Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Pov: Rumi (+0)

“Takedown, Takedown, takedown, down, down, down”

“What?!” Rumi exclaimed

Her mind started spinning running questions faster then she had time to even begin creating answers. When? Why? How? Did they make a mistake? No, right? Bobby was clear they weren’t performing this song.

“They put this back in?” She said to no one but herself, hoping it was a bad dream. Right? This was a nightmare, nerves, a crazed hallucination from stress. Right?

Or… No, Jinu wouldn’t do that right? This had to be some kind of accident, not a trick of the saja boys. Jinu wouldn’t give up his chance at being free. He had believed her, they had even freed him of Gi-Ma’s voice. That had to be enough to convince him, wasn’t it?

She could hear the crowd murmuring, wondering what this is. Some are confused, some excited for a new song. But Rumi? All she could feel is ice in her blood as every one of her worse fears began to come to life. All her fears came crashing down spiraling in an uncontrollable torrent.

Then the lights flipped on and muscle memory took over. She suddenly heard, and felt, the presence of Zoey and Mira at her sides. That was good at least, right? If they were here then it would be ok, the three of them could take this on. Flood gates slammed shut holding back the onslaught of fears.

That didn’t last, Zoey broke the choreography first, shoving her arm, then Mira right after, spinning her around to face her. This wasn’t the set, sure they had abandoned the song, but it wasn’t like you forgetting that many days of practice in just hours.

As she turned around Zoey was right there again, in her face lacing the words of the song with venom… At her? No that couldn’t be right, Zoey wouldn’t look at her like that. They started circling her, like wolves on a kill. Venom dripping off their words.

Suddenly Zoey was on her back, grabbing and pulling at her jacket, pulling part of it off her shoulder. The force spinning her around to look at Zoey, before Mira was on her other shoulder tearing the other one tearing that jacket off her shoulder before pushing her away.

“Please stop!” She was shouting at this point, pure panic in her voice. She knew where her patterns were, she knew where they were exposed. The cold air of the venue somehow burning against those marks that tainted her skin.

She stood there frozen, trying desperately to cover the patterns that engulfed her arms and shoulders. They walked towards her, hate on their faces, they knew. They knew what she was, and they hated her for it. Cecline’s voice rang in her ears, all the warnings to keep it hidden, keep it locked away so no one would know.

Then Zoey and Mira were on her. Ripping of the jacket entirely. Showing all of these markings to the world.

She could have sworn she heard Mira’s voice in her ear “Hang on, Rumi! We’re coming!”

They were coming? They were right in front of her. It must have been a wild thought in her ear. Quickly consumed by the fear of having everything exposed to the world.

Somewhere in the back of her head there was a debate “The world doesn’t know about demons; these don’t mean anything to everyone else”

She fired back at herself “Yeah but tattoos aren’t exactly liked either, and that’s assuming we can get away with lying that they are tattoos”

Why this conversation was going on she had no idea. It wasn’t like she was gonna live long enough to have to deal with that PR nightmare.

Then there was Mira, right in her ear “We see what you are”

Zoey right after her “You’re a Demon”

“A mistake” They said in horrible tandem “You have been since the day you were born”

Those were her exact words to Jinu. Did they follow her? Did they know and wait until now to do something?

“NO!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs clawing at her neck and head. She heard the sound of shattering glass as everything in the venue went dead, nothing but a single light left on. Shining onto her, and her alone. Highlight her on the stage.

She began looking around wildly looking for the nearest exit, the fastest way off the stage.

As she climbed down the stairs backstage she didn’t know where she was going. She just knew she needed to get as far away from here as possible. Anywhere but here. They hadn’t killed her on stage; she didn’t know where they went. Somewhere behind her, closing in for the kill no doubt. Like they were trained to do. She needed to run, to buy time to think. Maybe if she could get far enough away fast enough, they could calm down? But this had to be premeditated? Right?

They used her own words, they knew what she said. What she thought. That had to come from following her?

She continued to spiral as she clamored down the stairs in a hurry to get out of here.

As she rounded the corner, trying to catch her breath, there they were. Standing there, venom gone from their faces. Replaced with confusion, concerned.

“What?” She asked, they had just been on stage right? “How are you here. You were just on stage”

Relief crashed thought her body as it clicked. The voice in her ear, the hate on their faces “That wasn’t you? Oh, thank goodness”

If that wasn’t them, they didn’t hate her, they didn’t know, she wasn’t a mistake to them. But as she stepped forward, they stepped back in sync. Why? They didn’t know right?

That’s when she saw it, the patterns, they had spread like a heinous infection. Covering her arms all the way down to her hands, she didn’t even know how far else they spread. She could only imagine if they made it this far.

“No, no, no, no” She all but sobbed, she was so close to Gold, and now it felt like it might as well be on the moon.

“How do you have patterns?’ Zoey asked, looking confused and hurt.

She tried to find words to say but there was a thousand ways to say it and no enough time to figure out the best one.

“These were supposed to be gone, you were never supposed to see!” words not exactly chosen, just what came spilling out. She cringed at the words, years upon years of training to hide took the forefront of the conversation.

“You were hiding this from us this whole time?” Mira’s face shifted from confusion to anger.

Rumi knew what this felt like to her, she was all to familiar with Mira’s trust issues with family. She wanted to say something, a sorry, anything to try and tell them it wasn’t their fault. Yet still

“No, I have a plan to erase them.” The hiding, the purifying what was tainted, that is what lead her words “Jinu was supposed to—I—He was—”

Zoeys voice, sharp and accusatory, cut her off “Jinu, You’re working with him?”

“No. No! No! I was using him to fix all of this! To fix me! So we could all do our duty. We could all be strong. Be together” She was losing this fast, and she knew it. She was finally in control of her words. Beating back the title wave just enough to from the sentence she wanted to say. But it might have been to little to late. If she could convince them to wait, to hear her out, surely they would help her. They were her friends, they were her family. If she could convince them turning the honmoon gold would fix her surely they would help.

“How could we be together if we can’t tell your lies from your truths, Rumi?” Zoey looked at her with eyes full of pain, as years of lies filled her head with every time Rumi had lied to her.

“I knew it. I knew it was too good to be true” Mira spoke, a mix of pain and disappointment on her face, as yet another family failed her.

“Mira, no! Didn’t you see? See the gold? We’re so close!” Their words hurt and stung like daggers to her heart. Maybe she could still convince them to help, just long enough to seal the Honmoon. Then she could show them, show them she had been fixed. Then she could be put together enough to apologize, to beg for forgiveness. To explain it all and hope they would understand. They would understand right? If she could get rid of the patterns they would understand.

But they kept walking back, matching every step forward she took “No! Don’t leave! Don’t leave!” They still were walking away. Why? They knew her right, they knew she would never hurt them.

“I can still fix it!” she shouted, angry at herself, at them, at Celine, at whatever had just happened on stage. But as she shouted her voice rippled the Honmoon again, a deep red/purple wave emanated from where she stood, leaving no doubt as to what caused it.

As Mira looked at her, sadness behind her eyes, but steeled determination. Rumi saw it, Mria had made up her mind. Rumi was a threat, a wild beast that was a danger to everything around her. Mira’s raised Woldo leaving little room for continued discussions.

Rumi’s eyes looked to Zoey, she was still on the fence, maybe she could get her to hear her out still.

“Zoey, Pease” But Zoey’s response was all but the same. Less determination, more sadness. But she raised her Sinkal all the same.

Rumi just sobbed. She had lost. Lost everything. Her family was pointing their weapons at her, her career as hunter and idol was over. That’s all she had going for her at this point, it was everything she had put her life into. And she had lost both in the span of just a few minutes.

She turned and she ran, she didn’t know where. She just prayed they wouldn’t follow. With no footsteps behind her she thanked whatever God or gods that might be up there for it.

Pov: Mira (-3 min)

“Takedown, Takedown, takedown, down, down, down”

Mira heard the words and it didn’t make sense. This song was out, they had told them this morning. Sure mistake could be made. Their team wasn’t perfect. But they didn’t make mistakes like this. Bobby didn’t make mistakes like this. Never once in their years had they managed to queue up the wrong songs, not even in the wrong order.

“Why are they playing takedown” Zoey said beside her

“Somethings wrong” She responded. A sinking feeling growing in her gut. Why would this song be on? It had almost torn them apart. Rumi definitely wouldn’t have asked to put in back in.

Then with a horrifying realization it hit her “Rumi” They both said, the realization dawning on the both of them. This was something done to jump Rumi by the Saja Boys. It had to be. Demons could find their way backstage to the tech booth. They begin to sprint back to the stage.

She had been so stupid. Mira should have known Bobby would be nowhere near them, definitely not close enough to be dragged by their spot backstage. Not unless it was on purpose so they would see. So they would run.

The plan in all of its horrible brilliance hit her all at once. Demons could disguise themselves as people. They normally went for smaller unassuming roles. Things to help them blend in and go unnoticed for as long as possible. Trying to disguise yourself as one of them? A hunter? They had never been that bold before. Which made sense. The trio had a pretty full proof way of checking who was real and who was an imposter. Just summon your weapon from the Honmoon. Done. Problem solved.

But now? With them buried what felt like miles backstage. With more and more people crowding in confusion, even trying to move 100ft would take ages.

And with Rumi having no reason to think they wouldn’t be there next to her when the choreography started. She shivered at the thought of the demons impersonating her, Zoey, trying to mimic them, mimic Mira’s choreography, just long enough to set Rumi off kilter.

Mira didn’t know what about this song threw Rumi off so much. It wasn’t the right song of course. It took Mira an embarrassingly long time to clear the hate for the Saja Boys from her head enough to see how unlike them the song was. But Rumi struggled with this song in particular. She didn’t know why, and she had tucked that question away for later. After this was over and they could take a break without the threat of the Saja Boys looming.

Mira knew that this song showing up would throw Rumi off. Rumi was her friend, her family, maybe one day a little more. She shrugged off that last thought. Definitely not a now problem.

She knew Rumi, she knew this would throw her off fast. Her guard would be down.

“Hang on, Rumi! We’re coming!”  She said, praying her mic was unmuted so the sound would echo to Rumi’s earpiece. She didn’t care if the whole venue heard as well.

They finally cleared all the people and made it their spot right off stage. Where they had been standing just a couple minutes prior. Right as a voice screamed, laced with power Mira hadn’t heard before.

“NOOOOOO!!!” As she heard the sound of glass shattering as lights shut off. Revealing Rumi, standing center stage. One sole spotlight still shining down on her. Glowing marks etched into her skin. Rumi’s whole body was hunched and pulled as close as possible while still keeping a defensive stance. She looked feral. Like when you backed a scared cat into a corner. She was looking around wildly. Like anything could attack her from any angle.

Mira’s eyes took all of this in. They snapped back to the patterns. It was a trick of the light, right? Or a trick? But no, the longer she looked the more she knew she was right. It was unmistakable. Patterns. Demon Patterns. Her heart sank fast, plummeting straight thought her stomach and onto the floor with such speed she was surprised it still worked.

Rumi had lied, lied over and over and over and over. Again and again. To their faces. Why she wouldn’t go to the bathhouse. Why she always wore long sleeves even when it was blistering hot. Mira didn’t wait, she turned and went deep backstage, to where they were supposed to exiting right about now. Where they were supposed to have walked off together, after performing Golden.

Mira could hear footsteps following her. As she glanced back, half expecting some demon to be there, but no. It was Zoey. She looked shell shocked.

Right as they got to the stairs they heard footsteps and Rumi rounded the corner.

As soon as she rounded the corner Mira’s eyes began tracing every line and every mark. Looking for anything that would prove this was fake, a trick. She would even take a sick and twisted joke at this point.

Looking for a smudged line, or an off-color mark. Signs that it was make-up. Or paint. Some sign that it was anything other than what it looked like.

Rumi was talking now, her words buzzing faintly in the back of Mira’s mind. Her tone was laced with fear and worry. She was scared.

As Rumi took a step forward, Mira instinctively took one back. Still trying to process everything she saw. She vaguely noticed Zoey doing the same to her left. She knew she should step towards Rumi. Rumi was family, she was their friend. But with every passing second Mira became more and more confident that this wasn’t some sick prank. But it was real. Those were demon markings, and that she didn’t truly know Rumi at all.

Mira heard Zoey ask the question Mira didn’t want to. Mira didn’t want to ask, because if she asked it could become real. It would solidify this as real, not just a fear.

“How do you have patterns?”

Rumi was looking herself over now, “No, no, no” she seemed like she was talking to herself.

“These were supposed to be gone. You were never supposed to see!”

Gone? Mira couldn’t understand that. The mark of a demon didn’t go anywhere. You don’t get rid of it like a bad set of nails. They were a sign of filth, of something not of this world. Something in need of being purged.

Right?

“You were hiding this from us this whole time?” Her voice is questioning and accusative. She hoped more than anything the answer would be no, that this was new.

Like, last 2 minutes new.

That this was something she hadn’t been hiding. But Mira knew the truth deep down. She could read people. And read them well. Rumi’s words, her body language, all piled on top of years of little things Mira had chalked up to her just being paranoid. All of it piled up together into one sinking truth.

Rumi’s words were still coming out, spilling over themselves. But none of them were a no. None of them denied what she was. Mira only heard words hear in there, “…Jinu… Be strong… together” Sure she could hear the full sentences, but she only really half processed them.

“I knew it. I knew it was too good to be true.”

Mira wasn’t even really listening anymore. She knew what she would have to do. And she was scared as shit to do it. Yes, Rumi was a demon. An actual literal demon. But she was also a demon in combat. Mira’s exact words to Rumi at one of their sparing sessions.

Rumi was quick, strong, and smart. She knew her way around the blade, all of theirs. Mira and Zoey were going to have to fight Rumi, and to be honest. Mira didn’t think they could win. Rumi alone had taken so many hits that would have flatlined Mira and Zoey. Moved with inhuman speed around alleys and rooftops.

Mira almost let lose a scoff as it all made sense now. She moved so in humanly… Because she wasn’t human. Mira didn’t understand the details, like how Rumi could draw her Sain-geom. Or how Rumi could interact with and repair the Honmoom. Or why she would.

But the proof was undeniable, the patterns, the lack of refutes at their accusations.

As Rumi moved closer to them Mira’s mind because to steel. Taking steps back in tandem while Rumi begged them not leave. It had to be another trick.

“I can still FIX IT!” Rumi shouted, her voice sending out a unmistakable ripple thought the Homoon. Sealing any doubt the pair might have left. Rumi wasn’t just a demon. She was serious threat to the world.

In a slow, but deliberate move Mira summoned her Woldo and raised it. Taking a breath and trying to steel herself for the fight ahead. Mira didn’t know if they could win, hell, she didn’t even know if they would be able to score a hit on her. They rarely were able to in sparing matches, and that was just practice. How hard would Rumi fight when it was life or death.

“Zoey please” Zoey hadn’t raised her Sinkal yet. But Mira knew that look. Not but a moment after the words left Rumi’s mouth Zoey summoned them, and adopted the only stance that had ever given her a sliver of a fighting chance when facing Rumi.

But Mira could see it, and she could feel it in her own stance. They were sloppy. Poorly held, they weren’t ready for this. They probably weren’t going to survive this. Not with the shape they were in now.

Rumi looked at them, crying to herself. This didn’t make sense, why would she be crying. The charade was up, they knew what she was, and they weren’t going to fall for it. Mira waited for the mask to drop. For the look of determination to take over. The anger, the hate, that always look over a demon’s face when they knew they weren’t fooling them.

But it never came. Rumi turned and ran.

What?  That made even less sense. Why would she run. She knew she could win.

Mira knew they should follow, but all she felt was relief as Rumi’s footsteps keep retreating down the hallway.

Against her will her shoulders dropped. What little stance she had been able to put together fell apart. She knew she should keep guard up, that an attack could come at any moment. But she just couldn’t.

She didn’t know what to do next. She just knew she needed to get out of here.

Pov: Zoey (-3 min)

“Takedown, Takedown, takedown, down, down, down”

Zoey’s mind froze. All the confusion from just a few seconds ago with Bobby came to a grinding halt as the background track of Takedown began to play in the venue.

“Why are they playing takedown?” It didn’t make sense. They had taken this out. But her thoughts came to a sharp halt again as she suddenly thought of one person.

“Rumi!” Her and Mira said it in tandem as if their thought process was the same.

Rumi was up there alone. With no idea where her and Mira went. Rumi needed them to be there. Zoey didn’t know what this song bothered Rumi so much. But Zoey could tell it stuck a chord that didn’t resonate well within her.

Mira and Zoey began racing to the stage. Zoey didn’t know why, or how, this song had started playing. But she knew Rumi needed them there by her side.

Zoey’s mind split into two parts as she ran to the stage. It was mostly against her will, a habit or ability depending on who you were talking to. Her mind splitting into two parts. The one worried about Rumi, focusing on nothing other than making it to the stage. To be there to try and keep Rumi safe.

The other? Spiraling like there was no tomorrow. Runing hundreds of questions and then coming up with equally bad scenarios as to what was going on. The only thing that kept her moving was the fear that Rumi was alone on that stage and needed them.

As she ran, one thought popped into her head that almost stopped her in her tracks. Almost.

The fight on the train. Not just the demons, but Mira and Rumi.

“I’m not talking about the song, I’m talking about you!” Followed by a slam.

Zoey didn’t mean to turn the way she did. She knew Mira, she knew Mira would never hurt Rumi. But she did. Years of her parents fighting flooded back into her mind. All of awful sounds of screaming and hitting and crying came flooding back to her.

She whipped around on instinct. Half expecting to see Rumi reeling from a strike. Or worse. Zoey knew what that metal sound came from. Mira’s Woldo had a sound to it, one Zoey was very use to hear during sparing matches when Mira would give the “killing blow” slamming it down a foot or two from her head to signify she had won the match.

She was at the back of their formation on this train. She kicked one of these faceless demons straight back into the small tear it had tried to climb out of.

She breathed a little easier seeing that neither of them was hurt, Mira had just slammed it down on the roof of the train.

The rest of the fight was sort of a blur. Just trying to get through this as Zoey noticed a massive tear forming. As she called their attention to it she could feel the song in her bones as they began to gear up for this fight. A hoard of demons spilled forth. More then she had seen in one place in a long time.

“If you’re with us, Prove it!” Mira said, anger in her voice.

The music of “Takedown” pulsed thought her as she adopted her stance. Fast, light, lean. The kind you needed for the fast knives she needed to be chucking at this mob.

“It’s a takedown, I’mma take you out You’ll break down like, “What?”” Letting the words fill her and push back into her as the Honmoon responded to them. It was less so the other times they had sung and fought.

They didn’t need to sing while fighting, to draw their weapons. But it always seemed to help put more power in their strikes when they did. The first time they had sung “How its done” while fighting had really shown how much power a good song was able to feed back into them thought the Honmoon.

But this felt different. Sure, takedown was different in a lot of ways. And they hadn’t performed it yet (Which always seemed to help, like the Honmoon could give back more power if it had been strengthened by a song) but this felt hollower. More raw. Less like the Honmoon handing them strength in their bladed, and more like it spitting something back out that just so happen to also have some power behind it.

As they kept singing, they fell into a rhythm. But it didn’t last long. Zoey heard it, Rumi, coming in right after Mira.

But with the wrong line, she skipped a part. That wasn’t like Rumi, she never missed her lines or skipped parts. She knew her lyrics inside and out, even in her sleep Rumi could recite her lyrics without fail.

“A demon with no feelings don’t deserve to live, its so obvious” her eyes wide with some sort of realization in the back of her mind.

Zoey didn’t like that look, she didn’t know what was behind it. But it was the look of someone realizing something that hurt their soul.

Then she was stuck. Hard. One of the larger Dokkaebi that normally helped push thought a tear, had a club. And he smacked her, square in the chest. The impact sent her flying down the train a full car and a half. Zoey’s heart stopped. A hit like that? Sure, the Honmoon gave them some amount of boosted stamina and strength, but nothing close to being enough to tank a hit like that. Zoey had only ever been hit like that once, and it cracked 3 ribs and she hadn’t been able to breath right for a month.

“Rumi” her and Mira shouted as they rushed to tackle this Dokkaebi. A couple of well placed strikes later it was down and they forced the forced the rest of the faceless ones back under the Honmoon.

Zoey turned to look at Rumi, she couldn’t believe she was sitting up. That look in her eyes still there. Shame maybe? Zoey couldn’t get a good look before Rumi’s faced changed to fear and urgency as she shouted “The passengers!”

They dropped in between two cars and rushed inside to find an empty car. A quick search of the rest of the train reveled nothing any better.

The ride to the next station was verbally quite, but the air was tense with something Zoey couldn’t understand. As she looked at Rumi, trying to study her face, she couldn’t make out what was going on inside her head. But Zoey knew it was not a look she every wanted to see on someone’s face, especially not Rumi’s. And Takedown had caused it.

As the got off at the station Mira spoke first “Whatever you think about the song, it doesn’t matter right now. Everything is at stake, and we just need to get thought this, together” Her voice hung a little on the last word as she walked off.

Zoey didn’t really know what to say, she couldn’t understand what was going through Rumi’s head. So she just said that “You know I’m always on your side, but its really hard to understand this time.” She didn’t understand what was going on, and Rumi had never been big on sharing. “We can’t win this without your voice, Rumi”

Why she tacked that last bit on, she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t exactly helpful. But Zoey was frustrated at the lack of communication. Maybe it would spur her into using that voice of hers to share whatever the hell just happened on the train. Although Zoey didn’t hold out much hope.

Zoey knew it then, looking at Rumi’s face. Takedown wasn’t the song. It had broken something inside Rumi. And Zoey never wanted to see that look on her face again. She didn’t get much sleep that night

As Zoey ran up almost to the backstage spot that there were supposed to make their entrance just a couple of minutes ago she could only think about that broken look on Rumi’s face, something about this song hurt Rumi, and Zoey couldn’t let her be alone for it.

Right as she rounded the corner fully prepared to keep running onto the stage she heard it. “NOOOOO!”

A scream the shattered glass, leaving a lone spotlight shining onto Rumi in the center of the stage. Stun locking Zoey in place. As her eyes squinted to try and make out what she was seeing they shot back open with a startled gasp. Purple marks covered Rumi’s body as she took a stunned step back, her arms flopping at her sides. That couldn’t be it right. It wasn’t patterns, was it? A dozen images of different demons popped into her head, her mind comparing the images it pulled up of demons, then comparing it to the marks she saw on Rumi. It was unmistakable.

She heard Mira turn and start walking back. Zoey followed in stunned and confused silence. For once she was utterly and completely speechless.

She followed Mira, not really paying attention until she looked up at the sound of hurried footsteps and heavy breathing. They were at the main stairs off the stage. The stairs the three of them were supposed to be walking off of right now, celebrating their live performance of Golden. Not here, not like this.

Not coming face to face with a demon

Zoey tried to stop the spiral. Maybe there was a good explanation for this. It was Rumi, right? There had to be. It was their sweet, shy, nervous Rumi.

As Rumi saw them, she started talking. Zoey couldn’t hear what over the ringing in her ears as she tried to steady her breathing.

As Rumi walked towards them Zoey instinctively took a step back. As Rumi began looking down. Her mouth was moving but no sound that Zoey could hear, or process really coming out yet.

Zoey finally steady hear breath enough to calm the ringing as she cut straight the point. Needing the hear the very logical and very reasonable explanation as to why there was patterns on Rumi.

“How do you have patterns” She asked. Plain and simple right? Pretty straight forward question. Not a lot of room for misinterpretation, or non-answers.

Rumi, a master at non-answers, simply seemed to ignore the question. Talking to herself it would almost seem “These were supposed to be gone. You were never supposed to see.”

Ok, not an answer, and definitely not helping her case here. This feels like the kinda thing you tell someone.

“You were hiding this from us this whole time?” Mira asked from behind her

“No I have a plan to erase them. Jinu was supposed to--  I—He was—”

Zoey cut her off, her mind reeling “Jinu? Your working with him?”

Zoey asked that as gut reaction but given Rumi’s track record over the last 30 seconds she didn’t really think she would get an answer. She didn’t know what to do with all this new information either.

Rumi was apparently a demon, who was hiding it, and working with Jinu. To do… something. Given the whole demon part of that math problem it couldn’t be good right?

Rumi finally seemed to snap out of her ‘I’m only talking to myself and giving half answers that don’t really answer anything’ spiral as she said “No no no, I was using him to fix all of this, to fix me! So we could all do our duty” Our duty? Zoey’s mind snagged a little on that part. They weren’t the same thing. They were hunters, humans. She was a demon. “We could all be strong. Be together.” Rumi continued

“How could we be together if we can’t tell your lies from your truths, Rumi?” Zoey cringed a little at the words. Sure, she was angry and upset. But Rumi had never really said she wasn’t a demon. But still, this was clearly an ongoing problem that she had never come forth with. Even when they had all sat on the couch just this morning and spilled their issues to each other.

Mira said something behind her, Zoey didn’t really catch what in her spiral.

She saw Rumi take a step towards them and Zoey flinched back taking steps back away from her. She could hear Mira doing the same behind her. That at least helped her know she was probably making the right decision, between the two of them, Mira was the more strategically inclined. And if Mira didn’t think they should be closer, they probably shouldn’t be.

“No! Don’t leave! Don’t leave!” Rumi begged “I can still fix it!” the last words ending with a shout that rippled the Honmoon.

She felt Mira raise her Waldo behind her. The evidence was there. Rumi was a demon. She couldn’t explain what was going on, why she had patterns. And every answer she had tried to give was just worse then the last.

But this was Rumi, right? Their Rumi? Their leader who always made sure they were ok after fights even after tanking the heaviest of blows all on her own. Who watched the silly videos Zoey found. Who looked at Zoey with this admiration for her lyrics no one had before.

“Zoey, Please” Rumi begged her. Pain in her eyes.

But Zoey knew that whatever was standing in front of her was just a tool of Gi-Ma. To weaken them. It had to be.

She slowly raised her Sinkal. Not really ready to take the fight she feared was coming.

And she watched Rumi break in front of her. As she sobbed one last please, begging Zoey not to do it. Rumi turned and ran. With that Zoey’s shoulders sagged with relief. Whatever that was, Rumi, demon, she didn’t want to fight it.

Pov: Rumi (+0 min)

As she ran, she had a thought, a last-ditch effort. Maybe if she could find Jinu she could convince him to plead her case, to tell them what he had told her. That he was helping, they could erase her patterns.

“Jinu? Jinu! Where are you” She knew he had to be around here somewhere right. Even without the disaster the Saja boys were supposed to go on next. They wouldn’t have gone far.

As she ran around under the stage franticly searching for him, she finally found him. And her heart sank.

There he stood. Flanked by Mira and Zoey. Eyes glowing, signaling their demon origin behind the disguise. Still she said “Say you didn’t do this” angry.

The two demon copies of her bandmates didn’t really leave much room misinterpretation. But still, there was a chance right. After everything they had gone thought. Everything they had talked about.

With a snap of his fingers the disguises shed, leaving only two small Dokkaebi, that were quickly teleported away. Leaving no doubt he did it. All hope was lost, he betrayed her. He lied to hear.

“How could you do this?!” She shouted. She tried to shove him, but there was no really energy behind her arms as she mostly just shoved herself back a little.

“It was all a lie” He said flatly.

How could he say that? It wasn’t a lie. She knew it.

“It was real! What we had was real. I know it was!” It couldn’t have been a lie, she felt it. Felt him, felt his response to Honmoon. Felt how it had pulled around him as he sung with her. That couldn’t be faked. Right?

“The things I said? I just needed you to trust me. That’s all” His voice somehow flater then before

“No! no, I know your story. You were a good person, and you still are. You just made a mistake” She pleaded with him. Not the demon standing in front of her, but the human she had sung with, talked with. The human that made her feel seen in a way she hadn’t ever felt before.

“I left them!” He shouted. Rounding on her. His patterns flaring purple. “That’s right, I lied to you. I only made a deal with Gwi-ma to get myself out of that miserable life.”

Rumi was stunned. Her ears ringing. Hearing words but not quite processing them. He hadn’t done that right? He couldn’t have right? As he talked more it became clear that he wasn’t lying about this. Maybe. She couldn’t tell anymore. But something about the pain in his eyes made her believe this was the truth he believed. Regardless of what actually happened.

“I left them. I left them” he said, with tears forming in his eyes. Pain written on his face that Rumi knew a little to well.

She had to reason with him. She had to. He was her last chance at fixing herself. More than that she couldn’t lose anyone else tonight. She didn’t know if she could take it.

“But that’s not all you are. This is just your demon talking” She didn’t know if that was true. She had never really heard Gwi-ma’s voice before. But she had heard her own. She had heard Celices. She had to imagine that was pretty close. Or at least, close enough to relate to. “you have to fight it!” she pleaded.

“That’s not how it works” He shouted back at her. His voice taking on a demonic growl to it. The Honmoon quivered ever so slightly under his voice, not really enough to see. But enough to feel.

“Yes it is!” She shouted right back. Startling herself as she heard her own voice being underlaid with a demonic growl. And this time, the Honmoon shivered hard. Purple lines forming and racing outwards around her. Then fading slightly, but not going away completely.

She stood there shocked while Jinu talked about living with pain and misery. The same misery he had helped easy off of her shoulders. “That’s all we deserve” he finished.

And with that he was gone. And Rumi was left alone. To just live. With her pain. And her misery.

She walked off not really aiming for any place in particular, just somewhere, anywhere but here. Where everything fell apart.

As she walked off she could feel the Honmoon tearing apart around her, ripping under her steps. Like it finally saw her for what she is, and was running. She knew what she had to do, but couldn’t bring herself to do it herself. She was once again too weak to do what she had to. So instead she started heading to the one person who she knew would be able to.

As she walked thought the mostly empty streets of Seoul, head hug with shame for what she was, what she had done. She saw people walking aimlessly around the streets making their way towards Namsan Tower. She vaguely heard Jinus voice in the background. Something about a special performance. That made her quicken her pace. Her very existence was making Zoey and Mira’s job harder. She needed to get to Celice soon. Before she did more damage.

As she walked her life replayed back to her. She flashed back to Zoey laughing one night they had stayed up extra late after a performance and got a little drunk. Well Zoey got more than a little.

“Ohhhh my goddddd Rumi” She said sprawled on the couch “Your voice sounded sooo good. Like ‘bottle it and listen to it on a rainy day’ good. Can you sing for us again pleaseeeeeeee”

Rumi had just laughed “Zoey, we have an album of our own music that we can just play, why do you need me to sing it again” She did love the way Zoey looked at her when she sung for them, but Rumi was tired from the performance, and a little tipsy. She never got drunk, not really. She knew better than that. She couldn’t risk slipping up. But Zoey on the other hand clearly had no such reservations.

“But Rummmiiii it sounds better when its in person, not just the witchcraft shenanigans something or another that happens to record your voice” Zoey winned

Mira was on the other end of the couch, and she giggled. Like actually giggled. Clearly the both of them had drank more than Rumi thought. Mira didn’t giggle. She laughed sure, scoffed mostly. But giggled? It was almost surreal.

Thankfully this was also enough to distract Zoey on the couch from pestering Rumi any more. Unfortunately for Mira, she was now the target of the intoxicated rapper on the couch. “Miraaaaa did you just giggle??” she exclaimed with awe

“No” Mira snapped back trying to keep her face straight “I was just scoffing at your summarization of audio production technology”

“Mmmmmhhhhhmm, totally, yup” Zoey said. The sarcasm in her voice so strong it probably could overpower the smell of alcohol on her breath. “Rumi, I bet I could make her giggle again”

Rumi just rolled her eyes. As funny as it would be to watch them go back and forth with each other over alleged Mira’s giggiling, Rumi needed to start getting ready for bed. She was tired. And she was looking forward to her date with a pillow.

Suddenly Zoey had sat up on her hands and knees looking in Mira’s direction, sort of like a cat. Rumi knew where this was going, and decided to stick around just long enough to witness whatever was about to transpire.

Mira noticing this too looked at Zoey with one eyebrow raised “Don’t you even think about trying it. We both know I’ve got the faster reflexes”

Zoey just kept her serious look, her face scrunched up like she was doing a lot of mental math to judge her pounce. Her face set with some serious determination. Then she pounce at Mira.

Or well, she tried

Clearly her arms weren’t on the same page as everything else. As she threw her body weight forward, pushing off the couch with her legs, her arms stayed firmly in place. Catching on the couch messing with her attempt take off. She proceeded to flop forward with a resounding ‘Thunk’ quickly followed by an “oof” then “oowwwwwwwww” as Zoey got up close and personal with their floor.

And Mira laughed. Like a full blow belly laugh. The kind of laugh Rumi didn’t know Mira could even make. Mira doubled over in a fit of hysterical laughing, that trailed off into a quick fit of giggles before she was able to gain her composure again.

Rumi didn’t laugh nearly as hard, but she was caught on the sound of Miras laughter. And maybe she understood what Zoey had been talking about. Saving a sound for a rainy day. Rumi knew it would never sound the same if someone had played it back as a recording.

It warmed her heart and made her smile deep down in places she didn’t know could feel warmth.

She was drug back to reality by the sound of Zoey groaning on the floor. “Here let’s get you to bed Zoey”

She walked over and gently grabbed Zoeys arm, lifting her up with relative ease.

“Noooo its still sooooo earlier thoughhhh” Zoey protested

“Zoey its 2 am, that’s only earlier if your waking up” Rumi responded.

Mira had walked over and looped Zoeys other arm around her to help Rumi get Zoey to bed. Rumi didn’t really need help. Zoey was light, and maybe one of the only up sides to her half demon side was the strength and durability that came with it. If anything Mira was getting in the way, but Rumi didn’t protest.

“Whaaattt? 2 am?? That’s like, the best time to be up. Its when all the fun things happen” she said, her eyes half closing on herself as just the mention bed had made her tired.

“Yeah, but maybe lets do that on a day we didn’t just have a performance, hun?” Mira commented

Zoeys eyes perked up for a second “Yeah!! We need to do 2 am movie nights!! Once a week from here on out!” She declared

Mira scoffed but didn’t protest.

“Maybe, we will talk about that again in the morning. But sleep first” Rumi responded. She wasn’t against movie nights. Just maybe not at 2 am.

“mmm yes sleep” Zoey said. Half asleep already it would seem.

They managed to get her into bed, and Rumi grabbed couple glasses of water and left them on her nightstand. Rumi had thankfully never really gotten hangovers. But she also never really got drunk enough. But she had seen the aftermath of being this drunk enough times to know the morning hangover would suck, and hoped Zoey would appreciate the water.

Mira still able to walk in something that vaguely resembled a straight line began to walk towards her room, before promptly catching her shoulder on the frame of Zoeys door, falling over herself. She rolled over and looked at the ceiling like she was debating just sleeping her.

From her bed Zoey giggled and said “You need to walk straighter Mira”

Mira, without really seeming to think, responded “But I’m not straight, how am I supposed walk straight” before her eyes shot open real wide as her arm flung over her mouth trying to shove the words back in.

The sudden movement both startled and almost hit Rumi square in the face as she had bent down to pick Mira up. Rumi stood frozen looking at Mira. That was definitely not what she had thought was gonna come out of Mira’s mouth.

Mira looked at Rumi, then at Zoey, then said sharply “You did not just hear that” a mix of fear and embarrassment in her eyes.

“S’okay, I definitely ain’t either.” Zoey respond lazily from the bed. And was that an American southern draw in Korean? Wasn’t Zoey from Cali? And did she say she isn’t straight either?

Rumi was just frozen now, half crouched, arm still outstretched to pick up Mira. She was thoroughly confused at what was going on around her. When had this turned into a coming out moment.

Mira was apparently not processing a word of what Zoey had said, at least not right now. She looked both mortified and terrified. Like they were going to use this newfound information to blackmail her.

Rumi saw this and quickly said “Its ok Mira, you don’t need to be sacred of anything. You’re safe to be yourself here. No matter what anyone else may have said.”

The words didn’t seem to do much. Just enough to slow the spiral Mira was in.

“Yeah Mir, your free to get freaky with whomever you want!” Zoey said still from bed.

Rumi shot her a glance and mouthed “not helping” before turning her eyes back to Mira, who contradictory to what Rumi had just said. Seemed a little calmer by Zoeys nonchalantness to this revelation.

“How about we go to bed, and we can talk about this some more in the morning if we want to?” The look in Mira’s eyes seemed to say “anything but that please” so Rumi followed up with “Or we can just forget this conversation and not talk about it for a long long long time.”

Mira nodded at that, seemingly more that happy to never have this conversation again.

Rumi got Mira to bed and brought her a couple glasses of water aswell before turning of the light and going to bed to herself.

And true to her word, they never talked about that night again.

There was a ring in the air, not quite metal on metal. The bladed pulled from the Honmoon sounded a lot like metal, but also had this sub tone of eerie otherworldly rings to them when they clashed with each other while they 3 of them sparred.

They were doing one of Mira and Zoey’s favorite training session, 2 on 1.

Rumi didn’t understand why they liked this one so much, maybe because it was one of the only times they could even come close to matching her.

They had been going out to hunt Demons without Celine for awhile now, but that didn’t mean Celine didn’t make them spar just as hard as ever. Rumi had been doing this for years before HUNTR/X was even started. Sparing with Celine, even going on the occasional hunt with her when needed.

Rumi had long surpassed Celine in straight sparring. Her half-demon status giving her an uncanny edge over all three of the people she would spar with. The paired with sparing trained professionals in every martial arts Celine could possible enroll her in. Taekwondo, Taekkyon, Subak, Tang Soo Do. By the time she was 15 she had surpassed most of the top fighters in skill, not that she had anything to show for it. Celine never let her compete for fear of the attention that it would bring. And that at least, Rumi understood later in life. A lot of eyebrows would be raised at a 13 year old going toe to toe with grown practitioners with more years’ experience than she had years alive.

Her half-demon really helped when it came to all of this combat. She was faster, stronger, and had leagues more stamina than anyone she had ever sparred with.

A quick flash pulled Rumi out of her thoughts, as she snatched Zoey’s Sinkal out of the air with practiced ease. She raised an eyebrow at Zoey before casually throwing it back at her, Rumi flinched as it left her hand a lot faster than she had meant to throw it. She wasn’t as good at controlling her strength with her teammate’s weapons yet. You normally don’t have to worry about throwing a knife to hard at a tree.

Zoey barely managed to dodge out of the way, her Sinkal flying past her and sinking tassel deep into a log 30 meters away.

“Holy mother of unnecessarily ripped Jesus Rumi” Zoey said, giving her a look

Mira also froze for a second aswell, saying “Yeah, are you sparring or trying to kill us? That was like, so fast”

Rumi gave a sheepish shrug “Sorry, im not use to using throwing weapons in sparring. Ill be more careful, I promise”

Rumi was all to aware of Celine off in the distance watching them. She could feel the disapproving state from here. She already knew she was going to get a lecture about that later. “you have to be more careful Rumi, you can’t give away how strong you truly are. It raises suspicion about your… affliction” She would say she wasn’t excited to hear about it.

But Mira and Zoey seemed to buy her apology and were already coming for Rumi again with weapons drawn.

They had gotten really good over the past year. But Rumi had a decade of experience on them. On top of her better-than-human qualities.

Swiping her blade across her body to send Mira’s Woldo off right in front of Zoey. Causing Zoey to get clotheslined by Mira with an “oof”.

Rumi took this opportunity to pounce at them with measured speed. Sending them back on the defensive for the rest of their sparring match.

By the time it was over Mira and Zoey were panting heavily, sweaty, and pretty bruised up from a number of “kill shots” with the flat of Rumi’s Saingeom.

Whereas Rumi wasn’t even really breathing hard. Once Celine called that match Rumi immediately doubled over, faking being out of breath and tired like she was taught to do. Another thing to help cover her affliction as Celine would say.

After an appropriate amount of breathing, she stood up and helped Zoey and Mira up.

“Dam Rumi you are like a demon in combat” Zoey breathlessly exclaimed, before her eyes shot open wide “I mean… not a demon demon, but like a demon-“

Rumi cut her off “I know what you mean Zo, its ok” she waved off the comment on the outside. But inside she cringed, another thing she would hear about later for sure.

Rumi was finally onto the property with her mother’s grave and standing at the tree she had spent many years standing infront of for training, for lectures, for punishment.

There stood Celine looking at the tree, watching the Honmoon collapse slowly. The process speeded up slightly as Rumi drew closer. Rumi stopped a couple meters short of Celine, her back still to Rumi. It wouldn’t take long for Celine to notice her presence.

Sure enough, just a few moments later Celine wiped around with a shout. Pulling her Sickle out in front of her. A normal metal one, not one summoned from the Honmoon, Celine hadn’t pulled a weapon from the Honmoon in years, not since the trio had formed and was able to go on hunts by themselves.

Rumi’s face didn’t really show her thoughts, but her mind vaguely was aware that Celine’s form was terrible. Thrusting the Sickle out in front of her like a straight blade. It was surprising to see her so startled that she kept poor form. Like Rumi, Celine had long since mastered dozens of styles of combat to the point of them being second nature. Celine must be spooked like never before.

Most of Rumi was just disappointed she didn’t pull her weapon from the Honmoon and kill her on the spot. It would have saved Rumi from having to ask, having to talk. To voice her failure.

“Rumi?” Celines voice cut through her thoughts, confused, questioning. Like she wasn’t sure if it was actually Rumi

“I thought I could fix it all.” Rumi responded, wanting to skip the pleasant and get this over with. Her voice still echoing slightly with that growling undertone that her demon half imbued her with. “Fix me. But I ran out of time”

The sickle dropped to Celine’s side; it probably would have been useless anyway. Rumi wasn’t sure what the rules for killing half demons were, but she had a feeling mortal steel wouldn’t really do the trick. Rumi hoped that maybe Celine would pull her blade from what was left of the Honmoon.

She didn’t. Celine stood there frozen in shock not doing much more. Rumi figured Celine was going to make her ask. So might as well fill in some blanks, just so Celine knew this was serious, not like the other times Rumi had made this request.

“They saw.” She started “They know. There’s no denying it now. This is what I am.”

“Rumi, no.” Celine was still trying to deny it? The evidence was getting really clear, and there wasn’t a lot of room to argue that she wasn’t a mistake. Hell, Celine was the first one to teach her that.

“You knew I was a mistake from the very start.” She drew her own blade from the Honmoon. Dropping to her knees and lifting it. Holding it out for Celine to take. If Celine wasn’t going to draw her’s, Rumi would offer her own. It felt rather fitting, or maybe ironic. The last demon Rumi’s Saingeom would kill would be its wielder of the past decade.

The oxymoron, the mistake, the two things that can’t go together. The Honmoon and A demon. Polar opposites fused, and the result siding with the former until she couldn’t anymore. Making her final act to remove herself from the equation.

“Do what you should’ve done a long time ago.” She pleaded. She couldn’t let her do any more damage than it already had. “Before I destroy what I swore to protect. Please. Do it!” That last line sending more ripples thought the Honmoon. Tearing it apart just a little more. Surely that would seal the deal, and Celine would. Celine needed to.

Instead she rushed forward, slapping the blade out of Rumi’s hand “I can’t. When we lost your mother, I swore to protect all that was left of her. But I never thought that would be a child like you.” Rumi could feel Celine’s hand hovering near her face. Like she wanted to hold it, but couldn’t bring herself to.

Celine had always refused to touch Rumi’s patterns, Even in public Celine would make sure her hands never got to close unless there was layers of fabric in between her skin and where Celine wanted to put her hand. Photo shoots and events were a nightmare of handmade undershirts and triple checks that there was layers of fabric protecting Celine from Rumi’s marks.

Rumi realized that the patterns must be on her face too, or at least close enough. She was more broken she could have imagined. Rumi had seen her hands, was vaguely aware that it spread all down her legs. But it had spread to her face too? Why was Celine waiting. Rumi was beyond saving. It should be clear.

“Everything I was taught told me you were wrong, but I made promise. So I did my best to accept you and help you.” That’s why Celine would do it? Some promise to protect her? Celine didn’t accept her. Celine barely protected her. Physically maybe, but outside of that protection was slim pickings. And Celine definitely hadn’t accepted her.

“Accept me?” Rumi responded incredulous “You told me to cover up, to hide!” Her focus shifting as the words she was hearing were to ridiculous to not hone in on.

“Yes!” Celine said, somehow seeming happier. Like she had gotten through to Rumi, and all was right in the world “until we can fix everything!”

Fix everything? Everything was falling apart and broken. Rumi was beyond fixing.

Celine kept going “And we still can. We can cover those up and put everything right again. I’ll tell Mira and Zoey that it was all a lie, an illusion by Gwi-Ma to break us apart”

Something cracked inside Rumi at those words. She was done hiding, done lying. Even if she needed to be put down, she didn’t want to keep lying and hiding. She had already been lied to by Jinu, and she had broken her only friends by lying to them. She was done lying and hiding. Even if the truth meant her end, she was going to end on a note of truth. Not more deceit.

“No, no more hiding. No more lies!”

“Rumi” Celine said, her gaze turning down to that ground as she held her hand out, like trying to space herself from a rabid animal “We can still fix this”

“Don’t you get it? This is what I am. Look at me. Why can you look at me?!” Rumi didn’t know what she was saying at this point. She shouldn’t care by this point. At the end of the day it wouldn’t matter. But she wanted closure, didn’t she? Even if she had been a mistake. An obligation, Celine loved her at least, right?

She thought back to all the nights Celine would leave her alone while she cried. Asking for her mom, asking for Celine. But Celine wouldn’t come. Wouldn’t it be there.

“Why couldn’t you love me?!” she pleaded for Celine to give her a reason. Why she had never been there for her. Celine wasn’t unreasonable. Harsh, mean, but not unreasonable. Even if it was a shit reason, Celine should have a reason. A reason Rumi could control. Something Rumi did. Not just the fact Rumi was born.

“I do!” Celine shouted back half.

But Celine didn’t love her just the parts Rumi made pretty for her. The Hunter, the idol. Celine didn’t love the mess that came with a child

“All of me!” She shouted. Once again the demonic side ripped into her voice, tearing more parts of the Honmoon apart around her.

Celine looked around, as if she was just now noticing what Rumi’s presence was doing to the Honmoon. Rumi hadn’t gotten the closure she wanted, but maybe Celine would finally do what Rumi had asked of her. But instead

“This is why we have to hide it.” Rumi couldn’t believe it. Celine was back on that? “Our faults and fears must never be seen. It’s the only way to protect the Honmoon.”

Rumi’s eyes were filled with tears. Celine cared more about the Honmoon then her own child. But cared about some promise from 2 decades ago more then she cared about the Honmoon. That logic didn’t make sense. She hated Celine more than anything at this point.

If Celine wouldn’t do what was needed to protect the world, Rumi would have to take care of it herself.

But she hopped to leave Celine with one last piece of damage. It wasn’t right of her, not really. Rumi shouldn’t be vengeful. But hey, she was a demon. That’s what demons did, right?

She picked up her Saingeom, determination in her eyes. Celine looked terrified. Good. It would make a good lasting impression. She just hopped Zoey and Mira could fix the damage she had done, so her next words wouldn’t ring true. At least for long.

“If this is the Honmoon I’m supposed to protect. Im glad to see it destroyed.” Her anger leching into her voice, lacing into her voice with that demonic undertone that had become commonplace by this point. She saw Celines eyes go wide.

She imagined the tower she had ran to just a couple weeks ago, when she first started losing her voice. She didn’t really know how she knew that she could get there. But something had clicked inside her body. She willed herself to be there, and with a slight pink haze she could feel her body folding on itself. Being pulled to the spot she had imagined.

She appeared with a slight pop, her stomach churring a little at the sudden feeling. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling. Like your body had gotten compressed into a tube then fired at the speed of light around for a little.

She stood up, and promptly hurled at the feeling in her stomach. Good thing she wasn’t really going to need to do this anymore. That was definitely not something she was wanting to do again.

She managed to get back upright, walking towards the edge of the building looking over the city of Seoul. The city truly was beautiful. Unfortunately, it was also covered with the tears of the Honmoon. Some spanning entire city blocks. She just hopped Zoey and Mira could fix the damage she had done.

She steeled herself on the top of this building. Looking down at the ground hundreds of meters below. Would this even been enough she thought to herself.

Surely it would, she was tough, and she had fallen from a lot higher before. All those times she had been trying to catch herself. Using the Honmoon with her bandmates to catch them like a giant landing pad to soften their impact.

She didn’t dwell on it too much, she took one last look at the city before her. Steeled her herself and whispered to herself “I love you guys, please fix the damage I’ve caused. I’m so sorry”

And with that she stepped off the edge of the building.

POV: Mira (-20 min)

Mira was still reeling from everything that had just happened. It was all too much, all too fast.

She doesn’t remember when they got outside the stadium. But here her and Zoey were, looking at the Honmoon as it tore apart around them. Not just a small tear like they normally saw when demons pushed thought. But it was actually falling apart, thread by thread.

“The Honmoon! It’s coming apart!” Zoey said next to her. The fear in her voice clear.

“Due to the Huntr/x public breakup on stange, today’s international idol awards have been cancelled” Mira heard a news caster talking on one of the big screens dotted around the area. She kept going on, but Mira didn’t really hear her. Her head buzzing with those first words, and flashing back to just seconds ago.

They were done, the whole world saw them split. Or, they saw something that looked like her shove Rumi away. Faking it then. Thought they didn’t last much longer than that.

Rumi had lied to them. She had hid the truth from them for years. Mira stood there for a few minutes. Or maybe she was wondering around. She wasn’t sure. She was to far inside her head to really know what her body was doing. Head spinning with questions and emotions. Angry, frustration, betrayal, grief. Rumi was supposed to be family, their rock. And she had been. All while keeping something so important from them.

She was dragged out of her thoughts by the sound of Jinu’s voice “You must all be so sad about the Huntr/x break up. We are too. So to cheer everyone up we’re going to do a special live performance tonight. Midnight, Namsan Tower. Don’t miss it for the world”

She was just as quickly dragged back into her own thoughts, a little part of her still concerned with what she had just heard. But the thoughts got louder in her head. Rumi lied, she betrayed you. She just used you to get close. She was never really your family.

As she stepped onto one of the Huntr/x wands that fans would wave at them she hear the voices get louder. More sure of themselves.

“You thought you found a family? You don’t deserve one. You never have.” They were right, she knew it. The voices were right.

She was pulled back to her first family. Or a better descriptor being the people she was related to by blood.

“Mira sit up straighter, you can’t be slouching so much. It makes us look bad” her father commented. His tone not directly harsh. But the tone’s underneath was clear. “you need to be good enough to show off.” Mira just did as she was told. It hurt, but she had long accepted that she wasn’t really a child they would love. Just use for social status. And as much as she had accepted it, it still hurt.

Later that night after dinner she had gone to her older brother. He had been taught this already, surely he would understand.

She had slunk into his room, he looked up and gave her the polite smile before it dropped off his face just as fast “what do you want?” he said, the appropriate amount of concern and questioning in his voice.

Mira rung her hands a bit before blurting out “Do you ever feel like we aren’t really loved. Just used as tools for status?” She was tumbling over her words, letting them all poor out. “Like they don’t actually love us? Even when we do good things that they can be proud of we just need to get on to the next good thing they can brag about-”

Her brother cut her off “What are you even going on about.” He looked confused, “That’s just how family works. We don’t get to just do whatever. You have to earn your place in our family.”

“But what if I don’t want to have to earn it?” She asked smally

“Then you don’t deserve our family.” He said flatly, like this was obvious.

She had left his room quickly after that, getting none of the comfort she had wanted.

She was pulled back to the present by Zoey’s voice “What are we going to do without Rumi? Our songs are three-part harmonies. How do we---”

“There is no ‘we’, Zoey. I don’t get to have a family” She snapped at her. She couldn’t be good enough to share with. Maybe she was too blunt, too harsh. To over the top, or to underwhelming. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t perfect enough; she didn’t deserve a family.

She turned and walked off, not really sure where she was heading. Just going wherever her feet would take her. The voices in her head relaying every moment she failed to be good enough for them.

Pov: Zoey (-2 min)

Zoey stood looking at the Honmoon as it fell apart off the stage. What had happened. It was all too much all to fast. They were almost at gold. And now it was quite literally dissolving in front of them.

“The Honmoon! It’s coming apart” She said this, hoping it might spur Mira into something. Without Rumi they needed a plan. Surely Mira would be able to come up with one for them. She was smart, she knew what she was going. She was Zoey’s family. She had to have something.

“Due to the Huntr/x public breakup on stange, today’s international idol awards have been cancelled” the voice of a news caster pulled her attention to a screen behind her. Zoey saw a photo taken of… them? They hadn’t been on stage. They hadn’t done that. How did they know they had broke up?

Then it hit her, demons, impersonating her. How could it have taken this long for her to figure it out. Why didn’t she say something earlier to Rumi.

Rumi! Maybe that wasn’t Rumi, just a demon pretending to be her.

But no, Rumi had acted like it was her, she hadn’t lied or made up some story. A demon would have made something up right?

Then she heard that stupid voice “You must all be so sad about the Huntr/x break up. We are too. So to cheer everyone up we’re going to do a special live performance tonight. Midnight, Namsan Tower. Don’t miss it for the world”

Jinu, whatever that demons play was, it was working. Rumi was… A demon? She shook her head. It didn’t matter, Rumi was gone. And Jinu was going to steal all the fans that was keeping what little strands left of the Honmoon alive.

“Gwi-Ma, he’s coming” the horrible realization setting in “What are we going to do without Rumi? Our songs are three-part harmonies. How do we---” Zoey was panicking. Mira was the sturdy one of them. She would know what to do

But Mira cut her off, rounding on her with anger, or maybe sadness in her eyes. “There is no ‘we’, Zoey. I don’t get to have a family”

Zoey was stunned. Mira never spoke to her like that. Mira knew who she sounded like when she used that tone.

Zoey was hit with the voices, the ones of her childhood in the US.

“Zoey, please take your seat. I don’t want to ask you again.”  Mrs. Hardin scolded her

Zoey had been bouncing around, she didn’t really remember standing up. She just had so much energy, so she had been moving around while thinking about what she wanted to write.

They were supposed to be writing about… Something, she couldn’t really remember, a bird outside had distracted her, the bird reminded her about seagulls, and that made her think about the sea, and how turtles were in the sea. Turtles were really cool.

“Zoey!” Mrs. Hardin said again. Zoey hadn’t even realized she never had made it back to her seat.

That class snickered at her as she made it back to her seat. Her tablemates were already moved on from Zoeys interruption. Talking about… a sleep over?

“yeah that movie was so cool!”

“yeah we need to do it again soon!”

“Did you guys have a sleep over?” Zoey asked, she was confused. Hadn’t they told her she would be invited to the next one, 3 sleepovers ago?

“Um, yeah” One of them responded. The rest looked away shyly like they knew they were caught in a lie.

“Oh” Zoey said smally “I thought you guys were going to invite me to the next one.”

“Look Zoey, im just going to be honest. You are a lot to be around. You talk sooo much and move around so much. 8 hours of school is pushing most of our limits on how much we can be around you. Sorry” the girl had said nonchalantly like this was the most casual conversion in the world

“Oh” Zoey responded “Sorry” She felt like she had just been punched.

Then another voice strung, louder than the memory. But just as unpleasant. You’re to much. And not enough. You’ll never belong anywhere, but I can give you a place to belong.

She felt a pull in her gut. Like her voices were telling her the only place she had left to try and find somewhere to belong was forward. In the direction the crowd was heading.

If everyone was going there, maybe it was a place that she could belong?

She just followed the crowd. Not really looking where she was going. Voices ringing in her head louder and louder.

Pov: Rumi (+18 min)

The air was loud, it always was. She loved to free fall. There was something so freeing about it all. The speed, the rush, the way her heart would kick into overdrive to keep blood to her body. She tucked her arms and legs in close to her body. Pulling everything in so she could move as fast as possible.

The air got louder, an all-consuming whistle in her ears that drowned out her thoughts. Or most of them. She saw Zoeys face flash in the back of her mind. Then Mira’s. Would the celebrate her death? One less demon the had to take down to rebuild what she had broke? Or would the morn her passing, the friend they had once had?

She doubted it would be the latter, the looks on their faces the last time she had seen them. God, they didn’t see her as a friend anymore. She had shattered all the trust they had ever had.

She forced herself to think of their happier faces, the good days. She wanted that to be her last thought. Their happiness.

As the ground rushed closer and closer she kept their smiles in her mind as she was a split second from impact shut her eyes. Their smiles lighting up the inside of her mind as she finally hit the ground.

Except… she didn’t? There was a soft *plunk* and she suddenly felt herself go weightless, floating. 

She opened her eyes and regretted it. Everything was unbearable bright and blinding. As her eyes slowly adjusted, she was even more confused by the sight. Everything around her was still there, just dulled out to a bright white color. She looked around her, still floating in this weird buddle. As she looked up she saw the building she had just plunged off of, to her left and right was the street, except, why were the lamps so tall? As she kept looking around, it looked like she was viewing the world from a 2D view.

She looked down, she still had feet, legs, a body. Then beneath her she say black, a dark void filled with demons and she could see broken structures and ruins laying around. Suddenly it clicked.

She had landed in the Honmoon.

But how? That wasn’t a thing? Was it? As this realization came to her she seemed to grow more aware of her surroundings. It wasn’t quite hearing, but rather feelings. Pulsing into her body while it was merged with Honmoon. The feeling were so much. There was hope, despair, love, heartbreak, joy, pain. Everything that had built the Honmoon over the past 400 years, and all the feelings that were breaking it.

As she struggled to control everything she was being bombarded with she heard a sound. A voice. Colding and chilling. Emanating from beneath her somewhere “are you ready to forget it all? Good I’m ready to feast”

Gwi-ma, getting ready to break the final strands of the Honmoon. It shuttered at the voice, struggling to push back against him as the demons pierced the vail, crawling thought it.

She felt it’s pain in her body, it felt like a scream as it tried and failed to repeal them. She could feel it was too weak, to broken. She had done that.

No sooner than she thought that she felt a sharp feeling. It wasn’t really words and it wasn’t really pain, but the vibe was clear enough NO. Her eyes shot open. What? Did it respond to her thoughts. Again, a feeling. Not words, not sound, just this strange feeling in her gut that told her yes.

She was very confused. She didn’t know much about the Honmoon other than it was built on the fans and their support. Their admiration of their perfection.

Again, a sharp no, hit her bones as she thought that.

“What?” She said out loud. Surprised she could speak.

Rather than any more feelings that loosely translated to yes or no, she was yanked around. Moving fast towards an apartment off in the distance. This was a couple of years ago. She couldn’t tell you how she knew. Just those weird gut feelings that the Honmoon seemed to be communicating thought.

Rumi sat in the wall of this apartment. Watching a young girl who couldn’t be more than 18 or 19 years old sit on a tattered bed. She was crying, holding a small kitchen knife in her hands. The evidence of what she was doing clear on her body.

Rumi felt her heart ache as she saw this. She knew the feeling. But as the girl sobbed, placing the blade on her body yet again, a sound from her phone distracted her.

The notification read “New HUNTR/X album “How it’s done” now live! Stream now!”

The girl picked up her phone with a little more energy and pressed play on their song.

Rumi recognized the beat immediately; it was one of Mira’s songs. One that had been inspired by her life and pain. They normally didn’t perform this one, it was a little more broken, less perfect than Celine had taught them to be. But as the song ended, the girl pressed play again.

This time she began to sing along to it, the blade forgotten on the nightstand. As she sang along the Honmoon pulsed with energy. Not because the girl was perfect. But because she wasn’t but was being strong anyway.

Because she had been inspired by Mira’s imperfection to be just a little stronger. A little braver. She was struggling, she was hurting. Rumi could feel the pain, her family rejected her, pushed her away. She related to Mira, to the pain.

She didn’t put it aside; she didn’t hide it. She just felt it, accepted it. Related to music in a way Rumi hadn’t really seen their fans do.

The girl kept the song on loop as she stood up, grabbed the blade off the nightstand and tossed it in the sink before returning to her bed. Singing along to the song again and again. With more energy and more confidence with each time it replayed. And the Honmoon felt this girls acceptance of her faults, of her pain. And it responded, laying and pulsing and spreading in a way Rumi never saw just one person put out.

The Honmmon pulled Rumi around again. Bringing her to a young boy, he couldn’t be more then 10. He was laying on his bed, pillow over his ears, two voices in the background yelling. He was trying desperately to drown out the fighting of his parents in the background.

Then, the same notification “New HUNTR/X album “How it’s done” now live! Stream now!”

He excitedly opened it and put in an old pair of wired earbuds. Rumi could still hear the song. Again she knew which one it was in an instant. One that Zoey had poured her heart into about her life growing up in the US with her parents fighting.

Celine had almost forced them to cut that song from the album because it was too “Broken”.

But this boy listened to the song with his eyes scanning the lyrics then started to softly trying to rap with Zoey, not really keeping up, but the effort was there. And again, the Honmmon response to the boy’s actions. The hope that he was given hearing a story not unlike his giving him hope things could get better.

He was still in pain, his life wasn’t magically better. But he felt understood in a way no one else had showed him before. And the Honmoon responded by pulsing with energy Rumi only saw entire crowds give off when they would show up to a function.

Rumi was slowly starting to realize what the Honmoon wanted her to see. It had been built off of perfection. But that wasn’t all it was supposed to be built off of. It was supposed to built off a community of people who felt seen and understood. It didn’t need people to be perfect. It just needed them to be seen and accepted for who they were.

The last stop on this trip through time brought her to just a few nights ago. Her, Jinu, singing with each other as they shared their emotions. Their hope. She heard their voices singing in tandem as she hoped to convince him there was hope for him, and by extension herself.

As they had sung back and forth admitting their faults. And again, the Honmoon responded. Rumi hadn’t noticed it then, but it shimmered a rainbow of colors as it seemed to absorb the acceptance of who they were, and the hope they could make things better one day.

It all clicked into place. The Honmoon wasn’t meant to be built to perfection. It didn’t want to be. It was meant to be built off of hope.

She felt a sign in her gut, something that loosely translated to finally. The Honmoon wasn’t breaking because she was a demon, it was breaking because she had given up hope. She had accepted defeat and accepted imperfection, not as a part of herself, but a failure.

This realization alone seemed to put a part of the Honmoon back together.

She was suddenly being rushed thought the city, then out of it. Towards a tower in the distance. Namsan Tower. The Saja Boys, Gwi-ma.

She saw her friends standing in the crowd. Entranced in the show that was being put on by the Saja Boys. Her heart ached at the realization that they had fallen prey to Gwi-ma words after she had abandoned them.

With the last strength the Honmoon had in it it popped her out near the entrance to the stadium. Leaving her with one last feeling. You are enough to free them.

As she stood there, at the entrance of the tower hearing the crowd cheering and the rumble of music throughout the air. She felt the last of the Honmoon fade out of existence behind her. It had shown her what she needed to know to build a new one. The right way.

As she hear the music playing, reaching a climax, she could see the Saja Boys floating above the stage, and oh god. It was Gwi-ma behind them a full fledged fire roaring with pure power and hunger.

