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When he was born, the celebrations lasted for weeks. That's what his maids used to say. The streets were decorated with midnight blue streamers and the people sang and danced for joy. For the heir of the Kim family. Almost as powerful as the royal family, and controlling as much land, his birth was said to be the most celebrated event for years until the birth of the prince heir some years later.
He spends the most of his early years at the country mansion where he’d been born. He is not lonely, even when he is the only child at home and his mother refuses to let him play with the children from the nearby town. His earliest memories are of running all over the gardens, his caretakers chasing him through the grassy fields and orchards, determined to bring him back for his lessons lest they risk his mother’s wrath. He spends the rest of his time learning. Sciences and arts. But most importantly, the politics of the land. The machinations of the royal family and the great houses. His mother impresses on him the importance of his position, the heir to the Kim family, with prestige enough to rival the royal family.
The only future he should ever envision for himself is the one she creates for him.
For his 12th name day, his mother organises a celebration at the Kim mansion at the capital city. The mansion itself is as large as his country home, but the garden that surrounds it is barely comparable. He spends most of his name day exploring his new home, running from room to room and getting in the way of the serving staff. As evening falls, and hundreds of lights are lit in the garden, he begins to become excited at the prospect of a night of celebration.
Jin spends the first few hours meeting guests, tries his best to remember all their names but after a while he realises that the occasion is less a celebration for his name day and more an opportunity for his mother to strengthen her alliances. So he shrinks away, trying to get away from all the strangers who act as though they know him, from all the people whose names he has already forgotten. He finds his way to the third-floor balcony, slips past the heavy blue curtains and exhales in relief.
There is a boy, crouched by the balcony. He is looking up, through the railings, at the cloudless night sky.
"What are you doing here?" He asks.
The boy looks up at him.
"I don't like it," he mumbles.
"Don't like what?"
"So many people." The boy looks up. Jin follows his gaze. The stars are bright in the moonless sky. "But I like the stars." The boy smiles. "Do you like the stars?"
He crouches down by the boy.
"I do."
"Sometimes I try to count them but I can never count all of them. And every time I get a different number," the boy tells him earnestly. "Do you think they change every night? Do you think they change and move?"
He looks up at the stars, tiny pinpricks of light in the dark sky. Some nights he'd seen them fall, streaking lights speeding down towards the earth.
"Yes," he answers. "I think they do."
He looks down when he feels a touch on his wrist.
"Will you help me count them?" The boy asks hesitantly.
"It will take a long time."
The boy smiles.
"We have a long time."
They turn when they hear footsteps on the balcony. A guard, clad in royal purple stands at the threshold.
"Prince Jungkook, your guardians are looking for you."
He looks up at the boy in shock. The prince!
"Happy name day, Seokjin of House Kim," the prince tells him solemnly, rising to his feet.
He stares up at the young prince.
The prince walks over to the guard and turns back.
"I’m glad to have met you," the prince says softly.
Jin rises to his feet.
"And I you, your highness" he replies.
The prince smiles. Then he’s gone.
A year later he manifests mind-powers.
The law of the land, the first law of the land, is that all mind-weavers join the elite military coterie that protects the royal family. The King had had the most powerful coterie for generations, before he died and the coterie had nothing to protect. They had later joined the council that governs the country until the prince comes of age. The prince who would need his own coterie, the one that Jin would be forced to join if word gets out about his powers. His mother, refusing to lose her heir, swears all the serving staff into silence and forbids him to leave the home grounds.
Until one night in the throes of a nightmare he destroys half of the mansion. Then, his mother moves him to the country estate and hires him a teacher. A man that had been a master at the academy. And he learns how to control it, how to shape it and wield it.
When he turns sixteen, he realises the master has met his limit in knowledge and tells his mother that he would like to enter the academy. She refuses. He tries again at seventeen. When she refuses again, he plots his escape. He makes it to the nearest town before his mother's guards find him. He breaks a handful of buildings trying to resist them.
From then on, it is inevitable. The secret is out. Even his mother's great influence cannot keep him from being sent to the academy.
He hears the whispers and feels the stares as he is guided through the main hall. All students from every branch of the academy are gathered there for dinner. He counts six tables crowded with students who will one day be the nation's great scholars and warriors.
The master who'd taken on his induction, pauses.
"The mind-weavers sit there," the master tells him, pointing at the table on the far left. There are three boys digging into their dinner at the table. "Get your dinner and join them. You share a dorm with them. I will see you tomorrow for training."
Jin swallows nervously as the master walks away. The whispers persist.
"Hey."
He turns. A boy stands there, shorter than him with shimmering silver hair, carrying two trays of food.
"Kim Seokjin?"
He nods.
"We're over there," the guy nods over to the table the master had indicated. "Here," he hands over one tray of food.
Jin takes it.
"I'm Min Yoongi."
He follows Min Yoongi to the mind-weavers table.
Yoongi sits down beside a guy with short brown hair.
"Guys, this is Kim Seokjin," Yoongi tells the others.
"Of the Kim family?" The guy with the short brown hair asks.
Jin nods.
Hi, a voice speaks in his mind. It takes him a moment to realise that it is the guy with the short brown hair. I'm Namjoon.
YOU'RE A TELEPATH! He tries to say in his mind.
"Oh fuck!" Namjoon cries, clutching at his head.
After a moment everyone at the table starts to laugh.
"Namjoon, you idiot! You tried to mind-speak again," Yoongi crackles.
"Hyung, you know you shouldn't try it on newbies," a boy with the messy golden hair says, sounding sympathetic as Namjoon thumps his head on the table.
"I'm sorry. I hurt you?" He asks, realising maybe it is his fault that Namjoon is suffering.
Namjoon lifts his head. "It's okay. It's really my fault."
"It really is," Yoongi says before looking up at Jin. "Sit down, Kim Seokjin."
"Jin," he says automatically.
Yoongi shrugs with a smile.
"Sit down, Jin."
Jin does. He settles beside the boy with the golden hair.
"I'm Jimin," the boy tells him with a bright smile. "I'm a kinetic like you but I've never blown up any buildings."
"I-" Jin hesitates. Five buildings. Seven deaths. And nightmares that haunt him every night. He knows what the other students are whispering about. He can imagine their words. He clenches his fists in his lap.
