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The Girl of the Flower
Everyone treats Cheza as an object to some degree, even the wolves, and Darcia is no exception. Lord Oakum looks upon Cheza as a thing to own; Cher sees Cheza as a thing to be studied; the wolves view Cheza as a means to get to Paradise. Darcia sees Cheza as the only way to get Harmona back. Because Darcia needs to use Cheza, he can't really see her as a "person;" if he did, that might preclude using her, and Darcia could never do that. Harmona is the most important thing for him up until her death. So, Darcia needs Cheza to open the door to Paradise and rid him and Harmona of their curse. Still, he never exactly treats her badly; when he steals her back from Lord Oakum, he doesn't restrain her. He allows her to simply sit in the back of his ship. Darcia doesn't even knock her unconscious with his eye. Even when she gets up, he just watches her to find out what she is doing; he doesn't try to stop her until it's clear that she is going to jump out of the ship. Then he panicks, just a bit; he reaches out and tries to grab her, but misses. He looks down as she falls - but instead of getting mad, he smiles a little bit and performs his trademark salute over his left eye. Although it will never be clear, one could argue that Darcia was concerned that Cheza might get hurt trying to escape. While such concern would still be two-edged - if Cheza were killed, than he couldn't get to Paradise - it still shows more appreciation for Cheza as a living thing than Lord Oakum's people, including Cher. In a way, it's easy to see why Darcia could look at Cheza only as an object; his family created her. Darcia's grandfather's research culminated in the creation of Cheza, a girl made from a Lunar Flower. Darcia also knows more about Cheza than anyone else. He knows that her lifespan is short; he has equipment that can "communicate directly with her heart" if she is unawakened. The only time Darcia hurts Cheza is right after Harmona was killed. He throws her back to prevent her from touching his beloved. Darcia was never very rational where Harmona was concerned, and in many ways her death threw him over the edge. He doesn't seem to care about anything anymore; the future, for him, is meaningless. He even holds his sword to Cheza's throat; but he doesn't kill her. He just drops his sword, and walks away. Darcia needs Cheza for a reason very similar to that of the wolves; however, he seems to have trouble seeing her as a person. This is probably due to the combined influence of Harmona and the fact that his family created her in a lab. |