“You’re down on your knees I’mma be your Idol!” They sung

She took a deep breath then let out a note. Pure and true. Not one from her voice, but from her soul. One that she put all of her heart into, the pain, the grief, but also the joy, and the love.

The crowd parted for her as she began to speak. “We are Hunters. Voice strong. Slaying demons with our song.” The words used to ring hollow in her ears. The words of Celine echoing in her head. Like a bitter promise about where she would end up.

This time around they sounded a different chord in her ears. A promise to do it differently this time. Do it the right way.

“Fix the world and make it right. When darkness finally meets the light.”

“You come here like this?” Gwi-ma taunted her “You think you can fix the world? You can’t even fix yourself.”

He was right, she couldn’t fix herself “I can’t.”

“And now everyone finally sees you for what you really are.” He kept going. His words would have hit deep just an hour ago. But now they bounced off of her. Being seen for what you are isn’t so bad. Not with the right people.

“They do” She said.

“And the Honmoon is gone.” Gwi-ma ended the speech like he had won some prize for stating the obvious.

“It is.” Rumi responded. A little sadness in her voice. She had never known the Honmoon was so alive before just a few minutes ago. But in that short time, it had imbued her with so many feelings and emotions. So much knowledge. It was hard not to be sad, even if she knew it had suffered from not being fully complete. Not being built on the right idea.

“So we can make a new one.” Her voice strong this time, determined. The undernoted growl that had been there lightning as she said this. Her body shifting as she pulled herself more upright.

She didn’t know if this would work. She didn’t know if she could pull her friends out of Gwi-ma’s control. But she had to try. To do it right. And there was no one she would rather do it with than them.

“Nothing but the truth now. Nothing but the proof of what I am.” She began to sing. That seemed like a good place to start. The truth. No more lies, no more hiding. Not from them. If she was going to be the friend, she should have been. She needed to be honest here and hope it was enough.

“The worst of what I cam from Patterns I’m ashamed of. Things that even I don’t understand” as she walked down the stage a lone spotlight shown down on her. This time she didn’t hide from it. She didn’t fear it. It was time to be in the open, for everyone to see. No matter how scared she was.

“I tried to fix it, I tried to fight it. My head was twisted, my heart divided. My lies all collided I don’t know why I didn’t trust you to be on my side”

As she sung this pain out to this crowd she saw a light flicker into existence, flanking either side of her. She knew in an instant it was Zoey and Mira. Their souls responding to the words. God she hopped she could get thought to them.

“I broke into a million pieces, and I can’t go back. But now im seeing all the beauty in the broken glass.” She could see them moving now. Walking down the stage. Towards her.

“The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony. My voice without the lies this is what it sounds like!” She let it out. She let her pain seep into her voice. Lacing it with more than an apology, or a plea. Just the raw truth. She was broken, not because of what she was, but because she had hidden it. And let the shame fester until it broke her apart.

They were all broken. But that was ok. She just hopped it was enough for them to help her. Even if they didn’t forgive her. And sure enough. Zoey joined first, seeming to get her intend behind the song.

“Why did I cover up the colors stuck inside my head?” Rumi almost sobbed when she heard this. Zoey was joining her.

“I should’ve let the jagged edges meet the light instead” Mira joined in, as Rumi’s head looked over. Half not believing that Mira had joined so quickly.

“Show me what’s underneath” She called to them, searching for their souls. Hoping they could feel her’s in return.

“Ill find your harmony, The song we couldn’t write. This is what it sounds like!” They sang in unison. Like they had never been apart. She knew she still had a lot of work to do. But this was a start. One step at a time.

“Stop this song!” She heard Gwi-ma shout in front of her. As demons began to craw up thought the ground. Hordes of the faceless ones began charging them.

She guessed for now all the next steps would have to just get thought this moment.

She didn’t really understand why they were willing to join her. But she wasn’t going to waste it. And she wasn’t going to let Gwi-ma stand in the way. Not again.

She continued to sing. Mira and Zoey didn’t join in right away. Letting her lead this verse.

She instinctively reached out the Honmoon to pull her blade before forgetting there was no Honmoon. But before she could stop, she felt a slight tug in her chest as her Saingeom still came to her. This time being sourced from her body rather than the Honmoon. It felt different this. Lighter, more her, the hilt fit her palm better, the balance felt more natural in her hand.

As she pulled her blade Zoey and Mira did the same. With nothing left to do other than get to each other the 3 of them charged. Rumi felt at home with her blade like never before. She had always been good with her Saingeom, but this time it felt different. More a part of her.

As she moved forward, cutting thought the demons felt different, her movements more fluid. The blade cutting sharper. Working thought crowds of demons that had been trouble just yesterday.

As she reached the spot where the demons were coming from, she ran her Saingeom on it, cutting the portal in half, Zoey and Mira had followed suit. Closing the distance with similar newfound ease. She dropped her blade and reached for them. Hoping they would do the same.

Thankfully they did. As they embraced, she felt a ripple of something new flow out from around them. Enveloping them, but something else felt different. She couldn’t quite place what, nor did she care to find out right now. She sat there and held them for what felt like hours, maybe longer. And they didn’t pull away either.

As the three of them stepped back from each other something felt off. Not bad, just, not the same as when they had embraced. As Rumi pulled back she began to see…? Was that the back of her head?

Mira and Zoey had pulled away too and were looking just as confused as Rumi felt. As Rumi looked around, she could see glittering strands of the Honmoon around her. They weren’t just blue anymore. They were pink, blue, purple, yellow. All kinds of colors. There were still weak strands, brand new just formed. Everything had a slight whitewashed hue to it, like they weren’t seeing the world in full color, just a really bright version of it.

“Where… what?” Zoey asked to her left, befuddled and confused.

“Yeah, what is going on? Do you know Rumi?” Mira asked, eyebrows furrowed in her direction.

Rumi thought for a moment before it clicked, her eyes lighting up “We’re in the Homoon!” Recalling her earlier trip into it, that had left the world with a similar look. It wasn’t the same. She was in 3D space this time. And everything wasn’t quite as bright as before. But it had the same feel. “We’re just in three-dimensional space this time!”

“This time?” Mira gave her an even more puzzled look.

“Oh, yeah, sorry, um” Rumi tripped over her words a bit, trying to find the best way to explain everything that she went through.

“Um, part of my little adventure earlier took me into the Honmoon. Like, I ended up fusing with it for a little bit and yeah” She didn’t really know where to go from there with everything she had seen.

“Fused with the Honmoon?” Zoey asked “How do you fuse with the Honmoon?”

Rumi sat there for a second racking her brain. How do you say “I may have tried to skydive into the pavement and instead of eating concrete at Mach fuck I got swallowed by a spiritual force that took me on an Ebenezer Scrooge style adventure thought time to show me the faults in how we had been protecting the world.”  Without getting punched by her bandmates for the first part. Then hugged due to the first part. Then tossed in a mental institution for all of it.

“I… Um… I, well, look. I don’t want to lie to you all. But I also don’t want to go into the full story right now. Can we take a rain check on this conversation until we figure out what’s going on, and deal with fat, purple, and ugly back there?” She figured this was the safest option for the time being.

“Ok, but we are going to talk about, promise? No more secrets or lies Rumi?” Zoey asked her, a mix of emotions in her voice.

“I promise” Rumi said, and she meant it. They were going to talk this all out.

Around this time was when Rumi also noticed that unlike her last dive into the Honmoon, time had stopped around them. And their bodies hadn’t been absorbed into it either.

“This is different then last time” Rumi commented. “Last time, time kept moving. It didn’t freeze. And my body didn’t stay, it was also absorbed into the Honmoon.”

“What do you think it means?” Mira asked, also looking around at their surroundings. Studying them in a way Rumi recognized. That same face she had when she was scanning their surroundings when launching into a fight.

“I think… we are supposed to talk. About what I saw last time. I learned a lot in my brief stent in the previous Honmoon.”

“Previous?” Zoey and Mira spoke in unison this time.

Rumi sighed and began her story. Going over everything she had seen, the girl listening to Mira’s song, the boy who had tried to rap along with Zoey’s lyrics. Even her song with Jinu. That part got her some well-deserved glares.

By the end of it they looked at her with similar newfound understanding. And a little bit of hurt about her time with Jinu.

Mira glanced up at him, frozen in time at the top of the stage. “So what’s the deal with him. Why him, why not us. Why didn’t you share with us?” Mira said, an edge to her voice that made it clear she was really upset and trying hard to hide it.

“He just, found out. That night we chased them into the bathhouse? I followed him, we got into a scuffle, in the process he tore a part of the sleeve on my top. I had my blade just a few centimeters from his throat when he noticed, commented on it. It threw me off guard.” Rumi spoke over that night, watching Mira and Zoey’s faces closely. They didn’t give her any dirty looks yet, just took it in. “Later he sent this tiger thing, and some weird bird to deliver a message. Asked me to meet.”

“And you did?” Mira asked, disbelief in her voice.

“Well, I didn’t go to meet exactly. I thought of it as an opportunity to jump him, end this whole Saja boy thing before it got to much traction. What really had sealed the deal was when the Tiger he sent crossed the Honmoon without hurting it.” Zoey and Mira were still watching. At that last comment Zoey’s eyes scrunched up.

“What do you mean, things can’t pass thought the Honmoon without hurting it. You promised no more lies Rumi.” Her voice sharp.

“I’m not lying Zoey, I promise. I haven’t really gotten to figure out how it works, but whatever this weird tiger is, it can move thought the Honmoon without disturbing it. I was just as confused and that’s why I decided to follow.” Mira and Zoey gave her a distrusting look. But Rumi guessed something in her voice said she at least believed what she was saying “I followed it for a while, once I found Jinu I went straight for the kill, cut his head clean off. Save for the whole ‘I brought a mannequin as a icebreaker’ bullshit he pulled.”

Zoey scoffed at that. Clearly these details were to crazy for her to be making up. “Ok, that doesn’t explain why you sung a whole song with him”

Rumi Continued, waving her hand to say ‘I’m not quite done yet’. “I took a good few whacks at him, but dam he is fast, and frustratingly nimble. After a while he made some stupid comments about my pants and then about how you all didn’t know about the patterns. It threw me off long enough for him to keep talking. After awhile of talking he told me his story. His life.” She continued on, recounting everything they had talked about of the past couple weeks.

At the end of it Zoey and Mira looked at her with some mixed set of emotions she couldn’t read.

“Do you believe him?” Zoey asked

“Why did you trust him over us?” Mira asked at the same time.

Rumi didn’t really know which one to answer first, so she went with the one that was a little easier and less deep to their relationship. “Zoey, I don’t know. I don’t know which one is true, the story he led with, or the story he spilled after the Idol awards. I think Gwi-ma lies and manipulates people’s thoughts. Gwi-ma tried to do that to me, and I can’t imagine what he said in your heads.” At that both of them averted their eyes a little. Seemingly acknowledging whatever they had heard had been pretty brutal. Rumi continued “And Jinu has had that voice steeping in his head for 400 years. Telling him he betrayed them, left them. Regardless of the truth, you hear that voice in your head for so long, you’re going to start to believe it. I don’t think he is right, and I don’t think he’s off the hook. But I don’t think he even really knows how everything went down 400 years ago.”

Zoey nodded at this, seeming to accept it as good enough for now.

“And Mira” Rumi turned toward her, taking a keep breath before continuing. “It’s not that I trusted him over you guys. He just found out, against my will. I would have never even considered telling anyone, much less him, if he didn’t find out in the middle of a fight. Celine has pushed me to hide it for the past 20 years. As far back as I can recall, its just Celine telling me to cover the marks, not let it out, not do anything that could give away that there way more then just human makeup in my body.” Mira’s eyes softened at that. Rumi knew that family pressure was something Mira could relate to.

“I had no idea” Mira whispered.

“And that was the point. You all were never supposed to know, never supposed to find out. Celine told me that if we could seal the Honmoon, turn it gold. The patterns would go away, so that I would be free of my demon half. I wanted to tell you so many times, I felt so bad lying to you all even when you were being so honest with me. But at every turn there was Celine, ‘No, not until the patterns are gone’ ‘No, they will turn on you in a heartbeat if they know, you have to wait’ so on and so forth” Rumi’s eyes were heavy with the weight of everything she was saying. It was hard to say, but she had promised. But with each word of the conversation, it got a little easier. The weight got a little lighter. “Ultimately the shame got to be too much, and it began to eat at my voice. Jinu was just there, he made me feel seen and understood. And after 20 years of being told no would understand, I latched onto the first thing that did understand.”

“Do you love him?” Zoey asked, her voice small

“I don’t know” Rumi admitted, shrugging her shoulders. “He is nice, and kind, and seems to be a good person under all the shame and grief. But he also lied and manipulated me. Took the biggest things I had trusted him with and threw them back in face in front of millions of people. It’s hard to sort what I feel for him. It may be love. Or it may just be intent relief to final have felt seen for who I am and not be told to hide it.”

Zoey and Mira didn’t seem to love this answer but were at least satisfied enough to move on.

“What do we do now then” Mira spoke first after a beat. “They are demons, but your walking proof not all demons are bad”

“Im not sure” Rumi just looked at them. “For Jinu, and most likely the rest of the Saja Boys, they aren’t exactly the same demons as the Dokkaebi we fight. They were people who just made a mistake. But I get the feeling they won’t give us a lot of options in a fight. I don’t want to kill humans who just made a mistake and are stuck under the control of Gwi-ma. But I don’t think they will give us a lot of options.”

Mira and Zoey nodded. Accepting this answer as a game plan.

“So, what do we do from here?” Mira asked, her face already back into strategy mode.

“We finish what’s started. The Honmoon we have built is new, weak, and small. It doesn’t reach far, and it doesn’t have the strength to hold back the hordes of demons Gwi-ma is going to throw at us.” Rumi’s voice was firm. Steadier than it had been throughout this whole conversation. “I don’t know how much time we have, but I think the Honmoon is buying us time to make sure we are on the same page. That we are together again.”

The two of them nodded at Rumi’s words. They also seemed to notice the strength around them weaking. Like the Honmoon was running out of energy to keep time stopped so they could be on the same page.

“Then we finish this. Together.” Mira said. Standing up straighter and looking at Rumi. “I don’t think I forgive you yet Rumi. You kept a lot from us. But I think I understand. And once this is over, and we trap Gwi-ma back under the Honmoon we will talk more.”

Zoey looked at Rumi with big eyes “I forgive you Rumi, 110%!” She said, but her eyes said otherwise.

“Zoey” Rumi said gently “You know you don’t have to forgive me yet, like Mira said, what I’ve hidden is a lot. And there is still a lot more to talk about.”

Zoey huffed slightly, the sighed “Ok, I forgive you like, 60%” she mumbled that last part like she was embarrassed about it.

Rumi just smiled at them “Good, I don’t want to lie to you ever again. And I don’t want you all to lie to me. Our faults and fears must be seen. It’s the only way to do this right. And that starts with us. I know I don’t deserve it, and I know I need to earn it. But will you help me trap the demon king?”

They both smiled at her, before holding out their arms. They all surged forward again embracing once more. They felt the world shift slightly as they came together. Their souls settled back into their bodies as they pulled apart again and looked at each other.

They picked up their song in unison. They weren’t fixed, they weren’t perfect, they weren’t whole. But they were a little better than before. And that’s all they needed to be.

They marched toward the main stage, ready to put this to bed. They would take this one step at a time.

As hoards of the faceless crawled out of ground to charge them, 4 of the Saja Boys joined them. Rumi could see Jinu had stayed behind. What that meant, if anything, she wasn’t sure. But she hoped it meant there was enough doubt in his mind that she could still save him. Rumi charged forward, clashing with the hoard, trusting Mira and Zoey to handle the Saja Boys. As Rumi kept gaining ground against the hoard she heard a roar in front of her, and the faceless began to dissolve, their essence being pulled back to their leader.

With a ground rattling roar Gwi-ma sent a bolt of energy coursing thought the air, aimed right at Rumi. Rumi barely got her sword up in time to block it. Strugglingly as Gwi-ma continued to push more and more energy behind this blast. Forcing Rumi to one knee to keep from falling over. She tried to move her arms wider, for better leverage. But the pressure was too strong. She could barely move and hardly think. She couldn’t let this be her end. Not after everything, she had to get her armers wider, to stand up and push back. But she just couldn’t. The force was too much.

Then suddenly it was gone, she almost collapsed on her face from the sudden lack of force pushing back. Did Gwi-ma stop? Had she done it?

She looked up and her eyes went wide with horror. Gwi-ma hadn’t stopped. Jinu had stepped in front of her, blocking the strike. She could already see his body slowly falling apart as the energy tore into his back.

“Jinu, no!” She was supposed to save him. This wasn’t how his story was supposed to end. He hadn’t been a great person in his life, sure. But he had still done good. At least for her.

“I’m sorry for everything” he crocked out, his voice labored from the stress of keeping the energy at bay.

“No. I wanted to set you free.” She was almost crying at this point.

“You did” he told her “You gave me my soul back. And now I give it to you.”

His body dissolved entirely as his soul glowed where his chest was, then left his body circling her before merging with her. She was flooded with memories and emotions of his life. The truth about him, about his life. And the choice he made.

His soul acted as a barrier, shielding her long enough for her to process everything Jinu’s soul had imparted onto her.

She shed tears for him, for who he was, and what he did. And she burned with rage at Gwi-ma. The pain Jinu had felt was hers now. And that pain was great and long.

She didn’t know if all demons felt this way. If every single one had a story like Jinu. But if they did, she wanted to save every last one of them. And that started with putting the king of them all back into his world, trapped. So he couldn’t get to them anymore.

She called for her Saingeom again. It felt heavier in her hands. Not unbalanced. But like there was more too it how. She swung at Gwi-ma, the blade leaving an arc of energy racing towards the king. And she caught a glimpse of her blade. It was easily double the size, as it made sense. She wasn’t just Rumi anymore. Her soul had bonded with another. Changing her weapon. As it found a new balance with the new soul that wielded it.

Rumi charged toward the stage were a damaged and smaller Gwi-ma sat. He burned with just has much hatred. She picked up her song, Mira and Zoey joining in as they ran with her. The crowd of onlookers joined in with the song.

The music reached a crescendo with a harmony achieved by thousands of people singing all at once. At this peck the Honmoon fell down from where the Hunters had managed to get. Snuffing out Gwi-ma. Forcing him back under the Honmoon, back to his realm. With him, all the demons went aswell.

Rumi felt a twinge of guilt. She didn’t want to banish them without knowing if they were still humans that could be saved. But they would have to tackle that problem later. For now, they were alive. And were floating midair in front of thousands of people.

Their PR team was gonna kill them for that one.

As she looked to her sides, Mira and Zoey there, she knew they would figure it out. Anyway, the fans seemed pretty excited to see them back together, and this new Honmmon rippled with satisfaction at the foundation it had been built on.

They still had a lot of work to do, but for now. They were ok.

Chapter Text

*No change in time from end of last chapter*

Pov: Rumi (+0 min)

As the trio landed back on the stage they didn’t let go of their hands. Again, their PR team was going to kill them, but after everything that happened, Rumi didn’t want to let them further than an arm’s length for a long time.

They spent a few minutes on the stage letting the audience cheer and applaud and whatever weird shit fans got up to too celebrate the group. After an appropriate amount of time, they began to make their way off stage, looking for Bobby. Hoping we would be around here somewhere.

As soon as they got backstage Rumi’s legs gave out. She would have face planted if not for Mira and Zoey catching her, pulling her up.

“Rumi?!” Zoey sounded a little panicked as she asked “Are you ok? What’s going on?”

Rumi opened her mouth to respond, to say she was fine, just tired from a really long night. But as she opened her mouth, she couldn’t force a sound out. She clamped her mouth back closed, her jaw snapping shut with an audible click. She tried again, trying extra hard to force air over her vocal cords, to say “I’m fine, just tired”. But no dice. She began to freak out a little, her voice was gone? What?

She tried again, no dice. The most she could mange was a frustrated “phuff” out caused by nothing more than the sound of air rushing out of her mouth. She was really freaking out at this point, her hand running straight to her throat. Unfortunately, Rumi was still unable to pick herself up with her legs. She fell to the floor, violently trying to push air thought her voice box, but no matter how hard she tried it just wouldn’t hit her vocal cords. She was vaguely aware of Zoey calling her name trying to get her attention as her thoughts spiraled to pure panic. She couldn’t figure out what was going on, why her voice was not working. Her thoughts kept getting harder to even get close to control and it became harder and harder to breathe. Her chest formed into a solid block that made it feel impossible to move or breathe. No, she couldn’t lose her voice, not after everything she had gone through. She still needed it. Needed it to apologize, to beg for her friend’s forgiveness. To keep building the new Honmoon the right way. She couldn’t lose her voice, she owed everyone and everything in the world to much to fail now.

Pov: Zoey (+0 min)

Rumi was laying on the gorund after pulling away from them, her hands clawing at her throat, her pattners glowing a shade of red. Zoey was racking her brain trying to figure out what was going on. She knelt down next to her, looking up quickly at Mira “Mira, go find Bobby please, we need to find a way to get her out of here.”

“What is this is a demon attack? Or maybe Gwi-ma trying to possess her?” Mira was also clearly worried. Maybe even paniced, its hard to tell with her. She just had a very different set of fears running though her mind. “Do we really want to explain to Bobby right now how we were just flying? Or why Rumi is glowing?”

“Mria, please. Just find Bobby, and try to find me something cold. Please” Zoey begged Mira, she just hoped Mira would listen “If its something bad like that I can handle myself long enough for you to get back. I promie, just go please” Zoey was full on begging at this point. She didn’t want to leave Mira, and she knew Rumi would almost certainly want Mira close by. But they needed Bobby to help get out of here before anyone they didn’t trust found them.

“Ok, fine. I trust you Zoey, just be safe please” with that, Mira turned on her heals and ran back tworads the crowd calling for Bobby.

Zoey turned back to Rumi, her thoughts were racing and she was starting to sprial herself. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. She was pretty sure she knew what was going on. She had had enough panic attacks in her life to know what one looked like. The way Rumi was hyperventilating, curling into the fetal postion. The way she kept making sharp exhales like she wanted to get sounds out but couldn’t. Zoey was torn between what to do, she kept calling Rumi’s name to try and get her attention, to no advail.

Zoey’s hands hovered over Rumi’s back and shoulder, tore beween putting her hands gentally onto Rumi to try and ground her, or stand by and try to let Rumi ride this out until she was able respond. Neither option was great. But they didn’t have any standard operating procedure in place for when any of them had painc attacks. Zoey had always just gone and delt with it alone if she ever had one, not wanting to burden the girls with her problems. She would just retreat to her room and… That was it! Zoey had something cold. She reached out to the Honmoon, she was half way thought summoning her Sinkal to have something cold to try and break Rumi’s spiral before Rumi’s voice from earlier that night “Zoey, please”. The memory almost sent Zoey into her own spiral. Could she really pull her Sinkal again with Rumi like this, would Rumi freak out? Would it just make it worse? Zoey had to do something, she couldn’t, wouldn’t, let Rumi go thought this alone. Never again. Even if Rumi got mad at her, at least Zoey had done something.

She steeled herself and reached back out, begging the Honmoon to work with her and give her something dull or extra cold. Zoey got half of her silent wish, as two of her Sinkal appeared in her hand she palmed one herself to try and keep herself grounded, she felt the dull edge, rounded off so much it didn’t even feel sharp. It wasn’t colder than normal, but it was dull. Something Rumi could squeeze without hurting herself.

“Rumi, I don’t know if you can hear me but please, please take this it will help I promise” Rumi’s eyes were shut so tight it looked like her eye lids might fuse. Zoey kept talking in a low, soothing voice. Holding the dulled blade close to her hands, hoping Rumi would hear and grab it. The Sinkal in her hand helps keep her grounded while she tried to get Rumi. Zoey kept asking, “Can I put my hand on your shoulder? Can you grab this?” each question to know avail.

After a few minutes of this with no progress or sign of Rumi getting any better or at least more responsive. Zoey just had to go for it and pray Rumi would forgive her.

“Fuck it” Zoey whispered to herself before leaning towards Rumi again and trying to bring back the low soothing tone that always helped her “Rumi, I don’t know if you can hear me, but this might be a little jarring, but I promise it will help. I am here; I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

Zoey gently reached out, laying the dulled Sinkal on Rumi’s shoulder. Rumi flinched violently at the contact, almost causing the Sinkal to go flying. But Zoey caught it and laid it back on Rumi’s shoulder. This time when Rumi flinched at it, it wasn’t nearly as much. It stayed in place, Rumi’s breathing slowed, barely. Nowhere close to enough, but it was progress.

“Zoey! Zoey, you still over there?” She heard Mira’s voice running back towards her.

“I’m here!” Zoey called back, she saw Mira running over, Bobby in tow, barely keeping up. Mira had two bags of ice in her hand.

Pov: Mira (+ 0 min)

Mira took in the scene before her. Rumi still curled into a ball, her patterns flickering Red and black. Her breathing had slowed ever so slightly since Mira had left. Her eyes flicked to the blue glow of one of Zoey’s Sinkal resting on Rumi’s shoulder, another one in Zoeys hand. Zoey’s hand was clenched around the whole of the blade, squeezing so hard her knuckles were white. Mira froze in her tracks. Why did Zoey have weapons drawn on Rumi, again? What had happened. Rumi didn’t look any different.

“Oh, thank goodness you found ice.” Zoey said

“Why do you have your weapons out?” Mira’s response was blunt; she didn’t even try to hide an accusatory tone in her voice.

“What?” Zoey looked back down at her hand and then to the one on Rumi’s shoulder, her eyes going wide like she just remembered they were there “Oh, no no no, its not that. She’s having a panic attack, I think. Cold breaks the spiral. Probably. Or at least, it always does for me”

Mira was stunned by this information. Zoey had panic attacks. Since when? Why hadn’t she said anything?

This thought process didn’t last long as Bobby finally caught up and pulled her out of her thoughts “Um, guys, why is Rumi glowing? Zoey where did you get knives from? Why is Rumi lying on the floor?”

Zoey beat Mira to an explanation, or something like one “Bobby, I promise we will explain things later, right now we need to get Rumi out of here. I think she’s having a panic attack. And a crowded stadium is the last place we want to be. Please help us get her out of here ASAP. Please” Zoey’s eyes were filled with concern.

“Yeah, ok, Bobby, can you find us literally anything that have wheels to get out of here, ill help Zoey get Rumi up. We are going to try to get her to the back exit. Can you meet us there?” Mira added on, her brain switching to planning mode. Running routes in her head, plans. Only one goal now. Get out of here ASAP

Bless his heart, Bobby didn’t ask anymore questions and took this as enough for now. “You got it, here.” He pulled out his personal phone and handed it to Mira. “My work number is in that phone as ‘best job ever’. The password to it is 4564. Call me if you need me to meet you somewhere else. Ill call you when I get to that door.” And with that he ran off.

Once he was gone Zoey looked back at Mira “God I love that man, now can you please bring that ice over here?”

Mira nodded and knelt down with Zoey, handing over the bags of ice. Zoey gently picked up the Sinkal that had been resting on Rumi’s shoulder. Talking to Rumi with a low soothing voice, walking Rumi thought each step with careful timing like she had done this before. Had she done this before?

She kept talking to Rumi the whole time, now palming both of her Sinkal in her hand, not letting them fall away back into the Honmoon.

As Zoey gently placed the bags of ice on Rumi’s shoulder and arm she shuddered. Mira instinctively reached forward to try and comfort her, but Zoey cut her off with a slight shake of her head.

“Just the bags is already pushing it in terms of external stimuli, we need to wait until Rumi can at least respond to us before we try to touch or move her. Else we will probably make it worse. Just follow what I say, keep your voice low and quite and soothing. A little like talking to a scared cat or dog.” Zoey said, her voice was a little shaky but her eyes said she knew what she was doing. “Just make sure you don’t sound like your talking down to her.”

So, Mira followed Zoey’s lead, for who knows how long Mira and Zoey kept talking to Rumi in low voices, telling her it would be ok, that they were there, that they weren’t going anywhere, that they would keep her safe.

Mira didn’t really keep track of time, but after awhile Rumi began to stir slowly.

She looked up at them and tried to open her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Her eyes went wide as she started to frantically open and close her mouth. Her breath started to come more rapidly again.

“Rumi, slow, breath” Zoey’s voice was suddenly sharp and commanding. Leaving no room for debate.

Rumi did, her breath staying at steady pace. Even if it was a little fast.

“Mira, breath with her. Rumi, match you breath with Mira.” Zoey’s voice was softer this time, but still firm.

Mira did like Zoey said, and Rumi followed Mira’s lead, and Mira trying to keep a stead and slow rhythm in her head. In… 2… 3… 4 Hold… 2… 3… 4 out… 2… 3… 4… repeat. Trying to keep it close to 100 bpm so they still had enough oxygen to function.

Zoey kept talking to Rumi, trying to give Rumi a rough explanation of what is going on.

“Your ok Rumi, your voice isn’t gone. Your brain is just stressed, and the response was to shut it off. I don’t know why brains do that; it seems like a pretty big design flaw but that’s almost certainly what’s going on. You didn’t lose your voice. Your ok” She kept going like this, speaking like she was familiar with the territory.

After another couple of minutes of this Rumi finally seemed calmed down enough to un-ball herself.

“Is it ok if me and Mira touch you?” Rumi’s eyes went wide at the prospect of having hands on her. “Just under your arms, so we can help you stand and get out of here?” Zoey’s voice was back to being gentle and smooth. Lacking any of the firmness that had been there earlier.

Rumi thought for a minute before slowly nodding her head.

“Follow my lead Mira” Zoey slowly reached down, and Mira followed suit. Matching Zoeys movement. The whole time Zoey kept talking to Rumi, walking Rumi thought each step and everything they were doing. After a little but of work there got Rumi upright, with the 3 of them on their feet.

“Can you call Bobby and see if he’s at that back door yet?” Zoey looked at Mira, Rumi’s eyes going wide again between them before shaking her head. She was taking note of the still red and black patterns flickering across her body.

“Its ok Rumi, we already talked to him a little but, we didn’t tell him much yet, just that we would explain later. After we talk about what you’re ok with sharing” Mira quickly said, trying to quell Rumi’s fear.

Rumi seemed to accept this as enough for now as she just nodded weakly, like just being upright was wearing her out tremendously.

Mira picked up Boddy’s phone and put in the password. Noticing the corresponding letters were “ILMG”. Before opeing it and seaching ‘best job ever’ in the contacts. She hit dial and waited. He picked up before the first ring was over.

“Hey are you all ok?”

“Yeah, we are. Are you at the backdoor?”

“Yeah, I… borrowed… a van from the stadium garage. Im packed at the back door trying to be inconspicuous.”

Mira was a little concerned at what he meant by borrowed. The hesitation in his voice when he said it implied there was a lot less asking then borrowing typical implied. “Ok, we are heading there now. We will be there in a minute”

They started walking that way, but it was slow going. Rumi’s legs seemed about as fucntional as cooked noddles. After a few minutes of this and convering less that 100 meters Mira just asked “Rumi, can I just give you a piggy back ride”

It took Rumi a minute to respond. Like the thought was working it way thought molasses before she nodded.

Mira moved infront of the group, holding both of Rumi’s arms, letting the two of them fold over until Rumi and Mira’s upper bodys were parallel with the ground, even if there was still some good distace between the ground and Mira’s chest.

“Zoey, can you help get Rumi’s legs around my wasit.” Zoey quickly moved to help. “Ok, can you hold here there while I straight up”

It was a little rough, but Zoey manged to hold Rumi up long enough for Mira to wrap her arms under Rumi’s legs, and Rumi loosely wrapped her arms around Mira’s neck.

They made good time after this, getting to the door in just under 2 minutes. They found Bobby parked outside, in a van, engine running. They got Rumi loaded in, Zoey sitting with her in the back and Mira climbed in the front with Bobby.

Bobby quickly punched some derctions in on his phone then threw the car in drive and starting on their way to the tower. After a minute he leaned over to Mira to ask “Is Rumi ok?”

Mira thought over her awnser for a minute. Truthly Mira had no idea, they really had jumped from one problem to next with no repive. And if Rumi was losing her voice due to mental stress it might be awhile before they could really sit downa and talk about it like they needed to. So she chose a nutral awnser.

“She’s going better, a lot has happened tonight, and we’re all a little stressed. Rumi even more so.”

Bobby nodded his head, his eyes filling with concerned “Is now still a bad time to ask the rest of the questions I had?” He was being surprisingly willing to wait on awnsers to his quesitons about the glowing Rumi, and the flowing knives he had seen earlier. Mira knew she would have been a lot less Patient with qustions like “who gave the hyper-active easily distracted member a set of glowing knives” and “Where did said glowing kinves go because I don’t see them anymore?” and potentially most importantly “Why is one of you all glowing red and black with tattoo style markings no one has ever seen before?”

Mira glanced back at Zoey, who was sitting in one of the rows, with Rumi fast sleep on her shoulder. Zoey mouthed at Mira “Napping” which Mira had picked up on. Rumi’s patterns had shfited to a faint silver marking, glowing softly in the dark of the van. Which of course, it was almost 2 am and they had been thought a lot. Rumi definitely needed sleep. They all did.

Mira looked back to Bobby, choosing her words carefully. “Yeah, maybe a little Bobby, im sorry.” He looked saddned at this

Zoey sat up in her seat and added in “It’s not that we don’t trust you, just… Not all of what’s going on is ours to share, or at least. Ours alone to share. Rumi is apart of our group, and she gets a say in that too.”

Bobby nodded at this, “Ok, I understand. Im just really worried about you, after the stage, and the fight…” He trailed off.

Mira had an “oh shit” She had almost forgotten about all of that. With going straight from “fighing a demon king to save the world” into “Rumi is now a non-verbal hyperventilating ball on the floor” she had all but forgetten about the Idol awards.

“We’re ok Bobby, we talked, made up a little. We also have a lot we need to talk about first too.”

“Yeah Bobby” Zoey looked at Mira from the backseat before continuing “If Mira thinks it’s a good idea, how about you stay in one the guest rooms in the Tower? That way you can be right there in the moring?”

Mira nodded, that seemed like the best way to help calm him and make sure they would be able to tell him everything.

They had already considered telling him dozens of times, they had had too many close calls of him coming in while they were still scuffed up from demons that they had figured it might be easier to tell him so he wouldn’t find out on his own. Or worse, thing they were in fighting and trying to hide if from him.

Mira highly doubted that Rumi or Zoey would object at this point. This just seemed like the push they needed to finally tell him. The only reason they hadn’t yet was… Celine. They made the mistake of bringing up their idea to her once. The lecture had been brutal. Mira didn’t even know Celine could sound like that.

Thinking about Celine reminded her of the way Rumi had danced around how she had ended up inside the Honmoon the first time. Mira wondered if that had anything to do with Celine.

Bobby’s voice dragged her out of her thoughts “Yeah I think I would like that if you all are sure its ok?”

“Yes, I think it’s a good idea” Mira kept her response short. Figured tonight it was best to be clean and short, get some sleep, talk as a group, then tell Bobby.

After a few more minutes they pulled up to the tower. Zoey slowing roused Rumi, who seemed pretty upset to be woken. With a little more finagling and piggyback rides they got Rumi up into the tower. Zoey went with Bobby on the floor with the guest rooms to get him settled. Mira carried Rumi straight to her room and collapsed on her bed, not even really setting Rumi down first. Just flopping so that they were both on their sides. After a few minutes Mira went to get up, but Rumi pulled at her with strength she hadn’t had minutes ago.

“You ok Rumi?” Mira asked, worried evident in her voice.

Rumi just nodded against the back of her neck, then pulled a little tighter

“Got it, no leaving”

Rumi nodded again

After a few more minutes Mira heard the elevator ding followed by the sound of Zoey’s footsteps padding though the penthouse.

“We’re in here Zo!” Mira called out, trying to be quite enough to not disturb Rumi to much.

This was quickly followed by the footsteps speeding up until Zoey was right in the doorway, giving Mira a concerned look. Lot of those going around tonight. Also pretty fair considering Rumi hadn’t detached from piggyback position on mirror.

“Is she ok” Zoey whispered slowly stepping into the room.

“Yeah, I tried to get up but she was having none of that.”

As if on cue, Rumi stuck one of her hands in Zoey’s direction and made a grabbing motion. Slapping her fingers against her palm harshly. Zoey didn’t need to be asked twice. She ditched her boots and jacket and crawled in behind Rumi.

Rumi sighed heavily, nuzzling her head against the two of them.

They didn’t stay up much later than that. They were all exhausted and had a big day ahead of them.

Mira awoke to the sunlight pouring into her eyes. She opened her eyes and immediately regretted it. The sun was bright, painfully so. Mira closed her eyes again and let her brain wake up for a few seconds before she slowly began to detangle herself from the mess they had contorted into overnight.

Rumi’s legs were intertwined with Mira’s, wrapping in between and around them in a way that looked painful. Upon her successful extraction from the pile Mira observed what the other two had managed to do. Zoey was lying on top of Rumi, and Rumi had snaked one of her arms thought one arm hole and out the other of Zoey’s top. As Mira looked a little closer, she saw it looked like Zoey had managed to loop her arms thought the strands of Rumi’s braid.

Mira was thoroughly befuddled at how you managed to do that. But she was going to have to figure that out later, as she really needed to pee.

She quietly made her way into Rumi’s bathroom. After going to the bathroom, she looked around for some make-up remover or something, her make-up was smudged beyond help and she didn’t really need to have any on today anyway. Instead, she found drawers filled with nothing but concealers. There was so much of it you could almost measure it by the liter. Oh, poor Rumi, had she really been burning thought this stuff to help hide her patterns? Mira’s heart ached as she realized the stress Rumi must have been under so long it. It’s a wonder it took this long to catch up with her.

Zoey also waking up startled her back to the present. Mira didn’t mean to snoop, so she quickly checked a few more drawers and wound the make-up wipes and started pulling off her make-up. Zoey padded her way into the bathroom Aswell, blinking blearily. Jumping when she saw Mira standing there.

“Shit you scared me Mira”

“Sorry, I was just trying to clean up a bit before I started breakfast.” She gave a little shrug, then deliberately left the make-up wipes on the counter as she left Zoey in peace.  Zoey’s make-up looked like it had gone toe to toe with a tornado. And it had not won that fight.

Upon Returning to Rumi’s room, she saw how Zoey had detangled from Rumi, her hair was now only half in the brain, with the bottom half of it being pulled out of the brain. And Rumi sitting up on the bed, blinking like it was a crime to be awake while the sun was so bright.

As Rumi looked towards Mira, she smiled. And Mira’s heart stopped. Rumi had always been beautiful. And not just in the “Idol” way. But in the way that’s hard to put your finger on.

But as Rumi sat there, running her fingers through her hair slowly pulling the strands apart. Smiling at Mira softly. Mira hit her chest to try to restart her heart. She let out a cough, hoping that hid why she needed to perform CPR on herself.

It took Mira a second to notice the other thing that was making Rumi so different seeming this morning. Her patterns. They had faded from the red, into a soft silver color. They look like they had been inlayed with her skin, shimmering softly beneath the surface, with little bits of blue, green, pink, and a dozen other colors running thought them, matching time with the Honmoon around them. It was jaw-dropping.

Rumi opened her mouth, closed it again and seemed to work some saliva around her mouth before opening again and gently working the words out of her mouth. “What’s got your jaw married to the floor?” she asked teasingly.

Mira quickly clamped her jaw shut. “Um, nothing. Just the new Honmoon. I didn’t really get a good look at it until now. Its so beautiful.” She hoped that was enough to shift the conversation away from her.

“I know, I didn’t think it was even possible. It looks… Happy almost.” She said, coaxing the words out, like speaking was still a little bit of struggle.

“I agree. Its amazing.” Mira did, the Honmoon looked happy, if that was possible. “I’m glad your voice is working now. I missed hearing it.”

Rumi gave her another soft smile and Mira almost went into vfib. She was going to have to get a pacemaker or something at this point if Rumi kept looking at her like that.

“You look really happy too, Rumi” Mira added

Rumi’s smile only widened at that. Yup, Mira was definitely going to have to figure that out at some point. She was pretty sure hearts weren’t supposed to stop that much at someone’s smile. But that was going to have to be a later issue. They had quite the list of things to get to before Mira even begun to unpack whatever that feeling in her chest was.

“I was going to do make breakfast. Then we could maybe talk?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. We really do have a lot to talk about don’t we” Rumi seemed to drift off into thought a little at that statement.

“Hey, stay on earth Rums” Mira said gently. Hoping to not make her more stressed out but keep her from getting too deep in her head again.

“Sorry, just a lot on my mind.” By this point Rumi had finished pulling her braid out and reached into a drawer on her nightstand and fished out a hair tie that looked absurdly thick. Mira swore that hair tie was as thick as her pinky. After she set her hair into a high set ponytail, Rumi grabbed another one and twisted it into something that looked like a top knot bun. But with the sheer amount of hair her piled on top of her head, her hair it looked more like a hat of sorts.

Mira gave a slight laugh at the slight, quickly stifling the laugh. Rumi still heard.

“What’s so funny?” Rumi gave her a look

“Nothing” Rumi gave her a look at that, Mira relented and continued “I just don’t think I’ve ever seen your hair down before. I knew there was a lot of it, but I didn’t know there was that much”

“Yeah, well Zoey decided to start un-braiding it in her sleep, and it takes hours to get back into place, so I just figured this was a little easier.” Rumi looked a little sheepish as Mira realized Rumi thought Mira was saying it looked bad.

“No no, it looks good. I’m just not use to it.” Rumi looked pleased at that comment. Mira followed it up with “Maybe you could start wearing it down more, it does look really good.”

Rumi’s patters light up with a light yellow/gold color at that as Rumi beamed so wide Mira was surprised her smile stayed on her face.

“Let Zoey know I’m going to be in the kitchen please?” Mira started walking towards the door.

“Of course.”

Mira shut the door behind her as she padded into the kitchen, she was surprised to find Bobby sitting at one of the stools, a whole spread of food in front of him that looked like he was prepping to feed an army.

“Bobby?” Mira asked

Bobby jumped and turned around to look at her “Oh good you all are awake. Sorry if I’m intruding, I just knew you all had a lot to talk about and we’re really tired so I wanted to drop off breakfast for you guys, then I would get out of your hair until you all had sorted everything out.”

He stood up and was heading for the elevator already when Mira stopped him.

“Hey, don’t run off. You’re not intruding. Let me get Zoey and Rumi and at least let them say ‘Thank you’ as well before you run off.” Mira called at him before adding “And thank you for doing this. You did not have to. But it is very appreciated”

“Ok!” Bobby seemed all to happy to stay at least for a little longer, probably wanting to see all three of them alive and well before he ran off.

Mira walked back over to Rumi’s door, knocking gently before opening it to Zoey and Rumi sitting on the bed. Zoey laying her head in Rumi’s lap while Rumi played with her hair. A quick sob escaped Zoey’s lips before she abruptly sat up.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you too. Bobby’s here with enough food to feed us for the next year, maybe 2. I think he wants to see you all alive before he leaves.”

“No, no your ok. Yeah, ill come out, Rumi you want to come with us?” Zoey said a little to quickly. There was clearly a lot weighing on the young ones mind. But Mira figured they would cover all that here shortly

“Yeah, just give me a second to change and do something about my face. I saw what your make-up looked like Zoey, I can’t imagine mine looks any better.” At this comment by Rumi, Mira realized she was in fact right and Mira just hadn’t even noticed. It wasn’t quite as disastrous as Zoey’s. But it definitely showed signs of being present for what must be “Hurricane Zoey”. A rare phenomenon that occurs whenever you sleep within 10 meters of Zoey.

Zoey laughed before getting up and following Mira out into the living area.

Bobby’s face lit up seeing the 2 of them

Pov: Zoey (-aprox. 4 min)

Zoey was wiping the makeup off her face, God it was a mess. Another reminder to never go to sleep with any on if she could avoid it. She knew she tossed and turned in her sleep. Not to mention the tangled mess she had woken up to. How did her arms end up inside Rumi’s Braid? After Zoey finished wiping off all of the make-up, she loosely tied her hair back up with one of the hair ties that was previously in her hair. It looked horrible, but it would do for now. They definitely didn’t plan on stepping foot outside of their tower today.

Zoey walked back into the room where Rumi was sitting on the bed, her hair also tied up into some messy knot that made it look like some kind of nest piled onto her head. She looked adorable. Bad Zoey, not now. Not after… last night.  The thought of last night hit her like a train. Her face must have shown something was wrong because the ear to ear smile Rumi had on her face just a moment ago faded off as she looked at Zoey with worry written on her face.

“Zo, what’s wrong?”

“I’m just so sorry Rumi, so so so so so sorry” Zoey chocked, tears forming in her eyes before she could stop them. She tried to keep it together, but the memories from last night crashed thought her with such violent force she almost fell down. Rumi quickly reached out, grabbing her and pulling her onto the bed.

Zoey let her head rest in Rumi’s lab. She tried to keep it together. For Rumi, Rumi needed her to be strong. Silent tears slipped as she laid there just letting Rumi play with her hair. She knew this was selfish of her, Rumi needed the support right now more than anyone. But feeling Rumi’s hands carefully run thought the hastily made ponytail felt so comforting. After a few minutes of this there was a knock on the door followed by it opening, one last quite sob slipped out of Zoey’s lips before she sat up. Trying to look put together.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you too. Bobby’s here with enough food to feed us for the next year, maybe 2. I think he wants to see you all alive before he leaves.” Mira said from the door, giving Zoey a concerned look. Mira was clearly worried about her. They were surely all rubbed beyond raw after everything that happened.

“No, no your ok. Yeah, ill come out, Rumi you want to come with us?” Zoey said, trying to keep her voice clam calm and steady as she spoke.

“Yeah, just give me a second to change and do something about my face. I saw what your make-up looked like Zoey, I can’t imagine mine looks any better.” Zoey didn’t think it looked that bad. Sure Rumi’s make-up was a little smudged. But she still thought she looked beautiful No, bad Zoey, you can’t think of her like that after everything.

Zoey steeled her nerves, gave a little laugh at Rumi, hoping that would help quell any worries about her little fit of sobs from a few moments ago. Then followed Mira out into the living room to see an anxious Bobby sitting, standing? Sit-standing? Poor Bobby was going from the stool to standing, back to sitting on the stool, if Zoey didn’t know any better, she would think he was practicing to attend a Catholic mass.

“Hi, Bobby!” Zoey forces some cheer into her voice. Then glanced at the table and saw Mira had not exaggerated the amount of food Bobby had obtained. She was pretty sure they could feed a highschool football team for a year. “Man, you know you didn’t have to get us all of this.”

“I know, I know. You guys just had a rough night and considering how long you slept, I didn’t think you would want to be cooking too.” Bobby looked at Zoey with the same concern from last night. Clearly still worried about them.

“Wait, how long did we sleep? What time is it?” Mira asked, looking around for a clock.

“Um…” Bobby glanced at his phone “its about 1:30”

“1:30? Like, Pm?” Zoey was shocked. She guessed it made sense. They didn’t even get back until almost 3 am, and that meant they had gotten about 9 hours. But still, it was so late into the day and they still had so much to go over.

“Dang we really slept like stones then didn’t we” Mira commented next to her.

The sound of a door opening down the hall had them turn their heads. Rumi came down the hall with her hair still in that nest on top of her head, one of her normal oversized baggy hoodies and sweatpants. Zoey was a little sad, she liked watching the patterns dance across her skin. Even if she had just gotten used to it.

Rumi changing remined Zoey that she had not changed. And a quick glance at Mira showed she hadn’t either. They were still in their outfits from last night. Just without all the make-up. Zoey would have to change later. She was hungry.

“Thank you, Bobby, I can’t believe you got all this for us.” Rumi commented, also clearly surprised by Mira’s lack of dramatics when it came to the sheer volume of food laid out on the table.

“Of course, anything for my girls. Like I told Mira and Zoey, you all seemed to have one really rough night. I just want to take care of you all.”

Mira and Zoey glanced at Rumi, they hadn’t really had a chance to catch her up on Bobby’s questions, or what they had told him.

Zoey answered the unspoken question on Rumi’s face “Yeah, like we were telling Bobby last night. There is a lot we should probably share, but we need to talk to you first, since it’s not all just our secret to share.”

Rumi nodded at this, then her stomach growled a really low rumble. “We should probably eat.”

“Of course, girls, you all eat, and shoot me a text when you all have talked everything out?” Bobby asked, starting to head for the door. Clearly feeling a little awkward stuck in the middle of the a “wtf do we tell this amazing person” sandwich.

“Well hold on, you should eat some too Bobby” Zoey said, cutting him off before he could leave. “Please”

He looked a little hesitant. But with a nod from the other two, he sat back down and said “Ok, I guess I do have some stuff I should probably go ahead and ask if its ok. Not anything related to the glowing or anything. Just like, technical stuff, yknow, if that’s ok” he said the backend of that sentence a little to fast, like he was worried it would be too much.

“Yeah I think that’s ok” Rumi spoke first, looking to the other two for confirmation. Mira nodded and Zoey did the same. She definitely wouldn’t mind going over some of the less personal stuff first.

“So first question, pretty much everyone is asking this. Did Huntr/x break up or not? I get the feeling I know the answer considering all three of you sitting her, but I just have to ask.”

They all gave each other a glance. Silently passing the answer to each other.

Rumi spoke for them “No, Huntr/x is still together.”

Bobby audibly sighed in relief at that.

The conversation keeps going for a little bit while they ate. Mostly questions they really didn’t know how to answer yet such as “why fake the break up” and “why wasn’t there any notice about the new song” and a lot of other stuff that they kind of had to leave as a “to be elaborated upon later”.

“I think our safety bet is to be at least a little honest? Just maybe say that we had a lot of internal issues we ignored for too long and we are working them out now because we are committed to our music and our fans?” Zoey suggested “that way its not like, a lie. But it gives us something to get out now, and leaves room to say more later if we need to.”

More silent agreements came from around the table. Mostly because everyone had a lot of food in their mouth.

“Ok, Last big question. I figure you all will want to take a break?” Bobby asked, this was less of a question and more of a statement.

They all nodded.

“Do we want to say that Huntr/x is going to take a 3-month hiatus?” Boddy suggested this pretty casually.

His suggestion was met with the sound of coughing, food being choked on, and general noises of disbelief.

“3 months?!?” The three of them exclaimed in unison

“You all can always take longer if you need” Bobby said, like their disbelieve was because it was too short.

“Longer?!?” They said in unison again. “I don’t know Bobby, we have barely taken 2 week breaks before.” Rumi added

“Yeah, I know. But I figured you all have a lot to talk about. Since if my eyes are to be believed, Rumi, you are now a glowstick of some sort. And that’s just what I can visually observe. You all seem to have a lot of issues under the surface that you all need to go over.”

Zoey chuckled a little at the glowstick comment.

Bobby continued “If its not overstepping… I’m Unofficially officially ordering you to take a three-month break to worth out your issues. And ill tell our PR team to call it a ‘Much needed break to take some time for themselves to ensure they are able to keep putting out the best music they can’ and we can always adjust the time later if we need.” His face made him look all confident and sure of himself, but the tone of his voice said something closer to ‘please don’t stab me’.

They sat on this for a little bit, mulling it over. They could use a break. They had a lot to talk about. They were long overdue for a break and a lot of talking. And anyway, it would give everyone time to figure out how to explain the whole “Rumi glows now” thing. Even if that was pretty far down the list of things to go over.

Zoey started, picking her words carefully “I don’t think it’s a bad idea, I mean. We could really use to break.”

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea, but we have never taken a break that long before” Mira continued “But with everything that’s new from last night. Will it really hold for 3 months?” Mira was glancing at the treads only they could see. They looked strong and sturdy, Zoey observed. On par with the previous Honmoon at its strongest.

Rumi was looking around two. While Bobby stared at them, trying to decipher whatever cryptic code they were speaking. Finally, Rumi gave her two cents, sealing the deal.

“I think everything will be fine long enough for it, because I agree that we need the break. And anyway, we can always come back earlier if we need to?” Bobby nodded his head at that last part from Rumi.

“Yeah, of course, I don’t think anyone will object to you guys coming back sooner. But I’m glad you’re willing to take the 3 months to sort everything out” With that, Bobby stood. He gave them one last look of concerned before adding “I’m going to go handle all of that, a lot of its going to be letting everyone know they still have a job. Text me guys when you have sorted out what you can talk about? Not that it is a rush or anything.” That last part felt forced, the trio could tell he was really confused and worried about them. That’s part of why they loved him so much. Always there but never making them go too far.

“Of course, Bobby, we will try not to keep you waiting to long” Rumi was the one who spoke, Bobby’s eyes seemed to relax a little at that.

As Bobby left Zoey turned her attention to the other two, Mira was sitting on her stool, chopsticks discarded on the table. Rumi on the other hand was still eating. A set of what must have been a dozen different takeout containers and plates stacked next to her. And she hadn’t really slowed down. In fact, with Bobby gone and no need to talk for the time being, she only sped up. As they sat there in something slightly adjacent to comfortable silence, Rumi kept eating at the same pretty vigorous rate.

The trio had managed to tear thought a quarter of the food while Bobby was there, but over the next half hour or so Rumi ate another quarter all by herself. Dam, when did that girl get so hungry? Zoey thought to herself.

With Rumi finally full. Without much talking they decided to make their way over the couch. Rumi picked a corner and curled up, pulling her legs up under her hoodie and wrapping her arms around her. Zoey realized again that she was still wearing last nights clothes. She wanted to change but wasn’t too sure about leaving Rumi alone with the way she had pulled herself so quickly.

“Hey, Rums?” Zoey started, trying to keep her voice low and steady. “Are you ok if me and Mira go change really quick? I would like to ditch this before we get into it.”

Rumi looked up at them. Her expression unreadable. After a few moments of deliberation she nodded, looking at both of them. “Ill be ok, I promise.”

Zoey nodded and quickly ran off to her room, wanting to change and get back as fast as possible. She heard Mira following behind her, moving a little more slowly.

As Zoey shut her door behind her, she sank to the floor. Letting lose a few broken sobs. Get it together, you can handle your stuff later. Right now its about Rumi. She told herself that a few more times. Pulling herself together slowly. Trying to push back the memories that flooded her mind against her will. But they came anyway. Last night “Zoey, please” Rumi had begged her. Begged Zoey not to turn on her. And she had done it anyway. “Your too much, and not enough” the voices her head had told her. And they weren’t wrong, were they?

Zoey wasn’t enough of a friend to trust Rumi. She should have, Rumi wasn’t always the most forthcoming, but would Zoey have been in Rumi’s shoes? But Zoey should have seen the signs, put forth the effort to make sure Rumi knew she could be safe with them. Instead, she was just too much. Too much into herself, talking about turtles and bands and anything else she had ever thought of to make sure Rumi had space to be seen.

Zoey’s thoughts kept spiraling slowly as she ditched the clothes from last night. They were covered in sweat and grime and demon ash.  Zoey debated putting a bra back on. On one hand her body hurt, and she really didn’t feel like wearing anymore layers than she had to, especially after sleeping in the stage clothes that pushed and shaped her body ever so slightly to be a little more… Idol esk. And it wasn’t like the three of them hadn’t forgone undergarments before when they had a day off to just relax. But… was Zoey allowed to still be so casual with them? With Rumi? After everything she did was she still allowed to go out there in a sweatshirt and sweatpants? Would Rumi even notice? Mira would, the two of them had changed together enough that Mira would notice the choice. Would Mira think Zoey was overstepping and being too familiar with them after everything that had happened. Zoey caught herself spiraling again and grabbed the metal leg of her desk, then pushing the inside of her wrist and arm onto it.

“Calm down Zoey, it’s just a piece of fabric. You’ll be ok” she told herself. She stood up and reached into her drawers, digging around for a minute before pulling out a simple black sports bra that wasn’t anything super tight or pushy. But enough that it wouldn’t come across as her being inappropriately casual with them. Her chest ached slightly. Complaining about the fabric pressing down on it. She quickly grabbed a oversized gray hoodie that almost came down to her knees, and an equally oversized pair of light blue sweatpants. The color scheme might not be matching or anything. But that should at least be ok with them? She pulled her hair down from the messy ponytail and brushed it out before pulling it back into another ponytail, just a little neater this time. She messed with her bangs for a few minutes making them look somewhat presentable before calling it good and walking back out into the living room.

Mira was already sitting on the couch with Rumi. Mira had changed into a pair of lime green sweatpants and a light pink hoodie. Her hair was down, following down her shoulders and back like some kind of pink waterfall. Zoey tried to ignore the feeling in her gut at the sight of Mira. She was partially successful. She took her time walking over to the couch. Trying to determine where the best place to sit was. Mira and Rumi were within arm’s length. Space for Zoey in-between them, like always. Zoey didn’t know if they did that on purpose or just out of habit. Zoey didn’t want to make them feel like she was pulling away from them, but she also didn’t want to come off as to comfortable.

Mira seemed to notice her hesitation and patted the space in between them. Zoey was still a little hesitant but sat down. Not flopping like she normally did but keeping her posture something semi formal.

Rumi was still curled up, legs pulled up into her sweatshirt, arms hugging herself tightly.

Mira broke the silence “I’m just gonna come out and ask it, do we want to tell Bobby about us, the demons, and everything that comes with it?”

Mira, always the blunt one. It was nice sometimes, saved them from beating around the bush for to long about these things.

Rumi sort of looked up, but didn’t say anything yet so Zoey started talking. “I think we should really, I think he deserves to know if anyone does.”

“I don’t disagree Zoey, but Celine-” Mira started, but Rumi cut her off

“Celine lies, we don’t trust what she’s told us.” Her voice was surprisingly firm. Rumi never talked about Celine like that. “We come to this decision without her voice in our ears”

Zoey was a little worried about that. What had happened that night?

“Ok” Mira continued, making her voice softer. Also taking note of the way Rumi was talking. “My only concern would be stressing him out, even more so. He already has a lot of his plate managing a band. How much would he worry if he knew we spent half out nights out fighting demons?”

Rumi had her response first “You guys tell me, how worried was he last night? I didn’t really see it, but he seemed pretty worried this morning. And he’s apparently already seen my patterns.” She paused for a second before continuing “I don’t want ‘no more lies’ to just be you all, Bobby is just as much family as you all are.”

Zoey’s heart caught on that one. Rumi was right, Bobby was just as much family as Rumi and Mira were to her. “I agree Rumi, I don’t want to lie Bobby either. But remember when Celine first told Mria and I about demons? It took us, like a week to calm back down after finding out demons could crawl out the ground and eat our souls. I didn’t sleep right for months”

Zoey flashed back to those nights after Celine first told them. That was almost 7 years ago.

“Zoey, Mira. I have some more information to share with you guys. Please come sit down” Celine said as soon as they stepped inside. Celine was pretty nice, if not always on edge. Like she had something in the back of her mind pressing on her, driving her. Rumi stood behind her, head high.

Rumi was pretty in that “idol” way Zoey could never hope to be. Her gaze was fierce, like she could kill a man just by looking at him to hard. Her hair was in its standard dragon tail braid, reaching just above her knees. Zoey’s heart always did a little flip when she saw her. Today Rumi was dressed in a simple all-black outfit, thick sportswear that looked like it was meant for mid-winter, not late autumn. She had no extra jewelry today, which was a little unlike her. She was never flashy but always seemed to be sporting a pair of earrings or rings. But that wasn’t on today. She just stood there, an air of excitement surrounded her, her smile just a little wider than what was considered “necessary”.  Zoey was pulled out of her thoughts as Celine continued.

“So, you all have been training to be members of Huntr/x for awhile now. But now its time to tell you they part that doesn’t get advertised.” Celine said. Zoey frowned at this, was Celine about to give them the talk about how being an idol was hard and list off all the expectations that they would be held to? Celine had given this talk before. Why was she giving it again?

Celine kept going “while the world will know you as pop stars, idols, a band. You will be more than that. You have been chosen to succeed a generational honor bestow upon the best, the unique, the extraordinary.”

As Celine spoke Rumi stood up a little straighter behind her. Whatever this was Rumi already knew what Celine was about to say. Zoey figured that made sense. Rumi had been raised by Celine since she was an infant, and Celine had only ever been looking for two, knowing Rumi would be the lead singer of that band from the beginning.

“You will be the next generation of Hunters, to pick up the mantel left for you.” Hunters? Zoey wasn’t sure she heard right? Like deer hunters? Bear hunters? She had a couple of cousins who hunted. Sure, they went all out for it, but ‘pick up the mantel left for you’? Surely Zoey had misheard. But Celine kept going like everything she was saying made perfect sense. And Rumi was practically jumping behind her, like she was so excited for them to finally know.

“You will pick up the mantel of The…” Her voice caught for a second like she remembered something particularly unpleasant. But she quickly swallowed it and kept going “The Sunlight Sisters left behind. It will be your job, your responsibility, your honor, to drive back the darkness that plagues our world.”

Zoey’s mind kicked into overdrive. The Sunlight Sisters, Celines old band? What did they have to do with this, what kind of legacy was Zoey about to step into. Whatever it was it had to be major shoes to fill. The Sunlight Sisters hadn’t been a worldwide phenomenon, but they were extremely popular.

“You have been chosen as the next generation of Demon Hunters. Singers, idols, pop stars, people born with voices of power and strength. Born with the ability to inspire people in a way that strengthens a vail that shields out world. And you will be that next generation, with Rumi leading you all, you can follow in the footsteps of generations of Hunters who have protected our world from the forces of Gwi-ma.”

Rumi all but flinched at the name. She was still smiling wide, beaming with excitement.

Mira broke the silence left behind first. “So where are the cameras? Or is this just a private hazing ritual that we didn’t know about?” Zoey couldn’t blame Mira for her comment. This sounded crazy, and Zoey was temped to echo her sentiment. But Zoey figured it was safer to go along with the joke rather than call it out, she didn’t want to be to much of a problem and ruin her shot at her dreams.

Celine looked at Mira with an exasperated expression. “This is no joke Mira, it’s the truth. You have been chosen. And we need to start the training soon.”

Mira scoffed “I’m not going to put up with being lied to like a child. This isn’t funny.” She stood up to leave

“Stop” Celine’s voice was hard. Sharp. Like Zoey had never heard before. The words stopped Mira in her tracks, a terrified look on her face.

Celine reached forward towards the table like she was going to grab something, before stopping with a strange look in her eyes. Rather than reaching forward, she sat back and looked at Rumi who was now nervously rocking on her heals.

“Rumi, can you please show them?”

Rumi enthusiastically nodded, before reaching out to the wall behind her. As her fingers got close to the wall Zoey swore, she could see it shimmering ever so slightly before…

“Fuck!” Mira shouted next to Zoey, standing up.

Zoey had fallen backward off the couch at the sight of it.

Rumi was holding a sword. An honest to God actual sword.

“Where… what… how?” Mira’s questions were all cut short by the next one. Zoey had never seen her this flustered.

Celine glanced behind her before her eyes went wide. “Rumi! I mean a song, not your Saingeom. If I wanted to scare them into believe it I would have drawn my Kama” her voice scolding.

