The black owl tried to fly on top of Jack's shoulder, but her cold hard eyes scared him away. He tried to sit atop of Mary's shoulder, but her frightening smile scared him off. And then he tried to sit on Yune's shoulder. She didn't look scary, but as soon as he got close, Yune's hook flew right in front of the owl's beak and back to her own hand.
The owl coughed and decided to just fly between them.
"Ok, I'll just start by saying hello. How are you, girls?" the owl said with no positive reaction from the three. The three girls looked at each other and thought that the owl was the Night Demon causing this illusion. They slowly walked up to it with a threatening aura around them. A feeling of dread came down the owl.
"Wait. I'm not what you think I am. I'm not one of those Night Demons. I'm simply just a talking owl. The avatar of darkness which has been sent to consume the light. As I said, a simple-talking owl. "
"Oh, avatar of darkness? That doesn't sound ominous at all," Mary said sarcastically as she sharpened her claws.
As they approached closer, the owl said, "Look. How about this? Do any of you even remember being dragged here? Do any of you even remember the last thing that happened to you?"
"Of course I remember, I was -" Yune began to speak, but something stopped her from saying more. She tried to recall what happened before, but her memories were hazy. They were jumbled.
Jack said, "I remember. I was sleeping... but what else happened that day? I don't remember."
"I...," Mary said, but as soon as she was about to say that she couldn't remember, her memories were bought back in. The last thing she remembered was having her neck stuck between pieces of wood. She stared at two people. A man and a woman. They both smiled. The next thing that happened, there was a sharp pain in her neck, and then she woke up here.
"I... I don't remember," Mary lied as she gently scratched her neck.
"Well, your memories will come back, but you do know some things. Instincts. As soon as you three were brought here, you all were ready to fight. You three are also aware of Light Guardians."
"Of course we do. Each one of us, or at least I am a guardian of the light. A protector from evil things like you," Yune said.
"Evil? Well, nobody is good or evil. Just animals doing as they please," the owl said but realized he got off topic, "But enough of that. I know that you three have sworn to fight against these 'evil' Night Demons. You three are - or were - Light Guardians. A common name for them is something like a magical girl, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that each of you were given these powers by some kind of angel or shiny 'thing'."
"I saw white snake," Jack said.
"There was an angel. A white crow," Mary said.
"We saw a white cat," Yune said but realized she said something peculiar, "Why did I say 'we'?"
As soon as she asked herself that question, memories began to fill in. There were the three of them. Invincible fighters. The strongest team of Light Guardians. They fought against the Night Demons every day and protected their home town. But she couldn't remember who the other two were. But she did know that they were fond friends.
"The memories will come in time, as I had said before," the owl mentioned, "But there is so much more to know. The important thing is... that you're all dead."
The three girls looked at each in surprise, but a second passed and they all began to laugh. Laughter echoed through the dark room.
Mary said, "Yeah, right. If we're all dead, then where's those pearly gates of heaven that I was promised."
"Man, this is some weird dream. Talking owls. An empty room. My imagination must running slow," Yune said.
"Dead? That's a hoot. Get it? What kind of God would make an owl the grim reaper?" Jack said while laughing.
The owl was tired of this and just decided to quickly unlock the memories that they needed to see.
First was for Mary who already saw her death, but was unconvinced as there was no context. Mary remembered. She was betrayed by her son and sister.
Then, it was Jack, who didn't even know that she had died there. Jack remembered. She had knives stuck to her back.
Lastly, it was Yune who didn't even remember her end. She was pierced by a blade - some kind of katana - from behind. It was one of her own friends.
As they remembered, the three stopped laughing. Their entire bodies shook.
"Oh my god. I am dead. I remember, now. Is this purgatory? Is this what death looks like?" Yune said in despair.
"This can't be hell. I was meant to go to heaven. Everything I did was for God," Mary panicked.
"For some reason, if this is hell, I don't feel surprised that I'm here," Jack said.
"You were dead," the owl said, "But you have been brought back from the depths of the underworld. You three were stabbed in the back metaphorically and figuratively. Before, you have been merely a pawn of the beings of light. But now I will show you the truth."
"Who are you?" Yune asked.
The owl smiled. "I'm Hades."