Archive of Our Own ^beta

Mystery wakes up being smothered by the other demons. He’s still in his demon form, an eldritch, dark shadowy mass of ever changing limbs and shape all centered around his humanoid body. It’s the first time he’s woken up since the Honmoon sealed without some sort of ache in his existence. His muscles are not pulled too tight, his joints aren’t bending in ways they’re no longer used to, and his jaw- oh his jaw- feels so light. He pokes at his tusks with his tongue and opens his mouth wide, stretching his jaw. It’s so nice to wake up without pain. 

They’re still in the nest of all of the pillow blankets and it is quite literally the comfiest Mystery has ever been. It’s so much better than the sharp rocks of the demon realm that they usually sleep on; that they’ve slept on for hundreds of years. It’s strange to be quite so close to the other demons. They’ve been forced in close proximity before, but nothing like this and never from their own choosing. 

The past day is the most Mystery has ever simply been touched. It confuses him even as much as he likes it. Why are they doing it? Because they’re all they have left? Because they want him to be their Tether? That makes the most sense. They need him. 

There’s a warmth in his chest, a want, and he steadfastly shoves it down and ignores it. He cannot think about that.

He’s lying on his stomach, which is his usual sleeping position, it’s so much easier in his natural form. He’s laying directly on top of Baby, with his head shoved under the younger demon’s chin. The other three are on top of them, each at different angles, almost perpendicular across Mystery’s back and legs. His eldritch limbs bending and warping around the demons so he doesn’t get squished. It’s a benefit of having a formless form. 

Mystery tilts his head down to shove his face into Baby’s shoulder and delights at how his tusks catch on the fabric of Baby’s sweater. 

The relief of it is so good that it’s almost painful and that’s really just not fair is it?

He can’t resist the temptation in front of him and he bites into Baby’s shoulders. He doesn’t draw blood, but he can feel the skin start to indent under his teeth. He’s never bitten one of them before. He probably still wouldn’t if not for the intensity of relief from pain and the still present grogginess of recent sleep.

Baby grunts and gives a small jerk as he wakes up. Mystery doesn’t remove his bite and a second later he can feel Baby’s hands slide into his hair. 

“What a good morning,” Baby says, voice still groggy with sleep.

Mystery bites harder. Baby hums and scratches at his skull with sharp, sharp claws. 

“Feel good?” Baby asks. 

Mystery nods. It feels so good to bite something. 

“Bite harder,” Baby sighs. He still hasn’t opened his eyes.

Mystery doesn’t. Any harder and he’ll tear through Baby’s sweater and skin. He wants to though.

Baby trails his hands down Mystery’s back, scratching with his claws right at the boundary where Mystery’s physical body starts to bleed into the space between reality, touching stone like skin and being made of non-matter at the same time. 

Mystery absolutely jolts in Baby’s grasp as a high pitched noise escapes him. No one’s ever touched him there before, even himself, and he didn’t know it would feel like that, extra aware of the two realities he occupies at the same time. His jaw instinctively clamps down and he rips through the fabric. He’s able to pull away in time before his teeth sink fully into Baby’s flesh, only making a thin scratch. 

He pushes himself up as far as he can, which isn’t much with the other three on his back. 

“Cruel,” he mutters. 

Baby laughs. Mystery likes the way his face looks as he does so, eyes bright with mischief. 

Mystery swoops back down and bites.

Still not as hard as Baby was asking for, but hard enough that the younger demon’s laugh cuts off with a grunt. 

It’s centering for the oldest demon in a way and he lets his eyes slide shut. He focuses out his other senses, feeling the core of each of the demons surrounding him. In his mind's eye, he sees orbs of fire hovering in the space near the demons’ chests. It’s a comfort to feel them with these demonic senses, feeling like heat and subsonic pulses at once. 

He can sense the Honmoon as well, its ley lines flashing around the room in their new rainbow color. It’s as strong as it was when it came to be months ago. A powerful shield against demons and a barrier to the demon realm. He can’t even sense it anymore. 

The ley lines avoid them, as if they were rocks in a river and the current is breaking around them. Normally, he feels like a repelling magnet when looking at the Honmoon, but right now he’s feeling… pulled in? It’s almost as if the Honmoon is calling to him. He wants to reach out. He wants to touch it. 

Baby’s power flickers underneath him and the blue-haired demon pushes a little against him. Mystery shakes himself from the distraction and focuses on their cores around them.

They should be constant, strong flames. In the demon realm, they are, they always are.

They’re not anymore.

In the demon realm, there’s no worry, the realm itself provides the power, the strength, and stability needed to maintain themselves. 

On Earth, disconnected from the source of power that is the demon realm, they lose all of that. And only demons that have enough power are able to stabilize themselves. 

There aren’t many demons who can do that. Mystery is one. Gwi-ma is another. 

Gwi-ma didn’t like demons to get powerful enough to be able to support themselves. He usually held demons’ power back so it could grow or if it did, then he would just eliminate the threat. 

Mystery is pretty sure that he is the only exception.

The demons who aren’t powerful enough to sustain themselves, but still go to Earth are supported by Gwi-ma himself. The demon lord connects his soul to the demons he sends out and continuously feeds them with power so they don’t fade. 

Now, locked and disconnected from Gwi-ma, they don’t have anything left to stabilize them. They’re cast adrift. 

Mystery can help. Can give them doses of his power to soothe the rough edges, to give them something to center to. It’s not the best, more like medicine that only helps, but does not cure, and is a relatively manual process. 

Mystery has more than enough power for all of them. And now he’s not starving. Now he’s not cramped. Now he knows the Hunters aren’t going to come flying in to kill him. 

He gave them some power yesterday, but they’ve been without for months and Mystery wasn’t at full strength yet either. 

He can sense that their cores are flickering and ragged, better than they were, but still so far away from being stable.

He wants to help them. 

He lets the power build inside of him, holding his eldritch components still so as to not disturb the three on top of him. 

He can feel his power become physical and tangible around him. 

“What are you doing?” Baby asks. 

Mystery pours his power into Baby. 

Baby grunts and his head falls back. He grips Mystery’s shoulders harshly. Mystery retaliates by biting harder, but he loves the pressure on his shoulders.

Mystery doesn’t stop, just continues to give Baby more and more of his power. He’s keeping a focus on Baby’s core and is pleased when he feels it starts to stabilize and begin to flare as Baby’s power gets closer and closer to full strength. 

Mystery still doesn’t stop. He wants Baby to have more than enough. Enough to get stronger. Enough to never have to worry about running out again. It doesn’t work like that of course, not without creating a proper Tether, but the want is still there all the same.

“Hey,” Baby grunts out, “Too much. Stop it.” 

Mystery doesn’t. 

Baby groans at the onslaught. The younger demon’s power crackles between them and around them as it’s forced to flare. 

“Mystery…” Baby grits out between clenched teeth, “You’re giving too much. Stop.” 

Mystery finally releases his bite, “I have plenty.” 

“Yea, but I don’t want you to-” 

Mystery focuses on generating power faster and pushing more into Baby, forcing the younger demon to cut off his words. 

Mystery can’t resist anymore and he pushes himself up on his hands, the three youngest demons falling off his back. His limbs, wings, tendrils, claws, ever changing form and mass stretches up in a gratifying stretch, and brushes against the ceiling. He looks down and sees his power wrapping and flowing around his arms, raising off of him like steam. 

Underneath him, Baby still has his head thrown back, hair splayed on the pillow. His hands are still clamped on Mystery’s shoulders. Flames are flickering around Baby’s hands and slowly up his arms. It’s hot, but it doesn’t hurt.

“Fuck,” Baby says. 

Mystery grins. He loves doing this. He can count on one hand the number of times he has done this, since they’ve always had Gwi-ma, they’ve rarely actually needed another source of power and the old Demon Lord despised when demons gave power to one another. It feels good though, right now, to let his power flow into Baby. 

The other three wake up from how Mystery has pushed them as he sat up. They all sit close to Mystery,  pressing into his sides and back, looking down at Baby.

“Wow,” Romance says. 

“You finally found a way to shut him up,” Abby says with a smirk. 

“Fuck… off…” Baby grounds out. Mystery’s grin turns wicked and Baby’s eyes glow completely in that familiar purple-pink color. The oldest demon finally stops his onslaught of power and relaxes back a bit, ignoring the slight tremble in his limbs. The effort was slightly more exhausting than he thought it would be. 

Baby holds himself still as his body tries to process it all. Power is crackling along his skin. Mystery can feel it in the air. 

“How much did you give him?” Jinu asks, “Did you overload him?”

Mystery is grinning, “Yes.”

Not actually too much, never too much, but Baby currently has more power than he’s used to having. It’ll do wonders for stabilizing him, but there will be at least a moment of adjustment. 

“So pretty like this,” Romance purrs, face smushed against Mystery’s shoulder. He nuzzles in, “Both of you.” 

Romance reaches toward Baby. 

The pink glow of his eyes flashes brighter and Baby finally moves his hand from Mystery’s shoulder to swipe Romance’s hand away. 

“Ooo, he’s touchy,” Romance smirks. 

Baby sends a wave of power and Romance is shoved back to the edge of their nest. He’s laughing as he lands. Mystery knows that that small burst is exactly what Baby needed to stabilize the sudden increase. Looking back at Romance, he can tell from his expression that the pink haired demon knew so too. His smile turns softer as he turns back to Baby.

