Delilah Gardner

"A beautiful woman who willingly isolated herself from the World."

- Kohta Hirano

 (デリラ園芸家; Gādonā Derira; literally meaning Seductive Gardener), typically referred to as Nature's Vengeance (自然の復讐, Shizen no Fukushū) or Nature's Mistress (自然のミストレス, Shizen no Misutoresu) was a wandering and independent Mage with former ties to the now deceased White Horizon Guild. She now wanders the land of Fiore in search of the murderers responsible for the unwarranted deaths of her comrades and a mysterious Lost Magic reputed to find them. Delilah was known to bear an intense animosity and hatred towards Kei Yume, the reason left unsaid.

Delilah was one of the central protagonists of Fairy Tail: Journey and Retribution, serving as a Mercenary-for-Hire to make ends meet as she continued her search and was considered to be Another Poetic Spartan's Main Character in their works.

Appearance
Delilah had the appearance of a young woman nearing her mid-twenties. She was of average height and was quite slim, a fact people regularly noted when within her presence, much to her apparent chagrin. Delilah had long-cut, flowing midnight black hair that reached barely past her shoulders, with two bangs that framed her untarnished face. She also wore a four-petaled accessory on the left side of her hair, kept aloft by an inexpensive pin. She had soft, light violet eyes that always seemed to a sad and gloomy tint to it, as if it longed for something far away. However, the woman's gaze always seemed to mysteriously captivate the eyes of others, as men always attempted to hit on her, much to Delilah's annoyance. Delilah had very pale skin, even though she spent countless hours in the glaring sun during her travels, yet remained unaffected by rays. She was known to have a somewhat flat chest, which paled in comparison to Lucy Heartfilia and Juvia Lockster. But as the years passed, there seemed to be a noticeable increase in her bust size.

Delilah's most commonly worn attire was a loose fitting, predominately black two-piece dress with light brown frills near the ends and the sides adjacent to her waist while she wore a simple black coat with fuzzy collar over her clothing. As for accessories, Delilah wore a simple brown leather belt tied around her waist and a long, silky scarf that slightly hung away from her neck. She also had a light brown beret on her head, adorned with a multi-layered pinkish flower, much like her four-petaled accessory. Delilah wore long white and alluring stockings with brown boots made by her father, completing her outfit.

As a child, Delilah's clothing was far more lighter and slightly a bit upbeat, being of purple coloring. She was also more paler than she was now and had worn an onyx bracelet that always glistened in the sunlight. Her hairstyle was relatively the same in essence, as she still had the four-petaled accessory. The only difference was that it was cut extremely short, noted to be quite similar to a bowl cut.

Equipment
Daggers (たんとう, Tantou): One of the few items Delilah kept on her body for use in unfavorable situations. She regularly used it in situations where the Mage was unable to fully utilize her Magic and had to rely on other means to fight. While Delilah was somewhat lacking in combat, she was significantly better in throwing them with great accuracy. Delilah kept a number of them around her body, rumoured to be around forty-nine places. The daggers were specially made to order and could be easily augmented to bear several magic effects. They were finely crafted and even bore the potential to withstand other magical blades, albeit for a short duration.

Magic and Abilities
Plant Magic (プラントマジック Puranto Majikku):

Transformation (変身魔法 Henshin Mahō):

Basic Swordmanship Specialist: Delilah possessed several short daggers placed around her body meant to act as a form of self-defense. However, her knowledge in the field was quite basic and lackluster, as she hardly practiced and only used it when it served her benefit such as surprise attacks. Delilah's usage was primarily focused on blocks and feints, with some skill in precision cuts and direct attacks. However, she used her strength to easily deflect most attacks with little effort. In most engagements, Delilah primarily relied on her Plant Magic and Hand-to-Hand knowledge over her weak Swordsmanship. Ironically, the woman was better skilled at throwing the daggers at her opponent, using magic to help better the accuracy of the throws.

Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Despite her slender stature and the fact she was regularly left defenseless, Delilah was forced to learn and rely on hand-to-hand combat to defend herself when magic was no longer viable to cast. She proved herself to be quite a capable hand-to-hand combatant, using flexibility and tight movements to defeat opponents. Her style was self-described as refined and artistic, as if she was dancing to a well-played concerto. She had the tendency to be passive and conservative, patiently waiting for the right time to strike. Delilah stated she preferred to rely on cool and flowing movements as well as yielding and "sticking" to an incoming attack to win most engagements. In most cases, it was reactionary combat. Having practical knowledge in anatomy allowed Delilah to easily pinpoint the body's numerous weak points and consecutively made efforts to target those areas when given the chance.

Trivia

 * Delilah's last name, Gardener, was pun on the character.

Behind the Scenes

 * The name, Delilah is of Hebrew origin, meaning "languishing, lovelorn, seductive". Biblically, Delilah was the woman who beguiled Samson into revealing the secret of his superhuman strength.
 * Delilah keeping daggers in forty-nine places around her body was a reference and nod to Mihato Uesugi, a character in Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de that stated she could hide items in forty-nine places on her body.