A/N: Okay, so the very first thing I wrote for KPDH (as in I finished the movie and imdiately wrote Part 1 in 30 minutes afterwards) was At Least The World Is Safe (KPop Demon Hunters)
This is the part 2 of that idea that makes part 1 a little softer/better. Go read part 1 at the link above first if you haven't yet, or go reread it if you need a refresher.
And... enjoy!
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She's not sure how long it is before sothing unexpected happens. Ti in the demon realm moves the sa as back on Earth as far as Rumi can tell, but it's difficult to keep track of down here without watches or clocks or smartphones.
In the end, she just sits on her throne, unmoving and barely blinking. She expects this to last for years, decades even. Ti enough for a new Honmoon to be built, hopefully.
Instead though… she's pretty sure it's only been a few days when she feels sothing shift in the demon realm and then hears a voice she never thought she would hear ever again.
"RUMI!"
In an instant, Rumi is on her feet, whipping around with wide eyes, her long purple braid swinging behind her. There, off to the side about a hundred feet away… are Zoey and Mira. And Jinu's Tiger and Bird as well.
Her forr soul- err, bandmates are running towards her even as Rumi curses under her breath. Zoey is out in front, having been the one to call out. Rumi honestly had no idea what Jinu's pets really were, but now she knows they're nothing normal because the Tiger can literally hop between the demon realm and the human world with her barely noticing. Rumi hadn't even had a chance to stop it from happening.
Still, she holds up a clawed hand as Mira and Zoey advance on her, the rapper slightly ahead of the dancer but both of them closing the distance far, far too fast.
"STOP! You two… go back! You shouldn't have followed here!"
They stop dead in their tracks as her demonic voice echoes through the realm, reverberating across the flat top of Gwi-Ma's pyramid. And then, because she's sure that she knows why they're here, Rumi gnashes her teeth and clenches her hands into fists at her sides. Her claws prick at her palms, the pressure and mild pain grounding her in the mont and allowing her to speak in an even, albeit desperate tone.
"I get it! I understand that you think you need to kill . To slay the monster. But you have it wrong! I'm not trying to take Gwi-Ma's place, I'm not here to act as the demons' new ruler! I'm their jailor, their warden! I'm just trying to help in the only way I still can!"
Zoey and Mira exchange distraught looks at that. Still, Rumi takes it as a good sign that they haven't summoned their weapons yet.
"D-Do you really think we ca all this way just to kill you, Rumi?"
Rumi goes blank at Zoey's heartbroken tone.
"… Why else would you be here?"
Mira steps forward, finally arriving at Zoey's side. A couple dozen feet separate the two of them from her at this point.
"We're not here to hurt you, Rumi. We're here to save you."
What.
Nodding, Zoey looks at Rumi imploringly.
"We know, Rumi! We know everything! We talked to Celine!"
Oh. Rumi barely even hears Mira's snarl as she processes that statent.
"We MADE her tell us the truth. The WHOLE truth this ti. None… none of this was your fault. That you felt you had to lie to us, that you were forced to cover yourself up your entire life… it was all her. It was Celine. SHE did this to us."
There are tears in Mira's eyes. anwhile, the tears have already started to fall where Zoey is concerned. Rumi though… Rumi finds herself a bit lost. And yet… she also can't let Mira's words stand.
"No she didn't."
Both of them jerk back at her repudiation.
"Celine didn't… she might have told to hide, to lie to you, but I made my own choices as well. I could have gone against her at any ti after we debuted. She wouldn't have been able to stop . But I didn't because… because I didn't want to lose you. Either of you."
Rumi's claws flex as her jaw works for a mont. Both Mira and Zoey are silently crying at this point, but their eyes are nevertheless fixed on Rumi. The both of them are refusing to look away from her despite… despite her patterns. Despite her monstrous appearance. She really doesn't know what to think about that.
"Besides. She was right, in the end. You found out… and you did exactly what you should have. You raised your weapons against . Against the demon, the monster… the enemy."
Zoey lets out a choked sob, shaking her head frantically.
"R-Rumi no! You're not the enemy! You're not a monster! We should never have summoned our weapons like that!"
Mira, anwhile, despite her own tears, growls instead as she takes another step forward.
"It's not about the patterns, Rumi. I don't care that you're half-demon, I'm just pissed as fuck that you lied to us all this ti. You're right that Celine only shares part of the bla on that front. But it doesn't change the fact that I love you! That WE love you! Even now, we love you and we always will!"
… Rumi must be hearing wrong. She probably needs to get her ears checked. Hm, are there even ear doctors down here in the demon realm? Are there doctors at all?
Still, before she can even figure out how to respond to Mira's confession, the tall, lithe dancer suddenly coughs and then chokes, gasping as one hand goes to her neck and the other to her chest. Zoey coughs a mont later, both of them wheezing.
Intuitively, Rumi knows exactly what's happening. And sohow… sohow, her heart softens a bit at the sight, her tone becoming gentler… kinder.
