Chapter 0 : Idolatry

The concert ended at 10:47 p.m.

The first body hit the pavement at 10:52.

“Damn, Tal, you were right. There really was a vampire in the crowd. How did you know?” Beatriz said cheerfully, already tying back her loose hair. She reached down and pulled free her twin sais, steel scraping softly as they slid from the decapitated vampire’s remains.

“Let’s just say that ‘she’ got way too excited,” Natalya replied. She stood at the mouth of the alley, arms crossed, ice-blue eyes sweeping the street beyond. Her gaze was watchful and calculating, making sure no civilians wandered close.

“So you basically used your cold-heat-thingy-majiggy!?” Beatriz’s face beamed with pride as she guessed correctly.

“…you mean thermokinesis…” Ji-ae yawned. She had no energy left for trivial conversation, absently playing with her crimson hair. It was clear she wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep.

“Yeah, that thermo-thingy!”

The girls had arrived just in time, before the vampire could cause any more harm. Its body slowly withered beneath the moonlight, ash and shadow dissolving into the pavement.

That same moon cast long silhouettes of the girls of shadow, their black leather cloaks and jackets concealing perfectly polished steel and silver weapons.

A sore, yet undeniably beautiful sight befell any creature of the night that dared to gaze upon them.

“Tal. Ji. Think there are any other vampires walking around?” Beatriz asked innocently, wiping the last traces of ash from her sais.

Ji-ae shrugged. “Probably not. We’re right near Tokyo Dome. No vampire is going to walk around killing civilians in the middle of the city…”

Her partners stared at her suspiciously.

“All I’m saying is we may as well go home, y’know? Take a nap after all that hard work…”

“No. We have to at least stay up until midnight. It’s our job, after all.”

“B-but Natalya…” Ji-ae moaned.

“No means no. I’m the leader. We do as I say. Got that?”

“Fine… but if I end up missing my beauty sleep for no reason, that’s on you.”

“I accept all responsibility, as a leader should. Now let’s get back on patrol.”

Natalya stepped toward the street before Beatriz suddenly grabbed her collar and yanked her back.

“Hey, what’s that for!?”

“Stupid dummy. There are fans still out there from the concert. We already had to skip the meet and greet. I don’t want them getting even more upset if they see us wandering alleyways in weird clothes!” Beatriz chastised. She was clearly still bothered about missing the meet and greet. She loved her fans.

“She’s not wrong,” Ji-ae added, very clearly aiming to minimize any further physical activity.

“Please. They worship us. They would be in awe to see us out and about. We can just tell them we really missed seeing them after the emergency turned out to be a false alarm,” Natalya said with a huff, visibly proud of her on-the-spot plan.

“Yes, but that’s the problem. It’s wrong for them to worship us, y’know? We’re still servants of God!” Beatriz’s amber eyes were resolute, the intensity of her gaze making even her fearsome leader hesitate under the pressure.

“Y-yeah, but so what? They worship us so we can protect them. It’s our job as idols to live for the fans, aren’t I right?” Natalya’s voice wavered as she spoke. Her ego was grasping for a rebuttal.

Ji-ae looked at her, one eye open and the other closed in thought. “Sorry, ‘team leader’, but even though lil’ Bea here ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed…”

Beatriz pouted.

“She’s right.”

Beatriz perked up instantly.

“At the end of the day, our job is to hunt vampires as inquisitors of the church, not be idols living off fan worship. That’s just plain old idolatry, after all…” Ji-ae finished with another yawn, stretching her arms overhead to stay awake.

“Tch. Whatever. We’ll patrol through the rooftops then,” Natalya muttered. 

With that, she vaulted up the wall in a fluid burst of parkour, Beatriz and Ji-ae following close behind, in that order.

Like ballerinas of war, they leapt from rooftop to rooftop, watching over the Bunkyo City area from the shadows. 

Minutes passed like seconds as they split up, patrolling every nook and cranny of the district before regrouping atop the Tokyo Dome.

“As expected, nothing. Zip. Nil. Zero. Minu—”

“I get the point, Ji.” Natalya pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. She was practically hoping for a vampire at this point, anything to shut up the lazy worker standing in front of her.