The last boy at the table, with long dark hair that brushes his jaw, sucks in a breath, and for a moment looks as though he's in pain. Then he looks at Jin and smiles. "Taehyung disappeared a whole tree once. He's in the infirmary right now though. Tried to lift the roof off the class and used up too much energy. I'm Hoseok. Empath."
"Be careful, he'll know all your secrets," Namjoon adds using his speaking voice.
Hoseok grins.
"I'll sell them back to you for a reasonable price."
Jin smiles. "What makes you think I'd want them back?"
For a moment silence descends. Jin remembers the day his mother found out of his powers. For the first time in his life, he'd seen his mother at a loss for words.
He turns to Yoongi. "And you, Yoongi? What can you do?"
Yoongi looks at him consideringly for a moment. "I make sure you don't lose yourself."
"Yoongi hyung saved Tae's life yesterday," Jimin says, a note of reverence in his voice.
"You're an anchor," Jin whispers. He had been told that they exist. But not even the king's coterie had had an anchor.
Yoongi shrugs. "Yeah."
Taehyung, the other kinetic, is a skinny shy boy when Jin meets him after dinner. He enters the large dorm with the others and sees the sixth member of the coterie standing at the large window, silhouetted by the moonlight from the outside.
"What the hell, Tae!" Namjoon exclaims. "At least turn on the lamps! Standing there like a ghost!"
Hoseok and Jimin ignite the lamps, and light floods the room. When the boy at the window turns, Jin sees the oval face and the light brown hair that falls messily over a wide forehead. The dark eyes travel over his friends and settle on him, the stranger.
"Hello," Taehyung greets. Jin blinks at the unexpectedly deep voice. "Sixth."
"Tae, this is Jin. He's a super strong kinetic," Jimin moves towards his friend. Taehyung's eyes fall on Jimin and he smiles, wide and sweet.
"He's going to save us from the wind," Taehyung says, turning his smile towards Jin.
Jin stares.
"He's more than a kinetic," Yoongi says, coming to stand beside him. "He's a seer. Kind of."
"'Kind of'?" He repeats, looking at Yoongi.
Yoongi shrugs. "It comes and goes." Yoongi's eyes, when they look at Taehyung, are soft. "Makes it hard for him to be around people sometimes."
Jin looks back. Now Hoseok has joined Jimin and Taehyung by the window. Namjoon has collapsed down on one of the beds with a book open in his hands.
Yoongi looks up at Jin, his silver hair glowing golden in the light.
"Welcome to the mind-weavers."
The theory of their powers is not complex. It is the manifestation of dormant genetic mutations given an environmental trigger. It cannot be predicted but can be harnessed. The school library has three tall racks filled with books on the variations of mind-powers and various techniques to train and enhance it.
What he finds difficult is the collaboration with others. His previous master had not been a mind-weaver, even though he'd been well versed on the history and the theory of the mind-weavers. Now he finds himself forced to sync with the other kinetics, Jimin and Taehyung, and he finds himself at a loss.
And of course, there is Yoongi. The anchor.
"Being linked to the others will balance your power and enhance it. Yoongi will make sure you don't drain yourself or the others," their master tells him. "Naturally he will link with the strongest kinetic. So from now on, Yoongi will be syncing with you and you alone. You will be able to use his energy but always keep in mind to never overdraw. Not unless you want to kill him."
He can feel awareness of the others now, nestled at the back of his mind. Jimin and Taehyung, like heaving bundles of energy, constantly shifting. Yoongi, in contrast, is barely perceptible, a whisper at the edge of his consciousness.
It takes him weeks to become comfortable with it, then more to actually begin to draw on the others. They learn to attack, to defend, to work as a cohesive unit that will one day protect the prince. Jin learns to mind-speak Namjoon without giving him a headache, to ward his emotions so that Hoseok is not burdened, to maintain a mind-sync with Jimin and Taehyung during battle training. And of course, to trust Yoongi to keep him from burning himself out.
His mother does not contact him. On days when families come to visit, he cloisters himself in the training room. Yoongi, whose family lives too far away to visit often, usually follows him. And as months pass they become a pair strong enough to stand against anything sent their way.
Two years later, they graduate. Ready to become the prince's official coterie, they leave for the capital city.
The royal family came to power and keeps their power because their bloodline is intertwined with the earth. Jeon blood keeps the world turning, a saying goes. Of course, these are myths that are never spoken aloud any longer but kept hidden in the depths of people's minds, some say perpetuated by the Jeon family themselves. The people would not risk it, so for hundreds of years Jeons have ruled over them. When the king died years ago, none had dared threaten the young prince and his claim to the land. None would dare risk the prosperity and the peace that the Jeon line has brought. The prince will be king when he comes of age.
They await the prince in a large chamber within the royal palace, decorated extensively in purple and gold, the Jeon colours. Jin stands in line with the others and resists the urge to scratch at his neck. The lace ruffles gathered at the throat of his new uniform, silver and gold as the coterie has always worn, rubs uncomfortably against his skin. And the cloak, as glorious as it is, now only serves to make him too warm. He feels sweat beading on his skin and hopes the prince would arrive before any of them feel the need to start removing items of clothing.
Just then, there is movement in the corridor. He watches as the prince strides into the room without guards. It startles him for a moment to realise that they are now the prince's guards. They are all that stands between the prince and harm. Jin straightens, squaring his shoulders.
The prince is taller now. Must be as tall as Jin himself, with wiry long limbs and wild hair that is only kept in place by the circlet of gold resting upon his head.
They bow. And when they straighten up again, the prince is standing before them.
"My coterie," the prince says, looking at them.
"At your service, your highness," Namjoon replies smoothly.
"Are you ready to protect me now?" The prince asks.
"Our lives are at your disposal, my prince," Namjoon answers without hesitation.
The prince considers for a moment. "I do not ask for your lives, only your skills."
Jin suppresses a smile. The prince turns his way.
"Kim Seokjin, we meet again."
The prince seems far from the boy Jin had met. He wonders if he still looks up at the sky at night to count the stars.
"I'm glad to find you in good health, your highness."
The prince's dark eyes hold him.
"And I, you," the prince finally says and looks at the others. "You may introduce yourselves."
They do. Until Taehyung's turn comes.
"Seven," Taehyung says.
