Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One Month Later

Miyeon Jina casually strolled through the arrival hall of Incheon Airport, a small duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She brushed back an errand strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear as she looked around.

The whole place had that particular mix of familiarity and peculiar wrongness of a place you hadn’t visited in a very long time. Subtle changes in the brands advertised, retail chains that had changed branding, which items were peddled the most.

All familiar but different, like a comforting dish you used to enjoy, now made by a different chef.

With the hectic bustle of an international airport buzzing around her, she moved towards the exit. She enjoyed these kind of crowds to a degree. It helped her blend in even if additional pre-cautions were necessary for her. Aviator sunglasses covered her eyes and her hair was kept in a vastly different style from when she had been on the cover of magazines. It was long and smoothed out, falling to the small of her back.

It made it much trickier to identify the former Sunlight Sister.

The one that got away.

Her eyes lingered on the ebb and flow of people at this transient place. Airports always had that feel of unconscious change to them. Like something was ready to be adjusted, altered, but people didn’t want to acknowledge it just yet. She shifted her perception, allowing herself to see the gleaming colors of the Honmoon. The opalescent wasn't new. Even if she wasn't a hunter anymore, she had noticed when the shield had dissipated all over the world on that fateful night.

She had briefly considered investigating. But before long, the shield had come back, stronger than ever before. No point then.

And now, well now the Honmoon was acting up again, but in ways she had never experienced before. And when she had heard rumors of Huntrix breaking up, she couldn't find any more excuses to postpone coming back to Korea, summons or no summons.

Seeing the Honmoon here made her realize she might have postponed her return for too long. It was essentially a patchwork of weak spots as far as the eye could see.

She sighed, shaking her head briefly, then continued her way towards the exit.

A newsstand caught her attention from the corner of her eyes. She moved over towards the rows of magazines on display, picking up one of the premier Korean entertainment magazines. The cover had a dramatic illustration of the Sunlight Sisters on one side and a solitary figure of the leader of Huntrix on the other side with a smaller rendition of Mira in the corner. Zoey was nowhere to be seen.

'A generational split? From Trio to Solo Projects, Rumi talks about her new album.'

Her eyes narrowed slightly. She looked at the picture of Rumi for a moment. Gods, she looked so much like Mi-yeong. And now, she also looked a lot like her father. The opalescent patterns on her skin in shapes she remembered all too clearly. And she would recognize that cocky, fanged smirk anywhere.

"What did you do Celine..." she muttered quietly to herself. She walked to the self-checkout, paying for the magazine and then proceeded along to the baggage claim.

After she had proceeded through customs clearance, passing through the final sliding doors, she spotted her former group-mate among the people in the waiting area. She was standing a bit behind the crowds greeting their arriving loved ones. She was also wearing sunglasses for incognito's sake but Jina would recognize her anywhere.

She passed through the crowd, coming to a halt in front of Celine.

"Jina?" Celine looked up at her, pushing off the wall she had been leaning against.

Jina adjusted the duffel over her shoulder. "You're looking good, Celine."

Celine looked Jina up and down for a moment, eyes roaming over the younger woman. No doubt cataloging all the ways she had changed. The different style of clothing, the blacks and purples she was wearing now as opposed to the bright colors she had preferred during her time as part of the group, the different hair.

"Spare me the comments Celine. My mom already complained about me falling into my goth phase too late in life."

"I'm just surprised, that's all."

There was a moment of silence between the two women that immediately felt heavier than it ought to. Jina frowned.

"So, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on here?" She tilted her head to the side.

"Not here."

"I'm not going all the way to Jeju,” Jina cut in quickly.

"I booked two rooms in a hotel downtown." Celine said, sounding annoyed. And thus they fell right back into their usual conversational patterns.

Some things didn’t change after all.

"Fine. But start talking on the way. You're gonna have to explain this to me." Jina tossed the magazine at Celine as she moved past her towards the parking garage.

***

Celine drove the car she had rented towards downtown Seoul. A local radio station provided ambient noise that filled a silence that felt uncomfortable in its familiarity. The two women had, despite the earlier demand to immediately start talking, decided to sit in silence instead.

Jina was looking out the window, resting her cheek in one hand. Celine would have liked to share all her worries with her immediately, like she used to. But she was afraid of the reaction. A fear that was still with her from that night years ago. And that fear did not allow her to speak.

Jina had aged well. Stealing glances, Celine couldn’t help but notice how well she took to her new style, even if it muted the joy that she used to radiate.

The joy that had fled her eyes on a street drowned in rain, blood and tears.

Celine did not think she had ever found it again.

"OK, that's enough Celine." Jina said after another couple of minutes of dreary, radio-filled travel had passed. "You are horrible at hiding things, always have been. So what the fuck happened?"

Celine sucked in a sharp breath and gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"It's...It's hard to explain."

"Then try ! Maybe start with that time the whole Honmoon came crashing down?"

Celine sighed deeply. She had to focus to keep her eyes on the road instead of nervously closing her eyes.

"Well, that was..." Celine began, but she fumbled for words almost immediately.

"For fucks sake Celine! This is worse than when you first confessed to me and Mi-yeong! The least you can do is be straight with me! You owe me that!"

"You left! You left me with the kid!" Celine burst out and immediately regretted it, trying in vain, to bite back the words she had just uttered. They hung in the air, sharp and accusing, immutable. So she continued, her voice trembling. “You can’t demand I just go back to normal chats after that.”

"I've apologized for that a million times! You don't get to play that card anymore! And how could I stay?! After what you said?!"

"I wasn't thinking straight!" Celine's words came forced, pressed out, shame and guilt coloring her voice.

Jina quieted down for a moment, biting her lip. The tension in the car was dangerously close to bubbling over.

It had taken all of fifteen minutes to get here. To the yelling. The anger.

The regret.

"Right," she said, quickly but no less hostile. "I know, I know. That's not what we should be talking about."

Celine nodded slowly, trying to compose herself again, but in the light of what they did have to talk about, that remained difficult.

"Right..." she began, trying to sort her words as she spoke. "The girls, they got very close to sealing the Honmoon golden. Their harmony was strong, they hit all the right notes. It was almost perfect. But then the demons concocted a plan. They did a whole… boy band thing. And they knew exactly how to prey on the girls' insecurities, particularly Rumi's."

"Right, the Saja Boys." Jina nodded slowly.

"Yeah. So everything goes bad real fast. Rumi comes to me, her heritage, her patterns, all stronger than ever and exposed. She lost Mira and Zoey, or she thought so anyway. She had a breakdown. Asked me to kill her. I tried..." Celine frowned, biting her lips hard and Jina sucked in a sharp breath at the last bit.

"You tried to kill her?!"

"No, no no, gods no!" Celine almost shouted this time. "How could I? She's the last bit of Mi-yeong..." Her words vibrated with heavy, long repressed emotions. She took a deep breath, focusing her eyes on the road ahead before continuing.

"I tried to tell her the same thing our teachers always told us. Fix the things that need fixing, hide the flaws, so the Honmoon can be strong. Our faults and fears must never be seen."

Jina shook her head.

"You always took that way too seriously, Celine." There was a bitter tone in her voice, a resentful, sorrowful note.

"Well I know that now, better than ever before." Celine's voice was shaky by now, but she continued. "They ended up creating a new Honmoon. More powerful. But they cut me out completely. It looked like everything was fine, but then I got a message from Sunlight that Bobby was taking a sabbatical and a replacement manager had been appointed."

Jina shook her head, bewildered.

"Aren't you supposed to be able to have an influence on that?"

"I told you, the girls cut me out. They didn't answer my messages or calls. And when I tried to visit I was turned away at the door. I tried to go through Sunlight but... this Revan had it all covered. I was respectfully told to stay away."

"Who the fuck is Revan?"

"That's a very good question." She sighed, pulling off the Highway now as they got into downtown Seoul. "I can't seem to find a good answer. Her background is clearly a cover, but Sunlight is buying it hook line and sinker."

She remained quiet for a moment, collecting her thoughts. She had pulled a few strings to dig deeper into the background of this woman who had so thoroughly taken control of Huntrix. All of which had led to nothing. She was so squeaky clean, nothing existed except exactly what she shared. That in itself was suspicious, but it was nothing she could act on.

"All I know," she continued as she pulled the car into the driveway of the hotel, "is that she took control. And soon after, Huntrix changed."

Two employees of the hotel came to the car and opened both doors, allowing them to exit the vehicle. They did so in silence, pausing their conversation and processing their thoughts privately while they entered the hotel.

Celine led Jina to the elevators. Over the years, the two had barely been in touch. Not at all for the first few years.

She had tried. Had sent letters of apology to places she thought Jina would have gone to. But she had simply vanished off the face of the earth.

Years passed before a message returned. Tacit and short. Simply checking in on Rumi.

They had never reconnected properly and Jina had never returned to Korea. What they had was only a distant memory now. Nothing but flashes of a life that could have been.

A better life.

"Changed how?" She continued the conversation immediately when the elevator doors closed.

"They pursued their own interests more. Zoey came out as bisexual. Not a huge surprise to anyone, I know, but the public nature of it was a shocker at first. Shortly after they announced that they're in a polyamorous relationship, all three of them. That really got everyone going. And then they changed their music and visuals to match."

Jina smirked faintly.

"I know that part. The world couldn't shut up about it."

"Right, right."

They exited the elevator and Celine guided Jina towards the two rooms she had booked.

"So they go on a world tour and, I don't know, the Honmoon acts weird. It strengthens, but then sudden weaknesses would appear. I've never seen anything like it. The tour is huge. They break records and are welcomed home as heroes."

"All the while being the focus of backlash here and everywhere," Jina added with a growl.

Celine nodded as she opened the door to her room. She fished for the second keycard in her pocket, handing it to Jina.

"This one's for your room. Do you want to freshen up after the long trip?"

Jina pushed past Celine into her room instead of answering and Celine, sighing briefly, walked in after her. Inside, Jina dropped her bag on the chair and walked to the window, stretching her arms over her head.

"So, the girls finish the tour, but there's a ton of vitriol against them, yeah?"

Celine settled down on the bed.

"Yes. And it gets worse. I don't know the extent of it, but there was news of a targeted harassment campaign against Zoey specifically soon after the final concert and then, just a few days later, Rumi announced a solo album, Mira is named the new cover model for Vogue Korea and Zoey is on a retreat. Officially, Huntrix hasn't broken up. The statement from Sunlight insists that this is merely each of the members pursuing some of their own things in the time after the tour and Zoey just needing some rest."

She fell silent for a moment, shaking her head. Her gaze drifted to the window, looking beyond Jina and seeing the Honmoon, the weak spots all over the city and beyond.

"Yeah, the Honmoon tells a different story, doesn't it?" Jina frowned, turning around and looking at Celine again. "So what's your plan?"

Celine folded her hands in her lap.

"I don't know."

"Well isn't that great?" Jina scoffed and shook her head. "So let me get this straight. You raised Mi-yeong's kid to bury and hate half of herself, then tried to double down when it caused the Honmoon to fall apart, and now little Rumi is in the claws of some weird lady who showed up out of thin air and going solo demon?"

Celine grit her teeth, her hands squeezing together tight and hard in her lap.

"Maybe, if you hadn't left me as the only parent figure in Rumi's life, this could have been avoided!"

"After what you said to me?! How you treated me?" Jina fired back, furious.

"I was in pain! I had just seen the love of our lives be killed in front of me. You were supposed to be with her! My whole world was falling apart! But instead of helping me, you fucking left me high and dry!"

Her words whipped through the room, sharp, angry, resentful. All the bluster in Jina's posture left in a heartbeat. Her shoulders sagged and she looked to the side, away from Celine.

Celine squeezed her hands a little tighter, trembling. She drew a deep steadying breath. Yelling at each other wouldn't get them anywhere. The silence between them lingered, heavy and suffocating.

"So," Jina eventually found her voice again, but it had lost its edge. "What I'm hearing is that Revan has made accessing Rumi and Mira basically impossible. What about Zoey? If she’s on hiatus, maybe she’s somewhere we can get to her?"

Celine slowly looked up, fixing her gaze on Jina.

"I haven't been able to find her or contact her. She hasn't exactly been fond of me before and I believe at some point, Rumi told all of them about our last encounter. I doubt that made them think of me more fondly."

Jina nodded slightly.

"Maybe I can try."

Celine didn't respond immediately, thoughts still mired in the unpleasant memories that had been dredged up by their conversation and of course, by Jina simply showing up. After years of comparative silence and no updates, a sudden message, a flight itinerary and the words: 'I'll be there tomorrow. Pick me up.'

"Why are you here?" Celine asked, instead of responding to Jina's suggestion. "You didn't even bother to come when the Honmoon was torn apart. Why now?"

Jina looked back to Celine again. The former idol's eyes were now clouded with uncertainty, any trace of hostility gone.