“What about you, Bea? Bea…”

Natalya slowly looked over her shoulder.

Beatriz’s eyes widened.

“I smell blood. A lot of it.”

The rooftop shook as they launched themselves into motion. Ji-ae drew her bowstaff, already bracing for combat, while their suits unfurled webbed wings that carried them gliding across the night sky. 

Beatriz led the charge, coming to an abrupt halt above a small, lamplit park, its pleasant urban design betraying the severity of what had occurred.

“H-help… p-please… someone… help…”

Across from where they landed, sprawled atop an aging bench, lay a young man bleeding from his heart. His chest was torn open, vivid crimson spilling freely as he called out weakly.

He couldn’t have been older than his late teens. Black, curly hair fell to his eyebrows, thick glasses sat awkwardly on his face, and his average build bore nothing remarkable. Nothing, except the way his life was slipping away.

The girls rushed to his side, forming a triangle around him as they assessed the damage. Around his neck hung their concert entrance card, swinging violently as his body trembled.

“We’re here for you. Don’t worry,” Beatriz said, forcing reassurance into her voice.

Natalya focused on the wound, trying to slow the bleeding, until Ji-ae froze.

Something was wrong.

“Guys, stop. His blood is black.”

Natalya and Beatriz pulled back, looking again. The vivid crimson had darkened, still red, but thicker now. Heavier. Maroon.

Their eyes widened in unison.

“I-I thought you guys… were going to… h-help me,” he gurgled, agony contorting his face.

“Is he too far gone?”

“Should we kill him?”

“Is he one of them yet?”

“Is he still human?”

The young man stared up at them, confusion and terror overtaking him as he trembled beneath their gaze. The warmth and concern from moments earlier were gone, replaced by cold, merciless rationality.

“W-why are y-you all looking at me like that…?” The young man’s nerves tightened as they stepped closer.

“Let’s just make this quick and merciful.” Natalya unsheathed her katana, blade gleaming as she positioned it to take his head cleanly and painlessly.

He tried to move. His body squirmed weakly to the side, but Ji-ae pinned him down with her bowstaff, holding him fast. 

He was helpless. Completely unable to resist her strength.

Natalya raised her katana high, preparing to strike down.

“Wait!”

Her blade was stopped mid-swing by a sai.

“L-let’s just take him to the Church first,” Beatriz said. Her voice trembled, but her grip did not.

“They will say the same thing.”

“We don’t know, Tal. Maybe holy water could reverse it!?”

“That’s a shot in the dark, and a risk I’m not comfortable taking.”

“He’s helpless. He couldn’t defeat us even if he tried!?”

“Jia, back me up here, please.”

“She’s right, Beatriz. And on top of that, there’s still an unknown vampire loose that we have to track down.”

“Please, guys. At least let me take him to the Church and find a way!”

“By the time you get holy water on him, he’ll be too far gone, Bea. We can’t risk it.”

“Tal, please. Just trust me this time.”

Natalya exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Why? If I’m going to risk that, give me a reason I can believe in.”

The young man looked up at them, eyes glassy and afraid, understanding that his fate rested on the words of the blonde-haired idol standing over him.

“I don’t know… I just have a feeling. No, an instinct,” Beatriz said honestly. She couldn’t explain it. Something deep in her gut told her this was different.

“Just take him already…” Ji-ae groaned, clearly exhausted by the melodrama.

Natalya stood there for a long moment, weighing everything. Then she spoke. “Fine. Take him to the Church. We’ll hunt down the vampire that did this and rejoin you later. And Bea…”

“Yes?” Beatriz answered, a gleeful smile breaking through her serious expression as she carefully lifted the young man into her arms.

“If he turns into a vampire, kill him immediately. Understood?”

“Yep. I’m off now!”

With that, she vanished into the trees, slipping through the city like a phantom of the night.

“What are we going to do with her…” Ji-ae muttered, a faint smirk tugging at her lips.

“Who knows. Now let’s get back to hunting. We’ve got a vampire to dispose of.” There was no time for idle chatter.

Crimson red and ice-blue hair streamed through the wind as their feet left the ground in pursuit, ready to protect the night from the fiends that sought to corrupt it.