Chapter Text
The honmoon flashed red in warning, its threads wrapping around each of them to tug urgently, and the girls groaned in unison.
“Great, perfect end to the perfect day.” Mira growled as they all leapt up from the couch and headed for the door, barely taking the time to pull on shoes and half-hearted disguises.
Their day had started at 4 am, and despite it being 10pm they had only been home twenty minutes. Tomorrow was supposed to be just as bad.
So of course Gwima has to get his licks in while they’re down.
“It feels bad.” Zoey noted, slumped against the wall of the elevator. She looked terrible, circles clearly visible under her eyes since she had removed her makeup as soon as they got home. Zoey’s sleep schedule had always been erratic, and sleeping pills didn’t help-she had tried several different medications before giving up. Either they made it so she couldn’t focus on anything but still couldn’t sleep or they took hours to kick in and the effects lingered late into the next day leaving her intensely groggy. Sometimes she had no problem passing out as early as 7pm, other times she was up til 4 or 5 am. Last night, she barely got two hours of sleep and hadn’t slept much the night before. Added to their blistering schedule, she was struggling the most of the three.
Rumi frowned at her, clearly worried. “Stay close, okay?” She reached out to grab Zoey’s hand and squeeze it gently, offering a small smile when Zoey glanced at her.
“Yes, ma’am.” Zoey’s smile was clearly forced and did nothing to assuage their worries, despite her silly mock salute.
Rumi gave Mira a significant look and Mira nodded, a silent agreement to stick to their maknae’s side.
Outside, they burst into a run and tugged their hoods over their heads. The honmoon had always seemed to help hide them from prying eyes while fighting demons, but they were still careful-they were always afraid something would go wrong. While they had never been recognized on a way to a tear, they couldn’t be sure if that was luck or if the honmoon helped disguise them on the way to the tear as well. They had tried asking Celine but she wasn’t sure either and insisted they be cautious. It wasn’t something they wanted to test-it wouldn’t be the end of the world but it would be a little weird if they were photographed or recorded sprinting through the streets at nights(worse if they were ever seen climbing buildings and leaping across rooftops like professional freerunners).
Luckily the tear wasn’t far, it only took them about five minutes to get there. They slowed to a stop as Rumi raised a hand and they all silently slipped around the corner, hunkered low in an effort to avoid detection. Immediately their brows furrowed as they took in the scene.
The tear wasn’t the biggest they had ever seen, but it was the biggest they had seen in a while. Probably due to the fact Huntix hadn’t performed in over a month, their last weekend of performances being cancelled due to issues at the venue. And their last shows before that were in Japan. They had been trying frantically to get another set up as quickly as possible, but shows required permits and an available venue of adequate size and the earliest they had been able to arrange was still a week away. They had been working themselves into the ground doing every event they could to engage the fans and strengthen the honmoon, but it simply wasn’t the same as a live show.
The demons were in a semi circle focused on whatever(or more likely, whoever) they had surrounded. But they weren’t attacking as a rabid pack like they typically did. They hovered, gnashing teeth and growling, but they seemed almost…nervous.
The girls couldn’t see who was surrounded, but they could hear the sounds of fighting coming from the center of the mass-strangely, no human screams, just demonic growls and yips of pain. The three girls’ jaws dropped in unison as they saw flashes of red smoke indicating demons were being killed.
“Filthy mutts! You can’t take al-” The demon’s angry roar was cut off sharply by a wet choking sound and there was another flash of smoke.
The girls leapt into action as one, ignoring their confusion in favor of focusing on their duty. It didn’t matter how someone was killing demons, it mattered that they needed help. The demons needed to be killed before they took out their targets and scattered to find more.
As nearly a dozen demons died in seconds at the hunters’ blades, the group panicked and their attention snapped to them.
“No, Gwima wa-” One of the largest demons roared before fading to ash and smoke as one of Zoey’s shinkals struck its side. The group of demons abandoned their efforts to keep their targets contained, the group splitting as they desperately tried to escape the hunters to no avail.
As the group split, the girls caught a flash of their victims which only served to confuse them more.
They were demons, although they appeared to be partially shifted into human disguises to appear as a young woman and a child. At the other demons’ distraction, the taller demon grabbed the smaller one and they teleported away.
“After them! We cannot fail Gwima again!” A Saja snapped at a group of Dokkaebi who obediently teleported away as well.
