Chapter Text
Heat licked at your skin as you desperately tried to get away. The sensation uncomfortable but not painful, it wasn't the feeling you were trying to escape by instead the noise that came with it.
"Return to me. We must be whole once again."
It begged-no,ordered you to obey as the flames grew brighter and hotter.
"____?"
Gasping for air as your eyes snapped open your carefully observed everything happening around you. It was pitch black in your room, your neatly put together braids sprawled across your face by your sudden perk forward.
"Stupid Gwi-Ma, stupid demons."
Long ago the hunters created the honmoon to protect the people from demons but did you know that long before the existence of the hunters there was a person who existence alone could spell the end for the demon king.
Once upon a time,there lived a man so vile, so angry and so hateful that he became a demon. The first ever demon, Gwi-ma but for all his hate he had remnants of humanity. In his process of transforming he was forcefully split apart to keep his humanity from interfering leaving nothing but the monstrous flames. That humanity took the form of flesh and bones, leaving not destruction in their wake but instead peace.
"Help!"
A civilian cried out as a demon aimed to attack her, tge hunters looked on in horror as they knew they were too far to reach her in time.
"Hey! Leave her alone!"
The demon stopped in its tracks, turning it's head in anger and confusion mixed in with a small amount of fear on their face. The hunters looked on in surprise. A civilian? No, the aura you had matched that of a demon.
"I won't ask again, leave her alone."
You eyes sharpening into a glare made the demon fearfully flee back through the opening within the honmoon. The woman thanked you before running off, presumably to her home.
"Well, at least it worked."
Your mini celebration was cut short by a large fan blade to your throat. You looked up calmly before an arrow pierced your chest and you fell backward. Your head spun but you didn't lose consciousness.
"That was rude."
The balked at your prone body still alive and backed away cautiously as you rose from the floor.
"Here i am, trying to help and you shoot an arrow at me."
"What are you?"
The first hunter asks,her eyes full of curiosity.
"I don't know."
You eyes devoid of any emotion as you pondered before snapping your fingers as if struck with an idea.
"What if, I help you guys out and in exchange you get to study me."
They looked at as if you were insane before another demon popped up ready to attack but fled at the sight of you. They nodded as if they had come to an agreement.
"Very well."
You hummed before pulling out a thin piece of paper, a contract as some of the nobles called it. It ensured you would not be put in danger by associating with the hunters.
"All right, does anyone have something i can write with?"
And that's how you became something of a sidekick to every generation of hunters. That is until,
"How could you let her fall for a demon!?"
"Now Now Celine, he didn't hurt her and so what if the kid is a half-breed, she will be born from love."
"This isn't love, it's wrong!"
Celine looked at you in anger as if you were the cause of this. You sighed before trying to walk away only to be impaled by her weapon. You looked down unimpressed and turned to face her again.
"You know I can't die right?"
"If you won't handle it, I will."
You would have never guessed that meant killing her friend's beloved. You stared at the corpse and sighed in irritation.
"Celine, you really need to stop this."
"Im releasing you from our contract,me and the other sisters all agreed upon this."
"Very well."
You chose not to fight them and quietly left. The destruction that followed you however, while not of your own doing was catastrophic. The sun fell on the sisters leaving just one to raise a child alone.
"Okay so before you try to kill me i have an offer."
There was a water demon emerging from your drawn bath. You looked at it bored and gently outstretched your hand towards it.
"I can make the voices go away, if you don't hurt another human ever again."
There was sincerity in your voice and you watched as the demon went from snarling to an odd calm. It blinked at you and blinked back.
"I can feed you."
That was all it took for the demon to break. Your apartment was small but big enough to keep another person around.
"There is something missing."
The flames rumble in contempt as Gwi-Ma groans in anger. His anger as palpable as his hunger. Something was amiss, yet he couldn't place his finger on what it was.
"Im sending two of you to the human world to figure out what it is."
Two demons without hesitation eagerly volunteered themselves and rushed to the human world.
"Okay, so first rule of living here, you can't pour coffee on plants, they need water."
You demonstrated carefully as the demon before you silently nodded along. They didn't have a name so you gave them the name Bora due to their purple skin.
"Bora,you can change into your demon form once you're back in here but when out there you need to look human."
You held out a few magazines for them to look through both women and men before they decided on their appearance.
"How do I look?"
"Perfect."
The conversation was short and sweet but you didn't mind. That was until your window shattered and Bora covered you with their body.
