had a #blender thought while reading a great fic (bracing for impact, by prose_and_pears on ao3).
i need rumi being held, cradled, so carefully by mira and zoey, one of them stroking her hair, holding her like she’s the most precious in the world. which she is was to them.
and then i need one of them, i don’t care who, killing her. mira, i think. holding rumi’s saingeom while her other arm is supporting rumi’s body, zoey holding her up the rest of the way because rumi is shaking so much she can’t hold her own weight.
i think it would be slow. mira would hesitate, of course she would. hell, i can’t come up with a situation where they would go through with killing rumi, but they’re doing it, so everything must have gone to shit.
so mira brings the sword up. rumi’s not really fully aware but her hazy eyes are opened just enough to see the movement. to assess it. to track mira’s hand, gripping *her* soul weapon, and to close her eyes and nuzzle further into mira’s other palm, and focus on the feeling of zoey’s nails running through her hair.
zoey is undoing her braid, she would realise. she doesn’t have the wits to wonder why. she’s never really let them see her with her hair down, but she’s never let them see her patterns either, so why can’t her last day be a day of firsts?
she’s not shaking, mira realises as she holds the tip of the saingeom to rumi’s chest. she’s purring. her throat is twitching ever so slightly, and there’s a sure, hearty rumble growing from her body.
cats purr when they’re happy. mira knows this. cats also purr to self soothe.
rumi’s a demon, not a cat, so mira doesn’t try to decide which one is happening. she can’t trust biology if she can’t trust the love of her life her best friend.
rumi isn’t watching. she’s purring and she’s just happy to finally let herself rest in the arms of her girls. her girls, her soulmates, her loves.
mira can’t take the waiting anymore. she knows she’ll never get the chance to hear rumi’s newfound purr again and she can’t let herself want it.
so she pushes.
rumi bleeds out in their arms.
they stroke her hair as she dies.
she’s smiling.
she can finally meet her eomma, they hope.
she’ll never find that afterlife. she’ll stay with them, following them, haunting them, forever.
she’s never been anything without her girls, after all.
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!
So…. Solo artist Demon!Rumi x Hunters Zomira, anyone?
The twist is their hunting her.
Rumi slammed through the exit door, sprinting down the alleyway without really seeing where shes going. Her chest hurts from all the running, shes been at it for almost an hour now, moving from building to building in the hopes of losing her pursuers.
Turning sharply, Rumi ducked behind a dumpster and crouched in place, holding her breath. She knows that if they find her here again, she won’t be making it far. Her leg still throbs from the earlier cut, and she still hadn’t managed to find anything to clean or wrap it with.
The door she just came from slams open again, she doesn’t bother looking. They’re always just that little bit too close, that little bit too fast, for her to find a good hiding spot. She just has to hope they give up when they can’t immediately see her.
Footsteps, so soft she almost missed them, start making their way down the alley towards her hiding spot.
Dont find me please dont find me I can’t run anymore please
The footsteps pause when they reached the dumpster. Rumi held her breath, hoping, praying that they’d leave her alone.
Whatever god cursed her with her birth marks must have chosen to give her a modicum of mercy, because the pair of footsteps slowly receded.
Rumi waits several seconds until she hears the door to the office shut. Letting out a sigh of relief, Rumi reached her hand out around the dumpster, starting to pull herself out.
Something impossibly strong grabs her wrist, yanking her harshly out from behind the dumpster. Pain flashes through her as shes slammed into the wall beside it, an arm at her throat pinning her there.
Rumi lets out a ragged gasp of pain, squeezing her eyes shut. She doesn’t want to be here, she wants to be back in the studio with Bobby, she wants to feel safe again.
The hand at her throat tightened harshly, making Rumi try to gasp as her eyes flew open, her hands jumping to grab at it.
“How are you affecting the Honmoon like that, demon?”
The girl holding her by her throat is wearing glasses, her cheeks flushed with the exertions of the chase. Under different circumstances, Rumi might’ve found her beautiful.
But right now?
Rumi’s never been so scared in her life.
