bitter years the lotus-eyed Amba meditated in the forest, trying to contemplate this terrible circumstance that had befallen her. She thought about her life, her unsullied youth, how she was won by someone she loved, how she was rejected by someone who once loved her, and the more she thought of it the more her love for Bhishma changed. Understanding became denial. Denial quickly became anger, and it was in this blind pursuit of revenge that Amba became famous.

In reality, she was not the single-minded princess the stories portrayed her to be. She was, truly, an unfortunate victim of circumstances.

She approached the hermitage of Shaikhavatya and asked for permission to meditate there. The next day, Amba’s maternal relative Hotravahana heard of her woes and asked her to approach Parashurama, the previous incarnation of Vishnu famous for his hatred towards Ksathriya. At that moment, Parashurama’s disciple Akritavarna reached there and Hotravahana introduced Amba to him. Akritavarna and Hotravahana convinced Parashurama to help Amba's cause, and he went to force Bhishma to marry her. But Bhishma refused to heed Parashurama. They fought a fierce battle in Kurukshetra, until finally Narada and the devas made Bhishma retire from the battle. Parashurama apologized to Amba and said that he could not make Bhishma changed his vow, but he offered to convince Shalva to change his mind instead.

But Amba had no desire to marry anymore. She only wanted Bhishma dead.

When Amba realized that even the mighty Parashurama couldn’t help her, she undertook a severe penance – giving up food and water, on the banks of the Yamuna for six years. She followed it up with a year of penance under water. Then, for a year, she ate only dry leaves and meditated standing on her toe. She continued her penance for 12 years until her energy started affecting the worlds. Lord Kartikeya appeared to her in person and gave her a garland of ever-fresh lotuses. Any Ksathriya that wear this garland would be able to defeat Bhishma.

Once again Amba roamed the lands, asking anyone to champion her just cause, but no Ksathriya dared to challenge Bhishma even with the promise of victory. Finally, she went to King Drupada's court and issued an open challenge to all the Kshatriya. But none came to the front to wear the garland. Incensed, she scornfully hung it by the gates of King Drupada’s palace and went away once more into the forest.

Realizing that no mortal can ever help her, Amba then did even harsher penance lasting years, until the heaven and the seat of the Gods shook with the power of her plight. At last, Lord Shiva himself came to her, granting her wish that she herself would the cause of Bhishma death.

But with a catch: it would be in her next life.

Overjoyed, Amba immediately made a funeral pyre and threw herself in there. Her soul, blessed by Shiva, breezed through Yama and planted itself into a newborn girl.

Back at Panchala, King Drupada and his wife were childless. Drupada prayed to Shiva for a heir, and Shiva blessed that a girl would be born to him, and she would later be transformed into a man. The queen delivered a baby girl, but she proclaimed that it was a boy. The girl grew up dressed as a boy and was called Shikhandini.

When she was older, and incident happened. The Princess was playing with her maids when her eyes spotted the Lotus Garland left by Amba years ago. Laughing, the Princess climbed the gates and proudly wore it in front of her friends. When King Drupada knew this he was afraid, and when afterwards the light in his daughter eye was never the same again he knew that Amba’s wish had been fulfilled at last.

Shikhandini continued growing up dressed as a male. King Drupada desired an alliance with Hiranyavarna, the king of Dasharna, who sent his own daughter to married to the heir. She was horrified finding Shikhandini was a female, and when king Hiranyavarna heard this he assembled an army to punish Drupada.

Blaming herself, Shikhandini fled into a forest to kill herself, where she instead met a Yaksha named Sthunakharna. Amused at her plight, he agreed to trade his sex with Shikhandini for just one night. He made her wrote a male name, Shikhandi, on a leaf and he swallowed it. Shikhandini then became Shikhandi, and he quickly returned to the palace to prove himself to the princess and certain concubines sent by king Hiranyavarna to report the actual circumstance. The king was convinced. The bloody war was averted.

