"Ignoring that, don't you think it would be fun to visit Satripa?"
"Eww, I don't want to be harassed by those neigh immortal freaks."
"It's a holy land, but it's pointless to visit it. You can only come in if you follow there teaching to a tee."
"You'd end up breaking a law and be jailed immediately."
"According to Captivant, those rules are being relaxed in the outer areas of the county."
"Why?"
"Apparently. Around the 12 Beast Temples, they are allowing people to come and go for short periods of time. The young are the ones who came up with it so that many may learn the history of the 12 Ordinances."
"The Ordinances have been fighting amongst themselves ever since the beginning of the 3rd Cycle; why would you want to learn anything about them?"
"You seem to forget that before they were 12 Ordinances, they were twelve families picked by the first Emperor of our Continent to protect us from any harm and destruction that might come from the Beastkin."
"Apparently, even moving back, it is said that every great uniter, because our first Emperor also picked 12 warriors to represent them on the battlefield, for each of our national Wonderbeasts. The Legacy of the Ordinances, in a way, goes back to the times the Yugaku lived on this land?"
"Yugaku, you mean that race from the holy texts."
"Yes, according to Captivant, they used to live on this land and explain many of the phenomena that take place throughout the country for us all. It's an amazing treasure trove of information for all of us all."
"Apparently, according to Captivant, many of the people of this land have hidden Yugaku lineages, so in fact many of us can be traced back to one people. So it's kind of like we are distant cousins with everyone else."
"Daddy, does that mean I have a lot more family?"
"I guess the people of Daraga aren't the only ones who suffer from lineage issues."
"Isn't that the island filled with people who fled west after the 6th Continent Nitztzedek imploded?"
"Yeah, and recently their land has been receiving a large number of people displaced by Dá."
"What idiots; they should've just joined our land, and returned home to Dá."
"It practise; doesn't that land have an overflowing amount of Flora? They should be capable of handling whatever comes their way."
"Yeah, but some other issues are coming up. According to Captivant, there is this boy named Eko, and he is faced with this heartbreaking issue."
"You know how in Daraga they tend to embed the stories of long-forgotten people, and heroes into monuments which are capable of repeating the stories for generations to come, and allow people to experience them in the flesh."
"Basic knowledge. It's one of the many reasons it's a tropical destination. But what about it?"
"Well, I didn't know this, but the quality of the stories is measured by the upkeep everyone does and said monuments. For large ones, it's usually a national duty to upkeep them, but for minor ones it's usually a private matter."
"And that's where Eko comes in. His favourite monument has lost its last private investor and elderly lady, and now he is all by himself."
"So he is poor; wow, it's almost like we are in the same situation."
"It isn't just that! He lost his parents to man-eating plants when he was young, yet the stories buried in that monument, the story of the pointless Hero, the name of the unnamed man who trained each day for the sake of having the ability to help anyone with no particular goal in mind, kept him going."
"A hero who aspired to be a hero, with no real reason or tragedy pushing him forward, one whose tales were never known to the world, but enough that a monument would be made of him, an unknown hero who chooses to keep moving forward for no reason other than the chance to help anyone, and even today, hundreds or even thousands of years after he lived, his work is still inspiring the young."
"You can look down on him, but at the end of it all, has your heart inspired anyone?"
"How sad! That child losing the monument would be like losing another parent; there must be something we can do."
"Too bad, our military is blockading them, stopping any supplies from reaching them."
"Then they should just give up and surrender, and Dá wouldn't be blockading them."
"I am sorry, but they won't take such a chance and risk any damage to the monuments they've spent so long defending above all else. Dá has a history of repainting the countries it takes in its own colours; they would rather die than let that happen."
"I agree, my history isn't something I would be okay with being erased for any reason, no matter who is trying to do the erasing. Even if it was the original empire."
"You all say that, but then spend hours shiiting on Seirei each day."
"Of course, I will make fun of those bastards who we all know stole our continent's powers for themselves."
"Spirit used to belong here, and no, they only appear on one tiny island in the middle of nowhere."
"We all know it's because of their curse."
"A convenient curse they keep bringing up, but see no proof of?"
"How do we know a giant fox appeared and cursed their land. Even the legend of a Hiruko comes and goes when it's convenient. We're supposed to believe there is some super powerful, world-ending power that reincarnates every generation, and they've killed each one without fail for almost 2000 years, and refuse to let anyone even check. Sounds like nonsense."
