Sun Never Sets 2: Fires of Friendship

"My name is Eve. I'm a princess of the underworld, but one without a kingdom, or a territory, or even any subjects."

"Okay then, Princess Eve. Want a lollipop?"

"No, I'm fine. And please, just Eve..."

Eve watched as she unwrapped a red lollipop and let it hover in front of her lips. She didn't make eye contact with her, she only stared off into a blue, sunny skyline.

It was the day after Eve had broken into her shop and given Sunset the task of killing the old-new king of hell, and in the time since the two had set out to the site of his supposed return. First, it was a bus ride, then it was a train ride, and now they were on a short, rugged dinghy sailing up across quite a wide stretch of sea near the coastline, looking to come in towards their destination by way of a nearby shore. The trip had taken the entire night and most of the morning, but Eve insisted they not take the train directly there. Luckily, Sunset's shop was closed for the weekend, and she didn't have any other plans. They were only an hour away by now.

They had plenty of time to talk.

"Alright, Eve," Sunset said, still staring at her lollipop. "Tell me about yourself. What's an underworld royal doing conspiring to overthrow a demon lord?"

"I want a better future for my kind. " Eve's eyes narrowed, and her gaze shifted to the horizon. She seemed plaintive, a bit unsettled by the answer she gave. "It's not a popular view there, but I look up to Daybreaker as a hero. A demon who cared about justice, and compassion... and she had the strength to back it up."

"So what, I'm just the next best thing?" Sunset despondently shrugged and put the lollipop in her mouth, manipulating the stick with her tongue as she spoke. She gave a light scoff afterward.

"Naturally," Eve replied, not even parsing Sunset's disappointment, "Nobody knows where Daybreaker went after making her sudden reappearance five years ago, but almost every demon knows where to find you."

"Yeah, they better." Sunset said. "You know Daybreaker was born a human, right?"

"Who you're born as doesn't make a difference, once you accept the attributes of a demon into your heart, it stays with you. Separating it could harm you, like cutting off an arm or a leg."

Sunset's head lowered, her lollipop flicking about her mouth again. "That's exactly what she did, though. Once she cut herself off from the demon realm she lived as a human and slowly suffocated her demonic side. Strong as she was, by the time she took me under her wing she was just as mortal as anyone else."

"Was she really?"

Sunset shrugged. "I guess she still had her longevity if she's been alive for two thousand years. But she didn't have any powers or demon traits, she was just like any other mortal."

"Fascinating..." Eve muttered, "Why do you think she'd do that? Give that power up, I mean?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. A laugh almost rose through a tone of disbelief. To her, the answer was obvious. "She was leveling the playing field. Cutting off the demon realm weakened every demon's power in this world, and that included her own. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make."

"Huh. Strength by omission..." Eve seemed to be surprised by the concept. It clearly wasn't something that demons were familiar with. "But where did she put her power? Surely, it wouldn't just be surrendered to the demon realm. Any devil could just scoop it up."

"She..." Sunset was hesitant to answer that question, and chose her words carefully. "The key to her power was sealed away in an amulet, one that she keeps somewhere out of the way. She didn't want anyone to get their hands on her power, so she put it somewhere safe."

"I suppose only she knows where it is, then?"

"I guess, yeah."

Sunset was lying through her teeth. The amulet was really around her neck, a sun-shaped artifact with a red gem at its center, laying flat with the top of her chest and hidden securely beneath her several layers of clothes. She wasn't about to reveal its location to some underworld princess she just met, even if they were working together now. Despite her intentions seeming pure, Sunset didn't fully trust Eve quite yet.

Fortunately, Sunset was a pretty good liar. Her tone was just as neutral and cool as it had been talking to this oddly dressed, vibrantly haired woman. That line of conversation ended there.

Sunset pulled her lollipop away, letting the familiar flavor linger in her mouth for as long as it would last. She wanted to get back to questions about the job.

"So, you said we're heading to somewhere called Hollow Shades? What's so special about it?" Sunset asked, her eyes uninterestedly watching the gentle waves surrounding them.

"Hollow Shades is a remote forest village in the middle of nowhere, with very little contact with the outside world," Eve replied. "Long ago, it was a hotspot for demonic activity, but something happened there, and now it's not so much. From what I understand today it's home to a demon worshiping cult."

Sunset lifted her head to that information. "A cult? So what, one demon moved in and took over the territory?"

"Not like that," Eve shook her head. "Hollow Shades became a dead zone for reasons that not even I could figure out. It's like... a spiritual chokepoint, very hard for infernal entities to get in and out of without human assistance. The cult is a human religion, but only the demons they pray to can be summoned there. The rest of us have to walk."

"They're not going to give us any problems, are they?" Sunset knew enough about demon religions to minimize her interactions with them. Being half-demon herself made it awkward, and being the successor to a demon already widely worshiped by humans as a savior made things doubly so.

"I don't know. But we shouldn't have to interact with them for long. Our goal is in the mountains to the north of the village. The Lord of Chaos's castle lies in ruins along Mt. Eclipse, and that is where he plans to resurrect."

