Age Meme with Esper Ravenwood

Or, "A Study on How Life Tends to Desaturate the Liveliness of Youth."

So, here's a quick explanation/biography because... yeah.
[SPOILERS!!! DUH!!! Tried not to make them too massive, but, still!]
Toddler: Esper was born into a pretty well-off family, a father who was a tradesman and a mother who spun the finest yarn for miles. He was a generally happy child, full of life and energy, curious about everything and everyone in his immediate world. He had a fondness for running into things like trees and walls at first, but with his legs under him, there was no stopping the tiny ball of excitement.
Child: Kaillte and Esper were the tolerated-because-too-cute terror of their small town, both of them becoming unmerciful pranksters around this time. They were both energetic and didn't really care what other people thought. They fought each other with wooden swords, and competed with each other constantly. Esper, infamously, being the stronger of the two, wanted to be a pirate when he grew up. Kaillte wanted to be a knight. Unfortunately, he was bullied, on occasion, by the older kids, forcing Esper to fly to his rescue. Kaillte never gave up his dream though, and Esper ended up teaching him how to be stronger - in that awkward, not-really-teaching way that 10 year olds have.
Teenager: The death of their mother really set the entire family back, monetarily and morally. Their father, Oisin, went into a dark depression, anguished at the loss of his wife. Kaillte picked up on this, and sobered from his cheery naivete in a matter of weeks, doubling down on his studies of politics and military. Esper, however, turned to music and art as an escape. He was also noticing ladies more, and in studying the Bards of old, tried - and failed, many many times - to be a bit more flirtatious. Honestly, he attracted more guys than girls, much to Kaillte's chagrin. However, this was also around the time the two of them met a strange dark-elf with a heart disease, named Aizen. Kaillte immediately took a liking to him, seeing him as someone he could protect, instead of being protected all the time by Esper. The three became close friends, and Kaillte found a new subject to study: how to cure Aizen's heart.
[Intermission: Between 15-20 years old was when all of the REALLY BAD STUFF happened to Esper. Kaillte failed an experiment which killed Aizen and burned down their dad's house, leaving them in a bit of a pickle. All sorts of badness went down, Kaillte hatched plans, Esper screwed up, and eventually Kaillte summoned Asmodeus and stabbed Esper through the heart with a dagger when they're 18. Which is pretty much the last they see of each other until roughly 200 years later.] [Also, English nuts, purposeful tense shift approaching.]
1st Reincarnation: Suddenly, Esper has become a Revenant, and has no idea how to control the demonic energy that was keeping him alive long enough for the sorceress Nira to find him and resurrect him using the power of her mentor, the second God of Death, Runell. She, taking pity on him, teaches him what she can of sorcery, and although he has more talent for magic than the average Joe, he doesn't pick it up very well. Instead, he finds a saber called the Song of Winter, and trains with it, realizing that he can use it to direct sound waves because of the composition of the metal. Nira and Esper, after a few years and the latter getting over his postmortem-ish shock, for the most part, end up falling madly in love with each other. Knowing that Runell is jealous, though, and considers Nira to be his, they keep it a secret from him for as long as they can. Which ends up being a good ten years or so. Eventually, however, Runell found out, and confronted them both about it. Being brave for once, Esper tries to stand up to the God of Death(you effing moron), and is instantly killed, his body simply made non-existent by Runell's power, his spirit left in shock. Nira uses the Song of Winter to kill him, and becomes the new Goddess of Death. Realizing that her love doesn't have much time left, she carries Esper's soul into the realm of Spirits, or Liserna, and there reconstructs his old body.
2nd Reincarnation: The shock of a soul returning to a mostly-new body will wipe someone's memory more or less completely, and that's exactly what happened to Esper. He was left in the woods of Tillstern with no recollection of any personal information except his name, a mysterious saber, and an ivory raven pendant. This is when he meets Nuin, who takes pity on his lost, wandering carcass and cleans him up a little, taking him in as a kind of older brother. After figuring out that his demon blood was still being an arse to him, he pretty much has things under control for a few years, helping Nuin with her business as an aspiring healer and apothecary. This is when we meet Kaillte again, who curses Nuin, and triggers flashbacks for Esper, of the traumatic events that brought him here. He nearly kills Nuin on more than one occasion because of remembering these things, and never really forgave himself for it. The two realize, almost suddenly, that they have a bond that goes a bit deeper than friendship, but after a trying incident on Esper's part, he decides that it's better off if he leaves her, and says goodbye, to join the army in what would become Estland. When Riven and Kaillte attacked Borreas - Nuin and Esper's home - the two end up reuniting during an evacuation mission, and while the reunion is brief, and Nuin tells him she's moved on, the two stay in contact - for the most part - for hundreds of years afterwards. Estland becomes a kingdom, goes through several changes of the crown, until finally it is passed to Xankul, Jay and Tomas's father, and Esper goes into hiding, having stayed in the public eye for far too long. This is when he follows the stirrings of an uprising of an underground cult-like guild called Legion, and is killed saving the life of young Lucifer.
3rd Reincarnation: This is when the events of Revenant, Scourgemarked, and Lightbringer happen! This is actually his shortest incarnation, the second being his longest. This is when he starts remembering things, weird shtuff happens, and the Song of Winter really comes into play. As does his fate. You should probably go read the books if you want to know what happened here.
Post-Lightbringer: Esper's story calms down for the most part. His kids are doing very well - although his eldest son is a bit reckless, his daughter as the worst temper in history, and his youngest reminds him too much of himself to be healthy and is the main cause of the gray hair - his wife is doing well, but with the job that he has, he starts letting himself age. He can see that things are going to happen that are not for the better, but he doesn't know what they are. He knows that each of his children is cursed, but he doesn't know how. The series of wounds that nearly crippled his shoulder have made it harder to fight over the years, which worries him too. He keeps up with old friends - the ones that are left, anyway - but the sense of impending doom doesn't do much for him. And neither does the lingering guilt over the death of his brother, the one he strove for so long to protect when they were children. This is the time when he finally gives away the raven pendant, to his youngest son, in the hopes that it will guide him with all the wisdom of the things he carried it through.
Ancient: He's seen it all. He's seen death, destruction, horror, atrocity, happiness, love, passion, and hope. He looks to the past and sees the future in it. He looks to the future and sees the past. Esper, truly, becomes the God of Fate, and lets even a fraction of his true age show what he's been through. [sidenote: "ka" means "thousand years"]

With that said, here's where you can find the books, should you be so inclined:
Revenant: www.amazon.com/dp/B00KQTFNNE
Scourgemarked: www.amazon.com/dp/B00LF9BMT8
Lightbringer: www.amazon.com/dp/B00MHDNLV8

Blank meme: ironmary.deviantart.com/art/Ag…


Uh.... yeah. Esper in a nutshell. Poor kid.