Anne was finishing a fight with a Night Demon. It didn't stand a chance and began to cower right before getting crushed by her metal fists. It turned into a black coin. While Anne knelt down to pick it up, a letter appeared by her legs. The spiders quickly scurried away, but she didn't sense anything off about them. She picked up the pristine letter and opened it.
Nina was busy doing her homework, and while she did, a letter came by her window without her noticing. She picked it up and opened it.
When they did, they felt a sudden shock from the bottom of their hearts.
At that moment, they each called each other at the same time in a panic. They found that they got the same letter. They didn't know how to react to it. It was all so sudden, but Nina tried to remain calm. She thought that it must be some kind of trap set by a Night Demon. But reading the letter made the two feel irrational. If it was a creature that tricked them based on their own desires, then they would need help from somebody that could watch away.
Unfortunately, they only knew one other group of guardians. And they knew that they weren't the helpful kind. However, Nina did go to them for help with Anne and they obliged. So, it was at least worth the risk to ask.
So, Anne and Nina both went over to their house together to get their help.
While this was happening, Jack and Mary were busy trying to make dinner. Mary wouldn't mind getting another box of pizza, but Jack was sick of eating pizza every day. They tried to make something simple, but they had no idea what they were doing. They scrambled a bunch of everything into their pot and hoped for the best.
Tasha watched them struggle, but felt no desire to help them.
Meanwhile, Anne and Nina arrived at their house. They arrived in the Light Guardian forms. Nina no longer felt the cold presence coming off of it, but Anne did. It was a feeling of immense pressure and terror, but Anne wasn't afraid. When they approached, Anne held her arm to make sure Nina stayed back. She assumed that there were some kind of monsters guarding the old house, but Nina knew otherwise.
"Don't worry, Anne. It's safe-" Nina started to say before Anne kicked open the door.
And when she did that, Mary and Jack froze in place as they cooked. Tasha jumped up and rolled away into another room to sleep.
It was awkward for all of them. Anne assumed that there were Night Demons or monsters, but as soon as she forcefully opened the door, there was nothing. Just a normal looking home. And she no longer sensed anything as well.
While they were all frozen in confusion, the pot of food lit up in flames breaking the silence.
"Put it out, Jack! Put it out!" Mary yelled before Jack transformed and hit the pot a bunch of times.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I need your help again," Nina said, "We need your help."
Mary and Jack nodded their heads. They didn't plan on helping them for anything, but they both felt they should at least listen.
After that was finished, Jack threw away the destroyed pot and burned food. Then, she transformed back into her regular form.
Then, they sat together in their human forms around the table.
"Next time just knock," Jack said.
"Where's Yune?" Nina asked curiously.
Jack and Mary didn't want to discuss their own problems, so they ignored her question.
Jack said, "You said you needed our help. Last time you came, Nina, you needed me to get to Anne. Considering she's right there, I don't think that's the case."
Anne replied boldly, "Don't refer to me as 'she'. I'm right here. We don't expect you to help, but your team's help would be good. We'll get straight to the point."
Anne and Nina took out an opened letter. They took out the note inside. It was written on a decorated notebook paper. And there was handwritten message on it.
It stated:
"You are invited to a special gallery preview. Come anytime. We hope to see you there.
Janken City
5140 Columbine Street. Lot 145."
Jack and Mary read it, but found nothing interesting about it.
"You're being invited to some boring gallery. So what?" Mary asked.
"It's not the message. It's the handwriting," Nina said.
Anne continued, "The handwriting belongs to Kira."
Mary and Jack froze for a second. They knew what happened to Kira more than anybody else. They were certain she was dead. There was no way she could have survived, but they were aware that the two of them were also supposed to be dead.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked for clarification.
"We know she passed," Nina said, "But we recognize Kira's writing. Everything about it feels like it was written by her."
Mary and Jack had to carefully choose their words. It could be a trick set up by the two of those girls. But it wasn't any trick. At least not by them.
Anne said, "I know Kira is gone. I accepted that. But this is message is from her. I just know it."
"So, you think the message is from your dead friend," Mary said, "But that doesn't explain the message itself. Why does she want you to go to this gallery?"
Nina was about to speak, but Jack interrupted, "More importantly, what does this have to do with us? You wanted our help for what exactly?"
Anne and Nina looked at each other briefly. Both of them were unsure that they would help, but it was still safe to ask. And then they continued.
Anne said, "We just want the three of you to be backup in case this is some kind of trap."
Nina said, "We both know Kira is gone. We saw her. We think that it must be the work of an enemy Night Demon. I think that it's trying to lure us at that address using Kira's handwriting. I'm not sure how one of these creatures would be smart enough to do that, or why for that matter. We just want you guys to be there hidden away in the likely case it is a trap. If this monster is able to fight us using our own emotions, I want some others there as backup."
Both Mary and Jack could believe that a Night Demon could do something like this. They were aware that they can regain their minds. There could be a number of reasons for setting up a trap like this. It could have had a grudge against their team. It could just want to fight Light Guardians. They didn't know.
Jack and Mary then thought about whether it could be Kira back from the dead. Jack, Mary, and Yune were all beings who died before. However, If Kira did return from the dead, they both thought that Hades would tell them about her. It would have been an unwise move to revive her of all people.
Then again, that owl did bring back Yune who had a very strong grudge against Jack. And they haven't seen Hades in a long time, as well. And if Kira was really back alive, why would she send such a strange message. They just didn't know what to do.
If Kira was alive, then the two of them knew that they had a huge problem. They couldn't risk it.
Both of them nodded in agreement to helping.
Anne and Nina smiled as they were all in agreement. They shook each other's hands.
"Do you plan on going, now?" Mary asked.
"Yeah. We plan to scout the area first," Anne said, "The message says to come at any time, and if it is a trap, I doubt it will be going anywhere."
"Alright, then. It's settled," Jack said.
"We'll meet you there in a bit. I'm hungry and going to get some pizza, first," Mary said.
Nina left the letter there. They still had the address on the second one.
"By the way, I was serious when I asked about Yune. Is she alright?" Nina asked.
"She's fine," Mary said, "But she won't be helping us. You can can count on me and Jack, though."
They left while saying a small good-bye. They knew they would meet up soon, anyways. The two girls transformed and left towards the address. Jack was unaware of Yune's situation, but Mary had seen her with Eli at night, so she knew that she was safe.
Jack and Mary went out to bring back a box of pizza. Mary enjoyed every bite, but Jack was sick of it. However, Tasha wanted a slice. It crawled up Jack's back and took the slice that she wasn't eating. It dragged the pizza into the void of it's helmet. Instead of eating, Jack decided to take a look at the letter.
Nothing about it seemed to be strange. Then, she turned it around and her eyes immediately opened wide. Her body shook not with fear, but with excitement and rage.
Mary saw Jack's reaction and asked, "What's wrong, Jack?"
Jack smiled with a glint of rage. A cursive 'a' with a heart on top. It was on the back of the letter in gold ink.
"Finally," Jack said, "I finally found something. We should go now."
Mary didn't see the signature. She asked, "Now? What about dinner?"
"No time," Jack said as she took Mary by the arm and ran outside. Jack
"Okay, okay! We can eat pizza after," Mary exclaimed. She transformed as a blood-red crystal surrounded her. Her claws scratched through the crystal like paper before it shattered.
Jack transformed in a blaze of fire. Red metal melded onto her body making her bigger.
They dashed away towards this so-called gallery with haste.