Something didn't quite add up in Sunset's mind here.

"If Hollow Shades is a dead zone, how exactly is this guy planning to come back?"

"The Lord of Chaos is likely already in our realm in a limited capacity. My guess is that he's using that part of himself that's here as an anchor to pull the rest of himself into this realm."

More uncertainty, and another question came to Sunset's mind. This one was probably the most crucial question she could ask.

"How do you know he's here, then?"

Eve's answer came just as readily as Sunset's question. "I've been tracking the movements of him and his cohorts, they're not low-profile people. Besides, Hollow Shades is the perfect spot for him to come back, if he can pull it off then this dead zone is an uncontested space for him to get dug in before taking on the rest of the world."

"Right. For him, it's free real estate," Sunset nodded. "What about this other demon that's being worshiped here? They're not going to have a problem with this guy on their turf?"

"I don't know," Eve admitted. "I'm not familiar with the demon in question. They're obscure, even to me."

"Even to you?" Sunset asked. "Aren't you supposed to be a know-it-all about the underworld?"

"Well, yes," Despite Sunset's dismissive tone, Eve looked almost excited to give her answer. She smiled, nodding slightly. "I've read through nearly all of the major texts contained in the Bibliotheka Infernum. Even some from the fiction section."

Bibliotheka Infernum. An incomprehensibly comprehensive library located in the underworld. Not a source of all knowledge, but damn near close to it if what Sunset had heard was true.

Eve continued, a proud little smirk crossing her face. "You'd be hard pressed to find a demon or human that's read more books than me."

It seemed strange to Sunset that a demon would take such an interest in becoming learned. "Why would you need to read books about history? You're a demon, haven't you lived any of it?"

From her, her proud posture shifted to something more uneasy. "Well, I'm kind of young by demon standards. And even then, I haven't really done a lot with my life outside of studying books and practicing magic..."

"And in all the time you've spent studying up, you don't know anything about this town's religion?"

Eve shook her head. "Nope. Of course, there's always the chance that once we get there I'll remember or recognize something. I haven't actually been there before."

"Right..."

"Any other questions, Sunset?"

The demon hunter's eyes dropped to a half-lid as she took in her surroundings again. She was on a boat with someone she'd just met and the sun was just starting to reach its highest point in the sky. Yeah, she had another question.

"Why are we doing this on a boat again?"

"The closest train stop is actually a further walk than if we come in from the coast," Eve explained. "Like I said, this place is super remote. Also..."

Off in the distance, on the backdrop of a clear and cloudless sky was the peak of Mt. Eclipse, overlooking the huge and densely packed forward sprawling across the landscape below. Dotting the backs of its gray cliffs were identifiable structures- magnificent and ancient stone buildings that were still clinging to their post despite time wearing them away, the most visible being a long castle wall lining facing the coast. They looked small from here, even as the rundown wooden dock they'd be stopping at grew larger in her vision. Sunset had a pretty concrete idea of where they had to go now.

"You get a pretty cool view of the destination from the seaside."

"I guess so, yeah."

[Lunar Sea Coast, East of Mt. Eclipse]
[Saturday, 11:01am]

Sunset stepped off of the little boat quite readily, happy to be back on the ground after having had shifting water beneath her for hours. There was little means of shore here, just a wooden pier leading along some rocks and onto the dirt of dry land. Nevertheless, it was welcome beneath her heavy work boots. Even with the sun overhead it was a lot colder here than it was back in Canterlot City. Sunset was glad she'd dressed in her proper work clothes for this job.

Said proper work clothes were of a rather heavy attire —a long, golden leather coat that matched the streaks in her hair featuring a long, flowing split tailpiece that fell to her ankles. Beneath that a thick, black strapped vest with three buckles holding it tight to her torso, and a tall collar that rose just below her hairline. Similarly colored black padded pants ran down her legs and were neatly tucked into her boots, held up by a squared belt buckle and a deep brown belt. Her sword was slung across her back, magically locked to her body until she needed it not to be, and she had holsters for her pistols tucked under her coat across her back. The look was sleek, stylish, and iconic- anyone that saw her would remember her.

Eve still wore her midnight dark outfit, the biker jacket and pants forming snug leather wrappers around her shoulders, chest, and hips, with the single shoulder pauldron giving a splash of color with its red and purple stars insignia. With her middle exposed and her layers light, it seemed a bit light for the chilly autumn forest they were setting off into, but she didn't seem to mind it all that much. Complete with the violet sunglasses, she looked like she could handle herself. Maybe demons didn't have to worry about getting cold.

The path out from the docks led to a sign nailed to a tree, pointing them in the direction of Hollow Shades. It was on a straightforward gravelly path through a very dense forest. Apart from the rocky coast and the docks, tall, grayish-brown trees dominated the landscape the further they went inland. Here began a walk in the woods.

As they walked, Sunset caught something out of the corner of her eye. Eve seemed to be fixated on the sword Sunset was carrying. Her greatsword wasn't usually that much of a focus for anyone, on its surface it didn't have many standout qualities, but Eve seemed to know what made it so important to Sunset.