"You can't save , girls. I'm a demon and this is where I belong. Just like you're humans and so you belong up there, in the human world. Being here… it would kill any normal human in seconds. Only your status as hunters is letting you survive this long. You need to go."
"NO! Not without you, Rumi!"
Surprisingly, its Zoey whose most vehent and quickest to respond. She even snarls through the sweat suddenly covering her pale face, showing a bit of what their fans liked to call the rapper's 'fierce side'.
"We're not leaving you h-here!"
… They really didn't co here to kill her. They really did co to try and rescue her. They really do… love her. Rumi isn't sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, it's the happiest she's been since… since the night when she thought she'd turned Jinu fully to their side. On the other hand, that happiness is weighed down rather viciously by just about everything else.
"… I have to stay here. To keep the demons in check until you or Celine can build another Honmoon. I have to be here to do my duty. And you both have to go and live your lives. You can't just die here. Not like this."
Not when she'd already sacrificed everything to save them.
"Fuck. That."
Now Mira gets involved again. Her and Zoey are shoulder to shoulder yet again, even as they're coughing and wheezing harder and harder. Yet despite the very air itself literally killing them, the idiots aren't listening. Ugh, her soul-, her bandmates could really be so… stupid sotis.
"Tiger."
The Tiger perks up at that, as Rumi looks past her girls and makes eye contact with its unfocused gaze. She recognizes in that mont that not only are the tiger and magpie not actually proper demons… but instead, they're sothing else. Sothing like guardian spirits, maybe. She can use that.
"Take them back. Please."
The Tiger begins plodding over, causing Zoey and Mira to look back at its approach with sothing akin to panic spreading across their faces.
"No! No Rumi! We won't leave you!"
"PLEASE Rumi! We can't just abandon you here!"
But Rumi has already turned back to her throne, secure in the knowledge that the tiger will do his duty and keep the other two hunters from dying aningless deaths in this… forsaken place. She sits down, closing her eyes and doing her best to tune Mira and Zoey out. In monts, they'll be gone… they'll be safe. And she'll have to be happy with that.
To be fair, she didn't think she was going to get even this much in terms of closure, so really-
"LET'S MAKE A DEAL!"
The world freezes at Mira's shout. Rumi's eyes snap back open as she turns on her throne to stare at the pink haired dancer.
"M- TOO! I WANT TO MAKE A DEAL TOO!"
Zoey is just a heartbeat behind… and to Rumi's horror, the damn tiger fucking stops just feet away from them both, sitting back on his haunches and looking at her as if to say 'they're your problem now'.
Because that's what they've done. Rumi can feel it, connections starting to form already between her and the others. She ate the Honmoon. She ate Gwi-Ma. That ca with a lot of power… but it also ca with other things. Like the ability to turn humans into demons. To make deals and then… and then consu their souls and bring them down to her realm once their ti ca due.
"You two… no… I won't… I refuse…"
And yet, even as she says that Zoey collapses to her knees. Mira follows suit a mont later. They're still dying. The demon realm is still killing them.
"TIGER! TAKE THEM BACK!"
But the spirit or whatever he is does nothing. Just stares at her, watching her.
In a flash, Rumi is out of her throne and over to Mira and Zoey. She grabs them both, pulling them into her arms and all but shoving them towards Jinu's Tiger.
"Do it! They're DYING!"
"H-Heh… he can't, can he?"
Looking down, Rumi sees Mira smirking up at her weakly but also challengingly. And Zoey imdiately follows it up with an exhausted yet cheeky grin.
"Not while… our souls are on the t-table."
"Take… t-take it back. Take back your offers so he can take you both back to the human world and you can be safe!"
"No."
"We refuse."
"Make us deals, Rumi."
"Or let us die…"
"Either option is better…"
"… than living up there without you."
She can't… she can't breathe. Staring down into her girls' faces as their bodies fail them, as they both get closer and closer to their last breaths… Rumi can't do it. She can't let them die in her arms like this. Discover more novels at novelfire(.)net
"OKAY! Okay, yes, I'll make deals with you."
And then because she fucking can, she pours so serious power into her 'offers', into the two of them.
"If you want to be with so badly… then fine. You'll get to be with , at my sides… as m-my fellow wardens. We'll guard the human world from the other demons together, down here… for the rest of eternity."
It's not an easy process by any ans. Zoey and Mira both scream as Rumi's power rips through them. Paradoxically though, they also take to it extrely easily. Probably because a lot of Rumi's stolen power cos from eating the Honmoon they'd all once been connected to. Even if it's been twisted and corrupted into sothing else… it's still sowhat familiar for the three of them to be bound like this to each other.
Demon patterns spread across Mira and Zoey's bodies like wildfire. They flare to life all over their forms until they're both positively covered in them. Slowly, their breathing evens out and they both co back from the edge of death. Within seconds, they're out of the woods and… and regaining their strength.
