Animation, live Action & the real world

So to recap: Healer Han was being intentionally cryptic when he said "I know just the tonics you need" and after trying one, Rumi's body goes full demon mode. She unknowingly reveals her secret to Mira and Zoey when she doesn't realize she's transformed overnight, and had to make a hasty teleportation-fueled retreat to Jeju when they mistook her for a demon pretending to be Rumi. Now, everything has come to a head after Mira and Zoey made a beeline for Celine after not being able to contact her and they've just managed to ward off a particularly bad demon attack on the compound.

Mira and Celine end up alone, and Mira calls out Celine on her choices to force Rumi to hide. Celine has a scathing rebuttal locked and loaded.

-- -- --

"I would never hurt Rumi," Mira snarled, offended Celine would even ask such a question of her.

"And the multiple times you've raised your gok-do at her just today?" Celine replied coolly.

"The first time I didn't know it was her," Mira fired back, "If I had known, I never would have-"

"And what about just now? You knew it was her then."

"Will you hurt my daughter the next time you see her?"

Rumi shook her head of the voice as she fully slipped into the bathroom, refusing to focus on Mira's lack of immediate response to Celine's question.

It didn't matter what the answer was, in the end.

Images of the gok-do pointed at her, flying at her, caused her to shiver involuntarily.

She walked towards the bathroom counter where the first aid kit was always stashed. Demonic features appeared in the corner of her eye, causing her to startle.

Just a mirror. A mirror with a demon reflected in it. The demonic eye trailed over the creature before her, covered in another demon's ichor and graveyard dirt smudged with it across her patterned and purple skin. her whole bottom half of her face was smeared in it, clearly from having ripped the demon apart with her own fangs and claws.

No wonder they all summoned weapons against her. She was disgusting.

She turned on the tap real quick, trying to use the sink's hand towel and the stream of water to wipe away the most prevalent of the blood. She didn't want to scare them any more than she had. She needed them to at least let her stay until she could confirm Zoey was okay.

Satisfied with the subpar cleaning, she reached for the kit, only to freeze. If she grabbed it and accidentally teleported again, that would leave Zoey without medical supplies at the ready. She couldn't risk that. Not after already delaying it by taking them to a graveyard first.

“Are you playing hockey with the med kit?”

Rumi kept her gaze down, staring at the box, “I’m trying to make sure I don’t teleport away with the med supplies.”

“And your solution to that problem was pushing the box with a broom?” Mira asked.

“Better than the plunger.”

“I prefer this option.” Zoey chuckled, “Reminds me of when we played soccer with a chunk of ice during that huge winter storm last year.”

The memory caused a fond chuckle to bubble out of Rumi and Mira. They remembered that too. They remembered how there had been a planned concert but a horrible blizzard forced them to cancel. Unfortunately, no one told them the concert was cancelled—Bobby was sick and his replacement sucked—until they got to the venue and ended up stuck in a nearby hotel. To pass time, the three began kicking around a chunk of ice they found although the majority of the time was spent falling on their butts and into snow banks.

Mira and Rumi halted their laughter when they realized they were laughing together. Rumi shuffled away from Mira just a bit as the words from before and Mira’s hesitation at Celine’s question echoed in her mind.

“….I really like your tail, Rumi.”

“You don’t have to lie, Zoey.” Rumi spat, sounding crueler than she had intended, “I know it’s disgusting.”

“It’s not disgusting and since when are you so confident in knowing what I like and dislike. You didn’t even know I used to have a crush on Celine until three years ago.” More laughter bubbled out of Rumi and Mira.

“How did you not know that, Rumi?”

“I don’t know! I just thought she’d have a normal American crush like Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber or someone who didn’t raise me!”

“But Celine is so hot!” Zoey whined.

“No! No! I can’t hear this again!” Rumi threw her hands over her demon ears, more playing than anything else, but the moment her hands made contact with her ears, her eyes widened. Rushing past Mira, Rumi went to the nearest mirror she could find and pulled her hair back.

Her ears were normal.

Laughter.

"Ok ok! Hurry hard! Hard!"

...Also not what she was expecting.

When she rounded the corner, she was met with an odd sight, indeed. Rumi had the broom and was currently frantically sweeping backward through the living room, keeping ahead of the med kit that Mira had slid along the smooth hardwood floor. Zoey was watching on from the couch, shouting instructions to "hurry hard" as the med kit slid to a stop on the far side.

"Why...are you curling the med kit?" she asked, staring at the scene somewhat dumbfounded after, well...everything.

The girls snapped to attention, Rumi dropping the broom and standing up straight with her hands at her side, the same smile she usually had when caught doing something ridiculous on her face. Mira shot to her feet and mimicked Rumi's pose, minus the toothy smile. Zoey couldn't exactly stand up, but she still turned to stare at Celine.

That's when Celine noticed that Rumi's claws had gone away. And her fangs had reduced to slightly abnormally long eye teeth.

"Making her laugh helps!" Zoey sputtered before Celine could voice her observation, "Hockey wasn't going to work as one on one so we switched to curling."

"...Ok," Celine replied slowly, turning to the others while pointing at Zoey. "Has she been treated?"

Rumi nodded. "Looked over and patched up. Nothing's broken, thankfully," she stated dutifully.

The exchange was almost...normal, despite Rumi's tail swishing anxiously behind her.

Celine could tell, even without the tail, that Rumi was waiting for her to ruin this. For her to insist on talking, to scold them, to bring up the countless ways they had all screwed up in the last 24 hours. And Celine knew they would have to deal with that sooner rather than later. But she was also not heartless, and she was not a fool. For the first time since they all arrived at her home on Jeju, they've been acting like themselves. Goofy and playful and carefree.

And the lightness seemed to be helping Rumi, no golden Honmoon required.

And perhaps the scratches on her living room floor will be worth it.

"You will need something to mark the house," she noted, allowing a smile to form on her face as she watched relief flood Rumi's.

She glanced to the side, eyes meeting Mira's, and her smile softened. It seemed to lift the dancer as well, the hatchet between them buried at least for the night.

“SCORE!” Rumi cried.

“That does not count! You hit me with your braid.” Mira stuck her tongue out at the older girl while holding back a laugh.

“You both hit me with your hair in the last round.” Zoey said, “And Celine the round before that.”

So to recap: Healer Han was being intentionally cryptic when he said "I know just the tonics you need" and after trying one, Rumi's body goes full demon mode. She unknowingly reveals her secret to Mira and Zoey when she doesn't realize she's transformed overnight, and had to make a hasty teleportation-fueled retreat to Jeju when they mistook her for a demon pretending to be Rumi. Now, everything has come to a head after Mira and Zoey made a beeline for Celine after not being able to contact her and they've just managed to ward off a particularly bad demon attack on the compound.

Mira and Celine end up alone, and Mira calls out Celine on her choices to force Rumi to hide. Celine has a scathing rebuttal locked and loaded.

-- -- --

"I would never hurt Rumi," Mira snarled, offended Celine would even ask such a question of her.

"And the multiple times you've raised your gok-do at her just today?" Celine replied coolly.

"The first time I didn't know it was her," Mira fired back, "If I had known, I never would have-"

"And what about just now? You knew it was her then."

"Will you hurt my daughter the next time you see her?"

Rumi shook her head of the voice as she fully slipped into the bathroom, refusing to focus on Mira's lack of immediate response to Celine's question.

It didn't matter what the answer was, in the end.

Images of the gok-do pointed at her, flying at her, caused her to shiver involuntarily.

She walked towards the bathroom counter where the first aid kit was always stashed. Demonic features appeared in the corner of her eye, causing her to startle.

Just a mirror. A mirror with a demon reflected in it. The demonic eye trailed over the creature before her, covered in another demon's ichor and graveyard dirt smudged with it across her patterned and purple skin. her whole bottom half of her face was smeared in it, clearly from having ripped the demon apart with her own fangs and claws.

No wonder they all summoned weapons against her. She was disgusting.

She turned on the tap real quick, trying to use the sink's hand towel and the stream of water to wipe away the most prevalent of the blood. She didn't want to scare them any more than she had. She needed them to at least let her stay until she could confirm Zoey was okay.

Satisfied with the subpar cleaning, she reached for the kit, only to freeze. If she grabbed it and accidentally teleported again, that would leave Zoey without medical supplies at the ready. She couldn't risk that. Not after already delaying it by taking them to a graveyard first.

“Are you playing hockey with the med kit?”

Rumi kept her gaze down, staring at the box, “I’m trying to make sure I don’t teleport away with the med supplies.”

“And your solution to that problem was pushing the box with a broom?” Mira asked.

“Better than the plunger.”

“I prefer this option.” Zoey chuckled, “Reminds me of when we played soccer with a chunk of ice during that huge winter storm last year.”

The memory caused a fond chuckle to bubble out of Rumi and Mira. They remembered that too. They remembered how there had been a planned concert but a horrible blizzard forced them to cancel. Unfortunately, no one told them the concert was cancelled—Bobby was sick and his replacement sucked—until they got to the venue and ended up stuck in a nearby hotel. To pass time, the three began kicking around a chunk of ice they found although the majority of the time was spent falling on their butts and into snow banks.

Mira and Rumi halted their laughter when they realized they were laughing together. Rumi shuffled away from Mira just a bit as the words from before and Mira’s hesitation at Celine’s question echoed in her mind.

“….I really like your tail, Rumi.”

“You don’t have to lie, Zoey.” Rumi spat, sounding crueler than she had intended, “I know it’s disgusting.”

“It’s not disgusting and since when are you so confident in knowing what I like and dislike. You didn’t even know I used to have a crush on Celine until three years ago.” More laughter bubbled out of Rumi and Mira.

“How did you not know that, Rumi?”

“I don’t know! I just thought she’d have a normal American crush like Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber or someone who didn’t raise me!”

“But Celine is so hot!” Zoey whined.

“No! No! I can’t hear this again!” Rumi threw her hands over her demon ears, more playing than anything else, but the moment her hands made contact with her ears, her eyes widened. Rushing past Mira, Rumi went to the nearest mirror she could find and pulled her hair back.

Her ears were normal.

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”

And she vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

The gok-do slammed into the mirror wall, exploding glass in every direction.

At first, Rumi wasn't sure where she was. Her brain was still firing too fast, her heart beating so quickly and her breaths coming so short she was dizzy and lightheaded. But as she blinked and got her bearings, she realized this place was familiar.

The garden rows that she used to run up and down as a child stretched before her, lined with plants with summer harvests waiting to be collected. And there, at the end of the row she stood in, was Celine, calmly pulling weeds as she would so often do on summer mornings.

Relief was the first thing she felt, washing over her and putting her soul at ease. That must have been how she got here: whenever Rumi had a nightmare she would seek out her mother Celine. Celine always knew how to put her mind at ease, how to comfort her when she was afraid. And right now Rumi had never been so lost, so fucking terrified. She was having the worst nightmare imaginable, so of course she went to Celine.

Then Celine turned, and froze when their eyes met. And all of that relief was replaced by panic. Because what if Celine only sees her as a demon, too? What if she also thinks she replaced Rumi and tries to put her down? The idea that the only safe harbour Rumi had was gone rendered her paralyzed, once again unable to move as her potential demise stared at her with an unreadable expression. But Rumi knew Celine. She knew how she hunted demons.

She knew she'd never even get a chance to see it coming.

So she just...crumbled. She sunk to her knees, curled up in a little ball, and waited for it to end. She barely registered the tears trailing down her cheeks, or how panic-stricken breaths had turned to sobs. She didn't want to die. She didn't even know why the universe suddenly decided she should. She was so scared and alone and she hated herself so much for being this...this thing that all of her loved ones wanted to kill and she just wanted her mom and...

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, gentle and cautious. When Rumi dared to glance up, she was met with Celine's concerned frown. Worry and fear were etched clearly on her face, but recognition was there too. "Rumi?" she uttered, clearly taking in Rumi's physical changes, "What happened?"

Then a sound came from the pocket on Celine's cardigan. One day, before they debuted, Zoey had somehow managed to get a hold of Celine's phone and set different ringtones for each of her charges' numbers, and Celine had never bothered to change them. (And would never admit that she liked the personal touch, especially knowing that Zoey had asked Mira and Rumi to pick a song.) And so now, both of them knew who it was without even having to see the ringing phone:

That was all Celine had to hear.

She didn’t care about Zoey’s call.

She didn’t care that Rumi had tiny horns that were pushing into her chin.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s claws were digging into her back.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s tail was wrapped around her leg.

And she didn’t care that Rumi was currently sobbing so hard into her cardigan that the fact that she was able to get any words out at all was a shock.

The only thing she cared about was getting Rumi inside, safe, warm….and maybe fed. Had she eaten that morning? It was still early so maybe not? But water probably took priority right now over food. No, it definitely did. So shelter, comfort, water and food. In that order.

Celine had years of demon hunting to thank for her ability to pick up Rumi without an issue and carry her inside the compound. Even though the girls all lived in the city, Rumi’s room remained untouched in case she ever needed it and, thankfully, Rumi hadn’t grown much since she left the compound so she easily fit into her bed.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Celine asked, brushing Rumi’s hair out of her eyes, “Did….it happen?”

“Mmmhmm.” The only reason Rumi wasn’t sobbing anymore was because she kept her eyes snapped up.

“I take it it went badly?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Should I accept Zoey’s call or leave it?”

“….”

“Let’s return to that later then. Do you want some water? Some food?” Celine asked, “Do you want Bear?”

“Bear.”

“Okay. I put him up so he wouldn’t get covered in dust. Can you let go of me so that I can go get him?” That seemed to be the first time Rumi realized she was still holding onto the cardigan, her claws having now broken through the fabric.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“No, shhhh. Shhh. You’re okay, Rumi. You’re okay. You know I have 100 cardigans and I have plenty of money to buy more.” Rumi let out another sob, “Just breathe, Rumi. Breathe.”

From her pocket, Rumi could hear another ringtone.

Mira.

Celine glanced down at the ball of stress and sadness on the bed next to her. Rumi was still tucked into herself, claws gripping Celine's arm (but now with a careful tenderness, enough to grip but not puncture fabric or skin). Her tail had ended up wrapped around Celine's middle, the soft fur and striped pattern reminding Celine of an especially clingy cat. A single golden eye peered up at Celine from the shadows created by Rumi's current posture, and despite the unsettling inhuman-ness of it the sight still tugged at Celine's heartstrings. The iris was like molten iron, burning gold and red and emitting a soft light, but the tears pooling in it reminded her that it wasn't physically hot.

"My priority is you right now," Celine stated softly, running a gentle hand over Rumi's shoulder, "We can deal with everything else later."

"But..." Rumi swallowed tightly. Celine felt an involuntary shudder travel through Rumi's body. "They think I... They thought I replaced..."

"...I see."

The ringing had run its course, but only seconds later it started up again. On top of that, she could feel it buzz the way it would when receiving texts, and it was practically performing morse code in her pocket.

"I'm not going to leave you," Celine promised. She bit her lip, her hand shifting to thread her fingers through Rumi's hair. She gingerly ran over the horn sprouting from Rumi's skull, pushing some of the hair aside to ensure it hadn't done damage when it broke through. "Do you remember how this happened?" she tried again, "Anything unusual? A demon bite, or...some sort of curse?"

Rumi shook her head. "I just...woke up. I didn't even feel different. I..." she let out a shaky breath and curled further into herself. "I don't know," she whined pitifully.

"Ok, it's ok," Celine assured her, "We can figure this out."

"I don't... I was so close," Rumi continued sadly, "There was so much gold but now... How can I show my face now? Mira and Zoey want to kill me and I look like a monster and I couldn't sing to begin with and-"

"Hold on: you couldn't sing?" Celine asked, a sense of urgency beginning to rise in her voice, "What do you mean by that?"

Rumi froze, her body going stiff under Celine's hand. "I...I couldn't sing Golden," she revealed, "Th...the other night, when we had to cancel the song debut... I couldn't reach the high note and I...ran."

Celine sighed. She had been informed about Rumi having issues with that performance, and about how she had disappeared and didn't return to the set. She had been meaning to check in about that, but she wanted to give Rumi a bit of space. Huntr/x might have fallen under her label, but they were also grown adults with their own manager and responsibilites. It wasn't Celine's place to micromanage everything.

A sharp ringing pierced the air, causing both of their heads to snap at attention toward the door. Where, beyond the door, the landline was ringing. Celine sighed. That phone never rung, since so few people actually knew the number, so she had a suspicion about who was on the other line.

“Zoey-Zoey had this idea to go to this guy named Han for special tonics that were supposed to help my voice. I didn’t really think—I mean I thought…I thought they might be able to help but I didn’t really think about them much.”

“Okay. And I assume you took one last night?”

“Mmhmm. It was just grape juice when I peeled back the label but I like grape juice so I took it. Then I woke up and…” Rumi’s tail wrapped tighter around Celine.

“And you looked like this. It sounds like those tonics definitely had something to do with this but this is good. This is really good, Rumi. I have people in Seoul who can find this guy and fix this. You’ll be back to normal so soon and then we’ll figure out what to do about Zoey and Mira.” The use of Zoey and Mira’s name made Rumi flinch. Celine made a mental note to keep them out of the conversation for a bit, “Now that we know that, how about this? You feel like you can walk?”

Rumi nodded.

“Good. You come into the main room and lay on the couch, you can watch some tv, and I’ll get some food for both of us and call about this Han guy.” Celine told her, “Some demons, including half demons, can disguise their demon forms with concentration. If you can relax, maybe you can try and appear more human. It’s not a permanent solution but you would at least be able to walk around Jeju Island.”

“I-I’m sorry, Cece.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I should have kept it together longer. We were almost there and now Mira and Zoey want me dead and the Saja Boys are going to take over and everyone’s gonna die and it’ll be because I’m a good for nothing—“

“Hey!” Celine grabbed Rumi’s head and pushed it towards her. She’d heard those words too much in her own mind to let Rumi finish that sentence, “Listen to me, this is not your fault. It’s a set back but it’s one we’ll work on together. You’re not alone in this, Rumi.”

“…Thank you… Eomma Celine.”

“Always. Now, go find Bear and get to the couch. Oh! And no rom coms please.”

For the first time that morning, Rumi laughed, “They’re good. You just don’t know how to judge acting.”

“You know I’ve acted right?”

She was brought out of her thoughts by the landline ringing again. She glanced over at it, then down the hall to Celine's closed door. She bit her lip, wincing when she forgot how sharp her fangs were. She tried to ignore it, but each ring felt louder and more oppressive, and before she could think logically...

She was suddenly standing by the phone. She didn't even remember getting up, or walking to it. The dissipating pink dust surrounding her was her only clue, and she suppressed a groan. Yet another thing she needed to get a handle on, it seems.

But still... She really did want to answer the phone. Maybe her body knew something her brain didn't. Or...perhaps it was her heart beating out her mind.

She picked the phone up from its holder.

"Celine? You there? Is everything ok?!" Zoey's frantic voice filled the silence of the room, and Rumi felt her breath hitch just hearing it.

"Celine! Something's happened! We think Rumi's in danger and we need your help!"

"Z...Zoey," Rumi stammered, "Zoey, it's ok!"

"RUMI?!" Zoey and Mira, now. Zoey must have her phone on speaker.

"Wait... How do we know it's really you?" Mira demanded, suspicion and fear making her sound harsher than normal, "Demons could have gotten to Celine. Why are you on Jeju, Rumi?"

Rumi could feel her brain buffering, picturing the little spinning beach ball of death. Why was she on Jeju? She couldn't really answer that truthfully for herself, let alone come up with a convincing lie for Mira. "I... Last Christmas I adopted a sea turtle from the WWF for Zoey. She named the plushie representing it 'Myrtle'. And that same year I adopted a polar bear for Mira and she secretly named the plushie 'Snowball' but in public she calls it 'Odin' because it sounds cooler."

"I...I do not," Mira stammered in the background.

"Ok, that's definitely Rumi," Zoey agreed, "But why are you on Jeju?"

"It's...a long story?" Rumi said with a wince.

"Well you can tell us soon in person," Mira told her, "We're almost at the ferry. Should be a few hours."

That's when Rumi registered the sound of a car engine that was probably going a little too fast to be legal in the city. And her panic spiked. "Wait! No! You have to stay in Seoul!"

"What? Why?" Mira demanded.

"What if the Saja Boys try something?" Rumi argued, "People could be in danger. You need to stay there and make sure the Honmoon doesn't get any weaker."

"But what about you?" Zoey asked.

"Don't worry about me," Rumi assured them, frowning as she glanced down at her free hand and all it's patterned, clawed glory, "Focus on keeping people safe. I'll figure things out here with Celine and get back to you guys as soon as I can."

It was quiet for a concerning amount of time, the only sound coming from Mira's aggressive driving.

"Guys?" Rumi tried anxiously.

"Why are you on Jeju, Rumi. We just saw you last night so you would have had to leave right after we went to bed," Mira challenged.

"I..." Rumi gulped, her grip tightening on the phone. She felt her patterns begin to glow hot as she floundered, unable to come up with something convincing. "I...I'm here because-"

The phone creaked, then let out a loud crack as the plastic crumpled in her grip. Rumi dropped what was left of the device with a panicked gasp, trying and failing to calm her breathing.

Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Zoey turned to Mira. The dial tone droned on from the phone she held between them, speaking louder than anything "Rumi" could have said.

"Do we...do what she said?" Zoey wondered tentatively, "She was right... What if the Saja Boys are planning something and they wanted us out of the city?"

Mira sucked in a deep breath and exhaled sharply through her nose. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, willing the red light to change if it valued its life. Ahead of them, they could see the turn off to the ferry dock.

"Right now, I couldn't give less of a shit about the Saja Boys," she growled, taking off a little too sharply and squealing the tires when the light changed.

The ferry to Jeju Island was large enough that both Zoey and Mira could simply cover their heads and they could avoid detection. The last thing they needed was someone getting a picture of them and thinking they were going to Jeju Island because Celine died or something---Bobby would not like having to deal with that story.

"Rumi or...something like Rumi is on Jeju Island and we need to figure out what is going on. First that demon pretends to be her this morning and teleports away before we can kill it, then Celine isn't answered our calls or texts and then we do get in touch with Rumi and somehow she's made it to Jeju Island in the middle of the night without either of us waking up or telling us? Something is wrong and we need to figure out what."

"I know. I know. You're right. We need to figure out what's going on with Rumi. The Saja Boys don't matter if our group falls apart."

Mira must have finally sensed how stressed and scared Zoey was because she extended a hand forward and rested it on Zoey's wrist, "Our group won't fall apart. It's Rumi. She may do...a lot that we don't fully understand but she wouldn't do any malicious or stupid."

"You're right. It's Rumi. Rumi's our leader and our friend. Once we see her face to face, we'll figure out what's going on and get a good, solid, honest answer."

---------

"They're coming here?" Celine fought to keep the sharpness out of her tone, "They called you almost an hour ago so they're probably on the ferry by now." Celine had a hand in her hair and she was biting her lip so hard that Rumi was positive she could see blood. She'd never seen Celine this stressed.

"Are we going to run?" Rumi asked.

"No, I have a better idea." Celine told her, "We'll tell them that this is one of Gwi Ma's tricks." She explained.

"What?"

"Gwi Ma has grown more powerful with the help of the Saja Boys and one of his tricks has been to turn you into a demon. I'll tell Mira and Zoey that once you girls turn the honmoon gold you'll go back to normal and you will! It works perfectly!" Celine was smiling now, like she'd just figured out the solution to all their problems.

"You want me to lie to them again?" Rumi asked.

"I know it hurts Rumi, but this is the best option for you and for Mira and Zoey. It keeps them from hurting you and keeps your group together. Long enough to defeat the Saja Boys and turn the honmoon gold."

For a moment or two, Rumi didn't respond. Instead, she stared down at her patterns. By now they covered her completely and the ends of her hands and feet were turning purple like a demons. She flexed her claws once or twice and allowed her tail to twitch behind her.

This.

This was what she fought for years to keep Mira and Zoey from finding out.