Rumi began singing one of the songs from their debut album, her girls quickly joining in. Rumi missed those days, when the vocals were more evenly split between the three of them before the label pushed to have Rumi’s vocals front and center. Celine insisted it didn’t matter how the lines were distributed, but Rumi had always felt the honmoon was happier when lines were more equally spread between them. And, if she was honest, it felt better to her-more fair. She wholeheartedly disagreed with those who insisted her voice was the strongest. The way their voices blended was perfect, it was her favorite sound in the world. The tear immediately began to mend from their voices, cutting off the flow of reinforcements.
It took a little longer than usual due to the numbers and the girls’ sheer exhaustion, but twenty minutes later Rumi’s sword was slicing through the last of the faceless demons.
“We have to go after the ones that ran. Is everyone okay?” Rumi asked quickly, eyes frantically scanning her girls for injuries. Some minor scratches and bruises they would have to explain or hide tomorrow, but she found nothing serious.
“I’m okay,” Zoey said quickly, her eyes roving the other two much like Rumi’s were.
“All good, where are they?” Mira asked quickly as she completed her own visual check before her eyes flicked to scan the surrounding buildings.
Rumi had always been best at sensing demons. The other girls assumed it was because the honmoon had always seemed to favor her, Zoey often whining jokingly that Rumi was the Honmoon’s favorite.
Rumi knew there were other factors.
Rumi’s eyes slid shut for a moment, her fingers extending to gently trace a thread of the honmoon. Her eyes snapped open. “This way.” And she darted off with her girls at her back. She led them several blocks away, frowning as she felt most of the demons disappear before they could arrive. “They’re still fighting each other, most of them are dead.” She reported with a furrowed brow.
They had never seen demons fighting each other. They had always seemed united under Gwima’s orders.
She couldn’t help but wonder what was different about these demons. Clearly the other demons were after them on Gwima’s orders.
She led them to a dark office building, letting the honmoon guide them to a backdoor and breaking the lock with her sword. She sent up a silent prayer of gratitude that no alarms blared, then a follow up prayer that it wasn’t simply a silent alarm. They all tightened their hoods to disguise their features just in case. They needed to move quickly.
She led them upstairs and they burst into a hallway, freezing again when Rumi did and raised a hand.
Rumi heard a soft voice, too low to make out the words from this far away. It was cut off by a louder, frantic voice-the demon who looked(and sounded) like a child.
“No! I’m not leaving you!” He sounded like he was crying. Rumi couldn’t help but glance at the other two, wondering what they were thinking. Mira’s face was twisted into an angry scowl-but underneath, Rumi could see the uncertainty she was trying to hide. Zoey’s indecision was more obvious as she didn’t even try to hide it. Instead, she looked to Rumi for guidance.
Rumi tried to give her a reassuring look, but judging from Zoey’s frown only deepening she hadn’t pulled it off.
This wasn’t right. Something about this just felt so wrong, even the honmoon was pulsing around them in a way that didn’t scream danger but still felt like some kind of warning.
Rumi cautiously led them closer to the voices, all of them moving slowly and silently down the hall. They could smell sulfur and ash in the air and there were gouges from claws and weapons in the walls and floor. They could hear the other demon’s voice speaking in a low soothing tone only to be cut off again. “No! I won’t! I won’t let them hurt you!” The childlike voice was more urgent now, and as they inched around a corner they caught the end of what the demon was saying.
“-if you’re here, okay? I….” The demon sucked in a harsh, pained breath. “I need you to go back to camp. T-teleport, they won’t…they w-won’t chase you. Y-you’ll be okay. I’ll join you as…s-soon as I can, okay?” It sounded pained, breathless, but mostly desperate. They could see them now near the end of the hall. The demon that looked like a woman was hunched over, one hand on the wall to help it keep balance while the other pressed against its side. It was walking but was unsteady on its feet, like its legs could give out any moment and send it to the ground. The young looking demon was walking at its side, its tear stained face focused on the female demon’s as its hands shook at its sides. Neither were trying to hide their demon traits. Purple, clawed hands. Glowing golden eyes. Fangs. Patterns-but not the purple they were used to, rather they were red and seemed to be glowing. They had seen the glow before, but never any color but purple. The girl had horns, black and curved and sharp, jutting out of her temples and framed by blonde hair.
“No! They’re going to kill you.” The young demon sobbed, swiping its tears away angrily with its sleeve.
A demon…crying?
“I-I promise, aegi. I’ll be…I’ll be o-okay. You n-need to go.”
They had never heard demons talk like this. Be affectionate with each other. Worried.
This wasn’t right.
Rumi’s heart was pounding, Celine’s words repeating in her head.
