Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Saja Boys teleport to the other stage, Baby in the centre. He feels the beat getting faster, the speed thrumming in his veins, and he knows. Now’s his moment.

“Unh! Bichinaneun fame. Gyesok oecheo I’m your idol.
Thank you for the pain cause it got me going viral!
Oh yeah, naji anneun fever
Makin’ you a believer
Nareul wihae neon jonjae haneun aideul!”

Gwi-Ma thumps out the beat, flaring up the light and sound effects for Baby. Far much more for anyone else in the group. He dances and raps against the flaring flames, slashing the air with his claws. Towards the end of his lines, the flames blaze up higher than even, illuminating Baby’s silhouette against pink and purple fire.

As the song comes to a climax, the Saja Boys rise in the air, floating high above the ground. Baby dances and sways, lost with the music, closing his eyes as the song ends. They did it.

“Oh!”

A voice calls out in beautiful harmony from the main pathway. Baby opens his eyes; it’s the half breed. His mouth twists in a sneer. What’s she doing here?

Gwi-Ma lectures her on her failures, the familiar scorn bringing a smirk to Baby’s lips. She’s doomed; they all are.

Undeterred, she walks forwards, voice breaking into song. Baby watches from high above as her human companions join her, destroying mogrifs, faceless demons, and gathering in the center. They turn to face them, faces and bodies glowing with light.

The remainder of the mogrifs are summoned back to Gwi-Ma as the Saja Boys lunge in for the kill, leaving Jinu hovering behind them.

Baby floats down to Zoey, creeping menacingly, circling her with Mystery. He slinks around her, before lunging in for the kill. She meets him with crossed arms, daggers clutched uselessly in her hands, before swivelling around to look at her half-breed friend. Baby’s thrust backwards, landing hard on his ass.

He gets up slowly, wincing before standing next to Mystery, forces joined against Zoey.

He hears conversation to the left, and turns his head simultaneously with Mystery.

Baby Saja’s mouth dropped open, midnight blue lips framing a perfect O as Jinu sacrifices himself for the half breed. Why would he do that? The stupid, romantic, annoying fool! Baby ought to have known.

Little pink holes burned through Jinu’s body, the very essence of him burning away in little pink sparks. Yet just before he evaporated into death, his patterns glowed bright pink as he collapsed to the ground. Before disappearing.

Zoey, the overly eager, irritating Huntrix rapper, snuck up from behind, waving her daggers round in her hands. Mystery leapt forward, teeth bared in fury, as she swung towards him. Her aim was true, and she hit him in the abdomen before he too disappeared.

Baby Saja slunk in the shadows behind Zoey, ready to leap up and ambush her, when his patterns shone a bright pink. They burned through his skin in a familiar pain, engulfing him in pain. This could mean two things: he was going to spontaneously combust, or Gwi-Ma was summoning him. Clearly the latter as he hit the ground hard, vanishing in a puff of pink smoke.

Waking up in the underworld, Baby rolled onto his back and groaned. His body hurt, back bruised and head spiking with pain. The stench of fire and demons stunk up the air, making Baby cough and splutter. He should be used to it: it was the smell of home. But a small glimpse into the fresh smells of the human world had broadened his horizons, changed him.

Or maybe he was delusional. It must be from the bump to the head.

Propping himself up with his hands and knees, he crawled over to Mystery. Brushing the hair away from his face (why did he insist on that style anyways?) he uncovered a large bruise on his temple. His fingers brushed over it, first gently, then pressing into the bruise hard, hoping to wake Mystery up.

“Mystery! MYSTERY!”

Pulling Mystery’s arms off his chest revealed a small stream of blood, pooling on the floor. Baby pulled away, hands stained blue, trembling. He didn’t know what to do. Why weren’t they healing?

Around him were the bodies of his friends, scattered across the plain. Baby crawled over to Romance and desperately tried to stem the blood leaking from his throat. Further ahead he could see Abby, who seemed in a terrible condition. Lying in a puddle of blood, the liquid poured from his stomach, his chest, his abs.

Jinu wasn’t there.

Being the maknae of the Saja Boys was tricky enough, but Baby was a tough cookie. He didn't cry in public: the last title he needed was ‘Crybaby’. But now, tears rolled from his amber eyes as he gazed at Gwi-Ma, who simmered above him, recovering from his own defeat. His face was scrunched up, lip quivering.

“Why?” he whispered, in a scratchy voice. “WHY? WHY DOOM THEM AND SPARE ME?” he screamed in anger, spit flying from his mouth, throat hoarse.

Gwi-Ma spoke, his voice soft, almost tender. “Rest my little Baby. All will be clear when you awaken.” Gwi-Ma’s voice had softened from his usual booming, in an attempt to soothe Baby.

Baby thumped the ground with his fists, fully aware he looked like a toddler throwing a tantrum. He didn’t care.
“NO! NO, I’M NOT GOING TO SLEEP!”
God, he even sounded like one too.

“Bring them back you ugly, mean bastard!” Baby’s insults were stupid, childish, but his mind felt too awash with emotion.

Gwi-Ma didn’t tolerate disrespect like that. Baby should be annihilated, all traces of him wiped from under the world. Instead his voice boomed out, cold, unforgiving with still a trace of concern.
“Go to sleep Baby. I’m not asking.”

As he sank to his feet, tiredness dragged down his eyelids like there were weights on them. He fought to keep them open, eyelashes fluttering and eyes rolling up in his head. This was no natural sleep, rather a slumber concocted by Gwi-Ma. Baby screamed in anger, a drawn-out, pitiful scream of fury. A tear slowly rolled down his cheek, as he collided with the ground, head thudding up and down from impact.

“Please…save…them.” He slurred, a trace of tears still in his voice. “Please.”

His body shuddered with sobs, a fresh burst of tears streaming from his eyes, an aching wail sounding from his lips. He cried with unrelenting tears, and without missing a beat, passed into sleep.

Gwi-Ma watched over the sleeping figure, looking even more baby-like in sleep than should be possible. Almost angelic, if not for the pale blue skin and dark purple patterns. His cheek was stained with tears that glimmered in the light, residue of his emotional outburst. Around him, his friends bled out unconsciously, life fading from them fast.

Gwi-Ma sighed. He supposed he’d have to stitch them up, keep them alive. Anything to keep Baby happy. As for Jinu… Gwi-Ma was by no means ready to forgive that spineless traitor, but he wouldn’t kill him. For some reason he couldn't fathom, Jinu was important to Baby.

Baby would have a new mission. Kill Rumi.

Gwi-Ma knew that his daughter, the pathetic half breed, was the strongest link of Huntrix. Without her, the band would be doomed. And who better to kill her than her own half brother. Innocent, sweet, deadly. His son.

Baby Saja.

Chapter Text

Baby woke up with a headache. His throat felt dry and raspy, eyes dried out. A clumsily tucked blanket was wrapped around his head, and he struggled for several seconds to take it off. It stank of something musty that Baby didn’t want to think about. Eventually succeeding in pulling the blanket off, he sat up and looked at Gwi-Ma, confused.

“Why did you put a blanket around my head?”

Gwi-Ma paused. “I believe, in human-like entities, the head is the body part which loses the most heat, especially during sleep. So I thought…”

Baby shook his head, “Doesn’t mean I want to wake up nearly suffocating on a blanket!”

He looked around the plain. Dark blue stains covered the floor, but the bodies of his friends were missing.

“Where are my friends?”

Gwi-Ma chuckled sinisterly, “They’re… well, let’s call it recovering.”

“Recovering? From their wounds, right?”

“Their wounds, and their failure! Do you have any idea how far back this disastrous venture has set us? The Honmoon is golden! Only the smallest demons can slip through, and they are far too incapable to bring me any souls!” Gwi-Ma vented, fire blazing high, emotions slipping.

He sighed. “Only the smallest demons can get through. And you know how pathetic they are. That means you, Baby, are the only capable one.”

Baby yawned widely, “And? Soul stealing has never been my speciality anyway.”

Gwi-Ma’s fire flashed. “I’m not sending you to kill souls. I’m sending you to kill Huntrix. Rumi, more specifically.”

He scoffed, “What, the half-breed?”

“Yes.”

Baby paused for a minute, evidently thinking it over. “No. I’m not a pawn to move in whatever game you’re playing, and I’m not a puppet to dance to your tunes. Why should I do it anyways?”

Gwi-Ma grinned, ignoring the blatant disrespect. “Well, if you want your friends all in one piece…”

Baby’s face darkened almost instantaneously. “You said they were recovering!”

“Well, that could be very quickly changed. I still haven’t forgiven Jinu, or released him. Besides, you can’t tell me you don’t want revenge on Rumi for nearly killing Jinu.”

Baby groaned, face in his hands. “If I complete this mission, the last mission mind you, you’ll keep them safe and set them free?”

Gwi-Ma nodded, as best as a giant fire could nod. “That’s the deal.”

He considered for a few seconds, before reluctantly nodded. Gwi-Ma beamed down at him.

Baby sighed, rolled his shoulders back and forth a few times, before levitating to the Honmoon. It burned his fingers when he touched it, but he shouldered through with only a few winces of pain. In the last second, before he was sucked out of the demon world, he looked down.

“Be careful Baby.” Was that worry in Gwi-Ma’s voice? Surely not.

_________________________________________________________________________

He popped out into the human world wearing his signature pink oversized sweater, blue collared shirt, jeans and bright yellow beanie. He pulled the hat down low on his head, hoping to hide his recognizable cyan hair.

Walking down the street got him some weird looks, as people eyed him, unsure why the young man had both hands jamming his hat down on his head. Baby scowled and hissed at people who came too close, and they backed off in a hurry. Foolish human beings, incapable of minding their own business for a few seconds.

So, Huntrix. The first idea was to find them. Easily done. Their ostentatious tower towered over the rest of the city, glass panels constantly shimmering. But attacking them on their home base would certainly be a bad idea. Baby sucked on a lollipop, whilst pondering the problem. What to do?

“Lure them out.” a voice whispered in his head. Baby wasn’t sure if it was Gwi-Ma, his own subconscious or something else entirely, but he was sure that it was a good idea. A great idea.

Security at the Huntrix compound was negligible to say the least. All Baby had to do was sneak past a few security guards and hop into the elevator. Pathetic.

Walking into the Huntrix apartment, he had to admit it looked nice. Classy. It was definitely far larger than the cramped little place the Saja Boys had been living in when they first entered the human world.

Ripping a piece of paper off a notebook, he paused, thinking about what he wanted to write, before settling with a cheery and sarcastic message.

Come and find us. The Saja Boys were here! OXOX Love ya!

That should be good enough right? Definitely enough to pique their interest, if nothing else.

Baby was about to leave when a middle aged lady came into the room. A streak of grey ran through her black hair. Her eyes widened when she saw Baby.

“Who…who are you?”

Damn. Baby felt a well of pride rising up in him. His disguise was really that good, huh? The sensible thing to do now would be to escape, leave without a trace. But the temptation of seeing her shocked face was too enticing for Baby. He pulled the hat off his head, revealing his bright blue hair.

“Leave. Or else I’ll call security.” She said, voice firm and stern. Did she not recognize him?

“It’s me. Baby Saja.” He instinctively struck the sideways pose from the group, before remembering none of the Saja Boys were with him.

“I don’t know who or what Saja is, but you need to leave. Now.” Baby stepped closer to her, cyan eyes widening.

“Don’t you recognize me?”

“Leave. This is your last chance.”

Baby sprinted for the elevator, albeit not very fast. He missed piggybacking; it was much quicker and required much less effort. Jamming at the down button frantically, he wondered why the lady couldn’t see who he was. Maybe she’d been living under a rock for the past twenty years. Or maybe…

Maybe the world had forgotten the Saja Boys.

Musing over his thoughts, he wondered where Huntrix could be now. Not in their fancy tower. Out in town perhaps. Either way, he was hungry. Looking around town for food, he saw a brightly coloured shop with images of food pasted on the outside. Surely if he went inside here, there would be something to eat.

Walking inside, he shivered at the AC. Freezing currents of air wormed inside his jumper, chilling him to the bone. Stupid air conditioning. He grabbed a trolley and walked into one of the aisles, eyes peeled for food.

He stopped, then looked at the trolley. A metal cart on wheels, propped up by steel legs. Baby smirked. He could have some fun with this.

Running up and down the aisles as fast as he could, he would get the trolley going, then jump in, letting himself whizz away to wherever the trolley took him. Whenever the trolley crashed into one of the shelves (quite often) he’d run away to a different aisle.

By the end of his frolics, Baby was breathless and dizzy with laughter. He’d almost completely forgotten the mission. Almost.

A pang of sadness echoed in his heart. He missed the Saja boys. Abby would be pushing along the trolley, because he was strong, and he loved to amuse the rest of them. Romance would be in the trolley with him, simply because he loved fun and chaos. Mystery would be balancing on the end, like the odd, loveable boy he was, too relaxed to join in with the madness. And Jinu would be jogging alongside them, too old to partake in the fun, and probably telling them to pick up the messes. But they weren’t here. They were somewhere far away, nearly dead. Who even knows if Gwi-Ms was telling the truth? Their lives could very well be hanging by a thread. And it was up to Baby to save them.

Determination refuelled, he resolved to keep on the lookout for Huntrix. Then, when they least expected it, he’d attack.

He was so caught up in his thoughts for revenge, he almost missed the three brightly dressed girls walking into the store. Short black hair, long pink hair, and a purple braid. Huntrix. In the flesh.

Baby followed them around on their shopping trip like a ninja. Sneaky, silent, stealthy, he snuck behind them as they turned into another aisle. There was no way they would even be able to tell he was there…

“Hey.”

All three of the girls were facing him, smiles wide on their faces.

“You’re a fan, right? It’s so nice to meet you!” Zoey squealed, whilst the others shook hands with him.

Baby nodded, staying silent. He didn’t want to risk them hearing his voice.

Mira’s eyes narrowed. “So, you gonna say anything?”

Baby shrugged.

“I don’t think he’s a fan…” The half breed muttered. In one motion, Mira pulled off his hat, and his blue hair fell out in one fluid movement.

“Baby Saja?” They gasped.

Baby groaned. His disguise was unveiled. Now he’d have to fight.

Morphing into his demon form prompted the girls to bring out their weapons. Three hunter girls against the one and only Baby. It should be an easy win, right?

Baby had some tricks up his sleeve.

Zoey lunged forward, daggers at the ready, grinning in the sure thought of victory. Baby raised his face, amber eyes wider than should be possible, face round and soft. Zoey stopped in her tracks, squealing, “Oh, he’s so cute!”

One punch to the face and she was down.

He turned his baby face on Mira, who narrowed her eyes to slits, and scowled. Nope, it definitely wasn’t working on her.

They fought, with blades and claws and teeth, with punches and hits and kicks. She was strong, fast, talented, and a menace with her scythe. In a burst of power, Baby pushed her through a shelf, knocking the entire case over.

Rumi stepped up, slashing and cutting the air with her sword, narrowly missing Baby each time. She pushed her sword forward at him, and he blocked it with his hands. They pushed against each other, teeth bared, eyes burning in hatred. Baby leaned forwards, till their faces were just an inch away from each other. He tilted his head to the side, and whispered into her ear.

“Jinu misses you.”

She stepped back, eyes wide, breath shallow and unsteady. Baby Saja grinned like a loon, enjoying her discomfort. She struggled for words, mind reeling from the shock.

He lunged inwards, taking advantage of her distraction, claws sharpened, when Zoey tripped him over with a sweep kick. He tumbled to the ground and scowled at the irritating hunter, before kicking her square in the stomach. She fell backwards with an oof. He grabbed Rumi by the hand, intending to drive his claws into her chest when a tingle went through his fingers. His patterns smouldered, shining bright pink. He dropped her in pain, wincing, wondering why Gwi-Ma was summoning. But when he didn’t disappear, his eyes widened.

Oh no. Not spontaneous combustion.

Rumi patterns were gone, supposed to be gone, but before his eyes they etched themselves onto her skin. She fell to the ground, gasping and twitching as Mira and Zoey bent over her in panic. Her skin glowed and smoked, as they crept up her arm and onto her neck. Baby looked at her, the pathetic half-breed. Was she dying? It definitely looked like it.

At least he hadn’t exploded yet.

She opened her eyes slowly and groaned, in no condition to fight. Baby should finish her off now, while she was weak, but Mira and Zoey stood in front of her, protecting her from him. He gave them a cheeky wave and a wink, before vanishing in a puff of pink smoke. Mission failed, for now.

But something interesting had definitely happened.

Chapter Text

Mira and Zoey gaped at the empty space where Baby had been, mouths open in shock. Where had he gone? Why was he here? Then they turned back to look at Rumi, her patterns stark against her skin.

“Rumi!” They chorused as they bent down to pick her up. “Are you ok?”

Rumi groaned, body aching. She felt like she had been electrocuted. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“What…what just happened?” whispered Zoey, eyes widening at Rumi’s dark purple patterns. She shifted almost imperceptibly away. Rumi covered them up with her hands almost instinctively, curling in on herself.

“I don’t know.” Her voice was quiet, heavy with defeat and shame

“Well. We better go back to the compound, and we can figure out what to do from there.” Mira instructed, taking charge of the disaster. She took off her hoodie and gave it to Rumi, who gratefully put it on. They crept out of the store, groceries forgotten.

Walking back to their apartment without being seen was a challenge. Their fans were littering the street, wearing and carrying Huntrix merch. There also seemed to be an unusually high number of men in pink sweaters, or yellow hats. The trio was constantly on edge as they snuck back to the tower. Waiting in the elevator as they went up felt like an eternity, but they eventually reached their floor.

Zoey and Mira guided Rumi to the couch and sat on either side of her. A slight distance lingered between them, as if they were afraid of being contaminated. Hesitantly, Zoey reached out to Rumi’s arm, and slowly traced out the patterns with her finger.

“Does that hurt?”

Rumi shook her head. “No, it’s fine.” They sat in an awkward silence for a moment longer, before questions bubbled out of Zoey.

“What happened in the shop? Were you having a seizure? Are you turning into a demon? What did Baby say to you? Can we watch my turtle movie?”

Mira chuckled and patted the excited maknae on the head. “Enough with the questions Zoey! Let Rumi take her time. I’m going to get some food, okay?” She looked at Rumi, eyes filled with concern.

Rumi nodded, eyes cast downwards, “Yeah, that sounds great.”

Mira moved to the bar to bring out the food, when a folded note on the counter caught her attention. She opened it and gasped. Loudly. Zoey and Rumi twisted their heads around on the couch to look at her.

“Everything alright, Mira?”

She walked back around to them, eyes flashing with fury. “No, everything is not alright! Look at this!” She brandished a piece of paper at them.

Rumi took it in her hands, Zoey leaning over her shoulder to read it.

Come and find us. The Saja Boys were here! OXOX Love ya! An obnoxiously cheery note, peppered with exclamation marks and hugs and kisses.

Jinu misses you…

“The audacity!”

Rumi read it again and again. She hated to admit it, but her heart jumped into her throat at the thought. The Saja boys were back?

Does that mean Jinu…

could be alive?

Zoey squealed. “YAY! The Saja Boys are back!”

Mira snatched the note from her hands. “NO! Not yay Zoey. They snuck into our apartment.” Her brow furrowed. “What if they try to break the Honmoon again?”

Zoey pouted. “They wouldn’t do that. They already lost the first time, why would they try again? Besides, it’s Golden now. Pretty sure it can’t be broken.”

Mira groaned. “Look guys, we don’t even know if this is true. The only Saja Boy we’ve seen so far is Baby. And I’m sure if the rest of them were here, they wouldn’t hesitate to rub their smug faces in ours.”

Rumi’s heart sunk all the way down into her chest. So they weren’t all back. Just Baby.

“Look, I’m starving! Let’s just eat the food, and we can figure out what to do about this later.” Zoey complained.

“Yeah, okay? Just… are you sure you’re ok Rumi? We got kinda sidetracked from what happened earlier.” Mira asked.

Rumi took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s feast!”

They gathered around the coffee table, chomping on kimbap, sushi, and ramyeon. Zoey crammed all the prawn crackers in her mouth, as Mira slurped down her ramyeon and Rumi practically overdosed on the kimbap. But as the spread of food rapidly diminished, so did Rumi’s spirits.

She excused herself to go to the bathroom. Walking down the hallways, she leant against the wall. Tears trickled silently down her cheeks, curving into her mouth and tasting of salt. She thought she was finally fixed. That she’d learned to accept the faded patterns as part of her. But now they were back in dark purple glory, and she hated them. She hated the fact that she hated them too. She was meant to have grown as a person, to have overcome her fears. But instead, she was stuck in this cycle.

Rumi wished Jinu was here. He would understand, she knew he would. He would speak to her in that soft, kind voice, and listen to her. She would gaze into those warm brown eyes, and maybe she’d lean a little closer.

She missed him. Every day felt like a challenge.

She walked over to the sink. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she splashed some water on her face and wiped away the tears with a towel. She willed her trembling lips still, and raised her face to the mirror. A scared, dishevelled girl looked back at her, strands of hair escaping from her braid, purple patterns winding up one half of her face. They looked like scars.

Taking a few more breaths, she willed her face into a smile, practising in the mirror again and again and again, until it looked somewhat natural. Hopefully enough to fool her friends.

“Our faults and fears must never be seen.” Celine’s words echoed in her mind. She had been wrong about a lot of things, but in this case she was right. Rumi couldn’t afford to show vulnerability; as the leader of Huntrix she had to stay strong.

Even if it meant sacrificing her mental and emotional health.

Rumi re-entered the room, repeating the word in her head like a mantra, till they morphed into something else.

“Jinu misses you. Jinu misses you. Jinu misses you. JINU MISSES YOU. JINU MISSES YOU”

Aargh! It was like his stupid smug voice was in the room with her, screaming into her ear.

Ding! The elevator door slid open

And as if her very thoughts had summoned him, Baby stepped into the room, sucking a lollipop.

Chapter Text

Ignoring the shocked looks of the Huntrix members, Baby strode across the room and plopped onto the couch in between Mira and Zoey. They stared at him, eyes practically popping out of their heads in surprise. As a group, they unsheathed their weapons.

Baby looked left and right nonchalantly, uncaring of the weapons. “Such a cold, cold welcome. Are you not happy to see me?”

Mira moved her scythe up close to his face, the tip just an inch away from his nose.
“Back off, demon.” She hissed, voice laced with venom. Her eyes glared at him.

Baby sighed, shaking his head.“I guess this never was going to go well.” he said as he morphed into his demon form. His skin turned pale blue, lips turning midnight, purple patterns creeping up his neck. His eyes blended from cyan to amber.“So let’s fight.”

He flipped off the couch and slammed Mira and Zoey’s heads into their empty ramyeon pots with an evil smirk. They staggered blindly around the room, slashing randomly at the air and calling for Rumi’s help.

She stood immobilized as Baby walked towards her menacingly, claws raised, mouth stretched in a conniving smile. Pulling at her sword, she raised it to his chin.

“Back off.” Rumi said, mirroring Mira’s words.

Baby tilting his head in mock surprise. “Why? The fun’s just started.”

He lunged towards her, fists outstretched, and she parried his blows with her forearms, shins and sword. When he landed blows, they were hard and unforgiving, knocking the breath out of Rumi. Spotting a chink in his offence, she kicked him in the chest and knocked him flat on the ground. Rushing over, she placed a foot on his throat, threatening to crush his windpipe.

“Oh, you’re good.” Baby coughed, wheezing under the pressure. His canines elongated into razor sharp fangs. He twisted his head to clamp his jaws around her ankle. Rumi lifted her foot up in a cry of anguish, shaking Baby free in the process. Blood trickled from the tooth marks embedded in her skin.

Baby rose from the floor, teeth stained with scarlet blood, smeared against his blue lips. He looked like something out of a horror movie.

He stood still for a second, thinking about something. His eyes turned calculating, and he ripped off the sleeve of Rumi’s hoodie. Her patterns lay bare, exposed, and she tried to cover them with her hands.

“What are you doing!” She gasped, struggling against Baby’s iron grip on her wrist. Her patterns and Baby’s started glowing bright pink, but he ignored that. She looked down at their arms and gasped.

Their patterns were identical.

Wait. On second thought, not identical. There were small differences, like some changed angles, or different lengths. Still, they were shockingly similar.

Baby let go of her hand like he’d been burned, and backed away from her. His eyes were wide, whether with fear or with questions, Rumi couldn’t tell.

Mira ripped the pot off her head and levelled her scythe at Baby’s head. He backed away, hands instinctively raised in the air.

“I-I just wanna talk.” He stammered, a wild difference between his unbothered demeanour from earlier.

“No… talking… demon!” Mira grunted, swinging her scythe at him between every word.

Baby teleported to the other side of the room, perching awkwardly on the windowsill.

“Look, I hate you just as much as you hate me. Can we agree on that?”

Mira vehemently nodded, while Zoey tilted her head to the side, considering.

“I don’t know if I hate hate you…”

“Zoeyyyyyy.” Mira and Rumi groaned.

“Okay, sorry!”

“Can you guys stay focused for one second?” Baby groaned. These girls were ridiculously easily distracted.

“Okay.” Three voices chorused in irritating harmony. Baby continued.

“A quick summary on demon markings: they’re all unique to the demon. Like potatoes.”

“Potatos?” Mira scoffed. “Isn’t it meant to be snowflakes?”

Baby shrugged. “Have you ever seen two potatoes that looked identical?”

Mira shrugged, Zoey shook her head and Rumi interjected, “Look, can you just get to the point?”

“Right. As I was saying. Demon marks are unique. The only way they can be similar is a massive coincidence. But that’s only gonna look like a vague resemblance. Nothing compared to how similar mine and the half-breed’s, I mean, Rumi’s look.” He corrected to some raised eyebrows.

“So what does that mean?” Rumi interrupted.

“I don’t know…” Baby trailed off. “But it’s definitely something.”

The four of them sat in silence for a moment before Mira broke it. “I still say we kill him.”

“Yeah. Kill him!” Zoey cried, pumping her hands in the air.

Baby scoffed, giving them a disdainful look. “Of course you would say that. You’re all cold-blooded murderers.”

“Excuse me? We are not murderers!” Zoey protested.

“Oh yeah? Then what do you call it when you murder demons?” His heart burned with fury. “All you do is kill, kill, kill, all day, every day!”

“Yeah, well the demons are usually trying to kill us! We’re just defending ourselves."

He laughed sarcastically, anger building. “You think they have a choice? We’re all forced to do what we do, by Gwi-Ma. We have no choice.”

“You always have a choice.” One of them whispered in a soft voice. It was the sheer injustice of this sentence that finally made Baby burst.

“I HAVE NO CHOICE!” Baby screamed. “NONE OF US HAVE ANY CHOICE! WE’RE FORCED TO BEND TO HIS WILL AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND DROWN IN OUR SHAME!” His voice grew raw to the end of the outburst, tears slipping unbidden down his cheeks. He fell to his knees, face bowed. “I don’t have any choice.” He whispered, hoarse, broken.

Rumi tilted her head up so his amber eyes met hers, still swimming with tears. “I’m sorry Baby. We all are, aren’t we girls?”

Mira nodded reluctantly, and Zoey bobbed her head up and down.

“Stay here for the night. We can ask Celine what she thinks about it tomorrow.”

Baby pushed her hand away roughly. “Forget it. You Huntrix girls are vicious.” He was hurting, lashing out in his pain, but he didn’t care. In fact, it was good. If they could even feel a fraction of the pain that grated at him every day, he would be happy.

Walking to the elevator, he stepped inside, morphing back into his human form. His eyes were rimmed red, pale skin reddened. Before the doors slid shut, he delivered his parting shot.

“I don’t even know what Jinu ever saw in you.”
_________________________________________________________________________

Waves of emotion barreled through Rumi’s head, each one battering her walls, threatening to break down her boundaries. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she turned her head to the side to hide her face. The words of a demon shouldn’t affect her so much.

Mira walked around the room, obsessively picking up plates and pillows that had been knocked over in the chaos. Zoey sat in the middle of the room, rocking back and forth while gnawing on her fingernails. Baby’s visit had left them all on edge, each one asking themselves questions.

Am I a bad person?

Are we murderers?

Who cares what that stupid little demon thinks anyways?
_________________________________________________________________________

On the way down, tears streamed down Baby’s cheek even as he wiped them away furiously with his sleeve. Why couldn’t he stop crying? He bit his lip, teeth digging into the skin until it went white, nearly bloodless. A strangled sob escaped from his mouth before he composed himself, locking down those troublesome emotions.

Baby had barely made it to the bottom floor before he started regretting his decision. The sky was darkening, changing from midnight blue to black. The air was colder than the grocery store’s air conditioning, making him shiver. Where did he have to stay? The Saja Boys' old apartment, cramped and musty. More than that, haunted by the memories of happier times. Abby, working out in the corner, Romance sprawled on the couch, Mystery perched on the edge of his chair, and Jinu, always by the door. Baby shuddered at the reminder. Definitely not.

The streets? Cold, and littered with people.

He had nowhere to go. No other choice than to swallow his pride and hop back in the elevator. He flushed in embarrassment at the memory of his outburst. He had let out more of himself than he’d meant to, revealed too much to the enemy. He couldn’t afford to be that emotional. Not when his boys’ lives were on the line.The door slid open on Huntrix’s floor and three pairs of eyes turned to him.

“Just can’t seem to stay away, huh?” Mira asked.

Chapter Text

Baby entered the apartment and numbly walked to the couch. He lounged on it sucking a lollipop. Seeing Baby return seemed to relax Huntrix, subtly reassuring them that they couldn’t be such bad people after all, if the demon had decided to return.

They let him sit in silence for a few minutes, while they cleaned the mess.

“Can you help?” Mira hissed at him, whilst restacking a bookshelf.

Baby looked up. “It’s not my apartment.”

“But you’re staying here. And you helped make the mess.”

He shrugged. “It’s not my apartment.”

“Baby, just get off your ass and help.” Rumi groaned.

His mouth twitched in a scowl. Who was she, the half-breed to talk to him like that? He practically crawled off the couch and bent on the floor, plucking rice grains out of the carpet and dropping them on the coffee table. His mind settled down as he grew engrossed in the task, losing himself in the mundane simplicity.

“Baby.” Rumi shook his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

He looked up at her, blushing at the memory of his meltdown, “I’m fine.”

“It’s just… you’ve been cleaning for an hour. We finished ages ago.”

An hour? Baby looked up at the clock, and sure enough, an hour had passed. His shoulders ached, his back was sore from bending down, and his knees were crying out in protest. He straightened up with a groan, face stretching in a yawn. It was late, the sky nearly black.

“Are you tired?”

“No shit Rumi.” The trio gasped and Baby shrugged. Guess they weren’t used to hearing a maknae swear. “I’m going to sleep.”

Baby walked into the teal bedroom and flopped on the bed. Rumi followed him, eyebrows raised in disbelief. “Um, that’s my bed Baby.”

“So?” Baby asked, voice muffled from his face stuffed in the blanket.

“So I think I’d like to sleep there.”

Baby sat up, eyes wide with indignation, “Well where am I going to sleep?”

“The couch?”

“Not the couch. Please, please not the couch.” Being the smallest member of the Saja Boys, Baby had always slept on the couch. His blue eyes widened till they took up nearly half his face.

Despite herself, Rumi melted at the sight of that innocent face. Shame he was literally a devil in disguise.

“We can make a pillow line down the center or something. Whatever helps.” Baby pleaded. He really didn’t want to sleep on the couch.

“Fine.” Rumi groaned with exaggerated annoyance. Pulling out some extra pillows, she lined them down the middle. Baby jumped under the covers and tugged the blanket over himself. He was out like a lightbulb in seconds.

Rumi looked at him, his face made innocent by sleep. How could he possibly be so deadly?

Sighing, she climbed into bed and switched off the light. The only noise in the dark was the quiet breathing from Baby, and the occasional sleep mutter. Yawning widely, she settled down to sleep. They would solve the pattern mystery tomorrow.

What she didn’t notice was the quiet glint in Baby’s eyes, escaping through a crack in his eyelids.

Chapter Text

Baby waited impatiently for Rumi to fall asleep, lying as still as a statue. She scrolled on her phone, twisted and turned restlessly, and spent ages looking at her patterns. Her fingers traced almost obsessively over the twisted and curved lines. For a while, her shoulders shuddered with sobs, kept silent to not disturb Baby. Jinu. She was crying over Jinu. Baby felt a wave of awkwardness wash over him. He was witnessing something deeply private, and he didn’t care to spy. So he rolled over and blocked his ears as best as he could.

Baby had time to kill. So he did what he often did in these boring moments; whether it was in the apartment, on the sidewalk in sleeping bags, or in one of those coma-inducing fan signs. He tried to remember his past. Whatever fragments he could find were almost always negative, but it never stopped Baby from looking for them

All the Saja Boys could remember their memories, except Baby. They rarely spoke of them, except Jinu, who had once let a few details slip. Baby knew the memories haunted him, tortured him, but surely knowing something must be better than the vague grey nothingness that echoed in Baby’s mind. He tried to settle his mind into peace, and conjured up a faint memory. He’d dropped a plate. It was glass with ornate patterns crawling around the edges. He distinctly heard it shatter on the floor, razor sharp little shards scattered everywhere. He bent down, hastening to clean it up, uncaring of the blood that bled from his hands, the slivers of glass embedded in his palms. It was a million little stabs of pain, but he ignored them. As long as he could clean it up, nothing would happen. But he was too late, too slow, too lazy. Always too late.

A shadowy, indistinguishable figure came from behind him, hand raised in fury. Baby flinched, instinctively preparing himself for a blow. Then, everything disappeared in a puff of grey smoke. This was wrong, too dramatic, too… fake?

Baby shuddered and opened his eyes; he hadn’t meant to fall asleep, He shook his head once or twice, trying to forget. He didn’t need memories to distract him now. Poor Jinu, and all the rest of them. He couldn’t decide what was worse: knowing and remembering all the horrors, or knowing they happened, but none of the details.

He rolled over and looked at Rumi, who sighed and shuffled in her sleep. Baby morphed into his demon form, nails lengthening and teeth sharpening. He sat up and bent over Rumi, claws an inch over her throat. Her face was unguarded in sleep, looking younger than her twenty-three years. For some reason, he couldn’t make the final push. It was because of the patterns: they were too similar. There had to be something more to it. But deeper down, Baby had realised she was a nice person. A genuinely good person. Unlike him. He was rotten to the core.

He stiffened his resolve. He hated her! Hated Huntrix! They had nearly killed the Saja Boys. Sure, they were ridiculous, silly fools, but if he wasn’t going to rescue his emotional support idiots, who was? He had to do this, for them.

While Baby wrestled with his morals, Zoey entered the room. Baby froze, caught in the act. He tried to think of a conceivable excuse for being hunched over Rumi with his claws at her throat. None came to mind.

Zoey gasped, and walked around the bed, hand outstretched. She reached Baby and slapped him full across the cheek. His head jerked to the side, blue skin reddened. His lip wobbled and tears welled up in his eyes, but he stayed silent. He deserved that. Zoey wasn’t done. She backhand slapped him, and his head flew to the other side. A small cry escaped his lips, as he lifted his hand up to the red mark.

Zoey sat on the armchair, and spewed a stream of insults, questions and more insults. Baby filtered most of it out; he had already suffered enough lecturing from Gwi-Ma.

“Why were you trying to kill Rumi?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“It is my business if you’re staying here. She’s one of my best friends. You could have killed her!” Baby raised his eyebrows as Zoey realised how stupid that sounded, and scrambled to say something else.
“I mean… You shouldn’t, shouldn’t be doing that! We’re letting you stay here. Why are you being so horrid?” A tear slid from the maknae’s eye, but she ignored it, gaze locked on Baby.

The silence stretched between them, as Zoey slowly raised her hand to Baby’s cheek, fingers ghosting over his injury, and Baby instinctively flinched. “Are you okay?” she whispered, eyes wide in concern. Baby snapped.

He crawled out of the blanket to the edge of the bed, till his nose was an inch from hers. Her dark brown eyes stared into Baby’s golden eyes. He shoved his face up close into hers and hissed.
“What do you Hunters even know about demons? What drives us, fuels us. That’s right, nothing. You’re all stupid, air headed bimbos, only concerned with your concerts at the end of the day." Even as the words pushed past his lips, he knew they weren’t true, but he forced himself to say them. Time to remember the real reason he was here.

Zoey leant back, shocked at the cruel, vitriolic hatred spewing from his lips. “And I thought you were finally redeeming yourself. There’s no hope for you Baby.”

Baby nodded, echoing her words. “You’re right. There is no hope for me.” He sounded defeated, acceptant of his fate, his empty voice chilling Zoey.

She sat in the chair, and he sat against the headstand, eyes locked. Zoey determined to keep an eye on him; Baby determined to stay up longer than her. The hours ticked by, and eventually, both maknaes succumbed to sleep, eyelids fluttering shut and heads drooping forwards.

Chapter Text

Gwi-Ma hurled Jinu out of the flames, his body battered and broken. His clothes smoked and burned, little holes spreading through, the acrid smell of burning fabric perfuming the air.

Jinu rolled onto his back and groaned.

“Are you done torturing me yet?” His voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Gwi-Ma’s fire roared high. “Is that insolence, boy?” He boomed.

Jinu rolled his eyes. “No, your honour.”

Mystery, Romance and Abby watched from the sidelines, chomping on prawn crackers and noodles. They claimed it was to keep their strength up, but more than that they enjoyed snacking while seeing Jinu humiliated.

“Woo Jinu! You tell him!” Romance cheered. Gwi-Ma directed the force of his anger at Romance.

“Be quiet fool. The only reason you’re alive is Baby. If it wasn’t for him, I’d evaporate you from this earth.”

Gwi-Ma disappeared with a crackle of flames.
Mystery, Romance and Abby rushed over to Jinu, bending over the still figure. Romance shook his head and tutted, whilst Abby scooped Jinu up into his arms. Jinu looked up at him through half-lidded eyes, which slowly fluttered shut out of fatigue. The three of them looked at him, brows wrinkled with worry. They took him to the snacking lounge, and placed him on the sofa. Jinu sighed, and rolled over, so his face was buried in the pillow.

Resuming their eating, the three of them sat in silence. Eventually, Mystery piped up, to the others’ surprise.

“I wonder what Gwi-Ma meant?” He quietly mused, to the air.

“Meant about what?” Abby asked, while stuffing kimbap in his mouth.

Mystery wrinkled his nose at Abby’s bad manners before continuing. “When he said Baby was the only reason we’re alive.”

Romance shrugged. “Does it really matter? At least we are alive. I thought we were goners after that fight.”

Mystery wasn’t finished. “Yes, but why are we alive? And I know Gwi-Ma sent Baby on a new mission, but what for? I thought he’d want to rest after this defeat.”

“The little spitfire can certainly handle himself.”

Mystery sighed. How were they being so dense? He wished Jinu was awake. “Yes, but nonetheless, all five of us were defeated in the human world, when we were together. What makes him so sure Baby will succeed?”

“Well maybe we wouldn’t have lost if you weren’t so busy barking for that Huntrix rapper.” Romance shot, smirking. A delicate blush spread over Mystery’s face, and he turned away.

“You’re one to talk Mr. Romance. Making doe eyes to Mira. Same as me, actually.” Abby laughed.

Mystery thought for a second, then spoke, unlike the rest of his conscious bandmates, “Thinking about it, Baby’s the only one who didn’t fall for a Huntrix member. Jinu likes Rumi, I…” He blushed again and scratched his head awkwardly, “may have liked Zoey, and you guys had your weird thing with Mira. Not Baby though.”

Romance pointed his chopsticks at Mystery with triumph. “There you go then. That’s why he's Gwi-Ma's favourite.”

Mystery shook his head, struggling to articulate his thoughts properly, “It’s more than that though. He… he liked Baby even before he left for the human world.”

Romance stretched his arms, trying to wake up that one remaining brain cell in his head. “Huh. I guess you’re right. Kinda.”

Abby shook his head. “I don’t understand. How did he favour Baby?”

“Come on. Praising Baby specifically for his raps. Letting him pick actually comfy clothes to wear. You can’t tell me you didn’t notice.” Romance chastised Abby.

“You didn’t notice until I said.” Mystery interrupted.

“Ah, I may not have noticed, but my subconscious did.” Romance claimed, nodding.

All three of the Saja Boys tried to wrap their head around that statement, before dismissing it as utter nonsense.

“I wonder why.”

