Konoe Ayatsuki Mercury

Konoe Mercury, more commonly known as Nine, is a witch, one of the Six Heroes, one of the Ten Saints and the previous wielder of Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi. After her supposed death by the hands of Yūki Terumi, Konoe mysteriously came back as the brainwashed servant of Izanami; Phantom.

Information
Konoe is a witch who went by the name of Nine. The name "Nine" comes from her being the ninth member of the Magic Guild's Ten Saints. Celica A. Mercury is her sister, Shūichirō Ayatsuki was her father, and her mother is deceased. She was the lover of Jubei of the Six Heroes, and one herself, as well as the mother of Kokonoe. Konoe's role in the story is further explained in the novel, BlazBlue: Phase 0, where Ragna tells her to beware of Terumi.

She passed down her knowledge of magic to mankind during the Dark War. During the Dark War, she created the Nox Nyctores in order to help humans fight against the Black Beast. After the war, she discovered what Terumi's future plans were, and he "killed" her, brainwashing her into Phantom, and giving Kokonoe a motivation to despise Terumi. She created the Nox Nyctores using human transmutation, a process that requires thousands of human souls. It is notable that in Lambda-11's arcade mode, Hazama tells Kokonoe that the magical power he used to create Mu-12 belongs to Konoe. In the Extra Story, "That Which Is Inherited", it is revealed that the process through which the Nox Nyctores were created involved the compressing of seithr into a solid unit, then implanting the unit with the soul of a Black Beast. This compression spell, known as Snap Weapon: Infinite Gravity, was used by Konoe to create the Nox Nyctores and defeat the Beast, and later by Kokonoe to implant a Black Beast's soul into Fluctus Redactum: Ignis.

As Phantom, she is responsible for the injuries that plague Jubei throughout Continuum Shift. She is also responsible for using the spell Ruby: Mind Eater on Tsubaki Yayoi, brainwashing her into siding with the Imperator. After having encounters with Valkenhayn R. Hellsing, Jubei, Hakumen and Celica A. Mercury, all are left stunned at their realization that she is Nine. It is not until her the final chapter of BlazBlue: Chronophantasma's Six Heroes story, that her fate is confirmed.

She encounters Hakumen and Platinum the Trinity in the Six Heroes story mode of BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, and it is revealed that she is Nine after Platinum reveals her identity using her Nox Nyctores: Arma Reboare: Muchourin. Rachel Alucard theorizes that Terumi pulled Nine's soul from deep within the Boundary and put it into a vessel, making her the "ultimate pawn". However, despite the brainwashing placed upon her Nine shows signs of resisting and Hakumen says that her hatred for Terumi still burns.

Appearance
Konoe has long, bright, vibrant pink hair and bangs with contoured feathery strands that cover her left eye. She has yellow eyes. She used to wear a dark purple witch's hat and a Magic Guild uniform, with the additions of a tied purple ribbon and cape, along with long black strap attached to her sleeves, long black curved leggings that reach to her mini skirt, and black slippers.

During the Dark War, she wore a black mage's coat. Konoe wore the coat loosened and opened, which showed her sleeveless white collar shirt with a purple Windsor knotted tie.

As Phantom, she wears a purple cloak with a high collar with red blood zig zag almost like zipper, and two long, white scarves ending in red rags that resemble flames. She also wears a large, pointed hat that conceals her face.

Personality
Prior being brainwashed into Phantom, Konoe was a person who likes to do things her own way, a trait shared by her daughter. She was a kind-hearted individual who cares about her friends, especially her younger sister Celica. However, she is not easy on Kazuma. Although she seems to have a mature and serious personality, she can be somewhat impulsive and violent when angered, as shown when she attempted to use a fire spell on Bloodedge for annoying her. She was this way even with her lover, Jubei, before falling in love with him as well as rash, headstrong and independent. Before having her daughter, Konoe had more time on her hands to delve into magical legerdemain. This was likely due to the fact that she was the best in her field of expertise. Unlike her daughter who was a whiz with science, Konoe had an ability, charm and prowess with the magical arts. Being the best in her field and from her expertise and leadership, it was easy to see why she responded to others the way she had. These would psychologically determine her to be right-brained and eccentric, if not at least eclectic. Konoe also displays a poor sense of direction similar to her sister, seen when they walk together in the wrong direction during the search for their father.

As Phantom, however, all of her personality has seemingly vanished. She no longer speaks nor has any signs of any emotions whatsoever; becoming an empty shell in comparison to what she was before. While as Phantom, she attacks anyone who is deemed as the Imperator's foe, even going so far to attack Trinity Glasfille and her lover Jubei.

Gallery
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Trivia

 * Konoe's last name is Mercury, Mercury was the Roman equivalent of the Greek Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth. A powerful god whom had three forms, Hermes Trismegistus. Wisdom, writing, magic, alchemy and astrology were this one god's domains under the various guises.
 * Mercury is also a periodic element, Hg, with an atomic number of 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver.
 * Konoe is shown to have quite a sweet tooth, a trait that she shares with Kokonoe. She claims that sweets help clear her head, something her daughter also agrees on.