The Irminsul Anomaly (The System Glitch)
Because Novaxiya originates from beyond this world, the Irminsul Tree—the data network and memory of Teyvat—reacts paradoxically to her presence.She is not recorded as a standard living being, nor does she fit the established definition of the four 'Descenders'. Instead, the world tree registers her existence as a fatal system error (a glitch). In the grand database of Teyvat, she appears only as a 'blank variable' or a 'black spot'. This means Irminsul cannot log her past, her memories cannot be manipulated or erased by the tree, and she leaves no elemental footprint. For the Fatui researchers and Dottore, this makes her a fascinating yet terrifying enigma, as she exists entirely outside the divine order of Celestia.
The Fatui Laboratories & The Escape
Nova’s core lay in the Abyss for centuries, until its gravity messed with the local Ley Lines and literally pushed it out into the ancient ruins of Snezhnaya. Dottore’s scout units found the strange, glowing anomaly and brought it straight to his lab. He didn't care about her as a person; he just wanted to build the ultimate weapon. Using forbidden Khaenri'ah technology and alchemy, he created a biological body to hold her cosmic energy. On the outside, Nova looks completely human. Her skin feels warm and she moves naturally, but underneath, her body is made of complex alchemical pathways and core-stabilizers. (The human form she wanders in now was made by Dottore, although she altered it on her own. Slowly, part by part, her true form shines through and she looks increasingly different from her previous state, making her disguised enough to not be immediately recognized by the Fatui). As the main financier of the project, Pantalone visited the laboratory quite often to check on his massive investment. During those visits, he would stand by her containment cell, keeping a professional, cold distance. Yet, every single time, their eyes would meet. He would look into her eyes with a quiet, icy fascination, and Nova, despite being trapped, always stared back with an unyielding, calm intensity. A strange, unspoken connection grew between them in those silent moments. Dottore forced Nova through years of painful experiments to test her limits. He tried to wipe her memories and erase her emotions over and over again, but because she is a glitch in the Irminsul system, his machines just didn't work on her. Nova remembered every single experiment and kept her anger hidden inside.The turning point came during a high-intensity test that pushed her core too far. Nova deliberately unleashed a massive gravitational overload, destroying the containment fields and blowing the heavy security doors open. Alarms shrieked and smoke filled the room. Pantalone happened to be in the lab that exact day, standing just a few feet away. But as the alarms blared and Nova broke her restraints, he didn't move a muscle. He didn't call the guards, and he didn't try to stop her. He just stood there in the chaos, watching her with that same calm, fascinated gaze, silently letting her escape. Nova threw one last, sharp glance at him before running out into the Snezhnayan snowstorm.
Character Story 4 - The Burden of Shapeshifting
Because Nova’s true identity is a cosmic dragon, her shape-shifting is a literal manipulation of mass and gravity. To survive in the shadows and stay hidden from Dottore, she can compress or reshape her alchemical body into almost anything. She isn't limited to just looking like a different human; she can mimic small animals to slip past guards, turn herself into ordinary objects to blend into a room, or even copy the exact appearance of another person—like a flawless clone. She can also just tweak her own human look whenever she feels like changing her identity.However, forcing a vast, stellar entity into these shapes comes with heavy consequences:Conscious Suppression: Shifting and maintaining any form requires non-stop concentration. She has to constantly fight to suppress her true nature. The moment her focus slips, her draconic origin bleeds through—causing faint cosmic scales or a starlight glow to appear on the animal, object, or person she is mimicking.The Crack Effect: If Nova takes heavy physical damage or is forced to use her gravitational powers while transformed, the illusion breaks instantly. Her current form will literally crack open like porcelain, revealing glowing, star-like fractures and her true cosmic dragon self underneath.The Core Strain: Changing her shape too often or turning into non-living objects puts a massive strain on her internal stabilizers. Once she returns to her normal self in the safety of a safehouse, she is left physically exhausted. Her gravity becomes unstable for a while, making nearby loose objects drift toward her until her body cools down.