“Answer me!” The girl shook her, her pink hair falling over her face from the aggressive movements.
Rumi tried to answer, but she couldn’t get enough air in her lungs to answer. A dry, rasping sound left her throat as she clawed weakly at the hand around her throat.
“Mira! She can’t answer if you’re choking her!”
A second girl, standing by the door with her hand on its handle, speaks up then. (Ah, so they’d used it to trick her.)
The girl holding Rumi, Mira, glances over at the dark haired one. “Zoey, if I let up at all, it’ll probably scream for help.”
Shes right, but Rumi won’t say it.
“She won’t. Because if she does,” Zoey pulled out two knives from seemingly thin air, making Rumi’s eyes widen in surprise and terror. “Then we just send her back to Gwi-ma!”
Well. There goes the “scream for help” plan. It sounds like they’ll just kill her if she tries.
Mira considers the idea for a moment, her grip tightening slightly and making Rumi gasp for breath, before she let her grip relax somewhat.
Rumi dragged in greedy breaths of air, still holding onto the arm attached to her throat. Zoey’s standing next to Mira now, balancing the knife on the tip of her finger as they waits for Rumi to catch her breath.
“L-look, I don’t have much money, but I’ll give you everything I promise!” The two look stunned for a moment, so Rumi keeps going. “I-I won’t tell the police or the tabloids anything, just please-“
Shes cut off by Mira slamming a fist into the wall beside her head, making her flinch in fear.
Mira slowly draws her hand back, glaring at Rumi as she does so. “Drop the act, or I will break your arm. Understood?”
Rumi tries to figure out what on earth she means. She isn’t acting, shes terrified right now! These two maniacs followed her from the bus stop, then chased her for over an hour across Seoul without a single cop somehow seeing them, before slamming her into a wall and choking her!
“I’m not acting, I swear! I’ll give you whatever you want just-“
Mira grabs her arm then, pulling it down in an angle. Rumi barely has a moment to register the movement before Mira’s knee comes up and pain explodes across Rumi’s arm.
She would’ve dropped to the ground if not for the hand around her throat, the same one that’s keeping her from screaming.
The pain is blinding, and Rumi is too distracted by it to notice when the tears first started falling.
After a few minutes of hyperventilating, Rumi slowly came back to herself. The first thing she notices is that she’s not being held by her throat anymore. The second is that her forearm is currently bent 45 degrees in the wrong direction.
But the third, and possibly most important, is the glowing blade pointing at her chest.
Rumi flinches, leaning against the wall as far back as she can. The blade stays pointed at her chest, and it takes several seconds for her to slowly look up towards the metal attached to it, following it with her eyes to the hands that had moment ago broken her arm.
Mira’s standing there, her eyes narrowed. Rumi risks a glance to the side, spotting Zoey talking into her phone while turned away from her.
Not wanting to risk angering her captors, Rumi huddles as tightly as she can into a ball, keeping her eyes on the blade in front of her.
Zoey finishes the conversation a few moments later, ending the call with a muted click. She turns back around as she slips her phone into her pocket, walking back over to where Mira and Rumi are.
Zoey’s giving Rumi an odd look, like shes some kind of mystery meat in a meal shes reconsidering. It reminds Rumi too much of how people reacted when she tried to produce music the first time.
She’d let her patterns show then. Hadn’t hidden her face from the public. She’d learned her lesson after the third time someone told her to her face that she should cover up more.
“Celine’s bringing the car around now. Shes already almost here, apparently shes been following us with the phone trackers.”
Zoey’s voice yanks Rumi out of her thoughts, making her flinch in surprise. The sudden movement makes her arm move, making her hiss in pain and causing more tears to fall.
She doesn’t notice the blade lifting away from her, but she does become uncomfortably aware of how close Zoey is when she crouches right in front of Rumi. Rumi flinches again, this time biting back the hiss of pain.
Zoey looks almost… concerned, which is laughable considering what she and Mira have been doing to Rumi.
