Chapter Text
It happens so quickly, Rumi almost doesn't notice her entire life crumbling around her. Or maybe it's the pain. That's probably more accurate. The demon's talons had sliced so deeply into her shoulder from back to chest, shredding her shirt along with it, and the burn of the venom was already seeping into her veins, insidious and agonizing. Oh well, better her shoulder than Mira's head- which is what the nasty thing had been aiming for.
The demons had chosen the dirtiest more forlorn looking alley for this particular tussle. The puddles reflect the dim lights of the windows above and act a perfect portals for the water demons to slip through. The white of Zoey's hoodie is streaked with grime and rain water, and Mira looks downright bedraggled as she finishes off the last of the demons, the two of them sealing the tear in the Honmoon with an efficiency that would make her proud if she could hear it over the ringing in her ears.
Rumi tries to hold herself up against the wall but ultimately fails, (her shoulder is definitely dislocated) sliding to the ground in a heap. The grit of the bricks is rough against her bare skin. Rain sluices down, tugging the ruined fabric further away from the wounds and exposing more and more of her damning marks.
Rumi can tell that nothing important has been nicked, but she supposes it doesn't matter now. She thought she'd feel panicked. Her patterns are on full display. Mira and Zoey have finally noticed her crumpled at the back of the alley and rush over, crying her name. She wants to tell them not to bother. Once they see, they won't care that she's hurt. Better they save their cries for each other. They'll need them to comfort one another once they realize the snake they've been living with, fighting with, loving.
Celine will be upset, she muses vaguely over the pounding in her shoulder. Finding another hunter will take time, and typically, a hunter set won't even be able to accept a replacement, but then again, she supposes, as hands scramble to sit her up, this isn't a typical situation, so maybe they won't have to start from scratch.
The gasp of pure fear Zoey lets out when she sees them will haunt Rumi when she burns with Gwi-ma for eternity. That much she is sure of. So will Mira's anguished "No"
Mira and Zoey are flying back from her, letting her fall prone with a splash into the dirty water.
She feels separate from her body, but her body still remembers it wants to live.
So she still shakes terribly when she realizes it's time.
Finally.
Rumi closes her eyes and indulges. She brings herself back to just one hour ago tucked snug between them in a restaurant booth. Warm with food and their smiles pressed into her shoulders as she showed them some piece of stupid gossip she got from Twice's maknae. Mira's cackle and Zoey's bubbling giggles play in her mind. She knows she shouldn't do this, shouldn't use their warmth for comfort. They were giving it to a girl who didn't exist, A girl they trusted, who they were sure was good. Not her.
They're standing above her now. The thrum of the Honmoon as Mira draws her weapon brings her back to the present.
Rumi decided a long time ago that when this moment came, she would meet her death gracefully. Her avenging angels stand over her weapons blazing. She would go quietly. Screaming would upset Zoey and only make Mira angrier.
She's glad it's them. There's no better sight than her hunters taking down the evil that haunts their world. Bad luck that Rumi is that evil.
The burning in her veins is unbearable now, and she can't help the whimpers that leave her. God, she wishes they'd get on with it. Zoey might have dragged it out, she likes to play with her food. Finding joy in the game and the fear. Rumi always thought it was adorable.
But Mira is the one who holds her gok-do now, and Mira is her battering ram. Beautifully efficient and deadly. If it's Mira, it will be quick. It should be quick, but she's still laying in the water as the venom eats away at her flesh sending blinding waves of pain through her body.
The burn of the tainted blood rushing through her veins muffles out the rest of the world. They're speaking, she knows they are, but it's all garbled as if she's far way. Their figures blur before her, and she whimpers a desolate
"no-" She wants to see them when she goes. Another selfish thought, but demons are selfish creatures, and she's no exception. The light from Mira's gok-do vanishes.
Oh God.
They're going to leave her like this.
A fitting death for a creature like her. Killed by a demon's venom. Died like a human. But she is selfish, and a death like this will be slow and hurt.
The thought gives her an adrenaline rush from hell, and her fingers scrabble in the puddles trying to sit up enough to speak "Pl-ease- please end it- it has to- I want it to be you. Please- fuck- Zo-ey, Mira-a" It comes out choked between groans and gasps and dammit- tears. Pathetic. She's not even sure how much she even gets out, because the world still sounds like it's blanketed in cotton.
Rain pounds down harder, dripping off the end of her nose into the puddle below. She can just about make out her reflection. She jumps back, and it hurts, but there's a demon in the water. She wishes she had the strength to summon her weapon. (She needn't have worried. It's just her reflection. The patterns have spread to her face, slicing through her eyebrow and clinging to her jaw like fungus.)
The movement jostles her terribly, and she can't help the sobs that take over. Everything hurts, and she just wants her girls, and they're here, but they aren't her's anymore and- huh
My she's certainly getting a lot of oxygen right now. She may be hyperventilating. Who's to say?
In the midst of her breakdown there are arms around her. It's confusing. Killing her with their bare hands was not on her bingo card for ways they might react to her secret, but she supposes they're angry enough for it.
That doesn't happen though. The arms tense and lift her off the ground.
Oh they're taking her to Celine. They must be. It makes sense, and maybe it's even fitting. Celine's greatest mistake and regret is letting Rumi live. It's only fair she has to fix it. Yes, Celine will fix all of it. The child in Rumi understands; from scraped knees to abominable freaks of nature, Celine is the answer.
Rumi allows herself to fall limp. Selfishly, (always so selfish) she wishes she'd lose consciousness. The pain is reaching a fever pitch, spreading through each limb. God, she must look like such a baby sobbing like this. Big bad demon can't handle the taste of its own medicine.
