Chapter Text
Mira and Zoey stood off in the wings and watched Rumi sing her solo for Golden. They were so close, Mira knew they just had to beat the Saja Boys. They could do it, win the idol awards and turn the Honmoon golden.
Once the Honmoon was golden maybe Rumi would finally take a break and Mira and Zoey could finally talk to her. They could talk about their feelings, make something real. Mira could feel hope coiling in her chest for the first time in weeks.
Rumi performed golden so well and as usual when Mira listened to Rumi’s singing, all she could think about was how beautiful Rumi was.
Mira could feel the Honmoon rippling, happy in a way it hadn’t been since the Saja Boys showed up.
“Girls, you’re on in one minute!" A stagehand informed before slipping off, presumably to go help with the lights or something.
Zoey shared a nod with Mira.”We’ve got thi-” Zoey cut herself off mid-sentence her eyes going wide. Before Mira even had the chance to ask what was wrong, Zoey was already moving, shouting, “Bobby!”
Mira followed the shorter girl without thinking. She would follow Zoey to the ends of the earth if Zoey asked her to. She wasn’t left in confusion for long. Mira quickly saw what Zoey had. Two demons were dragging Bobby away.
Mira had confidence that Rumi would be able to stall a few minutes while herself and Zoey killed the demons. So, Rumi had been a little off recently, she was still capable. Mira reassured herself that they would hurry and Rumi would be all right.
The chase didn’t last long before Zoey and Mira had the demons cornered at the end of a hallway.
“Let him go!” Zoey shouted menacingly, already throwing one of her Sinkal at the demons.
The demons dodged with surprising speed, Mira quickly concluded they must be fairly powerful. The demons responded with grins and Bobby, Bobby became a demon before Mira’s very eyes.
Mira froze, her Gok-do half raised. She could feel Zoey doing the same beside her. They hesitated, unsure, confused, and feeling lost.
Mira came back to her senses after a moment, and she swung her Gok-do. The weapon passed through red mist; the demons were already gone.
Mira had moved too late, hesitated like Celine always warned not to. Mira was already internally berating herself before her swing even finished.
For a moment after her swing finished Mira stood stock still, processing. What the hell was that? Was Bobby a demon? Or were demons pretending to be Bobby? Mira had never heard of shapeshifting demons before, but it felt like the only possible explanation.
Mira’s thoughts flew back to Celine’s lessons. She used to disagree with the tactic of killing everything with patterns, nothing can truly be generalized with accuracy. Now it made more sense, if demons could shapeshift then they could turn into anyone. They could be her, Zoey, Rumi. But Mira could kill them before they hurt anyone, before they hurt her girls. Next time she saw something familiar with patterns, Mira promised herself she wouldn’t hesitate.
“Mira.” Zoey’s voice was soft, but it felt jarring in the way it so suddenly snapped Mira from her thoughts.
“We have to go; Rumi’s still on stage.”
Mira nodded her agreement and folded her Gok-do back into the Honmoon. She still felt dazed, but she knew they couldn’t leave Rumi to deal with the fans alone.
With one quick glance at Zoey, Mira determined that the younger woman was just as dazed as herself. She watched as Zoey also folded her Sinkal into the Honmoon.
Mira reached out and grabbed Zoey’s hand, interlacing their fingers without a second thought. Somewhere along the time spent living together the simple gesture had become natural and comforting.
The two women ran back the way they’d come from.
Mira started to be able to hear some of the music again as they got closer to the stage. She didn’t listen to the beat, but she did reassure herself that if the music was still playing then Rumi was surely doing fine.
Suddenly, someone burst out of the side door of the stage and ran down the steps into the alleyway. The music became louder for a moment as the door opened and Mira could feel herself frowning, that song didn’t sound right. Mira pushed the thought aside, there wasn’t time for speculation right now, Rumi was probably just improvising in their absence.
The door closed behind the person with an audible thud, dampening the sound of the music once more. The person took a gasping breath; they sounded like they were crying.
Mira could feel Zoey freeze beside her, and she could feel her own muscles tensing. The adrenaline was still pounding in her chest and she felt uneasy. Her fingers twitched, ready to summon her Gok-do at a moment's notice.
The person’s head snapped up and yellow eyes met Mira’s.
Mira started moving without thought, releasing Zoey’s hand and already pulling her Gok-do into her hands. The person, no, the demon, flinched back.
Mira nearly hesitated, she nearly stopped at that unusual reaction. Then her eyes caught the glowing patterns on the demon’s face and she launched her Gok-do forward. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake of letting demons get away twice in one night.
There was a squelch as Mira’s Gok-do drove forwards. It was a sickening noise, one Mira had never heard from a demon before. It felt like there was more resistance than usual, but sometimes the stronger demons could withstand a hit for a moment, providing resistance.
Mira gave it a beat, waiting for the smoke to curl around the demon. One full second passed, and nothing happened, the night felt frozen still.
It was that moment when Mira looked down at her weapon firmly embedded just under the demon’s ribcage. There was blood soaking the fabric of the shirt around where her Gok-do had wedged itself. That wasn’t right, demons didn’t bleed.
Mira slowly lifted her gaze and staring back at her she found two yellow eyes and a face framed by purple hair, neatly braided and long enough to almost touch the ground. Mira froze. No. Nonononono.
Rumi was staring back at Mira. Rumi with yellow eyes and glowing patterns spread on her face. It was unmistakably Rumi, even with the changes.
Rumi still wasn’t disappearing, all demons disappeared and no demons bled and that had to have meant that Mira had stabbed Rumi. Real Rumi, not some false demon shapeshifter but Mira’s Rumi.
Words had caught in Mira’s throat, she could feel herself panicking as she watched blood spread across Rumi’s shirt.
“Rumi?” The voice was Zoey’s and it was the most timid Mira had ever heard it before.
Mira spared a glance to her side at the same time as Rumi did. Zoey had moved closer and had her Sinkal in hand. The younger woman was staring at the scene before her, shock and horror fighting for space across her face.
Rumi took a single shuddering breath, and Mira whipped her head back around to find red smoke swirling around Rumi.
“No!” Mira shouted it automatically. She found one hand still holding her weapon and the other reaching out desperately. It closed on nothing.
Rumi was gone. Just like that the smoke had taken her, and Mira had no way to know if she was alive or dead or if she was even still in the human world.
Where Rumi had stood moments ago now there was just a small pool of blood and suffocating silence.
Mira felt her Gok-do slip from her hands. She was vaguely aware of her knees giving out and the cold concrete slamming into them. She heard her cry break the night air. It sounded so desperate and tragic that she barely even recognized it as her own voice.
Mira’s eyes fell to the blood on the ground and her heart shattered. What had she done?