Cèdre
Bungou Stray dogs | Decay of the Angel
The Moonlit Road is the ability of Cèdre Sterling, inherited from their father Ambrose Bierce upon his suicide.The Moonlit Road originally allowed Cèdre to trigger a crippling mental breakdown in up to three people as the victims were overwhelmed with their deepest-seated guilt.The ability could only be activated at night and Cèdre must be able to see their targets, but speech was not required.The ability evolved due to the influence of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Directly linked to Cèdre's own self-hatred, The Moonlit Road now focuses on a single target but the guilt and despair inflicted are so intense that the individual feels the urge to commit suicide.Once activated, the ability can only be nullified either by Cèdre themself or through Dazai's ability.No immunities have been observed.They are classified as an A-Grade Dangerous Skill User by the Special Division for Unusual Powers. Attempts to capture have resulted in multiple agent deaths.
| backstory |
Cèdre Sterling (born as Day Bierce) is the eldest progeny of Ambrose Bierce and Mary Ellen Bierce. Their early years were spent being homeschooled while moving all over the United States due to their father’s military background granting him a prominent government position. Home life was tense, however; Cèdre’s father was a pacifist and despised his job as a result, meanwhile Cèdre’s mother was caught having an affair. Many of their early memories are of confrontations between their parents, as they tried to shield their younger brothers from the fighting as best they could.Cèdre was ten when their parents’ divorce was finalized, and their mother took them away; however, Cèdre’s brothers stayed with their father. Mary Ellen relocated the pair of them to France, trying to refine the child she’d been able to keep into a fine lady of society in the hopes that Cèdre would attract the attention of a wealthy man. Cèdre, however, cared little for their mother’s attempts - a small part of them wanted to believe they’d someday find true love, but the louder majority of their mind had decided there was no such thing. It was also not long after coming to France that Cèdre took on a new name, as did their mother, in order to avoid any contact from their relatives in the United States.At the age of thirteen, their ability - The Moonlit Road - awakened; unbeknownst to them, this was due to their father committing suicide and the ability passing on to them. Said ability rapidly caught the attention of the French government as a viable interrogation tactic. Cèdre at first considered it an honor to help their country, but they were already beginning to show signs of mental trauma before the Great War broke out. They began to be monitored by a handler to ensure that they wouldn't flee; Cèdre's mother was rather neutral on what was happening, as she had begun avoiding the teenager once the ability had manifested.At sixteen, they were enlisted by the government as part of France’s ability user forces sent out in the Great War. They were shifted from regiment to regiment, dependent on where torture/interrogation was expected to be needed for their time of serving in the war. They happened to be with Mimic when the Great War ended, and as a result they were also driven out of Europe by the Order of the Clock Tower. Cèdre drifted aimlessly with Mimic until the group was smuggled into Yokohama.They were twenty-six as they tried to find a place for themself, free of their commander's suicide mission. As Cèdre's file drew the attention and consideration of the Port Mafia leader, there was another individual who sought them for their ability: Fyodor Dostoevsky. He approached Cèdre, finding them easy to manipulate due to their loneliness and their fear. After all, it was their ability that was the cause of all of their suffering. With this influence, their ability almost immediately began to corrupt into inflicting guilt and grief heavy enough to cause an individual to be driven to end their own life.Fyodor kept them close for the following years, carefully nurturing Cèdre's hatred of themself and their blame of circumstances into blaming their ability. Unbeknownst to Cèdre, his motivations for this were out of concern that Cèdre's transformed ability might actually work on him; as such, Fyodor took great care with how he guided them along, making sure that Cèdre came to rely on him and see him as their savior rather than their corrupter. After all, it was vital to his intentions to use them to help him eliminate ability users that they genuinely believe that their ideas were their own.After a few years under Fyodor's close watch, the reins were loosened and Cèdre began to carry out various tasks independently. One of the first things that they did once Fyodor told them to do as they liked was to set off for France and target their mother. Cèdre gave the woman a slow, torturous death through their ability, and they briefly felt the emptiness in them subside. This led to them hunting down the ability users that had been pivotal in letting Mimic take the fall for the fighting that had occurred after the Great War was supposed to end, which of course drew a fair bit of attention. To the chagrin of the governments targeting them, Cèdre’s ability proved a flawless self defense mechanism.Cèdre returned to Yokohama shortly after the Guild incident, on call for Fyodor’s plans. By this time, Cèdre had deduced that their entire being had been manipulated by the man; however, they also had nothing left that wasn’t inflicting death by carrying out the twisted sense of justice that had been instilled in them.
| decay of angels dynamics |
Bram and Cèdre do not interact, but Cèdre is fascinated by the former’s vampire infection ability.Fukuchi, known at first only as Kamui to Cèdre, is the acting leader of the Decay of Angel. As Fukuchi realizes Cèdre isn't as loyal to Fyodor as they initially seemed, he comes to trust them more and the pair develop a relationship. Unfortunately, it is primarily one-sided as Fukuchi is far more invested and Cèdre's mind often seems elsewhere even though they do care for him.Fyodor Dostoevsky is the mastermind behind the Decay of Angel and recruited Cèdre to use them as a weapon and to keep them from being used against him. He monitors Cèdre from the shadows and feeds them information.Nikolai is the wildcard of the Decay of Angel; he tries to befriend Cèdre, both because he sees hints of the same need for freedom in them and because he thinks that they can understand him. At best, Cèdre tolerates his presence.Sigma is an information broker who is far more interested in managing his casino than in being an active part of a terrorist organization; however, he is a desperate man and will act accordingly if need be. He tries to avoid Cèdre, clearly uneasy around them.
| Name | What they call Cèdre | What Cèdre calls them |
|---|---|---|
| Cèdre (self) | 私/わたし Watashi | あなた Anata |
| Bram | - | Dracula-san |
| Fyodor Dostoevsky | Cèdre-san | Fyodor-kun |
| Nikolai Gogol | Cèd-chan | Nikolai-kun |
| Ouchi Fukuchi | Cèdre | Kamui, Fukuchi-kun |
| Sigma | Cèdre-san | Sigma-kun |