"Is that really it?" Eve asked. "Daybreaker's sword?"

Sunset nodded. "Yep."

"Huh." Eve's expression deflated a little.

Sunset turned her head back slightly, looking at Eve through narrowed eyes and a blank expression. "This is it. The sword that split the world."

Eve was quiet for a moment.

"Not the sword you were imagining, is it?" Sunset asked.

"No. I thought it'd be more... legendary looking." Eve's head tilted. "And bigger."

"Yeah, I bet."

"Does it do anything special?" Eve asked.

"Not really." Sunset replied. "Daybreaker's power was what sealed the demon realm shut, the sword was just a conduit for it. Without her it's just a sword."

"She really must've been incredible, then..."

Sunset shrugged. "She was just a normal person, like you or me."

"She was anything but normal, wasn't she?"

"Eh..."

Eve again perked up as more questions filled her mind. "What was it like, training under her? Was she really everything they say she is?"

As she kept walking, Sunset had to shut her eyes for a moment. She sighed, because on some level, yes, the legends about the Platinum Knight were absolutely true. She was the mother of modern demon slaying, a swordsman unmatched, and the only person whose power ever inspired a sense of dread within Sunset. At the same time, Sunset knew her as a tired old woman. Someone who was hopeful and optimistic, but also honest in how vulnerable she could be.

"I met her when she was retired," Sunset said. "Reality is no match for the legends, anyway."

"But what about you?" Eve asked. "You're a legendary demon slayer too now, just like her."

"I think of myself as 'experienced'." Sunset knew better than to think she was ordinary, but she didn't consider herself particularly special. "I'm probably not as great as whatever you thought I was going to be like either."

"Oh, don't say that," Eve shook her head. "I've seen you in action, you're incredible."

"I didn't say I wasn't." Sunset's reply was almost instant.

"Oh. Er, right," Eve's head dropped. "Sorry, I guess I'm just interested in getting to know the real you, after having heard so much."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Sunset was very quiet in response to that. She felt like it was time to change the subject.

"So, what's with the outfit?" Sunset asked.

As they walked, Eve looked down at herself in slight confusion. "This is my fighting outfit. Is there something wrong with it?"

"Of course not," Sunset said. "Fight in whatever you like, but it just doesn't look like you're wearing much underneath that leather is all. I take it that a demon doesn't have to worry about getting cold?"

"Well, yes and no..." Eve crossed her arms. Seemed like she was unsure about something. "Isn't this style of dress supposed to be hot?"

Sunset stopped. She frowned, and took her lollipop from her mouth. After taking a breath, she turned towards Eve as if to say something, but then decided against it. To Eve's confusion, Sunset's expression shifted around a bit, becoming undecipherable as she processed what Eve had just said.

"You do know about how human languages have words with multiple different meanings, right?" Sunset's free hand cycled about slowly in a gesture of slowly processing perplexity.

"Of course I do," Eve nodded, unaware of why Sunset seemed to be confused. "This kind of leather clothing and exposed skin is attractive to humans, isn't it? Hot? As in cool? Or sexy?"

"I mean..." Sunset supposed a sigh of relief was in order upon realizing this girl wasn't totally naive. "Why does that matter?"

"It helps my confidence." Eve explained. "That's a really important thing for demons, y'know. If we don't believe in ourselves, we lose a lot of our strength."

Sunset knew that much. That was the core principle behind being stylish. She supposed it made enough sense for her to want to feel nice by dressing nice. In some part, Sunset did the same.

"So looking good makes your feel warm inside, does it?" Sunset's lip turned up into an amused smirk, but she was satisfied with that explanation.

"Body temperature regulation is one thing it does, yes." Eve replied, a tinge of exasperation on her tongue. Her arms crossed herself a little tighter as her expression crumpled up. "So... I do look attractive, right?"

"Yeah, you look fine." Sunset nodded.

"Just fine?"

"I'm not the one to ask about that," Sunset held her hand up. "You probably look perfect to the right person."

Eve let her expression loosen a little, but her arms didn't budge. "Probably?"

Sunset sighed. Rather than give her an honest appraisal, Sunset turned herself to fully face Eve, leaning in close but not letting anything show through directly on her face. "You're the one that has to believe in yourself, so you tell me. Do you think you look attractive? Do you feel attractive?"

Her feet didn't move, but Eve's head retreated back as Sunset neared her. There was something about the sudden closeness that unnerved her, seeing Sunset's face so void of expression made her want to shrink away, but at the same time she was following every word she said. Even through her polarized sunglasses there was palpable eye contact being made and it was actively causing her insecurity to shrink.

"Huh? I.. Uh, I..." Eve's words weren't given any stability, though.

"Well? Do you?"

Eve idly glanced down at herself. She straightened her posture out and held her eyes against Sunset's.

"Yeah. I think so."

Sunset held her expression, and very deliberately looked over her as well. Then after a pause, her blank expression went to a less serious yet just as uninterested one while she leaned back away from the tense and uncertain demon.

