When the three girls and young boy woke up near the dawn, they all felt refreshed for the day.

However, as the three girls looked at themselves in front of the side-view mirror, they all had unkempt hair and appearance. Mary panicked the most about her appearance and tried to fix up whatever she could. They all smelled, but there was no perfume anywhere. Jack and Yune couldn't really do anything about it, so they just focused on getting back home. They also had to take care of the boy.

When Yune looked at the driver seat of the bus, she asked, "Do either of you know how to drive this thing?"

Jack shook her head, but Mary wanted to try to operate the machine. The boy watched from the front passenger seat.

"Well, I don't particularly know, but how hard could it be to use this metal carriage," Mary said, but as soon as she sat on the seat, she had no idea what to do, next. She had to work extra hard to have her head above the wheel.

Mary started pressing all sorts of buttons. She turned on the hazard lights, the car horn, and the windshield wiper before she was able to find the right switch to turn on the bus.

"See. Piece of cake," Mary said.

"We'll never get out of here at this rate," Jack said in an upset tone.

"Try pressing the pedals on the ground," Yune instructed.

Mary tried reaching them with her feet, but her legs were too short. She tried and tried, but she just couldn't.

"Ok. At least the bus started. Now, I'll try," Yune said. And as she sat down in the seat, her legs were able to reach the pedals, and she could see above the wheel. But then she just looked at all of the controls, levers, and meters. All of this made her overwhelmed to the point where she was afraid to touch anything in fear of breaking it.

But eventually, she figured out how to set the stick to drive. And as soon as the bus started, she began to panic.

"What do I do, now?" Yune asked in a hurry.

The bus slowly went forward. It only went inches, and as soon as she figured out how to move the bus properly, she was afraid of going faster.

"There we go. Now, we're really picking up speed," Yune said while going only 5 miles per hour.

Jack became impatient and took Yune off the driver seat.

"At this rate, I would be in a retirement home," Jack said as she became the new driver.

"What are you doing? That was very dangerous what you did," Yune said.

Mary took a seat next to the boy and watched the two as they were the only ones who could actually drive. She became very jealous that she was the only one who came back from the dead without her growth spurt.

"I'm driving, now. Don't worry. I'm a quick learner," Jack said with confidence.

After a few seconds, Jack began driving 60 miles per hour on the country road. She was swerving all over the place. Jack's body began to freeze up as she concentrated on controlling the vehicle. Yune began to slide around the bus. Meanwhile, Mary acted cool. She just closed her eyes and prayed to God that she would make it out alive. The boy hanged on to one of the guardrails for his own life.

"Not to worry. Everything is under control," Jack assured them. It wasn't.

But luckily, they were able to make it to a diner in the middle of nowhere. Jack crashed the bus into their parking lot, but there were no other cars and nothing was damaged.

Jack got out and ordered some food. The boy left the bus following right behind Jack. Mary got out of the bus and said, "Thanks, God. I knew you were on my side."

Yune left the bus in a daze. Her whole body felt numb and immediately she ran to the bathroom to puke.

They bought some food with the money that the shopkeep gave them their first day. The boy ate his food, but he was silent throughout. Jack knew what the kid has been through. However she had no idea what to say, even though she too experienced a similar predicament.

They ate peacefully. When the waitress asked if they were alright, Mary just told her to mind her own business.

Yune looked at a map after her headache passed and realized how to get to the nearest town. They just needed to go straight down the road and eventually they'll reach Navenport City. From there, they could ditch the bus and take an actual bus ride to Janken City. And so, the plan was set.

After they finished their breakfast, Jack and Yune argued.

"I'm driving," Yune demanded, "You don't know how to drive."

"No. I'm driving. You're too slow and too careful," Jack argued.

"Does anybody care if I drive?" Mary asked.

"You're too short," Jack and Yune said at the same time.

The boy gave a small chuckle as their bickering reminded him of his own family. But that memory quickly turned to despair. Tears started to break down his cheeks.

