FLASHBACK — JAPAN, 6 YEARS EARLIER
The morning wind drifted through the open windows of the Fujiwara orphanage, carrying the smell of freshly cooked rice and tatami mats worn with age.
Sayuri — just ten years old, straight silver hair brushing her shoulders — ran down the hallway with a bundle of cloths in her arms.
Her eyes — still normal back then, dark as ink — shone with determination.
"Sayuri!" Mrs. Tanabe called from the kitchen corner. "Take care of those clothes. The little ones need them before lunch."
"Okay!" she answered, spinning mid-step with surprising agility for such a small girl.
She folded clothes, carried baskets, cleaned tatami floors, helped the younger kids tie their obi belts. Always efficient. Always quiet. Always wearing that small but honest smile.
Even though she had never been adopted, she never complained.
"You're a white lily, Sayuri," Mrs. Tanabe would say.
"Strong even in the wind."
But that morning, everything changed.
A couple appeared at the orphanage entrance. Wealthy. Elegant. Kind-eyed.
Mrs. Tanabe waved Sayuri over.
"Come meet our visitors."
Sayuri stopped beside her, holding the hem of her shirt. The couple studied her for a few seconds… then smiled.
"She's… perfect," the woman murmured.
"We'll take good care of her," the man added.
But they weren't alone.
Behind them stood two children:
A girl around thirteen, serious, posture flawless — Liora.
And a boy Sayuri's age, timid, gentle-eyed — Hikari.
Sayuri blinked, startled.
Hikari gave her a small, shy smile.
Liora crossed her arms, evaluating the silver-haired girl.
Mrs. Tanabe took a shaky breath, moved almost to tears.
"Sayuri… it looks like you finally have a family."
The girl froze. Her lips trembled.
And for the first time since she was a baby…
She cried.
Not from sadness.
But from hope.
PRESENT — TEMPLE OF THE MOON, DUSK
The quake that had shaken the temple faded like a distant growl. Dust fell from the broken ceiling, and dusk painted the world in strokes of purple and gold.
Sayuri stepped out of the temple with her new sword strapped to her back — the electric gear built into the blade still humming faintly.
Beside her walked Liora, composed as always, while Hikari held the heavy backpack stuffed with supplies and papers.
The air felt too heavy.
Something was far too wrong.
Then—
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!!"
The desperate scream tore across the plaza in front of the temple.
All three froze.
From behind the stone fountain, a man stumbled out — face slashed, clothes torn. He collapsed against the wet marble… and something huge emerged behind him.
A thin, gray body…
…deep yellow eyes…
…and where hands should be, long bone scythes.
A Yokai.
"Hah… hah…" the man tried to run.
The Yokai grabbed his back and slammed him into the ground with brutal force.
Screams erupted everywhere.
More people poured out of the temple, fleeing in panic. And from the shadows of the narrow streets, more Yokai appeared — twisted creatures with claws, bone masks, empty wild eyes.
Chaos spread like fire.
Sayuri clenched her teeth.
"Is all of this… her doing?" she asked, thinking of the presence she felt — and the destruction she knew Lucy could cause.
Liora tightened her fist.
"I… I'm not sure."
Hikari looked pale. His eyes showed fear — not just of the monsters… but for Sayuri.
She noticed instantly.
She took a breath.
Then stepped forward, planting her foot on the cracked ground.
"Liora, take care of Hikari," she said, her voice cold and resolved.
"I'll handle this."
Liora didn't argue. She nodded once.
Sayuri placed her hand on the sword's handle.
Drew it.
The blade gleamed.
She stabbed the weapon into the ground, leaned forward, and pulled the gear.
A sharp crack split the air.
Blue sparks danced.
The sword began to vibrate — like an electric chainsaw.
Sayuri's glowing blue eye flared.
In the next instant, she vanished.
And reappeared in the middle of the Yokai.
She sliced the first creature in half — electricity surging through its body in a flash of blue light.
A second Yokai lunged toward a group of civilians. Sayuri appeared beside it, spinning her blade like a rotor. Electricity arced through the air.
The monster fell, charred.
"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!" a temple guardian cried, running. "They're all over the city!"
"LIORA!" Sayuri shouted mid-strike. "Evacuate everyone!"
Liora quickly gathered the civilians, leading them toward the main street.
"We must take them to headquarters!" she yelled. "Sayuri, report as soon as you can — AND BE CAREFUL!"
"I GOT IT!" she shouted back, slicing another Yokai in half.
Hikari ran with a group of residents, but stopped when he saw a little girl crying near the temple steps.
"H-Hey, hey…" he hurried to her. "Come on! I'll carry you!"
But two Yokai shadows rose behind him.
Hikari saw them.
His legs refused to move.
He hugged the girl tightly, shielding her with his body.
"No… no… please…"
The Yokais raised their blades—
And then a thunderous sound split the air.
WHRRRR-CHAAAAA!!
A burst of blue electricity tore through the monsters.
Sayuri landed between them, spinning her sword like a whirlwind of light.
"GO! HIKARI, GET OUT OF HERE!!"
He gasped, grabbed the girl, and ran without looking back.
Sayuri remained behind.
Surrounded.
Three Yokai.
Then four.
Five.
She rested the sword on her shoulder.
"Let's see if you're worth the trouble."
Her eye glowed.
And the whole field lit up.
Sayuri lunged, spinning the blade with the force of a storm.
The Yokai attacked all at once — claws, scythes, fangs.
Sayuri slashed the first one diagonally, the electric shock bursting into blue flames across the ground.
The second jumped over her.
She slid under it, slicing its legs off, finishing with an upward swing that split its torso cleanly.
Two more charged her at the same time.
Sayuri slammed the sword into the ground, unleashing a surge of electricity that made both convulse violently before collapsing.
The last Yokai tried to escape.
Sayuri pointed her blade.
Energy crackled.
She released a ranged slash — a blue arc of lightning — that sliced its head off.
Silence.
Only her heavy breathing.
And the hum of the slowing gear.
Sayuri wiped sweat from her forehead. Yokai blood dripped from the still-charging blade.
Then something caught her attention.
Behind a row of pillars — a small wooden door, half-hidden. A faded Moon symbol etched at its center.
"…Weird," she murmured.
She pushed.
The door creaked open, revealing a narrow corridor lit by weak torches.
Sayuri stepped inside.
The corridor led to a small underground chamber, filled with old pillars carved with lunar symbols.
At the center:
A blue orb pulsing like a heartbeat.
"…What is this…?"
She touched it.
The orb dissolved like dust made of light, absorbed into her hand.
Her right eye flared painfully bright.
Wind burst from nowhere, making her hair float wildly.
Energy surged down her arm.
And then—
She saw it.
A small hidden tunnel on the side of the chamber.
Sayuri followed, sword ready.
A short flight of stone steps.
And at the end…
She emerged into a forgotten underground village — dark, deserted, lit only by dead lanterns and faint moonlight leaking through cracks in the ceiling.
Empty houses.
Whispers of wind.
And something breathing in the dark.
Sayuri swallowed hard.
"…What the hell is this place?"
She stepped down the first stair.
Unaware…
That she wasn't alone down there.