Azmaria Hendric

nihongo|Azmaria Hendric|アズマリア・ヘンドリック|Azumaria Hendorikku is a fictional character from the "Chrono Crusade" anime and manga series. She is known as the Apostle of Charity and has an amazing singing voice.

History

Early life

Azmaria was born in Fátima, Portugal on March 12 1914. She recalls in the manga that one night, when she was about 5 years old and ill, travelling with her parents, an angel appeared and supposedly gave her her gift. It is stated that her parents died in World War I, although this is questionable as the Mind Eater in Chrono Crusade Volume 2 mentions that Azmaria's parents were 'repulsed by her (power) and left her alone'. However, Azmaria does not seem to mention this. She immigrated to the United States and there she traveled with an orchestra. After a while, a man named Ricardo Henderic took Azmaria away from them. The band of singers was killed off by a demon. She was then adopted by Ricardo Henderic. Ricardo regarded Azmaria as a mere tool for his own selfish purposes. He charged Viscount Lerajie to be her enforcer and as a symbol of her imprisonment.

In the anime, it's simply seen that her parents, the orchestra she traveled with and everyone else she'd come into contact with, had been killed by demons searching for her. The man in the manga, Ricardo, is simply a man who wishes to use her power and orders Lerajie to capture her, which is at the point she meets Rosette and Chrono.

Rescue

Years passed and one night Chrono and Rosette made their way into Ricardo’s casino on a mission. As Azmaria hid in a maintenance closet, Rosette suddenly barged in and introduced herself as a friend even though Azmaria was clearly fearful of her presence. The attendants found the two. Azmaria begged Rosette to run, but Rosette had other plans for the girl.

The two escaped by breaking out of a window. Viscount Lerajie tried to stop them and ended up destroying part of the building, causing it to collapse. When the dust cleared, numerous people were hurt. Saddened and thinking that this was her fault, she started to use her power by singing. As her angel wings grew, a shining light emanated from her and the people touching it were instantly healed. Though she had this power to heal people, she always treated her power as a curse. The power, she believes, would cause misfortune and bring bad things to her and those close to her.

Azmaria spent her time at the Order. While under protective custody, she remains to be a helpful figure, trying to win favor by helping people. She overheard a conversation between Father Remington and Sister Kate in which they mentioned that the band in which Azmaria used to sing were all dead. Azmaria ran away, crying. When Rosette and Chrono went to her, she pretended that nothing was happening. Seeing that she was crying, Rosette took her to a nearby lake to talk and to have fun.

After a long discussion between Rosette and Azmaria, Lerajie found their location and seriously wounded Chrono. In order to save both Chrono and Rosette, Azmaria agreed to go with Lerajie. Lerajie then took her to the blimp in which it was manned by Ricardo and his men as he planned to use Azmaria to call upon the Astral Line and re-energize his body.

The Astral Line opened and Lerajie betrayed Ricardo at the last minute. As Ricardo’s tried to restrain Lerajie to no avail, and as his body turned into dust, Lerajie prepared to attack Azmaria. However Chrono, in his transformed state, attacked Lerajie and the two battled. Rosette soon arrived at the scene and explained to Azmaria about her and Chronos situation.

After a fierce battle, Chrono was able to overcome Lerajie and the blimp started to explode. But since the timeframe given by Rosette is over, Chrono transformed back into his childlike form, falling together with Rosette. Suddenly, Azmaria started to grow wings, bring Rosette and Chrono flew over to safety.

After the battle, Azmaria had lost her power temporarily and was unable to use them until later in the series. In the manga, Rosette frees her from possession by a Mind Eater, and Azmaria ceases to be afraid of her powers and regains her wings.

Friends and behavior

Azmaria usually hangs out with Chrono and Rosette and with Rosette’s friends. She looks up to Rosette as someone she wants to be like when she grows up. At first, Azmaria comes off as shy, but underneath, she is a pretty easy-going person, and rather sweet. She mentions very early on that she wants to be like Rosette Christopher (much to Sister Kate's chagrin).

She is an extremely helpful person and is always thinking about other people. Her favourite word is 'sorry' as she is apologetic to everyone when situations occur. She has a beautiful soprano voice and she enjoys her singing hobby.

Anime ending

Azmaria was extremely close to Chrono and Rosette, and upon learning of their deaths, was devastated. After being alone for a few minutes, she finally understood that Rosette and Chrono were finally at peace, and was happy for them.

In the final scenes of the anime, Azmaria has apparently joined the Magdalene Order. She lays the pocket watch by Rosette’s tomb, a sign that Azmaria still cares for two of her best friends.

Manga version

In the manga, Azmaria and all other Apostles lose their powers due to the Battle of Pandaemonium. She created a movie about the life and events after the battle in the Astraline for Satella. There was a frame in the manga which shows Azmaria and Joshua holding hands with rings on their fingers, which suggested that they were married. In the manga, it is shown that she has grown to old age, and had established a Hendric Foundation, which her grandson continued after her death and has unfrozen Satella.