“Oh, sorry Celine.” Rumi looked incredibly embarrassed, her face flushed pure red. She closed her eyes for a second, and the blade just… Fell part in her hands. Treads of something Zoey couldn’t fully see seemed to reach out and pull it apart. The glowing light faded, and Rumi was standing there, eyes closed. She took another deep breath then began to sing. This wasn’t like other times when Rumi had sung for practice. These weren’t words, these were notes. Starting in the lower range of her voice. Rumi built upon the sound, letting her voice rise with an invisible beat. As she hit a crescendo with the sound Zoey thought she was going crazy. The world around her began to shimmer, everything. The walls, the floor, the table. Even the couch had a slight shimmer to it as Rumi sang. As Zoey kept looking around the shimmer became clearer, and more defined. Treads of something that coated everything Zoey could see, even the ground outside.

Rumi kept singing for a few minutes. Her voice was beautiful. Like the sound you never want to end. As she sung everything kept building with more and more crescendos. The whole room seemed to buzz with energy, matching what Rumi was doing, singing back to her, despite Celine’s mouth being closed, and Mira and Zoey being too awe stuck to speak, much less sing.

As Rumi let the last note hang in the air, the glow faded slightly, but Zoey could still see it if she looked hard enough.

Celine started talking again like this was completely normal. “As you can see, that was the Honmoon. The barrier that protects our world from the demons. With time you will learn to see it with clarity, to see its strong points, and its weak ones. To feel it responds to demons crawling into our world. And learn to summon your own weapons from it to defend our world.”

The pair just nodded along. To star stuck at their surroundings to do much else.

“The rest of today will be spend learning the song with Rumi, and to learn to see the Honmoon. We will go over weapons tomorrow.” Celine said. “Rumi, please show them to the garden and start teaching them”

“Yes Celine” Rumi said quickly. She practically grabbed them by the hands and drug them out to the garden.

Once they got there Rumi was bouncing with excitement.

“On my gosh I’m so excited I’ve been waiting sooooo long to tell you. This is so amazing right, this is going to be so much fun I’m so excited.” Rumi was going on and on before Mira cut her off

“Rumi, what the fuck was that?”

“What was what?” Rumi looked confused. As if nothing weird or strange had happened today.

“That thing! The glowing sword, the weird blue lines I can still see in my vision, that song. What was all of it?” Mira said, a little anger in her voice

“My Saingeom? And the Honmoon?” Rumi said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yeah but like, where did you pull a sword from?” Zoey interjected. Hoping to be a little smoother than Mira.

“I pulled it from the Honmoon, like Celine said. I pulled it from the vail that protect our world. To hunt demons with when they break thought” Rumi said this was to casually to be normal.

“Ok, um. Just give up a second maybe. This is a lot to digest.” Zoey said. And that was true. It was a lot to believe. But it was also hard to argue with her when Zoey could still see the vail, The Honmoon Celine and Rumi had called it, around her.

“Oh, yeah. Of course, How about I go get us some tea while you digest it?” Rumi said, after a quick nod from the both of them she ran off.

“You don’t actually believe any of that right?” Mira said, looking at Zoey.

“I mean, its kind of hard to argue with them when I can see it with my own eyes?” Mira gave Zoey a look at that comment.

“Are you in on this joke?” Mira asked, that sharp voice turning on Zoey

“What do you mean? Can’t you still see it?” Mira’s only response was to shake her head

“Oh, I don’t know.” Zoey said sheepishly “Its still there, its faint, and blurry. Like an out of focus photo. But I can still see it faintly.”

Mira took a long look at her face, studying it. Zoey figured she was looking for any signs that Zoey was lying, after a few moments she seemed satisfied that Zoey was being truthful.

With a long sigh she said “I guess it is hard to argue with it after seeing what happened when Rumi sung, but its just hard to believe.”

“Well can you not still see it?”

Mira shook her head in response. “It faded as soon as Rumi stopped singing. I thought it might have been a projector or something. But if you can still see it out here then…” Her voice trailed off as she took it all in.

A loud crash shook them out of their thoughts.

“Zoey look out!” Zoey turned towards the voice, Rumi was standing not far away, at the top of a set of stairs. A tea set lay shattered at her feat. Zoey vaguely took note of the stands of the Honmoon pulling towards Rumi’s hand as Zoey suddenly felt hot breath on her neck.

***

Zoey whipped around and came face to face with a thing. One eye smack dab in the middle of its forehead, a weird horn growing out of the top of its head, its skin a deep red.

Zoey screamed and fell backwards, scrambling back away from this thing. This demon. It clicked. She was looking at a demon. And it was about to kill her. As it lunged at her, claws outstretched there was suddenly a flash of light followed by a poof of smoke and ash. Zoey sat stunned for a second as this ash rained down on her. She pulled her wits about her and stood up. Then almost immediately had to sit back down. There must have been a dozen of those demons she had just been face to face with standing in the garden, with two towering beasts standing back behind them. They must have been 8ft tall.

Mira stood to Zoey’s left, her fist balled and pulled back into a rough fighting stance. But Zoey realized why Mira hadn’t moved, and where the one demon who had lunged at her went. Rumi. Rumi was moving like something from outside of this world. The blade in her hand, a Saingeom she had called it. She charged the hoard with no hesitation, running at them with speed Zoey didn’t think was human. As she hit the front of this group, she was almost immediately obscured in faint clouds of ash as she cut thought the group. Rolling, sliding, and jumping around with ease as she cut down the group.

“Should we go get Celine?” Mira asked

“No need, I’m right here.” Celine said from behind them making them both jump.

“Are you not going to help her?” Zoey asked

“No, she’s got it this is a small group” Then with the ironic timing only the universe itself could pull off, there was a loud *thunk* followed by an “oof” As Rumi was clipped by a club one of the really tall demons were wielding. She was thrown back a few feet, but caught her self with grace, rolling backwards, already summoning a new blade, letting the one that had been thrown from her hands dissolve. Before she was even fully upright, she had already thrown the new blade at the tall demon. It spun in a deadly arc, before connecting with its neck, its body proofing into a cloud of ash.

Rumi did actually seem to have this handled. It wasn’t even 30 seconds later that the rest were piles of ash on the ground. Rumi calmly walked over to a spot on the ground, then slashed at it with her blade. Zoey could barely make it out, but she felt like she saw the treads knit themselves back together.

Rumi let her blade dissolve back into the Honmoon before walking over, not even out of breath.

***

“That wasn’t bad Rumi” Rumi beamed at the comment by Celine; it was barely even really praise. But Rumi looked like Celine had just given her the best compliment in the world. “You were a little sloppy with your form, giving that demon room to strike. But I guess it can slide considering the circumstances.”

Rumi’s eyes were down cast at that comment, but she said, “Yes Celine, Sorry, It won’t happen again.” The joy from just a few seconds ago sucked right out of her.

Celine turned to look at the other two. “I wasn’t expecting them to catch on so quickly to the official appointment of new hunters. You will need to stay here until you can learn to summon your weapons from the Honmoon, and detect ripples as demons pushed thought. They will keep making efforts to kill you before you are too strong to take down. Gwi-ma must know how close we are to achieving the ultimate goal.”

Mira and Zoey nodded, still a little shell shocked by the ordeal.

“Rumi will teach you to see the Honmoon tomorrow. You will all rest today. Rumi, help me get their rooms ready. We will contact your parents and let them know you will be here until further notice.” And with that Celine walked off.

Zoey spent the rest of the day jumping at every sound, turning around at random in case there was another demon just there. The rest of the day was a blur of, tea, talking. Just kinda hanging out. Dealing with the aftermath of almost being killed at 9 am.

When night fell Zoey didn’t sleep much. Tossing and turning. Still jumping at every noise.

Zoey was pulled back to the present by Mira waving her hand in front of her face “Zo, you still there?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. Just remembering the first time I got jumped by a demon.” The other two nodded, recalling how spooked Zoey had been.

“I don’t want to scare him either. But a lot has changed since then. We can protect him if worst comes to worst.” Mira tried to calm Zoey’s nerves a bit

Rumi added “We also don’t even know if demons can make it thought this new Honmoon.”

Zoey thought about it before finally saying “I don’t know how he’ll take it. But I think we tell him. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Mira opened her mouth to say something, but bit her tongue. Zoey appreciated that, cuz she had already imagined the worst that could happen.

“Ok then, its decided. We tell Bobby. Ill send him a text?” Mira said.

They nodded in agreement. Mira hesitated a second before asking. “Rumi, do you want to lead this conversation? I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on you to talk about things if you aren’t ready, but since a lot of it is tied to you, I think it would be best if you lead so me and Zoey don’t say anything you maybe aren’t ready to talk about. And me and Zoey can always pick up it if you needed.”

Rumi nodded before saying “I would like that. A good night’s sleep seemed to help my voice. But it still is a little hard to get words out right now.”

“yeah no of course Rumi, we will be right here to pick up if you need some time to reset some.” Zoey added, tentatively reaching out for Rumi’s hand. Rumi took it gratefully. Mira reached out and took both of theirs and gave them a squeeze before picking up Bobby’s phone and typing something out.

Mira looked at the phone for a second then said, “Bobby said he’ll be here in a half hour.”

They had a half hour to chill before Bobby was here. Before they told Bobby everything about what else they did. Easy. He definitely wouldn’t put them in a mental hospital for being crazy. Nope. Not going to happen.

Chapter Text

*No change in time from last chapter*

Pov: Rumi (+0 min)

Rumi had half an hour before Bobby showed up and she explained everything. Or tried to. Would he even believe them? Rumi wasn’t sure if they could prove it to him like she did with Zoey and Mira. As far as she knew the average person was never able to be shown the Honmoon at all. And pulling weapons out of thin air didn’t seem like the best plan to prove they weren’t nuts.

Rumi pulled a little closer to herself trying to figure out how she was even going to tackle this conversation. What had Zoey said about her voice? It had been stressed induced? That was going to be very problematic if true, the next few days especially were going to be stressful. Trying to explain demons to Bobby, then everything that had happened to potentially all three of them? Rumi shivered at the thought.

“Hey Rumi, you with us?” Mira asked, her voice soft.

Rumi nodded softly, not sure if words would come, and what she would say if so.

“Come here Rums” Zoey patted her lab, gesturing her over.

Rumi slowly stretched her body out, pulling her feet out of her hoodie and unwarping her arms from around her and slowly starting to move towards Zoey. She stayed on her hands and legs, not really wanting to stand all the way up. Staying low felt more comfortable right now. And she didn’t have really far to go anyway.

As she got close enough to actually lay down, she froze for a second. She wasn’t really sure how she should lay down. They had cuddled somewhat before, laying heads in laps, leaning on shoulders, but all of that was before she had been covered in patterns. Was Zoey actually inviting her to lay down? Or just wanting her to come closer? Zoey never seemed like the type to care too much; she had caught the flu on more than one occasion because she refused to put space between herself and one of them when they were sick. Insisting that ‘Feel better cuddles are more important than pesky things like catching a cold’. But this was different then some feel better cuddles because Rumi was sick. This was letting the mark of Gwi-ma get really close to her. Closer than Celine had ever let Rumi get.

She heard Zoey’s voice cut through her thoughts “Hey Rums, you can lay your head down you know?”

Rumi just started up at her, slightly dumbfounded. Before Zoey continued “But only if you want to. You don’t have to, but you’re still welcome too. Your always welcome too.” Her voice was soft and comforting. Cutting thought the noise in her head with ease.

Rumi gently began to lower her head, giving Zoey ample time to bail out if she changed her mind. But she didn’t, and Rumi’s head laid in Zoeys lap. It was surreal. Rumi thought these moments had long since passed after her patterns got outed to the world. But her she was, laying in her lap like nothing had changed. Like they still loved her.

“Rumi” Zoey’s voice was still soft and kind “are you ok if I touch you?”

Rumi contemplated, she knew what Zoey meant. Zoey loved to play with the baby hair that stuck out of the base of her neck, always slipping out of her braid. Or fiddle with the hem of her sleeves and press on her hand, watching the color with the pressure. She nodded slowly, welcoming the display of affection Zoey wanted to give. Rumi, however, was not expecting her to stick her hands directly on the patterns that were wrapped around the back of her neck.

She jolted at the contact, feeling like someone had just stuck a live wire to her skin. It felt… strange. Not in a bad way, just new. Odd. No one had really touched her patterns before. Celine demanded layers upon layers of fabric to protect her from them. And Rumi only ever touched them on the occasional brush while putting on clothes, or when she showered. But she normally zoned out for the latter part. But as Zoey pulled her hand away, apologies already spewing forth. Rumi actually missed the contact. Like Zoey had begun to scratch an itch Rumi had forgotten about.

Without a lot of conscious thought Rumi arched her neck and back up back towards Zoey’s hand, hoping to get the contact again. Looking to scratch the itch that was rapidly becoming more present. After a second, she felt Zoey’s hand reconnect with the back of her neck, a lot slower. More careful. But as Rumi felt her fingers brush against the patterns she shivered. It felt electric.

The good news was it was satisfying the ich on the back of her neck. The bad news, the itch was rapidly spreading all over her body. Some weird combination of heat and need tracing its way along her patterns in an infuriating need for stimulation.

She arched her back into Zoey harder, trying to get her to move her hands around, lower her back down, to her arms. Anywhere that wasn’t just the back of her neck.

Zoey, however, defaulted to the safest option and removed her hand entirely.

“Rumi, you ok?” She asked, the worry being poorly kept out of her voice.

Rumi opened her mouth to say ‘yes, I’m ok, keep going or I’m going to end up not ok.” But frustratingly her voice had decided to clock out for its lunch break, so all Rumi really accomplished was snapping her jaw shut with a sharp click before nodding and lowering herself back down into Zoey’s lap. She guessed she would just have to take what she could get until she could figure out what, and why, her voice was giving out on her.

So far, she had stress and physical contact. Great. It totally wasn’t like the three of them were big on the latter. They only spend most free nights in some form of physical contact of the past few years. And while Rumi didn’t think of herself as a stressed person. The words “chronically stressed” and “workaholic” got throw around a lot when describing her to new staff.

She tried not to panic at the sudden re-loss of her voice. It was not really convenient considering she had to lead a conversation about the fact that demons were real in less than 30 minutes.

But Zoey’s hands on the back of her neck made it a lot easier to focus on something else. Still in the back of her mind, she worried. Would she still be able to perform if her voice gave out on her every time she got stressed out? How was she supposed to even make an attempt at telling Mira and Zoey everything that had happened if her voice could give out at any moment while she was talking about it.

Mira’s voice brought her back to reality “Hey Rumi, you ok if I braid your hair? That weird top knot deal you have going on doesn’t look to comfortable.”

Rumi thought about it, she had been so deep in thought the past hour she hadn’t really noticed how it had been tugging on her head in weird ways. She really did have so much of it the bun she had tried to pull it into wasn’t exactly feasible.

“I won’t do the normal dragon tail you normally do if you don’t want, just something quick and simple.” Mira continued. Rumi nodded to this; she really didn’t want to have to fool with putting it up in that full braid that was considered her ‘iconic style’. And anyway, that could take hours at times, and they didn’t really have that much more time, did they?

“Ok, just a normal braid?” Mira clarified

Rumi nodded again, then went to sit up so Mira could get to her hair. But Mira stopped her, “No, you can stay like that. Ill come sit next to Zoey.” As Mira stood up, Rumi vaguely wondered how Mira was going to manage that, since they had been sitting, left to right, Mira, Zoey, Rumi, and Rumi’s legs were currently next to Zoey. So, she wasn’t really sure how Mira was going to fit in, but Mira seemed to either not see this as a problem or had already thought of a solution. Because she stood up and walked over next to Rumi before looking down at her.

“Rumi, are you ok if I pick you up and slide underneath you?’ Rumi’s brain froze. She wasn’t not ok with it, but could Mira pick her up? Mira wanted to have Rumi sat on her lap as well? Rumi didn’t say no, and that was apparently all the conformation Mira needed right now before she generally wrapped her hands around Rumi’s hips and picked her up. If Rumi’s brain was frozen before, it had hit absolute zero. Mira’s hands were wrapped around her hips, and Rumi was now a few feet above the couch as Mira slowly wiggled her way underneath her body.

By the time Rumi’s brain had caught up with the fact she had been picked up and placed in Mira’s lap, Mira had already pulled her hair down and was running her fingers though it. Humming softly as she worked.

“Hey Ru, is it ok if Zoey moves her hands somewhere else so I can start braiding?” Mira asked this gentle enough. But she might have well asked ‘Would you like some Oxygen?’

Rumi couldn’t nod fast enough. She must have looked like a bobble head.

She shifted slightly, rolling so she was stomach down on their laps, propping her head up on one of Zoey’s crisscrossed knees, her right arm pressed awkwardly against Zoey’s body, and her left just flopped out to her side.

Zoey tapped Rumi’s right arm lightly “May I have this arm?” She asked, after some more vigorous nodding she fished it out from its place squeezed between them then asked, “Are you ok if I roll your sleeve up some?”

Rumi thought for a minute. A process that was becoming increasingly hard with Mira’s fingers running thought her hair, slowly picking out strands of her hair. And the slow itch building again. She nodded, tentatively this time. Worried they would get a better look at just how damaged she was. But the craving to have someone scratch that itch building in her patterns again won out.

Zoey slowly began rolling up her sleeve. Stopping once it got to her elbow, then Zoey went back and began to run in nails softly over the marks. And Holy Shit If Rumi wasn’t in heaven, she wasn’t sure there was one. She tried to give a thumbs up, a nod. Really just anything to show she was very satisfied with her current situation, but her brain seemed to be unable to locate her arms. The most her brain was able to give her was a mental image of one of the “error 404” boxes that had plagued their earlier performances.

After an unknow amount of time Zoey stopped for a second and let out a low half whistle, half “woah”. Rumi tensed. Had Zoey come around and realized what she was doing? That she was letting a demon lay in her lap while she ran her fingers over the sin.

Before the spiral could fully start Zoey stopped it dead in its tracks. “Look Mir, look at the colors.” Colors?

Rumi opened her eyes slightly to see that yes, colors. Rumi was glowing faintly, with all kinds of colors dancing under the skin. Shifting and moving in time with the Honmoon. Rumi knew she should hide them, cover them up. They weren’t supposed to be admired. They weren’t supposed to be…

“Beautiful” Mira said the thought Rumi was having “they are absolutely beautiful”

Rumi blinked twice, they thought she was beautiful? No, they didn’t just think she was, they thought her patterns were beautiful. The thing she had spent her whole life hiding. And they thought it was something to admire. She felt tears well up in her eyes. It was stupid, and embarrassing. They were just commenting on something they liked. But it meant the world to Rumi.

“Rumi are you ok?” Zoey asked, stopping and bringing her hand to cup Rumi’s cheek and wipe one of the tears away “What’s going on?”

Mira also stopped braiding her hair to look over. Rumi could see the concern on her face out of the corner of her eye. Unable to do much else, Rumi just shook her head and nuzzled her face into Zoey’s hand before gently pushing her arm back in Zoey’s hand. A look on her face that she hoped said ‘I’m ok, just keep going please’.

Zoey must have got the message because she took Rumi’s arm in her hand again and resumed the gentle scratches. Whispering words to her “you look so pretty.” “I love the way your patterns shimmer” “so beautiful”.

At some point, Rumi wasn’t sure when Mira got done braiding her hair and also reached up to the base of Rumi’s neck and joined in. The two of them serenaded her with compliments for a while. Whispers of love and affection. All the while letting their hands run over the base of her neck and arm.

Rumi wasn’t sure. But she got the feeling her soul had long since ascended to heaven and she was just there now. Resting on fluffy clouds of comfort and peace.

She wasn’t sure how long she laid like this; she might have fallen asleep at some point.

Rumi came back around to the sound of the elevator ding. Zoey and Mira didn’t move, just slowly stopped, Zoey tugging the sleeve of her hoodie back down slowly. Something Rumi appreciated. This was going to be hard enough to explain to Bobby without her visibly glowing the whole time.

“Hey girls! You all in here?” His voice came tentatively. Also accompanied by the sound of plastic bags.

“Hi Bobby!” All three of them responded. Rumi managed to croak it out, it wasn’t nearly as strong or sturdy. But she managed to get words out which was a good sign.

She heard him walking over, before stopping, his voice a little confused “Uh, is now a bad time?”

Rumi quickly felt her face flush as she realized she was still laid out in her bandmates’ lap. The embarrassment boiled up quickly as she quickly scrambled into the free space next to Zoey. The shame followed quickly after I was letting them touch my patterns. I’m supposed to be getting rid of them not letting my friends run their fingers over them. She shoved the thoughts down for now. Problem for later. Right now, Bobby was here, and she had to find out the best way to explain to him… everything. Or well, most things.

She smelt what Bobby had brought before she saw it.

“Bobby did you pick up… Korean barbecue?” She asked, it hadn’t been that long since he had just given them enough breakfast to feed them for weeks. Or so they thought, Rumi had eaten an insane amount of it this, well afternoon technically.

“Yeah” He responded sheepishly. “I figured you all might still be hungry and could use some more food.”

After breakfast Rumi didn’t think she would eat for a week. But at the smell of the barbecue her stomach rumbled loudly, and her mouth started to water at the thought of it. Drastically contradicting the words she was about to say “You didn’t have to get us more food Bobby. We still have plenty hear to cook.”

“How am I every supposed to cook for these two hopeless wannabe chefs’ if we never have to cook” Mira said, slight amusement in her voice.

Zoey chucked at this, and even Rumi let out a light scoff. She wasn’t that bad in the kitchen.

“Ok, ok” Bobby said defensively “No more take out for a little. But since I already have this, do you want to eat it?”

Rumi’s response was instant “Yes please” she said, reaching out for the bags.

Bobby handed the bags over and Rumi dug in, all but forgetting she was supposed to be leading a conversation right now.

Mira and Zoey did eat a little, but they seemed to be held over from breakfast a lot more than Rumi had.

After a few minutes of Rumi tearing thought ribs like they had personally offended her, Bobby cleared his throat “So, you all came to a consensus about what last night way?” His voice was calm enough of the surface, but Rumi could hear the slight shake in his voice.

She paused mid bite, her face flushing slightly again, remembering she was supposed to be giving their poor manger answers about why she had apparently been glowing last night.

She swallowed the last of the ribs she had already stuffed in her mouth and put down what she had been about to start eating. She thought it over for a minute, she hadn’t really settled on how she wanted to start this conversation. She took a drink of water to buy herself a little more time. Painfully aware of the look Mira and Zoey were giving her.

She felt like the beginning would be a good place, but starting the conversation with “Hey so like, 400 years ago demons ran ramped in our world, and we are the result of 400 years’ worth of demon hunters forming and upkeeping a magical barrier to protect our world” felt like a little much. So, she decided to start at the present, work her way backwards, then back forward.

She took a deep breath, working the water around her mouth which felt like it could rival a desert in terms of lack of liquid. Before starting “So Bobby, y’know how Celine was our mentor? And how the Sunlight Sisters mentor was from the major band before them?”

He thought, before nodding.

“So that’s not just by accident. Or well, there is a lot more attention and thought put into it then pretty much anyone outside the three bandmembers know.” He gave her a confused glace, but she kept going “and its not just a coincidence that each band that followed was near exponentially more popular than the one that proceeded them.”

Zoey and Mira were giving her an encouraging look from her left, so she kept going “It started with a trio, 400 years ago. They didn’t really start out as a band, just a trio, singing. Known as Hunters. They started the lineage that HUNTR/X is following.”

She took a pause, testing how Bobby was reacting. To his credit he looked a little confused, but more in the “what does this have to do why you glow in the dark?” way. That was good sign. Maybe. She kept going

“And that first Trio wasn’t called Hunters because the hunted animals. They hunted creatures not of this world.” She took a pause again. He wasn’t calling the hospital to institutional them yet, so that was a good sign. “They hunted demons, who found their way into our world, working on the orders of their king, Gwi-ma. And that first group of Hunters sang songs, yes. But they were different. Born with voices that could draw people together and connect the souls of those around them. And that connection is what created the first shield that protects our world of demons. Trapping the demons underneath it. The Honmoon.”

Bobby looked skeptical, but he wasn’t claiming this was some sick prank yet, so maybe he was believing her. Rumi figured seeing her glow had really pushed how far he was willing to suspend his disbelief. So, she powered on.

“And every year people are born with that same ability to reach out thought their voice and connect the souls of those around them. Adding strength to The Honmoon. Sealing the ever-forming cracks caused from the efforts of the demon world trying to break thought into our world. Celine, my mother.” Her voice caught on the names. “Were apart of that legacy, founding the Sunlight Sisters to uphold the Honmoon and keep the demons at bay. After the accident… that left only Celine to uphold the Honmoon for the next 20 years while she looked for the next two Hunters to complete the Trio. Us.”

Bobby was nodding along at this point, like what she was saying made some amount of sense. She decided to throw some evidence? You could maybe call it that, his way. “That’s a big reason we have so many people always coming up at events saying that they connect with our music in a way that they never had before. It is because they literally are connecting in a way that they never had before, or at least. Not by any other bands currently making music.”

“And that’s how Celine found us” Zoey added on, Rumi was grateful for the break from speaking for a minute. “Celine and Rumi followed trails of the Honmoon reacting to singing some of my lyrics to myself in a restaurant.”

“Celine tracked me down one night in university dance studio that I had snuck into to practice some. She scared the daylights out of me but invited me to come by an actual studio and try out.” Mira added on. “I didn’t understand how she did it until months later when Celine told me and Zoey about the Honmoon.”

They sat in since for a minute letting Bobby roll all of this over in his head before he spoke “Ok, so let’s just say everything you said is true. And not some sort of statistically improbable joint hallucination. That doesn’t explain why Rumi was glowing red. And where Zoey got blue glowing knives from. And now that I think about it, that doesn’t explain why you all were flying last night. I did go and check. There were no fly rigs there. Actually, there was no staff their period.”

Rumi winced at the questions. The answer she didn’t really want to give was here.

So, she broke it down and procrastinated the questions she didn’t want to answer. Even if it was for a minute or two longer. “As for the latter of those questions. The flying is new, that is something we didn’t even really know about until it just sort of… happened. And the knives are Zoey’s weapons; we each have our own weapon that we pull from the Honmoon around us. I have, or well, I guess I had a Saingeom. I’m not too sure what it is now, Mira has a Waldo, and Zoey has her Sinkal.” She paused again. Glancing at Mira and Zoey. She hadn’t told them about her father yet either. But they gave her an encouraging nod, and she powered on “And the answer to why I glow is a little more complicated.”

She began to explain what she knew about demons. Explain the marks and patterns, what they look like. And what little they knew about how they formed. As she finished her explanation of what a demon was and how to recognize them, Bobby looked at her.

“Ok, so now I know how to spot a demon, but what does that have to do with you glowing.”

Rumi gulped, her throat feeling drier by the second. She drank a little more water before continuing “I was glowing because I also have those patterns, the ones demons bare.”

She shrunk into herself, starting to pull her legs up under her hoodie again. But in an instant Zoey’s hands found hers, giving her a comforting squeeze.

Bobby looked a little on edge, which made sense she had just told him that pattern=soul stealing demon. And Rumi glows because of patterns. That equation doesn’t seem to be something anyone wants to stick around for.

“Ok, how?” Bobby asked. To his credit he was staying incredibly calm about this whole thing.

“My father was a demon” Zoey and Mira audibly gasped beside her. Clearly not expecting that to be her answer. “I don’t know a lot of the details. Celine didn’t really like talking about my parents.” She could feel her voice clamming up on her. She needed to get this last bit out fast and hope Mira and Zoey could handle the rest of the conversation for a while. “All I really know is that father was a demon, and not long after my mom had me there was an attack. Celine said my mother died shortly after from injuries, and my father was killed somewhere in the chaos and confusion of it all. Then she spends a lot of time to make it look like a late-night rehearsal gone wrong.”

Her voice had official checked how as the last words died in her throat. Memorial flashed behind her eyes. Hours and hours of time spent sitting in front of her mom’s grave while Celine did her hair. She remembered hearing the story, the one that was the cover for a couple of years. Until the rip old age of 5 when Celine had decided to break everything to her. Demons, the real way her mom died, Rumi’s destiny to seal the Honmoon. How it was the only way to free her of the marks Celine had been telling her to hide.

She looked at Mira and Zoey pleadingly. Tears briming her eyes. A silent plea “please pick this up because I can’t keep going right now” and they got the message. She knew they must be reeling from this news. Words, though, and thanks could never express how thankful she was they picked up this conversation.

Mira spoke first “That was the story Celine told us when we were recruited. Not that we really needed to be told it. Everyone had heard it at least once before. But once Celine told us about the Honmoon and the true mission behind the connects and shows, she told us everything about what really happened to the Sunlight Sisters…” Her voice trailed off for a minute before she picked back up “well, almost everything”

“What do you mean ‘almost everything’?” Bobby asked

“Celine, didn’t. Well, she didn’t really let us in on the whole ‘Rumi’s demon father’ bit of the story” Zoey was the one to answer that question.

Bobby looked shocked. “So, wait, you didn’t know Rumi’s father was a demon? Why did you think she had patterns?”

“We didn’t know.” Mira said, her voice was flat. Still containing some frustration about that part in particular. “We didn’t find out until last night after the events on stage. When Takedown started playing. That wasn’t even us on stage. I haven’t really confirmed it, but a guess tells me that it was demons copying us to get in Rumi’s head”

Rumi nodded. Mira was really good at that stuff. Drawing really accurate conclusions from very incomplete data sets.

“So Takedown playing was the work of demons?” Bobby said, like everything was starting to click and make sense.

Mira glanced at Rumi before speaking, looking towards her for confirmation at what she was saying next “Yeah, if my guess is correct. It was the work of Jinu and the Saja Boys.” Rumi nodded in confirmation at that.

“Oh, thank God I thought I did something… Wait the Saja boys? Jinu? They were Demons?!?!” Bobby looked traumatized. “Oh my god I gave demons a table at your fan singing-”

“Hey Bobby, its ok. You didn’t know.” Zoey said, trying to comfort their poor manager who just ten minutes ago didn’t even know demons were a thing, and was now realizing he had been going up against a demon boy band for the last 2 weeks. “They were extremely charismatic individuals.”

Rumi reached out and squeezed Bobbys hand, seeing Bobby spiral at this revelation seemed to give her a little boost of something. She managed to force out the words, much to her body’s dismay to be talking again “I want to show you something Bobby. If your ready for something that’s a little less dark and dreary”

Bobby nodded, welcoming the distance from his thoughts brought on by the realization that the Saja Boys were demons.

Rumi looked at Mira and Zoey, they seemed to understand what Rumi was suggesting. Or at least she hoped so. She didn’t even know if this would work. Bobby wasn’t a hunter. She loved Bobby, but she didn’t think he had the spark in his soul that made Hunters, hunters. Rumi didn’t even know if men could even have the spark, sure was like, 70% sure it was possible based on the way Celine had talked about one group of Hunters from several generations back. But then again, it was Celine. And who knows with her.

Zoey and Mira gave her a slight nod, so she started humming. Letting a soft note fill the air. She was going a lot slower than she had when she had done this for Mira and Zoey the first time, she had shown them the Honmoon. She was more patient, letting Zoey and Mira find the rhythm and melt into the song. Layering it together like staining wood. Letting the layers slowly mesh together deepening the chords before one by one breaking off the steady notes that defined the song and moving towards the melody.

But something felt… off. The song didn’t keep singing itself like before. Normally the Honmoon sang the chords back to them, pulsing with joy or satisfaction at the song. This time… Nothing. Eerie silence followed as they moved to the melody before they all stopped at once.

Bobby looked at them confused “Why’d you stop? That sounded amazing?”

“Something isn’t right” Zoey said, worry in her voice “Normally it sounds different, the notes keep going even when we stop singing them.”

Bobby just nodded along, because what else were you supposed to say “Oh yeah totally of course, the song should keep going even when you stop singing it, that makes perfect sense”.

They sat there for a minute thinking before Mira spoke “Rumi, you said the reason that song was used to show people the Honmoon was because it was the first song to build the Honmoon. And even though the words have been lost to time, it still recognizes the song that created it?

Rumi nodded, the gears slowly clicking into place. But Mira finished the thought before Rumi could speak “Then wouldn’t we have to sing the song from last night?”

Rumi’s stomach churned at that. She had been trying to avoid thinking about last night, much less re-sing that song. They hadn’t really talked about that sense. She knew they would have too eventually. You don’t just sing a whole new song out of the blue then never touch it again. Even if the entire song had been improv.

But now, they had to talk about it now. At the very least sing it now. They all shared a nervous glance. Not really sure what they wanted to do after arriving at this conclusion.

Bobby seemed to notice their hesitation stating, “you don’t have to sing it now, or show me the, whatever you called it.”

“We know that, but we want to. It truly is beautiful.” Zoey started, but Rumi had a very different worry, one Mira seemed to share.

“Do you believe us, even without proof?” Mira asked, always the blunt one in the group. And Rumi was thankful for that, at least right now. It could definitely be a little weird to be on the receiving end off. But in moments like these it helped get thought the awkwardness faster, even if it was a little more awkward than it otherwise would have been.

Bobby looked at them, then looked down. He seemed to be really mulling this question over. Making the 3 of them really nervous. After a couple minutes of unbearable silence, he finally took a deep breath then spoke. “I don’t not believe you. I know you all would never outright lie to me… But it’s also a lot to be told and just believe. Y’know? Even with seeming Rumi glow.”

“Yeah, me and Mira didn’t really believe it at first either. At least you aren’t asking where the hidden cameras are. Or accusing us of performing some kind of hazing” Zoey teased, giving a grin in the direction of Mira, who promptly flipped her off.

Zoey, apparently on either A) her villain arc, or B) her ‘I’m going to lighten the mood by any means necessary’ arc chose to respond with “Do it, coward. You won’t”

Rumi choked on air, and Mira went such a vibrant shade of red even lobsters would be jealous of her. And Bobby, poor Bobby looked ready to die from secondhand embarrassment.

“Zoey!” Rumi barely managed to choke out

“What, I’m just saying. If she wants to flip me off, she should put her money where her mouth is.” Zoey paused for second, Rumi knew that look on her face. Zoey was about to say something even worse than she already had “Or well, maybe put her mouth-”

“Alright!” Bobby said, standing up abruptly, saving them from any more of Zoey’s flirting. “I should probably get going. You all seem to have a lot to talk about still.”

Zoey seemingly read the room a few beats too late and suddenly became very interested in her socks.

“Bobby wait, there is one other way we could show you ‘proof’ that we aren’t just making this up. But you have to promise not to freak out.” Rumi said, treading carefully with this one. The last time she had opted for the ‘Pull a weapon from thin air’ method Celine had reamed her hard later that night. Rumi didn’t really want to do it this way. But Bobby deserved to know that they were being honest with him.

“And that is what…?” He seemed a little hesitant, which considering everything he had just been told made a lot of sense.

“We can show you our weapons.” Rumi’s voice was small. “If that wouldn’t freak you out to much.”

Bobby thought for a second, before giving a nod “You can if you would like. But I can’t promise it won’t be a little jarring.”

Rumi took this as the best she was going to get. She took a breath and steeled her nerves.

As she reached out the Honmmon, calling for her Saingeom, the memories of that night came with it

If we can’t tell your lies from your truths Rumi

I knew it, I knew it was too good to be true

Zoey, please

Do what you should have done a long time ago

Why can’t you love me

You think you can fix the world

Everyone finally sees you for what you are

You gave me my soul back, and now I give it to you

They came back sharper, harsher, more overwhelming. A brutal barrage coming at her with full force. She almost broke her concentration from the force, but muscle memory carried her thought the rest of the motion. The familiar grip landing in her hand and the unfamiliar weight. Still balanced, but new.

To say Bobby looked stunned would be an understatement, his eyes raking over the intricate designs that were underlaid within the swords blade. Rumi took this time to do the same, truly studying her new blade now that she wasn’t in a fight for her life. The new designs were still faint but present. The blade shimmering in time with the Honmoon.

After a few moments Bobby spoke “May I hold it? Is that allowed?”

Rumi didn’t see why not, but she also hadn’t ever really tried giving it to a non-hunter. Zoey and Mira had wielded it plenty of times when training. Part of learning how to work off each other in unison had been learning how to fight with each other’s weapons.

She just tilted the hilt to him, making a note to tilt the edge down.

He took the handle cautiously, like it might explode on him, before fully gripping it and pulling it closer to study. After a few seconds he handed it back in similar fashion.

“It just, feels like you Rumi. I don’t know how else to explain it.” He said as she took it back. “And Mira and Zoey have these too?”

“Ours are different weapons, but the same principal” Mira said

“Is it ok if I ask to see them too?” He seemed a little less nervous now that he had seen one

Zoey and Mira shared a look, then looked at Rumi.

It took her a second to catch up to why they were looking at her. They hadn’t pulled their weapons since everything went down. Which made sense. It was only last night. 20ish hours wasn’t a lot of time to be pulling blades. But then it clicked, they were worried about her. They didn’t want to pull their blades without Rumi’s permission after they had leveled them at her.

She just nodded, the words not really forming right, getting caught in her throat.

They hesitated a beat too long before reaching out and pulling their own. The Waldo and Sinkal coming to life in their hands, Rumi looked away, trying to shove the memories away. Forcing herself to stay calm. To keep her heartbeat under control.

Thankfully Bobby was too distracted, admiring the glimmering blades to notice her trying not to freak out. As he repeated the questions he had asked her, Mira leaned over after handing her Waldo over. Whispering in her ear.

“Your safe, I promise. I will never hurt you” Rumi just nodded. Appreciating how Mira skipped the questions she already knew the answers she already knew.

As Zoey handed over her Sinkal for Bobby to appreciate she leaned over and gave her own words of comfort “I’m so sorry I ever even considered that. I never want to hurt you again”

She just reached out and squeezed their hands. She really appreciated the comfort. Even if she knew she didn’t deserve it.

As Bobby handed over Zoey’s Sinkal and she let them dissolve back into the Honmoon Bobby’s face lit up as he seemed to remember something “Oh! Your phones, I got them from Katie. She was on the stage this morning and saw you all hadn’t grabbed any of your stuff. They packed most of it up downstairs for now, but I grabbed your phones” He pulled them out of his jacket pocket and handed them over.

Rumi glanced at the screen, the photo of the three of them out in disguises barely visible with hundreds of notifications on her screen.

“Thanks Bobby, I had totally forgot about them!” Zoey said, already opening her phone and swiping away notifications with lighting speed.

“Well, the internet really lost its shit when it thought we had split” Mira noted, looking at her set of notifications.

“Yeah, everyone did” Bobby let out a humorless chuckle. “Unfortunately, I really do need to run downstairs and finish taking care of some PR stuff and logistics. Are you all ok?”

They all nodded.

“We are… Something adjacent to ok, at the very least.” Mira spoke.

“Yeah, we have a lot to talk about.” Zoey added “We promise to fill you in on what’s important, and check in.”

Bobby nodded at this, checked his phone, then added “Let me know if you all get hungry again. I will get more food if you need it”

“We appreciate Bobby, but I think we might spend a week finishing everything you brought us today.” Zoey said with a laugh. Glancing at the spread of barbeque still on the table in front of them.

Rumi was also reminded of how hungry she still was.

They finished up their goodbyes and Bobby went off to keep kicking ass as their manger.

Once Bobby had left Rumi started digging back into the food. It had long since gone cold, but this didn’t really bother Rumi.

“Wow, hungry girl” Zoey commented. Rumi just shot her a glare.

“We really should talk, told if you feel up to it Rumi” Mira said

Rumi reached for her phone and typed out

                Yes, I would like to. Is it ok if we eat then just chill for a little bit first?

“Yes of course that’s ok” Zoey’s response was instant as she read the message.

They sat in silence for a few minutes while Rumi ate, Zoey and Mira played on their phones. Occasionally passing it around to laugh at a meme.

After Rumi had eaten her fill there was still a good amount of food left over, Bobby really had got a ridiculous amount, before Rumi crawled back up on the couch, curling up into a ball between her friends. They instantly scooted closer, their legs pressing on their side of her, not harsh. Just a ‘I’m here’.

One conversation down, now time for the hard one. How was she going to explain everything to them without them killing her or locking in her room for the rest of eternity.

“Hey Rums, is it ok if we touch you?” It was Mira’s voice that cut through the silence.

Rumi reached for her phone, typing out the message.

                You can, but can I ask why?

Mira read it, then Rumi titled the phone to Zoey as well.

“You can, I just think your patterns are so pretty. I want to make sure you know that.” Mira said, then after a brief pause “And I’m sorry if this is too sappy, but me and Zoey have always been touchy ish, A lot of physical contact. But you were always more reserved or distant. Not that I don’t understand why, but it feels like a way me and Zoey have always been close, and I want to make sure you get to be apart of that. And that you know we want you to be apart of that”

                I love you guys so much

Tears were forming in her eyes, but for once they were purely happy. Happy that she had them, and happy that they wanted her to be included in them.

Their hands slowly made contact with her skin she shivered again, but they didn’t pull away. For now, she just sat there. Enjoying being included in something she didn’t get to enjoy before. And suddenly the conversation they needed to have didn’t feel so scary. They had a lot to say. But for now, she could just be included in them. And it would be ok.

Chapter Text

*Aprox. Two hours after last chapter*

Pov: Rumi (+0 min)

Rumi looked around, confused. Where was she? Everything was pitch black. With a sharp flash everything lit up, blinding lights kicked on as “Takedown” started playing.

“No no no” Rumi started panicking. Why was she back here, she couldn’t remember how she got here. She had just been on the couch with Mira and Zoey. They had told Bobby about demons and the Honmoon. Had that not been real? No this had to be the dream right?

Just like before Mira and Zoey were suddenly at her sides. Moving through choreography with practice ease.

This time Rumi broke from it first, rounding on the demons. “No! This isn’t real. You’re demons. You’re not my friends!”

“But are we?” Mira’s voice came out, cruel and twisted. “You’re the demon. The mistake.”

“You’re the one who lies, who hides from your so called ‘friends’” Zoey’s voice chimed in, mocking.

“No, I know you. The real you.” Rumi’s voice breaking. She knew they weren’t real. They were just demons trying to get in her head.

“Do you though? Always so pulled back, closed off. Did you ever really know us?” Mira looked at her while speaking.

“Yes! Yes, I know my friends. You’re not them!”

Their response didn’t come in the form of words. Just the steady reaching of hands, out to the Honmoon.

Rumi’s blood ran cold as she saw the blades come out. “No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening!”

“Oh, but it is. You spend all your time hiding. You never bothered to learn your closest friends.” Zoey said, a hatred Rumi had never heard lacing her words

“And now its time to send the demon back where it belongs” Mira said

As they closed in, Rumi was paralyzed. This couldn’t be real. It couldn’t

As they swung cold acceptance settled into her gut. This was real. They were real. And everything she thought had happened had been a lie.

Right before their attack connected Rumi was startled by a loud voice, echoing over the sound of “Takedown” still playing in the background.

“RUMI, PLEASE!”

Rumi sat up, tears in her eyes. She looked around, blinking rapidly.

She was still on the couch, Zoey and Mira were still on either side of her looking very worried.

“Rumi, are you ok?” Zoey spoke first.

Rumi couldn’t muster words. It had been a dream. It was just a dream.

She just leaned forward slowly, looking at Zoey for permission to lean her head on her. Zoey nodded quickly, holding her arms out to welcome Rumi in. Rumi lay there for a minute trying to stop the tears. Zoey just sat there humming a soft lullaby, while running her hand soothingly over her arms.

After a second? A minute? Rumi wasn’t sure how long she sat there before she felt another gentle run over her back.

“Hey Rumi, are you ok if I lay on your back a little?” Mira’s voice was grounding. Steady and firm. But not pressing. Just a clear sound, cutting thought the silence in her head.

Rumi nodded. Mira draped herself over Rumi’s back. Resting her head on the leader’s neck.

They sat like this for a few more minutes. Soft words of comfort and soothing touches filling the air as they sat there.

As Rumi managed to stop her tears, she felt Zoey and Mira share a quick look before Zoey spoke

“Hey Rumi, can you tell us what happened?”

Pov: Mira (- aprox. 2 hours)

Rumi had fallen asleep not even ten minutes after laying down between them.

Mira sighed, looking at her. She looked so peaceful when she slept. Years of stress seemingly melting off her face in just a few moments.

“She really is beautiful, isn’t she Mira” the maknae comment. A soft look on her face as her fingers brushed over some of the marks that painted the back of her neck. Making the sleeping girl shiver in her sleep.

“Careful, don’t wake her” Mira said protectively. If she had gone thought half the stuff Rumi had, she would sleep for a week before even considering having a conversation. Much less start explaining everything that had happened. “But… yes, she really is.”

As Mira studied her face closely. She felt like a knot was both unraveling itself and tying itself tighter inside her chest.

Sure, the marks were pretty. Glowing faintly in her sleep, moving in time with the Honmoon. But it was more than that. It was the way the slight wrinkles in her face faded away as she relaxed. It was the way her whole face shifted to something soft and gentle. Something unbothered and unpracticed. Not the soft and gentle face Rumi put on for fans at meet and greets. Nor the kind that she had had on just a few minutes ago for Bobby. But something truly relaxed Mira wasn’t sure she had ever saw before. It made her heart ache. She wanted to bundle Rumi up in a ball of blankets and bubble wrap, shielding her from everything. Just so Rumi could look like this forever.

A quite sniffly broke though the quiet. Mira looked up, her eyes first landing on Rumi. But Rumi’s face was still calm and relaxed. Sleeping peacefully.

That meant… Mira looked at Zoey. The girl trying to quietly wipe away her tears and keep her nose from running.

“Zo, what’s wrong?” Mira reached her hand out, squeezing Zoey’s arm.

“We just… We put her thought so much and we didn’t even know” Zoey said thought broken ragged breaths. “She went thought so much alone, and we just let her”

“Hey, we couldn’t have known. If Rumi didn’t want to share, we weren’t going to find out” Mira kept her voice low, not wanting to wake the sleeping girl between them.

“But we should have known. We live with her Christ’s sake. We’ve spent almost every waking moment for the past 7 years together. 7 years Mira, 84 months, 2,557 days. How do you live that close to someone for that long and never notice that she is hiding something.” She was almost sobbing at this point.

Mira didn’t know how else to say it, so she chose to go with a logical approach. If Zoey wanted to count the days, Mira would too. She did some math in her head then spoke “Yes, but we met Rumi when she was 17 years old. From what Rumi told us thus far about how she was raised that is 17 years, 204 months, 6,209 days. Of being taught to hide it. We only ever knew the Rumi that hid it, and she had a 17-year head start on practice. We were never meant to find out.”

Zoey seemed to accept this for now, as she asked, “Do you think she ever would have told us?”

Mira thought about the best way to word this “I don’t think so, just think about what Celine told us about demons. Now imagine hearing that about yourself. I know I would never tell anyone. Much less the people who had been raised to hate the very thing I was.”

Zoey chucked without humor in between sobs. “You always know the right things to say Mira, y’know that? It’s a little frustrating really, how am I supposed to be over here hating myself for not noticing when you know exactly what to say to shut that down.”

Mira gave a little smile “Because I know you Zo, we have learned each other well over the past 7 years. We went through so much together, learning about demons and the Honmoon and how to be idols, all the while Rumi was leagues ahead of us. Already knowing all of that, leaving us to relate to each other in ways that she couldn’t. And probably wouldn’t even if she could.”

“Yeah, she was so far ahead of us it was embarrassing to try and keep up.” Zoey said, a faint smile painting her lips “Remember when I first started training with my Sinkal and Rumi was hitting bullseyes teaching me, while I couldn’t even get them to stick in a target.”

Mira gave Zoey a little laugh. But her mind went to Rumi teaching her how to hold her, Waldo. The way Rumi had held it with confidence, meanwhile Mira had dropped it from shock the first time she had summoned it.

Rumi had helped her summon it again, her hands grabbing Mira’s to show here were to place her hands. Their bodies pressed together as Rumi helped adjust her stance. The heat off Rumi’s body so close to her.

Mira was pulled back to reality with a quite snap from Zoey.

“Hey, you with me Mir?”

“Yeah, I’m here, just remembering when Rumi was teaching me how to hold my Waldo.”

“Oh, you mean when you went redder than a tomato and froze for like, 2 minutes.”

“It was not two minutes, and you were no better. The first time Rumi grabbed your hands to place your Sinkal in them you looked like you were trying to win a competition for ‘stillest object in the universe’”

“Hey, that’s not fair, that was like, less than two days after she saved my life. You didn’t summon your Waldo for like, two weeks after that.”

Mira winced at the mention of the first time they had seen demons. She hated how she just froze. Scared shitless. Not that she would ever admit it.

“She just had such a presence back then it was a little scary.” Mira’s voice was quiet

“Yeah, she still does, I think. I think we are just used to it now.” Zoey said, before giving a little smile. Then adding on “and you have to admit. She was a little sexy killing those demons and saving our lives”

“Zoey!” Mira’s voice was high pitched and sharp. But didn’t have any real bite to it.

“What, you know I’m right. After I got over the whole ‘I almost got killed by a demon’ bit I couldn’t get the image of her fighting out of my head for weeks.”

“Ok, maybe it was a little hot.” Zoey shot her a grin, before Mira quickly followed with “But only in the ‘you just saved my life’ way. Not… any other way.”

Zoey just rolled her eyes before they fell into a comfortable silence. Their hands running over Rumi soothingly still.

“Do you think she’ll tell us everything this time?” Zoey spoke the first words in almost 30 minutes.

Mira could tell this was eating at Zoey, but Mira didn’t have a good answer right now. So, she went with the safe option “I think she promised she would. And it might take us some time to get thought it all, because again. There is 17 years of shit that happened to her to get through. Not including anything that happened last night. But she promised. And I plan to hold her to it. Even if it takes us the whole three months to get through it.”

Zoey nodded “I just, don’t want to push her to hard, y’know. She already has so much in her head. I don’t want us to be the reason she breaks even more.”

Mira thought for a minute, before remembering some stupid movie Zoey had made them watch together a few years ago. In hindsight maybe it wasn’t so stupid if she was about to use it to help comfort Zoey. “Rember that movie you made us watch, it was called like, “Elemental” or something”

Zoey nodded

“Rember in that movie when Ember is having a dinner with Wade’s family? And one of the brothers breaks the glass pitcher? And everyone is talking about how it’s broken and it’s ok that it’s broken. But Ember responds by saying she can fix it, then technically, breaks it even more by melting it down?”

Zoey nodded again, confused, not to sure where Mira was going this.

“Well, Ember takes that melted glass. Something was broken. It had shattered into pieces and there was no using it anymore. But she took it and made something new out of the parts. Something beautiful, that was better than before.” Mira took a deep breath before pushing on “We probably are going to break Rumi more. And we are probably going to break in the process too. But it’s not about if we break. It’s about what we do after that. What we build with the piece that are left over. And if we do it right, and we built on each other the right way, we will come from the rubble stronger and better than before.”

Zoey looked at her in awe, she sniffed a little before saying “That was beautiful Mira, you should be a motivational speaker.”

Mira blushed, waving her off. Letting silence envelope them once more.

They sat there just relaxing for a while.

Then suddenly, Rumi began to glow slightly. Mira noticed first, glancing over at her sleeping figure. Giving Zoey gentle nudge.

The colors were soft, light glowing. Casting a pink hue around the room.

“Ouuu, pretty” Zoey commented. But this didn’t last long, as the color got brighter, and harsher somehow. Rumi began to squirm some, twisting around. Words starting as whispers that they didn’t quite catch.

“What’s going on?” Zoey panicked.

Before Mira could respond Rumi’s voice cut them off, “No! This isn’t real. You’re demons. You’re not my friends!”

Her voice was quiet but scared.

Mira and Zoey both froze. She was back at the Idol awards. The realization hit Mira like a truck. The air dumping out of her lungs at frighting speeds.

Rumi spoke again, responding to something in her dream “No, I know you. The real you” Her voice was cracked and fragile.

“Rumi, Rumi wake up. Please it’s just a dream. Please wake up.” Zoey shook her shoulder to no avail.

“No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening!” Rumi was practically shouting at this point.

“RUMI, please” Mira shouted at her. She normally wasn’t one to yell but seeing Rumi outright trashing in her sleep, begging something or someone in her dream, lit a fire in Mira. She didn’t know what it was, but she had to protect Rumi.

Rumi sat upright. Blinking at them.

Zoey spoke first “Rumi, are you ok?”

Rumi just sat there, staring at them. Her eyes red-rimmed from crying.

Zoey reached out, motioning for Rumi to come and lay on her, and Rumi did. Slowly leaning down as Zoey wrapped her arms around her.

Mira sat there, looking at Rumi. Unsure what to do. She wanted to crawl into the dream and beat it up. But that wouldn’t help Rumi.

Mira tried to keep her voice low and steady, despite the internal turmoil “Hey Rumi, are you ok if I lay on your back a little?”

Rumi nodded, and Mira scooted a little closer, fitting herself to Rumi’s back. Letting her head rest near her ear, as she started to try to offer some words of comfort to her.

Promises she was safe, that they loved her. That they would never hurt her.

As Rumi stopped crying, Zoey looked at Mira with an eyebrow raised. A silent question “Do you want to take this one, or should I?”

Mira gave Zoey a slight tilt up of her head, and Zoey started

“Hey Rumi, can you tell us what happened?”

Rumi took a deep breath and shuddered. Not happy to be relieving the memories. But she nodded and reached for her phone.

Typing for a few minutes before titling the screen for them to see

                I was back at the idol awards, on the stage.

                I thought it was demons, but it wasn’t

                It was you all, you summoned your weapons, you tried to kill me

                I thought it wasn’t you, but it was.

Rumi was crying again. Mira’s jaw went slack with horror, and Zoey started sobbing. They both pulled Rumi tighter as Zoey started apologizing. Her words choked on her sobs.

Mira didn’t know what to say, she knew she should say something. Anything comfort Rumi. But no words felt enough, not when that was a dream that was made feasible by the fact Rumi had seen them do just that. Pull their weapons on her, threaten their friend who had begged them to stay.

Before Mira knew what was happening, she had started to cry. The guilt was too much for her. How was she ever supposed to ever be enough to help her friend if she caused her this much pain. But she couldn’t leave now, as much as she felt like she needed to lock herself in her room and never leave again.

They sat like that for a while. Crying and holding Rumi. Finally, Rumi extracted an arm and typed on her phone.

                I need to pee

The sentence made Zoey laugh. “Ok, Rums. You want to go take care of that?”

She nodded, then thought for a minute before typing

                Can I also get a few minutes alone in my room?

                You didn’t do anything wrong. I just think I need 10 to myself.

Zoey responded first “Yeah of course. Whatever you need. Well knock in ten and see if you need more time?”

Mira didn’t love the idea of leaving Rumi alone, but she also felt too guilty to ask her to stay.

Rumi slowly extracted herself and padded off to her room. Leaving a small void behind.

Mira already missed her being with her.

“I am going to go to the bathroom myself” Zoey announced to no one in particular.

And she got up and left. Leaving Mira alone with her thoughts.

Mira didn’t like that, suddenly the leaving room left too big, too empty. To devoid of any of the warmth that it had had shortly before.

She slowly got up. Deciding that being alone in her room was better than being alone in the huge empty room.

She walked into her room and looked around. It was cold, she flopped down on the bed. Thinking back to the night.

She felt horrible for what she had done, and how she had acted. She had always prided herself on being cool, calm and collected. Because she had to be. But just like that, all the sudden she was starting at one of the two closest people in her life, looking like a demon but begging her to trust. To listen. And Mira had let her emotions take control. Letting the fear overwrite what she knew. It was Rumi, Mira knew Rumi.

Mira knew that if Rumi wanted to hurt them, she could have a hundred times over. They had let their guard down so many times around Rumi and Rumi had just protected them. Risker her own life to protect them

The thought hit Mira like a truck. The reason Rumi was always tanking the hardest of hits, doing the riskiest moves, always putting herself in the front, being the most precent target available. It wasn’t just because she was more skilled, or even what Mira had first thought, because she was more durable because of her demon half. It was because she was a half-demon. Viewing herself as more expendable.

The realization dragged Mira to her knees. Even if Mira didn’t know why, she should have seen the pattern. The actions of recklessness and lack of self-preservation.

She sat there for awhile, trying to shove the guilt away. Pack it up so it didn’t effect anyone else.

A knock on the door signaled it was time to quickly shove everything back and away.

“Coming!” she hollered to the door.

As she opened the door, she tried to look normal.

“Hey you, ok? You look rattled” shit, Zoey could tell.

“Yeah, just. A lot on my mind, I just feel bad about how much I hurt Rumi” She tried to deflect. It seemed to work, as Zoey just nodded.

“I feel bad too. We put her though so much.” It was at this point Mira noticed the slight red around Zoey’s eyes. Mira’s heart ached. She had been so worried about Rumi she forgot to make sure Zoey was ok.

“Are you ok Zo?” Mira asked softly, reaching her hand out to hold the younger.

Zoey took it but nodded. “Yeah, I am just worried about Rumi. We can talk once we make sure she’s ok”

Zoey clearly didn’t want to talk about it, and Mira didn’t want to force it out here in the middle of the hallway.

“We should probably go check on Rumi, it had been 15 minutes when I looked at the clock last.” Shit. Mira didn’t even realize it had been that long.

“Yeah”

They made their way over and knocked on Rumi’s door. A faint voice responded

“Come in”

They stepped in and looked around. Rumi was sitting on her bed, wrapped up like an oversized burrito. Her eyes were a little red from crying. But she looked somewhat ok now.

Rumi untangled one of her arms and padded the bed softly. Inviting them over.

They padded over softly and sat down on either side of her. Looking at her, looking for permission.

She nodded and leaned into her. Each one of them takes a hand. They sat like this in comfortable silence for a minute. Before Rumi spoke

“Thank you.”

They both looked at her in shock

Zoey was the first to say something “what are you thanking us for?”

Rumi sat there for a second. Before saying something, they couldn’t quite hear under her breath.

“What was that, Rums?” Mira pressed, she knew what she said earlier about probably having to break all three of them to get better. But Mira didn’t want to be push to hard. Not yet at least.

But Rumi just took a deep breath and followed before repeating herself. “I thought you all might have forgotten about me. Or changed your minds. So, I just, I really appreciate you coming here still.”

Mira’s heart shattered back into a million pieces. Assuming it had every been put back together.

“Oh, Rumi no, we never forgot about you I promise” Mira felt tears coming to her eyes, but she blinked them back. She needs to be strong right now. For Rumi.

“We are right here. And we aren’t going anywhere unless you want us to.” Zoey added.

“thank you” Rumi’s voice was smaller.

They sat there, holding her for a while before Rumi spoke “um, can you ask me questions. It would help me get started. If that’s not too much to ask for?”

“Yes, 100%.” Zoey said.

“Yeah, where do you want us to start? Do you have somewhere specific you want to start at?”

Rumi thought for a second “Um, last night. If you all are ready for that?”

“Yeah, can we start with what happened on stage?” Mira figured that was a good place to start.

Rumi took some deep breaths before she started. She walked them thought it. Golden, the music cutting out. Her relief that they had gotten up there. The realization that it wasn’t them. What they said, what they did. It broke Mira in ways she didn’t know she could break. Knowing something with her face had said that to her Rumi. Her blood boiled.

Rumi kept going, seeming to find a rhythm of talking now, she explained how they stripped her of her jacket, then vanished. Leaving her on the stage by herself. But she stopped as she got to the part where she walked backstage. This was the part they were there for. She seemed frozen in thought, so Mira prompted her.

“We can skip that for now if you would prefer.” Rumi nodded, then Mira asked, “what happened after?” The word hung in the air. Mira tried to push the rest of the thought away, but it hit her like a brick, nonetheless. After I betrayed you when you needed me the most.

“I went to find Jinu” Mira bristled at that. Regardless of what the demon had done for Rumi, she didn’t like him. But he did more for her than you did. The little voice in her head struck her hard. The guilt was suffocating.

“I thought it had to be a trick, or something. Not his fault. That maybe he actually believed what I had told him. That we both could be freed from our patterns if we could seal the Honmoon.”

Mira had heard parts of this story already. But she let Rumi go back over it.

“But when I got to him, it was clear it was his doing.” She shivered at the next part as she spoke “Those demon mimic of you standing next to him mostly sealed the deal. But I still tried to argue with him. To reason with him. Just anything to prove… I don’t even know. We argued, we fought. I thought maybe if I could find him, I could come to you all. He could vouch for me. That somehow would work and you would believe me. And I wouldn’t lose you all. More than anything I only cared about not losing you. But he lied, it was his fault. He had given up on trying to seal it. To free us from our patterns. And when that didn’t happen. The last of my hope was gone. I thought I had lost you, The Honmoon was burning down around me. And the only other person I even sort of trusted was the reason I lost everything.”

Rumi had started crying again. But she let the tears stream down her face as she spoke. Only stopping to wipe her nose.

Mira reached up and cupped her check. Wiping the tears away. Rumi gave her an appreciative smile. Mira’s heart was beyond broken. Rumi had lost hope because of her. Mira had started that. Zoey had only followed. This was her fault. And she hated herself for it.

“What did you do after that?” Zoey pressed lightly. Wrapping her hand around Rumi’s shoulders.

“I went to go find Celine” Rumi’s voice was smaller than ever. Mira’s blood went cold at this. Rumi never went to Celine. Celine came to Rumi. This couldn’t have been go.

“Why?” Mira was trying to keep her voice level. But she could hear the fear seep in. She didn’t like where this was going. And she just hoped she was wrong.

“I had destroyed the very thing I swore to protect. I thought there was no hope of fixing me. I went to ask…” She swallowed hard “IwenttocelinetoaskherkillmebeforeididanymoredamgetotheHonmoonthanIalreadyhad”

The words came out fast, so jumbled Mira thought she misheard.

“You did want Rumi?!” Zoey asked.

Rumi said it again, a little slower. “I went to Celine to ask her to kill me before I did any more damage to the Honmoon than I already had.” Her voice had somehow gotten smaller.

Mira couldn’t breathe. She didn’t really know what she thought Rumi had gone to Celine for. She knew it couldn’t have been good. But this was worse. So much worse.

And somehow, it got worse. Rumi kept talking “I thought that maybe this time Celine would finally do it. After seeing all the damage, I caused because I failed that she would finally do it and end me before everything broke for good. So, you all could still have a chance to fix what I caused. So you could still try and undo my failure.”

Mira didn’t really hear anything else that was said. Her mind just kept replaying the words “this time”

What did she mean this time? She had asked before. Mira was spiraling. Zoey started asking questions distracting Mira enough.

“You asked Celine to kill you?!?” Zoey’s voice was harsher than Mira had ever heard it. Rumi flinched at it. She retreated into her blanket like it might protect her from Zoey’s stare. “Rumi why would you ever do that?” Zoey was crying, barely keeping it together.

“You all hated me; I saw the look in your eyes. When you saw me for real. I knew it. I thought I was better off gone. So, you could find a new person, rebuild what I broke. Move on.”

Zoey seemed at a loss for words. But Mira had just found her voice “what do you mean ‘this time’?. You’ve asked Celine to do that before?”

Mira didn’t even really try to hide the anger in her voice. But she immediately regretted it as Rumi started to cry. Pulling deeper into her cocoon she made for herself. To her left Zoey’s eyes went wide as she played the conversation back in her head. Picking up on that comment this time around.

