I know this is not my usual stuff, but please, read this post! It's very important!
Venezuela, my country, suffered two major earthquakes (doublet earthquakes, as it's known) separated by a mere 39 seconds each on June 24th. They were of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, respectively, and have left unimaginable destruction in their wake.
My family, friends, and I have been incredibly fortunate to escape unharmed, but thousands, if not millions, of people are being affected by this tragedy in various parts of the country, with La Guaira and Caracas being among the worst-affected areas. The country's main airport had to be closed due to the extensive damage it sustained.
Around 800 buildings have collapsed... People have lost everything they had: their homes, their families. The government didn't "take action" until two days after the tragedy; ordinary citizens were the ones carrying out rescue efforts with their bare hands and fingernails while the national authorities did nothing.
There are more than 50,000 people missing to date, most of them are still trapped under the rubble, and the only ones trying to do anything about it are the international rescuers (those who have been able to reach the country, because this corrupt regime is hindering them) and the citizens searching for their family and friends buried under tons of concrete.
Hospitals that have been suffering from resource shortages for almost three decades were filled with supplies within days of the tragedy, thanks to the efforts of citizens who have been donating everything they can across the country. Some of these collection centers have been targeted for closure by the regime under the pretext that it's illegal...
(And no, it's not. By doing that, they're preventing aid from reaching the people who need it most.)
Venezuela lacks the necessary resources to deal with a tragedy of this magnitude: there are no protocols, not enough tools, no heavy machinery, and no effort on the part of the national authorities. We need international aid; we need to help each other because the government won't.
Please, if you can, donate. If you can't, at least please share this and any other posts about this situation with your friends, family, and on social media so that it reaches more people. We need all the help we can get.
DO NOT DONATE TO THE VENEZUELAN RED CROSS! PART OF THEIR FUNDS GO DIRECTLY TO THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH HAS DONE NOTHING FOR ITS CITIZENS!
This link compiles information on reliable fundraising campaigns, organized according to specific needs:
A curated directory for donating money after the Venezuela earthquake, grouped by each organization's focus and by how to donate safely from
You can also donate to the following reliable sites:
Suma tu donación y ayuda a quienes más lo necesitan.
Venezuela Needs Our Help Now
Following the devastating ea… I Love Venezuela Foundation needs your support for Emergency Relief for Venez
So, I had an idea from another fic I was reading awhile ago. The fic is basically mega-abusive Celine assuming every trauma response from Rumi is just her demon side and punishing her for them, and Rumi, instead of letting herself be punished, continuously lashes out at Celine in every way she can.
(SO MANY WORDS UNDER THE CUT I WENT OVERBOARD)
Eventually Celine realizes “oh. Oh, I’m a terrible person” and tries to make amends.
But I had a fun thought.
What would happen if Rumi blanked?
Lemme explain.
So let’s say Rumi is covered in patterns at like 15, right? It’s the year before Mira and Zoey will be found, but she doesn’t know that. She doesn’t know that the two people who will love her unconditionally are metaphorically around the next corner.
All she knows is Celine hurt her again because she got scared of Celine. She had hissed in fear when Celine turned with the sword out, and Celine had decided to teach her not to act feral.
Of course, she uses the guise of “training” as an explanation for the abuse.
(This Celine would be remarkably like the Celine from the fic, where she cares for Rumi in a really twisted way, but the last few years of Rumi fighting back against the abuse have made her think Rumi’s a demon.)
But this time, the “training” doesn’t stop when Rumi goes down, because the more demonic aspects have begun to come out.
Tail, claws, glowing eye, the works.
Something inside Rumi… shudders as the blows continue to rain.
That something folds into itself, cutting itself away from everything else that is Rumi. Celine sees the Honmoon shivering-in fear, though she doesn’t know-, and switches to her Honmoon weapon. She only uses the blunt end… but even that still severs all the remaining connections, leaving one connection to the %€¥? inside of Rumi.
Celine stops after a few more minutes, panting, and tells Rumi to go back inside and clean herself up. She expected Rumi to say something snarky like the other times the “training” ended, but instead Rumi just gets up with a blank expression, turned, and walked back into the house.
It’s rather off-putting to Celine, but she shakes it off. If it means Rumi’s demon half is controlled then fine, it means she’s doing the right thing.
Is she doing the right thing…?
(She ignores the guilt twisting inside her. She doesn’t want to deal with it right now, why should she feel bad about protecting the world from the demonic half hunter?)
But then the next day arrives. Rumi is outside, tail, claws, and eye still there. Shes waiting for Celine, just like every day, as if nothing had changed.
…but the blank expression from before is there.
They start their usual training, Celine instructing Rumi on form and the exercises. But today is different, the usual snarky remarks and glares are just gone.
It’s unsettling.
But hey, maybe it’s a good thing! Rumi’s finally stopped letting the demonic half of her biology control her emotions, this must be what that looks like!
But if that’s the case, why does it feel so viscerally wrong?
They begin their song practice that afternoon, and it’s then that Celine realizes something is truly, deeply wrong.
The Honmoon is acting strange. Before, even when Rumi would sing spitefully, it would dance around her lovingly. But now it feels almost hesitant, like it’s unsure whether this is the same girl who it chose to be its hunter all those years ago.