Now they knew.

Now they wanted her dead.

No part of Rumi wanted to die or wanted Mira and Zoey to kill her. Despite her sobs earlier that morning she had been honest when she told Celine that.

But she was too tired to keep lying to them.

Too tired to come up with another lie she had to keep on top of.

And she loved them both too much to add another lie to the list.

"I don't want to keep lying to them," Rumi stated firmly, "They've already seen it. They know, Celine."

"And we can tell them it's an illusion," Celine snapped back.

"A pretty elaborate illusion!" Rumi returned, her tail swishing in response.

"Rumi..." Celine warned.

"No! This is my only chance to tell them the truth!" Rumi argued.

"You won't get a chance to tell them! They'll take one look at you and-"

"Then help me! They might not listen to me but they will listen to you!"

"There's no guarantee of that! I taught you all to never hesitate, and to be suspicious of everything out of place. What if they think I'm a demon, too?"

Rumi's patterns started to burn once again, but this time the pain felt different. It didn't feel like the punishing sting of doing something stupid and getting injured. It felt like something needling, like bee stings on the hide of a bear. "But you can prove it! A...and then you can tell them-"

"I'm going to tell them that this is a trick by Gwi-Ma," Celine said defiantly, "And you aren't going to tell them otherwise. We need to get a handle on this, Rumi. Right now the safest thing to do is-"

"What's the point of being safe if I'm lying to my friends forever?" Rumi challenged, "How is constantly having to keep track of what I tell them better than just telling them the truth?" Her tail thrashed angrily. A lump was forming in her throat, a sound she suspected wasn't going to be human so she held it back.

"You won't have to worry about it for long," Celine returned, "Just until the Honmoon turns gold and fixes everything."

"And what if it doesn't?!" Her voice rose just a little too much, there was too much fire in her heart, and a multi-layered timber erupted from her throat. The Honmoon shuddered worryingly, and the lights flickered before burning out, leaving Rumi as the dominant light source in the room.

That, and the glowing hilt and lower half of a blade materializing from the Honmoon.

Celine dispelled the sword quickly, holding her hands up in front of her to prove she wasn't going to do that again. But the damage had been done anyway.

"Are you...afraid of me?" Rumi uttered, her anger dissolving as if doused in acid.

"No, Rumi, I..." Celine ran her hands shakily though her hair, a move Rumi rarely saw but knew it was a sign her guardian was stressed. "That is why we have to hide it," Celine insisted after a moment to collect her thoughts, "It's not that I wanted to do that. And it's not that Mira and Zoey want to kill you. We've been trained to see things a certain way. To react a certain way. And... One wrong move, and..."

Rumi took a step back. She shook her head in disbelief. "But... If you've been trained one way, then you can learn something else. Y...you didn't kill me in the garden, even when I looked like..."

"Rumi... The risk is too great. You can't trust that they won't see a flash of your patterns and..."

Rumi swallowed tightly, her claws digging into her biceps as she crossed her arms over herself. "Did...did that ever happen with you?" she asked shakily.

Now she could only see the blades that had been hovering in them just moments ago... against her.

She wasn't safe anywhere.

She wasnt safe.

She wasn't safe like this with Mira and Zoey, who wanted to cut her down for the human Rumi never was.

She wasn't safe like this with Celine, who at the first sign of Rumi not bending to her caused her to summon weapons against the demon she saw.

She definitely wasnt safe among the demons they saw her as. That she currently was.

Because she never belonged anywhere, did she?

She had hoped... had foolishly believed she could... but with one single raise of her voice, and three sets of weapons summoned against her in the span of an hour... she finally understood.

She realized as her own mother Celine couldnt even look her in the eyes... she belonged nowhere.

And with every fiber of her being realizing it- believing it- her uncontrollable teleport obliged that truth of where she felt she belonged.

When Celine finally shoved her own shame down enough to look her daughter Rumi in the eyes again, she found only the faint trace of smoke where she once stood.

Rumi was nowhere to be seen.

(Too scared to delete my other post and I didn’t see this one so I’m just responding here)

“RUMI!?!”

Mira and Zoey arrived at the compound without expecting much. They wanted answers from Celine and Rumi, yes, but they never believed it would be a huge event. In the back of Zoey’s mind she still hoped that this could all be fixed with a simple explanation and then they’d laugh about it all the way back to Seoul.

Something told her that wasn’t the case.

And something really told her that when they arrived and found Celine running around the compound like she had lost the most precious thing in the world to her, screaming Rumi’s name while her voice gave out.

“Celine?! Celine, what’s going on?!”

“Rumi’s gone! I don’t know where she went but she’s scared and angry and—Miyeong.”

“Woah. Woah.” Mira grabbed Celine’s shoulders, “What is going on?”

“We have to find Rumi. She left and I don’t know where she went. I don’t know if she’s safe or if she even knows where she’s going.” What if she teleported away?! She couldn’t control where she ended up. What if she ended up in Gwi Ma’s lair or with the Saja Boys??

“Why did Rumi leave Jeju Island? Did you two fight?” Zoey asked.

“Rumi—…The demon you saw today was Rumi.”

“…..I’m sorry what?”

“She’s half demon. She was born with patterns that I’ve been helping her hide since she was a baby.” Celine explained, “That demon you saw today was her. She was telling you the truth.”

“You lied to us?!?”

“We almost killed Rumi!”

“We don’t have time to worry about either of those things right now! Please! I know we both lied but Rumi is out there and she needs our help. She needs you two.” Honmoon knew she didn’t need her right now.

“No, no, we’re getting answers—“ Mira stopped when she felt Zoey’s hand on her arm.

Stupid teleportation. If she was going to have this ability then why couldn't she get it to work properly? She should teleport to where she wanted to go, right? Well, she definitely didn't want to be on Jeju. She wasn't even sure if she still wanted to be in Korea.

Maybe if she thought about it really hard, she could shoot herself into the magma chamber of Mount Hallasan.

"Rumi?!"

She whipped around, hearing Celine's voice in the distance. Rumi gulped nervously. Celine sounded panicked. Scared, even. Probably worried about what something like Rumi could do on the loose like this.

"Come on. Take me home," she hissed at herself, closing her eyes and concentrating as hard as she could. But her new powers refused to send her anywhere.

And actual growl left her mouth this time. Which only made her frustration worse. As she contemplated which direction into the forest she should run to, her eyes landed on a familiar gravestone.

"This is all your fault!" she snarled, stomping in front of her mother's headstone and sneering at it as if her ghost was standing there instead, "You just had to fuck a demon! You just had to give birth to me! And then you just had to die so you did have to deal with how much of an abomination I am!"

The stone said nothing, as stones cannot reply no matter how vitriolic the words thrown at them are.

Rumi sunk to her knees before the stone. Her tail curled around her in a self comforting hug, but the fact that it was there did little to help. "I shouldn't be here," she murmured as she curled up again, making herself as small as possible and wishing the ground would just swallow her whole, "I don't belong anywhere."

Suddenly, she felt the ground tremble as if rocked by an earthquake. The Honmoon came alive with violent red ripples, shaking so much bits of it started to lift away into the air. Rumi sprung to her feet, her gaze turning to the direction the weakness in the Honmoon was coming from, and her heart sunk with dread.

Instead, years of hunter training kicked in all at once and Rumi was moving before she could stop herself, rushing past every Hunter grave around the tree and straight towards the source of the ripple. It was a gift from the honmoon that all hunters knew where the ripples origin point was—made it easier to track down the demons—and Rumi knew the origin point was the house.

If she had any hesitation, any fear, about returning to Celine she didn’t show it. Her demon form was still fully present when she arrived and spotted a demon having pinned Celine down. She was protected by her weapons but the demon’s claws and teeth were getting too close.

“Celine!” Rumi cried, throwing her sword forward and slashing the demon, “Celine! Are you okay?!”

“RUMI!” Celine wrapped her arms around her, pulling her daughter close, “You’re okay! You’re okay! Where did you go?! How could you leave?!?”

“We can talk about that later. How many demons are there? Where—“ Rumi’s tail thrashed and her fangs pushed out as a growl escaped her. Behind Celine was a massive demon—one of the heavy hitters—holding a raised club.

Both Celine and Rumi dodged.

“What are you doing, kid?! You’re supposed to be on our side!”

Rumi nearly ditched her sword to simple jump on the demon and slash him with her claws, “You don’t get to hurt my eomma!” Even with bigger demons, a sword straight into the chest usually left them dissolved.

“Rumi?” Rumi suddenly froze. Her demon characteristics going from taking over to mellowing out on a heartbeat.

Which was unfortunate, because all of her attention was on them, and not the large dokkaebi to her side. The demon pounced, tackling her to the ground. “A hunter who is a demon?” the dokkaebi demanded, “How does that work?”

Rumi didn’t have an answer for him even if she did care enough to answer. Instead, she got one foot under the demon and planted it forcefully into his chest, sending him flying. A second demon tried to pick up where he left off, but a small but deadly-fast projectile nailed him in the chest before he could strike. Rumi’s head whipped around to where the shin-kal had come from, and she was rewarded by Zoey shooting her a small smile.

From that point, things fell into something that almost felt normal. Rumi drew her sword and got back into rhythm with Mira and Zoey, almost like things hadn’t changed at all. Except, they had, and the reminders came as moments of stark realization that popped up abruptly before necessity forced them to be put on the back burner for later. It was most evident with Mira, as she and Rumi fought out of sync in a way they hadn’t in years. Rumi, trying to make up for everything, was quick to jump to what she thought was aid. And Mira no longer trusted most of Rumi’s actions. As a result, they often found themselves in each other’s way. That, or demons would slip past them when it should have been an easy kill.

And then there were the moments when, especially as she got more frustrated, Rumi’s demonic instincts would break through and she’d do something, well, demonic. Snarling and growling, using claws instead of her sword, swatting demons away with her tail. (Which, to be honest, actually was kind of useful. Especially when the two times she did it Celine was close enough to shred the demon getting swatted with ease.)

“Rumi, watch it!” Mira snapped at her when it happened a third time, but this time it was Mira the demon was sent tumbling toward and she wasn’t nearly as prepared for it.

“S…sorry, I—”

A shin-kal whizzed past her and struck a demon about to ambush her between the eyes.

“Does it seem like this has been going on for a lot longer than normal?” Zoey wondered as she fired at a pair of water demons crawling out of a puddle.

“It’s rare for a rift this big to form so close to the compound,” Celine said with a concerned frown, “This is an offensive move on their part.”

Rumi dodged a demon’s claws and retaliated with her sword through his stomach. “But why?” she asked, “Why now? And why here?”

“Maybe Gwi-Ma figured it would be easier,” Mira stated coolly, shooting Rumi a look.

Rumi felt her tail droop, along with her ears (oh hell are they more demonic now, too?). “Mira, stop,” Zoey chided, coming to Rumi’s defence both verbally and with a barrage of shin-kal to provide cover.

“Seriously? You’re not mad about, well, everything?” Mira demanded harshly.

“Yeah I am! I’m pissed!” Zoey fired back, “But I’ll be more pissed if any of you die before we get answers.”

Poor choice of words, because as she was distracted, Zoey didn’t see the ogre’s club until it was too late. The collision made a sound that would haunt their nightmares, as Zoey’s body flew through the air to land roughly on the ground at Mira’s feet. The massive demon was upon them in an instant, once more raising his club high. Mira positioned herself over Zoey’s crumpled form, bracing with her gok-do and preparing to hold her ground.

She didn’t have to.

There was a roar, like a furious tiger, and suddenly a pink and purple creature had leapt onto the demon’s back. The demon shouted in agony and surprise, trying to pry his attacker off of him. But claws sunk into his skin as fangs found his neck. Mira could only watch in horror as the creature hung on to the ogre demon, yellow eyes glowing with furious hellfire and patterns ablaze with hot pink light. The creature snarled as the demon tried in vain to shove her off of him, but his strength was fading fast as dark blood spilled onto the dirt. And that was…the most shocking thing. Because Mira had never seen a demon bleed. She didn’t think they could bleed. But it must just be ground wounds caused by a starlight blade. Wounds from fangs or claws…

When the ogre stopped fighting, his body didn’t turn to dust. It just lay there, unmoving, oozing blood. The creature straightened from its kill, eyes still burning yellow, chin and hands stained black with blood. It looked at Mira for a second, and the hunter’s blood ran cold, before it turned to the remaining demons. They flinched, not a single one as confident as they were moments ago. “Leave,” the creature growled, low and dangerous, “Now.”

The remaining demons scattered, retreating back through the Honmoon. It was one thing to die by a hunter’s blade. It was entirely another to be faced with the sight of one of their own kill another so savagely.

Mira turned briefly to check on Zoey, discovering Celine there already to perform first aid. Thankfully Zoey was awake, and groaning in pain. But that was good, since it meant she was alive.

“Is she going to ok?”

Mira spun back around, gok-do raising again out of instinct. Rumi was covered in demon blood. One of her eyes had returned to normal, and her fangs and claws were quite as deadly as they had just been. Still, though, she had them.

“Mira,” Celine said softly, yet firmly, from behind her as Mira focused on Rumi, “It’s ok. She won’t hurt us.”

Mira’s resolve wavered slightly, her gok-do lowering just a little. When Rumi didn’t take advantage, Mira relaxed further. Once more, Rumi stayed where she was, hands held up in a surrendering gesture. Finally, the gok-do disappeared completely.

“Ow, it hurts to breathe,” Zoey whined, voice strained and breathy as she held her side.

“We should get her inside,” Celine decided, looking up to her daughter, “Rumi, can you take her?”

Rumi wanted to say no, she absolutely shouldn’t, but she knew she was the strongest out of all of them. And right now, Zoey’s health mattered more. So she stepped forward, tentatively walking past Mira and over to Zoey. She gingerly scooped her maknae up into her arms, careful not to jostle her. She headed inside, flanked closely by Mira. Celine held back, electing to do a quick sweep of the property to ensure all the demons were actually gone. She trusted the girls to take care of things inside.

Rumi could still sense tension from Mira. But from Zoey…

It only increased that feeling of "belong nowhere" in her heart.

That was fine. She knew that now. She just had to bring Zoey inside, make sure she was okay, and she could leave again. Take herself out of where she shouldn't be.

Of course that was everywhere. There was only one place something like her belonged and it was-

A cloud of smoke had Zoey coughing painfully in her arms and Rumi stopping midstep as she noticed the environment had shifted. Again.

She had teleported again. Back to the hunters graveyard.

"Uh, Rumi?" Zoey nervously chuckled with a pained wince in her arms. "Did you just... kidnap me?"

Rumi let out a sharp breath through her nose before turning back towards tha hanok... again.

"Sorry. Wasn't intentional. We are just up the hill. Are you able to hold on until then?" Rumi asked without meeting her eyes.

"Yeah," Zoey replied a bit shakily. "Just a few damaged ribs, I think. Nothing overly urgent."

Rumi just nodded as she walked onwards in silence. Zoey seemed to contemplate something for a moment, silence heavy between them, before she spoke again.

"It wasn't intentional?"

Rumi shook her head, trying to focus on getting Zoey back where she belonged.

"Why did you teleport, then?"

Rumi held back the sigh in her lungs. She offered a shrug and admitted, "I think it is just emotion based. I can't control it because it just runs on how I feel, not what I think."

Zoey glanced around again as they passed more gravestones, then back up in confusion. "But you teleported to the graveyard?"

Rumi didnt respond that time, not having anything to add. How does one say they teleported to where they belonged, only to find themselves among the dead? It seemed to click in Zoey's mind anyway- of course it did, she wasn't naive- and Rumi felt her sink into her arms a bit more as she let out a quiet, "Oh..."

“Rumi….whats going on?”

Rumi had never heard Zoey’s voice sound so quiet, so pleading. The only time it had ever come close to that before was when she and Mira had pulled two all nighters in a row getting ready for their first Idol Awards and Zoey had begged them to rest.

“I was born with patterns. My father is a demon, so when I was born I came out with patterns.”

“Did your mom know he was a demon?”

“Yes. She knew and she still had me. After she died, Celine told me to hide my patterns from you, Mira and her. She said this was the best way to keep me safe and to keep Huntrix from dissolving.”

“Celine thought we’d kill you?” The moment the words left her mouth, Zoey winced. The memory of the morning hit her like a truck. That is exactly what happened, exactly what they tried to do. They tried to kill her because they didn’t listen and assumed she was just a regular—very bold—demon, “Oh.”

“Yeah. I wanted to tell you and Mira so badly, I really did, but the longer it went on, the more it seemed better to just wait for the golden honmoon and tell you after.”

“The golden honmoon?” Zoey asked, “Why wait for that?”

Celine returned from her perimeter check to discover Mira overturning a flowerpot on the porch, a string of expletives flowing from her mouth.

"Mira? What happened?"

Mira whipped around, and suddenly all of that fury was directed at Celine. "She's gone. Again! This time with Zoey!" Mira revealed.

"With Zoey?" Celine repeated in shock.

"She just fucking teleported! No warning or mention of where the fuck she went! Just gone!" Mira released a frustrated growl as she sunk to the edge of the porch, holding her head tightly in her hands.

Celine sucked in a trembling breath and turned, eyes scanning the edge of the woods on the property. Rumi hadn't seemed to have gone far the first time, so perhaps the same was true now.

"What the fuck, Celine?"

When Celine looked back, she was met with Mira's accusing glare.

"Rumi was a demon? This whole fucking time?" Mira challenged, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"The risk was too great," Celine explained shakily, "We couldn't risk anyone finding out until we had a chance to fix it. If any demon found out they would tell Gwi-Ma, and he would have directed all of his resources into getting to Rumi."

Mira scoffed. "And you're sure he would have?" she accused.

"Rumi is a half-demon hunter who can connect to the Honmoon and influence its strands, but who also possesses a number of demon characteristics," Celine replied bluntly, "Even I would think that advantageous were I in his situation." She let out another sigh, feeling the weight upon her shoulders growing heavier. "It was just me, for years, Mira," she stated quietly, "I had to protect Humanity. I had to protect the Honmoon. And I had to protect Rumi. If Gwi-Ma knew, we would have been swarmed. Like just now." She gestured around them, to the damage left following the battle. "I could have held my ground for a while, but not forever."

Mira finally turned her scathing glare off of Celine to survey the destruction. Claw marks in the ground and wooden boards of the porch. Broken furniture. Flattened plant beds. The Honmoon was still visibly distressed, blue lines turned red like inflamed skin around a wound. That one demon's body still lay where it had fallen in the grass.

"But why from us?" she demanded, "Why couldn't you have told us?"

Celine looked away, and the weight grew heavier. "I...couldn't take the risk," she admitted.

"If we had known from the start-"

"Would it have been different?!" Celine yelled, which caught Mira aback because despite her stern, stoic demeanor Celine never yelled. But now she looked almost as angry as Mira, pacing like a tiger in a cage that was too small. "Would you have just been fine with it?" Celine continued to challenge, "Would you have seen her as you did before you knew? Or would there have always been wariness? Would you have hesitated in battle, wondering if there were other demons like her? What if she embraced it, then something like what just happened occurred in a dark alley." She pointed to the dead demon for emphasis. "Would you have been able to tell it was her, or just another demon? Would you have hesitated?"

"What the fuck does it matter?!" Mira shouted back, shooting to her feet and stomping closer to get in Celine's face. She could bite back just as sharply.

Celine was not cowed. "Because hesitation kills hunters!" she spat, "You cannot hesitate, not even for a moment. And that would have put Rumi in extreme danger!"

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe the shoot first, ask questions later thing isn't a great strategy?" Mira demanded, "We could have killed Rumi this morning! Maybe if we had been trained to take half a second to think first-"

"Half a second is too long a pause."

"And how do you know that?"

Celine let out a sigh, running a hand through her hair, "Rumi is not a full demon. She's a half demon."

"Those exist?" Mira asked, "Wait so does that mean her mom---"

"Don't think about it." Celine winced, "Miyeong fell in love with a demon and had Rumi. The night she did though, we were attacked. Gwi Ma knew about the pregnancy and he knew the night she gave birth was when we'd all be vulnerable. So he sent a wave of demons to attack us. Wave after wave after wave. Myself and Eun Ji fought off the demons to keep them from getting to Miyeong while she gave birth. I'll give her this, even after having Rumi, Miyeong was stabbing demons left and right through the pain. She refused to let any of them get to Rumi."

"Why do I sense a but after this?" Mira asked.

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”

And she vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

The gok-do slammed into the mirror wall, exploding glass in every direction.

At first, Rumi wasn't sure where she was. Her brain was still firing too fast, her heart beating so quickly and her breaths coming so short she was dizzy and lightheaded. But as she blinked and got her bearings, she realized this place was familiar.

The garden rows that she used to run up and down as a child stretched before her, lined with plants with summer harvests waiting to be collected. And there, at the end of the row she stood in, was Celine, calmly pulling weeds as she would so often do on summer mornings.

Relief was the first thing she felt, washing over her and putting her soul at ease. That must have been how she got here: whenever Rumi had a nightmare she would seek out her mother Celine. Celine always knew how to put her mind at ease, how to comfort her when she was afraid. And right now Rumi had never been so lost, so fucking terrified. She was having the worst nightmare imaginable, so of course she went to Celine.

Then Celine turned, and froze when their eyes met. And all of that relief was replaced by panic. Because what if Celine only sees her as a demon, too? What if she also thinks she replaced Rumi and tries to put her down? The idea that the only safe harbour Rumi had was gone rendered her paralyzed, once again unable to move as her potential demise stared at her with an unreadable expression. But Rumi knew Celine. She knew how she hunted demons.

She knew she'd never even get a chance to see it coming.

So she just...crumbled. She sunk to her knees, curled up in a little ball, and waited for it to end. She barely registered the tears trailing down her cheeks, or how panic-stricken breaths had turned to sobs. She didn't want to die. She didn't even know why the universe suddenly decided she should. She was so scared and alone and she hated herself so much for being this...this thing that all of her loved ones wanted to kill and she just wanted her mom and...

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, gentle and cautious. When Rumi dared to glance up, she was met with Celine's concerned frown. Worry and fear were etched clearly on her face, but recognition was there too. "Rumi?" she uttered, clearly taking in Rumi's physical changes, "What happened?"

Then a sound came from the pocket on Celine's cardigan. One day, before they debuted, Zoey had somehow managed to get a hold of Celine's phone and set different ringtones for each of her charges' numbers, and Celine had never bothered to change them. (And would never admit that she liked the personal touch, especially knowing that Zoey had asked Mira and Rumi to pick a song.) And so now, both of them knew who it was without even having to see the ringing phone:

That was all Celine had to hear.

She didn’t care about Zoey’s call.

She didn’t care that Rumi had tiny horns that were pushing into her chin.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s claws were digging into her back.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s tail was wrapped around her leg.

And she didn’t care that Rumi was currently sobbing so hard into her cardigan that the fact that she was able to get any words out at all was a shock.

The only thing she cared about was getting Rumi inside, safe, warm….and maybe fed. Had she eaten that morning? It was still early so maybe not? But water probably took priority right now over food. No, it definitely did. So shelter, comfort, water and food. In that order.

Celine had years of demon hunting to thank for her ability to pick up Rumi without an issue and carry her inside the compound. Even though the girls all lived in the city, Rumi’s room remained untouched in case she ever needed it and, thankfully, Rumi hadn’t grown much since she left the compound so she easily fit into her bed.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Celine asked, brushing Rumi’s hair out of her eyes, “Did….it happen?”

“Mmmhmm.” The only reason Rumi wasn’t sobbing anymore was because she kept her eyes snapped up.

“I take it it went badly?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Should I accept Zoey’s call or leave it?”

“….”

“Let’s return to that later then. Do you want some water? Some food?” Celine asked, “Do you want Bear?”

“Bear.”

