Archive of Our Own

There are ley lines that cover the world, connecting to every human’s soul. Very few people are aware of its existence, but everyone has an equal part in giving it its power and in its very existence. The lines are powered by the soul, by the essence of humanity itself, which is why music is such a useful medium in bolstering it and healing it. 

The ley lines usually form a blanket, a shield, that wraps around the world, with no specific direction, just equilateral in how it lays. They glow in an iridescent rainbow around the world. 

The Honmoon. 

Now, though, the Honmoon has a specific direction. The lines, still connecting to every human, now spirals down to a specific location, the grand multitude of lines, starting to converge as they move down, down, down, until they enter a not-quite-penthouse apartment that contains five and a half demons and two and half humans. 

The lines come through the walls, curl around the room, tighter and tighter until they converge on the oldest demon lying in the center of a nest made of blankets and pillows. The lines enter this demon’s chest, not drawing blood or breaking skin, but going into the purest essence of this demon, right where a soul he must have once had resided. 

Mystery’s hands and clawing at his chest, where the Honmoon is passing through his skin. The other four demons are on the ground around him, and the three hunters are standing above them, glowing weapons drawn. Rumi has her sword, without even a waver in the blade, pressed right against Mystery’s chin. 

Mystery has to tilt his head to keep his throat from being punctured. Laying on the ground as he is, he’s forced to arch slightly. His lip curls up in a snarl even as his hands don’t stop clawing at his chest. 

“I didn’t do anything with the Honmoon,” he grunts in pain, “It did something to me.” As he speaks, another wave courses through him. One of his hands flings out to the side, fully outstretched, and slams palm down onto the floor beside him. The pain is immense and his hand curls, clawing into the ground and leaving deep gouge marks. 

Romance’s hands flutter over Mystery’s face, panicked and unsure of how to help. The other three aren’t faring much better, utterly lost as to what to do and even what is going on. They stay circling Mystery, slightly curled over his form as if they could protect him from the Honmoon and the Hunters. 

Baby’s the most forward of all of them. He’s in a half knee, ready to jump up, hands extended on either side with claws fully extended. He makes quite a vision of potential destruction in his platform shoes. 

He’s not grabbing Rumi’s arm yet, but he’s poised in such a way that it’s obvious that if she moves, he’ll move. 

Mystery groans and his eyes roll back in his head as another jolt of pain racks through him. Around them, the Honmoon is glowing ever brighter and iridescent as it flashes in time with the pain in Mystery’s body. 

“Stop it!” Rumi hisses, though she makes no move to strike.

“Nnghh… I’m not doing anything!” 

Rumi is incredulous, “Then why is the Honmoon in you?” 

Jinu answers her, “We don’t know what happened! We were just…” He trails off. 

Zoey leans back, tears in her eyes at seeing so much pain. Rays of light dance over her face and she walks over to the window, staring down at the city below, “Guys?” 

No one responds to her and Mira swings her glaive, “Let it go!”

Mystery is panting now with the exertion, “I can’t.”

The sheer desperation and pain on his face and in his voice has Mira and Rumi leaning back, doubt starting to creep onto their features. 

Abby takes this moment to fully focus on Mystery, “What’s going on? What’s it doing to you?” 

Mystery looks up at the youngest demon, “I don’t know. But I can feel it. I can feel all of it. And it’s-” Mystery has to cut himself off as more pain stabs through him. “-it’s pouring its power into me.” 

They all freeze and look at each other. What does that even mean? In these quiet moments, Mystery’s legs start to bend up, heels pressing against the ground as he tries to move away from the pain. His grunts of pain have started to turn into keening. In response to his pain, the wards that he and Abby had set around the room activate and glow. The pink and purple light of them competing with the rainbow of the Honmoon.

“Guys!” Zoey is insistent now. 

Everyone, sans Mystery, turns to look at her. She’s standing at the large windows, looking down at the city. Her face is aglow with an external light. Too bright for just what’s in this room. 

Rumi walks over to the window, leaving Mira with her weapon aimed at the huddle demons. Jinu also stands, slowly, Mira’s arms tracking him the whole time. He goes to the window as well and stares at the world below.

Mystery’s not paying attention to any of them. His whole focus is entirely on the fact that he is burning from the inside out. The Honmoon is coursing through his body, pushing through him like rushing blood. It’s hollowing him out, making his insides feel like they’re burning and freezing and being pulled out. He feels like electricity is sparking through him, arching bigger and stronger until he feels like his skin is going to fall apart. 

And then, and then, as if that wasn’t enough. As if that pain and his very essence being unraveled wasn’t enough, the Honmoon for whatever reason is filling him up with power. If it weren’t so painful he’d be confused, because why in the world is the Honmoon giving him power? 

He didn’t know it could do that in the fast place, and why him? He’s a demon, one of the most powerful demons to exist. He’s not being self-serving or overconfident when he says that he is the second most powerful demon in all of reality. 

Basically, he’s the antithesis to the Honmoon. And it was strange when it felt so inviting to him earlier, but giving him power? Making him stronger- too much, too strong- giving him such an intimate connection to the very thing he’s supposed to destroy? It doesn’t make any sense. 

If it could connect to someone like this, why not do it with one of the Hunters?

He knew the Honmoon was powered up by humanity and their souls, but he’s always thought of it as a think, as a solid piece of the universe that just passively existed. Like matter. But no it’s alive and it is power. It’s magic. It’s taken those souls, that humanity, and turned it into a force of reality unto itself.

The actual worst part about it though isn’t the pain. It’s not the fact that he’s being so overloaded that he feels like a bomb. It’s not that the Honmoon decided to just attack him for what feels like no reason. No, the worst part is that it doesn’t really feel like an external force at all. 

The Honmoon feels familiar. Like nostalgia. Like a memory he’s forgotten. 

And it’s not just that. 

It feels like the Honmoon is ripping the threads that make up his very existence apart only to weave itself into him as he comes back together. The Honmoon is more than just invading him; it’s becoming a part of him, and having him become a part of it. It’s diving through him, leaving no part untouched. 

Mystery’s nerves feel raw and his claws- oh, his form is starting to slip- pierce into his chest. Maybe if he pulls his skin apart and lets his blood spill free, the Honmoon will slip from him with all the open space. Compared to everything else he’s feeling, it doesn’t even hurt. 

Almost instantly, hands are on his, and it’s Romance and Abby, grabbing his wrists and keeping from scratching himself. 

It’s getting worse, the Honmoon is diving deeper, taking more and more and more.

Jinu, Rumi, and Zoey are staring at the city, frozen with wide eyes and disbelief on their faces as they stare at the whole of the Honmoon available to them. 

Mystery doesn’t see what they see. Mystery can’t even fully comprehend that they’re in the room with him at all at this point. What Mystery doesn’t see is the light of the Honmoon, the usual rainbow lines with pulses of blue from each human soul. Now though, the blue light of the souls gather, joining together in a single joined part of the Honmoon, gathering brightness and intensity. 

“I’ve never seen this,” Jinu breathes. 

“What is it doing?” Rumi asks, though no one knows the answer. 

It’s almost as if the gathering of souls reaches some sort of critical mass in the Honmoon. The glowing blue light glows so brightly that it almost illuminates the room like some sort of daytime, even though it’s gathering far in the buildings below in the center of the city. The light pulses and then shoots out, racing up the ley lines of the Honmoon all at once, shooting like a comet up to the apartment. 

Before anyone can react, before anyone can warn, that meteor storm slams into Mystery, just as the Honmoon dives deep into the part of him that stretches out of this reality and into the next. 

Mystery screams.

His back arches off of the ground and he loses complete control over the transformation and tears back into his natural demon form once again. His eldritch form writhing and flailing, slamming into the three demons and Mira next to him, sending them flying back. 

There’s no part of him left, it’s all the Honmoon, it has him, it completely has him. He can feel it all; the entire world, this entire reality, blocking the demon realm. All of the human souls that power it; all of humanity. It’s too much. He can’t handle it. He’s not supposed to handle it. 

His power overflows from him, because there’s no space left in him for it to stay. He’s going to crack.

The Honmoon bucks again and whatever it’s trying to do with Mystery fails. He can feel the wrongness of whatever happened, like a tendon rolling over a bone in a way that makes your skin crawl. Like the moments when your mind suddenly becomes aware of parts of your body that it’s not really supposed to feel. 

The ley lines snap, just outside of where they enter his chest, and the recoil has Mystery slamming back against the floor from his arched position. The ley lines retreat, bunching up, looking both wounded and almost like it’s gearing up to strike again. Mystery can’t move, the utter agony in his body is too much, but his powers react without thought. A wall of force and fire manifests in between Mystery and the Honmoon as he tries to curl up away from it. 

The Honmoon is also reacting negatively, flashing again in an almost desperate way. It’s almost like a wounded animal. The rainbow color starts to drain away from the jagged edges. 

“You broke it!” Mira growls. She quickly pushes herself up from where she landed on the ground. 

She summons her weapon again and stalks toward Mystery. 

Baby growls and pushes himself up too. It’s clear that he has no qualms with having a full-on fight right now. 

Then Gwi-ma- of course it’s Gwi-ma- takes advantage of the broken Honmoon. 

The shield isn’t completely gone, there’s almost like a film in between the broken pieces, held stable like surface tension of water. 

But the sheer raw power of Gwi-ma and whatever demons he’s trying to send through slams into that layer. Deep purple-red starts seeping into the Honmoon at those cracks, bleeding back up the ley lines and taking over that rainbow. 

“Oh no,” Zoey says. 

“Fuck,” Baby says at the same time, freezing in his tracks.

Fear presses into Mystery, sharp and cold and entirely in self preservation that he hasn’t felt in a long time. Gwi-ma will be… well, even furious is not a strong enough word, but sure Gwi-ma will be furious if he finds out that Mystery is still alive. 

And then, on top of that, daring to not return to him. 

Gwi-ma will never let him leave again. 

The shriek of Gwi-ma’s power slices the air as he claws against reality’s border. The Hunters rush forward, weapons drawn, and get into a fighting stance right at the breaks in the Honmooon. 

“This was their plan all along!” Mira shouts over the buffeting winds of power. 

“We didn’t do this!” Jinu shouts back. 

“Shut up,” Mira growls, “We’ll deal with you after we fix this.”

“Stop it,” Rumi says, “We need to fix the Honmoon.” 

“It’s a really bad breach,” Zoey says, “We might be able to fix it ourselves, but unless we can generate energy with the fans I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to close it.”

Purple fire shoots from the Honmoon, forming lines and seams along the weak film of its structure. The Honmoon itself looks like it’s shaking. Just a little bit longer and Gwi-ma will be able to whisper to them again. Will be able to reach them. 

The fire reflects on the fear apparent on all of their faces. 

“I thought your new Honmoon wasn’t breakable!” Abby practically yells. 

The Hunters don’t respond,  eyes sharp and their minds only able to process the mission. 

The noise is increasing, and the pressure is too. It feels just like when Mystery transformed yesterday, but so much more. The fire rises, the noise- the pressure increases until everyone in their room grits their teeth against it. Harsh winds buffet around the room, whipping around like sandpaper across everyone’s skin. It’s so loud. It’s too much. The wards that he and Abby put up earlier today glow in a bright constant glow- purples and red- an alarm to the catastrophe that’s about to happen.

