Chapter Text
One of Rumi's earliest memories was of the threads. Of playing with Celine's hands, running pudgy fingers over the bonds, tracing the deep blue strand which connected the two of them. She'd tried to play with the two blue-white circles that frayed and fell into nothing earlier, but Celine redirected her attention. And as children are wont to do, Rumi didn't take much to be distracted.
"Cece?" Rumi asked, twisting the deep blue thread which lead from her pinky to Celine's in her grasp. "What do all the colors mean?"
Celine paused her work, something with a computer Rumi didn't understand. She was starting to figure that out, there were many things she didn't understand. But that just meant she had more questions to ask, and Celine would always answer them.
"This one-" Celine tugged at their shared thread. "Means you are family to me. It means I love you."
"Oh." Rumi didn't need a thread to tell her Celine loved her. "What do all the others mean?" She gestured to the other strands encircling Celine's fingers. Many of them had been severed, hanging limply from her hand while the rest stretched on into nothingness, passing through the walls.
Celine paused. "You can see all of them?"
Rumi nodded happily. "You have a lot of loose ones. Most people I see with that many loose ones are old, and you're not old."
"Thank you, Rumi," Celine said hesitantly. "I didn't realize you could see all my strings." She opened her palm, pointing at her fingers. First a rich yellow that stretched out into the ether. "This is for one of my friends. I love him like a friend, so he's yellow." Then to a white strand which was starting to turn yellow at the edges. "This one is for a new companion. I'm still figuring out how I feel about her, so she's white." Celine inhaled slowly, titling her head. "You said you can see everyone's strings? All the colors?"
"All of them! Some people have red or black, which you don't. What do those mean?"
"Red is for romance, black I'll explain when you're a little older." Something flashed through Celine's voice Rumi couldn't hope to understand. "Being able to see all the strings is a rare ability. It can be rude to comment on peoples' strings, so be quiet about this, alright?"
"What about these?" Rumi barreled over Celine's request, touching the blue-white threads that went to nowhere. So similar to the ones which rested under her feet sometimes, to the ones which lit up as she danced and laughed.
Celine froze.
Rumi looked up at Celine, who had gone very pale. "Cece?"
"You can see them?" Something went still in Celine, body full of tension like a bowstring pulled taught.
Rumi nodded happily. "I have two as well. You're the only other person who has them. Are they special?
"They are very special. They represent a connection to something called the Honmoon." Celine inhaled slowly, looking as if she was about to cry. "And only people with that connection, Hunters, have threads this color. And only the members of their trio can see them." She swallowed thickly, voice wavering despite clear effort to keep it still. "It means you have two very special people waiting for you. Two people you are bonded to at the very soul. The three of you are meant for great things."
"Why are yours cut?"
A wall slammed down in Celine's face. "That's enough questions for now, Rumi. I have work to get to."
"A-alright," Rumi stammered, trying to understand what she'd done wrong.
She tugged at the blue-white stands, each stretching out in their own direction and wondered what her friends would be like.
~~~~
Many of Rumi's earliest memories included her eomma's grave. Her eomma was not Celine, she refused to claim that title and the few times Rumi tried to call her that she was corrected despite the fact she had proof they were family. Instead a grave, a headstone with a name she shared inscribed on it and a title buried deep in the dirt never to be used, held that honor.
"What do black threads mean?" Rumi asked as Celine braided her hair, gently tugging the strands behind her head, heat from the sun beating down on her shoulders.
Celine hummed quietly. "Black threads mean the person whom the bond is attached to is a demon. They turn black after Gwi-Ma steals their soul. The threads are a representation of our soul, of our love, so when Gwi-Ma takes a soul, the color dies along with the love. Demons don't feel, but the people who loved them do so the bond remains attached. The human's half of the string stays colorful because of that love while the demon's bleeds away."
Rumi pulled up her sleeve, revealing the purple marks twisting down her arm. "So why is our thread all blue, not half black?"
Celine yanked the sleeve back down. "Cover those up," she chastised. "You're not a demon. Your threads are proof of that."
Threads. Rumi looked down at her hands, the blue thread attached to Celine and the two Hunters' threads reaching out into the distance. The only three she had. Most people she saw looked like they'd shoved their hands into a loom and yanked; their fingers covered with attachments and love shining in all of their movements.