“Well.” Romance said, sweeping the bar clean of food. “I say we try and figure it out. We’ve nothing better to do.”

Both Mystery and Abby looked at him sceptically.

“Come on Mystery. It’s a mystery, you have to want to solve it, it’s your name. And Abby, if we’re both solving it, you’re outnumbered anyways, so you better join us.”

They raised their eyebrows at this interesting logic, but it was too late. Romance had already sucked them in with his enthusiasm.

“And once Jinu wakes up, we’ll have his brains to help us too!”

The three of them gathered around a whiteboard Romance had conjured out of nowhere. He crawled up onto the bar to better draw on it, knocking over plates and glasses in the motion. He paused, looked down at the mess, and shrugged.

“So.” He said, leaning over to write on the board with a squeaky marker, “We know that Baby gets individual praise, gets to pick his own clothes, was sent on a special mission, and generally gets more appreciation than the rest of us.”

The three of them sat there, thinking hard.

“This means… Baby has a special connection to Gwi-Ma that the rest of us don’t.” Mystery slowly said, just as Abby chimed, “It’s because he’s a demon!”

Romance rolled his eyes at Abby’s ridiculous suggestion, and pointed the pen at Mystery.
“Bingo! That’s the kind of input we’re looking for.” He scribbled on the board ‘Special connection.’

“So, what can this special connection be?”

They sat in silence for a while for a while more. Eventually Mystery spoke. “They could be related.”

Romance, perched on the counter, nearly lost his balance. “Relatives? How can a giant wall of fire, and an adorable demon be related? Think again Mystery.”

“Baby could have blackmail on Gwi-Ma?” Abby suggested.

Romance considered the idea, before shaking his head. “First of all, what blackmail would Baby have, and how would he have found it? Second of all, why would Gwi-Ma be scared of whatever information Baby has on him? He can obliterate him with a thought, there’s no way he wouldn’t have done so already, if he thought he was in danger. It’s a good idea, but not what we’re looking for.”

Mystery hesitantly piped up, “They could be in a relationship…?”

This time, Romance did jump off the counter, nodding his head theatrically. “Yes. That would make perfect sense. A love story between the most annoying demon, and the demon king. That would certainly generate some favouritism.”

Abby rolled his eyes. “Isn’t Gwi-Ma like, as old as time itself? That’s a hell of an age gap.”

Romance continued with an explanation of how love could cross all boundaries, while Mystery shook his head. “You’re right, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Romance sighed, shaking his head, “You guys have no love in your soul. No romance.”

“Baby could have secret powers, and Gwi-Ma wants to use that!” Abby declared.

Romance frowned, considering it, before eventually deeming it worthy to be written on the board. In big block letters ‘BABY HAS SECRET POWERS?’

From the couch, Jinu groaned slowly, waking up. He opened his eyes to see three demons hovering just in front of his face. He yelped and jumped backwards on the couch.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Romance grinned, ready to suck Jinu into their conspiracy filled ideas.

Chapter Text

A crack of sunlight filtered through the curtains, stabbing Baby in the eye. Blinking wearily, he sat up and stretched with a yawn that split his mouth wide open. Through the course of the night, he had morphed into his human form, in some sort of attempt to not alert Rumi. Opposite him in the chair slumbered an exhausted Zoey, slumped in her chair. Dark circles were smudged under her eyes, and a strand of drool hung from her half-open mouth. Outside the room Baby could hear conversation, and the crackle of frying eggs.

He rolled out of bed with a groan and stumbled to the main room; the previous day’s fights had certainly taken a toll on him. Mira was frying eggs and bacon while chatting with Rumi, who was sitting in a bar seat with a cup of coffee. Baby caught a few words like ‘dangerous’, ‘patterns’ and ‘not sure if he’s safe’. He rolled his eyes. They weren’t being very subtle in talking about him.

As soon as he walked into the room, the chatter between them ceased, and a dense silence settled in the air. Mira made four plates of breakfast wordlessly, one for each of them, and one for Baby. She slid the meal across to Baby, who accepted it with a nod of thanks. For half an hour, the only noise in the apartment was the clinking of cutlery and the soft sound of chewing.

After what felt like an age, Rumi spoke.

“I called Celine, and she said that she’d come here this morning.”

Baby nodded, whilst gnawing on a particularly tough piece of bacon.

“So, I guess we’ll see if there’s anything to your pattern idea.” Mira commented, while sipping on a glass of water.

“There is, I’m telling you.”

“Or you could be lying.”

Rumi quickly diffused what was starting up to be a full blown argument. “Celine knows tons about demons. She’s been studying them for years, so if anyone can tell us if this means anything, it’s her.”

Baby excused himself from the table, and slipped back into Rumi’s room. Creeping over to Zoey, he paused, uncertain of how to wake her up. He settled for shaking her by the shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open.

“Wha-what?” Upon seeing Baby her gaze focused.

“Listen, about what happened last night, you can’t tell anyone.”

Zoey shook her head, silver earrings glinting in the light. “That’s ridiculous. I have to tell them, what if you do it again? I’m not going to keep this secret for you.”

Baby gritted his teeth. He hated begging, had hated begging to Gwi-Ma, and here he was, going to do it again.

“Please Zoey. If you tell them, there’s no way they’ll be willing to work together to solve this mystery. They’ll, they’ll kick me out. I’ll be homeless!”

“Why were you trying to kill Rumi anyway?”

Baby pursed his mouth. “I can’t tell you that.”

Zoey shrugged. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll have to tell them.”

Baby racked his mind, searching for a plausible excuse. He couldn’t think of anything.

Maybe it was time to opt for the truth?

“Gwi–Ma sent me on a mission to kill her. Target the heart of Huntrix, and the rest of them will fall. He saw how well that worked when you found out Rumi was a demon. Imagine how badly you would fall apart if she died.” He sighed, the truth finally out.

Zoey’s eyes widened, unsure about which part of that to address first. Gwi-Ma’s cruelty, the sending of Baby as an assassin, the cold tone in which Baby delivered it, or the implication that Gwi-Ma had been watching them, could be watching them. She opened her mouth to declare she was telling Rumi and Mira, but then she noticed. The half hidden pleading look from Baby, the fragile trust that she would uphold her end of the bargain. The hope that she would save him, only half believed in.

“Okay. I won’t tell them.” The full weight of what she was doing hit her hard, but she tried to ignore it. She intended to keep this secret.

Baby knees actually gave way from relief, and he fell to the floor. “Thank you. Thank you Zoey.” He scrambled upwards, still muttering thanks.

They walked into the apartment, and Zoey attacked the meal with a hunger that surprised even Baby. And he was a demon. Rumi was in the corner, quietly talking on the phone, before she hung up the line.

“Good news guys. Celine’s gonna be here soon.”

Zoey and Mira sidled over to her.

“Are you sure you still want her here, after all that happened?”

Rumi shrugged her shoulders with an air of discomfort. “If she can help us solve this problem, she can come here.”

Mira thumped her fist in her palm. “And if she tries to hurt you, we’ll make her pay.”

“Big time!” added Zoey, fists pumped in the air.

The Huntrix girls started squealing, and Baby covered his ears, wincing in discomfort. What did they have to be so loud and high pitched?

Ding!

The elevator doors slid open, and a well dressed lady walked in. Oh shit. A memory flashed in his mind.

“Leave. Or else I’ll call security.”

It was that lady.

She looked around, gaze travelling over the apartment, Mira and Zoey, the floor… Anywhere but Rumi. And then she saw Baby.

“Girls! This young man is an intruder! I caught him in your apartment yesterday.”

Young? He wasn’t young.

“What were you doing in our apartment, Celine?” Rumi asked, her voice quiet, but impossible to ignore.

Celine stammered for words, excuses spilling over each other. Huntrix collectively sighed.

“You’re not here because we want to see you.” Mira stepped in front of the other two. “You’re here because we need your help. On something little.”

“Do you have any information on Rumi’s dad?”

Celine sighed. “That demon? I should think not.”

Baby snarled, and she looked at him, taken aback.

“I, I do have a picture though.”

She pulled out a sheet of paper, and the three of them plus Baby crowded around it, head bent over the tiny photo. Celine hovered by, unsure of how to help. Eventually, Mira looked up and dismissed her.

“You can leave now.”

Celine moved to leave, but before she stepped into the elevator, she looked directly at Rumi for the first time since coming to the apartment.

“Everything I did, I did it for you. It was the only way.”

Rumi stood still, the only sign she gave that she heard her was a slight tremor that ran through her hands.

She stood there for a moment more, before leaving.

Baby snatched the photo from the girls, examining the patterns etched on the man’s arms.

He stood there, frozen in disbelief.

“I don’t recognize him.”

Zoey spoke up hesitantly. “Does that mean he’s dead?”

Baby nodded thoughtfully. “He could have died before I was born.”

“How old are you Baby?” Rumi asked.

“Two hundred and thirteen years old.”

The girls stood in stunned silence, while Rumi nodded thoughtfully.

“You demons can live for that long?”

Baby nodded. “In fact, I’m one of the younger ones.”

He sighed before pocketing the picture. “Well, if I don’t know who it is, Jinu certainly will. I guess we’ll have to go show him.”

This time, all three of the Huntrix girls were frozen.

“Go… go to the underworld. Are you mad?”

Baby shrugged. “I need one of you to come with me for protection, and you surely aren’t going to let one of your people wander off alone with me, are you?”

The girls groaned in disappointment.

“I guess it’s an all inclusive trip to hell.”

Chapter Text

Jinu frowned, squinting at the board. ‘BABY HAS SECRET POWERS?’, ‘SPECIAL CONNECTION’ and ‘GWI-MA’S IN LOVE WITH BABY?’ (scribbled on by Romance despite protests from the other two) were written down. He raised his eyebrows.

“Is this really necessary?”

“Come on Jinu!” whined Romance. “It’s a mystery, we have to solve it!”

“He’s even got me and Mystery convinced.” commented Abby.

Jinu stood in silence for a while before reluctantly nodding. Romance shrieked with joy and swept Jinu into a bone-crushing hug. Jinu groaned in agony, recent bruises having pressure brutally applied on them, and Romance stepped away hurriedly.

He led Jinu to the board, and proudly displayed their ideas. “So, what do you think?”

“This is ridiculous.”

Romance gasped, and put his hand against his heart, offended. “The board holds the truth, somewhere, in those frenzied scribblings.” He gestured wildly at the doodles.

“Hey. I have an idea!” Mystery exclaimed.

“Let’s hear it then.”

“We can all remember our pasts.”

The band sobered up, shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

“But Baby can’t. That might have something to do with it.”

They remained in silence, before Romance wrote ‘CAN’T REMEMBER PAST’

“After that depressing input from Mystery, have we got any happier ideas?”

“Hey, you asked to hear it!”

“Baby secretly raps for Gwi-Ma to amuse him!” Abby declared.

Romance frowned before writing ‘SECRETLY RAPS’.

“It’s a far stretch, but it's worth a thought.”

Jinu sighed, sitting back on the couch. “This is stupid. I wish I’d stayed unconscious."

Romance shook his head, pink bangs swaying. “The reason you think it’s stupid is because you haven’t tried coming up with any ideas.”

Jinu shrugged. “Who cares? It’s none of our businesses anyways.”

The three of them collectively rolled their eyes. So old-fashioned.

Just then, Romance gasped theatrically. He bounded off the bar, standing in front of them, arms splayed in the air.

“Remeber when we watched Frozen in the apartment?”

They nodded, unsure of where this was going.

“And Baby kept singing along to the songs?”

“Yes.”

“The reason that Gwi-Ma likes Baby the most is because…”

“Spit it out!”

“Baby is a Disney Princess!”

They sat in stunned silence, before cracking up into laughter.

“Good one Romance. You had us going for a second.” Abby chortled.

“I’m serious. It would explain everything!” Jinu nearly fainted away from the shock of the sheer stupidity.

“What exactly would it explain?” Mystery quietly muttered, as Romance climbed back onto the bar.

Romance shook his head again. “You’re all non-believers, but I’ll convert you, you’ll see.”

In the centre of the whiteboard, he wrote in block letters ‘BABY IS A DISNEY PRINCESS?’

“I’m right, I’m telling you!”

A voice spoke out of the darkness.

“I can assure you I’m not a Disney Princess.” Baby said dryly.

Chapter Text

After the girls loaded up on carbs, and Baby finished his lollipop, they gathered round in a circle. Zoey, Mira and Rumi had all changed out of their pyjamas into their leather, jewel studded Huntrix clothes, which Baby instantly dismissed.

“Our aim is to blend in there, not stand out like a bloody disco ball.”

After half an hour of costume changes, they were finally ready.

“All of us need to hold hands.” The Huntrix girls instantly linked hands. Zoey’s wrapped around his hesitantly, like a promise, and Rumi gripped his tight, like a curse. His palms were sweaty and clammy against their warmth.

Teleporting to the demon realm was naturally harder than being summoned, especially with the Golden Honmoon. Baby gritted his teeth and focused, driving up the sensation from his gut, spreading it through the four of them. He squeezed their hands so tight they went bright red, but no one complained. Baby’s breaths were shallow and uneven as he rocked back and forth on his feet. More important than ever was that Gwi-Ma did not discover them.

They disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.
_________________________________________________________________________
The demon world stank of fire and demons, and all three of the girls started coughing.

“It stinks here!” Zoey complained.

Baby took a deep breath of the stench. It smelled like home. Instinctively, they withdrew their weapons.

“Put those away you idiots! Do you want the entire demon world to know you're here?” Baby shrieked.

Reluctantly, they sheathed them.

“Where do you think they will be?” asked Rumi. Her heart jumped at the thought of seeing Jinu again.

Baby scratched his head ruefully. “I don’t actually know.”

“You what?” growled Mira, stepping closer towards him, hands clenched. “Tell me you didn’t lead us here for a wild goose chase.”

“I do know where they’ll probably be though.”

He didn’t even know if they were alive.

“Lead the way then. And I’m warning you; if you betray us, we will kill you.” Mira hissed into his ear.

“No doubt, Mira.”

Baby snuck around the edge of the plain, avoiding the gazes of demons. The girls traipsed behind him hesitantly, constantly on edge.

Baby was heading to the snack shack. It was where they had usually hung out, the four of them, before they were recruited.

There were one or two close moments, where a demon called them out, or Zoey's insistent complaints were nearly heard. But they mostly made it through undetected. And as they approached the snack shack he could see them. His boys. Romance perched on the counter with a whiteboard, Abby lounging on the couch, Mystery quietly leaning on a chair, and Jinu, standing in the centre, hand on his head like he had a migraine.

It was like a bomb imploded within him, strangling him with emotion. There was a fiery warmth spreading through his chest, engulfing him. He couldn't breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t feel. They were alive. He wanted to scream and cry and burst, because they were alive.

Gwi-Ma hadn’t lied.

He knew if he gave way to his emotions now, he would lose control. And he’d already been doing far too much of that. So he folded them up neatly, like clothes, and locked them up in a little mental box. It was like a ticking time bomb, making him a ticking time bomb. He allowed himself one choked sob, to release days of worrying and tears. And then he was composed.

Peering at the board, he could see in the centre ‘BABY IS A DISNEY PRINCESS?’ What on earth were they doing?

He rolled his eyes. At least the ridiculous idea had a question mark at the end.

“I can assure you I’m not a Disney Princess.”

Chapter Text

The Saja Boys gaped at Baby like they were seeing a ghost. In their minds, they were.

Romance paused only to flip over the whiteboard before sprinting over to Baby, and squeezing the life out of him.

“Let him breathe, Romance.” Abby laughed.

Baby felt his unbuilt scream well up inside of him, and he forced it down desperately while burying his head in Romance’s shoulder. He was so close to breaking down, to collapsing into a heap of tears.

Instead he hugged Romance back lightly, before stepping away. He moved straight to Mystery, and gave him a quick light hug. He knew Mystery hated contact, and invasions of his personnel space, so he kept it quick.

He ran up to Jinu, and hugged him. The man was so much taller than him that Baby was practically swinging around his neck with looped arms. Jinu patted him on the back awkwardly.

“Good to have you back kid.”

Finally Baby charged onto Abby who was still on the couch. Abby mussed his blue hair playfully, and gave Baby a bear hug. Against his will, a tear slipped out of his eye, and he wiped it away quickly, with a sniffle.

“So, what the heck have you guys been doing here? Trying to figure out if I’m a Disney Princess or something?”

Romance grinned sheepishly, and shrugged his shoulders.

“Speaking of princesses, I have some special guests for you guys.”

Baby stepped back and went to Mira, Rumi and Zoey, who were hanging back outside. Against their protests, he tugged them into the snack shack.

The room fell dead silent as the two opposing bands took in the sight of each other, the Saja Boys quickly switching to human form.

Slowly, Rumi and Jinu gravitated towards each other, like magnets finding their attraction. The rest of the members watched, spellbound.

Zoey walked towards Mystery, giggling and blushing, as the demon stood next to her awkwardly, hand reaching out to hold hers. Their fingers intertwined slowly, as if they were meant to be.

Abby and Romance swarmed in on Mira, the two of them showering her with flowers and flirtatious lines, which she accepted with scowls.

He caught snippets of conversation between Jinu and Rumi, quiet murmurs of two people reconnecting with each other. Zoey was teasing Mystery, and both Romance and Abby seemed devoted on a personal mission to annoy Mira.

With everyone paired, (or in Romance, Abay and Mira’s case tripled) off with each other, Baby felt an overwhelming wave of loneliness wash over him. Here he was, busting his ass to save the Saja Boys, and they couldn’t spare any time for him, instead swanning off with Huntrix.

Gwi-Ma's malicious voice whispered in his mind “You’ll never be good enough for them You’ll never belong with them. You’ll never be able to find a place with them.”

It wasn’t anywhere near the usual targeted needling Gwi-Ma did in Baby’s mind, but it was enough. Gwi-Ma would soon know that they were here.

He ran over to Jinu, interrupting his and Rumi’s conversation. He elbowed her in the side, and she cleared her throat, blushing profusely.

“Ah, so, right. Um. We came here to show you this.”

Baby produced the photo, and handed it to Jinu.

“It’s a picture of my Dad, apparently. Do you… recognize him?”

Jinu brought the tiny picture closer to his eyes, then frowned. He rubbed them as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“I don’t know who he is. I know who all the demons are. But not this guy.”

Rumi’s eyes were wide in surprise and fear. “So, what does that mean?”

Jinu shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know.”

Gwi-Ma’s voice grew more insistent in his head. Baby quickly blurted out, “Mine and Rumi’s patterns are the same. Or really similar. Do you know what that means?”

Jinu’s brow furrowed. “I…”

“WHERE ARE YOU, BOY?” Gwi-Ma’s voice boomed, screeching in his ears. Baby fell to his knees, body bent double, hands clamped over his ears. An agonized squeal fell from his lips, fading to a groan. All seven of them knelt next to him, Romance the closest.

Slowly, he peeled Baby’s hands away from his ears, and Baby let out an ear-splitting scream, wrenched from his soul. The volume of the voice in his head was dialled up until it was unbearable, eroding at Baby’s sanity. He bore it until he could no more, when one more second of this noise would drive him insane. And then it fell silent. The silence in his mind echoed in his mind, the lack of noise almost as loud as the screaming. And it was somehow worse.

Gwi-Ma knew they were here.

Baby ignored the residual mad screams bouncing around in his head and scrambled up from the floor, hastily grabbing Rumi, Mira and Zoey, tugging them out of the snack shack. Both Huntrix and the Saja Boys burbled with protests, asking Baby what on earth had happened, but he had no time for explanations. He babbled something about Gwi-Ma's presence, and not wanting to get anyone in trouble.

“Come on, come on, come on, we have to go!”

Goodbyes were hastily exchanged as he herded the four of them into a circle, and made them hold hands. Carefully, he levitated them up to the Honmoon, brow furrowed in concentration to keep all four of them airbourne. The three girls slipped through easily, leaving Baby behind to struggle. He soldiered his way through with difficulty, bearing the burns with a grimace.

Finally, he popped out in the human world, in Huntrix’s apartment, lying on the floor. He pressed his hands to his temple and winced, a sharp stinging pain echoing. Almost sleepily, he laid his cheek against the wooden floor. It felt cool, against his burns.

With difficulty, he could see the vague outline of Zoey, Rumi and Mira through blurred vision. Their outlines were hazy, identical.

He could hear whispers of panic, and worry. “Baby, are you ok? What the hell happened?” One of them asked. He couldn’t tell who.

He mumbled something that was meant to be snarky, or at least coherent, before passing out.

Chapter Text

Baby’s eyes flickered open, returning to consciousness. All the colours were blurred, hazing into each other, like he needed glasses. Seeing the world horizontally hurt his brain, so he blinked a few times, then sat up. The world tilted back slowly, lagging like an old VR game. Baby pressed his hands to the sides of his head, rocking back and forth a few times. He screwed his eyes shut, hoping the dizzy, nauseous feeling in his head would disappear.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Rumi whispered, bending down next to him. She carefully reached out to him, and it was this careful concern that broke Baby. She wasn’t meant to care. No one ever cared, Baby had learnt that. He’d built walls to ensure he wouldn’t care that no one cared. No one ever would.

Until she came.

Baby’s batted her hand away, shuffling across the floor. He put his hand on the table to stand up, and it misbalanced, sending a porcelain vase crashing to the floor. Looking down at it, he swayed back and forth on the spot, mind foggy. Large porcelain shards were scattered over the floor.

“It’s all my fault.” His face scrunched up in a sob, but no tears came out. “It’s always my fault.”

He fell back to the floor onto his knees, and started picking up the pieces. They cut his fingers with tiny nicks, blood bleeding out as red as tomato juice. Or baked bean soup. Nothing made sense. His thoughts were scattered, falling in and through his mind. And his hands hurt. His whole body hurt, a hole where his heart should be.

No one cared.

Rumi moved closer to him, taking the shards from his hands. He threw them at her, hoping they cut her, wishing they didn’t.

“GO AWAY! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!”

He wanted her to stay.

“LEAVE LEAVE LEAVE!”

Stay.

Taking an impulsive decision, Rumi swept the unstable Baby off his feet, scooping him into her arms. He thrashed around in her hold, making every step a difficulty as she staggered back to her bedroom. She sat on the bed, and laid him down, stroking his forehead softly.

Slowly Baby quieted down. Her sweater smelt like flowers, and sunshine against his nose. He liked the feeling of being held, of being warm and safe. Was it really such a bad thing to feel safe?

Of course it was. There was no possibility in which a demon like him could be safe. And there was no point in getting used to a reality which could never exist. He needed to remember that.

Baby fell into oblivion.

His dreams were filled with uneasy darkness in a temple, a flickering pink and purple flame, and a demonic silhouette outlined against the fire. The figure turned sideways to face him, features obscured by darkness, amber eyes shining under his cap. Baby tried to run towards him, only for his legs to disintegrate in black smoke, sending him tumbling downwards. Gwi-Ma’s voice echoed, less speaking, and more volume, so loud the foundations of the building trembled. The demon gave him a devilish smile, white teeth flashing in the darkness, before bowing his hat and disappearing in wisps of the same black smoke that had consumed Baby’s legs. It crept and intertwined up and around his body, surrounding him, suffocating him. Just when he couldn’t hold his breath any longer, he woke up with a gasp.

He was sitting against fluffed up pillows, Mira sitting in front of him with her customary scowl painted on her face. He lifted up his hands, and found them wrapped in starkly clean white bandages. He flexed them once or twice and winced. The only sign of concern she gave were slight wrinkles around her eyes. She held a bowl of steaming tomato soup in her hands, little chunks of garlic bread lurking in the red.

“You need to eat. You’ve been here for what, two and a half days and not eaten.?”

Baby nodded. “Longer than that. We didn’t eat for a day before Your Idol.”

“And you’ve had two lollipops in that time. Not exactly a virtuous model of healthy eating Baby. So I’m here to feed you.” She dunked the plastic spoon in the soup, sending little droplets flying everywhere.

Baby opened his mouth to protest, and had a steaming hot spoonful of spoon thrust in his mouth. He gagged on the thick metal, the heat burning his mouth. Finally he succeeded in spitting out the spoon, and most of the soup.

“Are you trying to kill me?” He asked, outraged.

Mira shrugged. “From the looks of it, you’ve been trying to kill yourself. Not eating for three days, using your powers extensively, poor sleeping, and a lot of physical exertion put into trying to kill us.”

Baby seized the bowl, stirring it slowly. His eyes narrowed at the garlic bread pieces. They looked highly suspicious, hiding in the soup. What were they up to?

“I don’t want the garlic bread.”

Mira sighed. “So don’t eat it then. But I’m going to sit here until you finish every scrap of that soup.”

Baby slowly lifted up a spoon of soup, letting the thick red liquid drip back into the bowl, forming little divots in the soup. Mira groaned in impatience. He eyed every droplet, before sniffing the soup. His eyes widened. It smelled good. And he hadn’t even realised how hungry he was until seeing some food.

He devoured it rapidly, leaving the soaked garlic bread pieces behind in a sad little pile. Smacking his lips, he put the bowl on his side table and slid out from under the blanket, standing up.

“Woah, woah, woah.” Mira said, placing a hand firmly on his chest and forcing him back down. “None of that. A day of bed rest for you, I think.”

Baby protested, saying he was good to go, but Mira interrupted.

“You’re wobbling on your feet. You’re clearly not fine. So go to sleep.” Somewhere in her little lecture, she had tucked the blanket up above his shoulders, and switched the main light off. Baby threw off the covers rebelliously, waiting till she had exited the room before pulling them back on. He’d been running on empty for days; surely one break couldn’t hurt?

His patterns burned bright pink, and he felt that familiar pain, his old friend, burning through his skin. No rest for Baby, as he was summoned to the demon world by Gwi-Ma.

Chapter Text

Baby hit the ground with a groan, jolts of pain running through his body. He rolled on his back and groaned, head thudding against the ground. Gwi-Ma’s fire roared high, a menacing rumble echoing through the air.

“Baby.”

Baby propped himself up to a sitting position, before standing and bowing low before his king. The edges of his fringe nearly brushed his feet.“My lord.” He had no choice but to suck up to Gwi-Ma, at least until he could scope out the depths of his knowledge.

Gwi-Ma grumbled in disapproval, “It has been two days since I sent you on this mission Baby, and yet you have yielded no results. Rumi is still alive.”

Baby raised himself from his bow, “Have patience my lord. That half-breed is a slippery one.” The word half-breed tasted rank in his mouth, an insult to the beautiful soul Rumi possessed.
“I shall end her soon.”

Gwi-Ma hummed thoughtfully. “I thought so too, until I detected your presence here, in the underworld, with them.”

Baby froze, eyes turned downwards so Gwi-Ma wouldn’t see his panic. He internally concocted a series of elaborate lies, which would contain a grain of the truth.

“I left a note in the Huntrix member’s apartments, luring them out to the demon world. They came here and I attempted an ambush, but I underestimated their strength. I will need more time to prepare.” He held his breath, hoping Gwi-Ma would fall for it.

Gwi-Ma paused. “Ah, but how did they get here? How did they escape? And what exactly have you been up to in the human world?”

Against his will, Baby’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You are unable to see into the human world?”

Gwi-Ma’s fire flushed, unwilling to admit this short-coming. “That is no concern of yours, Baby.” Baby gave him puppy eyes, wide and swimming with fake tears, and Gwi-Ma relented. “Ever since that dastardly Honmoon has been completed, my capabilities to see and interfere with the human world have been limited.”

Baby swallowed with relief, some of the tension easing from his shoulders. Gwi-Ma noticed and commented, “Why so relieved? You have not been up to… undesirable activities, such as consorting with the enemy.”

“Why you should think such a thing is beyond me, unless you are drawing from your own dalliances in the human world.” It was a shot in the dark, an attempt at riling up Gwi-Ma disguised as respect.

Gwi-Ma chuckled.“Silence, little demon. You speak of matters which you know insignificantly little about.” He patronized Baby, who silently nodded.

“Back to my original question; have you any idea of how they entered and exited the underworld?”

“Perhaps by a manipulation of the Honmoon, after all, they are its final creators.”

Gwi-Ma accepted the idea with a flaring of his flames, satiated for now.

He made no mention of the torture; Gwi-Ma had done far worse, and expected him to bear it in silence. He had a special obsession with Baby, pushing him to the edge to see how far he would go before falling, driving him to the brink of madness, just to let him recover to sanity.

He bowed once more. “Are we done, my lord? I have many matters to attend to. Huntrix to kill.”

“Your hands.” An undertone of worry crept into Gwi-Ma’s voice. “What happened?”

Baby shrugged. “Injuries sustained in battle. Why do you care?”

“Peel the bandages off.” He demanded, sick of Baby’s sarcastic tone. Slowly, Baby unravelled the white cloth. Towards the end it tugged against his hands, scabs peeling off, little droplets of blood dripping from the wounds. He bore the pain with a still face, dissociating his mind. Gwi-Ma examined the wounds, sending out little tendrils of fire to poke at the wounds. Baby’s face puckered up as his cuts burned, but he swallowed, cemented his mouth shut and made no noise. It would always be worse if he made noise. Tears welled up in his eyes from the pain, and he tilted his head upwards, to keep them from spilling. Finally, Gwi-Ma ceased his torture. His flames fled backwards, crackling.

“Leave Baby. Complete your task. And if you fail… it will be their lives on the line.” Gwi-Ma didn’t have to specify who.

As Baby floated upwards to the Honmoon, he was warned.

“Take care Baby. I’m watching you. You know I always am.”

Baby’s face twisted into half smirk, half scowl, “Where would I be without you?” He scraped through the Honmoon, squeezing past the barrier into the apartment.

Popping out into the darkened room, he laid on the floor for a moment, mind blank. He examined his shaking hands with a numbness, and faint amusement. A dry chuckle escaped from his throat, devoid of humor. They were dotted with burns and cuts that would fade, eventually. He pressed one of his nails into the wounds, feeling the pain cut through his listless mind. It sharpened his senses even as he slowly exhaled through his teeth, the hiss of air sounding like a deflated tire. Little drops of blodd oozed out of the reopened cuts. He slumped against the foot of the bed on the floor, leaning his head back. He took a moment to breathe, before leaving the room.

Zoey was running frantically on a treadmill, sweat flying off her forehead, black headphones jammed around her ears. Mira was doing some form of explosive star jumps, leaping frantically in the air, sipping regularly from her water bottle. Rumi was doing arm exercises, while bopping her head to the Huntrix tune in her airpods. Baby of course, had no idea what the hell headphones or airpods were. To him, they looked like little white twigs that go in your ears, and large black earmuffs. He could hear music faintly thumping from them, and looked around in confusion.

Mira paused her activity, walking over to Baby. She put a hand on his shoulder, and he didn’t flinch. Visible signs of movement or nervousness would only inflict punishment. His hands clenched behind his back, and his calf muscles tightened, but these were the only signs he gave. “Go to sleep Baby. It’s barely been twenty minutes.”

There was no chance he’d be getting any sleep.

“No. I must devise a plan for the next developments in my plan..”

“My?”

“Our. I mean, our next developments..” Baby corrected himself. “It’s imperative that we take action as soon as possible.”

“Fine, if you’d rather sit and revise instead of sleeping, it’s your loss.” Mira paused. Something felt off. “What’s up with your language, huh? You’re talking like an English student, or something.”

Baby snorted. “I’m two hundred and thirteen years old, Mira. Allow me to speak like my age once in a while.”

She shrugged. “You sounded more comfortable earlier, but, alright. Like I said, your loss.”

Comfortable? Baby didn’t have time to be comfortable.

“I can do this.”

Chapter Text

Baby knew he had to go back to the demon world, to try and force Jinu into telling him what the similar patterns meant. It only took a couple of minutes to figure that out. That part was simple. He said as much to Rumi.

“I have to go back into the underworld, to see what Jinu was going to say.”

Their reactions were of unanimous dissent. “You definitely can’t go, Baby. What if you have another seizure?”

Another thing he hadn’t told them; Gwi-Ma had tortured him. The last thing he needed now was sympathy; Baby had to get a grip on his emotions. He shook his head in mock anger, and seethed with disappointment inwardly. He’d have to give them the slip, and journey there in secret.

It was almost like they could read his mind, for from that moment he never seemed to be alone. When he retreated to the relevant privacy of Rumi’s room, she nearly constantly followed him with some ridiculous excuse. Mira constantly kept an eye on him in the main part of the apartment, and whenever they went out he was forced to tag along, or one of them would stay behind. Three days had passed, three days of amiable laughter, late night hot chocolate, and getting to know each other, inch by inch. They dragged him on trips to the mall, the grocery store (without trolley shenanigans) and the bath house. Although he did have to go into the mens, while they stood around the tub. Three days of Baby continuously trying to venture off on his own, and continuously being caught.

The four of them sat crowded on the couch, Zoey perched on the armrest, and Baby squashed in between Mira and Rumi. All of them gripped mugs, filled with steaming hot chocolate. Zoey’s was sprinkled with mini marshmallows, Rumi’s was covered in a swirl of whipped cream, Baby loaded with three extra spoons of sugar, and Mira’s piping hot and bitter. Zoey was amusing the rest of them with a tale about one of her ludicrous fan meets.

“And then he was like, ‘Woah, is that Zoey?’. And I was all like, what are you doing here if you didn’t even know who I am? And he said ‘My daughter made me queue up on the sidewalk all night to see you. But I barely knor who you are!’ And I was like ‘Damn that sucks man!’ I really did feel sorry for him though. Imagine sleeping on the sidewalk all night! Baby would know what I’m talking about.”

Rumi and Mira laughed heartily, while Baby chuckled quietly into his hot chocolate mug and nodded. The force of his breath made a little indent in the liquid, small droplets splashing towards the edge of the mug. A small glowing ember inside of him pulsed with warmth, a small reminder of friendship. He grinned, leaning slightly into Rumi.

A thud echoed from Rumi’s room, and Baby’s head whipped around sideways. He extricated himself from in between Rumi and Mira, and went to her room to investigate.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

Baby raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t you hear that giant thump in your room?”

Mira, Zoey and Rumi simultaneously groaned. All three of them were comfortably swaddled in blankets, unwilling to get up.

“Fine. But you better be back in five minutes maximum, or you’ll be in deep trouble.” Rumi warned him.

Baby good-naturedly rolled his eyes, and went into Rumi’s room. A giant blue tiger sat in the middle of the carpet, a black bird with a hat perched on his head, and impossible wide amber eyes nearly identical to Baby.

“Derpy!” Baby gasped, before running across the room and wrapping his arms as far around the cat’s head as the would go. He sank into the warm fur. It felt good to see a comforting piece of home. He gave Sussie a little peck on the head, who squawked, before giving the cat another hug. Derpy’s mouth fell open, an small invitation on his tongue. He plucked it off between his fingernails, saliva dripping onto the floor.

‘Hello Friend’ It said, with a happy penguin beneath it. Baby flipped it open. ‘Meet me on Avent Avenue, at 1. Jinu.’

A wide grin broke out across Baby’s face, eyes flashing with joy. Jinu had figured out a way to come to him. He wouldn’t have to sneak around Huntrix after all!

Speaking of which, five minutes were probably coming to a close. He pocketed the invitation, gave Derpy a final hug before dismissing him, and brushed off large blue strands of hair off his sweater. The cat and bird sank through the floor into a glowing blue portal, straight through the Honmoon.

He walked back into the apartment, squeezing back in between Mira and Rumi, before wriggling into his blanket. “Well within five minutes.” He laughed.

Rumi mussed his hair. “Thank your lucky stars you’re in time.” She joked.

The hour crept closer to midnight, and Mira and Zoey both turned in for bed, leaving Rumi and Baby side by side on the couch. Baby sipped at the dregs of his hot chocolate, unwilling to let the moment end. They sat in comfortable silence, Baby head leaning on Rumi’s shoulder.

“Are you sure you’re okay Baby? After what happened.”

They hadn’t bought up the subject of Baby’s meltdown since it happened. Baby had supposed they were trying to avoid triggering him again. Normally, he would have dismissed the question with a non-answer, or changed the subject. He was far too used to hiding his secrets. But tonight, slightly sleepy, wrapped in the warmth of the blanket, his guard was ever so slightly lowered. His mouth widened in a yawn before he spoke.

“I’m not okay.” The truth was laid out bare. “But I think I'll get better. Soon.” The sentence was punctuated with yawns, each one longer than the last. Rumi accepted this with a slight shuffle closer to Baby, comforting him slightly.

Baby stood up, and guided Rumi to bed. Perhaps he could snatch an hour of sleep before his appointment. They crept under the covers, the pillow line long since dismantled, and Rumi quickly fell asleep. Baby didn’t.

Chapter Text

Rumi’s quiet inhalations and exhalations filled the room. The steady rhythm calmed Baby down, although it did nothing for his current war to stay awake. His eyelids constantly slipped shut, and every few seconds he rubbed his eyes, blinking furiously.

Eventually he decided to go to the meeting place earlier; the cold air and walk would certainly keep him awake, if nothing else would. Slipping out from the covers, Rumi mumbled, rolled over and held his hand, her grip loose. Baby looked back at the hand holding his, just for a moment, before pulling away. He tugged on his sneakers and snuck out through the elevator. The security guard gave him a nod, recognizing his face by now.

He walked along the darkened street, arms crossed, hands hugging his elbows. Small pools of light coming from the streetlight lit up the road, the rest in darkness. A lonely piece of trash fluttered down the street, blown along by a chilling breeze. Baby shivered.

A group of teenage boys walked past him, wearing sagging sweatpants and oversized hoodies. One of them looked his way and wolf-whistled. Baby ignored them, rolling his eyes and continuing.

“Well now that ain’t nice.” The man called out, voice slurred, clearly drunk. Baby kept walking, wrapping his arms tighter.

“Come over here, gorgeous.” Baby’s face twisted in confusion; did they think he was a girl or something? He finally spoke.

“Leave me alone.” His voice was quiet, deep menacing. A threat.

The man in the center turned to the two lackeys who flanked him and raised his eyebrows. “A pretty boy, huh?” He walked right up to Baby, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Even better.”

His pupils dilated. Forget trying to keep this under control; he was furious.

“Don’t touch me.” He hissed, voice low.

“Oh come on, where’s the fun in that?” The man laughed, before whispering something crude into Baby’s ears. Baby boiled with anger, face turning beet red. He had had enough.

Baby stamped on the man’s toes and punched him in the face. His head snapped to the side, before coming to meet Baby, fingers still gripping his shoulder. His eyes were darkened, filled with something that sent a shiver up Baby’s spine. They were dark, and unreadable.

He snapped his fingers, and his two minions came up, grabbing Baby by one arm each. They dragged him onto the road, while he wriggled and hissed and screamed. They jeered at him, and mocked his attempts at freedom.

He morphed into his demon form, and they dropped him on the ground, recoiling backwards, screaming curses. Baby rose from a heap, eyes flashing amber, claws lengthened and teeth sharp. They backed away, whimpering, begging for mercy. His eyes glinted.

Oh, he was going to have fun with this.

Three unconscious and mangled bodies floating in the river later, Baby continued on his walk, whistling jovially. Eventually, he stopped by the Avenue, gazing out thoughtfully onto the river. Apart from some purplish bloodstains in the river a long way down, it was quite peaceful. Serene.

He leant against the bridge as the minutes slipped from 1 to 1:30, 1:30 to 2:00, and the hours from 2 to 3. Eventually his legs gave out, and he huddled in a small heap by the foot of the bridge. Baby blue bled into the sky near the horizon as daytime approached. His teeth chattered in the cold, the tip of his nose baby pink, and his lips slowly turning blue.

At 3:30, he accepted the truth, with a heavy sigh. Jinu wasn’t coming. Perhaps he’d been delayed, or stopped: perhaps he had never meant to come in the first place. Baby didn’t know, and didn’t care. He got up from the floor with a sigh, bones aching from the hard flagstones, dusting himself off. He turned to walk away, kicking a stone along the sidewalk, when he heard a voice behind him.

“Where are you going?”

He turned back, and saw the outline of a figure. Jinu, dressed in a black hoodie, and grey skinny jeans.

Baby ran towards him, a dozen curses and insults ready on his tongue, but Jinu halted him.

“I’m sorry I’m late and I know you must be mad, but.”

“Mad?” Baby asked quietly. “Mad?”

“YOU MADE ME SIT ON THE SIDEWALK FOR 3 HOURS!” He shrieked, voice rising dramatically in volume. “WITHOUT EVEN A FUCKING SLEEPING BAG THIS TIME!”