"Well I sure hope you do. You picked the outfit."

And then she turned away and resumed walking down the gradually darkening forest path. Eve remained still, unsure of how exactly she should respond, but ultimately decided to just continue their walk.

The further they journeyed into the forest, the darker the tree branches ahead seemed to get, and the less overall light passed through to the ground, making it that much harder to see where their path led. Sunset wasn't worrying too much yet, but they'd been walking for at least 45 minutes, passing several signs reaffirming their destination.

"How much further should it be?" Sunset asked.

"I'm not sure."

The ground seemed to be sloping upwards a little bit, each step requiring a little bit more effort. Eventually it evened out again, and when it did Sunset noticed something shining in the distance between the trees. A soft orange stream of light gradually became visible as they approached a clearing, and the pair suddenly found themselves staring at a small cluster of single story wooden structures with thatched roofs. Homes, from the looks of it, each one nestled in between trees and with simple fencing surrounding them. The houses themselves were just as dull and brown as the surrounding woods, it seemed almost uncanny how natural the clearly constructed structures were in this wilderness setting.

The houses were spread asymmetrically around the gravel path, not adhering to the direction it gave travelers, but Sunset and Eve still followed it as it wrapped around and snaked forward. As they neared, Sunset noticed something odd about these houses. The light shining from this area wasn't coming from any of them, rather, it was just reflected light from the now visible sky. The houses had no lights or sounds about them whatsoever, and a few even had their front doors left open.

The half-dozen homes in the immediate area were all like this, seemingly abandoned, like everyone had left in a hurry. Sunset assumed they might've just been out, but continuing further would only confirm the suspicions she was having.

Past the cluster of homes, back through much shorter dark passage of trees, was another, far larger clearing in the forest, this home to far more buildings of similar construction. This was clearly their remote forest village, what Sunset would call a center of town, with large spaces for gatherings, plentiful buildings in multiple stories with signage of varying function, and a robust circular well at the midpoint of it all. At the end of the town, Sunset could easily make out a tall, pointed stone tower as well, one poking just above the treeline and host to a lookout platform, where once could survey the entire village.

This place didn't seem like it was all that lively, though. Her first glance spoke of civilization, but as soon as she noticed one of the closest buildings to her was completely collapsed, as if crushed beneath something, she started to notice impact marks in the dirt around her and major structural damage to several of the buildings in the village square. One's roof was even still smoking, signs of burn damage on and around the place, and the tower in the distance seemed to have a top part that was broken off at some point.

And on top of it all, there was still nobody to be found. Something catastrophic happened here.

Just next to this opening in the trees framing this scene was a signpost, but one that had been knocked over. Upon righting it, Sunset read the words:

Hollow Shades

[Hollow Shades, Village Center]
[Saturday, 11:45am]

"This is the place." Sunset said. "Looks like it's seen better days."

Walking through the town gave rise to the scent of ash and burned metal. More alarming, what appeared to be a giant metal wing was blocking off a side path leading to more destroyed buildings. Long, sharp, and with unusual implements jutting out from it, like it'd fallen from some advanced aircraft and smashed into the ground.

"We should keep moving," Eve said. "There should be a path that continues north from the village, leading up the mountain."

Sunset was a bit taken aback by the destruction around her. "Do you think demons came through here already?"

"Something certainly was here. Do you feel that?" Eve asked. "That resonance in the air, that's chaos magic. But there's also... something else. It feels tight. Constricting."

The demon hunter took a moment to get in tune with her surroundings. She felt the resonance Eve described, it was like the faintest vibration in the air, a minute, nigh-undetectable disturbance. But she could feel it, and now that she noticed it she couldn't ignore it. The constricting feeling though, that wasn't as clear.

"I don't know." Sunset said. "Feels like there's demons nearby to me."

"Demons can't be summoned in an area like this though, not without-"

Before Eve could finish her thought, something burst from between two still standing buildings. A grossly distorted figure cloaked in a tan garment from the waist down, his skin a pale grey with a deathly purple glow behind his eyes. Two arms that were far too long for its body extended from very protruding shoulder bones, like his skin was wrapped far too tightly around his insides. One clawed hand gripped a long pitchfork, and the other held its claw out as it lunged for Eve. Two leathery, jagged wings flapped from the back of his exposed torso, pushing his attack forward at blinding speed as a short, sharply pointed tail trailed behind him.

Eve's eyes opened in surprise, but Sunset spun in front of her, kicking the oncoming demon in the back of the head and launching him across the village square into the front of a bakery. In an instant, her sword was out, and her posture snapped into a ready position.

Two more of the creatures appeared from atop the bakery, one with a woman's form, wearing only the minimum in way of decent torso coverage and brandishing a butcher's knife, and another man wearing long robes with tears in the back where his wings came through. He held a single-handed messer sword in one hand, and he and his companion dropped to the floor to challenge Sunset and Eve.

"You were saying?" Sunset held her ground, eyes focused as the two demons began encircling them. Two more made their presence known to their side, men in overalls and straw hats, hissing and growling in a distinctly unhuman way, these one brandishing farming implements.