Yune and Jack both went to him to try and comfort him. In that moment, Mary transformed into a Night Guardian. She sat on the bus seat, started the car, and with one long claw, she pushed the accelerate pedal.

However, she didn't get very far as the bus was still in park. Although, Mary thought that they were moving, but since her head wasn't above the wheel, she couldn't really tell.

So, Jack took the car seat and decided to drive while Yune tried to comfort the kid. It felt like something that she knew what to do. Yune somehow knew how to take care of those younger than herself, but she also knew that she wasn't an actual mother. But the memories were incomplete, so she didn't dwell on it.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Jack tried to drive better. She focused and was able to at least drive on the right side of the lane. And she was better at controlling her speed.

When they arrived at Navenport City, Jack left the bus on the side of the road.

Traffic started moving, and each one of them knew that they would hit something or another in that crowded space.

Jack, Mary, Yune, and the boy all took a taxi to get to a bus station, but before that, Jack needed to make a quick stop.

"We need to go to the police station, first," Jack said.

Yune and Mary also agreed with her.

"What? Why?" asked the boy.

"The police will be able to take care of you," Jack replied.

"No. I don't want to. I want to stay with you girls," he said with tears.

"Sounds like he got a case of Stockholm's syndrome," Yune mentioned as just a fact, but Jack ignored her.

"It's dangerous being around us. You saw that monster. If you're around us, those kind of monsters will be around us all day," Jack said, "We can't protect you. Do you have any other family?"

The boy sniffled. "I was supposed to meet my dad here. He just got out of prison?"

"Prison!? Uh, for what exactly, if you know?" Jack asked worryingly.

"My mom told me he committed tax fraud," he said. It wasn't as bad as what Jack was worrying about. If he was some kind of drug dealer, murderer, or robber, then she would worry. But for a crime that was mentioned, she thought that it wasn't too bad in her eyes.

"Tax fraud? Now, that's a crime I can't forgive," Mary commented. And as she looked at the taxi driver, she worried that he might call the local police force on them. Mary went up to the driver and said, "Don't you dare tell this to anyone."

The driver unplugged his earphones and asked, "Tell what?"

"Uh, well, just don't tell anybody what you heard, today," Mary said and as she did so, her eyes turned purple and something stirred inside her. The man seemed to be entranced and nodded his head in agreement.

"You better not lie," Mary said.

"I will not lie," the driver replied in a static tone.

But Mary became a little confused by his mannerisms. And something about her didn't feel the same, either.

"Tell me, driver. What's your deepest, darkest secret?" Mary asked to confirm a suspicion.

"I cheated on my wife with a dolphin," he said.

Jack and Yune closed the boy's ears.

"What the hell is wrong with you!? Let us off. We'll take another taxi," Yune yelled for the sake of the boy who didn't really care for what he heard.

The driver didn't stop.

"Hey, driver. She said stop," Jack ordered.

But nothing happened.

Mary thought to herself and wondered if she had awakened some new kind of power.

She told the driver, "Stop on this corner." And with something rising up within her, her eyes turned purple, and the driver nodded. He stopped on the corner.

They all left the taxi.

And then Mary told him, "Get out of here and you'll forget everything that happened here."

And so the driver left.

"What was that?" Jack asked Yune and Mary. Yune and Jack weren't aware of any mind control powers, and neither did Mary until right now.

"Looks like I got a new power. I can just make people do things. I didn't know I could do that," Mary said ecstatically. She walked over to a random pedestrian.

"Hey, you," she said with purple eyes. The man froze and awaited a command.

She looked around and saw a gang of heavy-built gang members.

She pointed at them and ordered, "You go over there and start a fight."

The man nodded with no objection and walked over there. He immediately punched one of them and a fight ensued.

"Looks like I do have mind control powers. This is neat," Mary said ecstatically as she jumped in the air while the gang-members started beating up the guy she ordered.

Yune was too tired to handle this and just looked away in disappointment. And Jack just wanted to find a new taxi.

When they arrived at the police station, the boy gave Jack one last hug.

