[History] Isira's Truth

[Spirits of Isira]

The Guardian of the Night's Tale

This vast garden grows in the middle of a uncharted rain forest, known by local villagers as Isira. It shelters the graves of fallen soldiers from centuries past. Tribe members come to decorate the shrines dedicated to the fallen. Now and then a wish is made in the spiritual beds every autumn in hopes of changes come next spring. Masks used to lie underneath the soil, beautiful, elegant masks of the ancients. The spirits of the fallen wander the garden forever in peace and enjoyment. It has become their afterlife, their sanctuary. If a villager or traveler is lucky enough, one of these spirits will dig up the mask of their choice and grant their wish, whatever it may be. Those are the only times spirits leave the safety of the garden and enter the impure world.

A beautiful woman, a spirit, used to sit upon the gateway to the garden. She overlooked and watched everything as she greeted everyone. Her style of greeting was obscure as she usually scared many away but those who stayed grew to love her company and came to her often for help. She would refer to us spirits as the miracle workers.

Her name? Reitichi. The Guardian of Day.  

[Spirits of Isira]

The Mire

The seasons began to change with no notice at all. Snow began to fall and temperatures drastically dropped. All were puzzled as for centuries there was no shift in weather changes. Perhaps your occasional rainfall, but nothing more than that. The guardian of the day, Reitichi, speculated that there was dark forces at work. Little did we know what she meant... But she vanished for a short while and came back with the news of something called "The Mire". To be honest, I couldn't believe it myself. As long as I have been in the Garden, I have never heard of such a place. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I asked her to take me there.

She wouldn't take me, she said horrible things happened there, and yet, I insisted on going. Soon she gave in and took me to this place that caused so much ruckus amongst the spirits. On our journey back, one of the spirits from the Mire must have followed us into the Garden. They began to appear slowly... weeding their way into our ranks. Their leader? My friend.

At least he was. Reitichi mentioned something about a spirit named Solitude. My heart stopped as I heard the name. It began to make sense to me. The snow... The vengeful spirits... Everything began to fall into place. He knew I was here and wanted to finish me off for something that was a misunderstanding.

You see Solitude and I have a long history together. We were both warriors in our past lives. I was used for night raids and assassinations due to my sight and skill, while he was used at any time due to his ability to control the weather, creating harsh conditions. We eventually befriended one another and were put in the same unit. Things looked fine until that one night... That one mission I will never forget.

Our unit was gravely out numbered. Gun shots could be heard for miles, the vivid smell of gun powder lingering in the snowy air. Our enemy was prepared for our ambush and quickly ceased the upper hand. Fighting our way into what seemed to be a loosing battle, Solitude was captured. I ran after them in attempts to set him free but was badly wounded in the process. As I laid in the snow, close to what I thought was my own death... I watched him be burned alive.

The last thing he must have saw was me laying there on the ground, staring in horror, watching him burn. But the reality is I was attempting to get to my feet... And he never knew how much I wanted to save him...

Those thoughts were ingrained into his mind... And he wanted revenge. He believed I left him to die. And that was the reason he took all these vengeful spirits and cursed the land.

Or so we thought...  

[Spirits of Isira]

The War

Reitichi and myself came to an agreement. We would gather what spirits willingly wanted to fight against Solitude and his hoard of monsters. As the time for our invasion into the Mire arrived, I was captured by Solitude. As a prisoner, I was tortured and would learn of the events that lead to my rescue later.

Reitichi managed to gather that group of spirits and set off into the Mire with them. The place was loaded with illusions and trickery from what my mate has told me. Visions of your past become a haunting reality for the moment. And the truth is twisted and your heart is toyed with. But surprisingly, the group managed to get to set me free. But at what cost? Many were scarred mentally and Reitichi... didn't return herself.

I do not know fully what happened to her, but I do know, certain aspects of her past began to show themselves. Many details are unbeknown to me as I wasn't there to witness a lot of it. All I know is that they did rescue me and someone's life was taken. A guide gave up her life to save Reitichi's. And Reitichi in return agreed to Solitude's twisted plan of making her into a puppet of the Mire in order to stop the Winter curse he placed upon the land.

Weeks later, all seemed to return to normal. Many Mire spirits vanished and only a few stayed. The snow melted and life thrived again at Isira. Less people showed up in the Garden, which means illness amongst the living was down. All good signs... Except for the insanity brewing in the mind of the guardian of day...  

[Spirits of Isira]

The Aftermath

The war had seemed to bring us all together. Once again Isira was a peaceful land. Smiles and new beginnings was the reason for being there once more. I should have known better...

Reitichi's fits of outrage and violence were getting worse each passing day. The self inflicted wounds baffled many... Spirits couldn't bleed nor really feel physical pain. And yet there she was... writhing in pain, blood dripping from the freshly torn wounds... Something was wrong. And we all thought it to be Solitude's fault.

She rambled on about how it was the only way to become alive again. You had to give up your soul, allowing both your dark and light side to merge... and whichever was victorious, would be free to leave the Garden as a person. Many believed it and some where skeptical. Luckily she was the only one we knew of who managed to get to this stage. The thought of more spirits going through that turmoil sickens me...

The fight between light and dark was a rough one for the guardian of day. She became withdrawn from the spirits she once so freely communicated with and now spent her days hiding from them so they couldn't see the transition. From the few times I did see her, I realized what good she had in her was fighting a loosing battle... The Reitichi we all knew and loved was gone.  

[Spirits of Isira]

The Transition

Soon the Garden began to change once more. It was as if it was dying. Nothing would grow and hardly any new spirits entered. The weather was the same it had been since the snow cleared up... So why was this happening?