"Sunset, these aren't ordinary demons." Eve noted. She too just as quickly rose herself to alert, drawing up the magic within herself and creating a small bubble of light that floated around her. She lifted her hands, both to invoke the necessary motions for spellcasting and also to cast bare knuckles if one of them got too close. In her mind, she studied these forms, trying to reason out what they were and how they got here before coming to a surprisingly grim conclusion.

OPERARII, The Discordant Villagers:These demons were made from the humans that lived here, once ordinary and peaceful people of the village twisted and turned into monsters by the Lord of Chaos. The purple flickerings from behind their eyes all seemed to distort and twist in unison, they had been made into physically stronger creatures but their individual wills were now lost. They were servants of chaos now, but how long had they been like this?

"These demons weren't summoned from the underworld," Eve explained. "The Lord of Chaos has already corrupted the people here! These people... they were just farmers, bakers, craftsmen..."

The Operarius tossed through the bakery window had righted himself and was climbing back through to join its corrupted fellow and the threatening circle they were forming around the two intruders. There were eight around them, now, all waiting for action to happen, all waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

To that, Sunset let her guard drop. She tilted her head, giving the nearest of the demons a challenging smile. "Come on, guys. Isn't this a bit much? We're all working class here, turning on your fellow laborers is not the answer."

Eve's elbow jammed into Sunset's back, and she strenuously scolded her just loud enough for her to hear. "Sunset, that's not going to work, I'm a princess!"

The first demon to expose himself, the bare chested one with the pitchfork, paid little mind to Sunset's banter and again charged straight for her.

Sunset kicked off the ground to the side, sweeping her greatsword around and guiding the demon's long, multi pronged weapon away from her. It wasn't anything special, just a sturdy, everyday tool. Her enchanted blade clanged loudly against the metal as she deflected and moved, weaving in and out of attacks as the others rushed into the fight.

The one with the butcher's knife moved quickly, her feet pushing and kicking rapidly against the ground as she spun into Sunset with her blade. Sunset had to block several angles in quick succession and the demon moved, then sidestepped, then spun again into another quick set of slashes. The pitchfork stabbed at Sunset's back again, and her block turned into a spinning parry, upsetting the demon's balance and allowing her to get a stab in at his bare chest.

A hooked piece of metal swung down on her sword though, causing Sunset to stumble down and readjust her stance. Another of the Operarii cut in with a short-handled sickle, hooking Sunset's sword away and then taking a swing at her neck. Leaning to her side, Sunset took a firm grip on her sword with both hands and smashed the end of the handle into the sickle wielder's head, pushing him away and allowing Sunset to twirl around and slice through the lady demon's hand just before her butcher knife made contact. The pitchfork stabbed her again, but she ducked and rolled under it, this time coming up with her two pistols drawn, wrists crossed and barrels lined up with the two demons she'd just stunned.

Bullets snapped and cracked through the short distance to their targets, each of the Operarii stumbling and staggering backwards as they were riddled with hot pieces of lead. In came the pitchfork for one more wide swing, but Sunset leaned back a full 90 degrees and shifted her aim to blast the bare chested demon instead of the one with the knife.

Two heavy footsteps sounded off behind her, and Sunset took a step forward and spun, extending one arm in front of and one arm behind her to shoot at the sickle wielder and this new opponent, a demon lady with a wood-chopping axe. In the center of four opponents, Sunset snapped firing positions back and forth, firing at each of her targets multiple times to ensure that they couldn't actively recover fast enough. The bullets pierced through them, made them writhe in pain where they stood, but demons were notoriously strong, and it'd take more than that to finish them off completely...

Eve found herself cartwheeling out of the way of the robed demon with the messer sword, dodging fast thrusts and wild swings from what seemed like a well practiced arm. The scraps of cloth armor on the demon's lower body lead Eve to believe he might've been a town guard when he was still human, and the proficiency with the sword further hinted at that conclusion.

The small sphere of magic hovering vigilantly around Eve, her locus, provided a point for her to cast projectile spells through. Right now, it was alight with an arcane fire, and between dodges Eve's hands lifted and extended to cast blazing fireballs from it. The demon's wings came around and blanketed it from the attacks, and as he recoiled, Eve's locus shifted at her will, becoming a crackling nexus of cobalt electricity. When the demon swung his sword out again, he received a sharp thunderbolt projecting from Eve's Locus as she dipped under his blade and stepped inside his swinging range. Her hands too became electrified, and she caught him with a lightning fast series of punches to the chest before finishing with a hook that sent off a blasting shockwave.

The demon was thrown to his back, but before Eve could finish him off another demon made from the form of an older man ran in to rescue him. He snarled, showing off sharp, distorted teeth, and although he only brandished a wooden walking stick as a weapon, he used it with the proficiency one would a staff. Eve's magic shifted forms again, the lightning around her locus suddenly dispersed into an icy white mist. In turn, her hands became encased in dense ice, which she lifted to guard her face. As the wooden staff swung down, it was locked in place against the ice protecting her, giving her time to immediately counterattack. With the added weight on her hands, her hits were powerful, but came out slower. One punch staggered him back, another sent him reeling, and a third took him to the floor. Eve's hits were focused, precise, she ensured that she used every bit of her demonic strength as efficiently as possible.