The prince tilts his head. "Your name is Seven?"
Taehyung shakes his head.
"We are now seven," he clarifies. "We are complete."
The prince's face clears.
"The seer. Taehyung. You're Taehyung."
Jin sees Taehyung smile, wide and beautiful.
"You waited."
Jin sees the prince's face change. The princely demeanor disappears as he looks at Taehyung with astonished eyes, and for a moment a younger boy peers out from those dark eyes. Jin sees the prince swallow, gaze unwavering.
"I waited."
In their duty towards the prince, they shadow his steps. They sit at the council sessions, watching and listening as state matters are discussed and resolved. They train weapons with him at the training grounds. Usually Yoongi, who is best at swords, takes on the prince's training. They dine with him and sleep in adjacent chambers. They become seven, as Taehyung has always predicted. Months pass and the only time the prince's security is even a little compromised is when his horse becomes startled by a dog in the courtyard. And when summer comes, they accompany him to his seaside palace.
The road winds through the forest, which thankfully shelters them from the harsh summer sun. The procession of coaches, occupied by those sharing the journey with the prince, slowly make their way towards the ocean. Jin and Hoseok ride at the front of the group, Jimin and Taehyung riding astride the prince, and Namjoon and Yoongi following someways behind.
Jin can hear the ocean now, the distant sound of waves crashing. Soon they will be able to see the lights of the town.
"Hyung!" Hoseok suddenly reins in his mount. "Something is wrong."
"Stop," Jin calls. The procession halts immediately. He hears the horses sniffing and shuffling behind him.
Namjoon draws up beside them.
"What is it?"
Hoseok's eyes are unfocussed. Jin can feel him reaching out, a gentle breeze, knows Hoseok can feel everything. Everyone.
He watches as a frown appears on Hoseok's face. "There's something there. I can't-something is blocking me. Namjoon-"
Namjoon nods, eyes falling shut. Jin feels Namjoon's mind thunder past him, a gale blowing outwards.
He sees the frown grow on Namjoon's face as it had on Hoseok's.
"Jimin, Taehyung, shield the prince," he calls back preemptively.
"Defense!" Namjoon suddenly yells, rearing his horse back. "We are attacked!"
"Hyung, I can’t tell how many, only that they're there," Namjoon tells him. Jin nods. Namjoon and Hoseok ride back to create a defensive circle around the prince, as the soldiers draw weapons. Jin stays at the head. He glances back, the prince nods confidently at him. He turns back. Yoongi rides up beside him, their minds syncing in readiness for battle.
"I'm with you," Yoongi says quietly. Jin feels himself beginning to smile. Then a tree comes at them through the air.
Jin reaches out without thought, grasps the tree out of mid-air and for a moment it hangs in the air before them, a young oak with soil still attached to the roots. Jin takes a breath and hurls the tree in the direction where it had come from. He hears the screams.
Arrows. Propelled by mind-force, assaults them from all sides. His training kicks in and he forces his mind around the group, repelling any and all external forces. He is forced back by the impact but the shield holds.
He can see them now. Faces covered by masks, dark clothes making their enemies appear as wraiths in the twilight. They want the prince. Jin abandons the shield and blasts his mind outwards. The strength of it topples the attackers off their feet. He feels the force of Namjoon's mind, streaming out beside him, screaming into the minds of the attackers. And Hoseok, reaching out and drawing on the fear, enhancing it. Their enemy stumble. Jin presses forward. He rips the branches off the trees and sends them, deadly spears at their enemy. Screams again.
They dared attack the prince. Jin would show them no mercy.
"Jin hyung." Yoongi pulls at his mind. "Stop."
Jin shakes his head. "I will show them no mercy."
Yoongi tugs harder. "We need some alive for questioning."
Jin pulls at the reigns, halting his mount. He can feel it, the energy he had spent. Feels Yoongi holding back the inevitable exhaustion.
"We need to get back to the capital," he says. Yoongi nods just as the prince rides up beside them. Beyond them, the soldiers are venturing into the forest, searching for prisoners.
"Mind-weavers?" The prince asks.
Jin meets Yoongi's eyes. It should not be possible. Only the two coteries, the former and the current, should exist.
"Yes, prince. We need to get you back to the capital. It will not be safe here."
Jungkook nods.
"Order the guards to bring the prisoners to the palace. We will ride through the night."
They arrive at the capital just as the sun breaks through the clouds of the next day. After meeting with the council, more chaotic than Jin has ever witnessed it, the prince retires to his rooms. The council has taken over questioning of the prisoners. They would soon find out about this rogue element of mind-weavers that had attacked them. Security has been upgraded at the palace, guards posted at all entries to deter any new attackers. Of course, until the matter is resolved and the culprits are caught, they decide to remain with the prince in his chambers. Jin spends most of the time recovering from the battle, and the overnight ride which he had spent shielding the prince.
They are taking their midday meal when guards, royal purple cloaks trailing, pour in to the chamber. Startled, the prince rises to his feet. Jin takes a stand before the prince instinctively, the others also fall into formation around the prince.
The head of the palace guard halts in front of Jin. The golden helmet obscures most of the man's face, all except for dark blue eyes.
"Seokjin of House Kim. You are under arrest on the charge of conspiring against the crown. You are advised to co-operate for your own safety." The coterie members of the council enter the chamber behind the guards.
"What are you talking about?" Jin asks the guard. "What nonsense is this?"
"You dare accuse a member of my coterie of treachery?" The prince snaps, coming to stand beside Jin.
"The order comes from the council, your highness," the guard replies, bowing.
"What is your proof?" Namjoon asks, appearing at Jin's other side.
The guard addresses the prince. "The prisoners confessed. The attack against you, my prince, was planned and funded by the Kim family."
Jin stares at the guard, the words slowly sinking into his mind. His mother is a member of the council. Did they arrest her too?
He doesn't protest when the guards reach for him.
"Don't you lay a fucking finger on him!" Yoongi snaps, appearing before him. His sword out of its sheath.
The guards look to their captain.
"You dare disobey the council's order?"
The council coterie members draw close. Yoongi plants his feet, sword held in front of him defensively.
"Yoongi," Jin whispers.
Yoongi turns his head. "Snap out of it, hyung! You're innocent!"