Mystery can sense Gwi-ma getting closer, the Honmoon getting weaker, and fear unlike anything he’s ever known fills him completely. 

In the middle of all this noise and chaos, Mystery can hear the Honmoon, whining, crying, tucked in the back like a wounded animal. His heart hurts. 

The three Hunters step forward, standing in between the demons and the tear in reality. They stand side by side and start to sing, trying to use their own souls and energy to bolster the Honmoon. Normally, that would work, but this is more than just a wave of demons forcing themselves through. Oh no, no this is the ley lines actually snapped, the Honmoon itself having a large, gaping, open wound. 

They’ll need humanity, a large source of it, just like they needed when they created this new Honmoon in the first place. The three of their own souls are not enough. 

The barrier is still holding, Mystery can’t yet hear any whispers creeping into his mind, and he doesn’t feel Gwi-ma latching onto his soul, but it’s so close; he’s so close. 

Mystery is collapsed on the ground, the other four demons huddled around him. He tries to push himself up on his hands, but his muscles are too sore and weak, and they give out from underneath him. He collapses back down and Abby scrambles to pull him up to lean back against his chest. 

“Careful, careful,” Abby says. 

Jinu eyes are wide, unblinking, staring at the almost rift. His voice is soft and broken, “Gwi-ma… He’s going to come through.” 

The fear turns cold and acidic inside of Mystery. He can’t get up, his demons are kneeling around him, trapped with him, afraid with him. 

Mystery tries to call on his powers, to throw up a wall of darkness and force around the Honmoon to give some sort of added protection and time for the Hunters to decide what to do. 

His powers spark and start to form, but then a stab of pain shoots through Mystery. 

He cries out, short and high-pitched, and his hands scramble back to his chest in desperation. 

“Mystery!” Romance cries out. 

“What are we going to do?” Baby asks, “It’s going to break.” 

The Hunters pause in their singing, not seeing much progress as they turn to look at each other and the demons. 

“It’s not going to break. We’ll fix it,” Mira growls out. 

Zoey gives a desperate giggle, “How are we going to do that?”

Rumi lowers her sword, staring at the crack in the world’s shield. 

“We made the Honmoon,” She says, voice determined and strong, “We’re not going to let it break.” 

The room is filled with a sharp, screeching sound and the faint roar of the anger of demons. 

But the Hunter’s voice pierces through all that noise. There’s nothing to really fight at this moment. Nothing to hit or to cut. And they are good at fighting. The five demons in the room can attest to that very well. 

But as amazing of fighters that they are, that’s not where their true powers lie. That’s not really what they’re made for. 

They’re made to be the tuning fork of the music of all of humanity’s souls, powering them and funneling that energy and magic into the Honmoon. 

Their blades are only their secondary weapons. 

Those glowing weapons dissipate as they start singing again, voices wrapping around each other in beautiful harmony, resonating around the room. They don’t sing with words, rather just vocalizing wonderful chords and phrases. It’s a strong song, slower than their most typical and what Mystery would have expected. It’s serene. 

Even though their song usually comes with pain for Mystery and the other demons, the oldest demon can’t deny how beautiful their voices are. He’s always thought that. He’s always been jealous of that. 

It’s a battle then, although no one is really moving. Song versus scream as the Honmoon bucks and twists under Gwi-ma’s onslaught. 

For what feels like forever, but what is really only a few mere moments, the contesting powers seem even. Neither making progress toward breaking or resealing the Honmoon. Mystery can hear the Honmoon through the middle of the screams of rage and song. 

The Honmoon is crying out in pain. 

Mystery’s breath- the one he doesn’t need- hitches as an empty sadness and ache fills him. It’s not his own, but feels like it could almost be. 

He can’t fight back a noise as his eyes fill with tears. 

“The Honmoon,” Mystery gasps, “It’s in pain.” 

The Hunters don’t respond to him, but that’s not really surprising due to the noise in the room overlaying his soft gasp. 

The demons hear him though and the four of them look down at him. Their eyes are wild, darting, too much sensory input and too many threats in close proximity. 

Still, the apparent pain in Mystery’s voice is enough to have them focus away from all of that. If he had the mental capacity to really process it, Mystery would be in awe of how all of them give him their full dedication instantly. 

“It’s in pain?” Jinu asks, a note of disbelieving wonder in his voice, as if he never considered that the Honmoon could feel anything at all. To be fair, Mystery didn’t think it could either. 

Mystery nods, screwing his eyes shut, “It’s screaming in pain.” And it is, louder and louder and louder in his ears. 

“I don’t hear anything,” Jinu says. 

Mystery’s hands clasp at his ears as the volume starts to hit the point of pain, “It’s so loud.”

“The Honmoon is still messing with him,” Romance says, “If only he can hear it.” 

“Why is it addicted to Mystery”? Baby asks, “Why does it want him?” 

“I mean who doesn’t?” Romance mutters. Oh, if only Mystery’s whole body wasn’t racked in pain and exhaustion. He hears the words from Romance, but none of it registers. 

Abby gives him a look, “Yes, but the Honmoon isn’t supposed to do that!” 

Baby pushes forward through Romance and Abby’s discussion and grabs Mystery’s chin, tilting his head so they can make eye contact. Mystery can only keep his eyes open for a few moments at a time before they screw up tightly again with the pain.

Baby searches Mystery’s face, like he’s trying to find something that he can actually fix, “Is it still connected to you? Is it still hurting you?” 

Mystery gives a quick, single shake of his head, “No. But I can hear it.” 

The Hunters’ voices build up, the tempo increasing. They step forward, closer and closer to the Honmoon. Mystery can see the strain the effort is putting on the Hunters. The jagged edges of the Honmoon glow in that soul blue and the souls in the three women glow in turn. 

They’re making progress. They’re slowly pushing Gwi-ma back, allowing the Honmoon to slowly heal itself. 

But it wasn’t fast enough. 

Gwi-ma has near infinite stores of power, and the Hunters- as powerful as they are- are still only human. It’s not going fast enough. They’ll tire out before they can fully stop Gwi-ma in his desperation. 

Gwi-ma is throwing everything he has at the Honmoon. Mystery has only ever seen the Demon Lord this desperate once. 

When the Honmoon detached from him, the ley lines retreated far away and resumed its typical behavior of avoiding the demons and skirting around them instead of coming even slightly close to them. 

“This is bad,” Jinu whispers. 

“What do we do?” Abby asks, but it’s mostly just to the air rather than any of them. 

Mystery feels absolutely exhausted and hollowed out, but the Honmoon is in pain and Gwi-ma is coming through and he just wants it all to stop. 

He pushes himself up, pressing on Abby’s thighs to try and get to a sort of sitting position. His strong arms had loosened from how they were cradling the collapsed demon from the shock of the scene before them, but they try to grab onto him again now. 

“No, no, you need to be careful,” Abby hisses. 

Mystery ignores him, he needs to help. He needs the Honmoon to not hurt anymore. Everything is too loud, too bright, too fast. The room is filled with chaos and terror and reality itself is falling apart.

Mystery pushes through Abby’s arms and stretches his arm out. Abby grabs around Mystery’s waist as he goes and squeezes, trying to pull the oldest demon back. 

Mystery thrashes and fights, but he’s no match for Abby’s pure strength like this, but he squirms until Abby curses under his breath while trying to hold him. 

Mystery throws a hand out, working purely on instinct that he doesn’t understand, but it just feels right. 

“Mystery, don’t-” Baby says, just as he did at the bar. 

This time though, Mystery’s mind isn’t filled with the hypnotic fog of the Honmoon. He can’t deny the pull his mind feels, but it’s not all encompassing like it was just a little bit ago. He’s fully aware right now. 

He doesn’t want the Honmoon to attach to him again- that was wholly unpleasant and terrifying- and he steels himself against it. 

He can help. He doesn’t want the Honmoon to be in pain.

He’s in pain. His powers are raw and sparking, undulating between waves of too much and being absolutely weak. He stretches his fingers as far as they can go, stretching past the point of his extreme flexibility. 

The Honmoon bends toward him, lines twisting and moving in a desperate, feral way trying to get Mystery. The lines move like water rivulets following the trail of premade paths toward Mystery’s fingers and in a fast moment, the lines collide and snap with Mystery’s fingertips. 

The light flares and Mystery builds up his power as an offering to the Honmoon. He can feel the ancient magic trying to connect with him again, a primal urge that Mystery doesn’t understand. He can feel the Honmoon surging, wanting to overwhelm him and take him, make him one with in. An intimate part of the Honmoon. 

Mystery can’t deny the large part of himself that wants to give in.

Instead, he trembles, as the Honmoon brushes up against him. Not physically, but spiritually. 

Please don’t. Mystery thinks; he feels with every fibre of his being. It hurt me. I just want to help you.

He’s not sure if the Honmoon can hear him, or if it could even understand him, but it’s automatic in his mind to try and communicate with it. 

He feels a pang of sadness from the Honmoon; a pang of rejection and hurt and just not understanding. Mystery can feel the Honmoon wrap around him and it feels just like an embrace. 

He can feel how much the Honmoon yearns for him. 

But then, he can also feel the Honmoon flinch and whimper as Gwi-ma hurts it even more. He can feel those echoes in his own body. 

And then he can feel acceptance from the Honmoon. Agreement with his plea. And the pressure on his very being releases as the ley lines stop trying to merge with him. 

This all happens in less than a moment. 

As soon as that weight is gone, Mystery’s power surges in a wave. The wards he made earlier today flare up and shatter as the power used for them is ripped away instantaneously. Mystery pours everything he has into the Honmoon, hoping it will be enough. 

The Honmoon flashes brightly and even the energy in Rumi, Mira, and Zoey’s singing seems redoubled. It drinks his energy greedily and thoroughly and finally, finally, the broken edges of the Honmoon begin to quickly grow back together. 

In a few moments, and with a final shriek from Gwi-ma, the rip in reality seals and the Honmoon is whole once again. 

The buffeting winds stop, the shrieking noise disappears, and most importantly, that heavy, pressing weight is gone. The Honmoon retreats and disappears, gone to recover and to conserve energy. Mystery can feel it give him a final caress before it goes. 

Mystery is trembling, pretty much shaking, from where he is all bent and stretched from trying to get to the Honmoon. As soon as it all stops, Mystery collapses, boneless. 

Abby still has an arm around Mystery’s waist, but the older demon’s contortion has him in such a way that when he collapses his top half just collides with the floor. He can’t even pull his arm back, his muscles too exhausted to be controlled. 

He’s not on the floor for long though, because Baby is immediately moving, pulling him up and out of Abby’s grasp. Mystery is dead weight in his grasp and he can’t move, so he ends up half in Baby’s lap, collapsed into his chest. Mystery buries his head as well as he can into Baby’s collarbone. He’s still shaking, he can’t make himself stop, and a jolt occasionally goes through him from the aftershocks of what the Honmoon did to him. Every one of them makes his stomach roll. 