“Better?” He asks. 

Baby turns his glare to Mystery, but the edges are less sharp, “Yes. You still gave me too much.” 

“I’m fine.” Mystery shrugs, but he just really needs to confirm that Baby is feeling better. He can have no doubt, “You feel good?” 

“I feel,” Baby pauses as he really comprehends how he really feels. Normally the younger demon would brush it off, say some sort of harsh joke or keep the truth of his feelings hidden, but that’s not what they all need right now. That’s not what this is all about. So he continues, with honesty, “really good. The best I have ever felt.” 

Mystery can’t help the pride and joy on his face at his words. He was able to help. Able to be useful and make them feel good. He can actually provide.

He’s overcome with the feeling; a feeling that he hasn’t felt in a very long time. The sensation of Baby’s power is addicting and the knowledge that he’s the one who put it there sets his brain on fire. He runs his hands down Baby’s arms to his wrists, deliberately trailing through the fire. The slight burn makes him grin. 

“You’re very powerful,” Mystery’s voice is soft even as his fingers rake through the tangible power. 

Baby smiles and his power flares, “More than these three that’s for sure.”

Jinu hums, but leans to whisper in Mystery’s ear. While it still is definitely a whisper, it’s still loud enough so all five of them can hear, “You took such good care of him.”

The words have an amazing and instantaneous effect on him. A pleasant buzz fills his brain and his muscles loosen. He just stares at Jinu and forgets to answer. 

“So good,” Romance purrs, pulling himself up and leaning directly to Mystery’s other side. The oldest demon trembles. Good. The phrase echoes around his mind until it’s practically the only thought that he is. Mystery is absolutely not good. None of them are. He’s a demon, who sold his soul, and has killed many, many people. He hasn’t felt bad over killing in decades, maybe even centuries. He is not good. 

But hearing that word. Hearing them call him that. It does something entirely unexpected to him that he doesn’t know what to do with. It makes him feel light. It makes him feel not empty.

“Do you remember when Gwi-ma punished all demons by plunging the realm into an ice age?”

He zoned out at the sensation that word had sent through his body, and apparently the conversation had continued on without him. It takes an extra moment for him to process the question, but eventually Mystery just gives a slow nod, confused to where Abby is going with this. 

“It was only a little bit after you joined us full time. And you exhausted yourself protecting us.” 

That’s true, he did. It took a lot of power to keep the shield up continuously and to maintain the fire along with it. Plus, so many other demons tried to fight their way in and he had to keep his power steady throughout the barrage. He wasn’t as strong back then as he is now. 

“You shielded us.” Jinu says. 

“You kept us warm with your fire,” Baby says. Mystery’s fire around the room reacts at his words, igniting around the nest in a warm ring. 

“Gwi-ma couldn’t reach us.” Abby continues.

“You slept for a week after the ice age finally ended,” Romance finishes, “We were scared that you were going to die.”

“I’m… sorry.”

“You kept us safe,” Jinu argues against his apology.

Abby elaborates on it, “Plenty of demons just froze solid.”

“What about when Gwi-ma tried to send Abby away for a century?” Romance asks, bringing up an event that happened many decades later, “You teleported Abby so far that Gwi-ma couldn’t immediately force him back. And then you let Gwi-ma punish you until he forgot.”

Mystery remembers that punishment. He lost wings and claws, but he grew them back in time. 

“You saved me,” Abby whispers. His arms creep around Mystery’s waist, just like they were last night.

“So good to us,” Romance says. 

Mystery fights back a whimper and instead turns it into his own whisper, unable to be any louder, “Good?” 

Romance nods, “Very good.”

The word bounces around inside Mystery again and it’s like his very form tingles with it. It’s like strings have been cut and Mystery collapses in Abby’s arms, boneless. Only the muscled chest and Baby’s hands on his hips keeping him upright. 

Romance hums, “Already so und- affected aren’t you? How lucky we are. You’re absolutely gorgeous.” There’s a slight stumble at the start of his sentence as he almost says something different, but Mystery doesn’t really notice. His brain latches onto the other words. The other impossible words.

This is strange. They don’t act like this. Sure Romance flirts unabashedly with them all of the time, but this feels heavier. More serious. And they certainly don’t call him gorgeous. If it were any other situation. If it weren’t about him, Mystery would say that they were interested. But it is him, so it absolutely can’t be that. So what is it? 

Mystery blinks, trying to turn his brain back online to understand, “Gorgeous?” 

Romance’s hum turns into a chuckle, but it’s filled with warmth, “Yes, sweetie. You can relax. Let us take care of you for a change.”

Mystery hears the words, hears the message, but he is still short-circuiting. All he can focus on is, “Sweetie?” 

Romance curls closer to Mystery, running a finger up in his arm to twirl through a strand of his silver hair. “Hmmm. Sweetie. Gorgeous. Darling. Good.”

This time Mystery does whimper. 

“Stop it,” Jinu warns, but there’s another tone in his voice, deeper, “We only just woke up.” 

Romance huffs, “We have been denying ourselves and haven’t been able to properly give Mystery what he needs because of Gwi-ma. Now we’re free and you want me to wait?” 

The confusion only grows. What he needs? He doesn’t need anything.

“I want us all to talk about it first.” Jinu is firm. 

What are they talking about? Talk about what?

“Come on,” Abby murmurs, “Let’s make breakfast. I’m sure Baby wants up.” 

Baby’s hands slip up, trailing fire in his wake as he takes a firm grip on Mystery’s waist. Mystery jolts and a handful of limbs lined with claws slap against the walls. Is this how it’s going to be now? Constant touching and compliments? His mind feels like there’s a layer of clouds around it and his reaction time- usually too fast for any human mind to comprehend- is much slower right now.

He likes it.

“I’m fine,” Baby says.

Jinu gives him an unimpressed look as he gets up out of bed, “Suit yourself, but I’m pretty sure that today we’re supposed to give you blood.” When he says it he looks over to Mystery instead, knowing that his words are going to inspire the oldest demon.

Mystery’s eyes widen. He was able to give his power and now he can give him his blood? The feeling of being useful, of helping, fills Mystery up with an excitement that he’s never felt before. 

He pulls himself out of Baby’s grip, instead grabbing the demon’s wrists and pulling him out of bed with slightly too much force.

It’s amazing how happy he feels.

The five leave their nest and walk the short steps to the kitchen. Baby doesn’t walk, filled with power as he is, feet a few inches off the ground as he glides.

Abby pulls eggs out of the fridge and starts boiling a pot of water for rice.

Mystery extends a tendril above all of them and opens a cabinet, reaching in to grab a mug. It dangles loosely from his grasp as he lowers it to the kitchen island. 

“You’re eager,” Romance notes.

Mystery just stares. Is he eager? He is. He tries to tamp it down, because being too eager means more pain later, but it just feels so good right now. He should probably say something. But his thoughts are racing circles in his head and he just can’t. Romance reaches forward and tucks his hair back, revealing his eyes, “Too much? No words right now?” 

Relief blasts through Mystery and he nods. He just wants to focus on this, not words.

“Ok, that’s fine,” Romance says, “You don’t have to talk.”

Abby pours the rice into the boiling water and then turns, “Got breakfast for the rest of us going. Let’s get Baby’s.” 

Mystery is almost buzzing. They have power. They have food. If this continues working, then they won’t have to worry about anything anymore. They can finally have peace.

Abby grabs the knife, but hands it to Mystery, “Why don’t you go first?” 

Mystery takes the knife. He brings it to his wrist and cuts into it. Blood wells up and pours over down into the mug. He frowns as he looks at his blood. 

It looks wrong. 

It’s not the beautiful, purple-red like that of any of the other four. It’s almost black and is of a thicker viscosity. He glances up at the others with a frown. What’s wrong with him?

They’re frowning too.

Abby wordlessly takes the knife and holds his arm next to Mystery’s, cutting into his own wrist. 

The blood is that gorgeous color- like dark rubies and pours like the finest wine. Even full as he is, the urge and the desire is still there, to bite and to drink, but he’s able to resist it. 

His own blood looks… disgusting. Like sludge.

Baby grabs the mug, filled with only a mouthful of Mystery’s blood, and drinks it all in one go. He holds it in his mouth and his expression contorts into one that looks like borderline pain. He looks sick. 

“Baby?” Jinu asks, “You ok?” 

Baby’s eyes fill with more and more distress, before- with a look of regret- he turns and spits all of the blood into the sink, retching to get all of it gone. 

Mystery is trembling, but now it’s not with excitement. 

After he’s done, Baby turns back around with a pained expression.

Mystery hangs his head, wrapping his arms, wings, and tentacles around himself in a protective self-hug. 

He forces himself to speak, “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s not your fault,” Jinu immediately says. 

Mystery is shaking his head, “I’m too far gone. I can’t feed you.”

“Hey, hey,” Abby hurries to say, “That’s ok.” 

“My blood is bad. I’m… wrong.” Not good.

“No,” Jinu argues, “You’re able to give us power. And that power means your blood is different. That’s not a bad thing. If your blood weren’t like this you wouldn’t be able to give us that. It’s a good thing.” 