Celine assumes this is somehow Rumi acting out, and forces her to “spar” with her again. Rumi doesn’t react when she gets hit, her expression remaining unchanging as each blow lands. This makes Celine even more angry, but no matter how hard she hits Rumi she can't get the girl demon to react, no sounds except occasional quiet breaths from a blow to her gut.
Days turn into weeks of this, the Honmoon hesitantly reacting to Rumi and the "training" not doing anything beyond frustrating Celine. She just can't figure out what's wrong, why won't Rumi just fight back like she used too? Where's the girl demon that used to argue for hours with Celine about the simplest things?
Celine misses that girl.
But all that is left is the husk that looks at her with dead eyes.
After the first month, she stopped the "training" sessions outside of “correctional behavior”.
Rumi didn't change.
After two months, she stopped begging demanding to know why the Honmoon wouldn't react like it had before.
Rumi didn't change.
At the six month mark, Celine stopped speaking to Rumi. She began to direct her simply by pointing at something, and Rumi would move to do the task.
Rumi. Didn't. Change.
The honmoon began to pull against Celine at the eight month mark. A signal that a hunter is in distress, but she couldn't figure out how or where.
The honmoon can only lead a hunter to the general area, and Celine lives with Rumi, after all.
The one year mark arrives, and Rumi’s birthday arrives. Celine… doesn’t want to think about it, about her, or about Miyeong. She doesn’t want to feel guilty about doing… this to the girl Miyeong begged her to protect. Rumi stopped speaking around then. She still sang when directed, but no other words fell from her lips unless asked a direct question.
Rumi is blank, now.
It’s for the Honmoon. That’s what Celine keeps telling herself, it’s for the Honmoon.
(The honmoon grows weaker, ever so slightly, each time Rumi gets hurt and feels nothing.)
She finds the two girls a few weeks later, after leaving specific instructions for Rumi to eat, drink, use the restroom, and train. The smaller of the two, Zoey, is brighter than the sun. So much energy, laughter, and creativity that it’s almost blinding.
Rumi would’ve loved getting to talk to her.
The older, Mira, is sharp edges and dry wit. A perfect contrast to Zoey, and yet somehow able to keep up with her. It reminds her of how she used to be with Miyeong, back when they were younger.
Rumi would’ve loved bantering with her.
She explains everything to them before they arrive on Jeju island. Well… almost everything. She’s delaying explaining Rumi, or whatever’s left of Rumi in that shell of a body. How do you explain that you somehow ripped someone’s very self out of their body?
By the time they arrive on the island, Celine’s got a plan. She leads the girls to the compound, warning her they’re going to see a demon for the first time in their lives but not to panic. When they head inside, they find Rumi… smiling.
Ever so faintly, Rumi is smiling and sitting on the ground. A small bunny is asleep on her lap, the mama bunny chewing on grass nearby. At their approach, Rumi looks up, the smile dropping back into the horribly blank expression.
Zoey muffled a squeal when she saw the bunny’s, and Mira quickly took a picture, but when the blank expression appeared they felt… something in their souls shudder.
Something is wrong. They don’t know what, but this girl isn’t a danger.
She’s in danger.
Celine stalks over, demanding Rumi stand up. Rumi gently moves the sleeping bunny off her lap first, then stands, facing Celine. Celine demands to know what she did to the poor creature. Rumi doesn’t say anything, because to say something would mean she did something.
All Rumi had done was sit down. It was the first willfully disobedient choice she’d managed to make in over a year, and it felt wonderful. That something inside her, that barely connected thing, gained another tether that day. The bunny’s had come over, with the mama watching as the baby got into Rumi’s lap.
But Celine didn’t know that. She didn’t care. All she knew was Rumi had a small living creature that looked dead in her lap.
Celine hit Rumi, knocking her to the ground. She tells Rumi never to touch one of those animals again, that they don’t deserve to be stained by demonic hands.
Why am I saying this? Why am I doing this? Isn’t this good? She finally did something! So why?
She doesn’t even realize Mira and Zoey are in front of her until a hand shoved her back. Zoey’s holding Rumi’s face, checking over her glowing eye.
Why isn’t she repulsed by it? That unnatural thing? Why isn’t she scared of the monster?
Mira is in front of the two, one arm outstretched to create a wider barrier and the other held in front of her defensively. Mira demands to know why in the hell Celine just hit her for not answering. Celine says that’s the only way a demon can be made to do anything, otherwise it will try to kill humans.
Mira and Zoey look unconvinced. Celine hesitates for a moment before steadying herself. They will see.
They will know just how dangerous a demon is.
“Rumi, fight Mira and Zoey until I say stop, do not use your claws or teeth.”
The two girls don’t even have time to react. A hand shoves Zoey into Mira in an instant, with far more force than the simple action should’ve had. The two girls stumble, barely keeping their footing, but Rumi doesn’t let up.
She quickly knocks the two girls to the ground, then waits. Celine blinks in surprise. Then she remembers, she left standing orders that if she knocked Celine over then to wait for her to stand. How curious that Rumi took that to include all humans, not just Celine.
(Rumi is fighting the order. She should keep attacking while they’re down, that’s what Celine wanted, but no. She won’t hurt these girls how Celine wants her too.)
Mira and Zoey stare up at Rumi, stunned. Celine speaks then, telling Rumi that’s enough. The half-demon lowered her arms, taking a step back as Celine stepped forwards.