“Okay. I put him up so he wouldn’t get covered in dust. Can you let go of me so that I can go get him?” That seemed to be the first time Rumi realized she was still holding onto the cardigan, her claws having now broken through the fabric.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“No, shhhh. Shhh. You’re okay, Rumi. You’re okay. You know I have 100 cardigans and I have plenty of money to buy more.” Rumi let out another sob, “Just breathe, Rumi. Breathe.”

From her pocket, Rumi could hear another ringtone.

Mira.

Celine glanced down at the ball of stress and sadness on the bed next to her. Rumi was still tucked into herself, claws gripping Celine's arm (but now with a careful tenderness, enough to grip but not puncture fabric or skin). Her tail had ended up wrapped around Celine's middle, the soft fur and striped pattern reminding Celine of an especially clingy cat. A single golden eye peered up at Celine from the shadows created by Rumi's current posture, and despite the unsettling inhuman-ness of it the sight still tugged at Celine's heartstrings. The iris was like molten iron, burning gold and red and emitting a soft light, but the tears pooling in it reminded her that it wasn't physically hot.

"My priority is you right now," Celine stated softly, running a gentle hand over Rumi's shoulder, "We can deal with everything else later."

"But..." Rumi swallowed tightly. Celine felt an involuntary shudder travel through Rumi's body. "They think I... They thought I replaced..."

"...I see."

The ringing had run its course, but only seconds later it started up again. On top of that, she could feel it buzz the way it would when receiving texts, and it was practically performing morse code in her pocket.

"I'm not going to leave you," Celine promised. She bit her lip, her hand shifting to thread her fingers through Rumi's hair. She gingerly ran over the horn sprouting from Rumi's skull, pushing some of the hair aside to ensure it hadn't done damage when it broke through. "Do you remember how this happened?" she tried again, "Anything unusual? A demon bite, or...some sort of curse?"

Rumi shook her head. "I just...woke up. I didn't even feel different. I..." she let out a shaky breath and curled further into herself. "I don't know," she whined pitifully.

"Ok, it's ok," Celine assured her, "We can figure this out."

"I don't... I was so close," Rumi continued sadly, "There was so much gold but now... How can I show my face now? Mira and Zoey want to kill me and I look like a monster and I couldn't sing to begin with and-"

"Hold on: you couldn't sing?" Celine asked, a sense of urgency beginning to rise in her voice, "What do you mean by that?"

Rumi froze, her body going stiff under Celine's hand. "I...I couldn't sing Golden," she revealed, "Th...the other night, when we had to cancel the song debut... I couldn't reach the high note and I...ran."

Celine sighed. She had been informed about Rumi having issues with that performance, and about how she had disappeared and didn't return to the set. She had been meaning to check in about that, but she wanted to give Rumi a bit of space. Huntr/x might have fallen under her label, but they were also grown adults with their own manager and responsibilites. It wasn't Celine's place to micromanage everything.

A sharp ringing pierced the air, causing both of their heads to snap at attention toward the door. Where, beyond the door, the landline was ringing. Celine sighed. That phone never rung, since so few people actually knew the number, so she had a suspicion about who was on the other line.

“Zoey-Zoey had this idea to go to this guy named Han for special tonics that were supposed to help my voice. I didn’t really think—I mean I thought…I thought they might be able to help but I didn’t really think about them much.”

“Okay. And I assume you took one last night?”

“Mmhmm. It was just grape juice when I peeled back the label but I like grape juice so I took it. Then I woke up and…” Rumi’s tail wrapped tighter around Celine.

“And you looked like this. It sounds like those tonics definitely had something to do with this but this is good. This is really good, Rumi. I have people in Seoul who can find this guy and fix this. You’ll be back to normal so soon and then we’ll figure out what to do about Zoey and Mira.” The use of Zoey and Mira’s name made Rumi flinch. Celine made a mental note to keep them out of the conversation for a bit, “Now that we know that, how about this? You feel like you can walk?”

Rumi nodded.

“Good. You come into the main room and lay on the couch, you can watch some tv, and I’ll get some food for both of us and call about this Han guy.” Celine told her, “Some demons, including half demons, can disguise their demon forms with concentration. If you can relax, maybe you can try and appear more human. It’s not a permanent solution but you would at least be able to walk around Jeju Island.”

“I-I’m sorry, Cece.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I should have kept it together longer. We were almost there and now Mira and Zoey want me dead and the Saja Boys are going to take over and everyone’s gonna die and it’ll be because I’m a good for nothing—“

“Hey!” Celine grabbed Rumi’s head and pushed it towards her. She’d heard those words too much in her own mind to let Rumi finish that sentence, “Listen to me, this is not your fault. It’s a set back but it’s one we’ll work on together. You’re not alone in this, Rumi.”

“…Thank you… Eomma Celine.”

“Always. Now, go find Bear and get to the couch. Oh! And no rom coms please.”

For the first time that morning, Rumi laughed, “They’re good. You just don’t know how to judge acting.”

“You know I’ve acted right?”

She was brought out of her thoughts by the landline ringing again. She glanced over at it, then down the hall to Celine's closed door. She bit her lip, wincing when she forgot how sharp her fangs were. She tried to ignore it, but each ring felt louder and more oppressive, and before she could think logically...

She was suddenly standing by the phone. She didn't even remember getting up, or walking to it. The dissipating pink dust surrounding her was her only clue, and she suppressed a groan. Yet another thing she needed to get a handle on, it seems.

But still... She really did want to answer the phone. Maybe her body knew something her brain didn't. Or...perhaps it was her heart beating out her mind.

She picked the phone up from its holder.

"Celine? You there? Is everything ok?!" Zoey's frantic voice filled the silence of the room, and Rumi felt her breath hitch just hearing it.

"Celine! Something's happened! We think Rumi's in danger and we need your help!"

"Z...Zoey," Rumi stammered, "Zoey, it's ok!"

"RUMI?!" Zoey and Mira, now. Zoey must have her phone on speaker.

"Wait... How do we know it's really you?" Mira demanded, suspicion and fear making her sound harsher than normal, "Demons could have gotten to Celine. Why are you on Jeju, Rumi?"

Rumi could feel her brain buffering, picturing the little spinning beach ball of death. Why was she on Jeju? She couldn't really answer that truthfully for herself, let alone come up with a convincing lie for Mira. "I... Last Christmas I adopted a sea turtle from the WWF for Zoey. She named the plushie representing it 'Myrtle'. And that same year I adopted a polar bear for Mira and she secretly named the plushie 'Snowball' but in public she calls it 'Odin' because it sounds cooler."

"I...I do not," Mira stammered in the background.

"Ok, that's definitely Rumi," Zoey agreed, "But why are you on Jeju?"

"It's...a long story?" Rumi said with a wince.

"Well you can tell us soon in person," Mira told her, "We're almost at the ferry. Should be a few hours."

That's when Rumi registered the sound of a car engine that was probably going a little too fast to be legal in the city. And her panic spiked. "Wait! No! You have to stay in Seoul!"

"What? Why?" Mira demanded.

"What if the Saja Boys try something?" Rumi argued, "People could be in danger. You need to stay there and make sure the Honmoon doesn't get any weaker."

"But what about you?" Zoey asked.

"Don't worry about me," Rumi assured them, frowning as she glanced down at her free hand and all it's patterned, clawed glory, "Focus on keeping people safe. I'll figure things out here with Celine and get back to you guys as soon as I can."

It was quiet for a concerning amount of time, the only sound coming from Mira's aggressive driving.

"Guys?" Rumi tried anxiously.

"Why are you on Jeju, Rumi. We just saw you last night so you would have had to leave right after we went to bed," Mira challenged.

"I..." Rumi gulped, her grip tightening on the phone. She felt her patterns begin to glow hot as she floundered, unable to come up with something convincing. "I...I'm here because-"

The phone creaked, then let out a loud crack as the plastic crumpled in her grip. Rumi dropped what was left of the device with a panicked gasp, trying and failing to calm her breathing.

Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Zoey turned to Mira. The dial tone droned on from the phone she held between them, speaking louder than anything "Rumi" could have said.

"Do we...do what she said?" Zoey wondered tentatively, "She was right... What if the Saja Boys are planning something and they wanted us out of the city?"

Mira sucked in a deep breath and exhaled sharply through her nose. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, willing the red light to change if it valued its life. Ahead of them, they could see the turn off to the ferry dock.

"Right now, I couldn't give less of a shit about the Saja Boys," she growled, taking off a little too sharply and squealing the tires when the light changed.

The ferry to Jeju Island was large enough that both Zoey and Mira could simply cover their heads and they could avoid detection. The last thing they needed was someone getting a picture of them and thinking they were going to Jeju Island because Celine died or something---Bobby would not like having to deal with that story.

"Rumi or...something like Rumi is on Jeju Island and we need to figure out what is going on. First that demon pretends to be her this morning and teleports away before we can kill it, then Celine isn't answered our calls or texts and then we do get in touch with Rumi and somehow she's made it to Jeju Island in the middle of the night without either of us waking up or telling us? Something is wrong and we need to figure out what."

"I know. I know. You're right. We need to figure out what's going on with Rumi. The Saja Boys don't matter if our group falls apart."

Mira must have finally sensed how stressed and scared Zoey was because she extended a hand forward and rested it on Zoey's wrist, "Our group won't fall apart. It's Rumi. She may do...a lot that we don't fully understand but she wouldn't do any malicious or stupid."

"You're right. It's Rumi. Rumi's our leader and our friend. Once we see her face to face, we'll figure out what's going on and get a good, solid, honest answer."

---------

"They're coming here?" Celine fought to keep the sharpness out of her tone, "They called you almost an hour ago so they're probably on the ferry by now." Celine had a hand in her hair and she was biting her lip so hard that Rumi was positive she could see blood. She'd never seen Celine this stressed.

"Are we going to run?" Rumi asked.

"No, I have a better idea." Celine told her, "We'll tell them that this is one of Gwi Ma's tricks." She explained.

"What?"

"Gwi Ma has grown more powerful with the help of the Saja Boys and one of his tricks has been to turn you into a demon. I'll tell Mira and Zoey that once you girls turn the honmoon gold you'll go back to normal and you will! It works perfectly!" Celine was smiling now, like she'd just figured out the solution to all their problems.

"You want me to lie to them again?" Rumi asked.

"I know it hurts Rumi, but this is the best option for you and for Mira and Zoey. It keeps them from hurting you and keeps your group together. Long enough to defeat the Saja Boys and turn the honmoon gold."

For a moment or two, Rumi didn't respond. Instead, she stared down at her patterns. By now they covered her completely and the ends of her hands and feet were turning purple like a demons. She flexed her claws once or twice and allowed her tail to twitch behind her.

This.

This was what she fought for years to keep Mira and Zoey from finding out.

Now they knew.

Now they wanted her dead.

No part of Rumi wanted to die or wanted Mira and Zoey to kill her. Despite her sobs earlier that morning she had been honest when she told Celine that.

But she was too tired to keep lying to them.

Too tired to come up with another lie she had to keep on top of.

And she loved them both too much to add another lie to the list.

"I don't want to keep lying to them," Rumi stated firmly, "They've already seen it. They know, Celine."

"And we can tell them it's an illusion," Celine snapped back.

"A pretty elaborate illusion!" Rumi returned, her tail swishing in response.

"Rumi..." Celine warned.

"No! This is my only chance to tell them the truth!" Rumi argued.

"You won't get a chance to tell them! They'll take one look at you and-"

"Then help me! They might not listen to me but they will listen to you!"

"There's no guarantee of that! I taught you all to never hesitate, and to be suspicious of everything out of place. What if they think I'm a demon, too?"

Rumi's patterns started to burn once again, but this time the pain felt different. It didn't feel like the punishing sting of doing something stupid and getting injured. It felt like something needling, like bee stings on the hide of a bear. "But you can prove it! A...and then you can tell them-"

"I'm going to tell them that this is a trick by Gwi-Ma," Celine said defiantly, "And you aren't going to tell them otherwise. We need to get a handle on this, Rumi. Right now the safest thing to do is-"

"What's the point of being safe if I'm lying to my friends forever?" Rumi challenged, "How is constantly having to keep track of what I tell them better than just telling them the truth?" Her tail thrashed angrily. A lump was forming in her throat, a sound she suspected wasn't going to be human so she held it back.

"You won't have to worry about it for long," Celine returned, "Just until the Honmoon turns gold and fixes everything."

"And what if it doesn't?!" Her voice rose just a little too much, there was too much fire in her heart, and a multi-layered timber erupted from her throat. The Honmoon shuddered worryingly, and the lights flickered before burning out, leaving Rumi as the dominant light source in the room.

That, and the glowing hilt and lower half of a blade materializing from the Honmoon.

Celine dispelled the sword quickly, holding her hands up in front of her to prove she wasn't going to do that again. But the damage had been done anyway.

"Are you...afraid of me?" Rumi uttered, her anger dissolving as if doused in acid.

"No, Rumi, I..." Celine ran her hands shakily though her hair, a move Rumi rarely saw but knew it was a sign her guardian was stressed. "That is why we have to hide it," Celine insisted after a moment to collect her thoughts, "It's not that I wanted to do that. And it's not that Mira and Zoey want to kill you. We've been trained to see things a certain way. To react a certain way. And... One wrong move, and..."

Rumi took a step back. She shook her head in disbelief. "But... If you've been trained one way, then you can learn something else. Y...you didn't kill me in the garden, even when I looked like..."

"Rumi... The risk is too great. You can't trust that they won't see a flash of your patterns and..."

Rumi swallowed tightly, her claws digging into her biceps as she crossed her arms over herself. "Did...did that ever happen with you?" she asked shakily.

Now she could only see the blades that had been hovering in them just moments ago... against her.

She wasn't safe anywhere.

She wasnt safe.

She wasn't safe like this with Mira and Zoey, who wanted to cut her down for the human Rumi never was.

She wasn't safe like this with Celine, who at the first sign of Rumi not bending to her caused her to summon weapons against the demon she saw.

She definitely wasnt safe among the demons they saw her as. That she currently was.

Because she never belonged anywhere, did she?

She had hoped... had foolishly believed she could... but with one single raise of her voice, and three sets of weapons summoned against her in the span of an hour... she finally understood.

She realized as her own mother Celine couldnt even look her in the eyes... she belonged nowhere.

And with every fiber of her being realizing it- believing it- her uncontrollable teleport obliged that truth of where she felt she belonged.

When Celine finally shoved her own shame down enough to look her daughter Rumi in the eyes again, she found only the faint trace of smoke where she once stood.

Rumi was nowhere to be seen.

(Too scared to delete my other post and I didn’t see this one so I’m just responding here)

“RUMI!?!”

Mira and Zoey arrived at the compound without expecting much. They wanted answers from Celine and Rumi, yes, but they never believed it would be a huge event. In the back of Zoey’s mind she still hoped that this could all be fixed with a simple explanation and then they’d laugh about it all the way back to Seoul.

Something told her that wasn’t the case.

And something really told her that when they arrived and found Celine running around the compound like she had lost the most precious thing in the world to her, screaming Rumi’s name while her voice gave out.

“Celine?! Celine, what’s going on?!”

“Rumi’s gone! I don’t know where she went but she’s scared and angry and—Miyeong.”

“Woah. Woah.” Mira grabbed Celine’s shoulders, “What is going on?”

“We have to find Rumi. She left and I don’t know where she went. I don’t know if she’s safe or if she even knows where she’s going.” What if she teleported away?! She couldn’t control where she ended up. What if she ended up in Gwi Ma’s lair or with the Saja Boys??

“Why did Rumi leave Jeju Island? Did you two fight?” Zoey asked.

“Rumi—…The demon you saw today was Rumi.”

“…..I’m sorry what?”

“She’s half demon. She was born with patterns that I’ve been helping her hide since she was a baby.” Celine explained, “That demon you saw today was her. She was telling you the truth.”

“You lied to us?!?”

“We almost killed Rumi!”

“We don’t have time to worry about either of those things right now! Please! I know we both lied but Rumi is out there and she needs our help. She needs you two.” Honmoon knew she didn’t need her right now.

“No, no, we’re getting answers—“ Mira stopped when she felt Zoey’s hand on her arm.

Stupid teleportation. If she was going to have this ability then why couldn't she get it to work properly? She should teleport to where she wanted to go, right? Well, she definitely didn't want to be on Jeju. She wasn't even sure if she still wanted to be in Korea.

Maybe if she thought about it really hard, she could shoot herself into the magma chamber of Mount Hallasan.

"Rumi?!"

She whipped around, hearing Celine's voice in the distance. Rumi gulped nervously. Celine sounded panicked. Scared, even. Probably worried about what something like Rumi could do on the loose like this.

"Come on. Take me home," she hissed at herself, closing her eyes and concentrating as hard as she could. But her new powers refused to send her anywhere.

And actual growl left her mouth this time. Which only made her frustration worse. As she contemplated which direction into the forest she should run to, her eyes landed on a familiar gravestone.

"This is all your fault!" she snarled, stomping in front of her mother's headstone and sneering at it as if her ghost was standing there instead, "You just had to fuck a demon! You just had to give birth to me! And then you just had to die so you did have to deal with how much of an abomination I am!"

The stone said nothing, as stones cannot reply no matter how vitriolic the words thrown at them are.

Rumi sunk to her knees before the stone. Her tail curled around her in a self comforting hug, but the fact that it was there did little to help. "I shouldn't be here," she murmured as she curled up again, making herself as small as possible and wishing the ground would just swallow her whole, "I don't belong anywhere."

Suddenly, she felt the ground tremble as if rocked by an earthquake. The Honmoon came alive with violent red ripples, shaking so much bits of it started to lift away into the air. Rumi sprung to her feet, her gaze turning to the direction the weakness in the Honmoon was coming from, and her heart sunk with dread.

Instead, years of hunter training kicked in all at once and Rumi was moving before she could stop herself, rushing past every Hunter grave around the tree and straight towards the source of the ripple. It was a gift from the honmoon that all hunters knew where the ripples origin point was—made it easier to track down the demons—and Rumi knew the origin point was the house.

If she had any hesitation, any fear, about returning to Celine she didn’t show it. Her demon form was still fully present when she arrived and spotted a demon having pinned Celine down. She was protected by her weapons but the demon’s claws and teeth were getting too close.

“Celine!” Rumi cried, throwing her sword forward and slashing the demon, “Celine! Are you okay?!”

“RUMI!” Celine wrapped her arms around her, pulling her daughter close, “You’re okay! You’re okay! Where did you go?! How could you leave?!?”

“We can talk about that later. How many demons are there? Where—“ Rumi’s tail thrashed and her fangs pushed out as a growl escaped her. Behind Celine was a massive demon—one of the heavy hitters—holding a raised club.

Both Celine and Rumi dodged.

“What are you doing, kid?! You’re supposed to be on our side!”

Rumi nearly ditched her sword to simple jump on the demon and slash him with her claws, “You don’t get to hurt my eomma!” Even with bigger demons, a sword straight into the chest usually left them dissolved.

“Rumi?” Rumi suddenly froze. Her demon characteristics going from taking over to mellowing out on a heartbeat.

Which was unfortunate, because all of her attention was on them, and not the large dokkaebi to her side. The demon pounced, tackling her to the ground. “A hunter who is a demon?” the dokkaebi demanded, “How does that work?”

Rumi didn’t have an answer for him even if she did care enough to answer. Instead, she got one foot under the demon and planted it forcefully into his chest, sending him flying. A second demon tried to pick up where he left off, but a small but deadly-fast projectile nailed him in the chest before he could strike. Rumi’s head whipped around to where the shin-kal had come from, and she was rewarded by Zoey shooting her a small smile.

From that point, things fell into something that almost felt normal. Rumi drew her sword and got back into rhythm with Mira and Zoey, almost like things hadn’t changed at all. Except, they had, and the reminders came as moments of stark realization that popped up abruptly before necessity forced them to be put on the back burner for later. It was most evident with Mira, as she and Rumi fought out of sync in a way they hadn’t in years. Rumi, trying to make up for everything, was quick to jump to what she thought was aid. And Mira no longer trusted most of Rumi’s actions. As a result, they often found themselves in each other’s way. That, or demons would slip past them when it should have been an easy kill.

And then there were the moments when, especially as she got more frustrated, Rumi’s demonic instincts would break through and she’d do something, well, demonic. Snarling and growling, using claws instead of her sword, swatting demons away with her tail. (Which, to be honest, actually was kind of useful. Especially when the two times she did it Celine was close enough to shred the demon getting swatted with ease.)

“Rumi, watch it!” Mira snapped at her when it happened a third time, but this time it was Mira the demon was sent tumbling toward and she wasn’t nearly as prepared for it.

“S…sorry, I—”

A shin-kal whizzed past her and struck a demon about to ambush her between the eyes.

“Does it seem like this has been going on for a lot longer than normal?” Zoey wondered as she fired at a pair of water demons crawling out of a puddle.

“It’s rare for a rift this big to form so close to the compound,” Celine said with a concerned frown, “This is an offensive move on their part.”

Rumi dodged a demon’s claws and retaliated with her sword through his stomach. “But why?” she asked, “Why now? And why here?”

“Maybe Gwi-Ma figured it would be easier,” Mira stated coolly, shooting Rumi a look.

Rumi felt her tail droop, along with her ears (oh hell are they more demonic now, too?). “Mira, stop,” Zoey chided, coming to Rumi’s defence both verbally and with a barrage of shin-kal to provide cover.

“Seriously? You’re not mad about, well, everything?” Mira demanded harshly.

“Yeah I am! I’m pissed!” Zoey fired back, “But I’ll be more pissed if any of you die before we get answers.”

Poor choice of words, because as she was distracted, Zoey didn’t see the ogre’s club until it was too late. The collision made a sound that would haunt their nightmares, as Zoey’s body flew through the air to land roughly on the ground at Mira’s feet. The massive demon was upon them in an instant, once more raising his club high. Mira positioned herself over Zoey’s crumpled form, bracing with her gok-do and preparing to hold her ground.

She didn’t have to.

There was a roar, like a furious tiger, and suddenly a pink and purple creature had leapt onto the demon’s back. The demon shouted in agony and surprise, trying to pry his attacker off of him. But claws sunk into his skin as fangs found his neck. Mira could only watch in horror as the creature hung on to the ogre demon, yellow eyes glowing with furious hellfire and patterns ablaze with hot pink light. The creature snarled as the demon tried in vain to shove her off of him, but his strength was fading fast as dark blood spilled onto the dirt. And that was…the most shocking thing. Because Mira had never seen a demon bleed. She didn’t think they could bleed. But it must just be ground wounds caused by a starlight blade. Wounds from fangs or claws…

When the ogre stopped fighting, his body didn’t turn to dust. It just lay there, unmoving, oozing blood. The creature straightened from its kill, eyes still burning yellow, chin and hands stained black with blood. It looked at Mira for a second, and the hunter’s blood ran cold, before it turned to the remaining demons. They flinched, not a single one as confident as they were moments ago. “Leave,” the creature growled, low and dangerous, “Now.”

The remaining demons scattered, retreating back through the Honmoon. It was one thing to die by a hunter’s blade. It was entirely another to be faced with the sight of one of their own kill another so savagely.

Mira turned briefly to check on Zoey, discovering Celine there already to perform first aid. Thankfully Zoey was awake, and groaning in pain. But that was good, since it meant she was alive.

“Is she going to ok?”

Mira spun back around, gok-do raising again out of instinct. Rumi was covered in demon blood. One of her eyes had returned to normal, and her fangs and claws were quite as deadly as they had just been. Still, though, she had them.

“Mira,” Celine said softly, yet firmly, from behind her as Mira focused on Rumi, “It’s ok. She won’t hurt us.”

Mira’s resolve wavered slightly, her gok-do lowering just a little. When Rumi didn’t take advantage, Mira relaxed further. Once more, Rumi stayed where she was, hands held up in a surrendering gesture. Finally, the gok-do disappeared completely.

“Ow, it hurts to breathe,” Zoey whined, voice strained and breathy as she held her side.

“We should get her inside,” Celine decided, looking up to her daughter, “Rumi, can you take her?”