“I… suppose,” Mystery can’t look at them right now. He knows what Jinu is saying is true. The cost of his power is the degradation of his body, blood and all. He knows it is true and yet it does not stop the pain, the snarling bite of failure in his chest. His gaze drops to the mug stained with his blood. Anger wells up in him and his lip curls up in a snarl.

The mug explodes. 

The other four demons don’t flinch, but they do look sad. 

Mystery has his gaze locked on the shards, even as a clawed tentacle reaches up to grab another mug. He presses it firmly into Abby’s hands. The larger demon just starts letting his blood drip into the new mug. When he’s done, he just hands it off to Romance. Mystery turns away from them. 

He knows that they’re right. That even though he can’t give his blood, he can give his power. Especially, if they are serious about wanting to ask him to be their Tether.

He can’t think about that-

Even still, those thoughts slip past his mind in a way that he cannot grab, leaving behind only the pang of emptiness. 

He closes his eyes and focuses on their cores again. Baby’s is bright and stable and Mystery revels in it. The other three are weak and flickering, but at least better today than they did yesterday. 

He wants to pour power into them, but he knows that they would want him to take it slow. And right now needs to be about the blood, which he can’t be a part of anyway. 

He walks away and the other demons don’t try to stop him. He stalks over to the large window and looks down at the city below, his arms still squeezing around himself in a tight hug. The city is beautiful. 

He can see his own reflection in the glass and he snarls. So… ugly. 

He forces himself to look past his reflection, even as his patterns flash. The city really is beautiful, but having this big and fragile easy opening to their home sets every instinct on edge. They’re too vulnerable. Anyone could come crashing through here. The Hunters having proved that already.

His eyes flick quickly over the windows and walls- not at all avoiding looking at the demons, no- and he frowns. He wants to think about something else. He shoves that away. In all of the places they’ve stayed, in both the demon realm and even the small apartment they had on Earth before this, he always covered them with protective wards. They’re not all powerful, just relatively simple things that help give them a safe space. It can’t stop the Hunters or Gwi-ma, but it could stop weaker demons and at the very least alert him if there was someone in their home that he didn’t want to be. 

He hasn’t done that here. One because he was sure the Hunters would stop him, and two because there’s not really any threats to them anymore, aside from those Hunters of course, but he still has the ability to protect them more. So he should do it. He can do it. He will do it. The Hunters basically said to do whatever he wanted anyway, as long as he doesn’t attack or hurt anyone. 

He’d like to see them try and stop him.

Satisfied that he has some sort of task to work on, Mystery turns back to the other four. Baby is holding the filled mug. He hasn’t taken a drink yet and Mystery raises his gaze to find the younger demon’s eyes already locked on him.

As soon as they make eye contact, Baby brings the mug up and takes a deep swallow. Mystery appreciates the gesture, that Baby is still trying to make him part of all of this, but the emptiness is still starting to take him over again.

Baby’s eyes widen and, while he manages to keep a little more control than Mystery, drains the rest of the liquid in one go. 

After, he slowly lowers the mug, “That… does work better than expected.” Even though his blood didn’t help, seeing the sharp stings of hunger soften away from Baby’s form makes Mystery happy. He can’t be mad at that. Seeing him full for the first time in months helps to bring some of that joy back.

Jinu is smiling, “Good.” 

The rice has finished, so Abby quickly scrambles some eggs into it with some spices. It’s fast at this point, and in only a few moments, Abby is handing them steaming bowls of breakfast. 

Mystery digs in. It obviously doesn’t fill him like the blood, but it’s so much better when he’s not already starving. 

“Do you remember the time that a group of demons were angry about Gwi-ma’s gift to Jinu?” Abby asks through a mouthful of food. Apparently, they are determined to take multiple trips down memory lane.

“Didn’t Baby piss them off so bad that they decided to attack all of us in the dead of night?” Jinu asks. 

Baby grins and chuckles, “Sure did.” 

“Mystery was gone on a mission for Gwi-ma when it happened,” Romance comments. 

Now that the fuzz of being called good is gone, Mystery feels more present, even though the emptiness is causing him to feel raw at the edges. Mystery cocks his head to the side, “It was a pointless mission.” 

“You still made it back right when we needed you.” 

…

There’s no such thing as personal space or privacy in the demon realm. Gwi-ma doesn’t let them build structures or personal items or anything that offers a separation from him. Still, most demons tend to form groups, not that any form of hierarchy is allowed- the minute there’s any sign of authority in any way, Gwi-ma destroys them. So any groups are entirely social and proximity based. Just a little acknowledgement of hey if you stay close to me I won’t eviscerate you and vice versa. 

What this means is that these groups of demons find places on the ground to call their own, and it’s pure luck of a fight to get a spot with minimal sharp rocks. 

The five of them always happened to be lucky. And they were lucky one day. 

It was during one of Gwi-ma’s mass summonings. The kind that were merely a show of force gathering all demons to be crammed together to just observe as Gwi-ma tortured and feasted on souls. 

He doesn’t make them watch specifically, just forcing them to be present is enough. 

On this day, the group find themselves quite close to Gwi-ma, sitting off to the side of the large steps. There’s a bit of a corner where the stairs press against the rectangular stage Gwi-ma is always on. Mystery presses his back into this corner, hugging his knees and hunching down in the hopes the demon lord won’t see him. The other four sit in an almost half circle around him, disrupting anyone from gazing at him directly. 

Mystery gives them a smile. These moments are the moments that make Mystery the most nervous and on edge. He keeps his wings, claws, and tentacles pulled tight to his body and keeps his powers tamped down as much as he can. 

His body shakes from the effort and strain. 

Baby groans, “This sucks.”

“Shh…” Romance shushes, “He’ll hear you.” 

Baby scoffs, “He doesn’t care. He just wants to see us suffer anyway.”

“He’s not wrong,” Abby mutters.

Jinu strums a quick, pretty chord on his bipa. The three other demons immediately fall silent. They all look at Jinu. 

Power shining bright

More than a dying star

Burning away the night

Until the call to war

Jinu finishes singing his quick couplet stack. Words chosen carefully to not spark ire, but the look he gives his four demons convey deeper meaning. Jinu keeps strumming, and it takes a few minutes for them to realize that all has gone silent and they had the attention of every demon. 

Including Gwi-ma.

“My, my,”the smooth voice speaks. Mystery hides his face in his knees. 

Gwi-ma continues, “I always forget about the beauty of my gift to you, Jinu.”

Mystery hates it when Gwi-ma uses Jinu’s name. He’s confident that the Demon Lord doesn’t know Abby’s, Romance’s, and Baby’s. It’s probably good that they don’t come under his speculation like their leader, but the disrespect still sets Mystery’s teeth on edge.

“Thank you,” Jinu bows his head, because he has to, and continues strumming. 

“I would hear your voice more frequently,” Gwi-ma announces. There’s a flash of power, forcing Mystery to look up, and the realm changing around them. A short distance away, on top of a plateau, stone spires grow out of the ground, curling up and around until forming a cave like structure. The mere suggestion of privacy or property is utterly unheard of here.

It’s far enough away that it looks small, but high enough that with a little projection their voices will carry to Gwi-ma. 

Mystery’s stomach churns at the thought. 

Gwi-ma is already speaking again, “There. Now you can sing for me whenever I wish it.”

Jinu’s eyes widen and his fingers falter on the strings. He can see the war in Jinu’s eyes, before their leader finally stomps down on any flashes of rebellion. He bows his head again, “Thank  you for your generous gift. It would be an honor to play for you.”

“I’ll even let you bring your three little pets to stay,” Somehow Gwi-ma’s voice is even more mocking. 

“Three?” Jinu mutters to himself, his gaze drops down to the four of them. Gwi-ma is not stupid or unaware. He’s chosen his words very carefully.

When Jinu’s eyes meet Mystery’s, Mystery just gives a shake of his head before hiding his face in his knees again.

He hears Jinu respond, “Thank you, Gwi-ma.”

…

Later, after the demon lord releases them, there’s a lot of tension between the general demon population and them. The jealousy and unfairness is palpable in the air and the five of them hurry to get away. They have no choice but to use Gwi-ma’s gift so it is there that they flee. Baby sticks his tongue out at the other demons as they go, which earns a grumble in response. 

“Don’t,” Romance warns. 

Baby just chuckles as they run. 

The cave is…. relatively speaking, nice. The ground is actually smooth, and the walls provide some nice cover from the harsh winds. With a fire it might actually be warm. 

It’s just one large cavern, but it’s the most free space they’ve seen or had in decades. They’re not going to have to sleep jammed against each other. 

Mystery tells himself that that is good. 

They each navigate to a specific spot to call their own. Mystery doesn’t really enter, instead sitting down practically right at the mouth of their new home. He sits back down in the same position that he was earlier, back shoved against the wall, power and eldritch being squashed down. 

“There’s plenty of space,” Jinu says ,”You can have as much room as you want.”

Mystery just gives a small smile, “I’m fine.”

Jinu frowns, but doesn’t push it. 

…

It’s hours later after they’ve settled and gotten either distracted or dozed off, when a sharp pain spikes through Mystery’s brain. He chokes and his head flies back, eyes wide open and mouth trembling. 

Gwi-ma speaks in his mind, “You’re calling yourself Mystery now. How do you think they’d react if they found out the truth?”