"Innocence or guilt will be determined at the trial. Kim Seokjin, if you do not come of your own volition, you will be taken by force," the head of the council coterie states impassively.
"Jin hyung," the prince touches his arm. "I will talk to the council. I will clear your name," the prince promises.
Jin nods numbly. Jungkook leans forward in an instant, lays his palm flat on the side of Jin's face. "Trust me, hyung. I will not let you go."
Jin tries to smile. But his face does not respond. He sees Jimin and Taehyung beyond the prince, watching him with distraught faces.
He hears the prince order Yoongi to stand down. Then the guards are at his side.
"NO!" A shout and the sound of shattering glass.
He turns in shock.
Taehyung runs at him. The glass pane of the window now lay in glittering shards on the ground. He wraps both arms around Taehyung automatically.
"You can't go, hyung. You can't!" Taehyung insists, holding on to him tightly. "Six will break. Have to be seven. We are seven!"
"Tae." He kisses Taehyung’s brown hair.
"Please, hyung. Don't go."
"Seize him," he hears the captain's command. He sees the guards converge on them.
"Tae, listen. I'll come back." He leans their foreheads together, finger sinking into Taehyung's thick, soft hair. "Protect our prince until I come back, okay?"
Taehyung takes a shuddering breath. "No, hyung," he gasps. "It's you, hyung. They want you."
He is pulled back by the guards. Taehyung reaches for him. Namjoon wraps an arm around Taehyung to hold him back.
Jin hyung. We'll get you out.
Jin lets the guards take him.
Take care of them, Namjoon.
He knows what the room is at the exact moment he is locked in it. Lead lined. A room built especially for mind-weavers. To hold and negate their powers. Jin reaches out with his mind and tries to lift the straw palette they had left for him. Nothing. Goosebumps rise on his skin. He tries again. Sweeps his mind across the room with as much force as he can. Nothing moves. Jin stumbles down to his knees, feels the cool metal of the floor with both hands. His effort soaked up by the metal as though it had never existed.
He cannot tell time passing. They give him no food. He exists in this empty, dark space and feels himself fade.
No one comes.
The prince or the others. Not even Yoongi.
He wonders what had happened to his mother. If the council had got to her too, if she is imprisoned here somewhere. He wonders is she had done it. This thing that he is accused of. Although he cannot think why. Not when her son is in the prince's own coterie.
But maybe she was willing to make that sacrifice. After all, he has never been what she wanted. Not the heir she had wanted to carry forward the Kim family legacy.
How many days now?
He lays on the pallet. He would never have thought to die like this. So utterly alone. He wonders if anyone had ever loved him.
WHY?
Why was he abandoned like this? He is not guilty. He would never in any of his moments, plot against the prince. So, why was he here?
He wonders if they'd miss him.
He cannot cry. He is going to die in this place.
There are voices. For the longest time he listens to the flow and ebb of it. Then he becomes aware of movement. He is moving. He feels the ground rolling under him. He wonders if he should open his eyes. He wonders if he would regret it.
"Jin hyung."
Jin holds his breath. He knows that voice. He tries to move. Someone is holding his hand. He becomes aware of the gentle presence at the back of his mind. He reaches.
Thank you, hyung, for hanging on until we came.
He opens his eyes.
Yoongi is watching him.
"Hey," he manages. Yoongi laughs, sounding as though he is close to tears.
A taller figure hovers behind Yoongi. "Welcome back, Jin hyung," Hoseok says.
He feels fingers combing through his hair and tilts his head up. Taehyung smiles down at him.
"We're running away, hyung."
Jin blinks and takes in his surroundings. He realises that he is in a carriage. He looks back at Yoongi.
"It's okay. Everything is okay. Just rest for now, hyung," Yoongi tells him.
Jin holds onto Yoongi's hand and lets his eyes fall shut.
The next time he wakes up, he opens his eyes to a bright room. He swallows and shifts. He turns his head to find an open window and beyond it, blue sky. The white curtains flow gently with the breeze. He can smell grass and the sweet scent of flowers.
"Hyung."
He turns his head to find Yoongi standing at the side of the bed.
"Where-?" He coughs, trying to get words past his dry throat.
"Hyung, here." Yoongi helps him sit up and presses a cup of water to his lips.
He takes a sip, coughs as it goes down. And keeps drinking. Once he is done, Yoongi takes the cup away from him.
Jin looks at him and tries again.
"Where are we? What happened?"
Yoongi sighs and settles down on the bed beside him.
"Maybe I'll answer your second question first," Yoongi says gravely.
Jin braces himself, fingers clenching on the bed cover.
Yoongi smiles a little. "We're all safe, hyung. At least that’s something you don't need to worry about. But everything else-" Yoongi's smile dims. "Everything else has gone to hell, hyung."
The prince betrayed. Jin's own family branded traitors. Jin listens to Yoongi with a growing sense of horror.
"It's the council coterie, hyung. They wanted the prince so they tried to take you out of the way. After they took you, we tried to find you and they told us they moved you out to the country. But when Namjoon and Hoseok couldn't sense you, we knew something was wrong."
Jin closes his eyes and for a moment he is back in that room, trapped and starving. Waiting to die. Yoongi touches his hand and Jin opens his eyes.
"I'm sorry we took so long, hyung," Yoongi whispers and Jin sees the haunted look in his eyes. He wonders what Yoongi had seen when he had found him in the cell, what he must have looked like. Skin and bones.
"Thank you for finding me," Jin tells him, linking their hands together.
Yoongi manages a small smile.
"Taehyung saw you. We knew you hadn't left the palace."
Just then the door slams open and Hoseok rushes into the room, breathing harshly.
"Jin hyung-" Hoseok pauses, eyes travelling between Yoongi and himself. "Hyung, are you okay? I felt-" Hoseok pauses again just as Namjoon arrives, looking as though he's been running.
"What's wrong? Jin hyung-" Seeing Jin, Namjoon halts and looks at Hoseok.
Jin realises that Hoseok must have felt his momentary despair.
"I'm sorry, Hoseok. I didn't control myself well."
Hoseok shakes his head.
"No, hyung. I'm just glad you're okay. And - I'm sorry, hyung."
"How are you, Jin hyung?" Namjoon asks, stepping into the room. Jin sees the way his eyes catch for a moment on his' and Yoongi's clasped hands.