She looked up from her opponent and found another two approaching, these two with no weapons but still just as much confidence as the last. Eve took steps back as they swiped at her, claws coming in one after the other, and then one used its wings to jump high over the other and land opposite Eve. Her locus flared, and the demon in front of her was blasted with a flurry of tiny icy shards as Eve spun and backhanded the other across the face. As the demon spun off balance, Eve quickly shifted her magic again, the locus turning back to a burning point of light and her arms becoming wreathed in heated flames.

With nothing but heat surrounding her now she spun again and drove her burning fists into the demon she'd just covered in ice shards, launching him across the village square where he collided with a brick building, and letting her focus on the still standing demon to her back. One more spin, and one more shift of magic, this time back to lightning. The demon swiped for her again but she easily evaded the blow and snapped into an uppercut, launching the demon into air and setting it up to be blasted with another bolt of lightning from her locus. She jumped up after it, and with a flaming downward punch she send the creature slamming into the ground with a fiery explosion above it.

When she landed, she saw Sunset leaning perfectly back, sword in one hand, and slicing three demons surrounding her in half as she made a perfect rotary motion with the blade. One demon remained in front of her, and she placed one hand on the ground, shifting into a handspring to kick the demon's face with both boots before flipping above her, firing both her guns downward and with a slight spinning motion. Upon landing, she kept firing, firing so rapidly that as she twirled on her side, the bullet impacts sliced the demon in half vertically.

Sunset landed in a kneel with both her guns extended to the same side as the demon's halves flopped in either direction.

Before she could stand, she heard something hurtling towards the air, one of the demons had thrown a handaxe and it was spinning right for her. Sunset lifted her guns to shoot it down, but it instead became encased in a purple glow and suddenly came to a stop inches away from her face.

Eve held a hand out, her locus losing its flame for a bright purple aura. Her kinetic magic caught the thrown weapon from across the village square and tossed it to the side, allowing Sunset to shoot down the offender. The demon guardsman had picked himself back up after dropping his messer sword, apparently having kept the handaxe as a backup weapon. He leapt for Sunset as she fired both guns, his arc clearing the path of her bullets until he could bear down on her, but by then she'd already drawn her sword and blocked out his line of attack. Right as their blades collided, lightning struck into the demon's back, and the purple glow of Eve's kinetic magic yanked the demon's arms up and away from him.

Sunset spared no time driving her sword through the demon, then using her boot to force him to the floor as he seized up on it. The demon scowled, still writhing with some fight left in him, but Sunset drew one of her pistols and silenced him with a gunshot.

She let out a breath. It felt good to be back in action, but those demons bothered her. Her eyes studied the one she'd just shot, then to the four she'd bisected in various fashions prior. They all lay motionless, in pieces, with a black, inky blood slowly pouring from where they'd been opened up. It wasn't incredibly messy, but it wasn't quite what Sunset was used to when it came to fighting humans-turned-demon.

"They're not going to change back, are they?" Sunset asked. "My friends all got turned into demons once, but they all went back to normal after I fought them."

Eve shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. They were gone the moment the Lord of Chaos sunk his claws into them. The only thing we can save these people from now is eternal servitude to a demon lord."

"So much for going on strike, then," Sunset said. She holstered her guns and slung her sword over her back. "That's great."

"I know you said you don't like to hurt humans, Sunset..." Eve began, but Sunset wouldn't let her finish.

"It's fine. They're not human anymore." Sunset sighed. "They're like us."

Eve only nodded in a disappointed certainty.

"Where to now?"

Sunset and Eve both looked towards the path obstructed by the giant metal wing, having knocked over trees and part of a building to completely section off that direction.

"I'd say we go that way, but it doesn't look like we'll be able to get through," Eve said. "We need to head north. Maybe there's another way around on the other end of the village."

Heading further down through the rows of small town buildings, the two approached a much more prominent chapel made of stone, with a small, but smashed stained glass window on one side. Its front displayed well crafted archways and a short overhang walkway to get out of the sun if desired, and it was directly connected to the tall watchtower overlooking the village. Though, now that they were close, Sunset saw that it wasn't a watchtower, there was a section atop it that had been forcibly knocked away in rubble at its base, and several indent and impact marks suggested a much more devastating attack took place here. Across the way, a huge bell of dented brass lay half sunken into the ground, having snapped a wooden bench in half on the way down.

And there were charred black burn marks everywhere here. Sunset kept herself on guard.

Approaching the chapel, Sunset noticed a crescent shaped insignia mounted atop the long, extended awning, flush against the gray stone, white on a black background. It was strange, Sunset felt she'd seen this somewhere before, but couldn't put her finger on where.

"Hey, does that emblem look familiar to you?" Sunset asked, guiding Eve's attention to the metal ornament.