And yet, hers were nearly empty. Three attachments. Three people who loved her and she hadn't even met two of them.
Rumi clenched her fists, feeling the tug ground her. She was going to be the best soulmate ever. Make up for the lack of love found on her hands.
~~~~
The first time Rumi went to a big city she ended up having what she later learned was a panic attack.
There were too many people. Too many strands. Too much noise. Too much. Too much. Too much.
Millions of lines of color ran everywhere, blotting out the sky, covering the sun, making Rumi feel so very small. So very trapped. She clung to Celine, despite being too old for that and squeezed her eyes shut against everything, gripping the thread between her and Celine, trying desperately to shut out everything but that connection.
"Rumi, dear, what's wrong?" Celine asked quietly.
"How do they deal with all of it?" Rumi whispered, clutching the thread tighter.
"Deal with what?" Celine shifted, tucking Rumi closer against her torso, transferring her to one arm.
"All the colors, all the time. I couldn't even see the sun." A door opened and the noise lessened, cool air washing over Rumi.
"Oh, Rumi." Rumi didn't know if she'd ever heard Celine so sad. "They can't see them. Or at least not all of them."
"What?" Rumi risked opening an eye, finding herself in a building which was much quieter than outside, with far fewer people. "They're right there. How do people not see them?"
Celine gently cupped Rumi's face with her free hand, tilting her head back so they were looking into each other's eyes. "Being able to see all the types of threads and on everyone is rare. Very rare. Nearly unheard of. It's called being Truesighted. There are only a handful of people in the world with Truesight. Most people can only see a few colors, or on a few people. I can only see my threads. Your eomma could only see blue threads."
"Oh. I'm…special?" Rumi didn't think she liked being special. It was overwhelming, seeing everything. All of those emotions, all of that love on display.
"Yes, dear. Very special. But there are people who won't like the fact you can see all of their threads. They think it's rude. So you'll need to be careful who you tell. If you tell anyone."
The patterns on Rumi's arm itched and she swore she felt them grow a few millimeters. "You mean…lying? Keeping secrets?"
"It's not lying if it keeps you safe," Celine reminded. "I want you to have the easiest possible path to sealing the Honmoon, and that includes staying quiet about your Truesight and patterns."
"But it's so much!" Rumi burst out. "How am I supposed to keep it a secret if I can see everything and I can't even see the sun!"
Celine exhaled slowly, a look Rumi didn't know how to parse out crossing her face. "I'm going to teach you something. It's difficult, but it'll help you look away from the threads, okay? They'll still be there, but you won't be able to see them."
Rumi nodded vigorously. Anything to keep from walking into the spiderweb outside again.
"Okay, close your eyes." Rumi obeyed without hesitation, tucking her head back against Celine's collarbone. "Now, focus on the threads, their weight, their heat, the pull of them." Subtly, almost imperceptibly, Rumi felt the threads wrapping around her fingers, faint weight tethered to her soul. "And shove it down. Picture wrapping the threads up and putting them in a box in the back of your mind. You aren't getting rid of them, just placing them somewhere different." The weight vanished from Rumi's fingers. "Repeat after me: our faults and fears must never be seen."
"Our faults and fears must never be seen," Rumi whispered, feeling lost without the connection to Celine. To her fellow Hunters.
"Good, now open your eyes."
Rumi looked down at her hand, at the bare fingers on it, then around the building. All the threads which had been tracing through it, passing through walls, digging into the floor, leading to people far away, were absent. "They're gone." A weight vanished from her shoulders as a lump appeared in her throat.
"Not gone." Celine tugged at the empty air where their thread should be. A phantom yank pulled on Rumi's pinky, muted but still there. "Hidden."
Not gone, hidden. Rumi touched her ring finger where the Hunters' bonds should have been. She would have to live with that.
~~~~
Years stretched on, Rumi grew, learning to fight, to sing, to dance, to defend the Honmoon. Everything about her increased.
Except for the number of threads on her fingers.
She kept her Truesight tucked away more often than not, stopping herself from getting overwhelmed in crowds. The fact it also kept her from looking at the three solitary strings, the three people in the world who loved her, two of whom she hadn't even met, was just an added bonus.
Sometimes she would call her Truesight into focus late at night, when the ache threatened to swallow her whole, and stare at the Hunters' bonds. The blue-white threads that stretched off in opposite directions. The two people promised to love her.