"Before you two step in my home, apologize for breaking my window."
Your voice just as before, held no malice, just sincerity and these demons unlike bora had no intrest in conversing. Your hands quickly extended and grabbed a mask that had been crafted many centuries ago by you and another hunter and you placed it on. Your face transforming from human to that of one of their own. Your fangs jagged and your voice gravely.
"Kneel."
The command was instant. They fell over and kneeled, bodies shaking as you approached. The ground scorched by your feet as you walked foward. The mask came off once you were within eye view and you knelt down to face them.
"Now, you have two options."
You said carefully pulling your hand out to motion the number two.
"Either I send you back or you can stay with me and need no reason to fight anymore."
The choice was obvious.
Your little band of demons kept you too occupied to worry about your former contractor and instead instilled you with a new found entertainment.
"Duri."
You called out to the female demon as she clutched a mug within her palms.
"You got a job?"
"Yes, ____."
"Cool, are you enjoying yourself?"
"The humans are quite entertaining so yes."
"Then we'll be moving to a bigger house so you Bora and Hwan can have your own separate rooms."
You saw something akin to a sparkle in her eye at the mention of her own facilities and laughed.
"Second rule of being human, you deserve privacy."
The move was as easy as one would expect. You moved from your small two bedroom to a penthouse, the money you had accumulated over the centuries leaving you with little need to work.
"What are you ____?"
The question came from Hwan, his large tusks jutting out of his mouth as his eyes stared at you in curiosity.
"I'm not human,if you're wondering. Have you ever heard the story of the first demon?"
Their eyes widened once you finished the story.
"So, are you going to consume us?"
"Nope."
You emphasized the P sound as you continued to unpack a new set of silverware that had come in the mail.
"My body is flesh and bones but I do not bleed, I can transform the food I eat into something similar to a soul which is why you three aren't hungry at all."
Your body was foreign to you at times,the connection that humans felt often left you uneasy as you tried to mimic it.
"You can't escape me _____, I will be whole once more, one way or another."
Another dream, you hummed at the feeling of something next to you and glanced down. Familiar purple skin entered your view and you relaxed.
Three years passed and you had grown somewhat bored of no longer demon hunting. You instead decided to busy yourself with other things.
"Hwan, would you like me to knit you a scarf, it's getting pretty cold outside."
"Are you a old person?"
"I mean technically speaking I'm as old as the first hunters so yeah."
The two of you shared a laugh. He was the last of the demons to find something that they enjoyed so you saw him around the penthouse more often. That was until one unfortunately winter.
"Hey Bora, where are the other two?"
"Duri got called into work and Hwan is out to his book club."
"But tomorrow is Christmas."
Normally you celebrated the holiday with the idol group but you enjoyed your new non-aware lot's company a bit more. No hushed whispers or scared looks. Just pure enjoyment and for once you found yourself relaxing. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end.
"Maybe I should go out and find them, it is snowing pretty heavy." All three of your companions were out in the middle of a snowstorm and you were starting to worry. They had only been in the human world a few years so they had grasped what it was like to be a human pretty well you would have liked to hope but seeing the lack of calls or texts or even emails had you doubting yourself.
The air was cold and unforgiving as you trudged through snow a small inkling of frost affecting your skin.
"Bora! Duri!Hwan!?"
Your calls were never answered as you were dragged down by some force.
"What the hell?"
You groaned at the impact and looked up in confusion. The sky no longer grey was instead purple and in the middle of it all was an all too familiar flame. Besides it laid your three demon companions bound and gagged. A surge of anger washed over you but instead of acting rash you calmly walked between the sea of demons to the front of the crowd eyes never once leaving the flames.
"Traitors deserve punishment."
The voice bellowed and you decided that this was the time to step in.
"Pardon me."
Your voice echoed.
"You have my things and I would like them back."
The demons looked on in horror as you approached the flames, a determined look on your face.
"Why are you here?"
"For my companions of course."
The flames reached out to attack you but you smacked them away to the surprise of everyone in the room, yourself included.
"We are literally the same person dude, your flames aren't going to work on me."
That was all you said before retrieving the demon trio and fleeing from the realm. From a distance a familiar tiger watches, eyes curious.
"Well,I don't think he'll kidnap you again."
The trio were sobbing into your shoulders as they pulled you into a group hug which you returned just as earnestly.
"But just incase, I made you three these bracelets."
You held out three intricately woven braclets, an initial visible upon each.
