#thirdlight

Eventually miyeong goes to help Hana up, the older hunter didn't even realize she was on the ground when celine looked at her. Miyeong admits she never thought she'd see a celine that looked their age, Hana agrees as the fear starts to fade along with the pressure. It still clings to her bones like a chill that won't go away, but it s hard to be terrified of a woman who has a twenty year old woman koala d on her with two other young women talked at her a mile a minute.

Miyeong does tell Hana that Zoey is right, the other celine is a milf. Hana scolds her reminding her she's married. Miyeong laughs it off by reminding Hana they're technically open, and that Hana knows that personally which shuts her up.

Eventually things calm down, huntrix introduces othertrix along with, miyeong, Hana, and ryon to MC. They go inside the compound and get celine caught up with the whole other world situation. She takes the other her being the queen of demons surprisingly well, but Hana and miyeong and see it does bother her. Even after years and being from another dimension, MC has the same tells as their celine.

Then celine is asked questions, mostly by othertrix. The thing is, when they initially met huntrix, they were curious, but while the world was different the two groups are still very similar at their cores. Othertrix is basically a more muted version of huntrix. But celine is a whole new person, they never really get to talk to DQCeline so a good version of her seems like a brand new person.

Celine mostly echos huntrix's version but with more info on the timeliness between the sunlight sisters breakup and huntrix forming, she's intentionally light on the details. Basically after miyeong died and Hana retired, celine kept the honmoon going. She went solo, raised rumi, and protected the world from demons.

Hana is sick from the idea that her other self just left celine to not only raise rumi alone but fought against demons alone. She can tell there's more, MC wouldn't try to kill her onsight if there wasn't more. Celine eventually admits that she's exhausted, she's an old woman who performed a ritual that was supposed to take 3 hunters solo, she's tired. Othertrix grudgingly let's her rest other Zoe offering her bunk for her to recooperate in, but celine turns her down of course. It's not like the compound is lacking space even with 4 additional guests so MC goes to rest.

Miyeong tries to talk to Hana who brushes her off saying she has to meditate and think on the events of the day. So she retreats to her spot in the compound that is her secret area that the others know is her spot. It's strange that the demon queen visiting isn't the strangest thing that happened that day.

While she's Grappling with the thought of abandoning one of her soulmates to face all of gwi ma's forces alone after just losing her other one doesn't sound real. But her thoughts are interrupted by MC who sneaks up on her, MC says she knew Hana would be here.

Hana says she comes out here to meditate, celine opens a secret panel to reveal a mostly empty bottle of expensive soju and says, 'right meditating.' Hana forgot that celine was with her when they found their teachers secret stash. Hana tries to come up with excuses, but celine says she won't judge. On a day like today Hana needs the bottle, she forgoes a glass and drinks straight from the bottle. After a long pull she offers the bottle to celine but MC politely turns her down.

Hana says that's surprising, she remembers celine drinking all the time when they were younger. The public had the image of celine as a perfect angel, but she was a party girl since they debuted. It never interfered with either of their jobs, but it had gotten pretty bad when miyeong told them she was pregnant. Hana scoffs saying the celine isn't even from this world and she's making her look bad.

Mc says she's been sober since rumi was born, she emphasizes you can't be a drunk while raising a kid. That she was fucked up in the head enough with hell literally breaking loose, she couldn't do it in the bottle. Hana knows about celines parents, about why she had hidden scars before she started hunter training. She puts the bottle down and back in her hiding place, the alcohol didn't feel like a bandaid when she was sitting their with a celine she didn't want to kill, it felt like a noose.

They sit there quietly for a moment, just enjoying the other's company even if they are technically strangers. MainCeline opens up first and apologizes, she says that when she saw her, she shouldn't have tried to attack her, even if she didn't get the chance.

Hana is shocked because it doesn't feel real, that Celine is apologizing to her, that she wants to accept because for a moment it would put her heart at ease. Hana asks why, MC just says that she isn't the one she's mad at, she's not the one who...

