Lidia Nibleheim

Lidia Hyatus Nibleheim, also known as Ash, is a major character in ''Final Fantasy XVI. ''She is the current ruler of Nibleheim and rules in secret to protect herself from the Edelian Empire.

As the Queen of Nibleheim, she is referred to as Queen Lidia or '''Lidia Hyatus Nibleheim IV. '''Despite her ignorant attitude towards June Asmius for her reckless personality, she is still a fervent supporter of her goals for the future.

Personality
Lidia believes that justice and a solemn heart will lead peace and guidance for the future for all individuals. She is carefree and dutiful to those who support her and towards the jobs and missions she partakes while in the Olion Council as an apprentice. She thinks that all people, even enemies and villains of Edelia, have a hidden part of their hearts that represents the goodness and would rather seek out peace than conflict.

She is a strong supporter of safety before anything else, and would risk her life for her friends to rescue them. She is also quite gullible at times, but she understands the intricacies of emotions and human faith. She is seen to be a kind and loyal person, staying faithful to the Olion Council and her friends that guide her.

In the present, Lidia has been tainted by the death of her loved comrade, changing her perspective of the world. After being betrayed by those from her home, Lidia retains a cold and cautious personality, blotted by her beautiful appearance. While she appears kind and carefree, she harbors an aggressive perspective and attitude towards the Edelian Empire, and would rather avoid human contact with others. She is rather silent, cold, and aggressive to those who antagonize her duties.

After her betrayal, Lidia's secrets are incredibly valuable to her, shown through her own hidden mansion that provides instant transportation to Crystaqi. She often relieves her stress by painting portraits or bright landscapes. While she does not believe that her paintings will do any good, she often tears them apart and keeps the ones she is satisfied with within her mansion.

Appearance
Lidia is an attractive woman who stands at 5'5" (167 cm) with jade green hair and hazel eyes.

Story
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Before Final Fantasy XVI
At the age of five, Lidia was visited by the esper Shiva after touching an ancient meteor that crash-landed in Esmite. As her parents struggled to call her in back to the house, Lidia was entranced by the espers in a vision that caused her to have a major seizure. She was transported to the hospital but nothing could break her hypnosis. At a fit of despair, Lidia's father and mother abandoned their daughter after hearing news that she was diagnosed with an incurable disease that would leave her in a comatose state permanently.

In reality, Lidia was transported to the Heaven's Olion, receiving guidance and knowledge from Shiva and Bahamut. Lidia was informed of a child born into the Asmius lineage, whom it would be her destiny to protect and help survive until the child mastered her growth of powers. Lidia's reaction to the information was confusion at best, but as more of the espers had arrived, she suddenly realized the severity of the situation at hand. Shiva promptly gave Lidia a portion of her magical powers, along with the ability to conjure an ice saber. She trained with Shiva in Heaven's Olion for years, perfecting the ice style in order to fulfill her destiny of protecting the Asmius in the future. She trained for years without rest, and when the espers decided to return her back to the universe, her hypnosis was removed successfully. When Lidia was awakened, she was shocked to find herself buried alive while remaining at the age of five. Piles and mounds of moist dirt began to suffocate her, and while she remained the same young age, she retained her intelligent memory of training through Heaven's Olion. In a fit of desperation, Lidia utilized her ice powers to shatter the coffin, rising from the dead in the rain.

Abandoned for good, she was escorted to child services after travelling to a stagecoach, transporting her to the city of Galacye. There, she was taken care of and made friends to Kin Ordunia, Vizian Izara, and Denek Izath. Lidia remained a silent one within child services and even when she transferred to the same school with the trio, she focused on honing her combat abilities and prowess in secret at nightfall. However, when her friend Kin discovered of her secret, Lidia slowly fell in love with him after he showed a carefree response and kept it a secret.

Lidia eventually began to open up to Kin, Vizian, and Denek as a result of Kin's respect and confident response. Her changed personality made Vizian fall in love with her, however she did not focus on him in the romantic aspect. Years passed when they became teenagers and out of child services and Lidia acquired a job at the Olion Council as an apprentice. She persuaded the other three to join the council, but was unsuccessful in persuading Vizian because of his decision to evade education.

After Vizian joined the Olion Council years later after studying, Lidia heard news of his maternal mother's murder at the hands of an unknown man of abominable strength and skill. He swore vengeance against the Edelian Empire, to which Lidia rejected as a result of their power. But after hearing that their hunt for the fabled Asmius child was on, Lidia invested all of her time to locating the child in order to fulfill her destiny for Shiva and the espers. After hearing word of the Asmius child's existence in Olion, Lidia began to notice Denek's abnormal behavior around the trio with his sudden disappearances within their homes. Kin explains to Lidia to not worry, believing that Denek's disappearance is possibly involved with the council. However, Lidia's suspicions start to raise after receiving secret decoded messages from the empire sent to Denek. He is later revealed to have swapped sides, renaming himself Baron. These news crushes Lidia's heart.

Lidia, Kin and Vizian successfully locate the Asmius child after being captured by Baron, escaping with a sliver of life. They successfully locate her, to which Lidia gives her magical crimson charm to her for good luck. After hearing Kin's sacrifice for the three of them, Lidia is left heartbroken and confesses to Kin her love for him. She is distraught and broken when Kin does not say the same back as she is fully aware of their close relationship together. Her heart breaks after leaving Kin behind, but chooses to follow his last wishes by taking the Asmius child to a safe location.

After the Edelian Empire begins its conquest, Lidia and Vizian take the child to Rosaria. They decide to part their ways and work for the Olion Council in secrecy, to which Lidia reveals her ice powers to the council. She becomes the Queen of Nibleheim, but works in a secret establishment above Crystaqi that was built for her by Vizian Izara and the denizens of Crystaqi. While she ruled in secrecy, Kin's death continued to devastate her future by haunting her nightmares and losing hope for herself. The title as ruler of Nibleheim became a chore for her. Her servants, who became close with her, suggested finding a hobby of art.

Lidia, who decided to paint portraits, created paintings of her own feelings and manifestations. Her darkest image was a portrait of the Asmius child who had been slightly grown up. Shiva's implantation of her memories granted Lidia a vision of the Asmius child, which Lidia could not escape from her mind. Lidia realized that her destiny had to be fulfilled as she grew up, and hoped that that they would meet int he distant future.

Later, as ruler of Nibleheim, she decided to portray her life as a normal individual. She traveled to Hailea, the animal city, and worked as a flower maiden for a few years. She changed her name to become Ash in order to conceal her identity. While working, she kept a decent hold of Vizian and his journeys in Galacye, thinking they could come together after the Asmius child grew up.

Final Fantasy XVI
After first encountering June miles away from Hailea under the code-name Ash, she chooses to keep her identity a secret by playing along with the ruse. After hearing Mari Emilia's suspicion as the Queen of Nibleheim, Lidia continues to play along. She requests that they return her back to Hailea for tea, only to find out that June, Mari, and Killian have snuck into her mansion. To her surprise, they solve the painting puzzle and finds paperwork involving the style of the Tempus artifact.

Lidia finds June grasping a hold of her paperwork, to which she challenges to a duel. Lidia shifts the platforms of her office and utilize her ice powers, nearly defeating June. She makes a deal with her that if she manages to land a scratch on her, Lidia will tell June the truth of her existence and lies. June does so successfully, and Lidia reveals several facts about herself, but she does not tell her that she knows June in her child state with Kin, Vizian, and Baron.