Baby wraps his arms around him and crushes Mystery to him. 

Mystery flinches and whines, but doesn’t move away, “Hurts.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Baby says, and his grip loosens, “Are you ok?” 

Mystery whines again, unsure of what the answer actually is. 

The Hunters are painting and covered in sweat as they turn back to the five demons. They don’t summon their weapons back. They stare at them- at Mystery- for a moment. 

Then Zoey says, “Did you just save the Honmoon?” 

Baby scoffs, “Obviously he did! You saw him give the Honmoon everything he had.” 

“Is that what happened?” Mira asked, but strangely enough Mystery doesn’t feel accused like he normally does when Mira talks to him. Maybe it’s because Mystery is only half aware of what’s going on around him, unable to even focus his eyes fully. Or maybe Mira is starting to trust that they’re not completely evil after all. 

Mystery groans and tries to peel his head back from the comfort of Baby’s chest. He manages to do so, but his muscles don’t have enough internal stability that he can’t actually maintain holding his head up. 

His head falls backward, until he’s looking at the Hunters upside down behind him. 

It’s uncomfortable, but it only lasts a second as one of Baby’s hands cradles the back of his skull and lifts it back up, holding him. 

Mystery relaxes into the grasp and his eyes flutter shut at the feeling of Baby’s fingers in his hair. 

“Just tell me what I have to do,” Mystery’s voice is soft and hoarse, “to make you believe us. Tell me and I’ll do it.” 

Baby’s hand tightens in his hair. For a second, Mystery loves that feeling, but then it becomes too much and Mystery gives a grunt of pain. Baby’s grip immediately loosens and instead his thumb sweeps back and forth on Mystery’s scalp. 

The three Hunters stand over the five demons. The eight of their lives are now forever intertwined and it’s still not clear whether or not it will be a relationship of allies or enemies. Maybe it always will be both. 

They look uncomfortable, shoulders stiff, fists clenched, and expressions looking like they smelled something disgusting. 

“We have always been taught,” Rumi says slowly, “that demons are evil.” 

The five demons don’t react. They don’t deny it. 

Jinu’s voice cracks, “We have done bad things. Horrible things.” 

“So have we,” Zoey responds.

Baby’s deep voice cuts through the air, “Have you killed anyone?” 

“No!” Mira answers quickly, almost automatically. 

Baby looks like he’s just proven a point, “We have. We’ve each killed a lot of people.” 

The Hunters look shaken as they look at each other. Then, without words, they set their shoulders and their gaze turns determined. 

“How many of you killed outside of Gwi-ma’s control?” Zoey asks. 

The demons are silent. Mystery doesn’t know how to respond even if he wanted to. His kills- his hundreds of kills, maybe even thousands- have all been under the command of Gwi-ma, but at some point along the way he stopped feeling bad about it. 

“Tell us what it’s like,” Mira says, “To be under his control.” 

The demons look at each other. Well, Mystery tries to at least, but his body just starts to tremble again. Baby presses gently on Mystery’s head, tucking his face into the crook of his neck. Mystery doesn’t even care that the Hunters are watching. He just buries his nose into Baby’s skin and inhales his scent. 

Mystery doesn’t want to think about Gwi-ma. 

Baby whispers to him, “Let me.” Then he raises his voice, “Gwi-ma leeches onto your soul. He drains you and makes it so you can’t exist without him. He whispers in your mind. Nonstop. Telling you about everything you’ve done wrong. Every mistake. Failure. Why we’re monsters. It never stops. He hollows you out until you can’t live without him.”

Mystery grabs onto Baby tightly as he talks. 

Baby continues, “He infests you so every nerve sparks to him. Every fiber is tuned to his pitch. And after your soul is trampled lower than dirt, he gives you orders. And if you try to ignore him, it hurts. Worse and worse until you’re begging for death. Until you’ll do anything he asks just to have the closest thing to peace we can ever feel.”

The silence is ringing when Baby’s deep voice goes quiet. Mystery has his face shoved in Baby’s neck. Romance, Abby, and Jinu all look pointedly away from everyone else. 

“It sounds like you guys didn’t have a choice in any of it. It was all Gwi-ma.” Rumi says. 

Baby growls, “Don’t get confused. We’re not good people. I’m telling you this so you understand that we mean it when we say that we don’t want to help Gwi-ma. We’re finally free of him. It’s in our best interest to keep the Honmoon sealed.”

The Hunters don’t say anything. Mystery can feel Baby tense under his arms. The oldest demon nuzzles into the young one, trying to keep him as calm as possible. 

He’s honestly expecting them to push them to push the issue. To not let the topic go until they wring out every little avenue of their pain and their lives. Maybe even going so far as to make them all reveal their reasons for becoming demons in the first place. Their shame. Then maybe, once they have everything, once they have all of that out there and exposed, then maybe they will finally believe that while they aren’t good people, they desperately don’t want to destroy the Honmoon. 

But that’s not what they do. 

It surprises Mystery when Mira asks, “So what happened at the bar?” 

“We’re not really sure,” Jinu says, “We were just dancing. But as the night went on, something started to happen to Mystery.”

Mystery makes a noise in the back of his throat. He hates being talked about. He hates that there’s about to be a discussion about what happened to him. He hates that it’s necessary. He gets it. He knows that it needs to be discussed, that whatever happened needs to be figured out so it never happens again. 

But he still hates it. 

Baby gives him a reassuring squeeze. 

Mystery is not ready to talk yet, which Romance picks up almost immediately. 

He reaches over and Mystery feels his fingers slide into his hair alongside Baby’s. The way his nails scratch against his skull is both comforting and makes his eyes roll back in his head. He’s glad his face is hidden in Baby’s next. It would be Not Good if the other demons saw how much he enjoyed it. They’d probably be disgusted. 

“You started acting almost… drunk” Romance directs his recollections to Mystery, rather than talking about him to everyone else in the room. Mystery appreciates it. In an odd way, it makes him feel like he has some modicum of control over the situation. 

“I didn’t know demons could get drunk,” Zoey says. 

Abby answers, “It takes an insane amount of alcohol. Mystery wasn’t drunk. He had maybe two or three shots.” 

“I wasn’t drunk,” Mystery finally says. 

Romance strokes his hair, “No, you weren’t, but something lowered your inhibitions. Can you remember what happened?” 

Ok, it’s finally time. Let’s get this over with. Mystery leans back. He keeps his arms draped over Baby’s shoulders and stays in his lap. He’s grateful that both demons keep their hands in his hair. 

He turns to the Hunters and he can see in their eyes that they’re trying. He can still taste their fear in the air between them. It’s not as strong as it was yesterday- God, was that only yesterday? So much has changed in one day-, but it’s still very present. 

More relevant, he can see the slight confusion in the women’s eyes as they look at them. He can see how their eyes linger on Baby’s and Romance’s hands in his hair. The way his own arms are around Baby’s neck. The way he’s sitting fully in Baby’s criss-crossed lap. Abby and Jinu aren’t touching him or the other two, but Mystery can sense their closeness. 

He can see the confusion about this display in their eyes. The questions that they want to ask. The intimacy that they don’t understand. 

“I started focusing on the music,” Mystery says, “I was trying to relax.” 

“Relax?” Mira asks. 

“I’m not good with crowds,“ Mystery says and as he does he kind of… disconnects with his brain a bit. If he has to answer fully and honestly, he doesn’t want to be present all the way for it. He wants to give the answers, and this is the only way he can actually do that. 

“And I was trying to… dance, “ Even with the disconnect he’s forced in his mind, he can’t stop the blush on his grey-demon skin. He knows that it gives his cheeks an odd tinge of purple. He keeps going, “like everyone else was. I’m not really made for… being like that.” 

He can feel Baby tense underneath him; can practically taste the anger the younger demon is feeling. Mystery fights back a wince, what did he say that made Baby angry? Was it the reminder of how not built for things like that he is? The it was only whatever the Honmoon did to him that made him be able to act like that. 

Is Baby disappointed in him? Is he not enough? 

His patterns flash, but he ignores it because duh, obviously he’s not good enough. He never is. 

“Being like what?” Rumi asks. 

“Without care,” Mystery says. 

“Sensual as hell,” Abby says quietly. 

The blush absolutely erupts over Mystery’s face and he can see the same happen to the faces of the Hunters in front of him, obviously not mentally ready to think of one of their mortal enemies in quite that light. 

Romance reaches with his free hand and covers Abby’s mouth. 

“When I focused on the music,” Mystery continues, “The Honmoon started reacting. Glowing brighter, dancing more. It was reaching out to me. I could feel it in my mind. And it felt good. It felt like a fog in my mind. The music made me feel alive, and I wanted to chase that feeling.” 

And it had felt so deliriously good. Being pressed so close to the other demons, his chest tightly against all of theirs. His arms stretched above his head. Their hands grabbing him all over the place, but most amazingly on his waist. Gripping him so tight that he can almost still feel their fingers on his skin. 

His body rolling against theirs… he’s never felt anything like it before. Ever. He felt utterly possessed by them. 

He wants more. 

He can’t have more. 

“The Honmoon liked it,” he says, “Like the way the music- it- was making me feel. It felt like it wanted to make me feel more. And the more I connected to it, the better it made me feel and in turn, the Honmoon became stronger and… happier. I wanted to get closer to it. I could tell it wanted to get closer to me.” 

As he talked, one of his arms slipped from around Baby’s neck and he clutched at the fabric of his shirt on his chest. 

“It sounds like a really extreme version of how the Honmoon reacts to us,” Zoey says slowly. 

“We were recognized,” Jinu says, “And they started playing Soda Pop.” 

“I was enthralled,” Mystery admits, “I was already addicted to the other music and the dancing. I couldn’t stop myself. I didn’t want to stop.” 

“When Mystery started singing the Honmoon went wild,” Romance says, “It started swirling around him and it was the brightest I’ve ever seen it.” 

“Then what happened?” Rumi prompts. 

“The Honmoon usually avoids getting near us,” Mystery explains, “but it was circling around me. It was so close to me. And it was calling to me. I was calling to it.” 

His eyes glaze over and unfocus on the Hunters as he recalls the way it all felt, “I couldn’t resist it. The Honmoon wanted me. It was pulling me in and I reached out.” 

“You touched it?” Mira asks. 

Mystery’s eyes snap back to them, “Yes.” 

“The Honmoon attached to him,” Baby continues, “like a leech and tried to…” He trails off, unable to explain what he doesn’t understand. 

Only Mystery can, barely, “I don’t really know what it was trying to do, but it felt like it was trying to become one with me.” 

The silence between the eight of them is heavy. Romance finally drops his hand from Abby’s mouth. 

Finally, Rumi says, “But why would it do that?” 

“I don’t know.” 

Mystery expects them to accuse him again, but surprisingly they turn inquisitive instead. 

“I didn’t know the Honmoon could just connect with someone, but I would have assumed that the Honmoon would only be weakened by connecting to a demon.” Rumi says. 

“But we saw it. For a little while the Honmoon was the brightest I’ve ever seen!” Zoey argues. 

Rumi turns back to Mystery, “And the Honmoon has never done anything weird to you?” 