"I was ready to head back last time. But the Honmoon came back, stronger than ever before, so I thought whatever you were doing was working." She paused, briefly, but enough for Celine to detect a trace of sadness in the voice. "But now, it's not just the Honmoon. Rumi's solo release is all over the news. This is unprecedented. Hunters don't just go do this."

She fell silent, her arms crossed in front of her, hugging herself.

"Anyway, I thought... I thought maybe... I..." Her words stuttered and ground to a halt.

Celine closed her eyes for a moment. Her mind was a quagmire of memories being dredged up. All the resentment that had built up over the years, for Jina leaving, for what had happened in the days after Mi-yeong's death. Years of love, that flamed out in an ugly, hateful spiral of separation.

She stood up, walking past Jina without another glance. She couldn't stay right now. Nothing would get solved if the two of them went down the rabbit-hole of their grievances.

"Well, we need to do something. Or we lose the only thing left of our Mi-yeong."

***

"Open the seventh and last door...

I know what you're hiding

Bloodstains on your weapons

Blood on your crown of glory

Now I know it all..."

Rumi held the final note, high and clear, eyes closed. In her mind, the story behind the lyrics shimmered as inspiration, furious and mysterious.

She had written it after a suggestion from Revan, to explore more of her interest in Opera. Bluebeard's Castle jumped out at her in research and once she had wrapped her mind around the themes of the piece, the words for the song had come to her easily.

And of course, Revan had arranged for a suitable collaboration partner to do the song with. They had a lengthy conversation about the pros and cons of various options. Bringing back Nadine Sierra was a possibility, but while she was famous in the Opera world, it wouldn't necessarily drive her engagement with the target audience.

So in the end they had settled on something that would highlight her pop roots while exploring new themes and more daring visuals.

Eventually, the screaming and shouting of a raucous crowd pierced her little reverie at the end of the song. She opened her eyes, lowering her arms from the final pose of the routine and around her, the members of XLOV returned to her side, positively aglow with joy.

She felt the pulse of the crowd, the delicious sense of idolization they were giving her and she drew it in, absorbing it into herself. The rush of power was just as intoxicating as she remembered from the performance in Brazil, but more focused, more satisfying, now that she drew on it with ease. Of course, the crowd here was a limited release party. Only ten thousand people fit into the comparatively small space the live performance had been held in, but now that she was more connected to her demon side, she had an easier time absorbing the frenetic energy of the fans.

Rui and Wumuti flanked her on stage and Rumi's smile widened, revealing her fangs. She slipped her arms around both of their shoulders with Haru and Hyun flanking the three of them. They bowed low to the raucous cheers of the audience.

"Thank you everyone!" Rumi's voice echoed through the hall. "For all the love and support, thank you!"

The cheers grew louder. Rumi deactivated the headset microphone and leaned over to Wumuti, drawing her into a tight hug and planting a kiss on both cheeks, before turning around and doing the same to the other members. She waved, along with the others as they cajoled a little on stage for the benefit of the fans before heading to the backstage area.

"Great work out there."

Revan was waiting for them, with the usual host of attendants ready to cater to Rumi's every whim. She reached out and lightly patted Rumi's head in an affectionate, if slightly possessive gesture.

"Thank you Revan-nim." Rumi smiled a bright smile, not minding the gesture in the slightest. She looked to the members of XLOV and offered them her widest smile as well.

"You killed it out there! Thank you so much for doing this with me!"

Wumuti shook her head and bowed again.

"I still can't believe you got all of this set up in two weeks." She put on a radiant smile and Rui hopped to her side, nodding excitedly.

"Yes! That was spectacular."

Rumi kept the smile on her features. XLOV was fairly new in the pop world, only having debuted this year in fact. They had made the right kind of splash in Rumi's mind, challenging the norms and expectations that came with the entertainment world. She was genuinely excited about the collaboration and had been thrilled when the group had agreed. Of course, it wasn't terribly surprising. For the four hoobaes it was a dream opportunity to boost their worldwide recognition.

For Rumi it was a chance to bolster her support in communities that mattered to her while drawing more attention. And attention was good. It also helped alleviate the few voices of concern about the solo tour. XLOV was a group Zoey had very publicly endorsed not too long ago.

Zoey.

Rumi shuddered momentarily, a surge of grief washing over her. A month since she had last seen Zoey. She pushed the grief down, drowning it in her simmering anger.

"I'm excited for the mini-tour to start with this group. And thank you for making the adjustments to your schedule." Revan's voice was calm and soothing to Rumi as always. She leaned against the touch of Revan's hand on her shoulder, hands folded in front her.

Wumuti and Rui bowed again. They exchanged a few more words before the group went to their own changing room and Rumi and Revan headed to hers.

Once inside, Rumi's smile faded, the public persona falling away in the shape of her eyes and lips. She walked to her wardrobe, shedding the costume she had been wearing on the way. There was no celebrating with her girlfriends now. No excited hugs, no kisses, no warm, sweet love to embrace her. Mira was off on a photo-shoot for the next two days, having left this morning with nothing but a curt nod.

And Zoey was gone.

"How did that feel?" Revan asked while settling down.

Rumi settled down on her chair. She looked at her reflection, the half-demon looking back. In performances, she no longer hid her true self. Her patterns pulsed a gentle turquoise and lavender. Her eyes were both serpentine and shimmered in molten gold, shot through with red. Her fangs were visible, even when she closed her mouth, peeking over her lower lip.

She brushed back a strand of hair. The purple braid was messy and adorned with various cute trinkets. Her hands now shaped in claws, elongated fingers slowly trailing through the silky strands of her hair.

"It felt good, but… Not enough…" Rumi said slowly. "If we were to limit myself to performances like this, it would take a long time to gather the strength I think I'll need."

Revan's reflection in the mirror smiled briefly. Rumi thought she saw a trace of sadness the smile, a ghost, there then gone.

"That's not what I meant Rumi. It's the first time you performed without Zoey and Mira."

Rumi closed her eyes and felt a light tremble run through her body. The longing for her girlfriends resurfaced. Gods, Zoey would have loved to perform with XLOV. And Mira would have had such a wonderful time collaborating on the choreography with them.

"It hurts," Rumi said, her voice fractured and cold.

"That's understandable."

"It just means I'll have to do bigger shows.” Rumi’s statement was immediate. Absolute. “Be a little more aggressive. So I can get this over with sooner."

Rumi opened her eyes and allowed herself to calm down, slowly shifting back into her human form.

"You have a few days of rest, then the mini tour starts," Revan said and approached Rumi. "I suggest you take a breather. You've thrown yourself into this and it was necessary to get it stood up so quickly, but take the rest while you can."

Rumi let out a long sigh. She didn't want to slow down.

Slowing down meant thinking about the void in her heart left behind by Zoey's flight.

Slowing down would mean dealing with how messy things had become between Mira and her. How their conversations were short, curt affairs where words were exchanged in a hurry but with a sense of sharp bitterness to them. Or led to furious fights that ended in broken furniture and tears spilled in solitude or intimacy mired in toxicity.

She needed to keep busy or she'd go insane, drowning in the pool of sorrow around her.

She started the process of removing her make-up. Revan stepped up behind her and began to undo the various accessories in her hair. Recently, she had taken to wearing her hair in a different style when not performing. It was a good disguise. And it made her feel less like herself in a strange way. Less connected to the old Rumi.

It helped her put up barriers in her mind to focus on the task at hand and not always be reminded of the gaping hole in her heart.

She remained quiet as she worked on washing her face and let Revan undo the braid and brush the hair afterwards. There was a sense of peace in these moments. Not the peace she knew before. More a terrifying calm that helped her settle. She had asked Revan to help her with her hair after a practice performance about a week ago. Sure, she could get any one of the dozens of attendants to do this, but it had always been something she shared only with people she fully trusted.

"Have you ever thought of cutting your hair short?"

"Once or twice," Rumi chuckled. "It can be a hassle dealing with it. So a couple of times I toyed with the idea. But..."

Her words trailed off as she peered in the mirror. Now without glitter or eyeliner or the subtle accents she put on to make her demonic traits stand out, she looked more like Ryu Rumi.

The one that she had left behind.

She swallowed the bile that rose at that thought.

"It's been with me from the start, you know?"

Revan lightly combed her fingers through the lengths of Rumi's hair, spreading it behind her.

"I understand. It feels like a part of you. It can be hard to change something that feels so much like you." She finished with the brush and smiled at Rumi in the mirror. "I know I don't have to say it, but I do think you would look stunning."

Rumi smiled, hesitantly. She tried to imagine it for a moment. Short hair, maybe even a shaved side like Zoey had threatened at one point? Or maybe she could keep the braid, but style it different so she could play with the hair at the sides?

She wondered how Zoey and Mira would react.

And she felt a flush of grief throughout her body, realizing she wouldn't know what Zoey thought about it until they fixed all this. The knowledge sank in her heart, bitter and heavy.

"Is there a lot left to do before the tour starts?" Rumi asked quietly, focusing her attention, once again, on her goals. Because it was easier than dealing with the grief.

"It's all set up,” Revan said. “A small tour in just three countries is easy enough. We don't need a massive promotion or worry about the biggest stages. After your world tour, everyone's very excited to have a piece of you."

Rumi smirked.

"You make it sound like you're auctioning me off."

"Never, you're mine," Revan said, her tone a mix of amused joviality with a hint of possessiveness that sent a shiver down Rumi's spine. She liked the feeling. She likes it even more when Mira had used that same tone with her that first night of them being alone. She longed to hear it again.

Naekkeo.

Say you're mine!

Realizing where the thought was going, she violently slammed that door shut in her mind.

The slightly bitter taste it left in her mouth took longer to forget.

Revan looked at her in the mirror, pensive. Then she turned away towards the door.

"I'll have John come pick us up. Think about what you want for dinner, alright?"

Rumi nodded, stood up and offered a quick bow to Revan as the woman looked over her shoulder with a smile. Then she was gone, leaving Rumi alone.

Silence fell over the dressing room, settling in like an ugly reminder of the situation Rumi found herself in. The outside world was nearly cut off in the little area she had for herself, muffled, quiet. Fans leaving the stadium, crews beginning the process of tearing down the stage decorations. A bustling whisper in the background, like the buzzing of flies.

She looked around for a moment, sensing the disturbances in the Honmoon. The shimmers of purple all around her. The weak spots she could detect in the distance. The ripple of a tear somewhere in Seoul.

It wasn't big enough to warrant her attention.

Besides, Zoey and her new friends would likely take care of it.

She had felt them defeat demons since they separated, felt their signatures thrum along the frequencies of the Honmoon when a tear closed. Not Zoey herself, but the others.

Others. Demons.

She shoved the thought away. What mattered was, she didn’t need to care.

She could stay here, in the quiet.

Alone.

A shiver ran through her, with memories of all the times she had been in her solo-dressing room, hearing the sounds of excitement and joy from the wall she shared with Mira and Zoey.

How often had she leaned against these walls, wishing she could laugh and joke around with them. And then, for a wonderful couple of months, she had been able to. Her patterns revealed. Her feelings laid bare.

Working up the courage to express her love for them.

Only to be torn apart by a world that wouldn't let them be happy.

The churning, furious anger coiling around her heart grew hotter, her eyes gleaming in malicious gold. Whenever her thoughts drifted into these particular memories, it was hard to keep her emotions in check. The wounds were still too fresh.

If the world hated her, hated them, then it didn't deserve anything but hatred in response.

She stood up and began to strip out of her clothes then headed to the shower. She tied up her hair carefully so it wouldn't get wet before stepping in.

The water was pleasantly hot. She closed her eyes, letting it wash away the sweat and fatigue from the performance.

Her thoughts calmed. The heat helped her focus, the stinging of the water on her skin making it easier to forget the anger, the rage that seemed to be her only constant recently. It was a treacherous endeavor, considering when her thoughts calmed, she always ended up falling into the abyss of despair in her heart.

She focused on her breathing and the scalding water on her skin.

It worked, partly.

She could feel the shadow of that grief. The memories of what she had lost, even if it was temporary. The disbelief on Zoey and Mira's faces when she had not chosen to agree to their terms. The misery when Zoey had left, leaving Mira and her behind.

And there was the the wrath at the world for harassing them to the point where Zoey had, even if only for a moment, lost the will to live. The malevolent fury at people who dared to preach at them about morals and rules and the good of society, all the while enjoying the safety of the hunters protecting them.

Somewhere between those feelings, she found a place she could remain calm, in control. She could focus on why she was where she was. What she had to do.

She finished her shower, stepping out and toweling herself dry. She picked up her phone, scanning for new messages. There were a few notifications from alerts she had set up for interesting news, a number of messages from Celine she instantly deleted, and a message from Revan reminding her to pick a dinner spot.

Her thumb hesitated over the icon at the top right, the group chat with Zoey and Mira. There were no new messages indicated. There hadn't been since Zoey had walked out. But the confirmation of the lingering silence still hurt. The desire to press the icon and reach out flooded through her, tingling low in her chest.