Rumi pulled on the bonds, just once on each. Occasionally she received a response, a sharp yank or a light twitch. A reminder there was someone on the other side of them. It had been more common when she was younger, now it was a rare occurrence.
And it didn't seem like Rumi was going to be lucky tonight.
Rolling onto her back, Rumi stared at her ceiling, at the occasional thread passing through her room. She reached up, fingers passing through the threads which were not hers to mess with. At the representations of love that didn't belong to her.
Loneliness yawned in her chest and Rumi tucked her Truesight away. The threads vanished.
Clutching a pillow to her chest, Rumi fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of spiderwebs threatening to strangle her.
~~~~
Breaches were always terrifying for Rumi. Not because of the demons she knew were flooding into the world. Not because of the way it made the Honmoon shudder under her feet, causing her Hunters' bonds to flash magenta in time with its threads. Not because her patterns itched during particularly bad ones, like the demon realm was trying to beckon to her.
But because it meant Celine left. Had to deal with the wound in the Honmoon herself; coaxing the threads together, healing what had been torn, alone. No backup.
It meant there was a possibility the strand wrapping around her pinky, the one person who loved her whom Rumi had met, might go limp. Severed. Cut free as the person on the other half of it left this world.
Rumi paced in the kitchen of the hanok, Truesight active in a rare occurrence, walking through the occasional strand cutting across the room, looking down at her connection to Celine. The deep blue bond was still taught, still tethered to a living thing. Rumi didn't tug at it, didn't risk distracting Celine while she fought for her life. So she stared at her white knuckles, fists clenched, and tried to breathe as the Honmoon rippled.
When Rumi was older, better, she'd be able to join Celine on hunts. Able to give her backup. To make sure the one person who loved Rumi didn't die while she was stuck at home. Rumi knew her staying in the hanok was the correct thing to do; she was still learning. Still getting her feet under her where it came to fighting.
It rankled, though. The inability to do anything. To sit by and wait. Wait for the battle to end, one way or the other.
The Honmoon chimed, pleased, content, and the barest amount of tension bled out of Rumi's shoulders. She thumbed her and Celine's thread, waiting for a message to come through.
A single, sharp tug ran down the thread. Their indicator to pay attention, that more was to come. Rumi responded with a single tug of her own, acknowledging the message.
Two long tugs pulled on Rumi's pinky and all the tension that had bled out of Rumi came rushing back. Injured. Celine was injured.
Rumi gave a long pull on the thread, asking if Celine was coming to her. Celine responded with a short pull. She was coming home, didn't need Rumi to come to her. She was mobile.
It should have been a relief, knowing she didn't have to chase the string to wherever Celine was, praying she didn't see it go limp, severed. Instead anxiety ratcheted higher and higher as Rumi got out the first aid kit and waited.
A heavy thump against the door was how Celine announced her return. Rumi unlocked it with shaky hands and Celine nearly collapsed into the building. Blood coated her shirt, formerly white fabric now almost entirely red. Her left arm was tucked protectively against her body, applying pressure to the wound on her ribs.
It wasn't the first time Rumi had seen Celine injured. This wasn't even the worst she had seen.
That didn't make it easier.
Rumi slotted herself against Celine's side, pulling her free arm over her shoulders, murmuring apologies as they walked to the cleared kitchen table.
After, just- after, Rumi pulled off her gloves and looked at the line of stitches now marching along the curve of Celine's ribs.
"I wish you didn't have to see this," Celine whispered, pale beyond belief, gently placing a shaky hand on Rumi's forehead. "This shouldn't be on you."
The severed Honmoon bonds fell into Rumi's vision, curling against her cheek in a mockery of a loving touch, as if her mother and aunt were trying to give her comfort from the afterlife.
"If not me, who else?" Rumi asked, looking down the the thread connecting her and Celine, deep blue unmarred, even as the ethereal thread brushed a puddle of blood still on the table.
"That doesn't make it right." Celine dropped her hand, closing her eyes.
Rumi exhaled, checking Celine's other arm, making sure the IV line still pushing a blood transfusion into Celine's body was in place. She would have to stay up and make sure it finished properly, and clean up the kitchen, and to inventory on the first aid supplies, and, and, and.
Exhaustion washed over Rumi. She wanted to lie down and fall asleep like Celine. Wanted this day to be over. But she still had so much to do. So she settled for tugging on her Hunters' bonds, realizing she probably wouldn't get a response, but needing the comfort of them being there anyway.