"I'm awake now, Namjoon. Tell me why the council coterie wants the prince."
"Jeon blood makes the world turn," the prince says as he enters the room, Taehyung and Jimin on his heels.
Taehyung immediately climbs on the bed and wraps his arms around Jin. Jin lets go of Yoongi's hand to hold him.
"Hey, Tae." He breathes in the sweet scent of Taehyung's hair.
"Seven."
Jin smiles.
"We are," he agrees and looks up to meet Jimin smiling at him.
"Good to have you back, hyung," Jimin tells him softly, settling down at the foot of the bed.
"Good to be back, Jimin," he says. He turns his gaze to the prince.
"Are you well, my prince?"
The prince looks startled before he shakes his head with a smile.
"I should be asking you that, Jin hyung."
"I'm okay now, my prince."
The prince shakes his head.
"Please drop the title, hyung. You know I don’t like it."
Jin smiles.
"Whatever you say, Jungkook."
The prince grins.
"Now, what should we do about these bastards who want to bleed me dry?"
"Why? Why do they want that?" Jin asks. "It can't actually be true, that myth."
Namjoon looks at Jungkook, and at the prince's nod, he begins to explain.
"Of course, the myth about Jeon blood making the world turn is not true. If that is the case, then how did it turn before the Jeon family came into power? No. That's not the case. But-" Namjoon pauses. Jin hides a smile at Namjoon's dramatics. "But Jeon blood is linked to the magic of this land. The Jeons were the first mind-weavers of this land. And all of us in this room have some link to the Jeon blood line. That is why we're strongest when we're with the prince. That is also why the council coterie wanted the prince. They know the prince will soon come of age, that he'll be king and they lose the power they've had when the council steps down. So they tried to take you out, Jin hyung, the strongest of us, because they thought it'd make it easier to take the rest of us out. But those bastards underestimated us!" Namjoon claims loudly. And Jin sees the healing wound on the side of Namjoon's head. He looks around at the others and sees them all sporting injuries that he had not noticed before.
"You fought?" He asks softly.
"We got to you easily enough, hyung," Hoseok answers. "But getting you out, escaping the palace was fucking insane."
Jin looks at Yoongi and notes his sunken eyes. He's lost weight too. He would have had to hold them all. They had all drawn on him too much.
"So here we are, hyung. My family home," Yoongi tells him with a small smile.
"The coterie is holding rest of the council hostage, making them more powerful than ever. We're now the only ones that can stand against them," Namjoon says.
"We're with the prince. We have to get him his kingdom back," Jimin insists, looking around at them.
"Would you give your lives for this?" The prince asks them softly.
Jin sits up straighter.
"We're yours, Jungkook. We'd give our lives for you," he answers.
It might be the gentle light of the evening but Jin knows that the shine he sees in Jungkook's eyes is not a trick of the light.
"When Jin hyung recovers his strength, we strike back," Namjoon says. "All of us together, they can't beat us."
He wakes in the middle of the night. Had he dreamt? Maybe. If he had, he does not remember it. He sits up in bed and for a moment simply breathes in the darkness. The house is quiet. Are the walls lined with lead? He reaches out with his mind, the glass of water on the bedside table rises in the air. He exhales in relief, feels the sweat soaking into his clothes, and sets the glass back down. He pushes the covers off and rises to his feet. He walks past the other rooms, silent as their occupants dream in peace. For a moment he wonders which room is Yoongi's, then lets it go. Yoongi should rest.
He escapes the confines of the house, pushing past the heavy front door and walking down the steps. He pauses, bare feet on the gravel. Only starlight illuminates the night. He stands under them, ignoring the exhaustion clinging to his limbs and enjoys the feel of the cool night air on his skin.
Gravel crunches behind him. He turns to find Taehyung watching him in the dark.
"Hyung," Taehyung whispers. "Hyung, I had a nightmare."
Jin holds out his arms and Taehyung flies to him immediately. Jin holds him close.
"Only a dream, Tae. Don't be scared of dreams."
Taehyung whimpers.
"Only dreams, hyung. Dreams scare me more than anything." Taehyung leans back. Jin can feel his heart, beating so fast. "Look up, hyung."
Jin frowns and follows Taehyung's gaze upwards.
The sky is breaking. There is no sound. But the stars are pulling apart like a giant invisible hand is ripping the sky apart. Then, nothing. No stars. Only empty sky.
Jin stares, horror invading his mind. Taehyung is shaking. Jin hears his laboured breathing. He slips a hand into Taehyung's dark hair and gathers him in.
"Tae. Taehyung. Close your eyes and hold on to me. Listen to my voice. Feel my heart beating. The earth is still under our feet. The air is cool around us. I'm here with you. We're here together. Don't be scared."
Then he hears it. The sound of a horse whinnying.
Jin pulls away from Taehyung. He holds him by the shoulders and forces Taehyung to look at him.
"Tae, go wake the others. Go check on the prince. Taehyung!" Taehyung looks at him with terrified eyes. "Go!"
Taehyung nods shakily, turns on his heel and runs back towards the house. Jin runs towards where he'd heard the horse.
Namjoon, wake up. Something is wrong, wake up! He shouts for Namjoon in his mind just as he sees a horse, a man on its back, sprinting away from the house.
Jin pulls at the earth. It tears under his mind and the horse rears up, throwing the man off its back and runs away into the depths of the night. Jin stumbles back as a force whips at him. A kinetic! He braces his hands on the ground and defends, feels the skin rip off his palms as he fights to stop himself from being thrown back. The gravel rises off the path and snaps it him. He feels it tear at his skin. He grunts in pain. He creates a mind-shield, forcing the storm to veer around him. He tries to catch his breath, tries to reach out to the others. But the storm intensifies. He grits his teeth and tries to hold the shield. He knows it will fail. He hasn't regained his strength yet. He takes a breath and steels himself. He abandons the shield and strikes outward blindly with his mind. He hears a distant sharp cry of pain and the gravel storm ceases. He gasps for breath, drained of energy. He blinks, trying to clear his vision.
Then he feels it, strength seeping into him.
Yoongi.
Footsteps come to a halt beside him. Jin looks up. Yoongi looks down at him. Jin sees the way his eyes catch on his bleeding hands.
"You're okay?"