"Hmm. No, I've definitely never seen it before. Why?"

"Feel like I've seen it before. Dunno."

"Hmm..." Eve's lips flattened out as she gave it some thought. "Yeah, I've got nothing."

The doors beneath the chapel's awning suddenly closed shut with a noticeable sound, drawing both Sunset and Eve's attention down. Someone was inside. They looked at each other, then back to the door. Without a word, Sunset took steps towards the tall wooden doors and placed her hand firmly on one, pressing it open and taking a peek inside. The room wasn't terribly large, just a few rows of pews before a very simple stand, with a broken window on the left side, the scene its stained glass depicted now lost to time. The sun streamed faintly through this window, as it set it cast the room in a very serene and soft orange

Nobody was visible in here though, so Sunset opened the door all the way and let herself in. She scanned the room in front of her as she walked in, past the depression in the wall made for the doors, but heard something shuffling behind her just as she thought the room was completely empty.

Behind her, tucked away on the side of the door she hadn't opened, was a woman completely covered in a silky, navy blue robe, her head and face mostly obscured by a hood. A silvery trim and belt along with corresponding crescent-shaped patterns on the chest of her robe made it clear to Sunset that she was a member of the little chapel they had here, but she didn't seem to have transformed into one of the demons they met outside.

The woman was frantic and terrified, holding a wooden framed revolver in both hands, pointing it desperately in Sunset's direction as she turned around. Sunset tensed, but didn't panic, calmingly turning her head first, and then slowly facing the robed woman.

"D-Don't move." The woman took a timid step forward, still locked onto Sunset.

Sunset held her hands up at shoulder level and took a step back, doing her best to show this woman her intent. "Hey, I'm not here to-"

BANG!

The woman's revolver echoed out in the small chapel chamber, putting out a whole lot of smoke and a single bullet into Sunset's mouth. When the smoke cleared, however, the woman was shocked to see Sunset only leaning back slightly with her head thrown back.

Sunset pulled her chin back down, deliberately blinking several times as the woman watched her jaw shift, and her lips pursed out to reveal the bullet had been caught between her teeth. After a moment of letting the woman realize what had just happened, Sunset tilted her head slowly and spat the bullet out onto the floor.

"Don't do that."

"Demon!" The woman fired the revolver again, but this time the bullet was met by Sunset drawing her sword and slicing the bullet in half mid flight, either piece of it flying away into the wall behind her.

"Please. Don't do that," Sunset repeated.

The woman now seemed to be in a terrified state of awe. She recognized something in Sunset, eyes fixed on her sword as she held it at the ready. Rather than fire again, the woman took a step forward, and reached out weakly with the finger of her off hand.

"You..." She breathed, her voice choking what Sunset could only assume was terror, a sudden realization of some grave trespassing. "Child of Wrathful Sun..."

"The whatnow?" Sunset's head titled.

"Please!" The woman fell into a cowering plea on both knees, surrendering her weapon to the floor and almost reverently bowing her head to Sunset's presence. "Show mercy, o' Daughter of Daybreaker. My only intent was to ward off the demons assaulting this town with what meager munitions we have. I cannot fight you!"

"Daughter of Daybreaker?" Sunset asked. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"I..." The woman paused, looking up at Sunset with reluctance. "Are you not the Daughter of Daybreaker? You must be, you carry her sword. Your fighting stance is just as hers is said to be, you-"

"Yeah, sure," Sunset interrupted, finding the action generating a cowering flinch in the woman, her head again bowing to the floor. "But who are you?"

The woman didn't look back up this time. "I am but a humble servant of the Nocturna. A priestess-in-training. The custodian of this place of our goddess."

Sunset let her shoulders fall, and put away her sword. The Nocturna. That must be the town's religion, Sunset figured. This lady was just a scared survivor of whatever happened here, hiding out in the chapel since the demons showed up. No wonder her trigger finger was so itchy. She recognized Sunset as some kind of demigod, and clearly considered shooting at her to be a divine affront.

"I haven't heard of the Nocturna," Sunset said, crouching down to the woman's level, showing a bit less hostility. "And I forgive you for shooting at me, I understand things are crazy out there."

"You..." The woman finally risked a look back up, finding Sunset doing her best to show a smile and extending a hand to help her up. Her reverent and formal tone dissipated, making way for mounting confusion in a casual tone. "You're not here to destroy us?"

Sunset shook her head. "No. I heard the Lord of Chaos was in town. I'm here for him."

"The Lord of Chaos..." The woman nodded, allowing Sunset to help her to her feet. "He's supposedly up in the ruins on Mt. Eclipse. But... You're supposed to be the child of our enemy. You mean to say you're here to save us?"

"Whatever is left of you, yeah." Sunset nodded. "Why do you say we're supposed to be enemies?"

The door behind them opened, and Eve came through with an answer.

"Because the Nocturna worship Nightmare Moon," Eve had an almost hostile tone in her voice, accusatory and revelatory. "That's the only demon that insignia could belong to."