The bond which stretched northward stayed still, not reacting to Rumi's attempt at comradery. The bond going westward, however, pulled once, slowly, hesitantly, as if unsure what to do.
Elation flashed through Rumi, all tiredness forgotten. She pulled on the western bond, waiting for a response.
Again, after a beat of hesitation, the bond tugged.
Comfort settled around Rumi as she went about cleaning the kitchen, disposing of bloody bandages, pulling on the bond every once and a while to make sure she was still there.
'Thank you,' Rumi thought as she curled up on a sleeping bag on the floor of the kitchen, able to monitor Celine throughout the night. 'I love you.'
For once Rumi did not tuck her Truesight away as she nodded off.
~~~~
Rumi started joining Celine on hunts not long after that. Day after day of desperate practice brought her weapon, a sain-geom, out of the Honmoon. Week after week of training honed her skill with it into something deadly. Hour after hour of pleading convinced Celine to bring Rumi with on hunts.
It was different to waiting in the kitchen, staring at the threads on her hand, dreading seeing one of them drop. There was still dread, but at least Rumi could do something about it now.
"Look at them," Celine ordered as they couched on a roof near the breach. Rumi's knuckles were white on her sword, but her hands were steady. "Really look. See what we're facing."
Rumi drew her Truesight up, almost drowning in the spiderweb which engulfed her. Demons paced below, waiting for more of their comrades to cross through into the human realm. Black threads twisted around their fingers, like they had dragged the bonds through ink. If Rumi looked out, she could see where they gradated to different colors, seeking out the human half of their tether.
But the only shade attached to demons was black.
In an instant, Rumi knew what Celine meant when she said Rumi wasn't a demon. Couldn't be. Not when the bonds on her hands had so much color.
"Your Truesight will be an asset to hunting," Celine remarked quietly. "You will be able to see demons based on bonds alone. No guesswork."
Rumi could barely nod, trying to concentrate on the slowly growing horde in front of her through the spiderweb lancing into her body. Swallowing thickly, she tucked her Truesight away, lungs able to full expand again when she could see the moon hanging in the sky. "Right," Rum said, already knowing she would only use it as a last resort. "An asset."
"Come on then." Celine stood, summon her sickles to her hands. "We have a hunt to complete."
Rumi tightened her grip on her sain-geom and hurled herself off the roof into the horde.
~~~~
"What the fuck?" said a voice behind Rumi at a stupid networking event.
She hated these things. Hated the noise, the heat, the press of bodies, the fake smiles, the grating laughter, the way none of them were demons but had probably caused as much harm as some of them.
But Sunlight Studios had to hold a few of these every year. Keeping shareholders happy, rubbing elbows with some of the most powerful people in Korea.
If Rumi had her way, she'd be up on the roof, breathing in the cool night air, maybe watching the spiderweb of threads shift below her if the ache in her chest could handle it.
Instead she was inside, separated from Celine, who had an idol come up to her, looking scared, and whispered something in her ear. Celine went ashen, mask of perfection fracturing only if you knew how to look for it, and told Rumi to stay put while she dealt with something.
So now here she was, holding a glass of champagne she had no intention of drinking and probably couldn't given she was 17, hearing someone curse behind her.
Rumi turned on her heel, arching a brow inquisitively, and looked up (a rare occurrence, especially in heels) at the person who had spoken.
Bright pink hair greeted her, on a severe face with narrowed eyes.
"Can I help you?" Rumi asked, false smile tugging at her lips.
The most beautiful woman Rumi had ever seen paused, eyes darting to the champagne glass in Rumi's hand, to where her three bonds sat. To where a regular person might see only her blue strand connecting her to Celine.
Rumi's heart rate ticked up. Being able to see other peoples' bonds was rare, but not unheard of. There were millions of different types of Bond Sights, though most people could only see their own.
The woman flexed her fingers, still staring at Rumi's bonds. And maybe Rumi was starting to understand why Truesight was considered invasive, she felt like her very soul was being scrutinized. So what if she only had one bond? Celine loved her and that was enough.
"I- nevermind," the woman muttered, running a thumb over her ring finger and turning to leave.
Wait.