“Technically only two and a half…”

“I’M GOING TO BLOODY KILL YOU!” Jinu let Baby rage in a string of swears and expletives, until he ran out of steam, upon which he stood there, panting.

Jinu waited for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “Are you done?”

Baby looked up and gave him a murderous look, bordering on psychotic.

Jinu launched into an explanation. “The reason I’m late is because Gwi-Ma, who sends his love by the way, caught me trying to sneak into the human world, and gave me a little bit of trouble for it. I had to convince him I was coming here to deliver important information to you. A right pain, and not even any thanks for it.” His expression turned morose.

Baby grumbled out a sarcastic thanks before asking his questions, “What were you going to say about the patterns?”

Jinu sighed and scratched the back of his head. “This was a long time ago mind you, and the memories may not be entirely accurate…” He admitted sheepishly.

“Spill!” demanded Baby.

“There were two demons with the same markings. Siblings. Eventually Gwi-Ma killed them both, because they refused to succumb to his side. Their bond kept them whole, partially human. Stuck in a limbo between demon and human that wasn’t meant to exist. And Gwi-Ma wouldn’t have that.”

Baby’s eyes widened as he absorbed this new information. “So… you’re saying me and Rumi are siblings?” He chortled. The idea sounded ridiculous.

Jinu shrugged. “All I know is since then, for another three hundred and eighty years, I’ve never seen two demons with patterns so similar.”

Baby’s laughter died in his throat. “It doesn’t mean anything though, right? Right?”

It couldn’t mean anything. There was no way, no possibility that him and that half-breed could be related. She was part human, and he was a demon.

But weren’t all demons humans turned bad?

“I… I have to go.” Baby mumbled. The sun was surfacing at the end of the horizon, and time had crept forward to 4:00. “Thanks, Jinu. I guess.”

He sprinted back home, leaving Jinu standing alone by the bridge. He took in a deep breath of fresh air, enjoying his last few minutes of freedom in the human world. He peered over the edge.

“Are those bodies?”
_________________________________________________________________________
Baby dived back under the covers, feet frozen, and hands numb. He couldn’t be siblings with Rumi. He just couldn’t. It didn’t even make sense. She was twenty three, he was two hundred and thirteen. They clearly didn’t share the same mother, so it had to be their father they had in common. Meaning they were half-siblings.

The idea hurt Baby’s brain. His eyes felt like there were grains of sand in them, and the roots of a headache were forming in his head. He yawned so wide his face felt like it was splitting in two, and his head hit the pillow.

Fast asleep.

Chapter Text

Baby woke up to golden sunlight flooding through the curtains, and the other side of the bed empty. He walked into the apartment room, and saw Mira, Zoey and Rumi eating cereal, waving their spoons about and laughing.

Rumi’s faded patterns were a silvery colour on her skin, swirling softly with iridescent colours. He pulled up his own sleeve, and made his patterns visible, dark purple against pale skin. They shimmered briefly against his skin before disappearing. Sighing, he pulled his sleeve back down his arm, and slid into a seat next to Rumi, snatching a bowl of cereal.

Conversation continued, light and airy around him while he hunched down and slurped up the cereal. It was procrastination, an attempt at delaying the inevitable truth he’d have to tell them.

He didn’t know how they’d react. Hopefully with positivity, warm acceptance. But Baby knew that wouldn’t be the outcome. Probably with confusion, denial, asking him ‘if he was sure?’

He still wasn’t sure.

Anything would be better than cold, brutal rejection. They could handle him staying here for a while, but could they handle the fact he was related to Rumi? He hoped so.

He thought not.

Finally, he abandoned the pretense of scraping off the final fragments of cereal, and put his bowl down.

“Guys.”

All three of their heads turned to him, waiting.

His throat dried, tongue frozen in his mouth. Was he really about to tell them this? Surely he could hide this truth. But he’d already called their attention to him, and now they were waiting, expectant. There was no way out.

“I met Jinu last night.”

This simple statement brought forth an explosion of reprimands, questions and concerns.

“You idiot! You’re not meant to go out alone.”

“What if you’d been hurt? It’s dangerous out there!”

“How did you even contact Jinu?”

“Did you go to the underworld?”

“You could have had another seizure!”

“How was Jinu?”

Baby laughed at the last one, and began to answer, before Mira silenced him.

“This is serious, Baby. What time did you go out? You could have been killed.”

Baby sighed. “I’m two hundred and thirteen years old. I’m a literal demon. They didn’t stand a chance against me.”

All three of them gasped, and Baby realised his mistake.

“There were people!”

“What did they do to you? Oh my god, are you okay?”

“Tell me you didn’t kill them.”

“Tell me you did kill them!”

“Baby, are you okay? They didn’t try to pull any moves on you, right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. They tried to kidnap me, and possibly abuse me, but like I said, they didn’t stand a chance.” Baby delivered in a deadpan tone, eyes sparkling with mischief.

Rumi groaned and put her head in her hands. “Baby, this isn’t funny.”

“Isn’t it a little bit though?”

“NO!” All three of them chorused.

“Look, just tell us you’re alright, and we’ll save the lecture for later.” Zoey said.

“Yes, for the millionth time, I’m completely fine.”

“Don’t think we’ve forgotten about this.” Mira warned him as they settled down.

“So, can I tell you what I was going to say?” Baby continued. Now their outburst of concern was over, he was prickly with nerves.

“He told me something about demons with similar patterns.”

“Spill!” Zoey asked, just as Mira put an arm around Rumi’s shoulder. “She’s not a demon.”

“Do you wanna hear it or not?”

“Yes.”

“He once knew two demons, a long time ago, who had nearly identical patterns. Because they were siblings.”

The statement was followed by a shell shocked silence. No one moved, no one breathed. The implications of this were too much.

“I-I need a minute to process this. You’re saying we’re siblings.” Rumi gasped, lost for words.

“That’s impossible. You can’t be siblings.” Mira gasped.

Baby nodded, gaze turned dejectedly downwards. He knew they would react like this. After all, everyone left in the end. He slid off his stool, moving back to his own room, when Zoey grabbed his sleeve.

“Stay.” She whispered, eyes pleading. Not much. But enough.

He came back, as Rumi gaped, still blinking slowly, like she was trying to wrap her head around what Baby said. Eventually she spoke with a tentative voice.

“So, I’m guessing we share the same dad. We definitely don’t have the same mom, I hope.”

It was a weak attempt at humor, but it cracked a faint smile from Baby.

“Do you have any idea who our father is?” Baby shook his head.

Rumi sat still for a while, before standing up and drawing Baby into a hug, His hands wrapped awkwardly around her back, as he stood stock still. He wasn’t used to hugging a Huntrix member, not only that but his sister.

“It’s okay.” She whispered in his ear. “We’ll figure it out together.” Her hands trembled against his back, but she held her ground.

Baby stiffened before pushing her away, feeling sick to the stomach. He forced a wobbly grin before running back to their room.
_________________________________________________________________________
He sat on the bed, putting his head in his hands. Last night, he;d been far too sleep deprived to fully understand the implications of this. He was related to a half-breed. Tainted, impure. Half human. Everything he’d been taught to hate.

Being friends was one thing, but siblings? Baby didn’t think he could handle that. Gei-Ma had always taught him to hate humans.

But she was a good human.

But he should hate her.

But she was a good human.

But he should hate her.

He groaned, and flopped backwards onto the bed. He should have just killed Rumi and left. Why did this all have to be so damn complicated?
_________________________________________________________________________
Rumi went after Baby, but Mira put a hand on her shoulder and held her back. “Wait. He needs some time alone. This is just as much of a shock for him as it is for us.”

Rumi crumbled under her touch, days of stress and worry taking their toll. Mira and Zoey instantly comforted her in a group hug, the three of them united, together.
_________________________________________________________________________
Baby’s muffled screams echoed in the room, face buried in a pillow.

Half-breed. Human. Killer.

Sister.

Chapter Text

After a couple of minutes that felt like eternity, Zoey came into the room, quietly opening the door.. Baby instantly sat up from the pillow, breathing heavily. She waited in the darkness for his breaths to even out. No words, just silence. She put a hand on his shoulder, and he let it rest there, too tired to shake it off. Eventually, she dragged him out from the bedroom into the apartment, where Mira and Rumi were still waiting.

The bright lights practically assaulted Baby’s eyes, and he blinked rapidly, rubbing his eyes with his fists. Zoey sat him down next to Rumi, and excitedly burst into speech.

“Okay, so I have an idea for sibling bonding!”

“Just one?” Mira raised an eyebrow sceptically.

“Well, actually 83, but let's start with the first one, shall we?” Zoey grinned.

“So, what is it?” Baby and Rumi chorused, before looking at each other awkwardly.

“Why a beach trip of course!”

Baby wrinkled his forehead in doubt. “What’s a beach?”

Zoey gasped dramatically, while Rumi and Mira’s eyes widened. Rumi reached out to Baby tentatively, “Have you never been to the beach?”

Baby grumbled under his breath, muttering about stupid beaches. “It’s just not a big deal, is it?”

Zoey shook her head in mock disappointment, “Well, we definitely have to go now.”

Huntrix loaded their van with beach floats, suncastle moulds, spades, tons of sunscreen and swimming costumes. Baby walked in with only the same outfit and a lollipop, cherry flavoured.

“Baby!” Zoey groaned. “That can’t be all that you’re taking.”

“What else am I meant to take?”

“Oh I don’t know! Maybe food, so you don’t starve, and swimming trunks, so you can swim?”

“You swim at the beach?”

“Yes, in the sea.”

“I don’t have swimming trunks anyway, so what do you want me to do?”

Zoey pursed her lips in thought, then shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to go swimming in these clothes.”

Finally, all four of them were ready to go, Zoey loaded with snacks, Mira with three rucksacks, and Rumi with the keys. All four of them climbed into the van, Rumi in the driver's seat, Baby next to her, and Mira and Zoey in the back.

“Let’s go for this sibling bonding beach trip!” Zoey cheered.

The drive was filled with karaoke of Huntrix songs, and even a little bit of Soda Pop. Baby brightened up when it came to his song, rapping enthusiastically to his part and laughing at the questionable lyrics.

“Did- did Jinu not realise what this song was about when he wrote it?” Rumi chortled, as she and Mira were in agonies of laughter.

Baby grinned, “Let’s just say it was co-written… by me. He’s far too innocent for anything like that.”

This just set all four of them off all over again.

Every five minutes, Baby would insistantly chime in, “Are we there yet?", as if he expected the beach to manifest on the road in front of them. Every time he said it, a variety of plush toys were thrown at him.

“If you can see we’re not there yet, why do you ask?” Mira groaned.

Baby shrugged. “Cause maybe, we might be there.” Rumi giggled at the absurdity of his statement.

Finally, they pulled into the concrete parking lot. Baby looked around with a disappointed look.

“How on earth am I meant to swim here? Or build sandcastles? This beach seems like a bit of a scam, if you ask me.”

All three of the Huntrix laughed, and Rumi pulled him down the stairs, and gestured widely at the open expanse of sand. It was empty, except for a young man, asleep on a deckchair.

“This is the beach.”
_________________________________________________________________________
Baby walked onto the beach, shedding his shoes and socks, to feel the sand beneath his feet. It was grainy, and warm, heated by the sun. He gave a sigh of contentment, flopping down into the sand and resting his cheek on the warmth. No doubt he would be picking sand out of his sweater for eternity to come, but it was worth it.

“What on earth are you doing?” Rumi asked, looking down at him, wearing a swimsuit. “Come swimming.”

“No thanks.” Baby murmured. His hands were softly swirling in the sand, making spiraled patterns. “I’m good here.”

Rumi pulled him to his feet with difficulty, as he stubbornly acted like a dead weight. “Come into the sea.”

The ‘sea’, as Rumi called it, was a deep blue, ebbing and flowing with waves. Baby wrinkled his nose. If possible, it seemed more suspicious than the garlic bread. He slowly followed her down the shore, and put his toe in the water. The icy cold was a shock after the balmy sand, and he quickly withdrew his foot with a scowl.

“It’s freezing. I’m not going in there.” Rumi, who’d already plunged into the water, waded back out in surprise.

“What do you mean you’re not going in there? It’s your first time at the beach, you have to go swimming.”

Baby shook his head, blue fringe swaying in the wind, “Nuh uh.”

Rumi groaned. “Fine. Will you at least come on the pier with me?”

Baby nodded, and they walked side by side on the raised wooden platform. They came to the end, and gazed at the splashing waves below, spraying them with sea foam. Baby slightly flinched once, before letting himself be sprayed.

“Before we try being siblings, do you wanna try being friends?” Rumi asked quietly, her voice one with the whispering wind. “I think we were getting quite close to being friends.”

Baby thought it over, before nodding, “I’d quite like to try that.”

They stood in companionable silence, Rumi shivering and Baby slightly swaying in the wind.

Splash!

He went under the freezing cold, water rushing into his eyes, nose and mouth, tasting of salt and cold. He thrashed furiously, trying to breathe and swallowing half the ocean instead. The cold attacked his skin, until it faded and faded, and he surfaced.

Spluttering furiously, he trod water, and rubbed the stinging water out of his eyes. He nearly vomited, the water threatening to make a reappearance. His stomach heaved as he gasped for breath, coughing furiously. He shook his head frantically, sending droplets of water flying from his fringe, hoping to shake out the water from his ears.

“Woo! Cannonball!” Rumi shrieked, as she jumped into the air as a ball and plunged into the water next to him. Baby shuddered as a sheet of water splattered on him, soaking him even more. The cold sensation had mostly gone, though it lurked under his skin, threatening to return. Despite the shock, and the cold, it wasn’t that bad. A grin spread across Baby’s face, surprising himself. Paddling over to Rumi, he sent a splash of water to her, drenching her head. She grinned back.

Oh, it was war.

Zoey quickly joined Baby’s side, splashing and spraying Rumi, while Mira helped her by swimming underwater and pulling them down by their legs. It was a valiantly fought battle, eventually won by Baby and Zoey, who high-fived each other. A small glow of happiness erupted in Baby’s chest. Not enough to fill him with light and warmth; he didn’t think the darkness would ever disappear. But enough to make him forget.

And if that was the best he was going to get, Baby would grab it with both hands.

As time trickled by, the skin on his fingers grew wrinkled, and it was time to leave the sea. Wading out to shore, the cold made a full comeback, as he shivered so violently the water ran in tremors down his cheeks. He couldn’t even dry himself off like the rest of them without stripping. He’d just have to hope he’s quickly dry off in the sun.

They went to an ice cream stall, wet sand grating and clinging to Baby’s feet. The owner smiled down benevolently at them, somehow oblivious to who they were.

“Orders?”

“Let’s see, strawberry and vanilla for Zoey, with extra sprinkles, salted caramel double scoop for Mira, chocolate for me, and Baby?”

Baby peeped up at the counter, eyes widening as he saw the variety of options. “Bubblegum.” It has bright blue swirls of colour in it, just like his hair.

After a few minutes, their ice cream was delivered, and Baby hesitantly licked his. Oh it was good, cold, refreshing. Sweet.

They strolled on the beach, licking away at their ice creams while Zoey chomped hers, and then complained about getting brain freeze. Baby’s hands clutched his cone as he slowly licked away at the swirl, letting the ice cream melt into liquid on his tongue before going for more. It was the most heavenly thing he’d ever eaten.

Finally, he crunched down on the last piece of cone, long after the rest had finished theirs. Walking back to the van, they unloaded picnic blankets, a hamper and a parasol. Baby helped carry the heavy umbrella to the beach, exaggeratedly groaning under the weight. They stabbed it into the sand, and slowly unwinded it, casting the mat in shade. Baby shuffled to the edge of the mat to bask in the sunlight.

Looking back at the three, they were all slathering themselves in sunscreen, thick and heavy.

“Put some sunscreen on Baby.” Rumi said.

“I’m already mostly covered, it’s just my hands, feet and face in the sun. Leave me be.”

Mira unloaded the hamper, and the next hour was them four stuffing themselves to the brim with kimbap, kimchi and tteokbokki. With various contented smacking lips and sighs, the meal was devoured.

Baby and Rumi then buried a sleeping Mira in the sand, leaving just her head above the ground. Zoey laughed from the sidelines as Mira was slowly submerged in a golden layer of sand. The siblings then decided to try and dig a hole to the other side of the earth, while Zoey made sandcastles around the edge. Every spadeful of sand scooped and chucked out of the pit was instantly used in the sandcastle moulds. They had gotten about five foot deep when Mira woke up with a cry, struggling with her heavy bonds. They scrambled out of the hole to help her, and once freed, she immediately began chasing them down the beach.

Baby ran down the shore, looking back at the furious Mira and laughing, his breath snatched away by the wind. Rumi ran next to him while Zoey bounded in front. Eventually she caught them, and began tickling the living daylights out of them. Baby’s particular weak spot was under his knees, and he collapsed on the floor in giggles when Rumi targeted him. He flopped over on the sand, and followed with a return attack of wriggling fingers to the stomach. Out of breath, the four of them flopped down on the sand, side by side.

Their laughter died down to a peaceful quiet, the only noise the swish of ocean waves, and the quiet stirring of sand beneath Baby’s fingertips.

Then they rose, and brought a giant inflatable beach ball out. An impromptu match of volleyball started, Baby and Rumi on one side, Mira and Zoey on the other. They smacked the ball through the air, the loud ring of rubber of skin and thud of ball on sand. Baby laughed hysterically when they won, fake cried when they lost and shrieked in mock panic and laughter when the ball was swept out to sea. Mira chased after it in hysterics, tears rolling down her cheeks from laughter.

Pink and golden bled into the blue sky as the sun reached the edge of the horizon, reflecting on the sea. Seeing the time run late, they gathered the remnants of their picnic. Baby pulled his sock back on with difficulty, and slid into his shoes. They climbed into the van, Mira driving, with Zoey next to her. Rumi and Baby shared the backseat. Peering out the back window, Baby saw the same young man, watching the van as it sped away from the parking lot.

The drive home was quiet, the aftermath of a day of fun. During the ride, Baby leaned his head on Rumi’s shoulder, asleep. She looked down in surprise, surprised that he would trust her enough to lower his guard, however slightly. She smiled softly, and leaned her head on top of his.

They pulled up to the Huntrix apartment, and slowly rolled to a standstill. Gently, Rumi shook Baby awake. His eyelids fluttered open sleepily, and his head tilted upwards. He mumbled something before face planting Rumi’s shoulder again. She pulled him into her arms, and carried him into the elevator, staggering under the weight. Mira and Zoey burst into laughter seeing the vicious demon asleep in Rumi’s arms, face as innocent as a baby’s. She gave them an amused look, as they slowly chugged upwards to their elevator.

Walking into their bedroom, she put him down on the bed, and tucked the blanket over him. Baby’s lips curved up in a secret, sleepy smile as she left the room. He rolled onto his front, and let the tension flow out of his body, relaxing into the bed.

It really wasn’t fair when his skin burned with a familiar pain, patterns glowing bright pink before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Chapter Text

Baby was lying in a heap on the floor, and quickly rose and bowed to Gwi-Ma. His head spun, disoriented from the change. For once, the demon king was silent, the only noise the crackle of flames. The heat was so intense it burned on Baby’s face, his light blue skin darkening with heat.

The silence stretched for infinity before Gwi-Ma spoke, in a low voice.

“It has been four more days.”

Baby nodded.

“And I was beginning to wonder what my little demon was up to.”

Baby bristled at the ‘my’ comment, but still kept silent.

“So I sent someone up to check on you.”

The man. The one at the beach.

“Would you like to tell me what he found?”

Baby didn’t know whether to speak or not. Speaking the truth was suicide, as was telling a lie. Silence would probably infuriate Gwi-Ma, but at least he stood a chance at not being killed.

So he stayed silent.

“My stubborn little demon. Allow me to spell it out to you, if you insist on remaining so oblivious. I saw you, playing and frolicking on the beach with Huntrix.”

Baby’s mouth went dry, knees shaking ever so slightly. His spine and legs ached from holding the bow, but it wasn’t nearly as painful as whatever punishment Gwi-Ma would inflict on him.

Gwi-Ma’s went deadly quiet. “Your instructions were to kill them, not fuck them.”

Baby nearly physically recoiled at the suggestion. He’d never steal one of the Saja Boy’s girls, besides, Rumi was his sister!

“What do you think your punishment should be?”

Silence.

“Allow me to decide.”

And then Gwi-Ma’s fire was extinguished completely, plunging the demon world into near darkness. Baby heard echoed cries, whispers, even a scream. He whirled his head in confusion, eyes trying to adjust to the darkness, and was met with a powerful hook that bruised his jaw.

He hit the floor hard, cracking a rib. A small wail of pain escaped his lips, before he sealed them shut. Gwi-Ma never liked to hear any noise of dissent or pain during his punishments. But where was Gwi-ma?

With difficulty, he rose to his feet, arms half raised against his mysterious attacker. He could make out flitting shadows in the darkness, and swiveled to try and see them. A foot to the back kicked him, and he stumbled several steps forward. Someone punched him in the face, again, cutting his lip and sending him down. A crackle of pain exploded in his face. He hoped his nose wasn’t broken.

Baby fell onto the floor and rolled onto his back. His head was clouded with pain and fear, but he pushed that to one side, and tried to concentrate on what the hell was happening. Nonetheless, they lurked in his mind. He propped himself up on his elbows in an attempt to stand, and was stopped by a heavy weight on his waist and hips. The assailant was straddling him on the ground.

A hand gripped his neck and jaw with a locked grip, and tilted it upwards. Baby couldn’t see or recognize the person. His own face was slowly turning dark blue from lack of oxygen, as his breaths escaped in wheezed rattles. His eyes began to roll up in his head as he teetered on the brink of losing consciousness.

The pressure was released, and Baby gasped, taking in a huge gulp of breath and coughing. His head was spinning from an overdose of oxygen to his oxygen-deprived brain. He took another huge breath and coughed.

Respite was short, as the attacker raised a fist and punched him in the face, again. Baby’s head flew to the side, blood leaking from a definitely broken nose, pouring down his face in large quantities. He let out a quiet whimper, and tried to unseat the demon, to no avail. He was punched again, shattering his cheekbone and bruising his skin

A strangled scream echoed from Baby’s mouth, effectively cut off by a jab to the windpipe. He thrashed on the ground, tears streaming from his cheeks, choking and spluttering for air. It was a bolt of white-hot pain spreading through his face, making him tighten his jaw and grind his teeth. He shuddered with sobs, racking his body as a mixture of snot and blood ran from his now definitely broken nose.

“P-please.” He whispered through bloodstained lips, trembling. “Please. S-Stop.” He swore he could see a shadow of death.

Kill me.

Take me.

Free me.

The demon paused in his assault, looking down at him, and Baby saw a sliver of his face. He flashed back to his dream, in the temple.

It has the same face.

Baby gasped, half shocked and half pained. The demon from his dreams. Or his nightmares. Another fist moved to his face, jittery in his vision, and he blocked it with his forearm. He struggled to his feet, wobbling slightly, a hand half raised to his bruised cheek. They marched menacingly towards him, and grabbed Baby by the shoulders with a vice-like grip, fingernails piercing through the sweater and fragile skin. His sleeves slipped back, and through a haze of pain Baby gasped. It was the same patterns from the picture. Rumi’s dad! And…

His.

He was thrown onto the floor with such force that a small cloud of dust rose from the ground. He rocked back and forth with an aching keening, the full force of his injuries hitting him. His breath was shallow and unsteady as he felt unconscious gnawing at his mind. He was faint. Light-headed. His cheek and nose and entire face hurt so badly. His entire right cheeks was mottled with bruises, sharp cheekbone bent out of shape. He was covered in thick blue blood that still leaked from his nose, rapidly drying on his face. In his chest were regular flashes of pain from his broken rib, stabbing into his muscle. He let out a hiss of air through his teeth, before trying to compose himself. Gwi-Ma would not enjoy any signs of weakness.

The fire relit, and Gwi-Ma’s rage towered over him. The demon had been Gwi-Ma.

“This is only a small taste of the pain I can and will inflict upon you. Understand?”

Baby nodded, face twisted in agony, cheeks stained with blood, bruises and tears, lip trembling.

“Do not presume to stray from your mission again. Leave.”

With immense difficulty, Baby levitated up to the Honmoon, flight slow and unsteady, nearly dropping out of the sky. Squeezing through the Homoon was practically a holiday compared to the fresh abuse his body had endured.

Gwi-Ma had never taken on a physical form to punish him before; always psychological torture or trial by fire. This was new. Deadly. Excruciating.

Baby popped through the Honmoon onto the bed. His body sank into the soft comforting fabric like a gift sent from heaven. Clinging to consciousness had been a difficulty, now an impossibility. The darkness ate into his vision as he silently sobbed in pain and fainted.

Chapter Text

Chapter 19
Rumi, tired out from a long beach day, quickly said goodnight to Mira and Zoey, before going to bed. A soft smile spread across her face as she recalled the hilarious, stupid and unbelievably fun moments of the day. Walking into the bathroom, she rolled up her sleeves and stared at her patterns, glowing softly in the warm yellow light. A light iridescent glow, far from the deep purple they had been when Baby touched her.

She had hated these patterns; even after defeating the Saja Boys, even after they’d faded. She’d wished she could cut them out of herselves, make herself whole. But somehow, knowing that Baby was her sibling, knowing a demon shared her blood; it somehow made the pain, the shame more bearable. He was confirmation that her half demon side wasn't all evil, that perhaps she could finally be good.

Enough.

If she continued in this manner, she knew she’d spiral.

So, she switched her thoughts to something more positive. The last time she’d seen Jinu. She had been so sure they were going to kiss, in front of all of Huntrix and the Saja Boys. She blushed slightly at the memory, longing for him. HIs lips. His comfort. His presence.

Unrolling her sleeves with a sigh, she went to her bedroom.

Baby was lying on the bed, but not tucked in like she’d let him. Oh well, perhaps he’d gotten hot and thrown off the covers. The first hint of something being wrong was the fact he was in his demon form. Rumi flicked on the light and hesitantly walked towards him. She gasped.

The lower half of his face was covered in sticky, congealing blood, a dark blue. His face was bruised on both sides, with what looked like a broken cheekbone. Probably a broken nose too, by the looks of all that blood. He breathed with wheezing coughs, and she could tell there was something wrong with his chest too.

Huntrix had suffered experience of wounds and scars in their years of demon fighting, but this was different. This was pure violence, honed and targeted towards one person. A brutal, systematic attack. A vicious cruelty unleashed on Baby.

Rumi took out her phone with trembling fingers, and dialled 112. She answered the emergency questions in a haze, mind too occupied by the invalid in front of her. Going to Baby, she shook him awake. His amber eyes teared up, tears dripping onto the bed. He opened his mouth, and a small whimper came out. It was pitifully quiet. Broken.

“Baby, you need to switch back to human.” She hated to ask anything of him, but if the ambulance came and saw a demon bleeding blue, it would be a disaster.

Baby’s lips trembled, and his face crumpled. Still, he made little to no noise, apart from a quiet sniffle. He shook his head, or flipped his head sideways, as if trying to shut Rumi up.

“Baby, please. Please, it’s the only way you can get help.”

He refused. His chest rose and fell in heaving breaths, shallow and uneven.

“COME ON!” She screamed, a pink ripple running through the Honmoon. Baby didn’t flinch at the scream, he’d been trained not to flinch, but he blinked a little quicker. A weight of guilt smashed her heart into splintered pieces; how could she have screamed at him?

“Just do it. Please.” Rumi whispered, voice hoarse. Slowly, the blue bled out of his skin, blood turning red. His amber eyes sharpened to cyan, blue hair turned teal. Energy completely spent, his eyes fluttered shut, fingers twitching slightly.

Rumi shook his shoulders. “No, wake up, you have to stay awake!” She wasn’t sure if that was medical protocol, but she’d read far too many books where ‘If they fall asleep, they wouldn’t wake up.’ He blearily opened his eyes and winced, a fresh trickle of blood spurting from his nose. He opened his mouth to try and speak, groaned in agonising pain.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay Baby.” She brushed his forehead lightly, fingers ghosting over his bruises.

After what felt like an eternity, an ambulance arrived, loading Baby into it. Rumi graciously signed autographs, tried to keep her face hidden and eyes on Baby. She climbed into the ambulance with him, ignoring protests from staff. The ambulance ride passed in a blur of flashing lights and sirens that drilled their way into her ears.

Eventually, they brought him to the hospital, and he was rushed into a sterilised surgery room. Rumi waited patiently outdoors, expecting a team of surgeons to start operating, but was confused when she saw just him. Alone, lying slightly curled up on an empty operating table that seemed far too large for his small body.

“What’s happening? Why’s nobody operating on him?” Surgeons glanced left and right at the irritated idol, but continued scratching notes on clipboards as a heavy black screen was moved over Baby.

“WHY IS NO ONE OPERATING ON HIM?” Rumi screamed, losing it. An explosion of fear and anger and worry boiled inside her head, fizzing over like Coke mixed with Mentos. A nurse saw her distress, and attempted to guide her away, but Rumi stayed planted in place, like a rock.

“Ma’am, there are more important cases in the ER right now. Your friend has multiple fractures, a concussion and possible internal bleeding, but he has to do a CT scan and an X-ray before we can operate. His case is not critical; others are.”

Rumi’s voice was choked with rage. “Are you saying his case isn’t as important as others? How dare you?” She hissed, voice trembling with anger.

“Move Helen. I’ll handle this, You’ve had a long night. Go home.” Rumi briefly noticed harsh eye bags under the nurse’s eyes, the tired expression on her face.

“Listen here young lady.” The surgeon spoke, face right up in hers. “I don’t care who you are, or who your friend is, but there are lives on line here. Real, human lives. You can keep screaming all you want, but all that’s going to do is get you kicked out of the building without a clue of the status of your friend. Or you can go and wait quietly in the lounge just like everyone else. Understood?” His voice was ice cold, leaving no space for argument. His eyes were shining bright, eyes half teary from exhaustion of late nights and witnessing human suffering. Eyes of a person determined to save Baby.

Rumi nodded, subdued and went to the lounge. Just before she left the room, she looked back at Baby. The operating room had gone dark, with a bright spotlight shining on him. A team of surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists and god knows who else were crowded in the room. Working to save him. Baby was in the best care human hands could provide.

But he wasn’t a human. He was a demon.

Chapter Text

Rumi walked into the lounge numbly, sitting down in a washed out grey armchair. The walls were covered with peeling posters about health concerns, the room filled with whispering people. She waited for an eternity, and then some more till a nurse arrived.

“You’ll be able to see him in three hours.” Her tone was detached, professional, but she gave Rumi’s hand a quick squeeze before leaving.

A crushing weight slowly lifted itself off Rumi’s heart. He was alive. She’d be able to see him soon. Now her crippling nerves had disappeared, the full force of staying awake for so long hit her. Sure, she had experienced long nights as an idol before, but not with the anxiety of her friend nearly dying.

Her brother.

Almost of its own accord, her face drooped forwards, and her eyes fluttered shut. ‘Just a moment.’ she told herself. ‘Just a moment to rest my face.’

Rumi woke up with a jolt, raising her head from the lumpy armchair. The hospital stank of despair, quiet sadness and disease masked by the sharp scent of disinfectant. She didn’t remember falling asleep, and she rolled out a crick in her neck before opening her eyes. Standing way too close to her face with two furious expressions were Mira and Zoey, both of them in their pyjamas.

“W-what?”

They instantly started pummeling her.

“Why didn’t you tell us what happened?”

The emergency services had to tell us, you idiot!”

“We found blood on your bed!”

“Is Baby okay?”

“Just because he’s your brother doesn’t mean the rest of us care about him less!” Zoey shrieked, hands flapping in the air. “Yeah!” Mira added.

Mira wasn't sure when she’d started caring for the vicious little demon. Somewhere between him trying to kill them in the grocery store and him being wheeled into hospital, she’d learned to care about someone other than her girls and Bobby.

She thought she’d lost that skill.

Fury spent, they helped Rumi up from the floor, and gave her a group hug.

“Are you okay though? It must have been quite a shock, going to hospital in the middle of the night.” Mira whispered in her ear.

“We’re here for you Rumi.” Zoey whispered in her other ear.

Rumi felt like she should burst into tears, but she felt numb. Like all the tears had been wrung out of her, though she hadn’t shed a single one. She folded into her chair with a sigh, and Mira and Zoey perched on the arms.

“How did Baby look?”

Rumi rubbed her forehead and sighed, feeling a migraine coming on.

“I-I don’t know. It seemed pretty bad. He’s broken his cheekbone, his nose, and probably something else. They’re operating on him now, I think.” No need to tell them about her going psycho on the nurse.

“Do you know when we'll be able to see him?”

Rumi sighed again. “In three hours, by my last update. But that was a while ago.”

“Well, let's go and see if we can visit him now.” Zoey suggested, amidst nods and agreement.

They crept in the orthopedic unit, weaving through the other patients and beds. Most people were surrounded, or had one or two people around their bed. Not all though. She saw a young girl, with an empty bed, void of people. An old man looking around wearily for someone, anyone. It was a mix of pain, sorrow, suffering and joy.

They saw Baby by his distinctive blue hair, peeping out from a head bandage. All three of them rushed to his bed, nearly tripping over each other in their eagerness to reach him.

As if he sensed their presence hovering over their bed, Baby opened his eyes. A cyan innocence peeped up at them, before sharpening into something cruel, and shutting down completely. The life beneath his eyes died, his breath hitched and he froze completely.

“Hey” His voice was cold, quiet, emotionless. Soulless.

“Baby!” Rumi gasped, a wide smile spreading across her face. “You’re okay!” It was like she was floating, flying on happiness, too happy that he was alive to see what state he was in. She moved to hug him, and was held back by Zoey, and gestured to his condition. Mira noticed his frosty tone and leaned forwards.

“Are you alright Baby?” Her voice was dripping with concern.

“Perfectly fine.” He said, with a coldness bordering on inhumane.

“You sure?”

Baby side eyed her, slightly rolling his eyes. “Yes, I’m perfectly sure. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He pulled of the blanket to reveal a washboard stomach, and a line of stitches covered with a bandage. He quickly rolled down his jumper swung out of bed. His face turned white as he sucked in a wheezed breath, face contracted. He took a deep breath and shuffled towards the exit, clothes stained with flaking, dried blood stains.

They gaped at him, mouth open in shock, as he hobbled slowly to the door, quite willing to leave the hospital. Rumi moved to his side, lightly holding his arm in an attempt to guide him back to the bed.

“Baby, I don’t think that’s quite a good idea… Why don’t you come back to rest and-”

Baby wrenched his arm from her grip, body trembling.

“Don’t touch me!” He hissed, voice strangled with venom.

He looked down at his trembling hand, as if unsure what to do with it. His breaths grew ragged, faster, as he muttered, “Don’t touch me.” under his breath. He swung around with all his might and punched Rumi in the face.

Pain exploded in her nose and mouth as her head snapped sideways, blood leaking from her mouth. Her thoughts were scattered, disarrayed. Why would he do that?

“Don’t touch me!” He shrieked, voice cracking. Zoey bent over Rumi, and Mira turned to him. She would have raised her scythe, but for hesitation. He was hurting, she knew that. He had every right to lash out, though perhaps he could do so less violently.

He looked at her with eyes blown wide with panic, pupils expanded to devour his iris. He turned left, then right like a caged animal, hands up to protect himself.

‘Say something nice Mira.’ Her inner voice told her. ‘Something to soothe him.’

“Apologize to her now, you jumped up little psycho!”

Why couldn’t she ever do anything right?

Zoey looked up at Baby, torn between who to comfort before focusing on Rumi. Baby was volatile, dangerous. She didn’t want to see him like that, but she couldn’t help herself. It was as if the twitchy, frantic person in front of her was a completely different person to the boy on the beach.

Baby’s face hardened into stone, storming with anger. He scowled scornfully at her before running out the exit door, slipping past a concerned nurse and slamming it so hard all three of them flinched.

They helped Rumi up from the floor, and sat her down on the empty bed. It was still warm. Cleaning the blood from her face was a quick task, though she periodically winced afterwards.

“We should have stopped him.” Mira said stonily.

“Stopped him? He would have killed us!” Zoey blurted before clapping her hands over her mouth in horror.

“What do we do now?”

Chapter Text

Every bone in Baby’s body ached. His face felt like it was on fire, his chest burning, his heart an empty carcass. He took another limping step, shuffling slowly down the street. The sky was turning baby blue with the dawn. His name, his colour.

It was like his guts had been scooped out and replaced with a burning emptiness that made his stomach curdle and him feel like throwing up. Baby retched once or twice, leaning against a wall for support. Nothing came up. He stumbled into an abandoned alleyway and slumped against one of the walls, body sore from the short stroll from the hospital to here.

His mind was honed on one target; kill Rumi. And he could never do that in this state. He would have to use advanced demon magic to recover speedily. The kind of magic that would only work in the underworld.

While Baby mused on his plans to destroy Huntrix, he heard a suspicious shuffling from down the street. He leaned away from the wall, and saw a man walking towards him, shaking a bag filled with white powder.

Baby rolled his eyes. It was probably cocaine.

The man garbled something unintelligible, coming closer to Baby. Baby hissed at him and lengthened his fangs. The man stopped in his tracks abruptly and walked the other way, dropping the bag on the floor.

Baby laughed. It was a hollow laugh, devoid of emotion, but it made him feel a little better. He hobbled over to the bag, picking it up and sniffing it curiously. It didn’t smell of anything. Baby shrugged before pocketing it.

So. To the demon underworld it was. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, conjuring the energy to disappear, before vanishing in a puff of pink smoke.
_________________________________________________________________________
He hit the floor and rolled onto his back with a groan, ribs stinging. He pushed himself to his feet, and went to visit the Saja Boys. They’d be able to fix him. Someone had to be able to fix it, because he was just too broken. And if they couldn’t fix him…

No one could.

He walked across the demon plain, no longer cowering, hidden, but head held high and walking confidently. Masking his fear, his pain, his emptiness. Though his body screamed in protest, he swallowed his nausea and pain, striding to the snacks bar. Hiding behind the door, he peeped inside, feeling consciously like a little child.

Romance was awkwardly balanced on the counter, one leg hanging off the bar as he snored softly. Abby was lounging on the couch, fast asleep. Next to him was Mystery, nearly falling off, as the majority of the space was taken up by Abby. Jinu had given up completely, and was lying on the floor, covered in snacks.

On the whiteboard in the center were written several things, including ‘Baby is Gwi-Ma’s slave’, ‘Baby sells souls to Gwi-Ma on the side' and right in the middle 'Baby is a Disney Princess' surrounded by multiple scribblings. Baby squinted at the whiteboard for a moment, trying to understand what the hell they were doing before rolling his eyes and walking over to Mystery, shaking him awake.

“W-What?” Mystery mumbled, before promptly falling off the couch with a thud. Romance jolted awake from the counter, and fell off in surprise with a much louder crash, involving many shattered plates and glasses. Baby winced; it sounded like it hurt. He crouched over Mystery’s, who flipped his lengthy fringe back to see who it was.

“Couldn’t you have woken me up a little nicely?” Mystery muttered, while Romance chimed in, “Jesus Christ, Satan and Gwi-Ma himself, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Baby laughed at their indignation, and it felt like shards of glass were in his chest, stabbing at his lungs and ribs. He bent over with a groan, fighting the urge to vomit as bile rose in his throat. Romance and Mystery both hovered near him uncertainly, faces painted with concern. He batted their arms away.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Before he promptly vomited on an unconscious Jinu.

Baby wiped the strands of clinging puke from his mouth and looked down at Jinu, a small stab of apology and laughter bubbling in his chest.

Romance erupted into hysterical laughter, while Mystery’s face was pinched with concern.

“He’s- He’s gonna be so mad. Oh my god, you vomited on Jinu!”

“Baby, are you okay?” Mystery asked him, while he staggered to the couch. His head was light, and he felt drained of energy, but at least the lurking sense of nausea had disappeared.

“Need some… first aid.”

Mystery brushed strands of hair out of his face delicately, eyes wide with worry. He rested the back of his hand against Baby’s forehead. It was burning hot and sweaty. He patted Baby on the head awkwardly before lying him down on the couch and walked to Romance, who was still fighting chuckles. Baby muttered something deliriously, and closed his eyes. He led them to the far side of the snack shack, away from him.

“He’s not okay. Like seriously. Can you take this seriously, please?” Mystery sighed and Romance sniggered at the puke covered Jinu. He gasped, offended.