Hana starts breaking down in tears, something she hasn't done in front of another person in decades. She says MC doesn't owe her an apology, after hearing the stories of how she raised Rumi, became a CEO and solo artist, all while being the only Hunter in her world, is amazing, while Hana views herself as a failure. Yes, the Honmoon existed until Othertrix could take over and debut, but she knows in her heart it's because QueenCeline let it happen. If Gwi-Ma had been the one in charge, they would have been overwhelmed and the world would belong to the demons.

Hana is putting MainCeline on a pedestal because of the stories she's heard from Huntrix and from MC's description of what happened after the worlds changed. She views MC as a better hunter, a better mentor since Huntrix is much better than Othertrix in so many ways, and just a better person.

Celine bitterly laughs it off since she's a failure too in her own eyes. She did her duty, she raised Rumi, she fought demons to maintain the honmoon and protect the innocent, and she managed to raise the next generation. But, she starts to tremble, she made her own daughter feel unloved, unwanted, that she was broken when she's been perfect from the first moment Celine laid eyes upon her. She wanted to protect Rumi, but only ended up pushing her to the point where she wanted to die, that she asked Celine to kill her.

It's hard for Celine to say, it's hard for Hana to hear but it's also kind of cathartic. Hana asks why MC came to talk with her of all people. Celine says because she owed Hana an apology, it was strange seeing her after all these years, Other Hana might be used to seeing Celine's face every now and then when she fought Queen Celine, but it's been years since MainCeline was forced to look into the face of someone she hated and loved so much.

Hana asks if Celine ever was romantic with her Hana, or Miyeong, since Hana had loved them since before their debut. She knew Celine loved them too, but was too scared to act on her feelings. MC says it was the same for her, she loved them both so much but was too much of a coward to act on her feelings. Celine goes on to mention she was still a dumb smitten puppy with them, that they could ask her for the moon and she'd do it to make them smile. well, anything and everything but one, there was one thing her Hana asked her to do that she just couldn't. She would have ripped her heart out of her chest if Hana asked, but not that.

Hana feels sick to her stomach as she guesses in her head what her doppelganger asked Celine to do. She doesn't voice it though, she can't say the words. Despite everything that had gone wrong with her life, she never thought Rumi was one.

Celine changes the subject, to move on to her counterpart. Her girls seem to think that she can be saved, she wants her and Miyeong's opinion before making a choice. Celine admits that she kind of thinks they should just kill her and be done with it, which despite trying to do the same for years shocks Hana. They'd been fighting for years, at least she has, but despite it all, she can't imagine a world without Celine. She had to deal with that once, like the world had lost it's color, despite her choosing to become the demon queen, part of her was happy any version of Celine existed. To hear her own other world counterpart speak so casually of killing her, it does something to Hana.

Hana tells MC that she genuinely doesn't know, whenever they see each other she operates on instinct and muscle memory so she doesn't have to think about it. In front of her girls and Miyeong she's so gungho about killing QueenCeline because it's what a hunter does. But in her heart she knows that Celine is going easy on them, she didn't have to confront those thoughts until MainRumi called her out on it, but she's not an idiot, she knew. It was easier to burried the feelings of love under hate and betrayal instead of trying to figure out why Queen Celine is doing what she's doing.

Hana admits that a good hunter would kill her, what hunter in the last 400 years would pass up a chance to the Demon Queen. Celine mentions that she's never been a very good hunter, but they just sit there quietly after all that. Thinking on the quiet between them.

So I hope you like this, feel free to make comments and ask questions, I love talking about my works even if this is more notes than a story

This was kind of a correction for how I think I portrayed Hana from my earlier posts. She's not the villain of this story, she's just a more extreme version of how I view MainCeline. She loves the girls, she loves Miyeong, she begrudgingly loves Ryon as a member of her strange family, but she is so broken after the initial years that Gwi-Ma sent his armies when it was mostly her protecting the world she can't really show it. She wasn't able to encourage Othertrix to be closer than companions instead of soulmates because DQCeline's betrayal shook her so badly.