Normally Rumi never risked this with so many people around, not wanting to drown in the sea of threads which would engulf her, but if she was right…
Blinking, Rumi tugged her Truesight into focus, looking at the woman's hands as she turned away.
Three blue threads wrapped around her fingers; two far, far paler than the other, though none of them were as deep of blue as Rumi's connection to Celine. A single yellow thread shot through the floor, out into the night, and a blue-white thread leaped from her ring finger to Rumi's while another headed west.
She was a Hunter.
Rumi wrapped their thread around her finger and pulled. "Wait."
The woman's gaze snapped to Rumi, hand flying to their bond. "How? That's not supposed to be possible." Her eyes hardened. "Who are you?"
"I'm Rumi. If you come with me, I'll explain everything." Rumi offered her hand, Hunters' bond gleaming in the light.
"Mira," the woman - Mira - responded. She didn't take Rumi's offered hand, but squared her shoulders. "If you try anything I will punch you in your perfect face."
Rumi swiped her tongue over her teeth, testing one of her fangs. Getting punched by one of her soulmates would be a bad start to this relationship. "Come on, let's go somewhere quiet."
Mira's gaze only got sharper as she followed Rumi, distrust radiating from every scrap of her being. She arched a brow when Rumi punched in a code to an employee only door, but didn't comment. The door clicked closed behind them and Rumi relaxed. No one would be here. It was the perfect place for some explanations.
"Start talking." Mira raised her hand in front of her face, twitching her ring finger. "Who are you? Why does my false thread lead to you? Why can you interact with it? No one else can see it, much less touch it. What the hell is going on?"
"Our thread is real," Rumi assured. "But it's special. Only Hunters who are part of your trio can see it, regardless of Bond Sight."
"Special?" Mira's voice rose, incredulous. "This is a hallucination, just like the thread." She laughed bitterly. "I'm crazy. I've finally cracked like Father said I would. This isn't real."
Rumi grabbed their bond and pulled again. "This is real. I'm real. I'm sorry you felt crazy for having a bond no one else could see, without ever meeting the person on the other end. But we're soulmates. Chosen for something great."
Mira laughed again, rubbing her ring finger. "Sure. What are Hunters? How does this play into my 'magical destiny?'"
"Demons are real." The patterns on Rumi's arm pulsed as she started speaking. "Hunters are the people chosen each generation to protect the world from them. We are two of them, our third is on the other end your bond." Rumi gestured to the twin strings running from her and Mira's ring fingers, leading west towards the final member of their trio.
"You're crazy." Mira dropped her head into her hands. "I'm not special. I'm not chosen. I just have a bond-based hallucination." She narrowed her eyes at Rumi. "Did Minho put you up to this? This is something he would do, make me think I'm not crazy."
Weight settled in Rumi's hand, starlight crystallizing in her grasp as she formed her sain-geom. "You're not crazy and neither am I." She extended the weapon towards Mira, offering the manifestation of her soul to her soulmate.
Mira hesitated, brushing her fingers against the blade. "Careful," Rumi warned. "It's-"
Too late, Mira hissed as blood beaded on her finger, nicked by Rumi's weapon. Her eyes went massive. "This is real," she whispered, tugging on their bond.
Pressure pulled on Rumi's ring finger and Rumi tugged right back, smiling.
"How do Hunters work? How do demons work? Where did that sword come from?" Now that Mira seemed to accept that Rumi wasn't a trick or hallucination, she pulled herself up to her full height and started demanding answers.
"Hunters keep demons out of this realm by strengthening something called the Honmoon." Rumi brushed her fingers against the wall, threads sparking to life, the same shade as the bond connecting her and Mira. "It's powered by song, so these days Hunters are Kpop idols."
"Idols." Mira furrowed her brows. "Rumi. Wait. Ryu Rumi?" Rumi grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "You're Ryu Rumi? Nepobaby of all of this?"
"Hey!" Rumi protested. "I had to fight for my place here just like every other idol."
Mira raised her hand, showing off their bond. "Magically chosen destiny. Nepobaby twice over."
Some part of Rumi felt like she should be offended, instead she grinned. "You're also a magically chosen nepobaby now. Probably twice over like me, if those diamond earrings are anything to go off of."
Mira's hand flew to her bonds, one of them going taught. "I need to go." All of the fire and snark fled from her. "Father is looking for me."