She says that the only reason Rumi didn’t try to kill them both is because Celine was able to train that out of her just over a year ago today. If they’d come here a year ago, Rumi would’ve tried to rip out their throats. Celine says she’s sorry that this was how they had to learn it, but they need to understand that Rumi is a demon, and a demon has no feelings.
The two girls stand, and Celine turns away, thinking that the matter is settled.
“You’re wrong.”
Celine turns back, a frown on her face at Mira’s words. Mira repeats herself, saying Celine is wrong. She says that Rumi didn’t attack until after Celine ordered her too. That if Celine hadn’t said anything, Rumi wouldn’t have done that. Celine sighed, saying that she gave the order so that Rumi wouldn’t kill them when she attacked, because that’s what Rumi always did, before.
She shows them three scars, all on her left arm. Two are from claws, the third from teeth. She says this is what happened a year ago, the day she was able to break the demon inside of Rumi.
(The girls shudder, imagining what that “break” must have entailed for the poor girl.)
She ordered Rumi to go inside and get dinner started. She tells the girls to familiarize themselves with the compound, she has to finalize some paperwork. The two young woman are left alone in the field, enraged and scared.
The dinner that night is a silent affair. Celine tries to talk to Mira and Zoey, but Rumi seems to be off putting to the two girls with the blank way she eats her food. With a sigh, she orders Rumi to go finish eating in her room.
She had hoped Mira and Zoey would be more talkative after that, hunters are supposed to be close after all, but the two just shared a look and kept eating without speaking.
They went to bed, Celine feeling odd. Why weren’t the girls opening up to one another? They had gotten along well enough on the way here, so why wasn’t the conversation flowing like it had before? It must’ve been because Rumi was there, Celine decides. She’ll order Rumi to always take her meals to her room from now on.
Mira and Zoey, meanwhile, are talking non-stop in bed. They both agree that whatever Celine had done to Rumi had messed her up big time, and somehow she couldn’t tell. They decide, then and there, to make an effort to get to know Rumi, to show her that they see her as more then just a demon.
The next day, Mira and Zoey walk into the kitchen and find Rumi loading up plates. As soon as she’s finished, she grabs her own and starts leaving. A hand on her arm stops her. Zoey asks Rumi to stay with them for the meal. Rumi blinks, before nodding once.
(Another thread reconnects to Rumi, of what that is isn’t something she can name yet.)
The three sit and eat, with Zoey talking enough for the three of them with Mira contributing occasionally. Rumi sits quietly, eating with that same mechanical efficiency. But Mira still sees it. That momentary pause before each bite as Zoey gets particularly into a certain subject.
I guess Celine hasn’t broken this girl in the way she thought she had…
Celine walked in as they were finishing up, frowning at Rumi. She questions why Rumi’s there, she told her to eat in her room. Zoey speaks up, brightly saying she asked Rumi to stay and she did.
Celine makes a mental note to leave Rumi instructions not to listen to certain directions from people when they debut. She doesn’t want her being kidnapped before they can seal the Honmoon, after all.
She doesn’t think to ask why Zoey wanted the demon to stay, when last night had been so tense with her there. Why would she? Zoey was probably just being polite, right?
The training starts that day, with a simple run. Celine gives Rumi instructions to run at a specific pace to act as the pacemaker for the two girls, to ease them into training. They all set off, and Celine watches them carefully. She shouts occasional corrections, far more gently than she used to with Rumi.
Mira and Zoey star flagging after the first half hour of running, so Celine calls for a water break for the two. Rumi tries to keep running, but Zoey catches her hand, making her freeze. Rumi looks at Zoey with that blank expression, but Mira can see it. The faintest hint of a pinched eyebrow, an actual emotion on Rumi’s face.
Celine doesn’t see it, though. She just tells Zoey to let Rumi go, and when she tries to argue Celine tells Rumi to keep running, so she does. Zoey says Rumi needs water breaks too, but Celine waves her off, saying Rumi has far more endurance then the two of them and won’t need it for another hour.
The rest of the day goes much the same, with Zoey and Mira taking it “easy” while watching Rumi train. To say it’s extreme would be an understatement. Celine has Rumi running through an Olympic level training course each exercise, most of the time not even saying anything, instead pointing at a piece of equipment.
It’s unsettling.
That night Zoey pulls Rumi back to sit at the table with them. Celine joins them again, and doesn’t comment on Rumi being there. Zoey is talking like she had in the car, but only to Mira and Rumi. It’s odd, but Celine could’ve sworn Rumi was pausing slightly before each bite to better hear her.
Must be a trick of her tired mind.
The next several days goes the same. Wake up, eat, train, eat, sleep. Over that time, that something inside of Rumi begins to unfold. Something inside her is shifting towards the warmth that is Mira and Zoey, and she craves it how a drowning man craves air.
The incident happens a week after Zoey summons her shin-Kal. Mira had gotten frustrated, and thrown the sword she was practicing with to the ground and stalked off. Celine had walked over to her, lifting her hand to put on her shoulder.
She never saw Rumi coming.
Suddenly Celine was flat on her back, staring at the sky in mild surprise. Looking at Mira, she can see Rumi standing in front of her, crouched protectively, glowing eye trained on the threat Celine.
Celine stands up slowly, watching as Rumi’s blank expression remains impassive. She tells Rumi to move.
Rumi does not.
(That something unfolds a little further as Rumi protects one of her only friends.)
