Chapter Text
If Celine had to guess how she might die, it would have been something demon-related for sure. She was the last Sunlight Sister after all, the sole remaining protector of the Honmoon. And sure, they still had a dedicated fanbase out there listening to their music and singing along and strengthening the Honmoon in their own ways… but with no further live performances, the cracks were already starting to show.
So yes, Gwi-Ma dedicating as many demons as necessary to killing her so that he could unravel the Honmoon at his leisure… that would have made plenty of sense to her.
But this? A sudden sickness coming out of nowhere? It was unthinkable. Hunters did not get sick. The Honmoon kept them healthy and safe. And yet here Celine was, laid up in bed and struggling with every breath she was taking. It didn't make any sense. It wasn't fair. She was-
"Celine?"
Stiffening, Celine looks to see a purple head of hair and two big dark brown eyes poking into the room from the slightly open door.
"Rumi…"
The five year old takes that as permission to come fully into the bedroom, though Celine definitely didn't mean it as such. These last few days have been rough as the illness has gotten worse and worse. What she initially thought to be just a common cold has progressed rapidly, until she can barely move her aching body. In fact, she's been bedbound for the past several hours now, not even able to reach the phone on her nightstand.
However, before Celine can tell Rumi to leave in case what she has is contagious… the words catch in her throat. And not just because she's having a hard time breathing again, though she most certainly is. No, the words catch in her throat… because she sees Rumi's demon patterns poking out from under the sleeve of her top.
They'd only developed a couple of weeks ago to be fair. The first time Celine had seen them while giving Rumi a bath, she'd nearly had a heart attack. Only the fact that she had a young child in her care had kept Celine from spiraling into a full blown panic attack in that moment.
She'd wrestled with what to do for days afterwards but ultimately knew that she was going to have to tell Rumi to start covering them up. It was the only option available to them at this point. Maybe if Rumi wasn't already a hunter then… then Celine could have set her up somewhere far away with enough money to live out her life happily away from all this mess.
Unfortunately, the same day Mi-yeong died, Rumi had connected to the Honmoon. Mi-yeong's mantle, that which made her one of the Chosen Hunters, had passed to her infant daughter on her death. Rumi had become the youngest hunter in their records with that 'feat', her connection to the Honmoon immediate and strong despite only being days old.
Celine had chosen to take that as a sign that despite Rumi's unfortunate parentage, she was still human just like her mother. And a hunter to boot. None of her demonic heritage should have leaked through, not when she was connected to the Honmoon of all things But then the demon patterns had shown up and everything Celine had convinced herself of had been proven wrong.
Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten around to telling Rumi everything she needed to know yet. She had fully intended to sit Rumi down and talk to her about her parentage and the need to hide her patterns, especially from her fellow hunters in the future.
Only, the day Celine had set aside time to do so was the same day that she'd woken up feeling sick. So she'd postponed the talk, assuming she'd be better the next day. And now here they were days later and she… she was sicker than ever.
"Can I get you anything Celine? Water? Soup?"
Rumi has to be the cutest, most serious five year old that Celine knows of. Not that she's met many to be fair. And she also might be a little biased in the girl's favor. Still… with her strength fleeing her body, Celine knows she can't put it off anymore. She has to tell Rumi right now to hide those patterns, lest someone in 'the know' see them and kill Mi-yeong's daughter.
"Rumi… listen to me…"
She has to… she has to…
Rumi, eyes wide, comes closer to the bed.
"Yes Celine?"
"You must… do as I say…"
Can't let them kill Mi-yeong's daughter. Can't let them kill her baby girl.
"I will! What is it?"
"You need to…"
But the rest of the words won't come. Celine's voice fails her in the crucial moment, the last of her strength sapping from her as she falls back into her pillows, tongue laden in her mouth like a heavy weight. Darkness begins to fill her vision as Rumi looks on with wide eyed concern and somehow… somehow Celine knows she won't be opening her eyes again.
I'm sorry Rumi. I'm sorry Mi-yeong. I failed you.