The way I view it, despite her failings, Celine succeeded in her duty, she maintained the Honmoon, she fought demons, and she trained the next generation. Her big failure was as a mother (to a certain extent) and caused no small part of Rumi's mental issues that almost doomed the world. However, before that, Huntrix was almost going to turn the Honmoon gold (I don't like the idea that doing so would hurt Rumi, or do anything badly, I don't even think it would remove her patterns but that's me and how it will be viewed from this story) and Huntrix as a group is specatcular compared to past hunters. Hana on the other hand is a failure in the literal sense, she was overwhelmed and the Honmoon and world would fall to Gwi-Ma if not for Demon Queen Celine devouring him and taking his place as the queen of demons. Othertrix is an adequate group as hunters and idols, but inferior to Huntrix, which just makes Hana feel like more of a failure not knowing Celine's shortcomings until now.

Despite Celine's shortcomings, I believe she is the most dangerous hunters in their history as I mention in this post. I believe in the avengers level threat celine, since she was able to start a company (which I know is fandom not canon), raised a daughter even with shortcomings, was a solo artist (again headcanon and fandom, but it's my headcanon) , while being the one hunter against Gwi-Ma's hordes and maintaining the Honmoon. She might be fucked up in the head, but she is a deadly hunter and probably the most dangerous creature in both worlds (human and demon, not the different dimensions which I get are confusing). Her failures keep her from allowing herself to call Rumi her daughter, she only calls her it when it slips out or when she's with someone, like Other Hana, who literally exists in another world. Her self loathing is even stronger than she is

MainRumi does view Celine as her mother, even if she was always gently scolded by Celine every time she called her eomma because Celine thinks she doesn't have a right to be Rumi's mother as I posted earlier.

Polylight could have and would have happened if they were all a bit braver, if the world was a bit kinder, but part of the tragedy is that they all loved each other, but love unfortunately wasn't enough and Miyeong giving birth to Rumi is set in stone and time.

Coming home from work, you knew you wanted nothing more than to relax and just melt into the couch.

The best way to do that was always to order your favorite take out, watch your favorite dumb show, and take an edible.

Once you walk through the door, your bag falls dramatically onto the ground, and your feet drags on the wooden floor the minute your shoes are off.

You open the fridge, eager to open the bag of chocolate filled wafer cones that are tucked away on the side…

…Only to be hella confused when they’re not there?

“Could’ve sworn this is where I put them last?” You scratch your head, but shrug, figuring you just put them somewhere else.

But your worry increases with each passing minute. Spot after spot, everywhere you check, these edibles are nowhere in sight.

Only place you haven’t checked is Celine’s room. You know she doesn’t indulge though, no matter how many times you’ve playfully asked her to.

And, she’s told you not to keep any of the drugs in the room, always complaining about the smell of the flower or the stickiness of the edibles. Something about how it can attract ants.

Still, you peek in, her door already cracked open.

“Celine? Love?”

No answer, but you see her sprawled out on her side, and surprise surprise… There’s your bag of edibles, just barely dangling from her grip.

“Oh my…” You trail off, mouth slightly agape as you take in the scene.

“Fuck. Okay.” One small step, then two, before you’re crouching by her side.

“I’m just gonna…” You carefully reach out and pry the bag from her.

Somehow, you extract it from her hand, but the minute you turn, it crinkles in your grip, and Celine stirs tiredly at the noise.

She grumbles, and rolls onto her back. Her eyes slowly blink open one after the other and lazily focus, somewhat, on you.

“…Iseul?”

You freeze. You know she’s severely under the influence, but you’re trying so hard not to snicker and scold her for mistaking you for her former teammate.

“No, try again.” You prompt gently.

“I told you,” She rolls over again, catching herself literally right before she falls off the edge of her mattress, “‘m not interested.”

“Celine, I’m not-“

Said woman grumbles something under her breath, and summons one of her dual swords. “And,” she cuts you off, “I won’t let you take Rumi.” She growls, her words slurred. “Not now, not then… Not ever!”

Celine lunges, more like skips, and points her sword right in your direction.

But thankfully, what feels like rapid movement to her, only translates to snail speed in real time.

You blink, and shuffle to the right a few spaces and watch as Celine slowly descends onto the carpeted ground. Her sword clatters dramatically away from her grip, and she groans in protest as she registers the slight rug burn on her knees.

You kneel down beside her. “Baby, it’s me. Y/N.” You correct, somewhat entertained now. “I’m not here for Rumi.”