But nothing had changed since then. There was no reason to think their answer would be different. Nor would her answer change.

She put the phone down, drawing a deep breath.

All that mattered was killing Gwi-ma.

Then she could fix everything.

Including herself, if anything was left of her.

***

Kassandra stepped out of their car, casually adjusting her shades and looking around. They were surrounded by the noises of a busy Seoul street, in front of the Four Seasons Hotel. People bustled by, carefully moving to respectfully avoid Kassandra. She did command something of an aura in her casual black suit and white button-down shirt combo. It helped that she towered over most other people around them, both in sheer presence and height.

"Stop being so casually cool." Janiel came around the car and prodded her on the arm an amused smirk on her features.

Kassandra looked down to her, reaching up to tousle the woman's mid-length, crimson hair instead of answering.

"Ack!" Janiel flinched away, but in a jovial, good-natured way, shooting a mock-glare at her girlfriend. "How often are you gonna do that now?"

"Hmm, probably too often to count babe," Kassandra chuckled.

"You two really are adorable." Zoey joined the group, offering a small smile. She was still new to the group dynamics that were the norm between Kassandra and Janiel. The maknae brushed back a strand of her hair, black strands mixing with hints of green. Her signature buns were gone, her hair instead in a pony-tail and the left side of her head was cropped close. Part of the disguise she had put on since leaving Lotte World Tower.

Kassandra allowed herself a light smile. Things were improving with Zoey. The first two weeks had been a rough time. Zoey had been so thoroughly depressed she rarely wanted to speak at all. This was, as Kassandra had learned, pretty much the opposite of how Zoey usually liked to be.

But at that point, there wasn't a lot the group could do, other than be quietly present and available and make sure Zoey felt safe in her new environment.

Then, after a week, she had begun to open up. Coming out of her room more often, joining them for meals. They had started to have genuine conversations. First about business, figuring out what steps to take next. A topic they could all work on with a more clinical mindset, a little removed from the emotional burden of talking about relationships.

Eventually, Zoey had found some of her old curiosity again, warming up to having conversations with Kassandra about her long life. Kassandra, of course, had a lot of stories to share and she wasn't exactly shy about it, but it was a fascinating exercise to share them with Zoey, whose wonder at everything Kassandra talked about in vivid detail was infectious.

She had also been timidly approaching Mi-sun and Yun-seo. At first, Kassandra had thought it was primarily to learn more about demons in general, but there was more to it than that. Any time Kassandra watched Zoey and Mi-sun have a conversation, the girl seemed timid and anxious, but she refused to stop. Something about how she expressed herself in those conversations hinted at a deeper reason behind her insistence to initiate conversations.

The one Zoey got along with easiest was Janiel, which did not surprise Kassandra in the slightest. She hadn't talked to Janiel about it yet, but she strongly suspected that Janiel was reminded of Nyma and maybe even Minabi in her interactions with Zoey. They exchanged little jokes and anecdotes over dinner and snacks and Kassandra had spotted Janiel more than once quietly sitting with Zoey, listening to the girl yap about one topic or another endlessly with a mild, fond smile on her lips.

Then, over the following days, Zoey had filled them in on everything that had happened with Huntrix. Everything Revan had done, everything that had led up to their break-up.

And their lack of an actionable plan had become more glaringly obvious and hard to ignore. They didn't know what exactly Revan was planning, but they knew they'd have to be prepared for the eventual removal of the Honmoon if they couldn't figure it out and stop her.

In the meantime, all of them had agreed to help out with the demon hunting duties, even the ex-Saja Boys. Mi-sun and Yun-seo had been reluctant at first, not because they held any remaining loyalty to the demon realm, but simply because they were worried about being close to tears where Gwi-ma's strength would be amplified.

They agreed that preventing the current Honmoon from weakening was a first step and to do that, they would try to enlist help. It wasn't a lot, but at least it was a start. Which was what brought them here.

Zoey had been the one to contact Celine. They had set up a meeting here in the city, not wanting to meet with her on Jeju Island where too many memories lay buried, including the freshly raw knowledge of Rumi's plea for death at Celine's hands.

Celine knew more about the Honmoon and the history of hunters than either Zoey or the demon boys. So talking to her was a logical step.

"Are we going in or are we just going to be statues here?" Janiel cut through the silence as Kassandra had found herself lost in thought.

"Let's go," she agreed and moved towards the entrance. The others followed.

"Did you know there actually is a statue of Kassandra in Greece? She posed for it, oh when was that jagi? Two-thousand years ago?" Janiel whispered loudly to Zoey behind her.

Kassandra put a hand against her forehead in a quiet gesture of frustration.

"I should have never told you about that."

"Whaaaaaaat?" Zoey looked at Kassandra with wide eyes, then back to Janiel. "Shut up! Where?! Can we go?"

"Can we focus on the task at hand please?" Kassandra tried to reign in the enthusiasm as they stepped into the hotel. She looked around, then came to a halt while Janiel and Zoey were still busy yapping at each other about Kassandra's statue but stopped next to her.

"There she is." Zoey nudged Kassandra's elbow to get her attention, nodding in the direction of the lounge area. A woman in a non-descript, simple pants suit in simple grey colors was sitting by herself and looking in their direction. Long black hair was shot through with silver strands and neatly brushed back. She had a dignified, solemn look about her, one Kassandra knew well from various scholars and teachers in her time. It certainly fit the description Zoey had provided of Kim Celine.

When Celine spotted the group, Kassandra saw her tense up visibly.

"You told Celine you wouldn't be coming alone, right?"

"Huh?" Zoey was pulled from her animated conversation about Kassandra's statue. "Yeah, I mentioned it. Don’t mind the death-glare. That’s how she usually looks when we meet her, too."

"Come on then." Kassandra stepped forward decisively, Janiel and Zoey following along at her side.

Celine stood up as the group approached and they stopped a short distance away. Zoey had her eyes downcast, her eyes flicking left and right and back for a moment, hands folded in front of her, scratching her index finger nervously with the nail of her thumb. She didn't exactly seem afraid, but there was a different, nervous energy about her than just a few moments ago.

"Zoey... " Celine was the one to break the silence, her voice a study in calm composure. "I am glad to see you are okay."

Zoey's whole posture stiffened at the words. Kassandra had an inkling why. She might look fine, physically, but Zoey was far from okay, by any definition of the term.

"So-" Celine tried to continue, but Zoey cut her off.

"This is Kassandra and Janiel. They wanted to speak to you. About the Honmoon. About what is happening."

Her voice was clipped and terse, a little too high in pitch and with a hint of resentment vibrating in the background. It was clear she was holding grudges. Celine noticed it, too. Kassandra could see it in the woman's reactions, minuscule as they were. A subtle raised brow, a small, barely noticeable quiver in the lower lip.

She covered it up quickly, turning her attention to Kassandra and Janiel.

"From what Zoey told me you have more information on the woman who has taken over Huntrix?" She asked, bluntly and without preamble.

"We do," Kassandra responded, taking a few steps forward. This forced Celine to raise her head, looking up at the much taller woman. "Thank you for meeting with us."

Janiel joined Zoey who stood aside watching Kassandra and Celine quietly.

"I have been trying to get in touch with the girls for a long time. I... " She paused and looked to the side at Zoey, who had not softened in her posture. "Perhaps we should go somewhere more private."

She gestured towards the rear area of the hotel where signage indicated several conference rooms were located.

"I have reserved a room for us to be undisturbed."

Kassandra looked at Celine for a moment, then turned and looked at Zoey. While Janiel and her needed answers and options to deal with the very real threat of the Honmoon coming apart, this was primarily the territory of the hunters.

And besides, she'd been through so much recently, she didn't think Zoey needed decisions made for her right now. She simply raised a brow in an unspoken question. Zoey still looked tense, a mix of hurt and regret in her features, but she squared her shoulders and nodded in return eventually.

"Alright, let's go."

Celine nodded once more, then turned and led the way through the lobby area of the hotel. They moved past the reception area where people gave them a wide berth on account of Kassandra's presence. Her exotic appearance also helped in keeping the attention away from Zoey, who, while disguised, was still at risk of being identified if someone looked long enough.

They walked in silence, Celine leading the way with Kassandra following close behind and Janiel and Zoey bringing up the rear. Celine led them into a small conference room with a long table in the center and a dozen chairs arranged around it. There was a tray of snacks in the middle of the table and pitchers of water as well as thermos of what Kassandra assumed would be tea off to either side of the table. The snacks looked fresh and quite delicious, but at the same time weirdly sterile and impersonal.

That was the general vibe of the encounter. Devoid of emotion, just business. She wanted to give Celine the benefit of the doubt, but choosing a conference room to meet them felt like a re-enforcement of the woman Zoey had described. Whenever Celine was mentioned in their conversations, Zoey tended to close down, grow colder. She very much placed a heap of the blame for the current situation on her.

And in all those conversations, the prevailing thing she mentioned about Celine was that she was deeply methodical and unemotional. Not that she had always been like that. While she had always focused her attention on Rumi, in the early days of the group, she had still been a closer mentor and guide for all of them. Zoey was not sure why that had changed, but as she had explained, they had not felt inclined to follow up as they had grown into their own.

Celine walked to one of the chairs, settling down with her hands folded in her lap. The others filed in and around the table, Janiel closing the doors behind her, and slipped into chairs as well. Kassandra and Janiel settled down a couple of chairs down the table with Zoey settling into the seat next to Janiel, furthest from Celine.

With the doors closed, the silence in the room settled heavily between them. Kassandra looked from Celine to Zoey, then back to Celine. She let out a small sigh.

"Alright, now that we're here, Miss Kim I am sure you have noticed the state of the Honmoon and are aware of the split in the Hunters. We know who is causing it and why. What we need is a way to keep the Honmoon from collapsing."

Celine looked at Kassandra. She seemed a little non-plussed, maybe confused about this random foreigner who was involved in all of this now.

"I do not have details on what transpired over the last year, but I have to ask, who are you? You are not a hunter, you are not Korean, I am unsure why you are aware of these things but before I share any more information I need-"

"Celine!" Zoey cut in, her voice maintaining its high pitch, anxious but loud and clear, interrupting the questions directed at Kassandra. "You don't get to make demands right now! If you care about Rumi at all, please answer the questions and maybe, if you're actually helping, you can ask questions then!"

Kassandra retained her calm, neutral expression. So did Celine but Kassandra noticed the subtle hints of shock, the slight widening of the eyes, the minuscule tug down at the corner of her lips, the barely noticeable tremble in her arms.

"We would appreciate any information Miss Kim. Anything you can tell us on how we can keep the Honmoon strong for as long as we can with only one hunter will help." She spoke politely, keeping her own voice calm and steady, not following up on Zoey's outburst. She saw Janiel put a hand on Zoey's shoulder from the corner of her eyes.

Celine lifted her fist against her lips as she cleared her mouth, then focused her gaze on Kassandra again.

"As a gesture of goodwill," she began, her voice quiet and cold, "I can tell you that the Honmoon is not dependent on the number of hunters. Yes, there have always been three, but that's not what makes the shield work. It's the harmony in the energy being poured into the Honmoon that matters."

Kassandra tilted her head in a questioning manner.

"Can you be more detailed?"

The frown on Celine's lips was barely noticeable, but she continued.

"The energy for the Honmoon is provided by the connection between hunters and the inspiration they stir in people. The stronger the connection between the hunters, the better they can focus the strength they receive from their fans. Of course, it also depends on what kind of energy is being stirred. Discord, and disharmonious energy is of no use to building and strengthening the shield."

Kassandra nodded along to Celine's words. The explanation made sense and from what she had learned about the Force in her time with the Jedi it affirmed the way Janiel and her had been thinking about the Honmoon. It also explained the powers the hunters wielded in this world. In that way, the Honmoon was a shield woven from the Force, by channeling the strength of thousands of people into a cohesive, lasting form.

"So in theory, anyone can help in creating and maintaining the shield?"

Celine shook her head slowly.

"In theory, sure. In reality very few people are gifted with the ability to stir emotions and bring light to people's souls like hunters need to. And even less who then also learn to weave it into the Honmoon itself."

Kassandra nodded again. This, too, made sense.

"But you can do that, right? You were the leader of the previous generation." Janiel spoke up while Kassandra was pondering over Celine's answer.

"I... " Celine's eyes darted to the side, avoiding to look at Kassandra or Janiel. "I lost that ability when... when the Sunlight Sisters split."

"What about the third girl?" Janiel followed up. "She disappeared, but surely you know something more about that."

"I don't know anything about her current situation, but I do know the split affected her the same way. She lost the ability as well."

Kassandra knew she was hiding something. Two-thousand-five-hundred years of dealing with people trying to lie, cheat or manipulate her had given her the ability to read people easily. Even people like Celine. The way the words were just slightly too perfect and quick to come out, the way there was no thought put into them, meaning they had been studied.