-x-X-x-
At first Rumi assumes that Celine is just taking another nap. She's been taking a lot of those these past few days, having fallen very ill, very quickly. Rumi had never seen Celine get sick before, so it was honestly very scary at first. Celine had also ordered Rumi to stay away so she didn't get sick too, but it was hard because Rumi was so worried.
Whatever Celine had wanted to tell her, whatever it was that Rumi needed to do, she could just tell her when she wakes up again… or so Rumi initially thinks. But then… then she feels it. A wrongness that seeps through the Honmoon, a sense of something… something bad.
The five year old half-demon blinks wide eyes up at Celine on the bed and slowly realizes that her chest isn't rising and falling anymore. She's… she's…
-come-child-
A gasp leaves Rumi's lips as the Honmoon brushes against her more strongly than it ever has before. Celine had told her that it was an honor to be chosen by it, and that Rumi in particular was special for having been chosen at such an early age.
To the five year old though, the Honmoon had always been there. But never before had it been so insistent.
"But Celine…"
-nothing-more-to-be-done-
Rumi's lower lip wobbles. Tears build in her eyes. She doesn't understand. Or maybe… she doesn't want to understand. Because really, the truth is right in front of her. In the end, the five year old lets the Honmoon guide her out of Celine's bedroom. She's careful to close the door behind her. It's only polite after all.
And then she pads back down the hall to her own room, crawling into bed and under the blankets… as well as the comforting warmth of the Honmoon.
-sleep-child-rest-
She would be lying if she said she wasn't tired. She hadn't been getting much sleep, not with how worried she was about Celine. And so Rumi lets the Honmoon lull her to sleep, a woman's voice singing in her ear like a lullaby that has her unconscious in moments.
-x-X-x-
A few days later, Celine's young teenage intern Bobby finally comes by. Rumi is in the kitchen, eating some haphazardly prepared kimbap that the Honmoon had guided her through the process of crafting when his voice echoes from the house's front door. Up until today, her entire diet has consisted of Sunlight Sisters branded Ramyeon Instant Noodles.
"Celine? Rumi?"
Perking up, the five year old calls back.
"Bobby!"
He arrives in the kitchen a moment later just in time for Rumi to hop down from her chair and collide with his legs.
"Oof! Getting stronger by the day sweetie! Um… where's your aunt? Sunlight Entertainment sent me over since it's been a while since she shot us a message. Last we'd heard, she said she had a cold…"
Rumi's smile drops and she shakes her head. But at the same time, the Honmoon is already pressing for her to guide Bobby to Celine.
-show-him-necessary-
And so Rumi takes Bobby by the hand and leads him to Celine's bedroom. When she opens the door, Bobby curses under his breath at the smell… and then curses a lot louder and a lot longer when he sees Celine's body in the bed, lifeless and unmoving.
Rumi learns a lot of words that day that she probably shouldn't know at such a young age, but where Celine would have been mad at Bobby, the Honmoon just feels more amused than anything. And eventually Bobby does recover enough to call people while also getting Rumi out of there.
Things after that are a whirlwind of events… but in the end, Rumi is the last living remnant of the Sunlight Sisters and the heiress to Sunlight Entertainment besides. Celine had lived a more dangerous life than anyone had known and as a result her Last Will and Testament was very much up to date as well as being ironclad.
Not only was there no wiggle room for anyone particularly unscrupulous to take advantage of Rumi in her most vulnerable moments following Celine's death… they couldn't even remove Bobby from her presence. Not when the five year old heiress latched onto the teenage intern and refused to let him go under any circumstances. To be fair to her, the Honmoon pushed for her to do it, and the Honmoon was never wrong so…
And of course, when Bobby found out about Rumi's strange purple birthmarks and how they sometimes grew a bit bigger between one day and the next… well, while it was a little weird, he wasn't about to shame a little girl for something out of her control. Instead, he made sure to build her up, calling them 'cool' and telling her he thought they looked awesome.
For want of a nail… everything changes.