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. She is an idealistic girl who believes strongly in the civil rights of other species.

Since first attending Kimberly Magic Academy, she forms a strong bond with the Sword Roses, who support her in her ideals and desire to reform magical society's treatment of demi-humans.

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. Her most notable features are her hazel-colored eyes and long, curly brown hair. She is rather short and is the smallest of the six Sword Roses.

Katie wears the Kimberly girls' uniform. The girls' uniform consists of a gray collared shirt with black trim and silver buttons, coupled with a dark navy blue button skirt. Over this, she wears a black robe with silver trim, and lining matching their necktie. It is coupled with large leather straps that wrap over her right shoulder and reach down at her sides which holsters a wand and athame, respectively. Katie wears her necktie tied into a bow shape, and the sleeves of her robe are tailored to be ruffled, rather than the standard square shape.

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.

Katie's sheltered life causes her to be quite naive, gullible, and argumentative with others when their beliefs directly oppose hers, particularly when it comes to demi-human rights. Katie can also be very reckless when her emotions get the better of her, willing to risk getting into trouble or putting herself in danger to protect a demi-human or magifauna from harm. However, after having a heart-to-heart with Oliver on the matter, she gradually becomes more willing to listen to reason and learns to see certain things in a more gray light.

Katie has demonstrated unwavering resolve. No matter how much hardship, pain, or abuse she endures at Kimberly, it only serves to motivate her to put her dreams into action and see them through to the end.

Katie has spent a significant amount of time with her friends since meeting them at Kimberly, and she has grown to cherish them greatly. If she is unable to directly assist a friend in need, 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 both tend 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 odds with one another, 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 capabilities:

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: Katie and Nanao are roommates at Kimberly. Though they both have feelings for Oliver, Katie sees Nanao more as a dear friend than a rival. Nanao has saved Katie's life on more than one occasion, and Katie does her best to be a listening ear when Nanao needs one. When Katie had a frightening thought of what Nanao could become if consumed by the spell, Katie became determined to lead Nanao onto a brighter path, where she could find joy in things that weren't only fighting.


 * Guy Greenwood: Guy and Katie often get along well, but when Guy misspeaks and offends Katie, she is ruthless with him. Guy and Katie have a slight rivalry about cooking. They often compete to see which of their dishes is more popular among their friends. As two of the weakest fighters in their group, they sometimes find themselves left behind by the others and "holding down the fort" for them.


 * Michela McFarlane:


 * Pete Reston:


 * Vera Miligan:


 * Marco: Katie had a strong desire to save Marco as soon as she discovered he was in danger after the entrance parade incident. She put significant effort into trying to communicate with him because of this. Due to Katie saving his life and her kindness when trying to communicate with him, Marco has fondness for her. He obeys her requests and attempts to protect her against any physical danger.

Quotes

 * (To Oliver) "...Yeah, I eat meat and fish, too. They're no different from that magical insect, I tried to understand my mom's logic. Society can't advance if we forbid everything because it could hurt someone else. This holds true for magicals and nonmagicals alike. But my feelings can't keep up. I just can't commit to that way of thinking—that all creatures other than those granted civil rights are resources for mages to use. I can't accept the lines being drawn. I don't want to accept what goes for normal here...!"


 * (To Oliver and Nanao) "Thanks for saving me! Of course, that's not nearly enough to repay you, so think of it as a deposit. Thanks, you two. And I'm sorry for always getting into danger. But don't worry! I'm not going to let this get me down! I might have been raised soft, but knock me down enough times, and I'll come back tough. You say that troll had his brain messed with? That I was kidnapped by someone I trusted and almost dissected? Ah-ha-ha! Who cares?!"


 * (To Oliver) “...Like I'd ever do that! Come on, Oliver! I told you before that I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to fight here at Kimberly. Maybe if I was at Featherston, I’d meet a lot of people who think like me… but that would just make me even weaker.”

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 and anime, 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.
 * Her surname "Aalto" is Finnish meaning "wave" which at the very least fits the description of her wavy hairstyle. As for her first name, "Kati" is a common name for females in Finland. But this is normally not pronounced in a long vowel. However due to her name being written in English-style as "Katie" this essentially adds an additional "i" and therefore would be written as "Katii" in Finnish phonology.