They walked into an abandoned area filled with torn down homes and half-finished construction sights. There were a couple of street lamps that lit the way. The roads and sidewalks were cracked. The whole area was barren.
"So, this is your neighborhood?" Jack asked with skepticism.
Yune frowned and replied, "Well, yes, but it was much more...lively back then. There were people. Many friendly smiles."
Mary sighed. "Well, I guess it's been some time. You saw the year. Do any of you remember when you... died?" she asked.
Both of them shook their heads.
"I still can't believe that I'm dead, but whenever I feel my own heart, I just can't feel a beat. It's as if we are still dead. Just puppets working for that owl," Yune said.
"That owl, Hades. I don't trust him, but he was truthful about why we were brought back. There was no deception in his voice. But that doesn't really make it any better. We're just soldiers for this darkness," Jack said.
"Yes. But that was no different than fighting for the light. We were soldiers for them, too. We just didn't know it. We fought for our own reasons, even if we can't remember them," Mary said.
"That's true," Jack continued, "But that owl did say that we could do as we please. Does he think that we are helping him by our mere presence alone, or is he expecting us to do something that will help his cause?"
Yune pondered these questions, but found no answer. Mary, on the other hand, didn't care whether this owl was manipulating them or not. She was only thinking about what she was going to do in this new world she was brought into.
Eventually, they made it in front of the orphanage. It was an old, rusty building. There were no lights inside or out. The gateway was already broken allowing the three girls to enter unimpeded.
"This place is some dump. I sure hope it looks better on the inside. And there better not be any rats," Mary complained to non-listening ears.
Yune opened the creaking doors and entered. The inside was completely empty. There was dust and cobwebs in every corner of the abandoned orphanage that Yune once called home.
"Hmm. It's not a bad place to stay. I think I've slept in far worse places, before," Jack said as Mary could only look at the two in shock.
"This place is just as bad on the inside!" she yelled, "How can somebody like me sleep in a place filled with cockroaches and spiders!?"
Yune touched the walls and some memories poured in. The orphanage used to be full of people. She was friends with almost everybody in this place. But her best friends were still shrouded in her mind. The two other friends who she would call best friends.
Their headmaster however got very ill. Any second she could just drop dead and nobody was willing to help keep the place open after she departed. That's when that being of light appeared before us. It showed itself as a white cat and talked to the three of us. It told them that it could cure the headmaster. It told them that they could protect this place by becoming Guardians to fight evil. They all thought it was some kind of vivid dream, but it was as real as anything else that was happening. Yune donned the white and black costume with her blade-like hook-chain. The other two also agreed and became fighters for a war we were unaware of. We didn't know anything about Night Demons until only a few days later. At first, the headmaster seemed to have been cured. Her illness was completely gone. As Light Guardians, they thought that they were some kind of superheroes. Every night, the girls patrolled the city looking for crime to fight as if it was a game with little to no success. But after a few days, a Night Demon appeared towards the orphanage. They were unprepared. They only became aware later that as new Light Guardians, these demons would become attracted to us. It would consider new blood as easy prey. It was dead at night when the monster came as it sniffed their location. When they were coming back towards the orphanage, their minds felt a needle pierce through it. They could sense whether these demons were nearby, but they had no idea what those senses meant. Then, the children screamed. They hurried. By the time they arrived, the Night Demon butchered all of them. It looked like a werewolf covered in oil and bone. It's fangs replaced with kitchen knives. Claws the size of dogs. The first thing we saw was the dead body of the headmaster in front of the children. Her body shredded to pieces as she was trying to cover the children. But it went through them like melted butter. It came and killed every one of them with no mercy. There was so much blood. But it kept sniffing as it looked for it's real target. It was our first fight with a Night Demon. It came at them from the shadows. It tried to bite and claw us with ferocity. And the girls were sloppy. Each one of them panicking at every second. They were lucky to even survive; even luckier to kill it.
One of Yune's friends became more vivid. She was a blonde with a yellow dress. Her name was Eli. The three of them fought together at the last moment and pulled it off. In the last moments, Yune chained up the beast's arms, while her other unknown friend was able to hold the demon down by it's legs using some kind of golem from below. Then, Eli dealt the finishing blow. A strike to the heart of the creature. A strike made with... a katana. When the Night Demon was killed, it's body evaporated into thin air leaving no trace, except for dropping a black coin that looked like it was made out of obsidian.
But they didn't think of it as a victory. Not even close. Each one of them looked in horror at the carnage. Carnage that would have been avoided had they not chosen to become Light Guardians.
But as Yune looked closely at Eli's katana, she knew that it was the same blade that stabbed her.
She breathed heavily.
"Are you alright? You looked like you were in a trance," Jack said.
"I'm fine," Yune said as she tried to calm herself down. She now knew what happened, but there were still pieces missing. She knew what happened, but didn't quite feel an impact from what she saw. It felt as if her body wasn't even human, any more.
From one of the dark corners, a flying creature suddenly dashed out towards them.
As soon as they saw it, they quickly jumped and transformed with their weapons ready. Their black eyes stared straight at the creature thinking that it was a Night Demon even though that wasn't possible as they would have sensed it.
"Woah. Woah. It's just me, Hades. Did you forget?"
The three girls sighed in relief and cancelled their transformation. Their black eyes faded into nothing.
"Well, nice cozy place you chose for yourselves. Leave's a lot of room for improvement, though," Hades said casually.
"I thought you said you weren't going to bother us," Jack said irritated.
"I'm not. I'm called when needed. If one of you thinks that I'm needed, then I shall appear."
The three girls looked at each other with suspicion as each one of them didn't want it to appear. As soon as they realized that from each other's faces, they looked back at the owl with a scowl.
"Well, I'm here anyways. I thought I could help," Hades said.
"We don't need help," Yune replied.
"Yeah. Beat it, you bird," Mary said.
"Alright, but before that-," Hades said and then within moments, the room began to lighten up. The cobwebs began to disappear. The dust blown away by wind. Furniture began to be created from dark clouds forming from below. Tables. Chairs, Couches. The floors, walls, and ceiling began to repair itself. The whole orphanage was being fixed from the ground up. New hardwood being created out of seemingly nothing. There was even a kitchen being made in one of the corners. Three beds were created out of a shadow and into reality. Light fixtures were set up. And when the lights turned on, the entire orphanage looked brand new. It looked more like a new home.
They all looked around in awe. And as Yune looked closer, she was reminded of more happy times that she had. She was reminded of playing with the other children. Helping the headmaster. Hanging out with her two best friends. It brought a tear to her eye.
She looked at the owl and without saying anything, her mouth motioned "Thank you."
Hades gave a kind smile and flew on top of one of the beams. He made a yawn and fell asleep.
Mary looked at everything and was very impressed. Her excitement at seeing things that only royalty would have.
Jack looked at the place and felt sad. She felt that it was something that this kind of home was something that she didn't deserve, but she didn't know why.
Jack, Yune, and Mary came together and said, "Let's make this our new home!"
They all laughed as soon as they all finished that sentence, together. A new home.