Chapter Text
Muscle memory. That’s what Rumi forced herself to rely on as they played TAKEDOWN at the idol awards.
Her breath hitched as she heard the song start. She was shocked to say the least, her shock however going unnoticed by the fans as they excitedly chattered.
“Is this a new song?”
The question echoed all over the stadium.
“Takedown…? They put this back in…?,” Rumi murmured under her breath. Her eyes were wide, her shock however short lived as the song started.
She relied on muscle memory as she forcefully danced to the hateful song with Mira and Zoey.
Rumi noticed almost immediately that something was off about her friends. She couldn’t make out what it was, but it became apparent as Zoey shoved her.
“Zoey?”
Rumi shook it off, her suspicion rising. She barely got to keep dancing the unfinished choreography as Mira did the same as Zoey.
The purple haired woman was getting agitated. What was happening? She managed a short, “Mira..?,” knowing it wouldn’t make a difference.
The raven-haired girl got dangerously close whilst singing the lines, “It’s time to kick you straight back into the night.” Did they…? “‘Cause I see your real face, and it’s ugly as sin.”
The crowd was confused, asking questions along the lines of, “What’s going on?,” and, “Are they fighting?”
The two girls circled around Rumi, continuing to sing TAKEDOWN to her face. As if it was directed to her. As if they knew.
At the lines, “When your patterns start to show, it makes the hatred wanna grow out of my veins.,” the people Rumi once called her friends started ripping her jacket off, exposing her patterns, making her worst fears come true.
They knew. And they hated her for it.
She begged for them to stop, her pleas going unanswered. She was confused, scared.
They managed to take the jacket off in two tries, leaving Rumi desperately trying to cover up the way she’d been taught to do since she was little.
Mira and Zoey got behind Rumi to whisper cruel words in her ears.
“We see what you are.”
“You’re a demon.”
“A mistake.”
“You have been. Since the day you were born.”
Rumis breathing quickened. Her heart was pounding against her chest, not in the good way. She whimpered, unsure of how to handle herself. How to handle the painful beating of her heart. How to calm down. How to cover up.
She screamed, “No!,” loudly. loud enough that the lights, the same lights that once shone golden, shattered.
The only light that remained was the spotlight, pointing right at her.
She ran, away from the people. Away from the stage. From the spotlight that illuminated her.
She found her way down the stairs, taking deep breaths as she walked around the corner to see Mira and Zoey.
“What…? How are you here? You were just on stage…” She felt a spark of hope ignite in her chest. “T-that wasn’t you? Oh. Oh, thank goodness.”
The two younger girls looked afraid of her. Zoeys eyes carried a hint of confusion and Rumi could swear there was pain hidden just beneath the surface, Miras however were a mix of a lot of different emotions. Fear, confusion, disgust, anger, sadness, pain.
Rumi was confused aswell ; Why were they backing away? She looked down at herself, at her exposed arms.
Patterns.
“No. No! No. No…,” she whimpered, desperately attempting to cover up. To hide.
Zoey found her voice, hesitantly asking, “How do you have patterns?”
“Those were supposed to be gone. You were never supposed to see…”
“You were hiding this from us this whole time?,” Miras voice carried a hint of hurt. She’d suspected Rumi for months, but never for being the very thing she’d grown to hate.
Rumi stumbled over her words as she desperately tried to explain her and Jinu’s plan. She tried to make them understand. She rambled, “Jinu was supposed to— I— He was—”
“Jinu? You’re working with him?,” every ounce of empathy Zoeys voice once held had been replaced by an underlying anger. She couldn’t understand this time. No matter how hard she had previously tried to.
Rumi continued rambling, trying to fix the broken bond. “No. No! No! I was using him to fix all this! To fix me. So we could all do our duty. We could all be strong. Be together.”
Zoeys brows furrowed slightly. “How could we be together if we can’t tell your lies from your truths, Rumi?” Mira looked away from the halfling. “I knew it. I knew it was too good to be true.”