“Rumi, what did you mean by ‘This time’?” Mira’s voice was softer this time.

“I may have asked her before. More than once” Rumi tried to pull deeper into the burrito she wrapped herself in.

But Mira held her still. “Rumi, I am… I’m angry. But only because I care and I want to make sure your ok. But I don’t hate you. And I don’t want you to pull away from us. You deserve to be comforted. You understand?”

Rumi looked at her with tear filled eyes, nodding slowly. She didn’t look convinced.

“I promise I don’t hate you. We don’t hate you. We just want to know. So, we can help you in the ways you need.”

“Yeah Rumi, we just want to be able to comfort you according. But we need to know what happened.” Zoey added. She was a lot better at having that comforting tone.

“Can you please tell us how many times this has happened. How many times have you asked Celine to kill you.”

This time Rumi leaned into them, instead of pulling back. She said something they couldn’t hear under her breath.

“Rums what was that” Zoey asked lightly.

“17 times…” Rumi’s voice barely above a whisper.

Mira shattered. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t be mad at Rum. But Celine. Celine she could be mad at. And mad didn’t even begin to cover what she felt towards that woman. But she would have to take her anger out on that woman later. Right now, Rumi needed her. Bad. Rumi had physically pulled herself smaller, leaning against Zoey. Her patterns taking on a sickly green and light red. They would have to try to make a color code for all the different colors later. But Mira got the message. She felt sick, and she was embarrassed.

“Rumi, I… I don’t know what to say. Im just so sorry you ever felt like that” Zoey found her voice and Mira couldn’t blame her for not having a lot to say. How do you even say something to that. You find out about one attempt and there is something, some comfort, some apology that feels like it might be able to cover the gap. Two is hard, but you still have hope that you can span the gap, reach them. But 17? How do you ever span that gap? How do you reach someone who feel apart so hard so many times the asked their parent to kill them 17 times?

Mira felt like she was sick.

“Rumi” her voice broke as she desperately looked for any words. Anything that could even come close. She just had to pull closer to her. Hugging her as tight as she could manage.

“It’s ok, it happened. It’s in the past. We can talk about it later.” Rumi tried to put on a strong face. Mira didn’t know what to do other than just let Rumi move on. Mira knew she should push, knew she should ask more. But all her words about breaking the three of them to becoming something better crumbled when she saw how scared and hurt Rumi was. She couldn’t bring herself to make Rumi cry more than she already had.

Zoey didn’t seem happy about it either. But they came to a silent agreement today was not the day to push on that matter.

They gave Rumi a nod. She gave them an appreciative nod before she went on. “Celine refused and basically told me that she only raised me out of a promise to my mother” She continued to recount the events. Mira’s blood hit a rolling boil. And Zoey seemed to be just as mad. How could Celine be that callous? That aloof and in her own world? Deep down Mira knew how. But this was Rumi? How could someone do that to her of all people. Rumi deserved the world and then some after everything she had been thought.

“At the end of I told her I was glad the Honmoon was destroyed. I wasn’t really. I just wanted to spite her as one final act” Rumi finished. But they heard those final words and latched onto them.

“What do you mean by that?” Mira really didn’t like the implications of that. And had to be sure before she… what? What was she going to do if it was what she thought? Blow up on Rumi? No, start crying? Maybe.

“Oh” Rumi’s voice was small “I may have found my way to a tower in Seoul and…” her voice trailing off

“Rumi, what did you do” Zoey sounded panicked. Mira had no idea how the three of them were going to get through this conversation at the rate this was going.

“I may have jumped off…” Mira didn’t think it was possible for Rumi to get smaller. But she did. Mira felt hollow at this point. There was nothing left to break inside of her. She just felt empty. She had pushed Rumi away, and this is what Mira’s actions had led Rumi too.

She had almost lost a third of who she was. And it was her fault. How do you ever make it up to someone after putting them thought that. Mira didn’t know how, but she was going to have to try.

“But the good news is that’s how I ended up in the Honmoon and how it showed me the way to build what we have now” Rumi said this pretty casually, her eyes tracing the glowing lines that coated the walls. Mira studied their leader bundled up in a blanket burrito and ran her tone over in her mind. She could hear the faint desperation to move onto something else. Or at least the sliver lining of it.

Zoey picked up on this too, adding “Yeah, you really created something beautiful from the ashes”

Rumi gave her an appreciative smile. “It wasn’t just me; it was us. All of us, working together”

Mira nodded “It was, but you brought us back together. Broke thought the lies in our head. Showed up for us even when we didn’t deserve it”

Rumi looked shocked “Of course I did, of course you deserve it. You all are everything. My friends. My family. Of course I am going to show up for you. After everything I hid from you, the least I can do is fight to make sure you are ok”

“Oh Rumi” Zoey pulled her closer, her voice breaking at her name.

Mira let herself be pulled in by Zoey, who seemly wanted to squash Rumi between the two of them.

After a minute of this Mira tentatively pulled herself back “If you don’t mind Rumi, I have another question” Rumi nodded, so Mira pressed on “Why didn’t you hear Gwi-ma’s voice in your head.”

“I did hear it; it just didn’t work.” Her response was short, shorter than Mira would have thought

“Ok, but why? Or how? That seems like a skill we should probably learn”

Rumi chuckled before saying “I don’t think you want to learn that skill. I think it was because it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. Or worse. Everything Gwi-ma said and tried to use to break me wasn’t anything worse than what Celine had been telling me all my life. It was like getting a shot verse getting hit by a car. Sure, it didn’t feel great, but there was so much worse up there it wasn’t too hard to ignore or discount.”

Oof, this conversation was hurting Mira. A lot. She knew Rumi had it so much worse. But hearing all of this. How nonchalant and chill Rumi was about. It seemed to fully click how hard Rumi was fighting not to let his break her. And Mira was not going to break. Rumi needed someone strong and stable. And well, Zoey had been crying for half this conversation. Zoey could be the comfort Mira didn’t know how to give. And Mira would be the unshakeable base that they could stand on for support. So, for now, that’s what Mira would do. She would find time later to feel, to hurt. But Rumi and Zoey needed someone strong to lean on. And Mira was determined to make sure they had it.

A loud thump from the balcony distracted the trio. Rumi let out a heavy sigh and muttered something about a stupid tiger before untangling herself and walking towards the balcony. Much to Zoey’s dismay, who clearly had gotten comfortable pressed up against Rumi. This didn’t last long as Rumi opened the balcony, calling out.

“Hey, come in here you two. Before you break my pots.” A brief pause, then she added with a quite exasperated tone “I promise its ok. Although if you watched where you walked you wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

Mira was thoroughly confued. Mira didn’t know what Rumi had invited into her room, but Rumi seemed very calm so it couldn’t be anything to crazy, right? Wrong, dead wrong. A huge cat? Tiger? Came lumbering around the conner of her balcony. It walked slowly, perring into the door like it was filled with booby traps. Mira was hesitant to do anything. This thing was huge, and it seemed to be Rumi, but there was no guarantee it felt the same way about them.

Zoey on the other hand didn’t seem to share such reservations. That or she didn’t think long enough to get to that part. “Kitty!!!” She screeched quickly followed by a Zoey shaped blur whizzing past Mira.

Before Mira could say “Wait, it could eat you!” Zoey was already right on top of it, sitting on her knees, bouncing with excitement. Looking at its face. To the creatures credit it didn’t eat Zoey, despite Zoey’s apparent best efforts to encourage it do too so. She was pressing her face up next to it, staring into its eyes, and began cooing over it. Talking about how cute it looked. Yet another sentiment Mira didn’t share. It looked ugly. Just objectively. It looked like someone had smacked it’s head with a cast iron pan one too many times.

“What the hell is that thing Rumi?” Mira asked, standing up and moving across the room.

“This is, well. I don’t really have a name for them yet. They were Jinu’s pets before he… Y’know” Her voice trailed off at this mention of her former… situationship? Partner? Mira didn’t know. They have vaguely clarified anything about him in their Honmoon chat. And they hadn’t really gotten that far tonight.

“They?” Zoey asked looking up, questioning the implication of a non-binary feline.

“Yeah, the cat and the bird. The bird is over there.” Rumi leaned back onto her balcony door and gestured off to the railing around the corner. And sure enough, there was a tiny pigeon-looking bird. Of course, if you ignored the 6 eyes and tiny hat it was wearing it looked like a pigeon.

“Ok, imma say it. What the fuck Rumi? What are they? How did they get up here? Were you hiding a whole ass tiger on your balcony for weeks?” Mira was giving Rumi a pointed look.

“No, no. Like I said yesterday. They can, or well, the tiger at least, can move thought the Honmoon somehow. Or at least could. I don’t know if it still can, but I would assume so since he’s here.” Rumi was giving the tiger a look, something that looked like affection and some sort of pleasant feeling. Mira was jealous. Then she was embarrassed to be jealous. Was she really jealous Rumi looked at an animal like that? No, Mira knew why. But that was a later problem.

“I’m call him Derpy!” Zoey proudly declared. “Because just look at him. It fits”

Mira had to agree. Derpy seemed to fit. He did in fact look Derpy.

“And imma call the bird Sussie, cuz he’s looking at me suspiciously” She promptly trying to match the facial expressions of the surprisingly anthropomorphic bird.

“Are we keeping them” Mira was incredulous. Surely, they wouldn’t keep like, demon creatures. Right?

“I don’t know, they always sort of went wherever they wanted. I mean, we could shoo them out. But… at the risk of making you all madder at me, they have already been staying here for weeks.” Rumi said this, eyeing the two of them.

Zoey looked personally offended she hadn’t been told about them sooner. And Mira, Mira did her best to hide her hurt at the fact Rumi chose to keep another thing from them. Even if Mira understood that there was no real way to bring it up. It felt like Rumi had been living a second life for the past few weeks.

She kind of had been, hadn’t she? Living a life as her true self, the side that was a half demon.

Mira apparently failed at her goal, the events of the evening taking a toll on her ability to keep her face straight.

“I know, I know Mira. Another thing I hid, another thing I didn’t say. I promise I planned on getting around to mentioning them. I just felt that, um, other events should be discussed first.” Rumi looked at the ground sheepishly

“Its ok, Rumi. I’m not happy about it. But I agree that you jumping off a building was a little more- Zoey! Get your arm out of Derpy’s mouth” Mira couldn’t believe that was a sentence she had to say, then she groaned as Zoey looked at her.

“You just called him Derpy! It’s official! New HUNTR/X mascot!”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Anyway, Zoey we should probably finish are conversion before we were interrupted” She gave a glare at the creature. Derpy just blinked at her.

“Oh yeah right” Zoey’s face darkened a little as she recalled what they had been talking about.

Zoey got up and walked back to the bed, and Rumi gestured for Derpy and Sussie to come in.

“You’re letting them in?” Mira looked at Rumi

“Yeah, I mean. Either I let them in, or Derpy lets himself in and breaks a pot or something in the process. He doesn’t really believe in doors. Or boundaries for that matter. And Sussie just hitches a ride on his head so” Rumi shrugged like there was nothing she could do.

Mira wasn’t going to have some huge ass tiger eavesdropping on their conversation. So, she walked over and shut the door in Derpy’s face.

“Mira-” Rumi started

“No, I am not having some random tiger of unknown origin or allegiance sit in the room while we talk about everything”

Rumi just rolled her eyes and said “Your paying for whatever he breaks when he decided that door isn’t going to stop him”

“Fine” And sure as shit. No sooner than Mira said this the bird flew over and landed on Derpy’s head. And Derpy leaped straight at the door.

Mira fell back flat with a strangled scream. But the tiger was gone. This was quickly followed by the tiger flying out of the wall, landing on a beanbag chair in the corner.

“What the fuck was that?”

“Exactly what I told you he would do” Rumi said, rolling her eyes even harder “Like I said, he can move thought the Honmoon without hurting or disrupting it. And he doesn’t respect doors.”

“Zoey? Back me up here” Mira looked at Zoey, hoping she might be reasonable regarding this matter.

She had no such luck as Zoey just shrugged, before adding “I had a cat growing up. This is pretty normal cat behavior. We could toss him out, but giving his size, and apparent ability to teleport. He would just keep finding his way back in. We would spend the rest of the night just trying to get him to stay outside, and we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere”

Mira didn’t like it, but it was 2 v 1 and there was no way she was moving that thing on her own.

“Fine, but if he caused trouble.”

“He won’t, unless we knock over a pot in front of him.” Rumi was already curling back up into bed. Re wrapping herself.

“Hey!” Zoey complained “Don’t do that. Not unless you’re going to wrap me up there with you”

Rumi blinked slowly “You want me to… wrap you up in the blanket with me?”

Zoey nodded solemnly. Rumi just sighed before looking at Mira “I don’t suppose you want in on this too before I get halfway thought”

“I think I’m ok. One of us needs our hands free in case that thing decided to take a bite out of us.” Mira was still eyeing the cat up in the conner. It was curled up and had its eyes closed. But Mira didn’t trust it.

 “Ok Mira, if that makes you feel better” Rumi said, already done wrapping her in Zoey into the blanket.

“It does.” Mira didn’t mean to snap, but she couldn’t believe Rumi and Zoey were being so casual about this huge creature just. There.

“Well can you at least come over here closer?” Zoey asked from her spot pressed up against Rumi.

“Fine.” Mira walked over, plopping down on the bed. “What were we talking about.”

“How I told Gwi-ma to fuck off?” Rumi offered.

“Yeah ok, so you could ignore him. Then what? I don’t have a very clear memory until you were singing.” Mira tried to recall the details of that time. But they were a haze of a self-hate spiral she hadn’t let herself get into in years. Not since Huntr/x.

“I mean, that was about it. I told him to kick rocks, started singing from my heart. Not really knowing where I was going with it, then you all joined in. And well. You were there for that.” Rumi had adopted her nonchalant vibe again. Just tossing this out there like you might add you picked up eggs on your milk run.

“And that’s everything?” Mira asked.

“Yup, or well. Everything I remember happening. I don’t recall any lost time. But a lot happened so quickly I might be forgetting something. But I promise its everything I remember.” Rumi had that look of deep thought on her face as she seemed to scan her memory making sure she didn’t leave anything out. “No, yeah. I think that’s everything. Takedown, demon copies, Jinu, Celine, skydiving, Honmoon visit part one, Gwi-ma, Song with Honmoon visit part two, Jinu part 2, not dying. I think that’s everything”

Mira blinked at how quickly all those events could be summed up. But then she ran thought the list again, her eyes narrowing “Jinu part 2? What”

Rumi gave her a confused look “You were there for that? The whole Gwi-ma mega death ray, Jinu jumping in front of it, giving me his soul. You were there for that.”

“He did what!” Zoey and Mira said this in unison. Zoey trying to sit up rapidly. The younger one had been seemingly content to just let this conversation play out and stay as close to Rumi as she could manage. But now she was trying to pull far enough away to look at Rumi.

Rumi just shrugged. “I didn’t know you didn’t see or hear. You guys weren’t far away. But yeah, he jumped in front of the blast, told me I gave him his soul back, and that he gave it to me. Then it kinda wrapped around me as a shield. And that’s when my Saingeom got like, supercharged.”

“You don’t seem to be broken up about it…” Zoey asked slowly.

“Yeah, its weird.  When his soul fused with me or whatever I got a wave of his feelings and emotions. And maybe some of his memories? I haven’t had a lot of time to mentally sort them out. But it’s been weird. And I think that’s messing with my emotions a lot.” Rumi gave no one in particular a weird look. “It’s like playing sad music over a happy video, y’know? Where it conflicts and you’re just left feeling weird because you’re getting two different emotional inputs? I don’t know if that make any sense, but I guess that’s what it feels like”

Zoey nodded like she understood this completely. Mira on the other hand did not. She had never done that. And normally kept her emotions in neat boxes, never letting them bleed into each other. It made it easier to not be messy. Mira chose to put that aside and move on to the next question.

“So, what do we do from here?”

“A break for starters please?” Rumi asked, “If what you said is true Zoey, and my voice likes to poof on me because of stress then I should probably take a break before it does.”

“Yeah of course Rumi, that was a lot. I’m really glad you told us” Zoey’s response was immediate

“Yeah, would you like to just sit here? Or would you prefer engagement from us?” Mira was already brainstorming something she could do to try and distract Rumi if that’s what she wanted. Mira wasn’t a comedian by any means. But if it helped Rumi than she would figure out something.

Rumi opened her mouth before snapping it shut with a frustrated sigh. And began looking around. After a second, she grabbed her phone and started typing.

“Man Rums, your voice just clocked out just like that? That’s frustrating” Zoey commented

Rumi titled the screen to them after a moment

                Ikr, this is hella annoying. And incredibly inconvenient.

                We are gonna have to do something about it

                But we can keep talking about stuff you might want to say or some questions.

                If my voice is gonna shit out on me anyway, we might as well keep getting through it.

                I mostly wanted a break so my voice didn’t give out

“You covered a lot. I think we could all use a second to process before moving on. Or at least sit on the information. Then we take a crack at everything else.” Mira didn’t want to dump any of her feelings on Rumi if Rumi was already at her cap of big feelings for the day. “What if we put on some background movie or something and bake something sweet.”

“Ouuuu yes yes yes! I’ve got that video about turtles you still need to watch!” Zoey added, trying to bounce in place. Only being kept somewhat still by Rumi’s blanket wrapped around them.

                And I have a couple of drink mixes I would like to try.

                They were supposed to be something for after Golden

                But I think now is a good time

“Ouuuu yes Rumi! You always make amazing mixed drinks. What are you thinking?” Zoey was trying to untangle herself to little avail.

                It’s a surprise

“Ok then, well do we want brownies?” Mira’s question met with nods all around. “Ok, I’ll go get started. Who is going to keep an eye on that cat?”

“Me! Me! I will!” Zoey had finally been released from the burrito and ran over to Derpy. Who just opened one eye lazily. As much as Mira may hate to admit it, he was being awfully chill. Especially considering that Zoey’s idea of watching him included laying on top of him.

Rumi tapped Mira’s shoulder, showing her phone

                He will probably follow us tbh

                I never left my room when he was over, but it was hard to get him to leave when he wanted to be here

                So if we go into the living room he will likely follow

Mira nodded and figured the two of them could handle the cat should it be needed.

“Zoey, I’m going to go start baking. Rumi said Derpy will probably follow us if we go out there.”

“Ok! Rumi you cool if I go get the tv set up!”

Another nod.

Rumi typed then chucked her phone at Zoey.

“Ah, Rumi don’t just throw shit at me!” Zoey barely managed to catch the phone. She read it then handed it to Mira.

                I’ll be out in a sec, I want to brush my teeth and whatnot before coming out there

“Ok Rumi, just let us know if you need anything.” Mira turned and left, heading off the kitchen to start baking. Zoey followed only staying behind her long enough to clear the door then ran off past her to start pulling up whatever turtle video she had I mind.

Pov: Rumi (+0 min)

With Mira and Zoey gone. Rumi took a deep breath. That had been a lot on its own. Not to mention the weird flood of memories not of her own jumping into her mind. Ever since she had snapped out of her dream, she had started getting flashes of people, streets, and songs that she had never heard or seen before. Emotions that didn’t match what she was thinking. Joy, fear, anger.  Ok well, some of those made sense. But they didn’t feel like her own.

She shook her head, Derpy coming up to her to rub his head against her hand. This cat really was something.

She decided to get up and do what she said, brush her teeth and stuff.

As she brushed her teeth she sang a song in her head. She hated that she couldn’t even hum anything. But she would have to settle for a song in her head until she could figure out how to stop her voice from going out. As she kept singing in her head, she looked in the mirror, taking the time to look at herself for real since everything happened. As much as she couldn’t believe it, the patterns did look pretty against her skin. They weren’t a nice color right now, something vaguely red. But she could imagine what they might look like. She wasn’t sure how she felt about basically having a mood ring plastered onto her skin. But she was going to have to get used to it because there was no way around it. They laced around her neck, down her arms, around her ankles, and even onto her face. And it was too late to try to hide them. Thousands of people had seen them.

As she kept thinking she suddenly noticed a slight glow coming off her body. Her patterns faint red began to shift to light blue and silver. As she watched, she realized at some point while she had been studying designs wrapping her body, she had begun to play their song from last night in her head. She kept playing it through her head, not sure why. But she was intrigued to see what would happen.

As she watched with increasing interest, she saw strands of glowing light peel off her body and begin to swirl around her. Before starting to take a humanoid shape behind her. She kept watching. Letting the song play out in her head. As she watched the form began to solidify until it looked vaguely like… JINU???

Record scratch. She whipped around looking at the space behind her where the figure had been taking shape. The song died in her head.

There was nothing there, she looked back at the mirror, nothing.

She gave her head a light smack like it might pop something back into place. She was now seeing people who were dead and having memories that weren’t hers.

She was officially losing it.

She put her toothbrush back, she had definitely been brushing for longer than two minutes at this point. As she looked back in the mirror, she noticed something.

She looked closer, she was like. 99% sure she wasn’t hallucinating that her canines had gotten longer. She ran her tongue over her teeth, they sure felt longer. She studied her teeth for a second longer before grabbing her phone. All but forgetting about her Jinu hallucination moments before.

She walked out into the living room to find Zoey sitting on the couch, a video pulled up on the tv, paused. Mira over in the kitchen pots and pans already out.

Zoey looked up as she heard her pad into the room. “Rumi come come come! It’s turtle time!”

Rumi just walked over and sat down. It was already her plan to go to Zoey and have her evaluate the teeth situation. She handed Zoey her phone.

                Hey, can you look at my teeth. I think my Canines are longer

                But I can’t tell because I might be going insane

“Yeah, lemme see” Zoey’s hands were already reaching for Rumi’s face. She paused for a second before adding “Are you ok if I touch your face?”

Rumi nodded, her mouth already open wide for Zoey to inspect. Zoey gently ran her fingers over her teeth. It was weird, Rumi wasn’t use to people touching her teeth while also being so close.

“Hm, I don’t have a good reference, but they definitely seem longer than normal peoples” Despite Zoey’s completed assessment she didn’t take her fingers out of Rumi’s mouth.

Rumi let her do this for a little bit longer before she pulled her head back. It was an odd feeling, but she didn’t hate it. She mostly just wanted to bite Zoey’s fingers, but that felt like a less than smart thing to do.

Zoey gave her a little pout before saying “I don’t know Rumi, maybe we take a picture to try and keep track?”

Rumi just shrugged and opened her mouth again. Trusting Zoey to figure she meant a photo not fingers. Thankfully Zoey did and snapped a picture. Rumi’s phone dinged a second later, the photo send to the group chat with the 3 of them.

                250486_524468.jpg

                Rumi’s teeth for growth tracking

“Is that why Zoey’s figure were in your mouth Rumi?” Mira’s voice startled Rumi.

Rumi turned around to see Mira standing there, towel slung over her shoulder, a little bit of brownie mix on her hoodie.

“May I see?” she asked, leaning over to look at Rumi’s teeth. Her hands we still by her sides, but she didn’t waste any time bringing them to cup Rumi’s face as she opened her mouth. Mira studied them intently for a minute, before stating “yeah, they definitely look longer. We will definitely have to keep track. How did you notice?”

Rumi found her phone then started typing. God this was annoying, they were gonna have to do something about this. She finally managed to type everything out before handing Mira her Phone who passed it to Zoey.

                Idk, I was singing a song in my head, brushing my teeth.

                Thought I saw Jinu in the mirror behind me, I didn’t I’m just crazy

                Turned back around and noticed they looked longer than normal

                Came out here to see if I was fully crazy or just sorta

“You thought you saw Jinu? What do you mean?” Mira asked after handing the phone to Zoey, who started to speed read everything after hearing the name.

Rumi gave Mira a blank stare before it clicked and Mria face palmed “Sorry, I forgot you need your phone”

Rumi took her phone back from Zoey and started typing everything out

                I don’t really know, I was just singing in my head, my patterns started glowing

                Then the light started to peel off and dance around me before kinda collecting into some humanoid shape

                After a few seconds of this it started to look like Jinu, and that’s when I looked behind me and there wasn’t anything there

                And when I looked back there was also nothing. Im pretty sure I was just seeing things.

“That’s so weird. Could it be some vision from him giving you his soul?”

“yeah Zo, im not sure. I wouldn’t discount it as you being crazy Rumi. There is a lot we don’t know”

Rumi nodded, but she wasn’t sure she wanted it to be real. She didn’t know what she would do if she was stuck with some shadow version of Jinu who popped up every time she started singing.

“Im going to finish the brownies then once they are in the oven than I will join you all”

“Okay!” Zoey said, before pulling up turtle videos on her phones and started showing Rumi.

Mira walked back over 10 minutes later and sat down, covered in flowers and smiling. “Have you watched enough videos about turtles Rumi?

Rumi nodded, typing out

                I feel like I could get a PHD in turtles at this point

“Yay! That’s the goal Rumi, now its time for you to be able to get 2 PHD’s in turtles. This is the one I wanted both of you to watch.” Zoey was already reaching for the remote. Rumi stopped her, both because she didn’t think she could take another minute of turtle facts, and because she had a question.

                Can I ask something serious?

“Yeah of course” Zoey started

“What’s up” Mira added

                Why did you draw your weapons on me?

Their faces dropped like stones in water.

“Oh” Zoey’s voice was small, all the cheer from earlier gone.

Mira looked equally flattened.

                We don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready

                I just, idk, its sorta been eating at me and if you’re ready

                I would like to talk about it.

“No, your ok, its just um. Yeah” Zoey looked embarrassed.

“Yeah, we can talk about it now. You deserve to know” Mira’s postured had stiffened some

Rumi hated to ruin the fun moment they were having, but fear in the back of her mind was eating at her. Maybe she just needed to know that they didn’t do it out of true hate, just training.

Mira opened her mouth to respond. Then paused.

Rumi felt it to, and a glance at Zoey said she did too.

Something was pushing on the Honmoon. Trying to break thought.

“We’ll talking after we deal with that?” Mira asked, already standing up.

Rumi nodded

They would have to talk later, because Gwi-ma had apparently started his counterattack. And they needed to deal with that.

Chapter Text

*No change in time*

Pov: Rumi (+0 min)

With a quick nod, they split, running to their rooms to grab miscellaneous items. Rumi quickly grabbed socks, a pair of sneakers, she paused. Do I have time to change?

She felt out at the Honmoon, feeling and trying gauge how much time they had. She couldn’t be sure how far away it was. Previously they could feel roughly where it was being pushed against based on the way the strands reacted and a gut feeling. But everything was different now. Sharper in some ways, duller in others. If this was the previous Honmoon, it was either being pushed against over 60 kilometers away, or they still had days before demons’ broke thought. And Rumi doubted they had days, and it was unlikely that demons would be trying to break through so far outside of the city.

She decided to risk it and quickly ditched her overly baggy sweats with practiced ease and grabbed the first thing she saw, a blue turtleneck and jeans. She opted to grab a belt just in case. She tossed socks and shoes on one after another, then began to make her way out to elevator. She caught a glance of herself in the mirror on her way out. No one would recognize her, that was for sure. Her outfit looked atrocious by all metrics possible. Something she would never normally be caught wearing, so it would probably be the perfect disguise at least.

As she got out to the living room, she saw Zoey and Mira emerge from their rooms not far behind her. They had made the same call to change out of baggy clothes and into something a little better for a fight. Well, Zoey was still worming her way into a light green t-shirt.

As they piled in Rumi flipped up a cover on the bottom elevator panel and scanned her finger. The fingerprint scanner wasn’t a secret, but the small button on the side that took them into a basement not even Bobby knew about sure was. After their record-breaking debut, chart breaking rose to popularity. It made sense to make most of the floors only accessible to certain people, and after a crazed fan stole a security pass, they had opted to just make it fingerprint enabled so only a select few could reach their penthouse. The button on the side of the scanner had been Mira’s idea after she had scanned her finger before other employes had gotten on and been one floor off from having the incredibly specific set of floor numbers that had to be pressed to trigger access to the basement. Rumi pressed the side button then grabbed onto the railing, Zoey and Mira already gripped it as well.

The elevator beeped once before it entered a free fall, rocketing down to the basement as fast as gravity would take it. Rumi felt her body go weightless as they fell, before she pushed herself back down onto the floor, she heard the breaks start to slow them after a few seconds of free fall. They came to a jarring stop, then the doors snapped open.

They ran out and through the network of tunnels Huntr/x paid a small fortune each year to maintain. It had been hard to convince city officials to let them obtain the old sewer and subway tunnels. But after their raise to fame they could use the “Famous and need to move around unseen for safety” excuse and that had allowed to make a deal to be allowed to use the tunnels, so long as the maintained them and allowed for bi-yearly inspections.

After few minutes of running toward the general direction of the spot, it suddenly got a lot sharper. Like the force against it was stronger. They could tell almost exactly where it was now. They had probably jogged at least a kilometer by now, but they were close.

A quick few turns and then up a latter into an ally way. As Rumi poked her head up, making sure no one was in the ally, she saw the spot on the wall. It still took on the pinkish hue that the tears normally did, but it looked very clean still, rather than being a festering mass devoid of the treads that held the Honmoon together, it was a pick blob that still had the treads wrapped over it. Which was unusual, normally when demons started pushing on it, the Honmoon would be forced to the side, keeping the demons trapped behind it out of the force of the treads trying to squeeze back together into parrel lines. But this time the treads were weakened but still running over the pink mass forming behind it.

Rumi climbed out into the ally, doing one last check before motioning for Zoey and Mira to follow. They climbed out as well, Mira taking note of the state of the Honmoon.

“Hm, it looked like our new Honmoon can stand up the demons way better than before.” She had a satisfied smile on her face.

“So like, what do we do? If there is no demons to fight, and no hole to seal…” Zoey’s voice trailed off with thought

Rumi didn’t really know what to do. They had never really gotten to a tear in time to be able to stop demons from breaking though in the first place. Normally it was always clean up and repair.

She began to take a step forward, Zoey and Mira following before they all froze. They felt it and saw it at the same time. A sharp push, and the lines of the Honmoon being snapped and pushed apart as three or four Dokkaebi were pushed through. The sight was brutal, growling, snarling, and most surprising sounds of pain. As the Dokkaebi were pushed through the Honmoon resisted, tearing at their bodies. The first two that were pushed thought were ash before they even had made it all the way through, and the next few were only out for a few seconds before they dissolved into ash from the damage done to their bodies climbing through.

Did this happen every time?

Rumi didn’t have much time to ponder that thought before more Dokkaebi began climb through the hole now forced open in the Honmoon. A couple of the larger ones stepped though, flanked by several smaller Dokkaebi. As the next few demons climb out Rumi’s blood runs cold. She sees the tip of a gat coming out of the hole, followed by another, then another. Before she knew it, before them stood the four demons she really never wanted to see again.

As the horde of demons looked around, she saw the smile creep up on one of their lips.

“Well, well, well, why am I not surprised to find you here. First the bathhouse, then this ally? It’s like you can’t get enough of me” Abby said with a smile, lifting his arms to let the overcoat spread flashing his abs at them.

On her right, Mira groaned, and presumably rolled her eyes, and to her left Zoey mumbled something unintelligible before slapping the side of her head.

“I am going smash your stupid face in for real this time.” Mira said, her voice low and laced with hate.

“Yeah, your super ugly faces” Zoey added.

“Well, you’re more than welcome to try, but you’ll have to deal with our friends here first. We have other things to worry about.” Romance said before the group turned.

Without a word the three sprung into action. Mira and Zoey charged the group, weapons flying to life in their hands, and Rumi charged at the wall. Kicking off of it and flying over the crowd to cut off their exit.

As Rumi landed, she summoned her blade. The weight was more than she used to. Even with everything feeling right about the blade, it still was more than she was used to.

Her voice didn’t come to her with some snide remark, even if she had a few good ones ready to go.

So, she didn’t waste time and charged the four of them and quickly realized that the unfamiliar weight was going to be an issue. As she sung the blade it was slower, it arced thought the air with power. A death sentence had it connected. But the slight extra time it took to swing gave all four of the Saja Boys time to duck under and surround her.

She quickly pivoted on her foot and swung at Abby behind her, letting the blade follow a perfect vertical arc that should have split him clean down the middle. But just like before, the extra weight and the lack of training with a blade this heavy meant he sidestepped and lunged. Rumi dropped her blade and sidestepped.

She growled in frustration, was she really going to have to do this by hand? It had been years since she had killed a demon bare handed, and it wasn’t easy. Even against Dokkaebi.

“What, cat got your tongue? Your voice was oh so loud and present when we fought last.” Romance teased from deeper in the ally.

She let her blade dissolve and shook out her shoulders, squaring up to Abby.

“Oh, I think I like these odds, what do you think Baby?” Abby asked “Someone doesn’t know how to use their new blade. Or maybe Jinu isn’t that much of a traitor after all”

On his left Baby just nodded.

Rumi bristled at the mention of Jinu; she got the feeling they understood more about what was going on than she did. Too bad they wouldn’t elaborate. And without her voice she couldn’t gloat them into revealing more.

Baby and Abby lunged at her, and she quickly stepped past the two of them, now on both of their rights, she brought her fist down hard the back of Baby’s back. The force knocked him down, but Rumi felt like she just punched a steel plate. Dam, and Zoey does this all the time? No wonder her knuckles are always bruised.

As Rumi went to stomp on the back of Baby’s head, she was tackled by Mystery, the two of the flying a good half meter back before hitting the ground. Before she had time to process the pain in her back, pain erupted from her shoulder as she felt a puncture. She tried to tilt her head over to look, but her chin hit the top of Mystery’s head. The realization hit her He fuckin bit me? What the fuck?

She quickly swung her fist around and hit the side of his head, knocking him off. She caught a glimpse of his fangs sticking out of his mouth, blood covered and huge.

She rolled over and stood up, this time ready for anything as she almost immediately had to duck back down under Abby’s fist. She landed a hard kick square to the center of knee. Forcing it to bend in backwards as he doubled over with a soft grunt she swung her knee up, connecting his face with a slight crack.

Before she could do much else Mystery grabbed her ankle and pulled her, yanking her feet out from underneath her. As she fell Romance and Baby also charged at her, claws out.

She thrust her foot in the direction of Mystery’s face, feeling it connect with a grunt as she raised her arms up to protect her face and upper body from the swipe of claws at her. She felt clothes tear and skin split as she cried out. Great She thought I can’t speak but I can cry out in pain. Helpful

She quickly did a kick up, getting back on her feet for only a second before her forehead unexpectedly smacked right into Baby’s. They both stumbled back as Romance grabbed her and pinned her to the ally wall. As his hands wrapped around her throat, she brough her hand up to try and shove her fingers into her eyes, but she was stunned for a second too long by the sight of a claw where her hand should be.

He leaned back out of reach, so she reached up to his arms and dung her claws in. She heard a sharp exhale come from his mouth, but that was about it. No losing grip, no room to breathe. As the edges of her vison began to dim she felt another burst of pain in her stomach as Baby slashed his claws across her stomach.

“Chill out Baby, Gwi-ma is going to want her alive. This isn’t what we came here for, but it will certainly make the King happy.” She was pretty sure that was Abby’s voice. But it was getting hard to tell.

She felt herself start to get dragged deeper in the ally, towards where the tear was. She slammed her fist once, twice, then a third time. After three hard hits the grip finally loosened enough for her to breathe. She got one deep breath in before Mystery squeezed even tighter.

But that was enough time to think, she quickly placed her hand in a fist just below Mystery’s armpit. Then called to the Honmoon, asking for her blade. She had never done this on purpose before, but the one time she had done it on accident had pretty much ended the fight.

She felt the Honmoon respond and start forming. But it took longer, it was harder. Like Mystery’s body was fighting the formation. She could barely see him start to grimace as her vision swam with stars. Then suddenly the hands let go and she fell to her knees, she heard a cry of pain above her followed by curses all around.

She felt one more swift kick to the side of her head, knocking her to the ground as she curled up into the fetal position.

She tried to get her bearings and stand, reaching out for the wall trying to and get enough leverage to stand. But her body wouldn’t cooperate.

She could hear her name being called, but she couldn’t bring her body to move. Her arms useless at her sides.

She felt herself get picked up and carried, a lot of shouting and loud noises as she slowly drifted out of consciousness.

Pov: Zoey (-1 min)

As Mira ran her Waldo through the last of the Dokkaebi Zoey breathed a sign of relief. They had been a pain in the ass. Strangely vicious in a way they hadn’t been normally. She looked over to Rumi to see how she was fairing, and her blood ran into ice as she saw Rumi pinned against the wall, Mystery’s clawed hands wrapped around her neck. What used to be a blue turtleneck was ripped in several places, and now soaked red.

“Rumi!” Zoey called out, charging forward. Only to stop with surprise as suddenly with a flash of light a blade appeared, clean thought Mystery. The blade appeared just below his left armpit, and a random guess could tell Zoey where it entered. Mystery stumbled back, clutching the blade with a cry of pain. Zoey didn’t even know it was possible to summon your blade inside a demon.

“Shit!” Abby’s voice sounded actually panicked as he ran to Mystery’s side.

Rumi’s blade dissolved as Abby effortlessly picked up Mystery’s, slinging Mystery over Abby’s shoulders with ease. As they started to jump through the tear Mira and Zoey rushed forward to try and stop them, but Baby got in between them. Claws out, snarling.

Zoey didn’t hesitate. Sinkal in hand she charged him, she threw three, then used the free hand grab Baby’s wrist and yank him straight in to, letting him implant himself on the Sinkal in her other hand. He growled in pain, trying to pull away.

Before Zoey could do any more damage she heard a sharp cry of pain, higher than any of the Saja Boys. Zoey looked over and saw Romance had just kicked Rumi in the side of the head.

In her distraction, Baby pulled free from her grasp diving for the tear, and Romance quickly followed.

Right as Romance dived in, Zoey saw a flash of light whiz passed her as Mira’s Waldo hit the wall, the tear already closing behind the demons. Sealing fully with the contact from Mira’s blade.

With the demons gone and the Honmoon sealed back up they ran to Rumi’s side.

She was curled up into a fetal position, groaning with tears falling from her eyes.

“Rumi, Rumi can you hear me?” Zoey was freaking out. They had never been hurt this badly before, and never Rumi. “Mira what do we do?”

Tears freely falling from Zoey’s eyes, she didn’t know what to do. They couldn’t lose Rumi. She would be ok right? She had to. They couldn’t lose her.

“I don’t know. I need to see how bad it is. But I don’t think we will be able to patch this up.” Mira’s voice was measured and controlled. The way it gets when she is scared but trying to be strong.

Mira knelt down beside her and tried to talk to her to no avail. Rumi was out of it, the pool of blood growing larger by the second. After a minute of Mira looking her over, she went to pick her up.

“Do we call 119? They can help right?” Zoey was already pulling her phone out to dial, but Mira shook her head.

“We can’t, how do we explain this. Breath and look closely Zoey” Mira had picked her up at this point

Zoey’s body listened to Mira’s order without conscious thought. And that’s when she saw it, Rumi’s patterns, glowing red and purple. Blending in with the hue of the blood that soaked her clothes. As Mira picked her open Zoey could now see the claw that her right hand had become. What used to be slightly longer than normal canines were now full-fledged fangs. Under her half-closed eyes Zoey could see one golden iris.

Zoey understood, they couldn’t take Rumi to a hospital like this. They could maybe lie about what had happened to Rumi to end up this hurt and maybe fudge some explanation as to what the patterns were. But the glowing? The fangs? The eyes? They couldn’t fudge that. There would be too many questions. Too many eyes. They had to try and patch her up on their own.

“Then maybe we call Bobby? He could at least get us back to the tower.” Zoey was scrambling to find his number.

“Yeah, call him, ask him to meet us in the tunnel” Mira was already walking back to old manhole over they had emerged from. Rumi in her arms groaning.

She dialed and prayed Bobby would pick up. One ring, two, then click

“Hey Zoey-”

“Bobby, we need you! Rumi’s hurt, bad. Can you meet us in the basement? With all the first aid supplies you can find? It’s like so bad Bobby please!”

“Yes, I’m on my way. Which basement? The ‘Move thought the city one’ or the basement everyone knows about?”

“The second” Zoey was about to jump in the tunnel, but she knew the call would probably drop. “Mira where are we?”

“Tell him to take the east path and we will run into him”

“Ok, Bobby did you hear that? East tunnel, we will be in that one”

“Got it, on my way. Be careful” Bobby said, then a click told Zoey that he hung up. And she dropped into the tunnel.

Mira had set Rumi down and was moving to pick her back up Fireman style. Rumi moaned and groaned in pain as Mira shifted her around. Mira’s voice soft with comfort. “You’ll be ok, I know it hurts I’m sorry we are going to get you help”

Zoey added on with words of encouragement, but it was hard to muster anything hopeful right now. As soon as Mira had Rumi settled on her back she started sprinting, setting an unbelievable pace for the weight she was carrying. But Zoey understood how, Rumi was everything to them. And they had almost lost her once, and there hadn’t been a dam thing they could do. But this time they had a say in it, and they were not going to let her go.

They kept running, turning onto the straight away that had led them most of the way, and were surprised to already see Bobby not more than 500 ft down the tunnel. He was in his normal uniform. Gray blazer, white t-shirt, black plant. But what stood out was the huge bag on his back. It was some sort of camo color, deep greens and light browns and yellows. It reminded Zoey of the countryside where they had spent years training.

He met them, hardly out of breath. He stopped when he saw Rumi, blood soaked and somewhere in-between stages of consciousness. She had gotten a lot paler in the past few minutes. Bobby didn’t even hesitate.

“Set her down and tell me what happened.”

Mira started walking him thought what they knew. Which wasn’t a lot. Stomach injuries, maybe a shoulder injury. But it was hard to tell with all the blood. Bobby just listened and nodded, taking his bag off and unzipped it. Zoey couldn’t believe what she was looking at. It was like someone had crammed a full hospital into a bag.

In a matter of seconds Bobby had already started cutting off Rumi’s tattered shirt, produced a bottle of something brown and started pouring it all over her body. His voice was calm and steady as he worked with unbelievable precision. They kind you don’t just get because you need to have it, the kind that comes from doing something so many times you don’t have to think to do it. His questions were short, and technical. “How long ago?” “How much blood” “What was the weapon” quick rapid fire questions, all met with nods and quick answers as he kept working, cleaning up blood and starting an IV. Running clear fluid into her. Once he finally got enough blood wiped away to see how bad the damage was Mira and Zoey gasped. Zoey almost threw up.

The cuts were deep, running from her left rib to right hip. Zoey could faintly see the bones and… Oh god, was that her stomach?

Zoey turned around and tried not to puke at the sight of the damage. They had done a number on her.

After Zoey got her stomach back under control she turned around and had to fight the urge to look away again. Bobby had started wrapping the wound.

“She needs blood, Zoey your O negative right?”

Zoey nodded, she wasn’t sure how Bobby knew her blood type, but she didn’t have time to think about that because Bobby was already pulling tubes and needles out of his bag, clamping some off and attaching a one-way value to it.

Bobby held his hand out for Zoey’s arm and Zoey hesitated. This was Rumi, Rumi needed her. But she hated needles and everything in her body froze in her place. But she felt a warm hand, Mira’s, grabbed hers and she quickly shoved her arm out, her eyes shut tight as she squeezed Mira’s hand so tight she feared she might break it.

Bobby didn’t wase time, she felt the cool cloth of a wipe, followed by a quick prick. Then just nothing?

She looked down at her arm and yeah, there was a needle in her arm, tied in and secured to her.

She looked at Bobby with something between horror and amazement “Bobby how? Where did you learn all of this?”

Bobby just gave a small smile as he kept working “Long story, best I can do right now is that I’ve done this many times to people in way worse conditions. Rumi is gonna be fine. I just need to get this stitched up soon. But she needs blood before we can move, and I can’t stitch her up until we are in a sterile environment. I need you all to walk me thought this. She had major bruising on her neck, fists, and deep lacerations on her abdomen. It didn’t puncture any internal organs, but they opened her all the way up. And here on her shoulder, these are bite marks, but I’ve never seen anything with teeth like that. Were these demons?”

Mira swallowed and gave a nod. “It was the Saja Boys, they came thought with some cannon fodder demons. We split like normal. Rumi distracts the biggest threat while me and Zoey clean up the fodder. Then we close in on the biggest threat if it’s still alive after fighting Rumi. Except this time, they overpowered her or something. We didn’t see what happened. We just looked up and Mystery had her pinned to the wall choking her out. She was already bleeding a lot. There was so much blood Bobby.”

Mira’s voice cracked at the end. Mira was strong, but this was clearly stronger than either of them could handle.

“She also got kicked in the side of the head, I don’t know if that changes anything.” Zoey added

Bobby just nodded and went back to looking over Rumi, checking her neck and head. After a few minutes of silence that could have basically been an hour, Bobby clamped off the line from Zoey’s arm and tied everything off.

“Zoey, how are you feeling?” Bobby asked as he started packing stuff back into his bag.

“Um, I’m ok. Just rattled.” She took a slow breath to try and make it sound convincing.  

“That’s good but I mean physically. Are you dizzy? Cold? Rumi is stable enough to move, but she is going to need more blood, and I don’t know how much more you can give. I don’t have a way to keep track of it, so we have to go pretty much off of how you feel.”

Zoey thought for a second. She didn’t feel great, but it was hard to tell if it was from the loss of blood, or everything that had happened. “I’m not sure. I can’t tell what is fear and what is blood loss.”

Bobby just nodded, then scooped Rumi up in his arms like she didn’t weigh a thing. “Mira, keep an eye on Zoey. I don’t know how much blood was taken, but it has to be close to the max. Normally you wouldn’t move for at least 15 minutes, but we have to get out of here.”

Mira stood up next to Zoey, and Zoey went to stand up as well, but the second her legs were underneath her, her vision swam with stars, and she almost fell over. Mira caught her and before Zoey knew it, she was slung over Mira’s shoulders. Bobby and Mira set an insane pace considering everything that had happened. Or maybe Zoey was just drifting in and out of consciousness.

Before she knew it, they were in the penthouse, Mira set Zoey down on the couch and ran to grab water. Zoey just lay there, slowly letting the world come back to her. As the stars cleared, she saw Bobby laying down cloth and rearranging their living room.

Mira came back with water and electrolyte drinks.

“Drink, now” Mira’s voice left no room for debate, so Zoey did. She just drank all the water and started sipping on the electrolyte drink. She watched Bobby work. Laying out sutures and clamps. He moved Rumi to the cloth and started working, moving with the same careful precision. Pulling out more vials and needles causing Zoey to shutter again.

He carefully injected something into the IV. Rumi’s whole body started to relax, going limp.

“What did you do?” Mira asked with concern in her voice.

“Just a light anastatic, so she isn’t in pain. She has been in and out of consciousness, but this should keep her out, so she doesn’t wake up while getting stiches.” Bobby kept working while we spoke, dousing her abdomen in more of the brown liquid. “And this is iodine; it will kill any bacteria and other crap that got into the wound.” Answering the next question before they could ask it.

He started stitching the wounds up, talking them through what he was doing. Zoey watched him work, drinking and eating crackers that were being constantly shoved into her hands by Mira.

After some amount of time that Zoey couldn’t track, he was done and moved onto the marks on her shoulder.

Bobby whispered “Jesus” As he looked at the marks. “What the hell did this, these are like, 6 cm deep bite marks.”

“My best guess is Mystery’s fangs” Zoey said, her words slurring hard. “I never got a super good look at them, but I’ve seen them before. They are huge.”

Bobby just nodded and started the process over again. Cleaning and stitching wounds. These were just 4 deep puncture wounds. It didn’t take him long to stitch those up. After that he sat back and sighed. Looking Rumi over, then looking at Zoey.

“How are you feeling now Zoey?” He asked. He got on and walked over feeling her pulse and forehead, before looking worried. “I don’t like how pale you are”

“I feel fine I promise” She tried to sound convincing but with her words slurring it was hard. “Rumi needs more blood, right? You can take some more, and I’ll be fine”

“No Zo, you are barely conscious right now, I don’t think you have anymore blood to give” Mira said sharply as she handed Zoey another water bottle.

“Ok, well Mira isn’t wrong, it doesn’t look like you have much to give, and even if you did I wouldn’t be able to take much more.” Bobby was looking over Zoey really closely, feeling her pulse, tapping points on her skin.

“Ok well, take every last drop you need and then some. Just make sure Rumi is ok.” Zoey didn’t care, Rumi needed help, and it looked like only Zoey could give it, so whatever it took. She didn’t care if she could move for a month. If it kept Rumi alive Zoey was gonna do it.

“Zoey don’t neglect yourself” Mira’s voice was worried. “I don’t think you can give much more blood; you look like your barely still awake. Bobby, can I give any blood?”

Bobby shook his head “If I remember correctly, you are AB-?”

Mira nodded

“Then Rumi can’t take your blood. To be honest, we are already in unknow waters. Rumi is listed as O+. But now knowing what you all have said about the demons and everything, that might not even be true. But Zoey is a universal donor being O-, so it’s the safest bet. And given that Rumi is still alive means we are probably fine for now at least. I am also B-, else I would have already hooked myself up and given her some.” Bobby was shaking his head, clearly not happy about this predicament.

“So, what else can we do?” Mira was looking at Rumi, her lips pursed tight.

“Not much, at most I can take 100 milliliters from Zoey at this point. And even that is pushing into the Class 2 hemorrhage level of blood loss. It’s a little safer than just bleeding out, because it’s controlled. But even if we take that, it’s putting Zoey at risk for an amount of blood that likely won’t do much to help Rumi.” For the first time since they had met Bobby worry started to seep into his voice.

“But it would help Rumi?” Zoey asked, watching him look her over.

“Maybe? It’s like adding a cup of ice to a bathtub full of boiling water. It will do something for sure. But as it stands, the risk to your health is far greater than the impact. I promise if I thought there was chance that little bit would change the outcome, I would do it. But as it stands, it just won’t.” Bobby had finished looking over Zoey and was pulling another pouch out of his massive bag and hanging it up on a lamp he had pulled over to the center of the room. Connecting it the IV in her arm.

“But we have do so something Bobby, we can’t just sit here.” Zoey could hardly think straight, but it sounded like Bobby was telling Zoey they just had to wait around. And Zoey didn’t like just waiting and hoping things would get better.

“Zo” Mira started, lacing their fingers together “It sounds like Bobby is saying even if we do that, and take more blood, it would kill you to maybe save Rumi. Not even defiantly save her, just maybe”

Bobby nodded at Mira’s blunt summary, adding “That’s basically it. You don’t look good, Zoey. Your body is already struggling to regulate your temp. Your fingers and toes are cold, your shivering nonstop, we really need to get you both into a hot bath, then wrapped up with a lot of blankets. I’m going to just make the call that Zoey; you are already capped out on blood given. Like, even a paper cut could spell trouble for you. I’m really surprised your still awake.”

Bobby had already started moving around, packing stuff up, pulling some silver looking blanket, and wrapping Rumi in it.

“What is the plan now then, how can I help?” Mira asked, moving up to help Bobby wrap Rumi up.

“First, we take care of Rumi, this is a thermal blanket designed to keep as much heat in as possible. We will want to move her to her bed and get a heating pad wrapped up in the blanket. Heat is going to be our biggest issue that we can handle in the coming hours. Then it will be Zoey, Hot everything until I say otherwise, hot bath, hot soup, hot bed. Our struggle for the next few hours is going to be keeping them both warm.” Bobby said

Zoey was trying to follow, but it felt like blood loss was catching up to her. She opened her mouth to say something, but it didn’t work. After a few minutes of watching them work as she tried to get something functional out, she managed a simple “Mira, me dizzy” before she closed her eyes.

She could feel the vibrations through the floor as Mira ran over and grabbed her hand. “Zoey, Zoey you there? Hello Zoey!”

Mira’s voice started to get frantic. The best Zoey could manage was to squeeze her hand. After a few seconds she felt her eye lid get peeled open and bright light shine in it, she groaned and tried to tilt her head to the side.

“She’s ok Mira, just blood loss. It’s amazing she made it this long really before it hit her. Help me get Rumi…” Zoey didn’t really hear the rest of Bobby’s sentence. She trailed off into some weird dream about turtles with patterns and one that was on fire underwater.

Pov: Mira (+0 min)

“She’s ok Mira, just blood loos. It’s amazing she made it this long really before it hit her. Help me get Rumi to her room, then we can move Zoey.”

Mira hesitated. She didn’t want to leave Zoey even for a minute. Bobby noticed.

“Hey, I promise she will be ok. But Rumi really needs us to get her squared away.”

Mira nodded and stood up to help Bobby move Rumi, Bobby picked her up with ease, and had Mira grab the bags that were hung on the lamp.

As the carried Rumi and IV bags in tow, Mira asked “Where did you even learn all of this Bobby. This is like, surgeon level medical care.”

Bobby just shook his head “I can’t really say. I’m sorry Mira. Maybe one day. But not right now”

Mira didn’t fully understand what that meant. But something about his tone sounded somber. Like there was a lot more to where he learned this than just a school.

“Once we get both of them in bed, I am going to run out and get supplies. I need to go ahead and replace what I used and get some stuff to keep here.”

“Oh before you go Bobby, I need to show you and add you to the basement elevator. So, you don’t have to go in thought that weird stair well.” Mira remembered that Bobby didn’t know about the button in the elevator. Just about the “closed off” stair well on the main floor.

“Ok, I take it that whole basement tunnel place is really meant to help hunt demons?” Bobby took the heating pad from Mira and slid it into the blanket with Rumi, turning it to max heat.

“Yeah, I mean. We do use it to hide from fans when we want a chill day. But that’s its primary purpose.” Mira handed Bobby one of the bags and he attached it to a shelf above the bed.

They finished getting Rumi set up and went back to the living room to find Zoey now drooling and snoring on the couch. Mira let out a laugh despite the circumstances.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think she was putting on a show to try and cheer me up.” Mira was trying to take on Zoey’s role. Make a joke to try and cheer the mood up some. But she cringed at her words and how forced they sounded.

But Bobby chuckled “yeah you would think. But…” He blew lightly on her forehead to no reaction “…we both know Zoey would be trying to whip out the ancient martial art of ‘what the fuck was that’ if she was awake” Bobby stuck one of Zoey’s famous poses when she was known for when being woken up on the couch. Making Mira laugh and roll her eyes.

“Ok, well where do you want to move her too? Her room?” Bobby began pulling out another one of the thermal blankets he wrapped Rumi in.

“No, Rumi’s. It makes it easier to keep an eye on both of them.” Mira was already running thought the logistics of how she was going to take care of the two of them.

Bobby nodded at this “Ok, once we get them settled, I will run out and be back in a couple hours. We can also start talking through the logistics of how to prepare for if this happens again. But can I ask? How did this even happen. I know it’s the Saja Boys, but how did they mange to get much of a jump on you all?”

Mira nodded along with his words, they would need to prepare for this, just in case “I don’t fully know. I didn’t see the fight either. We never really did scrap it out with the Saja Boys in a clean fight before. The first time we ran into them, they just called a bunch of demons to distract us and ran off. Then the second time was at the idol awards and again, when Jinu sacrificed himself for Rumi, they ran off. This was the first time they actually stood their ground. And they got Rumi in a 1v4.”

Mira didn’t understand why they were suddenly willing to stand their ground. But she was kicking herself for not thinking to check on Rumi. Mira knew that they had never went into a clean fight against the Saja Boy’s. She should have thought to make sure Rumi was ok. Mira knew she could hold her own, but still. A 1v4 against demons stronger than anything they had ever faced? Mira should have thought to keep a closer eye.

They got Zoey situated in the bed next to Rumi and Bobby ran out to go and ran through a list of stuff they would need. Mira still didn’t get how Bobby knew so much about this, and how he could run thought all this so calmly. But she was glad. Because she had had no idea how to do this, and they would have been so much worse off without him. He really was the best, well, anything they could ask for apparently.

Mira sat on the bed, her thoughts drowning out anything that could be going on. She tried to put on some music. Didn’t help. She tried watching a video. But she couldn’t stop kicking herself mentally for everything. How useless she had been. How little she had done to help. How she couldn’t do anything now other than just sit here and hope they got better. And they just kept getting louder and more painful in her head. You don’t deserve your family. You can’t help them. You didn’t do anything to save them. After a half hour of her internal voices unrelenting pressure. She stood up and walked into the kitchen.

The mostly baked brownies were still sitting on the counter from where she had pulled them out before they left. She looked at them. Remembering how okay everything had been just a few hours ago compared to now. Sure, it wasn’t great. But it hadn’t been this bad. She almost broke down at the sight of the stupid brownies.

She shook her head hard, reaching into the cabinet for what she came in her for. She pulled out the bottle of bourbon. Some American liquor, Zoey said it was from somewhere called “Kentucky” wherever that was. Zoey had gone on with a bunch of fun facts about the process and everything when they had first gotten the bottle as a gift at some event.

“Yeah, they are super big into. It’s like half of that state’s identity. They have like, at least two counties named after the stuff. Oh! And never, ever, ever call whiskey and bourbon the same thing. They get really mad if you do.” She had gone on about it for a while. Apparently, she had known a lot about it for a reason they hadn’t been able to get out of her.

Mira hadn’t tried any yet, and some small part of her couldn’t believe she was defaulting back to shutting the voice in her head up this way. But the voices calling her a failure were too loud, and she needed them to shut up. She cracked the bottle open, and the smell hit her Immediately. It was strong, the scent of oak wood and vanilla laced with the pungent odor of alcohol. It didn’t smell bad per say, but it was definitely a strong drink. She looked at the label and squinted “What the fuck is a ‘Proof’?”

She started at the label, ‘140 proof’. Mira had no idea what that meant. But she guessed it meant strong.

She pulled out a glass and poured a little out, then took a sip. It burned like fire as it went down, she coughed at the taste. Her eyes watered slightly for a second. She wiped her eyes and looked back at the bottle. “I don’t know what ‘proof’ but clearly, it’s for people who are crazy.” Not long after she said that she felt a slow warmth crawl back up her throat. She wasn’t buzzed; she wasn’t a lightweight. But it was different than soju. A strange feeling indeed. She eyed the bottle, then poured a larger glass and downed it like a shot. And regretted it instantly. It burned just as bad the second time as it did the first. But this time as she wiped the involuntary tears from her eyes, she could taste the oak wood and vanilla she had smelt earlier.

She grabbed a glass of water as she felt the warmth crawl back up her throat again. Downing the glass of water and making her way back to Rumi’s room. The voice began to quiet, replaced by a faint buzzing that drowned out all of the excess noise in her ears. She took her place in the chair and watched Rumi and Zoey sleep. The steady and slow way Zoey’s chest rose and fell. The way Rumi would shift ever so slightly, than winced. The two of them snoring so loud she was surprised the whole tower didn’t know they were asleep.

After a while Bobby came back, Mira sat up in her chair as she heard the elevator ding, the buzzing still there. But faint enough she doubted Bobby would notice.

He walked into Rumi’s room, more bags in hand. He glanced at Mira “Ok I’ve got more fluids, and I grabbed a warmer for them. So hopefully that will help stave off our heat issues. They doing alright”

Mira nodded “They haven’t woken up, and I haven’t seen them shiver any.”

Bobby just nodded, hanging up new bags and some pack with them, presumably the heater. “That’s good. This has been a disaster. I should have thought to start making a list of supplies to stockpile the second you told me you all fought demons.”

“Bobby, this has never happened before. We’ve been hurt before, but never so bad one of us almost bled out. If we didn’t know, you couldn’t have known” Mira had stood up and walked over to Bobby. He was pulling rods out of boxes and putting them together, and before long Mira was looking at one of those hospital stands what people wheel around in movies. “And where did you get all of this so fast?”

“I should have known Mira, I… One day soon I’ll explain what I can. But I should have known, I should have thought. And there are stores that sell this stuff, when you know how to turn anywhere into a OR you learn where you can buy the stuff to make that happen. I got more stuff, and I’ve placed some orders for more supplies we can stockpile down in the tunnels just in case. Come tomorrow I’ll probably want to do a blood drawl on you Mira, start saving some of your blood just in case. You can take O-, B-, A-, and your own.” In the time it took Bobby to say this he had already assembled a second stand and had started to move the bags from the shelf to the stands.

“Ok, that’s smart. We are really lucky to have you. In more than one way Bobby. I hope you know this. Because I don’t know if we would survive the night without you.” Mira wanted to help but wasn’t sure what to do. So, she just stood with her arms at her side awkwardly.

“Thank you, Mira. It is getting late. Do you think they’ll care if I set up camp here, so I’m close by just in case?” Bobby’s hands were resting on the backpack he had worn in, presumably filled with some number of supplies for sleeping.

“I don’t think they’ll mind.” Mira took her seat again, as Bobby seemed done working for the night.

He just nodded and instead of producing a mat or anything from his bag, he pulled out some rubbery bags. Upon closer inspection Mira noticed they looked like blood bags. And sure enough, after a few seconds he pulled out more tubes and a needle and started a line on himself, working with incredible precision. Clamping off lines and started filling a bag.

“Are you… Taking your own blood?” Mira asked, still not sure she was seeing right considering how late it had gotten.

“Yeah, just in case. You are the only recipient, but still. Every milliliter counts. And anyway. It never hurts to have some on standby.” Mira couldn’t believe what she was watching. Did she drink more than she thought? Bobby was casually taking his own blood to stockpile for her? And only her, no one else here could take it.

“Bobby, you don’t have to do that.” She tried to fight back the flood of emotions. She knew Bobby loved them to death. But this was surreal. Sure he maybe wasn’t risking his life for her, but this was still above and beyond what he ever had to do.

“I know, but I don’t think I can even lay a finger on your world. What do you do? Who you fight? I don’t think I can touch it. And even if I could, I don’t think I would be much help. So instead, Ill back you up where I can. Here, at home. Meds, supplies, food. This is my place, this is where I can help. So I will. I’ve…” His voice trailed off as he seemed to get sucked into thought for a minute, before he shook his head and continued “I’ve failed like that before, never again.”

Something about the edge in his voice made Mira worry. Whatever it was, it was more than just failing as a manager. It was the same edge Celine had the few times she talked about the attack that had killed Mi-yeong. The realization hit Mira hard. Bobby had lost people he cared about. Not just lost but failed to save.

Something small cracked in her as she looked at Bobby with new eyes.

She stood up and walked over to Bobby, sitting down next to him. He glanced over, then looked back as he started tying stuff off and pulled out a label, marking date, time, and type on the bag with his blood. As he finished Mira spoke

“Is it ok if I hug you?” Bobby looked over at her surprised. Mira had never been one for a lot of physical affection. Especially not towards men, but something about the way Bobby spoke, and what he was doing. Mira figured if there was ever a man who deserved it, it would be Bobby.

He gave a gentle nod, and Mira slowly wrapped her arms around Bobby and gave him a gentle squeeze. Then pulled away, adding “I know I can’t say enough thank you’s for what you have done. And I know they appreciate it too.” She gestured with her head to the bed “We owe you so much, even just as our manger. And now this? I don’t know what we did to deserve you. But whatever it was, I am eternally gratefully for it.”