Celine’s gaze hardens, telling Rumi to move again. Mira, seeing what’s about to happen, puts her hand on Rumi’s shoulder and says it’s ok. Only after that does Rumi move.
Celine glares at the half demon and tells her to start running laps. Rumi does so, and Celine turns, sighing, and apologizes to Mira. She says she let herself get blindsighted by Rumi and Mira could’ve gotten hurt because of it. Mira scoffs, saying Rumi wouldn’t hurt her or Zoey.
This… worries Celine. Shes not sure where the idea had gotten lost in the last few weeks, but Rumi is a demon. That’s all she will ever be, and the way the Honmoon can barely connect to her is proof enough.
She’s trying to ignore the obvious reason why the Honmoon is failing to connect.
She’s gotten very good at ignoring the truth.
Celine decides she needs to show Mira and Zoey why, exactly, she did this to Rumi. Why they are safe with Rumi and why she is the only reason for it. So she calls for Rumi, drawing the girl demon over.
Mira and Zoey prepare to intervene should Celine decide to teach Rumi a lesson. That preparation is the only reason they can react when Celine tells Rumi to attack Mira and Zoey for the second time.
The fight is brutal in how short it is. Rumi’s skills still far outclass both of theirs, and she doesn’t hesitate the way they do. At least, that’s what Celine sees.
You see, Celine has spent the better part of the last year ignoring Rumi as much as she could. A ridiculous guilt would well up inside her every time she looked at her and remembered how rambunctious and energetic she used to be.
That is to say, she doesn’t see how Rumi almost choreographs the fight. She carefully guides Mira to the ground in a takedown so fast Celine couldn’t track it. She disarmed and pinned Zoey right next to her in the next moment, but then she stopped there.
Celine waited. Every time Celine had told Rumi to attack in the past, whether it was a group of demons or Celine herself, Rumi wouldn’t let up until her quarry’s were broken and bleeding. The one time she pinned Celine she started trying to break her arms before Celine ordered her off of her.
She had also ensured, after the first time the girls fought, that she isn’t to relent when attacking anyone but Celine. She doesn’t want Rumi to stop attacking Mira or Zoey if she knocks them to the ground, after all.
So to say she is completely shocked when Rumi stands up and steps back is an understatement. Mira and Zoey, taking advantage of Celine’s shock, quickly get up.
Mira starts arguing with Celine about suddenly making Rumi do that to them again while Zoey checks over Rumi to make sure she didn’t accidentally cut her.
Celine shakes herself out of the stupor right as Zoey’s about to touch Rumi’s face. With a shout, Celine lunges, but can’t make it in time to stop Zoey from touching her cheek.
Celine has the second shock of the day as Rumi doesn’t bite that hand. Every single time in the past, even before the last year, Rumi had bitten her whenever she tried to touch her face.
(She never considered the time she touched Rumi’s face before that began. The time she ripped those canine teeth out with a pair of pliers, holding her face in place.
She doesn’t remember last time, when Zoey held Rumi’s face after she’d struck the girl demon. She doesn’t remember the way Rumi leaned ever so slightly into the touch.)
Another part of her ?o%# unfolds. A flicker of warmth shoots through Rumi at the contact, but she still can’t move like she wants to. She never understood what Celine had done to her, but somehow she’d locked Rumi behind a wall inside her own body.
But the cracks had begun to show.
Celine quickly ordered Rumi to keep running laps, and told the girls to head inside. They tried to argue, saying they couldn’t just leave Rumi, but Celine doesn’t listen. Eventually, the girls acquiesce and go inside, casting worried glances at Rumi.
Celine’s worry, guilt, and anger all coalesce as the two hunters look at the demon with concern. Couldn’t they see it? The monster that the Honmoon had mistakenly chosen? The demon responsible for the death of Miyeong simply by being born?
No. No, Rumi the demon wouldn’t get away with this treachery.
She ordered Rumi to run for the rest of the night, and told keep running until morning. She left Rumi running circles, breathing steady, and locked the doors behind her. She carefully ensured Mira and Zoey were locked inside their rooms as well before going to bed.
Something Celine had learned over the past few years, and something she’s certain still will work after this year, is that exhausting Rumi the demon makes it far more dangerous. She can only hope it’s not so dangerous as to kill the hunters, only scare them.
The dawn came far too soon for Mira and Zoey’s liking. The two of them got out of bed with groans and complaints, bruises littering their bodies despite Rumi’s gentle takedowns.
They went downstairs and were surprised to find the kitchen empty. The two talk for a moment and decide to make breakfast for all four of them, despite Celine’s recent actions.
Celine comes out about twenty minutes later, the usual stoic look upon her face. She thanks Mira and Zoey for making breakfast, and tells them to finish eating quickly. She has something she needs to show them.
The two are nervous, and as they eat try to find out what it is, but Celine refuses to answer, simply saying they will see as soon as they finish eating.
Once the dishes are cleaned and put away, she tells the two of them to follow her. She leads them outside before pausing in surprise. Rumi is asleep on the ground, her face turned away from them.
Mira and Zoey rush past Celine, and before she can protest flip Rumi over.
Even Celine winces slightly at what they find.
Rumi’s entire shirt is still soaked through with sweat. Dried blood covers her face from when she fell, eyes barely opening despite the manhandling. Celine stands over them, trying not to let her guilt show. She has nothing to be sorry for, she just needs to get some food and water into the demon and it’ll have enough energy to be as viscous and cruel as she knows it can be.