But that night Kubera, the king of Yaksha, thought Sthunakharna’s magic a blasphemy and cursed him and Shikhandi that they would remain in their form until either one of them died. The next day Shikhandi went to visit his friend, and when he found what had transpired he apologized profusely to Sthunakharna. The two became good friends, and afterwards the Yaksha would even accompany Shikhandi into battles.

Thus began the life of Prince Shikhandi, the warrior.

Shikhandi took his new role seriously. He trained hard to better serve his kingdom and was one of the best pupils of Dorna alongside the famed Pandavas. But deep down he knew what his true purpose was, and he shaped all of his battles in preparation for it.

In the legendary war Bharatayudha he was one of the mightiest leader on the side of Pandavas, leading the troops by his swift chariot and famous golden-winged arrows. It was in the tenth night of the legendary war when he finally found him. There, fate led him to meet Bhishma again, who immediately recognized Amba behind the gallant warrior. Bhishma refused to wield his weapon against a woman, and so Shikhandi’s arrows pierced his heart, ensuring victory for the Pandavas. In later stories this feat would be attributed to Arjuna hiding behind Shikhandi, but it was not true. Shikhandi's arrow was the one that dealt the fatal blow.

Although he immediately felt a sense of loss after felling Bhishma, Shikhandi continued the war bravely, challenging and holding champions such as Dorna and Karna himself. He joined in celebration of Pandavas victory along with their other allies, but the celebration was marred when thee vengeful trio Ashwatthama, Kritavarma, and Kripacharya ambushed the victorious camp in the night and slain those who were sleeping. Shikhandi perished in the attack.

But it was said that, in the morning, Shikhandi the prince was gone, and in his place was the body of Shikhandini the princess. And while other victims died in fright and agony, she died with tears in her eyes.

But whether they were tears of sadness or of happiness, no one could tell.

[attr="class","field"]The one summoned by The Grail is the Shikhandi near her death, when her memories returned to her and she once again knew her origins. It may also be distorted somewhat by the amalgamation of Shikhandi and Princess Amba, as people now have a different belief about her legend.

Despite how she was portrayed in the story, in truth Princess Amba is a kind and understanding individual, if a little too strict for her own good. Her upbringing has made her manners prim and proper, but her way of practicing it would suggest politeness rather than haughtiness. A soft-spoken, well-meaning person, she treats others equally no matter their ranks, but can also quickly dislike somebody if they regards her less than she deserves. To someone who gets on her good terms however, she can be quite gentle and a rather emotional person, taking special delight in exploring the scenic cultures and landscapes she could not enjoy in her own life.

Her most discerning trait, however, is her stubbornness. This is not stubborn in always wanting to argue with others, but rather a silent determination that she will do her way no matter what other said. She listens to other opinions and would not hesitate to praise them if they are right, but when it comes to doing things she will always listen to herself. In this regard she can be even more uncontrollable than a Berserker. A Berserker will outright declare that he will not listen, while Shikandhini will nod and stay silent but still appear where she not ought to be nevertheless. A plan can be severely wrecked simply by her uncompromising attitude.

One other equally discerning trait is her innate hatred of males. It does not mean that she wants to kill all males in sight, just that she always sees them as incompetent, vain, and ultimately treacherous individuals, and she would loath to be associated with them in any way. However, she does have her heart. It may have become an ice, but no matter how cold the ice is a persistent sunlight will eventually able to melt it, only that it would be a mighty effort indeed.

In battle, Shikandhini already stiff manner lends to a serious and calm disposition, and she can even be seen as ruthless at times. But this is a farce. Inside, Shikandhini is very insecure about battling and can easily crack given enough pressure. She will still try to follow orders and doing what she must, but in intense times she can show just how panicky she is really. But this is an exception rather than the norm.

Her Chaotic Good alignment is due to her intense hatred of binding rules and vows. Her life was ruined by a stubborn man who prefers honor before reason, and as a result Shikandhini is averse to any kind of promises and ceremonies, thinking that believing in each one’s goodwill is good enough. She is still good in her intention, but prefer doing it without pompous laws and rules. They are not needed.

