One night, Eli, Mizu, and Yune were scouting the city jumping from rooftop to rooftop looking for anybody that needed help. They were aware of how Night Demons sensed and followed the chill whenever they got the chance.
They didn't encounter any other Light Guardians when they patrolled, although there were others. But the others didn't go around during the night, so they had no conflicts. For all intents and purposes, they never even knew the other existed. It's been a month since they continued to do this without anybody noticing.
The girls also didn't have any need for black coins for themselves. They were quite content living at the orphanage, but they knew there were problems within it. It was harder for the orphanage to stay open, so they would use any black coins they collected to make the shopkeeper give Ms. Singh unexpected donations which helped out very much. However as each day was different, the money varied day to day as well. A black coin's value changed over time. It fluctuated back and forth, but the shopkeeper always had some use for it even if they didn't know what it was.
Then, one night as they came back from an otherwise uneventful evening, they sensed a Night Demon. They've never sensed one so close to the orphanage before. As they got closer, they realized that the chill grew as they came even closer towards home. They hurried.
When they reached the orphanage, all of the lights had been off. But one of the windows had been broken into. They rushed in to try and save the other children.
They ran around looking for the monster. They knew it was there, but they couldn't see it. They spit up to look for it. Yune dashed across the rooms until she had found it. In the dark corridor, it saw the Night Demon. It was chewing on ligaments. The whole room was covered in blood. Then, Yune took her hook and chain and threw it straight at the dark shadow of a beast. It was like a shadow of a werewolf.
She yelled, "Eli! Mizu! I found it!"
Then, when the creature was wrapped in the chains, it looked at her. It made no attempt to talk. Just the sounds of chewing as it's jaw opened up and down.
Then, to Yune's horror, that is when she could see the room clearly. She saw the body of the headmaster covering two other children. Then, there were a string of other bodies. Kids. Just lying there with claw marks on their backs as they tried to run.
"We're here!" Eli yelled as she and Mizu came.
"Don't come closer! Eli! Mizu!" Yune yelled. She wasn't afraid of the monster, but was afraid of what they would have seen. If Yune wasn't in her Light Guardian form, she would have vomited at the sight.
But the two other guardians heard it as a cry for help.
"We're coming, Yune! Hang on!" Mizu yelled.
"No. Don't come any closer," Yune muttered, but then Mizu and Eli arrived.
They came in crashing from below. As they saw Yune holding down the monster with little effort using her chains, they were relieved. But then they saw. They saw the bodies. Their friends. Their family. Eli and Yune took it the hardest. They knew them the longest. However, the mere sight was a horror anybody who would have come across it.
Eli yelled angrily and charged right at the creature's head. She spun around in a frenzy. The creature howled and without warning, it's arm just moved right through the chains like gas. Then, it materialized it's long claws and defended itself from Eli's attack.
"What is this? This must be a dream. Yes. A nightmare. This couldn't have happened," Mizu said frozen and in disbelief. Even though she had powers, she was still just a child at heart.
But then Mizu awoke as Eli was pushed back. The creature moved out of the chains like a swift shadow and came right at the three of them. The creature attacked Eli and then went off against Mizu who conjured her obsidian and volcanic golem to protect her. At the last second, she defended against the attacks.
They fought it off together, but it kept making itself ethereal whenever it would get attacked.
But Yune tried to be calm and look for a way to defeat it. But her mind was erratic. She kept looking back at the others. The bodies laid strewn.
Then, without noticing the creature was right on top of her. As it was about to claw Yune, Eli and Mizu shouted to Yune, "Watch out!"
And when the claws were about strike down on her, she instinctively raised her hook and it sharpened itself like a blade. She cut the creature's hand clean off.
It screeched and jumped away. The hand disappeared and vanished into mist. It began to lick it's wounds while continuing to watch the three girls. That's when Yune realized how to beat it.
"Eli! Mizu! Wait until it attacks you, then strike," she said.
Eli nodded her head, but Mizu was still shaking. She didn't feel this kind of fear since her first encounter with a Night Demon.
"Mizu, snap out of it!" Yune yelled with a slap. That woke up Mizu.
She felt bad about hitting her, but she didn't have any choice. All Yune wanted was to defeat this creature and get revenge.
When the creature rushed at them for it's final blow, they waited. When the creature was right in front of them, it looked like it was materialized for an attack. That is when they struck back.
Mizu conjured a portal beside the creature conjuring two arms that grabbed the monster's legs. While that happened, Yune created a web of chains and surrounded the creature. While the chains moved around, it hid the fact where Eli was coming at it from. And with a final blow, Eli rushed in head first with her katana. She stabbed straight at the creature's head.
It was over. The creature turned to black mist and dropped it's coin.
Mizu was the first to transform out of her Light Guardian form and ran over to the other children and headmaster, but Yune and Eli stopped her.
"Wait. You don't want to see that," Eli replied with a sorrowful look. Yune and Eli stopped their transformation and went back to their regular form.
"Maybe, they're still alive. We have to be sure. We can still save them," Mizu cried.
Eli and Yune hugged Mizu as she cried. Eli began to pat Mizu's head as she cried to calm her down.
While Mizu cried, Eli and Yune felt the need to cry even more so. They all cried together. Even Yune felt like her whole world fell apart and cried, even though she barely showed emotion.
Later, the police were called in. They thought that a wild animal escaped from the zoo.
Yune, Eli, and Mizu would have been transferred to another orphanage, but they didn't want that. They didn't want to abandon their home. They called in the shopkeeper and gave them a black coin. They made sure the orphanage stayed open. However, the place never got any more new children. Rumors of the deadly murders made the place notorious. The headmaster was replaced by a made-up figurehead. And whenever there was a meeting, the shopkeeper would appear as the head. He always wore his gas mask, a top hat, and a monocle whenever it was necessary to act as the headmaster. To regular people, he looked like anybody else. Many times, people came by to shut it down or bulldoze the place, but as long as the three paid black coins every so often, they were able to pay off the city to keep it open. But as Yune watched as other people wanted to destroy what they considered home, she began to have a new mindset. A mindset of distrust towards anybody outside of her group.
The only three children who were left were Eli, Yune, and Mizu. They were the ones who kept it open. It felt like the right thing to do. They wouldn't let go. Especially, Eli and Yune who had lived there for far longer. But even Mizu did feel like she belonged. She was able to act more of a child her age during her time there. But that was all over.
Time had passed.
The three girls continued to hunt Night Demons. This time, they were far more active. They weren't just limited to one hour every night. Now, they felt obliged to fight the creatures any time. And this time, they encountered others.