While she's being selfish, she might as well mourn all the things she won't get to do. She had plans for after the Honmoon was sealed. She always wanted to go to the beach. Or the bathhouse, Not to mention sex. Ugh she's going to die a virgin who can't drive. If she could manage to make the joke she would. If only to make Zoey smile.
Rumi doesn't take in much in the car. Her world narrows to pain and grief. The arms around her change, and she's passed off. She's surprised they didn't just toss her in the backseat, but her girls have always been too sweet for their own good.
As she feels pressure on her shoulder sending blinding white hot pain through her, she takes it back. That's just cruel. Pressing down on her wound when she's about to die anyway? Maybe they want to make sure she's alive when they get to Celine's- No. It's not that far to Celine's Seoul apartment, and she's not in danger of bleeding out entirely. This is punishment. Zoey always did like to play with her food.
Later, she won't be able to tell you how much time passed between the car and being laid down on a bed, only that she was conscious for all of it and it sucked.
There's chaos around her. The sounds of clatters and clinking glass break through the fog, and soon, she's being sat up against a warm body. Arms band around hers tight, and suddenly, she's on fire. A kaleidoscopic new frontier of pain assaults her as they pour something over her shoulder. She smells burning flesh and wonders if they what? found gasoline and a match? Where is Celine? Why haven't they killed her yet?
The pain goes on, and she forces herself not to struggle. Just weeps as silently as she can manage. She wants to scream, and she digs her fangs into her cheek to stop herself, tasting copper for her trouble, some of it dribbling from her mouth. A tentative hand lifts her lips to see. Humiliating. Although, Zoey is a science fiend. Maybe she could study her skull and write a reference book.
A hand strokes her hair. Of course, Celine. Celine who knew what she was and never denied her comfort. Celine would make them stop. She deserves this, she knows, but Celine was always far kinder than she deserved.
But they don't stop. The pain in her shoulder intensifies and a strong hand, one she would recognize blind and deaf, Mira, is gripping her upper arm and relocating her shoulder back into place with a sickening pop. A pitiful sound leaves her. She's kept her eyes closed since the car, no point seeing when the world is spinning, and she'd rather avoid throwing up on either her girls or Celine.
She's adjusted again so she's leaning fully against another chest. The ringing in her ears is starting to fade, that cottony feeling dissipates. They must have treated the wounds with an antidote but- why?
A soft humming vibrates against Rumi's back. Not Celine, but a voice that pulls at the threads of Rumi's soul. Zoey. The hand stroking her hair scritches its way along her scalp, pulling her focus from the strange tugging on her shoulder. Sutures?
The pain recedes in centimeters, but the relief is intense. She feels herself becoming more and more lax as whatever they injected works its magic and fogs her brain.
Rumi understands now. The girls need closure before her execution. She can empathize with that. Once she's not in pain she can give them the answers they deserve. Celine could too, but they're right. It should come from her.
She is responsible for her own lies. She is responsible for hiding her true nature from the best women she knows.
Zoey keeps humming. Rumi's tears don't stop, but she isn't actively sobbing anymore either.
Rumi's vision clears. She's not at Celine's to her shock. She's in their med room. Her view is mostly blocked by Mira's face hovering over her shoulder as she stitches her. She finishes the last suture, tapes the wound with gauze, and whips off the blue gloves she's wearing.
She's angry, that much is clear. Maybe it will be quick? Mira is the softest of all of them. She hates to see a dumb animal suffer.
"What did you ask for?" It's Mira who breaks the quiet of course, quiet and carefully calm. Her Mira. Her battering ram.
Still the question is confusing for a moment. "What?"
Mira huffs impatiently "From Gwi ma. What did you ask for?"
"No! No I didn't make a deal-" she tries to sit up but Zoey's grip on her is tight. She wants to tell her she wouldn't try anything, but it's probably too late for that now.
Mira's hand smacks the bed next to Rumi's leg making her jump. "Bullshit! Rumi- What did you ask for!? You-" Mira pinches the bridge of her nose. "Look, if we're going to help you out of this we have to know-"
"I swear I didn't make a deal! My-" She hesitates confessing her greatest shame, but it's better than letting them believe she chose to be this "My mother was Miyeong, you know that, but my father was a demon. It's what killed her."
They say nothing. They seem to be frozen.
The words bubble up like a volcano, spilling over, ragged and breathy. "I'm sorry I'm sososo sorry please know that. I-"
The medicated haze is settling over her now in truth, but she has to get this out. "I never meant to hurt you both. Sealing the Honmoon was s'posed to fix it. Fix me. You were never s'posed to see-"
Wrong words. Mira asks, incredulous "You were just going to hide from us forever, Rumi?!"
"I know. I know I wassa coward and you din't deserve it I jus-" Words are harder now, and her tears aren't helping.
Her breaths come harder. She was looking for someone earlier wasn't she? "Where's Ce-eline she c'n she'll fixit you dn't hafta- "
"Celine? Why would Celine be in our apartment?"
"t'fixit fix me"
"Rumi" Zoey speaks for the first time, low and dangerous "What do you mean by fix you?"
"Pleasepleasepl's j'st makeit quick I- She'll be ki'nd she- she wn't make ithurt. Get Cece- Cece'll-" Their faces are swimming now, but the horror there is unmistakable. Rumi gets the idea she said something wrong.
Zoey's arms squeeze her so tight it hurts. Mira throws up in the waste basket next to the bed.
Rumi finally, finally slips into unconsciousness.