Fischl

Fischl is the Prinzessin der Verurteilung who arrived here after being exiled from the otherworld, "Immernachtreich."

She "observes and weaves the threads of fate" together with her talking night raven familiar, Oz.

Owing to reasons she cannot and Oz will not explain, Fischl now serves the Adventurers' Guild as an investigator.

As an investigator for the Adventurers' Guild, the single biggest advantage Fischl has over her peers is Oz.

"Milady, please stop sending me out to spy on Stormterror. That chap could eat me for breakfast! Well, I'm so puny I probably wouldn't even get caught between his teeth, but... Anyway, I don't want to die!"

"Hmph! You are supposed to be my familiar. Not everyone gets to be the Prinzessin der Verurteilung's familiar, do you understand? Consider it your honor to dedicate your life to serving me!"

Fischl is able to see through Oz's eyes. Whenever she wants to, she possesses Oz and looks down upon the earth from the sky.

Whether she wants to inspect the flora on the Stormbearer Mountains or observe a disturbance in Wolvendom, through Oz she can see anything and everything.

Thanks largely to her unique ability — and, to a lesser extent, to her own effort and peculiar personality — Fischl quickly went from the rookie investigator of the Adventurers' Guild to a respected rising star of the organization.

She's certainly done well for herself. She only landed the coveted position of Investigator at age fourteen in the first place because her parents managed to persuade the guild master.

Then again, would they really have had to do much persuading? If she's the Prinzessin der Verurteilung... one can only assume that would make them the Kaiser und Kaiserin der Verurteilung.

It's said that there is currently a "Fischl Dictionary" in circulation among the adventurers.

Namely, a book that aims to translate Fischl's peculiar way of speaking into something more understandable.

For example:

"I hear... echoing in the abyss of time, the burning winds of the old, all of which shape the spire forgotten in the torrents of karma" would translate into "Stormterror's Lair";

"Servants of the Verurteilung name! As you have requested, prepare to receive the great wisdom of the prinzessin" would be "I'll look into that and let you know ASAP";

"Rejoice! O, ye servants who long for the blessing of the prinzessin; venture now deep into the battlefield with hearts of the tiger" means that the initial investigative work has been completed;

"All has been written in this tome of dark prophecies" simply means that her journal has been updated with the latest reports.

However, the "Fischl Dictionary" is actually just an in-joke, not a real book.

Those who are familiar with Fischl concentrate on what she means to say, not the way in which she says it; she notices this and takes it as a sign of true respect.

"Aha! So you do understand. Then fate does indeed bring kindred spirits together."

Those who manage to adopt her speech mannerisms when they respond to her will find she is both delighted and bashful, and praises their language-learning ability.

"A prinzessin should always give praise where praise is due... Now, let us converse some more. Do not be mistaken; these are to be the foundations of the new world..."

Oz and Princess Fischl are not only close friends but also servant and master, with a shared soul and fate.

Their first encounter was mentioned in "Flowers for Princess Fischl (I): End Time Zersetzung"

When the lone pilgrimaging princess reached the kingdom of eternal twilight, the fate-resisting royals chose to deny everything in their desperation.

They refused to recognize Fischl's noble stature and mission as the princess of the Immernachtreich; denied their 13,000-year lineage as a branch of the royal family; and forsook their own nobility and restraints as humans... devolving into clumsy and vicious beasts.

In the palace of Twilight and amidst the teeth of the beasts, the princess shed her sacred blood on the ancient emblem.

At the moment of her peril, the dark wings of the night ripped the trapped, wounded princess from her despair and took her under its wings.

Following the scent of her noble blood, Ozvaldo Hrafnavins, the King of Ravens came to the princess and pledged his eternal loyalty.

There is a story that goes as follows. A long time ago in a place far, far away, there was a tiny little girl.

The girl's parents were busy adventurers. She spent most of her childhood in the library, traversing the countless universes that were contained in the pages of the library books.

She became the ruler of the Immernachtreich, summoned Thundering Retribution as a royal princess, and formed a soul bond with a Raven...

"███, what books did you read today?" Her parents asked her on one of the rare occasions that they were home between adventures.

She proceeded to tell them the story she had read from her favorite series.

"...And then he said, Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort, you are the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, my proud daughter. You shall never surrender your nobility and dreams.'"

"Oh, that's a lovely story. Since you like it so much, ███, how about I call you "Fischl" too?" Her father smiled, put his hand on her head and repeated the words from the story to her.