"Wait." Rumi dug around in her pockets, coming up with a business card and pen. Hastily scrawling her number on the card, she handed it to Mira. "Call me. We need to talk about starting your idol training and possibly moving you to the hanok. The sooner the better. I'll talk to Celine tonight, see what strings we can pull."
Mira's face was still chalk white as she opened the door to return to the party. "I'll see what I can do."
"And Mira," Rumi called as Mira was about to vanish into the crowd. She hoped she was wrong, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She held up their bond. "Three tugs means danger. Three tugs and I'll come find you, no matter the time, no matter what I'm doing."
Mira nodded sharply and let the door swing closed behind her.
Rumi exhaled shakily, elation of finding one of her soulmates fading. A giddy laugh forced its way out of her throat. She had met one of the people she was bonded to. She had met another of the three threads on her fingers. Mira. A pretty name for a pretty person. Rumi traced her fingers along the bond connecting her and Mira one last time before tucking her Truesight away. She needed to find Celine. Needed to tell her what had happened.
Needed to start making preparations for Mira.
~~~~
Mira never called. Never texted. Never reached out beyond a response to Rumi gently pulling on their thread.
Maybe Rumi had come on too strong. Maybe she'd scared her away. She should have eased her into the idea of Hunters and demons instead of dumping everything on her at once. Maybe Rumi was destined to be loved from a distance, only having three thread to her name, one of which she'd only spoken to once, another she hadn't even met.
Telling Celine what had happened that night wasn't helpful. She'd arched a brow and said "Mira. Kang Mira?" making Rumi feel like an idiot for not recognizing the daughter of Kang Industries. Though apparently seeing Mira at those events was unheard of, instead preferring to bring their son, Minho, instead.
Either way, Rumi's anxiety was spinning higher and higher the longer Mira went without reaching out. Chopsticks scraped against ceramic as Rumi ate her dinner in silence, Celine absentmindedly looking over contracts across from her.
Night was settling in the sky. Winter was gathering in the corners, making Rumi glad for the heavy sweater across her shoulders. Rumi flexed her empty fingers, not feeling like looking at the threads right now and shoved another pepper in her mouth. Something felt like it was about to reach a breaking point. Something was going to happen and Rumi was powerless to stop it.
Rumi's ring finger tingled, the sign of a thread being pulled while she had them tucked away.
The tingle returned once more. Then another time.
Three tugs.
Danger.
Rumi shot out of her chair so quickly it clattered to the ground. Celine looked up, concerned.
"Mira's in trouble," Rumi said, pulling her Truesight into focus, looking at the threads. She yanked on her bond with Mira once. Acknowledgment. I'm coming. Even if Mira didn't know the specific code, hopefully she would understand what it meant.
Three more tugs came in response, chasing away any doubt Rumi was wrong. "We need to go. Now," Rumi stressed, rushing towards the door, clutching her and Mira's thread.
Celine's touch ghosted over her own Hunters' bonds, limp and dangling. Evidence of what she had lost. "You direct, I'll drive." her voice brokered no room for argument, not that Rumi was going to object.
Rumi nodded, plucking the car keys off their hook and tossing them to Celine. Desperation made her shaky, made her rude, but she couldn't find it in her to care. Mira needed her.
~~~~
The drive was hauntingly long. Celine followed Rumi's directions, driving at speeds that made Rumi grip onto the armrests whenever they rounded a corner. With her Truesight active, they drove through bond after bond illusionary representations of love passing into Rumi's body but only one bond mattered. Rumi tugged on the her and Mira's thread occasionally, feeling fear rise in her throat the longer it took. 'We're coming.' Rumi thought with every yank. 'I'm coming. Just hold on.'
The only response Mira gave were trio of pulls. Danger. Danger. Danger.
Finally, the bond stopped pointing fully northward. "We're getting close," Rumi said, sitting up and looking out the windows. A black sky dotted with stars greeted her, interspersed by street lights. Where could Mira be? Where made sense for her?
Heartbeat pounding in her ears, Rumi scanned the area, tugging on their bond, hoping beyond hope they made it in time.
Celine drove past a park entrance, closed this time of day and the thread turned abruptly. "There!" Rumi yelled, making for the car door. "The bond switched directions. She's nearby."
Not even waiting for Celine to fully stop, Rumi jumped out of the car, hitting the pavement in a roll. Her knees ached as she landed weirdly, but she didn't care. She chased the bond, climbing the park gate, ignoring the lock she could have picked in seconds. Seconds they might not have.