Rumi wanted to say no, she absolutely shouldn’t, but she knew she was the strongest out of all of them. And right now, Zoey’s health mattered more. So she stepped forward, tentatively walking past Mira and over to Zoey. She gingerly scooped her maknae up into her arms, careful not to jostle her. She headed inside, flanked closely by Mira. Celine held back, electing to do a quick sweep of the property to ensure all the demons were actually gone. She trusted the girls to take care of things inside.

Rumi could still sense tension from Mira. But from Zoey…

It only increased that feeling of "belong nowhere" in her heart.

That was fine. She knew that now. She just had to bring Zoey inside, make sure she was okay, and she could leave again. Take herself out of where she shouldn't be.

Of course that was everywhere. There was only one place something like her belonged and it was-

A cloud of smoke had Zoey coughing painfully in her arms and Rumi stopping midstep as she noticed the environment had shifted. Again.

She had teleported again. Back to the hunters graveyard.

"Uh, Rumi?" Zoey nervously chuckled with a pained wince in her arms. "Did you just... kidnap me?"

Rumi let out a sharp breath through her nose before turning back towards tha hanok... again.

"Sorry. Wasn't intentional. We are just up the hill. Are you able to hold on until then?" Rumi asked without meeting her eyes.

"Yeah," Zoey replied a bit shakily. "Just a few damaged ribs, I think. Nothing overly urgent."

Rumi just nodded as she walked onwards in silence. Zoey seemed to contemplate something for a moment, silence heavy between them, before she spoke again.

"It wasn't intentional?"

Rumi shook her head, trying to focus on getting Zoey back where she belonged.

"Why did you teleport, then?"

Rumi held back the sigh in her lungs. She offered a shrug and admitted, "I think it is just emotion based. I can't control it because it just runs on how I feel, not what I think."

Zoey glanced around again as they passed more gravestones, then back up in confusion. "But you teleported to the graveyard?"

Rumi didnt respond that time, not having anything to add. How does one say they teleported to where they belonged, only to find themselves among the dead? It seemed to click in Zoey's mind anyway- of course it did, she wasn't naive- and Rumi felt her sink into her arms a bit more as she let out a quiet, "Oh..."

“Rumi….whats going on?”

Rumi had never heard Zoey’s voice sound so quiet, so pleading. The only time it had ever come close to that before was when she and Mira had pulled two all nighters in a row getting ready for their first Idol Awards and Zoey had begged them to rest.

“I was born with patterns. My father is a demon, so when I was born I came out with patterns.”

“Did your mom know he was a demon?”

“Yes. She knew and she still had me. After she died, Celine told me to hide my patterns from you, Mira and her. She said this was the best way to keep me safe and to keep Huntrix from dissolving.”

“Celine thought we’d kill you?” The moment the words left her mouth, Zoey winced. The memory of the morning hit her like a truck. That is exactly what happened, exactly what they tried to do. They tried to kill her because they didn’t listen and assumed she was just a regular—very bold—demon, “Oh.”

“Yeah. I wanted to tell you and Mira so badly, I really did, but the longer it went on, the more it seemed better to just wait for the golden honmoon and tell you after.”

“The golden honmoon?” Zoey asked, “Why wait for that?”

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”

And she vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

The gok-do slammed into the mirror wall, exploding glass in every direction.

At first, Rumi wasn't sure where she was. Her brain was still firing too fast, her heart beating so quickly and her breaths coming so short she was dizzy and lightheaded. But as she blinked and got her bearings, she realized this place was familiar.

The garden rows that she used to run up and down as a child stretched before her, lined with plants with summer harvests waiting to be collected. And there, at the end of the row she stood in, was Celine, calmly pulling weeds as she would so often do on summer mornings.

Relief was the first thing she felt, washing over her and putting her soul at ease. That must have been how she got here: whenever Rumi had a nightmare she would seek out her mother Celine. Celine always knew how to put her mind at ease, how to comfort her when she was afraid. And right now Rumi had never been so lost, so fucking terrified. She was having the worst nightmare imaginable, so of course she went to Celine.

Then Celine turned, and froze when their eyes met. And all of that relief was replaced by panic. Because what if Celine only sees her as a demon, too? What if she also thinks she replaced Rumi and tries to put her down? The idea that the only safe harbour Rumi had was gone rendered her paralyzed, once again unable to move as her potential demise stared at her with an unreadable expression. But Rumi knew Celine. She knew how she hunted demons.

She knew she'd never even get a chance to see it coming.

So she just...crumbled. She sunk to her knees, curled up in a little ball, and waited for it to end. She barely registered the tears trailing down her cheeks, or how panic-stricken breaths had turned to sobs. She didn't want to die. She didn't even know why the universe suddenly decided she should. She was so scared and alone and she hated herself so much for being this...this thing that all of her loved ones wanted to kill and she just wanted her mom and...

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, gentle and cautious. When Rumi dared to glance up, she was met with Celine's concerned frown. Worry and fear were etched clearly on her face, but recognition was there too. "Rumi?" she uttered, clearly taking in Rumi's physical changes, "What happened?"

Then a sound came from the pocket on Celine's cardigan. One day, before they debuted, Zoey had somehow managed to get a hold of Celine's phone and set different ringtones for each of her charges' numbers, and Celine had never bothered to change them. (And would never admit that she liked the personal touch, especially knowing that Zoey had asked Mira and Rumi to pick a song.) And so now, both of them knew who it was without even having to see the ringing phone:

That was all Celine had to hear.

She didn’t care about Zoey’s call.

She didn’t care that Rumi had tiny horns that were pushing into her chin.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s claws were digging into her back.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s tail was wrapped around her leg.

And she didn’t care that Rumi was currently sobbing so hard into her cardigan that the fact that she was able to get any words out at all was a shock.

The only thing she cared about was getting Rumi inside, safe, warm….and maybe fed. Had she eaten that morning? It was still early so maybe not? But water probably took priority right now over food. No, it definitely did. So shelter, comfort, water and food. In that order.

Celine had years of demon hunting to thank for her ability to pick up Rumi without an issue and carry her inside the compound. Even though the girls all lived in the city, Rumi’s room remained untouched in case she ever needed it and, thankfully, Rumi hadn’t grown much since she left the compound so she easily fit into her bed.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Celine asked, brushing Rumi’s hair out of her eyes, “Did….it happen?”

“Mmmhmm.” The only reason Rumi wasn’t sobbing anymore was because she kept her eyes snapped up.

“I take it it went badly?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Should I accept Zoey’s call or leave it?”

“….”

“Let’s return to that later then. Do you want some water? Some food?” Celine asked, “Do you want Bear?”

“Bear.”

“Okay. I put him up so he wouldn’t get covered in dust. Can you let go of me so that I can go get him?” That seemed to be the first time Rumi realized she was still holding onto the cardigan, her claws having now broken through the fabric.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“No, shhhh. Shhh. You’re okay, Rumi. You’re okay. You know I have 100 cardigans and I have plenty of money to buy more.” Rumi let out another sob, “Just breathe, Rumi. Breathe.”

From her pocket, Rumi could hear another ringtone.

Mira.

Celine glanced down at the ball of stress and sadness on the bed next to her. Rumi was still tucked into herself, claws gripping Celine's arm (but now with a careful tenderness, enough to grip but not puncture fabric or skin). Her tail had ended up wrapped around Celine's middle, the soft fur and striped pattern reminding Celine of an especially clingy cat. A single golden eye peered up at Celine from the shadows created by Rumi's current posture, and despite the unsettling inhuman-ness of it the sight still tugged at Celine's heartstrings. The iris was like molten iron, burning gold and red and emitting a soft light, but the tears pooling in it reminded her that it wasn't physically hot.

"My priority is you right now," Celine stated softly, running a gentle hand over Rumi's shoulder, "We can deal with everything else later."

"But..." Rumi swallowed tightly. Celine felt an involuntary shudder travel through Rumi's body. "They think I... They thought I replaced..."

"...I see."

The ringing had run its course, but only seconds later it started up again. On top of that, she could feel it buzz the way it would when receiving texts, and it was practically performing morse code in her pocket.

"I'm not going to leave you," Celine promised. She bit her lip, her hand shifting to thread her fingers through Rumi's hair. She gingerly ran over the horn sprouting from Rumi's skull, pushing some of the hair aside to ensure it hadn't done damage when it broke through. "Do you remember how this happened?" she tried again, "Anything unusual? A demon bite, or...some sort of curse?"

Rumi shook her head. "I just...woke up. I didn't even feel different. I..." she let out a shaky breath and curled further into herself. "I don't know," she whined pitifully.

"Ok, it's ok," Celine assured her, "We can figure this out."

"I don't... I was so close," Rumi continued sadly, "There was so much gold but now... How can I show my face now? Mira and Zoey want to kill me and I look like a monster and I couldn't sing to begin with and-"

"Hold on: you couldn't sing?" Celine asked, a sense of urgency beginning to rise in her voice, "What do you mean by that?"

Rumi froze, her body going stiff under Celine's hand. "I...I couldn't sing Golden," she revealed, "Th...the other night, when we had to cancel the song debut... I couldn't reach the high note and I...ran."

Celine sighed. She had been informed about Rumi having issues with that performance, and about how she had disappeared and didn't return to the set. She had been meaning to check in about that, but she wanted to give Rumi a bit of space. Huntr/x might have fallen under her label, but they were also grown adults with their own manager and responsibilites. It wasn't Celine's place to micromanage everything.

A sharp ringing pierced the air, causing both of their heads to snap at attention toward the door. Where, beyond the door, the landline was ringing. Celine sighed. That phone never rung, since so few people actually knew the number, so she had a suspicion about who was on the other line.

“Zoey-Zoey had this idea to go to this guy named Han for special tonics that were supposed to help my voice. I didn’t really think—I mean I thought…I thought they might be able to help but I didn’t really think about them much.”

“Okay. And I assume you took one last night?”

“Mmhmm. It was just grape juice when I peeled back the label but I like grape juice so I took it. Then I woke up and…” Rumi’s tail wrapped tighter around Celine.

“And you looked like this. It sounds like those tonics definitely had something to do with this but this is good. This is really good, Rumi. I have people in Seoul who can find this guy and fix this. You’ll be back to normal so soon and then we’ll figure out what to do about Zoey and Mira.” The use of Zoey and Mira’s name made Rumi flinch. Celine made a mental note to keep them out of the conversation for a bit, “Now that we know that, how about this? You feel like you can walk?”

Rumi nodded.

“Good. You come into the main room and lay on the couch, you can watch some tv, and I’ll get some food for both of us and call about this Han guy.” Celine told her, “Some demons, including half demons, can disguise their demon forms with concentration. If you can relax, maybe you can try and appear more human. It’s not a permanent solution but you would at least be able to walk around Jeju Island.”

“I-I’m sorry, Cece.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I should have kept it together longer. We were almost there and now Mira and Zoey want me dead and the Saja Boys are going to take over and everyone’s gonna die and it’ll be because I’m a good for nothing—“

“Hey!” Celine grabbed Rumi’s head and pushed it towards her. She’d heard those words too much in her own mind to let Rumi finish that sentence, “Listen to me, this is not your fault. It’s a set back but it’s one we’ll work on together. You’re not alone in this, Rumi.”

“…Thank you… Eomma Celine.”

“Always. Now, go find Bear and get to the couch. Oh! And no rom coms please.”

For the first time that morning, Rumi laughed, “They’re good. You just don’t know how to judge acting.”

“You know I’ve acted right?”

She was brought out of her thoughts by the landline ringing again. She glanced over at it, then down the hall to Celine's closed door. She bit her lip, wincing when she forgot how sharp her fangs were. She tried to ignore it, but each ring felt louder and more oppressive, and before she could think logically...

She was suddenly standing by the phone. She didn't even remember getting up, or walking to it. The dissipating pink dust surrounding her was her only clue, and she suppressed a groan. Yet another thing she needed to get a handle on, it seems.

But still... She really did want to answer the phone. Maybe her body knew something her brain didn't. Or...perhaps it was her heart beating out her mind.

She picked the phone up from its holder.

"Celine? You there? Is everything ok?!" Zoey's frantic voice filled the silence of the room, and Rumi felt her breath hitch just hearing it.

"Celine! Something's happened! We think Rumi's in danger and we need your help!"

"Z...Zoey," Rumi stammered, "Zoey, it's ok!"

"RUMI?!" Zoey and Mira, now. Zoey must have her phone on speaker.

"Wait... How do we know it's really you?" Mira demanded, suspicion and fear making her sound harsher than normal, "Demons could have gotten to Celine. Why are you on Jeju, Rumi?"

Rumi could feel her brain buffering, picturing the little spinning beach ball of death. Why was she on Jeju? She couldn't really answer that truthfully for herself, let alone come up with a convincing lie for Mira. "I... Last Christmas I adopted a sea turtle from the WWF for Zoey. She named the plushie representing it 'Myrtle'. And that same year I adopted a polar bear for Mira and she secretly named the plushie 'Snowball' but in public she calls it 'Odin' because it sounds cooler."

"I...I do not," Mira stammered in the background.

"Ok, that's definitely Rumi," Zoey agreed, "But why are you on Jeju?"

"It's...a long story?" Rumi said with a wince.

"Well you can tell us soon in person," Mira told her, "We're almost at the ferry. Should be a few hours."

That's when Rumi registered the sound of a car engine that was probably going a little too fast to be legal in the city. And her panic spiked. "Wait! No! You have to stay in Seoul!"

"What? Why?" Mira demanded.

"What if the Saja Boys try something?" Rumi argued, "People could be in danger. You need to stay there and make sure the Honmoon doesn't get any weaker."

"But what about you?" Zoey asked.

"Don't worry about me," Rumi assured them, frowning as she glanced down at her free hand and all it's patterned, clawed glory, "Focus on keeping people safe. I'll figure things out here with Celine and get back to you guys as soon as I can."

It was quiet for a concerning amount of time, the only sound coming from Mira's aggressive driving.

"Guys?" Rumi tried anxiously.

"Why are you on Jeju, Rumi. We just saw you last night so you would have had to leave right after we went to bed," Mira challenged.

"I..." Rumi gulped, her grip tightening on the phone. She felt her patterns begin to glow hot as she floundered, unable to come up with something convincing. "I...I'm here because-"

The phone creaked, then let out a loud crack as the plastic crumpled in her grip. Rumi dropped what was left of the device with a panicked gasp, trying and failing to calm her breathing.

Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Zoey turned to Mira. The dial tone droned on from the phone she held between them, speaking louder than anything "Rumi" could have said.

"Do we...do what she said?" Zoey wondered tentatively, "She was right... What if the Saja Boys are planning something and they wanted us out of the city?"

Mira sucked in a deep breath and exhaled sharply through her nose. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, willing the red light to change if it valued its life. Ahead of them, they could see the turn off to the ferry dock.

"Right now, I couldn't give less of a shit about the Saja Boys," she growled, taking off a little too sharply and squealing the tires when the light changed.

The ferry to Jeju Island was large enough that both Zoey and Mira could simply cover their heads and they could avoid detection. The last thing they needed was someone getting a picture of them and thinking they were going to Jeju Island because Celine died or something---Bobby would not like having to deal with that story.

"Rumi or...something like Rumi is on Jeju Island and we need to figure out what is going on. First that demon pretends to be her this morning and teleports away before we can kill it, then Celine isn't answered our calls or texts and then we do get in touch with Rumi and somehow she's made it to Jeju Island in the middle of the night without either of us waking up or telling us? Something is wrong and we need to figure out what."

"I know. I know. You're right. We need to figure out what's going on with Rumi. The Saja Boys don't matter if our group falls apart."

Mira must have finally sensed how stressed and scared Zoey was because she extended a hand forward and rested it on Zoey's wrist, "Our group won't fall apart. It's Rumi. She may do...a lot that we don't fully understand but she wouldn't do any malicious or stupid."

"You're right. It's Rumi. Rumi's our leader and our friend. Once we see her face to face, we'll figure out what's going on and get a good, solid, honest answer."

---------

"They're coming here?" Celine fought to keep the sharpness out of her tone, "They called you almost an hour ago so they're probably on the ferry by now." Celine had a hand in her hair and she was biting her lip so hard that Rumi was positive she could see blood. She'd never seen Celine this stressed.

"Are we going to run?" Rumi asked.

"No, I have a better idea." Celine told her, "We'll tell them that this is one of Gwi Ma's tricks." She explained.

"What?"

"Gwi Ma has grown more powerful with the help of the Saja Boys and one of his tricks has been to turn you into a demon. I'll tell Mira and Zoey that once you girls turn the honmoon gold you'll go back to normal and you will! It works perfectly!" Celine was smiling now, like she'd just figured out the solution to all their problems.

"You want me to lie to them again?" Rumi asked.

"I know it hurts Rumi, but this is the best option for you and for Mira and Zoey. It keeps them from hurting you and keeps your group together. Long enough to defeat the Saja Boys and turn the honmoon gold."

For a moment or two, Rumi didn't respond. Instead, she stared down at her patterns. By now they covered her completely and the ends of her hands and feet were turning purple like a demons. She flexed her claws once or twice and allowed her tail to twitch behind her.

This.

This was what she fought for years to keep Mira and Zoey from finding out.

Now they knew.

Now they wanted her dead.

No part of Rumi wanted to die or wanted Mira and Zoey to kill her. Despite her sobs earlier that morning she had been honest when she told Celine that.

But she was too tired to keep lying to them.

Too tired to come up with another lie she had to keep on top of.

And she loved them both too much to add another lie to the list.

"I don't want to keep lying to them," Rumi stated firmly, "They've already seen it. They know, Celine."

"And we can tell them it's an illusion," Celine snapped back.

"A pretty elaborate illusion!" Rumi returned, her tail swishing in response.

"Rumi..." Celine warned.

"No! This is my only chance to tell them the truth!" Rumi argued.

"You won't get a chance to tell them! They'll take one look at you and-"

"Then help me! They might not listen to me but they will listen to you!"

"There's no guarantee of that! I taught you all to never hesitate, and to be suspicious of everything out of place. What if they think I'm a demon, too?"

Rumi's patterns started to burn once again, but this time the pain felt different. It didn't feel like the punishing sting of doing something stupid and getting injured. It felt like something needling, like bee stings on the hide of a bear. "But you can prove it! A...and then you can tell them-"

"I'm going to tell them that this is a trick by Gwi-Ma," Celine said defiantly, "And you aren't going to tell them otherwise. We need to get a handle on this, Rumi. Right now the safest thing to do is-"

"What's the point of being safe if I'm lying to my friends forever?" Rumi challenged, "How is constantly having to keep track of what I tell them better than just telling them the truth?" Her tail thrashed angrily. A lump was forming in her throat, a sound she suspected wasn't going to be human so she held it back.

"You won't have to worry about it for long," Celine returned, "Just until the Honmoon turns gold and fixes everything."

"And what if it doesn't?!" Her voice rose just a little too much, there was too much fire in her heart, and a multi-layered timber erupted from her throat. The Honmoon shuddered worryingly, and the lights flickered before burning out, leaving Rumi as the dominant light source in the room.

That, and the glowing hilt and lower half of a blade materializing from the Honmoon.

Celine dispelled the sword quickly, holding her hands up in front of her to prove she wasn't going to do that again. But the damage had been done anyway.

"Are you...afraid of me?" Rumi uttered, her anger dissolving as if doused in acid.

"No, Rumi, I..." Celine ran her hands shakily though her hair, a move Rumi rarely saw but knew it was a sign her guardian was stressed. "That is why we have to hide it," Celine insisted after a moment to collect her thoughts, "It's not that I wanted to do that. And it's not that Mira and Zoey want to kill you. We've been trained to see things a certain way. To react a certain way. And... One wrong move, and..."

Rumi took a step back. She shook her head in disbelief. "But... If you've been trained one way, then you can learn something else. Y...you didn't kill me in the garden, even when I looked like..."

"Rumi... The risk is too great. You can't trust that they won't see a flash of your patterns and..."

Rumi swallowed tightly, her claws digging into her biceps as she crossed her arms over herself. "Did...did that ever happen with you?" she asked shakily.

Now she could only see the blades that had been hovering in them just moments ago... against her.

She wasn't safe anywhere.

She wasnt safe.

She wasn't safe like this with Mira and Zoey, who wanted to cut her down for the human Rumi never was.

She wasn't safe like this with Celine, who at the first sign of Rumi not bending to her caused her to summon weapons against the demon she saw.

She definitely wasnt safe among the demons they saw her as. That she currently was.

Because she never belonged anywhere, did she?

She had hoped... had foolishly believed she could... but with one single raise of her voice, and three sets of weapons summoned against her in the span of an hour... she finally understood.

She realized as her own mother Celine couldnt even look her in the eyes... she belonged nowhere.

And with every fiber of her being realizing it- believing it- her uncontrollable teleport obliged that truth of where she felt she belonged.

When Celine finally shoved her own shame down enough to look her daughter Rumi in the eyes again, she found only the faint trace of smoke where she once stood.

Rumi was nowhere to be seen.

(Too scared to delete my other post and I didn’t see this one so I’m just responding here)

“RUMI!?!”

Mira and Zoey arrived at the compound without expecting much. They wanted answers from Celine and Rumi, yes, but they never believed it would be a huge event. In the back of Zoey’s mind she still hoped that this could all be fixed with a simple explanation and then they’d laugh about it all the way back to Seoul.

Something told her that wasn’t the case.

And something really told her that when they arrived and found Celine running around the compound like she had lost the most precious thing in the world to her, screaming Rumi’s name while her voice gave out.

“Celine?! Celine, what’s going on?!”

“Rumi’s gone! I don’t know where she went but she’s scared and angry and—Miyeong.”

“Woah. Woah.” Mira grabbed Celine’s shoulders, “What is going on?”

“We have to find Rumi. She left and I don’t know where she went. I don’t know if she’s safe or if she even knows where she’s going.” What if she teleported away?! She couldn’t control where she ended up. What if she ended up in Gwi Ma’s lair or with the Saja Boys??

“Why did Rumi leave Jeju Island? Did you two fight?” Zoey asked.

“Rumi—…The demon you saw today was Rumi.”

“…..I’m sorry what?”

“She’s half demon. She was born with patterns that I’ve been helping her hide since she was a baby.” Celine explained, “That demon you saw today was her. She was telling you the truth.”

“You lied to us?!?”

“We almost killed Rumi!”

“We don’t have time to worry about either of those things right now! Please! I know we both lied but Rumi is out there and she needs our help. She needs you two.” Honmoon knew she didn’t need her right now.

“No, no, we’re getting answers—“ Mira stopped when she felt Zoey’s hand on her arm.

Stupid teleportation. If she was going to have this ability then why couldn't she get it to work properly? She should teleport to where she wanted to go, right? Well, she definitely didn't want to be on Jeju. She wasn't even sure if she still wanted to be in Korea.

Maybe if she thought about it really hard, she could shoot herself into the magma chamber of Mount Hallasan.

"Rumi?!"

She whipped around, hearing Celine's voice in the distance. Rumi gulped nervously. Celine sounded panicked. Scared, even. Probably worried about what something like Rumi could do on the loose like this.

"Come on. Take me home," she hissed at herself, closing her eyes and concentrating as hard as she could. But her new powers refused to send her anywhere.

And actual growl left her mouth this time. Which only made her frustration worse. As she contemplated which direction into the forest she should run to, her eyes landed on a familiar gravestone.

"This is all your fault!" she snarled, stomping in front of her mother's headstone and sneering at it as if her ghost was standing there instead, "You just had to fuck a demon! You just had to give birth to me! And then you just had to die so you did have to deal with how much of an abomination I am!"

The stone said nothing, as stones cannot reply no matter how vitriolic the words thrown at them are.

Rumi sunk to her knees before the stone. Her tail curled around her in a self comforting hug, but the fact that it was there did little to help. "I shouldn't be here," she murmured as she curled up again, making herself as small as possible and wishing the ground would just swallow her whole, "I don't belong anywhere."