Demons will trick you. They will appear as humans, especially in forms to make you hesitate. The elderly, children, even faces you know and trust. You mustn't be fooled. You mustn't hesitate. Hesitation will get you or your girls killed.
But they sounded so sincere-
Rumi’s musings were cut off, as were the smaller demon's words of protest, when the other demon suddenly stiffened and whirled to face them.
So much for the element of surprise. Rumi tensed and froze, expecting them to teleport away again, but instead the demon’s eyes went wide with panic and it grabbed the smaller demon to force it behind her even as he fought against her.
“Hei, go.” She hissed at him, her eyes still locked on the hunters and baring her teeth in what was clearly meant to be a threat but looked more like a pained grimace. Rumi couldn’t make herself move. They didn’t seem like normal demons, they seemed…different. More human.
Could they possibly be…..no it’s not possible. But…
Her sword lowered-
-Mira stepped forward, her Gokdo still held in the air.
The demon only seemed more panicked, trembling and barely able to hold back the smaller demon. “W-wait, please! W-we’re half demons. We…” she swayed slightly, her grip loosening on the boy for a moment. He darted forward with an angry hiss, baring his fangs, but she managed to grab him and yanked him firmly to her chest, turning partially away from the hunters in an effort to keep them away from him.
At her words, Rumi’s sword dropped the rest of the way.
Half demons.
Not one, but two other half demons.
They didn’t seem crazed. The demons had attacked them, so obviously they were not on the same team. They hadn't seen them harm anyone.
Could they really be like me? There’s others like me? Are there more?
“We’re supposed to believe that?” Mira snapped. She hadn’t rushed but she was still making her way down the hall slowly, weapon held aloft. Rumi felt Zoey's hand on her elbow, could feel the burn of her gaze like a physical touch, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away from the two forms at the end of the hall. “There’s no such thing as a half demon. Only demons have patterns.”
The demon -or well, half demon, if she was telling the truth-shook her head sharply. “P-please. He’s a child, y-you…you don’t-” Her eyes fluttered and she swayed again, but her arms only seemed to tighten desperately around the boy this time. “-we’ll go, w-we….” Her golden eyes were no longer wide, they were half lidded and she seemed to be struggling to remain conscious.
“Mira…” Zoey said softly from Rumi’s side, uncertain. But she stepped past Rumi, her shinkals in hand.
Rumi felt like she couldn’t breathe.
The demon's eyes flickered between Mira and Zoey, ignoring their frozen leader. “H-he’s eight. Don’t h-hurt him. He’s…he’s just a k-kid.”
That seemed to make Mira angrier. “There’s no way an eight year old boy could be a demon. You’re not fooling any of us.”
Rumi tried to speak. To tell Mira to wait, to stop, but her mouth simply opened and closed. The words lodged in her throat. Her pulse was so loud in her ears she could barely hear the others speak.
“He’s n-not a demon.” The feminine looking demon bared her teeth in warning, stumbling back a few steps as the hunters kept approaching. Her clawed hands were smearing blood on the boy’s blue hoodie-
-blood.
She was bleeding.
Demons don’t bleed.
Mira raised her Gokdo, moving faster, and Rumi panicked.
“Wait, Mira, stop!” She blurted, running forward. Mira jumped at the sudden shout, hesitating and glancing back. Rumi grabbed Mira's arm tightly, holding her still.
“Rumi?” Mira questioned uncertainly. The demons had frozen as well, staring at Rumi as she stared back. The tense silence stretched. The hallway felt like the oxygen had been sucked out and the dim lighting cast shadows all around. The silence felt heavy, thick, and distantly Rumi realized her breathing was coming too quick, too shallow.
“Rumi, there’s no such thing as half demons. We would know. Celine would have told us. It has to be a trick….” Zoey said but it was clear she still had her own reservations.
And what could Rumi say to that? Celine had said she could find no records of any other half demons, not anywhere in the archive. How could hunters have never encountered a single half demon in the nearly 800 years since the honmoon was created? What were the chances they would meet them now, in this generation, when Rumi herself was one? And not just one, but coming across two? It felt like a trap. It had to be a trap.
But…
“Rumi?” Mira repeated, her concern growing more obvious the longer Rumi went without saying anything else. Rumi’s eyes locked on to the blood seeping into the boys clothes, seeping from a previously unseen wound on the girls side. She was in all black so they couldn't see the blood on her, but now that she was looking she could see her hoodie was torn-barely visible as the boy's body was blocking the wound itself.