Mystery frowns and his fingers bite into his knees. 

”Hmm… well it’s only inevitable isn’t it? Regardless. You will come to see me now.”

Then the presence is gone and Mystery slumps forward with a gasp. 

The other four notice immediately and rush toward him. 

“Is everything ok?” Romance asks. 

Mystery licks his lips, “It’s Gwi-ma. He wants to see me.” 

“See you?” Baby is incredulous.

“He never wants to see you,” Abby says. Romance elbows him. 

“He does now,” Mystery responds, “I have to go.”

They don’t argue. They know he has to. 

Mystery pushes himself, “I’ll be back soon.”

They all nod, even though they know he can’t guarantee that. 

Mystery teleports away. 

…

He appears in a flash of pink in front of Gwi-ma. He lands lightly on his feet and crosses his arms over his chest with a scowl. When appearing in front of Gwi-ma with the other demons, he holds himself reserved and in the back. He would never speak to the Demon Lord with the other ones present, for fear of them becoming suspicious. But right now he’s alone, and so he can be more open and rebellious.

“What do you want?” 

Gwi-ma laughs as his fire flares up, ”You are quite daring today.”

Mystery doesn’t deny it. It’s true. “Why did you summon me? After so many years?” 

”You’re telling me that you’re not happy to see me, my dear Mystery?”

Mystery scowls, “Are you happy to see me?” 

Gwi-ma moves, surrounding Mystery in a ring of fire, ”I am always happy to see you.”

Mystery doesn’t respond to that, instead he moves on, “What do you want from me?”

”I have a mission for you.”

Gwi-ma never has a mission for him. They both tend to just do their best to ignore each other. But he knows that he can’t refuse. Gwi-ma is still the one with the power here. “What is it?” 

”I need you to burn down a place of worship.” Gwi-ma shows a projection of a building filled with people in the middle of worship. 

Why would Gwi-ma want him to do that? That small church doesn’t seem like it has enough worship to even pose the slightest of threats to the Demon Lord. And any demon could do this. Why Mystery? In the end, it doesn’t matter.

Mystery gnaws at his tusks, but he can’t argue, “Fine.”

He wants to just get this done. The faster it’s done, the faster he can start forgetting about it. Gwi-ma probably wants him to argue- to fight back. But the earlier attitude is gone now, depleted at the sight of a mission of destruction he knows that he will have to do. He doesn’t have it in him anymore. 

He just teleports away.

… 

Mystery isn’t quite sure where he is on Earth, but it’s a small village. It has only the barest of necessities, the houses are small and wood. Paths of dirt and livestock all around. 

No one is outside, but Mystery can hear them. 

His gaze lands on one of the larger buildings in the village, it’s made of wooden slats, with white paint carefully applied. There are steps to the double doors and a large pole just beside it with a bell on top. 

There are a few windows and from them come warm, glowing light and the sound of song. 

It is the sound of worship. Of happiness. 

Mystery does not let himself look in the window. Does not let himself see the people or their joy. 

He walks up to the building and holds out a clawed hand. Fire erupts in his palm. 

Behind him, a scream. 

Mystery turns and sees a group of young people, rebellious in their ways of skipping worship. They stare at him with fear in their eyes. 

In the church, the singing has stopped at the sound of the scream. The double doors swing open and a group of young men come looking out. 

“Demon!” One of the men yells.

They scramble for anything that could be used for weapons. 

“Oh my,” Gwi-ma whispers in his mind, “Who would have known that not everyone was in the place of worship?”

His smug tone is what makes Mystery realize that Gwi-ma did know and intended for this to happen. Mystery snarls and tries to teleport back into the demon realm, but Gwi-ma holds the barrier closed and Mystery is bounced back. 

He stumbles back from the force of it and almost tumbles into the group of teenagers. They scream again. People are streaming out of the church now. Some have grabbed pitchforks and hoes and other farming equipment, and are approaching Mystery with makeshift weapons drawn. 

Some start to stab at him, but Mystery dodges back. It seems like the whole village is here, staring at him with horror and hatred. 

“You should be used to these looks,” Gwi-ma whispers, “They are the only ones you deserve. Unlovable monster that you are.”

Mystery flinches.

“You were made to be hated.”

The distraction is enough and one of the humans plunges a pitchfork into Mystery’s shoulder. He hisses in pain and stumbles back, hand coming up to grab at the wound and his mangled flesh.

“Kill that man.”

A tentacle of eldritch darkness shoots out and buries deep into the man’s chest. Blood spurts out, organs squish, and bones crack. The man makes a horrible choking sound, and the pitchfork drops from his hands. 

Everyone goes silent. 

Mystery pulls his tentacle back and a horrible squelching sound fills the air. 

Then everyone screams and sobs. Some even start to beg. Beg their deity. Beg Mystery. 

“This is your symphony.”

Mystery grits his teeth. 

“You know what? Don’t just burn down their place of worship. Burn down the whole village.”

Mystery launches himself into the air, just above the roof of the buildings. He stares down at the people. The adults. The children. He spreads his arms out to either side, palms up and fire bursts up from his palms. 

The screams renew. They plead. They ask why. They throw things at him. Some hit him. Some miss. 

It doesn’t matter. 

He lets the fire drip from his hands, down, down, down to the buildings below. Immediately catching the wood and the hay of the buildings. With focused looks he causes some of the buildings to ignite immediately. 

He makes sure the fire really takes hold and begins to spread. He doesn’t target the people specifically, but the fire has already spread to the perimeter of the town. Some people stay trapped in the church. 

He can already smell them burning. 

He goes to teleport again, done with this assignment, but Gwi-ma still holds the barrier shut. 

“Now, now. You’re not leaving until the last fire ember burns out.”

Mystery hangs his head, body shaking, stomach rolling, but he stays in the air- watching. The orange glow from the flames highlights his grey skin, his patterns flickering with the fire. 

…

It takes hours for the fire to burn away, Mystery loses track. Most of the people are dead. Some of the others will be dead soon. Some might have survived. 

But it’s done. The village, under all intents and purposes, is gone. 

Gwi-ma has no more words to say and Mystery finally teleports back to the demon realm. 

He doesn’t appear where he expects to appear. 

He was trying to teleport into their new cave directly. Instead he teleports about two thousand feet away, high in the sky. He falls for a minute before catching himself and starts to fly. 

He frowns, but starts gliding back to his demons. 

It’s only a few moments later when he hears it. The sounds of yelling, of power, of claws and teeth, of bloodshed. 

Of battle. 

Mystery rushes forward and the plateau comes into view. Swarms of demons are trying to scale it, clambering over each other. The top of the plateau is overrun and Mystery can see the four he cares about are completely surrounded. They stand back to back, claws and teeth bared. They’re bleeding. 

Mystery snarls and dives, landing next to them with such force that the ground shakes. 

He stands. As he does, he thrusts his hands out. A wave of force bombards the horde and they go flying back. He keeps the pressure high as they fall into the crowd below and crushes them against each other. 

He releases that pressure in an instant and sweeps his hands up. Fire, brighter, hotter, wilder, bigger than the flames in the village rise up from the ground, burning and whipping around the attacking demons. 

Mystery steps to the edge of the plateau, fire in his steps, power crackling around him like lightning. He stares down at the other demons and then points away from the plateau. 

The demons below understand his unspoken command and flee, running away from the plateau in the direction that Mystery is pointing. 

Once they’re far enough away, all of the stiff tension bleeds out of Mystery in exhaustion. He turns back to the four of them, and they’re staring at him in awe.

Baby speaks first, “That was-”

…

“-hot,” Baby finishes saying, playing the memory back in his head, like they all are.

Back then, after Baby said that, they all just went back into the cave and separated. They only brought it up again to thank him, which just ducked away from. 

They certainly didn’t give him the look they’re giving him now. 

Jinu reaches out and grabs Mystery’s hand, “We know how much you hated to display your power in the demon realm. Thank you for saving us.”

“You saved me first,” Mystery admits. It’s the first time he’s really said it so directly. 

“What did Gwi-ma make you do? Why did he send you away?” 

Mystery hangs his head, “He made me burn down a village.” He feels bad about it. Guilty even. But a large part of him doesn’t care at all. He’s killed lots of people. 

They don’t really say anything to that. There’s nothing to say about that. They all kill.

“Do you think the Hunters will bother us today?” Abby asks. 

Baby looks sharply at Jinu and his eyes flash pink with power. Jinu just stares down at his bowl, pointedly not saying anything or looking up. 

Romance answers, ignoring the awkwardness, “Perhaps. They seem diligent in making sure Mystery- and us- aren’t threats.” 

“We are threats.” 

“Imminent threats.”

“I want to be an imminent threat,” Baby mumbles. Mystery chuckles. 

“It’s crazy how little about demons they actually know,” Abby says, “I mean they’ve been hunting us for so long.”

“Hunting. Not having pleasant conversations with.”

“Their leader is half demon!” Romance says. 

“She knows nothing,” Baby spits out, “Shouldn’t even call herself a demon.” 

Jinu’s hand is clenched on his spoon. Mystery doesn’t know what to do.

“Mystery scared Mira pretty good last night,” Abby chuckles, “They’re probably not brave enough to come back down here for a few days at least. 