Suddenly, she felt the ground tremble as if rocked by an earthquake. The Honmoon came alive with violent red ripples, shaking so much bits of it started to lift away into the air. Rumi sprung to her feet, her gaze turning to the direction the weakness in the Honmoon was coming from, and her heart sunk with dread.

Instead, years of hunter training kicked in all at once and Rumi was moving before she could stop herself, rushing past every Hunter grave around the tree and straight towards the source of the ripple. It was a gift from the honmoon that all hunters knew where the ripples origin point was—made it easier to track down the demons—and Rumi knew the origin point was the house.

If she had any hesitation, any fear, about returning to Celine she didn’t show it. Her demon form was still fully present when she arrived and spotted a demon having pinned Celine down. She was protected by her weapons but the demon’s claws and teeth were getting too close.

“Celine!” Rumi cried, throwing her sword forward and slashing the demon, “Celine! Are you okay?!”

“RUMI!” Celine wrapped her arms around her, pulling her daughter close, “You’re okay! You’re okay! Where did you go?! How could you leave?!?”

“We can talk about that later. How many demons are there? Where—“ Rumi’s tail thrashed and her fangs pushed out as a growl escaped her. Behind Celine was a massive demon—one of the heavy hitters—holding a raised club.

Both Celine and Rumi dodged.

“What are you doing, kid?! You’re supposed to be on our side!”

Rumi nearly ditched her sword to simple jump on the demon and slash him with her claws, “You don’t get to hurt my eomma!” Even with bigger demons, a sword straight into the chest usually left them dissolved.

“Rumi?” Rumi suddenly froze. Her demon characteristics going from taking over to mellowing out on a heartbeat.

Which was unfortunate, because all of her attention was on them, and not the large dokkaebi to her side. The demon pounced, tackling her to the ground. “A hunter who is a demon?” the dokkaebi demanded, “How does that work?”

Rumi didn’t have an answer for him even if she did care enough to answer. Instead, she got one foot under the demon and planted it forcefully into his chest, sending him flying. A second demon tried to pick up where he left off, but a small but deadly-fast projectile nailed him in the chest before he could strike. Rumi’s head whipped around to where the shin-kal had come from, and she was rewarded by Zoey shooting her a small smile.

From that point, things fell into something that almost felt normal. Rumi drew her sword and got back into rhythm with Mira and Zoey, almost like things hadn’t changed at all. Except, they had, and the reminders came as moments of stark realization that popped up abruptly before necessity forced them to be put on the back burner for later. It was most evident with Mira, as she and Rumi fought out of sync in a way they hadn’t in years. Rumi, trying to make up for everything, was quick to jump to what she thought was aid. And Mira no longer trusted most of Rumi’s actions. As a result, they often found themselves in each other’s way. That, or demons would slip past them when it should have been an easy kill.

And then there were the moments when, especially as she got more frustrated, Rumi’s demonic instincts would break through and she’d do something, well, demonic. Snarling and growling, using claws instead of her sword, swatting demons away with her tail. (Which, to be honest, actually was kind of useful. Especially when the two times she did it Celine was close enough to shred the demon getting swatted with ease.)

“Rumi, watch it!” Mira snapped at her when it happened a third time, but this time it was Mira the demon was sent tumbling toward and she wasn’t nearly as prepared for it.

“S…sorry, I—”

A shin-kal whizzed past her and struck a demon about to ambush her between the eyes.

“Does it seem like this has been going on for a lot longer than normal?” Zoey wondered as she fired at a pair of water demons crawling out of a puddle.

“It’s rare for a rift this big to form so close to the compound,” Celine said with a concerned frown, “This is an offensive move on their part.”

Rumi dodged a demon’s claws and retaliated with her sword through his stomach. “But why?” she asked, “Why now? And why here?”

“Maybe Gwi-Ma figured it would be easier,” Mira stated coolly, shooting Rumi a look.

Rumi felt her tail droop, along with her ears (oh hell are they more demonic now, too?). “Mira, stop,” Zoey chided, coming to Rumi’s defence both verbally and with a barrage of shin-kal to provide cover.

“Seriously? You’re not mad about, well, everything?” Mira demanded harshly.

“Yeah I am! I’m pissed!” Zoey fired back, “But I’ll be more pissed if any of you die before we get answers.”

Poor choice of words, because as she was distracted, Zoey didn’t see the ogre’s club until it was too late. The collision made a sound that would haunt their nightmares, as Zoey’s body flew through the air to land roughly on the ground at Mira’s feet. The massive demon was upon them in an instant, once more raising his club high. Mira positioned herself over Zoey’s crumpled form, bracing with her gok-do and preparing to hold her ground.

She didn’t have to.

There was a roar, like a furious tiger, and suddenly a pink and purple creature had leapt onto the demon’s back. The demon shouted in agony and surprise, trying to pry his attacker off of him. But claws sunk into his skin as fangs found his neck. Mira could only watch in horror as the creature hung on to the ogre demon, yellow eyes glowing with furious hellfire and patterns ablaze with hot pink light. The creature snarled as the demon tried in vain to shove her off of him, but his strength was fading fast as dark blood spilled onto the dirt. And that was…the most shocking thing. Because Mira had never seen a demon bleed. She didn’t think they could bleed. But it must just be ground wounds caused by a starlight blade. Wounds from fangs or claws…

When the ogre stopped fighting, his body didn’t turn to dust. It just lay there, unmoving, oozing blood. The creature straightened from its kill, eyes still burning yellow, chin and hands stained black with blood. It looked at Mira for a second, and the hunter’s blood ran cold, before it turned to the remaining demons. They flinched, not a single one as confident as they were moments ago. “Leave,” the creature growled, low and dangerous, “Now.”

The remaining demons scattered, retreating back through the Honmoon. It was one thing to die by a hunter’s blade. It was entirely another to be faced with the sight of one of their own kill another so savagely.

Mira turned briefly to check on Zoey, discovering Celine there already to perform first aid. Thankfully Zoey was awake, and groaning in pain. But that was good, since it meant she was alive.

“Is she going to ok?”

Mira spun back around, gok-do raising again out of instinct. Rumi was covered in demon blood. One of her eyes had returned to normal, and her fangs and claws were quite as deadly as they had just been. Still, though, she had them.

“Mira,” Celine said softly, yet firmly, from behind her as Mira focused on Rumi, “It’s ok. She won’t hurt us.”

Mira’s resolve wavered slightly, her gok-do lowering just a little. When Rumi didn’t take advantage, Mira relaxed further. Once more, Rumi stayed where she was, hands held up in a surrendering gesture. Finally, the gok-do disappeared completely.

“Ow, it hurts to breathe,” Zoey whined, voice strained and breathy as she held her side.

“We should get her inside,” Celine decided, looking up to her daughter, “Rumi, can you take her?”

Rumi wanted to say no, she absolutely shouldn’t, but she knew she was the strongest out of all of them. And right now, Zoey’s health mattered more. So she stepped forward, tentatively walking past Mira and over to Zoey. She gingerly scooped her maknae up into her arms, careful not to jostle her. She headed inside, flanked closely by Mira. Celine held back, electing to do a quick sweep of the property to ensure all the demons were actually gone. She trusted the girls to take care of things inside.

Rumi could still sense tension from Mira. But from Zoey…

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”

And she vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

The gok-do slammed into the mirror wall, exploding glass in every direction.

At first, Rumi wasn't sure where she was. Her brain was still firing too fast, her heart beating so quickly and her breaths coming so short she was dizzy and lightheaded. But as she blinked and got her bearings, she realized this place was familiar.

The garden rows that she used to run up and down as a child stretched before her, lined with plants with summer harvests waiting to be collected. And there, at the end of the row she stood in, was Celine, calmly pulling weeds as she would so often do on summer mornings.

Relief was the first thing she felt, washing over her and putting her soul at ease. That must have been how she got here: whenever Rumi had a nightmare she would seek out her mother Celine. Celine always knew how to put her mind at ease, how to comfort her when she was afraid. And right now Rumi had never been so lost, so fucking terrified. She was having the worst nightmare imaginable, so of course she went to Celine.

Then Celine turned, and froze when their eyes met. And all of that relief was replaced by panic. Because what if Celine only sees her as a demon, too? What if she also thinks she replaced Rumi and tries to put her down? The idea that the only safe harbour Rumi had was gone rendered her paralyzed, once again unable to move as her potential demise stared at her with an unreadable expression. But Rumi knew Celine. She knew how she hunted demons.

She knew she'd never even get a chance to see it coming.

So she just...crumbled. She sunk to her knees, curled up in a little ball, and waited for it to end. She barely registered the tears trailing down her cheeks, or how panic-stricken breaths had turned to sobs. She didn't want to die. She didn't even know why the universe suddenly decided she should. She was so scared and alone and she hated herself so much for being this...this thing that all of her loved ones wanted to kill and she just wanted her mom and...

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, gentle and cautious. When Rumi dared to glance up, she was met with Celine's concerned frown. Worry and fear were etched clearly on her face, but recognition was there too. "Rumi?" she uttered, clearly taking in Rumi's physical changes, "What happened?"

Then a sound came from the pocket on Celine's cardigan. One day, before they debuted, Zoey had somehow managed to get a hold of Celine's phone and set different ringtones for each of her charges' numbers, and Celine had never bothered to change them. (And would never admit that she liked the personal touch, especially knowing that Zoey had asked Mira and Rumi to pick a song.) And so now, both of them knew who it was without even having to see the ringing phone:

That was all Celine had to hear.

She didn’t care about Zoey’s call.

She didn’t care that Rumi had tiny horns that were pushing into her chin.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s claws were digging into her back.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s tail was wrapped around her leg.

And she didn’t care that Rumi was currently sobbing so hard into her cardigan that the fact that she was able to get any words out at all was a shock.

The only thing she cared about was getting Rumi inside, safe, warm….and maybe fed. Had she eaten that morning? It was still early so maybe not? But water probably took priority right now over food. No, it definitely did. So shelter, comfort, water and food. In that order.

Celine had years of demon hunting to thank for her ability to pick up Rumi without an issue and carry her inside the compound. Even though the girls all lived in the city, Rumi’s room remained untouched in case she ever needed it and, thankfully, Rumi hadn’t grown much since she left the compound so she easily fit into her bed.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Celine asked, brushing Rumi’s hair out of her eyes, “Did….it happen?”

“Mmmhmm.” The only reason Rumi wasn’t sobbing anymore was because she kept her eyes snapped up.

“I take it it went badly?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Should I accept Zoey’s call or leave it?”

“….”

“Let’s return to that later then. Do you want some water? Some food?” Celine asked, “Do you want Bear?”

“Bear.”

“Okay. I put him up so he wouldn’t get covered in dust. Can you let go of me so that I can go get him?” That seemed to be the first time Rumi realized she was still holding onto the cardigan, her claws having now broken through the fabric.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“No, shhhh. Shhh. You’re okay, Rumi. You’re okay. You know I have 100 cardigans and I have plenty of money to buy more.” Rumi let out another sob, “Just breathe, Rumi. Breathe.”

From her pocket, Rumi could hear another ringtone.

Mira.

Celine glanced down at the ball of stress and sadness on the bed next to her. Rumi was still tucked into herself, claws gripping Celine's arm (but now with a careful tenderness, enough to grip but not puncture fabric or skin). Her tail had ended up wrapped around Celine's middle, the soft fur and striped pattern reminding Celine of an especially clingy cat. A single golden eye peered up at Celine from the shadows created by Rumi's current posture, and despite the unsettling inhuman-ness of it the sight still tugged at Celine's heartstrings. The iris was like molten iron, burning gold and red and emitting a soft light, but the tears pooling in it reminded her that it wasn't physically hot.

"My priority is you right now," Celine stated softly, running a gentle hand over Rumi's shoulder, "We can deal with everything else later."

"But..." Rumi swallowed tightly. Celine felt an involuntary shudder travel through Rumi's body. "They think I... They thought I replaced..."

"...I see."

The ringing had run its course, but only seconds later it started up again. On top of that, she could feel it buzz the way it would when receiving texts, and it was practically performing morse code in her pocket.

"I'm not going to leave you," Celine promised. She bit her lip, her hand shifting to thread her fingers through Rumi's hair. She gingerly ran over the horn sprouting from Rumi's skull, pushing some of the hair aside to ensure it hadn't done damage when it broke through. "Do you remember how this happened?" she tried again, "Anything unusual? A demon bite, or...some sort of curse?"

Rumi shook her head. "I just...woke up. I didn't even feel different. I..." she let out a shaky breath and curled further into herself. "I don't know," she whined pitifully.

"Ok, it's ok," Celine assured her, "We can figure this out."

"I don't... I was so close," Rumi continued sadly, "There was so much gold but now... How can I show my face now? Mira and Zoey want to kill me and I look like a monster and I couldn't sing to begin with and-"

"Hold on: you couldn't sing?" Celine asked, a sense of urgency beginning to rise in her voice, "What do you mean by that?"

Rumi froze, her body going stiff under Celine's hand. "I...I couldn't sing Golden," she revealed, "Th...the other night, when we had to cancel the song debut... I couldn't reach the high note and I...ran."

Celine sighed. She had been informed about Rumi having issues with that performance, and about how she had disappeared and didn't return to the set. She had been meaning to check in about that, but she wanted to give Rumi a bit of space. Huntr/x might have fallen under her label, but they were also grown adults with their own manager and responsibilites. It wasn't Celine's place to micromanage everything.

A sharp ringing pierced the air, causing both of their heads to snap at attention toward the door. Where, beyond the door, the landline was ringing. Celine sighed. That phone never rung, since so few people actually knew the number, so she had a suspicion about who was on the other line.

“Zoey-Zoey had this idea to go to this guy named Han for special tonics that were supposed to help my voice. I didn’t really think—I mean I thought…I thought they might be able to help but I didn’t really think about them much.”

“Okay. And I assume you took one last night?”

“Mmhmm. It was just grape juice when I peeled back the label but I like grape juice so I took it. Then I woke up and…” Rumi’s tail wrapped tighter around Celine.

“And you looked like this. It sounds like those tonics definitely had something to do with this but this is good. This is really good, Rumi. I have people in Seoul who can find this guy and fix this. You’ll be back to normal so soon and then we’ll figure out what to do about Zoey and Mira.” The use of Zoey and Mira’s name made Rumi flinch. Celine made a mental note to keep them out of the conversation for a bit, “Now that we know that, how about this? You feel like you can walk?”

Rumi nodded.

“Good. You come into the main room and lay on the couch, you can watch some tv, and I’ll get some food for both of us and call about this Han guy.” Celine told her, “Some demons, including half demons, can disguise their demon forms with concentration. If you can relax, maybe you can try and appear more human. It’s not a permanent solution but you would at least be able to walk around Jeju Island.”

“I-I’m sorry, Cece.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I should have kept it together longer. We were almost there and now Mira and Zoey want me dead and the Saja Boys are going to take over and everyone’s gonna die and it’ll be because I’m a good for nothing—“

“Hey!” Celine grabbed Rumi’s head and pushed it towards her. She’d heard those words too much in her own mind to let Rumi finish that sentence, “Listen to me, this is not your fault. It’s a set back but it’s one we’ll work on together. You’re not alone in this, Rumi.”

“…Thank you… Eomma Celine.”

“Always. Now, go find Bear and get to the couch. Oh! And no rom coms please.”

For the first time that morning, Rumi laughed, “They’re good. You just don’t know how to judge acting.”

“You know I’ve acted right?”

She was brought out of her thoughts by the landline ringing again. She glanced over at it, then down the hall to Celine's closed door. She bit her lip, wincing when she forgot how sharp her fangs were. She tried to ignore it, but each ring felt louder and more oppressive, and before she could think logically...

She was suddenly standing by the phone. She didn't even remember getting up, or walking to it. The dissipating pink dust surrounding her was her only clue, and she suppressed a groan. Yet another thing she needed to get a handle on, it seems.

But still... She really did want to answer the phone. Maybe her body knew something her brain didn't. Or...perhaps it was her heart beating out her mind.

She picked the phone up from its holder.

"Celine? You there? Is everything ok?!" Zoey's frantic voice filled the silence of the room, and Rumi felt her breath hitch just hearing it.

"Celine! Something's happened! We think Rumi's in danger and we need your help!"

"Z...Zoey," Rumi stammered, "Zoey, it's ok!"

"RUMI?!" Zoey and Mira, now. Zoey must have her phone on speaker.

"Wait... How do we know it's really you?" Mira demanded, suspicion and fear making her sound harsher than normal, "Demons could have gotten to Celine. Why are you on Jeju, Rumi?"

Rumi could feel her brain buffering, picturing the little spinning beach ball of death. Why was she on Jeju? She couldn't really answer that truthfully for herself, let alone come up with a convincing lie for Mira. "I... Last Christmas I adopted a sea turtle from the WWF for Zoey. She named the plushie representing it 'Myrtle'. And that same year I adopted a polar bear for Mira and she secretly named the plushie 'Snowball' but in public she calls it 'Odin' because it sounds cooler."

"I...I do not," Mira stammered in the background.

"Ok, that's definitely Rumi," Zoey agreed, "But why are you on Jeju?"

"It's...a long story?" Rumi said with a wince.

"Well you can tell us soon in person," Mira told her, "We're almost at the ferry. Should be a few hours."

That's when Rumi registered the sound of a car engine that was probably going a little too fast to be legal in the city. And her panic spiked. "Wait! No! You have to stay in Seoul!"

"What? Why?" Mira demanded.

"What if the Saja Boys try something?" Rumi argued, "People could be in danger. You need to stay there and make sure the Honmoon doesn't get any weaker."

"But what about you?" Zoey asked.

"Don't worry about me," Rumi assured them, frowning as she glanced down at her free hand and all it's patterned, clawed glory, "Focus on keeping people safe. I'll figure things out here with Celine and get back to you guys as soon as I can."

It was quiet for a concerning amount of time, the only sound coming from Mira's aggressive driving.

"Guys?" Rumi tried anxiously.

"Why are you on Jeju, Rumi. We just saw you last night so you would have had to leave right after we went to bed," Mira challenged.

"I..." Rumi gulped, her grip tightening on the phone. She felt her patterns begin to glow hot as she floundered, unable to come up with something convincing. "I...I'm here because-"

The phone creaked, then let out a loud crack as the plastic crumpled in her grip. Rumi dropped what was left of the device with a panicked gasp, trying and failing to calm her breathing.

Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Zoey turned to Mira. The dial tone droned on from the phone she held between them, speaking louder than anything "Rumi" could have said.

"Do we...do what she said?" Zoey wondered tentatively, "She was right... What if the Saja Boys are planning something and they wanted us out of the city?"

Mira sucked in a deep breath and exhaled sharply through her nose. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, willing the red light to change if it valued its life. Ahead of them, they could see the turn off to the ferry dock.

"Right now, I couldn't give less of a shit about the Saja Boys," she growled, taking off a little too sharply and squealing the tires when the light changed.

The ferry to Jeju Island was large enough that both Zoey and Mira could simply cover their heads and they could avoid detection. The last thing they needed was someone getting a picture of them and thinking they were going to Jeju Island because Celine died or something---Bobby would not like having to deal with that story.

"Rumi or...something like Rumi is on Jeju Island and we need to figure out what is going on. First that demon pretends to be her this morning and teleports away before we can kill it, then Celine isn't answered our calls or texts and then we do get in touch with Rumi and somehow she's made it to Jeju Island in the middle of the night without either of us waking up or telling us? Something is wrong and we need to figure out what."

"I know. I know. You're right. We need to figure out what's going on with Rumi. The Saja Boys don't matter if our group falls apart."

Mira must have finally sensed how stressed and scared Zoey was because she extended a hand forward and rested it on Zoey's wrist, "Our group won't fall apart. It's Rumi. She may do...a lot that we don't fully understand but she wouldn't do any malicious or stupid."

"You're right. It's Rumi. Rumi's our leader and our friend. Once we see her face to face, we'll figure out what's going on and get a good, solid, honest answer."

---------

"They're coming here?" Celine fought to keep the sharpness out of her tone, "They called you almost an hour ago so they're probably on the ferry by now." Celine had a hand in her hair and she was biting her lip so hard that Rumi was positive she could see blood. She'd never seen Celine this stressed.

"Are we going to run?" Rumi asked.

"No, I have a better idea." Celine told her, "We'll tell them that this is one of Gwi Ma's tricks." She explained.

"What?"

"Gwi Ma has grown more powerful with the help of the Saja Boys and one of his tricks has been to turn you into a demon. I'll tell Mira and Zoey that once you girls turn the honmoon gold you'll go back to normal and you will! It works perfectly!" Celine was smiling now, like she'd just figured out the solution to all their problems.

"You want me to lie to them again?" Rumi asked.

"I know it hurts Rumi, but this is the best option for you and for Mira and Zoey. It keeps them from hurting you and keeps your group together. Long enough to defeat the Saja Boys and turn the honmoon gold."

For a moment or two, Rumi didn't respond. Instead, she stared down at her patterns. By now they covered her completely and the ends of her hands and feet were turning purple like a demons. She flexed her claws once or twice and allowed her tail to twitch behind her.

This.

This was what she fought for years to keep Mira and Zoey from finding out.

Now they knew.

Now they wanted her dead.

No part of Rumi wanted to die or wanted Mira and Zoey to kill her. Despite her sobs earlier that morning she had been honest when she told Celine that.

But she was too tired to keep lying to them.

Too tired to come up with another lie she had to keep on top of.

And she loved them both too much to add another lie to the list.

"I don't want to keep lying to them," Rumi stated firmly, "They've already seen it. They know, Celine."

"And we can tell them it's an illusion," Celine snapped back.

"A pretty elaborate illusion!" Rumi returned, her tail swishing in response.

"Rumi..." Celine warned.

"No! This is my only chance to tell them the truth!" Rumi argued.

"You won't get a chance to tell them! They'll take one look at you and-"

"Then help me! They might not listen to me but they will listen to you!"

"There's no guarantee of that! I taught you all to never hesitate, and to be suspicious of everything out of place. What if they think I'm a demon, too?"

Rumi's patterns started to burn once again, but this time the pain felt different. It didn't feel like the punishing sting of doing something stupid and getting injured. It felt like something needling, like bee stings on the hide of a bear. "But you can prove it! A...and then you can tell them-"

"I'm going to tell them that this is a trick by Gwi-Ma," Celine said defiantly, "And you aren't going to tell them otherwise. We need to get a handle on this, Rumi. Right now the safest thing to do is-"

"What's the point of being safe if I'm lying to my friends forever?" Rumi challenged, "How is constantly having to keep track of what I tell them better than just telling them the truth?" Her tail thrashed angrily. A lump was forming in her throat, a sound she suspected wasn't going to be human so she held it back.

"You won't have to worry about it for long," Celine returned, "Just until the Honmoon turns gold and fixes everything."

"And what if it doesn't?!" Her voice rose just a little too much, there was too much fire in her heart, and a multi-layered timber erupted from her throat. The Honmoon shuddered worryingly, and the lights flickered before burning out, leaving Rumi as the dominant light source in the room.

That, and the glowing hilt and lower half of a blade materializing from the Honmoon.

Celine dispelled the sword quickly, holding her hands up in front of her to prove she wasn't going to do that again. But the damage had been done anyway.

"Are you...afraid of me?" Rumi uttered, her anger dissolving as if doused in acid.

"No, Rumi, I..." Celine ran her hands shakily though her hair, a move Rumi rarely saw but knew it was a sign her guardian was stressed. "That is why we have to hide it," Celine insisted after a moment to collect her thoughts, "It's not that I wanted to do that. And it's not that Mira and Zoey want to kill you. We've been trained to see things a certain way. To react a certain way. And... One wrong move, and..."

Rumi took a step back. She shook her head in disbelief. "But... If you've been trained one way, then you can learn something else. Y...you didn't kill me in the garden, even when I looked like..."

"Rumi... The risk is too great. You can't trust that they won't see a flash of your patterns and..."

Rumi swallowed tightly, her claws digging into her biceps as she crossed her arms over herself. "Did...did that ever happen with you?" she asked shakily.

