The Legend





Countless years ago the land of Digitalia was divided into four provinces, North, East, South and West, and a common king ruled them all. It was a peaceful and prosperous kingdom, the center of activity and commerce in the upper world. The capital, located in the Southern province, was an immense, flourishing city, filled with the hustle and bustle of busy people going about their daily lives.

Each of the four provinces was protected by it's own powerful Sorcerer, each one one of the King's four head advisors, more widely known as the Guardians. If a threat was made known, the Guardians worked together to protect their kingdom and defeat their opponent.

Now, it was always said that a Sorcerer himself could not carry the focus of his own power, for he would continuously be running the risk of self destruction when he used it; it was supposedly held in something that the Sorcerer kept with him, something he treasured so much he was willing to keep the main source of his magic located inside of it. The four Guardians had four such treasures, treasures they had all made together, using the same materials and magic to create each one. The Northern Guardian, an exceptional archer, kept a special gold and diamond arrow that was never used. The Western Guardian, a peace-loving person, had a shield made of the same things. The Eastern Guardian, more sophisticated than the others, had an elegant staff.

But the Southern Guardian, an arrogant man if the true were told, his treasure was different from the others'. True, it was made from the same gold and diamond the other treasures were made from, but his contained an extra material: Steel. The Southern Guardian's treasure was a sword and he had decided that it would be impractical to not include a steel blade on such a weapon. Its very edge, however, was made of diamond, making it one of the deadliest weapons ever known in the upper world.

And so, working together with the combined power of their four treasures, the Digitalian Guardians of the North, East, South and West were a force to be reckoned with.

But it came to pass one day that the aging Southern Guardian, determined that his power and skill would continue on, even after his death, took on an apprentice, against the wishes of the other Guardians. The boy was an eager young lad, from a village in the Southern province, who showed immense promise as a Sorcerer.

But as the years passed, the Southern Apprentice grew to learn more from his master then the Sorcerer ever intended him to learn. He began to become just as confident in his abilities, just as arrogant and just as powerful. He was becoming so powerful, in fact, that his master was afraid he would soon loose control of his apprentice completely. And so, to prevent this from happening, the Southern Guardian refused to allow his apprentice to possess a magical treasure in which he could focus his powers.

When his master told him of this, the Southern Apprentice was enraged. He would not listen to another word his master spoke to him and he himself refused to speak to anyone at all. Anyone who was forced to come near him did so fearfully.

But as the weeks following the announcement of the Apprentice being forbidden to own a treasure passed, the Apprentice had come up with a plan. One night, while everyone in the Southern Guardian's castle was sleeping, the Apprentice snuck into his master's bedchambers and found the gold, diamond, and steel sword. And then, with the Southern Guardian's own sword, the Apprentice murdered his master.

Following that night, the Apprentice took control of the Southern province of Digitalia. He then began to lead a revolt against the King himself, along with the Guardians of the North, East and West.

In a war that initially lasted for six years, the Apprentice killed the King of Digitalia, easily, seeing as the capital was located in the Southern province, and declared himself the King. The Guardians, in an effort to protect their own citizens, declared that their provinces were no longer part of the Kingdom of Digitalia, that they were now a separate land. The Apprentice, greatly angered by this, began a campaign against the Guardians of the North, East and West.

Under different circumstances, the Guardians would have won the war with little trouble. But their circle, the circle of the Sword, the Arrow, the Staff and the Shield, had been broken. And on top of that, that broken shard of their own circle, the Sword, was now working against them, wielded by the most powerful Dark Sorcerer ever known to mankind. And so, try as they did, the Guardians could do nothing to halt the destruction of their lands.

But then the Eastern Guardian decided that one last resort against the Southern Apprentice just might work. But it was not a pleasant plan. The Guardians decided that, if the Southern treasure was so powerful once it had broken free of the circle then perhaps the Arrow, the Staff and the Shield could be also. But the downside was that once the circle was broken, the Guardians would be unable to work together to defeat the Southern Apprentice. They would have to fight him one on one.

But the sad truth was they had no other choices. And so, the Guardians broke the remainder circle and separated their provinces. But the Southern Apprentice was not deterred. He continued to attack the three provinces mercilessly. And despite the breaking of the circle, the Guardians still could not defeat the apprentice. And so, in one final act of hope, the three Guardians performed a spell to attempt to protect their lands. This spell was a powerful one, more powerful than the Guardians themselves. And, in performing it, they were destroyed. The only things they left behind were their treasures and those were to go to their descendents in the case that the spell against the Southern Apprentice worked.

And it did. The Apprentice was suppressed and, as no one ever saw him again, it was thought that he had been destroyed along with the Guardians. But, despite this happy occurrence, the four lands were never able to reconcile their differences and they remained separate kingdoms from that day on.

This was the legend of the Guardians of the North, East, South, and West, and of the Beginnings of the lands of Kamiya, Ishida, Digitalia, and Tachikawa.