A spark of pride rings through Mystery. He instilled so much fear last night. He relished in it. He relishes it now. 

“So… does anyone have anything that they want to do today?” Romance asks. Jinu is still far too tense, but is slowly starting to relax. 

Mystery casts his eyes once again around the room, “Wards.” 

The four of them look at him surprised, “Wards?” 

“Against what?” 

Mystery shrugs, “Threats.”

“What threats?” Abby asks. 

Mystery shrugs again, “Any.” 

They can’t really argue with that because… fair. They might not know of any threats right now, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. That one day the honmoon might break again.

“Can you power wards,” Romance asks, “With all of us?” 

Mystery knows that it’s a perfectly valid question, but he can’t help the deadpan stare he gives to the younger demon, “Yes.”

Romance flutters a hand out to trace a clawed finger down Mystery’s cheek and across a tusk, “Oh, I’m sorry. I know you’re powerful enough. You just know how much we worry about you exhausting yourself.”

Mystery smiles, hackles lowering, “I’m fine.”

“Wards are a good idea,” Jinu says, “Can never be too safe.” 

“I think we should make a public appearance,” Baby announces suddenly. 

A jolt shoots through Mystery. A bit of fear, yea, but also a bit of excitement. The public spotlight is not something that he necessarily likes, but he loves the love. And working with the other demons to create art and music is the closest to joy that he’s ever felt. 

Abby, who loves the spotlight most out of all of them grins, “The Saja Boys return?” 

Baby pulls out his phone and shows them how active their fan base still is on a variety of social media, “We can if we want.” 

“Do we want?” Romance asks. 

“What else are we going to do?” 

Abby asks the question they’re all thinking, “Would the Hunters even let us?” 

Baby sucks his teeth, “Who cares?”

They all sort of shrug, except for Jinu who doesn’t respond.

Eventually their leader speaks, “We only do it if we all want to.” 

They all look at each other for a moment. They don’t need to discuss it, they can each read what the rest are feeling. They smile.

“Alright,” Jinu says, “Then we’ll figure it out.”

“What did you have in mind,” Romance asks Baby, “I know you’ve been keeping up with our accounts, but we’re not performance ready.” 

“I want to go… to a bar.” 

Mystery, and everyone else, looks at Baby with the same expressions. 

Abby recovers the fastest and so asks first, “You want to go to a bar? With humans?” 

Baby glares a challenging glare, “Yes.” 

Romance hums, “Sounds fun. It would be nice to get out of the apartment for a while.” 

“We going to tell the Hunters?” Abby asks. 

“No. We can go out if we want to go out,” Baby answers, “Right, Jinu?” 

Jinu jumps slightly. He looks up and glances around at the four of them. Mystery hates the conflicted look in his eyes, hates to see Jinu in pain in this way, but then realizes that the cold, acidic pang in his stomach hates that Jinu is conflicted at all even more. 

“Right,” the leader finally says, “We don’t have to tell them anything.” 

It’s half-hearted at best and Mystery can tell by the continued tension in Baby’s shoulders that the small demon is not appeased. 

Mystery feels slightly better, but he knows that it isn’t over. 

Romance turns away from both of them and directly toward Mystery, “Would you be ok? Going back to human form.” 

Mystery shrugs, “It wouldn’t hurt like it did. Not unless I’m stuck like that again.”

“Never again,” Baby promises. 

…

Later, Mystery is working on the wards. He always puts them up in whatever place he was calling home at the time. Even with the cave, he covered as much of it as he could with wards. The other four never helped, but that’s really to be expected. It’s not a lot of power, sort of just a constant low-grade stream, but it’s a complicated application of it. Almost like magic. Mystery is quite good at warding, where he has always been bad at transformation. 

He steps up first to the wall of large windows, looking down at the city below. It really is quite a beautiful sight. But glass is flimsy. He can make it better. 

He places his palm on the glass and closes his eyes. His power thrums deep, like bass, in his chest and reverberates around him. Dimly, he can sense the four other demons' powers in the back of his mind and uses that awareness as a centering point of the wards. 

He focuses on protection. His desire, his need, for the four of them to remain safe. He wants this place to be a sanctuary. His palm warms and even though his eyes are closed he can feel the sigils seeping from his skin, travelling across the surface like a liquid until they settle into place. The sigils crawl and move until all of the walls are absolutely covered in them. Only then does Mystery open his eyes. 

The room is cast in the dark pink light as the sigils glow dimly with power. It’s not an absolute barrier keeping anyone from entering without permission, and he can’t make it as powerful as he wants with the Hunters right above them. With a frustrated sigh, he actually loosens up the wards a little, focusing on the Hunters, and making sure they’re allowed through as they please. 

He really doesn’t want to do that. 

Eventually, he’s satisfied, and the wards pulse as he drops his hands. Then slowly, they fade into invisibility. He can still feel them though, a comforting presence on the sides of his consciousness. 

Abby steps up next to him, “Could you show me how to do that?” 

Mystery cocks his head, curious, not many demons know how to ward, especially because Gwi-ma didn’t like it. But they weren’t bound by those rules anymore. 

Mystery holds out his hand to Abby. The strong demon stares at it for a moment before resting his own hand in it. Mystery draws Abby’s hand forward and presses it against the glass of the window, just as Mystery’s was moments ago. 

“Focus on your core, your power,” Mystery says, he keeps his hand on the back of Abby’s, but tries to let it just be a comforting weight.

Abby nods and closes his eyes. Mystery can feel his power start to bubble up. There’s not much there, but being the youngest, Abby doesn’t have that much to generate. 

“Good,” Mystery says, “Now focus on a desire. Something you want to imbue in the space around us. I focused on protection. Safety.”

Abby nods, and Mystery watches sigils start to creep along the glass, just like his own. There aren’t as many and they don’t go as far, but Abby makes enough to cover a good portion of the wall before him. Mystery is actually impressed. 

“Good job,” He says, “You’re a natural.” 

Abby opens his eyes and looks at what he’s created with a smile on his face. He doesn’t remove his hand, but looks to Mystery, “Now what?”

“Now just focus on the connection to your power. Once you feel like they’re going to stay, you can remove your hand and stop focusing.”

Abby concentrates and it takes nearly a minute before he leans away from the wall. When he does, the sigils stay. And just like Mystery’s they fade away, but are still ever present. 

“You’re very good at it.” Mystery says. 

“Thank you. You’re a good teacher.” 

“What were you focusing on? What did you make the sigils for?”

Abby turns that grin on him, “Home.”

…

Later, it’s time to go out. Mystery is only slightly nervous. Not of the Hunters, not really, although he’s sure that they’re not going to be happy when he realizes that they’ve gone. He’s honestly surprised that they haven’t said anything about the new addition of wards. They surely must have noticed by now. But still, it will be nice to do something different than just having to stay in this very nice apartment. 

But in order to go out and not cause a mass panic, Mystery needs to transform again. Being in his natural form for slightly over twenty-four hours has been heavenly and a much needed reset. Knowing that he can go back as soon as he gets home makes it much easier to just get into in the first place. 

He’s in his room standing in the center. He allows himself one final, large stretch. He shakes out his arms. Ok, he can do this. Not a problem. He concentrates on his power, on his body, and just focuses on bringing it in.His power condenses in on itself, like a star that’s losing its form. He compacts down, non-human parts of himself, folding in and Mystery forcibly shoves those parts into the other dimension.

It is immensely uncomfortable. But, it’s not painful, like it was before, not yet. He can handle short bursts of transformations, as long as he’s not stuck like this. With a final wave of his hand, his body completes the transformation: skin becoming soft and pink with blood, joints settling into a singular place, claws disappearing, tusks- oh this is the worst part- rapidly shrinking to human teeth. 

When he’s done he looks into his mirror and sees an entirely human form. He frowns at it, but at the same time… he’s beautiful again. He pushes his hair up; there are no demon markings surrounding his eyes- which he’s surprised by, there usually is at least something, but no his eyes look very human except for the harsh shade of yellow they are. It’s the best transformation he’s ever done.

He changes into just a plain shirt and jeans and goes to join the rest of the group. 

As soon as he enters the common area, he sees the other four already in their human guises as well. Romance looks at him with a frankly appalled look, “Mystery! You can’t wear that!” 

Mystery frowns as he looks down at his clothes, sure they’re not the most extravagant clothes, nothing like what he would wear for a performance, but he thinks he looks nice, “What’s wrong with them?” 

Romance stalks forward and circles around him, before standing right in front of the oldest demon, putting his hands on his shoulders, “They’re long sleeves!”

Mystery still doesn’t understand, “So?”

“You can’t cover up your arms!” Romance cries as if it’s a crime against humanity.

“Uhhh…”

Romance continues, sliding his hands down Mystery’s arms tightly before snagging his wrists and holding his arms up in between them, “I specifically gave you vests so you can show off your arms! It’s a crime to hide them.” 

Mystery looks past Romance to the other three, but they are looking at the scene with amusement in their eyes. They make no move to come to Mystery’s aid. 

“The jeans are fine, a little baggier than what we normally do, but they’re cute,” Romance says, “Hold on, give me a second.” Romance walks off determined. Mystery just stares off slightly, but the younger demon is back before his brain can kick back on.

