Guriax the Invincible

this is mana spoilers so don't read it unless you're peter or not in mana i guess

This is the tale of Guriax the Invincible. With a name like that, aren't they inviting despair?

Because, you see: there was once a huge and terrifying monster, red of tooth and claw. They were a leader in their army, tearing through the battlefield in their war against humanity. They inspired their people to fight fiercely, to love fiercely, and to throw their whole spirit into all things. They were called Invincible, for they had never fallen in battle; though arrows might decorate their hide, and bolts might lodge in their scales, they could not be destroyed.

For countless days and countless nights, Guriax fought for the love of their King and their people. At night, when they made camp with their soldiers, they would curl around them to shield them from the winds and tell stories - stories of shining worlds full of light and justice, where noble warriors such as themselves would surmount their obstacles and stand high. They kept the fires of hope strong that one day, they would overwhelm humanity and bring peace to monsterkind.

Sometimes, their soldiers faltered. It was a long and gruelling war, and many of them had come back many times, in different bodies, with different strengths. And Guriax would say to them - 'You are a true warrior, who has fought many times on this field! For the good of your kingdom, you have fostered violence in your heart! You must remember why you fight,' for this could be any number of reasons, 'and you must hold true to those thoughts. But you must also pace yourself, for I know the nights are long, and the battles are hard. Come, and drink with me.'

And they would drink with them, and talk with them, about why they fought and the things they were protecting and the life they wanted to preserve. In this way, Guriax was loved, though they demanded much of their troops.

There were monsters who believed they would lead them to victory.

But over the course of a thousand days and a thousand nights, Guriax the Invincible faced a woman, clad in armor and fighting hopelessly for her life. They ate her, as they sometimes did, a gesture to demoralise and terrify the enemy. They did not see her again, though it was not unusual for their enemies to return to life, eventually, over long years. No -- they saw the eyes of her daughter, or her sister, or her niece. Some relative, close enough for them to notice. She screamed for the death of her relative, cursed them with her dying breath.

These women were not the first relatives Guriax crushed beneath claws and jaws and heavy tail, and they weren't the last. But the younger kept breaking herself upon them, over the years. She displayed a tenacity which rivalled their own. And then... one day... she stopped coming. The years stretched by. It was possible, after all, that she had been killed elsewhere, but her hatred for them had grown with every death. This was normal, in the battlefield. Humans hated monsters, and if they had the chance, they would destroy them all. But vague familiarity gave Guriax a strange kind of understanding of the pain behind her words, pain which almost seemed to make a monster out of her.

At first, it was nothing. They wondered, to themselves, whether she would ever return. They decided she'd learnt some sense. She'd gone home to... what? Where had her mother-aunt-sister gone? She must have been given life again, too. So, where...? ... but those questions didn't matter. Humanity was Guriax's enemy. And on the surface, their fierce speeches and terrifying stands didn't change; but they looked them in the eyes, and that was their first mistake.

Six thousand days and six thousand nights passed, and a new soldier charged towards Guriax, baby-faced with armour which didn't quite fit, screaming about vengeance for his mother. Guriax was audience to many of these cries. They screamed to fell the beast for honour, for glory, for vengeance, for justice - meaningless human chatter. But the timing, the sincerity and ferocity of his words, his sheer youth -

For an instant, the unshakable heart of Guriax became uncertain. The pure-hearted violence and ferocity which had fueled their tyrannical grip on the battlefield wavered. This instant was enough for the humans to send their ballista-bolts through them, to follow up with their arrows. Enraged, they bit through the boy, and charged through the front line to destroy them. But it was too late! Though they brought low that regiment, the wounds they suffered in the process were too much for even them.

They found their soul leaving their body, for the first time in so many uncountable years. Instinctively, they sought out another form to inhabit -- ones with sentient life would not do. But they found a life which was simply compassionate, a life which was willing to cooperate if only they helped them to find food and companionship and shelter.

Knowing companionship to be so important, they settled into the form of a dog. As they learned the dog's memories, the dog's personality, they began to fear it was a mistake - that dog was the companion of the boy he had killed, who had followed him all the way here. The dog was companion to their family. They knew the love those people had borne for the dog, and the love the dog felt, as well.

The dog went outside and was met by the comrades of the dog's owner, who hugged them and ruffled their fur and called them a good dog. The dog loved them. And when a soldier returned from battle and solemnly told the dog that their master would not return, they felt that the dog's emotions would be intense sadness.

They decided, in that moment, that this dog had wisdom they had never known. They had a loving heart, which reached out to these humans and embraced them; a loving heart which did not turn them away when they came looking for a body to inhabit. Guriax had been a general and a butcher, and they had fought for so long - and for what?

They decided that they would listen to this dog, and become like them. They resolved to call themselves Dog, and replace the blood they had spilt with compassion, because they had been granted this second chance for a reason. They left the human's squad behind, because they knew they would not understand - they were soldiers, like Dog had once been, geared for battle. They fled across the border in the night. When a monster soldier found them.... they should have spoken up, should have told them who they were. But they found themselves fearful. Could Dog really say what they had learned, and shake the spirit of so many soldiers? Was that Dog's right?

Instead of admitting their reincarnation, Dog pretended to be a civilian, and they were shepherded away from the border. They went to Ark Mien to think, and to excise their battle-spirit in an environment more allowing of a contemplative individual. There, sparring with knights and taking on honourable quests, they were able to develop their peaceful nature - for countless years of battle do not wash away with a single reincarnation, no matter how well one listens to one's inner canine impulses. Violent inclinations were reframed, not as passion, but as the last result. They were entitled the Good Dog for their commitment to gentleness.

And yet, Ark Mien also teaches fierce loyalty - loyalty which might then be taken to revenge. Fearing this loophole, Dog joined the Circle in Roses Neighborhood Cultural Society, where they were able to take their instincts towards companionship and compassion and apply them widely. From the Society, Dog learned forgiveness and positive ambition, which could be scaled to any size.

But the Dog has not yet learned to forgive themselves. They still hide their true nature from their allies, and even from their enemies - 'After all, I'm just a dog!' One day, I suppose, they'll have to answer for their actions, but until then they're trying to be the best Dog they can be.