As millions of children stared at the night sky, ignorant of the nature of the stars above, many men fought the horrors of The Long Night.

One of those very children, though now a young man himself, happens to be in a lone passenger train, which propelled itself forward along a mountain valley, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake.

A lone train that would soon be famous as the vessel that carried many of the men and women who would bring about the end of the world.

Riding alone, Kist sat slumped in his seat. His head hung low while he remained trapped in the prison constructed by his mind, even as the rays of omen lights poured into the passenger car.

As a malevolent star began its ascent and dethronement of the pale moon.

Seated directly in front of him, an old married couple leaned on each other, smiling blissfully within each other’s company.

To his right, a man in his early thirties sat quietly listening to music through a pair of wired headphones, and to his left sat a mother bouncing her giggling little girl on her lap.

The peaceful ambiance of the train car, which seemed as if it would last forever, was quickly washed away with a simple question.

“Momma, what’s that?” Looking up at the fading night sky, the little girl pointed out in awe, “The sky is bright.”

Quickly responding as the other passengers began to notice the light pouring through the windows, the mother attempted to silence her daughter, “Hush, sweetie, we’ll be fine.”

As the crowd’s concerned murmurs grew, the little girl said, “But what is it?”

The mother shook her head in response, clearly set on not answering the question, but before her daughter could even begin to express her disappointment, the older man sitting with his wife barked out in a laugh.

“It’s a star. Evil things, more dangerous and scarier than even the littlest nightmares, and-” Cut off before he could continue by the quick hand of his wife, the old man winced in pain.

“Will you quit! You’re going to scare the poor thing,” Shoving away her laughing husband, the elderly woman turned to the mother with a worried look. “I’m sorry about him; he’s always been like this.”

Shaking her head from side to side, the woman held up her hand to stop the elder lady before speaking, “No, you’re alright. Lily needs to learn about the stars at some point, I just didn’t think it’d be introduced to her like this.”

Sharing a laugh, the two women continued their chatter as the old man and little girl continued their conversation while the gentle rhythms of the train continued.

“What are stars? What do they look like? Why are they dangerous?” Beaming, Lily bombarded the old man with question after question. “Come on, tell me!”

Grinning from ear to ear, the old man began to answer every one of her questions, “Well, first I have to tell you about the people who protect us from the stars above: the Maidens…”

Sprawling with life, the passengers within the coach enjoyed themselves even now as the star’s rays fully illuminated the train car. However, Kist remained lost within his mind.

“What have I been doing wrong,” Sitting up straight only to throw his head back out of frustration, Kist affixed his eyes to the ceiling before he sighed, “Why can’t I kill the Sun?”

Racking his brain for answers, Kist tossed his head from side to side.

“At least those two managed to find joy out of the situation.” outwardly, sighing as a gentle smile crept across his face, Kist directed his wandering gaze away from the mismatched pair and toward the burning sphere.

“I wonder…” Staring at the celestial body, Kist’s gentle smile turned into a malicious grin, which he fought to hold in, “...how it feels to be a star so high up… and how upsetting it must be that something so far below me is thinking that someday they will beat me down.”

The calm of the train stood in direct opposition to Kist’s inner turmoil. That was until the two were suddenly switched.

Coming to a violent stop, the train’s wheels screeched as they slid across the tracks, sending liquid metal sparking through the air.

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In an instant, Kist was sent over the man sitting next to him, snatching the headphones out of his ears as they were both sent across the floor and into the steel wall of the train car.

The force of the impact sent a painful jolt through Kist’s body, forcing him out of his mind.

“W-what just happened?” Kist asked.

However, before he had the chance to recover or push the man off of him, he watched as the remaining screaming passengers crashed into him.

Panicking, Kist tried to brace himself moments before being hit with the combined weight of all those aboard.

Once the initial impact from the wave of people crashing into him passed, Kist fought to stand to his feet as the groans and whines of the crowd grew.

“Momma!” screaming, Lily drowned out the noise of crowd before being overtaken herself by the loudspeakers above.

“Attention, passengers, we’ve made an emergency stop due to unforeseen complications; please stand by and remain calm.”

Visibly confused, Kist asked himself what other passengers outwardly questioned.

“Must be some hell of an emergency if they couldn’t even give us a fucking warning!”

Swearing while quickly scooping up her crying child and slowly moving towards her seat, the mother attempted to comfort the little girl.

As the rest of the passengers began picking themselves up, the door to the passenger car burst open.

"Ayo, this a damn stick-up! Nobody move, nobody be a hero!"