…right?
She tells Rumi to sit up, and Rumi does try! But after a moment, she falls back, and for the first time in over a year a pitiful groan of pain leaves the young half demon.
Celine freezes at that. Aside from singing, she hasn’t been able to make Rumi make any sounds.
Mira demands to know what Celine did to Rumi. Celine, trying to defuse the situation, says she ordered Rumi to run so they could see the demon without her normal restrains. Mira asked how long she made Rumi run for.
Celine shrugged, saying it doesn’t matter, but Mira doesn’t let up. Celine begrudgingly admits she instructed Rumi to run all of last night.
The looks of disgust she receives from the two girls makes something in Celine’s heart ache. They shouldn’t be looking at her like that, she’s supposed to be their mentor, their shield and guiding hand until they’re ready to hunt demons alone.
So why do they look like they hate her?
Why do they look at her the way they should look at Rumi?
Mira says they’re going to take care of their hunter, picking Rumi up as she speaks. Celine tries to tell them they can’t miss a day of training, but Zoey interjects saying that Rumi can’t even stand, let alone train.
Celine tries to protest again, but the two bring Rumi inside before she can finish speaking, leaving her alone on the field.
The Honmoon seems to be watching her, somehow, though if you asked Celine in that moment she would say the Honmoon was trying to warn her, instruct her, if the dangers of that demon.
She doesn’t want to think about why the Honmoon would watch her. She tells herself she doesn’t hear it cry out in protest as she tears draws her blades from it. She manages to convince herself the ringing in her ears is from rage and not from the Honmoon.
She knows what she has to do.
She knows it is wrong.
She knows she’ll be crippling the hunters for this generation.
But she will not allow the demon to corrupt them further.
Inside, Rumi is sitting quietly while Mira and Zoey tend to her. Every gentle touch is like the warmth of the sun upon her skin each morning, chasing away the chill. Every comforting word like a balm upon a festering wound, helping her relax.
That thing within Rumi, that something that is everything, is on the precipice of reconnecting fully. All it needs is one last push, one last moment to let her #o%l become one with Rumi again.
Their gentle ministering are interrupted by the Honmoon crying out. It’s not the same as a breach, where it’s pulling the hunters in.
It’s a cry to stay away.
Celine burst through the door, blades drawn and face a mask. Mira tries to block her, but instead is slammed into the ground. Zoey tries this time, pulling out her own weapons, but she quickly finds herself disarmed and thrown backwards.
Rumi watches Celine approach, her face blank like it has been for the last year. A flicker of something that Celine refused to call fear passed through those deadened eyes. Celine hesitated for just a moment before steeling herself and striking.
Mira used that critical moment of hesitation to get in the way.
Celine’s blades cut deeply, slicing through bone, muscle, and sinew as if it were not there. Mira didn’t scream. She didn’t have time to.
Zoey did.
Celine was thrown to the side with the force of Zoey’s kick, slamming her into the far wall. She barely recovered in time to block Zoey’s next strike. Celine fell on the defensive, the shock and horror of what she’d just done slowing her down and making her sloppy. Zoey was doing only slightly better, her rage leading into powerful but obvious strikes.
Rumi didn’t look over at the deadly dance. Mira had fallen directly onto her lap, clutching at her bleeding chest as silent tears fell.
That final tether connected inside of Rumi. Her %oul shivered as it touched the Honmoon for the first time in over a year. And Rumi felt everything.
Tears, hot and fast, fell down her face.
Rage, at Celine and herself, twisting inside her.
Horror, as she held a third of her soul and could finally feel her, only for that feeling to be drifting away.
But above all else.
Rumi feels hope.
She opens her mouth of her own volition.
And begins to sing. Quietly at first, before letting it grow louder, swelling with every emotion she’s been denied for what feels like an eternity. It’s steady, powerful in the way only someone’s soul can be.
Because that’s what it always was. Rumi could finally recognize what had retreated within her to protect her all those months ago.
Rumi’s soul has finally awoken.
And the Honmoon sang in joy along with her.
Zoey and Celine’s fight ground to a halt as the Honmoon danced in a way they’d never seen before. Their eyes drawn to the angelic voice that came from the demonic hunter.
Celine could only watch in growing horror and awe as the demonic traits slowly faded. That wretched eye she’d feared faded into a familiar chocolate brown. The tail she almost cut off once dissolved into mist. The claws sank back into her fingers, cradling Mira’s face.
And tears that fell from a face twisted with a hundred emotions onto the face of her hunter.
The Honmoon wrapped around the two of them, the demon and the dying, healing and comforting them in equal measures. Mira’s body knitted itself back together, her soul slowly regaining strength as it was drawn to Rumi’s voice, and Rumi’s body found new strength as it finally was able to let out its voice.
The song faded as Mira drew in a deep, painless breath. She sat up suddenly, patting at her chest and stomach where the blade had cut her and finding nothing. A laugh escaped her, then a sob, as she realized just how close to dying she had come.
The spell that had descended upon Celine and Zoey broke, but Zoey was the only one that rushed forwards. She wrapped Mira in a tight hug, lending her support as best she could to the trembling girl.
The two were enveloped in an impossible warmth that drew their attention, and they were met with a calm, beautiful, slightly awkward smile.
Rumi was smiling at them.
Laughter and tears began to flow freely between the three of them, as they all held each other.