“…ishoo nommph phere? (Iseul’s not here?)” Celine’s head remains face down against her carpeted floor.

You shake your head. “No love. I don’t know where Iseul is.” You pause. “How many of the… Waffle cones did you eat?”

“Whaph waff coesh? (What waffle cones?)”

“These.” You hold up the bag of edibles. “Celine, please sit up.”

It takes some time, but she does. Slowly, the older woman rolls over on her back and looks up at you. Her eyes are glossed over, pupils dilated and eyes are bloodshot.

Then, she laughs. Like… Actually chuckles. “The ceiling is moving.” Celine’s expression hardens. “The Honmoon.”

You look up, then back down, already knowing where her mind is going. “No. No, Celine, no.” You prompt, your hand is already rested gently on her chest. “The Honmoon is fine, everything is fine. You’re just… High.”

You blink when your lover scoffs. “High?” She laughs. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m on the ground.”

The bag in your hand shakes again with more emphasis this time. “Okay, yes. You’re on the ground. How many of these did you eat!?” You practically shove the bag in her face.

Celine has to squint to see clearly what exactly is in front of her. But ultimately, she shrugs. “I don’t know what those are.”

A moment of silence passes by. “What do you mean you, ‘don’t know what those are?’”

“I can’t read the label.”

The way she explains it is so simple that you have to do a double take. The label is written in English, which she knows how to speak and read very well, along with Korean and French.

But then you look at the content warning, in which you realize that Celine may not have been able to recognize the symbols that warn how the products inside contain marijuana.

You exhale, then decide to test out your theory. “What does this mean?” You ask, pointing to the corner of the bag that specifically says THC.

Celine looks up, squints… Squints some more, and then answers, her tone deadly serious. “The Honmoon Calls.”

“Oh my god.” You exasperate. “You’re gone. Like, completely.”

“Gone?” She chuckles, then goes still, her eyes widening in panic. “I’m dead.”

“No! Celine, you’re not dead!”

“The Honmoon Calls!” She repeats, nearly sobbing. “It’s coming to collect me. My time has come to its end!” Her calloused hands cover her face in despair. “I’m too young… Is this my punishment? For everything? For how I’ve failed my duties? How I’ve failed my friends… Rumi?”

You watch as your partner spirals, desperately trying to think of how to calm the raging mess of thoughts and emotions that are brewing in her mind.

“Look at me.” Your hands move to her shoulders, your grasp on them is firm yet gentle and comforting.

It works. Celine instantly stops sobbing, her panic ceasing as she focuses on your worried gaze.

“None of that is happening.” You reassure. “You’re safe. You’re alive. You’re here, with me. You’re just… Having a really intense fucking trip because you ate my weed edibles.”

When she stares blankly at you, you huff and hold up the bag. “See?” You shake it in front of her, grabbing her attention. “Weed. You. High.”

It takes a moment too much longer than needed, but you can see the gears start to turn in Celine’s head even amidst the heavy influence of weed.

“My parents will kill me when they find out I engaged in such recreational activities.”

“Okay,” You sigh, defeated, “up we go. We’ll discuss everything on a more serious note when all this has passed.”

Unfortunately, you underestimate just how much longer the weed would impair Celine’s judgement for the rest of the evening well into the night.

You move things steadily from the bedroom and eventually find yourself chatting casually in the common area.

For someone so precise and coordinated, you observe as Celine becomes more… Animated. More carefree. Less strict with everything she does.

Certain topics she hasn’t opened up to you about yet are spoken freely. Heavily suggested conversations are initiated from her with dirty words or phrases that wouldn’t usually coat her tongue. Even past drama from her Sunlight Sister days spills out.

“…And you know, come to think of it, I really don’t even fucking know how Mi-Yeong even managed to hide her damn pregnancy from us for so long!” Your partner expresses, but you honestly can’t tell if she’s amused or upset.

“He wasn’t shit anyway.” She continues. “I bet she was only obsessed because he had a good dick or something.”

“Uh-huh…” You entertain and gently push a bottle of water her way. “Like the only reason you entertain me is because I have amazing pussy, right?” You chuckle, trying to joke about.

