The Repentance
Date of Event: Unknown (sometime after December 13th, 1874)
Location: Minakami Village
Game: Fatal Frame II
The Repentance (大償, ootsugunai) was the disaster which both destroyed Minakami Village and engulfed the surrounding region in Darkness. Villagers wrote to warn future generations of the possibility for disaster, seeing it as punishment for their failure to do their proper duty to the Hellish Abyss, hence the name.[1] The disaster they had dreaded finally happened in the late nineteenth century; after several failed rituals in a row, the final blow was dealt when Sae Kurosawa, a Twin Shrine Maiden, was hanged alone rather than strangled by her twin sister.
As a result, the Hellish Abyss spewed forth Darkness, and a corrupted Sae Kurosawa and the Kusabi emerged from its depths. Together they massacred the village, Sae laughing hysterically as the Kusabi slashed and slaughtered any survivors crossing their paths. Many of the villagers were killed in the Great Hall of the Kurosawa House. Those that weren't murdered succumbed to the Darkness and went mad or committed suicide.[2]
The Repentance erased the village completely, and it vanished from its spot in the forest. The village itself was caught up in an endless night, and the events prior to the failed Crimson Sacrifice Ritual continued to repeat over and over again. People who got lost in the woods and passed the Twin Deities Statue, the last remaining trace of the village, would become trapped in the village, and spirited away legends were common in the local area. Whenever there was an earthquake, the Darkness from the Hellish Abyss would spread a little further.[2]
It was not until twin sisters Mio and Mayu Amakura stumbled upon the Lost Village and were caught up in its events that there was closure. Mio took the life of her sister, performing a final Crimson Sacrifice Ritual that purified the earth[3] and satisfied Sae's spirit.*
*This follows the Crimson Butterfly Ending of Fatal Frame II.