Slowly it faded, leaving a gentle feeling of calm and peace that descended over them like a blanket.
Celine cleared her throat.
Three heads whipped around to face her.
Two of them narrowed their eyes, bracing.
Mira, Zoey.
One of them raised an eyebrow, catching Celine off guard again as she saw emotion on that face.
Rumi.
Celine quietly asked Mira if she was alright. Mira stiffened, glaring at her, and said yes, no thanks to you. The venom dripping in her voice made Celine flinch.
Mira went to say more, but a hand she’d forgotten was settled on her arm squeezed slightly. Turning her head with a questioning gaze, Rumi gave her a wink before letting go and standing.
Gone was the blank faced girl who had been too exhausted to stand mere minutes ago. Now a hunter, a demon, a warrior stood facing who could be the monster of this story.
Rumi asked Celine what she wants.
Celine is shocked at the question, asking what Rumi means.
Rumi asks again, what does Celine want.
Celine hesitates, before quietly asking if Rumi really want to know.
Rumi says yes, and asks a final time; what does Celine want.
Celine looks away in shame, quiet tears falling from her face. She says she wants her friends back, her fellow hunters. She says she wants the Honmoon to be safe and strong. And she says she wants Rumi to stay Rumi, and not what she tried to turn her into.
Rumi smiled, then. A smile that was a shadow of Celine’s path, and a light to her future.
“Well then, Celine. Perhaps we should be reacquainted. After all, it’s been a year since we’ve talked. I’m Ryu Rumi, a demon who’s a hunter. And I think it’s time we had a long, long talk. But that can wait for tomorrow. Tonight? I’m getting my girls to bed, and sleeping in.”
And with that, Rumi picks up Mira and Zoey, making them both squeak in surprise and blush slightly, and carried them off to bed, leaving a very stunned Celine standing in the kitchen.
The next day will be a hard one. Mira will likely chew out Celine, with Zoey throwing in her own jabs. Celine would probably try to explain herself, but ultimately acquiesce and admit she has been horrible.
And Rumi? Rumi would talk with all three of them. She would finally be able to, and would take a great amount of pleasure in using the feelings she’s so long been disconnected from.
It might not be a perfect ending. Might not even be happy.
But there’s hope.
And sometimes? Sometimes that’s all it takes for things to be better.
This was just a fun little idea I had. Hope y’all liked it!
In celebration of Kitty Rumi Part 1 wrapping up today (!!!) have some Mira and Zoey kitties!! :D This will never happen canonically, but of course I had to think about what kind of cats they would be too ^^
Have you read any of the polytrix avatar aus? Solar Flares by Praxiteles and I see you by Applesaday are some of my favourites.
Ive actually never seen any of the avatar movies😭 So I never read any of those aus, but maybe I'll look into it anyway! I remember seeing art of it on Twitter that looked really cool
Then they say if you're a bad boy daddy will punish you. But what's the punishment? More gay sex! You can't escape it. This whole damn place is in the pocket of Big Sex
Beautiful Art work at the bottom is done by @fakelawyerbug !!! I wrote this mostly for fun and cause I just the Mandalorian and Grogu and needed some ‘Bobby is a good dad’ content.
———
Zoey - dokkaebi
Mira - Gumiho
Rumi - haetae
The bustling streets of South Korea worked perfectly for those who were used to them. To the people who knew how to weave between the crowds, what roads to avoid because they were usually too crowded and what streets were crawling with the types of unfriendly people every city seemed to attract, the city of Seoul was home. The noise from the cars and the people, to many, had become something of a soothing sound. A background noise that many had learned how to ignore.
Bobby was one of those people. He’d lived in the city his entire life so when it came to regular shouts or curses, he knew how to avoid them and stick to what he was doing. That’s why, when he was heading to work on a clear and beautiful sunny morning, he stopped in his tracks because he heard a new noise.
Someone was crying.
Crying wasn’t unusual in a city setting—the city did bring all types—but this cry didn’t sound like the typical ‘I got fired’ or ‘my partner broke up with me’ cry that one was supposed to ignore because it was a private matter. This sounded like a child.
Bobby located the alley where he could hear the sobs and forced himself to peer down it. It didn’t look like this was a trap or anything similar. Instead, he could see a child, maybe 5 or so, with her knees brought up to her chin and her face buried in her legs.
“Hey.” Bobby knelt down next to the girl, “Hey. What are you doing out here all by yourself?”
The girl looked up at him with fear in her eyes. When she did, Bobby’s jaw dropped. The girl was purple. Completely purple with dark purple lines on her skin and weird shaped ears, “Ah!” She quickly jumped to her feet and bolted from the alley, “No! No! No!” She ran from Bobby with her hands over her ears.
“Hey! Wait!” Bobby’s legs were moving before he even knew what he was doing. There was no real reason to chase a purple child through the streets but something in him compelled him to keep running. The people around him stared but no one moved to stop him or ask what was going on. Many probably assumed Bobby was a tired dad trying to keep his kid from running away.
The girl finally turned into another alley and darted under a large pile of boxes. The position of the boxes left Bobby realizing that she had constructed them in such a way that they acted as a sort of home for her. There was probably enough space under them for her to fit along with enough boxes to provide sufficient cover.
“Hello.” Bobby whispered, getting on his knees so as not to scare her again, “Can we talk?”
He could hear the girl’s frightened gasp but another voice was in there as well. It sounded similar—another little girl?