Now she could only see the blades that had been hovering in them just moments ago... against her.

She wasn't safe anywhere.

She wasnt safe.

She wasn't safe like this with Mira and Zoey, who wanted to cut her down for the human Rumi never was.

She wasn't safe like this with Celine, who at the first sign of Rumi not bending to her caused her to summon weapons against the demon she saw.

She definitely wasnt safe among the demons they saw her as. That she currently was.

Because she never belonged anywhere, did she?

She had hoped... had foolishly believed she could... but with one single raise of her voice, and three sets of weapons summoned against her in the span of an hour... she finally understood.

She realized as her own mother Celine couldnt even look her in the eyes... she belonged nowhere.

And with every fiber of her being realizing it- believing it- her uncontrollable teleport obliged that truth of where she felt she belonged.

When Celine finally shoved her own shame down enough to look her daughter Rumi in the eyes again, she found only the faint trace of smoke where she once stood.

Rumi was nowhere to be seen.

(Too scared to delete my other post and I didn’t see this one so I’m just responding here)

“RUMI!?!”

Mira and Zoey arrived at the compound without expecting much. They wanted answers from Celine and Rumi, yes, but they never believed it would be a huge event. In the back of Zoey’s mind she still hoped that this could all be fixed with a simple explanation and then they’d laugh about it all the way back to Seoul.

Something told her that wasn’t the case.

And something really told her that when they arrived and found Celine running around the compound like she had lost the most precious thing in the world to her, screaming Rumi’s name while her voice gave out.

“Celine?! Celine, what’s going on?!”

“Rumi’s gone! I don’t know where she went but she’s scared and angry and—Miyeong.”

“Woah. Woah.” Mira grabbed Celine’s shoulders, “What is going on?”

“We have to find Rumi. She left and I don’t know where she went. I don’t know if she’s safe or if she even knows where she’s going.” What if she teleported away?! She couldn’t control where she ended up. What if she ended up in Gwi Ma’s lair or with the Saja Boys??

“Why did Rumi leave Jeju Island? Did you two fight?” Zoey asked.

“Rumi—…The demon you saw today was Rumi.”

“…..I’m sorry what?”

“She’s half demon. She was born with patterns that I’ve been helping her hide since she was a baby.” Celine explained, “That demon you saw today was her. She was telling you the truth.”

“You lied to us?!?”

“We almost killed Rumi!”

“We don’t have time to worry about either of those things right now! Please! I know we both lied but Rumi is out there and she needs our help. She needs you two.” Honmoon knew she didn’t need her right now.

“No, no, we’re getting answers—“ Mira stopped when she felt Zoey’s hand on her arm.

Stupid teleportation. If she was going to have this ability then why couldn't she get it to work properly? She should teleport to where she wanted to go, right? Well, she definitely didn't want to be on Jeju. She wasn't even sure if she still wanted to be in Korea.

Maybe if she thought about it really hard, she could shoot herself into the magma chamber of Mount Hallasan.

"Rumi?!"

She whipped around, hearing Celine's voice in the distance. Rumi gulped nervously. Celine sounded panicked. Scared, even. Probably worried about what something like Rumi could do on the loose like this.

"Come on. Take me home," she hissed at herself, closing her eyes and concentrating as hard as she could. But her new powers refused to send her anywhere.

And actual growl left her mouth this time. Which only made her frustration worse. As she contemplated which direction into the forest she should run to, her eyes landed on a familiar gravestone.

"This is all your fault!" she snarled, stomping in front of her mother's headstone and sneering at it as if her ghost was standing there instead, "You just had to fuck a demon! You just had to give birth to me! And then you just had to die so you did have to deal with how much of an abomination I am!"

The stone said nothing, as stones cannot reply no matter how vitriolic the words thrown at them are.

Rumi sunk to her knees before the stone. Her tail curled around her in a self comforting hug, but the fact that it was there did little to help. "I shouldn't be here," she murmured as she curled up again, making herself as small as possible and wishing the ground would just swallow her whole, "I don't belong anywhere."

Suddenly, she felt the ground tremble as if rocked by an earthquake. The Honmoon came alive with violent red ripples, shaking so much bits of it started to lift away into the air. Rumi sprung to her feet, her gaze turning to the direction the weakness in the Honmoon was coming from, and her heart sunk with dread.

Instead, years of hunter training kicked in all at once and Rumi was moving before she could stop herself, rushing past every Hunter grave around the tree and straight towards the source of the ripple. It was a gift from the honmoon that all hunters knew where the ripples origin point was—made it easier to track down the demons—and Rumi knew the origin point was the house.

If she had any hesitation, any fear, about returning to Celine she didn’t show it. Her demon form was still fully present when she arrived and spotted a demon having pinned Celine down. She was protected by her weapons but the demon’s claws and teeth were getting too close.

“Celine!” Rumi cried, throwing her sword forward and slashing the demon, “Celine! Are you okay?!”

“RUMI!” Celine wrapped her arms around her, pulling her daughter close, “You’re okay! You’re okay! Where did you go?! How could you leave?!?”

“We can talk about that later. How many demons are there? Where—“ Rumi’s tail thrashed and her fangs pushed out as a growl escaped her. Behind Celine was a massive demon—one of the heavy hitters—holding a raised club.

Both Celine and Rumi dodged.

“What are you doing, kid?! You’re supposed to be on our side!”

Rumi nearly ditched her sword to simple jump on the demon and slash him with her claws, “You don’t get to hurt my eomma!” Even with bigger demons, a sword straight into the chest usually left them dissolved.

“Rumi?” Rumi suddenly froze. Her demon characteristics going from taking over to mellowing out on a heartbeat.

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”

And she vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

The gok-do slammed into the mirror wall, exploding glass in every direction.

At first, Rumi wasn't sure where she was. Her brain was still firing too fast, her heart beating so quickly and her breaths coming so short she was dizzy and lightheaded. But as she blinked and got her bearings, she realized this place was familiar.

The garden rows that she used to run up and down as a child stretched before her, lined with plants with summer harvests waiting to be collected. And there, at the end of the row she stood in, was Celine, calmly pulling weeds as she would so often do on summer mornings.

Relief was the first thing she felt, washing over her and putting her soul at ease. That must have been how she got here: whenever Rumi had a nightmare she would seek out her mother Celine. Celine always knew how to put her mind at ease, how to comfort her when she was afraid. And right now Rumi had never been so lost, so fucking terrified. She was having the worst nightmare imaginable, so of course she went to Celine.

Then Celine turned, and froze when their eyes met. And all of that relief was replaced by panic. Because what if Celine only sees her as a demon, too? What if she also thinks she replaced Rumi and tries to put her down? The idea that the only safe harbour Rumi had was gone rendered her paralyzed, once again unable to move as her potential demise stared at her with an unreadable expression. But Rumi knew Celine. She knew how she hunted demons.

She knew she'd never even get a chance to see it coming.

So she just...crumbled. She sunk to her knees, curled up in a little ball, and waited for it to end. She barely registered the tears trailing down her cheeks, or how panic-stricken breaths had turned to sobs. She didn't want to die. She didn't even know why the universe suddenly decided she should. She was so scared and alone and she hated herself so much for being this...this thing that all of her loved ones wanted to kill and she just wanted her mom and...

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, gentle and cautious. When Rumi dared to glance up, she was met with Celine's concerned frown. Worry and fear were etched clearly on her face, but recognition was there too. "Rumi?" she uttered, clearly taking in Rumi's physical changes, "What happened?"

Then a sound came from the pocket on Celine's cardigan. One day, before they debuted, Zoey had somehow managed to get a hold of Celine's phone and set different ringtones for each of her charges' numbers, and Celine had never bothered to change them. (And would never admit that she liked the personal touch, especially knowing that Zoey had asked Mira and Rumi to pick a song.) And so now, both of them knew who it was without even having to see the ringing phone:

That was all Celine had to hear.

She didn’t care about Zoey’s call.

She didn’t care that Rumi had tiny horns that were pushing into her chin.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s claws were digging into her back.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s tail was wrapped around her leg.

And she didn’t care that Rumi was currently sobbing so hard into her cardigan that the fact that she was able to get any words out at all was a shock.

The only thing she cared about was getting Rumi inside, safe, warm….and maybe fed. Had she eaten that morning? It was still early so maybe not? But water probably took priority right now over food. No, it definitely did. So shelter, comfort, water and food. In that order.

Celine had years of demon hunting to thank for her ability to pick up Rumi without an issue and carry her inside the compound. Even though the girls all lived in the city, Rumi’s room remained untouched in case she ever needed it and, thankfully, Rumi hadn’t grown much since she left the compound so she easily fit into her bed.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Celine asked, brushing Rumi’s hair out of her eyes, “Did….it happen?”

“Mmmhmm.” The only reason Rumi wasn’t sobbing anymore was because she kept her eyes snapped up.

“I take it it went badly?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Should I accept Zoey’s call or leave it?”

“….”

“Let’s return to that later then. Do you want some water? Some food?” Celine asked, “Do you want Bear?”

“Bear.”

“Okay. I put him up so he wouldn’t get covered in dust. Can you let go of me so that I can go get him?” That seemed to be the first time Rumi realized she was still holding onto the cardigan, her claws having now broken through the fabric.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“No, shhhh. Shhh. You’re okay, Rumi. You’re okay. You know I have 100 cardigans and I have plenty of money to buy more.” Rumi let out another sob, “Just breathe, Rumi. Breathe.”

From her pocket, Rumi could hear another ringtone.

Mira.

Celine glanced down at the ball of stress and sadness on the bed next to her. Rumi was still tucked into herself, claws gripping Celine's arm (but now with a careful tenderness, enough to grip but not puncture fabric or skin). Her tail had ended up wrapped around Celine's middle, the soft fur and striped pattern reminding Celine of an especially clingy cat. A single golden eye peered up at Celine from the shadows created by Rumi's current posture, and despite the unsettling inhuman-ness of it the sight still tugged at Celine's heartstrings. The iris was like molten iron, burning gold and red and emitting a soft light, but the tears pooling in it reminded her that it wasn't physically hot.

"My priority is you right now," Celine stated softly, running a gentle hand over Rumi's shoulder, "We can deal with everything else later."

"But..." Rumi swallowed tightly. Celine felt an involuntary shudder travel through Rumi's body. "They think I... They thought I replaced..."

"...I see."

The ringing had run its course, but only seconds later it started up again. On top of that, she could feel it buzz the way it would when receiving texts, and it was practically performing morse code in her pocket.

"I'm not going to leave you," Celine promised. She bit her lip, her hand shifting to thread her fingers through Rumi's hair. She gingerly ran over the horn sprouting from Rumi's skull, pushing some of the hair aside to ensure it hadn't done damage when it broke through. "Do you remember how this happened?" she tried again, "Anything unusual? A demon bite, or...some sort of curse?"

Rumi shook her head. "I just...woke up. I didn't even feel different. I..." she let out a shaky breath and curled further into herself. "I don't know," she whined pitifully.

"Ok, it's ok," Celine assured her, "We can figure this out."

"I don't... I was so close," Rumi continued sadly, "There was so much gold but now... How can I show my face now? Mira and Zoey want to kill me and I look like a monster and I couldn't sing to begin with and-"

"Hold on: you couldn't sing?" Celine asked, a sense of urgency beginning to rise in her voice, "What do you mean by that?"

Rumi froze, her body going stiff under Celine's hand. "I...I couldn't sing Golden," she revealed, "Th...the other night, when we had to cancel the song debut... I couldn't reach the high note and I...ran."

Celine sighed. She had been informed about Rumi having issues with that performance, and about how she had disappeared and didn't return to the set. She had been meaning to check in about that, but she wanted to give Rumi a bit of space. Huntr/x might have fallen under her label, but they were also grown adults with their own manager and responsibilites. It wasn't Celine's place to micromanage everything.

A sharp ringing pierced the air, causing both of their heads to snap at attention toward the door. Where, beyond the door, the landline was ringing. Celine sighed. That phone never rung, since so few people actually knew the number, so she had a suspicion about who was on the other line.

“Zoey-Zoey had this idea to go to this guy named Han for special tonics that were supposed to help my voice. I didn’t really think—I mean I thought…I thought they might be able to help but I didn’t really think about them much.”

“Okay. And I assume you took one last night?”

“Mmhmm. It was just grape juice when I peeled back the label but I like grape juice so I took it. Then I woke up and…” Rumi’s tail wrapped tighter around Celine.

“And you looked like this. It sounds like those tonics definitely had something to do with this but this is good. This is really good, Rumi. I have people in Seoul who can find this guy and fix this. You’ll be back to normal so soon and then we’ll figure out what to do about Zoey and Mira.” The use of Zoey and Mira’s name made Rumi flinch. Celine made a mental note to keep them out of the conversation for a bit, “Now that we know that, how about this? You feel like you can walk?”

Rumi nodded.

“Good. You come into the main room and lay on the couch, you can watch some tv, and I’ll get some food for both of us and call about this Han guy.” Celine told her, “Some demons, including half demons, can disguise their demon forms with concentration. If you can relax, maybe you can try and appear more human. It’s not a permanent solution but you would at least be able to walk around Jeju Island.”

“I-I’m sorry, Cece.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I should have kept it together longer. We were almost there and now Mira and Zoey want me dead and the Saja Boys are going to take over and everyone’s gonna die and it’ll be because I’m a good for nothing—“

“Hey!” Celine grabbed Rumi’s head and pushed it towards her. She’d heard those words too much in her own mind to let Rumi finish that sentence, “Listen to me, this is not your fault. It’s a set back but it’s one we’ll work on together. You’re not alone in this, Rumi.”

“…Thank you… Eomma Celine.”

“Always. Now, go find Bear and get to the couch. Oh! And no rom coms please.”

For the first time that morning, Rumi laughed, “They’re good. You just don’t know how to judge acting.”

“You know I’ve acted right?”

She was brought out of her thoughts by the landline ringing again. She glanced over at it, then down the hall to Celine's closed door. She bit her lip, wincing when she forgot how sharp her fangs were. She tried to ignore it, but each ring felt louder and more oppressive, and before she could think logically...

She was suddenly standing by the phone. She didn't even remember getting up, or walking to it. The dissipating pink dust surrounding her was her only clue, and she suppressed a groan. Yet another thing she needed to get a handle on, it seems.

But still... She really did want to answer the phone. Maybe her body knew something her brain didn't. Or...perhaps it was her heart beating out her mind.

She picked the phone up from its holder.

"Celine? You there? Is everything ok?!" Zoey's frantic voice filled the silence of the room, and Rumi felt her breath hitch just hearing it.

"Celine! Something's happened! We think Rumi's in danger and we need your help!"

"Z...Zoey," Rumi stammered, "Zoey, it's ok!"

"RUMI?!" Zoey and Mira, now. Zoey must have her phone on speaker.

"Wait... How do we know it's really you?" Mira demanded, suspicion and fear making her sound harsher than normal, "Demons could have gotten to Celine. Why are you on Jeju, Rumi?"

Rumi could feel her brain buffering, picturing the little spinning beach ball of death. Why was she on Jeju? She couldn't really answer that truthfully for herself, let alone come up with a convincing lie for Mira. "I... Last Christmas I adopted a sea turtle from the WWF for Zoey. She named the plushie representing it 'Myrtle'. And that same year I adopted a polar bear for Mira and she secretly named the plushie 'Snowball' but in public she calls it 'Odin' because it sounds cooler."

"I...I do not," Mira stammered in the background.

"Ok, that's definitely Rumi," Zoey agreed, "But why are you on Jeju?"

"It's...a long story?" Rumi said with a wince.

"Well you can tell us soon in person," Mira told her, "We're almost at the ferry. Should be a few hours."

That's when Rumi registered the sound of a car engine that was probably going a little too fast to be legal in the city. And her panic spiked. "Wait! No! You have to stay in Seoul!"

"What? Why?" Mira demanded.

"What if the Saja Boys try something?" Rumi argued, "People could be in danger. You need to stay there and make sure the Honmoon doesn't get any weaker."

"But what about you?" Zoey asked.

"Don't worry about me," Rumi assured them, frowning as she glanced down at her free hand and all it's patterned, clawed glory, "Focus on keeping people safe. I'll figure things out here with Celine and get back to you guys as soon as I can."

It was quiet for a concerning amount of time, the only sound coming from Mira's aggressive driving.

"Guys?" Rumi tried anxiously.

"Why are you on Jeju, Rumi. We just saw you last night so you would have had to leave right after we went to bed," Mira challenged.

"I..." Rumi gulped, her grip tightening on the phone. She felt her patterns begin to glow hot as she floundered, unable to come up with something convincing. "I...I'm here because-"

The phone creaked, then let out a loud crack as the plastic crumpled in her grip. Rumi dropped what was left of the device with a panicked gasp, trying and failing to calm her breathing.

Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Zoey turned to Mira. The dial tone droned on from the phone she held between them, speaking louder than anything "Rumi" could have said.

"Do we...do what she said?" Zoey wondered tentatively, "She was right... What if the Saja Boys are planning something and they wanted us out of the city?"

Mira sucked in a deep breath and exhaled sharply through her nose. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, willing the red light to change if it valued its life. Ahead of them, they could see the turn off to the ferry dock.

"Right now, I couldn't give less of a shit about the Saja Boys," she growled, taking off a little too sharply and squealing the tires when the light changed.

The ferry to Jeju Island was large enough that both Zoey and Mira could simply cover their heads and they could avoid detection. The last thing they needed was someone getting a picture of them and thinking they were going to Jeju Island because Celine died or something---Bobby would not like having to deal with that story.

"Rumi or...something like Rumi is on Jeju Island and we need to figure out what is going on. First that demon pretends to be her this morning and teleports away before we can kill it, then Celine isn't answered our calls or texts and then we do get in touch with Rumi and somehow she's made it to Jeju Island in the middle of the night without either of us waking up or telling us? Something is wrong and we need to figure out what."

"I know. I know. You're right. We need to figure out what's going on with Rumi. The Saja Boys don't matter if our group falls apart."

Mira must have finally sensed how stressed and scared Zoey was because she extended a hand forward and rested it on Zoey's wrist, "Our group won't fall apart. It's Rumi. She may do...a lot that we don't fully understand but she wouldn't do any malicious or stupid."

"You're right. It's Rumi. Rumi's our leader and our friend. Once we see her face to face, we'll figure out what's going on and get a good, solid, honest answer."

---------

"They're coming here?" Celine fought to keep the sharpness out of her tone, "They called you almost an hour ago so they're probably on the ferry by now." Celine had a hand in her hair and she was biting her lip so hard that Rumi was positive she could see blood. She'd never seen Celine this stressed.

"Are we going to run?" Rumi asked.

"No, I have a better idea." Celine told her, "We'll tell them that this is one of Gwi Ma's tricks." She explained.

"What?"

"Gwi Ma has grown more powerful with the help of the Saja Boys and one of his tricks has been to turn you into a demon. I'll tell Mira and Zoey that once you girls turn the honmoon gold you'll go back to normal and you will! It works perfectly!" Celine was smiling now, like she'd just figured out the solution to all their problems.

"You want me to lie to them again?" Rumi asked.

"I know it hurts Rumi, but this is the best option for you and for Mira and Zoey. It keeps them from hurting you and keeps your group together. Long enough to defeat the Saja Boys and turn the honmoon gold."

For a moment or two, Rumi didn't respond. Instead, she stared down at her patterns. By now they covered her completely and the ends of her hands and feet were turning purple like a demons. She flexed her claws once or twice and allowed her tail to twitch behind her.

This.

This was what she fought for years to keep Mira and Zoey from finding out.

Now they knew.

Now they wanted her dead.

No part of Rumi wanted to die or wanted Mira and Zoey to kill her. Despite her sobs earlier that morning she had been honest when she told Celine that.

But she was too tired to keep lying to them.

Too tired to come up with another lie she had to keep on top of.

And she loved them both too much to add another lie to the list.

"I don't want to keep lying to them," Rumi stated firmly, "They've already seen it. They know, Celine."

"And we can tell them it's an illusion," Celine snapped back.

"A pretty elaborate illusion!" Rumi returned, her tail swishing in response.

"Rumi..." Celine warned.

"No! This is my only chance to tell them the truth!" Rumi argued.

"You won't get a chance to tell them! They'll take one look at you and-"

"Then help me! They might not listen to me but they will listen to you!"

"There's no guarantee of that! I taught you all to never hesitate, and to be suspicious of everything out of place. What if they think I'm a demon, too?"

Rumi's patterns started to burn once again, but this time the pain felt different. It didn't feel like the punishing sting of doing something stupid and getting injured. It felt like something needling, like bee stings on the hide of a bear. "But you can prove it! A...and then you can tell them-"

"I'm going to tell them that this is a trick by Gwi-Ma," Celine said defiantly, "And you aren't going to tell them otherwise. We need to get a handle on this, Rumi. Right now the safest thing to do is-"

"What's the point of being safe if I'm lying to my friends forever?" Rumi challenged, "How is constantly having to keep track of what I tell them better than just telling them the truth?" Her tail thrashed angrily. A lump was forming in her throat, a sound she suspected wasn't going to be human so she held it back.

"You won't have to worry about it for long," Celine returned, "Just until the Honmoon turns gold and fixes everything."

"And what if it doesn't?!" Her voice rose just a little too much, there was too much fire in her heart, and a multi-layered timber erupted from her throat. The Honmoon shuddered worryingly, and the lights flickered before burning out, leaving Rumi as the dominant light source in the room.

That, and the glowing hilt and lower half of a blade materializing from the Honmoon.

Celine dispelled the sword quickly, holding her hands up in front of her to prove she wasn't going to do that again. But the damage had been done anyway.

"Are you...afraid of me?" Rumi uttered, her anger dissolving as if doused in acid.

"No, Rumi, I..." Celine ran her hands shakily though her hair, a move Rumi rarely saw but knew it was a sign her guardian was stressed. "That is why we have to hide it," Celine insisted after a moment to collect her thoughts, "It's not that I wanted to do that. And it's not that Mira and Zoey want to kill you. We've been trained to see things a certain way. To react a certain way. And... One wrong move, and..."

Rumi took a step back. She shook her head in disbelief. "But... If you've been trained one way, then you can learn something else. Y...you didn't kill me in the garden, even when I looked like..."

"Rumi... The risk is too great. You can't trust that they won't see a flash of your patterns and..."

Rumi swallowed tightly, her claws digging into her biceps as she crossed her arms over herself. "Did...did that ever happen with you?" she asked shakily.

Now she could only see the blades that had been hovering in them just moments ago... against her.

She wasn't safe anywhere.

She wasnt safe.

She wasn't safe like this with Mira and Zoey, who wanted to cut her down for the human Rumi never was.

She wasn't safe like this with Celine, who at the first sign of Rumi not bending to her caused her to summon weapons against the demon she saw.

She definitely wasnt safe among the demons they saw her as. That she currently was.

Because she never belonged anywhere, did she?

She had hoped... had foolishly believed she could... but with one single raise of her voice, and three sets of weapons summoned against her in the span of an hour... she finally understood.

She realized as her own mother Celine couldnt even look her in the eyes... she belonged nowhere.

And with every fiber of her being realizing it- believing it- her uncontrollable teleport obliged that truth of where she felt she belonged.

When Celine finally shoved her own shame down enough to look her daughter Rumi in the eyes again, she found only the faint trace of smoke where she once stood.

Rumi was nowhere to be seen.

(Too scared to delete my other post and I didn’t see this one so I’m just responding here)

“RUMI!?!”

Mira and Zoey arrived at the compound without expecting much. They wanted answers from Celine and Rumi, yes, but they never believed it would be a huge event. In the back of Zoey’s mind she still hoped that this could all be fixed with a simple explanation and then they’d laugh about it all the way back to Seoul.

Something told her that wasn’t the case.

And something really told her that when they arrived and found Celine running around the compound like she had lost the most precious thing in the world to her, screaming Rumi’s name while her voice gave out.

“Celine?! Celine, what’s going on?!”