However, she felt the second part of Celine's answers were truthful. Which also meant that in the grand scheme of things, whatever Celine was hiding was not something that would help them right now. She filed it away for later.

"Sounds like the death of one of yours made you sever yourself from the Force..." Janiel mumbled next to her, thoughtfully. "I wish Meetra was here, she could maybe help with finding that connection again. She did it herself after all."

Kassandra put a hand on Janiel's shoulder, making her look up and blink.

"Wha? Oh! Right, sorry, just thinking out loud."

Celine looked confused but she chose not to prod. Kassandra just smiled a small, fond smile.

"I have one more question. We know and understand Rumi is a half-demon. Demons supposedly aren't capable of interacting with the Honmoon, from what Zoey told me. How come Rumi is able to?"

Celine once again averted her eyes. Kassandra could see something in Celine's gestures and movements, a haunting type of heaviness, indicating a feeling of guilt. She remained quiet for a while, trying to find the right answer, or any answer maybe.

"I was brought up to believe, to know, that demons are only evil." She finally found words but her voice was more quiet, strained. "For the purposes of the hunters, that's all that mattered. The lines were clear. Gwi-ma wants to take over the world and the demons are sent out to achieve that goal. Protecting the world is all that matters."

She paused, her hands squeezed tight in her lap.

"The events that led to Mi-yeong's death... with all of the things that happened, we questioned a lot at the time. But it led to Rumi losing her mother and to us breaking apart." She took a steadying breath, looking up again. "So I knew that we couldn't afford to doubt. There's no room to question. And that is what I taught Rumi."

"And your great teachings led to Rumi asking you to kill her!" Zoey's words were pressed through tightly grit teeth. There was so much hurt in every syllable.

Kassandra leaned back a moment. She studied Celine's reaction. Zoey's words struck her hard. There was surprise mixed with feelings of dread and despair there. She had not expected to be confronted with this experience, nor had she been able to process it properly. The dark chasm behind her eyes was filled with guilt and dread.

"How did you-" she began, but Zoey cut her off.

"She told us. After we begged her to tell us what happened." Zoey stared at Celine, her eyes shimmering with silent tears. "Do you understand? Do you accept that all of this is your doing?!"

"I didn't-"

"You didn't what?" Zoey interrupted again, her shoulders shaking as she leaned forward. "Didn't think? You couldn't handle your group's drama and so you took it all out on the girl you were supposed to protect?"

Celine was clearly shaken. She tried to compose herself, but she couldn't look back at Zoey. Her eyes darted back and forth before settling on the table.

Janiel leaned over to Zoey, whispering a few words and Zoey slumped back into her chair.

"Let's focus on the matter of the demons. Celine, you said you were questioning things. Right now we need options that previously might have been questioned." Kassandra steered the conversations back. "What did you doubt?"

"It just... it seems like demons aren't all the same. And they do, in some ways, interact with the Honmoon. But I'm not sure how and there aren't exactly a lot of demons around that are willing to chat. Even if they are, they are beholden to Gwi-ma and they cannot ignore his orders, so there was really very little point to exploring."

Kassandra took a note of this. It validated what they had come to know about Mi-sun and Yun-seo. But if it was true that demons were not automatically incapable of having an influence on the Honmoon, there was a chance they could help more than they were already doing. She'd have to discuss that with them.

Celine had composed herself again, at least to a degree. She sat up straight, turned her attention to Kassandra once more.

"I have answered your question. Would you please tell me what is happening to Rumi now?"

Kassandra leaned back, crossing her arms in front of her. She had debated how to best explain the situation in a way that wouldn't take multiple hours like it had with Zoey. Eventually, they had decided to focus on the essentials regarding Rumi for the time being.

"Well," she began, "it's going to take a while to explain, so make yourself comfortable."

She turned her head, noticing Janiel pouring her some water and nudging a plate of snacks to her. The corners of her mouth lifted in a small smile as she nodded her thanks to Janiel and took the glass, taking a sip before putting it back down and continuing.

"In the interest of keeping this manageable in terms of time, you'll have to take some things at face-value. First, neither Janiel here, or Revan, are from this world. They are not demons in disguise, but they are from a world very alien to this one and have learned to control powers that are similar but not quite like the powers granted to the hunters by their connection to the Honmoon."

She paused very briefly, only to study Celine's reaction, but she remained calm, hiding any signs of her emotions well.

"Revan is unfortunately in a very dark place," Kassandra continued. "She has a very singular goal and to achieve it, she is willing to sacrifice everything around her. To succeed, she feels that she needs more strength, more power and her target here is to claim Gwi-ma's power as her own."

That stirred a reaction from Celine. Her eyes widened with a mix of horror and confusion.

"Claim Gwi-ma's power? She can do that?"

"She thinks she can," Janiel said calmly. "And I would not put it past her. But it doesn't matter if she can or cannot. Her goal is to bring down the Honmoon, take Gwi-ma's power and take Rumi as her apprentice."

"Apprentice?" Celine looked confused again, her gaze shifting to Janiel. "I don't understand, Rumi's days of being a trainee are over. I didn't think she would ever want to go back to that."

"Not that type of apprentice," Janiel said with a sad shake of her head. "This is a tradition where we come from. A master of Revan's power and skill will take on apprentices to teach and more importantly, to serve her."

"Rumi? Serve?" Celine scoffed.

"Revan corrupts people. She guides you, shows you things you couldn't imagine before. She makes you feel better about yourself, makes you feel like you can do anything. And then she puts you into situations you can't handle, floods you with experiences you aren't ready to deal with. Keeps you unbalanced and uncertain until all you can think of is to turn to her for help."

Celine stared, trying to digest the information. Kassandra could tell that she was struggling with it and how could she not? While the basic principles of how Revan corrupted people were fairly standard psychology, the specifics were literally out of this world.

"It's true Celine." It was Zoey who broke the silence. Her voice once again small and trembling. "Over the last half year, she was so damn good to us. All the while creating an environment where we couldn't stop to take a breath. She made it feel like she was the only one we could turn to. Mira noticed it. I am not sure how she broke through the mental fog Revan created, but that was what led us to ask Rumi to turn away from Revan. Only... she couldn't."

Zoey fell silent. All of them remained quiet for a moment. Kassandra shifted a bit in her seat, taking the opportunity for a quick bite from the snacks Janiel had shoved her way. She felt like they had gotten enough out of this meeting and likely wouldn't get anything else, given the way Celine appeared closed off and quiet.

"And Mira? Why didn't she leave?" Celine asked eventually.

Kassandra looked to Zoey who looked up slowly, wiping a few tears from her eyes and looked back at Celine.

"At the Idol Awards," she began, "when we were confronted with Rumi's secret, the one you told her to keep from us, Mira was the first to raise her weapon against her. It was instinct. She had the patterns. Hunters kill everything that has patterns. Patterns are evil."

She took a slow, steadying breath. Her voice was uneven, shaky. Bringing back these memories obviously still hurt the girl.

"Mira never forgave herself for that moment." Zoey's voice grew more quiet, even more shaky as she continued. "For not trusting Rumi. For listening to you. So when it became clear Rumi would not leave Revan, she couldn't abandon Rumi again. Even if she knew it would make her drown in Revan's poisonous world herself"

A cold, heavy silence followed Zoey's explanation. Celine looked more shaken. More afraid even. Kassandra could see it. The slight tremble. The grief in her eyes. She had trouble remaining composed, even if she was masking very well.

"So, how are you going to prevent all of this?" Celine found her voice again, but there was a much more noticeable tremble in the words now.

"That's-"

"None of your business!" Zoey interrupted Kassandra, for the first time in their conversations. Kassandra raised a brow, turning her head to look at Zoey. She wasn't mad, but she was surprised and more than a little concerned. It wasn't like Zoey to explode like this. Zoey however was completely focused on Celine. There was a bitterness in her eyes, not exactly hostility, but not exactly not hostility either.

"Zoey, I just want to help," Celine said, with less bite than Kassandra had expected from her.

Zoey's lip trembled and her eyes narrowed a little. She planted her hands on the table in front of her.

"Just... just..." The emotional explosion a moment ago simmered down in her eyes and she stumbled on the words. She shook her head slowly. Janiel reached over and once again put a hand on her arm, soothing, comforting. Zoey shrunk back into her seat, closing her eyes in an attempt to calm down.

Kassandra cleared her throat, returning her attention to Celine.

"We want to convince both of them to come back, but honestly, we are not sure how." Kassandra says in a calm voice. "It's going to be risky. Still, we know there is a chance. So that's what we are going to do. We need time and opportunities to talk to them, which means we have to keep the Honmoon as strong as we can for as long as we can."

Janiel reached over to squeeze Kassandra's hand gently. Kassandra intertwined her fingers with Janiel's, returning the gesture. Bringing Revan back was Janiel's mission. To Kassandra, the web Revan had spun in her head still meant she wasn't completely sure what she wanted. But she knew she wanted Janiel to be happy.

Janiel deserved to be happy. She fought so hard to come back, to find her own path, outside the rigid binary of light and dark. She deserved to be with Minabi, who was waiting for her in another galaxy. She deserved a life.

Kassandra didn't know how she really felt about Revan anymore, but she knew she'd give her life to make sure Janiel was happy.

Celine mulled over the words, a small frown tugging at her lips. It wasn't exactly disapproving, but Kassandra could see she was disappointed. Maybe she had hoped for something like a guarantee. More than a vague direction at least.

"Zoey... " Celine eventually spoke quietly and directed her gaze to Zoey directly. "You know Rumi better than anyone else. Are you sure about this?"

Zoey looked forlorn, sad, confused. This conversation clearly had taken a lot out of her. Being reminded, again, of the moments that clearly still hurt, wounds in her heart that hadn't healed. Having to recount the things Revan had done and what had happened to Rumi and Mira and her under her care.

Damn you Revan. They don't deserve this. None of them deserve this.

Eventually, Zoey took a slow, ragged breath and spoke with a shaky voice.

"No Celine. We are not sure," she said. The words sounded torn from her lips, a punctuation mark on her vulnerability and frailty in this moment. "But what choice do we have?"

"I am sure Rumi would welcome you back..." Celine's words trailed off. Kassandra hadn't missed the awkward intonation of 'you' in her words. The small wobble in the otherwise studied words. Celine was certain she would never be welcomed back. And it was an open wound to her.

"Didn't you hear what Janiel just said?" Zoey quickly snapped. It sounded brittle. It was one thing being aware that they couldn't go back right now, it was another to have to spell it out, Kassandra thought. "If I go back, Revan will just twist all of us along with her and have three little dogs instead of two!"

"You're calling Rumi a dog?" Celine snapped back, the first genuine emotion she displayed.

"You certainly had her on a fucking leash her entire life!" Zoey exploded.

"Sh-she needed guidance."

"She needed to be accepted!" Zoey's voice rose further, shaky but furious for the first time since Kassandra had known her. "She needed someone, anyone to see her and love her for who she is! You never did! And because you corrupted us with your 'our faults and fears must never be seen' bullshit, we never got the chance to be that for her either! You took the choice…our choice to love her unconditionally away and..."

Zoey couldn't finish. Her words turned into a small wail and a sob and she collapsed on the chair, crying. Janiel quickly leaned in to wrap her up in a gentle embrace and Zoey clung to the red-head, desperate for any kind of support.

The amount of grief she must be feeling for her to explode like this. This was not like Zoey. Not even the one Kassandra had gotten to know over the last few weeks.

"I think this will do." Kassandra stood up decisively. "For now."

She produced a card from her inner jacket pocket and held it out to Celine who stood up automatically, though she was a little wobbly on her feet. Not dramatically, but there was a hint of insecurity in her movements. Compared to when they had arrived, she was definitely shaken.

Celine accepted the card with a nod.

"I will reach out when we know more. I expect you will do the same."

Another nod from Celine, mute, eyes downcast.

"Thank you for meeting with us," Kassandra said, bowing respectfully as befitted the situation. If nothing else, she would not be considered rude.

Celine returned the bow mechanically, a reflex more than anything. When Kassandra started to turn, Celine reached out a hand and grabbed Kassandra's arm. She paused, turning her head.

"Please..." Celine said, barely louder than a whisper. "Help Rumi. Help them."

Kassandra let her gaze drift over Celine slowly for a moment. She noticed the subtle tremble in her shoulders. The eyes now locked onto Kassandra's were wide and shimmering. Maybe she always knew she had fucked up with these three? Maybe she just couldn't do what needed to be done. And maybe, she hadn't even needed Zoey to tell her that the blame lay with her.

But she did care. Zoey may have been right about everything with Celine, her cold, distant attitude, her stubbornness, her calculating demeanor. Even her role in leading them to where they were now. Kassandra could see all that.

But she hadn't stopped caring, as Zoey had insisted.

