Nadia Rayne

Nadia Rayne (ナーディア・レイン), also known as Nine of Swords or Nine (ナイン), is the female protagonist of the  novel series, Three & Nine.

Appearance
Nadia is a girl with wavy pink hair arranged into twin tails and mint blue eyes. She wears a sleeveless pink and white lacy top with a high collar and a blue cravat. She has a ruffled tartan skirt, detached ruffled sleeves, black thigh high stockings with a ornamental V shaped pattern at the edge and brown leather boots. Two cotton ball like ornaments are in her hair along with some ribbon. A hair pin resembling the number '9' is present in her hair. Nadia carries around a large stuffed bear with a cape and top hat, which is filled with poisonous needles and wires, her weaponry of choice.

Personality
Nadia is a seemingly cheery and laid-back individual, with a penchant for taking in the sights while travelling and napping. However, the aforementioned belies an extremely intelligent and top class analytical individual. Nadia is able to quickly analyze a situation or person, even from just sound. She is an excellent actor and can convincingly play a number of role to feign allegiances. She has a small sadist streak, having threatened targets with talk of horrific torture in order to get information.

Certain stimuli can trigger a trance-like state in which she becomes laser-focused at carrying out assassinations (such as seeing Rixia perform). Before meeting Swin Abel, Nadia was plagued with nightmares about her past and assassination work, and was unable to sleep. With Swin, she can finally rest easy and is devoted to working with him as his partner, knowing him extremely well.

Nadia gets along well with  and especially Lapis, assuming the role of big sister for the latter. She goes out of her way to teach and tease Lapis in equal measure, and while initially distrustful of , she grows to genuinely trust and appreciate his presence in her life. Above all else, Nadia deeply cherishes her bonds with her newfound companions, and wants nothing more than to spend as much time with them.

Background
Nadia grew up in a home with an abusive father who she described as a 'monster' who would take all the family's Mira, make life difficult for their mother and eventually developed a habit of expensive substance addiction. Her brother, Ace looked out for her until one day he was sent away and she was left on her own. She learnt from a letter he was able to send that he had been sold to fund their father's addiction, and he was now part of the organization known as Garden. He sent her messages about his plans to escape with similarly minded Swin, and how he would let him live if they were ever caught. Through his letters, Nadia felt like she came to know Swin very well, but when the letter stopped entirely, she feared the worst.

Nadia knew her time to be sold would come eventually come, so he planned ahead and arranged to join the Organization herself, being sent to their training facility, 'The Factory' where she learned about her brother's demise at Swin's hand and she swore revenge. She devoted herself to the training, becoming one of their most talented members and passing the training in just a single year. During this time, she was plagued by nightmares and found herself unable to sleep properly.

She was assigned to work with Swin, but found him every bit the person her brother made him out to be, and that when beside him, she could sleep peacefully for the first time in ages. She knew that Swin was planning to escape, but that he was poor at acting, so she made her own plans in secret to escape.

Nadia wields a needle from a stuffed toy and steel wires. She possesses a variety of needles, including several kinds of poisons, to adjust to the situation. She supports Swin's close combat by analysing the enemies and casting arts.

Three & Nine
Nadia had been working as an assassin under the alias of Nine of Swords alongside Swin for about a year when they completed a mission to kill Haldor Baarn, a corrupt individual working with Heiyue. She played the part of a tyrannical nobleman's daughter in order to feign access, used her wires and needles to disable the ex-jaegar guards and feigned taking a nap in order to analyse the archaism used by Baarn and detect its weak points. After reporting on the mission, Nadia realises that the Emperor, their superior is on to Swin's attempt to escape once again, and puts her own plan into action.

Swin's previous partner, Ace, is in fact her older brother. She hides this fact from him until she reports to the Emperor and states that she was planning to kill him from the beginning for his part in Ace's death. She quickly ties her wires and Swin's neck, as he has resigned himself to death. Nadia instead reveals she had planted secrets wires to attack the Emperor and buries him under boulders. They flee upon witnessing his gravity powers but realise they will have no better opportunity to finish the job and otherwise he will pursue them forever.

Nadia's needles do little damage to the Emperor, even when she works out how to attune their trajectories to account for his gravitational manipulation. This time, she feigns a mortal wound in order to analyse him, and works out he is down to only three out of four of the Monarch's Regalia. The pair finally manage to slay the emperor. They travel to Calvard and wonder about their next steps while moving around in a horse cart. During this time, they also meet Van Arkride who helps them out.

In, a novel about their activities is published, which Nadia later states is the Organization's way of putting out a wanted poster.

Nadia makes her debut along with Swin in Crossbell. They first come to Crossbell in hopes of hiding the last piece of the Monarch's Regalia, and notice the book named after them doing well. Nadia comments how they should receive royalties. Whilst in the city, they visit the Arc en Ciel and witness Rixia Mao practicing. Recognizing her as the legendary assassin, Yin, Nadia's instincts kick in and she thinks of Rixia as a target to be eliminated. Swin restrains her but Yin detects the killing intent. Leaving the city, Rixia and the pair confront each other, but it soon turns out to be a misunderstanding- Yin thought the Organization (which hates Yin for an unknown reason) was after her, and Nadia and Swin thought The Organization had sent Yin after them. They part ways on amicable terms.

Nadia and Swin are then hired to deliver a black briefcase to a 'C' which they successfully do after fighting Zoa Balor. They open this case to reveal Lapis Rosenberg. C then hires the two for their services and travels to Heimdallr where they work to reveal surreptitious elements of the Erebonian Army. Nadia christens the group as the 'Imperial Picnic front'. They are pursued by Rean's group into the catacombs. Nadia threatens a soldier with gruesome torture until he speaks and they fight a devil together. In the Himmel Cemetery, Nadia helps fend off Crow Armbrust and Rean's party who have caught up, but after C's mask is smashed, revealing his identity, they flee onboard a Neinvalli airship.

The group's next destination is the Doll Studio to recover Lapis' memories. Whilst there, the group is Split up and Nadia and Swin encounter what appears to be the Emperor, seemingly alive and now with all four of the monarch's regalia, even after they had hidden three of them. This new Emperor is no longer interested in killing them, seeing them as the perfect tools and wanting to bring them back to the Organization. After fighting for a while, Nadia deduces small differences and weaker strength than the original and works out that he is a fake. F. Novartis confirms this and Nadia and Swin are able to overcome the effect and destroy the Simulacrum.

At the Knox prison, they discover Lapis' true nature. The revelation is interrupted by the appearance of a monstrous form of the Emperor, who has been fully taken over by the orb artefact and is now obsessed with tracking the pair down. With help from Zeit, The group cut off the arm containing the orb and Swin and Nadia pierce it together, destroying the artefact and ending the threat once and for all.

Nadia and Swin take part in the operation to retake Crossbell City, and the subsequent infiltration party used to assault Reverse Babel. Swin and Nadia are separated during the final assault but reconvene towards the center. After the battle, they wait by C's beside join him on his travels through Calvard after his recovery.