Vespera was an Ancient elf who was a part of the Neverseen. Formerly confined to Lumenaria, Vespera was hidden away to such a degree that not even the Council knew her name and she's thought to be a Forgotten Secret. Only her bodyguards were given this information, under strict orders to never disclose such knowledge to anyone. Vespera was a very powerful Empath who was numbed from experiencing the emotions of other people for extended periods of time. Vespera was associated with Luzia Vacker and developed the system by which the majority of the illusions used in the Elvin world are created, something Vespera later became embittered by. She was also formerly part of the Nobility. She was imprisoned for her experiments on humans with a high interest in how humans can withstand killing each other without shattering. Vespera sought to contain the ruthlessness humans have. In Stellarlune, she was killed by Lady Gisela and her explosives.
History
Book 5: Lodestar
She was one of the four Neverseen members escaping from Lumenaria, seen by Sophie Foster, before they light leaped.
Book 6: Nightfall
Vespera joins forces with Lady Gisela because it was the best option over imprisonment, though she still thought that Lady Gisela's views were incorrect and claimed that they had opposite philosophies. Vespera sees her as a person who took her dream (Nightfall) and did not see the point of it and built a flawed version of it. When Sophie and her friends went to her Nightfall to rescue Sophie's parents, she showed herself in an illusion of mirror light. She and Biana fought against each other when Biana managed to sneak into the secret place where Fintan Pyren and Vespera were hiding, and Vespera smashed her into the mirror. Biana got thin, permanent scars on her arms, neck, and back as a result. Later, Vespera 'bragged' about it, saying that "[Vespera] made sure that [Biana] would never be the same".
Book 7: Flashback
It was Vespera’s voice that caused Alvar to regain his memories. She left Umber to die, when the trolls escaped from the Troll Hives at Everglen.
Book 8: Legacy
She along with Gethen was in the Loamnore's marketplace. She was defeated, although Biana thought she did it on purpose so she would be in control as Lady Gisela's plan failed.
Book 9: Stellarlune
Vespera appears when Sophie, Tam, Rayni, and Maruca meet with Trix. They form an alliance to take Lady Gisela down temporarily. Later, she takes Sophie to Elysian and was murdered "ruthlessly" by Lady Gisela.
Appearance
Vespera was seen to be a shockingly pale female with thick arched eyebrows, angled cheekbones, long pointy ears, and a sharply curved mouth. Her azure eyes were wide-set and show no emotion. As said in Flashback, Vespera wore gowns that used to be fitted but hung off her frail shoulders due to weight loss. She often wore something that resembled a Tudor headdress that worked like a Thinking Cap.
“"There was an unnatural stillness to her face. As if she wasn't used to moving or speaking. Or feeling.....”
Personality
Vespera was known as cruel, and unkind, and always saw the people around her who work with her as unneeded and could be traitors. She always talked about ruthlessness. This was shown in Atlantis as she built her own facility underneath it, and its purpose was human experimentation. She kidnapped hundreds of humans who lived in Atlantis and experimented on them, trying to see why their minds did not shatter when they committed acts of violence. As well as experimentation, it is possible that she kept them down there until they died, experimenting until the very end, as letting the humans go would possibly get her exiled. Another example of this is when Sophie is in her version of Nightfall, she says that every person around you should be disposed of because it means one more person to ruin your plans and betray you. She also says that Sophie is weak because she tries to save everyone, while she should just escape even though she would not be able to take everyone with her in the process, which shows Vespera's unkind and ruthless personality. Vespera, it seems, felt that her kind needed to grow more ruthless if they were to live and felt that the Black Swan had been wise to have Sophie raised among humans.
Quotes
“Everyone has grown so accustomed to mediocrity that when they find themselves faced with true greatness, they fail to appreciate it.”
Trivia
- Vespera means "evening star" in Latin.
- Neci means "fire" in Macedonian and "kill" in Latin.
- Folend means "dedicator" in Bulgarian.
References