"Mira!" Rumi called, feet landing in the grass with a muffled thump. "Mira, can you hear me?"
The bond pulled, not three yanks this time, a single steady tug. A beacon home.
Rumi charged onward, summoning her sain-geom for light, not caring who might see her. Branches rustled and Rumi slowed down. "Mira?"
Stepping out of the shadows, shoulders slightly hunched, eyes downcast, was Mira. "You came," she said like she couldn't believe it.
"I said I would, didn't I?" Rumi swept her gaze over Mira, taking her in. A rapidly swelling bruise on her cheek nearly sealed her right eye shut. The Hunters' bond was still in her grasp, fingers digging into it. Fingers that revealed fewer bonds than Rumi had seem last time. Aside from the Hunters' threads, Mira only had two bonds renaming: the yellow thread and one of the blue, now so pale it nearly looked white. In the dim light shed by Rumi's sain-geom, she could see two scars encircling Mira's fingers where the other familial bonds had sat.
A forced severing. An intentional cutting of ties, literal and metaphorical. Such a rare occurrence Rumi had never seen someone with those marks. Visible to everyone, no matter what their Bond Sight was like.
"Oh, Mira." Rumi dispelled her sword, stepping towards her soulmate.
"Don't," Mira nearly spat. "I- just don't. Not now. I'm fine."
The lie rang hollow, but Rumi let Mira use it as a lifeline, a desperate attempt at stability.
"Okay. We've got a car waiting." Rumi tugged at her blue thread twice, safe, as she turned back to the park entrance. "We're going to go home, put some ice on your face, maybe get you some tea, and figure out what to do next in the morning."
Mira's gaze hardened. "We?"
"We. Celine drove." Rumi inhaled slowly. "I trust her with my life, and as such I trust her with my soulmate's lives."
Something untenable flashed in Mira's eye. "Soulmate." She looked down at her hand at the bond connecting them. At the scars wrapping around her fingers. At the few remaining bonds she had. "Alright." The tension didn't vanish from Mira, but it lessened. Rumi could work with that.
Celine was waiting by the now open gate for them, tucking a lock picking kit back into her jacket. "Hello, Mira," she greeted, not warmly but still kindly. "I don't know how much Rumi has told you, but I swear no human will harm you while you are in my care."
Mira dropped her gaze. "Can we just go?"
"Of course."
~~~~
Rumi wished she could say she slept like a brick, but that would be a lie. One of her soulmates was sleeping a room over from her. One of her soulmates was injured and had been harmed in a soul deep way.
But she was here.
She was safe.
Rumi curled her fingers around her and Mira's bond, not tugging, just resting, reminding herself how close Mira was.
The sun was nearly on the horizon by the time Rumi's eyes slipped closed.
~~~~
Mira slotted into Rumi's life like a splint around an old ache. A relief she didn't know she wanted until it was there. Suddenly breakfast wasn't had in silence while Celine poured over contracts. Suddenly someone was raising a training staff to her in the arena. Suddenly someone was pestering her to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
Suddenly someone else was in the hanok and Rumi was very thankful for the growing winter, an excuse for her to wear long sleeves.
Which was fine. She needed to get used to wearing long sleeves for when they debuted as an idol group. No one could know. Not until the golden Honmoon.
One morning, Rumi walked into the kitchen to see a white thread connecting Mira and Celine, tinged with the barest amount of blue. Unsettled, leaning towards familial.
A comment was on the edge of Rumi's lips when she choked it down. No one aside from Celine knew about her Truesight. It was invasive. Too much knowledge.
So Rumi bit back her remark, accepting a mug of tea with a 'thank you' and tucked her Truesight back where it belonged.
What was one more secret in the grand scheme of things?
The patterns on Rumi's arm itched and grew as the bonds vanished.
~~~~
"Okay." Rumi rolled her shoulders as they stepped into the afternoon sun, leaving Sunlight behind them. "There are a few places nearby that I recommend for lunch. When we become idols we're going to be spending a lot of time around here, so learning the restaurants is of vital importance."
Mira's face did something complicated. "You know all of the restaurants in the area?"
Pride flashed through Rumi. "Yep. Celine spent a lot of time in the offices when I was a kid and I came with more often than not. We would make a game of finding places to eat." Rumi ghosted her fingers over her pinky where Celine's bond should have sat. "Eventually we settled on our favorites."
