The three girls awoke in a dark alleyway. The time was around midnight. The air felt nice. It wasn't too hot nor cold, and the breeze was perfect. They no longer wore the black robes. Instead they wore casual clothes. Their eyes were no longer black. They looked normal. However, they knew that it wasn't a strange dream. They all looked at each other. Each one of them had a mark on their left arm. It looked like a tattoo.
Yune wore a simple white t-shirt and long skirt. Jack wore a red hoodie. Mary wore a dark red short skirt. To the rest of the world, they looked like normal middle to high schoolers, but they were at the same time more than human and less than.
Mary looked around in confusion. "Where did we end up? This doesn't look like any kingdom I've been to."
They walked out of the alleyway towards where the bright lights were coming from. They came out and looked around. It was the middle of a town square. The crowds were bustling. There were skyscrapers with bright neon signs. Loud honking. Cars driving past. Sirens going off. Drunk people yelling at each other or wanting sell stuff. Noise. Noise. There was so much noise.
Mary was surprised at what she was seeing.
"Where are we? This doesn't look anything close to where I live? Are we on another world?" Mary asked.
Jack smiled and said, "No. This is a city. I grew up here. This is downtown Janken City. It must be a weekend. It's always busy, but seems like it's even busier than ever."
"I'm familiar with Janken City. I moved here with my... friends. Before all this happened. Still, I never knew it would get this lively at this time. I used to live somewhere pretty far out from the noise. I think I can remember where it was," Yune said.
Mary looked at both with surprise. "Oh, right. Of course," Mary said trying to sound normal, "Of course. I-I-I just lived somewhere very far from here."
"Like in the countryside?" Yune asked.
"Well, uh, something like that. Oh, I just can't remember," Mary lied. She was convinced that she was either in another world or far into some futuristic city. But by judging from her two colleagues, they were from here. This Janken City is a strange place, she thought to herself.
"Oh, by the way, we should figure out what year it is. We have been dead, and I doubt that moody owl didn't dig us up at the same time," Mary said.
"That's a good idea," Jack said and she then walked over to one of the computer shops and looked through the window. One of the computers was open and showed the day and time. It was around the end of summer. August.
"What are these things?" Mary asked.
"Oh, these are computers. I guess a country girl might not know," Yune said trying to sound pleasant, but she came off as cold. Yune was never good at talking to others. She was usually silent, but when it came to her friends, she was able to talk to them fine.
"Of course, I know what a, uh, com...puter is," Mary said trying to fit in. She looked at the screen and thought it was some kind of magical device.
As Mary looked at the year, she frowned. Around 500 years passed, she thought to herself. Then, she realized that since 500 years passed, she can't get revenge on her son and sister. She moaned sadly as she didn't know what to do, now.
"What's the matter?" Jack asked Mary.
Mary stood up and reassured her. "I'm good. Just... miss my family."
"Hmm. I don't think it would be a good idea to visit. We are still supposed to be dead," Yune mentioned.
"Parents. Family. I don't think I have one. I don't remember anyhow," Jack said.
"Well, neither did I. I was...," Yune tried to think and remembered another detail, "I was an orphan. Didn't have a family, but I feel like I had one. For some reason, I feel a heavy weight being put on my heart whenever I mention about family."
Yune wiped away a tear. Jack wanted to console her, but didn't exactly know how. She was going to hug her, but instead just patted her on the shoulder. Mary couldn't care less about Jack or Yune's problems. She only cared about herself, but she also thought that it would be wiser to stick together.
"Sorry about that, Yune," Jack said.
"It's not a problem. Do you have a place that we could stay, Jack? I know that you are new in this city, Mary, and it's already late," Yune asked.
Jack shook her head.
"I don't think so. I don't remember having a place to stay," Jack said and as she tried to recall her thoughts, she remembered that she had no home. She was essentially homeless, but she was never in the same place. She moved from city to city without looking back. She did know that she was from Janken City, but she felt strange that she didn't remember ever living here. When she would try to remember where she would sleep, she would recall park benches or being under a bridge.
Mary remembered living in what she would call a normal home. Raised by a single mother. Believed that she was royalty and destined for greatness. Then, she lived in a castle built for royalty as destiny foretold. But it was a cold place. Everybody there wanted something from her. And she wanted nothing but to serve God... by removing those that disobeyed. She remembered fondly of the smell of bodies either being burned alive or hung by a nearby tree. They deserved it, she thought. They deserved it for being born on the wrong side. But more importantly, she enjoyed it. Did she really believe that God wanted her to commit those atrocities? Not even she was sure, but she had no desire to care.
Yune motioned her head. "Follow me, Mary and Jack. I remember how to get to my home. It's a sizable place. An old orphanage. There should be plenty of space." As soon as Yune said this, she wondered why she would say that. She didn't know what "plenty of space" meant for the orphanage.
Yune walked on, while Jack and Mary followed behind.