Katie Aalto

Katie Aalto (カティ・アールト, Kati āruto) is one of the main characters in Reign of the Seven Spellblades who attends Kimberly Magic Academy. There, she met Oliver, Nanao, Chela, Guy, and Pete, with whom she has since formed a strong bond of friendship.

Background
Katie was born and raised in the northern nation of Farnland. Her parents were once self-proclaimed "devout Utopians" in their youth, and according to Oliver, are quite infamous even among the civil rights movement. Kate's parents put a lot of effort into researching a reality where creatures like demi-humans and magifauna could live in harmony.

However, their stance changed once Katie's mother got pregnant with her. Wanting their child to grow up healthy, they narrowed their civil rights beliefs down to the protection of demi-humans, and thus, Katie grew up with meat on the dinner table like other families.

Katie grew up around a lot of creatures at her childhood home. Dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, large magical beasts, and even demi-humans. She was closest with a troll named Patro. Patro had been her protector since she was small. When she would cry, he would put her on his shoulder and take her for walks to calm her down. On nights when she couldn't sleep, he would sing her lullabies until she finally drifted off. While reminiscing with Oliver, Katie describes a troll's singing voice as "a flute made from a big seashell".

Appearance
Katie is described as a lovely Farnish girl of relatively short stature. Her most notable features are her hazel-colored eyes and long soft curly brown hair.

Katie wears the Kimberly girls uniform; consisting of a tiffany blue collared shirt with black trim, silver buttons, and a crimson bowtie, coupled with a black skirt with crimson and gold trim. Over this, she wears a black robe with ruffled hems, silver trim, and crimson lining, coupled with large leather straps that wrap over her right shoulder and reach down at her sides which holsters her wand and athame respectively. During her second year, her robes lining, her skirt's trim, and her signature bowtie become emerald green.

Personality
Katie is a shy, yet kind-hearted girl with a strong sense of justice and a love for demi-humans and magifauna, being an ardent supporter of their civil rights.

Due to Katie's sheltered life, she can be quite naive, gullible, and argumentative with others when their beliefs directly oppose hers, mostly regarding demi-human rights. Katie can also be very reckless when her emotions get the better of her, willing to risk getting into trouble or throwing herself in danger if it means protecting a demi-human or magifauna from potential harm. However, after sharing a heart-to-heart with Oliver on the matter, she becomes more willing to listen to reason over time and begins learning to view certain things from a more gray perspective.

Katie has shown to possess an unwavering resolve. No matter the hardship, the pain, or the abuse she endures during her time at Kimberly, it only serves to further motivate her into putting her dreams into action and seeing them through to the end.

Since meeting them at Kimberly, Katie has spent a considerable amount of time with her friends and thus has grown to cherish them a great deal. When a friend is in need, if she is unable to help them out directly, she will find other ways to show her support. When Pete was captured by Ophelia Salvadori, Katie tearfully begged Kimberly faculty members to help find her missing friend, eventually enlisting the help of former foe-turned mentor Vera Miligan who went on to guide Oliver, Nanao, and Chela through the labyrinth.

Out of her five friends, Katie appears to be closest to Nanao as the two share a dorm room, becoming close enough to where the Azian girl can confide in Katie about her inner turmoil. Whenever Katie gets hurt or is in any kind of trouble, her friends will spring to action without a moment's hesitation. Oliver and Chela will raise a fuss if Katie is injured, both tending to dote on her like parents would a child. However, whenever Katie acts recklessly, they will not hesitate to reprimand her. Although Katie and Guy tend to be at each other's throats, the farm boy has also shown to care a great deal about her, becoming angered when a group of bullies insulted her and even rushed in to fight them alongside Oliver and Nanao to defend their friend's honor.

Abilities

 * Striking Strength:


 * Stamina:


 * Intelligence:


 * Range:


 * Durability:


 * Speed:


 * Magic capabilties:

Relationships
Oliver Horn: Katie is the very first person Oliver interacts with at the beginning of the story, soon being joined by Guy, Pete, Chela, and eventually Nanao. When a spell was cast on her to run towards a rampaging troll slave, it is Oliver and the combined efforts of everyone involved that ultimately saves Katie. After getting injured in class for refusing to kill silkworm larvae (which become deadly if their cocoons turn black), Oliver sits down with Katie in the infirmary and the two share a heart-to-heart. Because of her stance on the mistreatment of demi-humans and magifauna, Katie states she's unsure if she can adjust to life at Kimberly. Oliver shares a story about how he once tried to cure his dog of an illness, but his lack of knowledge regarding a certain ingredient ultimately killed it. Oliver goes on to tell Katie that she doesn't have to take on the harshness of Kimberly on her own, that she has friends who are willing to support her, himself included. He then tells Katie that her home may have been a place comparable to "heaven", but since leaving to attend Kimberly, she has now descended to Earth, and on Earth, she can no longer avoid things that hurt her. But despite it all, he finds Katie's insistence on showing kindness to all creatures admirable and because of that, Oliver will always think of her as more precious than an angel.

Since then, it is heavily implied that Katie has developed a crush on Oliver, as evidenced by her constant blushing or stammering whenever he interacts with her directly, once even kissing him on the cheek as a reward for saving her from Vera Miligan. In the labyrinth, when the group reunites with Marco, the troll from the opening ceremony, he remembers Oliver and states that Katie "...talk lots..." about him, to which the curly-haired girl gets flustered and tries to silence him. Katie has also shown signs of jealousy when other girls are affectionate with Oliver, such as when his cousin Shannon Sherwood hugged and kissed him in front of the group during lunch. Even witnessing the special bond Nanao shares with Oliver seems to bother her a bit. Around Year 2, during a Sword Roses meeting regarding sex ed, after Chela states that their first times could be with someone in their group, Katie immediately glances in Oliver's direction, quickly averting her gaze and blushing. Later that night, with Oliver reluctantly admitting his attraction to Nanao fresh on her mind, a curious Katie turns to ask Nanao if she loves Oliver. Her best friend confirms her mutual attraction for the boy. Upon receiving that answer, Katie momentarily feels a pain shoot through her chest.

Nanao Hibiya:

Guy Greenwood:

Michela McFarlane:

Pete Reston:

Vera Miligan:

Trivia

 * Katie is believed to be based on Hermione Granger, the main heroine of the Harry Potter franchise. Granted, the two share quite a few similarities:
 * Their most distinguishing feature is their long curly brown hair.
 * Both are well-known activists for non-human rights.
 * When others challenge their beliefs, both can become very argumentative.
 * Both show love and compassion to their friends.
 * Both have kissed their respective protagonists on the cheek. (Though in Hermione's case, her kiss was more platonic).


 * In the light novel, Katie kisses both Oliver and Nanao on the cheek as a "reward" for saving her from Miligan. In the manga adaptation, she only kisses Oliver.