Kassandra nodded slowly.

"Maeng se ha da."

She bowed once more, a little deeper, then straightened once more, giving Celine a final nod. Her promise wasn't any real consolation, given that she had no plan yet. Still, Celine seemed to feel the genuine intent in her words and maybe that was enough for now.

She turned and walked away. Janiel was still comforting Zoey when Kassandra put a gentle hand on Zoey's shoulder. The young woman looked up. All the fervor and anger had left her and only grief remained. Janiel slowly knelt down further next to her and Zoey shifted in her seat, drawing a quick, shaky breath.

"Let's go." Janiel said with that sweet, soft voice she had when she cared. Kassandra felt another surge of pride seeing Janiel care, genuinely cared about people that, to her, were still strangers.

Zoey stood up slowly. She looked to Janiel for a moment, dark brown eyes searching, looking expectant and defensive and oh so vulnerable in this moment.

Janiel just smiled and gestured to the door. The two of them took Zoey carefully between them and guided her to the exit.

They left the conference room. None of them looked back.

***

Celine looked at the closed door a long time after the group had left her.

You took the choice…our choice to love her unconditionally away…

She squeezed her eyes shut trying to swallow down the bile in her throat. That bitter and sour taste of shame and guilt was all too familiar to her. Swallowing it down should be easy. She had practiced it for years.

Somehow, today it was different. Or maybe it was just that the carefully constructed walls all around her had finally started to come down.

She opened her eyes again, looking at the card in her hand. It was a simple black card with gold trim and a stylized head of an eagle at the top. A phone number was the only information printed in simple, cursive numbers.

Who was that woman?

She heard a door open, then close, but she did not look up, lost in thought.

"She's too sweet for her own good."

Jina's voice was quiet. It wasn't the gentle, soothing quiet she remembered from so long ago. All the times Jina had soothed her after a slip up in a training, or a misstep in a public situation. She hated that she felt a deep, paralyzing sadness that she didn't get to hear that voice anymore.

"Yeah," she said and didn't know what else to add.

"So what now?"

"What are you asking me for? You heard all of it, what do you want to do?" Celine snapped, still irritated. More irritated even because she realized Jina still wore the same perfume she had all those years ago. The same spicy fragrance she remembered. The same hints of clove in warm vanilla.

How could she even do that? That perfume had never been on the market. It was never available anywhere because Celine had created it, after weeks of researching meanings and scent-mixing and rules of perfumes and more to be able to get just the right scent made for Jina.

She angrily shoved the fleeting thoughts away.

"I don't think we can do anything," Jina said after a while.

"So you're just going to run away again?"

The barb landed. Celine could feel the tension in Jina standing next to her and the silence between them grew heavier. More hostile.

"So you're still an asshole, noted."

"You're still a coward."

"Fuck you."

Another silence followed, familiar and suffocating. Celine pocketed the card and looked up.

"Well this is going great." Jina smirked and moved towards the exit as well. "Don't worry, I'm not going to leave Seoul. I am going to reach out to some old contacts and see if I can get more information on how this Revan chick is doing all this. Sunlight Entertainment has been a shit-show since you took over, but I can't believe she simply walked in there."

"Do you have to do that?"

"What?"

"Insult me for no gods-damned reason," Celine snapped. "Besides, you heard them. They have some kind of mystical power and Revan is a master of it."

"Sorry," Jina said and did sound at least contrite. "I'm not thinking straight. It doesn't help that you still wear it."

Celine instinctively reached to her ear to quickly brush her hair forward, covering the singular earring there. The small stud, with the mother-of-pearl gem inlaid.

"What of it?"

"Nothing. I just..." Jina hesitated for a moment, her eyes darting back and forth. "I just expected you to throw it out after you..."

Her words faded to strained silence. Celine knew very well what she was referring to. She has a list, a very long list, a catalog some might say, of things she regrets. Familiar bile rises in her throat at the memory. That night in the rain.

"Well," she cleared her throat, "you go on ahead and do that. I'll dig into a few more archives. I'll give you my access cards for the Sunlight Building. They've been told to not let me in, but you might be a different story."

She walked towards the exit herself now, striding past Jina. She tried her best to leave the memories in the room when she walked out.

But that never worked.

***

Rain mixes with blood on her hands.

Tears taste salty on her lips.

Mi-yeong's eyes stare up at her, empty. Dead.

"How..." Jina's voice cuts through the rain, weak, frail.

Celine did not look up, her breathing was fire in her lungs, every inhale agonizing.

Mi-yeong was dead.

"Cece..." Jina takes a step forward. "I didn't..."

Jina's voice sounds desperate, pleading. She's hurting. She's afraid.

But all Celine can feel is hot, burning anger.

She looks up, eyes focus on Jina's, full of grief. Full of broken love.

"It should have been you."

***

Zoey stared at the ceiling of the room she had been spending the last month in. The apartment Kassandra had bought was spacious and eleganr enough to support another guest in cozy luxury.

She was made to feel welcome. She could tell how all of the people here took extra steps to make sure she was taken care of and felt safe. In the first week, there had been small notes left with the food they had left at her door when she had refused to come out. Simple words of comfort.

'Take your time.'

'You're safe.'

'Naega itjana.'

I'm here for you.

Then, when she had started to leave her room for essentials, it was simple, kind gestures. Drinks left out for her when she needed them. Her room was suddenly tidy after she went to take a shower. Someone always being present, even if not invading her space so she never felt like the apartment was empty.

It was hard to wrap her head around how secure all of this made her feel even though she knew there were two Saja Boys sleeping a few rooms away.

How did that even make sense?

She sighed to herself and let her gaze drift around the room a little longer. She felt like she should sleep, exhausted after the meeting with Celine as she was, but sleep would not come. Maybe because it was too early in the day, maybe because she knew once she closed her eyes, she would see them again.

She wasn't good at being away from her girlfriends. Never had been, even when they weren't an item. But she also didn't know how to ask for help at this point. She wanted to go out and ask Janiel for some company, maybe ask her about stories from her world. Or talk to Kassandra. Maybe ask her for a hug.

Maybe even talk to Mi-sun and Yun-seo to try, once more, to apologize. To tell them that she was sorry for what had happened.

But despite everything, all the kindness she had received, she still couldn't shake the feeling that she did not deserve the support. Not after everything she had done. And whenever she interacted with anyone, she was worried they would realize this simple truth and kick her out.

She put on a brave face. She tried to be strong, to show that she was getting better.

Truth be told, most of the days since the event she had spent afraid regardless. Just terrified.

Because being alone meant the voices in her head were louder than ever.

The voices taunting her, teasing her, telling her how useless she was. How she hadn't been able to even keep her relationship for more than half a year. How she had driven Rumi to kill someone because she was such a loser she had run off to kill herself. And how she had caused them to break...

No, she still did not want to call it a breakup.

She couldn't.

Her heart would just shatter.

And she didn't know if it could be mended again.

The thought caused panic to stir in her chest, tightening around her heart. That painful squeeze with every slow breath.

Useless.

Pathetic.

Loser.

Kill yourself.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying, in vain, to block out the voices. All she managed was quieting them down to a manageable level.

But that was progress. They weren't filling all her thoughts anymore.

She tried to focus on that.

Her gaze drifted to the right, catching on the opened magazine on the bed next to her.

Right.

Her prolonged spiral of thoughts had started there, when she had, despite her better judgment, bought and opened the pop magazine. One of the publications she usually read on a regular basis to keep tabs on things that were going on from a public perspective.

Mira and Rumi were on the front page, Rumi resplendent in her new tour getup and Mira looking absolutely stunning in one of the cover poses she was doing for Vogue. Just seeing them on the cover had her heart beating faster.

Then she had flipped to the article. And the photos of the interview. The article explained the current situation of Huntrix that Revan was selling to the public. Rumi's desire to explore more operatic influences, Mira's wish to focus a little more on modeling and Zoey's need for a quiet retreat.

That had made her laugh in the quiet room, a cold, heartless laugh.

Quiet time.

She was still on her socials. Rumors were flying wild about her. Even Revan couldn't prevent that completely, even if Zoey was still surprised how well managed everything was. Sure, there were all kinds of wild theories, ranging from her having been abducted and being held for ransom, to her having a nervous breakdown and being in a mental hospital.

Heh, that one wasn't too far from the truth, given how she felt.

She still didn't quite understand how Revan managed to keep the rumors from spiraling and from people demanding more information about Zoey.

She had scanned the article and went away frustrated, coming to understand Revan played on the public's love for her. She had gone to great lengths to ensure that people understood Zoey needed some rest and the best thing they could do was to be supportive of her decision to remain out of the spotlight.

And her fans, her beautiful fans, delivered.

She grit her teeth, looking to one corner of her room where fan-mail, plushies and packages were stacked high. She didn't know if it was Revan or Rumi doing it, but everything her fans sent her, arrived here, at Kassandra's apartment.

When the first package had arrived, she had been confused and scared. She had expected...Something. A letter? A request to come back to Rumi and Mira maybe, or a letter from Revan demanding her return or...Anything.

But there was nothing.

Just the gift.

She had considered posting something in reply. An unboxing video maybe.

How would Revan react if she posted something that contradicted her story? She could just go out and say to the public that all of it was a lie.

But what would Revan do if she chose that route? What would she do to Rumi and Mira? What would Rumi do?

She sighed, shaking her head. Her eyes drifted to the interview picture again. Rumi standing side by side with Mira, Revan standing behind them. They looked happy. In that artificial, forced way Zoey knew so well. Rumi's smile was slightly too wide, too big to be genuine. Mira's aloof facade had slight cracks in the twist of the corner of her lips and the stiffness in her shoulders.

But Mira still had an arm around Rumi, and Rumi was resting her head on Mira's shoulder. For all the world to see, they seemed like a happy couple. But Zoey saw the tension even in the picture. Something had changed in their dynamic. Mira's hand was placed just slightly higher on Rumi's back, her fingers curled a little, nails digging into the fabric of Rumi's top. Rumi's eyes were just a little more downcast, as if she was making herself smaller.

Please... Please be okay.

She closed her eyes again and swallowed a sob.

She missed them so much.

Knowing that they weren't out there, just beyond the door made her tremble. Rumi in those adorable teddy-bear and train PJs she had insisted on getting again after the Idol Awards. If she closed her eyes, she could just imagine her peeking her head through the door with that shy little smile of hers. Asking to join her.

And Mira dancing in the living room to a new choreography she had come up with in the shower. Carefree, elegant, strong. Looking over her shoulder with a cocky smirk when Zoey would come around the corner and watch her, mesmerized.

She forced away the memories. Her mouth was dry and her lips chapped, dehydrated. She really needed to start taking better care of herself again. A small sigh and she pushed herself off the bed, standing up and slowly trudging to the door.

She pushed the door open, quietly peeking outside. There were some quiet voices to be heard from down the corridor where the rooms of the others were located. The boys from what she could hear. A small smile spread on her lips as she figured they were bickering over something silly, as she had caught them a few times. She slipped out of the room and slowly trudged down the corridor from her guest room heading towards the kitchen. She felt the smile slip from her lips as the door closed behind her. The weariness in her soul remained, heavy and constricting.

She hummed quietly as she moved more to distract herself than anything else. She moved behind the kitchen counter and opened the fridge, her eyes scanning the contents. Lots of boxed leftovers, messily labeled in what she now knew to be Janiel's handwriting. One of the containers had a note on it, -MINE, hands off gwiyomi!- . A small chuckle escaped her lips, but it mixed with a tiny sob. It stirred a memory of when this had been her life.

The small familiarities. The warmth in the shared spaces. The ability to take up space without being judged, but also knowing others shared that space.

Her eyes drifted lower to a container labeled simply 'Zoey'. She raised a brow and took it out, taking off the lid.

Her lips quivered.

There were two rolls of carefully arranged, handmade kimbap, stuffed with Zoey's favorite combo of meat and veggies. A second compartment held two beautiful hotteok. A third held two servings of fresh tteokbokki. The sauce smelled deliciously spicy and sweet.

A tear trickled down her cheek.

The thoughtfulness of her hosts was beautiful. But again, it took her back to a simpler time. Even before they had confessed to each other. Mira had often prepared their food, and she had always kept a little leftover of each of their favorite dishes, arranging it in a container just like this. Storing it in the fridge for them to grab a late night snack when they wanted.

She carefully put the lid back on the container and put it on the counter behind her before closing the fridge.

"Zoey?"

She froze, then slowly pivoted on the spot.

Kassandra was leaning against the counter opposite her.

"Uh...Hi." Zoey managed. She desperately tried not to show how frazzled she had just gotten over a food container.

"Are you alright?"

Zoey bit her lip.

No, I'm not. Nothing's alright. I'm missing a part of myself. I am scared all the time. I don't know how to move forward. I don't know how much longer I can keep it together, if this can even be called keeping it together. I don't know if I'll ever be okay again.