Bobby’s smile widened at that. Which Mira was glad for. She had never been good at comfort talk. Preferring to just say it how it was. But something about this felt like a mix. The reality of it mixing with some appreciation for how awesome Bobby had always been.

“I think it’s the other way around really” He let out a little laugh “You all are so amazing, just as performers. And that is just your side gig? Your main deal is fighting demons every night? I should be asking you what I did to get a group of women so competent and badass.”

Mira smiled at him; she glanced at the clock. 11 pm. Not too late yet. But still getting pretty late. “I think we should get to bed. It is late and we had a day.”

Bobby nodded, packed some things away, then set the bag out next to him. Then just… laid back onto the floor.

Mira gave him a look “are you not going to pull out a sleeping bag or something?”

“Hm? Oh, I was just gonna sleep like this. The less I have to untangle myself from the better. And this floor is more comfortable than a lot of the places I’ve slept.”

“Ok well, at least grab one of those beanbag chairs and lay on that.” Mira had already walked over and got her one. She picked up a second and tossed it to Bobby.

“Ok, thank you Mira” he tucked the beanbag under his head and laid back.

Mira hauled hers over to the side of the bed Rumi was on, then laid it down.

She took one last look at the two. Zoey was already looking a lot better. Color returning to her face. A faint smile playing at her lips in her sleep.

But Rumi, Rumi still looked like shit. Her skin was paper white. Her patterns still cycle through shades of red and purple. Standing out against the white backdrop. Her hand had started to shrink back into a normal one, rather than the claw.

 After looking them over to make sure they were ok, she laid down herself and pulled a blanket over her. Letting her mind wonder while she tried to sleep.

The next few days were going to be a struggle.

Chapter Text

*The next morning aprox. 9 hours*

Pov: Mira (+0 min)

Mira awoke to the soft sunlight spilling into the room. She heard faint rustling coming from the bed. As she sat up, her neck and back protested. Cracking and popping like she was the rice crispy cereal. She stood up, stretching and getting more protests from her body. She looked over at Zoey, who was the source of the rustling. She was gently trying to sit without disturbing Rumi, who was still out like a light.

“Morning Zoey. You feeling alright?” Mira had started to pad over, noticing Bobby wasn’t where he had laid to bed. In fact, Bobby wasn’t anywhere in the room for that matter.

“Yeah, I think. What happened? My head hurts a lot.” She was blinking groggily.

“Yeah, well last night was kind of a shit show. What do you remember?”

“Um, Rumi got messed up, Bobby is good at like being a doctor. Then something about you being a turtle”

“Ok, well that last part didn’t happen. But yeah. Bobby apparently took a lot of blood from you to get Rumi stable. You sorta passed out sorta went to sleep. But yeah, apparently Bobby is really good at that doctoring stuff” Mira was trying not to worry to much about the memory of her being a turtle. She was hoping that was just temporary blood loss and wouldn’t become a standing issue.

“Ok, well that explains to turtle with your face.” Zoey swung her legs over the bed and tried to stand up but promptly sat back down holding her head. “Ok, not standing yet, Cool cool.”

“Ok, yeah. Maybe stay in bed for a little bit. I’ll go find Bobby.” Zoey just nodded, sitting with her head in her hands.

Mira walked out into the kitchen to find Bobby at the stove, heating up food. He looked up as she walked in.

“Good morning, Mira, did you sleep alright?” He seemed super chipper for someone who just slept on the floor right next to her.

“Something adjacent to that, you seem to have slept well” That earned her a little laugh.

“Yeah, I’ve slept in a lot less comfortable places before. So being inside is more than enough for me.” Bobby pulled another piece of meat off the stove and planted it before picking up the plates and started walking back towards the room Mira just emerged form. “I’ve got food for everyone who is awake. Lot of iron and vitamin rich stuff.”

Mira nodded, then reached out to take a plate. “Let me help carry some of it. Zoey is awake, but Rumi is still asleep.”

“Ok, we will need to wake Rumi up. Check on how she is doing.” Bobby handed over a plate and walked in, Mira on his tail.

Mira walked in to find Zoey still sitting on the bed with her head in her hands. She looked up squinting at them.

“How are you feeling Zoey” Bobby asked, handing over a plate.

“Like I got sucker punched by a truck. And like I just spend 30 minutes in a teacup ride.” She grabbed the plate and started eating.

“Yeah blood loss will do that to you. All of that is food rich in the vitamins and stuff you need to help replace lost blood. I’ll put together adjusted meal recommendations for you all so you can maximize blood replacement.” Bobby walked over to Rumi while he spoke. “And Mira, that plate is for you.”

Mira looked at the plate in her arms. And actually looked at what she was holding. Eggs, that was normal breakfast food. But the rest was… Interesting. Beef, kale, and… Mira couldn’t be sure but it looked suspiciously like liver. But she was hungry and as weird as it could be, food was food. And Bobby seemed to know what he was doing so she dug in.

Bobby knelt down by Rumi and gently tapped her shoulder. “Hey Rumi, can you wake up for me?” His voice soft and calm as he kept tapping her shoulder.

She slowly started, groaning before her eyes suddenly shot open, her arms flailing as she tried to sit up. She had her sword in hand by the time her eyes had fully opened. Her breathing was erratic and labored as she looked around like a feral cat backed into a corner.

“Rumi, you’re ok.” Bobby and Mira spoke in unison. Bobby kept speaking “You’re back in the penthouse. It’s the next morning. You are ok”

Rumi looked around, her eyes drooped slightly as the adrenaline started to fade. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Gave a sigh then started patting around looking for something.

“Are you looking for your phone?” Mira asked. Rumi nodded, and Mira just handed hers over. “I’m not sure where its at but you can use mine.”

Rumi started typing pretty fast, then what looked like a lot of back spaces, then slowly typed again.

                What happened? Last I remember we were in the ally

                Where are the Saja Boys?

“Mystery pinned you to the wall and we don’t really know what else happened. We just saw you bleeding out and acted. You almost bled out in the ally. Luckly Bobby is apparently a mega doctor. And as to the Saja Boys, when you summoned your blade inside Mystery the opted to dip in a hurry.” Mira tried to keep it straight to the point and not let her fear about how close Rumi had gotten to dyeing show in her voice.

Rumi just nodded, already digging into the plate in front of her. She paused to type again.

                How long has it been?

“Not even a day, Bobby didn’t want you are Zoey to sleep to long with all the blood loss.”

                Zoey?? What happened? Is she ok?!?

“Yeah yeah, she’s ok. Bobby just had to do a blood transfusion in the tunnels and took a lot of blood stabilize you.”

“Yeah I’m ok Rumi, Just a little dizzy. But we have got Doctor Bobby to keep us alive!” Zoey paused her eating long enough to add with some enthusiasm. Before promptly going back to eating.

Rumi just nodded and started eating. Finishing her plate fast. Bobby looked up from his plate adding “yeah, once you all are in better shape I was telling Mira that we are going to start doing blood stockpiling for you all. If you all are ok with it.”

“I think it’s a good idea, especially if the Saja Boys are going to keep jumping us like that.” Mira was met with nods all around.

“So what do we do now?” Zoey asked, finishing her plate as well.

“Rest” Bobby said pointy “You two are on strict bed rest until I say otherwise.  Especially you Rumi, all of those stitches need time. You’re going to be down for the count for a few weeks at least.”

Rumi threw her bed back in exasperation at that comment.

“I know, I know. But you don’t have the blood to spare if you bust a stich, and we don’t have any on standby if you need more.” Bobby added,

Rumi seemed to accept this as she just nodded. Not looking to happy about it but accepting it.

As they fell into a comfortable silence, just existing, Bobby’s phone rang. He looked at it, the stood up “Sorry I have to take this. Real quick, are you all ok if I have some stuff added to that tunnel network?”

They all seemed a little confused by this, but Mira seemed to be the most coherent of the group, most likely due to the lack of blood loss over the past day, so she chose to respond. “Yeah, I guess just tell us what?”

Bobby nodded before stepping out. Leaving the three of them alone.

Rumi set her plate aside and picked up Mira’s phone again and started typing. Backspacing and typing again, she repeated this for a while before finally settling on what she turned and showed them.

                Not to sour the mood anymore, but could be talk…

                About what I asked last night. It’s still gnawing at me

“Yeah, if you really need us to we can. But are you sure you want to do that now? With how beat up you are do you think you’ll be ok” Mira didn’t know why she was stalling exactly. Because she was stalling. She didn’t want to talk about this. To try and justify her actions. Or even explain them.

Mira knew why, she was the monster here wasn’t she? Rumi may be a demon, but Mira was the one who turned on her friend. Raised a blade against the closest thing she had ever had to a loving family. How was she ever supposed to come close to explaining herself without revealing how easy it was for her to shut out anyone and everyone.

Rumi just nodded, typing

                Yes I need to. I need to understand. I want to trust you, I need to.

                But idk, you understanding me started with me explaining who I truly was.

                And now, I need to understand you. Why you acted the way you did.

                I don’t hold it against you. But… If we want to start from a million pieces

                and rebuild, I need to understand you. And we take turns. Me explaining and

                you responding.

                And I can’t be sure. But I think all of this is weighing down my blade. It’s why

                I didn’t use it. I couldn’t. It was slow, clunky in a way it shouldn’t have been.

                It slowed me down, got in the way. Fought back. And idk, I need to know that

                it’s not part of me still hung up on that night.

Mira had to read that last part serval times over. Her blade had failed her? That’s why she got hurt? Mira felt her chest twist and contort in painful ways as the implication that Mira had almost killed Rumi herself (Or tried), and that they implications of her actions had almost gotten Rumi killed a second time.

Zoey looked similarly gutted after reading this. So Mira took a deep breath, shoved everything down and into their place on the sidelines so she could handle this. Zoey was not in a position to deal with all of this. So Mira would tank the brunt of it. She would be the face Rumi could be mad and hurt at. Because no one else could.

“I… I don’t have a good reason Rumi. I think I just saw the patterns, and something deep down took over.” She forced her voice to stay flat. Yet it still cracked around the edges of her words “The emotions shut off and I stopped really thinking. Or, I thought to much about everything that hadn’t added up and I just… When I saw the Honmoon ripple at your words something else took over. The part that runs combat and logistics. I know this makes me a bad person, but I spent most of that time mapping out how we were ever going to take you in a fight. Rather than what I should have been focusing on, being there for my family.”

As she finished her sentence Rumi looked at her with something in her eyes. For once Mira couldn’t tell. Or, it was too much going on behind those eyes to read.

Zoey started talking herself “I don’t have a good reason either Rumi. I just, I was trying to do the math, and nothing added up. And yeah, when the Honmoon rippled at your voice. I just, I shut down, locked up and did what training said to do when a demon looks at you.”

Zoey was speaking slowly, pausing as she spoke. This was hard for her, mentally and physically. Zoey looked ready to go back to sleep, forcing herself to stay awake for Rumi. And Rumi didn’t seem to be to solid either, the stress of this keeping her more than anything.

She started typing, then showing them the screen

                I don’t think you’re a bad person Mira, and you too Zoey

                That was what I hoped it was, tbh

                I didn’t want to just assume what it was, but that was

                what I was hoping, that it was training, instinct.

                Not a conscious decision to… y’know

Mira didn’t think she deserved that much credit. But Rumi was already starting to droop laying her head back and closing her eyes. But she seemed relieved at this information. Her shoulders relaxed a bit more, her whole body slumping a bit.

Before anyone could add anything, Bobby knocked, slowly coming back into the room.

“Sorry about that, an old associate getting back in touch with me.” Bobby took note of the room, Rumi laid back about ready to go back to sleep. And Zoey looked just as tired. Mira wasn’t too tired, but even she felt the weight of sleep asking her to come back after yesterday’s debacle.

“Does that have anything to do with the stuff you wanted to add to the tunnels?” Mira wasn’t sure what he meant by that. But it was strange to say the least.

“Yeah, I’ll have better plans made and drawn up by end of week, but the just is getting rooms and stations installed with a bunch of supplies and whatnot added. Just so we don’t run into an issue where you all are kilometers away with no supplies.”

Mira just nodded, but one thing still poked at her mind “How are you even going to get that done. We pay no small amount of money to have the rights to access that, and just as much to maintain it. And you can just pop-up panic rooms all throughout the city?”

Bobby seemed to mull his answer over a few times before finally “I can get it done, no questions asked. A few favors here, an associate there. We won’t get flack for it. I can’t really tell you how right now. But don’t worry. No one will bat an eye at it. And I also had the spot of your fight taken care of. Blood cleaned and everything that had been collected is now ‘missing’.”

Mira paused at that, collected? “What do you mean collected?”

“Oh, yeah. You wouldn’t have heard. There was a whole thing with that. Someone saw the fight, or at least the back end of it. Called it in, it was a whole thing with police and forensics. They had a bunch of the blood sampled for testing.” As he saw their faced all start to grow worried, he quickly added “But don’t worry, I took care of it all. The samples, the call recording, witness statements. It’s all scrubbed. Missing, destroyed, etc.”

Mira had a hard time believing that “Bobby, how much pull do you have to just, ask, and get entire chains of evidence broken.”

Bobby clamed up a bit, choosing his words carefully “Like I said, I know some people, I’m owed a lot of favors in a lot of places. Places where people don’t question the why, just hear a name and a request and make it happen.”

Who the fuck was Bobby? Mira started to look at Bobby differently. Well, more differently. She had always looked at their manager as a sweet, anxious guy who was really good at managing a band and worrying about flight times. But that didn’t get you favors strong enough to break the law, no questions asked. So who was Bobby really?

But that question would have to wait as he grabbed something else out of his bag and started looking at some stuff.

“Ok, so I need to get some stuff done. Well, a lot of stuff. But to start I need to know just how bad of place you two are in” he looked at the two half awake hunters on the bed.

The three of them gave him a weird look, Mira started “What do you mean?”

“We need to know how much blood the two of them have left. My guess is that it’s a miracle that either of them are awake right now but still need to know what we are working with, and for you Mira I want to test how much you have all together.”

“Ok and how do you do that?” This time Zoey spoke from her spot on the bed

“There is this traces substance that we can put into your blood stream, wait an hour, then do a drawl of like, ten milliliters and test the concentration. The more diluted it is after an hour, the more blood you have. This way, I can find roughly where Mira sits normally, and I can tell where you two are currently at.”

Mira just nodded, she figured it was time for her to get her own IV started.

So Bobby went to work, writing down times as he injected it into them, then he quickly started a line on Mira and did the same.

“And Rumi, I am going to try and get your blood typed. Any record I’ve looked at says O positive, but its also the most common so that could have been fudged just to make it look less conspicuous.”

Rumi just nodded.

“Alright, I’ve got some called to make. Stuff to get. Ill be back in an hour to do a drawl and get everything tested. I would sleep, you all really need to sleep.” Bobby seemed worried about them less like the doctor he had been over the past few hours, and more like their manager, more like a dad.

Mira paused on the thought. Because Bobby really was like their dad, wasn’t he? Or at least, what dads were supposed to be.

As Mira ran that thought over in her head, Bobby walked out the door already dialing a number.

Mira looked back to bed, to find Rumi already asleep again, and Zoey seemed well over three quarters of the way there.

“Go to sleep Zo, Ill be right here” Mira laid down in between them, careful not to disturb Rumi.

“mmk if you say…” Zoey’s voice trailed off as she fell asleep mid-sentence. Her body shifting closer to Mira, her head tucking itself into Mira’s shoulder.

Mira’s heart did a little backflip before she could stop it. It wasn’t like Zoey hadn’t done this before, and it wasn’t like it took all of her willpower not to flip every time. But something about this time felt different. With everything that had happened. It just felt different. Maybe it was the sound of her voice, or the exhaustion. Or the tired but peaceful look on her face as she fell asleep.

Mira shoved that issue away for later, letting her eyes close. Resting.

She awoke what was presumable an hour later to Bobby knocking on their door. Mira opened her eyes, speaking just loud enough to be heard. “Come in”

Bobby slowly walked in, Rumi and Zoey undisturbed by the noise. Bobby just looked at the three of them, Rumi still pretty stiffly flat on the bed next to Mira, but Zoey had begun to cling to Mira like a Koala. Well, given her sluggish movement over the past 12 hours, a sloth was probably a more adept comparison.

“You don’t have to move or anything. I can get to everything I need from here.” Bobby said as he started moving around the room, going to Rumi first and taking a vial of blood. Then he moved over to Zoey and looked at her for a second as he seemed to realize that Zoey had maneuvered herself into quite an inconvenient position. After a moment he managed to find his way back to the line he had placed in, very carefully twisting Zoey’s arm accordingly to allow him to get a vial out then move on. Mira, being awake, just held the arm out, and he took what he needed, slapping labels on them and moving on. Putting them in a small cooler he had walked in with.

“Ill get these sent out. I should have results by end of day. I’ll call before I come back. I have both this stuff, and normal manger things to deal with.”

Mira just nodded as he left. She didn’t really feel to tried anymore, but trying to untangle herself from Zoey seemed like to much work right now. So, she just lay there letting Zoey pull Mira closer in her sleep.

It was cute, the way she would occasionally pull closer, squeeze, or nuzzle her head against her. Stop that Mira, you don’t have time to be getting crushes on your bandmates.

She tried to mentally slap the thoughts out of her head. Only to be met with a soft groan from Zoey followed by her pulling closer.

It took Mira a second to realize her thoughts had been plural. Not just Zoey. But Rumi too. When that thought hit Mira she froze. Did she really? How was that supposed to work? Date two people, her bandmates. Was that even something she could do? That they would do? Stop it Mira, they probably don’t even like girls like that, much less you.

She tried to shake off the thoughts with little success. She must have fallen asleep at some point because she woke up to the sound of Zoey groaning trying to sit up.

“What are you doing?” Mira asked, trying to shake the sleep out of her voice.

“I need to shit” Zoey said this deadpan, still trying to stand.

“Ok, well let me help you at least make it to the bathroom without falling over. No offence but you still look like shit.” Mira laughed slightly as she also crawled out of bed to help Zoey stand up.

As she helped Zoey get her own two feet underneath her, Zoey leaned heavily on her after not even a full second. Swaying slightly despite being pressed up against Mira. After a minute Mira started walking Zoey to the bathroom. After getting Zoey situated Mira left the bathroom and went to Rumi’s side to check on her.

Her breath was still slow and steady. Mira gently took a wrist in hand to feel for a pulse. Rumi slowly began to wake up at this, blinking at Mira. Giving her this soft smile that melted Mira like a block of ice in the sun.

“How are you feeling Rums?” Mira kept her voice low. Figuring quite was a good route.

Rumi just nodded.

“Still no voice right now?”

Another nod. Rumi started looking around for a phone, and Mira handed hers back over.

                Normally sleeping seems to help

                But idk. Whatever happened seemed to have really

                done a number on my brain.

                This is annoying as shit.

Mira just laughed at that last comment “yeah, I can’t imagine. It must suck.”

Rumi just nodded, typing again

                Do we know where my phone is?

                And did Bobby come do the thing?

“Um, I don’t know where your phone is at. We can call it.” Rumi pressed a couple buttons and then Mira heard the faint buzzing from the other room. She quickly ran out into the living room to find Rumi’s phone sitting on the table. She grabbed it and came back before adding “Yeah, he came in awhile ago. I lost track of the time.”

Rumi nodded again. Taking her phone.

At this point they heard a soft thud followed by “Miraaaaaaa”

“Sorry, I think Zoey just feel off the toilet. I should go help her” Rumi quickly shooed Mira away.

As Mira walked back into the bathroom there was Zoey, thankfully not laying down, but sitting. She seemed to have opted to sit down in a hurry after standing for a second to long.

“Miraaaaa, I’m sorry but can you help me get back to bed.” Zoey whined. Seeming more frustrated with her inability to stand than anything.

“Yeah, come on” Mira helped her up and received a lot of thanks from Zoey. Half mumbling under her breath.

The three of them sat back on the bed as Mira pulled out her phone and started scrolling Instagram, then twitter, then Instagram again. Then Facebook when she got really desperate. Zoey and Rumi coming and going from little naps for most of the day.

Bobby came back later that afternoon with a report. He kept it short, both Rumi and Zoey were at 3ish litters of blood. Down about 25% of what they should be at minimum. They would be 8+ weeks replacing it all. Zoey should be standing on her own in a week or two. Rumi would need a month minimum.

Her only comment being typed out and accompanied with an eye roll.

                Well at least we are on vacation. Just how I wanted to spend it.

A dry laugh was shared. 

From there they fell into a rhythm. Movie nights, Mira making breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes Bobby coming by with food and groceries.

A lot of apologies from the two that Mira had to do so much, followed by reassurance that she was ok and that she wanted to.

And she did, she liked taking care of them. She liked feeling like she could help. She liked finally being able to do her part, to help them, to make them better. To make up for how she had failed before. She hated how helpless she felt, knowing she couldn’t give anything to help Rumi as she bled out in the tunnel. The memories coming in harsh and unwelcome. Followed by her sneaking out to the kitchen late at night when she knew Rumi and Zoey would be asleep for the night. Trying to suffocate the feelings she couldn’t pack up on a shelf.

It didn’t always work. Spending hours in the living room, trying to force tears back as the Idol awards, the tunnel forced their way to the front. Stashing the growing pile of empty bottles in her room. Glad that they were spending their time in Rumi’s room, so she didn’t have to try to explain it.

And that became the rhythm for the week. Mira taking care of Rumi and Zoey during the day and trying to drown her problems and feelings at night. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to get by for now. She knew they would have to talk about it all eventually. But she could wait. She needed to wait. To make sure they were ok. They came first.

After everything she had done to them, they deserved someone who took care of them without putting her problems on them.

One movie night stood out to her, Zoey had insisted they watch some cheesy looking movie she had seen a trailer for and wanted to watch. But what stood out to her wasn’t the movie, but the way Zoey and Rumi moved in to press up against Mira. Zoey, who was mostly moving on her own so long as she didn’t stand up, had basically crawled into her lap. And even Rumi had hurriedly (Or whatever passed for that at her current state) scooted closer and pressed the side of her body up against Mira.

Mira spent the movie painfully aware of how close other of them wear. Able to feel every dramatic gasp from Zoey, and every slight huff out of Rumi whenever characters did something stupid on screen. At first Mira was stiff as a board but slowly let herself relax into them. Could this really be every night? At least for the next few weeks. That night they had fallen asleep before the movie ended, leaving Mira trapped and unable to flee to the living room to drown out the voices and memory in her head.

But strangely enough, this night, trapped between them? They didn’t come, didn’t try to plague her with the “what if’s” and the guilt of what she had done, or been unable to. As the movie came to a close, it came time for the love triangle to break. Someone to pick a person to go with. Someone was going to be left heartbroken and alone. But it didn’t happen like that, as the music began to swell and reach its peak, it suddenly got quiet as the main character and said “I don’t want to choose between two perfect people. Can I have you both, and us be ok?”

Mira’s mind froze, Zoey dramatically gasped, even Rumi stiffened, eyebrows raised with surprise.

The movie kept going, the yes’s, the crying, the happily ever after. But the three of them just sat there. Finally, Zoey spoke.

“That was not where I thought that movie was taking that. But honestly? Love it. They all work so well, I like that”

“Yeah, not anticipated, but definitely welcome.” Rumi quietly squeezed out.

Mira huffed with approval. It worked well, really. The movie showed years of time spent together and lots of love from everyone. But Mira thought they were just building up to a heartbreaking ending. Not the happily ever after they had gotten.

As Mira fell asleep, she wondered if she could ever be like that, happy, just happy. With whoever made her happy that way. Even if it was more than one person.

But as Zoey began to snuggle up up again, wrapping her in the death hug Mira had grown accustom too, and Rumi pulled close as well. Pulling into them as much as her stitches would allow. Mira realized she already did have it in a way. It might not be romantic. But she had them. And they were everything she needed. Maybe she did want them in a way that was more than a little platicon. But for now, she wasn’t going to worry about that. She was just going to be happy that she had them, alive and safe.

Mira managed to sleep better than usual that night.

By the end of the week Bobby had cleared Zoey too and moved around on her own. So long as she didn’t go far. But all Zoey heard was “You can walk by yourself” before she had trying to jump out of bed and start running. And almost immediately had to be caught by Bobby and Mira before she started making out with the floor.

After getting her to drink more water and waiting for the dizziness to pass Bobby clarified that it was slow, careful, and in short bursts. Zoey just nodded along like she couldn’t wait to test these limits as soon as possible. Mira just rolled her eyes, knowing she would inevitably be catching Zoey at least twice in the hour after Bobby left.

The next morning started like most from the past week. Mira got up and started making breakfast, nursing a slight hangover with some water, Gatorade, and saltines while she cooked something for the three of them. Eggs, rice, and liver. The last was Bobby’s orders. Being high in iron made it a great thing to eat to help replace lost blood apparently. Mira had mostly gotten used to the strange texture and taste and had been messing around with how cook it in different ways. This morning was nothing fancy. Some salt, oil, and quick fry on the pan. Nothing complex, just something to get it cooked and good for consumption.

As Mira plated the food and started walking back, she heard a hushed whisper, she was about to knock and walk in before she heard her name and froze.

“I’m just worried about Mira, y’know. She has been running herself in overdrive to take care of us and we haven’t been able to do anything back. Hell, I can barely make it the 10 ft to the bathroom without face planting. And she’s waking up every morning to cook for us?”

There was a pause, presumably Rumi typing. Followed by Zoey’s voice again.

“I know, I know. We would do the same in a heartbeat but still. It’s Mira. She is putting on such a strong face for us. But we both know she’s hurting. I don’t know why she won’t tell us?”

At this point Mira opted to knock and begin walking in. Zoey looking up and trying to act normal.

“Thank you Mira” Zoey said while taking the plate.

As Rumi took her plate Mira caught a glimpse of Rumi’s phone, the unfinished message on her screen.

                Idk why, but she will come to us when she is re…

The unfinished sentence twisted something in Mira. They knew something was wrong and were waiting for her to come to them. But Mira didn’t know if she could. Not yet at least. So, she tried to keep her face straight and composed, smiled thought card nights, laughed when something funny happened in a movie. Nodded thought plans that Bobby showed them about what was being added to the tunnels. Safe rooms, camera systems. Even some type of scanner system that would help them track missing person reports to hopefully find points and area demons were targeting.

All met with nods and smiles. Just going through the motions hoping she was putting on a good enough show that they didn’t worry.

And as time went on Zoey got better, moved more. Started helping Mira. Until finally Zoey offered to let Mira sleep in her own room for once, rather than with them.

“You know Mira, I think we can start taking shifts staying in here with Rumi. I don’t hardly get dizzy anymore. You can sleep in your own room if you want.” Zoey had said this way to casually for what it implied.

Things were going back to normal. But Mira wasn’t sure if she wanted that. Or maybe she wanted this to be the new normal. Morning waking up with them right next to her. Zoey complaining as Mira extracted herself from bed. Rumi groaning as Zoey’s complaining woke her up. The way Rumi gave her a gentle and soft smile as Mira would return with plates of food before settling down in between them to eat. Visits from Bobby checking in, checking temperatures and bandages.

“Rumi you are healing really fast. I would give it another 2-3 weeks until we can pull the stitches out.” Bobby had comment.

Rumi had just chalked it up to her demon side aiding in her resilience. Which added up, considering how many hits she had brushed off that would have flatlines the other two.

But all good things had to come to an end. They were two months into their three-month break, and it was time to start talking comeback. Mira and Zoey were in decent enough shape to start practicing songs, but Rumi was barely able to stand for more than a few minutes, definitely not able to dance and sing.

But Rumi insisted she would be ready to go by then, and “Doctor Bobby” (Zoey had started calling him) had agreed that at her rate of healing, she should be able to in a month. But “Dad Bobby” (Zoey also stared calling him, when he wasn’t around) wasn’t too sure about pushing herself that hard so soon. But all they could do was start planning and wait to see.

Then on the last full week before they were planning to officially announce their comeback performance. Shit hit the fan again. Because they couldn’t catch a break.

They were sitting around playing Uno in Rumi’s room. Bobby was over going over some of the details regarding the upgrades added to their tunnel system while they played.

“All construction and stocking is done within two kilometers of the tower. The next 3 kilometers is built, but we are still stocking. And the rest is still under construction or getting ready to start-”

“Uno!!” Zoey shouted, laying down one of her last two cards, before adding “Sorry Bobby, keep going”

Bobby just gave her a wave and started again. But stopped as he noticed the look on the Hunters faces. “What’s wrong, you are all staring into air like something is up.”

“It’s so close.” Zoey said, not really answering the question.

“I can’t believe they would try something this close to the tower. Don’t they know how fast we will stomp them out?” Mira couldn’t believe it. This felt super close, as close as it felt when they were looking at it… The thought died before it had even made it to her throat.

“What, demons? Close?” Bobby started looking around, like they could crawl out of the wall at any second. But they wouldn’t be that stupid, would they?

“There’s no way, right? I’m just crazy, right Mir?” Zoey looked at Mira pleadingly, practically begging Mira to tell her that she was crazy.

Mira just shook her head “I don’t think you are, I think they are trying to crawl into the tower.”

The look on Rumi’s face all but confirmed it.

Mira and Zoey scrambled to their feet and started running around looking for where it could be. They didn’t have to go far. There in the living room, along one the glass panes that overlooked the skyline of Seoul.

The rainbow marks were beginning to shift and stretch rapidly.

Zoey and Mira heard a grunt as Rumi tried to work her way out into the hallway, Bobby in tow.

“Rumi, no. You’re still hurt. We can handle this.” Mira’s voice was firm. She wasn’t going to let Rumi get hurt again. Not when she wasn’t even done recovering.

Rumi tried to protest but didn’t really get far as she tried to take another step and winced. Bobby held her up and started moving her back to her room.

“Bobby stay with her please. We can handle ourselves.” Zoey looked back at the two, then back at the rapidly growing tear, her face set with determination.

Mira nodded, setting her face with an equally determined look. They hurt her friend, her family. Her Rumi. And now they wanted to come into her home to try again?

No, Mira was going to kill every last one of them. Even if it meant crawling thought the tear and pummeling Gwi-ma herself.

They summoned their weapons right as the tear popped. This time there was no fodder, no spare demons to distract. Just the Saja Boys. Three of them.

“Where’s Mystery?” Mira didn’t hesitate to taunt them at their missing member. Clearly Rumi had done some damage. And that just made them fight all that easier

“The same place you’re about to be scum.” Abby said, lacing his voice with hate.

Mira could practically hear the “Ding ding” of the bell.

Both sides charged as the living room became an all-out brawling ground.

Chapter Text

*No change in time*

Pov: Zoey (+0)

As the Saja Boy’s charged them, Zoey charged right back. She was fucking pissed. They had almost gotten Rumi killed four times now. And that was far too many for Zoey. She didn’t care how bad she still felt. She wasn’t at 100% but the rage at these fucking demons more than made up for it.

They quickly split from their spot at the glass window where they had torn thought, Romance charging her, Abby running at Mira, and Baby hanging back. Zoey knew the strategy. Huntr/x used it themselves. Baby would always been shifting and moving between the two fights, looking to chip in with little attacks. Never stay in one engagement too long.

Zoey made a mental note to keep an eye out for him, before locking eyes with Romance and throwing three of her Sinkal at him. With a puff of pink smoke he disappeared, the Sinkal flying by where he use to be and punching thought the glass behind him.

Zoey turned on her heel and threw a punch at the air, right as Romance appeared there. Her fist connected and he staggered back. Not expecting Zoey to be ready for him. She quickly followed up by closing the space. Trying to take away his advantage of reach. She tossed two more Sinkal at him as she ran. He barely managed to dodge, his frame twisting as he tried to contort his body out of the way. Zoey was now close enough, so she grabbed his wrist and planted her foot between his legs and yanked, pulling him up on her shoulder and slamming him down onto the ground. The thud was loud as his body hit the ground. The grunt that came from his body was just as audible.

Zoey quickly followed up by flipping one of her Sinkal into a reverse grip and letting the other dissolve. She slammed her fists down, aiming to drive the blade straight thought his heart. But right before it connected poof. Another puff of pink smoke and he was gone.

Zoey did waste any time, she turned on her heel again, tossing another Sinkal where she thought he would appear. But nothing, they flew past where she thought he would be, sinking into the wall. Then, “Oof”

She felt a heavy weight crash into her as she got bodied by Romance who had opted to teleport above her and fall into her. She yelped in pain as claws dug into her arm. She quickly summoned a Sinkal into a reverse grip and stabbed it into his arm. He snarled, rolled back as she tried to stab another one in his neck.

With space in between them Zoey quickly looked at her arm, it was bleeding, but not too bad. She rolled up onto her feet and looked around. Her hairs stuck up on the back of her neck as she suddenly jumped to the side, and there went Baby from behind her. Barreling past her like an American football player. Shoulder dropped, arms tucked. Zoey quickly threw a blade at his back but didn’t see if it landed as she had to dodge a swipe of Romance’s claws.

She tried to grab his arm, but he had learned from his mistake and pulled it back, keeping her far enough so that she couldn’t get a solid grip on him. Every lunge was met with a backstep. Every time she managed to get a hold, he would yank free or teleport away. This was getting annoying.

Finally, he tripped. A table that he hadn’t seen got in his way as he tried to step out of her reach. Zoey didn’t hesitate. She grabbed his arm and gipped as tight as she could. She jumped up into the air, angling her body and slamming both of her feet square into his chest with as much force as she could muster. Trying to pull herself closer by the grip on his arm.

With a painful grunt from Romance, and something that might have been a pop, Zoey crashed into the ground, quickly rolling back up onto her feet and raising her Sinkal to throw.

In the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of blue in the dim lights of the penthouse. She didn’t move fast enough.

A harsh grunt slipped past her lips as Baby slammed into her. He wrapped her arms around her and started pushing her like a linebacker at the line of scrimmage. Zoey dug her heels in and tried to stop herself as Baby kept pushing, trying to shove her straight out the window.

As his claws dug into her sides, she responded by slamming a Sinkal into his shoulder. With a huff he let go and Zoey side jumped out of his line, throwing a kick he managed to catch. As he went to try and toss her from her leg, She saw Romance running at her, so she rag dolled. Letting herself flop to the floor with a rather painful thud. But it worked as Romance tripped over her and fell flat onto his face. Zoey started rolling deeper into the penthouse, away from the window. It wasn’t shattered yet, but her Sinkal had put a couple of holes in it, and some cracks from the wind were starting to spread.

As Zoey turned to face Romance and Baby, she heard the force of impact off to her left. She looked slightly as she saw Mira skiting back, sliding into her field of view. Waldo braced to block a punch from Abby. As Abby charged forward again, throwing another, this time clipping Mira’s jaw, the force sending her flying back. But she caught herself, rolling backwards popping up next to Zoey. They looked at each other and nodded. A silent understanding passing between them.

Zoey Summoned all six Sinkal and chucked them at Abby, before running straight at him. Mira quickly broke off and charged the other too.

Abby’s eyes widened in surprise as he was suddenly faced with a new opponent. He was bulky and slower than the others. But Zoey knew that meant one good hit would put her down for the count.

As Abby twisted out of the way of the Sinkal, he looked at Zoey and laughed. Actually laughed. His arms spread wide to try and grab her. His legs spread to a more stable base. But to Zoey, she just saw a giant sign, flashing “Punch me here” with arrows and everything.

It wasn’t a bad move by him necessarily. The stance was good, smart almost. Wide and low, good base to block hard hits. But Zoey didn’t throw hard hits like Mira and Rumi might. She was fast. Slowing chipping at her opponents, letting the damage stack up.

As he opened his mouth to say something, Zoey dropped to her knees, sliding right between his legs. As she slid underneath, he looked down just in time to see Zoey plant her fist square into his groin. He let out a shout and groaned as he grabbed his crotch and doubled over. As Zoey rolled and popped up, tossing two more Sinkal without missing a beat. The first would have landed right between his shoulder blades, but he had sunk father down then she thought. But her second one, meant for his lower back, hit the top of his head, carving a path across his head, giving him a reverse mohawk.

As Zoey ran in to follow up, Baby was on her again. His claws carving an arc thought the air, causing her to have to step back.

“Pick a fight dam it” She shouted.

Baby just shrugged before charging her, swiping his claws viciously thought the air. She kept dodging, stepping back and around. Dancing around with grace Mira would be proud of.

But she didn’t notice Abby had gotten up and recovered until it was too late. She saw his fist arcing thought the air just in time to think Oh shit. Before *Crack*

Zoey was sent flying across the penthouse like a doll tossed through the air. She cried out involuntarily from the pain.

As she hit the ground with a thud she had just enough time to register that she had flown a good 10 feet through the air. Then Abby picked her up by neck, squeezing the life out of her. She was vaguely aware of Baby running off to help Romance gang up on Mira.

Zoey tried to jam one of her blades into Abby’s arm, but he just squeezed tighter as the blade pierced his flesh. In response he punched her in the chest hard. She was pretty sure she heard something crack as pain induced tears flooded her eyes. Stars swimming in her vision. She was aware he was walking back closer to the window.

Right as he pulled his arm back, getting ready to toss her out the window, she heard a muffed pop.

Then suddenly Abby’s head twisted at a weird angle, snapping almost 90 degrees, forcing him to make eye contact with his shoes. He dropped her and Zoey took a breath of air and started crawling away. Her ears popped from the pressure shift.

She heard a couple more pops as she saw Baby get flung flat on his side, and Romance’s head twisted at a weird angle. Zoey looked toward the hallway where the sound had come from, and there was Bobby. With a… gun?? Where the fuck did Bobby get a gun in Korea?

Zoey didn’t have a lot of time to ponder this, as two more muted flashes from the hallway signaled that Bobby was not done. The rounds Bobby had fired slammed into Abby’s forehead again. He had almost gotten back up, only to be knocked flat again. Zoey saw a faint glint of copper and a muted gray. Copper and lead. It had been pressed into a flat coin, close to the size of a quarter. It was suck to Abby’s forehead in an almost comical fashion.

It didn’t look like the rounds could hurt them really, not anymore than their fists. But the force could sure move them around. Zoey remembered reading somewhere that bullets could carry over 50,000 psi behind them. Definitely enough to toss someone around if it didn’t punch though the skin. And it didn’t look like whatever Bobby had would be able to.

Bobby also seemed to realize this, muttering some curse under his breath, then sending his next volley into Baby’s shoulder, sending him spinning around like a top. Zoey understood what he was going for in an instant.

Bobby couldn’t do lasting damage, but he could mess with their balance enough to help create openings.

Zoey didn’t hesitate. She tossed two of her Sinkal at Baby who was still trying to recover from the impact. She made good hits. Landing a blade into his shoulder and his arm. The first good hits she managed to score all night.

Baby growled in frustration poofing with a flash of pink. He appeared behind Bobby claws raise. “Bobby look out!” Zoey shouted, only to watch in fascination as Boby sidestepped the attack while only half looking, slamming the butt of the rifle into Baby’s nose. As Baby stumbled back from impact, Bobby brought the muzzle flush with the underside of Baby’s chin and fired. Sending Baby flying into the ceiling, where he quickly teleported away.

Zoey was awe stuck. Bobby was a certified badass. But Zoey knew he wouldn’t be able to pull something like that again. Bobby couldn’t do lasting damage, and the demons wouldn’t underestimate him again.

But Bobby didn’t seem fazed. He just leveled his rifle and put to more rounds down rage at Romance. Knocking him off balance just enough to let Mira find an opening. Her Waldo cut a line across his chest. Not deep enough to kill him, but enough to start racking up the damage.  

They were actually making progress. Sure, if Rumi was here, they would have already wiped the floor with them. But Bobby’s intervention gave them just enough of an edge to start scoring solid hits.

Abby would charge at Zoey, only for his ankle to be knocked clean out from underneath him, and he would be met with a strike from Zoey.

Romance would lunge at Mira, only for a round to connect with the side of his temple, sending his off kilter enough for Mira to land a blow.

“Why couldn’t have my weapon from the Honmoon been a gun?” Zoey half muttered to herself as she managed to grab a disoriented Baby in a head lock, Sinkal in one hand as she started inching it closer to his face, his arms pressing back against hers.

Right before it connected the elevator dinged and everyone froze.

As the doors slid open Zoey already knew who would be standing there. There were only five people with access to this floor, and 4 of them were already on it.

Celine.

They hadn’t seen her in weeks, Or months really. Rumi was the last person to see her. And even then, it was with a question Zoey didn’t even want to think about. Zoey didn’t know why she had shown up now. She hasn’t bothered at all for the past two months while Rumi was recovering. 

But there she was. High heels, gray pantsuit, that look on her face that Zoey had long since chalked up to RBF.

Her eyes went wide as she took in the scene around them. Tables smashed, chairs broke. Shards of lamps and vases lay everywhere. Both Mira and Zoey were covered in nicks and blood from their fight. Zoey didn’t know how long it had been going on. But it felt like six hours, which means it was probably closer to 20 minutes. Her eyes hung on Bobby, standing there. Scratched up himself, still in the hallway. Standing firm. Dozens of brass casings lay scattered around him. A mark of the impassable wall he had become. Protecting them while keeping anyone from getting past him to room.

This didn’t last long, just a brief moment of pause as Celine took everything in. And as the group did the same. Then Abby broke off and charged at Celine.

She didn’t waste any time before stepping out of the elevator, kicking off one heel and tossing it straight at Abby’s face. He dodged as more rounds from the hallway rang out, a couple connecting, slamming him into the wall next to the elevator, the ones that missed ricocheting off the ground and sticking the wall, filling the space with a slight haze of concrete dust.

Baby took full advantage of Zoey’s distraction and slammed his elbow into her gut; white hot pain exploded across her body. Yup, Abby definitely cracked a rib or something earlier.

As she doubled over, baby teleported away to Celine. Who didn’t waste any time ditching her other heel, letting her bare feet connect with Baby’s face as soon as he appeared. As he stumbled back, Celine summoned her Kama. Zoey hadn’t seen it in years. She almost thought Celine couldn’t summon them anymore.

But she could, and she put to use. Letting the glowing blade arc thought the air, taking a chuck out of Baby’s shoulder.

It was now an even 3v3 (Zoey couldn’t really count Bobby, he was helping for sure. But when you can’t actually hurt or kill the people your fighting, you are kind of limited).

As Abby broke off of Celine and charged at Mira again, dodging rounds from Boby’s position in the hallway. Romance split as well, coming back to Zoey. And Baby stayed trying to fight it out with Celine.

But now the Saja boys were losing, bad. Without having the spare person to flex between Mira and Zoey they couldn’t get a foothold. They were being pushed back to tear, and fast. The wind was ripping through the penthouse, The glass where the tear had formed long since shattered. Leaving a floating pick tear that the Honmoon was trying to close around. Zoey could tell that they were just trying to survive and stall at this point.

Stall for what? Zoey wonders. And she got her answer in the worst way possible.

Mystery’s head suddenly appeared in the tear. What? Why was he here, where has he been this whole time? Zoey thought he was dead. If he was alive then why wasn’t he helping them fight?

Zoey got her answer as mystery’s spoke “Got her, lets go.” As he popped back thought the tear, Abby, Baby, and Romance wasted no time. They dived in after him. Mira once again launching her Wado at the tear, only for it to fly into the open sky before disappearing.

The demons had closed the tear themselves. Zoey barely had time to process it before the words Mystery said rang in her ears again “Got her, Lets go”

The realized hit her like a train. And it seemed to hit everyone else at the same time.

“Rumi!” The four shouted in unison, running to her room.

Bobby was the first in the door, running thought, rifle raised. Zoey and Mira were right after him, Celine standing behind them.

The three of them stood frozen at the door, while Bobby kept clearing the room. Unable to see what the rest of them could.

As he looked in the closet and bathroom, coming back out with a simple “Clear, I don’t know where she went” before he noticed them all starting at the same spot on the bed.

“What? What do you guys see that I can’t?” His voice was worried.

But Zoey didn’t know how to respond. She was frozen with shock. They had been played like a dam fiddle. And they had let the Saja Boy’s do it.

Mira spoke first. “A tear. Faint. Right where Rumi had been sleeping”

Bobbys breath caught.

Zoey felt like she couldn’t breathe. Staring at the faint pink lines where the Honmoon had been split open. It was undoubtable, they had come in and kidnapped Rumi.

A thousand questions bubbled in her mind. The why, the how. But it was drowned out by the ringing in her ears.

She collapsed on the floor, slamming her fists into the floor as a sudden burst of rage flowed through her. “NO NO NO NO!” she shouted, tears starting to stream down her face.

She felt Mira slowly slide down to the floor next to her.

She heard the padding of feet as Celine walked away. She hasn’t said a full sentence since she got here. But she heard sobbing coming from the hallway not long after.

As Zoey sat there, trying to process. She was filled with renewed rage. First, they had almost killed Rumi. Her Rumi, her friend. Her family. Now the kidnapped her?

She stood up and jumped onto the bed, desperately clawing the faint pink strands “GIVE HER BACK!” she yelled, tears streaming down her face as she tried to pull the strands apart “GIVE ME BACK MY RUMI!!!” but as she clawed at the stands, trying to pull them back apart and claw her way into the demon realm to get her back the pink stands fade more and more. Returning to rainbow pattern that they had held before.

“Mira, please, help me. We have to get her back!” Zoey looked at Mira, still sitting on the ground, frozen. “MIRA!” she shouted. This seemed to finally get through to Mira who stood up and walked over. Looking at the spot that had completely healed over by this point.

Mira looked absolutely defeated, she just stared at the spot. Before quietly saying the words Zoey had hopped she wouldn’t say “I don’t think we can. The tear is already gone. And we can’t pull the Honmoon apart.” Her voice cracked hard before adding “Rumi’s gone. And I failed her twice.”

Zoey couldn’t believe it. How could Mira give up so easily. “NO, she’s not. We can get her back. We have to. We can’t let her go. Never again. Remember? We can’t ever give up on Rumi. Never again. Else what was it all for? All the talks, all the moments. All of the love.”

Her feelings came rolling over, harsh and fast. She hadn’t really given it too much thought before. There were always other things to worry about. But now faced with the reality of losing Rumi a second time. They were hard to ignore. The rage, anger. The urge to climb into literal hell without a second thought to get Rumi back. The fact that this time she couldn’t do anything to get her back. She had loved Rumi. And she had never even said it. Only shoved it aside to deal with later. And how she never would be able to.

Zoey collapsed on the bed sobbing uncontrollably. She didn’t even hear Mira walk over until she felt her hand on her back. “We aren’t giving up on her, we are trusting her to come back to us. She is strong. She will come back. I know she will. She has to.”

Zoey was slightly taken aback at the sudden shift in attitude from Mira. Until she looked up and saw the look on her face. Mira was barely holding it together. She was doing it for Zoey. Trying to be strong for her. But Zoey could see the cracks. Mira could barely hold it together at this point.

Zoey just wrapped her arms around Mira and pulled herself into Mira’s lap. Willing herself to be strong. They both needed to. Everything was falling apart. And the only way to keep it up was together.

“Your right Mira. She will find her way back to us. We will be strong. We will be together.” Zoey echoed the words Rumi had said all those weeks ago at the Idol awards. “Rumi begged us for it. And I’ll be damed if I don’t make it happen.” They would be strong. And they would be together. No matter what. There would be time to break. There would be time to rebuild. But right now, for tonight they had to be strong. Then they could break, together.

Zoey made a silent promise to herself to own up to her feelings and tell Mira how she felt. Because she couldn’t lose anyone else without them knowing how she felt.

Zoey tried to believe her own words. But it was hard. But she had to trust the Rumi she had gotten to know over the course of the past 2 months. The one with fangs and claws and grit.

The one who had built a new Honmoon from scratch when she had every reason to give up like Zoey had. That Rumi would make it back. She had to, right?

Mira just squeezed her tight as they sat there. Bobby completely forgotten about as they cried in each other’s arms.

Zoey didn’t know how long they stayed like that. But at some point, she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knows she is waking up to the sound of glass rattling and vacuums running.

Zoey and Mira both woke up at around the same time. Still in their tatter sweats and made their way out to the living room. Where Bobby was cleaning up from the fight the night before.

Celine sat at the bar, on one of the only non-broken pieces of furniture in the penthouse. A mug of tea in front of her, the lack of steam indicating it had been there for a while.

She looked up as the two walked in slowly. The bags under her eyes telling the story of a sleepless night.

She looked like shit. And all Zoey could think was Good. After everything she put Rumi thought she deserves it.

But the first words out of Celine’s mouth made Zoey regret that thought.

“I failed you all.” Her voice cracking “I failed you three in so many ways. I’m so sorry”

She started crying, and Zoey stood there shocked. She didn’t know what to say. Celine had never shown much emotion around them. But now she was crying in the living room, apologizing for failures Zoey didn’t even think she recognized.

The sound of Bobby emptying the vacuum distanced the three, saving Zoey and Mira from having to form a response. They looked, and he looked like shit too.

It seems only Mira and Zoey had gotten any sleep last night. And even then, Zoey could tell it was pretty shit sleep.

Bobby’s eyes were tired as he worked. He had clearly spent most of the night cleaning, broken furniture tossed a corner. A piece of plywood propped up over the broke glass.

Without much words they started helping, going thought the motions as a group just trying to get thought the day. Zoey didn’t remember much of what happened that. Apologies, logistics, needing to make a public statement.

She just nodded along, going through the motions. One of the only moments standing out to her was when she plopped down on the couch at some point, and Mira sat next to her. Taking her hand and pulling Zoey close.

Zoey had looked at her eyes, and silent understanding. An agreement to get thought today, then talk. For real. About everything. No more pushing it off because they didn’t want it to be too much all at once. No more waiting. They didn’t have time to wait around to share everything they were thinking and feeling. Not anymore.

Pov: Rumi (Start of fight)

Rumi and Bobby stayed in her room as they heard voices from the living room. It wasn’t long before the sounds of an all-out brawl started. Rumi wanted to go help, but she knew her girls were more than able to handle themselves. And unless things got really bad, she would probably be a liability rather than an asset.

Bobby walked over to his bag with something that wasn’t quite urgent, but also not quite nonchalant. He pulled out a… Was that a gun?

“Bobby is that a gun? And where on earth did you get a gun?” Rumi knew she was looking at something that was undoubtedly a firearm. But she had a hard time believing it.

“Yeah, ill add it to the list of things I have to explain later.” He said, treading something onto the end of it.

“Won’t that be super loud? And I don’t think it will do anything; we have never been able to hurt demons without weapons from the Honmoon.”

Bobby just nodded at this information “It would be, but I grew quite fond of this caliber a few years back, 300 blk or 7.62 by 39 millimeters. It moves slower than the speed of sound, so it won’t create that loud crack. And this-” He tapped the can looking object he had threaded on “-is a suppressor. It’ll dampen the sound that the gases make when fired, as well as the flash. So, no loud bang, no bright flash. It should help prevent any disorientation. And that’s good to know, but also. Do I have a better option? Even if it doesn’t hurt, the sheer force of impact should be plenty to knock them around. Give you a chance to get a clean hit in.”

Rumi was a little surprised he knew so much. And was so cool about being told he couldn’t actually hurt the enemy at hand. But she nodded at his words. It was good to know that there wouldn’t been any deafening sounds, or blinding flashes. Amongst the physical changes she has experienced over the past few months. Better and faster adapting night vision, and really good hearing were some of the less than obvious ones.

Bobby quickly took up a position near the door, kneeling down half tucked into the frame of the bathroom door. He kept his rifle shouldered but pointed at the floor. Rumi thought about drawing her sword, but without a clear threat, and no clear sign that she would need it, expending the energy to pull it from the Honmoon felt a little unnecessary.

 Rumi tried to listen to the sounds of the fight, but she hadn’t mastered sorting out sounds with her newly enhanced hearing. So, she could only catch bits of grunts and oof’s. Quickly drowned out by a loud howling sound Rumi could only assume was the wind. She could barely sort of the sound of crashing and clanging of metal on a number of objects. The sound made her wonder just how destroyed the penthouse living room was becoming.

She hated just sitting here while they fought. She felt like a giant leach for the past few months. Always needing their help, barely able to get up without help.

She was dragged out of her thoughts as a loud cry had Bobby standing up in a heartbeat. It was Zoey, without a doubt. Rumi went to stand up as well, trying to fight off the dizziness and pain in her abdomen as she stood. But Bobby quickly gave her a gesture “No Rumi. You are in no shape to fight right now.”

This didn’t stop her from trying to stand, only to have to sit down or pass out. Bobby gave her one last look, then rushed out the door. She then heard cracks coming from the hallway. Followed by a lot of grunts.

That was a good sign. Based on the tone and sounds it seemed like things had started to turn in their favor.

As Rumi breathed a sigh of relief that things seemed to be going ok, she suddenly felt a strong tug at the Honmoon beneath her. She looked down just in time to see it begin to split open rapidly. She tried to stand up, much to her body’s dismay. But the demons on the other side were faster. Clawed hands shot up from the sudden tear in the Honmoon, grabbing her hips and yanking her down. She half expected to hit the bed, but instead she slipped right through the tear. Feeling her body go weightless as she started falling.

She twisted in her free fall, her body screaming in pain to the sudden motion. As she managed to get a look at the demon that had grabbed her, she was shocked to see Mystery.

“I thought I killed your stupid ass!” She shouted, reaching out to summon her sword. But her heart stopped as it didn’t come.

No pull, no response. Just silence as she fell. She couldn’t reach the Honmoon. And she couldn’t feel it. The realization hit her like a truck. She was alone. Truly. No Mira. No Zoey. No Honmoon.

No one she could turn to for help.

“Well, well, well. Someone is alone” Mystery teased as they fell “You’re in our realm now. No Honmoon to protect you.”

Rumi swung at him, but he teleported away right as Rumi collided with the ground with a hard thud.

She groaned, feeling the pain race thought her body. It didn’t hurt as much as she had expected. But it definitely wasn’t pleasant.

“Well, well” A deep voice boomed from around her. She knew it, Gwi-ma. “If it isn’t the half demon demon hunter. I’ve been looking for you. We have much to discuss”

As she looked up, a bright purple flame stood above her. He was still huge but had shrunk slightly since their last encounter.

Rumi tried to muster a strong voice as she replied. It came out a lot less intimidating than she wanted “You look like shit. Did you want a beating in both my world and yours?”

The flame grew bright and strong suddenly as a booming laugh echoed though the realm. “You are cocky little one. I will be sure to show you the error of your hubris.”

As he spoke, Rumi felt a sharp pain in her temple. Like someone had jammed a knife in it as she was suddenly ripped back into her memories.

Chapter Text

*6 months later*

Pov: Zoey (+0 min)

Zoey woke to the faint light spilling through the windows of the room. She flung her hand out to her side looking for Mira, but she found the sheets laid flat. Mira normally tried to escape the alleged death grip Zoey held her in while they slept. But this morning she had already gotten out of bed. Zoey groggily got up, not bothering to change or brush her hair. Mira had seen Zoey way worse off over the past few months than the bedhead and the biggest t-shirt Zoey could find, that she currently sported.

Zoey walked out into the kitchen, she found Mira already up and dressed, cooking something that smelled delicious.

Mira didn’t seem to hear her over the sound of the pan sizzling, so Zoey took a seat one of the metal stools- an addition they had gone with after breaking all of their wooden ones 6 months ago, figured metal would be a lot easier to bash demon heads in with- before quickly yelping with supplies at the cold metal hitting bare skin.

Mira startled, jumping in place before turning around with an annoyed look on her face “Shit Zo, you scared me. I thought we agreed not to do that?”

Zoey just shrugged, “Not my fault. I forgot I wasn’t wearing shorts. And somebody decided to take the ones I put on off last night.” Giving Mira a sly smile.

Mira blushed slightly at the memory of last night, before shrugging “Worth it I guess.”

Zoey giggled at that, blushing herself at the memory of last night. “I am going to go find my shorts, then come back.”

Zoey walked back to Rumi’s room and looked around for where Mira had tossed her clothes from the night before. As she lifted up the skirt of the bed, something shiny caught her eye. She looked closer and regretted it pretty much instantly. The brass casing tucked up under the bed was a hard reminder to the events of that night.

She took a deep breath, grabbed it. Then opted to just go to her room and get a new set of clothes.

She walked to her door and froze, hand on the doorknob. She hadn’t been in her room much lately. And never without Mira, the two of them almost never left each other’s side for long since that night.

“You’re a grown ass adult Zoey, and it’s a room. Your room. You can be in there alone.” She tried to hype herself up some before turning the knob and stepping in.

She was hit by a wall of cold air as she walked into the dark room. Her curtains were drawn shut, and the lights were off. She hasn’t been in here for a few weeks, so everything had a slight musty smell to it.

She quickly crossed the room, grabbing clothes blindly, then ran back out. Shutting the door behind her before walking back to Rumi’s room to change.

Zoey went in and tossed the clothes on the bed, before realizing in her haste she had grabbed two sweatshirts and no pants. The one thing she had actually gone in there for.  She weighed her options, go back to her room. Or rummage around for clothes in Rumi’s room. Which, as she looked around, she figured calling it Rumi’s room wasn’t quite accurate anymore. The evidence of Rumi’s presence in the room had faded drastically over the past few months. Not that Rumi had left much of a presence to start with. But at this point all that was left was the occasional obscenely long purple hair, the posters, and the occasional blood stain that Mira and Zoey had missed.

Zoey looked around at the piles of clothes that sat in the corners. Unable, or unwilling, to touch Rumi’s closet. The pair had opted to just commandeer a conner each and stack their clothes there. Mira’s neatly stacked in the conner, Zoey’s a messy pile adjacent to it. She figured she could just steal Mira’s clothes, and deal with the shit she would catch later. Or put on a dirty pair of hers and catch shit for it in about 5 minutes.

She stole Mira’s.

As she walked back into the kitchen where Mira was finishing plating everything, she looked up. Immediately noticing Zoey’s shifted expression from earlier.

“What’s wrong?” She sat next to Zoey, her eyes reading Zoey like a book.

Zoey always hated and loved how easier Mira could read her. On one hand it was incredibly frustrating how she could never get anything by Mira. But it was also nice to be loved so much and so well that Mira just knew when something was wrong.

“I just had to grab clothes from my room” Zoey said this, while reaching for utensil to start eating.

Mira stopped her “Zoey, don’t try to stuff your face to get out of talking. Are you ok?”

Zoey groaned, again frustrated that Mira could read her so well. Because she was 100% going to try to stuff her face then compliment Mira’s cooking to get out talking.

“Yeah, I’m ok. Just… Not my favorite place” Her voice was soft as she recalled that night.

*5 months, 2 weeks ago*

Zoey was sitting down in her bed. Notebook in hand, scribbling furiously. Thoughts and feelings and anything and everything in her brain going down on to the paper as fast as she could. Her and Mira had finally left the penthouse, basically at Bobby’s demand and threat. They decided to go to the bathhouse, figuring it could be good to relax some.

It had been nice. Hot and steamy and relaxing. That was fine, it was the walk out that had really gotten into Zoey’s head, and what had gotten her writing as much as she was.

As they left, feeling somewhat relaxed for the first time since the first Rumi related incident, they saw a trio of young girls. Mid teen’s or so, Mira just looked at Zoey, and Zoey nodded. They needed to talk to fans, bring connection after months of being gone. And now sounds like a good enough time for Zoey. She actually felt good; there was still a part missing. The part that had been dragged into hell. But she shoved those feelings down and tried to focus on the good things. Mira at her side, the bathhouse, the sun. The good. The positive.

As the approached Zoey noticed each member of the trio was holding a photo of Huntr/x. Zoey instinctively walked up to the girl holding her photo, Mira doing the same for the girl on the far end of the little line they formed.

Zoey tried to ignore the hole it formed. The missing space where their leader was supposed to be.

“Hi!!” Zoey put on a big smile, trying to push down the bad and focus on the good. She was only partially successful.

“Oh my god!!!” The girl across from Zoey practically screeched. Before bouncing in place like she had just been handed a million dollars. Yup, definitely a Zoey. The energy she radiated around her was infectious. Not unlike how Mira had described Zoey not too long ago. Zoey could feel the weight lift as she started to chat, talking about favorite songs and concerts. What had started as a somewhat orderly line formed into a group huddle.

But right before the space between Mira and Zoey could close, filling the gap. The third girl spoke, the one holding Rumi’s photo “Is Rumi doing ok? We have been so worried about her.”

Zoey froze. Right, the story. The one Bobby had told everyone and had pushed out.

Crazed fans breaking into the penthouse, attacking Rumi. Rumi got hurt, and was at an undisclosed location resting and healing until she was ready to come back to Seoul. Mira and Zoey had been out at the time, and weren’t there for any of it.

Zoey tried to calm her mind, slow her thoughts and try to come up with a response. What was she supposed to say. She didn’t know if Rumi was ok, she didn’t know if Rumi was even alive. What if she’s dead? What if she is a full demon now, Gwi-ma twisting their missing third into something they wouldn’t even recognize.

Mira’s voice pulled her out of her spiral “She’s ok, just resting. The attack really rattled her.” Her voice sounds calm and collected. But Zoey could hear the uncertainty underneath it.

The girls nodded as a group, one adding “We hope she feels better soon! We miss you all so much!”

A woman from inside a shop called for them, and with a wave they ran off, going on with their day.

And now Zoey sat in her bed, writing as fast as her hand would let her. Trying to get the spiral onto paper and out of her brain.

Zoey and Mira had opted to spend the night in their own rooms. They may be dating now, but it was still new. And Zoey wasn’t sure how to be around Mira when her brain was like this. So, she had asked to spend the night in her own room. Mira had looked hurt for a moment, before seeing something behind Zoey’s eyes and nodding. Leaving Zoey be with a “let me know if you need anything, I’m always her for you.”

Zoey stopped to take a deep breath, looking up from her notebook. She almost screamed. As she looked up, she saw Rumi, standing there. Her purple hair unmistakable. She dropped her notebook and went to lunge at her, before stopping. Something wasn’t right.

As Rumi looked at her, the uncanny valley sent off enough red flags to cover the moon. The smile was crooked, her limbs twisted oddly, her posture too stiff, but also to lose.

Zoey looked at her, trying to figure out what this was. But Rumi bared her fangs and lunged at Zoey. Demon hands outstretched, claws on full display.

Zoey screamed, and right as the claws connected with her neck, she jolted awake. Looking around she saw her notebook lying in her lap, a streak running down the page from where she had fallen asleep while writing.

She tried to get her breathing under control. It was just a dream, not real.

She heard heavy footsteps followed by Mira slamming her door open. Looking around frantically. She spotted Zoey sitting on the bed, still breathing erratically and walking over without hesitation. Sitting down next to her.

Zoey could smell the unfortunately familiar smell of bourbon on Mira. She would have to ask about that later.

Mira put her hand on Zoey’s, giving a gentle squeeze before speaking “What happened? Are you ok?”

Zoey just nodded. As her breathing slowed her brain spun faster, trying to process what she had seen. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

Mira gently brought her hand up to Zoey’s chin, lifting her face to meet her eyes. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Zoey shook her head. Tears starting to fall as everything settled.

Mira spoke again, grounding Zoey to some extent “Do you want me to stay her?”

