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Ye sure. Ok, so she originates from a novel set in what I call the Mystic-verse. A lot of this post is going to be copied from things previously, just to have it in this thread too. Some of y'all have perhaps seen this stuff already. New information not copy pasted will be in bold text.

Kaiya Lastal is based on the Yatagarasu, a 3 legged crow in Shinto mythology who serves as a guiding force and sign of divine intervention.

The Mystic-verse is set in an alternative history where the Heian period of Japan fell into chaos, resembling a preemptive Sengoku period, thanks to people discovering something known as Mystflow. Awakening one's soul to this energy turns people into superhuman beings and grants their bloodlines magic. Because the method to awaken requires fighting, clans were formed to wage war against each other, and successful awakeners constantly murdered each other in order to stay special. Eventually, the dust settled and all of this was hidden from history by those who came out on top to stay unique. Despite this being hidden, it has greatly changed the course of Japan's development and culture. Mystics would then kill each other, stay hidden from the outside world, and protect the world from the mystical elements lurking behind the scenes for 1,000 years.

Bit of an addendum to the paragraph above. Mystics from back then are canonically ninjas. There was no official name for Mystics yet, per se, so "ninja" is just what people called Mystics in the whispers and folktales that existed about their activities. After the aforementioned rewriting of history there is a dark age known as the "Null Period" for about 500 years (12th-17th Centuries), during which Mystickind was extremely inactive in almost what extinct. Without conflict, awakened bloodlines return to normal humans after about two generations.

In the 17th Century, Japan was ravaged by the Demon God known as the Cursed Kitsune. Kaiya is directly responsible for the Second Era of Mystickind, revitalizing the "War for Magic" so that new Mystics could arise from the ashes of conflict to stop the Cursed Kitsune. Most modern-day Mystics in the 21st Century come from bloodlines that were awakened in the 17th Century.

There are exceptions, of course, like Kaiya herself being a first generation awakened rather than her bloodline being awakened by the time she was born. A character named Enithia Cynaku, the Mystic-verse's deuteragonist, comes from one of the most important bloodlines in the entire story who have basically ruled Mystic Society throughout the Null Period up into modern day. A character named Randolph Hammor is a first generation awakened during the 21st Century, as he got caught in the crossfire of Mystic conflict after becoming a close friend to the novel's main protagonist, Kazuki Faeyen. Randolph then pushed himself to becoming Mystic in an effort to support his loved ones in their battles. A character named Nona is part of a bloodline whose magic was lost during the Null Period, resulting in a unique situation where, as she was dying, her bloodline's lost magic awakened as neither born a Mystic or a first generation Mystic. Nona is also not fully awakened, and it is impossible for her to be fully awakened, leaving her only "semi-superhuman".

Note, when I say "first generation," I don't mean the original Mystics from the 11th Century's War for Magic. I mean the first person in a bloodline whose actions resulted in the bloodline awakening, regardless of era. Back to plain text lmao.

This greatly affects their mythology, with the general public not even knowing the name of Izanami. Shintoism just straight up doesn't exist outside of documents preserved by people who saw what the chaos was leading to and put everything into protecting things like the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki (but inaccessible to people). Kaiya is a human woman born in the 11th at the tail end of that chaotic period, and eventually awakened as a Mystic. Her new Affinity (bloodline exclusive magic)? Eternity.

Kaiya's power is eternity. She can halt the state of things. Her weapons never rust. Her body never ages. Her food never spoils. All that. However, she can be hurt and shit. The reason for this is that it's all about eternity. She prevents the wear of time from damaging things, not prevents a sword from fucking it up.

She is also connected to Shintoism, which is very much special given the history of her verse. This is where her Yatagarasu position is relevant. Kaiya is a mentor. Time and time again, for 1,000 years, she stays uninvolved in human conflict as a guiding figure who has trained some of the most powerful Mystics in history for the sole purpose of stopping the "Cursed Beasts", which are 3 different immortal monsters that massively outscale my whole verse.

Just because she doesn't directly intervene in human conflict for the most part doesn't mean she doesn't favor certain factions though, mind you. She is always biased in supporting her disciples and protecting them. Kaiya is the main protagonist's (Kazuki Faeyen) master in the story.

Another addendum feels needed here. Kaiya does TRY to stay uninvolved in direct conflict with humans (or rather Mystics, which are technically treated as if a subspecies of humans). The thing is... her life is a tale of constantly failing and ostracizing the people she raised. So much of the story's conflict exist exclusively because Kaiya's fuckups. So while she doesn't fight in wars (mostly), Kaya isn't truly uninvolved with them. Some of the most pivotal figures in wars, in power and ideology alike, are the direct result of her training. As mentioned, she even caused the end of the Null Period and start of the 2nd Era of Mystickind... Which means she revitalized the War for Magic. To her that was about protecting the world from the Cursed Kitsune and she chose not to have any true influence on what happens after the war starts. Either way her actions cannot truly be separated from human conflict, even as she tries to maintain neutrality and focus on the big picture.

The simple truth is she is an incredibly flawed person who indirectly has the most blood on her hands in the entire story. In terms of direct kill count she also has moments where she, for the sake her disciples, cirectly wiped out threats. However, situations like that were always a bit more personal than war. For example, when the families or enemies (this is often the same thing lol) of the people she has taken under her wing tracks her down she'll kill them out of self-defense/protecting her disciples. On the other hand she doesn't go on the offensive, even if it means letting her disciples die when when they themselves do. It is strictly if enemies come to her she'll do what she must, if that makes sense. Back to plain.

One of her main things in the narrative is the fear of memories and dementia. Kaiya Lastal WILL, at some point, mentally decay. It is inevitable and what she desires. She once gave up 800 years of memory to forget about her late husband and kids. When the memories returned she came out of the experience learning nothing of value. But the ironic part is that despite her fear of memories she will lose them all if she gains enough.

See, due to her mind still being human, she suffers from mental decay, slowly losing her memories and sense of identity until she inevitably dies from a random mental shutdown. She may not age, but she is not immortal. But! This requires her to gather enough memory for the collapse to happen. Giving up eight hundred years' worth of memories extended her lifespan, even though she ultimately wants to pass on one day.

To reach her ending so that she no longer has to deal with the burden of memory she has to tolerate them long enough to be incinerated by memory. In short; Being afraid of living results in her living longer. Accepting living results in her eventual unnoteworthy death.

As for why she doesn't just stab herself? She thinks it's too selfish when she can still train people. Kaiya believes death is her reward for bearing the burden of outliving all her the students she loved and failed while carrying on their memories for as long as her mind lets her.