Jin nods. He takes a breath, letting Yoongi's energy settle in him and ease his exhaustion.
Yoongi looks away from him, at the man writhing in pain on the path.
"We need him to talk, Jin hyung," Yoongi says, voice grave.
Jin rises to his feet.
"Why?" He asks, knowing he really wouldn’t like the answer.
"We can't wake the prince." Yoongi looks at him. "And the stars are gone."
"A mind virus," Namjoon tells them, entering the prince's chamber with Hoseok on his heels. Yoongi follows them in slowly. They had been interrogating the prisoner, one of the members of the council coterie. The combination of the telepath and the empath has always been better at getting people to talk. Jin looks up from where he'd been keeping vigil beside the prince. Jimin looks up momentarily from where he'd been bandaging Jin's palms before focusing back on wrapping up Jin's left hand. Taehyung stays unmoving, gaze fixed on the sleeping prince.
"'A mind virus'?" Jin asks.
Namjoon nods. "A perpetual nightmare. Created to trap the dreamer until eventually it kills them."
Taehyung shivers.
"Only dreams," he whispers, gently stroking Jungkook's dark hair. "Nightmares of starless skies."
Jin looks up at Namjoon.
"How do we wake him?"
Namjoon shares a look with Hoseok and Yoongi.
"We reach in," Taehyung tells them softly. "We pull him out."
Namjoon gapes at Taehyung for a moment before blinking and turning his gaze to Jin.
"Yes-that-" Namjoon clears his throat. "We think Taehyung is right. We'd need to enter the nightmare with the prince, we defeat it, and wake up together."
Jin looks down at the prince, asleep so peacefully on the bed.
"What happens if we don’t defeat it?"
Namjoon swallows.
"Then we die too."
Jin nods.
"Hyung, I don’t think all of us should go. If-"
"Seven!" Taehyung cries. "We are seven!"
They all turn to him in surprise.
"Only seven will stand," he tells them imploringly.
Namjoon looks around them all, eyes halting on Jin.
"We go, then."
They sit in a circle around the prince, holding hands. Jin and Taehyung flank the prince on the bed, holding on to the prince's hands. They are all looking at Namjoon.
"I'm not sure- I've never tried-"
Taehyung shifts. Then everything is black.
He rises to his feet, thankful for the solid ground under him. He sees nothing. He touches his hands to face to make sure his eyes are open. He turns slowly in a circle, arms stretched out. Darkness envelopes him from all sides.
"Hello?" He calls. His voice disappears into the nothingness.
He clenches his fists against the fear that rises and he feels no pain. He lashes out with his mind. It crashes against something solid. He exhales in relief. He walks, hands outstretched, searching for whatever that his mind had crashed against. His fingers graze against something. He flinches back. A rough surface? He tries again. This time he lays his palm flat on the surface. Cool and rough and solid. A wall? He searches across it with both hands. It rises from the ground under his feet and reaches over his head.
Jin hyung?
Namjoon!
Ow, hyung!
Sorry! Are you okay? Have you found the others? The prince?
I'm okay, hyung. I've found the others. But- I can't find the prince.
He's not here? Namjoon, where are we?
I think we're in a maze, hyung. I think the prince is here- he's shielded from us somehow.
A maze. They're trapped in nightmare maze.
He hears something. It reminds him of wind howling through a tunnel. It makes him think of unbearable pain. It makes him want to hide.
Namjoon, what else is in here with us?
Namjoon is silent. Jin knows he's searching, his mind spreading over the maze. Jin tries not to listen to the howling wind. He wonders what is making the sound when he cannot feel any wind at all.
Jin hyung! There's a light! Can you see it?
Jin turns around in a circle, keeping a hand on the wall for bearing.
He sees it. A white glow in the distance.
Hyung, let's get to the light.
Are you sure we shouldn't be getting away from it?
We have to find each other, hyung. There's nothing else to follow.
Okay. Okay, Namjoon. I'll find you there.
Jin hyung, I can hear it too but I can’t sense it. Be careful.
Jin follows the wall. Soon, he abandons walking for running. He sprints towards the light, fingers keeping purchase on the wall that turns one way then another. He tries not to think of the way the sound of screaming wind intensifies as he gets closer and closer to the light. He hopes he finds the others before the screaming does.
He turns a corner and enters a path bathed in pale blue light. He notices a few things at the same time. That he must be very close to the source of the light. And that Hoseok and Jimin have found each other and the source of the screaming.
For a moment he can only stare. The nightmare is tall, built like a human. Like a human without any of the details. Just the shape, towering over them. Screaming should be impossible. The nightmare has no mouth. Or eyes or nose. Just a pale shape of a head. He watches it advance towards Hoseok and Jimin. He watches them back away. Sees Hoseok keep himself between the thing and Jimin.
He steps away from the wall.
Jimin notices him the same time the nightmare does. Jin watches it pause and consider. Even if he had been three times as tall, he knows he wouldn't be as tall as the nightmare. He knows it can see him. Even without eyes, the nightmare knows he's here. Hoseok and Jimin turn to him. The nightmare lifts a hand. Jin feels as though time slows. He watches the hand rise. He knows it will strike the others. It will slam their bodies against the wall before it comes for him.
Jin reaches with his mind. He pulls Hoseok and Jimin back towards him and out of reach of the nightmare. The blow that would have struck them dead, falls harmlessly. Jin pushes the others behind him and stands against the nightmare.
"Hyung, we tried!" Jimin cries. "Nothing works on it!"
"It doesn't feel anything, hyung. It's like nothing is there," Hoseok tells him urgently.
Jin syncs with Jimin, feels his strength, offered without reservation.
The nightmare stalks towards them.
"Stay behind me," Jin tells the others.
He steps forward and attacks.
The force of it should have broken every bone in its body. But maybe it doesn’t have bones because it only stumbles back, arms wheeling for balance.
Not waiting for it to regain its balance, Jin attacks again.
The nightmare slams against the maze wall.
For a moment it lies slumped against the wall.
Then it slowly straightens, limbs jerking.
Jin stares in disbelief.
"Jin hyung!"
Namjoon and Yoongi arrive, panting for breath. Jin sees them take in the nightmare, that has now risen to its feet.
"Where's Taehyung?" Jimin asks.