“I am taking this seriously. How… could you think… I’m not taking this seriously?” He said, punctuated with giggles.

“He has a fever. His cheekbone was recently broken, and I think he’s infected.” Mystery quietly said.

“A fever? Certainly can’t be Elsa then, he would be long dead. Although it does give him perhaps, a fiery, and special connection with Gwi-Ma…”

“Romance!” Mystery hissed. “For once in your life, can you please concentrate?”

“Fine!” He said, throwing his arms in the air in protest. His face had a wounded expression. “What do you want to do?”

Mystery pursed his lips, “I don’t know. We’re best at healing physical illness, not medical.”

“Aren’t those the same thing?”

“Kind of, but not really.” His lip trembled. “What do we do?”

“We should take him to Gwi-Ma.”

Mystery whipped his face up. “Are you mad? He’s gonna kill us…”

Romance’s face was set with determination, mouth a firm line, eyebrows turned downwards. The only sign of nervousness he gave was a slight tremor in his shoulders. “We have to try, for Baby. And if he tries to punish us…” He swallowed. “I’ll take the brunt of it.”

Mystery frowned sceptically, “This better not be an attempt to find out why Gwi-Ma favours Baby.”

Romance cracked a soft smile, “You know it isn’t.”

Mystery looked up at him, before hugging Romance. The boy froze, taken aback by the quiet, laid-back demon, before hugging him back. “We’re going to be fine.” It was empty reassurance.

They walked back to Baby, Romance lifting him by the arms and Mystery taking his legs. Baby mumbled something incoherent, and wriggled around slightly. They looked each other in the eyes, nodded slightly and vanished in a puff of smoke.
_________________________________________________________________________
Jinu woke up from the floor, blinking slowly and gagging from the vile smell. “What… is that?”

Chapter Text

A word cut through Baby’s hazy delirium - Gwi-Ma. His throat tightened unbearably, heart nearly pumping out of his chest. Not Gwi-Ma. Please don’t take him to Gwi-Ma. Anyone else.
_________________________________________________________________________
Romance, Mystery and Baby landed on the stairs, far beneath Gwi-Ma, who towered over them. Baby whimpered as Mystery and Romance ran up the stairs, swinging him from side to side unevenly. Eventually they reached the top, and placed him down carefully on the platform. Baby groaned, and rolled over, placing his feverishly hot cheek on the cool stone.

“Why are you here?” Gwi-Ma rumbled, his anger unusually tempered.

Taking the lead, Romance said, “Baby has a fever, and we can’t cure it.”

“Please help us.” Mystery choked out.

“Why should I help you?” He asked. For once, the question was not mocking, but curious.

Romance fell to his knees, hands intertwined, raised upwards. “You want us to beg? Is that it, Gwi-Ma?” He spat. “You need to fix him, because he’s special, and our maknae, our rapper. Because he needs to live. And if stroking your ego is what it takes for you to heal him, then I’ll damn well do it.”

Mystery looked downwards, surprised at his impassioned outburst. His eyes widened slightly as he swallowed in nervousness. “Please help us.” He repeated, voice quiet, drained. He looked down and saw Romance trembling like a leaf, but holding his ground. “Please.” He held his breath, biting his lip in anticipation for the inevitable rejection.

“Very well.” Gwi-Ma sighed.

Romance and Mystery both gasped audibly, eyes wide in disbelief.

The boy rose from the floor, arms and legs bent backwards at unnatural angles, back arched and head hanging limply. He levitated into the flames, fire licking at his clothes. They curdled and smoked as he hovered just high enough to avoid burning himself. An agonized groan escaped from his mouth as the heat grew more intense.

Pink and purple flames engulfed him, as he floated in fire, unburnt. He was bathed in an unholy light that held Romance and Mystery spellbound as Baby lit up like a human glow stick, patterns glowing, hair softly reflecting pink.

Eventually the fire went dim, and Baby slowly floated to the ground, landing with a soft thud. They duo rushed towards him, checking his temperature. It had certainly come down. Romance huffed disbelievingly, and Mystery’s knees gave out in relief.

“Thank you, Gwi-Ma.” Mystery and Romance bowed low before the demon king, before lifting up Baby. They staggered slightly under his weight, and ignited their patterns to teleport.

“Wait!” Gwi-Ma called out, a hint of urgency creeping into his voice just before they disappeared. “Is he… alright?”

Mystery’s jaw dropped, and Romance turned to him with raised eyebrows. “Yes…” A hint of boldness seized him, he questioned, “Why do you ask?”

“None of your business, Romance.” Gwi-Ma snarled. The silence stretched for a moment longer before he grumbled in embarrassment at showing concern. “Very well, be off with you, useless demons.”

They teleported back to the snack shack, arms giving out and dropping Baby on the floor. Jinu had taken off his vomit covered gown and was left in an overshirt, angrily monologuing to a pacing Abby. Upon seeing them return, Jinu opened his mouth to complain about the state of his gown before seeing Baby, in an abysmal condition. Abby lifted Baby up from the floor, and gently placed him down on the couch, his weight light compared to Abby’s strength.

Baby coughed; it felt like his lungs were stuffed with cotton balls, each breath shallow, only making it a little bit before being forcibly exhaled. His throat raped slightly as he inhaled and exhaled. On the upside, his head no longer felt like a furnace, and his wounds certainly weren’t burning, though they still ached. Sitting up wearily, he blinked wearily and yawned so widely he felt his jaw click. All four of the Saja Boys rushed to him, ushering him to lie down, but he brushed aside their protests.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” He said, words slightly slurred, eyes only half open.

Abby pushed him back into a lying position, “By no means, shape or form are you fine Baby. So you can stop pretending you are. How long are you going to keep running on fumes? Even you need to take a break eventually.” Attacking him with this emotional concern was unfair; it was like someone twisting a knife in his chest, forcing him to accept the truth at his most vulnerable moment.

Baby shook his head; the desire to kill Rumi was burning stronger than ever. Even still, he could feel sleep clouding his mind, blurring his critical decisions and functions. The couch felt so soft, so inviting. Even as he fought the urge to relax into its comfort, it overtook him, and he reclined. Surely an hour of rest couldn’t hurt.

Resting his head on a cushion, he asked them a question that had been plaguing him for a while. “What are you guys trying to figure out?” He said in a sleepy voice, pointing to the whiteboard.

Romance jumped up excitedly. “Okay, so you know how Gwi-Ma does nice things for you, and likes you the most?” He paused for a fraction of a second, giving Baby no time to respond before continuing. “Well, we were trying to figure out-”

Jinu cut into his impassioned lecture, “These idiots who clearly can’t summarise properly were trying to figure out why Gwi-Ma favours you.”

Baby chuckled, laughing at their delusions. Gwi-Ma favoured him? That was news. He only seemed to torture him more than the rest of them combined. That night flashed back to him, seeing those patterns, the same as Rumi’s father, which means they were…

The same as his.

Holy shit. Gwi-Ma was his father.

His father. His father was an ancient psychopathic demon king. Which certainly brought into play several questions about those half-fragmented memories of his past. The thought ran on repeat in his head, an endless loop.

Gwi-Ma was his father. It was too much for Baby to comprehend. Gwi-Ma was his father. Gwi-Ma was his father. Gwi-Ma was his father.

Somewhere in these endless repetitions running in Baby’s mind, he fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Jinu sat on the edge of the couch beside Baby’s head, one hand gently brushing over his forehead repetitively. Abby was still pacing up and down the snack shack; having something to do seemed to calm him down, even if there was nothing he could do to help Baby. Every now and then he stopped, stared at Baby before resuming. They had to let time and nature take their course, save him. Baby rolled over restlessly in his sleep and muttered under his breath as Jinu silently switched hands.

Romance and Mystery were seated on the bar, away from the others. Their legs dangled helplessly above the floor, swinging aimlessly back and forth, side to side. Romance leaned his head on Mystery’s shoulder with a sigh, and he allowed the physical contact because his mind was miles away.

His mind was plagued by Zoey. She floated through his head like a ghost, sometimes in the front of his mind, sometimes in the back, but always there. Her smile haunted him, that bright flash of teeth and eyes sparkling with joy that never failed to make him feel warm. Like a small candle had been lit in him, to brighten the darkness.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her. She was so pretty, and so sweet, and so very kind to him.

She loved his face.

People had hated his face, a long time ago, back in the ancient past. They mocked him, threw stones at him. Ambushed him and beat him till he was covered in bruises and broken bones. Till he flinched every time they laid a hand on him. People whispered when he walked, saying his eyes had something evil in them. Something of the devil.

So he grew out his fringe until it covered his forehead, his eyes. And when he heard voices whispering to him, he embraced them, because they had embraced him, face and all when no one else had. When the voices told him a way to hide forever, he accepted. When the voices told him to kill his tormentors, he accepted. When the voices were revealed to be Gwi-Ma, when the patterns had overtaken his skin, when he had morphed into a demon, he accepted it. And his fringe grew till it covered all of his hateful face, save his mouth.

The only people he had ever shown his face to were the Saja boys; they were all demons, they all had their own shame. They understood. He had no plans to show it to anyone else.

Until Zoey.

And now it was her face stuck in his mind, those sharp cheekbones, wide eyes, cutesy dimples. Her cute black hairstyle, cut short, the joy and energy she carried with her, everywhere she went.

So, Mystery didn’t mind Romance leaning on him in the slightest, because he was dreaming of love.

Romance too was dreaming of love, though one of a different kind.

He was thinking about the boy whose shoulder he was leaning on right now. He was thinked of grey-ish lavender fringes, delicate features and pouting mouths. He was thinking of soft grey eyes, filled with pitch dark pupils.

He was also thinking of how unnatural this was. A voice, one far from his past, whispered how wrong he was. When he had come out, some people had shunned him entirely. Others had kept up the facade of friendships, slowly pulling away in ways they thought were subtle, each one a stab to the heart. His mother called him a foul, disgusting creature, not fit to live in her house. No fit to live.

Romance had a lot of actions to wallow in shame about, but killing his mother was certainly not one of them.

And eventually, everyone had distanced themselves until he was alone, all alone. Not just ‘a freak’, but a murderer. Making a deal with Gwi-Ma had been all too easy, though he had regretted it.

Until he met Mystery.

Speaking of fringes, Mystery’s face was growing hot underneath the thick layer of hair. Brushing it to either side was difficult, pushing both against Gwi-Ma’s force and a thick layer of hair gel to keep it mostly in place. Romance lifted his head with a sigh, and helped Mystery, pulling aside the locks of hair like curtains to reveal his face. A strand of hair caught on his cheekbone, and Romance continued trying to dislodge it. His thumb brushed against Mystery’s cheek as his hand cupped his chin, and it was only after the hair was cleaned that they realised how close they were to each other.

It was now or never for Romance.

“Never!” His mind shouted, burying under the weight of crushing insecurities and self-doubts, an inbuilt homophobicness rising up against his very nature. Centuries of trying to crush who he was smothering him.

But his heart said now.

Romance leaned in ever so slightly and pressed his lips against Mystery’s. They were warm, and soft, and slightly chapped against his. There were fireworks going off in his heart, it was the most extraordinary thing, lighting him up.

Mystery felt very confused. Romance was gay?

The kiss was short, and soft and bittersweet, because Romance knew Mystery could never love him back the way he loved him. Still, it made Romance’s head spin. He was free.

He could touch the stars.

After a second, they both pulled away, Mystery blushing profusely, and subconsciously wiping his lips, before cracking a smile.
“I’m not gay, Ro.” He said, using a childish nickname that Romance had always hated.

“I know.” Confirmation, brutal, and somehow freeing. He could stop pining for what he could never have.

Mystery elbowed him slightly in the ribs, “You’re not half a bad kisser though. I thought you liked Mira.” There was just a hint of teasing in his voice.

Romance sheepishly chuckled, “I know.” He left it at that, with a half hearted shrug.

They sat in silence. Maybe it should have been awkward, but it wasn’t. It was the most comfortable silence Romance had sat in for a while.

Baby woke up with a retching noise, bent up over the couch and spewed bile. Jinu threw himself to one side, screaming ‘Not again!’ as Baby retched onto the floor. He sat up with wheezing breaths, wiped his mouth with a tissue and stood up off the couch.

“Baby? You’re alright!” Romance lunged towards him, arms outstretched for a hug that swept Baby off his feet. He stood stiffly in his arms until released, strangely wooden.

“Are you ok?” Abby asked, sweeping Romance aside. Baby looked silently at the floor, and Abby tilted his head up, “Come on Baby, are you ok?”

The boy nodded stiffly, once, before standing perfectly still.

“Have something to eat, you must be starving.” They ushered him towards the counter, and he moved mechanically, stopping at random intervals. He silently spooned a few sips of miso soup into his mouth, before placing the bowl down neatly on the counter, and standing.

He walked to the door of the snack shack, without looking backwards once. The Saja Boys exchanged bewildered looks before following after him.

“Where are you going?”

“Sit down!”

“You can’t leave.”

As a whole, they grabbed onto his sleeves, trying to pull him back to them. Baby shook them free with a cold fire burning in his amber eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

His chin wobbled slightly, but the rest of him was still, impassive. “Nothing.” His voice was toneless, quiet.

“Stay.”

A tear leaked from his eyes, trailing down his cheek before he wiped it away quickly. He rubbed his eyes with a sigh, and formed a watery smile.

“I can’t.”

And he disappeared.

Chapter Text

Baby landed in the middle of an empty plain, dropping to his knees. And he screamed.

He let out all the pain and vengeance and hurt inside of him in a raw, thirty second scream. Let tears pour out of his eyes and his bawling to quiet down into a quiet whimpering as he rocked back and forth on the floor, huddled into a little ball. Mourning all the things he had lost.

Tears racked his body until he had nothing left, no tears to cry, no sorrows to mourn. And still he heaved with dry sobs, no longer weeping but still crying. These morphed into coughs, and then an annoying case of the hiccups that he struggled to quiet down.

Eventually he stood up from the floor, wiping the dust off his gown and the tear stains from his face. He sniffled once, wiping his nose on his sleeve and readjusted his hat. Then he had to restyle his dishevelled hair, so he didn’t look like a crazy person. Something Jinu taught him about those PR conferences and online image must have stuck.

Baby swept up the shards of his broken heart and locked them up in a drawer, for another time.

Some other time.

To accomplish his mission and kill Rumi, he was going to need a weapon. One that could rival Huntrix’s. And there was only one demon he could go to for a weapon with enough powerful magic to challenge a weapon built from the Honmoon.
____________________________________________________________________________

Baby teleported onto the bottom of the stairs, levitating in the air, and landing with a graceful step. He blinked away any remainders of tears quickly, settling into the empty mindspace he had to maintain around Gwi-Ma. He walked up to Gwi-Ma and went down on one knee. His hands were drawn out by his sides, palm opened, empty.

“What brings you before me?” Gwi-Ma asked, no longer angry, but proud. His son had been perfected; the single mindedness, stubbornness and fighting skills kept, the troublesome emotions and feeling quashed, and a thirst for vengeance added. He was the perfect machine to kill Rumi.

“I request a weapon… Father.” There was a slight tremor in his voice as he spoke, and Gwi-Ma made a note to remove human tendencies like hesitation and cadence in speech.

Father. So, the boy knew then.

“Your request shall be granted.” Twin katanas grew out of Baby’s hands, slicing the skin and muscle on the way out, forming into lethal blades. Baby bore the pain with an expressionless, almost bored face, though sweat dripped off his forehead. When the task was done, two swords were clutched in hands that dripped blood. They thrummed in his hand with a force, destructive, ancient and deadly. Baby could barely control its energy.

“You are dismissed.” Baby rose to his feet with a nod, and moved to leave before stopping. He paused then turned around.

“May I ask a question, Gwi-Ma?”

Gwi-Ma considered it. The boy could be onto something that Gwi-Ma didn’t want to deal with; he may have even discovered that the half-breed was his sister. But he was bored, and curious.

“Go on.”

Baby paused for a second, gathering the words in his head, “I am your son. Yet I remember having a human past. How?”

The question was simple enough, but Gwi-Ma paused, thinking over whether to tell the truth.
“I inputted those memories into your mind, to stop you from ever suspecting. Yet somehow… you figured it out.” A swell of unfamiliar pride rose in Gwi-Ma. He had no idea how Baby had solved it, but he was pleasantly surprised.

“May I ask one more?” Baby said, before seeming surprised by his own boldness.

Gwi-Ma’s fire brightened in surprise at this arrogance, but perhaps, he reflected, one more couldn’t hurt. This violent, deadly, volatile demon, who he now perfected, had somehow made him proud. Surely one more couldn’t hurt.
“Very well.”

The question about Rumi being his sister was on the tip of his tongue, when he realised Gwi-Ma probably didn’t know that Baby knew. And asking so would only result in another long, and likely torturous investigation.

“Nothing.” Perhaps it would pique suspicion, but hopefully nothing too extreme.

“Leave then. Complete your mission.”

Baby nodded once in acceptance before floating up to the Honmoon.

“Do well Baby. Make me proud.”

A bubble of hysteric laughter popped from Baby’s lips as he remembered Gwi-Ma’s words to him when he was injured. ‘I know I beat the shit out of you less than 24 hours ago but feel better’ He nodded solemnly, and continued upwards.

He passed through the strands, dark blue blood bleeding into scarlet, painting his hands red. He popped up into the street, wearing his signature pink sweater, yellow cap and skinny jeans. The same sweet innocent maknae, barring his bloody hands, and the two deadly swords protruding from his hands. A few people gave him some odd looks, and he darted into an alleyway to avoid peeping eyes.

His mind was a storm, swirling with fear and anger and revenge. But at the centre of the storm was an emptiness so vast, it felt like Baby’s heart had been cut out of his body. He had one thought expanding in his mind, pushing all other thoughts and emotions to the side; kill Rumi.

He shook his head violently, as if he was trying to dislodge the thought from his head. His head ached with a sharp stabbing pain, and he pressed his fingers into his temples, swords falling forgotten to the floor. He clenched his teeth hard and leaned forwards, falling onto his knees in anguish. He could feel his emotions being sucked away from him, into a whirlpool, into a black hole, into nothingness. It was unbearing, excruciating. He held on; to hugging the Saja Boys, to laughing at the whiteboard; to that day at the beach; to the feeling of being warm and safe and…

Loved.

And it stopped, and with it came an exquisite numbness, washing over his mind, cleansing all his thoughts. It was pure relief, to stop feeling pain. To stop feeling pain, and to stop feeling. He picked up his katanas, concealed them with magic, and walked towards the tower.

Blood dripped off his hands onto the floor, leaving a trail of bright red behind Baby, but he neither noticed nor cared. He wiped them onto his jeans, leaving brightly smeared marks. There was nothing left but to fulfil his one true purpose in life; he was good for nothing else.

Kill Rumi.

Chapter Text

Being an idol was full time work; songs had to be released, even if your heart felt broken. Even if a person you were finally learning to trust betrayed you. The curtains could never come down, the show could never stop.

Huntrix was working on releasing a new song; audiences were expecting something new and fabulous after their display at the idol awards. The world had forgotten the Saja Boys, but this new spell was not without gaps; people would find themselves humming Soda Pop under their breath and feeling surprised before moving on to a Huntrix song. Memories would be seeping through the cracks, and it was up to Huntrix to make a new song to mask them.

They were in their music making room; some sad dusty pictures of the Saja Boys pasted on the walls, half peeling off. Mira strummed lifelessly on a bipa while Zoey and Rumi tried to come up with lyrics. It was even worse of a block than they had been in when trying to make Takedown.

Zoey leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, lips pressed together and eyes scrunched shut. Tears were swimming in her eyes and she blinked them away, wiping the edge of her eyes with a sleeve. Her heart was aching; a dull ache that spread through her body, filling her with lead till she felt too heavy to move. There was a lump in her throat that felt difficult to breathe through.

They hadn’t even been friends, not properly. So why did it hurt so bad?

It shouldn’t be hurting this bad.

She straightened up and brushed her bangs out of her face, swallowing her loneliness. She was with her closest friends in the world. But something was missing.

Or someone.
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Mira missed Baby.

She hated to admit, but the boy had brought them together somehow. He had a spark, a light in him that brought a smile to her face. They had been complete until he came; now with him gone they were broken.

Even her trusty bipa had betrayed her, the melodies dry, lifeless, tuneless. Her head was filled with clashing song lyrics, none of them evoking emotion or even making sense. If Baby was here it would all be okay; they’d be laughing, singing and strumming.

She knew the demon was struggling with something; the physical assault that had left him in hospital was clear enough. He was battling his own darkness, just like her. She should have helped, done more. She should have saved him. Her last words to him were echoing through her head.

“Apologize to her now, you jumped up little psycho!”

She winced, pressing a hand to her temple. Couldn’t she have, just for once, let him see her softer side, supported him. At the very least not insult him in a cruel way?

The truth was, she was scared of letting people in. Scared that if they saw the real her, they’d disapprove. Just like her family did. Scared they’d try and squash her down, limit her personality till she folded in on herself and crumble completely.

And now she’d scared off one of the few people she cared about..
_________________________________________________________________________
Rumi felt broken.

Her brother was gone, lost. Beyond her reach, her care, her support. Did everyone she loved have to leave her. First Jinu, now Baby. All she had left was Huntrix.

And even that was breaking. They couldn’t make any new songs, couldn’t properly save their world. They would never be good enough.

She would never be good enough.
_________________________________________________________________________
Baby walked to the tower, clutching his katanas so hard his hands felt close to falling off. He walked to the tower, mind clouded, blood trickling off the handles. He walked into the lifts and stood silently as he chugged upwards.

First floor, second floor.

He was empty, a shell of a human.

Third floor, fourth floor.

Past redemption, past hope. Deadly.

Fifth floor, sixth floor.

And now he’d come to kill Rumi.

Seventh floor. Ding!

The door slid open, and Baby walked into the room, eyes drifting around almost languidly for sight of Rumi. The main room was empty, but he could hear muffled conversation from a side room. He walked there slowly, feet dragging on the floor, steps unhurried and slow. He nudged the door open with his hipbone, and saw the girls sitting around in a circle.

His eyes travelled up from the floor to them, uninterested till they honed in on Rumi. His eyes sharpened, pupils expanding, the dead look disappearing. He brought his katana down through the air with a slash of speed, right onto her head.

Rumi turned around at the last second with a cry of surprise, blocking the blow with her forearms and crying out in pain as the flat side of the sword smashed into her arms, stinging with curses. Mira and Zoey instinctively withdrew their weapons, before pausing. This was Baby. The stranger they’d been longing to see again, the boy they’d been waiting for. They loved him.

And this was the ultimate weapon he would use against them.

They fought, in a whirl of blows and cuts and screams, Mira and Zoey holding back slightly, taking on damage until they realised this wasn’t the Baby they knew.

That boy was gone.

And so they fought, with claws and teeth and blades, with curses and magic, with love and rage and fury and an indifference.

But they were an equal match; every spell he cast was absorbed by one and another would step up, every wound he inflicted was ignored as they soldiered on. His clothes were splattered with blood and ripped by swords. Theirs were in a similar condition, with burn marks added to their clothes and skin.

To defeat them, he’d have to be fighting in his territory, not theirs. Even as he fought, his mind was concocting a plan. He’d take them on in the underworld, they’d be bound to follow him there.

He disappeared in a puff of smoke, just as Mira was bringing her scythe down on him. All three girls collapsed in exhaustion, both physical and emotional.

Behind him on the ground was written a little note, tendrils of pink smoke wafting off it. Zoey bent down with a groan and picked it up.

Come and find us. The Saja Boys were here! OXOX Love ya!

The cheerful message felt oddly sinister in the wake of Baby’s destruction. Wordlessly, she passed it to Mira, who showed it to Rumi. They would have to follow him.

Whatever the cost.

Chapter Text

The Saja Boys rushed out of the hut, determined to follow the little demon. They weren’t going to lose sight of him again. They wandered around the hut, calling his name before Jinu took charge, and they gathered round in the circle, heads leaned inwards.

“Romance, go check the perimeters. I’ll check in the swamps, Mystery in the caverns and Abby in the mogrif’s realm.” Jinu instructed, face drawn tight with frantic worry. “Go, go, go!”

All four of them sprinted off in their respective directions, puffs of dust echoing in their wake.
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The memory of Baby’s face before he left them was imprinted in Romance’s face; the faint imprint of a tear trail on his cheek, something broken in his eyes. They had to find him.

The perimeter of the underworld was enormous, to say the least, but Romance wasn’t giving up. He pondered on where to start before realising it was all a circle; if he started at one point, he’d go all the way round, and eventually come back. He prowled the edges, rushing up to random demons and asking if they had seen Baby.

Some were spellbound, held in awe by his looks. Some were stand-offish, not wanting to be associated with one of Gwi-Ma’s failures. Some were silent, either out of fear or unwillingness to help him. Either way, none of them offered any useful information.

Romance groaned in frustration, and resigned himself to the fate of going the whole way round, just to see if Baby was lurking anywhere near the edge of the underworld. This would take eternity.
_________________________________________________________________________
Jinu rushed to the swamps, jumping over ponds filled with murky bubbling mud and water. Small pockets of slime dotted the ground, and he slipped more than once. Baby had never been a fan of the swamps, but Jinu was not leaving anything to chance. They needed the maknae to return, so they could fix him, save him.

Water demons were mostly mindless aggressive savages, or overly emotional, weepy creatures, who wouldn’t stop crying, so Jinu was prepared for both a physical and emotional onslaught, and was duly met by one.

Savages leapt out of the sludge, teeth bared and claws raised.Jinu dodged and teleported, slashing at the air with his hands, kicking them back into their ponds. Weeping demons clung to his shoulders, tears streaming down their faces as they clung to his shoulders and sobbed. Jinu shook them off in annoyance, their claws digging into his shoulders as they transferred the sorrows to him. He shuddered as waves of sadness washed over him, burying him under their weight.

He pushed through the hordes of demons, knee deep in muddy water, covered in tears and scratches. But they were too much, drowning him in their crowds, dragging him down with their misery. He couldn’t do it alone. He needed Baby.

But Baby was nowhere to be seen. Where was he?
_________________________________________________________________________
Mystery sprinted towards the caves and skidded to a stop at the entrance. The caverns were a treacherous twisted maze of darkness and the potential to be lost forever. The only demons that lived here were pale maggoty creatures, on the verge of death. And the bats.

Baby didn’t come here often, but it was one of his old haunts. Whenever he was in one of those painfully annoying mischievous dark moods, he’d drag them adventuring here. Of course, they had never made a few feet past the front. And Baby certainly hadn’t seemed mischievous when he had left them

Mystery hated the idea of venturing into the darkness. When he was a child, his father had locked him into a cupboard for months, hissing at him to hide his face. The caverns didn’t have a door to be locked.

But it was far too easy to get lost.

He took a deep breath, clenched his hands into fists and plunged into the darkness. It was suffocating, pressing in on him, so dark that the world looked the same whether his eyes were open or closed.

He turned around and realised his two mistakes; one, he hadn’t brought a light, and two he had no idea which way the exit was anymore.

“BABY!” He screamed, voice raw with fear. “BABY, WHERE ARE YOU!” The darkness swallowed up the noise as his voice faded to a croak. Surely the maknae had to be in here somewhere, someone had to be in here. His lip wobbled as a little whimper escaped from his mouth. Slowly, he shuffled over and put his hand against the wall of a tunnel. It was solid and steady against his fingers as he slowly shuffled forwards, step by step, calling Baby’s name.

And then the wall stopped, and his fingers felt nothing but air.

Mystery wobbled, unsteady on his feet. He felt something brush against him and collapsed like a wet paper bag, his knees giving way. He could hear the faint flutter of wings and chirps, and he crawled up into a ball, rocking back and forth slightly. His sobs turned to whispers, and then to silence. He buried his head into his knees, and waited for whatever would find him first, death, insanity or Baby.
_________________________________________________________________________
Abby lunged into the mogrif’s land, a vast swathe of plains that lay near the edge of the underworld. He hit the ground with a thump, landing solidly on the ground, and froze. Every single mogrif in the area turned their heads towards him, an uncanny imitation of a face. Abby didn’t dare to breathe.

One or two of them crawled along the floor, skittish from the noise, but as a whole they ignored him. Or they hadn’t detected him yet.

Abby slowly lifted a foot off the floor and placed it down carefully, silently wincing at the soft crunch of dirt and sand beneath his boot. He silently padded around the fringes of the plains, unwilling to venture deeper inwards. He was building up the courage he told himself, as he breathed quickly and shallowly, hands randomly flapping by his sides.

“For Baby.” He told himself. “For Baby.”

He walked inwards, weaving in and out of the shapeless figures, sidestepping and dodging the aimless demons. He was looking for a flash of bright blue in the dull purplish-blue, a spark of something in the souls of the forgotten. A demon cocked it head sideways, like if it had eyes, it would be looking directly at him. Leisurely, it extended a curved hand towards him, the tip of its nail brushing his cheek.

Abby shuddered, the memory of faceless figures rising through his suppression from the past. He remembered it like it was branded into his mind, their hands grabbing him, touching him, ghosting over his skin and squeezing him hard.

He could never remember their faces.

Almost as if the mogrif sensed his fear it clutched on his cheek harder. Abby shook it free with a cry of pain, bright red scratches indented into his cheeks. They swarmed over him, subduing him in a sea of bodies and limbs and hands, hands that wouldn’t stop touching him, that wormed over his body and into his clothes, as he collapsed to the floor in a traumatised mess.

“L-l-leave me.” He whispered, the fight inside him gone. “Leave, please.”

But just like it had never stopped them, it didn’t stop the mogrifs.
_________________________________________________________________________
Baby sat beneath Gwi-Ma on the stairs, legs swinging back and forth. His silhouette was lit up by the blinding pink flames burning behind him. His eyes were dull, vacant as he saw the plight of the Saja Boys. He stood up abruptly, and made himself ready to teleport.

“Stay…” Gwi-Ma whispered, the command creeping into his mind, fighting against his will. Baby fought with a strength Gwi-Ma thought was broken before inevitably folding to his power. His tense features relaxed as he sat down on the stairs.

And he stayed. But in the corner of his mind, a single thought refused to die.

‘They need me.’

Chapter Text

After treating their wounds, they talked about various ways to follow Baby, immediately deciding they needed to go to the underworld. How they were going to do so was a mystery, until Rumi remembered something.

“After I confronted Celine, “ She skipped out on the part where she asked to be killed, “I teleported to the Idol Awards. Maybe I can try that again?”

Mira and Zoey agreed, and they set onto the task of bringing her patterns back. She would need them to teleport.

Bringing her patterns back to darkness was a difficulty without Baby, as they shimmered irritatingly pale on her skin. Mira and Zoey tried different strategies, from annoying her to yelling at her to sulking to shutting her in a room for an hour. They were desperate, but their solutions had no avail.

The trouble was, she was still in denial about her demon half. She still covered up her faint patterns whenever she could, and she still hadn’t accepted the darkness that lived in her with the light. The part she continually strived to push down with the light. The part that had wanted to kill Baby when they met him in the grocery store. The part that had wanted to kill Jinu when she met him on the rooftop.

Maybe instead of fighting that side, she could use it. Control it. Embrace it.

Or at the very least, stop denying it.

She braided her hair into her signature plait, came outside of her room, and gathered Mira and Zoey into a circle.

“I can do this.” She said, and her voice sounded different. Not doubtful or hesitant, but strong. Confident.

“You sure?” Zoey whispered breathily, eyes wide in anticipation and fear. Rumi nodded, and they held hands. She took a deep breath in and out before plunging into her mind. Her patterns darkened into purple, pulsing angrily beneath her skin before glowing pink. They seared through her skin in an aching pain, and she gasped, squeezing Mira and Zoey’s hands. Like they were mocking her of her human heritage, smoke swirled and puffed from her patterns, and a burning ache spread up her limbs. She started trembling, legs bending at the knees slightly, her eyes burning golden. Mira and Zoey looked at her worriedly, eyebrows raised and mouths open in protest as they were surrounded by a cocoon of pink smoke.

And then they vanished.
_________________________________________________________________________
They hit the ground, Rumi releasing their hands and falling to the floor. Mira and Zoey lifted her up, and Zoey slapped her once, twice, thrice lightly on the cheeks. Rumi woke up with a gasp and straightened up, shaking the dust off her robes

“Thanks guys.” Rumi sighed, peeling up her sleeves, and gazing down at the patterns. She seemed almost hypnotised by them, in a mix of horror and fascination. Mira shook her lightly to snap her out of it, and she gave her a quick smile.

The three of them gathered around, “So, we need to find Baby. Maybe the Saja Boys know where he is!” Zoey suggested. Their brows furrowed in concentration, as distant wails carried on the air. “Help me! Help me!” It shrieked.

Instinctively, Huntrix withdrew their weapons and tiptoed in the sound of the noise, ready to help the person in need. Or demon.

Pretty soon they were ankle deep in slimy sludge water. Rumi and Zoey made sounds of disgust, lifting their legs and poking at the remnants on their socks. “What is this?” Zoey said in a disturbed voice, prodding at the green liquid.

“Come on guys,” Mira groaned, turning back to glare at them. She brandished her scythe in the direction of the screams, “Someone needs our help.” They trudged through the water towards the source. A large amount of water demons were crawling over some poor person, and Huntrix quickly set to the task of destroying them.

“How…many…are…there?” Rumi grunted, swinging her sword at them between every word.

“They won’t stop coming!” Zoey gasped, conjuring her blades back into her hands.

At last, the demons had either been killed or they had scattered, leaving the semi-unconscious figure on the ground. All three of them leant to meet him.

“Who are you?” Rumi asked, “It’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you.”

JInu rolled onto his back with a groan, eyes fluttering open, and Rumi’s eyes nearly popped out with surprise. “Jinu?” They collectively gasped.

“Rumi?” Jinu squinted upwards, scrambling to his feet, “W-what are you doing here?”

“We’re here to find Baby. What are you doing?” Rumi asked defensively, blushing.

“Same thing. Have you seen him?”

“He came to our apartment and tried to kill us before disappearing. So I’d say, yes, we have seen him.”

“Oh. Well, we can definitely try to find him.”

“Yeah.” Rumi’s mouth went dry, and she licked her lips nervously, before stepping half a step forwards. Jinu leant in too, face tinted pink, and for a second it was just them two, the teal glow from the water reflecting in Jinu’s eyes as he gazed into her eyes. She leaned upwards on her tiptoes, their faces closing in…

“Alright, break it up lovebirds.” Mira said sarcastically,a small smirk on her lips as they jumped apart awkwardly, sputtering excuses.

She held up a hand, “Save it.”

“You two are so cute!” Zoey squealed, practically vibrating from joy, jumping up and down.

“So, umm, where are the rest of the Saja Boys?” Rumi asked, one hand fixing a strand of her hair as she blushed.

“Right, y-yeah.” Jinu stuttered, “I sent them off to find Baby.”

“Well, let’s go and find them, so we can find Baby together.”
_________________________________________________________________________
Romance had been walking forever. His head was bowed, too tired to lift it, and his feet were covered in bruises and blisters. Still he continued, vision blurring and unblurring as he walked, shoulders curved over and falling in and out of sleep. Every now and then, he was convinced he could see a blue-haired figure, weaving in and out of the other demons, always tantalisingly out of reach

Eternity was too far to travel, but Romance was determined to walk to the end of the line to find Baby.

It was just going to be an awful lot harder to get there when he couldn’t walk straight.
_________________________________________________________________________
Huntrix saw Romance and ran towards him.

“Romance, it’s us.” Jinu said urgently, shaking him by the shoulders.

Romance muttered something unintelligible, and batted a hand towards them before continuing.

“Romance!” Jinu chased after him, and lifted his face up to look him in the eyes, “You can stop now.” He carefully enunciated each word, as if speaking to a child, or a very, very tired demon.

“Can’t stop.” He whispered, the words clinging to his throat. “Shoulda done more… Shoulda noticed… or done something.” A tear trickled down his cheeks. “Can’t stop.”

“You’re gonna collapse Romance. Stop.” Jinu stood in his path, “I won’t let you continue.”

Romance simply sidestepped him, swaying from exhaustion as he continued.

As a whole, Mira, Zoey and Rumi moved to stop him, lifting him up from under his arms and legs. Romance writhed in their arms, screaming and spitting curses, face twisted with fury.

“LET…ME…GO!” He shrieked.

And having thoroughly tired himself out with struggling, he fell asleep.

“One down, three to go.”
_________________________________________________________________________
Abby had curled up into a ball on the ground, arms and legs turned inwards, scrunched up. It would have been a blessing to fall unconscious, to allow oblivion to take him, but his mind stayed stubbornly awake.

A sea of mogrifs swarmed over him, crawling around and over and under and next to his body. And they reached out with blind, groping hands.

Oh, the hands.

They reached over his chest and arms and legs and abs. He hated those abs, he would rip them out of him if they could. They ensured all he could ever be worth was his body.

A voice whispered inside his head, “All you’ll ever be worth is your body. Without it, you’re worthless.”

He tried to fight it, but a wave of shame washed over him, doubts and lies and insults crawling into his ears.

And those hands wouldn’t stop touching him. They’d never stop touching him.
_________________________________________________________________________
Huntrix and Jinu stared in horror as a crowd of mogrifs crawled over Abby.

“Are they…eating him?” Zoey gasped.

“No, no! Why would I send him to a place where demons would eat him?” Jinu sighed.

“Why would you send him here at all?” Rumi groaned.

“Now’s not the time for questions, it’s time to save Abby.” Mira commanded with renewed strength.

They charged inwards, weapons raised, slashing at cutting at demons. The mogrifs turned their way, and angled their heads towards them. Many simply ran away, some ran towards the Hunters with misplaced confidence, as they were quickly destroyed.

They ran over to Abby, Mira in the lead, and they crouched down. Slowly, she put her hand on his shoulder, shaking him lightly.

“Don’t touch me.” He whispered, in an eerie echo of Baby at the hospital. “Please.”

Even in his worst, broken moment, there was still the compulsion to be polite.

They helped him to his feet, as he wiped tear tracks of his face silently, daring them to laugh. No one did. They stood around him for a second, before Mira lunged forward and enveloped him in a hug, quickly followed by Rumi, Zoey and Jinu.

“You’re okay.” She whispered, followed by a delayed nod from Abby. He wasn’t okay, but that was a story for another time.

They clung to each other for thirty seconds before breaking apart. Abby looked down at an unconscious Romance.

“What happened to him?”
_________________________________________________________________________
Mystery liked the darkness; it helped him hide.

Mystery hated the darkness; it hid everything else.

Mystery didn’t know what was true anymore. He didn’t know if it had been minutes, hours, days, years, centuries.

It had only been a few hours, but that was beside the point.

Mystery rocked back and forth on his heels, gripping his arms, hunched into a ball. He was lost for good, he would never find Baby…

He’d failed.

Mystery was very, very alone.
_________________________________________________________________________
They raced to the caverns, and stopped at the entrance of the cave, peering into the pitch dark blackness.

“He went into this and didn’t bring a light?” Zoey asked. Jinu nodded silently, as the three girls groaned in frustration. “What an idiot!”

They ventured in nervously, their weapons glowing against the darkness. The faint light was quickly swallowed, but it was enough to illuminate a couple of metres ahead of them.

It was the quiet keening noise, an inhumane sound of despair that alerted them to Mystery’s presence. Rumi and Mira held back as Zoey slowly crouched down to Mystery’s level, and reached out. He lifted his head with a whimper, pupils expanding rapidly at the dim light. Zoey lifted him to his feet, and he gave a look full of such adoration and awe that she blushed deep red. His lower lips wobbled, and he blinked hurriedly, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

They took him outside, and he gave a little gasp at the light, feeble as it was, eyes widening and filling with tears.

“I thought I was done for…” He whispered.

His knees gave out and he plopped down onto an outcropping stone, eyes taking in the light with a wobbling lip.

“So, I’m guessing none of us found Baby.” Jinu asked, shaking his head, disappointment etched on his face.

“No. But we did find each other.” Rumi said with a slight smile. Zoey sat down next to Mystery, Mira sidled up next to Abby, Rumi laid her head on Jinu’s shoulder, and Romance lay on the floor.
_________________________________________________________________________
Baby sat in the darkened night, eyes burning bright orange with fury, face shrouded in darkness. He watched them partnering up with each other, himself forgotten. Fool he was to think they cared about him.

He didn’t even need Gwi-Ma to convince him that they were going down.