Zoey couldn’t have nodded faster. So, Mira stayed, but so did the nightmares. Every night, waking her up multiple times a night. One night after waking up without screaming, she slipped out and slept on the couch. Only for Mira to wake up her up not to long later, giving her hell for sleeping on the couch, before dragging Zoey off to her room. But even in Mira’s room the nightmares stayed. Another week of this Zoey was found on the couch again, and Mira dragged them off to Rumi’s room.

Zoey didn’t know how that was going to help. Having nightmares of your best friend who was dragged to hell ripping your throat out didn’t seem like something you could fix by sleeping in their room. But Zoey was to tired to argue, so she just followed Mira.

And for whatever reason it worked, and Zoey got a full night’s sleep without a single nightmare. So that is where they slept. And the nightmares stayed away. So, that’s where they stayed.

It felt weird at first, sleeping in Rumi’s room. But after some time, it felt right. The writing on the wall was pretty obvious. Well, maybe not too Zoey. But Mira apparently saw it.

And with all the subtlety of rhinoceros, Mira addressed it a few nights after she had first dragged Zoey to Rumi’s room.

“You love her.” It was a statement, not a question.

Zoey just froze. Did she mean Rumi? Mira wasn’t one to refer to herself in the third person. So, she must have meant Rumi.

Zoey didn’t really know how to respond to that. It was true, but how do you say that to your girlfriend?

Mira didn’t really wait for an answer “I know Zoey, its ok. I can see it in the way you… well everything. The way you use to look at her, the way you look at her room. The way you hang up every time you have to talk about her. You love her.”

Zoey tried to pick her words carefully, something she wasn’t always great at “I mean, I don’t not love her… but im with you, I chose you Mira. I promi-”

Mira cut her off with a wave “No Zoey you don’t have to do that. It’s ok”

Mira moved closer, taking Zoey’s face in her palm. Zoey almost dissolved into a puddle at the touch.

“I am not mad, and I’m not bring this up to make you feel bad. We just… We talked about how we felt about each other, and how we weren’t going to wait for some perfect moment to be honest. And here we are because of it.”

Mira planted a soft kiss in her forehead before continuing “I spend the past 6 years shoving how I felt about you into a box, then placing it on a shelf labeled ‘Shit to deal with never’ and… Rumi sat in a matching box right next to yours. And now I might not ever get to tell Rumi how much she truly meant to me, but I can tell you.”

Zoey was stun locked. She couldn’t believe Mira was being so open. But more so that she also had… Loved Rumi? Not just as a friend. But in the same way Zoey does.

Zoey spoke after a moment “I do. Love her like that. It’s just. She’s gone Mira. And we don’t know if she’s ever coming back. And we are sitting here in her room, sleeping in her bed, cuddling and everything. In her space. Without her. That’s weird right?”

Mira thought for a moment before responding “Maybe, but I think we are including Rumi in our love in the only way we can right now. She may be gone, but parts of her life are still here. Parts we can include in any way possible. We may not have our missing third. But we can include everything she left behind. So, WHEN she makes it back to us, she knows we spent every minute wait for her to come back to us.”

Zoey nodded, it didn’t make it feel less weird. But it made sense. But one thing still nagged at her “How do you know she’s going to make it back? We don’t know that?”

Mira’s voice was sharp “She will.” She flinched at her own voice, before adding softer “I just know Zoey. She has to.”

Zoey just nodded. Wanting to believe Mira, but part of Zoey just couldn’t shake the feeling.

*present day*

“Hello, earth to Zoey” Mira snapped her fingers softly in front of Zoey.

She blinked “Sorry, just yeah. Don’t love it.”

And that was putting it lightly. After a week of nightmares all ending where your best friend and crush tried to kill you, its not a place you want to hangout in for to long.

Mira gave her a skeptical look, so Zoey added “I promise I’m ok Mir, just anxious. Now can I eat please.”

Mira looked at her for a second longer before nodding “Ok my love, I just don’t want you to bottle anything up”

Zoey’s face way already half full of food, but she managed to mumble out “I know” before going back to eating.

After a few minutes of eating Zoey shifted her weight and felt the cool metal she had shoved into her pocket earlier. She took out the brass casing and set it on the counter for Bobby. He really insisted they get back every casing they could find, something about reloading it or something. Zoey hadn’t heard the whole story. It was pretty tragic; she had heard enough to want to hug him for the rest of his life thought.

*5 months ago*

Pov: Mira (+0 min)

Bobby led them down into the tunnels, he was being quite today. He had just shown them a note pad that said “Don’t say anything out loud, leave your phones here. Follow me”

Mira had given him a look, but over the past month Bobby had been really fidgety every time that night came up. Specifically, about his contributions that night. So, Mira helped shush Zoey and followed Bobby. Leaving their phones on the counter next to Bobby’s.

As stopped not far in the tunnels, where Bobby swiped a card at seemingly random point in the wall, only for a slight hiss to prove Mira wrong about the random part.

Bobby ushered them in quickly before clicking a button on the inside, the door sliding back into place, then sealing in place with a hiss. Bobby let out a sigh, and Zoey started the conversation.

“So, what is with all the secrecy Bobby?”

Mira on the other hand was looking at the room they were in, monitors lined the walls, a computer server rack sat in the conner, and something that looked vaguely like a full-blown operating table sat in the corner. This room had to be at least 50 square meters. This couldn’t have been cheap. Mira was no expert, but she had spent enough time around Huntr/x’s tech department to know she was looking at at least 70 million won in tech and supplies.

Mira looked back at Bobby as he started explaining “So first, you cannot breathe a word of this outside of this room. And I don’t mean ‘don’t tell anyone who isn’t in this room’ I mean ‘you actually cannot say a single word about this when you are not standing inside this room’.”

Mira and Zoey shared matching looks of confusion but agreed. Prompting Bobby to take another deep breath “Ok, so everything you know about my life prior to being your manger is a lie fabricated by the government” He paused after saying this, like he was expecting them to say something. But they didn’t, waiting for him to continue. Which he did.

“So, like most every man, I joined the military right after high school to complete my mandatory service, and at first, I was just there cuz I had to be. But after time I got used to it, and I started to like it. Then I got good at it all, the courses, the marksmanship. I became good at what I did, so when it was time for my service to end, I was given I choice, get out, go on about my life as a nobody. I didn’t really do well in high school, didn’t really have any plans for college. My future outside of the military seemed pretty dim.”

He stopped, lost in the thoughts of the past. So Mira prompted him to keep going “And the other option was?”

“Stay” he started “Stay in the army and start moving up the ranks, making something of myself. All the things that made me bad at school are the things that seemed to make me great at combat. And so I stayed. I signed on to stay and start going thought more training. And I slowly moved up, until I was finally put up for the Black Berets”

Mira was actually taken aback by this. She didn’t know a lot about them, but her father had bragged about knowing one. Talking about how they were the best of best. The greatest, most highly trained warriors in all of Korea.

Zoey looked a little confused, so using what little knowledge of American military she added “Think like, navy seals”

Zoey’s eyes went wide as she put this together. “You were special forces?” the shock evident in her voice.

Bobby nodded “More than that. I aced the course. Top of my class, Top of the next 3 classes that came after me as well. I became one of the best that Korea had to offer when it came to soldiers.”

Zoey wasted no time asking questions “So like, did you deploy, and where? Did you get to do the badass stuff like jump out of helicopters and swim out of submarines and stuff?”

Bobby just chuckled a little “yeah, I got to do a lot of badass stuff. But that’s not the part that I need to talk about in a room waste with faraday mesh. Or well, technically all of this has been classified, so I do. But I didn’t stop there. After a while I was recruited to the NIS. American CIA” He added for Zoey.

Mira didn’t think Zoey’s eyes could get much wider, but they did. And Bobby kept talking “And that is where I learned and saw a lot of shit. Honestly, it’s a big part of why I wasn’t too surprised by the demon thing. I’ve seen a lot of shit I can’t explain. People going into a closed room, only for that room to be completely empty a few minutes later, with no way out. Others jumping off cliffs or buildings, falling dozens of meters, then getting up and running off like it was nothing. Other times people getting shot square in the forehead, only to not die.”

Mira’s mind was spinning. Bobby had been out there running hits on demons? “So, you’re saying you think you have actively hunted demons yourself, as some sort of black op’s hitman. But you didn’t know they were demons?”

“Well, I am going to assume they were demons after what I saw that night in the fight. The way their body’s twisted and moved was uncannily close to what we would see on the hits that didn’t pan out right. And if that’s true, then that night wasn’t the first time I’ve gotten into fist fights with demons.”

Zoey gasped to Mira’s left “You had fist fights with demons, and lived?”

Mira was equally stunned. She had never heard of a normal person being able to keep pace with a demon. But if what Bobby was saying was true, Bobby wasn’t a normal person by any means.

“I’m not sure. But it seemed like it. The movement’s, the ability to cover 10-20 meters in a second, the strength. It all lines up. But living is a strong word. Not everyone did. A lot didn’t actually...”

His voice trailed off as he said this. Mira knew the look. The look of loss, the look of pain.

“Bobby, what happened?” She pressed gently. This was clearly a big deal to him. He looked at her with true pain in his eyes. A look she had never seen on Bobby before. And not one she ever wanted to see again.

He looked at her, before sighing and letting his shoulders sag. He sat down in a chair, motioning for Mira and Zoey to follow suit, and they did.

“I guess its time for the real reason everything is classified. And why I am not supposed to talk about anything.” He voices heavy with sorrow. “It was the last mission I went on. It wasn’t supposed to be the last, but everything went sideways and I decided to call it. Be done. And because of what happened everything about my life was classified and hidden away. Because no one could explain what happened.”

Mira just nodded along, giving him what she hoped what was an encouraging nod.

He continued “It was a mission up north” The way he said north implied he meant a lot further north than just Seoul “We had details on a guy at a compound. Big player for them. We didn’t know if the target was a spy, weapons trafficker, or what. All we knew was a code name, Jeoseung, didn’t mean anything to us at the time. Just a strange code name. All we knew was he was a big player in their operations. Really important. A big target to take out. And that he was going to be at this compound for a meeting with some other generals.”

He paused for a moment as he thought, that pained expression deepening “We should have known something was up. It was too many important people. But it read clean enough, secure compound, deep into their lines. Armed to the teeth and secured with enough anti-everything to seem like a legit meeting. So, we planned it, bombed everything to shit. Infilled on heli’s and started moving thought. And again, we should have known something was up. There were no guards, no resistance. We thought they had all fallen back…” His voice broke. But he swallowed and kept going.

“We finally made it to the deepest point, where we thought the meeting would be. Blasted doors open and there was nothing. No generals, no gunmen. No one. Just one guy, sitting in all black at the end of a table. We didn’t waste time, we fired. Saw his head snap back and went to move on. But before anyone could react, his head snapped back up, and he moved. Faster than any of us could follow. Suddenly he was on top of us, blood in the air. Our guns all but useless. We tried anyway but he moved thought and around us with ease. 20 became 10, 10 became 5. We watched in horror as every round just… flatted against his body. Dropping to the ground useless. Kives broke and deflected against his skin. Fists were even more laughable. And it wasn’t like anyone there was new. We were the best NIS had. We were a group that was closer than anyone. I knew them like the back of my hand. And they knew me the same. We could, and had, taken on either company alone and walked away ok. But this guy was different. He moved around and thought us like we were toddlers. Kill us one by one while fucking laughing” Bobby’s voice grew tight with anger as he spoke. But he kept going.

“It was a massacre. By the time there were 5 of us left, he wasn’t even out of breath, and all of us were hurt badly. Like he was toying with us. Every one of us just, toyed with. Playing around, half assing it. Like this was nothing more than a game he had gotten good at. I don’t know why, maybe it was luck, maybe it was just skill. But the last 5 were also the best 5. And we fought like hell. I don’t know how long we went at it with him, but it must have been hours. Total mission time was 8 hours. And it had taken us less then 30 minutes to get to the room.”

At this point Bobby had tears slowly coming down his face as he spoke. A quite testimony to just how much he had lost, and just how bad he was hurting.

He took a deep breath “But no matter how good we were, or how hard we fought. He just didn’t tire. Didn’t slow down. Ammo ran dry, knives dulled. We were out of options, and bleeding out. And there were only 2 of us left. Me and my best friend.” He moved his mouth a little, trying to form the words. “His name was Han. But we all called him Suicide Bomber” Bobby gave a dry laugh as he said it “He always had a tendency to stand a little to close to his bombs when he set them off, hints the name. But for him it would ring a brutally ironic truth.”

Bobby took another pause, breathing slowly. Zoey reached out and took his hand, offering what little comfort either of them could. Mira slowly did the same. And Bobby looked up at them with a grateful expression.

“When it was just us, we knew we wouldn’t make it. That bastdered wasn’t even tried yet. I thought we were going to fight until the bitter end. Do anything we could just hurt him. Leaving him with a scar at the very least, a mark. Anything to prove that 20 of Korea’s best fighters had fought him. But Han had other plans. He grabbed me and shoved me out the door, slamming them closed with a simple order. ‘Run’. I knew what he was going to do. Part of his sick humor was always keeping a shit ton of explosives on him, to ‘Take down every last bastered in a square kilometer of me.’ I ran to the doors, but it was too late, the explosion sent me flying back. And the next thing I know I’m in hospital. Pulled out by a follow up team that was sent to try and recover bodies when we were assumed dead.”

Bobby’s voice died. Tears flowing down his face at the memories. The silence stretched for minutes before Mira spoke.

“You couldn’t have done anything. Or known. You didn’t know about demons, you didn’t know what they could do. And you certainly couldn’t have killed him. You can’t hurt demons without a Hunter’s blade. You can’t be a fault for losing a fight that you could physical never win” Her voice is as strong as she could make it.

But Bobby just shook his head. “You don’t understand-”

Zoey cut him off “No we do. You had your team, your friends. Your everything, you went into battle and lost everything because you fought something you didn’t even know-”

Bobby cut her off, his voice rising “It’s not that simple. It wasn’t just my team. It was the team I picked. I was lead; I was in charge. The calls were mine; the people were mine. Everything was my call. Every last person who went in, was there because I chose them to be there. Every time we didn’t pull out because something wasn’t right, it was because I made the final call to keep going. Every last one of them followed me, trusted me. And I got them all killed despite the feeling in my gut that something was wrong. And what did I get? To walk away. To live another day. I made every last call, every last choice. And I got everyone but myself killed. I couldn’t keep my team alive, together, safe. I failed them.”

His voice deflated, defeated in his eyes. “They were my family, and I got them all killed”

Mira just watched him trying to think of anything to say. She finally settled on something “You made your calls based on what you knew to be true. If what your saying is true. Every call you made was the right one. The people who were supposed to be there were high value people. People who you need to take out. You couldn’t have predicted they would have a one-man army in the basement. Until a month ago you didn’t even know demons were real. So you couldn’t have predicted that it would be a trap. Not like that. You made every right call, but there were forces at play less than 10 people in the world knew about at the time. You couldn’t have planned for that, you could not have known”

Mira didn’t want to be mean, but her words came out harsh, nonetheless. Trying to drill the harsh reality in that he couldn’t have made a better call. Because they couldn’t have planned to run into an opponent they could literally never have planned for.

Bobby took a deep breath. Steadying himself. “Either way. That was my last op I did. I quit after that. Left, I had my past erased because of my connections to that battle. And was hired as your manager less than a year after I recovered. That’s why I know what I do, why I can fight, and why I can have a gun in Korea. Everything I could ever need or want is always a call away. At the end of the day I have more training than most doctors, more days in combat than most of Koreas top generals, and am certified in more types of hand to hand combat then most people even know about.”

Mira and Zoey just sat there. Taking in just how much Bobby knew, and had been through. Zoey was the first to act “Can I give you a hug, please?” Her eyes rimmed with tears.

Bobby nodded and Zoey practically jumped across the space between them, wrapping her arms around Bobby.

Mria gave him a look, a silent question and he nodded. She reached across the space and gave him a hug as well.

*Present day*

Mira saw Zoey slowly pull out the brass casing and set it on the counter. Her eyes heavy as she looked at it.

“Thinking of that night?” Mira didn’t mix words.

Zoey just nodded.

“Do you want comfort? To talk? Or to be distracted?” Mira didn’t know what Zoey would need right now, it always changed so much. A lot of times mid item on the list, but Mira didn’t care. Whatever Zoey needed, Zoey got.

“Can we cuddle, and you tell me about our first date? I just want to relive a happy moment”

“Of course, Zo, Couch or bed?”

Zoey thought for a minute, her face scrunched up as she weighted her options.

“Bed, I want Rumi to be included.”

Mira nodded, grabbing her hand and leading them off to bed, mustering up some courage to say something silly to try and help make Zoey laugh. She finally settled on “To cuddle town! Population, the most bestest beautiful girlfriend in the whole wide world!”

It worked, as Zoey giggle behind her, giving her a playful shove. And Mira just smiled. Silly comments and remarks weren’t always her thing. But making Zoey laugh was all she needed to get over the weird feeling in her stomach about making them. So Mira kept making the silly comments, compliments, and funny remarks the whole way.

Finally settled into bed. Mira thought back to their first official date. Not the ones where they stayed in, not the bathhouse. But one where they went out and got food and went to a place.

*Four months, two weeks ago*

Mira took a deep breath, before pushing open the door to Rumi’s room. Finding Zoey still wrapped up in the covers, where she had been all morning. Still rotting. She hated seeing Zoey like this.

Mira never knew how Zoey was going to feel each morning. It was like a coin toss.  Some mornings she sprung out of bed with such vigor it made Mira groan. But today? It was a bad day.

“Hey Zoey, I’ve got lunch ready for you.” Mira took a slow step to the bed

“Lunch!!!” Zoey sat up suddenly, the red rimmed eyes didn’t go unnoticed “What happened to breakfast? What time is it?”

Mira picked her words carefully, she loved Zoey to death, but today was going to be a bad day, and Mira didn’t want to make it worse. “Its 1 pm. I wanted to let you sleep. So I made you breakfast incase you woke up, but I let you sleep, so now I’ve got lunch for you.”

Zoey just looked at her, tears forming in her eyes shit wrong thing. But to her shock, Zoey didn’t get mad “You made me breakfast even though I didn’t get up for it???” She started sobbing “I’m sorry I didn’t want to miss your breakfast”

“No, no, no, no baby it’s ok. I wanted you to sleep, but I didn’t want you to wake up hungry with no food.” Mira pulled her crying girlfriend into a hug.

Zoey seemed to accept this, her tears slowly dissipating. “Ok, I love you Mir, so so so so so soooooooooooooooo much”

Mire smiled “I love you too Zo” She planted a kiss on her forehead, standing up and grabbing Zoey’s hand, slowly leading her out of bed. With much protest from Zoey.

“Can’t I just eat it here, pleaseeeeeeeee” Zoey gave Mira puppy eyes, and Mira folded like a lawn chair. How was she ever supposed to say no to that.

“Sure baby.” She left and returned with lunch in hand. A plate for both of them. Mira had already eaten, But Zoey was more likely to eat enough if she thought it was Mira’s food and Mira was full. So she picked some food off and ate while Zoey vacuumed her plate clean. After Zoey was done, Mira handed her plate to her.

“Are you full already Mir?” Zoey looked worried

“I had a big breakfast babe, I’m full. Promise” Zoey’s response was to stick out her pinky, with Mira took with hers, adding “I pinky promise”

Zoey took this as enough and started digging into Mira’s (see Zoey’s second plate) with equal vigor.

As Zoey finished her plate. Mira slowly mulled over the question she had been itching to ask, but the past couple days had been bad ones so she had held off, but she needed to ask now if they were going to make it on time.

“Hey Zo, I was thinking…” Mira trailed off as Zoey looked up. Before quickly continuing “I was wondering if you would want to go on a date. Like a real one. Like, go out and eat food and do something”

Mira paused, not sure how Zoey would react. Zoey loved going out, but the last time Mira had suggested it when Zoey was having a bad day, Zoey cried for an hour.

But something about the word “date” seemed to stave off the feelings.

“What were you thinking?’ Zoey’s response was slow.

“I want it to be a surprise. But I promise you’ll love it” Zoey gave her a look, but the food, and the prospect of actually going of a real date, not just movies in their penthouse, seemed to win over.

“Promise?”

“Pinky” this time Mira held out her pinky first, which Zoey enthusiastically took.

“How should I dress?” Zoey stood up, looking around the room for clothes.

“However, you want babe. I don’t care what the world thinks tonight. I’m taking my girlfriend on a date, and she can dress however she wants. I’ll beat anyone up if they give you shit.” Mira gave Zoey a wink as Zoey started running around trying to put together an outfit. But at that comment she stopped.

“Your gonna beat up Bobby? You know he isn’t going to love it if we go out on a date while not being in disguise.”

Mira waved away her concern “Bobby has been briefed. To be honest, I planned this awhile ago. I just wanted to wait for the right time. All I have to do is give him the word and he’ll post some stuff to cover for it.”

Zoey gave her a look, but apparently the idea of being able to dress however she wanted AND go on date won over. Because Zoey didn’t pick anything remotely subtle.

Mira had been shooed out of the room so Zoey could get ready. Mira was only able to grab a couple things to get ready herself before being shoved out with a “Get out I want to surprise you!”

Mira looked down at her hands “Zoeyyyyy, I only got half of my makeup bag! I also need to get ready!”

“Suck it up, you look amazing anyway!”

So Mira just shrugged and went to her bathroom to get ready. She opted to do something maybe stupid, but it would be fine.

She pulled out some eyeliner and eye shadow, laying down the lines carefully as she worked. Before long she had managed to get it done right. Red, orange, white, pink, magenta. Eye liner bleeding up into her eyeshadow. The colors matching as best as she could. Unfortunately, this was about all she could do as Zoey had shoved her out of the room, and Mira didn’t have anything but her eye bag. So, with a little mascara Mira had to call it a day until Zoey allowed her back in.

She quickly texted Bobby, letting him know they were going bold tonight.

She got a thumbs up and a “omw”

She wanted to wait for Zoey to come out before she picked an outfit, but she figured she could make it match.

As she heard Rumi’s door open, she looked up to see Zoey. No words could do it justice.

Mira looked up and down again, trying to take it all in. The light blue dress was knee length, the fabric splitting at the waist to bring two pieces of fabric up, crossing over the chest, then pulling up into a halter neck. Leaving most of her midriff and all of her back exposed. Mira had to remind herself to breathe. Then remind herself again when Zoey did a little spin. 

“What do you think?” Zoey asked, giving a little twirl.

The most Mira could manage was something incoherent along on the lines of “pretty… not subtle… very pretty” 

Zoey just laughed, walking up and giving her a kiss. As she tried to pull away, Mira quickly pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around her waist. Kissing her again with vigor. Zoey leaned into it for a minute. But after some unknow amount of time she tried to pull away, only for Mira to keep chasing her, but Zoey managed to pull away enough to take a gasping breath before saying “Air, Mir”

At the words Mira remembers that both of them did technically need to breath. Not that Mira cared. If she died of suffocation at Zoey’s hands, she would die happy. But she did let Zoey pull back and take a few deep breaths.

“So, I guess you like it?” Zoey giggled in Mira’s arms.

Mira quickly nodded so hard she might have concussed herself.

This was met with more giggling from Zoey. “You should go get dressed too, unless you plan on wearing that, and your not subtle make up at all” Zoey’s eyebrow raised as she looked over what Mira had been able to do.

Mira blushed a little, before adding “I wasn’t trying to be subtle. I’m in my ‘fuck it we ball’ era.”

Zoey just laughed, shooing Mira back into the room before slamming the door behind her.

Mira just laughed and went to pick out a suit, she didn’t feel like wearing anything too flashy, her eyeshadow was flashy enough.

But that thought died in her mind as she walked in and found what she could only describe as the perfect outfit for this. Did it match Zoey? Not even close.

She started off normal enough, a white button down. But decided to go all out for the rest. She dawned a dark red pair of slacks and found a pink straight tie. She fumbled with the tie for a minute. “Dammed stupid things. It’s a knot! Why is this so hard?”

She could never get ties, stupid pieces of shit. After the nth try she finally got it tied and lied up right.

She picked up her orange blazer and put it on.

With her outfit complete Mira walked back out, she heard Bobby’s talking to Zoey. Explaining the plan.

Zoey looked over as Mira walked out and squealed. A high pitch noise that had had Mira and Bobby coving their ears. She ran over and grabbed Mira, looking her up and down. Her eyes running lines over Mira’s body like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

“Holy shit Mir, we are supposed to make it outside with you looking you like this? Your lucky I don’t shove you back into that bedroom right now!”

Mira blushed and looked back to see Bobby as equally red as Mira felt.

“That’s lovely, but um Bobby what’s the plan” Mira tried to get out from under Zoey’s very intense gaze. The mention of Bobby seemed to do it, and Zoey’s eyes went wide as she remembered they weren’t alone. Her face flashing bright red as she walked back with a muttered apology to Bobby.

Bobby ignored what happened, opting to just go on about the plan to make it look like they are not going on a date “Ok, so we are going to get a few photos, ill send them off to have some edits made. The cover is you all are taking a much-needed break, to celebrate your work on an upcoming song. So you all are going out to celebrate it.”

Zoey’s eyes narrowed at the mention of edits.

Shit Mira thought. She hoped Zoey wouldn’t catch that part. They both knew Bobby never made them photoshop what they posted on the Huntr/x page.

“What edits?” Zoey asked.

Double shit Bobby looked at Mira like “That’s your problem. I’m not getting in that”

Mira silently groaned before thinking about her words carefully. “We are going to add something to the photos to make them more believable.”

She hoped that would be enough, but she knew it wouldn’t. She really wasn’t surprised when Zoey pushed for more.

“What are we going to add?” Her voice both confused and sharp. Zoey knew when Mira was hiding something. And Mira both hated and loved that about her. She tried one last attempt to not break the news now.

“Can we talk about it later? Please?” Mira practically begged. Just wanting to have a fun night out without the inevitable reaction that would come from what they were doing.

“No, I want to do what you are going to edit.”

Damit, Mira didn’t want to do this now. But she knew Zoey wasn’t going to budge.

“We are going to photoshop Rumi into the photos. So, it looked like she is still recovering. And that’s why she’s not going to be out with us.”

Zoey paused for a long time at this. Her reaction was already better than Mira had thought. Finally, Zoey spoke “You promise we will take her out for real when she’s back?”

Mira blinked. That was definitely not what she had thought Zoey would say. But Mira wanted that too.

“Yes Zoey. If Rumi wants to, we will take her out when she gets back. I promise.”

Zoey nodded, tears forming in her eyes. “I miss her so much. I just want her to be here with us.”

Mira pulled Zoey into a hug “I know, I know. I do too. But once she is, we will never let her leave us again.”

They stayed like that for a minute.

Bobby cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to rush you, but you all need to get going.”

Mira nodded, pulling away from Zoey. Lifting her chin up to look her in the eyes. “You ready to take a couple pictures with Bobby then go?”

Zoey nodded, wiping her eyes. Shifting her gaze over to Bobby “As much as I love you, I hope you don’t mind that I would much rather Rumi be in these pictures for real.”

Bobby just laughed “Yeah, I don’t mind. I wish she was in the photos too. I know she doesn’t mean the same to me as she does to you, but she still means a lot to me.”

They nodded before getting in a selfie position with Bobby laying on the couch to fill in Rumi’s “Place” in the photo. A couple of quick snaps and then Bobby send them off to have edited. And just like that, Zoey and Mira were down the elevator and getting into Mira’s car to drive them to their date.

Mira could hardly contain her excitement. When she saw that the new aquarium in Seoul was doing Sea Turtle interactions? She booked it so fast she was surprised she didn’t break her screen with how hard she hit the buttons on the screen. She didn’t even ask Zoey if she wanted to go. Mira just booked it. One thought in her brain Zoey would love this. Then it was done. Their reservation booked. Now she just had to tell Zoey. Zoey had been crying that morning, and the next. And the next couple of days after that.

She had had a rough week. So Mira had waited, but Zoey just hadn’t been in a good mood all week. Crying herself to sleep in Mira’s arms, waking up in tears. Feelings Mira couldn’t understand. Sadness to a level Mira didn’t understand. She had cried while sad before. But never this long, never this much. She cried if she had to, got everything out, then just moved on. She couldn’t really relate to this permanent sadness Zoey seemed to be going though. So she tried to wait, be there to hug and comfort Zoey, and just do whatever seemed to help the most. And it seemed to help.

Especially now that Zoey was looking around at every landmark and every building trying to figure out where they were going. Practically vibrating with excitement. Mira reached out and grabbed her hand.

“Breath Zoey, its not going anywhere and I want you to enjoy it, Something you can’t do if your hyperventilation the whole time”

Mira caught a sheepish look out of the conner of her eye.

“Sorry, just really excited. I have been hoping we would go on a date date for a while. But I never knew when to ask. Or when felt like a right time.”

“I know sweetheart. But we are now, so lets just breath, and enjoy it.”

This feel on deaf ears as Zoey finally realized where they were going as Mira pulled into the parking lot.

Zoey’s shriek was loud, only made worse by the car echoing the sound around.

“Ow Zoey”

“Sorry I just really love turtles and aquariums have turtles, right?” Zoey was already unbuckled before Mira even put the car in park.

“Oh don’t worry, we are going to see plenty of turtles Zo”

Zoey looked ready to explode.

“Come on, lets go. It starts soon.”

“What starts soon?” Zoey followed Mira, right on her heels, and having to turn around and come back every time she ran ahead.

“You’ll see.” Mira laughed softly at Zoey’s excitement. This was exactly what she was hoping it would be like. A part of her heart ached for their missing third. The one who they both wanted. But couldn’t be here.

But the other part filled over with pure joy and contentment at this. Finally having this. Something she had tried to hide and shove away. But she just accepted it now she was the happiest she could be. And she wouldn’t trade it for the world.

They got inside and joined the line. They got a lot of looks, a lot of stares, and some requests for pictures. They declined for the night. They didn’t want their night to become nothing but photos with fans, but they still talked and chatted in line.

Even this little bit of interaction and they could feel the Honmoon ripple with joy at the way the fans reacted.

As they got to the front of the line Mira opened the tickets on her phone.

The lady behind the counter eye’s went wide as she saw them.

“Hi, we have the reservation for Huntr/x” Mira turned her phone around so the lady could scan the QR code. The lady just blinked at her for a minute before remembering she was supposed to doing something, not just standing there gawking at them.

“Um, yes of course miss. Will it just be the two of you this afternoon?” Her voice laced with a mix of nerves and curiosity.

Mira bristle, and she felt Zoey go stiff beside her. “yes, just the two of us.” Mira kept her voice clipped and short.

The lady looked slightly embarrassed as she quickly scanned their QR code.

“Your good to go! Enjoy the turtles!”

“Turtles???” Zoey’s voice suddenly extra bright “Are we doing nothing but turtles the whole time?!?!?”

“You’ll see” Mira was a little upset at that lady comment. She was hoping it would be a 100% surprise until the last second. But all hopes of that vanished as they walked under an archway and were meet with a huge ass sign that read

“Sea Turtle Interactive event! Get your tickets now!”

Zoey’s breath caught “Mira is that it” She said pointing “Please tell that is what we are doing, please please please.”

“Yes it is, Zo” Zoey practically charged ahead.

Mira felt her phone buzz and checked the notification

Mira and Zoey of Huntr/x spotted at Local Aquarium. Recent Huntr/x post states it is a celebration of Song work, but Mira’s…

Mira didn’t read the rest. She knew what she was doing when her makeup. She could already feel the Honmoon surging with the excitement of fans from all over at the prospect. Zoey may have forgotten the trick, but Mira hadn’t. The more the fans talked about them, and speculated, the more the Honmoon surged. And like most things with this new Honmoon, it was built upon exponentially.

It was nothing compared to even a small concert. But it was the best they could do.

“Zoey hold up, come back here!” Mira followed up after putting her phone away.

“But turtles!!!”

“I know, it doesn’t start for another 10 minutes, and we have the vip seats. Your not going to miss anything.”

Zoey still dragged her along, talking about all the different kind of turtles. Wondering what kind they would get to see, and if they would get to touch any.

They found their seats in the front of the auditorium, one of the large tanks of water in front of them.

The speaker, a marine biologist, came out a few minutes later and began talking about the turtles that they kept.

“All of our turtles are ones that we rescued from the wild. Sick or injured ones that we found and brought here for recovery. This one here-” she gestures to the turtle that she had lured up to the surface of the water with a treat “-is named Jake, because I was told Jerk was an inappropriate name. No matter how fitting.”

She continued to talk about how Jake had been snappy and rather mean at the start of his recovery.

Mira looked over at Zoey, and she was beaming from ear to ear. Taking in everything that was being said.

The presentation was short, but it was what came after that Mira had really planned for.

“And that concludes our turtle talk! Thank you all for coming and listening to turtles! We hop to see you again!”

Zoey stood up, and started walking out, already talking about all the other things she wanted to see.

“Where do you think your going?” Mira called, grabbing her hand.

“To go look at the rest of the aquarium?” Zoey gave her a confused look

“No, no. We still have to go meet Jake. If you want.” Mira laughed as Zoey’s eyes lit up.

“Meet Jake!! We get to meet Jake!? OMG OMG OMG” Zoey looked ready to explode.

Mira led her up to the front of the tank, and showed their tickets to the presenter, Ha-yoon.

“Oh! Thank you so much for coming…” She looked down at the tickets again to read their names, then her jaw went a little slack. “Mira and Zoey”

Her voice had gotten a lot smaller as she looked up at them again.

“It’s lovely to meet you to! I love Jake. He is so cute!” Zoey held out her hand to shake, and Ha-yoon took it slowly. Her eyes still a little wide before she shook her head.

“Sorry, my deepest apologies. I am just… a little shocked. I never thought I would ever get to be in the same room as you-”

“Mommy! Mommy! That was amazing!”

Mira looked up to see a little kid that couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 running down the stairs. Two older girls followed behind her sisters by the look of it. The oldest looked to be around Mira’s age. The other looked to be in her mid-teens.

“Hey, what did we say about interrupting people when they are talking to each other?” Ha-yoon looked at the youngest, who quickly dawned an embarrassed look.

“Not to, I’m sorry”

“You ok! I thought she did amazing too!” Zoey tossed in. Much to Ha-yoon’s mortification.

At Zoey’s voice the oldest stiffed, then quickly started making a lot of fast gestures with her hands. It took Mira a second to realize it was Sign Language.

As the eldest looked at them, Mira and Zoey both repeated a greeting they had learned a while ago. The movements were slow and choppy. Her eyes went wide. Then started signing to her mother for a second.

Ha-yoon spoke, “These are my daughters, Yun-Seo, Min-Seo and Soo-ah.” She gestured to each of them. Eldest to youngest. “They are big fans, but Yun-Seo, why don’t you take your sisters to get something to eat. I am going to try to convince Jake to come back up here for the meet and greet.”

Yun-seo nodded, motioning for her sisters to follow her. The two of them talking in excited whispers as they walked off.

“I am sorry about that; they like to come in and watch some of my presentations whenever they can. And are also huge fans of you.”

“That’s ok, we love to meet fans!” Zoey spoke up

Mira quickly remembered the look on Yun-seo’s face while she had signed, and thought back to what she had been taught about signing and non-manual makers “If I may ask, it looked like Yun-Seo asked a question, was there anything she wanted to ask us?”

Ha-yoon looked a little stunned, but smiled after a second “You all know sign?”

“No, not really. We just have done some fan events and learned some greetings and picked up on a little bit of the expressions.” Mira remembered how embarrassed she had been trying to stumble thought a greeting. But despite grammar and pronunciation that must have been on par with a 2 year old, the kids been ecstatic.

Ha-yoon nodded “Ok, um. I’ll text her here in a little if you don’t mind answering some questions. She loves listening to your all’s music.’

“Listening?” Zoey asked before Mira could stop her

“Oh, yes.” Ha-yoon seemed to click where the confusion lay “She is mute, not deaf. So, she loves listening to your music. She actually does some sign covers sometimes.”

Mira nodded. She figured she should have at least been able to guess that, considering Yun-Seo had recognized them by Zoey’s voice.

“Yeah, we would love to answer some questions. We don’t have forever, but we always have time for fans.” Mira comment.

Jake finally came back to surface, and Zoey practically fainted up close.

“Can I pet him?” Zoey asked quickly.

“Unfortunately not today” Ha-yoon said, much to Zoey’s dismay “Unfortunately we primarily take in injured or ill sea turtles, which means very few people are allowed to touch them or their food, to help make sure they stay safe.”

“Ok, that makes sense. I don’t want to get him sick again” Zoey couldn’t really hide her disappointment

“But! There is normally a couple weeks after they have been cleared for release, but before the date that they are scheduled to be released, that we will allow them to be fed by people. Jake here is pretty close to that point, which is why he is in our show. His right fin was cut up pretty bad by a boat a few months ago, but he is almost healed, and we felt he was recovered enough to come here and participate without being stressed out. Sometime in the next few weeks he is expected to be healed enough to be released. And if you can come back in that time you would be able to feed him”

Zoey’s eyes lit up “yes we will have to!”

They kept talking for a little, while Mira watched with amusement. Zoey marveled over every little detail Ha-yoon pointed out about Jake the jerk.

Their 10 minutes had long since been up by the time Ha-yoon’s daughters came back. But Ha-yoon didn’t seem to mind.

Mira looked at the three of them. The eldest two held something in their hands, while the youngest looked like someone had injected caffeine straight into her blood steam.

“What do you all have there, if I may ask?” Mira started, drawing Zoey’s attention.

Yun-Seo started signing, and her mother began to interpret “It is a photo card, I was wondering if you would be willing to sign it.”

Mira smiled, and Zoey was already looking for a pen. After a few seconds of looking they found a pen and signed the cards that they had.

Yun-seo had one of Rumi, which made Mira’s chest go tight for a second.

“Rumi was always my favorite; I wanted to be able to sing like her when I was older. But your choreography has been my new favorite thing to learn.” Ha-yoon interpreter for her daughter.

Mira gave her a look, and Yun-seo quickly followed up.

“I wasn’t always mute. There was an accident a few years ago when I was doing an exchange student program. Caustic chemicals damaged my vocal cords and lungs.”

Zoey and Mira, both gave her a look, condolences already started when she cut them off.

“It’s ok. I made a choice, and I would make it again.”

Their looks of confusion prompted her to gesture at her mother.

“She was a part of an exchange student program to go to America for a year. While she was over there, there was a caustic chemical spill near a school bus while she was out with friends after school. The school bus had a bunch of 6-to-9-year old’s on it. She ran in and helped get the kids out and away from the fumes and everything, but her prolonged exposure ended up giving her cancer in her voice box. The sliver lining, if you could call it that, was that it didn’t spread, and didn’t develop anywhere else. But they had to cut a large part of her voice box out, and what is still there is heavily damaged.”

Mira spoke first after hearing the story “That was very brave of you. I only hope I could be half as brave as you in I was put in the same spot.”

And she meant it. Mira may fight demons, but she was trained for that. She had weapons.

Runing into the danger zone of a chemical spill with no training? Mira wasn’t sure if she would do that.

Yun-seo signed something again, but this time her mother paused before starting to speak for her “I just did what I knew Rumi would do. I’ve seen videos of you guys helping people, standing up to creeps, or running around helping grab people out of flooded areas. I wanted to be just like Rumi when I was older, So I started there. Helping the first people I saw who needed it, and I don’t regret it.”

Zoey had tears running down her face, and Mira felt her eyes water with guilt. They had training. Resources. Sure, Mira had personally introduced more than a few creepy dudes to the concrete. But she had hunter training, fighting normal, incredibly drunk creeps was easy. Something you could hardly call dangerous.

“Can I give you a hug?” Zoey asked

Yun-seo froze for a few minutes. Mira could almost see the load circle over her head as she processed the request. Before nodding slowly.

Zoey rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her.

After minute Zoey pulled back “That was a really brave thing you did, and I am so proud to be able to call you a fan. And I am so sorry that it cost you something you loved.”

The rest of their conversation wasn’t awkward, but was a little short, and Ha-yoon had to go. And her daughters left with a bow and farwells.

“I wish I was half as brave as her, Mira” Zoey lamented as they walked off.

“Yeah, me too Zoey, me too.”

*Present Day*

“Omg you sly mother fucker. That’s why you painted your eyes with the fucking lesbian flag on your eyes? Fan service?”

“It wasn’t the only reason. It wasn’t even the main one.” She rolled her eyes at Zoey, still snuggled up into her lap, but had leaned back to look at her and playful shove her chest. “It was all the makeup I had been able to grab before you shoved me out of the room to get ready and I just decided to roll with it. And anyway! It took me to tell you to figure that out? I wasn’t exactly subtle. I am pretty sure Bobby still has a migraine from all the pictures of my suit”

“Ok sure Mir, and I hate turtles” Zoey rolled her eyes, laying down an incredibly thick layer of sarcasm. “But I was too busy drinking in how absolutely stunning and sexy you looked to take in exactly what it meant.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Mira just rolled her eyes at Zoey’s dramatics “It’s getting to be lunch time, and we are supposed to go have that meeting with Celine today”

POV: Zoey (+0 min)

Fuck, they had to go meet Celine today didn’t they. It was six months to the day since that night. They had decided to wait 6 months before starting to hold auditions for a new member, saying that it was looking like Rumi would be unable to return to Huntr/x, and that they wanted to start to get a feel for who might mesh with them if Rumi wasn’t comfortable returning.

“Oh, yeah. Right” Zoey tried to keep her voice measured, but Mira wasn’t letting it slide. She gently hooked her finger under her chin and lifted her head up.

“Hey Zo, its ok. Let’s just start with getting up and going to get lunch. We can worry about the rest of that afterwards. Her voice was calm. Working its way into Zoey’s mind leaving no room for question. Not in the bad way, but in the comforting way that made everything easier. They slowly untangled and stood up, getting casually dressed for the day.

They went down the elevator and to Mira’s car, loading up and heading to a local noddle shop. They didn’t want to eat too much, as Celine normally had something prepared.

Well used to have something prepared. It was a gamble now a days. Celine was hit hard by the ordeal. Celine and Mira both went through feelings in a way Zoey couldn’t understand. But they seemed to experience them close enough to the same that Mira was able to talk to Celine and pass on the vibe to Zoey.

And honestly. Zoey felt for Celine. She was still mad at her for how she treated Rumi, but after the first day that they had seen her, and the details Mira had filled in afterwards? Zoey hadn’t forgiven her, but she had definitely started to understand.

*four months ago*

They were having a good day, really. Zoey was happy, cuddling up into Mira on the couch. Some rom-com on as background noise while they made out. Because what else was a couple to do in their place other than try to make out and fuck on every surface available? Zoey sure couldn’t think of a better thing to be doing.

Zoey was sitting on the couch, Mira in her lap. Well, technically Mira was straddling her. But Zoey liked to imagine she was in charge. (She was very much not). Her hands wrapped around Mira pulling her closer, one hand snaking around her waist, the other up her back to the base of Mira’s neck.

The phone rang dam it to hell. Mira pulled back and Zoey chased her lips, trying to pull her back into a kiss “Come hereeeee don’t worry about that.”

“My love, as much as I want to. You know we need to answer calls from Bobby. He might have new for us ever since he put out the word to keep an eye out for Rumi.”

Zoey paused at the words. Bobby had agreed to ask some… Friends… to keep an eye out for Rumi, or any Rumi looking people running around.

Zoey let Mira go and grab her phone, answering with their normal “Hi Bobby!”

Bobby’s voice crackled thought the speakers “Hi! How are you all doing!”

“We are good” Mira said

“I was doing better” Zoey muttered to herself. Mira just gave her a shove.

“Hey so, Celine got ahold of me and asked if you all would be willing to come over and talk with her. She apparently has some stuff she wants to talk to you all about.”

Mira and Zoey froze. Looking at each other. They hadn’t heard from Celine since that night. Just some cleaning up the next morning then she was gone with a word of needing some time to think to herself. Zoey and Mira didn’t fully understand what she needed to think about, so they assumed process.

Mira raised her eyebrows at Zoey, asking the silent question. Do you want to do that?

Zoey held her arms out, inviting Mira to come closer, to which she did. As Mira folded into Zoey’s body, Zoey planted her face into Mira’s neck. Taking a deep breath. She gave Mira a nod without lifting her head.

“Yeah we can, should we head over now?” Mira spoke into the phone, running her hand up and down Zoey’s back.

“Yeah, she said as soon as you all were available. I’ll let her know you’re heading that way now?” They looked at each other at Bobbys question.

Did they want to go now? They were kind of in the middle of something Zoey very much did want to interrupt with that.

But Mira spoke “Yeah we will head that way shortly.”

“Ok! I’ve got to go! Let me know how it goes?” Bobby had already started half talking to someone else as he spoke.

“We will!”

The click signaled that they call had ended.

“Miraaaaa, we were kinda in the middle of something.” Zoey winned, already dreading having to get up and dressed.

“I said we would leave shortly, not now” Mira’s voice was low as she switched her legs around to straddle Zoey.

30 minutes later they were in the car, pulling out onto the roads of Seoul. Zoey was already picking at the hem of her shirt. Dispite everything Mira had done to… help… her not stress about meeting Celine again, the thoughts came back.

What could she want?

Did she find Rumi?

Is she going to try and force a new person on them?

Was she going to blame them?

Mira reached over and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “You’re ok, we have each other. And soon we will all be together again, then everything will be as it should. No matter what Celine thinks.”

Zoey gave a soft laugh at how easy Mira seemed to read her mind. “You always know just what to say.”

“Because I know you.” Mira took her hand back to merge over, then just as quickly brought it back to Zoey’s hand.

“I just miss her, y’know? I just want her back. No one else, nothing else.” Zoey tried to put determination in her voice, but it still shook.

“I know, I do too. We aren’t going to replace her. No matter what.” Mira’s voice was firm, but Zoey could hear the uncertainty of it. They had only recently realized how little they truly knew about Celine.

They knew she was always pretty stern, but they thought it was just pushing them to be better hunters. Your faults and fears must never be seen. Zoey always thought that meant from the world. Not from each other. Not that she was instilling such a deep fear in Rumi that she wasn’t willing to talk to her only friends. Because they really were her only friends, weren’t they? Rumi talked to a total of 3 people with any level of consistency. Zoey, Mira, Bobby.

Mira’s voice cut thought Zoey’s thoughts. “We’re here”

She had zoned out for a while.

As they pulled up into the driveway everything felt off. Nothing was crazy out of place. It was just small things. The flowers in the landscaping were wilting, the porch had leaves on it, and scenes of just general clutter and untidiness that Celine never let happen. Insisting on doing most of it herself.

As they got out of the car and walked up to the door, Mira gave a slight almost whistle as she took in all the small things.

“She’s clearly not taking her own advice- Ow” Mira’s voice started out smug, but went high pitch as Zoey jammed her elbow into her ribs.

“I am not a big fan of her either right now, but clearly, she’s going thought some shit. Let’s at least see if she’s gotten less shitty before we judge her too much” Zoey had to resist the urge to at her own remark. Opting to try and keep an open mind. If Celine was letting her house fall into visible disarray she had clearly gone thought something.

Mira knocked on the door and waited. No one answered, so Mira knocked again louder.

“Come in”

Celine’s voice called, it sounded strained and tried. Another thing that was very unlike Celine. Always keeping her voice calm and collect. Never letting how she felt bleed into her voice.

Mira grabbed the door and opened it, and that’s when it also clicked to Zoey. Celine never left her door unlocked. The list was really starting to stack up of weird things.

Zoey was half tempted to summon her Sinkal just in case. It was starting to feel like whatever was inside this building wasn’t Celine and hadn’t been for a while. As they stepped in they saw it was even worse on the inside, takeout boxes strewn about, blankets and pillows left half folded and stacked on the furniture.

More weird things, Celine never ate takeout. Not once in the 7 plus years had Zoey known her. According to Rumi, Celine hadn’t eaten takeout since one time she allegedly got sick and couldn’t cook, back when Rumi was still too young to cook. And the blanket and pillows were never for use, they were for show. But they had clearly been used, wrinkled and even dirty.

Celine sat on armchair in the corner of the living room. Well, sat was a little bit of a strong word. More like did something akin to what Zoey liked to call “The lesbian sprawl” gaining its name after all the very unique ways that Mira opted to sit in every chair around the penthouse. In other words, never sitting the way they were supposed to be sat in.

And Celine was definitely giving Mira a run for her money in “Weird ass ways to sit in a chair” department. She sat with her left leg thrown over the back of the chair, hooking around to its back, her right leg sat cross body over the arm rest, twisting her hips into a position that couldn’t be comfortable. The footrest was propped out, and Celine laid her back on it, pushing the footrest halfway back into the closed positions. Her arms left to just flop above her head. Her hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in a month.

To say she looked like shit would be insulting to shit.

Zoey caught Mira’s expression soften in the corner of her eye. Mira clearly seemed to be running the same mental math as Zoey. This wasn’t the Celine they were expecting. Or knew. Whoever sat in room was a broken shell of who they used to be. And they needed to move with caution.

They walked in slowly, Celine looking up and quickly trying to shift herself around to look less… Well, everything she looked like.

Smoothing out her shirt and fixing her hair she started “Hi, girls. How are you?”

Their response was instant “We are good Celine”

“How are you?” Zoey added

It was trained and practice from years of it being the only acceptable answer. But Celine only added to the surprise and oddities for the say when her response came “Horrible frankly, and I figure you all are closer to the same boat. Would you like some tea?”

She could feel the blink from Mira to her left, and Zoey had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn’t going crazy.

Celine was… admitting a fault? Being honest? This had to be a demon, right? But as Zoey looked into her eyes she saw something behind them. She couldn’t but her finger on what, but it was something that couldn’t be faked. A soft glow deep down that you couldn’t fake, something that only a Hunter could have.

Mira’s voice brought her out of her thoughts “Yes please, tea would be nice.”

Celine gave a nod, then walked off the kitchen, filling up a kettle and starting it. Before starting to rummage around. Another strange thing. Celine never had to look for tea; she already had it out when she had guests over.

“Is Ginger Peach tea ok? I think its all I have left”

“Yes that works” Zoey called out, before turning to Mira and bring her voice to a really low whisper “All she has left? What the hell is going on?”

Mira’s response was equally quite “I think your right, she is clearly going thought some shit. Maybe she finally got a few very needed lessons through her skull”

Zoey just nodded. It really did seem like Celine had been thought a lot the past couple months.

Celine walked back in, mugs in hand.

“Here, and please take a seat” She moved some pillows onto the floor, gesturing for them to take a seat.

They did, and Celine started the conversation without much more pleasantries “Have you been able to find anything out about Rumi?”

Zoey almost choked on her tea, Mira’s jaw looked like it was trying to marry the floor. Not because she was asking about Rumi, but because Celine sounded genuinely worried. There was no… anything really. Just true, raw concern.

Mira managed to speak first “Why are you asking?”

Zoey tried to shove her elbow into Mira’s side, but Celine spoke faster “Because I know I haven’t earned the right to just be informed about it if you have.”

The rolls were switched this time, Mira choked on the tea, and Zoey was trying to convince her jaw to stay attached to her face.

Celine didn’t comment on their reaction, just kept going “I haven’t’ been a good… Anything really. Mentor, mother, trainer. Pick your adjective. Whatever it is, I know I haven’t been a good one. Or even a decent one. There is no reason I should expect you to volunteer any information you have. So I asked”

“What brought on this change in attitude” Mira seemed to have her brain the most put together between the two of them, so Zoey let her lead and ask questions. Zoey wouldn’t focus on breathing.

“You guys, your new Honmoon, just everything about that night Gwi-ma managed to break into our world. Then managed to mount an attack at the core of Honmoon. I very quickly and unpleasantly realized I wasn’t right. That what I had been taught, and preached back, was not right. That wasn’t what really worked. Because if it did, everything wouldn’t have happened. But it did. So, someone had to be wrong. And as seeing you all staved off a demon apocalypse, it very clearly wasn’t you.”

Zoey was still trying to process this. This was unfiltered honesty she didn’t think Celine was even capable of. What the hell had happened the past 2 months.

“Ok, why now? Why reach out to us now?” Mira kept pressing Celine for more answers, Zoey could tell her tone was meant to break her. See if she would snap and change stories.

“Because I want to find Rumi, I owe her every apology that could ever be said and then some.” Tears started to form at the corner of Celine’s eyes.

It seemed Mira was finally at a loss for words. This was not the Celine they knew or were expecting to find here. They were expecting to find a Celine who told them to suck it up and move on. Not one crying over her failures and looking to apology.

After minute of silence and Celine blinking back the tears, she spoke again “I owe you an apology as well.”

They just started stupidly at her, waiting for her to continue.

“I taught you what I was taught” This didn’t sound like an apology to Zoey, but she let her keep going “I heard ‘all demons are evil’ and ‘we kill all demons’, and I never stopped to question it. No matter what happened, at ever turn I put blind trust into those that came before me. Figuring they must be right. I should have questioned it when Mi-Yeong told me the truth about Rumi’s father” Celine’s voice caught on the names, ever so slightly “I should have questioned it when I watched him dive headfirst into battle against demons to protect Mi-Yeong. I should have questioned it when Rumi was born, and I saw the patterns of demon on an innocent child.”

Celine took a death breath before continuing, and all Zoey could think was fucking lore drop???

“But I didn’t, and I am sorry. I should have questioned it so many times. When time and time again for years and years I watched the evidence against what I had been taught grow up. But I never did. And I am sorry. I taught you a fallacy. Blindly following the teachings of generations before me and passing it along. And it hurt you, and it hurt Rumi.” Her voice started to break “It hurt Rumi so much. And I never knew how much until the night Gwi-ma managed to make it to our world… God I was so stupid…”

Her voice trailed off, like that last part was meant for herself more than anything.

Mira surprised Zoey by making the first move, standing up to walk over to Celine. Sitting down next to her.

Mira’s voice was short and clipped when she spoke. It wasn’t necessarily mean, just to the point “At least you pulled your head out of your ass. Now you have two options. Sit here and wallow about how much you failed and how you should have done everything different. Or help us figure out how to get Rumi back, and how we keep the Honmoon strong in the meantime.”

Celine nodded.

The rest of their day was a blur that Zoey didn’t fully remember. Lots of talk about everything Celine knew about the demon realm. Bits of information she wasn’t sure about but thought could be true. One part of that conversation stood out to her.

“If the words of Rumi’s father are to be trusted, which in hindsight they probably should be, time seems to move a lot slower? Faster? in the demon realm. I’m not sure which way you would describe it. Either way, he would leave and come back , claiming hours had passed, even when he had only been gone for 30 minutes.’

That was faster, Zoey was pretty sure it was faster at least. If that was true, then how long had the past 2 months felt to Rumi? How long had she been trapped down there from her perspective. Did she think they had given up on her? Zoey tried to shake that thought away. She hoped Rumi knew they would never give up on her.

Some more logistics filled the topic, and Zoey tuned out again until she heard Mira and Celine take a deep breath.

“Hey Zoey, can you be here for this conversation?” Mira’s voice was soft.

Zoey looked up, tuning back into. The look on Mira’s face pretty much instantly made Zoey worried.

Mira took another deep breath “I know your gonna be mad, I know you’re not going to want to. But me and Celine were just talking about how we need to decide what we want to do if, and big emphasis if, we don’t find Rumi. Don’t give me that look, you know I don’t want to but… you also know it was already getting close to time to start talking about our successor plan, and this makes it even more important. Just in case… What did I say about giving me that look?”

Zoey was looking at Mira with something between bewilderment and anger. As much as deep down she knew Mira was right, they should be smart, they should plan ahead. Even if its for the worse possible scenario. But that wasn’t going to stop her from being upset that Mira would even suggest they talk about that now. But before Zoey could try and get mad, Mira followed up.

“How about this, we plan our just in case plan now, then we will plan the party for Rumi when she gets back?”

Zoey’s eyes lit up at that, a party. For Rumi. Once she gets back. When she gets back. Zoey nodded “Fine, but I am not happy about planning for the worst-case scenario.”

So that’s what they talked about. They planned out how they would go about it. They would start auditions after the 6 month mark, but wait to officially add someone to the group until a year. Zoey did like it. Not at all.

But she enjoyed planning out the “Rumi’s back” party they were going to throw. And they were definitely going to throw it.

*Present day*

The noodles were good. They ate lightly and quickly and got on to Celine’s. They still had a little bit of a drive ahead of them.

It was largely uneventful. Zoey sitting in the passenger seat looking out the window, making wishes on just about everything she could see that Rumi would come back to them today. and this time she would stay.

“What are you thinking about?” Mira gave a glance over at Zoey. Zoey could lie and say nothing. But Mira knew her better than that.

Zoey just sighed “Just that night 3 months ago”

Mira’s breath caught. She didn’t have to ask which night. Zoey knew she didn’t. That night had been burned into their minds.

*three months ago*

They had started going over to Celine’s once a week to go over anything of consequence. New things Celine might have found in her books and books of information about the demon world. Things Mira and Zoey had noticed with any of their demon fights. Even Bobby tagged along a lot.

He wasn’t tagging along with all of their hunts, but his increased time and additions to their lives meant he had been on a fair number of hunts. And he did not play when it came to demons.

Zoey thought he was a badass when he was just playing defense. Trying to protect Rumi’s room. But Bobby turned into a whole different beast when he got to play offence. He couldn’t quite keep up with Zoey and Mira. Their connection to the Honmoon gave them strength and stamina Bobby couldn’t hope to match. And the lack of a weapon that could actually kill a demon meant he could never fully do anything without them.

But Zoey had seen Bobby on more than once occasion take full advantage of the fact he couldn’t kill them. Slamming the butt of his rifle into a demons face so hard, so many time, the concrete underneath them cracked.

His voice harsh and low, demands that Mira and Zoey didn’t always here, but caught parts “Where… Rumi… So help you god…”

It was always met with a cackle from the demon. Sometimes a sly remark about “trapped on the kings alter”. Which normally promoted Bobby to slam the muzzle into the demon, because pointer? Zoey didn’t really see the point because it couldn’t really hurt them.

That was until a particularly cocky demon started taunting Zoey. Promoting Zoey just start punching him over and over until Bobby handed her the rifle, and she started bashing his head in with that. It was a lot easier on her fist. And a lot more sustainable.

She quite enjoyed it, the demon, and the brick wall behind the demon on the other hand, did not find it quite as enjoyable.

Another fun discovery was that Mira and Zoey could actually cause demons physical pain if they were the ones using a non Honmoon base weapon.

That discovery had led to the topic of today’s meeting.

“So yeah” Mira wrapped up the background to how they had learned this new information “we learned that if we are wielding a weapon, it can actually hurt a demon. Which… strongly encouraged him to divulge some information about Rumi’s tearabouts in the demon realm.”

Celine’s eyes lit up as she sat up, giving them a look to keep going.

Bobby added from his chair, “I’ve been keeping notes of everything we have heard. Here”

He handed over a notebook filled with notes of everything that had heard demons say that even sounded related to Rumi.

“The best we have been able to piece together is that Gwi-ma had been keeping her with him. Trapped in some kind of loop or something. We don’t know what kind of loop. But it feels safe to assume it’s some kind of loop of her worst memories. Like he is trying to break her.”

Celine nodded as she flipped thought the notebook. Reading the quotes and everything the 3 had made.

Bobby continued “Until yesterday morning. I went with them on a hunt yesterday at 0215. Following our new SOP we managed to get one stuck on this side of the Honmoon for us to interrogate and we managed to find out that she had apparently broken free. The exact quote was-”

“‘Your bitch broke free and she’s not here? Guess she gave up on you after all!’” Celine read from the notebook. Her voice tight “So Rumi managed to get out of Gwi-ma’s grasp.”

A hint of pride in Celine’s voice.

“Yes. So, we think now she is running around the demon realm looking for a way out. We have been brainstorming ways to try and help. But we haven’t come up with much.” Bobby finished off

Zoey spoke up now “We were hoping you might have some ideas from any of your reading.”

Celine nodded “I can’t think of anything smart to do. I will go back over my books. But the best I can think of now is to let the Honmoon weaken so it’s easier for Rumi to get thought. But that’s not really smart. No matter how bad we might want her back.”

Zoey would have been taken aback at this, but it wasn’t the first time Celine had mentioned it. Just a couple weeks ago Celine had proposed letting it weaken so they could try and pass thought it and mount an invasion.

A marked and shocking change in Celine over the past few months. She went from protecting the Honmoon at all costs. To being willing tearing it down just to get a chance at trying to make amends.

Zoey wasn’t sure if that was a good thing yet, but it seemed better than the ‘hide everything at all cost” Celine.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t she be strong enough to claw her way out on her own? From what little we got to talk about, it seems like Rumi was easily able to outclass the Saja Boys when she was in good health. So, I would reason she would be able to get back thought without much issue on her own.” Mira added this on, mostly talking to herself. But Zoey had to agree.

Rumi was strong. Very strong, outclassing the Saja Boys, and both of them.

“I bet she is just trying to recover her strength. That’s why she isn’t back yet. It’s been at least 3 months, and she just now broke free? She is probably tired and weak. She just needs time to recover.” Zoey tried to be rational. Everyone else was being rational. But the fear crept in. What if that demon is right, and she doesn’t want to see us. What if she thinks we gave up on her?

But as if to silence her thoughts, they felt a pull on the Honmoon. It felt like a pull, not a push. A strange difference that took the three hunters present a second to figure out.

Then it pulled again.

“What? What do you all feel?” Bobby’s voice cut thought. He had long since been accustomed to seeing them all freeze at random points. Normally followed by information of where they need to go. The worry in his voice made it clear they all had a very different look on his face.

“It feels…” Zoey started

“Like a pull?” Mira finished

“Out by the tree?” Celine added “They haven’t tried to break into these grounds since you all first were brought onto be Hunters, and before that it was two decades before.”

They all rushed outside to look, and sure enough. The Honmoon was being pulled down, rather than split apart.

They all stood there looking in weird fascination.

Mira was the only one who half drew her weapon. The stands of the Honmoon swirling slightly around her but never taking full form.

Then there was Bobby. Who couldn’t see any of this and just watched them with minor confusion.

Then they all gasped, even Bobby. Because even he can see what was crawling out of the ground now.

Zoey watched as a thick purple braid began to rise out of the ground, quickly followed by a clawed hand, then one normal one, planting on the ground.

Rumi

It was all Zoey could think, she rushed forward as a head popped out of the Honmoon.

Rumi’s face was streaked with tears, and frankly she looked like shit. Her braid was pulled apart; her arms were scratched up. Her left eye glowed bright gold. And the patterns on her head, arms, and upper chest glowed red.

Zoey could hear Mira run forward as well, Celine and Bobby not far behind.

Rumi seemed to struggle to stay up, like something was pulling on her from underneath the Honmoon.

Rumi looked up at them as they all ran forward. Zoey already had her arms out to try and grab Rumi and pull her into her. Never let her go again.

Rumi opened her mouth, her voice horse and stained like she could barely speak “Help”

Zoey didn’t even get to respond before suddenly, right before Zoey and Mira managed to grab Rumi’s arms, they saw Abbys upper body fly out of the Honmoon.

“You’re not getting away that easy, little girl.” His voice was nothing less than a snarl. He grabbed Rumi by the head, his fingers wrapping around her ear too her face. As he dropped suddenly, taking Rumi back with him.