"The hunters were afraid the gwi-ma would eventually take me to his realm and we would merge or something so they made some bracelets that kept me from going back."
You pointed to your desk drawer.
"I don't wear it but after today I think I might need to start."
"Thank you, for saving us."
Duri was the first to speak.
"We haven't been human in so long we had almost forgotten what that felt like."
Then Bora
"We're eternally in your debt."
Hwan was the last to speak and you could feel tears pooling in your eyes and for the first time in a long time you sobbed.
The spring air was chilly as you relaxed on the roof of your penthouse and hummed an old tune. A bipa that had been gifted to you by someone who the earth couldn't even remember was in your hands. Muscle memory took over as you played and it was the only sound to be heard for miles.
"Oh, hello there."
Your eyes cracked open at the feeling of something or someone bumping into you and you marveled at the creature infront of you.
"Kittyyy!"
The tiger just blinked and pushed into you further. The bipa was forgotten as you became distracted by the large blue feline.
"Huh,interesting."
Ten years passed and you had gone from a floater to a covert demon hunter. Your companions were currently away. While Celine was training the new generation you were keeping the people safe whether she was aware or not.
While you were out hunting, you bumped into someone. You pushed out apologies before running after a demon who was trying to steal another soul. They disappeared once you hit them with your fist but you were startled by the person infront of you.
"You were incredible."
It was the guy you just bumped into.
"Yep, I do special effects for movies, was just making sure they worked."
The bullshit was present but your smile was enough to convince the man.
"I'm bobby."
"I'm ____."
"Would you be interested in helping me out with an idol group?"
"Uh sure."
You should have said no but something in you wanted to have fun for once without worry.
"Great! I'll give you my number, would we can arrange a meeting time."
"It's a date then."
You joked and he chuckled along with you as a small pink hue washed over his face. Your face dropped once he left and you quickly turned around to deliver a harsh punch to the demon behind you.
"Okay, time to dust off the old skills."
This was going to be a long week.
"Hey little one,I see you brought a friend."
The tiger was back and this time with a bird on his head. You cooed at them before reaching into your pocket and pulling out a small cap.
"I made you this little cap so you can look very dapper. Your friend seems to have gotten the memo before me."
Carefully, you placed the cap on the tiger before watching them leave.
"Where did you get that from derpy?"
The feline blinked at his master before nudging his hand and loafing. The bird smirked in response and flew off.Jinu scratched his head in confusion but went back to strumming his bipa as his pet curled up next to him, new accessory on full display.
"Well hello there."
This time it was just the bird, it chirped at you before perching on your head. Your bonnet kept him from sitting on your hair thankfully and you chuckled as it picked at the fabric.
"Would you like another accessory?"
The bird chirped in agreement and you spent the next few days creating something for the avian and another accessory for your feline company.
"A bow?"
Jinu scratched his head in confusion as his bird returned with a bow and something in its mouth.
"Where are you two getting this stuff from?"
The bird carried another bow between its beak and placed it next to the tiger, who only blinked in excitement.
"Im coming with you two next time."
You were in the middle of watching videos on how to do light shows when a thud caught your attention.
"I see you like my gift and you've brought a new companion?"
Your gaze lands on the corner of your room obscured in the darkness.
"Well I've never seen you before, are you here on Gwi-ma's behalf?"
"You've been giving my pets gifts."
"These two sweeties belong to you?"
You coo at the bird and cat and gently stroke their heads, a smile adorning your face as they lean into your touch.
"What are you?"
Jinu is hesitant, the aura you possess rivals that of his captor.
"Bora or Hwan can explain, Duri is at work but those two should be enough."
As if summoned by you the two demons appear in the hallway and jump at the sight of the new body.
"Jinu?!"
"Oh you three already know each other great."
One explanation later and you've forgotten your task in favor of playing with the animals. You only slowed once Jinu returned.
"So, you can make the voices go away?"
"If you want me to, I'm willing."
"What do you gain from this?"
"Company?"
You shrugged and motioned to the two demons hiding behind the corner. They flee after being caught and you laugh.
"You should be careful, he could hurt you."
"I mean, as it stands he can't do shit."
"You hunt demons,why aren't you trying to kill me?"
"Why would I? You haven't tried anything."
His eyes flashed gold and before you could blink his claws were at your throat. You grimaced and slipped your mask on and watched as sweat coated his brow.
"Be afraid of what i can do when pushed to the brink Jinu. I offer you kindness, not nativity."