Rumi looks up at the tiger and scowls at him for making her do this. But he just blinks back at her, one eye half a second behind the other.
Stiffly, Rumi rises to her feet, lifting Mira and Zoey up in her arms despite their size. She sits back down on her throne with them still in her arms… and the two newly made demons cuddle up against her, leaving Rumi warr than she ever would have thought possible.
"Thank you, Rumi…"
"We missed you so, so much…"
Rumi flushes as their breath ghosts across her cheeks, their words murmured into her ears. She squirms a little bit, but they just snuggle in closer.
"You two… you've damned yourselves. Just for …"
"Worth it."
"So fucking worth it."
Mira pulls back after a mont and gives Rumi a wide smirk.
"Also now that the drama is over with, can I just say… you devouring Gwi-Ma was absolutely sick and the hottest thing I've ever seen. Also not really surprised that you ate the Honmoon either. We've seen how you handle kimbap, after all."
Rumi's face goes hotter than it already was at that. Mira… Mira was going to be the death of her as a demon, wasn't she? Before Rumi can even think up a proper response to muster though, Zoey nudges her.
"Hey Rumi… is that Jinu over there?"
Blinking, Rumi and Mira both look over at where Zoey is pointing. There, on another part of the dais, Jinu is still curled up in the fetal position right where Rumi left him all those days ago. But then to be fair, she hasn't let up on the voices in all this ti either. Not even a little bit.
She's been tangentially aware of the other Saja Boys coming around to the pyramid every once in a while to check on Jinu from a distance. None of them have gotten too close though, likely out of fear of her and what she might do to them.
Face scrunching up in pure hate, Rumi gnashes her teeth and snarls.
"Yes. He betrayed . Us. He was supposed to help us win the Idol Awards. Instead, he used my deepest fears and worst nightmares against … using YOUR faces."
She'd told Jinu that she thought she was a mistake and had been since the day she was born… and then his pet demons, wearing Mira and Zoey's forms, had repeated her exact words to her on that stage. They'd thrown them in her face using her girls' voices. They'd ruined her on Jinu's orders.
Rumi expects Mira and Zoey to take in her judgnt and accept his punishnt as the dark justice it is. They ARE demons now, after all. And yet… after a mont, Mira just makes a noise in the back of her throat.
"… Gwi-Ma got into our heads too, you know. Used our inner voices against us. He had abandoning Zoey in less than a minute just by preying upon my insecurities."
Zoey reaches out and takes one of Mira's hands in her own as they sit on Rumi's throne with her.
"Mira… I don't bla you for that. But… she's right Rumi. Once he got in our heads, we were done. He had us in… in no ti."
Grunting, Mira picks up where she left off.
"How long has he been in Jinu's head? How long has he been using all of these demons' inner voices against them?"
Rumi can hardly believe it. Her girls are… are counseling rcy? To a demon like Jinu? No… they're talking about all demons like… like they're victims or sothing.
… Maybe so of them are. It's been at least days now and Rumi actually hasn't had to make good on her threats a single ti yet. Nobody in the demon realm has tried to go up to the human world to steal souls of their own volition. Almost like without Gwi-Ma… they don't have a reason to.
Letting out a sudden breath, Rumi decides not to care anymore. Funnily enough… she's sort of just over it now that she has Zoey and Mira at her sides. With a flick of her fingers, she silences the voices in Jinu's head and watches as the male demon flinches and then freezes up… before slowly uncurling from his balled up position on the ground.
At the sa ti, it takes all of a mont to summon the lurking Saja Boys, bringing them up to the top of the pyramid where they imdiately drop to their knees and bow their heads in submission. Sneering, Rumi just pulls her girls closer.
"Take him and get out of my sight. I don't want to see ANY of you for the next hundred years at least."
They obey. Imdiately and without hesitation. Grabbing Jinu, lifting his limp form up into the air between them, they fly away from her without saying a word. Good. Misery loves company, after all.
"Hm, I don't know… I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more of Abby around here, if you know what I'm saying."
"Hehe, and I HAVE been wondering what sort of face Mystery is hiding under all that hair~"
Rumi gives her girls incredulous looks for a mont… before realizing that Mira and Zoey are purposefully teasing her and actively trying to rile her up. Letting a low demonic growl reverberate up from her chest, Rumi pulls the two newly minted demons closer to her and shakes her head vehently.
"Mine."
Far from being afraid, they dare to give her tender, soft smiles in response, their hands crossing over one another so they can both caress her cheeks. As their fingers ghost across the demonic patterns etched into her face, they lean in close and press their foreheads to either side of her skull.
""Yours.""
And Rumi… Rumi hums her approval. It's a hum to be clear. NOT a purr. No matter what Mira and Zoey start accusing her of just monts later.
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A/N: I consider this the final part of this little story, so don't expect a part 3!
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Thanks for reading!
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