Chapter Text

He rose from the ground, mouth twisted into a pained, sinister smile, hands shaking behind his sides before he stilled them. His heart burned with a cold fire. He stood still, before abruptly spinning on his heel and facing the demon lord. “I’m ready.” Baby bowed before Gwi-Ma. “Let me take them down.”

“So little,” Gwi-Ma cooed, an undertone of affection creeping into his tone. “It seems like just yesterday, you were a little scamp of a demon, scrabbling around a torture chamber.”

“Not that I remember,” Baby said dryly, before his tone turned professional. “So, will you let me kill them?”

“Even the Saja Boys?” Gwi-Ma said, fire brightening in surprise.

Baby’s face darkened in a scowl, and he clenched his jaw, “They’re nothing to me. If they can move on without me, I don’t need them. I don’t need anyone.”

Gwi-Ma considered it. Jinu was a useful tool, but he was stubborn, defiant, with his own agenda. The rest of them were weak, though surprisingly brave in their love for Baby. In other words, useless.

“Go ahead.”

Baby nodded, and made ready to teleport before Gwi-Ma continued.

“But first, you must be trained.”

Baby’s figure slumped, and he groaned.

“No complaining.” Gwi-Ma chastised. “I can see now, that without training, you are incapable of killing Rumi, or taking on the combined forces of Huntrix and the Saja Boys.”

“But I am trained! Jinu trained me.”

“Specialised training in killing. That is what you need.”

Baby sighed, already feeling his plans for revenge slipping away from him. “Fine. What do I need to do?”

Gwi-Ma bellowed in laughter, fire roaring high. “There is a demon rave in the plains. I want you to successfully infiltrate it, and kill this demon.” A picture floated down to Baby from the top of the fire, falling to his feet.

Baby wrinkled his nose, “A rave? I doubt I’ll be killing Huntrix in a rave.”

“No, but it will teach you to adapt to foreign and unfamiliar situations and environments. Live a little Baby!” Gwi-Ma encouraged, pushing Baby to socialise.

He sighed again, frowning at the picture, “I don’t know…”

“Consider it non-negotiable.”

He looked down at the picture again, before resigning himself to his fate, and disappearing.
_________________________________________________________________________
He hit the ground at the fringes of the plains, raising his head. A crowd of jumping demons filled the plains, arms swinging madly, bouncing up and down. A blaring song played from a makeshift stage, the sound booming through the air. Glowing sticks and necklaces lit up the night, and the song was accompanied with thousands of screaming voices.

Finding one little demon in this crowd would be nearly impossible.

Baby entered the crowd, sidestepping breakdancing, hip hoppers, snogging couples, sobbing loners, drunk demons, fights and giant dancing circles. Baby rolled his eyes at the festivities, eyes peeled for the demon. Pretty soon, he was moving his shoulders to the music, swaying his head back and forth.

Maybe this wasn’t so bad.

The music thrummed in his veins, filling him up with tune, thumping through the ground beneath his feet, making him alive. The energy was infectious, and Baby found himself screaming along to the lyrics, jumping up and down in a haze.

He looped arms with complete strangers, danced around in circles till his feet felt fit to fall off, screamed lyrics till his throat was raw, and practically overdosed on neon drinks and sugary powered donuts. He couldn’t stop, he was possessed by the music, the addictive beat, the highs and lows of the singers, the possessive melody and raps. It blasted in his ears until he felt one with the music. He jumped back and forth, rapping to the song, moving his hands in completely made up signs, and captivating a little audience.

He ran through the crowd, weaving in and out of demons, playing hide and seek, jumping other demons, voice hoarse but still mouthing lyrics. At one point, he found himself being born on a sea of hands, carried around on top of people, being thrown into the air and caught. He fell to the ground with a thump, and quickly scrambled to his feet, not wanting to be trodden underfoot. The adrenaline rush of falling was compelling.

He caught a random demon by the hands and started dancing before moving to another, and then another, buzzing on a sugar high, energy enhanced by the song. His world was this rave, this plain, this night. Somewhere along the way, he had stolen two glowsticks, now clutched in his hands, which he waved along to the music. It was chaos, catastrophic, and Baby embraced it.

After hours, Baby remembered his mission, and withdrew his picture, which by a miracle was still tucked into his belt. He squinted through a haze of neon light to see the image. The picture was a completely generic water demon, although slightly distinctive by their bloodshot eyes. He would find them; he was a weapon of honed concentration, running through the crowd to find them.

Did it really matter if he was singing and dancing the whole way?

He scanned hundreds of faces till they all blended into each other, but he continued, determined to hunt till the very end.

Baby nearly missed them; just another face in a sea of demons, but something about him snagged his attention. He withdrew his katanas, mouth stretched wide in an insane grin. Blood dripped from his hands, a small taste of what was to come. He strolled menacingly towards them, taking his time, enjoying the expression of pure fear. They stumbled back nervously, looking left and right as if to assure himself that he wasn’t alone. Demons backed away hurriedly, not wanting to be associated with death. Baby walked towards him languidly, singing to the song. He wanted this to last.

But all fun must come to an end, and he lunged in for the kill

The demon was surprisingly fast, dodging and evading blows, till Baby caught him in the shoulder, and he went down in an agonized shriek. Baby danced around him in delight, feet stamping to the beat as he stabbed the demon again and again till he was sprayed with blood, his hands stained dark blue. Till the body beneath him fell limp, stopped writhing from pain, and its heart stopped pumping. A thrill of electric joy ran through him, filling him up with an addictive warmth and chill.

Oh this felt good. It felt very, very good.

Baby danced away, swords dripping blood, song lines burbling out of his throat in ecstasy. Demons gaped in a mixture of horror and awe as his katanas withdrew into his hands, and he swayed to the beat. Like they were hypnotised, they fell in line, ignoring the corpse and continuing with the rave. Baby ran out of the crowd, blood buzzing with the rush, ears thrumming with the song. A wide green split his face, white teeth flecked with blue.

Mission accomplished.

Chapter Text

Uncaring of the fact he looked like he’d just stepped out of a murder scene, Baby danced at the rave till his ears were ringing, bright spots of light and darkness were flashing in and out of his eyes, and his feet were about to fall off.

“Oh, shit.” He laughed, swaying on his feet from exhaustion, exiting the crowd. He slid through sweaty bodies, frenzied demons and sleeping people. Walking into the empty plains was like a breath of fresh air; Baby gratefully inhaled the feeling of isolation, though he’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss the crowd.

He squeezed his hands into fists and tried to teleport, screwing his eyes shut. He waited for a second, then another, before vomiting a large amount of donuts and alcohol. A stinging burn crept up his throat, and he desperately gulped down cool air to try and soothe the sting. His mouth tasted like poison, a nasty, bitter taste, souring his tongue. It made him want to throw up again. He felt extraordinarily lightheaded, and unstable. Baby shook his head, blinking rapidly, before attempting again.

He spun around too hard, lost his balance and hit the ground, falling over clumsily. His body hurt with a dull ache, but the ground was quite comfortable. Gritty little grains of dirt and sand pressed into his cheek, but Baby was too tired to care. His eyes slowly fluttered shut as a voice spoke in his head.

“Baby, come back. Now.” Gwi-Ma said, grumpiness evident in his tone. Baby sat up from the ground, head raised like a meerkat, looking around left and right frantically before remembering that the voice was in his head.

“Nah. I’m good.”

Gwi-Ma groaned, the low rumble filling Baby’s ears, “Come back, or I’ll come and collect you. You don’t want that now, do you?”

Baby grimaced at the memory of his punishment, the remembrance of his bruises and broken bones all too clear in his mind. He could almost feel the lightning hot ache in his face. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

He got up with a sigh, looking longingly at the rave behind him before continuing, shaking his head mournfully at his sad fate.

Walking hurt; his feet felt bruised and blistered, every step and agony. His stomach was painfully empty, the hollowness inside burning. His head was spinning, and he was having difficulty staying awake, his walk zigzagging left and right haphazardly. His hands were covered in dried blood, flaking, pulling on his skin. He paused, scraping the dark blue blood off him, little flakes gathering in his fingernails. He blew the rest off, leaving his with relatively clean palms.

He kept walking, swaying on his feet, head pulsing with a blinding headache. He gritted his teeth as a band of pain pulsed in his brain, struggling to keep his eyes open. His eyes rolled up in his head as he dropped to his knees, bruising them on the hard ground. Slowly, he raised shaking thumbs to his temples, pressing on them to subdue the pain.

He opened his eyes blearily and the world looked slightly blurred, like someone had taken a wet paintbrush, and slightly smeared all the details. He could see four tall figures, dressed in stage jackets walking away from him. He rubbed his eyes, disbelieving of what he was seeing. It was the Saja Boys. Brightly coloured pink hair, lavender and black, it was them sure enough.

He scrambled to his feet, instinctively chasing after them, feet scrabbling on the gravel. “Mystery! Romance!” He yelled, voice loud in the stillness. But no matter how loud he screamed, they didn’t look back. No matter how fast he ran, he couldn’t catch up with them.

Abruptly, they stopped and turned back, cruel smirks pasted on their faces, eyes filled with disgust and disappointment. Baby skidded to a stop, momentum making him stumble, and crash to the ground. Huntrix materialised by their sides, effortlessly beautiful and stylish, looking at him with disdain. They sneered at him, mouths turning downwards. “You’re nothing. Pathetic. Why would you ever think you could belong with us?”

Despite his anger, his fury, a feeling of desperation welled up in his heart. “I-I can belong with you. Please.”

Rumi spoke, her voice cold, “We have the Saja Boys. They have us. What more do we need?”

“Me! You need me!”

“No, we don’t.”

They turned to walk away, Rumi flicking her braid over her shoulder, leaving him behind for good. A cold rush of anger washed over Baby, putting out the fire of emotion. He remembered the thrill he got from killing that water demon. The rush of glee. It would be nice to feel that again.

Anything was better than numbness.

Face scrunched up in anger, he rose from the ground, katanas slicing from his hands, drawing fresh blood. If anything, it made him hungry for more. He lunged forwards, slashing his sword at Jinu’s head, only for all seven of them to transform into demons, their human forms withering away in bright pink sparks.

Baby spun around to stare at them, disorientated. Their bodies were sucked away before his eyes, revealing their true identities. They surrounded him, their identical ugly faces a mixture of amusement and pity. His head hurt. This didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense.

“Well done Baby.” Gwi-Ma echoed in his mind, “You passed the test.” A hint of pride and surprise snuck into his voice.

A test? Their rejection of him was fake. No, not fake, they had already rejected him in real life for Huntrix, he’d seen that. Or had he? All his memories were slipping, sliding into the recollection of Gwi-Ma smug voice in his head. No. More.

Springing onto his feet, Baby slashed at a demon’s throat with his katana. The demon put his hands up to the bleeding gash, frozen in disbelief before slumping to the ground, dead. The rest of the demons scattered as Baby stabbed the body again and again, satisfyingly hot blood gushing over his fists.

“What are you doing Baby? Stop!” Gwi-Ma commanded, but Baby didn’t even pause in his frenzied onslaught.

No. More.

The body was still beneath him, and still he plunged the blade into flesh, again and again, slicing with difficulty through skin and muscle, jabbing at bones.

“STOP!” screeched Gwi-Ma in his head, but Baby couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop until an artificial drowsiness descended on him, dragging his eyelids downwards, his hands moving slower like he was stuck in honey. He slumped to the ground in a pool of blood that wasn’t his, katanas withdrawing into his hands as he fell in slow motion. His eyes flickered open, and he looked into the dead demon's eyes without a shred of remorse.

He had definitely fucked up. But did he care?

No.

Chapter Text

He opened his eyes, the pain in his head subdued to a dull ache, ringing through his mind. His eyes fluttered slowly, and he sat up, back covered in blood, the back of his head dripping dark blue. He put his hand to his head, and it came away covered in sticky blue blood. He sniffed it, and it was disturbingly metallic. He could almost taste the tang in his mouth.

Rubbing his hands on his pant legs roughly, he sprang to feet, groaning at the pain in his calves and feet. Looking at the body, he felt tempted to vomit at the sight of pure, frenzied violence, but there was nothing in his stomach. The corpse had been hacked apart, chunks of flesh scattered across the floor. He prodded one with his foot, as if he was expecting movement, before turning away with a sigh. He’d done that? He was a monster.

“Come back Baby.” Gwi-Ma said, voice soft with concern.

They were right. He was a danger, a hazard. They didn’t need him; they’d be better off without him.

“Come back.” He insistently repeated, and Baby began the long walk, shaking his head despondently. He strolled perhaps a hundred metres before realising he could teleport. Shaking his head at his absent-mindedness, he clenched his hands into fists, and disappeared.

Baby landed on the plateau in front of Gwi-Ma and bowed low. As he held himself in the position, his thoughts spiralled into despair and despondency. He was a violent, uncontrollable killer; he didn’t deserve to live.

The fire above him dimmed as Gwi-Ma took on a physical form, a slow clapping echoing through the air. Whilst Baby frantically tried to figure out whether it was sarcastic or approving, Gwi-Ma floated down to him, and tilted his face up from his bow. Baby didn’t flinch, but he trembled slightly, knees knocking together.

“Rise.” And he straightened up, before falling to his knees, hands clutched in prayer. Or in a plea.

“I’m not right.” His mouth was twisted into a watery half-smile, eyes wet with tears that refused to spill. “I’m not-” He paused in a sniffle. “I’m not- There’s something wrong with me.” His lips pressed together as his face crumpled into a gut-wrenching sob, face covered in tears like his hands covered in blood. He sniffed, wiping his face furiously with a grubby sleeve, rubbing tears away on his shoulders. “Just kill me.” He whispered.

Gwi-Ma cuffed him round the head, jerking his neck forwards. “Fool! And you were doing so well too.”

“Well?” Baby whispered under his breath, eyebrows scrunched in confusion. He had killed. He was a murderer.

“Yes! You’re golden. You have strength, stealth, power and a lethality that I can only dream of my other demons possessing. You’re perfect to kill Huntrix and the Saja Boys.”

“But, I-I lost control,” Baby stammered, “I killed some poor innocent.” His mind spun with confusion, brain aching. Could this be a good thing?

“Innocent?” Gwi-Ma scoffed, “He was hardly innocent.”

“I don’t want to kill them, I don’t…”

Baby’s sentence was cut off abruptly as Gwi-Ma grabbed him by the throat, spindly fingers wrapping around his neck, forcing his eyes to meet his. “Yes, you do want to kill them.” He instructed, a wide-eyed grin on his face as he released Baby’s neck. He gasped for breath.

“Understood?”

Baby rose to his feet and bowed again. “Yes Gwi-Ma.”

Gwi-Ma looked at him for a long moment, before slapping him across the face. “Liar.” His voice wasn’t cold or angry, but amused. Baby winced, raising a hand to the reddened skin.

“You want to kill them. Understood?”

“Y-yes Gwi-Ma.” Baby stuttered, before being met with another resounding slap. His head snapped sideways, and he could’ve sworn he’d seen stars.

“Stop lying. I know you’re lying to me. You want to kill them. Understood?” Gwi-Ma repeated slightly louder than before, temper rising.

What was he meant to say? Was there even a right answer? Saying yes didn’t seem to work, maybe saying no? That was stupidity, but clearly saying yes wasn’t working.

“No?”

Ah, now that was stupid.

Gwi_ma slugged him in the side of the face, and he lost balance, fell to the ground. Sticky blood leaked out of his mouth, metallic and coppery. His lip stung, and his cheek burned with pain. He flexed his jaw a few times, eyes filling with tears that he blinked away.

“Are you stupid?” Gwi-Ma asked, voice rising louder and higher, pacing around Baby in a circle.

Clearly talking was the wrong thing to do, so Baby kept silent.

“Answer my question. Are you stupid?”

He wasn’t going to be tricked into saying anything.

“Answer my question, or I’ll knock you into next week. Are. You. Stupid?”

“No?” His voice went higher, the very statement a question.

“Wrong!” Gwi-Ma crowed, kicked him in the side with his hard boots, and prancing around delightfully in a circle. Baby curled up into a ball, his side bruised, an inferno of pain blossoming in his ribs. He whimpered. Was Gwi-Ma trying to break them again?

“Get up.” Baby moved slowly to his knees. “Get up faster, you useless, shameless waste of space. Hurry up!”

His breaths were shallow, a labour to inhale, the air sour, smelling of blood. Tasting of blood. Gwi-Ma wrapped his hands around Baby’s face, squeezing and stretching his bruised cheeks, making absurd expressions, pinching the flesh. “You. Want. To. Kill. Them.” Baby groaned, and his head lolled to the side. Gwi-Ma patted him on the cheeks a few times, and his eyes flickered back open. “Understood?”

Baby nodded, spirit broken. Gwi-Ma paused, then shook his head, sighing. “Clearly I need to do more work.” He abruptly dropped Baby to the ground, wiping his hands on his pant legs, and walking back to the fire pit. “Sleep tight!”

Running on autopilot, Baby stood up, bowed low and teleported away.
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He landed in the snack shack, ankle twisting as he hit the grounds at an odd angle. Stumbling to the bar, he sat on a chair awkwardly, spinning around from momentum. It didn’t help with his dizziness.

A bowl of stone cold miso soup teetered precariously on the edge of the counter, spoon by the side. A bowl of prawn crackers were abandoned on the couch, crumbs all over. A chair was on the floor, knocked over in a rush, and the door was wide open. The place reeked of abandonment.

Baby sucked up the blood in his mouth and spat it out in a little ball, hoping to clear the taste. It was oddly satisfying. Quickly, he ran his tongue over his teeth. No displaced teeth then, that was a blessing, although his lip felt like it was burning.

Wincing, he rolled up his tight dress shirt, revealing his side. He prodded the skin, and quickly withdrew his finger. It hurt like hell. No bruises, it was far too soon, but that was going to be black and blue all over. Didn’t seem to be a broken rib either.

Still, his stomach was painfully empty, head clouded and he felt like shit. Not even including his mental state. The array of insults Gwi-Ma had lobbed at him flooded into his mind, and he quickly filtered through them, quickly dismissing every one. Though there weren’t many.

Where were the Saja Boys? Their perpetual hangout was the snack shack, they certainly weren’t one for the raves. Neither was he, at least until recently. “Jinu! Mystery!” No response. “Guys!”

Clearly not here. Baby hopped off the chair with a groan, hobbling over to the couch. So, where could they be? And why would they have left?

The solution came to him hours later, in between trying to finish the salty miso soup (he’d been taught not to waste food) and putting ice on his cheek. They’d gone to find Huntrix. Of course. The image of demons Gwi-Ma conjured may have been fake, but the message wasn’t. They would always be more valuable than him. Why couldn’t he belong with anyone?

A quiet thrill of anger ran through Baby. He was too tired to feel anything, but a series of indignant thoughts ran through his head. He’d just been through hell, would it really be too much to ask for someone to come home to? Of course it would. And it wasn’t like this was home anyways? Where had that thought come from?

As he pulled a blanket out of a cupboard, and settled on the cold sofa, they continued, and he lay under his blankets, his mind stubbornly refusing to go to sleep. He lay in the darkness, eyes wide open, heels thudding up and down to a rhythm, turning and tossing.

As angry thoughts usually do, they turned depressing and self-pitying, mourning his poor treatment, with an exaggerated mournfulness even Baby could recognize was blown out of proportion. He was fine. He would be fine.

Suck it up and keep going, right?

Chapter Text

Jinu bent to Romance and shook him lightly, to no avail. He remained stubbornly unconscious. Jinu flopped onto the ground with a sigh, throwing his arms into the air in defeat.

“We need to find Baby.” Rumi said after several minutes of silence. Jinu groaned, Mystery shook his head and Abby sighed. “Well, we do!” She protested.

“Rumi,” Jinu said, getting up from the floor, “None of us are in any condition to find Baby. We need to rest.” He finished, gesturing to the many cuts and bruises on his arms. He wrapped his arms around her, and she hesitantly relaxed into his touch. “Why don’t we go to the snack shack?”

“Or,” Zoey suggested, bouncing on the tips of her toes with excitement, “We can take you guys to the apartment!” They looked around, and if there was no enthusiasm, at least there was no disagreement.

They gathered around in a circle, Abby picking up a limp Romance into his arms. Holding hands, they levitated up to the Honmoon, and Huntrix slipped through easily. The Saja Boys struggled, forcing themselves through the strands with difficulty, wincing as burns speckled themselves on their arms. Finally, they pushed through, erupting onto the streets into a befuddled pile.

Huntrix erupted into laughter at the tangled heap of boys on the floor, limbs flailing aimlessly as they struggled to get up. At last they separated themselves and got off the floor, dusting off their clothes. Huntrix led them to their tower, and they made their way there quickly, not wanting to be seen with the boys. That would be a PR disaster.

Finally they reached the place, at 9pm. It wasn’t their fault they’d been sidetracked at a cotton candy stall, or had made all four of the Saja Boys try an actual soda pop (they’d hated it). But the sky had grown dark, and streetlights were flickering on. They entered the apartment, and Huntrix flopped onto the couch, while the Saja Boys stood about awkwardly.

“Sit down, make yourself at home!” Zoey insisted. They sat on the floor, legs crossed, shoulders pressed up against each other in a tight huddle. They chatted and bantered, conversation stiff at first, then lightening, easing up. The subject of Baby was an unspoken taboo, like a monumental task put on the back burner of their minds. Too sobering and sad for the current subject, of idol shenanigans and stories.

Zoey’s and Romance’s excitable personalities bounced off each other, constantly switching from topic to topic randomly, like they were on their own private wavelength. Mira and Abby were currently engaged in some passionate debate about God knows what, and Jinu and Mystery were quietly discussing the pros and cons of soda pop, and maybe if the song should have just been about water.

Rumi remembered, with a pang of guilt and longing, the night Baby had sat with them, and they’d talked in a similar manner. Maybe it was just a few days ago, but it felt like a lifetime. She wondered where he was, what he was doing. If he still wanted to kill them.

She missed him.

As the night dragged on, the day’s toll was evident in dark circles and yawning mouths, yet still an animated conversation promised to continue, before Mira interrupted.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I need to sleep. In fact, we all do.”

Sleeping arrangements would be troubling, as there were only three bedrooms. Romance quickly bagsied the couch, and watched with a mirthful grin as the awkwardness that ensued.

“So, umm, I guess if you wanna share a bed…”
“Yeah, I mean, if you say so…”
“Just to be convenient, right?”
“Uh huh. Absolutely.”

Zoey elbowed Mystery in the side, and gave him that silent, secretive look of instant choice. He nodded, and playfully mussed her hair as she squealed in half-annoyance, half joy.

“Well, I guess it’s just me and you, big guy.”

Abby stooped down to her height, and whispered in her ear. “For the record, you would have been my last choice.”

Mira blushed, and batted his arm in mock anger. “Sure.”
_________________________________________________________________________
Jinu looked blankly at the bed and blanket, eyes crinkling as if trying to figure something out. Rumi sat up, a blanket covering her waist down, wearing her teddy bear and train pyjamas. “What’s wrong?”

It turns out four hundred years of sleeping on couches, the floor and bar counters will leave you a little unused to a bed.

“Nothing.” He walked over to the other side of the bed and slipped under the covers as Rumi put the light out. Both of them lay on their backs, arms tucked by their sides, staring determinedly at the ceiling, not looking at each other.

Rumi’s hands reached out, quickly touched his fingertips before flitting away again. Jinu coughed awkwardly, rolling onto his side and facing the wall.

After a couple of minutes, he put his hand out behind him, and Rumi held onto it, touch light. Her fingers were warm and soft, and the contact sent sparks lighting up throughout Jinu.

Maybe this wasn’t so bad.
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Zoey had a long and detailed skincare routine before she went to sleep, so Mystery was lying flat on the bed, twiddling his thumbs. It had taken him a while, but he’d swept back his fringe off his face, and was waiting for Zoey to come out. What if she hated it? What if she’d been lying earlier. Or, what if his face had changed overnight, somehow?

Overthinking was such a pain.

“I’m coming!” She sang, and Mystery stuffed his face into a pillow. This was a giant mistake! He was such an idiot, he never should have done such a thing. But it was too late; the sound of skipping footsteps grew louder, and Zoey burst into the room, lighting up his heart like a sunbeam.

“Mystery!” She gasped, crawling over the bed to him. “You have such a nice face! I know I’ve seen it before, but wow.” She drew up close to it, till their noses were practically an inch away from each other. “Wow.” She whispered again, her voice spellbound by awe. She crawled under the covers and laughed, “One day, you need to let me give you a makeover.”

Imitating her action, Mystery did the same, and they lay on their sides, facing each other as Zoey began talking, and Mystery nodded intently, drinking in every word she said. She really was too good to be true.
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Mira had crashed onto the bed pretty much instantly, sprawled out unapologetically in her sleep. Abby kept respectively to his little slice of the bed, tucked up neatly in his blanket.

He was five, in a dark, dark room, and there was no light, nothing to see. It smelled overpoweringly of cologne and coffee. And then a man stepped out of the shadows, face stretched in a grin that was meant to be reassuring. “Take off your shirt.” He instructed, and Abby hesitated. He wasn’t meant to, he didn’t think, but hadn’t he always been told to listen to his elders?

Slowly he did it, small fingers fumbling with the buttons, the fabric peeling away to reveal his skin. It was quite an ordinary chest for a five year old boy; with visible ribs and a slightly concave stomach.. Strong, small, healthy. The man ran his hands over him, and they were cold, wrinkled; Abby drew back with a grimace and a squeal. He hated it. “Come back.” whispered the man, his voice blending with the darkness. He shook his head no, confused, not understanding. Where was his father? Where was he?

“I said come back!” hissed the man, angry now, and Abby insistently shook his head no, running out of the room into a circle of ladies, who cooed and ah-ed at him. He tried to tell them, in stuttering words, but they dismissed it. “You’re such a cute little boy. I’d gobble you up if I could.” One woman squealed, pinching his cheeks.

That was the day Abby learned that grown-ups were useless, that they couldn’t protect him, not when they were the ones torturing him, the monsters under his bed that he feared. Not when he was 10, and a lady pulled down his pants in the changing room, not when he was 15, a a girl tried to rape him. Not now, not ever.

Stop. Please stop.

Abby woke up in a gasp, forehead sweating only to see Mira perched above him, flicking his forehead. She looked at him curiously, “Are you alright?”

Abby gulped, regaining his composure, “Yes, I’m okay.”

“You sure?” Mira asked, settling down to sleep. “Cause you were literally having a nightmare.”

“No, not really.” Abby sighed, the truth dragged out of him. “But it’s fine.”

Mira turned over, moonlight glowing on her skin, “Wanna tell me what’s wrong?”

Abby shook his head, “Not really.”

They sat in silence for a while more, before Mira wrapped her arms around Abby from the back. He tensed, form tight before melting into her touch, fears soothed.

“Shhhhh.” She whispered. “It’s alright.”

He didn’t cry, but he did fall asleep, and that was one of the best healers.
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The couch was pretty damn uncomfortable to sleep on, as Romance was discovering.

First of all, rolling over in his sleep was a near impossibility, as every time he risked a terribly long fall to the ground (about half a metre). It was a very narrow couch.

Second of all, there were mysterious lumps that he could’ve sworn weren’t there earlier, but they were certainly here now. Prodding into his back, his arms, his legs. They made it impossible to fall asleep.

Third of all, he couldn’t stop thinking about Baby. He should have done more, should have found him. No matter what the rest of them said, he knew that Baby would have been somewhere on the perimeter. If only he had kept going, he could have made it.

Now Baby was probably lost and alone, or worse, in Gwi-Ma’s clutches. First thing tomorrow morning, he was going to go and find him.

And he was not sleeping on this couch ever again.

Chapter Text

A ray of sunlight filtered through a gap in the curtains, filling the room with golden light, bathing the two figures asleep on my bed. Dust motes danced in the air, twirling to a tune only they could hear. Soft little exhalations of breath echoed from Rumi and Jinu echoed in the room, their faces an inch away from each other, his arm over her waist, her hand on her chest.

Sleep can make a person move in strange ways.

Her head was tilted up and his was looking down, just a few inches away from each other, a gap that neither of them dared to cross. The blanket was draped across them two, encasing them in warmth, wrapping them in their own little world.

Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, lifting his long lashes out of his vision, gazing down at her. Enraptured by the soft tremor of her eyelids, the slight way her lips moved as she breathed, the fresh summer scent of her pyjamas. He shifted slightly, and her hand slipped off his chest, she leaned onto him. He kept still, barely breathing, drinking her in. Their chests rose and fell in sync, eyes wandering over her figure, drifting to her lips.

Her eyes opened and gazed into his, the connection raw, holding them spellbound. It was magnetic, compelling. Her eyes widened, gaze sweetened, breath held. He reached a hand up to brush a strand of her hair, stray from her braid, and she leaned in, lips parted slightly, apprehensive.

Their lips met, and she was spinning, floating, flying, the smell of smoke and coffee, cotton candy and hot chocolate on his breath, the soft pressure of his lips on hers, his hand on her cheek, the other on her hip.

He was still, blank, falling, falling in love with the smell of sunshine and flowers, with sweet sugar and minty toothpaste, her smooth skin, soft lips, her hand in his hair, the glow in her eyes.

They parted for breath, gasping for air, eyes locked on each other, falling into a world of their own. He was lost in marvel that something so pretty, so sweet, so precious could ever exist, ever be his. She wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face in the crook of his neck, face blushing bright red. He returned the hug, a silent comfort, quiet warmth.

Eventually she slid out of bed with a smile, and looked back at Jinu. She leaned over and pulled him out of bed, her hand on his, out of the warmth. They tiptoed to the couch, shivering in the cold, and dived under the blanket. Rumi flicked something mindless onto the television, and they huddled up for warmth, legs tucked up above the floor. She leaned on his shoulder, both of them smiling uncontrollably.
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Romance had gone to the bathroom, and was currently leaning against the door, hands balled up in fists. He could see Rumi and Jinu being all adorable and in love, and no doubt Zoey and Mystery, Mira and Abby were in the same position. And he was alone.

But more than that, they seemed to have forgotten who brought them together in the first place. Who was lost in the underworld, probably trapped in Gwi-Ma clutches.

Baby.

A dry sob burst out Romance at the thought of their maknae, trapped, alone. He could be dead, but he couldn’t be, because surely Romance would know in his heart, he would feel something. They needed to find him, save him.

And if he couldn’t stir the rest of them to action, he would go alone.
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All seven of them were in the kitchen, Rumi and Jinu making breakfast for the rest of them. They kept smiling at each other, flicking butter and burning eggs. Zoey and Mystery had taken their place on the couch, his head on her lap as she stroked his hair, and whispered to him in a sweet voice. Abby and Mira were engaged in an arm wrestle, muscles tensing as she beat him for the third time, though anyone with working eyes could see him holding back.

Romance sat alone, arms wrapped around his knees, face half-buried, eyes peeking out.

Baby. He needs them.

“Breakfast is served!” Rumi chirped, sliding seven plates onto the table. “The burnt ones are obviously made by Jinu!”

“Because I am obviously such an amazing cook!” Jinu proudly declared.

They gathered round the table, the clink of cutlery and light chatter filling the apartment. Romance ate silently, the food chewy and rubbery in his mouth.

He could be starving, bleeding out, dying for a morsel of food.

“You okay Romance?” Mystery asked, voice concerned.

“Yeah.” Romance said, and forced a smile onto his face that felt unbearably fake. “I’m all good.” He added, but Mystery was no longer listening. Oh well.

The meal went on, and the pressure in Romance’s head rose until it felt unbearable.

“We need to save Baby.” He blurted out, and the room went dead silent, six people frozen, looking at him like he’d said something taboo.

“I know you’re worried,” Rumi spoke eventually, “I am too, he’s my brother. But-” She was cut off by a series of questions from the Saja Boys.

“Baby’s your brother?”

“How?”

“You guys don’t have the same mother, right?”

“Who’s your father?”

“Yes, don’t know, no, yes.” Rumi quickly rattled off, “Look, just give me a second, okay!”

The Saja Boys fell quiet with barely restrained energy.

“Romance, I’m worried too. But we can’t just go charging into the underworld to save him. We need to rest, recover…”

“He could be dying!” Romance yelled, voice cracking. “He could be dying, and you’re just sitting here, laughing and eating breakfast. Don’t you care?”

“Of course we care! How can you say we don’t care? You weren’t the ones that rushed him into hospital after Gwi-Ma battered him into a pulp! You aren’t the ones he’s trying to kill!”

“See! You don’t want to save him, because he’s trying to kill you. It’s not his fault, you know that, but just don’t care at all. In fact, you want him to die!”

Rumi gasped angrily, and opened her mouth to retort, but Jinu, perpetual peacemaker, intervened. “Look everyone, temperatures are running high, so why don’t we just take a moment and settle down.”

“Screw you! Screw everybody! I’m leaving, and if you want to save Baby, you better come with me.”

Romance marched to the elevator, shoulder squared, frame tense, hands squeezed in his pockets. He jammed the button impatiently and waited, foot tapping on the floor. The six of them crowded around him, urging him not to leave, but he stubbornly blocked his ears, hands pressing down on them hard.

“Don’t go, we can’t split up, we won’t be able to find you!”

The lift came up with a cheerful ding, and the door slid open mechanically. Romance teetered on the edge, so close to leaving. Leaving the Saja Boys, the warmth, the comfort, the safety.

But it was his fault Baby wasn’t with them. So he had to go save him.

It was the only way.

He stepped inside, leaving them behind letting the door slide shut until at the very last second, Rumi hopped in.

As they travelled downwards Romance looked at her in shock, the question clear on his face.

“He’s my brother. And you can’t go alone.”

The lift stopped at the bottom floor, and the door slid open to reveal an empty street, half cast in shadow. Rumi and Romance stepped out tentatively, the force of their actions hitting them. They were alone now.

Jinu, Mira, Mystery, Zoey and Abby burst out of the stairwell, slick with sweat, their momentum carrying them into a fall.

“Took…the…stairs…” Jinu wheezed in between gasping breaths, the entire group out of breath. Rumi and Romance took one look at them and burst into laughter, clutching at each other.

“You…you know you could have just teleported, right?”

“Oh. Didn’t think of that.” Jinu reflected.

“We’re coming with you Romance.” Zoey peeled away from the group, “Us guys, till the end of the line.”

Till the end of the line.

Chapter Text

Baby opened his eyes, unwilling to stir from the warmth of the couch, uncomfortable as it was. It was this delightful toasty comfort, spread through his body. It was the quiet peace in his head, Gwi-Ma’s silence. The soft pillow he rested his head on, the joy of solitariness. It was almost enough to send him back to sleep.

As all good things must, his sleepy relaxation came to an end, mind inevitably stirring to consciousness. A quiet melancholy descended on him, sadness settling in his heart like a weight, dragging his spirits down. Tears welled up in his eyes that he let spill down his cheeks before wiping them away. He felt an overwhelming indifference to anything, to whether it was day and night, dark or light, whether he was alive or dead.

He forced himself out of the bed, legs swinging over the side as he sat on the edge, shoulders bowed with a great heaviness. His eyes clouded and all of a sudden getting up felt like too much of a challenge.

He trudged over to the counter, sniffed the spoiling soup and threw it in the trash. There was something off in the smell, something rancid. He wasn’t very hungry anyways.

He wondered where the Saja Boys were before releasing that was a task in futility; they could be anywhere in the human world with Huntrix. He tried to muster up anger at the thought, but all that came was a vague emptiness, like he was too tired to feel. He was too tired to do anything, despite the long sleep he’d had. If anything, it had left him feeling more drained.

He did a few stretches, slightly stiff and sore from the somewhat uncomfortable couch. That was all the movement he was planning to do today. His eyelids felt heavy, dragging shut on his eyes as he worked to keep them open. He trudged back to the couch, crawling under the covers when a voice spoke in his head.

“Baby. Come to me.” It was Gwi-Ma, unusually subdued. Baby groaned. The tiredness was in his very bones now, binding him to the couch. It was like there was lead in his limbs, making them too heavy to move.

“Can't,” Baby said, as if Gwi-Ma was in the room with him. His voice was flat, lifeless, so very tired out.

“Baby, come to me now. You know what your punishment will be.”

Right now, the powers that be could order Baby to get up and he wouldn’t.

“Can’t,” He said in the same lifeless voice, though perhaps a little fainter.

“What’s wrong?” Gwi-Ma asked, tone shifting to concern, perhaps sensing something wasn’t right.

“Nothing,” Baby whispered, a lump in his throat. A weak smile twitched at the corner of his lips, “I’m fine.”

They left. They said they wouldn’t, but they did. And when he needed them most, there was…

Nothing.

All that was left of their promises was emptiness. An emptiness that filled Baby till there was nothing left.

The door creaked open, and Baby half lifted his head off his pillow before letting it fall. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.

The person walked over to him, their footsteps getting louder and louder till they were next to his head. He opened his eyes to see Gwi-Ma above him, eyes looking down in something like sympathy.

“Get up.” He said, voice cold with anger, “I thought you were injured, but you’re just being lazy.”

He wasn’t lazy. Was he?

“Get up.” Gwi-Ma pulled him up by his collar, shaking him roughly so his teeth rattled and his vision blurred. He pushed him into the arm of the couch, and Baby hit his back with a cry.

“Get up!” He repeated, slapping him on the cheek, recently bruised. He fell to the side with a cry, and scrambled to his feet, hand outstretched for protection. The other hand clutched his smarting cheek, cool against the building heat.

“I’m tired!” And his voice was whining, grating, whingy. “Just give me a break!” Was he some cringy, angsty teenager?

“A break?” Gwi-Ma scoffed, “When I was your age, I never had any breaks!” He strode over to him with quick, decisive steps.

“You’ve never been my age!” Baby complained.

“Exactly.” Gwi-Ma said, before pushing him into a counter. What did that even mean? Was he just saying it for the sake of saying it?

Baby hit it hard, the breath knocked out of his chest. Almost in slow motion he slid down the side, hitting the ground with a thunk and climbing to his feet. He rubbed his side, wincing. This wasn’t fair.

“Come with me, or I’ll make you come with me.” Gwi-Ma commanded. Baby leaned stubbornly on the counter, arms crossed, face stony. Gwi-Ma turned to leave before realising Baby wasn’t following him. A dry smirk crept across his face, devoid of humor.

“Help us…” A voice whispered, and Baby whipped his head around. It sounded like Mystery, but that wasn’t right. Mystery had abandoned him.

“Please!” Someone called out in agony, pain raw in their voice. Baby could practically hear their tears. Was that Romance?

“You said you’d save us!” Abby’s voice yelled, filled with fury and sadness, “Save us!”

Baby ripped through the door, eyes scanning the plain desperately for his boys. Where were they? The plain was empty.

Jinu’s voice rang out, filled with disappointment, “I thought you’d save us. I really thought you could do it.” He paused. “Foolish me.”

“NO!” Baby screamed, “I CAN STILL DO IT! PLEASE!”

“You’re a failure.” Romance whispered, “You drove us away.”

“I didn’t!” Baby protested, “I-I, It was your fault!”

“Our fault?” Mystery said scornfully, “How were your failures our fault?”

Baby clamped his hands over his ears, “STOP! STOP, STOP, JUST SHUT UP!”

So they did, and the silence was a relief. Still Baby kept his hands over his ears, not wanting to ever, ever hear that again. He wasn’t risking it.

Gwi-Ma walked towards him, hands jammed in his pockets, whistling a jaunty tune. “You know, I can make the voices go away; for good.”

Baby sniffled furiously, “I’m not coming with you! You’re vicious, cruel, poisonous!”

Gwi-Ma inched closer till his mouth was next to Baby’s ear, “I’m the only one who can save you from insanity.”

“I’m good.”

“I’ll help you.”

“I’m the only one stuck by your side.”

Gwi-Ma voice floated and swarmed Baby, invading his mind. It was a chorus of whispers, building and building until he believed it.

“Let’s go.”

Maybe this was better than being alone.

Chapter Text

They held hands, Gwi-Ma’s palms warm, worn, steady in his. He squeezed them tight as the duo vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

Back at his altar, Gwi-Ma erupted into fire, the crater filling with warmth and light, Baby dropping to the floor.

He sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Gwi-Ma, looking up at the fire like a little kid, eyes wide. It burned and crackled, blowing towards Baby with heat before subduing and speaking.

“You’re going to need more than those swords if you want to defeat them.”

Baby nodded along idly, mind on the beach. One of the best days of his life to date. If he concentrated hard enough, he could almost taste the sweet bubblegum on his tongue…

“Baby. Baby. Are you listening?”