“Rumi’s gone! I don’t know where she went but she’s scared and angry and—Miyeong.”

“Woah. Woah.” Mira grabbed Celine’s shoulders, “What is going on?”

“We have to find Rumi. She left and I don’t know where she went. I don’t know if she’s safe or if she even knows where she’s going.” What if she teleported away?! She couldn’t control where she ended up. What if she ended up in Gwi Ma’s lair or with the Saja Boys??

“Why did Rumi leave Jeju Island? Did you two fight?” Zoey asked.

“Rumi—…The demon you saw today was Rumi.”

“…..I’m sorry what?”

“She’s half demon. She was born with patterns that I’ve been helping her hide since she was a baby.” Celine explained, “That demon you saw today was her. She was telling you the truth.”

“You lied to us?!?”

“We almost killed Rumi!”

“We don’t have time to worry about either of those things right now! Please! I know we both lied but Rumi is out there and she needs our help. She needs you two.” Honmoon knew she didn’t need her right now.

“No, no, we’re getting answers—“ Mira stopped when she felt Zoey’s hand on her arm.

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”

Zoey turns to look at Mira. “What?”

Mira shrugs. “Fuck off Demon,” she says as she resummons her weapon.

“Yeah, fuck off!” Zoey grins and bounces in place.

Rumi holds her hands out in front of her. “Please just call Celine!”

Mira scoffs. “Whatever. Fine demon. Zoey keep your Shin-kals pointed at her.” Mira grabs her phone off the counter and dials Celine.

“Mira?”

“Celine, there’s a demon here that looks like Rumi, insisting it is Rumi.” Mira spins her gok-do causally while Zoey bounces around Rumi, laughing and goading her.

“ITS RUMI! DONT HURT HER! IT IS RUMI! Im coming right now! DO! NOT! HURT! HER! We’ve been keeping this a secret! It’s not her fault! Do not hurt her! Im coming right now!”

Mira turns wide eyed to the girls.

“Hey Mira! Look! Im Rumi!” Zoey says holding a shinkal in one hand and Rumi’s freshly severed braid on top of her head with the other. "Born to be!" she belts out, spinning around so that the braid floats out behind her.

Mira stares opened mouthed at Rumi, still kneeling in the kitchen, tears welling up in her eyes, her short hair framing her face.

A small voice from Mira’s phone murmurs “Mira? Can you hear me? Do not hurt her!”

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”

And she vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

The gok-do slammed into the mirror wall, exploding glass in every direction.

At first, Rumi wasn't sure where she was. Her brain was still firing too fast, her heart beating so quickly and her breaths coming so short she was dizzy and lightheaded. But as she blinked and got her bearings, she realized this place was familiar.

The garden rows that she used to run up and down as a child stretched before her, lined with plants with summer harvests waiting to be collected. And there, at the end of the row she stood in, was Celine, calmly pulling weeds as she would so often do on summer mornings.

Relief was the first thing she felt, washing over her and putting her soul at ease. That must have been how she got here: whenever Rumi had a nightmare she would seek out her mother Celine. Celine always knew how to put her mind at ease, how to comfort her when she was afraid. And right now Rumi had never been so lost, so fucking terrified. She was having the worst nightmare imaginable, so of course she went to Celine.

Then Celine turned, and froze when their eyes met. And all of that relief was replaced by panic. Because what if Celine only sees her as a demon, too? What if she also thinks she replaced Rumi and tries to put her down? The idea that the only safe harbour Rumi had was gone rendered her paralyzed, once again unable to move as her potential demise stared at her with an unreadable expression. But Rumi knew Celine. She knew how she hunted demons.

She knew she'd never even get a chance to see it coming.

So she just...crumbled. She sunk to her knees, curled up in a little ball, and waited for it to end. She barely registered the tears trailing down her cheeks, or how panic-stricken breaths had turned to sobs. She didn't want to die. She didn't even know why the universe suddenly decided she should. She was so scared and alone and she hated herself so much for being this...this thing that all of her loved ones wanted to kill and she just wanted her mom and...

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, gentle and cautious. When Rumi dared to glance up, she was met with Celine's concerned frown. Worry and fear were etched clearly on her face, but recognition was there too. "Rumi?" she uttered, clearly taking in Rumi's physical changes, "What happened?"

Then a sound came from the pocket on Celine's cardigan. One day, before they debuted, Zoey had somehow managed to get a hold of Celine's phone and set different ringtones for each of her charges' numbers, and Celine had never bothered to change them. (And would never admit that she liked the personal touch, especially knowing that Zoey had asked Mira and Rumi to pick a song.) And so now, both of them knew who it was without even having to see the ringing phone:

That was all Celine had to hear.

She didn’t care about Zoey’s call.

She didn’t care that Rumi had tiny horns that were pushing into her chin.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s claws were digging into her back.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s tail was wrapped around her leg.

And she didn’t care that Rumi was currently sobbing so hard into her cardigan that the fact that she was able to get any words out at all was a shock.

The only thing she cared about was getting Rumi inside, safe, warm….and maybe fed. Had she eaten that morning? It was still early so maybe not? But water probably took priority right now over food. No, it definitely did. So shelter, comfort, water and food. In that order.

Celine had years of demon hunting to thank for her ability to pick up Rumi without an issue and carry her inside the compound. Even though the girls all lived in the city, Rumi’s room remained untouched in case she ever needed it and, thankfully, Rumi hadn’t grown much since she left the compound so she easily fit into her bed.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Celine asked, brushing Rumi’s hair out of her eyes, “Did….it happen?”

“Mmmhmm.” The only reason Rumi wasn’t sobbing anymore was because she kept her eyes snapped up.

“I take it it went badly?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Should I accept Zoey’s call or leave it?”

“….”

“Let’s return to that later then. Do you want some water? Some food?” Celine asked, “Do you want Bear?”

“Bear.”

“Okay. I put him up so he wouldn’t get covered in dust. Can you let go of me so that I can go get him?” That seemed to be the first time Rumi realized she was still holding onto the cardigan, her claws having now broken through the fabric.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“No, shhhh. Shhh. You’re okay, Rumi. You’re okay. You know I have 100 cardigans and I have plenty of money to buy more.” Rumi let out another sob, “Just breathe, Rumi. Breathe.”

From her pocket, Rumi could hear another ringtone.

Mira.

Celine glanced down at the ball of stress and sadness on the bed next to her. Rumi was still tucked into herself, claws gripping Celine's arm (but now with a careful tenderness, enough to grip but not puncture fabric or skin). Her tail had ended up wrapped around Celine's middle, the soft fur and striped pattern reminding Celine of an especially clingy cat. A single golden eye peered up at Celine from the shadows created by Rumi's current posture, and despite the unsettling inhuman-ness of it the sight still tugged at Celine's heartstrings. The iris was like molten iron, burning gold and red and emitting a soft light, but the tears pooling in it reminded her that it wasn't physically hot.

"My priority is you right now," Celine stated softly, running a gentle hand over Rumi's shoulder, "We can deal with everything else later."

"But..." Rumi swallowed tightly. Celine felt an involuntary shudder travel through Rumi's body. "They think I... They thought I replaced..."

"...I see."

The ringing had run its course, but only seconds later it started up again. On top of that, she could feel it buzz the way it would when receiving texts, and it was practically performing morse code in her pocket.

"I'm not going to leave you," Celine promised. She bit her lip, her hand shifting to thread her fingers through Rumi's hair. She gingerly ran over the horn sprouting from Rumi's skull, pushing some of the hair aside to ensure it hadn't done damage when it broke through. "Do you remember how this happened?" she tried again, "Anything unusual? A demon bite, or...some sort of curse?"

Rumi shook her head. "I just...woke up. I didn't even feel different. I..." she let out a shaky breath and curled further into herself. "I don't know," she whined pitifully.

"Ok, it's ok," Celine assured her, "We can figure this out."

"I don't... I was so close," Rumi continued sadly, "There was so much gold but now... How can I show my face now? Mira and Zoey want to kill me and I look like a monster and I couldn't sing to begin with and-"

"Hold on: you couldn't sing?" Celine asked, a sense of urgency beginning to rise in her voice, "What do you mean by that?"

Rumi froze, her body going stiff under Celine's hand. "I...I couldn't sing Golden," she revealed, "Th...the other night, when we had to cancel the song debut... I couldn't reach the high note and I...ran."

Celine sighed. She had been informed about Rumi having issues with that performance, and about how she had disappeared and didn't return to the set. She had been meaning to check in about that, but she wanted to give Rumi a bit of space. Huntr/x might have fallen under her label, but they were also grown adults with their own manager and responsibilites. It wasn't Celine's place to micromanage everything.

A sharp ringing pierced the air, causing both of their heads to snap at attention toward the door. Where, beyond the door, the landline was ringing. Celine sighed. That phone never rung, since so few people actually knew the number, so she had a suspicion about who was on the other line.

“Zoey-Zoey had this idea to go to this guy named Han for special tonics that were supposed to help my voice. I didn’t really think—I mean I thought…I thought they might be able to help but I didn’t really think about them much.”

“Okay. And I assume you took one last night?”

“Mmhmm. It was just grape juice when I peeled back the label but I like grape juice so I took it. Then I woke up and…” Rumi’s tail wrapped tighter around Celine.

“And you looked like this. It sounds like those tonics definitely had something to do with this but this is good. This is really good, Rumi. I have people in Seoul who can find this guy and fix this. You’ll be back to normal so soon and then we’ll figure out what to do about Zoey and Mira.” The use of Zoey and Mira’s name made Rumi flinch. Celine made a mental note to keep them out of the conversation for a bit, “Now that we know that, how about this? You feel like you can walk?”

Rumi nodded.

“Good. You come into the main room and lay on the couch, you can watch some tv, and I’ll get some food for both of us and call about this Han guy.” Celine told her, “Some demons, including half demons, can disguise their demon forms with concentration. If you can relax, maybe you can try and appear more human. It’s not a permanent solution but you would at least be able to walk around Jeju Island.”

“I-I’m sorry, Cece.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I should have kept it together longer. We were almost there and now Mira and Zoey want me dead and the Saja Boys are going to take over and everyone’s gonna die and it’ll be because I’m a good for nothing—“

“Hey!” Celine grabbed Rumi’s head and pushed it towards her. She’d heard those words too much in her own mind to let Rumi finish that sentence, “Listen to me, this is not your fault. It’s a set back but it’s one we’ll work on together. You’re not alone in this, Rumi.”

“…Thank you… Eomma Celine.”

“Always. Now, go find Bear and get to the couch. Oh! And no rom coms please.”

For the first time that morning, Rumi laughed, “They’re good. You just don’t know how to judge acting.”

“You know I’ve acted right?”

She was brought out of her thoughts by the landline ringing again. She glanced over at it, then down the hall to Celine's closed door. She bit her lip, wincing when she forgot how sharp her fangs were. She tried to ignore it, but each ring felt louder and more oppressive, and before she could think logically...

She was suddenly standing by the phone. She didn't even remember getting up, or walking to it. The dissipating pink dust surrounding her was her only clue, and she suppressed a groan. Yet another thing she needed to get a handle on, it seems.

But still... She really did want to answer the phone. Maybe her body knew something her brain didn't. Or...perhaps it was her heart beating out her mind.

She picked the phone up from its holder.

"Celine? You there? Is everything ok?!" Zoey's frantic voice filled the silence of the room, and Rumi felt her breath hitch just hearing it.

"Celine! Something's happened! We think Rumi's in danger and we need your help!"

"Z...Zoey," Rumi stammered, "Zoey, it's ok!"

"RUMI?!" Zoey and Mira, now. Zoey must have her phone on speaker.

"Wait... How do we know it's really you?" Mira demanded, suspicion and fear making her sound harsher than normal, "Demons could have gotten to Celine. Why are you on Jeju, Rumi?"

Rumi could feel her brain buffering, picturing the little spinning beach ball of death. Why was she on Jeju? She couldn't really answer that truthfully for herself, let alone come up with a convincing lie for Mira. "I... Last Christmas I adopted a sea turtle from the WWF for Zoey. She named the plushie representing it 'Myrtle'. And that same year I adopted a polar bear for Mira and she secretly named the plushie 'Snowball' but in public she calls it 'Odin' because it sounds cooler."

"I...I do not," Mira stammered in the background.

"Ok, that's definitely Rumi," Zoey agreed, "But why are you on Jeju?"

"It's...a long story?" Rumi said with a wince.

"Well you can tell us soon in person," Mira told her, "We're almost at the ferry. Should be a few hours."

That's when Rumi registered the sound of a car engine that was probably going a little too fast to be legal in the city. And her panic spiked. "Wait! No! You have to stay in Seoul!"

"What? Why?" Mira demanded.

"What if the Saja Boys try something?" Rumi argued, "People could be in danger. You need to stay there and make sure the Honmoon doesn't get any weaker."

"But what about you?" Zoey asked.

"Don't worry about me," Rumi assured them, frowning as she glanced down at her free hand and all it's patterned, clawed glory, "Focus on keeping people safe. I'll figure things out here with Celine and get back to you guys as soon as I can."

It was quiet for a concerning amount of time, the only sound coming from Mira's aggressive driving.

"Guys?" Rumi tried anxiously.

"Why are you on Jeju, Rumi. We just saw you last night so you would have had to leave right after we went to bed," Mira challenged.

"I..." Rumi gulped, her grip tightening on the phone. She felt her patterns begin to glow hot as she floundered, unable to come up with something convincing. "I...I'm here because-"

The phone creaked, then let out a loud crack as the plastic crumpled in her grip. Rumi dropped what was left of the device with a panicked gasp, trying and failing to calm her breathing.

Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Zoey turned to Mira. The dial tone droned on from the phone she held between them, speaking louder than anything "Rumi" could have said.

"Do we...do what she said?" Zoey wondered tentatively, "She was right... What if the Saja Boys are planning something and they wanted us out of the city?"

Mira sucked in a deep breath and exhaled sharply through her nose. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, willing the red light to change if it valued its life. Ahead of them, they could see the turn off to the ferry dock.

"Right now, I couldn't give less of a shit about the Saja Boys," she growled, taking off a little too sharply and squealing the tires when the light changed.

The ferry to Jeju Island was large enough that both Zoey and Mira could simply cover their heads and they could avoid detection. The last thing they needed was someone getting a picture of them and thinking they were going to Jeju Island because Celine died or something---Bobby would not like having to deal with that story.

"Rumi or...something like Rumi is on Jeju Island and we need to figure out what is going on. First that demon pretends to be her this morning and teleports away before we can kill it, then Celine isn't answered our calls or texts and then we do get in touch with Rumi and somehow she's made it to Jeju Island in the middle of the night without either of us waking up or telling us? Something is wrong and we need to figure out what."

"I know. I know. You're right. We need to figure out what's going on with Rumi. The Saja Boys don't matter if our group falls apart."

Mira must have finally sensed how stressed and scared Zoey was because she extended a hand forward and rested it on Zoey's wrist, "Our group won't fall apart. It's Rumi. She may do...a lot that we don't fully understand but she wouldn't do any malicious or stupid."

"You're right. It's Rumi. Rumi's our leader and our friend. Once we see her face to face, we'll figure out what's going on and get a good, solid, honest answer."

---------

"They're coming here?" Celine fought to keep the sharpness out of her tone, "They called you almost an hour ago so they're probably on the ferry by now." Celine had a hand in her hair and she was biting her lip so hard that Rumi was positive she could see blood. She'd never seen Celine this stressed.

"Are we going to run?" Rumi asked.

"No, I have a better idea." Celine told her, "We'll tell them that this is one of Gwi Ma's tricks." She explained.

"What?"

"Gwi Ma has grown more powerful with the help of the Saja Boys and one of his tricks has been to turn you into a demon. I'll tell Mira and Zoey that once you girls turn the honmoon gold you'll go back to normal and you will! It works perfectly!" Celine was smiling now, like she'd just figured out the solution to all their problems.

"You want me to lie to them again?" Rumi asked.

"I know it hurts Rumi, but this is the best option for you and for Mira and Zoey. It keeps them from hurting you and keeps your group together. Long enough to defeat the Saja Boys and turn the honmoon gold."

For a moment or two, Rumi didn't respond. Instead, she stared down at her patterns. By now they covered her completely and the ends of her hands and feet were turning purple like a demons. She flexed her claws once or twice and allowed her tail to twitch behind her.

This.

This was what she fought for years to keep Mira and Zoey from finding out.

Now they knew.

Now they wanted her dead.

No part of Rumi wanted to die or wanted Mira and Zoey to kill her. Despite her sobs earlier that morning she had been honest when she told Celine that.

But she was too tired to keep lying to them.

Too tired to come up with another lie she had to keep on top of.

And she loved them both too much to add another lie to the list.

"I don't want to keep lying to them," Rumi stated firmly, "They've already seen it. They know, Celine."

"And we can tell them it's an illusion," Celine snapped back.

"A pretty elaborate illusion!" Rumi returned, her tail swishing in response.

"Rumi..." Celine warned.

"No! This is my only chance to tell them the truth!" Rumi argued.

"You won't get a chance to tell them! They'll take one look at you and-"

"Then help me! They might not listen to me but they will listen to you!"

"There's no guarantee of that! I taught you all to never hesitate, and to be suspicious of everything out of place. What if they think I'm a demon, too?"

Rumi's patterns started to burn once again, but this time the pain felt different. It didn't feel like the punishing sting of doing something stupid and getting injured. It felt like something needling, like bee stings on the hide of a bear. "But you can prove it! A...and then you can tell them-"

"I'm going to tell them that this is a trick by Gwi-Ma," Celine said defiantly, "And you aren't going to tell them otherwise. We need to get a handle on this, Rumi. Right now the safest thing to do is-"

"What's the point of being safe if I'm lying to my friends forever?" Rumi challenged, "How is constantly having to keep track of what I tell them better than just telling them the truth?" Her tail thrashed angrily. A lump was forming in her throat, a sound she suspected wasn't going to be human so she held it back.

"You won't have to worry about it for long," Celine returned, "Just until the Honmoon turns gold and fixes everything."

"And what if it doesn't?!" Her voice rose just a little too much, there was too much fire in her heart, and a multi-layered timber erupted from her throat. The Honmoon shuddered worryingly, and the lights flickered before burning out, leaving Rumi as the dominant light source in the room.

That, and the glowing hilt and lower half of a blade materializing from the Honmoon.

Celine dispelled the sword quickly, holding her hands up in front of her to prove she wasn't going to do that again. But the damage had been done anyway.

"Are you...afraid of me?" Rumi uttered, her anger dissolving as if doused in acid.

"No, Rumi, I..." Celine ran her hands shakily though her hair, a move Rumi rarely saw but knew it was a sign her guardian was stressed. "That is why we have to hide it," Celine insisted after a moment to collect her thoughts, "It's not that I wanted to do that. And it's not that Mira and Zoey want to kill you. We've been trained to see things a certain way. To react a certain way. And... One wrong move, and..."

Rumi took a step back. She shook her head in disbelief. "But... If you've been trained one way, then you can learn something else. Y...you didn't kill me in the garden, even when I looked like..."

"Rumi... The risk is too great. You can't trust that they won't see a flash of your patterns and..."

Rumi swallowed tightly, her claws digging into her biceps as she crossed her arms over herself. "Did...did that ever happen with you?" she asked shakily.

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”

And she vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

The gok-do slammed into the mirror wall, exploding glass in every direction.

At first, Rumi wasn't sure where she was. Her brain was still firing too fast, her heart beating so quickly and her breaths coming so short she was dizzy and lightheaded. But as she blinked and got her bearings, she realized this place was familiar.

The garden rows that she used to run up and down as a child stretched before her, lined with plants with summer harvests waiting to be collected. And there, at the end of the row she stood in, was Celine, calmly pulling weeds as she would so often do on summer mornings.

Relief was the first thing she felt, washing over her and putting her soul at ease. That must have been how she got here: whenever Rumi had a nightmare she would seek out her mother Celine. Celine always knew how to put her mind at ease, how to comfort her when she was afraid. And right now Rumi had never been so lost, so fucking terrified. She was having the worst nightmare imaginable, so of course she went to Celine.

Then Celine turned, and froze when their eyes met. And all of that relief was replaced by panic. Because what if Celine only sees her as a demon, too? What if she also thinks she replaced Rumi and tries to put her down? The idea that the only safe harbour Rumi had was gone rendered her paralyzed, once again unable to move as her potential demise stared at her with an unreadable expression. But Rumi knew Celine. She knew how she hunted demons.

She knew she'd never even get a chance to see it coming.

So she just...crumbled. She sunk to her knees, curled up in a little ball, and waited for it to end. She barely registered the tears trailing down her cheeks, or how panic-stricken breaths had turned to sobs. She didn't want to die. She didn't even know why the universe suddenly decided she should. She was so scared and alone and she hated herself so much for being this...this thing that all of her loved ones wanted to kill and she just wanted her mom and...

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, gentle and cautious. When Rumi dared to glance up, she was met with Celine's concerned frown. Worry and fear were etched clearly on her face, but recognition was there too. "Rumi?" she uttered, clearly taking in Rumi's physical changes, "What happened?"

Then a sound came from the pocket on Celine's cardigan. One day, before they debuted, Zoey had somehow managed to get a hold of Celine's phone and set different ringtones for each of her charges' numbers, and Celine had never bothered to change them. (And would never admit that she liked the personal touch, especially knowing that Zoey had asked Mira and Rumi to pick a song.) And so now, both of them knew who it was without even having to see the ringing phone:

That was all Celine had to hear.

She didn’t care about Zoey’s call.

She didn’t care that Rumi had tiny horns that were pushing into her chin.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s claws were digging into her back.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s tail was wrapped around her leg.

And she didn’t care that Rumi was currently sobbing so hard into her cardigan that the fact that she was able to get any words out at all was a shock.

The only thing she cared about was getting Rumi inside, safe, warm….and maybe fed. Had she eaten that morning? It was still early so maybe not? But water probably took priority right now over food. No, it definitely did. So shelter, comfort, water and food. In that order.

Celine had years of demon hunting to thank for her ability to pick up Rumi without an issue and carry her inside the compound. Even though the girls all lived in the city, Rumi’s room remained untouched in case she ever needed it and, thankfully, Rumi hadn’t grown much since she left the compound so she easily fit into her bed.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Celine asked, brushing Rumi’s hair out of her eyes, “Did….it happen?”

“Mmmhmm.” The only reason Rumi wasn’t sobbing anymore was because she kept her eyes snapped up.

“I take it it went badly?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Should I accept Zoey’s call or leave it?”

“….”

“Let’s return to that later then. Do you want some water? Some food?” Celine asked, “Do you want Bear?”

“Bear.”

“Okay. I put him up so he wouldn’t get covered in dust. Can you let go of me so that I can go get him?” That seemed to be the first time Rumi realized she was still holding onto the cardigan, her claws having now broken through the fabric.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“No, shhhh. Shhh. You’re okay, Rumi. You’re okay. You know I have 100 cardigans and I have plenty of money to buy more.” Rumi let out another sob, “Just breathe, Rumi. Breathe.”

From her pocket, Rumi could hear another ringtone.

Mira.

Celine glanced down at the ball of stress and sadness on the bed next to her. Rumi was still tucked into herself, claws gripping Celine's arm (but now with a careful tenderness, enough to grip but not puncture fabric or skin). Her tail had ended up wrapped around Celine's middle, the soft fur and striped pattern reminding Celine of an especially clingy cat. A single golden eye peered up at Celine from the shadows created by Rumi's current posture, and despite the unsettling inhuman-ness of it the sight still tugged at Celine's heartstrings. The iris was like molten iron, burning gold and red and emitting a soft light, but the tears pooling in it reminded her that it wasn't physically hot.

"My priority is you right now," Celine stated softly, running a gentle hand over Rumi's shoulder, "We can deal with everything else later."

"But..." Rumi swallowed tightly. Celine felt an involuntary shudder travel through Rumi's body. "They think I... They thought I replaced..."

"...I see."

