The Spirit World—a dimension that exists outside of space and time. It is the home of the complicated and magnificent beings known as yokai and is the birthplace of the human souls. It is the spring of where existence begins and is the place where it ends when a mortal vessel begins to decay.

The souls of the deceased leave their corpses and enter the Spirit World like newborns. They are naked and clueless when they arrive. Even a good amount of their memories have left their body leaving them to be almost empty husks. 

To make sure they do not become lost souls, the yokai stationed at the beginning of the Spirit World is tasked with helping the souls get ready. With red paint, they tattoo their bodies with chapters of the life they lived on earth and then cover their naked body with perfectly preserved cloaks. There are two types of cloaks that a soul can wear—the White Cloak of the Saints and the Black Cloak of the Heathens.

The White Cloak of the Saints is a purely white cloth with not even a speck of dirt on it. Those who wore this cloak were said to be good people who were on Earth. They would be brought to be judged and ultimately would go to Heaven for eternal rest and paradise.

The Black Cloak of the Heathens is a jet-black cloth that is tattered and ripped. Those who wear that as said to have been the worst of the worst on earth—committing sins and causing suffering to others. After their judgment, they are thrown into the fiery pits of Hell where they would be tortured by demonic yokai for all eternity.

Where do the souls go to be judged? And who is responsible for judging them? That duty goes to the wisest and most influential yokai of the Spirit World—The Priestess.

 A revered entity who can see the events of the past, present, and future of the universe at the same time. She judges the individuals by reading the words inscribed on their bodies and seeing the life they lived through her three eyes. Then with her fourth eye, the Priestess sees timelines that could have been if the soul had made certain choices. Taking all of that into account she declares the final say if the soul is to go to Heaven or Hell. 

Rarely does the Priestess ever reward a white cloak the destination of Hell or a black cloak the destination of Heaven? For that to happen she would have to dig deep into the essence of the individual and see part of their true selves that even the other yokai before had noticed. The Priestess would see if they are a beautiful flower with a pure scent or a poison thorn with no mercy. 

The Priestess does all of this within the Temple of Repentance, the final path to either Heaven or Hell. To enter the temple is to go past the Gates of the Afterlands which is guarded by two extremely powerful yokai.

The Guardians of the Gate were special individuals whose importance to the role was said to be irreplaceable. A boy and a girl spirit who wears the mask of the fox and cat. Wielders of the powers of light and darkness and conquerors of all forms of combat.

Yin and Yang. The Spirits were born as polar opposites but also destined to end the same.

As long as those two stand guard, no one would dare desecrate the Gate of the Afterlands.