“Here,” Romance says, handing him a new shirt. It’s not a vest, but a black long sleeve shirt. Mystery takes it, confused, how is this any different?

“This will be a good compromise,” Romance says, “But if you don’t want to wear it you don’t have to.” 

Mystery holds out the shirt. It is just a black long sleeve shirt, but the sleeves have intentional tears and gaps all throughout them. He turns around tugs off the shirt he’s currently wearing and slips the new one over his head. 

It’s much tighter, clinging to his form, but he knows that that’s exactly what Romance was going for. At least it’s not as tight as what Abby wears. It’s long sleeve, but all of the rips in it leave a lot of his skin showing, peaking through the various gaps. Especially, with the way his arms are defined, the sleeves contour to his shape. In a way, it reminds him of the garter belts that Romance made him wear during their final show. He blushes at the thought. 

Still, it’s nice that even with how much skin is showing, that it is a long sleeve shirt. He can tug at the cloth at his wrist, and he doesn’t feel totally exposed. 

He turns and shuffles awkwardly as they stare at him, “Better?” 

Romance is blushing, which Mystery doesn’t understand, but the younger demon just clears his throat, “...Yea. Yea you look good.”

…

Leaving the apartment is surprisingly easy. They simply just walk out. A part of Mystery thought that the Hunters would stop them, but they never made an appearance. With a lot less struggle than what was expected, the demons find themselves outside of a nightclub. The music is loud, Mystery can feel it in his chest. 

Baby is bouncing with excitement on his platform shoes. Jinu looks slightly uncomfortable. Abby is relishing in the attention he’s getting from some of the other patrons in line. Romance is hovering near Mystery. 

He leans over, “Are you feeling alright? It’s not too painful is it?” 

Mystery shakes his head, “It doesn’t hurt.” And it’s true. It doesn’t hurt right now. 

They move through the line. They could probably draw attention to who they are and skip the line, but they haven’t been recognized yet. Mystery is honestly grateful for it. There’s a brief moment where the bouncers almost don’t let them in, unbelieving of Baby's age- or rather, the human age they decided for him- but with enough persuasion (and threats of violence from Baby), they eventually make it inside. 

It’s absolutely packed. In a way it’s almost reminiscent of the demon realm, with bodies just pressing against each other, although the atmosphere is entirely different. There’s a large space for dancing, then at the other end of it is a large bar for purchasing drinks. There are people everywhere. 

Mystery has never been anywhere like this before. He looks over to Baby, but the younger demon is grinning wildly. 

Jinu looks a little overwhelmed too and Mystery is grateful that he’s not the only one. The leader asks, “Is this really what you wanted, Baby?” 

“It’s exactly what I wanted. We can do whatever we want. No one’s going to care,” Baby’s grin is wicked, “We can do whatever we want.”

Oh. It’s a celebration. They’re free. And they can celebrate it. 

A grin slowly takes over Mystery’s face too. Gwi-ma is <i>gone.</i>

“We’re going to need a lot of alcohol,” Abby says. Baby whoops. The two of them start pushing toward the bar. Romance turns to the two left, “Let’s dance.” 

Both Mystery and Jinu stiffen at the suggestion. Romance smiles at them and takes a hand from each of them, “Trust me. You’ll be great.”

He pulls them onto the dance floor, where humans keep bumping into them. Mystery tries to hunch into himself and Jinu keeps stumbling with every jostle. The only thing about it all is that everyone around them is filled with excitement and joy in the moment. A vast difference to the misery of the crowd in the demon realm. 

Mystery is not good at dancing without choreography. His brain keeps stuttering on the thought of what to do. It’s instantly too much. He tries to pulse to the beat, at least he can keep time, but he feels robotic stiff. Jinu beside him is not much better, doing a bit of an awkward shuffle side to side. 

Romance smiles fondly at the two of them and chuckles with zero malice. 

“Here,” he says, his eyes filled with such warmth. He grabs Mystery’s hands and puts them on his shoulders, encouraging the oldest demon to grab on. Mystery does so, grabbing Romance’s shoulders and tries to sway with the younger demon. He’s still much too stiff and his arms are rigid. 

“Relax your arms,” Romance says, “And is it ok if I-” He holds his own hands out, hovering over Mystery’s hips right where the baggy jeans are sitting low. 

Mystery tries to relax and is somewhat successful. His gaze drops down to Romance’s hovering hands. He nods, “You can touch me.”

Romance grabs his hips and pulls him slightly closer. They’re very similar heights, Romance just maybe an inch taller, and Mystery finds himself studying Romance’s face. They’re not touching anywhere more than where their hands are. 

“Pretend it’s like I’m teaching you some choreography,” Romance says, “And do what you do best. Focus on the music. Feel it.” 

Mystery gives a small nod and tries to do as he asked. His eyes slip shut. The music is good, upbeat, loud, and honestly a little bit sensual. The perfect music for a swarm of bodies to be dancing close together to. 

It almost infects his mind, giving him a feeling very close to how he was feeling earlier at that oh so simple word, and it’s like an instinct he didn’t know he has activates. Turns out it really is so much easier to dance when not actively thinking about it. His body moves almost automatically now. His head tilts back a little as his hips move and his body rolls. It’s entirely different dancing than the precise steps of their choreo, but it feels very alive, as if Mystery has connected with the main artery of the music and its blood is flowing through him. 

Romance laughs, mirthful, as he moves with Mystery, “There we go. See? You’re a natural.” 

Mystery lets his eyes fall open and he stares up at Romance. This is fun. He feels good. He likes this. 

Somebody bumps into Romance’s back, and the pink-haired demon stumbles forward, crashing into Mystery so that they’re pressed together shoulder to hip. Mystery gives a small squeak as they stop dancing. 

“Sorry, sorry!” Romance says quickly, getting his fitting back. He pushes back, trying to put some distance between them, but Mystery finds that he really does not want that. 

His arms had slipped over Romance’s shoulders during the jarring movement and Mystery uses that to completely wrap them around Romance’s neck. He lets his weight sink into the hold so that gravity presses them a little closer and he’s just that much lower in height. 

Romance freezes, their faces just inches apart. Mystery feels absolutely infused with the music. 

“Stay?” He asks quietly. 

Romance’s grin absolutely blooms and he somehow steps closer, their legs practically slotting together. 

“Of course,” he almost purrs. Then his eyes flick up, looking behind Mystery, “Although, I think we’re making someone jealous.” 

Mystery looks back over his shoulder. Jinu has given up on his awkward attempts at dancing and is just staring at the two of them, pupils blown wide and dark. 

He steps forward, not as close, but close enough that Mystery can feel his heat at his back. Mystery makes eye contact with him and the confidence in the leader falters. The want is still there, but the Jinu typical awkwardness starts to creep in. 

“You do look good,” Jinu says. 

Mystery ducks his head, “Thank you.” 

Romance uses his grip on Mystery’s hips to spin Mystery around, the older demon going easily due to the surprise. Romance pulls him so Mystery’s back is pressed to his front and the oldest demon is staring directly at Jinu. 

Romance leans his chin on Mystery’s shoulder, “Why don’t you help show our leader what you just learned?” 

Nerves are starting to start up again, but Mystery fights them back. The music had him feeling so magical before, he wants that again. He reaches forward, but doesn’t let his back disconnect from Romance’s chest. The pink-haired demon’s fingers grasping tightly at his hips. 

Jinu obligingly steps forward, and Mystery grabs him like he did Romance moments before. This time though, he pulls forward, dragging Jinu forward until their chests almost press together. Their leader places his hands practically on top of Romance’s. Mystery starts to move like he did before, moving his hips and wrapping his arms around Jinu’s neck. He hears both of the demons on either side of him suck in a sharp breath. 

Romance and Jinu are pressed tightly to him, barely an inch of space between them as they move. 

Normally, Mystery would be second guessing this intimacy. He would be questioning whether or not the other demons actually wanted it, but right now the music is making him feel absolutely electric. And Baby was right. They’re free now. They can have what they want. 

He wants them. 

He always has, but he’s never let himself really think of it or acknowledge it before. But for some reason, he’s not scared to think about it right now. The three of them move almost as one. Jinu lost his awkwardness and now moves with the firmness and talent that they all know he possesses. 

Mystery loves how no matter what movement happens, he gets pressed into either Romance or Jinu, not a single moment going by without feeling them. It almost feels like performing with them again. 

Jinu’s breath is hot against his ear, “You really do look good.” Jinu looks up slightly to Romance, “Both of you do.” 

Romance hums, “You do too.” 

Mystery releases his grip from Jinu’s neck and instead stretches his arms above his head and back, wrapping around Romance’s neck behind him. The movement causes his body to arch up against Jinu. The leader’s grip on Mystery’s hips tightens to an almost painful point. Mystery loves it. 

“The five of us-” Jinu says with a gasp in the middle of his sentence, “-really need to talk.” 

Why does Jinu keep talking about talking? 

His fingers wind up into Romance’s hair, and-

“Oh my God.” Abby’s voice cuts through the music and the three dancing demons look over to the return of Baby and Abby, holding an armful of drinks. Jinu and Romance both freeze, but Mystery can’t resist the call of the music, still trying to dance in between them. They’re pressed too tightly together though for him to really be able to do anything. 

Baby’s eyes are filled with both admiration and jealousy, while Abby’s eyes don’t start roaming over the three of them.