And just like that.

Rumi was gone again.

Zoey froze, hands outreached. Just inches away from grabbing her. She was so close.

A rage filled scream cut thought the air, and Zoey looked over to see Mira.

Pov: Mira (+0 min)

Mira let out a scream in rage. She was so close to getting Rumi back.

And now she was gone again. Her vision tented red as she dropped to her knees and started tearing at the dirt.

There was no plan. There was nothing that even came close to it. She didn’t care. She was doing to dig her way into the demon realm if she had to.

She just had to get Rumi back.

Her vision clouded with tears and a violent red as she tore at the dirt.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away. She couldn’t be distracted. Not until she had Rumi back. Not when she was so close to getting her back. Only to lose Rumi because she had frozen for a second to long. If she had been a couple seconds faster, hadn’t paused for that half second. She could have grabbed Rumi.

She felt another pull on her shoulder “WHAT” she spun around, her voice hot with her anger. Now spilling out uncontrollably.

But she froze as she saw Zoey standing there. The tear streaks on her cheeks.

Mira felt her rage fade into something less all consuming, something more controlled.

She quickly pulled Zoey into a hug as she tried to steady her own breathing. She still shook slightly as she tried to breathe “Follow my breathing Zoey” She prompted the young one folded into her arms.

“Four in” She took breath in “Hold… 2… 3… 4…, Out…2… 3… 4…”

Zoey followed her breathing as they went the cycle they did for warms ups, in four, hold four, out 4, repeat out 8, repeat out 12, repeat out 16. All the way until they hit out 32.

They took one last deep breath as they finished. Neither of them had really calmed down, just got their emotions under control enough to do something other than scream and cry.

Mira had made up her mind, she had never been too keen on the idea of just pounding on demons after they were down couldn’t really fight back. It was one thing to smash their face in with a kettle or pan or chair to try and weaken or stun them. But beating them down, and to keep hounding on them after they could just dispatch them with her Waldo? That always sat uneasy with her. It never felt right. But as she spoke there was no hesitancy or uncertainty in her voice.

“I swear to anything that claims to be holy in this world. I am going to beat the next demon we find until it tells us where the fuck Rumi is”

Zoey looked up at her with something that Mira couldn’t quite pin down. But Mira knew she hated being looked at that way. Almost, just almost, as much as she hated not knowing where Rumi was.

*Present Day*

Mira cringed at the memories of that night. She hated how hateful she had been.

“Sorry again Zo. I know you said its ok, I know you told me it was fine. But… Just the way you looked at me when I said that I hated it.”

Zoey was silent for a few moments, letting go of Mira’s hand to twist the rings on her fingers.

Mira felt her heart drop like a stone as Zoey broke the contact. Something Zoey only ever did if something really bothered her.

The silence was loud for a few kilometers as they drove before Zoey finally spoke.

“I know… I know I said it was ok, and it is. But… but it was still… scary to see you that fueled by hate. It wasn’t even what you said. It was more so watching you act upon your words that sacred me- Don’t get me wrong it was hella hot” Zoey gave a soft laugh as Mira rolled her eyes slightly at that comment “But it was also scary, in the moment, you were always so calm and collected in combat. Even more so when it was just the two of us. It was weird, and scary, to see rage take the reins.”

She took a deep breath before continuing, her voice rushed as she added this last part “But I don’t blame you, or hate you for it. It was just weird. But it got information. And it helped. It is still just a little weird to think about, yknow?”

Mira nodded. She had gotten the chance to make good on her promise about a month later. And it defiantly wasn’t her proudest moment. No matter what they had learned from it.

*2 months ago*

The rain was heavy as they fought. The woodland camo colored poncho spinning with Mira in a wide arc. Wobbies Bobby had called them.

“I know what you’re going to say. Just wear it. I was skeptical too at first. But the devil dogs insisted there was something different about their’s. And I don’t know. There is definitely something up with them.”

“This looks like it should be considered a fashion crime.” Mira commented as she looked over the oversized poncho. The greens, blacks, and browns clashed with just about everything Mira and Zoey had ever worn.

“What is it supposed to do?” Zoey asked, holding up her own, even more oversized poncho.

“Its to keep you warm and keep the rain off of you.” Bobby commented, already dawning his, strapping the heavily modified armor vest over it.

“Our normal ponchos do that just fine” Mira commented.

But Bobby had insisted “Just try it once. We don’t have much else laying around. I promise you’ll see what I mean after you try it.

So, they had reluctantly dawned their wobbies and ran off to kill some demons.

Mira would never admit it, but someone it did feel different than the normal ponchos and rain jacket she wore. Nothing about it really made much sense. The colors clashes with everything around her, the spare fabric twisted around her, catching the air and pulling on her in weird ways as she tried to fight.

But at the same time. Demons seemed to hesitate as she ran at them. Their claws never quite connecting.

Logic said it was the excess fabric mixed with the color patterns obscuring her form. Making her harder to see and pinpoint down.

But it still didn’t feel that way. Despite the weird tugs from the air, the occasional snag on her Waldo, and almost tripping on it a couple times. She felt more fluid, more deadly. And it spurred her on.

As she landed on the ground, Waldo piercing a demon square thought the chest. The wobbie fanned out around her, pulling up with her form almost like cape. Is this what batman feels like? She shook the thought away as she scanned the crowd of demons. Looking for whatever one looked most important. She had some very pointed questions to ask.

Her eyes locked onto a tall, lanky Dokkaebi near the back. The demons rarely had battle plans. But their smartest (better put as the least stupid) normally hung back to try and launch mini ambushes.

Mira ran right for him. She cut clean thought their lines, surprising all the demons at her decision to charge rather than contain. Their surprise didn’t last long, as Zoey wasn’t far behind her. Sinkal finding their way into the demons that Mira brushed past. And Bobby knocked the few that tried to run off down, stalling them long enough for Zoey to send a Sinkal into their back.

She stunned the demons even more when she let her Waldo disappear, pulling a short fixed blade she had “borrowed” from Bobby. It wasn’t much. About 13 centimeters from the base of the hilt to tip, the grip being a little longer, closer to 15 centimeters. They had all trained with hundreds of different types of blades. Size, shape, all of it.

But this was by far the smallest blade she had ever wielded. But she could get the feel for it, even if the reach was shorter. Which was good, because as red tined her vision she knew she wanted to be close.

As she closed the distance, she dropped into a slide. Popping up behind her target. Mixing the ambush and stealth tactics Bobby had been teaching them with the aggressive offense that she had long since mastered.

Bobbys voice echoed in her head.

“Ok, now you want to pop up like this” He showed them how he popped up from a prone position. Making so little noise Mira wouldn’t have believed he had stood up unless she had watched him with her own eyes.

“Ugh, Bobby. Why do we need to learn this? We never play stealth like this. We almost always having to fight for containment” Zoey groaned from Mira’s right.

“Because with how the demons have been acting there is an increasing chance that you might have to play stealth. Especially if we ever figure out how to get to the demon realm.”

Mira knew he was right. But it still felt weird to be learning how to fight again after mastering so many forms of combat years ago.

Mira gave Bobby silent thanks for making them practice, because it came in handy now.

“You want to clamp your free hand over their mouth like this”

Mira copied the motion, her left-hand clamping over the demon’s jaw and mouth.

“Then take the blade around, and through the throat like so”

Mira copied the motion Bobby had made them practice. The blade split the demon’s neck apart.

“The pull it straight out like this”

Mira again mimicked the motion as Bobby walked her through over and over. The blade ripped thought the demon’s neck, leaving a large gapping wound as the demon’s head flopped back to look at her, hanging on by a sliver of flesh-adjacent materials. But just liked Mira hoped. He didn’t disintegrate. Didn’t disappear.

She quickly dropped the demon, whose hands flew up to righten its head. She could already see the skin start to knit it’s self-back together. She had to be quick.

She looked up to see Zoey staring at her.

“What the actual fu-” Zoey started, but Mira cut her off.

“Later. Finish the rest.” She summoned her Waldo, and they made quick work of the rest.

“That was crazy good use of what I taught you Mira” Bobby commented as he climbed down from the roof. But Mira didn’t really hear him.

She pulled the demon up-right right as his neck finished pulling itself back together. Just in time for Mira to plant the knife back in its neck. A strangled gasp came from both in front of her and behind her.

“Mira, what the fuck!” Zoey’s voice cut thought the sound of the rain. It had started to rain harder since the start of the battle, and the noise grew louder as they stood.

Mira looked over her shoulder to see Zoey standing there. Looking at her with that same look she wore a month ago. A small part of Mira, deep deep down cringed at the sight. But it was flooded out by the rage she felt, the red in her vison growing stronger.

“I made a dam promise, and I am going to keep it.” She turned her attention to the demon she had pinned to the wall. Its hands clawed at its neck, trying to free the knife that Mira keep pinned there. “I have some questions from you. And the sooner you answer. The sooner this is over? You understand?”

Her voice was tight, hot. Seething with her rage.

The demon tried to nod, to little success. But Mira could still see the slight shift.

She pulled the blade free. The skin started to heal over, and after a few seconds the demons started talking “You don’t have to threaten us, we love to tau-”

His words were cut off by his screech as Mira jammed the blade into his cheek, feeling the Skeletal structure give way.

“Mira!” She ignored Zoey’s voice.

“I didn’t ask a fucking question. You only answer what you’re asked. Got it?”

She pulled the knife free, and the demon nodded as she kept the blade close to his eye, her plane to shove it there next clear.

“Where the fuck is Rumi?”

“We don’t kn- Ahhh” his answer was cut short as Mira jammed the knife deep into his eye.

“Wrong answer” she growled.

“I swear we don’t know!” He practically screamed “The night she broke into the human world was the last time Gwi-Ma saw her!”

Mira pulled the knife free of his eye, confusion overtaking the anger “what do you mean? She’s not here. Where else could she be.”

“She’s in Gwi-ma’s realm. We just don’t know where!”

Mira kept the blade close to his face “You have to be lying to me”

“No, I swear. If she was still in Gwi-ma’s flames I would tell you. I would love to tell you she is still burning in his fir-ahhh fuck”

She jammed the blade back into his eye, not even a few seconds after it finished healing over.

“Why would I trust you.” She leaned closely as she spoke, driving the blade deeper.

“Because Gwi-ma ordered us too!” His voice high as he spoke over the pain “It’s been his rule over since they managed to drag her. Any chance we get we are supposed to taunt you about it.”

“And why would he do that?”

“Because Gwi-ma revels in your angu- ahhh fuck I’m answering your questions!” he screamed as Mira yanked the knife out and jammed it back into his face.

“Yeah, But I don’t like your answers.”

“It’s just Gwi-ma’s rule I swear! I would tell you this even if you didn’t stab me. Gwi-ma punishes those who fail to say something when given the opportunity greatly.”

Mira almost paused, but her anger kept her going “Then where is Rumi!”

“I told you, we don’t know. She was freed awhile ago-” His jaw clamped shut as he seemed to realize he said something he shouldn’t have.

“Freed? What do you mean Freed?”

Suddenly a twisted smile overtook the demon’s face. His poster stiffed and he opened his mouth, but it wasn’t the voice they had been speaking with that came out.

“This pathetic pawn shared a little more than he was supposed to. But don’t worry about what he said” Gwi-ma voice echoed out of the body. Mira started stabbing at the throat to try and shut that voice up “All you need to know is that your little half-demon is running around my realm somewhere. And it has been for a while. But hasn’t even tried to come back to you since.”

Mira tried to cut the voice off, but the demon body she held no longer seemed to abide by the rules it had a few moments ago.

“I think it finally gave up on you all, accepted what it actually is.”

Mira’s scream came out loud and unfiltered. She punched the demon square in the jaw, still not silencing the voice.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m hungry, and this demon has just earned it’s place as my next meal.”

Mira was confused for just a moment, before she felt the body heat up, glowing purple and pink from the inside. She took a step back as the demon started screaming. The raw screams that came out were that of pure pain. Like nothing Mira had caused moments ago.

Fire began to break out from underneath the skin as Mira could hear Gwi-ma’s low laugh echo around them.

Suddenly the Honmoon was pulled down and the demon slipped thought. It’s scream still echoing in Mira’s ears long after the demon was gone.

*Present day*

Mira shivered as she recalled the screams of the demon as Gwi-ma pulled it back down to its realm.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. But I’m not really proud of it. It still haunts me.”

“But at least we know Rumi isn’t being tortured by Gwi-ma.” Zoey tried to put a little lighter tone in her voice. But Mira could hear the uneasiness underneath it.

Zoey took Mira’s hand again, and Mira let out a little sigh of relief.

“Do you think Celine found anything in those books she said she was going to dig into?” Zoey broke the small silence that had built.

“I hope so, but I doubt it. There isn’t a lot that is known, and I doubt some 400-year-old book is going to know.” Mira really did hope that those books Celine had mentioned were going to be able to yield something. But she tried not to hold out too much hope. Celine had hoped a lot of books would give some answers, but none ever did.

*one month ago*

A loud thud startled Mira from her tea. She looked up to see Celine, who just set a stack of books easily 50 centimeters tall on the table.

“I’ve read thought every book I could ever find that even sort of related to the Hunter Legacy” Celine sounded frustrated “and nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing?!” Zoey sat her tea down with a little more force than necessary “that stack is like, 2 ft tall how is there nothing in there we could use?”

“Like I just said. I read thought all of them. Nothing about the demon world. Nothing about Humans in the demon world, and defiantly not anything that related to a half-demon hunter getting kidnapped and taken to the demon world by former members of a demon boy band.”

Mira snorted at the overly specific run down of their situation. If it had been anyone other than Celine, she wouldn’t have really found it funny. But something about the way Celine had grown to start copying some of their mannerized was so incredibly funny to Mira it actually got a reaction out of her.

She quickly composed herself before adding “Well what about before the hunters right? You always said there was a time before us, and Gwi-ma was around then. Is there maybe a history book, or a diary, or anything that might exist from before the Hunter Legacy?”

Celine hung her head “Probably, but its not something we would have held onto. So they would be hard to track down, most likely in museums and such. Places that – as influential as Huntr/x and Sunlight Sisters may be – we could have a hard time getting our hands on for in depth study.”

Mira just nodded “If you can track them down, let us know. Bobby can probably arrange it”

Celine paused. Right. Bobby had told Celine a little bit about his… eventfully and well-connected past. But not the full story. Not yet at least.

“Are you sure? Anything like that would be a major favor to pull. And Bobby has been seeming to pull a lot of major favors lately.”

Mira just nodded “If he can take care of it, he will. Trust us, he’s not short on them. To be honest I don’t think the last 9 months have even put a dent in what he can pull.”

There was a slight hesitancy in Celine’s look as she nodded. And Mira couldn’t really blame her. Celine hadn’t even heard all the things Bobby had pulled, but what she did know about had been pretty big things.

“Ok, I will go and try to find anything that might help and let you know if I need help getting it.” Celine paused for a moment before adding “Has there been anymore demon attacks?”

“Not really, we have felt a couple pushes. But nothing ever makes it thought. It’s been really weird” Zoey started

“Yeah. By the time we get there the Honmoon as already gone back to normal. It makes me wonder if something is going on down there that is keeping the demons busy.” Mira added.

She had put a lot of thought into why they weren’t pushing into the human world. She was grateful. But also concerned, it was rare demons started to push without even breaking thought. In the past it only happened when the Honmoon was strong then the demons thought, and they couldn’t break through.

“Whatever it is, I am glad. The fewer number of demons in this world the more time we can spend trying to get Rumi back.” Celine was looking at photos on the wall, pictures of Rumi she had hung up recently. Some old, from years ago. Before Mira and Zoey knew her. Others more recent.

“Yeah, hopefully we will be able to figure out something soon” Zoey finished her tea.

“yeah” Celines response was pretty absent minded, like an afterthought. Suddenly she perked up “Would you like to play this board game I saw was fun?”

Mira wasn’t sure she heard her right, and a glance at Zoey told her that Zoey wasn’t sure either.

“Um, a board game?” Mira repeated the words. They felt foreign. Not because she hadn’t played board games, just that those words didn’t seem to belong in this place.

“Yeah, I um, I saw that board games are like, a good way to spend time with people. So I got this one that I saw people liked” Celine was shifting foot to foot. It took Mira a second to realize Celine was nervous. The two Hunters had seen it on Celine more lately, but it still was a little strange to see.

Mira gave a look over to Zoey, who just shrugged in response.

“Sure, what’s the game?”

“um, I think it’s called monopoly?”

Mira could already feel Zoey grinning to her side, and Mira gave a small smile. This was going to be interesting.

*Present day*

“Yeah, but at least we could maybe play Monopoly again?”

Mira laughed at the memoir of Celine getting demolished in the storm that was Capitalist Zoey. It was all fun and games until well, the games came out. Then Mira stopped be Zoey’s girlfriend, and starting being another person standing the way of victory. Thankfully she was incredibly cute when she got competitive, else Mira’s feelings might have been hurt.

“Yeah maybe, but after what you did last time, I’m not sure she will ever touch that game again.” Mira teased

“Hey! It’s not my fault you all are bad negotiators!” Zoey feigned offence.

“I can’t be held responsible for poor business decisions when you give me that look”

“What this one?” Zoey gave her the little pout, her lip curling out ever so slightly. Eyebrows raised just a little, her eyes wide.

“That one! God, you have to stop that! I’m about to lean over and kiss you while driving” Mira gave a playful shove, turning Zoey’s head away before she had to lean over and kiss her stupidly cute, kissable, face.

“Fine fine, but you owe me at least one when get back to the Penthouse tonight.” Zoey giggled a little.

“Just one?” Mira raised her eyebrows at that.

“Or more, if you want” Zoey laughed as Mira gave an approving hum.

They fell into a comfortable silence as Zoey changed the playlist.

They pulled up to the house. Celine had started taking care of it again of the past few months, Flowers bloomed in the landscaping. The lawn was carefully taken care of. And they could hear Celine singing inside as the smell of food came out from an open window.

Zoey raised an eyebrow. Celine hadn’t sung a lot, until recently. Like she had found herself again after the past few months. It was still strange. But a welcome kind of strange.

They knocked on the door, “Come in!” Celine’s voice called back. Her door being unlocked had become common now.

As the walked in the saw a large spread of food over the dining room table. And a stack on Uno cards on the coffee table in the living room.

Celine smiled at them as she walked in “Hey! How are you guys?”

“We’re good, you seem in a really good mood!” Mira took note of the way Celine smiled extra wide at them.

“I am! I managed to find something in one of those books! I don’t know what to make of it, but it’s something. A start. Please sit down, eat. And ill tell you about it while I eat.”

“Yay! I’m glad you found something!” Zoey cheered from Mira’s side.

Mira just stood there for a moment, her head spinning with the fact they weren’t at square zero anymore. There was something. Anything.

They sat and Celine started to explain what she found “Ok. So, I don’t know what to make of it. But it was a journal from a doctor in 1586. In his notes he described a patient who had markings like a demon. Not that he called the patient a demon, but he noted purple patterns and large fangs. He spoke about how the patient would ramble on about a girl with purple hair and a sword of light.”

Mira froze, and Zoey stopped chewing. Celine kept going, her voice getting a little more excited “In it, the doctor called him crazy. And in recent years doctors have believed that this particular patient was schizophrenic, but they just didn’t really have a word for it yet. But when you read everything, the doctor noted about what the patient said, it adds up to sound more and more like Rumi.”

Celine showed them photocopies of the journal.

                The patient speaks of a woman laced in purple marks (when asked, confirmed that the marks were like the ones he has as well). And carrying a sword of light that would split the fire. She has apparently crawled out of hell with a vengeance for “the fire” which seems to be a considered a sentient entity to the patient.

                I believe the patient has come in contact with a…

Mira stopped reading. “So, what does this mean? It sounds like Rumi, but it was over 400 years ago.”

“If this is right, whatever this demon was. They saw from a time after Rumi is back. It means Rumi finds her way back to earth. I am still looking for any other doctors that might have seen this patient for more notes. But if that was a demon who somehow could have seen the future, then it means Rumi finds her way back.” Celine looked hopefully. “I know its not a lot, but it’s the first thing we have found.”

Zoey nodded “Yeah. It’s better than nothing. I hope this pans out into something solid. I want Rumi back so bad.”

Celine nodded, letting silence fall over them.

They might just get Rumi back. Mira didn’t know what to think. On one hand. It wasn’t a lot. But on the other hand, it was more than anything they had been able to get. So, she would take it. And pray that there was more.

After they finished Celine took up their plates and put the rest of the food away.

As she came back, she looked towards the living room “Would you all like to hang out for a while? I saw the Uno is apparently a popular game, if your interested?”

Mira looked over at Zoey, who just shrugged.

“Sure” Zoey stood up to walk to the couch.

Mira followed as Celine went to make them some more tea.

An hour later Mira was pretty sure Celine hated this game.

“Uno!” Zoey screeched as she placed a skip card. Skipping Celine for the 5^th time this game.

Celine looked frustrated “That’s not fair, I haven’t gotten to play a card for like, 10 turns!”

Mira just chuckled, Celine looked like she was in the ‘Do a thing or drawl 25’ meme, holding a large stack of cards in her hands, she had long since given up on fanning them out, and instead oping to just hold them in a stack.

“Them the rules! Mira it’s your turn!” Zoey was laughing, and she only laughed more as she saw Mira reach to start drawing cards.

She finally drew a green, laying it down. Quickly followed by Zoey happily placing her last card on top, a wildcard.

“So, you were gonna win no matter what hun?” Mira raised an eyebrow at her, and Zoey just cackled before abruptly stopping. Sitting up straight, her face dropping into a serious expression. Mira felt it half a second later.

In a second all three of them were out the door. Sprinting towards the woods in the distance. The Honmonn rippled violently now, waves pulsing out from deep inside the woods.

Mira had never been this deep into the forest before, but the light from the Honmoon guided them deeper.

Celine jumped suddenly and Mira saw it a split second too late. Her foot snagged on a root, and she went down. Hitting the dirt hard.

“Keep going, ill catch up. I’m going to call Bobby!” She called as she pulled herself up. Her ankle hurt, she rolled it and winced.

Zoey gave her one last look, and Mira nodded. Zoey ran off after Celine.

She quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Bobby’s number as the pain in her ankle already dulled.

“Hey Mira! How is it at Celine’s?”

“No time Bobby, demons, forest. It feels like a kilometer deep, north by northwest. It’s big, we are gonna need all the help we can get.”

“Got it, on my way. I’m going to be 30 minutes out minimum.”

The click signaled that Bobby had hung up. She once again found herself thanking Bobby for drilling land nav skills into their heads.

She took off again, her ankle gave her some fits, but she pushed thought it, quickly finding her stride again.

She caught up fast enough; the tear wasn’t too much deeper into the woods.

She saw the pink glow of the tear, and she summoned her Waldo.

She broke thought the tree line, Waldo braced for a fight. She skidded to a stop and took in the scene before her.

There was the faint pink tear in the Honmoon, glowing from the side of a small rise in the ground where a rock face was exposed. Celine stood there, hand over her mouth. Shock in her eyes and tear on her face. Zoey was knelt down in front of her, her hand outstretched like she was encouraging a scared animal to come closer. In front of her, a rather large figure was silhouetted by the pink light. It looked vaguely humanoid, but it was hunched down on all fours. It’s front legs? Arms? It was hard to tell, carefully placed like it was walking forward slowly, its back legs similarly positioned, the muscle groups were hard to make out, Mira could tell that it wasn’t the structure of a typical quadrupedal creature. But the back legs also had the sharp bent at feet that was common.

Mira took a slow step forward, snapping a small branch under her feet. Then a lot of things happened all at once.

Zoey’s head snapped over to see Mira, her eyes fixing on the Waldo still in her hands. Instantly yelling “Mira NO!” Her voice laced with urgency.

The creature snapped its head over with equal speed. With the movement Mira saw the long braid the trailed along her back fall over the shoulder, the glowing left eye, the face. Mira knew it in an instant Rumi.

Mira’s breath caught, her throat shrunk and her chest turning into a ball of rock-hard steel as she threw her Waldo away from her. But it was too late.

Rumi’s face contorted into one of pure fear, her stance shifted rapidly as she shifted her weight and lunged up and away from the trio. Clearing the 5-meter-tall rock face with room to spare.

As Mira’s eyes followed the form, she caught on the unfortunately familiar pink hair as it clawed out of the tear in the Honmoon.

She picked her Waldo back up and growled as the 4 very punch-a-ble and stab-a-ble faces stood in front of them.

Good she thought I needed something to hit.

Chapter Text

*6 months ago (Right when chapter 7 ended) *

Rumi was a kid again.

“Do Hunter’s kill all demons” Rumi had asked a dozen times before, but she wanted to hear it again.

“Yes, Rumi” Celine’s voice was tight, laced with the frustration of answering the same question so many times.

“Everything with patterns” Rumi didn’t ask this time.

“Yes, Rumi” Celine responded, the same frustration still there.

Rumi mulled over her next question for a minute, her hands running over her sleeve where the patterns lay hidden “Then why haven’t you killed me?”

Celine suddenly froze, looking up at her. Rumi couldn’t quite read the emotion on her face. Rumi had never been good at that, mostly because Celine didn’t really show any.

Rumi shifted uncomfortably under Celine’s sharp gaze. After minute Celine spoke “We have been over this Rumi. You are not a demon; you are a hunter.”

“But I have the patterns, how am I supposed to hunt demons while being one!” Rumi didn’t understand why Celine was so adamant that Rumi was somehow different. In every other case it was one or the other. Human or demon. Feelings or none. But when it came to this, how was it different? “I can’t be two at once. It’s Schrodinger’s cat, pick one. I’m dead or alive, Demon or Hunter! I can’t be both. It doesn’t make sense!”

Celine’s face hardened more, if that was possible. “Enough. You are a Hunter, like your mother. You know this.” Her expression softened, not on its own, but forced. “I am glad you are reading your textbooks. I am going to go make dinner.”

With that she turned away and left, leaving Rumi to finish her drills.

Another memory flooded in right after, hot and searing. Pain flooding thought her body with such force she couldn’t tell if she was dead or alive.

“Your like, a demon on the mat Rumi!” Zoey was doubled over breathing heavily, before her eyes went wide as she suddenly shot upright “I mean that figuratively! You’re not like, an actual demon-”

“It’s ok Zoey, I know what you meant.” Rumi tried to keep her voice steady, already bracing for the scolding from Celine later about being too good at this, standing out too much. It didn’t feel like it should be her fault though. Celine had had her practicing for years. And the older she got the more her demon half leant her trained abilities. She could slap a striking snake out of the air, she could dodge arrows from less than 2 meters, she could see at light levels so dark raccoons and deer would struggle to navigate. She had shattered weightlifting records time and time again. Out lifting 18–22-year old’s at 15.

She was faster, stronger, and better trained than most military personnel. And she was supposed to do what? Somehow force herself to be slower, despite everything being instinct at this point? It wasn’t that it was unfair. It was that it was unrealistic.

“Ok, Mira, Zoey. Go get cleaned up. Rumi I want to speak to you for a minute” Celine’s voice called from her spot off the mat.

Rumi suppressed the urge to groan as Zoey and Mira nodded then walked off. Rumi could already feel the lecture coming.

“Do I even need to tell you what you did wrong?” Rumi was taken aback; Celine wasn’t just launching into a scolding.

“No Celine, I know. I’ll be more careful” Rumi hung her head, waiting for the shoe to drop and to be chewed out. But it didn’t come.

“Good, go get cleaned up.”

Rumi blinked once, then twice, then nodded and ran off to get ready for dinner.

But even without Celine chewing her out, she could feel the embarrassment in her cheeks, and the anger in her chest at the expectations placed on her.

Rumi tried to breathe as the next memory came, but her chest wouldn’t expand. She felt like her lungs had been set on fire as she struggled to open her eyes, only to meet with a purple blaze too bright to process.

“Why can’t I just tell them? They know me, they wouldn’t turn on me?” Rumi tried to plead with Celine after having to turn down Zoey and Mira’s invite for the nth time. “I want to go spend time with them. You said it is important for us to bond and be close!”

“Yes, but they can’t know about your other half. You know this, we have been over it. Once the Honmoon is sealed we can tell them. But not until it’s gone.” Celine’s response came instantly and laced with the frustration that was there more often than not.

“But why? Why can’t they know? Wouldn’t understanding what’s at stake only help us work harder?” Rumi didn’t understand. This didn’t make sense. Then again, not much of Celine’s rules around her other half made a lot of sense.

“They can’t know Rumi. They just can’t. Stop questioning it. The sooner we seal the Honmoon, the sooner that you can tell them.”

“But why, Celine? Why? You always tell me to stop questioning it, but you never tell me why we know that!”

“You know Rumi, our faults and fears must never be seen. Now stop.”

“No! It doesn’t make sense. And ‘Our faults and fears must never be seen’ doesn’t explain why I can’t tell the two people I work with everyday. The only two people who share the same weight I do, can’t know what I am carrying. Can’t help. Isn’t that what people do with friends? Carry the things that are too heavy to carry alone?”

“They aren’t your friends Rumi. They are Hunters, just like you. If they knew what you are they would never be your friend. Not until you fixed what your father did to you. Now I told you to STOP. This ends here” Her voice was brimming on rage as she got up and left. Leaving Rumi alone with tears down her face.

It just didn’t make sense.

The memory’s shifted as the fire under her skin burned hotter. She didn’t understand how it was possible. Every muscle, every cell felt like it was being torn apart by the fire that burned under her skin. As the next image flashed into her mind, it wasn’t a memory this time. It felt like it, but the events had never happened. At least, she thought they didn’t

She stood back at the idol awards “Zoey, please”

“No Rumi. Not after you lied” the words came fast, and without hesitancy. Zoey’s face looked colder than Rumi remembered. Or was that really what she had looked like?

The flash that followed was quick, Rumi stood there. Frozen in place as the Sinkal raced towards her. Rumi felt a sharp pain in her chest as she looked down. The glowing blade protruding from her chest. But Rumi could move. Her legs wouldn’t let her run. She sat there frozen, unable to do anything other than beg.

“Zoey, please. Please Zoey don’t do this please. I’m sorry. It’s still me. It’s still Rumi. I’m sorry Zoey please don’t do this I can still fix it. Fix me. I promise.”

“I never knew you. I would never work with a demon” Her voice grew colder as she spoke. Hate filled her eyes as she threw another Sinkal, the blade sinking into Rumi’s heart. But she didn’t die “A demon with no feelings doesn’t deserve to live. It’s so obvious.”

Rumi started sobbing as her body exploded with pain as Sinkal after Sinkal landed in her body, but she couldn’t die. She was stuck, watching blade after blade land in her body as Zoey continued to recite the lyrics to Takedown.

Finally, Rumi’s body collapsed, but her mind didn’t fade. She lay there shivering and crying wishing death would come for her so the pain would end. But it didn’t. Only fire. Only heat.

Her skin began to glow purple, the patterns that covered her flared up into bring purple and reds as she felt the fire burn her from inside.

A voice spoke in her mind, “This is what you are, this is what you deserve. You know it. You have always known it.”

Another flash, another change in memory in her mind, the same place but a different event. She still gasped for air but got nothing more than a mouthful of fire.

“Please Mira, please” She begged the face, watching it fall into stone. “I promise I didn’t want to lie. I just needed to fix me. I promise. I hated it every minute.”

The words fell on deaf ears. “You lied, I should have never trusted you.” Her face twisted into a snarl that managed to chill Rumi to her bones, despite the fire burning under her skin. 

“No! Mira, Please. Please Mira please. You can trust me I promise. I just wanted to seal the Honmoon. Do our job, so we could be together.” Her pleas got louder as she tried to get to whatever heart Mira had. She knew Mira kept her heart hidden so… So no one could hurt it. Just like Rumi had.

Her heart sank with realization. She was the reason Mira had to hide her heart from everyone.

“You are just a demon” Mira spat “I bet your why we could never seal the Honmoon. Time to rectify that mistake.”

She saw Mira step forward, Gok-do in hand. Rumi tried to step back but her feet were frozen in place.

Rumi watched as the blade slowly pierced her skin. She felt the burn in her chest as her body began to fall apart. Chest, toros, arms, legs, all falling part into ash just like a demon.

Rumi looked up to see Mira’s face, that look of satisfaction painting her face. The one she used when she killed a particular feisty demon. To Mira, Rumi was just another demon to get rid of and call it a night.

The memories kept replaying in her mind. Twisting more and more until she couldn’t remember reality from what she saw in her mind. She saw them kill her hundreds? Thousands? Of times, she didn’t know anymore. There was no time, no count. Nothing to tell her how long she had been here. Only pain, only heat, only fire. Only the basic understanding that she was hated by everyone she had loved, just another thing to kill and move on from. Nothing more. Not someone they would miss or even think about once she was gone.

She tried to pull away from her mind, letting herself fall in on herself, living thought the fire and the memories that seared their way into her mind until she felt like she was just watching them from the outside. Like watching a movie play in front of her, except the movie was her pain.

She felt a violent pull in her body, tugging at her mind for a moment before she suddenly felt very, very cold. The fire pulled out from underneath her skin and she felt a hard impact hit her back and she suddenly could breathe again. She took a breath, gasping, trying to suck in as much air as possible as she tried to open her eyes and look around. She didn’t know where she was. Who she was. Everything was fuzzy and unclear.

Everything was a haze; blurry lines and shapes surrounded her as she tried to sit up. Before she could even gather herself enough to understand what she was looking at she was picked up and tossed over someone’s shoulder. She felt herself start bouncing as the whatever had picked her up starting to sprint with her over their shoulder. She picked up bits and pieces of conversation as she started to slowly come to.

“Take the split here”

“Meet at site 2”

“Where’d they go?”

Nothing she was able to make much sense of. She felt her mind begin to clear as she spent more time being jostled around. She could make out the back of the person carrying her, but her eyes caught on the patterns. Demons, But she was… Where again?

She tried to look up, but her neck wouldn’t work. Her body felt stiff and sore, like it hadn’t been used in years. She tried anyway, trying to will her muscles too move and twist. Do anything other than sit there like a unless lump on a demon’s back.

She felt herself get hoisted up, moved to another person. With a brief exchange of words.

“They are hot on us, take the secondary route. I’ll try to play distraction. Godspeed, Kwan.”

“Will do, Hunters-be-with you. Good luck, old friend”

The phrase lit something inside her, Hunters. She was a hunter, right? It felt like something was right. But it also didn’t feel right. Some uneasy stirred in her gut as she tried to figure out why the word Hutner caused to feel at peace and like ripping out her organs at the same time.

As she got jostled around more, mulling this over, parts started to click. She was a Hunter, that was her purpose. But she was a demon, and that’s where she was. The demon realm. As she started to recall everything, it got harder to sort out what had happened. Zoey and Mira hated her? Somehow it didn’t feel right, but it was also the only thing she could remember.

She flexed her figures, happy to find they are working now. She would have to run first, sort out the rest later.

With a grunt she rolled off of the shoulder she was on and prompted ate shit as her arms moved too slowly to catch her fall. She desperately scrambled to find purchase in the ground, feeling a sharp pain in her hands as she jammed them into the ground. She yelped and pulled her hands back to find them bloody. And the warm, wet feeling sliding down her neck told her it wasn’t just her hands that were cut up from her fall.

“Hey, hey, you’re ok. We aren’t going to hurt you.” A voice called to her, surprising soft for a demon. But she didn’t stick around long enough to hear much else.

She dug her hands back into the ground, feeling the pain reignite as she pulled herself forward, legs coming up underneath her and she bolted.

She heard a loud roar, followed by some screams, in front of her, and decided to take a sharp right, away from the sound of combat.

As she ran thought these trenches that seemed to lace all around, she took in small details about them. Wooden boards, a couple of bricks, claw marks in the walls, she started to piece together that whatever she was in was hand-made. Not a natural feature of the landscape.

She didn’t really have time to stop and contemplate why demons would need trenches, but she knew she didn’t want to be inside them. She started looking around, actually taking in her surroundings for a minute. Only to realize she wasn’t in trenches, but tunnels. The roof a couple feet above her.

“What the hell is this?” She asked herself, looking around.

She spun on her heel as a sound came from behind her, she saw a tall demon, not unlike the Saja Boy’s standing there. A look of relief crossed his face as he saw her.

“yeeondoen geos, wait! I am not here to hurt you!”

Rumi didn’t stop to wonder why he had just called her ‘Foretold one’, she turned heel again and kept running. Trying to look for any light that might lead her out of these tunnels.

She finally found it, a small opening on the side where a purple light poured in. She ran to it and crawled thought, her head popping up to take in the endless landscape before her.

The purple light was kilometers away, Gwi-ma’s fire burning so hot Rumi could almost feel it under her skin again. She turned the other way and started running, barely taking in the jagged and tore landscape around her. Just looking at whatever it took to not fall again. She jumped over a spire that poked out of the ground and then dropped to the ground, tucking herself up under the shadow of the spire and waited.

Sure enough, a few seconds later a shadow jumped over the spire and kept running.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. Threat one evaded. Now she needed to figure out what else was going on.

She looked at her hands, the pain coming back as the adrenaline faded. They were cut up, jagged lines running all over her palms and fingers, and it looked like a shard of glass was stuck in her palm.

She looked down at the ground and sure enough, tiny shiny shards of a glasslike substance coated the ground in a thick layer.  

That’s great she thought, she didn’t really know where to go from here. The ground was glass, and every demon here was surely looking for her. Not a lot to go off of when it comes to getting back home.

The soft crunch of glass off to her right had her back up and moving without looking back.

She lost track of how long she was running, hours maybe? She didn’t stop until she was so far away from the purple light, she had to strain her eyes to see through the haze.

As she finally stopped when her lungs hurt, her legs were Jello, and her stomach cramped. She bent over, resting her hands on her knees to try and catch her breath. For the time being she seemed to be safe from imminent danger. She took stock of everything around her. The landscape here was a lot flatter, no arcing spires or deep trenches, but still had slow rolling hills covered in some kind of grass and something that resembled vegetation off in the distance.

“So, I’ll be able to see anyone coming, but they will also see me.” She spoke out loud as she worked thought her situation “I guess I’ll want to get to that tree line here soon, hm. But first. I need to be able to feel my legs.”

She sat down in the grass field, and felt sharp pricks against her skin, she tried to jolt away from the grass, but her legs didn’t cooperate, and she just flopped in place. She groaned as she tried to shift slowly into some position that hurt the least.

She looked down to take stock of her person. Her patterns were flickering with dark hues of colors. Cycling thought black, red, and purple. Dim but still there. She quickly noticed she wasn’t wearing the pajamas she had been in when Mystery had grabbed her, rather something that looked like a jeogori that had been modified to be knee length. She stared at it for a minute, trying to figure out when that had happened.

As she patted it down, feeling the fabric, she was shocked to not feel any pain in her stomach from her injuries. She slowly pulled the fabric apart to reveal four nasty looking scares across her stomach, fully healed by this point.

“What? How long have I been down here?” She looked around like a clock might suddenly appear and give her the answer. No such thing happened unfortunately.

She doesn’t really know how long she sat there, there was no sun or moon or any other celestial-like body for her to keep track of time, just the faint shimmering lines of the Honmoon above her. Somehow the sight that used to comfort her now set her on edge. What she used to view as her life’s mission to protect, felt a lot more menacing when she was on this side of it.

She didn’t know how demons every got that far up to crawl thought it, but she would have to learn because she needed to make it home as soon as she possibly could.

After she felt like she could move her legs she slowly stood up, feeling the grass cut at her palms as she stood up, she winced at the pricks, but noticed she only felt a dull push at her feet as she got them under her.

She quickly looked down at her feet, from top down they didn’t look any different. But as she lifted them up to inspect the bottoms, she saw that thick callous had begun to form, covering the balls and heels of her feet. She didn’t know how that had already happened, it hadn’t been that long, but she wasn’t going to complain too much if it meant she didn’t get her feet sliced up as she moved.

She slowly walked towards tree line, covering the distance slowly, keeping her eyes out for anything moving. But the only thing that moved her, and the grass in a faint breeze that blew thought the field.

By the time she made it into the tree line the exhaustion had caught up to her, and the hunger. She didn’t know if she could even find food in the demon realm, but by this point sleep was coming for her faster than she could stop it. She resolved to figure out food later. She found a small nook under a tree, a place where the roots had grown out, then the soil underneath had been eroded out. It would have to work for now.

She quickly crawled in it, taking one last look around before closing her eyes.

Her sleep was fitful at best. Plagued with the memories from her day. Mixed in with glimpses and images of the world around her as she wakes up to the slightest breeze.

She wakes with a start, looking around franticly as another soft crunch echoes out in the dark of the forest. She quickly looks around, trying to see the source of the noise, another soft crunch and low rumbling sounds out from the other side of the tree. She slowly starts to peak her head out of the nook, looking towards the field she came from.

Her breath catches as she sees a soft blue glow emanating from the grass, and the small gat moving thought the woods.

She almost laughs to herself as she sees Derpy’s well… derpy face break thought the grass, and Sussie staring at her like she personally offended her.

“Derpy! Where have you been? How are you here?” She rushes forward. The sight of a familiar face almost brings her to tears.

Derpy tilts his head slightly, looking at her. A faint buzzing presses against the back of her mind, but she can’t make anything of it. After a moment Derpy lets out a heavy sigh though his nose, then opens mouth. A paper bag covered in his saliva plops onto the ground, and the aroma of food hits Rumi instantly.

She forgets to be disguised as she tears into the bag and finds a cheeseburger and fries inside. She tears into the food, inhaling it all in a few seconds.

“I never thought I would be so happy to see American junk food Derpy. Thank you.” She gives him a nuzzle with her face as he pulls in closer to her, that faint buzzing pressing against the back of her skull again.

After a few moments Derpy stands back up and slowly starts walking back into the tree line a few meters away. Not wanting to be left alone, Rumi quickly follows and Derpy lets out a soft rumble of confirmment, encouraging her to keep following.

As Derpy reaches the spot where Rumi had been sleeping and gives her a look.

A slow frog blinks, after a moment Derpy shifts his head to motion back to the nook in the ground.

“You want me to crawl back in?”

A soft hum seems to tell her yes.

Not one to argue with a mystic tiger, she crawls back into the nook curling up then looking up at Derpy questioning. After a moment Derpy lays down over the opening and roots, shielding her body from the outside world, engulfing her in darkness save for the soft blue light from his fur. After a moment, and a few annoyed wobbles, Derpy lifts his paw and Sussie flies inside the space, his glowing eyes looking her over.

She feels exhaustion creeping back in as she lays there. She actually had food in her stomach, and a giant tiger seemingly protecting her.

Sleep overtakes her again but is no less fitful than before. The same memories plague her dreams. Sinking into her mind like a truth that she couldn’t shake.

She wakes up some time later. She is quickly met with a faint buzzing in the back of her mind again as Derpy stands up and Sussie flies up to him, perching on his head. Derpy looks at her as she crawls back out of the hole, she hands hitting the glass that functions as the ground here with dull pricks. As she quickly examines her hands, she sees the same thick callous building on her hands with what should have been frightening speed. But all she cared about was that her hands wouldn’t get cut every time she needed to sit down or stand up.

Derpy tilts her head at her, then begins to sink into the ground, that faint blue light and ripples of the Honmoon shining around him.

Rumi panics for a second, scrambling to get to Derpy before he leaves her.

“Take me with you, you can take me!” she calls, as she realizes that Derpy can probably get her out of her.

Derpy pause, rising back up flush with the ground. He gives her a look that almost looks like pity.

She carefully crawls onto this back, and Derpy begins to sink into the ground again.

I’m going home she thinks, just in time to get shoved off his back as she hits the ground, as he keeps sinking into the ground.

“What no! Why! What?” But Derpy is already gone as she stares at the spot in disbelief. I can’t go with him

Her heart sinks like a stone. She can’t get out of here.

Ptt, of course it wouldn’t be that easy. It never is. She looks around trying to find out what to do now. She tried to force the tears back with varying degrees success.

She just looked around helplessly, she didn’t know where to go, what to do, and the only thing that didn’t want to kill her just left.

But thankfully before she could do anything crazy, a soft fluttering made her look up, and she saw the shimmering of the Honmoon again.

She saw Sussie slowing rising, quickly followed by Derpy’s face. She almost sobbed in relief.

As she ran towards the spot a few meters away, and Derpy opened his mouth again, plopping another bag on the ground. This time it had a takeout container with ramen.

“Oh, thank you Derpy I was scared you left me.” Derpy just blinked at her, as the faint buzzing pressed against the back of her mind again.

There were no utensils in the plastic bag, but she was too hungry to care. She dug in, not really caring that it was cold. After she finished drinking it all, Derpy stood up, walking back over to the nook and looking at her.

“Derpy, I need to get out of here, can you help me?” Unsurprisingly Derpy didn’t respond, just looked at the nook again then back at her. “Fine, I guess I could sleep some more. But I need to make a plan to get out of here soon.”

She repeated this cycle a number of times. Sleep like shit, wake up, Derpy getting food from somewhere, then telling her to go back to sleep. As time went on, she swore she could start to understand Derpy. At least a little bit. She must be going crazy. But at least it was the kind of crazy that gave her the comfort of a companion who could talk to her. Even if it was less talking, more vibes of stay or ill be back. But she would take what she could get.

The pattern was broken when she woke to a soft crunch. Her eyes snapped open, quickly seeing that Derpy was still lying over her little nook. She strained her ears as she started to try and sit up.

Stay still a voice clear as day cut thought as soon as she shifted Stay quiet. They will pass.

“What? Who said that?” Rumi wasn’t sure if she had finally lost it, or if she had actually heard a voice.

Thank God you can finally hear. Took you long enough little one. What part of quiet did not comprehend in your young mind.

Rumi just blinked stupidly at the soft blue glowing body. Was that Derpy? Before she could do much more questioning, a voice sounded out. She stiffed in an instant at the sound of that voice.

“I see blue light, come this way!” Mystery’s voice was easy enough to hear.

Rumi heard Derpy growl softly from above her Stay still little one, I will keep you hidden. Follow Sussie if we need to run.

Rumi looked at Sussie, who ruffled his feathers with a soft chirp.

“Mystery, it’s just Jinu’s stupid cat.” Abby sounded annoyed. A soft thud proceeded with his next words, and the growl from Derpy seemed to indicate he kicked Derpy. “You don’t happen to know where that Half-demon is do you? You probably don’t even know what I’m talking about, stupid thing.”

Rumi clenched all the muscles in her body. Whether it was fear or anger; she wasn’t really sure. She heard more rustling and some shifting of feet for the next several minutes. Finally, she heard them start walking off, heading deeper into the forest.

Finally, Derpy stood up Come with me. Do not speak. Feel where my voice is in your mind and direct your thoughts there.

Somehow that made sense, and the buzzing her had felt over the past few… However long it had been, started to make sense. Derpy’s voice was coming from the back of her mind, where it use to be just buzzing.

She closed her eyes for a second and concentrated. She tried to send her thoughts there, but after a moment she heard Derpy’s voice are you trying to communicate or defecate?

Her eyes shot open, looking at Derpy with something that resembled shock and discussed. As she opened her mouth to respond, his voice cut across again.

Do not speak. They would hear. You will learn with time. But for now, follow me. It is time to get you home.

Home. Earth. The concept felt strange. Like a distance dream at this point. After what must have been weeks or longer of living down here. Every night being plagued by dreams of everyone she ever loved trying to kill her.

She knew she needed to get home, but would home welcome her? Would they want her back? She wasn’t sure at this point. The idea of being with Zoey and Mira again felt right, but every time she thought of them, she remembered how they turned their weapons on her. Flashes of brutal injuries come to mind, bleeding out in an ally.

She tried to shake off the memories. She would beg for their forgiveness if that’s what it took.

She nodded to Derpy, and he started to slowly walk deeper into the forest, following the path that Mystery and Abby had taken. Derpy answered her question before she could ask.  

There is a spot not far from here where you can cross over. That’s why they are here. Making sure you aren’t getting ready to cross over.

Even though Derpy was facing forward, she nodded and followed.

As they walked thought the forest she noticed as it got thicker. The trees didn’t have leaves down here, nor did any of the bushes or other plants that covered this forest. It was just limbs and vines that stretched out. They looked dead and decrepit, but as she walked thought them with Derpy, they were very much alive. Pushing back against her body and springing back into place.

As they walked, she found it easier to drop down to all four and follow Derpy closer to his level, with less things to run into that way. But as she spends a few minutes walking like this she found that it was a lot more comfortable in general. Long sense having thick pad-like callous developed on her hands and feet meant the glass didn’t bother her. And even with her still having to pull onto the balls on her feet like this, it just felt better.

As they moved thought the forest, she noticed Derpy wasn’t making a sound. Not even a soft crunch against the glass.

He really made noise on purpose so I would hear him? She thought to herself

Yes, I did. I did not want to scare you by just showing up.

You can hear me? Had she really figured it out already? She scrambled internally to figure out what about this was different than what she had tried last time.

I can. Do not overthink it else you shall lose it.

But as she tried to think back at him, she could tell it felt different this time. She had lost it, and she had overthought it. After a few moments of silence Derpy followed up.

It is ok, it takes time to learn young one. Just follow me.

She shook her head with frustration and kept following.

They walked for what felt like hours, pausing occasionally to listen and make sure they weren’t being followed. The whole time Rumi was trying to nail down talking to Derpy within her mind. She couldn’t do it with any consistency, but had managed to say/share some basic concepts.

After a while they finally stepped into a small clearing, the ground sloping down to meet at a point in the center of the clearing where she could see the lines of the Honmoon rippling in a spot dug out.

The demon realm isn’t “underneath” the earth per say. It is its own dimension connected to the Earth in many ways. The Honmoon acts like a bubble. Surrounding this realm in a bubble. You can go thought the top, or the bottom. This is an old spot, not used to cross over since before the age of Gwi-ma. When you push thoughts think of where or who you want to go too. There is two thresholds to cross. The Honmoon is the second, the first is the one that actually separates the two realms. As Derpy spoke, they walked closer to the spot where the ground had been dug out.

Sure enough, once they were right next to spot, a black void staring back at them, she could see a thin sliver shimmer just above the Honmoon.

As soon as you know where you want to go, you will begin to see the place appear in the silver lining. Derpy finished his instructions, sitting down beside her.

But be careful Somehow Rumi knew this was Sussie speaking this time, she didn’t know what she expected but his lack of speaking thus far left her unsure if he could speak Once you pierce the sliver vail Gwi-ma and his forces will know where you are at. Once you know where you want to go you must act fast. You must not freeze when tearing thought the Honmoon. It will resist anyone passing thought it, even if you made it. It traps everyone on this side indiscriminately. And it does not play nice with those who try to break it.

Rumi looked at the two of them, the confusion being shared with them. The question of how they knew this being boiled down to a simple feeling of confusion passes along whatever telepathic bond they are formed.

We have been around for a long time and have seen a lot. But now you must go. We will find you later and try to explain more. Derpy licked his paw while he spoke this, and Sussie was preening his feathers on this head.

Sussie spoke next, We will stay to hold them off when they arrive. Do not worry. We can be hurt, but even Gwi-ma himself can not kill us.

Rumi was thankful they said that, she didn’t want anyone dying for her. She knew she didn’t deserve that.

She padded over to the small point where the dirt had been scraped away. Staring closely, she imagined Mira and Zoey. The people she wanted to get to the most.

A faint flash of light across the sliver film changed the image. She could see the tree on Celine’s property. Why would they be there?

She didn’t think about it too much, as scared as she was to be in front of Zoey and Mira again, scared they would turn their weapons on her again. She was also excited to finally be rid of this place. She hadn’t been here that long, but she wanted nothing more than to never come back.

She braced herself then plunged her hands thought the vail, as soon as she did, she saw the black void behind the Honmoon shift and twist until it took on the image of the world she was aiming for. At the same time, she felt a deep vibration emanating from where she sat. Radiating out in all directions like an earthquake.

As her hands kept pushing, she hit the Honmoon. To say it was unpleasant would be an understatement. It pushed back against her with such force it jarred her teeth.

Her patterns flared up into bright purples and reds as she felt her body get lit on fire from the inside. It burned like she was back in whatever hell she had been in when she got here. She gritted her teeth before setting her jaw and pushing forward, trying to wrap her fingers around the threads and pull them into her.

Her fingers started to go numb as she kept slowly forcing her fingers under the thread. She heard a loud crashing sound in the woods behind her. She didn’t look at first, but as it got close she spared a look just in time to see the four Saja Boy’s crash thought the woods looking around taking in the scene.

Before she could let go to fight them, Derpy spoke in her mind.

Keep going, don’t stop. We shall handle this.

Rumi watched in fascination as Sussie settled deeper into Derpy’s fur, blue and black lines of light began to spin around them. The Saja Boy’s, and the slowly growing crowd of demons around them, watching with equal fascination as the two’s form began to grow fast.

They grew in size, Derpy’s already massive claws growing into something the size of Rumi’s upper body, and the rest of his body grew just as much. As the light faded and Derpy emerged Rumi realized this wasn’t just Derpy, it was both of them. Derpy and Sussie had fused into whatever stood before her now.

Derpy’s once, well, derpy face was now nothing less than menacing. Pushed out into something that looked like a hybrid of a beak and a snout. A row of sharp teeth protruding from the top and bottom parts of the jaw, with 3 sets of massive fangs sat spaced out in the rows of teeth. Three set’s of eyes sat wrapping around the head, once set facing forward, another set on the side, and another set looking back behind them.

The next was slightly longer now, pushing out 50 centimeters at least, ripped with muscles that were as big as Rumi’s forearms at least. The equally ripped shoulder muscles moved forward, as whatever Derpy had transformed into took a step forward, compacting the glass by several inches. Large wings sat folded up against their back, and their tails flicked behind them. Now having three tails that moved around, they looked more feathery than Derpy’s tails but were just as long when scaled up to Derpy’s new size.

As they took another step forward, flexing 10-centimeter claws, they let out a roar. A deep and low sound that had a low warble to like, perfectly mixing the two creatures that had fused to form this beast that stood before her now. A faint blue smoke poured out of their maw as they roared, curling up on the ground like fog clinging to grass in the early morning.

Rumi couldn’t tell if her teeth were rattling from the Honmoon fighting back, or the sound of the roar.

The eyes on the back of their head looked at Rumi.

Go, it has been far too long since I have been let out to play. And I am eager for a good fight.

The voice sounded different than either of the two that made up this new entity before her. But she didn’t have to be told twice. As they charged, she turned back and kept pulling at the Honmoon.

Sounds of battle echoed out behind her as she heard screams, roars, and the sound of many demons getting dusted. At one point a demon hit the ground next to her before falling apart to ash, its upper body had four gash marks so deep you could see through it to the ground behind it.

She yanked again at the threads, another jolt of pain rattling thought her body. She kept going pulling until she saw a small hole finally form. She pulled harder, her patterns flaring up so bright that the whole clearing began to glow. The pain brought tears to her eyes as she kept pulling.

Finally, a hole large enough for her to crawl thought was made, and she dove at it. A sickening twist of gravity pulled at her stomach as she stuck her head thought, both sides of the Honmoon pulling on her.

The Honmoon squeezed around her, forcing the air out of her lungs. She tried to take another deep breath and pushed again. She managed to squeeze her hands thought, planting them on the ground as she pulled herself thought.

As she managed to get enough of her thought to see, she saw Zoey first, looking at her with something Rumi couldn’t place. It wasn’t the fear or hatred she expected. But it wasn’t quite joy either. Mira wasn’t far behind, a similar expression painting her face.

She felt a sudden tug at her feet as hands wrapped around her ankles.

“Help” she managed to choke out thought the pressure of the Honmoon on her.

Zoey and Mira reached out, but before she could grab their hands, she felt something crawl up her back and push thought the Honmoon.

“You’re not getting away that easy, little girl.” Abby’s snarl came from behind her as she felt a hand grab the top of her braid and yank her back down.

She almost hurled as she was pulled back under the Honmoon and gravity shifted and the pressure from the Honmoon was suddenly lifted.

She blindly grabbed in the direction of Abby and heard a scream as her fingers connected with something soft and squishy. The hands let go of her, and she looked up to see Abby clutching his eye. Rumi looked down to see that the hand she had used was the clawed one, with long nails on the end.

She realized she had just stabbed his eye. There was something between satisfaction and joy in that.

But another roar, this time one of pain, tore thought the air.

Rumi looked over to see a large spear glowing red sticking out of the Derpy/Sussie fusion hind leg.

Before she had much time to process any of that, a set of glowing red knives flashed past her vision. She flinched away far too late, but she wasn’t the target.

She looked over to see the three blades buried hilt deep in Abby’s chest.

“Gwi-ma will kill you for this!” Abby yelled at the tree line.

As Rumi looked over, she saw a host of figures running into the clearing. Dozens at least. At the lead she saw the same man who had been carrying her the first time she came too. As he slid down to the bottom where they were, he grabbed one of the blades and pulled it long ways, almost splitting Abby completely in too.

“He was going to do that anyway. Tell him to suck it when he puts you back together. If he puts you back together after this failure.”

Abby made one last frustrating sound before his non-stabbed eye rolled back into his head. The figure had already turned to Rumi.

“Please don’t run this time. I want to help. Come with us please.”

Rumi just stared at him, trying to take everything in. Another roar shook Rumi out of her thoughts before she could spiral too far.

She looked over to see that the other people who came with this man had joined the fray on the other side of the clearing. She could barely keep track of everyone, but after a couple seconds of watching she could vague gather more demons outside the Saja Boy’s had joined the fight.

They seemed to be at a stalemate for the time being.

She tried to stand, but just trying to get thought the Honmoon had taken a lot out of her.

“I can’t leave them” Her voice came out rough and choked.

“They will be ok; they will leave once we are out of here. We don’t exactly get along with Derpy and Sussie. But if they are helping you, and we are helping you. I think it’ll be ok. So, can I pick you up, and run the fuck away from here so we can regroup”  

Rumi didn’t know what to make of it. But she nodded, not really seeing a better way out of this.

He quickly picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

As soon as she was settled, he took off, and before long she could hear more footsteps running along side them. She could still hear the roars off in the distance for awhile as the group she was with dodging around trees with practiced speed and precision.

As they kept running the sounds of battle faded into the distance. They broke out of the forest and kept running farther away. Rumi had a hard time gauging how fast they were going, but by the time they set her down and she oriented herself, the tree line was no where to be seen.

As she looked behind her, toward the rest of the group that had rescued? Her. She saw something that vaguely resembled a village.

High wooden walls with a gate stood before her, there were no towers or other structures along the wall, but the tops of the wooden walls were carved into spikes. Inside the gates she could see small huts and other structures, along with what must have been dozens of people running around inside, a loud hustle and bustle coming from inside.

“Please come with us, we have a lot to go over and not much time” The man who had carried spoke.

Rumi was to tired to do much else other than try to take a step forward, and almost face planted into the dirt as her legs didn’t seem quite ready to start working right yet.

The man quickly reached out to grab her, but she brushed him off. Forcing her legs to work with her, “I’m fine, just give me a minute”

He held his hands up defensively “Ok, sorry to rush. We just have a lot to get thought fast.”

Rumi looked around while she tried to get her legs to work with her. After a couple seconds she was able to take a shaky step forward. The man took this as the go ahead to start walking, leaving Rumi to try and catch up.

“Ok, so who are you, and why should I trust you, and what is this?” Rumi was looking around, now that she was in the middle of this little village type settlement she could see people carrying boxes and bags, tossing them on carts and wagons. Althought most had stopped to gawk at her now that she was in the village.

He mulled over the question for a second, slowing down to walk along side her “Ok, fair questions. I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but we have to move fast so I am going to try to put this as concise as possible. My name is Joon-ho, I am what we loosely call The Shameless and on paper you really shouldn’t trust me, but in practice I, and the rest of The Shameless, are probably the only entities down here not trying to kill you or cause you extreme harm in any way. This is a forward operating base we set up a few years ago when you first got pulled under.”

Rumi stopped in her tracks when she heard years. “YEARS?? I’ve been down here years!”

Joon-Ho also stopped and looked at her for a minute, before something that looked like horror dawned on his face “Oh! I mean years of our time, in like the demon realm. Time moves faster here compared to the human realm.”

This did very little to help Rumi, who managed to sputter out “How- how long is that Earth time?”

He pondered this for a minute, only adding to Rumi’s worry “we don’t have a very concrete time or measure, but roughly 8 times as fast down here?”

Rumi just blinked at him. Prompting him to follow up “We think that it’s been roughly a couple months in the human world”

Rumi’s heart rate calmed down a little at that, but not much.

She forced herself to swallow and move on to the next question, decided she should focus on making sure these people aren’t going to kill her, then deal with the time. “And you all are ‘The Shameless’ what does that even mean”

Joon-Ho looked a little exasperated, like he hoped his earlier explanation would have been enough “Its just a name that we started calling ourselves long before I ended up down here. Because well, pretty much none of us feel shame about whatever deal we made with Gwi-ma, thus, the Shameless.”

“Ok, so you don’t feel shame. Why is everyone running around like they are packing?”

“Because we are, like I said, this was just something we build a few years ago to work out of while we made plans to try and rescue you. Now that we have you, its time to go. Gwi-ma will be looking for us, so we need to get packed and out of here as fast as we can. Can we get on the road, and I explain everything else while we move?”

Rumi just nodded, satisfied he wasn’t about to stab her the second her turned her back.

She followed him to one of the huts, where he walked in and promptly started tossing things into a box. There wasn’t much in the hut, some maps, something that looked like pencils. Then he picked up the box and started walking, leaving Rumi to follow.

He set it on a cart and then motioned for her to sit on it, she obliged, grateful for the place to sit. “I am going to help everyone else finish packing, shouldn’t be more than 5 minutes.”

With that he ran off and started helping others grab some boxes.

True to his word a few minutes later he came back over and hopped up next to her.

As she looked around most of the other people were doing close to the same, some sitting on the wagons and carts, others grabbing the fronts and starting to pull them along.

She moved to get up, but Joon-ho stopped her. “We take turns, some pull the carts while others rest, then we cycle as needed. Although most here would be offended if you grabbed a cart, being the Foretold one and all.”

She blinked, that name again Foretold one. She vaguely remembered someone else calling her that when she first pulled got out of the fire.

“What is with the name, is there some prophecy I should be red in on?”

He thought for a minute “Do you want to short version or the long version now? I figured there would be other stuff you wanted explained before that, but we can start there if you want.”

Rumi just shrugged “Fuck it, give me the long version.”

He nodded, thinking for a moment “Ok, So I am going to start at the top, and work my way thought the whole story of the demon realm, because any one part will probably leave you with a lot of questions.”

Rumi nodded, and he continued “Ok, so a long ass time ago, well over a millennium of demon time -by the way if I use time its going to be time in the demon realm- before anyone who is around today really remembers, Gwi-ma took power or something. No one really knows how he came into the position of kind of hell, just that he wasn’t aways in charge and he is now. When he first started consuming souls some of them would come out weird after he consume the soul. At first they were thought to be prophets or something like it. They were called The Ramblers because they would ramble about random things happening. After awhile demons, and Gwi-ma, started to realize they were rambling about events that either would happen, or had already happened. They were then considered prophets for awhile. Demons warning Gwi-ma about the coming of Hunters, and at one point the birth of a hunter who would bear the mark of Gwi-ma, but would bring about the end of his reign. We now know that they aren’t prophets, they don’t actually see the future, but rather lived it, or something like that.