“She’s bleeding.” She said softly. “Demons don’t bleed.”
Mira stiffened under her touch as she realized the same, her weapon lowering the slightest bit.
“Even if it’s telling the truth, it’s still half demon.” Mira said firmly.
It. Rumi’s stomach twisted, and her eyes moved up from the blood to the half demon's eyes again. Eyes that were getting hazier and hazier, but also held hope.
“W-we don’t h-hurt anyone. We d-didn’t make a d-deal with Gwima.” She said, voice slurring slightly, desperate eyes locked on Rumi’s. “J-just let us go-”
“You’re a demon, we can’t let you go!” Mira snapped back.
“But, Mira…” Zoey said softly, stepping up to stand beside the two of them. She still had her knives, but they were held loosely at her side now as she also stared at the huddled figures.
“And what if we let them go and they go around the corner and consume a soul, huh?” Mira snapped, her eyes whipping to Zoey before darting back to the potential threats. “You want that on your conscience? That you could have stopped that if we just did our duty?” She tried to step forward but Rumi had yet to loosen her deathgrip. “Goddamnit, Rumi, you know we have to do this! It’s a trick. Celine would have told us if there were half demons!”
“Mira, please.” She whispered, barely able to get the words past her lips. Her eyes were so focused on the demons, she didn’t see the look Mira and Zoey exchanged.
“We can’t just let them go when we don’t know if they are a threat, Rumi.” Mira was firm, but she wasn't trying to attack. Wasn’t pulling away. She had softened slightly, shifting back ever so slightly and staying close to Rumi.
“We could-” Zoey was cut off by the demon girl’s knees buckling, falling to a knee. Seeming to be mostly held up by the still crying boy. Although his sobs had faded to soft cries, his eyes were still wide and terrified. But he wasn’t looking at them, he was fully focused on the woman-his little hands clutching her hoodie desperately as his eyes bore into hers.
“Ellie!” He buried his face in her chest as he sobbed, holding her tightly as she held him back.
“I-it’s okay, y’you’re…it’s okay…”
“We’ll take them to the tower.” Zoey offered uncertainly. “She needs help.”
“They have patterns!” Mira snapped, looking to Rumi for support but Rumi still seemed frozen, eyes faraway. Her sword shook in her hand, her grip still tight enough on Mira’s arm that the taller girl wouldn’t be surprised if it bruised. Mira’s brow furrowed and she looked at Zoey questioningly, receiving a confused shrug in reply.
Rumi never hesitated. Never froze up.
“Rumi?” Zoey laid a hand on Rumi’s shoulder and she flinched in surprise, blinking away the shock.
“We take them to the tower.” Her voice shook. “I…we need to know more.”
Mira blinked in shock but her concern for Rumi’s behavior was overshadowing her frustration at what was clearly a bad decision. “We should call Celine-”
“No!” Zoey and Mira both jumped in shock as Rumi shouted in obvious panic. “No, we handle this ourselves.” Rumi said quickly, finally releasing Mira to make her way towards the demons.
“Stay back! Don’t touch her!” The boy cried. He didn’t let the girl go, obviously aware she’d be on the ground if not for his support. To her bandmates’ horror, Rumi dismissed her sword.
“She needs help,” Rumi said as softly as she could, squatting in front of him a few feet away. “We’re not going to hurt you. I promise.”
The woman’s hazy gaze was locked on Rumi even as she spoke to the boy. “Hei, w-” Finally she lost the battle with gravity and collapsed with a groan as though someone had cut her strings.
“Ellie, no!” The boy sobbed as he tried to pull her back up. When Rumi appeared at his side and reached for the girl he hissed and knocked her hand away. “Don’t touch her!”
“I’m going to help her. I promise.” Rumi said softly, unbothered even as her hand bled where his claws had caught. The girl mumbled something unintelligible before her body went fully slack as she slipped into unconsciousness.
“You’re gonna kill her!” He accused with watery eyes and a trembling lip.
“I promise, I’m going to help.” Rumi repeated. “She’s going to die if we don’t hurry.”
He hesitated, eyes flicking between the girl and Rumi a few times before his shoulders slumped in defeat. “If you hurt her I’m gonna kill you. I will.” He hiccupped as he swiped away tears, smearing a streak of blood across his cheek.
Rumi reached for the girl and shifted her so it was easier to grab her and pull her onto her shoulders in a fireman's carry. Her girls were still standing further down the hall, eyeing them warily. “Come on, we need to hurry.” Rumi said firmly, striding down the hall with the boy at her side still crying.