“I don’t want to hurt either of you. I just want to help.”
“No! Bad human!” Someone yelled from inside, “You’ll hurt us!” That was definitely a different voice than the one the girl had used before. There were two little kids in there. Most likely homeless kids.
“Bad human?” Bobby mouthed, “I promise I don’t want to hurt you. I can help. Are you hungry?”
“Yes—“
“Quiet, Zoey!”
“Sorry.” Was that a third voice? Bobby narrowed his eyes. How many kids were under these boxes?
“I can get you food. Do you…three like corn dogs?” He asked, “They make them really good at this nearby food stand. I can get you some if you want or you can come with me and get some?” He offered.
From inside the boxes, he started to hear multiple voices talking.
“….really hungry…”
“He’s an evil human…”
“Don’t know that, Mira.”
“….Hurt us.”
“….Give us to the mean ladies.”
Finally the girl from before, the purple girl with the weirdly shaped ears, poked her head out, “Will you bring the food here?”
“I can do that. Is it just three of you in there?” Bobby asked.
“Yes.” She nodded.
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
Bobby had to suffer through an odd look from the vendor when he requested three corn dogs at 8 am, but the food still came in the small street container without a wait. Collecting the food in his hands, Bobby returned to the alley and set the corn dogs down in front of the small hideout.
For a moment, nothing happened and Bobby heard that the three may have fled while he was gone. Then a purple hand slipped out and snatched up the food. From inside, Bobby could hear chewing and happy chirps.
“Sounds like you three enjoy it.”
“More!” A voice from inside yelled.
Bobby chucked, “How about this? You girls tell me who you are and why you’re…purple and I’ll show you my place where I can cook you all the food you want.” And where it wouldn’t drain his back account to feed them.
Silence took over the alley.
Bobby assumed that the three were trying to decide whether or not they wanted to listen to him and kept his mouth shut. He really wanted these kids off the street—especially kids who clearly had something going on when one of them was purple and didn’t have human ears—but it was their choice and he didn’t want to say something and scare them.
Slowly, the purple girl from before crawled out. Now that she was standing still, Bobby could see that she was dressed in rags. It looked almost like she robbed a museum and took the clothing that peasant kids wore centuries ago.
The second girl had long pink hair with fox ears and sharp black claws. Her skin was a regular color but she had pink stripes on her arms in the same way the purple girl had jagged purple patterns on her arms. Similar to the purple girl as well, she was also dressed in rags.
The third girl—clearly the youngest and also dressed like a peasant from the Joseon dynasty—had green skin with dark green patterns on her arms, little horns on her forehead and very clear tusks. None of them had shoes on.
“Are you gonna send us to the mean ladies?” The fox girl asked.
“Who are the mean ladies?” Bobby asked.
“Demon hunters.” She said, “They wanna kill us but we didn’t do anything!” The young girl kicked a rock when she was done talking, eyes welling up with tears.
“Well, if you did nothing wrong then I won’t send you anywhere. I don’t even know who these demon hunters are.” He told them, “My apartment isn’t far. We can go here, get you girls some warm food and maybe some better clothes.”
“Yes!” The green girl rushed over, wrapping her arms around Bobby’s leg, “Up!” He only hesitated for a moment before scooping her up and suddenly feeling two more bursts of weight on his back and noticing the other two girls had jumped on.
“I guess you’re all hitching a ride, huh?”
“Mmhmm!” The purple girl nodded, “To food!”
Bobby laughed. There was something so cut about little kids demanding something, “Alright. Alright. To free food we go.”
—————————————————
Bobby’s apartment was small. It held one bedroom, a kitchen and a tiny living room where he had managed to shove a couch and tv into. There was enough here for one person and his job paid just enough that he could afford it and groceries so Bobby never complained. When he arrived, the girls all jumped down and began exploring. The fox girl instantly began sniffing at the fridge and pointing to it.
“Food! The food’s in there!”
“I know. I’ll get you some but I need some answers first.” One by one, he set the three up on his couch which he could see from the kitchen, “Who are you?…What are you?”
“I’m a haetae. My name’s Rumi!” The purple girl cried.
“I’m a gumiho. Name’s Mira.” The fox girl replied.
“I’m a dokkaebi. I’m Zoey.” The green girl said.
“Names are great but the…titles don’t really give me much to go on. What’s a haetae? What’s a dookaebi?”
“We’re demons.” Rumi told him. Bobby’s eyes widened. They certainly weren’t completely human—that much was obvious—but demons was also a big stretch, “We were born in Gwi Ma’s realm but we all escaped.” The way she spoke sounded far more like a child who just completed a difficult level of a game than a vicious demon.
“I-I’m sorry. You’re demons?” It took everything Bobby had not to scream, “Like…mythological, claws, tails, fangs, work with evil forces demons?” He asked.
All of the girls nodded, “We’re not evil.” Zoey told him, “But the mean ladies say we are.”
“The demon hunters?” That’s what they’d called them before. It did make sense that if demons were a thing then demon hunters would be a thing as well.
Mira nodded, “They said we were bad and would steal souls but we never did that! We just don’t want to be down in Gwi Ma’s realm anymore!” Her fox tail flickered behind her.
“Why not?”
“He’s mean.” Zoey whispered, “…and he killed our families.”
