The three girls turned to look at Tasha who seemed to not be turning into the mud around them.

"That's a first," Tasha said aloud.

"So, you're the Night Demon," Yune said.

Jack, Mary, and Yune were all safe and sound. They remembered their original life along with the memories that the creature gave them. Now, they were all in a black bubble.

The last thing the three girls remembered doing was entering room 314 and then, suddenly, they were teleported to this new world. Yet, they also seemed like different people. They had memories of living at that place. They could recall things that never actually happened to them.

"Yes. I am what you'd call a Night Demon," it said.

"I never met one that could talk," Mary said in surprise.

"While we're connected, I can communicate with the three of you. Ever since you entered the room, we have been tethered," Tasha replied.

"So all of that was just some kind of illusion? A hoax?" Jack asked. It all felt so real to her.

"In a sense," she said.

"Wait a minute," Jack replied thinking about the situation, "You're... you're actually the girl. You existed before. What happened there was like something out of a history book."

"Sort of," she replied, "I have been around for a long time. What I showed you happens all the time. You could say it was during a different time, but I've lived for so long, I can't quite remember which country or war it was, anymore. And there's one thing you are wrong about. I'm not actually this girl from whatever year it was. I was the one standing in your shoes."

Jack took a step forward. She was going to ask her to explain, but Tasha continued, "What you experienced, is what I experienced. The life I had. The choices. I was the one who found the original Tasha as an orphan and took her in. I only gave you the pieces of information that I knew. Even after all this time, I remembered those moments. But I wouldn't dare try to figure out what Tasha was thinking. If she was some kind of conspirator or not. In reality, I didn't know. But even if she was, I still cared for her. I still regret killing her to this day."

There was a brief pause. The atmosphere was tense, but Jack wanted to hear this creature's story. Mary and Yune, too, were also entranced by what they experienced.

"Out of all the people who were with me, you were the first to actually decided to shoot the commander. I was quite surprised. Didn't think you would do that. That takes real guts doing what you did. But what I did, I never forgiven myself for. I shot her. I tried to make it swift, but she still squirmed. I had to shoot once more to make it end. Then, I executed even more people. I kept doing it even if I knew what I was doing was wrong. I just couldn't bring myself to go against orders. Then, the war started. I killed more and more people until I didn't even care. We lost and I was put on a quick trial. I was called evil for just following orders. And then I was lined up, and the same thing happened to me. Killed by another solder just following his orders. When I first became aware of being this creature, all I could care about was getting revenge. I felt that I was wronged. I felt that the ones who called me evil were just the same as me. They would have done the same that I did if they were put in my situation. So, I brought plenty of people into my illusions. Gave them false memories of their life to speed up the process. Then, I watched as they did the same to prove my point. But nowadays, I feel more calm. Especially while being near you three. I feel soothed just being by you three guardians. But, now, I'll leave you with the choice of what you want to do. I'll tear this illusion apart. I don't mind being killed. I was already dead before. I just hope that Tasha never became what I did, although I guess I'll never know."

The creature began to break apart the illusion.

"Wait! When we got his job, we were told you never killed anybody. You let them go. Why?" Jack asked.

As the bubble cracked and splintered, the creature melted away into mud and said it's last words.

"I don't know. I just didn't want to hurt anybody. Whether they wanted me harm or not, I couldn't bring myself to kill again."

And then the whole illusion shattered like glass.

They were awake. They sat comfortably at the hotel room. The door was closed. And in between them was a small monster. It detached a small tentacle off the back of their necks. It was painless and left no mark. The three then felt a chill on the back of their spines. They sensed the Night Demon in front of them, but it did nothing.

It was just a black spartan helmet with some small tentacles coming out from under it. It had glowing red eyes that would normally scare somebody, but not these three. It waited patiently for whatever the girls decided to do. It didn't try to attack or escape.

They all stood up and transformed into their dark guardian form. But the creature didn't react.

"So, this is the Night Demon we were hunting? It's not much to look at," Mary said while gently poking it with her sharp claws.

Yune crossed her arms and asked the other two, "I don't have any desire for killing this thing. After experiencing what it does and considering it hasn't killed anybody... but, then again, shopkeeper did say he wanted this creature dead. And we don't know whether it would kill in the future."

Jack shuddered at the thought.

"Well, I don't care. It's still a Night Demon. We should just kill it," Mary said to see if it would do anything, but the monster did nothing. It just looked at her with dead eyes.

"Wait. Jack, what do you think? You'll be the one getting the most out of the shopkeeper's deal. Your choice," Yune said.

Jack paused and approached the creature. She raised it up to look at it's eyes. The eyes of something that was already beaten. It didn't care whether it was dead or alive. It just lived day-to-day without trying to harm anybody.

Jack then put the creature back down on the table and said, "You really haven't killed anybody since you became this way. You're just lonely after all these years. I have a feeling you just like being around others. You're not a monster. You're a better person than any of us."

Jack then turned around and decided to leave.

"What about the shopkeeper's deal?" Mary asked, "It would be so much more helpful than me going around asking people."

"Leave the creature. Don't harm her. If she decides to hurt somebody, then we'll put her in the ground, but as she is right now, she's not a threat," Jack said.

"Why do you keep referring to it as a she?" Yune asked as she still wasn't convinced that it was harmless. But from that illusory experience, she also felt a small connection to the monster. She thought that maybe it was a special case.