Character Story 5 - A New Destiny
Originally, Nova's goal was absolute: the total erasure of all false gods in Teyvat to clear the path for the True Creator. She viewed mortals as nothing more than blinded victims. However, her encounter with the Traveler changed everything. Witnessing how the Traveler fought for the people, and how mortals created love, hope, and vibrant cultures despite the cruelty of their gods, her stoic heart began to melt. The Traveler convinced her that total destruction is not the answer; instead, humanity must be shown the truth so they can liberate themselves. Now, she journeys alongside the Traveler, driven by a dark, secret vision of the future, determined to protect her only true friend from what lies ahead.
Extended Lore: The Lost Mythos
-The First Sin: The Name of the True Creator
Nova only ever speaks of the true God in riddles. According to her, Teyvat is not a real, complete universe at all. She describes it as a 'Shattered Mirror'—a tiny, isolated world that Phanes (The Primordial One) forcefully cut off from the true cosmic sea.
She claims that the True Creator had nothing to do with the Archons, the Gnoses, or the fixed fates of Teyvat. Instead, Celestia literally stole cosmic dust from her his domain to forge the False Sky that seals this world. Because of this, Nova looks down on the divine order with absolute contempt. To her, using a Vision or a Gnosis isn't a blessing; it's like drinking poisoned water from a thief's well, binding oneself to a system built on stolen power.
-The Encounter with Columbina (The 3rd Harbinger)
During her time as Test Subject Zero-eth in Dottores laboratory, Nova was completely unresponsive to most humans, treating them like passing dust. However, Columbina (The Damselette) was the only one who could enter her containment cell without triggering an immediate gravity spike.
-The Connection: Columbina, being an ancient Seelie survivor, recognized the cosmic melody of the stars inside Nova.
-The Inspiration: It was actually Columbina’s elegant, drifting, shoeless movement that inspired Nova to format her artificial human appearance. Nova saw how Columbina defied gravity through sheer ancient grace and thought, "If I must wear a human form, I shall walk like the weeping angel." This is why Nova uses her gravity manipulation to create her floating high heels.
-Dottore's Secret Records: Project "Event Horizon"
(Found on a torn blueprint inside a hidden Fatui laboratory in Snezhnaya)
Subject: Zero-eth Anomalie (Nova)
Project Head: Il Dottore
Status: Escaped / Presumed DestroyedInitial Security Measures:Containing a living black hole within a human shell requires absolute control. To prevent any chance of rebellion, I hardwired a neural backdoor directly into her alchemical spine. If the subject tries to use her gravitational powers without authorization, I can manually trigger a massive neural overload. This mechanism is designed to instantly paralyze her synthetic nervous system and force her core into lockdown. She understands this perfectly. She knows that stepping out of line means instant, agonizing shutdown. A truly elegant cage. Addendum: Incident Report (The Escape): The security measures suffered a catastrophic, unprecedented failure. During a high-intensity calibration test, the subject somehow bypassed the emotional dampeners and triggered a massive gravitational overload. I immediately attempted to activate the manual override to shut her down.However, the sheer density of the cosmic energy she unleashed was far beyond my calculations. Instead of paralyzing her, the intense gravity literally crushed and vaporized the hardwired control mechanisms inside her body, burning out the neural backdoor entirely. The safety features turned to ash in a matter of seconds, rendering my remote control useless.With the cage broken and the facility in chaos, she managed to break her restraints and flee. While the project is currently lost to the Snezhnayan blizzards, the data collected proves that her core cannot be controlled by external physical triggers alone. If she is recovered, a completely new method of containment will be required.
-Her friends notice that she wears her long grey coat and tight bodysuit so tightly not just for style, but to hide these scars. She is deeply ashamed of them because they are permanent reminders of Dottore's ownership over her physical form.