Nodding to herself, Zoey stands back up, turning to Mira behind her. “Yeah, clean break. It’s not a fake blood pack, like you thought. Whatever she is, she isnt just a demon.” Zoey turns back to look down at Rumi, the concern now mixed with something Rumi can’t quite identify.
The sound of breaks squeaking draws all three woman’s attentions to the alleyway entrance, where an unmarked van pulls to a stop. No one gets out, but Mira and Zoey nod to each other.
Zoey crouches next to Rumi, reaching towards her before pausing at the way Rumi flinches. “I’m sorry, but until we know you’re not dangerous you have to come with us.” Her hand closes on Rumi’s upper arm, lifting her with more strength then her small body led Rumi to assume she had.
Shit. Bobby had told her that if ever someone’s taking her to a secondary location, they’re probably going to try to kill her. Opening her mouth, Rumi starts screaming.
“HE-“
A cloth is shoved into her mouth, cutting her off and choking her slightly. Zoey’s hand is still on her arm, keeping her from pulling back far enough to get away or pull it out.
Another woman’s standing in the alleyway now, gray hair mixed with black the only sign of her advanced age.
“Mira, Zoey, get her in the car now. We can worry about the broken arm when we figure out what she is.”
She speaks sharply, leaving no room to argue or ask question’s. Rumi tries to spit out the cloth, but Mira’s hand covers her mouth as the two young women march her towards the car.
The pain in her arm flares, drawing more pained tears from her eyes as she fights. But shes outnumbered, overpowered, and exhausted.
Rumi doesnt know when she passed out from the pain, or for how long, but the next thing she’s aware of is something tight cutting into her good arm.
Slowly opening her eyes, Rumi looks about. It appears shes in some kind of office, left laying on the floor. Sitting up slowly, Rumi becomes uncomfortably aware of the weight on her arm, and a quick glance confirms her fears. A manacle and chain are on her arm, attached to the floor.
Theres no telling how far they are from help, or if anyone would help if they were close enough. She doesn’t even know whos kidnapped her, or why.
Her left arm is wrapped now, bandages covering the broken bone. It still hurts, but not quite as badly as it did before.
The door across from her clicked, drawing Rumi’s attention as she curled into a tight ball. She squeezes her eyes shut as it opens, not wanting to see whoever would be hurting her yet.
It takes several moments before Rumi can force herself to open her eyes. She flinched when she sees the familiar pink hair and glasses. The unfamiliar part is the look of guilt on her face, but Rumi doesn’t trust it for a second.
The two regard each other for several seconds, neither willing to break the silence first.
Finally, Mira shifts, looking away for a second before glancing back. “Can you tell me something?”
Rumi doesnt move, not trusting herself to tell this woman whatever it is she wants to hear. After a few moments of silence, Mira shrugs.
“I’ll ask, and if you can answer me this’ll go a lot easier for both of us.” She says it like it makes any more sense. It’d probably help more if she’d say what she wanted to know, but Rumi’s not gonna say something that’ll get anything else broken.
“Are you a demon?”
Rumi blinks. She had expected a lot of questions, like her banking info, numbers for celebrity’s she knows, or even once Bobby’s personal number.
But a demon? Rumi doesnt even want to guess what that’s about.
Mira is watching Rumi intently, clearly waiting for an answer. Without unfurling herself or soeaking, Rumi shakes her head once.
A clear no.
Mira rubs at her eyes, as if trying to clean away some kind of lie.
It appears she still sees the same thing, if the way her mouth slightly tightens is any indication.
Several more seconds of staring at each other, Mira turns, walking away and out the door.
It clangs shut behind her, making Rumi flinch.
Rumi slowly puts her good arm around her legs, pulling herself into a ball. The tears start falling despite her best efforts, the fear, adrenaline, and everything else catching up finally.
__
Mira can hear the sounds of crying even through the door. It’s like a knife, stabbing into her heart with each choked gasp.
She messed up. She messed up bad.
If Zoey’s theory’s is at all correct, then not only have they been hunting a woman for the last hour, not only had Mira broken her arm, she had also helped kidnap her.