"M'fine..." she mumbled instead.

Kassandra peered at her, beautiful brown eyes searching, questioning. She didn't really know why she was bothering to lie. Over the last four weeks, she had learned that Kassandra could look straight through her.

But she had also learned that the mercenary did not prod beyond Zoey's limits. Always mindful, always respectful of her. Which was such a refreshing difference from the months before, now that she thought about it. Because as much as she had appreciated Revan's guidance in the beginning, she had come to realize that she hadn't given her that kind of space, that kind of respect.

Revan had always prodded just a little beyond what was comfortable. Always with a good reason. But never relenting.

Maybe it was a testament to how exhausted she must have looked, because this time Kassandra did prod as well.

"You don't have to be fine all the time, Zoey."

There was something in Kassandra's voice. Maybe the exotic accent tinting her Korean in that alluring tone. Maybe the deep, comfortable warmth. Maybe just the raw sincerity.

It broke something in Zoey. Cracked her already vulnerable shell open.

Her shoulders trembled and she sniffed. Her hands folded in front of her on the counter, seeking to hold on to something real.

"I... " Her voice faltered, drowned in another small sob. Her vision blurred from tears pooling in her eyes.

She didn't even realize Kassandra moved.

"Can I touch you Zoey?" Kassandra's voice now came from next to her. The same kindness as before.

Zoey nodded, her whole body tense. A moment later, she felt Kassandra's arms wrap around her in a gentle embrace. It was a momentary disconnect in Zoey's mind, frazzled as it was, how delicate it felt to be hugged by the mercenary. She knew how strong Kassandra was. She had not expected a hug from her to feel so gentle, so precious.

No words were spoken. Kassandra didn't ask questions. Didn't offer words of wisdom.

She just held Zoey. A rock, stable and secure in the chaos of her life right now. Maybe she didn't know Kassandra well, besides a rough outline of a life that Zoey still had trouble wrapping her head around. But the support she gave meant Zoey had something to cling to right now, when everything around her seemed to either drift away or be lost just like she was.

She let her tears fall freely, arms lifting to cling onto Kassandra's frame.

She didn't cry loudly. She didn't wail or sob.

It was a different kind of crying.

The kind that tried to expel all the heaviness from her soul. Tried to drain the weariness in her heart. Her shoulders shook. Her face was buried against Kassandra's chest.

She didn't know how long she remained there, trembling, crying silent tears into the shirt of Kassandra's suit.

She had cried so much over the last weeks. She thought she was spent. But every time she thought she had come to some semblance of a grip on her emotions, something stirred in her again. Something would remind her of Rumi or Mira. A word, a sound, a taste or a smell.

And she hadn't even really left the house for more than a few hours yet. She knew in the city Rumi and Mira were waiting for her, displayed on every billboard, on every magazine cover, on every poster in the streets.

And yet she was supposed to stay away from them.

"I miss them so much," she whimpered against Kassandra.

"I know." The calm, deep voice resonated with Zoey, gave her the feeling of being safe. Safe enough for all her emotions and thoughts to spill out into Kassandra's arms.

"I know I can't go back. I know Revan will just use us again. But it feels like I am missing a part of me. I can't close my eyes without seeing them. And all the while I feel like the worst girlfriend in the world because it was me who decided she couldn't deal with Revan. I'm trying so hard to stay strong because I know they need me to be, even if they're not here, even if I left them, I know I need to stay strong so that I can bring them back. But all I can think of is going to find Rumi right now. Find Mira. Tell them I'm sorry. Tell them I fucked up. Just talk to them again. I want to hear their voices so badly. I want to feel them. I want ....I don't know...I can't..."

Zoey's words were spilling out of her in barely coherent sentences. Too much. Too many thoughts overlapping, screaming at her to pay attention in her head.

"Take a deep breath Zoey." Kassandra's voice grounded her again when her voice became more wobbly, her breaths ragged and short. She inhaled, slow and deep. But that, too, hurt. Still, she forced herself to do it. Deep breaths in through the nose, filling her lungs, painfully opening her chest. Slow, steadying breaths out through her lips, exhaling some of the tension gripping her insides.

It did help. Her breathing steadied and the panic that had threatened to spill over slowly receded. But the deep grief and guilt remained with her.

"I'm the worst girlfriend ever." Zoey whispered in Kassandra's embrace. "It's all because of me. I pushed them into coming out. I had to be the one being all open to the public. I had to fall in love with both of them. And then I couldn't even handle the public being predictable assholes about it. And I know, right now they are waiting for me. Right now, Mira is waiting for me to come back because she feels horrible for abandoning me. She feels alone and vulnerable. She's scared. Rumi wants to feel like I didn't abandon her again. They are both scared, I am sure of it but I can't! I always try to give them what they deserve but it's never enough. I'm never enough!"

Kassandra remained the quiet, steady presence as Zoey's heartbeat slowed down gradually. It was as if spilling all of the heavy thoughts lingering in her mind made the world slow down around her. Or maybe the powerful arms wrapped around her just offered the kind of safe haven that let her feel connected to reality again.

But still, the guilt, the shame, remained with her. Shame for wanting too much and giving too little.

And with that guilt came a sharper pain of the fresh wounds on her sense of self. Scabbed over and in the process of healing but not gone just yet.

"It's my fault."

It was such a small statement, but it hung so heavy over her, like a blade pressing into her heart, slowly cutting into her core.

"It's all my-"

"Zoey, look at me." Kassandra's voice interrupted the train of thought Zoey was spilling and she slowly tilted her head upwards.

"You know it is not your fault." Warm, hazel eyes locked on Zoey's. "And you are not the worst girlfriend."

"I'm running away from them when they need me most. How am I not the worst girlfriend?" Zoey whimpered quietly.

"Just because you seek a safe haven doesn't mean you're running away. Just because you have a moment of weakness doesn't mean you stop being the best person they could hope to have in their lives."

Zoey shook her head slowly.

"It's still… it's not right."

Kassandra's eyes flickered for a moment with a hint of loss and grief, fleeting like a shadow.

"I killed my girlfriend," she said, her voice still maintaining that soft warmth, even if there was a trace of something deeper lodged in there. The pain of a scar long healed but never forgotten.

"Wh...What?"

"Daphnae. Her name was Daphnae," Kassandra continued, never breaking eye-contact with Zoey. "Before I became immortal. Before all of this. She was a Hunter, too. A Daughter of Artemis. Proud, strong, incredibly skilled. So beautiful. I really thought, maybe... We could be together. But we were both bound by our duties. And when it mattered most, she chose her duty. And I chose mine."

She paused for a moment. Zoey could see the shadow of grief lingering in Kassandra's eyes.

"So you see Zoey," she said, the fleeting edge of sadness in her voice gone again, "you are far from the worst girlfriend ever."

"I... " Zoey tried to answer, but it was really hard to debate with that.

"You're scared and that's normal. You are separated from a core part of who you are. You fear what could happen to Rumi and Mira. You don't know how to fight this, because all the variables are different now."

Kassandra reached up and brushed away the tears on Zoey's cheek with a gentle thumbstroke.

"But you know what makes you an amazing girlfriend? The fact you care so deeply, so completely, that despite all of what has happened to you, you are still ready to go back to them and fight for them. The fact that, even though Rumi chose Revan in front of you, you know in your heart that she is in danger and all you can think of is how to protect her instead of only focusing on yourself. The fact that even though Mira flipped on you at the last minute, you know exactly why she had to and have already forgiven her because your heart is just that big."

Zoey hiccuped, a small, fragile sound, keeping her stare on Kassandra's eyes.

"I barely know you Zoey, and I already know you are one of the strongest and kindest girls I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Because despite everything you've been through, you still care about everyone."

"You're just trying to cheer me up now." Zoey said with a small, weak chuckle.

"I mean, yes." Kassandra echoed the chuckle, a deep, and full sound that made Zoey feel just a little warmer, a little safer. "But it's also true. I don't need to remind you but try to remember all you are exposed to Zoey. You've been fighting demons for half of your life. You've been in one of the most exhausting and punishing professions on the planet for longer than that. You nearly lost everything just a year ago, not just your career, but your life and the world. You've been exposed to the worst society can throw at someone. All the while being guided by someone who specializes in corrupting people to the point that they give up everything about themselves. And yet here you are..."

Kassandra lifted her other hand, brushing off Zoey's other cheek.

"Still standing, still caring."

Zoey felt the warmth from Kassandra's words. Felt them confirm the statements made. She was strong. Even if sometimes it didn't feel like it.

She managed a small, thankful smile. A sense of relief flashed through Kassandra's eyes and she reached up, ruffling a hand through Zoey's already messed up hair.

"There she is."

Zoey chuckled quietly again and, giving Kassandra a final full body squeeze, she slowly stepped back.

"How do you do this?" She looked up, eyes shimmering a little. "Is this just a perk of being ridiculously old?"

Zoey realized what she had said a moment later and clasped her hands in front of her mouth.

Oh my gods.

"Okay, not going to lie, that was kind of rude." Kassandra chortled.

"S... Sorry! I didn't mean it like... I mean..."

Kassandra winked and quickly shook her head, the amusement making her eyes sparkle beautifully.

"I'm just joking Zoey. But yeah, I'm sure experience has something to do with it."

Zoey nodded slowly, relaxing. Her hands fell back to her sides, lost in thought for a moment. She wasn't used to the carefree way Kassandra and Janiel expressed themselves. It reminded her more of the days she had spent in America, back before she had joined Huntrix. One of the few things from her time there she missed. Korea was different and it had taken her a long time to adjust to that.

The environment here felt like such a throwback in that way. Unfamiliar but familiar in the same amount.

"Did you ever..." Zoey began, looking back to Kassandra timidly. "Did you ever doubt? You're so, like, so self-assured. So clear in your purpose and your values."

Kassandra chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound.

"So many times." She turned her head and looked to the window, crossing her arms in front of her. "I can't even keep a count on how often I felt like there was no point to going on. Like I was not doing the right thing."

She paused. There was a deep sense of regret in her voice. It wasn't the same kind of regret and guilt that Zoey felt right now. It seemed calmer, more subtle, but at the same time wider, all-encompassing.

"When I met Janiel, I was at my lowest point. I didn't care for the world. I did my duty, but that's all there was. I wanted everything to be over. After two thousand five hundred years, I just wanted to vanish."

Zoey swallowed.

Vanish.

Kassandra took another deep breath, slowly settling her gaze back on Zoey. She smiled again, warm and gentle.

"Everyone needs someone to pick them back up sometimes. Janiel picked me up when I needed it the most. That doesn't make us weak, Zoey. It just makes us human."

Zoey bit her lip. The words made sense, but she didn't even know where to go for that help. Should she rely on strangers? On these people who had just come into her life when it was so brittle and confused?

Should she rely on the demons that they shared an apartment with? The ones who, not a year ago, had tried to destroy everything she fought so hard to protect?

Kassandra's smile softened again and she lowered herself to her left knee in front of Zoey, lifting a hand to brush a strand of hair from her features.

"I know you feel alone." Her words felt soothing, comfortably warm. "I know, right now, you can't trust anyone, feel like you can't go to anyone for help. But from one lost girl to another, just remember that lost does not mean gone. When you're ready, we are here to help you. So you can help your girlfriends."

Zoey looked into Kassandra's eyes, saw the gentle, calm sincerity in them mirroring her words. She wished she had had someone like Kassandra in their lives earlier. If only...

She bit her lip.

"This is a bit... Out of left field but I..." She paused, turning her head to look away. "I feel like I have an idea, based on what you told me about Revan and what Janiel told me about the… The dark side corruption but..."

She swallowed. She didn't want to sound ungrateful for Kassandra's help. But she had so long wondered. How could she ask this without sounding ungrateful? Without making herself upset again.

"You want to know why I almost killed your girlfriend."

Zoey winced gently, but she nodded. It hadn't even been phrased as a question and Kassandra's voice had a gentle, quietly resigned tone to it. She stood up, rolling her shoulders once as if trying to get comfortable, then nodded towards the living room.

"Would it be okay if we sat down for this?"

Zoey hesitated. She was an emotional wreck in a lot of ways still and this would likely not be comforting to hear. But she had asked and it was one of the things that kept bugging her.

Eventually, she nodded and followed Kassandra to the living room area, settling down on the couch as Kassandra sat down on the chair she had previously vacated. An opened book rested on the coffee table next to a half-finished glass of wine.

Kassandra reached for the glass, picking it up and swirling the dark red liquid thoughtfully for a moment before she looked back to Zoey.

"I need to preface this by saying that none of what I am telling you now excuses what I did," she began. "As we mentioned in some of our conversations, about a year ago, Janiel and I went on a mission to rescue her girlfriend."

Zoey nodded slowly. She had a grasp of the basic timeline of the two by now, even if the details were still a wild stretch of her imagination.