When Jack realized this, she did really think the Night Demon was more human than anybody she ever met. She smiled and then left. They walked away from the room and immediately, they couldn't sense the creature.

Then, the three girls left the creature in room 314. They walked outside of the Trojan Hotel to find the shopkeeper waiting for them.

"Ahh. You return. So did you kill this Night Demon?" the shopkeeper asked.

"Well... uhh," Mary began to speak, but Jack decided to talk.

"We killed the monster. You won't have to send anymore Light Guardians to hunt her," Jack said.

"Her? Well, no matter. I assume you at least have a black coin to show as proof," he replied.

"We'll be holding onto the black coin," Jack replied.

"Oh, really? And I assume you'll be holding on to the actual Night Demon, as well," the shopkeeper said as he pointed at Jack's leg.

The creature seemed to have attached itself to Jack without her noticing. The three of them suddenly jumped up in surprise.

Mary tried to control the situation. "How'd that get there. That's so strange. Must be some kind of Halloween prop," she said with an obvious smile.

"I didn't even sense the creature," Yune said.

"Well, the monster can hide it's presence when it become attached to another living creature. That's why I needed to give specific instructions on where it was," the shopkeeper said, "Anyways, I guess you can kill it now and I'll give you the information you need."

Jack spit on the shopkeeper's feet.

"No. We're not going to kill this one. She doesn't deserve to die."

"Interesting. So, you'll let this monster live? What about the information on Annie's whereabouts? You sure you don't want that?" the shopkeeper asked.

"Actually, you already gave me enough information."

"Hmm?"

"He did?" Mary and Yune asked.

"Yep. You confirmed that Annie was staying in Janken City and won't be moving for a while," Jack said while pointing straight at the shopkeeper with a smile, "You mentioned it when you came to us. That must mean that Annie must be working on some big art project. I don't know what she's doing, but the fact that she's not moving anywhere works to our advantage."

The shopkeeper looked surprised at her even behind his gas mask.

"M-Maybe, I was just saying that to make you think that she would be here. Did you think about that?," the shopkeeper said.

"Oh, shit. I hate these mind games," Mary exclaimed.

"I don't think so, shopkeep. The only reason you'd lie is if you were paid to. And we know that the cost of your lie is a lot of black coins. We were just lucky to have an old grandma like Mary with us who had plenty of time to collect such an amount. It would be hard for somebody who hasn't lived for as long as her to cough up that much for such a small lie. In the end, you're a heartless beast who only cares for black coins," Yune said.

"C'mon, Yune. I'm not a grandma," Mary said embarrassed.

"Oh, yeah. Wh-what if Annie is that old? Maybe, she's ancient. Hmm?" the shopkeeper said as a double-down.

Mary replied, "Okay. Now, I can even tell you're just pulling stuff out of a hat."

"That's not pulling stuff out of a hat. This is," the shopkeeper replied just as he materialized a magician's hat in his hand. Then, he waved his hands over the hat and reached down into it. His whole arm was getting devoured by the small hat, and then he pulled out a rabbit plushie by it's ears, "Ta-da!"

The other three girls had no idea how to respond to that. They just stared blankly unsure what the shopkeeper was trying to prove.

The shopkeeper disappointed that he couldn't show off his new magic trick made both the plushie and the hat vanish.

"Fine. It doesn't matter to me right now. If you change your minds, just give me a call," the shopkeeper replied as he vanished in disappointment. Jack and Yune both had a feeling that the shopkeeper gave out that information at the beginning intentionally, but they didn't know why. Did the shopkeeper have a change of heart? Was Annie not bringing in as much black coins as usual? These questions would never get answered by the shopkeeper. But they still loomed over their heads.

Jack carried the creature in her arms like a cat. It even began to purr like one.

"Woah. Now, that was something else. I never was good at these mind games. I always just let my tacticians and other hired Light Guardians do all that kind of work in figuring out the enemy's next moves," Mary congratulated.

Jack petted the helmet. It felt like smooth scales.

"You know, we should give it a name," Yune said.

Mary then suggested, "How about Murder Helmet? Or maybe just Murhelm? It sounds like a Night Demon name."

The creature became a little mad about that name and shook her head. Jack suggested, "Let's just call her what we've been calling her all this time. Tasha."

Although the creature felt that she had no right to that name, it was the only name she could remember. So, the Night Demon decided to use that name. Tasha.

Then, they walked back home in their guardian forms without a care.

When they got back to their house, Tasha made herself at home and began to crawl around with it's tentacles. She just walked around looking for a place to rest and it found a nice corner on the couch. It fell asleep peacefully as the other girls pleasantly enjoyed their new guest. Tasha felt like she would feel more at home with them than alone in a dinky apartment. The girls also realized that once the creature was inside their home, it stopped giving off it's usual chill.

Mary and Yune kept referring to the creature as either Tasha or as an it, but Jack felt a more human connection with it.

Then, right before she went to sleep, she began to tear up. She began to remember all the Light Guardians she killed. Something within her began to question what she did. She finally began to feel regret as she thought that maybe some of them didn't deserve what she did to them.

She cried alone not wanting to bother the other two.

But Mary and Yune heard her cries. They decided to sleep by her. Jack's body was warm, but not too hot. They cuddled together as Jack's tears continued to flow down her cheek. And even Tasha decided to be with them, too.

The three guardians of darkness all felt different after that experience. Yet, none of them knew how to talk about it. So, for that night, they used the warmth of each other's bodies to soothe themselves.