Mystery is already shaking his head, “The only time I have ever interacted with the Honmoon is to tear through it from the demon realm. And that was only rarely. I usually went through the tears others have made.” 

Mira doesn’t react to that, but asks an additional question, “The five of you are all really old. Have you ever heard of the Honmoon doing anything like this at all? To anyone?” 

Abby snorts. Mystery can’t help the small smile that crosses his face, it was almost a comfort for Mira to joke like that. To call them old in a teasing way. To poke fun. Maybe… maybe this could actually work out? 

The other demons are shaking their heads, but they all know he’s the best one to answer, “I was here before the Honmoon was created. It has never done anything like this.” 

The stunned silence is expected. Even from his- he really needs to stop calling them that- demons. They knew that he’s been alive for a long time, but Mystery knows that none o f them guessed quite that long.

Mira recovers first, “You’re older than the Honmoon?”

“Yes.” 

Zoey’s eyes sparkle with awe and admiration as if meeting a celebrity, “Did you see it get made?” 

“Maybe we wait until after he’s recovered a little before we bombard him with even more questions than we have to?” Rumi asks gently. 

Oh, that’s kind. Plus, Mystery can already see Zoey looking apologetic for letting her excitement get away from her. It’s quite sweet that they’re taking how much of a strain this is on him into account. He sees all of this, but his mind is already falling away, back to the past when the Honmoon must have been created. 

He can’t remember. 

It’s not uncommon for memories to just slip away from Mystery. But this one feels different than just forgetting somehow. His head pangs as a headache starts to form, and he frowns. He knows that he saw it come into being; he knows that he did, but he can’t remember a single thing about its formation. 

He remembers the first Hunters. He remembers seeing them, their faces and voice, but everything in his mind from that time just fades into emptiness. 

Why can’t he remember?

And why does he feel so sad about it? 

Like he lost something very important to him. 

Oh. 

He’s crying. 

The Hunters are looking at him with horror, but not the kind Mystery is used to. He can see it in their eyes. They didn’t realize that demons could cry. 

To be fair, Mystery hasn’t cried in a very long time, but he does so now, tears slipping down his cheeks. 

He keeps his voice steady though, “I don’t remember.” 

“Mystery?” Baby’s voice is the softest he’s ever heard it. 

Romance speaks before Mystery can, “Do you believe us now? We’ve answered your questions. We don’t want to help Gwi-ma come back. Mystery was attached and hurt. Please, can you just let us take care of him? We can help you more. But later.” 

Rumi, Mira, and Zoey look conflicted. And guilty. 

Mystery expects them to refuse, to keep pushing and pushing until they have absolutely everything they might need in order to figure out what’s going on. But instead, again, they surprise him.

“Yea, ok,” Mira says. Her voice seems uncaring and unaffected, but her expression speaks otherwise. 

“We’ll try and find out what we can,” Rumi continues, “and let you all know.”  

“Feel better, Mystery,” Zoey finishes. 

The three Hunters leave, in an almost anticlimactic way after everything, but still regal and powerful as they are. 

Romance is immediately scooting closer, moving his hand from Mystery’s hair to instead cup his cheek, thumb sweeping over the tear tracks he finds there. 

“Darling,” he says, “are you ok?” 

“I’m fine,” but even as he says those two words, a fresh falling of tears escapes his eyes. 

Romance coos, “Come now, darling. Let’s lay down. Would you like that? We could get comfortable here in the nest, or back in my bed. Whatever works best for you.” 

Mystery is too tired and in pain to try and hide how much he wants this. How much he needs it. He’ll regret being so obvious later- once they find out how much he really wants them, they’ll leave- but he feels like he’s about to shatter into atoms. 

“Here,” he says.

The syllable is barely out of his mouth before he’s being moved. Baby scooches back, bringing Mystery back with him. They both just collapse onto their sides in the middle of the blankets and pillows. 

Now that the Hunters are gone, the Honmoon has retreated, and there’s finally some modicum of stillness, it all rushes back to Mystery. He trembles hard enough that his teeth chatter and the blankets and pillows shake with him. The tears won’t stop flowing. 

He’s been through horrible things; he’s been in so much pain over the centuries and he’s always been able to pull himself together and push it all aside. 

But this? He doesn’t understand what’s going on with his body and mind. He hurts, oh he hurts, and he’s empty and raw and lonely and sad and

and

and

and

everything is wrong. 

Baby is pulling him close again, tucking his head under the younger demon’s chin. He twines their legs together as Mystery shoves his face into Baby’s sweater. Baby’s hand cards through the silver hair. With Baby wrapped around him like this, Mystery almost feels like the younger demon is holding him together. 

“You’re ok now,” his deep voice rumbles, “You’re ok.” 

Mystery is not ok. He shakes his head, unable to form words. 

“What do you need?” Romance asks in a whisper, “What can we do to help you?” 

“Do you need blood?” Abby asks. 

Mystery shakes his head again, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”  He repeats the words. 

“Shh…” Baby tries to soothe. 

“Can you talk to us?” Jinu asks, “Tell us what’s going on? It’s ok if you can’t.” 

Mystery finds that he actually can speak surprisingly, and he does so now into the soft fabric in front of him, “Nothing new. But it feels wrong. Awful.”

“It’ll get better,” Romance promises. 

Mystery isn’t sure he believes the pink-haired demon, but he doesn’t want to be contradictory. Instead, the confusion erupts as he tries to grapple with what happened. He whines, “Why did it do that?” 

“I don’t know,” Jinu answers, “But now that we know that it can, we can prepare for it.” 

Part of Mystery feels absolutely embarrassed and mortified by his behavior. He’s acting weak and vulnerable and useless and pathetic. It’s disgusting quite honestly. He has intense power, he shouldn’t be shaking in fear because of this. Things fear him. He shouldn’t be seeking comfort.

The shouldn’t be the ones protecting him. 

“Hey,” Baby gives him a bit of a squeeze, “I can feel you being stupid.” 

Jinu gasps, “Baby!”

“He’s judging himself,” Baby defends, “Thinking he’s not good enough again.” 

Mystery would glare at Baby if he had enough energy to do so. 

Abby nuzzles in behind Mystery- he always seems to end up there doesn’t he- and presses his nose behind Mystery’s ear. The bigger demon is so warm and until that moment, Mystery didn’t realize how cold he was. 

“Now, why would you be thinking a silly thing like that?” Abby practically purrs. 

Mystery is sandwiched between the two demons, and despite the embarrassment and shame he was- and still is- feeling, he finally starts to feel safe again. 

“Here, let me just,” Baby says. He raises an arm and waves it around them in a slow arc. His power flares and solidifies, rising from the ground in a circle around them. It raises up, a soft, glowing pink light, up and over them until they are completely enclosed by a dome.

Abby stretches his hand out to touch the wall of the dome and a few moments later his wards start to scrawl over the glowing surface. Mystery can feel it when the wards activate, giving the feeling of separation- a boundary to the rest of the world. Jinu and Romance reorganize the blankets and pillows for the more circular shape. 

“There,” Romance says, “Nothing is getting in now.” 

Mystery finally peels his head back from Baby’s chest and looks around the safe haven that they’ve created for him. He can see tension in Baby’s and Abby’s forms from using more of their powers. 

“You shouldn’t waste your energy,” Mystery says. 

“Not a waste,” Baby responds. 

“When you’re better,” Abby continues, “We know you’ll top us off.”

“Can you try to use your powers?” Jinu asks. 

Mystery instinctively reaches for something- anything- and tries to create a ball of fire in his hand. A spark appears, but then Mystery’s hand spasms as pain courses through his body. He snatches his hand back against his chest and slams his eyes shut as he tries to breathe through it. 

After a moment, it dulls down to a more manageable pulse and he can finally respond, “No, I have nothing left.” 

“The Honmoon took everything?” Jinu asks. 

Mystery is already shaking his head, “No it gave me power. More than I’ve ever felt. But I gave it everything so it could fight off Gwi-ma.”

“Are you going to be ok?” Abby asks. 

Mystery nods, and knows that it’s only because of his demons that he feels as safe and stable as he does now, “I just need to regenerate my power.” 

And absolutely go nowhere near the Honmoon again, but he doesn’t say that part out loud. 

“Will you be able to do that without the demon realm?” Romance asks. 

Mystery knows why he asks. For them, they wouldn’t be able to recover from such an intense power drain without being back in their realm. 

“I’ll be ok,” Mystery says, “I don’t need the demon realm.” 

The four of them visibly look relieved. Mystery tries not to squirm under the weight of their gaze. 

“I can’t imagine that,” Abby says, “Not needing the demon realm.” 

“Well, as we found out today, Mystery is older than the Honmoon itself. Of course he’s powerful enough that he doesn’t need the demon realm.” Baby says. 

Mystery tries to glance at Baby out of the corner of his eye. Is the younger demon upset? And if he is because Mystery is that old or because he didn’t tell them?

“God, yea,” Abby says, “I can’t imagine that either. Being older than the Honmoon.” 

“We didn’t realize you’ve been around for so long,” Romance says. 

Mystery doesn’t know what to say, “I’m sorry.”

“No,” Romance responds, “You just amaze us is all.” 

Mystery blushes purple in his demon skin. The rest of them are still in their human forms, but right now he can’t transform to join them. Honestly, his eldritch parts are too big to really fit in the dome, his too many arms-wings-claws-eyes curling up the walls of it. He feels completely encompassed and covered by the four other demons. 

He loves it. 

He flops his head back down on Baby’s chest, “Transform?” 

He feels Baby chuckle and in the next moment, the younger demon changes into his natural form. Seconds later the other three do as well. 

Mystery reaches out to brush Jinu’s check at the sight of their leader transforming with no hesitation. “Thank you.” 

Jinu smiles, “You’re welcome.” 

Mystery relaxes and closes his eyes, focusing on the cores of the demons around him. It’s comforting to sense their power around him. Like a balm on his open wounds.

He sighs. 

“Would it help if we give you some of our power?” Jinu asks. 

Just thinking about it sends a wave of alarm through Mystery and his eyes pop open, “Don’t! I’ll generate it on my own. You four need to keep your own.” 

“We just want to help you feel better,” Abby says. 

“This is helping me,” Mystery gestures around him. Or tries to at least, he manages to lift his arm with a short movement, but it flops back down from exhaustion. 

The four don’t argue, knowing that this is one battle that they won’t win. 

They all slowly relax together, moving until they all pile in the dome with Mystery somehow at the center. He tries to sink into the feeling and just focus on putting more time between him and the Honmoon. 

He’s about to drift off when a finger trails down his arm. He jolts and looks up to see Romance on his side next to him, one finger trailing down from his shoulder. 

Mystery is still in the clothes he wore to the bar- they all are- and it’s weird to wear clothes like this when he’s not pretending to be human. His eyes are locked onto Romance’s finger as it trails over the fabric. He dolts again when Romance goes over the tears in the sleeves and over his bare skin. He keeps the touch light as his fingertip crosses between flesh and fabric. 