Sunset gave the priestess a suspicious look, but it quickly softened as she realized she wasn't a threat.

"Sister Moon," the priestess corrected. "She is our protector, our guardian of the night!"

"She took over the demon realm," Eve said, "And she nearly took over the human realm, too."

The priestess's head fell shamefully. "She fell to darkness long ago, but we still believe in her inner goodness."

"Inner goodness?" Eve shook her head. "Your Sister Moon was a cruel and wicked demon."

The priestess was no longer cowering, she seemed to have forgotten she was in mortal danger as her faith was challenged. "No, she's a protector, not a tormentor! She didn't become that way until Daybreaker cruelly cast her into the Inferno!"

"Daybreaker was saving you."

"Eve, that's enough." Sunset raised her hand to break their argument. She turned to the priestess to address her, letting a hand rest on her shoulder to ease her tension. "Sister Moon went through a period of darkness, but if you and your people believe in her goodness, that she can be redeemed, then that's good enough for me."

"How... How can you say that?"

"Because I believe she can be redeemed, too," Sunset said. "Daybreaker went through her own period of darkness after she fought her sister, you know. Having to hurt someone you're close with is never easy, especially when you know you'll never see them again. In her anger, I think Daybreaker also hurt herself."

It wasn't a completely accurate report, but Sunset was doing her best to speak in the Nocturna's terms. She didn't want this lady to have a total crisis of faith, she just wanted to express that she wasn't here as some divine punishment or whatever.

"A sympathetic devil," The woman remarked. "It's strange to think about her like that. But... She was here. Daybreaker came to us, she threatened us with judgement should we not comply with her."

"Daybreaker was here?" Eve repeated.

Sunset blinked. "You met her?"

"Well, no, it was Mother Evershade who told us about her. Appearing before her, demanding we surrender our village to her." The priestess recounted. "Of course, we never did, Daybreaker and her underlings are our enemy! I mean, er, not you, at least, but..."

Sunset and Eve met each other's eyes again. Something was wrong here.

"We can deal with that later," Sunset said. "Has anyone else been threatening this town, besides the Lord of Chaos and this 'Daybreaker?'"

"There..." the priestess let her head shift about as she recalls the events of the past few days. "There was an Order of Light assassin sent here too, I think to kill Mother Evershade."

The Order of Light. Another, much larger religious group that worshiped Daybreaker, obviously a group that would be at odds with the Nocturna.

"She..." the priestess continued, "I don't know what happened to her, though. I don't think she was successful."

"Is there anyone else alive here that you know of?" Eve asked.

"Oh, yes," she nodded. "There were two government men who helped evacuate the townsfolk, they're in a safety vault beneath the village. It's an old, underground temple the Nocturna converted into an emergency bunker. I tried to make my way there but got cut off... and there might be more survivors in our cathedral. But Daybreaker attacked us there, and not everyone made it out... most of us didn't make it out..."

Sunset gave the priestess another comforting shoulder hold. "We cleared out the demons in the town, do you think you can make it somewhere safer?"

"Yes. I know the way to the temple."

Eve brought up the other main concern. "There's a big piece of metal blocking the main path out of the town. Is there any other way to get to Mt. Eclipse from here?"

"Uh... This way, follow me."

The priestess led them to the back of the chapel, where a door opened into a small hallway, which then led into the fenced area out behind the chapel. A large pile of leaves had been raked up into either corner of the back half of the yard, but at the end of the fence was a locked metal gate leading to a narrow trail off into the woods. With a key, the priestess unlocked the gate and let the hinges swing open.

"If you follow this trail, it'll lead you to a river that flows down from Mt. Eclipse. Follow it up and you'll eventually come to the road that leads to the Cathedral, which sits in the shadow of Mt. Eclipse."

Sunset took a few steps past the gate before turning back to nod her appreciation to the priestess. "Thanks. Hopefully, you'll see us again after this is all over. Stay safe, okay?"

"To you too, Daughter of Daybreaker," the priestess nodded in return, "May moonlight walk with you."

Eve followed Sunset as she walked off, only giving the priestess a glance of acknowledgement, nothing more.

"A-and with you too, Follower of Daybreaker."

Further along the dark, narrow trail, once they were out of sight of the town, Eve spoke candidly to Sunset.

"Do you really believe what you said back there?"

Sunset turned her head back. "About what?"

"About Nightmare Moon."

"Yeah." Sunset had no tone of joking in her voice. "I'm more surprised by how you didn't recognize her emblem right away."

"Well I've never met her, or seen her before."

"She was in charge of the demon realm for the past thousand years, wasn't she?"

"It wasn't that cut and dry," Eve said. "It's not like her biography had been written at any point, I hadn't-"

"Oh, right, you're a shut-in, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Sunset rolled her eyes. She reached into her coat and pulled out a fresh lollipop, offering it to Eve again as they walked.

"Lollipop?"

"No thanks."

With a shrug, Sunset unwrapped it and let it fall onto her tongue, taking the moment of peaceful walking to appreciate the sunlight streaming faintly from between the tree coverage overhead.