Shikandhini’s one and true wish, although she vehemently denies it herself, is a desire to love. To be able to give her utmost love to somebody and to be loved equally in return. This is something that the proud archer rarely accepts, and as a result she usually says that she does not have any wish pertaining to the grail.

After all, a love instantly made can never be a satisfying one. It must be a process, a pure, unsullied process that they have walked together from the start.

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• [attr="class","stat"]STRENGTH
  ▬ ▬ D
• [attr="class","stat"]ENDURANCE
  ▬ ▬ D
• [attr="class","stat"]AGILITY
  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ B
• [attr="class","stat"]MANA
  ▬ E
• [attr="class","stat"]LUCK
  ▬ ▬ D
• [attr="class","stat"]THAMARAMALA
  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ B
  The Garland of Promised Victory
  ANTI-UNIT (TARGET SELF)
  MAX TARGET : 1 PERSON
  
  The Garland of Ever-Fresh Lotuses, given to Amba by Lord Kartikeya himself when Amba’s severe penance started to disturb even the celestials.Taking the shape of a hair ornament with pure-white wings, Thamaramala enables Shikhandhini to tap into Kartikeya’s blessing in this life. By doing a meditation for 6 hours, Shikhandini will be able to designate a Servant that she had a grudge against as the target of her revenge. The grudge must be a strong one, and Shikhandi’s pride would not let her target innocent or unworthy person. Once activated, Shikhandini will gain a +++ boost to all of her attributes when fighting the target, with or without allies on both sides. In the event that the target dies while Thamaramala is still activated, Shikhandini will receive – penalty to all of her attributes for a full hour, mirroring the extreme loss of purpose she felt right after incapacitating Bhishma.
  
• [attr="class","stat"]STHUNAKHARNA
  ▬ ▬ D
  The Bow of the Cursed Yaksha
  ANTI-UNIT (TARGET SELF)
  MAX-TARGET : 1 PERSON
  
  Sthunakharna, the Yaksha who exchanged his sex with Princess Shikhandhini, ended up becoming one of the new prince best friends. It is said that she afterwards did a ritual and inhabited Shikhandi’s bow due to her shame of being transformed into a woman until either her or Shikhandhi’s life ended. In battle, Sthunakharna serves as a self-reliant mana source, able to conjure and shoots its own arrows with little to no prana from Shikhandini herself. The low-cost arrows are magical in nature, dealing damage equal to Shikhandi's Strength Parameters. They are made from concentrated prana, and would pierce through until their movements are stopped, in which case it would vanish and released the prana into the environment. Sthunakharna's prana is estimated to be around the level of A rank Servant, and due to its Yaksha nature it can replenish its own prana by absorbing it from the environment. Being in leylines, hallowed places, or simply a place where nature abounds will help replenish its prana faster.
  
  True to her lore, Shikhandi can shoot these arrows so quick it doesn’t take half a second to unleash one. However, the true power of Sthunakharna lies in its ability to store arrows for a maximum of six minutes in the dimension of Yaksha, the realm of the spirits where time flows differently. This appears as a simple delay in trajectory, where the arrow shot vanishes without a trace and then appears again at the desired time. The arrow’s strength, speed, and direction will remain the same as when it was shot –no way can Shikhandi change the direction or make it appears anywhere she wishes. If Shikhandi shoots continuously at the same direction in full six minutes, the arrows will be unleashed as one, with power equalling B to A Noble Phantasms.
  
  Shikhandi can also make a trap out of this ability, shooting arrows that will appear minutes later when Shikhandi has already left the area.
  