The three of them break apart, and instantly drinks are being pressed into their hands. Baby bounces on the balls of his feet as they all take their first shot and then immediately presses a second into their hands. 

Mystery doesn’t remember the last time he had alcohol, but he enjoys the burn in his chest as he drinks down. He’s honestly not sure how much alcohol it would take to affect them, if it even would, but the simple act of drinking it helps loosen him up. Jinu starts coughing after his first shot, but he gets both of them down. 

Abby takes the shot glasses from them, “Please, get back to dancing. I’ll be back in a second.”

Mystery watches him go, and watches the rest of the patrons admire his muscles as he pushes by them, but his attention is snatched away as Baby spins him around. Baby is insistently close to Mystery, the platform shoes making him of almost the same height as the older demon. Baby grabs him slightly higher than the other two did, firmly on his waist, his shirt getting scrunched up slightly with the movement.  

Romance prowls up to Jinu, laying his hands on the leader’s chest, “We should give them a moment alone. Dance with me?” 

The awkwardness has returned to Jinu, but he still places his hands on Romance’s hips with a small, shy smile and starts to sway them back and forth. Romance laughs with joy as he presses closer. The sight makes Mystery’s chest feel warm, but Baby pulls his attention away again. 

“I’ve never seen you move like that,” Baby almost growls. His hands are tense on Mystery’s waist, as if he was holding himself back from moving somehow. 

“I never have,” Mystery answers, and it’s true now that he thinks about it. He never has moved like that before and he has no idea how he did so a second ago. His body just seemed to move on its own, in a way he didn’t know it could. It’s hard to focus, hard to even really think, with how Baby’s pressed against him. He’s not naive, he knows that Baby is very possessive and struggles with it. He knows that while the younger demon is possessive over all of them, Baby is drastically more possessive of him. It’s why he’s the only one who's able to calm Baby down when he needs it. 

He knows that the five of them are dancing along a line they have never crossed in their centuries together. But Mystery doesn’t know what to do with that information. Especially because he knows there’s no way the four of them want exactly what he wants. 

He barely lets himself think about what he wants. He’s been pushing that thought down for so many years now, but lately it’s been more and more difficult to ignore. But he has to before it shatters him, because he knows it will. 

They want to feel good, and Mystery’s power makes them feel good. It’s only natural, he can’t blame them for that. They definitely make Mystery feel good too, but he wants more than that. 

And they never will. 

Mystery shoves it all aside and he refocuses his eyes on Baby. 

The younger demon has stopped talking, in fact the heated expression is gone. Instead, the blue-haired demon is practically studying his face, apparently seeing something even though his eyes are completely covered. 

They’re still standing tightly together, but Baby’s grip becomes softer on his waist. The younger’s index finger sweeps gently back and forth on a section of exposed skin. Mystery shivers. 

“What’s wrong?” Baby murmurs, “Do you not like this?”

He starts to pull away, a simmering pain in his eyes. 

Mystery wraps his arms quickly around Baby’s neck, tight enough that his fists are practically resting where their shoulders meet. It’s practically a hug. 

“Stay,” Mystery says, “I like it. Dance with me?” 

Baby squeezes him and Mystery hides his face in the younger demon’s neck. Baby’s fingers resume their treacherous trail across his skin. Mystery shudders as the feeling washes over him. Baby squeezes tighter. 

In his periphery, Mystery watches Abby come back to join them, his eyes darting back and forth between the two pairs with blatant desire in his eyes. Romance reaches out an arm and Abby takes it immediately. Romance pulls him in until Abby presses against his back. The three start to dance again, Jinu slowly losing his hesitancy. Mystery almost gets distracted by them, but the music grabs his attention, and he can’t pull his mind away from it this time. 

A fuzz fills his brain, a pleasurable cloud, and the music changes as Mystery starts to pay attention to it again. It’s a slower song, somehow even more sensual than the previous one. The rhythm infects Mystery’s mind and- well, no soul actually. But in a way, the music feels like it’s connecting directly with a part of Mystery. It takes him away in a way that music never has before. 

It’s like his inhibitions are gone and his normal self-consciousness drifts away. He needs to move. He has to move. He can’t stop him. He couldn’t even if he wanted to. 

He doesn’t.

He starts to dance again, the music itself demanding his hips to roll and his arms to reach above his head. Baby’s eyes widen in surprise at his sudden movement, but quickly catches back up. 

The music is making Mystery’s blood boil and he has to get closer. The music has to flow through, he has to let it out.

He slots his leg in between Baby’s, close enough that they’re almost continuous and he’s resting slightly on Baby’s thigh. His hands fall to his own hair and he pushes it to the sides so his eyes are unobstructed. 

Baby moves with him- against him- but his eyes are wide and wild, “What’s- what’s gotten into you?” 

Mystery grins and hums, “The music.” As demons they don’t really sweat, but he feels like he’s doing so now. He feels absolutely feverish, but he also feels very, very good. 

The music is amazing. It’s residing in the spot his soul used to be. 

“You said it,” Mystery says, “We’re free. I can’t believe Gwi-ma can’t touch us.” 

That seems to appease Baby as his own joy at their freedom washes over him again. He grins and starts to dance with more intention.  Time slips by them as song after song plays. The crowd never loses energy for even a moment.

He dances with Baby for a while, and then the other three join them. The five of them dance with each other, constantly changing partners and dancing with all combinations. They drink more, than dance more, they are having an amazing night.

Eventually, the music demands more from Mystery.

He doesn’t know the words, but he hums along with it. He rolls against Baby, hands fluttering over both of their bodies, wanting to try to share with the younger demon what the music is making him feel. His own skin tingling and sparking as if there were electricity dancing over him. 

He doesn’t notice when Baby stops dancing. 

Mystery just continues on, mind stuck on the music. The other three come to join them and Mystery reaches out to them, grabbing onto whichever of their shoulders he can and pulling them in. He slips from Baby’s grasp and spins into Abby. The larger demon catches him immediately and follows along with Mystery forces himself into a twirl. 

Mystery is giggling as he hums. 

“Do you guys see that?” He hears Baby ask. What is he talking about? 

The music builds and he can’t resist singing. The music seems to be extra powerful right now, even for the humans. There’s an energy in the room, a charge that seems to be just a little bit more. 

“Mystery?” Is that Abby? “What’s going on?” 

Mystery doesn’t know how to answer, but frowns at their tone. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t fit with what’s going on right now. The other four demons are staring at him with concern that Mystery doesn’t understand. 

“Mystery, look-” Romance gestures around him, and it’s like a sharp wave of focus washes over Mystery’s brain, clearing out a haze that he was only partially aware of from his mind. He looks around- really looks- and… how did he miss this? 

The Honmoon is visible around them, sparkling and shining, a strong rainbow glow connecting all of the souls in the room. It doesn’t touch the five demons at all, the shining lines warping around them. 

It’s still just as strong as it was after the Hunters sealed it for the final time at the performance months ago, as strong as it was this morning. Wait, actually, it seems stronger. And actively getting stronger right now. The lines flare and pulse and brighten, the rainbows casting around the room so the air around them is practically infused with the colors. The Honmoon is of course powered by humanity, but he’s never seen it go through such a boost before without the direct interaction of the Hunters.

“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” Jinu asks. 

Mystery shakes his head. He hasn’t. The Honmoon looks alive, reacting to the humans and the music without the presence of the Hunters. True, it doesn’t need them, as it is a true reflection of humanity, but he’s never seen it just become so powerful that it becomes visible on its own. 

The Honmoon, something that has always represented their jail cell, the wall keeping them trapped with Gwi-ma, but right now, he feels a strange amount of elation and lightness fills him. There’s a pull in him, just like this morning, making him want to reach out to the Honmoon.

He turns back to the other demons, “I think it’s a good thing.” 

They still look suspicious of it, not that Mystery can blame them, but they still relax slightly at his words. 

It’s getting hard for Mystery to think again, the music pressing insistently at his mind. He can feel it happening, but he doesn’t know what it is, or how to stop it. He doesn’t feel in danger, and he does still want to celebrate their freedom.

“It’s good,” He says again, “Can we dance again?” 

They still look on edge, but they slowly relax back into the carefree fun they were having before. They dance, the song this time jumpy and fast, everyone in the audience jumping to the beat. Mystery joins them and soon the other four do as well, even if it is with a concerned look still on their faces.

The Honmoon glistens and sparks with the movement and the music, as if it were dancing too. It shines so bright. The Hunmoon is strengthening itself, bolstering itself, without the added pulse of the Hunter’s powers.

The music swells within him again and the dancing is no longer enough. He doesn’t know the words, but he can just feel the path and phrasing it’s going to take. He starts singing out, just vocalizing notes that go perfectly along with the song that’s playing right now. The other demons stop dancing and stare at him. Humans also stop to watch his singing and dancing with blatant awe on their faces. 

Normally, he would hate having so much attention without the Saja Boys at his side, but right now it bolsters him. He knows he looks good, sounds good, and everyone who’s watching wants him. 

The Honmoon dances, seemingly stronger and more alive than it ever has before. It pulses with his voice, matching him in this symphony.

Mystery thinks it’s beautiful. 

“What the hell is going on?” Abby asks, “What’s happening to the Honmoon? 

