Animation, live Action & the real world

Days later, Celine still hasn’t left her house and suddenly hears banging on her steps. She assumes it’s just an animal or the wind but she still decides to go check and opens the door to the same little demon from before staring at her with a giant grin and basket of fish. Celine is determined to go back into her house and collapse onto her couch but the young demon is determined to thank Celine somehow for saving her life.

(Rumi’s reaction to Celine rejecting her gift)

- @raidintombs

Rumi just wants this human to accept her gifts but she never does. She either tosses them into the forest or ignores it and it just pushes Rumi to keep coming back and trying to get Celine’s attention. She wants either her attention or for the human to be happy, either one would be enough.

Hmmm, must be because of the blizzard, Zoey yawns.

The all nighter quickly proved itself stupid. Has she managed to push through the exam today? Yes, but at what cost? Falling asleep behind the wheel is ten times worse than failing, and yet ten times more likely right now.

Then she hits something.

Immediately, her eyes bulge out and she is wide awake. A myriad of curses slip from her tongue as she zips up her jacket and gets outside.

She expects to see a deer, a rabbit, or some other wild critter that lost its way home. Instead, she sees—

"Mira? Rumi?"

She blinks harder, as if that will make the pink and purple shapes on the road transform into antlers or tails, but no. It really is them.

One of them—Zoey thinks it's Mira—whines in pain. They mumble something between each other before scrambling to their feet.

She wasn't driving fast, was she?

"Are—are you guys alright? Do I need to call an ambulance?"

She offers solely because they'd pay for it. They'd have to. Zoey was broke enough without summoning the paramedics.

"What is your problem?" Mira spits out. Zoey recognises a frown between the flurry of snowflakes.

Of course that's the first thing that she says.

But she kind of is in the wrong here, and she is not looking for trouble. It's the last thing she is looking for. And so, she plays nice.

"I'm sorry, the visibility is really low and I was tired already and—"

"Ugh, save it," Mira rolls her eyes—Zoey knows that head motion all too well, "Maybe another driving lesson wouldn't hurt, hm?"

A cold wave rushes through Zoey, colder than any howling blizzard. It's too on the nose, too direct. How do they know she failed her driving test twice?

"Mira," Rumi chimes in then, pulling at her sleeve, "We should go."

Mira doesn't budge. Instead, she hones in on Zoey, a smirk one can only describe as evil crowning her features.

"Aw, you wonder how we know?" She leans in, close enough that Zoey can smell the faint whiff of her perfume; expensive and sharp.

It's horrible how someone can be so enticing and yet so cruel.

"Everyone knows what a pathetic loser you are—"

"Mira."

There's something different now. A different spark between them, a shift Zoey's eyes can't catch. Rumi gives Mira an unreadable look, but immediately her pose falters, and she bites her lip. As if sense has been knocked into her.

"Right," She nods stiffly before giving Zoey a once-over, "We'll see you around campus."

Zoey stammers, but has nothing to say in return. The insult barely did anything anymore—in one ear and out the other. Still, there was something different tonight. Something she can't quite place her finger on.

Or it's her sleep deprived mind imagining things. Totally possible. With a sigh, she gets in the car and starts the engine again. Her eyes track the two bodies disappearing into the blizzard. Except...

No. No, I've lost it completely. She grabs the wheel and leans over it, squinting as much as she can. There, where their arms swing through the wind, purple streaks glow on their skin.

- @mmeandar

First of all I love the writing so much!

Ngl I was imagining that she hit them into unconsciousness and takes them back to her dorm room to get them out of the snow but I also LOVE the idea that they kind of just walk off getting hit by a car. It’s the new demon powers.

As far as them not liking Zoey goes, I really like how you wrote them. Mira does still have her blunt attitude but now that she’s been under her parents thumb for her entire life, she doesn’t know where to direct it so she just directs it at everyone, save Rumi. Meanwhile Rumi is dealing with incredibly famous parents who make living any kind of normal life impossible and getting over an ex who betrayed her (Jinu). They’re not bad people, at least in my mind, but they need to change their ways.

As for the idea going forward, like you said Zoey could start to notice weird things. I’m kinda torn on whether or not Rumi and Mira would be regular demons (like the Saja Boys) or different demons like a water demon or gumiho or something like that. Zoey notices that Rumi and Mira seem extra tired, they aren’t focusing anymore, they’re missing class, they’re wearing longer sleeves, they seem to be withdrawing themselves from everything (not that they were overly involved to start with).

Maybe, relating it back to my previous statement, something occurs where Zoey needs to help them. She has a single dorm apartment on campus so she brings them back and helps them which is when she fully sees the patterns and when Mira and Rumi break down and admit what happened. They haven’t stolen any souls yet, because they only just became demons, but they’re nearing the point where they can’t ignore Gwi Ma’s control.

Knowing how young Eun-Ji is very perceptive for someone her age, as when noticing Present!Celine in front of her, she starts to notice that she feels extremely familiar before realizing who she actually is.

Present!Celine: I forgot how smart and perceptive she was and always was.

Mira: She was the only to calm Mi-Yeong down enough after brought them to our time. She is very smart.

Present!Celine: She is. She managed to runaway from her Eomma, get on a boat and find her way to the auditions for the Sunlight Sisters.