Mira's hand twitched, fingers banded by scar tissue spasming. "Sounds fun."
"Hey." Rumi nudged their arms together. "Now I get to share them with you. And when we find our third you can show her your favorite places."
Mira sighed, holding up her hand, looking at her ring finger intently. "How long so you think it's going to take? The bond moved recently, so she's somewhere different now. Do you think she's closer or farther away?"
"Probably closer." It was part guess, part wishful thinking. "Most Hunters are found in their mid to late teens, but some aren't found until their 30s. The absolute oldest was someone found in their 50s. Her family ended up in China due to a famine and she didn't return to Korea for decades."
"Huh," Mira said, still studying her finger. "So you think our third is in another country?"
"Yep. Most likely North or South America. When I visited Spain with Celine the bond still pointed west, so she's not in Europe, Africa, or Asia. Or, was I guess." Rumi wiggled her fingers, focusing on the phantom weight. "Hopefully she's in Korea now and we don't have to cross an ocean to find her."
"You can say that ag-" Mira broke off as the Honmoon pulsed under them, an angry magenta. "What the fuck?"
Rumi's eyes went massive, heart leaping into her throat. "Breach." She focused on her palm, feeling the weight of the Honmoon gather in it, there if she needed her sword. "You stay here. I'll be back soon."
"Fuck no." Mira glared at Rumi. "You aren't charging into this alone."
"Fine." They didn't have time to argue. "But you stay out of the way. You don't have your weapon yet." Rumi fumbled for the thread connecting her and Celine, invisible weight taking a moment to find. One short tug, one long. In pursuit. Message sent, Rumi started charging down the street, following the ache in her lungs, leading her to the breach, Mira hot on her heels.
~~~~
Rumi wasted no time flinging into combat, a demon crumbling into dust on her blade her way of announcing herself. Maybe if Celine were here she would be a bit fancier, a bit more playful, but right now Mira was behind her and she didn't know when or if backup was coming. So she ducked under a slash from another demon and let the world sharpen.
Small breach. Not a lot of demons. If she finished this quickly, they wouldn't have a chance to scatter.
Whistling sharply, Rumi grinned, taunting the demons. "Here, boy," she called, keeping their attention on her, not Mira. Not the untrained Hunter behind her.
The demons growled, charging her and Rumi flipped over their heads, slamming her sain-geom into one of their backs.
Two down, eight to go.
It became a dance of death. Rumi narrowly avoiding claws, dodging around kicks and punches, deflecting strikes and retaliating with her own, but slowly the demons' numbers whittled.
Mira made a noise of warning as Rumi finished killing a water demon. Rumi turned, barely managing to bring her sword up in time to deflect a blow from a club. The impact rattled up Rumi's arms, sending her sprawling, leg searing with pain as she hit the floor.
The Greater demon bellowed, hefting its club again and Rumi's blood ran cold. She'd never faced one of these alone. How had it sneaked up on her? Where did it come from?
Didn't matter. "Run!" Rumi yelled at Mira as she rolled out of the way of another swipe, club cracking the concrete millimeters away from Rumi.
"Rumi!" Mira screamed, scanning for a weapon.
The club raised again. Rumi's knee spasmed.
A rock came flying at the demon, hitting it square in the eye.
The Greater froze, confused.
Rumi didn't. Ignoring her leg screaming at her, she launched herself off the ground, burying her sword in its chest. Dust exploded over her.
"What the absolute shit was that?" Came a voice Rumi didn't recognize.
Shifting her weight onto one leg, Rumi looked at the person who had thrown the rock. At the person who had probably saved her life.
A woman, probably a little younger than herself and Mira looked at them, eyes wild, hair pulled up into twin buns. Freckles dotted her cheeks, combined with an odd mix of flush and paleness. Mira gasped, looking between the three of their hands.
Was this? Could it be?
Rumi pulled her Truesight into focus and instantly millions of thread filled the air, nearly suffocating her. But the Hunters' bonds still shone true, connecting her and Mira to the newcomer.
"Who-" Rumi coughed, feeling dust cling to the back of her throat. "Who are you?"
The newcomer scratched the back of her head nervously, fistful of blue threads moving with her. "I'm Zoey. Does someone want to explain what that thing was and why my phantom threads connect to you two?"