By the time Romance’s finger has reached his wrist, Mystery is trembling. He can’t take his eyes away from Romance’s finger, but he can feel the weight of the other three staring as well. Romance’s finger trails back up, letting his nail catch on every edge of the fabric. When the pink haired demon gets to the opening right at the swell of Mystery’s bicep, he stops his treacherous trail and just moves his finger in a circle on Mystery’s skin, tracing the edge of the fabric’s gap. 

It sends the sensation of ice-fire through Mystery’s body. 

“I was right,” Romance says, his finger making another slow circle on Mystery’s bicep, “This shirt looks amazing on you.” 

Mystery stares at his own arm, at the way the long sleeve clings to his muscles, at the way the eye shaped holes are just tight enough that the edges press a little into his skin. 

Romance makes another circle as he continues, “It really adds to the image of your name. It’s tight enough that I can see how strong you are. The long sleeves keep you covered up. But these tears just tease with the skin that it shows.” 

His claw scratches at Mystery’s skin and the oldest demon inhales sharply at the feeling. Romance finishes, “A mystery.” 

Mystery tries to control himself, but his voice is breathy as he says, “You’re being ridiculous.” 

He’s surprised when the rest of the demons all scoff to some degree to his words. 

“Ridiculous?” Baby shakes his head. 

Romance tuts, “I don’t think you understand, Mystery. You are addicting to us.” 

He leans closer as he says it, and for a split second Mystery thinks- hopes- that the pink haired demon is about to kiss him. He’s not at all surprised by how much he wants it. He’s been well aware of how his attraction to them has grown, even if he tries oh so desperately not to think about it at all. For years he’s been able to push it away and ignore it, but he can’t deny it.

He knows it’ll never happen. 

Mystery, selfish as he is, can’t make himself pull his arm back. He doesn’t deserve what Romance is making him feel, but it’s so good, especially after so much pain and he wants it so much. 

He can’t pull away physically, but he does tear his eyes away as he says, “It’s just my power. You can’t help it.”

Romance chuckles, but Jinu surprises them all by talking before the pink haired demon can. 

“I know you really think that,” their leader says, “that you’re somehow influencing us with your power.” 

“Because you’re an idiot,” Baby cuts in, just off to the side. 

He gets glared at, not by Mystery of course, but no one disagrees with him. 

Jinu continues, “But I can think of at least two things that prove you wrong.” 

The demons move, almost in sync, almost like they practiced and Jinu swaps places with Romance. The pink haired demon keeps up the teasing stroke on that tortured patch of Mystery’s skin. Jinu reaches forward, grabbing Mystery’s chin gently and turning his face so they make eye contact.

“But first,” Jinu says, “If you can’t handle talking right now. If you just need to rest, we can talk later. We want you better first. Everything else can wait.” 

Mystery looks around as best as he can. At the dome. At the blankets and pillows. At the other demons around him. At Romance’s finger making circles on his skin. 

The moment feels heavy. The air is thick and Mystery feels as if he can hardly breathe, which is distressing in a different way since he technically doesn’t need to. He wants both to run away and to never talk about this again and to never leave this moment.

The idea of whatever happens next terrifies him. 

But he can’t make himself give it up. 

He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t tell Jinu to stop. He just waits. 

Jinu smiles. 

“Well first,” he says, “Gwi-ma was much more powerful than you are. And even though he was our Tether to the human world, we definitely weren’t addicted to him. He didn’t make us feel what you make us feel. We didn’t want him like we want you.” 

Mystery can’t fully process that. He just continues to stare.

“Second,” Jinu continues, “Your core is barely a flicker right now. You’re effectively powerless and yet we still feel exactly the same.”

Mystery frowns, “It’s not that simple.”

Jinu sighs, but it’s full of patience and if Mystery didn’t know any better he would say adoration. He leans in close. Close enough that Mystery can feel his unnecessary breath on his face. Mystery’s eyes flick back and forth between Jinu’s beautiful eyes and his lips. Beautiful and not destroyed like Mystery’s lips by his own tusks. 

Romance’s fingers haven’t stopped their movement, and now it makes Mystery squirm against Baby. 

They’re close, they’re all so close. Mystery can smell Jinu, and he wants him, oh how he wants him, and some tiny, squashed, hidden portion of Mystery all of a sudden dares to hope. 

He feels like time and space is on a precipice right now. Between this second and the next, everything feels charged with the potential of change. 

And why not? Life has quite literally been hell for millennia and it’s been especially painful recently. Maybe with their freedom, it’s finally time that the Universe will allow him to have something he wants. 

Jinu leans closer. 

Is he about to kiss him? 

Then another remnant wave of pain hits Mystery and he grunts as his body arches trying to escape. It passes relatively quickly, but it leaves him panting and shaking again. Jinu pulls back with concerned eyes and that hurts more than the pain that just went through him. 

The moment before passes. 

Jinu gives a small smile, “We shouldn’t be pushing you right now. You need to rest and we need to be patient. I’m sorry.” 

Mystery desperately wants to tell him to not be sorry and to keep going, but he doesn’t. Because his pain-raddled mind was probably reading too much into it. Jinu wanting to kiss him? Absolutely ridiculous of him to even entertain that notion. 

Jinu was just leaning closer to check on him, because he’s a good leader. That’s all it was. Is.

Right. 

“Can you promise to think about what I said though?” Jinu asks, “To try and believe that we really do care about you?”

Myster wants to say no. He knows that if his patterns weren’t already so bright from earlier, that they would be flashing now. 

Instead he nods. 

Jinu smiles, “Good. Now rest.”

… 

When Mystery wakes up the dome is gone. Not that he’s surprised. It’s not a small amount of power to continuously maintain a shield, especially while sleeping. 

They’re not in a pile like they were when they woke up yesterday. After the shield dropped they must have all spread out. 

It’s a little weird not to wake up not completely wrapped up in someone’s arms. 

Once again he’s laying on his stomach, face tucked into crossed arms. He doesn’t move as he extends his inhuman sense around him. It’s like a warm presence in his mind, pinging on his awareness and giving him a sense of where the other demons are around him. They flicker like flames and he lets the warmth wash over him. 

He’s feeling better, less raw, his body doesn’t feel like it’s about to shatter into pieces. 

He slowly pushes himself up and smiles at the sight of the demons sprawled around on the floor. They’ve really done so much for him; he doesn’t understand it, but then again they’ve always protected each other as well as possible over the years. 

But right now there’s nothing more they can do for him. They held him together, they kept him from dissolving into panic and fear, but now he just has to put himself back together. The faster he does it, the faster he can be helpful again. 

He glances out the large window, the Sun is just starting to come up. It’s beautiful and his skin tingles with the aching desire of the warmth. He loves the Sun. He always tries to spend time in it when he can, but Gwi-ma made sure to only send him on missions at night when he figured it out. This whole plan of Jinu’s was the first time he had seen the Sun in decades. 

It’s irresistible now and he teleports up to the roof of their very tall building. 

He stumbles as he lands, still extremely weak. It might not have been smart to teleport, but he just wanted to get up here without disturbing everyone or alerting the Hunters. 

The Sun’s rays paint down on him, casting a glow and that amazing warmth on his skin. He tilts his face up to bask in it, taking deep, unnecessary breaths. He stretches fully out, spiralling and infecting the air around him with semi-solid darkness. If he were fully corporeal, he knows that he would be casting quite a large shadow. 

He shakes out his arms and then picks up his feet from the roof and starts to float. He sits criss-cross midair, rests his hands on his knees, and lets his eyes slip shut. He focuses inside., to the very core of his being, the part that is slick and dark and cold like oil, the ever churning reactor that powers his being.

He meditates on it, trying to build his power back up like stoking a fire. He focuses on healing. He doesn’t open his eyes, but he can feel a breeze start to pick up and circle gently around him. Mystery bites his lips- a nasty habit of his since his lips are always cracked from being wrapped around his tusks- and concentrates at keeping that breeze at a constant speed. 

He tries very hard not to let himself get so depleted in power. He can count on one hand the number of times it has happened to him. It leaves him quite vulnerable, and the weaker he is the less protection the other demons have. Even scarier than that is of course Gwi-ma, any time he senses that Mystery is weak, he always messes with him even more. 

The only thing to recover power is time. Peaceful time. Something which he doesn’t normally have. The last time he was like this was after the ice age Gwi-ma created, although at least then it was just exhaustion and not the added layer of pain and the feeling of his nerves being turned inside out from the Honmoon. 

…

Their current home is next to one of the random rock spires that stabs out of the ground of the demon realm like a spine. There were multiple other little pods of demons around them, only the strength of Baby’s glare is giving them some semblance of privacy. 

There’s a storm brewing overhead and the temperature has dropped so much that their teeth are starting to chatter. 

“Gwi-ma is making it really cold,” Romance says, wrapping himself in a self-hug. 

A brief urge shocks its way through Mystery. The urge to wrap the pink haired demon up in his arms and tuck his head under his chin. It’s an urge that Mystery does not understand. It’s something he’s never felt since becoming a demon.

They have a fire between them, but it’s doing next to nothing to the brisk, cutting air that’s whipping around them. 

“Has Gwi-ma been more upset than usual?” Abby asks Jinu.

Jinu frowns, “Not that I could tell.” 

Mystery doesn’t say anything and the other four don’t think to ask him, which is good. That’s exactly how Mystery wants it. But it’s moments like these where it weighs heavier on Mystery than normal. Moments where he could answer, where he could explain, and it would all make sense. 

But he doesn’t. 

He tucks his head into his knees, his tusks feeling like they’re going to brittle into dust from the cold. 

Gwi-ma slips into his mind like tar; Mystery forces himself not to physically react. 

Gwi-ma’s voice is dry and not filled with the playful gloating that it normally is.

“Two thousand years,” Gwi-ma says in his mind, “Can you believe it? I’ve been thinking about how to celebrate.” 

“Stop it,” Mystery thinks back. 

“It baffles me that after all this time you still think you can give me orders.”

Mystery’s fingers bite into his knees.

“I’m not.” Mystery thinks. 

“You have gotten way too comfortable. Even going so far as to dare to have friends. If you could even call them that.”

Mystery doesn’t respond, but Gwi-ma can feel how his words affect the silver haired demon. 

“You know that they don’t. Especially if they find out who you really are. Should I tell them your real name?” 

A hand touches his back, and Mystery jumps, lashing out. Jinu jumps back, narrowly dodging Mystery’s claws. 

Mystery snatches his hand back, mortified at his actions. He usually has better awareness and even when he doesn’t he usually has better control over his reactions. 

“Are you ok?” Jinu asks. 

Mystery nods, “It’s just cold.”

Gwi-ma’s voice sings in his mind, “Lies. Lies. Lies. Always lying. Always denying me.”

“Hopefully, Gwi-ma gets over it soon,” Baby says. 

“A gift for two thousand years,” Gwi-ma says, “Enjoy the cold. Let’s see if you can keep this family alive.”

Mystery’s mind clears of Gwi-ma’s presence and instantly the storm above them picks up. Rain dumps on them as the temperature drops even further, turning the water almost instantly into sleet. 

“What’s going on?” Abby yells over the chaos. 

Mystery glances around and sees all the panic in the demon’s faces around them. He can see the ice building and layering up on the ground. 

“Ice age,” Mystery says. 