• [attr="class","stat"]STHUNAKHARNA
  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ B
  The Bow that Darkened the Sky
  ANTI-ARMY
  MAX TARGET : 90 PERSON
  
  The Yaksha in her bow served Shikhandi’s faithfully, and it gained its epithet in one of Shikhandi’s battles when the determined warrior shot arrows so fast “their slender silhouettes blocked the sun and darkened the sky”. By exclaiming its true name, his true power will be awakened, showing the magical nature of the Yaksha Sthunakharna, a powerful spirit in his own right. When this Noble Phantasm is activated each of Shikhandi’s arrows will create a volley of ninety identical arrows going with the same speed in the same direction, mirroring the occasion in which he pierced Karna’s armor with ninety arrows in a single shot. The arrows radiate in a concentric fashion around the first one, and each has the exact same properties as the single arrow. This will allow each shot by Shikhandi to effectively be a barrage of arrows. The effect can only be used to a full of six seconds, in which case the bow will be drained completely out of mana and will not be able to conjure any arrows until six hours later. Once this NP is activated, it cannot be activated again after a full three hours. The bow can still function as normal until then,, but Shikhandi needs to be careful since the activation of this Noble Phantasm puts a heavy burden on her and her bow’s prana.
  
• [attr="class","stat"]SANKALPA SHAKTI
  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ A++
  Fulfillment of Willpower
  ANTI-UNIT
  MAX TARGET : 1 PERSON
  
  The truest essence of Shikhandi’s being, and the reason why her story was most famous for. This is a Boon given by The Great Shiva himself to Amba that she would assuredly be the cause of Bhishma’s death in the next life.
  
  For this Noble Phantasm to be activated, three conditions must be met:
  1. Shikhandi must be killed by a Male.
  2. Said male must be the direct cause of her death.
  3. Shikhandi must know that she was killed by someone. Identity is not necessary.
  
  If these three conditions are met, then the activation of this Noble Phantasm cannot be nullified or postponed in any way. If in six phases of the day (corresponding to six pokes of the wheel of resurrection -exactly 24 hours) Shikhandi’s Master still has Command Spells, then Shikhandi would be reincarnated in the exact same place she was first summoned. During the effect of Sankalpa Shakti she would lose her personality, skills, and all of her Noble Phantasms save this one, but she would gain different Parameters and Skills instead, becoming something that existed only to bring her target down just like Shikhandi in Kurukshetra was.
  
  During and Only During the effect of Sankalpa Shakti, Shikandhi will gain a different skill sets while losing the previous ones. This change will be reversed once Sankalpa Shakti is fulfilled.
  
  Note: Other Masters might temporarily view her as a different class. May be “Assassin” or anomalous class such as “Avenger” or “Hunter”.
  
  
  SPOILER: Click to show
  {CLICK for Shikhandi's SKILLS AND PARAMETERS during Sankalpa Shakti}SKILLS AND PARAMETERS (Based on Assassin Class)
  

  [attr="class","stat"]STRENGTH

  ▬ E
  

  [attr="class","stat"]ENDURANCE

  ▬ E
  

  [attr="class","stat"]AGILITY

  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ A
  

  [attr="class","stat"]MANA

  ▬ E
  

  [attr="class","stat"]LUCK

  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ A
  
  

  [attr="class","stat"]PRESENCE CONCEALMENT

  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ A
  
  Shikhandi shot but one arrow at Bhishma, his reason for living. Even legends do not know when and how he achieved this, contributing the killing to Arjuna instead. Truly, vengeance is a ghost that haunts its target unnoticed.
  
  She can disappear completely and hides her presence as a Servant, becoming almost impossible to be detected.
  
  

  [attr="class","stat"]EYE OF THE MIND (True)

  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ B
  
  Shikhandini's perception is strengthened by her own commitment and single-mindedness. The time of fulfillment is near and she knows it.
  
  She is able of calm analysis of battle conditions, by which competent grasp of the status of the self and the opponent are obtainable even in the midst of danger; her utilization of such to deduce the appropriate course of action permits escape from a lethal predicament.
  
  

  [attr="class","stat"]PRESENCE DETECTION

  N/A
  
  No matter where her target is, Shikhandini will find them. Such was her boon, her ultimate fate. There are many heroes that received their boon doing incredible things with their lives, but only a select few sacrificed their lives to obtain it.
  
  Able to detect a specific source of mana in a radius of 10 km.
  
  

  [attr="class","stat"]REVELATION

  N/A
  
  Shiva himself had promised in person that Shikhandhi will be the cause of her enemy’s downfall. She is guided all the way by The Great God, one of the Gods that is still strongly worshipped even today.
  
