Chapter Text
|Breaking News: Huntr/x members Mira and Zoey were seen leaving Incheon Airport. Where is Rumi?|
@seoulscope
WAIT—only Mira and Zoey?? Where’s Rumi 👀
@huntrx_daily
This feels…off. They never travel without all three.
@rumistars
Don’t like this. Rumi always walks in the middle. ALWAYS.
@zoeybias97
Maybe Rumi’s already overseas?? Y’all panic too fast 😭
@mirasleftdimple
Mira looked exhausted in the photos. Like really exhausted.
@knetz_watch
Dispatch says no sightings of Rumi at Incheon today.
@softforrumi
Why does this feel like the beginning of a scandal headline 😐
@insomniac_idol
Huntr/x without Rumi feels illegal, idk
@protecthuntrx
Whatever’s going on, leave Rumi alone. She deserves privacy.
@whereisrumi,
no seriously. where. is. rumi.
@huntrx_forever
I just hope they’re okay. All of them. 💔
________________
“I—yes, I know—No, I don’t know where they were going. They didn’t tell me anything!” Bobby yelled into his phone, trying to call Mira on the other end.
“Rumi? She has no idea what’s going on! I’m not going to—NO, leave her alone! No interviews!”
It had been a week since that article was released.
Both Mira and Zoey were trying to cover their faces, but fans knew.
He didn’t understand. What the hell was going on?!
He looked at his purple-haired girl, hated hearing her sobs and seeing the tears on her face.
She looked heartbroken.
“Rumi. Honey, it’s ok—do you want ramen? I can get you your favorite ramen!”
It only made her sob harder.
He was panicking now.
His phone rang.
Incoming call…Celine
He gulped.
“Rumi…Celine is calling…I’m going to take this call, ok?”
“I want to go home,” she sobbed, wrapping her arms around her tighter. She was now trembling, her face red.
He tried not to cry, his lip wobbling as he stepped outside.
“Hello?”
“Bobby, what the hell is happening?! PR is messaging me left and right!”
He sucked in a breath.
“I don’t even know Celine. I didn’t—I wouldn’t—I didn’t even know what was going on.”
“Bobby—Rumi is with them, right? She just left a little early, right? Please tell me she is with them.”
He bit his lip, hearing the sobs coming from the bedroom.
He let out a sigh.
“I’m sorry, Celine. She’s here with me.”
He heard her suck in a breath. Her voice trembled.
“Take care of her. I’ll—I’ll figure this out.”
She hung up. He went back to Rumi, who was scratching at the iridescent marks on her arm. He immediately grabbed her hands, her screams deafening as she tried to get free.
‘IT HURTS! PLEASE!”
His heart ached. His eyes burned. His mind raced.
When she fell asleep, he went back to call Mira and Zoey. Once. Twice. 6 six each. Nothing. He checked their locations that were turned off. He tried their social media. Deactivated.
Nothing.
Lost.
He dropped his head into his hands as he sobbed. He failed…he failed to keep his girls together. Why did they leave? Why was Rumi left behind?
What was going on?!
He sniffled before wiping his eyes.
He looked up and screeched.
Rumi stood in front of him. Face red. Marks purple instead of iridescent. One eye is golden.
“Rumi. You scared me, honey.”
She was silent. Her face was flat.
“Are you hungry? I can order food—”
“I failed them.”
His eyes widened.
“Rumi?”
“I failed as a leader. They left because of me. Because of what I am,” she said, dropping the blanket around her shoulders. Bobby gasped when he saw claws on her hands, purple skin, and jagged edges.
He watched as the air around her pulsed before she pulled what looked to be a sword out of thin air.
‘Damn stupid car,’ Celine thought as she parkoured across the buildings to get to the main lobby of the Huntr/x tower. She felt it in the Honmoon…felt what little of the soul bond she shared with Rumi thrum in panic.
She had been in the city since that fateful night…trying to find a way to look after her girl without triggering her. Even if it meant staying in the city.
She was in her car when she called Bobby, the thrumming getting louder in her chest.
Rumi was in trouble.
She tried to start her car, but it wouldn’t. fucking. Work.
So running would do.
Her heart thudded louder in her chest, trying to catch up.
She ran through the lobby, clicking on the elevator button like a maniac. She tapped her foot, the thrumming louder.
“fucking—hurry the fuck up!” she yelled as she hit the button harder.
“Celine-nim. The elevator is out of order,” the security guard said shyly. She turned to him, eye-twitching.
“You better get this elevator fucking fixed!” she yelled before taking off to the staircase. She skipped 4 steps at a time, huffing up as she ran.
“Please hold on. Hold on, aegi. Mama’s coming,” she cried out, tossing herself up further to get there faster.
Her blood ran cold when she felt the Honmoon thrum…
Rumi pulled her weapon.
“No no no no no no no no no no,” she cried out as she pushed herself harder to get to where the honmoon thrummed in panic.
“Don’t do it. Fuck I can’t lose you too,” she cried out as she made it to the last round of stairs. She pushed the door open and fell onto her knees, trying to catch her breath before she got up.
“Rumi!” she yelled, trying to move as her legs faltered.
She saw the colors of her weapon rise higher and ran.
“Rumi no!” she said, tackling the girl to the floor, taking her weapon away from her as the girl struggled against her harshly.
“It’s my fault! I hurt them! I don’t deserve to be here!” Rumi cried. Celine wrapped her arms around the younger woman, tucking her back against her chest as she thrashed. She placed her palm against her head, holding her forehead to her pulse point.