Namjoon's gaze tears away from the nightmare, to move from Jimin, to Jin and then to brightest center of light.
"He found the prince."
Jin looks towards the light. The brightest point lies beyond the nightmare. They will have to go past it.
"Taehyung says the prince is fading," Namjoon relays hurriedly. "We have to hurry."
Jin looks at him. "Tell him to hold tight. Namjoon, tell him we're seven."
Namjoon nods.
Jin turns to Yoongi, who smiles at him fiercely. Jin feels him, their minds falling into step together.
"Let's go, hyung."
Jin looks at the others.
"I don't know if I can kill it so be ready to run."
He faces the nightmare. Yoongi stands with him.
It towers over him, this faceless, featureless fear. This thing that seeks to destroy everything he loves.
Jin lashes out. The skin on the nightmare's chest rips open. But it doesn't falter. And as he watches, the skin knits itself back.
Jin takes a breath, and draws on Yoongi.
"Take everything, hyung," Yoongi tells him softly. Jin looks at him in surprise. Yoongi shrugs.
"I'd rather die by your hand than that thing's."
"We're not going to die."
Jin attacks. He concentrates on its left arm. It strides towards them, long steps coming closer and closer. He rips at the creature's arm with his mind. Again and again as the nightmare advances.
"Hyungs!" He hears Jimin scream. "Get back!"
Jin screams. He lashes at the creature with all his strength and focus. The nightmare slams backward into the maze wall. In the middle of the path is a pale, bloodless arm. Jin gasps for breath. Beside him, Yoongi has doubled over.
"Yoongi," Jin whispers, reaching for Yoongi.
"RUN!" Namjoon yells.
Hands pull at him and he finds himself propelled forward. He cannot take his eyes away from the unmoving nightmare, the way strips of flesh now dangle from the torn shoulder. Just as they are running past the fallen creature, it shifts.
"GO! GO!" Hoseok screams as he and Jimin pull Yoongi along.
They run.
They run for the light. They're close. The pale light now nearly blinding. They will reach the prince and Taehyung. Jin feels a burst of hope. They are going to make it. They will beat this nightmare and save the prince.
Letting Namjoon guide him as they run, Jin turns his head. Blood freezes in his veins as he sees the nightmare, soundlessly bounding after them. He looks ahead, there is a gap in the maze wall he knows will lead to the prince. He also knows that the nightmare will catch up to them before they get there.
He tears his hand out of Namjoon's grip. Namjoon stumbles to a halt. As do the others. Jin pushes at them.
"Go!" He tells them "Get to the prince!"
Namjoon steps forward. Jin pushes at him again.
"I'll hold it! Just go, Namjoon!"
Namjoon's face twists.
The nightmare is almost upon them.
"Jin hyung," Jimin whispers tearfully.
Jin pulls Jimin close and kisses his hair.
"Get to Tae. Go, Jimin."
Namjoon clenches his jaw and takes a step back.
"Let's go, guys."
Jimin looks at Namjoon tearfully.
"But hyung-"
"We've got a job to do! We're the prince's guardians! Come on!"
"I'll stay with Jin hyung. The rest of you go." Yoongi stands at Jin's shoulder.
Namjoon nods and backs away. His eyes flicker past them and widen.
Jin turns just in time to shield them from the nightmare's blow. The force of it drives him to his knees.
"Run," he hears Yoongi grunt at the others.
The sound of rapid footsteps recedes behind him. The nightmare tries to follow. Jin strikes at its feet. The ground under him shudders as the creature falls.
Yoongi pulls Jin up to his feet. In his periphery, he sees the others disappear through the gap in the wall.
He meets Yoongi's eyes. Yoongi grins. Jin finds himself laughing.
"Okay," he says.
He strikes at the ground under the creature. The earth cracks, the fissure splitting wide with a deafening roar. The nightmare braces itself on one hand and tries to lift itself up to its knees. Jin slams his mind at the ground. The fissure widens. One of the creature's legs slips through the crack. Jin can feel the exhaustion blackening the edges of his vision. He knows, even with Yoongi here, that he has limited time. He feels a hand slip into his'. He grips it tight, takes a breath as deep as he can muster, and strikes at the earth.
He sees the creature falter, sees it struggling to escape from being drawn into the void below. The sound of wind howling intensifies.
He feels Yoongi stagger beside him. Jin tries to catch him but he thinks he fails. He feels the cool ground under his face. He hopes the others got to the prince. That they are safe.
Yoongi. He gasps for breath. I'm sorry.
The earth is soft under his feet as he runs. The air is vibrant with the scent of summer. Light streams through the forest canopy. He laughs as he runs. Home. He is home.
He lays down on the grassy field, hand thrown over his face to ward off the noon sunlight. He closes his eyes.
He wakes up on a bed. For a moment he lays there enjoying the feel of the soft sheets under him. He doesn't know where he is. He doesn't remember why he doesn't know. His eyes fly open and he sits up.
His mother is there. She turns away from the window, for a moment looking slightly startled before she composes herself.
"Seokjin."
He stares at her. Then he looks around. It is his room. He is home.
"You got yourself into a lot of trouble. You got this family into a lot of trouble. You nearly destroyed everything, Seokjin," his mother says, not angrily but with the expectation of an overdue defense.
"I thought I wasn't a part of your family anymore," he says, remembering the last conversation they'd had, just before he entered the academy.
"Don't be ridiculous, Seokjin," his mother tells him. "You are my heir, if only you'd act like it."
He takes a breath. They had never agreed on his future. He doesn't want to restart the same old argument.
"Where are the others? The prince?" He asks instead. He wishes for it to be dark outside. He wonders if the stars have come back.
"Most of them are at the capital. Those old bastards of the council coterie dropped dead three days ago, and your beloved prince is busy preparing for his coronation." His mother turns away from him and heads for the door. "He seems to care about you, Seokjin. I am proud of you for that, it will be useful to have a voice in the new king's inner council."
Before he can tell his mother that he will not be her spy, she leaves. The door closes gently behind her and he is left in silence.
All he feels is relief. They are safe. They are all okay. And the prince will soon be king. He hadn't failed him. He lays back down on the pillows. They had saved the prince.
The deaths of the council coterie nags at him as he drips off to sleep. But the thoughts cannot hold him, and sleep claims him.