"The mission did not go exactly according to plan. Janiel managed to convince Minabi there, but unfortunately Revan had followed Minabi in secret and the person we put in charge to keep our perimeter safe chose to betray us. I intervened, hoping to stop Revan and give Janiel and Minabi a chance to get out. When I tell you Revan is on another level in terms of power..."

She breathed a deep sigh and Zoey felt a soft shiver run down her spine. Kassandra was still calm, but her voice betrayed the shock and awe she had felt in that moment.

"She would have gotten her way there, if it hadn't been me that stood in her way. You see, aside from making me immortal in biological terms, the staff I carry also brings me back from most kinds of death. At least… until it is done with me."

Zoey stared, wide-eyed. She was already in awe of Kassandra's life. Every little bit she learned about her made her seem that much more like a legend and less like a human.

"That ability drew Revan's attention to me. She decided to capture me to get more information about it. The thing is, she knew I wouldn't give her anything unless she found a way to break me. And she did."

She paused, her voice lowering in volume, becoming a little less composed. A little more brittle. Zoey felt a flash of regret for asking, for taking Kassandra into that obviously dark memory. Before she could say anything though, Kassandra continued.

"This is one of Revan's greatest strengths. She knows you better than you know yourself. She would have made me her own, corrupted and beholden to her in every way, if Janiel hadn't rescued me. I managed to keep walls up inside me long enough to prevent her from gaining complete control… or so I thought."

She sighed and gave Zoey a weak smile.

"I apologize Zoey, this is a very roundabout explanation, but you deserve the background. Or maybe I just want to give it to you because I feel like I failed to be strong enough to protect the people around me. Ultimately, Revan showed me that she hadn't failed to break me. She had actually completely destroyed me and planted the seeds of the dark side deep inside me. And when I ran away after that revelation, that's when Rumi found me."

A long, tired sigh escaped her lips and she lifted the glass to her lips to take a small sip from the wine. Zoey watched her and felt a pang of sadness for the woman. It was still hard to comprehend the life of this woman, the impact she had had on the world, having influenced entire nations through the course of her long life. It was hard to imagine how many hardships she must have dealt with.

"And so," Kassandra continued, her voice lower still than before, "when Rumi snapped at me, something in me broke and I reached for the dark side. In that state of rage, I didn't care anymore about anything. All I knew was that I needed to kill. There was no reason for it. Mi-sun and Yun-seo are the only reason Rumi is still alive."

Zoey pressed her lips together tightly. She didn't know what she had expected when she had asked Kassandra to tell her about this. Maybe she had expected some sort of hidden meaning behind the action. A strategic decision, no matter how misguided. Something. Not the admission that the only reason she had been driven to murder was Rumi being snappy at her.

"This… this dark side." Zoey spoke carefully. "I still have trouble understanding it."

Kassandra smiled sadly.

"You and me both Zoey. But you know how hunters draw energy from their connection with the fans and the emotions they stir in their souls? In a similar way, emotions influence the users of the Force. Like... Imagine what it would feel like if you focused on negative emotions, negative thoughts in your fans and used those to fuel your strength. Negative emotions are easy. Hate and anger and fear are easy which is why they give you more strength quicker. And because it is so easy, it becomes addicting."

She took a slow, long breath, then put the glass down. Zoey chewed on her bottom lip, her thoughts trying to wrap around the concept Kassandra was describing. She tried to imagine what it would feel like to feel hatred and anger fuel her. She shuddered at the thought of it, but of course she knew how easy these emotions came to people.

"I see," she said eventually. She didn't really know what else to say.

Kassandra smiled, watching Zoey for a moment. The smile was small, reluctant and sad.

"Like I said, I don't expect your forgiveness. I deserve your anger for what I did. There are no words to describe how sorry I am, but even if you never forgive me, I do hope my explanation can help you understand so you don't have to wonder anymore."

Zoey nodded slowly. Would she forgive Kassandra for what she had done? For almost killing Rumi? In her head, she wasn't even sure she deserved to judge Kassandra, given what she had done, how she had pushed Rumi to murder.

"I am so tired of being angry," she said, her gaze drifting up to Kassandra and managing a weak smile. "I don't think anger is going to bring back Rumi or Mira. I don't think anger is going to keep the Honmoon up. I don't think being angry at you will help me heal. So I think... I think I will just focus on how you, Janiel and two demons have saved me from a spiral of doom that would have likely been the end of me. So, thank you, Kassandra. For everything."

Kassandra smiled in return. Warm, generous, honest.

"Thank you, for being you."

***

"Behind you!"

Mi-sun ducked and felt claws sizzle through the air he had just vacated. He dissipated into a puff of pink smoke, reappeared a few feet behind him and his claws sliced through the demon that had just tried to ambush him.

"Fuck me, this is exhausting," he muttered, looking around to assess the situation. The tear they had responded to had been too large to ignore, but it was gradually closing, the energies of the Honmoon around them healing enough to slowly seal the gap. Over the last few weeks they had done this a couple of times, whenever things were a little too shaky to accept as unfortunate consequences of Revan's meddling.

The problem was that Yun-seo and him both couldn't actually help the Honmoon heal. They could limit the damage the demons were doing long enough for the Honmoon to close on its own, but it was an exhausting affair each time.

Still, this was better than sitting by while Gwi-ma ate his fill.

"This one's almost done." Yun-seo stepped next to him, breathing hard. He looked just as tired as Mi-sun felt. Tired and terrified in equal measure.

Because unfortunately, this close to an open rift to the demon realm, the pull from Gwi-ma was undeniable. The shields Janiel and Kassandra had put around them were protecting them from having to follow orders and from being forcibly brought back, but they couldn't protect them from Gwi-m a's voice in their head and the pain associated with disobeying his whims.

A small horde of the faceless demon soldiers broke through as the tear squeezed shut.

"Great, looks like this is the last wave." He nodded to Yun-seo. "Same as before. You take the left, I take the right."

"Beat you to the bath-house naekkeo!" Yun-seo forced a grin and sprinted off.

Mi-sun took a brief moment to check his bearings, focusing his mind on the task at hand and forcing out the pain and the voices to the best of his ability. Then he vanished into a puff of smoke once more, reappearing in the midst of the small horde of demons that had spilled forth.

His claws rent apart demon after demon, barely any resistance to be felt. These ones were simple, basic minions, usually sent as precursors to a larger invasion, but so far, they had thinned the hordes quickly enough to avoid the tear from stabilizing enough for the larger demons to slip through.

How long that would last was anybody's guess at this point.

He ducked another attack, countered another, then slashed two more demons to ribbons, dissipating in the cool night sky. Just a couple more.

He was glad they hadn't had to deal with any major demons yet. These faceless crowds were easy enough to handle, their main danger coming from numbers and the fact that Mi-sun and Yun-seo were fighting at a disadvantage.

And the faceless demons did not question. They didn't wonder why they were torn apart by demons instead of hunters. Mi-sun knew if... no, when larger, more powerful demons eventually slipped through the new Honmoon, they would come for them specifically.

He dodged another one of the faceless ones, another swipe of his claws and it spilled to black plumes. The last one on his side.

He was breathing hard, the effort of ignoring the severe pain in his body doing more to exhaust him than the fighting itself. At least it was over now. The voice of Gwi-ma was dwindling, barely above a quiet, easily ignored whisper, the pain receding from his weary bones. Good, they could get home early tonight.

A scream tore him from his thoughts.

His head snapped around and he saw Yun-seo slumped against a nearby building, a crack in the wall behind him indicating he had crashed into it from high altitude.

Panic bubbled inside him.

No, breathe!

He tried to force himself to scan the area. No regular damn faceless would have been able to do damage to Yun-seo like that and he couldn't afford to...

Fuck that!

He teleported to Yun-seo's side in a whispered hiss of smoke.

He only had a half second to assess the damage to Yun-seo. A deep, ragged gash in his side, freely pooling dark purple blood onto the ground. He was in agony. And Mi-sun could see the shield on him flicker dangerously.

He didn't have more time than that. He sensed the strike before it came and turned to block the claws aiming for his throat with both arms.

Venomous yellow eyes stared back at him.

Jeoseung Saja. Crap!

"Two for the price of one. Isn't that nice?"

He knew the voice. He knew the eyes.

The other demon stared at him, loathing and disgust mixing in her eyes. Her lips were curled in a twisted grin, fangs glinting in the dim streetlights.

Yun-seo winced weakly behind him.

Mi-sun's eyes flared with furious anger. The image of Yun-seo bleeding on the ground hit too close to home. Reminded him too much of the night he lost almost everything. Everything except Yun-seo.

He would not lose him, too.

"Ohh, is the little Baby angry?" Her voice mocked before she effortlessly bounced back, landing on an overhead powerline, laughing.

Mi-sun didn't even think. He dashed right after her. His patterns pulsed on his skin, his rage putting him in a precarious position. Drawing from the demon realm for strength was something he could still do, despite the Honmoon being up, but with it came more insidious whispers from the demon lord.

Right now, he didn't care.

Claws gleaming under streetlights, he sliced through the air where the other demon had just been. A prickle in the back of his neck signaled her counter, he dodged, her claws tearing off a piece of his shirt, but not catching anything else.

He slammed his elbow back, striking her directly in the sternum. The force of the attack sent her flying. He vanished in another wisp of smoke, reappearing behind her. He twisted into a kick aimed at her head, but she managed to dodge out of the way, bending her body almost unnaturally in midair and landing crouched against a wall before launching herself at him again.

He caught her advance, claws digging into flesh as they interlocked and kept each other at arms length.

He snarled, all fangs and rage. He couldn't shake the image of a wounded Yun-seo out of his head and it drove him mad.

"Come on, don't make this too boring," she chided, her lazy grin meeting his furious glare. "Lost the bite while cozying up to the mortals?"

Mi-sun's thoughts were clouded in a haze of red fog, unable to see beyond the need to break this demon in front of him. The one who had hurt Yun-seo.

The rage burnt away the pain he was still feeling. He twisted his claws sharply and his opponent yelped in surprise and pain at the sudden move and the strength he suddenly brought to bear.

He twisted the arms away and down while his knee shot up and cracked against the demon's chin. He felt bones break. He let go of the arms and twisted closer, a powerful kick delivered straight to her gut, launching her backwards again.

He followed up, still seeing red.

She twisted in her path, coming to a halt before slamming into a nearby roof. He disappeared, then reappeared in a cloud of smoke, but this time, she was ready, weaving her body out of the way and twisting to rake her claws across his chest.

But he didn't care and instead of dodging out of harm's way or staggering back to safety he followed up, directly into the second attack, claws searing the flesh of his arm.

But his own claws reached the demon's throat and latched on, squeezing tight before twisting and slamming her into the wall nearby, causing the concrete to crack around her.

She coughed up blood onto his arm and reached up, claws digging at his arm, scratching, but he didn't care.

"Fuck, there's the Mi-sun I knew." She choked out the words, the arrogant grin still on her features. "But you know you can't kill me."

"Watch me!" he hissed, his hand closing tighter around her throat. The demon let out a strangled chuckle followed by a snarl.

"Oh baby, you're adorable. I'm only here to deliver a warning. When the Honmoon goes down, and it will go down, we're coming for you. He doesn't like it when his prize pets go all independent."

"Fuck you!" Mi-sun's rage flowed into his body and he pushed the demon further into the concrete she was lodged against, the cracks around her deepening.

"Heh, go and take care of your boy. I'll be watching you!"

Before Mi-sun could follow through with the next attack, the demon winked out of existence, leaving behind a wisp of blood-red smoke.

He growled in frustration, but the rage subsided almost immediately and he turned, teleporting back to Yun-seo's side.

"Yun, babe..." He frowned. Yun-seo had pushed himself up against the wall, holding his side. The wound was still bleeding. It wasn't healing, or at least not quickly. Yun-seo looked up to him, a weak smile on his lips.

"Sorry to worry you, aegiya."

"Shh...You're still hurt." Mi-sun took Yun-seo's hand and lifted it from the wound. A small wince slipped from Yun-seo's lips at that.He could see more clearly now that it was indeed healing, but too slow. Mi-sun grit his teeth, doing his best not to look too worried. It didn't look like it would be fatal, but then he wasn't an expert on wounds in the first place. That had been Kija's area of expertise.

"You're more hurt than I am Mi." Yun-seo shifted a bit, pushing himself up more to a proper sitting position. "Fuck, was that really her? I barely caught a glimpse, but I could swear I heard her voice."

"Yeah. Yeah it was." He ignored the comment about his own wounds, slipping an arm around Yun-seo's waist to help him up.

"Fuck me, that's just great. Of all the Saja to be on the surface."

"Don't think about it."

"Babe, you know he's going to make her…"

"We don't know! We don't even know if it is her. It's just a theory Jinu came up with!"

"But if-" Yun-seo's words were cut short with a wince and he shuddered with pain flaring in the wound.

