Czeslaw Meyer

Czesław Meyer (チェスワフ・メイエル Chesuwafu Meieru), also known as Czes (チェス Chesu), is a young child who gained immortality aboard the Advena Avis in 1711.

He is tortured by Lebreau Fermet Viralesque for an uncertain period of time. After escaping Fermet's grasp, Czeslaw starts developing explosives for the Runorata Family. On December 30, 1931, he boards the Flying Pussyfoot with a hidden cache of a new explosives prototype he's developed, intending to sell it to the Runoratas - and intending to devour Maiza Avaro upon his arrival.

During the train ride, he is tortured by Claire Stanfield. After debarking the train, he reunites with Maiza (failing to devour him) and Isaac & Miria 'give' him to Ennis. He proceeds to live with Ennis and Firo Prochainezo in their apartment.

In the 1970s, he and Maiza go on a trip in order to find the surviving 1711 immortals and inform them of Szilard's death. In 2001, he and other immortals go to a certain artificial village in search of Elmer C. Albatross.

In 2002, he accompanies Firo and Ennis on their honeymoon aboard the cruise liner Entrance.

Appearance
Czesław appears to be around ten years old, although he is actually over two hundred years of age. His dark brown hair is parted on the left side of his head and is cleanly cut and combed. He dresses nicely, typically in a casual brown suit.

Personality
Czesław does not trust anyone, but rather deceives them to his own ends. He is sharp and manipulative, and willing to use others for his own ends. Throughout the series, it is clear that he is greatly traumatized from the torture and betrayal he has experienced. Furthermore, he is paranoid that he will be devoured by his fellow immortals, though he begins to trust people more after his reunion with Maiza and adoption by Ennis in 1931. He appears to be more relaxed after the events of 2001.

Czesław is emotionally still a child despite his mature thought process. His feelings and responses to unexpected situations remain as frail and impulsive as those of a young boy - though it can be argued that they are also a result of the trauma he has experienced.

He appears to be rather lonely on occasion, and is sometimes unaware about his emotional wants and needs.

With his facade of an innocent child conflicting with his years of experience and cunning, Czesław struggles to find the best in people. He can be rather well-mannered, shy, smart and even quite charming when the situation demands it. He tends to act timid and shy in front of new persons (reminiscent of how he was when he was six years old), using his appearance to his advantage.

When he was a young child in the 1700s, he was a sweet boy - totally innocent and shy when confronted by new people.

Biography
Czesław comes from a line of alchemists that stretch back at least as far as his grandfather, who was the instructor of Begg Garott and Fermet. He was born around 1701 (he is six in 1707) in Lotto Valentino, and was orphaned after his father died in a carriage accident.

1700s
Though Czeslaw doesn't appear personally, Begg Garott reveals in a conversation to Maiza Avaro that his teacher's grandson was the sole survivor of an accident that took the lives of the boy's parents and grandparents. He was taken under the wings of Begg and Fermet, who continued to look after him on and after the ''Advena Avis. ''

Aboard the Advena Avis, Begg often played hide-and-seek with Czes.

Czes gains immortality aboard the Advena Avis along with the other passengers in 1711. Once they reach the New World, Fermet and Begg depart the harbor town with Czes in tow. It is unknown when Begg separates from Fermet and Czes.

At some point during this time, Fermet starts torturing Czesław. He claims that he does not enjoy torturing Czes, and that he only does so in order to tests the limits of immortality. Eventually, Czes finds it within him to devour Fermet (after Fermet pierces his eyes with a fire-hot poker) and ends his suffering. By this time he has come to believe that there is no love in the world - only deception, and that other immortals will eventually come to devour him. Now paranoid and unable to place his trust in people, he makes it his mission to devour other immortals before they can devour him.

1931
By the 1930s, he has started developing explosives for monetary purposes and sells them to the Runorata Family. On the evening of December 30, 1931, he boards a First Class car aboard the Flying Pussyfoot at Chicago's Union Station, headed for New York. He has secreted his new bomb prototypes in the freight hold, and intends to sell them to the Runoratas upon arrival. He has also agreed to meet Maiza Avaro upon his arrival - though unbeknownst to Maiza, Czes intends to devour him.

