Ozen

"Ozen, to Lyza asking her about what was up with her hair"

- Chapter 16

Ozen "The Immovable" is a legendary White Whistle Delver who has made outstanding discoveries of The Abyss and retrieved numerous artifacts of incredible value. Even among her fellow White Whistles, Ozen is renowned for her incredible physical strength. She is a mysterious entity, shrouded by countless rumors that are absurd but hard to refute.

She lives at the Seeker Camp within the 2nd Layer of the Abyss, where she commands a small team of cave raiders known as "The Layabouts."

Appearance
Ozen is an exceedingly tall and rather slim woman that stands at over 2 meters of height. She has a strangely shaped monochrome hairstyle that is styled in a special way to conceal the scalp deformations caused by the extended exposure to the Curse of the Abyss.

Her eyes are pitch black and lusterless, giving her a rather unsettling and disturbing gaze. When fully equipped for delving, she wears bulky armor and a disc-shaped hat that covers her eyes.

Her White Whistle is adorned with a pair of horns, giving it a bovine appearance.

Despite being more than half a century old, she appears quite youthful, with the only thing showing her age being her white hair.

Personality
A coldness dominates her personality, and she can often be cruel, cynical and apathetic; even after discovering that she couldn't even scratch Reg during their fight, she continued to hit him anyways, citing that 'after a while [she] just got too into it'. She despises lying to children, and rarely lies to them — even if it means telling them brutal truths. Ozen has absolute control over her facial expressions and as a result her actual feelings (or lack thereof) cannot be guessed with any certainty.

However, she is not completely devoid of warmth; it is shown that secretly she dearly cares for Lyza. When Riko and Reg departed from the Seeker Camp to delve further into the depths of the Abyss, Ozen revealed that she would've liked it if she didn't need to send them off before she could reminisce more about Lyza. She also holds a tender spot for her newest apprentice Maruruk, treating him well and allowing him to stay at the Seeker Camp so that his eyes could be spared of the surface's light.

History
Despite her youthful appearance, Ozen has been a White Whistle for over 50 years. Sometime in her life, she came to know a young Lyza. Initially unwelcoming of Lyza, she attempted to drive the young girl off by the threat of violence. It was only through Lyza's stubbornness and refusal to leave Ozen alone that Ozen was convinced of allowing the young girl to become her apprentice. The two became very close with each other, and within time Lyza became a fellow White Whistle. They were mutually fond of each other; upon finding Ozen's hand injured, Lyza vowed to annihilate whoever gave her the injury.

She was one of the members of the expedition to descend to the 4th Layer in search of the artifact, the Unheard Bell, along with Lyza and her husband Torka. Though she is deeply fond of Lyza, her love stopped there; when Lyza introduced her to Torka and declared that they were married, Ozen appeared dismayed and unaccepting of the decision.

As they made their journey down to the Fourth Layer, Ozen and her comrades fell to tragedies; many died, including Lyza's husband Torka. When she made to the Fourth Layer and found the Unheard Bell, the numbers in their party had dwindled significantly; she and Lyza were one of the few who had survived the descent.

Sometime after the discovery of the Unheard Bell, Ozen was forced to help Lyza give birth; sadly, Lyza's child was stillborn. The child's corpse Ozen took and placed inside the Curse-Warding Box. Weakened by the birth and grieving for her child, Lyza asked Ozen to give her some time alone, leading to Ozen vacating the shelter they had found.

Cursing Torka for getting Lyza pregnant then dying and leaving Lyza alone, Ozen began to make plans for her ascension, deciding that her best route would be to take the bell and Lyza while leaving the Curse-Warding Box where it was. It is then that she noticed the cries coming from within the box, coming from the resurrected Riko.

At the behest of Lyza, Ozen abandoned the Unheard Bell and helped to carry the Curse-Warding Box back to the surface.

Two years later after Riko's birth and just before Lyza's final dive into the depths of the Abyss, Ozen had her last conversation with Lyza while viewing Orth from a balcony. She commented on the disturbing actions made by Riko when coming out of the Curse-Warding Box; the moment she was released, she tried to crawl towards the center of the Abyss. It is then that Ozen promised Lyza that, when the time came, she would reveal to Riko the truth of her nature.

Some point in time, she became the guardian of the Seeker Camp, also becoming the mentor of Maruruk and the commander of the delving team "The Layabouts".

When Riko and Reg came to the Seeker Camp, she commanded her apprentice Maruruk to lower the camp's gondola down so that the two could rise. Recognizing Riko immediately, Ozen led them inside.

Seating the pair down in a sitting area of the Seeker Camp, Riko gave Ozen her mother's White Whistle so that she could examine it. Ozen was surprised to see the whistle, as she thought that she'd never see the whistle ever again. Right after, Riko thanked her, for lending her help in carryinig Riko back to the surface after her birth. Hearing that, Ozen coldly admitted that she often pondered ditching her and leaving her body behind during the ascension to the surface. Reminiscing about the Unheard Bell excursion further, Ozen began muttering cryptically.

After being brought back to her senses by Maruruk, Ozen inquired to Riko why she was at the Seeker Camp, given her status as a Red Whistle; Red Whistles are restricted to solely the 1st Layer of the Abyss, whereas the Seeker Camp was located in the 2nd Layer. Aside from the rules dictacting that Red Whistles cannot venture further than the 1st layer, the difficulty of the 2nd Layer also acted as a deterrent — for inexperienced Red Whistles, the harsh environment of the 2nd Layer is too difficult to bear.

Interested in finding out how two Red Whistles arrived to the Seeker Camp of their own merit, Ozen instructed Maruruk to lend an ear to Riko and Reg in her stead; her reasoning was that it would be easier for children to talk to children.

At Ozen's instructions, Maruruk gave the two Blue Whistles; Ozen noted that it would be troublesome having to explain the presence of two Red Whistles in the Seeker Camp, so for their stay in the Seeker Camp they would wear Blue Whistles. In exchange for the Blue Whistles, she took Lyza's White Whistle as collateral, and she told them that they could exchange the Blue Whistles for the White Whistle when they were about to leave. Ozen requested that Reg and Riko stay the night, telling Riko to take a bath because she smelled of vomit.

Ozen appears to have known Reg before his memory loss, though it's currently unknown how the two interacted prior to it. During her fight with Reg, she could tell that he had lost his memory, and she declared that it 'would be best' to dispose of him before he remembered anything, suggesting that Reg's memories of Ozen or more may be better left forgotten.

Abilities
She is a peerless fighter. About 120 Thousand-Men Pins have been embedded in her body, and grant her superhuman strength, speed, and vitality. However, even she can't put a scratch on Reg using her relic.

Trivia

 * Apparently, she likes odd-tasting food.

Quotes

 * (to Reg) "Do you have a conception of God? The people around here, you see, don't believe in God. Do you know what is it they believe in? The answer is this place - the Abyss itself."
 * (to Riko & Reg) "Don't stay in the deep layers if you don't want to kill those who are waiting for you."