Baby jolted back to attention. “Yes. Definitely listening.”

What had he said again?

Gwi-Ma sighed, “I said, you’re going to need more than swords to kill them.”

That was certainly true. He couldn’t even defeat Huntrix with just the swords, let alone both teams, forces combined against him. They were certainly powerful, but not enough.

“Walk with me?” Gwi-Ma asked, and the fire went out, the world went dark. Baby stood up in a panic, blinking till his eyes adapted to the darkness. All he could see was inky black, a glimmer of light at the horizon, the sky lightening to dark purple at the edges.

“Dad?” He called out, voice shaky.

“Over here.” Gwi-Ma waved, silhouette lit up by the crimson horizon, wearing a suit and tie. He held out his arm to Baby, in a way that felt oddly old-fashioned and date-like. Baby entwined his arm with his, and they set off into the sunlight.

“Back straight Baby,” Gwi-Ma murmured, “Posture is key. It influences how people see you, especially with first impressions.” Baby made an effort to straighten his aching shoulders.

“And what is this?” Gwi-Ma asked, lifting up a silk sleeve, looking pointedly at his pant legs, “You should be wearing a suit, not this nonsense. Back in the day…” Gwi-Ma started on a long lecture, while Baby looked down at his trousers. They felt fine. Weren’t they good enough?

They walked, and Baby’s tiredness returned, clouding his mind. His head lolled unsteadily, and Gwi-Ma’s shoulder looked very comfortable. He leaned his head, feeling an immediate relief. Gwi-Ma looked down, a soft smile playing on his lips, “I’ll allow it, for now. But only because you’re injured.”

They kept walking in silence, till Gwi-Ma spoke again, “You must be wondering who your mother is.” He rubbed his forehead with his blazer sleeve, fussing with his hair, fingers moving erratically. Baby kept walking in silence, scared to speak. Gwi-Ma cleared his throat, coughed, cleared his throat again and started choking on air for a couple of seconds.

Oh dear.

He finally started breathing again, though somewhat wheezily, a hand on his chest. Baby resisted the urge to snicker at Gwi-Ma’s genuinely panicked expression.

“I’m much better now, thanks for asking.”

“Oh, so I’m supposed to ask?”

“Well, it would certainly set me at ease if you did,” Gwi-Ma replied, mouth twisted in a roughish grin.

Baby stopped, and released Gwi-Ma’s arm to face him. “I am certainly very concerned about your health,” He said in a pretentious voice, “Are you quite alright, good sir?”

“I’m absolutely marvellous, thanks for asking,” He said before extending his arm to Baby, who took it.

They continued on their journey through the dark towards light. Gwi-Ma clenched his fists and unclenched them, the imprint of nails clear in his palms, his knuckles fading from white. His hands spasmed, as if out of his control.

“Yes. So, as I was saying, your mother.” He spoke, his voice unusually quiet, trembling slightly.

Baby worked up the courage to speak, hoping what he said wouldn’t be wrong, “Who was she?”

Gwi-Ma froze, eyes glassy, oddly reflective with tears in the faint light, “The one and only woman I’ve ever loved.” His voice was twisted with pain. “Do you think you know what love is?” He chuckled wryly.

“I don’t-” Baby began before Gwi-Ma cut him off as if he’d never heard him, “You’re wrong. Because you don’t. Love,” And here his voice broke and he paused, taking a minute to compose himself. “Love,” He spoke again, “Is the most extraordinary thing,” His voice dulled to a whisper, “I have ever had the privilege to experience.”

He stopped, rubbing his eyes with a sigh, “And she was the most extraordinary woman there could ever be.”

“Never forget that Baby.” He extended his arm, and they continued walking. There was silence, broken by a voice, “How did she die?”

“She walked into my fire, and I morphed into demon form just in time to hold her burned husk of a body as the life faded out of her.” He said lifelessly, shoulders slumping.

“Oh.”

“I just wanted you to know,” He took a shuddering breath, “That she loved you very much.” He wiped his eyes and continued.

“I’m sorry.” Baby whispered, unsure of what to say.

“It’s okay.” He sighed.

Emboldened by previous responses, Baby asked another question, “What was her name?”

“Charley,” He said, voice so quiet it could barely be heard.

Charley. He didn’t feel anything, no connection to the name. It was flat, lifeless, just another word. But Gwi-Ma choked up at the mention of her name.

“How much did she mean to you?”

Gwi-Ma looked sideways with teary raw eyes, “She was everything. And when she was gone there was… nothing.”

Baby nodded. So he was nothing. Nice to know.

Time for a subject change.

“How do you plan on defeating Huntrix? What more do I need?”

“Right.” Gwi-Ma sobered up, rubbing his face with his sleeve, “You need me. My fire. My power. But I can’t leave to fight them.”

“So?”

“So I’ll give you my power.”

“How?”

“Think, you idiot! There must be something up there besides empty space,” Gwi-Ma playfully rapped his head with his knuckles.

“I… don’t know.”

Gwi-Ma sighed, shaking his head. “Come with me.” He gripped Baby’s forearms roughly, and they vanished, back to the crater.

Gwi-Ma morphed into fire, tongues of flame licking at the air. It was oddly hypnotising, drawing him into its flash. He was convinced he could see dark shapes in the light, flickering, fading.

“How’s this gonna work?”

“I’m going to imbue my fire into you. Temporary, but hopefully lasting long enough for you to kill Huntrix.”

“And this is safe?”

“A hundred percent.”

Baby was lifted up into the air, body pressed flat in the air, floating up to the fire. He struggled against the bonds, his ribs aching. “Do you have to restrain me?” He yelled over the roar of the flames.

“Yes.”

The fire was a faint ticklish warmth, toying with him, playing with him. Showing him a taste of its true power.

And then he was lowered down into the flames.

It was burning heat, smoking his clothes, singing his skin red. He clenched his teeth together and unclenched them, breathing in through his teeth.

His body writhed with excruciating pain, his clothes were glowing with heat but refusing to burn. He thrashed in agony as tongues of fire pierced through him, dissipating through his body. Tears trickled down his cheeks, evaporating in the intense heat as he screamed his heart out.

It burnt, it burnt him inside and out, and he screamed until his throat was hoarse, head thrown backwards, back arched, arms and legs stretched outwards. This was hell itself, and he longed to be free.

Kill me.

And then the fire went out, and he floated to the ground, still struggling against his bonds, the feeling of the heat torturing his skin. He screamed in pain, screaming till the screams were inside his head, bouncing around in his head.

Kill me. Take away the pain.

Gwi-Ma ran over to the screaming boy., tripping on the sand, swallowing a mouth of dirt and still going. “Come on, come on, come on.” He muttered, patting Baby on the cheek. “Wake up.” He dropped the body and fell to the ground, rocking back and forth, “Not again, not again.”

Baby could hear something - it was screaming. Someone was screaming. Oh wait, it was him. He shut up so suddenly Gwi-Ma jerked up from the ground and leant over Baby. “You’re alive!” He gasped.

Baby closed his eyes and lay on the floor, eyes closed. It hurt so bad; but the pain was already fading, though the memories were burnt into his mind. He sat up and groaned.

Gwi-Ma’s head popped up like an excited puppy. “Wonderful.” He grabbed Baby’s wrist and checked his pulse, “Pulse strong.” He dropped the limp arm to the floor.

Baby eyes rolled up in his head and he passed out.

Chapter Text

Gwi-Ma bent over Baby, shaking his head with a sigh before scooping up the unconscious body into his arms. Unsure of where to put him, he placed him at the base of the crater and clumsily tucked a blanket around his head. He walked back and transformed into flames.

He would wait.
_________________________________________________________________________
Baby woke up, mouth dry, head ringing. He opened his eyes only to be met with utter darkness, and a musty stench. Sitting up abruptly in panic, he wrestled the elaborately wrapped blanket off his head, inhaling some fresh air.

“This again?” He groaned. “What did I say?”

The fire made a giant shrugging motion, “I don’t know.”

Baby rose to his feet and started to walk towards Gwi-Ma only to stumble, “Whoa. What’s happening?”

He swayed slightly on his feet, eyes opening and closing jaggedly. He raised a cool hand to his forehead, “I’m burning up.” Baby took another step, before promptly falling over his feet and landing in a crumpled heap. “I’m fine.” He said, bouncing back up. He took another step and his entire frame trembled, like he was about to collapse. He took up a deep breath, sucking in his cheeks.

“You look like a fish.”

“Shut up.”

Exhaling slowly, he shuffled forwards and wobbled on his feet, “Oh, shit.” He exclaimed, before hitting the ground again.

“It isn’t even so bad down here,” Baby mumbled, cheek pressed into the dirt. He sat up, propping himself on his elbows. He felt unbearably hot, like he was having a fever, burning from the inside out. Sweat dripped off his forehead, and it was a struggle to keep his eyes open. His eyelids slowly drifted shut, heat exhaustion getting to him.

Someone shook his shoulder and his eyes snapped open to reveal Gwi-Ma, eyes glinting golden in the near darkness. He pressed the back of his hand against his forehead.

“You have a fever.”

“No shit Sherlock.”

“Get up.” He pulled Baby to his feet, letting him lean on his shoulder. He half pulled, half carried him to the edge of the stairs, where he forced him to sit down.

“Drink.” He said, handing Baby a bottle of water and some pills. Baby sniffed them suspiciously, wrinkling his nose at the metallic smell. He tipped a few of them into his palm, starkly white. “What are these?”

Gwi-Ma turned back, face shrouded in darkness, “It’ll help you feel better.”

He sipped the water, swishing it around in his mouth before swallowing. It certainly made him feel better, but the pills…

He didn’t know.

“Are they penicillin?” He asked hesitantly.

Gwi-Ma scowled, “Just take the damn pills!” He huffed, transforming into fire. A wave of heat blasted Baby in the face. It felt like a sauna.

Hurriedly, he tipped five or six pills into his mouth before gulping down water. They tasted chemical, unnatural, and they quickly slipped down his throat.

“Was that meant to do something?”

“Give it time.”

Baby sat on the stair, ‘giving it time’. His legs swung back and forth beneath him, as he idly gazed into space. Slowly, his headache lifted, head cleared, skin cooled. He hated to admit it, but the pills worked.

Now the burning heat was gone, he could feel an energy buzzing beneath his skin. He looked down, half expecting to see his skin bubbling up and down. It was completely smooth.

He rubbed his hands over his forearms, pressing down his skin until he felt somewhat satisfied there was no bubbling. That was better.

“Boo!” A voice whisper-screamed in his ear, a cold breath startling him. He flinched so hard he fell off the stair, crashing onto the ones below.

“Ouch.” He hissed, pulling up his elbow to look at the graze and blowing on it. “What the hell?”

Gwi-Ma stood above him, grinning like a loon, face stretched wide in a smile. He offered a hand to Baby, “Come on, get up.” Baby took it and was pulled to his feet.

“What now?”

“You need training. And I’m going to train you.”
_________________________________________________________________________
Baby stood, hands outstretched, face screwed up in concentration. Gwi-Ma stood close behind him, whispering into his ears. “Loosen up. You’re so tense.”

“Maybe because you’re hovering behind my shoulder like an ambitious stripper.”

Gwi-Ma stepped away and started to circle him. “Hands loose.” He snapped, hitting them with a little cane.

Baby winced and shook his hand, hoping to ease the sting before holding it back up, slightly slack.

“Arms slightly bent, back straight.” Baby stiffened, hoping to avoid another smack from the cane. No such luck as it thwacked his shoulders. “No slumping.”

“Now, summon the fire.”

Baby jerked his hands, hoping to summon something. They remained stubbornly unfired. “How? What does that mean?”

“It’s not that hard.” Gwi-Ma flicked his hand, and it lit on fire. It was a constantly shifting purple pinkish flame. Baby leant closer, enraptured by the light. Gwi-Ma swung for his head and he narrowly ducked, just avoiding the fire.

“Keep sharp.” He commanded before turning away.

“Now, find the position.” Baby moved back and adjusted himself, arms outstretched. “Aaaaaaaaaaaand conjure the fire!”

He shook his hands again, to no avail. A snort burst out of his lips, and he erupted into laughter. This was ridiculous. This wasn’t working.

Gwi-Ma looked at the bent over, chuckling boy, lip curled in disgust. “You think this is a joke?”

Baby could hear danger in that cold tone, but the laughter was uncontrollable. He hadn’t felt like this since that day on the beach… Golden sand, blue skies, cold seas and Huntrix. The memory smashed into his mind, as clear as the day it happened.

And then Gwi-Ma smashed him in the stomach.

Baby made a weird noise, sucking in his breath and his stomach. He wrapped his arms around his aching midsection, wincing.

“Straighten up. Stop fooling about. This is serious.”

Baby shook himself out and put out his arms, hands clutching at the bare air. “Conjure the fire!” Gwi-Ma said, voice laced with impatience. Baby shifted on his feet nervously, hands shaking as he tried.

No fire.

Gwi-Ma groaned, hands on his face, throwing them up into the air exaggeratedly. “Just summon the fire! How hard can it be?”

“I’m trying!” Baby whined, hands clapping over his mouth when he realised what he’d said.

Gwi-Ma swiveled around slowly, body practically vibrating with fury, “Are you… backtalking me?”

“No.” Baby whispered, hands raised above his head in defense.

“Good. Then summon the fire.”

He bit his lip in concentration, forehead wrinkled as he waved his hands. “It’s not working.”

Gwi-Ma pulled him closer by the collar till their faces were an inch away, “Then we’ll keep going until it does work, understood?” He hissed through gritted teeth, eyes wide. “Hmm?”

Baby jerkily nodded in fear, and Gwi-Ma released him. “Arms out. And… conjure it!”

He tried to focus on the energy beneath his skin, in his blood, bringing it to the surface…

No fire.

“You’re resisting on purpose, aren’t you?” Gwi-Ma whispered, nodding to himself. “You’re being disobedient.” His nostrils flared, face twitching.

“N-No.” Baby stuttered. “I’m trying, I really am!”

“Liar.” Gwi-Ma hissed before punching Baby in the shoulder. Hard. “You’re…a…fucking…liar” Every word was punctuated by blows.

“I’m not!” Baby wailed. “Stop, please stop, it hurts!”

Gwi-Ma hit him in the head, and Baby went down, falling in slow motion, hitting the ground. Gwi-Ma crouched down, face close to Baby’s, “Now, CONJURE THE FIRE!” He screamed, and Baby did.

It burst out of him in a rush of heat and energy, filling him with warmth and power. He gasped with surprise and pain, his heartbeat thumping in his ears. It burnt in little patches on the ground around him, a rich blue, turning transparent in the centre.

“Now figure out how to put it out,” Gwi-Ma said, walking away from the burning boy.

Chapter Text

Baby’s head pounded with pain, vision blurring in and out of focus. He could see the dark silhouette of Gwi-Ma walking away, abandoning him. His ribs flared with every breath, pain stabbing him in the chest. The acrid smell of burning dust wafted through the air, causing his irritated eyes to well up with tears.

He shook his hands panickily, batting at his clothes to put out the fire. His hands were ice cold, and he pressed two freezing fingers to his temple, trying to ease the pressure.

The ground burnt, and he stamped on the fire, quashing the flames with his boots.

“That’s wrong,”

“Why do you care?” Baby scowled, jumping up and down, cloak billowing.

Gwi-Ma walked closer, every step echoing loudly in the silence, “Because I gave you this power to defeat Huntrix. And you must learn to use it as such.”

“How? How am I meant to learn if your only instructions are ‘Conjure the fire?’” Baby spat angrily, fingers making bunny quotes in the air. “What kind of teaching is that?”

Gwi-Ma opened his mouth to respond, and Baby cut him off, “It’s pathetic, that’s what it is.”

“Fine. I’ll do better.” Gwi-Ma crossed his arms defensively, “And you need to be better at learning.”

“Fine!”

“Fine.”

Baby limped away angrily, dragging his feet through the ground as he went. His whole body ached, fresh bruises being formed upon old ones, but he ignored the pain. He hadn’t made it five steps before an overwhelming sense of regret washed over him, drowning his anger.

The feeling wasn’t his.

Baby turned around to face Gwi-Ma, who had his hands raised in the air with an insolent smile, “Feeling a little sympathy for your old dad?”

Baby rushed over to Gwi-Ma so fast he knocked the breath out of him, “Stay out of my head.” He hissed. It was meant to be a threat, but came off as a plea.

“Just having fun.” He laughed, mouth opening to reveal perfect teeth. “You have a fascinating, twisted mind that I do love to explore." Baby raised his fist in threat.

His face settled into seriousness, “So, you’ll let me train you?”

Baby nodded, “Only to defeat the Saja Boya and…” He swallowed. The words felt stuck in his throat.

“Go on.” Gwi-Ma teased, knowing what he had to say.

“Huntrix”

“Yes!” Gwi-Ma clapped his hands in delight, “That’s exactly what we need. When do we start?”

“Why not now?”
_________________________________________________________________________
“Okay, okay. Get back into position.” Baby bristled the command but obeyed, closing his eyes.

“No, no, no, no, no. Why are you closing your eyes? You need heightened senses for this, no dulled ones.”

“But I thought-”

“You thought wrong.” Gwi-Ma sighed. “Just keep your eyes open.”

He did, squinting through the darkness.

“It’s very dark now.” Gwi-Ma said, his voice taking on a monologuing tone.

Yes. Yes it was.

“So think of the light. The heat. The warmth and power.

Focus.”

Baby went utterly still, blanking his mind. He could feel the energy, dormant, waiting to be awakened.

It scared him.

As if he was reading his mind, Gwi-Ma said, “Don’t be afraid of it.” Oh wait, he probably was reading his mind.

Okay, time to accept the energy. Baby clenched his hands and unclenched them a few times, digging his fingernails into his palms. He unfurled his fingers to reveal angry red crescent moons, spaced evenly along his palms.

“Stop staring at your hands and concentrate.”

“Sorry,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

It was the tickling warmth on his head that let him know his head was on fire.

“Oh shit!” He yelped, thumping on his head with his hands. “Ow, ow, ow, ow!”

“Wait, wait!” Gwi-Ma exclaimed, hand held outwards dramatically, “This is a great learning moment, for you to learn how to put the fire out.”

“Learning moment? My head is on fire!” Baby yelled, pulled his sleeves over his hands to protect them.

“Just wait!” Gwi-Ma screeched, “Before you give yourself brain damage, listen to me!”

“My head is being turned into a fucking bonfire!” He paused in his frenzied attempts to put it out.

Gwi-Ma frowned and crossed his arms, “You’re fireproof Baby. Fireproof. You’re not going to burn.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m not on fire!”

“Calm down. All you need to do is draw the energy back into you.”

“What? No.” Baby resumed patting down his hair, but the fire remained stubbornly inextinguishable.

“Absorb the flames.”

“Huh?” His voice barely penetrated Baby’s panic.

“Absorb the flames.” Gwi-Ma slowly enunciated, savouring each syllable.

Baby’s pupils constricted as he jolted into awareness. The fire sank through his skin, burning hot, leaving his head freezing cold. “Ahhh,” He exhaled, hand clutching his head. God, that hurt.

“You did it.” Gwi-Ma arched an eyebrow, mouth half open in surprise. His eyes flickered with something that looked like disappointment before his face changed to satisfaction, “I’m proud of you.”

Baby froze, body instantly stiffening. Gwi-Ma, being nice? Surely this was some trick, or a set-up.

Gwi-Ma stepped and patted his shoulders, beaming brightly as Baby stepped backwards hurriedly.

“Now all you need to do is control it.”

Now he had used it, the power felt much more alive, active. Waiting to be summoned. Baby drew it into his hands, and gasped as the blue flames erupted into life. They fire danced, swaying and rising with the air, leaving Baby’s hand warm, not burnt. He watched it with awe, the blue light reflected in his amber eyes.

It was power, cold despite the warmth, dark and corrupting. His fingers twirled through the air, fascinated as the fire danced between his fingers. It was the very antithesis of everything he hated - and it left him longing. It was danger. It was evil.

And Baby embraced it.

“Now send it away.” Gwi-Ma commanded.

Huh? What did that mean?

“What did I say about better instructions?”

Gwi-Ma came closer to him, “Mold it into a fireball, and expel it outwards.”

The moulding part was easy; he stretched and squeezed on the fire with both hands. His hands vibrated with the energy, patterns glowing ice blue. Baby pushed it outwards, and it smashed into the ground, incinerating the stone.

He drew the fire back towards him, sucking it through the air like vapour into his hands, before pushing it out again. His breaths came short and heavy from the adrenaline rush, pupils dilated. The ground burned as Baby threw his arms in the air, whooping.

He’d done it!

“My little prince of fire.” Gwi-Ma smiled proudly, eyes dark, “You’re a fast learner. Keep going.”

So he practised, for hours on end till he hit the target every time, till his head was sore and his hands were bleeding. Till the ends of his fingers were tingling and summoning the fire was second nature. Till it was part of him.

Ash floated from his hands, flakes clinging to the sweat. He could feel the fire consuming him from the inside, burning away at his soul, but he ignored it. This was all temporary. He only had to kill his closest friends for this all to end.

He only had to kill his sister.

Chapter Text

Before going to the demon world, it was decided by people whose anonymity will be kept (Zoey and Abby) that snacks would be needed for this trip. The nearest convenience store that they weren’t banned from due to trolley shenanigans was half an hour away, so a short short road trip was planned.

Squeezing all seven of them into the van was a challenge, and it ended up with Rumi and Jinu in the front, Mystery, Mira, Zoey and Abby crammed into the back, and Romance lounging awkwardly in the footwell.

Rumi turned back, “We all ready to go?”

“Anything to get my feet off this freak,” Mira grumbled, looking down at a slyly winking Romance, tongue poking out of his mouth playfully. She mock stamped on his face. Zoey had already started explaining her full-blown turtle obsession to Abby, who was nodding along slightly confusedly. Mystery, sitting on the opposite side of Mira was playing footsie with Romance. Jinu put Your Idol on the playlist with a questioning look at Rumi.

“I’ll allow it.”

The van started into life, and they chugged down the roads, winding in and out of pedestrians. Jinu rolled the window all the way down, despite insistent complaints of the cold. Romance started idly humming along to Your Idol, voice snagging on the high notes. Surprisingly, Mira joined in, voice harmonizing with him, highs and lows blending.

Rumi turned back in surprise, and Mira shrugged, “Hate to admit it, but it’s a vibe.”

“Or maybe you just looooooove singing with me.” Romance crooned.

“In your dreams, demon.”

“Woah, isn’t it this turn Rumi?” Zoey asked, voice filled with panic.

“Shit!” Rumi gasped, tugging on the steering wheel violently, swinging the van around with a deafening screech of wheels. The van narrowly made it into the side road undamaged, though the inhabitants were somewhat jumbled.

Mira had been slung over onto Abby, whose knees were pressed in Romance’s stomach, who wouldn’t stop his high pitched screams. Mystery’s face was smushed into the window, and Zoey’s turtle pictures were scattered all over the van. Rumi, having the foresight to buckle herself in was mostly fine, but Jinu, who’d never really been a car, had most certainly not buckled himself in. And fallen out the window.

“SHUT UP ROMANCE!” Zoey screeched, hands over her ears, “YOU’RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE!”

Surprised at the sweet maknae snapping at him, Romance’s mouth abruptly clamped shut, followed by a wry comment from Mira, “Guess you can hit those high notes after all.”

“Hey now that was uncalled for-” and the van burst into a chaos of argument.

“Get your knees off me Abby!”

“My pictures!” Zoey wailed as they were ripped under Abby’s boots.

“Get off me Mira! Or actually stay, if you want.”

“Phwhwhuwhw.” Mystery mumbled, mouth pressed into the glass.

“Ew, no.”

“I can’t breathe!”

“Guys!” Rumi exclaimed, “We’ve left Jinu behind.”

The van fell silent at that, and they slowly backed up the street, watching for Jinu. Eventually they found him, lying on the floor. “Jinu!” Rumi gasped, darting out of the van. She ran to him, dropping to her knees by his side, “Hey, wake up.”

Slowly, his eyes fluttered open with an expression of bemusement, “Hmm?”

“You’re okay!” Tears leaked out of Rumi’s eyes, and she swept him up into her arms, squeezing the life out of him. “Never do that again!”

Jinu looked up at Rumi, smiling softly. “I’m not going to leave again.” He whispered, “You don’t have to worry about a single thing.”

“RUMI, HELP!” Mystery shrieked as the van rolled away down the slope, trundling along.

Oh.

She forgot to put it on parking mode.
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Inside the van, there was more chaos, somehow. Mira was attempting to squeeze through the gap between the seats into the driver’s seat, Abby was panicking, Romance was being crushed underfoot, Zoey was wailing, and Mystery wouldn’t stop yelling for Rumi.

“RUUUUUUUUUMI! SAAAAAVE US!”

“I…can’t…breathe.” Romance wheezed.

“Zoey, move!” Mira hissed, squeezing through.

“Yeah Zoey, move!”

“Hey! I’m the only one that gets to tell Zoey what to do.”

“I’m just trying to help!” Abby held his hands in the air.

“What did I do?” Zoey asked to the air.

“RUUUUUUMI!”

“I’m sorry!” Zoey and Abby chimed in unison.

“I’m dying!”

“EVERYBODY, JUST SHUT UP!” Mira yelled, and almost by a miracle they did. She finally popped out into the other side and scrambled into the driver's seat, slamming on the brakes. The van screeched to a stop, and the jumbled voices stopped.

“That… was the most terrifying moment of my life.” Abby sighed, taking deep breaths. Everyone needed to take deep breaths and regain their lost sanity.

“Hey guys!” Rumi and Jinu had caught up, jogging behind the van. “Good job in stopping it.”

Mira looked up in between heaving breaths, shooting her a dark look. Rumi backed off, “Someone's pissed.”

Mira rolled her eyes and moved into the backseat as the chaos was neatly tidied up. Rumi rolled the window up, shaking her head at Jinu’s pleading look, “Even if you did just get killed, we aren’t having the window down. Look what just happened.”

“But I get hot!” Jinu complained, “And my head hurts.”

Rumi kissed it gently, and raised an eyebrow, “Better now?” Jinu nodded.

“You know what hurts for me Rumi? My di-” Romance was cut off by Mira stamping on his stomach, “Let’s keep this PG-13, okay?”

Romance nodded, rubbing his aching stomach in silent pain.

Zoey was sniffling by the side of the car, and Mystery put his arm around her shoulder, "What's wrong?” He asked quietly.

“My pictures are ruined!”

“It’s okay.” He mumbled, stroking her hair softly, “We can get you some new ones,” He said after several minutes of silent thought.

“Really?” Zoey turned her massive shiny eyes up to him, sparkling with tears.

“Of course.”

She buried her face in his shirt, arms thrown around him in a hug, and after a second or two he returned it.

“Thanks,” She said after a minute, pulling her face away and wiping it with her sleeve, “I know you probably think I’m such an idiot, and…”

“Zoey,” He tilted her chin up with a finger so her eyes met his, “I could never think you’re just any old idiot. You’re my idiot.” His eyes flickered down to her perfect lips, then back to her eyes as she leaned in…

“Wow. I need popcorn to go along with this.” Romance stage whispered loudly. Mystery and Zoey jumped apart as far the limited space would allow them, to see the entire van glaring pointedly at Romance.

“Roooooooomaaance.” Abby groaned, throwing his hands into the air, “I was invested in that.”

“Ugh.” Mira sighed, “We were just getting to the good part.”

“Where they would start kissing?”

“No.” Mira said sarcastically, “Where they would start fu-”

“Woah! Language.” Jinu called out from the front.

“You’re one to talk, Mr. I’m screwing your best friend.”

“Hey! None of that.” Rumi jabbed.

“Why are we arguing again?” Abby sighed as the van dissolved into mindless bickering. “We’re literally here!”

“Oh.”
_________________________________________________________________________
Walking into the store, the AC hit them in a blast of freezing air, and all four of the Saja Boys started shivering.

“It’s s-ss-so c-c-cccold.” Jinu said, teeth chattering.

“I thought you were too hot?” Rumi asked playfully.

“Well I’m freezing now.”

“I’m sure I can find a way to warm you up,” Rumi laughed, and sure enough, Jinu’s face turned bright red.

“You look like a tomato!” Romance laughed, running after Huntrix into the store. His eyes widened at the sheer size of options, and that was just one section, “I’m taking kimbap.”

People chimed in, desperate to pick their own snack.

“Crackers!”

“Soda!”

“Sushi!”

“Hotteok!”

“Kimchi!”

“I’m not hungry.”

Loaded with food, they dumped it all in a trolley and wheeled it to the checkout.

“Why is there a dog toy here?”
_________________________________________________________________________
Driving back to the compound was mostly uneventful, as everyone ate their snacks in peace, occasionally sharing, though some more than others. They pulled up into the driveway just as everyone finished, with an air of finality. They would be returning with Baby, or not at all.

They piled out of the van, some in better shape than others, Romance still sipping his soda, and gathered into a circle. Everyone held hands, gazes flitting around nervously.

“Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

The Saja Boys were jittering with energy, glowing with pink sparks. Slowly, they lifted off the ground, pulling Huntrix up with them. They hovered a couple of centimetres high, before the entire group disappeared.
_________________________________________________________________________
They landed on the ground in the demon world, ankles wobbling and bending, bringing the entire group to the floor with a crash. Coughing and warding away dust, they scrambled to their feet.

“We’re going to have to change to our demon forms now,” Jinu’s gaze flitted around nervously, “They can detect humans,” His voice lowered to a dramatic whisper, as Huntrix leaned in.

Romance rolled his eyes, “He’s being over dramatic.” He shook his head, tutting, “Typical.”

“Hey!” Jinu whirled around, eyes flashing golden, “I’m just trying to be careful.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t be yelling!”

“Look who’s talking!”

Huntrix’s eyes bounced back and forth watching the argument blossom while Mystery and Abby stood to one side.

“We’re here to rescue Baby,” Mystery muttered under his breath, “Why can’t they concentrate?”

“Sometimes… they need to break themselves into bits just to make sense of the pieces. They don’t mean it.”

“We should go. Now. Alone if we have to.” Mystery said with surprising force. “I mean it. Baby needs us.”

Abby bent his knees, leaning down, “Piggyback?”

“You know it.” Mystery leapt onto his back, and they turned to leave. But Abby paused, looking back at Mira, “We shouldn’t leave them.”

Mystery’s eyes drifted to Zoey, filled with regret. “I know.”

And they sprinted away.
_________________________________________________________________________
“And maybe if you stopped being such a stuck up, self absorbed idiot, you’d be able to realise other people exist!”

“And maybe if you stopped flirting with every girl in a three metre radius, you’d realise other people have actual real feelings! They’re not toys for you to play with and discard.”

“Yeah? Well the only reason I have to flirt with every girl is to balance out the fact that you’re too awkward to even look at a girl without blushing! I’m not even interested in them you fool, I’m g-”

“Guys!” Mira burst out, losing her temper, “We’re here to save Baby, not argue over who’s better at flirting and who can’t keep their voice down when it’s both of you. In fact it’s all of us!”

Jinu and Romance cut off their argument abruptly, faces red with shame.

“So can we go now?” Mira asked sarcastically, sneering.

“Yeah,” Jinu rubbed his forehead with embarrassment, “Come on guys, let go.”

“Um, where are Mystery and Abby?” Zoey asked, voice tilting upwards in panic.
_________________________________________________________________________
Their pace settled from a sprint to a run to a steady jog. Abby paused, jumped Mystery up slightly and kept on going. The boy was heavier and lankier than Baby, which did not make for good piggybacking, but he would endure.

His breath burnt with every step, like he was inhaling fire. A sharp pain like a knife would stab him in the ribs every so often, and his legs were practically trembling. He knew he shouldn’t have skipped leg day… every day.

“Shit!” Mystery yelped as his leg slipped out of Abby’s grip and he slid to the floor. Abby’s knee bent like a wet paper bag and he was down.

“Abby, are you okay?” Mystery gasped, pulling him to his feet. “Jeez, you should’ve said something.”

Abby shook his head, body shaking with laughter, “You know… we could’ve just…teleported.”

In the face of hell, it was probably the most unfunny thing Mystery had ever heard, and it was the catalyst to hysterical laughter. Ridiculous giggles burst out of the duo non-stop as Abby bent over and Mystery threw his head back, shaking with uncontrollable laughter.

Eventually they sobered up, Abby wiping his eyes with a sleeve, “Come on then. Let’s teleport.”

They morphed into their demon forms, hair taking on a metallic shine, skin tinted violet, purple patterns creeping over their skin. Teeth sharpened into fangs, nails lengthened into claws, eyes burned golden. Abby and Romance held hands and disappeared.
_________________________________________________________________________
Baby stood in front of the fire, hands contorted in unnatural positions, arms snapping forwards and back, fire flashing in his fingers. His mind was going numb, burning away into ash, but he just had to keep sane.

How hard could it be?

“Baby!” A voice called, so familiar. Baby whipped his head round so fast he felt whiplash. Down by the bottom of the steps were two figures. He extinguished his fire, squinting through the darkness. Abby… and Mystery?

He shook his head, teeth bared in humorless laughter. Hadn’t he already proved his resolve? Gwi-Ma must think he was a fool to fall for the same old illusion that he had been tested with a dozen times.

“You’re not real!” He called out, fingers pressed on his ears, “La la la, can’t hear you!”

Abby and Mystery looked at the singing demon, pacing back and forth. “What’s he doing?” Mystery whispered to Abby, who shrugged.

“Baby! It’s us.” Abby shouted, voice carrying above the roar of the flames. “Come down!”

“LA LA LA, CAN’T HEAR YOU!” Baby screamed, voice filled with despair. “Haven’t you done this enough?” He whispered to Gwi-Ma quietly. “STOP TORTURING ME! I’M DOING WHAT YOU WANT!”

The pair exchanged worried looks with each other. Baby was yelling to the open air now? He really had lost it.

“This… isn’t me.” Baby could hear doubt in Gwi-Ma’s tone. “It has to be them.”

“No, you’re lying.” Baby’s breath sped up. “It’s not the real them, it can’t be.”

“It is. You know what you have to do.”

Baby looked down at his trembling palms. Somewhere in his training they’d faded into a charcoalish black. He could feel tears rising up in him only to be blocked before they could reach his eyes. He struggled against the repression, wanting to scream and weep. But all he could do was gulp down air desperately and blink rapidly.

They were back.

They were back.

They were back.

They. Were. Back.

Anger washed over Baby, so pure in its rage it surprised him. So hard and fierce and freezing cold. It rushed through him, flooding his fingertips with the chill and leaving him light-headed. It strangled him, choking him with an overwhelming wrath. He could feel pressure building inside of him, pressing outwards on his sanity. It had to go.

They had to go.

The raw emotion was so overwhelming, Baby settled into his old ways. What had always felt natural. Putting a jolly smiling mask in front of his feelings. Only now it was corrupted, burning away.

“Hey guys!” Baby skipped down a few steps, paused, then skipped again. “Long time no see, am I right?”

Again, Mystery and Abby gave each other a mutual side eye. The yelling, the sudden switch up to happiness and the oddly stilted way of talking. Something was definitely wrong with Baby.

Still they rushed up the stairs, arms outstretched in greeting. “It’s us!” Abby exclaimed excitedly, “We’ve come to rescue you!”

“That sounds so great!” Baby squealed, mouth tilted at a freakish angle, smile bared like something out of a horror movie.

Mystery came closer to hug him and Baby stretched him arms out in return, only to punch him in the face.

Mystery’s face snapped sideways, mouth bruised, lip cut. “Ow.” He looked back, hand raised to his face, “What?”

Baby moved to Abby, katanas slicing through his hands at lightning speed to stab him in the gut. Abby dodged the jab at the last second, pushing Baby’s arm sideways. Baby snarled, lip curling up in anger.

“Baby, what the hell are you doing?” Mystery gasped, running over to Abby and checking him for injuries. “Stop that and come with us.”

“You can’t control me.” Baby sneered before lunging in, bloody swords at the ready. He slashed and cut through the air, and they narrowly avoided each blow.

Abby punched him in the face and the small demon practically went flying through the air, landing hard on the ground a few metres back. “I didn’t want to do that,” Abby muttered, shaking his fist.

Baby sat up like a clockwork doll, smiling creepily, dark blue blood smeared against his lips. “Nice try.” His expression darkened into disgust, “I always know you hated me, Abby.” He spat the name with venom.

“What?” Abby held his hands up in defense, “I loved you Baby. I love you. What are you talking about?”

“Ignore him.” Mystery reassured Abby, “He’s just…”

“Oh shut up Mystery. Sad little insecure boy, you make me sick.” To add to his point, Baby mimed throwing up.

“Stop.” Abby pleaded, “Come home with us.”

“Home? I don’t have a home.” And he lunged for the kill, driving his sword through Mystery’s gut.

For a second the moment held still, suspended in time.

And then it all came crashing down with hot, dark blue blood bubbling over Baby’s clenched fist, Mystery’s faint gasp, like he was quietly surprised by what happened, Abby’s roar of fear and fury, Baby withdrawing his sword and kicking Mystery off it, the slight easing of pressure in his head.

One down, six to go.

Abby wailed in horror, dragging Mystery to the side. Mystery’s face was already going slightly paler behind his curtain of hair, chest rising and falling rapidly with the effort it took to breathe. They were wheezing, panicky, desperate to inhale oxygen. Abby ripped off strips of his shirt in a panic, tying them around the wound, tightening the bonds. This was a mistake.

Baby crept up behind Abby, footsteps light, undetectable. He raised his sword, ready to bring it down on the unaware demon’s skull…

A glowing shin-kal clocked Baby in the head, knocking him several steps back. Standing at the base were the rest of the groups: Jinu, Rumi, Mira, Romance and Zoey, who conjured the skin-kal back to her hand.

Baby gasped, tilting his head in mock surprise, “Well would you look at that? The whole gang is back! But instead of trying to kill each other, we’re all trying to kill me.”

He kicked Abby in the side of the head and he crumpled. Baby swiveled and started moving towards them with menacing, comically bouncy steps.

Rumi ran up the stairs, battle ready and for a second it was just them two, locked in fighting. It was fierce, powerful, uncontrollable and when he knocked her sword to the side and she went scrambling to get it…

Two down?

He was about to pierce her flesh when Jinu rugby tackled him in the side, “Not my girlfriend!”

“I am not your girlfriend!” Rumi’s faint but insistent cry called out.

Baby fell over with a weak gasp and Jinu pinned him to the ground, hands pushing his shoulders down. Baby thrashed and kicked, trying to escape.

Baby wriggled out from under Jinu, stamping on his back with his boots before turning to face the rest of them. Zoey was bent over Mystery, face bathed in tears as she flipped him over and examined the wound. Mystery wheezed slightly, lips cracked, eyelashes fluttering. “Mystery! No, no, no, no, no. Wake up. Please. Come on.”

Abby and Romance rushed over to him, claws bared. Abby slashed at his chest, ripping the clothes and clutching him by the neck. “You don’t have to do this!” He pleaded before Baby punched him in the jaw and kicked him in the stomach.

Meanwhile, Romance had crept up from behind and put his arm over Baby's neck, encircling his head. “Go…to…sleep,” He grunted, tightening his grip on his windpipe. Baby twisted his head around and closed his fangs on his forearm.

“Aaaaargh!” Romance screamed, shaking his arm in an attempt to shake Baby off. He dug his teeth into the flesh like mutt, refusing to let go until he was forced to, little chunks of flesh peeling off.

“Holy shit.” Romance gasped, examining his ripped arm. “You’re rabid.”

“You know it!” Baby hissed, teeth stained dark blue, mouth twisted into a bitter smile. His mouth was corroded by the metal tang, bloody and all too familiar. He rushed inwards, only to be stopped by Mira. She raised her scythe to him, levelling it beneath his chin. Baby strolled backwards, hands in the air as she advanced.

“Come to kill me?”

She slashed at him, and he dodged each blow, ducking and diving and teleporting.

“Stop.” She said, weapons replaced with words, tears in her eyes, “You’re better than this.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Mira. I am the very monster you see before you.” He bowed, mouth dripping with blood, swords covered in gore. Then he leaned in, and she had no weapon to stop him from plunging the sword through her soft skin into her flesh.

She gasped chokily, the breath escaping her in little coughs before she collapsed to the ground, clutching her leg. Abby tore himself away from the ground and ran over to Mira, holding her off the floor. He took off the remaining tattered strips of his shirt to wrap them around her leg.