(Rest of his chronology to be added).

Abilities
On the Advena Avis Czeslaw drank the Grand Panacea and obtained true immortality, meaning he cannot age, get sick, be injured, or die via conventional means.

It can be assumed that due to the constant torture Czes has received over the years, he is a quick healer - though the rate of his regenerative abilities is currently unmeasurable. It is telling that his blood was able to catch up with him on a speeding train. He also has a fairly high tolerance for pain, considering all that he has been through (an acid bath, red-hot pokers....to name a few methods).

Czes is highly intelligent, and easily manipulative. Quick-witted and surprisingly charismatic when the need arises, he nearly convinces Ladd Russo to go along with his scheme aboard the Flying Pussyfoot (but his supreme confidence in his survival leads to his death). He is a good actor, easily able to pass as his (apparent) age.

Though not as well versed as his family or Begg Garott in alchemy, Czes is an alchemist by trade and specializes in explosives; he was the one responsible for the creation of Strawberry Ice Pop (the explosives that Jacuzzi's gang had raided from the Flying Pussyfoot) and continues his alchemical pursuits for years.

Relationships
Lebreau Fermet Viralesque -  Fermet was an alchemic student of Czesław's grandfather, and served as his guardian after his father died in an accident when Czes was six years old. Fermet acted as a kind and concerned guardian to Czes during these years, often commenting on Czes' welfare. Czes trusted Fermet in turn, following his lead aboard the Advena Avis and sticking by his side upon their arrival.

This trust was broken after Fermet began torturing Czes. As a result of Fermet's torture, Czes is traumatized and paranoid - frankly, he is broken. He is terrified of Fermet, and when he 'reunites' with Fermet in 2002 he is utterly horrified.

Maiza Avaro -  Maiza first met Czes in Lotto Valentino in 1711. Though the two rarely interacted, Maiza was always concerned for Czesław's safety before and after boarding the Advena Avis. After devouring Fermet and deciding to kill the other immortals before they can kill him, Czesław heads to New York on the Flying Pussyfoot with the goal of devouring Maiza. After meeting Isaac and Miria aboard the train and seeing their trust in him, Czes is unconditionally forgiven by Maiza, and the boy sobs into his coat. Maiza is one of the very few people that Czesław genuinely trusts, and the two are good friends.

Ennis - Realizing that neither have any family, Isaac and Miria present Czeslaw to Ennis as their "souvenir" from California after departing from the Flying Pussyfoot. Czes serves as her little brother, living with Ennis and Firo in their apartment. Though neither are formal members, both Ennis and Czesław frequent the Alveare together and treat each other like genuine siblings.

Mary Beriam - The two first meet on the Flying Pussyfoot and were playing together in the dining car. When Ladd Russo's White Suits and the Lemures hijack the train, Czes made his escape with Mary at her mother's request. He soon abandons her in a closet,thinking that she is a nuisance and that she will only end up in his way.

The two run into each other in 1935, and Mary notes that she has matured while Czes has remained the same. Czes admits to himself that he is glad she survived, and feels guilty about his mental attitude towards her in 1931.

Claire Stanfield - Czes is terrified of Claire - which is understandable, given that the man tortured him aboard a train. He is wary of Claire's great-grandchildren Claudia and Charon Walken as a result, though the two have personally never wronged him. Claudia's personality greatly resembles that of her great-grandfather.

Trivia

 * His first name: Czesław (Pronounced in Polish as:Chess-wahf (Czesław)), contains the Slavic elements 'czes' meaning "honour" and 'slav' meaning "glory". His last name "Meyer" on the other hand comes from the middle high German word "meiger" meaning high or superior, used often for landlords.
 * Czes is 'well-versed' in Japanese in 2002. He has apparently been to Japan many times in the past (it is his fifth visit to Kyoto at the end of the 2000 arc), which we are to infer is the reason for his fluency.