Mira: …

Rumi: …

Zoey: …

Zoey: This is the biggest Sunlight Sisters lore drop I ever heard about.

Present!Celine: We omitted it in interviews. Our mentors wanted us to a genuine background for how cane together.

Lore drops are awkwardly dropped and your students are shocked by it. Mira, who was already bonding well with Eun-Ji due to being the middle member of their respective groups, to bonding more in running away from family members. They know Eun-Ji wouldn’t run away as long as she had her Celine & Mi-Yeong.

Though, Eun-Ji possibly connecting the dots on Rumi, as she assumed her braid was for traditional reasons like Mi-Yeong was, and it still could be but seeing Present!Celine makes her asks questions and possibly answers certain questions.

Present!Celine possibly not being able to stay long due to her worrying that the young Sunlight Sisters may know too much. Especially worrying for her younger self.

Hi anon!!!

Ohhh!!! Yes! More kidnap the babies au! Gonna keep my response under here just to avoid the post being too big.

She tries working from afar, giving advice for how Mi-Yeong & Eun-Ji are, but for herself, she has spent so long burying parts herself for sake of duty that remembering the things that brought her joy gives her an emotional ache.

Eun-Ji does slowly pick up certain aspects of Present!Celine, as even though she looks different—older and more weathered—she still has qualities that she can fully shake, but she doesn’t confront her on it yet until she sees her Celine be sad because she talked in French with her and worried she did something wrong. Even though the older Celine comforts herself, she does still worry for her. She does ask her while Celine & Mi-Yeong are playing elsewhere.

Eun-Ji: You’re her, aren’t you?

Present!Celine, smiles: Pardon, Eun-Ji?

Eun-Ji: You are her…our Celine, but older…

Present!Celine, smiles shifts: That doesn’t sound nice, Eun-Ji. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Eun-Ji: You hum the same, no matter how old you are…It’s always distinct…It makes sense now why Celine thought she heard herself sing in the movie we watched. It was you, wasn’t it?

Present!Celine: A lot of singers can sound the same, Eun-Ji.

Eun-Ji: That may be true, but you are the only one I know that taps in a certain rhythm when nervous.

Present!Celine: That is a mere coincidence…

Eun-Ji: Is speaking French fluently a coincidence? You know you couldn’t find many who could speak the long, you know how sad you were…I know what you look like when fold in on yourself.

Present!Celine, sighing: You were always very observant…It helped a lot when we needed it….

Eun-Ji, softly: …What happened?

Present!Celine: I can’t tell you.

Eun-Ji: Do we have to go back on day?

Present!Celine: Yes, you one day have to return back.

Eun-Ji: Even if you’ll be sad?

Present!Celine: Yes…even then…I will be fine eventually.

Eun-Ji: Really?

Present!Celine: Yes, I will be. I’m not completely alone.

Eun-Ji: I hope so.

You have Eun-Ji be a very direct person, but she always waits before bringing information to someone.

Huntr/X wonders why Eun-Ji left…She seemed so nice and so smart. It hurt knowing that her and Celine couldn’t remain together. It makes them question that if they should return them back to their time.

Rumi wants to ask Present!Celine if Mi-Yeong was always ver defensive as a child. Rumi only grew up hearing about the positive parts of Mi-Yeong and never anything else. She never knew about her birth Halmeoni or how strict she was.

Rumi: Why didn’t you tell me? Why couldn’t you tell me the truth?

Present!Celine: It was a different time back then…She would have wanted something better for you…

Rumi: I don’t even know her as an actual person.

Present!Celine: Neither did the public…We kept ourselves a certain way to maintain our duty. Then…I guess, it just became how I viewed her without worrying about how much it hurt to actually think about it. I know she wouldn’t have either.

Rumi knows Present!Celine could answer many things about Mi-Yeong, and very little on herself. Seeing a disconnected Present!Celine is with herself and Mi-Yeong becomes a huge and painful realization for her.

Thankfully, when Eun Ji does learn the truth, she doesn’t seem too taken aback by it. Yes, she has a lot of questions because she’s 8 and an 8 year old would have questions but she also understands enough to know that she shouldn’t bring it up with Mi-Yeong and their Celine. Instead, she just focuses all her questions on older Celine and asking her about the future and what she and Mi-Yeong are like in 2026 and why they aren’t here and why Rumi had Mi-Yeong’s braid but is also half demon.

There are many questions.

“It makes them question that if they should return them back to their time.” I am so glad someone brought this up cause this has been on my mind for this AU. The girls and older Celine know what awaits the Sunlight Sisters and they know it’s not great and they know their mentors are horrible people. But do they really dare to keep the kids in 2026? To permanently change things? Rumi’s wondering if any part of her is willing to sacrifice her existence so that her mother can have a happier upbringing. They could change things but it would mean possibly making things worse for Huntrix.

Rumi is certainly seeing a whole new side to her mother. I agree, she would have been raised with the image of Mi-Yeong being perfect so seeing her not only challenge authority when she feels like she has to but also just being a normal kid is quite a shock. Present Celine would also be taken aback because I don’t think she ever intended to lie to Rumi but she wanted Rumi to see her mother as perfect and that means erasing some parts of Mi-Yeong both from stories and partially from her own memory.