"Home first," Mi-sun said, his voice unsteady. "Then we can talk how to go about this. No sense panicking everyone."

He looked around at the damage they had caused in the buildings around them then closed his eyes to feel for the Honmoon to make sure it was indeed closed. The damage to the structures wasn't extensive. Sure, there would be some questions asked. Like, how did this apartment building get a little meteor impact on its side? But humans were good at rationalizing these things away.

Part of why demons had such an easy time doing their nasty work in the human realm unless the Honmoon was there to keep them at bay.

The frequencies of the Honmoon in the area had losgt their discordant shimmer and returned to their gentle, opalescent colors. Weaker than they'd like it to be, but at least steady for the time being.

"Our job here's done. Let's get you home and patched up. Can you teleport?" Mi-sun looked back at Yun-seo.

He winced slightly as he tried to push himself up fully, steadying himself against Mi-sun.

"Again, you're more hurt than I am. I'm going to be fine," he muttered through clenched teeth.

"And again, that's not your call! You're not fine! You almost...You..."

Mi-sun drew in a sharp breath. The adrenaline had left him. The anger was gone. All that was left was the punishing fear he had felt when he had seen Yun-seo slumped against the wall.

"Hey..." Yun-seo looked at him, worry creeping into his gaze. Mi-sun shook his head, then dragged Yun-seo closer against him, wrapping him in a tight hug.

He let out a small sob, trembling as Yun-seo slipped his arms around him.

"I know." Yun-seo whispered into his ear. "I'm sorry aegiya."

Mi-sun allowed himself a few more moments of quiet sobs into Yun-seo's shoulder, shuddering softly before drawing a deep breath to steady himself. They needed to get home, because there was no telling if their friend wasn't still around, observing, biding her time to strike.

"Not your fault. Let's just get home," he muttered and Yun-seo nodded.

The two-vanished in a puff of purple smoke.

***

"Okay, let's get the cover pose one more time!"

Mira nodded and relaxed from the pose she was currently holding, taking a slow breath. She looked around, orienting herself, then stepped back into the pose they were asking of her.

Immediately, shutters clicked and flashes lit up the studio.

Chatter drifted her way from other models, make-up artists, stylists, designers and so many more, buzzing around the space like bees around a hive.

She lazily draped her left hand against her exposed thigh and her right hand combed back through her hair, head tilted to look at the cameras.

She was enjoying herself.

Mostly.

She was enjoying it to keep herself from completely dipping into the void of grief in her heart, the blurry tendrils of self-loathing she knew lurked in idle moments. But also to spite Revan. No doubt, Revan was intending to further isolate her by sending her away from Rumi to jobs that stroked her ego, but also set her apart from the other girl. Not that she needed a lot of help isolating from Rumi these days.

A painful ache gripped her heart for a moment, bile rising in her throat. A combination of reactions all too familiar now. She forced her thoughts away from Rumi, away from their relationship. Too precarious. Too fragile. Too many memories of all the ways she had failed everyone.

Better to take some enjoyment out of the machinations Revan had put into play. She had always been fond of the idea of modeling. Brands she supported as part of Huntrix had usually been fashion brands and streetwear companies and she enjoyed modeling for both.

She enjoyed the feel of the expensive fabric against her skin. For this particular shoot, she had been provided with a new dress made for her by Stella McCartney, a designer she had eyed for a while, but never really had the opportunity to reach out to. Of course, Revan made it happen like it was nothing.

The sleeveless midi dress was knee-length with delicate guipere lace at the hem and the top with a low-cut back. The lace covering her chest gave tantalizing hints of her cleavage and the fabric hung smooth on her frame, hugging her curves while remaining comfortable, but enough to accentuate the flare of her hips.

It felt excessively good to wear and Mira made a mental note to thank Stella later.

She had taken well to the modeling world. Choreography and posing for the camera were not new to her and she wasn’t ignorant about her looks. In fact, she knew exactly how to accentuate and enhance her looks even further to catch people off guard, to have them fall over at a mere gesture. Not that she had ever really used it except on a few of the arranged fan-meets where she felt like establishing a certain persona.

Now she did it regularly. For the last few weeks she had been surrounded by people who were, all of them, gorgeous by any standard. People you see on covers, people you see in ads for high fashion and high couture. People who were all about the glitz and glam of the high society and fashion world. Supermodels, designers, media moguls, all of them walking in this world that felt like a perpetual public appearance.

And she fit right in. After Zoey's departure -her chest tightened uncomfortably and she shuddered, enough for the photographer to give her a 'again!'- she had closed herself off emotionally. To everyone. She played her part and her emotional unavailability was exactly the kind of attitude that drew the high society to her like bees to poisoned honey.

To her fans, she was the same aloof and powerful figure as always. When she had rare appearances with Rumi, she remained touchy with her, maybe even more than before. More aggressive. More controlling. Fans lapped it up.

#TopMira

#GuardDogMira

#damselrumi

#ceomiraynrumi

Those and more hashtags were popping up on her socials more and more.

Rumi resented her for it, but she could also not stop reacting to it in a way that showed she was subconsciously craving it. Leaned into the touches. Changed her expression to be just that little bit more pleading and needy. She didn't abandon her persona, but with Mira, the dynamic had shifted, because Rumi needed her to stay.

A part of Mira, a part hidden and buried under layers and layers of guilt, bitterness and resentment, wanted to stop. That part wanted to help Rumi. To be a supporting, dependable girlfriend.

But whenever she thought about it, the cold strands of despondency lodged around her heart tightened, flooding her with the memory of Zoey running away from both of them.

Because Rumi had chosen Revan.

"Alright, let's take a break!"

The photographer lowered the camera, flicking through the images he had just taken while Mira slipped out of the pose and took a few steps towards the photographer. He nodded, clicking his tongue in a satisfied manner. When she approached, he tilted the camera a little to let her see the pictures he was scrolling through on the digital display.

"That was great Mira, I think we got almost everything."

Mira nodded to the photographer with a practiced, perfect, polite smile that never reached her eyes. Assistants flooded to her side, bearing refreshments and a warm robe to cover her.

"We'll call you when we're ready for the last set. Oh, and Stella should be here any minute!"

Mira put on the appropriately mild show of excitement and offered a bow to the man, respectful and polite. She was excited to meet Stella. At least a part of her was. Having a chance to model in a dress made for her was a dream come true.

If only she could focus on that alone.

Other assistants swarmed in and began to rearrange the set while Mira headed to the side, to her dressing room with several assistants following along to continue to provide whatever she might need.

She waved them off with a casual gesture and stepped into her dressing room, not-quite-but-almost slamming the door shut behind her, shutting the world out. She leaned against the frame, and her aloof, calculated but alluring mask cracked. The noise of the world outside receded, if only a bit. She had her own room here, what with her being the cover model but the doors were thin and the noise outside remained a buzz, quiet enough to not be overwhelming, but loud enough to be a nuisance anyway.

The mask fell away, all composure and sinful pride gone, replaced with a bone-chilling weariness.

She pushed herself away from the door, walking to her chair and picked up her phone from the make-up table as she settled down.

There was only one message indicated on the screen.

She thumbed the device open, clicking on the icon for her and Rumi's private chat.

MyDemon: Can you come home tonight?

MyDemon: Please?

Mira's heart beat a little faster. Not in the same giddy anticipation she used to feel when Rumi ask for time with her. Nor was it worry that something might be wrong.

It was something that felt ugly and yet intoxicating, like a taste of a drug she knew would only harm her but could not stop devouring. It filled her body with a vicious need while bile rose in her throat.

She could practically hear the plea in Rumi's voice. Asking her to come home. Asking to not be alone again. Like last night. And the night before.

She'd been out of the tower for the last week.

She wanted to give in. It wasn't like she hated Rumi. She couldn't. She had tried, in the beginning. Heavens knew she had tried. Had tried to fan the anger and the frustration and the resentment into actual hatred. Think of all the things she disliked about Rumi. About what she did, what she had done.

She had tried to go all the way back to the childish resentment she had felt when Rumi was announced as the leader of Huntrix. But all she could see was Rumi's look of terrified anxiety and hopeful pleading she had given Mira and Zoey when Celine had announced it.

She tried to think of the little grievances she had had over the years. Tried to remember how long Rumi had been hiding things from her, to her face. It stung. It still hurt to think about it, but all it did was remind her of the look of utter betrayal in Rumi's eyes when Mira raised her weapon against her and the feeling of her self-loathing multiplying a hundredfold for it.

She tried to hate Rumi. But it just didn't work.

She wished she could hate, because that would be so much easier than whatever mess her feelings actually were.

So she fled into her aggression. Because that's what she knew. That's how she had always survived.

She knew she would lose herself in Rumi's tangle with Revan if she didn't protect herself in the only way she knew how. Maybe she would end up with Rumi, but not in any way that mattered. Not in any way where she was still herself.

But what did that even mean anymore?

And Zoey would lose them forever. She didn't know what Revan's plans were for the future, save the bits she had gleaned from Janiel back during their confrontation, but whatever it was, it wouldn't be a plan where they were together and happy.

Her family would be gone, for good this time.

You're already alone in all ways that matter.

You never deserved a family in the first place.

She shook her head, panic welling up inside her.

No! Their family was not gone! They were having troubles. They were fighting. They... they were going to sort it out. Somehow, they would!

So why do you refuse to even begin to sort anything?

It wasn't the time! They couldn't.

They weren't ready.

They needed time.

They needed to... they needed to figure out what to do.

She needed to...

Her thoughts spiraled. She felt the rising frequency of her breaths and her heart beating faster in her chest, painful thumps against her ribs. She needed to stop the whorl of emotions. She was at work. She was a professional.

She didn't know if she could come back if she lost herself to those thoughts.

She put the phone down on the table, clenching her hand, the cold metal of the device digging into her fingers. The pain grounded her in the here and now, preventing her from spiraling into thoughts about Zoey and their relationships.

She didn't want to think about Zoey.

Because she wasn't strong enough to think about the empty room in their apartment at the top of Lotte World Tower.

She wasn't steady enough to think about the silence in the apartment that was no longer welcoming and comforting because of Zoey's warm presence.

Why didn't she just go to Zoey? She could! She was sure Zoey would forgive her and they could be together and find a way to deal with all of this, together.

Deep breaths. She just needed to focus.

Her phone chimed.

MyDemon: Please don't leave me on read. Please. Not again.

Mira closed her eyes.

There was the last part of the enormous mess currently residing inside her. The fragile understanding that she needed to be there for Rumi, even if part of her loathed herself for how she did and part of her resented Rumi for making her have to choose in the first place. Why were Zoey and Mira not enough for her? Why hadn't she listened?

Mira: I'll be home tomorrow for the weekend.

She thumbed the reply and hit send, shaking her head. Why didn't she just go home? She'd have the shoot wrapped in an hour. She knew Rumi would wait up for her, desperate as she was. But fleeing into her belligerence meant she couldn't simply give Rumi an act of kindness. She had to hold back.

MyDemon: I'll stay up. I'll do anything you want Mira, just....Please.

Her thumb tapped in a message furiously, then hovered over the send button for a long moment.

But she still couldn't forgive Rumi for making her choose. For making her abandon Zoey. For showing her just how powerless she was to be the person she wanted to be for her girlfriends.

She hit send.

Mira: I said tomorrow. Shoot is not over. Don't ask again or I won't be home at all.

She could feel herself trembling, felt the tingling sensation of a promise of soon to be spilled tears in the corners of her eyes and forced herself to focus again. She didn't want to cry.

The chat-bubble hovered at the corner of the icon, then vanished. Then appeared again. Vanished again. Over and over. A minute passed. Then two.

Someone knocked on her door, calling for her to step out. They were ready. It was time to put the mask back on. To be who the public needed to see.

She ignored them. Stared at the chat.

The same questions repeated in her mind and tugged at her heart. Had she gone too far? Was this the one that finally broke Rumi completely? Say something else, anything. Just stop this madness and be the person Rumi needs. Or just throw it all away.

Don't play with her. Don't be that girl.

MyDemon: Okay

And that was all.

She put the phone down and looked in the mirror quickly to make sure her make-up and her hair was still fine. Her tears hadn't spilled. Even as she thought about how Rumi, hands trembling, was sitting at home, crying. The unspilled tears soaked into herself and nourished the bitter, cold acrimony festering in her heart.

The girl looking back at her from the mirror was nearly unrecognizable to her.

She was scared of who she was becoming. Scared of what would happen if she drifted closer to Rumi. She was afraid of losing herself to Rumi's pleas and Revan's plots. Just as she was afraid of losing Rumi completely. She was scared of failing, again, to protect the people who meant more to her than life itself. She was terrified of all the paths in front of her and paralyzed in the toxic mire she had put herself in.

And she hated herself for being too scared to pull herself out and doing the right thing. To be the person Rumi and Zoey needed.

Hating Rumi was impossible.

Hating herself came as easy as breathing.