"You say that, but in many ways they are just like us. Haven't you heard the stories of Osaki and Yoko Gozen?"
"Isn't Gozen the name of one of their three schools of Battle Arts?"
"Yep, and their story brings tears to my eyes."
"Inari was a frail little girl who could barely get off her bed each day."
"Due to this, her parents had to constantly care for her while running their inn. Increasing the burden of their work and forcing them to close down many of their services for others."
"They were losing money and prestige year after year under this arrangement, and the pain it caused in their heart hurt her more than anything else. As she saw all she loved for so long be taken away from her day after day. So she went to end her life."
She climbed from her into the nearest mountain and hiked her weak body up it, powered by nothing but her will. Her love and her sadness gave her the power to conquer even nature itself."
And when she reached a cliff, she looked down and teetered on the edge. Her body stood still as she was preparing to jump, but at the very edge rage took hold of her body, and she cried something simple."
''Why do I have to die? Why does my life have to end like this? I know this will make mommy and daddy sad. It's not fair for them to lose something after all this time and investment. If I could just get stronger, if I could just be stronger, I wouldn't be like this. But I must make a choice.'"
"And guided by her sadness, she jumped."
"YET, in that moment a log rose from the bottom of the cliff, and slammed into her frail body before knocking it on top of the cliff again, and from there he rose with a panicked look, destroying his heart and the red string of fate pulling him closer towards her. Yoko Gozen, the Heir to the Gozon family. Who looked at the young girl beaten by the log he sent flying."
"He brought her home, and along with his parents and all the students of their dojo, he slammed his head into the ground, begging for forgiveness as they trampled on his head for launching a log so far away."
"But at the end of it all, his heart burst open with tears as he promised to stay with her until she was fully healed."
"He came every day, bearing gifts and treats as he came in to take care of all of her illnesses. He was loud, obnoxious, but was the first person in her life other than her parents to spend so much time with her, and regardless of if she wanted to or not, her heart opened up to him, and the pain within it grew."
"Until one day she saw him coming over, beaten and bruised with injuries. It seems one of the many students of the Dojo had started harassing her family's inn, under the guise of making them move away from the capital. It seems they were angry at the fact that the girl's sickness wasn't only due to the injury that day, but also due to her own lifelong illness, essentially making Yoko's vow a lifelong promise."
"And there in that place that belonged to the two of them, she asked, 'No more, I can't do this. I can't allow another life to be taken from the world thanks to me; Mom and Dad have lost so much, and now you do as well. I can't keep living like a leech for everyone each day; my heart can't take it anymore!"
"Yet she didn't care at all, and through her tears, through her sadness, he remained at her side, confused. As for him, each day spent with her filled his heart with nothing more than joy, so he set out to end her sadness."
"Each day he trained, fueled by her love for him, powering his soul, and there he took on the challenge of taking on all the students at his dojo."
"The blows hurt, his spirit was ruptured, and his mind started to fade, but through it all his fists kept moving till no one, even his father, was able to continue fighting him. His fists that day proved to her she wasn't a parasite dragging him down, but a light that lifted his heart, and with her by his side, he had an entirety of love!"
"I can't stop the tears; that was just too much."
"To think even those disgusting, arrogant bastards could feel love like this."
"What could be more precious than the bond between two who have opened their hearts so close to each other."
"It makes you think, doesn't it. How many more people are out there that have lost those precious to them?"
"How many more Inari and Yoko's have been destroyed than created during this war?"
"Why would Wèilái keep this battle going?"
"Maybe we should do something?"
"And risk dying?"
"You do realise we have children, and dependents to look after; we can't go and toss our lives away just because your heart was moved a bit by a random story."
"But I don't know if that's correct. If one day these wars bring an end to their happiness, could we truly say we are protecting them?"
"Then why don't we just surrender?"
"And lose our people."
"A united world would be better than a split one. If we really care about the future, we know what to do."
"But would Inari have been able to amplify Yoko so much if they were the same? If the things that split them didn't make them who they are, would their love have been so strong?"
"That's not how war works; to unite you must become one."
"But why does that have to be the way we unite? Why are we uniting during war? Why can't we choose another path?"
"You can't stop yourself from smoking every day, yet you believe you have the patience and willpower to change the world without war? Don't make me laugh."
"I may not have, but don't you think this little baby might?"