Guards corner him in an alley. They wear the Kim family colours, the midnight blue. He feels the roughness of the wall that presses against his back.
The guards move closer, their faces twisted into vicious snarls. Their swords glint dangerously. Fear thunders through his heart. His fingers search for purchase on the wall. There is nowhere for him to go.
A loud crack resounds through the hair. When he looks down, a long crack has appeared on the wall. As he watches the crack spreads up and down the wall, spreading outward like vessels.
He looks at the guards, getting ever closer. He crouches down and plants his palms on the ground at his feet. The guards hesitate. The ground breaks under his palms. The cracks spread out towards the guards. The gaps get wider and longer and he does not stop. The air is soon pierced with the screams of the guards. He sees them topple, sees them fall in to the voids appearing under them. The earth keeps shattering. He cannot stop. Cracks appear in the buildings around him, running up the walls. When they collapse, he covers his face with his hands. He can hear them, the explosions of the buildings falling apart, the screams of people.
No.
He curls up on the ground.
It doesn't stop.
Hyung. Jin hyung.
Jin lifts his head. Yoongi is crouched down before him, head tilted and a small smile on his face.
Everything is okay. Wake up.
His eyes feel sticky when he opens them. It has been a long time since he had last had that nightmare. He can still feel the adrenalin, the fear and the despair thrumming in his veins.
Someone is holding his hand in a tight grip. He turns his head.
Yoongi.
"Hey, hyung."
Jin exhales. Tears sting at his eyes and then he's crying. Loud sobs burst out of him and he cannot control it. He feels Yoongi climb on to the bed, and gladly falls into his arms when Yoongi pulls at him gently.
He cries until he is exhausted. He lets Yoongi lay him back down on the bed.
"Stay with me."
Yoongi smiles.
"Not going anywhere, hyung."
When he wakes next, he finds Yoongi asleep beside him on the bed. Night has fallen and a solitary lamp had been lit in the room, a mellow golden light that casts more shadows than light. He sits up slowly and spends a moment simply watching Yoongi sleep. His face is cast in angles and shadows.
"The House of Min is not a match for the House of Kim."
His mother emerges from the shadows. Jin resists the urge to fold himself over Yoongi to shield him from his mother.
"You won't marry him, I will," he tells his mother, wondering if she'd been watching them sleep all this time.
His mother's eyes travel down to the sleeping Yoongi.
"He insisted that he come with us when I was bringing you home. I heard that he was the only one- he stayed with you when you were trapped." There is a slight tremour in his mother's voice. Just for a moment, Jin wonders if his mother had worried for him. "I had not thought the House of Min had such character. Perhaps I will reconsider the grain trade arrangements I have been thinking to reject."
"Mother-"
"The house may not match us. But-" she walks over to the bed, her eyes travel from Yoongi up to Jin. "I will not oppose you in this."
He stares at his mother. For the first time in his life, his mother trusts him to choose for himself.
"Mother."
His mother reaches out a hand, and lets her fingers graze over his face.
"The prince has sent for us. His coronation is two days from now." She hesitates as though she may continue. But instead she sighs and leaves.
Jin looks down at Yoongi who remains asleep. He smiles to himself at Yoongi's ability to sleep through anything.
He carefully untangles himself from the bed and walks over to the window. He looks up. The stars have returned. He wonders if they had ever been gone. Maybe he had imagined it all. But he remembers the nightmare creature. And the way the earth had split apart.
"It was them," Yoongi says softly, joining him at the window. "The council coterie. They were the creature."
"When we killed it," Jin looks at Yoongi, eyes widening in understanding.
"The coterie died too," Yoongi finishes for him.
They watch the stars in silence.
"Hyung."
Jin turns to Yoongi whose face is lit more by the stars than the lamp. Yoongi sighs softly and leans up.
"Yes, hyung." Yoongi kisses him, lips catching his' for a merest of breaths. "I say yes."
The capital city is resplendent when they arrive. The royal banners stream in the breeze as the people crowd the streets preparing for the celebrations. They ride into the palace courtyard to find it packed with officials and dignitaries arriving for the coronation.
Jin lets his horse be led off to the stables.
"Jin hyung!"
Jin turns just in time to catch Jimin in his arms. He holds Jimin close and tries not to think about the last time he had seen him.
"I'm here too, you punk," he hears Yoongi mutter. Jimin laughs and leans back, holding on to Jin's elbow.
"I knew you were fine, Yoongi hyung."
Jin hyung.
Hello, Namjoon.
Good to have you back, hyung.
They soon arrive at the prince's chambers. Seeing him, the prince utters a joyous cry and runs to him.
Jin enfolds him in his arms.
"Jin hyung," Jungkook whispers.
They had nearly lost him. Jin holds him closer, savoring the scent and the feel of his prince in his arms.
"You're safe."
Jungkook laughs brokenly.
"Ah, hyung." Jungkook leans back. His eyes are shining with tears. "Do you remember that night when you found me trying to count the stars?"
Jin nods. It seems such a long time ago now.
Jungkook smiles and his tears slip down his face.
"I wasted my time looking at the sky. All my stars were already on earth."
Jin reaches out with both hands to wipe away Jungkook's tears.
"We are seven."
Beyond the prince, Namjoon, Hoseok and Taehyung are watching them, smiling.
Taehyung approaches, carrying the prince's cloak in his arms, which he offers to Jin.
"Time for you to be king, my prince," Jin says, throwing the cloak around the prince and pinning it in place with a bejeweled pin.
Jungkook smiles.
They follow him out to the ceremonial hall. They stand behind him as the golden crown settles in the dark hair. They cheer with the crowd as the prince is pronounced king.
May he rule for many years to come.
He stands in the garden and watches the fireworks. Beyond him, the newly crowned, slightly inebriated king is dancing with a laughing Taehyung.
“Hyung, you want to dance?” Yoongi asks him quietly.
Another firework explodes above them in a shower of purple and gold.
Jin look at Yoongi, then at the madness that is passing for dancing beyond them. He shakes his head.
“No. Not really.”
Yoongi sighs in relief.
“Good, neither do I.”
Jin smiles. Lights shimmer in Yoongi’s silver hair. He leans closer.
“I can think of something better to do.”
Yoongi’s eyes widen before his face splits in a wide grin.
“Lead the way, hyung.”
***