“You’re…so…freaking…hot.” Mira said, voice high on adrenaline before she passed out. Abby looked down worriedly at the makeshift bandage, soaking red with blood. “Stay with me Mira, stay with me!”

Baby wiped the swords clean as best as he could on his bloody clothes before withdrawing them into his hands.

Jinu crawled off the floor, lunging towards Baby and grabbing his arms, “You need to stop. Stop.” Baby struggled to withdraw his katanas, arms jerking back and forth uselessly. He could feel the flames burning inside him. It was time to use the fire.

He summoned the energy from his skin, hands blossoming with blue light. The light of death. Jinu loosened his grip, shocked by the blue flames, “What?” He gasped, as Baby pushed against his strength, slowly moving his hands closer to Jinu’s face. He shied away from the warmth and Baby moved closer, ready to see the flesh bubble and burn.

Jinu broke away with a cry, pressing a cool hand to his burnt cheek, watching Baby with a mix of fear and anger in his eyes. Baby’s hands burned with fire, mind burned with revenge, eyes burned with insanity. He scoffed at Jinu, walking over to the fallen figure, “I’ll save you for last.”

Zoey tore herself away from Mystery and faced Baby, face red, eyes brimming with tears, “How could you do this?” She cried out, desperate with anger. “We love you! Mystery loved you!”

Baby shook his head stubbornly, jaw clenched with anger “No, you don’t.”

Zoey ran towards him, unleashing a battle cry full of pain and fear. He reconjured the fire into his hands, bracing himself for the impact.

She smashed into him, driving a shin-kal into his shoulder, narrowly missing his neck. He pulled back with a wince, extracting the blade with bloody fingers, and throwing it back at her.

His aim was true.

Her eyes widened, the unspoken thought written in them.

“I thought you’d never hurt me.”

Zoey’s hands went to her neck, blood streaming down her chest, and she collapsed to the ground with a choky gasp. “H-Help.” She wheezed, barely able to talk as Romance crawled over to her, pulling out the skin-kal. He looked around helplessly, unsure of what to do before reaching his hand into his pocket and withdrawing a soul. Slightly cloudly, but still good. She wouldn’t want to eat it, she would be disgusted by the fact he had one, but what choice did he have?

He fed it into Zoey’s mouth, bit by bit, urging it down her throat as her eyes slowly fluttered shut. She would heal, but it would be slow and painful, and she may lose her voice forever. Romance didn’t even want to think about the consequences it would have on the Honmoon.

“Oh. Look who it is. The knight in shining armour,” Baby’s voice was dripping with sarcasm, “Only you’re not such a prince for the ladies, are you?”

“What is he talking about?” Rumi asked, voice lost in the roar of Gwi-Ma’s flames, who looked on in amusement.

“Well, of course he wouldn’t want me to tell you that he’s been lying to you this entire time.”

Romance’s eyes widened as he realised what Baby was talking about, and he shook his head desperately. But it wasn’t enough.

“He’s gay.” Baby spat in disgust. Abby paused in trying to help Mira, Rumi looked up from Mystery and Jinu sat up from the floor, “What?”

A flood of fear washed over Romance, chilling him to his bones. He froze in terror, eyes flitting around to see their reactions. Mouths open in shock, eyes wide in surprise.

“Romance, it’s o-” Rumi was cut off by Romance batting her hand aside and charging straight for Baby, hands outstretched to choke him.

“How could you?” he whispered, gripping his neck and smashing his head into the ground, again and again and again. Baby opened his mouth, as if to say something, only to let fire burn in the back of his throat before spitting it outwards. Romance shrieked, dropping him to the floor, and throwing his hat to the ground, patting his hair. Baby had missed.

Romance looked around desperately like a caged animal, hoping for some love. His knees felt weak, and he dropped to the ground. “I can’t,” he whispered, before disappearing in a puff of pink smoke.

“Romance!” Abby yelled, rushing over to the demon just as he disappeared, “No.” He sighed, standing on the empty spot. “No.”

Baby paused, he could feel the most intense migraine coming on, a high pitched ringing in his ears. He swayed on the spot, putting a hand to his forehead, “Wait, just a minute.” He slurred, “I don’t feel so good.”

Rumi left Mystery, looking back at the incapacitated boy. He was fighting his own battle now, with death, and it was one he would fight alone. She ran around a stumbling Baby to Abby, hands on her knees, out of breath. “Us two, together?”

Abby nodded, squeezing her hand in comfort, “Till the end of the line.”

She took a shaky breath, and they both rushed forward, slamming into Baby. He fell to the ground with little resistance, eyes clouded.

“What have you done?” Abby asked, filled with pain. “Why?”

Baby eyelids twitched open, head shuddering, “Y-y-you des-s-serve i-i-it.” His voice was breaking down, mind flashing to all the good memories. Why was he doing this? He loved them.

Rumi shook his shoulder, jolting him awake, “No! You don’t get to go all sleepy on us. Why?” Her voice broke with sadness.

His mind sharpened, Gwi-Ma’s snares recapturing him, and he took a deep gasp that rushed into every part of his body. He felt revitalised, ready to destroy them!

It didn’t matter why.

He bucked up, smashed his elbow into Rumi’s face and kicked her in the ribs. She fell to the floor, and looked up at him, eyes filled with betrayal. He kicked her in the jaw and blood spurted onto the ground. Then he turned to face Abby. The one opponent he couldn’t beat by brute strength alone.

Abby raised his fists into a fighter’s stance, eyes pleading, “I don’t want to do this. Come back to us Baby.”

He tilted his head, joviality gone, though his mouth still lifted into a half sad smile, “It’s too late.”

He bent his arm backward, bone cracking as it snapped. Abby recoiled at the unnatural look, eyes wide in horror as Baby systematically broke his body, legs and arms and fingers twisting and breaking. His head hung loosely on his neck, twisted upside down with an eerie grin, eyes pits of darkness.

Then his body started snapping back into place, arms and legs and fingers reforming whole, though they looked different. It wasn’t until the final piece of this grotesque puzzle snapped into place that Abby realised what Baby had created.

It was the man.

Abby backed away from the thing, the man, feet falling over each other in their desperation to get away. He felt painfully exposed, arms desperately covering his chest, “This isn’t funny Baby.” He licked his dry lips, breathing shallow and quick, “You can stop now.”

The man (monster) tilted his head, “What do you mean?” It leered at him, before its predatory smile switched to seriousness, “Take off your shirt.”

Abby’s pupils dilated rapidly, and he was back in that room, he was five years old, and it was the same man, same look, same smell. His voice felt bitterly small when he spoke, “I have.”

The man’s (monster’s) face switched into a smile, “Wonderful. Come here, let me touch it.”

Those cold, leathery hands all over him, poking and prodding, squeezing and touching…

He couldn’t go through it again. He couldn’t. So he used a word that was never really a part of his childhood vocabulary, “No.” He whispered.

The man (monster) twisted its head, “Beg your pardon?” It asked, sounding awfully like Baby.

“No.” He said more forcefully, though not with anger. With a quiet bravery, built from the remains of a child.

As if the word broke something, the illusion of the man faded into the wind, particles of matter dissipating to reveal Baby.

His head was bent downwards, arms hanging limply by his sides. He looked so broken, so innocent, and despite all the damage he’d done, Abby's heart still melted at the sight of him. Forget the killing, the burning, the stabbing, the exposing of a vulnerable person, the impersonation of a predatory pedophile. They could still fix this.

And then Baby raised his head to reveal a face twisted with anger.

“You…ruined…everything!” He screamed, spit flying from his mouth, eyes hollows in his face. “You were supposed to shrivel up and die!”

“But I didn’t.” Abby said, shaking his head, “What are you Baby? You’re turning into a person I don’t even recognize?”

“Maybe it’s for the best,” He muttered, turning to the side, a tear slipping down his cheek. Abby saw that tear, his one chance of connecting with Baby’s humanity, reaching him. “Come back to us. We’ll keep you safe.”

“Or you’ll abandon me, just like you did earlier,” Baby yelled, but his voice lacked substance, the fight draining out of him.

“We never abandoned you. We were just looking for you.” Stepping closer, Abby could see the bruises on his hollow cheeks, dark circles under his eyes and a subtle frailty to the way Baby carried himself. The boy was crumbling.

He moved closer, approaching him like an animal that would be easily spooked. Baby’s breath quickened, gaze flitting left and right as if looking for something to free him from this. “We can save you. Just come with us.”

He was just half a metre away from him now, and Baby tensed up, noticing their proximity. Abby put his hands up slowly, and Baby visibility calmed. “It’s okay.” A smile briefly ghosted Abby’s face, “You can be safe.”

Baby’s face tightened, eyes sharpening, “I don’t need anyone.” And he punched a fire ball into Abby’s gut, blowing him backwards. He followed the demon to his fall, punching him in the face with fire. “I don’t need to be saved.” He punched Abby in the face, again and again and again, unleashing his wrath upon him.

During his confrontation with Abby, he hadn’t noticed Rumi and a burned Jinu, gathering up their unconscious friends, forming a circle. “Abby, come on!” Rumi yelled, gesturing wildly, we need to leave.

“Oh I don’t think you’re going anywhere!” Baby yelled, glaring at them. He winced, head spinning as the migraine returned with full force. Abby looked around, blood on his brow, eyes dazed.

“Come on!” Jinu ran over to Abby, dragging him to their makeshift circle as Baby staggered in a circle. He looked sadly at the demon before fleeing. Him and Rumi slowly levitated up to the Honmoon, carrying their bodies with them.

“Stop!” Baby slurred, floating up slowly to their gathering. “Stop!”

They passed through the golden strands, but not before Baby wrapped his fingers around Rumi’s ankle, nails digging into her flesh.

“Come down!”

“Let me go!”

Her hands were ripped from Jinu’s, and the siblings fell down to the earth.

Chapter Text

Strands of Rumi’s hair whipped around in the fierce wind, escaping her braid as they fell. She spun through the air, instinctively landing in her idol position.

Baby wasn’t so lucky.

He hit the ground with a thump, the sound of cracking bones audible. Rumi gasped, hands rushing to her mouth. She moved to help him, then stopped.

I am the very monster you see before you.

Blood stained his mouth, dripped from his hands, a reminder of his deadliness. Of what he had done to them. He was cruel, twisted, vile.

But he looked so broken, curled up on the ground like a baby animal. Partly because his arm was broken, twisted backwards at an unnatural angle, and partly because he was her brother. She loved him.

But how could you love a monster?

She moved towards him hesitantly, shuffling forwards.

“Stop.” Gwi-Ma boomed from above. She ignored him, his command spurring her to defiance, as she rushed to the fallen demon’s side.

His fire extinguished, light abruptly disappearing as the world was plunged into darkness. Rumi gasped, breaths louder in the darkness. Her hands fluttered panickedly by her sides, conjuring her sword to have some feeble light.

Celine's hands are deceptively soft. At least, Rumi thinks they are deceptive, because despite their softness, they clutch her shoulders like a vice, fingernails digging into her skin. Rumi shifts slightly, resisting the urge to wriggle out of her grasp. She has to stay still.

“Go into the cupboard.” Celine pushes her forward slightly and Rumi stumbles, losing her footing. She turns back, squinting against the halo of light surrounding Celine. Of course it’s just the overhead ceiling light, flashing white in the black room, but for a second Celine looks like an angel.

“Why?” Rumi asks, voice plaintive and painfully childish. She winces just as the words leave her mouth, knowing she’s said wrong. Celine crouches down to her level, mouth bent into a frown.

“Being hidden from the light- It may help your patterns fade away.” She lifts up Rumi’s sleeve and raises an eyebrow at the purple lines. Rumi flushes in shame, pulling away.

“So, you’ll go in, won’t you?” She repeats, nudging Rumi towards the door. Rumi looks up at the gaping hole of darkness, flinching slightly. Slowly, she walks into the cupboard, dragging her feet reluctantly on the ground as she enters the darkness. Through the half open door, she can just make out Celine’s figure in the light as the door creaks shut.

“When will you let me out?”

“When I think it is right.”

“But-” Rumi’s cut off as the door slams shut, suffocating her in black. Through the cracks of the door she can just make out a sliver of light, that comforts her in the darkness. It gives her something to focus on, on the hope of being better, of finally being the girl she’s meant to be.

It was nice to Celine to leave the light on. She must truly care for Rumi to do such a thing. The little girl’s heart swells with hope and love and joy…

The light is snapped off, and the sound of retreating footsteps echoes in the silence.

Oh.

Never mind.

Rumi’s gaze flitted around in the faint light, trying to catch sight of Gwi-Ma. Shadows flickered in the corner of her eye, quiet footsteps and giggles echoing around her. She ignored them. All she needs to do is get Baby and leave.

Gwi-Ma lunged towards her, claws bared and it’s a good thing Rumi’s ready, because those deadly nails pass within an inch of her neck. She parried with her sword, ducking and diving to kick him in the back of the knee. Gwi-Ma went down with a surprised yelp, and she placed a foot on his throat. Cutting off his airway.

He thrashed beneath her, spitting curses and wheezing for breath. She raised her words above him, ready to slash him into oblivion, but something stops her. THere’s something about the demon lord that’s achingly familiar, tickling at the edges of her memory.

“I could reduce you to nothing with a single thought you wench!” Gwi-Ma cries, legs kicking futilely in the air.

“Then why don’t you?” Rumi asked, faking a bravado she didn’t feel.

Suddenly the fight drained out of Gwi-Ma, leaving him on the floor. “You’re my daughter.” His eyes still burned with hatred, but his body lay still.

“You’re lying,” Rumi growls, holding the sword at his forehead, the tip just an inch away.

“I’m not.” Gwi-Ma holds his hands in the air, protesting his innocence.

Rumi’s head hurt with the implications of this. The fact that Gwi-Ma did it with her mother was not something she wanted to think about.

“If you’re my father, then how come you’ve never said anything? Never told me?”

Gwi-Ma scoffed, shaking his head, “Why on earth would I want a half-breed like you?”

Too demon for Celine. Too human for Gwi-Ma. Belonging with neither.

“If you’re my father, that means you’re Baby’s father. And if you were his father, you wouldn’t do… whatever it is you did to him.” Rumi nodded, proud of her logic.

Gwi-Ma opened his mouth to respond, then cocked his head in confusion, “How do you know I’m Baby’s father?”

Rumi’s mouth went dry, “I-”

Her footing had loosened, and Gwi-Ma bucked up from the ground, kicking her arms.

Rumi’s sword slipped out of her hands, slashing Gwi-Ma into little pink particles. His fire reformed, pathetically weak though enough for Rumi to see.

Making an impulsive decision, Rumi grabbed Baby and started floating up to the Honmoon. It was a lot harder with Jinu supporting her, but she could manage. She wobbled slightly midair, before hitting the Honmoon. She slid through easily, and pulled Baby through with difficulty. They landed on the floor of Huntrix’s apartment, the burns slowly waking Baby into consciousness.

Rumi bent over the demon, mind a conflicting mess of anger and fear and loss and hope. So much hope.

That hopefully wouldn’t be extinguished.

Chapter Text

Mira hit the ground with a thump, jolting into consciousness. A wheezed gasp of pain escaped her, as she clutched her leg in agony. Her chest shuddered with silent sobs as she crawled over to Abby, tears silently tracking down her face. Black spots danced in her vision, head spinning.

“Wake up.”

His eyes flickered open with a groan, registering the pain, “Ow.” His hands reached up to his face, brushing his cut lip and black eye. “Owwwww.”

Somewhere in her, buried under the trauma and sliced leg, Mira found a grain of humor, “Stop crying you big baby, and help me.” Having said her part, she resumed her painful crawl to Zoey.

“Stay still!” Abby burst out, his voice so impassioned Mira hardly recognized it. He shuffled closer to her, “You’re injured,” He protested, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. It was so impossibly cliched that Mira erupted into laughter that shook her body, replacing the sobs. Abby looked down at her, slightly bemused, a lopsided smile on his face. Maintaining eye contact, he leaned in and planted a kiss, next to her mouth. Mira’s mouth curled into a smile, cheeks reluctantly reddening. “

Kiss me properly you idiot,”

Abby chuckled, “Save that thought.” He whispered, tapping her lightly on the tip of her nose. He walked to Zoey, wincing slightly with each step. Scooping her into his arms, he carried her over to Mira, eyes flickering over her throat. There was a nasty scar, coated in rusty blood that had poured over her neck.

But she was alive.

Mira took her with a gasp, arms trembling. Her face was a conflicted mess of grief, horror and anger. She burst into an angry sob, laying Zoey’s body down on the couch, brushing her hair softly. “Please be okay Zoey. Please.”

Abby watched helplessly, unsure of what to do. He wanted more than anything in the world to comfort Mira, to put his arm around her and give her a shoulder to weep on. To tell her it was going to be okay. Only it wasn’t. A wheezed rattling breath from the ground caught his attention, and he looked down to see Mystery.

On the verge of death.

The sky was bleeding violet, bleeding like Baby’s hands, bleeding like Mystery. He fell to the ground with a kick, the sword sliding out of his body with a dull squish. Blood stained clothes, blood stained sword, blood stained hands as he desperately tried to help. So much blood, like he’d fallen into a world where all he could see was dark blue, all he could taste was metal on his tongue. Mystery’s body quietly convulsing, eyes rolling and flickering shut in his head. A rushing noise in his ears, blocking out Baby’s footsteps and Mystery’s quiet gasps, the sound of panic and fear.

Abby bent down to Mystery so fast his knees almost certainly bruised. He put his ear to Mystery’s mouth, hearing the faint but telltale sound of breathing. He lifted him up almost reverently, slowly unwinding the tattered remains of his shirt. The wound was crusted with blood, reeking of death, and something foul. Something dark.

Something evil.

The force of it was so strong, Abby dropped Mystery, straight onto Jinu.

“Aghh!” He gasped, sitting up from the floor. He looked down at Mystery, eyes comically widening in panic. “Mystery? Mystery.” He shook his body, shaking the poor boy back and forth, “Wake up.”

“He’s not asleep Jinu,” Abby groaned, sitting on the ground. No matter how hard he tried to act casual about it, his voice still caught on the words, “He’s dying.”

Somehow achieving the impossible, Jinu’s eyes bulged even wider, “Dying?”

He flipped Mystery over to reveal the slash, and instantly recoiled, “What the hell is that?”

“Baby’s doing. His magic… sword hands.”

“We need to save him,”

Mira looked up from Zoey, ears perking up at their conversation. She crawled over to Mystery, leg dragging behind her, “That’s not good.” Her throat tightened in worry,”What are we going to do?”

Silence met her question, the three conscious members of their little tag team painfully unsuggestive.

“Where’s Romance?” Jinu broke the air, desperate to change the subject. Abby sighed, shaking his head at the reminder. “He’s gone.”

Romance’s eyes flickered around, raw with shame. He cowered slightly, expecting punishment, judgement. Abby paused, torn between helping him and saving Mira. The demon fell to his knees, head bowing in acceptance. His posture was slumped, defeated. “I can’t” He whispered, and that was when Abby knew he had to save him too. “ROMANCE! NO!” He yelled, running over to him, desperate to reach him. But he was doomed before he started. Romance disappeared, figure dissipating into little pink sparks.

No.

He’d failed.

“Baby outed him.”

Jinu’s brow wrinkled in confusion, “What?”

Mira sighed, “He told us that he was gay.”

“So?”

Mira nodded “Exactly, it’s not like any of us are homopho-”

Jinu cut her off, “I’m gay.”

Mira and Abby’s head jerked towards him, “What do you mean, you’re gay?”

“Aren’t we all gay?”

“First of all no, and second of all, aren’t you together with Rumi?” Abby stuck up two fingers in the air, counting off his logic.

“Well, yes, she is a very large part of it, but there are other things that make me gay.”

Abby tilted his head, giving Jinu a freaked out look while Mira face palmed, “Not that gay. Gay as in attracted to men.”

“Oh.” Jinu blinked a few times, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. “So how does that…?”

“Sometimes I forget you’re so old. Then you remind me.”

“You’re not homophobic, right Jinu?” Mira asked, voice verging on the threatening. Jinu visibly cowered.

“No. I just… need a minute to readjust myself.” Jinu fell silent for a couple of seconds, “Wow. Being gay. How weird.”

Abby shook his head, “You need reeducation, ASAP.”

Hoping to leave this unfamiliar, and extremely strange topic, Jinu blurted, “Where’s Rumi?”

“I don’t know.” Mira whispered. How could she have forgotten Rumi? She blamed Abby.

“Hey, it wasn’t my fault!” Abby raised his hands in the air, practically hearing her accusation before she said it. A loud thump echoed in the room next to them, followed by a quietly muttered swear.

“There she is.”

Chapter Text

Everything was crumbling into pain; in other words, just a normal day for Baby. Everything burned and ached and bled till the world was burning and aching and bleeding, outside finally matching his broken insides. His eyes flickered towards his arm, elbow reverse bent inwards. He took a deep breath, trying not to vomit from pain.

Around him he heard footsteps, pattering around his head, a muttered swear. Rumi. Hatred swelled up in his heart, only to be destroyed by tiredness. He was so tired. Just so tired. All he wanted to do was fall asleep and never wake up. Just sleep forever. Wouldn’t that be better? For everyone, and himself.

“Gwi-Ma,” A weak thought flickered in his mind. His father. He couldn’t let him down. He had to finish… the… mission.

Kill… himself. Rumi.

The door burst open and more people rushed in, voices overlapping. Baby let his eyes flicker shut, till all that remained was blackness. In the darkness of his mind, a blue fire burned, burned away at his sanity, reducing it to ashes.

Let him die.

The mission.

Let. Him. Die.

The. Mission.

LET. HIM. DIE.

THE MISSION!

His mouth opened a crack, tasting vaguely like blood, curdled and sour. Cool air rushed in and he sighed in relief, shifting slightly and ignoring the onslaught of pain. The flames in his head cowered, shrinking slightly as his mind ever so slightly cleared.

It seemed that death was not in the cards today.

That left only the mission.

All four of the clamouring voices fell silent at his little movement, air stretched with tension. He could feel something leaning closer to him, a presence. Their breath was warm on his skin, and he could hear shuffling as someone approached. The noise stopped, and Baby cracked an eye open.

His eyes met Rumi’s, wide with fear and hope. They glittered with tears, looking so lost. He blinked slowly, and she jumped backwards, yelping in shock.

“Is he… alive?” A hushed voice stage-whispered. It was greeted by numerous nods.

Opening his eyes a little further, he saw Rumi, Mira, Abby and Jinu. Huddled in a little corner of the room far away from him. His eyelids felt heavy, sliding shut over his eyes. No! He would fight sleep.

Or death, whichever one was coming for him.

“Hey,” he croaked, voice cracking. Mira snickered slightly, her smirk half mocking, half amused.

It warmed him from the inside, though different from the destructive heat of a fire. Maybe he had a hope with them.

Remember the mission.

His head lolled slightly, mind slipping into unconsciousness as he fought to keep his eyes open. Clearing his throat slightly, he tried again.

“Where’s Romance?”

Mira’s face switched to a scowl, and the others looked stonily at him. He didn’t flinch, but he drew back slightly at their hate. He could practically feel it radiating towards him.

“We don’t know.” Abby's voice was painfully neutral.

“No thanks to you,” Jinu muttered, mouth curling in derision as he turned away.

Baby’s throat tightened, making it impossible to breathe. They hated him. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he kept still, praying for them not to spill.

Please.

“It’s all for the mission,” He reminded himself, slowly repeating the phrase internally like a mantra, till it soothed him.

Still it hurt to swallow, and he kept silent.

More whispers, mutters that he tried to block his ears to, but snaked in nonetheless.

“He’s a danger.”

“What do we do with him?”

“My brother!”

“Mystery and-”

Baby cut them off, having regained control of his emotions, “If you’re going to gossip about me, can you do it in another room?” He raised his non broken arm and waved it at them, “This whole whisper meeting isn’t very subtle.”

When challenged, put a mask on.

Mira smirked again while Jinu scowled, looking downwards. He stalked towards Baby, practically vibrating with anger. Baby felt a rising sense of nausea in his stomach.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Sarcastic little brat. You have no idea what you’ve done.” He didn’t want to say this, didn’t want to hurt the damaged demon, but the words leapt out of his mouth.

Baby’s mouth opened and his stomach lurched painfully. He gulped down air, trying to avoid what was coming, but it was unstoppable. Inevitable.

He vomited over Jinu’s legs, a liquid mix of soup and bile. He hadn’t eaten in days.

Jinu leapt backwards in disgust as Abby and Mira burst into laughter, clutching each other in an effort to sober up.

Baby’s head spun, his stomach painfully empty. He felt much better after having vomited, but also empty.

Jinu bent down to a pant leg and shook it, the puke dripping onto the floor. The sight of his face sent Abby and Mira into hysterics again.

“This isn’t funny!” Jinu whined, giving up on inspecting the vomit splattered fabric. He fumbled around for a tissue before dropping it. It delicately wafted down to the ground to stick to his trousers.

“Oh for fu-”

Mira placed a hand over his mouth, and Jinu struggled with angry noises until he took the hint and shut up.

Abby and Rumi stepped forwards, taking the lead.

“We’re leaving you in here,”

“Just for a little while,”

“Till you can… readjust,”

“We won’t be far,”

Their voices blending in one, twisting into a whisper that echoed in his mind, “They’re leaving you alone. Again.” Even in his worst moments, father was never far.

Baby’s eyes clouded over, becoming unfocused. Rumi and Abby leant closer to him, and Rumi patted him on the cheek, “Baby. You alright?”

His eyes sharpened, honing in on their faces, “Yep,” He nodded, one time too many, “I’m perfectly fine.”

“You sure?” Abby’s voice was painfully neutral again, and it hurt. Not hearing the warmth and love behind it felt like another thing dying inside of Baby.

“Mhm.”

Finally, the door clicked shut, leaving him alone on the floor. Now they were gone, he had no distraction from the pain, nothing to take away from the intense shooting spikes up his arm, from his bruised and battered body.

Tears cut down his face as he gritted his teeth. Whether he cried for his pain, emotions or failure, he didn’t know. All he knew was he had to complete the mission.

Whatever the cost.

Chapter Text

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Moving her head sent stabbing pains through her neck, thinking hurt her head. So she focused on breathing.

In.

Out.

It was a miracle she could even breathe, chest rising and falling with every breath. The light hurt her eyes when she opened them. It was safer, easier to lie in the darkness.

In.

Out.

The dried blood pulled on her neck with every breath, and she resisted the urge to scrape it off with her fingernails. The wound felt wet and dry, crusted with old blood and sticky with fresh. She slowly raised a finger to touch it.

It burnt, and she moved her hand away.

In.

Out.

Zoey wondered how she wasn’t dead. A stab to the neck from her shin-kal was enough to kill her. Enough to kill anyone. So how was she still alive?

In.

Out.

Time stretched and squeezed illogically, though for Zoey it passed slowly. She wondered how long it had been. Days, months, years. Maybe just a few minutes.

In.

Out.

For the first time she wondered where she was, and moved her hands blindly to her sides. She could feel a couch. Not just any couch. Her couch, familiar from late night shows, those tiny breaks, curled up here with Baby…

Her throat tightened painfully, and she choked for air.

In.

Out.

Where were Rumi and Mira? Her hands reached out, hoping to find them, but met only air. She opened her mouth to call their names, but all that came out was a rasping noise. Never mind.

In.

Out.

She could feel a weight next to her, a warmth tickled the edge of her body. Rolling over to check what it was took an eternity. Shift, shuffle, repeat. Over and over in agonizingly little movements until she was facing the other side.

Mystery’s chest was rising and falling as he breathed, the noise almost undetectable. He looked like he’d fallen asleep. Zoey sighed, a feeling of contentment washing over her as a smile crept across her face. She could watch that beautiful boy for the rest of time.

A scraping in her throat reminded her of her situation, and she shook him lightly. “Mystery,” She whispered, voice rasping painfully. She winced at the sound, “Mystery.”

He lay still, giving no sign of having heard her.

“Mystery,”

No sign.

In.

Out.

“Mystery,”

No sign.

In.

Out.

Very well. It was time to bring out the lethal weapon.

Mystery was dreadly ticklish as Zoey had discovered during their impromptu sleepover. She’d had fun torturing him then, and she’d have fun doing it now.

Her hands reached downwards for his stomach, fingers wriggling in anticipation. She made contact and instantly withdrew her hands. They were stained with a dark blue. She brought her hands up to her nose and sniffed; the colour may be different, but the smell was unmistakably the same. Blood.

She leaned forwards, bending upwards in a situp position (thank heavens for all of Celine’s training.) Despite it, her body cried out in protest.

Her eyes were drawn to the wound magnetically, darting to the blood. For a second or two she didn’t register. The torn clothes, the dark blue blood. It all felt like a tacky Halloween costume.

She reached out slowly to the wound again, briefly dipping her fingers in the wound, then pressing in harder. He had to wake up, he had to wake up.

He had to wake up.

“Mystery!” She cried, voice cracking, throat failing. His face wasn’t pale with sleep.

It was pale with the shadow of death.

And everything was crumbling away, hopes and dreams and love falling apart like a card house. Rather impressive, far too fragile and gone in an instant.

“Mystery!” She screeched, tears springing from her eyes. She desperately swept his overgrown fringe back, revealing an ashy face.

She could feel her heart slowly splintering inside of her, a pain so acute it took her breath away. She couldn’t breathe, choking on her tears and voice and pain.

In….

Out…

“MYSTERY!” She screamed, raw with pain, voice tearing. She poked and prodded his face, shook him in all directions. Nothing.

Wake up. Please, just wake up.

Little glass shards of her heart, cutting through her body, her throat, her voice. She collapsed, shaking with sobs, hands curled around his shoulders.

Please.

Please…

The four of them rushed out at the noise, Mira, Rumi, Abby and Jinu rushing into the room. Rumi and Mira moved straight towards her, slowly pulling her away from him. His body.

“NO!” SHe roared, spit flying. It hurt so much to talk, hurt far too much. But they were trying to take her away from him, trying to separate them.

Slowly, their fingers worked on her balled up fists, easing them open. Moving her away. She folded into their arms, overcome by grief. It hurt too much.

Just kill her. Take away the pain.

Please.
_________________________________________________________________________
Mystery could hear crying. Faint raucous sobs, barely filtered through the silence. THe suffocating silence that had settled on his hearing, his mind. He could feel his mind slipping in and out of consciousness, the pain overwhelming him. It hurt to exist.

He could feel his life fading, the switches being flicked off. The power being shut down. A slow force was eating away at him, and Mystery didn’t stand a chance. Something evil and ancient festering inside of him, draining away just as much as the wound. Still, he intended to cling onto life as long as possible.

Dimly, he wondered where the Saja Boys were. Where Baby was. He hoped they were okay. Even after everything, he hoped they were okay. Baby’s betrayal had hurt, but in the swing of life and death, consciousness and sleep, there was no drive for hate. Only pain.

His thoughts flitted to Zoey. Sweet, sweet Zoey. Soft as sunlight. Sweeter than sugar.

He hoped she was okay. He hoped everyone was okay.

Then he could let go of life, and die happy.

Chapter Text

Romance was alive.

Or he’s breathing, so that must mean something.

He’s feeling, so that must mean something.

Even if all he felt was fear.

Fear of the others. Fear of himself. Of who he is. Fear of Baby.

After the fight, he’d found his way to their old apartment. It stank of loneliness, an emptiness that filled every corner. He had been shaking, fingers trembling uncontrollably. Choking on air, tears trickling silently down his face.

He’d collapsed on the bed, head diving into the pillows. It was far too big without the other three, Jinu, Abby and Mystery. He tried to ignore thoughts of Baby, curled up on the couch. Separated from them, pouting childishly.

Had he been against them from the very start? Was everything fake?

His head felt clouded, buzzing with thoughts. Thoughts, whirling around in his mind, drowning him. All of it too much, and not enough. Breath quickening, mind spinning out of control. He looked up, eyes blinking rapidly, and he swore he could see flashes of pink and black on the walls. He swore he was back there.

The swing of a sword, crunching footsteps, the coldness of a soul in his hand. Souls were always cold, leaching the warmth away from where they lay. And he had fed it to Zoey. Forcefully.

She had been unconscious, it was the only way, but the memory of it made him sick. He’d force fed her a soul. A human soul. Did that count as cannibalism?

She’d hate him. He could practically see her face in front of him, twisted with rage. Her neck was punctured by a blade, blood gushing down her chest.

“HOW COULD YOU?” She asked, voice breaking with anger.

“I-I’m sorry,” He stuttered, hands held up in his defense.

She walked towards him, shaking with anger, “YOU’RE A MONSTER!” She yelled, voice twisted in anguish, “UNNATURAL.”

“I didn’t- I didn’t mean to-”

Her figure flickered in and out of his vision, dark pink sky fading to the walls.

He closed his eyes, blocking out the outside world. And as the hours passed, the night lightened, turned into day. Slowly, as if the darkness had to go somewhere, it settled inside of him, hanging above his head like his personal dark cloud. Spoiling every emotion to numbness, every thought to silence.

Romance couldn’t decide whether it was better or worse than the overload.

He knew he had to get up, eat something, but all he could feel was an extraordinary lethargy that had settled in his very bones.

“He’s gay.”

Gay.

Gay.

Every time Romance heard the words in his mind it just made him want to shrivel up a little bit more. It wasn’t his fault he liked boys over girls, blue downy hair over…

Whoa. Where had that come from? Romance shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

“You’re wrong. Everything about you is wrong. Disgusting. Shameful.”

Nice to see you too Gwi-Ma. He was almost surprised by the voices resuming in his head.

Almost.

He thought about the others, their faces of shock. Disgust. They hated him. He hated them, no he hated… He hated… Society, his friends….

Actually he hated Baby. With his infuriating smirk and cold nature and cruelty…

How could he do this to him? Just the thought of it made him squirm, tears leaking out of his eyes like a faulty spring. He was certainly crying a lot. He wiped his cheeks dry, settling into some sort of hiccupy breathing pattern.

He wept for himself, for the world, for his friends. Just the thought of Mystery collapsed on the floor was enough to bring on another wave of tears. He was drowning in sorrow, in sadness. Even as he cried he felt vaguely ridiculous. Baby never cried like a water fountain in front of them. He needed to be more cold, more in control, less sensitive…

Damn Baby.

A wave of hatred flooded through him, replacing the numbness and tears. His jaw clenched painfully, as his fingers bunched up into fists, nail digging into his palms. He scrunched up his eyes and pressed his lips together, trying to ride out the wave of hate.

You should know enough about riding…

Damnit. Sometimes Romance really hated his dirty mind. As ridiculous as the joke was, it brought a half-hearted smile to his face that quickly petered out by the thought of Mystery. Dying. He had to go back for him, had to save him. Even if he had no idea how to.

He had to go back to all his friends, and face their disapproval. Even if it was just to check if they were okay. Then he could leave.

After he’d killed Baby, obviously.

Chapter Text

The only problem was that he had no idea where they were. They could be anywhere; still in the demon world, in the human world, separated in between. Bleeding out in some abandoned alley. For the first time in hours he roused himself from his bed and wandered through the apartment.

The kitchen, cluttered with dirty dishes and empty cereal boxes. A singular sock lying on the counter, the table disfigured with a burn mark from when Baby and him lit it on fire with a flamethrower. A lump rose in his throat.

Baby…

He drifted down the stairwell, feet dragging on every step till he reached the bottom. His hand glided down the railway, fingertips lightly skimming the surface. Romance paused at the bottom, mind blank. Where was he going to go?

Huntrix’s apartment. If they had escaped, they surely would have gone there.

If.

A darker part of his mind whispered,”They’re in the underworld. You know they’re there.” Romance shook his head half heartedly, trying to dissuade himself. They could be in the apartment. They could. And even if they weren’t, it would only take him a couple of minutes to check.

“Excuses. You know they’re stuck down here, because you abandoned them. And now you’re coming up with another excuse to leave, to run away. Coward.” It was Gwi-Ma’s voice, tossing out the same tired old insults. Romance almost laughed at the familiarity of it.

“After all, being gay does mean you’re a coward.”

Romance flinched. He clenched and unclenched his fists in anger, squeezing them shut. It rushed through him, bitter, corrosive, surprising himself. The fact that he was gay had nothing to do with the fact that he was a giant coward.

Oh. He even admitted it to himself.

Making excuses to avoid the inevitable was the final word of cowardly. And he’d had enough of running away.

He was going to find them. Whatever the cost.He took a deep breath and burst into the street.

All in all, it was very anti-climatic. The street hummed with late morning laziness, the road cast into half shadow. A few pedestrians loitered in the street, idling the time away. No one looked at or cared about the dishevelled pink haired man.

He shivered on the spot, ignoring the twisting sensation in his gut as he smoked pink.

Romance vanished.
_________________________________________________________________________
He reappeared in the underworld, beneath the Honmoon. Looking up, he could see the golden strands shimmering, calling him back. It took a fair amount of grit to turn his back on it.

The demon realm was irritatingly hot, Gwi-Ma’s fire warming them for eternity. And it stank. As usual.

Sneaking towards the battlefield, he could see bloodstains over the ground, some more heavy than others. A mix of red and blue staining the dirt. He paused at one, dabbed at it with a finger and sniffed it. Definitely blood. And at the altar, a flame burned. Gwi-Ma, though his fire seemed far smaller and weaker than usual. Romance half smiled. They’d done some damage without him after all.

It was hard not to look at the blood and think of Mystery.

“Jinu! Mira!” Romance yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Guys! Where are you?”

Silence echoed back, punctuated by only the quiet crackle of flames. A small nub of unease rose in Romance.

“Abby! Rumi! Zoey!” He didn’t dare to call Mystery’s name, knowing he’d get no response. “Hello?”

Demons scurried around the outskirts, muttering nervously and pointing. Romance blushed, realising he looked like a lunatic. But he had to find them.

And if they were no one to be found, Gwi-Ma must have captured them.

Steeling himself, he tiptoed up to Gwi-Ma’s fire, walking up the stairs till he reached the top and stopped. He could feel his heartbeat in his fingertips, blood thumping a hundred miles an hour. He had to do this. He had to.

But it was so hard to walk to his enslaver. To the one devil who knew every corner of his mind, and how to use it for torture.

He swore he could see blue hair flickering in the edges of his vision, and he turned to the side. Baby was standing there, unharmed, undamaged. His slight figure steady, dark circles erased, hollow cheeks filled. He looked almost innocent, if not for the fiery burn in his eyes.

“Don’t do it.” And his voice was commanding, leaving no space for argument, “It’s not worth the risk. We’re not there.” The image paused, Baby’s eyes flickering over him, “Don’t you want to return to us.”

“Not you,” Romance sneered, but his carefully crafted expression fell, “Yes,” He admitted quietly. Baby rolled his eyes in his trademark sarcasm.

“Come on then. Leave.” He flicked his fringe up and flashed Romance an encouraging smile.

Romance went slightly weak in the knees before stiffening, “I can’t.” He muttered, the words dry in his mouth.

“What?” Baby leaned forwards, and his entire frame shuddered, blinking in and out of existence, “I can’t-”

“I have to know.”

Baby’s face switched abruptly to a frown, “Leave. We’re not there.”

Romance scowled, “How can I trust you?” His voice was dripping with anger.

Baby’s eyes went cold, fire extinguished, “Fine then. Go to your death. I’ll be glad.”

Romance stepped back, closed off. He bit his tongue, hard.

“No wait, I’m sorry, that was mean-”

“Gwi-Ma,” He declared, kneeling before the fire. Old habits die hard. “Where are the other Saja Boys?” Baby groaned, thwacking his head into his hands.

The fire perked up a little at his voice, rising in size. “I don’t know,” Gwi-Ma said, before remembering himself. Lord of the underworld, in front of a mere subject. A traitor at that.

The word ‘liar’ was on the tip of Romance’s tongue, but he checked himself. Gwi-Ma certainly wouldn’t appreciate that insolence.

“If you have them, release them,” Far too direct. The image of Baby quietly laughed from the sidelines.

“How dare you Romance! I should have you strung and quartered for your insolence. Not to mention your betrayal.”

Lashes of fire bound themself to Romance’s wrist, tugging him to the ground. They rubbed against his skin, never burning, always hurting. All of the pain and none of the damage.

He fell to his knees, hitting the ground hard as Gwi-Ma towered over him. Baby rushed to him, kneeling beside him.

“You traitor. You will pay for your crimes, and for theirs.”

