Chapter 5 - Turii/Gaiden is the 5th chapter in the The Epic of Zektbach.
Gaiden - The legend of Gijiri[]
Nestled on a small hillside, there was a poor cottage in a crowded village – Jakotsu. It had rough soil, small fields, there was a horrible stench of the corpses of cattle piled at the side of the village.
A boy was born here. He was also born with the status of "filth." At the plains where the river flows down between the hill, there was a large estate and huge plantation belonging to Konohana, a village facing Jakotsu.
The bridge was suspended over the river, but the people of Jakotsu were not permitted to cross over. One time, from Konohana a child with a beautiful appearance came across the bridge lead by her parents. The people of the village kneeled down and pressed their head on the ground before them, unable to see their faces. It seems the Konohana's chief had ordered for the village to make something. The boy who labored at that infertile farm, peeped at the girl who was under the shade of a tree, attended by her parents. He never seen someone with such vivid clothes, the girl's black hair was very gorgeous and glossy. At the city, for a moment the elegant forbidden beauty captivated the boy. Without thinking, he approached the girl.
Seeing this, the father became enraged.
"With the status of Kagachi, what do you think you're doing! Don't you dare come closer! You will not make my daughter dirty!" The angry bellow resounded through the whole village, and the face of every villager became pale at once. The boy's father quickly began to beat his son thoroughly. "Please, forgive him! I will really teach this whelp a lesson. Please, I beg of you forgive him!"
Still, the boy did not understand.
'For what reason does my father punish me?
Why does everyone make that terrified face?
And, why does that girl look at me with such contemptuous eyes?'
Then, a few years later, the now fully grown boy only vaguely understands the situation of the village. The people of this village can summon Kagachi, which means impure blood flows.... But, the boy never thought that discrimination happened on its own. The people of the village were just lazy; they decided because of fate that it was best not to seek things like education and refinement. If only he became a refined person, the people of Konohana should approve of him. It was because [the people of] Kagachi were unwilling to adjust their low personal appearance that they were scorned. The boy thought, he decided to put all his effort into becoming a better person. It did little good, but he wanted recognition from that girl.
"I will become superior at Kenjustu, and I may also learn many different studies and etiquette. Once, it would be nice to talk with her, and have her smile... When I become a distinguished man, surely she'd understand me."
But, no matter how hard he tried to get to the other side of the bridge, he could not become the same as a Yamajijin (Person of the mountain? Omifushisama?)
The mouth of the girl held these last words. "Stay away from me, you... filty low-class Kagachi!"
It's likely that the girl's cruel eyes would never change... No matter where he goes, the chain of poverty and discrimination would probably continue.
Most likely, from then Kagachi's pride as a human being was lost.
Someone would have to be sliced apart...
Someone would have to be destroyed...
If the curse of both past and future was extinguished...
The boy set fire to the village.
Turii[]
Once upon a time.
The eight pieces of Ristaccia were found.
And the eight races, now in possession of the secret power of Ristaccia, awakened.
To balance the distorted stream of energy, the planet had been prodded into action by Ristaccia.
Finally, a mystical giant tree was born on the island of Turii.
And under that giant tree, once lived a special kind of race, the "people of the stars".
They knew neither about the other eight races, nor about Ristaccia. They just lived there peacefully and quietly.
Different from the other eight races, they didn't have even qualia or sexuality. They were completely locked out of the gate of "mutation". Therefore, they would never bring unbalance to the world, and, likewise, would never be unbalanced.
They kept their population stable, and together with the giant tree, they had become the power of balance, to counter the chaos power of Ristaccia.
Thanks to their existence, the planet was preserved from destruction after the Ristaccia War. Under the power of balance, at last, the once ruined earth was restored. All chaos returned to great harmony once again.
But, this goodness would not last forever. An unexpected condition, finally, smashed the last hope for this planet.
<Holy Tree Turii and the People of The Stars>
On a mysterious island, where the site for Turii was located, a ceremony involving the people of the stars was held every one and a half years.
There could only be, at most, 10 of these beings in the world, and their ages were marked on their bodies by rings.
Malchut, the eldest, realized that she would have to return to nature in order to maintain the Turii's balance in the world. So after a ceremony with song and dancing in front of the nine other star people, she quietly went into the water.
But, out of youthful exuberance, Kukaru, who had been observing the ceremony, interrupted the ceremony. He belonged to an agency, Sazaragi, that was responsible for exploring distant lands and their heritage. In his sense of justice, Kukaru rescued Malchut from "drowning", much to his relief and her shock. Because of his interference, the harmonious circulating flow of Turii had been interrupted and chaos would soon begin.
Malchut was then taken away to Masinowa, leaving the other nine star people behind on the island, causing disorder. This break in the ring of harmony caused the disruption of causality between the stars and the planet.
Malchut gradually awakened to the disruption of the natural balance of the planet. She realized that the disruption was now present and that she now did not have the power to eliminate it.