Disclaimer: I do not own MapleStory.

A/N: Chapter two of History of Zipangu. Hope you enjoy!

amane: Thank you for liking my story! I was thinking the story is stupid but at least now I know that you like it. Thank you! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

BronzeRavenRavenclaw: I can understand your feelings as a magician. It's tough to train when your level is low. However, elementary wizards are just as good so I wish you good luck on your leveling!

KazeNoTsubasa: Thank you for liking my story. I hope you enjoy this chapter!


Chapter 2: Fall of Zipangu

Years flew by and Maria got older and older, her powers weakened and she wasn't as alert as she was in her younger days. However, the cloud fox, night fox and flame raccoon continued to be loyal to her, no matter if they knew how useless she was when protecting them. Maria knew her days were short, and tried to do as much for Zipangu and her friends. Helping in the rise of Zipangu was the happiest moment ever and the love of her friends gave her much compassion for them.

However, in the depths of hell, ghosts roamed all over, furious for the death of the ancestors and hungry for revenge. For eight years, they have planned the perfect plan to destroy the peaceful and plentiful Zipangu and replace the land with tombstones and anything signifying death. Finally, their plan was completed, and on this fateful night, they carried out their plans carefully, secretly and quietly…

The next morning, Maria took her staff and went out to breathe the fresh crisp morning air. She had used her staff as her walking stick to support herself as she was as fragile as china. As she strolled, she noticed that the three species of friendly monsters gathered at a certain spots, murmurs were heard between their own discussions.

"What is it?" Maria asked a young night fox at the last row of the crowd.

"There is suddenly a tombstone in the middle of Zipangu." The young fellow replied.

Maria asked to see the tombstone and everyone separated, leaving a clear route for Maria to pass as their respect for her never ends. When she saw the grayish piece of shaped stone, she inspected it for a while, then walked around it, thinking thoughtfully. Then, with a commanding voice, she ordered, "Get this tombstone out of here and throw it into the fire!"

Immediately, all the monsters obeyed but they were too slow. Ghosts emerged from the tombstone in a continuous flow and entered the monsters' bodies. Maria looked around and saw her enemies advancing towards her. By now, everyone in Zipangu has been processed. Maria used her dragon staff and immediately used her Holy Symbol on all the ghosts.

The ghosts backed away but it was too late, the Holy Symbol reached them and they grimaced in agony. However, after a while, the killing light around them faded and the attacked ghosts looked at themselves. Realizing that they are all fine, they laughed and mocked, "Stupid mortal priest. We're still alive! That Holy Symbol was like receiving tingles, such fine attack." Maria backed away some more, knowing that her powers were weakened with her age. The ghosts advanced to her with gleeful smiles and laughs on their faces. Then, she came to the biggest decision of her life.

She was going to sacrificing herself to save the land she loved so much.

"No!" She suddenly heard the melodious voices of the hidden souls of the cloud foxes, night foxes and flame raccoons. "Please don't die, Miss Maria. You are what we live for!" Maria heard their words and smiled sadly, ignored her friends' pleads and with a final cry, her body vanished into tiny bulbs of light, sprinkling on the ground. Immediately, cherry blossoms trees bloomed from the ground and harvested, their petals fluttered down, swaying with the wind.

The night foxes, cloud foxes and flame raccoons saw the loss of their friend as a crime which they had done. If not for protecting them, she would have lived. If they hadn't asked her to help in the first place, she wouldn't have died before her death age. Agreeing with each other as they communicated soul-soul, they dispersed their powers and life on the land again.

The ghosts tried to prevent the monsters from doing this. They knew that without that loss of energy, they were very powerful. But as their energy showered onto the grounds of Zipangu, their hopes of a better army made from them were dashed. Incredibly, the energy from the monsters grew more and more nature on the land and flowers were all fluttered on the floor.

"What…what is this?" The leader of the ghosts stammered in a horrified voice. And when a petal from the cherry blossom tree touched the ghost, he vanished, just like that. When the ghosts realized that the flower petal will destroy them when they are being touched by it, all the ghosts took off, including the ones with the monsters' bodies.

The bodies of the night foxes, cloud foxes and flame raccoons were still possessed by the ghosts until now. Centuries after the successful invasion of the ghosts and the fall of Zipangu, the land remained vacant until archeologists discovered the place with the history written on a big slab of stone.

Also, historians believed that the cherry blossom trees were a symbol of Maria's love for Zipangu. The petals of the cherry blossoms would never harm an innocent being, but only evil and undead monsters. That is why no monsters ever appear in Zipangu but only the areas unprotected by the pure trees.

The night foxes, cloud foxes and flame raccoons were continued to be possessed by the ghosts, hunting innocent travelers. The souls of these original monsters have never had the intention to kill, so they always lower their defense and attack to the minimum to prevent the death of the mapler. However, the ghost would always somewhat push the attack and defense level up, and those two levels are remained constant. That is why maplers have a easy time defeating them.

The fall of Zipangu was never a fortunate thing, and loyal Zipangians (residents of modern Zipangu) always mourn at a specific time of the year, celebrating the bravery and nobility of the monsters and the creator of this land, Maria.


A/N: Hope you enjoy this chapter. Next chapter will be only about the festival and celebration, which is the final chapter of 'History of Zipangu'.

Please review!