Frost is already building on their skin, cracks forming and breaking from the abrasive torment. 

“This sucks, this sucks, this sucks,” Baby chants. 

“How are we supposed to survive this?” Romance asks, “Is he trying to kill all of us?” 

Mystery growls and the four of them snap their eyes to him. Mystery sweeps his arms down and then up from his curled position. From the ground, black, semi-solid power rises, up and over, making a dome that Mystery doesn’t know will inspire Baby to make for him in a few centuries. The dome seals around them, protecting them from the impact of the harsh wind. He flicks his hand and the fire between them grows stronger. 

The other four all relax. Baby signs, “That’s much better.” 

Jinu looks at Mystery, “Is this a strain on you?” 

Mystery shakes his head, but he can already feel the oppressive force of Gwi-ma pressing down on him, trying to make him break. 

“Just how long do you think you can keep this up?” 

Mystery ignores the demon king and instead answers Jinu, “I’m fine.” 

…

“-stery?” 

Mystery was not expecting a voice to find him, and he especially wasn’t expecting this voice. He doesn’t let himself physically react, just simply opens his eyes and looks down from his floating position at Rumi. 

The Hunter stares up at him. Mystery is confused by her presence, but she doesn’t seem malicious. 

He tilts his head to the side and forces himself to talk, “Yes?” 

“How are you feeling?” 

Mystery is surprised by her question, but she seems sincere in it. 

“Better,” he says, “There’s no pain anymore.” 

He can see the little bit of strain in her eyes. He can see the way they glance back and forth over his form, jumping to the twisted parts of him that can’t be contained or defined by this reality. He moves through the air like smoke and water even as his humanoid body stays perfectly still in its sitting position. Her hands are clenching and unclenching at her sides. 

Mystery asks, “Are you scared?” 

“No!” She says quickly, but then immediately cringes, “Well, yes. But. I want to talk to you.”

“About what?” 

“About… being a demon.” 

Mystery blinks, that’s not what he expected at all, but he understands why she probably has many, many questions. 

“Sure,” he says. 

“Has there been another half demon like me?” 

Mystery thinks back through his thousands of years, any whispers or rumors he might have heard. Eventually, he says, “I don’t believe so. But it’s always possible.” 

Acceptance flares in her eyes, but it’s still sad. She continues, “I thought when the Honmoon sealed and Gwi-ma was cut off that the- my- patterns would disappear. But they didn’t.”

“I thought you accepted that half of you now.” 

“I do!” Rumi says- too fast, “I mean, I try.” 

Mystery tries to think of something good to say. For some reason he has the urge to do good at this moment. He wants to help her. 

“Do you think humans like everything about themselves? Or have no shame?” 

Rumi blinks, “Well… no.” 

“Most of the demons were human once. And it’s the shame that they felt as humans that led them to become what they are.” 

“Demons aren’t evil are they?” 

Mystery chews on his bottom lip as he thinks, “Gwi-ma is evil. Everyone els… they’re not evil because they’re demons. They’re demons because they’re evil. Being a demon is a physical symptom. It has nothing to do with who you are. You are a demon because of someone else’s choices. Not your own.”

“I think we’ve been wrong this whole time. About demons.” 

“Yes and no,” Mystery responds, “We’ve been transformed into different creatures. Practically a different species. The patterns are just part of that. You can’t escape your biology. But you can make your own choices. Just like every other human.”

“You can make your own choices now too.” 

“I had my chance to make good choices.” 

Rumi stares at him, her eyes roaming over his face even though he knows that she can’t see his eyes. Mystery doesn’t let himself look away.

Rumi continues, “If you think that I’m not evil, then I can think the same of you.” 

Mystery lets the inhuman part of him stretch and loom, taking on weight and bending the light to cast dark shadows. Gravity strengthens, pressing in on the main singer. His lips peel up in a snarl.

She just continues to stare at him, “I don’t think I’m really scared of you anymore.” 

In a second, all of that power just abates. She’s not scared of him? 

While he’s still trying to process that fact, she continues, “Sorry if that’s upsetting to you, but I think you all are trying to convince us that you’re worse than you really are.” 

Mystery doesn’t respond to that. 

Rumi doesn’t look surprised. Her expression falls into a soft smile, “I was wondering if maybe you could teach me?”

“Teach you?”

“About how to use my powers?I wasn’t sure that I would have any, but I’ve done some things. It’s always been instinctual, I haven’t been able to do it on purpose.”

Mystery cocks his head to the side, “Are you really ready to start embracing your demon half more fully?” 

Rumi’s hands are clenched at her sides. They do not shake. “Yes.”

Mystery believes her, and he doesn’t see the benefit of making her explain any further than that, “What have you done?”

“I’ve teleported twice. In the same night.”

“The night you defeated Gwi-ma?”

“Yes.” Rumi’s expression falters. Regret. Sadness. Mystery understands it well. 

“Teleportation can be quite tricky for new demons. I”m impressed you were able to do it.” 

“I don’t think I could do it right now if I wanted to.”

“The fact that you did it once means you can do it again,” Mystery says, “But it would be easier to start with something else.” 

“Ok.” She sounds eager. Eyes bright with determination. 

Mystery studies her for a moment as he tries to think back to what it was like when he first became a demon. He remembers it well even though it was thousands of years ago. He remembers the events, the emotions, and his chest stabs with a phantom pain. His fingers spasm on the fabric of his pants, but he ignores that. 

For how clear the memories are, he doesn’t really remember learning about his powers. They come to him quite naturally he thinks, much easier than he usually sees it develop in others. 

The few times he’s guided demons in this way, he normally starts with fire. It’s something tangible and alive with energy on its own. All it really needs is a spark, and that’s usually easy to coax out of someone. But that’s anger and pain and trauma. And that’s not what Rumi needs right now. 

It surprises him, the emotion he has in wanting to do this right. It’s an amount of passion that he wasn’t expecting, that he hasn’t felt in a long time, but as he’s staring down at the half demon he can’t help but feel… protective. 

No. Fire is not the right choice even if it would be easier. 

Mystery unfolds his legs and drifts down until he’s standing on the roof in front of her.

“I want you to focus on the air around you.” Mystery says. He lifts his hands, bending his arms at the elbow as if he is swimming and his arms are floating, buoyant on the water around him, “Feel it like it’s a liquid, like you have to push through it.”

Rumi frowns, but lifts her hands,  splaying her fingers and pushing her palms through the air. 

“Feel it like it’s almost solid. You have to push through it. Feel its resistance to your arm.”

Her brow furrows as she stares at her arm. Mystery can see it when it starts to click in her mind. When her arms start to shake ever so slightly as it pushes through invisible pressure.

“Demons don’t need to breathe,” Mystery continues, “I assume that you do, but humans tend to think of air as invisible and something that’s not really there. But it’s always there. It fills the space between you and the Earth. Feel it all around you.”

“I feel it,” Rumi says. 

“Good,” Mystery says, “Now I want you to focus on your power. However it works for you. It could be light in your chest. Running through your blood. Whatever makes you feel it. You don’t have to do anything with it. Just find it.”

Rumi’s eyes close as she concentrates. Mystery keeps a close watch on her. She isn’t moving, but Mystery can start to feel the workings of power around her. The power doesn’t show up tangibly like it does occasionally for him and the other demons, but Mystery feels it all the same. 

Mystery lets her resonate with it for a few moments before moving on, “Good. Now you know that the air is between you and the ground. Focus on your power and just let the air hold you.” 

As he speaks, his own hands spread out to his sides and then lets himself tip backwards until he floats ever so slightly off the ground. He just hovers there, watching Rumi. 

“You can do it,” Mystery says when her hesitation doesn’t seem to subside, “Just think of something that makes you feel free.” 

Rumi’s eyes snap up to meet his, wide and with shock. Mystery can see her thoughts spinning in her head before she finally closes her eyes. Her shoulders drop and her face smooths out. She becomes serene. Slowly, she rises off of the ground, her feet floating just a few inches up. It’s not a lot, but she’s there, she’s doing it. 

Her eyes open again and the look she gives Mystery shocks him. There’s such a tangible amount of gratefulness and joy that Mystery has never had directed at him before. He’s not sure what to do with it, but the warmth that it fills him with is all encompassing and the fact that he helped put that expression on her face makes him feel good… proud. 

He wants to keep feeling it. 

Rumi giggles, “I’m flying!”

Mystery smiles too, caught up in the feeling, “Good job.” 

…

Eventually, Rumi is able to pull her legs up and cross them, joining Mystery to just sit in the air. They don’t really speak, and Mystery doesn’t think it’s a good idea to overwhelm her with more things to learn and to practice. She seems more relaxed gently floating than Mystery has ever seen her. True, Mystery has never really been around her in any situation that wasn’t stressful, but still- something about her just screams that this is something that she has needed for awhile. 

So they each sit in silence, watching the sun slowly rise in the sky. It’s surprisingly comfortable and companionable. Mystery is surprised to realize that his shoulders are loose and low, he’s not feeling any stress.

Eventually, he finds himself comfortable enough to fall back into the meditative trance and focus on recovering his power again. 

The peace doesn’t last however. 

“Mystery!”

Mystery jolts and turns just in time to see the door to the roof burst open with enough force that it clangs into the brick with a loud noise. Rumi jolts as well, and, out of the corner of his eye, Mystery can see her lose control and stumble back to the ground just as the four other demons tumble through the door. 

They look frantic, hair and eyes wild, clothes askew, panting very quickly. 

“Where have you been?” Baby demands, his voice almost shaking with his words. 

Mystery blinks, “Here?” Why are they freaking out so much? Did something happen while he’s been up here? Is something wrong?

Jinu seems to be the first to recover as he straightens up, though his chest is still heaving as if he were a human that just ran multiple miles.

“We’ve been looking for you,” Jinu says.

“You weren’t there when we woke up,” Romance continues. 

“We were worried that something happened to you,” Abby finishes. 

Oh. That’s why they were scared. In hindsight it probably would have been a good idea to leave a note or something about where he was going. He just… didn’t think about it. He didn’t realize it would be such a big deal. 

“Sorry,” Mystery says, “I’m fine. I should have told you.” 

“No, it’s ok,” Romance responds and Mystery can see that even though all of them are starting to calm down there’s still a tenseness in their frames that won’t abate.

Baby interrupts, arms crossed and glaring at Rumi, “What are you doing here?”

Rumi takes a half step back, hands half raising in an automatic motion of surrender, her deyes dart between Baby, Mystery, and Jinu. “I-”

“She was meditating with me,” Mystery says, “and I was teaching her how to fly.” 

Baby’s face contorts with barely concealed and instant rage. 

Jinu speaks before the older demon can, breathy and in awe, “You can fly?” He stares fully at Rumi. 

The Hunter gives a small smile, a light blush dusting her cheeks, “Just a little.” 

“That’s amazing!” Jinu says. 

“Oh please,” Baby groans. 

Jinu doesn’t appear to hear him, childlike wander in his eyes and voice as he doesn’t look away from Rumi, “We should go flying together sometime.” 

Rumi’s eyes are locked onto Jinu’s in return, “I might need a little more practice first.” 