Rumi struggled less, her legs stopping their kicking as her trembling arms came to grasp Celine’s arms.
“Mama…”
“Shhh…Mama’s here, baby,” Celine whispered into her hair. Rumi’s grasp became frantic, trying to keep her close…to not let her leave.
She sobbed, rubbing her forehead into the neck that she was tucked into. Sheltering herself in the arms that broke her and still put her back together.
“I failed, Mama—”
“You didn’t fail Rumi—”
“I failed you. I couldn’t keep us together,” Rumi cried, holding on tighter.
Celine’s eyes watered as she buried her face in Rumi’s braid.
“No…I failed you, darling. I failed to be your mother. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she cried, holding her tighter. The two of them sobbed harshly, apologizing over and over.
“Please don’t leave me.”
“never.”
They stayed like that for a couple more minutes before Celine shifted to get up. Rumi cried out, holding onto her tighter.
“No, don’t leave me!”
“Shh shh. I’m not leaving. Let’s go to the couch, baby,” she said softly. Rumi didn’t want to move. She looked around.
“Bobby. A little help?”
The man was shell-shocked before he snapped out of it.
“Oh, right. On it,” he said. Gently, he held Rumi away to let Celine slip away.
Rumi cried out as she reached for Celine, her fingers opening and closing like the young child she used to be…begging for her mother to hold her.
Celine sat Rumi up before wrapping her arms around her back and under her thighs, hoisting her into her arms.
“ok. You’re ok,” she whispered, walking them towards the couch to settle down. She sat Rumi on the couch, choosing to sit in the corner. Rumi got up instantly and crawled over her mother, resting against her chest as she held onto her tightly.
Celine wrapped her in a hug, just as Bobby grabbed a blanket and draped it over them. Rumi’s eyes closed as her patterns turned from a dark purple to a lavender color.
Celine gently stroked her hair, holding her tightly against her heart to lull her to sleep. Bobby sat on the coffee table, watching the purple-haired woman sleep against Celine, holding onto her tightly.
“I can hear you thinking, Bobby.”
“Celine, what the fuck—”
She let out a sigh.
“You better get a drink…this is going to be a wild truth session.”
________________
Celine hummed as she played with the baby hairs escaping Rumi’s braid. Tear tracks on her cheek and patterns now that beautiful iridescent color.
Bobby was on his 2nd bottle of soju.
“So you’re demon hunters?”
“Yes.”
“And Rumi is half demon.”
“Correct.”
“And you’re saying that Mira and Zoey reacted to Rumi like she was a threat, almost died, but came back together to defeat this underworld…fire? And save the world.”
“That’s correct.”
Bobby took another shot.
“And you know this because you’re their mentor.”
“Yes. The sunlight sisters were the generation of hunters before Rumi and the girls.”
“I’m—educated now…no wonder they come covered in bruises and can jump out of planes like it’s nothing,” Bobby said.
Celine chuckled.
“We hunters are chosen by the Honmoon. It always picks three. Soulmates. From the moment it chooses, our souls bond together, creating a strong tether to each other.”
“But how are you bonded to Rumi?”
“I’m her mother…adoptive mother? I’m so lost on all these things,” she said. Rumi shuffled and nuzzled her neck.
“Mama.”
“Well, there you go,” Bobby said. He looked out the window.
“What happens when the bond is too far apart?”
Celine blinked.
“It strains…until it breaks. The bond thrums based on call to keep it alive…but if Mira and Zoey don’t call out or respond to Rumi…and it’s for a long time…her bond to them will break and…ultimately…”
It hurts to say.
“Are you saying that…they’ll be disconnected not only from her but…the Honmoon as well?” he asked.
“Yes. Because they left her. It doesn’t matter whether they created it together…Rumi was always connected to the Honmoon. Old or new. And it feels her sever that tie or the bond breaks…it will cut Zoey and Mira off. No weapon access. No more special abilities. No more seeing it or feeling its call.”
Bobby pauses.
“This has happened before…hasn’t it?”
Celine nodded.
“When Miyeong died, Tae-hee pulled away. I didn’t know it then. She loved Rumi despite her patterns and heritage…But I guess it got too much from our mentors. They knew I would never hurt Rumi and so they turned to her….told her to finish the job.”
She sucked in a breath.
“She couldn’t…she wouldn’t. So, she just left. I felt it…our bond breaking slowly until I couldn’t hear her sound in the strands of the Honmoon…it was like she never existed, and after all this time…I don’t even know if she’s alive,” Celine said, stroking Rumi’s head as she shifted, purring softly in Celine’s arms.
Bobby looked at her. Really looked at her.
“Celine…what are we going to do? What about Huntr/x?”
“When the time comes…it’s up to Rumi on what she wants to do. Keep Huntr/x going…or disband and go solo,” Celine said, cringing. Bobby grimaced.
“I’m mad at them, Celine. I am so angry that they left without saying anything…that they won't even answer my calls.”
Celine reached out and took his hand.
“I know. And I’m sorry they did that to you, Bobby. You are a great manager…it isn’t your fault.”
She paused.
“If I had been honest from the start…this wouldn’t have happened. I thought I was protecting Rumi…but all I did was hurt her.”
“No Celine…you can’t blame yourself either. You hunted demons…and then you were tasked to raise a child who was half demon…something that went against your training. And you did it. Was it perfect? No. Was it messy? Yes…but you’re still here, aren’t you?”
Celine held onto Rumi tighter.
“I promised I would never hurt her…But I did.”
“Maybe it’s time to heal…be the mother she always needed…and let her be the daughter you always wanted to claim to the world.”