The ringing had run its course, but only seconds later it started up again. On top of that, she could feel it buzz the way it would when receiving texts, and it was practically performing morse code in her pocket.

"I'm not going to leave you," Celine promised. She bit her lip, her hand shifting to thread her fingers through Rumi's hair. She gingerly ran over the horn sprouting from Rumi's skull, pushing some of the hair aside to ensure it hadn't done damage when it broke through. "Do you remember how this happened?" she tried again, "Anything unusual? A demon bite, or...some sort of curse?"

Rumi shook her head. "I just...woke up. I didn't even feel different. I..." she let out a shaky breath and curled further into herself. "I don't know," she whined pitifully.

"Ok, it's ok," Celine assured her, "We can figure this out."

"I don't... I was so close," Rumi continued sadly, "There was so much gold but now... How can I show my face now? Mira and Zoey want to kill me and I look like a monster and I couldn't sing to begin with and-"

"Hold on: you couldn't sing?" Celine asked, a sense of urgency beginning to rise in her voice, "What do you mean by that?"

Rumi froze, her body going stiff under Celine's hand. "I...I couldn't sing Golden," she revealed, "Th...the other night, when we had to cancel the song debut... I couldn't reach the high note and I...ran."

Celine sighed. She had been informed about Rumi having issues with that performance, and about how she had disappeared and didn't return to the set. She had been meaning to check in about that, but she wanted to give Rumi a bit of space. Huntr/x might have fallen under her label, but they were also grown adults with their own manager and responsibilites. It wasn't Celine's place to micromanage everything.

A sharp ringing pierced the air, causing both of their heads to snap at attention toward the door. Where, beyond the door, the landline was ringing. Celine sighed. That phone never rung, since so few people actually knew the number, so she had a suspicion about who was on the other line.

“Zoey-Zoey had this idea to go to this guy named Han for special tonics that were supposed to help my voice. I didn’t really think—I mean I thought…I thought they might be able to help but I didn’t really think about them much.”

“Okay. And I assume you took one last night?”

“Mmhmm. It was just grape juice when I peeled back the label but I like grape juice so I took it. Then I woke up and…” Rumi’s tail wrapped tighter around Celine.

“And you looked like this. It sounds like those tonics definitely had something to do with this but this is good. This is really good, Rumi. I have people in Seoul who can find this guy and fix this. You’ll be back to normal so soon and then we’ll figure out what to do about Zoey and Mira.” The use of Zoey and Mira’s name made Rumi flinch. Celine made a mental note to keep them out of the conversation for a bit, “Now that we know that, how about this? You feel like you can walk?”

Rumi nodded.

“Good. You come into the main room and lay on the couch, you can watch some tv, and I’ll get some food for both of us and call about this Han guy.” Celine told her, “Some demons, including half demons, can disguise their demon forms with concentration. If you can relax, maybe you can try and appear more human. It’s not a permanent solution but you would at least be able to walk around Jeju Island.”

“I-I’m sorry, Cece.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I should have kept it together longer. We were almost there and now Mira and Zoey want me dead and the Saja Boys are going to take over and everyone’s gonna die and it’ll be because I’m a good for nothing—“

“Hey!” Celine grabbed Rumi’s head and pushed it towards her. She’d heard those words too much in her own mind to let Rumi finish that sentence, “Listen to me, this is not your fault. It’s a set back but it’s one we’ll work on together. You’re not alone in this, Rumi.”

“…Thank you… Eomma Celine.”

“Always. Now, go find Bear and get to the couch. Oh! And no rom coms please.”

For the first time that morning, Rumi laughed, “They’re good. You just don’t know how to judge acting.”

“You know I’ve acted right?”

She was brought out of her thoughts by the landline ringing again. She glanced over at it, then down the hall to Celine's closed door. She bit her lip, wincing when she forgot how sharp her fangs were. She tried to ignore it, but each ring felt louder and more oppressive, and before she could think logically...

She was suddenly standing by the phone. She didn't even remember getting up, or walking to it. The dissipating pink dust surrounding her was her only clue, and she suppressed a groan. Yet another thing she needed to get a handle on, it seems.

But still... She really did want to answer the phone. Maybe her body knew something her brain didn't. Or...perhaps it was her heart beating out her mind.

She picked the phone up from its holder.

"Celine? You there? Is everything ok?!" Zoey's frantic voice filled the silence of the room, and Rumi felt her breath hitch just hearing it.

"Celine! Something's happened! We think Rumi's in danger and we need your help!"

"Z...Zoey," Rumi stammered, "Zoey, it's ok!"

"RUMI?!" Zoey and Mira, now. Zoey must have her phone on speaker.

"Wait... How do we know it's really you?" Mira demanded, suspicion and fear making her sound harsher than normal, "Demons could have gotten to Celine. Why are you on Jeju, Rumi?"

Rumi could feel her brain buffering, picturing the little spinning beach ball of death. Why was she on Jeju? She couldn't really answer that truthfully for herself, let alone come up with a convincing lie for Mira. "I... Last Christmas I adopted a sea turtle from the WWF for Zoey. She named the plushie representing it 'Myrtle'. And that same year I adopted a polar bear for Mira and she secretly named the plushie 'Snowball' but in public she calls it 'Odin' because it sounds cooler."

"I...I do not," Mira stammered in the background.

"Ok, that's definitely Rumi," Zoey agreed, "But why are you on Jeju?"

"It's...a long story?" Rumi said with a wince.

"Well you can tell us soon in person," Mira told her, "We're almost at the ferry. Should be a few hours."

That's when Rumi registered the sound of a car engine that was probably going a little too fast to be legal in the city. And her panic spiked. "Wait! No! You have to stay in Seoul!"

"What? Why?" Mira demanded.

"What if the Saja Boys try something?" Rumi argued, "People could be in danger. You need to stay there and make sure the Honmoon doesn't get any weaker."

"But what about you?" Zoey asked.

"Don't worry about me," Rumi assured them, frowning as she glanced down at her free hand and all it's patterned, clawed glory, "Focus on keeping people safe. I'll figure things out here with Celine and get back to you guys as soon as I can."

It was quiet for a concerning amount of time, the only sound coming from Mira's aggressive driving.

"Guys?" Rumi tried anxiously.

"Why are you on Jeju, Rumi. We just saw you last night so you would have had to leave right after we went to bed," Mira challenged.

"I..." Rumi gulped, her grip tightening on the phone. She felt her patterns begin to glow hot as she floundered, unable to come up with something convincing. "I...I'm here because-"

The phone creaked, then let out a loud crack as the plastic crumpled in her grip. Rumi dropped what was left of the device with a panicked gasp, trying and failing to calm her breathing.

Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Zoey turned to Mira. The dial tone droned on from the phone she held between them, speaking louder than anything "Rumi" could have said.

"Do we...do what she said?" Zoey wondered tentatively, "She was right... What if the Saja Boys are planning something and they wanted us out of the city?"

Mira sucked in a deep breath and exhaled sharply through her nose. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, willing the red light to change if it valued its life. Ahead of them, they could see the turn off to the ferry dock.

"Right now, I couldn't give less of a shit about the Saja Boys," she growled, taking off a little too sharply and squealing the tires when the light changed.

The ferry to Jeju Island was large enough that both Zoey and Mira could simply cover their heads and they could avoid detection. The last thing they needed was someone getting a picture of them and thinking they were going to Jeju Island because Celine died or something---Bobby would not like having to deal with that story.

"Rumi or...something like Rumi is on Jeju Island and we need to figure out what is going on. First that demon pretends to be her this morning and teleports away before we can kill it, then Celine isn't answered our calls or texts and then we do get in touch with Rumi and somehow she's made it to Jeju Island in the middle of the night without either of us waking up or telling us? Something is wrong and we need to figure out what."

"I know. I know. You're right. We need to figure out what's going on with Rumi. The Saja Boys don't matter if our group falls apart."

Mira must have finally sensed how stressed and scared Zoey was because she extended a hand forward and rested it on Zoey's wrist, "Our group won't fall apart. It's Rumi. She may do...a lot that we don't fully understand but she wouldn't do any malicious or stupid."

"You're right. It's Rumi. Rumi's our leader and our friend. Once we see her face to face, we'll figure out what's going on and get a good, solid, honest answer."

---------

"They're coming here?" Celine fought to keep the sharpness out of her tone, "They called you almost an hour ago so they're probably on the ferry by now." Celine had a hand in her hair and she was biting her lip so hard that Rumi was positive she could see blood. She'd never seen Celine this stressed.

"Are we going to run?" Rumi asked.

"No, I have a better idea." Celine told her, "We'll tell them that this is one of Gwi Ma's tricks." She explained.

"What?"

"Gwi Ma has grown more powerful with the help of the Saja Boys and one of his tricks has been to turn you into a demon. I'll tell Mira and Zoey that once you girls turn the honmoon gold you'll go back to normal and you will! It works perfectly!" Celine was smiling now, like she'd just figured out the solution to all their problems.

"You want me to lie to them again?" Rumi asked.

"I know it hurts Rumi, but this is the best option for you and for Mira and Zoey. It keeps them from hurting you and keeps your group together. Long enough to defeat the Saja Boys and turn the honmoon gold."

For a moment or two, Rumi didn't respond. Instead, she stared down at her patterns. By now they covered her completely and the ends of her hands and feet were turning purple like a demons. She flexed her claws once or twice and allowed her tail to twitch behind her.

This.

This was what she fought for years to keep Mira and Zoey from finding out.

Now they knew.

Now they wanted her dead.

No part of Rumi wanted to die or wanted Mira and Zoey to kill her. Despite her sobs earlier that morning she had been honest when she told Celine that.

But she was too tired to keep lying to them.

Too tired to come up with another lie she had to keep on top of.

And she loved them both too much to add another lie to the list.

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”

And she vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

The gok-do slammed into the mirror wall, exploding glass in every direction.

At first, Rumi wasn't sure where she was. Her brain was still firing too fast, her heart beating so quickly and her breaths coming so short she was dizzy and lightheaded. But as she blinked and got her bearings, she realized this place was familiar.

The garden rows that she used to run up and down as a child stretched before her, lined with plants with summer harvests waiting to be collected. And there, at the end of the row she stood in, was Celine, calmly pulling weeds as she would so often do on summer mornings.

Relief was the first thing she felt, washing over her and putting her soul at ease. That must have been how she got here: whenever Rumi had a nightmare she would seek out her mother Celine. Celine always knew how to put her mind at ease, how to comfort her when she was afraid. And right now Rumi had never been so lost, so fucking terrified. She was having the worst nightmare imaginable, so of course she went to Celine.

Then Celine turned, and froze when their eyes met. And all of that relief was replaced by panic. Because what if Celine only sees her as a demon, too? What if she also thinks she replaced Rumi and tries to put her down? The idea that the only safe harbour Rumi had was gone rendered her paralyzed, once again unable to move as her potential demise stared at her with an unreadable expression. But Rumi knew Celine. She knew how she hunted demons.

She knew she'd never even get a chance to see it coming.

So she just...crumbled. She sunk to her knees, curled up in a little ball, and waited for it to end. She barely registered the tears trailing down her cheeks, or how panic-stricken breaths had turned to sobs. She didn't want to die. She didn't even know why the universe suddenly decided she should. She was so scared and alone and she hated herself so much for being this...this thing that all of her loved ones wanted to kill and she just wanted her mom and...

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, gentle and cautious. When Rumi dared to glance up, she was met with Celine's concerned frown. Worry and fear were etched clearly on her face, but recognition was there too. "Rumi?" she uttered, clearly taking in Rumi's physical changes, "What happened?"

Then a sound came from the pocket on Celine's cardigan. One day, before they debuted, Zoey had somehow managed to get a hold of Celine's phone and set different ringtones for each of her charges' numbers, and Celine had never bothered to change them. (And would never admit that she liked the personal touch, especially knowing that Zoey had asked Mira and Rumi to pick a song.) And so now, both of them knew who it was without even having to see the ringing phone:

That was all Celine had to hear.

She didn’t care about Zoey’s call.

She didn’t care that Rumi had tiny horns that were pushing into her chin.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s claws were digging into her back.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s tail was wrapped around her leg.

And she didn’t care that Rumi was currently sobbing so hard into her cardigan that the fact that she was able to get any words out at all was a shock.

The only thing she cared about was getting Rumi inside, safe, warm….and maybe fed. Had she eaten that morning? It was still early so maybe not? But water probably took priority right now over food. No, it definitely did. So shelter, comfort, water and food. In that order.

Celine had years of demon hunting to thank for her ability to pick up Rumi without an issue and carry her inside the compound. Even though the girls all lived in the city, Rumi’s room remained untouched in case she ever needed it and, thankfully, Rumi hadn’t grown much since she left the compound so she easily fit into her bed.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Celine asked, brushing Rumi’s hair out of her eyes, “Did….it happen?”

“Mmmhmm.” The only reason Rumi wasn’t sobbing anymore was because she kept her eyes snapped up.

“I take it it went badly?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Should I accept Zoey’s call or leave it?”

“….”

“Let’s return to that later then. Do you want some water? Some food?” Celine asked, “Do you want Bear?”

“Bear.”

“Okay. I put him up so he wouldn’t get covered in dust. Can you let go of me so that I can go get him?” That seemed to be the first time Rumi realized she was still holding onto the cardigan, her claws having now broken through the fabric.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“No, shhhh. Shhh. You’re okay, Rumi. You’re okay. You know I have 100 cardigans and I have plenty of money to buy more.” Rumi let out another sob, “Just breathe, Rumi. Breathe.”

From her pocket, Rumi could hear another ringtone.

Mira.

Celine glanced down at the ball of stress and sadness on the bed next to her. Rumi was still tucked into herself, claws gripping Celine's arm (but now with a careful tenderness, enough to grip but not puncture fabric or skin). Her tail had ended up wrapped around Celine's middle, the soft fur and striped pattern reminding Celine of an especially clingy cat. A single golden eye peered up at Celine from the shadows created by Rumi's current posture, and despite the unsettling inhuman-ness of it the sight still tugged at Celine's heartstrings. The iris was like molten iron, burning gold and red and emitting a soft light, but the tears pooling in it reminded her that it wasn't physically hot.

"My priority is you right now," Celine stated softly, running a gentle hand over Rumi's shoulder, "We can deal with everything else later."

"But..." Rumi swallowed tightly. Celine felt an involuntary shudder travel through Rumi's body. "They think I... They thought I replaced..."

"...I see."

The ringing had run its course, but only seconds later it started up again. On top of that, she could feel it buzz the way it would when receiving texts, and it was practically performing morse code in her pocket.

"I'm not going to leave you," Celine promised. She bit her lip, her hand shifting to thread her fingers through Rumi's hair. She gingerly ran over the horn sprouting from Rumi's skull, pushing some of the hair aside to ensure it hadn't done damage when it broke through. "Do you remember how this happened?" she tried again, "Anything unusual? A demon bite, or...some sort of curse?"

Rumi shook her head. "I just...woke up. I didn't even feel different. I..." she let out a shaky breath and curled further into herself. "I don't know," she whined pitifully.

"Ok, it's ok," Celine assured her, "We can figure this out."

"I don't... I was so close," Rumi continued sadly, "There was so much gold but now... How can I show my face now? Mira and Zoey want to kill me and I look like a monster and I couldn't sing to begin with and-"

"Hold on: you couldn't sing?" Celine asked, a sense of urgency beginning to rise in her voice, "What do you mean by that?"

Rumi froze, her body going stiff under Celine's hand. "I...I couldn't sing Golden," she revealed, "Th...the other night, when we had to cancel the song debut... I couldn't reach the high note and I...ran."

Celine sighed. She had been informed about Rumi having issues with that performance, and about how she had disappeared and didn't return to the set. She had been meaning to check in about that, but she wanted to give Rumi a bit of space. Huntr/x might have fallen under her label, but they were also grown adults with their own manager and responsibilites. It wasn't Celine's place to micromanage everything.

A sharp ringing pierced the air, causing both of their heads to snap at attention toward the door. Where, beyond the door, the landline was ringing. Celine sighed. That phone never rung, since so few people actually knew the number, so she had a suspicion about who was on the other line.

“Zoey-Zoey had this idea to go to this guy named Han for special tonics that were supposed to help my voice. I didn’t really think—I mean I thought…I thought they might be able to help but I didn’t really think about them much.”

“Okay. And I assume you took one last night?”

“Mmhmm. It was just grape juice when I peeled back the label but I like grape juice so I took it. Then I woke up and…” Rumi’s tail wrapped tighter around Celine.

“And you looked like this. It sounds like those tonics definitely had something to do with this but this is good. This is really good, Rumi. I have people in Seoul who can find this guy and fix this. You’ll be back to normal so soon and then we’ll figure out what to do about Zoey and Mira.” The use of Zoey and Mira’s name made Rumi flinch. Celine made a mental note to keep them out of the conversation for a bit, “Now that we know that, how about this? You feel like you can walk?”

Rumi nodded.

“Good. You come into the main room and lay on the couch, you can watch some tv, and I’ll get some food for both of us and call about this Han guy.” Celine told her, “Some demons, including half demons, can disguise their demon forms with concentration. If you can relax, maybe you can try and appear more human. It’s not a permanent solution but you would at least be able to walk around Jeju Island.”

“I-I’m sorry, Cece.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I should have kept it together longer. We were almost there and now Mira and Zoey want me dead and the Saja Boys are going to take over and everyone’s gonna die and it’ll be because I’m a good for nothing—“

“Hey!” Celine grabbed Rumi’s head and pushed it towards her. She’d heard those words too much in her own mind to let Rumi finish that sentence, “Listen to me, this is not your fault. It’s a set back but it’s one we’ll work on together. You’re not alone in this, Rumi.”

“…Thank you… Eomma Celine.”

“Always. Now, go find Bear and get to the couch. Oh! And no rom coms please.”

For the first time that morning, Rumi laughed, “They’re good. You just don’t know how to judge acting.”

“You know I’ve acted right?”

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”

And she vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

The gok-do slammed into the mirror wall, exploding glass in every direction.

At first, Rumi wasn't sure where she was. Her brain was still firing too fast, her heart beating so quickly and her breaths coming so short she was dizzy and lightheaded. But as she blinked and got her bearings, she realized this place was familiar.

The garden rows that she used to run up and down as a child stretched before her, lined with plants with summer harvests waiting to be collected. And there, at the end of the row she stood in, was Celine, calmly pulling weeds as she would so often do on summer mornings.

Relief was the first thing she felt, washing over her and putting her soul at ease. That must have been how she got here: whenever Rumi had a nightmare she would seek out her mother Celine. Celine always knew how to put her mind at ease, how to comfort her when she was afraid. And right now Rumi had never been so lost, so fucking terrified. She was having the worst nightmare imaginable, so of course she went to Celine.

Then Celine turned, and froze when their eyes met. And all of that relief was replaced by panic. Because what if Celine only sees her as a demon, too? What if she also thinks she replaced Rumi and tries to put her down? The idea that the only safe harbour Rumi had was gone rendered her paralyzed, once again unable to move as her potential demise stared at her with an unreadable expression. But Rumi knew Celine. She knew how she hunted demons.

She knew she'd never even get a chance to see it coming.

So she just...crumbled. She sunk to her knees, curled up in a little ball, and waited for it to end. She barely registered the tears trailing down her cheeks, or how panic-stricken breaths had turned to sobs. She didn't want to die. She didn't even know why the universe suddenly decided she should. She was so scared and alone and she hated herself so much for being this...this thing that all of her loved ones wanted to kill and she just wanted her mom and...

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, gentle and cautious. When Rumi dared to glance up, she was met with Celine's concerned frown. Worry and fear were etched clearly on her face, but recognition was there too. "Rumi?" she uttered, clearly taking in Rumi's physical changes, "What happened?"

Then a sound came from the pocket on Celine's cardigan. One day, before they debuted, Zoey had somehow managed to get a hold of Celine's phone and set different ringtones for each of her charges' numbers, and Celine had never bothered to change them. (And would never admit that she liked the personal touch, especially knowing that Zoey had asked Mira and Rumi to pick a song.) And so now, both of them knew who it was without even having to see the ringing phone:

That was all Celine had to hear.

She didn’t care about Zoey’s call.

She didn’t care that Rumi had tiny horns that were pushing into her chin.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s claws were digging into her back.

She didn’t care that Rumi’s tail was wrapped around her leg.

And she didn’t care that Rumi was currently sobbing so hard into her cardigan that the fact that she was able to get any words out at all was a shock.

The only thing she cared about was getting Rumi inside, safe, warm….and maybe fed. Had she eaten that morning? It was still early so maybe not? But water probably took priority right now over food. No, it definitely did. So shelter, comfort, water and food. In that order.

Celine had years of demon hunting to thank for her ability to pick up Rumi without an issue and carry her inside the compound. Even though the girls all lived in the city, Rumi’s room remained untouched in case she ever needed it and, thankfully, Rumi hadn’t grown much since she left the compound so she easily fit into her bed.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Celine asked, brushing Rumi’s hair out of her eyes, “Did….it happen?”

“Mmmhmm.” The only reason Rumi wasn’t sobbing anymore was because she kept her eyes snapped up.

“I take it it went badly?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Should I accept Zoey’s call or leave it?”

“….”

“Let’s return to that later then. Do you want some water? Some food?” Celine asked, “Do you want Bear?”

“Bear.”

“Okay. I put him up so he wouldn’t get covered in dust. Can you let go of me so that I can go get him?” That seemed to be the first time Rumi realized she was still holding onto the cardigan, her claws having now broken through the fabric.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“No, shhhh. Shhh. You’re okay, Rumi. You’re okay. You know I have 100 cardigans and I have plenty of money to buy more.” Rumi let out another sob, “Just breathe, Rumi. Breathe.”

From her pocket, Rumi could hear another ringtone.

Mira.

The pair watched the demon who looks like Rumi in stunned silence. The sheer audacity had them flabbergasted. This demon showed no fear nor malice toward them: she just gave them a casual wave and a soft "morning!" before moving to grab a glass of juice from the fridge. Like she lived there.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Mira asked, nowhere near as hostile as she probably should be but she was still too fucking confused to be aggressive.

The demon smiled in a way Rumi does all the time, minus the fangs. "Getting apple juice," she replied with way too much familiarity, holding up the glass as proof. This demon certainly did her research. Demon Rumi then finally seemed to notice them staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered with a nervous laugh.

Zoey didn't say anything, which was the first true alarm bell for Rumi. The maknae merely pointed, directing Rumi's attention to the large mirrored accent wall behind the island. And her heart dropped.

"Oh no," the demon in the mirror replied with her voice, moved with her intentions to bring a clawed hand to her patterned cheek, breaths increasing into panic just as Rumi's were. "No nono nononono." The more her distress rose, the worse it got. The patterns all over her skin started to glow an angry hot pink. (They actually felt hot, too.) Her skin started to take on a darker shade of purple, the claws and fangs grew from something that could be written off as a trick of the light to actual claws and fangs. Her left eye - which she only now realized had somehow turned a sickly yellow overnight - started to glow like it had been set ablaze.

She always knew the possibility existed that they would attack her if they knew the truth about her demon heritage—that was the whole reason she’d kept it a secret—but it was one thing to strongly believe something will happen and to actually see it play out in front of you.

And those weapons looked a lot more terrifying when they were pointed directly at her.

“Where’s Rumi?” Mira demanded, “Why are you wearing her clothes?!”

Behind her, Rumi’s tail flickered and curled around one of her legs. Her mind was still going a mile a minute trying to figure out how she was a demon and why she was a demon all of a sudden. She didn’t remember doing anything that would have caused this, at least nothing was coming to mind.

Even with her mind working in overdrive, Rumi managed to get out, “I-I am Rumi. This—It’s all just—I’m not a real—“

“Okay. This has gone from kind of impressive to weird to just sad.” Zoey said, “You tried, you failed big time, just accept it so we can go on with our morning.”

“But I am Rumi! I swear! I don’t know why my patterns grew or why I look like this but I swear I’m Rumi!”