We have been multiple for a long time, a world within as real as the world without.  No one in here knows any other way of being.  This is our life.  To be something else is no a concept we understand or wish to be.  It works for us, even during the wilderness years we managed to survive and live a responsible life.  Our multiplicity has never been disordered, yes we have had disorders that have effected our lives, made them at times unbearable and still are things we must struggle through.  We are multiple because of abuse, it formed as our way to deal with what was happening.  However, what it became was not the product of the abuse.  Our genesis was at the hands of others, but the growth and formation of Idia was our doing, the forming of our land by our hands, as with any civilization.  We now live in a structured world, with its own codes, culture, history and society.  A fantasy land, maybe, but a fantasy that is as real as any other land, including Earth.

Now to the topic in hand, integration.  We hold strong views on this, these are our views, how it works and is seen by us.  Idia to our knowledge has roughly 500 inhabitants.  Some of those 500 have Chaktra connected to them.  Chaktra is loosely translated to ghosts.  They are what the professionals would call fragments.  These are not solid people, they have little substance or thought capacity, merely storage facilities or facades that can be worn as shields.  Chaktra have sometimes in the past moved forward, grown and strengthened, taken their place in the society.  Others in turn move forward but never make it to society living in the mists, these Chaktra usually those that have lost their companions and remain wandering.  But they are a different topic.  The Chaktra that remain with their companions will hopefully one day be able to once again find their place within that person.  Some have already reached that and it's a joyous occasion.  These parts, ghosts, live a tortured existence, never fully feeling or experiencing anything.  They are hollow tormented souls formed by the abuse that their companion lived through, they were segmented off, so that the companion could believe that what the Chaktra felt was no longer alive, that they had died.  But Chaktra never die, unlike the dead children they live with their torment forever.

When the Companion is strong enough they agree to perform the ceremony that will allow the Chaktra back home.  Most of the time it is one Chaktra at a time, for some companions have a lot of Chaktra with them.  For the Companion this can be a terrifying step, allowing back the part that was unacceptable for so long.  No matter how prepared they are there is always a degree of fear associated with this.  But no Companion does it alone, there are attendants in place to protect and support them on this journey.  For the Chaktra there is nothing but relief and bliss.  Chaktra always want to return.  Their life is focused on getting home, returning to that which they were forcefully removed.  Once returned the Chaktra are no longer in existence, they melt into the Companion, becoming a part of her or him, becoming their existence, knowing all they do.  They return what they hold to the Companion and in return the Companion shares her/his life.

There will also be another form of integration.  There are some that are here for a reason, they have a job, duty or task to perform.  These await the day when they are no longer needed.  They are not going to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, nor are they integrating for some kind of want for us to return to one being.  However, when the time comes, the time when they know that it is time to leave they will do so.  Each person in Idia carries with them a book.  The pages fill themselves in as the person lives their life.  All experiences, feelings and thoughts are recorded on these pages.  The book is not written in by the person, but rather seems to fill itself out.  When it comes time to leave the book is returned to the library, where the Librarian will look after it.  It is available to all in Idia to read, all that the person is remains.  Their life forever recorded.

Then when that is done, there are two possibilities.  The choice is the person's.  First choice is after the book is placed in the library the person may journey from Idia.  Around the village there are dense woods, the place most of us lived in the wilderness years.  No one has journeyed past the woods, for out there is the wild place.  But it is a journey of discovery and enlightenment.  A journey that will take the rest of eternity, some say that it is heaven, the afterlife where all is learnt.  No one truly knows, but at least one person dreams of the day she can take that journey.  The second choice, the more popular one is a joining ceremony.  In this ceremony, the person can just the recipients or have it said that all will know.  Then they shift, turning first into a type Chaktra, vague and formless, then as it proceeds the Chaktra moves to a blinding light that is received by the chosen ones.  This means that all that person was, all they know and feel becomes a part of the receiver.  The original person is not separate but the receiver is now changed by the entry of that which they were.

Is this the idea of integration that is debated or proposed by those outside of Idia. I have no idea. I know that the integration of Chaktra is a powerful, meaningful step in the journey, they were never meant to be separated, and their life there is one of terrible pain and loneliness. As for the others it is their choice, their decision. It is going to be difficult for the rest of us, the losing of friends. But we stand by their right to choose their life path. And we will defend our right of choice to the death