Whatever this girl is, shes having the worst day of her life, and now Mira’s sure she doesn’t know what a demon is.
All Mira can do now is hope Celine has some kind of plan.
I uh, may have gotten slightly carried away. I needed a brain reset for ch 4 and this is what happened lol. Enjoy!
im not going to write this because its a little too close to home but anyone feel free to take it. And sorry in advance.
tw: whump, Mi-Yeong's death and how it affects Rumi
Mi-Yeong is dying from a medical condition [dealers choice] and she has been decline for a couple years now. the treatment is no longer working the past few months mi-yeong has been in and out of the hospital. when shes home she doesnt have the strength to go up or down stairs so the living room becomes her new bedroom. of course rumi sees all of this, no ones telling her whats happening exactly but she can see the signs. her mom went from chasing her around the yard to barely being able to make it to the bathroom. the worst part about this isn't her mom dying, its her mom pushing her away and celine scolding her for listening. Mi-Yeong knows the honmoon needs to be protected and that Rumi was destined to be a hunter. so when Rumi tries to help her mom or hang out with her Mi-Yeong reminds Rumi about her training and how she should be practicing not worrying about her. And Rumi listens because she wants to do anything she can to make her mother smile again. every time she asks rumi goes back to training. and every time it breaks her heart. because now the only thing her mother talks about with her is being a hunter, she can't talk about the drawing she made or the dream she had or tell her that shes scared. Rumi knows her mother is dying and she hates feeling so useless. Then there is Celine, she comes over more and more frequently so much that she moves in with them the last month her mother is alive. Celine helps Mi-Yeong bath, and eat and sleep all while working away on her laptop to help setup Sunlight Entertainment. Celine is always busy and conveniently never there when Rumi tries to be with her mother. So when she does see Rumi she scolds her for not spending more time with her mother. every time rumi tries to tell her that her mother doesnt want to see her she can't get the words out. she feels so small and useless. Rumi is drowning in her own home, to her she feels like a failure, a mistake. her mother always pushes her away and celine always scolds her for it. The funeral is not easy for Rumi to say the least. She never got to say goodbye to her mother as she died in her sleep on night on the couch and by the time she woke up the paramedics have already taken the body away. so at the funeral rumi tries to jump into the grave with her. she doesn't want to be a hunter or a idol she just wants her mother back. celine is the one who holds her down and pulls her away from her Mi-Yeong's grave. later in rumi's life celine holds rumi not spending enough time with her mother in the end over her head. especially when rumi disagrees with celine.
"Part of being a hunter is being there for other people, you need to work on that before we trying to find the other two."
"You can't run away from your problems Rumi, you have a duty to uphold."
Eventually Rumi realizes that the only way to not be reminded of last moments of her mothers life is to be 100% obedient to Celine. She doesn't have friends or hobbies. all she does is study, train and help celine. Her goal in life is to be a hunter, fix herself and make her mother finally happy. No matter what she does it never feels fulfilling though. she never truly feels useful.
this would probably work pretty well as a 5+1 fic. 5 times rumi tried to be with her mother type thing.
These were unconnected til we realised it's funnier if she enters as a skateboarder and gets roped into competing in the shooting (destroying rumira's WRs in the process)
Polytrix definitely has a "No one goes to sleep upset" rule for after they have arguments, no matter how serious.
Rumi thinks it's just another aspect of their 'healthy relationship' goals, but Mira and Zoey actually mostly do it because they're too terrified of letting Rumi go off alone or out of their sight after a fight. Ever since they found out what she asked Celine to do after the incident backstage at the ill-fated Idol Awards, they carry this blame on their shoulders, and their symptoms are often identified by some major overcompensation on their ends.
Mira feels it like a double-whammy, since she's also internalized a lot of guilt for how Gwi-Ma persuaded her to 'abandon' Zoey.
It takes a while for them to realize it, but after Mira has a really severe panic attack following some good old miscommunication following an argument, Rumi realizes there's something bigger going on here, and the right steps are taken for Mira and Zoey to properly deal with their trauma as well.