"Fischl, you are my wonderful princess and my proud daughter. You shall never surrender your nobility and dreams."

These kind and loving words lit up her world.

However, the time with her busy parents was always fleeting.

Unable to fit in with her peers due to her obsession with fantasy novels, she often felt lonely and sad. At these times, she would remind herself:

"I am Fischl, my daddy's wonderful princess. It's true, because Mommy and Daddy said so..."

"Never will I surrender my nobility and dreams, for they are... a princess' rite of passage."

Just like in the universe of "Flowers for Princess Fischl," entropy begot destruction.

In other words: The girl who loved to dream grew up.

On her fourteenth birthday, those of her peers who refused to accommodate her quirks belittled her once again.

"This is but a minor setback for the noble princess. My parents will understand," she thought to herself.

For if she knew one thing, it was that as a princess she could never surrender her nobility and dreams.

But when she threw herself into her parents' arms in need of comfort, she was met instead with gentle words of exasperation.

"███, you are fourteen years old now. It's fun to make-believe, but eventually you need to grow up and put your childish dreams behind you..."

And with that, the same voice that had once lit up her world now tore it apart.

That day at midnight, she hid herself in the library she knew so well. She had a strange feeling that she was being watched... Suddenly, she heard an otherworldly flapping of wings.

Sure enough, she looked up and her red, swollen eyes met with those of a night raven from another world.

What transpired afterwards is another story...

Fischl doesn't much like this story. Thinking about it causes her to feel suffocating pain and soul-devouring loneliness.

Maybe one day, this story will be written. But that would be ███'s story, not Fischl's.

Fischl has but one identity: she's the Prinzessin.

As long as she remembers this simple and perfect logic, with a little bit of nobility and a touch of kindness from others, nothing can ever hurt her.

Things are looking up for Prinzessin Fischl these days — not only does she have Oz, but she has finally met a traveler who, just like her, comes from a different world...

The novel series "Flowers for Princess Fischl" is available as a collectible set.

Due to the tiny numbers in circulation, it is a priceless commodity amongst loyal fans of the author.

But no matter how elegant these works are aesthetically, their worldview remains incredibly bleak:

Every good, bright and noble thing must eventually fall to inexorable entropic destruction, and the final destination of the universe is the realm-in-waiting of the Prinzessin, Immernachtreich.

This is the fate of all worlds, of the universe, and all who live in it.

And the Prinzessin and her loyal companion, the "Night-Severing Raven Oz," Ozvaldo Hrafnavins, are the World Beasts who will swallow all dreams.

At the very end, at the end of karma itself, she will grant all the gathered souls her benediction, and use her Thundering Retribution to cleanse all that is ugly and wicked.

The Prinzessin will then set her own heart ablaze, and the universe shall be born anew in its immortal light.

But before all this can come to pass, the Prinzessin must first roam many universes, and see countless new sights.

Thus it is perfectly within the spirit of the original work that the Prinzessin should be stuck as an investigator for the Adventurers' Guild in a slightly backward world. Just a little twist of fate, nothing more.

The Prinzessin will come to understand someday that each moment of her life, no matter how insignificant their little twists could be, is to be treasured.

After all, the Prinzessin's very own Phantasmagoria is made out of ones such as these.

So, is Oz just an imaginary friend who only exists as a figment of Fischl's subconscious?

Our story begins with the royal heirloom, Edelstein der Dunkelheit — that is to say, Fischl's Vision.

When her wish was acknowledged, the raven Oz and her Vision both appeared before her eyes.

That night, at dinner, Oz got on most well with Fischl's parents:

"Ah, mein Kaiser und Kaiserin der Verurteilung, forgive mine overstep, but the beans in your house are too delicious."

"Oh, then please, help yourself. This is the first time little ███ has met a friend she can bring over for dinner since she turned fourteen. This is a special occasion."

"Wh—What are you saying! I... One does not simply cavort with the plebeians!"

—And that's what happened.

For all intents and purposes, it seems that the Kaiser und Kaiserin der Verurteilung could both see Oz, and both believed Oz to be the Prinzessin's first friend.

As for the "Adventurer Who Bears the World's Curses," the "Visitor From Outer Worlds" and the "Strange Fae-shaped Emergency Sustenance..."

They would become the Prinzessin's new friends, though that would happen even further in the future.