When Gwi-ma consumes a soul, he can do one of two things with it. Push that energy out directly into a demon manifestation and make a Dokkaebi demon. The ones you see most often. Or he can use that soul’s energy to fuel his flame. If he chooses to do that, then later he wants to create a physical form, he creates a faceless demon. The faceless demons are a direct manifestation of his consciousness and power. But the Dokkaebi are separate entities, who have their own ‘brain’ so to speak. They don’t exactly have free will, but they also aren’t under Gwi-ma’s direct control. What we have sort of been able to figure out is that whenever Gwi-ma consumes a soul, he breaks down whatever form of matter that makes up a soul, then puts it’s back together to create a Dokkaebi. We don’t really know much about it on a finer level. But we do know that sometimes weird stuff happens to the quarks and gluons and whatever other weird shit that goes on at a level smaller than subatomic particles. Or whatever the hell makes up a soul. What we do know is that sometimes when all of those particles get torn apart, then slammed back together to make a Dokkaebi, they sometimes come back carrying information from a time long before, or long after, the time that the soul lived in. Making a Rambler. A Dokkaebi who’s thoughts are a confusing haze of the past, present, and future.

These Ramblers warned him of the creation of the Hunters, and also of you. They spoke of a half-demon, half-human who would end Gwi-ma’s reign with her partners. Thus, amongst The Shameless you earned the name The Foretold one because you were foretold to end Gwi-ma’s reign.

And while that was happening, Gwi-ma was also making deals with Humans. Promising fame, riches, power, anything to make a deal, and once he did it would come with a twist to cause them shame. As you likely found out with Jinu, his came with being stripped from his family. These demons that make a deal with Gwi-ma, then are pulled down here, are called Jeoseung. At no point in their existence are they consumed by Gwi-ma. Technically you don’t really need to feel shame to be pulled down into the demon realm by Gwi-ma. When you make a deal with him, your soul belongs to him. But he normally likes to let people steep in the Human world for awhile so they have more shame for him to leverage against them. Some of us simply don’t feel shame about it for a large number of different reasons. Some of the Shameless have psychopathy and literally are unable to feel shame for their deal. Others either did good, or were trying to do good, with the deal they made. Thus, don’t feel bad about it. Before you ask, I fall into the later camp, we can go over that later.

The rest of the Jeoseung, who Gwi-ma can manipulate through their shame, are one hundred percent independent thinking and operating. By all accounts they are still Human, just someone who feels such intense shame and guilt, only amplified by Gwi-ma’s voice, that they do anything they can to get Gwi-ma to ease the feeling.

There is a lot more finer details to Jeoseung than that, but that’s what is important to understand. Still following?”

Rumi’s head was spinning with all the new information she was being given. She nodded weakly, adding “It’s a lot, but im sorta following”

He nodded before continuing “Yeah, there is a lot to go over, but I can re hash it as needed. But what all of this leaves us with is three ‘classes’ of demons so to speak. Each one more independent than the last. While all 3 classes can harvest souls, Gwi-ma uses the Dokkaebi for soul harvesting most often because they are the least risky. Faceless demons - being a direct extension of Gwi-ma – are risky because if they are destroyed that energy is lost forever, and Gwi-ma loses part of the fuel to his flame, and it takes his attention to control them. And Jeoseung are risky because while they can’t die exactly, it is costly to bring them back from what would have been fatal injuries. Leaving Dokkaebi, the perfect medium of independent but not costly or damaging if lost. Meaning he can send Dokkaebi into the human world without having to divide his attention, and it doesn’t cost him energy from his flame should they fail.”

Rumi nodded slowly, seeing the logic. Even if it was weird to think of soul harvesting so… analytically “But… ok. So the Jeoseung are immortal? I know you said its costly to bring them back. But what does that mean?”

“Ok, let me think of a good way to put this” he pondered for a moment before his eyes shot open wide. “Oh! Do you know about nuclear reactions?”

Rumi balked at the question, she wasn’t really sure how that related to demons “Um, a little? Maybe? I know they are very good at making places unlivable for very long periods of time? And removing cities from the map?”

The long, very exasperated sigh that escaped his lips made Rumi think she said something wrong, before he muttered to himself “Dam Russians” before looking back up at Rumi.

“Ok, you aren’t wrong exactly. But also people are very stupid. All you really need to understand about them is that they take a lot of energy to start, but once they are started they produce enough energy to keep themselves going, and some extra that can be siphoned off. Jeoseung work similarly. Once they become a demon, they start producing a lot of ‘energy’, how you want to define that is really up for grabs due to the lack of an ability to study it down here, but we produce energy. Enough to sustain ourselves, plus a little extra that gets stored in our bodies. We will circle back to that, but a Jeoseung ‘dies’ or is Fallen, after they are injured so greatly that their body takes so much energy to try and heal, that it doesn’t leave enough to keep the reaction fueled. Then they are what we call Fallen. Gwi-ma can restart this reaction, but its very costly. Somewhere to the tune of ten souls worth of energy to jumpstart the reaction, varying based on how bad the injury is. What you did to the shaggy fucker a year back or so? That cost Gwi-ma a little more. Good hit by the way, really sent that foursome something or another for a loop. But for reference, Gwi-ma could burn for a hundred years off of ten souls.”

Rumi nodded, trying to keep up with the math. It didn’t help that these were all rough estimates by the way he was speaking. And she was bone dead tired. “This might just be me being stupid, but why doesn’t he burn the extra energy you all put out? It seems like that would be a near infinity sources of energy then?”

Joon-Ho looked excited at her continued questions, which was strange to say the least.

“Ok, another good question. So shortest version is, he does. The longer version is that for us Jeoseung, its ample extra energy for all of our needs. Teleporting, summoning weapons, casting disguise, the whole slew of things. It gets stored in our bodies or something to that effect, and we can call upon it as we need for whatever. But for Gwi-ma, it’s not enough to grow, just sustain. So when needed, Gwi-ma will summon a Jeoseung into the fire to sustain him until more souls can be harvested, but he can’t really grow stronger off of it.”

Rumi was starting to hate how much sense this was making. On one hand it was great that they knew all of this and were so willing to tell her. But on the other hand it made actually defeating Gwi-ma feel even more impossible then it already did. “Ok, so one Jeoseung is only enough to stop him from dying. But why not feed on more than one at a time? Is there some rule against it or something?”

“We don’t know? Sorry I can’t give you more on that. All we know is he has never fed on more than one at a time. Everything we do know is information gathered and collected over the course of centuries of spying, analyzing, and using what little bits of recent tech that has made it down here to study how he works to the best of our abilities.”

“Ok, it’s ok. I am surprised you know this much. I do have more questions if you don’t mind?” Rumi wanted to get out of this realm as fast as possible. And she wanted a nap. But if she was sitting next to someone who could provide her this much in site into demon’s and how they worked. She would be a dam fool not to take it.

“No of course, I am a little bit of a nerd and always loved to geek out about the stuff I learned but given the lack of laryngeal cancer research in hell, I had to turn my fixations elsewhere. And when we seldom do find new Jeoseung who are coming to join us, most of them don’t care about all of this stuff. So please ask away. If I wasn’t already dead, I would say I was dying to talk about it.”

Rumi almost chuckled at his response, almost. “Good to know I guess? You mentioned weapons? And teleporting? Why have I never seen Jeoseung use weapons before? I didn’t really understand the difference before, but with the Saja boys and everything, I know I have fought more than a few Jeoseung in the past, and they never pulled weapons. And why aren’t we just teleporting wherever we are going if that’s an option?”

Joon-Ho nodded along as she spoke, taking a slightly deeper breath before speaking “Weapons are… tricky. Given the fact you haven’t been pulling out your sword at every opportunity, I take it you can’t summon it?” Rumi nodded “I thought as much. It’s kind of the same in reverse for us. Whatever barrier or vail that encases this realm is what those of us who can summon weapons pull ours from. We assumed that whenever demons crossed over the Honmoon we are cut off from that source and thus our weapons. We have never really tried to test that. But with you here, it does act like conformation that the Honmoon, and The Vail act like opposites to each other. Cutting you off from the other when you cross one. I am going to assume a follow up question, not everyone can summon weapons. We have no idea determines if a Jeoseung can summon a weapon. Only that the ability is exclusive to Jeoseung, and is seemingly randomly determined.

In terms of teleportation, it’s really risky to do in the demon realm. We found out the hard way that teleporting isn’t as direct in the demon world as it was assumed to be. Our guess is that you move along these ‘tracks’ that have hubs along them, where you can branch out and travel along them. Like taking a train, then a bus, then walking. The process is near instantaneous, but it still takes just long enough that if Gwi-ma – who seems to have based himself along the last remaining hub – knows that you are teleporting, he can intercept you and pull you straight into his fire. We hypothesis that the human realm also has matching hubs, but since Gwi-ma is trapped down here, he can’t influence them. You may be able to travel thousands of kilometers in under half a second. But if Gwi-ma is ready, it’s enough delay that he can react. So teleporting is off the table unless it’s a major emergency. And even then, only one, maybe two, people could do it. Anymore and he would be ready.”

“Ok, makes sense. You really have this all figured out for the most part.” Rumi was grateful for this knowledge, truly. Very glad she hadn’t tried to teleport at any point thus far.

“Yeah, we have had a long time to figure this stuff out. Some of it the hard way, some of it through study, and a lot of it through educated guesses that haven’t been proven wrong by any new information.”

Rumi just nodded “I’m sorry, I can guess what ‘the hard way means’ and I can’t imagine it was pretty.”

“No, it wasn’t and still isn’t. But every time we test something, it done by volunteers. Who know what happens if we are right, or wrong.”

Rumi felt something pang her chest. Shame, guilt, or just an empathy twang of sadness for all the people who suffered Gwi-ma’s wrath trying to learn more about this hell so The Shamless could be ready for her. All without even knowing if she was real. She looked over at Joon-Ho, something steeling in her chest as she spoke “When I get out of here, I am going to find a way to honor every last one of you in the human world. I don’t care how I have to do it. And you said I am destine to beat Gwi-ma? Or something like that?”

He nodded.

“Good, when I do, I am going to do everything I can to release every last one of you from this hell and make sure anyone else finds peace in whatever fucked up version of the afterlife this is.”

The people who were hauling the cart gave a cheer at her words, indicating they had been able to hear the entire conversation. Nothing they didn’t already know.

“Now, if you will please excuse me. I need a fuckin nap. Then I am going to take a turn carrying a cart. And before anyone even tries to fight me on it, it’s happening. You have already done so much for me just to keep me alive this long, the least I can do is carry a dam cart.”

“Of course, we still have weeks of travel at the very least.”

Rumi’s eyes went wide at the statement “Weeks?!”

“Yes, we are very far away for a reason. Dokkaebi can not teleport on their own. Gwi-ma or a Jeoseung has to do it for them. So being such a long distance makes it hard to drop hordes of Dokkaebi at our door. But you must rest, we demons do not need to rest the same way you must. And it has been many years since I have a felt human tired, but if I remember correctly, I am surprised you are still functioning.”

Rumi rolled her eyes and laid back, jokingly adding “It must be my half demon side giving me some of the nuke energy you were talking about.”

Much to her partial horror, Joon-Ho only hummed in agreement “Indeed. I can only assume being half human, half Jeoseung feeds you a great deal of energy most humans lack.

Rumi didn’t react, the call of sleep washing over her. Dragging her into more fitful dreams.

Memories playing back in her mind that didn’t feel right.

She runs down an empty street two hunters hot on her tail.

She feels a shift in the air, and a soft grunt comes from her right. Diving the ground, she hears the faint swish of a blade whizzing over her head. She looked up to see Zoey standing there. New Sinkal already stocked in her hand. The six gleaming blades standing out against the artificial darkness pressing in on all sides.

Rumi tries to speak, to plead, to beg her to just listen. But nothing comes out. Soft growls and hisses fill the air as she tried to speak. She reaches up to her vocal cords only to find her hands aren’t hands anymore. While staying the same size, her hands had been replaced with paws, purple fur coating her limbs.

Rumi quickly looks up, hoping she could cast a look convince Zoey not to kill her long enough for her to figure out why she had paws instead of hands.

But no such luck found Rumi. With a yell and a flash, all six Sinkal were in the air faster then Rumi could react.

Rumi woke with a shout. In an instant a hand was on her shoulder. Rumi clutched her face and chest. Feeling the spots where the Sinkal would have hit. After a moment a voice cut thought the ringing in her ears.

“Are you ok?” Joon-Ho was looking at her, worry evident on his face.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Just, I’m not sure really.” She took a moment to steady her breathing, and contemplate the question at hand “Do you… Do you ever have dreams that feel like memories. But something feels wrong about them? Like they didn’t actually happen?”

Joon-Ho almost looks relived at her question “Oh thank God. I thought it was something worse”

Rumi gives him her best what the fuck does that mean look, and he rushing to finish his thought.

“Yes, that’s normal. Sorry if that was rude. I was just worried something abnormal was happening. But yes, all the time. We don’t exactly sleep. But I know anytime we go to rest, most of us get plagues with dozens of false memories of fights and arguments with people we cared about. It’s just another way Gwi-ma tries to make us feel shame, by twisting everything we think we know about the people we use to know.”

“How do you tell what is true and what is false?” Rumi was desperate to find out how to tell the real from the fake, surely Zoey wouldn’t, hadn’t, actually tried to kill her.

“At first its pretty easy. It will feel real, and it will feel like it happened. But something will feel off, it’s hard to put into words. But it’s like, if someone is telling you four plus four is ten, but they are saying ‘four plus four muffled sounds equals ten’ or everything will be really dark for seemingly no reason? Like parts of what you see are missing. I don’t really know if that makes sense. But it’s the best way I can describe it”

Rumi nodded “yeah, it does. But what do you mean ‘at first’”

He faces dropped slightly at that question, like he had bad news, “The longer it goes, the harder it is to tell, and the more everything starts to seem to add up. Just a tip now, think of a memory with the people you are seeing, and only think about that for as long as you possible can. Sear that image, that memory into your mind. Because the long your down here the harder it will be to tell truth from Gwi-ma’s lies.”

Rumi just looked at him, “What kind of memory do you chose? How do you know if it can stand Gwi-ma? I don’t want to lose the people I love” She was really starting to freak out. She had just gotten Zoey and Mira back, right? She couldn’t lose them again.

“It is up to you, but the stronger the positive emotion tied to it the better. I used the memory of the last time I sat down with my family and had dinner before I got pulled under. Just me, my wife, and three daughters having dinner, laughing and goofing off. And I made that the only memory of them I trust. Because at this point, I can’t tell what else is real and fake. Any memory would probably do. Just so long as it’s got positive emotion, and its important to you.”

Rumi couldn’t help but let out a humorless chuckle at it “This place really is hell isn’t it?”

Joon-Ho gave her a look, letting out a light something between a sigh and a laugh “Yeah, it really is.”

Rumi pulled her legs up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. Not noticing how her legs bent just a little in the middle of her shins.

She thought about Mira and Zoey. Trying to find something that was positive and strong. Her heart ached with the realization she had spent most of her life hiding from them, then when she finally stopped. She procced to spend most of her time bed ridden from injury. Do I really have so few truly happy memories with them? She wouldn’t accept that.

Then it hit her, The idol awards. As shit of a night as it was, the moment she hugged them and time froze. That moment would be it. The looks on their faces. That was real. Deep in every atom of her bones she knew that was real. And she would never forget it. She wouldn’t let that moment in time be tainted by Gwi-ma.

She locked that memory in her mind for the next few weeks as they walked. Taking turns carrying carts, resting, and talking with her new friends.

She got more than a little push back whenever it was her turn to haul a cart, but after some time they stopped trying to stop her and just let her.

Over the course of the trek she started to noticed small changes in her body, finding it easier to curl up into a ball. Finding it more comfortable to walk on all fours. She also worked with Joon-Ho on communicating thought whatever telepathy thing that Derpy had been using.

“Oh, that. Yeah, we can do that. It’s just considered rude to do without asking. Which is why none of us have tried. It acts like a two way channel for thoughts and emotions and stuff. So its seen as pretty rude to do when the other person doesn’t know how to control it, because you could get a lot of their emotions and thoughts that they might not want to share. But we can work on it if you would like, it is very usefully to say the least.”

“I would like to, I was able to do it with Derpy a little, but I didn’t get a hang out of it. Mostly just listened.”

Joon-Ho nodded “Yeah, its not easy to learn. Best I can tell you is to ‘think thoughts at people’ and whenever someone is communicating with you, try to study the feeling. I know its not a lot of help. But it’s the best I’ve got.”

“Can we start trying?” Rumi didn’t find ‘Think thoughts at people’ very helpfully either. But giving how much information they had been able to give her already, she couldn’t be too mad.

“Sure, got anything you want to talk about?”

“Um, would you like to talk about your work on Earth? You mentioned you liked to talk about it?” Rumi wasn’t really sure if she cared about it, but if it was something that would give her a lot of time with the telepathic connection she would take it.

His eye’s lit up, and not a second later she heard his voice in her head.

“I can talk about it for days! This makes a good topic; I was a biomedical researcher studying Laryngeal cancer. Looking for better ways to remove or fight it without damaging the voice box”

He went on for hours, making Rumi’s head spin with information. The whole time she tried to both listen to what he was saying, and also get a feel for what him talking to her felt like.

After a few hours he paused, and she took the change to try and ask a question back.

She squinted her eyes and tried to lock onto the feeling in her head, and think “What made you go into that field?”

He tilted his head in confusion before laughing “you were close to a question. I got an image of grass field and a giant question mark floating over it. Were you asking why I was studying Laryngeal cancer?”

Rumi nodded, a little embarrassed she had missed the mark. She knew it took time, but she was Kang Rumi. She was supposed to be perfect at pretty much everything she did.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Joon-Ho’s voice in her head “wait your RUMI, like HUNTR/X Rumi?”

She looked around, confused, before she realizes what she had done. “Oops”

“That’s a word!” he did a little finger snap into finger guns. “But your like THE Kang Rumi? Holy shit, really, I should have put it together by now. My daughters were obsessed with you for the longest time! Which sort of answers your question about why.”

Rumi was thankfully he didn’t linger on the fact she apparently didn’t know how to turn it off, or on for that matter.

“My daughter is what got me into the field of Laryngeal cancer. For a while I did general chemistry. It was what my eldest daughter and I would bond over. We got really into distilleries and the process of distilling alcohol because she took to distillation the fastest at a young age. The long story put a lot shorter is she went over to the USA to visit Kentucky. They are a huge bourbon distillation hub, so when she was given the chance to go over there for an exchange student program, she took it. We were supposed to go on a huge tour of all the major distilleries in the state. But a week before the rest of us went over there to visit, there was a huge crash. Some truck carrying a bunch of caustic chemicals crashed during the local elementary school’s dismissal time, right next to a bus with a bunch of kids on it. She didn’t waste any time, ran onto the school bus and started grabbing kids and carrying them off. Pretty much everyone agreed she saved every last kids life. But her exposure to the chemicals caused her to develop, you guessed it, Laryngeal cancer. They had to remove a huge chunk of her voice box. So, I dove into that, I dedicated my career to helping develop a cure and a find other ways to remove it without damaging the voice box. Which was also part of my deal with Gwi-ma, more funding so I could complete my research. Which is why I don’t really feel any shame over it, if you were wondering.”

Rumi just stared at him for a long few minutes. “I could only hope my daughter would be as brave as yours. Hell, I could only hope to be even half as brave as her”

Joon-ho just gave a light chuckle, speaking out loud. At least this time Rumi could noticeable tell when the connection was severed “You are, your why she was brave enough to. She was the biggest Rumi fan I had ever seen. She said that “The Kang Rumi wouldn’t hesitate to help, so I didn’t either”

Rumi felt her chest twist into a knot so tight it hurt to breath “I’m sorry, I never-”

Joon-Ho stopped her “Don’t feel bad. The good that came out of it far surpasses the bad. My daughter saved fifty kids from what could have been a fatal amount of exposure, then she went on to learn KSL and start making KSL convers of your songs, working your guys choreography in with the songs. Allowing God knows how many members of the deaf community the ability to experience your music in a way the never could before. And she inspired me to develop a cure for Laryngeal cancer. And I did. I figured it out. The good out ways the bad tenfold. And it’s all because of you, and the way you inspired people. So don’t feel bad for a second.”

Rumi clamped her mouth shut. A dozen apologies on the tip of her tongue. “I guess, I just hate that that happened to her.”

“We did too, but at the end of the day, a lot more good came out of it then bad.”

“How very wise.” Rumi commented

“Well, I’ve had years upon years to reminisce. Both up there and down here.”

They fell into silence after that, not uncomfortable. Just sitting watching the rocky terrain pass by.

After a few more hours she jumped off the cart and moved to the front to relieve the lady who had been carrying it for the past few hours.

Without really realizing it, she had already dropped to all fours to walk up there. Finding the thick pads that had built up on her hands and feet dulled the poke of the jagged rocks better, and when her weight was distributed across all four limbs it also helped reduce the pressure.

She had spoken to many of The Shameless over the weeks. Anything from small talk, to details about their lives and history here in this accursed place.

She had noticed she wasn’t the only one favoring a more quadrupedal stance. When she had asked the response had been extremely casual for what the answer was.

“Oh yeah that, most Jeoseung have some kind of ‘full demon’ form or something like it. Compared to the more casual or resting state. Depending on the Jeoseung, it can be more comfortable to be in the full demon state, or the more casual one, or some hybrid of the two.” The younger demon had said, walking on all fours next to Rumi. “If you didn’t really notice until now, a hybrid of the two it probably where your body and mind are most comfortable. But if your ‘hybrid’ is this far and still slowly going, I fear the poor soul who brings out the full demon”

The conversation had been a week ago, give or take. Without a sun or moon it was hard to keep track of time. Since then, she started actually taking note of the smaller changes in her posture and body. The way her front and back legs had started to grow an extra set of joins, the way extra hair had started to grow along her arms and legs, with a texture more akin to fur then the hair that normally grew along her body, she could feel her canines had gotten a lot longer. At least she thought they had. It was hard to tell without a mirror or a reference. But the dull ache that accompanied everywhere else she had noticed major changes to her physiology also accompted her teeth.

As Rumi walked up to take her spot, the lady looked over. Everyone had long since given up on fighting her when she tried to help. But this time, as Rumi started to stand back up, groaning slightly at the way her joints argued with the bipedal stance, rather than hand over the cart, she stopped Rumi. Before Rumi could protest, she spoke “Not yet, go up a couple carts. One of the guys has a surprise for you. Then you can take it.”

Rumi just nodded, dropping back to all fours to walk up a couple carts in the caravan. Even if was short, she would take the couple extra minutes to not be standing.

When she got up to the cart, the guy sitting on the back of it looked up, his eyes brightening at her “Oh good! Here, I need to make a couple more adjustments. But if you can try this on really quick I should be able to finish it up!”

Rumi looked at what he had grabbed, it looked like a tangled mess of fabric and leather. But when he shook it out, she saw it was a harness. She hopped on the cart, taking it in her hands and giving him a look.

“Y’know, for the carts. So, you can walk on all fours?” He gave her a sheepish look “We do it for everyone who prefers the more quadrupedal stances.”

Rumi had seen some of the others who walked on all fours wearing them. It had never really occurred to her that they would have to be handmade.

“Where did you even get the stuff for this?” She knew their supplies were pretty limited, there definitely wasn’t an stockpile of spare leather and fabric laying around.

“Everyone pitched in what they had. Bits of stuff here and there. That’s part of why it’s so janky. But go ahead and put it on so I can make the last adjustments.” He gave her an encouraging shoo.

Rumi did as she was told, noticing how close to perfectly fitting it already was. “What do you mean pitched in? Do you guys have spare leather laying around?”

He reached out to check some of the straps, then stopped and gave her a look of “may i?”  she nodded and he quickly started fiddling with it, pulling out a small needle to work while he spoke “We don’t have spare anything really. Just anytime our clothes tear, or we find something, or steal it off of a Jeoseung on the rare occasion we fight them, we keep it. Sort of a finders keepers deal. And whenever someone new joins, we all pitch in something to help. Your clothes are still mostly intact, and you insist on helping carry the carts. So, we all pitched in what we could to throw this together so you could be more comfortable while you did. Like I said, we do it for everyone.”

Rumi was a little taken aback by this. They all gave a little bit of scarce supplies just so I could be a little more comfortable in hell? The thought almost made her laugh. Though something else stuck with her.

They do it for everyone. Not just her. This was something nice being done for her not because she was special, but because she wasn’t. It was a weird thing to find happiness in. But after a lifetime of being “Pop star royalty” and “Leader of HUNTR/X” and always being seen as different, apart, or even sometimes above, everyone else. Somehow the simple act of being treated just like everyone else, because she was apart of everyone else. Felt good.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it” She tried to keep her voice steady, but the slight glance up when he responded told her she was less then successful.

“Of course. You are one of us now. Hopefully we can get you back to your world so you can stick it to that purple ass hat. But until then. You are one of us.”

She nodded trying to keep tears from her eyes. “This already fit really well, how did you eyeball so close? Or did someone like, sneak up and take measurements while I was asleep?”

The topic change was about as subtle as a freight train, but he went with it. “No, nothing like that. I have just been doing leather work for 4 decades when I was alive, then another couple hundred years or so down here. I’ve gotten pretty good at but eyeballing sizes.”

Rumi nodded as he stitched the last of the straps in place. She rolled her arms around, stretching and pulling everything to see how it fit. She could hardly tell she was wearing it.

She gave him a slight nod, and he quickly cut the last of the excess fabric off tucking in back into a bag. Then handed her two lengths of string “These tie into those loops around base of your ribcage. Then thought the holes in the handles.”

She took the ropes and said another round of thanks before walking back to the cart, tying off the ropes to the loops then trying to quickly feed the rope thought while the cart was still moving.

After a couple seconds of struggling, the girl currently carrying the cart just laughed “Here, switch me. Ill tie it off for you.”

Rumi obliges, standing up and grabbing the handles, feelings the less than pleased joints ache as she put pressure on them.

She grabbed the cart, after a few seconds the ropes were tied thought the holes and Rumi was giving the nod. She slowly lowered herself to the ground, taking on all fours.

After a minute she had to look back to make sure she was still moving the cart, she could hardly even tell that she was pulling anything behind her.

“How does that feel?”

“Really good, actually. Like I can’t even tell I am pulling it. Thank you!” Rumi got a quick nod in response.

She fell back into a rhythm. Walking with the cart, and switching between thinking about Zoey and Mira, trying to convince herself that the memory she had choses to hold on to was the real version of them. And trying to perfect voiceless communication.

Her voice hadn’t failed her in a while. Only for few minute spans after particularly intense dreams. But she could also tell speaking wasn’t everyone’s preferred method of communication, and she couldn’t blame them. Entire conversations could be had in mere seconds. Amounts of information that could take minutes to speak could be passed in seconds. Not to mention never having to struggle to describe an image or feeling. Just being able to pass it along thought a telepathic link was really handy.

Joon-Ho have given her permission to try to talk to him at pretty much any time he was awake, and so whenever he was. That was who she targeted to try to talk to.

Over the course of the day, she managed to find him, say hi, and bye, and successfully end the conversation. She wasn’t going to talk about how she tried to ask his favorite color and accidentally flash banged him with an image of Mira’s hot pink hair. She was not going to talk about that.

After what felt like a couple minutes of hauling the cart, Joon-Ho came up to her. He had (at her request) taken to only talking telepathically.

“My turn, you can go lay down for a little.”

She tried to keep the conversation in the link, but after Stumbling over “I’m ok” for a few minutes, she gave up. She was pretty sure she showed him a mental image of coconut with the words “Big chilling”.

“I am ok, I can’t even really feel it with this harness now. I promise. I’m good for a couple more hours at least.”

“Are you sure. You have already been at it for 8 hours.”

“I didn’t even notice. I promise. It gives me time to think and practice.”

He just nodded, leaving her with “You won’t skip the nest rest though. No questions asked.”

She just nodded. Falling back into the now much comfortable rhythm of walking.

The next few days passed without anything out the normal. No new lore drops, gifts, or major progress.

Joon-Ho walked up to her not long after she took over for her turn, this time she managed to start the conversation without flash banging him with random images.

“What’s up?”

“We are almost here, just over this ridge.” He looked a little excited as he told her.

And as Rumi looked around, she noticed that everyone else was also standing up and starting to walk a little faster.

She also picked up her pace, excited to see this place they had spent close to a month walking to now.

As they crested the ridge the way was breathtaking. That wasn’t saying much, compared to the flat rocky landscape she had seen non stop for weeks upon weeks now, pretty much anything that didn’t look like a jagged rock was a slight to behold.

But here just on the other side of the ridge, a massive city sprawled out, the ridge being the highest point as far as the eye could see. High stone-like walls surrounded the city, with towers spread out along the walls. Inside the walls there was houses grouped together in seemingly random patterns, small clusters of them patches together along a seemingly planned out path. She could try to count about 10 to 15 houses per cluster.

Trees were spaced out inside the walls, she could just barely make out leaves on the trees. They looked dark red and black from here. But they looked like honest to god leaves. Something that wasn’t dead in this place.

That alone had Rumi practically sprinting towards the city.

Even if it turned out to be a fake tree or something, it looked real enough Rumi just couldn’t help it, and it seemed like nobody else could either. The whole group broke out into a full on sprint, and Rumi could clearly hear a horn sound from the direction of the city, even though they must have still been a half mile away.

Soon people flooded out of the gates to greet them.

There was a lot of laughter and hugs. But she didn’t miss the few people Joon-Ho walked up to with a somber expression.

Rumi slowly untied herself from the cart she had been hauling, standing awkwardly next to it while people made their reunion.

After a minute Joon-Ho walked over, a man standing a couple paces behind him had followed him over.

“Hey Rumi, there is someone here who would like to go ahead and meet you if it’s not to much?”

“No, of course not. I would love to!” She really had been feeling great when everything was taken into consideration.

With a slight twitch of his head, a tell that he was talking to someone telepathically or whatever it’s called, the man behind him stepped forward.

“This is Brian He was Lee’s partner.” He started, “I am not sure if we went in to detail about how we managed to free you from Gwi-ma. But it was basically Lee diving into the heart of Gwi-ma’s fire to shove you out. Brian wanted to meet you now if it was ok.”

Rumi nodded, still reeling slightly from the realization that someone had subjected themselves willingly to that pain and fire that had become the all-consuming haze that plagued her dreams. She guess no one had really hidden the fact that someone had to shove her out. It just felt different to hear it plain and simple.

Rumi swallowed the lump in her throat “Um, I am sorry for your loss. I don’t really know what to say other than sorry. And Thank you for saving me, all of you”

Brian just looked at her for a moment, like he was studying her. “Don’t be sorry for a choice you couldn’t influence. And the best way to say thank you is to stamp that purple flame out so I can get him back.”

Rumi nodded, feeling the determination that had been building in her settling a little deeper in her bones “I will. I am going to make him regert everything he has ever done.”

Brian nodded, satisfied with this answer and walked off. As he did Rumi turned to Joon-Ho “I didn’t know someone gave up their freedom to get me out. Is Lee going to be ok? I know you all are the Shameless or whatever but”

Her voice trailed off.

Joon-Ho looked at her for a minute, like he wasn’t sure the best way to say whatever came next “Like I said, we can’t really die. So physically he will be fine.”

Rumi wasn’t whole comforted by that. It wasn’t a good sign he was singling out physically. But she couldn’t tell if she wanted to press for a more in-depth answer.

He guided her deeper into the crowd that had formed. She saw a lot of people laughing, hugging, and crying. From joy or sadness she couldn’t tell.

A lot of people saw her and waved, and cheers would go up when people saw her.

Joon-Ho saw her question before she could ask “They know it’s you because you are the only new face, and I am sure by now word has spread around that we managed to find you. So, it rules out you another Jeoseung Shameless.”

Rumi just nodded, she was use to people yelling and screaming and cheering for her. But this felt different. There was a certain hope behind it that she had never heard before at any of her concerts. She realized quickly that it was because there was hope behind it. Her just being alive had given them hope. Likely a lot more then they had had in hundreds of years.

Joon-Ho helped show her thought the crowd, keeping people from swarming.

She gave a few hi’s, some nods, but Joon-Ho seemed to have a specific place he was trying to get her too inside the city. He lead her around the winding paths of the city, taking her deeper into the center.

After they had broken away from the crowd, he started walking her thought whatever plan he had “I was going to show you to where you will be staying at least for a night or two while you get settled. If you want to fight over the details of where and everything you can. But this house was built ages ago for you. So I am pretty sure the town would have your head if you outright refused it. After than I also need to get settled and then its going to be a lot of meetings and talking and figuring stuff out with people. We can go over all that later. But for now rest.”

They had stopped in front of a decent-sized house, all things considered. It was still small by the standards set by the human realm. But it wasn’t a bundle of roots, or the back of cart.

Joon-Ho showed her in, it was one room inside, with a bed in the corner. The bed was mostly just a couple of mats stacked on top of each other, and there was a few other mats spread around that vaguely looked like a couch layout. There was a kitchen like area, with a fire place and stacks of dusty items.

She looked around before looking at Joon-Ho. “I don’t know what to say.”

He just gave a light chuckle “Well a thank you to the people who built it would be a start. You’ll meet them tomorrow.”

She nodded “I just feel bad, I mean. What about Brian? He lost his partner just to get me back should-”

Joon-Ho cut her off “Like I said, if you want to fight with whoever or whatnot to trade places you can. But for now, just rest. And eat. I am pretty sure that that stack of duty has canned food in it somewhere.”

Rumi’s stomach rumbled at the prospect of food. She hadn’t really been getting hungry over the past few weeks. Something that had been chalked up to her body taking on a more demon side and fueling it that way. Making food more of an option then a necessity. But now that she might actually be able to have some food, her stomach started growling.

Joon-Ho just laughed “Well I will leave you to it then. I will come to find you tomorrow and we can start doing all of the ‘meeting people’ and stuff. Until then, eat. And rest.”

He left with a quick bow, and Rumi went to investigate the pile of dust that allegedly contained food.

She carefully blew on the pile, hoping to get the cool ‘uncovering the items underneath’ vibe she has seen in movies. But unfortunately for her, those movies did a very poor job of showing how much dust would fly up. After dust bombing her new domicile, and spending a couple minutes coughing from dust inhalation, the dust settled enough that she could see again, she looked back at the pile. And sure as shit, there was canned food there.

She started giggling to herself as she started rooting thought the cans. She found ravioli, spaghetti-o’s, beef stew. Along with some cans that had the labels missing or too faded to read.

All and all there were about 20 cans of food sitting here. She just sat there giggling to herself for what must have been an hour as she looked over the cans. Finally, she decided on a can of spaghetti-o’s, and started looking around for a can opener. Unable to find one, she considered just biting the can before she noticed that she had claws now. A feature that she hadn’t notices (more like ignored). She lifted her hand up to examine it, finding that her nails had begun to start further up her fingers, starting at her last joint of her fingers, then growing out a full three to five centimeters past the end of her finger. It was weird to see, but if it got this can open she would take it.

She tested the claws against the side of the can, gently dragging them down the side. Watching as the paper wrapper on the can split clean in half where she claw had passed over.

Satisfied with the sharpness, she gently pressed her index figure to the top of the can, and started applying more pressure every so slightly until she felt the metal give way under her finger.

She was a little shocked at how little pressure it took to break the metal, but she started slowly dragging her finger in a circle across the top of the can.

After a few seconds she had the can opened and was hit by the smell. Her mouth started watering from the sent of food. Real actual food.

The rumbling in her stomach only grew louder as she looked down into the can.

Food, actual food. Not whatever Derpy had been able to find in a trash can, or wherever else he had been finding that food.

Her heart gave a slight pang as she realized she hadn’t thought of them for a while. She really needed to ask Joon-Ho about them. She really needed to ask him about Derpy and Sussie. It had been a few weeks, but she thought he had said something about them not getting along. She didn’t know what that was about, but that was a tomorrow question.

She didn’t have a spoon, so she settled for drinking the spaghetti-o’s out of the can cold. After a large gulp she tossed her head back with a groan “Fuck that’s good. I never though cold spaghetti-o’s would taste so good.”

She drank the rest of the can in three more gulps. She was tempted to break out another can, but she only had nineteen left, and given she didn’t seem to need food, she decided to save them. Either to share, or to hold onto if she ever needed something after a bad day.

After stacking the empty can in its own pile, and re stacking and organizing the rest of the cans. She crawled over to the mat that served as a bed.

She laid down on it, and was pretty quickly thrown off by how much softer it was compared to every where she had slept in the past few… She didn’t really know. She spent a couple weeks The Shameless. But outside of that, she had no idea how long she had just hid out with Derpy trying to regain enough strength.

She spent what must have been two hours curling up, standing back up when she couldn’t get comfortable, pawing and kneading at the mats, then curling back up, and repeating, before she finally gave up and stripped the top couple layers of mats off so there was only one layer between her and the ground.

She finally got comfortable with just the one mat, curling up and letting sleep take her. Only to be acquainted with her old and unwelcome friend, dreams of her friends trying to kill her.

She ran along a freshly made path in the woods; the sound of footsteps followed her.

Her body moved with power and precision, tail flicking left and right by as little as millimeters to adjust for every slight movement she made. Her limbs rippled with pure power as she lunged over a large ravine, turning back to see the small figure with black hair come to an abrupt stop, unable to cover the distance.

She turned around to keep going deeper into the woods that felt familiar. Only to come face first with the taller of the two, the hot pink hair standing out against the dark backdrop of the woods.

The glowing blade held in her hand reflecting back the image of herself. Short purple fur covered her body, a snout pushing a half a dozen centimeter out from her face, fangs poking out from her jaw.

Before she could react, there was a flash and pain exploded in her chest. The glowing blade now sticking out of her chest.

Rumi woke with something between a shout and yelp. She clutched her chest, half expecting to find a blade sticking out. Or at least a wound. But there was nothing there but her racing heart.

She took a deep breath and thought back to Zoey and Mira. The real them, when the remade the Honmoon. The right way. She held that memory in her mind for a while. Playing it over and over in her mind.

A light knock at the door drew her attention.

“yes?” she called out, wincing at the hoarseness of her voice.

“Rumi?” Joon-Ho’s voice called out “You ready to go meet people?”

She stood up, trying to smooth out the wrinkles in her clothes to no avail.  This was some how the first time she had taken serious stalk of her clothes in… well she couldn’t remember the last time she had looked at her clothes to see what kind of shape they were in.  

The answer was pretty bad shape. Her pajama pants were tore beyond recognition, the flimsy and light fabric being more hole than actually fabric at this point, most of her legs were completely exposed, but somehow, she still had one elastic ankle cuff still intact, holding the couple strips of fabric that made up her pant leg into a line. The other pant leg was in no such shape, the ankle cuff missing entirely, and the few bits of fabric that was left swayed freely around her leg.

Her shirt was in no better shape, the long sleeves were long gone, and the main body of the shirt looked like it had been used for target practice for the past fifty years, holes and tears everywhere across it, running from her collar bone to waist where the shirt ended.

Somehow the harness she had been wearing was the most intact and put together looking item she was wearing. And that had been throw together in hell.

She walked over to the door “I may be, but I look like I just got done losing a fight to a shredder. Are people going to get upset at me for looking like shit?”

Joon-ho just laughed “No they won’t care. Everyone here looks like varying levels of shit.”

Rumi sighed in relief “Ok, I just know I’m apparently some supper important figure or another. The amount I have heard ‘your appearance matters because everyone is watching’ is mind numbing”

“Well down here, we don’t really care what you look like, or anyone for that matter. We don’t really have time for that. But if you’re ready to go meet people, we should go. A lot of people are going to have a lot of questions. I already had someone stop me to ask what your plan was to beat Gwi-ma.”

Rumi didn’t have a plan. She had just finished the “don’t die” portion. She hasn’t gotten to the planning part yet. Before she could respond, Joon-Ho followed up “Don’t worry. I told them we had just gotten past the ‘don’t get killed and burned in Gwi-ma’s fire’ stage. Don’t stress about it too much, just be aware some people apparently didn’t realize how little the Hunters understood of the demon world. We have been trying to pass the word around, but just to you are aware that some people might ask.

Rumi nodded, giving some thanks as she followed him out, taking the winding paths to another part of the city. This was a larger building, but the number of people around it, and coming in and out of it, indicated that this wasn’t a house.

“This is our town hall, or courthouse, or village center, or whatever else you might want to call it. Pretty much anything important that happens, happens here. Follow me.”

Rumi followed, noticing how people slowly began to part once they saw her, clearing a path in the rapidly growing crowd. As they stepped inside Rumi took in the building, like most things in this place, everything was simplistic and lacked much fanfare. Simple wooden chairs lined the walls, with wooden desks arranged around. Most of the seats were taken already, and nine seats were set apart from the rest, all of which were taken by people who were listen to the two people talking in the center of the room.

She felt Joon-Ho reach out to her mind to talk to her, and this time she could tell she could block it off if she didn’t want to hear it. But she let the connection take hold so he could talk to her.

“This is a marriage. I always thought they would end up together.”

Rumi just nodded. The people sitting across the room in the chairs kept separate noticed her but thankfully didn’t interrupt anything for her. Which she appreciated.

As the couple in the center finished with what Rumi assumed where vows they hugged, and gave thanks to the nine sitting across the room, calling them “The Overseers” before turning to leave and seeing her. Their faces lit up as they suddenly came forward,

“we can’t believe you are here to see! Surely this is a good omen. Thank you! Thank you thank you!”

They kept going on about how it was a sign from anything good left in the universe while she stood there awkwardly. Thankfully Joon-Ho saved her from having to find her way out of that conversation by cutting in and excusing them to go handle their own affairs.

Rumi gave him a look of appreciation, following him as they went forward.

“The Foretold one!” one of the nine called out as they approved “We have long awaited you! It is our great horror to welcome you into our home!”

Rumi gave bow as they approached, and another called out “you need not bow to us! The Ramblers say that you are the one who would finally end Gwi-ma and right the way of the dead!”

Rumi just blinked at that, glancing over at Joon-Ho, hearing his voice in her head not long after “Sorry, the Ramblers say a lot. I kinda just hit the highlights. They kind of mentioned that you would restore the order of the dead. Only a couple said that, but it still got said. Sorry”

Rumi could feel the mild embarrassment rolling thought with the words. She tried to send back a feeling of ‘all good’. She isn’t too sure if it made it, but whatever did seemed to satisfy him for the time being, as the link was severed and she turned her attention back to the nine in front of her.

“We understand that you have been largely filled in on the history of our realm. And that planning much of anything hasn’t been able to happen yet. Thus our only question for now is what you need to figure out a plan?”

Rumi just blinked for a minute, something she seemed to be doing a lot lately. She was not expecting to be asked such an open ended question. But thankfully her mind didn’t disappoint, already kicking into high gear with such speed she was pretty sure people could hear the fans spinning.

“I think I need time to start, I think I need to get a very solid understanding of the how everything works before I try to make a plan, and I need to learn everything that I possibly can learn about this realm.  So maybe a notebook? And a chance to sit down with everyone who works on information gathering and collecting. Is there any timetable I should be aware of?”

The nine Overseers, as they have been called, nodded along with her, speaking after she finished “There is no set timetable that we know of, so you should have all the time you need. I think we could find a notebook somewhere that you could use, and we can start arranging for you to meet with anyone you would like.”

Rumi nodded, mind still running a little faster than what was probably good for it, but she sorted thought the storm to ask the last question she needed to know now “Is there anyone that could teach me to fight? I cannot summon my sword down here, and none of the martial arts I learned as a kid were made with this form in mind” She motioned to her much more feline like form that had been slowly taking place over the past few months at this point, if she really thought back.

The looked confused for a second, “Yes, I am sure we could find someone who would be willing to teach you. Is there anything else you need?”

Rumi shook her head “Just to start learning and planning”

The nine nodded, and she looked to Joon-Ho, trying to reach out and managing to actually do it this time, he was quick to pick up on it, and she convened the simple thought, “Anymore?”

“No, we can go if you are ready”

She nodded, bowed again, and thanked them for their time and turned to leave.

The crowd hand grown to what must have been the whole encampment. They still parted for her, leaving a clear path as she followed Joon-Ho back to her house.

When they made it back to the house, Joon-Ho turned to her “Well, I shall leave you to think. I will come by later if you have any questions, but I must go to tend to my own matters.”

Rumi nodded, her mind had only picked up its pace, but she stopped him before he could leave “Thank you, for everything. I owe you my life, and I can’t put into words how much that means to me.”

He smiled at her “Of course, Foretold one or not, we would have done it. No one deserves Gwi-ma’s fire.”

With that he left, and Rumi started to plan.

The next year passed in a blur of events. From sitting down with just about everyone in the village to learning everything she could about how this realm worked, from cross-over points, travel routes, terrain, weapons, abilities. She had notebooks upon notebooks filled with everything she could consolidate. Maps now covered the walls and ceiling of the house that had been built for her, she only stayed here because it was large enough to accommodate the number of people she was always having come over to talk to her about what they knew.

She crossed out another crossover point that had been buried under rocks and now had permanent guards stationed at it. The number of crossover points was rapidly dropping, and they were nowhere near ready to try and make a push for any of them.

“Our best bet looks like it would be to strengthen the Honmoon enough that Gwi-ma can’t get more demons thought, forcing him to start communing Dokkaebi to maintain his strength. He’s egotistical and arrogant right? He would rather burn through his troops to come off as strong then play it safe and let his flame dwindle to keep a stronger army. And that’s what we use against him.” She explained “If we can make a large attack, fell enough Jeoseung, and dissipate enough Dokkaebi, then I can get to the human world. I can work with the other hunters to keep the Honmoon strong enough that he can’t reap new souls. Then I find my way back down here every few weeks and repeat.”

Some nodded along, she got a few confused looks, some looked ready to go storm the king right there.

Someone raised their hand, and Rumi nodded at them “Why would you come back? Not to be rude, but I think I can speak for most people when I say, if any of us managed to get to the human world again we would fuck off and never even consider coming back.”

He was quickly jabbed in the ribs by his neighbor, but Rumi cut in “It’s ok, it’s a good question. I guess I owe you all at the bare minimum. If it wasn’t for you all I would still be sitting in Gwi-ma’s fire. But even without that, it’s what I was taught to do, it’s what I taught was right. I can help you all, I can do something to try and free you all from this hell. And that’s the right thing to do. I would never hold it against a single one of you if you did just that, got over and never looked back. But it’s my job to protect human souls. And that includes every one of you.”

There was a lot of contemplating that day.

With the vague plan made, she started focusing on training and keeping her maps up to date with what was going on. While she honed her skills with her body, which had long since stopped changing, settled into what she was told was a hybrid type of demon form, a light coat of fur covered her body, she looked like a human cat. There was no other way to put it at this point. Her limbs had shifted to the point standing on her hind legs was downright annoying. Her hands remained close to normal, she still had thumbs. But thick pads covered her palms, and her feet had long since completely turned into paws. A tail had showed up at some point, which made balance a lot easier. One of her first lessons when she started training with the quadrupedal members of The Shameless was how to shift her body back and forth into a more bipedal stance. She found it to be wildly uncomfortable. Both the processes of shifting back into something that looked a lot more human, and to stay looking like a human.

She spent a week getting tossed around like a ragdoll while learning to fight, but after that she started to get the hang out if and quickly found herself meshing dozens of fighting styles together. Shifting through stages of her demon form in what she was told was “The most beautiful ass kicking I’ve ever been on the receiving end of”

After a while she began to love the sparring sessions. It felt familiar in a way she had long since lost the reason why. She thought it had to do with Mira and Zoey. She couldn’t put her finger on why anymore, outside of her one memory of them, hugging on the stage the night of the idol awards, she couldn’t think of a time they hadn’t been trying to kill her. But she held onto the memory like a lifeline. Knowing that had to be true.

“We have to start making the final places, Rumi. There is only two Crossover points left, and one of them is the one Gwi-ma sits on top of” Joon-Ho said to her, they were laying on the mats on her floor, looking up at the map that covered the ceiling. She had just crossed out another Crossover point, marking only two left.

“I know, but I don’t know if I am ready. I feel like there is too much unknow information still.” The worry evident across the link, something she had mastered over the past year. She looked at her maps, carefully and precisely drawn. A skill she never thought she would need, but Celine had made her learn anyway. Of course, 80% of what she had drawn was now obsolete because there was no longer anything that they could use there.

“Well, its been almost two years since we went and got you out, and in that time, Gwi-ma has managed to find and cover hundreds of crossover points, And you have mapped out more of this area by word of mouth then anyone where every thought we would have a map of, and become one of the scariest fighters anyone here has seen. Our best beat is to push for that Crossover point a kilometer outside of the main palace area. I know you can make it.”

As if on cue, a message knocked on the door. Ringing his hands like he had very bad news.

Rumi could already guess what it was, but she rolled onto her hands and feet and asked away, already reaching for her writing utensil “what is the news?”

She could feel the nerves of the message across the link the instant he let it connect “Gwi-ma has covered crossover P-2”

Even without the link connecting the three, they could feel the weight of this in the air.

Rumi padded over to the spot on the map and marked it out. The “x” over it hung heavy.

She plopped back down where she was at, sighing heavily realizing what this meant.

“You know this means someone will-”

“No!” Rumi cut off Joon-Ho before he could even finish that thought “one is already to many. No one else is going to get flash burned for me. Never again.”

She turned to the messenger who was still standing there “Thank you, please let the Overseers know I will want to hold a meeting before end of day.”

He nodded, and she could feel the relief off of him before he cut the link and ran off. Even with how nice she had been to everyone here, the marks of Gwi-ma still showed in the constant fear most people held.

She took a deep breath before turning to Joon-Ho “I am going to go see Brian and Lee. They should be the first to know.”

Joon-Ho just nodded, and she walked off. She got some looks from people as she walked, it seemed that news about a messenger with bad news had spread, the somber looks from everyone she past told her that they knew, or had a pretty good idea of what news that he had carried in.

Rumi got to Brain and Lee’s door, giving a rap on the door frame. A second later she felt Brian reaching out to see who was there, and she reached back.

The door swung open “please come in, I heard a messenger came thought, and I doubt it was good news.” Brian motioned for her to come in, and she did. Taking her normal spot on the couch. Ever since Lee had been found and brought back, she had made it a point to come visit once a week or so.

“Yeah, its not good news. I wanted to tell you personally. But how is Lee doing?” She looked at him, sitting in the chair, starting into the wall with a blank stare.

She didn’t know what Flash burning was until they had found Lee, apparently some Dokkaebi had pissed off Gwi-ma enough that he had decided to just throw Lee out of his fire without much thought, so the scouts had found him and brought him back. When she had first seen him, she was happy, maybe someone was back and reunited with their loved ones. Maybe good things could happen even in hell. But she had noticed the blank stare. The way he didn’t react when Brian ran up and hugged him, sobbing into his shoulder.

Joon-Ho had pulled her aside before she could say anything “He’s been flash burned. We figured it would happen, but we all had hoped maybe not. But we aren’t that lucky”

“The fuck is flash burning. And why am I just now hearing about it?” Rumi was looking back and forth between Joon-Ho, and Lee and Brian.

“It’s a last-ditch thing Gwi-ma does if someone really pisses him off. Like pretty much all of The Shameless. He burns your mind clean of everything. Ever memory, every thought, every emotion. He doesn’t do it very often, because it normally cost him control of Jeoseung. But he doesn’t tend to hold such reservations with The Shameless because he already can’t control us.”

“And why the fuck am I just now finding out about this?” She was trying to keep her voice quiet, but she was also pissed no one had told her before.

“I just figured I  had dumped enough on you when it was topically relevant, and it hasn’t come up since then.”

Rumi had to fight every urge to slap him, because that was some big information she could have used.

Brian’s voice in her head pulled her out of her thoughts “He’s about as good as he can be. I’ve shared everything I can with him, talks to me sometimes. But Flash Burning runs deep. And no one has ever recovered. I just am holding out hope that when you finally stamp out Gwi-ma it will undo it.”

Rumi nodded. “I guess I will get the bad news over with. The last Crossover point not ontop of Gwi-ma has been buried.”

Brian just nodded like he expected this “it’s ok. We know what we-”

“No” Rumi cut him off, getting a look “no one else. Not for me. I didn’t have a say before, but I do now. And I am not letting anyone else give up everything for me. It just makes things a little harder. But its my fault we are even in this situation, and I am not letting anyone give up everything for me. Not when this could have been avoided if I hadn’t been a coward.”

Brian listened to her, and she let her determination flow thought the link. He seemed to understand that there was no convincing her otherwise. “Ok, just know if it puts an end to Gwi-ma, its worth it. No matter what it costs us as individuals”

Rumi just nodded, then excused herself to go see when she was going to address everyone else regarding the shit news.  

Her address went about how she expected it. A lot of people telling her it was ok, and that they knew what it meant. Even when she was adamant that no one would being getting Flash burned for her.

She ended her little speech asking those that were going to help lead the attack to come meet at her house the next morning so they could start finalizing plans.

She sleep poorly that night. Images of everyone she had come to know as friends losing everything just to give her a chance. She woke up to tears streaking her face.

She wiped them away and walked over to her pile of cans. She still had 8 left. She settled on beef stew this morning.  It helped somewhat. After that she began getting ready for the meeting,

Pulling maps off the walls that they wouldn’t need and storing them away, stacking notebooks that still have relevant information near where they would sit.

Most of the meeting when by in a haze. The feelings of her cowardness looming over her head, if I had only acted faster we might not be in this situation.

As the days went by, she did her best to focus on the task at hand planning getting ready for the fight at hand.

Before she knew it they were loading up the wagons to start their trek to the ruined place grounds.

Most of The Shameless were coming, but a few were staying back to watch over the village. Their goodbyes were short, filled with promise of coming back.

As Rumi said her goodbyes to Brian, she made a promise she hoped she could keep “I am going to find a way to get everyone there memories back. At this point it’s the least I can for you. For everyone.”

The trek there was boring thankfully, no attacks, no ambushes, no signs of the Jeoseung portals that had been going around since Rumi had been freed. Like Gwi-ma knew they were coming and wanted to make sure they made it. She shuttered at the thought, but figured there was nothing she could do about it now.

The last day of travel, when they stopped for the night to rest, they all sat together, close to a thousand people sitting in groups, getting ready to fight an army several orders of magnitude larger. The purple light on the horizon really set the mood for the day to come.

She sat with Joon-Ho, one of her closest friends by this point. Looking over the rocky jagged landscape that marked the grounds of the ruined palace.

Joon-ho reached out first, the second she let the link connect, she could feel something like nostalgia wash over it “It’s been over two years now since we first pulled you out of his fire. It took years of planning to get you out, then two years of planning just to shove you back thought it.”

The irony wasn’t lost on Rumi, she just chuckled to herself “But this time, I’m going thought it. Then I’m coming back with the biggest bucket of water I can find to dowse that purple asshole”

Feelings of humor traveled thought the link, putting a light smile on Rumi’s face for the first time in months. But suddenly Joon-ho’s humor died out, and Rumi just felt a serious string get plucked. She looked over at him.

“Can I ask you to do something for me when you make it back to the Human world?”

Rumi didn’t even have to think “yes of course, whatever you need”

 “Can you find my family, make sure they are ok? Make sure they know I love them and I miss them everyday” His request was accompanied by an image; the first one Rumi had ever gotten from him. A woman around the same age as Joon-ho, and three girls who bore a striking resemblance to him and the woman.

His family, Rumi realized. This was the memory that he had chosen to never get tainted. His last day with them. She could feel how happy he was, she could see their smiles and feel his joy at their smiles. It made her tear up.

“Of course. I promise I will find them. I will make sure they know how much you love them.”

“Thank you, Rumi”

They slept in shifts that night, but thankfully nothing happened. Rumi slept without dreams for the first time since she got down here. She chose to take that as a good sign.

There was a somber mood across the camp as everyone started getting up and ready for the day’s battle.

Rumi did a couple jumping jacks to get her heart rate up and tried to come up with something inspirational to say.

Nothing really came to her, so when she got in front of The Shameless, no, her friends. She had spend two years with these people, living, working, and surviving by these people. They weren’t a name to her anymore, they were her friends.

As she looked out over the crowd of her friends, she felt her heart swell. So she started there, reaching out to everyone here, feeling the largest link, she had every done take hold with everyone here.

She let her emotions flow across it freely. Her fear, her worry, but also her determination, and her gratitude.

“Friends. I can never thank you enough. Not with words, not with thoughts, not with feelings. Nothing could ever express how much I will forever owe every last one of you. Today we have one goal, BURN GWI-MA! Burn his army, burn his resources, twist his pride against him! Make him hurt. Make the flame feel the heat,” She felt the rally feed back and thought the link, the energy and determination taking over, pushing the somber mood out of the way, “We will make him hurt, then cut him off from the human world. And I will come back, again, and again, and again. Over! And over! And over! Until Gwi-ma has burned out!”

There was a silent cheer thought the link.

Rumi kept it intact, letting a song take hold in her mind, sharing it with her friends. They knew it, she had sung it for them before. She let the music fill her mind, and spread out across her friends.

In an instant they took to it. She let the music to ”How it’s done” fill their minds.

Sure, the lyrics might start out a little inaccurate, but she had killed enough demons to this song that it seemed fitting.

She looked over a Joon-Ho, “I promise I will find your family.”

With that she shook out her body, letting her bones push and shove around to take shape. The process had long since stopped being painful. In a little under a second she stood there, looking more like a purple jaguar then anything else.

She peaked over the hill, letting what she saw get fed back to everyone. Unsurprisingly legions of demons stood at the ready, just like Gwi-ma had known they were coming.

With the last confirmation in from everyone, Rumi jumped over the hill, followed by Joon-ho and the squad he was leading.

She charged straight at the army in front of her, rage filling her bones as a chorus of a thousand voices sung “How it’s done”.

Gwa-ma’s army didn’t waste time, surging forward as soon as Rumi broke over the hill.

What had been a five-hundred-meter gap moments ago, rapidly closed until Rumi crashed into the first Dokkaebi with such force the impact alone disintegrated their body.

To say all hell had broken loose was an understatement. Carefully laid formations on both sides feel apart as Rumi charged straight thought the lies, cutting a path though the Dokkaebi ranks faster than they could realize that the one in front of them had fallen. A trail of ash followed her wake. She could feel Joon-Ho and his squad trying to keep up, but not able to match her speed.

She felt it when the rest of The Shameless started their attacks on the flanks, pulling the focus away from them.

Rumi crashed claws first into another demon but had to look down when she realized the body didn’t disintegrate. She had just hit a line of Jeoseung and didn’t even notice until she had killed the first one. The others looked at her with a mix of fear and anger.

She let out a low growl before jumping at the closest one, sending out a thought that she had hit the Jeoseung.

Not long after she had finished dispatching another woefully unprepared Jeoseung, Joon-Ho made it to her side, helping her push though the line. Every fallen Jeoseung they could make meant more energy Gwi-ma was cost. And by God they were going to make it costly.

Rumi stopped being able to keep track of time, minutes could have passed, or days. All she bothered to keep track of where the next demon was. The demons blurred together, and it became hard to distinguish anyone who wasn’t linked as a part of The Shameless. She could feel the number of people in the link get smaller over the course of the battle, and she mourned each one that fell, and fought all the harder toward Gwi-ma’s throne. Because those were her friends. Hell, that was her family. And she was going to make Gwi-ma pay for every last one of them.

She shifted into her more human form long enough to shoulder check a demon in front of her, then let her body shift back into its much heavier demon form, landing the weight on the demon front of her, the lack of a poof told her it was another Jeoseung, she looked down long enough to see it was Mystery, who’s chest cavity now resembled A two dimensional surface more than anything else.

His hair had been splatter around so she could see his face what did Zoey ever see in that.

She shook the thought away, looking up she could see they were close to the stairs that lead up to the last Crossover point. And there at the top was Gwi-ma, in all of his ugly purple fire.

“Im going for it, NOW!”

She herd a chorus of responses driving her forward.

Gwi-ma’s voice roared out, but she didn’t listen. She ran up the stairs, pushing her body as hard as she could. The red flashes of blades whizzing past her, told her Joon-Ho was still close by, taking care of any demons that could get in her way.

She already had the place she wanted to go in mind, the tree on the Hunter’s grounds. She held that point in her mind as she charged forward.

As she lunged for it, feeling the purple fire envelope her, she dug her claws into The Vail, seeing the image appear.

Before she could she heard Gwi-ma’s voice in her head

You will not escape me! If I can not twist you, I will erase you!

Rumi’s head exploded in fire, understanding why they called it Flash Burning now.

She felt dozens of memory flood into her head, only to be wiped away by fire seconds later. She tried to focus. But with every second it was harder to remember anything. She was going to a tree.  She slammed her hands deeper into the Honmoon, pulling it apart with all her might. She started to see memory and Zoey and Mria appear, then get erased by fire.

“NO!” she shouted out loud as she felt the memory of them start to burn. She tried to cling onto them, but it was no use. The fire consumed all, wiping everything out of her mind.

She kept pulling, trying to pull herself forward out of the fire, she had started to forget what she was trying to pull herself thought, just that she needed to get through it.

She pulled harder, but it was no use.

She suddenly felt the fire leave her mind, and she felt a shove on her back, pushing her thought into the hole.

She looked behind her and felt something like betrayal. There was a man standing behind her, pushing her down. She knew this man, right? She felt like she did. And she felt like he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to do. Something he had promised not to do. Or that she didn’t want him to do. She couldn’t remember.

“Tell my family I love them Rumi. And tell your family you love them. We will wait for you to heal.” Rumi recognized the voice, she knew it belonged to the man standing in the purple fire. But she couldn’t remember who that was. Or what he was talking about.

With one last shove she felt herself fall, with a weird twist of gravity as she fell on the ground. She tried to stand up and orient herself, but everything was spinning.

After a second, she was able to stand up, and she heard a voice call out “Rumi?”

Her head snapped in the direction of the voice, it was weirdly familiar like something she knew. But she couldn’t quite place it. She looked and saw a face the invoke two equally intense, but polar opposite reactions. Part of her wanted to run forward to the person in front of her, but the other wanted to run and hide forever.

Danger! Safe! Danger! Safe!

Her mind screamed mixed signals at her as she looked into the figures with light brown eyes. Against all the parts of her body telling her to run and hide, she took a cautious step forward. The figure slowly bent down and reached her hand out slowly.

Another step forward, then another. The figure didn’t make any other movements, so another step forward.

Then she heard a branch snap off to her left.

Her head snapped over, locking onto a large glowing blade.

She could hear the figure shout something, but all she could focus on was the large glowing blade held in this new figure’s hands.

DANGER! DANGER! DEATH! STAY AND DIE!

Everything in her body switched, leaving no room for doubt in the danger at hand. That blade was meant for war. Only death followed.

She turned and jumped, clearing the nearest rocks she could find, and hit the ground running as fast as she could. And she didn’t stop and look back for a long time.