“I don’t know,” Jinu says. 

Mystery frowns, but moves toward his demons, “Why do you sound scared? Everything is fine.” He grabs Jinu’s hands and pulls him forward, “Sing with me.”

Jinu lets out a hesitant noise, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mystery.”

Mystery frowns, the Honmoon ripples and dims. The four demons look around in shock. 

Before the older demon can say anything, a human yells out with excitement, “Are those the Saja Boys?” 

People instantly scream out and clamber around them, eager to see and just be near them. Jinu quickly reaches out and straightens Mystery’s hair again, making sure it covers his eyes again. The crowd stops dancing and only cheers and squeals.

“Where did you guys go?”

“Are you on hiatus?” 

“I love you!”

Voices shout at them, but the worst part is that the music cuts off. Mystery stumbles and presses a hand to his head as a wave of nausea washes through him. The Honmoon fades back out of view. 

Jinu catches him, “Are you ok?” 

Mystery is really confused as to what’s happening to him, but he nods, “I think so?” It’s almost a question instead of a statement. 

Mystery can see in Jinu’s eyes that the leader wants to make a retreat. He squares his shoulders. 

And is beaten to speaking by the DJ of the club, “Let’s give it up for the Saja Boys!”

The crowd cheers. 

“Here’s their hit song Soda Pop! Everyone show them some love!” 

Soda Pop starts playing. The screams start up again and as their recorded voices play over the speakers everyone starts singing along. The Honmoon erupts back to life. The pressure of it starts pressing onto Mystery’s mind again. 

The people closest to them are chanting, “Sing! Sing!”

The Saja Boys look at each other, trying to communicate silently with just their eyes. They decided to come back, but this is definitely faster and more than what any of them were imagining. Did they want to do this now? With the Honmoon acting strange as it is?

“Sing!” The crowd chants again. 

The next line is Mystery’s and he can’t stop himself from singing. He feels like he’s going to burst, the music being forced out of him.

When you’re in my arms, I hold you so tight

Can’t let go, no, no, not tonight

The Saja Boys still look hesitant, but nothing immediately dangerous or bad is happening. And when Mystery reaches out his hands for them to sing their part, they can’t resist it either. They fall into step and note. It starts off a little awkwardly, but it quickly becomes comfortable. More about fun than notoriety. They don’t do an extreme version of the dance, something simple and fitting for their environment, more just jumping and matching the crowd. Their fans absolutely go wild as they all start singing, and the glow of the Honmoon connects with their souls in their chests. It’s weird to see this reaction from one of their songs, but for some reason it fills Mystery with pride. 

Toward the end of the song, Mystery hits his high notes and the Honmoon reacts like the fans. Jumping and pulsing, the ley lines start to spin around Mystery. He’s never seen them so close. He’s mesmerized by their color and glow; he doesn’t even notice that the Honmoon isn’t giving the same treatment to the other demons. 

The other four falter in their steps, but not their words, as they see their oldest member in the center of a vortex made of pieces of the Honmoon. Mystery’s eyes are slightly glazed. 

As the song comes to an end- You’re my soda pop, gotta drink every drop- Mystery can’t resist and he reaches out to brush his hand along one of the strands. 

“Wait- don’t-” Baby says, but it’s too late. 

Mystery’s hand touches the magic and it flares. The glow is so bright that Mystery has to turn his head away. Part of him feels like it must be visible to the humans with how bright it is. It feels like an electric shock shooting up his arm and Mystery jerks his arm back. What the hell? 

The Honmoon doesn’t let him go. The ley lines connect to him like they do with all of the humans, going into his chest. He doesn’t have a soul, but his power- his demon core- reacts. He jolts and grunts as the connection is made, hands coming up to frantically paw at his chest. 

“Woah, that’s cool body paint,” someone says. 

“Shit,” Baby says. 

As his hands claw at his chest, Mystery sees another, closer flash of that iridescent rainbow. He holds his shaking arms out in front of him. His patterns are glowing on his skin, just like Rumi’s were. They aren’t the normal purple that they’ve been for the past millenia of his life, but are now that same rainbow of the Huntr/x leader. 

The crowd doesn’t notice the demon’s panic as they crowd around them cheering for the performance. Jinu, Baby, Romance, and Abby all circle around him, trying to create some sort of barrier around him.

“Mystery? What’s going on?” Romance asks. 

“Out- out- out,” Mystery says, “Get it out.” He’s clawing at his chest, where the lines of the Honmoon are connected to him. He can feel it . The raw power and strength of the barrier between realms. It’s hooked into his lifeblood, pulsing with a force he swears he can feel in his veins. The Honmoon is supposed to be anti-demon. It repels them. Why did it connect to him? What is it going to do to him? 

“The Honmoon is in him?” Baby sounds just as confused as he is, “What the hell?” 

“This is wrong,” Jinu says, “We need to get out of here.” 

The crowd around, still basking in the high of the surprise performance. Through the cheers, someone starts singing Soda Pop and quickly the crowd joins in. Their souls flare in their chest, sending a wave of power through the Honmoon continuing to strengthen it. 

Power that goes straight into Mystery. 

He chokes a gurgling choke and his knees collapse. The four immediately react, catching him and holding him up. The power pulses through him so much that he feels like electricity. He can feel the Honmoon, the very fabric of it, the way it’s wrapping around the whole world.

It’s too much. It’s way, way too much. If he thought his own powers were too much for this form to contain, this is so much worse. 

He’s slipping. Mystery groans, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his teeth, “I need to get out of here. I can’t-” He cuts himself off as another wave from the Honmoon goes through him. 

It doesn’t feel like an attack. 

It feels like a gift. 

But it still feels like too much, and his brain can’t even comprehend it right now. What’s going on? Why is this happening? 

“Ok, ok, we’re going home,” Abby says, but it’s easier said than done. The fans are oblivious to their predicament and are blocking off every human accessible exit. Sure they could teleport, but to do so in front of the crowd- with cameras- is suicide in more ways than one. 

They look around, but no immediate solution is in sight. Another wave from the Honmoon and Mystery groans again, slipping down even deeper and slowly becoming dead weight in the others’ grasp. 

“Fuck it,” Baby says, “I’m just teleporting.” 

Baby pulls Mystery close to him, but just as they get ready to go there’s a shout. 

“Is that HUNTR/X?” 

The crowd instantly abates from around them, parting almost like the red sea. Indeed there they are, the three Hunters standing at the entrance to the club. They’re smiling and waving at the fans as they enter. 

“Hi everyone!” Zoey says, walking up to the crowd. 

“It’s so nice to see everyone!” Rumi joins her. 

The crowd is immediately distracted, turning away from the odd spectacle of the Saja Boys to give their full attention to the members of HUNTR/X that want to interact with them.

Mira is smiling and waving as she makes her way to the demons. Once she’s close enough the smile drops and she hisses at them, “Go back to the apartment now. And no funny business. You better have a good explanation of what’s going on.” 

They don’t hesitate as Mira turns back to the fans. Everyone is so distracted by HUNTR/X that the demons are able to make their hasty escape, Abby and Baby carrying most of Mystery’s weight. Once they’re out of sight, they teleport back to their apartment. 

They land back in the nest that they never cleaned up. Mystery patterns are still that rainbow color and they can still see the connections of the Honmoon in him. The ley lines contour and wrap throughout their room, instantly morphing to accommodate where they have suddenly spawned in. 

Mystery collapses down into the pillows, rolling onto his back and grabbing at his chest again, “What’s happening?”

The other four sit next to him, two on either side. Baby strokes his hair. Romance pulls at his hands scratching his chest. 

“I don’t know,” Jinu says, “The Honmoon did something. It doesn’t make sense.” 

“Are you in pain?” Romance asks. 

Mystery shakes his head quickly back and forth, “N-no, but it’s a lot. I can feel- I’m connected to the Honmoon. I can sense it.” And he can. Like instinct he can feel each line as it contours around the realm and how they connect to the souls that power it. It’s entirely too much. He’s not supposed to see this. He tries to ignore it so he doesn’t fall. 

He’s not very effective. 

The Honmoon, which has already been glowing brighter than usual, starts to ramp up in intensity. Mystery is panting from the onslaught, and his own patterns glow brighter in response. Power starts pouring into Mystery, and it does not stop.

Now it hurts.

Mystery makes a choked off noise at first of pain and he bites harshly into his lip, his too thick blood bubbling out. 

“Mystery? What’s happening?” Baby asks.

“H-hurts now,” Mystery says. The pain is ramping up and he starts to writhe on the ground, trying to get away from something that is connected directly into his very essence. He tries to stop noises from escaping, but he’s only moderately successful and it gets worse and worse as time goes on. 

“Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop,” Mystery can’t stop himself from chanting. 

Impossibly fast, but Mystery has learned not to doubt the Hunter’s abilities when their precious Honmoon is in danger, their door bursts open and the three women storm in. Their faces are angry and as they walk, they each summon their weapons. Their blue ethereal glow competes with the glow from Mystery’s patterns in the room. 

They stop at the edge of the nest, looking down at the demons with rage and duty in their eyes. 

Rumi thrusts her sword forward, aimed right at Mystery. The tip of it pricks the underside of his chin and he hisses.  

“What did you do to the Honmoon?”