Reaching out with a bright red gloved hand, a man dressed in all black and wearing a plain porcelain mask shoved Kist into a seat before dragging the elderly man, who’d ended up next to him, to the one next to Kist.

Meanwhile, two other similarly dressed robbers began doing the same to the remaining frightened passengers.

"We gonna do this real simple and nice, alright? Whatever you got, I need it!"

Going through the entire car, the three men, who had not yet brandished any weapons though made it very clear they possessed them, secured the area before their leader, who had entered first, gave another order, but this time to his men.

“Alright, go get the money and-”

“Hold on now, son. I don’t think you know what you’re doing. This isn’t the place to be-.” Cutting the man off and standing to his feet, the old man who’d been dragged to a seat stood up with his arms reaching for the sky.

“I thought we said don’t move.” Stepping forward, the biggest of the three men raised his hands, which held onto a silver revolver. “Now, sit your ass down!”

Trembling, the old man held up his hands.

“No, please!” He shouted.

Finally, having reached the limit of his patience, Kist shot to his feet, catching the men’s attention, before calling out, “Okay, that’s enough!”

Turning towards the young man, the group leader tilted his head in confusion before yelling angrily, “Yo, who is you? Man, we don’t have time for this! Rudo, get this fool, man!”

Shoved forward by their leader, Rudo, who was clearly taken by surprise, quickly scrambled for the weapon at his waist.

Choosing to ignore the imminent threat placed before him, Kist surveyed his surroundings to ensure he could act safely before relaxing his body, despite Rudo raising his gun, to prepare himself for the force he intended to generate.

And, in the brief moment it took the man to level his gun, Kist cracked a smirk as he shot forward, stepping past the barrel of the gun and into the man’s center of balance before grabbing his arm and leading them both in a spin that ended with them back to back.

Kist then shifted to the side next to the old man while the robber stood dazed and confused before handing over the gun he’d stolen, “Here, I don’t need it; protect yourself.”

“U-uh, thanks,” Still trembling with fear, the old man briefly bowed his head, and as he rose to speak, his eyes widened in shock, “Watch out!”

Shouting softly, the old man tried to warn Kist of the incoming attack, but it was too late as the robber at his back managed to slip a knife past his guard.

However, the blade was stopped short of its target. Catching the man by his arm once more, Kist held the knife at bay while he smiled at the old man, “Thank you for the warning.”

Tightening his grip as he spoke, Kist felt the bones in the man’s arm bend, and the pain inflicted first drew a groan from the man and then grew into a loud, anguished cry as he dropped to his knees, desperately clawing at Kist’s hand.

“H-help!” Letting out a blood-curdling scream muffled by his mask as he cried to the remaining robbers.

Looking down at the pleading man before allowing a small chuckle to escape, Kist mocked the man, “Well, that’s embarrassing.”

“Shit...” Cursing as he aimed his weapon toward Kist, the bigger of the two remaining robbers frantically called out, “Let ’em go and I don’t put a bullet in your head! How does that sound? Though it’s not like you have much of a choice!”

“I’ll do you one better son; drop the weapon and I won’t shoot.” Speaking up with newfound confidence, the old man raised his weapon.

“Hold on, everyone, now let’s all be rational about this,” Holding up his hands as he spoke, the group leader stepped forward before continuing. “Now, how about we settle this like men-”

Cutting himself off as he stepped forward, the man swiftly drew his holstered weapon with a bloodthirsty look present in his eyes.

However, he wasn’t fast enough. Releasing a color show of streaming lights that pierced through the man, Kist moved along the path he created, dragging Rudo with him as he smashed the man’s mask in a single decisive blow, his knee shattering not only the mask but the bone and cartilage underneath.

Before anyone could react, before the man even had the chance to hit the ground, Kist planted his feet and spun on his heels towards the only remaining threat and acted accordingly.

Still holding onto Rudo’s arm, Kist fastened his grip so firmly he snapped the bone beneath his fingers and slung the man with such force that he flew through the air and slammed into the remaining robber.

“God damnit! What's with this kid?” Blinded and confused at what had transpired, the indisposed leader, sprawled out behind Kist, screamed.

Turning to face him, Kist couldn’t help but show the excitement gleaming in his eyes, reflecting the fading colors of aurora light, “You know you’re really loud.”

Shouting out at the top of his lungs, the man lying underneath Rudo spoke, “Is he a damn Maiden?”

“Hey!” Calling out in response, Kist, stared daggers at the man, but couldn't help but smile at his comment. “Too loud!”