“That’s ok, I know you’ll get there.” 

Baby is seething off to the side. Mystery understands to an extent, there’s a pang of jealousy in his heart as he watches the exchange. But really they shouldn’t be surprised. This is the first time Jinu has shown true, maybe romantic interest in somebody in hundreds of years. They should be happy for him, especially now that it’s actually possible. 

There’s no way Jinu would want them like that anyways.

“This is ridiculous,” Baby says, but once again Jinu doesn’t hear him. 

…

They go back to sleeping in their own beds. That night when they’re getting ready to go to bed, Baby just shoots a glare at Jinu and then stalks off to his own room without a word. The remaining demons share a glance, but eventually they all go back to their own rooms. 

Mystery feels almost empty as he shuts his bedroom door behind him and stares at his sparse room. He shouldn’t be surprised really. The past two nights have been because of the pain he’d been in. He knows that. He knows that of course it wouldn’t last forever, that once he was feeling overall better they would go back to their normal routine. That’s what they would want. That’s what they did. Obviously. 

Still… he didn’t expect it to end quite so soon. He thought that maybe there’d be a few more times before the rest of them got tired of it. 

Pain shoots through his head as a sharp headache blooms/ He winces as he presses his hand to his skull, trying to massage the pain away. 

He collapses on his small bed, but it feels way too large and cold. 

Mystery stares out of the window, focusing his perception until the hidden Honmoon comes into view. Even though he’s the one who went looking, fear still jolts through him as he sees it. 

The Honmoon has calmed and seems to have fully recovered from the events of yesterday. It lays across the world still shining that bright rainbow iridescence, solid and beautiful. Even though there’s nothing really physically (meta though it might be) wrong with it, the Honmoon still seems a little subdued. Sad.

A part of Mystery wants to reach out to it and offer up that connection that the Honmoon so desperately wanted earlier. 

A larger part of Mystery recoils at the sight of it, cold fear rolling down his spine. 

His headache spikes as he stares at it.

Mystery turns so he’s staring at the wall. He’s not sure what to do. He’s not sure there’s anything that he can do. Who knows what’s going on with the Honmoon? There’s no one to ask , there’s no way to predict if it’ll happen again, and no way to know how to stop it if it does. The threat of it looms over him. 

The Honmoon is everywhere and is the only thing keeping them safe from Gwi-ma. They need it. Desperately. 

He hopes that if he just ignores it, that it’ll ignore him too. If he keeps telling himself that, maybe it’ll be true. He can’t think of another plan that has a higher chance of working. 

Maybe even worrying and confusing about everything is the hole in his memory about the Honmoon. It’s been so long since he’s really thought about its creation, but he just knows that at one point he knew. He knows that he was there when it happened. He knows it deep down inside. 

But when he tries to think about it, it feels just like a void in his mind where there’s just nothing. 

The headache pounds in his temples. What happened to him to make him lose those memories? It’s too much. Everything is too much. 

He curls up on his bed and tries not to feel cold. 

…

Things quiet down, and they return to the routine they had before, only now they’re allowed  to transform and minimally use their powers as they want or need. But they do go back to having days of not having any sort of responsibilities or a to-do list of any kind. 

They also still don’t go back to sleeping together. 

Mystery tries not to think about it. 

They’re having breakfast, Mystery looking away as they prepare a mug of blood for Abby. They’re silent. It’s slightly awkward as Baby keeps glaring at Jinu, just as he has now for the past few days. Mystery hates it but he doesn’t know what to say or do that would actually help. It’s obvious that Jinu notices, but doesn’t understand why as he hunches in on himself over his breakfast. 

They’re about halfway through said meal when a flash sparks in the corner of their eyes. They turn and see the Honmoon starting to creep into their suite, which it never has before in its quest to stay away from the demons. 

Mystery freezes, eyes locked on the rainbow ley lines as he starts to tremble. As the Honmoon seeps along the floor like water toward him, he can feel the press against his mind, the haze and fog threatening to take him over like it did at the club. His body almost lists to the side as it rolls through him. 

“What the hell,” Baby says. 

“Seriously?” Abby asks, “It’s been barely a week.” 

“We should probably call the Hunters,” Romance suggests as he grabs Mystery’s shoulders and gently pulls him so that he leans away from the Honmoon. 

“They’re at a rehearsal on the other side of the city,” Jinu says.

“Figures you’d know that,” Baby scoffs. 

Jinu throws his hands up. 

“We don’t need them,” Abby says. 

“We can’t fight it,” Mystery murmurs. 

“Like hell we can’t,” Baby responds. He stands and places himself between Mystery and the Honmoon. He holds his arms out to either side, bent at the elbow, clawed hands palm up. Fire erupts in his hands and Baby turns his glare on the earthly shield.

“Back off,” Baby threatens. 

And somehow, unexpectedly, amazingly, the Honmoon does. The rainbow color dulls like a dog chastised, and the Honmoon starts to pull away. 

Mystery sways forward, feeling almost like a magnet, and his hand reaches out toward the Honmoon of its own accord. 

“Mystery!” Romance says, urgent but soft as his arms tighten around the oldest demon. Mystery finds himself being pulled back until his back gently thumps against Romance’s chest. 

Romance continues, “What are you doing?” 

Mystery snaps his hand back to his chest. He feels… sad. He doesn’t know why he was reaching out to the Honmoon and he doesn’t know how to answer Romance’s question. So he doesn’t. 

As the Honmoon officially disappears from view, the four demons turn and crowd around him immediately. 

Abby starts patting him down, “Are you ok? Did it do anything to you?” 

“It didn’t even get near me,” Mystery says. The sadness echoes through his body. 

“Why does it want you so badly?” Baby asks. 

Mystery knows that the younger demon isn’t really asking him, but he can’t help but answer, “I don’t know.” 

…

Later, when they all go their separate ways to go to bed- which is good, it’s better that way, it’s what they want- Mystery does something he rarely does. 

He pulls out his phone. 

He’s not as good with technology as the others, except maybe Jinu, and especially not Baby who is frustratingly good at it despite being like Mystery and far, far older than even the concept of a telephone. Plus, his mind doesn’t understand social media really at all, but he just feels so empty. He feels so lonely.

His life is arguably so much better now and that’s including the fact that an ancient entity of immense power is trying to merge with him, and yet his mind thinks back to a few months prior and how it felt to be a part of the Saja Boys. 

He knows that they are still the Saja Boys, but at the bar a week ago was the first time they’ve done anything musical together since the last concert. Even though it was at the behest and success of Gwi-ma, it was a truly special bond to create music with the others. 

He misses it. 

It’s strange, he never really cared about music before. He can’t even remember the last time he thought about it before all of this. Music just wasn’t really a thing in his life before Jinu asked him to join the band. But it became almost like a drug to him instantly. It was natural to him in a way that nothing has ever been before. And then being able to do that with the other demons? It was honestly magical.

He curls up on his bed, eldritch tears of reality that make up a large percentage of him draping around him and the room. The light of his phone screen casts his face in a glow, the only light in the room. 

He pulls up TikTok, his feed immediately showing videos of the Saja Boys. It’s the only thing he’s ever watched and the algorithm has adjusted itself accordingly. And apparently even though they haven’t performed in almost three months, they still have a healthy following, with people still posting clips, trends, and edits. Apparently, Baby has done a pretty good job keeping them alive online, because there are quite a lot.

Mystery quickly scrolls past the videos of all of the fans doing the trends and the multitude of thirst traps dedicated to Abby, until he lands on a video that someone must have recorded before everything went down at their final concert. 

It’s from the very beginning, just a quick clip of them appearing on the stage and dropping down so Abby can take the opening. Mystery loved that part, the dramatic way that it went with the music. They spent a decent amount of time practicing the timing of it. They move so seamlessly together, voices blending perfectly. It was fun. 

He watches it again a couple of times, caught in the feeling, before he finally makes himself swipe to the next one. 

It’s another clip from the final concert, but during Baby’s rap when the fire erupted behind them. Their song can still be heard, but someone’s video appears on top as they start speaking to the camera. 

“I absolutely love the Saja Boys, but when are they going to talk about the fire that happened at the last concert? They haven’t said anything except for Baby Saja posting a Tik Tok that they’re all safe. But when are they coming back?

Mystery swipes away, broken from the fantasy of the Saja Boys’ great return. It’s not really who they are, even if they play with the idea sometimes. But they’ve done too much, have too much to answer for. 

He closes the app and instead pulls up a music player. The world has so much different music now, and in his free time he’s enjoyed getting to explore them. He hasn’t organized his collection in any way, so he just has one massive playing of a vast variety of genres. 

He doesn’t want to think and he certainly doesn’t want to make decisions so he just shuffles all of it. 

He doesn’t realize that his eyes have slipped shut until something grabs his shoulder. 

He reacts instantly. His physical body doesn’t move, but shadowy, half-real, inky tendrils of power shoot out and wrap around whoever it is that’s grabbing him. One wraps around the body, another around the offending arm. He blinks his eyes open. 

Baby is standing there, eyes glowing with power from the threat, but otherwise keeping his body relaxed in Mystery’s grasp. 

Baby cocks his head to the side, “Did you know that you were humming?” 

Mystery is in the process of pushing himself up and releasing Baby when the words make him pause and duck his head. No, he didn’t realize that. Was he being too loud? Was he being annoying? 

“Sorry,” he says. 

“Don’t be,” Baby says, just as soft, “You know I like your voice.”

Mystery is still in the half sitting position, but he can feel the blush tingling across his cheeks, “Thank you.” 

Baby pulls his arm, resisting slightly at where Mystery is still wrapped around him, “Do you mind letting me go?” 

The blush on his face intensifies, but Mystery pushes himself up fully and releases Baby. 

“Sorry,” he says again, “I didn’t notice you were there.”

“Don’t be,” Babys, “I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Neither of them move, and silence descends upon them. It’s unusually awkward and tense as Baby just stands over him. He doesn’t really know what to do. 

Baby starts to shift his weight from side to side. It’s weird to see the younger demon, unusually so unapologetic in his presence, to seem almost self conscious and nervous. His nervousness almost infects Mystery and the oldest demon’s skin starts to prickle as he fidgets on the mattress. Is Baby upset with him? Did he do something wrong? 

Just as the anxious thoughts are about to completely consume his thoughts, Baby finally speaks. 

“Do you mind,” he asks slowly, much slower than he usually does, “if I joined you?”

So many clarifying questions immediately spring to mind that Mystery wants to know the answer to, but he can’t bring himself to ask any of them. He should say no. It’ll be less painful for him later if he says no, but he’s weak and can’t deny himself this. He just nods, “I don’t mind.”

He doesn’t move, not really sure exactly what Baby is asking for, but the blue haired demon loses the hesitation that he had mere moments before. Baby crawls onto Mystery’s bed. Pressed into the corner as it is, he leans against the wall and sits criss cross next to Mystery’s half recline. It’s obvious that Baby is moving purposefully so he doesn’t accidentally touch Mystery. 