One morning I awoke to a strange cry. The cry was a mangled scream of pain. My heart sank as I got to my feet and rushed off to see what was going on... Reitichi had finally lost her mind.

I never wanted to disclose these details to anyone... But I feel as if I must.

What I saw that morning, at the edge of the Garden as I peered into the village, was the darker side of Reitichi. In her hands was the head of a villager... no body was attached. The path in which she had walked was littered with bodies and other objects that she had broken in her rage. A few spirits sat injured who tried to stop her. I began to believe we were all doomed to fate's cruel plan...

The old tale was that if a spirit leaves the Garden and kills one of the living, an irreplaceable curse will be placed upon it. The Garden will begin to shrivel up, the spirits slowly vanishing one by one until there was no proof of it's existence. We all would be gone... and with that many humans killed.. I couldn't fathom the additional punishments we would receive...

But fate works in mysterious ways and we were blessed with the presence of the Gods that watched over us. Ceasing Reitichi, they turned to me. I could do nothing but plead for their forgiveness. Over and over I told them it wasn't her fault. She had no idea what she was doing... But I was deceived.

They revealed that the Mire was her doing. She had summoned the dark spirits that lived there, Solitude included. Leaving Solitude in charge was a part of her plan and a way to cover up her tracks. She learned through him about his hatred for me and found it a perfect way to place the everlasting curse on the Garden. They worked together for a short while until Solitude was defeated and could no longer be of use to her. After casting him aside, she claimed that he had placed some sort of hex upon herself which this ultimate transformation would occur as I've said earlier.

That was all a lie. She was trying to cover up the true side of herself and the intentions she had. The friendly, slightly mischievous Reitichi was a facade at least that's what it seemed to be. I learned that she was the Angel of Death's daughter... and it began to make more sense to me. Something must have happened at the Garden where it messed with the flow of the afterlife and she believed it must be destroyed for things to be corrected.

The Gods added that this was not so. They had created this place to give those another chance at happiness before their final resting place open its gates to them. But... All I could ask at the time was the fate of Reitichi.

Turning to her, as she cursed and attempted to free herself from one of the Gods' grasp, another spoke out to me. They said, "Although she is in this state, she realizes the crimes she has committed. She understands the punishment... Her punishment will be her own and her final death will result in the curse to be lifted."

...I couldn't believe this was happening.  

[Spirits of Isira]

New Beginnings

A Goddess spoke out from the group of divine authority, "You will be given new forms, ones that can help nurture this land and give back to it what it has given you."

Her words were confusing but I nodded my head asking about these forms. They are the ones you see today. Elemental spiritual bodies. We would work as the caretakers of Isira, living in the Garden, tending to nature and obeying its orders. It was a small price to pay for a crime so grave. Instead of facing total annihilation, we were being spared... Except for one.

As the Gods began to depart, Reitichi turned to face me. Her face was grief stricken and her words a whisper. "Take care of the others... Let them know... I am not afraid to meet my fate... I deserve it for all the pain I have put you all through. My own believes were based upon falsity..." She paused and turned away from me, walking off into the distance, "May you all have a wonderful afterlife..."  

[Spirits of Isira]

The Humans' Account

"Legend speaks of a woman who sat upon the archway to the graves of the fallen. Smiling, she would assist the travelers along their way to pay respects to the dead. All golden eras must come to an end... and Isira was of no exception. Turmoil overran the Garden as malicious spirits from the Mire began to make their way in. In order to save the Garden and the afterlife as these spirits knew it, a sacrifice had to be made.

They began to work with the elemental deities of the land in hopes to acquire a new form. A new way to live and be free of the curse that became a plague. Some spirits would have to sacrifice their current forms in order for the transition to be fruitful. Amongst these spirits were the guardians of the Garden. Reduced to a normal status upon their rebirth they returned to the graves in search of others who wished to transition to a newer afterlife.

A few did and many others stayed behind. Not all had to switch for soon the curse began to fade and the dark ages the spirits knew vanished. The Mire still reigned over the malicious spirits and the Garden over the virtuous ones. Many villagers began to think all their troubles were over... but it was just the beginning of something even worse."  

[Spirits of Isira]

Final Thoughts

The humans will never know the truth and loss behind the Garden. They have sugarcoated a lot of the horrid truth I have unveiled. As I once thought, Isira was a peaceful place. But then strange, vengeful spirits appeared and soon vanished after the war. Some stayed and the events of the Mire brought us all together. But the greater price for all of this was the lost of someone's sanity. Our beloved guardian of day placed a curse upon the Garden and got every spirit to place the blame on Solitude, better known as the Lord of the Mire. The Gods, or as the humans called them, 'elemental deities', descended and revealed the truth behind the madness and bloodshed. When all hope was seemingly lost, we were granted another chance. A new form was given to the spirits who willing accepted it with the sugarcoated truth I had given them... but they never knew of the sacrifice made in return for their once again curse free lives.

The chaos is over but both human and spirit alike feel that it is not the end. That much I can agree on. But as you can see, the humans' tale differs greatly from the truth. Then again the truth might be too hard for them to accept. I do not know how many were murdered or what was destroyed and how many souls were lost forever. Perhaps they have altered the truth to prevent people from hating the dead. If that is the case... Let us thank them.

I must ask everyone this though... Do not think ill of Reitichi. She did what she thought was correct to do. In the end she ultimately did what was right at the time and her death will not go in vain. We will carry on now that the truth has been spoken and will write a new history for Isira.