Rumi shook her head. “Mira, no! Didn’t you see? See the gold? We’re so close!” The two girls only backed away, betrayal etched on their faces. “No! Don’t leave, don’t leave! I can still… fix it!,” the honmoon shivered as Rumis voice shifted into something demonic, something unrecognizable.
Mira and Zoeys faces changed. The taller one pointed her gok-do at the girl she now saw as a threat. Zoey whimpered, closing her eyes as she heard Rumis pleading voice, “Zoey, please.,” before pointing two of her shin-kals at the demon infront of her. Rumi sobbed, turning to run away.
As the demon ran, Mira and Zoey didn’t chase after her. They relaxed their hold on their weapons, their shoulders dropping. The hunters let out breaths they didn’t realize they were holding.
The honmoon shivering with sadness as it watched its hunters argue, however knowing they’d find their way back to each other.
· · ─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ─── · ·
Rumi sprinted around the building, yelling, “Jinu? Jinu! Where are you?,” in a desperate attempt to find the guy she’d once loved. She spotted him, a demon on each side. The same ones she’d seen on stage. She silently prayed that he didn’t do it, that he didn’t betray her. “Say you didn’t do this,” she nearly begged, Jinus eyes however remaining indifferent. With a snap of his fingers, the demons beside him dropped their disguises, then disappeared. He lowered his hand, immediately being pushed by the shorter girl. She could never hurt him, not really. “How could you do this?,” she exploded, his response coming as a shock to her. “It was all a lie.”
“It was real! What we had was real. I know it was!,” Rumi argued. “The things I said? I just needed you to trust me. That’s all.” Jinu turned away from her, chuckling dryly. Rumi grabbed him, pleading, “No! I know your story,” she rambled, “you were a good person, and you still are! You just made a mistake-“ “-I left them,” He screamed, “That’s right. I lied to you. I only made a deal with Gwi-Ma to get myself out of that miserable life.” Jinu adverted his gaze before continuing, “I left my sister, my mother alone while I slept on silk sheets in the palace with my belly full every night.” He’d gotten desperate. “I left them.” He repeated. “I left them.”
Rumi shook her head, stepping closer, pleading, “but thats not all you are.” She’d looked down, trying to convince herself more than she’d been trying to convince him. “This is just your demon talking. You have to fight it!,” she pleaded desperately.
“That’s not how it works!,” Jinu growled, to which Rumi responded, “Yes it is!”
The honmoon shivered under the impact of its hunters voice, causing her to step back frantically.
Jinu smirked. “Listen to yourself. Is it working?,” he’d asked, watching the girl struggle to stay on her feet. The demon continued, “You’re a demon, just like me. All we get is to live with our pain, our misery.” Rumis stare went blank as the words registered. “That’s all we deserve.”
Jinu then disappeared into a cloud of magenta smoke, leaving Rumi alone with nothing but her own shame.
She let out a breath, one she hadn’t been aware she was holding.
As she walked away, the honmoon ripped under her feet.
· · ─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ─── · ·
Celine had stood at the willow tree, clutching the sickle she’d retreated to after the honmoon stopped responding to her.
She sensed the honmoon shivering behind her, waiting a few seconds before turning around, pointing her sickle at the intruder.
She saw not a demon, not a human, but someone who was of both sides. Had been, since she was born.
“Rumi?”
“I thought I could fix it all, fix me, but I ran out of time.”
Celine dropped the sickle, staring at the girl she’d raised as her own, now unrecognizable. Now, a demon.
“They saw,” Rumi continued, “They know.” She’d started walking towards Celine, gaze drifting to the floor.
“There’s no denying it now,” she said, meeting Celines devastated gaze. “This is what I am.”
Celine warned, “Rumi, no.” “You knew I was a mistake from the very start.”
She dropped to her knees, summoning her saingeom, not to fight, not to kill, but to offer it to Celine. “Do what you should’ve done a long time ago,” she’d asked, “before I destroy what I swore to protect.”
“Please.”
