Niki

"I'm going to spend the rest of my life...looking for a place to die."

Niki (ニキ, Niki) is a former slave who was used to sell a certain drug in the streets of Lotto Valentino during the 1700s. She ended up becoming friends Huey Laforet, Monica Campanella and Elmer C. Albatross in 1705, and in the ensuing years fell in love with Lebreau Fermet Viralesque.

After suffering extensive injuries in 1711, she is given the Grand Panacea by Lucrezia de Dormentaire. The elixir preserves her wounds, and she spends the next three hundred years in constant agony - effectively breaking her mind.

Chronology
While Niki's name was given to her by her birth parents, she knows know nothing else about them, not even their current status. She was later sold into slavery. Eventually she was injected with a drug that incrementally affected her, slowly driving her insane. The idea behind the scheme was to sell off young girls addled with the drug as prostitutes, use them to poison the food of the local aristocrats and eventually usher up control to the group that manufactured the drug. The children used were people who had no official birth records.

1705: The Ironic Light Orchestra
Niki first appears on the streets of Lotto Valentino, suffering physical abuse from Spanish aristocrats - members of The Rotten Eggs.

She is saved when the Rotten Eggs make the mistake of involving Huey Laforet and Monica Campanella. However, Huey maintains that he and Monica should not get to know her because she is fated to die. Later on she sees the Mask Maker (the serial killer terrorizing Lotto Valentino) and believes she is its next target. Convinced that she must die, she wanders around the city.

The Rotten Eggs find her once more, and start up their old line of harassment. This time one Elmer C. Albatross comes to her aid, but the situation escalates: her master comes to claim her and Elmer is beaten instead. The two of them are saved by the timely arrival of Zank Rowan and Denkurō Tōgō, who easily dispatch the aristocrats. When the leader of Rotten Eggs (Aile) appears and dissuades further conflict, Elmer takes Niki and escapes.

Elmer drops her off at the abode of Esperanza C. Boroñal, an eccentric aristocrat who loves women and always treats them well. She soon flees the mansion, afraid that her presence will turn the Mask Maker's sights towards Elmer and Esperanza ... only to be caught by Police Chief LaRolf Hancletia and his subordinates. She is taken into custody with many of Huey, Elmer and Monica's classmates.

At the end of the novel, she is still convinced she needs to die and searches for a place where she can die smiling (per Elmer's request). By this time, she has befriended Elmer, Huey, and Monica. In the end, she leaves Lotto Valentino with Begg Garott, who employs her at the Meyer alchemy workshop up North.

1710-1711
Niki spends her time assisting at the Meyer workshop, working alongside 'novice alchemist' Fermet and looking after Czeslaw Meyer. Fermet takes in Huey and Monica's infant child following Monica's death, and Niki becomes the baby's primary caretaker. She comes to realize that she is in love with Fermet, and he reciprocates her feelings (with ulterior motives).

When the Advena Avis sets sail in 1711, Fermet informs Niki that he plans to stay behind to distract the townspeople and House Dormentaire while his fellow alchemists make their escape from the city. Afraid for his life, Niki volunteers to take his place. Fermet 'reluctantly' agrees, and leaves for the Advena Avis.

Niki is soon chased by a group of townspeople, and she takes cover in one of the Mask Maker hideouts -- unaware that Huey and Elmer had planted bombs there in order to destroy all evidence of their counterfeiting operation. She attempts to escape, but recognizes the voice of her previous owner bellowing outside, and believes escape impossible. Just as the explosions detonate, she is pulled behind a trapdoor by Lucrezia de Dormentaire. Niki suffers grievous injuries from the bombs.

Huey and Elmer both send Lucrezia part of their share of the immortality elixir. Lucrezia drinks Huey's and shared Elmer's with her associates, including Niki. However, Niki's injuries are nowhere near healed, and she spends the next three hundred years covered in bandages and in constant, searing pain.

2003
(The following scene appeared in 1711: Whitesmile)

In 2003, Lucrezia and Niki walk past a maritime museum on the North American East coast and an FBI car (inside which are Victor Talbot and Jessica Sullivan). A young man bumps into Niki and she nearly loses her balance. Niki does not register his apology.

Relationships
Elmer C. Albatross: Elmer was the second person to (somewhat unintentionally) defend Niki from the abuse of The Rotten Eggs. Niki initially does not know what to think of his strange personality, and she is even more confused when he takes her to Esperanza's mansion to provide a better life for her. She warms up to him eventually, coming to care about him as one friend to another. She often sends playful insults his way.

Elmer can be considered her closest friend, and he even jokes that she has a crush on him, which is not actually true. Regardless, she considers Elmer a very important person; she even takes his request that she smile in the face of death seriously. In fact, his wish is all she can think about when she believes she will die in their old Mask Maker hideout in 1711 - her love for Fermet comes second.. In the 2003 timeline, she smiles at the mention of either Elmer or Fermet despite the pain she is in.

Lebreau Fermet Viralesque: She first meets Fermet at the Meyer alchemic workshop, and they work as colleagues for some time. Fooled by his act of a warm, kind, self-sacrificing nature, Niki falls in love with him, and goes so far as to put herself in danger in order to help Fermet escape Lotto Valentino in 1711. She ends up playing right into his hands.

It is unknown whether or not Niki has accepted the fact that Fermet set her up to die, considering she vehemently denied the possibility at first. In 2003, it is intentionally kept vague whether she smiled at the mention of Fermet's name or Elmer's name (or both of them).

Huey Laforet: Although they are both Mask Makers, the two have very little interaction throughout the 1700s timeline. The only reason Huey saves Niki from The Rotten Eggs in 1705 is because Monica had been dragged into it, and even then he finds it a bothersome task. He expresses little to no interest about her situation, even though Niki considered him to be one of her saviors. However, it is revealed that Huey actually did care about her to some extent: once the Advena Avis arrives in the American colonies, Fermet explains his part in Niki's probable death with great relish. Afterwards, Huey admits to Elmer that he nearly lost his temper then and there upon hearing what Fermet had done to Niki.

Monica Campanella: Like Huey, Monica has few interactions with Niki on page throughout the 1700s timeline. Still, Monica is the one who initially reaches out to Niki as the Mask Maker, and she has developed a sort of bond with her as a result. Niki herself considers Monica to be an important friend and one of her saviors. She was completely distraught at the news of Monica's death, full of disbelief that one of her saviors died before her. In Niki's memories, Monica remains a significant figure in her life.