The oldest demon curls in on himself, trying to make himself smaller. It must be official then, with everything calming down and because he’s not weak and in pain anymore, the others aren’t going to go out of their way to touch him anymore. They only did it to help him- to make him feel better- which he both appreciates and is horribly embarrassed about. But now that they don’t need to do it, they obviously don’t want to touch him. 

Mystery can’t blame them.

Baby sits with incredible awkwardness. For a moment, his hands just hover in the air, Mystery isn’t really sure why, but in the end Baby just drops his hands into his lap. The silence between them is as awkward as the way Baby is sitting, so much so that it’s almost painful. Mystery’s bones feel like they’re going to break through his skin. His palms itch. 

Baby finally speaks, “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard you humming like that. Before the Saja Boys I mean.” 

Well, that’s obvious. Mystery’s not sure why Baby is saying that. Music never mattered to him before Jinu asked him to sing. To be fair, he did enjoy hearing Jinu sing, but he never thought about it more than that. 

Baby continues through Mystery’s confusion, “I always thought your voice was the best of all of us. It made me sad when you stopped humming.”

Mystery’s head snaps to the side, moving faster than he did when Baby just scared him. Baby jolts and his eyes widen with shock at the speed and veracity that Mystery is looking at him now. 

“What is it?” The awkwardness of the moments before is gone in an instant at the possibility that something might be wrong with Mystery. He leans forward, hands half outstretched between them, ready to help as soon as he knows what he can do.

Mystery doesn’t move, eyes just locked onto Baby. But wait, no, he’s not frozen. He’s shaking- trembling- and he doesn’t understand it. Baby’s words don’t really mean anything, but Mystery is filled with fear. It doesn’t make sense. Baby is wrong. He feels like he’s about to spiral up into the sky. 

“Mystery?” Baby prompts. 

“What do you mean?” 

“What? What do you mean?” 

“I never hummed.”

Now it’s Baby turn to just stare at Mystery. The fear is gone, but now replaced with visible confusion and concern. 

“What are you talking about?” Baby asks, “You used to hum all of the time. Even more than Jinu sang.” 

“No, I didn’t.” 

“Yes, you did!” 

“No, I didn’t.”

“Do you not remember?” 

“There’s nothing to remember!” He feels panicked and his voice is rushed with words blurring together, “I never cared about music. I never thought about it. I didn’t hum. I didn’t sing.” 

“Why are you saying that? You used to make so much music.Even other demons would camp next to us just so they could listen.”

Mystery knows he’s overreacting, that it’s not as big of a deal as he thinks it is, but it feels like his world is falling apart, just slipping through his fingers like sand. 

“You’re wrong,” Mystery says, whispering really. 

“No, you did it all the time. You’ve always loved music.” 

“I’ve never loved music!” His arms reach up in his standard pose of self comfort, crossing in an x over his chest as his hands grab at opposite shoulders in a self hug. He squeezes tightly, trying to keep himself grounded in this room. 

Baby blinks at him, frozen, and Mystery knows that he must look like a mess. Trembling and frantic all over something as small as humming. 

Baby speaks slowly, “I’m confused. Why are you saying that?” 

“Because it’s true,” Mystery answers, “And I can’t- it’s not-.” His voice cuts off. He starts gasping, sucking in air he doesn’t need. Baby scrambles forward and Mystery reacts instinctively, pushing himself back and sending a flailing of limbs in defense. Baby dodges with ease and wraps his arms around Mystery. The older demon slumps in Baby’s grasp and Baby squeezes Mystery tight, placing Mystery’s head on his chest.  

“What’s going on, Mystery?” Baby asks, “You’re freaking out, but why? Talk to me. Let me help.”

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Mystery mutters into Baby’s chest. And that’s the worst part of it all to him. If he could just understand why he was feeling like this- so hollow and empty- then maybe he could at least not feel like he was insane. It’s a spiral, feeding in on itself, until it’s the only thing he’s made of. 

Baby just squeezes tighter and Mystery hands come up and clench in his hair, the sharp, tangy pain as tugs lightly on the strands helping to ground him back to reality. 

“I’ve never seen you like this before,” Baby continues. 

Mystery burrows his face even deeper. His trembling has not stopped, “Sorry.” 

“No,” Baby says again, to the same effect it had the first time, “But this is scaring me. I”ve never seen you bothered by anything before. I just want to help you.” 

Warmth, finally some warmth after such feelings of numbness and cold, fills Mystery, starting in his chest and combating the way his fingertips tingle. His thoughts stop rushing like water rapids and he feels as if for a moment he’s not going to crumple into bits. 

He stays folded over in Baby’s lap, but the trembling finally slows. 

“Something feels wrong,” the words are difficult for Mystery to say, not because he doesn’t want to say them, but because- try as he might- he can’t find the right words to really describe what he’s feeling. Still, he forces himself to continue, “I feel like something is missing. Something important. Something that’s supposed to be a part of me.” 

Baby is obviously confused, has been this whole time, and it hasn’t gotten any better, “Is this what the Honmoon took from you?”

Hasn’t he explained it properly yet? “The Honmoon didn’t take anything. But it’s like it reminded me of something.” Mystery’s hand comes up to grab at the fabric of his shirt, right over his heart, “It just showed me this gasping pit inside me and now that I know that it’s there I can’t stop thinking about it.” 

Mystery tilts his head up to look at Baby, “I feel incomplete.”

Baby frowns, but not in an upset way. It’s a pondering way, a solving way, “Do you have any idea of what it is?” 

“Just that it feels important. Like it was a part of me.” 

“Do you think you can find it? Get it back?” 

“How? I don’t even know what it is. Even if I did, we’re trapped on Earth with only humans. How am I supposed to find it here?” 

“You don’t think it could be on Earth?” 

Mystery gives a soft snort, “I don’t see how. I almost never came to Earth.” 

“Only when Gwi-ma made you right?” 

Mystery can’t stop himself, he tenses, going as still as the corpse he once was. He has tried so hard and for so long to keep the rest of them from thinking about him and Gwi-ma in the same sentence, but when it inevitably happens now and then, it always sends a jolt of panic shocking through every nerve. 

He takes too long to answer, but he eventually says, “Yes.” 

Baby hums in response, the tone of it making Mystery uncomfortable with the feeling of being observed- the feeling of someone trying to figure him out. 

Baby keeps going, “Do you think Gwi-ma is the one who took it from you?” 

Mystery… Mystery honestly didn’t consider that before, but his reaction is immediate and almost visceral. 

“No- No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not? It’s something he’d definitely do.” 

“I would remember it. I would know.” 

“Do you know that, though? What if he hid it from you?” 

“No, no. I would know. I would.” He ignores the part of himself that doesn’t believe his own vindication. It’s true, it has to be. 

Baby doesn’t push the topic, though the curve of his mouth shows his disagreement, and they lapse once more into a slightly uncomfortable silence. As the seconds tick by, Mystery becomes increasingly aware of how he’s leaning against Baby’s chest, the blue haired demon’s arms wrapped around him. He doesn’t want to bring it up, he doesn’t want it to end, but he has to for Baby’s sake, for his own sake so the rest of the Saja Boys don’t end up resenting him for being so needy. 

He almost hates himself when he says, “I’m sorry.” 

Baby sighs. Mystery hates how that makes him feel, “I thought I told you multiple times now that you have nothing to be sorry for.” 

“Not for the fact that the Honmoon attacked me,” Mystery does agree, even though he’s sure that the Honmoon attacked him specifically for some reason that has to do with who he is, but ultimately he couldn’t have stopped it. 

It’s not his fault the Honmoon what it did, but the rest of it… “I’m sorry that I’ve been so… weak. I couldn’t handle the pain. I lost control. And I couldn’t stand with the pain from the Honmoon.” 

Baby chuckles, short and ironic, the arms around Mystery tighten, “You’re such an idiot.” 

Mystery doesn’t take offense. Baby calls everyone an idiot, but he does so especially for the people who are more important to him. 

He doesn’t say anything so Baby continues, “None of us think you’re weak. 

“I haven’t been able to do anything. You all have had to… to coddle me.” 

“We’re not coddling you.” 

“Then what do you call this?” He doesn’t break free from Baby’s hold, can’t bring himself to, but he feels disgusted with himself because of it. 

“You really don’t know what this is?” Baby takes a second to respond and when he does his deep voice is small. 

Ok, so what does Baby mean by that? How else is Mystery supposed to take it? What else could it possible be? 

He takes too long to say something apparently because eventually Baby says, “You don’t, do you?” It’s not really a question. It’s a statement. 

Mystery feels like he should be somewhat offended, but the confusion overwhelms any other sensation possible in his mind. 

“I don’t even know where to start with you,” Baby sighs. 

Mystery cringes, “Sorry.” Sorry, sorry, sorry. 

“No, not you. You’re not… sorry. Fuck.” Baby sounds frustrated, “I’m messing all of this up.” 

“Messing what up?” 

Baby doesn’t say anything. He’s still like a statue, and his muscles are tense. The pause lasts long enough that Mystery starts to worry, but then he’s being moved. The younger demon pushes him back from their embrace. Not too far, and he keeps his hands on Mystery’s shoulder, but he pushes him back enough so they can stare at each other. 

Mystery sees something he’s never seen before. A light blush on Baby’s face.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, and I really thought we were being obvious, but apparently you’re too stupid to see the obvious because you’re an idiot who doesn’t think good enough about themself.” 

Mystery mouth drops open at Baby’s quick and slightly mean words, but the blush on Baby’s face deepens. 

“No, see? I’m bad at this too. Just listen. I- We- Fuck, just let me.” And then Baby is kissing him. Leaning forward and smashing their mouths together with too much force that Mystery can feel how his tusks scrape and cut into Baby’s face. Baby’s hands are squeezing on Mystery’s shoulders. 

And it’s wonderful. Mystery can’t stop himself, Baby is like a drug, and he presses forward too. It’s an awkward position, they’re still not really touching because of how Baby had pushed him away earlier, but it’s amazing. It’s wonderful. It’s addicting. 

Mystery doesn’t want it to end. 

But then the room starts glowing rainbow. They break the kiss with a gasp and the rainbow glitters in their eyes. 

The Honmoon has practically invaded the room, spiralling around the ceiling, the walls, the floor, converging on the two of them as its epicenter. The ley lines are glowing so brightly and dancing where they lie that Mystery doesn’t understand how they didn’t notice its approach. 

“Wha-” Baby’s voice is rough as he looks around the room like a stargazer in a beautiful night. 

Mystery is terrified. 

The Honmoon, in its spiral, reaching out for him, bleeds over Baby’s hand and Mystery can see it- feel it- trying to connect with the younger demon. Baby snatches his hand away, and the Honmoon follows slightly. 

No, that can’t happen. Mystery can’t let the Honmoon hurt Baby too, and the kiss, whatever that was, it’s reacting to him, it’s reacting to what they did, to what he feels- to what he’s still feeling. 

He’s gasping as the Honmoon practically sings around them as it spirals closer and closer. He has to go. This can’t happen. He can’t let Baby get hurt. He knows the Honmoon will follow him. He knows it will leave Baby alone if he’s not there. He can feel it. And it’s the only thing that matters right now. 

He teleports away, leaving Baby alone in the bedroom, now dark without the light of the rainbow.