From inside the kitchen, Bobby froze. All of the girls had gone quiet and sad, staring down at the floor with their ears all falling down the same way he’d seen cartoon animals look when they were sad. No families would explain why they were hiding on the streets and why they were so hungry.
The next few minutes were coated in silence until Bobby set down three bowls of rice balls and glass noodles. All of the girls dug into the food without waiting for Bobby to grab drinks or utensils. Given that it was probably the best idea to let them eat, Bobby took a seat in a nearby chair and let them dig into the food. While they ate, he pulled up his phone and started to search up haetaes, gumihos, and dokkaebis. Everything he found relating to them was all based around ancient mythology and any pictures were found in old paintings. It all pointed to the demons being fictional creatures as real as any other mythological being.
But the sight of the three girls in front of him was irrefutable.
“So, you girls are here alone. No families, friends, nothing?” Bobby asked.
The three nodded.
“How long have you been up here?”
“Three days.” Rumi told him, “The demon hunters chased us into the city last night so we hid from them.”
“Three kids all alone in the city.” His words were quiet, he didn’t even really intent for the girls to hear him, but Mira’s ears flickered when he talked.
“I’m not some little kid! I’m five!” Mira argued, “Zoey’s the baby!”
“Am not!” Zoey pouted, “I’ve already got my horns!”
“You just got them last month.” Rumi chuckled, “You kinda are the baby, Zoey.”
“At least I don’t still hug my tail for comfort.” Zoey argued.
“Hey!” Mira cried. She reached for Zoey’s horns causing Zoey to grab hold of Mira’s ears and yank on them. Based on Rumi’s expression, Bobby guessed that this was a usual occurrence for them to play fight.
“Okay, okay.” Getting up from his chair, Bobby gently separated the two, doing his best to avoid Mira’s claws and Zoey’s head butts, “Let’s keep the fighting to a minimum, okay?”
“She started it!” Zoey yelled.
“I just said you’re the baby! You are!”
“No I’m not!”
“Girls,” Bobby forced his voice into a strong tone, a similar one that he used with his nieces and nephews, “you keep fighting and no one gets dessert.”
“What’s dessert?” Mira asked.
“Sweet foods.” Bobby explained, “Have you girls never had treats before?”
“What’s a treat?” Rumi asked.
“Follow me.”
They followed him into the kitchen where he pulled out three bowls and opened the freezer to reveal a container of ice cream. Rumi and Mira, who had had their faces close to the opening of the freezer, jumped back when the cold air hit them head on. A small laugh came from Bobby when Mira growled at the freezer. He couldn’t help that she sounded like a kitten trying to hiss. Placing the ice cream into the bowls, Bobby topped it with a little whipped cream for some extra flavor—it was probably best to avoid any other toppings in case they couldn’t take it—and passed the bowls to the girls—this time with spoons on the side.
Their eyes lit up at the first bite.
“This is so good!!” Rumi cried, “Can we have more!?”
Bobby laughed, “Maybe later. But that is dessert and it’s what you don’t get if you fight.”
“No more fighting!”
“We won’t fight anymore!”
“Glad to hear it.” The three had taken to plopping themselves down on the floor to finish their bowls—apparently forgetting that a couch was only a couple feet away for them to sit on, “Do you three have anywhere safe to go?” Bobby asked.
“No.” Rumi shook her head, “We were thinking of going to the palace though!”
“The palace?” Bobby asked.
“Mmhmm! The place with the king! The other demons told us he was the most powerful person ever. We thought he could protect us from the hunters.”
“Did the other demons call him Emperor Sunjong or King Yi Hui?” Bobby asked.
“Emperor! Yeah him! Do you know him?” Mira asked.
Drawing out the word, Bobby shook his head, “No. He…He’s been dead for a very long time now.”
“Oh.” Rumi whispered, “Well, who’s the new king?”
“We don’t have a king.” Bobby told her, “Korea hasn’t had emperors or kings in…decades.”
He could see the three girls silently trying to formulate a new plan as to where they could go now. With no powerful figures who could protect them, it seemed to be scaring the three just how at risk they were to the demon hunters. Bobby bit the inside of his lip realizing that their only choices were to return to the Gwi Ma—-and if he killed their families he probably had no problem killing the kids—or stay here with demon hunters.
Bobby let out a long sigh and leaned back against the counter, hand running down his face, “You girls have no intention of eating anyone, right?”
Zoey actually giggled, “We don’t eat people! That’s so gross!”
“Steal souls then. You have no intention of doing that, right?” All of them shook their heads, “Then why don’t you stay here? It’s warm, there’s food, maybe we get you something better to wear.”
“Why would you help us?” Mira asked.
“Because you girls need help and I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I just tossed you back onto the street.” Demons or not, they were just kids. They didn’t deserve to be abandoned and left for demon hunters to find and kill.
I love reading comments on It's Just Hair, (kpdh fluff oneshot) because people keep going: "I can't believe I just read 11k words about essentially a haircut and I loved it!?" XD 10/10, very accurate, very good comment. I love you <3
Zoey → ‘lil wee kid in the hallway, wearing headphones, in her own little world, just chilling? That was totally NOT also me in middle school and high school. Also, the super sweet but can turn terrifying rapper kind of gives me Harley Quinn vibes for some reason (a little less psycho version, but still as delightfully chaotic) (*gasps* not in my notes but I just thought of it, Mira kind of gives me Poison Ivy vibes. Is that just me???)
kaledo-art
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