  It is a skill equivalent to Instinct, a sixth sense regarding battles; however, "Revelation" accommodates all matters related to the achievement of a goal. In Shikhandi's case the goal is an obvious one.
  
  All changes will be completely reversed once Sankalpa Shakti is fulfilled. Nothing can be done to keep the changed skills or parameters in a normal Shikhandi.
  
  As a mechanical being completely made for the fulfillment of one goal, Shikhandi will only have one arrow to unleash. The arrow wasn't Shikhandi's -it was actually Shiva's, there making good of his promise of which a Great God is pertained to.
  
  And once the arrow is unleashed, all the life and dreams and toils and penance and boon done and received by Amba would accumulate into one unavoidable fate: the complete annihilation of her target. Since this target the Prana Core directly, it will nullify and bypass any other mechanism such as other skills or Noble Phantasms that can potentially averts the target's death. The target's fate is sealed once the arrow is unleashed, and Shiva would not allow any circumstance to happen other than the annihilation of the target of this ultimate boon of Shikhandi.
  
  After the conclusion of this Noble Phantasm, Shikhandi will return to her former self, gaining all her statistics and other Noble Phantasms back but losing this Noble Phantasm once and for all. The ultimate boon, the blessing bought by a life, can only be used once.
  
• [attr="class","stat"]INDEPENDENT ACTION
  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ B
  
  Whether as a slighted princess doing severe penance or as a novice warrior challenging an invincible one Shikandhini always acts on her own. World and circumstance might have trapped her so, but her course of action is hers alone to decide.
  
  She is capable of remaining in this world for two days without an established contract. Also capable of living on for a short period of time after suffering extensive damage on her spiritual core.
  
• [attr="class","stat"]MAGIC RESISTANCE
  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ B
  
  Amba, the twice-blessed, was one of the humans known to have underwent the most unforgiving of tapas. Consequently Shikandhini, her ultimate form of fulfillment, was protected by the Gods from her birth.
  
  She can cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals, it is difficult for her to be affected. Magecraft stronger than Greater Rituals still has a good chance to be cancelled.
  
• [attr="class","stat"]CLAIRVOYANCE
  ▬ ▬ ▬ C
  
  While he wasn’t the most able of warrior Shikhandi was known to be a superb archer in his life. It was said that, should Shikandhi decided to join Draupadi’s swayemvara then Draupadi might never marry in all her life. It would be too hard to defeat her brother in archery.
  
  She is capable of keeping track of fast-moving object within a range of 4kms.
  
• [attr="class","stat"]AURA OF A REBELLIOUS SPIRIT
  ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ A
  
  In her story spanning three lives, Shikhandi always existed outside the accepted rules. She was a Vasu’s wife stealing a cow, a princess bent on revenge, a warrior which was not really one, and so on. She did not follow a leader and did not need one. Showing others that they can live their own ways and that they can only belief in themselves, she is a kind of existence that is feared by any figure trying to lead -a negative inspiration to any form of cohesion.
  
  Shikhandi’s presence will negate any form of mental interference both positive and negative at the same or lower level. Any effects in the same vein of Skills such as "Charisma" or "Mystic Face" or others will still be present, but their effects will be nullified as long as Shikhandi is in vicinity. Her presence will essentially return all mental status to "normal", making all present become only their individual "plain self". However, it has no effect on Mad Enhancement, since it is more of a trait rather than interference.
  
• [attr="class","stat"]BATTLE CONTINUATION
  ▬ ▬ ▬ C
  
  After fulfilling his lifetime desire, Shikhandi still continued the war bravely. But while he still had his amazing skills he found that he had lost heart, and he never won another battle after the fight with Bhishma. Still, as a testament to his ability, he managed to survive all the loss battles and was always able to return afterward, becoming one of the few generals who survived until the last night in Kuruksethra.
  
  She has an uncanny strength of vitality for predicaments, continuing her battle even when severely wounded. In certain circumstances she is able to withdraw from combat and reach allied territory alive even after being defeated.