However, it lands flat on Celine’s end. She accepts the water but flicks the cap in your direction. “Shut the fuck up.” She practically growls. “You know that’s far from the reason why I’m with you.”

The sharpness in her voice catches you off guard. Even more so when you see her lips tremble, and she starts to fight back some tears.

“You are my everything.” Celine bawls. “You see me in ways no one else has.” Her hand runs through her hair. “You see my faults. My mistakes and yet you… You still see me. You don’t judge me and you still love me unconditionally and I just don’t know how to handle it.”

Her emotional breakdown continues, and you know this is definitely an effect of the edibles, but you struggle to find a response.

Your mouth is slightly parted. You’ve never seen her like this… Not since the time where she thought she almost lost Rumi during the Idol Awards. But even then, she was at least a bit more composed.

“Hey, hey… Shh,” you coo, “it’s okay. Love, I was just teasing you.”

You shift closer to her offering physical comfort in which she immediately accepts by draping herself dramatically all over you.

“Well stop it.” She grumbles, burying her tear stained face in your shirt. “I didn’t like it.”

“But I love you and it’s fun.” You pout, and kiss the top of her head. “Will you forgive me if I order us food?”

You’re met with silence for a solid beat, but ultimately, the older woman nods.

“The usual fine?”

“Yes… However, I want mine extra hot.”

“Celine, last time you ordered that your mouth burned for three days?”

“Extra. Hot.”

You don’t bother to argue. You know the munchies are hitting her hard at this point.

“I’ll remember this for tomorrow morning.” You deadpan, amused as you hit order.

Your stoner instincts are on point, because the minute the food comes, Celine scarfs it down immediately. She doesn’t even give the delivery guy a chance to breathe or properly drop off the order.

Even by the time you sit and relax, she’s already scarfed down her meal, and passed out on the couch.

Despite how frantic and wild she looks, crumbs everywhere, hair disheveled, shirt slightly draped over her shoulder and riding up her stomach, you can’t help but to smile.

The edibles definitely did a major number on her tonight in more ways than one, but honestly? You’re sure she was overdue for a night for her to just… Unwind.

Once you were done with your food, you extend the couch, and flop down next to Celine. You somehow manage to throw a blanket over a blanket over the both of you, ad you hold her steadily with an arm slinked over her side.

Come next morning, Celine stirs. The first thing she realizes is that she has a massive migraine. The second thing? The room is slightly stirring in the corners of her vision. Third? Your warm body holding her comfortably from behind.

The living room is an absolute mess. There’s empty water bottles scattered everywhere and remnants of the food your ordered across the coffee table.

Her stomach grumbles, not in hunger, but in protest. The spice from her food registers now, and she remembers faintly how she practically demanded how her usual order be more hot than normal.

With a devastating groan, she shifts, grabbing the nearest drink she can find and gulping it down swiftly to ease the lingering burn throughout her body before turning to face you.

That’s when you stir, slowly blinking to meet her troubled gaze.

“Don’t.” Her voice is rasp and dry. The high from last night is long gone, and her usual self has made its return.

“I wasn’t gonna-!”

Celine cuts you off. “Doesn’t matter.” Her finger goes to your lips. “We do not speak about it. Nothing about last night is to be spoken after this point in time. Do you comprehend?”

“Y-Yes ma’am.” Your voice quivers, slightly shaken by how firm and commanding her tone is. It leaves absolutely no room for argument and that fiery look in her eyes is one that you don’t want to test.

“Excellent.” Her hand reaches over and covers your eyes. “Go back to sleep. We’re not leaving this couch until I’ve recovered from whatever you’ve poisoned me with.”

“You mean, the edibles you poisoned yourself with.”

“I will drop kick you off this couch.”

“…I’ll shut up.”

Despite her threat, Celine snuggles closer to you, burying her face in the crook of your neck with more affectionate purpose this time. She breathes you in, her shoulders relaxing and her headache subsiding just a tad.

“…Thank you.” Her voice is low, barely audible when she speaks again. Her breath is warm against your skin. “For last night, by the way.”

“Don’t mention it.” You smile genuinely, welcoming her warmth. “Though, seriously, please don’t not consume anything that has THC labeled on it next time?”

The response from your lover is immediate. “Deal.”