The Night Demon began to open her eyes slowly. When it awoke from it's slumber, it turned it's head to see some other kind of Night Demon - a scaly spartan helmet with small tentacles coming out of it - sleeping on top of it.
Schmetter was about to lift her arm up to tap the creature, but it was suddenly jolted back down to the bed. She didn't realize it, but she had been chained up around the mattress. All she could do was turn her head. The room itself looked like three girls had been living there. So, messy and disorganized.
Then, her eyes locked onto three shadows in the room. They came out of the shadows and appeared before them.
A red armored giant. A small girl with large claws.
And to her dismay, a girl holding a hook with chains wrapped around her arm. Her chains were connected to the bed. The creature that laid on her chest moved away and wandered to the side.
It looked to be morning outside from the windows, yet they maintained a shadowy presence.
When she looked at the first two, she didn't feel any sense of danger, but rather a soothing feeling. But when her eyes locked onto the last one, something within her snapped. She wanted to break free, but couldn't. She didn't quite know then, but something about that girl reminded her of something terrible.
"Don't try to resist, monster," Yune said.
"You really think this thing talked?" Mary asked Yune, "You could have imagined it."
Then, it began to relax.
"I...I...I can talk," she said quietly to the surprise of all three of them.
"Oh my God, it actually spoke," Jack exclaimed.
"We can't use God's name in vain like that. But oh my God," Mary exclaimed.
"See. I told you. It said it needed help before feinting," Yune said, "And you both wanted to smash it to pieces."
"Where... am I?" Shmetter asked before Yune tightened her chains making her gasp for breath. She tightened for only a second and loosened.
"I'll be asking the questions. First of all, what are you and why are you here?" Yune interrogated.
"My- my name is... Schmetter. I'm Schmetter," she said unsure of herself. It was the only name she was familiar with. Like a name tag drilled into her brain.
"A name? Interesting, but I asked what," Yune said.
"I.. I'm..I don't know. A...Night Demon?" she said still unsure of what or who she was, but it clicked for her. Her mind began to settle down and she was thinking more clearly, "Yes. I'm a Night Demon. That's what I am."
The other three couldn't believe it.
"How could you talk like that?" Mary asked, "No Night Demons have been able to talk before. The closest was that helmet, and it can only talk to you when it has it's tentacles up your brain."
"I don't know," Schmetter replied.
"Alright. So, we have that established," Yune said, "Now, why are you here?"
Schmetter thought carefully about her answer and the only reason she could think of was, "You three are soothing. I don't know why, but when I'm near the three of you, I feel more relaxed. It's like I as attracted by your smell."
Mary began to smell herself, but couldn't smell anything unusual.
"What are you talking about?" Mary asked.
"Even now, when I'm near you, my mind becomes more... clear. Before, I felt like an animal just following my instincts, but now I feel different. Clear."
The three girls looked at each other confused at what to do. The creature in front of them was sentient and could clearly communicate with them. Whether it was a threat or not, they weren't sure. It was still a Night Demon, but then again, so was Tasha who they kept around like a pet. And then Jack had an idea.
"Hey, Tasha, do you trust the creature we got tied up this bed?" Jack asked the helmet lying on it's side in the corner.
She made a small yawning sound and crawled away. She didn't really feel like doing any work for her hosts.
"Or I guess you could just do that. Great," Jack said sarcastically.
Then, Schmetter said to her capturers, "It's alright. You don't have to let me stay. I won't last out there anyways. I'm too weak even by the standards of other Night Demons. Me and my twin sis- sister were already badly beaten by this other Light Guardian. But if you feel the need, you can just kill me."
"You came here badly beaten, but all your injuries healed themselves. I guess that's a standard ability for you monsters. Yet, you came here asking for help. That's quite unusual for a monster," Yune said.
"I wouldn't know," Schmetter replied, "All I do know is that I wasn't always like this. I remember only a vague sense of being human before."
The three girls weren't surprised considering what they learned from Tasha. And they themselves were products of darkness as well.
"Did you kill anybody?" Jack asked.
"Maybe. I don't remember much. It's like I didn't have full control over myself like now. I was living moment to moment without any thought. We probably did. Me and my twin."
"You mentioned the twin before. What twin sister?"
"There was another like me. The same kind of creature except she had a ponytail. Otherwise, we were identical. I feel like we may have had a connection as twins in our past life. But... but now she's gone. I don't remember too much of it, but the Light Guardian who did this to me killed her."
Mary scoffed. "Obviously. That's what Light Guardians do. They hunt Night Demons," Mary stated.
"But in my heart, I feel so hurt. That's when my mind became clear. Once I saw her death, something in me sprung up. My mind. My consciousness. I can't explain it nor do I expect to ever be able to."
Mary, Jack, and Yune looked at each other and talked among themselves.
"What should we do with her?" Jack asked.
"Her? It's a Night Demon," Mary said, "Tasha might be a special case, but we can't expect every monster we encounter to grow a conscious. And besides, she even admitted that she killed."
Yune stood quiet thinking about what to do while the other two discussed.
Mary continued, "I saw we just kill it. Take the free black coin and be done with it."
"I can't," Jack replied, "I'm seeing things a little differently. Ever since our last monster hunt, I'm beginning to think that these creatures have a mind of their own. Of course, there are the ones that attack for no reason, but ones like these are more human than anything else."
Yune took a look back at it and noticed that the creature had been staring intently at her specifically. Neither knew why, but each felt that they knew each other from before. The words "twins" began to form a semblance of a memory within Yune, but it just wouldn't come. Yune just couldn't figure out who it was.
And Schmetter realized that Yune didn't recognize her, but she began to remember memories from her past life. Although, it wasn't complete, she felt a feeling of hate and aggression towards her. At the same time, she felt afraid from her. Yet, just by being with the three guardians, she also felt calm. These feelings fought within her over dominance, but none would take over leaving just an empty void.
Yune turned back around to her teammates and while they were arguing, Yune suggested, "Let it go."
"What?" Mary exclaimed, "You can't be serious?"
"I don't agree with letting her go, Yune. She would just get killed out there," Jack argued.
Yune whispered, "Let her go. I have an idea."
The two girls looked at Yune's unwavering eyes. She had a plan and even though the other two didn't know what it was, they nodded their heads.
Yune released her chains from Schmetter and the bed.
"You're free to go," Yune said, "We're not a hotel for monsters. Leave this place and don't come back."
Schmetter rubbed her arms and nodded her head. She walked over to the front door and left the house. Her wings flapped and she flew to the skies.
"Alright, she's gone. Now, what?" Mary asked.
"Now, we follow," Yune replied.