“Do it.”
She asked Celine to do the impossible. As unrecognizable as Rumi had been, the older huntress couldn’t bring herself to accept the offer.
She ran over, kneeling at Rumis side, helping her niece up. “I can’t.” She’d tried to hold eye contact with her, Rumi however stared straight ahead, her eyes blank.
“When we lost your mother, I swore to protect all that was left of her,” Celine continued, “but I never thought that that would be a child like you.”
Her hands drifted closer to Rumis shoulders, not quite touching, as she went on, “Everything I was taught told me you were wrong, but I made a promise, so I did my best to accept you and help you.”
“Accept me?,” the halflings gaze finally met Celines eyes, “You told me to cover up, to hide!”
Celine nodded, “Yes, until we can fix everything, and we still can!” She’d taken off her cloak, putting it around Rumis shoulders. “We can cover those up and put everything right again. I’ll tell Mira and Zoey that it was all a lie,” she rambled, “an illusion by gwi-ma to break us apart!”
“No, no more hiding, no more lies!”
“Rumi, we can still fix this.”
“Don’t you get it? This is what I am. Look at me!”
Celines gaze remained on the floor, much to Rumis dismay.
“Why can’t you look at me? Why couldn’t you love me?,” she’d yelled desperately, her patterns glowing magenta as tears started running down her face.
“I do!”
“All of me!”
The honmoon shivered again, as its huntresses rejected its embrace.
“This is why we have to hide it. Our faults and fears must never be seen. It’s the only way to protect the honmoon!”
Rumi picked up her saingeom, muttering, “If this is the honmoon I’m supposed to protect, I’m glad to see it destroyed.”
It wept as its huntresses got trapped in Gwi-mas lies, as their soulbond weakened.
She disappeared into a cloud of pink smoke.
· · ─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ─── · ·
You couldn’t keep them together. You’re all alone, but you don’t have to be.
“Hey, everybody. You must all be so sad about the huntrix breakup. We are too. So to cheer everyone up, we’re going to do a special life performance tonight. Midnight, namsan tower. Don’t miss it for the world.”
You thought you found a family? You don’t deserve one. You never have.
“There’s no we, Zoey. I don’t get to have a family.”
You’re too much, but not enough. You’ll never belong anywhere, but I can give you a place to belong.
· · ─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ─── · ·
“We are hunters, voices strong. Slaying demons with our song. Fix the world and make it right, when darkness finally meets the light.”
“You come here like this? You think you can fix the world? You cant even fix yourself.”
“I can’t.”
“And now, everyone finally sees you for what you really are.”
“They do.”
“And the Honmoon is gone.”
“It is.”
Rumis gaze drifted from the floor to the giant, purple flames infront of her, her voice shifting from defeated to determined as she opened her mouth to speak again.
“So we can make a new one.”
She began to sing, breaking Zoey and Mira out of the trance they’d been trapped in. They joined her song, fending off demons until they met in the middle of the stage. They hugged each other tightly, the two younger huntresses’ jackets, once as black as night, turned a metallic white, patterns matching Rumis own reflecting in the light of the moons soft glow.
They’d fought off the demons that’d emerged from the ripped honmoon. Gwi-ma was growing impatient, stating that they could never defeat him and sending a burst of fire right at the halfling.
Mira pushed Abby off, focusing on Rumi, her best friend, being attacked by Gwi-ma.
Rumi screamed.
Suddenly the pressure against her saingeom stopped.
Jinu.
She gasped, her hands lifting uselessly as her saingeom disappeared into thin air.
“Jinu, no-“
“I’m sorry, for everything.”
“No, I wanted to set you free.”
“You did. You gave me my soul back. And now, I give it to you.”
The rest happened so fast.
Gwi-mas defeat.
The fans breaking out the trance.
Being reunited with her girls.
She knew, however, that this wasn’t the happy ending they’d hoped for. There was still tension to be eased, conflict to be resolved, wounds to be tended to.
But for now, this was all she’d needed.