He could feel the fire spread up his body, a slow burn that wore all other pain to ashes. His head swam, ground spinning and tilting before his eyes. The phantom’s hands went to the bonds, but his hands passed futilely through the flames.

Baby’s eyes dilated with panic. “Come on, come on!” He groaned, trying to tug at the fire.

“You have… such cute eyes,” Romance muttered as his mind blurred between waking and unconsciousness.

“What?” Baby muttered confusedly. He’d given up on the bonds and simply sat opposite Romance, watching him burn helplessly. His eyes gazed in Romance’s, head tilted absently.

Romance reached out against the pull of the flames, leaning closer to Baby, “Leave. You’ll die,”

“That’s what I told you,” Baby choked, a tear splashing out of his eye. “You should have listened to me.” He moved a finger to his face, and Romance swore he could feel an imprint. But it was an illusion. All an illusion.

Romance grinned, then groaned in pain. “Never,”

At least they weren’t here. He thought as the world flickered before his eyes. At least they were safe.

Baby sat opposite to him as Romance’s mind succumbed to unconsciousness and his conjuring burnt away to smoke.

And then there was nothing but pain.

Chapter Text

Jinu watched Zoey’s meltdown with a detached coldness. He didn’t understand, couldn’t understand how she could explode into such volatile emotion.

That’s what centuries of emotional repression will do to you. Even after everything, feeling was hard. All his feelings buried under years and years of shame. Of telling himself it didn’t matter.

Every time he looked at Mystery his throat tightened so painfully he couldn’t breathe. Every time he looked at Zoey he felt confused.

Every time he looked at Baby, he simultaneously wanted to kill him and die.

Just the thought of what he’d done felt wrong. Like he’d been about to sit down and the chair had been pulled out from under him. That curious sense of confusion, betrayal and loss.

How could he have done this? Baby had trusted him, had looked up to him as an older figure, and down at him as a clueless person. They’d laughed, drank, bled together. And now he was spilling their blood.

It really hurt, and Jinu didn’t understand why.

Zoey’s cries were only rising in volume, punctured by haggard coughs and groans. He could only imagine the toll this was taking on her throat.

He looked at Mystery again, the matted fringe, the faint breaths. He put a finger to his neck, barely feeling a faint pulse. Abby was gripping his hand, eyes locked on him with such an intensity, like he was trying to will him back to life.

Jinu wished it would work. His eyes lingered on the wound, the blood drawing him in. They had to get a doctor, had to take him to a hospital, had to do something.

But when everything was falling apart, the only response Jinu could muster was languidity.

He walked over to Zoey, peeking in between Mira and Rumi to see her. Voice catching on her sobs, bloodshot teary eyes. She looked at him briefly, and she saw. Rumi and Mira cared, but they didn’t love Mystery. Not like Zoey did.

Not like Jinu did.

Perhaps she saw the hollowness in his eyes, the jagged pain of losing him that Jinu didn’t know how to feel. Her mouth opened, as if to say something only to choke on the words. But either way, she got off the floor, wiped her face and gave Jinu a hug.

It felt mildly unfamiliar, the warm arms around him. Just two people, sinking in their pain.
_________________________________________________________________________
Baby wanted to scream, but with what voice. Wanted to cry, but his tears had run dry. Wanted to feel, but he was filled with jagged glass.

He pushed himself off the ground, ignoring the screaming from his broken arm. The screaming from his broken heart hurt more. Shuffling towards the door, black spots of unconsciousness danced in his vision, popping in and out with rims of colour. He walked into the neighbouring room, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

“What are you doing here?” Mira asked, and it hurt to see his mistrusting face. But he’d had enough of hurting, of wallowing in his own self-pity. So he steeled himself to the inevitable outburst, and said, “We need to save Romance.”

As predicted, a chorus of voices burst in, asking what he was talking about.

“What?”

“How do you know he needs saving?”

“It’s your fault he’s not here,”

“You don’t think I know that.” Baby quietly interrupted, skimming his hand along the table, refusing to look them in the eye, “I get it, okay? But it’s not about us right now. It’s not about me.”

Zoey peeled herself away from Jinu and turned towards him frostily, face still teary, “It’s not about us? It’s not about Mystery, bleeding out on the couch?” Her voice was scratchy, hoarse, “He’s dying Baby. Because of you.” Each word was punctuated by an angry step towards him, though her voice remained at the same quiet level.

“I know, and we’ll find a way to save him. We will.” Baby repeated, tone hesitant with uncertainty.

Her eyes flickered up to meet his, full of hurt. He stared blankly towards her, holding her gaze. It was now or never.

“Fine.” She sighed, the tension deflating out of her body, “I’m doing this for Romance. Not you.”

“Guys?” Baby looked around at the rest of them hopefully, and Rumi stepped forwards, “I’m with you. Everyone deserves a second chance.” She looked towards Jinu, taking his hand, “We had one,”

Jinu looked up to him, and Baby smiled weakly back. He’d hurt Jinu in so many ways, in a million ways that he can never take back, only mend. Only hope to mend.

“Okay,” Simple, and to the point. Then he bolted towards Baby, who flinched, expecting a beating. It’s always a beating.

Instead, Jinu wrapped him in a bone crushing hug that pressed on all his bruises and cuts. He lifted his arm out of the way with a slight gasp of pain before returning the hug as best as he could. He’s sorry. So sorry. And somehow, he knows Jinu feels that.

“I still haven’t forgiven you,” Jinu whispered in his ear, hugging him tighter.

“I know,” Baby returned, acting like it didn’t hurt. He stepped back.

“Abby? Mira?” Mira stepped towards him, scythe already balanced on her shoulder, “You pack a hell of a punch, demon,” She spits, before breaking into a grin. Baby returns it, bumping his good shoulder with his. She gets it. Somehow. She understands.

“Abby?” He asks again. Abby stirs from the couch, tearing his gaze away from Mystery. “Yeah,” Despite all the pain, Abby wears a smile, “Let’s do this.”

They crowd into the elevator, and Baby feels a pang of regret. He wants them to forgive him. He wants to be loved and accepted. He wants to go back, undo time. So many mistakes.

But if Jinu can’t forgive him now, there’s no chance in hell he will when Baby kills Rumi and completes the mission.

He wishes he could be free. Oh what he would give to be free. To be more than an instrument of death.

And just like clockwork, Gwi-Ma’s voice whispers in his head, “You have to do this. Finish. The. Mission.” It’s cold, chilling his fire but not extinguishing it.

He has no choice. He never did.

Chapter Text

The fire had dulled his mind to a few thoughts. Of water to wet his scratchy throat and cool the burn. Blue like the sea, like hair. Everything he pulled away from the fire, it pulled him closer. But he could feel their force weakening, their burn wavering. This was Gwi-Ma’s final swan song.

It was only a question of whether he could outlast it.

Reading his traitorous thoughts, Gwi-Ma pulled further until Romance was forced to hunch over, hands stuck to the ground. His eyelids quivered with tiredness, not daring to fall into sleep.

It hurt too much to fall asleep anyways.

Slowly, after an eternity, the fiery ropes loosened. Steadying his head through the pain, he wriggled his wrists out of them while hissing, mind clearing as he stepped away from the bonds.

Looking back at the weak flames, he stamped on the last of the fire before sprinting away, not daring to look back. After having reached a reasonable distance, he started flying, ready to levitate the fuck out of the underworld.

Popping through the golden strands he ran down the street, shoving through people, desperate to get to Huntrix’s apartment. Of course that’s where they were, where they’d been all along. He’d been wrong, wrong, but he’d never been so happy to be wrong.

Just as they came out of the lift in a sorry state he crashed into them, momentum carrying him a hundred miles an hour into the back of the lift. He hit the mirror and bounced right back off it.

He was back. Facing them in a more chaotic manner than he’d planned. But he was back.

“Romance?” Mira asked, sounding more tired than surprised. Her body collapsed with relief as she leant onto Abby.

“Yeah, it’s me.” He rubbed his head sheepishly, “I made it.” Jinu patted him on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry that you’re gay, I’m gay too!”

“No, he’s not.” Rumi pulled him back with a smile, “He’s still learning.”

“Holy guac, you’re back!” Zoey exclaimed, “Hey, that even rhymed!” Abby chuckles, and a sense of normality returns to the elevator. Whatever normality was for them.

Romance looked at Baby, and yikes, conjuring Baby looked a lot better than real Baby. His arm was skewed at an unnatural angle, shoulder stained with blood. Baby’s face was covered in bruises, though not nearly as many as Abby and his eyes were rimmed with dark circles, burning with a feverish light.

His presence seemed to fill the lift and simultaneously not be there at all, hidden and shrouded away in the corner. Yet he was all Romance could see.

He had never looked so vulnerable. Even back in their music days, a lifetime ago, Baby had always seemed indestructible. No degree of sleeplessness or caffeine overdose could shake him.

And now he looked broken. Though Baby would always rather break than bend.

Quickly doing a headcount, he found six of them, seven including himself. His stomach dropped as he remembered who was missing.

“Where’s Mystery?”

The atmosphere flatlined, like a patient on life support.

“In the apartment.” Jinu said.

“Alive?”

“Barely.”

“I can save him.” And despite everything, Baby’s voice was the same. Quieter, more subdued, but still carrying the same arrogance as always.

“How?” Zoey asked, stepping forwards. “And why didn’t you say earlier?”

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not in the best condition myself.” Baby scowled, gesturing at his broken arms. His eyebrows were slanted downwards, mouth pressed into a thin line, hollow cheeks carved with anger.

He looked dangerous.

And so beautiful.

“Will you? Save him?” Jinu asked, breathless from holding Zoey back.

They all looked towards him, eyes wide with anticipation and hope.

“I… don’t know.” Baby’s brows furrowed as he closed his eyes. He stood silent for a couple of seconds before opening them again. His eyes seemed wet with tears, but when Romance looked again they were gone.

“I’ll try.”
_________________________________________________________________________
Something in him clung to life; clinging to the pain and blood and horrifying mortality of it all. He felt like death was on the horizon, just a step away. Just one step off the edge of a cliff into the unknown.

The unknown was dark.

The unknown scared Mystery.

So he teetered on the edge, being slowly pushed closer all the while, but still holding onto life, holding onto a miracle. He didn’t know what was keeping him alive this long, didn’t want to know. Because it was evil.

He could feel the innate wrongness of it deep inside him, the force keeping him alive. But even as it waned, its force loosening on his life, he could feel himself slipping off the edge. Into the unknown.

So he clung on to evil and good, to life, to the edge of the cliff. Even as he could feel himself falling.

Mystery felt quite disconnected from his body, disconnected from the waves of intense pain that made his fingers twitch. That’s all he was capable of; twitching. Disconnected from the pool of blood building in his gash, trickling onto the couch, staining the white leather.

Or was it yellow?

Was he even meant to be thinking about the colour of the leather as he died?

Mystery wondered if it would be easier to let go. His body ached with a bone deep pain as old as time. It would be nice to not feel any more pain. All he’d have to do was relax for a second, and fall into the unknown.

Everything hurt so much it was like he’d ascended into another level of consciousness.

He could feel each breath whistling in and out of him. It was the only thing he could feel beside the everlasting ache.

Perhaps he should step off now.
_________________________________________________________________________
Abby pressed 7 in the elevator, and they waited impatiently as the lift crawled up. Never had a lift seemed so slow.

But they were finally there.

The doors opened and Baby limped out, shuffled all the way to the couch while Zoey egged him on. He sat by the side, sweating bullets, face blanched. His teeth were gritted.

“He’s not breathing.” Zoey’s eyes widened. “Quickly, hurry, quickly!”

Baby sighed, overriding the pain as he’d done so many times before and summoning the fire. The flames rushed out of him, enveloping his hands in light and warmth. Slowly they blossomed, lighting up every dark corner of the apartment. Mystery’s ashen face seemed to lighten slightly, a tinge of colour coming back to his cheeks.

Baby sent it outwards towards Mystery, and what had burned him healed Mystery, his destructor became Mystery’s saviour. His wound stitched together, blood oozing back into his body as his skin regained colour. Baby felt an extraordinary drainage in his limbs, as if life itself was rushing out of him, but he couldn’t stop now.

Perhaps if he saved Mystery, they’d forgive him.

Slowly, fingers twitched, arms jerked, eyes flickered open. Mystery’s mouth opened, and he gasped before falling silent. He levitated above the couch, cocooned in fire as the others watched, spellbound.

At last it was gone, every spare speck of energy he had spent, and he collapsed onto Romance, who fell with an oomph. Baby hit the ground above him, and the final thing he heard was Romance’s heartbeat.

Lights out.

Game over.

Chapter Text

Death shouldn’t hurt this much. Death shouldn’t feel like every particle of his body had been drained of life. Death shouldn’t be a pair of arms cradling him as he drifted into oblivion. He opened his eyes, feeling like a part of him had been torn away, leaving him incomplete and bleeding. Life had been too cruel to let him go.

Death had been too scared to take him.

The world was blurred, voices muffled as he slowly came back to life. Warmth around him, the smell of blood and smoke.

He could see Rumi kneeling by his side, Abby and Mira opposite her while Zoey was hugging Mystery and Jinu.

But where was Romance?

He felt those arms encircle him from behind, hold him closer. Romance whispered into his ears, breath ticklish, “It’s alright. I’ve got you. It’s alright. It’s okay.” He rocked him back and forth, resting his head on Baby’s shoulder. Baby had never wanted to break more than that moment. Just rest for an eternity.

Suddenly aware of everyone else watching them, Baby broke away and went to Rumi. He lurched forwards on his feet, breath hitching as he fell into her arms. She broke into a smile, hugging him, and Baby prepared for the inevitable pain to his arm, when none came. He looked down and saw a straight arm, no bone sticking out. He was healed.

He hugged Rumi back, choosing her, leaving Gwi-Ma behind, putting out the fire in his head. Forget the mission. He chose warmth and comfort and friendship and love.

So much love.

“My brother.” Rumi smiled, stepping back, “My baby brother.”

“Technically I’m 190 years older than you,” Baby reminded her, raising an eyebrow.

“Technically you have the mentality of a little gremlin.”

Mira gave him a nod of respect, eyes beaming with pride as Abby opted for a bear hug. He squeezed him so tight Baby was surprised he couldn’t hear his own ribs cracking. All the emotion, no words. And an apology that ran so deep in Baby, he knew that Abby understood.

Zoey ran over to him, burying her face in his shoulder, tears running down her face, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.” She whispered, “You did it.” Her voice was hoarse. “Thank you.” Baby hugged her back, arms stiff, sluggish.

Slowly, Mystery stumbled over to them, taking each step with extreme care, Jinu supporting him. Jinu gave Baby a nod, not of forgiveness, but acceptance and Baby nodded back. He’d have to regain Jinu’s trust.

Mystery. The boy that he’d hurt so much, the boy he’d sentenced to death. He moved slightly towards him and Mystery flinched, raising a hand in defense.

“Don’t.” He whispered, “Just… not now.” Baby stepped back, swallowing the lump in his throat. The rejection hurt, as he bit back his apology, swallowing his words with a bitter taste. It made sense. He understood. He’d have to work to repair the bridges he’d burnt between them.

But he had time now. No deadline. Simply all the time in the world.

And that was happiness.
_________________________________________________________________________
Death had been trailing Gwi-Ma for 210 years, and it was finally starting to catch up. Demons were running amok in the darkness, some erupting into ash as their bodies failed without Gwi-Ma’s power. Others grouped together, whimpering, but it made no difference. The end was in sight.

Funnily enough, Gwi-Ma didn’t care very much that Death was just an inch away. His bones had settled with a lead heaviness as he walked away from his crater, his throne. Death would mean seeing Charley again. He could live long enough to die if that was the prize.

He thought back to Baby, the amount of times he’d failed him, disrespected him and shook his head. So stubborn that one. Never willing to listen, to obey. A failure. Failed with the Saja Boys mission, failed with killing Rumi, failed with killing all of them.

But love, as twisted as it was, refused to die.

He’d been doing all of this for Baby, to help him. To remove the people in his life that were hindering him, to set him free. And what had the insolent boy done? Disobeyed, yet again. It didn’t even make sense.

Gwi-Ma was so nice to him.

For hell’s sake, he even let him go to a rave!

As for Rumi, as far as he was concerned, she was nothing. A mistake, the result of too many lonely nights, and hatred bordering on obsession. A traitorous pathetic half-breed. The one who’d doomed him.

He didn’t even need Romance stamping him out to damn him. He could already feel his strength fading, and now his fire was gone. He was stuck in his physical form. He missed this warmth, the fluidity. He missed feeling alive.

Now Gwi-Ma was an empty husk, alone with his thoughts and the shadow of death. All he had was time.

His eyes fluttered shut as he lay down in the dirt. He would like to see Baby before he died. And so slowly, he floated up to the Honmoon. The light pushed against him, unwilling to let the demon lord through. Gwi-Ma tried to separate the strands, create enough space to squeeze through, but they closed against him. He floated there, on the bridge between two worlds, trapped in his.

Unwilling to back down, he stayed there, floating against the light till he lost all warmth, all thought and he fell like so many before him, down to the unforgiving earth. Charley’s laughing face flashed before his eyes, as she turned away and ran. He ran after her. Death had mercy and took him before he hit the floor.

With Gwi-Ma gone, the underworld began to burn, demons crumbling faster than ever, the ground cracking and falling. The cave and the swamps and the plains burned, dissolving into nothingness, into the void. The void which swallowed colour, light, life.

The end of a world.

And freedom for another.

Chapter Text

Rumi pulled Baby towards her and he stumbled, colliding with Mystery and pulling Rumi down on top of him. Zoey gasped, pulling Mystery up from under them, as Rumi helped Baby up to his feet. Mystery’s eyes met Baby’s as he shook with silent laughter at their tumble.

“Do you know?” Baby whispered in Rumi’s ear, the unspoken truth clear between them.

“Yeah. Should we tell them?”

“I think so. No more secrets, right?”

“Okay.” They pulled away from each other and faced the rest of them, holding hands.

“Uh oh.” Mira drawled, predicting the bad news before she broke it to them.

“Is it inscest? Please say it’s not inscest.” Abby pleaded.

“No, you idiot. The thing you were talking about earlier… Why Gwi-Ma favours me,” Baby swallowed, “It’s because he’s my father.”

“Our father.” Rumi added, squeezing his hand in solidarity, looking at their blank faces. Then it sank in.

“Holy…” Romance went silent.

“I think his brain cell is fried.” Zoey whispered to Mystery. Mira blinked once or twice, as if processing, while Jinu quietly stepped back.

“Romance? Hello?” Baby waved his hands in front of Romance’s eyes. As if awakening from a coma, he grabbed Baby’s hand, kissed it very inelegantly and conjured the whiteboard from nowhere, pulling out a whiteboard pen, and circling a squished writing. ‘Baby is related to Gwi-Ma.’. “I was right!”

Baby stepped back, blushing light pink, eyes unfocused as looked down at his hand. It trembled slightly. His ears were burning bright red.

“I think you mean I was right.” Mystery cried indignantly, shaking his head.

“It was a collaborative effort!” Romance said, swinging his arms around like windmills at the five of them, “All of us. Hmm?”

“Wait a minute.” Baby looked closer at the board, having recovered from his love induced stupor. “Baby is in a relationship with Gwi-Ma? What in the actual hell Romance? That’s my father!”

“M-m-m-istake?” Romance spluttered as he erupted into giggles. “He’s an idiot.” Abby added, as Mystery muttered under his breath, “I knew it!”

“Demolish the board, now!”

“Never!” Romance gasped, shielding the board with his body.

“Wait, I want to read this,” Mira said, snatching in from Romance and pulling Zoey over to look at it. She paused in silence, before looking at him and raising an eyebrow, “Baby is a Disney Princess? Seriously?”

“Are you?” Romance asked hopefully, eyes locked in puppy mode.

“Wha- I can’t eve- How could yo- No! I am very much not a Disney Princess, thank you very much!”

“Baby is three raccoons in a trench coat?” Zoey read out loud, shaking with laughter.

“Ahh, now that was Abby’s idea.”

“TRECH COAT!” Baby burst, “Trench coat? I don’t even wear a trench coat. And if I’m three raccoons, how do I even have a face?”

“You might have been wearing a mask…” Abby trailed off at the sight of Baby’s bright red face.

“Alright, board away before Baby has a seizure!” Jinu declared, tossing it to Romance who magicked it away. “Gwi-Ma’s your father?” He asked, directing his attention towards Baby, “Seriously?”

Baby nodded, sucking a lollipop as his face receded to a flushed pink.

Jinu’s face blanched, colour draining with shock, “Why didn’t you tell us?” He whispered.

“There never seemed to be a good time.”

“How long have you known?”

“A while.” The room tensed at their confrontation, the others halting to watch.

“How long’s a while, Baby?” Jinu stepped forward, still at that quiet whisper.

“Hey, leave him alone!” Romance interjected. “He’s just done something incredible, give him a break.”

“This is important. How long?”

“A. While.” Baby bit down on the words, maintaining unflinching eye contact with Jinu.

“Whoa, whoa whoa!” Rumi placed her hands on Jinu's shoulders, turning him around, “It’s okay, hmm? We can always ask him later. He doesn’t seem…” Rumi peeked over Jinu’s shoulder to see Romance easing a stormy Baby, “In the right mindset.”

“You guys are just dropping bombshells on me! First you’re his sister, then you’re both Gwi-Ma’s children! Rumi… he’s evil. Pure evil. You don’t understand. He’ll find a way to come back, to claw himself out of the depths of death just to spite us.”

“He’s my father.”

“And I’ve lived through 400 years of his torture. I know him. We aren’t safe.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Romance cupped Baby’s face, wiping away angry tears, “Tell me about it later.” His gaze grew more intense, locking onto Baby’s, “Tell me everything. But you should probably apologize to Jinu, just to clear the air.”

“I did nothing wrong!”

“I know that, and you know that. It would help him calm down.”

“Fine.” Baby muttered sullenly, as Romance planted a kiss on Baby’s forehead. Baby flinched, taken aback, eyes darting around in fear. Because affection is a knife that cuts if he gets too close, the blood shimmering between dark blue and red. A tool to manipulate him into doing their bidding.

A cut that always bleeds.

“You okay?” Romance whispered, pulling Baby’s ice cold hands into his. Baby’s mouth went dry.

“Yeah.”

“Jinu!” Mira called, tugging him away from Rumi. “Baby has something to say.” Of course she’d been shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation.

“I’m sorry.” Baby muttered, “I don’t want to talk about it because I’m not ready, okay?”

“I was in the wrong too.” Jinu half-smiled as Rumi hugged him from behind, melting at her touch, “I’m sorry too.”

“About the first time some healthy communication happened here!” Zoey declared before pulling Baby onto the couch. All seven of them gathered instinctively around him, pulling blankets, cushions and the remote from nowhere. Mystery hit the sofa with an oomph, Zoey crashing next to him. Romance sat next to him, arms touching slightly as they pulled on a blanket, the touch warm and fizzy. His stomach dropped at the sensation.

Mira and Abby sat on one side of the floor, talking animatedly about the downfall of Gwi-Ma, while Jinu sat on the other side, next to Rumi. She looked up at him, eyes meeting.

Siblings. For better or worse.

Not a weapon. Not a villain. Just a brother.

Chapter Text

The night, silent and deadly, tortured Baby. He stared blankly into the ceiling, convincing himself that the shadow in the corner of his eyes was just paranoia, a result of coming back to life and refusing to sleep. He felt the scars in his hands, fingers tracing the raised line.

He could feel Gwi-Ma’s death in his bones, a fact that seemed too large, too much, reverberating through his body. So he broke it down into little chunks.

Not more beatings.

No more screaming.

No more love.

Baby leaned over the side, peeking over at Romance who was sleeping on an air mattress. Even in sleep, after exhaustion and trauma, he looked dashing. His mouth was a little open, eyes closed, lying so still Baby wondered if he was dead. If that heart that beat so steady had stopped.

He blinked and there was blood spilling from Romance’s mouth, eyes glassy orbs, empty. His skin was pale grey, washed out of life. It was as if death had been waiting for him to fall again, only to take away what Baby loved.

His gasp was abruptly cut off by his heart folding in on itself, the freshly growing pieces being crunched and mangled, still alive but bleeding. He was choking on his tears, willing something to come out but he’d cried all his tears, and was left with a grief that cut instead of bleeding, crushed instead of squashed.

The only thing missing was the smell, the bloody faintly rotting smell of the dead that he was all too familiar with. The only thing keeping him sane was the smell, the smell of coffee because Romance was an addict. He blinked again and Romance’s body was whole, still sleeping and Baby erupted into tears.

Grief hit him so hard he was surprised he didn’t just disintegrate on the spot, sobbing over a perfectly alive body as he combusted into flames of his own misery. Romance woke up and the world turned into a blur of tears and his concerned voice. He reached out to Baby, easing him down from the couch onto the floor. He held Baby as the ghost of Gwi-Ma’s voice raged inside his head, the words lost by a storm that raged.

He knew Gwi-Ma was dead, could feel it when after his healing there was no fire left inside him, burnt away by a good deed and the owner of the flames. So he wept, for the past and the present, for his abuser. Was it so bad to rip yourself up into shreds for someone who loved you, even if that love was all about grinding you down until your former self was gone? Was it so bad to cry over pure evil?

The fact that he knew he shouldn’t be crying only made him cry harder.

So he sobbed and sobbed and sobbed into Romance’s arms until the tears came to an end, but even then his throat felt blocked, as if the slightest thing could set him off again. Weak. Pathetic. Disgusting.

“Wha- What the hell?” Romance asked, face a picture of horror and concern, because if someone wakes you up at 2am to crumble into hysterics, they are so very clearly not okay. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Baby shook his head, pulling back the tears he thought were spent and pulling away from his arms to leave. Romance had had enough. He held onto Baby’s head, keeping him firmly in place. His hands wrapped around Baby’s cheeks, carefully wiping away the tears as Baby jerked to be free. “I’m not letting you go. Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”

“He’s dead.” Baby whispered, going on the defensive as Romance’s face twisted into confusion.

“But… he was horrid.” Romance said as Baby burst into a half grieving half frustrated howl. “He tortured us!” Romance drew away, scared of saying the wrong thing.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Baby gabbled, “I’m sorry.” Romance pulled him straight back into another hug, pushing aside his pain for him. “Don’t cry, don’t cry,” He soothed, rocking him back and forth slightly. His hands clutched at Baby’s shirt, shaking as Baby’s shoulders curled forwards.

Baby quieted, sobs fading, tears drying. “I saw you dead Romance.” He whispered, “Dead. In the middle of the night.”

“Why?” Romance blanched, eyes dilating.

“I don’t know. I thought I’d lost you.”

“I’m right here Baby. I’m right here.”

“I know.” Baby leaned closer, and time moved jaggedly as Romance bridged the gap, frames cut out. Their lips pressed into each other softly, Romance’s hands creeping up Baby’s face, fingers winding into his hair as he lost his balance, toppled backwards with Baby’s lips still locked on his.

They broke apart when Romance hit the ground with a thud, and he looked straight into Baby’s eyes, an inch away from his, lit up from the moonlight. Romance pulled Baby closer and his lips were back on his, right where they belonged.

It was like a drug, a drug Romance was drunk on, drunk on soft blue hair and sweet blue eyes and soft sweet lips as he was pulled up and down on a sea of emotions, drowning in that mouth. He could feel Baby’s body pressed against his, could feel every sinew of muscle and flesh, could feel his body alight.

Eventually Baby broke away, breath heavy as he lay on Romance’s chest, heart going a hundred miles per hour. He coughed out a brittle laugh, “Father’s going to be so mad at me.Gay! Hah! He couldn’t even handle you being gay, let alone his prize son.”

“He’s dead.” Romance murmured absent mindedly, one hand rubbing Baby’s back softly. It was hard pretending he wasn’t on fire from Baby’s touch, like all he wanted to do was kiss him until the livelong days.

But he would take it slowly. Baby steps, at Baby’s pace.

He didn’t want to break something so perfect. So fragile.

“Gay!” Baby muttered to himself again, kissing Romance on the cheek and drowsing into sleep, “Gay.” Romance lay very still as Baby fell asleep on top of him, before gently lifting him back onto the sofa and resting on the air mattress. He replayed the moment again and again in his mind, lips tingling with a smile until the late hours, when sleep finally took him.

Chapter Text

The rain running down Baby’s face could be mistaken for tears, though he was all cried out. He held a single rose in his trembling hand, red as the blood that bled from the cuts of the thorns.

The Honmoon had led him here, early in the morning when the world was caught between night and day, the sky a washed out grey. He’d left the couch, lips still sore from last night, gaze lingering on Romance as he slipped outside. Baby had pulled on a black trench coat, following golden strands through the streets until he came here.

A simple white slate at the base of a tree, his name written in black on the stone. Baby gripping the rose tighter, thorns finding fresh skin, old wounds. Little drops of blood fell down, sinking into the soil. Baby shuddered, the rain soaking through his jeans, shaking with the cold as he stood over the grave.

Slowly, he cast the rose onto the foot of the stone, fingers releasing in with difficulty, locked in from the cold. His jaw tightened as he looked down at the grave, eyes cold. Murderer, torturer, manipulator.

How hard could it have been to love him right?

Look what he’d been turned into.

He patted the headstone, smearing it with blood. The red mixed with the water, swirls of colour bleeding into the rain. Then he walked away, coat drawn against the cold, wiping away the rain from his face with numb, bloody fingers.

Romance woke up, a sleepy smile lingering on his face as he replayed last night’s kiss. He reached up to the couch, expecting warmth and found an empty hollow. He pulled himself up onto the couch, blinking away the night from his eyes.

It was like the memories were crashing back on him, the tears, the hysterics. The subdued bitter reverie Baby had slipped into. He’d pushed it too far. Baby didn’t reciprocate at all. And now, after last night’s meltdown, he was gone.

What had he done?

Rushing to Rumi’s room, he pushed open the door to see them two cuddling. Nothing too bad, but the sight of their clear affection made him nauseous. A question was burning into his mind.

Where was Baby?

“Rumi!” He gasped, voice finally finding itself, and the two of them broke apart, “Baby’s missing.”

“What?” She gasped, jumping out of bed. Romance smirked at her pyjamas against his will before remembering, “Where the hell did he go?”

“Get Mira, I’ll go for Zoey.” He burst into Zoey’s bedroom, intruding on her carefully stroking a sleepy Mystery’s hair. She saw his panicked face, and put a single finger to her lips before padding outside, carefully shutting the door, “Shh, you’ll wake him.”

“Baby. He’s not here.”

“Oh crap! Where do you think he went?”

“I don’t- I don’t know.”

“I think-”

Rumi led Mira and Abby into the room, who’d kept things slightly less PG, evident by their slightly messy hair, and the lack of pants from both of them. Mira was wearing a too long flannel that came down to her knees, and Abby stood in his boxers.

“Where the fuck did that little bastard go? Bothering us all in the morning with his antics.” Mira masked her fear with anger, as she always did.

“Should we call the police?” Jinu asked.

“It could be a PR scandal. We haven’t even told Bobby about you moving in.”

“Or Celine.” Zoey reminded.

“Baby’s missing, probably dead, and you’re worried about a PR scandal?” Romance asked, voice high with indignation. He’d ruined everything, ruined it with his clinginess, reading into signs that weren’t there. He’d broken Baby.

“Well forgive us for having a successful idol career unlike you lot, but there! We can’t afford this, especially after all the conspiracy theories about what really happened in the Idol Awards!” Mira snapped, lashing out at Romance, gaze irritable.

He fell silent. This didn’t matter. None of this mattered. The first 24 hours were critical in any missing persons case, he knew that. He had to go find him, had to…

Where was Baby?

Unaware of the chaos he was unintentionally causing, Baby had teleported to a beach. A certain beach, a few hours away by van. The sand was a bitter beige colour, soggy by the rain and the sea was stormy, waves rising and falling with a vengeance. The sky was entirely grey, a miserable grey that promised to rain all day, and the sun was nowhere to be seen.

Same place. Different weather. Different person.

Baby walked onto the sand, shoes on this time as the wet clumps of dirt didn’t look particularly appealing. He looked up at the sky, face splattered by raindrops before gazing out to the horizon, to the edge of the land and sea.

This day, here in the sand, had been the final one, of hope and happiness before that was all swept away, stolen away by a man in a grave. He wasn’t so innocent back then, but he wasn’t jaded yet. Time hadn’t corrupted him, with cuts and scars that would never fade. If he let his eyes unfocus enough, he could almost see back in time. A happy boy capering on the beach, plunging in the sea. Happy days, happy days, happy days.

He could almost taste the bubblegum ice cream, swirls of blue and pink. Blue and pink. Baby and Romance. He had to go, had to let go.

But not today. Never today.

Some other time maybe.

Rumi was inwardly panicking, insides fluttering in a very unromantic way because her brother was missing. That little voice spoke, ‘Everyone you love leaves’, ‘You’ll never be enough for him, for anyone’, and ‘You pushed him to the darkness, and were too late to save him’, but she had to hold it back, because if she was panicking, Romance was a fucking mess.

His hair was completely dishevelled, eyes bloodshot and teary, fingers twitching like he wanted to do something, but he wasn’t sure what.

What were they going to do?

Zoey, Mira and Abby had gone to look, and they insisted Romance stay behind in case Baby came back. Except there was no way that Rumi was going to leave him alone. God knows what he’d do in this state. So Rumi had stayed behind, and Jinu had stayed too, to keep a level head on things. But with Mystery sleeping death off, it meant there were more of them at home than looking, and it bothered Romance. She could practically feel the waves off annoyance coming off him as he wrestled with the facts, the cold numbers that argued what they were doing made no sense.

“You need to-”

“We’re not leaving you Romance. You’re too…” Unstable? Lost? Stark raving mad? “Fragile.”

“It’s okay.” Jinu stepped closer to him, wrapping his arms around Romance from behind, “They’ll find him.”

“Well aren’t you just a care bear today?” Romance quipped, pushing Jinu away from him, “First Rumi, now me. It’s a shame that none of you care enough about Baby to go searching for him!” The words made no sense even as he said them.

Jinu stepped away, hurt. “We’re all just trying. And the last time we went looking for him, you know what happened. Maybe he doesn’t want to be found.”

“And he just left? Up in the air like that? After what happened…” Romance trailed off as he registered Rumi’s eyes on him.

“So, what happened?” She asked in a gossipy tone, interested, but also hoping to take Romance’s mind off ‘I’m going to kill everyone just to find him.’

“Well…” Romance hesitated as his inner gossipy self emerged. Jinu leaned in too, “It began at 2 am.”

A more apt word for searching would be bouncing around town helplessly, a sense of urgency growing with every second, though with no idea what to do. They checked the supermarket, were promptly ordered out to Abby’s bewilderment, had a couple of close encounters with fans and gone to their old apartment. They’d even had Abby check out the men’s bathroom while they stood watch. Mira had felt a pang of happiness in her stomach at his adorable, confused face as they ran from the manager.

Was this love?

She regretted yelling at Romance earlier, because she could see the same love in his eyes, the same mixture of affection and fear for a different person. A missing person.

The thought of Abby going missing didn’t sit well with Mira. Her head felt faint from the thought.

Thinking of which, it had been a while since he’d gone inside. Zoey was shifting from foot to foot, clearly impatient, and it was hurting to stand.

Wordlessly, they both walked inside, weapons raised against any potential threats. They scouted the rooms, hearing Abby’s faint voice call Baby’s name. “Abby!” Mira yelled, voice echoing, “He’s not here!”

For a second, she could have swore she saw water demons out of the corner of her eyes, slinking out of the floor. She ran into the room, itching to destroy them when she registered there was nothing there. Mira stood there for several seconds, her raging heartbeat slowing. Not now. Not again.

“Abby?” She called, voice slightly lessened, “Zoey?”

“Mira!” Called a voice, definitely Zoey’s. She’d know it in her sleep, “Where are you?”

“MIRA!” Yelled Abby, certainly louder, “COME OUT!” She stumbled towards the exit in a daze, straight into Abby’s arms. They were warm from the bathhouse, and held her up even as she felt her knees buckling.

“Just… need to eat.” Zoey shoved a sugar covered treat into her hands, and Mira gobbled it down, feeling marginally better. “You okay?”

“Mhm.” She pushed herself upwards, using Abby as support. “I’m fine. We need to find Baby.”

Baby stood there on the beach, some part of him linked to the memories here. He opened his mouth against the rain and laughed, peals ringing out against the sky and the sea. He’d won, he’d lived, he’d survived!

At what cost?

Chapter Text

Home. He had to go home.

Every drop of rain on his skin, every whisper of the sea was a reminder of home. He had to go home. He backed away from the beach, fleeing the past, memories turned hostile as he turned and ran. Slipping on the wet road, his jeans tore open, a massive graze scraping its way down his shin. Blood, grit and sand dripped from his leg as Baby looked downwards, wincing. His hands and chest were covered in grime, blood steadily dripping from his cuts and his leg.

Clenching them into fists, he teleported away, reappearing in the street. He landed on his feet, gasping as his left knee gave way and he tumbled to the ground. The rain had soaked his dirty hoodie, his hair, his skin, piercing all the way to his bones with hopelessness. His jeans clung to the wound, cold against his legs.

Pushing himself up, Baby limped to the Huntrix building, socks dyeing red, bloodstains on the door handle. He walked into the elevator, letting the door slide shut just as someone stuck a leg between the closing doors.

They slid open, and Mira, Zoey and Abby piled in, taking a second to recognize him.

“Baby? Holy shit, where the fuck have you been?” Mira exclaimed, face clear with relief before remembering to be pissed.

“Dude!” Abby exclaimed, “You can’t just disappear like that! We were so worried, we went looking for you!”

“I’m honoured,” Baby said in a dry tone, “Thank heavens you didn’t leave me to rot away in some kidnapper’s dungeon.”

“This is serious! You could have died.”

“What the hell happened to your leg?” Zoey asked, kneeling down. “Oh…” She winced.

“It’s- I’m fine, just fell.” Baby stuttered, pulling away.

“I feel like you’re not telling us everything.” Mira narrowed her eyes, “Who did this to you?” She asked, volume rapidly rising, “We’ll kill them!”

“Whoa, step by step!” Abby said, putting his hands on her shoulders, “Who did this to you?”

“I fell.” Baby carefully said, “In case it’s too much for your small minds to grasp, the road was wet, I was running, and I fell.”

“Oh yeah, he’s back.” Zoey groaned.

“Hmm…. Running from who?” Mira burst, ready with a new conspiracy.

“No one!” Baby said, exasperated, “You’re looking too hard into this. I fell.”

“And your hands?” Abby asked, pulling them out and inspecting the cuts before waving it in Mira’s face, “See these?”

Baby pulled his hand away, shoving it in his pocket, “I… fell?”

“Seriously?” Zoey crossed her arms, “And you’re calling us the small minded ones?”

“Look, it doesn’t matter. I’m fine.”

“Hah! Tell that to Romance.” Abby shook his head.

For the first time all day, Baby felt a pang of regret. “How is he?”

“Not great-”

“Absolutely losing his mind.”

“He’s going to eat you alive when we get back.” Zoey finished.

Baby looked down at his palms, “I guess I deserve it.” He finished mournfully, before looking up at them, nodding their heads.

“Seriously? Not a single one of you is going to disagree with me?” Baby asked indignantly. “This is a… a- a lover’s quarrel. Surely you guys have some advice on that?”

“I’m too scared of her to quarrel.” Abby mouthed while Mira gave him advice.

“Look, just go in there, apologise, listen to whatever he has to say and grovel your heart out. It usually works.”

“Since when do you grovel to Abby?” Zoey asked.

“With Jinu and Rumi.”

“Ahhh.” The three of them chorused, just as the lift hit the top. Slowly, they walked out, Mira leaning on Abby, Zoey dragging Baby out, as he begged to be spared.

“Spare me! Spare me!” He wailed as Zoey pulled him away from the handrail. The four of them walked into the living room where Romance languished, Baby at the very back.

Slowly, Romance raised his head, eyes locking straight onto Baby’s like he was the only thing that existed. That ever existed.

Rumi gasped with relief and Jinu frowned like he was waking up, hair still messy. Romance went straight for Baby, pausing in front of him, taking him in. Eyes trailing over every cut, every inch of skin and rain. Every strand of hair, and every fleck of green and gold in his eyes.

Say something. Anything.

Then he moved to the side, face kept perfectly impassive like Baby didn’t exist, walking straight into Mystery’s room.