"Will this be the last time we meet?," he asked.

Jack frowned and shook her head.

"In that case, I want you to know my name. My name is Harold Cohl. I won't forget you three," he said.

He ran over to the police station and the Jack hoped that she wouldn't have to meet him, again. Not that she didn't want to see the boy, but that it would be too dangerous to be near each other. And she hoped that his father will take care of him properly.

"Do you think he will be alright?" Yune asked.

"I don't know," Jack replied.

"Well, at least he isn't an orphan. Then, I would have had a feeling that he would be better off with us, unfortunately."

"I feel that, too. But either way, we can't raise him. We only barely won, and I can't risk having an innocent on my hands."

Mary shrugged. "Innocent? I don't think anybody is innocent in this world. But if it makes you feel better, we could go check in on the dad and make sure he's good."

And with that idea, Jack smiled and agreed with her.

"Oh, just to be sure, I want to know if your new power affects us," Yune said.

"Good point. Yune, tell me your darkest secret," Mary ordered as her eyes turned purple.

But Yune didn't feel anything.

"I guess it doesn't work on guardians," Yune concluded.

After it was all finished, before they headed to the bus station, they decided to follow the young boy, Harold, by rooftop. As they saw the police escort him home, they quickly followed in the shadows. They had the speed to follow a car. They had the dark robes to hide in the darkness. Now, they just needed to follow.

When they arrived at the house, they noticed that it was quite a nice house. Very fancy.

"I guess tax fraud really does pay," Yune said.

Mary became angry at the father's house. "How could somebody who take my - I mean the government's money get away with it!?"

They seemed to get along fine as they watched from the windows. When the boy went to his bed, the three girls checked on him. They saw him crying to sleep. This broke both Yune's and Jack's heart.

So, they quickly went up to the father's room. He was fast asleep as if nothing happened.

With a rush of anger, Jack opened the window and went inside the room. She took off her dark robes and her loud footsteps woke up the dad.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" the father panicked.

Jack had an intimidating presence about her. Her giant red armor. Her metallic red mask that looked like it was from a horror movie. Her glowing red eyes.

Yune and Mary followed with her, but they kept their robes on. Only their glowing eyes could be seen.

Jack's mark glowed the symbol of a snake. Mary's glowed the symbol of a crow. And Yune's glowed the symbol of a cat. The father tried to run, but Mary grabbed him and pushed him to the wall. Yune heard footsteps coming.

"Dad? Are you alright?" the boy cried as he was afraid that another monster was there.

Yune quickly chained up the door. Harold tried to open it, but there was no use.

Jack held the man with one arm up to her face. Her terrifying, monstrous mask frightened even the wind.

"You will take care of this child. No more crime. No more stealing. Just honest work," Jack said in a threatening, dark voice.

"Wha-?" the father said in confusion and terror.

Mary came up and decided that she wanted to test her new powers.

"You will listen quietly, "Mary said and the father became still, "You will listen and remember. You will listen to Jack's words and follow them to the letter."

Mary nodded her head towards Jack to let her continue.

With fury, Jack demanded, "You will take care of the boy. You will only do honest work. If you neglect the boy, we will return and take your arms and legs."

The man nodded with no emotion.

"You will not remember us to tell to other, but every night, you will be reminded of us. You will dream of us. You will not remember us, but you will never forget us. We will haunt you until the day of your death."

And with that, Jack let go of the father's neck and they all left.

As soon as Yune's chains were gone, Harold opened the door.

The three girls had already escaped the room and into nearby trees. They wore their black robes and hid in the shadows.

As they watched, the boy cried for his father. And when the father awoke from a seemingly hypnotic trance, he comforted the child.

"I sure hope the effect lasts," Yune said.

"It doesn't matter. If the effect fails at a later date, then he will still be reminded of us. Even if he ends up telling others, nobody will believe him," Jack said.

"You are quite scary. You gave me a couple of chills," Mary said.

Jack smiled. "Oh, you don't know that half of it. Let's go back to Janken City. I'm tired of this road trip."